Being a shrewd man he laid his plans warily, and worked patiently, never venturing to make actual love to her. At all costs he must avoid startling her, or making her draw back from that frank friendliness which was likely to prove so useful. But every day he was her special companion, and she could not help feeling grateful to him for the care he took of her, the pains he took to please her, and the real enjoyment which he managed to impart to what would otherwise have been rather a trying tour. “Why do you hesitate longer,” urged Sir Matthew, during their stay at Zermatt, “September is nearly half gone, we have but another fortnight abroad. Why not propose to the girl here?” “Not yet, not yet,” said Bruce Wylie, “I tell you, Mactavish, she has not a thought of anything of the kind. She treats me as if I were her grandfather.” “It seems to me that she is devoted to you,” said Sir Matthew. “She has not a word to say to any of the young men in the hotel though they are ready enough to admire her. She deliberately avoids them, I have noticed her, and is hand and glove with you. What more would you have?” “Oh, I will arrange it all before the end of the tour,” said Bruce Wylie, “by hook or crook it must be done. Let me see; to-morrow we go to Glion for a fortnight. It is there that we must contrive the finale.” “If it were not such a serious matter,” said Sir Matthew with a grim smile, “One could have a hearty laugh over the irony of fate. Here we are with an unconscious little slip of a girl and she holds everything in her hands. For if the difficulty as to her fortune becomes known, then a dozen other things will collapse shortly after. God bless my soul--it’s awful to think of!” “So much the more reason to play this part of the game warily,” said Bruce Wylie. “It is like the story of the child’s hand thrust into the leaking dam and saving the country from the deluge that would otherwise have come about. I must capture Evereld’s hand and hold it fast to save the general ruin; whether she likes it or not it will have to be done.” “And the girl cares for you, there will be no harm in it,” said Sir Matthew suavely. “I tell you what, Wylie, at Glion we must gradually let people see that you are in love with her. That will be easy enough without alarming her. We will set some of the women folk clacking. And if Evereld’s pride is once touched, if she feels that she has been gossiped about, that people see that she has encouraged you, and that she is a little compromised, why then we shall win easily enough. She will very readily be persuaded into an engagement, and we will take good care to have her married before the year is out.” “Very well,” said Bruce Wylie. “At Glion we will advance to the next stage. It will be a more amusing one than the present, and will need skilful management. I must think things over. By the bye, she never mentions Ralph Denmead, her old playfellow. Have you lost sight of him?”