vague word about your kind regards, and
that affairs were going well. But, of
course, neither you nor I can pretend to
each other that there was any satisfaction
in that! I dare say it was all very well as
regards other people."

Mr. Frost commanded himself with an
effort. Even whilst he repressed the rising
temper, he told himself that it was cruelly
hard that he should always have to be
smooth and civil, whilst every one else
he knew could have the satisfaction of
lashing out when they were irritated; he
wavered up to the instant when his lips
began to form the words of his reply as to
whether he should not give way and ease
his goaded spirit at whatever cost!

"Well, Zillah," he answered, "I have
good news for you."

"Thank God!"

"At least, I suppose it will be considered
to be good news. At Hugh's age I should
have thought it so."

"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, with a
weary sigh. " If there can be a question
about its goodness, your ' good news ' is not
good enough."

"Hugh has the offer of a position which
may be the stepping-stone to fortune. The
directors of the Parthenope Embellishment
Company will be happy to employ him, on
my recommendation, for a twelvemonth
certain. And it is a kind of employment
which must bring him into notice. The
salary offered is most liberal. The
residence in such a charming place as Naples
will be——- "

"It is of no use. Not the least, Sidney,"
interposed Mrs. Lockwood. She had not
called him by his Christian name for
years. And the return of the once familiar
appellation to her tongue, was a proof of
unwonted excitement in her.

"No use! No use!"

"It is of no use at all, if what you have
to offer Hugh involves exile to a foreign
country. I was in hopes that you had
something better to tell me than that. I
was in hopes that ——— "

"Exile!" repeated Mr. Frost, impatiently
interrupting her. " What nonsense!
Exile to Naples! How can a woman of
your sense talk in that way? One would
think I was proposing to send him to Sierra Leone."

"If you were, it would not be
more unlikely that Hugh should accept it. He
has made up his mind to set up for himself.
He has formed new ties, and assumed new
responsibilities. Captain Sheardown has
offered to try to help Hugh to raise the
necessary sum for the purchase of a
business in Daneshire. If Captain
Sheardown had the money himself I believe he
would advance it directly. But he is not
rich enough."

"Is Hugh married?" asked Mr. Frost,
abruptly.

"No: but he has engaged himself to
Maud Desmond."

Mr. Frost felt on the whole relieved. If
these friends would advance the money
that Hugh needed, it might be a reprieve for
him, Sidney Frost.
And then —then it was possible that the
money might never be needed at all!
How good that would be! What an
excellent way out of the difficulties that
beset him, what an admirable postponement
(not cancelling, oh no! Of course
Hugh's money should be paid when the
fortune that was budding for every one
connected with the Parthenope Embellishment
Company should be full-blown) of
the debt that weighed on him so irksomely!
What a deserved solace to the anxieties
of the widowed mother whose heart was
heavy with care and self-reproach!

"Engaged himself, has he?"

"Yes."

"Then the family difficulties I once
hinted at—on the score of rank, you
know—have been got over?"

"Lady Tallis, the poor woman who died
here, was very fond of Hugh. I think
that at first she did not quite like the idea
of her niece's marrying him, though. But
she was as soft as wax, poor soul, and
hadn't a real 'no' in her. And the girl
loves him very much."

A stranger might have detected no
discontent in Zillah's voice or words. But
Mr. Frost knew her well, and he was sure
that her son's engagement did not
altogether please her.

"It is not so bad a match for Hugh after
all," said he. "It is true that I did not
like the idea when you first spoke of this
thing as being likely, but —— It might
have been worse. Miss Desmond has very
little— a mere pittance— but small as her
dowry is, it may be useful to Hugh."

"Maud wanted to give it all to him, to
purchase this business with. But ——-"

"But I suppose her trustees wouldn't
hear of that?"

"Hugh would not hear of that! He is
resolved that every shilling she has be
settled tightly on herself."

"That is so like Hugh!"