nterfere with your own happiness by
showing temper; and if you look at the affair in its proper light, you
will see it is not so bad, after all. Ten to one, he brought her to town
because she wanted to come with him,--probably on some patched-up errand;
but he came here because he wanted to come. There could be no other
reason; and, instead of being angry with him, you should have given him
an extraordinary welcome. For the very reason that she has so many
advantages over you, being so much with him, you should be very careful
to make use of the advantages you have over her. And your advantages are
that you are ten times better fitted to be his wife than she is; and the
great thing necessary to be done is to let him see it. But her chances
must come to an end. Those Dranes must be got away from Cobhurst."

"I don't like that way of looking at it," said Dora, leaning back in her
chair, with a sigh. "It's the same thing as fishing for a man, though I
suppose it might have been well to see him when he came."

Now Miss Panney felt encouraged; her patient was showing good symptoms.
Let her keep in that state of mind, and she would see that the lover
came. She had made a mistake in speaking so bluntly about getting the
Dranes out of Cobhurst. Although she would not say anything more to Dora
about that important piece of work, she would do it all the same.

This little visit had been an important one to Miss Panney; it had
enabled her to understand Dora's character much better than she had
understood it before; and she perceived that in this case of matchmaking
she must not only do a great deal of the work herself, but she must do it
without Dora's knowing anything about it. She liked this, for she was not
much given to consulting with people.

Miss Panney had another call to pay in the neighborhood, and she had
intended, for form's sake, to spend a little time with Mrs. Bannister;
but she did neither. She went back by the way she had come, wishing to
learn all she could about the movements of the Cobhurst gig.

Approaching the Tolbridge house, she saw that vehicle standing before
the door, with the sleepy Mrs. Browning tied to a post, and as she drew
nearer, she perceived Ralph Haverley sitting alone on the vine-shaded
piazza. The old lady would not enter the Tolbridge gate, but she stood on
the other side of the street, and beckoned to Ralph, who, as soon as he
saw her, ran over to her.

Ralph walked a little way with M