"You superstitious colleen," she said; "as if any sensible person minded what 'they say.'"
"All right, Aunt Kathleen, what's your news? what are you exciting yourself about?"
"I'm thinking of you, my pet, and how dull it must be for you after all the young companions you had at school."
"Dull for me at the Castle?" exclaimed Bridget, opening her big eyes wide. "Dull in the same house with daddy, and the servants, and the dogs? I don't understand you!"
"Well, my darling, that's just your affectionate way. You are very fond of your father and the dogs, of course. The dogs are the dogs, but you needn't try to blind me, my dearie dear. To the end of all time the young will seek the young, and boys and girls will herd together."
"Well, there are my cousins, Patrick and Gerald, coming next week."
"Just so. Fine bits of lads, both of them; but, when all is said and done, only lads. Now, girls want to be together as well as boys; they have their bits of secrets to confide to one another, and their bits of fun to talk over, and their sly little jokes to crack the one with the other; they have to dream dreams together, and plan what their future will be like. What a gay time they'll have in the gay world, and what conquests they'll make, and whose eyes will shine the brightest, and whose dress will be the prettiest, and which girl will marry the prince by and by, and which will find her true vocation in a cottage. Oh, don't you talk to me, Bridget; I know the ways of the creatures, and the longings of them, and the fads of them. Haven't I gone through it all myself?"
"You do seem excited, Aunt Kathleen, but you must admit too that there are girls and girls, and that this girl——"
"Now, I admit nothing, my jewel. Look here, my cushla macree, you're the soul of unselfishness, but you shall have your reward. You shall have girls to talk to and to play with, and by the same token they are coming this very moment on the jaunting car to meet you."