"Do you always pity people, when they love you very much?"
"Oh, no! of course not. Besides, nobody loves me enough to be pitied, except papa.—Isn't it pleasant here? How very green it is! It looks just like summer. Oh, Mr. Clerron, did you see the clouds this morning?"
"There were none when I arose."
"Why, yes, Sir, there was a great heap of them at sunrise."
"I am not prepared to contradict you."
"Perhaps you were not up at sunrise."
"I have an impression to that effect."
He smiled so comically, that Ivy could not help saying, though she was half afraid he might not be pleased,—
"I wonder whether you are an early riser."
"Yes, my dear, I consider myself tolerably early. I believe I have been up every morning but one, this week, by nine o'clock."