"May I kiss your dear little girl?" she said to Mr. Rayburn. The landlady, standing on the mat below, expressed her opinion of the value of caresses, as compared with a sounder method of treating young persons in tears: "If that child was mine," she remarked, "I would give her something to cry for."In the meantime, Mrs. Zant led the way to her rooms.
The first words she spoke showed that the landlady had succeeded but too well in prejudicing her against Mr. Rayburn.
"Will you let me ask your child," she said to him, "why you think me mad?"He met this strange request with a firm answer.
"You don't know yet what I really do think. Will you give me a minute's attention?""No," she said positively. "The child pities me, I want to speak to the child. What did you see me do in the Gardens, my dear, that surprised you?" Lucy turned uneasily to her father; Mrs.
Zant persisted. "I first saw you by yourself, and then I saw you with your father," she went on. "When I came nearer to you, did Ilook very oddly--as if I didn't see you at all?"Lucy hesitated again; and Mr. Rayburn interfered.