There was one subject about which all the sisters were particularly curious. They wanted to know whether Grace intended to marry, and whom; and whenever they were alone with her, they plied her with questions that very greatly amused her. "Do you mean to say, Grace, that you have passed through all this without having your heart touched by any man?" "I have no doubt," said Mary Ann, "that when Grace marries, it will be into a higher sphere than that which we fill. She will marry a gentleman; see if she does not." Grace laughed heartily at this prophecy of her fond sister; and the laughter rather nettled Mary Ann. "I see nothing to laugh at, Grace," she said; "and why do you mock me? I do not see that any position can be too high for you to fill, nor any man too good for you to have." "You are very kind," said Grace, still merrily. "I do not want to offend you; please excuse me; but I cannot help laughing, though I thank you for your wishes. You think more highly of me than I deserve; and I am sure your great and romantic expectations will never be realised. Why, even if a gentleman asked me, I should have to say No to him; for only think what a poor figure I should cut as a rich lady. I have lived in a lighthouse all my life, while ladies are sent to boarding-schools, and are trained in all the refinements that are natural to their station. I should be always making mistakes, and bringing upon myself shame and confusion, if I were raised to any high position in society. I should deserve to share the fate of the ladies in 'Blue Beard,' if I did anything so foolish. But I never shall. I should not be happy in such a marriage. There ought to be similarity of tastes, pursuits, and training, between those who spend their lives together, and I mean to stay in my own proper sphere, and not blush myself, nor make any one blush for me, by entering an estate to which I was not born." "I think you are right," said Thomasin, "and I should decidedly feel as you do in the same circumstances." "Grace is very warm about it," remarked Elizabeth, though, in her heart, she scarcely believed her sister. Rumours were afloat, and some had reached her ears, and those of the other members of the family, that Grace had already received very good offers. It was even said, indeed, that gentlemen of rank had proposed for her hand, though, if it were so, Grace certainly kept her own counsel with regard to them. There can be no doubt, however, that her deed stirred many hearts to love her; and that, if she had chosen, she might have left her island home for one of far greater pretensions on the mainland. But Grace had not been spoiled or changed by the flatteries she had received. She was one of "the people," and did not aspire to leave their ranks. Her sympathies were with them; and she asked nothing better than to spend her life among them.