“Footman to Sir ’Enry Baggot down at Five Mile wen ’e was a lad. But ’e drank somethin’ powerful after he married ’un and never worked again so Jessie Apple, she ’ad to labor to support ’im. Runs in families,” added Mr. Gadger and then quite amazed at his own philosophy, he muttered it over and over again, “Runs in families,” and almost forgot about the gold.

The Duke sighed heavily and rose to his feet after pressing the gold coin into the wrinkled, calloused hand. He had no shining respectable family to bring to his Alice as a wedding present, only a background of drudgery and death and pain and loss.

He had not stretched his mind out toward London for a long time, but as he flew over the sleeping buildings and fields on his way back to Wadham, the Duke felt that somewhere on the perimeter of his mind was a sad Alice, an Alice lost and lonely and in need of him. All that night long, he tried to banish her image from his mind. But just before dawn paled in the east, he decided wearily that it would do no harm to pay her one last visit.

Joshua Funk! What a name! What had taken the girl?

Mr. Joshua Funk eased his great girth in his easy chair and cast a baleful look at Miss Fadden who was sitting meekly in the corner of the drawing room, knitting as usual. His pretty fiancée had just entertained him to an excellent dinner and he felt that all that was needed to perfect the evening was that he should be left alone with Alice.

He had, he reflected sourly, never been alone with Alice. Even when he had proposed to her, Miss Fadden had been present He could not drive himself and Miss Fadden had pointed out meekly that it was not at all the thing for Alice to be in a closed carriage, unchaperoned, with any man. He looked at the beautiful face of his fiancée and wondered for the first time what she thought about.

Alice had cultivated a careful, masklike expression during the recent months behind which her brain worried about money and her heart mourned for her lost ghost.

She had not seen Sir Peregrine since the day Miss Fadden had sent him to the rightabout. Spurred on by her dwindling finances she had diligently searched for a husband. Mr. Bower had invested her money wisely, and for some time it looked as if Alice might not have to get married at all but she had not yet learned the difficult art of economy and since she was scrupulously honest and thought everyone else must be so, she was cheated shamelessly by the tradesmen and even by her own servants.