“You need not mention them. It will be all right later on, when I see my father and prepare him, you know. But now I am obliged to keep him in the dark. Mrs. Harper would not have given me my money, had she known. It’s only for a short time that I am forced to resume my old name, and I assure you, Mrs. Kane, that it’s not very pleasant.” “Ay, well now, I think it’s rather a joke--something like a play at the Adelphi, where in the end the father comes in and blesses the young couple, and they all live together, happy as sand-boys, ever after. That will be your case, you’ll see!” emphatically. “I hope so, but I doubt it,” returned her lodger. “I will be content if my husband recovers his health. Money is nothing in comparison to health.” “Ay, may be so; but money is a great comfort all the same,” said Mrs. Kane, squeezing the note affectionately in her hand, and wondering how many more of the same quality were in Mrs. Wynne’s purse--“a great comfort!” “Well then, now you know all, Mrs. Kane,” said the other, rising, “I can depend on you? You will be our friend in this matter, and, believe me, you will be no loser.” “Certainly you can’t say fairer nor that, can you, ma’am?--though, as far as I’m concerned, I’m always delighted to oblige a lady for nothing, and I always fancied you from the first time I saw you in the hall, and you knocked over that pot of musk, and so Maria will tell you. As for the secret, wild horses would not tear it from me; and I’m that interested in you, as I couldn’t express to you, and allus was--you ask Maria--just as if you was my own daughter. I can’t say fairer nor that, can I?” And opening the door with a wide flourish, she waved Madeline through, who, rather staggered by this unexpected compliment, passed quickly into the lobby, and with a farewell nod, hurried back to her family in the upper regions, and set about preparing tea. She also made preparations for the expected visit of their chief counsellor, Mr. Henry Jessop. CHAPTER XI. CHANGE OF AIR AND SCENE. Mr. Jessop duly arrived, and found, to his amazement, that his fish and fruit had been forestalled; and there were other and yet greater surprises in store for him. He listened to Madeline’s plainly told tale, with his glass rigidly screwed into his eye, his mouth pinched up as if he had an unusually intricate “case” under his consideration. He never once interrupted her, until she brought her recital to an end, and she, in the heat and haste of her narrative, had permitted him to know more of their poverty than he had dreamt of. The Wynnes were as proud as they were poor; the extremity of their straits was kept for their own exclusive experience. Mr. Jessop gave an involuntary little gasp as he listened to the revelation about the pawnbroker, the history of the miniature, and medals, and rings. “By the way, I am going to redeem them the first thing to-morrow!” said Madeline hurriedly.