Ralph always took the side of the man who was down, and, consequently,
very often put himself on the wrong side; and although he did not
consider that Miss Drane was down, he saw that Miss Panney had tried to
put her down, and therefore he became her champion.
"There could not be any one," he said to himself, "better fitted to be
the friend and companion of Miriam than Cicely Drane is, and the next
time I see that old lady, I shall tell her so. I have nothing to say
against Miss Bannister, but I shall stand up for this one."
And now, feeling that it was not polite to treat a young lady with
seeming inattention, because he happened to be earnestly thinking about
her, he began to talk to Cicely in his liveliest and gayest manner, and
she, not wishing him to think that she thought that there was anything
out of the way in this, or in his previous preoccupation, responded
just as gayly.
Ralph delivered Miss Panney's message to his sister, and Miriam, giving
much more weight to the advice and opinion of the old lady, whom she knew
very slightly and cared for very little, than to that of her brother,
whom she loved dearly, said she would go to see Miss Bannister the next
afternoon if it happened to be clear.
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