me back
from the grave, or his dear Lady Archibald.

[Illustration: "'I AM A VERY ALTERED PERSON!'"]

This meeting made a great difference to Barty in many ways--made amends!
Lady Caroline meant to pass the winter at Malines, of all places in the
world. The Archbishop was her friend, and she was friends also with one
or two priests at the seminary there. She was by no means rich, having
but an annuity of not quite three hundred a year; and it soon became the
dearest wish of her heart that Barty should live with her for a while,
and be nursed by her if he wanted nursing; and she thought he did.
Besides, it would be convenient on account of his doctor, M. Noiret, of
the University of Louvain, which was near Malines--half an hour by
train.

And Barty was only too glad; this warm old love and devotion had
suddenly dropped on to him by some happy enchantment out of the
skies at a moment of sore need. And it was with a passion of
gratitude that he accepted his aunt's proposals.

He well knew, also, how it was in him to brighten her lonely life,
almost every hour of it--and promised himself that she should not be
a loser by her kindness to Mr. Nobody of Nowhere. He remembered her
love of fun, and pretty poetry, and little French songs, and droll
chat--and nice cheerful meals tete-a-tete--and he was good at all
these things. And how fond she was of reading out loud to him! The
time might soon arrive when that would be a blessing indeed.

Indeed, a new interest had come into his life--not altogether a
selfish interest either--but one well worth living for, though it
was so unlike any interest that had ever filled his life before. He
had been essentially a man's man hitherto, in spite of his gay light
love for lovely woman; a good comrade par excellence, a frolicsome
chum, a rollicking boon-companion, a jolly pal! He wanted quite
desperately to love something staid and feminine and gainly and well
bred, whatever its age! some kind soft warm thing in petticoats and
thin shoes, with no hair on its face, and a voice that wasn't male!

Nor did her piety frighten him very much. He soon found that she was
no longer the over-zealous proselytizing busybody of the Cross--but
immensely a woman of the world, making immense allowances. All roads
lead to Rome (dit-on!), except a few which converge in the opposite
direction; but even Roman roads lead to this wide tolerance in the
end--for those of a rich warm nature who have been well b