Annie Kilburn - Page 85/183

"Has Mr. Wilmington known the Northwicks long?" Annie asked.

"He used to go to their Boston house when he was at Harvard."

"Oh, then," said Annie, "perhaps _he_ accounts for her playing Juliet;

though, as Tybalt, I don't see exactly how he--"

"Oh, it's at the rehearsals, you know, that the fun is, and then it don't

matter what part you have."

Annie lay awake a long time that night. She was sure that she ought not to

like Lyra if she did not approve of her, and that she ought not to have

gone home to tea with her and spent the evening with her unless she fully

respected her. But she had to own to herself that she did like her, and

enjoyed hearing her soft drawl. She tried to think how Jack Wilmington's

having gone to Boston for the evening made it somehow less censurable for

her to spend it with Lyra, even if she did not approve of her. As she

drowsed, this became perfectly clear.