“I am afraid, with all my fears and fancies, that I should be a sort of death’s-head at the feast,” replied Hamilton, a little mournfully. “I hate parting with my Theresa, but she is safer with you. As your wife, the enemy may never suspect whom she really is. If it pleases you--if it pleases Theresa, my dear boy--I am agreeable to all that you may do and desire. But for myself, I shall remain here. I have enough money to buy the place--the money I have saved for Theresa, and I think that the evening of my life may be spent in comparative happiness now that I know my beloved child is well provided for. Treat her tenderly, Sir Harold, for she is like a delicate flower, that would droop and die if neglected or deprived of the sunshine of your love.” “God helping me, I ever will,” the baronet fervently responded. “And now,” continued Mr. Hamilton, “what of your business affairs? Between us--Colonel Greyson and me--everything can be managed until you feel disposed to assume the reins of control. I have had a letter from the colonel to-day. He is in Switzerland, and inquires anxiously about you. His letter contains news that surprises me, and we must really try and keep better informed with that which is happening about us. The Earl of Seabright recently met with an accident, and is dead.” “Indeed!” remarked Sir Harold, indifferently. “I endeavored to become interested in the _Daily Telegraph_ you brought home last Saturday, but its very strangeness bewildered me. I felt like a man who had been asleep for half a century when I tried to connect the politics I remembered and the politics of to-day.” “Well, what do you think of my proposal?” continued Hamilton; “you will require funds while abroad, and who so reliable as myself in all that interests you? Besides, the occupation will be of benefit to me, for when you and Theresa are gone, I shall be a lonely old man.” “I am grateful to you,” the young man said, heartily; “no better arrangement could possibly be made.” “I am glad that you think so, and, as I have a letter of introduction from the colonel to his London bankers, I will present it to-day. It is of no use leaving everything until the last moment, and you will be wanting money soon.” “Yes,” was the thoughtful rejoinder. “You may draw a few hundreds on my behalf, and enter into arrangements with the colonel to let me have five thousand pounds in a month’s time. I suppose that I have plenty of funds, and I must make Theresa a handsome wedding present. You can explain, if you like, that I am going to be married!” He laughed pleasantly. “It shall be as you say,” Mr. Hamilton told him. “And now, if you will excuse me, Harold, I will go and dress, as I want to catch an early train. Our new servant will arrive by and by, and Theresa will look after her.”