asked Kitty , putting on the gloves in a hurry ; for though Jack had called her `` dear '' for years , the little word had a new sound to-night . `` I guessed , -- no , I did n't , I had the old ones with me ; they are no good now , are they ? '' and too honest to lie , Jack tried to speak carelessly , though he turned red in the dusk , well knowing that the dirty little gloves were folded away in his left breast-pocket at that identical moment . `` Oh , dear , no ! these fit nicely . I 'm ready , if you do n't mind going with such a fright , '' said Kitty , forgetting her dread of seeing people in her desire to get away from that room , because for the first time in her life she was n't at ease with Jack . `` I think I like the little gray moth better than the fine butterfly , '' returned Jack , who , in spite of his invitation , seemed to find `` moping '' rather pleasant . `` You are a rainy-day friend , and he is n't , '' said Kitty , softly , as she drew him away . Jack 's only answer was to lay his hand on the little white glove resting so confidingly on his arm , and , keeping it there , they roamed away into the summer twilight . Something had happened to the evening and the place , for both seemed suddenly endowed with uncommon beauty and interest . The dingy old houses might have been fairy palaces , for anything they saw to the contrary ; the dusty walks , the trampled grass , were regular Elysian fields to them , and the music was the music of the spheres , though they found themselves `` Right in the middle of the boom , jing , jing . '' For both had made a little discovery , -- no , not a little one , the greatest and sweetest man and woman can make . In the sharp twinge of jealousy which the sight of Kitty 's flirtation with Fletcher gave him , and the delight he found in her after conduct , Jack discovered how much he loved her . In the shame , gratitude , and half sweet , half bitter emotion that filled her heart , Kitty felt that to her Jack would never be `` only cousin Jack '' any more . All the vanity , coquetry , selfishness , and ill-temper of the day seemed magnified to heinous sins , for now her only thought was , `` seeing these faults , he ca n't care for me . Oh , I wish I was a better girl ! '' She did not say `` for his sake , '' but in the new humility , the ardent wish to be all that a woman should be , little Kitty proved how true her love was , and might have said with Portia , -- `` For myself alone , I would not be Ambitious in my wish ; but , for you , I would be trebled twenty times myself ; A thousand times more fair , Ten thousand times more rich . '' All about them other pairs were wandering under the patriarchal elms , enjoying music , starlight , balmy winds , and all the luxuries of the season . If the band had played `` Oh , there 's nothing half so sweet in life As love 's young dream -- '' it is my private opinion that it would have suited the audience to a T. Being principally composed of elderly gentlemen with large families , they had not that fine sense of the fitness of things so charming to see , and tooted and banged away with waltzes and marches , quite regardless of the flocks of Romeos and Juliets philandering all about them . Under cover of a popular medley , Kitty overheard Fletcher quizzing her for the amusement of Miss Pinkbonnet , who was evidently making up for lost time .
It was feeble wit , but it put the finishing stroke to Kitty 's vanity , and she dropped a tear in her blue tissue retreat , and clung to XXXXX , feeling that she had never valued him half enough .
Being Fletcher Jack Kitty breast-pocket evening first ill-temper twilight waltzes