pondered oyer the card which, with a polite
request for an interview, the servant had just delivered. "I cannot
remember the name, if I ever heard it before; but should we not invite
him to join us at breakfast?"

"Where is he, Simon?" asked Miss Leicester.

"At the door, miss, and a very nice-looking gentleman as ever I saw."

"Say that I have been ill, Simon, and cannot walk to the door, and beg
he'll be kind enough to come in to breakfast."

With a manner where ease and deference were admirably blended, Linton
entered the room, and apologizing for his intrusion, said, "I have come
down here, sir, on a little business matter for my friend Roland
Cashel, and I could not think of returning to town without making
the acquaintance of one for whom my friend has already conceived the
strongest feeling of interest and regard. It will be the first question
I shall hear when I get back, 'Well, what of Mr. Corrigan, and how is
he?'"

While making this speech, which he delivered in a tone of perfect
frankness, he seemed never to have noticed the presence of Miss
Leicester, who had retired a little as he entered the room, and now, on
being introduced to her, made his acknowledgments with a grave courtesy.

"And so our young landlord is thinking of taking up his residence
amongst us?" said Corrigan, as Linton assumed his place at the
breakfast-table.

"For a few weeks he purposes to do so, but I question greatly if the
tranquil pleasures and homely duties of a country life will continue
long to attract him; he is very young, and the world so new to him, that
he will scarcely settle down anywhere, or to anything, for some time to
come."

"Experience is a capital thing, no doubt, Mr. Linton; but I 'd rather
trust the generous impulses of a good-hearted youth in a country like
this, long neglected by its gentry. Let him once take an interest in the
place and the people, and I'll vouch for the rest. Is he a sportsman?"

"He _was_, when in Mexico; but buffalo and antelope hunting are very
different from what this country offers."

"Does he read?--is he studious?" said Mary.

"Not even a newspaper, Miss Leicester. He is a fine, high-spirited,
dashing fellow, and if good-nature and honorable intentions could
compensate for defective education and training, he would be perfect."

"They'll go very far, depend on it, Mr. Linton. In these days, a man of
wealth can buy almost anything. Good sense, judgment, skill, are all in
th