Short as had been her stay in the Ryder household, Shirley already shared Jefferson's antipathy to the English secretary, whose manner grew more supercilious and overbearing as he drew nearer the date when he expected to run off with one of the richest catches of the season.

He had not sought the acquaintance of his employer's biographer since her arrival, and, with the exception of a rude stare, had not deigned to notice her, which attitude of haughty indifference was all the more remarkable in view of the fact that the Hon.

Fitzroy usually left nothing unturned to cultivate a flirtatious intimacy with every attractive female he met.

The truth was that what with Mr.Ryder's demands upon his services and his own preparations for his coming matrimonial venture, in which he had so much at stake, he had neither time nor inclination to indulge his customary amorous diversions.
Miss Roberts had called at the house several times, ostensibly to see Mrs.Ryder, and when introduced to Shirley she had condescended to give the latter a supercilious nod.

Her conversation was generally of the silly, vacuous sort, concerning chiefly new dresses or bonnets, and Shirley at once read her character--frivolous, amusement-loving, empty-headed, irresponsible--just the kind of girl to do something foolish without weighing the consequences.