ore. As for occupation, he
was very fond of painting, very fond of art all round, could shoot a
little, and was never in want of anything to do as long as he had a
book. But for the earning of money he had no turn whatever. He was
quite sure of himself that he could never earn a shilling. But then
on the other hand he was not extravagant,--which was almost as good
as earning. It was almost incredible; but with his means, limited
as they were to a few hundreds, he did not owe above a thousand
pounds;--a fact which he thought would weigh much with Sir Thomas in
regard to his daughter's future happiness.

Sir Thomas gave him a flat refusal. "I think that I may boast that
your daughter's happiness is in my charge," said Frank Houston.

"Then she must be unhappy," said Sir Thomas. Houston shrugged his
shoulders. "A fool like that has no right to be happy."

"There isn't another man in the world by whom I would allow her to be
spoken of like that," said Houston.

"Bother!"

"I regard her as all that is perfect in woman, and you must forgive
me if I say that I shall not abandon my suit. I may be allowed, at
any rate, to call at the house?"

"Certainly not."

"That is a kind of thing that is never done nowadays;--never," said
Houston, shaking his head.

"I suppose my own house is my own."

"Yours and Lady Tringle's, and your daughters', no doubt. At any
rate, Sir Thomas, you will think of this again. I am sure you will
think of it again. If you find that your daughter's happiness depends
upon it--"

"I shall find nothing of the kind. Good morning."

"Good morning, Sir Thomas." Then Mr. Houston, bowing graciously, left
the little back room in Lombard Street, and jumping into a cab, had
himself taken straight away to Queen's Gate.

"Papa is always like that," said Gertrude. On that day Mrs. Traffick,
with all the boots, had taken herself away to the small house in
Mayfair, and Gertrude, with her mother, had the house to herself. At
the present moment Lady Tringle was elsewhere, so that the young lady
was alone with her lover.

"But he comes round, I suppose."

"If he doesn't have too much to eat,--which disagrees with him,--he
does. He's always better down at Glenbogie because he's out of doors
a good deal, and then he can digest things."

"Then take him down to Glenbogie and let him digest it at once."

"Of course we can't go till the 12th. Perhaps we shall start on the
10th, because the 11th is Sunday. Wha