"What a stream of unalloyed egotism!" he
said. "In a woman it's a detestable quality."
"Oh, you should say a rare quality," amended Rose, with a smile that
ended in a sigh.
"Well, it's something that can't be too rare." A fading spring lily
dropped on the doorstep by one of the children received an impatient
kick, as though he would dismiss the present conversation in a similar
manner. "Rose," he said, "I wish you would ask Wanda to our
sailing-party to-morrow."
"Why, Edward, I might as well ask a blue-bird. She will come if it
happens to suit her inclination at the moment, otherwise not."
"Don't you think a regular invitation would please her?"
"Oh, dear, no; it isn't as though she were a civilized creature. You
don't seem to grasp the fact that she's only a wild thing of the
woods."
A pause ensued. "There are other facts," resumed Edward a little
unsteadily, "that I _have_ grasped. One is that she is the most
beautiful woman I ever saw; another--that I love her."
Rose put up her hands as though to save her eyes from some hideous
sight, "It can't be true!" she exclaimed.
"My dear little sister, it is true; and your inability to accept it is
not a very flattering tribute to my good taste.
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