JT- THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES RALPH AND BRUNO. RALPH AND BRUNO. By M . B R A M S T O N, Al'THOR OF " THE CARBRIDGES,' ETC. Love . . made wise To trace love's faint beginnings in mankind, To see a good in evil, and a hope In ill-success : to sympathise, be proud Of their half-reasons, faint aspirings, dim Struggles for truth, their poorest fallacies. Which all touch upon nobleness despite Their error." BkOWNINi IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. MACMILLAN AND CO. 1875. [77/f Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved.] LONDON I R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL. qi tot CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. TAGE OLD CRONIES * CHAPTER II. HOPES AND FEARS 17 CHAPTER III. THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN 27 CHAPTER IV. Ralph's mother 42 CHAPTER V. THE COUSINS . 56 CHAPTER VI. AN ENGLISH TOMBOY 66 CHAPTER VII. FRENCH SCHOOLROOM LIFE .... - 84 CHAPTER VIII. MADAME TREGUIRE'S SOIREE 95 CHAPTER IX. THE DOCTOR'S INVITATION HO CHAPTER X. BRYNSCOMBE 123 Fvr* \s\\ vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XL PAGE gossip *43 CHAPTER XII. GOOD-BYE X S9 CHAPTER XIII. "la fraternitE' : l 7 l CHAPTER XIV. A PASSING VISIT 1%7 CHAPTER XV. OLD ANXIETIES ... - 201 CHAPTER XVI. AN ENGLISH HOME 212 CHAPTER XVII. RALPH'S RETURN 227 CHAPTER XVIII. NINIE _24I CHAPTER XIX. CONFIDENCES 256 CHAPTER XX. A DISCLOSURE 2JO t CHAPTER XX [. BRUNO'S VISIT 285 CHAPTER XXII. A SUMMONS 3°° RALPH AND BRUNO. RALPH AND BRUNO. CHAPTER I. OLD CRONIES. " O joy to him in this retreat Immantled in ambrosial dark, To drink the cooler air, and mark The landscape winking thro' the heat : " O sound to rout the brood of cares, The sweep of scythe in morning dew, The gust that round the garden flew And tumbled half the mellowing pears. " In Memoriam. EDWARD GRACEDEW, M.D., had lived nearly all his life in his quiet old-fashioned house in Bridge Street, Middlebury. Middlebury is a moderately-sized country town, situated on the banks of a broad slow river, which glitters in the light and shines in the gloom, reflecting the backs of the old red-brick houses which flank it, and the quaint arched bridges VOL. I. B 2 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. that span it, one of which gives its name to the street in which Dr. Gracedew's house — Bridge House — stands. Bridge House was one of those characteristic dwellings which bear the impress of the years that have passed over them, and the touches of the hands of their successive owners, which adapt themselves with time, like a well-worn garment, to all the indi- vidualities of their inhabitants. Its street face looked out upon a garden wall with waving boughs over it instead of into the windows of opposite houses, giving you an idea of pleasant country quiet and coolness as the lime leaves and apple- blossom caught your eye instead of bricks and mortar. A town garden represents enjoyment to many besides its owner. But Dr. Gracedew needed to envy no man's garden : for if you went through the house, or passed through the wooden door at the side, you came into one of the prettiest, sweetest, homeliest garden-nooks that ever existed within the precincts of a town. It had a rich red -brick south wall, mellowed by age into tints that would have enraptured an artist, covered with fruit-trees and climbing roses. No stiff modern pines and cy- presses broke the smooth green sward of the gay little OLD CRONIES. lawn : only star and leaf-shaped borders round the edge, always gay with a succession of sweet homely flowers. There were gravel walks where little feet, now slow or altogether still, had once run with cheer- ful patter, and quaint little arbours where youths and maidens had made love: shade for summer, sun- shine for winter, and flowers all the year round. Dr. Gracedew was a man of more ability than is often to be found contentedly accepting a professional position in a little town like Middlebury. He had highly distinguished himself in his youth both at college and in his subsequent medical studies : and many were the remonstrances which he had heard from his friends as to his folly in persisting in his refusal not to follow up these advantages, and bury- ing himself in a country town for life. They shook their heads yet more ominously when the young man informed them not only that he held it his duty to go to help his father, who was falling into bad health, but that he was about to be married to an orphan young lady in his native place, a curate's daughter whose father had died leaving her absolutely home- less and destitute. "He might have done anything — absolutely am - B 2 4 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. thing ! " said Sir Perkin Ashford ruefully after taking leave of his favourite pupil: "but it's all over with him now. We shall never hear of Ned Gracedew again." He was right : Ned Gracedew vanished utterly from the world in which Sir Perkin lived, and he never returned to it. He married Maria Darling, and gradually succeeded to his father's practice, as the old man gave it up. He led a fairly easy, comfortable, common-place life — as far as other people knew. He was a quiet, gentle-spoken man, who seldom grew angry except now and then on other people's behalf: he listened daily, with infinite patience, though with perhaps less interest than his wife considered her due, to her recital of her achievements in household econo- mies, and her discoveries that Hodges had been making her pay a halfpenny a pound more for Dutch cheese than Sims was charging : and he paid a good deal of attention to the education of his two boys, John and Edward. He read and thought a great deal, and some of the good people at Middlebury thought him terribly heterodox in his views ; though his heterodoxy, truth to tell, was of that mild kind which his "advanced" medical i.] OLD CRONIES. 5 contemporaries would have sneered at as orthodoxy. But even those who whispered that he was unsound enough to support the geological theories of Cuvier, and to admire that terrible heretic, Arnold of Rugby, could not deny that he was actuated by the most practical Christian principles, and that he carried them out into every matter in his daily life. So the years went over his head ; his boys grew up, his hair grew grey, the decades of the century changed, and yet his outward life remained much as it had been. If life had not brought him all that it had brought to some other men, he did not complain ; if the world in general looked upon Mrs. Gracedew as a good-natured fool, no one could say that her husband did not treat her with all possible tenderness and love. Then there came a great sorrow upon his life. His youngest boy, the darling of his heart, whom he had initiated into his own profession, and whom he hoped to see win the fame which he himself might have won if circumstances had not hindered it — married young as his father had done, lost his wife when her first baby was born, and died himself in the following year. Dr. 6 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Gracedevv was still sore and bruised from this blow when he lost his wife, two years later. The com- panionship of a lifetime was not a light thing for a man like him to lose, even though Maria had not been all to him that she might have been ; his heart had very tenacious fibres to all that it had once taken into it, and therefore he grew more solitary and more taciturn than before, although when any- thing was to be done, he came out of his shell and took his part in the affairs of life. Of all Dr. Gracedew's old college friends there was only one who had carried on the friendship after the Doctor had settled down into his country- town practice at Middlebury. Carried it on, that is, in full life and affection ; for there were plenty of men ready to grasp the Doctor's hand warmly and chat about old Cambridge days on the rare occasions when they met. But Ralph Treguire cor- responded regularly with Dr. Gracedew ; wrote intelligence to him from all parts of the world, asked advice which he seldom took, and filled the house in Bridge Street with Indian fans, China jars, Mexican feather ornaments and Brazilian birds. Little Elsie Gracedew, her grandfather's special l.] OLD CRONIES. pet and orphan charge, always confused him with Sinbad the Sailor, and looked at him with respect mingled with awe when for the first time within her memory he came to pay a week's visit to Middlebury. Few men could have presented so great a con- trast as Edward Gracedew and Ralph Treguire did, as they sat out together on the sunny lawn smoking Ralph's most peculiar and recherche cigars : — the Doctor was usually content with a meerschaum, and bird's-eye. Dr. Gracedew was small, slight, refined-looking, with clear eyes, a serene face, and a gentle and musical voice, which never jarred upon the ear of the most nervous of his patients. Ralph Treguire was an unusually tall and muscularly framed man, with large, strong features, rolling black eyes that looked out of cavernous sockets and thick masses of hair which had once been raven black and now were nearly white. His voice was gruff and harsh, and Elsie always tried to hide behind her grandfather when he looked at her. He had a splendid property in the west of England, but he never stayed there above a month in a year or two ; and Dr. Gracedew often laughed at him 8 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. for having once within the space of one year sent him a series of letters dated respectively Rome, the Caucasus, Calcutta, Hong Kong, San Francisco and New York. Travelling was his delight, staying in one place his abhorrence ; accordingly he made himself into a more correct imitation of the Wander- ing Jew than most people would have conceived possible. His hobby was a linguistic one — the in- vestigation of the languages of savages ; and he had collected materials for a valuable book, but had not the requisite concentration of purpose to enable him to work them up. He sent his manuscript notes to Edward Gracedew to keep for him, and they remained carefully rolled and docketed in a cupboard in Bridge House. A melancholy secret lay behind Treguire's restless- ness, which Edward Gracedew knew well, and which made the duty-loving, stay-at-home Doctor encourage rather than check his friend's roving tastes. In old days it had been the saying that all the Treguires were either mad or bad ; and though Ralph Treguire was neither, he was the first for some generations of whom such could be said. He himself believed that nothing but constant change, variety, and adventure had kept i.] OLD CRONIES. him sane : his father had died out of his mind, and so had his only son. However, the doom seemed now and then inclined to slip over an intermediate gene- ration, when, as Ralph Treguire put it, " bad " came in to alternate with " mad." It was not a pleasant prospect for the little grandson, respecting whom he had come to talk to his old friend, in an interval of respite from his Ulysses-like life, round and round, and up and down the world. " By the by, Ralph," said the Doctor, taking the cigar out of his mouth, " I never got clearly into my head the circumstances of your poor boy's marriage. You knew nothing about it, did you ? " " Not a word," said Ralph Treguire in his deep voice. " Poor Rob had no business to marry, nor I either, for that matter, I suppose ; and he kept it close till he lost his senses, and after that he knew nobody. I suppose this poor little wretch will go the way of the rest of us. Pity, for he's a jolly little chap ; " and he sighed. " He might go a worse way than his grandfather," said the Doctor. " All men have not Ned Gracedews at their elbow, to make them mind what they are at. Besides, I io RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. don't want him to be a Wandering Jew, like me. I'm getting old and tired by this time, and I know I'm not safe unless I move on perpetually, without rest for the sole of my feet. However, fate is fate. Did I never tell you all about those Noels, though ? " " No ; I never heard the rights of the story. How did poor Robert meet her ? " " She was governess at the Dacres, where he used to stay. I often wondered what took him there so much. She is a handsome, intriguing sort of woman, and I don't doubt she thought it would be a fine thing to be mistress of Brynscombe. She reckoned without her host, though. Poor Rob's illness came on a month after the marriage, and he died before this child was born." " You knew nothing till then ? " " No ; the first I heard of it was then, when Madame Eugenie wrote me a letter to announce the boy's birth, and ask what I wished him to be called, and whether I would allow her anything for his support. I was at Lima at the time, but I came back as soon as ever I could, and found her living with her brother in a back street in Paris, over the i.] OLD CRONIES. 1 1 Seine. She sat there with the two babies, one on her lap, and the other in the cradle at her feet." " Two babies ? " ' Yes ; the brother had married an Englishwoman, and had been left a widower with one child, and my daughter-in-law was apparently taking charge of both. They might have been twins for the size of the two. I was pointed out the one that I had to do with ; but all babies look alike to me. Well, the brother did all the talking, and a great lot of it, too ; the sister sat up there, looking proud, and con- foundedly handsome as well, holding the baby, but saying nothing. Well, I made all inquiries, and the thing seemed to have been legal enough ; no flaw ; the woman would be sharp enough to see that she had her rights in that way. The best of the bunch, I should say, had been the English wife who had died ; everyone who had known them seemed to speak well of her, poor thing; but the brother seemed a very slippery fellow, all talk, and nothing more. I thought I should be very sorry to leave the boy in their power, and I offered her an annuity of five hundred as long as she lived if she gave up the 12 RALPH AND BRUNO.. [chap. little chap to me at once, and promised never to attempt to see him without my leave." " Well, that seems rather hard measure for a mother, Ralph." " She should not have trapped my boy as she did," said Treguire, gruffly ; " and I would have let her see him once a year or so, though I did not choose to let her think it an agreement. However, her eyes got fierce, like a wild animal's, and she refused outright. ' Sell her child for money ! not she,' she said, hugging it, and glaring at me in her fury. I was beginning to respect the woman, when her brother touched me, and whispered to me to leave it and let them send an answer ; he would try to persuade her to accept my offer, as it was her duty to do. So I went back to my hotel, and waited there ; and, sure enough, in two days' time, Horace Noel called on me, and told me that he had persuaded his sister to accept my terms, and that I could have the baby whenever I liked to send for him. So the boy is down among the clover fields and beechwoods at Brynscombe, making a fair start at least, if it is to come to nothing. Grace- dew, do you think there is any training, physical I.] OLD CRONIES. 13 or mental, that could make a Treguire sane for life ? " "There might be," said the Doctor. "This boy belongs to the alternate generation, which seems usually to escape. Does he take after the Treguires, or after his mother ? " " Well, neither very much. He is small made, with lightish colouring, something of what my mother's was, though I don't think he is like her otherwise. I am glad he does not take after the Noels. After all that woman's fuss, she has never once written to ask how he is, or might she see him, or anything. I write that he is well twice a year when I send the money, and that satisfies her. I should like to settle down at Brynscombe, and see to the boy's training myself, if I dared ; but I dare not. Gracedew, for our old friendship's sake, I have half a mind to ask you the greatest favour I ever asked anyone yet." Dr. Gracedew laid his hand on his friend's shoulder. " Such an old friendship as ours, Ralph, can bear something of a strain. Try." " Would you consent to act as the boy's guardian U RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. and bring him up under your own eye — while I am away from England now, and after I die ? I don't expect many more years of life ; I have had more than one warning already." " I am getting elderly too, Ralph, as far as that goes. I am fifty-five." " Very likely ; but your life is as good a one as any man's, and you come of a long-lived family. I don't. I suppose I am the oldest Treguire that there has been for a century. Well, Gracedew, think about it, will you, old fellow ? You shall have any amount you like put to your account to make ducks and drakes with for the boy. But I should like to give the little chap as good a chance as I could ! " " I'll do it if you like, Treguire," said the Doctor, " though it seems to me that you might get many wiser men to undertake the experiment." " But not another Ned Gracedew. You promise, Ned ? " '• I promise." And the two men's hands met in a warm grasp, which sealed the compact. By this time the cigars were done, and the two men paced the garden together, little Elsie holding her grandfather's hand. The low August sun lit up i.] OLD CRONIES. 