“Not even that!”
“You are exceedingly careful, Miss Minerva.”
“I have had some experience of sick people, and I have learnt to be careful. May I ask if you have any particular reason for calling me downstairs?”
Mrs. Gallilee prepared to put her niece and her governess to the final test.
“I wish you to suspend the children’s lesson for an hour or two,” she answered.
“Certainly. Shall I tell them?”
“No; I will tell them myself.”
“What do you wish me to do?” said Miss Minerva.
“I wish you to remain here with my niece.”
If Mrs. Gallilee, after answering in those terms, had looked at her niece, instead of looking at her governess, she would have seen Carmina—distrustful of her own self-control—move on the sofa so as to turn her face to the wall. As it was, Miss Minerva’s attitude and look silently claimed some explanation.