made no reply to it.

Presently, however, she asked:

"When are you going to attend to that matter of business for me? I do not
think it ought to be delayed any longer."

"Blast it! I am tired of business," responded her dutiful nephew
impatiently, adding: "I suppose the sooner I go, though, the quicker it
will be over."

"Yes, I want everything fixed secure before my marriage, for I intend
to manage my own private affairs afterward, the same as before," his
companion returned.

Louis laughed with some amusement.

"You ought to have been a man, Aunt Marg; your spirit is altogether too
self-reliant and independent for a woman," he said.

"I know it; but being a woman, I must try to make the best of the
situation in the future, as I have done all my life," she returned,
with a self-conscious smile.

"Well, I will look after that matter right away--get your instructions
ready and I will be off within an hour or two," said the young man, as
he rose and went out, while Mrs. Montague proceeded directly to her own
room.