It was not a disagreeable picture--that chubby, rose-cheeked little boy.
Willie had run to the door because he heard the bell. He had not
expected to see a stranger, and at sight of the tall figure he drew back
timidly and half hid himself behind Mrs. Richards, whom he knew to be
the warmest ally he had in the hall.
As the doctor had said to Irving Stanley, he disliked children, but he
could not help noticing Willie, and after the first greetings were over
he asked, "Who have we here? Whose child is this?"
Eudora and Asenath tried to frown, but the expression of their faces
softened perceptibly as they glanced at Willie, who had followed them
into the parlor, and who, with one little foot thrown forward, and his
fat hands pressed together, stood upon the hearth rug, gazing at the
doctor with that strange look which had so often puzzled, bewildered and
fascinated the entire Richards' family.
"Anna wrote you that the maid she so much wanted had come to her at
last--a very ladylike person, who has evidently seen better days, and
this is her child, Willie Markham. He is such a queer little fellow
that we allow him more liberties than we ought."
It was Mrs. Richards who volunteered this explanation, while her son
stood looking down at Willie, wondering what it was about the child
which seemed familiar. Anna had casually mentioned Rose Markham in her
letter, had said how much she liked her, and had spoken of her boy, but
the doctor was too much absorbed in his own affairs to care for Rose
Markham; so he had not thought of her since, notwithstanding that 'Lina
had tried many times to make him speak of Anna's maid, so as to
calculate her own safety. The sight of Willie, however, set the doctor
to thinking, and finally carried him back to the crowded car, the
shrieking child, and the young woman to whom Irving Stanley had been so
kind.
"I hope I shall not be obliged to see her," he thought, and then he
answered his mother's speech concerning Willie. "So you've taken to
petting a servant's child, for want of something better. Just wait until
my boy comes here."
Eudora tried to blush, Asenath looked unconscious, while Mrs. Richards
replied: "If I ever have a grandson one half as pretty or as bright as
Willie, I shall be satisfied."
The doctor did not know how rapidly a lively, affectionate child will
win one's love, and he thought his proud mother grown almost demented;
but still, in spite of himself, he more than once raised his hand to lay
it on Willie's head, pausing occasionally in his conversation to watch
the gambols of the playful child sporting on the carpet.