been a man," said Sir George, with a
twinkle of admiration in his eyes. He admired a good fight even though he
were beaten in it.

It is easy to be good when we are happy. Dorothy, the great disturber,
was both. Therefore, peace reigned once more in Haddon Hall.

Letters frequently passed between John and Dorothy by the hand of Jennie
Faxton, but John made no attempt to meet his sweetheart. He and Dorothy
were biding their time.

A fortnight passed during which Cupid confined his operations to Madge and
myself. For her sweet sake he was gracious and strewed our path with
roses. I should delight to tell you of our wooing. She a fair young
creature of eighteen, I a palpitating youth of thirty-five. I should love
to tell you of Madge's promise to be my wife, and of the announcement in
the Hall of our betrothal; but there was little of interest in it to any
one save ourselves, and I fear lest you should find it very sentimental
and dull indeed. I should love to tell you also of the delightful walks
which Madge and I took together along the sweet old Wye and upon the crest
of Bowling Green; but above all would I love to tell you of the delicate
rose tints that came to her cheek, and how most curiously at times, when
my sweetheart's health was bounding, the blessed light of day would
penetrate the darkened windows of her eyes, and how upon such occasions
she would cry out joyously, "Oh, Malcolm, I can dimly see." I say I should
love to tell you about all those joyous happenings, but after all I fear I
should shrink from doing so in detail, for the feelings and sayings of our
own hearts are sacred to us. It is much easier to tell of the love affairs
of others.

A fortnight or three weeks passed quietly in Haddon Hall. Sir George had
the notion firmly fixed in his head that the man whom Dorothy had been
meeting held honorable intentions toward the girl. He did her the justice
to believe that by reason of her strength and purity she would tolerate
none other. At times he felt sure that the man was Leicester, and again
he flouted the thought as impossible. If it were Leicester, and if he
wished to marry Dorothy, Sir George thought the match certainly would be
illustrious. Halting between the questions, "Is he Leicester?" and "Is he
not Leicester?" Sir George did not press the Stanley nuptials, nor did he
insist upon the signing of the contract. Dorothy received from her father
full permission to go where and when she wished. B