"I am proud of it, so you have your wish."
"Yes, but I should like you to have cause, and also, Daisy, I should like to do something to please you. I wish I could."
"And so do I," 1 answered, laughing, "for you would bring him back at once."
"Indeed I would: in the first place, because your heart is set upon it; in the second, because I very much wish to know Mr. O'Reilly. I like him for your sake, and all he has done for you; and then, from what you tell me, I am sure he is a thoroughly good man."
I could not help laying my hand on the arm of William, and replying earnestly—
"Indeed, William, he is a good man, and when you see and know him, you will find that you were not mistaken, though good is not, I dare say, the word most people would apply to Cornelius O'Reilly."
William took this as a compliment to his penetration, and was rather gratified. The sun had set, grey evening was closing in; we rose, and walking together along the silent beach, we talked of Cornelius, and laid down plans of pleasant excursions up the coast, and far down the inland valleys, to be undertaken after his return. But, to our mutual mortification, William's leave of absence expired, nay the Academy opened, and Cornelius came not back to take us and the public by surprise. In her indignation, Miss O'Reilly declared that there could be but one interpretation given to such extraordinary conduct—"Cornelius has got entangled."
"How so, Kate?" I asked.
"Why, he is either married or going to be married to some Italian lady; that is it."
"Do you think so?" I asked quietly.