ongenial, and Lady Glencora soon lost all her enthusiasm.
By the time that they were settled at Lucerne she had voted the
mountains to be bores, and had almost learned to hate the lake, which
she declared always made her wet through when she got into a small
boat, and sea-sick when she put her foot in a large one. At Lucerne
they made no acquaintances, Mr Palliser being a man not apt to new
friendships. They did not even dine at the public table, though Lady
Glencora had expressed a wish to do so. Mr Palliser did not like it,
and of course Lady Glencora gave way. There were, moreover, some
marital passages which were not pleasant to a third person. They did
not scold each other; but Lady Glencora would make little speeches of
which her husband disapproved. She would purposely irritate him by
continuing her tone of badinage, and then Mr Palliser would become
fretful, and would look as though the cares of the world were too
many for him. I cannot, therefore, say that Alice had much to make
the first period of her sojourn at Lucerne a period of enjoyment.

But when they had been there about a fortnight, a stranger arrived,
whose coming at any rate lent the grace of some excitement to their
lives. Their custom was to breakfast at nine,--or as near nine as
Lady Glencora could be induced to appear,--and then Mr Palliser would
read till three. At that hour he would walk forth by himself, after
having handed the two ladies into their carriage, and they would
be driven about for two hours. "How I do hate this carriage," Lady
Glencora said one day. "I do so wish it would come to grief, and be
broken to pieces. I wonder whether the Swiss people think that we are
going to be driven about here for ever." There were moments, however,
which seemed to indicate that Lady Glencora had something to tell
her cousin, which, if told, would alter the monotony of their lives.
Alice, however, would not press her for her secret.

"If you have anything to tell, why don't you tell it?" Alice once
said.

"You are so hard," said Lady Glencora.

"So you tell me very often," Alice replied; "and it is not
complimentary. But hard or soft, I won't make a petition for your
confidence." Then Lady Glencora said something savage, and the
subject was dropped for a while.

But we must go back to the stranger. Mr Palliser had put the ladies
into their carriage, and was standing between the front door of the
hotel and the lake on a certain day, doubting wh