d the one which
was in her mind? Could it be? And was it for this that he had
labored?

"Is Lord Chetwynde coming home?" he asked at length, as Hilda looked
at him with a strange expression.

"Lord Chetwynde? I should say, most certainly not."

"Do you know for certain?"

"No. I have narrowly watched the papers, but have found out nothing,
nor have any letters come which could tell me; but I have reasons for
supposing that the very last thing that Lord Chetwynde would think of
doing would be to come home."

"Why do you suppose that? Is there not his rank, his position, and
his wealth?"

"Yes; but the correspondence between him and Lady Chetwynde has for
years been of so very peculiar a character--that is, at least, on
Lady Chetwynde's part--that the very fact of her being in England
would, to a man of his character, be sufficient, I should think, to
keep him away forever. And therefore I think that Lord Chetwynde will
endure his grief about his father, and perhaps overcome it, in the
Indian residency to which he was lately appointed. Perhaps he may end
his days there--who can tell? If he should, it would be too much to
expect that Lady Chetwynde would take it very much to heart."

"But it seems to me, in spite of all that you have said, that nine
men out of ten would come home. They could be much happier in
England, and the things of which you have spoken would not
necessarily give trouble."

"That is very true; but, at the same time, Lord Chetwynde, in my
opinion, happens to be that tenth man who would not come home; for,
if he did, it would be Lady Chetwynde's money that he would enjoy,
and to a man of his nature this would be intolerable--especially as
she has been diligently taunting him with the fact that he has
cheated her for the last five years."

Gualtier heard this with fresh surprise.

"I did not know before that there had been so very peculiar a
correspondence," said he.

"I think that it will decide him to stay in India."

"But suppose, in spite of all this, that he should come home."

"That is a fact which should never be lost sight of," said Hilda,
very gravely--"nor is it ever lost sight of; one must be prepared to
encounter such a thing as that."

"But how?"

"Oh, there are various ways," said Hilda.

"He can be avoided, shunned, fled from," said Gualtier, "but how can
he be encountered?"

"If he does come," said Hilda, "he will be neither avoided nor
shunned. He will be most as