He never flattered himself that he could be accepted now, save for the good home he could provide (he was not the man to blame women for being influenced by that), for like most of his sex he was unaware that a woman is never too old to love or to be loved; if they do know it, the mean ones among them make a jest of it, at which (God knows why) their wives laugh.

Mr.McLean had been acquainted with the sisters for months before he was sure even that Miss Kitty was his favorite.

He found that out one evening when sitting with an old friend, whose wife and children were in the room, gathered round a lamp and playing at some child's game.

Suddenly Ivie McLean envied his friend, and at the same moment he thought tenderly of Miss Kitty.

But the feeling passed.