information, Piers Otway lost count of time, and
at last had to hurry to keep his engagement. As he entered the house in
Queen's Gate, a mirrored image of himself made him uneasy about his
costume. But for Daniel, such a point would never have troubled him. It
was with an unfamiliar sense of Irritation and misgiving that he moved
into the drawing-room.

A man of sixty or so, well preserved, with a warm complexion, broad
homely countenance and genial smile, stepped forward to receive him.
Mr. Jacks was member for the Penistone Division of the West Riding; new
to Parliament, having entered with the triumphant Liberals in the
January of this year 1886. His friends believed, and it seemed
credible, that he had sought election to please the lady whom, as a
widower of twenty years' endurance, he had wedded only a short time
before; politics interested him but moderately, and the greater part of
his life had been devoted to the manufacturing business which brought
him wealth and local influence. Not many people remembered that in the
days of his youth John Jacks had been something of a Revolutionist,
that he had supported the People's Charter; that he had written, nay
had published, verses of democratic tenor, earning thereby dark
reputation in the respectable society of his native town. The
turning-point was his early marriage. For a while he still wrote
verses--of another kind, but he ceased to talk about liberty, ceased to
attend public meetings, and led an entirely private life until, years
later, his name became reputably connected with municipal affairs.
Observing Mr. Jacks' face, one saw the possibility of that early
enthusiasm; he had fine eyes full of subdued tenderness, and something
youthful, impulsive, in his expression when he uttered a thought.
Good-humoured, often merry, abounding in kindness and generosity, he
passed for a man as happy as he was prosperous; yet those who talked
intimately with him obtained now and then a glimpse of something not
quite in harmony with these characteristics, a touch of what would be
called fancifulness, of uncertain spirits. Men of his world knew that
he was not particularly shrewd in commerce; the great business to which
his name was attached had been established by his father, and was kept
flourishing mainly by the energy of his younger brother. As an
occasional lecturer before his townsfolk, he gave evidence of wide
reading and literary aptitudes. Of three children of his firs