Nelly's expression softened as she gazed.
"You are very good, Miss Merton; I have often heard of you too, and wanted to see you as much as you could have done to see me."
"I hope you like me now you do see me," Miss Merton laughed; "you won't be angry when I say that I like you, though you did turn away when you saw us coming.
"You are accustomed to meet people and be introduced," Nelly said quietly; "I am not, you see."
"I don't think you are shy," Miss Merton said smiling, "but you had a reason; perhaps some day when we know each other better you will tell me. I have been scolding Jack for making such a figure of himself. You are his friend and should not let him do it."
Jack laughed, while Nelly looked in surprise at him.
"What is the matter with him?" she asked; "I don't see that there is anything wrong."
"Not wrong," Miss Merton said, "only singular to me. He has got on clothes just like all the rest, which don't fit him at all, and look as if they had been made to put on to a wooden figure in a shop window, while when we see him he is always properly dressed."
Nelly flashed a quiet look of inquiry at Jack.