‘Indeed, you do not know him, Lady Tresham.’ ‘I do not know Sir Roland, my dear, but I have known many men, and they are all alike. The philosophy of few of them will survive their personal discomfort. Sir Roland will find things very different on his return to England, and the old feelings will have an opportunity of revival. Come, my dear girl, you must not lose heart.’ ‘But I am so ignorant how to order things aright,’ sighs Juliet, ‘I have had so little experience.’ ‘I will be your teacher, if you will permit me. Tresham Court always had the credit of being well governed under my reign. And first, I would make an improvement in your dress. Such a beautiful figure was never meant to be concealed under that clumsy thing.’ ‘I was obliged to get my mourning ready made,’ says Juliet, looking down at her ill-fitting black robe. ‘True; but I must send my dressmaker to you forthwith. And now let me see the dear little ones. I love children all the more that I have never been a mother.’ And so the ladies, already friends, drift away into that most interesting of feminine topics, the nursery, and great plans are laid for the benefit of Juliet’s little family before they separate again. On the same day Sir Roland is making his final preparations to join his sister’s party, though not without a few self-reproaches, which he stifles by recalling the establishment at Forthill Terrace, Camden Town. It is only fair, he tells himself, that after so many years of domestic misery he should use his unexpected liberty by taking a little change. And for the first few days the change bids fair to fulfil its promise. The Carnaby-Hicks proceed South leisurely, taking the Rhine on their way, and Sir Roland can conceive of no more delicious sensation than floating down the River of Romance on those balmy August evenings by the side of Mabel Moore. That young lady does not spare him in any way. From the beginning she claims his attendance for herself, and exercises all her fascination freely upon the unfortunate man, who cannot help being attracted by the charms of her person, and the meaning glances she so liberally bestows upon him. ‘What a pity that Juliet has not a more commanding appearance,’ he thinks to himself, as he watches Mabel’s fine form distinctly outlined in the moonlight. ‘Miss Moore has twice her importance; she looks as if she had been born to a title.’ And Mabel interrupts his reverie by a heavy sigh. ‘Why do you sigh, Miss Moore?’ ‘I was thinking how unequally this world is balanced, Sir Roland. Everything goes wrong, doesn’t it?’ ‘I cannot quite agree with that sentiment; not, at least, whilst you and I are floating down the Rhine together.’ ‘But it won’t last.’ ‘Not for ever, unfortunately. But let us enjoy it whilst it does.’