mer had devoted two hours of consideration to the letter
before the telegram had come to relieve his mind by a fresh subject,
and in those two hours he had not been able to extract much of
comfort out of the document. It was, as he felt, a stubborn,
stiff-necked, disobedient, almost rebellious letter. It contained
a manifest defiance of his mother, and exhibited doctrines of most
questionable morality. It had become to him a matter of doubt whether
he could possibly marry a woman who could entertain such ideas and
write such a letter. If the doubt was to be decided in his own mind
against Clara, he had better show the letter at once to his mother,
and allow her ladyship to fight the battle for him;--a task which,
as he well knew, her ladyship would not be slow to undertake. But he
had not succeeded in answering the question satisfactorily to himself
when the telegram arrived and diverted all his thoughts. Now that Mr.
Amedroz was dead, the whole thing might be different. Clara would
come away from Belton and Mrs. Askerton, and begin life, as it were,
afresh. It seemed as though in such an emergency she ought to have
another chance; and therefore he did not hasten to pronounce his
judgment. Lady Aylmer also felt something of this, and forbore to
press her question when it was not answered.

"She will have to leave Belton now, I suppose?" said Sir Anthony.

"The property will belong to a distant cousin,--a Mr. William
Belton."

"And where will she go?" said Lady Aylmer. "I suppose she has no
place that she can call her home?"

"Would it not be a good thing to ask her here?" said Belinda. Such
a question as that was very rash on the part of Miss Aylmer. In the
first place, the selection of guests for Aylmer Park was rarely left
to her; and in this special case she should have understood that such
a proposal should have been fully considered by Lady Aylmer before it
reached Frederic's ears.

"I think it would be a very good plan," said Captain Aylmer,
generously.

Lady Aylmer shook her head. "I should like much to know what she has
said about that unfortunate connection before I offer to take her by
the hand myself. I'm sure Fred will feel that I ought to do so."

But Fred retreated from the room without showing the letter. He
retreated from the room and betook himself to solitude, that he might
again endeavour to make up his mind as to what he would do. He put
on his hat and his great-coat and gloves, and went off