"Exactly. Then if the exchange had not been made you would not have had the pleasure of your father's company at all this summer, would you?"
"N-no."
"Would you rather have him here now, even though such a mistake has been made, than to wait two years longer to see him?"
"Yes, yes, yes," cried Bee with intensity. "Oh, I don't see now how I could have borne to wait longer."
"Then, my dear, how about that feeling toward your cousin? Good has come out of it, no matter how she meant it. If you will think of that part of it, it will help you to feel toward her as you used to do, and you must do that, my child, for your own sake. Now whenever any hard thought of her comes, just think that she brought him back to you. It won't be easy at first, my dear, but you can do it. We will let that be, and pass on to other things. The case interests me very much, and I would like you to be so successful in winning his love that there would be no one of whom he would be so fond. Perhaps I can help you."
"If you will, I will do anything in the world for you," cried the girl earnestly.
"I am satisfied that it can be done, Beatrice. You were on the way to its accomplishment already. Your cousin's coming may make a slight difference for a time, but it will only be temporary. You yourself are liable to spoil everything."
"I?" Beatrice looked her surprise.
"Yes; you will see as I talk. Now, Beatrice, answer me one question: in your studies you have always been first, have you not?"
"Yes. How did you know?"