Page:Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes - The Lodger.djvu/259



Feeling amazingly light-hearted, almost light-headed, Bunting lit the gas-ring to make his wife her morning cup of tea.

While he was doing it, he suddenly heard her call out:

"Bunting!" she cried weakly. "Bunting!"

Quickly he hurried in response to her call. "Yes," he said. "What is it, my dear? I won’t be a minute with your tea." And he smiled broadly, rather foolishly.

She sat up and looked at him, a dazed expression on her face.

"What are you grinning at?" she asked suspiciously.

"I’ve had a wonderful piece of luck," he explained. "But you was so cross last night that I simply didn’t dare tell you about it."

"Well, tell me now," she said in a low voice.

"I had a sovereign given me by the young lady. You see, it was her birthday party, Ellen, and she’d come into a nice bit of money, and she gave each of us waiters a sovereign."

Mrs. Bunting made no comment. Instead, she lay back and closed her eyes.

"What time d’you expect Daisy?" she asked languidly. "You didn’t say what time Joe was going to fetch her, when we was talking about it yesterday."