UT NOTHING IN PARTICULAR 114

X. GRACE'S SYSTEM 128

XI. THE MYSTERIES OF FERNLEY 143

XII. THE EGG OF COLUMBUS 161

XIII. IN THE TWILIGHT 168

XIV. THE FIRE 183

XV. JEWELS: AND AN AWAKENING 195

XVI. FOR AULD LANG SYNE 205

XVII. IN THE GARDEN 217

XVIII. UNCLE JOHN'S BIRTHDAY 225

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
"HUGH AND MARGARET, ALL UNCONSCIOUS OF HER SCRUTINY,
WERE ENJOYING THEMSELVES EXTREMELY" _Frontispiece_

"MARGARET DID THE HONORS, STILL FEELING VERY SHY" 29

"AT THIS MOMENT POLLY APPEARED, RED-CHEEKED AND BREATHLESS" 33

"SHE WAS A SLENDERER PEGGY, WITH THE SAME BLUE, HONEST EYES" 86

"SHE LOOKED UP, AND SAW GRACE SITTING ON A BROAD, LOW BRANCH" 137

"ON THE SECOND LANDING THEY PAUSED TO SALUTE THE OLD PORTRAITS" 148

"A TALL, SLENDER FIGURE HALF RAN, HALF TOTTERED INTO THE ROOM" 181

"'I PROPOSE . . . THE HEALTH OF THE BEST MAN . . . THAT LIVES
UPON THIS EARTH TO-DAY; . . . THE HEALTH OF MY UNCLE JOHN!'" 238

FERNLEY HOUSE

CHAPTER I.

A DUET

"Well, Margaret!"

"Well, Uncle John!"

"Not a word to throw at a dog, as Rosalind says?"

"You are not a dog, Uncle John. Besides, you know all about it without
my saying a word, so why should I be silly, and spoil your comfortable
cigar? Dear children! They will have a delightful time, I hope; and of
course it is perfectly right that they should go to their father when he
wants them; and--the summer will pass quickly."

"Very quickly!" Mr. Montfort assented, watching his smoke rings float
upward.

"And Peggy is coming; and--oh, we shall be all right, of course we
shall; only--we do miss them, don't we, Uncle?"

"I should think we did! A house is a poor place without children; and we
flatter ourselves that our two--eh, Margaret?"

"Oh, they are the dearest children in the world," said Margaret with
conviction. "There is no po