sfaction the quiet, unobtrusive courtesy of Sir Murray;
while Captain Norton grew more and more dreamy, just waking up into an
animated smile when spoken to, and joining for a few minutes in the
conversation; but only to subside again directly after.

No stranger could have imagined that there had ever been more than the
simplest of friendly ties between the families, and Sir Murray Gernon
again and again owned to himself that his wife's conduct was
unimpeachable; but, at the same time, it troubled him, that from the day
of the visit to the Hall, and Lady Gernon's unconcealed efforts to
obtain a few words with her old lover in private, she had been an
altered woman; and he felt that it was not on his account, else why had
not the change come during the past five years. It troubled him, too,
that there was nothing that he could complain of; and, as he sat one day
in his library, thoughtfully brooding, he passed over in review the
conduct of those in whom he was most interested. Captain Norton called
but seldom, and then with his wife; he was absent, too, a great deal,
report said, at the iron mines; and when at the Castle his attentions to
Lady Gernon were always of the most formal nature, while, after
rendering the duties incumbent on her towards her guest, Lady Gernon
seemed to avoid him. Mrs Norton was evidently much attached to her
cousin, while Lady Gernon--yes, there was the knot: Lady Gernon was
another woman, growing daily brighter and more elate, while his spirit
refused to let him believe that it was all due to the change of scene
and return to the society of parents and friends.

But he wanted some clue. He was, he told himself, wandering in the
dark, for, musing upon imaginary wrong, he had grown into the belief
that there was a plot against his happiness--that there were matters in
progress that perhaps all but Mrs Norton and himself saw and mocked at.
He was too proud to ask confidence, while a hint from any one would
have been repulsed with indignation. He knew that others remarked the
change in his wife; frequently, in fact, he had grimly thanked friends
who had congratulated him. But all his brooding resulted in nothing,
and at the end of six months he was soured and angry to find that his
labours had been in vain. At times, he almost resented the gentle
advances of Marion, telling himself that they were not genuine, but used
as a blind; and often and often Lady Gernon went in tears to the Hall to