unfinished house.

"I don't think it would have done at all, under all the
circumstances," said Mrs. Askerton.

But in the following spring or early summer they did get into the new
house;--and a very nice house it was, as will, I think, be believed
by those who have known Mr. William Belton. And when they were well
settled, at which time little Will Belton was some seven or eight
months old,--little Will, for whom great bonfires had been lit, as
though his birth in those parts was a matter not to be regarded
lightly; for was he not the first Belton of Belton who had been born
there for more than a century?--when that time came visitors appeared
at the new Belton Castle, visitors of importance, who were entitled
to, and who received, great consideration. These were no less than
Captain Aylmer, member for Perivale, and his newly-married bride,
Lady Emily Aylmer, _nee_ Tagmaggert. They were then just married,
and had come down to Belton Castle immediately after their honeymoon
trip. How it had come to pass that such friendship had sprung up,--or
rather how it had been revived,--it would be bootless here to say.
But old alliances, such as that which had existed between the Aylmer
and the Amedroz families, do not allow themselves to die out easily,
and it is well for us all that they should be long-lived. So Captain
Aylmer brought his bride to Belton Park, and a small fatted calf was
killed, and the Askertons came to dinner,--on which occasion Captain
Aylmer behaved very well, though we may imagine that he must have had
some misgivings on the score of his young wife. The Askertons came
to dinner, and the old rector, and the squire from a neighbouring
parish, and everything was very handsome and very dull. Captain
Aylmer was much pleased with his visit, and declared to Lady Emily
that marriage had greatly improved Mr. William Belton. Now Will had
been very dull the whole evening, and very unlike the fiery, violent,
unreasonable man whom Captain Aylmer remembered to have met at the
station hotel of the Great Northern Railway.

"I was as sure of it as possible," Clara said to her husband that
night.

"Sure of what, my dear?"

"That she would have a red nose."

"Who has got a red nose?"

"Don't be stupid, Will. Who should have it but Lady Emily?"

"Upon my word I didn't observe it."

"You never observe anything, Will; do you? But don't you think she is
very plain?"

"Upon my word I don't know. She isn't as handsom