before the little stuffed owl,
and she could not but wonder what thoughts it might have excited, until
suddenly the recollection of Jane dissipated her visions with so violent
a revulsion that she was shocked at herself, and perceived that there
was a victory to be achieved.

'It shall be at once,' said she. 'I WILL mention her. To be silent would
show consciousness. Once done, it is over. It is easier with my altered
looks. I am another woman now.'

She heard him coming down, and almost hoped to be spared the meeting,
but, after a moment's pause, he entered.

'Well,' he said, 'I hope I have done him no harm. I think better of him
now than when I came home. He looks to me as if the worst was over.'

They were the first words of hope, and spoken in that hearty, cheery
voice, they almost overset her weakened spirits, and the struggle with
tears would not let her answer.

'You have had a most trying time,' said he, in the kind way that stirred
up every old association; but that other thought made her guarded, and
she coldly hurried out the words--

'Yes; this is the first time my father has been out. He went in search
of you, to ask how you met poor Arthur, who has been able to give no
account of himself.'

'We met on board the steamer. He had been obliged to leave Boulogne
without finishing his business there, and I went back to settle it for
him.'

'And the papers he had lost?'

'I had them: it is all right.'

'And his mind relieved?'

'I hope it is.'

'Oh! then, we may dare to hope!' cried she, breathing freely.

'I trust so; but I must go. Perhaps I may meet Lord Martindale.'

With a great effort, and a 'now-or-never' feeling, she abruptly said, 'I
hope Jane is well.'

He did not seem to understand; and confused, as if she had committed an
over familiarity of title, she added, 'Mrs. Fotheringham.'

She was startled and hurt at his unconstrained manner.

'Very well, I believe. I shall see her this evening at Worthbourne.'

'Has she been staying there long?' said Theodora, going on valiantly
after the first plunge.

'Ever since the summer. They went home very soon after the marriage.'

A new light broke in on Theodora. She was tingling in every limb, but
she kept her own counsel, and he proceeded. 'I saw them at Paris, and
thought it did very well. She is very kind to him, keeps him in capital
order, and has cured him of some of his ungainly tricks.'

'How did it happen? I have heard no partic