Miss Saumarez nodded her head. “But you must promise,” she said, “not to betray us to her mother. Of course we quite allow that we are too young to settle upon anything now. She is only seventeen. I am nearly two years older, but then, unfortunately, I have not the same clear vocation. And of course something must be allowed for natural hindrances, as long as father lives.” “I hope you will never leave him,” said Evelyn warmly. “It is true I am old-fashioned, and do not understand a girl with a profession; but everybody must see that in your case your duty lies at home.” “If anybody who was a very good match wanted to marry me,” said the girl with a laugh, “would you then think that my duty lay at home?” Evelyn felt herself reduced to absolute imbecility by this bewildering question. “My dear--my dear--you know a great deal too much; you are too wise,” she said. “But that’s not an answer,” said Rosamond; “you see the logic of it, and you daren’t give me an answer. You just beg the question. I must go away now; but father told me I was to ask you if I might come again.” “If you care to come to such an old-world, old-fashioned, puzzled person as I am,” said Evelyn, with a troubled smile. “I should like it, if I may. Father says you are the real good, and a great many people I know only pretend. I should like to know better what the real good was like, so I will come again to-morrow, if I may.” “Come, but not because I am the real good. I am a very puzzled person, and you who are only a little girl seem to know a great deal more than I.”