Miss Monro was, perhaps, very wise in proposing the translation of a
difficult part of Dante for a distraction to Ellinor. The girl went
meekly, if reluctantly, to the task set her by her good governess, and by-
and-by her mind became braced by the exertion.
Ralph's people were not very slow in discovering that something had not
gone on quite smoothly with him at Ford Bank. They knew his ways and
looks with family intuition, and could easily be certain thus far. But
not even his mother's skilfulest wiles, nor his favourite sister's
coaxing, could obtain a word or a hint; and when his father, the squire,
who had heard the opinions of the female part of the family on this head,
began, in his honest blustering way, in their _tete-a-tetes_ after
dinner, to hope that Ralph was thinking better than to run his head into
that confounded Hamley attorney's noose, Ralph gravely required Mr.
Corbet to explain his meaning, which he professed not to understand so
worded. And when the squire had, with much perplexity, put it into the
plain terms of hoping that his son was thinking of breaking off his
engagement to Miss Wilkins, Ralph coolly asked him if he was aware that,
in that case, he should lose all title to being a man of honour, and
might have an action brought against him for breach of promise?
Yet not the less for all this was the idea in his mind as a future
possibility.
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