Alice blushed crimson as she replied:
"Yes, I know him very well and his family, too. Are either of his sisters with him?"
"His mother is here," 'Lina replied, "and I like her so much. She is very familiar and friendly; don't you think so?"
Alice would not tell a lie, and she answered frankly:
"She does not bear that name in Snowdon. They consider her very haughty there. I think you must be a favorite."
"Are they very aristocratic and wealthy?" 'Lina asked, and Alice answered:
"Aristocratic, not wealthy. They were very kind to me, and the doctor's sister, Anna, is one of the sweetest ladies I ever knew. She may possibly be here during the summer. She is an invalid, and has been for years."
Suddenly Ellen Tiffton's story of the ambrotype flashed into 'Lina's mind. Alice might know something of it, and after a little she asked if the doctor had not at one time been engaged.
Alice did not know. It was very possible. Why did Miss Worthington ask the question?
'Lina did not stop to consider the propriety or impropriety of making so free with a stranger, and unhesitatingly repeated what Ellen Tiffton had told her of the ambrotype. This, of course, compelled her to speak of Adah, who, she said, came to them under very suspicious circumstances, and was cared for by her eccentric brother, Hugh.