“Does one ever know why one's sad?” she asked in a bewitchingly appealing tone..
“Well, I imagine that sometimes one dees,” put in Aunt Nettie, drily.
Missy ignored Aunt Nettie; often it was best to ignore Aunt Nettie--she was mother's old-maid sister, and she “understood” even less than mother did.
Luckily just then, Marguerite, the coloured hired girl, came to clear off the table. Missy regarded her capable but undistinguished figure.
“I wish they had butlers in Cherryvale,” she observed, incautious again.
“Butlers!--for mercy's sake!” ejaculated Aunt Nettie.
“What books have you got out from the library now, Missy?” asked father. It was an abrupt change of topic, but Missy was glad of the chance to turn from Aunt Nettie's derisive smile.
“Why--let me see. 'David Harum' and 'The History of Ancient Greece'-that's all I think. And oh, yes--I got a French dictionary on my way home this afternoon.”
“Oh! A French dictionary!” commented father.
“It isn't books, Horace,” remarked Aunt Nettie, incomprehensibly. “It's that O'Neill girl.”
“What's that O'Neill girl?” demanded Missy, in a low, suppressed voice.
“Well, if you ask me, her head's full of--”
But a swift gesture from mother brought Aunt Nettie to a sudden pause.
But Missy, suspecting an implied criticism of her friend, began with hauteur:
“I implore you to desist from making any insinuation against Tess O'Neill. I'm very proud to be epris with her!” (Missy made the climactic word rhyme with “kiss.”)
There was a little hush after this outburst from the usually reserved Missy. Father and mother stared at her and then at each other. But Aunt Nettie couldn't refrain from a repetition of the climactic word;
At the sound, Missy felt herself growing “deathly mute, even to the lips”, but she managed to maintain a mien of intense composure.
“What does that mean, Missy?” queried father.
He was regarding her kindly, with no hint of hidden amusement. Father was a tall, quiet and very wise man, and Missy had sometimes found it possible to talk with him about the unusual things that rose up to fascinate her. She didn't distrust him so much as most grown-ups.
So she smiled at him and said informatively:
“It means to be in intense sympathy with.”