"  Prefer  that  man  to  you,  Wilfrid !  No.  I  could  never
have  fallen  so  low  as  that.  But  I  confess  I  didn't  mind
letting  papa  understand  that  Mr.  Brotherton  was  polite  to  me
— -just  to  keep  him  from  urging  me  to — to — You  will  do  me
the  justice  that  I  did  not  try  to  make  you — to  make  you —
care  for  me,  Wilfrid  ?"

"I  admit  it  heartily.  I  will  be  as  honest  as  you,  and
confess  that  you  might  have  done  so — easily  enough  at  one
time.  Indeed  I  am  only  half  honest  after  all ;  I  loved  you
once — after  a  boyish  fashion."

She  half-smiled  again.
"  I  am  glad  you  are  believing  me  now,"  she  said.
"  Thoroughly,"  I  answered.  "  When  you  speak  the  truth,
I  must  believe  you."

"  I  was  afraid  to  let  papa  know  the  real  state  of  things.  I
was  always  afraid  of  him,  though  I  love  him  dearly,  and  he
is  very  good  to  me.  I  dared  not  disappoint  him  by  telling
him  that  I  loved  Charley  Osborne.  That  time — you  remem-
ber— when  we  met  in  Switzerland,  his  strange  ways  interested
me  so  much  !  I  was  only  a  girl — but "

"  I  understand  well  enough.  I  don't  wonder  at  any  woman
falling  in  love  with  my  Charley."

"  Thank  you,"  she  said,  with  a  sigh  which  seemed  to  come
from  the  bottom  of  her  heart.  "  You  were  always  generous.
