“Yes, in the first ship, in which some friends of mine are going,” said Francis.

“I am sure we wish you all prosperity and all happiness in the marriage you contemplate, which has been so fortunate for those in whom we are interested,” said the last speaker, and the sentiment was echoed by all the others.

“Could not you buy Cross Hall?” said Francis to Miss Thomson on the day after this matter was settled.  “I should feel half my sorrow at parting with it removed if I knew you could have it.”

“No, no; I am not going to buy a property that I cannot pay for.  My father did something of the kind once, and all the time he was a laird we were poor.  He sold the property at a great loss, and then things looked up again with him.  I’d rather be a rich farmer than a poor proprietor.”

“If I could see you in possession of Cross Hall, and Mr. Sinclair in my seat in Parliament, I should really have very little to give up; but it appears I cannot.  I have accepted the stewardship of Her Majesty’s Chiltern Hundreds to-day, and the burghs will be declared vacant directly.  But Mr. Sinclair cannot afford it; and he could not carry the election.  His manner is not good enough; he does not conciliate people.  If our scheme were carried there would be no fear of Sinclair getting in, for he is a man really wanted.  He could get a sufficient number of votes here to carry him half in, and the remainder of the quota would be attracted by his original genius and upright character, which he could show by his speeches and addresses; and we hope to make a seat in Parliament a much less costly affair—­50 pounds or 100 pounds should cover it all.  But I fear the burghs must fall back on either the Duke’s nominee or the Earl’s.”

“Then are you more sorry to leave your people at Cross Hall, or your parliamentary duties?” said Miss Thomson.

“The people at Cross Hall I think are really in a much better position than when I came; and, perhaps, it is as well for them to be left to work out things for themselves.  I have become much attached to them, but perhaps if I stayed there, they would depend too much upon me.  But in Parliament, I have not yet broken ground in the work I had set myself to do:  and I confess that I do regret it, both for my own sake, for the sake of my friends who depended on me, and for the sake of the dear old country itself.  There may be more able men and more energetic men in Parliament; but I am sure there are none whose heart was more in the work than mine.  But that was Jane’s doing.  I know if she had not urged these matters on me, I would very likely have spent my life in indolent enjoyment.  Without the one drop of bitter in my cup, in the sufferings of Jane and Elsie, I never could have felt the responsibilities of wealth.  I should have made a fine picture-gallery at Cross Hall, and probably acquired a name as a man of good taste, but the higher objects of life would have been lost sight of.”