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of meaning on his face, neither did she 
make everything in the house subservient to 
her sons. She was the mistress, and such 
she intended to be as long as she lived. 
It was therefore with some solemnity 
and a little excitement, but with nothing of 
the intense and painful feeling which often 
attends such a revelation, that she made a 
certain disclosure to Anne one wintry spring 
afternoon, which changed the current of 
the poor girl’s life, though nobody knew 
of it. 
“ I am going to tell you some news, Anne,” 
she said ; “of a very important kind. I 
don’t quite know whether I am pleased or 
not; but, at all events, it is something very 
important and rather unexpected.” 
“ What kind of a thing, aunt ? ” said Anne, 
looking up from her knitting. 
Her fingers went on with her work, while 
her eyes, brightening with expectation and 
interest, looked up at the speaker. She was 
full of lively, animated curiosity, but nothing 
more. No fear of evil tidings, no alarm 
for what might be coming, was in her peace- 
ful soul. 
“What would you say to a marriage in 
the family ? ” said Mrs. Hartley. 
“A marriage! But, dear aunt, there is 
nobody to marry— unless,” said Anne, with 
a pleasant ring of laughter, “ without my 
knowing anything about it, it should be 
me.” 
“ Nobody to marry ? Do you think the 
boys are nobody ? ” said Mrs. Hartley, with 
a little snort of partial offense. 
“ The boys ! Oh, did you mean the boys ? ” 
said Anne, bewildered. 
She made a little momentary pause, as if 
confused, and then said, rather foolishly : 
“ The boys’ weddings will be weddings in 
other families, not here.” 
“ That is true enough if you think of 
nothing but the wedding; but I suppose 
you take more interest in your cousins than 
that,” said Mrs. Hartley. “ Francis came 
in quite unexpectedly when you were out.” 
“ Francis ? Is it Francis ? ” said Anne, in 
a hurried low tone of dismay. 
“ Why not ? ” said Mrs. Hartley. 
Why not, indeed ? There could be 
nothing more natural. He was a full-grown 
man. But the surprise (surely it was only 
surprise made Anne quite giddy for the 
moment. Her head swam, the light seemed 
to change somehow, and darken round her. 
She felt physically as if she had received a 
violent and sudden blow. 
“ To be sure,” she said, mechanically, feel- 
ing that her voice sounded strange, and did 
not seem to belong td her — “ Why not ? I 
suppose it is the most natural thing in the 
world, only it never came into my head.” 
“ That is nonsense,” said’ her aunt, some- 
what sharply. “ Indeed the wonder is that 
Francis has not married before. He is over 
thirty, and making a good income, and when 
I die he will have the most part of what I 
have. Indeed it is in a sort of a way his duty 
to marry. I do not see how any one could 
be surprised.” 
Anne was silent, feeling with a confused 
thankfulness that no reply was necessary, 
and after a pause Mrs. Hartley resumed in 
a softened tone : 
“ I confess, however, that for the moment 
I did not expect anything of the kind. I 
generally have a feeling when something is 
going to happen; but I had not the least 
warning this morning. It came upon me 
all at once. , Anne, I do think, after living 
with us all your life, you might show a little 
more interest. You have never even asked 
who the lady is.” 
“ It was very stupid of me,” said Anne, 
forcing herself to speak. “Do we know 
her ? Do you like her ? I cannot think of 
any one.” 
“ No, indeed, I suppose not,” said Mrs. 
Hartley. “ She is not one of our set. It 
will be a capital marriage for Francis — 
though, indeed, a man of his abilities may 
aspire to any one. It is Miss Parker, the 
daughter of the Attorney- General, Anne ; a 
man just as sure to be Lord Chancellor as I 
am to eat my dinner. She will be the 
Honorable Mrs. Francis Hartley one day — 
of course the Honorable is not much of 
itself. If it had been some poor Irish or 
Scotch girl, for instance, who happened to 
be a Lord’s daughter ; but the Lord Chan- 
cellor is very different. Fancy the interest 
it will give him, not to say that it will be of 
the greatest importance to him in his pro- 
fession; the Lord Chancellor’s son-in-law; 
nobody can have a greater idea than I have 
of my son’s abilities,” continued the old 
lady; “but such a connection as this is 
never to be disregarded. I am to call upon 
Lady Parker to-morrow, and make ac- 
quaintance with my future daughter. Per- 
haps as the girls have both got their own 
engagements, and Letty would not like me 
to take Susan without asking her, perhaps I 
had best take you with me, Anne.” 
“ Oh, thanks, aunt,” said Anne, tremu- 
lously. “ Did you hear anything about the 
young lady herself?” 
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