ly.

"Sabina Dinnett will hear from me during the next twenty-four hours," he
said.

Ernest gazed aghast.

"But, my dear boy, you cannot realise the situation if you talk like
that. Surely you--"

"I realise the situation perfectly well. Good-bye, Uncle Ernest."

The coach drove away. Miss Ironsyde said nothing. She had broken down
beside the grave and was still weeping.

Then came Mr. Best, where Mr. Churchouse stood at the lich-gate. He was
anxious for information.

"Did he say anything about his plans?" he asked.

"Only that he is proceeding with his late brother's business in the
North. I perceive a most definite change in the young man, John."

"For the better, we'll hope. What's hid in people! You never would have
thought Mister Raymond would have carried himself like that. It wasn't
grief at his loss, but a sort of an understanding of the change. He even
looked at us differently--even me."

"He's overwrought and not himself, probably. I don't think he quite
grasps the immediate situation. He seems to be looking far ahead
already, whereas the most pressing matter should be a thing of
to-morrow."

"Is the wedding day fixed?"

"It is not. He writes to Sabina."

"Writes! Isn't he going to see her to-day!"

"He returns to London to-night."

Arthur Waldron also asked for news, for Raymond had apparently been
unconscious of his existence at the funeral. He, too, noted the change
in Ironsyde's demeanour.

"What was it?" he asked, as Mr. Churchouse walked beside him homeward.
"Something is altered. It's more his manner than his appearance. Of
course, he looks played out after his shock, but it's not that. Estelle
thinks it's his black clothes."

"Stress of mind and anxiety, no doubt. I spoke to him; but he was rather
distant. Not unfriendly--he called me 'Uncle Ernest' as usual--but
distant. His mind is entirely preoccupied with business."

"What about Sabina?"

"I asked him. He's writing to her. She wasn't at the funeral. She and
her mother kept away at my advice. But I certainly thought he would come
and see them afterwards. However, the idea hadn't apparently occurred to
him. His mind is full of other things. There was a suggestion of
strength--of power--something new."

"He must be very strong now," said Estelle. "He will have to be strong,
because the Mill is all his and everything depends upon him. Doesn't
Sabina feel she must be strong, too, Mr. Churchouse?"

"Sabina is naturally excite