They made a pretty picture, mother and son; the pale, sad-looking woman, with the fresh, rosy boy, and Eustace paused a moment, at the end of the terrace, to admire it. The boy had caught the tortoise-shell pin in his mother's hair with one chubby hand, and, before she could laughingly prevent him, had pulled it out, so that the fair ringlets came falling over her breast in a golden shower.
"Oh, naughty Sammy," she said, gaily tossing him in the air with her two hands. "Look at poor mother's hair--bad child!"
Sammy, however, appeared to have a different opinion, and chuckled indistinctly to himself, until he caught sight of Eustace, of whom he was very fond, and stretched out his arms with a merry crow.
"Mr. Gartney,' said Lady Errington, flushing a rosy red at the disorder of her hair, just see what this scamp has done."
"Young Turk!" said Eustace, taking the boy with a smile, while Alizon hastily twisted up her hair into a loose knot. "How are you, to-day, Lady Errington?"
"Quite well, thank you," she replied quietly, as he sat down near her, with Sammy still on his knee. "I thought you were up in town?"
"So I was. Came down last night," answered Gartney, while the baby made futile grabs at his watch chain. "Well, my prince, and how are you?"
"He's never ill," said the young mother, with great pride. "I never saw such a healthy child. Not an illness since his birth."
"Lucky Sammy! if his future life is only as pleasant as the first year of it, what a delightful time he will have."
Lady Errington's face had grown very grave during this speech, as she had caught sight of the crape on his arm, and suddenly remembered why he had gone up to town.