,' said Dora.

'Yes. But he may live another ten years, and he would see them both in
Marylebone Workhouse before he advanced sixpence, or I'm much mistaken
in him. Her mother has only just enough to live upon; can't possibly
help them. Her brother wouldn't give or lend twopence halfpenny.'

'Has Mr Reardon no relatives!'

'I never heard him make mention of a single one. No, he has done the
fatal thing. A man in his position, if he marry at all, must take
either a work-girl or an heiress, and in many ways the work-girl is
preferable.'

'How can you say that?' asked Dora. 'You never cease talking about the
advantages of money.'

'Oh, I don't mean that for ME the work-girl would be preferable; by
no means; but for a man like Reardon. He is absurd enough to be
conscientious, likes to be called an "artist," and so on. He might
possibly earn a hundred and fifty a year if his mind were at rest, and
that would be enough if he had married a decent little dressmaker. He
wouldn't desire superfluities, and the quality of his work would be its
own reward. As it is, he's ruined.'

'And I repeat,' said Maud, 'that you enjoy the prospect.'

'Nothing of the kind. If I seem to speak exultantly it's only because
my intellect enjoys the clear perception of a fact.--A little marmalade,
Dora; the home-made, please.'

'But this is very sad, Jasper,' said Mrs Milvain, in her half-absent
way. 'I suppose they can't even go for a holiday?'

'Quite out of the question.'

'Not even if you invited them to come here for a week?'

'Now, mother,' urged Maud, 'THAT'S impossible, you know very well.'

'I thought we might make an effort, dear. A holiday might mean
everything to him.'

'No, no,' fell from Jasper, thoughtfully. 'I don't think you'd get
along very well with Mrs Reardon; and then, if her uncle is coming to Mr
Yule's, you know, that would be awkward.'

'I suppose it would; though those people would only stay a day or two,
Miss Harrow said.'

'Why can't Mr Yule make them friends, those two lots of people?' asked
Dora. 'You say he's on good terms with both.'

'I suppose he thinks it's no business of his.'

Jasper mused over the letter from his friend.

'Ten years hence,' he said, 'if Reardon is still alive, I shall be
lending him five-pound notes.'

A smile of irony rose to Maud's lips. Dora laughed.

'To be sure! To be sure!' exclaimed their brother. 'You have no faith.
But just understand the difference between a man