I feel every day, more and more, that I am wasting my time, and whatever ability I may chance to possess."
"Do you find the last mentioned commodity get much in your way?" asked Lord Penrhyn, with a civil sneer.
The young man swallowed down his annoyance, and continued, "I am now eight-and-twenty, and it seems to me time that I should think a little of the future; what chance have I otherwise of looking forward to a home, or to independence?"
"A home!" interrupted his hearer; "why this house is as good as a home to you; you are always sure of a dinner here."
"A dinner, sir," persisted Charles, "does not, in my idea, quite constitute a home."
"And, pray, what does constitute your idea of a home?"
"Its duties and its ties," replied the other; "a fireside made cheerful by affection."
"By these neatly-turned phrases," exclaimed his lordship, "I conclude that your idea of a home includes that of a wife."
"It certainly does," replied his young relative.
"Charles," said Lord Penrhyn, solemnly, "I have, on more than one occasion, had reason to think you a sensible young man; either I was mistaken, or you are suddenly gone mad."
"Did you think yourself mad?" asked Mr. Penrhyn, "when you married my sister?" His lordship looked as if half tempted to confess that he held such
