"I do wish, my dear, you'd let the dear child have her breakfast in peace; and do sit down and let your cousin be, Claud, dear; I'm sure she will not eat bacon. It's so fidgeting to have things forced upon you." "You eat your egg, ma! Kitty and I understand each ether. She wants feeding up, and I'm going to be the feeder." "That's right, boy; she wants stamina." "But she can't eat everything on the table, James." "Who said she could? She isn't a stout elderly lady." The head of the family looked at his niece with a broad smile, as if in search of a laugh for his jest, but the smile that greeted him was very wan and wintry. "Any letters, my dear?" said Mrs Wilton, as the breakfast went on, with Kate growing weary of her cousin's attentions, all of which took the form of a hurried movement to her side of the table, and pressure brought to bear over the breakfast delicacies. The wintry look appeared to be transferred from Kate's to her uncle's face, but it was not wan; on the contrary, it was decidedly stormy. "Yes," he said, with a grunt. "Anything particular?" "Yes, very." "What is it, my dear?" "Don't both--er--letter from John Garstang." "Oh, dear me!" said Mrs Wilton, looking aghast; and her husband kicked out one foot for her special benefit, but as his leg was not eight feet long the shot was a miss. "Says he'll run down for a few days to settle that little estate business; and that it will give him an opportunity to have a few chats with Kate here. You say you like Mr Garstang, my dear?" "Oh, yes," said Kate, quietly; "he was always very nice and kind to me." "Of course, my darling; who would not be?" said Mrs Wilton. "Claud, boy, I suppose the pheasants are getting scarce." "Oh, there are a few left yet," said the young man. "You must get up a beat and try and find a few hares, too. Uncle Garstang likes a bit of shooting. Used to see much of John Garstang, my dear, when you were at home?" "No, uncle, not much. He used to come and dine with us sometimes, and he was always very kind to me from the time I was quite a little girl, but my father and he were never very intimate." "A very fine-looking man, my dear, and so handsome," said Mrs Wilton. "Yes, very," said her husband, dryly; "and handsome is as handsome does." "Yes, my dear, of course," said Mrs Wilton; and very little more was said till the end of the breakfast, when the lady of the house asked what time the guest would be down. "Asks me to send the dog-cart to meet the mid-day train. Humph! rain's over and sun coming out. Here, Claud, take your cousin round the greenhouse and the conservatory. She hasn't seen the plants." "All right, father. Don't mind me smoking, do you, Kitty?" "Of course she'll say no," said Wilton testily; "but you can surely do without your pipe for an hour or two." "Oh, very well," said Claud, ungraciously; and he offered his cousin his arm.