“Will you go for a little stroll?”
“I will go as far as the hedge. Miss Campbell does not allow us to go out of sight of the hotel in the evening.”
Clarence thrust his hands in his pockets and walked beside her. He had very grown-up airs, although she had heard from his cousins that he was only seventeen.
“Perhaps you think our meeting just now was accidental,” he went on.
“I hadn’t thought of it at all,” replied Elinor.
“Please don’t be unkind to me, Miss Butler. It was because I was in trouble that I wanted to speak to you. I knew you would listen to me when perhaps the other girls wouldn’t. You were especially fond of him——”
“Fond of whom?” she interrupted.
“Why, of Edward, my cousin. Although we did quarrel a good deal, Miss Butler, I loved him like a brother. That’s why I’m so unhappy now.”
“Do get to the point,” she answered impatiently. “Has anything happened to your cousin?”
“Yes.”