“Appears to be,” said she, with much emphasis on the first word.  “Why, can’t you see that it would be impossible for me, as a young unmarried woman, to come to the house of a man, whose proprietor, as Aunt Keswick considers herself to be, has been trying to marry to me, even before I was grown up; for the letters that used to make my father most angry were about this.  I hate to talk of these family affairs, and I only do it so that you can be made understand things.”

“Mrs Null,” said Lawrence, “do not think I wish to blame you.  You have had a hard time of it, and I can see the peculiarities of your residence here.  Don’t be afraid of me; I will not betray your secret.  While I am here, I will address you, and will try to think of you as a very grave young matron.  But I wish very much that you were not quite so grave and severe when you address me.  When I was here last week your manner was very different.  We were quite friendly then.”

“I see no particular reason,” said Annie, “why we should be friendly.”

“Mrs Null,” said Lawrence, after a little pause, during which he looked at her attentively, “I don’t believe you approve of me.”

“No,” said she, “I don’t.”

He could not help smiling at the earnest directness of her answer, though he did not like it.  “I am sorry,” he said, “that you should have so poor an opinion of me.  And, now, let me tell you what I was going to say this morning, that my only object in finding your cousin was to know the man who had been engaged to Miss March.”

“So that you could find out what she probably objected to in him, and could then try and not let her see anything of that sort in you.”

“Mrs Null,” said Lawrence, “you are unjust.  There is no reason why you should speak to me in this way.”

“I would like to know,” she said, “what cause there could possibly be for your wanting to become acquainted with a man who had been engaged to the lady you wished to marry, if you didn’t intend to study him up, and try to do better yourself.”

“My motive in desiring to become acquainted with Mr Keswick,” said Lawrence, “is one you could scarcely understand, and all I can say about it is, that I believed that if I knew the gentleman who had formerly been the accepted lover of a lady, I should better know the lady.”

“You must be awfully suspicious,” said she.

“No, I am not,” he answered, “and I knew you would not understand me.  My only desire in speaking to you upon this subject is that you may not unreasonably judge me.”

“But I am not unreasonable,” said Annie.  “You are trying to get Miss March away from my cousin; and I don’t think it is fair, and I don’t want you to do it.  When you were here before, I thought you two were good friends, but now I don’t believe it.”