Page:Booth Tarkington - Alice Adams.djvu/164

 former topic. "'Mildred's not being an exception?'" he said, vaguely. "I don't"

"An exception about thinking she could be a wonderful thing on the stage if she only cared to. If you asked her I'm pretty sure she'd say, "What nonsense!" Mildred's the dearest, finest thing anywhere, but you won't find out many things about her by asking her."

Russell's expression became more serious, as it did whenever his cousin was made their topic. "You think not?" he said. "You think she's"

"No. But it's not because she isn't sincere exactly. It's only because she has such a lot to live up to. She has to live up to being a girl on the grand style—to herself, I mean, of course." And without pausing Alice rippled on, "You ought to have seen me when I had the stage-fever! I used to play 'Juliet' all alone in my room." She lifted her arms in graceful entreaty, pleading musically,

She broke off abruptly with a little flourish, snapping thumb and finger of each outstretched hand, then laughed and said, "Papa used to make