tly. "I don't care about them, you know."

"You don't dislike her, do you?"

"No-o, not exactly."

"She's--the truth is, she is not at all well," with a trifle of
hesitance; "she ought to be better taken care of than she is in
lodgings, and they are obliged to take very cheap ones."

"If he had been a more respectable fellow his circumstances would have
been different," rather stiffly.

Emily felt alarmed. She had not dreamed of the temerity of any remark
suggestive of criticism.

"Yes," hastily, "of course. I am sure you know best; but--I thought
perhaps--"

Walderhurst liked her timidity. To see a fine, tall, upstanding creature
colour in that way was not disagreeable when one realised that she
coloured because she feared she might offend one.

"What did you think 'perhaps'?" was his lenient response.

Her colour grew warmer, but this time from a sense of relief, because he
was evidently not as displeased as he might have been.

"I took a long walk this morning," she said. "I went through the High
Wood and came out by the place called The Kennel Farm. I was thinking a
good deal of poor Mrs. Osborn because I had heard from her this morning,
and she seemed so unhappy. I was looking at her letter again when I
turned into the lane leading to the house. Then I saw that no one was
living there, and I could not help going in to look--it is such a
delightful old building, with its queer windows and chimneys, and the
ivy which seems never to have been clipped. The house is so roomy and
comfortable--I peeped in at windows and saw big fireplaces with benches
inside them. It seems a pity that such a place should not be lived in
and--well, I thought how _kind_ it would be of you to lend it to the
Osborns while they are in England."

"It would indeed be kind," remarked his lordship, without fervour.

Her momentary excitement led Emily to take the liberty of putting out
her hand to touch his. She always felt as if connubial familiarities
were rather a liberty; at least she had not, so far, been able to
overcome a feeling rather of that order. And this was another thing
Walderhurst by no means disliked. He himself was not aware that he was a
man with a good deal of internal vanity which enjoyed soothing food. In
fact, he had not a sufficiently large brain to know very much about
himself or to be able to analyse his reasons for liking or disliking
people or things. He thought he knew his reasons for his likes and
dislik