“You look unusually pleased, my dear.”
“I dare say I do,” Millicent smiled. “It’s something to feel that one’s confidence has been justified, and perhaps rather more to rest assured that everything will now go as smoothly as possible.”
“I suppose you mean since Mr. Lisle has come? Apart from his practical abilities, I’m fond of that man. No doubt you noticed that he came first to me, as the eldest, though he is aware that I’m only a dependent. In a way, of course, he wasn’t altogether right, Bella Carew being married and you the actual hostess.”
“I wonder if such points are of any importance in the bush,” Millicent answered, laughing. “But I’m glad Mr. Lisle’s action won your good opinion. I like my friends to be graceful.”
Miss Hume, faded, gray-haired and formal, looked reflective.
“The word you used is not quite the one I should have chosen. Clarence Gladwyne is graceful; I think this Canadian is something better. To-night he was actuated by genuine chivalry. My esteem may not be worth much, but it is his.”
Moved by some impulse, Millicent kissed her.
“I’ve no doubt he’d value it. But I can’t have Clarence depreciated; and it’s getting very late.”
Miss Hume noticed a slight change in the girl’s voice as she mentioned Gladwyne. She put out the lamp but it was some time before she went to sleep. She loved Millicent, and she believed there was trouble awaiting her.