"Yes, Barney," said Philippa sadly. "It is the hardest thing you could ask me, but if it is for your good I must not think of myself. You shall go, dear, as soon as an opening is found; and we will give you as complete an outfit as can be bought, but after that we can do no more.

You will have to stand by yourself and fight your own battles. There will be no home open if you run away from your work, and no stupid old sister to spoil you and give you a fresh start."

The smile with which Barney regarded her was at once charming and pathetic--so full of warm-hearted affection, so radiantly complacent and a.s.sured.

"Canada is not far off; it would be as good as being in England, for it is under the old flag, and the people are so jolly loyal and brave. I could come back every two or three years, and when I get a home of my own you will have to come out and visit me. Don't you worry, old girl; I'll get on like a house on fire, and I promise you to keep out of mischief. There will be no chance of getting into it, for one thing, away out in the wilds."

"Oh Barney, Barney, don't be so sure! There will be difficulties and temptations wherever you go, and you must be prepared to meet them.

Don't be content to promise _me_, dear. Promise yourself--the strong, good man you were meant to be. Promise G.o.d, Barney, and ask Him to help you to stand fast."

It was not Philippa's habit to preach, and the fact gave additional weight to her solemn words. Barney looked awed and impressed, and thoroughly uncomfortable into the bargain. "All right, Phil, I'll remember," he said softly; but the next moment he discovered that she looked tired, and hurried away. Philippa heard him go into his own room, and presently the sound of his voice reached her ears, raised in happy strains:

"Jack's the boy, when girls are sad, To kiss their tears away."

He had been serious for five minutes on end, and the strain was evidently too much for his const.i.tution; but Philippa lay awake far into the night, talking to G.o.d about her boy, asking His help where she had failed. It was the truest of all comforts to feel that the far-off country was still near to Him.

Fortunately for all concerned, the letter from the Hermit's brother proved in every respect satisfactory, for the Loftus family washed their hands of Barney, going out of their way to refuse help before it was asked. The 'mannikin' would, no doubt, have acted differently had he been permitted, but his wife told him sternly that he could not allow _all_ his friends to be victimised by that dreadful boy, when he said, "Yes, my dear--yes! No, my dear--no!" and collapsed, as his custom was.

The Charringtons were hardly disappointed, for they had learned long ago that--except where Hope was concerned--it was useless to expect sympathy from Aunt Loftus. Avice's affection for Hope made her a welcome guest, and she was frequently asked to fill a vacant place at a dinner-table, or presented with a ticket for an afternoon concert which she would not otherwise have been able to afford. It was at such a concert that Hope's next meeting with Ralph Merrilies took place, and through all her embarra.s.sment she noticed the glance exchanged between him and Avice as he seated himself in the vacant stall by her side.

There was no surprise in her cousin's languid eyes, but something very, very like triumph at the completion of a well-laid scheme. Could it be possible that the seat had been designedly reserved?

As we all know, well-bred people never dream of whispering or talking at cla.s.sical concerts, and Hope's devotion to her programme was so continual and absorbing that her next-door neighbour could study her profile at his ease, and wonder if there was another girl in the world who had such long eyelashes and such a sweet, winsome mouth. The interval seemed a long time in coming, but it came at last, and then Avice gave Ralph another eloquent glance and carried off her mother to speak to some friends at the other side of the hall. The occupants of stalls to right and left were also moving about and chattering together, and to the two who were left seated there was a sense of solitude in the midst of a crowd.

"Wasn't it beautiful?" asked Hope, still studying her programme.

"Very!" replied Ralph; but they were not referring to the same subject.

He rested his arm on the back of the seat and said softly:

"Never mind that programme just now. Talk to me. I haven't seen you for months. Mrs Loftus told me that you refused her invitation to The Shanty. I had been hoping to meet you there."

"And I was sorry not to go, but we were in trouble at the time, and I felt I ought to stay at home. Did you have a good time?"

"Fairly so. It suffered from contrast. It was amusing to meet Miss Bennett in her new role."

"I met her a few weeks ago at the Carlton."

"So she told me." There was a meaning expression in his voice which made the blood rush into Hope's face. He bent nearer to her, his eyes fixed earnestly on hers. "What made you think that? What made you imagine for a moment that she could be engaged to met."

