not given to
circumlocutions, and not afraid of her: she had no deeper object; but
fancying she heard the clerk, on his jump from the stool, inform her that
Mr. Abner was out, "Out?" she cried, and rattled the room, thumping,
under knitted brows. "Out of town?" For a man of business taking
holidays, when a lady craves for gossip, disappointed her faith in him as
cruelly as the shut-up, empty inn the broken hunter knocking at a hollow
door miles off home.

Mr. Abner, hatted and gloved and smiling, came forth. "Going out, the man
meant, Lady Charlotte. At your service for five minutes."

She complimented his acuteness, in the remark, "You see I've only come to
chat," and entered his room.

He led her to her theme: "The excitement is pretty well over."

"My brother's my chief care--always was. I'm afraid he'll be pitchforking
at it again, and we shall have another blast. That letter ought never to
have been printed. That editor deserves the horsewhip for letting it
appear. If he prints a second one I shall treat him as a personal enemy."

"Better make a friend of him."

"How?"

"Meet him at my table."

She jumped an illumined half-about on her chair. "So I will, then. What
are the creature's tastes?"

"Hunts, does he?" The editor rose in her mind from the state of neuter to
something of a man. "I recollect an article in that paper on the Ormont
duel. I hate duelling, but I side with my brother. I had to laugh,
though. Luckily, there's no woman on hand at present, as far as I know.
Ormont's not likely to be hooked by garrison women or blacks. Those
coloured women--some of ours too--send the nose to the clouds; not a bad
sign for health. And there are men like that old Cardinal Guicciardini
tells of...hum! Ormont's not one of them. I hope he'll stay in India till
this blows over, or I shall be hearing of provocations."

"You have seen the Duke?"

She nodded. Her reserve was a summary of the interview. "Kind, as he
always is," she said. "Ormont has no chance of employment unless there's
a European war. They can't overlook him in case of war. He'll have to
pray for that."

"Let us hope we shan't get it."

"My wish; but I have to think of my brother. If he's in England with no
employment, he's in a mess with women and men both. He kicks if he's laid
aside to rust. He has a big heart. That's what I said: all he wants is to
serve his country. If you won't have war, give him Gibraltar or Malta, or
command of one o