Anne nudged her.
“My dear, what will Mr. Brice think of us?”
“Listen, Mr. Brice,” Puss continued, undaunted. “I shall tell you some gossip. Virginia was sent to Monticello, and went with her father to Kentucky and Pennsylvania this summer, that she might be away from Clarence. Colfax.”
“Oh, Puss!” cried Anne.
Miss Russell paid not the slightest heed.
“Colonel Carvel is right,” she went on. “I should do the same thing. They are first cousins, and the Colonel doesn't like that. I am fond of Clarence. But he isn't good for anything in the world except horse racing and—and fighting. He wanted to help drive the Black Republican emigrants out of Kansas, and his mother had to put a collar and chain on him. He wanted to go filibustering with Walker, and she had to get down on her knees. And yet,” she cried, “if you Yankees push us as far as war, Mr. Brice, just look out for him.”
“But—” Anne interposed.
“Oh, I know what you are going to say,—that Clarence has money.”
“Puss!” cried Anne, outraged. “How dare you!”
Miss Russell slipped an arm around her waist.