"So Kitty's let that out, has she?" said he. "The little ass!"
Well, you can suppose I didn't like to be called an "ass," even by Walter. Mary told it out quietly, telling the story.
She did not at once say that he was mistaken.
"Why should Kitty keep your going there a secret?" said she.
"Why, of course—because—oh, only because—well, of course she needn't!" said he, floundering.
"Wouldn't it be natural she should speak after she'd seen you?" says Mary.
"Natural!" says he; and he muttered again, "The little ass!"
"Did you see Kitty alone, or all of them together?" Mary asked.
"Only Kitty!" says he sulkily. "It wasn't anybody else's concern."
"Then that was the business you went after," Mary said. "I don't see why you should make such a mystery of it," says she.