imitating his half-chaffing tone. "I slept excellently well, thank you."
"Why, that's a blessing!" he said, rubbing his hands. "So did I!"
"It was very unkind of you, though, Jimmie, to wake up a guest in the middle of the night," said Miss Durham. "How inconsiderate!"
Mr. Parslewe motioned me to the breakfast table with a bow and a wave of his delicately fingered hand, and favoured his ward and myself with one of his sweetest smiles.
"Well, I don't know, my dear," he retorted. "He might have been a burglar!—you never can tell."
He laughed, with full enjoyment, at his own joke, and bent towards me as he handed me a plate.
"I was sorry I woke you!" he said, still smiling. "I was enjoying looking at you. I thought I'd never seen such a refreshingly innocent young mortal in my life! In fact, I was just thinking of fetching Madrasia to look at you when you woke."
He laughed more than ever at this, and I glanced from him to his ward.
