He
heard the girl beside him utter a discomfortable sound, and saw her
face cloud as if tears were not far off; she jumped up, and going to the
window, lifted the little dog and buried her face in its brown and white
fur. Old Heythorp thought: 'She sees that her humbugging mother is using
her as a decoy.' But she had come back, and the little dog, rolling its
eyes horribly at the strange figure on the sofa, in a desperate effort
to escape succeeded in reaching her shoulder, where it stayed perched
like a cat, held by one paw and trying to back away into space. Old
Heythorp said abruptly:
"Are you very fond of your mother?"
"Of course I am, Guardy. I adore her."
"H'm! Listen to me. When you come of age or marry, you'll have a hundred
and twenty a year of your own that you can't get rid of. Don't ever be
persuaded into doing what you don't want. And remember: Your mother's a
sieve, no good giving her money; keep what you'll get for yourself--it's
only a pittance, and you'll want it all--every penny."
Phyllis's eyes had opened very wide; so that he wondered if she had
taken in his words.
"Oh! Isn't money horrible, Guardy?"
"The want of it.
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