"Why, Uncle Ted, you are quite morbid! Of course I won't! And if you're ill, send for me at once. I will run over and tell you directly I have made my plans. I am not going very far-away, you know. Good-bye, dear." She gave him one of her old hugs, then turned quickly away, for there were actually tears in the Major's eyes. He coughed them down, and as Sidney watched his retreating figure out of the carriage window, she noted that his shoulders seemed extra bent and his limping gait more discernible. "He is getting an old man," she said to herself. "Oh, I hope she will be kind to him." To Thanning Towers she went, and took with her there an atmosphere of sunny content which was felt by all who came near her. Mrs. de Cressiers' troubled brow relaxed; she could speak to Sidney, and to Sidney alone, of her fears about her husband's state of mind and body. And the very speaking of it seemed to lift a weight off her spirit. Mr. de Cressiers liked to hear her sing. It was the keenest delight left to him to listen to any music, and Sidney's wonderfully sweet and thrilling voice brought messages of peace and comfort to his soul. Austin shouldered his burden in gay spirits when Sidney was near at hand. She was the recipient of confidences from father, mother and son, and her presence in the house was joy to all. Jockie still came and went. At first she said she would be wanted no longer, but Mr. de Cressiers was always ready to listen to her lively chatter, and Sidney told Mrs. de Cressiers that her gay spirits were better than any amount of doctor's visits for the invalid. Mrs. de Cressiers assented. She had no objection to the pleasant intercourse that existed between her husband and Jockie, but when it came to that between her son and the girl, she became alarmed. Sidney laughed at her. "You must expect young people to be friendly; Jockie is the last girl in the world to mean anything serious by it. And if it did come to anything, you would gain a dear little daughter-in-law!" "She is a perfect hoyden, and not at all the style I approve of. I want Austin to marry in his own class, not beneath him." "But," expostulated Sidney, "Jockie is a little lady. Her father is Mr. Borlace's cousin, and you have always said that it was an advantage to us to have a rector who was really well born." "Oh yes; the rector is a gentleman, but the Borlaces are not county; and I don't know who the girl's mother was. Austin must marry well." "There is no one about here who is good enough for him," said Sidney with a mischievous smile. "You despise titles, so you would not care for a titled daughter-in-law. I think Jockie would suit him very well." Mrs. de Cressiers' head was a few inches higher than usual. "She would not suit me. I do not want to be connected with our rector. If I thought that there was anything between them, I should stop her coming to the house altogether."