morning; but during the
day, or, perhaps, as he thought over the matter in bed, he made up
his mind that he would accept Lady de Courcy's invitation. It was not
only that he would be glad to see the Gazebees, or glad to stay in
the same house with that great master in the high art of fashionable
life, Lady Dumbello, or glad to renew his friendship with the Ladies
Margaretta and Alexandrina. Had he felt that the circumstances of his
engagement with Lily made it expedient for him to stay with her till
the end of his holidays, he could have thrown over the de Courcys
without a struggle. But he told himself that it would be well for him
now to tear himself away from Lily; or perhaps he said that it would
be well for Lily that he should be torn away. He must not teach her
to think that they were to live only in the sunlight of each other's
eyes during those months, or perhaps years, which might elapse before
their engagement could be carried out. Nor must he allow her to
suppose that either he or she were to depend solely upon the other
for the amusements and employments of life. In this way he argued the
matter very sensibly within his own mind, and resolved, without much
difficulty, that he would go to Courcy Castle, and bask for a week in
the sunlight of the fashion which would be collected there. The quiet
humdrum of his own fireside would come upon him soon enough!

"I think I shall leave you on Wednesday, sir," Crosbie said to the
squire at breakfast on Sunday morning.

"Leave us on Wednesday!" said the squire, who had an old-fashioned
idea that people who were engaged to marry each other should remain
together as long as circumstances could be made to admit of their
doing so. "Nothing wrong, is there?"

"Oh, dear, no! But everything must come to an end some day; and as I
must make one or two short visits before I get back to town, I might
as well go on Wednesday. Indeed, I have made it as late as I possibly
could."

"Where do you go from here?" asked Bernard.

"Well, as it happens, only into the next county,--to Courcy Castle."
And then there was nothing more said about the matter at that
breakfast-table.

It had become their habit to meet together on the Sunday mornings
before church, on the lawn belonging to the Small House, and on this
day the three gentlemen walked down together, and found Lily and
Bell already waiting for them. They generally had some few minutes
to spare on those occasions before Mrs Da