ensations. I heard
of you at Brighton. You were very happy there, were you not?"

"I liked Brighton pretty well. And I had Arion there all the while.
There are some capital rides on the Downs."

"Yes, and you had agreeable friends there."

"Yes, we knew a good many pleasant people, and went to a great many
concerts. I heard all the good singers, and Madame Goddard ever so many
times."

They went on till the end of the waltz, and then walked slowly round
the room, glancing at the pictures as they went by. The Duchess was not
in sight.

"Shall we go and look at the palms?" asked Roderick, when they came to
the archway at the end of the gallery.

"If you like."

"This was the roof that had to be taken off, you know. It is a
magnificent dome, but I daresay the palms will outgrow it within Lord
Southminster's time."

It was like entering a jungle in the tropics; if one could fancy a
jungle paved with encaustic tiles, and furnished with velvet-covered
ottomans for the repose of weary sportsmen.

There was only a subdued light, from lamps thinly sprinkled among the
ferns and flowers. There were four large groups of statuary, placed
judiciously, and under the central dome there was a fountain, where,
half hidden by a veil of glittering spray, Neptune was wooing Tyro,
under the aspect of a river-god, amongst bulrushes, lilies, and
water-plants.

Violet and her companion looked at the tropical plants, and admired,
with a delightful ignorance of the merits of these specimens. The tall
shafts and the thick tufts of huge leaves were not Vixen's idea of
beauty.

"I like our beeches and oaks in the Forest ever so much better," she
exclaimed.

"Everything in the Forest is dear," said Rorie.

Vixen felt, with a curious choking sensation, that this was a good
opening for her to say something polite. She had always intended to
congratulate him, in a straightforward sisterly way, upon his
engagement to Lady Mabel.

"I am so glad to hear you say that," she began. "And how happy you must
be to think that your fate is fixed here irrevocably; doubly fixed now;
for you can have no interest to draw you away from us, as you might if
you were to marry a stranger. Briarwood and Ashbourne united will make
you the greatest among us."

"I don't highly value that kind of greatness, Violet--a mere question
of acreage; but I am glad to think myself anchored for life on my
native soil."

"And you will go into Parliament and legisla