do his best, and he took a gig at the station
nearest to Albury. He was careful to carry his bag with him, but
still he lived in hope that he would be able to return to London the
same day. When he found himself within the lodges of Stalham Park
he could hardly keep himself from shivering, and, when he asked the
footman at the door whether Colonel Stubbs were there, he longed to
be told that Colonel Stubbs had gone away on the previous day to
some--he did not care what--distant part of the globe. But Colonel
Stubbs had not gone away. Colonel Stubbs was in the house.

Our friend the Colonel had not suffered as Tom had suffered since his
rejection;--but nevertheless he had been much concerned. He had set
his heart upon Ayala before he had asked her, and could not bring
himself to change his heart because she had refused him. He had
gone down to Aldershot and had performed his duties, abstaining for
the present from repeating his offer. The offer of course must be
repeated, but as to the when, the where, and the how, he had not as
yet made up his mind. Then Tom Tringle had come to him at Aldershot
communicating to him the fact that he had a rival;--and also the
other fact that the other rival like himself had hitherto been
unsuccessful. It seemed improbable to him that such a girl as
Ayala should attach herself to such a man as her cousin Tom. But
nevertheless he was uneasy. He regarded Tom Tringle as a miracle of
wealth, and felt certain that the united efforts of the whole family
would be used to arrange the match. Ayala had refused him also, and
therefore, up to the present moment, the chances of the other man
were no better than his own. When Tom left him at Aldershot he hardly
remembered that Tom knew nothing of his secret, whereas Tom had
communicated to him his own. It never for a moment occurred to him
that Tom would quarrel with him; although he had seen that the poor
fellow had been disgusted because he had refused to write the letter.

On Christmas Eve he had gone down to Stalham, and there he had
remained discussing the matter of his love with Lady Albury. To no
one else in the house had the affair been mentioned, and by Sir Harry
he was supposed to remain there only for the sake of the hunting.
With Sir Harry he was of all guests the most popular, and thus it
came to pass that his prolonged presence at Stalham was not matter
of special remark. Much of his time he did devote to hunting, but
there were half ho