And I say plainly that I shall have no
more to do with exerting influence on him, through his sister or in any
other way. There are thousands of other men just as good as he is, and
if I have not met any of them yet, I have no doubt I shall do so."
"Dora," said Miss Panney, speaking very gently, "you are wrong when you
say that there was no chance of Ralph's coming to Barport. If some things
had not gone wrong, I have reason to believe he would have been there
before you left, and I am quite sure that if you had stayed there until
now, you would have been walking on the sands with him at this minute."
Dora looked at her in surprise, and the flush on her face subsided a
little.
"What do you mean?" she asked. "You do not think he would have gone there
on my account?"
"Yes, I do," said Miss Panney. "That is exactly what I mean, and now, my
dear Dora, do not let--"
At this moment Mrs. Bannister walked into the room, and was very glad
to see Miss Panney, and to know that she had returned in safety from
the seashore.
When Dora went up to her room, after the visitor had gone, she shut the
door and sat down to think.
Pages:
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494