"I intended to keep it until to-morrow, but since I came up stairs I felt I could not let you sleep a night under the same roof with me without knowing it.

I am not Mrs Null." "What!" exclaimed Roberta, in a tone which made Annie lift up her hands and implore her not to speak so loud, for fear that her aunt should hear her.

"I know she hasn't come up stairs yet, for she sits up dreadfully late, but she can hear things, almost anywhere.

No, I am not Mrs Null.
There is no such person as Mr Null, or, at least, he is a mere gaseous myth, whom I married for the sake of the protection his name gave me." "This is the most extraordinary thing I ever heard," said Roberta.

"You must tell me all about it." "I don't want to keep you up," said Annie, "you must be tired." "I am not tired," said Roberta, "for every particle of fatigue has flown away." And with this she made Annie sit down beside her on the lounge.
"Now you must tell me what this means," she said.