aside; for
both these fair creatures were daughters of Eve, and inherited a
_little_ of her curiosity. Mr. Aubrey was always somewhat nervous and
fidgety on such occasions, and wished them gone; but they only laughed
at him, so he was fain to put up with them. On this morning there were
more than Mr. Aubrey's usual number of letters; and in casting her eye
over them, Mrs. Aubrey suddenly took up one that challenged attention;
it bore a black seal, had a deep black bordering, and bore the frank of
Lord Alkmond, at whose house in Shropshire they had for months been
engaged to spend the ensuing Christmas, and were intending to set off on
their visit the very next day. The ominous missive was soon torn open;
it was from Lord Alkmond himself, who in a few hurried lines announced
the sudden death of his brother; so that there was an end of their visit
to the Priory.

"Well!" exclaimed Mr. Aubrey, calmly, rising after a pause, and standing
with his back to the fire, in a musing posture.

"Has he left any family, Charles?" inquired Mrs. Aubrey, with a sigh,
her eyes still fixed on the letter.

"I--I really don't know--poor fellow! We lose a vote for Fellington--we
shall, to a certainty," he added, with an air of chagrin visibly
stealing over his features.

"How politics harden the heart, Charles! Just at _this_ moment to
be"---- quoth Mrs. Aubrey.

"It _is_ too bad, Agnes, I own--but you see," said Mr. Aubrey,
affectionately; suddenly, however, he broke off--"stay, I don't know
either, for there's the Grassingham interest come into the field since
the last"----

"Charles, I do really almost think," exclaimed Mrs. Aubrey with sudden
emotion, stepping to his side, and throwing her arms round him
affectionately, "that if _I_ were to die, I should be forgotten in a
fortnight if the House were sitting"----

"How _can_ you say such things, my love?" inquired Mr. Aubrey, kissing
her forehead.

"When Agnes was born, you know," she murmured inarticulately. Her
husband folded her tenderly in his arms in silence. On the occasion she
alluded to, he had nearly lost her; and they both had reason to expect
that another similar season of peril was not _very_ distant.

"Now, Charles, you _can't_ escape," said Miss Aubrey, presently,
assuming a cheerful tone; "now for dear old Yatton!"----

"Yes, Yatton! Positively you must!" added Mrs. Aubrey, smiling through
her tears.

"What! Go to Yatton?" said Mr. Aubrey, shaking his head and