Nina’s expressive eyebrows mounted.
“About Frances,” said Rosamund eagerly, quite unaware that she was disconcerting the diplomatic Mrs. Severing considerably. The shock of finding her discernment at fault, almost equally with her annoyance at being once more asked to render an account of her shifted responsibilities, caused Mrs. Severing to reply with considerably less than her usual suavity:
“Frances! What about her? I’ve left her in charge of a most delightful woman, and she’s perfectly happy. Just as the young,” said Nina viciously, “always are.”
XVI
SHREWD as Mrs. Tregaskis was, it was not until after Nina had departed, serene and triumphant, that she suddenly exclaimed, pondering over the ingenuous epistle of Mrs. Mulholland:
“It’s all very well, but that woman never answered one word about looking after Frances. She wrote about everything else under the sun, but not a single definite assurance in the whole caboodle. What an unpractical lot these holy females are! It’s enough to drive a plain common-sense Cornish body to distraction.”
She laughed in humorous deprecation of her own harassed tones, and Miss Blandflower remarked sympathetically:
“Fancy that, now. Dear Mrs. Tregaskis, wouldn’t you like me to join the fray? I could run down there, have a look at Francesca, and trot back to report progress. Or bring her home in my pocket.”
Bertha looked at her proposed deputy with rather a doubtful expression.
“You’d hate it, Minnie, wouldn’t you? The very bosom of the Scarlet Woman, you know!”