“Larry Mulvaney” ses I “will you or will you not be after handing me the letter for Miss Claire?”
“I’ll be dummed first” ses I wid indigation.
“Be dummed then” ses he, “but lissen swatehart. Mr. Dudley do be sinding Mr. Harry aff to Yurope to-morrow marning airly. Its the long distunse cure the auld gintleman do be after expicting for the lad. Now Mr. Harry has rote a litter of ixplanashuns to Miss Claire appoynting an intervew. So Delia darlint its oop to you. Shall Miss Claire have the litter or shall she not?”
“My God Mr. Mulvaney” ses I “do you mean to say ye’d be holding back the litter from the puir yung thing?”
“Tak it then” ses I “and be dummed to you.”
Wid that he guv a joomp, saysed me about the waste and kissed me smack on the lips, and me riddy to sink into the airth for shame, for shure its the first time a lad do be giving me a kiss. He slipped the letter into me hand. Wid that I cam to me sinses and struck out wid me free hand. But Larry guv a larf at the smack I’m giving him and ses he:
“Delia darlint thats nothing but a love smack. Goodbye mavourneen, it’ll be manny a day befure ye’ll forgit the kissing I’ve given you.”
Whin he was gone I looked about me kitchin, hardly knowing what I was seeing, wid the ixcipshun of the hash on the flure. Prisintly I herd the family coming home and I sneeked upstares hoping to get the chance of seeing Miss Claire alone. The family was on the porch, and I herd Mr. James reeding aloud from a litter in his hand:
“Deer Miss Wolley” he red, “me sun sales for Yurope per S. S. Germanya to-morrow morning at 7, and is accumpanied by Miss Una Robbins and her father.”
Thin followed a few more wards in which the auld scallywag congrachulated the puir yung crachure upon her iscape from a young fellow whos intinshuns were not seerius since he was all the time ingaged to another girl and he begged to remane hers fathefully S. Judd Dudley.
I left the family looking at aich other in silince and wint oop thray stips at a time to the child’s room. I nocked saftly.
I herd her sobbing inside and I called agin, “Miss Claire darlint!”
“Miss Claire!” I called wid me mouth to the keyhole “for the love of God open the dure.” After a moment I herd the key turn and thin she opened it joost a crack or two. I throost in me hand and shuvved the letter in at the dure. I herd her guv a little moofled scrame and thin she was sylint. I stole away down stares and cryed in peece in me dish towel. Shure I’d be giving the bauld lad a hoondred kisses more, ef he were to ask me again for thim joost now.