sclosed to her
just before this time. He had left college, entered at the Middle
Temple, and was fagging away at law, and feeling success in his own
power; Ellinor was to "come out" at the next Hamley assemblies; and her
lover began to be jealous of the possible admirers her striking
appearance and piquant conversation might attract, and thought it a good
time to make the success of his suit certain by spoken words and
promises.

He needed not have alarmed himself even enough to make him take this
step, if he had been capable of understanding Ellinor's heart as fully as
he did her appearance and conversation. She never missed the absence of
formal words and promises. She considered herself as fully engaged to
him, as much pledged to marry him and no one else, before he had asked
the final question, as afterwards. She was rather surprised at the
necessity for those decisive words,

"Ellinor, dearest, will you--can you marry me?" and her reply was--given
with a deep blush I must record, and in a soft murmuring tone--

"Yes--oh, yes--I never thought of anything else."

"Then I may speak to your father, may not I, darling?"

"He knows; I am sure he knows; and he likes you so much. Oh, how happy I
am!"

"But still I must speak to him before I go. When can I see him, my
Ellinor? I must go back to town at four o'clock."

"I heard his voice in the stable-yard only just before you came. Let me
go and find out if he is gone to the office yet."

No! to be sure he was not gone. He was quietly smoking a cigar in his
study, sitting in an easy-chair near the open window, and leisurely
glancing at all the advertisements in _The Times_. He hated going to the
office more and more since Dunster had become a partner; that fellow gave
himself such airs of investigation and reprehension.

He got up, took the cigar out of his mouth, and placed a chair for Mr.
Corbet, knowing well why he had thus formally prefaced his entrance into
the room with a--

"Can I have a few minutes' conversation with you, Mr. Wilkins?"

"Certainly, my dear fellow. Sit down. Will you have a cigar?"

"No! I never smoke." Mr. Corbet despised all these kinds of
indulgences, and put a little severity into his refusal, but quite
unintentionally; for though he was thankful he was not as other men, he
was not at all the person to trouble himself unnecessarily with their
reformation.

"I want to speak to you about Ellinor. She says she thinks y