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HYPNOTIZED?

OR,

The Experiment of Sir Hugh Galbraith.

TWO CANADIAN NOVELS.

** JUDITH MOORE/' by Joanna E. Wood.

" The Authoress is a talented writer of bright
ideas." — London News.

" This is one of the very best Canadian Novels."
— Ottawa Citizen.

** THE UNTEMPERED WIND/' by Joanna
E. Wood.

" It shows elements of great strength."— ^ewt^w
of Reviews.

ALL BOOKSELLERS.
Cloth, $1.00. Per Set, $2.00.

/Jy^ '

HYPNOTIZED?

OR,

The Experiment of Sir Hugh Galbraith.

A ROMANCE,

JULIAN DURHAM.

TORONTO I
The Ontario Publishing Company, Limited.

1898.

"^It'Jt

Hb. l^£:Hf)^JJ

Entered according to the Act of the Parliament oi Canada, m the year
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, by The Ontario Pub-
lishing Company, Limited, at the Department of Agriculture.

CONTENTS.

r.|

BOOK I.
THE EXPERIMENT IS CONCEIVED.

BOOK II.
THE EXPERIMENT IS BEGUN.

BOOK III.
THE EXPERIMENT IS ENDED.

BOOK L

The Experiment is Conceived.

"The intuitive decision of a bright
And thorough-edged intellect."

— Tennyson.

!;:

LT wa

I
I

rrain.

ir as
ras d
fepte
le fif
rher€
)nte]
leir
gra
iill r

HYPNOTIZED?

CHAPTER I.

" The feast is such as earth, the general mother,
Pours from her fairest bosom, when she smiles
In the embrace of autumn." —Shelley.

[t was autumn. The air was hot and still; the breeze
Vhich earlier in the day stirred lazily amid the trees
pad fainted in the glare of the setting sun that touch-
ed with its vivid rays the gorgeous tints of autumn's
lecaying splendour, turning each tree and shrub to
[olden red, whilst the common beyond glowed in the
ieat like an iridescent purple plain.

In the fields the men were harvesting the yellow

rrain. The hum of machinery broke softly on the

ir as the barley swiftly fell before the reapers. It

ras drawing towards the evening of a day in e&rly

[eptember, and shadows soon began to fall athwart

le fields of swaying corn and low-lying pasture lands,

rhere the white-faced Herefordshire cattle browsed

)ntentedly, causing a tangle of sound to rise from

leir bells as they moved slowly to and fro. Myriads

grasshoppers chirruped where the flood of sunlight

[ill remained, and the buzzing and whirring of many

Hypnotized }

bright-winged insects made an infinite murmur in the
still air, as the clouds, which rose slowly in the west-
ern sky, turned a glowing flame-colour, fit bed for the
mighty God of Light to sink to rest upon. Gently the
faint white mist stole up from the meadows down by
the river ; evening had come, that mystical hour when
the long day of toil is over and a sense of rest lies
upon the land.

All at once the stillness of the farm surroundings
was broken by the clatter of teams as they came lum-
bering along the lane and approached the gate.

" Steady, m' beauties ; whoa ! " exclaimed one of the
drivers, as the horses drew up suddenly ; " whew ! but
it's been a powerful hot day, an' no mistake. Good
evening, miss," he added respectfully, as a girl, who
till now had been standing in the old-fashioned porch
of the farm-house, came swiftly across the yard to-
wards him.

" Bob," she said, and her fresh, young voice rang
out clear and sweet, " Dad says you are to go down to
the village after supper and tell Mr. Grey he can
have those apples ; and, Bob, I want you to nail up a
shutter for me ; I cannot reach it," and the girl smiled
brightly at the driver as she made her request.

" Yes, Miss Ursula, I'll do it for ye, and welcome ;
and maybe ye'Utell the master as how I'll see Farmer
Grey in the morning at the lower pasture, and won't
that be time enough for them apples ? "

As he spoke, the man finished unharnessing, and led

The Experiment Is Conceived.

i his horses off to the stable. Ursula slowly retraced
her steps towards the house, hummiug softly mean-
while and swinging a large straw hat with one hand.

" I think I will go to-morrow," she pondered. " I
might ride over in time for tea with Miss Wilkins.
We could have a chat, discuss the whole matter, in
fact, and then perhaps I shall know my own mind
better. Miss Wilkins has such heaps of common sense,
a quality Dad says I am sadly deficient in — but then he
does not always mean what he says. Well, I'll go to
Arleton to-morrow, and settle the question once and
forever. Oh, Daddy ! " as an elderly, broad-shouldered
man came round the corner of the house, "are you ready
for supper ? " and the girl, linking her arm within that
of her father, drew him towards the open-atanding
door.

Deepdene Farm-house was a large, rambling building;
the windows, whose panes were diamond-shaped, looked
out from under the overhanging eaves like shining eyes,
as if they would fain gaze on the big, unknown world
through the trails of ivy and honeysuckle which
threatened to cover them. At one side of the house
ran the yard, whilst a large garden lay behind, where
sweet-smelling flowers grew in wild profusion, and
narrow, box-edged paths lay between the rows of nod-
ding dahlias and china-asters, which bloomed forget-
ful of the fact that autumn had come. Beyond
stretched the grain fields and meadows, and winding

Hypnotized }

through them the gleaming Arle flowed lazily on,
singing its eternal song to the stones.

As Mr. Harlowe and his daughter sat down to their
evening meal Ursula noticed that a shade of thought
clouded her father's brow. He was a fine, robust-
looking man of some five-and-forty years of age, and
his rugged features wore a kindly look, not belied by
the honest gaze of a pair of deep-set eyes. The lines
of care, which a hard-working life had traced upon his
forehead, added to rather than detracted from his ap-
pearance. His was a face to trust.

Belonging to that class of farmers who own their
land through inheritance, and gain their position by
means of education and self-respect, he was a man
of unusual ability. As Ursula grew from babyhood
to girlhood, all his ambition was centred in her, all
the wealth of his deep affection was lavished on the
child who brought brightness and joy into his lonely
life. Mrs. Harlowe had died in the second year of
their marriage.

" Ursula, lass, it's troubling me much, this matter of
Polly Davis."

" Dear old Daddy, have not I told you a thousand
times that I want nobody but you ? "

" I know, my dear ; still a companion would be good
for you ; you are too much alone, Ursula, and your
cousin is a nice girl."

" She may be all you say, but I do not want her to
come and stay here."

■:i

«Wi

days, }
father,

"No
your ci

"Yo
you, U
that yc
to be f]
age yoi
not nat

"Da(
should
Miss W
cannot
ship; I
and sh(

Mr.
Ursula
of the
and gen
came ii
teur, cl
her eqi
stinctiv
refinem

"Yoi
howeve

The Experiment Is Conceived. 13

" With the winter coming on, and the long rainy
days, you will find the house very dull," persisted her
father, and the shadow on his face dec y)ened.

" Now, Daddy, please do not insist on it. Give me
your cup for some more tea."

" You know well enough that I cannot go against
you, Ursula, in a question like this ; but it is not right
that you should be so much alone. You never seem
to be friendly with the girls around here, and at your
age you ought to have some women friends. It is
not natural otherwise."

" Daddy," and she bent her head down so that he
should not see the expression in her eyes, " I have
Miss Wilkins ; and as for the girls in the village — oh,
cannot you understand — I do not care for their friend-
ship ; I " — but the burst of passionate feeling had died,
and she ended quietly, " I am far happier alone."

Mr. Harlowe sighed. He knew well what she meant.
Ursula had always held aloof from the companionship
of the farmers' daughters in the vicinity ; courteous
and gentle, as she ever was towards all with whom she
came in contact, a quiet reserve, a suspicion of hau-
teur, characterized her intercourse with those who,
her equals in birth and surroundings, were, she in-
stinctively felt, her inferiors in education and natural
refinement.

" You had better hear what Miss Wilkins has to say,
however, before you finally decide the question."

14 Hypnotized ?

" Yes, I made up my mind to go and see her to-
morrow. May I have Brown Bess ? "

" Of course ; do you not always get what you want,
puss ? " k

" You are just a dear old Daddy," said the girl lov-
ingly ; " come, you have finished your supper, and it
is too lovely to stay indoors this evening." So say-
ing she drew him out into the soft, deepening twi-
light.

" I have some business to do to-night, child ; it
has been a busy day in the fields, and my head aches
from the heat of the sun ; but it is grand harvesting
weather, so we must not grumble. Did you give my
message to Bob ? "

" I did ; but he says that as he is going to see Farmer
Grey to-morrow morning, it will be time enough then
to tell him about the apples."

"Yes, that will do all right."

After a pause, during which the farmer lighted his
pipe and took a few serious puffs at it, he inquired
abruptly :

" Seen anything of Tom Scott lately ? "

" No Daddy ; at least," with a touch of evident em-
barrassment, " except yesterday. We met on the Arle-
ton road, and he walked for a mile or so with me," and
her truthful eyes looked straight at her father as she
spoke.

" Umph ! " grunted Mr. Harlowe. " I do not like

The Experiment Is Conceived* 15

that fellow. An idle, good-for-nothing loafer ; and
none too sober, either, from all accounts."

" Really ! Do you know anything about him —
where he comes from, I mean ? "

" No, lass, nor does anyone else around here. Rob-
bins, at the Arleton Arms, told me he was a decent
enough chap, but I do not like his looks myself."

" Perhaps you are a little hard on him, Daddj'," said
Ursula, who, though she disliked the man in question,
began, womanlike, to defend him the moment his char-
acter was attacked.

" I know he is a hard drinker and is a gambler by
profession ; and I know also, Ursula, that I will not
allow him to come into my house, or to associate with
my daughter."

Having delivered himself of this speech, the farmer
smoked away in silence for some time. Ursula, unac-
customed to hear her father express himself so tersely,
was impressed in no small degree.

" I must go now, child ; there are some accounts to
be looked into before I can sleep to-night. Ah ! if
Polly were only here, you would not be left alone
now," and with this parting shot Mr. Harlowe crossed
the yard and disap^ eared among the out-buildings.

CHAPTER II.

" Grace was in all her steps, heav'n in her eye,

In every gesture dignity and love," — Milton.

" Her heart was light, and her soul was white
As the winter's early snow."

Ursula walked on slowly past the hen-yard and down
the garden path, each swaying motion of her figure
betraying the grace of movement which was the out-
come of her superb health.

Tall, more fully developed than is usual in a girl,
who as yet half-child, half-woman, possesses*the sim-
plicity of the one with the fascination of the other, it
seemed as if she had paused on the boundary line of
her nineteen years to ask, " What is beauty ? What is
life ?" so unconscious was she of her loveliness. And yet
was she really lovely, this daughter of a race of sturdy
farmers ? Did not her charm rather lie in symmetry of
form and a radiant freshness enhanced by the perfume
of health ? Her complexion was naturally fair, though
slightly tanned by the sun ; but a nose just too small,
a mouth just too large, a chin just too firmly moulded
— these were not the attributes of actual beauty.
Still, no one is altogether perfect ; and if Ursula's fea-
tures were open to condemnatory criticism, at least the
wealth of bronze-red hair, the curling lengths of which
were gathered into a knot at the back of her shapely

The Experiment Is Conceived*

head, was a glory in itself. In her eyes lay the re-
flection of summer, but her mouth gave the key to
the girl's nature. Self-control might veil her eyes, a
touch of diffidence obliterate feeling from her other
features, but her lips told the truth — they never lie I:
one glance at their proud or pained expression, one
quick look at their quivering curves, revealed all.

Her heart, untouched by human passions, beat warm
and true ; for, living in a world of rustic tranquillity,
there had been nought to disturb the even tenor of
her existence, nought to stir the waves of feeling
which lay beneath that calm exterior, or awaken to
suffering and sorrow a nature whose untried depths
might, if roused, prove as uncontrollable as a sullen
sea.

With mind and soul as beautiful as the body which
held them, she stood there, a " festival of beauty in the
festival of life." No wonder she felt set apart from
the girls of her own status ; but, knowing well the
impassable barrier of caste which separates the county
from the country, she never attempted to cross the
social Rubicon. Her one friend, Miss Wilkins, the
mistress of a small school for girls in the village of
Arleton, two miles distant from Deepdene Farm, had
done much for Ursula. A strong mutual liking existed
between the farmer's child and the gray-haired gentle-
woman, which strengthened as the years rolled on
and the girl grew to be one of her cleverest pupils.

Not of her teacher, however, nor yet of Polly Davis,

Hypnotized ?

that estimable cousin to whose proposed visit Rhe so
strongly objected, was Ursula thinking on that Se^
tember evening, as sho strolled through the fragrant
old garden. She was thinking of her lover. No
strange thought for a young girl's mind to dwell on ;
and surely, as a rule, no unpleasant one either. Then,
why the frown, the impatient gesture, as »he uttered,
almost involuntarily, the word :

"Detestible!"

" Yes, detestible ! " she mused, " that he should have
dared to look at me, to speak to me as he did yester-
day. I could hate him, if I did not pity him. Poor
Tom Scott ! What was it he said ? That he would turn
over a new leaf, and work for me. How absurd the
whole thing is. I wonder if Daddy guessed anything.
I think not. Ah, well ! The man is nothing, and
never can be anything, to me."

And the stars came out, and the yellow harvest
moon shone down on a sleeping world, but no one
saw the dark form of a man, half -hidden by the lau-
rels, whose white, sinister face was turned upward to
where a ray of light shone through the chinks in the
shutters of Ursula's window.

CHAPTER III.

" Th' idea of her shall sweetly ureep
Inuo his study of imagination."

— Shakespeare.

It was hot, very h'^*^^, and the country road stretched
out, baked and dust-laden, as far as the eye could
reach. Ursula Harlowe, returning from her visit to
Arleton, jogged slowly along on Brown Beas, alter-
nately fanning her hot face and flicking the torment-
ing flies off the tender-skinned neck of the hoise. Her
mission had been successfully accomplished; for, after
much serious talk, Miss Wilkins finally gave the
opinion that if the girl really so strongly objected to
the advent of her cousin it would be better for Polly
Davis not to visit Deepdene Farm just then.

As she trotted along the edge of the road, her mind
still busy with the subject of the late discussion, Ur-
sula almost unconsciously turned aside down a nar-
row track leading between two hedges full of honey-
suckle and columbines and all the other bright- hued
flowers which flourish in an English lane. Brown
Bess, duly grateful for this change from the glare and
dust of the highway, showed appreciation by drop-
ping into an even walk and occasionally snatching at
the leaves of the alder trees which overhung the path.
A sharp turn and the road ran beside the rippling

Hypnotized ?

waters of the Arle, bordered on the other side by corn-
fields belonging to Mr. Harlowe's farm.

Suddenly, a man who had been fishing close by sprang
up the bank just in front of the horse, and catching
his foot in a network of brambles, fell heavily forward,
the outstretched rod in his hand dealing Brown Bess a
smart blow across the nose. It all occurred so rapidly
that the girl, who had allowed the reins to drop list-
lessly through her fingers and her thoughts to wander
far afield, with difficulty retained her seat at the sudden
start and rearing of the animal under the shock of
such an unexpected rap ; but a soothing word, a firm
grip on the snaffle, and Brown Bess quickly calmed
down again, only giving vent to a snort of remon-
strance, as a protest against such indelicate treatment.

" I beg your pardon. All the fault of my abomin-
able carelessness," exclaimed Eric Desmond. " I am
really awfully sorry," he continued, as, scrambling to
his feet, he advanced, cap in hand, abject apology
written on every feature.

" Oh, never mind ; it is all right now," replied Ursula,
smiling. " Do not mind about it, please ; why, you
could not help it. I do not for one moment imagine
that you did it on purpose," with a touch of amuse-
ment in her tone.

" By Jove ! I should think not ; but I am a shock-
ingly clumsy beggar, all the same, and deserve a good
scolding for my aw^kwardness."

Meantime he had been patting the sleek neck of the

The Experiment Is Conceived*

horse and noting in a vague way the well-set-up ap-
pearance of the rider.

" Oh, no, it was nothing ; but see, your rod is broken ;
what a pity ! "

** No one but myself to blame for that, anyhow,"
said he, stooping to pick up the article in question.

All reason for prolonging conversation seemed
dead, and Ursula, becoming conscious that there was
something distinctly unconventional in the interview,
brought it to a close with a bow and a pleasant " good
afternoon." Another moment and she was lost to sight
round the corner of the road.

Eric turned to the river side, carrying his broken
rod. He had been fishing with Sir Hugh Galbraith
for a few days in Arleton, and now here was an end
put to sport. It was very annoying, and gradually
all thought of Ursula faded from his mind, as he sat
down on a fallen log and commenced trying to patch
up the damage. He could tie a fly better than most
men, but to tie up a broken tip — that was another mat-
ter altogether.

"Hugh," he exclaimed, as the baronet approached
him, "just see what I have done here — gone and broken
this ; so no more fishing for me to-day. Hard luck, is
it not ? "

" 1^ es ; I saw you do it," replied his friend, quietly.

" You saw me ! Then you must have seen the cause
also."

" Or, rather, I saw the efiect ; a beautiful one too."

Hypnotized ?

" What on earth do you mean ? "

" I mean that of a lovely girl placed in a position
to display her powers of nerve and control."

" Ah ! I understand. Plucky child, eh ? "

" Yery," was the laconic response.

" Made a coufounded ass of myself, falling like that
and startling her horse."

" That girl is above the average," said Sir Hugh,
thoughtfully. " Her figure, in its close-fitting habit,
was perfect, and her face was full of something undefin-
able."

" What a queer chap you are," laughed Eric. " Al-
ways seeing what no one else notices. She is pretty,
I grant you, but more than that — well, I did not per-
ceive anything particularly striking about her."

Sir Hugh relapsed into silence ; his thoughts, as if
accelerated by the inaction of his tongue, whirled on
and on in revolving circles ; indistinct ideas w^ere
born, and nourished on the strength of a human pur-
pose. The sight of Ursula Harlowe in the zenith of
her girlish beauty had struck a sudden chord in his
mind. The magnitude of it made him shiver ; the
very conception of it caused his brain to throb with
alternate hope and fear. " It is possible," said intel-
lect ; " It is impossible," said common sense ; " It shall
be done," said ambition; and Fate laughed a long, long
laugh.

The sun was sinking, and a tiny breeze ran hushing
through the bending grass. Eric Desmond, having

The Experiment Is G)nceiyed. 23

given up trying to mend his rod as a task not to be
accomplished by his own unaided fingers, had flung
himself down on the daisy-flecked turf and lighted a
cigarette. Between the puflfs he rambled on in a semi-
disconnected sort of way to Sir Hugh, who, lost in en-
grossing thoughts, w^as at that moment far from being
a dangerous enemy to the trout.

" Heigh ho ! " yawned Eric, " back to London to-
morrow I go, to groan and grizzle through a few more
weeks of heat. No Scotland for me this year, worse
luck. What would not I give to have a couple of
days' good salmon fishing on the Tweed ? To feel the
pull, to play my line hither and thither, a long run,
and then to land a fish of goodly size. That is sport,
if you like."

"Yes, yes," murmured Sir Hugh, absently; but
whether he had heard one word of Eric's dissertation,
or even caught the drift thereof, was extremely doubt-
ful.

" Fishing," continued the other, " is full of possibili-
ties ; that is why I love it so. Some day you may land
a huge catch — who knows ? The uncertainty is al-
ways there; for just as fish vary in size so do one's
chances of catching them diff*er."

" Of course," assented his companion, " the difference
is obvious." (He had evidently caught the last word
only.) "She is very unlike the usual type of a society
beauty."

Hypnotized ?

" Great Scott ! what are you talking about ? " said
Eric, sitting bolt-upright.

'• Never mind me, old boy, I was thinking of other
things, and got rather mixed up, that is all," replied
Sir Hugh, suddenly realizing that his remark had not
been apropos.

Eric looked at liim curiously. Could he still be
thinking of that girl ?

" As I was saying," he went on, "angling is a mys-
tery. Therein lies one of its great fascinations. The
fish live in one world, we in another ; we are the
catchers, they are the caught ; but why sometimes
they will bite and sometimes not, who knows ? Tem-
perature aflfects them, there is no doubt, and — "

" Eric, did you *ever see such eyes ? They were full
of utter unconsciousness."

" Weil, now vou mention it, they generally are
rather vacant."

" Vacant be banged ! Oh ! Ah ! yes — the fish, of
course, yes — just so," and Sir Hugh broke into a peal
of laughter. " Much fishing doth make thee mad, my
friend," he continued, " It is an engrossing subject to
its devotees, I know, but it tends to make them nar-
row-minded, and to think that every remark applies
to it, and it alone. You will become egotistical, too,
if you do not take care, for angling is the most selfish
of all sports. Come, let us go back to the 'Arms.'
I have had enough of this for one day."

The road led them past Deepdene Farm, where, ac-

cordiL
over ti
just tl
glor> i
over a
heavil

•

creatu;

farmer

were b

saw — i!

wife,

two sh(

shippec

the lit

up now

a gentl

right t(

all, givi

of his

"Goo

ermen a

ing him

" Yes,

ply-

"ISU]

startled
ed the f

"I wa
said Erii

The Experiment Is Conceived*

cording to his usual custom, Mr. Harlowe was leaning
over the yard-gate smoking a huge briar pipe. It was
just that hour between day and evening when the
glor^ fades from the sky, and tlie mantle of dusk falls
over all things. There was a great stillness, too, lying
heavily on the atmosphere ; it seemed as if all living
creatures had gone to rest early that night. The
farmer heeded not the dying light, for his thoughts
were busy. Into the mirror of days he looked, and
saw — so far away it seemed now — the face of the girl-
wife, of gentle birth, he had loved and cherished for
two short years ; a woman set on a pedestal and wor-
shipped by the rough farmer who had won her. And
the little child. He saw her also ; she was growing
up now ; she would marry some day, but it must he
a gentleman, a man of position, such as she had a
right to wed. Crash ! It was only a mirror, after
all, giving back the illusions created by the longings
of his own heart.

"Good evening," said Mr. Harlowe, as the two fish-
ermen approached. " Had good sport, sir ? " address-
ing himself more particularly to Sir Hugh.

"Yes, fairly good, thanks," drawled Galbraith in re-

piy-

" I suppose one of you must be the gentleman who
startled my daughter's horse this afternoon," suggest-
ed the farmer. " She told me all about it just now."

"I was the individual unfortunate enough to do so,"
said Eric, regretfully. " I trust Miss — "
3

:!•!,

26 Hypnotized ?

** Harlowe," put in her father, as he paused.
" — Miss Harlowe is none the worse for her fright."
" Bless me, no ; It takes more than that to upset my
little girl. Ursula," as the subject of their remarks
came out of the house towards them, " here is a gen-
tleman — I do not kno\v your name, sir — asking after

you."

" My name is Desmond," said he, " and this is my
friend, Sir Hugh Galbraith."

Ae Eric made this informal introduction, Sir Hugh
turned, and looking full into Ursula's eyes, he instinc-
tively took off his hat to her beauty.

" Miss Harlowe, I trust you have quite forgiven me,"
said Eric, turning to her as she stood by her father's
side.

"Entirely," she replied ; "please think no more of it. "

Sir Hugh, meantime, had been quietly scrutinizing
the girl from top to toe, and mentally sealing his com-
pact with himself.

" Mr, Harlowe," said he, and the contrast between
his present cordial tone and his late supercilious one
was verj- marked, " I intend remaining in this neigh
bourhood for another week, and should be glad to learn
something of the surrounding country. Could you
furnish me with information regarding any antiquities
worthy of note to be seen about here ? "

" Certainly, sir, certainly. I shall be most happy]
to do so. If you could make it convenient to call to-

The Experiment Is Conceived.

morrow evening, I shall then be at liberty to tell you
all I know on the subject."

Now such an appointment was precisely what Sir
Hugh had iA view, and, delighted to find that success
had so quickly followed his manoeuvre, lie lifted his
cap, and with an expression of thanks and a courteous
" good night," left the farm premises in company with
Eric.

That evening after supper Galbraith was very ab-
stracted. A great scheme was slowly being perfected
in his fertile brain, and so exhilarating was the thought
of the experiment in which he was about to embark,
that each moment he grew more certain of its ultimate
success. By-and-by the fit of silence passed away,
and he talked fluently to Eric as they sat in the
parlor of the Arleton Arms. Politics, books, all the
topics of the day came under discussion one after
another, and about each of them he had some pertinent
remarks to make. Desmond was both surprised and
pleased. It was not often that the baronet displayed
so much wit and volubility for his sole benefit.

** I really begin to believe that you are not only a
truth-seeker, but a truth-speaker, Hugh," he said ;
"you seem in first-rate form to-night."

" Yes, I feel excited, I think, and when just a little
bit elated, one is generally at one's best."

" Your command of language is «,imost as great as
that of the immortal Webster himself," laughed Eric.

" For that compliment you deserve a seat in the

Hypnotized ?

general Valhalla," replied Sir Hugh with mock polite-
ness, and forthwith became so hilarious that Eric
regarded him in astonishment, and glanced uneasily
at the bottle of whiskey on the table. *

" Not tipsy this time, old boy ; see, it is more than
half full still," said Sir Hugh, rightly interpreting his
friend's quick look, and pointing to the suspected
bottle. " As I told you I am excited, that is all ; mere
scientific exaltation I assure you ; " and with another
laugh he rose and went to his room.

CHAPTER IV.

" You see the ways the fisherman doth take
To catch the fish."

" There are more things in heaven and earth. . ,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

— Shakespeare.

" Hooked him ! By Jupiter ! ! "

" Pray do not let the excitement of the moment
overcome you."

" My dear fellow, sarcasm is not your forte. Better
let it alone," said Eric Desmond, who at the same time
[appeared quite unmoved by this attempted raillery on
[the part of his friend.

" I believe," he continued, " that my speckled ^entle-
Iman will weigh a pound at the least; that makes
[seven fish altogether."

" A whole day's work in the broiling sun — result —
[seven trout. Query — is the result worth the labour ? "
and Galbraith puffed lazily at his cigarette, as he
[lounged on the river bank criticising his companion's
IskiU.

"The fish are taking slowly to-day," replied the
mgler, who, having unhooked the last catch, and
3laced it in a creel slung across his shoulders, resumed
lis fishing, totally oblivious of the dissatisfaction ex-
)ressed by Sir Hugh.

It was a glorious afternoon. A gentle breeze blow-

30 Hypnotized ?

ing up the water was just sufficient to hide the move-
ments of the fisherman without impeding the true
play of his line, and the place where Desmond had
elected to fish that day was as lovely a trouting-place
as the most epicurean angler could desire.

" Four o'clock, Eric," said Sir Hugh, looking at his
watch, "and I am rapidly approaching a state of
mental aberration caused by this infernal sun. Grilled
brains are very nice, no doubt, but I am not desirous
of having mine served on toast just yet."

" All right old boy ; in half an hour I shall have
reached the mill-dam — it is only a few hundred yards
higher up — and then we will go back to the Inn."

" I cannot see why you are fishing up-stream in this
heat ; it may appear to you an idle question, but do
you really prefer to have the sun blazing in your
eyes ? "

Eric laughed, a clear ringing laugh that was good
to listen to.

" What a fool you pretend to be sometimes, Hugh,"
he said ; " scofifer as you are at the idea of science in
connection with sport, you must admit that to fish as
I am doing has many advantages, one being that be-
cause a fish always lies with his head up-stream, and i
has no eyes in his tail, I see him before he sees me,
consequently I can usually catch him."

" Your arguments hold water I suppose, but ye godsj
defend me from personally proving their truth," and j

light I

The Experiment Is G>nceiyed*

Sir Hugh, with an impatient shrug, blew a cloud of
smoke from his Egyptian.

" It is true you know little of the real pleasures of
fishing. Many a time, on a fine morning in May, when
the water ran so low and clear as to necessitate the
use of fine tackle with ' Blue Dun ' or ' March Brown,'
I have lured the wily trout from his hiding-nook and,
given a good breeze blowing up-stream to favour the
proper hang of the lly, have thrashed the water till
my arm ached from wielding my rod." Eric Des-
mond's eyes sparkled at the recollection of days thus
spent.

He was a tall, broad-shouldered man, handsome
perhaps some people would have said, but — though
bronzed by many a foreign sun, and possessing eyes
of dark grey, which flashed with a strange lambent
light under their heavy overhanging brows — he was
striking-looking more by reason of the strength, both
physical and moral, which characterized his face, than
by any mere detail of feature. A large, square mouth
betokened power, but when he smiled the sternness
was forgotten in the sudden charm of fascination.
Briefly, his face was masterful and his figure athletic.
He could say " Damn," but could he say it at the
proper time, and in the proper place ? That was the
question life and Eric Desmond would have to solve
between them.

The only son of a wealthy squire whose landed
property in Norfolk was the finest in that county,

3«

Hypnotized ?

.ill

fHi

Eric had been brought up under an easy rule. Eton
and Oxford had turned him out, at twenty-two, a
thorough Englishman, with a strong sense of right and
wrong, and a strong will to back up that knowledge.
A few years of travel and hardship in far-away
countries had given ballast to his mind, and at thirty
he was still, as he had ever been, a keen sportsman
and an amateur philanthropist.

" Well, I am tired out," said Eric at length, flinging
his creel and rod on the ground, and leisurely stretch-
ing his well-shaped limbs. " Whew ! " with a gigan-
tic yawn, " a long day's fishing under a broiling Sep-
tember sun is hard work."

" That is what I have been trying to impress upon
you for the last three hours. You are too energetic,
Eric, too bracing altogether ; it is a pity that fortune
has lavished the good things of this world so freely
upon you,"

" How so ? " demanded Desmond.

"Why, my dear fellow, because should you lose
wealth, position, all that makes your path in life so
smooth now, I verily believe you would become one
of the heroes of modern socialism."

" Bah ! because I advocate a few commonplace
theories, you would make me out a radical reformer."

" Oh, no ! not at all," replied Sir Hugh, with a slight
laugh ; " at present I think you only quixotic, and
your practicality very boring ; but your fundamental
power I admit, I might almost say envy," and the

The Experiment Is G>nceive^*

baronet's cold features lighted up with a brief flash of
admiration for the noble strength of purpose which
underlay his friend's character.

" There should be more hard work than leisure in
life, just as there is more prose than poetry," said
Eric. " To men of your stamp, the great questions of
common wurk-a-day life bring no appeal. How should
a cynical apostle of the ideal, such as you are, under-
stand, or sympathize with the stimulating creed I be-
lieve in ? " and the flickering light in Desmond's eyes
betrayed his earnestness, as he continued : " While
you seek in vain for that panacea which is to cure all
the di.stempers of society, I devote myself to lessen-
ing the burden of human suffering by practical means.
Why spend the best years of your life fondling your
own chimeric ideals ? Strike at the root of the evil ! "

" In fact, be a second Don Quixote tilting at wind-
mills," interpolated his friend.

" No, Hugh, only make your efforts coincide with
the exigencies of the day. Give up being an aimless
man, and concentrate your energy on some specific
work."

" Look here, Eric, I concede that in a measure you
are right ; but why try to shatter my ideals ? In the
steady light thrown on them by years of experi-
ence, I see more clearly than ever that a man can be
what he will."

:.i

" Granted," said Desmond, but he must cultivate a

Hypnotized ?

3i:

singleness of purpose, which, for the time being, will
banish from his mind all that is extraneous to the ob-
ject he has in view, for success lies in concentration."

" My dear fellow, your arguments are like sledge-
hammers, they strike hard; but, after all, are our
views in truth so very dissimilar ? We stand on neu-
tral ground between the known and the unknown, a
place full of undefined conditions. I uphold my ideal
of mental science ; you your ideal of physical work ;
but they are, nevertheless, both of them ideals."

" No, there we differ. In tlie pursuance of psycho-
logical research 3'ou strive after fantasmal results, and
lose sight of the object of your existence, namely, to
leave the world a nobler and happier place for your
having lived in it; while in my creed all things must
work in the direction of a tangible good which will
benefit the community at large. My chief object is
the amelioration of the universal law of suffering."

" When you talk of an object, you seem to forget
that people with * an object,' are usually called
' cranks.' No one takes kindly to them."

"Yet it is from amongst those who have no object
in life that the great army of failures is recruited.
Come now, Hugh, divest your mind for once of all
transcendentalism, and step down to a solid basis. You
are a man of twenty-eight, in the prime of life, and
that you are capable of solving some of the deeper
problems of that life I'll take my oath ; why do you
not work ? Lay aside this dilettanteism which is

Id.

ai
id

The Experiment Is Conceived*

sapping away your energy, and bravely face the stern
reality of the evils you are now trying^ to remedy
theoretically. Build up an ideal of duty, and build it
on the rock of common sense."

"I am building up my life's work stone by stone,
and I tell you, Eric, I shall succeed, even to the top-
most pinnacle. But enough of this," as he threw
away his cigarette with an impatient gesture ; " the
sun has nearly gone down, and we have to tramp
back to the Inn before we can hope for supper."

so c

CHAPTER V.

" The elements
So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, ' This was a man ! ' "

— Shakespeark.

" I SHALL have to run up to town the day after to-
morrow, Hugh," began Desmond, as they swung along,
skirting with rapid strides the fields of standing bar-
ley. How much longer are you going to stay here ? "

"Don't know," was the laconic response; "perhaps
a week, perhaps two ; there is nothing to take me up
to town at present "

" I should have liked a few more days of fishing in
this part of the world, I must confess ; but Wilson
wants to see me about the Black friars scheme, and
then, too, Sybil is lonely, I think."

" Probably, considering how much of jour time you
usually devote to her." Then, after a pause, Sir Hugh
inquired, " When are you going to be married, Eric ? "

" There is no date fixed yet for the wedding ; " and
as he spoke a sharp spasm of pain contracted his fore-
head. " Sybil has not made up her mind about it ;
very likely it will come off" some time in the spring ; "
but he spoke with more hope than certainty in his
tone."

The Experiment Is Conceived* 37

" She is a deuced pretty girl." said Sir Hugh, " and
so clever."

" Yes, too clever for a plain, matter-of-fact man like
mysclt' ; but all the same I love her," he added simply,
and the man who feared no living adversary lowered
his eyes as he trembled at the thought of that perfect
love which filled his heart.

" By the way, Miss Carlisle is a great pet of my
aunt's," said Sir Hugh.

" Yes, Lady Brandram and Mrs. Carlisle are old
friends, I believe, and Sybil dearly loves to go to Bel-
grave-square."

" The last time I met her there was at a ' musical
crush,' such as Aunt Mary's soul delights in giving —
a sort of menagerie party ; and after some of the lions
of the evening had roared in song, no doubt greatly
to their own satisfaction. Miss Carlisle gave us a solo
on the violin. By Jove ! it was like the wind whis-
pering among the trees, and made one think of sum-
mer, and sunshine, and — "

" Love," put in Eric, smiling.

" No ; rather say a spirit-song."

" Sybil shows the touch of genius in her playing."

" Some day that girl will astonish London with her
music. Mark my words, Eric, the world will ring
with her praises yet."

" I trust not. As my wife, Sybil must give up all
idea of a public career."

Hypnotized ?

" But I thought she intended to study for the con-
cert stage."

' Yes, she often spoke of so doing ; but lately all
necessity for earning her own living has been done
away with, and when she is my wife it would natur-
ally be impossible for her to embark on such a career."

Sir Hugh glanced up at his friend's face with a
somewhat cynical smile. The calm, resolute air with
which the latter disposed of \ns fiancees future struck
him as an assumption of arrogance on the part of the
man towards one whom the light of genius had touch-
ed. Eric strode on with thoughtful mein. Galbraith's
questions aroused an uncomfortable sensation in his
breast, which for some weeks had lain there dormant ;
for, in spite of his cool assertion, he knew well that
the strong force of his will had failed to bring Sybil
Carlisle to look at things altogether from his point of
view. Broad-minded and easy-going as he was by
nature, there was one point on which he was inflex-
ible. " Woman's sphere is home," he said. Wo-
man's rights he abhorred ; and though, on general
principles, he entirely approved of the artistic world,
he was one of those men who regard their own woman-
folk as something to be kept quite free from any taint
of bohemianism.

That Sybil should wish to shine in public was an
idea unintelligible to him, and with a man's natural
propensity to domineer he had told her that when she
married him she must relinquish all thoughts of the

The Experiment Is Conceived*

stage. He had given her the best love of his life ;
not by any means the first love, but that full, entire de-
votion which a man can bestow only when the fritter-
ings of [)assion are a thing of the past. In return for
this he demanded her obedience and complete adher-
ence. " I will not share you with music," he had
said; " you must be all mine ; ' and she had temporarily
acquiesced, for she was very fond of him.

That, however, was in the early days of their en-
gagement, and now that six months had come and
gone, Sybil began to show signs of returning allegi-
ance to her art. Once or twice she ventured to speak
of it to Eric, but each time he only answered : " Is
not my love sufficient for you ? " and half -ashamed
she would keep silence, though the thought of her
musical talent tormented her restless spirit.

The two men reached the commencement of the
village street just as the fading beams of light gave
a farewell kiss to the treetops, and the wind of an
autumn dusk whispered a soft lullaby to the birds.
There was an air of dreamy repose about the place ;
all nature's sweet curative influences seemed abroad
in that quiet little Herefordshire village.

Within an incredibly short space of time, Sir Hugh
and Eric Desmond were seated in the cheerful dining-
room, partaking of a substantial meal, and later on,
over a pipe and a good glass of whiskey and soda,
they chatted about many things ; old memories were
awakened, and old friends discussed, until, by the

Hypnotized ?

time the tall clock in the corner struck eleven, and
the two men rose to part for the night, Eric Desmond
had forgotten all unpleasant impressions left on his
mind by the conversation of that afternoon. And as
he laid his tired head upon the pillow he thought, oh !
so tenderly, of the girl he loved. " God bless her," he
murmured, and fell asleep.

CHAPTER VI.

"He was exhal'd ; his great Creator drew
His spirit, as the sun the morning dew."

— Dryden.

Sir Hugh Galbraith was the descendant of a long line
of ancestors. From a dreamy school-boy he had
orrown into a skeptical university student, and later
on the skepticism merged into inquiry. Thus, at
twenty-eight he was an ardent seeker after philo-
sophical truth. Of a singularly elevated nature,
the originality of his ideas was in a degree striking.
Even people who did not understand him felt the
power of his fascination, which, perhaps, lay partially
in the fact that he never sought to convince those who
differed from him. With that entire independence
of thought which was his chief characteristic, Sir
Hugh had been known to calmly set up his private
opinion against the general dicta of older men, there-
by causing an occasional startling revolution.

The commonly accepted forms of spiritualistic be-
liefs he considered painfully vulgar. They jarred on
the transcendentalism with which he was saturated
and, as he often averred, turned the sacred ideals of
his creed into food for gossip amongst scoffers.

Exquisitely egotistical in all the minor relations of
life, he bitterly resented the blatant mockery of his
4

Hypnotized ?

theories in which many materialists openly indulged,
and, in consequence, as the years rolled on, grew
colder and more reserved in his intercourse with the
world, wrapping himself in a cloak of impenetrable
cynicism.

It must be admitted that, with the arrogance of
youth, he was often far too aggressive in his deduc-
tions, too eager to make all phenomena point toward
the confirmation of his monistic philosophy ; and yet
there were seasons when, in utter loneliness of
thought, he grew afraid. Would psychology lead
him at last through the mists of doubt to the perfect
knowledge of the one all-pervading Presence in which
he believed ? Would he through the spiritual reach
the infinite ? Thus, he by turns asserted and doubt-
ed, ever seeking and striving after truth, for God had
given him a great soul.

So great was Sir Hugh's mental power that insen-
sibly he controlled the minds of those who came in
contact with him, and in the strength of this domi-
nant force lay the secret of his influence over men
and women. Silent, compelling, irresistible, was it
purely intellectual, or was it that Unconscious Hyp-
notic power, of which scientists deny the very exist-
ence ?

Tall and slight, he was of an essentially Saxon
type, and his pale, clear-cut features betokened the man
of breeding. A long, fair moustache half-hid his cold,
handsome mouth ; and eyes of steely-blue, fringed with

The Experiment Is Q>nceived*

peculiarly Ion": lashes, glittered and scintillated, with
a penetration in which there lurked somethin;^ vague
and awful, beneath a pair of straight eyebrows.

Anyone who had once heard Galbraith speak never
forgot the tone of his voice. It was scarcely melo-
dious, but the delicate timbre rang with a keen sweet-
ness in the memory long after he had ceased to speak.

The present century has produced many men of
this type. In the universal striving after something
original, those minds, which, by hereditary refinement,
are above the average, naturally imbibe the long-
ini; for perfection of some sort or another; and blindly
stumbling on an old eternal truth they proclaim the
discovery, forgetful that there is nothing new under
tiie sun. What is it if their eyes have been opened
to a tiny fraction of the things which have been and
shall be ? Are they not just one step nearer the
knowledge of their own imperfection ? When men
learn to study nature, to lovp nature, and to believe in
nature, they will then at last be near to the Know-
ledge of the Perfect.

A follower of Paracelsus, and an ardent believer in
psychology, Sir Hugh was yet no practical expositor
of hypnotism ; he had always declined to take part
in any seances, and further, though interested in ex-
periment, disliked the flavor of charlatanism of which
most hypnotic treatment smacked. Theoretically, he
found all things possible ; to prove them so practic-
ally, he never attempted.

CHAPTER VII.

■f.>M:i;

" The intellectual power, through words and things,
Went sounding on, a dim and perilous way ! "

— Wordsworth.

