'And all was merry as a marriage bell,' as the old saying says, until this summer, when Mr.John Scott went off, and stayed longer then he ever stayed before.

Well, my lady, while he was still away, one morning in last June, Mrs.John Scott takes up the _Times_ to look over.

She didn't often look over the papers, and when she did it was only to see what was going to be played at the theatres.

But _that_ morning her eyes happened to light down on something in the paper as put her into a perfect fury.

She was so beside herself as to let out a good deal that she meant to have kept in.