"Yes," said Mrs. Derison, with a somewhat dubious air, "I do not doubt that Miss Rivers is a very charming girl, nor that you fancy yourself very deeply in love with her; and certainly, as you say, in our circumstances a fortune of twelve hundred pounds is by no means to be despised. But, on the other hand, it is not always advisable for a very young man--which you still are--to tie himself down for life, unless his future, to some extent at least, is already mapped out for him, and he is in a position to form some idea how far it may be affected by an early and perhaps imprudent marriage. Your future, I am sorry to say, is anything but an assured one; still, it may contain hidden possibilities of which at present you and I know nothing." Then she went on to hint darkly at certain possible contingencies in connection with his position at the Bank. Mr. Avison, senior, was a very old man; there was little likelihood that Mr. Avison, junior, would ever marry; Frank was a relative--though a distant one--and if only he had the sense to play his cards properly, and to wait patiently, who could say what might not come to pass? In any case, it would be well to pause and consider before committing himself seriously with any young woman, however charming she might be. Mrs. Derison's words had the effect she intended them to have. They threw an effectual chill for the time being over Frank's love aspirations. Hitherto he had had no faith that any special advancement at the Bank would accrue to him more than to others; indeed, it had often seemed to him that he would have stood a better chance of promotion had he not been a relation of his employer. Still, after all, might there not be more in his mother's hints than she was willing to let appear on the surface? He knew that she went occasionally to see old Mr. Avison, and had she not had good grounds for doing so, she would not have said as much as she had said. His brain was of the sanguine, castle-building order, and almost unconsciously his daydreams began to assume an auriferous tinge, such as they had ever lacked before. It would be as well, perhaps, not to be too precipitate in the matter of Hermia. She was a darling girl, and he loved her passionately; still----. Even in his thoughts he got no farther than that.