should have a chance. At present she would only enjoy the nice tea, and talk to poor little frightened Dulce, who seemed unable to open her lips after her sister's disclosure.

Archie could not emulate her ease; a man is always at a disadvantage in such a case. His interest had sustained no shock. It was even stimulated by what he had just heard; but his sympathy seemed all at once congealed, and he could find no vent for it. In spite of his best efforts his manner grew more and more constrained every moment.

Nan looked at him more than once with reproachful sweetness. She thought they had lost caste in his eyes; but Phillis, who was shrewd and sharp-set in her wits, read him more truly. She knew-having already met a score of such-how addicted young Englishmen are to mauvais honte, and how they will hide acute sensibilities under blunt and stolid exteriors; and there was a certain softness in Mr. Drummond's eye that belied his stiffness. Most likely he was very sorry for them, and did not know how to show it; and in this she was right.

Mr. Drummond was very sorry for them;

but he was still more grieved for himself. The Oxford fellow had not long been a parish priest, and he could not at all understand the position in which he found himself—taking tea with three elegant young dressmakers, who talked the purest English and had decided views on tennis and horticulture. He had just been congratulating himself on securing such companionship for his sister and himself. Being rather classical-minded, he had been calling them the gray-eyed Graces, and one of them at least a daughter of the godsdivinely tall and most divinely fair;' for where had he seen anything to compare with Nan's bloom and charming figure? Dressmakers!oh, if only Grace were at hand that he might talk to her, and gain her opinion how he was to act in such case! Grace had the stiffnecked Drummond pride as well as he, and would hesitate long behind the barriers of conventionality. No wonder, with all these thoughts passing through his mind, that Nan with her bright surface-talk found him a little vague.

It was quite a relief to all the party when Mattie gave the signal for departure, and the

bell was rung for Dorothy to show them

out.

Well, Nan, what do you think of our visitors?' asked Phillis, when the gardendoor had clanged noisily after them, and she had treated Nan to the aforesaid hugs; for you were so brave, darling, and actually took the wind out of my sails!' exclaimed the enthusiastic Phillis. 'Miss Drummond is not so bad after all, is she, in spite of her dowdiness and fussy ways?'

'No; she means well, and so does her brother. He is very nice, only his self-consciousness spoils him,' returned Nan in a calm discursive tone, as though they were discussing ordinary visitors.

It was impossible for these young girls to see their ordinary language was not humble enough for their new circumstances. They would make mistakes at every turn like Dorothy, who got out the best china and brewed her tea in the melon-shaped silver teapot.

Phillis opened her eyes rather widely at this. Nan was not often so observant. It was true; self-consciousness was a torment to

Archibald Drummond, a Frankenstein of his own creation, that had grown imperceptibly with his growth to the full measure of his manhood—as inseparable as the shadow from the substance. Phillis had recognised it at once; but then, as she said, no one was faultless; and then, he was so handsome. 'Very handsome!' chimed in Dulce, whose opinions were full-fledged in such matters.

Is he? Well, I never cared for a man with a long fair beard,' observed Nan carelessly. Poor Archie! how his vanity would have suffered if he had heard her; for, in a masculine way, he prided himself excessively on the soft silky appendage that Grace had so often praised. A certain boyish countenance, with kindly honest eyes, and a little sandy moustache, was more to Nan's taste than the handsome young Anglican.

'Oh, we all know Nan's opinion in such matters,' said Dulce shyly; and then Nan blushed, and suddenly remembered that Dorothy was waiting for her in the linencloset, and hurried away, leaving her sisters to discuss their visitors to their hearts' content.

astonished in my life!' exclaimed Mattie, as she tried to adapt her uneven trot to her brother's long swinging footsteps; and then she glanced up in his face to read his mood: but Archie's features were inscrutable, and presented an appalling blank. In his mind he was beginning his letter to Grace, and wondering what he should say to her about their new neighbours. Writing is such a nuisance when one wants to talk to a person,' he thought irritably.

6

Oh, Archie, won't you tell me what we are to do?' went on Mattie excitedly. She would not take Archie's silence as a hint that