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what Mr. Austin’s droning voice was explaining so laboriously to me. Why on earth should he choose me for a confidante in such a delicate matter? What have I done that I should be mixed up in their affairs? It is impossible, grotesque! They must all be mad to talk of such a thing. But by degrees I gathered some indications of what he was trying to bring about. I am expected to hint to Mr. Campbell that he is de trop in the Austin household. Yes, I—myself—Alice Lauder, spinster, being of sound mind and body—am supposed to take this bombshell up in my new six-button tan gloves, and calmly deposit it somewhere out of the way of the children. It is a joke, but rather too practical for my taste! I heard vaguely some disjointed murmurs about ‘your old friendship,’ ‘more influence than anyone else,’ ‘your practical good sense,’ and other unmeaning observations. When anyone talks about my well-known good sense, I always give it up, and fly as from a pestilence to the uttermost parts of the earth.

“I remember nothing more except that the unwinking glare of the magnifying glass was fixed on me for apparently untold ages, while I remained in a state of stupefaction, gazing earnestly at my fan and seeking counsel from the lowest depths of the Turkey carpet, while Mr.