ng. "Shall I send you a piano?"

"A piano! Is music intended to be in the programme? What should I do
with a piano?"

"That you would find out. But you are so fond of music--it would be a
comfort, and I have no doubt it would be a help."

Mrs. Barclay looked at him with a steady gravity, under which lurked a
little sparkle of amusement.

"Do you mean that I am to teach your Dulcinea to play? Or to sing?"

"The use of the possessive pronoun is entirely inappropriate."

"Which _is_ she, by the way? There are three, are there not? How am I
to know the person in whom I am to be interested?"

"By the interest."

"That will do!" said Mrs. Barclay, laughing. "But it is a very mad
scheme, Philip--a very mad scheme! Here you have got me--who ought to
be wiser--into a plan for making, not history, but romance. I do not
approve of romance, and not at all of making it."

"Thank you!" said he, as he rose in obedience to the warning stroke of
the bell. "Do not be romantic, but as practical as possible. I am.
Good-bye! Write me, won't you?"

The train moved out of the station, and Mrs. Barclay fell to
meditating. The prospect before her, she thought, was extremely misty
and doubtful. She liked neither the object of Mr. Dillwyn's plan, nor
the means he had chosen to attain it; and yet, here she was, going to
be his active agent, obedient to his will in the matter. Partly because
she liked Philip, who had been a dear and faithful friend of her
husband; partly because, as she said, the scheme offered such tempting
advantage to herself; but more than either, because she knew that if
Philip could not get her help he was more than likely to find some
other which would not serve him so well. If Mrs. Barclay had thought
that her refusal to help him would have put an end to the thing, she
would undoubtedly have refused. Now she pondered what she had
undertaken to do, and wondered what the end would be. Mr. DilIwyn had
been taken by a pretty face; that was the old story; he retained wit
enough to feel that something more than a pretty face was necessary,
therefore he had applied to her; but suppose her mission failed? Brains
cannot be bought. Or suppose even the brains were there, and her
mission succeeded? What then? How was the wooing to be done? However,
one thing was certain--Mr. Dillwyn must wait. Education is a thing that
demands time. While he was waiting, he might wear out his fancy, or get
up a fancy for some one else. Time