what has come over the ruling spirit of the offices in 'change alley? the partners in the great mercantile houses, whose shipbroking is there carried on, cannot understand it, and the men in the tall fluffy hats, the frock-coats, and the shepherd's plaid trousers, whom no one would suspect to be the captains of merchant vessels fully certificated, long-serviced, and ready to sail on any navigable water in the world, shrug their shoulders and mutter hoarsely to each other in the luncheon-room at lloyd's, that 'something must be up with mr. statham.' the clerk who gives a maritime flavour to the office by wearing a pea-jacket, and who in default of any possible boating on the thames or serpentine is, during the winter, compelled to give vent to his nautical tendencies by vocal references at convivial supper-parties to his lovely nan, his polly of portsmouth, and other of the late mr. dibdin's creation, opines that there is a young woman in the case, and that his governor has 'got smote.' another of the clerks, an elderly man with a wooden leg and a melancholy mind, who had more than once failed in business on his own account, began to hint in a mysterious manner that he foresaw bankruptcy impending, and that they should all have to look out for new situations before the spring. mr. collins, to whom all the querists addressed themselves, and at whom all the indirect hints were levelled, said nothing; he even refused to admit to the general public that there was any perceptible difference in mr. statham's manner. only in conjugal confidence, as he smoked his after-supper pipe in the neatly-furnished parlour of his residence in balaclava-buildings east, lower clapham-road, he confessed to mrs. c. that the chief had somehow lost his relish for business, and that he did not think mr. s. was the man he had been.

if you had asked humphrey statham himself if there were any real foundation for these whispered hints and innuendoes, he would have laughed in your face. the forebodings of the melancholy man as to there being a decline in the business, he would have settled at once by a reference to mr. collins, who would have shown that never since he had been connected with the firm had their dealings been so large, and apparently so safe. as to mr. collins's connubial confidences, humphrey statham, if he had been made aware of them, would have said that they were equally ridiculous. perhaps it was true that he did not care so much for business, was not so constantly at his desk, or such a dead hand at a bargain as he used to be; but it was natural enough that he should begin to slack off a little. he had been an idle clog in his early days, but ever since he settled down in the city, there were few men who had worked harder than he. the ten thousand pounds originally left him by his father he had more than trebled, and his personal disbursements certainly did not amount to more than six or seven hundred a year. why should he slave away every moment of his life? why should he be at the beck and call of every one who wanted his advice? they paid him for it, it was true. but he wanted something else besides payment now--amongst other things a certain amount of leisure for day-dreaming.

but what about the suggestion thrown out by the young gentleman of nautical tendency,--the suggestion involving the idea that his principal's absence of mind was referable to his thoughts being occupied with a young woman? day-dreaming was surely in favour of the nautical young gentleman's theory. when humphrey statham, after giving strict orders that he was not to be disturbed, no matter who might want him, threw himself back in his chair, and burying his hands in his trousers' pockets, indulged in a long reverie, his thoughts reverted not to any business transactions in which he might have been engaged, but to the day when he first went to rose cottage in the assumed character of a charity agent, and to the person with whom he had the interview there. to alice, as he saw her then for the first time, with the look of interest and anxiety in her pale wistful face, with the tears standing in her large hazel eyes, how graceful and elegant were all her movements; in how tender and womanlike a manner, regardless of her own trouble, which, though not absolutely pronounced, she felt to be impending, she sympathised with him in the presumed object of his mission, and promised him aid! then she would rise before his mind as he had seen her since, chilled, almost numbed with sorrow, caring for nothing, taking no interest in all that was proposed to her, though always grateful and recognisant. that look of hopeless, helpless sorrow haunted humphrey statham's life. could it never be banished from her pale face? would her eyes never brighten again with joy? the sorrowful look was a tribute to one who had cruelly deceived her, who had merited her bitterest hatred for the manner in which he had treated her. a word, probably, would disperse those clouds of grief, would turn her from a weeping mourner to an outraged woman, would show her how terrible was her present position, and would probably render her wildly anxious to escape from it. but to speak that word to alice, to acquaint her with john calverley's crime, would be to point out to her her own degradation, to inflict upon her the sharpest wounds that brutality could devise, to uproot her faith in honesty and goodness, and to send her forth cowering before the world. the man who could do this would prove himself alice claxton's direst enemy; it was humphrey statham's hope to take rank as one of her dearest friends; and in this hope he suffered and was silent.

