“Well, you shall bring him one of these days,” said Mrs. Scott.
“After the 25th!” cried Bettina. “Not before! not before! No one till then; till then we will see no one but you, Monsieur Jean. But you, it is very extraordinary, and I don’t quite know how it has happened, you don’t seem anybody to us. The compliment is perhaps not very well turned, but do not make a mistake, it is a compliment. I intended to be excessively amiable in speaking to you thus.”
“And so you are, Miss Percival.”
“So much the better if I have been so fortunate as to make myself understood. Good-by, Monsieur Jean—till tomorrow!”
Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival returned slowly toward the castle.
“And now, Susie,” said Bettina, “scold me well, I expect it, I have deserved it.”
“Scold you! Why?”
“You are going to say, I am sure, that I have been too familiar with that young man.”
“No, I shall not say that. From the first day that young man has made the most favorable impression upon me; he inspires me with perfect confidence.”
“And so he does me.”