his elbows on his knees, and both brown hands held out towards her.  "I want you to understand, dear," he continued, earnestly, "that I have said only a very little of all I have to say. But I hope that little is to the point; and I jolly well mean it." 

 The Aunt laughed again, and swung the toe of her neat brown shoe; a habit she had, when trying to appear more at ease than she felt. 

 "It is certainly to the point," she said.  "There can be no possible doubt about that. But are you aware, dear boy, that I have been assiduously chaperoning you and my niece, during the past two weeks; and watching, with the affectionate interest of a middle-aged relative, the course of true love running with satisfactory and unusual smoothness?" 

 The Boy ignored the adjectives and innuendoes, and went straight to the point. He always had a way of ignoring all side issues or carefully introduced irrelevancy. It made him a difficult person to deal with, if the principal weapon in your armoury was elaborate argument. 

 "Why did you say 'Don't'?" asked the Boy. 

 The Aunt fell at once into the unintentional trap. She dropped her calmly amused manner and answered hurriedly, while again the swift colour flooded her face: "Boy dear, I hardly know. It was something you did, which, for a moment, I could not quite bear. Something passed from you to me, too intimate, too sweet, to be quite right. I said 'Don't,' as involuntarily as one would say 'Don't' to a threatened blow." 

 "It wasn't a blow," said the Boy, tenderly.  "It was a kiss. Every time I looked at your dear beautiful hand, lifting the silver teapot, I kissed it. Didn't you feel it was a kiss?" 

 "No; I only felt it was unusual; something I could not understand; and I did not like it. Therefore I said 'Don't.'" 

 "But you admit it was sweet?" persisted the Boy. 

 "Exactly," replied the Aunt; "quite incomprehensibly sweet. And I do not like things I cannot comprehend; especially with amazing boys about!" 

 "Didn't you know it was love?" asked the Boy, softly. 

 "No," replied the Aunt, emphatically; "most certainly, I did not." 

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