too clever, all this; and we ought to be harmless as doves.'

'Ah, Picotee! to continue harmless as a dove you must be wise as a
serpent, you'll find--ay, ten serpents, for that matter.'

'But if I cannot get at him, how can I manage him in these ways you speak
of?'

'Get at him? I suppose he gets at you in some way, does he not?--tries
to see you, or to be near you?'

'No--that's just the point--he doesn't do any such thing, and there's the
worry of it!'

'Well, what a silly girl! Then he is not your lover at all?'

'Perhaps he's not. But I am his, at any rate--twice over.'

'That's no use. Supply the love for both sides? Why, it's worse than
furnishing money for both. You don't suppose a man will give his heart
in exchange for a woman's when he has already got hers for nothing?
That's not the way old Adam does business at all.'

Picotee sighed. 'Have you got a young man, too, Berta?'

'A young man?'

'A lover I mean--that's what we call 'em down here.'

'It is difficult to explain,' said Ethelberta evasively. 'I knew one
many years ago, and I have seen him again, and--that is all.'

'According to my idea you have one, but according to your own you have
not; he does not love you, but you love him--is that how it is?'

'I have not quite considered how it is.'

'Do you love him?'

'I have never seen a man I hate less.'

'A great deal lies covered up there, I expect!'

'He was in that carriage which drove over the hill at the moment we met
here.'

'Ah-ah--some great lord or another who has his day by candlelight, and so
on. I guess the style. Somebody who no more knows how much bread is a
loaf than I do the price of diamonds and pearls.'

'I am afraid he's only a commoner as yet, and not a very great one
either. But surely you guess, Picotee? But I'll set you an example of
frankness by telling his name. My friend, Mr. Julian, to whom you posted
the book. Such changes as he has seen!--from affluence to poverty. He
and his sister have been playing dances all night at Wyndway--What is the
matter?'

'Only a pain!'

'My dear Picotee--'

'I think I'll sit down for a moment, Berta.'

'What--have you over-walked yourself, dear?'

'Yes--and I got up very early, you see.'

'I hope you are not going to be ill, child. You look as if you ought not
to be here.'

'O, it is quite trifling. Does not getting up in a hurry cause a sense
of faintness sometimes?'

'Yes, in people who are n