“And you have taken good care of my little boy.”
“I love Ralph very much, sir,” said Robina simply.
“And you, too, love him,” said Mr Durrant, turning his eyes by a sort of instinct in the direction where Harriet stood, Harriet still looking pale and lanky and different from the rest of her school-fellows.
“Yes,” said Harriet, with a sort of choke in her voice; “I care for Ralph.”
Little Ralph himself looked full at her. He ran up to her now and took her hand.
“Don’t think about your naughtiness,” he whispered to her. “You is forgived, you know.”
Harriet squeezed the little hand and then let it go. There was a lump in her throat. She could not imagine why Ralph Durrant—a little, little boy—had such power over her.
“And the rest of you are mothers too,” said Mr Durrant, looking from one to the other.
“We all love Ralph,” they answered.
“Well now: I have a proposal to make. I am taking a house at the seaside—a very nice country house for the holidays; and I want to know if all the school-mothers can come and stay with Ralph and me in my house. You are all invited. Will you come? There will be the pony for the special school-mother—for you, Robina. The pony which will be your property, and which you can ride as much as you like, and as long as you like, and lend to your companions when you wish to be good-natured, will be with you. And there will be donkeys—excellent donkeys for the rest of you, and also bicycles, and also a waggonette, and a governess cart; so I think there will be no difficulty in your getting about; and I can promise you beforehand that I am a first-rate person for managing picnics; and that my cook-housekeeper, Mrs Joseph, is famous for her cakes, pies, and puddings; and that my other housekeeper, Mrs Scott, will see to your wardrobes and look after your other comforts. But I wish to warn you beforehand, that there will be no lady in the house. There will be no grown-up lady-woman in my house, so you children will have to look out for storms; for I can be, when I like, a very fierce man, and if there are really naughty children, I can make it unpleasant for them. There, my dear little girls, I am only joking—”