She jerked it free, curtly saying, “No, thank you.”
She was repentant in a moment, and, cheerfully:
“Miss Nash took me in her room yesterday and showed me her things. My, she’s got such be-yoo-ti-ful jewels! La V’lieres and pearls and a swell amethyst brooch. My! She told me all about how the girls used to study in Paris, and how sorry she would be to go back to California and keep house.”
“Keep house?”
Nelly let him suffer for a moment before she relieved him with, “For her father.”
“Oh…. Did she say she was going back to California soon?”
“Not till the end of the summer, maybe.”
“Oh…. Oh, Nelly—”
For the first time that day he was perfectly sincere. He was trying to confide in her. But the shame of having emotions was on him. He got no farther.
To his amazement, Nelly mused, “She is very nice.”