?"

"Mr. Palma, I do not quite understand your jest"

"Pardon me, it threatens to become serious. Mr. Chesley is immensely
wealthy, and having no near relatives desires to adopt some pretty,
well-bred, affectionate-natured girl, who can take care of and cheer
his old age; and to whom he can bequeath his name and fortune. His
covetous eye has fallen upon my ward, and he seriously contemplates
making some grave proposals to your mother, relative to transferring
you to Washington, and thence to San Francisco. As Mr. Chesley's
heiress, your future will be very brilliant, and I presume that in a
voluntary choice of guardians, I am destined to lose my ward."

"Very soon my mother will be my guardian, and Mr. Chesley is
certainly a gentleman of too much good sense and discretion to
entertain such a thought relative to a stranger, of whom he knows
absolutely nothing. A few polite kindly worded phrases bear no such
serious interpretation."

She had bent so persistently over her book, that he closed and
removed it beyond her reach, forcing her to regard him; for after the
toil, contention, and brain-wrestling of the courtroom, it was his
reward just now to look into her deep calm eyes, and watch the
expressions vary in her untutored ingenuous countenance.

"Men, especially confirmed old bachelors, are sometimes very
capricious and foolish; and my friend Mr. Chesley appears to have
fallen hopelessly into the depth of your eyes. In vain I assured him
that Helmholtz has demonstrated that the deepest blue eye is after
all only a turbid medium. In his infatuation he persists that science
is a learned bubble, and that your eyes are wells of truth and
inspiration. Of course you desire that I shall present your
affectionate regards to your future guardian?"

"You can improvise any message you deem advisable, but I send none."

A faint colour was stealing into her cheeks, and the long lashes
drooped before the bright black eyes, that had borne down many a
brave face on the witness stand.

The clock struck, and Mr. Palma compared his watch with its record.

He was loath to quit that charming quiet room, which held the fair
innocent young queen of his love, and hasten away upon the impending
journey; but it was important that he should not miss the railway
train, and he smothered a sigh:

"This morning I neglected to give you a letter which arrived
yesterday, and of course I need expect no pardon when you ascertain
that it is f