15 the old red wall with its rosy peaches and nectarines into a glow of colour ; the windows of the house glittered between the luxuriant dark creepers, and white curtains fluttered in the sweet air ; the sunlight crept into the green moss that made the turf so soft, and brought out golden gleams there, and tinted the Doctor's grey hair and little Elsie's plump round face and wide brown eyes. Above the wall rose the brown roofs of Middlebury houses, with the subdued hum of human life coming pleasantly and musically to the ear ; the garden was scented with mignonette and heliotrope ; everything told of peace and content- ment and a quietly ordered life. Something of this sort seemed to enter Ralph Treguire's mind, for he said, " If the little chap can do anywhere, Gracedew, he'll do here. You'll bring him up to fear God and to control himself, and persuade him, if you can, to let the old name die out with him, and the Treguire curse with it. I am preaching what I did not practise, worse luck for me, though you would have had me do so when I was young." " It was easy for me to preach in those days," said Dr. Gracedew smiling. " Well, Ned, I owe my soul to your preaching," said 16 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. i. Ralph Treguire half hoarsely, and then there was a certain silence between the two, with the memories of a lifetime in its pause. Men of fifty are not apt to be demonstrative in friendship, like girls of fif- teen, but each of these two valued the other's love as one of the most precious possessions of his life. Ralph Treguire's history does not concern the readers of this story ; Edward Gracedew only of all men in the world knew the faithfulness, and tenderness, and the deep soul-struggles of the man who was set down by the world as " mad old Treguire." Six months later, Edward Gracedew saw the following notice in the Times — "At Rio, suddenly, on Jan. 25th, Ralph Treguire, Esq., of Brynscombe, aged 57." CHAPTER II. HOPES AND FEARS. " Coo, dove ; but what if the sky Should break, and the stormwind fell, And the reeling branch come down from on high To the turf where daisies dwell, And the brood beloved should with them lie, Or ever they break the shell ! " J. Ingelow. Dr. GRACEDEWwas sitting in his garden one pleasant spring day, a year or two after Ralph Treguire's death. He was basking in the warm sunshine, which made that sheltered garden available for enjoyment during the greater part of the year. He had a German book in his hand and a pipe in his mouth ; and he revelled in this leisure hour as only a busy man can. He was not solitary now, although one of his sons was in India and the other further away still ; his eyes strayed from his book to watch the movements of the two children who were sowing VOL. I. C iS RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. seeds in a sunny border under the wall, and who both appealed to him again and again as grandpapa, though from one alone he had the right to that appellation. Our old acquaintance, little Elsie, by this time a strong-limbed rosy-cheeked child of seven, with a plump brown face, coffee-brown eyes, and hair cut quaintly close above her ears, was obeying the orders of a boy about the same age, but slighter and smaller in make, with nothing remarkable about him except his quick bright eyes, and a certain easy grace of movement not always natural to an English boy. This was the Doctor's ward, little Ralph Treguire. When his grandfather's will had been opened, it was found that the guardianship of the little boy was left in the sole hands of Edward Gracedew of Middle- bury, who was to educate him in the fashion which the said Edward Gracedew should think best, without interference from any other person whatever. The property was to be managed by the agent who had always had it under his charge — a worthy, active and conscientious man, well equal to the task. An ample sum was to be paid to Dr. Gracedew for the little boy's expenses, and some people surmised that ii.] HOPES AND FEARS. 19 he would make a good thing of it. Probably he would not object if in future clays his little grand- daughter were to become Mrs. Ralph Treguire. They little thought how great a misfortune the Doctor would have deemed such a fate for his bright little Elsie. He pondered much upon the problem which his dead friend had set him to solve. What was the healthiest mode of education for a boy who was heir to ten thousand a year, and at the same time to the terrible hereditary disease of the Treguires ? How could he be brought up so that his life might be most of a blessing and least of a curse to him- self and his fellow-creatures ? How could he be taught to acquiesce in the fact that (as Dr. Gracedew saw it) he was morally interdicted from marriage, and that the only brave and honourable career in such a case as his was to go through the world alone, so that he should leave behind him no sons to inherit the Treguire doom ? The ordinary education of lads in his position — Eton and Oxford ; the maximum amount of play with the minimum of work ; the consciousness from babyhood of being a greater person than those around him — this would C 2 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. not be wholesome for one who would need more self-mastery and courage than other men to enable him to make head against the enemies in his way. What would be the right course to pursue when the boy was no longer a baby, as he was now ? He mused, without coming to a much more definite conclusion than had often occurred to him before, and then his eye fell upon the Novalis which he had had open in his hand all this while. He turned his thoughts to that delightfully paradoxical theory of the German thinker, to the effect that, as in a fairy tale, a magic effect follows upon the achievement of an apparent impossibility, such as the catastrophe of Beauty and the Beast ; so just such a magic effect might occur in real life, could we work so thorough a change upon our will as to love what is naturally distasteful to us. Well, he wanted to work a magic effect upon little Ralph ; but what was the spell, and who should weave it? His thoughts were here checked by an unphilo- sophic interruption. The children had done their sowing, and were sitting on the grass beside him, Ralph grasping his knickerbockercd knees with his ii.] HOPES AND FEARS. slender little hands, and Elsie leanincr her brown fc. head against her grandfather's knee. " Grandpapa, why mayn't Ralph be a doctor ? " began the little maid. " He does want to be one so much, and Forder says he will have too much money." " It doesn't make any difference — now, does it, grandpapa ? " said the boy. " You would be a doctor, however rich you were, and you've got lots of money, too, for I've seen ever so many sovereigns in your room. And why should being rich make you not care to make sick people well when you know how ? " " Why, indeed, Ralph boy ? " said the Doctor, smiling a little sadly. " Well, I'm going to be a doctor, whatever Forder says," pursued Ralph ; " an animal-doctor. You know the big house at Brynscombe that I'm going to have for my own some day, grandpapa ? '' " O yes, Ralph ! tell him," said Elsie, eagerly. "What is it?" said the Doctor, with all needful interest. " Why, Elsie and I have made a plan of what we are going to do when we are old enough. It will be 2 2 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. so nice ! We are going to make all the house into — what do you think, grandpapa ? " "A palace, like the White Cat's?" " No, grandpapa ! Something much nicer, and more useful too. A hospital for animals ; and I am going to doctor them when they are ill." " Yes, grandpapa," said Elsie, too eager not to break in, with big shining eyes that spoke as plainly as her tongue. " Won't it be delightful ? On the ground floor we are going to have the cows and elephants, and things that can't walk upstairs ; and on the next floor, dogs and cats and rabbits ; and up in the attics, birds ; and dormice in the nursery cupboard, with a heap of nuts in the corner." This pleasing scheme was duly commented on, and the two children, having been quiet long enough, ran off to play at horses along the gravel walk, leaving the Doctor again to his thoughts. Suppose, he thought, that this children's nonsense really pointed a suggestion which he might follow out. Suppose that he really could infuse into Ralph's mind such interest in his fellow-creatures -(human rather than brute, as proposed) — that he might grow up unconventional enough to ii.] HOPES AND FEARS. 23 take the singular line of devoting himself to them in some way, and make it the object of his life to bestow help upon them, making their lives better than they would otherwise be. Whether the help were to be of a spiritual, moral, social, or medical nature Dr. Gracedew cared little ; the great thing would be for Ralph to try to annihilate the conscious- ness of self in the larger feeling for humanity, so that his life might be given to an object which did not concern himself. For Dr. Gracedew, though his marriage had not brought to him that companionship of equal minds which some favoured people find in it, knew too much of human nature, and valued domestic joys too highly, not to feel keenly for the little lad at his feet, who could never enjoy them with a clear conscience. He knew how hard it is for a young man to keep his head and heart clear and steady in the world's whirl without some anchor of present love or future hope to hold on by ; how self-indulgence and desultoriness, if nothing worse, are almost sure to beset the steps of him who stands alone in the world with no one to care for him, and no one to care for. And Ralph, poor little fellow, would be terribly 2\ RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. .solitaiy. His French mother had acquiesced in that surrender of her child which, Dr. Gracedew always felt, his friend had not been justified in asking for. He had no Treguire kindred; the Wyvertons of Fairbridge, who were to inherit Brynscombe in case of his death, were distant cousins, who traced their descent from a Mistress Judith Treguire six genera- tions or so back in the past, and could not be expected to take any very strong cousinly interest in the small boy whose unexpected advent upon the stage had made their chances of succession inde- finitely smaller than they had been. The Treguires had never of late had large families ; the stock had survived, but that was all. Considering all things, this might not be a disadvantage to the world in general ; but it rendered their poor little heir more solitary than he would otherwise have been. His guardian mused sadly upon the troubles that must sooner or later beset the little boy, and his heart sank within him till he could almost have said that an early death was a more desirable lot than one of loneliness from cradle to grave. Unless he could instil into the child the conviction that he could use his life for his fellow-men, and must replace the ii.] HOPES AND FEARS. parents, and brothers, and sisters, and wife, whom he was never to know, by a more diffused, and more unselfish affection, which could never claim return from its objects. "A place and a name better than sons and daughters," murmured the Doctor to himself. " Grandpapa, when Ralph is a doctor, and we have that hospital I was telling you about, don't you think we might let a few lions and tigers in if they were very ill — too ill to hurt anybody ? " said a little voice at his elbow. " So you would like to be a doctor, Ralph. Why ? " said his guardian, drawing the little fellow backwards between his knees. " Oh ! because 1 should like to be like you, grandpapa. And because I should think it would be such fun to make people quite well all at once when they are ill. But I should like to be an animal- doctor best, because then I could have the hospital I told you about. Such a lot of animals ; it would be such fun ! " Clearly there was no strong " enthusiasm of humanity" at present at work in little Ralph's mind, which was what the Doctor most wished to see germinating there. 26 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. II. " Ralph, my little man," he said, " I hope you will always remember that you will have the chance of doing a great deal of good to other people with your money when you are older. I should be very sorry if you only cared for amusing yourself, when you might make other people happier and better." " Oh, of course I wouldn't be so stupid as that, grandpapa," said his ward. " That would be just like the greedy boy who ate up all the cake himself. Besides, I'm going to give Elsie half; and I mean to give the school-children a treat once a month, and lots of jam on the bread. No, I won't be like the greedy boy, grandpapa." " I am afraid there are more greedy boys in the world than would quite like to be called so," thought Dr. Gracedew, with a smile, as he released his ward. " There, then, old fellow, run off to your play. I hope you will manage to put plenty of jam on the bread of people who have got none some day. It is the most amusing game to play at, after all." " I don't call it a game, though," said Ralph meditatively, as he went off. CHAPTER III. THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. " At one dear knee we proffered vows, One lesson from our book we learned, Ere childhood's flaxen ringlet turned To black and brown on kindred brows." In Memoriam. YEARS passed on, uneventfully enough, in the quiet house in Bridge Street. The two children had a very happy life there. Dr. Gracedew held that a happy childhood was a treasure for after-life. And whereas, to many children the retrospect of their childhood recalls grey, chilly mornings, interminable lessons, bread and butter and chilblains, and a series of rebukes and punishments often richly deserved, Ralph and Elsie, looking back upon theirs, seemed to see the joyous sunshine that streamed into the breakfast-room when they came down to greet grandpapa : the eager plans and hopes, delayed through the hours of morning school, to be com- 2S RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. municated to each other with fresh zest when they met at luncheon ; and, best of all, the evenings, when grandpapa was at home, when, in the summer, lie would take them for a country walk by the river-side, and the cool breeze and tender golden- green glow of sunset would meet them on their homeward path ; or when, in the winter, they sat with him in the cosy room in the firelight, while he entranced them with the adventures of Rebecca the Jewess, or of Oliver Twist. They had dogs and cats and birds, and collections of land-shells and dried flowers, and butterflies, and birds' eggs, and, in fact, everything which ever entered into the hearts of children to collect ; and their minds were more alive and open than those of most of their contemporaries, in consequence of constant contact with the thoughtful and original mind of Dr. Gracedew. Ralph went to the grammar- school, and Elsie to a day-school for girls, rather above the average in efficiency ; where the younger ones, at least, were carefully grounded in the three Rs, and in the rudiments of French, though the higher pupils' education was wont to evaporate in " accomplishments," of the kind most sought after in.] THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. in country towns. Both the children enjoyed their lessons, and had considerable pleasure in preparing them together in the afternoon ; often helping each other more than they knew by the mere talking them over, and thus impressing them on their own minds. That Elsie prospered in arithmetic, and that Ralph knew anything of history, was due to this cause more than to any other. But this could not last for ever. Ralph was nearly thirteen, and the Doctor had decided that he was to go to Marlborough in the summer, at which Ralph was considerably elated, and Elsie, for the first time in her life, unhappy. Dr. Gracedew was somewhat puzzled what to do with Elsie. She would soon outgrow Miss Pratt's teaching powers, and the Doctor saw no alterna- tive between sending her to school and having a governess at home. But he liked neither course. If he had a young governess for Elsie, a girl who might be a friend and companion for her, there was the obstacle of having no lady in the house to take charge of her ; and Dr. Gracedew did not think that young girls of twenty or so were the less likely to need the care and counsel of an older RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. woman because they had to work for their own living. On the other hand, if he chose a middle- aged woman, accustomed to school-room routine, he feared that Elsie would be dull, while he did not relish the idea of transforming his quaint, fresh, merry little girl into a conventional school-girl, like his Brighton grandchildren, the daughters of his son John, who was in India. One morning Dr. Gracedew received two letters, which caused him to decide upon Elsie's future fate. The first was from his daughter-in-law, Mrs. John Gracedew, and ran thus : — " Brighton, June \o\ " My Beloved Father-in-law, " Excuse my addressing you thus, by the full title of our relationship, but the fact is, that I know not which way to turn, and I hope sincerely for your sympathy and advice. I have heard to-day that all my fortune — which was (I fear imprudently) invested in Chutnegunga bonds — is entirely lost by the failure of the bank there, and my poor children and I are beggars, except for the miserable pittance which John sends us every quarter from India. His whole income, as you know, is but 600/., and how m.] THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. 