e Renaissance in the
hollow of his hand, to whom "Latin was no more _difficile_, than to a
blackbird 'tis to whistle"? Then, gradually, she began to have the
courage to laugh; to try a little soft teasing of her new friend and
mentor, who was at once so wonderful and so absurd. And the Master bore
it well, could indeed never have too much of her company; while his
white-haired sister beamed at the sight of her. She became the child of
a childless house, and when Lady Langmoor sent her peremptory
invitations to this or that country mansion where she would meet "some
charming young men," Connie would reply--"Best thanks, dear Aunt
Langmoor--but I am very happy here--and comfortably in love with a
gentleman on the sunny side of seventy. Please don't interfere!"

Only with Herbert Pryce was she ever thorny in these days. She could not
forgive him that it was not till his appointment at the Conservative
Central Office, due to Lord Glaramara's influence, was actually signed
and sealed that he proposed to Alice. Till the goods had been delivered,
he never finally committed himself. Even Nora had underrated his
prudence. But at last one evening he arrived at Medburn House after
dinner with the look of one whose mind is magnificently made up. By
common consent, the drawing-room was abandoned to him and Alice, and
when they emerged, Alice held her head triumphantly, and her lover was
all jocosity and self-satisfaction.

"She really is a dear little thing," he said complacently to Connie,
when the news had been told and excitement subsided. "We shall do
capitally."

"_Enfin?_" said Connie, with the old laugh in her eyes. "You are quite
sure?"

He looked at her uneasily.

"It never does to hurry these things," he said, rather pompously. "I
wanted to feel I could give her what she had a right to expect. We owe
you a great deal, Lady Constance--or--perhaps now--I may call you
Constance?"

Constance winced, and pointedly avoided giving him leave. But for
Alice's sake, she held her tongue. The wedding was to be hurried on, and
Mrs. Hooper, able for once to buy new frocks with a clear conscience,
and possessed of the money to pay for them, was made so happy by the
bustle of the trousseau that she fell in love with her prospective
son-in-law as the cause of it. Ewen Hooper meanwhile watched him with
mildly shrewd eyes, deciding once more in his inner mind that
mathematicians were an inferior race.

Not even to Nora--only to Mrs