"That's right, and I will call you—let me see, Cousin Mark. I don't want my friends to think I had to send for an escort to a telegraph office."
When they entered Daly's Miss Gilbert met an old school friend—Louisa Morton.
"Why, Maud, are you here?" said her friend. "How delightful! And who is this young gentleman?"
"Indeed! Well, I congratulate you on having such a nice escort. If he were a few years older I might try to make you jealous."
Maud laughed gaily.
"Oh, you can't get him away. He is devoted to me. Aren't you, Cousin Mark?"
Mark was about to say "You bet," but it occurred to him that this would not be comme il faut, so he only said, "You are right, Maud."
"Where are your seats? I hope they are near ours."
They proved to be in the same row, but on the other side of the center aisle.