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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Doctor Luttrell's First Patient, by Rosa
+Nouchette Carey
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Doctor Luttrell's First Patient
+
+
+Author: Rosa Nouchette Carey
+
+
+
+Release Date: October 4, 2007  [eBook #22883]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOCTOR LUTTRELL'S FIRST PATIENT***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Al Haines
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 22883-h.htm or 22883-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/8/8/22883/22883-h/22883-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/8/8/22883/22883-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+DOCTOR LUTTRELL'S FIRST PATIENT
+
+by
+
+ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY
+
+Author of "Little Miss Muffet," "Cousin Mona,"
+  "The Mistress of Brae Farm," "Esther," Etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: "I hope you do not think I was wrong?"]
+
+
+
+Philadelphia
+J. B. Lippincott Company
+1900
+
+Copyright, 1896,
+by
+J. B. Lippincott Company.
+
+
+
+
+_Contents._
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+AT THE CORNER HOUSE
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AUNT MADGE
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+DR. LUTTRELL'S FIRST PATIENT
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A VISIT TO GALVASTON HOUSE
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"I REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE?"
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+BLOWING BUBBLES
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"'TIS A LOVE TOKEN, I RECKON"
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE CHRISTMAS GUEST
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A GENTLEMANLY TRAMP
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE NIGHT-BELL RINGS
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+GRETA
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+FRESH COMPLICATIONS
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+AN EVENTFUL DAY
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+"THEY WERE BOTH TO BLAME"
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+BUSY DAYS
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+PRODIGAL SONS
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+AUNT MADGE GIVES HER OPINION
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+DAME FORTUNE SMILES
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+"SOMEBODY'S CRUTCH"
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+SUNSHINE AND CLOUDS
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+"YOU MUST NOT LOSE HEART"
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+"I HAVE COME TO STAY"
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+"NOT YET"
+
+
+
+
+_Illustrations_
+
+
+"I hope you do not think I am wrong?" . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"Oh, Marcus, how happy we are!"
+
+"Olive, look what Mr. Gaythorne has given me"
+
+Mr. Gaythorne sat in his great ebony chair
+
+"It is beautiful--it is perfectly charming!"
+
+"They both looked so comfortable and contented"
+
+
+
+
+Doctor Luttrell's First Patient
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+AT THE CORNER HOUSE.
+
+"Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you
+wish."--_Epictetus_.
+
+
+There is an old adage, worn almost threadbare with continual use, "When
+poverty looks in at the door, love flies out at the window," and,
+doubtless, there is an element of truth in the saying; nevertheless,
+though there were lines of care on Marcus Luttrell's face, and in the
+strong sunlight the seams of his wife's black gown looked a little
+shiny, there was still peace, and the patience of a great and enduring
+affection in the corner house at Galvaston Terrace.
+
+When the brass plate, glittering with newness, had been first affixed
+to the door, Marcus Luttrell's heart had been sanguine with hope, and
+he had brought his young _fiancee_ to see it.  The small, narrow house,
+with its dark, square entry, its double parlours communicating with
+folding-doors, and the corner room, that would do for a surgery, had
+seemed to them both a most desirable abode.
+
+Olivia, who prided herself on being unusually practical, pointed out
+its numerous advantages with great satisfaction.  The side entrance in
+Harbut Street, for instance, and the front room where patients would be
+interviewed, and which had a window in Galvaston Terrace.
+
+"It is so conspicuous, Marcus," she said, with legitimate pride in her
+voice.  "No one can overlook it, it is worth paying a few pounds more
+rent, instead of being jammed in between two terrace houses.  Harbut
+Street is ever so much nicer than Galvaston Terrace, and the houses are
+larger, and it is so convenient having those shops opposite."
+
+Olivia was disposed to see everything in _couleur de rose_, but to most
+people Galvaston Terrace would have appeared woefully dingy.  Two or
+three of the houses had cards in the sitting-room windows, with
+"Desirable apartments for a single gentleman" affixed thereon, and at
+the farther end a French dressmaker eked out a slender income.
+
+The Terrace had by no means a prosperous look, a little fresh paint and
+cleaner blinds would have been improvements.  Nevertheless, people
+lived out harmless lives there, and on the whole were tolerably
+contented with their lot.
+
+When Marcus Luttrell made that fatal mistake of marrying in haste and
+repenting at leisure, things had not looked so badly with him.  He had
+bought his partnership and had a little money in hand, and Olivia had
+had sufficient for her modest trousseau.  How could either of them have
+suspected that the partnership was a deceit and a fraud--that old Dr.
+Slade had let Marcus in for a rotten concern--that no paying patients
+would crowd the small dining-room--and that two years of professional
+profits would be represented in shillings?  Now and then when he was
+tired and discouraged Dr. Luttrell would accuse himself of rashness and
+folly in no measured terms.
+
+"Your Aunt Madge is right, Olive," he would say, "we have been a couple
+of fools; but I was the biggest.  What business had I to tempt
+Providence in this way?  I do believe when a man is in love he loses
+his judgment; look at the life to which my selfishness has condemned
+you.  You will be an old woman before your time, with the effort to
+make a sixpence go as far as a shilling!  And there is Dot----"  And
+here the young doctor sighed and frowned, but Olivia, who had plenty of
+spirit, refused to be depressed.
+
+"You took me from such a luxurious home, did you not, Marcus?" she
+would say, with a genial laugh.  "A hard-working daily governess leads
+such an enjoyable life, and it was so exhilarating and refreshing to
+sit in one's lodgings of an evening, with no one to care if one were
+tired and dull.  Yes, dear old boy, of course I was ever so much
+happier without you and Dot to worry me----"  And, somehow, at these
+cheering words the harassed frown on Marcus's brow relaxed.
+
+Had he been so wrong after all.  How could he know that old Slade would
+prove a rogue and a humbug; it would have been wiser to wait a little,
+but then human nature is liable to make mistakes, and in spite of it
+all, they had been so happy.  Olive was such a splendid companion, she
+had brains as well as heart.  Yes, he had been a fool, but he knew that
+under like circumstances many a man would have done the same.
+
+He remembered the events that had led to their hasty marriage.  Olivia
+had not long lost her mother, the widow's annuity had died with her,
+and Olivia, who had only her salary as a daily governess in a large
+family, had just moved into humbler lodgings.
+
+He had gone round with some flowers and a book that he thought would
+interest her, and as she came forward to greet him, he could see her
+eyes were red and swollen.
+
+"What is it, dear?" he had asked, kindly, and then the poor girl had
+utterly broken down.
+
+"Oh, Marcus, what shall I do?" she said, when her sobs would allow her
+to speak.  "I cannot bear it; it is all so dull and miserable.  I am
+missing mother and I am so tired, and the children have been so cross
+all day."  And Olivia, whose nerves were on edge with the strain of
+grief and worry, looked so pallid and woebegone that Marcus had been
+filled with consternation.  Never had he seen his sweetheart in such
+distress, and then it was that the suggestion came to him.
+
+Why should they both be lonely?  Olivia could marry him and do her work
+as well, and there need be no more dull evenings for either of them.
+
+"You will trust me to make you as happy as I can, dearest," he said,
+tenderly, as he pleaded for an early marriage.  And as Olivia listened
+to him the sad burden seemed lifted from her heart.
+
+"Are you quite sure we ought to do this, Marcus?" she had asked, a
+little dubiously, for in spite of her youth she had plenty of good
+sense, and then Marcus had been very ready with his arguments.
+
+A doctor ought to be a married man, his house was too large for a
+bachelor, and needed a mistress.  What was the use of Olivia paying for
+lodgings when he wanted a wife to make him comfortable?  And if she
+liked she could still go on with her teaching.
+
+It was this last proviso that overcame Olivia's objections.  If she
+could keep her situation she would be no expense to Marcus.  Her salary
+was good, and until paying patients came she could subscribe towards
+the housekeeping.
+
+It was just one of those arrangements that look so promising and
+plausible until fairly tried, but before many months had passed there
+was a hitch--something out of gear in the daily machinery.
+
+It was a dry summer, and Brompton is not exactly a bracing place.
+Olivia began to flag a little, the long hours of teaching, the hurried
+walks to and fro, tried her vigorous young frame.  The little maids who
+followed each other in quick succession were all equally inefficient
+and unreliable.  Marcus began to complain that such ill-cooked,
+tasteless meals would in time impair their digestion.  The Marthas and
+Annes and Sallies, who clumped heavily about the corner house, with
+smudges on their round faces and bare red arms, had never heard of the
+School of Cookery at South Kensington.  Olivia, fagged and weary,
+looked ready to cry when she saw the blackened steak and unwholesome
+chips set before Marcus.  Not one man in a thousand, she thought, would
+have borne it all so patiently.
+
+Then one hot oppressive evening the climax came.  Olivia, who had never
+fainted in her life, found herself to her great astonishment lying on
+the little couch by the open window with her face very wet, and Marcus
+looking at her with grave professional eyes.
+
+That night he spoke very plainly.  There must be no more teaching.
+Olivia was simply killing herself, and he refused to sanction such
+madness any longer.  In future he must be the only breadwinner.  Until
+patients were obliging enough to send for him, they must just live on
+their little capital.  Olivia must stay at home, and see after things
+and take care of herself, or he would not answer for the consequences.
+
+"You have your husband to consider," he said, in a masterful tone, but
+how absurdly boyish he looked, as he stood on the rug, tossing back a
+loose wave of fair hair from his forehead.  People always thought Dr.
+Luttrell younger than he was in reality.  He was eight-and-twenty, and
+Olivia was six years younger.  She was rather taller than her husband,
+and had a slim erect figure.  She had no claims to beauty; her features
+were too irregular, but her clear, honest eyes and sweet smile and a
+certain effective dimple redeemed her from plainness, and the soft
+brown hair waving naturally over the temples had a sunny gleam in it.
+
+When baby Dot made her appearance--Dorothy Maud Luttrell, as she was
+inscribed in the register--the young parents forgot their anxieties for
+a time in their joy in watching their first-born.
+
+Marcus left his books to devote himself to nursing his pale wife back
+to health.  And as Olivia lay on the couch with her baby near her, and
+feasted on the delicacies that Aunt Madge's thoughtfulness had
+provided, or listened to Marcus as he read to her, it seemed to her, as
+though the cup of her blessing were full.
+
+"Oh, Marcus, how happy we are!" she would whisper, and Marcus would
+stifle a sigh bravely.
+
+[Illustration: "Oh, Marcus, how happy we are!"]
+
+Alas! he knew the little capital was dwindling sadly--rent and taxes,
+bread and cheese, and even the modest wages of a second Martha were
+draining his purse too heavily.  He had plenty of poor patients, but no
+one but the French dressmaker had yet sent for the late Dr. Slade's
+partner.  It was then that those careworn lines came to the young
+doctor's brow.
+
+It was bitterly hard, for Marcus loved his profession, and had studied
+hard.  The poor people whom he attended were devoted to him.
+
+"He allus tells a body the truth," said old Widow Bates.  "I do hate a
+fellow who truckles and minces his words like that Sparks.  Do you
+suppose Jem Arkwright would have let his leg be cut off in that
+lamb-like manner if it had been Benjamin Sparks to do it?
+
+"I was down at their place, and I heard when Dr. Luttrell said, 'Now,
+my man, you must just make up your mind, and be quick about it.  Will
+you be a brave chap and part with this poor useless limb, or will you
+leave your poor wife to bring up six fatherless children?  I am telling
+you the truth, Jem.  If you will not consent to part with your leg,
+there is no chance for you.'  Laws' sakes, you would have thought he
+was a grey-headed old fellow to hear him; it kind of made one jump to
+see his young, beardless face; but there, he was good to Jem Arkwright,
+that he was.  Polly can't say enough for him.  She fairly cries if one
+mentions his name.
+
+"'I should have been Jem's widow but for Dr. Luttrell,' she said one
+day.  'Why, before he came in Jem was lying there vowing "that he had
+sooner die than part with his leg."  It was the thought of the little
+uns that broke him.  My Jem always had a feeling heart.'"
+
+And other folks, although they had not Widow Bates's garrulous tongue,
+were ready enough to sing the doctor's praises.
+
+When Dot was a year old and able to pull herself up by the help of her
+mother's hand, things were no better at the corner house.  Olivia had
+even consulted her Aunt Madge about the advisability of sending Martha
+away and doing the work of the house herself.
+
+"Martha is the best girl we have had yet," she said.  "Marcus owned
+that yesterday.  She is rough, but her ways are nicer than Anne's or
+Sally's, and she keeps herself clean; but then, Aunt Madge, she has
+such a good appetite, and one cannot stint growing girls."
+
+"I should keep her a little longer," was Aunt Madge's reply to this.
+"It will only take the heart out of Marcus, knowing that you have to
+scrub and black-lead stoves, and he is discouraged enough already.
+When Dot is able to run about, you may be able to dispense with
+Martha's services," and Olivia returned a reluctant assent to this.
+
+But her conscience was not quite satisfied.  Even Aunt Madge, she
+thought, hardly knew how bad things really were.
+
+Mrs. Broderick was a chronic invalid, and never went beyond the two
+rooms that made her little world.  Most people would have considered it
+a dull, narrow life, and one hardly worth living; but the invalid would
+have contradicted this.
+
+Madge Broderick had learned the secret of contentment; she had lived
+through great troubles--the loss of the husband she had idolised, and
+her only little child.  Since then acute suffering that the doctors had
+been unable to relieve had wasted her strength.  Nevertheless, there
+was a peaceful atmosphere in the sunshiny room, where she lay hour
+after hour reading and working with her faithful companion Zoe beside
+her.
+
+Zoe was a beautiful brown-and-white spaniel, with eyes that were almost
+human in their soft beseechingness, and Mrs. Broderick often lamented
+that she could not eulogise his doggish virtues as Mrs. Browning had
+immortalised her Flush.
+
+Olivia was devoted to her Aunt Madge; they had a mutual admiration for
+each other's character, and her sister's child was dear to Mrs.
+Broderick's heart, and perhaps the saddest hours she ever spent now
+were passed in thinking over the young couple's future.
+
+"I was wrong," she would say to herself, with a painful contraction of
+the brow.  "I said too little at the time to discourage their marriage;
+if I had been firm and reasoned with the child, she would have listened
+to me.  Livy is always so manageable, but I was a romantic old goose!
+And then she was in love, poor dear!  And now--oh, it breaks one's
+heart to see their young anxious faces!  I know so well what Marcus
+feels; he is ready to go out into the roads and break stones if he can
+only keep a roof over his wife's head."  And there were tears in Madge
+Broderick's eyes as she took up her work.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER.
+
+"I at least will do my duty."--_Caesar_.
+
+
+Young Mrs. Luttrell stood at the window one November afternoon,
+buttoning her gloves in an absent and perfunctory manner, as she looked
+out at the slushy road and greasy pavement.  There was a crinkle on her
+smooth broad forehead, and an uneasy expression in her eyes--as though
+some troublesome thought had obtruded itself--presently the crinkle
+deepened and widened into a frown, and she walked impatiently to the
+fireplace, where a black, uninviting fire smouldered in a cheerless
+sort of way, and took up the poker in rather an aggressive manner, then
+shook her head, as she glanced at the half-empty coal-scuttle.
+
+She was cold, and the clinging damp peculiar to November made her
+shiver; but a cheery blaze would be too great a self-indulgence; left
+to itself the fire would last until tea-time--she would be back in
+plenty of time for Marcus's late tea--he should have a warm clear fire
+to welcome him and a plate of smoking French toast, because it was so
+economical and only took half the amount of butter.  It had been a
+favourite delicacy in her nursery days, and the revival had given her
+great solace.
+
+Yes, he should have his tea first, and then she would bring in the
+vexed subject for argument; in spite of Aunt Madge's well-meant advice,
+it was a foregone conclusion in Olivia's mind that Martha must go.  Of
+course it was a pity.  She liked the girl, she was so willing and
+good-tempered; and her round childish face was always well washed and
+free from smudges, and she was so good to Dot, caring for her as if she
+were a baby sister of her own.  Nevertheless, stern in her youthful
+integrity, Olivia had already decided that Martha's hours at the corner
+house were numbered.
+
+And then there was the stuff for Dot's new winter pelisse.  Marcus
+would give her the few shillings without a murmur, she was sure of
+that, but he would sigh furtively as he counted out the coins.
+Whatever deprivations they might be called upon to endure their little
+one must be warmly clad.
+
+She must do without her new pair of gloves, that was all, and here
+Olivia looked disconsolately at her worn finger-tips; she could ink the
+seams and use her old muff, and no one would notice; what was the use
+of buying new gloves, when her hands would soon be as red and rough as
+Martha's.  Olivia was just a little vain of her hands; they were not
+small, but the long slender fingers with almond-shaped nails were full
+of character, and Marcus had often praised them.
+
+For his sake she would try to take care of them, but black-leading
+stoves and washing Dot's little garments would not help to beautify
+them.  Of course, it was nonsense to care about such trifles, she must
+be strong-minded and live above such sublunary things.  Marcus would
+only honour her the more for her self-forgetfulness and labours of
+love.  Here the pucker vanished from Olivia's brow, and a sweet,
+earnest look came to her face.
+
+The next moment her attention was distracted; a tall old man in a
+great-coat with a fur-lined collar passed the window; he was a little
+bent and walked feebly, leaning on a gold-headed stick.
+
+Olivia watched him until he was out of sight; for some occult reason,
+not comprehensible even to her, she felt interested in the old man,
+although she had never spoken to him; but he looked old and ill and
+lonely; three decided claims on Olivia's bountiful and sympathetic
+nature.
+
+She knew his name--Mr. Gaythorne--he was a neighbour of theirs, and he
+lived at Galvaston House, the dull-looking red brick house, with two
+stone lions on the gate-posts.
+
+Olivia had amused her husband more than once with imaginary stories
+about their neighbour.  "He was a miser--a recluse--a misanthrope--he
+had a wife in a lunatic asylum--he had known some great trouble that
+had embittered his life; he had made a vow never to let a human being
+cross his threshold; he was a Roman Catholic priest in disguise, an
+Agnostic, a Nihilist."  There was no end to Olivia's quaint surmises,
+but she could only be certain of two facts--that the mysterious Mr.
+Gaythorne was methodical by nature, and whatever might be the weather
+always took his exercise at the same hour, and also that only
+tradespeople entered the lion-guarded portals of Galvaston House.
+
+Olivia had only once come face to face with him.  She was hurrying
+along one afternoon, when in turning a corner she almost ran against
+him, and pulled herself up with a confused word of apology.
+
+A suppressed grunt answered her, a singular old face, with bright,
+deeply-sunken eyes, and a white, peaked beard and moustache seemed to
+rise stiffly from the fur-lined collar; then the old man's hand touched
+his slouched hat mechanically, and he walked on.  It was that night
+that Olivia was convinced that Mr. Gaythorne was a Nihilist and an
+Agnostic, and hinted darkly at the storage of dynamite and infernal
+machines in the cellars of Galvaston House.
+
+"My dear child, you might write a novel," had been her husband's remark
+on this.  "Your imagination is really immense," but in spite of sarcasm
+and gibes on Marcus's part, Olivia chose to indulge in these harmless
+fancies.  She had always enjoyed making up stories about her
+neighbours, and it did no one any harm.
+
+When Mr. Gaythorne was out of sight she went to the kitchen to take a
+last look at Dot, who was slumbering peacefully in her cot; the kitchen
+was the warmest place, and Martha could clean her knives and wash her
+plates and keep an eye on her.
+
+Martha gave her usual broad grin when her mistress entered; the little
+handmaid adored her master and mistress and Dot.  During her rare
+holiday she always entertained her mother and brothers and sisters with
+wonderful descriptions of her mistress's cleverness and Miss Baby's
+ways.
+
+Martha had eleven brothers and sisters, and the house in Somers Row was
+not a luxurious abode.  Her mother took in washing, and eleven brothers
+and sisters of all ages, and of every variety of snub-nose, made any
+sort of privacy impossible.  Nevertheless, on her previous holiday, as
+Martha, or Patty, as they called her at home, sat in her best blue
+merino frock, with her youngest sister on her lap and a paper-bag of
+sugar-sticks for distribution to the family, there were few happier
+girls to be found anywhere.
+
+"And I have brought you half-a-pound of really good tea, mother,"
+observed Martha, proudly.  "I knew what a treat that would be to you
+and father."
+
+"You are a good girl, Patty," returned her mother, winking away the
+moisture in her eyes, as she went on with her ironing.  "Amabel, don't
+you be trampling on Patty's best dress, there's a good little lass.
+Well, as I was saying, Patty, only the children do interrupt so.
+There, Joe and Ben, just take your sugar-sticks and be off to play.  I
+think I have found a nice little place for Susan.  She is to sleep at
+home, but will have all her meals and half-a-crown a week, and the lady
+will teach her everything; that is pretty fair for a beginning, and as
+father says, the money will just find her in shoe-leather and aprons.
+Father's looking out for a place for Joe now."
+
+"I wish Susan could have a place like mine, mother," returned Martha,
+proudly.  "They are real gentlefolks, that is what they are.  'Will you
+be so good as to clean my boots, Martha?' or 'Thank you, Martha,' when
+I dry the paper of a morning.  Oh, it is like play living at the corner
+house, and as for that darling Miss Baby----" but here words failed
+Martha.
+
+It could not be denied that Olivia was unusually depressed that
+afternoon, fog and damp always had this effect on her.  Her nature
+needed sunshine and crisp, bracing air.
+
+There was no buoyancy and elasticity in her tread.  When people looked
+at her, as they often did, for her pliant, slim figure rather attracted
+notice, she thought they were only commenting on her old black hat and
+jacket.  Only one article of her dress satisfied her; her boots were
+neat and strong.  Marcus had found her one wet day warming her feet at
+the fire and had gone off to examine her boots without a word.  Olivia
+had flushed up and looked uncomfortable when he came back with the
+boots in his hand.
+
+"Do you want to be laid up with bronchitis or congestion of the lungs?"
+he asked, rather sadly, as he showed her the thin, worn soles; "do you
+think that will make things easier for me, Livy?"  The next day he had
+taken her himself to the bootmaker's and had had her fitted with a
+serviceable stout pair.
+
+Somehow in spite of her pleasure in the boots and Marcus's
+thoughtfulness she had felt rather like a scolded child.
+
+Her unusual pessimism had a moment's distraction, for as she passed the
+print-shop, at the corner of Harbut Street, she saw her mysterious old
+gentleman standing still on the pavement fixedly regarding a small
+oil-painting.
+
+Olivia had a good view of the lean, cadaverous face and peaked white
+beard; the heavy grey eyebrows seemed to beetle over the dark sunken
+eyes.
+
+"After all he looks more like a Spaniard than a Russian," she thought,
+and again her theory of the Roman Catholic priest came into her mind.
+"If I could only see him without his hat, I should know if he had a
+tonsure," and then with youthful curiosity she looked to see what
+picture had interested him.
+
+It was a small painting of the Prodigal Son, but was evidently by no
+amateur, the face of both father and son were admirably portrayed.  The
+strong Syrian faces were mellowed by the ruddy gleams of sunset.  A
+tame kid was gambolling behind them, and two women were grinding corn,
+with the millstone between them.  On the flat white roof of the house,
+another woman had just laid aside her distaff in a hurry.  The father's
+arms with their gold bracelets were clasping the gaunt, sharp shoulders
+of the starving youth.
+
+Olivia knew the picture well.  Marcus had been very much struck with
+it, it was good work, he said; the Syrian faces were perfect types, and
+he had made Olivia notice the strong resemblance between father and son.
+
+"That is the mother, I suppose?" had been her comment; "she has just
+caught sight of them, there is a puzzled look in her eyes as she lays
+aside her distaff, as though she is not quite sure that that
+wild-looking figure in sheep-skin is her own long-lost son."
+
+"It must be a grand thing to be an artist," was Marcus's reply to this.
+"Goddard, I do not know the name; the picture is cheap, too, only 25
+pounds, but I would wager any money that it was painted in Syria."
+
+Olivia stole a second glance at the old man, but he never moved; then
+she shivered, and walked faster.  It was bitterly cold, a miserable
+afternoon for Marcus, who was visiting his poor patients in the squalid
+back streets and slums that fringed Brompton.
+
+Mayfield Villas were about ten minutes' walk from Galvaston Terrace;
+the villas had verandahs and long, narrow gardens, but most of them had
+lodgings to let.
+
+Mrs. Broderick and her maid occupied the first floor at number six, the
+drawing-room and back bedroom belonged to the invalid, and Deborah had
+a tiny room close by her mistress, the other room had been converted
+into a kitchen; none of the rooms were large, but they were
+well-furnished, and thoroughly comfortable.  During her husband's
+lifetime Mrs. Broderick had been comfortably off, and had had a good
+house--the carved book-cases, Turkey-carpet, and deep easy-chairs, and
+a few proof-engravings handsomely framed, all spoke of better days.
+
+When Olivia's foot sounded on the stairs, a tall, hard-featured woman
+came out of the kitchen.
+
+"I knew it was you," she said.  "Come in.  My mistress is just wearying
+for you.  She never sleeps in daylight, and it is ill-reading and
+working in the fading light.  I will soon have the tea ready.  I have
+been baking some scones."
+
+Olivia sniffed the warm perfume delightedly.  She was hungry, oh, so
+hungry! although two hours had not elapsed since dinner-time, and Deb's
+scones, with sweet, fresh country butter, was ambrosial food.
+
+"Don't let Deb keep you with her chatter, come ben, my woman, as my
+poor Fergus would have said."
+
+The voice was peculiarly youthful and melodious, the timbre exquisite
+in modulation and volume, but the face belonged to a woman aged more by
+pain and trouble than years.
+
+Madge Broderick had never been a handsome woman, her nose was too long,
+and her skin too sallow for beauty, but her bright eyes and a certain
+gracefulness of figure, and her beautiful voice had been her charms.
+Fergus Broderick, a rough Scotchman, with a tongue as uncouth as his
+native dales, had fallen in love with her at their first meeting; he
+had been invited to dine at the house of the senior partner, in whose
+employ he was, and as the awkward, bashful young Scotchman entered the
+firelit room, a clear laugh from amongst a group of girls gathered
+round the hearth penetrated like music to his ear.
+
+"Parting is such sweet sorrow," said the voice, with much pathos, "that
+I could say good-bye until the morrow; those are your sentiments,
+Katie, are they not?"
+
+"Hush, Madge! here is Mr. Broderick waiting for us to speak to him,"
+and the daughter of the house rose with a laugh to greet him.
+
+When the lamps were lighted Fergus Broderick had scanned all the
+girlish faces with furtive eagerness.  He had felt a shock of
+disappointment when the owner of the exquisite voice had revealed her
+identity.  Madge's long nose and sallow skin were no beauties
+certainly; nevertheless, before the evening was over, Fergus Broderick
+knew he had found his mate; and for eight blissful years Madge dwelt in
+her woman's kingdom, and gathered more roses than thorns.
+
+Her first trouble had been the loss of her boy; he had succumbed to
+some childish ailment; her husband's death--the result of an
+accident--had followed a few months later.
+
+The strain of the long nursing and excessive grief had broken down
+Madge Broderick's strength.  The seeds of an unsuspected disease latent
+in her system now showed itself, and for some two or three years her
+sufferings, both mental and physical, would have killed most women.
+
+Then came alleviation and the lull that resembles peace; the pain was
+no longer so acute; the disease had reached a stage when there would be
+days and even weeks of tolerable comfort; then Madge courageously set
+herself to make the most of her life.
+
+With a courage that was almost heroic, she divided and subdivided the
+hours of each day--so many duties, so many hours of recreation.  She
+had her charity work, her fancy work, her heavy and light reading;
+books and flowers were her luxuries; the newest books, the sweetest
+flowers, were always to be found on the table beside her couch.
+
+Madge often said laughingly that she lived in a world of her own.  "But
+I have very good society," she would add; "the best and wisest of all
+ages give me their company.  This morning I was listening to Plato's
+Dialogues, and this afternoon Sir Edwin Arnold was entertaining me at
+the Maple Club in Tokio.  This evening--well, please do not think me
+frivolous, but affairs at Rome and a certain Prince Saracinesca claim
+my attention.
+
+"A good novel puts me in a better humour and disposes me to sleep, you
+know," she would finish, brightly, "that I always read aloud to Fergus
+in the evening; we were going through a course of Thackeray--we were in
+the middle of 'Philip on his way through the world' when the accident
+happened.  After that he could only bear a few verses or a psalm."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AUNT MADGE.
+
+"It is more delightful and more honourable to give than
+receive."--_Epicurus_.
+
+
+Most people thought it a strange thing that Mrs. Broderick spoke so
+constantly of her husband.  Mrs. Tolman, the Vicar's wife, who was a
+frequent visitor, had been scandalised more than once, and had
+expressed herself rather strongly on the subject to her husband.
+
+"I know you think very highly of poor Mrs. Broderick, Stephen, and so
+do I," she remarked one day.  "Very few women would bear things in that
+quiet, uncomplaining way, and the amount of work she gets through is
+astonishing; but that perpetual dragging in of her husband's name seems
+to me such bad taste."
+
+"Upon my word, Isabella, I cannot say that I agree with you."  And the
+Vicar straightened himself on the rug in his favourite attitude.  He
+was a heavy, ponderous man, with an expression of shrewd good sense on
+his face that won people's confidence.  "I wish other women were as
+faithful to their husband's memory, that flighty little Mrs. Martin,
+for example."
+
+"My dear Stephen, what an absurd idea!  Fancy talking of Lydia Martin,
+every one knows she is making a dead set at Mr. Germaine, although poor
+Jack Martin has hardly been dead a year.  She is Mrs. Broderick's exact
+opposite.  Please do not misunderstand me in this tiresome way," and
+here Mrs. Tolman frowned slightly.  "It is the manner in which Mrs.
+Broderick speaks of her husband that offends my tastes.  In my
+opinion"--compressing her lips as she spoke--"our departed dear ones
+are sacred, and should not be mentioned in a secular manner."
+
+At the word "secular" there was a twinkle in the Vicar's eyes, though
+he held his peace.  And to tell the truth, Mrs. Tolman had been unable
+to find the expression she needed.
+
+"But with Mrs. Broderick it is 'Fergus here' and 'Fergus there,' just
+as though he were alive and in the next room, and she was expecting him
+in every moment.  Sometimes in the twilight it makes me quite creepy to
+hear her speaking in that sprightly voice, just as though she were
+making believe that he heard her."
+
+"Poor soul!" was the Vicar's answer to this; but he was used to keeping
+his thoughts to himself--he and Mrs. Broderick understood each other
+perfectly.  She had not a firmer friend in the world, unless it was her
+kind physician, Dr. Randolph.  "Poor soul!" he repeated when his wife
+in silent dudgeon had retired from the room.
+
+"It is not likely that Isabella would understand her; Mrs. Broderick is
+the bravest and the brightest woman I know, and yet the furnace was
+heated sevenfold for her.  Make believe that he is alive!  Why, he has
+never been dead to her!  It is her vivid faith and her vivid
+imagination that has helped her to live all these years instead of
+lying there a crushed wreck for people to patronise and pity."
+
+And here again there was a wicked little twinkle in the Vicar's eyes.
+Did he not know his Isabella, and how good she was to those who would
+allow her to advise and lecture them.
+
+"Mrs. Broderick has just laughed and put her foot down, that is why
+Isabella is always complaining of her.  They have not exactly hit it
+off."  And here the Vicar laughed softly as he sat down to consider his
+sermon.
+
+"Aunt Madge, how cosy you look!" exclaimed Olivia, as she stood on the
+threshold of the warm firelit room; and then a swift transition of
+thought carried her back to the dismal little dining-room at Galvaston
+Terrace, with its black smouldering fire, and the damp clinging to the
+window-panes, and an involuntary shiver crossed her as she knelt down
+beside her aunt's couch.
+
+"My dear Livy, you are a perfect iceberg!" exclaimed Mrs. Broderick.
+"No, you shall not kiss me again until you are warmer.  Sit down in
+that easy-chair close to the fire where I can see you, and take that
+handscreen for the good of your complexion.--Now, Deb, bring the
+tea-things, like a good soul, for Mrs. Luttrell has made a poor dinner."
+
+"How could you guess that, Aunt Madge?  Are you a witch or a magician?"
+asked Olivia, in her astonished voice.  It was pure guess-work on Mrs.
+Broderick's part, but as usual her keen wits had grazed the truth.
+
+Olivia, who had a healthy girlish appetite, had risen from the midday
+meal almost as hungry as when she had sat down.  The dish of hashed
+mutton had been small, and if Olivia had eaten her share, Martha would
+have fared badly.  A convenient flower-pot, a gift from Aunt Madge, had
+prevented Marcus from seeing his wife's plate.  Olivia, who had dined
+off potatoes and gravy, was already faint from exhaustion.  As usual,
+she confessed the truth.
+
+"It was my fault, Aunt Madge," she said, basking like a blissful
+salamander in the warm glow.  "I ought to have known the meat would not
+go round properly; but happily Marcus did not notice, or else there
+would have been a fuss.  He and Martha dined properly, and I mean to
+enjoy my tea."
+
+But Mrs. Broderick's only answer was to ring her handbell.
+
+"Deb, boil two of those nice new-laid eggs that Mrs. Broughton sent me.
+Mrs. Luttrell has had no dinner; if the scones are ready we will have
+tea at once."  And as Deborah nodded and vanished, she shook her head a
+little sadly.  "Olive dear, it won't pay; you are not the sort of
+person who can safely starve.  I thought there was something wrong
+about you when you came in; you had a peaky, under-fed look.  Oh, I
+thought so!" as the tears rose to Olivia's eyes.  "Now, I am not going
+to say another word until you have had your tea.  Look at Zoe; she
+thinks you are in trouble about something, and wants to lick your face.
+Is not the sympathy of a dumb creature touching?  They don't understand
+what is wrong, but they see plainly that their human friend is unhappy.
+Come to me, Zoe, and I will explain matters.  It is not much of a
+trouble.  Olive is not really miserable; she is only cold and hungry
+and weak, and wants petting and cosseting."
+
+"I think I am rather unhappy, Aunt Madge," returned Olivia, in a sad
+voice.  "Things are getting worse, and Marcus looks so careworn; he was
+talking in his sleep last night.  We have so little money left--only
+just enough for six months' rent and the coals, and ever so little for
+housekeeping, and no patients come, and now I have made up my mind to
+tell him to-night that Martha must go."
+
+"My dear Olivia, we talked that over a few weeks ago, and we decided
+then that you had better keep her."
+
+"Yes, Aunt Madge, I know; but indeed, indeed we cannot afford her
+food--these growing girls must be properly fed, and the amount of bread
+and butter she eats would astonish Deb----" and here Olivia heaved a
+harassed sigh.
+
+"Well, well, we will talk it over again"--and then Deb brought in the
+tea-things, and the scones, and the new-laid eggs, and as Mrs.
+Broderick sipped her tea it did her kind heart good to see how her
+niece enjoyed the good things before her.
+
+"There now, you feel ever so much better," she said, when the meal was
+finished.  "Now we can talk comfortably.  I have been thinking over
+what you have said, and I suppose you are right from your point of
+view, and that if you cannot afford Martha's food she must go, but I
+have been thinking of Marcus.  He is at the turning-point of his
+career.  Everything depends on his making a practice.  When patients
+send for him, and they will send for him by-and-by, do you think it
+will look well for his wife to open the door to them."
+
+"But, Aunt Madge----"
+
+"Olive, you were always a good, honest little girl, and you have grown
+up an honest woman; you want to do your duty and slave for Marcus and
+Dot, and you have begun nobly by starving yourself until you are on the
+verge of an hysterical attack, but we must think of Marcus.  Martha
+must not go, at least, not until the winter is over.  I have been
+saving a few pounds for your Christmas present I meant you to have had
+a new dress and jacket, and a few other little things you needed; but
+if you like to pay Martha's wages with it until Easter you can please
+yourself--only take it and say no more--what, crying again!  What
+nonsense, as though I may not give my own niece a little present."
+
+"It is the goodness and the kindness," returned Olivia, with a low sob.
+"Aunt Madge, why are you so good to me?  You have saved all this, and
+you have so little to spare--as though I do not know what a small
+income you really have."
+
+"It is a very respectable income, and my dear Fergus worked hard to
+make it.  I never professed to be a rich woman, but I have everything I
+want.  If people would only cut their coat by their cloth, as Fergus
+used to say, there would be less distress in the world; well, my wants
+are few; I have no milliner's bills;" here there was a gleam of fun in
+the invalid's eyes.  "No smart bonnets or fashionable mantles needed at
+this establishment; only just a cosy tea-gown now and then when the old
+one is too shabby.  Come, Olive, are you not going to count your
+money?"  And then Olivia emptied the contents of the little purse on
+her lap.
+
+"Well?" as the slim fingers sorted the gold and silver; "will there be
+enough for Martha's wages until Easter?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, Aunt Madge, and there will be some over.  I can buy the
+stuff for baby's winter pelisse without troubling Marcus, and do you
+know," knitting her brows in careful calculation, "I do believe that
+with a little contrivance and management I can get some new trimming
+for my Sunday hat, and a pair of chevrette gloves; good chevrette
+gloves are dear, but they wear splendidly, and a pair would last me
+most of the winter--yes," her eyes brightening, "I am sure I could do
+it; it does fret Marcus so to see me shabby."
+
+Mrs. Broderick nodded in a sympathising way--she knew the joy of these
+small economies and contrivances; the little purse of savings had not
+been gathered together without some self-denial; but as she saw the
+lovely rainbow smile on Olivia's face, she felt that she had her reward.
+
+"This is my red-letter day," she said, quaintly; "it is always a
+red-letter day when I can really help someone.  I have my black-letter
+days when I can do nothing special, when it is all noughts and crosses
+in my diary,  I have had my Christmas treat beforehand, and I shall be
+quite happy till bed-time thinking about Dot's pelisse and the new
+hat-trimming; by-the-bye, what colour is the pelisse to be?"
+
+"Blue, baby is so fair, and blue suits her best; I think I shall get
+some cotton-backed velvet just to trim it;--I must not dream of fur."
+
+"How would miniver look round the cape and neck?  I have two or three
+yards in very good condition.  Deb picked it off my wadded satin mantle
+years ago.  I was keeping it for some special occasion.  If you buy a
+really good cashmere, and trim it with my old miniver, Dot will have a
+grand pelisse," and then Mrs. Broderick hunted in her key-basket for a
+certain key, and instructed her niece to unlock a drawer in her
+wardrobe.
+
+It was growing late by this time, and Olivia was obliged to take her
+leave.  Marcus had promised to be back by seven, and it was six o'clock
+now; but as she walked briskly through the quiet streets she felt as
+light-hearted as a child.
+
+What a happy evening she and Marcus would spend!  There would be no
+need now to tell him about Martha, or to beg him to give her the few
+shillings for Dot's pelisse; he should have a nice tea.  Aunt Madge had
+made her take a couple of the new-laid eggs and a pot of Deb's
+delicious marmalade home with her, and she knew how Marcus would enjoy
+the little treat.
+
+"Dear Aunt Madge, how I love her?  I think she is the very best woman
+in the world;" but here Olivia gave a surprised start.  She had reached
+the print-shop at the corner of Harbut Street, and in the strong glare
+of the gas-lamp she distinctly saw the tall, bent form of her
+mysterious neighbour.
+
+He was coming out of the shop, and walking stiffly and with difficulty
+in the direction of his house.  She had never known him out so late
+before.  His afternoon walk was always timed for him to be back by
+four.  She glanced at the shop window, but there was no picture of "The
+Prodigal Son" to be seen.
+
+Had he bought it?  Was this the reason why he was out so late?  Olivia
+felt a little anxious as she noticed how feebly he walked; the greasy
+pavements were rather slippery, and Galvaston Terrace was not a
+well-lighted thoroughfare.  Perhaps it was nonsense, but she would not
+enter her house until she had seen him safely across the road, and
+within the lion-guarded portals.
+
+It was just kindly womanly instinct, but all her life long Olivia was
+glad that she had yielded to that impulse.  She was still standing upon
+the step, and the old man was nearly across the road, when she saw him
+slip.  A piece of orange-peel on the curb had escaped him in the
+darkness, and he had put his foot on the slippery substance.  Olivia
+gave a quick exclamation as she saw him try to recover his balance, and
+then fall forward rather heavily.  No one was passing just then, and
+happily the road was clear of vehicles.  Olivia ran across and picked
+up his stick, then she took him by the arm and helped him to rise.
+
+"I trust you have not hurt yourself," she said, anxiously.  "Please do
+not be afraid of leaning on me, I am very strong.  Ah," as the old man
+uttered a groan, "you have injured yourself in some way.  The curb is
+rather steep just here."
+
+"It is my ankle, but I must get home somehow.  You are very good,
+madam; if you will allow me to take your arm, I think I can manage
+those few yards.  I live there," pointing to the grim doorway.
+
+"Yes, I know: Mr. Gaythorne, of Galvaston House; we are neighbours of
+yours, and I have seen you come out of the house frequently.  Shall I
+ring the bell for you, and perhaps"--hesitating a little, as though she
+were taking a liberty--"you will allow me to go as far as the hall-door
+with you."
