shine as that key had on it! And then, when we had finished our meals in Mrs Stiles''s pantry, he would make a great show of loading up the tray—and I''d see him, when he thought no-one was looking, tipping the beer from the bottom of all the glasses into one great cup, and lushing it away.
I saw it—but, of course, I kept it all to myself. I wasn''t there to make trouble. It was nothing to me, if he drank himself to death. And I passed most of my time, anyway, with Maud. I got used to her, too. She had her finicking ways, all right; but they were slight enough, it didn''t hurt me to indulge them. And I was good at working hard, on little things: I began to take a kind of pleasure in the keeping of her gowns, the tidying of her pins and combs and boxes. I was used to dressing infants. I grew used to dressing her.
''Lift your arms, miss,'' I''d say. ''Lift your foot. Step here. Now, here.''