, whose
opinion she trusted so entirely! 'Oh, I hope you don't mean it--that you
are only joking,' she said, so earnestly that he felt a little sorry for
his abruptness; but it was too late to retract; besides, Michael never
retracted.

'I am sorry you asked me the question; but I am bound to tell you the
truth, you know.'

'And is it really the truth?' she asked a little piteously. 'It is very
soon for you to have made up your mind that you do not like her; why,
you have only spoken to her twice.'

'Yes; but I have had plenty of time to form my opinion of her. Look
here, Audrey, you must not be vexed with me. I would not have found
fault with your fair friend if you had not asked my opinion. Of course I
admire her; one has seldom seen a prettier woman, and her style is so
uncommon, too.'

'Don't, Michael; you will be praising her hair and complexion next, as
Gertrude Fortescue did the other afternoon. It is the woman, Mrs. Blake
herself, I want you to like.'

'Ah, just so!'

'And now I am so disappointed. Somehow I never enjoy my friends quite so
much if you do not care for them. I thought we always liked the same
people, but now----' Here Audrey stopped. She felt vexed and mortified;
she did want Michael to share her interest in the Blakes.

'And now you will look on me as a broken reed; but, after all, I am not
so bad. I like Kester--he is a fine fellow; and I like your little
friend Mollie--she is true as steel; and,' after a moment's pause, 'I
like Mr. Blake.'

'Are you quite sure of that, Michael?'

'Yes, I am quite sure of it. If I know anything of human nature, Mr.
Blake is worthy of my esteem: as far as any man is good, he is good. And
then he has such splendid capabilities.'

Audrey felt vaguely that this was generous on Michael's part; and yet
she could not have told herself why it was generous. If she had had an
idea of the truth! But as yet she was only dimly conscious of the
nobility of Michael's nature.

'Mr. Blake is clever,' he continued, 'but he does not think much of
himself; it is rare to find such modesty in a young man of the present
day. Still, he is very young; one can hardly tell what he may become.'

'Father says he is three-and-twenty, Michael.'

'Still, Audrey, a man's character is not always fully developed at
three-and-twenty; at that age I was a conceited cub. I am
seven-and-thirty now, and I feel my opinions are as settled as Dr.
Ross's are.'

'I wish you would not alw