"Wouldn't give a picayune for the whole affair without her--that's
what you mean, and why not say so? I speak right out about Nellie,
and she isn't one half as handsome as 'Lena."

"It isn't 'Lena's beauty that I admire altogether," returned Durward.
"I like her for her frankness, and because I think her conduct is
actuated by the best of principles; perhaps I am mistaken----"

"No, you are not," again interrupted John Jr., "'Lena is just what
she seems to be. There's no deception in her. She isn't one thing
to-day and another to-morrow. Spunky as the old Nick, you know, but
still she governs her temper admirably, and between you and me, I
know I'm a better man than I should have been had she never come to
live with us. How well I remember the first time I saw her," he
continued, repeating to Durward the particulars of their interview in
Lexington, and describing her introduction to his sisters. "From the
moment she refused to tell that lie for me, I liked her," said he,
"and when she dealt me that blow in my face, my admiration was
complete."

Durward thought he could dispense with the blow, but he laughed
heartily at John's description of his spirited cousin, thinking, too,
how different was his opinion of her from that which his mother
evidently entertained. Still, if Mrs. Livingstone was prejudiced,
John Jr. might also be somewhat biased, so he would not yet make up
his mind; but on one thing he was resolved--she should be invited,
and for fear of contingencies, he would carry the card himself.

Accordingly, on his return home, Nero was closely questioned, and