I should be very sorry indeed if Cicely
had to leave here, and I don't think I should let her do it, work or no
work. I like her better and better every day, and it is the greatest
comfort and pleasure to have her here. It almost seems as if she were my
sister, and Mrs. Drane is just as nice as she can be. She is so good and
kind, and never meddles with anything."
Miss Panney listened with great attention. She now saw how she must
change her plans. If Ralph were to marry Dora, Miriam must like Dora. As
for his own liking, there would be no trouble about that, after the Drane
girl should be got rid of. In regard to this riddance, Miss Panney had
intended to make an early move and a decided one. Now she saw that this
would not do. The Drane girl, that alien intruder, whom Dr. Tolbridge's
treachery had thrust into this household, was the great obstacle to the
old lady's schemes, but to oust her suddenly would ruin everything.
Miriam would rise up in opposition, and at present that would be fatal.
Miriam was not a girl whose grief and anger at the loss of one thing
could be pacified by the promise of another.
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