"That's the piano. You know, Maudie, you would have a good one. And by-the-bye," she added, letting her remark fly into the air like a bombshell, "and by-the-bye, if either of us gets married before the piano is paid for, will the other poor wretch have to finish off the payments by herself?" "Well, even if she does," said Maudie, "the one that has to finish off the payments will have the piano." CHAPTER XII TWOPENNY DINNERS Possession to some natures seems always to demand value in what is possessed; to others it has exactly the opposite effect. Julia duly implanted in her parents' minds the preliminary idea that a change from Ye Dene might be desirable. But the Whittakers did not leave the Park just then, for it was only a few days after the conversation between the two girls on the subject of removal, that quiet, unoriginal Maudie cast a veritable bombshell into the family circle. For Maudie got engaged to be married. I have spoken earlier in this story of a house in the immediate neighborhood of Ye Dene which was called Ingleside, and I have just mentioned a family of the name of Marksby. The Marksbys lived at Ingleside, and Ingleside was almost exactly opposite to Ye Dene; the Marksbys, indeed, were next-door neighbors of the M'Quades. They had not very long been in possession of that desirable residence, and, mind you, Ingleside was a most desirable residence, one of the best to be found in the length and breadth of the Park. The family consisted of the father and mother, two daughters and a son. Mr. Marksby, as far as the Park was concerned, was that mysterious "something in the city" which covers such a multitude of sins, or if not sins, at least of blemishes, social and otherwise. They did themselves and their neighbors extremely well, kept good-class servants, had the smartest window curtains and flower-boxes in the Park, went to church regularly, gave largely in charity and entertained freely. What wonder that, in their case, people did not too closely inquire into the exact definition of "something in the city."