PART II.
June 8. Late this afternoon—about an hour before dinner—Mr. Frank arrived with what Mrs. Ermine calls his equipage, and asked her to take a short drive with him. At first she declined—said it was too hot, too late, she was too tired; but he seemed very much in earnest, and begged her to think better of it. She consented at last, and when she had left the room to arrange herself, he turned to me with a little grin of elation. I saw he was going to say something about his prospects, and I determined, this time, to give him a chance. Besides, I was curious to know how he believed himself to be getting on. To my surprise, he disappointed my curiosity; he only said, with his timid brightness, "I am always so glad when I carry my point."
"Your point? Oh, yes. I think I know what you mean."
"It's what I told you that day." He seemed slightly surprised that I should be in doubt as to whether he had really presented himself as a lover.
"Do you mean to ask her to marry you?"
He stared a little, looking graver. "Do you mean to-day?"