31 are my beloved Fanny, Laura, and myself to live on this pittance, after the luxuries to which we have been accustomed ? What to do I know not. My heart bleeds for my poor girls ; and my lawyer tells me that we must at once let our Brighton house, and go elsewhere. But where ? In this perplexity my hopes turn on you. Would it be impossible for you to give us a home ? Elsie must by this time need a mother's care, and I would watch her and tend her as though she were indeed my own. Have pity upon me, for John's sake, and do not turn us from your door ! " I am, your most unhappy daughter, "Louisa Gracedew." " The goose of a woman ! " muttered the Doctor between his teeth. " What possessed John to marry her and her Chutnegunga bonds I cannot conceive ! And now she will fasten herself here, for there is nothing for me but to take her in, I suppose ; and Elsie, poor child, will be worried out of her senses, and so shall I, for that matter." He took up a second letter in a foreign envelope, which was lying unopened beside his plate. It was 32 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. written in a little slanting French handwriting, but Dr. Gracedew perused it with considerably more pleasure than the last. " My good friend " — it began in French — " I have to tell you that I am now settled very comfortably in the lodgings to which you had the kindness to re- commend me. They are very cheerful, very clean and very little expensive ; and the pure air is so good for my little Herve that he grows quite strong in it. He is a little angel of goodness, and his heart is so sensitive and tender that I often sit and weep with thankfulness at the idea that I have such a dear son. Madame Treguire is kind to me, and I have nothing to complain of. Her little nephew, Bruno Noel, goes to school with my Herve, and I cannot help loving the boy for his goodness to Herve, whom he protects against the big boys who would ill-use him. Now, my good friend, I have a favour to ask of you. Could you procure me a little English pupil ? I have much time on my hands now that Herve is at school, and I would take all possible care of such a little girl, and would teach her French, and sit with her while she received lessons from professors ; in short, I would do for her m.] THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. 33 all that I would do for a little daughter of my own. In this way I might be able to lay up a little sum against the time when Herve has to make his way in the world. With grateful thanks for all your past kindness, I am, M. le Docteur, "Your respectful and grateful, "AlMEE REGNIER." This letter may require a little explanation. It was written by the widow of a French doctor, who had been a student in Paris at the same time with Dr. Gracedew. When a middle-aged man M. Regnier had married a young woman, and after several years of married life, during which he happened to be very unfortunate in monev matters, he had died leavinsr his widow and little boy in somewhat destitute cir- cumstances. Dr. Gracedew had come across her and helped her, and as he found it very difficult to persuade her to accept any assistance in money, he went to the lady of a certain lodging-house, whom we shall hear more about hereafter, and arranged that she was to let two or three cheerful and sunny little rooms to Madame Regnier at a nominal price, he himself privately defraying the greater part of the vol. r. i) 34 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. cost. It was not the first time that Edward Grace- dew had done acts of kindness like this without the knowledge of those who were to be benefited by them. He read this letter more than once, and then said in his own mind, " That might open a way out of it. Madame Regnier is a sweet good little soul, and would take good care of Elsie ; and though I shall miss % her fearfully, I would rather have her quite away from me than see her pining after Ralph, and victimized by Mrs. John and those affected girls of hers. She might come home twice a year for the Marlborough holidays, and I would get rid of Mrs. John then and have the children myself. That might do." At this moment the two children entered the sunny room, Elsie with her arm round Ralph's neck. No one would have called Elsie a beautiful child, but it would have been still more impossible to pass her by as plain. The widely opened bright brown eyes sparkled beneath thick dark lashes ; the rather wide but well-formed mouth displayed a flash of white teeth when she smiled, which was not seldom ; there was energy and determination in the quaint little nose which had in it a hint of a snub, and in in.] THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. 35 the sensible, firm little chin, and there was perfect health in the clear brown skin and in the rich red of cheeks and lips. She was well-grown for her age, though her height was somewhat concealed by her childish dress ; the short frock, brown holland bib and apron, and hair plaited tightly at the back of the head showed that she looked upon herself, and was looked upon by others, as still a little girl. Ralph was not quite so tall or vigorous ; he was a slightly-made boy, with nothing remarkable about him to distinguish him from other boys of his age and class. He had a fair skin, a little freckled by the sun, bright eyes, and a merry mouth. His guardian rejoiced, notwithstanding his love for his dead friend to see how little he took after the Treguires. His temper was equable, and he had none of the excita- bility which had always seemed hereditary in their family. He was not over fond of work, though he could be energetic enough at play ; he did not by any means despise cakes or barley sugar ; he was boyishly affectionate towards his guardian and Elsie, and at present he had not arrived at any unwholesome consciousness of his position as heir to Brynscombe. In fact, notwithstanding his infusion D 2 36 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. of French blood, he would have stood very well as a favourable type of the small English schoolboy. " Elsie," said her grandfather, " what would you think of being sent off to Paris ? " " Paris, grandpapa ? " and Elsie's eyes grew round with amazement. " Well, an old friend of mine has written to me to say that she wishes for a pupil, and I am not at all sure that it would not be better for you than going to an English school when you leave Miss Pratt." " Grandpapa, don't send her off there," said Ralph. " I shall never get her in holiday-time if you do." "Yes, you will. Paris is not so far from Middle- bury as Edinburgh, and Elsie should come home twice a year if she went to Madame Regnier's. And, Ralph, when I took Elsie over to Paris, you should go, too, and pay a visit to your mother. Madame Regnier lodges in your mother's house." " Does she ? how funny ! " said Elsie. " And do Ralph's other relations live there, too ? " " Yes ; Ralph's uncle, Monsieur Noel, and his boy Bruno, who is about your age." " Bruno sounds like a dog's name," said Ralph. " He hasn't got a mother, has he?" in.] THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. 37 " No ; his mother Avas an Englishwoman — a Miss Morris, I believe ; and she died when Bruno was a baby. I recollect your grandfather telling me how, when he went to look after you, he found two babies just about the same age ; one in the cradle, and one on your mother's lap." " Why did Ralph's mamma let Mr. Treguire take him away ? " said Elsie. " Mr. Treguire did not wish him to be brought up as a Frenchman," said Dr. Gracedew ; " so that he told Ralph's mother that he would take Ralph and see after his education, and would make her comfortable besides." " But grandpapa, wasn't that bribing her to give up her baby ? Was that right ? " said Elsie. Children's eyes see so inconveniently clearly at times ! As it had been Dr. Gracedew's own conviction that his friend had acted unjustifiably in insisting upon the absolute sever- ance between mother and child, he hardly knew what to say. He thought it best to change the subject. "You can't quite understand such matters yet, little woman ; now I want to tell you about Madame Regnier. She is a very nice, bright, clever little woman, and I should think she would teach well ; 3 3 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. but this is the reason why I should like to help her. She is the widow of a doctor who died young leaving her with one little boy, and very little money Well, I knew Madame Regnier in old days, and I wanted to help her ; but she would not take any help at first ; she said that while her little boy was young she could do without. So she struggled on for some time, till two years ago when I went to Paris when Mrs. Purvis sent for me ; and then I went to look her up. Just then, poor thing, she was in great trouble, for little Herve was ill with scarlet-fever, and she hardly knew which way to turn to meet the expenses which his illness had brought upon her. Well, that time she let me help her, poor woman ! she could not help it ; but she is too independent to be indebted to me for anything she can help. But it would be a great help to her if I sent you there, Elsie, and paid her what I should pay for you at an English school. I have no doubt about her teaching powers ; she has had to teach for her living before now ; but of course I should not keep you there if you were very homesick and unhappy." " Of course ; anyhow I should be at school away from you, grandpapa," said Elsie. in.] THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. 39 " Yes ; and except that Paris is in a foreign country, it is not really further off than Scarborough, where your friend Edith Deane is going. So we will think it over, little woman, and you shall tell me what you think about it this evening. Our ancestors came from France, you know, so it will be but suitable for a Gracedew to go there for her education." " Is Gracedew a French name then ? " said Ralph. " I believe my forefathers came from a village which was called after a convent ' Grace-Dieu,' " said the Doctor. " Thank God," he went on, " it is a good name to have. I often think of that sentence in the General Thanksgiving, ' Not only with our lips, but in our lives.' That is the way we Gracedews ought to live out our name, Elsie." " Yes, grandpapa," said Elizabeth Gracedew, with no unusual dropping of the voice or stiffening of the muscles of the face because her grandfather talked " Sunday," as children say ; there was no set distinc- tion between Sunday and workaday talk in this household. " It's nice to have a name with a meaning, I think." Here it may be mentioned that Elsie's pet name 4o RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. was the Doctor's hobby. Properly speaking — so his philological friends told him — her name ought to have been Alice : Elsie was not the correct abbrevia- tion for Elizabeth. Whereat the Doctor remarked that he did not care whether the name were correct or not ; it suited his little woman, and she should keep it. Elsie and Ralph met at one o'clock, after having spent the morning apart at their respective schools. Dr. Gracedew had been called out to see a patient, and the two were left to their own company at their meal. They considered it "stupid" not to have grandpapa, but as usual, they were very happy with their own chatter. " Well, Elsie, do you mean to go and turn into a frog ? " said Ralph, over his roast mutton. " Yes, I think I shall," said Elsie. " I thought it over when I was practising my scales this morning, and I thought that a good many nice things might happen to me if I did — adventures and so on." " What kind of adventures ? " " Oh, there might be a revolution, and some woun- ded men might be carried into the house, and then I in.] THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN. 41 might help to nurse them. Or perhaps, you know there might be a great persecution of all the Pro- testants in France, and some of them might ask me to save them, and I would hide them in some secret chamber, and keep the key, and take them some food every day. Or suppose there was a war, you know, I might open the gates secretly to the English, and let them get the victory, and not mind a bit if they shot me for it." " Why should they shoot you for helping them ? " said Ralph, looking bewildered. "The French would shoot me, of course, Ralph, not my own people," said Elsie with dignity. " Oh well, I don't believe anything like that will happen," said Ralph. "Jolly adventures never do happen here, so I daresay they won't happen in France either. But still you might have some fun. Grandpapa says he"ll let you come home if you're unhappy ; he doesn't say that to me, you know." " No," said Elsie meditatively ; " and as he seems to want me to go, perhaps I may as well. I shall hate it, but then I shall have such lots to tell you in the holidays, Ralph ! " CHAPTER IV. RALPH'S MOTHER. " Sie druckt mich und presst mich Und thut mir fast ein Well : Du driickst ja viel zu fest mich Du schone Wasserfee ! " Heine. Ralph's mother, commonly called Madame Treguire, lived in one of the boulevards which intersect the wilderness of villas to the northwest of Paris. The road, lined on either side by thin spindling plane- trees, was white and dazzling, like the houses which stood a little way back from it, Palladian and pre- tentious, with glaring white stone porticos and closed Venetians ; in every direction you beheld scaffolding, and saw fresh villas arising, for the time I am describ- ing is that of the building fever of the empire. On these boulevards, where no one seemed to walk, the sun glared down on the white ground out of a glaring chap, iv.] RALPH'S MOTHER. 43 blue sky ; the trees and shrubs in the gardens were burnt with heat and grey with dust ; all tenderness seemed to have gone out of the atmosphere, and all the colours you beheld were hard and metallic, without any of the sweet mingling of tones which flushes the blue of our English skies with rose, and our sunshine with gold. Say what you may against our climate, and the rarity of our sunny days, it cannot be denied that when we get them they are worth having, and that our damp atmo- sphere gives us more glorious colouring than continental drought. Entering in at the iron gates of Numero 34, you saw before you a large house, built with perfect regularity from base to roof. As you went under the portico you beheld before you a staircase, richly carpeted as far as the first floor ; clean and bare up to the second and third ; rather dirty, and growing ever dirtier, as you went up higher. This house was rented by the brother and sister, Horace Noel and Eugenie Treguire, whose name had gra- dually become acclimatised by the lips that pro- nounced it, and like an exotic changing its type with the soil that produces it, had become altered from its 44 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. original Cornish into the corresponding Breton shape, easier to French pronunciation — Treguier.* Robert Tregu ire's widow might have lived com- fortably upon her annuity without the necessity of keeping a lodging-house ; but there was Horace Noel, her brother, to be kept, and little Bruno, her nephew, to be educated ; and Madame Treguire was an enterprising and energetic woman, who did not mind trouble. Besides, as her brother lived upon her, and never did anything for his livelihood if he could help it, she thought that it would be just as well to utilise him. He was somewhat of a lay figure at the best, for she took all the trouble of the management of the lodging-house, and kept all the accounts herself; but it was something to have a lay figure to bring in when she wished to insist upon some arrangement against which her lodgers remonstrated. "Mais, madame, mon frere J '" had had its effect more than once. She had a very worthy and respectable set of lodgers : M. Dulaurier, the Protestant pastor, inhabited her best flat of rooms, and above him several other families, * They lived on the ground floor, and let the rest of the house to lodgers. iv.j RALPH'S MOTHER. 45 among whom were Madame Regnier and her little boy. On the profits of her lodging-house keeping and her annuity combined, Eugenie Treguire worked Avonders. She not only provided for her brother Horace, and laid by her savings for little Bruno, whom, as she told her friends, she had been forced by the dictates of nature to take to her heart when her own child had been taken from her ; but she also drove in the Bois in a smart carriage every Sunday, and she gave social reunions in her large and handsomely-furnished salon, which occupied exactly as much room as all her other rooms together. This salon was the pride of Eugenie's heart. It was furnished according to the most fashionable views of the French bourgeoisie ; the parquet was shining, the paper was white and gold, there was a handsome white marble cJicmin^c with a white and gold clock upon it, the sofas and chairs were of green velvet over an unyielding rounded substance, and six pictures in gold frames, indifferently executed in coloured crayons, adorned the walls. Madame Treguire thought it the perfection of taste, but then her childhood and youth had not been passed in aesthetic surroundings. Her father 46 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. had been a worthy small tradesman, with Re- publican views, which had brought him so far into prominence that he had thought it prudent to come to England after the Revolution of 1832. He had found employment in inventing patterns for wall papers for an English manufacturer, and there he had lived and educated his children as best he could. His son Horace, who had never had any strong inclination to work, married a young English girl, who was the daughter of a small grocer, reputed to have amassed an immense fortune, all settled upon her ; but the grocer died, the fortune proved to be imaginary, and poor Anne Morris died when her baby was born, imploring ceaselessly in her delirium that Horace would forgive her, for indeed she would not have married him if she had known that he wanted money so much. His wife's friends were not inclined to be very charitable to Horace Noel after hearing this. Eugenie went out as a governess, and her subsequent history we know. When she surveyed her position as Robert Treguire's widow, she had sense to see that she might be a great lady in her own class, but that she would be nobody if she succeeded in pushing herself into iv.] RALPH'S MOTHER. 