+
+But to her alarm the old man suddenly stood still.  It was pitchy dark
+under the overhanging trees, and only a faint gleam from a large bow
+window showed her the length of the garden-path that they would have to
+traverse.
+
+"I can do no more," he said, faintly; "I believe I have broken my
+ankle.  Mrs. Crampton and the maids must find some way of getting me
+in.  Perhaps, madam, you will be so good as to explain the matter to
+them.  I see the door is open," and Olivia at once left him and went up
+to the house.
+
+"Your master has met with a slight accident," she said to the
+astonished maid.  "He has fallen and hurt his foot, and it is quite
+impossible for him to walk up to the house.  He mentioned Mrs.
+Crampton; perhaps you will ask her what is to be done," and the girl, a
+good-natured, buxom country lass, at once ran off.
+
+Olivia stood patiently for a few minutes.  The hall with its handsome
+rugs and blazing fire looked delightfully inviting.  A lean, old hound,
+stretched on a tiger skin, turned its head and then rose stiffly and
+came towards her.  As its slender nose touched her dress, she saw the
+poor thing was blind.  The next moment a cheerful-looking, grey-haired
+woman hurried towards her, followed by two maids.
+
+"What is it that Phoebe tells me, ma'am; Mr. Gaythorne has met with an
+accident?  Times out of number I have begged and prayed him not to go
+out alone; but he was not to be persuaded."
+
+"He is down there by the gate, the trees hide him," returned Olivia,
+hastily.  "I think it would be best to take an arm-chair, if you think
+we could carry him in.  He is in dreadful pain and cannot walk a step
+farther."
+
+"Phoebe, tell cook to light the lantern, and then you two girls bring
+one of the study chairs--the lantern first, mind.
+
+"Now, ma'am, perhaps we had better find my master, and the lasses will
+follow us.  There are four of us, and Mr. Gaythorne is not so very
+heavy, and we will have him on the library couch in no time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+DR. LUTTRELL'S FIRST PATIENT.
+
+"Sudden the worst, turns the best to the brave,"--_Browning_.
+
+
+Olivia felt as if she were dreaming as she followed the little
+procession down the dark garden-path.  Once she pinched her wrist
+slightly to assure herself that she was awake.  Mrs. Crampton held the
+lantern, and the cook and the two maids carried the arm-chair, with
+jolting uneven footsteps, that brought a suppressed groan to Mr.
+Gaythorne's lips.  As they lifted him on the couch he looked so white
+that Olivia thought he was going to faint, and begged the housekeeper
+to give him some wine; he was evidently in severe pain.
+
+"It would be better not to touch the foot until the doctor comes," she
+observed.  And then Mrs. Crampton looked perplexed.
+
+"My master does not hold with doctors, ma'am.  I don't remember one
+ever crossing the threshold since poor Miriam had typhoid fever.  The
+foot is swelling already, and it will be a job to get the boot off.
+Ah, I thought so"--as Mr. Gaythorne winced and motioned her away--"he
+will be afraid of one touching it!"
+
+"My husband lives just opposite--the corner house with the red lamp in
+Harbut Street.  He is a doctor and very clever, and I am nearly sure
+that he is in just now."  Olivia spoke a little breathlessly and
+anxiously; then she bent over the old man.
+
+"If Mrs. Crampton does not know of another doctor would you mind one of
+the maids running across the road for Dr. Luttrell?  You are suffering
+so much, and your foot ought to be treated at once.  It is impossible
+for any one to know if it be only a sprain until the boot is removed.
+You fell so heavily that perhaps a small bone might be broken."
+
+"Yes--send--send," returned the invalid, irritably.  "Clear the room,
+Crampton.  You know that I hate to have a parcel of women round
+me.--There is no need for you to go, madam"--with an attempt at
+civility as Olivia was about to withdraw at this plain speaking.  "Give
+the lady a chair, Phoebe."
+
+But Olivia, who had excellent tact, only smiled pleasantly, and shook
+her head.
+
+"I think it will be best for me to send the doctor across, there is
+nothing that I can do for you until he comes."
+
+She took the old man's hand as she spoke and pressed it gently.
+
+"I am so sorry to leave you in such pain, but I hope you will soon be
+relieved.  Perhaps you will not mind my inquiring another day, but a
+stranger is only in the way to-night."
+
+Olivia's soft, well-modulated voice was so full of kindly sympathy,
+that Mr. Gaythorne opened his weary eyes again.
+
+"Thank you," was all he said; but he watched her keenly as she crossed
+the long room.
+
+Olivia walked so quickly that she was almost out of breath when she
+reached her own door.  The dining-room looked cold and comfortless.
+Martha was on her knees before the fireplace trying to revive the
+blackened embers with the help of the kitchen bellows, and Dr.
+Luttrell, with a tired face and puckered brow, was watching the
+proceedings somewhat impatiently.  A tallow candle was guttering
+uncomfortably on the table.
+
+"Is the fire out?  Oh, Marcus, I am so sorry, but Martha and I will
+soon put things to rights.  Will you go across to Galvaston House at
+once, please?"--and here Olivia's voice was full of suppressed
+excitement.  "Mr. Gaythorne has slipped against the curb and hurt his
+foot; he is in great pain.  I have been helping him, and then I said I
+would send you.  I have left the gate open so you can just go up to the
+door."
+
+Marcus listened to these details with an astonished face; then he
+caught up his black bag and nodded acquiescence.  The tired frown left
+his face, and he moved away with his quiet, professional step.
+
+Olivia watched him from the doorstep.  As she closed the door after
+him, she could have clapped her hands with sheer delight and
+excitement.  It was her doing that Marcus had his first patient.  Those
+foolish maids would never have thought of sending for him.  Dot was
+awake and singing to herself in her usual chuckling fashion in the
+firelight, but Olivia had no time to play with her pet.
+
+"The bellows are no good, Martha," she said, quickly.  "You must just
+fetch a bundle of sticks and a newspaper, and relay the fire, while I
+kindle the lamp and set the table for tea; the room feels like a vault."
+
+"There is a good fire in the kitchen, ma'am, if you want to make
+toast," observed Martha, rising reluctantly from her knees; "I have
+been ironing Miss Baby's pinnys."  Olivia, who was drawing the heavy
+curtain across the window, was relieved to hear this.
+
+In another quarter of an hour the little room wore a more cheerful
+aspect.  The sticks crackled and blazed lustily; the green-shaded lamp
+diffused a mellow light.  The tea-tray was set and the plate of French
+toast was frizzling gently on a brass trivet.  At the sound of her
+master's footstep Martha had orders to fill up the teapot and boil the
+eggs.
+
+After this Olivia played with Dot, and undressed her, and then brought
+her in to say good-night to her father.  But she waxed sleepy long
+before he let himself in with his latch-key.
+
+Marcus paused on the threshold a moment as though something struck him.
+Olivia's face looked fair and sweet as she sat in her low chair with
+the sleepy child in her arms.  She put back her head with a soft
+questioning smile as he bent down to kiss her face.
+
+"Dot is nearly asleep, but I had not the heart to put her in her cot
+until you had seen her; tea is quite ready, and Martha is boiling some
+new-laid eggs.  Aunt Madge has sent you, too, a pot of her home-made
+marmalade, because she knows how fond you are of it.  Sit down and
+begin, I shall not be a moment," and Olivia's voice was so full of
+suppressed excitement, that Marcus laughed as he drew his chair to the
+table; he was tired and hungry, but he no longer felt impatient and
+depressed.
+
+"Now tell me everything," she exclaimed, when she came back.  "What
+have you done?  Was the foot very bad?  Will you have to go to
+Galvaston House again?"
+
+"Rather!" returned Marcus; "it is a pretty bad sprain, I can tell you.
+Why, I should not be surprised if Mr. Gaythorne is laid up for the next
+two or three weeks; he is not in good condition and the shaking and
+fright have upset him.  He will want good nursing and plenty of
+attention, as I told his housekeeper.  I am going again early in the
+morning."
+
+"And was he civil to you?  Mrs. Crampton says he hates doctors," and
+Olivia's tone was a trifle anxious.
+
+"Well, he was a bit grumpy at first, but I had my work to do, and took
+no notice, but when I had helped him upstairs and put him comfortable
+for the night, he waxed a shade more gracious and thanked me quite
+civilly.  I fancy he is a character and has lived so long alone that he
+has grown morose and unsociable.  That blind hound of his followed us
+upstairs and would not leave him.  Did you notice him, Livy?"
+
+"Yes; and is it not a nice house, Marcus?  That library is a beautiful
+room.  All those hundreds of well-bound books, and the massive oak
+furniture.  I had not time to notice things, but I could not help
+feeling how deliciously soft and warm the carpets felt to one's feet,
+and then those lovely rugs and skins in the hall."
+
+"His bedroom was just as luxurious.  Mr. Gaythorne is evidently a rich
+man, though he keeps no carriage.  Mrs. Crampton told me so.  He is
+very fond of flowers; there is a sort of conservatory on the first
+floor full of beautiful plants, and an alcove where he can sit and
+enjoy them.  I could not help stopping a moment to admire them, but
+Mrs. Crampton did not invite me to go in.  You may depend upon it the
+old gentleman is a strict martinet, and rules his household with a rod
+of iron.  Mrs. Crampton seems a good creature, but he spoke pretty
+sharply to her once or twice."
+
+"But he was in such pain, Marcus."
+
+"Yes, my dear, I know that.  Oh, by-the-bye, he sent his compliments to
+you.  'I am greatly indebted to Mrs. Luttrell, and I trust that I shall
+soon have an opportunity of thanking her properly for her kind
+helpfulness.'  There, Livy, now we shall hear no more of the Nihilist
+or the Roman priest."
+
+Dr. Luttrell was in spirits; it was easy to see that.  The first
+patient, the first brief, the first book--aye, and the first love.
+What a halo remains round them!
+
+Our first-fruits may be immature, unripe, but to us they have a goodly
+flavour, a subtle, sweet aroma of their own.  All through his
+successful life Dr. Luttrell will look back to this evening as the
+turning-point of his career, when; he stood cold and tired watching
+Martha's bellows, and his wife's voice with a triumphant ring in it had
+called to him from the threshold.
+
+Marcus's first piece of good luck had so absorbed them that it was some
+time before Olivia remembered to tell him about Aunt Madge's present.
+Marcus forgot to go on with his tea when he saw the little heap of
+coins in his wife's hand.  Martha's wages, Dot's pelisse, and even the
+gloves and new hat-trimming were all duly canvassed.  When Marcus said,
+abruptly, "Aunt Madge is a trump," his glistening eyes were eloquent
+enough.  They had so much to discuss that it was nearly bedtime before
+he offered to go on with the book he was reading aloud, but after all
+they were neither in the mood for other people's stories.
+
+In youth life is so interesting.  No chapters of past memories, no wide
+experiences are so beguiling and absorbing.  "Oh, we lived then."  How
+often we hear that phrase, as the old man looks back over a long life,
+to the time when lad's love filled his days with sunshine.
+
+When Marcus lay awake that night there was no deadly coldness at his
+heart, no lurking demon of despondency, waiting for the small dark
+hours to assail him.  On the contrary, hope with seraph wings fanned
+him blissfully.  Marcus Luttrell was young, but he was no coward.  For
+two years he had waited patiently until the tide should turn.  "Wait
+till the clouds roll by," he used to say, cheerily, but only his wife
+guessed how he was really losing heart, as day after day and month
+after month passed and no paying patients presented themselves at the
+corner house at Galvaston Terrace.
+
+Olivia was at the window the following morning with Dot in her arms.
+As Dr. Luttrell, with his shabby black bag crossed the road, he looked
+back once, and Dot kissed her dimpled hand to him.  Olivia, who admired
+her husband with all her honest girlish heart, watched eagerly until
+the slight, well-built figure passed between the stone lions.
+
+"If he were only a little older-looking," she thought, regretfully, but
+his smooth face and fair hair gave him a boyish look.
+
+It was absurd, of course, but she could settle to nothing until he came
+back; but Marcus, who had a bad accident case on his mind, was in too
+great a hurry to satisfy his wife's curiosity.  "The foot was going on
+as well as he expected, but Mr. Gaythorne was unable to leave his bed.
+He was going again in the evening, and now he must be off to the model
+lodging-house to see if the poor fellow had pulled through the night."
+
+Olivia had planned out her morning.  She had her marketing to do, and
+her purchases to make.  Then it was only right to go round and tell
+Aunt Madge of the wonderful piece of good fortune that had befallen
+them.
+
+Mrs. Broderick was unfeignedly pleased.  "Still, Olive," she remarked,
+with commendable prudence, "one swallow does not make a summer."
+
+"No, Aunt Madge, of course not; but, as Marcus says, one patient brings
+others.  Galvaston House is a big place, and when the neighbours see
+him going in and out, it will be a sort of testimonial; besides, I
+shall quote Deb's favourite proverb, 'Every mickle makes a muckle.'
+Now I really must go, for I want to cut out Dot's pelisse."
+
+"And the dinner, Olive; are you sure it will go round to-day?"
+
+Then Olivia laughed in a shamefaced way.
+
+"Yes, indeed; I have been dreadfully extravagant, and we are going to
+have steaks and chips because it is Marcus's favourite dish, and Martha
+does it so well.  There is a whole pound of steak and just a little
+over.  I saw it cut myself, and it was such good weight."  And
+hesitating a little, "There are currant dumplings too."
+
+"Come--this is feasting indeed!"
+
+But Aunt Madge smiled a little sadly when she found herself alone.
+
+"Does Olive half realise how happy she is!" she said to herself.  "She
+is a rich woman in spite of all her poverty and cares.  When one has
+youth and love and health and a good conscience, every day is a feast
+and a delight.  One day Marcus will drive in his carriage and pair.  He
+is a clever fellow and there is real grit in him, and people will find
+it out, they always do.  And Olive will wear silk dresses, and get
+stout with prosperity and good living; but I doubt if she will be quite
+as happy as she is to-day--cutting out Dot's pelisse, and enjoying her
+day-dreams."
+
+And very probably Mrs. Broderick was right.  Marcus was more
+communicative that evening when he returned from his second visit to
+Galvaston House.  Mr. Gaythorne was not exactly an ideal patient; he
+had a will and a temper of his own, and already his opinion clashed
+with his doctor's.
+
+Marcus had laid great stress on perfect rest.  He wished his patient to
+remain in bed for the next two or three days, but Mr. Gaythorne
+perversely refused to do anything of the kind; he would put on his
+dressing-gown and lie on the couch.  He hated bed in the daytime--it
+made him nervous, and spoilt his night's sleep.
+
+"I shall have to give in to him," went on Marcus, a little irritably.
+"If I were in good practice I should just throw up the case.  'My good
+sir,' I should say, 'if you will not follow my directions it will be
+useless for me to prescribe for you.  My professional reputation is at
+stake, and I cannot stand by and see you retard your cure.'  Can't you
+fancy me saying it, Livy?"--and Marcus tossed back his wave of hair in
+his old boyish way.
+
+"Yes, dear; but people will soon find out what a splendid doctor you
+are; and so that poor glazier in the Models will recover, you think?"
+
+"Yes, I hope so; the chances are in his favour, poor chap; it was hard
+lines crashing through the roof of that conservatory.  If I had not
+been on the spot he would have bled to death before they could have got
+him to a hospital.  You might go and see them, Livy; they are decent
+people.  She is a pleasant, hard-working young woman, and they have two
+little children, and the place is as clean as possible.  I told Mr.
+Gaythorne about them just to amuse him, but he only grunted and looked
+bored.  By-the-way, you are right in one of your surmises--he has
+bought your favourite picture of the Prodigal Son.  It was on a chair
+beside his bed, and he consulted me as to where he could have it hung.
+I was going to suggest over the mantel-piece, but then I saw there was
+a large picture there with a silk curtain over it."
+
+"That must be his wife's picture, Marcus.  How nice of him to have
+curtains over it!"
+
+"Very nice if we could be sure that Mr. Gaythorne has been married and
+had a wife," he returned, a little dryly; "but I should not be
+surprised to find that he was an old bachelor; he is far too fussy and
+precise for a widower.  But, my dear child, we are getting into very
+gossiping ways, and I must really get on with that book Aunt Madge lent
+us."  And then Olivia consented to hold her tongue and let him read
+aloud to her as usual.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A VISIT TO GALVASTON HOUSE.
+
+"He who knows how to speak knows also when to speak."--_Plutarch_.
+
+
+The next morning as Olivia sat at work with Dot on the rug at her feet,
+playing with a limp furry monkey, over which she was gurgling and
+cooing like a baby dove, Dr. Luttrell entered the room; there was a
+pleased look on his face.
+
+"Olive," he said, "look what Mr. Gaythorne has given me for poor Jack
+Travers," and he held a five-pound note before his wife's eyes.  "Don't
+you think we owe him a handsome apology for calling him a miser?  it
+does not do to judge by appearances in this world; Mr. Gaythorne is
+eccentric, and a trifle cantankerous, but he is not stingy."
+
+[Illustration: "Olive, look what Mr. Gaythorne has given me."]
+
+"Jack Travers! is that the poor man in the Models?  Oh, Marcus, how
+splendid of him to give all that; it will be quite a fortune to the
+poor things."
+
+"Yes, it will pay their rent until Travers gets about again; he is not
+going to die this journey.  Was it not liberal of the old fellow? but
+if you had only seen the way he gave it to me, as though he were
+ashamed of the whole thing.
+
+"'That is for the man you told me about last night,' he said, in quite
+a grumpy voice; and he had hardly seemed as though he had listened
+yesterday; and he would not let me thank him, he turned testy at once;
+by-the-bye, Livy, he wants you to go and see him; you have evidently
+won his heart, my dear.  'If Mrs. Luttrell has half an hour's leisure I
+shall be pleased to see her,' those were his very words."
+
+"I hope you told him that it would be rather difficult to find leisure
+with all my numerous engagements," returned Olivia, saucily, "but that
+I would do my best for him.  How many callers have we had since we were
+married, Marcus? let me see, the Vicar and Mrs. Tolman, oh, and one day
+Mrs. Tolman brought a friend.  I remember how excited I was that
+afternoon, and that horrid little Sarah Jane had her sleeves rolled up
+to her elbows when she opened the door, and I dared not offer them tea
+because I knew she would never have had boiling water.  Oh, yes,"
+continued Olivia, merrily, "I will look over my visiting list, and see
+how I am to squeeze in a call at Galvaston House.  What hour do you
+think would suit him best, Marcus?"
+
+Then Dr. Luttrell, who had been much amused by his wife's drollery,
+gravely considered the point.
+
+"About three o'clock, I should say; I think he wants to show you his
+flowers; he is going to have his couch wheeled into the conservatory,
+or his winter garden, as he calls it.  Why should you not go across
+this afternoon?  Now I must be off to the Models;" and as Olivia took
+up her work again there was a soft flush on her cheek, and a happy look
+in her eyes as she listened to his light springing tread.
+
+"Dear Marcus," she said to herself; "how pleased he is about this, it
+has done him good already.  Oh, how I hope Mr. Gaythorne will take a
+fancy to him; he is rich and liberal, I am sure of that; he will pay
+Marcus well, and perhaps before long someone else will send for him.
+What, Dot, my sweet, must I love Jacko too?" as Dot laid her treasure
+on her mother's lap.
+
+When Olivia rang at the bell of Galvaston House that afternoon the same
+rosy-cheeked maid admitted her.
+
+"If you will step into the library a minute, ma'am," she observed, "I
+will tell Mrs. Crampton," and Olivia was left alone in the beautiful
+room she remembered so well.
+
+A bright fire burned cheerily on the hearth and the blind hound lay on
+the rug; he came up to Olivia and thrust his slender nose into her hand
+in a friendly fashion.  It was in this room that Mr. Gaythorne
+evidently passed his days; the tables bore signs of his numerous
+occupations; one table seemed loaded with books of reference.  A pile
+of neatly written manuscripts were on the escritoire.  Portfolios of
+engravings and a microscope on a pedestal stand occupied one corner,
+and a small inner room seemed full of cabinets and cases of stuffed
+birds and butterflies.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne was evidently a collector and a man of culture; the
+volumes in the carved oak book-cases were mostly bound in Russian calf.
+Olivia had only time to read a few titles when Mrs. Crampton appeared;
+her comely face had a pleased smile on it.
+
+"Mr. Gaythorne will be extremely obliged if you will step upstairs and
+see him, ma'am," she said, civilly; "he has been wheeled into the
+conservatory; my master thinks a deal of his flowers--books and
+flowers--they are his main amusements when his cough keeps him from
+going out  Oh! you must come too, Eros, of course," as the hound
+followed them closely.
+
+Galvaston House had been built in rather an unusual fashion; a
+conservatory had been thrown out at the back of the first floor landing
+and ran along one side of the house, forming a sort of verandah to the
+lower rooms.
+
+As Mrs. Crampton opened the glass door, the warm fragrant air met them
+deliciously.  At the farther end Mr. Gaythorne lay on a couch under a
+tall palm, with an oriental quilt thrown over him; his dark crimson
+dressing-gown, and black velvet cap gave him a picturesque appearance;
+with his white peaked beard and moustache, and his dark sunken eyes, he
+would have passed for a Venetian Doge; the mass of brilliant bloom, and
+the warm flower-scented air made Olivia slightly giddy.
+
+"This is very kind of you, Mrs. Luttrell," observed Mr. Gaythorne, in a
+slow, precise voice, as she stooped over him and took his hand.
+"Crampton, bring a chair for the lady.  I have been wanting to thank
+you for your kind assistance that unlucky evening.  I told the doctor
+so, and he has been good enough to give you my message."
+
+"Indeed, I did very little," returned Olivia, in her mellow voice.
+"You seemed so feeble that I could not help watching you cross the
+road; and then you slipped, and I felt you had hurt yourself.  I fear
+from what my husband tells me that it will be some little time before
+you will be able to get out again."
+
+"So he says, and he threatens me with crutches," returned the old man,
+grimly; "but, as I seldom cross the threshold in winter, I need not
+trouble myself about that.  Are you fond of flowers, Mrs. Luttrell?" as
+Olivia's eyes wandered to the splendid exotics round her.  "Crampton
+shall cut you some presently.  My library and my winter garden form my
+entire world now."
+
+"And you live among all these lovely things!" observed Olivia, almost
+in a tone of awe.  "Oh, if only Aunt Madge could see these flowers!"
+
+She spoke impulsively without considering her words, and blushed a
+little when she saw Mr. Gaythorne lift his eyebrows cynically.
+
+"I was only thinking of my aunt, Mrs. Broderick," she said,
+apologetically.  "She is such a sad invalid; she has never been out
+once since Uncle Fergus died, and that is ever so many years ago, and
+she suffers such dreadful pain sometimes.  The doctors say her
+complaint is incurable, and she is not at all old.  She lives all alone
+with her maid, and never goes beyond her two rooms, and yet no one
+hears her complain."
+
+"Mrs. Broderick must be a wonderful person.  She beats Job," returned
+Mr. Gaythorne, with a cynical curl of his lip; but Olivia was too much
+engrossed with her subject to notice it.
+
+"Oh, she is wonderful!" she returned, earnestly.  "I never met any one
+like her.  She is the bravest woman I know.  Even the Vicar says so.
+Don't you love pluck, Mr. Gaythorne?  So few people are plucky in that
+sense.  Aunt Madge has lost everything she cares for--husband and child
+and health; but she bears it all so beautifully, and makes the best of
+things.  I could not help thinking of her when I saw all those lovely
+flowers; she simply dotes on flowers!  There are always some on her
+little table; flowers and books, those are her sole pleasures."
+
+"What on earth made you hold forth on Aunt Madge's virtues, you absurd
+child?" was Marcus's comment when Olivia repeated this portion of her
+conversation.  "Fancy entertaining Mr. Gaythorne with an account of
+your relations!"--and Olivia blushed guiltily.
+
+"It does sound odd if you put it in that way, Marcus," she returned;
+"but when I saw all those beautiful flowers, Aunt Madge just jumped
+into my head, and I always do speak out my thoughts so.  But I could
+see he was interested.  He said little sharp sneering things at first,
+but afterwards he questioned me a good deal.  Oh, we got on splendidly!
+He began asking me about ourselves, and if you had much of a practice.
+Oh, he said it quite nicely!" as Marcus dropped the loaf he was cutting
+and frowned anxiously.  "He was quite gentlemanly, and only hinted at
+things; but I understood him, of course."
+
+"And you told him, I suppose, that he was my first patient," in an
+annoyed tone.  "You may as well own it, Livy; you are honest enough
+even for that," and there was no denying that Marcus's voice was
+decidedly sarcastic.  With all her virtues Olivia never did know when
+to hold her tongue.
+
+"Oh, Marcus dear, how could I help it," replied Olivia, nervously.  "Of
+course I had to tell him that we were just beginners, and how Dr. Slade
+had deceived us; that there was no redress, as he was dead.  But I told
+him, too, how hard you worked among the poor----  He did not say much.
+I don't think he is a great talker, but he stroked that funny beard of
+his and nodded his head.  Then when Mrs. Crampton came up he told her
+to bring coffee, and he made me stay and pour it out for him.  There
+was such a lovely chased coffee-pot and cream-jug, and such delicious
+cakes, and when I said at last that I must go he thanked me quite
+pleasantly.  'It is long since I have been so well amused, and I hope
+you will come and see me again.'  Yes, he said that, Marcus, so I am
+sure he did not mind my frankness.  But oh, dear! he quite forgot to
+tell Mrs. Crampton to cut me some flowers."
+
+"You need not expect any flowers now," returned her husband,
+impatiently.  "You have done for yourself and me too I expect.  A
+beginner you said, Livy, and you a sensible woman!  When I go this
+evening, I have no doubt I shall be civilly told that a second opinion
+will be desirable.  My dear girl, don't you know that a modest
+reticence, a judicious silence, is sometimes the safest policy.  A
+professional beggar may whine and show his sores, but a needy doctor
+out at elbows must wear a good appearance;" but Olivia, who was on the
+verge of tears from sheer vexation at her own impulsiveness, did not
+seek to defend herself.
+
+If she had imperilled Marcus's professional reputation by her
+carelessness, she felt she should never hold up her head again, but
+Marcus, who was tired and a little out of humour, was not disposed to
+comfort her.
+
+He had had a worrying day among his poor patients, the one bright spot
+had been his visit to the Models, when Jack Travers had sobbed and
+broken down in the attempt to speak his gratitude.  And now just as
+they were getting on so well, Olivia's want of tact and that terribly
+honest tongue of hers had spoilt everything.  Was it likely--was it
+within the bounds of possibility--that a man of the world--a rich man
+too--would be content with the services of an unknown practitioner?  If
+he put himself in Mr. Gaythorne's place, he knew that he should be
+disposed to request Dr. Bevan to call.  It was not only a sprained
+ankle.  Mr. Gaythorne was an ailing man, and needed medical care.
+Marcus, who was clever and quick-witted, had already formed a pretty
+correct diagnosis of the case.  "There is mental as well as physical
+trouble," he had said to himself the previous evening, and with
+professional reticence he had kept this opinion to himself, but he was
+already deeply interested in his patient.  So much was at stake, and
+their fortunes were at so low an ebb, that Marcus might be pardoned for
+his unusual touchiness.  Yet when he left the room without further
+remark, Olivia's heart sank within her.
+
+"Why could I not have held my tongue," she thought, with tardy
+repentance.  "What could have induced me to talk so much, but Mr.
+Gaythorne really seemed interested, and somehow he encouraged me to go
+on.  If he had appeared bored or tired I should have stopped at once,
+but he seemed so curious about Aunt Madge, he even asked if she had a
+good doctor.  Oh, dear, surely that is not Marcus going out!" as the
+street door opened; and now there were actual tears in Olivia's eyes.
+
+In all the two years of their happy married life they had never had
+more than a momentary misunderstanding.  If a hasty word had been
+uttered by one of them, the other had always an eager protest or a
+smooth answer ready.  When Olivia had been impatient and captious,
+Marcus had only laughed and coaxed her into good humour again.  And
+even when he had indulged in a few sarcastic speeches, Olivia's soft
+voice and ready acquiescence had avoided friction.
+
+Marcus often told her that they were a model couple, and had earned the
+Dunmow Flitch over and over again, but in reality their mutual respect
+and thorough understanding of each other's salient points had conduced
+to this harmony.
+
+That Marcus should leave the house therefore without speaking to her
+alarmed Olivia excessively.  She must have vexed him, indeed, if he
+could do such a thing as that, and here one or two bright drops ran
+down on the blue pelisse.
+
+She was actually crying like a scolded child, when two or three minutes
+later the parlour-door opened and Marcus entered.  His face wore a
+queer expression, and in each hand he held an exquisite bunch of
+hot-house flowers; their perfume reached Olivia before he laid them
+before her.
+
+"There, Olive," he said, "I take back my words;" then, as he caught
+sight of her tear-stained face: "Oh, you foolish little woman, you
+absurd child," but his hand rested affectionately on her soft, brown
+hair, as she put back her head against him.
+
+"Oh, Marcus, I could not help crying to think I had vexed you so.
+Somehow it is the one thing I cannot bear, to think my foolish tongue
+should have harmed you."
+
+"I was in an awful funk, certainly," returned Marcus, frankly, "but I
+never meant to bother you like that.  Cheer up, Livy, I daresay it is
+all right, and I know you will be a model of discretion for the future.
+Aren't you going to look at your flowers?" and then Olivia did permit
+herself to be consoled.
+
+"Think of his cutting all those lovely flowers for me," she cried,
+ecstatically.  "Is he not an old dear, Marcus?  But why two bouquets?"
+knitting her brows in a puzzled fashion.
+
+"You had better open that folded slip of paper," suggested her husband,
+sensibly, "it may explain matters," and Olivia took his advice.
+
+"Mrs. Luttrell, with Mr. Gaythorne's compliments," was pencilled in a
+shaky hand, and on the second slip, almost illegibly, "For Mrs.
+Luttrell's aunt."
+
+"Oh, Marcus, how sweet of him!" and Olivia looked almost lovely in her
+excitement, and Marcus agreed that he was a good old sort.
+
+"If you are going to write a note of thanks, you must just hurry up, as
+it is nearly time for me to go across," and then Olivia put the flowers
+in water, and got out her writing-case.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"I REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE?"
+
+    "The fire in the flint
+  Shows not till it be struck."--_Timon of Athens_.
+
+
+Although Marcus had other visits to pay, and would not be back until
+quite late, Olivia sat up for him on pretence of finishing Dot's pelisse,
+but to her disappointment he had very little to tell her on his return.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne had been tired and out of spirits, and he had had no
+inducement to prolong his visit; he had not read Olivia's note, only
+placed it beside him.
+
+"Perhaps he was a shade more civil than usual," observed Marcus, dryly,
+"but his manners certainly want mending.  Could you not illuminate that
+motto, Livy, 'Manners makyth man?' and we would frame it, and give it him
+as a Christmas present."  But Olivia could not be induced to see the
+joke; Mr. Gaythorne was still an old dear, and the perfume of his flowers
+was sweet to her.
+
+Marcus would have wondered if he had intercepted one of the searching
+glances that were reading him so acutely; those deep-set, melancholy eyes
+could pierce like a gimlet; sometimes a vivid blue light seemed to dart
+from them.  "When master has one of his awful looks on, I dare not face
+him," Phoebe would say, and Mrs. Crampton, conscious as she was of
+rectitude and the claim of long and faithful service, felt there were
+limitations to her intercourse with her master.
+
+Once, and once only, had she ventured on a tabooed subject, and had
+retired from the room with her comely face quite pale with fear.
+
+"I thought he would have struck me," she said to her confidante, the
+middle-aged housemaid, "or that he would have had a fit; I should have
+one myself if I ever tried it on again; but I never will, Rebecca, I will
+take my oath of that."
+
+"Master has an awful temper when he is drove wrong," returned Rebecca,
+primly; "I don't wonder at Mr. Alwyn myself.  I don't hold with keeping
+too tight a hand over a young man, it fairly throttles all the goodness
+out of them.  He was none so bad that he would not have done better, if
+only he had had a word of encouragement instead of all those flouts and
+jibes."
+
+"Those are exactly my sentiments, Becky," returned Mrs. Crampton, wiping
+her eyes with her snowy-frilled apron, "and having a boy of my own, bless
+him, I am a pretty fair judge.  Tom was a pickle before he went to sea,
+but neither his poor father nor me ever cast it at him.  He ran away and
+took the Queen's shilling, though it nigh broke our hearts.  Well, he is
+a sergeant now, and Polly makes him a good wife, and all's well that ends
+well.  But I must be looking after master's supper," and Mrs. Crampton
+bustled away to her duties.
+
+Olivia took her flowers round to Aunt Madge as soon as her household
+duties were done in the morning.  Mrs. Broderick, who had had a sleepless
+night of pain, looked more worn and languid than usual, but she
+brightened up at the sight of the flowers, and poked her long nose into
+the heart of a rose with an air of rapt enjoyment, but the next moment
+she frowned.
+
+"Livy," she said, severely, "I am extremely angry!  how dare you be
+guilty of such extravagance, even if it be my birthday!  Don't I know
+what these exquisite flowers must have cost!" then Olivia's face fell a
+little.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Madge, I had no idea it was your birthday, and I have brought
+you nothing, nothing at all.  Do let me explain," and then Mrs. Broderick
+listened with much interest to Olivia's recital.
+
+"The flowers are even sweeter than I thought them," she said, presently,
+and her face flushed a little.  "I thought the day would be so blank, and
+that I should just lie here missing Fergus.  He always made such a fuss
+on my birthdays; they were red-letter days to him, and now this friendly
+message has come to me.  Give me my writing-case, Livy.  I must scrawl a
+few lines to your old gentleman," and she refused to dictate the note to
+Olivia.
+
+
+"MY DEAR SIR," she wrote, "do you know what you have done?  You have
+given a poor invalid a very happy day.  Your beautiful flowers have come
+to me like a lovely message of sympathy and goodwill from an unknown
+friend.
+
+"If you were ever sad and lonely, if life has not always been easy to
+you, it will sweeten your solitary hours to know that you have given
+enjoyment to a crippled sufferer.
+
+"To-day is my birthday, the forty-sixth milestone on my life's journey.
+During a long, wakeful night of pain I have been counting up past
+blessings, and the new day seemed a blank to me, and then your flowers
+came, and I thanked God and took courage.
+
+"Dear sir, I remain,
+  "Yours gratefully,
+    "MARGARET BRODERICK (widow)."
+
+
+That was one of Aunt Madge's fads, one of her harmless little
+peculiarities, to sign herself in that fashion.  "There is so much in the
+word widow," she would say; "if it were not for seeming odd or making
+people smile, I would always sign myself 'Fergus's widow,' instead of my
+proper name," but nothing could induce her to send even a note without
+that curious signature.
+
+Olivia could not quite get over her grievance of forgetting Aunt Madge's
+birthday.
+
+"It was so horrid of me," she said, with a long face, "but, anyhow, I
+will come to tea."
+
+"No, dear, not to-day," returned Mrs. Broderick, quietly.  "To-morrow Deb
+and I will be delighted to welcome you.  And Deb shall bake some
+shortbread and scones.  Marcus might come too, it is long since I saw
+him."
+
+"But why not to-day, dear Aunt Madge?" persisted Olivia, rather curiously.
+
+"Fergus and I always spent the day alone together, and I keep up the
+custom still," returned Mrs. Broderick, in a dreamy voice.  "He never
+gave me his present until the evening, and it was always such a grand
+surprise.  His last present to me was that revolving book-table.  How
+splendid I thought it, and what a comfort it has been to me all these
+years.  Don't look so serious, Livy, I don't mean to be dull, I never am,
+but I like to fancy that on my birthday I have Fergus near me still," and
+nothing that Olivia could say would shake her resolution.
+
+Olivia hesitated to repeat her visit to Galvaston House, and when she
+consulted Marcus he advised her to wait a little.
+
+"We must not be too pushing.  I daresay one of these days Mr. Gaythorne
+will send you another message.  He is rather ailing and out of sorts just
+now, and inclined to bristle up at a word," but, though Marcus laughed in
+this way, he had not found his berth an easy one.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne was often irritable, and the least contradiction--even the
+assertion of an opinion--would ruffle him.  Once, when Marcus had
+proposed discontinuing his evening visits, Mr. Gaythorne had appeared
+quite affronted.
+
+"If I can afford to pay for medical advice, I suppose I may be allowed to
+have it," he had returned, testily.  "Of course, if your time is too
+valuable----"
+
+But Marcus, flushing at the covert sneer, answered, in his quick,
+straightforward way:
+
+"I wish it were more valuable; but as I have no wish to pick your pocket,
+I thought it would be only honest to tell you that the evening visit is
+no longer necessary."
+
+"Very well, then we will regard it in the light of a luxury," returned
+Mr. Gaythorne, a little less grimly.  "By-the-bye, Dr. Luttrell, I want
+to ask you if you will kindly let me have your account at the end of the
+month.  Monthly payments are my rule, if it will not inconvenience you."
+
+Marcus assured him he was quite ready to meet his wishes.
+
+Olivia, who had few amusements, often thought longingly of that beautiful
+winter garden, and wished to revisit it.  She had described it so vividly
+and graphically to Aunt Madge, that Mrs. Broderick declared she could
+picture it exactly.  She was never weary of hearing her niece's
+description.
+
+"I feel as though my world were enlarged, and that I had got a new
+friend," she said one day, and Olivia was amused to hear that the faded
+flowers had been carefully pressed.
+
+She was much delighted then when one raw, foggy November morning Marcus
+brought her a message.  Mr. Gaythorne felt himself better, and would be
+very pleased if Mrs. Luttrell would give him an hour that afternoon.
+
+Her visit was a very pleasant one.  The yellow fog outside had been
+extremely depressing, but as she stepped into the hall, the whole house
+seemed brightly illuminated.  Mr. Gaythorne, who was on crutches, met her
+at the head of the staircase.  He had discarded his dressing-gown, and
+wore a black velvet coat that became him still better.
+
+The conservatory, lighted up by lamps cunningly concealed among the
+foliage, looked more like fairyland than ever.  And the deep easy-chairs,
+with their crimson cushions, were deliciously inviting.
+
+Her admiration seemed to gratify Mr. Gaythorne, and as he pointed out his
+favourite flowers, and descanted on their habits and peculiar beauties,
+Olivia listened with such intelligent interest, and asked such sensible
+and pertinent questions, that he was drawn insensibly into giving her a
+botanical lesson.
+
+They were so engrossed with their subject that it was almost an effort to
+break off when coffee was brought.
+
+Mrs. Crampton had sent up a profusion of dainty cakes, and as Olivia
+drank her coffee and feasted on the various delicacies, the one drawback
+to her pleasure was that Marcus was not there to share it.  At this
+present moment he was in some slum or other supplementing the labours of
+the overworked parish doctor.
+
+How surprised Dr. Luttrell would have been if he could have seen the
+transformation in his patient's appearance--the lean, cadaverous face had
+lost its fretful look, the melancholy dark eyes had grown bright and
+vivid, the slow precise voice had waxed animated and even eloquent as he
+discoursed learnedly on his floral treasures.
+
+Flowers, butterflies, and birds were his great hobbies, and his
+magnificent collections had been gathered from all parts of the world; he
+had been a great traveller in his early manhood.
+
+"I have been everywhere and seen everything," he said once.  Towards the
+end of the afternoon Olivia had been much touched by a little incident;
+she had asked him a question about a curious cactus.  "If you will come
+with me, my dear," he had answered, "I could show you a better
+specimen"--and then a dull red had risen to his forehead.  "Excuse me,
+Mrs. Luttrell.  I forgot whom I was addressing--and--and--you----" but
+here he checked himself.
+
+"Oh, do finish your sentence!" she said, in her bright persuasive voice.
+"You were going to say that I remind you of someone?"--and as he met her
+kind friendly glance, his shy stiffness relaxed.
+
+"Yes," he said, simply, and a great sadness came into his eyes, "you
+remind me of my daughter.  That first evening when you spoke to me you
+reminded me of her then."
+
+"And you have lost her!  Oh, I am so sorry!  Does it pain you to speak of
+her?  I should so like to know her name!"
+
+"Her name was Olivia," he returned, slowly, "but we always called her
+Olive.  She was born at Beyrout, under the Syrian sun, and in the land of
+grey olive-trees."
+
+"How strange!  What a curious coincidence!" returned young Mrs. Luttrell,
+softly.  "That is my name too, and Marcus often calls me Olive; and I
+remind you of her?"
+
+"Yes, Olive spoke in just that brisk, cheerful manner.  She was so full
+of life and energy.  She died of fever at Rome--we were staying there.
+She was only two-and-twenty, and she was to have been married that
+summer.  Her poor mother never got over the shock; before the autumn she
+had followed her."
+
+"Oh, how sad--how dreadfully sad!" observed Olivia, with tears in her
+eyes.  "What a tragedy to live through.  And her poor lover too!"
+
+"Oh, yes, Arbuthnot; he was bitterly cut up.  He is a judge now, and has
+a good wife, but I doubt if he has ever forgotten Olive.  She was no
+beauty, but she had a way with her.  Stay--I will show you her picture."
+
+"Poor man!  No wonder he looks melancholy," thought Olivia, as he slowly
+hobbled away on his crutches.  "How strange that I should remind him of
+her, and that she should be Olive too!" but when Mr. Gaythorne returned
+and placed a beautiful miniature before her, she could see no resemblance
+to herself in the dark sweet face of Olive Gaythorne.
