"Indeed? I did not know." "Marie thought it would be a pleasant change for her, and companionable as well, and dear Lady Littletown, who was calling at the time, said it was the best thing we could do. So she is gone." "It would be a most pleasant change." "And, of course, you know, dear Mr Montaigne, Ruth is no longer a child, and--er--you understand." "Yes, of course," said Montaigne; who, however, recalled to mind that Ruth was quite a child until her cousins were married. At that idea of seeing company and the following suggestion of marriage the strange pallor became more evident in Montaigne's countenance, and in spite of his forced smile and self-control, he kept passing his dry tongue over his parched lips, and unconsciously drew in his breath as if he were suffering from thirst. He grew worse as the conversation continued to take the ugly turn, to him, of marriage. For, said the Honourable Philippa: "Lady Littletown informs us that a marriage is on the _tapis_ between Mr Arthur Litton, a friend of Mr Elbraham, and our dear Lady Anna Maria Morton." "I congratulate Lady Anna Maria, I am sure," said Montaigne huskily; and as he glanced at the Honourable Isabella that lady trembled more than usual, and believed that Montaigne was reading her heart, and mentally asking her whether she would ever be married to Marcus Glen. Mr Montaigne refused to stay to lunch. He had so many little things to attend to consequent upon the business that had called him to London; in fact, even now he was only down for a few hours, having come to seek some papers. These he had found, and he was going back to town at once. Business was very tiresome, he said. The honourable sisters agreed that it was, and Mr Montaigne took his leave with reverent, affectionate grace, and passed out into the gardens, along whose broad gravel paths he walked slowly in his customary way--bland, sweet, and introspective with his half-closed eyes. But though he did not increase his pace in obedience to his rapidly-beating pulse, a close observer would have noticed that he did not stop to feed the fishes on his way back to Teddington, while his landlady was surprised at the hurried way in which he again took his departure. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The change from Hampton Court to Saint James's was delightful to Ruth, who only felt one drawback to the pleasure of her visit--that she could not expect to see Marcus Glen and Richard Millet during her walks.