Page:Lesbia Newman - Dalton - 1889.djvu/56

 ‘Oh, he’s all right; I just popped him into my bed, where he'll be snug for the present; I couldn’t have him here and attend to you. But, mamma dearest, you evade my question; I want to know what it is that has upset you.’

Mrs Newman hesitated a few seconds, then she said timidly:—

‘No, Lesbie, I’ve no wish to put you off, you’re always so tender to me, but—well since you must have it, ’ve been dreaming; there! that’s what it is.’

‘Dreaming!’ exclaimed Lesbia, with a laugh, much relieved. ‘Bless you, darling mamma, is that all? I was afraid something real was the matter. Why, you don’t mean to say that you condescend to bestow a second thought upon dreams? Why, if I had eaten a crab, shell and all, and had such a nightmare as might be expected, it wouldn’t trouble my mind once it was over! Not unless I died of the indigestion.’

‘No, it’s weak of me, Lesbie, I admit; only some dreams affect one more than others. Never mind; it’s past and gone now.’

‘But how comes it, mamma, that we never heard a word about all this at breakfast? You seemed quite yourself then, and also when we drove from the hall door.’

‘It wasn’t last night, Lesbie, darling, it was to-day. About half an hour after you and Theo were gone—about half-past twelve—I felt strangely oppressed and drowsy, and longed for a midday nap—most unusual with me. So I lay down on this sofa and went off in a moment, and it was then that I had this dream.

‘Indeed!’ and Lesbia looked at her mother with momentary solicitude. ‘Indeed! Come then, dear mamma, tell me without delay what this dream was, and let me charm it away for you. Out with it in all its ghastly details! ‘Avaunt, thou evil dream!’ as Homer says. But seriously