"Don't tease Barb'ry now," said Mrs. Grayson.
"I'm not teasing," said Tom; "but I declare, Barb, it must have seemed just like going to housekeeping when you two sat down to eat breakfast by yourselves this morning."
"O Tom!" broke in Janet, who couldn't quite catch the drift of the conversation, "Barbara went to bed with her clothes on last night. When I waked up this morning she was lying on the bed by me with her dress on."
Tom now laughed in his old unrestrained fashion.
"Say, Barbara," Janet went on, "are you going to marry that Mr. Mason that was here yesterday?"
Knowing that she could not get rid of Janet's inquiries except by answering, Barbara said: "Oh, I suppose so," as she got up to set the pot of coffee back on the trivet and hide a vexation that she knew to be foolish.
"Don't you know whether you're going to marry him or not?" put in Janet. "I sh'd think you'd know. And I sh'd think he'd be a real nice husband." Then after a few moments of silence, Janet turned on Tom. "Tom, who's your sweetheart?"
"Haven't got any," said Tom.
"Isn't that purty girl that was here yesterday your sweetheart?"
"No!"