lf the world," he said to himself, stubbornly--"I shall
understand her!"

But his mother?--his friends?--his colleagues? He knew well his mother's
ambitions for him, and the place that he held in her heart. Could he
without cruelty impose upon her such a daughter as Kitty Bristol?
Well!--his mother had a very large experience of life, and much natural
independence of mind. He trusted her to see the promise in this untamed
and gifted creature; he counted on the sense of power that Lady Tranmore
possessed, and which would but find new scope in the taming of Kitty.

But Kitty's mother? Kitty must, of course, be rescued from Madame
d'Estrees--must find a new and truer mother in Lady Tranmore. But money
would do it; and money must be lavished.

Then, almost for the first time, Ashe felt a conscious delight in wealth
and birth. <i>Panache</i>? He could give it her--the little, wild, lovely
thing! Luxury, society, adoration--all should be hers. She should be so
loved and cherished, she must needs love in turn.

His dreams were delicious; and the sudden fear into which he fell at the
end lest after all Kitty should mock and turn from him, was only in
truth another pleasure. No delay! Circumstances might develop at any
moment and sweep her from him. Now or never must he snatch her from
difficulty and disgrace--let hostile tongues wag as they pleased--and
make her his.

His political future? He knew well the influence which, in these days of
universal publicity, a man's private affairs may have on his public
career. And in truth his heart was in that career, and the thought of
endangering it hurt him. Certainly it would recommend him to nobody that
he should marry Madame d'Estrees' daughter. On the other hand, what
favor did he want of anybody? save what work and "knowing more than the
other fellows" might compel? The cynic in him was well aware that he had
already what other men fought for--family, money, and position. Society
must accept his wife; and Kitty, once mellowed by happiness and praise,
might live, laugh, and rattle as she pleased.

As to strangeness and caprice, the modern world delights in them; "the
violent take it by force." There is, indeed, a dividing-line; but it was
a love-marriage that should keep Kitty on the safe side of it.

He stood lost in a very ecstasy of resolve, when suddenly there was a
sharp movement outside, and a flash of white among the yew hedges
bordering the formal garden on which his