"Mother, don't ask me to describe her," he replied; and then for half an hour he continued talking about her. Before retiring he said:
"Mother, how is it that I have never been told about Miss Page before?"
"Well, son, I have known very little myself. The Pages, you know, have lived here less than a year and Dorothy has never been here before. A few days before Mrs. Page left to bring Dorothy home she told me a good many things about her."
"How long was Miss Page at the college?"
"Three years. The Pages were born in Virginia, but when Dorothy was six years old the father, because of failing health, purchased a large ranch in the West and he moved his family there and became very prosperous."
"She is a child, therefore, of the South and West," said Sterling.
"Yes, she has Southern blood and Western experience. Mrs. Page said their home was ten miles from the nearest store and the nearest neighbor was seven miles distant."
"That must have been a dismal life for Dorothy. You say she lived on the plains from six years of age until three years ago, when she went to the college? Did she have no other schooling?"
"Oh, yes. Her education was directed at home by a governess of unusual culture and refinement. I learned also from Mrs. Page that none of the family make any pretensions to religion, and that the governess was as irreligious as they."
"What a home!"