of the domestic staff as it did to the cook, the butler, and
Bashville himself. Miss Carew, who knew the value of good servants,
appreciated her footman's smartness, and paid him accordingly; but
she had no suspicion that she was waited on by a versatile young
student of poetry and public affairs, distinguished for his
gallantry, his personal prowess, his eloquence, and his influence on
local politics.

It was Bashville who now entered the library with a salver, which he
proffered to Alice, saying, "The gentleman is waiting in the round
drawing-room, miss."

Alice took the gentleman's card, and read, "Mr. Wallace Parker."

"Oh!" she said, with vexation, glancing at Bashville as if to divine
his impression of the visitor. "My cousin--the one we were speaking
of just now--has come to see me."

"How fortunate!" said Lydia. "He will tell me the meaning of pug.
Ask him to lunch with us."

"You would not care for him," said Alice. "He is not much used to
society. I suppose I had better go and see him."

Miss Carew did not reply, being plainly at a loss to understand how
there could be any doubt about the matter. Alice went to the round
drawing-room, where she found Mr. Parker examining a trophy of
Indian armor, and presenting a back view of a short gentleman in a
spruce blue frock-coat. A new hat and pair of gloves were also
visible as he stood looking upward with his hands behind him. When