“The reason why he proposed to her,
is to me clear enough,” said Miss Dan
ver’s informant. “Rose is an exceed
ingly pretty girl, and she has four hun
dred a-year of her own, and as Ralph
has little more than expectations,! sup
pose he thought he would like to have
something certain.”;
“But four hundred a-year is nothing
for two people like them to marry up
on," objected Celia Danvers.
“No, it is not; but he is sanguine and
thinks he shall do great things in the
world, not that he ever will; and Rose
is certainly not the woman to help him,
her bad temper and her overbearing
manners repel those whose friendship
would be worth cultivating.”
These remarks recurred to the mind
of Celia Danvers when her brother came
home from calling upon Mrs. Blessing
ton and her nieces, and she felt she
would gladly do anything in her power
sooner than have Rose for a sister-in
law.
The day of the party came, and the
guests mustered iu full strength at The
Cottage, which was the name of the
somewhat extensive building in which
the brother and sister lived. Most of
thsm bail come over early in the day,
for there was to bo some skating before
dinner, and the river which was firmly
frozen ran by the end of the lawn.
Beatrice Thornbury and her aunt
were among some of the earliest arri
vals, and their host and hostess from
the first paid them marked attention.
