sit.'

For by this time the amused look had gone out of her face, and she
seemed to have grown sensible of the great kindness these people were
trying to show her.

Dinner went on, and the conversation rested mainly between Mr. Alfred,
who was asking questions about the people in the neighbourhood, and the
Vicar, who answered him. But when anything amusing was said, it was
addressed to Mrs. Alfred, or else they looked to see whether she was
pleased; and she received a great deal of attention from the old
gentleman next her, and had many kind things said to her by his wife.
But Mrs. Alfred's face grew more and more strange. She seemed
depressed and troubled--timid at the same time and self-conscious; once
or twice her lips were tremulous. And then all at once she rose, and
quickly went to where Mrs. King sat, and threw herself on her knees,
and clasped the old lady's knees, and burst into a wild fit of sobbing
and crying. The old lady turned very pale, and put her hand on the
younger woman's head gently. The servants pretended to see nothing.
Mr. Alfred flushed angrily, and said--

'Jinny, don't make a fool of yourself. Go back to your seat.'

Then the elder woman raised her, with a tenderness and compassion not
altogether assumed, and led her back, saying--

'You are tired, my dear. I thought you looked tired, my dear. We will
let you go soon to bed tonight.'

Then everybody talked at once, and the little incident seemed easily
forgotten. Moreover, as the evening progressed, old Stephen King
convinced himself that he had done what was best for the bygone Kings
of Kingscourt and any Kings of Kingscourt there might be. He would pay
off his son's debts once more. These two would be content to remain
for years in the country, till bygones should be bygones elsewhere; and
even in the country the neighbours might pretend to a convenient
ignorance. The Vicar would help him.

The Vicar and his wife left about ten; Mr. and Mrs. Alfred retired
early; the various agitations that had shaken the old silver-haired
dame gave place to a quiescence that was in a measure hopeful. Then
sleep overtook the old manor-house, and the silence of the night.

About midnight there was a loud crash in the dining-room. Certain of
the servants slept on the ground-floor for safety's sake; and the first
one--indeed, the only one--to be thoroughly aroused by this sudden
noise was the butler, a young man who had inherited the posit