Thee married young. I shall not marry young, and perhaps not at all,"

said Ruth, with a look of vast experience.

Perhaps thee doesn't know thee own mind; I have known persons of thy

age who did not. Did thee see anybody whom thee would like to live with

always in Fallkill?"

"Not always," replied Ruth with a little laugh. "Mother, I think I

wouldn't say 'always' to any one until I have a profession and am as

independent as he is. Then my love would be a free act, and not in any

way a necessity."

Margaret Bolton smiled at this new-fangled philosophy. "Thee will find

that love, Ruth, is a thing thee won't reason about, when it comes, nor

make any bargains about. Thee wrote that Philip Sterling was at

Fallkill."

"Yes, and Henry Brierly, a friend of his; a very amusing young fellow and

not so serious-minded as Philip, but a bit of a fop maybe."

"And thee preferred the fop to the serious-minded?"

I didn't prefer anybody; but Henry Brierly was good company, which

Philip wasn't always."

Did thee know thee father had been in correspondence with Philip?"

The Gilded Age