and
even specifically; I think he would suit me best in the long-run.'

Mr. Nyttleton looked out of the window at the whitened wall of the
court.

'Of course, madam, your opinion may be perfectly sound and reliable;
a sort of instinct, I know, often leads ladies by a short cut to
conclusions truer than those come to by men after laborious round-about
calculations, based on long experience. I must say I shouldn't recommend
him.'

'Why, pray?'

'Well, let us look first at his letter of answer to the advertisement.
He didn't reply till the last insertion; that's one thing. His letter is
bold and frank in tone, so bold and frank that the second thought after
reading it is that not honesty, but unscrupulousness of conscience
dictated it. It is written in an indifferent mood, as if he felt that he
was humbugging us in his statement that he was the right man for such
an office, that he tried hard to get it only as a matter of form which
required that he should neglect no opportunity that came in his way.'

'You may be right, Mr. Nyttleton, but I don't quite see the grounds of
your reasoning.'

'He has been, as you perceive, almost entirely used to the office duties
of a city architect, the experience we don't want. You want a man
whose acquaintance with rural landed properties is more practical
and closer--somebody who, if he has not filled exactly such an office
before, has lived a country life, knows the ins and outs of country
tenancies, building, farming, and so on.'

'He's by far the most intellectual looking of them all.'

'Yes; he may be--your opinion, Miss Aldclyffe, is worth more than mine
in that matter. And more than you say, he is a man of parts--his brain
power would soon enable him to master details and fit him for the post,
I don't much doubt that. But to speak clearly' (here his words started
off at a jog-trot) 'I wouldn't run the risk of placing the management
of an estate of mine in his hands on any account whatever. There, that's
flat and plain, madam.'

'But, definitely,' she said, with a show of impatience, 'what is your
reason?'

'He is a voluptuary with activity; which is a very bad form of man--as
bad as it is rare.'

'Oh. Thank you for your explicit statement, Mr. Nyttleton,' said Miss
Aldclyffe, starting a little and flushing with displeasure.

Mr. Nyttleton nodded slightly, as a sort of neutral motion, simply
signifying a receipt of the information, good or bad.

'And I really thin