"You will have to get at her when she is alone, you know. It would be no good making it a topic of general conversation." "I shall be as wise as the serpent, Emily," the good man permitted himself an appreciative sally. "Perhaps I shall not even introduce the subject at all on a first call, eh? It might not be in good taste--not that one should heed that. But if my clumsiness were to prejudice the cause--oh, I must certainly beware of clumsiness. Let me see, to-day is Thursday," and out came the note-book; and after due consideration Monday was fixed upon, whereupon Mr. Custance rose briskly. "You may depend upon it, I shall go to the Abbey on Monday. And if this poor little widow's heart is in the right place----" a glance shot from his eye. He foresaw sacks of coal and piles of blankets. He fed and he clothed. He distributed the older Farmiloe orphans hither and thither, and gathered the little ones together under his wing, which, weak before, would now be strong to shelter and support. The Barnaby lad should have better nursing and an easier couch. There was the old couple at the disused toll-gate too. It was a blissful dream; and it is sad to think--but we will not anticipate. At Claymount Hall, the theme was treated from another point of view. Here dwelt a very fine old lady with a youthful grandson, of whom it may be briefly said that the neighbourhood thought Valentine Purcell a fool, and that Val himself was very much of its opinion. "_She's_ clever enough for two though, ain't she?" opined he,--and on this point it was the neighbourhood who endorsed his opinion. The pair were an unfailing source of interest and amusement. Mrs. Purcell's latest word and Val's latest deed invariably went the round, and to their house as a centre every fresh topic made its way. It was there, we may observe, that the doctor's wife had met the Boldero girls and heard about Leonore, and it might be added that it was there also the Reverend Eustace Custance gained the like intelligence. Let us hear how it was taken by the Purcells themselves. Val, as usual, grinned from ear to ear, and had nothing to say--but his grandmother had plenty, and directly her guests had departed she summoned the young man to her side. "What is this I hear about the Bolderos?" This was Mrs. Purcell's little way of finding out what others had heard. It is true that she was slightly deaf as she was partially blind,--but she heard a great deal more and saw a vast deal further than most of her neighbours, and Val was never in the least taken in by a parade of infirmities. On the present occasion he simply waited for the speaker to proceed.