"He is most modest for his position! I tell you, he was chased in Dieppe; the women ran after him. A baroness in the hotel positively threw her daughter at his head.... He wouldn't look at anybody but Cynthia.... The Baroness was _miserable_ the day the engagement was known." "Cynthia ought to be very proud," returned her sister dryly. "Oh, of course the girl is making a wonderful match--no doubt about it! He sold his novel for an extraordinary sum--quite extraordinary!--and the publishers have implored him to let them have another at his own terms; I saw the telegrams.... Astonishing position for such a young man!" "She's in luck!" "She's a very taking girl. Her smile is so sweet, and her teeth are quite perfect." "She was in luck to meet such a catch--some I people didn't have the opportunity.... I once had a beautiful set of teeth," added Miss Wix morosely; "but you can't pick rich husbands off gooseberry-bushes." On the white balcony, after dinner, Kent begged Cynthia to fix the wedding-day. After she had named one in May, it was agreed that, subject to her parents' approval, they should be married two months hence. He made his way to the station about eleven o'clock, with a flower in his coat and rapture in his soul. The first weeks of the period were interminable. He went to The Hawthorns daily, and Mrs. Walford was so good as to look about for a house for them in the neighbourhood. He was in love, but not a fool; he was determined not to cripple himself at the outset by a heavy rental. In conference with the fiancée he intimated that it would be preposterous for them to think of paying a higher rent than fifty pounds. Cynthia was a little disappointed, for mamma had just seen a villa at sixty-five that was a "picturesque duck." He strangled an impulse to say, "We'll take it," and repeated that as soon as their circumstances brightened they could remove. She did not argue the point, though the _rara avis_ evidently allured her, and Kent felt her acquiescence to be very gracious, and wondered if he sounded mean.