“Why, you have always been in earnest!” said Agnes, laughing again.

“Oh! that was as a child, or a schoolboy,” said I, laughing in my turn, not without being a little shamefaced. “Times are altering now, and I suppose I shall be in a terrible state of earnestness one day or other. My wonder is, that you are not in earnest yourself, by this time, Agnes.”

Agnes laughed again, and shook her head.