“Burned you through your clothes?” exclaimed Landis.
Ethel laughed, flushing a little. “I just had my nightgown on and it wasn’t a very thick one!”
“It would hurt, of course,” said Landis quickly.
“It did—for a while! Ray made a fuss over it and put on a lot of cold cream. He went into my bedroom to get it. But Miss Mount had heard my disgraceful yell and came over to see what was up. Without thinking, I called to her to come in. It hurt so, even then. Ray was terribly embarrassed and went back to his room,” she added with a gurgle of laughter. “So Miss Mount went for some stuff she had and dressed my back for me. She was awfully nice about it. Ever since then we’ve been great friends. I like her a lot.”
“She’s a mighty interesting woman,” admitted Bernard.
“She’s a dear! She’s so interested in you!”
“Interested in me?” demanded Bernard blankly.
Ethel bubbled with light-hearted laughter. “Not you personally! I mean the person who happens to be talking to her. We had a long talk Thursday morning and she asked me all about myself. She knows that it isn’t much fun not having any home of your own. Though of course I’m happy now!”
“I had an idea,” said Bernard casually, “that Miss Mount was in town all day Thursday!”
“So she was. But we had our talk right after breakfast. She asked me into her room. She didn’t go into town until later.”