"Why has Mr. Maitland left town?" Mrs. Payton asked her daughter.
"Shells."
"Oh," Mrs. Payton said; "but I thought he—you—I mean, I supposed ... Freddy, he's a nice fellow. I wish—"
"Oh, nice enough," Fred admitted, carelessly.
"She's refused him," Mrs. Payton thought; and sighed.
Even Flora had to ask her question: "Mr. Maitland has gone away, they say, Miss Freddy?"
"So I hear."
"Men," said Flora, heavily, "is always going away! Why can't they stay in one place, same as ladies?"
"They are not so important as we are," Miss Freddy assured her.