id. "He has
walked all the way from that arm-chair." And then she made a rush at
the child, and caught him in her arms with a little whirl, and jumped
up with such a light-hearted enjoyment of the whole affair that it was
positively exciting to look at her.

It was quite natural--indeed, it would have been quite unnatural if she
had not found her usual abiding-place in her lover's encircling arm
at once, even with Tod conveniently established on one of her own,
and evidently regarding his own proximity upon such an occasion as
remarkable if nothing else. That arm of Griffith's usually _did_ slip
around her waist even at the most ordinary times, and long use had
so accustomed Dolly to the habit that she would have experienced some
slight feeling of astonishment if the familiarity had been omitted.

It was rather a surprise to the young man to find that Miss MacDowlas
had appeared upon the scene, and that she had partaken of coffee and
conversation in the flesh the evening before.

"But it's just like her," he said. "She is the sort of relative who
always _does_ turn up unexpectedly, Dolly. How does she look?"

"Juvenescent," said Dolly; "depressingly so to persons who rely upon her
for the realizing of expectations. A very few minutes satisfied me that
I should never become Mrs. Griffith Donne upon _her_ money. It is a
very fortunate thing for us that we are of Vagabondian antecedents,
Griffith,--just see how we might trouble ourselves, and wear our
patience out over Miss MacDowlas, if we troubled ourselves about
anything. This being utterly free from the care of worldly possessions
makes one touchingly disinterested. Since we have nothing to expect, we
are perfectly willing to wait until we get it."

She had thought so little about Ralph Gowan,--once losing sight of
him, as he stood watching her on the pavement, that in discussing other
subjects she had forgotten to mention him, and it was only Mollie's
entrance into the room that brought him upon the carpet.

Coming in, with her hair bunched up in a lovely, disorderly knot, and
the dimple on her left cheek artistically accentuated by a small patch
of black, the youngest Miss Crewe yet appeared to advantage, when, after
appropriating Tod, she slipped down into a sitting posture with him on
the carpet, in the midst of the amplitude of folds of Lady Augusta's
once gorgeous wrapper.

"Have you told him about the great Copper-Boiler costume, Dolly?" she
said, bendin