CHAPTER XXVI
IN BETSY’S ROOM
Mrs. Bruce did not sleep much after her stormy ebullition. She heard Irving and Robert come in, and knew that Irving came softly to her door and tried it. Finding it locked, he moved away as quietly. She knew he was feeling a tardy anxiety about her, and she wept again.
Toward morning she fell asleep, and when next her eyes opened, the sun was high.
Only the slumberous sound of the sea broke the Sabbath stillness.
From force of habit Mrs. Bruce put her hand out to touch the bell on the table beside her bed. It always summoned Betsy with the cup of hot water she liked to drink before she rose.
She arrested her own movement. What! Was Betsy to be allowed to fall into the usual routine and minister to her mistress’s needs as if nothing had happened?
Summon her? Certainly not. Betsy must be made to feel that a change had taken place, and that she must exhibit some regret before she could be received back into favor.
So Mrs. Bruce arose and made her toilet, and donning a negligée of silk and lace, proceeded to the dining-room.
Irving and Robert were already there, and Alice, the cook, was putting breakfast on the table. Irving strode forward to meet her. He noted her heavy eyes as he kissed her forehead.
“Pardon, Madama, I thought you weren’t coming down. Nixie and I are in a hurry, and as long as Betsy was busy with you, I asked Alice to put the things on the table.”