came together in twos, so that when Beth sat
at the end of theirs, as she always did, the person in the next pew
sat beside her with only the wooden partition between. One Sunday,
when she was on her knees, drowsing through the Litany with her cheek
on her prayer-book, she became aware of a boy in the next pew with his
face turned to her in exactly the same attitude. He had bright fair
hair curling crisply, a ruddy fair fat face, and round blue eyes,
clear as glass marbles. Beth was pleased with him, and smiled
involuntarily. He instantly responded to the smile; and then they both
got very red; and, in their delicious shyness, they turned their heads
on their prayer-books, and looked in opposite directions. This did not
last long, however. The desire for another look seized them
simultaneously, and they turned their faces to each other, and smiled
again the moment their eyes met. All through the service they kept
looking at each other, and looking away again; and Beth felt a strange
glad glow begin in her chest and spread gradually all over her. It
continued with her the whole day; she was conscious of it throughout
the night; and directly she awoke next morning there it was again; and
she could think of nothing but the apple-cheeked boy, with bright blue
eyes and curly fair hair; and as she dwelt upon his image she smiled
to herself, and kept on smiling. There came upon her also a great
desire to please, with sudden energy which made all effort easy to
her, so that, instead of being tiresome at her lessons, she did them
in a way that astonished her mother--such a wonderful incentive is a
little joy in life. She would not go out when lessons were over,
however, but stood in the drawing-room window watching the people
pass. Harriet came and worried her to help with the dusting.

"Go away, you chattering idiot," said Beth. She had found Harriet out
in many meannesses by this time, and had lost all respect for her.
"Don't you see I'm thinking? If you don't bother me now I'll help you
by-and-by, perhaps."

On the other side of the road, in the same row as the Benyon
dower-house, but well within sight of the window, was the
Mansion-House Collegiate Day and Boarding School for the Sons of
Gentlemen. Beth kept looking in that direction, and presently the boys
came pouring out in their mortar-boards, and, among them, she soon
discovered the one she was thinking of. She discovered him less by
sight than by a strange sensation