The maid opened the door for him, and his mother asked, as she poured him out some chocolate, "Who was it my Freddy was talking to downstairs there by the door ?" "It was the big man," answered the child, looking at the cup with eager eyes.
"The big man is Jacob Worse, and the little man is yourself, Mr.
Delphin," explained Fanny, laughing.

"My son's manners are not yet quite perfect.

Did the big man ask who was up here with mother ?" "He asked if Aunt Rachel was in town," answered the child, putting out his hand for the cup.
Madeleine did not exactly see what the others found so amusing, but she joined in the laugh, because little Freddy was her darling.
"You are a dangerous woman," said George Delphin, as he took his leave; "I must go and warn my friend Worse." "Yes, you dare!" cried Fanny, holding up her taper finger threateningly at him.
There was something which Madeleine could not exactly define, that she did not quite like, about Fanny.

She noticed it most when they were in the society of men, but even when they were alone the same unpleasant manner would sometimes appear.

She was not accustomed to all these questions, innuendoes, and allusions, which always seemed to take the same direction; but at last she became so fascinated by her lively and talkative friend, that she began to lose some of her self-possession, and a feeling of anxiety which she could not comprehend, came over her lest some fate was in store for her which she was unable to avert.
Fanny stood by the window, looking at Delphin as he left the house.