"Perfectly beautiful!—but uneducated, and somewhat capricious. I fancy her face must have captivated her husband, who is a very intelligent, agreeable man."
"I suppose they are rich now?" said Mrs. Peck.
"Oh! very well to do, I fancy. I visited them a good deal when I was in London."
"How many children have they?" asked Mrs. Peck. "I knew them long ago."
"They lost one with scarlet fever before they sailed. There were four on board ship; but there are five by this time, for Mrs. Phillips stayed in Melbourne for her confinement, and had a little boy within a week of landing."
"Is her husband with her?" asked Mrs. Peck, eagerly.
"Oh, no! I think Phillips went up to his stations; he had a number of things to see to. What do you know about them?" asked Mr. Dempster, rather surprised at Mrs. Peck's curiosity.
"I was once in their employment at Wiriwilta, and Mrs. Phillips was uncommonly good-looking then. There was not so much style in those days as I suppose there is now."
"Probably not; we have all had to work hard for what we have earned in these colonies and Phillips must have made his way like the rest of us. They had a very pretty little establishment in London."
"Kep' their carriage, no doubt," said Mrs. Peck, with a thinly-disguised sneer.