Cecily seemed quite unperturbed. If a man were tall, dark, handsome, wealthy, and single, what more could a girl ask for?

"It seems that there are two more gentlemen and two ladies at the house," her father continued, "though I met only a Mr. and Mrs. Prosser, a youngish and perfectly amiable couple. Mrs. Prosser's sister is also of the party, we were told, and another mysterious gentleman, whom I heard referred to only as 'his lordship.' There, my dear, have I not made you happy today? Your family has been put upon visiting terms with our new neighbor, I have discovered the answers to many of your questions, and I have left you with an intriguing mystery."

"'His lordship,'" Mrs. Rowe repeated. "We have a member of the aristocracy in our midst. Now I wonder if he is a handsome man."

"He is probably a hunchback with a squint and not a groat to his name," her husband suggested with a straight face.

Mrs. Rowe chose to ignore this witticism. "When may one decently invite them to dine?" she asked of no one in particular. "Next week for an informal dinner of, say, twenty people? Could we have dancing too? Or would cards only be more appropriate for a first visit?"

“I think none of those plans would be suitable, Dorothy," her husband said quite firmly, "until Mr. Mainwaring returns my call and shows that he wishes for our acquaintance."

"Oh, but, Papa," Cecily wailed, "we might wait forever.”

Precisely, my love," her father replied unsympathetically. "But, Miss Rossiter, I see a very promising future for you. 'His lordship' cannot be a prince or a duke, but it is very possible that he is an earl. He surely could not be so unromantic as to neglect to fall in love with a gentlewoman turned governess and raise her to the exalted rank of countess-now, could he?"