The breakfast bell was ringing when that young lady appeared, beautiful and bright as the sunny morning, in flowing white cashmere, belted with blue, and her lovely golden hair twisted in a coronet of amber braids round her head. She came over to where Rose sat, sulky and silent, and kissed her.
"Bon jour, ma soeur! How do you feel after last night!"
"Very well," said Rose, not looking at her.
"Reginald came home with you?" smiled Kate, toying with Rose's pretty curls.
"Yes," she said, uneasily.
"I am glad. I am so glad that you and he are friends at last."
Rose fidgeted more uneasily still, and said nothing.
"Why was it you didn't like him?" said Kate, coaxingly. "Tell me, my dear."
"I don't know. I liked him well enough," replied Rose, ungraciously. "He was a stranger to me."
"My darling, he will be your brother."