cely speak aloud. That was the English of him, they said, and
they set upon poor Archie behind his back, and tore his reputation as a
husband into shreds, and said be neglected his sick wife shamefully, and
in consequence, they were kinder and more attentive to her, and her
room was full of flowers, and fruit and bottle of port wine and sherry;
and Mrs. Captain Smithers, who fully shared the opinions of her American
cousins, took the beautiful invalid to drive with her, and made much of
her, and thought her the most charming person she had ever met, and
ended, as Daisy meant she should, by inviting her to spend the month of
August at Penrhyn Park.

"You will meet some very pleasant people," she said, "and I shall be
glad to introduce you to them. I shall ask Lady Jane McPherson and her
husband. It is a shame you have never met them. Lady Jane is rather
peculiar, but a very good woman, and you ought to know her."

This the kind-hearted and not very far-seeing Mrs. Smithers said,
because she had received the impression that the McPhersons of London
slighted the McPhersons of Stoneleigh, not so much for their poverty, as
for the fact that Daisy's family was not equal to their own.

"And this I think very absurd," she said to Daisy. "I belong to the
mercantile world, for my father is a Liverpool merchant, and at first
Smithers' mother and sisters were inclined to treat me coolly, though
they are very friendly now; so, you see, my dear, I know how it feels
not to be in perfect accord with one's family, and I mean to do my best
for you. I shall bring you and Lady Jane together. She is sure to like
you."

"Thank you." Daisy said. "I hope she may, for Bessie's sake. She could
be of use to her in the future; but, if you please, do not tell her she
is to meet me, or she may decline your invitation."

"Very well," was Mrs. Smithers' reply. "I will say nothing about you."

And so, without mentioning all her expected guests, Mrs. Smithers asked
Lady Jane to visit her in August, and that lady, who had twice before
enjoyed the hospitalities of Penrhyn Park, accepted readily, with no
suspicion that the woman whom she detested more than any creature in the
world was to be there also.

The house at Penrhyn Park was very large and commodious, with a wing on
either side of the main building, and in these wings were situated the
sleeping rooms for guests. A wide hall divided the main part, and on the
second floor were two large, airy