Virginia smiled in spite of herself.
"They try it with me," she laughed.
"But how is it now?" went on Fanny with an attempt at dignity. "Now, I'm Mrs. James Gillie, sister of the rich Mrs. Robert Stafford, with whom I have just spent an evening at the opera and who I am now visiting in her French boudoir! Sometimes I don't believe it's real, and I find myself getting ready to wake up just in time to hear the alarm go off!"
"It is real enough, Fanny," smiled her sister. After a pause, she asked: "And you—you are happy?"
"Of course I am," said the other, dropping into a seat. "Why shouldn't I be? Haven't I got James and the baby and a pretty flat, and a maid to do the work. And isn't James getting a hundred a week from Mr. Stafford? Well, I should say I am happy!"
"I'm so glad," murmured Virginia with a sigh.
Looking up quickly, Fanny asked:
"You're happy, too, aren't you?"
Virginia made no reply for a moment. Then she said hesitatingly
"Yes—"