“And, Queenie, you must choose the dresses for the bridesmaids. Grandmamma will have a gay wedding. I think it will be a great bore.”
“Your bridesmaids ought to wear something warm and gay and bright, like yourself, Ruthie. Are you going to ask Nettie Lester?”
“Oh, no!” said Ruth hurriedly. “Why should I?”
“She is Rupert’s cousin, and she is so handsome.”
“I never thought of her! I am angry with them all since Don Alvar has made you miserable. My darling Queenie, I should like to stamp on him! Now, don’t be angry; but tell me how it all came about?”
“I don’t think I could ever make you understand it, Ruth. He did nothing wrong. It was only that—that I did not suit him, and I found it out,” said Virginia, with a sort of ache in her voice, as she turned her head away.
“The more—well, I won’t finish the sentence. Any way, he has spoiled your life for you; for I am afraid he is your love if you are not his,” said Ruth, scanning her sad face curiously. “Queenie, weren’t you ready to kill him and Cherry, too, when they went off comfortably together?”
“No,” said Virginia, “he could not help going—that was not it. And as for Cherry, he was the only person who understood anything about it—he was so kind! Oh, I hope he is really better!”
“I dare say he is, by this time,” said Ruth, rather oddly; “but they are all so easily frightened about him—they spoil him. I wonder what they would all say if he fell in love with a naughty, wicked siren—a female villain, who broke his heart for him—just for fun.”
“She would break something worth having,” said Virginia indignantly. “But, do you know anything about Cherry, Ruth?”