Aunt Hannah
was inexpressibly shocked; she had not breath even to ejaculate "My
grief and conscience!" Kate was disgusted; Cyril was coldly reserved;
Bertram was frankly angry; even William was vexed, and showed it. Spunk,
too, as if in league with the rest, took this opportunity to display one
of his occasional fits of independence; and when Billy, longing for some
sort of comfort, called him to her, he settled back on his tiny haunches
and imperturbably winked and blinked his indifference.
Nearly all the family had had something to say to Billy on the matter,
with not entirely satisfactory results, when Kate determined to see what
she could do. She chose a time when she could have the girl quite to
herself with small likelihood of interruption.
"But, Billy, how could you do such an absurd thing?" she demanded. "The
idea of leaving my house alone, at half-past ten at night, to follow a
couple of men through the streets of Boston, and then with my brothers'
butler make a scene like that in a--a public dining-room!"
Billy sighed in a discouraged way.
"Aunt Kate, can't I make you and the rest of them understand that I
didn't start out to do all that? I meant just to speak to Mr. Bertram,
and get him away from that man."
"But, my dear child, even that was bad enough!"
Billy lifted her chin.
"You don't seem to think, Aunt Kate; Mr.
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