as though excusing his own slowness as to matrimony, and declared that what with the property and what with Parliament, he never knew whether he was standing on his head or his heels. But when he paused he had done nothing towards naming a certain day, so that Lady Amaldina found herself obliged to take the matter into her own hands. "When then do you think it will be?" she asked. He put his hand up and rubbed his head under his hat as though the subject were very distressing to him. "I would not for worlds, you know, think that I was in your way," she said, with just a tone of reproach in her voice. He was in truth sincerely attached to her;--much more so than it was in the compass of her nature to be to him. If he could have had her for his wife without any trouble of bridal preparations, or of subsequent honeymooning, he would most willingly have begun from this moment. It was incumbent on him to be married, and he had quite made up his mind that this was the sort of wife that he required. But now he was sadly put about by that tone of reproach. "I wish to goodness," he said, "that I had been born a younger brother, or just anybody else than I am." "Why on earth should you wish that?" "Because I am so bothered. Of course, you don't understand it." "I do understand," said Amaldina;--"but there must, you know, be some end to all that. I suppose the Parliament and the Lunatic Asylums will go on just the same always." "No doubt,--no doubt." "If so, there is no reason why any day should ever be fixed. People are beginning to think that it must be off, because it has been talked of so long." "I hope it will never be off." "I know the Prince said the other day that he had expected--. But it does not signify what he expected." Lord Llwddythlw had also heard the story of what the Prince had said that he expected, and he scratched his head again with vexation. It had been reported that the Prince had declared that he had hoped to be asked to be godfather long ago. Lady Amaldina had probably heard some other version of the story. "What I mean is that everybody was surprised that it should be so long postponed, but that they now begin to think it is abandoned altogether." "Shall we say June next?" said the ecstatic lover. Lady Amaldina thought that June would do very well. "But there will be the Town's Education Improvement Bill," said his lordship, again scratching his head. "I thought all the towns had been educated long ago." He looked at her with feelings of a double sorrow;--sorrow that she should have known so little, sorrow that she should be treated so badly. "I think we will put it off altogether," she said angrily. "No, no, no," he exclaimed. "Would August do? I certainly have promised to be at Inverness to open the New Docks." "That's nonsense," she said. "What can the Docks want with you to open them?"