“No. Nelly dot afraid. Nelly loves ’oo.”
In proof whereof she put her mouth up for a kiss.
“Will Nelly come to see me every day?”
“Det.”
“Does Nelly’s papa love her?”
He believed that she had been taught to regard Mr. Conway as her papa. It was a sore tax upon the gentle mood then on him to put the question in that form, but he wished to learn if his child were well treated by her step-father.
The question puzzled her. Indeed, she was a very little thing, and backward in her speech. It was delicious to see her knit her tiny brows, and gaze with her full, deep, earnest eyes on Holdsworth, with a half-intelligence in her face, and all the rest child-sweetness.
Like all children, who cannot answer a question, she remained silent; a hint parents would sometimes do well to take.
“Does Nelly get plenty to eat?”