But I shall say a great deal to both," exclaimed the Captain,
desperately angry. "I am indignant. I am outraged by her conduct. What
in Heaven's name does this wilful girl want in a husband? You have
youth, good looks, good temper, talent, tastes that harmonise with her
own. You can give her a finer position than she has any right to
expect. And she refuses you. She is a spoiled child, who doesn't know
her own mind or her own advantage. She has a diabolical temper, and is
as wild as a hawk. Egad, I congratulate you on your escape, Mallow. She
was not born to make any man happy."

"Small thanks for your congratulations," retorted the Irishman. "She
might have made me happy if she had chosen. I would have forgiven her
tempers, and loved her for her wildness. She is the sweetest woman I
ever knew; as fresh and fair as your furzy hill-tops. But she is not
for me. Fate never meant me to be so blessed."

"She will change her mind before she is many months older," said
Captain Winstanley. "Her father and mother have spoilt her. She is a
creature of whims and fancies, and must be ridden on the curb."

"I would ride her with the lightest snaffle-bit that ever was made,"
protested Lord Mallow. "But there's no use in talking about it. You
won't think me discourteous or ungrateful if I clear out of this
to-morrow morning, will you, Winstanley?"

"Certainly not," answered his host; "but I shall think you a confounded
ass. Why not wait and try your luck again?"

"Simply because I know it would be useless. Truth and candour shine in
that girl's eyes. She has a soul above the petty trickeries of her sex.
No from her lips means No, between this and eternity. Oh, thrice
blessed will that man be to whom she answers Yes; for she will give him
the tenderest, truest, most generous heart in creation."

"You answer boldly for her on so short an acquaintance."

"I answer as a man who loves her, and who has looked into her soul,"
replied Lord Mallow. "You and she don't hit it over well, I fancy."

"No. We began by disliking each other, and we have been wonderfully
constant to our first opinions."

"I can't understand----"

"Can't you? You will, perhaps, some day: if you ever have a handsome
stepdaughter who sets up her back against you from the beginning of
things. Have you ever seen a sleek handsome tabby put herself on the
defensive at the approach of a terrier, her back arched, her eyes
flashing green lightnings, her tail lashing i