It is now eighteen months since Frank Maynard's marriage, and has been a very quiet happy time to him. Not many incidents have occurred; the most important by far having been the birth of a son about a month back. Katie is of course very proud of it, and is a little disappointed that her husband does not consider it the finest boy in the world. Frank, however, pleads that he has no doubt that if she says so she is correct, but that for his part he can really see no difference between one baby and another—they are all queer little animals, till they begin to look about and know people. Frank has entered at the bar, and is reading to a greater extent than either he or Prescott, who had advised the step, had expected. But, indeed, Frank had found that he was only in Katie's way staying at [264] home all day, and that the long days with nothing to do really hung heavy upon his hands. Complaining of this to Prescott, the latter had renewed his former suggestion, that his friend should enter at the bar, and Frank had willingly accepted the idea, and had established himself in a room adjoining his friend's. Unfortunately it had happened that Prescott had been away on circuit at the time of the Maynards' return from their wedding-tour, and Frank had not therefore had the benefit of his advice as to the best course of action to be pursued in reference to Captain Bradshaw's extraordinary conduct. Upon Prescott's hearing of this, he had been as much puzzled as Frank himself. He, like Katie, had at first suspected that Fred Bingham must have had some hand in it; but Frank pointed out that he had seen his uncle only the day before he had gone down into Staffordshire to be married, and that he was then friendly enough. Fred Bingham was then out of town, and had not returned from his wedding-tour until after Captain Bradshaw's letter would have been written, he could therefore in no way have influenced his uncle's proceedings. This [265] was so evident, that Prescott had abandoned his idea, and had been obliged to fall back upon Frank's notion that the old man's head must have turned a little at the failure of his favourite plan. He said, that had he been in town, he should have advised Frank, upon the receipt of his uncle's unaccountable letter, to have called upon him in person. He could not, however, but acknowledge that the fact of Captain Bradshaw's returning the letter unopened, was evident proof that he would not have seen his nephew, and that even had he done so, a quarrel might have taken place, which would have rendered any future reconciliation impossible. To Prescott, as well as to Frank, this breach in the friendly relations was a trial. Prescott had never even hoped to win Alice Heathcote as long as Frank had remained unmarried, but he had a faint hope that after Frank's marriage he might some day succeed in gaining her love. Now this hope was lost; for, unless this inexplicable quarrel was made up, Prescott felt that he as Frank's friend could no longer visit at Lowndes Square. Both had hoped that Captain Bradshaw would return in an altered state of mind from his long [266] tour. He had now, however, been back in England nearly a month, and Frank had received no communication from him. This hope then was lost, for it was evident that the old man was as determined as ever that the estrangement should be final. During these eighteen months the cousins had seen but little of each other. Their respective wives had called upon each other, and each had dined at the other's home; but Fred was a good deal away from town, and Mrs. Frank, having in no way altered her first conc............