"Not Betty!" Patty stopped short and turned to face him.
"Oh,--Phil,--Elise?"
"You've one more guess coming," he smiled.
"Oh, who? Somebody in New York? Where is she? I'll invite her here!"
"You needn't,--she's here already. Why, Patty, it's Azalea."
"Azalea!" Patty's surprise was greater than Bill's had been, and she
stood looking at Van Reypen with an absolutely incredulous gaze.
"Azalea!" she said, again.
"Yes,--and I want you to help me. When I spoke to her, this afternoon,
she--she acted--well, strange--"
"Oh, Phil, it was only because she was so surprised,--as I am,--as
everybody will be! Imagine Elise!"
Patty's face of horror, that changed to a mischievous smile, annoyed Van
Reypen.
"I don't see, Patty, why you take it like that. Bill did, too. Now, it
seems to me, if I see noble traits and qualities in Azalea, you and Bill
ought to have perception enough to see them too."
"It isn't that,--she has noble traits,--some,--but--oh, Phil,--you and
Azalea! King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid!"
"Patty, stop! I won't let you talk like that! I admit I'm blind to her
faults,--if she has any,--for I'm desperately in love,--but I do look
to you and Bill for sympathy and approval. And I don't want any of that
King Cophetua talk, either! Just because I happen to be born under a
family tree, and happen to have as much money as I want,--that's no
reason for implying that those are my chief attractions.
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