"That I won't tell."
"Elizabeth, good for you! You're a brick! I knew you would come out all right. I just knew it."
"But wait! I have not altogether promised. Only almost."
"Oh, it's the same thing. I'm sure of you now!"
And Valentine capered about the room in excitement, until Elizabeth remembered that it was important that he should not be heard, and warned him to keep still.
"After all, it is not a secret for always," he said. "In two weeks you can tell them all about it if you want to. You see I am not binding you down forever." This with an air of generosity.
"It will be harder to tell then than now," remarked Elizabeth. "But I must go! I hear some one calling me. I'll tell you for certain when I come back."
She slipped out of the room, and it was but just in time. Her aunts had returned, and Miss Herrick wished to see her in the library. She met the maid who was looking for her on the stairs. The library was directly under the closed room, and Elizabeth wished that she could again warn Valentine to be very quiet. He was so careless.
She found her aunt in an unwonted frame of mind. Miss Herrick put her arm about Elizabeth and drew her to her side.
"I have been hearing very good accounts of my niece," she said. "I met Mrs. Arnold this afternoon, and she told me that your teacher speaks very highly of you, Elizabeth."