Captain De Baron, or Captain
anybody else, or to talk with Mr. This, or to laugh with Major That,
tell me so at once. If I know what you want, I will do it. But I must
say that I shall feel it very, very hard if I cannot take care of
myself in such matters as that. If you are going to be jealous, I shall
wish that I were dead."

Then she burst out crying; and he, though he would not quite own that
he had been wrong, was forced to do so practically by little acts of
immediate tenderness.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE MARQUIS COMES HOME.

Some little time after the middle of April, when the hunting was all
over, and Mr. Price had sunk down into his summer insignificance, there
came half a dozen telegrams to Manor Cross, from Italy, from Mr. Knox,
and from a certain managing tradesman in London, to say that the
Marquis was coming a fortnight sooner than he had expected. Everything
was at sixes and sevens. Everything was in a ferment. Everybody about
Manor Cross seemed to think that the world was coming to an end. But
none of these telegrams were addressed to any of the Germain family,
and the last people in the county who heard of this homeward rush of
the Marquis were the ladies at Cross Hall, and they heard it from Lord
George, upon whom Mr. Knox called in London; supposing, however, when
he did call that Lord George had already received full information on
the subject. Lord George's letter to Lady Sarah was full of dismay,
full of horror. "As he has not taken the trouble to communicate his
intentions to me, I shall not go down to receive him." "You will know
how to deal with the matter, and will, I am sure, support our mother
in this terrible trial." "I think that the child should, at any rate,
at first be acknowledged by you all as Lord Popenjoy." "We have to
regard, in the first place, the honour of the family. No remissness on
his part should induce us to forget for a moment what is due to the
title, the property, and the name." The letter was very long, and was
full of sententious instructions, such as the above. But the purport of
it was to tell the ladies at Cross Hall that they must go through the
first burden of receiving the Marquis without any assistance from
himself.

The Dean heard of the reported arrival some days before the family did
so. It was rumoured in Brotherton, and the rumour reached the deanery.
But he thought that there was nothing that he could do on the spur of
the moment. He perfectly und