" said the judge.

"Wig! Madeline would not see him in a wig; nor anybody else very
often, seeing the way he is going on about his profession. What are
we to do about it?"

"Well. I should say, do nothing."

"And let him propose to the dear girl if he chooses to take the fancy
into his head?"

"I don't see how we are to hinder him. But I have that impression of
Mr. Graham that I do not think he will do anything unhandsome by us.
He has some singular ideas of his own about law, and I grant you that
he is plain--"

"The plainest young man I ever saw," said Lady Staveley.

"But, if I know him, he is a man of high character and much more than
ordinary acquirement."

"I cannot understand Madeline," Lady Staveley went on, not caring
overmuch about Felix Graham's acquirements.

"Well, my dear, I think the key to her choice is this, that she has
judged not with her eyes, but with her ears, or rather with her
understanding. Had she accepted Mr. Orme, I as a father should of
course have been well satisfied. He is, I have no doubt, a fine young
fellow, and will make a good husband some day."

"Oh, excellent!" said her ladyship; "and The Cleeve is only seven
miles."

"But I must acknowledge that I cannot feel angry with Madeline."

"Angry! no, not angry. Who would be angry with the poor child?"

"Indeed, I am somewhat proud of her. It seems to me that she prefers
mind to matter, which is a great deal to say for a young lady."

"Matter!" exclaimed Lady Staveley, who could not but feel that the
term, as applied to such a young man as Peregrine Orme, was very
opprobrious.

"Wit and intellect and power of expression have gone further with her
than good looks and rank and worldly prosperity. If that be so, and I
believe it is, I cannot but love her the better for it."

"So do I love her, as much as any mother can love her daughter."

"Of course you do." And the judge kissed his wife.

"And I like wit and genius and all that sort of thing."

"Otherwise you would have not taken me, my dear."

"You were the handsomest man of your day. That's why I fell in love
with you."

"The compliment is a very poor one," said the judge.

"Never mind that. I like wit and genius too; but wit and genius are
none the better for being ugly; and wit and genius should know how to
butter their own bread before they think of taking a wife."

"You forget, my dear, that for aught we know wit and genius may be
perfectly free from any s