feel trust in him as a medical man.
She had no wish to be rescued out of his hands by any Dr Fillgrave,
as regarded that complaint of hers, much as she may have desired,
and did desire, to sever him from all Greshamsbury councils in all
matters not touching the healing art.

Now the complaint of which the Lady Arabella was afraid, was cancer:
and her only present confidant in this matter was Dr Thorne.

The first of the Greshamsbury circle whom he saw was Beatrice, and he
met her in the garden.

"Oh, doctor," said she, "where has Mary been this age? She has not
been up here since Frank's birthday."

"Well, that was only three days ago. Why don't you go down and ferret
her out in the village?"

"So I have done. I was there just now, and found her out. She was out
with Patience Oriel. Patience is all and all with her now. Patience
is all very well, but if they throw me over--"

"My dear Miss Gresham, Patience is and always was a virtue."

"A poor, beggarly, sneaking virtue after all, doctor. They should
have come up, seeing how deserted I am here. There's absolutely
nobody left."

"Has Lady de Courcy gone?"

"Oh, yes! All the de Courcys have gone. I think, between ourselves,
Mary stays away because she does not love them too well. They have
all gone, and taken Augusta and Frank with them."

"Has Frank gone to Courcy Castle?"

"Oh, yes; did you not hear? There was rather a fight about it. Master
Frank wanted to get off, and was as hard to catch as an eel, and then
the countess was offended; and papa said he didn't see why Frank was
to go if he didn't like it. Papa is very anxious about his degree,
you know."

The doctor understood it all as well as though it had been described
to him at full length. The countess had claimed her prey, in order
that she might carry him off to Miss Dunstable's golden embrace. The
prey, not yet old enough and wise enough to connect the worship of
Plutus with that of Venus, had made sundry futile feints and dodges
in the vain hope of escape. Then the anxious mother had enforced the
de Courcy behests with all a mother's authority. But the father,
whose ideas on the subject of Miss Dunstable's wealth had probably
not been consulted, had, as a matter of course, taken exactly the
other side of the question. The doctor did not require to be told all
this in order to know how the battle had raged. He had not yet heard
of the great Dunstable scheme; but he was sufficiently acquainted