"You must not be too sure, Fred, for father has just been summoned to attend a patient, and mother has a caller, so you will have to put up with my entertainment for a while," replied Nellie, showing him into the library.
"That will be most agreeable to me," returned Fred, taking a seat not far from his hostess.
"I shall try and not offend you, for you are such a stranger."
"Yes, it seems an age since I have seen you, Nellie," replied our young friend in a way that convinced her he meant every word he said.
"Has it, really?"
"It has, indeed."
"I was afraid you had almost forgotten me."
"Oh, no; I could not do that easily."
"Well, Fred, I am sure the time could not have seemed longer to you than it has to me," replied Nellie, after a pause, and dropping her eyes as she realized the expression she had thrown into the remark.
Fred's heart beat quicker.