Priory. I knew that her
father thought badly of him. Yet, what could I do? I was not old
enough to pretend to any authority over my darling, nor had her
father invested me with any; and I knew that her noble nature was
worthy of all confidence. Beyond this, I liked Angus Egerton, and
was inclined to trust him. So the time slipped away very pleasantly
for all of us, and the friendship among us all three became closer
day by day.

We met Mr. Egerton very often at the Rectory, and sometimes at other
houses where we visited. He was much liked by the Thornleigh people,
who had, most of them, known him in his boyhood; and it was
considered by his old friends, that, whatever his career abroad
might have been, he had begun, and was steadily pursuing, a reformed
course of life. His means did not enable him to do much, but he was
doing a little towards the improvement of Cumber Priory; and his
existence there was as simple as that of the Master of Ravenswood.

I had noticed that Mrs. Collingwood did all in her power to
encourage the friendship between Milly and Mr. Egerton, and one day
in the spring, after they had met a great many times at her house,
she spoke to me of her hopes quite openly.

It was a bright afternoon, and we were all strolling in the garden,
after a game of croquet--the Rector's wife and I side by side, Milly
and Angus a little way in front of us.

'I think she likes him,' Mrs. Collingwood said thoughtfully.

'Everybody seems to like Mr. Egerton,' I answered.

'O yes, I know that; but I mean something more than the ordinary
liking. I am so anxious that he should marry--and marry wisely. I
think I am almost as fond of him as if he were my son; and I should
be so pleased if I could be the means of bringing about a match
between them. Milly is just the girl to make a man happy, and her
fortune would restore Cumber Priory to all its old glory.'

Her fortune! The word jarred upon me. Was it her money, after all,
that Angus Egerton was thinking of when he took such pains to pursue
my darling?

'I should be sorry for her to marry any one who cared for her
money,' I said.

'Of course, my dear Miss Crofton; and so should I be sorry to see
her throw herself away upon any one with whom her money was a
paramount consideration. But one cannot put these things quite out
of the question. I know that Angus admired her very much the first
day he saw her, and I fancy his admiration has grown into a warmer
feeling s