terests, and say 'Yes.' X. Y. Z.
is not at all a bad fellow, I can tell you. You'll see him when we go
to Thorpe Ambrose; and I rather think you and he will get on uncommonly
well together."

The humorous twinkle in Allan's eye, the sly significance in Allan's
voice, would have betrayed his secret to a prosperous man. Midwinter was
as far from suspecting it as the carpenters who were at work above them
on the deck of the yacht.

"Is there no steward now on the estate?" he asked, his face showing
plainly that he was far from feeling satisfied with Allan's answer. "Is
the business neglected all this time?"

"Nothing of the sort!" returned Allan. "The business is going with 'a
wet sheet and a flowing sea, and a wind that follows free.' I'm not
joking; I'm only metaphorical. A regular accountant has poked his nose
into the books, and a steady-going lawyer's clerk attends at the office
once a week. That doesn't look like neglect, does it? Leave the new
steward alone for the present, and just tell me which of those two
tenants you would take, if you were in my place."

Midwinter opened the proposals, and read them attentively.

The first proposal was from no less a person than the solicitor at
Thorpe Ambrose, who had first informed Allan at Paris of the large
fortune that had fallen into his hands. This gentleman wrote personally
to say that he had long admired the cottage, which was charmingly
situated within the limits of the Thorpe Ambrose grounds. He was
a bachelor, of studious habits, desirous of retiring to a country
seclusion after the wear and tear of his business hours; and he ventured
to say that Mr. Armadale, in accepting him as a tenant, might count
on securing an unobtrusive neighbor, and on putting the cottage into
responsible and careful hands.

The second proposal came through the house agent, and proceeded from a
total stranger. The tenant who offered for the cottage, in this case,
was a retired officer in the army--one Major Milroy. His family merely
consisted of an invalid wife and an only child--a young lady. His
references were unexceptionable; and he, too, was especially anxious to
secure the cottage, as the perfect quiet of the situation was exactly
what was required by Mrs. Milroy in her feeble state of health.

"Well, which profession shall I favor?" asked Allan. "The army or the
law?"

"There seems to me to be no doubt about it," said Midwinter. "The lawyer
has been already in correspondenc