"Mother says it will not be honorable, and that we are not properly engaged." And, though Dick combated this rather stoutly, he gave in at last, and agreed that, until the new year, he would not claim his rights, or infringe the sacred privacy of the Friary. "And now I must go," said Dick, with a great sigh; "and it is good-bye for months. Now, I do not mean to ask your leave,--for you are such a girl for scruples, and all that, and you might take it into your head to refuse me: so there!" Dick's words were mysterious; but he very soon made his meaning plain. Nan said, "Oh, Dick!" but made no further protest. After all, whatever Mr. Mayne and her mother said, they were engaged. As Dick closed the little gate behind him, he was aware of a tall figure looming in the darkness. "Confound that parson! What does he mean by loafing about here?" he thought, feeling something like a pugnacious bull-dog at the prospect of a possible rival. "I forgot to ask Nan about him; but I dare say he is after one of the other girls." But these reflections were nipped in the bud, as the short, sturdy form of Mr. Mayne was dimly visible in the road. Dick chuckled softly: he could not help it. "All right, dear old boy," he said to himself; and then he stepped up briskly, and took his father's arm. "Do you call this honorable, sir?" began Mr. Mayne, in a most irascible voice. "I call it very neat," returned Dick, cheerfully. "My dear pater, everything is fair in love and war; and if you will nap at unseasonable times--but that comes of early rising, as I have often told you." "Hold your tongue, sir!" was the violent rejoinder. "It is a mean trick you have served me, and you know it. We will go back to-night; nothing will induce me to sleep in this place. You are not to be trusted. You told me a downright lie. You were humbugging me, sir, with your naps." "I will plead guilty to a fib, if you like," was Dick's careless answer. "What a fuss you are making, father! Did you never tell one in your life? Now, what is the use of putting yourself out?--it is not good at your age, sir. What would my mother say? It might bring on apoplexy, after that port-wine." "Confound your impertinence!" rejoined Mr. Mayne, angrily; but Dick patted his coat-sleeve pleasantly: "There, that will do. I think you have relieved your feelings sufficiently. Now we will go to business. I have seen Nan, and told her all about it; and she has had it out with her mother. Mrs. Challoner will not hear of our writing to each other; and I am not to show my face at the Friary without your permission. There is no fibbing or want of honor there: Nan is not the girl to encourage a fellow to take liberties." "Oh, indeed!" sneered Mr. Mayne; but he listened attentively for all that. And his gloomy eyebrows relaxed in the darkness. The girl was not behaving so badly, after all.