If Bradley hadn't seen you,
Jane, and loved your pretty face when you were young, Kenneth Forbes
would now be the owner of Elmhurst. Did you ever think of that?"
Did she ever think of it? Why, it was this very fact that made the boy
odious to her. The woman grew white with rage.
"John Merrick, leave my presence."
"All right, Jane."
He stopped to light his pipe, and then slowly walked away, leaving an
embarrassed group behind him.
Patsy, however, was equal to the occasion. She began at once to
chatter about Dr. Eliel, and the scar that would always show on her
forehead; and how surprised the Major, her father, would be when he
returned from the visit to his colonel and found his daughter had been
through the wars herself, and bore the evidence of honorable wounds.
Louise gracefully assisted her cousin to draw Aunt Jane into a more
genial mood, and between them they presently succeeded. The interview
that had begun so unfortunately ended quite pleasantly, and when
Patricia returned to her room her aunt bade her adieu almost tenderly.
"In fact," said Louise to Beth, in the privacy of the latter's
chamber, "I'm getting rather worried over Aunt Jane's evident weakness
for our Cousin Patsy.
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