y following
Gwen's visit to Strides Cottage, and the Countess's to Pensham. All
through the morning of that day her young ladyship had been feeling the
effects of the strain of the previous one, followed by a night of
despairing sleeplessness due to excitement. An afternoon nap, a most
unusual thing with her, had rallied her to the point of sending a
special invitation to her mother to join her at tea in her own private
apartment; which was reasonable, as all the guests were away killing
innocent birds, or hares. The Countess was aware of her daughter's
fatigue and upset, but persisted in regarding its cause as
over-estimated--a great deal too much made of a very simple matter.
"Then that is satisfactorily settled, and there need be no further
fuss." These were her words of comment on her daughter's detailed
account of her day's adventures, which made themselves of use to keep
hostilities in abeyance.

"I think you are unfeeling, mamma; that's flat!" was Gwen's
unceremonious rejoinder.

The Countess repeated the last word impassively. It was rather as though
she said to Space:--"Here is an expression. If you are by way of
containing any Intelligences capable of supplying an explanation, I will
hear them impartially." Receiving no reply from any Point of the
Compass, she continued:--"I really cannot see what these two old ...
persons have to complain of. They have every reason to be thankful that
they have been spared so long. The death of either would have made all
your exertions on their behalf useless. Why they cannot settle down on
each side of that big fireplace at Strides Cottage, and talk it all
over, I cannot imagine. It has been engraved in the _Illustrated London
News_." This was marginal, not in the text. "They will have plenty to
tell each other after such a long time."

"Mamma dear, you are hopeless!"

"Well, my dear, ask any sensible person. They have had the narrowest
escape of finding it all out after each other's death, and then I
suppose we should never have heard the end of it.... Yes, perhaps the
way I put it _was_ a little confused. But really the subject is so
complex." Gwen complicated it still more by introducing its relations to
Immortality; to which her mother took exception:--"If they were both
ghosts, we should probably know nothing of them. No ghost appears to a
perfect stranger--no authenticated ghost! Besides, one hopes they would
be at peace in their graves."

"Oh, ah, yes, by-the-b