u mean, if it were Seaview still and not Fairholme----?"

"No, I don't. I've no business to think anything of the sort, and I
don't think it," Bob interposed quickly. "You asked me a question and I
answered it. I'm not in a position to know anything about you, and I'm
not going to say anything."

"A good many reasons enter into a marriage sometimes," remarked Harry.

"Yes, with people like you. I know that."

His renewed reference to Harry's position brought another frown to
Harry's face, but it was the frown of thoughtfulness, not of anger.

"I can't quarrel with the way of the world, and I'm sure if it does come
off you'll be good to her."

"You think I don't care about her--about her herself?"

"I don't know, I tell you. I don't want to know. I suppose you like
her."

"Yes, I like her." He took the word from Bob and made no attempt to
alter or to amplify it.

Bob was mounting now; the hour was late for him to be abroad and work
waited him in the morning.

"Good-night, Tristram," he said, as he settled in his saddle.

"Good-night. And, Bob, if by any chance it doesn't come off with me, you
have that turn-up with the Major!"

"Well, I don't like the idea of a foreign chap coming down and---- But,
mind you, Duplay's a very superior fellow. He knows the deuce of a lot."

"Thinks he does, anyhow," said Harry, smiling again. "Good-night, old
fellow," he called after Bob in a very friendly voice as horse and rider
disappeared up the road.

"I must go to bed, I suppose," he muttered as he returned to the bridge
and stood leaning on the parapet. He yawned, not in weariness but in a
reaction from the excitement of the last few days. His emotional mood
had passed for the time at all events; it was succeeded by an apathy
that was dull without being restful. And in its general effect his
interview with Bob was vaguely vexatious in spite of its cordial
character. It left with him a notion which he rejected but could not
quite get rid of--the notion that he was taking, or (if all were known)
would be thought to be taking, an unfair advantage. Bob had said he was
born to it and that he could not help it. If that had indeed been so in
the fullest possible sense, would he have had the notion that irritated
him now? Yes, he told himself; but the answer did not quite convince.
Still the annoyance was no more than a restless suggestion of something
not quite satisfactory in his position, and worth mentioning only as the