Bertie hastened up to shake hands. He was very excited over this new visitor, and was ready to be friends with her at once.
Very soon they were sitting round the tea-table. Shyness had suddenly descended upon Freda and Daffy. It was Dreamikins who did most of the talking—Dreamikins and Nurse.
"I think," Dreamikins said, looking at Nurse with one of her sweetest smiles, "that I shall call you H.D. Do you mind if I do?"
"Why H.D.?" demanded Nurse.
"It means something to me," Dreamikins replied. "I always like calling people by letters. I call Mummie D.Q. Not when she scolds me, though—never then!"
She shook her curls with vigour as she spoke. Then she condescended to explain.
"D.Q. means Darling Queen," she said.
Freda and Daffy began to guess under their breath what H.D. meant, but Dreamikins would not tell them. She went on calmly:
"You see, I can't call you Nurse, because you aren't my nurse. I gave up nurses when I was quite little; they changed so often, and Mummie and me got quite tarred of them."
"I hope you weren't a very troublesome little girl," said Nurse sternly. "Children who have no nursery are always spoilt and unruly. I am sorry for their mothers, but all the best families keep their children in the nursery till they go to school."