Sir Marmaduke, on his return home from Dr Turbury’s house, found that he had other domestic troubles on hand over and above those arising from his elder daughter’s position.  Mr Hugh Stanbury had been in Manchester Street during his absence, and had asked for him, and, finding that he was away from home, had told his story to Lady Rowley.  When he had been shown upstairs all the four daughters had been with their mother; but he had said a word or two signifying his desire to speak to Lady Rowley, and the three girls had left the room.  In this way it came to pass that he had to plead his cause before Nora’s mother and her elder sister.  He had pleaded it well, and Lady Rowley’s heart had been well disposed towards him; but when she asked of his house and his home, his answer had been hardy more satisfactory than that of Alan-a-Dale.  There was little that he could call his own beyond ’The blue vault of heaven.’  Had he saved any money?  No, not a shilling—­that was to say, as he himself expressed it, nothing that could be called money.  He had a few pounds by him, just to go on with.  What was his income?  Well last year he had made four hundred pounds, and this year he hoped to make something more.  He thought he could see his way plainly to five hundred a year.  Was it permanent; and if not, on what did it depend?  He believed it to be as permanent as most other professional incomes, but was obliged to confess that, as regarded the source from whence it was drawn at the present moment, it might be brought to an abrupt end any day by a disagreement between himself and the editor of the D. R. Did he think that this was fixed income?  He did think that if he and the editor of the D. R. were to fall out, he could come across other editors who would gladly employ him.  Would he himself feel safe in giving his own sister to a man with such an income?  In answer to this question, he started some rather bold doctrines on the subject of matrimony in general, asserting that safety was not desirable, that energy, patience, and mutual confidence would be increased by the excitement of risk, and that in his opinion it behoved young men and young women to come together and get themselves married, even though there might be some not remote danger of distress before them.  He admitted that starvation would be disagreeable, especially for children, in the eyes of their parents, but alleged that children as a rule were not starved, and quoted the Scripture to prove that honest laborious men were not to be seen begging their bread in the streets.  He was very eloquent, but his eloquence itself was against him.  Both Lady Rowley and Mrs Trevelyan were afraid of such advanced opinions; and, although everything was of course to be left, nominally, to the decision of Sir Marmaduke, they both declared that they could not recommend Sir Marmaduke to consent.  Lady Rowley said a word as to the expediency of taking Nora back with her to the Mandarins, pointing out what appeared to her then to be the necessity