'Yes;--when you found that I was too young for your tastes.'

'I shall persevere, you know. Will you assure me of this,--that if you
promise your hand to another man you will let me know at once?'

'I suppose I may promise that,' she said, after pausing for a moment.

'There is no one as yet?'

'There is no one. But, Mr Carbury, you have no right to question me. I
don't think it generous. I allow you to say things that nobody else
could say because you are a cousin and because mamma trusts you so
much. No one but mamma has a right to ask me whether I care for any
one.'

'Are you angry with me?'

'No.'

'If I have offended you it is because I love you so dearly.'

'I am not offended, but I don't like to be questioned by a gentleman.
I don't think any girl would like it. I am not to tell everybody all
that happens.'

'Perhaps when you reflect how much of my happiness depends upon it you
will forgive me. Good-bye now.' She put out her hand to him and
allowed it to remain in his for a moment. 'When I walk about the old
shrubberies at Carbury where we used to be together, I am always
asking myself what chance there is of your walking there as the