Delaine, very fastidious where personal dignity was concerned, could not make up his mind either to be watched or laughed at.

He would have liked to woo--always supposing that wooing there was to be--with a maximum of dignity and privacy, surrounded by a friendly but not a forcing atmosphere.

But Elizabeth Merton was a great favourite in her own neighbourhood, and people became impatient.

Was it to be a marriage or was it not?
As soon as he felt this enquiry in the air, Mr.Delaine went abroad--abruptly--about a month before Elizabeth and her brother started for Canada.

It was said that he had gone to Italy; but some few persons knew that it was his intention to start from Genoa for the United States, in order that he might attend a celebration at Harvard University in honour of a famous French Hellenist, who had covered himself with glory in Delaine's eyes by identifying a number of real sites with places mentioned in the Odyssey.