"Darling! No--No!" But, as suddenly as the queer unchildish thing
had broken out, did he remember himself and boy shame at his
fantastic emotion overtook him. He had never spoken like that to
anyone before! It was almost as bad as bursting out crying! The
red tide ebbed away and he withdrew himself awkwardly from her
embrace. He said not another word and sat down in his corner with
his back turned toward the world.
* * * * *
That the Lady Downstairs, who was so fond of laughing and who knew
so many persons who seemed to laugh nearly all the time, might
have been joking about being her mother presented itself to Robin
as a vague solution of the problem. The Lady had laughed when she
said it, as people so often laughed at children. Perhaps she had
only been amusing herself as grown-up persons were apparently
entitled to do. Even Donal had not seemed wholly convinced and
though his mother had said the Lady Downstairs WAS--somehow the
subject had been changed at once. Mrs. Muir had so soon begun to
tell them a story. Robin was not in the least aware that she had
swiftly distracted their attention from a question, any discussion
of which would have involved explanations she could not have
produced. It would have been impossible to make it clear to any
child. She herself was helpless before the situation and therefore
her only refuge was to make the two think of other things.
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