"I don't know what you mean, Kitty," said Belle, tartly. "Mr. Sullivan is a junior partner of my father's, but I have not seen him for years."
"Except in your dreams, Belle," suggested Kitty. "You forget."
"Do you dream about Mr. Sullivan?" asked Fanny, fixing her eyes on Belle as she spoke. "I mean to go and ask Miss Gertrude if she does."
"Do," said Kitty; "I'll go with you."
They ran across the entry into the dining room, and put the question at the same time. Taken by surprise, Gertrude neither blushed nor looked confused, but answered, quietly, "Yes, sometimes; but what do you know of Mr. Sullivan?"
"Oh, nothing," answered Kitty; "only some others do, and we are inquiring around to see how many there are;" and she ran back in triumph to tell Belle she might as well be frank, like Gertrude, and plead guilty to the weakness; it looked so much better than blushing and denying it.
But it would not do to joke with Belle any longer; she was offended, and did not conceal the fact. Mr. Bruce felt annoyed, and soon left, leaving the two cousins to settle their difficulty as best they could. As soon as he had gone, Belle folded up her work, and walked upstairs to her room with great dignity, while Kitty stayed behind to laugh over the matter, and improve her opportunity to make friends with Fanny Bruce; for Kitty laboured under the idea that in cultivating the acquaintance of the sister she should advance her cause.
She therefore called Fanny to sit beside her, put her arm round her waist, and commenced talking about Gertrude, and the origin and extent of the intimacy which seemed to exist between her and the Bruce family. Fanny, who was always communicative, willingly informed her of the circumstances which had attached her so strongly to a friend who was some years her senior.
"And your brother," said Kitty, "he has known her some time, hasn't he?"
"Yes, I suppose so," answered Fanny, carelessly.