e. The meal was served with some
ceremony, although the bill of fare was frugal except when game could be
shot and, as a rule, nobody but Osborn talked much. Now he had satisfied
his appetite he looked about the spacious room. The handsome, molded
ceiling was dark from neglect and the cornice was stained by damp. The
light of the setting sun streamed in through the long casement window
which commanded the shining tarn and the woods that melted into shadow at
the mouth of the dale. It was a noble view, but it did not hold Osborn's
eyes, for the quivering sunbeams searched out the faded spots on the
curtains and the worn patches on the rugs on the polished floor.

"We need a number of new things and I don't know how they're to be
got," he remarked, and when Mrs. Osborn said nothing knitted his brows.
He had put away some money for renovations, but it had gone. One could
not keep money at Tarnside; it vanished and left nothing to show how it
had been spent.

"I understand young Askew is back at Ashness," he resumed, looking
hard at Grace.

"Yes," said Grace. "I met him not long since."

Osborn frowned. He knew she had met Kit, but did not know if he liked her
candor. The girl was independent, but he thought she now understood the
responsibilities of her rank.

"The fellow is obviously prosperous, since he's spending a large sum on
draining. I saw a big stack of pipes and a number of men at work. My
opinion is it's a ridiculous waste of money."

"Perhaps there are worse extravagances," Grace rejoined. "I expect he has
some hope of getting his money back by growing better crops. Ours goes
and never returns."

Mrs. Osborn gave her a warning glance. Osborn hated contradiction and
Grace and he often jarred, but the girl smiled.

"Father and I are not going to quarrel about Mr. Askew's farming; it is
not worth while," she said and studied Osborn with half-penitent
sympathy.

The strong light touched his face, forcing up the deep lines and
wrinkles, and she thought he was getting older fast. His eyes were dull
and his shoulders were slightly bent. She knew about some of his troubles
and suspected others, but the stamp of indulgence that had got plainer in
the last year or two disturbed her.

"The Askews seem fated to give me trouble," he went on. "Now the fellow
has begun to drain, his neighbors will expect me to do so. In fact, Black
and Pattinson bothered Hayes about some plans for buying pipes when they
paid their