considered the vicarage to be no
longer a pleasant or desirable home for
Maud Desmond. But of these they did
not speak to her fully.

"Perhaps it may be all idle gossip and
rumour," said Captain Sheardown, half
interrogatively, to his wife.

"Perhaps it may," she returned, with an
expressive shake of the head.

"At all events, there is no need to vex
Maud with what may turn out to be all
false, vulgar scandal."

"No need at all, dear. But it is not
very easy to me to dissemble. Once or
twice lately Maud has spoken with some
anxiety of the vicar, and I assure you it has
been on the tip of my tongue to tell her the
report we had heard."

"Gulp it down again, like a brave little
woman."

Meanwhile the reappearance of Veronica
in her new character of Princess de'
Barletti, was the theme of discussion and
animadversion in half the houses in the
county. Mrs. Begbie had nearly fainted
when she heard it. She had said to her
maid, who had first conveyed the information
to her, "No, Tomlins. I cannot
believe you. I will not, I must not, think so
evil of my own sex." When subsequently
the atrocious fact had been confirmed, Mrs.
Begbie had been thrown into quite a low,
nervous state by it. The sight of her
innocent Emmie, and the recollection that
that pure scion of the united houses of Gaffer
and de Wynkyn had been in the same room,
had actually breathed the same air with
that creature, was too much for her. But
finally Mrs. Begbie had found strength to
rouse herself, and to take a stand against
the barefaced audacity of continental
corruption, as she characterised the visit of the
Prince and Princess de' Barletti to the
Crown Inn at Shipley Magna. Such, at
least, was Mrs. Begbie's own account of
the various phases of feeling she had gone
through. Lady Alicia Renwick was very
grim and sarcastic on the occasion.
Disapproving Veronica's proceeding quite as
strongly as Mrs. Begbie ladydisapproved it, her
ladyship could not resist the pleasure of
metaphorically digging her sharp beak into
the pulpy self-complacency of Miss Emma.

"Aye," she said, dryly. " It's a curious
social fact that yon brazen flirt, without a
penny to her tocher, as we say in the north,
should have got two husbands (for, ye
know, that wretch Gale married her), one
a baronet and the other a prince, no less—
and the young fellow really and truly
well born; the Barlettis come of an
illustrious line—that that good-for-nothing
hussy, I say, should get two such husbands
by nothing in the world but her handsome
face, whilst so many of our virtuous young
virgins can't manage to get married for the
life of them. And dear knows it isn't for
want of energy in trying, as far as my
observation goes."

"Lady Alicia," said Mrs. Begbie, with
dignity, " no well brought-up young girl
would put forth the—the lures, for so I
must call them—which I have seen
exercised by that—creature! Men are
unfortunately weak enough to be attracted by
that sort of thing."

"Oh, men are fools enough for anything,
I grant you," replied Lady Alicia, giving
up the male sex en masse with the greatest
liberality.

"They tell me," pursued Mrs. Begbie, w
ho, despite her virtuous indignation,
seemed unable to quit the discussion of
Veronica's altered fortunes, "that this—
person—has brought down a carriage and
horses—splendid horses!—and a suite of
servants with her to the Crown Inn. And
her dress is something incredible in its
extravagance. She makes three toilets a
day—"

"Four, mamma," put in Miss Begbie.

"Emmie! I beseech you not to enter
into this topic. Indeed, I regret that it
has ever been mentioned before you at all."

"Oh, I don't think it will do Miss
Emmie any harm," said Lady Alicia, with
an inscrutable face.

"No, Lady Alicia. You are right. I
feel obliged to you for judging my child so
correctly. But still it is a pity that the
bloom of youthful freshness should be
injured by a too early acquaintance with
the wickedness of the world!"

"And they say she paints awfully!"
observed Miss Begbie, in whose mind the
word "bloom" had conjured up by
association this crowning iniquity of Veronica.

Mrs. Begbie executed a quite gymnastic
shudder.

"It positively makes me ill to think of
her!" said she.

"H'm. I don't remember that ye were
so overcome when the girl first ran off,
were you? Aye? Well, my memory may
be at fault. But I understand very well it
is aggravating to people—especially to
people with daughters—to see that sort of
thing flourishing and prospering."

"Vice, Lady Alicia, never prospers in the
long run!"