Those cruel words of her father rang in her ears constantly:--"Things of that sort are so often over with you." The reproach, though cruel, was true, and what reproach more galling could be uttered to an unmarried girl such as was Alice Vavasor? She had felt from the first moment in which the proposition was made to her, that it would be well that she should for a while leave her home, and especially that drawing-room in Queen Anne Street, which told her so many tales that she would fain forget, if it were possible.

Those cruel words of her father rang in her ears constantly: "Things of that sort are so often over with you." The reproach, though cruel, was true, and what more galling reproach could be uttered? It would be well that she should leave her home for a while.
