she was compelled to compare him!

But, though she could not be brought to say that she would listen
patiently to his story, she was nevertheless made to understand that
she must see him when he came to her. Aunt Margaret was very full on
that subject. A young man who was approved of by the young lady's
friends, and who had means at command, was, in Mrs. Dosett's opinion,
entitled to a hearing. How otherwise were properly authorised
marriages to be made up and arranged? When this was going on there
was in some slight degree a diminished sympathy between Ayala and her
aunt. Ayala still continued her household duties,--over which, in the
privacy of her own room, she groaned sadly; but she continued them
in silence. Her aunt, upon whom she had counted, was, she thought,
turning against her. Mrs. Dosett, on the other hand, declared to
herself that the girl was romantic and silly. Husbands with every
immediate comfort, and a prospect of almost unlimited wealth, are not
to be found under every hedge. What right could a girl so dependent
as Ayala have to refuse an eligible match? She therefore in this way
became an advocate on behalf of Tom,--as did also Uncle Reginald,
more mildly. Uncle Reginald merely remarked that Tom was attending
to his business, which was a great thing in a young man. It was not
much, but it showed Ayala that in this matter her uncle was her
enemy. In this, her terrible crisis, she had not a friend, unless it
might be Lucy.

Then a day was fixed on which Tom was to come, which made the matter
more terrible by anticipation. "What can be the good?" Ayala said to
her aunt when the hour named for the interview was told her, "as I
can tell him everything just as well without his coming at all." But
all that had been settled. Aunt Margaret had repeated over and over
again that such an excellent young man as Tom, with such admirable
intentions, was entitled to a hearing from any young lady. In reply
to this Ayala simply made a grimace, which was intended to signify
the utter contempt in which she held her cousin Tom with all his
wealth.

Tom Tringle, in spite of his rings and a certain dash of vulgarity,
which was, perhaps, not altogether his own fault, was not a bad
fellow. Having taken it into his heart that he was very much in love
he was very much in love. He pictured to himself a happiness of a
wholesome cleanly kind. To have the girl as his own, to caress her
and foster her, and expend himself in mak