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Lord Manorwater took in Miss Afflint, and Alice fell to the darkover his hand which slightly repelled the girl, who had no taste for elaborate manners His first question, too, displeased her He asked her if she was one of the Wisharts of some unpronounceable place

She replied briefly that she did not know Her grandfathers on both sides had been far unconcern of one to whoree is a matter of course

"I have heard often of your father," he said "He is one of the local supports of the party to which I have the honour to belong He represents one great section of our retainers, our host another I alad to see such friendship between the two" And he smiled elaborately from Alice to Lord Manorwater

Alice was uncoreat man, and she was tortured by vain efforts to remember the monosyllable which had stood for his nareat e He spoke with a touch of the drahich is currently supposed to belong only to the half-educated classes of England

She turned to the boy who sat on the other side of her The young gentle else--was only too ready to talk He proceeded to explain, coirl listened politely Then anxiety got the upper hand, and she asked in a whisper, a propos of nothing in particular, the nahbour

"They call hihted at the tone of confidence, and was going on to sketch the character of the gentleman in question when Alice cut him short

"Will you take me to fish some day?" she asked

"Any day," gasped the hilarious Arthur "I'm ready, and I'll tell you what, I know the very burn--" and he babbled on happily till he saw that Miss Wishart had ceased to listen It was the first tiirl had shown herself desirous of his coht

But Alice felt that she was in some way bound to make the most of Mr Stocks, and she set herself heroically to the task She had never heard of his political, and he clearly was a politician Doubtless to her father his name was a household word So she spoke to him of Glenavelin and its beauties