She left the room, and soon a man crossed the yard and shut the gate. The two boys went out, but only into the porch. Fred was so sleepy that he was glad to sit on the stone steps with his head on his brother's shoulder. Frank, white and weary, knowing the whereabouts of every bone in his body by a separate ache, yet manfully held the little one in his arms, and sat gazing at the paved court and the high walls. Somehow he felt like a bird in a cage. "Now, Janet, we're alone. Let's have a talk till dinner is ready." "Mrs. Rayburn, do you think Lord Beaucourt would be annoyed if you had my boys here for a time?" Having just asked them to stay, Mrs. Rayburn could not very well tell a different story now; but when she made that request, she had no idea that Janet would part with her darlings for so much as a week. But, after all, the boys could not be in her way. The house was large and the weather warm; they could be out for the greater part of the day, and they would not cost her a penny. So, after an almost imperceptible pause, she said— "My lord annoyed? Oh, dear, not at all. My mother, you know, was a confidential servant—almost a friend; and he is just as kind to me. If you like to let Frank stay here, I'll take the best of care of him—you know that." "Yes; so you said in the kind letter I sent on to Fred. And he has sent me word by my brother to leave them with you if you really can have them without being troubled about it afterwards." "To leave them both?" "Yes; Fred is ill and in trouble, and Gilbert says I had better go at once. Gilbert has plans for us, but it is not quite certain yet where we shall be. I am to go to Gattigo to my brother, and Fred will meet me there, and when we know where we shall settle, we will get the boys out. It will not be for long. Gilbert thinks of setting up an hotel in Gattigo, with Fred and me to manage it. And when we are quite settled, and can make you comfortable, you must come out to us, grandma. However pleasant things may be made for you here, it is not like being in your own house with your own people." "No, indeed, Janet, it's a deadly dull life here for one used to sociability and a large town. I often think of Hemsborough and the dear old gatehouse. I might be of use, too, in an hotel. Well, Maria is a good girl, and will help me willingly, and, as you say, it will not be for long. And what trouble is Fred in, poor dear fellow?" "He went into partnership with a man he had known before, and this man, Turner, was not dealing fairly, and he had to run away, and Fred's money was all lost." "If this Turner is the man who broke some years ago in Hemsborough, Fred ought to have known better than to have dealings with him. So he lost all he had?"