as his mother--who was sitting with Dame Susannah on a couch at some
little distance from the players--observed with growing annoyance, and
she tried to divert his attention by questions and small errands, so as
to give his evident excitement a fresh direction.

Who could have thought, yesterday morning, that her darling would so soon
cause her fresh vexation and anxiety.

He had come home just such a man as she and his father could have wished:
independent and experienced in the ways of the great world. In the
Capital he had, no doubt, enjoyed all that seems pleasant in the eyes of
a wealthy youth, but in spite of that he had remained fresh and open-
hearted even to the smallest things; and this was what most rejoiced his
father. In him there was no trace of the satiety, the blunted faculty
for enjoyment, which fell like a blight on so many men of his age and
rank. He could still play as merrily with little Mary, still take as
much pleasure in a rare flower or a fine horse, as before his departure.
At the same time he had gained keen insight into the political situation
of the time, into the state of the empire and the court, into
administration, and the innovations in church matters; it was a joy
to his father to hear him discourse; and he assured his wife that he had
learnt a great deal from the boy, that Orion was on the high road to be
a great statesman and was already quite capable of taking his father's
place.

When Neforis confessed how large a sum in debts Orion had left in
Constantinople the old man put his hand in his purse with a sort of
pride, delighted to find that his sole remaining heir knew how to spend
the immense wealth which to him was now a burden rather than a pleasure--
to make good use of it, as he himself had done in his day, and display a