The April evenings were cold enough for a fire, and the wife, whose mental powers her husband considered so inferior, soon proved herself a true comforter. "Come and sit by the fire, Edward," she said, placing a tempting arm-chair near it; "you look anxious, dearest, has anything happened in the City to trouble you?" "I do not wish to annoy you with business matters, darling," was the reply; "go and make yourself comfortable in the drawing-room, I will come to you presently;" and her husband as he spoke placed his elbows on the table and rested his forehead on his hands. Mrs. Armstrong rose and advanced to where her husband sat; placing her arm across his shoulders she said-- "Edward, I am sure there is something wrong. I know I am not clever enough to advise you in business matters, but if you will only tell me what grieves you it will lose half its bitterness and relieve your mind." "Maria my dearest wife," said Edward Armstrong, rising and throwing himself into the easy-chair she had placed for him, "my troubles are about money; do you care to hear about them?" "I care to hear anything," she said, "if telling me will relieve your mind." "Then I will tell you the worst at once. Overton and Boyd have stopped payment, and the 20,000_l._ which I placed with them was to have been Mary's marriage portion." "And will she lose it all?" "I fear so. The bank talk of recovering themselves, but I doubt if they will." "Do you think this will trouble Mary?" "I cannot say; at all events it will interfere with her future prospects. She will have nothing but the 1000_l._ left by her grandfather. What man worth anything would marry her with that paltry sum for a marriage portion?" "You married me with less, Edward, and Mary is quite as attractive as I was, and I know one to whom Mary's little dowry of a thousand pounds would be a fortune." Mr. Armstrong did not reply, and his wife, thinking she had said enough, rose and left him to himself.