sweet face the very first
time that he had set eyes upon it in the office of his uncle at
Birmingham. He told them what he had felt when, after getting some work
in London, he had returned to Birmingham to find his lady-love flown, and
of what he had endured when he heard that she was among the drowned on
board the Kangaroo. Then he came to the happy day of the return, and to
that still happier day when he discovered that he had not loved her in
vain, finally ending thus--

"Dr. Probate has said that I am a supremely fortunate man, and I admit
the truth of his remark. I am, indeed, fortunate above my deserts, so
fortunate that I feel afraid. When I turn and see my beloved wife sitting
at my side, I feel afraid lest I should after all be dreaming a dream,
and awake to find nothing but emptiness. And then, on the other hand, is
this colossal wealth, which has come to me through her, and there again I
feel afraid. But, please Heaven, I hope with her help to do some good
with it, and remembering always that it is a great trust that has been
placed in my hands. And she also is a trust and a far more inestimable
one, and as I deal with her so may I be dealt with here and hereafter."
Then, by an afterthought, he proposed the health of the legal twins, who
had so nobly borne the brunt of the affray single-handed, and
disconcerted the Attorney-General and all his learned host.

Thereon James rose to reply in terms of elephantine eloquence, and would
have gone through the whole case again had not Lady Holmhurst in despair
pulled him by the sleeve and told him that he must propose her health,
which he did with sincerity, lightly alluding to the fact that she was a
widow by describing her as being in a "discovert condition, with all the
rights and responsibilities of a 'femme sole.'"

Everybody burst out laughing, not excepting poor lady Holmhurst herself,
and James sat down, not without indignation that a giddy world should
object to an exact and legal definition of the status of the individual
as set out by the law.

And after that Augusta went and changed her dress, and then came the
hurried good-byes; and, to escape observation, they drove off in a
hansom cab amidst a shower of old shoes.

And there in that hansom cab we will leave them.

CHAPTER XXIII.

MEESON'S ONCE AGAIN.

A month had passed--a month of long, summer days and such happiness as
young people who truly love each other can get out of a honeymoon