“Why can’t you call me by my first name, as I do you? If you don’t, I shall think you dislike me.”
“Oh, please don’t think that. I would do anything to please you.”
“Then why be so unfriendly?”
“I don’t mean to. But ... it’s hard.”
“Why?”
“Well ... there’s such a difference between us. I am only a poor girl, a nobody. You are....”
“No better than you are. Perhaps I’ve had just as hard a struggle in life as you have. I’ve always been poor. I’m poor now. I want to think you are my little sister, and I am your big brother. You must do the same.”
“I’ll try. Please give me a little time. Perhaps, it will be easier.”
“All right. And now please come here. I’d like you to look at something.”
He was sitting at the table with a big green book before him. Each page was filled with columns and columns of figures. His face was eager, his eyes sparkling.