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have your ship, I understand, Captain Haworth?' Collingwood said.
    ‘ I have, sir, though I don't know for how long. But if she doesn't sink under me, I can look forward to a leisurely cruise off Brest this summer.’
    Everyone smiled at this reference to the most treacherous stretch of water in Europe, and Collingwood said, 'We shall all have our work cut out, soon enough. It's no secret that Buonaparte has sworn to invade England, and only by continuous vigilance will we be able to hold him. Blockade duty is hard and tedious, but essential.’
    Haworth nodded gravely, having done his share of it before the peace, and Collingwood looked enquiringly at Weston and went on, 'But you, Captain? I understand you're still waiting for your commission.'
    ‘ Their Lordships haven't found a use for me yet, sir,' Weston assented.
    ‘ I suppose a dashing young officer like yourself must be longing for a frigate,' Collingwood said with a smile and a glance at Lucy, who lifted her hands in an involuntary gesture which did not escape the admiral's eye. 'But I don't think there's any harm in telling you that there's some doubt in Admiralty circles as to what is best to be done with you.'
    ‘Sir?' said Weston, a little anxiously.
    ‘ Intelligent officers are always needed at the Admiralty itself. I understand you had a shore appointment during the late conflict, and acquitted yourself very creditably.’
    Weston and Lucy both stared at him, straining their senses to understand. Was he saying, then, that it was not moral disapproval which had kept Weston from being given a ship, but a doubt as to whether he might not be better employed on the Admiralty staff? And if that were so, could he, ought he to resist? It was a great honour to be considered in that special capacity; and to be on shore was to be with Lucy. But for a sailor the first longing is always to be at sea. Weston was torn, and his face shewed it.
    ‘ I am Their Lordships' to command,' he said at last in as neutral a tone as he could manage. 'Wherever I will be most useful —'
    ‘ Of course,' Collingwood said, but he was looking at Lucy, and his soft Northumberland burr was softer than ever as he said, 'but every young officer wants a frigate, doesn't he?’
    Lucy, still fondling Bounce's ridiculous ears, met the admiral's eyes in a moment of complete sympathy; and then the door was opened again to admit Hicks and a new influx of visitors, whose arrival must change the subject.
    ‘Major Wiske, my lady, and Mr Brummell.’

    *
    The following morning Lucy was seated in the breakfast parlour, a smaller, sunny apartment which was very pleasant early in the day, when the door opened and her husband, the earl, walked in.
    ‘ Pardon me for not having myself announced,' was the first thing he said, and Lucy frowned a little.
    ‘ Don't be silly,' she said, but awkwardly. The status of an estranged husband in his own house was a delicate one. ‘Hicks would have a fit if you asked him to.’
    The earl fixed his eye on Jeffrey, curled up on the window- seat, and then looked pointedly at Lucy and raised an eyebrow enquiringly.
    ‘ No, he's not here,' she said. 'He's down at the Admiralty. I wanted to see you alone.'
    ‘ So I gathered from your note. You see with what prompt ness I hurried round here,' he said. 'I inferred it must be something urgent, for you to have gone to so much trouble.’
    Lucy grew impatient. 'Oh, do sit down, Chetwyn, and stop talking nonsense.' He obeyed her with a faint smile, taking a chair on the other side of the table at which she sat, and fold ing his hands with an air of composure. His eye, however, was wary, and the muscles of his jaw were tense.
    A silence ensued which Lucy found hard to break. 'I wanted to see you,' she began at last, hesitantly. The earl looked at her blankly, giving her no help. ‘There is something I have to tell you.' She bit her lip, but there was no help for it, no way to say it, but simply to say it. 'I am with child