n story to-morrow! Be
quick, Mr. Dutton, don't lose a moment, and I will undertake to keep Kate
and Mrs. Barrington quiet till they can do no further mischief."

A very grateful glance from Harry as he sprang away; and how he fared in
the dreaded interview is already known to the reader.

CHAPTER XLI.

A LOCK OF HAIR.

For which they be that hold apart
The promise of the golden hours;
First love, first friendship, equal powers,
That many with the virgin heart.
--In Memoriam.

Another year had gone by since the _denouement_ at Bromley Towers. The
war was over, peace proclaimed, and what remained of our armies had
returned from the East.

General Rolleston then retired from the service, and bought a very nice
property near Leamington. He still saw a good deal of his old officers;
Fane especially, who now commanded the regiment, spent much of his leave
at Pyott's Hill. He retained all his old admiration for Cecil, receiving
as little encouragement as ever. Possibly that may have been the secret
of his constancy, for certainly, as a Crimean hero, with seven thousand a
year to gild the romance of it, he did not find young ladies in general
very hard-hearted.

But Fane was ever ungrateful, and, after being petted and feted, sang at,
ridden at, and generally made much of, only returned with fresh zest to
Cecil's unaffected and pleasant companionship. Yet, after each visit, in
spite of manifold opportunities, being alone with her for hours, her
constant companion in rides and rambles, and given to her by every one in
the neighbourhood, he always found he had never really advanced an inch,
and that nothing Cecil expected less than a proposal from him.

So he always went away in despair, to return again at the faintest hint
of an invitation from her father.

General Rolleston was by no means displeased to observe this eagerness to
avail himself of his hospitality, being quite as alive as heretofore to
the advantages of the match--he only wondered why Fane and his daughter
were so tardy in coming to an understanding.

Cecil was very much liked in the neighbourhood. Everybody said she was
the most unaffected girl in the world. But with all her admirers, she had
no flirtations--bright and cold was the verdict pronounced. Some said she
was strong-minded, for she was known to read a great deal, and had even
had a picture admitted into the Female Artists' Exhibition. She