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"Well, dearest," he said cheerfully, "all through? Now I want to

talk to you--" He reached for her hand, but she withdrew it

beyond his reach and looked at him with the steady brown eyes

whose level gaze he hated.

"Come on, now, Nellie," he said impatiently, stung by her

relentlessness, "you ain't goin' to be mad forever about that

other time, are you? I was out of temper an' said things--"

"Mother was up to Mallaby House for dinner a little while ago,"

interrupted Nellie, as though she had not heard him.

"Yes? That's good. Fine place, ain't it? As I was sayin', I

forgot myself--"

"They talked about us, too; mother says that's nearly all they

talked about."

"Must've been short of conversation. An' I want to say, Nellie,

that I'll try never to speak like that to you again. I--"