The Atom was the first to answer her.
"Approval, is it? And would you be approvalin' it with a headache, Aunt Kezia?"
It was a Saturday. Denis had suggested Madam Tussaud's for the afternoon. Now he declared he didn't think Nell was fit to come with them. She did not feel fit herself, but she wouldn't own it. She was very prickly, and somehow he rubbed her the wrong way,—"Oh, very well, if they'd rather go without her!" Up flared one of those quick Irish outbursts. Nell found herself alone. She sang loudly, listening intently for the shutting of the front door.
"''Twas down at Ballina Fair,
Cailins and boys were gaily tripping it there,
And I the soul of the spree,
When I set eyes on Kitty Magee.
Her smile so sweet, her step so neat,
Hide and seek her two little feet;
Gliding just like a swan at sea,
Handsome, winsome Kitty Magee.
And now I'm dreaming all day,
Sighing from dark to dawn, and wasting away,
Like a lone bird on a tree,
Pining the long hours through for Kitty Magee,
At dance or wake no—"
Bang!
The song died abruptly.
The hopeless muddle on the easel was dabbed at, made more and more oily.
"Eileen!"
Nell went out on to the landing.
"Yes, Aunt Kezia?"