is dictionary words, and the attractive halo of the mysterious
vindictiveness of Venus surrounding him, this Adonis of the lower
household was a mighty man below, and he moved as one.

On hearing the tumult that followed Berry's arrival, Adrian sent for
him, and was informed of the nature of his mission, and its result.

"You should come to me first," said Adrian. "I should have imagined you
were shrewd enough for that, Berry?"

"Pardon me, Mr. Adrian," Berry doubled his elbow to explain. "Pardon me,
sir. Acting recipient of special injunctions I was not a free agent."

"Go to Mr. Richard again, Berry. There will be a little confusion if he
holds back. Perhaps you had better throw out a hint or so of apoplexy.
A slight hint will do. And here--Berry! when you return to town, you
had better not mention anything--to quote Johnson--of Benson's
spiflication."

"Certainly not, sir."

The wise youth's hint had the desired effect on Richard.

He dashed off a hasty letter by Tom to Belthorpe, and, mounting his
horse, galloped to the Bellingham station.

Sir Austin was sitting down to a quiet early dinner at his hotel, when
the Hope of Raynham burst into his room.

The baronet was not angry with his son. On the contrary, for he was
singularly just and self-accusing while pride was not up in arms, he had
been thinking all day after the receipt of Benson's letter that he
was deficient in cordiality, and did not, by reason of his excessive
anxiety, make himself sufficiently his son's companion: was not enough,
as he strove to be, mother and father to him; preceptor and friend;
previsor and associate. He had not to ask his conscience where he had
lately been to blame towards the System. He had slunk away from Raynham
in the very crisis of the Magnetic Age, and this young woman of
the parish (as Benson had termed sweet Lucy in his letter) was the
consequence.

Yes! pride and sensitiveness were his chief foes, and he would trample
on them. To begin, he embraced his son: hard upon an Englishman at any
time--doubly so to one so shamefaced at emotion in cool blood, as it
were. It gave him a strange pleasure, nevertheless. And the youth
seemed to answer to it; he was excited. Was his love, then, beginning
to correspond with his father's as in those intimate days before the
Blossoming Season?

But when Richard, inarticulate at first in his haste, cried out, "My
dear, dear father! You are safe! I feared--You are better, sir? Tha