"
"Suppose, Betty--suppose Con notices the likeness!"
At this Betty smiled reassuringly.
"He won't. Men are so stupidly humble. A pretty little girl would escape
them every time."
"But her Southern accent, Betty. It is so pronounced."
"My dear Lyn, it is! She sometimes talks like a little darkey; but to my
certain knowledge there are ten small Southerners at the Saxe, of
assorted ages and sexes, waiting for adoption."
"And she may speak out, Betty. Her silence as to the past will disappear
when she has got over her fear and longing."
Betty looked more serious. "I doubt it. Not a word has passed her lips
here--of her mother or home. It has amazed me. She's the most unusual,
the most fascinating creature I ever saw, for her age. Brace is wild
about her--he wants me to keep her. But, Lyn, if she does break her
strange silence, it will be your big hour! Whatever Con is or isn't--and
sometimes I feel like hugging him, and again, like shaking him--he's
the tenderest man with women--not even excepting Brace--that I have ever
seen. It never has occurred to him to reason out how much you love
him--he's too busy loving you. But when he finds this out! Well, Lyn, it
makes me bow my head and speak low."
"Don't, Betty! Don't suggest pedestals again," Lynda pleaded.
"No pedestal, Lyn; no pedestal--but the real, splendid _you_ revealed at
last! And now--forget it, dear.
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