one of her dearest friends! nothing more than that; he had never dared to hope that he should be anything more to her. she was likely to remain constant to the memory of him whom she believed to have been her husband, and no one who had her welfare at heart would attempt to shake her in that constancy. with the exception of the doctors, indeed--who were not likely to trouble themselves--there was no one capable of giving her the information so fatal to her peace of mind, save the three tried friends who were occupying themselves in watching over her. three tried friends? yes, he thought he might say that; for this frenchwoman, whom he had distrusted at first, seemed to be fulfilling her self-imposed duty with strictness and singleness of purpose. humphrey statham was not a man likely to be imposed upon by specious assurances, unless they were carried out by corresponding acts. when martin gurwood had made him acquainted with madame du tertre's proposal, he had agreed to their acceptance faut de mieux, but only as a temporary measure, and without any opinion of their lasting qualities. however, since pauline's association with the pollington-terrace household, he had carefully watched her, and in spite as it were of himself, found himself compelled to give her credit for unselfishness and devotion to alice's cause. what might be her motive, what the guiding-string of her conduct, so long as it involved no danger to alice, was no concern of his. humphrey statham was too much a man of the world to ascribe it entirely to the sense of wishing to do her duty, or the gratification of an overweening affection which she had taken for the deserted girl. he argued rather that she herself had been the victim of some treachery or some disappointment in a degree similar to that unconsciously suffered by alice, and that hence arose her sympathy for mrs. claxton, which, added to a dislike of the world, had induced her to seek for the position of alice's companion. but this idea humphrey statham kept to himself; as being one rather likely to frighten a man of martin gurwood's simplicity, and to render him distrustful of the woman who was really of very great use and assistance to them.

martha gurwood had returned to lullington, the affairs of the parish, as he stated, demanding his presence. mrs. calverley had demurred to his going, objecting to being left alone. martin had employed a curate during his absence--she said, a man sufficiently qualified to attend to the spiritual wants of the farmers and persons of that kind, of whom the parish was composed. but martin thought otherwise. he had been away quite long enough, too long, he argued, for a proper discharge of his duties. there might have been many occasions on which the parishioners who knew him well would have come to him for assistance, while they would have been diffident in appealing in the same way to a stranger. his mother retorted, although he had not chosen to give her any explicit answer, she had made him an offer, the acceptance of which would remove him from lullington, and then the farmers and labourers would be compelled to pocket their pride--if it could be called pride in such persons--and either seek aid from the stranger or go without. to which martin had replied that if he were to yield up his living, his successor, from the mere fact of his position, would not be a stranger, but would be the proper person to apply to. so martin gurwood had gone back to lullington, leaving his mother highly incensed at his departure; and his friend, humphrey statham, had no one to talk to about mrs. claxton's beauty, patience, and forlorn condition.

it was on that account that humphrey chiefly missed martin. there was not much else in common between the two men; indeed, they had been acquainted for years without the acquaintance ripening into intimacy. from other persons and common friends martin gurwood had heard of statham's cleverness and tact. on the occasion when he wanted a friend possessing such qualities he had sought out his old acquaintance, and found that rumour had not belied him. on his part statham had to admire martin gurwood's simplicity and earnestness, and having the hendon mystery to deal with, and a certain number of complications to steer through, the alliance between them was close and firm; but it had alice claxton and her welfare for its basis and its mainspring, and nothing more. not that humphrey statham wanted anything more; he would have liked martin gurwood, however the connection with him had been brought about; but associated as it was with alice, this most recent friendship had a most appreciable value in his eyes.

