laughingly
asserted that I inspired her; and she added that I was the only person
she knew who never bored or wearied her. Yes, no matter how awkward
the written words may look, I know I was convinced that, if I should
set myself to do it, I could woo and win this charming woman, whose
first name, by the way, I did not then know.

I did not know Mrs. Oldcastle's precise circumstances, of course, but
there were many ways in which I gathered that she was rather rich than
poor. A young Australian among the passengers volunteered to me the
information that this lady had been the sole legatee of her late
husband, who had owned stations in South Australia and in Queensland
certainly worth some hundreds of thousands of pounds. Few men could be
less attracted than myself by a prospect of controlling a large
fortune or extensive properties. But, as against that, whilst marriage
with any one possessed of no means would have been mere folly for me,
the possession of ample means would remove the most obvious barriers
between myself and matrimony.

It was passing strange, I thought, that a woman at once so charming
and so rich should be travelling alone, and, so far from being
surrounded by a court of admirers, content to make such a man as
myself almost her sole companion. Mrs. Oldcastle had a mind at once
nimble and delicate, sensitive, and quite remarkably quick to seize
impressions, and to arrive at (mostly accurate) conclusions. She had a
vein of gentle satire, of kindly and withal truly humorous irony, most
rare I think in women, and quite delightful in a companion. I learned
that her father (now dead) had been the secretary of one of the
learned societies in London, and a writer of no mean reputation on
archaeology and kindred subjects. Her surviving relatives were few in
number, of small means, and resident, I gathered, in the west of
England. I had told her a good deal about my London life, and of the
circumstances and plans leading up to my present journey. Her comment
was:

'I think I understand perfectly, I am sure I sympathise heartily, and--I
give you one more year than your friend, Mr. Heron, allowed. I
prophesy that you will return to London within two years.'

'But, just why?' I asked. 'For what reasons will my attempted "way
out" prove no more than a way back?'

'Well, I am not sure that I can explain that. No, I don't think I can.
It may prove a good deal more than that, and yet take you back to
London wit