they can say no more. She is greatly altered--quiet and gentle, and
anxiously affectionate with her husband and her child. But in her case
this happy change is, it seems, a sign of approaching dissolution, from
the medical point of view. There is a difficulty in making the poor
old, major understand this. He only sees that she has gone back to the
likeness of her better self when he first married her; and he sits for
hours by her bedside now, and tells her about his wonderful clock.

"Mr. Midwinter, of whom you will next expect me to say something, is
improving rapidly. After causing some anxiety at first to the medical
men (who declared that he was suffering from a serious nervous shock,
produced by circumstances about which their patient's obstinate silence
kept them quite in the dark), he has rallied, as only men of his
sensitive temperament (to quote the doctors again) can rally. He and Mr.
Armadale are together in a quiet lodging. I saw him last week when I was
in London. His face showed signs of wear and tear, very sad to see in so
young a man. But he spoke of himself and his future with a courage
and hopefulness which men of twice his years (if he has suffered as I
suspect him to have suffered) might have envied. If I know anything
of humanity, this is no common man; and we shall hear of him yet in no
common way.

"You will wonder how I came to be in London. I went up, with a return
ticket (from Saturday to Monday), about that matter in dispute at our
agent's. We had a tough fight; but, curiously enough, a point occurred
to me just as I got up to go; and I went back to my chair, and settled
the question in no time. Of course I stayed at Our Hotel in Covent
Garden. William, the waiter, asked after you with the affection of a
father; and Matilda, the chamber-maid, said you almost persuaded her
that last time to have the hollow tooth taken out of her lower jaw. I
had the agent's second son (the young chap you nicknamed Mustapha, when
he made that dreadful mess about the Turkish Securities) to dine with me
on Sunday. A little incident happened in the evening which may be worth
recording, as it connected itself with a certain old lady who was not
'at home' when you and Mr. Armadale blundered on that house in Pimlico
in the bygone time.

"Mustapha was like all the rest of you young men of the present
day--he got restless after dinner. 'Let's go to a public amusement, Mr.
Pedgift,' says he. 'Public amusement? Why, i