ut his wife; and she, who thought Guy as
unlikely to gamble as Amy herself, had not the least doubt that he would
be able to clear himself, and agreed that it was much better to keep
silence for the present.

CHAPTER 15

'Tis not unknown to you, Antonio,
How much I have disabled mine estate,
By something showing a more swelling port
Than my faint means would grant continuance.
--Merchant of Venice

St. Mildred's was a fashionable summer resort, which the virtues of a
mineral spring, and the reputation of Dr. Henley, had contributed
to raise to a high degree of prosperity. It stood at the foot of a
magnificent range of beautifully formed hills, where the crescents and
villas, white and smart, showed their own insignificance beneath the
purple peaks that rose high above them.

About ten miles distant, across the hills, was Stylehurst, the parish
of the late Archdeacon Morville, and the native place of Philip and his
sister Margaret. It was an extensive parish, including a wide tract of
the hilly country; and in a farm-house in the midst of the moorland,
midway between St. Mildred's and the village of Stylehurst, had Mr.
Wellwood fixed himself with his three pupils.

Guy's first visit was of course to Mrs. Henley, and she was, on her
side, prepared by her brother to patronize him as Philip would have
done in her place. Her patronage was valuable in her own circle; her
connections were good; the Archdeacon's name was greatly respected; she
had a handsome and well-regulated establishment, and this, together with
talents which, having no family, she had cultivated more than most women
have time to do, made her a person of considerable distinction at St.
Mildred's. She was, in fact, the leading lady of the place--the manager
of the book-club, in the chair at all the charitable committees, and the
principal person in society, giving literary parties, with a degree of
exclusiveness that made admission to them a privilege.

She was a very fine woman, handsomer at two-and-thirty than in her early
bloom; her height little less than that of her tall brother, and her
manner and air had something very distinguished. The first time Guy saw
her, he was strongly reminded both of Philip and of Mrs. Edmonstone,
but not pleasingly. She seemed to be her aunt, without the softness and
motherly affection, coupled with the touch of naivete that gave Mrs.
Edmonstone her freshness, and loveable