"MY nephew!" Lady Lydiard exclaimed in a tone which expressed astonishment, but certainly not pleasure as well.

"How many years is it since you and I last met ?" she asked, in her abruptly straightforward way, as Mr.Felix Sweetsir approached her writing-table.
The visitor was not a person easily discouraged.

He took Lady Lydiard's hand, and kissed it with easy grace.

A shade of irony was in his manner, agreeably relieved by a playful flash of tenderness.
"Years, my dear aunt ?" he said.

"Look in your glass and you will see that time has stood still since we met last.