“Can you give me no more definite answer than that?” Mrs. Gallilee asked.
“I am quite unacquainted, madam, with the musical proficiency of the pupil to whom you refer. I don’t even know (which adds to my perplexity) whether you are speaking of a lady or a gentleman.”
“I am speaking,” said Mrs. Gallilee quietly, “of my niece, Carmina.”
Those words set all further doubt at rest in Miss Minerva’s mind. Introduced by such elaborate preparation, the allusion to Carmina’s name could only lead, in due course, to the subject of Carmina’s marriage. By indirect methods of approach, Mrs. Gallilee had at last reached the object that she had in view.
CHAPTER XXII.
There was an interval of silence between the two ladies.
Mrs. Gallilee waited for Miss Minerva to speak next. Miss Minerva waited to be taken into Mrs. Gallilee’s confidence. The sparrows twittered in the garden; and, far away in the schoolroom, the notes of the piano announced that the music lesson had begun.
“The birds are noisy,” said Mrs. Gallilee.
“And the piano sounds out of tune,” Miss Minerva remarked.