+
+No, she was not beautiful, but there was something wonderfully attractive
+and winning in her expression; the eyes, deep-set like her father's, had
+a frank soft look.
+
+"Your only child--and you lost her," murmured Olivia, sympathetically.
+
+"My only daughter," corrected Mr. Gaythorne, in a tone so peculiar, that
+Olivia raised her eyes, and then she felt a little frightened.  There was
+a curious pallor on Mr. Gaythorne's face, which made it look like old
+ivory, and his bushy eyebrows were drawn closely together.
+
+"It is a sweet face--a dear face," returned Olivia, hurriedly.  She was a
+little nervous over her mistake.  "It is kind of you to show me this, and
+I like to think her name was Olive."  And then she closed the case
+reverently and put it back in his hands.  "I must go now," she said; "it
+has been such a lovely time, and you have taught me so much.  Will you
+send for me again when you want to see me?  I think that is best; it
+would be such a pity for me to disturb you when you felt tired or
+disinclined for visitors."
+
+"You are my only visitor," returned Mr. Gaythorne, in his old grim
+manner.  "The Vicar's wife--what is the woman's name?--forced her way in
+one day, but I do not think her reception pleased her.  The Vicar himself
+is an honest man.  I have given him a hint that he will be welcome if he
+comes alone, but no bustling prying vicaress for me."
+
+"Oh, poor Mrs. Tolman; well, she is a little officious, as Marcus calls
+her, and I know she often sets Aunt Madge's nerves on edge."
+
+"Oh, by the way, I intend to send Mrs. Broderick some more flowers; will
+it be a trouble to you to take them, or shall one of the lasses carry
+them straight to her house?"
+
+"Oh, no; please let me have the pleasure of taking them.  If you had only
+seen Aunt Madge's delight----"
+
+"She wrote me a pretty sort of note," returned Mr. Gaythorne; "but tell
+her not to do that again, gratitude is for favours to come; you may
+remind her of that.  Does she always sign her name in that
+fashion--Margaret Broderick, widow----?"
+
+"Yes, always; it is one of Aunt Madge's whimsies; but you will never get
+her to alter."
+
+"It does not sound badly, but it is certainly unique.  How would it
+answer if one were to follow her example.  John Alwyn Gaythorne,
+widower," and here Mr. Gaythorne gave a short sardonic laugh.
+
+"Marcus! oh, Marcus!" exclaimed Olivia, coming into the room in her
+breezy fashion.  "I have so much to tell you.  Mr. Gaythorne is a
+widower--and he has lost his only daughter, and her name was Olivia, and
+that is why he has taken to me, because I remind him of her;
+but"--checking herself as she caught sight of her husband's face--"you
+have something to tell me too."
+
+"Only that they sent for me from Fairfax Lodge, that is that ivy-covered
+house next to Galvaston House.  A child taken suddenly with croup.  I
+have been there most of the afternoon."
+
+Then Olivia clapped her hands with a little exclamation of delight.
+Marcus's tone had been quite cool and matter-of-fact, but there was a
+glint of satisfaction in his eyes.  The tide had turned at last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+BLOWING BUBBLES.
+
+"How pleasant it is to be acquainted with new and clever
+things."--_Aristophanes_.
+
+
+Marcus certainly carried his head a little higher than usual that
+evening; as for Olivia, she trod on air.  As she sat at her needlework
+later on, waiting until Marcus returned from his second visit to
+Galvaston House, her thoughts were busy about the future.
+
+Marcus would soon have a large practice; it was all very well for Aunt
+Madge to be sententious, and say that one swallow does not make a
+spring; but already the second harbinger of good luck had put in an
+appearance.
+
+There was no fear of parting with Martha now; before long Olivia was
+building magnificent castles.  The house next door to Galvaston House
+was to let, it had a garden and a small conservatory, and Marcus had
+once remarked that it was just the house for a medical man; the
+reception-rooms were good and there was a capital stable.
+
+"Supposing we were ever rich enough to take Kempton Lodge," she said to
+herself.
+
+Marcus threw back his head and indulged in a hearty laugh, when he
+heard where his wife's imagination had landed her.
+
+"Kempton Lodge--my dear child--why do you not suggest Prince's Gate, or
+Belgravia?  My own thoughts had not gone further than a new greatcoat
+this winter.  I am afraid my old one is getting a little seedy."  And
+at this remark, Olivia's airily constructed fabric dissolved into
+nothingness.
+
+To blow bubbles is an enchanting pastime even with grown-up children.
+The big bright-coloured bubbles soar into the air and look so beautiful
+before they burst.  One is gone, but another takes its place, just as
+rainbow-tinted, and gorgeous.  There are people who blow endless
+bubbles until their life's end, who cannot be induced to discontinue
+the harmless pursuit.
+
+"Life is so hard and dreary," they say.  "The wheels of drudgery are
+for ever turning and grinding; let us sit in the sun a little and float
+our fairy balls.  What if they are dreams and never come to anything;
+the dreams and the sunlight have made us happy; there is plenty of time
+in which to do our work."
+
+Marcus laughed at his wife's fancies; but he never crushed them
+ruthlessly.  "Poor little Livy," he thought, "why should she not build
+her air castles if they make her happy, and perhaps, after all, who
+knows----" but Marcus did not finish his sentence even to himself.
+
+But the next day when he went to Maybrick Villas to fetch his wife
+home, he had a good deal to say about his new patients.
+
+"I am in luck," he said, as he stood warming himself before the fire,
+while the two women watched him.  "I thought of course when they sent
+for me that it was because I was the nearest doctor, and that perhaps
+their own medical man was engaged--in an imminent case like that it is
+impossible to wait--but no, it was nothing of the kind.  Mrs. Stanwell
+told me herself--she is such a nice little person, Livy--that they have
+only been a few months at Fairfax Lodge, and that before that they had
+lived in Yorkshire.
+
+"Being strangers in the place they were sadly perplexed on the subject
+of doctors, until the nurse told her mistress that she had seen me
+going in and out of Galvaston House.  And this decided Mrs. Stanwell to
+send for me.  As I was able to do the child good, they are ridiculously
+grateful.  I am likely to have another patient there; Mrs. Stanwell has
+an aunt living with her, and she is ailing.  I have only taken a hasty
+diagnosis of the case, but I am going again to-morrow.  I am half
+afraid the poor old lady is in a bad way."
+
+"It is a long lane that has no turning, Marcus," observed Aunt Madge.
+"There, you must take Olive away, she has been wearying the past
+half-hour to get back to Dot!" but as they left her alone in the
+firelight she said to herself:
+
+"Dear things, how happy they look! at their age life is so dreadfully
+exciting.  I believe myself Marcus will get on; he is really clever,
+and never spares himself, but I doubt if Livy or I will ever be so
+interested in anyone as we are in Marcus's first patient."
+
+Olivia would have indorsed this sentiment readily; before long Mr.
+Gaythorne became an important factor in her daily life, the friendship
+between them ripened rapidly.
+
+Olivia kept to her resolution of never going to Galvaston House unless
+she were specially invited; but every three or four days a message from
+the old man reached her.
+
+Olivia, whose only dissipation had been a weekly tea with Aunt Madge,
+and a biannual call at the Vicarage, with or without tea, according to
+Mrs. Tolman's mood, found these afternoons at Galvaston House very
+stimulating.
+
+At first she was sorry when Mr. Gaythorne gave up sitting in the winter
+garden, and ensconced himself in the library, but she soon changed her
+opinion when he began to show her his curiosities and rare prints.  He
+had so much to tell her about the birds and butterflies in the museum
+as he called the inner room, that the hours flew past as she listened
+to him, and it was always with real regret that she took her leave when
+the time came for her to go home.
+
+"Aunt Madge and Marcus find me so much more interesting ever since you
+have taken me in hand," she said once.  "I try and repeat all you tell
+me, but, of course, I forget half.  Very often Marcus helps me to
+remember--he has read so much on these subjects, you see."
+
+Perhaps it was this artless speech that led to Mr. Gaythorne showing
+Marcus a case of curious insects, and Dr. Luttrell had been so
+fascinated, so utterly engrossed, that the old man, much flattered, had
+cordially invited him into the museum.  Marcus, who had still much time
+on his hands, often spent a pleasant hour or two with his patient.  Mr.
+Gaythorne lent him books, and gave him choice brands of cigars.
+
+Olivia was highly delighted at these evident marks of favour, but it
+troubled her that Mr. Gaythorne never liked them to come together.
+Olivia was always invited pointedly when Marcus's visit had been paid,
+and now and then he would ask Dr. Luttrell to have a chat with him
+after dinner.  Once when Olivia had ventured to hint her disapproval of
+this he had answered with unwonted irritability.
+
+"I like to take my pleasures singly, Mrs. Luttrell.  I am sorry if I
+keep you from your husband.  I am a selfish old misanthrope, I am
+afraid;" but Olivia, alarmed by this decided acerbity, hastened to
+assure him that her remark had meant nothing.
+
+"It is so natural of me to want Marcus to share my pleasure," she said
+so sweetly that Mr. Gaythorne was mollified.
+
+Even Marcus noticed a decided improvement in his patient's manner.  He
+was less irritable and contradictory, and was evidently grateful for
+the relief he had derived from his doctor's treatment.  The bare
+civility with which he had at first tolerated Marcus soon changed into
+greater cordiality.  Dr. Luttrell's intelligence could appreciate Mr.
+Gaythorne's culture and learning.  Before long they were on the best of
+terms, but it was Olivia who was the prime favourite.
+
+When Olivia's face appeared on the threshold Mr. Gaythorne's eyes
+brightened under their rugged brows, and his voice insensibly softened.
+To her, and her only, he showed his real self.
+
+"He has a strange complex nature," she said once to her husband.  "He
+is very reserved, there are some things of which he never speaks.  He
+has not once mentioned his son.  I should not have known he had one,
+only I saw the name of Alwyn Gaythorne in a book.  'I thought your
+first name was John?' I said rather heedlessly.
+
+"'So it is, John Alwyn,' he returned; 'that book belonged to my son,'
+but his voice was so constrained that I did not venture to say more.
+Depend upon it there is a mystery there, Marcus."
+
+"'Perhaps Alwyn the younger is a Nihilist," returned Marcus, in a
+teasing voice.  "Probably he is at Portland at the present moment,
+undergoing his sentence.  No wonder poor Mr. Gaythorne is such a
+recluse;" but Olivia refused to be entertained by this badinage.
+
+"I am quite in earnest," she returned, with a grave air.  "So you need
+not trouble yourself to be ridiculous, Marcus.  Why should he talk so
+much of his daughter and never mention his only son?"
+
+"According to you he is almost as silent on the subject of his wife."
+
+"Oh, that is different," she answered, hastily.  "He once said to me
+that he could never bear even to hear her name mentioned, that it upset
+him so.  'I was a happy man as long as she lived,' he said, so sadly,
+'but it was all up with me when I lost her.  She was a peacemaker, she
+always kept things smooth; her name was Olivia too.'"
+
+"Poor old boy," was Marcus's irrelevant remark at this.
+
+"Yes, he is a strange mixture," went on Olivia, thoughtfully.  "He has
+an affectionate nature, but he is hard too; he could be terribly hard,
+I am sure of that.  And then see how good he is to those poor Traverses
+and to Aunt Madge.  Could anyone be more generous.  And yet he is not
+liberal by nature.  That very day that he sent Mrs. Crampton to the
+Models with all those good things--jellies and beef-tea and chicken and
+actually two bottles of port wine--he was as angry as possible with
+Phoebe, because she had broken his medicine glass.  Mrs. Crampton had
+orders to deduct the price of the glass from her wages.  'I always do
+that,' he said to me, 'it teaches them to be careful,' but poor Phoebe
+cried about it afterwards.
+
+"'I call it real mean of master,' Phoebe had said; 'it is the first
+thing that ever I broke in this house, and it was all through Eros
+getting between my feet.  It is not the few pence I mind, for we have
+good wages paid down on the day, but I call it shabby of master to be
+down on a poor servant-girl like that.'
+
+"His servants don't seem to love him," went on Olivia.  "They serve him
+well, because it is their interest to do so, but even Mrs. Crampton,
+who has been with him twenty years, does not dare to contradict him."
+
+"Anyhow, he is liberal to us," returned Marcus, patting his waistcoat
+pocket, for he had that morning received his first cheque.
+
+Marcus's first act had been to go to the coal merchant and order in a
+ton of excellent coal, then he had gone home and told his wife in a
+peremptory tone to put on her hat and jacket.
+
+"I am going to take you to Harvey and Phelps to get a new dress and
+jacket," he said, severely.  "I am not going to put up with that rusty
+old serge any longer," and Olivia had remonstrated in vain against such
+extravagance.
+
+It was all very well to blow bubbles and furnish Kempton Lodge from
+garret to basement, but when it came to spending Marcus's first
+cheque----!
+
+"Marcus, dear," she said, imploringly, "my old dress is quite tidy.  I
+put new braid round it yesterday, and I would so much rather you got a
+new great-coat.  Even Aunt Madge noticed that your present one was
+dreadfully shabby."
+
+"Of course I shall get a new coat too," returned Dr. Luttrell, coolly.
+Then at the thought of this lavishness Olivia was stricken dumb.
+
+Marcus made his purchases with great discretion; the grey tweed and
+warm jacket to match suited Olivia's tall supple figure perfectly--he
+had a momentary debate with himself before he ventured on a modest
+black straw hat with velvet trimmings, but in the end the order was
+given.
+
+"Oh, Marcus, how could you!" exclaimed Olivia, who was at fever point
+by this time.
+
+"Hold your tongue, Livy!" returned Marcus, good-humouredly.  "I mean my
+wife to be well-dressed for once in her life.  Now I must go to the
+tailor's for that great-coat.  There won't be much of Mr. Gaythorne's
+cheque left by the time I get home.  We shall want the balance for
+Christmas groceries."
+
+Olivia groaned in spirit over Marcus's recklessness, but she could not
+bear to damp his enjoyment.  She unburdened her mind to Mrs. Broderick
+the next day.
+
+"Don't you think it would have been wiser to have put it by for a rainy
+day?" she said, anxiously.  But Aunt Madge did not seem quite to share
+this opinion.
+
+"My dear," she said, shrewdly, "I think Marcus knows what he is about;
+it would never do for him to go to those good houses in a shabby
+greatcoat.  A little outlay is sometimes a good investment."
+
+"Oh, yes, but I was thinking of the dress and jacket and that hat, Aunt
+Madge----"
+
+"Ah, well, we must forgive Marcus that extravagance!  It hurt his pride
+to see you calling at Galvaston House in that old serge dress.  He is
+not really improvident, Livy.  You have enough in hand for present
+necessities, and there will be something coming in next month."
+
+"Oh, dear, yes; and do you know, Aunt Madge, they have sent for Marcus
+to attend the lodger at number seventeen.  He is a music-teacher and
+very respectable, and can afford to pay his doctor, so that is swallow
+number three."
+
+"Then I am sure you can wear your new dress with an easy conscience,"
+and then Olivia's last scruples vanished.
+
+Olivia looked so distinguished in her grey tweed that Marcus made her
+blush by telling her that she had never looked so handsome.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne gave her an odd penetrating glance when she entered the
+library.
+
+"I hardly knew you, Mrs. Luttrell," he said, dryly, and then his manner
+changed and softened.  "That was her favourite colour," he said.
+"Olive was always a grey bird; she liked soft, subdued tints; she was a
+bit of a Puritan.  I often told her so."
+
+"I am glad you like my new dress," returned Olivia, simply.  "My
+husband chose it for me, he has such good taste."
+
+"You need not tell me that, Mrs. Luttrell."  And again Olivia blushed
+like a girl at the implied compliment.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne was looking over a portfolio of water-colour paintings.
+Olivia had not yet seen them, and she was full of outspoken admiration,
+as Mr. Gaythorne placed one after another before her.
+
+"They are all the work of a young artist who died at Rome," he said.
+"I bought them of his widow.  They are very well done; he had great
+promise, poor fellow.  If he had lived, he would have done good work.
+These were merely pot-boilers, as he called them--little things he
+painted on the spur of the moment."
+
+"To me they are perfectly beautiful," returned Olivia.  "Those two are
+so lovely that I could not choose between them.  Please let me look at
+them a little longer, Mr. Gaythorne, I want to tell Aunt Madge about
+them."  And Olivia, who was always charmingly natural in her movements,
+propped her chin on her hands, and looked long and earnestly at the
+pictures.
+
+Their beauty lay in the soft rich colouring and a certain
+suggestiveness in the subject.
+
+One was a little grey church on a hill-side; the church was ruinous and
+out of repair, the churchyard full of weeds and thistles; a storm had
+just broken, and an old shepherd in a ragged smock had taken refuge in
+the porch, his rough-looking dog at his feet.  The bowed figure and
+knotted hands, and the peaceful look in the wrinkled face were
+wonderfully striking, the patient eyes turned upwards were gazing at
+the rainbow.  "'Tis a love token, I reckon," were the words written
+underneath the sketch.
+
+Olivia could almost hear them through the parted lips; ruins and
+thistles and weeds and a broken storm, and beyond them the message of
+peace, written on the bright tints of the rainbow, for one simple heart
+to read.
+
+"Aunt Madge would understand that," she said to herself; "she would
+like that picture best, but this is just as beautiful to my mind."
+
+The second sketch was equally suggestive; it was a cornfield with
+poppies growing in it; under the hedge in the cool shade lay a brown
+baby asleep.  A dish tied up in a blue handkerchief and a stone bottle
+lay beside the infant; an old terrier kept watch over them both.
+
+"Keeping watch and ward" was the title of this picture; it was
+certainly very well painted.  A breeze seemed rippling through the corn
+in the nook where the child lay; there were festoons of honeysuckle and
+dog-roses, and long sprays of traveller's joy.  The stumpy grey terrier
+sitting erect at his post of duty was full of significance and
+individuality.  The mother was evidently among the reapers in the far
+distance.
+
+"One would never be tired of looking at that cornfield," observed
+Olivia, and though Mr. Gaythorne smiled at her enthusiasm, he would not
+spoil her enjoyment by pointing out to her one or two defects that he
+had already noticed.
+
+By-and-by he called her to pour out the coffee--Mr. Gaythorne never
+indulged in afternoon tea.
+
+"This is not much like Christmas weather," he said, looking out at the
+cold mizzling rain; "the forecasts promise a change, however.  I
+suppose I must not ask if you dislike Christmas, it would not be a fair
+question at your age."
+
+"No, indeed; I love it dearly.  I have only had one sad Christmas--the
+year dear mother died--it is my birthday too, that makes it doubly
+festive.  I am so glad I was born on such a beautiful day; that is why
+my second name is Noel."
+
+"And you hold high festival on it?"
+
+"Well, we cannot do much.  Marcus and I always go to the early service,
+that is how we begin the day, and then he always has some little
+present on the breakfast table.  It is the one day in the year we
+always dine with Aunt Madge; she is such an invalid, you see, that very
+little tires her; but on Christmas Day, we first dine with her quietly,
+and have an early tea, then come home; we are generally back by six
+o'clock, and have a long evening by ourselves.  Do you spend Christmas
+Day quite alone, Mr. Gaythorne?"
+
+"Yes, quite alone," he returned, gloomily; "but I have plenty of ghosts
+to visit me," and his face twitched, and he stooped over the pictures
+as he spoke.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"'TIS A LOVE TOKEN, I RECKON."
+
+"It is in men as in soils--where sometimes there is a vein of gold
+which the owner knows not of."--_Dean Swift_.
+
+
+"Marcus, I have an idea."
+
+Olivia had been sitting for some time in a brown study, staring into
+the red caverns, where the yellow fire-elves were beating out their
+rainbow gold on their glowing, hissing anvils.
+
+It was in the gloaming, and the little sitting-room was warm and cosy.
+Dot was on her mother's lap, toasting her pink toes gleefully, and
+chuckling over them in baby fashion.  And Marcus, who had finished his
+day's work, had left off trying to read by the light of the flickering
+flame, and was indulging in a furtive doze.  He roused up when Olivia's
+clear voice broke the silence.
+
+"Marcus, do you hear me?  I have such a nice plan."
+
+"Is it a riddle?" he returned, lazily.  "I give it up."  Then he
+contemplated his small daughter with much satisfaction.  "I wonder none
+of you advanced women have ever turned your attention to
+baby-language," he observed presently; "we are studying the
+ape-vocabulary, you know.  Dot has got quite a little language of her
+own.  As far as I can make out each sentence is finished off with a
+'gurgle-doe.'  Something between the 'gobble, gobble' of a turkey and
+the coo of the ring-dove.  I suppose it all means something."
+
+"Means something!" and Olivia kissed the little rings of curly hair
+with passionate fondness.  "Of course my girlie means something!  I
+understand her as well as possible.  She is scolding the fire, because
+it has burnt her dear little toes.  Look, she is showing them to me.
+Naughty fire, to burn my baby."  And thereupon followed one of those
+maternal and infantine duets, which appear such hopeless jargon to the
+masculine mind.
+
+To Marcus it had a lulling effect, his eyes began to blink drowsily
+again, but Olivia, who had passed a solitary day, was not disposed for
+silence.
+
+"You are not a bit curious about my plan, dear," she said presently.
+"I have been thinking so much of that sad, sad speech of Mr.
+Gaythorne's yesterday.  I cannot bear to think of him alone all
+Christmas Day, with only the ghosts of happier years to haunt him."
+
+"There is no need for him to be alone," returned Marcus, coolly.  "He
+could invite us to supper.  Why don't you propose it, Livy?  You seem
+to say anything that comes into your head.  A good bowl of steaming
+punch would drive all the grey and black spirits away.  I would
+undertake to amuse him."  But Olivia only looked at him rebukingly.
+
+"Marcus, it is so tiresome that you will always joke when I want to be
+serious.  Now, do give me a straightforward answer, if you can.  Shall
+you have any visits to pay on Christmas Day?"
+
+"My dear child, how can you expect me to answer in that off-hand way,
+and without consulting my visiting list?  Well, if you must know," as
+Olivia uttered an impatient exclamation, "I shall have to go up to the
+Models after tea, to see that poor woman who was confined yesterday.
+The baby is not likely to live; and then I shall look in on Travers.  I
+don't suppose I shall be out more than an hour."
+
+"Oh, that will do nicely," returned his wife, in a satisfied tone.
+"Marcus, do you know, I have made up my mind to pay Mr. Gaythorne a
+surprise visit on Christmas evening.  We are always back by six, and I
+know he does not dine until half-past seven.  Do you think I dare
+venture?  You see, I have never been without an invitation yet."
+
+"And you actually mean 'to beard the lion in his den, and Douglas in
+his hall,'" spouted Marcus.  And then, in his ordinary voice, "Well,
+you might try it, if you like; but I should not be surprised if you got
+snubbed.  Christmas ghosts have a ghastly effect, and rub a man up the
+wrong way."
+
+"Oh, I will take my chance of that," returned Olivia, cheerfully.  "Now
+I will put Dot to bed, and leave you to finish your nap in peace."
+
+"Thank goodness!" was on the tip of Marcus's tongue, but he refrained
+and only curled himself up afresh in his easy-chair.  He had sat up
+late over his books the previous night, wasting lamp-oil and coals, as
+his wife had remarked, rather severely, and the cold air, with a touch
+of frost in it, had made him sleepy.
+
+Olivia had been bristling all day, like a blissful porcupine, with
+little plans and surprises: first, she had actually saved out of Aunt
+Madge's Christmas gift enough money to buy Marcus another of
+Thackeray's novels; last Christmas she had given him _The Newcomes_,
+and this year she had fixed on _Esmond_.
+
+Marcus was devoted to Thackeray, and thirsted for a complete set of his
+works, but at present only _Vanity Fair_ and _The Newcomes_ were on his
+modest bookshelves.  Neither the husband nor wife thought it right to
+spend even those few shillings on the purchase of books, when they
+could make use of the Free Library.
+
+The new copy of _Esmond_ looked decidedly inviting, with its clean,
+uncut pages, and then there was really a handsome work-bag for Aunt
+Madge, fashioned by Olivia's skilful fingers out of a yard of cretonne.
+Olivia had already received her Christmas presents, and had nothing to
+expect.  Her new outfit, and Dot's pelisse, and Martha's wages were all
+birthday and Christmas gifts.  Nevertheless when Marcus came on
+Christmas Eve to hang up their scanty store of holly, he was met by his
+wife's excited face.
+
+"Oh, Marcus!" she exclaimed, "I thought you would never come home;
+there is such a hamper from Galvaston House, and I am waiting for you
+to open it.  And oh! do you know, dear, Aunt Madge has sent us some of
+her delicious mince pies, and a Christmas cake!"
+
+"She is a good old soul," returned Marcus, fervently.  "By-the-bye,
+Olive, could not we have supper earlier? for this sharp air--and it is
+freezing hard, let me tell you--has made me as hungry as a hunter."
+And as Olivia conceded this point graciously, he was induced to follow
+her to the small kitchen, where Martha, all smiles and excitement,
+awaited them.
+
+Martha had her best dress on, for she was going round to her mother's
+presently, with her little store of Christmas gifts: a red knitted
+shawl for her mother and half a pound of tea, a comforter for her
+father, and some warm cuffs for the boys, and gingerbread-nuts and some
+oranges for the children, to which Olivia had added a bag of mixed
+sweets.
+
+Martha's round eyes widened with amazement when the hamper was opened,
+and a plump turkey, and a fine York ham came to view; there were also
+half a dozen bottles of old port-wine for Dr. Luttrell, with Mr.
+Gaythorne's compliments, and a box of candied fruit and a jar of
+preserved ginger for his wife.
+
+"Oh, Marcus! is not this kind?"  Olivia's voice was almost awe-struck;
+her acquaintance with turkeys had hitherto been strictly limited to a
+partial view of their limp bodies as they dangled above her in the
+poulterers' shops; now her little larder would be filled to overflowing.
+
+"Shall I step across and thank him, while you put those things away?"
+suggested Marcus.  And as Olivia agreed to this, he caught up his hat
+and vanished.
+
+When everything was safely stowed away, and Martha had been made
+supremely happy by the gift of two mince pies for her mother, and had
+trotted off red in the face with excitement, Olivia busied herself in
+getting the supper ready.  The unsightly remains of a cold shoulder of
+mutton had been transformed into tempting rissoles.  Olivia always
+treated her husband to a hot supper on Christmas Eve.  Potatoes cooked
+in their coats, and a couple of Deborah's mince pies, finished off the
+_menu_, to which Marcus did ample justice.  Afterwards he hung up their
+holly, and then Olivia fetched her work-basket, and Marcus went on with
+the novel that he was reading aloud, and both of them looked at the
+clock in amazement when Martha's modest ring told them the evening was
+over.
+
+When Marcus put on his new great-coat the next morning, he shrugged his
+shoulders as he opened the front-door.  Instead of the frost he had
+expected, the icy coldness of the air and the heavy aspect of the
+wintry sky were premonitory signs of a snow-storm.
+
+"It is hardly fit for you to go out," he said, as Olivia joined him,
+but she only smiled at him, her vigorous young strength was proof
+against the cold.
+
+"We must hurry, Marcus," she said, briskly, "or we shall be late, and I
+want to enjoy my Christmas service," for she had already arranged to
+take care of Dot during the morning, while Martha went to church.
+Marcus had his rounds, and would fetch her in time for the early dinner
+at Maybrick Villas.
+
+The quiet service in the warm, well-lighted church was very soothing
+and refreshing.  As Olivia knelt beside her husband, her heart swelled
+with thankfulness for countless blessings.  "I have not deserved to be
+so happy," she said to herself, as she thought of her two treasures.
+
+Martha had breakfast ready for them on their return, and Olivia hurried
+upstairs to take off her hat.  She was just stepping into the
+dining-room, when Marcus caught hold of her, and blindfolded her
+playfully.
+
+"No, you are not to look yet!" he said, teasingly.  "There is a
+surprise in store for you."  But as he took his hands from her eyes,
+she uttered a little cry of ecstasy.
+
+On the breakfast-table, propped up with books, was a small framed
+picture, the very cornfield, with the brown baby asleep under the
+hedge, and the old terrier guarding it, that she had so admired.  A
+card, with Mr. Gaythorne's compliments and Christmas greeting, was
+beside it.
+
+"What do you think of your friend now, Livy?"
+
+But Olivia seemed to have no answer ready, her lips trembled, and the
+tears gathered in her bright eyes.  Marcus, who was almost as pleased
+as she was, patted her on the shoulder kindly, and bade her pour out
+the coffee, but for a long time Olivia could not be induced to go on
+with her breakfast.
+
+"If only I could take it to show Aunt Madge!" she said at last.  But
+Marcus negatived this at once; the picture was heavy, and the damp,
+cold air might injure it.
+
+That was a happy morning to Olivia, as she played with Dot, and then
+sang her to sleep.  When Marcus came home he told her to wrap up as
+warmly as possible.  "The damp quite gets into one's bones," he said;
+and even Olivia owned that it was disagreeably cold.
+
+Aunt Madge received them with her usual kind welcome, but she looked at
+her niece with a queer expression.
+
+"Livy," she said, "I feel as though I were living in the days of
+Aladdin and his wonderful lamp.  I had to pinch myself this morning, to
+be sure I was not dreaming.  What do you think our dear old magician
+has done now?"  And as she pointed to the table beside her, Olivia saw
+the picture of the ruined church, and the old shepherd in his tattered
+smock.  "'Tis a love token, I reckon," repeated Aunt Madge, but her
+voice was not quite steady.  As for Olivia, the tears were fairly
+running down her face.
+
+"Dear Aunt Madge, I do love him for this.  What do you think, he has
+sent me the picture of the cornfield that I described to you, and such
+a hamper of good things!"
+
+"Yes, and a brace of pheasants have come to me.  Livy, do you know what
+that picture means to me?  I have just been feasting my eyes on it all
+the morning.  I mean to get an easel and stand it at the foot of my
+couch, with that Indian scarf of mine just draped over it; won't it
+cheer me up on one of my bad days when I can't read or work, and even
+thinking is too hard for my poor head?  ''Tis a love token, I reckon,'
+I shall just say that to myself."
+
+"Marcus, I shall have to pay that visit," observed Olivia, desperately.
+"Oh, dear, if only we could do something in return for him!  Don't
+laugh at me, you tiresome boy; it is all very well for you, you are
+doing him a good turn every day, that is why it is so grand to be a
+doctor, but Aunt Madge and I want to have our share too."
+
+"Take off your hat, Livy," interrupted Aunt Madge, "for I hear Deb
+dishing up the dinner, and Marcus looks blue in the face with cold and
+hunger."  And at this reminder Olivia hurried.
+
+Mrs. Broderick always gave them the same dinner, a roast fowl and a
+piece of boiled ham, with plum pudding and mince pies to follow, but
+Deborah's cookery always gave it a different and most delicious flavour.
+
+When dinner was over they sat by the fire and roasted chestnuts, and
+talked softly to each other, while Aunt Madge dozed.  She roused up
+when Deb brought in the tea-things, and chatted in her old bright way,
+but Marcus's professional eyes detected lassitude, and in spite of her
+entreaties took his wife away rather earlier than usual.
+
+"Livy," observed Aunt Madge, as her niece stooped over her to kiss her,
+"I have not been able to write a note of thanks to Mr. Gaythorne yet,
+but will you tell him that I have not had such a Christmas gift as that
+since my husband left me, and that I have been praying for him off and
+on all day, that he may have his heart's desire--there, tell him
+that----"  And then she sank back wearily on her pillows.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE CHRISTMAS GUEST.
+
+  "This life of ours is a wild Aeolian harp of many a joyous strain;
+  But under them all there runs a loud perpetual wail, as of souls in
+      pain."--_Longfellow_.
+
+
+Olivia felt a little nervous as she sent in her name by Phoebe; the
+girl had looked at her dubiously.
+
+"I am not sure whether master will see you, ma'am," she said.  "He
+never sees anyone on Christmas Day; and Mrs. Crampton says he is but
+poorly;" nevertheless, at Olivia's request, she had taken the message.
+
+After a brief delay she returned.  Her master would see Mrs. Luttrell;
+but Olivia's heart beat a little quickly as she entered the library.
+For the first time she was not sure of her welcome.
+
+The grand old room looked unusually gloomy.  The tall standard lamps
+were unlighted, and only the blazing fire and a small green
+reading-lamp made a spot of brightness.  Deep shadows lurked in the
+corners, and the heavy book-cases and window recesses only seemed to
+add to the gloom.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne sat in his great ebony chair--with its crimson cushions.
+His face looked more cadaverous and sunken than usual; the fine
+features looked as if they were carved in old ivory, they were so fixed
+and rigid; as he held out his hand to Olivia there was no smile of
+welcome on his face--the melancholy deep-set eyes were sombre and
+piercing.
+
+[Illustration: Mr. Gaythorne sat in his great ebony chair.]
+
+"This is indeed a surprise, Mrs. Luttrell."
+
+"I hope you will not think it an intrusion," she returned, a little
+breathlessly.  "I wanted so much to see you and give you Aunt Madge's
+message.  Somehow I could not bear to think that we were so happy and
+that you were sitting alone and feeling sad.  Are you vexed with me for
+coming?" she continued, in her winning way; "I can see you are not a
+bit pleased to see me."
+
+"My dear Mrs. Luttrell," he said, in his harsh, grating voice, "it is
+one of my bad days, and nothing on earth would yield me pleasure.  I
+gave you warning, did I not?  You are visiting a haunted man!  The
+Christmas ghosts have been holding high revel this evening; one of them
+has been pointing and gibing at me for ever so long: 'You are reaping
+what you have sown,' that was what it said.  'Why do you grumble at
+your harvest--there is no ripening without sunshine?  Young hearts must
+be won by love and not severity; it is your own fault, your own
+obstinacy, your own blindness'--that is what it has been saying over
+and over again."
+
+He shivered slightly as he said this, and held out his thin hands to
+the blaze.  He had not asked her to sit down, but Olivia drew a small
+chair forward and seated herself.
+
+"Do not listen to them any longer," she said, gently.  "You are ill and
+sad, and so everything looks black and hopeless--let me talk to you
+instead; I want to tell you how we have spent our day."
+
+Olivia had a charming voice.  As she went on with her simple narrative
+the muscles of Mr. Gaythorne's face insensibly relaxed; hesitation,
+nervousness, a touch of self-consciousness even, would have repelled
+him; but her gentleness and childlike directness seemed to soothe him
+in spite of himself.  And as she repeated Mrs. Broderick's message,
+though he shrugged his shoulders and muttered "Pshaw," she could see
+that he was gratified; and even his remark--"that Mrs. Broderick must
+be a very emotional person"--did not daunt her.
+
+"If Aunt Madge is emotional, I am too," she said, softly.  "Do you know
+what I said when I saw that picture of the old shepherd looking at the
+rainbow?  'I love him for this,' and, dear Mr. Gaythorne, I meant it."
+
+"Tut, nonsense!" but as Olivia took his hand and held it in her firm
+grasp, there was a sudden moisture in the old man's eyes.
+
+"No one has loved me since my two Olives left me," he muttered.  "If
+only one had been spared to me, only one; but I am left here alone with
+my sorrow and remorse."
+
+"You are not really alone," she returned, soothingly.  "Why do you
+speak as if your wife and daughter had ceased to love you?  Do you
+imagine for one moment that they forget you?  It would do you good to
+talk to Aunt Madge; she has such wonderful ideas about all that.  Some
+people--people like Mrs. Tolman, our vicar's wife--laugh at her and
+call her fanciful, but to me she is so real.  Why should it not be
+true?" she went on, with gathering excitement, "nothing that is good
+can die!  Love is eternal, and it is only pain and grief and sin that
+can come to an end.  That is what Aunt Madge says, and she does more
+than say it, she lives it.  Of course she misses her husband
+dreadfully--they were everything to each other--but he never seems dead
+like other women's husbands, if you know what I mean by that.  She
+seems to keep step with him somehow, and think his thoughts.  I have
+heard her say once that it is just as though a high wall separated
+them.  'I cannot see him or hear him, but I know he is just the other
+side of the wall; only he has all the sunshine, and I have to grope
+alone in the shadows.'"
+
+"Oh, she is right there; I know what it is to grope among shadows.  My
+dear young lady," laying his hand heavily on her arm, "Mrs. Broderick
+must be a wonderful woman, and I hope to see her some day; and I am not
+above caring for a good woman's prayers, but our cases are not exactly
+similar."
+
+"I daresay not," returned Olivia, hesitatingly.
+
+"No, indeed"--and Mr. Gaythorne's heavy eyebrows drew together--"look
+here, Mrs. Luttrell, what sort of comfort do you suppose a man can have
+in thinking of his wife, when he knows he has acted contrary to her
+desires, when he has failed to carry out even the wishes expressed on
+her deathbed.  What would you say to that man?"
+
+"I would say that he must be very unhappy, and that no doubt
+circumstances were too hard for him.  Perhaps he did his best; but it
+is not always possible for dying people to judge rightly, they may make
+mistakes."
+
+"No, it was I who made all the mistakes," and there was such anguish in
+the old man's eyes as he said this, that Olivia almost started; "but
+God help me, if it were to come over again I should do the same.  Mrs.
+Luttrell, you do not know me; it is my whim to be generous now and
+then.  I like to give and it costs me nothing, but I am a hard,
+domineering man; when people oppose and anger me, I can be relentless;
+it is not easy for me to forgive, even when the offender is my own
+flesh and blood, and I am no hypocrite.  I must speak the truth at all
+costs."
+
+"And yet we expect our Father to forgive us," returned Olivia, almost
+to herself, but Mr. Gaythorne heard her, and a strange expression
+crossed his face.
+
+"That is what she always said--my Olive, but it never seemed to make
+any difference to me.  Ah, well, it is no use talking, some spirits
+refuse to be laid, but this is poor entertainment, my dear, and on your
+birthday too!"
+
+"Please do not say that.  I should love to stay, but I must not; it is
+late now, and Marcus will be waiting for me," and Olivia rose as she
+spoke.  "And now before I go may I ring for the lamps to be lighted?
+there is something uncanny in this darkness, and the fire is getting
+hollow too."
+
+"Well, well, do as you like," was the abrupt answer.  "I am going to
+have my dinner here tonight, it is warmer," and so Olivia had her way.
+As she bade him good-night, he said, a little wistfully, "You can come
+to-morrow afternoon if you like.  I have those views of Venice and
+Florence to show you.  I had an old Florentine palace for six months,
+the year before my little Olive died; that was our last happy year."
+
+"Of course I will come," she replied, smiling at him.  But as she left
+the room she sighed; had she really exorcised those evil spirits? or
+would they return again, with tenfold force? "remorse;" that was the
+word he used, this was the canker-worm that was robbing him of peace.
+"It is not easy for me to forgive even if the offender is my own flesh
+and blood."  How sad it was to hear him say that.
+
+"I think, after all, I did him some little good," she thought, as she
+groped her way cautiously through the dark shrubbery.  "That hard,
+rigid look had quite disappeared before I left.  I have a feeling
+somehow that one day he will open his heart to me and tell me his
+trouble.  Every now and then he drops a word or two; perhaps this
+evening, if I had not been so hurried, he would have spoken out."
+
+Olivia's warm heart was full of pity for the lonely man sitting beside
+his desolate hearth, but she was young, and as the heavy gate closed
+after her, and she hurried across the road, a sudden vision of her own
+bright little parlour with Marcus waiting for her rose blissfully
+before her.
+
+Marcus would have returned long ago and would be wondering at her
+delay.  She knew what he was doing--cutting the pages of _Esmond_ for
+their evening reading.  How charmed he had been with her gift, although
+he had pretended to be angry at her extravagance.
+
+A few particles of snow powdered her as she rang the bell.  Marcus
+answered it himself.
+
+"Livy, my dear child," he said, quickly, "what an age you have been!
+Come into the kitchen a moment, I want to speak to you, and Martha is
+upstairs.  No, not there," catching hold of her arm as she absently
+turned the handle of the parlour door.  "I said the kitchen."
+
+"Oh, Marcus, what is it?" in an alarmed voice, as she suddenly
+perceived his grave, preoccupied look, "there is something wrong--with
+baby," but his smile reassured her.
+
+"Nothing is wrong, I am only a little perplexed.  Dot's all right, and
+the house is not on fire, and Martha is enjoying her usual health, but
+we have got a Christmas guest, that's all."
+
+"Marcus, what can you mean, when we know no one here?  Is it one of
+your old hospital friends?  And why may I not go in and see him?"
+
+"So you shall, but I must explain matters first.  I have a poor fellow
+in there whom I picked up off a door-step.  At first I thought he was
+drunk, and I meant to call a policeman, but I very soon found out my
+mistake.  The poor wretch had fainted from cold and exhaustion, he was
+simply starving."
+
+"Oh, how dreadful!" exclaimed Olivia, much shocked at this.  "Have you
+given him some food?  But why is he not here instead of in the
+sitting-room?  Martha has a capital fire."
