"Certainly I will, Frank, if you think she would like to have me."
"I know she would. You see, Ben, though Mr. Craven and my mother get along well enough, I am sure she doesn't love him. He may be a fair sort of man, and I am bound to say that I have no fault to find with him, but I don't think she finds a great deal of pleasure in his society. Of course, Ben, you won't repeat this?"
"Certainly not."
"And you will call often?"
"Yes, Frank."
"I will tell mother so. Then I shall leave home with a light heart. Just think of it, Ben—it's now the sixth of the month, and on the nineteenth I sail. I wish it were to-morrow."
"It will soon be here, Frank."
"Yes, I know it. I am afraid I can't fix my mind on my studies much for the next week or so. I shall be thinking of Europe all the time."
Meanwhile, Mr. Craven and Colonel Sharpley, in the office of the former, were discussing the same subject.