quaintance has been kept up by
correspondence ever since."

"Mercy on us! Your Aunt Agnes has never said a word to me about it."

"The Honorable Ernest's father is quite literary, and has written one or
two books on philosophy, his son says."

"That accounts for it, of course. Well, well! to think of your Aunt
Agnes being intimate with one of the nobility, and having never
mentioned the subject! I have always given her credit for being an
agreeable woman at bottom, if one could only forget her eccentricities.
But this is extremely fortunate for you, Virginia. To be sure, there is
no knowing how your Aunt will receive him, she is so hostile to every
one who is not as queer as herself. But she must see, if she is not a
fool, what a very advantageous match this would be for you. It could do
no harm just to drop Mr. Ferroll a hint to humor her a little, and seem
fond of serious subjects at the start, for if she should happen to take
it into her head to ask him to stay at her house it would be very
convenient."

These sentiments were frequently reiterated by Aunt Helen during the
remaining weeks of our visit, and it must be allowed that the attentions
of the Honorable Ernest soon justified her urgency, seeing that she
really believed it was a matter of vital importance for me to become the
future Duchess of Clyde. Nor was I at all sure myself, that if nothing
else turned up I might not be tempted by the brilliancy of such a
position. Not that I thought about it quite so definitely; but I was
conscious of the exceptional advantages incident to high rank in
England, to the extent that I did not treat his gallantries with marked
indifference. I let him reveal himself for what he was, which is not
possible without a certain degree of intimacy. Beneath his conventional
ways I discovered a great deal of energy and decision. He was well-read,
and had his own opinions. On many of the days when I did not go
down-town, I took strolls with him in the Park and elsewhere. We
discussed all sorts and kinds of subjects. We did not often agree, but
that rather added to the interest of our intercourse than otherwise. I
was a curiosity to him, he said. He complained that I was too radical
and visionary in my ideas, and that I was quite different from his
conception of American girls. To be sure, he said, I was ready to do
things,--that is, go to walk with him, and banish Aunt Helen when he
called; but he had been told that American girls k