Disappointed of the fortune, Bocaros had to keep on teaching at the suburban¹ school. He disliked the drudgery² of the task, and hated the boys who did not always treat him respectfully. The poor man had a miserable³ time, and the loneliness of his life at the Refuge did not tend to cheer him. What with his disappointment, the dampness of his house, his straitened circumstances, let alone the fact that he was in love, Professor Bocaros found life very hard.  
He really adored Emily Doon. As she had told Jasher, Bocaros had rescued her from the insults of a ruffian, and since then she had been kind to the lawman. At first it did not enter her head to marry him, as she knew how desperately⁴ poor he was. But Bocaros was a gentleman, and Emily warmly desired to marry above her rank. She was a handsome, ambitious girl with some education, and from reading novels such as Mrs. Baldwin loved, she became imbued⁵ with the idea that she was destined⁶ for a romantic life. Her visions included a title, a large income, beautiful dresses, and the envy of every one she knew. She painted a picture of her calling as a countess on Mrs. Fane and of crushing that stately lady with patronage⁷. Emily did not like Mrs. Fane very much, as she found her a somewhat severe mistress. Therefore she was anxious to marry as soon as possible. But those who sought her hand were in trade, and Bocaros was the only gentleman who seemed to admire her in a genteel and respectful way.
 
The conversation with Jasher put a different complexion⁸ on the affair. According to the professor's man of business, who certainly must know what he was talking about, Bocaros was a baron⁹, and was likely to come in for money. It was true that no details had been given, but the mere¹⁰ hint was sufficient for Emily. She at once decided¹¹ to encourage the professor instead of snubbing him, and to this end, having dressed herself in her best things, she went to pay a visit shortly after five o'clock, an hour when she knew Bocaros would be within.
 
The professor was seated over a small fire, staring darkly into its red heart, with folded arms. Outside, the twilight¹² was darkening to night and the wind was rising. But Bocaros did not pay any attention to the doings of nature. He was wrapped up in the contemplation of his own troubles. Already he had finished his frugal¹³ meal and had put away the dishes as was his custom. Usually, having lighted his big pipe, he would read, but on this evening the book lay unopened and the pipe was laid aside. He began to feel keenly his poverty now that he was in love. There seemed to be no chance of his marrying Emily, and so far as he could see, unless he could bend his pride to accept money from Calvert he would have to pass the rest of his days in that damp house until too old to earn his bread. Then the wolf would rush in at the door and drive him to the workhouse. No wonder the poor man was angered by the good fortune of Arnold.
 
When a sharp knock came to the door, Bocaros, wrapped in his gloomy thoughts, took no notice. Again came the knock in a still more peremptory¹⁴ manner. This time he heard, and wondering who was calling on such a recluse¹⁵ as himself, he went to the door. Here he expected to find Tracey or Mrs. Baldwin, who were the only people who ever came to the dull little house in the fields. But when he saw Emily fashionably arrayed, smirking¹⁶ at the door and flashing her great eyes on him, the poor man was so amazed that he fell back a step and gasped¹⁷.
 
"I hope I'm not unwelcome," said Miss Doon, with dignity.
 
"Ah, my dear young lady, enter my humble¹⁸ home," gasped the professor, wondering if this was all "a beautiful dream. How can you think but what I am honoured far beyond my worth."
 
"The foreign style of compliment," simpered Emily entering, "is what I would expect from one of the nobility."
 
"Bocaros did not hear. He conducted her to the study and made her sit in the big armchair. Then he heaped on coals and wood in reckless profusion¹⁹, and volunteered to make his fair visitor a cup of tea.
 
"The English love tea," said the professor, hastening to the kitchen. "In a moment you shall have some, mademoiselle."
 
