house-flannel; I inclose a pattern of the quality. Snugg, in Oxford
Street, near Tottenham Court Road, is my man. It is certainly a handsome
thing in old Johnstone: but so odd to omit me. How did you get acquainted
witk him? The twenty thousand pounds will, however, do much for the poor
property. Pray take care of it, Percy,--pray do.

"I have had a touch of the gout, for the first time. I have been too
luxurious: by proper abstinence, I trust to bring it down. Compliments
to that smooth rogue, Saville.

"Your affectionate, A. G.

"P. S.--Discharged Old Sally for flirting with the butcher's boy:
flirtations of that sort make meat weigh much heavier. Bess is my only
she-helpmate now, besides the old creature who shows the ruins: so much
the better. What an eccentric creature that Johnstone was! I hate
eccentric people."

The letter fell from Percy's hands. And this, then, was the issue of his
single interview with the poor old man! It was events like these, wayward
and strange (events which chequered his whole life), that, secretly to
himself, tinged Godolphin's character with superstition. He afterwards
dealt con amore with fatalities and influences.

You may be sure that he did not sleep much that night. Early the next
morning he sought Saville, and imparted to him the intelligence he had
received.

"Droll enough!" said Saville, languidly, and more than a little
displeased at this generosity to Godolphin from another; for, like all