own room to read it. The letter she thought was perfect, but
not so perfect as was Mr Whittlestaff. When she had read the letter,
although she had pressed it to her bosom and kissed it a score of
times, although she had declared that it was the letter of one who
was from head to foot a man, still there was room for that jealousy
of which John Gordon had spoken. When Mary had said to herself
that he was of all human beings surely the best, it was to Mr
Whittlestaff and not to John Gordon that she made allusion.

CHAPTER XXIII.

AGAIN AT CROKER'S HALL.

About three o'clock on that day Mr Whittlestaff came home. The
pony-carriage had gone to meet him, but Mary remained purposely out
of the way. She could not rush out to greet him, as she would have
done had his absence been occasioned by any other cause. But he had
no sooner taken his place in the library than he sent for her. He had
been thinking about it all the way down from London, and had in some
sort prepared his words. During the next half hour he did promise
himself some pleasure, after that his life was to be altogether a
blank to him. He would go. To that only had he made up his mind. He
would tell Mary that she should be happy. He would make Mrs Baggett
understand that for the sake of his property she must remain at
Croker's Hall for some period to which he would decline to name an
end. And then he would go.

"Well, Mary," he said, smiling, "so I have got back safe."

"Yes; I see you have got back."

"I saw a friend of yours when I was up in London."

"I have had a letter, you know, from Mr Gordon."

"He has written, has he? Then he has been very sudden."

"He said he had your leave to write."

"That is true. He had. I thought that, perhaps, he would have taken
more time to think about it."

"I suppose he knew what he had to say," said Mary. And then she
blushed, as though fearing that she had appeared to have been quite
sure that her lover would not have been so dull.

"I daresay."

"I didn't quite mean that I knew."

"But you did."

"Oh, Mr Whittlestaff! But I will not attempt to deceive you. If you
left it to him, he would know what to say,--immediately."

"No doubt! No doubt!"

"When he had come here all the way from South Africa on purpose to
see me, as he said, of course he would know. Why should there be any
pretence on my part?"

"Why, indeed?"

"But I have not answered him;--not as yet."

"There need be no delay."