"I can't tell you," replied Hope, truthfully enough. She stared down at the programme, and became intently occupied in plaiting its cover between her fingers. "I knew it was some one whom I had met at The Shanty, and I took for granted that it was you."

"You can't truthfully tell me that you thought I was in love with her last year?"

"N-no."

"Did it ever strike you that I was in love with some one else?" The elbow moved its position and encroached on the corner of her own chair.

"Hope, I want you to answer a question. Did you refuse to let me call upon you in town because you knew I loved you, and thought it was impossible to care for me in return?"

The grey eyes were lifted at that with an air of startled disclaimer.

"Oh no, no! Quite the contrary!" cried Hope eagerly.

The next moment confusion seized her as she recognised the inference, but the words were spoken beyond recall, and Ralph's glowing face showed that he was not likely to forget them.

"You darling! Hope, do you mean it? Have we been misunderstanding each other all this time?" He stretched his hand towards hen, then hurriedly drew it back as an old lady put up her _pince-nez_ to regard him from afar. "Hang these people! What a nuisance they are! I'll tell you a secret, Hope. I fell in love with you that very first evening while you were singing your little song, and I've been uncommonly miserable ever since. Well?"

"Well--what?"

"One expects some response to a statement like that!"

Hope gave a soft, contented laugh.

"I--liked you too, and I have been _wretched_! What made you come here to-day?"

"Truda told me about your interview, and volunteered the intelligence that you seemed relieved to discover that I was not the happy man. She spoke to Avice too, I imagine, for I was asked to join you this afternoon in a very marked manner."

So Truda had repented her jealous exactions, and had tried to undo the mischief which they had wrought. That was generous of her, but Hope blushed with a discomfited air as she said:

"I thought I pretended so beautifully! I thought no one could guess.

There is something else I want to explain. That evening last winter when you wanted to see me home--it was not my fault that I disappeared before you came back. Mrs Welsby asked me to take charge of a little girl, and sent me off in a cab."

"Humph!" exclaimed Mrs Welsby's brother dryly. "What a comfort it would be if people attended to their own business in this world! And were you sorry, Hope? Were you disappointed?"

"I cried," said Hope simply; and once again Ralph Merrilies looked round at the other occupants of the stalls and breathed a wish that they were at any other part of the world than just that inhabited by Hope and himself.

At the conclusion of the interval Avice came back to her seat, and looking shyly around, found the answer to her question in two flushed, radiant faces.

"I'm so glad, Hope!" she whispered, pressing her cousin's hand beneath the shelter of that useful programme. "It is just what I wanted. I helped you a little, didn't I? I asked him on purpose."

"I shall love you for it all my life," said Hope shyly.

"So shall I," said Ralph; "but--why didn't you do it sooner?"

Two hours later Hope ascended the stairs leading to the little flat, having dismissed an unwilling lover who had been anxious to introduce himself to his future sisters-in-law and fix the date of his wedding without a moment's delay. She tried hard to control her features as she entered the dining-room, and to look less ridiculously happy, but it was of no avail. The girls gaped at her in astonishment as she stood blushing and smiling before them, and Madge cried severely:

"What is the matter! You look mightily pleased with yourself, my dear.

What mischief have _you_ been up to this afternoon?"

"Please," said Hope humbly, "I've been getting engaged!" and the scene which followed approached delirium in its excitement.

"And to think that I did not even know his name!" Philippa exclaimed when a hundred questions had been asked and answered, and Hope had been kissed and hugged to her heart's content. "You _were_ quiet about it!

How did you manage to get along without some one to comfort you all these long months?"

"Theo knew," said Hope; and at that a little frown showed itself on Philippa's forehead. It was a blow to her vanity to find that another had been chosen before herself, and though she made no comment, she was filled with a yearning for a closer sympathy and appreciation than she received in the home circle.

"Sometimes I feel as if I had come to the end of my work," she said wistfully to the Hermit when he came upstairs during the evening to congratulate the bride-elect. "When Barney goes abroad and Hope marries we shall be a very small family, and Theo is growing so clever at housekeeping. When I was ill they got on quite well without me. It seems as if the time had come when I was no longer needed. It makes me feel quite sad!"

"You must not feel that. Er--er--_fresh_ duties may arise," stammered the Hermit in consolation.

Madge looked at them across the room, and dropped her sagacious chin.