“I can think of no other. It was good of you to bring the news to me.”
“I thought it very ill. I never delivered an unpleasant message in my life before, and did it just for practice. I had much rather have told you the other thing.”
“Your face was very expressive of sorrow when you came to me.”
“I’m glad. I imagined my countenance was too smiling.”
She laughed.
“Never look sad on my account. I have no wish to forfeit your company for a sad mask. Indeed, I counted it a very great kindness your coming to me at all.”
“Truly, Rosalie, you are improving. I think you must be growing older.”
“I’ve forgotten my age. It’s a thing women never remember. Years were a form of imaginative punishment invented by the devil. Some folks are sensitive about them.”
“When you have finished this, will you bring it to my father?”
“Most certainly; who else could I take it to?”