A word of criticism of Captain Jack, her hero, her knight, sans peur et sans reproche and her loyal soul was aflame with passionate resentment.
It so fell on an occasion when young Stillwell was a dinner guest at the Rectory.
"Do you know, Patricia," and Rupert Stillwell looked across the dinner table teasingly into Patricia's face, "your Captain Jack was rather mixed up in a nice little row to-day ?" "I heard all about it, Rupert, and Captain Jack did just what I would have expected him to do." Patricia's unsmiling eyes looked steadily into the young man's smiling face.
"Rescued a charming young damsel, eh?
By the way, that Perrotte girl has turned out uncommonly good looking," continued Rupert, addressing the elder sister.
"Rescuing a poor little ill-treated boy from the hands of a brutal bully and the bully's brutal father--" Patricia's voice was coolly belligerent.
"My dear Patricia!" The mother's voice was deprecatingly pacific.
"It is simply true, Mother, and Rupert knows it quite well too, or--" "Patricia!" Her father's quiet voice arrested his daughter's flow of speech.
"But, Father, everyone--" "Patricia!" The voice was just as quiet but with a slightly increased distinctness in enunciation, and glancing swiftly at her father's face Patricia recognised that the limits of her speech had been reached, unless she preferred to change the subject.
"Yes, Annette has grown very pretty, indeed," said Adrien, taking up the conversation, "and is really a very nice girl, indeed.

She sings beautifully.

She is the leading soprano in her church choir, I believe." "Captain Jack Maitland appeared to think her quite charming," said Rupert, making eyes at Patricia.

Patricia's lips tightened and her eyes gleamed a bit.
"They were in school together, I think, were they not, Mamma ?" said Adrien, flushing slightly.
"Of course they were, and so was Rupert, too--" said Patricia with impatient scorn, "and so would you if you hadn't been sent to England," she added to her sister.
"No doubt of it," said Rupert with a smile, "but you see she was fortunate enough to be sent to England." "Blackwater is good enough for me," said Patricia, a certain stubborn hostility in her tone.
"I have always thought the Blackwater High School an excellent institution," said her mother quickly, "especially for boys." "Yes, indeed, for boys," replied Stillwell, "but for young ladies--well, there is something in an English school, you know, that you can't get in any High School here in Canada." "Rot!" ejaculated Patricia.
"My dear Patricia!" The mother was quite shocked.
"Pardon me, Mother, but you know we have a perfectly splendid High School here.

Father has often said so." Her mother sighed.