e otherwise--Norman would have no companion but George
Rivers; how bored he would be!

All through the streets, while she was telling her father the names of
the buildings, she was not giving her whole attention; she was trying
to guess, from the sounds behind, whether Mr. Ogilvie were accompanying
them. They entered the meadows--Norman turned round, with a laugh, to
defy the doctor to talk of the Cam, on the banks of the Isis. The
party stood still--the other two gentlemen came up. They amalgamated
again--all the Oxonians conspiring to say spiteful things of the Cam,
and Dr. May making a spirited defence, in which Ethel found herself
impelled to join.

In the wide gravelled path, they proceeded in threes; George attached
himself to his sister and Norman. Mr. Ogilvie came to Ethel's other
side, and began to point out all the various notabilities. Ethel was
happy again; her father was so much pleased and amused, with him, and he
with her father, that it was a treat to look on.

Presently Dr. May, as usual, always meeting with acquaintances, fell in
with a county neighbour, and Ethel had another pleasant aside, until her
father claimed her, and Mr. Ogilvie was absorbed among another party,
and lost to her sight.

He came to tea, but, by that time, Dr. May had established himself in
the chair which had hitherto been appropriated to her cousin, a chair
that cut her nook off from the rest of the world, and made her the
exclusive possession of the occupant. There was a most interesting
history for her to hear, of a meeting with the Town Council, which
she had left pending, when Dr. May had been battling to save the next
presentation of the living from being sold.

Few subjects could affect Ethel more nearly, yet she caught herself
missing the thread of his discourse, in trying to hear what Mr. Ogilvie
was saying to Flora about a visit to Glenbracken.

The time came for the two Balliol men to take their leave. Norman May
had been sitting very silent all the evening, and Meta, who was near
him, respected his mood. When he said good-night, he drew Ethel outside
the door. "Ethel," he said, "only one thing: do ask my father not to put
on his spectacles to-morrow."

"Very well," said Ethel, half smiling; "Richard did not mind them."

"Richard has more humility--I shall break down if he looks at me! I wish
you were all at home."

"Thank you."

The other Norman came out of the sitting-room at the moment, and heard
the la