hat Lady Henry had been able to hold her tongue.

A good many interesting tales of his cousin's bride had, indeed, reached
the melancholy Duke. Lady Henry had done all that she conceived it her
duty to do, filling many pages of note-paper with what the Duke regarded
as most unnecessary information.

At any rate, he had brushed it all aside with the impatience of one for
whom nothing on earth had now any savor or value beyond one or two
indispensable affections. "What's good enough for Jacob is good for me,"
he wrote to Lady Henry, "and if I may offer you some advice, it is that
you should not quarrel with Jacob about a matter so vital as his
marriage. Into the rights and wrongs of the story you tell me, I really
cannot enter; but rather than break with Jacob I would welcome _anybody_
he chose to present to me. And in this case I understand the lady is
very clever, distinguished, and of good blood on both sides. Have you
had no trouble in your life, my dear Flora, that you can make quarrels
with a light heart? If so, I envy you; but I have neither the energy nor
the good spirits wherewith to imitate you."

Julie, of course, knew nothing of this correspondence, though from the
Duke's letters to Jacob she divined that something of the kind had taken
place. But it was made quite plain to her that she was to be spared all
the friction and all the difficulty which may often attend the entrance
of a person like herself within the circle of a rich and important
family like the Delafields. With Lady Henry, indeed, the fight had still
to be fought. But Jacob's mother, influenced on one side by her son and
on the other by the head of the family, accepted her daughter-in-law
with the facile kindliness and good temper that were natural to her;
while his sister, the fair-haired and admirable Susan, owed her brother
too much and loved him too well to be other than friendly to his wife.

No; on the worldly side all was smooth. The marriage had been carried
through with ease and quietness The Duke, in spite of Jacob's
remonstrances, had largely increased his cousin's salary, and Julie was
already enjoying the income left her by Lord Lackington. She had only to
reappear in London as Jacob's wife to resume far more than her old
social ascendency. The winning cards had all passed into her hands, and
if now there was to be a struggle with Lady Henry, Lady Henry would
be worsted.

All this was or should have been agreeable to the sensiti