47 a higher one. Accordingly she remained a Triton among the minnows instead of a minnow among the Tritons, and her acquaintance looked up to her as a woman of considerable social power in her own line. And now she was standing in her salon, awaiting the arrival of her guests ; for she had insisted that Dr. Gracedew and Ralph should take up their abode with her during their stay in Paris. A handsome woman she was still, though her complexion had faded into sallowness, and the outlines of her still fine figure were a little sharp and meagre. There was force in the clear dark eyes, still brilliant and keen in their glances ; and force in the firm full lips which closed on each other so decidedly. Yet the ex- pression was not altogether a pleasant one. Whether it were that there was a strained look on the features — a watchful scrutinizing gaze that you found upon you when you were not prepared for it — or whether it were that there was too much of the physical and too little of the spiritual element in her personality ; Madame Treguire was not a pleasing woman, though she was by no means of the frivolous Parisian type. They came in — Dr. Gracedew, with Elsie and Ralph ; the latter, for the first time in his life, dis- 4§ RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. covering that he was both shy and nervous, and thinking it very disagreeable. There was a little confusion of greetings ; then Ralph heard his guardian say " This is our Ralph, madame ; " and he was instantly enfolded in two black silk arms, and kissed upon both cheeks. He felt glad when she released him, and yet ashamed of his gladness, for which his boyish conscience reproached him. When fellows had a mother, he supposed the thing was for them to be glad to see her, and not mind her kissing them ; and if there was anything which Ralph disliked it was being kissed. He had a reprieve, however, while Elsie was brought forward by her grandfather to be introduced to her hostess ; and was also kissed upon both cheeks and asked her name. " Elizabeth Gracedew," said Elsie shyly and stiffly as though she were saying her catechism. Then the children stood by while Madame Treguire talked in verv fair English of the journey, and her pleasure in seeing Ralph, and her hope that he would like his cousin Bruno, who was not yet come in from school. " My brother Horace," she said, "is also out on business, but he will be back in time for dinner. Ah, my little Ralph, iv.] RALPH'S MOTHER. 49 you have many new relatives to see all at once ! " and she patted his shoulder. Dr. Gracedew said that he would leave Ralph with his mother while he took Elsie to introduce her to Madame Regnier ; and, disregarding his ward's piteous glance of entreaty not to be left behind alone, he marched off with Elsie up the stairs towards her future instructress's room. Up and up the stairs — at last the modest little door an quatrihne was reached, and Dr. Gracedew's knock was answered by Madame Regnier herself. She was a great con- trast to her landlady. She was a small gentle woman, in a black stuff gown and a little white net cap. She had high cheekbones, and a fair sallow face, with pleasant blue eyes that must once have been pretty enough, though now they had grown dull with years and trouble ; and hair that was fading from blonde cendree into grey, unhindered by any devices of art. " Ah, my benefactor ! " she said, clasping Dr. Gracedew's hand in her pretty French way, "this is good indeed. How can I thank you for all that you have done, — and for entrusting me with this dear little one also ? " And Elsie was again embraced ; but this time she did VOL. 1. E 5o RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. not simply endure the embrace ; it was so warm, so motherly, so loving ! " What a pity that Madame Regnier is not Ralph's mother ! " she thought in her own mind as she lifted up her face to return the kiss. They were conducted through a little outer room containing a solitary bed, whence opened a tiny kitchen, into a pretty little sitting-room; out of this again opened another room where there were two little white-curtained beds, a toilet-table, and a crucifix with some French lace-bordered religious pictures upon the wall. " Elsie will not mind sharing my bedroom," said Madame Regnier, laying her hand upon the child's shoulder ; " I thought that the day was at last come when Herve ought to have his own chamber, and I could not bear the thought of solitude. Will you be my little companion, dear child ? " Elsie did not understand much of this speech, but the sweet tone and gentle face needed no inter- pretation. She looked up at her grandfather, who answered for her : "lam sure she will try to be a good girl and do all that you tell her. Have we turned out your little boy into that entry that we came through ? " i\\] RALPH'S MO THER. 5 1 " Yes, that is Herve's bed. I thought at one time of putting Elsie's bed in the alcove in the sitting-room, but I feared you might not like it ; I know the English do not sleep in their salons,'" said Madame Regnier simply. "And now, monsieur," she said, as she seated herself in the said salon, " I hope you will tell me all your views about this dear little one's education. I am sure I will do my best to carry them out faithfully." Madame Regnier's Parisian French was beyond Elsie's comprehension ; and after the little girl had .washed her face and smoothed her hair she came and looked out of the window. It was rather nice, she thought, to live up so high, where you could look down into the tops of the garden trees below you ; and what a long way you could see ! as far as a wooded slope in the distance where the villas seemed to end and the country to begin. The air was sweet and fresh at this height ; and, looking down, you beheld a neat garden, with a white stucco fountain, and flowers arranged in beds round the spaces of gravel which would in England have been turf. " If it were my garden," thought Elsie, '* I would have a seat made in the top of the lime-tree, E 2 52 RALPH AND BRUNO. and a rope ladder to get down to it ; it would be like flying ; and how jolly it would be to sit there and do lessons among the leaves ! They almost look as if one could lie down in them as they are ! " Then the little maid, who was of an observant nature, turned her eyes upon the interior of the little salon. There was a white china stove, a bookcase, a marble table and some very aged chairs ; the floor was of waxed wood instead of parquet, and the sofa on which Dr. Gracedew and Madame Regnier were sitting was covered with a very aged brown rep, and had evidently been in use for a long time. Yet somehow there was a dainty neatness and grace about the arrangement of the room, and the small decorations about it, that made it, even in little Elsie's mind, a much prettier and nicer place than Madame Treguire's grand salon down stairs. Meanwhile the following conversation was going on between the Doctor and Madame Regnier: — " She has the air of good health, is it not so, monsieur ? " " She has never known a day's illness, and is as healthy a child as you would wish to see. Let her take good long walks, and have plenty iv.] RALPH'S MOTHER. 53 oi air. Or, at least, if you cannot always take her for a walk, take her with you when you go shopping or marketing, or let her go with one of the maids that you can trust." " Mais, monsieur — " began Madame Regnier in a tone between deference and dismay. " Well, madame ? " " Do you not think that it is undesirable for a young girl to be often seen beyond the walls of her house ? We do not think well of young girls who do like that here." " Of course I do not wish her to go out by herself," said Dr. Gracedew ; " but with you or a trustworthy servant, what harm can come to her ? " " Then you do not mind her being seen ? " Dr. Gracedew laughed. " I did not know you were such Orientals here, madame. No, I do not think I need mind Elsie's being seen ; it is much more important that she should have plenty of air and exercise than that she should be kept immured in conventual seclusion." " That reminds me," said Madame Regnier " that I am the more grateful to you for trusting me with the dear little one because I know that 54 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. many persons would object to me because I have a boy in the house. But I assure you that her intercourse with my Herve shall be strictly sur- veille. They shall be kept apart as much as possible." " Why ? I had hoped they would be com- panions. Elsie is used to boys, and they usually get on very well with her. In fact, she is as much of a boy as a girl at present. Let the children be together naturally — unless you have some serious reason for refusing it ? " he added in an inquiring tone. " Oh no, monsieur. My Herve is a gentle boy, quite angelic in temper : but we do not think it right to let boys and girls associate together, chiefly for the sake of the girls, lest they should become too rude and boyish." " I fear that you will find Elsie the most boyish of the two," said the Doctor laughing ; " but we English do not object to that fault in little girls : we find that it corrects itself in after life. By the way, Mrs. Treguire told me that dinner would be ready in half an hour, and I should think it must be nearly that time already. I must go iv.] RALPH'S MOTHER. 55 down and see how Ralph has been getting on with his new relatives." And Dr. Gracedew, holding Elsie's hand, went down the sixty odd steps which led to the Noels' apartment, rather curious to know what Ralph's experiences had been. CHAPTER V THE COUSINS. " In every country the sun rises in the morning." G. Herbert. RALPH had sat for some five minutes or so in the salon, answering his mother's questions mono- syllabically, and beginning to think that if fellows had mothers they ought to have got used to them before they were as old as he was, when a step was heard in the passage outside, and Madame Treguire, apparently relieved by the hope of something to break the monotony of the situation, went to the door and called "Horace!" In came a fairly good-looking man with a waxed moustache, a white waistcoat, and a general air of French dandyism about him. " Here is the little one," said Madame Treguire in French. '■ Come to my arms, my child ! " said M. Noel, chap, v.] THE COUSLXS. 57 extending his own. There was a twinkle of amusement in his face which Ralph, who did not like to be laughed at, did not appreciate very heartily. However, he obeyed his uncle's request, and endured with as much fortitude as he could at the moment bring to bear, the scrubbing of the waxed moustache on both his cheeks. After which M. Noel held him at arm's length and scrutinized him. "They have made an Englishman of him," he said. " No one would say that he had French blood in his veins. Quite as well, perhaps, under the circumstances." Ralph saw his mother frown at this speech. " Come, Eugenie, don't be silly. At this moment you ought to allow some little liberality to the expression of the feelings of the heart. Which do you prefer, my child, the country of your English or of your French parent ? " " England, of course ! " said Ralph. " You are right ; you will get in England what you could never have got in France, my child — money and position. Those are the chief things in life, are they not ? " 58 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Ralph said nothing, not being quite sure whether he was again being laughed at or not. " And yet," proceeded Horace Noel, " you will find, my friend, that you have lost a few things by being thus expatriated." (Another frown from Eugenie, and another answering laugh from Horace.) " Perhaps you will not be pleased to see the devotion which exists between your cousin Bruno and madame, your mother?" " I shan't mind," said Ralph, as it seemed that an answer was expected of him. Horace Noel laughed again. "Have they not made an Englishman of him, Eugenie ? My friend, if you had been a Frenchman, you would have said that you would be truly distracted with jealousy if you did not receive from your mother the love that was your due." Madame Treguire seemed somehow uneasy during this conversation, as well as Ralph ; and it was a relief to both when a tall, bright-eyed lad, about Ralph's age, pushed the door open and entered. " How do you do, my cousin ? " said Bruno Noel, quick to catch the hint of Ralph's outstretched hand, and to substitute a hand shake for the v.] THE COUSINS. 59 customary double kiss. And then the two boys stood and looked at each other. Ralph had made up his mind that, in virtue of his English education, he should be able to lick his French cousin ; but when he looked at Bruno he felt less sure of the fact. In the first place, the French boy was half a head taller, and very well made ; and there was a quickness and alertness about him that showed that he was not a lad to be despised. He had a bright, frank face, and open dark eyes that met yours as if they had nothing to conceal ; a forehead that looked as if it held brains, and a mobile, boyish mouth, which fell so readily into smiles that you did not often perceive the slightly melancholy expression that it took when it was grave. " Bruno, you have never greeted me ; you have been so taken up with your cousin," said Madame Treguire, suddenly, in French. " O mamma ! Pardon my forgetfulness, then," said Bruno, hastening to make amends by an eager boyish kiss. " Raff looks surprised to hear you address your cousin as mamma," said M. Noel, with a slightly 60 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. malicious intonation, and another of those laughs which made Ralph feel hot all over. " You must not mind, my cousin," said Bruno ; "she has always been a mother to me, and you need not fear that she will love you less. Shall I show you the room we are to share together while you are here ? " Ralph caught eagerly at the notion of getting out of the company of his perplexing relatives, and followed the French boy without demur. He was taken downstairs to a cellar-like room, lighted from high square windows against the ceiling, and per- meated by a strong smell of soup from the neighbouring kitchen. Here there were two beds, and here, Bruno said, they were both to sleep for the next fortnight. "Your guardian has the room I usually sleep in," explained Bruno. " Which bed do you like ? it is for you to choose." Ralph, much rejoiced to find that his cousin could talk decent English, entered into conversation at once. He asked if Bruno's school was a jolly one, and if he played cricket, or anything of that sort ? and he told him that Elsie was no end of a girl, much jollier than half the fellows you came v.] THE COUSINS. 61 across. Then he asked what M. Noel was. Was he a lawyer, or a doctor, or what ? Bruno replied that his father had a constitutional disinclination to work, and could not bring himself to do so. " He sometimes writes criticisms on the theatres ; he feels that he might make his fortune as a manager ; but the theatres do not seem to wish for him in that capacity. Sometimes, however, they give him passes, and then at times he takes mamma and me. Do you like theatres ? " "I've only been to a circus," said Ralph; "but that was awfully jolly. It came to Middlebury last year. Do you ever have circuses here ? " By the time the boys came upstairs again they had become quite confidential, though Ralph was struck with astonishment and horror at the discovery that Bruno played neither cricket nor football, and had to work for eleven hours in the day. In the salon they found Elsie, who sprang to Ralph as soon as she saw him, and began telling him all about Madame Regnier ; and Ralph confided to her that he did not like his uncle at all ; " nor her very much— don't tell anybody I said so ; " but that Bruno was awfully jolly. " You see, Elsie," he 62 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. said, looking round to be sure that he was not overheard, " I think it can't be so awfully horrid as it seems for a fellow not to care for his mother when he's like me, and has never seen her since he was a baby, do you ? " " Do you know," said Elsie, changing the subject, " Madame Regnier has got a crucifix in her room, and she is a Roman Catholic ; but grandpapa says she is a very good woman, and I think she must be by her looks. He says he is going to ask M. Dulaurier, the Protestant clergyman, to teach me my Bible while I am here. Is Bruno a Roman Catholic ? " "No; they are all Protestants," said Ralph; " Bruno goes to M. Dulaurier's church on Sunday, and he says its jolly dull there. Look, they are going in to dinner. Hurrah ! " The French cookery was very grateful to the hungry children ; more so than the discussion of the theological views of their new acquaintances, and they were only amazed at the sight of the white napkins which M. Noel and Bruno tucked within their shirt-collars like bibs. They were not so surprised by this sight, however, as to lose their v.] THE COUSINS. 