n, a deal better. He wasn't a
wholesome lover,--not like you are. Tell me, Mr John, did you give it
him well when you got him? I heard you did;--two black eyes, and all
his face one mash of gore!" And Hopkins, who was by no means a young
man, stiffly put himself into a fighting attitude.

Eames passed on over the little bridge, which seemed to be in a state
of fast decay, unattended to by any friendly carpenter, now that the
days of its use were so nearly at an end; and on into the garden,
lingering on the spot where he had last said farewell to Lily. He
looked about as though he expected still to find her there; but there
was no one to be seen in the garden, and no sound to be heard. As
every step brought him nearer to her whom he was seeking, he became
more and more conscious of the hopelessness of his errand. Him she
had never loved, and why should he venture to hope that she would
love him now? He would have turned back had he not been aware that
his promise to others required that he should persevere. He had said
that he would do this thing, and he would be as good as his word. But
he hardly ventured to hope that he might be successful. In this frame
of mind he slowly made his way up across the lawn.

"My dear, there is John Eames," said Mrs Dale, who had first seen him
from the parlour window.

"Don't go, mamma."

"I don't know; perhaps it will be better that I should."

"No, mamma, no; what good can it do? It can do no good. I like him as
well as I can like any one. I love him dearly. But it can do no good.
Let him come in here, and be very kind to him; but do not go away and
leave us. Of course I knew he would come, and I shall be very glad to
see him."

Then Mrs Dale went round to the other room, and admitted her
visitor through the window of the drawing-room. "We are in terrible
confusion, John, are we not?

"And so you are really going to live in Guestwick?"

"Well, it looks like it, does it not? But, to tell you a
secret,--only it must be a secret; you must not mention it at
Guestwick Manor; even Bell does not know;--we have half made up our
minds to unpack all our things and stay where we are."

Eames was so intent on his own purpose, and so fully occupied with
the difficulty of the task before him, that he could hardly receive
Mrs Dale's tidings with all the interest which they deserved. "Unpack
them all again," he said. "That will be very troublesome. Is Lily
with you, Mrs Dale?"

"Yes, she