He raised his eyebrows in whimsical alarm.
"If not, you may not have observed how very thin you are growing. Do not kill yourself for hire."
"I shall batten on pudding."
She was retracing her steps when he recalled her. "Will you pardon a word of warning?"
She instantly descended the remainder of the path. It led her round a clump of shrubs, and when he met her at its foot he was startled at the change the moment's suspense had worked. She now wore the face of terror he had seen when he caught her guarding his door in the April dawn.
So surprised was he that his speech halted.
She was probably not at all aware of her pallor or dilated eyes. "I am not alarmed," she said. "What is it?" But her breath came quick.
"I must apologize for what may seem an impertinence. I had a little daughter once, and I sometimes think if she had lived she would have looked like you—let that be my excuse."
"Thank you, indeed; but what——" She almost tapped her foot in strained impatience.
Then he told her, in guarded terms, that someone had suggested that young Godson did not understand his inferior position.