nantly.
"He's responsible--not Austen. Of all the narrow, pig-headed, selfish
men the Lord ever created, Hilary Vane's the worst. It's Hilary drove
him out of his mother's house to live with strangers. It's Austen that
comes around to inquire for his father--Hilary never has a word to say
about Austen." A trace of colour actually rose under Euphrasia's sallow
skin, and she cast her eyes downward. "You've known him a good while,
haven't you, Tom?"

"All my life," said Tom, mystified again, "all my life. And I, think
more of him than of anybody else in the world."

"I calculated as much," she said; "that's why I came." She hesitated.
Artful Euphrasia! We will let the ingenuous Mr. Gaylord be the first
to mention this delicate matter, if possible. "Goodness knows, it ain't
Hilary I came to talk about. I had a notion that you'd know if anything
else was troubling Austen."

"Why," said Tom, "there can't be any business troubles outside of those
Hilary's mixed up in. Austen doesn't spend any money to speak of, except
what he gives away, and he's practically chief counsel for our company."

Euphrasia was silent a moment.

"I suppose there's nothing else that could bother him," she remarked.
She had never held Tom Gaylord's powers of comprehension in high
estimation, and the estimate had not risen during this visit. But she
had undervalued him; even Tom could rise to an inspiration--when the
sources of all other inspirations were eliminated.

"Why," he exclaimed, with a masculine lack of delicacy, "he may be in
love--"

"That's struck you, has it?" said Euphrasia.

But Tom appeared to be thinking; he was, in truth, engaged in collecting
his cumulative evidence: Austen's sleigh-ride at the capital, which
he had discovered; his talk with Victoria after her fall, when she had
betrayed an interest in Austen which Tom had thought entirely natural;
and finally Victoria's appearance at Mr. Crewe's rally in Ripton. Young
Mr. Gaylord had not had a great deal of experience in affairs of the
heart, and he was himself aware that his diagnosis in such a matter
would not carry much weight. He had conceived a tremendous admiration
for Victoria, which had been shaken a little by the suspicion that she
might be intending to marry Mr. Crewe. Tom Gaylord saw no reason why
Austen Vane should not marry Mr. Flint's daughter if he chose--or
any other man's daughter; partaking, in this respect, somewhat of
Euphrasia's view. As for Austen him