fe's fortune."

"Poor Hubert--I don't suppose he ever thought of such a thing!" said
Flossy, affecting to laugh at her husband's vehemence, but weighing
every word she uttered with scrupulous care. "Indeed, if he had known
that she would have money, I don't suppose he would even have asked her
to marry him. He believed her to be all but penniless."

"And what right had he to believe that?" shouted the General, looking
more apoplectic than ever.

At which Flossy softly sighed, and said, "My nerves, dear!" closed her
eyes, and held a vinaigrette to her nose.

The General was quieted at once.

"I beg your pardon, my dear--I forgot that I must not talk so loudly in
your room," he said apologetically. "But my feelings get the better of
me when I think of my poor little Enid looking so white and mournful.
And so Hubert's working hard for her, is he? Poor lad! Of course I shall
not forget him either in my will--you can tell him so if you like--and
Enid's future is assured; but he must not neglect her--mustn't let her
shed tears and make those pretty blue eyes of hers dim, you know--you
must tell him that."

"The General grows more and more foolish every day," said Flossy to
herself, with disgust--"a garrulous old dotard!" But she spoke very
sweetly.

"I will talk to him if you like, dear; but I do not think that he means
to hurt or neglect poor Enid. He is coming down to-morrow to spend
Easter with us; that will please her, will it not? I have been keeping
it a secret from her; I wanted to give her a surprise. It will bring the
color back to her pale cheeks--will it not, you kind, sympathetic old
dear!"

Flossy's white hand was laid caressingly on the General's arm. The old
soldier rose to the bait. He raised it at once to his mouth, and kissed
it as devoutly as ever he had saluted the hand of his Queen.

"My dear," he said, "you are always right; you are a wonderful woman--so
clever, so beautiful, so good!" Did she not shiver as she heard the
words? "I will leave it in your hands--you know how to manage every
one!"

"Dear Richard," said Flossy, with a faint smile, "all that I do is for
your sake."

And with these words she dismissed him radiantly happy.

Left to her own meditations, the expression of her face changed at once;
it grew stern, hard, and cold; there was an unyielding look about the
lines of her features which reminded one of the fixity of a mask or a
marble statue. She lay perfectly motionless for