o make her nervous; but for now I kept her calm, I kept her neat, I kept her dressed very handsome. I washed her hair in vinegar, and brushed it till it shone. Gentleman would come to her parlour and study her, and bow. And when he said, ''Miss Lilly, I believe you grow sweeter in the face with every day that passes!'', I knew he meant it. But I knew, too, that he meant it as a compliment not to her—who had done nothing—but to me, who did it all.
I guessed little things like that. He couldn''t speak plainly, but made great play with his eyes and with his smiles, as I have said. We waited out our chance for a talk in private; and just as it began to look as though that chance would never come, it did—and it was Maud, in her innocent way, who let us have it.
For she saw him one morning, very early, from the window of her room. She stood at the glass and put her head against it, and said,
''There is Mr Rivers, look, walking on the lawn.''
I went and stood beside her and, sure enough, there he was, strolling about the grass, smoking a cigarette. The sun, being still rather low, made his shadow very long.
Ain''t he tall?'' I said, gazing sideways at Maud. She nodded. Her breath made the glass mist, and she wiped it away. Then she said,
''Oh!''—as if he might have fallen over—''Oh! I think his cigarette has gone out. Poor Mr Rivers!''
He was studying the dark tip of his cigarette, and blowing at it; now he was putting his hand to his trouser pocket, searching for a match. Maud made another swipe at the window-glass.