know that I was coming?"

"Yes," answered Kate, "I told her about your letter last night."

"Did you show her my letter?"

"No."

"Why didn't you? If she had read it she wouldn't have gone. I said I was
in a scrape. I was coming down on purpose to see the mater. You might
have sent me a wire to say she would not be at home, or you might have
kept her at home by showing her my letter. You certainly did not act
with discretion."

"I said you'd begin to scold the minute you came here, Loftie," remarked
Mabel. "It's a way you have. I told Kitty so. See, you have made poor
Kitty quite grave."

Loftus Bertram was a tall, slim, young fellow. He was well-made,
athletic, and neat in appearance, and had that upright carriage and
bearing which is most approved of in her Majesty's army. His face was
thin and dark; he had a look of Kate, but his eyes were neither so large
nor so full; his mouth was weak, not firm, and his expression wanted the
openness which characterized Catherine's features.

He was a selfish man, but he was not unkind or ill-natured. The news
which the girls gave him of their mother's absence undoubtedly worried
and annoyed him a good deal, but like most people who are popular, and
Loftus Bertram was undoubtedly very popular, he had the power of
instantly adapting himself to the exigencies of the moment.