"I didn't expect it quite yet."
She gave a little laugh which sounded thin and paltry to her own ears. "That means you were prepared for it, then?"
"Oh, I saw it coming."
"And Aunt Cynthia has told you, no doubt."
"Yes. Aunt Cynthia has told me. I felt that I ought to drop in with my congratulations."
Pauline rose now; her lips were trembling, and her voice likewise, as she said:—
"I do hope that you give them sincerely, Court."
"Oh, if you put it in that way, I don't give them at all."
"Then you came here to mock me?"
"I don't know why I came here. I think it would have been best for me not to come. I thought so when I decided to come. Probably you do not understand this. I can't help you, in that case, for I don't understand it myself."