very good, and no one by to hear me; but as to proclaiming him to the world under such. a character, I should as soon have thought of calling him a monkey. I am afraid Mrs. Harford thought me very cold-hearted because I did not extol my husband's virtues to the skies, and protest how much I loved him; but such demonstrations were not in my way. I only said I was quite satisfied with Gilbert, and that I hoped, with God's blessing, to be extremely happy, while she launched out again into extravagant praises of her Eustace, who, she triumphantly averred, "had not a thought apart from her, nor the least will of his own."

This was far worse than Captain Druce, whose uxorious tendencies, by-the-bye, Nora greatly exaggerated; for he could be fussy enough when he chose, only the two, being so thoroughly alike in habit and disposition, scarcely ever came into antagonism.

It re

I asked Gilbert as we were going down the hill what he thought of Cecilia's model husband, and he replied wickedly, "My dear, I should say he has been brought up on milk, rose-water, and sponge-cakes; while she must have imbibed champagne and curries from her earliest childhood. mains to be seen how such utter incompatibility of character will answer. Euthusiastic people are easily disgusted, and weak minds are apt to degenerate into fretfulness and vapid remonstrances. I am very glad you are more reticent, more subdued I may say, than Mrs. Harford."

"And I am very glad, my dear Gilbert, that you are not 'archangelic.""

Another day, and we were on our road to Cotswoldbury. Ah! the last time I had seen those hills, then rich in the late autumn colouring of foliage and atmosphere, now ribbed and ridged with winter snow, which had melted from the valleys, but still lay pure and sparkling on the bleak Woldscote uplands! There was the dingy station, and there were the fair terraces and crescents of the clean, bright town, smiling in the sunshine; and there, as the train stopped, nearly all the household from the Palace of Content. "The tin-box man,-"I beg his pardon, the Professor,—stouter

than of yore, but with bushier beard, and hair more tumbled than ever; and, oh! the way he strode along the platform! looking, I am certain, just like one of Ossian's ghosts; only there never was a Scandinavian ghost half so good, or half so true and genial as my dear old friend, "William North, Esq., F.L.S., F.S.A., F.G.S., as the press had it when it reported his papers as read at scientific gatherings.

And there was sweet Mrs. North as pretty and charming as of old; and Hetty, grown nearly out of knowledge; and Willy, "a regular pickle," as his papa called him; and wee Johnny, who was the baby when first I knew the family; and the fat dumpling, Marian; and the new baby, Maggie, my own little namesake, wonderfully wide-awake, and ridiculously like her father. We chartered the Plough omnibus on the spot, and drove away to the Palace of Content.

CHAPTER XLVII.

GOING HOME.

WE spent a very pleasant week with the Norths, and, to my great surprise, I received during my stay at Maple Cottage a stiff letter from my uncle; to whom I had written, as a mere matter of form, the day after my marriage. He neither reproved me nor congratulated me on the step I had taken; he was evidently glad to have me well off his hands, or, rather, off his conscience, for on his hands I had not been since my abrupt withdrawal from his guardianship. He thought, however, that as I was now married, my business affairs might as well be settled at once, especially as I was so nearly of age; he therefore desired me to call, with my husband, on his lawyer, and take legal possession of the property which I inherited from my father.

Of course we lost no time in paying this visit, and we found accordingly all things in proper order, and my £400 swelled by accumulated interest, which my uncle was so generous as not to touch, into £500. This money, a few

jewels, some rather antiquated articles of plate-family heirlooms a very tolerable library, a little furniture, which Susan Pratten had had in keeping for me, and my own hardearned grand pianoforte, was all the fortune I took with me to my husband. Nevertheless, it was much more than Gilbert had expected: he knew nothing about the £400, or, if he had heard me speak of it casually, he had forgotten; he really believed that " my heart and lute were all my store," that is to say my heart and my beautiful new Broadwood! So that when we went back to London with our wealth, we thought ourselves quite rich people. Gussie had returned to Cotswoldbury, but we saw Nora pretty frequently, and Captain Druce and Gilbert became great friends, so that it was only natural that their wives should spend much of their leisure together. Also those rumours touching poor Sibyl, of which I spoke in a former chapter, began about this time to be bruited about, and even before Gilbert left England we had heard much that made us feel uncomfortable and ashamed.

