too late, that it was right for him to
take up the load which his own acts had made so heavy.

The rector had died absolutely penniless. His insurance policy, his
furniture, the whole of his personal effects, barely sufficed to cover
the money he had borrowed. What Sydney did was to procure the means of
discharging at once all the household bills, and the expenses connected
with the funeral.

"And now," he said to Lettice, when the last of these dues had been paid
off and they took their last stroll together through the already half
dismantled rooms of the desolate old Rectory, "I feel more of a man than
I have felt since that terrible night, and I want to get back to my
work."

"I am afraid you will have to work very hard, dear!" said Lettice,
laying her hand on his arm, rather timidly. How she still yearned for
the full measure of mutual confidence and sympathy!

"Hard work will be good for me," he said, his keen blue eyes lighting up
as if with ardor for the fray. "I shall soon wipe off old scores, and
there's nothing like knowing you have only yourself to look to. My
practice, you know, is pretty good already, and it will be very good by
and bye."

"I am so glad!"

"Yes. And, of course, you must never have any anxiety about mother and
yourself. I shall see to all that. You are going to stay with the
Grahams for a while, so I can come over one day and discuss it. I don't
suppose I shall ever marry, but whether I do or not, I shall always set
apart a certain sum for mother and you."

"I have been thinking about the future," said Lettice, quietly. She
always spoke in a low, musical voice, without gesture, but not without
animation, producing on those who heard her the impression that she had
formed her opinions beforehand, and was deliberate in stating them. "Do
you know, Sydney, that I can earn a very respectable income?"

"Earn an income! You!" he said, with a wrinkle in his forehead, and a
curl in his nostrils. "I will not hear of such a thing. I cannot have my
sister a dependent in other people's houses--a humble governess or
companion. How could you dream of it!"

"I have not dreamed of that," said Lettice. "I do not think I should
like it myself. I simply stay at home and write. I earned seventy pounds
last year, and Mr. Graham says I could almost certainly earn twice as
much if I were living in London."

"Why was I not told of this?" said Sydney, with an air of vexation.
"What do you write?"

"Es