"But why could not the young scamp come in and give me an opportunity of congratulating him?" he asked.
I murmured that I believed Jack was in a hurry to get home, and went quickly upstairs. By the time I reached the room my merriment had vanished. I sank into a chair, and began to sob. I was vexed and unhappy about Jack, but my regret for his suffering was mingled with a strange, overwhelming emotion which I could not well have explained. My tears were not soon checked, and when I ceased to cry I looked such an object that I could not go down when the gong announced that tea was ready below.
After a while Aunt Patty came to discover what was the matter with me. I both laughed and cried as I told her what had happened. Aunt Patty laughed too. It struck her as inexpressibly droll that Jack should be in love.
"I am really very sorry," she said, suddenly growing serious. "I might have known—I ought to have seen; but I thought Jack had more sense—no offence intended, Nan. I don't know that I could have done any good, though, if I had foreseen it. Poor old boy. He is a silly fellow; but I am sorry for him. He will suffer acutely, I dare say, for a day or two."
"A day or two!" I repeated.
"Why, yes; you don't think you have broken his heart, do you, Nan? I assure you, calf-love is soon cured. If this were the hunting season a day's hunt might do it. As it is, I dare say your rejection will rankle in his mind till he meets with another girl who strikes his fancy; but it will have ceased to trouble him much long before he gets to Woolwich."
"You don't give him credit for much constancy;" I said, a trifle nettled by her remarks, which were hardly flattering to my vanity.
"At his age there is none," said Aunt Patty. "What are you thinking of, Nan? You don't want poor Jack to be miserable, do you?"
"Oh, dear, no!" I said, and then I laughed. "I am quite glad you think he will get over it easily, for he seemed so hurt that it made me 'feel bad,' as Paulina would say. I can't understand how it is that some girls think it grand and desirable to have offers of marriage. I am sure I hope that I shall never have another."
"Do you?" asked my aunt, with a mischievous glance. "You mean till the right one comes-eh, Nan?"