onstant to but one. Yet, begad, you had solid virtues; and I wish, for
your sake, I had been a different kind of fellow. Well, well, we'll meet
again some time, and then we'll be good friends, no doubt."

He turned away from the sketches and picked up some illustrated
newspapers. In one was a portrait. He looked at it, then at the sketches
again and again.

"There's a resemblance," he said. "But no, it's not possible.
Andree-Mademoiselle Victorine! That would be amusing. I'd go to-morrow
and see, if I weren't off to Fontainebleau. But there's no hurry: when I
come back will do."

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN IS SEEN THE OLD ADAM AND THE GARDEN

At Ridley Court and Peppingham all was serene to the eye. Letters had
come to the Court at least once every two weeks from Gaston, and the
minds of the Baronet and his wife were at ease. They even went so far as
to hope that he would influence his uncle; for it was clear to them both
that whatever Gaston's faults were, they were agreeably different from
Ian's. His fame and promise were sweet to their nostrils. Indeed, the
young man had brought the wife and husband nearer than they had
been since Robert vanished over-sea. Each had blamed the other in an
indefinite, secret way; but here was Robert's son, on whom they could
lavish--as they did--their affection, long since forfeited by Ian.
Finally, one day, after a little burst of thanksgiving, on getting an
excellent letter from Gaston, telling of his simple, amusing life in
Paris, Sir William sent him one thousand pounds, begging him to buy a
small yacht, or to do what he pleased with it.

"A very remarkable man, my dear," Sir William said, as he enclosed the
cheque. "Excellent wisdom--excellent!"

"Who could have guessed that he knew so much about the poor and the
East End, and all those social facts and figures?" Lady Belward answered
complacently.

"An unusual mind, with a singular taste for history, and yet a deep
observation of the present. I don't know when and how he does it. I
really do not know."

"It is nice to think that Lord Faramond approves of him."

"Most noticeable. And we have not been a Parliamentary family since
the first Charles's time. And then it was a Gaston. Singular--quite
singular! Coincidences of looks and character. Nature plays strange
games. Reproduction--reproduction!"

"The Pall Mall Gazette says that he may soon reach the Treasury Bench."

Sir William was abstracted. He was thinking of th