'You talk so nice to me; I can't talk to grown-up people, acept Master Mortimer. At least I can say "Yes" and "No" to them. That's what children should talk, grandmother says.'
'I'm so glad you think I talk nice to you. I can't talk to grown-up people either. I live alone here—so alone now—so alone!'
She sighed, and fell into such deep thought that Bobby wondered if she would ever speak to him again. At last he ventured:
'I've got a father coming for me one day.'
'Have you really? Tell me about him.'
So Bobby told her of his never-fading hope, and she listened and smiled, and then ordered her pony-trap round, and tucking Bobby in beside her, drove him along the road by which he had come. They very soon met Nurse toiling along, with a heated, anxious face, and Bobby began to feel rather ashamed of himself. But the lady seemed to put matters straight at once with her soft voice and pleasant smile. And then she stooped and kissed the small boy by her side.
'I should like you to come and see me very often,' she said. 'I used to know your grandmother long ago, before I went out to India. Do you think,' she added, turning to Nurse, 'that he would be allowed to come to me?'
'I'm sure,' said Nurse, hesitating, 'that if you were to invite him——'
'Then I invite you, Bobby, at once to come to tea with me the day after to-morrow. I will write a note to your grandmother.'
Bobby's eyes shone with delight