must think of my daughter's
welfare, before regarding the foolish wishes of a comparative stranger!"

Throughout the interview, she invariably alluded to Min as "her
daughter," never mentioning her name.

It seemed as if she wished to avoid even the idea of our intimacy, and
to make me understand how great a gulf lay between us.

"But I love her so, Mrs Clyde!" I pleaded again, in one last effort.
"I love her dearly, and she loves me, I know. Do not, oh! do not part
us so cruelly!"

"This is very foolish, Mr Lorton,"--she replied, coldly;--"and there is
not much use, I think, in our prolonging the conversation; for, none of
your arguments would convince me to give my consent to any such hair-
brained scheme. Even if your offer had otherwise my approval, which it
has not, I could not bear the idea of a long engagement for my daughter.
You yourself ought to be more generous than to wish to tie a girl down
to an arrangement which would waste her best years, blight her life;
and, probably, end in her being a sour, disappointed woman--as I have
known hundreds of such cases to end!"

"I do not wish to bind her," I said. "I only want your provisional
consent, Mrs Clyde. I will diligently try to deserve it; and you will
never regret it, you may be assured."

"I cannot give it, Mr Lorton,"--she replied in a decisive way.--"And if
you meet my daughter again, you must promise me that it shall be only as
a friend."

"And, what if I refuse to do so?"--I said defiantly.

"I should leave the neighbourhood," she said promptly.--"And, if you
were so very ungentlemanlike, as still to persecute her with your
attentions, I should soon take measures to put a stop to them."

What could I say or do? She was armed at all points, and I was
powerless!

"Will you let me see your daughter; and, learn from her own lips if she
be of the same opinion as yourself?" I asked.

I was longing to see Min. I wanted to know whether she had been
convinced by her mother's worldly policy, or no.

"It is impossible for me to grant your request," said Mrs Clyde. "My
daughter is not at home. She went down to the country this morning on a
visit to her aunt; and the date of her return depends mainly on your
decision now."

This was the finishing blow.

I succumbed completely before this master-stroke of policy, which my
wary antagonist had not disclosed until the last.

"Oh! Mrs Clyde," I said; "how very hard you are to me!"

"Pardon