A silent compact, silently entered into, for before a word was interchanged the animated contralto of the lady came down from above. “Who is the little girl, son? What is your name, dear?”
Son’s wince was visible. He had no knowledge of the little girl’s name, but he did not want to say so.
But she was answering for herself, looking up at the pretty lady, dressed as though for a party. “It’s Mary Alexina Blair,” she was saying, “but my Aunt Harriet says it’s to be just Alexina now.”
“Oh,” said the lady. There was a little silence before she spoke again. “It must be Alexander Blair’s child, Georges. Come up, dear, and let me see you.”
But King William, balancing himself on the back of his father’s chair, objected. “Hurry, then, mother,” he demanded; “we want to play.”
But Alexina had gone up the steps obediently. The eyes of the lady were dark and slumbrous, but in them was the slightly helpless look of short vision. She drew the child close for inspection.
The fair hair, the even brows, the clear-gazing eyes she seemed to have expected, but the dilation in those same wondering eyes raised to hers, the short upper-lip, the full under one that trembled—these the lady did not know. “A sensitiveness, a warmth,” she said, half aloud. What did she mean? Then she raised her voice.
“See, Willy Leroy, how she stands for me, while you pull away if I so much as lay my hand on you.”
“But you look so close,” objected Willy, “and you fix my hair, and you say my collar ain’t straight. You’ve seen her now, mother; you’ve seen her close, and I want her to come sit on the step.”
“Go, then, little Mary Alexina Blair,” said the lady; “he’s a little ingrate whose mother has to barter with him for every concession he makes her.” And, smiling at herself, her face alight and arch with the animation of her smile, Charlotte Leroy sat back in the scarlet settee and respread her draperies as a bird its plumage, touching the ribbons at her waist and throat, resettling them with the air of one who takes frank pleasure in their presence and becomingness. This done, she viewed her hands, charming hands heavy with costly rings, and finally, reassured at all points, she relaxed her buoyant figure and looked around with smiling return to her surroundings. It was for no party she was dressed but for her own satisfaction.