“What has that to do with Magdalen?”
“Why, she is so taken up with those swells of hers, especially now that there is a talk of Lord Somebody’s yacht coming in, that she would never treat him as on equal terms, but just keep him at a distance, like a mere decorator.”
“That seemed to me just what you were doing,” said Agatha, “when he was so kind and helpful about my box.”
“Oh, they were all there, and we did not want to be talked of,” said Vera, blushing. “He understands.”
“He understands,” repeated Paula. “We do see him at the church and at the Sisters’. Those dear Sisters! There is no nonsense about them. You will love them, Nag.”
“Well, it does not seem to me to be treating our own sister Magdalen fairly.”
“The M.A.!” said Vera, in a tone of wonder.
“No; not to be intimate with a person you do not introduce to her, because you do not think she would consider him as on equal terms.”
“Sister Beata quite approves,” added Paula, sincerely, not guessing how little Sister Beata knew of the situation, of which she only heard through the medium of her own representations to Sister Mena.
The two girls rushed into the charms of these two Sisters, and the plan for an entertainment for the maidens of the Guild of St. Milburgha, at which they were to assist. It lasted up to the gate of the Goyle, where Magdalen and Thekla were ready to meet them; and they trooped merrily up the hill, Agatha keeping to Magdalen’s side in a way that struck her as friendly and affectionate. It seemed to be more truly coming home than the elder sister had dared to anticipate; nor, indeed, did she feel the veiled antagonism to herself that had previously disappointed her.