SINK OR SWIM? A Novel. BY THE AUTHOR OF “RECOMMENDED TO MERCY,” ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18 CATHERINE ST. STRAND. 1868. [_The right of translation and reproduction is reserved._] LONDON: ROBSON AND SON, GREAT NORTHERN PRINTING WORKS, PANCRAS ROAD, N.W. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAP. PAGE I. WHAT DID HONOR KNOW? 1 II. THE COLONEL LAYS A PLOT 16 III. UNSTABLE AS WATER 23 IV. THE HALF-REBUKE 41 V. “THAT WAS HONOR’S MOTHER?” 57 VI. THE COLONEL GETS HIS QUIETUS 69 VII. WAS HONOR GLAD OR SORRY? 80 VIII. JOHN WISHES THE PAST UNDONE 88 IX. HONOR FINDS A NEW RELATION 94 X. A GRANDMOTHER’S LOVE 115 XI. HONOR SHOWS A LIKING FOR THE “BELL” 122 XII. “THERE’S GOOD, AFTER ALL, IN HER” 130 XIII. LADY MILL HAS BUSINESS ON HAND 139 XIV. HONOR FEELS LIKE A “LADY” 151 XV. COLONEL NORCOTT FEELS PATERNAL 169 XVI. JOHN DECIDES AGAINST HIMSELF 178 XVII. HUMBLE LOVE 193 XVIII. DISAPPOINTMENT 213 XIX. LE PREMIER PAS 219 XX. SILENT SORROW 231 XXI. HONOR DECEIVES HERSELF 238 XXII. THE TURNING OF THE HEAD 262 XXIII. THE RECTOR COMMITS HIMSELF 274 XXIV. FAST DOWNHILL 281 SINK OR SWIM? CHAPTER I. WHAT DID HONOR KNOW? “I had nothing to do with it! By the God that made me! by the--” “O sir, pray don’t talk in that way. I never said--I--I never thought--no, no; things would have been different, must have been different, if I had.” And the flush on Mrs. Bainbridge’s pale cheeks (she was a sickly-looking woman) grew deeper still, through the violence of her protest.