t on to rehearse the
whole affair. The twilight lent her its veil; and in the kindly
obscurity she gathered courage to face all the facts, and even to find
what was droll in them.

"It was very solemn, of course, and I was frightened; but I tried to
keep my wits about me, and _not_ to say yes, simply because that was the
easiest thing. I told him that I didn't know,--and I don't; and that I
must have time to think,--and I must. He was very ungenerous, and said
he had hoped I had already had time to think; and he couldn't seem to
understand, or else I couldn't very well explain, how it had been with
me all along."

"He might certainly say you had encouraged him," Mrs. Ellison remarked,
thoughtfully.

"Encouraged him, Fanny? How can you accuse me of such indelicacy?"

"Encouraging isn't indelicacy. The gentlemen _have_ to be encouraged, or
of course they'd never have any courage. They're so timid, naturally."

"I don't think Mr. Arbuton is very timid. He seemed to think that he had
only to ask as a matter of form, and I had no business to say anything.
What has he ever done for me? And hasn't he often been intensely
disagreeable? He oughtn't to have spoken just after overhearing what he
did. It was horrid to do so. He was very obtuse, too, not to see that
girls can't always be so certain of themselves as men, or, if they are,
don't know they are as soon as they're asked."

"Yes," interrupted Mrs. Ellison, "that's the way with girls. I do
believe that most of them--when they're young like you, Kitty--never
think of marriage as the end of their flirtations. They'd just like the
attentions and the romance to go on forever, and never turn into
anything more serious; and they're not to blame for that, though they
_do_ get blamed for it."

"Certainly," assented Kitty, eagerly, "that's it; that's just what I was
saying; that's the very reason why girls must have time to make up their
minds. _You_ had, I suppose."

"Yes, two minutes. Poor Dick was going back to his regiment, and stood
with his watch in his hand. I said no, and called after him to correct
myself. But, Kitty, if the romance had happened to stop without his
saying anything, you wouldn't have liked that either, would you?"

"No," faltered Kitty, "I suppose not."

"Well, then, don't you see? That's a great point in his favor. How much
time did you want, or did he give you?"

"I said I should answer before we left Quebec," answered Kitty, with a
heavy sig