docile and silent bewilderment. "There; you'll do
till you get home--nobody can laugh at you now," Mrs. Farnaby announced.
"You're an absent-minded man, I suppose? You wanted to wash your head,
and you forgot the warm water and the towel. Was that how it happened,
sir?"

"I thank you with all my heart, ma'am; I took it for pomatum," Rufus
answered. "Would you object to shaking hands again? This cordial welcome
of yours reminds me, I do assure you, of home. Since I left New England,
I've never met with the like of you. I do suppose now it was my hair
that set Miss Regina's back up? I'm not quite easy in my mind, ma'am,
about your niece. I'm sort of feared of what she may say of me to
Amelius. I meant no harm, Lord knows."

The secret of Mrs. Farnaby's extraordinary alacrity in the use of the
towel began slowly to show itself now. The tone of her American guest
had already become the friendly and familiar tone which it had been
her object to establish. With a little management, he might be made an
invaluable ally in the great work of hindering the marriage of Amelius.

"You are very fond of your young friend?" she began quietly.

"That is so, ma'am."

"And he has told you that he has taken a liking to my niece?"

"And shown me her likeness," Rufus added.

"And shown you her likeness. And you thought you would come here, and
see for yourself what sort of girl she was?"

"Naturally," Rufus admitted.

Mrs. Farnaby revealed, without further hesitation, the object that she
had in view. "Amelius is little more than a lad, still," she said. "He
has got all his life before him. It would be a sad thing, if he married
a girl who didn't make him happy." She turned in her chair, and pointed
to the door by which Regina had left them. "Between ourselves," she
resumed, dropping her voice to a whisper, "do you believe my niece will
make him happy?"

Rufus hesitated.

"I'm above family prejudices," Mrs. Farnaby proceeded. "You needn't be
afraid of offending me. Speak out."

Rufus would have spoken out to any other woman in the universe. _This_
woman had preserved him from ridicule--_this_ woman had rubbed his head
dry. He prevaricated.

"I don't suppose I understand the ladies in this country," he said.

But Mrs. Farnaby was not to be trifled with. "If Amelius was your son,
and if he asked you to consent to his marriage with my niece," she
rejoined, "would you say Yes?"

This was too much for Rufus. "Not if he went dow