‘I hope you will have no trouble with the father,’ said Frank.
‘I trust he has gone to his own locker, or, if not, he is only too glad to be rid of her. I can tackle him,’ said Bertha confidently. ‘The child is really a little duck!’
She spoke as if the little one filled an empty space in her heart; and, even though there might be trouble in store, it was impossible not to be glad of her present gladness, and her invitation was willingly accepted. Moreover, her recommendations were generally trustworthy, and Mary only hesitated because, she said—
‘I thought, if I could do without a maid, we might take Constance. She is doing so very well, and likely to pass so well in her examinations, that it would be very nice to give her this pleasure.’
‘Good little girl! So it would. I should like nothing better; but I am afraid that if you took her without a maid, Emma would misunderstand it, and say you wanted to save the expense.’
‘Would it make much difference?’
‘Not more than we could bear now that we are in for it, but I fear it would excite jealousies.’
‘Is that worse than leaving the poor child to Westhaven society all the holidays?’
‘Perhaps not; and Conny is old enough now to be more injured by it than when she was younger.’
‘You know I have always hoped to make her like a child of our own when her school education is finished.’