roached and placed a chair for her with
elaborate courtesy.

"Thank you," she said. "I only ran in for a moment--just to tell you
that little Jeanie is so tired to-night. She has had no time for her
lessons all the afternoon because she has been helping with the little
ones in the nursery. She insists upon doing her French exercise, but I am
sure you would not wish her to do it if you knew how worn out the child
is. May I tell her to leave it for to-night?"

She spoke quickly and very earnestly, with clear eyes raised to Mr.
Lorimer's face. She watched his smile fade and his eyes reappear as she
made her appeal.

He did not reply to it for some seconds, and a sharp doubt went through
her. She raised her brows in mute interrogation.

"Yes, my dear Mrs. Denys," he said, in response to her unspoken query, "I
see that you appreciate the fact that there are at least two points of
view to every proposition. You tell me that Jeanie was occupied in the
nursery during that period of the day which should legitimately have been
set aside for the assimilation of learning. I presume her presence there
was voluntary?"

"Oh, quite." There was a hint of sharpness in Avery's rejoinder. "She
went out of the goodness of her heart because Nurse had been up
practically all night with Baby and needed a rest and I was obliged to go
into Wardenhurst for Mrs. Lorimer. So Jeanie took charge of Bertie and
David, and Gracie and Pat went with me."

Mr. Lorimer waved a protesting hand. "Pray spare yourself and me all
these details, Mrs. Denys! I am glad to know that Jeanne has been useful
to you, but at the same time she has no right to offer duty upon the
altar of kindness. You will acknowledge that to obey is better than
sacrifice. As a matter of principle, I fear I cannot remit any of her
task, and I trust that on the next occasion she will remember to set
duty first."

A hot flush had risen in Avery's face and her eyes sparkled, but she
restrained herself. There was no indignation in her voice as she said:
"Mr. Lorimer, believe me, that child will never shirk her duty. She is
far too conscientious. It is really for the sake of her health that I
came to beg you to let her off that French exercise. I am sure she is not
strong. Perhaps I did wrong to let her be in the nursery this afternoon,
though I scarcely know how else we could have managed. But that is my
fault, not hers. I take full responsibility for that."

Mr. Lorimer began to sm