rounds, but it was
too late. I was not allowed to escape so easily as that.

During the evening Wallace took me into the conservatory to see the
flowers, and it was not my fault that everyone went out and left us
alone. I tried to be cold and chilling, but that only made him anxious
to discover what was wrong.

"It is my fault! I know quite well it is my fault," he cried, bending
over me, his face so drawn and puckered with anxiety that he looked
quite old. "I am a stupid, blundering fellow, and you have been an
angel to be so sweet and forbearing. I am not fit to come near you, but
I would rather cut off my right hand than hurt you in any way. You know
that, don't you, Una?"

He had never called me Una before, and he looked so different from the
calm, complacent youth I had known a few weeks before--so much older and
more formidable, that it was difficult to believe it could be the same
person. I was frightened, but tried hard to appear cool and self-
possessed.

"I am not vexed at all. On the contrary, I am enjoying myself very
much. The flowers are lovely. I always--"

It was no use. He seized my hand, and cried pleadingly--

"Don't put me off, Una; don't trifle with me. It's too serious for
that. You are cold to me to-night, and it has come to this, that I
cannot live when you are not kind. What has changed you since this
afternoon? Were you vexed with me for bringing you those roses?"

"Not in the least, so far as I am concerned; but your people seemed
astonished. It made me feel a little awkward."

He looked at once relieved and puzzled. "But they know!" he cried.
"They know quite well. They would not be astonished at my giving you
anything. Has Lorna never told you that she knows?"

"I really fail to understand what there is to know," I said, sitting up
very straight and stiff, looking as haughty and unapproachable as I
possibly could. It was coming very close. I knew it, though I never
had the experience before, and I would have given anything in the world
to escape. Oh, how can girls like to have proposals from men whom they
don't mean to accept? How can they bring themselves to boast of them as
if they were a triumph and a pride? I never felt so humiliated in my
life as I did when I sat there and listened to Wallace's wild words.

"What is there to know? Only that I love you with all my heart and
strength--that I have loved you ever since the moment I first saw your
sweet f