"Oh, that was quite a different thing."
"If I remember right, Miss Jo was mixed up in that."
"Yes, in a way," Nan admitted. "Though she hadn't the least idea that she was, and as soon as she found out, you know she went straight to Miss Barnes and told her all about it."
"And this time she is going into an affair with her eyes open."
"Not exactly. You know she is a Western girl who has not had much care at home. Her mother died before Jo was big enough to remember her, and though the stepmother is a kind enough sort of person, she has no thought beyond her family of little children and Jo has had to hoe her own row always. Her father is away from home a good deal and absorbed in business so Jo has not had much chance."
"I see, and you think that all the more she should be warned. Have you said anything to her on the subject?"
"No, but Mary Lee has, and she thinks she is prudish."
"Well, I tell you you are not to think of this any more. I will settle it. You must leave it all to me."
"But you will not——" Nan began in alarm.