elieve it. I daresay the truth is, you never asked
anybody."

"Did anybody ever ask you?"

"What would you give to know? But I will tell you frankly;--yes. And
once,--once I thought that my answer would not have been a 'no'."

"But you changed your mind?"

"When the moment came I could not bring myself to say the word that
should rob me of my liberty for ever. I had said 'no' to him often
enough before,--poor fellow; and on this occasion, he told me that he
asked for the last time. 'I shall not give myself another chance,' he
said, 'for I shall be on board ship within a week.' I merely bade him
good-by. It was the only answer I gave him. He understood me, and
since that day his foot has not pressed his native soil."

"And was it all because you are so fond of your liberty?" said
Johnny.

"Perhaps,--I did not--love him," said Miss Demolines, thoughtfully.
She was now again seated in her chair, and John Eames had gone back
to his corner of the sofa. "If I had really loved him I suppose it
would have been otherwise. He was a gallant fellow, and had two
thousand a year of his own, in India stock and other securities."

"Dear me! And he has not married yet?"

"He wrote me a word to say that he would never marry till I was
married,--but that on the day that he should hear of my wedding, he
would go to the first single woman near him and propose. It was a
droll thing to say; was it not?"

"The single woman ought to feel herself flattered."

"He would find plenty to accept him. Besides being so well off he was
a very handsome fellow, and is connected with people of title. He had
everything to recommend him."

"And yet you refused him so often?"

"Yes. You think I was foolish;--do you not?"

"I don't think you were at all foolish if you didn't care for him."

"It was my destiny, I suppose; I daresay I was wrong. Other girls
marry without violent love, and do very well afterwards. Look at
Maria Clutterbuck."

The name of Maria Clutterbuck had become odious to John Eames. As
long as Miss Demolines would continue to talk about herself he could
listen with some amount of gratification. Conversation on that
subject was the natural progress of the Bayswater romance. And if
Madalina would only call her friend by her present name, he had
no strong objection to an occasional mention of the lady; but the
combined names of Maria Clutterbuck had come to be absolutely
distasteful to him. He did not believe in the Maria Cl