Page:Hilda Wade (1900).pdf/54

critical and kinsman-like deliberation. 'Pretty, if you will; and decidedly pleasing and attractive in manner.'

He looked me up and down, as if he found me a person singularly deficient in taste and appreciation. 'Ah, but then, you are her cousin,' he said at last, with a compassionate tone. 'That makes a difference.'

'I quite see all Daphne's strong points,' I answered, still smiling, for I could perceive he was very far gone. 'She is good-looking, and she is clever.'

'Clever!' he echoed. 'Profound! She has a most unusual intellect. She stands alone.'

'Like her mother's silk dresses,' I murmured, half under my breath.

He took no notice of my flippant remark, but went on with his rhapsody. 'Such depth; such penetration! And then, how sympathetic! Why, even to a mere casual acquaintance like myself, she is so kind, so discerning.'

'Are you such a casual acquaintance?' I inquired, with a smile. (It might have shocked Aunt Fanny to hear me: but that is the way we ask a young man his intentions nowadays.)

He stopped short and hesitated. 'Oh, quite casual,' he replied, almost stammering. 'Most casual, I assure you. . . . I have never ventured to do myself the honour of supposing that—that Miss Tepping could possibly care for me.'

'There is such a thing as being too modest and unassuming,' I answered. 'It sometimes leads to unintentional cruelty.'

'No, do you think so?' he cried, his face falling all at once. 'I should blame myself bitterly if that were so. Dr. Cumberledge, you are her cousin. Do you gather that I have acted in such a way as to—to lead Miss Tepping to suppose I felt any affection for her?'