"Oh yes;if I need it."
"How will it come,for instance?"
She looked up quickly."I don't need to know that,"she replied.
Mr.Evringham bit his lip."That's unanswerable,"he thought,"and rather neat."At this moment a knock sounded at the library door,and a moment afterward Mrs.Forbes presented herself.
"Excuse me,Mr.Evringham.I'm afraid Julia has been in your way,staying so long.""No,Mrs.Forbes,thank you,"he returned."She had a letter to write,and I have been reading.""Very well.It is her bedtime now."The housekeeper's tone was inexorable,and Jewel lifted her shoulders as she glanced up at her grandfather,and again he found himself taken into a confidence which excluded his excellent housekeeper."It is better for us to yield,"said Jewel's shoulders and mute lips.Before Mr.Evringham could suspect her intention,she had jumped up on the cushion nimbly as a squirrel,and hugging him in a business-like manner,kissed him twice.
"Good-night,grandpa."
"Good-night,Jewel,"he returned,going to the length of patting her shoulder.
She jumped down and ran to Mrs.Forbes."You needn't come with me,you know,"she said,holding up her face.Mrs.Forbes hesitated a moment.
She had not as yet recovered from this latest liberty taken with the head of the house.
"Let me feel of your hands,Julia."She took them in hers and touched the child's cheeks and forehead as well."You seem to feel all right,do you?""Yes'm."
"No soreness or pain anywhere?"
"No'm.Good-night,Mrs.Forbes."
The housekeeper stooped from her height and accepted the offered kiss.
"Do you prefer to go alone,Jewel?Isn't it lonely for you?"asked Mr.
Evringham.
"No--o,grandpa!Anna Belle is up there."