These meetings, utterly accidental as they always were on our side, were a source of some perplexity to me.  I was not quite certain whether I was right in sanctioning so close an acquaintance between Emily Darrell and the master of Cumber Priory.  I knew that her father thought badly of him.  Yet, what could I do?  I was not old enough to pretend to any authority over my darling, nor had her father invested me with any; and I knew that her noble nature was worthy of all confidence.  Beyond this, I liked Angus Egerton, and was inclined to trust him.  So the time slipped away very pleasantly for all of us, and the friendship among us all three became closer day by day.

We met Mr. Egerton very often at the Rectory, and sometimes at other houses where we visited.  He was much liked by the Thornleigh people, who had, most of them, known him in his boyhood; and it was considered by his old friends, that, whatever his career abroad might have been, he had begun, and was steadily pursuing, a reformed course of life.  His means did not enable him to do much, but he was doing a little towards the improvement of Cumber Priory; and his existence there was as simple as that of the Master of Ravenswood.

I had noticed that Mrs. Collingwood did all in her power to encourage the friendship between Milly and Mr. Egerton, and one day in the spring, after they had met a great many times at her house, she spoke to me of her hopes quite openly.

It was a bright afternoon, and we were all strolling in the garden, after a game of croquet—­the Rector’s wife and I side by side, Milly and Angus a little way in front of us.

‘I think she likes him,’ Mrs. Collingwood said thoughtfully.

‘Everybody seems to like Mr. Egerton,’ I answered.

’O yes, I know that; but I mean something more than the ordinary liking.  I am so anxious that he should marry—­and marry wisely.  I think I am almost as fond of him as if he were my son; and I should be so pleased if I could be the means of bringing about a match between them.  Milly is just the girl to make a man happy, and her fortune would restore Cumber Priory to all its old glory.’

Her fortune!  The word jarred upon me.  Was it her money, after all, that Angus Egerton was thinking of when he took such pains to pursue my darling?

’I should be sorry for her to marry any one who cared for her money,’ I said.

’Of course, my dear Miss Crofton; and so should I be sorry to see her throw herself away upon any one with whom her money was a paramount consideration.  But one cannot put these things quite out of the question.  I know that Angus admired her very much the first day he saw her, and I fancy his admiration has grown into a warmer feeling since then.  He has said nothing to me upon the subject, nor I to him; for you know how silent he always is about himself.  But I cannot help wishing that such a thing might come to pass.  He has one of the best names in the North Riding, and a first-rate position as the owner of Cumber Priory.  He only wants money.’