to-day I should have had to have sent for him to-morrow."

"Dear me," said I. "Have they any children?"

"Yes," said he, "two; they are staying with one of my daughters at
present, where, indeed, Clara has mostly been. I wouldn't lose sight
of her, as I felt sure they would come together again: and Dick, who
is the best of good fellows, really took the matter to heart. You
see, he had no other love to run to, as she had. So I managed it
all; as I have done with such-like matters before."

"Ah," said I, "no doubt you wanted to keep them out of the Divorce
Court: but I suppose it often has to settle such matters."

"Then you suppose nonsense," said he. "I know that there used to be
such lunatic affairs as divorce-courts: but just consider; all the
cases that came into them were matters of property quarrels: and I
think, dear guest," said he, smiling, "that though you do come from
another planet, you can see from the mere outside look of our world
that quarrels about private property could not go on amongst us in
our days."

Indeed, my drive from Hammersmith to Bloomsbury, and all the quiet
happy life I had seen so many hints of; even apart from my shopping,
would have been enough to tell me that "the sacred rights of
property," as we used to think of them, were now no more. So I sat
silent while the old man took up the thread of the discourse again,
and said:

"Well, then, property quarrels being no longer possible, what remains