Augusta gave her a quizzical glance.
“You can call him yours,” she said. “While I am here he is to be my dog—hey, you little beauty?” and she caught up Jack and pressed his head against her cheek.
Presently Susan appeared with the tea, which was nicely prepared, Augusta’s instructions being carried out to the letter.
“Here, Jack,” said Augusta; “stand on your hind-legs and beg. You shall have some sugar.”
“Oh! please, sugar is not good for him at all,” said Nan in a tone of entreaty.
Augusta laughed, picked out the largest lump, and presented it to Jack. He crunched it with appetite; when he had finished she gave him another, and another.
“You will ruin him. He will get to be a horrid dog at this rate,” said Nan.
“Well, when I leave here you can do what you like with him. While I am on the spot it is my will and pleasure to treat little Jack exactly as I think best.”
Nan turned away. She felt a strange, sick sensation round her heart.
“I cannot allow myself to get into the power of this horrid girl,” she said to herself. “It would be better to have Kitty quite furiously angry with me for an hour or two; yes, it would be much better than to have that girl spoiling Jack, and ordering me about just as though I were her slave.”