A carriage came up, and, just as it reached the gates, something being amiss with the harness, a footman descended from the box to set it right.

From where he stood Leonard could see its occupants, the wife and daughter of a neighbouring squire, and overhear their conversation.

He knew them well; indeed, the younger lady had been one of his favourite partners at the county balls.
"How cheap the things went, Ida! Fancy buying that old oak sideboard for ten pounds, and with all those Outram quarterings on it too! It is as good as an historical document, and I am sure that it must be worth at least fifty.

I shall sell ours and put it into the dining-room.

I have coveted that sideboard for years." The daughter sighed and answered with some asperity.
"I am so sorry for the Outrams that I should not care about the sideboard if you had got it for twopence.