On the whole, however, Mr. Chadwick is a happy man. He has an imperturbably good temper, which no amount of business worry can upset, and he is very proud of his wife. There were plenty of men of birth and breeding whom Mr. Chadwick had met in business, and who, knowing his wealth and the value of a connection with him, would have been only too glad to introduce the rich boiler-maker to their sisters and daughters, and to use all their influence to induce those female members of their family to secure his hand. But Mr. Chadwick, in his own frank phraseology, 'did not go in for swells;' and though in later days he was pleased to see a large number of smart people at his house, and to read their names and titles duly set forth in the next morning's paper, it was because he knew this gave pleasure to his wife, whose every wish he delighted in forestalling. When Mr. Chadwick first saw Miss Irvine, with a rose in her hair and a piece of music in her hand, in front of the orchestra at the St. James's Hall, and heard her warble 'Coming through the Rye,' he determined that, if possible, she should be his wife. The difficulty was not great; the young lady was ambitious, her father was mercenary; and from the day on which they were married, 'my Fan' was Mr. Chadwick's first consideration, ranking even before 'the works,' which up to that time had held possession of his mind, to the exclusion almost of any other subject. Mrs. Chadwick was what is called 'an elegant-looking woman,' with dark complexion, regular features, and a slight figure; her manners were good, she spoke French and Italian with fluency, had sufficient shrewdness to catch the pervading tone, and was altogether quite presentable in society. She had been ambitious when she was only a concert-singer, and dependent on her own resources. Now that she had a large income at her command she determined to make her mark; to be talked of, renowned, the object of curiosity, and the subject of gossip, was her dearest wish. She could have obtained the notoriety she wanted in one season, by entering into a desperate flirtation--for there would have been no lack of men willing to flirt to any extent with her, some for mere fun, and others in the hope of making a good thing of it--and there are always plenty of persons ready to spread scandal and slander. But Mrs. Chadwick had no intention of entering upon any flirtation, even of the mildest kind; she said she was 'not naturally given that way,' and moreover she had seen quite enough of poverty and precarious existence to prevent her from compromising the very excellent position which fate had assigned her; so she sat herself calmly down at the foot of the social ladder, determined to scale it by entertainments given to the best people whom she could induce to accept her invitations. She began by inviting the wives of the baronets and members of parliament with whom Mr. Chadwick was concerned in various business matters; and though these ladies, who