"He met her here a fortnight ago."
"Did Mary know why he came here?"
"I don't know. I never told her."
"I am very glad on the whole you have said No to him. Mind you, he's a good fellow, and, as things go, an excellent catch. And yet, if I had to make choice for you, it would not be Sam Tremail. At least I would not place him first."
"And who would you place first?" she questioned, raising her eyes timidly to his.
"Ah, well, that is a secret. No, I am not going to tell you; for women, you know, always go by the rule of contrary."
"If you had gone abroad," Ruth said, after a long pause, "and I had been left alone, I might have given Mr. Tremail a different answer. I don't know. When a good home is offered to a lonely woman the temptation is great. But when I knew that you were going to stay at home, and that Hillside was to be ours once more, I could think of nothing else. Do you think I would leave Hillside for Pentudy?"
"But Hillside is not ours altogether, Ruth."
"It is as good as ours," she answered, with a smile. "William Menire does not want it; he told me so. He said nothing would make him happier than to see me living there again."
"Did he tell you that?"