She gave her husband a home, and her child a father, who became fond of Lucy, and who--considering he was merely an amateur parent--acted admirably.
But this sensible partnership lasted only for five years.

Mrs.Braddock died of a chill on the liver and left her five hundred a year to the Professor for life, with remainder to Lucy, then a small girl of ten.

It was at this critical moment that Braddock became a practical man for the first and last time in his dreamy life.

He buried his wife with unfeigned regret--for he had been sincerely attached to her in his absent-minded way--and sent Lucy to a Hampstead boarding school.

After an interview with his late wife's lawyer to see that the income was safe, he sought for a house in the country, and quickly discovered Gartley Grange, which no one would take because of its isolation.