"You could hardly have found Ayala vulgar?" asked Hamel. "Indeed, no. But uncles and aunts and nephews and nieces are not at all bound to run together. Ayala is the daintiest little darling I ever saw." "I knew their father and mother, and certainly no one would have called them vulgar." "Sisters when they marry of course go off according to their husbands, and the children follow. In this case one sister became Tringlish after Sir Tringle, and the other Dormerish, after that most improvident of human beings, your late friend the artist. I don't suppose any amount of experience will teach Ayala how many shillings there are in a pound. No doubt the Honourable Mrs. Traffick knows all about it." "I don't think a girl is much improved by knowing how many shillings there are in a pound," said Hamel. "It is useful sometimes." "So it might be to kill a sheep and skin it, or to milk a cow and make cheese; but here, as in other things, one acquirement will drive out others. A woman, if she cannot be beautiful, should at any rate be graceful, and if she cannot soar to poetry, should at least be soft and unworldly." "That's all very well in its way, but I go in for roasting, baking, and boiling. I can bake and I can brew; I can make an Irish stew; Wash a shirt and iron it too. That's the sort of girl I mean to go in for if ever I marry; and when you've got six children and a small income it's apt to turn out better than grace and poetry." "A little of both perhaps," said Hamel. "Well, yes; I don't mind a little Byron now and again, so there is no nonsense. As to Glenbogie, it's right over there across the lake. You can get a boat at Callerfoot, and a fellow to take you across and wait for you won't cost you more than three half-crowns. I suppose Glenbogie is as far from the lake on that side as my cottage is on this. How you'll get up except by walking I cannot say, unless you will write a note to Sir Thomas and ask him to send a horse down for you." "Sir Thomas would not accommodate me." "You think he will frown if you come after his niece?" "I simply want to call on Miss Dormer," said Hamel, blushing, "because her father was always kind to me." "I don't mean to ask any questions," said the Colonel. "It is just so as I say. I do not like being in the neighbourhood without calling on Miss Dormer." "I daresay not." "But I doubt whether Sir Thomas or Lady Tringle would be at all inclined to make me welcome. As to the distance, I can walk that easily enough, and if the door is slammed in my face I can walk back again." Thus it was resolved that early on the following morning after breakfast Isadore Hamel should go across the lake and make his way up to Glenbogie. CHAPTER XIX. ISADORE HAMEL IS ASKED TO LUNCH.