“Elise said so,” muttered Kenneth, who had forgotten he was talking to a stranger, because Mona had assumed such compelling intimacy.
“And are you sure it was mean?”
“Well, rather! You can judge for yourself!” Kenneth’s indignation got the better of his self-restraint, and he told Mona frankly the truth.
“Once, when Patty went away, I gave her a little locket as a parting gift, and she thanked me and said she liked it. Now, Elise tells me that Patty told her she didn’t care a snap about that locket, and she only wore it once or twice.”
“And you told Miss Farrington that you didn’t believe Patty said that?”
“Yes; but Elise insisted that she did say it, and somehow I believe Elise. Her words had the ring of truth.”
“Thank you, Mr. Harper, for your confidence;” Mona spoke very earnestly. “Believe me, you have done no harm in telling me this. You think it is none of my business, but it is. You think me a queer girl, and I am. But let me tell you one thing, Patty Fairfield is a true, sweet, loyal nature, sound to the core; and Elise Farrington is not above a trifling deception, now and then, if she wishes to gain a point. Please take me back to the house.”
They walked the short distance in silence, Kenneth secretly thinking that Miss Galbraith was certainly queer; and at the same time wondering if Elise could have made up that story. But, as he had said, there was something in the tone of Elise’s voice, as she repeated Patty’s words, that convinced him they were true. With a sigh, he went up the steps by Miss Galbraith’s side, and then they separated, to join other partners.
The dance went on, with its merriment and gaiety, and of course no one would have known that either Patty or Kenneth had a troubled mind. Elise was in specially gay spirits, and Mona seemed to be enjoying herself thoroughly.