Then she knew that if she told him who she was, it would undoubtedly be talked about in the neighbourhood.
There was sure to be a servant who had relations in London who had heard about the rich Miss Ashdown and he or she might then convey to her aunt the fact that she was living in the country and making everything different from what it had been before.
She therefore smiled at the old man’s compliments, thanked him again and picked up the bill that she had made Johnnie read and add up to make certain that it was correct.
She thought now that while he had done arithmetic there were many other things she ought to be teaching him as well as making him happy by giving him companions and a chance of competing with them.
‘I suppose really,’ Arliva thought, ‘we should have a cricket match.
