n his name is Meeker,' replied Miss Thorne, with an absent air,
as if she had paid no attention to Mr. Myrtle's concluding observation,
though she had drunk in every word with eager interest.

'Yes. You will probably meet him at the Bennetts', though I do not think
he would please you, Miss Arabella. [Mr. Myrtle knew the weakness of
spinsters after reaching a certain age for being called by their first
name.] You are too _exegeante_, my dear young lady, and Mr. Meeker is
devoted to affairs.'

'I wonder Mrs. Myrtle does not return; she told me she would not be gone
two minutes,' said Miss Thorne, with the air of complete indifference to
what Mr. Myrtle was saying, which a fashionable thorough-bred knows so
well how to assume.

'Here she is,' said Mr. Myrtle. 'I will leave you together, and go back
to my labors. Good morning.'

Miss Thorne by this time was really very much excited; so much so that
she could not resist speaking of Hiram to Mrs. Myrtle, though of course
in the same accidental way in which she had inquired of her husband.

Mrs. Myrtle of course had much more to say in reply. All about Hiram's
joining their church--what a good young man he was, how conscientious,
how devoted to business, and how rich, and getting richer every day.

Miss Thorne drew herself up slightly, as if that could be of no
consequence to _her_. Still she unbent directly, and said with an
amiable smile, as if simply to continue the conversation, 'But Mr.
Myrtle says he is a woman hater.'

'Oh, I think not so bad as that; but Mrs. Bennett says the ladies are
all crazy about him, and he has a ridiculous suspicion that they are
after his money.'

'The wretch!' exclaimed Miss Arabella, laughing.

'So I say,' rejoined Mrs. Myrtle. 'But the fact is, Mrs. Bennett says
that Mr. Meeker thinks too much about business, and if he goes on in
this way he will never get married, and she tells him she is determined
he shall marry.'

'A very proper resolve!' exclaimed Miss Thorne in the same vein.

The conversation now turned on other topics, and after a few minutes
Miss Thorne took leave in no very enviable state of mind. Here was a
young man about to become one of the stars of fashion, rich,
accomplished, quite in her own set, too; yet not a step had he taken
toward securing her favor. Why, he might even outstrip her at St.
Jude's! Then what _would_ become of her? 'I wonder if he keeps Lent?'
she muttered between her clenched teeth, as she