a
small society composed chiefly of artists and scholars, and is never so
happy as when she can aid some child of genius,--more especially if his
country be England.

The squire and his wife still flourish at Hazeldean, where Captain
Barnabas Higginbotham has taken up his permanent abode. The captain is a
confirmed hypochondriac; but he brightens up now and then when he hears
of any illness in the family of Mr. Sharpe Currie, and, at such times,
is heard to murmur, "If those seven sickly children should go off, I
might still have very great--EXPECTATIONS,"--for the which he has been
roundly scolded by the squire, and gravely preached at by the parson.
Upon both, however, he takes his revenge in a fair and gentlemanlike
way, three times a week, at the whist-table, the parson no longer having
the captain as his constant partner, since a fifth now generally cuts
in at the table,--in the person of that old enemy and neighbour, Mr.
Sticktorights. The parson, thus fighting his own battles unallied to the
captain, observes with melancholy surprise that there is a long run of
luck against him, and that he does not win so much as he used to
do. Fortunately that is the sole trouble--except Mrs. Dale's "little
tempers," to which he is accustomed--that ever disturbs the serene tenor
of the parson's life. We must now explain how Mr. Sticktorights came
to cut in at the Hazeldean whist-table. Frank has settled at the Casino
with a wife who suits him exactly, and that wife was Miss Sticktorights.
It was two years before Frank recovered the disappointment with which
the loss of Beatrice saddened his spirits, but sobered his habits and
awoke his reflection. An affection, however misplaced and ill-requited,
if honestly conceived and deeply felt, rarely fails to advance the
self-education of man. Frank became steady and serious; and, on a visit
to Hazeldean, met at a county ball Miss Sticktorights, and the two young
persons were instantly attracted towards each other, perhaps by the
very feud that had so long existed between their houses. The marriage
settlements were nearly abandoned, at the last moment, by a discussion
between the parents as to the Right of Way; but the dispute was happily
appeased by Mr. Dale's suggestion that as both properties would
be united in the children of the proposed marriage, all cause for
litigation would naturally cease, since no man would go to law with
himself. Mr. Sticktorights and Mr. Hazeldean, however