Septembeu was seven days older. Such a lovely week it
had been too, full of sunshine and warm-scented breezes.
It was a period of deep interest to Sir Hugh ; for, as
day after day he went on steadily cultivating the so-
ciety of Ursula and her father, his purpose grew more
feasible in his eyes. Each time he saw the girl he
became further convinced that in her lay buried the
makings of a magnificent woman, such a one as w.»ul(l
turn men's heads, and might, if she chose, place her
foot on the very keystone of the social arch.

No word of all this had as yet escaped his lips, but
the time was fast approaching when he must make
the plunge and put all his hopes of carrying out his
great experiment to the touch.

Days ago, Eric Desmond (who was entirely ignor-
ant of Sir Hugh's contemplated scheme) had returned
to London pavements, and now it was time for Gal-
braith to follow his example.

" 1 will stay only a little longer," Sir Hugh had
said ; yet there lay his portmanteau still empty. No
signs of immediate departure were visible.

Often, during that week, he talked with Ursula,

The Experiment Is G)ncefved.

trying to probe the depths of her nature, in order
to ascertain how far she was fitted, mentally and mor.
ally, to be a test-subject for his contemplated ex-
periment Sometimes he thought he had fathomed
her completely, when, lo ! at a sudden turn she baf-
fled him. Her child-like simplicity contrasted so
curiously with her firm, unbending principle's that oc-
casionally she puzzled the man of science, by whose
worldly standard she could not be measured.

" Miss Harlowe," he said to her one day, when their
acquaintanceship was but three days old " who gave
you that book I saw you reading yesterday ? "

" Do you mean the translation of Goethe's 'Faust ' ? "

" Yes ; where did you get it from ? " he asked, inter-
estedly.

" It belonged to my mother, I think," she replied.

They were walking along by the river, which flowed
lazily between its banks as if too much overcome by
the heat to hurry onward to where the great ocean
awaited it, far beyond the distant purple hills. Shel-
tered beneath a large white umbrella, Ursula was bid-
ding defiance to the sun, whose burning glances lay
reflected on the broad, placid waters of the Arle,
specked here and there with gaudy-hued flies that
danced a perpetual tarantella on the bosom of the
stream.

" Do you like the story ? " asked Sir Hugh.

" Oh, no; it is dreadful, I think, and so sad," turn
ing a sudden glance to him.

Hypnotized }

" And yet it is an every-day one," said he, calmly.

" Ah ! no, no ! " she replied, clasping her hands, as if
imploring him to contradict that last statement.

He smiled. " It is true. Even you," with a touch
of superciliousness, " cannot be entirely ignorant of
all the sorrow that exists in the world."

"Perhaps you might with justice call me ignorant.
I do not know much about the world, we are so apart
from it down here in this little village ; but," and she
threw her head up with a proud gesture, " I am a girl
and I know that girls are naturally good and pure
and true, and that only in rare instances does sucli
awful sorrow as Marguerite's come to them."

Sir Hugh was silenced for the nonce. Here was a
verdict delivered by a simple country child, who did
not hesitate to announce it as final. He felt the
superiority was momentarily hers. The subject was
a difficult one to touch on with a young girl, so he
drifted somewhat away from the main point as he
said :

" Sorrow and suffering come to all of us in turn. The
story you were reading yesterday was only written j
it could be re-written many times ; but the story we
live can only be lived once, and our actions once com-
mitted can never be recalled; the consequences of
them must be endured to the end as best they can."

" It is not always our own actions that bring us
trouble, but sometimes those of others. Marguerite

The Experiment Is Conceived*

suffered for the temptation to which she succumbed,
but Faust was the real offender."

'• Woman-like, you blame the man."

"I try to be just," she said, raising her unfaltering
eyes to his, " and besides, you, at any rate, should agree
with me ; it is not luanly to put the blame on a wo-
man. I love my own sex," she continu d with enthusi-
asm ; " women are so bravo ; they struggle on through
troubles as long as strength permits, hoping against
hope, plodding bravely upward, and often they have
much to bear."

ir " You are a staunch advocate," said he, with a swift
intuition that she was telling him her inmost thoughts.
" Women are usually good judges of each other in one
particular only, that of pronouncing sentence."

" In what way ?"

" Condemnatory, always."

" Who is unjust now ?" with an arch smile ; " you
are giving voice to rank heresy. But why think of
disagreeable things ? Life is so sweet, so full of
pleasure."

" And so I trust it always will be for you. Miss
Harlowe ; but to return to the original subject of our
discussion ; will you tell me why you think poor
Faust so altogether in the wrong ?"

"Because he was a coward," with flashing eyes ; " he
left her alone to bear all ; oh ! the piteousness of that
lonelihood," and as she spoke the sympathetic tears
rose slowly, and gathering, dimmed her sight. "A

Hypnotized ?

man should be strong," she went on in a monotonous
undertone, as if compelled by some unseen force to
utter aloud what was passing in her mind ; " he should
support and help a woman so that she may feel she
can lean on his stronger nature, and find the rest she
craves for in his sheltering arms. Should he be the
one to throw her aside ? Oh no ! he should treat her
as the chivalrous knights of old treated their queen.
The other day I read a Canadian love-story — it was
beautiful, and so happy, it was like real life, — far
more so than that sad tale of Faust and Marguerite."

Sir Hugh removed his eyes from her, and uncon-
sciously she stopped speaking.

Upon these two beside the river a silence had fal-
len, a weird music arose from the depths of the
waters, a few withered leaves rustled past them,
wind-swept across their path. How full of noble
thoughts was this girl, pondered Galbraith, so unspot-
ted by the mildew of society, so healthy-minded in
her belief in a creed of universal honour. In the
world into which he dreamed of introducing her, bon
gr4—malg -f — she would be a revelation. Her low, soft
voice, one of woman's greatest charms, aroused him
from his reverie.

" You do not think ill of all women, do you ? " she
questioned anxiously ; " you are so good yourself, you
must know that others are good also."

" Miss Harlowe, your remark is not only original, it
is unique. I do not pretend to be — I mean (seeing

iiliiiiii

The Experiment Is Conceived*

lier look of bewilderment), it is not fin-de-si^cle to be
trood — one must study to be amusing, witty — but
^ood — the thirst for novelty at any price has not yet
demanded that of society."

The next moment he reo;retted his highly-spiced
banter. The adorable modesty of her mind caused
his remarks to glance off, leaving it unharmed ; but
one look at her puzzled face had been enough to si-
lence his graceless speech.

" I beg your pardon," he said humbly, " my words
were sens'^less, but do not think too much of me. I
am only a very ordinary sort of man."

" You are my friend," she said, gently.

" Thank you for that gift of your friendship," he
replied, and stooping, loyally kissed her small, sun-
burnt fingers, thereby causing a rosy glow to mount
swiftly into her cheeks.

The strong interest with which Sir Hugh had from
the first inspired Ursula Harlowe was rapidly devel-
oping into something more intangible and powerful.
To him she was a purely psychological study — to her
he appeared the embodiment of all that was great
and noble ; and while Galbraith was too absorbed in
his experiment to notice the strange control he at
times unconsciously exercised over the girl, she, on
her side, was too simple-minded to realize the mean-
ing of that strong, compelling power which insensibly
dominated her.

They talked incessantly of this thing and that, often

Hypnotized ?

disagreeing, for Urstila could hold her own in any
argument where her natural instincts sufficed ; but
slowly, yet surely, Sir Hugh was opening up before
her new fields of thought — comparisons of town and
country life, glimpses of brilliant society as contras-
ted with the trivial monotony of her daily round —
into such channels did he lead her mind. That Gal-
braith never once thought of her as a loving, loveable
girl, but only as a beautiful creation, was as true as
it was strange. To him she was simply une nature.

CHAPTER VIII.

Cut prejudice against the grain.

-Tknnyson.

One morning while Sir Hugh was seated at break-
fast, engaged in the demolition of unlimited toast and
marmalade, the waiter came and laid a letter beside
his plate. Having glanced at the familiar hand-
writing, he eagerly ripped open the envelope and be-
nan to read its contents. It ran thus :

Belgrave-square, September 15th.
Dear Old Hugh : —

But perhaps I ought not to call you so any longer.
Why ! you are nearly thirty ! and must be verging on
that indefinite age when to be called old is apt to be
regarded as an insult ! What on earth is keeping you
in the wilderness so long ? Mr. Desmond called on
us three days ago and told me you were fishing; now
my dear boy, such sport is no doubt very charming,
but truly I think you must have other fish to fry than
" ye speckled trout," or Herefordshire would not have
claimed you for its own so long, especially as you are
tlie laziest of anglers.

You will see from the heading of this letter that I
am staying with Aunt Mary. The dear soul adores me
as much as ever, and I am having a rattling good
time of it, no end of theatres, and flirtations, but alas!
people are still scarce in Mayfair, and a ball is a thing
of dreams only.

Hypnotized ?

Mariiiaduke is in town and as idiotic as ever. Really
Bedlam should be his abode during his sojourn on this
terrestrial globe ; his awful puns and ghastly attempts
at playing the court-fool make me sick. Do come
home, Hugh. Aunt was saying only yesterday how
she missed you. The dear old lady is quite well, and
chaperones me everywhere most religiously.

Sybil Carlisle dined with us last night, and, of
course, Mr. Desmond also. How devoted they are to
one another. I do not believe I could ever fall in
love with anybody like that. Change is what I like,
for as soon as an individual person grows specially at-
tached to me, in that instant he becomes a bore. As
long as the world loves me, and I love all the world,
(quite platonically you understand), I am perfectly
happy ; but then, why should I not be so ? I never
get up till noon, nor do an earthly thing that does not
please me. Voild tout ! — A truce to moralizing, how-
ever.

I must not forget to tell you about Marmaduke's
latest atrocity. It was at tea-time he perpetrated it.
I had remarked to him casually, that the world was
no better a place for his temporary habitation thereof;
that, in fact, he had lived in vain. " I never lived in
vain," he replied ; " I always lived in England." Now
was not that silly ? And he actually expected me to
laugh. But I must say, even Marmaduke at his worst
(ami he can be very appalling) was preferable to our
other visitor, Mr. Chaytor, who is a good young man,
and should meet Saran Grand. She might appreciate
him. I do not.

Fare -thee- well, and for mercy's sake hurry up and
come home to

Your affectionate cousin,

Betty.

The Experiment Is Conceived*

" What a little scatter-brain she is to be sure ! "
mused Sir Hugh, as he folded up the sheets covered
with Lady Betty Mornington's hieroglyphics. " A
dear little scrap of humanity all the same. Ah ! ray
pretty cousin, I am very fond of you ; your smile is like
a sunbeam in a shady corner, your laugh an echo of joy
itself. You are right, I must go home, — and my gieat
purpose, — that must be put in process at once. If I
succeed in this grand experiment, I shall have dis-
proved a time-worn theory, and given to the world of
society a queen worthy to reign over it. The science
of transplantation, that is what it is ; and you, beauti-
ful Ursula Harlowe, shall flourish in a richer soil than
that in which you have hitherto grown. You shall be
transplanted from the field to the hot-house, in order
that you may ripen to perfection, and the transplanter
shall be Hugh Galbraith."

As the last morsel of marmalade-bestrewed toast
disappeared, he pushed back his chair, and, with
determination written on every feature, started for
Deepdene Farm. It was in one of the corn-fields,
now full of stacked sheaves, that Sir Hugh found the
farmer that morning.

" Mr. Harlowe," he said, " may I have a few words
with you ? It is my intention to return to Town by
the afternoon train, and there is an important matter
I should like to discuss before leaving."

" Certainly, Sir Hugh. I'd enjoy a bit of rest my-
self, and if you'll come across the field to yonder trees,
we can have our talk in comfort."

Hypnotized ?

, I /'I'

Through the blazing sunshine they walked together,
where the dusty beams of light fell with intense
brightness, and even the grasshoppers seemed to have
lost the strength to chirrup and hop.

•*I have a proposal to make to you," began Sir
Hugh, after a few silent puffs at his cigar, and his
voice sounded steady and calm, in spite of the great
anxiety which filled his mind. " It is an unusual one
in itself," he went on, " and calculated to lead to many
changes, but should you agree to it, I shall assume all
responsibilities and pledge my honour to fulHl the
obligations it will entail upon me ; in short, what I am
about to ask you to do is to allow me to launch your
daughter into fashionable London society."

It was over. The plunge had been made, but, even
as he paused, a tiny chill crept down the baronet's
spine and a sense of choking threatened to ovei--
master him.

" What ! " exclaimed the farmer, his face a study
of astonishment and wrath, " my little Ursula ! ! 1
think, sir, you must be either mad or dreaming to sug-
gest such a thing. Your words are almost an insult.
How do such as you dare to propose this thing ? "

" I fear I have been somewhat hasty, Mr. Harlowe,
and my words were blunt, but," he went on haughtily —
for by this time he had regained perfect self-control —
" the means I intend to use in the accomplishment of
this scheme are above suspicion."

Surprise and indignation had rendered the old

The Experiment Is Conceived*

man momentarily dumb. He merely nodded, and Sir
IJugh continued:

" What I propose is that you confide your daughter
to the care of my aunt, a lady of middle-age, and
established position in London, and that under her
care Miss Harlowe shall make acquaintance with the
world of fashion. Your daughter is beautiful, far too
beautiful to bloom in the obscurity of a country vil-
lage. She is superb in her youth and health, and in
Town would be an acknowledged queen."

" Your words are bold ones. Sir Hugh. Ursula is
pretty, but among the fine ladies of society she would
be out of place."

" No, no ; I have watched her during our short
friendship, and with money at her command, and a
suitable chaperone, she would have all the world at
her feet."

"She is only a little country girl, and quite un-
versed in all those things which form part of the
education of the daughters of nobility. I would not
have her sweet nature shamed by the knowledge of
its imeonventionality."

" Say rather that she is one of nature's gentle-
women," replied Sir Hugh quietly ; and long after-
wards in the light of later events he remembered the
strange smile which for an instant hovered round the
corners of Mr. Harlowe's mouth, as the latter re-
sponded :

" True, she is in every respect a gentlewoman. All

Hypnotized ?

the same," he continued, " it is impossible, I tell you,
absolutely impossible. I will not listen to any such
foolish ideas. You may be honest in your intentions,"
with a keen, sidelong glance at Galbraith, " but this
thing you suggest is absurd, and even if you ever
succeeded in gaining my consent, think of the aunt
you mentioned; would she be willing to receive a girl
of whom she knew nothing, who was an utter
stranger to her ?"

" I am confident that my aunt would not refuse to
receive Miss Harlowe," replied Sir Hugh. Lady
Brandram had always complied with any demand he
made on her good nature, and such a simple thing n'i
launching a lovely girl into London life, — why she
would jump at the idea of it, he thought. Which
notion only served to show how much Sir Hui^h had
yet to learn of the ways of women.

" Once for all, I must decline your proposal, sir.
Ursula is not suited to a grand life, and then the
expense — I am not a rich man, and have no money to
throw away on foolishness."

" Do not let that stand in the way," urged Sir Hugh.
" My aunt is wealthy ; Miss Harlowe should want for
nothing." This was a distinct perversion of the
truth ; Sir Hugh was enormously wealthy — his aunt
was not.

" It cannot be, sir, I am sorry, but it cannot be," and
Mr. Harlowe rose as if to put an end to the discussion.

The young man betrayed no sign of defeat.

The Experiment Is Conceived*

" Well, farmer," he said, " let us leave the matter in
abeyance for the present. Perhaps some day you may
change your mind."

"I think not ; but I thank you, sir, all the same, for
your kindness in thinking of my little girl. I believe
you mean what you say, and would treat her honestly,
but I could not spare her, — she is all T have to live for."

While this conversation was taking place, Mr. Tom
Scott was also improving the shining hours by trying
to secure an uninterrupted talk with Ursula. The
sharp rebuff she administered to him some days be-
fore had not had the desired result, for he absolutely
declined to accept his congl. Tom Scott was a spare
man, clean shaven, with lips thin and cruel, and tortured
at the corners by a wretched smile which showed weak-
ness rather than strength, in that the reserve force
was being constantly called into play. Gambler, tuft-
hunter that he was, any good that had not been en-
tirely crushed out of his nature rose to the top since
love for Ursula Harlowe had touched him. Love is a
powerful agent, and can even change a man's whole
nature under given circumstances, but, unfortunately,
all it had done for Tom was to temporarily gloss over
his low cunning with a veneer of honesty. Since her
refusal to listen to his wooing, the man had dogged
her footsteps day after day, watched her, spied on her
actions, and consequently soon became aware of the
frequency of Sir Hugh Galbraith's visits to Deepdene.

To love is to know the meaning of the word rival ;

Hypnotized }

therefore Sc tt ^ated the baronet. Once more he
pleaded with Ursula, and once more she tirmly refused
him.

But the man declined to accept her reply as final,
declared he v )uld wait for months, years if need be —
that time which held all things might yet hold the
gift of her love for him, — perhaps some day the con-
stancy of his affection would win her.

A great passion for her beauty had taken possession
of him, and win her he would, or, said he, if he failed
it should not be because another man succeeded.

Tom had not dared to again enter the farm house,
but was talking to Ursula at the garden gate when
Mr. Harlowe and Galbraith came strolling up the
lane. At this unexpected sight the farmer was furi-
ous, whilst Ursula, conscious of a constraint in the
air, advanced with a friendly smile to greet Sir Hugh.

•* Good morning," she said. " Come under the trees
and rest ; or, as I am going to feed the chickens, per-
haps you will help me."

"I shall be delighted," replied Sir Hugh, "but
please remember I strongly object to any violent ex-
ertion on such a hot day."

" You have evidently not forgotten your chase after
Brigham Young," laughed Ursula.

" I should think not. That noble head of the barn-
yard proved one too many for me, and if he escapes
to-day, I bar being made to pursue him."

" That is right, Sir Hugh ; don't you let my little

The Experiment Is Conceived.

girl impose on you," said the farmer, who, during the
above conversation, had been standing irresolute as to
what course he should take. " Well, Mr. Scott," he
continued, when Ursula and her companion had
walked off in the direction of the house, " may I ask
what brings you here ?"

"I just looked in for a few minutes to see Miss
Harlowe, farmer, but now that I find she is otherwise
engaged," with a vindictive sneer at Galbraith's re-
treating back, " I'll say good morning."

" Just so ! say it once for all," blurted out the irate
old man, " I'm pretty plain-spoken, and you are not
my sort; so we'd best part, and be done with it."

" You think that I am not good enough for you,
that I am not such a swell as that chap yonder, with
a handle to his name, curse him !"

" It is no business of yours whom I choose to admit
to my house, but I'd have you understand, Tom Scott,
that you, at any rate, are not welcome."

" Stop a moment, farmer. You despise me — I see can
it — but I'm not altogether a bad sort ; and if you treat
me squarely, I'll work for your daughter."

" That you'll not get the chance of doing ; Ursula
shall never marry a man who is a gambler and a
drunkard. You've forced me to say it; and now — ^go."

Scott's eyes gleamed with a savage light at the old
man's rough words.

" By gum ! " he mentally ejaculated, " I'll give him
one for that."

6o Hypnotized^?

" I'm going," he added aloud, " but let me tell you
this: you ve refused to listen to a man who would
make your daughter an honest wife. Take care ; those
kind," indicating Sir Hugh, who was still visible in
the distance, " do not marry country girls."

" Hold your tongue, you insolent scoundrel,"
roared Mr. Harlowe. " How dare you speak to me like
that. 1 know very well that you are after my lass, and
I know I'd sooner see her dead than give her to the
likes of you. So don't let me have any more philan-
dering here."

" You go too far, Mr. Harlowe. Every man has a
right to make love to a woman who is free ; and if 1
tried to win your daughter, I did so openly and
and honestly."

" Look here," said the farmer, whose blood was now
at boiling-point ; " you leave my place this instant, and
never show your damned face here again. Go !"

" But—"

" Go !" he repeated.

" Perhaps some day my turn will come," snarled
Scott, " and when it does — "

But Mr. Harlowe had turned on his heel, and was
half way up the garden-path, so the threat, whatever
it might have been, was lost upon him.

CHAPTER JX

" And when the stream
VV'hich overflowed the soul was passed away,
A consciousness remained that it had left
Deposited upon the silent shore
Of memory, images and precious thoughts
That shall not die, and cannot be destroyed."

— Words wo KTH.

Mr. Harlowe was worried, and he was very an^ry.
As far as Tom Scott's outrageous proposal was con-
cerned, that was all settled and done with ; but this
other matter, — this proposition of Sir Hugh Gal-
braith, — it troubled him not a little. When the
baronet first spoke of the scheme, the farmer had been
seriously annoyed, but as he thought over the subject,
doubts began to arise in his mind. Was he quite justi-
fied in denying to Ursula all chance of rising in the
world ? If this aunt of Sir Hugh were really willing
to take charge of her, why should she not enjoy all
the pleasures and advantages of such a life ?

But then there was another side to the question.
Mr. Harlowe was no fool, and he wanted to know
some good and valid reason for the deep interest Sir
Hugh took in the girl. Had the man shown signs of
being in love with her, it would have satisfactorily ex-
plained affairs ; but though he sought her society on
every occasion, there were no further indications that

Hypnotized ?

he entertained any deeper feelings towards her than
those of friendship, and tlie farmer knew very well that
ordinary friendship does not, as a rule, lead a man to
propose such a scheme as the one laid before him by
the l)aronet.

Tom Scott's remarks also lingered unpleasantly in
his mind, and it was largely owing to his inability to
fathom the motives of Galbraith, that Mr. Harlowe
declined so firmly to listen to his ideas.

" There is a screw loose somewhere," thought the
old man; but had he been told the real reason why Sir
Hugh urged him to let Ursula go to London, he might
have been still more mystified, for that a man should
plan, and carry out such a great undertaking, solely
for the sake of experiment, would have been incom-
prehensible to his rustic mind.

Finally, he determined to let the matter rest. Sir
Hugh was to him a complete enigma, for Galbraith had
no small talk, no commonplaces; then too,his somewhat
rigid pose disconcerted the genial farmer, and made
him mentally call the baronet " that cast-iron man,"
at the same time confessing that he could make no
progress in conversation with him. How it came
about that Ursula and Sir Hugh were such great
friends was a constant puzzle to her father ; with the
girl Galbraith seemed quite en rapport ; but when he
was with Mr. Harlowe, conversation flowed with diffi-
culty ; it was a case of speech frappL

And Ursula, what of her ? Had she been interro-

The Experiment Is Conceived.

gated as to whether she liked Sir Hugh or not, she
would have replied " yes " unhesitatingly, and would
then have paused — and said nothing more. She was
happy in his society, and the whys and wherefores did
not matter yet.

"Chuck, chuck, chuck !" called Ursula softly, and
from far and near, in answer to her welcome, the
clucking army of fowls came scrambling to her from
every corner of the yard.

" They are almost as greedy as the proverbial law-
yer," laughed Sir Hugh.

" And so mischievous too. You have no idea what
a lot of damage they do in the garden, if by any
chance they get loose there. Even Don cannot up-root
the flower-beds as satisfactorily as they can, — Oh !
quick, quick, there they go making for the gate. I, —
you, — somebody must have left it open. Hurry,
hurry, do not let them get through," cried Ursula
frantically ; for, finding that the generous dinner pro-
vided for them had come to an end, with true fowl-
like ingratitude the whole mass of cocks and hens at
once roamed off in search of pastures new, and seeing
the garden-gate open, with one accord they made a
rush to enter the coveted paradise.

Away flew Sir Hugh, calling loudly to the now
excited army, who, legs flying in all directions, and
tails half-fanned, were running as fast as nature
permitted. But he proved too quick for them. Bang !
— the gate was shut, and away went the mob of

Hypnotized ?

scurrying bipeds, some of them almost flying in Ur-
sula's face as she came up in hot pursuit.

" Thank you so much," she panted breathlessly, as
she fanned herself wi^h her hat, an ancient one and
somewhat devoid of brim. " What wretches they are ;
but, thank goodness, you won the day."

"Victory unquestioned," replied he; "a bloodless one
it is true, but decisive nevertheless. May I sit down
here for a few minutes ?"

" Surely, yes. A victor deserves his well-earned rest.
What a chase it was ! Ha, ha, ha !" and the laughter
came rippling out, as she leaned her head back on her
clasped hands, and looked up at Sir Hugh. " You did
not expect to have such an exciting run, did you ? "

" No, I should think not; but, tell me, are you always
so gay ? Laughter seems so near to you, that one
would imagine you were never sad."

" I am happy," she replied thoughtfully.

" You are fortunate," he said ; " few people in this
world can say that."

" But why ? " she questioned, somewhat surprised. " I
love the farm, and I have Daddy who adores me.
Of course I am happy, — at least generally," with a
slight hesitation in her voice.

" You love the country ? " queried Sir Hugh.

" Oh yes ! I have always lived in it. Once Daddy
took me to Hereford for a week ; it was lovely, — how
I did enjoy it. The shops, the big houses, and the
Cathedral ; have you ever been there ? "

The Experiment Is G)nceivcd. 65

" Yes," once, long ago. So you liked the place ? "

" It was great fun seeing everything ; but somehow it
tired me. I was glad to get back to Arleton."

** But the town, and all the people, — did you not like
the stir and bustle of a large place ? "

" At first I did, but afterwards it see.ned to make me
feel lonely. You see I knew nobody."

" Yet you are not lonely here."

" Sometimes I am. Sometimes," turning her eyes to
hifl, " I am fearfully lonely."

" Would you like to have more friends, — the com-
panionship of other girls ? "

She was looking away from him again, — far away
across the meadows to the blue hills beyond, and as
she answered, there was something in her voice be-
tokening dissatisfaction.

" I do not care for girls much, at least noi those
about here. I do not quite know what it is I want.
As a rule I am busy, but when Daddy is away, and
the long evenings come, then, when there is no one to
talk to "

" That is the time you are sad, is it ? Yet there
can be no corner of your life wherefrom to call forth a
troubled recollection."

There was a short silence, then Sir Hugh continued
abruptly : " You look tired ; you must not stay here
any longer in this hot sun. Come," holding out his
hand to her with a touch of decision, " let us go to
the summer-house over there, and let me get you a
glass of water."

Hypnotized ?

Ursula rose mechanically and followed him. Some-
how this quiet, cynical man had gained a curious
ascendency over her. It even gave her pleasure to
obey him, and now she was like a weary child, doing
as she was bidden, with unquestioning faith.

Inside the summer-house coolness reigned supreme,
and the girl, sinking on to the mouldy old seat, was
thankful for the change. It was so silent there,
everything suggestive of movement or activity so
far away, that with a delicious sense of indolence she
leaned back and gave herself up to a feeling of rest.

Silence, however, cannot be eternal, and presently
she looked up to find Sir Hugh legarding her intently.
Instinctively she shrank backward, and her very soul
seemed to cry out, " Let me alone ! Let me go !
Struggle, struggle, struggle ! Ah !"

" Well," said Sir Hugh interrogatively, "do you feel
cooler now ?"

Cool, — she was cold as if an icy wind had touched
her heart. With a sense of shame the girl deliber-
ately drew herself up and, flushing, replied :

"Yes, it is better here. I was only thinking
that "

" W^hat ?" questioned he, smiling.

"That I was tired." And in truth she was so.

" I would leave you now, but I go to London this
afternoon, and it is hard to cut short our last chat
together."

For a moment she was dumb, and Sir Hugh lost

The Experiment Is Conceived*

himself in a dispassionate study of her expression.

What was it her face portrayed ? A vivid crimson

had sprung into her cheeks, a look that might be

termed shy crept into her eyes, — then how pale she

grew.

" To London ! You are leaving Arleton then ?"

" Yes, I must go to-day." He was watching her

keenly.
" I am sorry ; but you will come back soon ?" tui n-

iiig her face to his, as though waiting for an answer.

" Perhaps; still, who knows, we may meet in London
first." Ursula smiled. " No chance of that, I think.
Why, London is so far away, and I," with a sigh, "so
seldom leave home. Only once Daddy took me away,
tliat time I told you of, when we went to Hereford."

" To be sure ; but you would like to go to some
great city, would you not ?"

" I do not think so. You see, I should miss so
many things — my horse, for instance."

How unsophisticated she was on sonie points.
Anything so naive and fresh had not often come
within his knowledge.

" You could ride even in London," he rejoined,
" there is always the Park."

" But that must be very stiff, not like a good gallop
across our dear old fields. Look at the common over
there ; that is where to ride, with the wind blowing
fresh on one's face, and the spring of the elastic turf
under foot, to ride and ride on through the heather

Hypnotized }

!:i:

and broom, to drink in big draughts of the flowei-
sweet air, or to feel the coming storm sweeping on
towards you, to bear the fearful stillness, the pause
before the thunder breaks, and then, to race home
with the great drops pattering on your face. A wild
gallop, as your horse makes long, irregular swerves,
and the thudding throb of his hoofs keeps time in
the glorious flight ! "

Unconsciously she .^tood up, and threw out her arms
with a gesture of freedom. Her eyes were sparkling
with excitement, not so much emotional as the out-
come of exuberant youth, to the charm of which no
man is ever insensible.

" I should be smothered in a town," she said.

" But have you ever thought oi the other side of
the picture ? Of the balls and the opera, and all the
pleasures you wcmld have ? "

" No, I should not enjoy them, 1 should be too much
afraid. I could not bear to know that not one familiar
face was there to greet me."

" You forget ; I should be there."

" You ! " with a start, " Oh yes ! I forgot you are
going back to-day," and her voice sank with the last
word. She had crushed some blossoms in her hand,
and was looking at them listlessly, as one might
regard some remote question.

"Tell me, would you feel afraid if I were there to help
you ? " He was looking at her again, and once more
she felt the strange, awful domination of his gaze.

The Experiment Is Conceived*

" I should never ^be afraid with you," she sa \ in a
dazed sort of way, as though compelled to answer him
with the bare truth.

"Of course not," he replied, carried away by her
words, and ignoring the strained manner in which
they were spoken. " Still it is only fancy after all ;
you will stay at home, and I shall go to London ; but
in a week, perhaps, I am going to run down here
again."

He had removed his eyes from hers, and she breathed
more freely.

" You are coming back, then. I am so glad."

Galbraith might have made some kindly rejoinder,
but at that instant the sound of Mr. Harlowe's voice
reached them. Another moment, and the farmer
appeared round the rhododendrons.

Sir Hugh made a movement towards the gate.

" Good-bye, Mr. Harlowe," he said ; " good-bye. Miss
Ursula," and tlie intensity of his regard compelled her
at once to turn her eyes to his. She laughed faintly.

'* Good-bye," she said, and so absorbed was the girl
in the thought of his going, that she did not notice
that her mirth received no acknowledgement. Tre-
mulous tears rose in her eyes as she watched the baro-
net depart.

He was gone, — and with a slight shiver she turned
to enter the house.

Down the dusty road tramped Galbraith, thoughts
thronging in upon him in tumultuous riot. H'jpe

Hypnotized }

reigned triumphant in his heart. He must, he would
succeed, in spite of Mr. Harlowe, or rather in conjunc-
tion with him, — for a Macchiavellian idea had sud-
denly struck him, — only a few rounds In the game had
as yet been played, and he still held a trump card.
Would it take the odd trick ? He thought so. At any
rate it should be played out quickly.

" Hullo ! what is the matter ? " he exclaimed, as a
man suddenly met him face to face, and, standing in
the middle of the road, attempted to bar the way.

" I want a few words with you, Sir Hugh," replied
Tom Scott, for it was Ursula's disfavoured lover who
thus tried to stop him.

" All right, but be quick about it, for I have a train
to catch. What is it you want ? "

" Don't be in such a hurry, my fine gentleman," an-
swered the other, " what I have to say concerns
Ursula Harlowe. Ah ! " as Galbraith paused, " that
fetches you, eh ? "

" Come, drop this insolence, and say what you have
to."

"Very well. It is this. I love that girl, and I
intend to stop anyone else spooning on her. Do you
hear ? "

" I hear right enough, but I cannot see that it is any
of my business."

" Oh no I can you not ? Well, let me tell you then
that I know your little game, and it won't work ;

see ? "

The Experiment Is Conceived*

" No, I do not see. If you are under the impression
that T am in love with Miss Harlowe, I will tell you
this much, that you are mistaken ; but beyond that I
decline absolutely to discuss her, or any other lady,
with you."

" But if I insist on knowing what you do mean,
why you go there so often, and why, "

•' Oh ! Go to the deuce ! " said Sir Hugh, and he
walked off across the fields leading to Arleton."

CHAPTER X.

" Friend, when first I looked upon your face,
Our thought gave answer each to each so true,
And either lived in cither's heart and speech."

— Tennyson.

The stars shone clear, and the wind was hushed. In
the distant woods some night-bird sang, in melan-
choly strain, a serenade to the sleeping flowers on
whose folded petals dew-drops glistened and scintil-
lated in the moonlight. The heavy perfume of Gloire-
de- Dijon roses came in to Ursula, through the open
window, where she sat dreaming in the big arm-
chair and idly toying with a tiny kitten which lay
curled up in blissful content on her lap.

Mr. Harlowe was leaning against the window
frame. He had made up his mind to tell Ursula
about Sir Hugh Galbraith's proposition, not thinking
it right that she should be kept entirely ignorant of
what had passed on the subject, yet it was with a
certain amount of trepidation that in his habitual
straightforward way he finally told her the whole
truth.

Surprise, consternation, and then a great wonder-
ment swept over the girl. She had the charm of
being perfectly natural, and had, moreover, never
learned the necessity for concealing her feelings ;
so, frankly and without constraint, she in return told

The Experiment Is G)nceived.

her father of many things which had not hitherto
come within his knowledge — of all her longings for a
wider sphere, a fuller acquaintance with the world.
At first the man wa,s thunderstruck, as she thus
poured out her heart to him, but when he realized
that it was all very vague and that for the present
she had not the slightest wish to leave home, he
again grew satisfied that he had acted for the best,
and was much relieved to learn that Ursula entirely
approved of his decision.

Late on into the night she sat up thinking over all
that her father had told her. Long she pondered on
Galbraith's strange proposition, and what its ultimate
consequences would be if she ever acceded to it ;
but, as in a dim manner she thus speculated on these
possibilities, never for one moment did the girl
imagine how soon they were to become realities.

One theme ran through all her thoughts. Sir
Hugh was coming back — he had said he would
return in a week. " He will come, he will come,"
was the glad refrain that mingled with her dreams.
" He will come," whispered the moon-beams, as they
trod their silver pathway, folded in a tender veil of
mist. " He will come," echoed the trees, whose top-
most branches were trembling in the air that stirs
before the dawn. Ah ! happy exuberant youth ! so
full of hope and joy and love ! God forgive those who
crush your fresh sweetness, and poison your trusting
truth- white soul !
6

■I
•"I

CHAPTER XL

"Society is now one polished horde,

Formed of two mighty tribes, the Bores and Bored."

— Byeon.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the tinkle of silver
spoons as they clash against the cups, and the faint
aroma of tea and hot cakes which pervades the at-
mosphere of the drawing-room, is ever welcome.
Lady Brandram was always at home at that hour,
much to the satisfaction of her large circle of acquain-
tances, who knew they were sure of a welcome, and a
cup of orange-pekoe, should they drop in at her
house in Belgrave-square after a round of shopping,
or that even more exhausting process, a series of dull
duty-calls.

There was nothing dull about Lady Brandram, nor
about the people who met in her well-appointed
rooms, for she possessed a great deal of quiet tact, and
was a perfect hostess, in that she made all her guests
feel that they were truly welcome, putting them
completely at their ease with each other and with
herself.

She was a woman with no problem-soul, but one
whose chief desire was to appear to advantage at every
turn, and to be regarded as the friend of her friends —
as in truth she was. Motherlj'^ towards all young

peoj
to t
usm

Si
befo;
that
mem
(as ir
had h
life fc
Lord J
altoge
for hij
a gene
TJiu
abled
and en
conten
women
and to
tered
and ki
far bett
ners
white
I«le,s; bi
that we
On th
pie were

The Experiment Is Conceived*

people, she showed more genuine kind-heartedness
to the world in general than childless women are
usually capable of.

Since the death of Lord Brandram, some ten years
before, she had looked to Sir Hugh Galbraith for
that moral support which a woman exacts from some
member of the opposite sex, be he husband, brother, or
(as in her case) nephew; and more than that. Sir Hugh
had largely contributed to the good lady's comfort in
life by substantial pecuniary help, the late lamented
Lord having been more addicted to the turf than was
altogether compatible with providing a proper jointure
for his widow. With all his cynicism, Galbraith was

a irenerous man.

Thus it came about that Lady Brandram was en-
abled to continue her residence in Belgrave-square
and entertain her large circle of friends to her heart's
content. To have the rooms filled with well-gowned
women and well set-up men was her greatest delight,
and to the old lady's credit be it said, she had mas-
tered the secret of true hospitality — to be courteous
and kindly to all. Eastern nations understand this
far better than we Northerners do ; perhaps our man-
ners get frozen up sometimes, or lost in the thick,
white fog which so frequently enwraps our British
Isles; but it is not altogether the fault of the climate
that we are, sometimes, very wanting in savoir faire.

On this particular Thursday afternoon, several peo-
ple were comfortably seated in Lady Brandram 's

Hypnotised ?

drawing-room. The softly-tinted walls, the rich dra-
peries, and the priceless bric-a-brac scattered about,
formed a charming background for the dainty toilettes
of the women, who had disposed themselves in various
lounging-chairs, and forthwith became talkative.

A famous man once remarked that a posse of
women conversing always reminded him of the epi-
taph composed for

"Soplionisba Young,
Who on the twentieth day of June
Began to hold her tongue."

'Tis true, 'tis pity, and pity 'tis, 'tis true, that men

must work and women must talk, or but let us

draw a veil over the possible consequences.

Across the thickly-carpeted floor the light glowed
from numerous shaded lamps, and the scented breath
of hot-house flowers filled the air. It was a fad of
Lady Brandram's to have the lamps lighted at tea-
time, even when the lingering autumn sun forbade
their necessity. " It is more cosy," she remarked,
" and so much more becoming to the complexion."

Someone, as usual, was talking about the weather.

" One never knows what to put on," sighed Lady
Brandram ; " yesterday it was hot, to-day it is cold, to-
morrow it may be either or both."

" That is true," replied Mr. Comstock ; " our English
climate is full of unlimited possibilities."

" Life is very flat at present," chimed in Lady Betty ;
"even Sandown and Goodwood are things of the past,

The Experiment Is Conceived.

and the world is singing pro tern, to the tune of tout
■passe, tout lasse, tout casse !"

" Not at all, my dear girl," exclaimed Marmaduke
Myddleton ; " it may be the fag end of the season, I ad-
mit, but you need not make out that every thing is
verging towards stagnation, just like a teetotum
beginning to flap."

" The autumn is generally somewhat depressing,"
rejoined Lady Brandram, yawning ever so slightly ;
"with the waning of the social year, London grows
more sphinx-like than ever."

" Yes," said Mr. Comstock, " you see a great deal of
sorrow all around you, as the winter comes on."

" Oh ! I say, old fellow, there is something wrong
with you ; come and have a drink," said Marmaduke,
the last portion of his sentence uttered in an under-
tone.

" Mr. Comstock smiled. No one ever minded what
Marmaduke said, or dreamed of getting angry over his
impertinences. " I suppose such ideas strike you as
rather abnormal, but when an old fogy like myself
lives alone, he does get queer fancies into his head,
you know. I like solitude at times, but at my age a
man is too apt to regard the shady side of life's path-
way as the more frequented one."

" I adore solitude also," said Marmaduke, " but I
much prefer it — a deux. As to your talk of age, why
that is nonsense ; you will bobble along for years yet,
on the ' sweet shady side of Pall Mall,' too, I'll be
bound."

Hypnotized ?

' -li

Mr. Comstock paused for a moment, and then'said
quietly : "I was forty-three last month — nearly double
your a^e, Myddleton — and that is one of those incon-
trovertible facts which sober a man."

" Why, look at Aunt Mary over there ; she is ten
years older than that, and as jolly as a sand-boy still."

"Lady Brandram is charniiiij^ always, and as young
as her heart," replied Mr. Comstock with old-fashioned
courtesy.

" It seems to me no one is really old now-a-days,

'when grandmothers are cyclists, and octogenarians

figure in the Divorce Courts," said Marmaduke. "But

this mud-hole that Lady Betty thinks we are sticking

in must get stirred up soon."

" Perhaps the very stagnation you deplore was the
author of that new invention, the Modern Woman,
with all her train of literature, theories and clubs,"
said Mr. Comstock.

"Give me the stagnation a thousand times over,
bad as it is, rather than that sort of thing," laughed
Lady Betty in return. "I sincerely detest the ' revolt-
ing' female. Life is vulgar, men and women are
often vulgar, but the vulgarity of the New Woman is
prodigious."

" She makes men feel like Br'er Rabbit, * mighty
poly,' though I for one do not intend to * go loungin'
roun' an' sufferin'.' Aunt Marv would not like it ; she
needs me to keep her flagging spirits up," said Mar-
maduke. "And her spirit flagons down," he added sotto
voce.

The Experiment Is Conceived*

A pitying expression llitted across Lady Betty's
face, as with considerable severity in her tone she
demanded :

" Why on earth do you call Lady Brandram 'Aunt ' ?
She is no more your aunt than I am."

" That is the very reason, my good girl. I call her
Aunt Mary simply because she is not a particle of
relation to me."

" What an idiot you are, Marmaduke," laughed the
<,nrl in return ; "but, oh ! my prophetic soul, here is
Mrs, Osborne !"

" Beast !" ejaculated Myddleton.

" Marmaduke !" exclaimed Lady Betty in horrified
accents.

" She is ; I cannot help it."

