coming occupation, let her be assured of my ready encouragement
and help. Till then, no more.--From your affectionate uncle,

"JAMES PIGOTT."

Mr. Pigott had written his last sentence advisedly. "Some day," he said
to himself, "those young people will have to put their pride in their
pocket." He might have known that the Haviland pride was not of the kind
that goes conveniently into any pocket, even an empty one.

But Katherine worked her hardest, and gave little heed to these things.
She saw her own chances of success dwindling farther into the distance,
and was surprised to see how little she cared, for a curious callousness
had come over her of late. Selfish ambition--selfish, because it often
persists in living when all other things are dead--seemed to have died
in her at last. Had she overcome it? Or was it that she had really
ceased to care? She had too much to think of to be able to settle that
question just now.

After all, she had another source of pride. Vincent had begun by looking
to her as a protection against his worst self; and when his mother died
suddenly that winter, his last link with home being broken, he became
more and more dependent on Katherine. And now, though the tie of
comradeship between them was closer than ever, he had no longer any need
of her. He could go alone. His will was free, his intellect was awake.
He read hard now. All his old ardours and enthusiasms returned to him;
he worked on the Pioneer-book, recasting his favourite parts, beating
the whole into shape, and hunting down the superfluous adjective with a
manly delight in the new sport. Katherine had shown the revised
manuscript to Knowles, and he had found her a publisher and worked him
into the right frame of mind. Katherine had suppressed part of that
publisher's verdict: it was to the effect that, though the text was up
to the average merit of its kind, the illustrations would form the most
valuable portion of the work.

Hardy had submitted the final revision of his proofs to Katherine. But
on one point he was resolute: "I want the dedication to stand as it is,
Sis." And Katherine nodded her head and was silent.

He often talked about Audrey now. He was no longer bitter and
vindictive, as he had been in the days of his degradation. His old
feeling for her had returned to him, unchanged, except for the refining
process he himself had undergone. His love was ennob