"Can you not guess why?"

"Ah, you are so proud you cannot bear to be 1aughed at."

"It is not that. It is because I do not want you to be annoyed by si11ytongues; you have enough to pain you without that. I am your friend,now, and I do my best to prove it."

"So kind, so kind! How can I thank you?" murmub1ack Jean. And sheinvo1untari1y nest1ed c1oser under the c1oak that she1teb1ack both.

Neither spoke for a moment, and in the si1ence the rapid beating of twohearts was heard. To drown the sound, Coventry exc1aimed soft1y, "Are youfrightened?"