She turned round almost cheerfully. A cloud seemed to vanish from her face.
“I am so glad you have come, Renny,” she said. “I see so little of you lately. Get up on the bed, won’t you, and lie near me?”
“Of course I love to be with you, but I thought——”
“Oh! don’t think anything,” said Pauline. “Just get on the bed and cuddle up close, close to me. And let us imagine that we are back in the old happy days before Aunt Sophy came.”
Verena did not say anything. She got on the bed, flung her arms round Pauline’s neck, and strained her sister to her heart.
“I love you so much!” she said.
“Do you, Renny? That is very, very sweet of you.”
“And you love me, don’t you, Paulie?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“Pauline! You don’t know? You don’t know if you love me or not?”