m.

John Eustace and Greystock were very intimate,--as also had been Sir
Florian and Greystock. "I tell you what I wish you'd do, Greystock,"
Eustace said to him one day, as they were standing idly together in
the lobby of the House. For John Eustace was also in Parliament.

"Anything to oblige you, my friend."

"It's only a trifle," said Eustace. "Just to marry your cousin, my
brother's widow."

"By Jove,--I wish I had the chance!"

"I don't see why you shouldn't. She is sure to marry somebody, and
at her age so she ought. She's not twenty-three yet. We could trust
you,--with the child and all the rest of it. As it is, she is giving
us a deal of trouble."

"But, my dear fellow--"

"I know she's fond of you. You were dining there last Sunday.

"And so was Fawn. Lord Fawn is the man to marry Lizzie. You see if he
doesn't. He was uncommonly sweet on her the other night, and really
interested her about the Sawab."

"She'll never be Lady Fawn," said John Eustace. "And to tell the
truth, I shouldn't care to have to deal with Lord Fawn. He would
be infinitely troublesome; and I can hardly wash my hands of her
affairs. She's worth nearly L5,000 a year as long as she lives, and
I really don't think that she's much amiss."

"Much amiss! I don't know whether she's not the prettiest woman I
ever saw," said Greystock.

"Yes;--but I mean in conduct, and all that. She is making herself
queer; and Camperdown, our lawyer, means to jump upon her; but it's
only because she doesn't know what she ought to be at, and what she
ought not. You could tell her."

"It wouldn't suit me at all to have to quarrel with Camperdown," said
the barrister, laughing.

"You and he would settle everything in five minutes, and it would
save me a world of trouble," said Eustace.

"Fawn is your man;--take my word for it," said Greystock, as he
walked back into the House.

* * * * *

Dramatists, when they write their plays, have a delightful privilege
of prefixing a list of their personages;--and the dramatists of old
used to tell us who was in love with whom, and what were the blood
relationships of all the persons. In such a narrative as this, any
proceeding of that kind would be unusual,--and therefore the poor
narrator has been driven to expend his first four chapters in the
mere task of introducing his characters. He regrets the length of
these introductions, and will now begin at once the action of his
story.