'Excellent!' cried Rose. 'One did guess "Latin," Aunt Bel! Now, tell us which one it was.'
'Not you, my dear. You guessed "temper."'
'No! you dreadful Aunt Bel!'
'Let me see,' said Aunt Bel, seriously. 'A young man would not marry a woman with Latin, but would not guess it the impediment. Gentlemen moderately aged are mad enough to slip their heads under any yoke, but see the obstruction. It was a man of forty guessed "Latin." I request the Hon. Hamilton Everard Jocelyn to confirm it.'
Amid laughter and exclamations Hamilton confessed himself the man who had guessed Latin to be the cause of Miss Current's remaining an old maid; Rose, crying:
'You really are too clever, Aunt Bel!'
A divergence to other themes ensued, and then Miss Jenny Graine said:
'Isn't Juley learning Latin? I should like to join her while I'm here.'
'And so should I,' responded Rose. 'My friend Evan is teaching her during the intervals of his arduous diplomatic labours. Will you take us into your class, Evan?'
'Don't be silly, girls,' interposed Aunt Bel. 'Do you want to graduate for my state with your eyes open?'
Evan objected his poor qualifications as a tutor, and Aunt Bel remarked, that if Juley learnt Latin at all, she should have regular instruction.