JACK'S NEW FRIEND
"May I inquire what you are thinking of so intently, Miss Lulu?"
Lulu gave a little start, and glanced up from her seat on the piazza steps, into Lord Carresford's kind, amused face. "His lordship," stretched comfortably in the hammock, with book and cigar, had been regarding her in silence for several minutes.
"I was thinking," said Lulu slowly, "how differently things generally happen from the way you expect them to."
"I thought it must be something rather absorbing," said "his lordship" with a smile, "you looked so very serious. What has put that particular thought into your head just now, I wonder."
"Why, it was you," said Lulu, flushing a little. "I began by thinking how different you were from what we thought you were going to be. When papa said a lord was coming to stay with us, I was really quite uncomfortable. I thought it would be such a dreadfully solemn thing to have one in the house."
Lord Carresford laughed.
"And you have since discovered that I am not such a very solemn person after all, is that it?"
"Yes," said Lulu; "you're not the least bit solemn, you know, but much nicer than any other gentleman who ever came to stay with us. It's only two days since you came, but it seems as if we'd all known you a long time. Betty said she didn't believe lords were any different from other people, but the rest of us all thought they must be."
"Good for Betty. How did she obtain her superior knowledge about lords?"