he would not have minded had he
argued seriously with her, but this was just what he did not do, either
laughing at her theory, or replying to her arguments with a mock
seriousness that irritated her far more than his open laughter.

Anna Treadwyn took little part in the discussions, but sat an amused
listener. Mary had been the recognized leader of her set at Girton; her
real earnestness and the fact that she intended to go abroad to fit
herself the better to carry out her theories, but making her a power
among the others. Much as Anna liked and admired her, it amused her
greatly to see her entangled in the dilemma, into which Cuthbert led
her, occasionally completely posing her by his laughing objections. Of
an evening Cuthbert often went up to Porthalloc, where he was warmly
welcomed by Anna's mother, whose heart he won by the gentle and
deferential manner that rendered him universally popular among the
ladies of the families of his artist friends. She would sit smilingly by
when the conflicts of the morning were sometimes renewed, for she saw
with satisfaction that Anna at least was certainly impressed with
Cuthbert's arguments and banter, and afforded very feeble aid to Mary
Brander in her defence of their opinions.

"I feel really obliged to you, Mr. Hartington," she said one evening,
when the two girls happened to be both out of the room when he arrived,
"for laughing Anna out of some of the ideas she brought back from
Girton. At one time these gave me a great deal of concern, for my ideas
are old-fashioned, and I consider a woman's mission is to cheer and
brighten her husband's home, to be a good wife and a good mother, and to
be content with the position God has assigned to her as being her right
and proper one. However, I have always hoped and believed that she would
grow out of her new-fangled ideas, which I am bound to say she never
carried to the extreme that her friend does. The fact that I am somewhat
of an invalid and that it is altogether impossible for her to carry out
such a plan as Miss Brander has sketched for herself, and that there is
no opportunity whatever for her to get up a propaganda in this quiet
little Cornish town, has encouraged that hope; she herself has said but
little on the subject since she came home, and I think your fights with
Miss Brander will go far to complete her cure."

"It is ridiculous from beginning to end," Cuthbert said, "but it is
natural enough. It is in just the sam