'O yes; but you could go if you did not like us, you know.'
'And you could dismiss me if you did not like me.'
'I did not think of that; I was only afraid—companion means so much, does it not?—how hard it would be for me if I cared for you, and you only cared to be here because'——
'Of the salary I received?'
'Oh, pray do not think that I meant that.—May I say exactly what I was thinking of, Miss Haddon?'
'Pray do.'
'Then I meant that it would be bad for me if you looked down upon the Farrars, if you were ever so nice, or even if you looked down upon the Tippers. I have just seen papa, and he says you belong to great people. That rather frightened me, until I saw dear old auntie, and found that she only knew you were nice; when I began to hope.'
'I shall soon set your mind at ease about all that,' I cheerfully replied. 'Meantime, believe this much—I have begun to look up to Mrs Tipper.'
'What a nice kind thing to say, Miss Haddon.'
'What a pleasant thing to feel, Miss Farrar.'