"Yes. And very shy you were over it. Natural in a schoolgirl."
"I am not a schoolgirl now, Mr. Jarman."
Who knew that better than Eustace? "I wish you were," he muttered.
"Why? You should be glad to see me grow up, Mr.--"
"Why so formal, Miss Starth--Mildred. Call me Eustace."
"I should like to--Eustace," said the girl, frankly--too frankly, alas! for any feeling of love to lurk in the words. "You know how fond I am of you," and she squeezed his arm playfully.
"Mildred!" He could stand it no longer, although he felt that this was not the time to speak of love. But the influence of the hour, of her words, and the feeling of jealousy inculcated by Darrel's arrival made him confess his secret. "Mildred?"
"Yes." She detected the change in his voice, and grew nervous.
"I--I--love you!"
"Mr. Jarman--I mean Eustace!"