"I suppose not. Still, that is the proper way to go about it."
"What does Gracie say?" asked Jack impatiently.
"I've come to ask you both, Jack, to let the matter lie for a time." And Jack's foot beat an impatient tattoo. "You see, Gracie had no idea whatever of this, and it has knocked the wind out of her. You can't imagine how upset she is. First, she thought you were joking. Then she had a good cry, and now I've left her staring into the fire, fearing you can never all be friends again as you always have been."
"Why, of course we can!"
"I told her so, but she says things can never be the same."
"We don't want them the same."
"No, I know. But you see, Jack, Gracie has not been thinking of you two in that way; and in the way she has always thought of you, as her dearest friends, she likes the one of you just as much as the other."
Jack grunted.
"After this it will be impossible for her to regard you simply as friends. But you must give her time----"
"Is there any one else?" growled Jack.