63 appetites, and did full justice to Madame Treguire's dinner. Leaving them below, we will peep in upon the quiet little room where Madame Regnier and her son Herve were eating their frugal meal of soup, cheese, and salad, thinking, with some regret, that this was nearly the last time that they would have the full enjoyment of each other's society. Herve Regnier was a short, ugly boy, with a soft voice and a sweet expression of face ; he looked unhealthy, as if he did not take sufficient exercise, and as if the eleven hours of lessons might have been ad- vantageously abridged in favour of a little more fresh air. But no one thinks of such an abridgment in France. " Mamma," said the little boy, pensively, " I have undergone a trial to-day." " What is it then, my son ? " " It is that I am degraded for prompting Bulot in his recitation, and I shall not get the prize now; and you will be disappointed as well as I." " I am sorry, my little Herve ; but as it was for a kind action, I cannot be distressed. Ah, well we must suffer sometimes, then, for doing good 64 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " That is what I said to myself," said Herve, " and consoled myself with the thought, mamma Now Noel or Vaudet will get the prize, I think I hope it will be Noel ; I love him." " He protects you still in school, does he not ? " " Oh yes, mamma ! he laughs at me sometimes himself, but he always protects me against the others. He is so strong — stronger than «any of the boys in our class, 1 think." " Why does he laugh at you ? " " Because he says I have too scrupulous a con- science, and ought not to be always thinking whether things are forbidden that I wish to do. You see, mamma, he is not a Catholic, so he does not know these things as well as I do ; but he is very kind to me. Now, tell me how you like the young demoiselle who is to come here." " I found her gentillc enough for an English child," said Madame Regnier. " But monsieur the Doctor has surprised me much with his insular ideas on the subject of her education. He says that he does not mind — in fact, he wishes you to be her companion. However, you must not forget that she is neither your cousin nor your sister, and therefore v.] THE COUSINS. 65 you had better always call her Miss Elsie. We must try to instil into her the ideas suitable to an ingenuous and modest young person." " Yes, mamma," said Herve, who usually acqui- esced in everything his mother told him. " Her grandfather is going to beg M. Dulaurier to undertake her education in religion ; but you and I, Herve, must try to show her by example how superior is the Catholic faith to the Protestant heresy. Though, after all," concluded Madame Regnier, in a sudden outburst of natural heterodoxy, " I really think that Dr. Gracedew is as good as if he were a Catholic. Well, well, it is difficult to understand these things ! " vol. I. CHAPTER VI. AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. "A game it was of running and of noise : (She) as a boy, with other girls and boys took the fun." Clough. Little Elsie had not yet come to the end of all the new acquaintances she was to make in these days. The next morning, as she was standing" in the garden with Ralph beside the glittering fountain, whose stucco erection looked quite passable in the early sunshine, Dr. Gracedew came to her and told her that the night before he had been to call on M. Dulaurier, to ask him if he would be kind enough to superintend Elsie's religious instruction while she was at Madame Regnier's. He had known him, though slightly, for some years, and had a high respect for him ; and Madame Dulaurier had asked that Elsie might come to be introduced chap, vi.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. i 7 to her little girls, who were delighted at the notion of an English playmate ; for they were kept very strictly apart from most of the children of their acquaintance. So they were to go there after breakfast, and then they were to set out to explore Paris, taking Bruno with them ; for Bruno was to have a holiday in consideration of his cousin's arrival. Elsie was full of delighted anticipation, as befits a child of twelve years old on her first visit to Paris ; her schoolroom life was not to begin for a whole fortnight, and a fortnight is a long time at her age. Madame Treguire gave them an excellent breakfast a V Anglais, with eggs and ham: she was a first-rate mcnagcre, and she liked to display her talents to advantage when she had an opportunity. After they had done full justice to this, Dr. Grace- dew took Elsie up stairs to the pastor's apartments. Elsie was observant enough to gather that the Dulauriers must be educated and refined people. There was nothing of the showiness of Madame Treguire's salon here ; neither was there any token of straitness of means, as in Madame Regnier's neat room up stairs. Two little girls, with black F 2 63 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. pinafores, and hair turned back a la CJrinoise into wide-meshed nets, were sitting at needlework, one on either side of their mother, who was a sallow, graceful woman, with a bright face, and an air which had something distinguished about it. She kissed Elsie kindly, and then proceeded to talk to Dr. Gracedew, while the little girl eyed her natural congeners, the two small workers on their chairs. One of these children was pale, stunted, and sallow, with washed-out blue eyes and light hair; she was apparently the elder, and might have been about Elsie's age. The younger child was the prettiest, archest little fairy Elsie had ever seen. She had a lovely delicate complexion, tinted with rose, but not rosy ; bright dark eyes sparkling with mischief, and pretty vivacious features, smiling, pouting and frowning all at once. The pale child went on working diligently ; the pretty one fidgeted and peeped up through her long eyelashes at Elsie, which brought upon her — " Come then, Ninie, be good, or thou wilt displease mamma," from her more .sedate sister. " See then, I work, Mademoiselle Lilie," was the reply. " Can you talk French, my dear?" asked Madame vi.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. 69 Dulaurier of Elsie in English ; and on receiving Elsie's shy, smiling negative, she called to her children — " Come then, Lilie and Ninie, let me see how you have profited by Miss Smith's lessons in talking to this young lady." u Ne sais pas Anglais'' pouted pretty Ninie; but the elder girl came forward obediently, and began to make talk. " Have you been long in Paris, Mademoiselle ? I hope you had a pleasant voyage," she began, as if she were reciting from a phrase- book. Elsie responded shyly at first, but the free- masonry of childhood was at work between them, and presently they were in quite an interesting conversation about lessons and games; for Lilie, though she dropped every aspirate she came to, was a very fair English scholar. Before they came to the end of the visit, however, our poor little tomboy had considerably puzzled the little Parisian by various slang phrases caught from Ralph, which were apt to escape her whenever she grew excited. "Awfully jolly" was not to be found in the phrase- book out of which Lilie had learnt her English lessons, and she resolved to look it out in the dictionary on the first opportunity. 70 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. The Dulauriers belonged to a class which in France has as much refinement and education as any, and more than most of the " swells " of the Empire. M. Dulaurier was the son of a well-to- do watchmaker of Swiss Protestant connections and extraction ; his wife was a scion of the true ancienne noblesse, who, had she lived a century back, would probably have queened it at court, but who now was well content to live a hard-working and useful life among her husband's bourgeois con- gregation, in the same way as her family had accommodated themselves to circumstances, and become retail wine-merchants instead of owners of the soil. She was very proud of her husband's learning and eloquence, and considered him quite the first of all the pastors in Paris, in France, or in the world. Having paid their visit, Dr. Gracedew and Elsie took leave of their hostess and her children, and set off with Bruno and Ralph to explore Paris. Everyone knows Paris in these days, and can imagine what it was for these eager children to go and see all the sights with such a man as Dr. Gracedew, who had all the history at his fingers' vr.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. j\ ends, and told them all about Pascal at the Tour St. Jacques, and about the tocsin at St. Germain d'Auxerre. He showed them the historic chestnut tree in the Tuileries gardens, and let Elsie enjoy the "creepy" sensation that made her eyes open and dilate when she was told that the Place de la Concorde was really the scene of the Terrorist exe- cutions, about which she had read so many stories. He was even more delightful than this, for he let them make their luncheon of coffee and ices, in- stead of hot mutton as at home ; and then let them sit in penny chairs and listen to the band, when they were tired of walking about, and thought rest would be pleasant. Paris was an " awfully stunning" place, pronounced Ralph that day. It was not without a double motive that the Doctor had pleaded for a holiday for Bruno to join their party. He was glad to give the boy pleasure, but he also wished to judge for himself what sort of boy he was, and whether he would be a harmful companion for Ralph. Certainly this day's expe- dition seemed, so far as he could see, to answer that question decidedly in the negative ; in fact, Bruno and the Doctor found a mutual attraction in 72 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. one another. The boy was not only a bright, handsome lad, but he was eager-minded, emotional and generous ; and the story of a noble deed made his eyes dilate and his cheeks flush as Ralph's never did. There was no English reserve about him to make him ashamed of expressing his feelings, and he had a Frenchman's natural eloquence, such as astonished Elsie, and made her think he must be the cleverest boy she had ever seen. It was so pleasant out there in the Tuileries gardens that when the band ceased to play, and the Doctor proposed to move, Elsie begged for -a little longer respite. " I know what would be nice, grandpapa, if you are not tired," said the little girl. " What ! ices again, miss ? " " That would be nice too," laughed Elsie boldly ; " but the nicest thing would be for you to tell us a story." Now, the Doctor was a first-rate storyteller. He never invented stories, but he would take subjects out of the poets — Spenser, or Shakespeare, or Chaucer, — and tell them to the children in his own language, and very beautiful language it was. The vi.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. 73 Arthurian legends had not yet become household words through Tennyson's " Idylls " ; but Dr. Grace- dew knew Mallory's " Morte d'Arthur " by heart, and on this occasion he complied with Elsie's re- quest by telling them the story of the Holy Grail, as there related — perhaps here and there with slight additions of his own. He had a very attentive audience. Ralph, indeed, who was not of a very emotional nature, listened with interest to the story, and nothing more ; but Bruno and Elsie sat at his feet with eyes riveted on his face, and he was only interrupted here and there when Bruno did not understand an English word that he used, and repeated it interrogatively with grave intentness, that showed that he meant to miss nothing till the story was done. " It's like an allegory, grandpapa," said Elsie presently, after a little pause. " But what does it mean ? is it one really ? " " Not exactly, I think. Though I don't know but that it might stand very well as one," said the Doctor, "when you look back through history, Elsie, and see how all the great men who have yearned to do good to mankind, have sought after 74 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. the revelation of a heavenly vision, which was to have a magic power to heal the nations, like the Holy Grail. Dante — Savonarola — Luther — Loyola — nay, our own Shakespeare, for I believe in the mystical element in him too. But here I am, talking over your heads, children, as if you could understand all my fancies. I can see that Bruno here thinks me talking utter nonsense." " Oh no, monsieur ! I like to hear it, though I cannot understand it all," said Bruno blushing through his brown skin. And somehow the Doctor and his story seemed to have taken considerable effect upon the French boy : for he recurred to it again that evening after dinner, when he and Ralph, who were getting on admirably together, were disporting themselves in the garden. Ralph was sitting astride the bough of a low tree, and Bruno lying along on the bench beneath it, when the following conversation took place. " I never thought guardians were like your guardian," said Bruno. " He is good, he is charming. Does he often tell you histories like that one to-day ? " VI.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. 75 " Grandpapa ? Oh, yes. He's awfully jolly, isn't he ? I liked that story to-day awfully, because there wasn't any moral at the end. Generally he puts in a moral about me, and about fellows spending all their money on other people and not on themselves, and making their lives useful ; and I never can see .why I should have to make my life so much more useful than other people's." "Then what is your ambition for?" asked Bruno quite simply, as though an ambition of some sort were a necessity to everyone. " What do you mean ? " said Ralph. "Why, do not you mean to be a great man when you are grown up ? I do." "I don't care about it," said Ralph, meditatively: " I don't think it would be much fun. I think I'd rather not, on the whole. Don't tell grand- papa I said so, but what I really should like would be to live at Brynscombe with a lot of jolly fellows, and have no end of ponies — horses I mean — and guns and rifles and dogs. Grand- papa would be awfully shocked though, to hear me say so." 76 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " I think it is a very foolish ambition," said Bruno : and Ralph felt rather small at his cousin's quiet disapproval. " Now, my friend Herve Regnier and I often disagree about our ambitions : but his is certainly a greater one than yours." " What is his ? " asked Ralph, almost prepared to see whether it would be a good one to adopt. " Oh, he is a Catholic, and he wants to convert every one to his religion. He is not going to persecute any one, you know : he is going to convert the world by persuasion. However, I tell him he will never convert Frenchmen, nor me either. He was angry with me for a little when I told him that." Ralph at once decided that it would be against his conscience to look with favour upon Herve Regnier's ambition. " Then what is yours ? " he said. " I mean to be a patriot," said the French boy. " I think that is the greatest thing to be. I should like to do something of noble for France, so that my name might be remembered for years afterwards as a man who saved his country : vi.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. 77 as they speak of Epaminondas, and Aristides, and Regulus in the ancient history." " But," said Ralph, trying hard to follow his cousin, yet rather puzzled in spite of his en- deavours, " there is not anything to save your country from now, is there ? We haven't got any enemies to fight against, and all that. Of course if the French came and fought us, I'd fight too — jolly fun we'd have, wouldn't we ? " "Yes, so would we if the English came," said Bruno. " We'd lick you, you know." " We would not let you." And so the con- versation drifted away from the abstract to the concrete ; in which, however, the representatives of both nations kept their temper very creditably. It would take too long to describe every day of this memorable fortnight minutely. It was concluded by a festivity of the Doctor's : a picnic in the Bois, attended by Madame Regnier and her son Herve, Madame Treguire and Bruno Noel, and Madame Dulaurier with her two daughters and her son Leon, a big loutish lad of sixteen or so. The three little girls walked together, 78 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Elsie with her pink and white cotton frock and broad-brimmed English hat between Lilie and Ninie in their Sunday grey silk frocks edged with real lace, and their little straw bonnets trimmed with flowers. These silk frocks were the cause of a certain amount of scandal to the pastor's congre- gation ; though to say truth, they were the relics of an aged gown of Madame Dulaurier's, which she had herself worn for half a dozen years or so, and which had endured as Frenchwomen's gowns will, by being treated as if they were alive and could feel. Ralph, Bruno, and Herve walked behind, the two first discoursing on various subjects interesting to boys: Herve rather "out of it " by reason that the conversation was in English, which he did not understand. Bruno, however, did his best to bring him into it again by various appeals to him in French : for Bruno was a kind- hearted boy, and Regnier was his friend. He would not let him feel himself neglected for the English cousin. This picnic was chiefly memorable for a circum- stance which made Elsie grow hot and ashamed for years afterwards when she thought of it. The elders VI.] AN ENGLISH TOMBO V. 79 of the party left the children to themselves for a quar- ter of an hour or so, while they went to the pavilion in the Bois to procure drinkables ; the boys were playing at catch -ball, the girls sitting on the grass chatting merrily together : all quite good and decorous. Sud- denly Ralph came up to Elsie. " Elsie, we want to play cricket, but there are so few of us. Don't you think, you and those girls could come and play too ? " " Oh yes ! " began Elsie with delight, for she loved cricket beyond anything ; but she stopped short " Do you think I ought with strange boys ? You know I never do at home except with you." " Nonsense, they're not strange by this time. Besides, Elsie, you might. It's the last time I shall ask you anything for months, you know." This was irresistible. From her babyhood Elsie had done whatever Ralph asked her, and she could not refuse it when he pleaded like this. She dragged her little French friends from their comfortable seat, and said that they must come and play ; it would be " so jolly." " Do girh play cricket ? I thought it was a boy's game," said the conscientious Lilie. " Oh yes, girls play it ; I always play with Ralph," So RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. said our tomboy Elsie so peremptorily, that they sub- mitted and joined forces. The wickets were formed of Ralph's and Bruno's jackets ; the bat was half of the lid of the box in which the provisions had been packed; and none of the party, except Ralph and Elsie had ever seen the game played before. However, with all these disadvantages, the cricket went on so well, that when the elders again came in sight, Madame Dulaurier was horrified by perceiving a little grey figure rushing at the top of her speed between two black heaps, crossing Ralph Treguire as she ran, and shrieking with delight all the time. "Encore unefois!" cried Ninie, wild with excite- ment ; but the fun was suddenly checked. " Ninie ! " said her mother severely, " what are you thinking of? Come away, naughty little girl !" " Oh, please ! " said Elsie, entreatingly, " it's only cricket, and Ninie is getting on so nicely ! " " My child," said Madame Dulaurier, " I cannot allow it. In France young ladies do not play wild games with boys. In England, as I have heard, it is different. Lilie, how could you have permitted your sister to commit such a fault ? I looked to you to control her. How could you ? " vi.