"
"She will be so very sorry, Margaret--and Ned, whose new fiddle
has just come, and Jason Lightner, with his flute. They all spoke
of you and look for you above all, to hear them this evening. They
will be so disappointed."
William Hinkley spoke nothing of his own disappointment, but it was
visible enough in his blank countenance, and sufficiently audible
in the undisguised faltering of his accents.
"I do not think they will be so much disappointed, William Hinkley.
They have no reason to be, as they have no right to look for me
in particular. I have very little acquaintance with the young men
you speak of."
"Why, Margaret, they live alongside of you--and I'm sure you've met
them a thousand times in company," was the response of the youth,
uttered in tones more earnest than any he had yet employed in the
dialogue, and with something of surprise in his accents.
"Perhaps so; but that makes them no intimates of mine, William
Hinkley. They may be very good young men, and, indeed, so far as
I know, they really are; but that makes no difference. We find our
acquaintances and our intimates among those who are congenial, who
somewhat resemble us in spirit, feeling, and understanding.
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