'And you have remained up that we may talk about it. Is that it, dearest?'
'I did not quite mean that, but perhaps it will be best. I can't be doing wrong, mamma, in telling you.'
'Well; you shall judge of that yourself;' and Lady Staveley sat down on the sofa so that she was close to the chair which Madeline still occupied. 'As a general rule I suppose you could not be doing wrong; but you must decide. If you have any doubt, wait till tomorrow.'
'No, mamma; I will tell you now. Mr. Orme—'
'Well, dearest. Did Mr. Orme say anything specially to you before he went away?'
'He—he—'
'Come to me, Madeline, and sit here. We shall talk better then.' And the mother made room beside her on the sofa for her daughter, and Madeline, running over, leaned with her head upon her mother's shoulder. 'Well, darling; what did he say? Did he tell you that he loved you?'
'Yes, mamma.'
'And you answered him—'
'I could only tell him—'
'Yes, I know. Poor fellow! But, Madeline, is he not an excellent young man;—one, at any rate, that is lovable? Of course in such a matter the heart must answer for itself. But I, looking at the offer as a mother—I could have been well pleased—'
'But, mamma, I could not—'
'Well, love: there shall be an end of it; at least for the present. When I heard that he had gone suddenly away I thought that something had happened.'
'I am so sorry that he should be unhappy, for I know that he is good.'
'Yes, he is good; and your father likes him, and Augustus. In such a matter as this, Madeline, I would never say a word to persuade you. I should think it wrong to do so. But it may be, dearest, that he has flurried you by the suddenness of his offer; and that you have not yet thought much about it.'
'But, mamma, I know that I do not love him.'
'Of course. That is natural. It would have been a great misfortune if you had loved him before you had reason to know that he loved you;—a great misfortune. But now,—now that you cannot but think of him, now that you know what his wishes are, perhaps you may learn—'
'But I have refused him, and he has gone away.'
'Young gentlemen under such circumstances sometimes come back again.'
'He won't come back, mamma, because—because I told him
