somewhere where I can't keep watch of him!"

Fleda could not help laughing.

"Perhaps he was tired of home, and came for mere weariness."

"Weariness! it's my opinion he has no idea there is such a
word in the language — I am certain, if he heard it, he would
call for a dictionary the next minute. Why, at Carleton, it
seems to me he was half the time on horseback, flying about
from one end of the country to the other; and, when he is in
the house, he is always at work at something; it's a piece of
condescension to get him to attend to you at all; only when he
does, my dear Fleda! — he is so enchanting that you live in a
state of delight till next time. And yet, I never could get
him to pay me a compliment to this minute — I tried two or
three times, and he rewarded me with some very rude speeches."

"Rude!" said Fleda.

"Yes — that is, they were the most graceful and fascinating
things possible, but they would have been rudeness in anybody
else. Where is mamma?" said Constance, with another comic
counterfeit of distress. "My dear Fleda, it's the most
captivating thing to breakfast at Carleton!"

"I have no idea the bread and butter is sweeter there than in
some other parts of the world," said Fleda.

"I don't know about the bread and butter," said Constance,