quire, suggested rather grimly that a discourse on the vanity of human
wishes might be appropriate.

"I shall preach." said Mr. Ives thoughtfully, "on the opportunities of
wealth."

This resolution he carried out on the next day but one, that being a
Sunday. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Miss Trix, and I watched
her with some interest as Mr. Ives developed his theme. I will not try
to reproduce the sermon, which would have seemed by no means a bad one,
had any of our party been able to ignore the personal application which
we read into it: for its main burden was no other than this--that
wealth should be used by those who were fortunate enough to possess it
(here Trix looked down and fidgeted with her prayer-book) as a means of
promoting greater union between themselves and the less richly endowed,
and not--as, alas, had too often been the case--as though it were a new
barrier set up between them and their fellow--creatures. (Here Miss
Trix blushed slightly, and had recourse to her smelling-bottle.) "You,"
said the curate, waxing rhetorical as he addressed an imaginary, but
bloated, capitalist, "have no more right to your money than I have. It
is intrusted to you to be shared with me." At this point I heard Lady
Queenborough sniff, and Algy Stanton snigger. I stole a glance at Trix
and detected a slight waver in the admirable lines of her mouth.

"A very good sermon, didn't you think?" I said to her, as we walked
home.

"Oh, very, she replied demurely.

"Ah, if we followed all we heard in church!" I sighed.

Miss Trix walked in silence for a few yards. By dint of never becoming
anything else, we had become very good friends; and presently she
remarked, quite confidentially, "He's very silly, isn't he?"

"Then you ought to snub him," said I, severely.

"So I do--sometimes. He's rather amusing, though.

"Of course, if you're prepared to make the sacrifice involved---"

"Oh, what nonsense!"

"Then you've no business to amuse yourself with him."

"Dear, dear! how moral you are!" said Trix.

The next development in the situation was this. My cousin Dora received
a letter from the Marquis of Newhaven, with whom she was acquainted,
praying her to allow him to run down to Poltons for a few days: he
reminded her that she had once given him a general invitation: if it
would not be inconvenient--and so forth. The meaning of this
communication did not, of course, escape my cousin, who had witnessed
the writ