“Ah!” exclaimed Marion with a sad emphasis. Then, making an effort to conceal her emotion, she added in another strain, “I hope Walter hasn’t been flirting with Dorothy Dayrell?”
“Bother Dorothy Dayrell!”
“Well—perhaps with one you might have more reason to be afraid of—Miss Winifred Wayland?”
“Not so bad as that neither. It’s another lover I’ve lost!”
“Oh! you confess to having had another. Have you told Walter so?”
“Bother about Walter! Who do you think I’m speaking of?”
“Captain Scarthe perhaps—whom you admire so much. Is he the lover you have lost?”
“Not so bad as that neither. Guess again?”
“A third there is, or has been! You wicked coquette?”
“Not I. I never gave him the slightest encouragement. I am sure, never. Did you ever see me, coz?”