‘Well, my dear, it _ought_ not to have been bad news to her, for of what moment can the doings of a young man like Mr. Charteris be to a woman of the age of Sophy Markham? But you know how ridiculous she makes herself, and the absurd notions she gets into her head, and I suppose she was really persuaded that the man liked her and so forth, and now she says that he has blighted her whole life, and she can never be happy again.’ ‘But _why_, Mrs. Carolus? You have not yet told me the reason.’ ‘Oh! I suppose you have known it all along, as Mr. Charteris has been living with the Lovetts, but poor Sophy never heard till yesterday, when she was in Rille and met young Frederick Stephenson, that his cousin was a married man.’ ‘Mr. Charteris _married_!’ I exclaimed. ‘Oh no! she must be mistaken. It is _impossible_. It cannot be the case.’ ‘What! _You_ had not heard it either, then?’ inquired Mrs. Carolus, curiously. ‘This beats everything! But you may rely on the truth of my assertion. Young Mr. Stephenson told Sophy who his wife had been—a Miss Mary Ferrier, a great heiress, and they have a beautiful place called Parkhurst in Devonshire, and two children, and they’ve all had the scarlet fever, and that is the reason that Mr. Charteris was afraid to go home. Shabby of him, _I_ call it, to desert his family in an extremity like that; but men are all selfish, my dear. Yet why he should have considered it necessary to come amongst us as a bachelor, puzzles me altogether.’ ‘_Married!_’ I repeated, as various recollections tending to confirm Mrs. Carolus’s statement floated in upon my mind, and then, a sudden fear seizing me, I exclaimed: ‘Oh! I hope Miss Markham has not gone into the Lovetts’ especially to tell them this!’ ‘I can’t say, Miss Marsh, but she is very full of it, and you know what Sophy is over a piece of news. But where are you going?’ ‘Home—home!’ I cried, as I commenced to run up the hill. ‘Don’t try to detain me. I must get home if I can, and prevent this story reaching Ange’s ears.’ I have no doubt I left Mrs. Carolus in a state of the utmost perplexity and bewilderment, but I had no time for explanation. All my desire was to reach Tessie’s side before she had communicated Miss Markham’s news to her sister. As I raced towards the house, I met Sophy tripping downwards, but I would not stop even to inquire how much mischief she had done. I gained the door, panting and breathless, and came upon Tessie in the _salle_, still more tearful and alarmed than she had been before. ‘Oh, Hilda! I am afraid that Ange is worse.’ ‘How? why? Who has been here?’ ‘Only Sophy Markham, and she didn’t stay a minute. And she told us the most wonderful news——’ ‘Never mind the news! Where did you see her?’ ‘She came up to Ange’s bedroom! I couldn’t leave her, you know.’ ‘And she told her wonderful news by that child’s bedside, and Ange heard every word of it! Oh! Tessie—Tessie! you have killed your sister!’ [Illustration: [Fleuron]]