"He doesn't, he doesn't grudge you your artistic expansion!" said Mr. Aix, and went to George and put his hand on his shoulder. "Old George is the best sort in the world at the bottom. Pull yourself together, dear old man, and be thankful you have a clever wife, as well as a good one. She's a genius--she's better, she's a brick. I can tell you she's a heaven-born actress, and you know what sort of a wife she has been to you. Speak to her, man, don't let her cry her heart out now, in the hour of her triumph. What's a triumph? At the best but short-lived! Don't grudge it her! Congratulate her----" George came out of his corner and took Mother's hand and kissed it nicely, as I have seen him kiss Lady Scilly's hand, but Mother's never. "One can only beg your pardon, Lucy, for this, and everything else. Can you forgive me?" I re-open my MS. to add a few facts of interest. 1. Ariadne got a baby in June; his name is Almeric Peter Frederick. 2. Aunt Gerty got her brewer, and Mrs. Bowser has left the stage. 3. Ben was sent to school, and they say he is clever, though I never could see it. 4. Lady Scilly has run away with the chauffeur and, so far, hasn't come back. 5. I am going to stay with Ernie Fynes' mother, Lady Fynes, at Barsom. Ernie will be away at Eton, but he loves me. THE END _Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._ THE BEST BOOKS TO ASK FOR AT ALL LIBRARIES AND BOOKSELLERS NEW NOVELS BY POPULAR WRITERS Price 6/-each VIOLET HUNT THE CELEBRITY AT HOME By VIOLET HUNT, Author of "The Maiden's Progress," "A Hard Woman," etc. (Fourth Edition.) MARY STUART BOYD THE MAN IN THE WOOD By MARY STUART BOYD, Author of "Our Stolen Summer," "With Clipped Wings," etc. ALICE AND CLAUDE ASKEW THE SHULAMITE By ALICE and CLAUDE ASKEW KEBLE HOWARD THE GOD IN THE GARDEN By KEBLE HOWARD, Author of "Love and a Cottage." With Illustrations by FRANK REYNOLDS. H. C. BAILEY RIMINGTONS By H. C. BAILEY, Author of "My Lady of Orange," etc. H. A. BRYDEN DON DUARTE'S TREASURE: A Story of South Africa By H. A. BRYDEN, Author of "An Exiled Scot," "From Veldt Camp Fires," etc. RIDGWELL CULLUM THE HOUND FROM THE NORTH: The Story of a Canadian Farm By RIDGWELL CULLUM, Author of "The Devil's Keg," etc. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, LTD. MAJOR W. P. DRURY'S SEA STORIES _NEW VOLUME SHORTLY_ THE PERADVENTURES OF PRIVATE PAGET. BY MAJOR W. P. DRURY, Author of "The Shadow on the Quarter-Deck," etc. Crown 8vo, _3s. 6d._ MAJOR DRURY'S OTHER WELL-KNOWN BOOKS BEARERS OF THE BURDEN THE PASSING OF THE FLAGSHIP AND THE SHADOW ON THE QUARTER-DECK Crown 8vo, _3s. 6d._ RECENT SUCCESSFUL NOVELS IN DEMAND AT THE LIBRARIES. Crown 8vo, 6/- THE WAYS OF THE MILLIONAIRE By OSWALD CRAWFURD JEMIMA By ELLA MACMAHON. Second Edition. SETTLING DAY By ALFRED HURRY LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, LTD. _A FRENCH COUNTRY BOOK_ THE FIELDS OF FRANCE BY MADAME MARY DUCLAUX (A. MARY F. ROBINSON) Third Edition. Crown 8vo, 5s. net. _PRESS COMMENTS._