[Pg 49] She had wormed this out of Fair by ceaseless persistency. Fair made no answer, but sat with drooping head and nervous fingers, smoothing down the folds of her white apron. What was there for her to say? Belva’s words were only too true. But Mrs. Fielding and Belva carried on the conversation quite briskly, and the end was that Fair’s mother gave the artful schemer leave to bring George Lorraine to call. Belva lost no time in taking advantage of the permission, and the very next evening she climbed the stairs to the little four-story room with a young man whom she introduced to Fair and her mother as Mr. George Lorraine. Fair looked with much interest at her new acquaintance, to see if he bore any resemblance to his cousin. She could not find any, as George was small and dark, with an Italian type of beauty, for he was certainly very good-looking. But he was well dressed and agreeable, and talked so constantly about “my Cousin Bayard,[Pg 50] you know,” that Fair found him, on the whole, a very pleasant acquaintance. [Pg 50] “Bayard is going to marry an heiress, you know,” he confided to her, adding, with an admiring glance into the bright brown eyes: “But, by Jove, you know, if I’d had such a chance as that beggar the day he sailed, I’d have stayed at home and let that girl go, in spite of her moneybags.” [Pg 51] [Pg 51] CHAPTER VI. A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL. A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL. “Marry you!” cried Fair, starting back, half frightened. “Why, I’ve scarcely known you a month, Mr. Lorraine!” They were alone in the room, for Mrs. Fielding had discreetly left the room. The evening was warm, and Fair was sitting by the open window, dressed in white, with her red-gold curls loose on her shoulders, and a pink rose in her belt, a lovely picture of youth and innocence—and George Lorraine appeared to think so, for he looked very earnest as he bent over her, begging for the gift of her heart and hand. “Yes, I’ve only known you for a month,” he said, “and, my dear girl, if you were
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