"You did very well, my dear; but I suppose you know it was the most
intimate thing you could have said to him, the greatest compliment you
could pay him. If he ever does make any sort of a record, you have given
him the right to come back to you with it."
"He will never come back to me without it," said the girl. "But it was
nothing--nothing! All idleness and nonsense, and the music after supper
that went to his head."
"I hope it was nothing more than"--Mrs. Valentin checked herself. There
were things she said to her husband which sometimes threatened to slip out
inadvertently when his youthful copy was near. "Well, I see nothing to be
ashamed of, on your side. But such things are always a pity. They age a
girl in spite of herself. And the boys--they simply forget. The rebuke does
them good, but they forget to whom they owe it. It's just one of those
things that make my girlie older. But oh, how fast life comes!"
Elsie slipped her hand under her mother's cloak, and Mrs. Valentin pressed
her own down hard upon it.
"We must get aboard, dear. But I'm so glad you told me! And I didn't mean
quite what I said about Billy's 'going off mad.
Pages:
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152