"I don't require a guardian," said Caroline. But she said it shyly, not sharply. "I have always taken care of myself, and I am sure I can do it now."
"I am afraid that argument does not move me," he answered, and with a smile he held out his hand and said, "Good night."
When he was gone Caroline sat down and thought about him. She felt sorry for him.
"I do wish she had come," she mused to herself. "I wonder why she did not? He looks miserable when he is not talking. I should like him to have a happy Christmas; he certainly has helped to give me one, and I expect I am only one of hundreds.... I remember last year how his mother grumbled at all his charities; I little thought then that he and I should be together for this Christmas! So everything is coming with a rush," Caroline mused on. "To-night I discover that I actually had a mother and a father, and now I have a guardian," and then she laughed outright, "and of course Cuthbert Baynhurst is my cousin! That sounds funny! How pleased he will be!" She reverted again to the subject of Camilla later on. "Will she come to-morrow? Oh, surely yes!... She could not let Christmas go without seeing the children!"
And on the morrow, when every one was at church, except Caroline and Baby, who certainly was not quite her usual brisk little self, Mrs. Lancing arrived.
She went up at once to the nursery, flung off her furs, and sat down and took her Baby in her arms.
"She is not really ill, is she?" she queried anxiously.
"Oh, she is ever so much better this morning," said Caroline. "You see, it has been so damp the last few days, and yesterday the wind was very keen."
"And she always gets cold in the nasty wind, don't you Boodles, my precious?"
The mother hugged the little figure in her arms, then stretched out her hand to Caroline.