"After a dull fashion, yes."
"I should like to tell her that! We saw you through the window. She struck us as very pretty, didn't she, Reggie?"
"I didn't notice her," Gillespie replied with so little interest that we both laughed.
"It's too bad," remarked Rosalind, "that Aunt Pat couldn't have come with us. It would have been a relief for her to get away from that dreary school-house."
"I might go and fetch her," I suggested.
"If you do," said Gillespie, grinning, "you will not find us here when you get back."
Rosalind sighed, as though at the remembrance of her aunt's forlorn exile; then the music broke out in a two-step.
"Come! We must have this dance!" she exclaimed, and Gillespie rose obediently. I followed, exchanging chaff with Rosalind until we came to the door, where she threw off her cloak for the first time.
"Lord and Protector, will you do me the honor?"
It all happened in a moment. I tossed the cloak across my arm carelessly and she turned to Gillespie without looking at me. He hesitated—some word faltered on his lips. I think it must have been the quick transition of her appearance effected by the change from the rich color of the cloak to the white of her dress that startled him. She realized the danger of the moment, and put her arm on his arm.