They had drawn back into a recess partially cut off
from the rest of the room by a huge Japanese screen,
and were watching the entrance of a lady, of very
medium appearance, who bore down upon her hostess
with a beaming smile.

" My dearest Lady Brandram, how are you ? But I
need not ask ; I am charmed to see you looking so
well ; you really seem to grow younger every day.
Mr. Comstock too, and to think that I should be so
fortunate as to meet you here also " — and the rest of
her spe'^ch was lost amid the shaking of hands and
the clatter of tea-cups.

" Hear that ?" demanded Myddleton, from his coigne
of vantage. " How I hate, detest, and loathe that
female."

8o Hypnotized ?

" Marmaduke, will you be quiet ? She will hear

you."

" No such luck. She always calls me her 'dearest
Mr. Myddleton ; ' it nearly makes me sick. She is
nothing but a — a — a crystallized falsehood !" he ex-
claimed.

" Well, you need not go near her ; you can leave her
alone, surely."

" Just what you cannot do, most innocent maid ; she
fastens onto you — positively sticks to you like a sort
of social glue."

" Oh ! Marmaduke, what nonsense ! I cannot see
why you dislike her so very much. She is always
most pleasant to me, though I must say I am by no
means fond of her ; she rather rubs me up the wrong
way."

" Of course she does. I tell you she is a toad, and
therefore poisonous. I have to be polite to her bo-
cause society demands it, but inwardlj" I am raving
mad whenever she comes near."

Lady Betty laughed. " I certainly never pine for a
chat with her, though she is the sort of woman I
would not v/ifend for anything. After a visit to her
house I always feel a sadder and a sillier girl, but to
say that you hate her — that is going too far."

" No, it is not. She is about the most exasperating
creature I ever met. Here, Comstock, do not you
thinK Mrs. Osborne is a very trying sort r/ person ?"

Mr. Comstock, who had strolled away to examine a

The Experiment Is Conceived,

beautiful Burne-Jones, which hung ou the opposite
wall, turned round.

" Trying ? Yes, perhaps so. But why do you ask ?"

" Why does one do anything in this world ? Why
take opium or smoke ? To gain information, of
course, and a precious lot of it you do obtain from
your first cigar."

•' Will you not have some more tea, Lady Betty ?"
enquired Mr. Comstock. " Let me get you a cup."

" No, thank you," with an adorable little smile ; "I
have had two cups already. But, Marmaduke, will
not you have some ?"

" Me ? Oh no ! thanks ; I do not like tea ; it has un-
pleasant associations for me ; tea and frumps, you
know, always go together."

" What is that sentiment you are so emphatically
expressing ?" asked a voice close to him.

Lady Betty and Mr. Comstock started ; they had
not perceived the approach of Mrs. Osborne, who, cup
in hand, stood close behind tb3m.

" I was only remarking," said Marmaduke calmly,
in spite of the warning glance from Betty's brown
eyes, " that tea and frumps always go together."

" Oh ! really," said Mrs. Osborne gushingly ; " how
very amusing. Yc u are always so witty, Mr. Myddle-
ton."

This speech fell rather flat, for Lady Betty and
Marmaduke were silently convulsed — to have opened
their lips would have meant eternal risgrace.

Hypnotized ?

•;-•;

(

" I saw a friend of yours to-day," went on Mrs.
Osborne, as no one else broke the silence, — " Sybil Car-
lisle. Dear girl, she is so devoted to her mother. The
old lady is laid up with a bad cold, and Sybil will not
leave her to go to the Thornlow's ball to-night. Such
a sweet unselfish girl, but rather self-opinionated for
one so young — do you not think so ?"

" Evidently, Miss Carlisle has given her a snub,"
whispered Marinaduke to Lady Betty, who promptly
tried to frown him down.

" No, Sybil is clever, and has a great deal of com-
mon-sense, but she is not dictatorial," eagerly replied
the girl, who was always ready to stand up for the
absent ones.

" You think not ; ah, well ! perhaps you are right,
but it is a pity, then, that she should give strangers
such a false impression. Someone told me the other
day that they thought iiar so conceited. I assured
them she was not, but I fear they did not quite
believe me."

" 1 am not surprised," murmured Marmaduke. " I
mean," he continued blandly, " when one has formed
an opinion it is sometimes hard to change it."

" Just so," replied Mrs. Osborne, glancing sharply
from one face to another in the small group ; but
childlike innocence was written on all.

" I hear the wedding is postponed again," chimed
in Mrs. Quentin, a young and pretty woman some-
what of the fin-de-sUcle type.

The Experiment Is Conceived.

" You do not mean to say so ? How very strange !
I have often thought that they were not quite suited
to each other, not what you might call — very much in
love."

" They are awfully in love, indeed they are, Mrs.
Osborne," eagerly asserted Lady Betty. " Mr. Des-
mond just adores Sybil, and she — she is in love with
him, too."

Mrs. Osborne smiled the superior smile of the mar-
ried over the single, and then, for want of further
stimulus, the subject dropped. Betty's loving little
heart grew very sore at any disparaging allusion to her
friend and, knowing well how restless and unsettled
Sybil was at that time, she had been deeply distress-
ed over the second postponement of the wedding, for
she had made up her mind that, once married to Eric,
Sybil would be much happier, with a firm hand to
guide her and plenty of love and sunshine to surround
her. The vain longing for a public career in which
the girl indulged, and the excitability of her finely-
strung nature, would calm down and disappear,
thought Betty, when the cares and duties of a house-
hold fell upon her shoulders. And in the meantime the
devoted little friend declined to listen to one word of
fault-finding against Sybil.

" I heard the other day that your house in Kensing-
ton Square was for sale, Mrs. Osborne," said Mr.
Comstock ; "is it true ? "

" Yes, I am sorry to say it is. We find it too large,

Hypnotized ?

and are going to take up our abode in InverneHS
Terrace."

" You will naturally feel parting with the old
place."

" Undoubtedly. You see it is the house I was born

in.

<t Q,

Specimen of the Georgian period, I have no doubt,"
put in Marmaduke, serenely.

" Yes, and very well preserved."

This proved too much for Myddleton ; a sort of
gurgle was plainly audible, though, as he was engaged
at the moment in consuming a piece of cake, he pre-
sumably only choked. Even Lady Betty and the
others could not repress an involuntary smile, for Mrs.
Osborne's habit of posing as a young wife, in spite of
her forty-five years, was well known. She was a
woman with a decidedly middle-aged face, and a pre-
ternaturally youthful smile.

A welcome interruption occurred at this moment
in the person of Sir Hugh Galbraith, who came in as
one sure of a welcome.

" Hugh," exclaimed Lady Betty in delighted ac-
cents, " I am so glad you have come back."

" My dear boy," echoed Lady Brandram, " this is a
pleasant surprise. When did you arrive ? "

" Not two hours ago" he replied, " so you see I
have come to pay my respects to you very promptly.
Ah ! Mrs. Osborne, how do you do ? And Comstock,
old man, same as ever ! "

The Experiment Is G>ncefyed*

" We have all missed you so much, Sir Hugh. I am
sure dear Lady Betty will be rejoiced to have her
companion back again " — this from Mrs. Osborne with
a seraphic smile at the girl in question, who, with
shining eyes and outstretched hands was welcoming
her cousin.

" Thank you, Mrs. Osborne. It is good to be at
home again.

" Did you have much sport ? " enquired Lady
Brandram.

" Excellent, and glorious weather too. The country
is grand at this time of the year."

" People have not come back from Scotland yet,
and Town is horribly dull," said Lady Betty.

" Yes ; even that last resource, politics, is at a dis-
count in September," put in Mr. Comstock.

" Betty," said Sir Hugh, turning to her, " have you
seen Eric Desmond lately ? "

" He was here yesterday. Why do you want to
know ? "

" Because I must see him at once on some private
business."

" Why did you not come home when he did, Hugh ? "
she enquired.

" Because I could not," he hesitated.

" Would not, you mean," she replied, laughing.
" What, or rather who, was the attraction ? Come,
confess, it was not the fishing that really detained
you."

Hypnotized ?

" Nonsense, Betty. Do you suppose I am goinjy to
be cross-questioned like this ? You should show more
deference to your elders."

" And leave the science of * pumping ' to Mrs. Os-
borne," muttered Marmaduke.

" Sit down, Hugh, and tell me all about your tour,
where you went and what you saw," said lady Betty,
utterly ignoring the last speaker. She knew it was the
only way to shut him up, argument being the joy of
his soul.

" All right, little girl," replied Galbraith, with a
pleased intonation, (all men like the attentions of a
pretty woman) and forthwith they ensconced them-
selves in the cosy corner, banked by its soft pillows
of silk. They were good friends, these two — chums,
may be — but nothing more. Brought up in close com-
panionship, they understood one another thoroughly,
and enjoyed each other's society, but to Mrs. Osborne,
who was surreptitiously watching them, such a state
of things appeared simply unintelligible.

She was distinctly one of those narrow-minded
people whose circle is a week, and whose starting point
is Sunday; a dangerous woman, too, for she was
clever in her own way, and contrived to set everyone
else by the ears, without getting implicated herself.
One does occasionall}'' meet such people in the social
jungle through which we all have to travel. They can-
not be openly, honestly vindictive like a man, but
under a smiling exterior, and with soft words, they

The Experiment Is Conceived*

sting us, wound us, hurt us, oh ! so cruelly. Lan-
guage is a powerful instrument for the disguising of
the truth, and in the mouth of such a woman is a
deadly weapon ; a hint here, a seemingly careless
word dropped there, and lives are wrecked, hearts
are broken, faith is shattered. Against such a Society
Fiend there is no protection.

CHAPTER XII.

" He draweth out the thread of his verbosity,
Finer than the staple of his argument."

— Love's Labour Lost.

It was late when Sir Hugh rose from the dinner-
table that night to join the ladies in the drawing-
room. Lady Brandram had insisted that he should
remain to dine with her, and with the charming
addition of his pretty cousin, the meal had passed off
pleasantly enough.

The periodical and lengthy visits of Lady Betty to
Belgrave-square had tended to establish the girl
more in the position of daughter of the house than
that of an ordinary visitor.

Little brown mouse, her aunt often playfully called
her, and brown she certainly was, but not very
mouse-like. Golden-brown hair, yellow-brown eyes,
olive-brown skin, and withal, the tiniest, trimmest,
daintiest scrap of humanity in the world — such was
Lady Betty. What if she did use slang occasionally,
or indulged in small frivolities for her own amuse-
ment. Her heart was in the right place, and from the
crown of her well-poised head, to the sole of her
smartly-shod foot, she was a true gentlewoman.

During the evening she played and sang to her

cousin, for whose especial benefit the girl declared she

hac
kee
her

m I

The Experiment Is Conceived.

had remained at home from the Thornlow's ball,
keeping the egotistical man of the world amused with
her merry chatter.

" You do remind me so of one of Ouida's heroes/'
she laughed, "just as you sit there, leaning back in
that big chair, with a slow smile hovering round your
mouth."

" How so ? Wl.ere does the resemblance come in ?"

" Just in the tout ensemble. She always describes
the man, with a capital M, as icily-cynical, and the
proud possessor of a tawny moustache, one who has
drunk the cup of pleasure to the very dregs."

" And so you think I have drunk of the cup of
pleasure to the last drop, eh, little girl ?"

"No, not that exactly. At least, I don't know
whether you have or not, but you must admit that
you have a tawny moustache, and certainly you are
very cynical and sarcastic sometimes."

" Only as cynical as life, Betty, after all."

** Why, life is just lovely, 'real elegant' as Miss
Almira Pepper said to me the other day. You do
not know her, do you ? She is a new friend of mine,
an American girl, who comes from a place named
Eureka — ' way out west ' she calls it."

" Good gracious ! What a name !"

"And she is so amusing, she says I am 'just too
cute for anything,' " said Betty, imitating Miss Almira's
nasal drawl.

Sir Hugh laughed. " We shall have you talking
7

9© Hypnotized ?

like a little Yankee next. How did you come to
meet this girl ?"

" She is staying in London with her mother, and
they go everywhere. They have heaps of money,
and she is so beautiful, and wears such lovely clothes."

" And uses such lovely slang too, I suppose. I am
afraid, Betty, you will grpw worse than ever now, and
be using some terrible American as well as English ex-
pressions."

" Pray, why so, Mr. Lecturer ? But, truly, Almira
does not say anything very outrageous. Yesterday,
her brother, who is just fourteen, did make a funny
speech. I had to laugh, it was so comical."

" What did the boy say ? "

" You promise not to be shocked if I tell you ? "

" Honour bright, I promise."

"Well, then, she asked if it was still raining, and he
said, ' You bet your variegated socks it am ! ' "

" Betty ! " came in a shocked voice from Lady Bran-
dram, who had been indulging in a surreptitious "forty
winks," and just awakened in time to hear the con-
clusion of the girl's sentence.

" I did not say it. Aunt Mary ; it was Almira Pep-
per's brother."

" You should not repeat such things, ray dear ; it is
not decent; and how do you know whether Hugh
wears coloured or black socks ? "

" Aunt Mary," began Betty again, and then stopped.
She felt explanation would be useless under the cir-

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Th^ Experiment Is Conceived.

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Hypnotized ?

that would accrue to her as the chaperone of such a
beautiful debutante. With wonderful power of dic-
tion the man strove for victory.

His mind was set on the achievement of this one
great object ; and as he spoke in low, clear accents,
the compelling force within him asserted itself. A
faint flush of indecision flickered across his aunt's
face. Now and again a nervous movement of the
hands betrayed her agitation ; but she was an elderly,
phlegmatic woman, not an impressionable, unsophisti-
cated girl like Ursula Harlowe, and therefore did not
so easily fall under the domination of Sir Hugh's un-
consciously exercised power.

Firmly believing that he was using only perfectly
legitimate means to induce his aunt to consent to the
scheme. Sir Hugh felt a flash of triumph when he
saw signs of yielding in her face, and in another mo-
ment had drawn her into expressing her views openly.
Could he but once get her to write a letter to Mr. Har-
lowe, begging the farmer to allow Ursula to visit Bel-
grave-square for a long period, the baronet was sure
that the old man would relent, and permit his daugh-
ter to come to London.

Now, we all know that they who resort to argument
are lost ; and so it proved in Lady Brandram's case.
After an hour of discussion, and frequent digressions
from the subject, Galbraith gathered his forces to-
gether in one brilliant summing up. For an instant,
Lady Brandram seemed stunned, and there was silence
so deep that the sharp tinkling of a small clock in the

The Experiment Is Conceived*

next room was plainly audible, while Sir Hugh sat
forward on the edge oi* his chair, and bent his eyes
upon her face, the muscles of which twitched percep-
tibly. Something was going thump, thump, thump
in her chest — something was slow^ly tightening around
her throat — something was drawing, forcing, driving,
compelling her — to what ? She might — she must —
she would — give way.

It was all over. Then and there Lady Brandram
yielded. Unconventionality was rampant, she argued
to herself, and if this thing was a trifle more idiosyn-
cratic than her usual actions, what matter ? It was
nobody else's business, and society at large would
benefit by it.

The good lady had not by any means been brought
up in the modern roccoco school of behaviour, and
found it hard to assimilate the new doctrines of ad-
vancement ; but, on the other hand, she positively
adoi'ed Galbraith, and in her eyes he could do ne
wrong. To please him she would gladly have sacri-
ficed much, but it is extremely doubtful whether in
this particular instance she would have succumbed to
ordinary influences. Was it possible that for the
second time in his life Sir Hugh had conquered
through Unconscious Hypnotism ?

Thus it came about that, in the dawning, Lady
Brandram sat down at her writing-table, and with
nervous fingers penned the letter to Mr. Harlowe that
was to be Sir Hugh's passport to the old man's con-
sent that Ursula should come to London.

CHAPTER XIII.

" Then came the autumn, all in yellow clad."

" A thousand fantasies
Begin to throng into my memory."

-Spencer.

— COMUS.

With the late fall of the year comes a sense of sad-
ness and of ruth. Something has vanished that will
never return again in quite the same guise. Autumn lies
brooding over the land, pensive at her own depletion,
and teaching us that the joys appertaining to summer
are past and gone. The rhythmical sweep and swing
of the reaper's sickle is heard no more, and the call
of the homing rooks makes the air ring with a deso-
late sound, while the boisterous wind that comes
skirling through the trees causes them to shiver, and
completes the ruin by making a clean sweep of the
showers of leaves that drop rent and seared from the
tall oaks.

It was a sombre day in October, that dull and gloomy
month which wears the brown livery of autumn,
and the chill white mist was drawn closely across the
marshy meadows, like a face-cloth over the features
of a dead woman, tenderly enwrapping each distinctive
outline, till all are hidden from view. In violent
contrast to this depressing scene, the many lights
shining through the windows at Deepdene Farm

The Experiment Is G>ncefyed.

looked cheerful, and while the wind moaned and the
rafters creaked, Mr. Harlowe and Sir Hugh Galbraith
sat before the big stone hearth, where the fierce, leap-
ing flames darted skyward from the blazing logs,
hurling lurid shafts of lihgt against the walls, ere
they vanished up the throat of the chimney.

Sir Hugh had lost no time in returning to Arleton
after obtaining the letter from his aunt, and as he
and the farmer sat smoking in the oak parlour, they
discussed, for the second time, the idea that Ursula
should leave her home. The minutes passed quickly,
for the subject was naturally an absorbing one to both
men, and again and again did Sir Hugh reiterate all
his arguments in its favor.

" I cannot change my mind. What I told you before
still holds good, and I see no reason for making any
alteration in the answer I gave you then," said Mr.
Harlowe.

" If all my persuasion goes for nothing," replied Sir
Hugh, " there is yet one thing which may induce you to
reconsider what you have just said. Here," he con-
tinued, drawing an envelope out of his pocket, " is a
letter from my aunt, to whose care I propose that you
should confide Miss Harlowe. Read it. It may convince
you, as my words have evidently failed to do, how
very advantageous a thing for your daughter this
scheme of mine is likely to prove."

" It is not much use, I fear," said Mr. Harlowe, as he
slowly opened the envelope, and scanned its contents.

Hypnotized ?

It was a long communication, Lady Brandram having
honestly done her utmost to aid her nephew in carry-
ing out his plans.

Sir Hugh watched the reader's face anxiously, but
it remained perfectly stolid as the old man's eyes
travelled along the closely-written lines, and with a
feeling of despair, Galbraith leaned back in his chair,
believing that his last effort had failed. It was not his
nature to take defeat easily, moreover he had sworn to
himself that he would succeed, and to be thus baffled
with the goal in view was intolerable.

Silence supervened; then suddenly a low excla-
mation of mingled astonishment and agitation which
broke from Mr. Harlowe's lips caused Sir Hugh to
glance quickly at him. The farmer held the last sheet
of the letter with shaking hands. Great beads of per-
spiration stood out on his forehead. Bewilderment,
sorrow, and, above all, intense surprise were depicted
on his face, as with startled eyes he gazed at Lady
Brandram's signature. Galbraith sat dumbly waiting
for some explanation. None came, however. With
a gignntic effort the farmer resumed his customary
demeanor, and folding up the letter, put it quietly into
his pocket-book.

Neither of the men spoke for some minutes, and
then Mr. Harlowe murmured in a dreamy voice, more
as if speaking to himself than addressing his com-
panion : ** Twenty years since it all happened, and
to-day the chance is placed in my hands to right the

Mr.

The Experiment Is Conceived.

wrong which was done them. Can it really be the
same woman ? " He stopped short, and turning to Sir
Hugh spoke in a more normal tone. " You assure me
on your word of honour as a gentleman, that this is a
genuine offer of Lady Brandram's ? ''

" Certainly it is."

" And that she is, in truth, your aunt ? "

"Yes, my mother and slie were sisters. I have
spoken of her so often, that you surely cannot doubt
my word."

" No, I do not ; but you always alluded to her simply
as your aunt, and never by name, so that until 1 read
her letter just now, I was totally ign' lant of the fact
that she and Lady Brandram were one and the same
person."

Sir Hugh was puzzled. What was the old man to
Lady Brandram, or Lady Brandram to him, that the
sight of her name should produce such a marked effect
upon him ? It was outside the range of all likelihood
that they had ever met before, or even heard of one
another, and besides, his aunt had not shown the
faintest sign of recognition at the mention of Deep-
dene Farm, or the Harlowes.

" And her maiden name, what was it ? " continued
Mr. Harlowe.

" Mornington. The family comes from Cumberland.
But of what interest can this be to you ? "

Mr. Harlowe smiled. " Possibly much. I want
to know all particulars about the lady to whom I am

Hypnotized ?

going to send Ursula."

Sir Hugh was paralyzed for the instant. Had he
heard aright ? Had the farmer really changed his
mind, and consented ? The lights danced before his
eyes, and everything looked blood-red in the glow of
the crackling flames.

" You will permit Miss Harlowe to go to my aunt
then after all, and be introduced into society ? "
The words came slowly, and scarcely above a whis-
per.

" Yes, I will allow her to go to Lady Brandram, and
be under her care, if — " he paused, and spoke with
great earnestness, — " she will swear to treat the girl
as one of her own flesh and blood. "

" That I can promise you faithfully, but my Aunt
shall write you the assurance herself. And I thank
yoi heartily for your belief in me," said Galbraith,
rising and offering his hand, which the old man took,
and wrung with genuine feeling.

" All right, Sir Hugh. But there is still one person
to be consulted ; Ursula shall not go unless she really
wishes to."

" Where is Miss Harlowe ? Can we not lay the
scheme before her at once ? "

" She is not entirely ignorant of it. I told her a
good deal of what you said when you were here last ;
but at the same time I also told her it was then out of
the question."

" Will you speak to her now, or shall I ? "

The Experiment Is Conceived*

*' It is too late to-night. Better leave matters alone
until to-morrow, but if you walk over here after
breakfast you can then discuss it with her. And now,"
continued the farmer, " it is twelve o'clock ; so I will
bid you good-night. I have much to think of, and need
a quiet pipe to aid my thoughts."

" Good-night, and a thousand thanks," replied Sir
Hugh.

At noon the next day, two figures, a man and a
woman, were pacing slowly up and down in the gar-
den, where the golden sun-beams struggled vainly to
dry up the sodden ground and make the dripping
chrysanthemums hold up their bowed heads.

It had not been a hard task to induce Ursula to fa-
vour the new plans, and now Sir Hugh was listening
eagerly as she gave a shy consent to his scheme. Her
dread of the tremendous change had been gently com-
batted by his tact and knowledge of the world, but
what had really turned the scale in Galbraith's fa-
vour was the feeling with which the girl appeared so
strongly imbued, namely, that she was perfectly safe
when with him. Her implicit trust in the man was
wonderful. As she looked up at the baronet, her
whole confidence shining in her truthful eyes, Sir
Hugh drew back for a moment, man of science as he
was, appalled at the thought of all he had taken upon
himself. Was it right to tamper wich her present
mode of life to use her as the expositor of his experi-
ment ?

lOO

Hypnotized ?

But as they walked to and fro, talking of all the
pleasures which the near future held in store, he grad-
ually regained his cool-headedness and tenacity of pur-
pose, and presently the momentary fears which had
attacked him were lulled to rest and forgotten.

There is in everyone's life a crisis in the formation of
character, which has vast results. Through such a
crisis Ursula Harlowe was then passing. Hitherto
she had been a child, full of pure, sweet thoughts and
simple tastes ; now she was called upon to decide a
question which would affect her whole after-life. And
each moment, as it flew by, left her more matured,
more of a woman.

In her inmost soul the girl knew that she would
never have consented to such an upheaval of her pres-
ent life, if anyone but Sir Hugh Galbraith had been
the instigator of the idea ; but as yet she did not try
to fathom her motives or feelings any deeper, so that
the newly-born secret of her girlish heart was left in
the hands of Fate.

Ursula really accepted the proposition for two rea-
sons ; in the first place because she was impelled to
do so by Sir Hugh's influence ; and, secondly, because
(though she understood it not herself) she loved him
and would have followed him to the end of the
world. And so another traged}^ in the Drama of Life
began.

BOOK n.

The Experiment is Begun.

"Begrun in gladness,
But thereof came in (he end despondency and madness."

— VVORDSWORTH.

J' !

n'5

ItiiiiiiM^'

! !

CHAPTER I.

'* On with the dance ! Let joy be unconfined."

— Byron.

" Tis the eternal law,
That first in beauty should be first in might."

The London season had just begun, for it was May,
and the six dreary months of winter were a thing of
the past, dead like last year's hopes, and now fresh
spring flowers covered the earth, and all was fun and
frolic.

It was the night of the first great event of the sea-
son, namely, a ball given by the Honourable Mrs. Ver-
ner. As yet the conservatories were cool, though the
dancing-rooms had long ago reached an almost un-
bearable temperature, and, in the brilliancy of the
electric lights, a mad kaleidoscope of colour whirled
round and round, in time to the strains of the Hun-
garian band.

Every one in town worth knowing was there, and
the house grew momentarily more crowded. What
did that matter ? No one thinks that a dance is a
real success unless she is nearly squeezed to death,
and has her gown torn to ribbands. The hour
was fast approaching midnight, and the air felt heavy
with the scent of dying flowers, for the decorations
were superb. Masses of roses in great china bowls

>i i ;

104

Hypnotized ?

filled up odd corners, bunclie>' oi' them looked out
from among the green wreathing that entwined the
balustrade of the broad stair-case, everywhere there
were Marichal- Niels and Gloire-de-Dijons, pink La-
Frances and crimson Jaqueminots.

Through the series of luxurious rooms, into the
dim seclusion of a hot-house beyond, walked a girl
with head erect, and the slow, unfaltering step of an
old habit aee of society, and, as she passed the groups
of exquisitely gowned women and somewhat blase
men, more than one pair of eyes turned to gaze after
her recreating form and that of Sir Hugh Galbraith,
on whose arm her fingers lightly rested. Very few
people had apparently seen her before, and everyone
wanted to know who she was and where she came
from. As to the men, they of course imagined them-
selves half in love with her already, having, during
the earlier part of the evening, cast many a surrepti-
tious glance at her lovely face and svelt figure. The
opinions of the women were divided on the subject ;
some of them genuinely admired her, but the majority
were simply curious, and the minority jealous.

On flew the ball, madly, exultingly, regardless of
accroes, and by supper time the lucky few who had
gained an introduction lost no time in informing their
less fortunate friends that the new star on the social
horizon was Miss Harlowe, a friend and protegee of
Lady Brandram. Further details about her follow-
ed in due course. She was very young, this was her

The Experiment Is Besftin*

105

ddbut in fact ; her relations lived in the south some-
where, very highly connected and wealthy people —
and while these and many other statements, more or
less true, went from mouth to mouth, the unconscious
object of so much comment sought the comparative
rest which the conservatories afforded, and there gave
herself up to the sad, sweet pleasure of a tete-d-t^e
with Sir Hugh.

" Are you enjoying yourself ? " were the first com-
monplace words which broke the silence between
them.

" Intensely," she replied, thinking more of that
present moment than of the recent dancing.

" I am glad, but tell me are you satisfied ? Does
society come up to your expectations ? "

Was she satisfied ? Ah ! Great Heaven ! with that
gnawing pain at her heart, could she or any other
woman ever be satisfied ? Resolutely crushing down
the feeling, however, she responded gaily :

" The ball is delightful, but as to society, well, you
see it is all very new to me yet."

" I forgot, for the moment, that this was your first
and only glimpse of dissipation."

" Yes, Lady Brand ram never let me go anywhere
all through the winter, except to very small affairs.
This is my real " coming out " party you know."

"And your first night of triumph," he answered
gallantly. " Did I not prophesy your success ? And
now see, the whole room is at your feet. Lord Kii-
8

io6

Hypnotized ?

mainham has been going about raving nver your dan-
cing, and old Sir Geoffrey Landon openly declares you
will be the belle of the season."

She leaned a little towards her companion, pleased
surprise written upon her face.

*' How nice of him; he is such a dear old man. But
take care, Sir Hugh ; too much flattery will turn my
head."

" Pretty speeches do no harm when they are true,"
he answered, " but more wonderful than that you
should have won the praise of men, the women, too,
have accorded you their share of admiration, and
to be clothed in the approbation of the dowagers is to
be encased in social armour proof against the darts
of the envious. You are success incarnate, Miss Har-
lowe!" and Galbraith's eyes sparkled with gratified
ambition as he spoke, for it seemed to him that on the
very threshold of the trial his experiment had achiev-
ed an unprecedented result.

It was all quite true. He had not exaggerated the
opinion of the fashionable hotch-potch. Ursula was a
sta/ courted from her very rising in the social heaven
and soon to become largely in the ascendant. Her en-
trance into society had caused a great sensation. Had

not the Duchess of S requested that, "the beautiful

girl in white with the flower-like face," might be
introduced to her ? Had not the men one and all
fallen down before the dangerously bright glances of
her eyes ?

The Experiment Is Begfun*

107

" I am afraid you think too much of me," .' lid
Ursula timidly.

Sir Hugh was absolutely staring at her, drinking
in the perfect picture before iiim. Suddenly he bent
down and kissed her band. There was no suspicion
of familiarity in the movement, it was purely an act
of homage to her beauty.

" Forgive me," he said, as she drew back somewhat
hastily, and the crimson tide flowed up to her temples
and then ebbed, leaving her a trifle pale. " I never
knew until this moment how very, very beautiful you

are

The words and tone were chivalrous in the extreme,
such as no true woman need have been ashamed to
listen to, and yet they stabbed, and then quivered like
barbed arrows in that sensitive thing, a girl's fresh
heart. To hear speeches of calm, cool admiration
(mental admiration one might almost have called it),
from this man was agony to Ursula. It was like the
touch of unskilled fingers on an open wound.

For the past six months Lady Brandram had endea-
voured in every way to fit the girl for her new position
in life, and had found her a ready, willing pupil.
Ursula's natural instincts were all those of a gentle-
woman, therefore, to put on the polish that society de-
manded was merely a matter of time and association.
Her manner, from being shy and retiring, had grown
more assured, though still very quiet, and she had also
acquired a graceful charm which contact with clever

io8

Hypnotized ?

people imparts to an adaptive nature. A real liking
had sprung up between the elder lady and her
protdgSe, and now on the night of the girl's cUbut no
prouder chaperone could have been found in all Lon-
don than Lady Brandram.

Gowned in white satin that hung in severe folds to
the ground, and clung to her tall, young figure, as only
a Parisian creation can, Ursula had disdained to wear
any ornament save a few delicate hyacinths fastened
in the laces of her be dice. The gradual passage of
months had only serv^.d to heighten the girlish loveli-
ness of her face, and that night she looked like a pure,
white blossom, amid the display of orchidaceous
dresses and bizarre fashions which surrounded her.

Lady Brandram had kept the secret of the girl's
identity most faithfully. There was not one being in
all that vast assemblage who had the faintest sus-
picion that the beautiful Miss Harlowe was not " one
of themselves," a patrician by birth and education ;
for her ladyship possessed that somewhat rare sense
of honour which consists in the ability to keep
another's secret. Unless its curiosity is raised by some
injudicious remarks, society at large is generally con-
tent to accept facts as they are publicly announced,
and thus no questioning inflection sounded in the note
of praise which was struck in Ursula's favour. She
was beautiful, apparently wealthy, and was charming
and gracious, — so society adored her,and asked nothing
more.

The Experiment Is Begun.

109

Presently another couple entered the conservatory,
where Sir Hugh and his partner were sitting, — two
men this time, one of whom was Marmaduke Myddle-
ton, the other Eric Desmond. As they approached,
the former said in an excited undertone :

" By Jove ! there is the new beauty with Galbraith.
Come and I shall introduce you. She is well worth
knowing."

" Who is she ?" demanded Eric unconcernedly.

" A friend of Lady Brandram's. She has just come
out, and is, — but there, you will see for yourself in a
moment."

" I am not very keen about new people," said Eric,
" and I seem out of touch somehow with the world.
Six months of travelling makes a man feel a total
stranger on his return to town life."

" Never mind that, you must meet her. As Gal-
braith's friend you will be sure to see each other often,
and by George ! she is stunning."

" All right, go ahead then," and in another instant
they were standing before Ursula.

" May I introduce Mr. Desmond to you, Miss Har-
lowe ?" said Myddleton, in, for bin unusually formal
tones.

Had the whole array of orchids which filled the hot-
house suddenly struck him with their tendrils, Eric
Desmond could not have been more dumbfounded.
No words could express what he felt, — he was absolute-
ly flabbergasted. The name, the face were identical,

if'
m

-J .;

'i''.'

'1 ■',:
■i ■■■'!

IIO

Hypfiotized ?

but, — what did it all mean ? How came this girl
to be in London, in the heart of an exclusive set ? He
looked helplessly at Sir Hugh, and caught an expres-
sion of supercilious triumph on the latter's features
What on earth had happened ? Somehow or other he
managed to bow to her, and then stood dazed and
silent, forgetting ev^n to greet his old chum, whom he
had not seen sinco they parted in the little Hereford-
shire village the autumn before.

" Mr. Desmond and I are not such strangers that
we need an introduction/' said Ursula, smilingly.
" We have met once or twice before tc night, have
we not ? " with an arch glance at the bewildered
man.

" By Jove ! You don't say so," said Marmaduke,
" but where, and when ? It must have been long ago,
for Desmond was in America all last winter."

" Yes, it was at Deepdene we met, and "

" Miss Harlowe," interrupted Sir Hugh, and as it
seemed to all present, a trifle hastily, " you must be
very kind to Mr. Desmond, he is one of our oldest
friends and has been so long away from us that we
should give him a hearty welcome home."

" Thanks, Galbraith, old fellow, it is good to know
one is not forgotten," said Eric, and so the conversa-
tion passed to other topics, and the threatened danger
of disclosure was averted. It was seldom that these
little contre-temps occurred, for Ursula's tact prevent-
ed her making any serious blunders, and only once

The Experiment Is Begun.

Ill

had she narrowly escaped detection. It happened
that when talking to Sybil Carlisle, she one day told
the girl that she knew Eric Desm-^nd, and on Sybil's
enquiring where they had met, the vagueness of Ur-
sula's reply, " Some time ago, in the south of Eng-
land," had providentially ended the matter.

It was impossible to obtain a proper explanation
then, either from Sir Hugh or anyone else, and
Eric's equanimity had been too completely overthrown
for him to talk to Ursula with any degree of con-
nectedness until he could fathom the present condition
of affairs. Some people are capable of behaving and
speaking calmly and unconcernedly in spite of all up-
setting influences, but to this class Desmond did not
belong. Placid and easy-going as he usually ap-
peared, once fairly unhinge him and he was in
chaos.

Into this yawning gulf of desultory talk jumped
Quintus Curtius, alias Mr. Myddleton. How true it is
that Marmadukes will rush in where angels (meaning
sensible, every-day folk) fear to tread.

"I do not like talking en bloc," he remarked,
" please come and have an ice with me, Miss Harlowe.
This green-house may be very lovely, but I do not
care for plants, and I do care for supper, so let me
entreat you to join me in a search of food and fun."
So saying he offered his arm with alacrity to the belle
of the evening.

Scarcely had they disappeared through the cur-

112

Hypnotized ?

tained door- way when Eric sternly confronted Sir
Hugh.

" What is the meaning of all this ? " he questioned,
anxiously. " How comes it that Miss Harlowe is here,
and in this position ? "

Sir Hugh smiled cynically and his lips took a
triumphant curl as he replied :

" The world, my dear fellow, is at present engaged
in worshipping at the shrine of a new divinity, and I
am the originator of the scheme which has given to
society its beautiful idol."

Desmond listened as one stunned.

" You brought the girl to London," he said, incred-
ulously.

" Not exactly. She has been for the last six months
with Lady Brandram, and has made a brilliant d^but
to-night under my Aunt's wing. She is known here
as our friend — and Eric, I must ask you to keep the
secret of her parentage inviolate."

" I cannot make head or tail of this business," he
answered. " For Heaven's sake, man, give me some
explanation of it ?"

And Sir Hugh did. Knowing that Desmond had
it in his power to spoil everything by making injudi-
cious disclosures regarding Ursula's antecedents, Gal-
braith felt that the only way to secure his friend's
silence was to be perfectly frank with him and then
appeal to his honour to keep what had been said strict-
ly private. As briefly as possible the baronet gave

The Experiment Is Begun*

113

) *•*! an outline of the scheme and its developme^it,
and then proceeded to enlarge on its success.

•* Why did you rot tell me of your intention to do
this thing, when we were in Arleton ?" asked Des-
mond, interrupting the flow of his friend's rhapsodies.

'• Because, my dear fellow, the idea was then only
in an embryo state, and you went off so unexpectedly
to America that I had not time to enlighten you later
on the subject."

" You might have hinted to me about it before I
left."

" Impossible. Matters were only finally arranged
in October, and when I returned the second time from
Deepdene I learned that you had left two days pre-
viously for New York on some urgent business."

" Yes, it was a serious inconvenience having to go
away then. For one thing it necessitated the further
postponement of my marriage, and also it completely
upset all my plans for the winter's work."

A sudden influx of people from the ball-room
checked further confidences. Several men joined
them, and the conversation drifted to other topics,
foremost amongst which was an openly expressed ad-
miration of the new beauty.

Eric Desmond walked away. He was too preoccu-
pied with what he had heard to care to talk with
anyone just then ; he wanted to be alone for a few
minutes in order to try and place his thoughts. He
had listened attentively to all Sir Hugh had said, and

114

Hypnotized ?

was now trying to see his way clear to keeping the
secret, and anxiously revolving in his mind the great
question of right and wrong ii) the matter. To foist such
a gigantic deception on society was in itself a crime,
so he argued, and his strict code of morals forbade
him to hearken to the voice of sophistry which whis-
pered that the end might justify the means.

The end — what would the end be ? The girl would
probably become in truth one of the " upper ten,' cap-
able of holding her position, and growing day by day
further removed from her old status. But when she
was securely established in her false tenure — what
would happen then ? Marriage, most likely, with a
man far above her in station, and marriage with a
man who was ignorant of her origin. This was an anti-
climax to be avoided at all hazards. The thing could
not, must not, go on. Galbraith was mad to have en-
tered upon such a foolish scheme. Experiment be
hanged ! Could Sir Hugh not see the sin of experi-
menting with flesh and blood for his own selfish psy-
chological ends ? The girl was a good girl, and it was
cruel to raise her to a position which was untenable ;
to fill her with spurious hopes and vain ambitions, all
of which could only lead to a grand finale of disaster.
That Lady Brandram should have countenanced the
deception surprised Eric hugely, but then women were
incomprehensible creatures he averred, and not to be
judged by a man's ordinary standard. Right was
right and wrong was wrong in his eyes, and here was

The Experiment Is Be^an. „,

a clear case of folly which he UU if k- j x

pose ; so the result of his ruminr "^"^^ '""P"

ter.„ination to prevenf h '^"'"""''■°"« ^"s a firm de-

Galbraith-s expri:; *' """^'^''^'^ °^ «'^ »"«»

CHAPTER II.

•' Thought is deeper than all speech ;
Feeling deeper than all thought ;
Souls to souls can never teach
What unto themselves was taught."

— Cranch.

" Here you are, dear," said a soft voice beside him ; "I
have been wondering why you did not come for our
last dance," and Sybil Carlisle looked reproachfully
up into the stern, purposeful face of Eric Desmond.

" My darling, I am so sorry ; but I have been wor-
ried about something, and I fear forgot all else in my
annoyance."

" Come and talk to me now, as an atonement ; I
have hardly had a word with you since your return
yesterday, and we have such tremendous arrears to
make up," she said, drawing closer to him.

" Letters do not count for much, do they, sweet-
heart ? "

" No, one cannot write half one would like to say."

" I have just been introduced to Miss Harlowe.
Now, there is something you could have written to
me, Sybil. Why did you never tell me about her ?
You might have known that I should be interested in
hearing of anyone who was a friend of Lady Brand-

ram.

The Experiment Is Begfun*

117

" I did mention her to you several times, Eric. Do
you not remember I told you that she had come to
stay in Belgrave-square and how much I liked her."

" Was it Miss Harlowe you referred to when you
spoke of a girl called Ursula ? "

" Yes, of course, that is her name."

" Ah ! — I see now. I did not connect the two be-
fore."

" You knew her long ago, then ? I think I remem-
ber that she told me once she had met you somewhere
in the south. Do you like her, Eric ? "

" Yes, I do," he replied, but his tone belied the words
somehow. It was distinctly unfriendly. Tlie news
he had recently heard from Sir Hugh had made him
unreasonably irritated with Ursula.

'* She is beautiful, and everyone is ravir.;;' about her
to-night."

" She certainly is lovely," and this time his tone
was more cordial ; for what will not a woman's beauty
accomplish, even to the softening of such a stern
moralist as Eric Desmond.

" Do you admire her very much ? " enquired the girl
anxiously. After all, this man was her lover, and all
true women are a little jealous by nature.

•' No one in their sane senses could help owning the
fact of Miss Harlowe's unusual personality ; she is
simply superb."

Now it happened that at this moment Ursula and
Marmaduke strolled by quite close to where Eric and

ii8

Hypnotized ?

his fiancee were sitting, and, with a man's customary
faculty for blundering, Desmond remained silent, gaz-
ing at the debutante, and apparently totally oblivious
of everyone else.

" Eric," said Sybil quickly, " why are you looking
so queerly at Ursula Harlowe ? "

" Do not be fanciful, dear," he replied with a smile ;
" surely a man can look at a pretty girl without being
accused of doing anything peculiar."

" Oh ! yes, of course, but you looked just now as if
you had some special interest in her."

" What nonsense, darling; I have no special interest
in any woman but you," and the love-light shone for
an instant in the tender look he bent upon the girl at
his side.

