any account listen to Mr. Bowling?'

Louise laughed.

'Oh, there's no knowing what I might do to spite Cissy. We hate each
other, of course. But I can't fancy myself marrying him, He has a
long nose, and talks through it. And he says "think you" for "thank
you," and he sings--oh, to hear him sing! I can't bear the man.'

The matter of this conversation Emmeline reported to her husband at
night, and they agreed in the hope that neither Mr. Cobb nor Mr.
Bowling would make an appearance at "Runnymede." Mumford opined that
these individuals were "cads." Small wonder, he said, that the girl
wished to enter a new social sphere. His wife, on the other hand,
had a suspicion that Miss Derrick would not be content to see the
last of Mr. Cobb. He, the electrical engineer, or whatever he was,
could hardly be such a ruffian as the girl depicted. His words, 'You
have neither heart nor brains,' seemed to indicate anything but a
coarse mind.

'But what a bad-tempered lot they are!' Mumford observed. 'I suppose
people of that sort quarrel and abuse each other merely to pass the
time. They seem to be just one degree above the roughs who come to
blows and get into the police court. You must really do your best to
get the girl out of it; I'm sure she is worthy of better things.'

'She is--in one way,' answered his wife judicially. 'But her
education stopped too soon. I doubt if it's possible to change her
very much. And--I really should like, after all, to see Mr. Cobb.'