martin was gone, and there was no longer any one to whom humphrey statham could indulge in confidential converse; so he took to reveries and day-dreaming, and thus gave rise to all the odd talk and speculation about him which was rife in the city. he had settled with martin before he left, however, that he should go up, for a time at least, twice or thrice a week, perhaps, to pollington-terrace to see how mrs. claxton was getting on, and write fully and candidly to martin his impressions of what he saw; and for a time nothing could be pleasanter reading to one interested in the success of the new establishment than these letters. alice seemed gradually to be gaining health and strength; and if it could not be said that her spirits were much improved, certainly in that way she had suffered no relapse. madame du tertre had come out infinitely more favourably than humphrey had expected of her. she was unwearying in her devotion to her young friend, and her affectionate surveillance was just exactly what was wanted to a young woman in alice's position. the matter of fending off neighbourly acquaintance, which they had so much dreaded, had been admirably managed by madame du tertre, who had pleaded her young friend's recent bereavement and ill health as an excuse for their not entering into society; while she had rendered herself most popular by the courteous way in which she had made the announcement, by her kindness to the children, and her savoir faire in general. martin gurwood read all this with as great a pleasure as humphrey statham wrote it. all things taken into consideration, nothing could be progressing more favourably than the establishment in pollington-terrace, built though it was, as both men knew, upon a quicksand, and liable to be engulfed at any moment.

these visits to pollington-terrace were the holidays in humphrey statham's life, the days to be marked with a white stone, to be dwelt upon both in anticipation and recollection--days to be made much of, too, and not to be carelessly enjoyed. humphrey statham, since his early youth a prudent man, was not inclined to be prodigal even of such delights. immediately after martin's departure for the country he had been a pretty constant visitor at pollington-terrace, for the purpose, of course, of keeping his friend properly posted up in all the movements of its denizens; but after a little he thought it better to put in an appearance less frequently, and he mortified himself accordingly. one night, after a ten days' interval, humphrey thought he should be justified in paying his respects to the lady, and providing himself with subject-matter for another letter to-morrow. being, as has been said, a man of worldly wisdom, it was his habit to dismiss his cab at the end of the terrace, and proceed on foot to his destination, hansom cabs being looked upon by the staid neighbourhood as skittish vehicles, generally subversive of morals. when humphrey reached the house, he saw upon the window-blind the unmistakable shadow of a man's head. had martin gurwood suddenly returned to town? no--as the thought flashed across his mind, the head turned, showing him the profile, with a hook nose, and a flowing beard, with neither of which could the vicar of lullington be accredited. humphrey statham stopped short, scarcely daring to believe his senses. an instant's reflection convinced him of his folly. what rule was there forbidding these ladies to receive their acquaintances in their own house? who was he to be startled at the unfamiliar silhouette on a window-blind? why should such a sight cause him to stop suddenly in his walk, and set his heart thumping wildly beneath his waistcoat? martha, the little maid-of-all-work was, at all events, not influenced by anything that had occurred. she grinned when she saw mr. statham in her usual friendly manner, and introduced him into the parlour with her accustomed briskness of bearing.

mrs. claxton was there, so was madame du tertre, so was the original of the silhouette on the window-blind. a tall man this, with a hooked nose, and a blonde silky beard, and an easy pleasant manner, introduced as madame du tertre's cousin, mr. henrich wetter. a deuced sight too easy a manner, thought humphrey statham to himself, as he quietly remarked the way in which the new-comer paid to alice attentions, with which no fault could be found, but were unmistakably annoying to the looker-on, and to that looker-on the behaviour of the strange visitor was so ineffably, so gallingly patronising! mr. statham, did he catch the name rightly? was it mr. humphrey statham of old 'change? o, of course, then, he was well known to everybody. they were neighbours in the city. he was very pleased to make mr. statham's personal acquaintance.

'confound his patronising airs!' thought humphrey statham to himself. 'who is this german jew--he is a german, undoubtedly, and probably a jew--that he should vaunt himself in this manner? and how, in the name of fortune, did he find himself in this house? madame du tertre's cousin, eh! this wetter, if he be, as he probably is, of the firm of stutterheim and wetter, ought to have had sufficient respect for his family to have prevented his cousin from taking the position occupied by madame du tertre. bah! what nonsense was he talking now? they had all reason to be grateful that madame du tertre was in that position, and she was just the woman who would keep her family in ignorance of the circumstances under which she had achieved it.'

exactly as he thought? the subsequent conversation showed him how wrong he had been. it turned accidentally enough upon the number of foreigners domesticated in england, a country where, as mr. wetter remarked, one would have thought they would have experienced more difficulty in making themselves at home than in almost any other.

