t hand elevating the taper, her left hand on
her bosom, her face thoughtfully fixed on each wick as it kindled, as
if she saw in every flame's growth the rise of a life to maturity. He
wondered what such unusual brilliancy could mean to-night. On getting
in-doors he found her father and step-mother in a state of suppressed
excitement, which at first he could not comprehend.

"I am sorry about my biddings to-day," said Giles. "I don't know what
I was doing. I have come to say that any of the lots you may require
are yours."

"Oh, never mind--never mind," replied the timber-merchant, with a
slight wave of his hand, "I have so much else to think of that I nearly
had forgot it. Just now, too, there are matters of a different kind
from trade to attend to, so don't let it concern ye."

As the timber-merchant spoke, as it were, down to him from a higher
moral plane than his own, Giles turned to Mrs. Melbury.

"Grace is going to the House to-morrow," she said, quietly. "She is
looking out her things now. I dare say she is wanting me this minute
to assist her." Thereupon Mrs. Melbury left the room.

Nothing is more remarkable than the independent personality of the
tongue now and then. Mr. Melbury knew that his words had been a sort
of boast. He decried boasting, particularly to Giles; yet whenever the
subject was Grace, his judgment resigned the ministry of speech in
spite of him.

Winterborne felt surprise, pleasure, and also a little apprehension at
the news. He repeated Mrs. Melbury's words.

"Yes," said paternal pride, not sorry to have dragged out of him what
he could not in any circumstances have kept in. "Coming home from the
woods this afternoon we met Mrs. Charmond out for a ride. She spoke to
me on a little matter of business, and then got acquainted with Grace.
'Twas wonderful how she took to Grace in a few minutes; that
freemasonry of education made 'em close at once. Naturally enough she
was amazed that such an article--ha, ha!--could come out of my house.
At last it led on to Mis'ess Grace being asked to the House. So she's
busy hunting up her frills and furbelows to go in." As Giles remained
in thought without responding, Melbury continued: "But I'll call her
down-stairs."

"No, no; don't do that, since she's busy," said Winterborne.

Melbury, feeling from the young man's manner that his own talk had been
too much at Giles and too little to him, repented at once. His face
changed, and he s