Ralph heaved a long sigh and put his hands in his pockets.

“Bless my soul!” he exclaimed, “this is very discouraging; if I do not marry Dora, who is there that I can marry?”

“You goose,” said his sister, “there is a girl here, under your very nose, ever so much nicer and more suitable for you than Dora.  If you marry anybody, marry Cicely Drane.  I have been thinking ever and ever so much about her and about you, and I made up my mind to speak to you of this as soon as I got home, so that you might have a chance to think about it before you should see Dora.  Don’t you remember what you used to tell me about the time when you were obliged to travel so much, and how, when you had a seat to yourself in a car, and a crowd of people were coming in, you used to make room for the first nice person you saw, because you knew you would have to have somebody sitting alongside of you, and you liked to choose for yourself?  Now that is the way I feel about your getting married; if you marry Cicely Drane, I shall feel safe for the rest of my life.”

“Miriam!” exclaimed Ralph, “you astonish me by the force of your statements.  Wait here one moment,” and he ran into the hall through which he had seen Cicely passing, and presently reappeared with her.

“Miss Drane,” said he, “do you know that my sister thinks that I ought to marry you?”

In an instant Miriam had slipped from the table to the floor.

“Good gracious, Ralph!” she cried.  “What do you mean?”

“I am merely stating your advice,” he answered; “and now, Miss Drane, how does it strike you?”

“Well,” said Cicely, demurely, “if your sister really thinks we should marry, I suppose—­I suppose we ought to do it.”

Miriam’s eyes flashed from one to the other, then there were two girlish cries and a manly laugh, and in a moment Miriam and Cicely were in each other’s arms, while Ralph’s arms were around them both.

“Now,” said Cicely, when this group had separated itself into its several parts, “I must run up and tell mother.”  And very soon Mrs. Drane understood why there had been sobriety at breakfast and hilarity at dinner.  She was surprised, but felt she ought not to be; she was a little depressed, but knew she would get over that.

La Fleur did not hear the news that night, but it was not necessary; she had seen Ralph and Cicely coming through the garden gate without a leaf of lettuce or a single sprig of parsley.

CHAPTER XL

ANGRY WAVES

The ocean rolled angrily on the beach, and Miss Panney walked angrily on the beach, a little higher up, however, than the line to which the ocean rolled.

The old lady was angrier than the ocean, and it was much more than mere wind that made her storm waves roll.  Her indignation was directed first against Mrs. Bannister, that silly woman, who, by cutting short her stay at the seashore, had ruined Miss Panney’s plans, and also against Ralph, who had not come to Barport as soon as he had received the telegram.  If he had arrived, the party might have stayed a little longer for his sake.  Why he had not come she knew no more than she knew what she was going to say to him in explanation of her message, and she cared as little for the one as for the other.