“Mercy!” he said. “It is a long time since breakfast.”
“I had no breakfast, sir.”
“Good God!” he said, and pulled the velvet handle of a cord. A negro came.
“Is the supper for the guests ready?”
“Yes, Marsa.”
“Then bring as much as you can carry here,” said the gentleman. “And ask Mrs. Lowndes if I may speak with her.”
Mrs. Lowndes came first. And such a fine lady she was that she frightened me, this being my first experience with ladies. But when Mr. Lowndes told her my story, she ran to me impulsively and put her arms about me.
“Poor lad!” she said. “What a shame!”
I think that the tears came then, but it was small wonder. There were tears in her eyes, too.
Such a supper as I had I shall never forget. And she sat beside me for long, neglecting her guests, and talking of my life. Suddenly she turned to her husband, calling him by name.