ht elect to tell her, that, and that only, would
she know, lest, seeking further, bitter and vindictive thoughts should
arise in her and mar the calm, pathetic sweetness of the present and
her deep, abiding joy in the recovery of her so-long-lost delight. She
refused to go behind the fact--the glad fact that Richard once more was
with her, that her eyes beheld him, her ears heard his voice, her hands
met his. Every little act of thoughtful care, every pretty word of
half-playful affection, confirmed her thankfulness and made the present
blest. Even this somewhat morbid tendency of his to shut himself away
from the observation of all acquaintance, conferred on her such sweetly
exclusive rights of intercourse that she could not greatly quarrel with
his secluded way of life. As to the business of the estate and
household, this had become so much a matter of course to her that it
caused her but small labour. If she could deal with it when Richard was
estranged and far away, very surely she could deal with it now, when
she had but to open the door of that vast, silvery-tinted, pensively
fragrant, many-windowed room, and entering, among its many strange and
costly treasures, find him--a treasure as strange, and if counted by
her past suffering, as costly, as ever ravished and tortured a woman's
heart.

And so it came about that, to such few friends as she received,
Katherine could show a serene countenance. Shortly before Christmas,
Miss St. Quentin came to Brockhurst, and coming stayed, adapting
herself with ready tact to the altered conditions of life there.
Katherine found not only pleasure, but support, in the younger woman's
presence, in her devoted yet unexacting affection, in her practical
ability, and in the sight of so graceful a creature going to and fro.
She installed her guest in the Gun-Room suite. And, by insensible
degrees, permitted Honoria to return to many of her former avocations
in connection with the estate, so that the young lady took over much of
the outdoor business, riding forth almost daily, by herself or in
company with Julius March, to superintend matters of building or
repairing, of road-mending, hedging, copsing, or forestry, and not
infrequently cheering Chifney--a somewhat sour-minded man just now and
prickly-tempered, since Richard asked no word of him or of his
horses--by visits to the racing stables.

"I had better step down and have a crack with the poor, old dear,
Cousin Katherine," she