Mrs. Barry did not come down with her, and she went out on the wide porch and sat down sulkily in a big rustic chair.
Cecil Laurens followed her, and leaning his arms on the top of her chair, looked down into the pretty clouded face.
“What did Aunt Lucy say?” he asked.
Molly snapped out a vicious little “No!”
“A wise woman,” said Cecil Laurens.
Molly looked up at him with an angry gleam in the dark eyes.
“Do you think so?” she asked in an odd tone, adding sharply: “Time will tell.”
Then the bright eyes turned from him and wandered toward the grove of trees that inclosed the house. He saw her breast rise and fall quickly, and her little hands clinched themselves in silent anger. Plainly, Molly was in a passion.
“Miss Barry, you puzzle me!” said Cecil Laurens. “Why are you so anxious to return to Staunton? Have you a lover there?”
Molly glanced up, and a saucy smile broke through the gloom of her face.