The hasty removal of Eliza's cap had caused a weird flying-out of her locks. The direct gaze bent upon her twinkled.
"I wonder if she'd let me paint her as Medusa," he was thinking; while her unspoken comment was: "And she never saw his teeth! It's just as well."
"Yes, that's who I am," she said. "Sit down, Mr. Sidney. I've been expectin' you."
"You didn't behave that way," he replied good-naturedly, obeying. "I thought at first I was going downstairs quicker than I came up, and I'd taken them three at a time."
His manner was disarming and Eliza smoothed her flying locks.
"The agents try to sneak around the rules o' the house," she said briefly.
"So this is where Aunt Mary lived." He looked about the room with interest. "We people in God's country hear about these flats where you don't dare keep a dog for fear it'll wag its tail and knock something over."
The troublesome lump in Eliza's throat had to be swallowed, so the visitor's keen glance swept about the bare place in silence.
"I see she didn't go in much for jim-cracks," he added presently.