e see the parallel, yet. These old ladies haven't waked from
a dream, that I see." Thus the General, and Gwen told him he was a
military martinet, and lacking in insight.

Her father continued:--"Each of them has dreamed the other was dead, for
half a century. _Now_ they are awake. But I suspect, from what Gwen
says, that the discovery of the dream has thrown a doubt on all the rest
of the fifty years."

"That's it," said Gwen. "If the whole story of the two deaths is false,
why should Van Diemen's Land be true? Why should the convict and the
forgery be true?"

"Husbands and families are hard nuts to crack," said the General. "Can't
be forgotten or disbelieved in, try 'em any side up!"

At this point a remonstrance from the drawing-room at the delay of the
appearance of the males caused a stampede and ended the discussion. Gwen
rejoined her own sex unabashed, and the company adjourned to the scene
of the household festivity. It is not certain that the presence of his
lordship and his Countess, and the remainder of the party _in esse_ at
the Towers really added to the hilarity of the occasion. But it was an
ancient usage, and the sky might have fallen if it had been rashly
discontinued. The compromise in use at this date under which the
magnates, after walking through a quadrille, melted away imperceptibly
to their normal quarters, was no doubt the result of a belief on their
part that the household would begin to enjoy itself as soon as
formalities had been complied with, and it was left to do so at its own
free-will and pleasure. Nevertheless, a hint at abolition would have
been blasphemy, and however eager the rank and file of the establishment
may have been for the disappearance of the bigwigs, not one of them--and
still more not one of their many invited neighbours--ever breathed a
hint of it to another.

Shortly after ten Gwen and some of the younger members of the party
wound up a fairly successful attempt to make the materials at their
disposal dance the Lancers, and got away without advertising their
departure. It was a great satisfaction to overhear the outbreak of
unchecked roystering that followed. Said Gwen to Miss Dickenson and Mr.
Pellew, who had entered into the spirit of the thing and co-operated
with her efforts to the last:--"They will be at bear-garden point in
half an hour. Poor respectable Masham!" To which Aunt Constance
replied:--"I suppose they won't go on into Sunday?" The answer was:--"Oh