Cat, Roger, Janet, and Julia stood side by side in the large drawing room, waiting for Chrestomanci's niece to show up. The enchanter himself was making out with his wife over by the window.
"I wonder what she looks like" Whispered Janet loudly
"Oh, like Daddy I suppose. She IS his niece, after all" Answered Julia.
A little girl came running into the room. She was panting heavily, and her dark curls were mussed up. Her frilly pink dress had a rip in the back, and her face wore a panicked look.
"I'm sorry! I accidently dropped my hairbrush, and when I bent to pick it up..." she pointed to her dress. "Then the second gong rang, and my breathing went funnny, and I'M SORRY" She burst into tears.
Millie stepped forward and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's quite all right dear, really. No need to cry." She handed the girl a handkerchief.
After spending an entire dinner listening to Isabel cry (she was seated right next to him), Cat decided that he didn't really want to get to know the girl after all. She still seemed to think that a terrible punishment was going to come her way.
Millie, Janet, and Julia didn't help things much. They kept giving the little girl sympathetic glances. Isabel seemed to be having trouble breathing (In fact, her face was getting rather red as tears ran down her cheeks), and Chrestomanci spent all of dinner staring at her vaguely. Roger was trying to have a polite conversation with Mr. Temple, and Mr. Saunders was going on about art. In short, Cat didn't have a very pleasant supper.
Later that evening, Cat was on his way to bed when he found Isabel, huddled up in a corner, crying. He was tempted to pass right by her, but decided againt it.
"What's wrong" asked Cat crouching down to watch the tears run down her cheeks.
"Nothing." she lied"I just, miss my mama." she started sobbing again.
"Oh, I heard about your mother. Mine died five years ago. Same with my father. There was an accident." he looked at the child sadly, and for the first time she seemed interested in talking to him.
"Was it a train accident" She looked at him through the tears, eager for knowledge.
"No, they died in a ship, a steamship. My sister and I were some of the survivors." Cat was surprised to feel a tear running down his cheek. He hadn't thought about his parents or Gwendolyn for a while.
Isabel pulled Cat down into a sitting position. She put her arm around his back and cried into his shoulder. Then out of nowhere, she told him her story.