their marriage, and she was entirely free from the other
characteristics that had exasperated him so desperately since that
hideous mistake that he had made. Lady Engleton had originality and
brilliancy, but she knew how to combine these qualities with perfect
obedience to the necessary conventions of life. She had the sparkle of
champagne, without the troublesome tendency of that delicate beverage to
break bounds, and brim over in iridescent, swelling, joyous foam, the
discreet edges of such goblets as custom might decree for the sunny
vintage. Lady Engleton sparkled, glowed, nipped even at times, was of
excellent dry quality, but she never frothed over. She always knew where
to stop; she had the genius of moderation. She stood to Hadria as a
correct rendering of a cherished idea stands to a faulty one. She made
Hubert acutely feel his misfortune, and shewed him his lost hope, his
shattered ideal.

"Is the picture finished?" he enquired, as he handed Lady Engleton her
tea.

"What, the view from your field? Not quite. I was working at it when
Claude Moreton and Mrs. Jordan and Marion arrived, and I have been
rather interrupted. That's the worst of visitors. One's little immortal
works do get put aside, poor things."

Lady Engleton broke into the light laugh that had become almost
mechanical with her.

"Your friends grudge the hours you spend in your studio," said
Temperley.

"Oh, they don't mind, so long as I give them as much time as they want,"
she said. "I have to apologise and compromise, don't you know, but, with
a little management, one can get on. Of course, society does ask a good
deal of attention, doesn't it? and one has to be so careful."

"Just a little tact and thought," said Temperley with a sigh.

Lady Engleton admired Algitha, who was standing with Ernest a little
apart from the group.

"She is like your wife, and yet there is a singular difference in the
expression."

Lady Engleton was too discreet to say that Mrs. Temperley lacked the
look of contentment and serenity that was so marked in her sister's
face.

"Algitha is a thoroughly sensible girl," said the brother-in-law.

"I hear you have not long returned from a visit to Mr. Fullerton's place
in Scotland, Mr. Temperley," observed the vicar's wife when her host
turned to address her.

"Yes," he said, "we have been there half the summer. The boys thoroughly
enjoyed the freedom and the novelty. The river, of course, was a source
of gre