nour of being one of her admirers and friends, he made
more especial inquiries about the Earl.

"You will see a great change in my father," said Nora, "but your coming
will, I feel sure, do him good. You know more about our affairs than we
do. I only hope things are not worse than he supposes, and if they are,
I must ask you to conceal the truth from him; I am afraid it would do
him no good to make him aware of it, and would only deeply grieve him.
I care not so much if I only am the sufferer."

"You need not be alarmed, my dear Lady Nora," answered the old man,
taking her hand. "Things are not worse than the Earl supposes; on the
contrary, I have of late seen the importance of not allowing him to
believe that they were improving as much as they have been. You know,
probably, your good father's disposition, and are aware, that had he
discovered this, he would very quickly have launched out again into his
old habits of extravagance, which, however, from the sad account you
give of him, he is not now likely to do, and therefore I am prepared to
tell him the whole truth. Your affairs, Lady Nora, require nursing, I
will confess to that, and careful management, but a few years of economy
will, I hope, place them on a satisfactory footing."

"This is indeed pleasant news you bring us, Mr Finlayson, I own when I
heard that you had consented to come, that I feared things were rather
worse than better, but I am indeed very grateful to you for coming; you
have always been one of our truest friends, and I am sure at the present
moment you will be a great comfort to my poor father. I will let the
Earl know of your arrival, and I am sure he will be glad to see you at
once. During the last few days he has grown very much weaker, and his
medical attendant will not tell me what he thinks of his case. He
himself speaks very willingly to our friend and neighbour, Mr Jamieson,
who, when I ask him what he thinks, always looks very grave, and
replies, `that the lives of all of us are in God's hands, and that we
should be prepared to lose those we love at any moment.' This makes me,
as you may suppose, extremely anxious."

While Lady Nora was speaking the old gentleman became very serious.

"I should like to see the Earl as soon as possible," he observed; "I
have several matters of importance to consult him about, which I should
not like to put off until he becomes still weaker than you tell me he is
at present. You will excuse