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. 81 " Mamma," said poor honest Lilie, terribly out of breath with the one run which she had attempted and failed in, " I am very sorry ; but Elsie said it was a game girls played at, and I played too." " Very well, my daughter ; then neither of you will leave my side for the rest of the day." Elsie saw her grandfather looking at her gravely, and with hot cheeks made the best apology she could. She saw that " grandpapa " did not like her having played ; and she came up to his side, and slipped her hand in his to beg pardon. However, all he said was. " You have not yet learnt discretion, little woman," and then went on talking to Madame Regnier, and sent Elsie to walk with the children whom she had brought into the scrape. Elsie felt rather sad. This was her last day with Ralph, and there he was, walking with Bruno Noel in front. Ninie had forgotten that she was being punished, and was chatting away like a little parrot ; but Elsie did not respond. Her eyes were filling with tears, and she was 1 beginning to think how best to get rid of them without betraying their presence by a pocket handkerchief, when a voice sounded in her ear — " I say, give me that fandangle. I'll carry it." VOL. T. G 82 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. That " fandangle " was Elsie's cloak, and her tears vanished in a moment as Ralph possessed himself of it, and went on walking by her side, leaving Bruno and Herve to themselves. He might not be anything re- markable in genius or in character, but he was a good loving boy, and he cared very much for Elsie, and dis- liked the parting more than he would have cared to avow. " I say, Elsie ! Do you know," he said, in a low tone, " Uncle Horace never goes to church anywhere, and Bruno's going to leave off soon, too." " Ralph ! How wicked he must be ! " " No, he isn't ; he says Frenchmen never do. It's the custom of the country," said Ralph, philosophi- cally. " Then it must be a horribly bad custom, and a horribly wicked country," said Elsie with great deci- sion. " And I thought he was so nice ! Why, you said he liked the story about the Holy Grail so much ! " " So he did ; but what's that to do with going to church ? He is an awfully jolly fellow, Elsie, whether he goes to church or not, I can tell you that ! " Elsie, however, could not quite get over poor Bruno's unorthodox sentiments so easily, and when he came up vi.] AN ENGLISH TOMBOY. 83 to them she edged a little away, somewhat as St. John might have done from Cerinthus. However this might be, it mattered little to Bruno, who was not yet at the age to be susceptible to a girl's opinion of him, and who had of late become so inseparable from his English cousin that poor Herve Regnier had more than once been quite depressed, and had taken his innocent little conscience to task for indulging envy and jealousy. But Ralph kept close to Elsie's side all through the walk home, and before he reached the house, gave utterance to this sentiment, which com- forted and afflicted Elsie at once : — ' I say, it's awfully beastly your not coming home with us to-morrow. I don't care now how soon I go off to Marlborough ! " G 2 CHAPTER VII. FRENCH SCHOOLROOM LIFE. " Tell me, my friend, do you think that the grain would sprout in the furrow, Did it not truly accept as its summtim and ullimum bonum That mere common and may-be indifferent soil it is set in ? " Clough. POOR little Elsie felt that Ralph's sentiments were but too true when she said good-bye to him and her grandfather the next morning. If it was any comfort to her to know that the Doctor felt almost as miserable as she did, she might have solaced herself with the sight of his face : and it was all that she could do to keep in her tears as she stood on the steps with Bruno, looking after the departing carriage : whence she was led off reluctantly by the gentle little Frenchwoman, whose charge she was now to be. Bruno had been very much delighted by being told by the Doctor that he would some day have chap, vil.] FRENCH SCHOOLROOM LIFE. 85 to come and spend his holidays with Ralph at Middlebury. "That boy has splendid possibilities in him," the Doctor had said to himself more than once, as he watched the eager kindling of the eyes and the noble lines of the mouth, and saw the evidences of the generous boyish heart and the natural love for all that was good and noble. Where did the boy get an individuality so unlike that of Horace Noel, or the poor English girl, who had broken her heart over her husband's reproaches on the score of her poverty ? The Doctor pondered over this problem without arriving at any conclusion : but he cultivated young Noel assiduously, and the frank-hearted boy, who had little reserve in his nature, opened out his mind to him and answered his questions fully and freely. It appeared, as far as Dr. Gracedew could see, that the strongest influence for good that had yet been brought to bear upon Bruno Noel was that of his little Catholic schoolfellow, Regnier : but that this had worked upon Bruno, not by drawing him at all towards Regnier's ecclesiastical views, but by quickening his eyes to see moral beauty and to admire it and aspire to it. A French 86 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. boy, in whose family there are Protestant traditions, is usually so impregnated with the romance of the long persecution of his forefathers, that though he may, and often does, come to believe nothing, he is not likely to be attracted to the Roman Church. And unless a boy is brought up in a very controversial atmosphere, he is not likely at twelve years old to rush into it of his own accord. Bruno, though an exceptional kind of boy, was not so exceptional as this : and when Herve Regnier, who had views of converting his friend, tried arguments upon him with this end in view, he generally got for his pains, " Tais-toi, I can get plenty of sermons from other people if I want them." Nevertheless, Regnier nad a strong effect upon Noel, though not in the direction he wished for. The widow's little boy was a thoroughly good, gentle, conscientious little fellow : and Bruno first fought his battles for him out of pity when he was bullied, then took a fancy to him on his own account, and next set himself to prove partly to himself and partly to his friend that it was possible to do quite as fine things, and vii.] FRENCH SCHOOLROOM LIFE. 87 live quite as grand a life if you were not a Catholic as if you were. Whenever Regnier talked about the lives of the Saints, Bruno maintained that the Greek and Roman heroes were much more worthy of imitation ; — when Regnier an- nounced his intention of converting some barbarian country and dying a martyr, Bruno announced that he intended to be a patriot and pro patrid mori. The extraordinary visions which the two lads discussed with absolute certainty that they would carry them out, would never have entered into the brains of English lads : the imagination of each reacted upon the other, and they cared very little about any other companions except each other. What indeed could these two dreamers of splendid dreams and seers of lofty visions find in common with the ordinary French schoolboy, who found his amusement in spiteful teasing, and his highest object in currying favour with the master who never let him out of his sight ? Perhaps it was the mere fact of kindred : per- haps it was only the novelty of a new type of boy, that made Bruno take so kindly to the little English schoolboy, who, as we have seen, had no 88 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. visionary dreams or ambitions at all. But then Ralph was a jolly little bright-faced honest boy, and most people found him attractive, though at present no one could predict that he would turn into anything remarkable as a man. His greatest charm was his simple, unaffected boyishness, and his loving heart. Bruno had made a considerable impression upon Ralph, and as the latter drove through the streets of Paris to the station, he mused with considerable bewilderment of mind on the best means of following his cousin's example, and setting up an ambition for himself which was not to consist of dogs, guns, or ponies. Before he had decided the point, however, he saw some- thing out of the window which took off his attention, and left the subject of his ambition to be decided at a future day. Of all his new relatives, that one of whom he thought the least was his mother, Madame Treguire. They had parted, as they had met, without any very strong show of emotion on either side : and Ralph kept to his view that if a fellow was to be fond of his mother he ought to have known her from the time he was a baby, and then he would vii.] FRENCH SCHOOLROOM LIFE. 89 have got used to her. But he was very respect- ful, though terribly shy, in her presence : grand- papa expected him to be so, and grandpapa was much more to him than a newly found and rather indifferent mother. To return to our poor little heroine, in her first separation from home. A day or two made all possible difference in Elsie's feelings ; she began to get used to her French life, and it was really a very pleasant one under the circumstances. She had the kindest and most painstaking of teachers in Madame Regnier, and the little Dulaurier girls for her playmates. Madame Dulaurier had at first been rather alarmed by Elsie's tomboy propensities, as evidenced in the cricket at the picnic ; but she found that the little girl was really very obedient and trustworthy, and allowed her to play with Lilie and Ninie every day in their recreation time. In the evening Herve Regnier returned from school, and Elsie soon made friends with him. " Now, Herve, have you had any adventures to-day ? " Elsie would ask in her English-French ; for the child, being entirely among French people, 90 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. was rapidly learning to chatter fearlessly in the new tongue, without pausing for fear of mistakes. " I have had none, Meess Elsi," Herve would reply ; " but I am ashamed to say that one boy in my class has received a severe imposition for lying. It is foolish, as well as wicked to lie at school, for the masters observe everything we do," he continued. " What did he do it for then ? " said Elsie. "He wished to revenge himself upon a comrade : thus he hid the other's lesson book, that he might be punished for losing it, and defaced the pages, and then laid the blame upon another boy. We see much depravity of the human heart at school, Meess Elsi," he went on, in his soft-voiced moralizing. " Est-ce que l'autre l'a leche ? " said Elsie, whose French was often rather original. Herve needed an elucidation of the girl's meaning, as was natural, and Madame Regnier looked shocked. " No, Meess Elsi. The masters do not allow such things." " But when he was out of the master's sight ? " " No one is ever out of the master's sight," said Herve. " How you must all hate it ! " vil.] FRENCH SCHOOLROOM LIFE. 91 " On the contrary, we perceive that it is for our good," said Herve. " We don't have such things in English schools," said Elsie, proudly. " Perhaps not ; England is not so far advanced in civilization as France," said the French boy, with the air of one enunciating an incontrovertible truth. " Herve ! " flamed up patriotic Elsie. " Pardon, Meess Elsi, if you do not like to hear the fact stated ; but I thought that all the world granted, without question, that the civilization of France preceded that of all the rest of Europe." " I am sure we are more civilized ! We are a free nation ! " " So are we. We chose our Emperor by universal suffrage," said Herve, his placid ugly face presenting a curious contrast to Elsie's eagerness. " Herve, my friend," said his mother, gently, " respect the insular prejudices of our guest." " Certainly, my mother," said Herve sweetly. " Pardon me, Meess Elsi, I did not mean to make you angry. I thought you knew that France was the foremost country in the world ; but of course one is blind to the faults of the land one loves ! " 92 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Herve meant this to be a peace-offering, but Elsie found it hard to take it in this way. How- ever, she swallowed down her wrath as she best could, for it was evident that both Madame Regnier and her son looked at her patriotism as unreason- able insular self-assertion. When Sunday came, Elsie had a change of life. She breakfasted with the Regniers, and then she went downstairs to the Dulauriers' apartments. M. Dulaurier gave his children a Bible-lesson after breakfast, which Elsie shared with them ; and then they had an interval before going to the Protestant chapel where M. Dulaurier preached. On the first Sunday of Elsie's French life she was terri- bly shocked by seeing Lilie and Ninie filling up this interval with fancy-work ; for she had a firm belief that Sunday was desecrated by the use of a needle, though not by any other implement. How- ever, as they certainly observed it in other respects, she came after a time to put this down as " native manners and customs." Her first idea of the Protestant service was certainly that, as Ralph had gathered from Bruno, it was "jolly dull ;" but as she came to understand vii.] FRENCH SCHOOLROOM LIFE. 93 French better, she used to find herself listening with interest that surprised herself to M. Dulaurier, as he stood in his Jack-in-the-box-like pulpit against the wall and delivered his discourse ; his plain Swiss face illuminated with eloquence, and his eyes looking as if they saw something beyond the congregation and the bare walls of the chapel, and took in the great realities which are not bounded by space or time. You might differ from M. Dulaurier, but you could not help respecting him, and believing that he had a tenable ground for his convictions ; and little Elsie listened and learnt, and found wholesome food for her little soul in his words. In the afternoon she went with Madame Dulaurier to the Sunday-school, an imported insti- tution, bearing a strong resemblance to an English one, except in the quaint caps and pinafores of the little French children, who sang " There is a happy land," and such-like hymns in French to their English tunes. Then they all had a walk in the Bois, and a pleasant homely evening ended with singing. Elsie wrote home to say that Sundays were really "quite jolly." Of the little Dulaurier girls, she liked Lilie the 94 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. vii. best. Lille was a very delicate child, rather over- worked with lessons, and not good for active play at any time ; but she was a good little thing, though rather stupid, and was never cross. Her sister, on the contrary, though full of life and spirits, was of a very uncertain temper, and would sometimes sulk for a whole afternoon, when no one knew what had displeased her. Ninie's chief passion was for skipping, and she used to make Lilie and Elsie hold the rope for half-an-hour together while she whisked over it and under it like a fairy. She taught Elsie to skip, though with far less agility than herself, and mortified her by declaring satirically that she was " truly Madame John Bull, a great English cow ! " However, Elsie managed to please those who had to do with her, for both Madame Regnier and Madame Dulaurier wrote to the Doctor and told him that his grandchild was " line petite fille tres douce et tres gentille" and that she looked ex- tremely well and happy in her Paris life. CHAPTER VIII. MADAME TREGUIRE'S SOIREE. " Upon etiquette relying, Unto usage nought denying, Blush not even, never fear. " Clough. LITTLE Elsie had a very quiet and monotonous life as Madame Regnier's pupil, and she was highly delighted when her governess told her that she had been invited to one of Madame Treguire's grand soirees, and had asked if she might bring Elsie with her. Elsie had all a child's delight in novelty, and she was very curious to see what a French grown-up party was like. She was an observant and intelligent little thing, and had no self-conscious thoughts about her own looks to trouble her enjoy- ment. Once certain that her hair was smooth, and her locket-ribbon properly tied, Elsie had no more care for her personal appearance. Madame Treguire's soirees were considered the 96 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. great social events among her friends and acquaint- ances. She was the leader of a most respectable circle, in which, in virtue of her Protestantism, the Dulauriers were included, though they went but little into general society. In this respect she was exclusive. She would not admit her brother Horace's boon companions into it — it was the only point on which she made a firm stand against him. " I will have none at my soirees who cannot har- monize," she said, and she carried out her resolve. Her guests were all harmonious, and if the harmony was a little dull, that was not her fault. The white and gold salon, with its green velvet sofas, looked most imposing, blazing with lights, and thronged with people. The dresses were mostly morning ones, and the little Dulauriers, Elsie ob- served, were in their Sunday silk frocks ; Ninie looking curious and amused, Lilie virtuously prim and sickly as usual. Madame Regnier thought that Elsie was safely conversing with them while she was talking to their mother, when she beheld her charge at the other end of the room, making her way towards Bruno Noel. "It is truly remarkable," said Madame Regnier, viil] MADAME TREGUIRE'S SOIREE. 