dingly written to decline the proposal made to him without
consulting Mr. Brock, whose disapproval he had good reason to fear; and
without telling Midwinter, who would probably (if a chance were allowed
him of choosing) have declined taking a situation which his previous
training had by no means fitted him to fill.

Further correspondence had followed this decision, and had raised two
new difficulties which looked a little embarrassing on the face of them,
but which Allan, with the assistance of his lawyer, easily contrived to
solve. The first difficulty, of examining the outgoing steward's books,
was settled by sending a professional accountant to Thorpe Ambrose; and
the second difficulty, of putting the steward's empty cottage to some
profitable use (Allan's plans for his friend comprehending Midwinter's
residence under his own roof), was met by placing the cottage on the
list of an active house agent in the neighboring county town. In this
state the arrangements had been left when Allan quitted London. He had
heard and thought nothing more of the matter, until a letter from his
lawyers had followed him to the Isle of Man, inclosing two proposals
to occupy the cottage, both received on the same day, and requesting to
hear, at his earliest convenience, which of the two he was prepared to
accept.

Finding himself, after having conveniently forgotten the subject for
some days past, placed face to face once more with the necessity for
decision, Allan now put the two proposals into his friend's hands, and,
after a rambling explanation of the circumstances of the case, requested
to be favored with a word of advice. Instead of examining the proposals,
Midwinter unceremoniously put them aside, and asked the two very natural
and very awkward questions of who the new steward was to be, and why he
was to live in Allan's house?

"I'll tell you who, and I'll tell you why, when we get to Thorpe
Ambrose," said Allan. "In the meantime we'll call the steward X. Y. Z.,
and we'll say he lives with me, because I'm devilish sharp, and I mean
to keep him under my own eye. You needn't look surprised. I know the man
thoroughly well; he requires a good deal of management. If I offered him
the steward's place beforehand, his modesty would get in his way, and he
would say 'No.' If I pitch him into it neck and crop, without a word of
warning and with nobody at hand to relieve him of the situation, he'll
have nothing for it but to consult my in