“Well and hearty; she sent you scores of loves,--if it was like long ago, I 'd have said kisses too,” said he, laughing. But Dolly never smiled; a grave, sad look, indeed, came over her, and she turned her head away. “I was so glad to hear of your coming home, dear Dolly. I can't tell you how dreary the Burnside seems without you. Ay, pale as you are, you make it look bright and cheery at once. It was a sudden thought, was n't it?” “I believe it was; but we 'll talk of it all another time. Tell me of home. Janet says it's all as I left it: is it so?” “I suspect it is. What changes did you look for?” “I scarcely know. I believe when one begins to brood over one's own thoughts, one thinks the world without ought to take on the same dull cold coloring. Haven't you felt that?” “I don't know--I may; but I'm not much given to brooding. But how comes it that you, the lightest-hearted girl that ever lived--What makes you low-spirited?” “First of all, Tony, I have been ill; then, I have been away from home; but come, I have not come back to complain and mourn. Tell me of your friends and neighbors. How are all at the Abbey? We'll begin with the grand folk.” “I know little of them; I have n't been there since I saw you last.” “And how is that, Tony? You used to live at the Abbey when I was here long ago.” “Well, it is as I tell you. Except Alice Trafford,--and that only in a carriage, to exchange a word as she passed,--I have not seen one of the Lyles for several weeks.” “And didn't she reproach you? Did n't she remark on your estrangement?” “She said something,--I forget what,” said he, impatiently. “And what sort of an excuse did you make?” “I don't remember. I suppose I blundered out something about being engaged or occupied. It was not of much consequence, anyhow, for she did n't attach any importance to my absence.” [Illustration: 266] “Don't say that, Tony, for I remember my father saying, in one of his letters, that he met Sir Arthur at the fair of Ballymena, and that he said, 'If you should see Tony, doctor, tell him I 'm hunting for him everywhere, for I have to buy some young stock. If I do it without Tony Butler's advice, I shall have the whole family upon me.'” “That's easy enough to understand. I was very useful and they were very kind; but I fancy that each of us got tired of his part.” “They were stanch and good friends to you, Tony. I 'm sorry you 've given them up,” said she, sorrowfully. “What if it was _they_ that gave me up? I mean, what if I found the conditions upon which I went there were such as I could not stoop to? Don't ask me any more about it; I have never let a word about it escape my lips, and I am ashamed now to hear myself talk of it.” “Even to me, Tony,--to sister Dolly?” “That's true; so you are my dear, dear sister,” said he, and he stooped and kissed her forehead; “and you shall hear it all, and how it happened.”