Marmaduke meantime had been exerting himself to
an unusual extent in order to entertain his partner.
Conscious that he was the cynosure of many envious
eyes, he stalked through the ball-room filled with a
pardonable sense of vanity at being the cavalier of the
much-sought-after beauty, and, presently, when Lady
Betty and Mr. Comstock joined them, the chatter of
tongues flowed apace.

" It is a fact, I assure you, the supper-room was so
hot that the jelly had not enough strength of mind
to stand up in its dish, but drooped in melancholy
floppiness all over everything," remarked Marmaduke,
airily.

" How very nasty," laughed Lady Betty Mornington.

The Experiment Is Begfun,

119

Lhe

liEcl

" Beastly sticky, I called it," said Myddleton.

" Marmaduke, I fear your language leaves much to
be desired."

" But not much to the imagination," said Mr, Com-
stock.

" No, for unlike the ' sheeted dead,' you not only
' squeak and gibber in the streets,' but for the matter
of that, in the house as well."

" Oh ! come I say, do not be so rough on a fellow. Miss
Harlowe, I appeal to you, would you really wish me
to cultivate silence ? "

" There are so many kinds of silence, which one do
you mean ? "

' Well, you see, I never heard of more than one — the
great and awe-inspiring silence of stupidity."

" How about the silence of wisdom ? " asked Mr.
Comstock.

" Merely a synonymous term for that of an owl, and
really to cultivate owlishness would be a trifle beyond
me," said Marmaduke defiantly.

" You must not forget that kind of silence which
tells far more than the truth it pretends to hide," put
in Lady Betty.

" What do you mean Betty ? " enquired Ursula with
a puzzled look.

" Oh ! " lightly tapping lier fan against her lips, " I
refer to the silence of hints."

Ursula did not look as if this explanation had con-
veyed any definite enlightenment to her mind.

I20

Hypnotized ?

" By Jove ! talking of silence, I wish to Heaven
that Mrs. Osborne would cultivate it a little," said
Marmaduke. " She button-holed me in Bond Street
this morning, and talked and talked till my head
fairly reeled."

Everyone laughed. Mrs. Osborne's playful habit of
way laying people, and squeezing all the gossip she pos-
sibly could out of them, in order to repeat it to the next
friend she met (with many frills tacked on, of course)
was well-known amongst the set in which she moved.

" What, or rather whom, do you discuss ? " said Sir
Hugh, who had joined the group just in time to catch
Marmaduke's last remark.

" Do not ask me ; I could not tell you. Really that
woman's loquaciousness should be punishable by law.
After half an hour of it I escaped, feeling like a
bloated anaconda ; her conversation is positively the
stodgiest thing I have ever had to digest."

" Whilst yours is light and airy in the extreme, eh,
my boy !" laughed Comstock.

" At any rate it would be inadvisable to let the
fresh air of truth blow in on some of her speeches,"
said Sir Hugh sarcastically.

"Why? Do you think it might give her a bad
cold ? " interrupted Lady Betty.

" Yes, a regular moral chill, by Jove ! " replied Mar-
maduke. " But I say, Galbraith, why do you not tackle
her yourself someday ? I would give a fortune to hear
you pouring out a bucketful of cynicism over her bub-
bling balderdash."

The Experiment Is Begfun*

121

3h,

"Please do not use such frightful expressions,
Marmaduke/' said Lady Betty. It sounds just like
a young crow learning to caw, and the effect is awful."

" If I were to do as Myddleton proposes," said
Sir Hugh, " I should feel that the question might
fairly be raised as to which of us was the common
fool."

" Your words would probably carry weight, though,
Galbraith," put in Comstock.

" More so than her dress to-night," murmured Mar-
maduke, as if apostrophizing the orchids. " It at any
rate has very little weight with her, for it consists
only of—"

"Marraaduke," interrupted Lady Betty sternly, "you
cught to be sent home ; you are not fit to remain in
decent society."

" My dear girl, I did not make her gown, and if one
of the straps gave way, and it — well, it slipped a little
— it was really not my fault."

"Marmaduke, will you be quiet ? You really are
irrepressible."

" How often must I assure you that I did not have
anything to do with it. It was just one of those things
which happened," he protested.

Laughing, and with gay words, the others sc*ittered
off in different directions, leaving Lady Betty and Mar-
maduke for the moment tite-db-tite.

"Give me this dance, Betty, will you ? " he requested
humbly.
9

122

Hypnotized }

"You always tread on my toes, and walk over my
gown," she demurred.

" What does that matter, as long as you are en-
joying yourself ? But, seriously, I promise not to
oflfend in that line if you will dance this one waltz
with me."

" Very well. As you say, what does it matter if
one goes home in tatters, as long as one has a good
time."

" And that you always have. No scent of the wall-
flower about you." And with such light badinage they
passed on into the ball-room and joined the throng of
revolving couples.

Amongst the dancers were Ursula and Sir Hugh.
It was not the first time they had been together that
night, but it was their first waltz, and as his arm slid
gently round her supple waist and her hand was
firmly clasped in his strong fingers she felt the old,
strange thrill of something more perfect than aught
else in life steal through her veins. Throwing her
head far back the girl looked into his face, gazing
deep down into those abysmal eyes. In an instant
she was once again completely under the control of his
Unconscious Hypnotic power.

They were waltzing. Her breath came quickly,
her heart beat to suffocation, and then throbbed into
quietude, as a violin throbs at the touch of a master-
hand, and dies away in a low wail. She was not her-
self — for the moment she was his — her love, her life,

The Experiment Is Begfun.

123

her very soul were all in his keeping. On they floated
through the multitude of dancers and the pungent
scent of crushed roses, the hum of the band sweep-
ing them forward, dreamily, languidly, as a river
flows slowly down to the sea. The violins grew loud-
er, then lower — one could hear the caress in their
tones — and still they drifted on, and on, and she
knew that she loved this man with a love passing
sweet, fairer than Heaven more fatal than Hell.

Suddenly the music ceased, and the silence fell on
her heart like lead. As the last minor chord of the
waltz died away, and the last smooth, swaying glide
of that strange dance brought her to a stand- still near
an open window half-screened by palms, fcir Hugh's
hold over her snapped suddenly like a taut string, and
with a sigh of awakening she realized that the dance
was over.

With palpitating breath the girl leaned against the
window-frame for support, partly shielded from the
glare of the ball-room by a thick curtain, and struggl-
ing fiercely for her lost self-control placed one hand
on the sill of the sash thrown open to admit the cool
night air. Little she guessed that as she rested there,
too blinded by the dazzling lights to discern any
object outside in the dingy London square, a man, a
veritable ghost out of the past, was standing within
three feet of her trembling figure, and with scowling
face and muttered curses was glowering at Sir Hugh
Galbraith, who bent solicitously over her, fanning her
hot cheeks with a white feather fan.

iiifi-

CHAPTER III.

" I shall go my ways, tread out my measure,
Fill the days of my daily breath
With fugitive things not good to treasure,
Do as the world doth, say as it saith."

During the six months which had elapsed between
the day when Ursula first came to London to be the
guest of Galbraith's aunt and that eventful night in
the following May when she made her eminently satis-
factory dibut, many changes had taken place.

A great friendship had sprung up between her and
Lady Betty, for there was something in the steadfast
character of the farmer's daughter which attracted
and commanded the respect of the frivolous little but-
terfly, whilst, on the other hand, Lady Betty's good-
heartedness and irresponsible gaiety rapidly won the
affection of the more sedate girl who had never before
cared for the companionship of those of her own age.

Intimacy both with Lady Betty and Sybil Carlisle had
been an excellent thing for Ursula, for from them the
country maid picked up many little ideas and ways
which, trivial in themselves, all helped her to hold
her own in the presence of society, and at the same
time free girlish intercourse with two such friends
served to give balance to her character, which hither-
to had run to the extremes of utter childishness and
preternatural maturity.

caj

m(
be(

The Experiment Is Begun*

125

id
,st

d-
,he

,he

old
me
ds
er-
,nd

Day by day Lady Brandram grew more attached
to the sweet-natured girl, and finally ended by taking
Ursula entirely into her warm, capacious heart. Grad-
ually the sense of the unfitness of things died out in
the elder woman's mind, and, as her prot4g4e became
accustomed to the smaller details of fashionable life
and quickly adopted the superficial ways of society,
she almost forgot the existence of that Rubicon which
divided them.

Sir Hugh had settled down in his old chambers,
and spent much of his time frequenting scientific meet-
ings and lectures, attended an occasional ball or din-
ner party, and never for one moment lost sight of his
goal. Week after week he watched the development
of Ursula's character under the new condition of
things. Often he would talk to her, and, possessing
the happy faculty of drawing out what was best in
others, would lead her on to tell him many of her
thoughts and ideas, so that through this medium he
was able to ascertain what effect the transplantation
was having upon the girl's peculiarly unsullied nature.

To Galbraith she was still only the embodiment of
his experiment. He had the strength of purpose to
carry out his plans consistently, but that sweetness
which is sometimes stored up in the hearts of strong
men was, certainly, lacking in him. Had the man
been less engrossed in the psychological side of the
question he must undoubtedly have felt the influence
of her I. auty and loveliness, but as it was, he seemed

126

Hypnotized ?

to be totally blind to the woman — all he saw was the
subject.

His platonic flirtation with Lady Betty had rippled
on through many phases ; but, intermittent as it was,
and distinctly of the cayenne pepper type, it yet very
often had the power to hurt Ursula. Jealousy means
love, and love means jealousy; and as it was only' too
true that the girl had slowly, surely, but at length
completely, given her whole unfrittered affection to
Sir Hugh, she could not helj) rioting and disliking the
cavalierlike attentions he paid to his cousin and Lady
Betty's matter-of-fact accf^ptance of the same. The
very coolness of the girl's reception of his trifling
courtesies irritated Ursula. To tell the truth, she did
not quite know what she wanted. She hated to see
Lady Betty take matters so easily, and yet had the
latter shown any signs of warmer feeling for her cou-
sin she would have been even more deeply wounded.

People in love are always unreasonable. They do
not like their idols to be disparaged, and yet they will
quarrel with anyone who dares to adore them too
much. This fluctuating feeling of jealousy did not
however, seriously interrupt the even tenor of the
friendship which existed between the two girls — one
of them was too well-bred, and the other too thor-
ougly sweet- natured for that — and probably no one
was more totally innocent of any intention to wound
than little Lady Betty herself. Sir Hugh was her
cousin, and therefore partially her property, and as

The Ezperiment Is Besftin*

127

she never saw any token of the grim tragedy going
on at her feet, she naturally enough flirted and fro-
licked with him to her heart's content, never caring a
jot for consequences nor bothering her pretty head
over possible contingencies.

A girl who, unasked and unsought, gives her love to
one of the opposite sex, is commonly called unmaiden-
ly ; and well indeed she may be if she allows him to
see that she is, metaphorically speaking, on her knees
before him, ready to ask for his affection in return for
that which she has bestowed upon him of her own free
will. To allow a man to guess her secret — to permit
him to know that he possesses her devotion before he
has shown in an unmistakable way that he desires
and returns it — is simply to make herself despicable in
his eyes and to forfeit all her girlish self-respect;
but in Ursula's case it was different, because never for
one instant did Sir Hugh imagine that she entertained
the smallest particle of affection for him. She adored
him passionately, but of this he knew nothing — her
secret was all her own. Not once, by word or look,
had she ever betrayed the love which filled her heart.

What a strange thing love is after all ! It can no
more be controlled than the restless waves of the sea
— it comes from who knows where, or how, or why ?
So love is not at the command of ourselves ; it is a
thing given to us, placed in our souls, and is as eradi-
cable as the very germ of existence — sweeter than
life — stronger than death. So it had come to Ursula

Ill

i!!!!

128

Hypnotized }

Harlowe. At first she did not understand. It had
crept into her heart unawares, and shown itself in a
hundred little ways, in a desire to be with the man
she loved and to please him. Each time they met it
grew stronger, and each time his innate force domin-
ated her she fell more deeply into the toils. How far
this love of hers was the result of the extraordinary
infiuence he exercised over her, or how far his great
power over her personality was the consequence of
her love for him, it was impossible to determine ; but
taken together, they formed a chain of iron, binding
her body and soul to the man who was tampering
with what he was totally ignorant of.

For many years Sir Hugh had studied occult science,
and probably as the result of being so steeped in mys-
ticism he had become endued with a great deal of lat-
ent personal magnetism. Yet it could not exactly be
said that he had either magnetized or hypnotized Ur-
sula into falling in love with him. For that would be
to accuse him of wilfully exercising an unlawful
power over the girl, whereas he was totally innocent
of using any conscious force. But the fact remained
that each time his curious power mastered her she
became more one with him, and as she believed, loved
him more deeply. Who could say where love ended,
and hypnotism began ? Whatever was the cause of
its great strength and deep sweetness, whether it
sprang from undue influence or not, the love of Ursula
Harlowe for Sir Hugh Galbraith was in itself pure

The Experiment Is Besfun.

1 29

led

red

led,

mla
lure

and womanly, such a love as a man might be proud
to possess and a woman proud to bestow.

On her return home after Mrs. Verner's ball, Ursula
having bidden Lady Brandram an affectionate good-
night, and dismissed her maid, wrapped a warm
dressing-gown around her and sat down before the
fire to think. With wide sad eyes she gazed into the
living coals, as if she would fain read her future in
their glowing depths. She had been very much up-
set after that last waltz with Sir Hugh ; n<!ver before
had the girl felt his influence so keenly, and even yet
her nerves and brain were throbbing with an answer-
ing emotion, just as the strings of a delicate instru-
ment will quiver and vibrate long after the master-
hand has ceased to play upon them. Often before
when Galbraith's power had controlled her volition
she would instinctively obe}'^ his slightest wish, or
carry out faithfully any trifling suggestion he might
make, and thus the habit grew strong upon her to
submit herself entirely' to him ; she thought as he
thought, formed her opinions on his, and in all things
acted as his will influenced her to do — she was in his
hands like a piece of thread without a knot at the end
of it ; he could draw her through any crisis, guide her
through any combination of circumstances.

That night her heart was aching with the weight
of its burden of love. " Is it always so," she mur-
mured to herself, her tired tears dropping wearily," that
a man whom a woman loves will not love her ? Must

I30

Hypnotized ?

II.'.

this go on all my life ?" She was so worn out with
inward struggle that the sobs came faster, as she
thought of the daily fight to conceal the truth from
Sir Hugh. Life was one long piece of acting. When
in his presence she must guard her eyes, her tongue,
her very thoughts — must feign indifference, friend-
ship — anything rather than that he should see one tiny
glow of the love-fire which burned so fiercely within
her.

It was a hard task to act, act, act, till she began to
wonder whether the loving unloved girl, or the cool,
indifferent woman, was her real self. In public the
mask must ever be on. Poor little Ursula ! The very
pure-souled nature which made her so susceptible to
Sir Hugh's powerful influence was her salvation now.
In her creed, to have allowed him to see that she loved
him unasked would have meant something beyond com-
pare. No ! he must never, never learn the extent of
her folly, she would go on acting in public and loving
him in secret, playing her part in the tragedy of the
world, but as long as she lived he should remain ig-
norant of the truth. Verily the path of folly is some-
times as clearly defined as the path of reason.

So Ursyla wept on. But a woman who can shed
tears has not come to the worst stage yet, and pre-
sently she roused herself and, with the inherent buoy-
ancy of youth, began to think of the other side of the
picture — of all the triumphs that kind fate had show-
ered upon her that night, and of the sweeter, brighter
aspect of her love.

The Experiment Is Beg^un*

131

ber

It made her heart very tender to turn from the
thought of the things which might have been to the
thought of the things that were. After all there was
something very comforting, very soothing, in that
love — it was all hers — and she had given it to him,
her friend, for he was that at any rate. It did not
hurt him that she, a little country girl, loved him.
To pour out the wealth of her soul at his feet, to wor-
ship him in secret, to obey him, to please him, to pray
for him, that was all she lived for.

Oh ! you blind philosophers who tell us of the de-
generation of love and of its short duration — you
little know how full of beautiful, true love the
world is. It is often so well hidden that your mun-
dane eyes cannot see it, but it exists nevertheless,
bright as a Heaven -born thing, a feeling such as an-
gels know and only devils dare to mock at.

Sir Hugh Galbraith was not a fool, nor more
blind than his sex, but so carefully had Ursula half-
consciously guarded her secret that he was as ignor-
ant of her feelings towards him as an utter stranger
might have been ; and it must be recorded in his de-
fence that had he realized the extent of his unconscious
influence over her, or even known that it existed, he
would have abandoned his scheme entirely rather
than play on the susceptible nature of a young girl.
He saw, of course, very plainly, that she was quite en
rapport wrh. him, that he could bend her inclinations
and thoughts to his own, but this he put down solely

* iil;

^' !

132

Hypnotized ?

to his superior knowledge of the world, and the com-
monly accepted fact that a simple, untaught mind will
generally follow the lead of a vigourous masterful ex-
ample. Of his damning, damnable power he knew
nothing, and so on rolled the course of events, and one
poor little soul was caught up, and whirled into the
maelstrom of love, semi-hypnotized, and wholly pa-
thetic, to be flung breathless on the shores of lethal
sweetness, which means the Death of Hope.

CHAPTER IV.

" With curious art the brain, too finely wrought,
Preys on itself, and is destroyed by thought."

— Churchill.

'* Snapping a solemn creed with solemn sneer.

-Byron.

It was very pleasant to step out into the soft morn-
ing twilight, after the heat and crowd of the ball-
room, at least so Sir Hugh Galbraith thought as he
and Eric Desmond sauntered leisurely down the flight
of stone steps that led from Mrs. Verner's hospitable
front door, and stood for a moment on the flagged
pavement below, to light their cigars before entering
a hansom.

Glancing over his shoulder as he threw away a
burnt-out-fusee, Eric noticed that an ill-dressed man
had stopped close behind them, and was watching Sir
Hugh intently, with an evil expression on his face.
" Poor devil," thought Desmond, " one of the home-
less race no doubt," and without further comment
dismissed the circumstance from his mind. But
presently, while Galbraith was directing the driver
to take them to Upper Brooke Street, to the house of
David Comstock, Eric's attention was again attracted
to him, for with clenched fist upraised the man stood
glaring at the baronet, with a hellish vindictiveness

134

Hypnotized }

S''':ii:

emblazoned on every feature, and the light from a
street lamp falling full upon his face, his form clearly
outlined against the dark background of the bouses.
Desmond thought the loafer looked more like some
diabolical apparition than a being of human flesh and
blood.

" Do you know that man ? Quick, look, there he
goes," exclaimed Eric sharply, as the vehicle rattled
off over the cobblestones.

" Who ? Where ? What do you mean ? I do not
see any one," replied Galbraith.

" Ah ! he is out of sight now. It was a man on the
roadway, who was staring in your direction as if he
wanted to annihilate you."

" Bah ! Nonsense ! The champagne has gone to
your head, old man. Imagination runs races with
your thoughts, and evidently runs to win." Sir Hugh
laughed nonchalantly ; he ;vas too utterly drenched
with success to pay any heed to irrelevant subjects.

" Believe it or not as you like, I tell you I saw him
as plain as a pike-staff, and more than that, I have
seen his face before somewhere."

" Possibly, though truth to tell I am somewhat in-
credulous as to the existence of this man with the
murderous expression. But then we are all skeptical
now-a-days; it is the temper of the times, the Zeitgeist
is eminently so."

" Like the flowers that bloom in the spring, that
has nothing to do with the case, and for Heaven's
sake, man, give us no cheap cynicism to-night."

The Experiment Is Begfun.

135

im
ive

In-
le

kal
it

it
's

" Your temper seems slightly out of joint," retorted
Galbraith.

" You are right ; I am thoroughly upset." Then after
an almost imperceptible, pause Desmond went on, " I
want to talk with you seriously, Hugh. Will you listen
to me fairly and squarely ?"

" Go on ; I know what you are going to say, and it
is of no use, but I will listen if you like," and the
baronet settled himself back into the cushioned cor-
ner of the hansom, and waited for what was to come.

" Give up this experiment as you call it. No good
can come of it, and you are only storing up unlimited
misery both for yourself and Miss Harlowe ;" and as
he spoke, in his earnestness Eric laid a firm hand upon
his companion's arm.

"You are far too pragmatical. Can you imagine
for one moment that I shall abandon a scheme which
has already, at its very commencement, attained such
a vast success ?"

" But think of the other side of the question. Think
of the girl, young, — beautiful, — unprotected. What
sort of future are you preparing for her ?"

" A glorious one ! A triumphal march of conquests
and admiration !"

" That is altogether too vague. What substantial
benefits can ever accrue to her from this senseless
pageantry V

" It is not vague, only I suppose I omit to make it
clear, or possibly the fault lies with your own under-
standing."

III

* I!

136

Hypnotized ?

" You seem to regard this girl merely as a specimen,
and are so intent on watching the progress of her
development that you forget, or else are regardless
of the suffering you will inevitably bring upon her."

" You called my cynicism cheap a few moments
ago, but now you are guilty of cheaper sentiment."

" Cheap or not I mean every word of it. I do not
believe there is one touch of humaneness in your
whole being, or you would give up your diabolical
experiment. Galbraith, I appeal to you, relinquish this
matter, and send her back — home to her father and her
friends, who are her equals. You are trying to solve
a social problem which has never been fully stated,
the difference between what is and what ought to be,
and believe me, you* can never really succeed. You
are so cold by nature that you do not realize what a
horrible sin you are committing, whilst I, by the light
of the love I bear for the one woman which the world
holds for me, can see the pitfalls you are pre-
paring for Ursula Harlowe. Give it all up, Hugh,
and remember how a greater than you or I once
said, that * the Ideal is after all only mental, intellect-
ual, conceived, while the real alone is true and
genuine.' "

" You are right, in so far as that the foundation of
all things must be real and true ; but the further de-
velopment must equally be brain-evolved. No, Des-
mond ; for the last time I refuse to — By Jove ! here
we are, so there is an end to all argument."

The Experiment Is Besftin*

137

I a

rht

)re-
Ince

iCt-

ind

de-

Most unwillingly did Eric pause in the discussion,
but events as trivial in themselves as the stopping of
a hansom at its destination will often checkmate the
strongest of us.

No. 63 Upper Brooke Street was very like its own-
er, old-fashioned, squarely built, and of goodly pro-
})ortions, albeit the crimson-striped awnings, and win-
dow-boxes massed with flowering plants, loaned to
the place an air of modernity. Mr. Comstock had
lived there for many years ; in fact, ever since that
memorable day when a sudden rise in Spanish con-
sols had brought to him fortune and a prominent
place on the Stock Exchange. He was a man of
middle age, commonplace and somewhat prosy, but
with a big heart. That night, in accordance with
their promise. Sir Hugh Galbraith and Eric Desmond
had dropped in to have a smoke with him after the
ball.

As they drew their chairs around the fire, which in
the chill of a May dawning was by no means unwel-
come, a feeling of bon camaraderie led Comstock to
open his lips and pour forth an unusual flow of lan-
guage. The sum and substance of it all was the new
beauty, Mi^3 Harlow e. But one-sided conversation
palls after a time, and soon he fell to asking questions
of the other two smokers who, according to their re-
spective fashions, parried the direct attack. Sir Hugh
told him that he knew just as much about the debu-
tante as the geologists know of what they are pleased
10

:'^;S

ii ft I

138

Hypnotized }

Ui\ Ml.

! i i|

■ i I !

ill

ii i

to call the "glacial period," which was simply noth-
ing at all ; and Eric Desmond, like all right-minded
men when they get nonplussed, grew angry, and
puffed away at his cigar in moody silence, refusing to
vouchsafe more than an occasional monosyllabic re-
sponse.

It was plain that the grizzled, unromantic David
Comstock was very much struck by Ursula's loveli-
ness. He had known her for some months, and had
often enjoyed the pleasure of her society at Lady
Brandram's house ; but that night the flame of love
had been lighted for the first time in his lonely old
heart.

Eric saw that the man was really dpris, and this
fact only served to heighten his resentment against
Sir Hugh, for was not the very complication he most
dreaded already looming up in the distance ? When
they were once more in the street, and pursuing their
way in the direction of Galbraith's chambers, Des-
mond again gave vent to his wrath. A quarrel ap-
peared imminent. On the one hand was a man of
fixed, ideal purpose, and on the other one of stern de-
termination. What could come of it but a fracas ?
In the lowered voices people affect when deeply in
earnest, they went all over the old ground, thrust
and parry, parry and thrust, until Eric brought mat-
ters to a climax by saying, with an abominable
assumption of dogmatism :

" Your arguments admitted (though, remember, I

The Experiment Is Begun.

139

•to

re-

ivid
^eli-

had
Lady

love
yold

a this

rainst
most
[when
their
Des-
|el ap-
ian of
[rn de-
•acas ?
)ly in
[thrust
niat-
[inable

deny their validity), you are throwing Miss Harlowe
into the society of men she may dance with, talk
with, flirt with, but— can never marry."

Sir Hugh stopped short in his leisurely pace, and
replied :

" Can never marry whom ?"

•• She cannot marry a gentleman," said Eric sternly,
and as if he were hammering in a long nail.

''Why not?"

" Good Heavens ! man, because she is — she is — "

" A pure, good girl, and a fit wife for any man."

" But a daughter of the people all the same. How
could she marry anyone who was ignorant of her

origin i

" My dear fellow, you talk as if Miss Harlowe were
of the very scum of the earth. I have not taken her
from the shambles of siu, poverty and unspeakable
wretchedness, nor yet from that world which only
begins to live after midnight. She is at the present
moment in every respect your equal and mine, conse-
crated to higher ends than a vegetable life, and fit to
wed with any man of our acquaintance."

" I am not accusing you of flagrant imbecilities, but
of those errors to which abstractionists of your kind
are liable. But to be bold is not to be brave ; and if
you impose on the credulity of society with this fraud,
so unhinged and unhinging — your audaciously enact-
ed scheme and a vast calamity will inevitably go hand
in hand."

140

Hypnotized }

'■•■■ Ar.

" Say what you please, croak away like any other
bird ot ill omen, but I tell you again that Ursula
Harlowe may marry the highest in the land and yet
confer a favour on him. Bah ! Marriage does not
cancel every other obligation, and for a man to set
himself up as an amateur St. Simon Stylites is ridi-
culous."

" You know very well, Hugh, that where the wife
is beneath the husband in birth, both, as a rule, will
sink to the bottom of the social Dead Sea. A clever
woman may sometimes succeed in pulling up a man
to her level, a man can pull up a woman — never.
Softly but cruelly he is dropped, and she — "

" Cheap sentiment again, and bad at that," sneered
Sir Hugh. " Whatever I am totally ignorant of I de-
clare to be the result of profound study, but you
blazen your want of knowledge far and wide. For the
sake of your reputation for sanity, go, my dear Eric,
and live in a cave or, like Rousseau, on a tree-top,
and thereby spare the world your vacuous diatribes."

" Hugh, Hugh, do not gibe so bitterly. There is
little enough faith left in the world, God knows."

" Am I not evincing ideal faith, in this very mat-
ter?"

" No, you are willfully poisoning it in this girl.
Sooner or later she will waken to the reality of her
position, and in that moment her faith in you and
mankind will die, and with weary feet she will travel
across the great desert of unfaith stretched out be-
tween her and her God."

The Experiment Is Begfun*

141

is
lat-

Igirl.
her

land
ivel
be-

Desmond walked on, heedless that with the in-
creasing speed of his stride he was gradually leaving
Gdlbraith in the rear. At that moment the sharp
report of a pistol rang out clear and sudden, close be-
hind him, cutting through the moist air of dawn.
Turning instantly Eric saw Sir Hugh reel forward
and come crashing down upon the pavement, his face
striking the curb with a sickening thud, as when
flesh is dashed against a hard substance. So convul-
sive was the shock of this occurrence to Desmond's
mind, checking as it did a mighty rush of thoughts,
that the impulse to retrace his steps and raise the
prostrate man was purely mechanical, a triumph of
inculcated philanthropy rather than a voluntary ac-
tion. As he bent over Sir Hugh, and then looked
n round for assistance, he saw, not ten yards off, the
same evil-looking creature who had attracted his no-
tice on leaving Mrs. Verner's house, standing with
ghastly face and staring eyes, a smoking revolver in
his right hand. Eric started forward as if to seize
him, whereupon the man uttered a harsh laugh, and,
flinging the weapon into the road, ejaculated the
single word "avenged," and sped away into the
shadows of a cross- street.

Scarcely a few seconds had elapsed before a motley
crew of people and policemen were surging around
the two men. Crowds gather quickly in London,
even at the early hour of five o'clock in the morning.

Sir Hugh's face was literally smashed in on one side,

142

Hypnotized ?

1 ' r,

i'=; ii

i I

,' ill i

and the blood came slowly drip, drip, drip, onto Eric's
coat, as he supported the baronet's head. Mercifully un-
conscious of all that was going on, Galbraith lay quite
still as his friend deftly bound a handkerchief round
his bruised features. Desmond lifted him into a
passing cab, and drove, with all possible speed, to the
wounded man's chambers.

So they took him home and laid him on his bed,
and a great surgeon came and dressed his wounds, and
looked very solemn ; but when the doctor finally said :
" It is all right ; he will live," Eric's heart gave a
great bound, and his " Thank God " was a Te Deum
and Benedicite rolled into one.

Once during the hours of insensibility that followed
there was a gleam of recognition in the sick man's
eyes, and he murmured, " Promise — to — keep — it."
And Eric replied, " I promise to keep your secret for
the present." Thus in the end did the heart rule the
head of the man of sense, and Fate fought on the
side of Sir Hugh Galbraith and won another victory.

iU ;| i

!!ll|f

UlU.

CHAPTER V,

*' A spirit in my dreams
Hath led me to thee."

for
the
the
)ry.

Extensive search was made for the would-be mur-
derer, but all in vain.

It appeared that just before the shot was fired, Gal-
braith, hearing footsteps, had turned to see who
was following behind him, and that simultaneously
with his recognition of Tom Scott came the sharp ping
of a bullet, and he knew nothing further until he
awakened to consciousness, in his own room. Of the
identity of the man who first dogged his steps and
then tried to murder him that night. Sir Hugh did
not entertain the smallest doubt ; he had in the flash
of time before he fell, clearly recognized the features
of Ursula Harlowe's ill-favoured lover, and in all
probability he owed his life to his sudden movement ;
for either that, or else bad aim on his attacker's
part, had caused the shot to glance round his ribs with-
out striking any vital organ, or inflicting more serious
injuries than great loss of blood and a nasty wound.

A few days later Galbraith lay in bed with the
windows thrown wide open, in order to let the soft
spring air have free access to every corner of his
room, and the heavy smell of a number of hyacinths,
blooming on the table, came to him in whiffs, as the

■f

I'y:.

1 m

i; i!!ii

il !|S;

Ililil

iWWWMHI

ii';
til:

ILL.

144 Hypnotized ?

br-^eze blew now stronger, now fainter, across their
white and purple bells.

" Any fresh news, Eric ? " enquired the baronet, as
his friend came in about three o'clock in the afternoon.

" I am sorry, old boy, but there is not, and even the
detectives are now giving up hope. Everything is
being done that it is possible to do, but the scoundrel
must have got clear away out of the country, or else
be cleverly hidden in one of the slums."

Sir Hugh lay silent, turning the matter slowly over
in his mind.

" It is a strange thin^r," he said at length. " I cannot
understand why Tom Scott should have attacked me
in that manner. The man must have a bee in his bon-
net, or else be harping still upon that old string of
ridiculous jealousy."

" There is little doubt to my mind but that he fol-
lowed you to London, and tracked you out, with the
deliberate intention of doing you an injury."

" The thing is absurd ; I had no hand in Miss Har-
lowe's refusal of him. There must be some deeper
motive than that to account for such a demonstration
of hate."

" It is hard to form any conclusion," replied Eric,
gravely; " there may be wheels within wheels of which
we know nothing."

" I am not altogether disappointed that the affair
has come to a deadlock," said Galbraith meditatively,
" and can hardly tell whether I really do wish th e
man to be caught."

tion

Iric,
lich

fair

Ithe

The Experiment Is Begfun. 145

" You fear that if he were brought to trial Miss
Hailjwe's name might be dragged into the case ? "

"Exactly, and that I wouhl avoid at all hazards."

" I quite appreciate your feelings there. I saw her
to-day ; she and Lady Betty were shopping in Regent
Street this morning."

** My aunt tells me that Betty is most anxious to
come and see me, but the doctor says, * no excitement
and no visitors.* So the dear little girl sends me
flowers every day instead, and more messages than
would fill a volume."

" How soon do you think you will be able to get
up ? "

" Goodness knows ! They tell me I shall not be all
right again for three weeks."

" By the bye, Lady Brandram met me on my way
here, and told me to tell you that she would look in
about six o'clock to see if you wanted anything."

" Thanks. Clarke, however, is really a splendid
nurse."

" I see you have got the bandages off your face
to-day. That plaster is a great improvement."

" Yes," replied the baronet, with a feeble attempt at
a smile, " it is certainly prettier, and much more com-
fortable ; but my cheek was so mushed up on that
beastly curb-stone that it will take some time to
regain its former shape."

The door opened softly, and a man entered with the
noiseless tread of a well-trained valet."

146

Hypnotized }

•li

! !l

" Beg pardon, Mr. Desmond, but the doctor's orders
were that Sir Hugh was not to talk long, sir. It is
four o'clock, and I have got his medicine here."

" All right, Clarke. I'll be off now, Hugh, and give
you a chance to rest. Good bye, old man, till to-mor-
row," So raying, Eric rose and, with a cheerful nod,
left the apartment. He had been very casual in his
allusions to Ursula when talking with Galbraith,
knowing that the latter must on no account be ex-
cited ; but he had neither forgotten nor condoned the
existing state of affairs.

After Desmond had gone downstairs, Clarke pro-
ceeded to close the windows and pull down the shades,
so that only a subdued light shone into the room.

" Perhaps you will take a sleep. Sir Hugh ? "

" I may. Do not disturb me until Lady Brandrani
comes. She will be here at six o'clock."

" Very well. Sir Hugh."

" And, Clarke, have the fire lighted at once ; it gets
cold about this time."

" Yes, Sir Hugh."

Soon a ruddy glow, and the pleasant sensation of
warmth that pervaded the atmosphere, lulled the sick
man into a quiescent state. He was alone in his great,
luxurious room, the blinds drawn down, the doors
shut, no sound to disturb him, no brightness to dis-
tract him — everything was conducive to slumber.
Gradually drowsiness fell upon him, his thoughts
grew confused, vague, and seemed on the point of

llHi!!

The Experiment Is Begfun*

147

ireat,

loors

dis-

submergence — when, vivid as a lightning flash, a vision
rose before him.

Like the crack of doom a name struck his ear —
" Ursula." So blinding was the mental picture of the
girl that he pressed his finger-tips tightly against his
eye-lids to shut out some of its intensity. Like a
radiant vision from the world of unexpressed beings,
she swayed and swerved before his dilated pupils ;
then the luminosity of her face faded slowl}^ and the
undulating movement of her figure stiflfened into
rigidity. With this cessation of motion on her part,
his reeling brain grew steadior, and he noted that she
was very pale.

Then, as touch by touch the vision grew more
blurred and indistinct, Sir Hugh strained every nerve
to see clearly the features of Ursula Harlowe. Only
to keep her — that was his one desire. To keep her
— to keep her — to keep her — Ah ! — she was going —
she must come back ! " Ursula — Ursula — Ursula," he
cried, each word ringing out in a low, vibrant tone
of command and entreaty.

She was gone. A chill breath touched his forehead
— he heeded it not — all he felt was Ursula — all he
thought or wished or imagined was — Ursula.

The minutes passed, the coals fell with a splurge in
the grate, a few flames leaped up and quivered into
smoke, and the daylight grew less, and the firelight
warmer. Yes, it was warm — very warm — Sir Hugh
could scarcely breathe. A queer smell surrounded

148

■fi

Hypnotized }

;->.'

''Mk

•i<

him — it must be those hyacinths — there were too many
of them. He remembered vaguely having heard some
one say that in great quantities they were poisonous,
— and so heavy — so suffocating. But Ursula liked
them. No, it was the eider-down quilt that was so
oppressive on his chest — it was nearly choking him.
She might have taken it away with her — he did not
want it. Oh ! those hyacinths ! That sweet, sickly
perfume ! Why did she not destroy them ?

It seemed as if two warring elements within the
man were struggling for the mastery over him — one
that calm power of self-control which was the main
characteristic of his nature, and the other an involun-
tary force stronger than he was. The more he fought
for the mastery the more did that strange sensation
overpower him, as he lay there convulsed and with
heaving limbs.

" Ursula ! " Where was she ? He wanted her.
"Ursula! Ursula! Ursula!"

Ah ! the door was opening, she was coming back to
him — his beautiful vision — the culmination of his ex-
periment. Yea, but not as she had looked half an
hour before. Now she was all in black, and her face
so white. The vision was not as perfect as it had
been, but all the same it was — Ursula. With a des-
perate effort he raised himself on his elbow and
gazed at her. Merciful Heaven ! how pale she was —
perhaps she was dead, and this was her spirit come to
bid him an eternal farewell !

The Experiment Is Begfun*

149

me
ms,
ked
} so
lim.
not
ckly

the
—one
main
olun-
ought
sation

with

ack to

How straight she stood there in her trailing black
garments, her hands falling limply at her sides, her
eyes so wide open that they looked like shining disks !

" Ursula ! " The name broke from Sir Hugh's lips
with an involuntary spasm of over-wroughtness.

" No answer, — only a slight parting of the pale lips
— just a tremor through the rigid frame.

" Ursula," and again Galbraith felt suffocating, a
dim fear of the girl, so sharply outlined in black and
white, coming upon him.

Was she going to speak ? Her lips trembled. Her
eyes stared at him with great, distended pupils as
before.

" I have come, Hugh."

An awful horror crept through his veins, his heart
almost ceased to beat, the numbness of terror froze his
limbs as ten thousand fiendish, blaspheming voices
shrieked and gibed at him. His reason was going,
— ah ! — he was mad — mad — mad ! That vision was
no longer a vision to hirn. It was Ursula Harlowein
the flesh.

A sane man was lying upon his bed, raised into a
semi-elevated position by means of one supporting
elbow, and looking fixedly at the figure of a girl
standing in the middle of his room. The moment she
had spoken, Galbraith had experienced a severe men-
tal shock. He understood that it was the real Ursula
Harlowe who stood there, so ghastly and immovable,
confronting him with an inexplicable reproach. And

m^^^i

• ■ ;■■

■I- I'-i':'

»5o

Hypnotized }

the force that was strangling him died — and he saw
things as they were.

Though usually composed to a degree which irri-
tated all his friends, the sudden appearan'*^ of the
vision, followed by that of the girl herself, had tc^/dUy
unnerved the baronet. To span with thought the
circumstances before him, was but the work of a mo-
ment. She was either insane, or else in a drugged
state. What could be done in order to induce her to
go away ? Clarke was liable to come in at any in-
stant, and Sir Hugh dreaded to think of the conse-
quences that might ensue should anyone learn of her
visit to his chambers alone, and at such an hour.

•' Miss Harlowe," he said, in a firm voice, " You must
not stay here. I beg of you to return home at once."

The girl took absolutely no notice of his words, but
continued to stand there, her great, luminous eyes
fixed upon his.

He spoke again, this time more determinately.

*' You must go home at once. Miss Harlowe."

Her face expressed a slight touch of wonderment.

" Why do you send me away ? " she said mechan-
ically. " I came because you called me, Hugh. I
heard your voice so plainly saying, * Ursula, Ursula,
Ursula!'"

" This is absurd. Do you not see that it is inad-
visable you should visit me here ? Some one might
come in, and then ."

" What would that matter ? You needed me, and I
came. That is all."

cri-
the
dUy
the
mo-
yged
jr to
y in-
onse-
►f her

ir.

Linust

once.'
s, but
eyes

nent.
echan-

The Experiment Is Begfun* 151

Galbraith was now nearly beside himself with anx-
iety. He must induce the girl to leave the room
before she was discovered. A very agony of sweat
broke out upon his forehead as he thought of what
might come to pass if this mad escapade ever reached
the ears of the world, so harsh in its dicta, and so
censorious in its judgments. Yet there she stood,
utterly indifferent to his urgent request. What
should he do ? He could not call for assistance — that
would be to publish the matter at once — and to move
from the bed in his present weak condition was an
utter impossibility.

He glanced at the clock ; it was nearly six. In a
few minutes Lady Brandram would be there, and
then — . He grew desperate.

Suddenly it flashed across his mind that she must
be walking in her sleep. He would try stronger
measures.

" Ursula Harlowe, go home at once, I command
you," he said, with all the force he could summon to
his aid.

Not one iota did this dictatorial speech move her.

Sir Hugh was fast becoming exhausted, for his
strength, but feeble as yet, uld not sustain the
great demand he had made upon it during the last
half-hour.

Tick, tick, tick, went the clock on the mantel-piece.
It was five minutes to six. Now or never must he save
the girl. With excruciating pain the baronet raised

Is2

■if] J?

'¥r:t m

i!|r ■ il

IB 1 I 'I' ■

If-

jiiiS'- I!
'Ill II

I: If I,;

Hypnotized ?

himself to a sitting post' ^e, and, gazing sternly into
her eyes, said :

" Go home."

Instantly she took a step forward, and then steadily,
but oh ! so slowly, moved ^ )ward the door, which on her
entrance she had left ajar.

