Seven o'clock--nay, some fifteen minutes before it--brought Sir Turtle Kite to the Earl of Acorn's. Sir Turtle enjoyed the visit and the dinner immensely--though he frankly avowed his opinion that his own port wine was the best. For once the earl's wife made herself gracious; tart though she might be at other times, she knew something of gratitude; and Grace, who made the fourth at table, could not keep her heart's thankfulness out of her manner--for where should they all have been without Sir Turtle? But Mr. Grubb did not make his appearance. Neither had Lord Acorn heard from him. CHAPTER XXVII. SEPARATION. Pacing his library at Chenevix House, in almost the same perturbation that was tormenting his mind when we first met him in this history, strode the Earl of Acorn. The cause of disquiet was not the same. Then it had arisen from a want of cash; now it was the trouble connected with his daughter Adela. By the mantelpiece, erect and noble as ever, but with a countenance full of pain, stood Mr. Grubb. He could scarcely speak without betraying his emotion. Lord Acorn was agitated also--which was a great deal to say of _him_. Mr. Grubb had come this morning to inform Lord Acorn of the separation he had resolved upon; and to submit its terms for his approval. Never, he said, would he live with his wife again. After what had passed recently, and after the years of penance he had endured with her, he could only put her away from him. "And, egad, it is what I should do myself," thought the earl. But he did not say so. He said just the opposite. "_Must_ this be, Grubb? Cannot she and you make it up--or something?" "Never again," was the decisive answer. "Could you, looking at matters impartially, _wish_ me to do it? Though, as her father, perhaps it is too much to expect you to exercise an impartial judgment," considerately added Mr. Grubb. "I don't excuse her; mind that, Grubb. And I acknowledge--I'll be shot if I can help saying it--that some men would have put her away before this. She has behaved ill to you; no doubt of it; but she is young and light-headed, and will gain sense with time. Can't there be some modification?" "Not any," spoke Mr. Grubb. "The pain this decision has caused me no one will ever know, but there has not been one moment's wavering in my mind as regards its absolute necessity. Lord Acorn, I think you cannot blame me. Imagine yourself in my place, and then see whether you do." "I don't, I don't, looking at it from your point of view," said the earl. "I am thinking of Adela, and the blow it will be to her." "A blow?--to be rid of me? Surely not. It is what she has been wishing for years." "In talk. Girls will talk--silly minxes! To be put away by you, Grubb, and from her home, is quite another thing." "She must care for my home as little as she cares for me. She has already taken the initiative, and left it." Lord Acorn wheeled round on his heel in surprise. "Left your home, Grubb? What do you mean?"