high character and seem to deserve you.' He was looking into
Marie's face as he spoke, and saw that she was soft and thoughtful
in her mood, not proud and scornful as she had been on the preceding
evening. 'You have grown up here with us, Marie, till it has almost
come upon us with surprise that you are a beautiful young woman,
instead of a great straggling girl.'

'I wish I was a great straggling girl still.'

'Do not say that, my darling. We must all take the world as it is,
you know. But here you are, and of course it is my duty and your
aunt's duty--' it was always a sign of high good humour on the part
of Michel Voss, when he spoke of his wife as being anybody in the
household--'my duty and your aunt's duty to see and do the best for
you.'

'You have always done the best for me in letting me be here.'

'Well, my dear, I hope so. You had to be here, and you fell into
this way of life naturally. But sometimes, when I have seen you
waiting on the people about the house, I've thought it wasn't quite
right.'

'I think it was quite right. Peter couldn't do it all, and he'd be
sure to make a mess of it.'

'We must have two Peters; that's all. But as I was saying, that
kind of thing was natural enough before you were grown up, and had
become--what shall I say?--such a handsome young woman.' Marie
laughed, and turned up her nose and shook her head; but it may be