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asked in such an eager way that it made Charity flush slightly.
    “I doubt I shall ever get there, but I do enjoy hearing about it. And seeing your Aunt Eleanor’s sketches makes everything come alive. I hope she’ll have them with her when she comes to visit you.” Charity returned her gaze to the embroidery frame and simulated an intense concentration on her work there.
    Ralph looked questioningly at Kate, but she was unable to help him. Kate recognized as well as he did that this was no shy maiden demurely hesitant to accept his advances. This was not the first time Kate had seen her friend keep her brother firmly at arm’s length. Ralph soon excused himself and sought out his father over some detail involved in the purchase of the farm.
     

Chapter 7
     
    Kate and Charity spent the next week pleasantly taking walks, drives, and rides about the area when the weather permitted and sitting over embroidery frames talking when conditions outside were foul. It took some perseverance on Ralph’s part to find Kate alone, but he did so late one afternoon. She was in the back parlor playing a dulcimer she had found years ago in the attic. As he was hesitant about the subject he wished to broach, he waited patiently for her to finish a piece before beginning.
    “I . . . I . . . It’s about Charity,” he blurted. When his sister regarded him inquiringly he continued, “Beautiful girl. Such a sweet disposition—always calm and pleasant. Quite fond of her.” His face colored slightly.
    “She in indeed the finest young woman of my acquaintance,” Kate responded carefully.
    “Yes, yes. To be sure. What I have been wondering is . . . well . . . has she spoken with you about me at all?”
    His countenance was so gravely serious and concerned that Kate could not help but feel for him. “She has spoken kindly of you, as of the rest of the family.” Kate could not find anything further to say which would comfort him and not betray her promise.
    “And that is all? I had thought . . . that is, she seemed to like me well enough. We’ve laughed together and talked of my plans for the farm. But sometimes she’s rather distant with me. I cannot think how I have offended her!”
    “Now, Ralph, I doubt you have done so. Why do you not speak with her?”
    ‘‘She’s at some pains never to be alone with me,” he said sadly. “I can hardly talk to her with you and Susan around. Could you arrange it so we should be alone together? Promise I would not force my attentions on her. Do you think her heart is engaged elsewhere?”
    “Really, Ralph, I could not say. I am not in her confidence in such matters. You must make your own way in this. I should not interfere where my brother and my friend are involved,” she replied with finality.
    Ralph gave an exasperated shrug and wandered unhappily from the room. Kate stared after him, absently fingering the strings of the dulcimer. It had become obvious to her as well that Charity was attempting to avoid her brother, but she was at a loss to explain it. And of course she could not press Charity further. Her friend appeared to have a calming effect on Ralph which pleased Kate. There had been many rides about the countryside when she had observed the two together and been very pleased that they got on so well. But she must have been mistaken if Charity was indeed discouraging Ralph’s attentions. It would not be the first time she had been mistaken, she thought ruefully, as she bent her attention to the dulcimer again.
    When Ralph left Kate, he wandered through the house, aware that Charity was with Susan in the garden. He had been so excited about the scheme for the farm before Charity came, and his developing fondness for her had led him to share with her some of his plans and dreams. Charity had helped him translate some of these into a more realistic form. At her suggestion, he had indeed delved into the mysteries of the countryside, and he had proceeded to learn more for his own