“What is that, Ellen?”
“She loves that man.”
“Ellen Post, you take away my breath!”
“She loves that man. It was him she was dressing for that night, when nothing could please her.”
“The night of Mrs. Carter’s party; do you mean that, Ellen?”
“Of course I mean that. Never saw her so hard to please. I took off her diamonds twice, and had to put them on again at last. Never saw anything like it. In any other person I should have known the signs; but who would suspect her of wanting to please any one in particular? But it’s all clear now. We’ve settled on the right man.”
“Why, Ellen, he’s going to marry this Laurence girl himself!”
“What! The man she loves?”
“As true as I sit here—he is engaged to her! It all came out at the party. Mrs. Carter told it. This Ross is her brother, you know.”
“That was what made her so white and wild. I understand it all now. That is why she kept repeating the girl’s name in her sleep, which was more like a fit than natural slumber. She has not been herself since.”