'I never heard anything so noble!' said her sister.
Alma flushed with pleasure.
'And yet you know,' Dora pursued, 'artists have a duty to the world.'
'I can't help questioning,' said Gerda, 'whether you had a right to sacrifice yourself.'
Alma smiled thoughtfully.
'You can't quite see it as I do. When one has children——'
'It must make a great difference'—'Oh, a great difference!'—responded the sisters. And again they exclaimed at the spectacle of such noble devotedness.
By natural transition the talk turned to Mrs. Carnaby. The girls spoke of her compassionately, but Alma soon perceived that they did not utter all their thoughts.
'I'm afraid,' she said, 'that some people take another view. I have heard—but one doesn't care to repeat such things.'
Dora and Gerda betrayed a lively interest. Yes, they too had heard disagreeable gossip; what a shame it was!