"I'm no more to blame than Mr. Burleigh was. He knew about it as
well as I did, but Mrs. Chints was bound to carry out her project."

"Will you permit a suggestion?"

"I suppose you wish to insinuate that I acted like a heathen,
instead of saying that I am one plainly, as does Cousin Ik?"

"I think you acted a little thoughtlessly. If Miss Burton had been
in your place, she would have tried to prevent the disagreeable
scene."

"Oh, certainly! she is perfect."

"No; she is kind."

"Would it be possible to speak upon some agreeable subject, Mr.
Van Berg? I have had enough mortifications for one day."

He was puzzled. What topic could he introduce that would interest
this spoiled and petulant beauty.

He touched on art, but she was only artful in her small way, and
could not follow him. He tried literature, and here they had even
less in common. He would not and indeed could not read the thin
society novels which reflected modes of life as trivial as her
own, and his books might have been written in another language,
so slight was her acquaintance with them. The various political,
social, or scientific questions of the day had never puzzled her
brain. Van Berg cautiously felt his way towards his companion's