Isabel cast about for a sensible response to make to this, and came up with nothing. How could she explain how she came to adopt Tafferty, without admitting the full truth — that Tafferty had, more rightly speaking, adopted her?
‘Isabel was heart-sick at the poor creature’s weariness and hunger,’ Eliza interjected. ‘You know her tenderness of heart, Harriet! She could not bear to leave her new friend behind. You may imagine my surprise when I received not only my niece, but also her cat, for a visit.’
Mrs. Ellerby sighed deeply, abandoning her attempts to move Tafferty off the chair. ‘Is it a cat? I have never seen its like. It looks to me more like something fae. Now, does it not, Mr. Ellerby? It would be much more at home with the brownies, in the kitchen.’
Isabel winced, torn between
