“Ah! she is wiser than I thought,” murmured Mrs. Haven. “And I would like to own those corals of her Great-grandmother Lomis.”
CHAPTER IV
THE SACRIFICE
“But why did she try to make me appear so young?” Beth asked her mother, as they sat side by side busily sewing the afternoon following Larry’s party. “Really, I felt hurt. I cannot understand Mrs. Haven.”
Mrs. Baldwin looked at her eldest daughter thoughtfully—as though, however, her mind were a great way off.
“Why did she, Mother?” repeated Beth.
“I can understand Euphemia,” said Mrs. Baldwin, quietly. “You must not mind her, my dear.”
“But I cannot see why she wants me to seem childish, even if you do, Mother mine,” the girl said, somewhat impatiently.
“I fear one meaning is, that Euphemia feels that Larry would better remember you only as his playfellow when he, too, was a child,” Mrs. Baldwin said. “He is a man now, you know, and must have a man’s feelings as he has a man’s duties to perform.”
“Why, what nonsense, Mother!” exclaimed the girl, throwing back her head and laughing delightedly. “He is only a great, big boy—that’s all Larry Haven is.”
Mrs. Baldwin shook her head, gravely. “You do not understand the difference between fifteen and twenty-two,” she said.