it from her. She was ambitious
for him; she was keen to prove her worth as a wife against her husband's
unworthiness. This perhaps saved her. She might have lost had her life
been without this motive.

The very morning of this notable reception, General Armour had received
a note from Frank Armour's solicitor, saying that his son was likely to
arrive in London from America that day or the next. Frank had written to
his people no word of his coming; to his wife, as we have said, he had
not written for months; and before he started back he would not write,
because he wished to make what amends he could in person. He expected to
find her improved, of course, but still he could only think of her as an
Indian, showing her common prairie origin. His knowledge of her before
their marriage had been particularly brief; she was little more in
his eyes than a thousand other Indian women, save that she was
better-looking, was whiter than most, and had finer features. He
could not very clearly remember the tones of her voice, because after
marriage, and before he had sent her to England, he had seen little or
nothing of her.

When General Armour received the news of Frank's return he told his wife
and Marion, and they consulted together whether it were good to let Lali
know at once. He might arrive that evening. If so, the position would be
awkward, because it was impossible to tell how it might affect her. If
they did tell her, and Frank happened not to arrive, it might unnerve
her so as to make her appearance in the evening doubtful. Richard, the
wiseacre, the inexhaustible Richard, was caring for his cottagers and
cutting the leaves of new books--his chiefest pleasure--at Greyhope.
They felt it was a matter they ought to be able to decide for
themselves, but still it was the last evening of Lali's stay in town,
and they did not care to take any risk. Strange to say, they had come
to take pride in their son's wife; for even General and Mrs. Armour,
high-minded and of serene social status as they were, seemed not quite
insensible to the pleasure of being an axle on which a system of social
notoriety revolved.

At the opportune moment Captain Vidall was announced, and, because he
and Marion were soon to carry but one name between them, he was called
into family consultation. It is somewhat singular that in this case the
women were quite wrong and the men were quite right. For General Armour
and Captain Vidall were for silence un