Miss Ann gave a little deprecatory shriek. "Darling child!" she cried. "_No_ simile, however beautiful, should be pressed too far! Your exquisite description of your love for dear Kenrick merely assures us that your union with him will prove one of complete contentment to the mind. And the _mind_--that sensitive instrument, attuned to all the immensities of the intellectual spheres--the _mind_ is what really matters." "Bodies count," said Miss Charteris, with conviction; adding beneath her breath, the dawning of a smile in her sad eyes: "We shall jolly well find, bodies count." Miss Ann's hearing, as we have already remarked, was preternaturally sharp. She started. "My dear Christobel, what an expression! And do you not think, that, under these circumstances, any mention of bodies savours of impropriety?" Miss Charteris turned quickly. The colour flamed into her beautiful face. The glint of angry indignation flashed from her eyes. But the elderly figure on the couch looked so small and frail. To wound and crush it would be so easy; and so unworthy of her strength, and wider experience. Suddenly she remembered a little blue back, round with grief and shame; a small sandy face, silent and unflinching; a brave little heart which kept its faith in God, and prayed on trustfully, while nurses misunderstood and bullied. Then Miss Charteris conquered her own wrath. "Dear Ann," she said, gently, "do you really believe your brother would be much disappointed if--after all--when he asks me to marry him--which he has not done yet--I feel it better not to do so?" "My _darling_ child!" exclaimed Miss Ann, and her hair-brooch flew open, as if to accentuate her horror and amazement. "My _darling_ child! Think how patiently he has waited! Remember the long years! Remember----" "Yes, I know," said Miss Charteris. "You told me all that last night, didn't you? But it seems to me that, if a man can wait twelve years, he might as well wait twenty." "So he would have!" cried Miss Ann. "_Undoubtedly_ dear Kenrick would have waited _twenty years_, had it not been for this fortunate legacy, which places him in a position to marry at once. But why should you wish to keep him waiting any longer? Is not twelve years sufficiently long?" Miss Charteris smiled. "Twelve days would be too long for some people," she said, gently. "I have no wish to keep him waiting. But you must remember, Ann, the Professor has, as yet, spoken no word of love to me."