“My dear, we have no claim on him.”
“He thinks we have the strongest possible claim: does he not, Nan? You should have heard him talk this afternoon! According to him, we were never to sew gowns again; Nan and Dick were to be immediately united; the Friary was to be pulled down, and a glorified Glen Cottage to be erected in its stead. But mother,”—here Phillis’s lip grew plaintive,—“you won’t desert your own girls, and be talked over even by an Alcides? We do not mean to have our little deeds all put on the shelf in that off-hand fashion. I shall sew gowns as long as I like, in spite of a hundred Sir Harrys.”
And then they perceived that under Phillis’s fun there was a vein of serious humor, and that, in spite of her admiration of her hero, she was a little afraid that her notions of independence would be wounded.
They became divided on the question. Mrs. Challoner, who had never had a son of her own, and did not much like the idea of a son-in-law, was disposed to regard her nephew warmly, and to accord to him at once his privilege of being head of the family.
“In this case, a cousin is as good as a brother,” she averred; and Nan rather leaned to her opinion.
“You see,” she said, in her practical way, addressing no one in particular, but looking at Phillis, “it has been terribly against us, having no one belonging to us of the same name; and it will really give us a standing with some sort of people.”
“Fie, Nan! what a worldly speech! You are thinking of that tiresome Mayne pere again.”
“I have to think of him,” returned Nan, not at all put out by this. “Dick’s father must be a person of great importance to me. He has often hinted in my hearing that we have no relations, and that the Challoner name will die out. I expect he will be rather taken aback at Harry’s appearance.”
“Yes; and Dick will be jealous: he always is of other fellows, as he calls them. You must score that up against Dick, please. Well, I won’t deny that Harry may make himself useful there: all I protest against is the idea that he will bundle us out of this dear old Friary, and make us grand, in spite of ourselves.”
“Dear old Friary!—Oh, oh!” gasped Dulce; and even Nan looked mildly surprised.