Hush ! What was that sound ? Great Heaven !
It was Lady Brandram's voice — she was coming along
the hall — talking to Clarke. Galbraith's head swam,
and stars danced and reeled before his eyes in a blood-
red tarantella. Foot-steps were coming nearer; he
grew sick with the continued strain of suspense. Ur-
sula had almost reached the doorway on the inner
side, but it was all over — he could not save her now.
In another moment his aunt would enter the room, and
then all would be lost.

But where was the girl going ? She had turned
aside and was now walking rapidly towards the
farthest corner of the room. Was it Providence that
caused Ursula to make her exit, not by the usual
way, but by a smaller door which led into an unused
room, and thence out onto the main staircase of the
building ?

She was gone, and Sir Hugh fell back on his pil-
low, and gasped for breath. He felt faint and weak,
and the relaxation of his muscles was fraught with
almost as much pain as relief. For a few moments
the man lay there, oblivious to every sensation save
that of rest in mind and body, but as things came

The Experiment Is Bes:tsn«

J 53

ml
jng
am,
3od-
, he
TJr-
.nner

now.
i.and

slowly back to their normal condition he began to
wonder why Lady Brandram did not enter the room.
He listened and heard her still talking to Clarke in
the passage some yards away from his door. Every-
thing was quite safe then ; Ursula must by this time
be well on her homeward way ; and so he fell to won-
dering why and how the girl had come to his cham-
bers, for it was altogether a most unprecedented affair,
and quite inexplicable to him, unless, as he ultimately
supposed, she was a somnambulist.

But then, how on earth could she be walking in her
sleep in the dusk of a spring afternoon? As he ponder-
ed on these things, carefully revolving the situation
in his mind, and unable to come to any reasonable
conjecture on the matter, his eye, as it wandered rest-
lessly from one object to another in the room, fell on
a splash of white lying upon the floor, in conspicuous
contrast to the dark colours of the Turkey rug. With
the fretful fancy of an invalid, he stared at it, won-
dered what it was, and " why the deuce, has Clarke
left it there." Just then the fire blazed up, and in the
brighter light he recognized it to be a pocket hand-
kerchief. And there was lace on it — he could see that
clearly now. A pausa Why, it must be Ursula's, of
course — and, if so, her name must be on it, and he
could return it to her some day — women had such an
absurd habit of having their names embroidered on
everything — there would be no difficulty in identify-
ing it Then too — but his aunt — she was just com-
11

'^1
1

V t

154

Hypnotized }

ing in — she would also see it, and, probably, recognize
it — no, that must not be, for how could he account to
her for its presence there ? She was far too keen-
witted an old lady to be bamboozled with any trump-
ery excuses.

What should he do ? At all risks he must gain
possession of that damning little piece of evidence
before Lady Brandram entered the room. But how
to do so, that was the question. There was nothing
for it but to reach it himself. Could he manage
this?

With a violent effort Sir Hugh slid both feet onto
the floor. The upright position made his head swim,
but he could not afford to lose any time in waiting. So,
steadying himself by means of the chairs and tables,
the man commenced a toilsome journey across the
room. Stumbling, staggerinc% he reached the little,
white, tell-tale bit of cambric. Hark ! his aunt's
step at the door, a gentle knock, and a voice, saying :
" May I come in, Hugh ? " Where could he hide the
thing ? Ah ! He was falling. With an almost super-
human wrench Galbraith flung the handkerchief
into the glowing coals of the fire, and came crashing
down like a broken tree, while the blood soaked in
crimson patches through the bandage wound around
his wounded side.

Thus Lady Brandram found him, but she never
learned why, or how he got there, nor could anybody
else get a reasonable explanation from him on the

Jfe.

The Experiment Is Begfun*

155

iize
tto
jen-
mp-

gain
ience
how
tbing
anage

subject. His lips were sealed by honour, so no one
ever knew tbat a man of the nineteenth century had
done an act worthy of the chivalry of the middle
ages ; and at what might have been the expense of
his own life, had saved the name of a girl from the
breath of undeserved gossip.

b onto
swim,
ng. So,
tables,
OSS the
little,
aunt's
aying- ••
ide the
t super-
erchief
rasbing

aked in
around

•m

iQ never

[anybody

on the

ill

/' -iik

' 'I

■•;■■' ! I

CHAPTER VI.

" Of all the passions which possess the soul,
None so disturbs vain mortal's minds
As vain ambition."

— Earl ok Sikrline

Sir Hugh Galbraith was very ill. As the result of
his mad exertions, fever had set in to an alarming
degree, which was not to be wondered at, such an
act as he had compassed being under the circum-
stances little short of suicide. Many days elapsed
before the man recovered the ground he had thus lost.
Ursula Harlowe had been in a very chaotic state of
mind ever since the date of the baronet's relapse,
though exactly what was the matter with her, or why
she seemed so completely out of gear, the girl herself
could not have explained. She distinctly remembered
having gone upstairs to her own room on that after-
noon, taking with her " Marcella" and having there
settled herself into a big cosy chair near the window,
to enjoy a quiet read. That she had perused over
fifty pages of the book was certain, for a recollection
of tht X contents remained quite fresh in her memory
on the following day. But Ursula imagined that after
reading she must have fallen asleep, for it was nearly
dark when consciousness returned to her, and the room
felt very cold. With a sudden impulse, she tried to

The Experiment Is Begfun.

»57

lit of

z\\ an
rcu in-
lapsed
18 lost,
tate of
•elapse,
Drwby
herself
ibered
after-
there
indow,
id over
^Uection
.emory
tat after
nearly
LerooT»
Itried to

rise, but the effort proved painful ; her head ached,
and a curious tiredness numbed every ?imb, just as if
her nervine force were temporarily paralysed. She
was far too cold, however, to sit still any longer, so,
with a violent spasmodic jerk, she finally got up, and
walked over to the dressing-table. She fumbled in the
dim light for a match-box, which she eventually found,
and then proceeded to light a candle.

The ghostly flame flickered in her eyes, and the
looking-glass reflected back a face white as death and
totally expressionless. As, with dragging steps, Ur-
sula again crossed the room to ring the beJl, she notic-
ed several footmarks distinctly visible upon the deli-
cate grey ground of the carpet, and stooping to exam-
ine them, she saw that they were wet. She then
glanced at her feet. Her boots and her skirts were
muddy too. What did this mean ?

With a curious haste she tore off her dress, unlaced
her boots and threw them with an unreasoning dis-
gust far out of sight under the bed. Then she tried
to think, but nothing came of it ; she was mentally in
chaos.

That evening Lady Brandram, noticing how pale
and wearj' the girl looked, questioned her closely ; but
Ursula merely replied that she had been reading all
the afternoon, and had thereby given herself a bad
headache. That she felt ill and very tired, she was
fain to admit ; but a sensitive fear of ridicule sealed
her lips with regard to those muddy garments in which

;JII

'i'l

158

Hypnotized ?

::; II

m i

a'' 'iiHi

she had found herself, and for which she could in no
way account. The more she thought about them, the
more bewildered she grew, and a!*»o became dimly
conscious that it was a subject best kept secret — some-
thing to be vaguely ashamed of.

When at the conclusion of dinner they entered the
drawing-room, the elder lady said, kindly :

** Sit in that big chair by the tire, my dear, and do
not try to do anything but rest for the remainder of
the evening. It will never do for you to be ill now,
when poor Ilugh is so much worse."

Lady Brand ram had told the girl of the baronet's
relapse.

"You must indeed be anxious about him," replied
Ursula, for was not she herself sick with pent-up
agony on his account ? " But I hope it may only
prove to be a temporary attack, and that he will be
really better to-morrow."

" I trust so, I trust so, but he is very ill to-night.
How pale you look, child !" for Ursula had suddenly
whitened to the lips. " Why, you are chilled to the
bone ! " as she took one of the girl's hands in hers
Suddenly the old lady uttered a sharp exclamation.

" What is it, dear Lady Brandram, what is the mat-
ter ? "

" Nothing child, only an old woman's fancy."

Ursula looked up curiously. The elder woman was
gazing at her in mingled sorrow and astonishment.
She had stroked back the rippling masses of the girl's

The Experiment Is Beg^un*

159

no
the

inly
►me-

L tbe

d do
er of
now,

■onet's

'epUed

ent-up

only

n\\ be

-night.
Iddenly
to the
n hers
Ition.

bronze-red liair, thus drawing it severely away from
her temples.

" There certainly is a resemblance," she went on.
" Do you know you are very like a sister I once had,
my dear. Several times before I have fancied I could
trace it, but now, with your lace so pale, and your
hair pulled back just as she used to wear it, you re-
mind me more than ever of my sister Isobel." And
Lady Brandram sighed heavily.

" Did you love her ho much, and is she dead ? " en-
quired Ursula half-tiiiiidly.

" Yes, dead and at peace many years ago. Hers
was a sad life, and one full of disasters, most of them
the outcome of her own willfulness, and some of them
dealt to her by the stern hand of Providence. When
you are gay, cliild, the likeness to Isobel flies, but
when you look as you do to-night, wan and white,
with your eyes full of unshed tears — just so, with
your hair gathered back — then I seem to see my sis-
sister once again, as she looked in the days long
gone by."

Ursula sat very still, listening to these reminiscences
of a past that had nothing in common with hers, and
wondering in a tired way if the real history of this
Isobel's life had been as full of sadness as her own.
She felt very nervous and exhausted, and the gentle
touch of Lady Brandram's hand soothed the irritation
of her brain.

, The days that followed were dreadful ones to Ur-

i6o

Hypnotized ?

S. '

aula. Mingled with her anxiety about Galbraith, who
for twenty-four hours had lain between life and death,
there ran an undercurrent of puzzlement at the
strangeness of her experiences on awakening from
that supposed sleep. During this time she derived
great comfort from her friendship with the Carlisles,
for Lady Brandram being kept in constant attendance
on the invalid, the girl would have passed many soli-
tary hours, if it had not been for Sybil.

Mrs. Carlisle and her daughter lived in a very quiet
neighbourhood, though their tiny house was situated
at no great distance from the more fashionable
quarters of London. Thus the girls met neai'ly every
day, and grew through constant association to take a
genuine interest in each other's atfairs.

Since Eric Desmond's return from America, nothing
definite had been arranged in regard to his wedding.
He had come home full of the hope that Sybil would
at once and forever renounce her aspirations after
public fame and be content to marry and settle down
quietly, as his wife; but before many days had elapsed
he perceived that the old fever was fttill strong upon
her, though he noted to her credit that she strove hard
to crush it down to a certain extent. It was a great
pity that two people who really loved each other very
deeply indeed should be thus wrenched apart by
means of their strongest sentiments.

Eric was a man of most dogmatic principles and,
even at the sacrifice of all he held dear on earth,

The Experiment Is Begun*

i6i

rreat

very

|t by

iarth,

would not give way in this particular instance; whilst
Sybil, aglow with the fire of enthusiasm, and having
been brought up in easy-goin^ laxity, taught to regard
art as supreme and publicity as quite compatible
with respectability, could not at all understand his
idea that art was for artists of the Bohemian world
alone, and that a public career destroyed all the
sweetness and all the womanliness in a girl's nature,
rendering her totally unfit for the daily avocations of
life.

One afternoon the glorious spring sunshine was flood-
ing all the world with brightness, and nature, warmed
by its friendly glances, burst into a grand revelr}'^ of
life, sending forth myriads of tiny buds to celebrate
the season of awakening. Uraala was seated in Mrs.
Carlisle's pretty drawing room, her furs thrown aside,
and a rosy colour staining her cheeks. Sybil lay
back in a low basket-chair, her hands clasped idly in
her lap, whilst her mother sat placidly knitting, an
occupation in which the old lady indulged at all times
and in all places.

" I wish you had been there last night to hear him,
Ursula," said Sybil. " I can never tell you how beauti-
ful it was. You have to hear the man himself play, to
understand what the perfection of his touch is."

" You enjoyed the concert, then ?"

"Enjoyed it? I should think so. All the music
was good, but Sarasarte was like one inspired. His
rendering of the ' D Minor ' was magnificent."

162

Hypnotized ?

**It must be a wonderful thing to make music
which can hold the attention of hundreds of people,"
chimed in Mrs. Carlisle.

Sybil bent forward. " It is the most enthralling sen-
sation one can know. To feel that you and your vio-
lin together are making sounds sweet as an angel's
song, that the harmonies are floating upward in a
surging mass, now crashing with the excess of {)Ower,
now trembling like stars just lost in the light of day,
— softly caressing as they fade away in a low kiss of
pain, — sobbing as if fraught with all mortal woe —
Oh ! it is glorious ; nothing on earth can equal it," and
the girl's features quivered as she spoke thus ecstati-
cally of her beloved art.

So engrossed were the three occupants of the room,
that Eric had opened the door and stood on the thres-
hold unperceived. Only when Sybil ceased speakinii:
did he come forward to greet them all with his usua 1
slow courtesy.

The girl sprang up, and flushed uneasily ; she hated
to be caught rhapsodizing by her fiance, for the
simple reason that she knew how he looked down on
all such conversation and called it rubbish, so she com-
menced hastily to turn the talk into other channels.
But Eric was in no humour to be led hither and
thither, either conversationally or otherwise ; he was
in a distinctly aggressive mood and was feeling very
over-done. Now, when a man is tired, and just a wee
bit out of temper besides, he will invariably rake up

The Experiment Is Begun*

163

lateel
the

rn on
com-
mels.

was
very
la wee
le up

some old grievance, and wave it defiantly in his com-
panion's face ; not because he has any paiticular rea-
son for so doing, but merely because he wants to have
a good grumble.

With an abrupt jerk, Desmond interrupted Sybil's
flow of commonplace remarks by saying :

" What were you talking about when I came in just
now ? "

" Sarasarte,'' replied the girl briefly.

" He did play well last night. I have never enjoyed
a concert more," admitted her lover. " But then it is
his vocation," he added with a touch of superiority.

" If I could play as he does, I should ask for nothing
more on earth," said Sybil.

" But you do play beautifully, dear ; what further
do you want ? " rejoined Eric. " There is no one to
whom I would so gladly listen. In private," he added.

" Now please do not start the old discussion. No
good ever comes of it and, besides, it would not be
very entertaining for Ursula," replied Sybil, who felt
in no humour to travel over debatable ground.

Her friend smiled. She had heard the question
worried out before.

" Miss Harlowe agrees with my opinions, I think,"
said Desmond, " so I should have an ally on the sub-
ject for, like me, I am sure she prefers the quiet pools
to the mad mill-race of life. Do you not?" turning
to Ursula.

But then I am not clever like

Sybil.

niyseir, yes.

ik:

164

Hypnotized ?

iiiii: liT

iilfii;

" Oh ! now you are hedging."

" Not at all. For me there i nothing but to lead a
peaceful existence. I am only one of the mediocre kind.
But Sybil is different ; she might become famous if
given the opportunity."

"There I differ from you. Notoriety she might
acquire — fame never."

" Eric !" indignantly protested hiajiancde.

" I mean no slight to your music, dearest ; but only
in her home and in the society of her friends can a
true woman shine. Fame is only for the very few,
and ' stars,' unless of the first magnitude, are simply
gazed at, criticised and admired by a host of syco-
pliants in their own world, who are eager to share the
spurious greatness of the clay idols which they them-
selves have set up. Immortal fame is rarely achieved
even by genius."

" If you are going to talk platitudes, I give in," said
Sybil impatiently, " but I cannot see why you should
wish to condemn me to live always at the dead level
of dullness. No, mother, I did not mean that exactly,'
she continued, as Mrs. Carlisle looked up in surprise,
'* but you know how I long to go on the stage, to make
a name for myself with my violin, and it seems so
hard- "

" Can you not be satisfied with the admiration of
those who know and love you, — of your friends and
acquaintances ?" interrupted her mother gently.

•' No, I cannot, aud that is the truth," replied the
girl.

The Experiment Is Begun,

165

of
and

the

Eric looked annoyed, and Ursula heartily wished
herself somewhere else. The atmosphere was growing
oppressive.

" You know my wishes, Sybil. There is no use in
giving the conversation a personal turn," said Des-
mond quietly.

" Everything seems tangled up," replied the girl
wearily. " I want to do one thing, and you want me
to do another, so that I am forever being pulled in one
direction or dragged off in another."

" Our life does seem rather a atory of knots at pres-
ent, little girl."

'• I think any one might envy and try to copy such
great artists as Sarasarte, Paderewski or Paganini,"
said Ursula, by way of helping out her friend.

" Those you mention are all men. Miss Harlowe,"
said Desmond.

" True art is sexless," put in Sybil quickly.

" Now, do not argue any more, — there is a good girl,"
said Eric persuasively.

" Well, I will not if you will promise not to be so
aggravating," she replied.

Desmond laughed. His temper had regained its
customary sunniness, and he plunged forthwith into a
general dissertation on the ground work of true
genius.

The three women listened with varying degrees of
attention. Ursula did not understand all he said, and
was, moreover, torn in two on such occasions by her

I
I

1 66

Hypnotized ?

wm ^

staunch championship of Sybil, and her secret feeling
that Eric's arguments tallied with her own convic-
tions.

" Materialism may be Jin-de-siecle," said Sybil, in
terrupting a long, carefully -worded sentence of
Desmond's, " but it is not art."

" What a formidable antagonist you are ; you never
miss a chance to retaliate," he said, smiling.

" Girls are, evidently, more collected creatures than
you imagine. You constantly talk of the genius of
men, but remember the old fences of prejudice have
been thrown down, and the professions, science and,
above all, art, are now open to women of capable
minds."

" In the nineteenth century, intellect appears to be
king," said Mrs. Carlisle.

" Yes," replied Eric, " and it is brain against brain
in the daily battle."

" Unless for once we take the bit in our teeth, and
bolt, leaving all behind us," remarked Sybil, triumph-
antly.

" You never can count on what a woman will do
next," rejoined her fianch. " They are often more ex-
aggerative than artistic. Look at the modern stage."

" Some artists, of course, follow a wrong path,"
assented Sybil, impartially, " but dramatic intensity
governed by talent is superb."

"Yes, when enacted by a past-master," replied
Eric.

The Experiment Is Begfun*

167

:ain

ll do
ex-
ige.
ith,"
isity

)lied

" Or mistress," interpolated Sybil.

" Women, when they go on the stage, so often act
in a rudderless fashion, and forget the subtle distinc-
tion between power and hysteria," said Desmond.

" I know whom you are thinking of," murmured
Sybil, quizzically.

" Whom ?" inquired her lover, looking nevertheless
rather caught.

" My great admiration, Mrs. Patrick Campbell."

Desmond laughed, but did not deny the accusation.

" I like to see an artist who carries you away with
her and makes you feel that what she is acting is a
reality," continued Sybil.

" That can be done in two ways : by genuine
dramatic strength, and by an excited rendering of
anti-climaxes."

"There are many actresses in London who are
graceful, refined, even delicate in their art," said
Ursula.

" That is true, and all honour to them for it ; but
actresses and artists are of their own world, beings
set apart from our every-day life, and as such to be
admired or condemned."

" Your views are bounded by old traditions, Eric,"
said Mrs. Carlisle.

" And where should we be without traditions ?" he
rejoined earnestly. " Why, they are the basis of all
artistic work as well as the main props of life."

Presently Sybil drew Ursula aside into the bay-

1 68

Hypnotized*

window, for the purpose of exchanginff a few worde
in private with her friend, whilst Eric and Mrs. Car-
lisle continued to keep up a desultory conversation.

" There you see how it is, Ursula," the girl said
tempestuously. "He lays down the law and expects
me to give in entirely."

"Never mind, Sybil. It is only in this one thing,
and even if he appears dictatorial, never let him see
that you find him so. Be true to yourself, dear."

" I love him very deeply, and that is why his oppo-
sition on this point, so near to my heart, hurts me
extremely and destroys a little of the romance of our
engagement." Sybil looked both sad and perplexed.

" All the same be brave and face it boldly. Make
the best of things with that sweet grace you know so
well how to use."

" But how can I help protesting against such whole-
sale dictation, such a crushing of all my day-dreams
and hopes ? "

"Then give them up. Surely, for his sake you
could do much."

" Yes," assented Sybil, doubtfully, " but that would
mean giving up all."

liji,;

CHAPTER VII.

** Give me good proofs of what you have alleged."

— Crown.

** My dear Sir Hugh, why do you not marry your
aunt's charming young friend, Miss Harlowe ? "

Had the ceiling come down upon his devotod head
with a thundering crash, the young man to whom
these words were addressed could not have been more
utterly taken aback.

" It takes two to make a bargain, Mrs. Osborne, and
perhaps Miss Harlowe rany have other projects in
view," he replied, with studied deliberation.

" Just as it' you could not make any girl fall in love
with you if you wanted to." This was said in her
most effective manner.

" Really, Mrs. Osborne, you overrate my capabilities.
Miss Harlowe is a charming but very sensible girl,
and is the rightful guardian of her own heart."

" But then, my dearest Sir Hugh, it would be such
a delightful match. You have wealth and position ;
she has beauty — at least so many think, though I
have heard several aver that she is a trifle — just a
trifle — hourgeoise," with a swift glance at the baronet.

" Indeed," replied Galbraith coldly.

" By the way, you know her so well, doubtless you

can tell me who her relations are."
12

■BKSHflffil

170

Hypnotized ?

|l I'lilf:

" Most delightful people, I assure you."

" Yes, but who are they, and what part of England
do they come from ? " with persistent curiosity.

" They are friends of mine, and live in one of the
Midland counties," replied Sir Hugh nonchalantly.

" And their name ? " eagerly.

" Harlowe, of course," with a quiet smile.

" Oh ! " was Mrs. Osborne's only rejoinder.

She was baffled, and saw plainly that it would be
very difficult to get any further information out of
Galbraith. Nevertheless, she continued :

" But tell me who she is, dear Sir Hugh ? People
do not drop from the clouds, as it were."

" Oh ! ah ! I thought I had already told you. Miss
Harlowe is the daughter of Mr. John Harlowe."

" Yes, but surely you know something more about
her than that."

" I am a sadly ignorant man, I fear. But I can
tell you this much, also : Miss Harlowe is extremely
beautiful."

" Of course ; but then one likes to know whom one
is talking to, however charming and lovely they may
be."

'* As I have just remarked, she is the daughter of
Mr. Harlowe, of Herefordshire. More than that I do
not know."

" I never heard of the family. There are Harlowes
in the south. Very good people ? " interrogatively.

" Are there ? "

The Experiment Is Begfun.

171

[le

be
. ot

ople

Miss

,bout

can

tmely

one
may

Iter of
[tl (io

rlowes

iely.

" Yes. Have you ever met them ? "

'* No, never."

A pause. Then Mrs. Osborne started on another
tack.

" A number of men seem to admire the girl very
much. Perhaps one of them may prove lucky enough
to win her for his wife. Mr. Comstock, for instance,
seems quite epris in that quarter."

This was said more by way of drawing out Sir Hugh
than for any other definite purpose ; but, not deem-
ing that it required an answer, he remained silent, and
Mrs. Osborne, perceiving with her quick eyes that
the suggestion did not in the least disturb the young
man's serenity, concluded that he really was not par-
ticularly interested in Ursula.

She had called on Lady Brandram that afternoon
with the express purpose of finding out something
about the girl of whom everyone was talking, and on
learning that the mistress of the house was " not at
home " had almost forced her way into the drawing-
room in order to (as she explained it) " pay a visit to
poor, dear Sir Hugh." The latter was now fast re-
covering from his accident, and had at his aunt's ur-
gent request come to stay in Belgrave-square.

He was lying on the sofa. A soft light from the
rose-shaded windows flooded the room, and there was
nothing to break the silence save the monotonous tick,
tick, of a small ormulo clock.

Into thifej soothing atmosphere came Mrg. Osborne,

172

Hypnotized ?

bringing with her a draught of malicious amiability,
and instantly Sir Hugh was on the defensive. She
was 80 curious about other people's affiiirs, so meddle-
some, and yet so sweet withal, that her conversation
reminded him of nothing so much as a chocolate
cream. And then, too, her talent for conversational
embroidery was enormous, and the perpetual occupa-
tion of her leisure hours.

At present her mind was running persistently on
one topic, namely : " Who was Ursula Harlowe ? "
Now, when Mrs. Osborne laid herself out to discover
anything, no power in heaven or earth, no amount of
snubbing or coldness, could balk her. With an ever-
green smile and a kittenish manner, she questioned
and insinuated, until by sheer bluff or point-blank
attack she had gained the coveted knowledge.

That some mystery was attached to the sudden ap-
pearance of the new beauty in London society she felt
convinced, even more so since her chat with Sir Hugh,
who she saw was determined to avoid all direct an-
swers to her questions.

The baronet meantime had not been having a very
happy half -hour. He knew his visitor's little ways
of old, and steeled himself to bear much ; but
when he perceived that she was playing a deeper game
than usual, and that the fabric of his scheme was
threatened from such an unexpected quarter, he sum-
moned all his wits to circumvent her and was hv
turns cynical and caustic. But Mrs. Osborne was far

The Experiment Is Begfun.

'73

10
0-

on
ite
lal
pa-

)ver
it of
iver-
oned
lank

ap-
felt

Lugb,
, an-

very
way^

but
game

waf^
sum-
as by
as fav

too pachydermatous a person to pay any attention to
such trifles.

One little fact especially attracted her notice during
the conversation, namely ; that though Sir Hugh very
calmly regarded the idea of any other man marrying
(Jrsula, he winced perceptibly every time she alluded
to the possibility that he himself might fall in love with
the girl. With quick intuition she felt certain that
some secret reason underlay the dislike he evinced to
having his name coupled with that of Miss Harlowe.
And she was right, for much as Galbraith had vaunted
that Ursula was fit to wed with any man in London
the notion of making her his own wife came to him
in very different guise. Such a thought was prepos-
terous, and made him shrink as from something that
jarred lipon his more refined sensibilities.

" I must really say good-bye now, dear Sir Hugh,"
chirrupped Mrs. Osborne. " I promised Mrs. Quentin
not to be late at her garden party, and I see it is al-
ready four o'clock."

" You have some distance to go," he remarked
politely.

" Yes, it is not an unpleasant journey though, at
this season of the year. I shall, of course, see Lady
Betty there. Any messages ? "

" My love. Between cousins, you know, that is
always allowalle," he replied.

*' Oh ! quite. Only," archl}-, " there are cousins —
and cousins. Good-bye," and with a beaming smile
Mrs. Osborne vanished.

T74

Hypnotized ?

Sir Hugh closed his eyes. Peace fell again upon the
room. " I have given her a Roland for her Oliver
this time," he muttered. "Confound the fiendish little
busy-body ! She may do more liarm yet with her pry-
ing tendencies."

The baronet had felt a little awkward on hh first
meeting with Ursula the day he arrived in Belgrave-
square, for he had not seen her since that awful after-
noon when he lay 111 and she had come to him so
strangely ; but her complete unconsciousness of any
untoward circumstances helped to put him speedily
at his ease. For his own part he entertained not the
smallest doubt that the girl was a somnambulist.

At first he was undecided whether or not to inform
Lady Brandram of what had happened, but on reflec-
tion determined to keep silence, for, as he justly
argued, how could he tell his aunt the story without
implicating the girl in a most unpleasant manner ?

To be thus thrown into daily companionship with
the man she loved so passionately in secret, tried
Ursula not a little, yet at the same time, the present*
in which he had so large a share, was very sweet to
her.

When Mrs. Osborne reached Blackheath, she found
a vast crowd of well-dressed people wandering up and
down Mrs. Quentin's grounds, which looked fresh and
green in their new spring garb. One of the first
persons Mrs. Osborne saw was Lady Betty.

" My sweetest girl, how charming you look this

The Experiment Is Begfun.

175

tound
and
and
first

this

afternoon. I have just left Sir Hugh Galbraith, with
whom I have had .such a delightful chat. He sent
his love to you," with a simper, " and so many mes-
sages. All tlie while I was there, the dear fellow pos-
itively could do nothiiii^ but rave about Miss Har-
lowe. Ah ! I see her over there," gazing at Ursula
through her tortoise-shell lorgnette. " He seems to
admire tall girls immensely."

" That is meant for a dig at me," thought Betty,
but she only said:

" Is it not nice that he is so much better ?" and sipped
her tea in a meditative way.

A low-church curate of the croquet-playing order
here claimed her attention, and Mrs, Osborne moved
away in search of pastures new. Presently she met
Mr. Comstock, upon whom she beamed effusively, and
to whom she told three untruths in four minutes.
Tlie kind-hearted man endured martyrdom heroically
for a while, but was wandering off into the land of
his own thoughts when Mrs. Osborne brought him up
with a jerk.

" You must promise me not to repeat it, but they
say Sir Hugh is going to marry Miss Harlow e."

" What?" gasped Comstock.

" Hush, do not speak so loud. It is not announced
yet, but everyone thinks it will be a match, and
really I begin to believe it myself. This afternoon he
has done notliing but rave to me about her."

The man possessed too much self-control to make

176

Hypnotized ?

a fool of himself in public, but his cheery face looked
stern and lined, as he replied :

" This is indeed news to me, and — are you sure that
it is true?"

" One can never be quite sure of anything in
this world," replied Mrs. Osborne airily.

" I had no idea of such a thing," said Comstock. He
looked ten years older than when he entered Mrs.
Quen tin's gates.

Mrs. Osborne for once seemed a little frightened.
She saw how seriously the man had taken her gossip
to heart, and promptly began t<i shield herself.

" Of course one can never tell whether these ru-
mours are reliable or not, — people do exaggerate so —
but everyone seems to fancy they are in love with one
another."

" This, then, is the reason why she will not acce|»t
my advances," he muttered to himself.

" I only trust that Miss Harlowe will be very
happy. She is a girl I have the greatest respect for,"
he added aloud, at tlie same time makinof a move-
ment in the direction of his hostess.

" What ? Going so soon ?" enquired Mrs. Osborne.
" I am sorry ; the day is lovely, and the grounds quite
exquisite in this sunshine."

" Yes, I am sorry too, but I have an appointment,"
and so saying the man who had just received a smart
blow, bowed with stately courtesy to his tormentor
and went home to think over what he had heard.

The Experiment Is Begfun.

177

je\>t

bve-

)rne.
iuite

So thus Mrs. Osborne by her artistic "embroidery"
managed to put a temporary atop to David Com-
stock's matrimonial attentions, though why the wo-
man wanted to do this, she herself did not wait to con-
sider, A general desire to make mischief was prob-
ably at the bottom of it, and, also, she was beginning
to positively dislike Ursula, solely because she could
not find out anything about her.

The buzz of voices sounded cheerful. Every avail-
able space in the garden seemed alive with human
beings, talking, laughing, and joking together, dis-
cussing and criticising their neighbours, to the accom-
paniment of tea and ices.

" Why, there is Mr. Desmond standing just beside
the tulip-tree, talking to that pretty girl in brown,"
said Lady Ruthven, a matron of thirty summers, with
a Napoleonic nose, to her companion, who chanced to
be Lady Brandram. " Do you know when he and
that girl who plays the violin so exquisitely, are
going to be married ?"

"You mean Sybil Carlisle. The wedding is to
take place soon, I believe.''

" I pity her." said Lady Ruthven ; " he is such a
good man — so very tiresome, you know."

" Personally I think a great deal of Eric Desmond,"
said Lady Brandraui, firing up in defence of her
nephew's chum. " He and Hugh are fast friends."

" Indeed ! Perhaps I should not express an opinion
then, but all the same I am sure he will make a very

178

Hypnotized ?

11 i

ft:

exacting husband. He gets such alarming periodical
fits of moral house-cleaning, and tries to make a clean
sweep of our little vagabond sins."

" He is an energetic reformer, certainly, but I do
not think his ideas morbid."

"Oh ! for the matter of that, everything is morbid
nowadays. Have you read Lady Jeune's latest
strictures on the smart set ? They are vastly

amusmg.

" No," replied Lady Brandram, " I have not seen
the article."

" I have," put in Lady Betty, who, having shunted
the curate, came up to join her aunt.

" And so have 1," echoed Marmaduke, on the other
side.

" To hear you talk, one would really think you were
a well-informed person," remarked Betty, snubbingly.

" So I am. I know everything, or pretend I do,
which passes for the same thing in society."

Lady Ruthven laughed.

" You are never at a loss, Mr. Myddleton."

" Never," he assented modestly. " I must talk, you
know, and if I say a hetise, what matter ? Peo[>le
smile all the same."

" Mrs. Quentin always has such a grotesque collec-
tion of people at her garden parties," said Lady Ruth-
ven, scanning through a single iye-glass the grou}>sof
men and women congregated under the trees. " Just
look at Mrs. Osborne in that audacious dress. What

iical
lean

I do

Dr\)id
atest
-astly

; seen

lunted

i other

u were
binji^ly-
I do,

|lk, you
Peopl^i

coUec-
Rutb-

roU}>s of
" Just
What

The Expcfimcnt Is Begun, 179

could have impelled her to wear such a youthful gar-
ment ?"

" No doubt she thinks it charming and a trifle
French," said Marmaduke, who never forgot to have
a hit at his dearest foe.

" Who is that in the Leghorn hat covered with
roses ? She looks like an enclosed flower garden," re-
marked Lady Brandram.

" That is Miss Tatton," replied Ursula. " I was talk-
ing to her just now. She comes from some place in
Surrey."

" Looks rural enough to give one hay fever," inter-
polated Marmaduke, " and her boots, — do look at
them," — turning to Lady Brandram. *' She must have
feet like one of Burne-Jones* virgins."

" Why does not some one write an epic on boots ?
It would be such a wide field for fancy," said Lady
Ruthven. " There are boots that are dreams, boots
that are poetry itself — "

■' And boots that are hobnailed," said Marmaduke in
a sepulchral tone.

" I wish you would not always consider it your duty
to romp in and say something startling," laughed
Betty.

" To make a fool of myself generally is a passionate
intuition with me : I cannot help it," he replied
superbly, " but even I may never hope to equal in folly
that being who is now on the very apex of triumph."

" Whom do you mean, Marmaduke ?" inquired Lady
Brandram curiously.

i8o

Hypnotized ?

y t
P

file

IS 4if

I ill;

"« '' ■

6 ''B^^-'

;*(*

" The Forward Female !" with a tlourish of his hand
towards Mrs. Quentin.

" Take care ; she may hear you," said Betty warn-

ingly.

" I do not care," defiantly. " Desmond, I appeal to
you," as Eric crossed the lawn and came up to them,
" is not the New Woman worthy of being put up in
pickle, and preserved as a horrid example for future
generations ?"

" To make a real success of it, you would have to
embalm all her theories as well ; they are by far the
most important part of her."

** Except her clothes, dear boy," replied Marmaduke.
" You forget her knickerbockers."

" If only they would be a little moderate," sighed
Lady Brandram, " one might tolerate them more easi-
ly ; but really so many of them consider it actually
clever to be as daring as possible."

" Women whose conversation is as loose as their
bloomers, and who think it smart to say indecent
things, are not women at all," said Eric sternly. " By
their own showing they are unsexed."

" Did I not tell you he was a new broom ?" whisper-
ed Lady Ruthven into Lady Brandram's ear.

J' I ^i-^^'
11 m

■I, m

if,:,r.i

i m-

baud

varn-

ial to

them,

up in

Euture

ave to
iar the

aduke.

sighed
•e easi-
stually

their
idecent
"By

Ihisper-

CHAPTER VIII.

"The world with calumny abounds,
The whitest virtue, slander wounds ;
There are whose joy is night and day
To talk a character away."

'• Amid the golden gifts which Heaven
Has left, like portions of its light, on earth
None hath such influence as music hath."

The afternoon had been unusually hot for the middle
of June. Women moved languorously and men fepoke
in lowered voices; for heat in London is distinctly
trying.

Lady Brandram ordered the windows to be thrown
wide open. If the smuts chose to come in, they could
do so, but air she must and would have. So the golden
sunbeams streamed over ever^'thing and danced a mad
reel on the Dutch tulips and masses of geraniums
with which the room was filled, turning all to orange
and flame-colour with their shining touch.

Mrs. Quentin and Lady Betty had just made their
appearance on the scene, fashionably late for tea as
usual, and both of them in excellent spirits. What
affinity bound the advanced young matron to the es-
sentially worldly little butterfly, people were at a loss
to imagine. Possibly their very antipodality account-
ed in a great measure for their friendship. If asked
why she liked Mrs. Quentin so much, Lady Betty

l82

Hypnotized ?

would reply that she preferred a woman with some
style about her, even if that style were violently mas-
culine, to an everyday sort of person who was totally
devoid of chic, indulged in JiOW Church proclivities,
or wore lar^je, un trimmed hats.

This latter point was a subject of acute abhorrence
to her. A hat, she always contended, was the index
to the character of the woman who wore it, and was
frivolous, beautiful, poetic, or that most damning of all
things — commonjilace — according to its owner ; but a
person who indulged in a straw head-gear of the un-
garnished and shady order, must, she insisted, be aggres-
sively rcvspectable — and that meant very dull.

*' This season appears to be singularly devoid of
match-making," remarked Mrs. Osborne in confiden-
tial tones to Lady Brandram, as she munched a maca-
roon with keen enjoyment.

" Yes, perhaps so. Men are really getting so blast,
and so fond of their clubs and their bachelor luxuries,
that unless a girl has money or remarkable beauty
she runs a poor chance of winning a husband."

*' It is such women as that," indicating Mrs. Quen-
tin, who was enjoying herself hugely, and making the
staid Mr. Comstock nearly expire with laughter over
some racy stories, well told, " who disgust many men
with matrimony. They say she positively ill-treats
her children — and as to that unfortunate little hus-
band of hers — "

"But, my dear Mrs. Osborne, 1 scarcely think such

The Experiment Is Begfun*

183

Home
mas-
(tally
/ities,

Tence
index
d was
r of all
but a
,he un-
iggres-

void of
utiden-
maca-

\o blast,
ixuries,
beauty

Quen-
^iug the
t,er over

ly men
il- treats

ble hus-

ik such

a thing can be true, I have often seen her with
Gladys and Mary, and believe me — "

"Of course," interrupting playl'ully, "I know no-
thing at all about it ; but people will talk, you see,
just as they do about Mrs. Wynton. Not that I would
repeat it for the world ; she is so delightful, 1 think :
but—"

" How do you do. Lady Branrlram ? " — and Maruia-
duke Myddleton, smiling as ever, shook hands witli
the elder lady, thus i>utting a colon to Mrs. Osborne's
discreet inuendoes.

" We were just speaking of your sex," remarked
his hostess, " and saying how lew men seem to marry
nowadays."

" Why do you not start the fashion, Mr. Myddle-
ton ? " enquired Mrs. Osborne, gushingly. " There are
so many [)retty girls of our acquaintance waiting to
be wooed and won."

" Mrs. Osborne," replied Marmaduke, " I am no
coward, but my bump of reverence is largely developed
— at least, so the phrenologists tell me — and when I
think of that creature of almost classicfame — a mother-
in-law — my reverence turns to awe and takes the con-
crete form of a wild desire to keep at a safe distance."

" What nonsense ! Because you marry a girl you
need not also marry her whole family."

" I believe that young men in London think of no-
thing but their own selfish comforts and amusements,"
said Lady Biandram seriously, " and would rather

184

Hypnoti^xd ?

#p'

spend an evening at the club, or in some music-hall,
listening to a Judic or an Yvette Guilbert, than in the
society of girls of their own station in whose presence
they must put on their manners."

" A form of dress the men of our time especially ig-
nore," said Mrs. Quentin, overhearing the last remark.

" They say the New Man will have to wear petti-
coats," rejoined Marmaduke solemnly, " and then they
will effectually cover up any tatters in his under^far-
ment of manners, just as women's skirts are so often
employed as a covering for insolence."

" In what way ? " demanded Mrs. Quentin.

" I mean that they often use the accident of their
sex to excuse intolerable impertinence ; for do we not
all know how abominably rude one woman can be to
another ? " Marmaduke spoke hotly — why, no one
exactly understood ; it was so unlike him to take any-
thing in earnest.

Lady Brandram felt the strain in the air, and quickly
reverted to a former topic. " I do not think men are
so degenerated that we need class them all together,
and then condemn them with sweeping assertions,"
she said, in the broad, conciliatory tone people adopt
when filling up a conversational breach.

" Or if they have sunk so low in the scale of intel-
lect and power, why do you up-to-date ladies try to
prove yourselves their equals ? Surely you should
have a higher ideal than to rival the very beings you
yourselves have torn down from their pedestals and

iifiiiite

hall,
a the
jence

Ly ig-

nark.
petti-
i they

often

f their
we not

be to
ao one
e any-

uickly
[en are
rether,
•tions,"
adopt

intel-
try to

ishould
fs you

lis and

The Experiment Is Begfun* 185

trampled under foot," said Marmaduke, pointedly ad-
drewsiug Mrs. Quentin. But tiiat young person of
stalwart notions merely shrugged her shuulders and
laughed.

•' VTou could not understand our creed," she replied,
" any more than I can understand why you do not
marry."

"I'll tell you the reason of that," he said, relapsing
into his old, teasing manner. " I love girls, pretty
girls, you know, and when they first come out they
love me, too — the dear little things, with innocent
blue eyes, just like for^ct-me-nots — and I never do
forget them ; but they " — and here he heaved a pro-
found sigh — " forget me. By the following season my
child like forget-me-nots have turnerl into gorgeous
yellow blossoms, and, by a process nnknown in horti-
culture, become marigolds. Who am I that I should
attempt to vie with an American millionaire, or a
toothless earl whose rent-roll is as long as ."

" Your tongue, Marmaduke. lieally you talk more
nonsense in five minutes than any sane person would
in a week," said Lady Betty.

