"
Alice burst into tears: emotion was stirring her to its depths.
"_Please_ to let it all be for a time," she pleaded. "If you speak it
would be sure to lead to my being turned away."
"I _will_ let it be for a time, my darling, so far as speaking of it
goes: for more reasons than one it may be better. But you are my
promised wife, Alice; always recollect that."
And Mr. Harry Carradyne, bold as a soldier should be, took a few kisses
from her unresisting lips to enforce his mandate.
IV.
Some time rolled on, calling for no particular record. Mr. Hamlyn's West
Indian property, which was large and lucrative, had been giving him
trouble of late; at least, those who had the care of it gave it, and he
was obliged to go over occasionally to see after it in person. Between
times he stayed with his wife at Peacock's Range; or else she joined him
in London. Their town residence was in Bryanstone Square; a very pretty
house, but not a large one.
It had been an unfavourable autumn; cold and wet. Snow had fallen in
November, and the weather continued persistently dull and dreary. One
gloomy afternoon towards the close of the year, Mrs.
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