Noble dropped back into his chair of misery. "I thought you meant it wasn't true."
"I've just told you there isn't one word of tr——"
"But you're—engaged," Noble gulped. "You're engaged to him, Julia!"
She appeared not to hear this. "I suppose it can be lived down," she said. "To think of Uncle Joseph putting such a thing into the hands of those awful children!"
"Noble!" she said sharply.
"Well, you are eng——"
Julia drew herself up. "Different people mean different things by that word," she said with severity, like an annoyed school-teacher. "There are any number of shades of meaning to words; and if I used the word you mention, in writing home to the family, I may have used a certain shade and they may have thought I intended another."
"But, Julia——"
"Mr. Crum is a charming young man," she continued with the same primness. "I liked him very much indeed. I liked him very, very much. I liked him very, very——"