"No—of course not. Why do you ask so strange a question? He does not visit me."
"Don't he? Well, I have seen him."
"Have you? Then I hope you were very much delighted with his company, for he seems to be a favourite of yours."
"He certainly is a favourite of mine, Mary. I have known him for a good many years, and have always esteemed him highly. There are few young men who can claim to be his equal."
"I doubt not but there are hundreds to be met with every day as good as he."
"Perhaps so, Mary. I have not, however, been so fortunate as to come across them."
"No doubt he is a paragon!"
"Whether he be one or not, he at least thinks there is no one like you."
"Like me!" ejaculated Mary, taken thus suddenly by surprise, while the colour mounted to her face, and deepened about her eyes and forehead.
"Yes, like you. The fact is, Mary, he thinks and speaks of you in the kindest terms. You have evidently interested him very much."