house must be attended to."

"If I know Lady Carruthers rightly," said the lawyer, "she will never
get over the blow."

"Tell her that I am here, and why, but tell her also that I refuse to
give an explanation to any human being. Tell her the honor of the
Carruthers seals my lips; try to comfort her if she seems distressed; do
all she wishes you."

"How am I to comfort a mother whose eldest and only son has thrown all
prudence to the wind; who has disgraced himself so far as to stand in a
felon's dock; who has wantonly laid his life bare and waste--for what?"

A strange smile came over the young face.

"Ah! for what! I know; no one else does. There is a reward, and it
satisfies me."

"If ever a Carruthers went mad," said Mr. Forster, angrily, "I should
say you were mad now!"

Basil paid no heed to the remark.

"The only thing I can do," he said, "I will do. I will go to Vienna as
soon as I leave here. I will not remain in London one-half hour."

"I fear your compliance will be too late then," he said. "I must leave
you, if I go to Ulverston this evening. I have several matters that I
must attend to. Will any persuasion of mine induce you to alter your