"Masculine?" "Not at all; copy me, my dear, I dress very well on horseback." "So you do at all times, I think," said Margaret. "Much obliged. I say, what do you think of Evan?" "I should be so very likely to tell you truly," said Margaret. "Then I will tell you what to think of him," said Harriet, "he has an excellent head, my dear, but no heart; he thinks he will be a very great man. I differ from him; no very great man ever was heartless. He will be only a little above the middle size. I like him very much." "How odd you are, Harriet." "Do you think so, ma mie? What a pretty Victorine you have--sable I see." "Now, Mr. Humphries--ha! ha! one cannot help laughing when one thinks of him--has a capital heart, but no head. Which do you like best, Margaret?" "The heart," replied Margaret. "But then, my dear, like most Englishmen, his nerves are actually made of pack thread; he has not a grain of sensibility. He is ugly. I tell Evan sometimes that he is ugly to a misfortune; but this man is ugly to a fault. But he is an excellent son to a very tiresome old mother; honest, good-natured, rich, obstinate. I do not know if he has any other qualities, or I would tell you. I think it my duty to walk you over the course, you perceive." "You make an excellent chaperon, Harriet." "But Margaret," said Harriet with a hurried change of manner, "I never knew anything so good as George coming here just now. It gives me pleasure to see that I can torment his pride, not his feelings; but his absurd haughty conceit, that I was to remain his slave under all treatment. I do not care for him the least atom, and I despise his coming to pry into my concerns, to investigate and to triumph in my distress, as he thinks, on Lucy's marriage. I can turn the tables on him, and I will!" "Indeed, Harriet," said Margaret, "it is hardly generous in you to take that view of Mr. Gage's conduct. I think he would not have taken so much trouble, if he had not been very much interested about you. I think ever since I have known you both, he has appeared to feel anything but indifference to you; and if you cannot return his feelings, is it fair to treat them with contempt?" Margaret spoke earnestly, yet half afraid of giving offence; but to her surprise, as soon as she had finished, her eccentric friend caught her in her arms, and kissed her heartily; then gathering up the long folds of her habit she hastened down stairs. Mr. Evan Conway was leaning against the neck of his sister's horse, without his hat, or any sign of being prepared to accompany the ladies; a groom was mounted, and in waiting. He helped them both to mount, arranged their dresses with great care and then left them. "So we are not to have the honour of your company," Harriet called after him. He replied by a shake of the head, and went into the house.