“I hate sentiment,” said I. “Here’s a long one. Who wrote—?”
“Oh, you mustn’t look at that—not at that, above all!”
“Why above all?” I asked with some severity.
Dolly smiled; then she observed in a soothing tone.
“Perhaps it won’t be ‘above all’ when you’ve written yours, Mr. Carter.”
“By the way,” I said carelessly, “I suppose Archie sees all of them?”
“He has never asked to see them,” answered Lady Mickleham.
The reply seemed satisfactory; of course, Archie had only to ask. I took a clean quill and prepared to write.
“You promise to be sincere, you know,” Dolly reminded me.
I laid down my pen.