"Plain Anne"
tell me the truth. You owe me that at least."
"I am engaged to Georgie!"
I stared at her, amazed. Then I opened my mouth to speak—remembered in time, a rash promise, and shut it again. She was crying openly.
"To Georgie?" I said at last, in a low voice. "Georgie? Good Lord! For how long?"
"For six months. Only we don't want it known till he comes of age. He thinks it better not, and so does Anne."
"Why?"
"Because of his mother, Anne says. She says you never know how people will take things, and Georgie will be twenty-one in August. Georgie thinks a secret engagement is more exciting and romantic. He says all the gilt is off the ginger-bread directly the thing is made official. It is a little too exciting for me. I almost think sometimes that I should prefer my ginger-bread plain."
"I should think so," said I sternly. "I
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