ry she was with him for having told her that, when
married, they must live at Boulogne.

The house in Portman Square had been practically given up by Lord
Brentford to his son; but nevertheless the old Earl and Lady Laura
had returned to it when they reached England from Dresden. It was,
however, large, and now the two families,--if the Earl and his
daughter can be called a family,--were lodging there together. The
Earl troubled them but little, living mostly in his own rooms, and
Lady Laura never went out with them. But there was something in the
presence of the old man and the widow which prevented the house from
being gay as it might have been. There were no parties in Portman
Square. Now and then a few old friends dined there; but at the
present moment Gerard Maule could not be admitted as an old friend.
When Adelaide had been a fortnight in London she had not as yet seen
Gerard Maule or heard a word from him. She had been to balls and
concerts, to dinner parties and the play; but no one had as yet
brought them together. She did know that he was in town. She was able
to obtain so much information of him as that. But he never came to
Portman Square, and had evidently concluded that the quarrel--was to
be a quarrel.

Among other balls in London that July there had been one at the
Duchess of Omnium's. This had been given after the acquittal of
Phineas Finn, though fixed before that great era. "Nothing on earth
should have made me have it while he was in prison," the Duchess
had said. But Phineas was acquitted, and cakes and ale again became
permissible. The ball had been given, and had been very grand.
Phineas had been asked, but of course had not gone. Madame Goesler,
who was a great heroine since her successful return from Prague, had
shown herself there for a few minutes. Lady Chiltern had gone, and of
course taken Adelaide. "We are first cousins," the Duke said to Miss
Palliser,--for the Duke did steal a moment from his work in which to
walk through his wife's drawing-room. Adelaide smiled and nodded, and
looked pleased as she gave her hand to her great relative. "I hope we
shall see more of each other than we have done," said the Duke. "We
have all been sadly divided, haven't we?" Then he said a word to his
wife, expressing his opinion that Adelaide Palliser was a nice girl,
and asking her to be civil to so near a relative.

The Duchess had heard all about Gerard Maule and the engagement. She
always did hear a