"I might have lost you, my precious," she said to her daughter. "It was nothing short of madness my trusting you to those wild young Lovels."
"Oh, mother, they aren't a bit to blame, and I think they are rather nice, particularly Phil."
"Yes, the boy seems a harmless, delicate little creature. I wonder if the old ladies will really make him their heir."
"I hope they will, mother, for he is really very nice."
In the course of the evening, as Clementina was lying on her pillows, thinking of a great many things and wondering if Phil was yet rested enough to leave his nest in the forest, there came a tap at her door, and to her surprise Phil's mother entered. In some ways Mrs. Lovel bore a slight resemblance to Clementina; for she also was vain and self-conscious and she also was vastly taken up with self. Under these circumstances it was extremely natural that the girl and the woman should feel a strong antipathy the one to the other, and Clementina felt annoyed and the softened expression left her face as Mrs. Lovel took a chair by her bedside.
"How are you now, my dear--better, I hope?"
"Thank you, I am quite well," answered Clementina.
"You had a wonderful escape. Ruby is not half broken in. No one attempts to ride him except Rachel."
Clementina felt the old sullen feeling surging up in her heart.
"Such a horse should not be taken on a riding-party," she said shortly. "I have had lessons from Captain Delacourt. I can manage almost any horse."
"You can doubtless manage quiet horses," said Mrs. Lovel. "Well, you have had a wonderful escape and ought to be thankful."
"How is Phil? questioned Clementina after a pause.
"Phil? He is quite well, of course. He is in the armory with the other children."
"He was not well when I saw him last. He looked deadly tired."
"That was his color, my dear. He is a remarkably strong boy."
"You must be very blind," she said, "or perhaps you don't wish to see. It was not just because he was pale that he could not keep his seat on horseback this afternoon. He looked almost as if he would die. You must be a very blind mother--very blind."
Mrs. Level's own face had turned white. She was about to make a hasty rejoinder, when the door was again opened and Miss Griselda and Miss Katharine came in.