+
+"Yes, she has been making him some tea, and luckily there was some cold
+bacon.  He has had nothing but a penny roll and some coffee since
+yesterday morning.  Another night of exposure and want would have
+killed him.  I took him into the parlour because the couch was handy,
+but directly he spoke I saw he was a gentleman--at least an educated
+man, but his clothes are threadbare.  He has parted with his waistcoat
+for food.  Now you know why I brought you in here, to save you a shock."
+
+"But, Marcus, what are we to do with him?"
+
+"Ah, that is what puzzles me.  I have fed and warmed him, and could
+give him money for a night's lodging, but he is not fit to move.  When
+he tried to sit up just now, he nearly fell back from exhaustion.  I
+should say from the look of him that he has been ill, perhaps in some
+hospital, and has not got up his strength.  And he is quite young
+too--not more than five-and-twenty, I should say."
+
+"May I go and look at him first, and then we will think what is to be
+done."
+
+"Yes, dear, that will be best.  But, Livy, I really cannot wait just
+now.  All this has hindered me so that I have not been to the
+Traverses'.  I shall not be long--not more than half an hour."
+
+Olivia looked rather troubled at this, but it was no use making a fuss.
+Marcus must do his work, but her vision of a cosy evening was sadly
+marred.  Instead of listening to _Esmond_ she had to interview a
+strange man.
+
+Directly Marcus had gone she went into the sitting-room; the couch had
+been drawn near the fire and Marcus's easy chair was pushed back, and
+there in the warmth and firelight, with an old plaid thrown over him,
+the forlorn wanderer lay sleeping as placidly as a child.
+
+Olivia trod on tiptoe as she crossed the room and stood beside the
+couch, and studied him attentively.
+
+Marcus was right; of course he was a gentleman; in spite of his
+emaciated appearance and poor, threadbare garments, this was evident;
+the features were well-cut and refined; the wasted hands bore no signs
+of manual labour, and the filbert nails were carefully attended.
+
+Some poor prodigal fallen to low estate lay before her, and yet he
+looked so boyish and innocent in his sleep, that Olivia's heart grew
+very pitiful over him.
+
+Turn him out in the winter's cold, and on Christmas night, too; when
+all the merciful angels were moving betwixt heaven and earth.  When the
+bond of brotherhood that linked human beings together was drawn closer,
+and the rich man's gift and the widow's mite were paid into the same
+treasury of love, it was impossible!
+
+How soundly he was sleeping, poor fellow, lulled by the very fulness of
+comfort, his sick hunger appeased, and his bones no longer aching with
+cold.  A fair moustache covered his mouth, but Olivia, who prided
+herself on reading character, soon decided that the chin and lower part
+of the face showed signs of weakness, but as the thought passed through
+her mind a pair of deep blue eyes opened full on her face, and gazed at
+her in bewilderment.
+
+"Where am I?" he said, feebly; "oh, I remember, I fainted on a
+doorstep, and some good Samaritan carried me in;" then in the same weak
+voice, "Forgive me, madam, but I am afraid to rise."
+
+"Lie still--please lie still until my husband comes back," returned
+Olivia, a little nervously.  How ill he looked--the eyes looked
+preternaturally large in the wasted face.  "It is sad to see anyone in
+such distress," she continued, gently, "and on Christmas night, too."
+
+"Yes, I am down on my luck," returned the stranger; but even in his
+feebleness he spoke a little recklessly; "I was always 'Murad the
+Unlucky;' it would have been all over with me in a few hours if the
+doctor had not found me.  I was just at the end of my tether,"--but
+here a hard cough seemed to tear him to pieces.
+
+"Lie still and try to sleep again," returned Olivia, hurriedly; then
+she went out of the room and summoned Martha.
+
+When Marcus returned and went in search of her, he found her airing
+some sheets at the kitchen fire.
+
+"Marcus," she said, "Martha has been lighting a fire in that little
+empty room, where the iron bedstead is; there are the mattress and the
+two blankets Aunt Madge lent me when I was ill; I am going to make up a
+bed there for to-night."
+
+"You think we ought to keep him, then," returned her husband, looking
+at her questioningly.  "To be sure, I hardly know how we are to turn
+him out; but if he falls ill on our hands, eh, Livy?"
+
+"If he be very ill, you would have to take him to a hospital," she
+returned, quickly.  "We have not got the cruise of oil, remember, and,
+as Aunt Madge says, we must be just before we are generous--but he has
+such a terrible cough, Marcus."
+
+"Oh, that is from cold and exhaustion, and, as I told you before, he
+has evidently recovered from some severe illness, probably pleurisy or
+pneumonia.  Well, Livy, I think you are about right; we must do our
+best for the poor beggar; now and then one must help 'lame dogs over
+stiles,'" and Marcus, whose bump of benevolence was largely developed,
+and who believed in practical religion, was sincerely grateful that his
+wife had fallen in with his views.
+
+"I think you were sent to him to help him," returned Olivia, softly.
+"'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren.'
+Oh, Marcus, you know how that finishes," and Marcus smiled back at her
+as he left the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A GENTLEMANLY TRAMP.
+
+  "'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,
+  But to support him after."--_Timon of Athens_.
+
+
+When Olivia had finished her preparations she summoned Marcus upstairs,
+and with an air of housewifely pride showed him all the arrangements
+she had made.
+
+In his bachelor days Dr. Luttrell had been in the habit of picking up
+all sorts of miscellaneous articles at sales, that he thought might be
+useful some day, and though Olivia had often laughed at his purchases
+and called them old lumber, they had often proved serviceable.
+
+The strip of faded carpet and shabby little shut up washstand intended
+for the surgery, and a couple of chairs, had been put into the empty
+room, and though it looked bare enough to Marcus's eyes, and in spite
+of the bright little fire terribly chilly, it would doubtless be a
+haven of refuge to their miserable guest.
+
+"He says it is just heaven," observed Marcus, when he came downstairs
+to his wife; "the night before last, poor beggar, he was in the casual
+ward, and last night he had a few hours in some refuge.  'Fancy the
+casual ward for a gentleman's son,' he said to me so bitterly, 'and
+there was actually a barrister there too, and we fraternised.'  It is
+just as I thought, Livy, he was discharged from the hospital about
+three weeks ago, and has been roughing it ever since."
+
+"Did you ask him his name, Marcus?"
+
+"Yes, and he hesitated; I don't believe Robert Barton is his real name;
+the way he gave it looked a bit shady; he is a good-looking fellow, and
+I can't think he is vicious, but he is one of those weak fellows who
+get led away.  If we are to help him, he must tell us more about
+himself."
+
+Olivia found her hands full the next day; when Marcus went up to see
+Barton, he found him flushed and feverish, and complained of aching in
+his limbs.
+
+"It is only a bad chill," he said, when Olivia looked grave at this
+report; "but unless we take care of him well for a day or two, it will
+be pneumonia or congestion of the lungs.  I shall be pretty busy for
+the next two or three hours, and am afraid I must leave him to you and
+Martha.  Don't let him talk, and keep the fire up, that room is still
+like an ice-house.  Are you sure you don't mind the bother, Livy?"
+
+And though Olivia was too truthful to answer in the negative, she
+promised to do her best for Marcus's _protege_.
+
+Robert Barton looked more to advantage lying in bed in Dr. Luttrell's
+old red striped blazer than he had done in his threadbare shabby
+clothes the previous night; indeed, Olivia quite started when she saw
+him; he was certainly what Marcus called him, a good-looking fellow,
+the dark blue eyes were beautiful and full of expression; he flushed as
+Olivia asked him kindly how he felt.
+
+"I feel pretty bad," he returned, "and the doctor says I must lie here.
+I used not to think much of the story of the Good Samaritan, but I
+believe in it now.  Oh, if you knew what it was to feel clean linen
+about me again."
+
+"My husband says you are not to talk," replied Olivia, gently, "so I
+must carry out his orders; there is some medicine you are to take, and
+by-and-by I shall bring you some hot broth; if only your cough were
+easier you would be able to sleep, but perhaps the drops will do you
+good."
+
+"Thanks awfully; if you will put them down by me, I will take them, but
+please, please do not trouble about me, I am not worth it.  I never was
+worth anything;" he sighed and there were tears in his eyes; but Olivia
+took no notice, she put things straight and then went about her
+business.  On her next visit she found him sleeping; but as she put
+down the cup of hot broth beside him he half woke.
+
+"Mother," he said, in a hoarse voice, "I never did it, I swear to you
+on my honour; I was never as bad as that; ask Olive, she believes in
+me, she knows I could not be such a low cad."
+
+"Mr. Barton, I have brought you your broth; will you please take it
+before it gets cold?" and Olivia's clear voice roused Robert Barton
+effectually.
+
+"I was dreaming," he said, looking at her rather confusedly.  "I
+thought I was at Medhurst, in the old library; oh, what a fool I am!"
+and there was almost a despairing look in his eyes.
+
+"You are weak, or you would not dream so, and yet it must be natural to
+dream about your own people.  I am so glad you have someone belonging
+to you; last night we were afraid that you were quite friendless," then
+she stopped as she remembered Marcus's injunctions.
+
+"No, I am not friendless," he returned, raising himself with
+difficulty, and coughing as he spoke.  "Even the prodigal son had
+relatives, you know--a father and an elder brother; but he was better
+off than I, for he knew where to find them"--but here such a terrible
+fit of coughing came on, that Olivia forbade him to say another word.
+
+"You shall tell us all about it when you are better," she said, kindly;
+"perhaps, who knows, we may be able to help you find your friends; we
+are poor people ourselves, my husband is only just beginning to make a
+practice, so there is not much that we can do."
+
+Then as she stooped over him and wiped his brow, she was almost
+startled by the sweetness of the smile that crossed the young man's
+face.
+
+"Not much," he reiterated; but Olivia shook her head at him to
+inculcate silence, and carried away the empty cup.
+
+When Marcus came home at dinner-time, she proposed sending a note
+across to Galvaston House to tell Mr. Gaythorne that she could not
+leave home that afternoon, but to her surprise Dr. Luttrell objected to
+this.
+
+"You know how crotchety Mr. Gaythorne is," he said, quickly, "and it
+will never do to disappoint him; he might be a bit touchy.  Barton will
+be all right, and I shall be in myself the greater part of the
+afternoon."  And then Olivia's scruples vanished.
+
+She felt Marcus had been wise when she entered the library.  Mr.
+Gaythorne was evidently expecting her; he had a large portfolio open
+before him.  As he held out his hand to her without rising--for he had
+still great difficulty in moving--there was a brighter look on his face.
+
+"We must make the most of the daylight," he said, and the next moment
+Olivia found herself in Venice.
+
+The views were so beautiful and Mr. Gaythorne's descriptions so
+interesting, that, as usual, the time passed quickly.  It was not until
+they were drinking their coffee in the pleasant firelight that Olivia
+found an opportunity of narrating her husband's strange adventure of
+the previous evening.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne listened with his usual air of half contemptuous
+amusement; but before she came to the end of the recital he turned upon
+her quickly.
+
+"Do you mean that the tramp is actually in your house at this moment?"
+he asked, indignantly.
+
+"Oh, please don't call him that; he is a gentleman, he speaks in quite
+an educated manner, and his ways are so refined.  Marcus saw that at
+once."
+
+"Pooh, nonsense!  My dear Mrs. Luttrell, a gentlemanly tramp is the
+worst kind; it is generally drink and profligacy that have dragged them
+down.  You will be robbed or burnt in your beds!"
+
+Olivia could not conceal her amusement.  A vivid remembrance of the
+flushed, weary young face of the wanderer rose before her; it was so
+boyish-looking with the fair hair and golden brown moustache.
+
+"I am sure he does not drink," she returned, trying vainly to suppress
+a smile; but this contradiction did not please Mr. Gaythorne.
+
+"How can you know anything about it?" he asked, testily; "from your own
+account he has told you nothing except that he has been in a hospital
+and a casual ward--they have plenty of cases of delirium tremens in
+both places.  Good heavens! and I thought Dr. Luttrell was a sensible
+man.  This is the way he takes care of his wife and child, harbouring a
+frozen-out tramp."
+
+"Dear Mr. Gaythorne," returned Olivia, pleadingly, "just put yourself
+in my husband's place.  Marcus found the poor young fellow on a
+doorstep in Harbut Road not a dozen yards from his own door.  Being a
+doctor, he saw at once that he must be warmed and fed or life would be
+endangered, and Christmas night of all nights.  How could he forbear in
+sheer humanity to take in the poor creature, and then when he found how
+weak he was, how was he to turn him out into the streets again?"
+
+"He might have sent for a cab and had him driven to a hospital."
+
+"No--Marcus said it was no case for a hospital, at least at present;
+they would not have admitted him; indeed--indeed he could not have done
+otherwise--I told him so at once.  What is the use of going to church
+and saying one's prayers if one shrinks from such a clear duty as that?
+Why, we should never dare to read St. James again!"
+
+"And why not, may I ask?"
+
+"Because we should have set our faces against his teaching.  Oh, you
+know what I mean, Mr. Gaythorne," and Olivia repeated the text
+reverently: "'If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily
+food, and one of you say unto them go in peace, be ye clothed and fed,
+and yet you give them not those things needful for the body, what doth
+it profit?'  Marcus does not only profess his religion.  Oh"--finished
+Olivia, with sparkling eyes--"I did feel so proud of my husband last
+night."
+
+"Well--well; if you choose to be Quixotic it is your own affair, not
+mine," but Mr. Gaythorne spoke with less irritation.  "Now shall we go
+on with the portfolio, or do you want to go back to your gentlemanly
+tramp?"  Then Olivia begged to finish the pictures.
+
+"I have nearly half an hour before Dot's bedtime," she said,
+cheerfully, "and then I must go," and so harmony was restored.
+
+When the half-hour had passed, Olivia took her leave, but before she
+reached the door, Mr. Gaythorne called her back and thrust something
+into her hand.
+
+"That will help you to provide for your tramp," he said, hurriedly,
+"and prevent him from eating you out of house and home.  Mind you repay
+yourself before you lay out any for him: do you suppose," in a cynical
+tone, "that your husband's income will bear the expense of such an
+inmate as that?" and Olivia, to her intense astonishment, found the two
+crumpled bits of paper in her hand were five-pound notes.
+
+"Oh there is no need for this," she said, in distress; "have you
+forgotten the turkey and all those good things Aunt Madge sent us?" but
+Mr. Gaythorne waved her away.
+
+"Nonsense," he said, crossly; "do you suppose a trifle like that
+matters to me?  Why, I am not spending half my income; if you want any
+more you can just let me know; but if you take my advice you will get
+rid of that fellow as soon as possible."
+
+Marcus smiled when Olivia showed him the money.  "Put it away for the
+present," he said, "it will buy Barton some warm clothes; we can afford
+to give him his bit and sup for a few days; he is stone broke, as they
+call it, and a few pounds may be just what he requires, and put him on
+his feet again."
+
+When Mrs. Broderick heard of the strange guest at No. 1, Galvaston
+Terrace, she was deeply interested, and warmly commended Marcus's
+philanthropy.
+
+"I wonder," she said, thoughtfully, after a few minutes' silence,
+"whether any of Fergus's things would fit him; you know what a foolish
+body I have been, Livy, to keep them all this time, and it gives Deb so
+much trouble to preserve them from moth; but there, we all have our
+crazes.
+
+"I have been meaning to part with them for a long time, and this seems
+a good opportunity; it does seem such a pity to touch that money; it
+would set him up to have a few pounds in hand."
+
+Olivia could not deny this, and in her secret heart she thought Aunt
+Madge could not do better with her dead husband's things.
+
+"It will be a real act of charity," she said, frankly.  "Oh, Aunt
+Madge, if you could only see his clothes, they are so worn and
+threadbare, and when Martha washed his shirt and socks she almost cried
+over the holes; and then his boots!"
+
+"Say no more, my child, it shall be done, and at once," and Mrs.
+Broderick's mouth looked unusually firm.
+
+The very next day Marcus carried a big parcel upstairs and opened it
+before Robert Barton's astonished eyes.
+
+Mrs. Broderick, who did nothing grudgingly, had put up all she thought
+requisite--a warm suit, and a great coat, a pair of boots, some
+coloured flannel shirts and warm underclothing.
+
+"It has upset him a bit," Marcus said, when he re-entered the parlour,
+"he is still so weak, you see.  He fairly broke down when I showed him
+the things.  He is very grateful; by-the-bye, Livy," sitting down
+beside her as he spoke, "he has been telling me more about himself
+to-night; not much, certainly, he does not seem to like speaking of
+himself, but he gave me a brief outline.
+
+"He has relations, only he has not seen them for some years; it
+appeared he quarrelled with them or got wrong somehow; in fact, he
+owned he had been a bit wild, and then things went from bad to worse
+with him, and he had a run of ill-luck.
+
+"It seems he is an artist and rather fond of his profession, but he
+hurt his hand, and blood-poisoning came on, and for some time he was
+afraid he would lose his right arm; for months he could paint no
+pictures, and so all his little capital was swallowed up."
+
+"But why did he not write to his people, Marcus, and make it up with
+them?"
+
+"So he did, but his letters never got answered, and he got sick of it
+at last.  When he was pretty nearly at the end of his tether he came
+back to England.  I think he said he was in Paris then, or was it
+Beyrout? well, never mind, he went straight to his old home; but to his
+horror the house was shut up, and to let, and the caretaker told him
+that no one had lived there for years, and that she believed the party
+who had owned it was abroad; he could get nothing more than that out of
+her.
+
+"He put up at a little wayside inn that night, meaning to make
+inquiries in the neighbourhood, but the next day he fell ill, and after
+a bit they took him to the hospital, and since then he drifted up to
+London, hoping to see his father's old lawyer and glean intelligence
+from him, but he found he was dead.  His fixed intention was to go down
+again to the place and see the vicar and prosecute his inquiries in
+person, but ill-luck pursued him; he was robbed in some wretched
+lodging, and soon found himself in actual want; 'but I mean, if I die
+for it, to get to Medhurst somehow,' he said to me.  'I could have
+found someone to identify me there; not that we had been there long,
+for my people mostly lived abroad, but there must be some friends who
+could tell me about them.'
+
+"It is a queer story altogether, and yet not a wholly improbable one;
+but there is a mystery somewhere, Livy, and I am sure of one thing,
+that his name is not Barton.  I hinted as much, but he only flushed up
+and said nothing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE NIGHT-BELL RINGS.
+
+"A bad beginning leads to a bad ending."--_Livy_.
+
+
+The next few days passed quietly.  Dr. Luttrell professed himself
+perfectly satisfied with his patient's progress.  In spite of his
+delicate aspect, and the terrible hardships he had experienced, Robert
+Barton proved that he had a fair amount of recuperative power.  Perhaps
+his youth was in his favour, and it was soon evident that he had a
+naturally sanguine temperament.  His nature was singularly
+ill-balanced, he was always in extremes--either in the depths of
+depression or else unaccountably excited.  Olivia would sometimes find
+him crouching over the fire with his head between his hands in a state
+of morose misery.  And at other times she would hear him whistling a
+few bars from some opera in quite a light-hearted way.
+
+"If you do not mind, Olive, I think that Barton had better come down
+to-morrow afternoon," Marcus observed one evening.  "He will get on all
+the faster."  And as Olivia made no objection to this the matter was
+settled.
+
+Marcus secretly wondered how Robert Barton could take things quite so
+coolly.  Perhaps it might be partly owing to his enfeebled state, but
+he certainly did not seem to trouble himself much about the future.  "I
+feel as if I should pull through now," he said, once.  "I only wanted a
+helping hand to lift me out of the slough of despond.  When I am a bit
+stronger, doctor, I must paint a pot-boiler or two," and Marcus had
+quietly assented to this.
+
+"I have made up my mind what I must do, Livy," continued Dr. Luttrell
+later on that same evening, when he had arranged that his patient
+should come downstairs.  "You know that nice Mrs. Randall in the
+Models; well, she has a lodger, but she expects that he will leave her
+in a week or so, as he has work at a distance.  I might take the room
+for Barton, it is a clean, tidy little place.  And Mrs. Randall is a
+motherly sort of woman, and will look after him."
+
+"Oh, what a good idea, Marcus."
+
+"Yes, it came into my head when I was leaving the Models yesterday.
+And I had half a mind to go back and ask the price of the room, but I
+was in such a hurry.  I would pay her a month in advance, and we would
+use some of Mr. Gaythorne's money in buying him what he wants for his
+painting.  I have no idea what sort of an artist he is, but it seems
+the only thing he can do."
+
+"Oh, how pleased he will be, poor fellow," exclaimed Olivia, "but
+surely he is not well enough to leave us just now, and in this
+weather?" for a hard frost had set in.
+
+"Not for another week, perhaps, but we must not let him think himself a
+fixture here.  We have had him ten days already."
+
+Marcus had not repented of his philanthropy, he was too highly
+principled for that, but though he would not have confessed it to his
+wife for worlds, he was a little alarmed at the responsibility so
+suddenly thrown on him.
+
+Barton seemed such a happy-go-lucky, casual sort of person.  The
+gentlemanly tramp was not a bad name for him.  He was not quite open,
+either.  In Dr. Luttrell's opinion he ought by this time to have
+confided in them fully.  "He is a bit shifty and hazy about things," he
+said to himself, "and I shall be glad when Livy and I have the house to
+ourselves."
+
+"Ten days," repeated Olivia, thoughtfully; "is it so long as that,
+Marcus?  How time flies when one is busy!  Do you know, dear, I have
+such an odd feeling sometimes.  I feel as though that poor fellow was
+sent to us for some special purpose, that we had a sort of mission
+towards him.  It is not that I want him, for of course his being here
+makes so much work for Martha, but all the same, I do not wish you to
+lose sight of him."
+
+"My dear child," returned Marcus, rather impatiently, "am I likely to
+lose sight of him when I am at the Models at least three times a week?"
+
+"No, but we can see him so much better under our own roof," she
+replied, quietly.  "We must not get tired of him too soon.  Yes, you
+are tired, dear," laying her hand affectionately on his.  "Do you think
+I do not know that, although you are so good about it, and never
+grumble, but it will be trying to us both when he comes downstairs."
+
+"Yes, and one hardly knows how to treat him," returned Marcus, feeling
+it a relief to utter his thoughts.  "He is clever and refined, and I
+suppose we must allow that he is a gentleman, but it is impossible
+somehow to trust him, or to feel at one's ease with him.  There is
+something that fascinates and yet repels one."
+
+"I know what you mean," replied Olivia, thoughtfully, "but somehow I
+like him in spite of everything; Marcus, what a blessing it is to think
+that I went to Galvaston House this afternoon, and so I shall be free
+to-morrow," for Olivia's sunny, nature always looked on the bright side
+of things.
+
+That night a wonderful thing happened.  The night-bell rang.
+
+That sound so dreaded by the hard-worked doctor was like a triumphal
+_reveille_ in Marcus's ears.  And Robert Barton's muttered "poor devil"
+as he turned on his pillow would not have been endorsed.
+
+Olivia indeed had been alarmed for a moment by the unaccustomed sound,
+and thought drowsily that the house must be on fire, but she was soon
+wide awake and hushing Dot.
+
+"Go to sleep, girlie, it is only someone come to see dada," she said,
+rocking her little one.  Dot had been startled and was cross in
+consequence, and it was sometime before she could be pacified.
+
+The next minute Marcus came back fully dressed.  "I must go round to
+15, Brunswick Place," he said, hurriedly.  "Don't expect me back till
+you see me," and then she heard him running downstairs.
+
+"He expects to be detained, so I suppose some poor baby is to enter
+this wintry world," she thought, as she composed herself to sleep, but
+she little guessed the terribly hard work that was before Marcus.
+
+It was early morning and Martha had already crept softly past her door
+in her stocking' feet, as she would have said, so as not to wake Miss
+Baby, before Dr. Luttrell let himself in with his latchkey.
+
+He looked sadly jaded, but utterly refused to lie down and have a nap.
+"I will have my tub and some breakfast instead," he observed.  "They
+gave me some hot coffee a couple of hours ago.  My word, it is freezing
+hard still.  Tell Martha to give us a good-sized rasher of ham."
+
+"Is the poor thing all right," asked Olivia presently, when they were
+seated at their breakfast, with Dot crawling between them.  Then for
+the moment Dr. Luttrell looked puzzled.
+
+"What poor thing--oh," with a laugh, "I see what you mean now, but it
+was nothing of that sort.  I have not had such a business since my
+hospital days," he went on; "poor Livy, you would not have slept so
+comfortably if you had known.  It was a case of delirium tremens; an
+elderly man, too, and his poor daughter was frightened out of her wits;
+but she behaved splendidly; you women have pluck; I must tell you that
+she actually helped me when the man-servant was afraid to come near his
+master."
+
+"Oh, Marcus, he might have hurt you," and Olivia turned pale--perhaps
+it is as well that doctors' wives know so little about their husbands'
+experiences.
+
+"Oh, we had plenty of that sort of business at Bart's," he returned,
+coolly; "but I shall have to get him a nurse.  I must see after one at
+once, or poor Miss Williams will be worn out; will you give me another
+cup of tea, Livy?"
+
+"Are they new people too, Marcus, like the Stanwell's?" but Dr.
+Luttrell shook his head.
+
+"No, they have lived in the place for years, but Mr. Williams
+quarrelled with Dr. Bevan, and his daughter dared not send for him, and
+as I was the nearest medical man, the servant came to me; it was just a
+fluke, that's all."
+
+"Is there only one daughter, Marcus?"
+
+"Well, my dear, it was not likely that I questioned Miss Williams about
+her family, but I imagine she is the only daughter; poor girl, I felt
+sorry for her; there have been plenty of briers besetting her path, I
+should say; as the poet writes so feelingly, she has had more kicks
+than halfpence," and as usual, when Marcus began to joke, Olivia took
+the hint and left off questioning him.
+
+The little parlour looked a haven of comfort to Robert Barton's eyes as
+he entered it that afternoon, leaning on Dr. Luttrell's arm.
+
+Olivia was sitting at needlework as usual, with Dot playing at her
+feet, and sprawling on the rug in exact imitation of Jet the black
+kitten; she rose at once with a bright, welcoming smile, and arranged
+the cushions in the easy-chair.
+
+"I daresay you are glad to be down again," she said, kindly, as Barton
+sank back in them rather heavily; "but you must be careful, you are far
+from strong yet."
+
+"Thanks, I am tolerably fit," but the weak, shaking hand rather
+contradicted this.
+
+"Oh, what a pretty child!  I should like to make a sketch of her.  Will
+you come to me, little one?"  And Robert Barton's smile was so winning
+that Dot crawled to him at once, and hauled herself up by the help of
+one finger.
+
+Olivia gave her husband a quick glance which he quite understood;
+"there cannot be much harm in him if he likes children," this was what
+her look meant, and even Marcus was touched and surprised when he saw
+his little daughter put up her round face to be kissed, and then make
+playful dabs at him.
+
+"What a darling she is--rather like you, Mrs. Luttrell, but she has a
+look of the doctor too.  I have always been fond of children, they are
+never afraid of me," and this speech completely won the young mother's
+heart.
+
+"He is really very distinguished-looking," she said to herself, as she
+watched him playing with Dot; "he is dreadfully thin, and, of course,
+Uncle Fergus's clothes are too big for him, but no one could help
+seeing that he is a gentleman."
+
+They began to talk presently in quite a friendly way, and after a time
+Olivia said, quite simply:
+
+"Your name is not really Robert Barton, is it?"  She had blurted this
+out almost without thinking.
+
+"Well, no," he returned, reddening a little, "but I have been calling
+myself by that name for the last month or two, it was handy," and his
+face twitched.  "I did not care to carry my father's name into the
+places I have been obliged to frequent lately."
+
+"You have a father then, Mr. Barton?" in an interested tone.
+
+"Oh, yes, and a mother and a sister, though I have heard nothing of
+them for half a dozen years."
+
+"Oh, not so long as that, surely," and then Olivia looked at him with
+kindly gravity.  "Why, you could only have been a boy when you left
+home."
+
+"I am older than you think, Mrs. Luttrell--I shall soon be
+eight-and-twenty--but I was young enough, certainly, when they shunted
+me off.  Confession may be good for the soul," he went on, with a
+reckless laugh; "but it is not particularly pleasant.  As I told your
+husband, I quarrelled with my people.  It was my own fault in a great
+measure; but I do not mean to take all the blame; if they had treated
+me differently, things would not have come to this; but this is all
+ancient history; if a man sows thistles he must expect a harvest of the
+same.  I have had my evil things certainly, and perhaps I deserved
+them."
+
+"And you wish now that you had acted differently;" then such a look of
+intense pain crossed Robert Barton's face that Olivia was quite
+startled.
+
+"I would give my right hand if those months could be blotted out," he
+said, vehemently.  "You know the proverb, Mrs. Luttrell--'Give a dog a
+bad name, and hang him'--well, they were for hanging me, I mean
+figuratively, so I took the bit between my teeth and bolted."
+
+"It seems to me, Mr. Barton," she said, thoughtfully, "that your one
+chance to retrieve the past is to find out your own people.  I
+suppose"--hesitating a little--"that they are in a position to help
+you?"
+
+"Most certainly they are; we lived mostly abroad, but always in good
+style; the house we had at Medhurst was only taken on lease for a short
+time; it was my father's fancy never to stay long in one place; he was
+fond of travelling; when I am strong enough to brave the weather, I
+will go down to Medhurst and hunt up an acquaintance or two; there must
+be someone who knew him; but the doctor will not give me leave yet."
+
+"Did my husband say anything to you about the future?" asked Olivia,
+tentatively; then Robert Barton's face, that had grown suddenly old and
+haggard, brightened up.
+
+"He told me some old gentleman, a friend of yours, had been awfully
+kind, and that he would be able to take a room for me for a month, and
+get me some canvas and colours.  If I only had my tools, I could take a
+sketch of your little girl at once, just as she is now with the kitten.
+I could call it 'Play-fellows,' just a small thing, you know, but it
+would be sure to take.  I do not paint badly, although I have not made
+my mark yet, but I have sold two or three small pictures besides
+pot-boilers.  I could begin to-morrow if only I had my easel and
+palette," and his tone was so eager, that Olivia promised to consult
+her husband, and, if he approved, to go herself for the necessary
+things.
+
+When Marcus came in he told them at once that he had been round to the
+Models.  "The room will be vacant next Tuesday, Barton," he said,
+briskly, "and I have settled with Mrs. Randall that you will take it
+for a month.  It is a poor place, of course, but in my opinion it is
+not so bare as your present diggings, and it is very clean and
+comfortable, so you may be sure of board and lodging for a month.  You
+will have to be careful, you know," he went on, "as long as this
+weather lasts.  You must not think of moving about the country just yet
+or you will be laid up again," and then Olivia chimed in, and after a
+little consultation it was arranged that Olivia should go to the
+picture-shop at the corner of Harbut Street the next morning.
+
+Robert Barton made a list of things required.  He was in such good
+spirits all tea-time, and told such amusing stories of his life in
+Paris, that even Marcus, tired as he was, was much entertained.
+
+"He is really a well-informed fellow," he observed, when Barton had
+retired.  "I am not so sure that we shall find him in the way, after
+all.  He told us that story about the artist's model in quite a racy
+fashion.  He seems to be up to date in his notions.  I am a bit curious
+to find out if he can paint or if it is only tall talk, but he
+certainly seems bent on it.  Now I must turn in, for I am dead beat.
+Oh, by-the-bye, Livy, I told Miss Williams that you would go round and
+see her to-morrow afternoon.  It would really be a charity," as Olivia
+seemed very much astonished at this.  "The poor girl is so lonely, she
+has no brothers and sisters, and as far as I can find out no friends
+either."
+
+"No friends, Marcus--and they live in one of those nice houses in
+Brunswick Place, and keep a man-servant!"
+
+"Oh, I daresay they have a few acquaintances," returned Dr. Luttrell,
+with a yawn.  "Most likely it has been impossible for her to have
+friends.  When I proposed sending you to cheer her up, she looked quite
+grateful.  Poor soul, you will like her, Olive.  She is just your sort;
+no nonsense about her, plenty of feeling, but nothing hysterical."
+
+"Marcus," observed Olivia, slipping her hand through his arm, and
+speaking very deliberately, "do you not think we had better have those
+cards printed? our visiting acquaintance is so much increased," and
+then Marcus laughed and turned down the lamp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+GRETA.
+
+"For I am the only one of my friends that I can rely
+on."--_Appolodamus_.
+
+
+Olivia set out in good spirits to pay her call the next afternoon.  It
+was a clear, frosty day, sunless and excessively cold, but Olivia felt
+a certain exhilaration in the ring of the horses' hoofs on the hard
+road, and the brisk exercise brought such a glow to her face, that more
+than one passer-by looked at her approvingly.
+
+There are no cosmetiques so beneficial as good health, happiness, and
+an easy conscience.  Olivia, who had never been handsome, looked so
+fresh and comely, that many a languid beauty might have envied her.
+
+Brunswick Place was considered rather a desirable spot; it was quiet
+and retired, and the houses were well-built and substantial looking.
+They were chiefly inhabited by solicitors in good practice, and retired
+army men who had private means of their own.  The very air was redolent
+of respectability and prosperity.  No one with a small income would
+have thought of settling down in Brunswick Place.
+
+The man-servant who admitted Olivia ushered her into a large,
+handsomely furnished drawing-room with a conservatory opening out of
+it, and the next moment Miss Williams joined her.
+
+To her great surprise Olivia recognised her at once.  She was the tall
+girl in brown that she had so often noticed in church, who was always
+alone, and who looked so sad.  Yes, it was the same tired-looking young
+face, she was certain of it.
+
+"I am sure I have often seen you," she said, as they shook hands, and
+Miss Williams smiled.
+
+"I was just thinking the same of you.  You attend St. Matthew's, do you
+not?  I have seen you with Dr. Luttrell.  Please sit down--no, not that
+chair.  Come a little closer to the fire, it is so bitterly cold," and
+here she shivered a little.
+
+"I do not mind the cold as much as some people," replied Olivia,
+sturdily.  "I am very strong and take plenty of exercise.  Perhaps you
+have not been out; it is so difficult to keep warm indoors."
+
+"No, I have not been out," returned Miss Williams, and then she looked
+at Olivia.  "It is very kind of you to come and see me--Mrs. Luttrell."
+
+She spoke slowly, almost deliberately, but her voice was pleasant.  In
+her light tweed, she looked even taller than Olivia had thought her,
+and very thin.
+
+In spite of her pale complexion and want of animation, Miss Williams
+had some claims to good looks.  She had soft grey eyes, with remarkably
+long lashes, and the coils of fair hair set off a finely shaped head.
+
+"My husband thought that you seemed rather lonely," returned Olivia, in
+her usual straightforward fashion.  Then a faint colour rose to Miss
+Williams's face.
+
+"Yes, it was so kind of him to propose it, and I was very grateful.  I
+suppose he told you that I had no friends--no one, I mean, that I could
+ask to come in and sit with me a little.  I know the next-door people
+slightly.  We call at intervals, and they have invited me to a party,
+but I have never got beyond that.  It has been difficult for me to make
+friends.  I am rather shy--and----" here she broke off rather awkwardly.
+
+"I think I know what you mean," replied Olivia.  "When one is in
+trouble, one wants real friends, not chance acquaintances, and if one
+has not made them----"
+
+"Just so--that is precisely my case.  Circumstances have been to blame,
+for I think I am sociable by nature.  Dr. Luttrell was very quick; he
+understood at once, and he said it was not good for me to be so much
+alone.  Oh, he was such a comfort to me.  Even the first moment he did
+not seem like a stranger.  I felt before half-an-hour was over that I
+could trust him implicitly.  And when he suggested yesterday that you
+should come and cheer me up, I said yes at once."
+
+"I was very glad to come," replied Olivia, quickly.  "Like yourself, I
+have no friends here, with the exception of another patient of my
+husband's, an old gentleman who lives opposite to us.  So I hope you
+will let me be of some use to you.  You know," after a moment's
+hesitation, "Dr. Luttrell is not one to talk about his patients, but he
+told me a little about your trouble."
+
+"So I imagined, and of course it makes it easier for me."  And here
+Miss Williams's lips trembled slightly.  "You could not help me or be
+any comfort without knowing a little.  Oh, Mrs. Luttrell, is it not
+dreadful?  My poor father, and such a good father, too.  He is just
+killing himself, I know that."
+
+"And you are all alone?"
+
+"Yes, since my mother died.  Things were bad enough then, but they have
+been worse since.  She used to be able to influence him and keep him
+straight, but he will not listen to me."
+
+"Have you had this to bear long?" and Olivia looked at her pityingly.
+What a life for a young, sensitive girl!
+
+"For some years.  Ever since Dacre, my brother, died.  It was a boating
+accident, and they brought him home quite dead.  We thought it was the
+shock, but Dr. Bevan, who attended him, then told us that it was due
+also to hereditary disease.  We dared not send for Dr. Bevan the other
+night, though he understood him so thoroughly, and was so kind.  My
+father had quarrelled with him, but Dr. Luttrell saw him yesterday and
+they had a long talk."
+
+"My husband always speaks so highly of Dr. Bevan."
+
+"Yes, and I liked him so much.  He was such a comfort to me when poor
+mother died, and I shall always be grateful to him, but I dared not run
+the risk of exciting my father.  He is a little better today; Dr.
+Luttrell says so; but of course he is coming again to-night.  We have a
+good nurse, so things are more hopeful, but I shall have to get rid of
+our man.  He is no use.  Dr. Luttrell says I must have someone older
+and more reliable, who can help in an emergency.  Roberts is far too
+young to be any real good."
+
+Olivia listened and assented.  She was quick-witted enough to see that
+it would be better to let Miss Williams talk and unburden herself a
+little.  The girl, in spite of a naturally shy temperament, seemed
+ready to open her heart to her.  Perhaps Olivia's winning personality
+had already won her.  Human nature is so strangely constituted--the
+laws of attraction and repulsion are so unaccountable.
+
+Some natures seem magnetic; they attract and draw us almost without our
+own volition.  With others we make no way, months and years of
+intercourse will not bind us more closely.  We are not on the same
+plane.
+
+Olivia's sympathetic manner, the pitying kindness in her eyes, appealed
+strongly to Greta Williams, the lonely girl--isolated by the worst
+curse that can affect humanity--grievous hereditary vice--the innocent
+scape-goat of another's sin.  Alas, how many homes even in our favoured
+land are desolated as well as desecrated from this one cause.  What
+piteous waste of sweet young life, crushed under unnatural burdens.
+The sin of England, we say--the shameful curse of diseased
+self-indulgence.
+
+Greta Williams seemed patient by nature; though it was a relief to talk
+openly to another woman, she did not complain.  In spite of her
+father's faults, he was evidently very dear to her.
+
+"It is a disease--a madness," she said once, "but it would never do to
+have young people here; one could not be sure, and for his sake it is
+better not," and in these few words there lay a world of tragedy.
+
+To love, and yet not to be sure that the object of our love will not
+disgrace us.  What misery to a refined and sensitive nature, to have to
+blush and grow pale from very shame and terror; to stretch out a
+helping hand to some dear one who has sunk too low to reach it.  Ah,
+only One, the All-merciful, can rightly gauge the anguish of such a
+sorrow.  No wonder Greta Williams looked so worn and pale, and that her
+eyes had grown sad.
+
+"He is worse than he has ever been," she whispered, presently.  "Dr.
+Luttrell does not tell me, but I know he was alarmed for him that
+night.  He has been so much better lately," she went on, with a little
+sob in her throat.  "I had felt almost comfortable; not quite
+comfortable, you know, because it never really lasted, but he liked me
+to read to him, and we played chess; but now"--her voice dropped into
+weariness--"I shall never feel quite easy again."
+
+Olivia had long ago outstayed an ordinary conventional visit; but
+Marcus had sent her for a purpose: she was to try and cheer, and, if
+possible, comfort, this poor girl, so, when Greta rang for tea, she
+simply stayed on, and towards the end of her visit she thought her
+young hostess looked a shade brighter.
+
+"You will come and see me," she said when she rose to take leave; but
+Miss Williams hesitated.
+
+"Will you forgive me if I do not return your call just now?  I simply
+dare not leave the house.  You understand, do you not, Mrs. Luttrell?
+but if you would be so very kind as to come again."
+
+"Most certainly I will come again; did you think that I should not?
+but, dear Miss Williams, you must not shut yourself up too closely, or
+your health will suffer."
+
+But Greta only smiled faintly at this.
+
+"I shall tell Dr. Luttrell that you have done me good," she said,
+pressing Olivia's hand; "how strange it seems--there is no cure for
+such a trouble as mine, and yet telling you about it has seemed to make
+it more bearable.  Oh, please come again soon--very soon," and of
+course Olivia readily promised this.
+
+It was rather a disappointment on her return to find Marcus had been in
+for tea and had gone out again.  Robert Barton, who was reading by the
+fire, said that he would not be back for an hour or two.
+
+"Have you had a pleasant afternoon, Mrs. Luttrell?" he asked, putting
+down his book, and trying to stifle a yawn; but, though Olivia replied
+in the affirmative, she did not vouchsafe any information about her
+visit.
+
+When Marcus returned two hours later, he found their guest had betaken
+himself to bed, and Olivia was able to give him a graphic account of
+her afternoon.
+
+"I am very much interested in Miss Williams," she observed presently;
+"fancy her turning out to be the very tall girl in brown at St.
+Matthew's."
