"
"My dear cousin, it is impossible: the girl has a particular aversion
to me."
"Nonsense, Clare! Don't be ill-natured the first day I arrive. How do
you know she has?"
"We are neighbors at Felton, and--"
"Neighbors in the country, I perceive. Did their chickens destroy your
flower-beds, or their cock wake you by crowing at unearthly hours in
the morning? Had they a barking dog they refused to part with, or was
it the servants?"
"If you mean to be sarcastic I shall need support. Now go on, and,
notwithstanding your provoking innuendo, I will try to satisfy your
curiosity."
"Firstly," began Maurice, seating himself on the rustic bench near
her, "why isn't Miss Lafitte a belle?--she is certainly beautiful."
"'Pretty is as pretty does'--a motto especially true of belles."
"Which, interpreted, means she is not agreeable. Yet she has mind, or
she would not keep that thoughtful position for so long a time."
"She may be planning the trimming for her next ball-dress," remarked
his cousin.
"She is too serious for that."
"It is a serious affair at times."
"There is something about her extremely interesting to me.
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