o think of his own troubles when he was with her; and she never once
remembered how, during that morning, she had longed to tell him all
about her brother-in-law. They talked of all sorts of things, and they
made up their minds to go to Newport the next day.

Miss Skeat asked whether Newport was as romantic as Scarborough.

CHAPTER XIV.

There were odours of Russian cigarettes in Mr. Horace Bellingham's room,
and two smokers were industriously adding to the fragrant cloud. One was
the owner of the dwelling himself, and the other was Claudius. He sat
upon the sofa that stood between the two windows of the room, which was
on the ground floor, and looked out on the street. The walls were
covered with pictures wherever they were not covered with books, and
there was not an available nook or corner unfilled with scraps of
bric-a-brac, photographs, odds and ends of reminiscence, and all manner
of things characteristic to the denizen of the apartment. The furniture
was evidently calculated more for comfort than display, and if there was
an air of luxury pervading the bachelor's quiet _rez-de-chaussee_, it
was due to the rare volumes on the shelves and the good pictures on the
walls, rather than to the silk or satin of the high-art upholsterer, or
the gilding and tile work of the modern decorator, who ravages upon
beauty as a fungus upon a fruit tree. Whatever there was in Mr.
Bellingham's rooms was good; much of it was unique, and the whole was
harmonious. Rare editions were bound by famous binders, and if the
twopenny-halfpenny productions of some little would-be modern poet,
resplendent with vellum and aesthetic greenliness of paper, occasionally
found their way to the table, they never travelled as far as the
shelves. Mr. Bellingham had fools enough about him to absorb his spare
trash.

On this particular occasion the old gentleman was seated in an arm-chair
at his table, and Claudius, as aforesaid, had established himself upon
the sofa. He looked very grave and smoked thoughtfully.

"I wish I knew what to do," he said. "Mr. Bellingham, do you think I
could be of any use?"

"If I had not thought so, I would not have told you--I could have let
you find it out for yourself from the papers. You can be of a great deal
of use."

"Do you advise me to go to St. Petersburg and see about it then?"

"Of course I do. Start at once. You can get the necessary steps taken in
no time, if you go now."

"I am ready. But h