'You will all be dreaming about her and fancying she knew much more than she did,' mamma added; and though she smiled and did not seem at all vexed, I somehow felt that she rather wished the gypsy had not come. One little thing which she said helped to explain this.
'I cannot get the small boy out of my mind,' it was. 'She spoke sharply to him, and he seemed frightened. I do hope she is not unkind to him.'
'Oh no,' I said; 'she had not an unkind face at all, though there was something rather—odd—about it, besides her being a gypsy.'
Taisy laughed, and stroked mamma's arm.
'I should think it most unlikely she is unkind to the child,' she said, 'though he is not her son—or grandson! Dear auntie, you are too tender-hearted.'
Just then I heard a sort of giggle from Esmé, who, for a wonder, was sitting quietly with a book in a corner. I felt vexed with her.
'Esmé,' I whispered, 'it's very rude to laugh at anything Taisy says to mamma.'