A peal of excited laughter was her answer and she made as if she would rush toward me with open arms, as might an affectionate child eager to caress an indulgent parent—and then on a sadden she checked herself, a blush suffusing her cheeks and her very ears.
"Go call Griselda," I commanded, to cover her confusion, "and show her the young woman we've been harboring in the guise of a child."
Alicia ran out of the room to comply and for a moment I remained sitting in my chair as under a spell. Then I rose hastily to dispel such nonsensical emotions and left my room, only to come face to face with Alicia and Griselda in the dining room.
"Oh, ay—yes!" muttered my aging Griselda, her swarthy countenance hot from the kitchen stove, looking more forbiddingly sybilline than ever, "It's all over!" she added mysteriously.
"What do you mean—all over?" I demanded a little stupidly, though dimly I suppose I understood her.
"The young besoms grow up sae fast, it's a meeracle they dinna wed in their cradles!"
"Wed!" I cried in disgust at the word. "You women are always thinking of only one thing—even you, Griselda. Go," I turned to Alicia, "let down your hair again this minute, so you won't put such wild notions into Griselda's frivolous mind."
Alicia laughed deliciously and even Griselda with a sort of dark twisted smile reiterated:
"Oh, ay—the young besoms!" Whereupon my young woman impulsively threw her arms about Griselda and kissed the brown cheek with gusto. Griselda returned by pinching Alicia's cheek fiercely.
My nephew Randolph and a companion, a tall gawky boy coming into the house at that moment, stood in their raincoats at the dining-room door and gaped, blocking Alicia's path.