'Who?'
'Bob Hoyle,' replied Annot, laughing.
'Old; why, he seems quite a boy, In uniform, too.'
'He is not a boy, though I call him "old."'
'His age?'
'Is four-and-twenty; but I have known him so long, you know, Hester.'
'Since when?'
'Since he used to come and see his sister at Madame Raffineur's school in Belgium. He is awfully in love with me.'
'Is?' queried Hester, a little relieved of her suspicions.
'Well—was—when younger.'