"I had no such thought," returned Clara, greatly distressed; "I did think that you would be happier to know that such a thought could not occur to me, as you would know if the circumstances were such as to prove that Mr. Strobel could not have come to New York."
"Me, happy!" exclaimed Lizzie, bitterly, and then in the same breath—"You found it quite possible that he could have come, didn't you?"
Ignoring the last part of her remark, Clara quickly took her cue from the first, and said very gently:
"Your mother showed me your letter in which you said you could be almost happy."
The color rushed to Lizzie's cheeks as she replied:
"Mother ought to have known better."
Then she shut her lips hard together, and it was plain that she was obstinately determined to say no more on that subject.
"I have sincerely tried," said Clara, "to think and act in a friendly way, Lizzie."
"Friendly with a rival!" and again Lizzie laughed with bitter scorn.
"I should not need the evidence of your words," responded Clara, "to convince me that there never was any rivalry between us."