was opened, long after its usual time, Cuthbert's
pictures were well hung and obtained an amount of praise that more than
satisfied him, although his wife insisted that they were not half as
warm as the pictures deserved. It was not until they had been for some
time in Switzerland that Mary had learned the details of the deaths of
Arnold and Minette Dampierre. That both were dead she knew, for when she
mentioned their names for the first time after the close of the
fighting, Cuthbert told her that he had learned that both were dead, and
begged her to ask no question concerning them until he himself returned
to the subject.

Mary wrote to her mother a day or two after she was married giving her
the news. An answer was received from Scarborough expressing great
satisfaction, and saying that it was probable that the family would
settle where they were. Neither Cuthbert nor his wife liked the thought
of returning to England, and for the next five years remained abroad.
After spending a few months at Dresden, Munich, Rome, and Florence, they
settled at Venice. Cuthbert continued to work hard, and each year two or
three of his pictures hung on the walls of the Academy and attracted
much attention, and were sold at excellent prices. All his earnings in
this way and the entire income of Fairclose were put aside to pay off
the mortgage, and when, at the end of the five years, Cuthbert, his
wife, and two children returned to Fairclose, the greater portion of the
mortgage had been paid off, and three years later it was entirely wiped
out.

Although very warmly received by the county, Cuthbert retained his
preference for London, and during the winter six months always moved up
to a house in the artists' quarter at St. John's Wood. Although he no
longer painted as if compelled to do so for a living, he worked
regularly and steadily while in town, and being able to take his time in
carrying out his conceptions, his pictures increased in value and he
took a place in the front rank of artists, and some fifteen years after
the siege of Paris was elected Academician. Before this he had sold
Fairclose and built himself a house in Holland Park, where he was able
to indulge his love for art to the fullest extent.

Of his wife's family he saw but little. Mary's sisters both married
before he and his wife returned from abroad. Mary went down occasionally
to Scarborough, and stayed with her father and mother, but Mr. Brander
steadily refus