Nobody

"Only to theirs and mine, Phil?" she asked, bending a keen look uponhim. He laughed, and changed his position, but did not answer.

"Philip, Philip, what is this?"

"You may call it a whim, a fancy, a notion. I do not know that anythingwill ever come of it. I could wish there might – but that is a verycloudy and misty château en Espagne, and I do not much look at it. Thepresent thing is practical. Will you take the place, and do what youcan for these girls?"

"What ever put this thing in your head?"

"What matter, if it is a good thing?"

"I must know more about it. Who are these people?"

"Connections of Mrs. Wishart. Perfectly respectable."

"What are they, then?"

"Country people. They belong, I suppose, to the farming population of a

New England village. That is very good material."

"Certainly – for some things. How do they live – by keeping boarders?"

"Nothing of the kind! They live, I suppose, – I don't know how theylive; and I do not care. They live as farmers, I suppose. But they arepoor."

"And so, without education?"

"Which I am asking you to supply."

"Phil, you are interested in one of these girls?"

"Didn't I tell you I was interested in both of them?" he said, laughing. And he rose now, and stood half leaning against the door ofthe little room, looking down at Mrs. Barclay; and she reviewed him. Helooked exactly like what he was; a refined and cultivated man of theworld, with a lively intelligence in full play, and every instinct andhabit of a gentleman. Mrs. Barclay looked at him with a very grave face.

"Philip, this is a very crazy scheme!" she said, after a minute or twoof mutual consideration.

"I cannot prove it anything else," he said lightly. "Time must do that."

"I do not think Time will do anything of the kind. What Time doesordinarily, is to draw the veil off the follies our passions andfancies have covered up."

"True; and there is another work Time some times does. He sometimesdraws forth a treasure from under the encumbering rubbish that hid it, and lets it appear for the gold it is."

"Philip, you have never lost your heart to one of these girls?" said

Mrs. Barclay, with an expression of real and grave anxiety.

"Not exactly."

"But your words mean that."

"They are not intended to convey any such meaning. Why should they?"

"Because if they do not mean that, your plan is utterly wild andextravagant. And if they do – "

"What then?"

"Then it would be far more wild and extravagant. And deplorable."

"See there the inconsistency of you good people!" said Mr. Dillwyn, still speaking lightly. "A little while ago you were urging me to makemyself useful. I propose a way, in which I want your co-operation, calculated to be highly beneficial in a variety of ways, – and I hitupon hindrances directly."

"Philip, it isn't that. I cannot bear to think of your marrying a womanunworthy of you."

"I still less!" he assured her, with mock gravity.

"And that is what you are thinking of. A woman without education, without breeding, without knowledge of the world, without anything,that could make her a fit companion for you. Philip, give this up!"

"Not my plan," said he cheerfully. "The rest is all in yourimagination. What you have to do, if you will grant my prayer, is tomake this little country girl the exact opposite of all that. You willdo it, won't you?"

"Where will you be?"

"Not near, to trouble you. Probably in Europe. I think of going withthe Caruthers in the spring."

"What makes you think this girl wants – I mean, desires – education?"

"If she does not, then the fat's in the fire, that's all."

"I did not know you were so romantic, before."

"Romantic! Could anything be more practical? And I think it will be sogood for you, in that sea air."

"I would rather never smell the sea air, if this is going to be foryour damage. Does the girl know you are an admirer of hers?"

"She hardly knows I am in the world! O yes, she has seen me, and I havetalked with her; by which means I come to know that labour spent on herwill not be spent in vain. But of me she knows nothing."

"After talking with you!" said Mrs. Barclay. "What else is she?

Handsome?"

"Perhaps I had better let you judge of that. I could never marry a merepretty face, I think. But there is a wonderful charm about thiscreature, which I do not yet understand. I have never been able to findout what is the secret of it."

"A pretty face and a pink cheek!" said Mrs. Barclay, with half a groan."You are all alike, you men! Now we women – Philip, is the thing mutualalready? Does she think of you as you think of her?"

"She does not think of me at all," said he, sitting down again, andfacing Mrs. Barclay with an earnest face. "She hardly knows me. Herattention has been taken up, I fancy, with another suitor."

"Another suitor! You are not going to be Quixote enough to educate awife for another man?"

"No," said he, half laughing. "The other man is out of the way, andmakes no more pretension."

"Rejected? And how do you know all this so accurately?"

"Because he told me. Now have you done with objections?"