"Yes, yes, yes," cried Bee with intensity. "Oh, I don't see now how I could have borne to wait longer."
"Then, my dear, how about that feeling toward your cousin? Good has come out of it, no matter how she meant it. If you will think of that part of it, it will help you to feel toward her as you used to do, and you must do that, my child, for your own sake. Now whenever any hard thought of her comes, just think that she brought him back to you. It won't be easy at first, my dear, but you can do it. We will let that be, and pass on to other things. The case interests me very much, and I would like you to be so successful in winning his love that there would be no one of whom he would be so fond. Perhaps I can help you."
"If you will, I will do anything in the world for you," cried the girl earnestly.
"I am satisfied that it can be done, Beatrice. You were on the way to its accomplishment already. Your cousin's coming may make a slight difference for a time, but it will only be temporary. You yourself are liable to spoil everything."
"Yes; you will see as I talk. Now, Beatrice, answer me one question: in your studies you have always been first, have you not?"
"Never mind about that. Which did you enjoy most: gaining a high mark without any competition, or getting one when others were striving for it too?"
"I liked best when I had to work hard to get ahead of others."
"I thought so. Look at this from the same standpoint. Gain your father's love in spite of your cousin's beauty, and his admiration for her. It will be a greater triumph than to gain it when she is not with you."
"Yes; it would," acknowledged Bee, "but--"
"Your first mistake, my dear, for you are a little to blame for the state of things," went on the lady, "was on that first night. You should have laughed at the blunder as of no consequence. I can see how such a course would be impossible to one of your temperament, for you are very intense, and the thing seemed a little short of tragic to you. That is past. Think no more of it. Your second mistake was in trying to make yourself like your cousin. That was a confession of weakness."
"It was as the animals do to protect themselves from enemies," explained Bee. "It is called protective mimicry."