n. He rode up, and asked the servant with grave
ceremony whether Mr. Herbert Fitzgerald were at home. He would not go
in, he said, but if Mr. Herbert were there he would wait for him at
the porch. Herbert at the time was standing in the dining-room, all
alone, gloomily leaning against the mantelpiece. There was nothing
for him to do during the whole of that day but wait for the evening,
when the promised revelation would be made to him. He knew that
Mollett and Mrs. Jones were with Mr. Prendergast in the study, but
what was the matter now being investigated between them--that he did
not know. And till he knew that, closely as he was himself concerned,
he could meddle with nothing. But it was already past noon and the
evening would soon be there.

In this mood he was interrupted by being told that his cousin Owen
was at the door. "He won't come in at all, Mr. Herbert," Richard
had said; for Richard, according to order, was still waiting about
the porch; "but he says that you are to go to him there." And then
Herbert, after considering the matter for a moment, joined his cousin
at the front entrance.

"I want to speak to you a few words," said Owen; "but as I hear that
Sir Thomas is not well, I will not go into the house; perhaps you
will walk with me as far as the lodge. Never mind the mare, she will
not go astray." And so Herbert got his hat and accompanied him. For
the first hundred yards neither of them said anything. Owen would not
speak of Clara till he was well out of hearing from the house, and
at the present moment Herbert had not much inclination to commence a
conversation on any subject.

Owen was the first to speak. "Herbert," said he, "I have been told
that you are engaged to marry Lady Clara Desmond."

"And so I am," said Herbert, feeling very little inclined to admit
of any question as to his privilege in that respect. Things were
happening around him which might have--Heaven only knows what
consequence. He did fear--fear with a terrible dread that something
might occur which would shatter the cup of his happiness, and rob him
of the fruition of his hopes. But nothing had occurred as yet. "And
so I am," he said; "it is no wonder that you should have heard it,
for it has been kept no secret. And I also have heard of your visit
to Desmond Court. It might have been as well, I think, if you had
stayed away."

"I thought differently," said Owen, frowning blackly. "I thought that
the most straightforward t