their meeting. But eventually it came about in the
most natural manner in the world, and if anybody had peeped into the
shady drawing-room just at the time when Austin's train was steaming
into the station, there would certainly have been nothing in the scene
to suggest any tragedy or romance whatever. Aunt Charlotte, in a
pretty white lace _fichu_ set off with rose-coloured bows, was
dispensing tea with hospitable smiles, while Martha handed cakes and
poured a fresh supply of hot water into the teapot. Opposite, sat the
long expected visitor; no lean, brown adventurer, no Indian nabob, and
certainly no artist, but a tallish, large-featured, and somewhat
portly gentleman, with a ruddy complexion, good teeth, and a general
air of prosperity. His fashionable pale-grey frock-coat, evidently the
work of a good tailor, fitted him like a glove; he wore, also, a white
waistcoat, a gold eye-glass, and patent leather shoes. His appearance,
in short, was that of a thoroughly well-groomed, though slightly
over-dressed, London man; and he impressed both Martha and Aunt
Charlotte with being a very fine gentleman indeed, for his manners
were simply perfect, if perhaps a little studied. He dropped his
gloves into his hat with a graceful gesture as he accepted a cup of
tea, and then, turning to his hostess, said----

"It is indeed delightful to meet you after all these years; it seems
to bring back old times so vividly. And the years have dealt very
gently with you, my dear friend. I should have known you anywhere."

It was not quite certain to Aunt Charlotte whether she could
truthfully have returned the compliment. There are some elderly people
in whom it is the easiest thing in the world to recognise the features
of their youth. Allow for a little accentuation of facial lines, a
little roughening of the skin, a little modification in the
arrangement of the hair, and the face is virtually the same. Aunt
Charlotte herself was one of these, but Granville Ogilvie was not. She
might even have passed him in the street. That he was the man she had
known was beyond question, but there was a puffiness under the eyes
and a fulness about the cheeks that altered the general effect of his
appearance, and in spite of his modish dress and elaborate manners he
seemed to have grown just a little coarse. Still, remembering what a
bird of passage he had been, and the many experiences he must have had
by land and sea, all that was not to be wondered