‘Connie Wilder, a little girl in a blue sailor suit, and two nice fat braids of yellow hair dangling down her back with red bows on the ends—very convenient for pulling.’
‘You are making that up. You don’t remember.’
‘Ah, but I do! And as for the racket you were making that afternoon, it was, if you will permit the expression, infernal. I remember it distinctly; I was trying to cram for a math. exam.’
‘It wasn’t I. It was your bad little sisters and brothers and cousins.’
‘It was you, dear Constance. I saw you with my own eyes; I heard you with my own ears.’
‘Bobbie Hilliard was pulling my hair.’
‘I apologize on his behalf, and with that we will close the incident. There is something much more important which I wish to talk about.’
‘Have you seen Nannie?’ She offered this hastily, not to allow a pause.
‘Yes, dear Constance, I have seen Nannie.’
‘Call me “Miss Wilder,” please.’