97 that though the English think so much about their children, they never instruct them at all in the manners of society ! That is a good, docile little girl, of a charming character, but she has no more idea how to behave herself in society than Pauline the bonne /" " Yes," said Madame Dulaurier ; " I was at first doubtful whether I could allow her to associate with my children after I saw her playing with boys at that rude game, le cricket. But do you find her well-instructed, madame ? " " Very well in some ways, very ill in others. Imagine, madame, they have only made her work at the needle for half-an-hour each day, and some- times not even that ! and she has never made one of her clothes ! " " Ah ! we bring up our children on a different system," said Madame Dulaurier. "My girls work for three hours every day ; Lilie can now cut out and make any article of dress, and Ninie, though less steady, is good in all matters requiring taste. I suppose you are now correcting your little pupil's deficiencies ? " " I cannot, alas, madame, as much as I would. VOL T. H 9 8 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. The Doctor Gracedew has such foolish English ideas respecting air and exercise, that I cannot, consistently with his directions, allow her to spend more than an hour each day at her needle." " The English are absolutely mad about fresh air ! They always think children must be ill unless they are allowed to play all day ! " said Madame Dulaurier, shrugging her shoulders. The little girls were listening to the conversation with great interest. Ninie wished she was a little English girl ; Lilie congratulated herself that she was not brought up on so foolish a system. She did not know that she owed her weakness and her constant languor to her mother's admirable system, conscien- tiously applied to an unresisting subject. Meanwhile, Elsie had found her way to Bruno, and had taken out a letter, received two or three days before from Ralph at Marlborough, which she was desirous to show him. Madame Regnier did not encourage her to talk about Ralph. The worthy little Erenchwoman was a little scandalized at the Doctor's imprudence in allowing the two to grow up in such absolute brother-and-sister intimacy that they kissed each other every morning and night VIII.] MADAME TREGUIRE'S SOIREE. 99 as a matter of course. Madame Regnier did not approve even of brothers and sisters having too much to do with each other ; it was an axiom with her that boys made girls rough, or else teased them. Elsie longed to talk about Ralph to some one wljo cared about him, as Bruno did. The epistle which interested them both so much ran thus : — "My Dear Elsie — " I like Marlborough very well, though I hated going away from grandpapa. The fellow I like best here is called Winterton. He is awfully tall for his. age, and high up. He collects [butter- flies understood] and he has got an uncle at Singapore who sent him one that was nine inches across. Tell Bruno that I have settled on some- thing to do when I am a man. I mean to have a yacht, and Winterton and I are to go and collect butterflies and moths all over the world, and dis- cover new species. When his country does not want anything doing to it, he can come with us. Don't you think it is an awfully jolly plan ? I got eleven runs yesterday and a catch. Winterton says I play H 2 ioo RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. awfully well for a new fellow. Don't tell anybody I said he said so : it sounds conceited, but he did. I hope you like Paris. Write to me soon. " Your affectionate brother, " R. T. " P.S. — Your aunt came to Middlebury before I came here. I don't like her. I think she's a hum- bug, and the girls are stupid, and not a bit like you. Grandpapa says I must write to mamma this term ; I wish I needn't. I don't know what to write about. Grandpapa jawed me a little about speaking disrespectfully about her. I didn't mean to be dis- respectful. But I don't mind grandpapa's jaws; he does not keep you long. " Your affectionate " R. T. " P.S. 2. — Tell Bruno I wish he would get Uncle Horace to send him to Marlborough too ; it would be so awfully jolly, instead of being at that hum- bugging French school." Here the letter ended, space and material having apparently come to an end together. Bruno having v 1 1 1 . J MA DA ME TREG UIRE 'S SOIRAE. i o i finished his perusal of it, returned it to Elsie, who said, " What do you think of his plan ? " Bruno smiled a little compassionately. " I do not think he will ever be a great man, that way, made- moiselle." " Don't you ? I should so like Ralph to be a great man," said Elsie, in a rather disappointed tone. " Then he will have to take for his object something better than his papillons':' " Perhaps he might be a missionary, and preach to the savages as well as catching the butterflies." " A missionary ! " said the French boy with a somewhat sarcastic intonation. " With a net for catching butterflies in one hand, and a Bible in the other ? I saw an English missionary at M. Dulaurier's once, mademoiselle ; he wanted us all to buy Bibles, and gave me the Epistle to the Romans in a pretty little paper book, which my father said was exactly the right thing for rolling cigarettes ; so I gave it to him. I hope you do not want Ralph to go about selling Bibles ! " " No, I don't," said the little English girl sturdily ; " but I dare say the missionary would have done you good if you had read the Bible. 1 102 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. think French people are not nearly as good as English people ; why, I counted the people the other day at M. Dulaurier's chapel, and there were only six men there altogether ; and Madame Regnier says it is just the same in her church ; only the women come to church at all." " You see," said Bruno, " it is not the way of the nation. Frenchmen are rarely pious. I go to M. Dulaurier's chapel now and then to please my aunt, who likes me to accompany her. ' Soon I shall leave off." " Grandpapa never misses going to church twice on Sunday, and sometimes in the week, too," said Elsie proudly. " Ah ! he is English and we are French, you see," said Bruno, as though the question of nationality were decisive. " And though, no doubt, our nation is superior to yours on the whole " "It isn't ! Who beat you at Waterloo ? " " Not the English, mademoiselle ! " " Bruno ! " said Elsie, with a little gasp. " I know the English were deluded into think- ing so, but it is a mere delusion," said Bruno calmly. " However, mademoiselle, there are, no doubt, some vin.] MADAME TREGUIRE'S SOTREE. 103 things — I except les cJioscs militaires — in which you surpass us. Possibly church-going is one. We will yield you the palm there, at least." " Well, I'm not ashamed of it," said Elsie ; and feeling slightly offended, she moved off to Madame Regnier, who told her in a low voice that she must not leave her side again, and placed her in a sofa corner, while she herself went on chatting with an acquaintance. Elsie found it rather dull, and was fain to amuse herself with observing her neighbours. First came a yellow lady and a brown lady ; the brown lady assisted Madame Dulaurier in the Sunday-school, and the yellow lady was complimenting her upon her charitable deeds. "You must have much of the love of religion, mademoiselle, to devote yourself thus ! " " Of the love of souls, mademoiselle ! " mildly cor- rected the brown lady, bowing and smiling. They passed on, and were succeeded by two other ladies : a certain young Madame Andre and an old Mademoiselle Menier, who were both members of M. Dulaurier's flock. "Yes, madame," said the one with vehement gesticulation and play of features, " I assure you 104 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. it is causing the greatest possible scandal. The behaviour of Madame Dulaurier is not that which becomes a pastor's wife. I see that she has now advised herself to let her hair grow to a proper length ; but if you will believe it, she wore it at one time cropped short like a boy's ! just as the Comtesse de L. did when she appeared at the Emperor's ball, attired as Mary Stuart's page. And we know very well what the Comtesse de L. is ; I have heard about her from my dressmaker." " Ah ! mademoiselle, it is indeed sad to see the world making such inroads upon the Church ! A pastor's wife ought to be a model to all the other young women in the place ; but only see the style in which Madame Dulaurier dresses her daughters ! Silk dresses, and lace which must have cost ten francs a yard — real Brussels ! " " And she cannot teach them to behave properly in church, either ! That little one actually be- gan to laugh when my book fell down on the floor in the midst of the prayer ! " " Sad, sad ! What will she grow up like ! " " A scandal to the Church, madame ! " Elsie began to feel very hot and uncomfortable at viil] MADAME TREGU/RE'S SOIREE. 105 having her friend abused ; and as she was a loyal little girl, she did not like to sit there without bearing testimony in her favour. She looked up with crim- son cheeks and great shy brown eyes, and said in the best French she could master for the occasion, " Pardon, madame, but I heard what you said, and indeed it is not true. The lace on Lilie's and Ninie's frocks belonged to their great-grandmother, and Madame Dulaurier's hair had to be cut short because she had a fever, and she scolded Ninie for laughing, and " Many thanks for your information, made- moiselle," said one of the ladies ; and they looked at one another and laughed. Elsie felt very hot and very small, and shrank back into herself. The ladies talked lower, but looked at her as they did so ; and she was aware that she herself was coming under the lash of their criticism. Her white muslin frock, made high to the throat, with a blue sash and blue neck-ribbon, would have disarmed criticism in England by its simplicity ; but it was pronounced by Elsie's critics very indecorous to expose the shoulders through the thin material ; and then those tails of ribbon, just as if she wished some one to io6 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. catch her by them ! Elsie stood this fire for some time, but at last she touched Madame Regnier, and asked piteously to be allowed to go upstairs to sit with Herve. Madame Regnier thought that she found the room too warm, and consented ; and Elsie, much relieved, made her way up the dark staircase to the pleasant little room where Herve was sitting under the lamp with a book. " They talked about Madame Dulaurier and my tails of ribbon ! " she said indignantly. " They said such things! If they had learnt their Catechism, they would know they had to keep their tongues from evil-speaking, lying and slandering," said Elsie, relapsing into English in her wrath. " The world is wicked, Meess Elsi. All we can do is not to join in its evil ways," said Herve. " Herve, when you are bigger do you mean to give up going to church ? " said Elsie, abruptly. " No," said Herve, very decidedly, and a light came into his eyes which positively illumined his ugly face. " Do you not know, Meess Elsie ? I am to be a priest." "A priest?" said Elsie in wonder, and in some disappointment. " A Roman Catholic priest ? " vill.] MAD A ME TRRG UIRE 'S SOIREE. 1 07 " Catholic, of course." " But then," said Elsie, " you will never be able to marry, or have any little boys and girls. Now, if you were a Protestant you could." " Then I should not be a Catholic priest, Meess Elsi. It is much nobler to devote oneself wholly to the service of God than to be half one thing and half the other, like the worthy ministers of Protestantism." " But what will you have to care about then ? " said Elsie. " My work," said Herve. " Do you know what I should like, Meess Elsi ? I should like to go to preach in China or in Japan, and there to gain the crown of martyrdom, if such an honour were permitted to me." " But there are no martyrs now," said Elsie. " Yes, in our Church. The world scoffs at such things, I know ; once when I first went to school, and we had to write a theme upon glory, I wrote that the most illustrious glory was the glory of the martyr; and the boys, without my knowledge, pinned a paper to my coat, on which was written ' Saintc Hervee, Vierge-Martyre! '" 108 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Elsie burst out laughing, but Herve only smiled with a benign sort of regret for his companions' folly. " Were you angry ? " said the girl. " A little. It is not easy always to restrain the impulses of the flesh, especially when they all surrounded me and cried ' Sainte Hervee, priez pour nous ! ' and especially when some began to prick me with pins, which I did not like. But at that moment the master perceived what they were doing, and would have punished them, but that I thought it would be the best joke to turn the tables upon them, and begged that nothing might be done. Thus I was able to laugh at them in return, and to say : ' Eh bien, messieurs, fai prie pour vous ! ' " "That was good of you, Herve!" " It was my little joke, mademoiselle, and it served well ; for, after that, when any of them called me Sainte Hervee, Bruno Noel took my part ; and as he is stronger and bigger than any boy of his age in the class, they respect him. But after another year I am to go to the seminary, where 1 hope there will be more religion than there is at our school." viii.] MADAME TREGUIRE'S SOIREE* 109 " I don't think," said Elsie musingly, " that I should mind being a martyr so much, if they would only kill me without torturing me." Herve laughed. "You could not be a martyr if you tried, Meess Elsi. You are not a Catholic." " We have had martyrs, too — lots of them ! " said Elsie. " You cannot be a martyr without the right religion. Your religion was founded by a wicked king, who had six wives all at one time, Meess Elsi!" Poor Elsie was so dumbfoundered by this accusa- tion that she forgot to dispute the accuracy of its historical statement ; and when Madame Regnier came upstairs she found the two deep in ecclesi- astical polemics, upon which she sent the young controversialists both to bed, there to forget their controversies in healthful sleep. CHAPTER IX. THE DOCTOR'S INVITATION. " This world's no blot for us, Nor blank: it means intensely, and means good ; To find its meaning is my meat and drink." Browning. " The English demoiselle has need to speak to you, madame," said Pauline the bonne in her high- pitched voice, some four years after Elsie's first introduction to Paris. " Bring her in here, then," said Madame Treguire, who was sitting in her boudoir-bedroom at work, while Bruno, seated at a tall secretary, was busy with an algebraic problem. Elizabeth Gracedevv at sixteen was much what Elizabeth Gracedew had been at twelve. She was taller and more womanly; but she was still a bright, sweet simple child, and no Parisian airs could ever be brought to sit upon that frank open forehead chap, ix.] THE DOCTOR'S INVITATION. in and merry mouth. She was one of the straight- forward English girls who puzzle Frenchmen with their absence of coquetry, or of personal feeling in their intercourse with young men ; and Elsie be- haved to Bruno Noel, or Herve Regnier, or even that worthy, but dull youth, Leon Dulaurier, very much as though she were a boy herself: without coyness or shyness, but with a sort of freemasonry of friendliness which called for belief and trust. " Good morning, madame," said the girl, looking with her frank candid eyes into Madame Treguire's face. " Good morning, Bruno, I have brought a note from grandpapa for you, and ever so many messages from Ralph to enforce it. Now, you will come, won't you, this time ? We shall have such fun at Brynscombe ! " The letter — written in fairly grammatical, but stiff French, with imperfects in ois instead of ais, looking as if the writer possessed more acquaint- ance with Pascal and Moliere than with Hugo or Balzac — contained an invitation from the Doctor to Madame Treguire to spend the holidays at Brynscombe, and to bring Bruno with her. True to his belief that mother and son ought to see ii2 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. each other from time to time, he had made several endeavours to get Madame Treguire and Bruno to visit him at Middlebury ; he did not like Horace Noel's manner of life sufficiently to care to throw Ralph in his way by sending him again to Paris ; but as yet he had never succeeded. One summer, Madame Treguire did not wish to disturb Bruno's studies, as he was trying for a prize ; the next she had promised to spend with friends at Fontaine- bleau ; and even now, if it had not so happened that Bruno was in the room, some other excuse might have been found for declining the invitation. Bruno, however, sprang up from his work and knelt down by Madame Treguire's side to read the letter, while Elsie said : " We have never spent the holi- days at Brynscombe yet ; grandpapa has promised it before, but there has always been something to prevent it. Last year they were putting a new roof on the house, and the year before there was scarlet fever in the village ; but this year there is nothing to prevent it, and it will be so delightful ! Madame, you must come ! " "O mamma, you will say yes?" said Bruno, eagerly. " It is what I should like above all things, IX.] THE DOCTOR'S INVITATION. 