a slice of cold ham."

"If I could only feel sure," thought Mr Croft, "that she looked upon me
merely as an acquaintance, I would cease to trouble my mind on this
subject, and let everything go on as before. But I am not sure, and I
would rather not come here again until I am." "And at what hour," he
asked, "do you partake of a meal like that?"

"In summer time," said Miss Roberta, "we have supper when it is dark
enough to light the lamps. My uncle dislikes very much to be deprived,
by the advent of a meal, of the out-door enjoyment of a late afternoon,
or, as we call it down here, the evening."

"It would be easy enough," thought Mr Croft, "for me to say something
about my being suddenly obliged to go away, and then notice its effect
upon her. But, apart from the fact that I would not do anything so
vulgar and commonplace, it would not advantage me in the slightest
degree. She would see through the flimsiness of my purpose, and, no
matter how she looked upon me, would show nothing but a well-bred regret
that I should be obliged to go away at such a pleasant season." "I think
the hour for your supper," said he, "is a very suitable one, but I am
not sure that such a variety of hot bread would agree with me."

"Did you ever see more healthy-looking ladies and gentlemen than you
find in Virginia?" asked Miss March.

"It is not that I want to know if she looks favorably upon me," said
Lawrence Croft to himself, "for when I wish to discover that, I shall
simply ask her. What I wish now to know is whether, or not, she
considers me at all as a lover. There surely must be something I can say