At that moment Sir Hugl) came across the room,
and joined the group around the t a-table,

" Betty," he s lid, " I want } our advice about some
tahledux I hav*j! been roped in for."

" How delightful ! \\\m is getting them up ? "

" Mrs. Ramsay. She means to combine them with
a dance."
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Hypnotized }

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" What part arc you going to take i " enquired Mrs.
Osborne.

" Several, I believe, and I want some assistance in
the matter of choosing my costumes. One picture is
to be out of Lohengrin — rather a difficult period in
dress to imitate."

" But very effective if properly carried out," put in
Lady Brandram.

" Yes, there is just the rub. Can we carry it out
consistently ? Betty, have you any portraits of the
preux chevalier in question ? "

An animated discussion ensued, of armour and
plumes, silk cloaks and legendary boots, until present-
ly Sir Hugh drew his cousin aside, and together they
talked of many things. Ursula and Mr. Comstock,
standing ; in the embrasure of a window, were chatting
to all appearances as serenely as well-bred [)eople
usually do in society, but in each of their hearts a
veritable tempest was secretly raging.

Ursula, full of agonized jealously, watched Sir Hugh
and Betty. How they laughed and — yes flirted,
for the girl was an arrant little witch, and could no
more help flirting, even with her cynical cousin, than
she could help living. Once, Ursula saw her put her
hand gently on Sir Hugh's arm (she could not know
that it was only the pose of a picture they were dis-
cussing), and the act sent a spasm of pain through her
aching heart. For a moment she thought she must
go, then and there, to interrupt them, but pride re-

The Experiment Is Begfun*

T87

irs.

5 in
e is
i in

lit in

■j out
i the

• and
esent-
p they
stock,
latting
)eople
larts a

I Hugh

lirted,

lid no

I, than

it her

know
t-e dis-

?h her

must

Ide re-

strained her ; and so she stayed where she was, grasp-
inpr one hand with the other till the pain of the clench
grew almost intolerable. Somehow she gloried in the
hurt thus self-inflicted. " What is physical pain to
heart pain ? " she asked herself.

And the man by her side — he, too, was suffering in
a ([uiet, dignified way of his own, for he fully believ-
ed that Ursula was lost to him forever, and the know-
ledge had struck him with a mortal chill.

What a curious thing society is after all, and what
consummate actors and actresses men and women are,
more especially the latter, for with breaking hearts
brave women will often pursue their thorny way
svTiiling to cover a hideous pain, and with soft, tender
words cloak a death-wound.

Suddenly, with the quick reaction of a nature un-
trained in the narrow ways of conventionality, Ur-
sula turned with a dazzling smile to Mr. Comstock,
and, abandoning commonplace topics, talked as a wo-
man only does when her whole soul is in her subject.
Here was distinct encouragement, and what man, be
he sixteen or sixty, will refuse to return such " sweet
discourse of eyes and lips ? " Feverishly Ursula
played her part, her one thought being to show utter
indifference to wliat was going on at the other side
of the room, and recking little in her jealousy how she
led on the man of whom she was — hardly semi-con-
sciously — only making a tool to gain her own end.
But the fire soon burnt down, as spurious fires w^ill,

•a .''1
lit

1 88 Hypnotized?

and her better nature asserted itself. It was foreign
to her upright character to indulge in the con-
temptible game of playing off one man against an-
other to the real injury of either, and presently the
girl relapsed into her normal manner, and so deliber-
ately threw cold water over Mr. Comstock's freshly
raised hopes.

There was another person in the room who had
been taking note of the couple seated on the sofa.
Mrs. Osborne's ubiquitous lorgnette had been turned
upon them more than once.

" What a charming contrast your nephew and Lady
Betty make," she remarked vivaciously to Lady Bran-
dram, " She is so winsome and fairy-like, and he as
dignified as a Spanish hidalgo."

An audible chuckle from Marmaduke caused her
to look round sharply, only to meet two serious
brown eyes set in a face devoid of any trace of
mirth.

" Betty is a dear little thing," replied Lady Bran-
dram.

" Sir Hugh admires Miss Harlowe very much, does
he not ? " enquired Mrs. Osborne.

" Indeed, yes, but then we all do that," said Lady
Brandram enthusiastically ; " so his admiration of her
is quite in the fashion, you see."

"Though anyone who had a prior claim upon his af-
fections might reasonably object to such openly ex-
pressed devotion to another girl."

The Experiment Is Begfun*

189

had
sofa,
irned

Lady
Bran-
he as

d her
,erious
ace of

Bran-

i, does

Lady
of her

his af-
ily ex-

" Yes, that is very true."

" I think it might bo as well if he did not rave
quite so much over this new divinity. People are so
ill-natured, you know, and will make remarks, and
really anyone with half an eye can see how great
his admiration (I might even use a stronger term) is
for Miss Harlowe and Mr. Desmond."

With a terrific clash a tall Japanese screen went
over just behind the two ladies, bringing down a table
as it fell, and smashing to atoms several pieces of
bric-a-brac.

"Oh ! Lady Brandr<am, I am so sorry. It was all
my clumsiness," and Sybil Carlisle stood there among
the debris with ashen face and trembling limbs.

The girl had heard every word of the last few sen-
tences uttered between Mrs. Osborne and Lady Bran-
dram, nnd the final mention of Desmond's name had
given her the whole false impression that th^ir con-
versation referred to Eric instead of, as it really did,
to Sir Hugh Galbraith.

" Good gracious, Sybil, is that you ? My dear
child, have you just come in ? Never mind the
china," she added, as she saw the girl's look of dismay.
" What do a few vases matter ? Hugh, ring for Wil-
lets to clear the mess away."

" Dear Miss Carlisle, you look as if you had receiv-
ed quite a shock," said Mrs. Osborne, with a honeyed
smile. Why do society fiends always inflict their
worst stabs with a simper or a caress ? Mrs. Osborne

I'lEMS

1 9©

Hypnotized ?

Hill

had rightly guessed that the cause of the girl's abrupt
entrance was the accidental coupling together of Des-
mond's name with that of Ursula Barlowe.

" Yes," replied Sybil coldly ; " I have had a shock ;
but it is over now, thank you."

" We all get them at times," remarked Mrs. Osborne
airily, " but it does not matter much, unless they are
of personal moment."

The delicate insinuation conveyed in this speech was
not lost upon the girl, and she turned with a quiver-
ing gesture to Lady Brandram.

" Pray forgive me," she said, as a child might have
begged pardon for some fault committed in passionate
self-defence.

" Do not think of it again. It does not signify in
the least. Have some tea, dear. Ursula, get Sybil a
hot cup. You look as if you neeaed it," she added
with a motherly glance at her.

" Yes, I should like some." But when she got it,
the warm fluid seemed to choke her, and she put down
the cup still half-full.

During the few moments that the girl sat there,
silently sipping her tea while the others fell back
into the various conversations which her abrupt en-
trance had interrupted, thoughts thronged into her
mind of little instances when Eric had appeared espe-
cially struck by Ursula's beaut}^ — times when he had
spoken of her in warmest praise. Fiercely Sybil re-
membered them all. This was what they had portend-

The Experiment Is Begun.

191

Des-

ock ;

)orne
y are

1 was
liver-

, have
ionate

lify in
ybil a
added

rot it,
down

there,

back
Ipt en-
Ito her
espe-

le had
Ibil re-

)rtend-

ed. He, her lover and affianced husband, admired an-
other girl so openly, so deeply, that society talked free-
ly of his attachment to her. It was horrible. What
had Mrs. Osborne said ? — that " anyone who had a
prior claim on him might fairly object to his " — oh —
it was too dreadful to repeat even to herself. She
turned sick at the mere recollection of that conversa-
tion which she had accidentally overheard. Here
was an end to his undivided love for her. The blow
was all the more keen, because however much they
differed on the one point of her entering upon a pro-
fessional career, in everything else she and Eric had
ever been of one mind, and above all other qualities
in him, Sybil had most respected his strict moral rec-
titude of purpose and unflinching code of honour.

Now there was nothing for it but to believe him
guilty of treachery towards himself. The thought
carried with it a sting sharper than an arrow, turning
to bitterness and gall all faith in the man she had
promised to marry. It hurt her pride, too, oh! so sorely,
that he should have made her the subject of pitying
comment to the world, and, have continued to accept
her love when — ah !— she remembered it all now :
the scene at Mrs. Verner's ball, his agitation on first
seeing Ursula, his abstraction later on, — and — he had
admitted having known the girl before. Could he by
any possibility have once been Ursula's lover? Oh ! yes,
she understood it all at last. How blind she had been.
— What did it matter ? — What did she care ?

r..

i
1

^„

■i

I HI

192

Hypnotized ?

[It \

" Sybil," called Lady Betty softly across the room,
" when you have finished your tea do play something
for us, will you ? "

"Leave her alone, Betty," said Lady Brand ram ; "she
looks white and shaken stiJl from that stupid acci-
dent."

Sybil glanced up at them with a smile that was
born of wounded sensibilities.

"I will play in a few minutes," she said. "That
awkwardness of mine made me feel quite nervous for
once, but I am all right again now. Will you lend me
your violin?" turning to Sir Hugh.

" With the greatest pleasure," he answered, " It's
only use is to be of service to you."

" Why do you so seldom play yourself ? " she asked,
as they turned towards the piano.

He shrugged his shoulders lightly.

" Will you play an accompaniment for me now ? "
she continued.

" Certainly, if it is anything I know."

"Suppose we try this Nocturne in G. ; somehow, I
feel like playing it."

He glanced curiously at her as she spoke. Her face
was still very white, and nndorneath her eyes lay
dark purple shadows. He fancied, too, that he saw
a new expressi<»n in them, but had no reason to sup-
pose that it was outiaged pride which looked at him
through those windows of her soul.

Tenderly lifting the violin to her shoulder and rais-

<■ I

The Experiment Is Begfun.

193

00m,

"she
acci-

:, was

That
us for
[id me

" It's

asked,

lOW f

[10 w, 1

ler face
|es lay

le saw
[o sup-

bt him

Id rais-

ing the bow, she stood waitinj^ for — she knew not

what. " Eric ! " It was the irrepressible cry of a

bruised heart. With a touch so liirht that at first it
seemed to be a feeling rather than a sound, she drew
out the long, low notes of the prelude — then the
waves of rhytlimical measure swelled and came gently
rolling in, each over-lapping the other ; whilst cad-
ences, sad like the moan of the sea, sang, as it were, a
soft melody to them.

Sir Hugh was an artist by temperament, and in-
stinctively he caught the inflection of something new,
something divine, in Sybil's playing that afternoon ;
and, with quick responsiveness, he followed her every
mood in his accompaniment.

With a sharp crash of the bow across the strings,
she plunged into a fresh theme. Her face was pale,
her eyes gleamed, a very passion of nervous enthusi-
asm possessed her, and swayed her lightly. Never
before had she played like this. Her lips were
parted in a smile, unsteady, unmeant. Like a simoon
laden with all the intoxication of the glowing, crim-
son East, passion-breathing, almost violent in its
musical colouring was this Allegro Appasswnata.

Spell-bound the men and women listened to her as
she played out her soul to them. It was a revelation,
and yet they did not quite like it, because they did
not understand it. On she went with maddening rap-
ture, rushing through the brilliant passages at a speed
almost terrifying in its unrestrained pace. Was she a

194

Hypnotized ?

musician, or only an emotional cyclone ? Her hearers
were holding their hreath in the anarchy of sound
which encompassed them ; they were bewildered, fas-
cinated, and yet repelled, by its bizarrerie.

Only Ursula, whose nerves had been on the rack
for the past two hours, comprehended its full meaning:
for was not she experiencing a similar unbridled pain.
Like li(}uid lire the weird musical plirases scorched
her brain and ran through all her veins with the mad
intoxication of vodka.

A wild, discordant harmony, an Ibsenish culminat-
ing point — and then silence so absolutely dead that
it fell like a X)a\\ of Cimmerian darkness upon the
wrought-up lib^mers.

Sybil let her arms drop listlessly at her sides, her
violin in one hand, her bow in the other., and made no
movement to leave her position beside the piano.

" Thank you," said Sir Hugh, as he rose from the
music stool, and at the sound of his voice the spell
that bound the audience was loosened, and they came
back to earth.

The usual thanks were tendered to the girl, the
usual expressions of pleasure indulged in, and then
amid a score of leave-takings and hand-shakings and
other ridiculous customs of this supposedly enlighten-
ed era, Sybil Carlisle slippnd quietly away to her own
home, bearing the remembrance of past illusions, and
passionately forming the deep resolve to throw every-
thing else to the winds and live for her art alone.

The Experiment Is Begfun*

195

jarers
sound
1, fas-
rack
ming:
L pain.
>rche(l
e niad

minat-
i that
Dn the

A week later she had obtained an engagement with
a good concert company to tour in the provinces, and
Eric Desmond had received a letter in which she
decidedly, and finally, broke off her engagement with
him, giving no reason for so doing, but couching her
determination in words which admitted of no ap})eal.
Eric called at once to seek a personal interview with
her, but was told at the door that Miss Carlisle was
*' not at home." Then he wrote her a letter begging
for some explanation, but it was returned to him un-
opened. Finally he in his turn grew proud, and so
the " little rift within the lute " widened.

es, her
ade no
0.

m the
spell
r came

rl, the

then

8 and

hten-

r own

s, and

very-

CHAPTER IX.

''i

*' Unequal task ! a passion to resign,

For hearts so touched, so pierced, so lost as mine.''

" Ere such a soul regains its peaceful state,

How often must it love, how often hate,

How often liope, despair, resent, regret,

Conceal, disdain,— do all things but forget."

•Pope.

The line of action pursued by Sybil Carlisle, was, to
say the least of it, a very hasty one. To throw over
a man to whom she had been engaged for a long
time, and for whom she entertained the strongest
feelings of love and respect, merely because a notori-
ously false-tongued woman had uttered some poison-
ous insinuations against his honour, was almost
ludicrous ; but in order to understand her conduct in
thus summarily dismissing I ric Desmond and snap-
ping asunder all the ties which had hitherto bound
them together, one must take into consideration the
peculiarly sensitive temperament of the girl.

It made her wince to think of what people were
probably saying, of the little hints and slurs in which
she felt sure society was indulging at her expense,
and she hated her lover for placing her in such a
horrible position.

Never for one moment did the girl doubt the truth
of what she had overheard. In some things she was

-Pope.

was, to
3w over

a long
trongest

notori-

poison-
almost

duct in

d snap-
bound

,tion the

lie were
which
expense,
such a

le truth
I she was

The Experiment Is Begfun.

'97

singularly childish, for most women, before taking
such a serious step, would have sought conlirmation
of their suspicions ; but Sybil neither waited to sift
the matter to the bottom, nor listened to anyone's
advice. In vain her mother expostulated. The girl
was totally unamenable to reason, and flew oflf at a
tangent, determined to follow the dictates of her
angry, hurt pride.

Of course, her first instinct was to turn to her violin
for comfort ; and with a thrill of something akin to
pleasure in the midst of her ]>ain, Sybil realized that
now she was free to pursue her beloved art, unmo-
lested by any interference from Eric Desmond.

Things do not, however, always resolve themselves
just as we expect; and so the girl soon learned, for as
the days passed and the sting to her pride grew less
sharp, the galling sensation of having been treated
with unpardonable insult gave place to a pained re-
gret for her lost love and faith in Eric.

On the very day before Sybil left London, the de-
sire came strongly upon her to see Desmond once
more, to tax him, face to face, with his perfidy ; and
prompted by the faint hope that, after all, he might
be able to explain affairs satisfactorily, and prove him-
self innocent, she was almost on the point of sacri-
ficing her pride and sending for him, when the recol-
lection of Mrs. Osborne's malicious words, sounding
again in her ears, turned aside all softer thoughts.
The following morning the girl left town, and placed

1 !i

1 98 Hypnotized }

many miles between herself and Eric, and thus the
opportunity for reconciliation was lost, no words hav-
ing been exchanged, nor any outward sign of relenting
shown by either of them.

Not only Sybil's mother, but also all her friends,
thought this sudden freak on the part of the girl veiy
strange indeed, and numerous were the comments ex-
pressed by every one upon her inexplicable conduct.
Even to Lady Brandram, Eric's lips were sealed ; and
Mrs. Carlisle, very tearful and heart-broken, waxed
absolutely incoherent whenever the subject was
mentioned.

As for Desmond, he was puzzled beyond description,
and was naturally very indignant at what he lightly
considered a most peiemptory action on Sybil's part.
No reason given, no excuse offered, but simply a cold,
decided letter releasing him, and claiming in return a
corresponding freedom from the tie which had pre-
viously bound them together. No wonder he was very
angry. Then came the final blow to all his hopes of
reconciliation. He learned that Sybil had gone on
the musical stage and was already a member of the
Dolbert Concert company, playing her violin night
after night in the provincial towns of the western
circuit. At length he fancied he understood it all.
It was for the sake of indulging in her passion for
the stage — for the sake of pursuing a professional
cereer — that the girl he loved had thrown him over.
Had not he and music been rivals for her affection

The Experiment Is Begfun*

199

IS the
I hav-
;nting

•iends,
1 very
its ex-
mduct.
I ; and
waxed
t was

ription,
lightly
's part,
a cold,
iurn a
id pre-
as very
Dpes of
3ne on
of the
night
estern
it all.
ion for
sional
over,
ection

during many a < laonth past ? Ah well ! He had lost,
and Art had conquered. That was the truth Eric
thouglit he had to face.

Two months of continuous travelling and hard
work wrought a great change in Sybil Carlisle.
Professional life proved by no means the couleur-de-
rose existence she had pictured it — a sort of New
Jerusalem, where all the harps were in tune. Such a
fantasy was quickly doomed to be dispelled, for many
were the disagreeables and disappointments she had
to contend with.

The incessant practice, uncomfortable lodgings
and indifferent food, also tried her very much, and
though for a time, the excitement of playing before
large audiences every night kept her spirits up to the
mark, even this stimulus gradually weakened, and she
grew v'aily more heart-sick and miserable. Ambition
even seemed to fail her at this point, and with the
loss of hope and energy her music began to deterior-
ate.

Still she struggled on, conscientiously doing her
best, and playing with a desperate sort of courage
that savoured strongly of despair. By and h\r how-
ever, the manager began to reprove her in no mea-
sured terms for negligence in the execution of certain
passages. She did not practice enough, he said, and
the public was critical. In vain she worked and
strove to do better. Ambition was dead ; hope was
dead ; professional life had lost its glamour.

ii!:
ii'

ill

!ii

,l|i

I I!

200

Hypnotized ?

It was a vastly clianjred Sybil who came home to
her mother in September. She had gone away full
of a desire to make her name celebrated. She re-
turned crushed and humbled, having faced some of
the sterner realities of life, and done battle with cir-
cumstances, only to find herself beaten down, as many
another aspirant to fame had been before her. Had
the girl embarked upon a musical career under more
favourable auspices, she mi^ht have achieved great
things, for that she had genius was undeniable. But
though full of possibilities, like many other artistic
people, her temperament was one which could not
endure adverse surroundings.

Then, too, as the weeks went by, she began to rea-
lize her folly in having so rashly dismissed Eric
Desmond. One moment she despised herself for
thinking of him so tenderly, when, perhaps, his
thoughts were all of another woman ; but the next
instant she longed for the sound of his voice — for the
touch of his strong hand. He had been very dear to
her in the past, and time, which softens all things,
had drawn a ofreat deal of the bitterness out of her
heart.

She began to find excuses for him, to palliate his
faults, to even doubt the evidence of her own senses.
It was weak, perhaps — but it was very human. In
reality she knew of no condonement for his behaviour.
Things looked just as black against him as they had
done two months before, and yet she could not regard

The Experiment Is Beg:un*

20I

me to

y full

he re-
)me of
ill cir-
5 many
. Had
iv more
i great
e. But
artistic
►uld not

to rea-
ed Eric
•self for
aps, his
,he next
-for the
dear to
things,
of her

liate his

b senses.

lan. In

Ihaviour.

ley had

\i regard

them in the same angry light. Torn in two by con-
flicting emotions, heart-sick and home-sick, Sybil re-
turned to London early in the autumn, glad to find
comparative peace and rest once more.

Eric Desmond, meantime, had plunged into work
of a serious nature, giving his whole time and
strength to the accomplishment of his Blackfriars
scheme, and leading rather a dreary life. Of Sir
Hugh he saw but little. The baronet had gone to
the Isle of Wight for the months of July and August,
and only spent a week in town on his way up north
for the shooting.

During the summer the search for Tom Scott was
finally abandoned as hopeless, and Sir Hugh, never at
any time very keen about the capture of his assailant,
seemed quite content to let the affair sink into obliv-
ion. Eric, who pursued the matter rather vigorously
at first, had, on reflection, also cooled off in his ar-
dour, thinking, like his friend, that the consequences
of a trial might possibly prove very unpleasant to
more than one person concerned.

The only further step Sir Hugh took regarding the
scoundrel was to write and ask Mr. Harlowe whether
he had appeared again in Arleton ; but the farmer re-
plied that, as far as he knew, the man was nowhere
in the neighbourhood.

Letters had often been exchanged between the bar-
onet and the old man since Ursula had gone to Lon-
don, and she, too, wrote to her father frequently, and
13

202

II I

Hypnotized ?

always cheerfully, about her new life and pleasures.
Mr. Harlowe was more than satisfied with the appar-
ent success of Sir Hugh's experiment, and each time
news of his daughter's increasing beauty and popular-
ity reached him, the simple-minded farmer rubbed his
hands with glee and, chuckling softly to himself, " At
last she is in her rightful sphere," felt as proud as
Lucifer of her triumphs.

.sures.
ippar-
1 time
)pular-
bed his
>lf, " At
'oud as

CHAPTER X.

"The beginning of the end."

October sees many peo[>le back in London again.
The glories of Homburg and the Engadine have faded ;
Scotland grows bleak and chilly ; from all parts
of England there is an influx to the metropolis, and,
with a feeling of contentment, town-})red men and
women tread once more the pavements of their be-
loved city.

On a certain night towards the middle of the russet
month, it chanced that Herr Mottl was conducting a
" Grand Wagner Concert " in the Queen's Hall, which
Sir Hugh Galbraith attended in company with sev-
eral other men whom he had invited to supper after-
wards at his chambers.

A queerly assorted sextette they were.

Eric Desmond naturally formed one of the party.
Dr. Challotte, the most noted psychological savant of
the day, a man famed for his extensive knowledge of
hypnotism, was another of the invited guests ; whilst
the remaining three were : a young guardsman, very
much of the Ouidaesque type ; Sir Granville-Garton, a
lover of the abnormal and a smoker of gold-tipped
cigarettes ; and Lucien Beck, a pupil of Herr Popper,
and already a rising violoncellist.

As they entered the immense hall the overture to

204

Hypnotized ?

!,^^'

:i;\

ili;!,'

i i;

!■!

" i)ie Feen" commenced. It was not a conceit cal-
culated to entrance the ordinary moderately-musical
mind — one must possess something more than that to
appreciate Richard Wagner — but, nevertheless, the six
men listened attentively, as the celebrated Birren-
koven, Hamburg's idolized tenor, sang " Siegmund's
Lenz-lied" from Die WalkiXre in an exquisite voice
such a-' has seldom been heard, even in London.

At the conclusion of this number. Sir Hugh drew a
long breath. Good music affects some natures to a
tremendous extent, and Galbraith's was one of those
finely-constructed pieces of mechanism which respond
very readily to the influence of sound.

Presently, turning with a leisurely movement to
scan the audience, Sir Hugh's roving glance was ar-
rested by the only face which ever had power to hold
his attention. Lady Brandram and Ursula were
seated at no great distance from him, and again and
again did the baronet turn slightly to the left in or-
der to focus his eyes upon the girl. Thus, throughout
the evening, he kept continually watching her, drink-
ing in each flickering change of colour, whilst a swarm
of thoughts, like the circling of birds at eventide,
swept through his brain.

At first Ursula seemed quite unconscious of the se-
vere scrutiny to v/hich she was being subjected, but
by-and-by she began to feel uneasy and a trifle ner-
vous. Just then a selection from Farsival (that most
wonderful of all Wagner's operas) comprising the

Qceit cal-
^-musical
n that to
3S, the six
I Birren-
egmund's
aifce voice
Ion.

jh drew a
ares to a
5 of those
h. respond

ement to
i was ar-
er to hold
ula were
igain and
ieft in or-
iroughout
er, drink-
t a swarm
eventide,

of the se-
3cted, but
trifle ner-
that most
ising the

T^i^^ Expcffmcnt Is Bc^un

-ndered, and spent a IL ^ * ^ ''^^ '"■•="'^' b«
etching the audience Pr LfnT^ "", "' ''' *--
a tention to her nephew ZdTV^/"^ ^^■^"■''*'«
g'ri looked atraight'atlirH,.!^!'"""''''''"'^ - *he
concentrated ga.e which l„i; ^" '^^'^^ ««* '" a

curtains of their soul Ld fe th ? ""'^^ "^'^ -'^
one. '"'^ to*- 'he instant made them

"™ .r''""*'"' 'he love I cherishM
Um.n„ death its fla„e hath periti,,

sang a clear soprano voice in tl,

Player." It appearedlike th " °' "Elizabeth's

be ttataseccad w'tl K T^ °^ *'"'«• Could it
-d^that his name Z^^^^^^^^ "^e world,

^t was not until "Cn^ q /"^^^^^ ^
general uprising that Ursurbec! '^"''" " '"'''"' ^
more of what was passir ! , f "°"''='°"« ""ce
*at surged towards the Lit! ""^ ,''"'- ^'^'^ '^'•"-d
«d up the baronet and his f T'^f '" ^"""^ ^^^«"°w.
d'-d not again see h ^ st K'b l!'' ''°"="'' *''<' ^^
"« the huge assemblage stfe^ ^ '^'^ opportunity,
point her out to Dr cfalloUe ^'^ '"*° ''^ '=*-'• *»

-d GXa;;*";: trL'''"'""^ ^■'' - ^--don,'-

smile. "'^ °'d "an, with a triumphant

^''«-a„tp„tuphisgo,a-rimmedeye.g,ass,and

mi mm I

2o6

Hypnotized ?

looked earnestly at her ; but in another moment she
was lost in the crush, and, with a curious puzzled ex-
pression of countenance, the doctor turned to his com-
panion.

"Who is she ? " he enquired, as if he really wanted
an answer and did not merely ask the question from
idle intent.

"A youn^ friend of my aunt. Lady Brandram.
Miss Harlowe is her name," replied Sir Hu^h, pleased
that Challotte should be struck by the girl's appear-
ance.

Now, as it happened, it was her appearance which
had struck the old man very forcibly indeed, but
not at all in the way Sir Hugh imagined. In
reply to the baronet's speech he simply grunted,
"Umph! Very strange," and there the matter dropped.
But if Galbraith had known the groove in which the
Doctor's thoughts were running, he would have been
utterly astonished and a good deal perplexed.

A first-rate supper, excellent wine, and cigars of fin-
est brand — what more could the heart of man desire ?
All these Sir Hugh had provided for his guests, who in
their turn did full justice to his hospitality; indeed so
utterly contented were they that not one of them
noticed Sir Hugh's abstraction. During supper the
baronet had been the gayest of the gay, but afterwards
he grew silent and gradually became absorbed in his
own thoughts. Pleasant ones ? Yes. None could have
been more so, for the sum total of them all was — his
experiment.

The Experiment Is Begun*

207

lent she
zled ex-
his coin-
wanted
ion from

randram.
ti, pleased
s appear-

Qce which
adeed, but
yined. In
grunted,
dropped,
which the
have been

id.

;arsof iin-
[an desire ?
Ists, who in
I; indeed so
of them
Bupper the
ifterwards
Ibed in his
Icould have
ll was — his

Presently Galbraith grew a little confused — the
luminous ratiocination of his mind dazzled him. Like
will-o'-the-wisps the ideas snapped and twinkled be-
fore his mental sight — a vivid photDf ^'^ph of Ursula,
repellant, ex'iggeriited in outline, stared at him from
the beyond. How long he sat there, torn and racked
by the awful power within — forcing, compelling, driv-
ing him to deeds of undelineated devildom, he could
not tell. The past was past and gone; the future held
nothing ; but the present — ah ! that horrible, domi-
nating, insistent present — it was all Ursula.

Just as plainly as he had seen her pure, lovely face
at the concert hall, so he saw her distorted features
now. Clearer and clearer they grew — more and more
distinct. He could even distinguish the colour of her
eyes — each thread of ruddy gold in her hair. She
was coming nearer — nearer — nearer. Now she was
between him and the fireplace. He noticed that he
could no longer see a print of Guido's " Ecce Homo,"
which always hung above the mantle-piece ; but,
somehow, the crown of thorns just fitted around her
head, as she remained motionless before the picture.
It was curious that he had never connected her with
grief before ; yet there she stood with pale, drawn
features, wearing, as it seemed, a martyr's aureole of
woe.

"Hugh! Hugh!" burst from the girl's lips. In
that moment she was not tragic, she was Tragedy

iH'ii

208

Hypnotized ?

itself. All the men were staring alternately at Gal-
braith and Ursula. To most of them she was pre-
viously known — in fact, to Dr. Challotte alone was she
a total stranger — and the horror and amazement of the
whole party knew no bounds at her sudden entrance.

Captain Marche, jamming his eye-glass more firmly
than usual into his left optic, ejaculated, '* By Jove ! "
and looked as if on the verge of idiocy.

Lucien Beck and Sir Granville- Garton were dumb.
The latter seemed in imminent danger of succumbing
to a paralytic fit. For once, something really abnor-
mal confronted him, and yet he did not appear to en-
joy it. Only two of the occupants of the room ex-
pressed any strong personal feelings. Eric Desmond,
whose face was stern and set, brought his hand down
heavily upon Sir Hugh's arm, and gripping it as in a
a vice, thundered, in a tone full of suppressed indig-
nation, " What does this mean ? " whilst Dr. Challotte
walked hastily across to Ursula. He had been look-
ing intently at Galbraith ever since her entrance,
two minutes before, and what the old man read in the
baronet's face now caused him to act promptly. Mur-
muring some soothing words into her ear, he gently
led the girl towards the door. Silently and unresist-
ingly Ursula allowed herself to be taken away, for
by means of the scientific knowledge at his command,
the Doctor understood perfectly how to compel her
to obey him.

It was certainly the most astounding case that had

ii ii

The Experiment Is Begun*

209

Lt Gal-
us pre-
^as she
b of the
trance.
} firmly
Jove ! "

B dumb,
jumbing
r abnor-
ir to en-
00m ex-
)esmond,
,iid down
t as in a
id indig-
Ihallotte
len look-
sn trance,
,d in the
Mur-
gently
nresist-
ay, for
immand,
pel her

that had

ever come under his notice during the many years
in which he had studied medicine, but the old man
was far too'well versed in the outward signs of a cata-
leptic state to doubt what was the best mode of treat-
ment in this particular instance. He had perceived,
on seeing Ursula in the Queen's Hall, that she was
then already slightly under hypnotic influence, and
his brief study of Sir Hugh's face and expression
when the girl entered the room convinced him that
the baronet was responsible for her peculiar mental
condition.

Knowing that Galbraith had for some time past
dabbled considerably in occultism, the doctor deduced
the obvious conclusion that Sir Hugh had willfully
subjected Ursula to hypnotic influence. A right-
eous wrath filled the fatherly breast of the old man
at the pitiable sight the girl presented, standing there
like a helpless, hopeless child, drawn thither by the
unlawfully exercised power of an unprincipled man.

Carefully as possible Dr. Challotte took her home.
It was one o'clock in the morning when they reached
Belgrave-square. Telling the footman to request
Lady Brandram to grant him a few moments' inter-
view, he bade the girl go upstairs to her own room,
which she did immediately, unknowing of all that had
happened or was even then taking place. To the elder
lady the doctor told a plausible story of somnambulism.
The girl must have been over-excited, and a fit of sleep-
walking had been the result : fortunately, he had

2IO

Hypnotized ?

¥i

found her and brought her quietly back, so nothing
need ever be said about the occurrence — better not
to tell even Miss Harlowe herself of what .she had
done. Thus the kind-hearted old man explained, ex-
cused and advised, intending to shield Ursula at all
events from undeserved scandal, whilst he sih-iitly
swore to make the perpetrator of this dastardly deed
suffer to the uttermost for his wickedness.

Lady Brandram, much upset and anxious about her
young charge, thanked Dr. Challotte sincerely for all
the trouble he had taken, and, promising to keep
silence but at the same time to do all in her power
to prevent the girl from getting out of the house again
in her sleep, bade him good-night. She went to
Ursula's room, only to find her sleeping peacefully,
with a faint colour coming and going in her cheeks,
her breathing as regular and as easy as a little child's.

No sooner had Dr. Challotte left Galbraith's cham-
bers, taking Ursula with him, than all the men, ex-
cepting Eric Desmond, feeling that a storm was brew-
ing in the air, with one accord proceeded to make
ready for departure. Sir Hugh, apparently perfectly
apathetic, sat in his original position, an eerie sensa-
tion of the supernatural deadening for the time being
all his other feelings.

Noting the movement of the others, Desmond step-
ped over to the door and deliberately turned the key
in the lock. Then, facing them, he said :

" Pardon me, gentlemen, this affair is not ended yet,

The Experiment Is Beg^un*

211

and until Dr. Challotte returns, I cannot permit any
of you to leave the room."

Eric knew very well that some explanation must
be forthcoming to clear the girl in the eyes of the men
who had witnessed her extraordinary entrance, and
Dr. Challotte, he rightly conjectured, was the proper
person to give such information as would lead to her
exoneration ; for, though Desmond himself could make
neither head nor tail of the affair, he saw that the old
scientist had grasped the situation and its remedy.
Therefore he determined that no one should leave the
place until the doctor came back, as Eric felt sure he
would, as soon as he had safely disposed of Ursula
Harlowe.

The men looked at one another in surprise when
Desmond thus peremptorily addressed them, but event-
ually accepted the situation with fine unconcern, and
sat down again. Eric, after dropping the key into
his pocket, commenced a tread-mill up and down the
floor, whistling softly to himself an air out of " The
Gondoliers," and ejaculating " Damn ! " at intervals of
fifty seconds. Sir Hugh in the meantime grew calmer,
and as the first shock evaporated, a little of his cus-
tomary sang froid returned, but still he did not speak.
They all seemed to be waiting for something. Pre-
sently Dr. Challotte returned and, when Desmond
unlocked the door, came in, his eyes fairly blazing
with anger.

" You damned scoundrel ! " he said, in a low, con-

■

212

Hypnotized ?

I I II I ! I

centrated voice, to Sir Hugh. " You infernal black-
guard ! Gentlemen," he continued, turning to the
others, who sat bolt upright, curious as to what
was going to happen next ; ** gentlemen, I am
known to all of you as a man of some experience
and knowledge of psychology. I am an old man,
and a perfectly dispassionate arbitrator in this mat-
ter. Now, I ask your attention for a few moments.
Listen, and believe me when I tell you that the
young lady you saw enter this room to-night came
here, not of her own free will, not knowingly, nor
consciously, but in a hypnotic state, forced here
by that vile dabbler in science," with a scathing
glance at Sir Hugh, who regarded him coldly, and
offered not the slightest protest to his words. " Gen-
tlemen, that unfortunate girl is ignorant at the pre-
sent moment of what she *ias done — on that I will
pledge my honour ; she has simply been the dupe of
this experimenter in hypnotism, and I should imagine
that this is not the first time she has fallen so com-
pletely under his influence."

At this point a sharp exclamation broke from the
baronet. He was livid now.

" I am forced to expose your villainy, Sir Hugh
Galbraith, unwilling as I am to do so under your
own roof; but you leave me no alternative. The
stainless reputation of a woman is at stake ; and I
request you all, as men of honour, to bind yourselves
by oath never to reveal what you have witnessed here

The Experiment Is Begun.

213

black-
to the
) what
I am
)erience
id man,
lis mat-
loments.
hat the
;ht came
!gly, nor
ed here
scathing
dly, and
" Gen-
the pre-
at I will
dupe of
imagine
so com-

t'rom the

|ir Hugh
Ider your
Ive. The
[e; and I
[ourselves

Issed here

to-night. Blot it out of your memories ; for as there
is a God above us I swear to you she is innocent."

A slight stir took place amongst the party as Dr.
Challotte spoke thus earnestly, and each one signi-
fied his willingness to do as he desired. They were
greatly impressed by the old man's forcibility, and
Eric Desmond's face was a study of the indescrib-
able.

" As to you, Sir Hugh Galbraith," went on the doc-
tor, " I have known you for a long time as an apostle
of the higher branches of science, a cold, cynical man
of the world, a being all intellect, with a heart — left
out. Now I know you to be a dangerous hypnotist of
unscrupulous conscience, a man who has not hesitated
to use his power for evil ends, a disgrace to the noble
band of psychologists who in faith and uprightness
are seeking to turn science to account for the benefit
of the human race. Hypnotism is as yet in its in-
fancy, but there are expositors of its blessings whose
work is a credit and an honour to the profession at
large. Rightly used, it is a great and good power ;
abused " — with stern emphasis — " it is a degradation."

The old man ceased, and for a few moments silence
reigned. Desmond felt as if all things on which he
had been accustomed to lean were slipping away from
him. Hugh Galbraith a common charlatan ! Impos-
sible ! And Ursula Harlowe — it was all darkness —
he could see no guiding light.

Then the baronet spoke. He had risen to his feet,

214

Hypnotized 'i

his head was thrown back, and his eyes were gleam-
ing with a peculiar lambent light.

" Dr. Challotte," he said, " and you, gentlemen, who
have heard me accused, I have only one thing to say
before you go. It is this. Of the crime which is laid
at my door I declare myself absolutely innocent. It
is true that I have studied psychology for many years,
but I am no hypnotist. Never once in the whole
course of my life have I even tried to exert any hyp-
notic power." And as the man spoke, his words had a
true ring in them which struck his hearers as genuine.

Desmond answered quietly : " Against such a high
authority as Dr. Challotte your words are hard to be-
lieve. If you did not hypnotize Miss Harlowe, who
did ? For it must have been done deliberately by
someone."

" 1 do not know; but, I repeat, I did not do anything
of the kind."

" Why argue," said the old man to Sir Hugh ; " no
two men reason alike. It is a question of cerebral
mechanism. I saw your features, and I saw your
victim's face, and I am prepared to state on oath
that you were the hypnotizer and she the subject."

" Dr. Challotte, you are a noted man and your word
carries great weight. This is probably the first time
in my life I have ever begged a hearing from anyone,
but the matter is one of greatest moment ; and again,
in the presence of you all," with a wave of his hand
in the direction of the others, " I swear that I did not

The Experiment Is Beg:un*

215

rleam-

a, who
to say
is laid
nt. It
■f years,
1 whole
ly hyp-
Is had a
□renuine.
ti a high
•d to he-
,we, who
lately by

Lnything

|gh ; " no
cerebral
i,w your
1 on oath
bject."
)ur word
irst time
anyone,
id again,
Ihia hand
did not

on tills occasion, and never have in the past, hypnotized
Miss Harlowe. Have you no other explanation to offer
of the phenomenon ?"

" None," replied the doctor conclusively.

" Then all I can say is, that, if I am guilty of this
act, I used the force unconsciously."

" Bah ! nonsense ! Unconscious Hypnotism does
not exist — Ah ! — wait a moment, — I do recollect once,
nearly eleven years ago, hearing of a case in which
the hypnotist declared his ignorance of having used
any influence ; but scientists laughed at the time, and
called it impossible, — still — "

Breathlessly his hearers waited for his next words.
Desmond, a wild hope springing up in his heart, leaned
forward, but Sir Hugh stood still, with folded arms,
like a second Andreas Hofer.

A long pause ensued. The doctor seemed to be
thinking deeply. At length he went on in a puzzled
sort of way :

" It seems quite incredible,— and yet, of course, no-
thing is impossible in a branch of science of which so
little is really known, even by its greatest students
and expositors. But Unconscious Hypnotism, — no
one has ever dreamed that such a thing existed. Sir
Hugh," turning to the baronet, " I should like to say
in the hearing of these gentlemen before whom I have
accused you of a diabolical trick, that your emphatic
denial, coupled with the extraordinary attributes of
such a little-understood power, makes it possible (mind

2l6

Hypnotized ?

I only say barely possible) that you are an innocent
man, and are only, in a latent sense, an accessory to
the crime. If it is proved that, in your abyssmal ig-
norance of this awful and gigantic force, you have
stumbled upon the proof of such a factor as Uncon-
scious Hypnotism, the scientific world will owe you
an everlasting debt of gratitude, and I shall owe you
the humblest apology ever made by man to man. My
endeavour will be to prove the truth, but it is a mat-
ter requiring much thought and research ; therefore,
in the meantime, I retract my condemnation, and will
only beg you, for all our sakes, to aid me in unravel-
ling this mystery," and with a courtly bend of the
head the old doctor departed.

In a body the three other guests rose, and, having
given their word of honour to keep silence, bade their
host " good-night." They were really rather glad to
get out of the over-charged atmosphere, for such an
adventure was too uncanny to be pleasant to ordinary-
going mortals.

Sir Hugh and Eric Desmond were left alone, both
of them in a whirl of conflicting emotions, and each
unwishful to be the first to break silence. Galbraith
saw many things clearly now in the light of this revel-
ation — this new idea that he had unconsciously hyp-
notized Ursula Harlowe.

