e; but the
speech which swelled in her throat was slow in coming, choked back by
very excess of emotion. Gervase, in some alarm, demanded the cause of
her agitation, and received a straighter answer than he expected.

"I don't care to speak about Maud to a person who only sneers at her
goodness. If you don't mind, I'd rather talk about the weather, and the
garden, and things that don't matter; and then I can keep as indifferent
as you are yourself, and we sha'n't quarrel."

"I sneer! I beg a hundred pardons, Miss Nan, if I have appeared to
sneer at anything you say; but I assure you that I have never yet
voluntarily sneered at goodness; so that in this instance at least you
are doing me an injustice. You must believe me, please, for I am
thoroughly in earnest."

"Yes, I see you are. I'm sorry that I misjudged you."

"And I am sorry too. You are sorry, I am sorry, we are both sorry, so
now suppose we drop this subject and start afresh. I'd like to be
friends with you if you will; for I expect we shall see a good deal of
each other in future, and it would distress my uncle if we disagreed.
Do you think you could sign a treaty of friendship with me?"

"Well," said Nan slowly--and then paused, too honest to pledge her word
without counting the cost--"I could, but I'm not sure that it would
last. We are so different. Would you mind answering one personal
question?"

"I'll answer fifty with pleasure if it's in my power."

"Then have you known some awful trouble? Has something dreadful, heart-
breaking, happened to you, which you are trying to cover up and hide
from the world?"

Gervase stared at her in amazement, which ended in a laugh.

"Certainly not! I have had an absolutely smooth life--too smooth, I am
afraid, for the growth of character. Now I wonder what made you take
such an idea into your head!"

"I thought perhaps your heart was broken, and that was why you took no
interest in anything that was going on."

"Do I take no interest? I was under the impression that I took a great
deal--sometimes; but I have learned to conceal my feelings. You may not
perhaps be aware that English boys are educated in this fashion,
nowadays. At a public school it is considered `bad form' to be
enthusiastic on any subject. `Not bad' or `pretty decent' are the
superlatives of praise, and anything more emphatic is sure to be
snubbed. Perhaps I have been too apt a disciple in that school."

"I call it a hatefu