+
+"Did your ears burn just now, Livy," observed Marcus, mischievously.
+"I am glad to find someone appreciates my wife properly; you seem to
+have got on like a house on fire; well, you will be doing good work
+there."
+
+"She said you were rather alarmed about her father that first night."
+
+"Did she?  I never said so," he returned, dryly; "in some cases it is
+best to reserve one's opinion; but of course at Mr. Williams's age it
+is a grave matter;" then he drew his chair closer to the fire.  "Life's
+an awful muddle, Livy, as that man said in _Hard Times_; fancy the
+loneliness of a young creature like that; why, she cannot be more than
+two- or three-and-twenty, and her lawful protector drinking himself to
+death."
+
+Olivia shuddered, her own young life had been anxious and hardworking;
+but compared with Greta Williams it had been strewn with roses.  Could
+any parents have been more honoured than hers had been?  And then had
+she not always had Aunt Madge's wise counsel and sympathy to aid her?
+and, lastly, had not the sunshine of a happy love glorified it?  But
+Miss Williams apparently had none of these things.
+
+"Not more than others I deserve, but God has given me more," she
+thought, with a swelling heart, as she made her thanksgiving that night.
+
+In spite of outside weather, there was plenty of life and movement in
+the corner house at Galvaston Terrace.  The next day Mr. Barton began
+his sketch of Dot, and he soon became so absorbed in it that he seemed
+to forget his weakness and lassitude.
+
+Olivia watched the progress of the picture with intense delight, and
+carried a favourable report of it on her next visit to Galvaston House.
+
+"It is a striking likeness of my little girl," she said.  "Even my
+husband, who is not easy to please in such matters, allows that.  He
+owned yesterday that Mr. Barton is certainly a good artist, and
+understands his business.  I like to watch him? he looks so happy when
+he is painting, as though he has forgotten all his troubles; he is
+staying with us a day or two longer on account of the picture, but he
+will certainly leave us on Thursday."
+
+Mr. Gaythorne did not answer; he seemed to be considering something; at
+last he said, rather abruptly:
+
+"Yes, Dr. Luttrell has been telling me what a clever fellow he seems,
+and I think I shall get him to do a little job for me.
+
+"That picture I bought at Stangrove's wants touching up; it has been
+injured; I knew that when I bought it; but it was so slight that it did
+not matter, and I meant to get it put to rights.  If I send it over
+to-morrow or the next day, do you think Mr. Barton will undertake the
+job? it will only take him an hour or two."
+
+"He will gladly do so, I am sure of that.  Is it the picture that my
+husband admired so much?"
+
+"Yes, the Prodigal Son; I bought it that day I sprained my ankle.  Very
+well, Mrs. Luttrell, it shall be sent to your house."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+FRESH COMPLICATIONS.
+
+"It is best to be cautious and avoid extremes."--_Plutarch_.
+
+
+Greta Williams's pathetic little speech, "Come soon, very soon,
+please," rather haunted Olivia, and she very speedily found an excuse
+for repeating her visit.  This time she was welcomed so warmly, and
+Miss Williams seemed so unfeignedly pleased to see her, that she felt
+she had done the right thing, and after that she went frequently to
+Brunswick Place.
+
+Circumstances certainly favoured the rapid growth of their intimacy.
+Greta, who had caught a severe cold, was obliged to remain closely
+confined to the house, and Dr. Luttrell, who was sincerely sorry for
+the lonely girl, encouraged his wife to go as often as possible.
+
+"She has not a soul belonging to her, at least in England," he said
+once, "though she has relations in New Zealand, uncles and aunts and
+cousins.  There is a colony of Williamses in Christ-church.  The worst
+of it is people seemed to have left off calling, her father made
+himself so disagreeable; it is hard lines for her, poor girl.  I
+believe Mrs. Tolman looks her up occasionally."  Then Olivia, at the
+mention of the vicar's wife, made a naughty little face.
+
+"Miss Williams rather dreads her visits," she replied.  "She calls her
+an east-windy sort of person, and I know what she means.  Mrs. Tolman
+is an excellent woman, but she rubs one up the wrong way.  I always
+feel bristly all over after one of her parochial visits, and I know
+Aunt Madge feels the same.  When the vicar is with her he seems to tone
+her down somehow, but the very swing of her gown as she enters the
+room, and the way she sits down, as though she were taking possession
+of one's chair, irritates my nerves," but though Marcus laughed he did
+not contradict this.
+
+The new friendship gave Olivia a great deal of pleasure.  Since her
+school-days she had never enjoyed the society of anyone of her own age.
+The hard-working young governess had had scant leisure for cementing
+intimacies.
+
+It had always been a wonder to her how Marcus had managed his courting,
+and she often told him so.  She had met him at the house of one of her
+pupils, and, it being a wet day, he had offered his umbrella, and
+walked back with her to her lodgings.
+
+She had a vague idea that he had detained her for such a long time
+talking on the doorstep that her mother had come down and invited him
+to wait until the rain was over, but Marcus always repudiated this, and
+declared that she had talked so fast that he found it impossible to get
+away; but after this he and her mother had seemed to play into each
+other's hands.
+
+Perhaps under other circumstances Olivia would hardly have found Miss
+Williams so attractive and interesting, for, though amiable and
+affectionate, she was by no means clever.  Her accomplishments
+consisted in a tolerable knowledge of French and Italian picked up
+abroad, but she had no decided tastes.  She read little, knew nothing
+of music, and her chief pleasure seemed the care of her flowers and her
+beautiful needlework, for some French nuns had taught her embroidery
+and lace-making.  Olivia, who was intellectual and well read, and who
+thought deeply on most subjects, had soon reached the limits of Greta's
+knowledge, but happily there is culture of the heart as well as of the
+head.
+
+Greta had plenty of sweet, womanly virtues.  She was patient by nature
+and capable of much long-suffering and endurance.  Her affections were
+warm and deep, but she had hitherto found no fitting scope for them.
+The sad grey eyes told their own story: her youthful bloom had been
+wasted amid sterile surroundings.  Greta Williams had one of those
+strong womanly characters that are meant to be the prop of weaker
+natures, that are veritable towers of strength in hours of adversity.
+It was for this that Olivia grew to love her when she knew her better.
+
+"She is so patient," she said once when she was discussing her with
+Mrs. Broderick.  "She has so much staying power, and then she never
+quite loses her faith in anyone, however hopeless they seem.  Even
+Marcus has said more than once that her pluck is wonderful, but of
+course it wears her out."
+
+"You must bring her to see me, Livy," returned Aunt Madge.  "We will
+have a little tea party, and Deb shall distinguish herself," but Greta
+only smiled faintly when Olivia repeated this.
+
+"Some day, perhaps," she said, quietly, and then her eyes had suddenly
+filled with tears.  "Oh, Mrs. Luttrell, we have had such a dreadful
+time.  Nurse only left him a minute, and he managed to get to the
+brandy.  It must have been Roberts's fault that the cellarette was
+unlocked, but ever since he has seemed quite mad; we were obliged to
+send for Dr. Luttrell."  And then at the thought of the grim shadows
+brooding over that unhappy home, Olivia's little plans seemed out of
+place.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne kept his promise, and before Robert Barton left them, the
+picture was sent to the corner house.
+
+Mr. Barton, who had just finished his sketch of Dot and the kitten, had
+that moment invited Olivia to look at it.
+
+"I may touch it up a bit more, but I suppose it will do now," he said,
+in a tone of complacency.
+
+"Do! it is beautiful--it is perfectly charming.  Oh, if we were only
+rich enough to buy it for ourselves, but," looking at him severely,
+"you know what my husband said this morning, Mr. Barton, that he would
+not allow me to accept it as a gift.  You are to take it round to that
+picture dealer's in Harbut Street, and see if they will not give you a
+fair price for it, and then you must set about something bigger for the
+Royal Academy."  And though Robert Barton shook his head in a
+melancholy dissenting fashion, he knew that Dr. Luttrell had been right.
+
+[Illustration: "It is beautiful--it is perfectly charming."]
+
+"I should have liked you to have it," he said, with a sigh, "but I
+suppose beggars ought not to be generous.  If I only get on, I will
+paint Dot again;" and then Martha had come in with the picture.
+
+"There is no light now.  I shall have to wait till to-morrow, but of
+course your old gentleman knows that."
+
+Robert Barton always spoke of him as the old gentleman, but when Olivia
+had first mentioned his name, he had seemed a little startled, and had
+questioned her about him.
+
+"He lives alone," he said presently; "it is rather an uncommon name.
+There were some Gaythornes in London--a firm of solicitors--perhaps it
+is one of those.  They make plenty of money sometimes."  And then the
+subject had dropped.
+
+Olivia, who had promised to spend an hour or two with Mr. Gaythorne
+that evening, looked at the clock, and then folded up her work; but as
+she put it away, a sudden quick exclamation from Robert Barton made her
+look at him.
+
+He was staring at the picture.  "Why, it is my own work," he said, with
+a flush of pleasure.  "The picture I painted at Beyrout, and that I
+sold for a mere song.  Of course the fellow cheated me, he was a mean
+sort of chap; but it is not so bad after all.  And what's
+this?--'Goddard.'  Well, of all the cads!  He has put his own name to
+it, but I swear I painted it.  Abdul and his son Hassan were my models.
+Oh, I see by your face that you like it, Mrs. Luttrell.  I don't think
+myself that I ever did anything better.  Isn't it Carlyle that says
+'Genius is the capacity for taking infinite pains.'  Well, I took lots
+of pains with that picture.  I meant to get it into the Royal Academy,
+but ill-luck obliged me to sell it."
+
+"You painted that picture of the Prodigal Son!" exclaimed Olivia,
+excitedly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I painted it all right.  It was a nasty trick of Goddard's
+putting his name to it.  Look, that was Abdul's wife, the one with the
+distaff; the other two were two women I saw sitting under a palm-tree
+one evening.  Well, your old gentleman has sent it to the right person
+to touch it up.  It shall be done to-morrow before I go."
+
+Olivia was so full of this wonderful piece of intelligence that she
+could hardly wait until Phoebe had closed the library door.  "Oh, Mr.
+Gaythorne," she exclaimed, "what do you think!  Your beautiful picture
+of the Prodigal Son is Mr. Barton's work.  Goddard is only the name of
+the man who bought it.  Yes," as Mr. Gaythorne looked very much
+astonished at this.  "You will not call him the gentlemanly tramp any
+longer, now that he is a real artist."
+
+"Look here, Mrs. Luttrell," he said, abruptly, "I don't believe all
+this.  You are being gulled.  Goddard painted that picture, not Barton;
+I hate imposition.  I daresay the fellow can paint in a pretty
+amateurish sort of way, and he will be able to do my job, but I am not
+going to swallow this without proof.  Tell him to bring the picture
+back himself, and you can come too if you like.  If he has been
+imposing on your credulity I shall very soon detect him."  But Olivia
+was indignant at this.
+
+"Of course he shall bring back the picture if you wish it," she said, a
+little stiffly.  "And I shall ask him to bring the sketch of Dot, too,
+and then you will see for yourself how well he paints, but he is no
+impostor, I am certain of that;" but as usual Mr. Gaythorne only held
+obstinately to his opinion.
+
+"My dear young lady," he said, irritably, "you have hardly enough
+experience to judge in a case like this.  If Mr. Barton really painted
+that picture, which I deny, for Goddard painted it, he is a worse scamp
+than I thought him.  What business had he to be starving on a doorstep
+or supping off dry bread and thin cocoa in a casual ward?  My dear, we
+old fellows know the world better than that.  Robert Barton is a black
+sheep, and not all your charity can wash him white."
+
+Mr. Gaythorne was evidently in one of his obstinate moods, and Olivia
+thought it prudent to say no more on this subject.  Robert Barton would
+be able to vindicate himself without difficulty.  When Mr. Gaythorne
+saw the sketch of Dot and the kitten he would be more lenient in his
+judgment of the young artist.
+
+During the remainder of her visit she chatted to him cheerfully about a
+book he had lent her; but just before she took her leave she
+unfortunately broached the subject of her new friend.  At the mention
+of her name Mr. Gaythorne started and changed color.
+
+"Greta Williams," he observed, with a sharp, almost displeased
+intonation in his voice.  "That is not a common name.  And she lives in
+Brunswick Place?"
+
+"Yes; they have been living there for some years, but before that they
+were in the country."  But to her surprise Mr. Gaythorne interrupted
+her impatiently.
+
+"Yes, yes, you said that before; go on with what you were telling me
+about her father.  He is a dipsomaniac, you say."  And then Olivia
+proceeded with her story.
+
+"Is it not sad for the poor girl?" she observed when she had finished,
+but Mr. Gaythorne made no reply.  He was sitting in a stooping attitude
+over the fire and seemed lost in thought.
+
+His first remark took Olivia by surprise.  "Have you ever mentioned my
+name to Miss Williams?" he asked, with one of his keen searching looks.
+"You are very frank, Mrs. Luttrell.  I daresay you have dropped a word
+or two about me."
+
+But Olivia shook her head.
+
+"I am quite sure that I have not done so.  I have only seen Miss
+Williams four or five times, and we have only talked about her own
+troubles and--oh yes, a little about Mr. Barton.  No, I am certain that
+your name has never been mentioned."
+
+"That is well," he returned, slowly.  "Perhaps you will be good enough
+for the future to leave me out of your conversations when you go to
+Brunswick Place.
+
+"The fact is, Mrs. Luttrell," he went on, slowly, "the Williamses were
+old neighbours of ours.  And Greta and my Olive were dear friends, but
+they left the neighbourhood long before we did.  I never liked Mr.
+Williams; he had a knack of quarrelling with all his friends, and we
+soon came to loggerheads.  He made himself obnoxious in many ways, and
+I declared I would never enter his house again.  I am sorry to hear we
+are such close neighbours."
+
+"What a pity!" observed Olivia, regretfully.  "And poor Miss Williams
+is so nice."
+
+"Oh, I have no fault to find with her," he returned, in a softer voice.
+"She was a good creature, and my Olive was very fond of her.  At one
+time she was always in our house, and she and Alwyn--let me see, what
+was I saying?" interrupting himself with a frown of vexation.  "No,
+there is no harm in the girl, and I shall always wish her well, for my
+little Olive's sake.  But it would be painful for us both to meet."  He
+stopped, sighed heavily, and then, shading his eyes, sat for some
+minutes without speaking.
+
+Olivia rose at last.  Her visit had not been a pleasant one; the
+subjects of conversation had been unlucky.  She was vexed with herself,
+and yet it was no fault of hers.  For once Mr. Gaythorne did not try to
+detain her, but there was no want of cordiality in his manner as he bid
+her good-bye.
+
+"I shall see you to-morrow," he said; "you had better come early, as
+the afternoons are so short," but before she had closed the door he
+seemed again lost in thought.
+
+That evening Robert Barton was in high spirits, and talked in a most
+sanguine manner of his future.  He would set about a picture for the
+Royal Academy at once.  He had his subject ready.  A group in the
+casual ward that had greatly impressed him.  He had sketched it roughly
+with an old, battered lead-pencil he had picked up.  He discussed it
+with animation all tea-time.
+
+"It is just the sort of thing to take the fancy of the public," he
+said.  "I shall take pains with it and work it up, patches and all.  It
+will be sure to sell."  And Marcus applauded this resolution.
+
+During the rest of the evening Robert Barton was excellent company.  He
+told stories--pathetic stories and comical ones, until Olivia put down
+her work to listen.  And Marcus's laugh had more than once brought
+Martha out of the kitchen.
+
+But towards the end of the evening, when Olivia brought him a cup of
+hot cocoa, his gaiety suddenly vanished, and he looked at her a little
+sadly.
+
+"To-morrow evening I shall be missing my kind nurse and hostess," he
+said, gently, "and shall be wishing myself back in this cosy parlour,"
+and then he added, abruptly, "Look here, Mrs. Luttrell, I am not much
+of a hand at making pretty speeches, but if ever I can do a good turn
+for you and the doctor I shall be proud and happy to do it."
+
+"He is very grateful, Marcus," observed Olivia, as she lingered a
+moment by her husband's side.  "There were tears in his eyes as he said
+that.  Poor fellow, I cannot help liking him.  There is something
+_debonnaire_ and boyish about him, in spite of all he has been through,
+and certainly he has been very amusing this evening, but," with a
+little caressing touch, "how nice it will be when we are alone again!"
+And Marcus smiled assent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+AN EVENTFUL DAY.
+
+"Forget not thy sins that thou mayest sorrow and repent."--_Petrarch_.
+
+
+When Olivia woke the next morning she was conscious of a curious
+feeling; an indefinable presentiment that she could not put into words.
+"How I wish the day were over," she said to herself; and the thought of
+her visit to Galvaston House, and Mr. Gaythorne's sharp, cynical
+speeches, quite oppressed her.
+
+"I hope he will be civil to Mr. Barton," she observed later on to her
+husband.  "Mr. Barton is very proud and touchy, and he will not submit
+to a course of cross-examination from a stranger.  I am quite dreading
+the afternoon."  But Marcus only laughed at her fears.
+
+"Barton can hold his own," was his reply.  "He is a bit peppery, but he
+is not such a fool as to quarrel with his bread and butter.  He knows
+Mr. Gaythorne is a connoisseur, and he will put up with a few sarcastic
+speeches in the hope of future profits.  Mr. Gaythorne could make him
+extremely useful; he hinted as much to me this morning.  There are some
+pictures he wants rehung, and one or two that need cleaning and
+varnishing.  Barton has only got to prove without doubt that he and not
+Goddard painted that picture, and then they will get on all right.  You
+must just hold your tongue, Livy, and leave them to fight it out."  And
+Olivia resolved to abide by this prudent advice.
+
+Robert Barton worked hard most of the morning, and then, as the sun
+shone brightly, he went out for a stroll before the early dinner.
+
+He came back looking so pale and tired that Olivia scolded him for
+taking too long a walk.
+
+"I have not been far," he returned, sitting down in rather a weary
+manner, "and it was so warm and pleasant in the sunshine that I thought
+it would do me good."  Then he gave a short laugh, and said, abruptly,
+"The fact is, something has bowled me over--I have seen a ghost."  Then
+Olivia, who was clearing the table for the early dinner, stared at him.
+
+"Oh, of course, I am only speaking figuratively," he went on.  "I
+suppose it was really flesh and blood that I saw; but no ghost could
+have been more startling.  I wonder"--speaking as though to
+himself--"if my sight deceived me; but it was certainly a singular
+likeness.  If I had only had the courage to stop and speak; but when I
+recollected myself the opportunity had gone--a passing omnibus hindered
+me--and then I was too late."
+
+"Did you think it was someone you knew?"
+
+"Yes," very curtly--"a friend of my happier days."  But he seemed
+disinclined to say more.  He was so silent and moody all dinner-time
+that Dr. Luttrell looked at him in surprise more than once.
+
+"I suppose you will go straight to your lodgings from Galvaston House,"
+he said, presently; "it will never do for you to be out late, Barton."
+And Robert Barton assented to this.
+
+"I shall just fetch my bag and one or two things; I do not suppose we
+shall be long."  And then he rose from the table and began putting up
+his brushes, and then took up a book, which he read upside down, until
+Olivia was ready to accompany him.
+
+As they crossed the road she said to him, gently:
+
+"I am sorry to see that you are a little out of spirits, and I am
+afraid this visit may be rather trying--an elderly invalid has all
+sorts of fads and cranks--but I hope you will be patient."  Then Robert
+Barton smiled pleasantly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I am quite prepared to be regarded as a fraud; but I shall
+soon prove that Goddard is the cheat in this case."  And then they rang
+the bell, and Phoebe, telling them that her master was still in the
+dining-room, ushered them into the library.
+
+"Please tell Mr. Gaythorne we are in no hurry," observed Olivia, vexed
+that they had come so early; but Robert Barton, with one quick glance
+round the beautiful room, busied himself with placing the pictures in
+the best possible light.
+
+"There," he said, stepping back with a complacent smile, "I think your
+old gentleman will own that the same artist painted those two pictures,
+when he sees them side by side."
+
+But as he spoke the sound of footsteps made him look towards the open
+door.  As he did so, Olivia saw him suddenly recoil and turn deadly
+white at the sight of Mr. Gaythorne standing rigid and motionless on
+the threshold.
+
+A stifled voice cried, "Alwyn!  Good Heavens! it is Alwyn!"--and the
+next moment the heavy crutch-handled stick fell from the old man's
+trembling hand with a sudden crash.
+
+At the sound, Robert Barton shivered and shrank back against the easel.
+
+Olivia picked it up, and tried to place it in Mr. Gaythorne's hand
+again, but he never noticed her.  His eyes were fixed with a look of
+agonised intensity on the white face of the young artist.
+
+"It is Alwyn," he said again, in the same suppressed voice, "and yet he
+does not speak or look at me!"  And at the anguish in his tone the
+young man raised his head.
+
+"Father, I was not prepared for this," he stammered; "what am I to say
+to you?"  And then, without advancing a step, he looked round him
+wildly.  "Father, what does this mean--am I dreaming--where are my
+mother and Olive?"  Then a low moan of intense pain broke from Mr.
+Gaythorne's lips.
+
+"He does not know.  Oh, this is too dreadful, Mrs. Luttrell!"  He
+looked at her almost appealingly, as though his strength were gone, and
+then she put her arm round him and guided him gently to a chair.
+
+"Sit quiet for a moment," she whispered; "you are not fit for this."
+And as she wiped the cold perspiration from his forehead, his ashen
+look terrified her.  "Dear Mr. Gaythorne, try to compose yourself.
+Shall I ring for Mrs. Crampton?--perhaps she would know what to do."
+But he shook his head vehemently.
+
+"No, no--only give me time.  Ah, look there!"--for the blind hound that
+had just come into the room was now whining and fawning upon Robert
+Barton in the most excited way.
+
+"Eros knows him.  Alwyn,"--trying to raise his voice, but it was
+strangely feeble--"come nearer to me.  When I told you you were never
+to see my face again, that you were no son of mine, I was labouring
+under a grievous mistake.  I know now who forged that cheque--I have
+known it for years.  No, with all your faults you never did that."  And
+as he said this Mr. Gaythorne put out a shaking hand to his son, but
+the young man did not take it.  There was a fierce, angry light in his
+blue eyes and a contemptuous smile on his lips.
+
+"I am glad you have done me this tardy justice, sir," he said, in a
+firmer tone, "and that I have heard from your own lips that I am no
+criminal.  When we parted, I remember you threatened me with penal
+servitude.  No, I have not disgraced your name to that extent.  I have
+starved, and nearly died of cold on a doorstep, but I have kept my
+hands clean."
+
+"Alwyn," exclaimed Mr. Gaythorne, piteously, "I was too hard, I will
+confess that.  All these years I have been longing to atone, and the
+sorrow and remorse have made me an old man before my time.  There was
+much to forgive--much that you made me bear.  Surely you cannot deny
+that."
+
+"No, sir, I will not deny that I was a sad scapegrace, but you never
+took the right way to keep me straight.  But for my mother and Olive, I
+should have run away long before.  Father"--and here there was a
+frightened look in his eyes--"where are they?  Why are you alone?"
+Then, as Mr. Gaythorne raised his hand with a solemn gesture, the young
+man laid his head down on the mantelpiece and his whole frame shook
+with convulsive sobs.
+
+"Dead!  Oh, no--impossible!  My own mother, who always believed in me,
+and my little Olive!" he gasped out more than once.
+
+"Mr. Alwyn," observed Olivia, putting her hand on his shoulder, but the
+tears were running down her face as she spoke, "your father cannot bear
+much more.  I am afraid he is ill."  But even as she spoke, Mr.
+Gaythorne, who had risen from his chair rather stiffly, suddenly fell
+on the rug at his son's feet.
+
+The next moment the pealing of the bell brought Mrs. Crampton and the
+frightened servants to the room.  They found Mrs. Luttrell and the
+stranger kneeling by the side of the prostrate form; but as the
+housekeeper caught sight of the young artist's face, she uttered a
+sudden cry.  "It is Mr. Alwyn," she said, "and the joy of seeing him
+has killed my master."  But Olivia hushed her.
+
+"Send for Dr. Luttrell," she said; "we must do nothing till he comes.
+Mr. Alwyn,"--for the unfortunate young man seemed on the verge of
+fainting,--"I do not think he is dead; it is some sort of attack.  We
+must do the best we can for him, without moving him, until my husband
+comes."  But to her intense relief Marcus entered a moment afterwards.
+
+One quick glance at the young artist's agitated face gave Dr. Luttrell
+a vague clue to the mystery, but he was soon too deeply engrossed with
+his patient to think of anything else.  Under his directions, a
+temporary bed was made in the library, and the invalid was undressed
+and laid on it.  Mrs. Crampton, who was a capable nurse, carried out
+the doctor's instructions, and Olivia made herself useful.
+
+After the first few minutes Alwyn had left the room, unable to endure
+the sight any longer.  An hour or two passed, then Dr. Luttrell rose
+from his seat beside his patient, and beckoned his wife from the room.
+
+"Livy," he said, as they stood together by the hall fire, "I feel a
+little more sanguine now there is partial consciousness, but everything
+depends on keeping him quiet.  I shall remain with him tonight and Mrs.
+Crampton will be with me.  I want you to tell me what brought on this
+attack.  From all your faces I can see something has happened.  Barton
+looked as if he would have a stroke, too?"
+
+"Oh, where is he, Marcus?  I have not seen him for more than an hour.
+Ah, you may well think that something has happened.  I never was
+present at such a scene.  Mr. Barton is his son Alwyn.  They recognised
+each other in a moment.  Poor Mr. Gaythorne accused himself of
+harshness and made a sort of apology, but Mr. Alwyn looked so angry and
+contemptuous, and would not shake hands.  And then he asked after his
+mother and sister--they are dead, you know.  And then, oh, he broke
+down and sobbed so dreadfully that it quite upset me.
+
+"I am sure the poor old man was trying to get to him when he suddenly
+fell down at his feet, and Mr. Alwyn screamed out, thinking he was
+dead."
+
+"Yes, I see, poor little Livy.  What a sad scene; but you behaved very
+well.  Now, as there is nothing more you can do, suppose you take
+Barton--I mean Gaythorne--back with you.  We can't let him go to the
+Models now, and it would not be safe to have him here.  Give him some
+food and talk to him.  Mrs. Crampton will look after my comforts.  I
+will run across later on and tell you how he is."  And then Olivia
+reluctantly obeyed him.  Marcus was right, and she would not venture to
+contradict his orders, but how she longed to stay and share his watch.
+
+"Good child," he said, kissing her.  "You are a splendid doctor's wife!
+No fuss and no arguing."  And this little bit of praise went far to
+console her.
+
+"Promise me that you will take care of yourself and I will do my best
+for Mr. Alwyn," she said, nestling up to him for a moment.  And then
+the door-bell rang, and Phoebe, with rather a scared face, went to the
+door.
+
+"Is Dr. Luttrell here?" asked a clear voice that they both recognised
+as Greta Williams's, and then she caught sight of them and stepped into
+the hall.
+
+"They told me you were here, so I ventured to come across," she said,
+in a low tone, as Marcus looked at her anxiously.  "Oh, there is
+nothing wrong, only nurse forgot to ask you something, and as it was a
+fine evening I said I would call."
+
+"I am coming round later on.  I am sorry you have had your walk for
+nothing," returned Marcus.  And then they went apart and talked
+together for a few minutes.  Then Marcus went back to his patient and
+Greta joined Olivia, who was sitting on the oaken settee by the blazing
+fire.  She was tired out with the strain of the last two hours, and
+felt in need of a little rest before she went in search of Alwyn.
+
+"Sit down, Greta,", she whispered.  "How strange you should have come
+to this house!  But then everything is strange to-day----"  But here
+she stopped confusedly, as she remembered Mr. Gaythorne's injunction.
+
+"Why is it strange?" asked Greta, innocently.  "There is someone
+seriously ill here, is there not?  But your servant did not tell me the
+name.  How pale and tired you look, Mrs. Luttrell!  I suppose it is
+some friend of yours who is ill?"  She glanced at Olivia questioningly,
+but she only nodded in answer.
+
+"Yes; it was a sudden attack--I think it must have been a stroke.  Oh,
+Greta, what is it?"--for Miss Williams had suddenly risen from her seat
+with a startled exclamation and was gazing with wide, frightened eyes
+and parted lips into the shadowy corner behind her.
+
+The next moment Robert Barton came forward into the firelight, with his
+pale face and fair, dishevelled hair.  He looked almost like a ghost of
+himself, but Greta, with a little cry, held out her hand to him.
+
+"Alwyn, it is you; but how you startled me!  Why did you stand there in
+that silent, ghostly fashion?"  But as he only looked at her in a dazed
+way, and made no answer, she turned to Olivia.
+
+"Mrs. Luttrell," she said, piteously, "what does it all mean?  Why does
+he not speak to me, and we are such old friends?  Is he ill?  He looks
+dreadful.  I should hardly have known him--and yet--and yet--it must be
+Alwyn."
+
+"Yes, I am Alwyn," returned the young man, in a hollow voice.  "But you
+must not touch me, Greta.  I am not worthy to take your hand.  I have
+killed my father!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+"THEY WERE BOTH TO BLAME."
+
+"It befits a son to be dutiful to his father."--_Plautus_.
+
+
+As Alwyn uttered these despairing words Greta shrank back in alarm, but
+Olivia, with a reassuring smile, put her hand gently on his arm.
+
+"Do not talk so wildly, Mr. Alwyn," she said, soothingly; "you are
+frightening poor Miss Williams.  How can you have killed your father
+when he is not dead?  My husband has only just left me.  He seems
+hopeful about him; he thinks consciousness is returning; but he must
+have perfect quiet.  Even our voices may disturb him--that is why I
+must beg you to come back with me at once."
+
+"You are not deceiving me, Mrs. Luttrell?" returned Alwyn,
+suspiciously.  "You are sure that he is not dead?"
+
+"Quite sure," she returned, quietly; and then again Greta put out her
+hand.
+
+"You will come with us, will you not, Alwyn?" she said, with sisterly
+tenderness; "there is so much that I have to hear and that you must
+tell me, and we must not talk here.  To think that we should have met
+like this, by accident--if there be such a thing as accident in this
+life of ours.  But no; it was Providence that brought me to this
+house."  And as Olivia followed them down the dark shrubbery she could
+hear her quiet tones still talking, as though to a younger brother.
+
+Olivia was too tired to do more than wonder vaguely as she listened;
+the sight of her own little parlour and Martha's sturdy figure
+arranging the tea-table gave her a pleasant revulsion of feeling.  When
+Martha whispered confidentially, as she brought in the lamp, "The
+seed-cake is nicely baked; hadn't I better bring it in, ma'am?" Olivia
+gave a little hysterical laugh.  After all that tragedy it was so odd
+to think of freshly baked cakes.
+
+"Yes, yes, and make the tea quickly," she said, waving off the little
+handmaiden impatiently; and Martha, somewhat affronted and vaguely
+alarmed, retreated to the kitchen.
+
+"What's come over the mistress?" she said to herself.  "I have never
+known her so huffy."  But Olivia, with difficulty recovering her
+calmness, busied herself in ministering to her guests.
+
+"Mr. Alwyn," she said, gently, "you must rest on that couch--you are
+just worn out; but a cup of tea will do you good.  Greta, you must stop
+and have some too.  Do you know this is the first time you have entered
+this house?  Dot is asleep.  I am going up to see her now.  Would you
+like to come too?"--for she guessed intuitively that the girl was
+longing to question her--and Greta, with a grateful look, followed her
+at once.
+
+Olivia kissed the sleeping child with her usual tenderness.  How she
+longed to lie down beside Dot and sleep off her overpowering weariness;
+but the day's work was not over.
+
+Greta, who had only just glanced at the little one, put her arms
+suddenly round Olivia and drew her down beside her.
+
+"Mrs. Luttrell," she said, breathlessly, "tell me what it all means.
+What has happened to Alwyn, and what makes him talk so strangely?  Do
+you know, for one moment, I believed him!  In the old time they often
+quarrelled--but of course it is paralysis."  And then Olivia told her
+all that had occurred that afternoon.
+
+Greta listened with painful attention; then her eyes filled with tears.
+
+"And he never knew that his mother and Olive were dead," she observed.
+"Oh, Mrs. Luttrell, how sad--how terribly sad it all is!  No wonder he
+looked bewildered, poor fellow; it must have been such an awful shock
+to hear that, and then to see his poor father fall at his feet."
+
+"Yes, and he had been ill too; think of all the hardships he has been
+through."  And Greta shivered as Olivia said this.
+
+"How little I thought," she said, "that when you were telling me about
+the poor young artist that Dr. Luttrell had found on the doorstep on
+Christmas night, that it was Alwyn Gaythorne, my old playmate and
+friend!"  Then she added, with a sigh, "What would his poor mother have
+said?  She and Olive almost worshipped that boy."
+
+"We ought not to leave him too long alone," observed Olivia, wearily.
+"I promised my husband that I would look after him.  We must coax him
+to take some food, and then he must go to bed; he is very weak still,
+and all this has exhausted him."  And as Greta evidently shared her
+anxiety, they went back to the parlour.
+
+They found Alwyn pacing the room restlessly.  He stopped and looked
+relieved as Greta entered.
+
+"I was afraid you had gone," he said, abruptly.  "Do you know you
+passed me in the street this morning?  You had that thing on"--touching
+her sealskin mantle--"but you were not looking at me.  I thought it was
+a ghost, and then I tried to follow you, but some vehicles got in my
+way, and then you disappeared."
+
+"I wish I had seen you," she said, softly.  And then Alwyn resumed his
+restless walk.
+
+It was with difficulty that Olivia could induce him to come to the
+table, and then he could not eat; his eyes looked feverishly bright,
+and his cough made Greta glance at him anxiously.
+
+When tea was over Olivia left the room for a little.  Alwyn had utterly
+refused to go to bed until he had seen Dr. Luttrell; he was evidently
+tormented by remorse for his hardness to his father, and Olivia thought
+that he might unburden himself more freely to his old friend; and she
+was right.  On her return she found them talking together, and the
+strained, hunted look had left Alwyn's eyes.
+
+Greta's were swollen with weeping, but there was a smile on her lips.
+
+"Alwyn has been telling me his troubles," she said, simply, "and I
+could not help crying over them, he has suffered so, and I felt so
+sorry for him.  If only we had not gone abroad!  But when we came back
+the Grange was empty, and no one knew what had become of Alwyn.  He had
+quarrelled with his father, and it was supposed he had enlisted and
+gone to India; and he had talked so often of doing this that I thought
+it was probably the truth.  Now I must go, but I shall come again
+to-morrow."  And then she smiled at him and rose from her seat.
+
+"He has talked it all out and it has done him good," she observed, as
+she and Olivia lingered a moment in the passage; "but if his father
+dies, Alwyn will never get over it.
+
+"Oh, he is much to blame," she went on; "he has been very wild, very
+imprudent, utterly mad and reckless; but his poor father was to blame,
+too.  A high-spirited lad like Alwyn would not be kept in
+leading-strings.  Mr. Gaythorne was far too strict with him--his own
+mother said so--and yet in his way he loved him.  How often poor Olive
+would cry about it to me.
+
+"Dear, dear Olive, how I loved her!  And I was very fond of Mrs.
+Gaythorne, too, she was so sweet and motherly; she always called us her
+big and her little daughter.  I was so much taller than Olive; but
+there"--interrupting herself--"if I begin talking about the old days at
+the Grange I shall never finish."
+
+"But you will come to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes; indeed, how could I keep away?  Do you know that for years Alwyn
+and I were just like brother and sister--I don't believe he cared much
+more for Olive than he did for me.  I think I understood him better
+than she did--his mother always said so.  Well, good-night, dear Mrs.
+Luttrell; I shall come to-morrow as early as I can."
+
+When Olivia went back to the parlour she found Alwyn lying back in his
+chair looking utterly spent and exhausted.
+
+"I believe I shall have to take your advice and go to bed," he said.
+"All this has taken the starch out of me, and I feel dead beat"--and he
+looked so ill that Olivia half thought of sending for her husband.
+Fortunately he came in half an hour later, and went up at once to
+Alwyn's room.
+
+He was some time with him, and then he came down and told Olivia that
+she had better fill a hot-water bottle and heat some flannel.
+
+"It is a sort of nervous attack," he explained, "and his teeth are
+chattering with cold, and he is shaking as though he were in an ague
+fit; but I am going to mix him a composing draught, and he will soon
+quiet down.  I have brought him a favourable report of Mr. Gaythorne,
+but he is too weak to be cheered by it.  This will have done him no end
+of harm.  We shall have him in bed for the next day or two."
+
+Olivia gave a tired sigh, but she would not add to Marcus's burdens by
+selfish complaints of her own fatigue.  She would have taken the
+eider-down off her own bed, but Marcus preferred borrowing a couple of
+blankets from Mrs. Crampton.  In a few minutes he returned again laden
+with warm things that the housekeeper had sent for her young master's
+use, and, soothed by the unaccustomed comfort and the powerful
+narcotic, Alwyn sank into an exhausted sleep.
+
+It was eleven o'clock before Olivia could lay her own head on her
+pillow.  As Dot nestled to her with a sleepy cry, the young mother
+breathed her nightly thanksgiving for her two blessings, and then knew
+no more until Martha came to pull up her blinds in the morning.
+
+When Marcus came across for his breakfast he seemed in excellent
+spirits.  He had had three or four hours' rest, and, in his opinion,
+the stroke was a slight one.  Mr. Gaythorne had regained consciousness,
+and, though the right arm and his speech were certainly affected, he
+believed that it was only temporary mischief.
+
+"Of course one knows at his age that it is the danger signal," he went
+on, "but I hope with care that his life may be prolonged for years.  I
+shall get Dr. Bevan to look at him, as I do not care for such undivided
+responsibility.  And perhaps it will be well to have a nurse for a week
+or two.  Mrs. Crampton is not as young as she was, and it is a pity to
+knock her up."
+
+As the day wore on there were still more cheering reports.  Mr.
+Gaythorne had said a few words almost distinctly--at least, Dr.
+Luttrell had understood him.
+
+"Where is Alwyn?"  He was quite sure those were his words; but he had
+seemed quite satisfied when Marcus told him he was with his wife, and
+had not spoken again.
+
+Olivia had hoped for a talk with Aunt Madge, for it was quite three
+days since she had been round to Mayfield Villas; but she found it
+impossible to leave the house.  Alwyn needed a great deal of attention;
+he was very low and depressed.
+
+Marcus had given orders that he was to have frequent nourishment, and
+as Mrs. Crampton had sent Phoebe across with a store of good
+things--soup and jelly and grapes--there were no demands on Olivia's
+simple larder.  A ready-cooked pheasant would be sent for his dinner,
+and anything else that he could fancy.
+
+"Mrs. Crampton says that she knows her master would approve, so I
+suppose we need not be too scrupulous," observed Marcus; but at that
+moment the surgery bell rang.
+
+Dr. Luttrell's services were required at number seventeen, and with an
+expressive look at his wife Marcus took up his hat and hastened out.
+
+Olivia had expected Greta quite early, but she did not make her
+appearance until late in the afternoon.  She had been detained, she
+said--nurse had asked her to take her place for a couple of hours.  And
+then she looked anxiously at Olivia.
+
+"I am afraid Alwyn is ill," she observed; but Olivia assured her that
+it was only a temporary break-down.  "We have such good news of Mr.
+Gaythorne that he cannot fail to be cheered, but of course he is
+fretting about the loss of his mother and sister.  It was such a shock,
+you see, and, as my husband says, we must give him time to pull himself
+together.  But you do not look very well yourself, Greta; you are
+terribly pale."
+
+"Oh, that is nothing," she returned.  "I suppose I was too much
+excited, for I could not sleep for hours.  I seemed to be living
+through my old life again.  They were such happy days, Mrs. Luttrell;
+one's existence was not meagre and colourless then."
+
+"I wish you would tell me a little about it all," observed Olivia as
+she ensconced Greta in the most comfortable chair.  "You cannot imagine
+how it interests me."  And then Miss Williams smiled.
+
+"Oh, you are so sympathetic--that is your great charm; but indeed I
+love to dwell on that part of my life.  You know the Gaythornes lived
+at Medlicott Grange.  It was a quaint, picturesque, old house, covered
+with ivy, and with a lovely garden.  There was a lime-walk that was
+delicious on hot summer afternoons; I can smell the limes now.
+
+"Mr. Gaythorne, who had been abroad a great many years, had taken a
+fancy to the place and half thought of buying it, but he changed his
+mind later.
+
+"We lived at the Lodge, a much smaller house, looking over the village
+green; it was rather an inconvenient house, full of small rooms all
+opening out of each other, and long, rambling passages; but dear mother
+and I were very fond of it.  We liked the three-cornered little
+drawing-room with its bay-window, where we could sit and work and watch
+the old men in their grey smocks having a palaver under the big elm in
+the centre of the green.
+
+"Mrs. Luttrell"--interrupting herself--"do you know Ivy Dene Lodge is
+to let now?  I saw the advertisement in the _Standard_.  Now, I should
+love to live there again.  If anything happened to poor father I know I
+should go back there; it is the only place I ever called home.  Don't
+you love a village green, with geese waddling over it and a big pond
+where little bare-legged urchins are always sailing their boats, and
+then the church and the lich-gate and the vicarage smothered in
+creepers?"
