from those whose motives could not be questioned." He dismissed
the head gardener, and he was actually contemplating the discharge
of the French cook, though he well foresaw the storm of opposition so
strong a measure was sure to evoke. When he came to sum up his reforms
he was shocked to find that the total only reached a little over twelve
hundred pounds, and this in a household of many thousands.

Was not Castello, too, a mistake? Was not all this princely style
of living, in a county without a neighborhood, totally unvisited by
strangers, a capital blunder? He had often heard of the cheapness of
life in Ireland; and what a myth it was! He might have lived in Norfolk
for what he was spending in Downshire, and though he meant to do great
things for the country, a doubt was beginning to steal over him as to
how they were to be done. He had often insisted that absenteeism was the
bane of Ireland, and yet for the life of him he could not see how his
residence there was to prove a blessing.

Lady Augusta, with her separate establishment, was spending above three
thousand a year. Poor man, he was grumbling to himself over this, when
that precious document from the bank arrived with the astounding news
of her immense extravagance. He laid her letter down again; he had not
temper to read it. It was so sure to be one of those frivolous little
levities which jar so painfully on serious feelings. He knew so well
the half-jestful, excuses she would make for her wastefulness, the
coquettish prettinesses she would deploy in describing her daily life
of mock simplicity, and utter recklessness as to cost, that he muttered,
"Not now," to himself, as he pushed the letter away. And as he did so
he discovered a letter in the hand of Mr. Sedley, his law agent. He had
himself written a short note to that gentleman, at Jack's request; for
Jack--who, like all sailors, believed in a First Lord, and implicitly
felt that no promotion ever came rightfully--wanted a special
introduction to the great men at Somerset House, a service which Sedley,
who knew every one, could easily render him. This note of Sedley's then,
doubtless, referred to that matter, and though Bramleigh did not feel
any great or warm interest in the question, he broke the envelope to
read it rather as a relief than otherwise. It was at least a new topic,
and it could not be a very exciting one. The letter ran thus:--

"Tuesday, January 15.

"My dear Sir,--

"Hicklay will