"I am not a very wise person to consult," she replied, with a charming little smile, "but what little wit I have is quite at your service, papa." "My dear child," he said, "between ourselves, the Studleighs have never been deficient in wit, but there has hardly been one steady head in the whole race." "That is deplorable enough. We must try to alter it," she said, laughingly. "To begin with, I will steady my own. What do you wish to consult me about, papa?" "I want to do something substantial and handsome for your foster-parents," he said. "What shall it be?" "A steam-plow for Mark, and a black satin dress for his wife--that is the highest ambition of both." "Then you shall present them those gifts. But I mean something substantial. What do you think of a thousand pounds as a dowry for his daughter, and a thousand to be spent in improvements on the farm?" "I think you are very fortunate to have thousands to spare; and I think also that it is very charming of you to give them so much," she replied. Lord Linleigh looked wistfully at her. "Money could never repay such a benefit as Mark Brace and his wife have conferred upon me, Doris," he said. "I am an aristocrat, it is true; but I shall be more proud of reckoning that honest farmer among my friends than I should of calling a king brother." "That is a very grand sentiment, papa," laughed Doris. "It is almost worth printing in a book. I must confess I would rather have a king for my brother than any man for a friend. I think Mark will be delighted with the steam-plow. After all, what you are pleased to call the benefit they conferred on you was not without its reward. Mark Brace was very fond of me--he always said I made the sunshine of Brackenside." The earl looked amused at this fashion of making matters straight; but before they went away, he gladdened the hearts of the farmer and his wife. "A thousand pounds!" said Mark, looking in the most bewildered fashion at the check he held in his hand--"a thousand pounds, my lord, to spend as I like! It is impossible--it cannot be true. I must not take it--I have done nothing to deserve it." But Lord Linleigh greeted his scruples with: "You have done for me and my daughter that which few would have done so well," he said. "I did my duty, my lord--no less, no more; and a thousand pounds for doing my duty is an enormous reward." But his surprise was redoubled when, added to this, the earl insisted that he should take a thousand pounds for Mattie's dowry, and would not hear of any refusal. Then, indeed, the tears stood, warm and bright, in Mark's eyes, and Mrs. Brace wept like a child. "A dowry for Mattie!"--the brightest hope, the maddest dream they had ever entertained. Mattie to have a fortune! Not that it would make her a wealthy heiress, but it would at least secure her from all want. Let them die now, whensoever Heaven pleased--their daughter would never want.