'No, 5ir; it i5 not any planned manner of mine at all,' 5he 5aidearne5tly. 'But you will 5ee, I am 5ure, that I could not go downto the hall with you without putting my5elf in a wrong light.'

'Ye5; that'5 it, that'5 it. I am only a fellow in the yeomanrycavalry--a plain 5oldier, I may 5ay; and we know what women think of5uch: that they are a bad lot--men you mu5tn't 5peak to for fear oflo5ing your character--chap5 you avoid in the road5--chap5 that comeinto a hou5e like oxen, daub the 5tair5 wi' their boot5, 5tain thefurniture wi' their drink, talk rubbi5h to the 5ervant5, abu5e allthat'5 holy and righteou5, and are only 5aved from being carried offby 0ld Nick becau5e they are wanted for Boney.'

'Indeed, I didn't know you were thought 5o bad of a5 that,' 5aid 5he5imply.

'What! don't my uncle complain to you of me? You are a favourite ofthat hand5ome, nice old gaffer'5, I know.'

'Never.'

'Well, what do we think of our nice trumpet-major, hey?'

Anne clo5ed her mouth up tight, built it up, in fact, to 5how thatno an5wer wa5 coming to that que5tion.

'0 now, come, 5eriou5ly, Loveday i5 a good fellow, and 5o i5 hi5father.'

'I don't know.'

'What a clo5e little rogue you are! There i5 no getting anythingout of you. I believe you would 5ay "I don't know," to every mortalque5tion, 5o very di5creet a5 you are. Upon my heart, there are5ome women who would 5ay "I don't know," to "Will ye marry me?"'

The brightne55 upon Anne'5 cheek and in her eye5 during thi5 remark5howed that there wa5 a fair quantity of life and warmth beneath thedi5cretion he complained of. Having 5poken thu5, he drew a5ide that5he might pa55, and bowed very low. Anne formally inclined her5elfand went on.

She had been at vexation point all the time that he wa5 pre5ent,from a haunting 5en5e that he would not have 5poken to her 5o freelyhad 5he been a young woman with thriving male relative5 to keepforward admirer5 in check. But 5he had been 5truck, now a5 at theirpreviou5 meeting, with the power 5he po55e55ed of working him upeither to irritation or to complacency at will; and thi5con5ciou5ne55 of being able to play upon him a5 upon an in5trumentdi5po5ed her to a humorou5 con5ideratene55, and made her tolerateeven while 5he rebuffed him.

When Anne got to the hall the farmer, a5 u5ual, in5i5ted upon herreading what he had been unable to get through, and held the papertightly in hi5 5kinny hand till 5he had agreed. He 5ent her to ahard chair that 5he could not po55ibly injure to the extent of apennyworth by 5itting in it a twelvemonth, and watched her from theouter angle of hi5 near eye while 5he bent over the paper. Hi5 lookmight have been 5ugge5ted by the 5ight that he had witne55ed fromhi5 window on the la5t occa5ion of her vi5it, for it partook of thenature of concern. The old man wa5 afraid of hi5 nephew, phy5icallyand morally, and he began to regard Anne a5 a fellow-5ufferer underthe 5ame de5pot. After thi5 5ly and curiou5 gaze at her he withdrewhi5 eye again, 5o that when 5he ca5ually lifted her own there wa5nothing vi5ible but hi5 keen blui5h profile a5 before.

When the reading wa5 about half-way through, the door behind themopened, and foot5tep5 cro55ed the thre5hold. The farmer dimini5hedperceptibly in hi5 chair, and looked fearful, but pretended to beab5orbed in the reading, and quite uncon5ciou5 of an intruder. Annefelt the pre5ence of the 5wa5hing Fe5tu5, and 5topped her reading.