le
pressure upon her in order to prevent her gathering too many apples, and
joining in too many other rural recreations with Mr. Haverley, that she
thought of him as one who was not to be considered in the light of a
brother. There could be no doubt that she would have come to the same
conclusion if left to herself, but she would not have reached it so soon.

But the effect that her mother's precautionary disposition had had upon
her was nothing compared to that produced by the words of La Fleur. For
the first time she looked upon Ralph as one on whom other persons looked
as her lover, and to sit by the side of the said young man, immediately
after being informed of said fact, was not conducive to a free and
tranquil flow of remark.

Her own sentiments on the subject, so far as she had put them into
shape,--and it was quite natural that she should immediately begin to
do this,--were neither embarrassing nor disagreeable. She liked him
very much, and there was no reason why she should object to his liking
her very much, and if they should ever do more than this, she should
not be ashamed of it, and perhaps should be glad of it. But she was
sorry that before either of them had thought of this, some one else
should have done so.

This might prove to be embarrassing, and the only comfort she could give
herself was that La Fleur was such an affectionate old body, always
talking of some bit of good fortune for her, that if she had seen her in
company with a king or an emperor, she would immediately set herself to
find some sort of throne-covering which would suit her hair and
complexion.

The definite result of her reflections, made between desultory questions
and answers, was that she regarded the young gentleman by her side in a
light very different from that in which she had viewed him before she had
met La Fleur in the doctor's hall. It was not that she looked upon him as
a possible lover--she had sense enough to know that almost any man might
be that--he was a hypothetic lover, and in view of the assumption it
behooved her to give careful observation to everything in him, herself,
or others, which might bear upon the ensuing argument.

As for Ralph, it angered him to look at the young lady by his side, who
was as handsome, as well educated and cultured, as tastefully dressed, as
intelligent and witty, of as gentle, kind, and winning a disposition,
and, judging from what the doctor had told him when he first spoke of