It was summer, and in one respect Sharsley was at its best; but, on the other hand, the neat trimness, and the closely mown lawns appeared to be things of the past. The place now wore a desolate, neglected appearance, and as he approached, the visitor noticed that the shutters of most of the rooms were closed, and the avenue and gravel paths were full of weeds. On enquiry at the door, he was informed that Mrs. Blagdon was somewhere in the grounds, and after a search he found her playing with her child--a beautiful little golden-haired creature, now able to walk, attended by a somewhat grim-looking nurse. Her mother, sitting upon the grass making daisy-chains for her, sprang up when she saw Lumley approaching, and greeted him with smiles. But how she was changed! He felt shocked. The roundness of Letty’s face was gone; her beautiful blue eyes looked sunken, their expression was strained and anxious; she might be seven or eight years older than her real age--which was little more than twenty. Evidently she had passed through a devastating storm which had ravaged her looks and broken her heart. It was as if he and her husband had both coveted the same beautiful flower, and Blagdon had plucked it, and thrown it away to wither and die. But there was no sign of depression in Mrs. Blagdon’s manner or conversation; she asked many questions about his regiment and Egypt; she talked of his father and sister and Mrs. Hesketh. No, she had not been over to Thornby for nearly a year. In answer to his exclamation of astonishment, she coloured and said: “You see, I can’t very well leave baby.” “Then I suppose they come over and see you fairly often?” “Not very often,” she answered, with a trembling lip. She was not disposed to inform him, that her husband had quarrelled with Mrs. Fenchurch, and practically turned Mrs. Hesketh out of the house, and hastily changed the subject. Presently the grim-looking nurse picked up the child, and said: “It’s time for Miss Cara’s tea,” and was about to carry her off when Lumley interposed. “She is a darling!” he said, taking her little hand in his as it hung over the nurse’s shoulder. “I don’t know much about children, but she seems to be perfect--and very like you,” and he raised the little chubby fingers to his lips. Subsequently it was mooted in the servants’ hall, that that “’ere young Lumley the officer, who had been strolling about the grounds with the missus for the best part of an hour, had told her to her face that she was perfect and a darling, and that nurse had heard him say so, with her own two ears!” No doubt it was from this source that the first faint whisper of gossip rose, and was wafted into the village; and possibly it was not very discreet of young Lumley to come up to Sharsley alone,--or even with his sister, two or three times a week. Passers-by peering through the railings in the park walls, had paused and stared; sometimes they could see _two_ figures, pacing up and down the long terrace!