“You dear little innocent thing!” returned Miss Warren. “Of course I think the count a very interesting man. I don’t deny he has taken my fancy. But as for being in love with him—well, that is another thing.”
“Do you really know anything about the count, Maud?” asked Ruth. “Your father doesn’t approve of him, and don’t you think he knows best?”
“Oh, father never approves of any of my friends,” complained Maud Warren impatiently. “But Mrs. De Lancey Smythe is on my side. She likes the count.”
“But do you know much about Mrs. De Lancey Smythe?” Ruth went on.
Maud was nettled. “Mrs. De Lancey Smythe is a Virginian, and belongs to an old southern family,” she returned.
The “Automobile Girls” looked uncomfortable. It was Ruth who finally spoke.
“I hope you won’t be angry, Maud. It is only because we like you that I am going to tell you something you ought to know. Some one told me to warn you to be careful.”
“Careful about what?” cried Maud, though her flushed face betrayed the answer she expected.
“The Count de Sonde,” replied Ruth.
“But what have you heard against him?” demanded Maud indignantly.