t, who studied every expression of
his countenance and every tone of his voice, would say to him, after a
few minutes of desultory and feeble conversation, "You are thinking of
your sister, Endymion?"

He did not reply, but gave a sort of faint mournful smile.

"This separation is a trial, a severe one, and I knew you would feel
it," said Lady Montfort. "I feel it; I loved your sister, but she did
not love me. Nobody that I love ever does love me."

"Oh! do not say that, Lady Montfort."

"It is what I feel. I cannot console you. There is nothing I can do for
you. My friendship, if you value it, which I will not doubt you do,
you fully possessed before your sister was a Queen. So that goes for
nothing."

"I must say, I feel sometimes most miserable."

"Nonsense, Endymion; if anything could annoy your sister more than
another, it would be to hear of such feelings on your part. I must say
she has courage. She has found her fitting place. Her brother ought to
do the same. You have a great object in life, at least you had, but I
have no faith in sentimentalists. If I had been sentimental, I should
have gone into a convent long ago."

"If to feel is to be sentimental, I cannot help it."

"All feeling which has no object to attain is morbid and maudlin," said
Lady Montfort. "You say you are very miserable, and at the same time you
do not know what you want. Would you have your sister dethroned? And if
you would, could you accomplish your purpose? Well, then, what nonsense
to think about her except to feel proud of her elevation, and prouder
still that she is equal to it!"

"You always have the best of every argument," said Endymion.

"Of course," said Lady Montfort. "What I want you to do is to exert
yourself. You have now a strong social position, for Sidney Wilton tells
me the Queen has relinquished to you her mansion and the whole of her
income, which is no mean one. You must collect your friends about you.
Our government is not too strong, I can tell you. We must brush up in
the recess. What with Mr. Bertie Tremaine and his friends joining the
Protectionists, and the ultra-Radicals wanting, as they always do,
something impossible, I see seeds of discomfiture unless they are
met with energy. You stand high, and are well spoken of even by our
opponents. Whether we stand or fall, it is a moment for you to increase
your personal influence. That is the element now to encourage in your
career, because you are not lik