"Harm!" growled old Bowker; "you don't imagine when you begin to speak seriously of such a thing that I, of all people, should say there was any harm in it? I thought you were chaffing at first, and so I chaffed; but I'm about the last man in the world to dissuade a young fellow with the intention and the power to work from settling himself in life with a girl such as I know this one to be. So far as I have seen of her, she has all our Geoff's sweetness of disposition combined with an amount of common-sense and knowledge of the world which Geoff never had and never will have." "She's A1, old boy, and that's all about it; but we're going a-head rather too quickly. Ive not said a word to her yet, and I scarcely know whether--" "Nonsense, Chancy! A man who is worth any thing knows right well whether a woman cares for him or not; and knows in what way she cares for him too. On this point I go back to my old ground again, and say that Geoffrey Ludlow's sister could not be dishonest enough to flirt and flatter and play the deuce with a man. There's too much honesty about the family; and you would be in a very different state of mind, young fellow, if you thought there was any doubt as to how your remarks would be received in that quarter, when you chose to speak." Mr. Potts smiled, and pulled his moustache, triumphantly now, not doubtfully as was his wont. Then his face settled into seriousness, as he said: "You're right, William, I think. I hope so, please God! Ive never said so much as this to any one, as you may guess; but I love that girl with all my heart and soul, and if only the dealers will stick by me, I intend to tell her that same very shortly. But what you just said has turned my thoughts into another channel--our Geoff." "Well, what about our Geoff?" asked Mr. Bowker, twisting round on his seat, and looking hard at his friend. "You must have noticed, Bowker--probably much more than I have, for you're more accustomed to that sort of thing--that our Geoff's not right lately. There's something wrong up there at Elm Lodge, that I can't make out,--that I daren't think, of. You remember our talks both before and after Geoff's marriage? Well, I must hark back upon them. He's not happy, William--there, you have the long and the short of it! I'm a bad hand at explaining these matters, but Geoff's not happy. He's made a mistake; and though I don't think he sees it himself--or if he does, he would die sooner than own it--there can be no doubt about it. Mrs. Ludlow does not understand,--does not appreciate him; and our Geoff's no more like our crony of old days than I'm like Raffaelle. There, that's it, as clear as I can put it!" Bowker waited for an instant, and then he said: