The little worm!
"But," she said presently, disgustedly smiling, "you remember when I came to the School, and that I asked you who Mr. Jeffries was——"
"Of course!" said Kitty, suddenly entirely believing. "How absurd! But oh, I do love him so."
Louie mused.
"And he—Mr. Jeffries—knows nothing about this, you say?" she asked presently.
"No. He thinks something's wrong. He's been teaching at the School, you know, and of course he must have wondered what was the matter all this last week."
"It's a week since Mr. Merridew—did me this favour?"
"Yes. But perhaps Jeff thought——" She checked herself.
"What? I think I ought to know what Mr. Jeffries may have thought."
Kitty hesitated, and then, with a little burst, told her. It was curious. It appeared that Mr. Jeffries had been very hard up indeed, so hard up that, quite recently, he had actually had to take a position as a commissionaire. It was known, and possibly he had set any oddities of behaviour towards himself down to that.