a case with which he
would have found it difficult to deal if he had been left to, his unaided
judgment, and between them the young girl was safely piloted through the
perilous straits in which she came near shipwreck.

I know that it is commonly said of her that every male friend of hers
must become her lover unless he is already lassoed by another. Il fait
passer par l'a. The young Doctor is, I think, safe, for I am convinced
that he is bewitched with Delilah. Since she has left us, he has seemed
rather dejected; I feel sure that he misses her. We all do, but he more
seriously than the rest of us. I have said that I cannot tell whether
the Counsellor is to be counted as one of Number Five's lambs or not, but
he evidently admires her, and if he is not fascinated, looks as if he
were very near that condition.

It was a more delicate matter about which the Tutor talked with her.
Something which she had pleasantly said to him about the two Annexes led
him to ask her, more or less seriously, it may be remembered, about the
fitness of either of them to be the wife of a young man in his position.
She talked so sensibly, as it seemed to him, about it that he continued
the conversation, and, shy as he was, became quite easy and confidential
in her company. The Tutor is not only a poet, but is a great reader of
the poetry of many languages. It so happened that Number Five was
puzzled, one day, in reading a sonnet of Petrarch, and had recourse to
the Tutor to explain the difficult passage. She found him so thoroughly
instructed, so clear, so much interested, so ready to impart knowledge,
and so happy in his way of doing it, that she asked him if he would not
allow her the privilege of reading an Italian author under his guidance,
now and then.

The Tutor found Number Five an apt scholar, and something more than that;
for while, as a linguist, he was, of course, her master, her intelligent
comments brought out the beauties of an author in a way to make the text
seem like a different version. They did not always confine themselves to
the book they were reading. Number Five showed some curiosity about the
Tutor's relations with the two Annexes. She suggested whether it would
not be well to ask one or both of them in to take part in their readings.
The Tutor blushed and hesitated. "Perhaps you would like to ask one of
them," said Number Five. "Which one shall it be?" "It makes no
difference to me which," he answered, "but I do no