"Jove!"
"Yes, I did it," she confessed bluntly. "I was mad at Hope and cut it off."
The boy lay staring at her in surprise. She drooped her head, unable to meet the amused look in his eyes.
"It's awful; isn't it?" she asked.
"Why, no; I don't think it is so bad," he said consolingly. "It isn't exactly pretty, and you look a good deal like a boy. When I get used to it, though, I think I shall rather like it. It seems to suit you, somehow."
She looked up gratefully.
"What a dear old fellow you are, Billy! That was the reason I didn't come. I couldn't bear to have you see me, or to know about it. Now I don't mind anybody else. I hated to have you know I was so horrid."
"You are peppery, Teddy, for a fact. Don't get in a tantrum again, or you will cut off your nose next, and that won't grow again." He tried to laugh; but his color was coming and going, and Theodora saw that he was suffering.
She sprang up and stooped to arrange the cushions about him.
"What is it?" she asked, startled at his changing color.