“It’s her ladyship and the young lady that terrifies me, when I think of them.”
“Her ladyship is prepared to welcome you warmly. She is——” (What could he say to encourage this trembling creature?) “She is—most sweet-tempered, and full of tact.”
“Tact! What is tact?”
“A—the knack of saying the right thing, and keeping quiet at the right time.”
“Oh, laws! then she is just the black opposite to me! And the young one?”
“I feel sure you and Tito will be as sisters; she has often wished for a companion. She will show you all sorts of things, and tell you what to do.”
“I suppose she has had a grand education?”
“Yes, chiefly abroad. I am afraid she did not make the most of her advantages; her spelling is shocking.”
“Oh! Well, anyhow, I can spell,” declared Joseline, with a gulp. “It is the other things—the tip-top talking, and the sailing about a room, and the hand-shaking, and looking people over from their shoes up. I watched the ladies in the hotel. You see, I just clump about, and hitch myself on to anything, and say, ‘What way are ye the day?’”