Hugh got up from his chair and stood
opposite to Mr. Frost, looking at him with
a very stern face. And his voice was louder
than usual as he answered: "But the thing
will rest on my testimony. And I have
already told you to what effect my testimony
will be." And he walked out of the office
without another word.

Mr. Frost stood without moving for some
time after Hugh was gone. Then he
clasped his hands over his head wearily.
"It maybe," thought he, "that the
marriage on shipboard was begun earlier than I
fancied. People are so vague about time.
We must make proper inquiries. But, by
Jove, it will be a wonderfully close run!"

CHAPTER IV. GOSSIP.

"I DON'T believe a word of it!" said Mrs.
Lovegrove.

"My dear!" remonstrated her husband.

"I do not," repeated Mrs. Lovegrove,
distinctly. Then she added, " Now I put it
to you, Augustus, does this thing stand to
reason?"

"It may not stand to reason, and yet it
may be true, mamma. When a woman is
in the case, things very often do not stand
to reason: but they happen all the same,"
observed Augustus Lovegrove, junior.

There had been for some time past, a tone
of bitterness and misanthropy observable in
this young gentleman's language and man-
ners. He also frequented matins with
inflexible punctuality, and dined off boiled
greens and bread, on Wednesdays and
Fridays. This severe self- discipline and
mortification was attributed by his mother
and sisters to a disappointed attachment to
Miss Desmond. But no word was ever
spoken on the subject in the family when
Augustus was present.

"Why, yes;" said Mr. Lovegrove, gravely.
"As regards men or women either, many
things happen which one can't exactly say
stand to reason."

"I have been told," said Mrs. Lovegrove,
making her upper lip very long, "that my
intellect is too logical for a woman's. If it
be so, I cannot help it. But, I repeat, I can
not believe that that man;" here Mrs.
Lovegrove shuddered; " committed such a
horrible act of injustice at the very brink of
the grave."

"I don't see anything surprising in it. The
man had been committing horrible acts of
injustice all his life; and there was no reason
to expect him to become a changed man at
the last moment. Besides, it is not a question
of what anybody thinks, or of what seems
likely or unlikely. The marriage either
can be proved or it can not," said Mr.
Lovegrove, folding back his Times
newspaper so as to read it more conveniently,
and giving it a sharp tap with the back of
his hand.

"I would not for the world, that the girls
heard this repulsive story mentioned," said
Mrs. Lovegrove.

"I don't see how you're to keep it from
them," replied her husband. " They hap-
pen to be spending the day out, to-day: but
that is only once in a way. They will be
at home to-morrow, and you can't prevent
people chattering."

And, indeed, it was not long before the
Miss Lovegroves were informed of the
decease of Lady Tallis Gale's husband; and
had heard of the person who claimed to be
his widow; and of the large fortune depending
on the issue; and of a great many
details respecting the innermost thoughts
and feelings of the parties concerned.

The Lovegroves' servants knew the story.
So did the Frosts'. So did the little maid-
of-all-work at Mrs. Lockwood's: and she
retailed the relishing gossip to the
greengrocer's wife, and to the baker, and to the
milkman: and like a rolling snow-ball, the
tale grew in the telling.

Mrs. Lovegrove, after her declaration of
unbelief, sat and pondered on the
extraordinary caprice of fortune which was said
to have occurred.

She did not believe it. No; she did not
believe it! But she should like to hear a
few more particulars. It was really a long
time since she had called on Mrs. Frost.
Heaven forbid that she, Sarah Lovegrove,
should be the one to bring dissension
between partners! Poor Mrs. Frost's weak
vanity was objectionable. But, not for that
would she abstain from paying her due
civility, so long as such civility were not
incompatible with principle. Sarah
Lovegrove had ever been considered to possess
a masculine intelligence, superior to the
petty foibles of her sex.

The upshot of Mrs. Lovegrove's meditations
was, that she sent for the fly which
was hired out from an adjacent livery stable,
and was driven in state to Mr. Frost's
residence.

It was a good opportunity. Her daughters
were absent; and she would run no
risk of contaminating their ears with the
details of a kind of story with which, alas!
elder persons were obliged to be acquainted
in their journey through the world!

Mrs. Lovegrove always arrayed herself