ass out of her hands by means of a lawsuit, of which
everybody spoke as though it were the best thing in the world for
all the parties concerned. People, when they mentioned Sir John Ball
to her--and he was often so mentioned--never spoke of him in harsh
terms, as though he were her enemy. She observed that he was always
named before her in that euphuistic language which we naturally use
when we speak to persons of those who are nearest to them and dearest
to them. The romance of the thing, and not the pity of it, was the
general subject of discourse, so that she could not fail to perceive
that she was generally regarded as the future wife of Sir John Ball.

It was the sudden way in which all this had come upon her that
affected her so greatly. While staying in Arundel Street she had
been altogether ignorant that the story of the Lion and the Lamb had
become public, or that her name had been frequent in men's mouths.
When Mrs Buggins had once told her that she was thus becoming famous,
she had ridiculed Mrs Buggins' statement. Mrs Buggins had brought
home word from some tea-party that the story had been discussed among
her own friends; but Miss Mackenzie had regarded that as an accident.
A lawyer's clerk or two about Chancery Lane or Carey Street might by
chance hear of the matter in the course of their daily work;--that it
should be so, and that such people talked of her affairs distressed
her; but that had, she was sure, been all. Now, however, in her new
home she had learned that Mr Maguire's efforts had become notorious,
and that she and her history were public property. When all this
first became plain to her, it overwhelmed her so greatly that she was
afraid to show her face; but this feeling gradually wore itself away,
and she found herself able to look around upon the world again, and
ask herself new questions of the future, as she had done when she had
first found herself to be the possessor of her fortune.

When she had been about three weeks with the Mackenzies, Sir John
Ball came to see her. He had written to her once before that, but his
letter had referred simply to some matter of business. When he was
shown into the drawing-room in Cavendish Square, Mrs Mackenzie and
Margaret were both there, but the former in a few minutes got up
and left the room. Margaret had wished with all her heart that her
hostess would remain with them. She was sure that Sir John Ball had
nothing to say that she would care to hea