At that moment all the warmth and brightness of the
bleak colourless world shone for him in the eyes and hair of this
sweet girl, and in the glowing fire-place before which she drew his
chair.
"It is exactly the sort of day on which one expects to be free from
the annoyance of callers," he said. "Ought I to apologize?"
"By all means--instantly--and in the most profuse and elaborate
terms." She assumed her grand air, mounted a footstool, and stood
looking over his head with her saucy chin elevated, waiting for the
abject petition that did not come. The young man's heart rendered the
tribute of an unmistakable throb to its "little queen;" but emotional
declarations are out of place after a short acquaintance, especially
when there exists a decided belief that they will be listened to in an
unfriendly spirit, or, what is infinitely worse, in a friendly spirit.
It was the fear of making Rose his friend that steeled Allan's
determination to bide his time, and that rendered his present reply
rather more stiff than sensational.
"I beg a thousand pardons," he began, when she interrupted him with--
"Oh, that is too many.
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