nteau."

When Lance had gone I looked round my room and fell in love with it. It
had the charm of old fashion, of elegance, of space, of height, and from
the windows there was a magnificent view of the park and the gardens.

"Lance must indeed be a happy man." I thought to myself.

He came to me when I was dressed and we went out for a stroll through
the gardens.

"We shall hear the dinner-bell," said Lance. "We will not go too far."

We saw the stately equipage of Lady Ledbitter driven down the avenue.

"Thank Heaven!" said Lance. "Now Frances is free. She will have gone to
her room. That good Lady Ledbitter has robbed us of a pleasant hour."

I was surprised and delighted at the magnificence of the grounds. I had
never dreamed that Dutton manor-house was so extensive or so beautiful.

"The great artist, Lilias, is coming here next week," said Lance. "I
want him to paint my wife's portrait. She will make a superb picture,
and when completed, that picture shall have the place of honor here in
the drawing-room. You will enjoy meeting him; he is a most intelligent,
amiable man."

That good Lance; it seemed to me quite impossible that he could speak
even these words without bringing in Frances; but how bright and happy
he looked! I envied him.

"Do as I have done, John," he said "Marry. Believe me, no man knows what
happiness means until he does marry."

"You must find me a wife just like your own," I said, and the words came
back to me afterward with a fervent prayer of "Heaven forbid!--may
Heaven forbid!"

"I shall never marry now, Lance," I said. "The only woman I could ever
love is dead to me."

He looked at me very earnestly.

"I wish you would forget all about her, John. She was not worthy of
you."

"Perhaps not," I replied; "but that does not interfere with the love."

"Why should you give all that loving heart of yours to one woman, John?"
he said. "If one fails, try another."

"If your Frances died, should you love another woman?" I asked.

"That is quite another thing," he said, and I saw in his heart he
resented the fact that I should place the woman who had been faithless
to me on an equality with his wife. Poor Lance!

CHAPTER VI.

As we drew near the house on our return, the first dinner-bell was
ringing.

"We have twenty minutes yet," said Lance; "you will just have time to
say a few words to Frances; she is sure to be in the drawing-room."

We went there. When the door wa