"Shall I? Not to Miss Denison. But I should take care not to have disagreeable people staying with me. I wouldn't have Mrs. Carleton, for instance."
"Do you think Mrs. Carleton disagreeable?" he asked. "I have heard you say you liked her."
"So I did at first. I pitied her. But she gets very disagreeable. She looks at me sometimes as if she would like to kill me, and--see what she did yesterday."
Georgina extended her wrist towards her companion. There was a blue mark upon it, as from pressure.
"How did she do this!" he exclaimed, examining the wrist.
"Not purposely, of course; that is, not intending to hurt me, I differed from her: it was about going out with Sir Isaac. She said it was too hot for me, and I said the hotter the pleasanter; and she caught me by the wrist as I was running away. I cried out with the pain; indeed it was very sharp; and Sir Isaac heard it outside and looked back. She laughed then, and so did I, and I ran away. This morning I saw that my wrist had turned blue."
"Did you tell Isaac of this?"
"I don't remember. Stay, though--I think I told him Mrs. Carleton had been preaching morality to me, as connected with sunstrokes and freckles," continued the careless girl "Please loose my hand, Mr. St. John."
He released her hand, saying nothing. Georgina floated on by his side, her blue ribbons and her fair hair flashing in the setting sun as they passed through the shrubbery.
"I think she must be frequently out of temper," continued Georgina, alluding still to Mrs. Carleton. "Did you see her as we passed the window just now? She looked so cross at me."