“But you can let her make love to you:  is that an effort you feel equal to? and I must do the rest.  Oh, we have a nice undertaking before us.  But, if boys will cry for fruit that is out of their reach, and their silly sisters will indulge them—­don’t slobber me."

“You are such a dear girl to fight for me so a little against your judgment.”

“A little, eh?  Dead against it, you mean.  Don’t look so blank, David; you are all right as far as me.  When my heart is on your side you can snap your fingers at my judgment.”

David was cheered by this gracious revelation.

Eve was a tormenting little imp.  She could not help reminding him every now and then that all her maneuvers and all his love were to end in disappointment.  These discouraging comments had dashed poor David’s spirits more than once; but he was beginning to discover that they were invariably accompanied or followed by an access of cheerful zeal in the desperate cause—­a pleasing phenomenon, though somewhat unintelligible to this honest fellow, who had never microscoped the enigmatical sex.

Mrs. Bazalgette reproached Lucy:  “You never told me how handsome Mr. Dodd was.”

“Didn’t I?

“No.  He is the handsomest man I ever saw.”

“I have not observed that, but I think he is one of the worthiest.”

“I should not wonder,” said the other lady, carelessly.  “It is clear you don’t appreciate him here.  You half apologized to me for inviting him.”

“That was because you are such a fashionable lady, and the Dodds have no such pretensions.”

“All the better; my taste is not for sophisticated people.  I only put up with them because I am obliged.  Why, Lucy, you ought to know how my heart yearns for nature and truth; I am sure I have told you so often enough.  An hour spent with a simple, natural creature like Captain Dodd refreshes me as a cooling breeze after the heat and odors of a crowded room.”

“Miss Dodd is very natural too—­is she not?”

“Very.  Pertness and vulgarity are natural enough—­to some people.”

“My uncle likes her the best of the two.”

“Then your uncle is mad.  But the fact is, men are no judges in such cases; they are always unjust to their own sex, and as blind to the faults of ours as beetles.”

“But surely, aunt, she is very arch and lively.”

“Pert and fussy, you mean.”

“Pretty, at all events?  Rather?”

“What, with that snub nose!!?”

Lucy offered to invite other neighbors; Mrs. Bazalgette replied she didn’t want to be bothered with rurality.  “You can ask Captain Dodd, if you like; there is no need to invite the sister.”

“Oh yes, I must; my uncle likes her the best.”

“But I don’t; and I am only here for a day or two.”

“Miss Dodd would be hurt.  It would be unkind—­discourteous.”

“No, no.  She watches him all the time like a little dragon.”