by half-past eleven.'

'That's rather early,' replied the young man, though in a submissive
tone.

'It's the hour I appoint. Samuel Barmby will be with you, and he
will know the arrangement; but I tell you now, so that there may be
no misunderstanding.'

Nancy sat in a very upright position, displeasure plain upon her
countenance. But she made no remark. Horace, who had his reasons for
desiring to preserve a genial tone, affected acquiescence. Presently
he and his sister went upstairs to the drawing-room, where they sat
down at a distance apart--Nancy by the window, gazing at the warm
clouds above the roofs opposite, the young man in a corner which the
dusk already shadowed. Some time passed before either spoke, and it
was Horace's voice which first made itself heard.

'Nancy, don't you think it's about time we began to behave firmly?'

'It depends what you mean by firmness,' she answered in an absent
tone.

'We're old enough to judge for ourselves.'

'I am, no doubt. But I'm not so sure about you.'

'Oh, all right. Then we won't talk about it.'

Another quarter of an hour went by. The room was in twilight. There