Phil opened his eyes very wide.
“What do you mean, Rachel?” he asked. “No, Rachel, you cannot guess it, for I never, never even whispered about that secret.”
Rachel’s face had turned quite pale and her voice was trembling.
“Shall I whisper it back to you now?” she said. “Shall I tell you where you went? You did not meet the myth lady—I begin really to be almost sure she is only a myth lady—but you did meet a lady. She was in gray and she had the saddest face in the world; and oh, Phil, she took you home—she took you home!”
“Why, Rachel,” said little Phil again, “you look just as if you were going to cry. How is it you found all this out? And why does it make you so sorrowful?”
“Oh, I want her,” said Rachel, trembling and half-sobbing. “I want her so badly. I long for her more than anything. I saw her once and I have not been quite happy since. She never took me inside her house. Phil, I am jealous of you. Phil, I want to hear all about her.”
“I’m so glad you know,” said Phil in cheerful tones. “I was told not to tell. I was told to keep it another secret; but if you found it out, or rather if you always knew about it, why, of course you and I can talk together about her. You don’t know how nice it will be to me to be able to talk to you about one of my secrets. My dearest friend secret, and the Betty secret, and the little house at the back of the garden secret I must never, never speak of; and the secret about my being a very, very strong boy—that I mustn’t talk about; but you and I can chatter about the lady of the forest, Rachel. Oh, what a comfort it is!”
“It will be a great comfort to me too,” answered Rachel. “Let’s begin at once. Tell me every single thing about her. What did she wear? How did she speak? Had she my ring on her finger?”
Phil smiled and launched forth into a long and minute narrative. Not a single detail would sharp little Rachel allow him to omit. Whenever his memory was in danger of flagging she prodded it with vehemence, until at last even her most rapacious longing was satisfied. When Phil had quite exhausted all his narrative she breathed a deep sigh and said again:
“I envy you, Phil. You have been inside her house and she has kissed you.”