.

Mr. Pembroke looked pleased at this boyish enthusiasm. He was fond of
his sister, though he knew her to be full of faults. "Yes, I envy her,"
he said. "She has found a worthy helpmeet for life's journey, I do
believe. And though they chafe at the long engagement, it is a blessing
in disguise. They learn to know each other thoroughly before contracting
more intimate ties."

Rickie did not assent. The length of the engagement seemed to him
unspeakably cruel. Here were two people who loved each other, and they
could not marry for years because they had no beastly money. Not all
Herbert's pious skill could make this out a blessing. It was bad enough
being "so rich" at the Silts; here he was more ashamed of it than ever.
In a few weeks he would come of age and his money be his own. What a
pity things were so crookedly arranged. He did not want money, or at all
events he did not want so much.

"Suppose," he meditated, for he became much worried over this,--"suppose
I had a hundred pounds a year less than I shall have. Well, I should
still have enough. I don't want anything but food, lodging, clothes,
and now and then a railway fare. I haven't any tastes. I don't collect
anything or play games. Books are nice to have, but after all there is
Mudie's, or if it comes to that, the Free Library. Oh, my profession! I
forgot I shall have a profession. Well, that will leave me with more to
spare than ever." And he supposed away till he lost touch with the world
and with what it permits, and committed an unpardonable sin.

It happened towards the end of his visit--another airless day of that
mild January. Mr. Dawes was playing against a scratch team of cads, and
had to go down to the ground in the morning to settle something. Rickie
proposed to come too.

Hitherto he had been no nuisance. "You will be frightfully bored," said
Agnes, observing the cloud on her lover's face. "And Gerald walks like a
maniac."

"I had a little thought of the Museum this morning," said Mr. Pembroke.
"It is very strong in flint arrow-heads."

"Ah, that's your line, Rickie. I do envy you and Herbert the way you
enjoy the past."

"I almost think I'll go with Dawes, if he'll have me. I can walk quite
fast just to the ground and back. Arrowheads are wonderful, but I don't
really enjoy them yet, though I hope I shall in time."

Mr. Pembroke was offended, but Rickie held firm.

In a quarter of an hour he was back at the house alone, nearly crying.