“Oh, Fred, I should, instead, try not to have interest in you, except as a cousin!” replied the girl, flushing deeply as she bowed her head over her work.
“Why should you try? We are suited to each other in age, position and disposition!” was his quick reply.
“Not in disposition; you have not my quick temper.”
“Temper, Cousin Hilda!” ejaculated Fred in surprise. “We have never seen the least evidence of it.”
“Because there has been no occasion; and, moreover, I have been taught to control it. Dear Aunt Merryman saw many an evidence of it.”
“But we are wandering from the subject in hand. Have you forgotten that I asked you to care for me, and told you that I cared for no one but you?”
“No, I have not forgotten, but you have said the same to so many girls that I do not put much confidence in it.”
“Now, cousin, that is too cruel, and I know who told you. It was Celeste Prettyman.”
“Have you been flirting with her, too, Cousin Fred? She thinks you very handsome, and wonders that you are so much handsomer than Paul, when the same description answers for both.”
“I suppose she compares me with her brother Jack. It is a pity that he is such a burlesque upon his own name. I take it for granted that he will be as awkward as ever this evening and will break his goblet and upset his chair before he leaves.”