should furnish the 'spare'
room. There were four bedrooms in the house: their own room, the small
one for the servant, and two others overlooking the garden, one of which
had been used for storing boxes, ends of rope, and odd numbers of 'Quiet
Days' and 'Sunday Evenings,' besides some worn suits belonging to Mr.
Darnell which had been carefully wrapped up and laid by, as he scarcely
knew what to do with them. The other room was frankly waste and vacant,
and one Saturday afternoon, as he was coming home in the 'bus, and while
he revolved that difficult question of the ten pounds, the unseemly
emptiness of the spare room suddenly came into his mind, and he glowed
with the idea that now, thanks to Aunt Marian, it could be furnished. He
was busied with this delightful thought all the way home, but when he
let himself in, he said nothing to his wife, since he felt that his idea
must be matured. He told Mrs. Darnell that, having important business,
he was obliged to go out again directly, but that he should be back
without fail for tea at half-past six; and Mary, on her side, was not
sorry to be alone, as she was a little behindhand with the household
books. The fact was, that Darnell, full of the design of furnishing the
spare bedroom, wished to consult his friend Wilson, who lived at
Fulham, and had often given him judicious advice as to the laying out of
money to the very best advantage. Wilson was connected with the Bordeaux
wine trade, and Darnell's only anxiety was lest he should not be at
home.

However, it was all right; Darnell took a tram along the Goldhawk Road,
and walked the rest of the way, and was delighted to see Wilson in the
front garden of his house, busy amongst his flower-beds.

'Haven't seen you for an age,' he said cheerily, when he heard Darnell's
hand on the gate; 'come in. Oh, I forgot,' he added, as Darnell still
fumbled with the handle, and vainly attempted to enter. 'Of course you
can't get in; I haven't shown it you.'

It was a hot day in June, and Wilson appeared in a costume which he had
put on in haste as soon as he arrived from the City. He wore a straw hat
with a neat pugaree protecting the back of his neck, and his dress was a
Norfolk jacket and knickers in heather mixture.

'See,' he said, as he let Darnell in; 'see the dodge. You don't _turn_
the handle at all. First of all push hard, and then pull. It's a trick
of my own, and I shall have it patented. You see, it keeps undesirable
c