e, Aunt Jane. I shall
never marry the man yet." This, however, had been said so often that
Aunt Jane thought nothing of the threat.

CHAPTER LXVI

The Aspirations of Mr. Emilius

It was acknowledged by Mrs. Carbuncle very freely that in the matter
of tribute no one behaved better than Mr. Emilius, the fashionable,
foreign, ci-devant Jew preacher, who still drew great congregations
in the neighbourhood of Mrs. Carbuncle's house. Mrs. Carbuncle, no
doubt, attended regularly at Mr. Emilius's church, and had taken
a sitting for thirteen Sundays at something like ten shillings a
Sunday. But she had not as yet paid the money, and Mr. Emilius was
well aware that if his tickets were not paid for in advance, there
would be considerable defalcations in his income. He was, as a rule,
very particular as to such payments, and would not allow a name to
be put on a sitting till the money had reached his pockets; but with
Mrs. Carbuncle he had descended to no such commercial accuracy. Mrs.
Carbuncle had seats for three,--for one of which Lady Eustace paid
her share in advance,--in the midst of the very best pews in the most
conspicuous part of the house,--and hardly a word had been said to
her about the money. And now there came to them from Mr. Emilius
the prettiest little gold salver that ever was seen. "I send Messrs.
Clerico's docket," wrote Mr. Emilius, "as Miss Roanoke may like to
know the quality of the metal." "Ah," said Mrs. Carbuncle, inspecting
the little dish, and putting two and two together; "he's got it
cheap, no doubt,--at the place where they commissioned him to buy
the plate and candlesticks for the church; but at L3 16s. 3d. the
gold is worth nearly twenty pounds." Mr. Emilius no doubt had had his
outing in the autumn through the instrumentality of Mrs. Carbuncle's
kindness; but that was past and gone, and such lavish gratitude for
a past favour could hardly be expected from Mr. Emilius. "I'll be
hanged if he isn't after Portray Castle," said Mrs. Carbuncle to
herself.

Mr. Emilius was after Portray Castle, and had been after Portray
Castle in a silent, not very confident, but yet not altogether
hopeless manner ever since he had seen the glories of that place, and
learned something of truth as to the widow's income. Mrs. Carbuncle
was led to her conclusion not simply by the wedding present, but in
part also by the diligence displayed by Mr. Emilius in removing the
doubts which had got abroad respecting