spect for age left.
_I_ expect to be neglected. However, that's neither here nor there. The
point is this: you're the one man now living in the family. You ought
to behave like a brother to Daphne. Why don't you board this Holsworthy
person and ask him his intentions?"

"Goodness gracious!" I cried; "most excellent of aunts, that epoch has
gone past. The late lamented Queen Anne is now dead. It's no use asking
the young man of to-day to explain his intentions. He will refer you to
the works of the Scandinavian dramatists."

My aunt was speechless. She could only gurgle out the words: "Well,
I can safely say that of all the monstrous behaviour--" then language
failed her and she relapsed into silence.

However, when Daphne and young Holsworthy returned, I had as much talk
with him as I could, and when he left the house I left also.

"Which way are you walking?" I asked, as we turned out into the street.

"Towards my rooms in the Temple."

"Oh! I'm going back to St. Nathaniel's," I continued. "If you'll allow
me, I'll walk part way with you."

"How very kind of you!"

We strode side by side a little distance in silence. Then a thought
seemed to strike the lugubrious young man. "What a charming girl your
cousin is!" he exclaimed, abruptly.

"You seem to think so," I answered, smiling.

He flushed a little; the lantern jaw grew longer. "I admire her, of
course," he answered. "Who doesn't? She is so extraordinarily handsome."

"Well, not exactly handsome," I replied, with more critical and
kinsman-like deliberation. "Pretty, if you will; and decidedly pleasing
and attractive in manner."

He looked me up and down, as if he found me a person singularly
deficient in taste and appreciation. "Ah, but then, you are her cousin,"
he said at last, with a compassionate tone. "That makes a difference."

"I quite see all Daphne's strong points," I answered, still smiling, for
I could perceive he was very far gone. "She is good-looking, and she is
clever."

"Clever!" he echoed. "Profound! She has a most unusual intellect. She
stands alone."

"Like her mother's silk dresses," I murmured, half under my breath.

He took no notice of my flippant remark, but went on with his rhapsody.
"Such depth; such penetration! And then, how sympathetic! Why, even to a
mere casual acquaintance like myself, she is so kind, so discerning!"

"ARE you such a casual acquaintance?" I inquired, with a smile. (It
might have shocked Aunt Fanny