takes me for a toy," she thought, and
then as she looked at the two men engaged in close conversation, a
sudden light beamed upon her--he was going to force her into a
_marriage de raison_, as the French call it. Everything had been
arranged beforehand.

It was all conjecture on her part, but she felt it to be the truth.
The more she thought over it, the more she felt convinced of the
fact.

"Oh, it's disgusting," she thought; and a sickening sensation crept
over her.

"Will you give us a tune?" said Mr. Rougeant.

"Do;" entreated Tom.

Adele took the violin from the table upon which she had placed it,
passed the bow over the strings to ascertain if it was properly
tuned, then slowly began playing.

It was a simple piece, which did not demand exertion. She did not
care what to play. "They cannot distinguish 'Home, Sweet Home' from
'Auld Lang Syne,'" she thought. Besides, they were not half
listening; why should she give them good music.

She felt like the painter, who, having completed a real work of art,
refuses to exhibit it to the public, on the ground that it is a
profane thing to exhibit it to the gaze of unartistic eyes.

When she had finished playing, Tom looked at her. "That's capital
music," he said, assuming the air of a connoisseur, then he added:
"I s'pose you practice a good bit."

"The grin," thought Adele, "it's awful; and his eyes resemble those
of a wild cat. I wonder if he has a soul; if it shines through those
eyes, it cannot be spotless;" then, recollecting herself, she said:
"I have been practising now for ten years."

"No wonder you can rattle it," was the rejoinder.

Now Tom was not half so ugly as Adele imagined him to be. Indeed, he
looked well enough this evening, for he had come on purpose to
exhibit himself, and was as a matter of fact as well dressed up as
he could. His manners were not refined, but they were not absolutely
rude.

But the girl, whose whole being revolted against this scheme of her
father's fabrication, felt naturally indignant and could not help
exaggerating his faults.

She felt greatly relieved when her father told her to prepare the
supper.

It may here be noted that Mr. Rougeant had now altogether dispensed
with his Breton servant. Now that Adele was growing up, a servant
was altogether superfluous, he said. The truth was that this enabled
him to save a few pounds every year.

When the table was laid, the three sat down to supper. It being
over, th