"Oh, no; it's just a friendship, I fancy."
So? Other girls were his friends! Bettina's head went up, and she slipped the rings back in their hiding place.
"They've always known each other," Diana explained. "You see Sara was a sharp-tongued little girl, and Justin could get along with her better than the other boys because of his easy-going ways. And he gets along with her now, but usually it is a sort of armed truce."
Bettina felt better, but needing further assurance, she ventured, "I suppose he has a sort of brotherly feeling for her."
It was Sophie who answered that question.
"No, he hasn't. Justin adores the memory of his own little sister. She was a dear child and lame. And she was about as like Sara, I imagine, as a white dove is like a peacock. Justin has often told me that when he marries he wants to find a woman to whom he can tell his dreams as he told them to his little sister—it is perhaps because he has failed to find such a woman that he is unmarried."
It seemed to Bettina, suddenly, that all the stars sang! "Oh, it's such a lovely world"—she was all aglow—"and you've made it lovely for me, Diana, by having me here, and doing wonderful things for me."
"I want you to stay for a long time, dear, until you are married. But you'll forgive me if I go away and leave you alone with Sophie for a while?"
"Oh, must you go away again?"
"Yes. I'm not well. This air doesn't agree with—my throat," Diana stammered, not caring to meet the clear eyes.