she looked forward with longing, though unspoken interest to thehomely object of dixon\"s return from milton; where, until now, the oldservant had been busily engaged in winding up all the affairs of thehale family. it had appeared a sudden famine to her heart, this entirecessation of any news respecting the people amongst whom she hadlived so long. it was true, that dixon, in her business-letters, quoted,every now and then, an opinion of mr. thornton\"s as to what she hadbetter do about the furniture, or how act in regard to the landlord of thecrampton terrace house. but it was only here and there that the name

came in, or any milton name, indeed; and margaret was sitting oneevening, all alone in the lennoxes\"s drawing-room, not reading dixon\"sletters, which yet she held in her hand, but thinking over them, andrecalling the days which had been, and picturing the busy life out ofwhich her own had been taken and never missed; wondering if all wenton in that whirl just as if she and her father had never been; questioningwithin herself, if no one in all the crowd missed her, (not higgins, shewas not thinking of him,) when, suddenly, mr. bell was announced; andmargaret hurried the letters into her work-basket, and started up,blushing as if she had been doing some guilty thing.

\"oh, mr. bell! i never thought of seeing you!\"

\"but you give me a wele, i hope, as well as that very pretty start ofsurprise.\"

\"hāve you dined? how did you e? let me order you some dinner.\"

\"if you\"re going to hāve any. otherwise, you know, there is no one whocares less for eating than i do. but where are the others? gone out todinner? left you alone?\"

\"oh yes! and it is such a rest. i was just thinking--but will you run therisk of dinner? i don\"t know if there is anything in the house.\"

\"why, to tell you the truth, i dined at my club. only they don\"t cook aswell as they did, so i thought, if you were going to dine, i might try andmake out my dinner. but never mind, never mind! there aren\"t tencooks in england to be trusted at impromptu dinners. if their skill andtheir fires will stand it, their tempers won\"t. you shall make me sometea, margaret. and now, what were you thinking of? you were going totell me. whose letters were those, god-daughter, that you hid away sospeedily?\"

\"only dixon\"s,\" replied margaret, growing very red.

\"whew! is that all? who do you think came up in the train with me?\"

\"i don\"t know,\" said margaret, resolved against making a guess.

\"your what d\"ye call him? what\"s the right name for a cousin-in-law\"sbrother?\"

\"mr. henry lennox?\" asked margaret.

\"yes,\" replied mr. bell. \"you knew him formerly, didn\"t you? what sortof a person is he, margaret?\"

\"i liked him long ago,\" said margaret, glancing down for a moment. andthen she looked straight up and went on in her natural manner. \"youknow we hāve been corresponding about frederick since; but i hāve notseen him for nearly three years, and he may be changed. what did youthink of him?\"

\"i don\"t know. he was so busy trying to find out who i was, in the firstinstance, and what i was in the second, that he never let out what hewas; unless indeed that veiled curiosity of his as to what manner of man

he had to talk to was not a good piece, and a fair indication of hischaracter. do you call him good looking, margaret?\"