"Seems as if every one had found a 'burning theme'—all but us!" she said.
The young man—he was young, and very good-looking, in an unusual sort of way—flushed. "I don't know any of them," he said; "I'm a stranger."
"So am I," said Mary Alice, "and I don't know any one either. But I'd like to know some of these people better; wouldn't you?"
"I don't know," returned the young man. "I haven't seen much of people, and I don't feel at home with them."
"Oh!" cried Mary Alice, quite excitedly, "you need a fairy godmother to tell you a Secret."
The young man looked unpleasantly mystified. "What secret?" he asked.
She started to explain. He seemed amused, at first, in a supercilious kind of way. But Mary Alice was so interested in her "burning theme" that she did not notice how he looked. Gradually his superciliousness faded.
"Let us find a place where you can tell me the Secret," he said, looking about the drawing-room. Every place seemed taken.
"There's a settle in the hall," suggested Mary Alice. And they went out and sat on that. "But I can't tell you the Secret," she said. "Not yet, anyway."
"Please!" he begged. "I may never see you again."