But there came at one moment a rumour, which did not count for much among the Boltons, but which disturbed Caldigate himself more than any of the other causes adduced for breaking off his intended marriage.

Word came that he had been very intimate with a certain woman on his way out to Melbourne;--a woman supposed to be a foreigner and an actress; and the name of Cettini was whispered.

He did not know whence the rumour came;--but on one morning Robert Bolton, half-laughing, but still with a tone of voice that was half-earnest, taxed him with having as many loves as Lothario.

'Who is Cettini ?' asked Robert Bolton.
'Cettini ?' said Caldigate, with a struggle to prevent a blush.
'Did you travel with such a woman ?' 'Yes;--at least, if that was her name.

I did not hear it till afterwards.