"How sweet," sighed Emily, who liked the foreign title. But when alone she cast her eyes round the room, and mentally decided that Bocaros was even harder up than she expected to find him. Emily was a shrewd girl where her vanity was not concerned, and had no notion of throwing herself away. Unless she knew for certain that Bocaros was a baron and that the money would really come to him, she decided that she would never permit him to make her his wife. She was fond of fine dress, in which her wages did not permit her to indulge. Already she was in debt, and should the professor propose she knew not how she would be able to get a trousseau together worthy²⁰ of the occasion. "But I can get Fanny to help," thought the astute²¹ Emily. Fanny was Mrs. Varney. "She will do anything when she hears I have decided to marry a foreign nobleman like Count Fosco in the Woman in White!" which comparison was rather hard on the guileless Bocaros.
 
Shortly he returned with a cup of tea. Emily accepted the attention graciously. But the tea was inferior, the china was thick, so she made a wry²² face and drank very little of the comforting beverage²³. The professor did not notice her distaste. He closed the window, drew the threadbare curtains and lighted the lamp. Having made the room as comfortable as was possible he sat down and poked²⁴ the fire into a brighter blaze, then smiled cheerfully at Miss Doon. She was secretly amazed at the result produced by her visit in the man's looks. He appeared to be years younger--there was a colour in his face, a softer light in his aggressive eyes, and his demeanour was almost gay. She thought that if he were better dressed and had more flesh on his poor bones, he might be a handsome man after a sort. She might do worse than marry him, always presuming that he really had a title, and was possessed--in the near future--of money.
 
"You have no idea what pleasure it gives me to see you seated at my poor hearth," said Bocaros, smiling brightly.
 
"It's very nice," replied Emily, also smiling. "But I suppose some day you will be able to afford a better house?"
 
"I might. One never knows, as you English say. And were I rich, do you know what I should do?"
 
"Marry, I suppose. When a gentleman has a house he always looks for a lady to share it."
 
"The difficulty is to get the lady."
 
"Oh, really, sir, in your case there should be no difficulty."
 
Bocaros brightened still more. "Do you really think so, mademoiselle? I am old, I am poor, I have no position, and----"
 
"But a baron has a position!"
 
"Who told you I was a baron?" asked Bocaros suspiciously.
 
"Mr. Jasher, your man of business. Isn't it true?"
 
"Yes," said the Greek slowly, and with his eyes on the fire, "it is strictly²⁵ true. I am a baron in my country, as I come of a noble family. But I dropped the title when I came to teach in England. Yes! I told Jasher I was a baron. How did he come to tell you?"
 
"There was no need for Bocaros to ask this question. Jasher had reported the conversation to him, and had advised him to resume his title if he wished to make an impression on Miss Doon's worldly heart. As a matter of fact Bocaros was really entitled to the title he claimed. He belonged to a decayed family and the title was all that remained. As it was out of keeping in his position, and the man was proud, he never gave any one to understand that he had this rank, and was contented²⁶ with the appellation²⁷ of professor. Unused to the ways of women, it had never struck him that the title would be of value in Miss Doon's eyes when it was not gilded²⁸ with money. But he saw from her looks that she really thought a great deal of it, and mentally thanked Jasher for having supplied him with this bird-lime to lure²⁹ his fowl³⁰.
 
"How delightful³¹!" said Miss Doon. "And your wife will be a baroness³²?"
 
"Oh yes. But where am I to find a wife?"
 
Emily's eyes told him, but with the ineradicable coquetry of a woman her tongue contradicted her glances. "Good gracious me, baron"--she rolled the sweet morsel³³ on her tongue--"how should I know? Really I wish you would not look at me like that. It's hardly proper for a young lady to call on a foreign nobleman. I believe they are not to be trusted. The noblemen, you know--so gay and dashing they are."
 
Bocaros laughed a little sadly. "I fear I am anything but that," he said. "Not at all the bridegroom for you."
 
"Really, professor--I must call you by the dear old name--I hope you are not making a proposal."
 
"Does it offend you?" asked Bocaros timidly.
 
"I'm sure I don't know. I have never been proposed to before, as I have always been hard to suit."
 
"Would I suit you?"
 
"Miss Doon having extracted a direct question got to business at once, but veiled her common-sense under a delightful confusion. I really don't know, baron--I must call you by that name, it sounds so high-class--real............