te so silly as she was," remarked Dora. "Why I should
not have the same freedom as other girls in entertaining my gentleman
friends I never could quite see."

"I believe if we told her we had made up our minds it would be all
right," he pleaded.

"I'm not so sure Lorne. Mother's so deep. You can't always tell just by
what she DOES. She thinks Stephen Stuart likes me--it's too perfectly
idiotic; we are the merest friends--and when it's any question of you
and Stephen--well, she doesn't say anything, but she lets me see! She
thinks such a lot of the Stuarts because Stephen's father was Ontario
Premier once, and got knighted."

"I might try for that myself if you think it would please her," said the
lover.

"Please her! And I should be Lady Murchison!" she let fall upon his
ravished ears. "Why, Lorne, she'd just worship us both! But you'll never
do it."

"Why not?"

Dora looked at him with pretty speculation. She had reasons for
supposing that she did admire the young man.

"You're too nice," she said.

"That isn't good enough," he responded, and drew her nearer.

"Then why did you ask me?--No, Lorne, you are not to. Suppose Father
came in?"

"I shouldn't mind--Father's on my side, I think."

"Father isn't on anybody's side," said his daughter, wisely.

"Dora, let me speak to him!"

Miss Milburn gave a clever imitation of a little scream of horror.

"INDEED I won't! Lorne, you are never, NEVER to do that! As if we were
in a ridiculous English novel!"

"That's the part of an English novel I always like," said Lorne. "The
going and asking. It must about scare the hero out of a year's growth;
but it's a glorious thing to do--it would be next day, anyhow."

"It's just the sort of thing to please Mother," Dora meditated, "but she
can't be indulged all the time. No, Lorne, you'll have to leave it to
me--when there's anything to tell."

"There's everything to tell now," said he, who had indeed nothing to
keep back.

"But you know what Mother is, Lorne. Suppose they hadn't any objection,
she would never keep it to herself! She'd want to go announcing it all
over the place; she'd think it was the proper thing to do."

"But, Dora, why not? If you knew how I want to announce it! I should
like to publish it in the sunrise--and the wind--so that I couldn't go
out of doors without seeing it myself."

"I shouldn't mind having it in Toronto Society, when the time comes.
But not yet, Lorne--not for ages. I'm only