sigh.

"Don't say anything to Francis about the packet," he said to me, as we
walked back from the post. "Such business I must manage unknown to her;
she does not understand these things, and she would not agree with
me; and with her temper--at my age I have great need of quiet--that
you comprehend. The Captain is entirely indebted to me for his rank,
and it is but natural he should pay me some little attention. Yet you
heard how my granddaughter took the matter up this morning. Instead of
being content with me for retiring to this wilderness of a place, which
I did to please her, she does nothing to render my life supportable."

"And yet the Werve is beautifully situated, uncle."

"I agree with you there; but when one must give up all field sports,
this becomes a very isolated place. The village offers not the
slightest resource, and the town is too far away."

"Why don't you sell the Castle, uncle?"

"Ah, my dear boy, for that I must have money, much money; and that
I have been in want of all my life. There are so many mortgages
on the Castle that nobody would give the sum necessary to pay
them. Besides, the person who bought it would like to possess the
neighbouring estates. My sister-in-law, who possessed the Runenberg
estates bordering on my property, wished to buy it, but I refused
her; family hatred would not suffer me to make room for her. Thank
heaven, she's gone. She instituted proceedings against me about a
strip of land of no real value to either of us; and the lawsuit cost
me thousands of guilders. She won, as a matter of course, and then
laid claim to a small bridge which connected the land in question
with my grounds. Again I lost my money and my case; and now I must
make a long round to reach places quite near, because the use of the
bridge is forbidden me. Oh, that woman has been the curse of my life!"

"But to come back to the question. Overberg has commissioned me to say
that the heir to the Runenberg is likely to make you an advantageous
offer for the Werve."

"It could be done privately--as in the case of the farms? Overberg
arranged that for me--and there are reasons for avoiding a public
sale," cried the old man, brightening up with a ray of hope.

"Yes, Overberg said as much; the only question was whether you could
be induced to sell it."

"For myself, yes, with all my heart. But Francis--there's the
rub! She has an affection for this old rats' nest, for the family
traditions, and for