"Oh, I am by no means his advocate! All I meant was that, as these modern Romans go, he was not among the worst. Of course I should have expressed myself very differently if you had said you were to marry him."
"Yes; you would then have honored me with your finest compliments."
He did not deny this.
"Shall you continue to live in Rome?" he asked.
"Certainly. I shall have more pupils and patronage now than I know what to do with; the whole family connection is deeply obliged to me."
They talked awhile longer.
"We have always been unusually frank with each other, Miss Macks," he said, towards the end of his visit. "We have never stopped at conventionalities. I wonder if you will tell me why you refused him?"
"You are too curious. As to frankness, I have been frank with you; not you with me. And there was no conventionality, simply because I did not know what it was."
"I believe you are in love with some one in America," he said, laughing.
"Perhaps I am," answered Miss Macks. She had certainly gained greatly in self-possession during the past year.