own up: you and she were great pals, weren’t you? Wasn’t she most awfully lovely?”
“Lovely? I don’t know. She was different.”
“Ah—there you have it! That’s what it always comes to, doesn’t it? When she comes, she’s different —and one doesn’t know why. It’s exactly what I feel about Fanny.”
His father drew back a step, releasing his arm. “About Fanny? But, my dear fellow—I should hope so! Only I don’t see—”
“Dash it, Dad, don’t be prehistoric! Wasn’t she—once—your Fanny?”
Dallas belonged body and soul to the new generation. He was the firstborn of Newland and May Archer, yet it had never been possible to inculcate in him even the rudiments of reserve. “What’s the use of making mysteries? It only makes people want to nose ’em out,” he always objected when enjoined to discretion. But Archer, meeting his eyes, saw the filial light under their banter.