Yielding to her evident alarm, he awkwardly scrambled to his feet, and threw himself down in in his chair once more, with a force that pushed it back against the opposite wall.
"Truly, I never thought of such a thing," Louise said penitently. "I always supposed that you came to see Cousin Euphemia, not me; or I might have prevented this."
"Why should you, Louisa?" returned the Reverend Gabriel, with a cheerful assurance that grated upon her ears. "I am willing to wait and hope; my heart is eternally yours."
"Oh, I hope not!" she answered quickly. "Really, Dr. Hornblower, it never can be, never could have been; I never even thought of such an idea. You have always been very kind to me, I know," she went on hesitatingly, trying to soften her words a little; "but I thought it was only because you felt a fatherly interest in me."
"I'm not so old as you seem to think," began Dr. Hornblower testily; then, bethinking himself that this was not according to his models, he made a dramatic pause, before he asked his final question, "Is there, then, Another?"
Louise hung her head and blushed.
"I'm afraid there is," she faltered.
"And his name?"
The girl looked at him haughtily; then her face softened, as she thought of the mortification that she was inflicting upon the old man before her, and she answered gently,—
"It is Dr. Brownlee."