'Two letters--you and your papa. She is quite well, I hope?'

'Quite well, thank you, Madame.'

Some fishing questions, dropped from time to time, fared no better. And
as usual, when she was foiled even in a trifle, she became sullen and
malignant.

That night, when my father and I were alone, he suddenly closed the book he
had been reading, and said--

'I heard from Monica Knollys to-day. I always liked poor Monnie; and though
she's no witch, and very wrong-headed at times, yet now and then she does
say a thing that's worth weighing. Did she ever talk to you of a time,
Maud, when you are to be your own mistress?'

'No,' I answered, a little puzzled, and looking straight in his rugged,
kindly face.

'Well, I thought she might--she's a rattle, you know--always _was_ a
rattle, and that sort of people say whatever comes uppermost. But that's a
subject for me, and more than once, Maud, it has puzzled me.'

He sighed.

'Come with me to the study, little Maud.'

So, he carrying a candle, we crossed the lobby, and marched together
through the passage, which at night always seemed a little awesome, darkly