Arnott was not easily won over. He resented the idea of a stranger in the household, whom he could not ignore as he might a nurse, to whom it would be necessary, he complained, to be civil.
“I don’t see why a nurse shouldn’t be good enough for our kids as well as for other people’s,” he grumbled. “A governess is always in the way.”
“I will take very good care she doesn’t get in your way,” Pamela returned. “And I don’t fancy you will find it difficult to be civil to Blanche.”
“You can’t treat a girl like that as if she were a nursemaid,” he objected.
“Of course not. One need not go to extremes either way.”
He looked at her with some displeasure, made an impatient sound between his teeth, muttered: “Damn the kids!” and finally gave in.
“You’ll never leave off pestering until you get what you want,” he said. “You can try the experiment, but as soon as it becomes a nuisance you will have to make other arrangements.”
“All right,” Pamela agreed cheerfully, satisfied at having gained her point, and feeling very little anxiety as to the result of her venture. “You’ll see; it will work admirably. And I shall have far more leisure to devote to your exacting self.”
He suddenly smiled.
“I’m glad you recognise that you have neglected me of late,” he observed. “I’ve been of no greater account in this household than a piece of waste paper since the boy came.”