For the middle of February was near at hand, and Gilbert would have to join his ship, which was under sailing orders for the 16th. How my heart quailed at the prospect of that farewell! and how swiftly the days passed by after the second month of the year had actually set in! We had agreed that I should still remain in my old quarters; only I had a sitting-room to myself, a large, cheerful, first-floor room overlooking the street, and allowing plenty of space for my piano. I was to go on with my pupils, too; for, after all, our income was rather an insignificant one; and there were the dear ones at St. Eldred's to be cared for. Besides, it would be better that in my husband's absence I should have some regular occupation. If I had to sit with my hands before me, or practise only for my own pleasure, I felt that I should very soon go crazy. It was actually imperative that I should find plenty of work; and as pupils crowded upon me, and I could command my own terms, it was certainly the most sensible thing I could do to return to my old calling, which I had, in fact, never abandoned, though

I had given a longer vacation than is generally permitted to music mistresses, even if they are fortunate enough to spend their holidays in getting happily married. Nora wanted me to come out to the West-end, but of course I could not think of such a change. It would have unsettled all my plans, besides being out of the way of many of my pupils also. It costs infinitely more to live in Belgravia and its vicinity, than in Bloomsbury; the last objection being insurmountable, and sufficient in itself to prevent me from committing myself to any rash procedure.

Well! day after day passed, oh! how rapidly! and soon it came to our last evening in King-street. The "Caroline ” would be dropping down the river to-morrow, and Gilbert must be at his post.

"Cheer up, little woman,' ," he said, as I was sitting looking into the fire after tea, and thinking of storms and shipwrecks, and especially of Captain Nicholson's death, and his lonely grave at Rara; "this voyage is not so long nor so dangerous as the last. The spring is at hand, and then the summer will come, and you must go down to St. Eldred's again; and as soon as ever the leaves begin to change colour, you may begin to think of my return. In November at the latest I hope to be at home." Then I was very foolish, and, instead of trying to strengthen my husband to go through what was as much of a trial to him as to me, I laid my head on his shoulder, and cried passionately, declaring that I could not let him go.

"I owe

"But I must go, my love," was his quiet answer. it to my employers to go, and nothing now would induce me to disappoint them. Margaret, you are a sailor's wife, and you must be brave. I shall be doing my duty. God can guard me as entirely on the sea as on the land. in the tempest as well as in the calm, darling. Remember that, and do not let me carry away such sad reminiscences of our last evening."

He is

But I cried on like a silly girl; I had allowed myself to become hysterical, and all the tears I had repressed of late years seemed now on the eve of being poured forth in one

overwhelming deluge. Weeping can generally be controlled at the outset, that is, if you are in tolerably good health; but give the passion of tears its full vent for a very little time, and your sobbing and crying gets the better of you, and continues till your physical strength is quite exhausted. Gilbert was infinitely distressed when he saw that I was not to be comforted, only he had not the heart to scold me as I deserved, though a good rating was the very thing I wanted to make me reasonable. I had it, however, fortunately for my own peace of mind afterwards, for I should have bitterly reproached myself had I spent all those precious hours in vain and selfish lamentation, doing myself no good, but sadly grieving and disappointing my husband, who had many things to say to me before we parted, things that I felt, as soon as I was left alone, I would not for the world have missed. It was from quiet Mrs. Brown that my scolding came. It was not the first she had given me, I must say; and her reproofs were always salutary. She saw at a glance how matters were, and she took my hand and said, My dear, do you wish at once to go to bed and to be unable to rise to-morrow when Mr. Tredgold is leaving us? You are very unkind to him; you are giving him needless pain and anxiety; and I really thought you were more sensible than most girls." And a great deal more the old lady added in the same strain, always insisting on my great unkindness to Gilbert; till I began to feel very much ashamed of myself, and to struggle very hard to force back the tears and sobs that would burst out again as fast as ever I repressed them.

The evening ended, however, more happily than it began, and after awhile I could listen quietly to all that Gilbert had to say, and answer him with tolerable though enforced composure, and before bed time I felt cheered and comforted, and, oh! so sorry that I had been, even for an hour, a hindrance rather than a help-meet to my husband. For he was going to his duty, he was simply taking the path that Providence had marked out for him, yet he was leaving behind him all that he held most dear, and the struggle