Passing the open window of one of the lower rooms which looked out on the terrace, I saw Mrs.Roylake reading a book in sad-colored binding.

She was yawning over it fearfully, when she discovered that I was looking at her.

Equal to any emergency, this remarkable woman instantly handed to me a second and similar volume.

"The most precious sermons, Gerard, that have been written in our time." I looked at the book; I opened the book; I recovered my presence of mind, and handed it back.

If a female humbug was on one side of the window, a male humbug was on the other.