For the first time he understood what the influence
might have been which had led her to come to his
chambers while he was ill in the previous spring — at

The Experiment Is Begun*

217

nocent
3ory to
mal ig-
)u have
XJncon-
we you
)we you
an. My '
s a mat-
herefore,

and will
unravel-
ed of the

d, having
ade their
r glad to
such an
ordinary -

)ne, both
and each
lOalhraith
Ihis revel -
isly hyp-
influence
le to his
Ipring — a*

least, that was if he could first take for granted his
possession and exercise of an unconscious hypnotic
force. Several little instances also recurred to his
memory which had nonplussed him during his inter-
course with Ursula, and which undue power over her
on his part would satisfactorily clear up. So the
more he pondered on the question the more he inclin-
ed to what Dr. Challotte regarded as the " possible
explanation " of that night's occurrence.

Eric Desmond, too, rapidly reviewed the past, but
the conclusion he arrived at was a much more prosaic
one, and before they parted ho had broached it to the
baronet.

Sir Hugh must send Ursula Harlowe home to her
father at once and forever — that was the gist of Eric's
cogitations. His friend at first declined to listen to
any such proposal, but Desmond's arguments were un-
answerable. The fact remained that Sir Hugh had
consciously or unconsciously influenced the girl — had,
in short, hypnotized her, and would in all probability
retain a certain hold over her in the future. This, for
Ursula's sake, must be ended as soon as possible, or
the consequences might eventually be too horrible to
contemplate.

Only once in the course of their argument did Sir
Hugh refer to his original scheme, but then and there
Desmond turned angry and ruthlessly reviled the
whole experiment.

It was very late, or, rather, early before they separ-
14

mi
I

II ii

2l8

Hypnotized ?

ated. The eternal tryst between night and day was
being kept in the eastern sky, and when Eric walked
home in the cool, fresh dawn, he carried with him the
baronet's promise to send Ursula Harlowe back to
Arleton, a promise he had finally extracted from the
unwilling man by threats of exposure unless Sir
Hugh complied. " That is the price of my silence,"
said Desmond decidedly ; " take it, or leave it, as you
please ; " and Galbraith saw discretion was the better
part of valour, and gave way accordingly.

It was a terrible wrench to the man to give up the
working out of his pet theory. But he saw how black
was the case against him and realized that the only
reasonable course to pursue at present was a concilia-
tory one.

i '

m w

ay was
walked
him the

back to
roBtt the
iless Sir

silence,"
.t, as you
ihe better

ve up the
how black
b the only
a concilia-

CHAPTER XL

** My days are in the yellow leaf,
The flowers and fruits of love are gone,
The worm, the canker, and the grief,
Are mine alone."

Slowly the hours winged on in their eternal flight,
and another day was born for weal or woe. How Sir
Hugh hated the growing brilliancy of that glad Octo-
ber morning, as it flooded into the room where all
night long he had sat in miserable torture of mind !

No sleep came to rest his tired brain. It was only
when the clocks were chiming seven that the baronet
arose and went into his bedroom.

As he proceeded to divest himself of his evening
clothes, Galbraith paused for an instant to gaze into
the long pier-glass, and what that mirror reflected
was the index to his mental state. It showed forth a
history, and a result. The history was that of the
last four hours ; the result — capitulation.

A little later on towards the hour of a glorious
noontide, the Park was filled with pedestrians and
carriages. Riding slowly along the broad, smooth
roadway, side by side, were Sir Hugh and Ursula
Harlowe, talking calmly of this and that, bowing to
passing acquaintances, and exchanging remarks upon
various light topics, as they wound their way up the
Row towards Kensington Gardens.

220

Hypnotized ?

i lllii

::l lllil

Ursula, as unconcerned as a child, felt happy be-
cause she rode beside the man she loved, and was
quite content to make the most of the halcyon pre-
sent.

On the baronet's face a very different expression
lay shadowed. Was it disquietude, or merely absent-
mindedness ? Presently they came to a less- frequent-
ed part of the Park, and, for a space, conversation
drooped. All at once, with a faintly detectable
gasp, Galbraith plunged into the subject which had
been uppermost in his mind ever since he and his
fair companion left Belgrave-square.

" Miss Harlowe," he began abruptly, " have you
thought lately of paying your father a visit ? I
mean — er — of going back to Arleton for a time ? "

Ursula turned a slightly surprised glance on him.

" No, I cannot really say that I have."

" It is some months since you have seen Mr. Har-
lowe, is it not ? "

" Yes, but Lady Brandram is so anxious that I
should remain with her until Christmas that I have
given up all idea of going home just at present."

Sir Hugh felt nonplussed.

" I think, if I may be allowed to make a sugges-
tion, it would be very advisable for you to go to
Deepdcne in the near future," he said, biting his
moustache nervously.

Ursula looked at him curiously. Gently, but with
a tact for which few would have given her credit, she

The Experiment Is Begun,

221

)py

be-

,nd was
ron pre-

pression
r absent-
requent-
versation
ietectable

hicb l^afl
5 and bis

bave you
visit ? 1

on bim-
Mr. Har-

l>^s tbat I
Lat I l^ave

jsent."

a sugges-

to go to

biting bis

but witb
[• credit, sbc

(luestioned Galbraith as to the reasons which insti-
gated his suggestion, and before long had obtained
enough information to see clearly that some deep mo-
tive had prompted his advice. This both surprised
and. puzzled her.

*' Are you and your aunt tired of me ? " she asked,
and a note of pathos sounded in her voice.

"Certainly not, Miss Harlowe. Pray, put such an
idea out of your head. Why, my aunt is devoted to
you ! "

"And you ? Your reply justifies Lady Brandram,
but—"

" Do not misunderstand my words. Your visit to
London has been full of pleasure to me, and a contin-
ued source of deep interest — "

" Deep interest ! Why, Sir Hugh, what a strange
way to put it ! "

" Not at all. That is just what I mean. Scientifi-
cally, you have proved of much — "

A sudden horror came over him. What on earth
was he saying ? Had last night's fiasco turned his
brain to such an extent that he could not control his
tongue ? Ursula stared at him in amazement.

" Scientifically 1 " she echoed.

The look of nervous tension in Sir Hugh's face did
not escape the girl's notice.

" What do you mean ? " she cried impulsively.

He did not answer at once.

A woman's intuitions are very quick at all times,

222

Hypnotized ?

I, !

i i i i It

and, in cases where her love is called into action, th3y
are doubly acute. It took but an instant for Ursula
to recollect what sort of man Sir Hugh was. A psy-
chologist par excellence, and — she was of scientific in-
terest to hi in, he had said :

" I mean, Miss Harlowe, that your brilliant career
in London society has proved the truth of a theory of
mine, that is all."

" What theory ? "

" Is there any need to go into the subject further ?"
queried Galbraith. He was growing most uncomfort-
able, and cursed his folly in making the careless
speech which had aroused the girl's curiosity. " You
are the success of the year in Town, and all I suggest
is that a short period of rest in the country would be
of benefit to your health."

" You are not speaking the truth. Sir Hugh — at
least," she corrected herself, " not the whole truth.
Tell me what is this theory which you have made use
of me in order to prove ?" Ursula spoke calmly, and
with decision. No one could have guessed of the tur-
moil that was raging in her heart.

Then Galbraith took a sudden resolution. He deter-
mined to accomplish two things at once, namely, to in-
form Ursula of certain facts and so satisfy her curios-
ity (which he knew, once raised, would demand an
answer before it sank to rest again), and at the same
time to make it absolutely certain that the girl should
return to Arleton. So he told her of his great
experiment.

The Experiment Is Beg^un*

223

m, th3y
Ursula

Apsy-

itific in-

it career
iheory ot*

iurther?"

[icomfort-

5 careless

y. " You
I suggest
would be

Hugh— at
ole truth,
made use
ilmly, and
Df the tur-

He deter-
lely , to in-
er curios-
eraand an
the same
;irl should
his great

Mingled horror at the episode of the previous night
and fear of its recurrence had made a changed man
of Sir Hugh, and, though a week before he would
have shot himself rather than bluntly tell the girl
that he looked upon her merely as a psychological
problem, that morning he was capable of the most
brutal lucidity, in order to terminate forever the ter-
rible relations existing between them.

About the fiasco itself he breathed not a word —
that, he considered, was too appalling an incident to
be even hinted at. It was, indeed, a merciful thing
that be so far retained his mental equilibrium as to
refrain from telling Ursula anything about the hyp-
notic element in his scheme, for the utter humiliation
of such knowledge, working upon her highly-strung
nature, might have led the girl to commit — ah ! well —
Heaven holds some mercy still for those who are
wounded unto death.

" I understand," she said, as he paused after hav-
ing explained to her briefly, yet clearly, all there was
to tell about his experiment.

" You forgive me," he pleaded earnestly, " and are
not angry ?"

She was silent.

" You can afford to be lenient," he went on, " for
you are now on the very pinnacle of social fame."

" And what is that ? A pretty iridescent bubble, as
thin as it is brilliant."

She seemed to have grown years older during the
last half -hour, and worldly-wise too.

lis.

224

Hypnotized ?

"That maybe the opinion of pessimists, but men
and women think differently."

" Women love society, but they love — other thin|]js
more — honour, for instance, and chivalry."

Sir Hugh wondered if this was meant for sarcasm.
A mighty change, indeed, had swept over Ursula as
she listened to Galbraith's cold, hard definition of their
relative positions during the past year, each word fall-
ing like a stinging lash upon that quivering thing, a
woman's heart, sore with unreturned love. First she
felt numb, and then cynical. But only for a few
moments. Presently a gentler intonation coming
into her voice, she said :

" Let me understand it all. You wanted me to be
a subjecl for the establishment of one of your pet
theories, and now that the answer is proven, you
have finished with me — I am no longer needed here ; I
can go home."

Sir Hugh quaintly realized how logical were her
arguments, and yet what a horribly mean and cruel
truth they contained. He did not dare to contradict
the girl outright, for he could not tell her of the para-
mount reason why she must go away from London,
and from — him. The dabbler in psychology was al-
ready tasting of the Dead Sea fruit.

" Do not put things so bluntly, Miss Harlowe, and I
beseech you, do not take the matter so seriously. Be-
lieve me, you are indulging in an exaggerated view
of things."

it men

■ things

mrcasm.
rsula as
I of their
/ord fall-
thing, a
First she
)r a few
i coming

me to be
yonr pet
ven, you
id here ; 1

were her
md cruel
[contradict
the para-
London,
was al-

)we, and I
^usly. Be-
lted view

The Experiment Is Begfun.

225

" Could any tliought of mine magnify the extent of
your experiment ? I am sorry it has ended so unfor-
tunately for nie, but then there are a great many
things in life one in sorry for — that is only human
nature," and a wan smile flickered across her face.

A strained look luid grown within her dark eyes,
and there was a weary drooping of the curves about
her mouth. With a rush there came back to the girl
vivid memories of the past winter, spring, and sum-
mer ; like the ghosts of a buried year they trooped out
to surround her in her hour of sorrow. Ah ! how
flagrant had been the dawn of love, and now all that
remained to her was the pale mocking spirit of remi-
niscence, the miserable make-believe of the present.

She had known that her love was unrequited ; she
had known the halcyon dream could not last forever ;
hut to end thus — slain in an instant. — ah God ! — it
was cruel ! Why had not Sir Hugh pretended friend-
ship for her a little longer ? Now — she must let him
go — at once and forever. Ah ! yes, before she became
odious to him. Perhaps then he would think of her
sometimes with — regret.

" Is it anything I have done," she questioned at
length wistfully, " which has caused you to suddenly
tell me all this ?"

In view of recent developments Galbraith felt
thoroughly ashamed as she thus questioned him.

" No, Miss Harlowe. There is really nothing to be
so serious about. It is only that I think it will be

226

>ii

Hypnotized ?

advisable for you to go back to your father for a time.
Do not leave us too suddenly — such an action on your
part might raise comment — but perhaps next week — "

" Very well," she answered coldly, " I will go home —
next week."

Slowly they turned their horses' heads homewards,
and as Ursula rode silently beside the man who had
been her idol for so long, all the love in her heart
welled up in a mighty fountain, and her throat ached
with the muttered words she would fain have poured
out at his feet.

Galbraith despised her ! No sooner had this idea
formed itself in her mind than she felt an unalterable
conviction that it was true. What was she after all
but a hollow sham, the product of a false civilization.
She was nothing but a farmer's daughter. All this
new, smart life was a hypocritical farce, and she her-
self only a bubble on the bosom of the social river.

With a strangled sob of despair, she said to herself,
" He despises me because I am a living lie ! "

"jij^

r a time,
on your
yeek — "
home —

newards,
who had
er heart
)at ached
^e poured

this idea
nalterable
I after all
|vilization.
AH this
«he her-
blI river,
o herself,

CHAPTER XII.

" I shall go my ways, tread out my measure,

Fill the days of my daily breath
With fugitive things not good to treasure,

Do as the world doth, say as it saith ;
But if we had loved each other sweet.

Had you felt, lying under the palms of your feet.
The heart of my heart, beating harder with pleasure

To feel you tread it to dust and death."

How the remainder of that day passed Ursula
Harlowe never exactly knew.

The deep, sweet dream of her life was past. Dead
were all the joys of yesterday which had sprung up
only to be ground down under the heel of a cynical,
selfish man. It was her misfortune, not her fault,
that she had loved, but too well, a being who was not
worthy of the high pedestal upon which her whole-
souled devotion had placed him.

No one was more thoroughly capable of keeping
her own counsel, however, than Ursula, and bravely
did the girl go through the long, trying afternoon and
the even more trying dinner-hour which followed it.
Fortunately, Sir Hugh, actuated perhaps by some lin-
gering sense of shame, kept away from his aunt's
house for the remainder of the day, and thus the girl
was spared the pain of being forced into contact with
the man who had just killed, at one blow, her self-
respect and her pride.

228

Hypnotized ?

i'>i

The shock of learning, so suddenly, that she was to
Qalbraith merely a psychological experiment, a sham
foisted upon society simply for the purpose of proving
a vague theory ; and also of discovering that he had
never regarded her as anything but a beautiful fraud,
his inferior, and the puppet of his idle moments, had
been nearly sufficient to unhinge the girl's mind, and
the very calmness she displayed all through that day
was only another evidence of the tension to which
her nerves were strung.

In spite of all that had taken place, the baronet's
coolness soon re-asserted itself, and after spending a
few hours in aimlessly doing nothing, he proceeded to
hunt up Eric Desmond at the Club, and complacently
inform him that everything was settled — Ursula Har-
lowe was going home, and so all disastrous conse-
quences would now be safely avoided.

It caused Sir Hugh no small amount of astonish-
ment that Eric did not appear very satisfied upon
the subject.

" What on earth do you want more, my dear fel-
low ? " demanded the baronet, in response to the some-
what dubious look upon his friend's face.

" Because you are so blind do not imagine, Hugh,
that all the world is blind also. You are not out of
the wood yet."

Galbraith shrugged his shoulders.

" As the old Quaker said to his wife, * All the world
is queer but thee and me, and even thou art a little
queer.' "

,e was to
b, a sham
[ proving
t he had
t'ul fraud,
lents, had
naind, and
that day
to which

baronet's
spending a
'oceeded to
mplacently
Frsula Har-
ous conse-

astonish-
Isfied upon

ly dear fel-
the some-

line, Hugh,
Inot out oi

il the world
, art a little

The Expcfiflicnt Is Begun*

229

" It may be so. Perhaps the old man knew more
of human nature than we give him credit for. But
it appears to me that you are by no means so secure
from the consequences of this scrape as you suppose.
A great wrong has been done, and the results of it
must be felt some day or other."

There were many things which troubled Eric just
then. His own private affairs were all topsy-turvy.
Sybil Carlisle and he were still as far apart as ever,
and this, coupled with all his anxiety about Ursula
and Galbraith, had served to darken the man's life
for the time being with a cloud of anxiety which
showed no silver lining.

By-and-by the day wore on to a close ; with noise-
less steps, and wrapped in a cloak of shadow, the
gentle October eventide passed through the land,
while the twinkling stars came out one by one to
watch her timid progress.

Ursula Harlowe sat alone at last. The ordeal and
strain of keeping up appearances was over, and she
was once more at liberty, in the privacy of her own
room, to cast all restraint to the winds.

There is a subtle atmosphere which clings about
an apartment belonging exclusively to a woman. The
inanimate objects therein seem in a sense to receive
the impress of her individuality ; perhaps this is be-
cause there, and there alone, she permits herself to in-
dulge in the luxury of being perfectly natural. At

230

Hypnotized ?

■ '.'>

any rate the room in which Ursula sat that night was
essentially of a refined type, and bore traces of the
girl's tastes in the various books and objects lying
scattered about it. A wood fire crackled on the
hearth ; and, throwing herself into a chintz- covered
arm-chair before its cheerful blaze, she gave herself
up to the task of sorting her ideas and putting her
mind in order.

Slowly, and speech by speech, the girl went over
the whole conversation which had taken place between
herself and Sir Hugh. Each wounding insinuation he
had spoken, each fresh revelation of what had been
the real state of aflTairs fur months past, came back to
her now with a cruel distinctness. Thus she pondered
on all that had occurred in the by-gone time
which had been so full of light and love, but which
was now merged into eternity, never to come back
again.

Oh ! the sadness of that aftermath ! Gently she
took all her girlish hopes and laid them in a grave,
deep down in the dusts of despair.

Like a scarlet poppy her love had blossomed through
the summer tide of its existence : but now that was
all over. Out down by the hand of a ruthless man it
had died and withered, soon to be buried under the
mould of oblivion ; only perchance in the land of eter-
nal spring might that glorious flower ever bloom

again.

Like a lost angel, wandering in search of the spirit

The Experiment Is Begun.

231

ight was
3S of the
cts lying
d on the
,z- covered
ve herself
itting her

vent over
;e between
nuation he

had been
lie back to
e pondered
gone time

but which
come back

of humanity, Ursula waited dumbly where the fumes
of Hell tarnished the golden fringe of Heaven.

Then all at once a laughing sob of anguish broke
from her lips, more normal in its intensity than the
deadly calm which had preceded it.

" What does it all matter ? What does anything
matter ? " she cried in her misery. Vaguely the girl
understood that something beautiful had been burned
out during that long purgatorial vigil. It was the
Christ-like faith of a little child which died that
night in her bruised heart.

And when the dawn crept in through the shutters,
a tiny beam of sunlight fell tenderly on the bowed
head and shoulders of the girl who knelt there bent
to earth in humble penitence and prayer.

Sir Hugh GalbrrJth had murdered the love of
Ursula Harlowe.

3iently she
n a grave,

ed through
7 that was
less man it
under the
,nd of eter-
fver bloom

the spirit

CHAPTER XIJI.

:' ■ ^j

I! I

" Let this be said between us here :
One love grows green when one turns grey :
This year knows nothing of last year ;
To-morrow has no more to say
To yesterday."

" And so you really wish to go home, my dear ? "

" Yes, Lady Brandram, for a little while, at any
rate," and as she spoke an indescribable smile stole
round about the corners of Ursula's mouth.

" Well, of course you shall please yourself, child,
but, I confess, I am sorely disappointed," replied the
elder lady, as she passed her hand lovingly over the
girl's ruddy hair. " If you would only remain here
until Christmas I should be more content."

Ursula was sitting on a low stool resting her head
against the arm of a chair. Evening had fallen before
the occupants of the room grew aware of the lateness
of the hour, but still Lady Brandram did not ring for
lights to be brought, and so the two women talked
on confidentially in the oxydized-silver twilight.

" You have been so kind to me that I feel almost
guilty in rimning away so hurriedly, but " (and here
a trembling of the lips caused the girl to turn her
face slightly towards the window) " I get such a long-
ing for home sometimes — and Daddy," with another
quiver, '' that nothing will do— except "—

The Experiment Is Begun*

233

-y-

dear ? "
le, at any
iuiile stole

rseU, child,
replied the
y over the
imain here

cf her head
lUen before
,lie lateness
Qot ring for
men talked
ilight.

]feel almost
l"(and here
o turn her
[such a lon^-
,ith another

" I know, my child. It is only natural, after all,
and Mr. Harlowe has been very good to spare you to
us for so long. But, Ursula, have you been happy
here ? " with a quick impulse of tenderness in look
and tone.

"Always, with you, dear Lady Brandram. I can
never thank you enough for your kindness to me ;
and please do not think me ungrateful because I say
that I want to go home now."

" What nonsense ! Just as if everybody did not,
or, at least, ought not, to love their home the best of
all places in the world. Try, though, not to forget us
altogether ; but when you have stilled the heimweh,
come back to me for another visit. Promise that you
will do this, Ursula, and then I shall be more willing
to let you go."

" From the bottom of my heart I promise that, re-
plied the girl ; for she thought of how some day, when
Sir Hugh should be away from London, she would
dearly love to return for a time to the kind old lady
who had been like a second mother to her during
the past year.

"There is another thing," she went on, "which 1
very much wish to do, that is, if you have no objec-
tion to the idea. Sybil Carlisle and T have always been
such great friends that I want to go and stay with
her for a few days before leaving for Arleton." ,

This plan Lady Brandram readily agreed to, but
she little guessed that a strong wish to avoid Sir
Hugh Galbraith underlay the girl's proposition.
16

234

Hypnotized ?

lifi

Thus it was settled, and no one rejoiced over the
prospect of the brief companionship more than Sybil,
for she was very lonely in those days, and having long
since discovered that Ursula, at all events, was to-
tally innocent of having ever flirted with Eric, how-
ever much he might have erred in that direction, she
entertained exactly the same warm feelings of friend-
ship for the farmer's daughter as before. Sir Hugh
was also a trifle relieved when he heard of the new
plan ; for, truth to tell, he wished to avoid Ursula
quite as much as she desired to avoid him. So that
the only person who felt any lingering regret over
the fact that the girl would nut spend the few remain-
ing days of her London visit in Belgrave-square was
Lady Brandram, who, dear, unsuspicious old soul,
hummed on her kindly way, totally oblivious of the
tragedy which was being worked out before her very
eyes.

One person who hailed with positive joy the arrival
of Ursula at the Carlisle's house was David Comstock.
Quite recently it had come to his knowledge that all
the gossip told him by Mrs. Osborne legarding tlio
existence of an engagement between Sir Hugh an<l
the belle of the season was entirely false, and accord-
ingly his spirits went up to bubbling pitch, and his
attentions became correspondingly ardent.

On the very day *hat Ursula went to her new des-
tination he called, and had the good fortune to find
find her at home. This visit, a lengthy one, w«s only

over the

lan Sybil,
,ving long
was to-
ilric, how-
ection, she
J of friena-
Sir Hugh
,f the new
^oid Ursula
So that
regret over
few remain -
square was
iS old soul,
ious of the
,re her very

the arriv

IdComstocVi
1(1 tre that all
jcrarding tl»p
Hugh an<l
and accord-
Itch, and his

ler new des-

[tune to find

■,e, was only

The Expcfimcnt Is Begfun* 235

the prelude to many others, and right glad was the
elderly lover that he now had a chance to woo the
girl under the roof of Mrs. Carlisle — anywhere, in
short, rather than at a house where Sir Hugh Gal-
hraith (whom he had erstwhile looked upon as his
successful rival) had the unchallenged entree.

There was a faint balm to the girl's wounded heart
in this complete devotion lavished upon her by Corn-
stock, and though she never dreamed of reciprocating
his love, still, to know that there existed some one who
cared for her, anticipated her slightest wishes, and in
all things made her his first consideration, was a
very soothing feeling.

It turned out as might be expected, Mr. Comstock
proposed and was accepted. Marriage with a man
like David Comstock meant safety from all the
slurs and misunderstanding on the part of the per-
sons with whom Ursula had been moving in London.

Had Ursula not been tortured beyond endurance
for the last few days, and at ths very instant when
Mr. Comstock proposed to her, felt desperate as only
a heart-broken woman can, she would never have con-
sented to become the wife of a man for whom she
entertained nothing but feelings of indifference.
Marriage with a man like David Comstock meant
safety from the slurs of female society gossips ; and
more than that, it meant a new, tenable position in
the world. When a woman loses her mental balance she
will act with inconceivable rashness, '^neither caring

236

Hypnotized ?

that she hurts another, nor recking what the future
will inevitably bring to her.

When Mr. Comatock said : " Ursula, I love you.
Will you be my wife ?" she had stood as if turned to
stone, and as he pleaded in honest, outspoken words,
encouraged to do so by her silence, she tamed upon
him a look of such utter weariness that involuntarily
the man put an arm around her waist and drew her
head down upon his shoulder.

" I am very wrong to let you do this, to even listen
to you," she murmured, "but somehow I have lost all
power of resistance. I am so tired."

Then he pressed her closer to him and tenderly ask-
ed the old, old question : " Will you not love me a
little, darling ?"

She replied : "I do not love you, but, if you wish
it, I will marry you."

It was not a very sentimental answer, but DaviM
Comstock was satisfied.

No* thought of triumph over the baronet foujul
place in Ursula's mind when she took the vigorous ste|)
of accef)ting David Comstock. It never struck her
that she could in future defy the man who had
hitherto considered her beneath him, or that in her
new position she would stand on the same social level
as Galbraith himself. Her only idea was that now
she would be safe from detection, sneers and humilia-
tion, and, above all, safe from the power of the society
fiend.

,he future

love you.
turned to
sen words,
irned uy^on
voluntarily
\ drew her

even listen
lave lost all

enderly ask-
love me a

i you wish

I', l.ut David

onct
l^'icvorous step

struck bev
In who hi^'l
Ir that in bel-
le social level
ts that now
l:\nd huroilia-
If the society

CHAPTER XIV.

" Yet the first hringer of unwelcome ik-ws
Hath but a losing otiice."

" I liave seen the desire of mine eyes,
The beginning of love."

The next day Ursula sent Lady Hnindrain a note
telling her briefly of her engagement to Mr. David
Comstock. It was late in the day when the note
reached her, and its effect was startling. She felt that
she had been a party to a deception, and she Threaded
the result of a disclosure. As a consequence Lady
Biandram passed a very restless night. She rose
on the following morning with the full deteriiiin-
ation to get the unpleasant business before her over
as soon as possible. As soon as she had finished
breakfast, she sat down and wrote a note to her
nephew, summoning him to Belgrave-square immedi-
ately on "a matter of the greatest importance."

L'homme propose but things never do turn out
just as they should ; and by a series of mischances,
mere trifles in themselves, and yet, when banded to-
gether, strong enough to upset the " best laid schemes
o' mice an' men," Sir Hugh did not receive his
aunt's letter until twelve o'clock. Deeming from her
words that something serious was afoot, he drove as
quickly as a hansom could take him to Lady Brand-

238

Hypnotized ?

ram's house, and there found her in a state of consider
able anxiety over his non-appearance.

" I am so sorry, aunt, that there was a mistake about
your note ; I got it only just now at the Club."

" Never mind ; you are here at hist, and that is the
main point. Something dreadful has happened, at
least it may still prove all right, only you must go at
once and tell Mr. Comstock all about it."

" My dear aunt, what are you talking of ?"

" Oh ! you must try and understand ; it is so ur-
gent."

" I will if you tell me what it is that has taken
place."

"Ursula has sent me a note telling me of the whole
affair, so I am sure it is true. Mrs. Osborne said it
was utterly impossible, and that it was my duty to
inform him. And really, Hugh, I am afraid ."

" Now, aunt, look here, how can I do anything tu
help you unless you explain yourself a little more
clearly ? Repeat to me what it was Ursula said to

you."

*• She — oh ! Hugh I" and here Lady Brandram be-
gan to get confused again, " she never thought, I sup-
pose, of all the dreadful consequences — but you must
put things straight for her."

Sir Hugh was growing a little nervous, and fast
getting to the end of his patience.

" Ursula Harlowe told you — what ? " he asked, very
sternly.

The Experiment Is Begfun.

239

'* That she was ent;aged to Mr. Comstock, " faltered
Lady Brand ram.

Here was a pretty kettle of fish I Galbraith had
often laughed at Desmond for predicting evil and al-
ways looking on the worst side c things, and now
the realization of all Eric's worst prognostications had
come true.

Sir Hugh was literally overwhelmed at the unlook-
ed-for i)iece of news. In ihe past he had scoffed at
the notion of Ursula's unworthiness to wed with a
gentleman ; but recent events had considerabl}^ chang-
ed the current of his ideas on this subject, and he now
saw the full significance of Desmond's objection to de-
ceiving society on the score of the girl's antecedents.
To marry a woman of hourgeoise extraction, with your
eyes open to the risk, was one thing — to do so in
ignorance of her birth was quite another matter.

For a few minutes the baronet vouchsafed no fur-
ther remark than that first involuntary ejaculation.
He felt a little sick, as strong men do in times of
severe mental emotion, and he thought great, bitter,
repentant thoughts.

Under the influence of his outward calmness Lady
Brandram grew less nervous, and presently she went
on to tell him what she considered it was his duty to
do. Sir Hugh quietly acquiesced in her proposition,
promising to go directly after luncheon and tell David
Comstock the entire story.

With what feeling of shame and lashings of con-

240

Hypnotized ?

science Galbraith started on his way to Upper Brooke
Street, no mortii evei guessed. Oh ! the rottenness
of that Dead Sea fruit ! How it revolted him
now ! The sin, the fraud, the hollowness of his
experiment ! Was this, indeed, the end ? Surely
it must be. Life could hold no purgatorial abyss so
deep as this task before him.

He wondered vaguely why he had so readily con-
sented to abase himself before a man whose respect
and friendship he had hitherto enjoyed ; but, all the
same, there he was bowling rapidly along to David
Comstock's house, with the fixed determination t»>
make confession.

" Is Mr. Comstock at home ?"

How easy it was to ask this simple ([uestion, how
common-place to follow the butler up to the drawing-
room, and there stand bv the window, lookin<]f out at
the passers-by. Sir Hugh gave the skeleton of n
laugh. Here was he in Comstock's house, waiting to
kill all the man's hopes of love and happiness, all his
faith in womanhood, all his —

The door opened with a creak, and David entered.
Advancing slowly he motioned Galbraith to take a
chair, but did not proffer his hand in greeting. The
two men regarded each other steadily, and opened up
a fire of brief sentences, meaningless, and obviously
without point, like two opposing elements mustering
up their forces for the attack.

Presently, rising to his feet, Sir Hugh gripped the

The Experiment Is Beg^un.

241

Brooke
btenness
ed him
8 of his
Surely
abyss so

ily con-
3 respect
,, all thti
to David
latioii to

,ion, how
drawing-
x\iy out at
on ot* ;i
waiting to
ss, all hi^

entered,
to take a
The
pened up
obviously
nustering

■ing

ipped the

back of a chair with fingers that showed white at tlie
knuckles from over-tension. Then he began to tell
the truth. It seemed as if he were reeling otf a les-
son learned by heart.

" Is that all?" asked Comstock, as the baronet ceased
speaking.

" Yes, that is all, so help me God 1 "
" I am glad of your corroboration, Sir Hugh. It is an
added testimony to the truthfulness of — Ursula."

"She has told you — "

" All."

" But when ? "

" Last night. Do you sec this letter ?" dr^•wing an
envelope out of his pocket. " It was handed to me
during the evening, and was written by a man named
Tom Seott. Who he is I have since learned from my
late Jinancee," with a slow smile, " and 1 gather that
baffled jealousy prompted its composition."

Sir Hugh stared at the man before him. How
calmly Comstock took it all !

" I see you do in truth know everything," said the
baronet ; "all that remains for me to do, is to ask your
pard )n for the deception of which I have been the
cause, and you the victim."

" I can well afford to forgive you now, and I do so
freely, but remember, Galbraith, the tie of friendship
is severed between us forever."

Sir Hugh bowed silently. He felt the justice of
David's words.

I'll/
■'ii''

4 HI

242 Hypnotized }

" When a man makes license the definition of lib-
erty, as you have done, he voluntarily places himself
outside the pale of good fellowship."

The baronet bowed again coldly ; he could answer
nothing.

" I think I need not detain you any longer," said
the stockbroker.

Then something awakened in Galbraith's mind.

" Miss Harlowe," he stammered, " does she — have
you told her — I mean she will go home at once — I
suppose — "

" That will be for her to decide."

" You have broken off your engagement already,
then ? "

" You have absolutely no right to ask such a ques-
tion, but I will answer it nevertheless. Miss Harlowe
and I are no longer engaged. Ursula is my wife."

" Wife ? "

** Yes," we were married this morning, and she is
already in her own home."

Stepping across to a door leading into the library,
he opened it, and in another instant had led Ursula in
by the hand.

" Allow me to present to you Mrs. Comstock."

The effect was electrical. Sir Hugh looked up
startled. It was like the coming of an angel una-
wares. He murmured something, he knew not what.
They were in the presence of the catastrophe of three
lives.

n o£ lib-
i himse!f

i answei

rer," said

mind,
he — have
; once — 1

The Experiment Is Begun, 243

sen!Zn''tT TT' """'''"'* experienced a new
sola t M 7'^-^»'^ '^"^^ to '"« everlasting de-

„l.?Vf '■ *?° ^''*' ' '" *'"'' t'e'^utiful by-gone past

wo th the gathering up. Now, when hope was
denied to hun, he loved to the uttermost.

i already,

ih a ques-
i Harlowe
wite.

ad she i«

le library,
Ursula in

ock."

looked up
mgel unk-
not what.
le of three

1'; ■

i;:

BOOK IIL

The Experiment is Ended

" BeTondTh"' ^""^'^^'^^"^ ^hou,.hts ut.os. reach
' ""' '^,'' J"-^- ^- »<"--. the love, the pain. '

Out on (he dim dark way.
The problem is resolved for thee; but I,
Crushed q.a.stionin^. despairing, still remain,

^'^dnothmg-thon wilt say.
s love so weak thou dost not heed my cry ^
I. memory so vanishing-, so vain, "

That tieath wipes all away ? -

vS ■<"*;■■'

CHAPTER I.

'* Fabi'uni esse suie queinque fortuna^."

Pseudo-Sallust.

The whirligig of time, which stops for no man, had
swirled on through summer and winter, storm and
sunshine, until several more year-cycles were spun
otl' into eternity.

Three years had come and gope since the day on
which David Comstock married Ursula llarlowe —
years of comparative peace to both husband and wife,
for in all honour and faith the girl (tid her duty
towards the man whom she had so rashly wedded.
Though his firm belief that some day she would learn
to love him was never realized, her quiet genuine
affection satisfied David to a very considerable extent.

Love was dea<i for Ursula in this life, bi\t she gave,
as a substitute for it, a perfect devotion to her hus-
band's interests, all the more punctilious l)ecau8e it was
the outcome of duty, and not of tenderness.

Two other marriages had also taken place within a
year. One, that of Sybil Carlisle to Eric Desmond,
and the other between Lady Betty Mornington and a
curate of ritualistic tendencies, a man of excellent
family, but penniless. This latter couple were as
happy as young married people are proverbially sup-
posed to be, and in spite of the prospect of straight-

248

Hypnotized ?

I'll

ened means, appeared perfectly contented. Matters
mi£^ht not have gone so smoothly in the future, how-
ever, if Lady Brandram had not luckily come to the
worldly rescue of Betty and her husband, and insisted
that they should make their home with her.

With Eric and Sybil things also went very well,
somewhat to the surprise of Mrs. Carlisle, who, know-
ing all the past struggles between her daughter and
Desmond over the question of art, experienced some
serious misgivings regarding the continuance of a
truce ; but as the months rolled by, and peace still
reigned supreme, her fears gradually sank to rest.

And Sir Hugh Galbraith, what of him ? Outwardly
he was the same cold, cynical man of the world, but
inwardly, ah ! what a change had been wrought there.
From the moment in which he first realized that he
loved Ursula with all a man's passionate devotion, his
entire life had been altered. Habitual custom, culti-
vated to a point of perfection, kept his external con-
duct invariably impassive ; only to himself was known
the regret* the remorse, the gnawing, burning pain of
desolation. In deepest sorrow he mourned the colossal
loss of his life, the one great opportunity of happiness
which Providence had given to him, and which he had
neglected to grasp until it was snatched from under
his very eyes by another man.

Only very occasionally did Sir Hugh ever meet the
Comstocks ; indeed, he purposely avoided them as
much as possible, for the double reason that he could

The Experiment Is Ended,

249

Vlatters
e, how-
e to the
insisted

jry well,

0, know-

hter and

ced some

nee of a

,eace still

D rest.

)utwardly

world, but

ght there.

■d that he

votion,his
,om, culti-
■rnal con-
as known
lug pain of
le colossal
happiness
|ich he had
•om under

IV meet the

them as

It he could

not bear to see Ursula as the wife of another man
and that he still felt a lurking fear of the re-
currence of some hypnotic phenomena. Then, too,
Oomstock had never renewed his former cordial rela-
tions with Galbraith, and the latter gladly allowed
the breach between them to widen. Knowing that
his love for Ursula was hopeless, he dreaded the
power within him, as men fear an evil spirit.

For a considerable time after that terrible night
when Dr. Challotte had with scathing words de-
nounced him as a charlatan of the lowest type, the
baronet, with much help from the old scientist^atrove
diligently to unravel the mystery which surrounded
the incident ; but though, together, the two men had
travelled intellectually a great way since that event-
ful evening, they seemed to come but little nearer to
a fuller comprehension of the truth. There are some
problems which even to the most learned and enlight-
ened must always remain unsolved, and this appeared
to be one of them.

Whether in the years to come Unconscious Hypno-
tism will ever be established as a recognized power,
who shall say ? Psychical research is yet in its in-
fancy, and at present no one dare affirm what may or
may not be within the bounds of possibility. Basing
his studies upon the evidence supplied to him by Sir
Hugh Galbraith's experience. Dr. Challotte did all
that scientific rules permitted in order to attest the
new proposition ; and so far as he went the theory
16

vl\

mil

250

Hypnotized }

looked plausible enough in the abstract, but the old
man utterly failed to demonstrate it practically. Per-
sonally he believed in the baronet's afHrmations, and
completely exonerated Sir Hugh from all chaige of
dishonourable conduct. Yet there he had to stop, for
further than that he could not, dared not, pronounce
definitely. As the world was fortunately in perfect
ignorance olthe unprecedented occurrence, Gal braith's
public position was in no way aflf'ected by this non-
approval of his defensive explanation.

At the end of three years all cffoit to establisli
Unconscious Hypnotism on a sound psychological
basis having failed, Dr. Challotte gave up the quest in
despair ; but, though Sir Hugh never to the end of his
life quite abandoned all hope of verifying his suspi-
cions, no answer to the hypnotic problem was ever
forthcoming. So, whether or no the baronet had
unconsciously hypnotized Ursula Harlowe, whether
her love for him was inspired by his dominating
power, or whether that power was engendered b}^ hei-
love for the man himself, who can tell ?

the oUl
y. Per-

3US, and
large oi
stop, f or
f on ounce
n perfect
albraitVi'a
this non-

establift^^
'chological

:ie quest in
} end of his
his suspi-
was ever
ronet had
whether
ominating
red by her

CHAPTER II.

" The story of her birth."

— Addison.

Early in November, just three yeais and a month
after the date of his marriage, David Comstock
was killed in the hunting field by a fall from his
horse. Exactly how the accident happened no one
ever learned. But there was a nasty stone wall with a
big ditch on the off side ; man and animal rose to it ;
then followed an instantaneous crash, and a riderless
horse galloped away over the fields, leaving behind in
that deep, slimy ditch an insensible human form. Be-
fore the end of the day David was dead.

This all took place down in Wiltshire, just at the com
mencement of the hunting season ; and when the blow
fell, Ursula's first instinct was to go back to lier old
home in Arleton, where she knew a loving welcome
from her father always awaited her.

In more ways than one it had all been a terrible
shock to the girl, for as the months came and went, she
had by degrees learned to depend upon David's kindly
protection and unfailing goodness. When such a
violent termination was put to his life the young
widow felt unspeakably lonely and crushed, missing
at every turn the thoughtful and affectionate care
with which Comstock had always surrounded her.

252

Hypnotized ?

Mr. Harlowe was naturally extieinely glad to have
his daughter a. hoepdene. Life liad been very solitary
for the old nwm ever since Ursula weiit to London, and
now, after years of constant separation, the farmer ap-
preciated keenly the companionship of the girl he loved
so dearly. For some weeks all went on in a quiet
way. November gave place to December, and the
year was fast approaching its dissolution before Mr.
Harlowe finally made up his mind to do a certain
thing which he had come to regard in the light of an
imperative duty.

One night, shortly before Chistmas, he and Ursula
were sitting in the oak parlor before a blazing hearth,
the girl's one idea being to get as close as she pos-
sibly could to the fire, without being in the absolute
conflagration, for the night was very raw. Outside
the rain fell like tears of sorrow dropped from the
eye of Heaven over the fields w^hieh lay stretched out
under a low-arched sky, mist-mantled and desolate,
silent, save for the creaking of naked branches as the
wind sobbed through the trees and chased a mass of
grey clouds across to the dim horizon.

No matter how we struggle against it, our thoughts
are constantly subservient to the weather. And so it
was with Ursula on that particular winter evening.
She felt unusually dreary ; even conversation had tem-
porarily languished between herself and her father,
and during a short spell the moaning of the wind, as
it rose and then died away in a plaintive wail, was

J have
3Utary
)n,an»l
aer ap-
e loved
a quiet
Lnd the
[ore Mr.
certain

[\t of an

i Ursula

y hearth,
she pos-
absolute
Outside
rom the
ched out
desolate,
a as the
mass of

thoughts
,nd so it
[evening,
lad tern-
father,
[wind, as
rail, was

The Experiment Is Ended* 253

the only accompaniment to the girl's vague fancies.
Presently Mr. Harlowe spoke.

" Ursula," he began, and the spasmodic jerk with
which he brought out her name, while it was really
only the natural outburst of an over-burdened mind,
sounded forced to the girl's ears, " Ursula, it has come
to me very strongly of late that I did not act rightly
hy you when I let you go to Loudon four years ago."

