e known exactly what to do, but I confess I am
puzzled. Our--my cousin, Mrs. Pryor, has arrived this afternoon."

"Mrs. Pryor!" said Doctor Stedman. "Any one I ought to know?"

"Maria Darracott. Surely you remember her?"

"Hum! yes, I remember _her_. She hasn't come here, to this house?"

"Yes; she is up-stairs now, unpacking her trunk. She has come to make a
long stay, it would appear from the size of the trunk. Of course I
am--of course it was very kind in her to come, and I shall do my best to
make her stay agreeable; but--James, she intends to make Aunt Marcia a
visit, too, and Aunt Marcia absolutely refuses to see her. What shall I
do?"

Doctor Stedman chuckled. "Do? I wish you had followed your aunt's
example; but that was not to be expected. Hum! I don't see that you can
do anything. Your aunt is not amenable to the bit, not even the
slightest snaffle; as to driving her with a curb, I should like to see
the man who would attempt it. Won't see her, eh? ho! ho! Mrs. Tree is
the one consistent woman I have ever known."

"But Maria is entirely unconvinced, James; I cannot make any impression
upon her. She is determined to go to see Aunt Marcia to-morrow, and I
fear--"

"Let her go! she is of age, if I remember rightly; let her go and try
for herself. You are not responsible for what occurs. Vesta--let me look
at you! Hum! I wish you would turn this visitor out, and go away
somewhere for a bit."

"Go away, James? I?"

"Yes, you! You are not looking at all the thing, I tell you. It's all
very well and very--everything that is like you--to take this trouble
simply and naturally, but whatever you may say and believe, there is the
shock and there is the strain, and those are things we have to pay for
sooner or later. Go away, I tell you! Send away this--this visitor, give
Diploma the key, and go off somewhere for a month or two. Go and make
Nat a visit! Poor old Nat, he's lonely enough, with little Vesta and her
husband in Europe. Think what it would mean to him, Vesta, to have you
with him for awhile!"

"My dear James, you take my breath away," said Miss Vesta, fluttering a
little. "You are most kind and friendly, but--but it would not be
possible for me to go away. I could not think of it for a moment, even
if the laws of hospitality did not bind me as long as Maria--my own
cousin, remember, James--chooses to stay here. I could not think of
it."

"I should like to know why!" said Doctor Stedman, obstinatel