"I am afraid there are a great many things you will miss here," said

Mr. Heron. "We are a plain, but I trust, Godfearing family, and we are

content with the interest which springs from the daily round, the

common task. You will find no excitements at Laburnum Villa."

Ida, as she glanced at the family, could not help feeling that they

were indeed plain, but she made haste to say that she did not need any

excitements and that her life had hitherto been devoid of them. They

seemed to think that it was the proper thing to sit round the table

while she was making her pretence of a meal; but when it was finished,

Mr. Joseph stretched himself out in what was erroneously called an

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easy-chair, and proceeded to monopolise the conversation.

"Regular busy time in the city," he remarked to his father. "Never saw

such a hum. It's all over this boom in South Africa. They're floating

that new company I was telling you about, and the Stock Exchange is

half wild about it. They say the shares will run to a hundred per cent.

premium before the week's out; and if you've got any money to spare,

guv'nor, I should recommend you to have a little flutter; for it's a

certainty."

Mr. Heron seemed to prick up his ears with an amount of worldly

interest which scarcely harmonised with his saintly character.

"What company is that?" he asked Joseph.

"The company started to work Sir Stephen Orme's," replied Joseph,

thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, and stretching out his legs

still farther so that he could admire his large, patent-leather clad

feet. "It's about the biggest thing on record, and is going to sweep

the market. All the big 'uns are in it, Griffenberg and Wirsch and the

Beltons. They say Sir Stephen has made half a million of money out of

it already, and that he will make a couple of millions before he has

done with it. There was a rumour in the city to-day that he was to get

a peerage; for it's a kind of national affair, you see."

Ida was sitting beyond the radius of the light from the evil-smelling

lamp, so that the others did not perceive the sudden pallor of her

face. It seemed to her a cruel fate that she could not escape, even

here, so many miles away from Herondale, from the reminder of the man

she had loved and lost. The name struck on her heart like a stroke

causing actual physical pain. She sat perfectly still, her hands

clasped tightly in her lap, as the wave of misery swept over her.




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