CHAPTER XII 

MR. LAYARD'S WOOING 

The days went by with an uneventful swiftness at the Abbey, and after he had once accustomed himself to the strangeness of what was, in effect, solitude in the house with an unmarried guest of the other sex, it may be admitted, very pleasantly to Morris. At first that rather remarkable young lady, Stella, had alarmed him somewhat, so that he convinced himself that the duties of this novel hospitality would prove irksome. As a matter of fact, however, in forty-eight hours the irksomeness was all gone, to be replaced within twice that period by an atmosphere of complete understanding, which was comforting to his fearful soul. 

The young lady was never in the way. Now that she had procured some suitable clothes the young lady was distinctly good looking; she was remarkably intelligent and well-read; she sang, as Stephen Layard had said, "like an angel"; she took a most enlightened interest in aerophones and their possibilities; she proved a very useful assistant in various experiments; and made one or two valuable suggestions. While Mary and the rest of them were away the place would really be dull without her, and somehow he could not be as sorry as he ought when Dr. Charters told him that old Mr. Fregelius's bones were uniting with exceeding slowness. 

Such were the conclusions which one by one took shape in the mind of that ill-starred man, Morris Monk. As yet, however, let the student of his history understand, they were not tinged with the slightest "arriere-pensee." He did not guess even that such relations as already existed between Stella and himself might lead to grievous trouble; that at least they were scarcely wise in the case of a man engaged.  QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. Did Stella ever get in the way?
2. Was the young lady, Stella, ever in the way?
3. 
Q2:
1. What did Stella get that made her distinctly good looking?
2. What made the young lady, Stella, get that made her look distinctly good looking?
3. 
Q3:
1. Did the clothes that Stella get make her look ugly?
2. Did Stella's clothes make her look ugly?
3. 
Q4:
1. How did Stella appear after buying some new clothes?
2. What was Stella's appearance subsequent to the purchase of suitable clothes?
3. 
Q5:
1. Was Stella a stupid person?
2. Would one describe Stella as being unintelligent?
3. 
