Page 568 - of-human-bondage-

LXXII

or the next three months Philip went every day to see Mil-
Fdred. He took his books with him and after tea worked,
while Mildred lay on the sofa reading novels. Sometimes he
would look up and watch her for a minute. A happy smile
crossed his lips. She would feel his eyes upon her.
‘Don’t waste your time looking at me, silly. Go on with
your work,’ she said.
‘Tyrant,’ he answered gaily.
He put aside his book when the landlady came in to lay
the cloth for dinner, and in his high spirits he exchanged
chaff with her. She was a little cockney, of middle age, with
an amusing humour and a quick tongue. Mildred had be-
come great friends with her and had given her an elaborate
but mendacious account of the circumstances which had
brought her to the pass she was in. The good-hearted little
woman was touched and found no trouble too great to make
Mildred comfortable. Mildred’s sense of propriety had sug-
gested that Philip should pass himself off as her brother.
They dined together, and Philip was delighted when he had
ordered something which tempted Mildred’s capricious ap-
petite. It enchanted him to see her sitting opposite him, and
every now and then from sheer joy he took her hand and
pressed it. After dinner she sat in the arm-chair by the fire,
and he settled himself down on the floor beside her, lean-