do so. He and his wife would rather remain abroad, it seems, than return
home."

"Yes. Well?"

"Well, he writes to me to ask whether he can resign it; or whether I
must hold him to the promise he made me--that I should rent the house to
the end of the term. I mean the end of the lease; the term he holds it
for."

"Why does he want to resign it? Why can't things go on as at present?"

"I gather from an allusion he makes, though he does not explicitly state
it, that Mr. Carradyne wishes to have the place in his own hands. What
am I to say to Peveril, Eliza?"

"Say! Why, that you must hold him to his promise; that we cannot give up
the house yet. A pretty thing if I had no place to go down to at will in
my own county!"

"So far as I am concerned, Eliza, I would prefer to stay away from the
county--if your father is to continue to treat me in the way he does.
Remember what it was in the summer. I think we are very well here."

"Now, Philip, I have _said_. I do not intend to release our hold on
Peacock's Range. My father will be reconciled to you in time as he is to
me."

"I wonder what Harry Carradyne can want it for?" mused Philip Hamlyn,
bowing to the imperative decision of his better half.