’by keeping a lot of people whom I haven’t the means to feed.  And I don’t want to board and lodge my nieces and their family at so much a head.  It’s very hard upon me either way.’  And so it was.  All the comfort of his home was destroyed, and he was driven to sacrifice his independence by paying his tradesmen with a portion of Mrs Trevelyan’s money.  The more he thought of it all, and the more he discussed the matter with his wife, the more indignant they became with the truant husband.  ‘I can’t believe,’ he said, ’but what Mr Bideawhile could make him come back, if he chose to do his duty.’

‘But they say that Mr Trevelyan is in Italy, my dear.’

’And if I went to Italy, might I leave you to starve, and take my income with me?’

‘He doesn’t leave her quite to starve, my dear.’

’But isn’t a man bound to stay with his wife?  I never heard of such a thing never.  And I’m sure that there must be something wrong.  A man can’t go away and leave his wife to live with her uncle and aunt.  It isn’t right.’

‘But what can we do?’

Mr Outhouse was forced to acknowledge that nothing could be done.  He was a man to whom the quiescence of his own childless house was the one pleasure of his existence.  And of that he was robbed because this wicked madman chose to neglect all his duties, and leave his wife without a house to shelter her.’supposing that she couldn’t have come here, what then?’ said Mr Outhouse.  ’I did tell him, as plain as words could speak, that we couldn’t receive them.’  ‘But here they are,’ said Mrs Outhouse, ’and here they must remain till my brother comes to England.’  ’It’s the most monstrous thing that I ever heard of in all my life,’ said Mr Outhouse.  ’He ought to be locked up, that’s what he ought.’

It was hard, and it became harder, when a gentleman, whom Mr Outhouse certainly did not wish to see, called upon him about the latter end of September.  Mr Outhouse was sitting alone, in the gloomy parlour of his parsonage, for his own study had been given up to other things, since this great inroad had been made upon his family; he was sitting alone on one Saturday morning, preparing for the duties of the next day, with various manuscript sermons lying on the table around him, when he was told that a gentleman had called to see him.  Had Mr Outhouse been an incumbent at the West-end of London, or had his maid been a West-end servant, in all probability the gentleman’s name would have been demanded; but Mr Outhouse was a man who was not very ready in foreseeing and preventing misfortunes, and the girl who opened the door was not trained to discreet usages in such matters.  As she announced the fact that there was a gentleman, she pointed to the door, to show that the gentleman was there; and before Mr Outhouse had been able to think whether it would be prudent for him to make some preliminary inquiry, Colonel Osborne was in the room.  Now, as it happened, these two men had never hitherto