and Miss
Drane. And this was what Dora wished. She felt that it would be a very
good thing in this case to assert some sort of a preemption claim. It
could do no harm, and might be of great service.
After the manner of the country gentlemen who in mixed society are apt to
prefer their own sex for purposes of converse, Herbert Bannister
monopolized Ralph. His sister talked with Cicely Drane, and in spite of
her natural courage and the reasons for self-confidence which she had
just received, Dora's spirits steadily fell as she conversed with this
merry, attractive girl, who knew so well how to make herself
entertaining, even to other girls, and who was actually living in Ralph
Haverley's house.
Dora made the visit shorter than it otherwise would have been. She had
come, she had seen, and she wanted to go home and think about the rest of
the business. The drive home was, in a degree, pleasant because Herbert
had a great deal to say about Mr. Haverley, whom he had found most
agreeable, and because Mrs. Bannister spoke in praise of Ralph's manly
beauty, but it would depend upon future circumstances whether or not
remarks of this kind could be considered entirely satisfactory.
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