"Is Mabel like her?" she asked anxiously.
"Mabel," said Mr. Maclean.
"Yes, Mabel. Is she--almost--as pretty, do you think?"
"Mabel is a thousand times more pretty than Miss Dudgeon," said Mr. Maclean.
"Oh, Mr. Maclean!" said Elma.
He could not have understood her sigh of rapture if he had tried to. At that moment his thoughts were not on Elma.
She was quite content.
She sank back on the large easy chair which she had appropriated, and she felt as though she had brought up a large family and just at that moment seen them settled in life.
"Oh, I do feel heavenly," she whispered to herself. "Mabel is prettier than Adelaide Maud."
"I beg your pardon?" asked Mr. Maclean.