+
+"Why, Greta, what a charming description!  You quite make me long to
+see it."
+
+"But it is not as charming as it really is; even strangers allow that
+Medlicott is a pretty village.  It is true that Ivy Dene has not much
+of a garden--just a little patch of lawn and a mulberry tree and a
+flower-bed or two; but as I spent most of my time in the Grange garden
+that did not matter.
+
+"Dear mother was always so unselfish.  She would never let me stay at
+home with her.  She thought it good for me to be with young people of
+my own age, and so Olive and Alwyn and I were always together.  Olive
+was my friend, but I always looked upon Alwyn as a dear younger
+brother.  He is not really much younger--only a few months--but I was
+always a little older than my age."
+
+"He must have been very handsome," observed Olivia, and Greta coloured
+slightly.
+
+"Yes; all the Gaythornes were handsome.  Mr. Gaythorne himself was a
+fine, stately-looking man, only a little foreign and unusual in his
+dress.  I was always a little afraid of him, and I never approved of
+the way he treated Alwyn.  He had been over-indulged and petted in his
+boyhood, but later on his father thwarted him unnecessarily.  He was
+always calling him to account for some foolish imprudence.  And though
+his mother and Olive shielded him as much as possible, there were often
+sad scenes at the Grange.  Mr. Gaythorne had set his heart on Alwyn's
+reading for the Bar.  He thought he had sufficient money and influence
+to warrant the hope that his only son might eventually enter
+Parliament, but Alwyn had already secretly determined to be an artist.
+He detested his law studies and could not be induced to work, and
+spoilt all his father's plans.
+
+"As I told you last night," finished Greta, "they were both to blame.
+But at the time I could not help taking Alwyn's part.  He was not good
+to his father, and often lost his temper and said disrespectful things.
+But Mr. Gaythorne had no right to be so tyrannical.
+
+"When my mother died father would not hear of our living at Ivy Dene.
+He said he hated the place, and we went to America for a year or two,
+and there I heard of Olive's death.  Olive had told me in her letters
+of Alwyn's disappearance.
+
+"'There has been an awful scene,' she wrote, 'poor dear mother has been
+so ill.  Father thinks that Alwyn has done something very wrong, but of
+course neither mother nor I believe it for a moment, though it cannot
+be denied that appearances are terribly against him.  Forgive me,
+dearest Greta, if I do not enlarge on this painful subject.  We do not
+know what has become of Alwyn; but we think he has enlisted.'
+
+"This was the last letter I received from Olive.  Before many months
+had passed she died at Rome, and her mother did not long survive her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+BUSY DAYS.
+
+"Rely upon it, the spiritual life is not knowing or learning, but
+doing.  We only know so far as we can do; we learn to do by doing; and
+we learn to know by doing; what we do truly, rightly, in the way of
+duty, that and only that we are."--_Rev. Frederick Robertson_.
+
+
+When Alwyn heard that Greta was downstairs, he brightened perceptibly.
+"She is a dear creature," he said; "except in looks she has not changed
+a bit.  She used to be rather a pretty girl,--interesting-looking, that
+was the word for Greta; but she is very graceful still.  Will you give
+my love to her, Mrs. Luttrell?  I shall hope to see her to-morrow or
+the next day," and then he turned wearily on his pillow, as though
+talking were too great an effort.
+
+The following afternoon Greta came earlier; but, as she was unable to
+stay long, Olivia found an opportunity of going round to Mayfield
+Villas.
+
+It was just in the gloaming,--Aunt Madge's rest hour, as she called
+it,--and there was unmistakable gladness in her voice, when Olivia's
+tall figure appeared on the threshold.  "Welcome, welcome, little
+stranger," she said, merrily; "do you know, Livy, that you have played
+truant for four whole days.  I was just thinking of sending Deb round
+this evening to know if anything were the matter.  Oh, I see," as her
+bright, penetrating glance read her niece's face.  "You have something
+wonderful to tell me.  Draw up your chair and I will be as quiet as a
+mouse.  I am a splendid listener, as my dear Fergus used to say."
+
+"Something wonderful," repeated Olivia, breathlessly.  "Why, Aunt
+Madge, I feel as though I were in the third volume of a sensational
+novel.  What do you think?  Robert Barton, whom Marcus found starving
+on a doorstep, is Mr. Gaythorne's long-lost son, Alwyn."
+
+It was evident that Mrs. Broderick was intensely surprised, for she
+quite flushed up with excitement.
+
+"Go on.  Tell me everything from the beginning.  I will not interrupt,"
+she said, quickly, and Olivia, nothing loath, gave a graphic account of
+the afternoon at Galvaston House.
+
+"Is it not grand, Aunt Madge?" she finished, but Mrs. Broderick's voice
+was not so steady as usual as she answered,--
+
+"So the blessing has come to him, and he will have his heart's desire;
+but there is a heavy load laid on him, too, poor, stricken man.  Oh,
+Livy, we must just pray for him until he is able to pray for himself."
+
+"His brain is really much clearer to-day," returned Olivia; "he spoke
+quite sensibly to Marcus, only his speech is a little affected.  He
+asked why his son had left the house, and then Marcus told him that he
+was weak and needed rest, and that I was taking care of him.
+
+"'Crampton will see that he has all he requires,' he said, and Mrs.
+Crampton came over of her own accord last night.  Do you know, Aunt
+Madge, I felt so ashamed of her seeing him in that bare little room,
+and I tried to explain to her that it was only a sort of disused lumber
+room, but she soon made plenty of suggestions for his comfort.  She has
+sent a pair of thick curtains for the window, and a big rug that nearly
+covers the floor, and a softer mattress and another pillow.  And now
+the room looks so cosy.  Marcus quite stared when he went up this
+morning.  It was quite touching to see Mr. Alwyn with her.  He actually
+kissed her and called her his dear old 'Goody.'  I find she has lived
+with them ever since they were quite children.  I think she was Olive's
+nurse.  And the fuss she made over him, calling him her 'poor, ill-used
+lamb.'  It almost made me cry to hear her."
+
+"Poor fellow, he has certainly had his fill of husks."
+
+"Yes, indeed; but Mrs. Crampton is determined to kill the fatted calf
+now.  The things she sends over would feed half a dozen prodigal
+sons,--game and soups, and jellies and fruit.  She says her master has
+given her _carte blanche_, and that the doctor has laid a great stress
+on nourishment, so of course we can say nothing."
+
+"Well, Livy, your life is not exactly stagnant just now."
+
+"No, indeed; but, oh, there is one thing I forgot to tell you.  Marcus
+has another patient,--that is number five.  Actually the surgery bell
+rang twice yesterday."
+
+Mrs. Broderick clapped her hands.  Then she said, in a teasing voice,
+"Are you not glad that you kept Martha?" and Olivia laughed.
+
+"Why, Aunt Madge," she said in an amused tone, "Marcus actually
+proposed this morning that we should get an older and more capable
+servant, but I told him I would rather work twice as hard than part
+with Martha; she is such a  good, willing little soul."
+
+"Of course, as long as Mr. Alwyn keeps his room we shall have plenty of
+running about, and Dot is cutting some more teeth, and is rather
+fretful, so our hands are full; but the only thing that troubles me is
+that I see so little of Marcus.  He is out most of the evening, either
+at Galvaston House or in Brunswick Place.  Alas, things are no better
+there, and if this influenza epidemic comes on, as the doctors predict,
+he will have a busy spring."
+
+"No doubt, but as we have only to live one day at a time, we will not
+trouble our heads about that.  Well, you have given me food enough for
+some days.  I shall send Deb round to-morrow evening to inquire after
+the invalids, but you must not come again until you are more at
+leisure.  Teething troubles and the care of a sick man are enough for
+any woman."
+
+"Dear Aunt Madge!" exclaimed Olivia, affectionately.  "If I could only
+be as unselfish as you.  I do believe you never think of yourself at
+all."
+
+"Nonsense," returned Mrs. Broderick, "I am an old bundle of
+selfishness.  Well, I shall be thinking of those two poor things.  My
+heart aches for that young man, but I pity his father, too.  I was
+reading about the deaf man with an impediment in his speech this
+morning; it is the lesson for to-day, you know, and I could not help
+pondering for some time on those words, 'Jesus took him apart from the
+multitude.'  Just as though quiet and stillness were needed for the
+healing.  I think that is the lesson that sickness teaches us; the poor
+sufferer is led apart to wait for the word of healing; sometimes he
+waits long, but the time has not been lost.  'Lord, it is good for us
+to be here;' I think some of us will say that when our painful
+sojourning at the Mount of Suffering is over.  Yes, it is good for us
+to have drunk of His cup without complaining."
+
+Aunt Madge's eyes had a dreamy look in them; the beautiful voice
+vibrated in Olive's ear like music; but as she stooped to kiss her,
+somewhat awed by her unusual solemnity, the old kind smile returned to
+her lips.
+
+"Good-bye, Livy darling, my love, and congratulations to Marcus."
+
+Olivia was putting a good face on things, but Marcus, oppressed with
+the heavy responsibility of three serious cases, hardly knew how hard
+she worked from morning to night.  Dot, feverish and fretful, was
+always wanting to be in her mother's arms.  Martha, with all her
+willingness, was too young and inexperienced to be a very efficient
+help; so, although Olivia always wore a bright expression when Marcus
+came in for his meals, and chatted to him in her old cheerful way, she
+was often too weary to sleep.
+
+It was a relief, therefore, when Alwyn was able to leave his room and
+lie on the couch downstairs.  Greta's afternoon visits were then a real
+boon; she could leave them together while she went out and did her
+business.
+
+Olivia's healthy, robust constitution always needed fresh air and
+regular exercise.  Confinement to the house tried her, and the small
+rooms and low ceilings at No. 1, Galvaston Terrace, were certainly
+rather cramping.  Half an hour's brisk walk always refreshed her and
+acted like a tonic.  She would look in at Mayfield Villas for ten
+minutes and give her report of the invalids, and then come back to tea
+looking so fresh and invigorated that Alwyn once told her that she was
+as good as a whiff of moorland air.
+
+Alwyn was slow in recovering from that terrible shock.  His nerves had
+suffered severely, and at times his restlessness and depression were
+sad to see.
+
+"If he could only be reconciled to his father," Greta would sigh; "but
+the thought of another interview seems to terrify him.  He is so
+painfully morbid," she went on, "and distrusts himself.  He is afraid
+of saying and doing the wrong thing; somehow he seems to have lost all
+faith in his father's love."
+
+"'I long for his forgiveness.  I know that I have been a bad son,' he
+said, yesterday.  'But he will never believe in my penitence.'  Oh, it
+is dreadful the way he talks and works himself up."
+
+"Marcus says it is a good deal owing to nervous exhaustion," returned
+Olivia; "but he is very sorry for him.  Mr. Gaythorne has begged more
+than once to see him; he is evidently craving for a sight of him, but
+Marcus dare not bring them together yet.  Mr. Gaythorne is only just
+able to sit up, and he is very weak.  And then while Mr. Alwyn is in
+this nervous state he is hardly to be trusted."
+
+"Yes, we must be patient, I suppose.  I have perfect faith in Dr.
+Luttrell's opinion," and then her manner changed, and she said,
+mournfully, "Do you know how badly he thinks of father?  He is afraid
+he will never leave his bed again."
+
+"Yes, I know; and Dr. Bevan agrees with him.  Poor Greta, I am so sorry
+for you," and she laid her hand affectionately on her shoulder.
+
+"Yes, but I dare not murmur," returned the girl, in a low voice.  "It
+would be more merciful to let him die than linger on in suffering,
+and"--with a little burst of feeling--"the disease that is killing him
+has not been brought on by his own fault.  Oh, the gratitude I felt
+when Dr. Luttrell said that it has been latent in the system, and that
+only lately Dr. Bevan suspected it.  But, oh, dear Mrs. Luttrell, do
+not wish him to live.  No one who cared for him could wish it."
+
+"Poor child.  Yes, I know; Marcus explained things to me."
+
+"He is quite himself," went on Greta, drying her eyes.  "And so dear
+and affectionate, but it hurt me so to hear him asking my pardon for
+the life he had led me.  'I have not deserved such a good daughter,' he
+said over and over again.  'Since your poor mother died you have been
+my one blessing.'"
+
+"Dear Greta, you will let these words comfort you?"
+
+"Oh, yes; I was repeating them in my dreams all night.  When he was
+talking to me I felt that I had got the old father back.  What do you
+think, Mrs. Luttrell? he actually asked me if I should go on living at
+Brunswick Place when he was gone, and then it came into my head to tell
+him about Ivydene, and he was so interested.  I am sure he was pleased
+when I told him that I should like to go back there.  He actually
+wanted me to write to the lawyer about it.  But when he saw how shocked
+I was at the idea, he said perhaps we had better wait a little."
+
+Olivia thought over this conversation when Greta left her; her heart
+ached for the lonely girl.  When Marcus came in a few minutes later, he
+seemed struck with her unusual gravity.
+
+"Is there anything wrong, Livy?" he asked.  "You seem in the doldrums."
+And as she smiled and shook her head, he continued cheerfully, "I am
+glad to hear it.  Do you know I have actually a free evening until ten?
+I feel as though I was a schoolboy again, and had an unexpected
+holiday.  In my opinion, only busy people know how to enjoy a holiday
+properly."
+
+"And I am really to have you to myself for three whole hours," and
+Olivia's face beamed with delight.  As Marcus drew his chair to the
+fire and took up the long-neglected book, Greta's troubles went into
+the background.
+
+"Oh don't read just now," she said, imploringly; "let us talk a little
+first, Marcus, is it very naughty of me?  but once or twice during the
+last few days, when you have been too busy to stay with me, or to play
+with Dot, I have thought that even prosperity will have its
+limitations; that being a successful doctor means that I shall see far
+too little of you."
+
+Then Marcus drew back his head with one of his boyish laughs.
+
+"Oh, Livy, what a child you are! have you just found out that?  How
+delightfully illogical a woman can be!  It stands to reason that I
+cannot be in two places at once."
+
+"Oh, of course your patients will want you, and I am not really
+grumbling.  Do you suppose that I shall not be proud of your success?
+I was only trying to tell you that, in spite of all our difficulties
+and little petty troubles, I have been perfectly happy."
+
+"Especially on Saturday evenings, when you totted up your little red
+book, and the balance was always on the wrong side.  I have seen you
+pull an uncommonly long face on those occasions.  I am not quite sure
+about the perfect happiness then."  Then, as Olivia looked
+reproachfully at him, his teasing manner changed.
+
+"Dear Olive," he said, tenderly, "I am not really laughing at you.  I
+understand quite well what you mean.  I am not such an old married man
+that I cannot appreciate a compliment like that, when my wife tells me
+with her own lips that my society can sweeten even poverty and hardship.
+
+"You are quite right, love; prosperity will have its limitations; these
+pleasant evening hours will often have to be sacrificed.  But in all
+professions we must take the rough with the smooth.  We must just put
+our shoulder to the wheel, you and I, and 'Doe the nexte thinge,' eh,
+Livy?"
+
+"Oh, yes," she answered, eagerly, "and yours is such a grand work.  I
+have always been so thankful you are a doctor.  When I was quite young
+I used to tell mother that I wanted to marry a clergyman.  But I think
+a doctor comes next.  Oh, Marcus, did you ever read Whittier's verses
+on this subject?  Greta brought me his poems and read them to me.  I
+think I know the last two verses by heart,--
+
+  "'Beside the unveiled mysteries
+    Of life and death go stand
+  With guarded lips and reverent eyes
+    And pure of heart and hand.
+  The good physician liveth yet
+    Thy friend and guide to be,
+  The Healer by Gennesaret
+    Shall walk thy rounds with thee.'"
+
+
+And as Olivia repeated the lines in a voice tremulous with deep
+feeling, Dr. Luttrell's firm lips unbent with a moved expression.
+
+"That is beautiful," he said.  "I think those words ought to be
+illuminated and hung up in every doctor's waiting-room."
+
+    "'The Healer by Gennesaret
+  Shall walk thy rounds with thee.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+PRODIGAL SONS.
+
+  "But by all thy nature's weakness,
+  Hidden faults and follies known,
+  Be thou in rebuking evil,
+  Conscious of thy own."--_Whittier_.
+
+
+It was some few weeks before Mr. Gaythorne was allowed to see any one,
+and then Olivia was his first visitor.  To her great surprise he had
+asked for her.
+
+"I think I can trust you," Marcus said to her; but there was a trace of
+anxiety in his manner that did not escape her.  "You must talk to him,
+of course; but you must be very careful not to agitate him; he wants
+all his strength for to-morrow;" for on the following day father and
+son were to meet again.
+
+Olivia felt a little nervous.  Marcus's professional gravity frightened
+her.
+
+"Do you not think it would be better for me to wait a day or two," she
+asked.  "It is very nice of him to want to see me, but it seems to me
+that Mr. Alwyn ought to be his first visitor;" but although Marcus
+agreed with her, he said that Mr. Gaythorne had expressed such a strong
+wish to see her first, that he dared not refuse him.
+
+"He was never fond of contradiction," he returned.  "And we should only
+excite him if we opposed his wish.  Although he is quite himself,
+little things irritate him; don't make yourself nervous beforehand; you
+will say the right thing when the time comes for saying it;" and,
+though Olivia could not be sure of this, she felt that it was sensible
+advice.
+
+But when the moment came and she saw how shrunken and aged the invalid
+looked, and heard the slight hesitation in his speech as he held out
+his hands to her with a pathetic smile, Olivia's warm womanly nature
+was not at fault, for she bent over him and kissed his cheek as a
+daughter might have done.
+
+"Dear Mr. Gaythorne," she said, earnestly, "if you knew how thankful we
+all are that you are better."
+
+"Thank you, thank you," he said, with a faint flush of pleasure.  "You
+speak kindly and as though you meant it.  Sit down, my dear, we must
+have a little talk together, you and I.  If I ever get my boy back, if
+the breach between us is ever healed, it will be owing to you and Dr.
+Luttrell."
+
+"Oh, please do not say that, we were only the means under Providence."
+
+"Yes, yes," with a touch of impatience--"I am not forgetting that.  In
+some ways I am a civilised heathen; but I have never omitted my
+prayers, thank God.  'He loveth best who prayeth best.'  Who said that,
+Mrs. Luttrell?  Perhaps I never prayed enough, or my boy would not have
+wandered so far.  Ah, well, do you remember how hard I was on you for
+sheltering tramps, and now I can only say, God bless you for your
+divine charity."
+
+Olivia's eyes glistened, but she only pressed his hand in
+acknowledgment of this.  "And to-morrow you are to see him," she said,
+softly.
+
+"Yes, to-morrow," he repeated slowly, "that is why I must not talk much
+to-day; but I wanted to thank you for bringing Alwyn, and to tell you
+how grateful I am to you both.
+
+"I am an old man," he continued, "old in sorrows more than in years;
+for, with Jacob, I can truly say that 'few and evil have been my
+years.'  Oh, Mrs. Luttrell, my dear, take warning by me; you have a
+little one of your own, and perhap in future years you may have sons
+growing up beside you, never for one instant let anything come between
+you and them."
+
+He paused for a moment and then went on: "When Alwyn was a little
+child, I simply worshipped him; his own mother begged me with tears in
+her eyes not to set my heart so much on him.  He was delicate, and I
+knew what she meant, that she feared whether we should rear him; and I
+remember, as she said this, that I struck my hand passionately against
+his little cot, 'if that boy dies I shall never hold up my head again;'
+how well I remember that speech.  Oh, my dear, the time came when I
+wished that I had no son, when the sharpness of the serpent's tooth
+entered my very vitals.  God grant that you and Dr. Luttrell may never
+have to blush for a son's misdoings."
+
+"Dear friend, remember you are not to agitate yourself."
+
+"No, no, I will take care; but I think it does me good to talk a
+little; the steam must have vent, you know, and I have kept silence for
+so many years.  All these weeks they have kept my boy from me; but they
+were right," his voice trembling with weakness.  "I could not have
+borne it, neither could Alwyn.  Ah, how changed and ill he looked."
+
+"Dear Mr. Gaythorne," returned Olivia, beseechingly, "indeed I must go
+away now, unless you will consent to rest and let me read to you a
+little."
+
+"Well, well, do as you like," he replied, closing his eyes, "you all
+tyrannise over the sick man, but perhaps I am a bit tired," and then
+Olivia found a book and soon had the satisfaction of seeing him sink
+into a peaceful sleep.  What a grand face it looked with its fine
+chiselled features and grey peaked beard lying against the dark red
+cushions.  Alwyn would never be such a handsome man as his father,
+Olivia thought.  There was power and intellect on the broad forehead,
+the thin lips and obstinate chin were hidden under the drooping grey
+moustache.
+
+Olivia sat by him for some time, and then softly left the room.  When
+Marcus had paid his evening visit he was able to assure her that her
+little visit had done his patient no harm.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne had stipulated that he should see his son alone, but Dr.
+Luttrell, who was keenly alive to the danger of any strong excitement,
+had decided to remain in the house during the interview.
+
+Alwyn seemed so unnerved and miserable that it was impossible to do
+more than give him a word of warning.
+
+"Say as little as possible, Gaythorne," he had observed as they walked
+across together; "if you take my advice, you will just let bygones be
+bygones.  Don't be more emotional than you can help; remember how ill
+he has been, very little excites him."
+
+And though Alwyn only nodded in answer to this, Marcus was sure that he
+understood him; but as he stood by the hall fire caressing Eros he
+could not help feeling very anxious.
+
+"They are neither of them to be trusted," he thought, and he determined
+that if the talk were too prolonged he would make some excuse to go in
+and interrupt them; then he raised his head uneasily and listened as
+the sound of a man's stifled sobs reached his ear.
+
+It was what he had feared, that Alwyn, weak and unstrung, would break
+down utterly, and the next moment Dr. Luttrell had opened the door of
+the library.
+
+Neither of them perceived him as he stood for a moment, watching them
+with keen professional eyes.  Alwyn was kneeling with his face hidden
+on his father's knees, and Mr. Gaythorne's clasped hands were resting
+on his head.  "My boy, we must both say it," he whispered.  "Forgive us
+our trespasses as we forgive them"--but Marcus heard no more, he closed
+the door again softly--the scene was too sacred--not even to his dearer
+self--his wife--did he ever speak of what he had seen.
+
+The Prodigal had eaten his fill of husks and had returned to his
+father's roof and his father's love.  But in this case the father had
+also sinned, for surely undue severity and exacting hardness and
+failure of sympathy are sins to be bitterly repented.  No one can
+gather grapes of thorns, or glean corn from a harvest of tares.  And no
+parent who has first unwisely indulged his son, and then ruled him with
+a rod of iron, can well claim the glad obedience of a free son.
+
+If Alwyn Gaythorne, trammelled and embittered by his father's tyranny,
+had dashed recklessly down the path that leads to destruction, his
+father had first driven him to the verge of frenzy.
+
+Young limbs will not always adjust themselves to the Procrustean bed.
+Alwyn, who had inherited his father's strong will, refused to bear the
+yoke of his despotism.
+
+"I would rather starve, and have room to breathe," he had once said to
+Greta.  "There is no room here."
+
+Another half-hour passed before Dr. Luttrell ventured into the room
+again.  He found Mr. Gaythorne leaning back in his chair looking very
+white and exhausted, but with a peaceful expression on his face.  Alwyn
+had just left his side and was standing by the window with a miniature
+in his hand.
+
+"Dr. Luttrell," observed the old man feebly, as he gave him some
+restorative, "my son will stay with me to-night."  And then Alwyn
+flushed as he met the doctor's eyes.
+
+"He wishes it very much, and perhaps it will be better," he said in a
+low voice.  "Will you explain how it is to Mrs. Luttrell?  I will see
+her tomorrow."
+
+"Very well, but there must be no more talking to-night.  If you will go
+into the next room I will see you presently," and Alwyn nodded.
+
+"It is all right, happiness never kills," observed Mr. Gaythorne, "and
+for the matter of that, grief, either.  We must just bide our time."
+Then with a flash of strong feeling in the deeply-set eyes, he held out
+his hand to the young doctor.
+
+"God bless you, Luttrell.  He says you have been like a brother to him.
+And as for your wife, he has no words for her goodness.  May Heaven
+repay you both for what you have done for me and my boy."
+
+When Marcus returned home he found Greta sitting with his wife; they
+both looked at him anxiously.
+
+"Mr. Gaythorne will not part with his son," he informed them.  "Mrs.
+Crampton is getting a room ready for him, so your labours will be
+lightened, Livy.  She looks tired, does she not, Miss Williams? though
+she will not confess it.  Well, it has all passed off well.  Mr.
+Gaythorne is very much exhausted, but nurse is getting him to bed, and
+I have told Alwyn to rest.  I left Mrs. Crampton fussing round him, so
+he will be all right," and then Olivia smiled as though she were
+satisfied.
+
+But more than once that evening she observed to Marcus how quiet the
+house seemed without their guest.
+
+"Do you know I quite miss him," she said.  "I suppose one always get
+attached to any one for whom one takes trouble.  He was the sort of
+person who was always wanting something; you could never forget him for
+a moment.  I wonder what Martha will say when I tell her he is gone
+away for good.  He gave her plenty to do, but I expect she will be
+sorry to lose him."
+
+And Olivia was right.  Martha burst out crying in quite a lamentable
+manner.
+
+"Oh, ma'am," she sobbed, "and he was such a kind young gentleman.  I am
+sorry, that I am, that he won't live with us no more.  And he painted
+Miss Baby and the kitten so beautiful too; and he thought such a deal
+of you and master."  But though Olivia smiled at Martha's lugubrious
+speeches, she could not help being rather sorry herself.
+
+Alwyn was not a perfect character by any means, but somehow he had such
+nice ways with him,--little caressing ways that go to a woman's heart.
+His nature was affectionate and emotional, and all his troubles had not
+hardened him.  Even Marcus had observed more than once lately that "he
+could not help liking the fellow."
+
+"He was not cut out for a black sheep," he said once, "and the
+character does not suit him.  He has the makings of a good man, only he
+has let himself drift so terribly.  Well, he has pulled himself up in
+time.  He could not have roughed it much longer."
+
+When Olivia returned from her next visit to Galvaston House she went
+straight to Marcus.
+
+"I just felt I must come and tell you all about it," she said in her
+enthusiastic manner.  "I have had such a happy afternoon.  Mr. Alwyn
+was reading to his father when I went in, and they both looked so
+comfortable and contented.  They made me stay and pour out their coffee
+for them.  At first Mr. Alwyn wanted to leave us; he declared that two
+was company and three none, and that he was only in the way; but of
+course I would not hear of that, and I was so glad to see him too."
+
+[Illustration: "They both looked so comfortable and contented."]
+
+"He is his father's right hand already, and does all sorts of things
+for him.  It is so lovely to see them together.  When he went out of
+the room for a moment, Mr. Gaythorne told me that he could scarcely
+realise sometimes that it was Alwyn."
+
+"He has just Olive's ways," had been Mr. Gaythorne's words.  "I could
+almost fancy it was my little Olive near me.  If he were only stronger
+I should not have a wish ungratified, but I cannot help troubling about
+his cough.  Dr. Luttrell thinks a sea voyage would do him good, but I
+do not know how I am to bring myself to part with him.
+
+"Oh, by-the-bye, did Alwyn tell you that Greta Williams is coming to
+see us?  She was my Olive's friend, so of course she will be welcome,"
+and then, in rather a meaning voice, "I rather think she is Alwyn's
+friend too."
+
+Olivia made no answer to this remark, but more than once lately she had
+noticed that Greta and Alwyn seemed very much engrossed with each
+other, and she was almost sure that Marcus had noticed it too.
+
+"Surely Greta would never consent to marry him," she thought.  "With
+her sad experience she would never venture to link her life with a man
+whom she could not wholly respect."
+
+Greta's nature was a noble one.  She had lofty aims and a high sense of
+duty.  In spite of her gentleness she had plenty of firmness and
+backbone.
+
+It was one thing to be sorry for her old friend and playmate, and to
+show him a sister's tenderness, but quite another to give herself to
+him, and more than once Olivia had felt uneasy, but delicacy had led
+her to keep her thoughts to herself.
+
+"I do hope she would not carry self-sacrifice to such a length as
+that," said the young wife to herself.  "Alwyn may be lovable, but he
+would never satisfy a girl like Greta.  A woman ought to be able to
+look up to her husband, as I look up to my dear Marcus, and not be
+always trying to drag him up to her level.
+
+"I do want Greta to be married.  When her father dies she will be so
+utterly alone, but I cannot reconcile myself to her marrying Alwyn
+Gaythorne.  For one thing, his health is so unsatisfactory that his
+wife would never be easy about him.  Eyen Marcus owned the other day
+that he feared he would never be fit for much.  But there is no use in
+trying to manage other people's lives.  As Aunt Madge says, it takes
+all our strength and cleverness to manage our own.  'A meddler is
+always a muddler;' how well I remember her saying that.  We did not
+make the world, and we cannot rule the world.  When I see grown-up folk
+trying to arrange for other people, I always think of children playing
+at snap-dragon.  One gets one's fingers burnt so badly when we try to
+pull out our neighbour's plum.  No, no; bearing other people's burdens
+never meant that."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+AUNT MADGE GIVES HER OPINION.
+
+"Death is a black camel that kneels at the gate of
+all."--_Abd-el-Kader_.
+
+
+After all, the dreaded influenza epidemic did not make its appearance,
+and, though people still talked learnedly of germs and microbes, and
+put meddling fingers into the medical pie, it was decided by the
+legitimate authorities that the mischief had blown over for the present.
+
+It is a curious fact that there is a fashion even in talk.  A subject
+is discussed until it is worn thread-bare.  When the germ theory was
+exhausted the bicycle craze took its place.  Perhaps future students of
+hieroglyphics may yet discover in some palimpsest that in old days the
+Egyptian maidens had quaint iron machines that carried them swiftly
+through the desert.
+
+In the early March days, when the winds were keen and blusterous, Mr.
+Williams died; his end was very sudden.
+
+Greta had just retired to her room for the night when the nurse noticed
+a change in him and hastily summoned her.  A messenger was sent for Dr.
+Luttrell, but before he could reach the house Mr. Williams was dead.
+
+He could have done nothing if he had been there.  That was the sole
+comfort Marcus could give to the stricken daughter, and she knew that
+he spoke the truth.
+
+The bow of the king of terrors is never drawn at a venture.  The arrow
+goes deep and true, but to Greta and Olivia he was only the angel of
+sorrow, who did his master's bidding.  Alwyn in after years worked out
+this idea in a noble picture called the "House of Mourning."
+
+The little one, evidently the sole child and heir of a goodly heritage,
+lay panting out his feeble life on the pillow.  The broken-hearted
+parents bent over him hand in hand.  The filmy look of unshed tears in
+the mother's eyes was wonderfully rendered.  On the threshold stood a
+kingly presence, in dark trailing robes of majesty and a starry crown
+on his head.  The face, solemn and beautiful, wore an expression of
+infinite pity; the arms were stretched out to the child with a gesture
+of tenderness.
+
+Underneath was written those striking words: "Is it well with the
+child?" and the answer, "It is well."  It was that picture that made
+Alwyn Gaythorne's name.
+
+Olivia hurried round to Brunswick Place as soon as her husband broke
+the news to her, and spent the greater part of each day there for the
+next week or two.
+
+It was touching to see how the poor girl clung to her friends; she
+would do nothing without their advice.
+
+Dr. Luttrell saved her as much as possible.  He and Alwyn did the
+necessary business, and Olivia brought her work and Dot, and strove in
+every way to cheer and console her.
+
+It was a very quiet funeral.  Only Marcus and his wife and Alwyn and
+the lawyer were present.  When they went back to the house the will was
+read.  The provisions were perfectly simple.  Everything, with the
+exception of a few minor legacies, was left to Greta,--the house in
+Brunswick Place and an income of nearly three thousand a year.
+
+Olivia opened her eyes a little widely when she heard this.  She had no
+idea that Greta would be such a rich woman.  But Greta herself seemed
+utterly indifferent.
+
+"How am I to live on here alone?" she said, with an outburst of grief,
+when she found herself left with Olivia.  "Dear Mrs. Luttrell, you must
+both help me.  All my friends must help me to some decision, but to
+live alone in this house just because it belongs to me; oh, I cannot do
+it," with a sudden shiver of repulsion.  "I would sooner go into a
+hospital and learn nursing."  But when Olivia repeated this speech to
+Marcus he only smiled.
+
+"An attractive young woman with three thousand a year will soon
+discover some object of interest," he said, a little dryly.  "But it
+would hardly do to hint at this just now.  Nursing in a hospital is a
+fine work, no doubt, for anyone who has a vocation, but you may as well
+tell Miss Williams not to ask my advice.  She has not the physical
+strength; besides, in her position, the idea is absurd.
+
+"Why take the bread out of other women's mouths?  No, no; just counsel
+her to patience, and in a few months we shall see which way the wind
+blows," for, though no word had yet passed between them, Marcus was
+quite aware of Alwyn Gaythorne's _penchant_ for his old playfellow,
+though the idea was hardly more pleasing to him than it was to Olivia.
+
+"There is not enough of him," he said to himself.  "He does not come up
+to her mark.  It is not her money, for Mr. Gaythorne is a rich man and
+his son will have plenty, but she stands on a higher plane than his,
+and, in my humble opinion, Miss Williams could do better for herself."
+
+Strange to say, Mrs. Broderick differed from them.  She had already
+made Greta's acquaintance, and they had mutually taken to each other.
+Greta had been charmed with Mrs. Broderick's cheerfulness and quaint
+speeches, and Aunt Madge, in her turn, had declared herself fascinated
+by Greta's gentleness.  "She is exactly my idea of a young English
+gentlewoman," she had said after her first visit.  "I thought the
+article had gone out of fashion.  Oh," as Olivia looked shocked at
+this, "I grant you there are hundreds and thousands of good, honest
+girls, I'm thankful to say, but they are so terribly outspoken and up
+to date.  Of course, I am only an old-fashioned frump and sadly behind
+the times, but though slang may not be sinful and a little outward
+roughness is only the husk, and there is plenty of sweet, sound kernel
+inside, yet I must own, Livy, I like gentleness as well."
+
+Alwyn and Aunt Madge were already firm friends.  She shared his
+artistic tastes and could talk intelligently to him on the subjects he
+liked best, and from the first she refused to see any defects in him.
+
+"My dear Livy," she once said when Olivia had made a somewhat
+disparaging remark about his want of steadiness, "you are far too
+critical.  You judge men by Marcus's standard, but you must remember
+every one is not a moral son of Anak.
+
+"Now Mr. Alwyn is a great favourite of mine, and I think highly of him.
+Few young men would be so good-natured as to come two or three times a
+week to chat with an elderly invalid.  And yet that is what Mr. Alwyn
+does, and he knows I enjoy his visits.
+
+"Yesterday when he came in he found Miss Williams sitting with me, and
+they both looked as pleased as though they had not met for years.  And
+it made me feel quite young to look at them.  Oh!" in an exasperated
+tone, as Olivia shook her head, "I know what that means,--that you and
+Marcus forbid the banns,--but you might just as well try to stop an
+express train with a penny whistle, so you may as well save your breath.
+
+"Those two mean to take each other for better or worse.  They don't
+know it themselves yet, but it is written already in the book of fate."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Madge, how can you say such things?  You have not seen Greta
+more than three or four times."
+
+"All the same, the oracle has spoken," with a wise nod of her head.
+"My dear, Greta Williams was born into this world to be someone's
+crutch.  A strong, healthy-minded man could not utilise her best
+qualities.  She would be simply wasted on him.  She has got to mother
+her husband, you see, and that is what Mr. Alwyn wants his wife to do.
+Leave them alone, they will soon find out their need of each other.
+And then they will settle matters.  And for pity's sake, Olive, don't
+you try and put a spoke in their wheel."  But Olivia, who was a little
+huffy on the subject, refused to say another word.
+
+"It was no business of hers or anyone's," she said, pointedly, "whom
+Alwyn Gaythorne chose to marry, but in her opinion it was always a pity
+to couple names together beforehand," and with this virtuous snub she
+rose to take her leave, but Mrs. Broderick only indulged in one of her
+hearty laughs.
+
+"Livy, I do declare you are actually cross with me,--well, there, I
+will not say another word; don't look as though I have been talking
+treason.  I quite allow your Greta is too good for any ordinary faulty
+man, and that even my young friend is not worthy of her," and at this
+admission Olivia's brow cleared.
+
+"Thank you for saying that, Aunt Madge.  I know we do not really
+differ, only--only," with a little laugh, "you are always so ready for
+a love-story."
+
+"Yes, I love a lover," returned Mrs. Broderick, playfully, and then her
+manner changed.  "No, I will not jest about it; life and death and love
+are no subjects for jests,--they are three splendid realities.  Yes, my
+dear Olive, you are right, and love-stories, even the poorest, interest
+me.  Haven't I lived mine?  Do I not know how it glorifies life?  but
+we can only read the first chapters here,--there is eternity for us
+presently.  'The many mansions,' I think I love those words more than
+any in the Bible; they always make me think that even there there will
+be a special home for Fergus and me and our boy."
+
+Olivia certainly found it difficult to satisfy the various claims on
+her; her household tasks occupied most of the morning; as long as
+Martha remained their sole domestic, it was necessary for the mistress
+to superintend the cooking.  To look after Marcus's comfort was her
+first and paramount duty, and it was seldom that she found herself at
+leisure until the afternoon, and then she and Greta were generally
+together, either at Brunswick Place or Galvaston Terrace.
+
+Sometimes she would combine her duties by taking Greta with her when
+she went to Mayfield Villas, but she never ventured to take her to
+Galvaston House after her first visit, as she found that Mr. Gaythorne
+preferred her to come alone.
+
+"Miss Williams is all very well," he said once, "and we are always
+pleased to see her, but I like my pleasures singly; besides, Alwyn
+always monopolizes her.  Invalids are allowed to be exacting, so I may
+tell you plainly that I like to have you to myself," and after that
+Olivia went alone.
+
+It was always a pleasure to her to go there, she had such a warm
+welcome from the father and son, and it did her heart good to see the
+light of happiness in the old man's eyes, he seemed hardly able to bear
+his son out of his sight.  Alwyn's health, his comforts and his tastes
+were his chief topics of conversation.  One day he made Alwyn take her
+upstairs and show her the new studio that had been planned; two rooms
+were to be thrown into one, and a fresh window put in.
+
+Directly the work was commenced he and Alwyn were going to Bournemouth
+for a few weeks.  The sea-voyage had been postponed for the present.
+Mr. Gaythorne fretted himself at the idea of parting so soon with his
+boy, and he hated the thought of his going alone.
+
+"If there were someone to look after him," he would say to Dr.
+Luttrell; "but I feel as though I could never trust him to take care of
+himself again; look at him, he is a perfect wreck."  And though Marcus
+still held to his opinion that a long voyage would be his best remedy,
+he thought it more prudent to wait a little, and on his side Alwyn
+seemed reluctant to go.
+
+"I have been too much my ain lane already," he said; "I should prefer
+to stay at home a little longer," and then Bournemouth was selected as
+a compromise.  Mrs. Crampton would go with them, and, at Mr.
+Gaythorne's request, Marcus went down first and chose their rooms.
+
+"Why not go from Saturday to Monday, and take your wife down?  I will
+frank your expenses," he said, "and the little trip will do you both
+good."  And though Marcus hesitated over this, as Martha was too young
+to be trusted with the care of Dot, Greta came to the rescue by
+undertaking to look after the child.
+
+Olivia could scarcely believe her ears when this magnificent project
+was unfolded to her.  Two whole days with Marcus by the sea!  And they
+had neither of them had an outing since their modest wedding-trip,--a
+week at St. Leonards.
+
+"It will be another honeymoon," she said, flushing with pleasure.  And
+as they sat together in the hotel garden that Saturday evening, she
+thought of the humble lodging to which Marcus had taken her, and what
+fun they had got out of their first attempt at housekeeping.
+
+The little change did them both good, but, though neither of them would
+have owned it for the world, No. 1, Galvaston Terrace, certainly looked
+a little dreary on their return.
+
+The bright spring weather only made the dinginess more apparent, but
+nothing would induce the landlord to treat them to a fresh coat of
+paint.  Marcus whitewashed one or two of the rooms in the intervals of
+his work, and Olivia put up clean curtains and purchased a plant or
+two.  As far as scrupulous cleanliness could avail, the little house
+was in first-rate order.  Nevertheless Marcus gave vent to an impatient
+sigh now and then as he looked round the small, low room.  The side
+windows had been blocked up in the days of the window-tax, and the one
+small window lighted the room imperfectly.
+
+"If we could only move," he said once.  "I want you and Dot to have
+more light and air.  We are too near the cemetery, too.  We should do
+much better in Compton Street or Norfolk Terrace."  And then, as Olivia
+looked at him in surprise, he said a little impatiently:
+
+"Oh, I know it is not to be done yet.  We shall have to want a little
+longer.  I believe it was that insufferable woman, Mrs. Tolman, put it
+into my head.  She actually told me that we ought to move, as no good
+class of patients would ever come to Galvaston Terrace.  It was just
+like her impudence--eh, Livy?"
