B006DTZ3FY EBOK by Diane Farr Page B

something... I don ’ t know ... wrong about it. Or so it seems to me. ”
    It was silly, Cynthia scolded herself, to feel relieved. Derek ’ s interest in other women was none of her business. Hannah ’ s interest in Derek, had it existed, would also have been none of her business. And yet she was conscious of feeling, rightly or wrongly, that a great weight had been lifted from her mind. She was still wrestling with her wayward emotions when Hannah slipped a hand into hers.
    “A nd besides, ” Hannah whispered shyly, “I am in love with someone else. ”
    This was news.
    Cynthia stared at her, amazed. “Y ou are? With whom? ”
    “S omeone I have loved for simply ages. ”
    “Y ou never said a word! ”
    “Y ou didn ’ t know him. ”
    “D o I know him now? ”
    Hannah nodded, her eyes sparkling. She suddenly looked much prettier. “C an ’ t you guess? ”
    Cynthia couldn ’ t. Her mind went completely blank. Hannah, in love! And not with Derek Whittaker. The idea that any girl who was acquainted with Mr. Whittaker could somehow fall in love with someone else struck her as inconceivable. She blinked at her friend in baffled astonishment.
    Hannah ’ s face was rosy with blushes. She leaned in to Cynthia and breathed, “I t ’ s John Ellsworth, of course. ”
    Of course? Cynthia ’ s first reaction was incredulity. It seemed impossible that Hannah — or, indeed, anyone — could harbor a secret longing for the supremely uninteresting John Ellsworth. But Hannah had burst into a whispered explanation, as if spilling her secret had unleashed a torrent of confidences she had been longing to share.
    “I’ ve known him all my life. He is only two years older than I, so we often played together as children, and I promise you he has always been so good — so decent — just everything a man should be. ” Hannah was aglow with tender emotion. “I had the measles when I was eight and he used to come and read to me. Can you imagine? He never showed the least fear of catching the contagion from me. I was lonely and miserable, and frightfully ill, and he brought in his toy ship and showed it to me, and promised we would sail it on the fish pond when I was well. He sat with me for hours and hours, making things with his hands — he ’ s very good at making things — and talking to me, even when I was too ill to answer properly. I never shall forget it. ”
    “A nd ... and you have loved him since you were eight? ”
    Hannah nodded, laughing. “I believe I have. Yes. ”
    This was terrible. Hannah in love with Mr. Ellsworth! Cynthia found she had to look away to hide her growing consternation. What could she say, to convince Hannah to look elsewhere?
    “P erhaps, ” she suggested at last, A you simply find it easier to talk to Mr. Ellsworth than to other gentlemen. Since you have known him all your life. ”
    “O h, certainly, ” Hannah agreed. “I know I am shy, and that I ought to make an effort to overcome it, but I can ’ t seem to help it — especially with men. Most men are very off-putting, don ’ t you think? I never know what to say to them. But I ’ m completely at ease with John. ”
    “Y es. But that is the point I meant to make. ” Cynthia cleared her throat delicately. “I n other words ... perhaps if you knew other gentlemen as well as you know Mr. Ellsworth, you might find them agreeable, too. ” Inspiration struck. “O nly look at Mr. Whittaker, for example. When you gave him a chance to be kind to you, he was. ”
    “O h, I ’ m sure many men are pleasant and kind. Perhaps most are. ” Hannah looked thoughtful. “I don ’ t know why it is, but somehow — out of all the kind and pleasant men in the world — one ’ s heart seems to fix on a particular man, and want no other. ”
    Cynthia ’ s spirits sank. She certainly could not argue with Hannah ’ s observation; she knew it was true. How many men had danced attendance on her, since she turned seventeen and was thrust