Apparently, she and Bertie were on their usual footing. Did the young fellow know of that absurd mistake about old Fordham? Did Percival really detect a shade of dim apprehension on Judith Lisle's face, as if she hid an unspoken fear? As Bertie leant forward and the lamplight shone on his clearly-cut features, Percival was more than ever certain of the change in him. Could his sister fail to see it? "Bertie," she said when they had finished their tea and were standing round the fire--"Bertie, I'm afraid you have lost one of your pupils." He had his elbow on the chimney-piece, his hand hung loosely open, and his eyes were fixed upon the leaping flames. When Judith spoke he looked up inquiringly. "Miss Nash--Emmeline Nash," said Judith. Percival happened to be looking at the fire too, and he suddenly saw Bertie's fingers drawn quickly up. But the young master spoke very composedly indeed: "Emmeline Nash--why? Has anything happened?" "No: only Mr. Nash has given in at last, and says she may go home at Easter for good.--She is older than any of the other pupils, Mr. Thorne: in fact, she is not treated as a pupil. But her father is--" "An old fossil," said Bertie. "Well!--interested in fossils and that sort of thing, and a widower; so there has not been much of a home for her, and he always fancied she was better at school. But school can't last for ever." "Happiest time of one's life!" Bertie ejaculated. "Oh! do you think so?" said Judith doubtfully. "Not at all. But I believe it is the right thing to say." "Stupid boy!--And as she will very soon be twenty, I really think she ought not to be kept there any longer." "Of course Miss Nash is delighted," said Percival. "Yes, but hardly as much so as I expected. One's castles in the air don't look quite the same when one is close to them. I am afraid, her home-life won't be very bright." "Perhaps she will make it brighter," said Thorne. "What is she like? Is she pretty?" "Yes," said Bertie. Judith smiled: "One has to qualify all one's adjectives for her. She is nice-ish, pretty-ish: I doubt if she is as much as clever-ish." "No need for her to be any more," Bertie remarked. "Didn't Miss Crawford say she would come in for a lot of money--some of her mother's--when she was one-and-twenty?" "Yes, five or six hundred a year." "That's why he has kept her at school, I suppose--afraid she should take up with a curate, very likely." "Mr. Nash is very rich too, and she is an only child," said Judith, ignoring Bertie's remark. "But I think it has been hard on Emmeline." "Well, I'm sorry she is going," said Lisle--"_very_ sorry." "Is she such a promising pupil?" Thorne inquired.