Then by degrees it began to be rumoured² about the country, and at last through the lanes of Beetham itself, that the alliance between Major Rossiter and{401} Miss Georgiana Wanless was not quite a settled thing. Mr. Burmeston had whispered in Slowbridge that there was a screw loose, perhaps thinking that if another could escape, why not he also? Cobble, who had no idea of escaping, declared his conviction that Major Rossiter ought to be horsewhipped; but Lady Deepbell was the real town-crier who carried the news far and wide. But all of them heard it before Alice, and when others believed it Alice did not believe it,—or, indeed, care to believe or not to believe.

Lady Deepbell filled a middle situation, half way between the established superiority of Brook³ Park and the recognised humility⁴ of Beetham. Her title went for something; but her husband had been only a Civil Service Knight⁵, who had deserved well of his country by a meritorious⁶ longevity⁷. She lived in a pretty little cottage half way between Brook Park and Beetham, which was just large enough to enable her to talk of her grounds. She loved Brook Park dearly, and all the county people; but in her love for social intercourse⁸ generally she was unable to eschew⁹ the more frequent gatherings¹⁰ of the village. She was intimate not only with Mrs. Rossiter, but with the Tweeds and Dugdales and Simkinses, and, while she could enjoy greatly the grandeur¹¹ of the Wanless aristocracy, so could she accommodate herself comfortably to the

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