"In confidence, Sir Henry--" "In confidence, Mrs. Lascelles, of course. I think you can depend upon me." And Sir Henry, as directed by a weather-beaten guide-post, turned into a narrow lane on his homeward way, while the lady with whom he had been riding, jogged her tired horse gently along the high road, absorbed in thoughts, pleasant, suggestive, engrossing-not precisely in "maiden meditation," for she was a widow-nor yet, although she was nearer thirty than twenty, wholly "fancy free."