so this evening, I hope. He is over here on a
fortnight's holiday.'

'Do you live in Guernsey?' Monica inquired.

'_I_ practically live here, and one of my daughters is always with me.
The other two live with their brother in a flat in Bayswater. Do you
care for flats, Mrs. Widdowson?'

Monica could only say that she had no experience of that institution.

'I do think them such a boon,' pursued Mrs. Bevis. 'They are expensive
but the advantages and comforts are so many. My son wouldn't on any
consideration give up his flat. As I was saying, he always has two of
his sisters to keep house for him. He is quite a young man, not yet
thirty, but--would you believe it?--we are all dependent upon him! My
son has supported the _whole_ of the family for the last six or seven
years, and that by his own work. It sounds incredible, doesn't it? But
for him we should be quite unable to live. The dear girls have very
delicate health; simply impossible for them to exert themselves in any
way. My son has made extraordinary sacrifices on our account. His
desire was to be a professional musician, and every one thinks he would
have become eminent; myself, I am convinced of it--perhaps that is only
natural. But when our circumstances began to grow very doubtful, and we
really didn't know what was before us, my son consented to follow a
business career--that of wine merchant, with which his father was
connected. And he exerted himself so nobly, and gave proof of such
ability, that very soon all our fears were at an end; and now, before
he is thirty, his position is quite assured. We have no longer a care.
I live here very economically--really sweet lodgings on the road to St.
Martin's; I _do_ hope you will come and see me. And the girls go
backwards and forwards. You see we are _all_ here at present. When my
son returns to London he will take the eldest and the youngest with
him. The middle girl, dear Grace--she is thought very clever in
water-colours, and I am quite sure, if it were necessary, she could
pursue the arts in a professional spirit.'

Mr. Bevis entered the room, and Monica recognized the sprightly young
man whom she had seen on the quay. The hostess presented him to her new
friends, and he got into talk with Widdowson. Requested to make music
for the company, he sang a gay little piece, which, to Monica at all
events, seemed one of the most delightful things she had ever heard.

'His own composition,' whispered Miss Grace