ed them to be engaged?"

"It's only what I had fancied, my dear--"

"But I shouldn't wonder if you were right! Indeed, I shouldn't! Now
that you put it in that way--. I remember that my aunt didn't care for
me to see much of Mr. Lashmar. It amused me, because, to tell you the
truth, Mrs. Toplady, I should never have thought of Mr. Lashmar as
anything but a friend. I feel quite sure I shouldn't."

"I quite understand _that_," replied the listener, the corners of her
lips very eloquent.

"Such a thing had never entered my mind," pursued May, volubly and with
emphasis. "Never!"

"It may have entered someone else's mind, though," interposed Mrs.
Toplady, again maturely arch.

"Oh, do you think so!" exclaimed the girl, with manifest pleasure. "I'm
sure I hope not. But, Mrs. Toplady, how could my aunt oblige such a man
as Mr. Lashmar to engage himself against his will?"

"You must remember, May, that, for the moment at all events, Mr.
Lashmar's prospects seem to depend a good deal on Lady Ogram's good
will. She has a great deal of local influence. And then--by the bye, is
Mr. Lashmar quite easy in his circumstances?"

"I really don't know," May answered, with an anxious fold in her
forehead "Surely he, too, isn't quite poor?"

"I hardly think he is wealthy. Isn't it just possible that something
may depend upon the marriage--?"

Mrs. Toplady's voice died away in a considerate vagueness. But May was
not at all disposed to leave the matter nebulous.

"If he is really poor," she said, in a clear-cut tone, "it's quite
natural that he should want to marry someone who can help him. But why
didn't he choose someone really suitable?"

"Poor Mr. Lashmar!" sighed the other, humorously. "If he had no
encouragement, my dear May!"

"But he didn't wait to see whether he had any or not!"

"What if he had very good reason for knowing that lady Ogram would
never, never, never consent to--something we needn't specify?"

"But," May ejaculated, "surely he needn't take it for granted that my
aunt would never change her mind. If it's as you say, how foolishly he
must have behaved! It doesn't concern me in the least. You see I can
speak quite calmly about it. I'm only sorry and astonished that he
should be going to marry--well, after all, we must agree that Miss
Bride isn't quite an ideal for him, however one looks at it. Of course
it's nothing to me. If it _had_ been, I think I should feel more
offended than sorry."

"Offended?