Augusta went up to Nan and kissed her.
“What a kind—hearted girl!” thought Captain Richmond. “And what a cross face the little one has! But she seems to be in trouble all the same.”
“Come!” he said in a pleasant voice; “no one cries when I am by. I hate tears so much that they never flow when I am in the neighbourhood. You must cheer up now that I have come to the house. And is no one else at home? Is there no one to welcome me but a pretence niece, and the other”——
“Oh! no niece at all—no niece at all,” said poor Nan; “but I wish I was.”
“Then you shall be; you shall be little niece—— What is your name?”
“Nancy.”
“Little new niece Nancy. Come over here.”
So Nan went to the Captain, and he put his arm round her waist, and she leant up against him while he chatted to Augusta.
He did not say another word to her, but once he took her little hand and squeezed it. What was the matter with her? All her sorrows seemed to go, and all her anxieties to melt into thin air. Augusta was doing the grown-up young lady, chatting on all sorts of subjects, and Nan did not speak a word—not even once did she open her lips—but when Captain Richmond looked down at her she raised her eyes and looked full at him.
“Cross!” he said to himself; “why, it is one of the dearest little faces in the world. But who is the poor little one, and why was she so very sad when I put in my appearance?”