sing, and crossing
over to the other side--"I shall begin again. 'Ah! but my soul's
adored--'"

"Is Middleton here?" asked a voice in the door-way. It was Sir George
Danvers who had put his head into the room, and I went to him.

"I say, Middleton," he began, twirling his stick, and looking rather
annoyed, "it is excessively provoking. I never thought of it before, but
I find there is not a bed in the house. Every cranny has been filled. It
never occurred to me that we had not a room for your friend, now that he
is kind enough to come. And it looks so rude, when it is so exceedingly
good-natured of him to come at all."

"Oh, dear! anywhere will do," I said.

"There is not even room for Ralph in the house," continued Sir George.
"I have put him up at the lodge," pointing to a small house at the end
of the drive, near the great entrance gates. "There is another nice
little room leading out of his," he added, hesitating--"but really I
don't like to suggest--"

"Oh, that will do perfectly!" I broke in. "Carr is not the sort of
fellow to care a straw how he is put up. He will be quite content
anywhere."

"Come and see it," he said, leading the way out-of-doors. "I would have
turned out Charles in a moment, and given Carr his room; but Denis is
really rather ill, and Charles sees to him, as he is next door."

I could not help saying how much I liked Charles.

"Strangers always do," he replied, coldly, as we walked towards the
lodge. "I constantly hear him spoken of as a most agreeable young man."

"And he is so handsome."

"Yes," replied Sir George, in the same hard tone, "handsome and
agreeable. I have no doubt he appears so to others; but I, who have had
to pay the debts and hush up the scandals of my handsome and agreeable
son, find Ralph, who has not a feature in his face, the better-looking
of the two. I know Charles is head over ears in debt at this moment,
but,"--with sudden acrimony--"he will not get another farthing from me.
It is pouring water into a sieve."

"Ralph is marrying a sweetly pretty creature," I said, with warmth,
desirous of changing the subject.

"Yes, she is very pretty," said Sir George, without enthusiasm; "but I
wish she had belonged to one of our county families. It is nothing in
the way of connection. She has no relations to speak of--one uncle
living in Australia, and another, whom she goes to on Saturday, in
Ireland. There seems to be no money either. It is Lady Mary's doing. She