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CHAPTER XXI.

I know him; and sometimes I think, if we knew others in the same manner, the better we should find them. For it may be that an action displeases us, which would please us if we knew its whole aim and extent.

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MADAME KLOPSTOCK.

ND such a letter too!' said Uncle Ralph. He had come to town, according to custom, to spend Christmas week in Charles-street, and he was now sitting in conference with Mrs. Mordaunt.

'Yes, the mercantile style and the feminine hand go so oddly together, as if it were composed by Mr. Barlow, and copied by his wife;' a chance shot, nearer the truth than Mrs. Mordaunt imagined.

'It seems hard,' continued Mr. Cornwall in an aggrieved tone, 'to lay hands on another man's niece, and make a governess of her whether he will or no. Though, by the way, she is not to be a governess, only "associated with our dear Emma in her studies, a valued friend and companion."

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'At all events you have the power of saying no.' 'Have I?' said Uncle Ralph, shrugging his shoulders. Not if Miriam's mind is made up, as I gather from her note. I said no to her once under compulsion, in Leonard's affair, and I never mean to try it again.'

'I do believe that interference in that matter was a mistake,' rejoined Mrs. Mordaunt. 'It has set Miriam against you and us all, and completely estranged Leo. I believe he is passing this vacation in town, and yet he has never been near us.'

'I suppose it would not do to try and bring them together again?' said Uncle Ralph doubtfully, and Mrs. Mordaunt was not a little startled by the suggestion.

'Oh no; John would not hear of such a thing. And after all, though disappointment makes them unamiable towards their relations, it has done no essential harm. Miriam did well at school, and is doing equally well with these Barlows. I have heard of them before as enormously rich, and living in great style.'

'As is proved by the offer of a salary of £100 a year, and all the best London masters. It reads like a bribe.'

'Since you are mistrustful,' said Mrs. Mordaunt, laughing, suppose you drive down to Clapham, and judge for yourself.'

'I could not go alone,' said Uncle Ralph helplessly; 'I should be talked over in five minutes.'

'I cannot go with you. I do not know Mrs. Barlow, and am not ambitious to make her acquaintance.'

'Susan said she would not mind going with me,' said Mr. Cornwall with a certain guilty consciousess which aroused Mrs. Mordaunt's attention.

'Did Susan propose going?' she asked quickly. 'I am not sure from which side the proposal came; but I do not see any harm in it.'

'No harm exactly, only I should have thought Susan's time fully engaged, just as Mr. Merton has come to town.'

She said it would not signify, just for one morning.'

In the days of our courtship, one morning signified a good deal. And though I should not have expected you to see it in that light, it seems natural that Susan should do so.'

'You don't want Susan to give me up, Mrs. Mordaunt ?'

'Certainly not, but in the days which come but once in a lifetime, we must all give up something; a fact you have scarcely accepted, and I sometimes fancy that Mr. Merton accuses you of engrossing Susan's attention.'

'I know that we were much more comfortable before Susan thought of marrying. However, if I may not take her with me, I shall not go at all, but write and tell Miriam that she must please herself.'

Mrs. Mordaunt objected to this mode of settling the difficulty, and administered some wholesome truths on the dishonesty of thus eluding the charge which he had taken on himself. But she felt remorseful when Uncle Ralph submissively replied, that no one could feel more keenly than he did himself, how utterly he had failed to do his duty towards his sister's children, and that he believed he had better die at once, and leave them to Mr. Mordaunt's guardianship. She laughingly disclaimed the necessity of his putting such a threat in execution, and agreed to the compromise that Susan should

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accompany him to Clapham any day that Mr. Merton was otherwise engaged. Such an opportunity was found, or perhaps invented; at least it did not appear that any very pressing engagement constrained Mr. Merton to wander disconsolately through the streets, looking into the shop-windows, and trying to decide on some suitable Christmas present for Susan. His ardour in such a pursuit was checked by the dim suspicion that his tokens of love were unwillingly accepted, and only added to the burden of gratitude already so oppressive.

It was Christmas eve, clear, bright, and frosty, and Susan and Uncle Ralph were whirled along in a Hansom cab, very much to their satisfaction. Indeed Susan became so animated in her admiration of the view from Battersea Bridge, that Mr. Cornwall observed it was quite like old times to have her to himself again; an unlucky remark, which checked all conversation for a time.

'There is no accounting for taste,' said Uncle Ralph, as they drove through sweep gates up to a stucco house with a front of imposing Palladian architecture. 'Do you see the statues under the stripped weeping willows in the garden? I wonder that no robin-redbreast has had the charity to gather the fallen leaves, and give them decent burial.'

Susan laughed so merrily that it rang through the closed window of the library, where Miriam stood at her easel, and she looked up, in time to see the arrival. The familiar faces awakened a home-like feeling, as unexpected as it was pleasant, and she ran out into the hall with a brighter wel

come than Uncle Ralph had ever received from her before. 'I am so glad you have come, for it is more satisfactory than writing. You had better come to my room, until the Barlows come in. They will be home to luncheon.'

'So this is your room,' said Uncle Ralph, as they entered the library.

'Yes; Emma and I work here together, and after that I am never disturbed.'

'It is not like my den at home, is it, Susan ?' continued Uncle Ralph.

'Not exactly,' she replied; 'the binding of that Froissart must fill your soul with envy.'

'Mine is a better edition, however,' said Mr. Cornwall, taking out a volume; 'is Mr. Barlow a great reader, Miriam ?'

'Of the newspapers. I believe the library was made to order, when the house was furnished.'

'Well, there is no better possession than a good library, even if a man cannot use it. Mine will not be so magnificent of course, but perhaps the plan is better. Do you remember it, Susan?'

'Not very clearly,' said Susan disrespectfully; 'I remember your consulting me about ten years ago, when there was to be a ladder for my especial benefit, as I was not tall enough to reach the upper shelves. But I imagine that the plans have been altered, to receive all the latest improvements since those days. And talking of improvement, come and see this copy of Miriam's.'

Uncle Ralph looked, and admired; and the discussion of the drawing was a fit introduction to the subject on which he felt very reluctant to enter.