+
+"Oh, Marcus, I am so sorry," and Olivia put down her work and looked at
+him sympathetically.  "I thought something had annoyed you the moment
+you came in.  It is too bad of Mrs. Tolman always to tread upon
+people's corns in this fashion.  She might wait until one asks her
+advice."
+
+"Oh, but it is true, all the same," he returned, with a tinge of
+despondency in his voice.
+
+"A good house in a good neighbourhood would make all the difference to
+the practice.  A house in Brunswick Place, for example."
+
+But Olivia only laughed.  "Someone besides myself can build
+air-castles," she said, archly.  "You might as well go on, Marcus.  Why
+not be Dr. Bevan's partner, too?"  Then Marcus started, and an odd
+little smile played round his mouth.  The very same thought had already
+occurred to him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+DAME FORTUNE SMILES.
+
+"Of pleasures, those which occur most rarely give the greatest
+pleasure."--_Epictetus_.
+
+
+Dr. Luttrell's fit of pessimism did not last long.  The very next day
+he had a sharp twinge of remorse, when he went round to Galvaston House
+to take leave of his patient, and Mr. Gaythorne put a slip of folded
+paper in his hand.
+
+"I am an old man," he said,--and his thin fingers held the young
+doctor's hand in a firm grasp,--"and I am using an old man's privilege.
+I know what a hard, up-hill fight life is at present to you, and I
+should like to ease the burden a little," and to Marcus's intense and
+overwhelming surprise he found it was a cheque for five hundred pounds.
+
+Marcus never could remember what he said, but his first attempt to
+stammer a few words of gratitude for this unexpected and magnificent
+gift was promptly checked.
+
+"It is all very well," observed Alwyn rather gloomily when Olivia told
+him of his father's munificence.  She had shed tears of joy when Marcus
+had shown her the cheque.
+
+"My father has settled up accounts with Dr. Luttrell after his own
+fashion, but he has not paid my debts."  And then in a deeply moved
+voice, "There are some debts that cannot be paid.  'I was a stranger
+and ye took me in.'  How many doors do you suppose, Mrs. Luttrell,
+would have opened to a starving outcast that Christmas night?" and then
+his blue eyes flashed with an expression of intense feeling that became
+him well.
+
+"I shall never be able to repay either of you.  I shall never try," he
+went on.  "Do you know, as I lay on that doorstep too weak and stiff to
+move, and the doctor bent over me, it seemed to me, in my dazed
+condition, as though it were the face of a beneficent angel.  God bless
+you both, for you have made a man of me."  And then he lifted the kind,
+womanly hand to his lips.
+
+Olivia missed her friends at Galvaston House, sorely, but she had more
+time to devote to Greta.
+
+One day they had a pleasant outing together.  Greta, who still hankered
+after her old home, had proposed that she and Olivia should go down to
+Medhurst together.
+
+"It is only an hour's journey," she observed, "And there is a dear old
+inn where we could have tea.  And just now it will be at its best.  The
+horse-chestnuts will be out in the Grange garden, and the pink and
+white may at Ivy Dene."  And Olivia consented readily.  But though she
+thoroughly enjoyed the little expedition, and fell in love with
+Medhurst and the old church, the longed-for visit was only productive
+of disappointment to Greta.
+
+Ivy Dene, in Olivia's eyes, was not a desirable abode.  The rooms were
+low and cramped, and had a mouldy, disused smell in them.  Even the
+little three-cornered drawing-room with the bay-window overlooking the
+village green and the elm-tree did not please her.  The solitary old
+man in a smock-frock, with a red handkerchief knotted loosely round his
+lean old throat, might be a picturesque object in the distance, but on
+wet days she fancied even the green might be a dreary outlook.  As they
+sat over their tea in the little inn parlour she gave her opinion in
+her usual downright fashion.
+
+"Dear Greta," she said, "I do not advise your taking this step.  Ivy
+Dene Lodge would want a good deal of money spent on it to make it
+decently habitable.  And even if it were painted and papered from
+garret to basement it would never be a really comfortable house.  All
+those small rooms opening into each other are so inconvenient.  And
+then it is damp.  I am sure Marcus would say so; and then I am certain
+you would be moped to death.  There are no young people at the Grange.
+Only that stout, middle-aged couple we met in the pony-carriage, and
+the vicar is old and a widower.  I do think it would be terribly dull
+for you."  And Greta owned rather regretfully that her friend was right.
+
+Her poor little air-castles had crumbled into nothingness.  Her
+longings for the sweet country air and rustic quiet were doomed to be
+frustrated.  In her heart she felt that Olivia was wise.  A solitary
+life at Ivy Dene would hardly content her.  And after all was she so
+ready to leave Brompton?  She had found friends there--real
+friends--the Luttrells and Mrs. Broderick and the Gaythornes, and
+though she still felt terribly lonely in her big house, perhaps it
+would be better for her to wait a little.
+
+"I suppose I should feel rather like a ghost if I tried to settle
+here," she said, presently.  "I do not think so badly of poor little
+Ivy Dene as you do.  It would be quite large enough for me, but somehow
+Medhurst itself seems changed."
+
+After tea they walked to the Grange, and asked leave to go into the
+garden, and Greta showed her friend the lime walk, and the orchard and
+the big elm-tree where they had swung their hammock.
+
+"I think it looks just as lovely as it did in the old days," she said
+as they paced down the smooth velvety lawn.  And even Olivia allowed
+that the Grange had not disappointed her.  It was a fine,
+picturesque-looking house, and as they passed to the front, she had a
+glimpse of a handsome hall panelled in oak.  "If you could only live at
+the Grange," she said, and Greta smiled.
+
+Mrs. Broderick told her niece that she was growing very gay and
+worldly.  Actually Marcus had taken her and Greta to the Royal Academy
+one afternoon, and they had sat in the Park afterwards.  And Olivia in
+her new spring dress and hat had looked the embodiment of youth and
+freshness, and another afternoon they had gone to St. James's Hall to
+hear Sarasate.
+
+"Livy has had more work than play.  I mean her to enjoy herself a
+little," he said when Aunt Madge accused him playfully of spoiling his
+wife, but Olivia refused to endorse this.
+
+"No one could be happier," she told herself day after day.  Marcus's
+practice was certainly improving, and he was getting very intimate,
+too, with Dr. Bevan, and it was already settled between them that he
+should look after Dr. Bevan's patients while he was away in August.
+
+Dr. Bevan had an extensive practice and was not young, and Dr. Luttrell
+suspected that he would soon take a partner.  He had complained more
+than once lately that he was sadly overworked, but Marcus never could
+be sure if these hints were intentionally dropped.  To be Dr. Bevan's
+partner would be the acme of his ambition, but in that case a good
+house would be absolutely necessary.
+
+Olivia had only been joking when she had made the observation.  She had
+no idea that Marcus even entertained such an idea for a moment, but
+Marcus, who had his foot on the first rung of the ladder, was eager to
+climb.  All his spare time was spent in study.  He still went to the
+Models, to gain experience he would say, but in reality because the
+people loved to have him, and because it gratified his organ of
+benevolence.
+
+As the summer wore on the weather became exceedingly hot and
+oppressive, and Greta, who had taken a small house at Eastbourne for
+July and August, insisted on carrying off Olivia and Dot for the first
+month.
+
+"It would be doing me the greatest kindness," she said almost tearfully
+as she gave the invitation, "for how could I enjoy anything alone?  Dr.
+Luttrell has promised to run down from Saturday to Monday, and perhaps
+we could even induce him to stay longer, and it would do Dot so much
+good."  And it was this last consideration that had the greatest weight
+with Olivia.
+
+"But oh, Marcus! how am I to leave you?" she began in rather a dismal
+voice.  But Marcus soon proved to her that he was only too willing to
+part with her.
+
+"My good child," he said, "the idea of your hesitating for a moment.
+Miss Williams is behaving like a brick, and she had planned it all
+beforehand, too.  Do you suppose she would have taken a house, if she
+had not meant you and Dot to go too?"
+
+"But, Marcus," she pleaded, "I do not really need the change; you only
+said yourself the other day that I had never looked so well."
+
+"Yes, and Eastbourne will enable you to keep well," he returned,
+cheerfully.  "Think of a month of sea breezes; does not your maternal
+heart swell at the idea of Dot in a big sun-bonnet, stumping over the
+beach with her spade and bucket?  Why, you and Miss Williams will be as
+happy as the day is long."
+
+"Oh, no; not without you, Marcus," returned Olivia, tenderly.  "Do you
+think any enjoyment would be perfect without my husband?"  But as
+Marcus quietly reasoned with her, she yielded at last with a good grace.
+
+"I could not well refuse, Aunt Madge, could I?" she said to her usual
+confidante, "when Greta wanted me so; and then it will do baby so much
+good.  Marcus declares that Martha will manage all right, and that he
+will not be dull; and he has promised to spend a whole week with us if
+he can.  And really, it is so very, very kind of Greta, and she is so
+happy about our coming."
+
+"You are a wise woman, Livy," replied Aunt Madge.  "And I am proud of
+you, and so is Marcus, for we both of us know you are making a brave
+effort.  Deb shall give Martha a helping hand, now and then, when I can
+spare her.  And Marcus has promised to have a cup of tea and chat with
+me sometimes on his way home from the Models.  By-the-bye, when do Mr.
+Gaythorne and Mr. Alwyn return?"  But Olivia could not answer this
+question.
+
+Galvaston House would not be ready for them until the end of July.  She
+knew that in his last letter to Marcus, Alwyn had spoken of their going
+on to Scarborough.  He had given a good account of his father, he was
+less feeble and walked better; but Bournemouth was too relaxing, and
+they both felt the need of more bracing air.
+
+"I shall keep him away until September, unless he turns restless," he
+had finished, and Marcus had strongly commended this.
+
+Greta sometimes heard from Alwyn.  He wrote to her from time to time,
+and she would read his letters to Olivia.
+
+The house that she had taken at Eastbourne was charmingly situated.
+From the windows they had a view of the sea, and Beachy Head in the
+distance.  Marcus took them down and settled them in, and after the
+first few days Olivia got over her homesickness and thoroughly enjoyed
+her life.
+
+In the mornings they were always on the beach with Dot, either reading
+or working, or watching the happy groups of children.
+
+In the afternoons and evenings they either drove or walked over the
+downs.  Greta, who was resolved to spare no expense, had hired a pretty
+little victoria for the month.
+
+When Marcus came down for his promised week, he spent most of his time
+boating, and one or two days they went out in a sailing-boat and
+carried their luncheon with them.  Both Greta and Olive proved
+themselves good sailors.
+
+Greta had entreated her friend to prolong her visit, but Olivia would
+not hear of this.
+
+"Martha had been left long enough," she said, decidedly, and she could
+not remain away from Marcus any longer.  And Marcus was too glad to get
+his bright companion back to say a dissenting word.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Madge, I have had such a splendid time," were Olivia's first
+words when she went round to Mayfield Villas on the morning after her
+return.  "Greta has been such a dear, she has thoroughly spoilt me; but
+the loveliest time of all was the week Marcus spent with us."
+
+"You look the very essence of a sunbeam, Livy," returned Mrs.
+Broderick, with an admiring look; "but what a nut-brown mayde you have
+become.  Well, was Marcus pleased to get his wife and child back?"  And
+then Olivia smiled happily, for only she knew how she had been missed.
+
+Dr. Bevan left town early in August and Dr. Luttrell took up his
+position as _locum tenens_, and in spite of the emptiness of London
+found plenty of work.
+
+Sometimes, as Olivia walked in the direction of Brunswick Place with
+Dot toddling beside her, the victoria with its bay horses would pass
+her.  How Olivia would dimple with amusement as Marcus gravely lifted
+his hat to her.
+
+Ever after a victoria with bay horses figured in Olivia's _chateaux
+d'espagne_.
+
+Greta complained bitterly of her dullness when her friends had left.
+"Eastbourne has lost its charms," she wrote, "and the crowds of people
+on the Parade only make me feel more lonely.  If it were not for fear
+of Dr. Luttrell, I should come back to Brunswick Place at once, but I
+dare not run the gauntlet of his sarcasms.
+
+"My one amusement is making smocks for Dot.  I have finished the pale
+blue one and it looks lovely, and now I have begun a cream-coloured
+one; in spite of your stuck-up pride, Olive, you cannot prevent me from
+working for my darling Dot."
+
+This reproachful sentence was the outcome of a hot argument.
+
+Greta had tried in her affectionate way to lavish gifts upon her
+friend, but Olivia had steadily refused to allow this.
+
+"No, Greta," she had said, "you do far too much for me already.  I have
+been treated like a princess for a whole month, but I will not have
+presents heaped on me.  Even poor people have their feelings, you know,
+and rich people must respect them."  But this dignified speech made no
+impression on Greta.
+
+"You may call it proper pride," she said, contemptuously, "but I call
+it selfishness, for you are just depriving me of my greatest pleasure.
+Well, if you choose to be stiff and obstinate you must have your way,
+but you cannot hinder me from finishing those smocks."  And Olivia, who
+was full of admiration for Greta's exquisite smocking, announced
+graciously that the smocks were to be the exception.
+
+"I was obliged to put my foot down, Marcus," she said afterwards, "or
+she would have bought everything I admired.  Perhaps I am proud, but no
+one but my husband or Aunt Madge shall buy my frocks."  And as Olivia
+said this she held up her head, and looked so dignified and handsome
+that Marcus refrained from teasing her.  Evidently such pride was no
+fault in his eyes, and it was certain that he very much enjoyed
+choosing his wife's gowns.
+
+Greta was the first to return.  The Gaythornes stayed away until the
+middle of September.
+
+When Alwyn paid his first visit, Olivia was rejoiced to see the
+improvement in him.  He had gained weight and flesh, and looked very
+handsome; but Marcus was less satisfied with Mr. Gaythorne.
+
+"He is an old man before his time," he observed.  "I am afraid he will
+never throw off his invalid habits now.  He can just potter about in
+the sunshine and amuse himself with his flowers and museum, but he will
+never be capable of work again.  The least effort to concentrate his
+thoughts for more than a few minutes seems to irritate his brain.
+Nothing pleases him better than to creep up to the grand new studio and
+watch Alwyn at his work.
+
+"'I shall be proud of him yet,' he said that to me yesterday, and if
+you had seen his face, Livy, when he said it!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+"SOMEBODY'S CRUTCH."
+
+  "Of all the paths that lead to a woman's love
+  Pity's the straightest."--_Beaumont and Fletcher_.
+
+
+One afternoon in October Olivia sat at her work in the front parlour.
+She was expecting Greta to join her, and more than once she had looked
+at the clock on the mantelpiece as though wondering at her lateness.
+
+The folding-doors were open; the young couple had taken advantage of
+their improved circumstances to add to their scanty stock of furniture.
+The dining-table and mahogany chairs bought second-hand in Dr.
+Luttrell's bachelor days and the small, ugly chiffonier had been moved
+into the smaller and duller back room, and the front parlour had been
+transformed into a dainty sitting-room.  Greta's skilful fingers and
+good taste had been placed at her friend's service.  To gratify
+Marcus's love of comfort two really handsome saddle-back chairs were
+beside the fireplace, and a little round table occupied the centre of
+the room.  A second-hand writing-table with drawers had been picked up
+in the city as a great bargain and appropriated for Marcus's use.  Over
+it hung the sketch of Dot and the kitten, long ago presented by the
+grateful artist.  The pretty blue carpet and curtains gave an air of
+finish.
+
+By Marcus's desire the folding-doors were always kept open, and Olivia
+no longer felt herself stifled for want of air.  This afternoon the
+little sitting-room looked at its best.  A bowl of dark-red cactus
+dahlias stood on the table, an offering from Alwyn, and a magnificent
+_Lilium auratum_, a gift from Greta, blocked up the dining-room window.
+
+When the door-bell rang Olivia laid down her work with a pleased smile,
+and the next moment Greta entered the room.
+
+"How late you are, you naughty girl," she said, kissing her
+affectionately.  "I have been sewing for the last hour."
+
+"Yes, I know; something unforeseen detained me," and then Greta dropped
+her eyes in sudden embarrassment and blushed.  "Oh, Olive dear, can you
+guess what I have to tell you this afternoon?" and then Olivia looked
+at her steadily.
+
+"Do you mean," she began, anxiously--but Greta, blushing still more
+rosily, interrupted her, "Yes, I do mean it; and, Olive, dear friend,
+truest of friends, you must congratulate me, for I am so happy."
+
+"You take my breath away, Greta.  Are you and Alwyn actually engaged?"
+
+"Yes, dear, we settled it this afternoon; but, of course--of course, I
+have known for weeks what he meant and wished.  He has gone round now
+to tell his father, and will be here presently.  Dear Olive, why are
+you so silent?  Are you not glad about this?"
+
+"I am glad that anything should make you happy," returned Olivia,
+gently.  "And you know how deeply interested I am in your and Alwyn's
+welfare.  But forgive me, Greta, if I ask one question.  Are you sure,
+are you perfectly sure, that this step will be for your happiness----"
+
+Then Greta looked at her in surprise, and there was a reproachful
+expression in her grey eyes.
+
+"Sure! when I have loved him all these months.  My dear Olive, what can
+you mean?  Alwyn is the only man I could ever marry."
+
+"Oh, how it relieves me to hear you say that Dear Greta, I am so fond
+of you both.  Alwyn is charming; but until you said that I was afraid
+to congratulate you.  You know my views on this subject, dear.  Do you
+remember how we talked on the beach at Eastbourne?  I am afraid that
+more than once I made you a little sad; but I was thinking of this.  I
+knew then in my own mind that Alwyn had begun to care for you, and I
+wanted you to have plenty of time for consideration."
+
+"Oh, yes; you made your meaning clear to me even then," returned Greta,
+smiling; "but, indeed, no consideration was necessary.  When Alwyn came
+to me and said quite simply that he loved me and wanted me to be his
+wife, I just put my hand in his without a word.  It almost shocked me
+to see his gratitude.  He kept saying over and over again that he was
+not worthy of me; that he knew he had done nothing to win my respect,
+and I should not be able to look up to him.  Oh, Olive, he quite broke
+down when he said this, but I soon comforted him.  'I only remember two
+things,' I said to him,--'that you love me, and that you need me.'  And
+after that we understood each other."
+
+"Dearest Greta.  Aunt Madge was right when she told me that you were
+born into the world to be somebody's crutch."
+
+"Did she say that?" and Greta's eyes had a dreamy look in them; "but I
+tell Alwyn that I mean to lean on him.  Indeed, Olive, you must not
+undervalue him.  Alwyn is stronger than you think.  He has repented
+truly and deeply of all his boyish mistakes, and those who love him
+should utterly and for ever wipe out the record of his past.  See how
+devotedly his father loves him; his forgiveness was absolute."
+
+"Dear, you need not say any more;" and Olivia embraced her with tears
+in her eyes.  "I can only wish you all the happiness you deserve."
+
+"In that case my happiness would be little enough; but, of course, I
+know what you mean.  And, Olive, for the first time in my life I can
+say with truth that I have found my vocation.  It will be such a
+privilege to be allowed to take care of Alwyn; he is far from strong,
+and he will need care for a long time.  I wonder if you know the
+feeling I have about that?  With Dr. Luttrell you cannot have had it.
+You have never been anxious about him; and then he has always taken
+care of you.  But I shall always have to think for Alwyn."
+
+"Oh, you are right there!"
+
+"We shall think for each other," she went on, fearing that she had
+admitted too much.  "And there is one thing of which I am certain that
+I shall have every right to be proud of him.  Do you know what his
+father says? that he has genius, unmistakable genius, and he is no mean
+judge.  'Mark my words, he will be an R.A. yet;' he only said that to
+me a few days ago."
+
+"Marcus thinks the same; but, Greta, there is one thing: if you marry
+Alwyn, you will have to take his father too; you can never separate
+them."
+
+"Those were Alwyn's very words," returned Greta, with a soft flush
+which made her look years younger; "but, indeed, I love him already for
+Alwyn's sake, and because he is so good to him.  Oh, Olive dear, if you
+knew the joy it will be to me to have someone for whom I can care
+again.  I do not want my life to be too easy or free from
+responsibility; but I do want it to be real, actual life.  Mrs.
+Broderick and I were only talking about it yesterday.  She says what
+single women miss in their lives is some absorbing interest; a work
+that shall fill up all the crannies."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Madge is very strong on that point.  I remember, before I
+knew Marcus, that we had wonderful talks on this subject.  She used to
+be so fond of quoting Carmen Sylva's speech, 'A woman does not become a
+mother, she is a mother from her birth.  A woman's family satisfies her
+vocation, but does not create it.'  And she used to tell me to mother
+my pupils.  'You must love them hard,' she would say, 'and live their
+young lives as well as your own;' but, thank God, we can always find
+objects for our love.  I should make you laugh, Greta, if I told you
+how I mapped out my future as an old maid; but I am quite sure I should
+have made a good one."
+
+Just then the door-bell rang, and Alwyn entered; he looked eager and
+excited.
+
+"Well, has she told you?" were his first words, as Olivia met him with
+outstretched hands; and then, as she warmly congratulated him, his eyes
+glowed with feeling.  "I have not deserved such a prize, have I, Mrs.
+Luttrell? but Greta has promised to make the best of me.  Will you
+forgive me if I take her away for a little?  My father is most
+impatient to welcome his new daughter, and he will only excite himself
+if we keep him waiting."
+
+"Go with him, Greta, dear," returned Olivia; "Mr. Alwyn will bring you
+back to us."  And then Greta rose at once, though she looked a little
+shy.
+
+As Olivia stood at the door watching them as they crossed the road,
+Marcus came up Harbut Street.
+
+"Where are those two going?" he asked, curiously.  "I thought Miss
+Williams was to spend the evening with us."  Then Olivia linked her arm
+in his and drew him into the passage.
+
+"Oh, do come in, Marcus," she said, breathlessly.  "I cannot talk at
+the street-door, and I have such a lot to tell you."  Then Marcus put
+down his hat and drew off his gloves with exasperating slowness.
+
+"We have been married nearly three years," he said, flecking the dust
+off his coat-collar, "but I never remember the day when, as you so
+elegantly express it, you had not a 'lot to tell me.'"
+
+"Yes, but something has really happened," she returned, ignoring this
+provoking speech.
+
+"Oh, indeed," was the cool answer; "so they have settled it at last,
+have they?  Well, I have changed my opinion lately.  Gaythorne may not
+be quite up to the mark, but he will make a good husband.  I suppose he
+is taking her across for the parental blessing?"  And then Olivia
+admitted that this was the case.
+
+"I am so glad that you really do not mind," she said, in a relieved
+tone; "but I fancied you would not approve.  You almost said as much
+one day."
+
+"Oh, even great intellects change their opinions sometimes," returned
+Marcus, dryly; "Sir Robert Peel and Gladstone, for example.  And then
+most people know their own business best.  Perhaps if you were to
+cross-examine me severely I might own that Alwyn Gaythorne is not the
+man I should have selected for your interesting friend, but as she has
+chosen him, she is evidently of another opinion, and this is one thing
+in his favour, he is thoroughly in love with her, and really, take him
+all in all, he is not a bad fellow," and Olivia, who understood her
+husband perfectly, was quite content with this opinion.
+
+When Marcus went upstairs to wash his hands, whistling the air of "My
+old Dutch," she knew he was quite as much excited as she was.
+
+When Greta came back she looked a little flushed and agitated, and, at
+a sign from Alwyn, Olivia took her upstairs.
+
+"What is it, dear?" she said, gently, as Greta shed a few tears; "was
+not Mr. Gaythorne nice to you?"
+
+"Nice?" repeated Greta, with a little sob; "he was as dear as possible.
+If I had been Olive he could not have been more gentle.  I tell Alwyn
+that I shall be quite spoiled between them, but somehow as he talked to
+me I could not help thinking of poor father and of my mother.  How
+happy mother would have been, for she was always so fond of Alwyn."
+
+"Yes; dear, I understand."
+
+"Yes, and Alwyn understands, too.  He told me so just now.  He said
+that though this was the happiest day of his life, he could not help
+missing his mother and Olive.  Olivia, do you know that Mr. Gaythorne
+means us to live with him?  I was just a little bit frightened when I
+heard that, and I am afraid Alwyn saw it, for he spoke about it
+afterwards."
+
+"Does he wish it himself?"  Olivia was careful to reserve her own
+opinion.  Both she and Marcus had their own views on this subject.
+
+"I do not know what he really wishes, and it was too soon to discuss
+things, but he did say that he thought that his father ought not to be
+left alone, and, of course, he is right, and it is for him to decide,"
+and then she gave an embarrassed little laugh.
+
+"Mr. Gaythorne was very good to me, but you know what an autocrat he
+is.  He wants it to be soon, very soon.  Oh, he quite took my breath
+away, and I could see Alwyn was sorry for me.  He thinks it is the
+impatience of the disease and that we must humour him a little.  Alwyn
+was so beautifully gentle with him and so considerate for me, but he
+saw how overwhelmed I was."
+
+"Yes, one wants quiet at first to realise one's happiness," returned
+Olivia, sympathetically.  "Now I am going to make the tea, and you
+shall join us when you like."
+
+But when she got downstairs she found Alwyn alone.  He was pacing up
+and down as though he were anxious.
+
+"Where is Marcus?" she asked at once.
+
+"Oh, someone wanted him at No. 25, Sligo Street.  I was to tell you
+that," and then, with a change of tone, "I hope my father did not
+really upset Greta."
+
+"Oh, no; she was only a little overwhelmed."
+
+"No wonder!  You know what my father is, Mrs. Luttrell.  He never will
+wait for anything.  If a thing is to be done it must be done at once.
+Only yesterday I was laughing at him, and telling him he would have
+made an excellent slave-driver.  He is immensely pleased and excited,
+and he treated Greta as though she were a princess.  He has fine
+manners, you will allow that, but the dear girl looked dreadfully shy
+and embarrassed.  And then, to put her at her ease, he wanted her to
+promise that she would marry me as soon as possible.  It was no use
+trying to hush him, for he would have his say.  I got her away at last
+by pretending you would be waiting tea for us.  Oh, here she comes,"
+and his face brightened as he hurried to his _fiancee's_ side.  Greta
+had recovered her tranquillity, and when Marcus entered she received
+his congratulations as happily as possible.
+
+Olivia went over to Galvaston House the next day.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne was evidently expecting her.
+
+"Well," he said, holding her hand, "I suppose you have come to
+congratulate me on my new daughter.  I tell Alwyn he is a lucky dog.  A
+sweet girl and three thousand a year.  Not that either he or I care
+about the money,--there will be plenty for Alwyn, plenty.  I was
+telling them both last night," he went on, "that there must be no delay
+and nonsense.  In my state of health any procrastination would be
+foolish.  I want to see him with a good wife.  Crampton is all very
+well, but a wife will understand him better.  The house will hold us
+all.  With the exception of the library and my own bedroom, it will all
+belong to them.  Alwyn can refurnish the drawing-room, if he likes; and
+there is that little room on the first floor, opening into the
+conservatory, that would make a charming morning-room for Greta.  He
+can have _carte blanche_ to do what he likes, and she and Crampton will
+manage the house between them, so what is the use of waiting?"
+
+And as Olivia noted the old man's feverish excitement she could not
+help thinking that a short engagement would be best, and when Alwyn
+walked with her to Mayfield Villas she told him so.
+
+"I quite agree with you," was his answer.  "Dr. Luttrell and I had a
+talk over things last night, but I do not mean Greta to be bothered
+with plans and preparations until she has had a few days' quiet You do
+not know her as well as I do, Mrs. Luttrell.  Greta is so unselfish, so
+absolutely self-less, that she will do anything for the good of those
+she loves.  In the old days she always yielded her wishes to Olive, and
+she is just as ready to do so now," and, as Alwyn said this with his
+bright, winning smile, Olivia was not quite so sure, after all, that
+Greta had made a mistake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+SUNSHINE AND CLOUDS.
+
+"A friend who is both intelligent and well-affected is the most
+valuable of all possessions."--_Herodotus_.
+
+
+About a fortnight after this eventful afternoon, Olivia received a note
+from Greta begging her to bring her work and to spend a few hours with
+her.  The invitation was a pressing one.  "Please do not disappoint
+me," she wrote, "for I want to talk to you so much.  I think I can
+promise that we shall have no interruption.  Alwyn is going up to town
+for the afternoon, and will not pay his usual call."  And then Olivia,
+who had planned to have tea with Aunt Madge, put off her visit until
+another day, and sent a verbal message of acceptance.
+
+It was one of those late October days, when a touch of frost in the air
+gives a hint of the approaching winter, and the bright little fire in
+Greta's pretty morning-room was very welcome.
+
+Greta was sitting at her embroidery frame as usual.  Her deep mourning
+was relieved by the little knot of white chrysanthemums and red leaves
+that she wore, and her fair, serious face looked bright and animated.
+"Dear Olive, it was so good of you to come," she said, as she ensconced
+her guest in a big easy-chair.  "I suppose you guessed that I wanted
+you particularly," and Olivia nodded.
+
+"I could hardly sleep thinking about it all.  Olive, we have settled
+the day.  Mr. Gaythorne gave Alwyn no peace, and so he was obliged to
+speak to me.  He said it was very soon to ask me, and that he would
+willingly have given me more time, but that in his father's state of
+health any delay would only harass him, so I said that I would be ready
+by the middle of December.  I hope you do not think I am wrong?"
+
+"No, indeed.  I think you are very wise."
+
+"Alwyn was so grateful," went on Greta; "he knew my objection to a
+winter wedding; but, as he says, it will be so nice to begin the new
+year together; and, after all, what do these outward things matter?  At
+first I thought I would be married in my travelling-dress, and go
+straight away from the church; and then I remembered how Alwyn once
+said that brides ought always to wear white, that it was symbolical and
+poetical, and that you agreed with him."
+
+"Marcus thought just the same!" returned Olivia; "and though I was in
+mourning for dear mother, Aunt Madge bought me a lovely white cashmere.
+Alas!  I have never worn it since, but sometimes I take it out and look
+at it.  I remember how pleased Marcus was with it.  Shall you wear silk
+or satin, Greta?" and then Greta owned that she had already decided on
+a rich ivory-coloured silk.
+
+"But we will not discuss my _trousseau_ just yet," she observed,
+blushing.  "There is plenty of time for that.  I shall have seven weeks
+for my preparations.  I want to tell you about yesterday, Olive.  You
+know I had promised to have luncheon at Galvaston House, and that Alwyn
+was to fetch me, but before we left this house it was all settled, and
+after luncheon Alwyn told his father.  The dear old man was so pleased;
+he made Alwyn bring down his mother's trinkets, a pearl necklace and
+some diamond stars, and such splendid rings that he had given her, and
+he told Alwyn that they were all for me; you know I never cared much
+for jewelry, but Alwyn will always want me to be well dressed, so I
+shall have to be smart.  I think I liked best a little cross set with
+diamonds, that Olive used to wear; he gave me that, too."
+
+"How pleased Alwyn must have been."
+
+"Yes, and, of course, I was pleased, too; and then Mr. Gaythorne made
+Alwyn take me over the house.  What a handsome house it is, Olive!  I
+like it ever so much better than Brunswick Place.  I had no idea it was
+so large, but Mr. Gaythorne said that Italian palaces had spoilt him,
+and that he must always have plenty of space.  There is a room on the
+first floor opening into the conservatory that will make a charming
+morning-room, and then the studio is so lovely.  Alwyn has been buying
+such beautiful things, and there is to be a corner fitted up for my
+use, where my embroidery frame can stand.  I shall so love to watch him
+work; but oh, Olive, is it not absurd?  Mr. Gaythorne talks of
+refurnishing the drawing-room, but it is not the least necessary.  I
+want you to convince him of this, and to beg him not to spend money so
+needlessly.  I have so many nice things of my own; all this beautiful
+china and those inlaid Japanese cabinets.  A new carpet and a little
+fresh cretonne is all that is needed.  And I know Alwyn agrees with me."
+
+"Very well, then, we must bring Mr. Gaythorne to reason."
+
+"I took Mrs. Crampton into confidence," went on Greta, "when she showed
+me the kitchen and store-rooms.  What a nice creature she is, and how
+admirably she manages!  There is to be another maid kept, so I asked if
+I might bring Merton; she has been with us so many years that I should
+dislike to part with her, and Alwyn has promised to speak to his
+father."
+
+Olivia listened and approved; there was no mistaking Greta's happiness;
+she looked on the bright side of everything, and would allow of no
+drawbacks.  When Olivia ventured to hint that Mr. Gaythorne might be
+trying at times, Greta only smiled and said, "That was very likely,
+only Alwyn managed him so beautifully, and she hoped in time to do the
+same.  I know that he dislikes visitors," she went on, "but, as you and
+Dr. Luttrell are exceptions, I do not so much mind, and I shall be
+quite happy with Alwyn."
+
+"Oh, no doubt," returned Olivia, in her quick, decided way; "but you
+must remember, Greta dear, that we owe a duty to our fellow-creatures,
+and you must not allow Mr. Gaythorne to carry his misanthropical views
+too far.  There is no need for him to be troubled with visitors; he is
+far too ailing for much fatigue and exertion; but surely you and Alwyn
+can entertain your friends in your own rooms," and, though Greta
+hesitated and looked rather alarmed at the idea of opposing her
+formidable father-in-law-elect, she was soon brought to acknowledge
+that society would be good for Alwyn.
+
+"There is no hurry, we can be quiet this first winter," she said; "but,
+of course, if people call upon me, I shall return their visits, but we
+cannot settle beforehand.  I shall first wait and see what Alwyn
+wishes, and you must own, Olive, that I have not led a gay life here."
+
+"By-the-bye," observed Olivia, suddenly, "what have you decided to do
+with this house and furniture?" but Greta had evidently not taken these
+matters into consideration.
+
+"All the best things will go to Galvaston House, I suppose," she
+replied, looking round her, "but most of the furniture is old-fashioned
+and not up-to-date.  I suppose people would call it handsome, and, of
+course, the oak in the dining-room is in thoroughly good taste.  I must
+talk to Alwyn about it; perhaps it might be let furnished.  Dear father
+used to say selling furniture was such a mistake,--one never got the
+full value."
+
+"I remember how grand I thought it the first day I called," returned
+Olivia, smiling.  "The drawing-room with that beautiful conservatory
+opening out of it, and the plush curtains, and those luxurious couches
+made me feel so shabby.  But I suppose the drawing-room at Galvaston
+House is still better.  The glass door opening on the garden is so
+pleasant, and those Venetian cabinets and that carved settle are really
+beautiful."
+
+"Yes, and it would be such a pity to modernise the room.  Besides, what
+does one want with a drawing-room at all?  I am sure I never enter
+mine.  I shall live in the morning-room and the studio, and I suppose
+in the evenings we shall be in the library.  Ah, you are laughing,
+because I have thought it all out in this matter-of-fact way, but I
+assure you I hardly slept last night."  And then by mutual consent they
+began on the mysteries of the _trousseau_, and they had not half
+finished when Olivia looked at the clock and declared that she had
+stayed too long.
+
+"The world goes up and the world goes down and the sunshine follows the
+rain," says the old song, and human life is certainly made up of
+passing clouds and gleams of sunshine.
+
+While Alwyn superintended the decorations of the new rooms at Galvaston
+House, and brought his artistic taste to bear on every petty detail for
+the use of his lady-love, and while Greta busied herself over her
+_trousseau_, Dr. Luttrell was engaged from morning to night among his
+patients.
+
+With the damp, foggy days of November had come the dreaded epidemic,
+influenza.  All the doctors were overworked, and more than one of them
+succumbed to the malady,--amongst them Dr. Bevan.
+
+Marcus, who had been devoting himself to his poor patients, suddenly
+found the charge of a large practice thrown on him, and had scarcely
+time to take his meals.  For a few days Dr. Bevan was extremely ill,
+and even when a short change had recruited his health it was evident
+that he would never be able to do the same amount of work again.
+
+"He has been overworking himself for years," Mrs. Bevan said to Marcus,
+with tears in her eyes; "but he would never spare himself, and now Dr.
+Randolph says that this utter breakdown is the result.  Oh, it is all
+very well for him to say that it is better to wear out than rust out,
+but if a man has a wife and children he has no right to risk his life
+in this way.  It might not hurt a younger man to rise from his bed
+night after night in the depths of winter, but for my husband it is
+simply suicidal.  When he gets well he must and shall have a partner.
+What is the use of waiting until Wilfred is ready to come into the
+practice," for Wilfred Bevan, the eldest son, was at that time walking
+the hospitals.  And here Mrs. Bevan, with her comely face looking quite
+worn and aged with anxiety, hurried away to sit with her husband.
+
+Olivia had her own private anxieties.  Those long solitary days were
+very trying to her, but she never dared be long absent from home lest
+she should miss one of Marcus's flying visits.  His meals were taken at
+any odd hour, but if he came in for a minute on his morning round there
+was always a cup of good soup ready for him, or later in the day some
+hot coffee.  But perhaps the best cordial to the tired, harassed doctor
+was the sight of his wife's bright face.  He would drink the soup,
+snatch up his little daughter for a kiss and go back to his work
+refreshed, but even to him the strain was excessive.
+
+Olivia, who was unwilling to damp Greta's cheerfulness, would pour out
+her troubles to her Aunt Madge, and Mrs. Broderick would listen with
+her usual sympathy.
+
+"I hope it is not wicked of me, Aunt Madge," she would say, "but I do
+feel so worried and anxious.  Marcus declares he is quite well, but he
+is so tired every night that he can hardly drag himself to bed, and
+when morning comes he is not a bit rested.  I think Dr. Bevan's illness
+has made me nervous, for I am always dreading that Marcus will break
+down too."
+
+"Women need lot of faith, don't they, Livy?  Doctors' wives as well as
+soldiers' wives, but I am not sure that you need fear for Marcus.  He
+is really strong, and at his age a little hard work will not hurt him.
+He has his laurels to gather, you must remember that.  'It is an ill
+wind that blows no one any good.'"  But Olivia, who was tired and
+depressed, was not so ready to be comforted.
+
+"I would rather go on being poor than see my poor boy work so hard,"
+she said, mournfully.  "But it is not only that, Aunt Madge.  Marcus is
+very tender-hearted, and it makes him so unhappy when he loses a
+patient.  Of course I know why he looked so dull last night, that poor
+young fellow Basil Greenwood is dead."
+
+"Yes, I know; Dr. Randolph was called in," returned Mrs. Broderick;
+"but a hundred physicians could not have saved him, the fever ran too
+high."
+
+"He was only eighteen and his poor mother doated on him, and now she is
+ill too.  They called Marcus up last night; he did not get back till
+nearly five, but I had the fire lighted and some hot cocoa ready for
+him.  Marcus scolded me; he is always so afraid of my knocking up, but
+I know he was glad of the cocoa.  I tell Greta that I cannot be much
+with her just now.  I am so afraid of missing him when he comes in, and
+of course she understands, but it is a little hard for her, poor child."
+
+"Greta is very good," returned Aunt Madge.  "She makes the best of
+things.  By-the-bye, what is this I hear of a grand new dress for the
+wedding?"  And then Olivia did brighten up a little.
+
+Greta had begged in the most loving way that Olivia's dress and bonnet
+for the occasion should be her gift, and the dark heliotrope silk and
+dainty bonnet to match were at that moment in Greta's wardrobe.
+
+"I tell Greta that it is far too handsome," replied Olivia, "and that
+Marcus will object to my being so smart, but she only laughs at me.
+There is such a lovely cape to go with it, but somehow, in spite of
+Greta's kindness, I shall not enjoy it one bit, unless Marcus has time
+to go with me."
+
+"Oh, he will make time; don't be so lugubrious, Livy.  You are just out
+of heart about things, but we must have cloudy days some time.  Don't
+you remember what Longfellow says?
+
+  "'Nothing that is can pause or stay,
+  The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
+  The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
+  The rain to mist and cloud again,
+  To-morrow be to-day.'"
+
+
+"Yes, and November fogs will pass too.  Well, dear Aunt Madge, I must
+go, and as usual you have cheered me up.  What should I do without you,
+I wonder."
+
+"I am glad you find the old log useful," returned Mrs. Broderick, "so
+come and grumble as often as you like.  Greta is coming to tea with me
+to-morrow, and Mr. Alwyn has promised to fetch her.  Why don't you come
+too, and you shall have a real Scotch tea, bannocks and scones and seed
+cake," but Olivia shook her head at this tempting invitation.  "Marcus
+had asked her to go round to the model lodging houses," she said, "to
+see two families in trouble.  And then it was that poor boy's funeral."
+And then Mrs. Broderick said no more.
+
+"Poor Livy," she said to herself, as she lay alone in the twilight,
+"one may make light of her little troubles, but they are real to her.
+And I do not wonder that she worries over Marcus.  Dr. Randolph was
+only speaking of him this morning.  He told me what a splendid worker
+he was.
+
+"'Bevan may be thankful to have got hold of such a man,' those were his
+very words.  'But he must be prudent and not burn the candle at both
+ends as Bevan did.  "The foul fiend" has got hold of Harris now, he is
+Dr. Mordaunt's partner, and was married a few weeks ago.  Apollyon, as
+we call it at our house, does not spare doctors,' but I hope, I really
+do hope, that Livy has not heard this."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+"YOU MUST NOT LOSE HEART."
