'Mr. Carmichael is a charming old gentleman,' said Mrs. Arderne.
'And what is Colonel Carmichael, please, ma'am?'
'My darling girl, don't question me in that impertinent fashion. My admiration for your elder uncle does not make me blind to the charm of the younger.'
'Uncle Jack impressed you favourably, I am certain, though you saw so little of him!'
'Mr. North, do you mean to allow Catherine to obstinately insist upon offending Mr. Ross Carmichael?'
Brian looked from the interrogator to Catherine's demurely smiling face, then back again.
'If I wished Catherine to be worldly-wise, Mrs. Arderne, I should be wishing her to give me up.'
'No, not necessarily,' cried the kind little woman, anxious to make amends for having reminded him of his poverty. 'If Mr. Ross takes a fancy to you, he might--do anything for you both. He is already much attached to his niece. It is only her obstinate choice of a home with Uncle Jack that stands in the way of her heiress-ship!'
'While Catherine sees a work awaiting her, she will become happy only by doing it. I would rather she should be happy than rich.'
'Then _you_ believe in her possession of a serious vocation to convert the inhabitants of Redan Cottage?'
'I always believe in a woman's vocation to do that good which she clearly sees ought to be done, and for which her gifts and sympathies fit her,' he answered gravely.
'Oh, Brian, thank you!' the girl cried gratefully.
'I thought that only Catherine was quixotic and imprudent, but now I see that you are both in the conspiracy to ruin your prospects!' was Mrs. Arderne's regretful reply. 'At least you need not let Uncle Ross's horses catch their deaths of cold! Go and get ready, Catherine, foolish child!'
As they were driven along the well-kept country road leading to Carm Hall, Catherine and Brian talked of their 'prospects' almost as practically as Mrs. Arderne could have done, but they were the prospects of finding work for him, not an heiress-ship for her! And to an irreligious or God-forgetting person their trust in the efficacy of asking heavenly aid would, no doubt, have seemed childish. They were content, however, because now they both believed that God would provide for the necessities of those who turned to Him in faith.