“And aren’t you my special friend?”
“Why, not exactly;” and Patty’s cheeks dimpled as she smiled. “I’m your special friend’s daughter. Isn’t daddy your special friend?”
“Yes, of course;” and Mr. Hepworth looked decidedly cross, as he always did when reminded of the difference of age between himself and Patty,—a thing which Patty never seemed to forget.
“But just now,” he went on, “you’re so absorbed in your special friend, Van Reypen, that you have no thought of anybody else.”
“For the land’s sake!” exclaimed Patty; “and that’s an expression I use only on the strongest provocation! But I’ll tell you something, Mr. Hepworth,”—and she looked at him squarely,—“when Kenneth Harper was with me just now, he held me up on account of what he called my friendship for Mr. Van Reypen! Now, if you’re going to do the same thing, I give you fair warning, I’ll put you out and I’ll take Philip Van Reypen in this car! So there, now!”
Mr. Hepworth laughed at the flashing eyes, and the rose-flushed cheeks that faced him, very much like an angry kitten.
“Forgive us both, Patty,” he said, smiling in spite of himself at the ridiculous situation. “You see, the truth is Kenneth and I are both jealous of your new friend. And you’ll probably find that Roger is in the same unenviable frame of mind.”
“Fiddle-de-dee, and fiddlesticks, and fiddle-strings!” exclaimed Patty; “you people all make me tired, you do. As you know, I adore all my friends, and I want them all to adore me, and, when I make new friends, they’ve all got to adore each other, too, and that’s all there is about that! But don’t you worry over old Roger. He’s fallen a victim to the charms of Mona Galbraith. I never was so surprised in my life! You know, I don’t like that girl very much, and last night, as soon as Roger met her, they immediately fell into a deep friendship!”
“Why don’t you like her?”
“Oh, she isn’t exactly our sort. She’s a little forward, a little pushing, and a little lacking in certain varieties of good taste. But she’s warm-hearted and generous, and, if she had had proper training, would have been an awfully nice girl.”