ings of his heirship, of his
father's success,--and then, close upon the heels of those tidings,
this heir's humbly expressed desire to be permitted to woo her. There
was all the flutter of triumph in her bosom, as that letter was
read to her, and yet there was no sign of it in her voice or in her
countenance.

Nor could it have been seen had she been met walking in the shade of
that shrubbery. And yet she was full of triumph. Here was the man to
whom her heart had seemed to turn almost at first sight, as it had
never turned to man before. She had deigned to think of him as of one
she could love;--and he loved her. As she paced the walk it was also
much to her that this man who was so generous in her eyes should have
provided for him so noble a place in the world. She quite understood
what it was to be the wife of such a one as the Squire of Newton.
She had grieved for Clary's sake when she heard that the former heir
should be heir no longer,--suspecting Clary's secret. But she could
not so grieve as to be insensible of her own joy. And then there was
something in the very manner in which the man approached her, which
gratified her pride while it touched her heart. About that other
Ralph there was a tone of sustained self-applause, which seemed to
declare that he had only to claim any woman and to receive her.
There was an old-fashioned mode of wooing of which she had read and
dreamed, that implied a homage which she knew that she desired. This
homage her Ralph was prepared to pay.

For an hour she paced the walk, not thinking, but enjoying what she
knew. There was nothing in it requiring thought. He was to come, and
till he should come there was nothing that she need either say or do.
Till he should come she would do nothing and say nothing. Such was
her determination when Clarissa's step was heard, and in a moment
Clarissa's arm was round her waist. "Mary," she said, "you must come
out with me. Come and walk with me. I am going to Mrs. Brownlow's.
You must come."

"To walk there and back?" said Mary, smiling.

"We will return in an omnibus; but you must come. Oh, I have so much
to say to you."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

"TELL ME AND I'LL TELL YOU."

"Papa has told me all about it," were Clarissa's first words as soon
as they were out of the gate on the road to Mrs. Brownlow's.

"All about what, Clary?"

"Oh you know;--or rather it was Patience told me, and then I asked
papa. I am so glad."

Mary had as y