g from side to side, and
into each mind, even that of the rebellious Jack himself, there crept
the same thought. This was indeed a goodly heritage, whose owner would
be an enviable person! The possibility of possessing it as a home was
worth a far greater sacrifice than anything which had been demanded of
themselves.

In those few minutes of silence dreams ran riot, and finally found vent
in words.

"When the Court belongs to me I shall have an awning put up on this
terrace and sit here all day long," said Mollie; as usual the first to
break the silence.

"I shall have a table brought out, and breakfast here every fine
morning," said Ruth.

"I'll smoke here after dinner!" said Victor.

"I'll do ditto in every case!" said Jack, then caught himself up
sharply--"when I come to visit the Chosen, that is to say! Of course,
I'm out of the running. What are you smiling at, Miss Mollie?" For,
turning towards her, he had seen the grey eyes light up with a merry
twinkle. She shook her head, however, refusing to gratify his
curiosity, and sped rapidly down the broad marble steps.

"He is beginning to have qualms! The very first morning, and for a
moment his resolution wavered. The spell is working," she told herself
triumphantly; for, despite his lack of gallantry, both girls had already
candidly admitted that upon Jack's going or staying depended a great
part of the pleasure of the next three months. "Don't persuade him;
don't mention the subject at all. Let him think we don't care how he
decides. Men are contradictious creatures, and the less he is urged the
more likely he is to give way," argued Ruth the experienced. And Mollie
dutifully agreed.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

A NOVEL EXPERIENCE.

Down the winding path, the visitors, as they walked together, came upon
masses of daffodils, standing up erect and golden from the carpet of
dead leaves which covered the ground. Not the ordinary common or garden
daffodil, charming as it is, but named varieties of every description--
white trumpeted _Horsefieldi_, stately yellow Emperors, _Bari Conspicui_
with its dainty outline of orange; these, and a dozen others were
growing in patches, not in dozens or scores, but in literal hundreds,
beneath the budding trees. There were violets, too; and white and
purple and golden saxifrages peeping out between the stones which
bordered the trickling stream--a scene of enchantment, indeed, for City
eyes accustomed to gaze only