of her acquaintance. Two only of these, however,
seemed to appeal to her sense of fitness--Murray and Aston.

The former, a year or two older than herself, was a master at the same
school; clever and capable, he was evidently destined to rise rapidly
in his profession, and his future promise, together with his attractive
personality, might well render him the more favored suitor.

Cuthbert Aston could not be compared with Murray as regarded intellect,
attainments, or personal charm; but he had other attractions of no less
weight in the eyes of a girl who had social ambitions. His father had
made money in business, and bore the reputation of possessing great
wealth. Cuthbert, was the only child of infatuated parents, who had
spared no expense in his upbringing, and were ready to gratify his
every whim. For a genteel occupation he had been placed in a
bank--"not that it would be necessary for him to earn his living at
it," as Mrs. Aston was careful to inform her lady friends; "but it was
well to give him something to do, and banking is not trade! If the
dear boy should get tired of the routine, he could easily take up
something else more to his taste."

Apart from his worldly prospects, there was little to attract a girl of
Violet's character toward Cuthbert Aston. He was what men technically
style "a bounder!" Yet, empty-headed, arrogant, self-centered though
he might be, he was a rich man's only son. In Violet's eyes that in
itself condoned many flagrant defects. The Astons moved in the highest
circles of the city--spite of Mrs. Aston's "flamboyant" style and her
husband's demonstrative vulgarity; as a member of their family,
therefore, her social status would be secure.

If the girl had any heart it must have pleaded on behalf of Bernard
Murray--young, handsome, lovable, as he was. Nothing else except
ambition could have allowed her to compare Aston with him. There
might, it is true, have been a spice of adventure connected with her
encouragement of the latter; it was well known that his parents looked
with dismay upon the prospect of their idolized boy "throwing himself
away on that little school-teacher," as his mother phrased it.

To do the Astons credit, their objection to Violet did not rest wholly
upon an imagined social disparity; there was a much graver reason. The
girl lost no opportunity in proclaiming herself a pronounced
Free-thinker. Her mother had died while she was quite a child, and fo