About three weeks after the visit of Archie and his friend, Mrs. Belswin was seated on the fallen trunk of a tree in Thornstream Park, meditating deeply over two letters lying on her lap. Around her the heavy foliage of the trees rustled in the chilly morning air, above her the sun shot golden arrows from the blue sky, and below her feet the lush grass, starred with delicate woodland flowers, sloped gently down to a babbling brook, the brown waters of which rippled noisily over its smooth stones. But Mrs. Belswin, with a frown on her face, paid no attention to these things, being occupied with disagreeable thoughts, evoked by the letters aforesaid; and after a pause she took up one impatiently, in order to read it for the second time. "Carissima Mia, "Why have you not written to me for so long? Every day I say, 'She will send to me a letter,' and every day I find the postman comes not. This is not right conduct to him who adores thee, my Lucrezia, and there is fear in my heart that I may lose thee. I am now singing at the Theatre Folly, in an _opera comique_ called 'Sultana Fatima,' and they pay me well, as they should, seeing I leave the grand Italian Opera for this street music. But that my English is so good, I would not have been the chief tenor here. It is not hard to sing, and I am content since I waste not my time and am near thee. But thou, oh my star adorable, must not stay long from him who hungers for thy smile. When does the illustrious husband come again? for I know that he will drive thee back to me, and we will go at once to my beautiful Italy. Send me a letter and say when thou wilt come to me, or I swear that I will come to thee in the country, in order to behold thee again. Thou hast seen thy child those many months; now I will that thou should'st return. I wait thy answer saying thou wilt return, or I myself will behold thee in thy village. Cara signora, I kiss your hand, "Thine unhappy "Stephano." When she had finished this, Mrs. Belswin let it fall on her lap, with a shrug of her shoulders, and picked up the other letter, which consisted of two lines---- "Pethram returns in three weeks, so unless you want trouble you'd better clear out.--A. D."