Motioning me to a seat beside her, she here turned to her husband, and
said, "Poyntz, since a cycle of rain begins tomorrow, better secure your
ride to-day. Take these young people with you. I want to talk with Dr.
Fenwick."

The colonel carefully put away his barometer, and saying to his daughter,
"Come!" went forth. Jane followed her father; the young gentleman
followed Jane.

The reception I had met chilled and disappointed me. I felt that Mrs.
Poyntz was changed, and in her change the whole house seemed changed. The
very chairs looked civilly unfriendly, as if preparing to turn their backs
on me. However, I was not in the false position of an intruder; I had
been summoned; it was for Mrs. Poyntz to speak first, and I waited quietly
for her to do so.

She finished the careful folding of her work, and then laid it at rest in
the drawer of the table at which she sat. Having so done, she turned to
me, and said,--

"By the way, I ought to have introduced to you my young guest, Mr.
Ashleigh Sumner. You would like him. He has talents,--not showy, but
solid. He will succeed in public life."

"So that young man is Mr. Ashleigh Sumner? I do not wonder that Miss
Ashleigh rejected him."

I said this, for I was nettled, as well as surprised, at the coolness with
which a lady who had professed a friendship for me mentioned that
fortunate young gentleman, with so complete an oblivion of all the