r's house at the time of Jane's
departure thence; their curiosity, which only grew keener as time went
on, found no appeasement save in conjecture. That Sidney Kirkwood was
in the secret from the first they had no doubt; Bessie made a sly
attempt now and then to get a hint from him, but without the least
result. The appearance on the scene of Jane's father revived their
speculation, and just after the old man's illness in the month of
August occurred something which gave them still fresh matter for
argument. The rooms on the first floor having become vacant, Michael
proposed certain new arrangements. His own chamber was too much that of
an invalid to serve any longer as sitting-room for Jane; he desired to
take the front room below for that purpose, to make the other on the
same floor Jane's bed-room, and then to share with the Byasses the
expense of keeping a servant, whose lodging would be in the chamber
thus set free. Hitherto Bessie and Jane and an occasional charwoman had
done all the work of the house; it was a day of jubilation for Mrs.
Byass when she found herself ruling over a capped and aproned maid. All
these things set it beyond doubt that Michael Snowdon had means greater
than one would have supposed from his way of living hitherto. Jane's
removal from work could, of course, be explained by her grandfather's
growing infirmities, but Bessie saw more than this in the new order of
things; she began to look upon the girl with a certain awe, as one
whose future might reveal marvels.

For Jane, as we know, the marvels had already begun. She came back from
Danbury not alto ether like herself; unsettled a little, as it
appeared; and Michael's illness, befalling so soon, brought her into a
nervous state such as she had not known for a long time. The immediate
effect of the disclosure made to her by Michael whilst he was
recovering was to overwhelm her with a sense of responsibilities, to
throw her mind into painful tumult. Slow of thought, habituated to the
simplest views of her own existence, very ignorant of the world beyond
the little circle in which her life had been passed, she could not at
once bring into the control of her reflection this wondrous future to
which her eyes had been opened. The way in which she had been made
acquainted with the facts was unfortunate. Michael Snowdon, in spite of
his deep affection for her, and of the trust he had come to repose in
her character, did not understand Jane well eno