"Yes," put in Sunnie breathlessly, with burning cheeks, "of running down to open the door to Cousin Leslie, of running upstairs again, and showing him a little old empty sofa in the corner of the nursery, of driving in his high dog-cart along the roads, and perhaps riding a pony all by myself and jumping over hedges and ditches. Oh yes, it will be lovely when I can do it all; and till I can, as Cousin Leslie says, I can put my hands in God's, like the good Margaret did, and let Him lead me."
"Yes," said Jean, looking thoughtfully at her; "you will never be able to walk without God, Sunnie—I can't!"
Then they began to talk nonsense together, for Jean wisely determined to keep the child off the subject of herself, and she left her brimming over with her usual flow of fun and high spirits. She saw her often after this, and then came the eventful 1st of May.
Jean had the great pleasure of going to the private view and taking Mrs. Fergusson and Mrs. Gordon with her. Her picture was placed well, and several well-known R.A.'s congratulated her, on her first attempt. But she really enjoyed it most, a day later, after the public had been admitted and she slipped in amongst the throng. Mrs. Talbot accompanied her.
"I feel I am with a celebrity," she said, as they entered the room where the picture was. "It is quite on the line, my dear; you are fortunate. And what a winsome little creature she is! I foresee a good many mothers will ask you to paint their children after this. How did Mrs. Gordon like looking at it? I never have got her to dinner yet, she has been so wrapped up in that child. This operation is a wonderful one by all accounts; it will be a mercy, if the poor child is cured. It seemed so sad to think that property was lying waste, so to speak. Now a few years hence, Helen will be looking out for a suitable husband for her daughter. It is to be hoped she will keep her beauty, but after all, money is the attraction to most men nowadays!"
Jean listened to Mrs. Talbot's voluble talk, and wondered vaguely if Sunnie's recovery would be an unmixed blessing to her. Then, she was startled by hearing her name called, and turning round, met the beaming face of Charlie Oxton.
"Now, by Jove, this is lucky! Couldn't have hit it off neater! It was a sudden resolve this morning. I wired to you, but you've been out all day, so your landlady told me, and my wire is unopened. I called at your place a couple of hours ago. The sceptical Rawlings is here. I've brought him. Hush! See him opposite your production! I've hustled him in there and left him. He is a fish out of water, and though I'm getting no end of entertainment out of him, I don't like a perpetual grinning crowd dogging our footsteps. A pity your grandfather wouldn't come up. He's very seedy, has been in bed four days, and is crawling about looking like green meat!"
When Jean could get a word in, she introduced Charlie to Mrs. Talbot, but the latter soon moved away, and then Charlie edged up to the old gardener, and brought him to a quieter corner of the room, where Jean was sitting.
She had her hands seized and nearly shaken off her body.
"Eh, dear Miss Jean, this is a day! And ye looks near the same as when ye left us, only a bit finer in the garments! Well, to think on't! An' the pictur' be a very pretty one indeed, very pretty, quite like an ordinary. There was a little lass feedin' her dog in the Chris'mas al'mack Mary got from the grocer's, an' it be very similar to your pictur', very similar!"