’I should think probably not.  But a man situated as I am, never can say where he means to live.’

‘But you are to have Folking?’ whispered the squire,—­whispered it so that all the party heard the words;—­whispering not from reticence but excitement.

‘That’s the idea at present,’ said the Folking heir.  ’But Polyeuka is so much more to me than Folking.  A gold mine with fifty or sixty thousand pounds worth of plant about it, Aunt Polly, is an imperious mistress.’  In all this our hero was calumniating himself.  Polyeuka and the plant he was willing to abandon on very moderate terms, and had arranged to wipe his hands of the whole concern if those moderate terms were accepted.  But cousin Julia and aunt Polly were enemies against whom it was necessary to assume whatever weapons might come to his hand.

He had arranged to stay a week at Babington.  He had considered it all very deeply, and had felt that as two days was the least fraction of time which he could with propriety devote to the Shands, so must he give at least a week to Babington.  There was, therefore, no necessity for any immediate violence on the part of the ladies.  The whole week might probably have been allowed to pass without absolute violence, had he not shown by various ways that he did not intend to make many visits to the old haunts of his childhood before his return to Australia.  When he said that he should not hunt in the coming winter; that he feared his hand was out for shooting; that he had an idea of travelling on the Continent during the autumn; and that there was no knowing when he might be summoned back to Polyeuka, of course there came across Aunt Polly’s mind,—­and probably also across Julia’s mind,—­an idea that he meant to give them the slip again.  On the former occasion he had behaved badly.  This was their opinion.  But, as it had turned out, his circumstances at the moment were such as to make his conduct pardonable.  He had been harassed by the importunities both of his father and of Davis; and that, under such circumstances, he should have run away from his affianced bride, was almost excusable, But now——!  It was very different now.  Something must be settled.  It was very well to talk about Polyeuka.  A man who has engaged himself in business must, no doubt, attend to it.  But married men can attend to business quite as well as they who are single.  At any rate, there could be no reason why the previous engagement should not be consolidated and made a family affair.  There was felt to be something almost approaching to resistance in what he had said and done already.  Therefore Aunt Polly flew to her weapons, and summoned Julia also to take up arms.  He must be bound at once with chains, but the chains were made as soft as love and flattery could make them.  Aunt Polly was almost angry,—­was prepared to be very angry;—­but not the less did she go on killing fatted calves.