that was almost a run through the
town, and down the Braidwood Road. The few foot-passengers that he met
shrank out of the way of this young man; for he walked, looking
neither to the right nor to left, as though he saw nothing before him.
And his eyes were gloomy, and, he did not whistle; and the only words
he said to himself were, "Oh, Nan, never to have told me of this!"
over and over again.

The gate of the Friary stood open; for a small boy had been washing
the flags, and had left his pail, and had gone off to play marbles in
the road with a younger brother. Dick,--who understood the bearings of
the case at once, shook his fist at the truant behind his back, and
then turned in at the gate.

He peeped in at the hall door first; but Dorothy was peeling potatoes
in the kitchen, and would see him as he passed, so he skirted the
little path under the yews. And if Dulce had been at her
sewing-machine as usual, she would have seen him at once; but this
morning the machine was silent.

A few steps farther he came to a full stop, and his eyes began to
glisten, and he pricked up his ears after the manner of lovers; for
through an open window just behind him, he could hear Nan's voice,
sweet and musical, reading aloud to her sisters.

"Oh, the darling!" he murmured, and composed himself for a few
moments' ecstasy, for no doubt she was reading Tennyson, or
Barrett-Browning, or one of the poetry-books he had given her; but he
was a little disappointed when he found it was prose.

"'With regard to washing-dresses,'" read Nan, in her clear tones,
"'cottons, as a general thing, have another material made up with
them; the under-skirt may be of foulard or satin----?'"

"Oh, I dare say! What nonsensical extravagance!" observed Phillis.

"'Or the bodice of surah, satin, cashmere, or llama, and the skirt of
cotton.... The skirts are nearly always made with single box-pleats,
with a flat surface in the centre, and a flat band of trimming is
often stitched on at about five inches from the edge of the flounce.'
I should say that would be sweetly pretty, dear: we might try it for
Mrs. Penlip's dress. And just listen to a little more."

"I shall do nothing of the kind," blurted out Dick. "Oh, Nan, Nan! how
could you be such a traitor?--washing-dresses indeed, and me left in
ignorance!" And there was Dick, his face glowing and indignant,
standing in the window, with Laddie barking furiously at him, and his
outstretched hand nearly