“You knew Mr. Addis called, didn’t you?” she asked.
Mrs. Baron’s face flamed again. “Knew it? Certainly, I didn’t know it! I’ve told Mrs. Shepard—I don’t intend that he shall annoy you!”
“Oh, mother! He doesn’t! And I think Mrs. Shepard didn’t know, this time. Bonnie May went to the door and let him in. She called me down-stairs without telling me who it was.” Flora surveyed her mother yearningly, yet with a kind of gentle courage. “I don’t believe in hiding things from you, mother. But I was glad to see him.”
Mrs. Baron looked grimly toward her own door. “She let him in! Very well. Put her to bed!”
She descended the stairs with dignity. She must have been thinking of future victories rather than of past defeats.
When Flora entered the sitting-room she found Bonnie May standing in uneasy contemplation.
“Mother says I’m to put you to bed,” said Miss Baron.
“Why didn’t she go ahead and put me to bed herself?”
Flora perceived that the question was not wanting in sincerity. She decided to answer quite honestly.