"I've always a healthy appetite, whatever I do," remarked Mavis, who was fondly regarding the black spaniel.
Then Montague Devitt, Lowther, and Miss Spraggs entered the drawing-room, to all of whom Mavis was introduced.
The men were quite cordial, too cordial to a girl who, after all, was seeking a dependant's place, thought Mrs Devitt.
Already she envied Mavis for her family, the while she despised her for her poverty.
The attentions that her husband and stepson were already paying her were a hint of what Mrs Devitt might expect where the eligible men of her acquaintance were concerned. She felt the necessity of striking a jarring note in the harmony of the proceedings. Jill, the spaniel, who, at that moment, sprang upon Mavis's lap, supplied the means.
"What is Jill doing here?"
"I really don't mind," exclaimed Mavis.
"She shouldn't be in the house. There's no reason for her being here at all, now Harold is ill."
"If you wish her to go," said Mavis ruefully.
Jill was ordered from the room, but refused to quit her new friend's side. Lowther approached the dog; to emphasise his wishes, he kicked her in the side.