Undoubtedly there had been an old and bitter feeling rankling in her heart for Gerald Baynhurst's sister.
It was inevitable that the love the man had evidently lavished on his sister had been a source of resentment and misery to such a woman as his wife.
On Caroline, the helpless child, therefore, had the accumulation of this bitter anger and jealousy been poured out.
He broke the silence after a long and busily filled pause.
"My mother has a new secretary," he said, and as their eyes met they both smiled. Caroline found his face very attractive when he smiled.
"I saw her. She is middle-aged and very alarming looking. It is my impression that my mother is going to be managed for the first time in her existence. You will be well avenged, Miss Graniger."
When all the little parcels were made ready, and they filled the table, he got up.
"Well, I suppose I ought to go downstairs again. You are very cosy here. I am so glad the children are not in London this dismal weather."
Before going he asked permission to look at Betty and Baby as they slept. When he rejoined Caroline he said—there was a very tender look in his eyes—
"I feel quite important to-night, for now I have three wards; those two tiny souls and yourself, and if one can go by tradition, the life of a guardian is not entirely free from anxiety."