“I thought you’d like to see him,” said Miss Merriman, as she bent over the cot, looking a very Juno in her plain dress of navy serge, cut just low enough at the neck to show the full beauties of a superb white throat.
But it was not so much her physical beauty which attracted Bayre as a certain tender look in her eyes which he thought amounted to self-betrayal.
With a certain air of unaccustomed responsibility the young man said, watching her the while,—
“Yes, indeed. I have very strong reasons for wishing to see the little chap. I’ve found out something about him.”
She looked up quickly, anxiously.
“Ah!”
“I’ve found out, I think beyond a doubt, that he’s not only my first cousin, but that I’m his guardian.”
The answer which this announcement drew from the lady would have been surprising enough but for Bayre’s own suspicions.
“His guardian! He can’t have a guardian till his father’s dead?”
Bayre took her quickly upon her words.