"He will have plenty of room here to run about and get himself tamed down a little," he explained, "whereas in London he would be miserable. You need not trouble yourself about him, he is clever enough to take care of himself and you into the bargain. If you don't really like him I can send him to my fathers, only it struck me he would be just what you want here; what do you say about it?" He put the question, but would perhaps have been surprised had a third person pointed out how little doubt he felt about the answer. Miss Cartwright would have looked upon herself as a barbarian if she had refused any gift offered her by Jack, and immediately set herself to apply to Cartouche the same hopefulness which she had brought to bear upon her nephew's education. Miss Preston's wrath was great, but there was another power in the house--Winter, Miss Cartwright's maid, and Winter hated Miss Preston. Opposition, therefore, carried Winter to the side of Cartouche, and opposition forms as strong a bond as anything else. CHAPTER TWO. AN AGREEMENT. Jack's slumbers were far too sacred in the eyes of his aunt for her to think of disturbing them; she was preparing to retreat carefully, when he looked up and began to laugh. "I was not asleep, I give you my word." "Oh, well, my dear," she said, happy again now that the shade on his face was gone, "I am sure it would not have been wonderful if you had dozed off after your journey, though I really don't know where you have dropped from; and I shall be quite glad to sit down and have a long talk, for you know there is a great deal to be told." "Well, yes, I suppose there is." But he did not seem inclined to begin, though Miss Cartwright looked wistfully at him. She said presently, with rather a quavering voice, "There is no bad news?" Just enough of a pause followed her question to make her heart sink, then he said quickly-- "Certainly not. What has come to you, Aunt Mary? You never used to indulge in these sort of fancies. If Cartouche makes you nervous I shall take him away. But I know what it is, Miss Preston has been scolding you for all the wickedness of the world. Even in Florence that woman is as bad as three fogs and an east wind." And he rattled on with more nonsense of the sort, but it was so evident that he was making talk to avoid some subject closer to each of them, that Miss Cartwright almost grew vexed. "My dear," she said, "do leave poor Miss Preston alone." "She won't leave you alone, that is what I complain of. Come now, hasn't she got some unhappy clergyman of whom she falls foul?" "Well, she did say she thought the new chaplain had too much self-possession for so young a man, and I said I did not think he was so very self-possessed, because when he makes a mistake he always coughs, which obliges one to notice it the more." "Worse and worse," said Jack gravely; "she's making you as severe as she is herself."