She kissed the quivering face on her bosom and fondled the soft dark hair. They remained so for a space not speaking; then very gently Maud withdrew herself.
"Did I tell you that Bunny is allowed to play hockey this term? It is horribly dangerous--I went up to watch it last Saturday--but he enjoys it tremendously; and they say it will do him good. He is growing fast, getting quite a man."
"I am very pleased to hear it," Mrs. Wright said warmly. "Dearie me, just to think of the poor little weakly thing he was a year ago! Do you remember that day I first looked in on you, and how you gave me them violets? I've never forgotten it."
Maud flushed a little. "You were so good to me, and I had been so ungracious. I wonder you ever forgave me."
"What rubbish, dear! What rubbish!" softly interpolated Mrs. Wright. "I loved you from the first moment I set eyes on you that night at Giles Sheppard's. And that reminds me. How is your mother doing now?"
"She is living in London," Maud said. "I believe Giles Sheppard went to Canada. She doesn't seem to trouble about him, but has settled down quite happily in a boarding-house in Bayswater. I invested some of Uncle Edward's money in an annuity for her. It seemed the best plan."
"I am so glad you have got that money, dear," said Mrs. Wright simply.
"Thank you," Maud said. "But--you know--I could have been quite happy without it. At least I think I could. We should have had to emigrate. And I--" she smiled momentarily, "I suppose I should have been a cow-puncher's wife in earnest."
"You wouldn't have liked that," said Mrs. Wright with conviction.
"Shouldn't I? I wonder. I am beginning to think that external circumstances haven't much to do with happiness." Maud spoke thoughtfully. "Still--now I am used to the idea--I am glad to have the money. Uncle Edward left all his affairs in such perfect order that they will probably be wound up very soon now. Mr. Craven, the solicitor, said it was one of the simplest matters he had ever had to deal with, which is all the better for me. He is in a position to raise almost any amount for me even now." Maud was smiling again, that faint, half-wistful smile that had become hers. "It will be useful when it comes to furnishing the new house, won't it?" she said.