rd and all the
officers from Gort.'

And then Mrs. Lawler's flirtations were talked of until the bell rang
for lunch. Milord and Mrs. Barton had just passed into the dining-room,
and Alice noticed that his eyes often wandered in the direction of the
policemen walking up and down the terrace. He returned more frequently
than was necessary to the attempt made on Lord Rosshill's life, and it
was a long time before Mrs. Barton could persuade him to drop a French
epigram. At last, in answer to her allusions to knights of old and _la
galanterie_, the old lord could only say: '_L'amour est comme
l'hirondelle; quand l'heure sonne, en depit du danger, tous les deux
partent pour les rivages celestes._' A pretty conceit; but Milord was
not _en veine_ that morning. The Land League had thrown its shadow over
him, and it mattered little how joyously a conversation might begin, too
soon a reference was made to Griffith's valuation, or the possibility of
a new Coercion Act.

In the course of the afternoon, however, much to the astonishment of
Milord and Mrs. Barton in the drawing-room and the young ladies who were
sitting upstairs doing a little needlework, a large family carriage,
hung with grey trappings and drawn by two powerful bay horses, drove up
to the hall-door.

A gorgeous footman opened the door, and, with a momentary display of
exquisite ankle, a slim young girl stepped out.

'I wonder,' said Mrs. Barton, 'that Mrs. Scully condescends to come out
with anything less than four horses and outriders.'

'_Elle veut acheter la distinction comme elle vendait du jambon--a
faux poids_,' said Lord Dungory.

'Yes, indeed; and to think that the woman we now receive as an equal
once sold bacon and eggs behind a counter in Galway!'

'No, it was not she; it was her mother.'

'Well, she was hanging on to her mother's apron-strings at the time. You
may depend upon it, this visit is not for nothing; something's in the
wind.'

A moment after, looking more large and stately than ever, Mrs. Scully
sailed into the room. Mrs. Barton was delighted to see her. It was so
good of her to come, and in such weather as this; and, after having
refused lunch and referred to the snow and the horses' feet, Mrs. Scully
consented to lay aside her muff and boa. The young ladies withdrew, when
the conversation turned on the state of the county and Lord Rosshill's
fortunate escape. As they ascended the stairs they stopped to listen to
Mr. Barton, who w