HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO To say that Cicely Drane had not thought of Ralph Haverley as an exceedingly agreeable young man would be an injustice to her young womanly nature, but it would be quite correct to state that she had not thought him a whit more agreeable than Miriam.

She was charmed with them both; they had taken her into their home circle as if they had adopted her as a sister.

It was not until her mother began to put a gentle pressure upon her in order to prevent her gathering too many apples, and joining in too many other rural recreations with Mr.Haverley, that she thought of him as one who was not to be considered in the light of a brother.

There could be no doubt that she would have come to the same conclusion if left to herself, but she would not have reached it so soon.
But the effect that her mother's precautionary disposition had had upon her was nothing compared to that produced by the words of La Fleur.

For the first time she looked upon Ralph as one on whom other persons looked as her lover, and to sit by the side of the said young man, immediately after being informed of said fact, was not conducive to a free and tranquil flow of remark.
Her own sentiments on the subject, so far as she had put them into shape,--and it was quite natural that she should immediately begin to do this,--were neither embarrassing nor disagreeable.