ailure of the Glasgow Bank. They removed to Syringa
Villas after that, and did the washing at home. I shall never forget
calling upon Emma the first Tuesday that the clothes were hanging out to
dry in the back garden, and finding her in tears, with the blinds drawn
down. She had a great deal of family pride, had poor Emma, for her
mother belonged to the leading circles in Wolverhampton, and the steam
of clothes in the boiler is most depressing unless you have been brought
up to it from a child. George died soon after. He never held up his
head again, and Emmeline, the daughter, had a very good offer from a
corn-broker. She was a fine-looking girl, with black eyes and her poor
father's nose. She looked very well in the evening, when she was
dressed, and had a colour."

"And did she marry the corn-broker?" queried Bridgie eagerly.

Sylvia was flushed and frowning, more than half ashamed of the old
lady's disclosures, fearful lest they might affect her own importance in
the estimation of a friend who had lived in a Castle, and owned a sister
who went to Court, and profoundly uninterested in Emmeline and her
destiny; but Bridgie was all animation and curiosity, her grey eyes wide
with anxiety as to the success of the corn-broker and his suit. Here,
indeed, was a listener worth having, and Miss Munns warmed to her task
with even more than the usual enjoyment.

"My dear, you would hardly believe the time poor Emma had with that
girl! She took a fancy to a bank clerk on two hundred a year, and
nothing would suit but she must be engaged to him. He gave her a
turquoise ring, I remember--a shabby thing that could not have cost more
than a sovereign, and Emma was quite mortified when people asked to see
it. They were engaged for five years, and she lost all her looks, and
he had a bicycling accident, and hurt his right arm so badly that he
could not write.

"Emma insisted that the engagement should be broken off, but the stupid
girl would not listen to reason. She had a little legacy from her
godmother about that time, and his father allowed him something, so they
were married, and went abroad to try a cure for his arm. He is back at
work again, and they seem happy enough; but it was a poor match for her,
and they can only afford one servant. The corn-broker said he could
never look at a girl again, but he married one of the Miss Twemlows
within the year. Perhaps you know the Twemlows? They are a very well-
kno