'not that,' he said pleasantly--'not that i have any reason to complain; but i am now a naturalised englishman, and all my hopes and wishes--mere business hopes and wishes--alas, mrs. claxton, i am a solitary man, and have no other matters of interest--are centred in this country. it was here, though i confess with astonishment, that i found my cousin, madame du tertre, a permanent resident.'

'you were not aware then, monsieur wetter,' said statham, finding himself addressed, 'that your cousin was in england?'

'family differences, common to all nations, had unfortunately separated us, and for some years i had not heard of pau--palmyre's movements.'

'you can easily understand, mr. statham,' said pauline, speaking between her set teeth, 'that as my cousin's social position was superior to mine, i was averse to bringing myself under his notice.'

'we will say nothing about that,' said mr. wetter, with his pleasant smile. 'i think mr. statham will agree with me, that the social position which brings about a constant intercourse with mrs. claxton is one which any member of our sex would, to say the least of it, be proud.'

humphrey statham glanced round the circle as these words were uttered. alice looked uncomfortable; madame du tertre, savage and defiant; mr. wetter bland and self-possessed. there was silence for a few minutes. then pauline said: 'you have been a stranger for some time, mr. statham; we had been wondering what had become of you.'

'i am delighted to think that the void caused by my absence has been so agreeably filled,' said humphrey statham, with a bow towards mr. wetter. the next minute he cursed his folly for having made the speech, seeing by wetter's look that he had thoroughly appreciated its origin.

'the regret of your absence indicated by madame du tertre i fully share,' he said, with a polite smile. 'it is my great loss that i have not met you before in this charming society. at this dull season of the year, when every one is out of town, i need scarcely say what a godsend it has been to me to have been permitted to pass an evening occasionally with two such ladies; and the knowledge that i might have had the chance of an introduction to mr. humphrey statham would have been, had it been needed, an additional inducement to drag me from my dreary solitude.'

that was an uncomfortable evening for all persons present. even to alice--dull, distrait, and occupied with her own sorrow--there was an evident incongruity in the meeting of the two men. pauline was furious, partly at wetter's cool treatment of her, partly at the idea that statham had cross-questioned her as to why she had permitted the intimacy with wetter to arise. wetter himself was annoyed at statham's presence on the scene, while humphrey statham went away sorry and sick at heart at all he had seen and heard. the old stories concerning wetter which floated about society had reached his ears, and the recollection of them rushed upon him as he sat in the cab on his homeward drive. 'how had this man managed to get a footing in alice's house; a footing he had evidently obtained, for he spoke of frequent visits there, and his manner was that of an habitué of the house? he was introduced as madame du tertre's cousin; but if that were so, that fact, instead of inspiring confidence in him, was simply sufficient to create distrust of madame du tertre. he was the last man with whom any woman, young and inexperienced, more especially any woman in alice claxton's position, should be brought in contact.'

what was best to be done? for an answer to this question humphrey statham racked his brain that night. in any case he must write a full account of what he had seen, and of the inference he had drawn therefrom to martin gurwood. martin may not be able to give him any advice, but it was due to him to let him know what had occurred. he, in his simplicity, may see nothing in it; but at all events he must never be able to plead that he was unadvised and unwarned. so before retiring to his rest that night, humphrey statham sat down and wrote to his friend a full account of his visit, with a candid statement of the fears and reflections which the presence of such a man as mr. wetter in alice claxton's household had aroused in him.

'to you,' he said--'to you who have nothing in your life to repair, all this may seem very strained; but i, who have passé par-là, and have failed to save one whom i might have saved, know what a sting a failure may come to mean for all the days of a man's life.'

'nothing in my life to repair!' cried martin gurwood, after he had read the letter, clasping his hands above his head. 'my god, if there were but any place for repentance, any possibility of reparation!'