a somewhat desperate remedy, and Mark had his doubts of the
impression likely to be produced by such a relative, but it worked
unexpectedly well. Mr. Lightowler was too cautious to commit himself
to any definite promise, but he made it abundantly clear that he was a
'warm' man, and that Mark was his favourite nephew, for whom he was
doing something as it was, and might do more if he continued to behave
himself. After the interview in which this was ascertained, Mr.
Langton began to think that his daughter might do worse than marry
this young Ashburn after all. Mrs. Langton had liked Mark from the
first in her languid way, and the fact that he had 'expectations'
decided her to support his cause; he was not a brilliant _parti_, of
course, but at least he was more eligible than the young men who had
been exciting her maternal alarm of late. And under her grandfather's
will Mabel would be entitled on her marriage or coming of age to a sum
which would keep her in comfort whatever happened.

All these considerations had their effect, and Mr. Langton, seeing how
deeply his daughter's heart was concerned, withdrew his opposition,
and even allowed himself to be persuaded that there was no reason for
a long engagement, and that the marriage might be fixed to take place
early in the following spring. He only made two stipulations: one,
that Mark should insure his life in the usual manner; and the other,
that he should abandon his _nom de plume_ at once, and in the next
edition of "Illusion," and in all future writings, use the name which
was his by birth. 'I don't like _aliases_,' he said; 'if you win a
reputation, it seems to me your wife and family should have the
benefit of it;' and Mark agreed to both conditions with equal
cheerfulness.

Mr. Humpage, as may be imagined, was not best pleased to hear of the
engagement; he wrote a letter of solemn warning to Mabel and her
father, and, this being disregarded, he nursed his resentment in
offended silence. If Harold Caffyn was polite enough when in his
uncle's company to affect to share his indignation to the full,
elsewhere he accepted Mark's good fortune with cheerful indifference;
he could meet Mabel with perfect equanimity, and listen to her
mother's somewhat discursive eulogies of her future son-in-law with
patience, if not entire assent. Since his autumn visit to the
Featherstones, there had been changes in his position which may have
been enough to account for his philosoph