“Well, I don't know you yet,” said Jane gravely, “and Kathleen is a very lovely girl, the very loveliest girl I know.”
“You are quite right,” said Jack in a tone as grave as her own. “I am not good enough for her.”
“Oh, I did not say that. Only I don't know you, and you see I know Kathleen. She is so lovely and so good. I love her.” Jane's face was earnest and grave.
“And so do I, Jane, if I may call you so,” said Jack, “and I am going to try to be worthy of her.”
Jane's eyes rested quietly on his face. She made up her mind that it was an honest face and a face one could trust, but to Jane it seemed as if something portentous had befallen her friend and she could not bring herself immediately to accept this new situation with an outburst of joyous acclaim such as ordinarily greets an announcement of this kind. For a reason she could not explain her mind turned to the memory she cherished of her own mother and of the place she had held with her father. She wondered if this man could give to Kathleen a place so high and so secure in his heart. While her eyes were on his face Jack could see that her mind was far away. She was not thinking of him.
“What is it, Jane?” he said gently.
Jane started and the blood rushed to her face. She hesitated, then said quietly but with charming frankness, “I was thinking of my mother. She died when I was two years old. Father says I am like her. But I am not at all. She was very lovely. Kathleen makes me think of her, and father often tells me about her. He has never forgotten her. You see I think he loved her in quite a wonderful way, and he—” Jane paused abruptly.
Mrs. Waring-Gaunt rose quietly, came to her side. “Dear Jane, dear child,” she said, kissing her. “That's the only way to love. I am sure your mother was a lovely woman, and a very happy woman, and you are like her.”
But Jack kept his face turned away from them.
“Oh, Mrs. Waring-Gaunt,” cried Jane, shaking her head emphatically, “I am not the least bit like her. That is one of the points on which I disagree with father. We do not agree upon everything, you know.”