be actuated by the ordinary motives, she discerned in
him a softness, a pliability of nature, which would harmonise with her
own timid disposition. To the thought of deceiving him on the subject of
her past, she was reconciled by a resolve to make his happiness the sole
object of her existence in the future. Horace was amiability itself, and
seemed, if not to love her ardently (which, perhaps, she did not even
desire), at least to regard her with an increasing affection.

Nothing was said about the condition of the prospective bridegroom's
health, though Horace had confided to Mrs. Damerel that he suffered from
a troublesome cough, accompanied now and then by an alarming symptom. In
her boundless exultation at the end achieved, Mrs. Damerel made light of
this complaint. Horace was not free to marry until nearly the end of
the year; for, though money would henceforth be no matter of anxiety,
he might as well secure the small inheritance presently due to him.
November and December he should spend at Bournemouth under the best
medical care, and after that, if needful, his wife would go with him to
Madeira or some such place.

No wonder Mrs. Damerel could think of nothing but the great fact that
Horace had secured a fortune. Her own resources were coming to an end,
and but for the certainty that Horace would not grudge her an ample
provision, she must at this moment have been racking her brains (even
as through the summer) for help against the evil that drew near.
Constitutional lightness of heart had enabled her to enjoy life on a
steadily, and rapidly, diminishing fund. There had been hope in Nancy's
direction, as well as in her brother's; but the disclosure of Nancy's
marriage, and Horace's persistency in unfriendliness, brought Mrs.
Damerel to a sense of peril. One offer of marriage she had received
and declined; it came from a man of advanced years and small property.
Another offer she might, or thought she might, at any moment provoke;
but only in direst extremity could she think of bestowing her hand upon
Luckworth Crewe. Crewe was in love with her, an amusing fact in itself,
and especially so in regard to his former relations with Nancy Lord. He
might become a wealthy man; on the other hand, he might not; and in any
case he was a plebeian.

All such miseries were now dismissed from her mind. She went abroad with
the Chittles, enjoyed herself at Brighton, and came home to prepare for
Horace's wedding, Horace himse