I can't be pretty."
She laughed softly. It was so nice to think he should be so blind.
"When my cousin comes tomorrow you will see a beautiful woman, Gregory,"
she added presently. "She is like a little queen: her shoulders are so
upright, and her head looks as though it ought to have a little crown upon
it. You must come to see her tomorrow as soon as she comes. I am sure you
will love her."
"Of course I shall come to see her, since she is your cousin; but do you
think I could ever think any woman as lovely as I think you?"
He fixed his seething eyes upon her.
"You could not help seeing that she is prettier," said Em, slipping her
right hand into his; "but you will never be able to like any one so much as
you like me."
Afterward, when she wished her lover good night, she stood upon the
doorstep to call a greeting after him; and she waited, as she always did,
till the brown pony's hoofs became inaudible behind the kopje.
Then she passed through the room where Tant Sannie lay snoring, and through
the little room that was all draped in white, waiting for her cousin's
return, on to her own room.
She went to the chest of drawers to put away the work she had finished, and
sat down on the floor before the lowest drawer. In it were the things she
was preparing for her marriage. Piles of white linen, and some aprons and
quilts; and in a little box in the corner a spray of orange-blossom which
she had bought from a smouse.
Pages:
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232