For all his roughness, Steve possessed a delicacy which sometimes
almost amounted to diffidence; and he did not need to be told that
there was a substantial difference, as far as he was concerned, between
the new headquarters of the family and the old. At the studio he had
been accustomed to walk in when it pleased him, sure of a welcome; but
he had an idea that he did not fit as neatly into the atmosphere of
Fifth Avenue as he had done into that of Sixty-First Street; and nobody
disabused him of it.
It was perhaps the presence of Mrs. Porter that really made the
difference. In spite of the compliments she had sometimes paid to his
common sense, Mrs. Porter did not put Steve at his ease. He was almost
afraid of her. Consequently, when he came to Fifth Avenue, he remained
below stairs, talking pugilism with Keggs.
It was from Keggs that he first learned of the changes that had taken
place in the surroundings of William Bannister.
"I've 'ad the privilege of serving in some of the best houses in
England," said the butler one evening, as they sat smoking in the
pantry, "and I've never seen such goings on. I don't hold with the
pampering of children."
"What do you mean, pampering?" asked Steve.
"Well, Lord love a duck!" replied the butler, who in his moments of
relaxation was addicted to homely expletives of the lower London type.
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