he very name stung him.

"Lady Carse," continued the President, "cannot be deterred by any
account that can be given her of the perils and hardships of a journey
to London. She declares her intention of going."

"I am no baby; I am no coward," declared the lady. "The coach would not
have been set up, and it would not continue to go once a fortnight if
the journey were not practicable; and where others go I can go."

"Of the dangers of the road, I tell this good lady," resumed the
President, "she can judge as well as you or I, my lord. But of the
perils of the rest of her errand she must, I think, admit that we may be
better judges."

"How can you let your Hanoverian prejudices seduce you into
countenancing such a devil as that woman, and believing a word that she
says?" muttered Lord Carse, in a hoarse voice.

"Why, my good friend," replied the President, "it does so vex my very
heart every day to see how the ladies, whom I would fain honour for
their discretion as much as I admire them for their other virtues, are
wild on behalf of the Pretender, or eager for a desperate and
treasonable war, that you must not wonder if I take pleasure in meeting
with one who is loyal to her rightful sovereign. Loyal, I must suppose,
at home, and in a quiet way; for she knows that I do not approve of her
journey to London to see the minister."

"The minister!" faltered out Lord Carse.

He heard, or fancied he heard his wife laughing behind him.

"Come, now, my friends," said the President, with a good-humoured
seriousness, "let me tell you that the position of either of you is no
joke. It is too serious for any lightness and for any passion. I do
not want to hear a word about your grievances. I see quite enough. I
see a lady driven from home, deprived of her children, and tormenting
herself with thoughts of revenge because she has no other object. I see
a gentleman who has been cruelly put to shame in his own house and in
the public street, worn with anxiety about his innocent daughters, and
with natural fears--inevitable fears, of the mischief that may be done
to his character and fortunes by an ill use of the confidence he once
gave to the wife of his bosom."

There was a suppressed groan from Lord Carse, and something like a
titter from the lady. The President went on even more gravely.

"I know how easy it is for people to make each other wretched, and
especially for you two to ruin each other. If I could but p