reserve and discretion, she were something quite opposite, I should not
fear her."

"Yet she will be your mother-in-law?" The speaker gave an arch little
nod. Moore smiled.

"Louis and I are not of the order of men who fear their mothers-in-law,
Cary. Our foes never have been, nor will be, those of our own household.
I doubt not my mother-in-law will make much of me."

"That she will--in her quiet way, you know. She is not demonstrative;
and when you see her silent, or even cool, you must not fancy her
displeased; it is only a manner she has. Be sure to let me interpret for
her whenever she puzzles you; always believe my account of the matter,
Robert."

"Oh, implicitly! Jesting apart, I feel that she and I will suit--_on ne
peut mieux_. Hortense, you know, is exquisitely susceptible--in our
French sense of the word--and not, perhaps, always reasonable in her
requirements; yet, dear, honest girl, I never painfully wounded her
feelings or had a serious quarrel with her in my life."

"No; you are most generously considerate, indeed, most tenderly
indulgent to her; and you will be considerate with mamma. You are a
gentleman all through, Robert, to the bone, and nowhere so perfect a
gentleman as at your own fireside."

"A eulogium I like; it is very sweet. I am well pleased my Caroline
should view me in this light."

"Mamma just thinks of you as I do."

"Not quite, I hope?"

"She does not want to marry you--don't be vain; but she said to me the
other day, 'My dear, Mr. Moore has pleasing manners; he is one of the
few gentlemen I have seen who combine politeness with an air of
sincerity.'"

"'Mamma' is rather a misanthropist, is she not? Not the best opinion of
the sterner sex?"

"She forbears to judge them as a whole, but she has her exceptions whom
she admires--Louis and Mr. Hall, and, of late, yourself. She did not
like you once; I knew that, because she would never speak of you. But,
Robert----"

"Well, what now? What is the new thought?"

"You have not seen my uncle yet?"

"I have. 'Mamma' called him into the room. He consents conditionally. If
I prove that I can keep a wife, I may have her; and I _can_ keep her
better than he thinks--better than I choose to boast."

"If you get rich you will do good with your money, Robert?"

"I _will_ do good; you shall tell me how. Indeed, I have some schemes of
my own, which you and I will talk about on our own hearth one day. I
have seen the necessity of doing