"Naturally," replied the girl frankly.
"You are very much in love with him, it seems to me, Mabel."
"Very much."
"He is a nice young man," said Annie Clarke, in a low voice; "I believe he has no fortune."
"I believe so, too, mammy."
"Have you already obtained information about that?"
"No, mammy, I have had no information about it," said the girl discreetly, "but I suppose it."
They spoke quietly, looking each other in the eyes, without a shadow of hesitation in voice or words.
"Are you already engaged to him, Mabel?" Annie Clarke asked, after a minute's silence.