mother, they have not made me Lord Chancellor yet. We must wait a
while for that. But I must not complain; I have plenty of work, and my
name is in the papers every day, and I have applied for silk, and--have
you found your spectacles yet, mother?"

Details of his life and work were, as he knew, absolutely unmeaning to
Mrs. Campion.

"Oh, the rogue! He always teased me about my spectacles," said Mrs.
Campion, vaguely appealing to an unseen audience. "It is a remarkable
thing, Sydney, but I put them down half an hour ago, and now I cannot
find them anywhere."

"Well, now, that is strange, Mrs. Campion; but not very unusual. If I
remember right, you had lost your spectacles when I was here last; and
as I happened to pass a good shop this morning, it occurred to me that
you would not object to another pair of pebbles. So here they are; and I
have bought you something to test them with."

He produced a cabinet portrait of himself, such as the stationers were
beginning to hang on the line in their shop windows. The fact marked a
distinct advance in his conquest of popularity; and Sydney was not
mistaken in supposing that the old lady would appreciate this portrait
of her handsome and distinguished son. So, with her spectacles and her
picture, Mrs. Campion was happy.

When Sydney's knock came to the door, Lettice was still crouching by her
bedside over the letter which had reached her an hour before. She sprang
up in nervous agitation, not having recognized the knock, and began to
bathe her face and brush her hair. She was relieved when Milly came and
told her who the caller was; but even Sydney's visit at that moment was
a misfortune. She was inclined to send him an excuse, and not come down;
but in the end she made up her mind to see him.

"My dear child," Sydney said, kissing her on the cheek, "how ill you
look! Is anything the matter?"

"No, nothing. Don't take any notice of me," Lettice said, with a
significant look at her mother.

They conversed for a time on indifferent matters, and then Sydney asked
her to show him the garden. It was evident that he wanted to speak to
her privately, so she took him into her study; and there, without any
beating about the bush, he began to discharge his mind of its burden.

"I want to talk to you seriously, Lettice, and on what I'm afraid will
be a painful subject; but it is my manifest duty to do so, as I think
you will admit before I go. You are, I believe, on friendly
ter