And, had the offer been made and accepted, butler, footman, and
guest would have been plunged into equal confusion by the
explanation, which would have run thus:

"I saw a vision of the Hermes of Praxiteles in a sylvan haunt
to-day; and I am thinking of that."






CHAPTER III.





Next day Alice accepted Miss Carew's invitation. Lydia, who seemed
to regard all conclusions as foregone when she had once signified
her approval of them, took the acceptance as a matter of course.
Alice thereupon thought fit to remind her that there were other
persons to be considered. So she said, "I should not have hesitated
yesterday but for my mother. It seems so heartless to leave her."

"You have a sister at home, have you not?"

"Yes. But she is not very strong, and my mother requires a great
deal of attention." Alice paused, and added in a lower voice, "She
has never recovered from the shock of my father's death."