"That's what the papers call the rights of the employer," said Tinker with a singularly sad sweetness.
"Oh, you wouldn't insist on that right, not if you were asked nicely, would you?" said Lord Crosland.
"Oh, yes, I should!" said Tinker cheerfully. "You see, I'm responsible for Elsie, and she will never get such a good governess as Dorothy again. So she must have as much of her as possible."
"Thank you; it's nice to be appreciated," said Dorothy, smiling at him.
"Ah," said Septimus Rainer with the air of one who has found a solution of the problem, "but Dorothy can always forfeit a month's salary in lieu of notice."
"Oh, I couldn't think of it, papa!" cried Dorothy. "I should lose—I should lose five pounds!"
"This beats the Dutch! This is avarice! I allow you four thousand dollars a month!" said Septimus Rainer.
"Ah, but this is my own earned money!" Dorothy protested, flushing and smiling.
Suddenly there came a twinkle into Septimus Rainer's eye. "Well," he said, "if you're ground down under the heel of a grasping employer, you're ground down, and you must go to Arcachon. But I shall come, too."
"Of course," said Tinker. "You're—you're one of the family."