fellow, isn't he?"

"Dick Morriston? One of the best. Straight goer to hounds and straight in
every other capacity, I should say. You know they used to live at Friar's
Norton, near here, before they bought your uncle's place."

"Yes, I know. What is the sister like?"

"A fine, handsome girl," Kelson answered, without enthusiasm. "Rather too
cold and statuesque for my taste, although I have heard she has a bit of
the devil in her. Quite a sportswoman, and as good after hounds as her
brother. They say she had a thin time of it with her step-mother, and has
come out wonderfully since the old lady died. Lord Painswick, who lives
near here, is supposed to be very sweet on her. Perhaps the affair will
develop to-night. The ball will be rather a toney affair."

"Morriston has plenty of money?"

"Heaps. And the sister is an heiress too. The old man did not nearly live
up to his income and there were big accumulations."

"Which enabled the son to buy our property," Gifford said with a tinge
of bitterness. "Well, it might have been worse. Wynford has not passed
into the hands of some Jew millionaire or City speculator, but has gone
to a gentleman, a good fellow and a sportsman, eh?"

"Yes; Dick Morriston is all that. As the place had to go, you could not
have found a better man to succeed your people."

When the time came to start for the ball Gifford went down to see his