"On account, as you just intimated, of Mrs. Beale's changed manner?"
Maisie, with her sense of responsibility, focussed both Mrs. Beale's changed manner and Mrs. Wix's human weakness. "I think she talked her over."
Sir Claude thought a moment. "Ah, poor dear!"
"Do you mean Mrs. Beale?"
"Oh no—Mrs. Wix."
"She likes being talked over—treated like any one else. Oh, she likes great politeness," Maisie expatiated. "It affects her very much."
Sir Claude, to her surprise, demurred a little to this. "Very much—up to a certain point."
"Oh, up to any point!" Maisie returned with emphasis.
"Well, haven't I been polite to her?"
"Lovely—and she perfectly worships you."
"Then, my dear child, why can't she let me alone?" And this time Sir Claude unmistakably blushed. Before Maisie, however, could answer his question, which would indeed have taken her long, he went on in another tone: "Mrs. Beale thinks she has
