d
be rather degrading, wouldn't it?"

"Not so degrading as being sued at the county court," her uncle
returned.

Mrs. Polkington felt there was truth in that, and, accustoming herself
to a new idea with her usual rapidity, she even began to see that the
alternative offered need not be so very unpleasant. Indeed, when she
came to think about it, it might be almost pleasant if the
boarding-house were very select; there would be society of a kind,
perhaps of a superior kind, even; she need not lose prestige and she
could still shine, and without such tremendous effort.

But her reflections were interrupted by the Captain.

"And what part have I in this scheme?" he asked.

His brother-in-law, to whom the question was addressed, considered a
moment. "Well, I really don't know," he said at last; "of course you
would live in the house."

"A burden on my wife and daughter! Idle, useless, not wanted!"

The banker had no desire to hurt Captain Polkington's feelings, but he
saw no reason why he should not hear the truth--that he had long been
all these things; idle, useless, unwanted, a burden not only to his
wife and daughters, but also to all relations and connections who
allowed themselves to be burdened. But the Captain's feelings were
hurt; he was surprised and injured, though convinced of little besides
the hardness of fate and the fact that his brother-in-law
misunderstood him. He turned to his wife for support, and she
supported, corroborating both what he said and what her brother did
too, though they were diametrically opposed. It looked rather as if
the discussion were going to wander off into side issues, but Julia
brought it back by inquiring of her uncle--

"What part have I in this scheme?"

"You will help your mother," he answered, "and of course the concern
will be nominally yours; that is to say, you will put your money in
it, invest it in that instead of railways or whatever it is now in. I
shall see that the thing is properly secured."

He glanced at Captain Polkington as he spoke, as if he thought he
might have designs upon the money or investment. Julia only said, "I
see," but in so soft a voice that she roused Mr. Ponsonby's
suspicions. He had dealt a good deal with men and women, and he did
not altogether like the amused observing eyes of the legatee, and he
distrusted her soft voice of seeming acquiescence.

"It is of no use for you to get any nonsensical ideas," he said,
"about what you wil