"I feel I don't want to stay away from him too long," she said; "in case he may forget me again."
In the afternoon General Macdonald appeared with his pockets bulging with books. Rowena received him and his books with much pleasure.
"I have seen my child," he said abruptly. "She is bigger and older than I thought. She means to take possession of me. I fancy she ought to be at school, ought she not?"
"Oh, don't worry over school just yet. Get to know her, and get her to know you. What do you think of her?"
He drew up a chair and sat down upon it. Rowena waited for him to speak, and he kept her waiting for three or four minutes, then he said slowly:
"I am a little afraid of her."
"What nonsense!"
"I am afraid of her personality. She does not mean to remain in the background. And when I came down here, a child did not enter into my calculations."
"But I really think she ought to have done so. May I congratulate you upon having such a child?"
He looked at her and smiled.