t stand by and see you retard your cure.' Can't you
fancy me saying it, Livy?"--and Marcus tossed back his wave of hair in
his old boyish way.

"Yes, dear; but people will soon find out what a splendid doctor you
are; and so that poor glazier in the Models will recover, you think?"

"Yes, I hope so; the chances are in his favour, poor chap; it was hard
lines crashing through the roof of that conservatory. If I had not
been on the spot he would have bled to death before they could have got
him to a hospital. You might go and see them, Livy; they are decent
people. She is a pleasant, hard-working young woman, and they have two
little children, and the place is as clean as possible. I told Mr.
Gaythorne about them just to amuse him, but he only grunted and looked
bored. By-the-way, you are right in one of your surmises--he has
bought your favourite picture of the Prodigal Son. It was on a chair
beside his bed, and he consulted me as to where he could have it hung.
I was going to suggest over the mantel-piece, but then I saw there was
a large picture there with a silk curtain over it."

"That must be his wife's picture, Marcus. How nice of him to have
curtains over it!"

"Very nice if we could be sure that Mr. Gaythorne has been married and
had a wife," he returned, a little dryly; "but I should not be
surprised to find that he was an old bachelor; he is far too fussy and
precise for a widower. But, my dear child, we are getting into very
gossiping ways, and I must really get on with that book Aunt Madge lent
us." And then Olivia consented to hold her tongue and let him read
aloud to her as usual.

CHAPTER V.

A VISIT TO GALVASTON HOUSE.

"He who knows how to speak knows also when to speak."--_Plutarch_.

The next morning as Olivia sat at work with Dot on the rug at her feet,
playing with a limp furry monkey, over which she was gurgling and
cooing like a baby dove, Dr. Luttrell entered the room; there was a
pleased look on his face.

"Olive," he said, "look what Mr. Gaythorne has given me for poor Jack
Travers," and he held a five-pound note before his wife's eyes. "Don't
you think we owe him a handsome apology for calling him a miser? it
does not do to judge by appearances in this world; Mr. Gaythorne is
eccentric, and a trifle cantankerous, but he is not stingy."

[Illustration: "Olive, look what Mr. Gaythorne has given me."]

"Jack Travers! is that the poor man in the Models? Oh, Marcus,