"Begun what?" asked Emily again. "You are so very mysterious, Delia, I don't know at all what to make of you. Ever since the day that we went down to Barton's after the braid, you have acted as if you had some wonderful secret upon your mind, which you were determined to keep all to yourself."
"And so I have," said Delia, "only I have no desire at all to keep it all to myself; but if you have such a great dread of knowing anything which you cannot talk about, I don't see but I must do so whether I wish it or not. I did not think you would fail me just when I needed you, especially after what you said this afternoon." And Delia seemed just ready to cry.
"But I have not failed you, Delia," said Emily, much disturbed at the implied accusation. "I am sure I never told anything that you asked me to keep, and it is my own secret that troubles me, not yours. That would be a very different matter. There is no one in the world that I would do more to oblige than yourself, for I am sure I don't know what would have become of me without you."
"Then you will promise solemnly not to betray me, if I let you into my secret," said Delia.
"Of course I will," returned Emily, confidently, but feeling nevertheless a little frightened. "I have promised already."
Delia paused and played with her chain, as though she did not exactly know where to begin. Emily was surprised at her embarrassment.
"Why, you are as bad as I am," she said, laughing, and really rejoiced at the prospect of hearing something which might divert her mind from her own troubles. "One would think you had a love affair upon your hands at the very least."
"I never said I had not," returned Delia abruptly. She paused a moment, and then went on, apparently recovering her confidence after the first step. "You were speaking of that day we went down to Barton's—do you remember the gentleman we met there?"
"The one with the black whiskers who spoke with such a French accent—yes, what of him?"
"He is come to teach French and Italian at the academy," pursued Delia, "and he hopes that Mrs. Pomeroy will employ him, as Mademoiselle is going away at holidays."