It had not occurred to the little ladies to place Dick near Lois.

Mrs.Drayton was the lady upon his right, and Lois was between such unimportant people as Mr.Denner and Mr.Dale.
Dick was the lion of the dinner, and all that he said was listened to with deference and even awe.

But it was a relief to Lois not to have to talk to him.

She sat now at Mr.Denner's side, listening to the small stream of words bubbling along in a cheerful monotony, with scarcely a period for her answers.

She was glad it was so; for though her apple-blossom face was drooped a little, and her gray eyes were not often lifted, and she looked the embodiment of maiden innocence and unworldliness, Lois was thinking the thoughts which occupied her much of late; weighing, and judging, struggling to reach some knowledge of herself, yet always in the same perplexity.