"Yes. But not a friend of yours?"
"No," coldly.
"I'm glad of that," says Minnie, with hilarity. "I hate old friends, don't you? They always cost one such a lot. They tell one such horrid news about one's self. They do such nasty things. Give me a stranger for choice. And as for Mrs. Bethune, now you have told me she is not a friend of yours, I suppose I may speak freely. Do you know, Tita, I'd keep my eye on her if I were you. You have given me a free hand, so I can tell you what is in my mind. That woman—she means——"
"What?" asks Tita, turning upon her with some haughtiness.
"Business!" says Minnie Hescott, with an emphatic nod. "Mischief all through. She's up to mischief of some sort. I tell you what," says Minnie, with her old young look, "you've got to keep your eye on her."
"I could never keep my eye on anyone," says Tita, with a sudden, irrepressible little laugh. "And why should I keep my eye on Mrs. Bethune? To tell you a solemn truth, Minnie, I can't bear to look at her. She's beautiful, so they say, but to me she is hideous. Therefore, why should I keep my eye on her? It," with a whimsical little glance, "would hurt me so."
"Nevertheless, you should!" says Minnie solemnly. "She's a viper!"
"Vipers are ugly."
"And dangerous."
"Then why look at them?"