"How about Dr. Clendenin?" queried Mrs. Nash with a roguish smile.
The girl's face flushed, then paled.
"He is seldom here and will not miss me," she said in a quiet tone as she left the room to make the necessary preparations for the trip.
"Your English friend will be sure to follow you," said Clare as they bade good-bye.
"He would not dare!" cried Nell. "But don't you let him know where I am, for there is no saying how far his audacity may carry him."
"Quite as far as you travel to-day, I've no doubt," laughed Clare.
"Nell," said Mrs. Nash, as they glided swiftly over the snow, leaving the town behind. "I hear that Englishman is very attentive to you; but I can tell you Dr. Clendenin is worth a dozen of him."
"What has that to do with it?" asked Nell dryly, screening her face from view in the folds of a thick veil. "They are not rivals."
"I don't know what you mean, my dear child. I do know that Dr. Clendenin loves you."
"He has made you his confidante?"