"Oh, of course he proposed on the hill," replied Alicia, thoughtfully.
"And you say, Aunt Lucy, that _he_ guessed--and she knew nothing?
Yes!--I was certain he guessed."
"But she knows now," said Lady Lucy; "and, of course, we must all be
very sorry for her."
"Oh, of course!" said Isabel. "But she will soon get over it. You won't
find it will do her any harm. People will make her a heroine."
"I should advise her not to go about with that cousin," said Alicia,
softly.
"The girl who told you?"
"She was an outsider! She told me, evidently, to spite her cousin, who
seemed not to have paid her enough attention, and then wanted me to
swear secrecy."
"Well, if her mother was a sister of Juliet Sparling, you can't expect
much, can you? What a mercy it has all come out so soon! The mess would
have been infinitely greater if the engagement had gone on a
few weeks."
"My dear," said her mother, gravely, "we must not reckon upon Oliver's
yielding to our persuasions."
Isabel smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Oliver condemn himself to the
simple life!--to the forfeiture of half a million of money--for the sake
of the _beaux yeux_ of Diana Mallory! Oliver, who had never faced any
hardship or gone without any luxury in his life!
Alicia said nothing; but the alertness of her brilliant eyes showed the
activity of the brain behind them.
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