They have taken that duty off nowadays, haven't they ?" He is still looking at Tita through the window; her gay little laugh comes up to him again.

"Do you know, she is very pretty," says he dispassionately; "and what a little thing! She always makes me think of a bird, or a mouse, or a----" "Think of her as a girl," says his mother impatiently.
"Certainly.

After all, it would be impossible to think of her as a boy; she's too small." "I don't know about that," said Lady Rylton, shrugging her shoulders.

"She's much more a boy than a girl, where her manners are concerned." "Poor little hoyden! That's what you call her, isn't it--a hoyden ?" "Did Marian tell you that ?" "Marian?
Certainly not!" says Sir Maurice, telling his lie beautifully.

"Marian thinks her beneath notion.