"And you take care of your mother in Salamander Street?" he said encouragingly.
"Mrs. Baltus is quite able to take care of herself," she returned. "I live with her because I've been jilted and have nowhere else to live," said the girl, tossing her head.
"Oh, my gracious, what rubbishee stuff is this?" cried her aunt with uplifted hands. "Never did I hear the like."
Deciding that since Leila was so sulky and her host so "stuck-up," she would rather enjoy the hired bandy in bowling along the Madras roads than remain longer surrounded by those awe-inspiring books. She rose to take leave, much to the relief of her niece, who later recounted to her mother that "it was quite a wasted hour. The man was as stiff as a poker and wished Aunt Tilly and her twaddle at the bottom of the sea!"
Mrs. Rouat took her seat among the cushions in the bandy with a sense of disappointment. Her visit had evidently not been a pleasure to her old acquaintance.
"Sure, I wanted nothing more from David Morpeth but a hearty word for the sake of old times!" she sighed.
"Maybe, Aunt Tilly, but the man's so used to Eurasian beggars he could only credit us with being on some such whining errand."
"Oh, fie, Leila Baltus, you are bitter! How could he class us with such? But I don't think he half liked my rippin' up his old mess by referrin' to Rosina though," added Mrs. Rouat musingly. "'Pon my word, he turned as white as a pucka Englishman at the veree mention of her name."
"My gracious, from whatt you've been tellin' me about Rosina I think he must have been precious glad to be rid of her—and her brat too! But it was when you spoke of the son thatt he grew so white. I was sharp enough to see thatt. Anyhow I'm glad I choked off any fuss about my joinin' the Girls' Club. He didn't even get a word in sideways about thatt, though I read in his eye he'd have liked to have a try!"
"And whatt if he did? It would only be for your good! But whatt ever was thatt nonsense you were speakin' about bein' jilted? Was it all a make-up?"