"No, you are not," she answers firmly.
His countenance falls, as Cain's did.
"I am not!" he repeats, in a constrained voice. "Who is then, may I ask?"
"Jack, my brother—he is, and always will be!"
"Bah!" cries Gerard, laughing, and looking immensely relieved. "How you frightened me! I believe you did it on purpose, as you said to me about the brook this afternoon. After him, am I first?"
"Yes."
"Before——what's his name?—the fellow that writes such a remarkably good hand—before Brandon?"
"Why do you always worry me about him?" she exclaims, angrily, turning away.
"Why do you so strongly resent being worried about him?" retorts St. John suspiciously.
"It is wearisome to hear a person always harping on one string," she answers coldly. "Believe me or not, as you choose; but please spare me the trouble of these repeated and useless asseverations."