"Kissed you!" exclaimed her sister, with flashing eyes.
"Ye-yes," stammered Minnie, with a sob; "and I think it's a shame; and none of them ever did so before; and I don't want you ever to go away again, Kitty darling."
"The miserable wretch!" cried Mrs. Willoughby, indignantly.
"No, he isn't—he isn't that," said Minnie. "He isn't a miserable wretch at all."
"How could any one be so base who pretends to the name of gentleman!" cried Mrs. Willoughby.
"He wasn't base—and it's very wicked of you, Kitty. He only pretended, you know."
"Pretended!"
"Yes."
"Pretended what?"
"Why, that he was my—my father, you know."