the lady's-maid, whom the Countess
had unfortunately attached to her daughter when the first gleam of
prosperity had come upon them.

Among the last who heard the story of the tailor,--the last of any
who professed the slightest interest in the events of the Lovel
family,--were the Lovels of Yoxham. The Earl had told them nothing.
In answer to his aunt's letters, and then in answer to a very urgent
appeal from his uncle, the young nobleman had sent only the most curt
and most ambiguous replies. When there was really something to tell
he would tell everything, but at present he could only say that he
hoped that everything would be well. That had been the extent of the
information given by the Earl to his relations, and the rector had
waxed wrathful. Nor was his wrath lessened, or the sorrow of the
two aunts mitigated, when the truth reached them by the mouth of
that very Lady Fitzwarren who had been made to walk out of the room
after--Anna Murray, as Lady Fitzwarren persisted in calling the
"young person" after she had heard the story of the tailor. She told
the story at Yoxham parsonage to the two aunts, and brought with her
a printed paragraph from a newspaper to prove the truth of it. As it
is necessary that we should now hurry into the court to hear what
the Solicitor-General had to say about the case, we cannot stop to
sympathize with the grief of the Lovels at Yoxham. We may, however,
pause for a moment to tell the burden of the poor rector's song for
that evening. "I knew how it would be from the beginning. I told you
so. I was sure of it. But nobody would believe me."

The Court of Queen's Bench at Westminster was crowded on the 9th of
November. The case was to be heard before the Lord Chief Justice,
and it was known that at any rate Sir William Patterson would have
something to tell. If nothing else came of it, the telling of that
story would be worth the hearing. All the preliminaries of the trial
went on, as though every one believed that it was to be carried
through to the bitter end,--as though evidence were to be adduced and
rebutted, and further contradicted by other evidence, which would
again be rebutted with that pleasing animosity between rival lawyers,
which is so gratifying to the outside world, and apparently to
themselves also. The jurors were sworn in,--a special jury,--and long
was the time taken, and many the threats made by the Chief Justice,
before twelve gentlemen would consent to go into t