"I was wondering if Mr. St. John wasn't trying any more to find that thing you lost in the surplice pocket."
"Oh, Amarilly, has Mr. Phillips censored that word, too? I was in hopes he would never hear you say 'surplus,' so he could not correct you."
"I told him you didn't want me to speak correctly," said Amarilly a little resentfully.
"You did!" cried Colette, looking rather abashed. "And what did he say?"
"He said it was selfish in you to think more of your amusement than of my improvement."
Colette colored and was silent a moment.
"He's right, Amarilly," she said impulsively. "I am selfish to everyone. All I have ever cared for is to be entertained and made to laugh. I have been as selfish to St. John as I have to you and—I'll tell you a secret, Amarilly, because I know that I can trust you. I've gone just a little bit too far with St. John. I told him he needn't ever come to see me again until he found what was in the pocket of the surplice, and he took me at my word."
"He did all he could to find it," said Amarilly, immediately on the defence for the rector.
"I know he did, but you see before this I've always had everything I've asked for, even impossible things, and I didn't want to have him fail me. I have been selfish and exacting with him, and I think he realizes it now."
"Well, when you're in the wrong, all you've got to do is to say so."