'Why strange?' continued Christopher. 'There is no harm in them.'

'O no--no harm. But I cannot explain to you--unless you see it partly of
your own accord--that to write them she must be rather a fast lady--not a
bad fast lady; a nice fast lady, I mean, of course. There, I have said
it now, and I daresay you are vexed with me, for your interest in her has
deepened to what it originally was, I think. I don't mean any absolute
harm by "fast," Kit.'

'Bold, forward, you mean, I suppose?'

Faith tried to hit upon a better definition which should meet all views;
and, on failing to do so, looked concerned at her brother's somewhat
grieved appearance, and said, helplessly, 'Yes, I suppose I do.'

'My idea of her is quite the reverse. A poetess must intrinsically be
sensitive, or she could never feel: but then, frankness is a rhetorical
necessity even with the most modest, if their inspirations are to do any
good in the world. You will, for certain, not be interested in something
I was going to tell you, which I thought would have pleased you
immensely; but it is not worth mentioning now.'

'If you will not tell me, never mind. But don't be crabbed, Kit! You
know how interested I am in all your affairs.'

'It is only that I have composed an air to one of the prettiest of her
songs, "When tapers tall"--but I am not sure about the power of it. This
is how it begins--I threw it off in a few minutes, after you had gone to
bed.'