Aunt Jane smiled a little. "And just then I caught sight of you through
the door, and your coat lying on a chair--it was a silk-lined coat, you
know--your clothes are all pretty good." She looked at him with
satisfaction.
A glint of amusement crossed the remote face.
"So it came to me, then and there, just the way the things do--the right
ones, when you're bothering--and I said to her that _you_ were going to
pay for her."
She sat looking at him.
"Well?"
She roused herself. "You never see anybody change so--right in a minute,
that way.... I do wish you could have seen her!" She gave a pitying
glance at the handsome figure on the pillow.... "It seems a pity, 'most,
to do so much for everybody and not have the good of seeing it!"
"How do you know I will pay the bill?" asked the millionaire grimly.
She turned and stared--and a little gleaming smile twinkled at him.
"Why--you _have_ paid already! Leastways, your lawyer's paid. He sends a
check every week--the way you told him--to pay the bill; and I've made
it out big enough for two, right along." Her face was complacent and
kind.
"Do you call that business?" He asked it almost sharply.
"No--not business--just good sense, I guess--and decency."
"I call it crooked dealing!" said the millionaire. Something of the old,
gripping look came into the shapely hands lying on the bed.
Aunt Jane surveyed him and rocked on. "How much do you reckon your life
is worth, Mr. Medfield?" she said after a little pause.
"I'm insured for--" He stopped.
She nodded. "That wasn't what I meant--but it will do. Whatever you're
insured for--you're worth it, I guess." She paused and regarded him
doubtfully.... "You're probably worth as much as you are insured for--"
Her look considered it, and let it go.... "Whatever it is, we've saved
it for you--among us. We've given you the best care we knew how....
You've had good care, haven't you?" She bent a solicitous look on him.
"The best of care," he said courteously. Then, after a minute: "Money
could not pay for it--the kind of care you have given.... I have not
forgotten the night--when I went down into the dark--and you held me."
He was looking at something deep and quiet--then his gaze turned to
her.
Aunt Jane returned it a minute--and looked away.... There was something
in the face of the millionaire that she had not seen in it before. She
got up and went to the window. "Looks as if it would be a good day
to-morrow," she murmured.
She straightened the curtains a little and shook them out and came
leisurely back. She glanced at the forget-me-nots.
"What I meant was," she said slowly, "some folks get big bills when
they're here--and some folks get little ones, and some don't get any. It
depends on what the Lord has given 'em; and we mean to take good care of
'em all."
He smiled. "Well--the Lord has given me plenty. I ought not to
complain!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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