well."

"Oh, quite. She does not walk much, though; her joints have been
troubling her."

To Lila's surprise, he was not the least embarrassed by the
personal tone of the conversation, and his sparkling blue eyes
held their usual expression of blithe good-humour.

"Indeed!" Mrs. Blake pricked at the subject in her sprightly way.
"Well, you must persuade her to use a liniment of Jamestown weed
steeped in whisky. There is positively nothing like it for
rheumatism. Lila, do we still make it for the servants? If so,
you might send Sarah Weatherby a bottle."

"I'll see about it, mother. Aren't you tired? Shall I take Jim
away?"

"Not just yet, child. I am interested in seeing what a promising
young man he has become. How old are you, Jim?"

"Twenty-nine next February. There are two of us, you know--I've a
sister Molly. She married Frank Granger and moved ten miles
away."

"Ah, that brings me to the very point I was driving at. Above all
things, let me caution you most earnestly against the reckless
marriages so common in your station of life. For heaven's sake,
don't marry a woman because she has a pretty face and you cherish
an impracticable sentiment for her. If you take my advice, you