match ever since the night before, and the more he thought of it the
more eminently fit and proper it seemed. After rigid self-examination,
he persuaded himself that he was quite disinterested in the matter, and
that his sweetheart's sister and his friend could never be happy apart.
As for the father's consent, he had little fear on that score. He rather
dreaded, it is true, the mission that was thrust upon him, especially
when he thought of the manner in which the old man had received his
name; but he felt that he could not refuse this service to his friend,
and finally promised to see Mr. Mitrophanis that very day, and to come
in the evening to report the happy result of his interview.




IV.


When the professor had gone, the judge began to think with misgiving of
the difficulties that beset his mission. He had so much at stake in its
success that his mediation might not be accepted as impartial, or his
praise of the suitor as quite unbiased. His friend's cause ought to have
been entrusted to some one less deeply interested in the event. If the
professor had not been in such haste to name him as an intermediary,
they could have consulted his cousin, and even placed the matter in her
hands; his own appearance on the scene would only give Mr. Mitrophanis
fresh offence.

But why not ask her advice in confidence? She was a woman of sense and
experience, and could probably find some way out of their quandary. Mr.
Liakos was on the point of going to his cousin, but he reflected that it