"You have met my chum, Major Moncrief, have you not, Miss Rivers?"
She shook her head. "You know I am always with Donald."
"Oh, ah, I see!" muttered Moncrief. "No, I have never had the pleasure of meeting the young lady before; and so, Wilton, I will not interrupt you. I will go and change my clothes."
"Interrupt!" said Ella, as he left the room. "What does he mean by interrupt? Who is he?—your uncle—your guardian?"
"Do you think I require a guardian at my age?" replied Wilton, laughing, though greatly annoyed at Moncrief's tone.
"How old are you?" asked Ella, but so softly and simply that the question did not seem rude.
"Almost four and thirty; and, en revanche, how old are you?"
"Almost twenty."
"I should not have thought you so much: yet there are times you look more. However, Moncrief is an old brother-officer of mine; really a friend, but a queer fellow, a little odd."