"A good place for her," replied the old lady; "let her stay there. I will see Mr. Haverley, and I will see him out here. Go and find him and tell him I am sitting under that tree."
Ralph arrived, bright-eyed.
"Well, sir," cried the old lady, "and so you have decided to take a wife to yourself, eh?"
"Indeed I have," said he, with the air of one who had conquered a continent, and giving Miss Panney's outstretched hand a hearty shake.
"Sit down here," said she, "and tell me all about it. I suppose your soul is hungering for congratulations."
"Oh yes," he said, laughing; "they are the collateral delights which are next best to the main happiness."
"Now," said Miss Panney, "I suppose you feel quite certain that Miss Drane is a young woman who will suit your temperament and your general intellectual needs?"
"Indeed I do," cried Ralph. "She suits me in every possible way."
"And you have thoroughly investigated her character, and know that she has the well-balanced mind which will be very much wanted here, and that she has cut off and swept away all remnants of former attachments to other young men?"
Ralph twisted himself around impatiently.