Winifred greeted Betty very kindly, and Jack begged her to stay and join in the fun, but the little girl only shook her head sadly, saying she must go back to her mother, as Miss Clark might need her.
"But you'll come back very soon, won't you, Betty?" Jack said a little wistfully, lifting his face for a kiss. "Oh, Betty dear, I am having such a good time; I wish you could stay."
Betty found them all laughing heartily over "My Grandmother's Cat."—Page 94.
"I can't," said Betty shortly, and having kissed her little brother she hurried away, winking hard to keep back the tears.
On the stairs she encountered Miss Clark, dressed for her daily walk.
"Your mother is asleep," the nurse explained, "and Mrs. Hamilton is going to sit with her till I come back. Don't look so worried, dear, she isn't any worse to-day; indeed, we think she is a little better."
Betty tried to smile, but the effort was rather a failure, and when she had reached their own apartment, sat down on Jack's sofa, laying her head down on the cushion on which her little brother's head had so often rested.
A few moments later, Mrs. Hamilton, going into the kitchen for something she wanted, was startled by the sound of low, subdued crying. Glancing in at the door of the sitting room she saw Betty lying face downwards on the sofa, her whole frame shaking with sobs. Next instant she was bending over the little figure, softly stroking Betty's tumbled hair.