Over and over again she insisted to herself, stubbornly: "I will have
nothing that is not true,--nothing that is not true." In the midnight
silences, when she lay wide awake, though all the rest of the world
slept, the words chimed in with her heart-beats: "Nothing that is not
true--nothing--that is--not true."
Madame Francesca, loving Rose dearly, became sorely troubled and
perplexed. She could not fail to see and understand, and, at times,
feared that Allison and Isabel must see and understand also. She watched
Rose faithfully and shielded her at every possible point. When Isabel
inquired why Rose was always tired in the evening, Madame explained that
she had been working too hard and that she had made her promise to rest.
Rose spent more time than usual at the piano but she neglected her own
work in favour of Allison's accompaniments. When she was alone, she
could play them creditably, even without the notes, but if, by any
chance, he stood beside her, waiting until the prelude was finished, she
faltered at the first sound of the violin.
At last she gave it up and kept more and more to her own room.
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