+
+"Cherish those that love you; that if ye love, ye may be loved
+again."--_Moschus_.
+
+
+When Greta woke on her wedding morning, she was greeted by the pale
+wintry sunshine.  The weather was unusually mild for December, the sky
+blue and cloudless, and only the bare blackness of the trees and their
+stripped branches testified that winter had come.
+
+"Happy the bride that the sun shines on," says the old proverb, and as
+Olivia repeated the saying, she felt her old cheerfulness and buoyancy
+return.  Marcus had promised to meet them at the church, and to return
+with them to Brunswick Place, and her finery would not be thrown away.
+
+It would be of course a very quiet wedding, the only guests would be
+the lawyer, Mr. Treherne, an old family friend, who had undertaken to
+give the bride away, and Alwyn's best man, a young artist.
+
+As soon as the young couple had partaken of refreshment and Greta had
+changed her dress, they were to drive round to Galvaston House on their
+way to the station.  The brief fortnight's honeymoon was to be spent at
+St. Leonards.  Mr. Gaythorne had begged that they would not go very far
+away, and Alwyn had been reluctant to leave his father for a longer
+time.
+
+Olivia had promised to spend the remainder of the day with Mr.
+Gaythorne, and, if possible, Marcus was to join them in the evening,
+but she had another visit to pay on her way to Brunswick Place, so when
+the brougham came round she drove over in solitary state to Maybrick
+Villas.
+
+Mrs. Broderick regarded her niece with satisfied eyes.  "Why, Livy,"
+she said, admiringly, "I have not seen you look so well since your own
+wedding-day.  Fine feathers make fine birds.  You are quite a
+striking-looking woman.  Marcus will be proud of his wife."
+
+"You must not make me vain," returned Olivia, blushing.  She was as
+pleased as a child with her beautiful dress.  "Look what Alwyn has
+given me," and she exhibited a pair of delicate gold bangles.  "You
+cannot think how smart I feel, for that pretty brooch that Marcus gave
+me the day before we were married was my sole piece of jewelry."
+
+Mrs. Broderick smiled.  "I am not much richer than you in that respect,
+Livy.  I never would let Fergus spend his money on trinkets.  I told
+him I was far too ugly, and that I preferred books.  There are only two
+handsome rings to come to you, Livy, when I am gone," but Olivia
+frowned at this speech.  She never could endure to think of anything
+happening to Aunt Madge.
+
+Marcus was at the church door to meet her, and there was unmistakable
+approval in his eyes as they stood together for a moment in the porch.
+And as they walked up the empty church together each was thinking of
+the day three years ago when they had plighted their troth in this very
+church.
+
+Greta made a sweet-looking bride, there was a chastened gravity on her
+fair face, but no tremor as she repeated the solemn responses, but
+Alwyn was painfully nervous, and looked so pale, that Olivia feared
+more than once he was ill.
+
+He looked more like himself when the service was over, but that he
+realised his responsibilities intensely was evident from the few words
+he said to Olivia while Greta was changing her dress.
+
+"I have not deserved all this, have I, Mrs. Luttrell?" he said, in his
+impulsive way.  "I feel as though coals of fire were heaped upon me.
+Fancy a sweet girl like Greta consenting to link her lot with mine.
+How am I to live up to it? but she believes in me, and God bless her.
+I will try not to disappoint her," and there were tears in the young
+man's eyes as he said this.
+
+"Good-bye, Olive darling," whispered Greta, as she put her arms
+affectionately round her friend.  "I am glad that we are not to be long
+away, the dear new home will be quite ready for us," and then she took
+her husband's arm and the little group of friends watched them as they
+drove away.
+
+When Olive went to Mr. Gaythorne an hour later she found him looking
+pleased and excited.  "Alwyn is a happy man," he said, "he has got a
+good wife.  Greta has tact as well as heart.  She will let him have his
+own way whenever it is possible, and he will not find out that he is
+guided.  That is what Alwyn's nature needs.  I have found that out by
+bitter experience."  And the old man sighed heavily.  In spite of his
+contentment the memory of the past was still painful, and both he and
+Alwyn would carry their scars to their dying day.
+
+"I am sure you will love Greta dearly," Olivia observed.  "She is a
+little shy and quiet until she gets used to people, but she is so
+wonderfully gentle."
+
+"Yes, and she was my little Olive's friend.  I shall never forget that,
+but as I told you just now, I have two daughters," and then he laid his
+hand on Olivia's with one of his rare gestures of affection.  "My dear,
+Alwyn and I were talking last night.  I told him that he must be master
+here, and that he must put his wife in her proper place at once.  I
+shall want little during the few months or years that remain to me.
+Just my quiet rooms and my children's affection and the society of the
+one or two friends that remain to me.  But Alwyn needs more.  He loves
+society, and to be a successful artist he must mix with his
+fellow-workers, and rub against other minds.  He must go into the world
+and see and be seen."
+
+"I think you are right," returned Olivia, slowly; she was secretly very
+much surprised by this speech.  She had no idea how much he had brooded
+over this question.
+
+"Yes," he returned, a little sadly, "I have learnt my lesson at last.
+Those young lives must not be overshadowed by a sick man's whims.  My
+son must never be able to say again that his father's house was like a
+jail, and that he felt cramped in body and mind.  Sooner than that,"
+with a trace of the old excitement in his manner, "I would rather my
+weary bones were laid in the earth."
+
+"Dear Mr. Gaythorne," in a soothing voice, "Alwyn loves you far too
+well ever to say or think such a thing."
+
+"I hope so--I trust so, but I would rather not put his patience to the
+proof.  My boy must be happy, or I can know no peace.  'If you will
+bring your wife here and stay with your old father I will never
+interfere with either of you,' that is what I said to him.  'You may
+turn the house out of window if you like, so that you leave me my two
+quiet rooms;' but he only laughed in my face.  'We will see about
+that,' was all he answered, but I shall prove to him that I meant what
+I said."
+
+"Greta will not care for gaiety this winter.  You must remember that
+she has been used to a very quiet life."
+
+"That is for her and Alwyn to decide," returned Mr. Gaythorne.  "Ah,
+Mrs. Luttrell, my dear, what it will be to me to hear a woman's step
+about the house again.  It will be like music in my ears;" and then he
+leant back in his chair as though he were exhausted and asked Olivia to
+read to him.
+
+Later in the evening, as she walked back with Marcus, she told him of
+this conversation, and then she added,--
+
+"He will be very good to Greta, I am sure of that; his voice softened
+so when he spoke of her.  She is a link with the past, you see.  But,
+Marcus, as he talked he looked so old and broken that I cannot help
+fearing that they will not have him with them for long."
+
+"Probably not.  I have hinted this more than once to Alwyn, and though
+he always turns it off, I think he understands me.  It was his own
+proposition that they should only be a fortnight away.  Now I have two
+or three patients to see, so you must not wait up for me;" and tired as
+he was Marcus walked off briskly, whilst Olivia lingered on the
+doorstep for a moment to look at the stars shining in the dark wintry
+sky.  Alwyn had begged her, as a special favour to him, to pay a daily
+visit to Galvaston House, so for the next three or four days she found
+it impossible to go round to Maybrick Villas.
+
+Mr. Gaythorne took her visits as a matter of course.  There was always
+something he wanted to discuss with her.  Some fresh arrangement for
+his daughter-in-law's comfort.  One day he consulted her about a
+brougham that he intended to buy as a surprise.
+
+"I shall get Dr. Luttrell to choose it," he said; "and there is a man I
+know at Medhurst who will pick me up a pair of chestnuts.  My son's
+wife is a rich woman, and ought to have a pair for her carriage.  There
+is some good stabling to be got just by, and Dr. Luttrell knows a
+capital coachman who has been thrown out of place by his master's
+death.  In the spring she might have a victoria, but a brougham will be
+more serviceable at this season of the year when Alwyn takes her to
+theatres and concerts."  And though Olivia smiled, she could not but
+own that the brougham would be a boon to Greta.
+
+"Then we will see about it at once," he returned, eagerly.  "Would you
+ask your husband to call to-morrow morning if he can spare the time?"
+And as Olivia took her leave she promised to give the message.
+
+To her surprise she found Marcus reading by the fire; he looked up at
+her a little gravely as she entered.
+
+"You are rather late, are you not, Livy?" he said, laying down his
+paper.  "Martha brought me some tea, but I waited to speak to you.  I
+shall have to go out again directly."
+
+"Let me give you Mr. Gaythorne's message first.  He wants you to go
+round and speak to him tomorrow morning about a new brougham for Greta.
+How delighted she and Alwyn will be.  Greta is not strong and does not
+care for walking much in the winter, and she catches cold so easily."
+
+"It is just what Alwyn wished for her.  Yes, I will try to run across
+to-morrow morning, but I have a long day's work before me.  Olive,
+darling, I have rather bad news for you," and here he put his arm round
+her.  "Aunt Madge is ill."
+
+Olivia turned very pale.  "Marcus, how did you know?  Has Deb sent a
+message?  I hope--oh, I do hope, it is not influenza."
+
+"I fear it is," returned Marcus, reluctantly.  "I met Randolph, and he
+stopped and told me.  He was just going there for the second time.  He
+wants to send a nurse in, but Deb was so against it that he did not
+venture to insist; but I am afraid she is very ill, Livy."
+
+"I must go round at once.  Marcus, do you think you can spare me?
+Martha is very careful; she will look after Dot.  But you know"--and
+here there were hot, smarting tears in Olivia's eyes--"you know what
+Aunt Madge is to me.  I cannot leave her to Deb."
+
+Marcus sighed; he could not bear his wife to run the risk, and yet how
+could he be selfish enough to deprive Mrs. Broderick of the comfort of
+having her with her?  He knew their deep affection for each other.
+Aunt Madge was her second mother; few aunts were so fondly beloved.
+
+"I hate you to go, dearest," he said, "and yet I cannot deny that
+Randolph is very anxious about her.  It is the prostration he fears;
+the fever has been so high these two days."
+
+"She has been ill two whole days, and Deb has never sent for me," and
+Olivia sobbed in a heart-broken manner.
+
+"My dear girl, you must not lose heart in this way," and Marcus stroked
+her hair tenderly.  "Let me tell you exactly how it was.  I went round
+with Randolph and waited while he paid his visit.  Deb came out to
+speak to me; she is an obstinate, incorrigible, cross-grained old
+woman, and I told her so.  Oh, I spoke my mind to her.  She cannot deny
+that she has been up for three nights, and yet the mention of a nurse
+throws her into tantrums.  'I have always nursed my mistress, and as
+long as I can drag about she shall have no strangers to harass her dear
+soul,' she said, defiantly.  Now what are you to do with a woman like
+that?  I asked her why she had not let us know," he went on, "and she
+confessed that Aunt Madge had made her promise not to send.  So you see
+Deb was not to blame for that."
+
+"No, I see;" and then Olivia looked up in her husband's face
+pleadingly.  "Marcus, dear, you will not forbid my sitting up with Aunt
+Madge tonight.  Deb will not mind me; she knows how Aunt Madge will
+love to have me.  I will be very careful, and do just as you tell me;
+but I must!  I must be with her!" and then very reluctantly Marcus gave
+his permission.
+
+Martha was interviewed and Dot kissed in her cot, and then Olivia told
+Marcus she was ready; and they walked to Maybrick Villas almost in
+silence.
+
+Olivia's heart was too full for speech.  If Aunt Madge died, she told
+herself, the world would never be the same to her again; some of the
+warmth and the light and the joy of life would have faded out of it.
+"She is one of my few treasures," she thought.  "Marcus and dear baby
+come first, of course, but Aunt Madge has taken mother's place.  All
+these years she has helped me so with her wise, loving counsel and
+sympathy."
+
+"While there is life there is hope, Livy," observed Marcus, gently; and
+his hand touched hers in the darkness.
+
+"Dr. Randolph does not own himself beaten by any means.  Do what you
+can to help Deb, for she is just worn out, the foolish, faithful
+creature;" and his voice changing, "do not forget me or Dot, and for
+our sakes take care of yourself," and with these words he opened the
+little gate and left her to go in alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+"I HAVE COME TO STAY."
+
+  "The dear Lord's best interpreters
+    Are humble human souls;
+  The gospel of a life
+    Is more than books or scrolls."--_Whittier_.
+
+
+"Deb, I have come to stay," were Olivia's first words, as the woman met
+her on the top of the stairs; but Deborah's only answer was to lift her
+hands in dumb protest and lead the way into the kitchen.
+
+Deb's strong, hard-featured face was haggard and drawn with fatigue and
+anxiety, and she looked more gaunt and angular than ever: her reddened,
+swollen eyelids told their own tale.
+
+"I am come to stay," repeated Olivia, firmly; but Deborah only shrugged
+her shoulders and walked over to the fireplace.
+
+"You won't need to stay long, Miss Olive," she said, in a choked
+voice--at moments of excitement it was still "Miss Olive" with
+Deb--"she is failing fast, dear soul; the fever's gone and left her as
+weak as a new-born babe.  I always said my mistress was only fit to be
+among the angels!" and Deb gave an expressive sniff as she filled her
+kettle.  Olivia felt a dull pain at her heart at this speech, but she
+would not let herself give way.  Deborah, as she knew, always took a
+gloomy view of her mistress's illnesses.
+
+"Dr. Randolph is coming again to-night," she observed; "my husband told
+me so;" but Olivia's hand shook as she took off her hat and jacket.
+
+"Yes, Miss Olive, the doctor is coming again, and that speaks for
+itself, to my mind.  I knew what it was four days ago, for she was
+taken ill the very night after you drove round to see her, but I dare
+not let you know.  'We won't tell Mrs. Luttrell, or she will be
+anxious, and will insist on coming to nurse me.  Promise me that you
+will not send to Galvaston Terrace, Deb;' and what was a poor servant
+to do?  I suppose if Dr. Luttrell has sent you you will have to stop,
+but I won't give up nursing my mistress even to you, Miss Olive," and
+Deb sniffed defiantly.  "There, you may go in while I warm her milk,
+but she will not take any notice of you.  She is too weak to speak."
+
+The folding-doors were open, and the little sitting-room, with its
+cheery fire, had a cosy aspect, the sick-room was dimly lighted.  As
+Olivia bent over the invalid her heart contracted with anguish.  Could
+only four days have wrought such deadly havoc?
+
+Aunt Madge's face looked pinched and sunken, and so changed that Olivia
+could hardly recognise it, but, as she hung over her in speechless
+grief, the heavy eyelids unclosed, and something like a smile passed
+over the features.  "My little Livy" was all she whispered, but it was
+the old caressing tone.
+
+When Dr. Randolph paid his last visit Olivia begged him to use his
+influence with Deborah.  "She has been up three nights and is utterly
+worn out," she went on.  "I want her to let me watch while she has a
+good sleep on that couch.  I would promise to wake her if I saw the
+least change.  Indeed, I know something of nursing, Dr. Randolph.  I
+was with my dear mother when she died, and I will carry out all your
+instructions."
+
+"Well, you heard what I said to Mrs. Higgins," returned Dr. Randolph,
+"that everything depends on frequent nourishment.  The fever is down,
+but there is a state of collapse that makes me uneasy.  Mrs. Broderick
+has a good constitution or she would not have got through her last
+illness, so I still hope we may pull her through;" but Dr. Randolph's
+voice was not sanguine as he said this.  "Now I will go and have a talk
+with Mrs. Higgins.  I shall tell her that unless she does as she is
+told to-night I shall bring round a nurse with me to-morrow.  I think
+that will fetch her," and Dr. Randolph was right.  Possibly Deb felt
+herself on the verge of breaking down, for she consented at last to lie
+down on her mistress's couch for an hour or two, but it was midnight
+before Olivia found herself in sole charge.
+
+There was very little to be done except to give medicine and
+nourishment at stated intervals and to make up the two fires as
+noiselessly as possible, but Olivia felt her responsibilities too
+acutely to be overcome by drowsiness, though Deborah lay hour after
+hour in the heavy sleep of utter exhaustion.
+
+Olivia's thoughts went back to her childhood as she sat there.  A
+hundred instances of Aunt Madge's affection and devotion recurred to
+her.  She remembered how the sprightly young aunt used to run up to the
+nursery with some new toy or gaily-dressed doll that she had purchased
+out of her scanty savings, for Aunt Madge had been a daily governess,
+too.  She could recall the Sunday afternoons when she sat in her lap
+and the beautiful voice sang to her or told her stories,--Joseph and
+his brethren and Daniel in the lions' den,--or on other days dear old
+fairy stories such as children love.  She had been her bridesmaid, too,
+and had grown very fond of the honest, sturdy Scotchman whom his wife
+so tenderly idealised.
+
+"Uncle Fergus was a good, kind man," she thought, "but he was not all
+that Aunt Madge imagined him.  Most people would not have called him
+interesting, but he was devoted to her.  What a bright creature she was
+until little Malcolm died.  That was the first of her troubles.  What a
+happy home theirs had been, but it was Aunt Madge who had been the
+heart of the house, who had organised and planned.  Uncle Fergus had
+never originated anything.
+
+"And she loved him as dearly as I love Marcus," she went on.  "And yet
+when she lost him there was not a murmuring word.
+
+"'I thought it was too good to last,' she once said to me, 'but my
+widow's cruse will never be empty.  I have the sweetest memories, and
+by-and-by I shall have my treasures again.  Do you know I often pray,
+Livy, that I may not long so much to die?  God's will, not mine, even
+in this.'
+
+"Oh, Aunt Madge, dear Aunt Madge, I cannot spare you yet," murmured
+Olivia more than once that night, for it is hard for human affection to
+rid itself of selfishness.
+
+When Olivia brought Deb a cup of tea at seven o'clock, the good
+creature seemed quite shocked.  "To think I have slept all these
+hours," she said, in a dazed voice.
+
+"Miss Olive, why did you not wake me long ago?  You are fit to drop,
+and what will Dr. Luttrell say?" but Olivia shook her head with a faint
+smile.
+
+"I will lie down now and get a nap.  Deb, I am sure she is no worse;
+she has taken all Dr. Randolph ordered, and though she has not spoken,
+she seemed to me a shade less exhausted;" but, though Deb would not
+endorse this, Olivia felt certain that she was right.
+
+She was sitting at her late breakfast, when Marcus called to see how
+they had spent the night.  And her account evidently relieved him.  He
+waited to hear Dr. Randolph's opinion.  Olivia came back to him as soon
+as possible.
+
+"Oh, Marcus," she said, the tears rushing to her eyes, "Dr. Randolph
+says that the exhaustion is not quite so great, and he owned frankly
+that he was afraid last night how he should find her this morning.  We
+are to go on just the same.  Everything depends on frequent
+nourishment; he thinks the heart is a little stronger, but she must not
+be moved at all.  'We must see what nature and rest will do,' he said
+to me; 'do not relax your efforts, we are not out of the woods yet.'
+He is coming again about four."
+
+"Yes, I should not be surprised if she weathered it after all,"
+returned Marcus; "she must have a tough constitution to have gone
+through all she has.  Yesterday I certainly felt anxious, and so did
+Randolph.  We both feared sudden collapse.  I worried myself for a long
+time because I had not offered to sit up with you, Livy, but I have
+been up two nights already this week, and one has one's work to do;"
+but Olivia looked quite shocked at this.
+
+"My dear boy, how could you think of such a thing?  It would have made
+me more miserable than I was already; besides, there would have been no
+room for you, this is such a tiny place.  Oh, how I wish Aunt Madge
+could move into better lodgings; her bedroom is far too small, and that
+wardrobe quite fills it up.  By-the-bye, Marcus, I wish you would tell
+me what I had better do.  May I come home for an hour or two and see
+baby?"
+
+"I don't know that there would be any risk," he replied, slowly; "you
+cannot give influenza unless you have it yourself; but, all the same, I
+would keep away from Dot.  She is perfectly well, and sat up in her
+high-chair pouring out imaginary tea in her wooden set while I had my
+breakfast, and Martha begged me to tell you 'that the butcher had
+called, and she had ordered a steak for master, and would make a
+rice-pudding for Miss Baby.'"
+
+"Very well, then, I will stay; but, Marcus, I shall see you again this
+evening, shall I not?" and Marcus returned in an emphatic voice that he
+certainly intended to keep an eye on her.
+
+"I won't have you getting into mischief and knocking yourself up," he
+remarked, severely.  "So be a wise woman, or you will have to reckon
+with me!"
+
+There was plenty to do that morning, putting things tidy in the
+sick-room and straightening the sitting-room.  In the course of the day
+some choice flowers came from Galvaston House with Mr. Gaythorne's
+compliments, and at tea-time Marcus dropped in unexpectedly, and they
+had a cosy half-hour together in Deb's spotless little kitchen; to her
+surprise he told Olivia that Dot was at Galvaston House.
+
+"Mrs. Crampton begged to have her, and Mr. Gaythorne thought it would
+be a good plan, so she fetched her this afternoon.  I hope I have done
+right, Livy;" and Marcus spoke in an apologetic tone, as though he felt
+that he had trenched on the mother's prerogative; "but, you see, I am
+so much out, and Martha is so busy, that I thought that we should both
+be less anxious to know that Mrs. Crampton was looking after her," and
+Olivia agreed to this.
+
+Olivia had already arranged to take the earlier part of the night in
+the sick-room, and when Dr. Randolph had paid his evening visit, Deb
+took possession of the couch again.  Olivia had promised faithfully to
+wake her at three o'clock.
+
+A long afternoon nap had refreshed Olivia, and a few hopeful words from
+the doctor had cheered her immensely.  A little after midnight she was
+sitting down by the bedside with some knitting to keep her awake, when
+a movement from the bed made her look up.  Aunt Madge's eyes were fixed
+on her; there was a strange solemnity and deep sadness in their
+expression, and as Olivia rose hastily and bent over her with a tender
+inquiry, the feeble voice whispered:
+
+"Don't fret any more, Livy, the Master does not need me yet--not yet,"
+and then scarcely audibly, "I shall not die, but live and declare the
+works of the Lord," and then it seemed to Olivia that the weary eyelids
+closed in sleep again.
+
+When her turn for rest came, Olivia felt almost too agitated to sleep;
+the sad yearning in the sunken eyes haunted her; too well she knew that
+the fresh gift of life would only be an additional cross laid on the
+weary shoulders.  What was life to Aunt Madge now but suffering and
+deprivation, a daily stumbling among shadows, as she had once called it.
+
+There was no reserve and hesitation in Dr. Randolph's manner when he
+came out of the sick-room the next day.
+
+"She has turned the corner now, but it was a narrow squeak," he said,
+rubbing his hands.  "Now, all we have to do is to build up her
+strength.  Your aunt is a wonderful woman, Mrs. Luttrell.  I should not
+wonder if she is good for twenty years yet, but we must be careful
+still.  I suppose you will be here for another day or two?  Oh, that's
+all right," as Olivia gave a decided assent to this.  "It would be a
+pity to knock Mrs. Higgins up.  There are not many women like her; she
+is simply invaluable."
+
+As the days went on the tension of anxiety was visibly relaxed.  The
+invalid's progress was slow but sure.  In another day or two Olivia was
+able to go home for an hour or two to have dinner with Marcus and give
+Martha directions; but while the night-work continued it was impossible
+for her to leave.  And it was arranged that Dot was to remain at
+Galvaston House for the present.
+
+Greta had written to beg for an extension of her visit.  "She is such a
+darling, and I shall be so delighted to have her," she wrote.  "She
+will not be at all in the way," and indeed Dot ruled royally over the
+household.
+
+She and Mr. Gaythorne became great friends.  "Great dada," as she
+called him, took a good deal of notice of the pretty, golden-haired
+child who played at his feet for hours, and Eros was devoted to her.
+
+Alwyn's first work when he returned was to paint a large picture of Dot
+in her cream-coloured smock, hanging a withered garland round the neck
+of the blind hound.
+
+"Friends" he called it.
+
+Olivia was able to spend an hour or two at Galvaston House the day
+after the young couple returned.
+
+She found them in the studio with Dot and Eros.  Alwyn was looking well
+and handsome, and Greta's sweet face wore an expression of gentle
+content.  She carried Olivia off at once to the morning-room to have a
+chat, as she said, looking archly at her husband.  And though Alwyn
+professed to grumble at the desertion, he was too busy stretching his
+canvas for the new picture to resent it.
+
+"Let me know when tea is ready," he called after them, and then they
+heard him whistling in his usual light-hearted fashion.
+
+"I need not ask you if you are happy, Greta," were Olivia's first
+words, and then a charming blush crossed the young bride's face.
+
+"No, indeed!  Oh, Olive, he is so good to me; if you only knew how he
+studies all my wishes.  It was like a dream yesterday coming to this
+beautiful home.  And then Mr. Gaythorne's delight at getting his son
+back.  Oh, it was so touching to see them together.  Alwyn wants me to
+call him 'Father,'" she continued, shyly.  "He says it will please him
+so, so I must try to do it.  You know I always called my own father
+dad.  Now tell me about dear Mrs. Broderick.  Poor Olive, what a time
+you have had; and you are looking so pale and tired."  And then Olive
+poured out her anxieties and past troubles into Greta's sympathising
+ears.
+
+"She is very weak still," she finished.  "Dr. Randolph thinks it will
+be some time before she will be able to leave her bed.  I have found
+such a nice woman who will come in and help Deb, for of course I cannot
+leave Marcus any longer.  I am to go home the day after to-morrow.  Deb
+will sleep on the couch in the sitting-room.  She will have to give
+nourishment every two hours, but Deb manages to sleep with one eye
+open, as I tell her.  I am to go for a couple of hours every afternoon,
+that will allow her to have a little rest.  Marcus thinks this will
+work excellently.  Oh, how glad I shall be to be at home again and look
+after him!"
+
+"You want looking after yourself, dear," returned Greta,
+affectionately.  And then Alwyn came into the room with Dot on his
+shoulder, but she clamoured to go to her mammy.
+
+"How do you think Mrs. Alwyn Gaythorne looks?" asked Alwyn,
+mischievously.  "She does me credit, does she not?  By-the-bye, Greta,
+do you think father will like us to have coffee with him in the library
+this afternoon?"
+
+"I told Phoebe that we would have it up here; shall I go and ask him,
+Alwyn?"
+
+"Do, love; the attention will please him, and I am sure Mrs. Luttrell
+will not mind."  Then as Greta left the room, he turned to Olivia and
+said in a tone of deep feeling,--
+
+"She looks well and happy, don't you think so?  Oh, Mrs. Luttrell,
+every day I feel more what a treasure I have.  She is an embodied
+sunbeam.  I never knew anyone so gentle and yet so bright.  How my
+father will love her when he knows her better."  And then, as his
+wife's step sounded in the corridor, he sprang from his seat to open
+the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+"NOT YET."
+
+  "But here I bring within my trembling hand,
+    This will of mine, a thing that seemeth small,
+  And Thou alone, O Lord, can understand,
+    How when I yield Thee this, I yield mine all."--_Anon_.
+
+
+It was some time before Aunt Madge could be lifted on to the couch in
+the sitting-room, and even then Deb declared that she was not the
+weight of a child of eight or nine.
+
+"There is nothing of her, Miss Olive," she grumbled.  "She is worn to
+such a shadow.  Tire my arms, indeed--I could lift a heavier weight
+than that," and Deb gave one of her ominous sniffs, and went off to her
+kitchen to shed a few tears in private.
+
+All those weeks Olivia had been unremitting in her attentions, and all
+other visits were interdicted; but the friends at Galvaston House
+showed their sympathy in every possible way.  Mr. Gaythorne sent choice
+old wine and game, and Greta and Alwyn kept the invalid supplied with
+fruit and flowers.  Mrs. Crampton made jellies and soups, the little
+larder at Mayfield Villas was filled to overflowing.  Mrs. Broderick
+took it all gratefully, and gave her nurses no trouble.  "I am under
+orders," she would say, with a pitiful attempt at her old drollery; but
+only Olivia, who loved and understood her, ever guessed at the sadness
+of those days of convalescence.
+
+One evening, as they were together in the twilight, Olivia ventured to
+hint at this depression; she was waiting for Marcus to come and fetch
+her, for they were to dine at Galvaston House.
+
+"Is it because you are too weak to feel cheerful, dear Aunt Madge?" she
+asked, tenderly; but Mrs. Broderick shook her head.
+
+"It is because I am a coward," she returned, with a spirit of her old
+energy.  "Ah, Livy, I am ashamed to tell you what a coward I have been;
+but I simply felt as though I could not face it.  Let me explain
+myself; I feel strong enough to talk, and it may do me good.  Dear
+child, dearest Livy," stroking her hand, "you have been such a comfort
+to me!  Do you remember that night when I told you I was not going to
+die?  Well, I had had a wonderful dream, a vision rather, for I shall
+always think it one.  I thought that I was wandering in some strange
+place, some vast emptiness where there was nothing human but myself,
+and that I came suddenly to a wide arched portal that seemed to reach
+to the stars, and I said to myself, 'this is the Gate of Paradise.'  As
+I stood on the threshold I could see a green space like a valley bathed
+in sunlight, and I even noticed the white starry flowers growing
+everywhere, and then I saw my dear Fergus, looking just as he did in
+life, only somehow with a grander and more peaceful look on his dear
+face, and he was leading our little Malcolm by the hand.  I thought I
+kissed them both, and clung to them in a perfect ecstasy of joy, but
+Fergus looked at me in such a tender solemn way.  'Not yet, Madge,' he
+said, 'your work is not quite done yet; the Master has sent me to tell
+you so; be patient, true heart.  When the time comes, Malcolm and I
+will be here.'  And then I felt myself falling, and when I opened my
+eyes I saw you sitting there by the bedside."
+
+"What a sweet dream, dearest!"
+
+"Yes, I am beginning to feel the comfort of it now; but that night I
+felt as though my heart were broken to be so near and then to have to
+go back; but, Livy, I am trying to say it--'Thy will, not mine, be
+done.'  God's will--not ours; surely our Father knows what is best for
+His poor child."
+
+"And you are not unhappy?"
+
+"Only a little sad and tired, but that will pass, it is passing now,"
+and the old lovely smile came to her lips.  "Don't you recollect what
+Keble says,--
+
+  "''Tis sweet as year by year we lose
+  Friends out of sight, in faith to muse
+  How grows in Paradise our store.'
+
+
+"What are a few more years of loneliness when Fergus and I have
+eternity to spend together.  There, I hear Marcus's knock; he will
+scold me for making you look sad."
+
+But Aunt Madge was wrong, for once in his life Marcus was too
+preoccupied to notice the signs of agitation on his wife's face.
+
+"What do you think, dear people," he said, brightly, when he had
+greeted the invalid.  "Dr. Bevan and I have settled matters; he will
+have the deed of partnership drawn up at once.  Nothing can be fairer
+or more liberal than his terms.  I told him I had only half-a-dozen
+paying patients at present, but he said that I should soon have more.
+We have turned the corner, Livy, and my wife shall walk in silk attire
+yet," and Marcus flung back his head with a gesture of pride and
+importance.
+
+"My dear laddie, I congratulate you with all my heart," returned Aunt
+Madge, affectionately, as she grasped his hands.  "Livy looks quite
+dazed, and no wonder," and then a warm flush came to Olivia's cheek.
+
+"Dear Marcus, I am so glad, so thankful," she whispered.
+
+"Yes, but it will be uphill work at first," he returned, "and I shall
+have plenty to do.  Bevan is not the man he was, Randolph does not seem
+satisfied about him; but he will pick up when the warm weather comes.
+Oh, by-the-bye, Livy, I have not told you half yet.  Bevan insists on
+our moving at once; he wants me to take a good house, either in
+Brunswick Place or Montague Square, or one of those roads leading out
+of it; it is well that we have that nest egg, the five hundred pounds
+untouched, it will pay for the necessary furniture, and the first
+year's rent will be assured."
+
+"Yes, indeed," returned Olivia, in a low voice; she was awed and
+overwhelmed by this unexpected good fortune; but Marcus would not allow
+any more talking; his professional eyes had already noted the signs of
+weariness and exhaustion in the invalid.
+
+"We must go now," he said, abruptly.  "We will talk over details
+another time; it is no use giving Aunt Madge a bad night," and then
+Olivia rose reluctantly and put on her wraps.
+
+"I shall come to-morrow afternoon and tell you everything," she said,
+and Mrs. Broderick nodded and smiled.
+
+But as they slipped out into the wintry darkness and Olivia took her
+husband's arm, she said, with a little laugh,--
+
+"I am so glad I have put on my wedding-dress to-night.  I ought to be
+smart for such an occasion.  This is our first dinner-party since we
+have been married."
+
+"Then it won't be our last," returned Marcus, in a tone of conviction.
+"I wonder, Livy, whether we shall ever regret those cosy evenings in
+the dear little room at No. 1, Galvaston Terrace," but Olivia only
+sighed happily.  She was too good a wife to regret anything that led to
+her husband's advancement.  Very likely her cares and responsibilities
+would be doubled.  She would have less of Marcus's society, and the
+world would have claims upon them.  The long three years' honeymoon was
+over, but, thank God, something else was over too,--the dread of
+approaching poverty, the sadness of unproductive labour, of work done
+only for love's sake and without grudging.
+
+The following afternoon Mrs. Broderick lay tranquilly in the pleasant
+fire-lit twilight, awaiting Olivia's promised visit.
+
+A pine log was spluttering and diffusing tiny coloured sparks.  Zoe lay
+curled up in a silken ball on the black bearskin rug, and Olivia's
+favourite low chair had been wheeled to the foot of the couch, the
+tea-things were on the table, and the brass trivet on the fender was
+suggestive of hot buttered scones.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Madge, how cosy you look," were Olivia's first words.  "May I
+take off my hat and jacket?  I am going to stay a long time, and Marcus
+hopes to come round presently."
+
+"Then we will wait tea for him," returned Aunt Madge, with something
+like her old briskness.
+
+"Will you tell Deb not to bring in the kettle and scones until we ring?
+Come, this is like old times.  It is months since Marcus had tea with
+me.  Now draw up your chair, Livy, and begin your story, for you are
+just bursting with news," and, though Olivia laughed at this, she did
+not deny it.
+
+"We had such a lovely time last night," she began.  "Greta looked so
+pretty in her black evening dress at the top of the table.  She wore
+the pearl necklace and Olive's diamond cross.  She has such a beautiful
+white throat the pearls hardly showed against it Mr. Gaythorne came in
+to dinner and sat beside her, but he was very tired and left us
+directly after, and we all went up to Greta's morning-room and sat
+round the fire talking, just we four.  It was so nice and cosy."
+
+"I suppose Mr. Gaythorne was told the grand news?"
+
+"Oh dear, yes.  He and Alwyn were so keen about it.  They drank the
+health of Dr. Bevan's new partner.  Mr. Gaythorne proposed the toast
+himself.  Just as we left the dining-room I noticed that Greta detained
+Alwyn, and they did not follow upstairs for quite a quarter of an hour,
+but of course Marcus and I took no notice.  They both looked a little
+bit excited when they came in.  Greta gave my arm a funny little
+squeeze, and Alwyn cleared his throat and looked at Marcus, and then
+said in such a serious voice that he had an important proposal to make
+to us.  It was Greta's idea, but he heartily approved of it.  The house
+at Brunswick Place was waiting for a tenant.  Why should not Marcus
+take it?  It was to be let furnished.  They had decided on that
+already, so there would be no delay or fuss necessary.  'You might go
+in next week,' he finished.  'The rooms only need airing and warming.'"
+
+"My dear Livy, what a splendid idea.  Three cheers for Greta, I say."
+
+"Yes, it was all Greta's thought; but oh, Aunt Madge, what a talk we
+had.  First, the terms that Alwyn proposed were so absurdly low that
+Marcus got quite red and said in almost an annoyed tone--you know how
+proud he is--that he must decline living at other people's expense.  He
+would pay a fair rent for the house or he would not have it at all.
+And then Alwyn patted him on the back and told him to keep calm, for no
+one wanted to insult him, and then they went on wrangling like two
+schoolboys.  Marcus called Alwyn a stuck-up millionaire, and Alwyn
+retorted by telling him that he was as proud as a Highlander, and then
+Greta and I called them to order, but we were laughing so that we could
+hardly speak."
+
+"How I should have loved to hear them.  Marcus is so delicious when he
+gets on his high horse."
+
+"Well, it was arranged at last to everybody's satisfaction, though
+Alwyn went on grumbling for a long time, and we are to move in next
+month.  Marcus is to pay the full rent, and there is to be a fixed sum
+paid quarterly for the furniture, and at the end of two years it will
+be ours.  They both thought this the best plan.  You see, expenses will
+be heavy the first year, and we must not look for great profits.  But
+there is every reasonable hope, as Marcus says, if he keeps his health,
+that in a year or two he may have a good practice.  There is room for
+another doctor; even Dr. Randolph says so."
+
+"Well, Livy dear, I can only congratulate you."
+
+"Yes, indeed; Greta and I have been in Brunswick Place all the morning
+planning things.  Oh, Aunt Madge, it is such a lovely house.  The
+dining-room and drawing-room are such handsome rooms, and there is such
+a study for Marcus.  It is too large for us, of course."  And then
+Olivia stopped and her eyes grew very wistful.
+
+"Aunt Madge, dear Aunt Madge, we want you and Deb to go with us.  I
+have set my heart on it, darling, and Marcus wants it too.  Don't get
+pale over it," as Mrs. Broderick gave a little gasp.  "Listen to me a
+moment," and Olivia knelt by the couch and put her arms round her.
+
+"There is Greta's morning-room on the first floor, it is such a large,
+cheerful room, with a bay-window overlooking the nice, old-fashioned
+garden, where you could lie and look out on the trees and flowers; here
+you see nothing but the four walls.  Greta's bedroom is next to it; you
+would have that, too; it is a pleasant front room, very large and airy,
+and so nicely furnished, and my room would be just opposite.  Deb could
+have the room just at the top of a short flight of stairs; it looks on
+the garden, too, and she could sit there and do her sewing.  There are
+three or four other rooms besides attics, but they have not been used,
+so you can judge what a good house it is.  Aunt Madge, do say you will
+come.  It will make us so happy to know you are safe under our roof.
+Think what it would be to me to have you at hand in all my little
+difficulties.  And you shall not be troubled; you shall live your old
+life, and Deb will have nothing to do but take care of you."  But Aunt
+Madge made no answer, only a curiously sweet smite played round her
+lips.
+
+"I should be no expense to you," she observed presently, in a
+reflective tone.  "I might even be able to help a little.  By-the-bye,
+Livy, how many servants do you propose to keep in this palatial
+mansion?"
+
+"I am afraid we can only afford two good ones at present.  That is my
+difficulty, Aunt Madge.  What am I to do with Martha?  She is certainly
+not eligible for a house-parlourmaid."
+
+"Keep her as Dot's nurse, and I will pay her wages.  Yes, I mean it,
+Livy.  In a year or two with careful training that girl will be worth
+her weight in gold.  She will be a second Deb to you in time.  Oh, that
+is Marcus, and we have not finished."
+
+"Well, are you coming to us, Aunt Madge?" were Marcus's first words as
+he entered the room.  There was unmistakable eagerness in his tone.
+"If you do not want Livy to cry out her eyes with disappointment, and
+if I am to have a peaceful moment for the next six months, I entreat
+you to consent."
+
+"Am I likely to refuse, Marcus?"  But Aunt Madge's voice was not so
+clear as usual.  "Don't you think that I shall love to have you and
+Livy caring for me? so it is 'yes,' and God bless you both."  And a
+slow tear rolled down Aunt Madge's pale face.
+
+Marcus and Olivia never repented that step.  As the years went on and
+other children's voices were heard in the house at Brunswick Place,
+when three sturdy, boys climbed up on Dr. Luttrell's knees, and two
+small, brown-eyed girls toddled after mother, Aunt Madge's room was the
+heart and nucleus of the busy household.
+
+There would come Marcus for a greeting word and a jest before he set
+off on his day's round, and there Olivia would betake herself for a
+rest and a chat.  When her household tasks had been despatched, she
+seldom found Aunt Madge alone; Nigel or Hugh would have brought her
+their kites to mend, or to beg that Deb would make them new sails for
+their boat, and, of course, where Nigel went, fat, sturdy Ronald
+followed.
+
+Or the twins would be playing with their Japanese babies on the carpet,
+or rolling over each other and Zoe (not the same Zoe, alas!) like
+kittens.  But the most frequent visitor was Dot, dimpled and winsome as
+ever.
+
+Olivia had verified Aunt Madge's words.  She had grown a little stouter
+and more matronly, and had become a fine-looking woman, but the eyes
+were as frank and kindly as ever, and one only needed to look at her to
+find out that she was thoroughly in harmony with her environment.
+
+And Madge Broderick was happy, although the years of her widowhood and
+banishment stretched out indefinitely.
+
+"You will make an old woman yet," Dr. Randolph often told her, but she
+had ceased to wince when he said it as though a cold hand had struck
+her.
+
+And year by year a deep peacefulness steals over the dear face, and the
+ring of cheerfulness in the full, mellow voice grows stronger.  "I have
+two lovely homes, Livy," she would say.  "One here with you and Marcus
+and the darling children, and one in the 'many mansions,' where Fergus
+and baby boy wait for me."  And as she said this a radiant smile would
+light her features like sunshine.
+
+
+
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