nd that his deafness would leave him? The
truth was, one never knew the end of those accidents in infancy!
Further, was not Sidney's sad condition slowly killing his mother? It
was whispered about that, since the disaster, Sidney had not been QUITE
sound mentally. Was not the mere suspicion of this enough to kill any
mother?

And, as a fact, Mrs Carpole did die. She died of quinsy, doubtless
aggravated by Sidney's sad condition.

Not long afterwards Horace came into a small fortune from his maternal
grandfather. But poor Sidney did not come into any fortune, and people
somehow illogically inferred that Horace had not behaved quite nicely
in coming into a fortune while his suffering invalid brother, whom he
had so deeply harmed, came into nothing. Even Horace had compunctions
due to the visitations of a similar idea. And with part of the fortune
he bought a house with a large garden up at Toft End, the highest hill
of the hilly Five Towns, so that Sidney might have the benefit of the
air. He also engaged a housekeeper and servants. With the remainder of
the fortune he obtained a partnership in the firm of earthenware
manufacturers for whom he had been acting as highly-paid manager.

Sidney reached the age of eighteen, and was most effective to look
upon, his bright hair being still curly, and his eyes a wondrous blue,
and his form elegant; and the question of Sidney's future arose. His
health was steadily on the up grade. The deafness had quite
disappeared. He had inclinations towards art, and had already amused
himself by painting some beautiful vases. So it was settled that he
should enter Horace's works on the art side, with a view to becoming,
ultimately, art director. Horace gave him three pounds a week, in order
that he might feel perfectly independent, and, to the same end, Sidney
paid Horace seven-and-sixpence a week for board and lodging. But the
change of life upset the youth's health again. After only two visits to
the works he had a grave recurrence of the head-attacks, and he was
solemnly exhorted not to apply himself too closely to business. He
therefore took several half-holidays a week, and sometimes a whole one.
And even when he put in one of his full days he would arrive at the
works three hours after Horace, and restore the balance by leaving an
hour earlier. The entire town watched over him as a mother watches over
a son. The notion that he was not QUITE right in the pate gradually
died away, and e