He has never mentioned his wife whilst enumerating the advantages his new fortune will bring him. He has never once congratulated himself on the fact that _she_ will no longer be obliged to slave and work and deny herself as she has been used to do. All he thinks of are the children and himself. ‘When will you come into all this, Roland?’ she asks. ‘I am it now! I was the Baronet from the moment of my poor brother’s death.’ ‘And shall we go to Tresham Court soon?’ ‘Directly the funeral is over. I shall see the lawyers and Valeria the first thing in the morning, and know all about it. But I would rather you went upstairs and left me alone. I must have time to become accustomed to the idea of this wonderful transformation scene. By to-morrow morning I shall be all right. Good-night! Good-night! There will be no more trouble about money now. And Sir Wilfrid shall be at Eton before he knows what he is about. By Jove! How marvellously things do come round.’ He nods her a careless farewell in an excited sort of manner, and the new Lady Tresham creeps up to her bed and takes baby Roland in her arms, and sobs herself to sleep with his chubby face pressed close against her bosom. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER II. TRESHAM COURT, GLAMORGANSHIRE. ‘Now you will be able to take that trip to Italy with us,’ says the Honourable Mrs Carnaby-Hicks a few days later, as Sir Roland and she sit in the artistic drawing-room in Blue Street together. The funeral of the late baronet is over—and the new one is installed in his stead. Lady Tresham and the children are already at the Court, and Sir Roland has come up to town to see his sister. ‘You can come to Italy with us,’ repeats Mrs Carnaby-Hicks. ‘You are sadly in need of rest and change, and it will do you all the good in the world. You will find our dear Mabel a most charming companion, and I am sure you have earned the right to take a holiday!’ ‘I should enjoy it above all things,’ replies Sir Roland, as he glances at Miss Moore. ‘But do you think it would be advisable. Shall I not be expected to take up my residence at Tresham Court, at all events for a while?’ ‘Not a bit of it! I hope you are not going to make yourself a slave to your position. Besides, from what you tell me, I should imagine it will be all the better for Lady Tresham to get a little accustomed to housekeeping before you rejoin her. She must need practice.’ Sir Roland lifts his hands deprecatingly. ‘Heaven help my guests if she doesn’t improve! But there seems to be an excellent staff of servants down there, and the majority will remain with us. And it would be so delightful to get away from it all. I thirst to leave the remembrance of the past entirely behind me—when do you start, Valeria?’ ‘The day after to-morrow!’ ‘That is sharp work. I shall hardly have time to do my business here and run down to Tresham Court and back again in a couple of days.’