r brother Tom? She therefore leagued herself
with Tom, and declared herself quite prepared to receive Ayala into
the house. In this way the family was very much divided.

When Lucy first made her petition for the carriage, expressing her
desire to see Ayala, both her uncle and her aunt were in the room.
Objection was made,--some frivolous objection,--by Lady Tringle, who
did not in truth care to maintain much connection between Queen's
Gate and the Crescent. Then Sir Thomas, in his burly authoritative
way, had said that Ayala had better come to them. That same evening
he had settled or intended to settle it with his wife. Let Ayala come
as soon as the Trafficks,--as they then would be,--should have gone.
To this Lady Tringle had assented, knowing more than her husband as
to Ayala's feelings, and thinking that in this way a breach might be
made between them. Ayala had been a great trouble to her, and she was
beginning to be almost sick of the Dormer connection altogether. It
was thus that Lucy was hindered from seeing her sister for six weeks
after that first formal declaration of his love made by Tom to Ayala.
Tom had still persevered and had forced his way more than once into
Ayala's presence, but Ayala's answers had been always the same. "It's
a great shame, and you have no right to treat me in this, way."

Then came the Traffick marriage with great eclat. There were no less
than four Traffick bridesmaids, all of them no doubt noble, but none
of them very young, and Gertrude and Lucy were bridesmaids,--and two
of Augusta's friends. Ayala, of course, was not of the party. Tom was
gorgeous in his apparel, not in the least depressed by his numerous
repulses, quite confident of ultimate success, and proud of his
position as a lover with so beautiful a girl. He talked of his
affairs to all his friends, and seemed to think that even on this
wedding-day his part was as conspicuous as that of his sister,
because of his affair with his beautiful cousin. "Augusta doesn't hit
it off with her," he said to one of his friends, who asked why Ayala
was not at the wedding,--"Augusta is the biggest fool out, you know.
She's proud of her husband because he's the son of a lord. I wouldn't
change Ayala for the daughter of any duchess in Europe;"--thus
showing that he regarded Ayala as being almost his own already. Lord
Boardotrade was there, making a semi-jocose speech, quite in the
approved way for a cognate paterfamilias. Perhaps there