" Why, father ?" she queried, looking up at him in
surprise.

" For several reasons, the chief one being that you
went there in ignorance of a fact which you had a
perfect right to know.

" I also did a wrong to Lady Brandram, and to Sir
Hugh Galbraith at the same time," went on the far-
mer, ■' and I did an even greater wrong to your poor
husband, my dear. There now, don't you cry," for at
the mention of David, the tears, already so near to the
surface, welled up in the girl's eyes. "But, lass, if I had
it all to do over again, I would tell the truth from the
beginning."

The old man paused and Ursula cried on quietly.
She was feeling unstrung that night, and somehow
she missed her husband's strong arms, which had al-
ways been her shelter against every trouble.

" I want you to listen to me, my girl," said Mr.
Harlowe earnestly, " while I tell you a story of things
which happened many years ago, long before you
were born."

254

Hypnotized ?

" Yes, Daddy, go on."

The farmer looked at her sadl3\

"Do not call me 'Daddy' again until you have
heard what I am going co say ; after that, if you still
wish to do so, you can continue to call me by the old
name."

" Nothing will ever alter my love for you, father,"
replied the girl, att'ectionately stroking his arm; " but
go on."

" Three and twenty years ago," pursued the old
man, " I married your mother. Ah ! Ursula, she was
a lovely girl herself then, just about your age, and like
you, my dear, a widow."

"A widow?"

" Yes, and with one child, a little girl."

" And the child was — " she paused, and stared at
Mr. Harlowe with bewildered eyes.

" YoU; Ursula. Yes, you were just twelve months
old when I married ^''our mother, and so, you see, I am
not your father at ail, though you have always called
me by that name. And indeed I have loved you, lass,
as if you had truly been of my own flesh and blood."

Ursula felt too amazed to speak, and the old man
continued :

" I want to ex[)lain to you a little bit why you never
heard of all this before. You see your real father, your
mother's first luisband, was — a rascal ; I am sorr}'' to
have to tt 11 you this, my dear, but it cannot be hidden
any longer. He was a young nobleman, belonging to

The Experiment Is Ended.

255

u have

'ou still
the oW

father,"
but

11;

the old
she was
and like

stared at

|e months

see, I am

lys called

lyou, lass,

id blood."

old man

rou never
[,her, your

sorry to
hidden

mging io

a well-known family, who fell in love with your
mother during her first season, and induced her to run
away with him. She was very fond of Lord Wy vern
at the time, but her people would not hear of the
match taking place, and when she took the law into
her own hands and Hed across the channel with the
handsome young ne'er-do-weel, her father and mother
refused to forgive her for marrying such a scamp.
After some months spent in wandering about the con-
tinent, the young couple drifted to Monte Carlo, where
Lord Wy vern took to his old habits of gambling ;
staking all his available cash on the green tables, until
he and his poor little wife were reduced to abject
poverty, for fortune distinctly refused to smile upon
his ventures at cards. Then you were born, Ursula,
in a small town near Maiseilles, and shortly after-
wards your father was killed, shot in a disrepu-
table gambling fray," — and here the old man's voice
quavered.

" Oh ! my child," he continued in broken tones
" pray Heaven you may never know the terrible
misery whicli your dear mother endured in those dark
days. She came to Arleton when you were only six
months old, ruined in health, a sad-eyed woman of
twenty-three, her one desire being to bury herself
where her relations could never trace her. They had
deliberately cast her off, and she never, to the day of
her death, would sue to them for forgiveness. Well,
I fell in love with Isobel Wy vern, and we were mar-

2:;6

Hypnotized ?

ried. When I look back on the perfect happiness of
those two short years of our wedded life, I thank God,
Ursula, that ho gave me so sweet a wife.

'* When she was taken away she left me a little bless-
ing in you, mere baby though you were, and begged
me, as she lay dying in my arms, never to tell her sad
history, or the truth about your parentage, to any
living being, unless it were absolutely necessary. You
see, child, I kept my promise to her ; but I fancy some-
times that it would have been better if I had told you
this story a few years ago."

Ursula sat wrapped in deepest reflection. The tale
she had just listened to was so startling, and meant so
much to her. Ah ! yes, how much — how very much
it did mean.

" Then you are, after all, no relation of mine what-
soever, Daddy ; but how good you have always been
to me," said the girl gently, "just the same as if you
had been my real father."

" I loved you at first for your mother's sake, child,
but by and by I grew to love you for yourself alone.
You were a sort of legacy from my dead Isobel, and
I cared for you as her baby, until you crept into my
lonely old heart, and made it warm once more. In
the end I came to look upon you as the sunshine of
my life and home."

" Dear Daddy," said Ursula, as she fondly rubbed
her cheek against his hand, while all the time her
thoughts were running in one direction.

The Experiment Is Ended.

257

>iness of
ink God,

tie bless-
d begged
11 her sad
re, to any
try. You
Qcy some-
1 told you

The tale
i meant so
rery much

line what-
^rays been
as if you

ake, child,
•self alone.

sobel, and
|t into my

more. In
nshine of

lly rubbed
le time her

" My father was Lord Wyvern," she mused, *' a
gentleman of good birth, and my mother — " "Daddy,''
she said aloud, " Who was my mother ?"

" Her name was Isobel Mornington. She was a
younger sister of Lady Brandram."

*' And you never told Lady Brandram who I was ?"

" No. It is for that I now blame myself so severely.
I see it was a deceitful thing to do — to let you go to
her as a stranger, when you were in reality her own
niece."

" Then if I am Lady Brandram's niece, Sir Hugh
Galbraith must be my cousin."

" Certainly, though I never knew of the circum-
stance myself until he brought me a letter from his
aunt asking you to go to London ; for your mother,
though she often spoke of her elder sister. Lady
Brandram, did not, as far as I can remember, ever
mention to l e the existence of Sir Hugh, who, at
the time of our marriage, could only have been a
youngster about ten years old."

Ursula understood it all at last. For the first time
she grasped the reason of many things, but the point
which was uppermost in her mind was the all-import-
ant one of her real antecedents. " I am his equal after
all," she thought, " and no humbly- born country girl,
as he fancied." And this idea brought balm to her
self-love, which had been so mortally wounded by Sir
Hugh.

" You see, Ursula," the farmer was saying, " as soon

2s8

Hypnotized ?

as I learned that it was your own aunt who wanted
you to <,^o and stay with her, and take you out into
societ}', I decided at once to send you to London, for,
as Isobel's daughter, it was your birthright to take the
place of a lady of position. I thought to myself,
that if you should marry well, why, after all, that
would be exactly what you had a right to do, being a
gentlewoman born."

" It was strange," said Ursula, " that Lady Hran-
dram should have been my friend for so long, and yet
that we should never have found out our relationship."

" Not strange at all, child, because she had no clue
to your identity."

" I remember now, that she always said I was very
like her dead sister ; but of course at the time it never
struck me how deep a significance those words bore."

" It may seem strange to you that such a lady as
your mother was should ever have condescended to
marry a plain farmer like myself ; but you see, Ur-
sula, hers had been a life full of so much trouble that
she appeared glad to come and find rest and a quiet
home under my roof. It was all right in her case to
come down to my level, for she was too world-worn
to ever care again for a gay life. So all that love could
do to make her happy she had in full," and here the
old man's eyes shone with a brighter light, " for I
worshipped the very ground my Isobel trod on. My
thought ever was to make up to her by every means
in my power for the dead years of her past. But for

The Experiment Is Ended.

259

wanted
out into
)ndon, for,
take the
;o myself,
• all, that
lo, being a

ady Bran-
ig, and yet
ationship."
ad no clue

[ was very
ne it never
ords bore."
a lady as
icended to
)U see, Ur-
ouble that
d a quiet
er case to
orld-worn
love could
here the
t, " for I
on. My
iry means
But for

you, Ursula, it was different ; and I sometimes think
that Isohel made a mistake when she refused to let
me send you to her relations. It was your right to
have at least a choice in the matter."

While Mr. Harlowe was speaking, the girl had been
pondering in a desultory manner on the similarity of
the histories of her life and that of her mother. Both
of them had weathered the storms of som'ore days and
darkest nights ; both had married in order to gain
peace and the protection of a good man against the
world.

" So far no harm has come of my silence," said the
old farmer, " for you did marry a good honest hus-
band, and a gentleman to boot, my dear ; and with that
reflection I comfort myself every hour."

No harm ! As Ursula heard Mr. Harlowe utter
these words, her heart sickened at the recollection of
all the misery and un8peakaV)le wretchedness which
had been her portion during so many months. No
harm ! when her life and love had been wrecked and
shattered all because of this untold tale. Oh ! the
horrible irony of Fate ! Now, when happiness had
fled, and earthly things were all neutral-coloured, when
hope and faith and sweet content were stricken low,
the old man spoke the words which, had they been
uttered four years before, would have altered all her
cruel destiny. Had Sir Hugh Galbraith known that
she was his equal, he might have loved her, wooed her,
won her, and then —

26o

Hypnotized ?

" I shall write to Lady Brandram to-morrow," Ur-
sula heard the old man saying, "and repeat what I have
told you to-night. She and Sir Hugh must at once
learn the story from me. I owe it to them in part
justification of my long silence."

" Yes, to-morrow," murmured Ursula. Oh ! the to-
morrows — what could they ever bring to her but lone-
liness and sorrow, each one a repetition of the others.
As her head sank down upon her clasped hands, the
girl broke into hard, dry sobs which wrung her very
heart-strings. It is always left unto women to weep
for the sins of men.

ow." Ur-
at I have
b at once
1 in part

I ! the to-
but lone-
he others,
lands, the
her very
w to weep

CHAPTER III.

" The tender grace of a day that is dead,
Will never come back to me."

— Tennyson.

And so, at last, the secret which for the space of twenty
years had been securely locked up in the heart of old
Mr. Harlowe was kept inviolate no longer. It was a
strange story which he had told to Ursula in the fire-
light on that dark December night, and yet one so
simple as to be no uncommon tale of events. The
whole thing fitted together perfectly, like a child's
map, and the whys and wherefores had their answers
in the iacU laid down just as they actually happened.

Naturally it gave Ursula much food for thought.
Not for one moment did she blame the farmer for
withholding from h r- the knowledge that she was
the Honourable Ursu;a Wyvern, and not Miss Har-
lowe of Deepdene Farm ; for she was devotedly
attached to him, and that her mother had implored
his silence upon the subject was to the girl an all-
sufficient justification for the course he had pursued.

Mr. Harlowe carried out his intention of writing a
full account of the life of Lsobel Mornington to her
sister, Lady Brandram. But the letter which he
addressed to Sir Hugh upon the same subject, lay for
several days at " White's," unclaimed by its owner, for

111

I ;

i i II

i >«:

262

Hypnotized ?

Galbraith, having taken a short run down into Essex,
with the full expectation of returning to London in a
couple of days, had not left any directions with regard
to the forwarding of his letters. Consequently, when
a sudden determination seized upon him to go to
Deepdene and see Ursula, he started for Arleton in
complete ignorance of the revelations which had been
made by Mr. Harlowe, both to his aunt and himself,
through the medium of the post.

The baronet had not seen Mrs. Comstock for nearly
a year, and each day since he had heard of her hus-
band's death he became more and more desirous of
once more seeking the presence of the only woman he
had ever loved. A certain respect for her recent
bereavement restrained his impatience for a time, but,
at length, a longing took such strong possession of him
to look upon her dear face again, to hear the sound of
her voice, and to feel the clasp of her hand, that, bid-
ding an abrupt farewell to the friend-* with whom he
was staying. Sir Hugh whirled away, as swiftly as
steam could convey him, to the little Herefordshire
village.

During the past three years Galbraith had not
permitted himself even to think of Ursula, far less to
see her except very occasionally, for he feared from
the depths of his heart, that, if he voluntarily
retained her personality in his mind, some further
terrible disaster might occur, as the consequence of
his unfathomable power. Therefore he had cut him-

The Experiment Is Ended.

263

ito Essex,
ndon in a
ith regard
atly, when
1 to go to
Arleton in
ti had been
id himself,

: for nearly

)f her hus-

desirous of

y woman he

her recent

a time, but,

|Ssion of iiim

[the sound of

^d, that, bid-

th whom he

s swiftly as

erefordshire

[th had not
[a, far less to
1 feared from

voluntarily
lome further
Isequence of

lad cut him-

self off, as much as possible, from all intercourse,
either direct or indirect, with the girl, from the
moment in which he learned that she was another
man's wife. Now, however, aU was changed, and the
baronet firmly believed that, as there had been no
demonstration of the existence of his unconscious
hypnotic power for so long a period, the force
(whatever it was) must be dead.

The snow lay thick upon the ground, and the dis-
tant hills were blotted out hy heavy banks of clouds
piled high up into the leaden-coloured sky. It was
about three o'clock in the afternoon of New Year's
day when GalLraith alighted at Arleton Station, and
at once engaged a trap to convey him out to Deep-
dene.

Mr, Harlowe was honestly glad to see the haronet
again, and bade him heartily welcome, insisting that
he should remain for at least one night under the
roof of the farm-house.

" Of a surety you can spare us one day," said the
old man cheerfully ; but Sir Hugh only gave him an
evasive answer, for the young man knew well in his
own heart that it rested with Ursula to decide
whether he should go or stay.

" Thanks, Mr. Harlowe. I will see how the evening
turns out ; but if it is tine I think it may be best for
me to make my way back to the ' Arms,' in order to
catch the early morning train up to Town."

" Well, well, we'll see. Maybe you can stay though,

264

Hypnotized ?

and Ursula will be glad of your company, I make no
doubt. It is but a lonely life for the lass down here,
with me out all day in the open."

As he thus rambled on in hospitable vein, he led
Sir Hugh acro>s the hall into the oak parlour, and,
throwing wide the door, said :

" Ursula, here is a visitor."

The girl turned her head at the sound of the far-
mer's voice, and, looking up, encountered the baronet's
gaze fixed upon her, as he paused for an instant up >n
the threshold of the room.

" Sir Hugh !" she cried in surprise, and rising with
a slow dignity, which was the acquisition of recent
years, she came towards him and held out a friendly
hand in greeting.

" Yes, Mrs. Comstock, it is really I. You see I have
taken the liberty of paying you a very informal
visit."

"I am glad to see you," said Ursula; and, as she ut-
tered the stereotyped phrase, she felt painfully con-
scious of how bald the words were ; yet at the same
time she experienced a total inability to conjure up
any warmer speech of welcome.

Mr. Harlowe made up for all her deficiencies, how-
ever, by his good-natured commonplaces, for he re-
marked on the weather, the condition of the roads
and the state of agriculture, in such an easy, uncon-
cerned manner that it considerably helped out the
conversation, and was a vast relief to the two other

make no
wn here,

Q, he led
LOur, and,

t the far-
baronet's

bant up >n

ising with
oi recent
a friendly

see I have
informal

1, as she ut-
ituUy con-
It the same
jonjure up

liicies, how-
[for he re-

the roads
isy, uncon-
id out the

two other

The Experiment Is Ended. 265

participants. No allusion was made to Ursula's
story, and yet two out of the three pet sons conii re-
gated round the hoarth were hon-il)ly conscious of it
all the time they spoke only on extraneous topics.

Presently the old man nr(,t up, saying that he had
something to atttnd to.

" I must leave you for an hour, Sir Hugh ; but
Ursula will entertain you, and after supper we can
have a smoke and a talk together. Of course, you
got my letter last, week V

"What letter, Mr. Harlowe?"

" Why the one I sent to your club on Tuesday."

" No, I have not jet received it. The fact is, I have
been in Essex for a few days, and left no directions
for the forwarding of my mail."

"Ah!" broke from Ursula involuntarily, "then
you do not know — "

" The contents of your father's letter, Mrs. Corn-
stock ? No, I do not ; but suiely it will not matter
much, for now we can talk things over, and that will
be much more satisfactory."

Ursula and Mr. Harlowe exchanged glances.

" It was about an important business," remarked the
farmer, " but as there is a somewhat long story con-
nected with it, we will leave all discussion until this
evening. ' With which sentence he left the room and
its occupants to dead silence.

There was a long, awkward pause, Ursula was
staring into the tire and tnpping one foot monotonously
17

266

Hypnotized }

on the fender-rail, her thoughts ineandering in a dis-
connected sort of way from subject to subject. It was
strange, she poudered, that the presence of the man
she had once adored so passionately should not now
have the power to make her pulses even quicken or to
awaken one spark of ardent feeling within her breast.
In these reflections the girl did not make any allow-
ance for the long separation which was the direct
cause of the weakening of his unconscious hypnotic
influence over her; for naturally, she being in total
ignorance of the fact that Sir Hugh had ever exercised
any force over her, could not guess that the circum-
stance of her aflection for him having died, was per-
haps not the real reason why the baronet failed to
stir up any reciprocal warmth in her heart.

The truth was that the man's marvellously develop-
ed power over her was lessened by reason of their long
separation, just as conscious hypnotic influence is
weakened by disuse. But Ursula fancied that because
her affection for him was non-existent, he would never
again be able to exercise any control over her. How
unfounded this conclusion was, subsequent events in-
disputably showed.

Sir Hugh sat on the opposite side of the hearth, op-
pressed with the dumbness which so frequently kills
all words upon the tongue of a man when he is in the
presence of the woman he loves.

It was very unfortunate, thought the girl, that her
cousin should have come to Deepdene in entire ignor-

The Experiment Is Ended*

267

in a dis-
It was

the man

not now
iken or to
ler breast,
tny allow-
the direct
3 hypnotic
ig in total
,r exercised
[,ho circuin-
id, was per-
,t failed to

ply develop-
Lf their long
Influence is
|hat because
rould never
, her. How
events in-

Ihearth, op-

jiently kills

le is in the

[rl, that her
ktire ignor-

ance of the relationship which was now known to
exist between them; it made such a tremendous differ-
ence in their relative positions. All at once Galbraith
recovered his powers of speech.

" Mrs. Comstock," he began, " there is something I
want to say to you, but before I can explain myself
fully, I shall have to speak of an event which took
place more than three years ago."

Ursula, sharply recalled to the present by his ear-
nest words, began to wonder what second revelation
was going to be sprung upon her. She bowed quietly,
and Sir Hugh continued :

" I have no excuse to offer for the grievous wrong I
once did to you. What happened in those by-gone
months can never be cancelled now ; all I dare hope
or plead for is that you will allow that period of our
intercourse to be buried in oblivion. Can you do this
for me ? Will you forget, even if you cannot forgive,
my mad folly and wickedness in attempting to experi-
ment with you ? The man stood up as he spoke, and
leaned with one elbow upon the mantlepiece, his face
pale with suppressed emotion.

" I forgave you long ago. Sir Hugh," said Ursula
gravely; "do not let us rake up that old episode again."

The baronet's muscles relaxed. "You do not yet
understand what this particular assertion of yours
means to me," he said slowly. " I can now go on to
tell you of what occurred immediately after your
marriage to your late husband ; but had you still har-

s68

Hypnotized }

boured feelings of anger or resentment against me,
justifiable as I must admit they would have been, I
should have been debarred forever from asking you
to but I must begin at the beginning."

" The beginning of what ? "

" Of the story I am now going to tell you."

"A story!"

" Yes, the story of my love."

" I do not qui ^3 comprehend. Who — "

" Who was my love ? Is that what you would ask
me ? Oh ! Mrs. Comstock — Ursula — " as he took a
step towards her, " can you not guess that it is of you
alone I a!u speaking ? You were and are and will be
my only love on earth," and with an involuntary ges-
ture he held out his arms in the direction of the wo-
man he was addressing.

She could scarcely believe her ears.

" Sir Hugh, this is absurd ! " she exclaimed. "You
barely tolerated me in the old days. What new freak
of yours is this with which you are trying to play
upon my feelings ? "

•* As there is a God above us, 1 swear it is the truth.
The knowledge of all that you really were to me
struck me like a flash of lightning on that awful
morning when I saw you in Comstock's house, the
bride of an hour, another man's wife." He ^•'used,
strangled for an instant by the recollection oi that
terrible meeting.

Ursula moved restlessly. This was all so unexpect-

The Experiment Is Ended*

269

ainst me,
^Q been, I
jkinf? you

I would a'^k

he took a

it is of you

and \viU be

luntary ges-

1 of the wo-

Imed. "You

it new freak

lying to play

lis the truth.
I were to me

that awful
f 8 house, the

He —^used,
ution 01 that

so unexpect-

ed and 80 strange ; but as yet his words did not stir
her very deeply.

" I knew in that moment that I loved you," Galbraith
went on ; " you brought to light all the passionate
feelings of which I was capable, — and Ursula," here
his tone sank, " I have loved you from a distance ever
since. Darling, will you not love me a little too ? "

"Sir Hugh," cried the girl, drawing back; "you
must really be mad to talk like this."

" No," he replied, " I am as sane as any man in love
ever is. See, — I lay my heart* at your feet, — will you
trample on it so unmercifullj^ ? You are the cold one
now, dearest ; our positions are reversed."

" Yes, they are, indeed. Do you know who I am ?
But, of course you do not. I am Ursula Comstock,
formerly Ursula Wy vern, the daughter of your aunt.
Lady Wy vern, by her first marriage, and — your
own cousin."

As she proudly uttered these sentences, the girl rose
and stood confronting Galbraith with flaming eyes and
head thrown back. The hot words on the baronet's
tongue died away in amazement at her statement, so
clear and concise that it never struck him to doubt
its truth.

" How ? ' — he began, and then stopped. " Why did
you never tell me this before ? Why did you deceive
us all ? "

Then she told him the story of her mother's life,
and of the dying woman's request that it might be
kept a secret as long as possible.

270

Hypnotized ?

" Surely all you have repeated to me need not make
any difference between us," said Galbraith as she
paused. " I told you that I loved you before I heard
all this wonderful story, and I tell you a^jain that I
love you just the same, — not one whit less, or one whit
more, for the altered circumstances of your birth. Ur-
sula, will you marry me ? "

" No, I will never marry you, Sir Hugh."

" But—"

" Stay a moment ; I want to tell you that long ago 1
loved you, too, my cousin. Ah! you look surprised, but
it is true, and I feel no shame in confessing it openly
now. I loved you with all my fresh young heart and
soul — and you — you, Sir Hugh Galbraith, scorned the
little country girl as a child beneath your notice. Do
not protest," as she held up a warning hand to check
the words which trembled on his lips ; " it is my turn
to speak now. You will never be loved again as I
loved you in those dear, dead da3's. I was yours, body
and soul, and I worshipped you as only a woman can
worship the man she believes in and trusts to the limit
of life itself. You were my hero then — chivalrous —
honourable — perfect — as no other man was ever perfect
in my eyes before — for I loved you, Hugh, and in the
light of my adoration I saw nothing but your noblest
qualities. My love was so beautiful in itself that it
enveloped you in a reflected glamour, until — the black-
ness of disillusionization darkened its brilliancy. Now
all is changed, and you come to me to sue for what is
no longer mine to give."

The Experiment Is Ended.

271

Qot make
h as she
e I heard
in that I
: one whit
)lrth. Ur-

long ago 1
•prised, but
g it openly
T heart and
scorned the
notice. Do
td to check
is my turn
again as I
ours, body
[woman can
[to the limit
ivalrous —
sver perfect
, and in the
lour noblest
Iself that it
the black-
,ncy. Now
[for what is

She paused wearily, and the lines in her face seem-
ed curved with the impress of sorrow.

" But, Ursula, if you loved me then, surely you love
me a little still ? " he pleaded.

" No," she replied, sitting down in the big armchair
again ; "I do not love you, simply because I have lost
the power to love anyone."

The girl felt exhausted, wearied of the past and the
present, and too tired to care about the future.

" Darling," said Galbraith, as he dropped on to one
knee beside her, " do not be so cruel. Was it only in
order to tantalize that you have just told me how
much you cared for me in those old days ? "

" I do not wish to be unnecessarily cruel. But you
made me suffer then — ah ! more than human nature
could bear, and now in your royal way you come to
demand ."

" No, no, Ursula, you wrong me there. I own that I
treated you shamefully once ; but, darling, I love you
now," and, as he spoke, Galbraith laid his hand upon
heis, and forced her to look up at hi in. " I love you.
Give me a little hoi>e ? "

" I cannot," she replied ; but even as she uttered the
words the girl felt her voice quiver.

Sir Hugh was looking full into her eyes, and, while
he thus held her attention, she began to tremble and
sway a little. It was only a flicker of the old domi-
nation of his gaze, but it frightened her, faint as it was,
and with an effort she wrenched her eyes away from
his face and stared blankly at the floor,

272

Hypnotized ?

■ ',• I

" Dearest," he murmured, "tliink for a moment; is
there no tiny gleam of hope for me in tlie future ? "

"There is none," she rep.ied unfalteringly; for as
soon as she had conquered the momentary influence,
the girl slowly sank again into a state of utter indif-
ference which made her callous to the crushingness of
her words.

" You are so hard," he urged. " You have changed,
Ursula. Is all your old gentleness dead ? "

" For you ? Yes."

" And your eyes are cold, my sweet — their tender
light has vanished."

" You blotted it out years ago," she answered, with
a flash of returning animation. " You made me what
1 am — a woman with no feeling, no power to care for
anyone or anything. Almost I could thank you for
having done so ; it saves one from all burning misery
of heart, for now I have no heart left to trouble me
with its aching : and yet again I ."

" Ursula, Ursula, do not talk like that. Each word
you say cuts me to the quick."

" I cannot help it. I suppose I do seem harsh to
you; but Hugh, I do not mean to be unkind. I am
just indifferent, that is all."

" All ! " he cried, fiercely flinging away her hand,
which until then he had held tightly in his own.
" All ! Is it not enough — and too much ? Oh ! you
women, how hard you can be. Talk of forgiveness —
why, you do not even know the meaning of the word.

The Experiment Is Ended*

273

(tnent; ia
iture ? "
y ; for as
influence,
tier indif-
ingness of

3 changed,

leir tender

^ered, with
[e me what
to care for

k you for
ling misery

rouble me

iach word

m harsh to
ind. I am

her hand,
his own.
Oh ! you

riveness —
the word.

You prate of forgetting, condoning, and all the time you
hurl crushing avalanches of punishment on a man's
head. Do you think I shall beHeve that you ever
loved me, when you can sit there like an iceberg, that
scornful, steely look upon your face ? Love — passion
— what do you know of them ? What do you know
of the burning torrent of lava that rushes through a
man's veins when he loves a woman ? Bah ! Is this
your revenge ? "

" No, I never thought of such a thing," she cried
protestingly, roused by his accusing words ; " but you
treated me like a puppet, Hugh, and now that you find
I am human, you are angry. Ah ! my cousin, per-
haps your fever of love will pass away as mine did;
but I pray that you may never be left as desolate as I am
to-day. Wait a moment " as he tried to interrupt her ;
" you must know in your heart that great as my love
for you was, so far, far greater, is my loss now — loss
of faith in the spirit of chivalry, and loss of belief in
the humanity of men. You spared nothing to heighten
the cruelty of my marfyrdom, and therefore "

" Forgive me, Ursula ; I should not have accused
you so unjustly ; but, darling, I am not responsible for
all I say. You are right," he added, humbled in an
instant by the truth of her words ; " I deserve all your
reproaches, and many more than you can ever cast
upon me ; but will you not exercise a woman's right
of pardoning ? I am conscious now of only one desire —
to win you. Dearest, look up at me. My love, give

274

Hypnotized ?

yourajlf to me ; let me take you in my arms to cherish
fur the rest of our lives. Sweetheart, think of what
it would mean, just you arid I always together, the
past blotted out, the future one long dream of pleasure.
Forgive, and love me, my darling; see, I ask it on my
knees." And as he pleaded Galbraith threw his whole
soul into his words.

Once again he was looking at the girl with nothing
but love and entreaty in his eyes ; and as she slowly
turned and saw him kneeling thus, she flung out her
hands towaids him, and for an instant appeared upon
the point of relenting, when he suddenly spoke again.

" Give me just one ray of hope that some day you
will come to me ? What can I say, oh ! what can I
say ? All words sound so cold I cannot tell you one
quarter of my deep passionate love for you, my sweet."

And all the while he pleaded the girl grew more
softened, seemingly impressed by the deep tenderness
of his words.

" I am no boy, but a man," went on Galbraith
" with a man's full capacity to love ; and you, my
darling, have it all — all my heart and soul and
thoughts and prayers. Can you send me away hopeless
now ?

Could she ? What was this delicious sense of rest
that was stealing over her, soothing and calming
every over-wrought faculty ? Their eyes met ; their
hands were locked in each other's ; gently the girl
swayed towards him ; and in another moment would

■i^Lii!

cherish
ot" what
iher, the
pleasure,
t on my
lis whole

I nothing
e slowly
y out her
Ted upon
ke again.

day you
hat can I
I you one

y sweet."
ew more

nderness

albraith
you, my
soul and
hopeless

se of rest
calming

et; their
the girl

snt would

The Experiment Is Ended* 275

have been clasped in his arms, but at that instant a
sharp bark from Don startled Sir Hu^jjh, and he
turned to look at the dog, thus removing his gaze
from Ursula's. At once his power over her snapped,
and she tore her hands violently from his detaining
grasp.

" It is no use," she said fiercely ; then added sadly,
" I am sorry for it all, but you see I cnnnot help it."

" Ah ! that is always the way with a woman. She
cannot understand the strength of a man's passion."

" God created us on different days, and so I suppose
we never shall quite comprehend one another's
natures," replied Ursula softly.

" You are so dear to me, darling, that it is ' Sweet-
heart, sweetheart, sweetheart,' in my thoughts all
day long. Always you — of you — and for you. Often
it is a relief just to say your name over and over
again to myself, for it brings you nearer to me, some-
how."

She stretched out her fingers, and gently stroked
his strong nervous hands.

" Do not go on," she said. " I cannot bear it, and it
does no good, for nothing will ever alter what I have
told you."

" Is it really all at an end between us ? " he asked
unsteadily.

" Yes," very low.

The man saw that she meant it, and gave up the
struggle.

276

Hypnotized ?

" I can only wait then," he said, and his face was
exceedingly sad. " Let us part as friends, at least.
I shall not see you again for a long time."

The girl rose and held out both her hands.

"Good-bye," she murmured, "good-bye, Hugh,
and her voice sounded a little choked.

" Good-bye," he answered. " God hold you in His
keeping, my sweetheart." And then he went away.

face was
at least.

. Hugh.

►u in His
jnt away.

CHAPTER IV.

" They say she died ; it seems to me
That after days of pain and strife,
She slept one evening peacefully,
And woke in Everlasting Life."

There followed many days during which Sir Hugh
had ample time to realize the utter futility of his ex-
periment. The very ground-work of his scheme had
been swept away when Ursula was proved beyond a
doubt to be the daughter of Lord and Lady Wyvern,
and her claims to social standing were successfully es-
tablished, not on the frail basis of theoretical experi-
ment, but upon the solid rock of birth-right and
descent.

Retribution had indeed overtaken him with rapid
strides ; for what had he now to look forward to ?
The shattered wreck of an attempted experiment
clogged his feet, whilst a hopeless passion filled his
heart.

One thought alone comforted the man through the
weeks succeeding his visit to Deepdene, and that was
the certainty that at length he had completely lost all
unconscious hypnotic force, for the baronet was fully
convinced that he no longer exercised any influence
whatsoever over Ursula Comstock. Her refusal to
marry him confirmed this belief in his mind. Had

Hit

278 Hypnotized ?

she still been in any degree under his control, she
could not, he argued, have so ruthlessly sent him
away out of her life — for Sir Hugh was quite ignor-
ant of the faint glimmer of a returning submission to
his domination which the girl had experienced during
their recent interview.

So he now felt entirely at liberty to think of Ur-
sula as much as he pleased, unmolested by all fear of
injuring her, and, for the first time in three years, he
completely abandoned himself to the delight of pic-
turing to his mind the woman he loved, as vividly and
as often as he pleased.

For the first twenty-four hours after Sir Hugh's
departure, Ursula experienced a sensation of relief,
almost amounting to peace. Her love for Galbraith
was dead — this she had fully proved by her refusal to
mairy him — and she determined to put him thencefor-
ward out of her thoughts forever, just as she had ex-
punged him out of her life. All went well for a day.
But at the end of that time she was forced to admit
that she could not altogether blot out the remem-
brance of him. A second day passed, and then a
third — even a fourth came and went — and still she
thought of him — always, too, in a nervous, strained,
unnatural manner.

At the conclusion of a week the girl became so
restless and excitable that Mr. Harlowe remonstrated
seriously with her. She pleaded a bad headache as
an excuse, but all the while was perfectly well aware

The Experiment Is Ended*

279

:rol, she
jnt him
e ignor-
ssion to
[ during

: of Ur-
l fear of
ears, he
, of pic-
idly and

Hugh's
pf relief,
ralbraith
f usal to
encefor-
had ex-
r a day.
o admit
remem-
then a
jtill she
trained,

fame so

istrated

lache as

ll aware

that no such ordinary malady could account for her
conduct. Sleep had well nigh deserted her, and she
could no longer eat anything substantial. Racked and
torn by this inward .struggle against she knew not
what, Ursula suffered intense torture day and night

There was absolutely no physical reason for her
suffering thus, yet ill she certainly was. And through
it all her mind perpetually dwelt upon Sir Hugh Gal-
braith — not voluntarily or deliberately, but as if she
were compelled to think of him by some unseen power.
It was not. that the girl felt any returning love for
the baronet, but simply that she thought of him un-
ceasingly, and a very tumult of conflicting emotions
raged within her breast.

At last the climax came. The tired brain gave way,
and Ursula Comstock succumbed to a violent attack
of brain fever, which presumably was the result of
the unconscious hypnotic influence exercised over
her by Sir Hugh.

The only possible explanation appears to be that
the baronet had, by reason of incessant telepathy, re-
vived all his old power over the girl, and that as hour
by hour he fixed his mind upon her personality, so
day by day he again unconsciously hypnotized her.
He could not make her love him — that was impossible
— but, if it was true that he was endowed with un-
usual mental power, it was more than probable that
he alone was responsible for Ursula's extraordinary
illness.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0 IS"-

I.I

1.25

1.8

1-4 IIIIII.6

^^'■

ksS"

Q-

28o

Hypnotized ?

As may be supposed, Lady Brandram was aston-
ished beyond measure when she received Mr. Har-
lowe's communication and learned the true history of
her niece's parentage. With the not infrequent self-
satisfaction of an elderly woman, she said to herself,
" I always felt sure that the girl was a lady." It is
so easy to know things after they have been told to
us ! Her first act was to sit down and write to the
young widow a long letter of kindest welcome into
the Mornington family', coupled with an urgent invi-
tation to her to visit London as soon as possible, and
thus renew old friendship under a new aspect.

To this, however, the old lady, somewhat to her sur-
prise, received no immediate answer. And nearly two
weeks elapsed before any word from Deepdene reach-
ed her. When, towards the middle of January, Lady
Brandram did obtain news of Ursula, it came in the
sad form of a telegram, requesting her to go at once
to Arleton, where her presence was urgently needed,
as the girl was very ill Without delay she started
off, and within twelve hours stood by the bedside of
her niece. That Ursula was dangerously ill, Lady
Brandram saw at a glance. A trained nurse was sum-
moned, and a celebrated doctor telegraphed for from
Town, but before night came on the invalid was rav-
ing in all the delirium of high fever.

Days of terrible anxiety followed, during which
the household moved about with noiseless tread, and
hushed voices alone broke the silence that reigned in

The Experiment Is Ended.

281

the sick-room. It was just a week since the farmer
sent that hasty message calling Lady Brandram to
Deepdene, and for the space of those seven days and
nights Ursula had tossed and moaned upon her bed,
the fever now rising, now falling slightly, as hour by
hour she fought for her life.

Intervals of consciousness occurred, but they were
very brief, and during all her ravings, the girl's inces-
sant cry was " Hugh ! Hugh ! " Once, in a lucid mo-
ment, she begged her aunt to send for Galbraith, and
this was promptly done.

One night Lady Brandram sat in the oak parlour,
talking gravely to Mr. Harlowe. Outside the eerie
wail of the wind sounded fitfullj^^, and in the wide
throat of the chimney a hundred voices muttered of
the coming storm. Presently it burst in unreasoning
fury, shaking the casements, and snapping off the ivy
trails as it fled shrieking across the land. But the
watchers inside heeded not the wildness of the tem-
pest.

The London physician had left the farm-house that
afternoon. He could do nothing more, he said ; the
case was hopeless ; and so he departed, taking with
him the last faint ray of comfort from those who re-
mained behind.

" While there is life there is hope," said the far-
mer seeming to find balm in the old phrase.

" Yes," replied Lady Brandram, " But — " and her
look expressed the remainder of the sentence.
18

282

Hypnotized ?

" Of course I know Brutton's opinion is the best
that can be got; still, no one is infallible."

" That is true, and Dr. Craven refuses to give up en-
tirely yet. He is going to stay here all night."

" He may be only a young country practitioner,
but he is a trump all the same, and will pull my
little girl through if anyone can," said Mr. Harlowe.

" You sent the telegram ? "

" To Sir Hugh ? Yes. He will be here by mid-day
to-morrow, for I take it he will start at c^nce."

" Mo^t certainly. I am only sorry that I did not
wire for him before. Almost the tir.st conscious words
Ursula spoke this afternoon were a request that he
might be summoned. She seems to want to see him
very particularly."

" Do you think she knows the — the — "
*' Yes," sighed Lady Brandram, " 1 am sure that she
does. I fancy she read it in my face, for when she
asked for Hugh, the poor girl said : ' I want him to
come at once, or it may be too late.' "

True to Lady Brandram's expectations, Galbraith
arrived the next morning. His quiet, steady manner
covered a terrible anxiety, and when in brief words
his aunt told him that Ursula had but a short time
to live — only a few hours perhaps — the man grew
ghastly white. A slight dilation of the nostrils, and
a faint quiver of the eyelida at first alone betrayed
his agitation. As he began to grasp the situation,
great beads of perspiration came out upon his forehead,
where the veins showed like whip-cords.

The Experiment Is Ended*

283

" It cannot be true !" he cried. " Something must
be done at once."

" Listen, Hugh," rejoined Lady Brandram, laying a
restraining hand upon his arm ; " everything is being
done that medical 8kill and nursing can accomplish.
You must be calm, or I dare not let you see her."

" All right, aunt ; I can control myself," he replied,
and a look of stern resolve instantly masked his fea-
tures.

The baronet spent all that afternoon in the sick
room. His presence had soothed the dying girl, and
as she lay there, perfectl}^ conscious, but too weak
to do much more than smile at him, a deep sweet
peace fell upon her tired brain, and she was at rest.
As evening came on, Ursula asked that the curtains
shoull be drawn aside in order that she might seethe
snow-laden trees, and the sky where the glorious
colour- changes of a winter sunset were sobering into
nothingness. The supreme reign of night was fast
setting in, and as she gazed upon the tender grey-blue
harmony of nature, the girl felt its beauty steal into
her soul.

Ursula and Sir Hugh, alone together, watched the
light slowly die out in the western horizon. The
girl's fingers were clasped in his, and her face was
turned towards him.

" My darling," he murmured gently, passing his dis-
engaged hand over her forehead.

She looked at the man as he spoke — looked deep

284

Hypnotized ?

down into those fathomless eyes which had taught
her all the awful lore of Love and Sorrow.

Gently he drew her slight frame towards him, until
her head rested upon his shoulder.

" I feel better, Hugh," she said.

" Because you are in my arms, my sweet ? "

"I do not know, but I seem stronger somehow.
Why is it ? "

" Who can tell, dearest ? Never mind the reason, as
long as you are comfortable,"

" I wish I could love you, Hugh," she went on, after
a pause.

*' What a strange remark, darling. But I think
you must care for me a little, or you would not — "

" I know ; but do not misunderstand me — it is dif-
ferent. I seem to want ;; ju, to be with you — but,
Hugh," very earnestly, " it is not love."

Galbraith pressed her hands gently.

" I do not understand it myself," she continued.

" Do not try to, sweetheart."

Then followed a long interval, fraught with perfect
rest to the girl, and deepest sorrow to the man.

" Are you tired, dearest ? " he asked presently.

" A little," came the soft reply.

Alas ! He knew that she was dying. But what he
did not know was that exhausted nature had at last
yielded to the sapping power of his Unconscious
Hypnotism.

She was quite ready to go. At peace with the

-■'i

The Experiment Is Ended*

285

taught
m, until

)mehow.

eason,as

on, after

I think
lOt — "
■it is (lif-
ou — but,

lued.

perfect
m.
itly.

what he
Id at last
lonscious

world, her friends around her, — she asked for nothing
more. Death did not seem hard — it was only a going
beyond the stars after all.

The girl lay back upon the pillows, her eyes still
turned to the west. Fainter and fainter grew the
glow left by the now vanished sun. Darker and
darker loomed the shadows that stole from out the
corners of the room.

" Hold me, Hugh ! "

The cry came sharp and sudden.

The man bent over her, a terrible fear gripping
his heart.

" Shall I call Aunt Mary ? " he asked quickly.

" No," she was lying quite still again. " I just
want you beside me." And she closed her eyes.

The gloom increased, and as Galbraith watched by
her, praying in his heart, as he had never prayed in
all his life before, a star shone out in the darkening
sky.

Was it the sign that a soul had been newly carried
up to Heaven ?

As Sir Hugh knelt on beside the lifeless form of
Ursula, the mighty echo of an unanswered, unanswer-
able question rolled down the Avenues of Time —
WAS SHE HYPNOTIZED?

The End.

rith the