state of his temper, he might knock her down. In another state of
his temper, he might leave her behind him. Her only hope of
protecting herself, in either case, was to tame the bridegroom.
In his absence, she wisely armed herself with the most
irresistible fascinations of her sex. Never yet had he seen her
dressed as she was dressed when he came home. Never yet had her
magnificent eyes looked at him as they looked now. Emotions for
which he was not prepared overcame this much injured man; he
stared at the bride in helpless surprise. That inestimable moment
of weakness was all Mrs. Bellbridge asked for. Bewildered by his
own transformation, James found himself reading the newspaper the
next morning sentimentally, with his arm round his wife's waist.



By a refinement of cruelty, not one word had been said to prepare
little Syd for the dreary change that was now close at hand in
her young life. The poor child had seen the preparations for
departure, and had tried to imitate her mother in packing up. She
had collected her few morsels of darned and ragged clothing, and
had gone upstairs to put them into one of the dilapidated old
trunks in the garret play ground, when the servant was sent to
bring her back to the sitting-room. There, enthroned in an
easy-chair, sat a strange lady; and there, hiding behind the
chair in undisguised dislike of the visitor, was her little
brother Roderick. Syd looked timidly at her mother; and her
mother said:

"Here is your aunt."