"But you will think it over?"
"I will think it over."
"And may I come to see you to-morrow?"
"Come at this hour; but don't be too terribly disappointed, Kitty, if I am obliged to say no."
Kitty smiled; her smile was radiant. She raised Katherine's hand, pressed it to her lips, and ran out of the room.
Kitty let herself out of the great house. Katherine Hunt was so stunned that she forgot the ordinary duties of hostess. It was only when she heard the slight bang of the hall door, which Kitty made in shutting it after her, that she seemed to awake from a sort of dream. She sank down on a sofa, clasped her long, slender fingers together, and was lost in thought. How long she thought she never knew, but she was roused at last by the servant announcing lunch.
She went into the dining-room. Her father often came home to lunch, and he was present to-day.
"My dear Kate," he said, "are you well? Is anything the matter?"
"I am well," replied Katherine, "but there is a great deal the matter."
"My child, what?"