113 and there can be nothing against it ? Say yes then, mamma ! " It was not easy to refuse anything to that bright- faced lad, with his eager imploring eyes ; but Madame Treguire only said doubtfully, " There are many things to be considered, Bruno. I will talk to Horace about it. Thank you, mademoiselle, for your goodness in bringing me the letter." " I am so glad, at least, that you are on our side,' said Elsie to Bruno. " Ralph will like so much to see you again ; he always makes me tell him all about you when I go home. I am sure you will persuade Madame Treguire to come. Good-bye ! " " Now, mamma, tell me what objection you can have," said Bruno playfully. " See, I have never travelled ; it would be a great advantage to me ; besides which I am half English, and I ought to visit the country of my mother." Madame Treguire looked as if she were going to say something, but did not. After a little pause she said, " Your father may wish for your society in the holidays." "Now, mamma, pardon me, but is that likely? When does he take any notice of my existence vol 1. 1 H4 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. whatever, unless it is to give me a ticket for the play when he does not know what else to do with it ? If he took me about with him as M. Dulaurier did Leon when he was my age there might be something in what you say ; but as it is, he would be quite as happy without me. And you never encourage my going with him on the rare occasions when he suggests it." " No ; I do not think his companions are suitable for a young boy." " Well, mamma, I never find much pleasure in their society ; but that makes my case all the stronger. You cannot have any reason for refusing this ; and you will see Ralph. Why do you hesitate so much ? " " Well, we will see," said Madame Treguire ; " go back to your work now, my boy." Horace Noel happened just then to be at home. She took the letter and went over into his room ; he was lying on the sofa smoking. " What has happened, my little sister ? " he said, with an amused look at her face. " You have a disturbed air." " I do not know what to do. The little Gracedew ix.] THE DOCTOR'S INVITATION. 115 has brought an invitation from Ralph's guardian desiring me to bring Bruno and spend the holidays at Brynscombe. Bruno was there ; he is wild to go." " Go then, by all means." " I do not wish to go. Cannot you imagine some excuse ? Should I send Bruno without me ?" " The worthy Doctor will not imagine your ma- ternal feelings very strong." " I do not care." " You had better care, my sister. You must guard against making people think that you are indifferent to that boy. Come, it is needful to make a small sacrifice. Will not the sight of Bruno's pleasure repay you ? " he added with his ironical smile. "You never feel for me at all, Horace!" said Madame Treguire with angry tears in her eyes. " I do not feel that you are greatly to be pitied for having to spend a month or so in a beautiful chateau by the sea in the summer season, Eugenie. It will be excellent for your health, my friend ; and in fact I think it is absolutely necessary that you should go. I need say no more." He looked at her meaningly, and she bit her lip and turned away. A passionate woman is no match for u6 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. an even-tempered man ; and it was not the first time that Horace Noel had coerced his sister into doing what she was unwilling to do by the mere force of his will. She wrote to Dr. Gracedew that day, accepting his invitation in terms of no extraordinary gratitude. Perhaps she thought that Bruno's delight was enough for both. Meanwhile Elsie had made her way into the garden, where the two Dulaurier girls were spending their hour of recreation, while their mother sat at the win- dow to watch them. Lilie was hardly altered from what she had been before, except that a more con- firmed air of ill-health rested upon her stooping figure and sallow face ; but Ninie had blossomed out into the full beauty of quinze ans, the very prettiest age for a French girl, as often the plainest for an English one. And a very lovely creature the pastor's little daughter had become. Ninie was not very tall, but lithe and slender, with the daintiest possible figure, and that exquisite sort of complexion which the French poem describes as pale et ponrtant rose ; eyes of dark dewy brightness edged with long curling lashes, marked slender eyebrows, silky hair, i x. ] THE DOCTOR'S IN VITA TION. 1 1 7 and a dainty way of moving and speaking, which of all girlish attractions is the most irresistible. Elsie, who had an eye for beauty, admired her little friend with a girl's undisguised admiration ; and Ninie was quite ready to accept admiration from Elsie and Lilie when she could not get it else- where. Certainly Ninie's beauty went a long way in excusing various deficiencies in her character that might otherwise have appeared more clearly than they did. Poor little Ninie ! She was fifteen, and she had all the world before her ; and it was such a pretty tempting world, and she had such a lovely little face to attract it, and such intense enjoyment of admira- tion and social pleasure. Perhaps it was hard upon her that she was born the daughter of a Protestant pastor, and yet within sight of all the frivolities of Paris. She could not walk with her mother in the Champs Elysees, or stroll with her father into the Bois, without a feeling of intense envy of the smart ladies who rolled by in their smart carriages, and a longing to share their brilliant and joyous lot. (Poor things, it was often far from being as enviable as innocent Ninie Dulaurier thought it ! ) A soiree u8 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. at Madame Treguire's was the greatest festivity, a gathering of Sunday schools the gayest occasion of Ninie's experience. Concerts, and still more dances, were considered by the pastor to be frivolous snares for attracting young souls from the right path ; and even if any one had proved to him the innocence of any especial amusement, there was to him an unanswerable objection behind : it would "scandalize the congregation." So that Ninie had few congenial girlish amusements such as might possibly have called her thoughts off herself; and that self occupied a very large portion of the available space of her little heart. If the pastor's slippers were put out for him when he came in after a long fatiguing tramp about the streets of Paris ; if the glass and silver were clear and bright for meals, and the flowers in the window watered and shaded, it was not Ninie who had to do with these things. It was poor sickly stupid Lilie, who, with much less mother wit than her sister, no health, no beauty, and a very humble opinion of herself, managed to oil the family wheels and to make everything run smoothly and without friction. On this occasion Elsie came to her friends full ix.] THE DOCTOR'S INVITATION. 119 of her own anticipations. Lilie listened and sympa- thized ; Ninie said nothing, but her pretty lips went out in a pout, and her dark eyes filled with tears. At last she threw down her work in a pet. "What is the matter, my sister? Are you ill ? " said Lilie. " No ! but it is really too bad. Here is Elsie with holidays every year, going about and enjoying her- self: and now she is going to spend the summer in a beautiful chateau by the sea, while we have to stay here all through the summer, and never go away at all. I hate it ; it provokes me ! " and Ninie stamped her pretty foot on the ground. " Let us be contented, my sister," said Lilie ; " we have many blessings to be thankful for." "Yes, I dare say. You are always preaching about being contented. She is always preaching, is she not, Elsie ?" " Why shouldn't she, if she likes ? " said the English girl, who was apt to stand up for Lilie. " I don't like it ; and I won't be contented be- cause she says I ought to be ! " " Very well, my sister," said Lilie, without the least vexation ; " then we will change the subject i2o RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. What a fine crop of gourds Madame Treguire will have this year, v/ill she not ? What large leaves hey have ! " Ninie and Elsie both laughed, and Ninie's little ebullition of temper passed off. Lilie did not mind being laughed at, though she was often at a loss to understand what she had said to call out her com- panions' amusement ; but she was too svveet-natured to resent anything personal to herself. That same evening Herve Regnier had leave from the master of the Jesuit seminary, which he now at- tended, to visit his mother ; and as he walked up the Boulevard he came across Bruno Noel. These two lads were still glad to get a little of one another's- company, though the different influences at work upon them were making their minds diverge more than either at present suspected. Regnier was the good boy of the Jesuit seminary ; not so clever as many of his companions, but good and conscientious, with more reality and less sentiment about his goodness than was common in the hotbed system under which he was educated. He was rather priggish, perhaps ; but then Bruno had the same tendency in these days. Bruno had it in him to be the most popular boy in ix.] THE DOCTOR'S INVITATION. 121 the school, if he had chosen ; but whether it was from the touch of priggishness in him, or from the fact that he could find no sympathy for the visions which filled his mind among his somewhat commonplace companions, he led a rather isolated life, and had never found any friend to replace Regnier. " Regnier, do you know that I am going to England for the holidays ? " " Indeed ? " "Yes ; to my cousin Ralph's chateau with mamma. Will it not be charming ? " " No doubt it will. You will turn into an English- man under its attractions, mon cher" said Regnier, a little wistfully. He still felt a little pang of jealousy respecting Noel's English cousin. " Never, Regnier," said Bruno. " I glory in my birthright as a Frenchman. France leads the van of the civilization of the world, and nothing could make me wish to forsake her." Regnier had little sense of humour, and it never occurred to him to smile at his friend's patriotic grandiloquence. " Yes, we are both of us happy in being born Frenchmen," he said ; " but I wish, Noel, you knew 122 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. ix. as I do what it is to be the member of a greater organization than that of France — the Catholic Church." " Pardon, Regnier, but you really do bore me a little when you try to convert me. Let us drop that subject and talk of something else." Herve obediently did as he was told, though his conscience smote him all the evening for striking his colours. But when Bruno refused to listen to his moral exhortations, what other course could he take ? CHAPTER X. BRYNSCOMBE. " Beside the river's wooded reach, The fortress and the mountain ridge, The cataract flashing from the bridge, The breaker breaking on the beach." In Memoriam. " We must call you Mrs. Treguire now, not Madame, must we not ? You are an Englishwoman at your son's home." The speaker was Dr. Gracedew, and the place was the old-fashioned Brynscombe barouche, which was conveying Madame Treguire, the Doctor, Bruno, Elsie and Ralph, from the distant railway station to Ralph's home. " I have not much to do with my son's home," said Madame Treguire shortly. Certainly she was a difficult woman to get on with. She always gave you the impression of preparing for defence. Her eyes looked you full in the face, with a 124 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. half watchful, half defiant look. You would have said that there was no tenderness in her nature if you had not seen her look at Bruno. Dr. Gracedew put her down as a remarkable instance in the human race of the brute instinct of motherhood, which makes cats and dogs, robbed of their own young, adopt into their love the young of other animals. It really was too bad of Treguire, he said to himself, to interfere with the course of such very strong maternal affec- tion as Eugenie Treguire's ; though it might have led to difficulties in Ralph's education, it was a pity to oust him from his proper place in his mother's heart. Well, it was no use thinking of that now. It was pleasanter to look at Elsie's fresh face and brown eyes, full of gay girlish enjoyment, as she looked out eagerly for the first glimpse of the sea between the green, ferny hills. " There it is ! " she cried joyously. " Ralph's house ? " said Bruno. " No, the sea." " I am sure we had enough of the sea last night," said Madame Treguire, who had not proved herself a good sailor. x.] BRYNSCOMBE. 125 "Oh," said Elsie, "but there is nothing pretty or poetical in being on the sea in a steamer ; but when you see it like this it is so different. Look, Bruno, is it not lovely ? " " Now Elsie will find somebody to join in her raptures, Bruno," said Ralph, leaning over from the box and laughing down at Elsie. " That sweet gush is a thing I never know how to respond to ; do I, Elsie ? " " No ; you are always very stupid," said Elsie, laughing back, her merry eyes full of fun. It was pleasant to see the way these two understood one another; they were always chaffing each other in a frank, family manner, but it never occurred to either to feel hurt by anything the other might choose to say. An hour's drive up and down wooded hills, and then, after a long ascent, they came to the top of one which seemed to slope straight down into the sea. Half-way down its furthest side stood a grey stone house, tinted dark with wind and rain ; a few trees stood about it, but not enough to take off the bleak appearance of the situation, and these were stunted with the sea wind. 126 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " That is Brynscombe," said Ralph, pointing to it with pride. " That ? How affreusement desolate ! And where is the village ? " said Madame Treguire. " Down below, in the valley. It does not look so dreary when you get there," said Dr. Gracedew. "Oh, grandpapa, you don't call it dreary?" said Elsie, indignantly. "A little so, from this aspect, my dear." Here the carriage turned sharp round to the left, and rolled along a fairly smooth, but rather perilous road overhanging the steep green slope, which ended some thirty feet below in a precipitous cliff. Madame Treguire grew giddy and shut her eyes. Elsie looked down delighted into the misty blue water below. They drove round the projecting hill-side, and came to the stone gateway, with the Treguire griffins upon the posts, and through this they entered a sheltered court within a high wall, with a smooth grass-plot and a sun-dial. The house looked dreary enough from this side ; there was no architectural beauty to make up for its bareness and bleakness, and most of the window blinds were down. Madame Treguire seemed to find some sort of consolation in the ugliness of the x.] BRYNSCOMBE. 127 place as she entered the hall, which was panelled with dark wood, dim and sombre, and by no means suitable to the taste of the proprietor of the white and gold salon in Boulevard N. Through the hall, however, they passed into a bright room with the sun shining into its western windows, and Ralph led the way to the window, where he drew up the blind. " There, mother, you did not think it was as pretty as that, did you ?" he said with boyish pride. And truly the scene was curiously changed. The windows did not face the sea, but looked sideways to it, so that only the end of the little bay below with its edge of wild rocks came into the landscape ; from it the ground sloped away into a wooded valley, with rich green pastures and shady woods, and a little tumbling mountain stream glittering through them on its way to the sea. On the other side, the hills rose up steeply into green crests and purple peaks, glorified by the tender mist that always floats over a west-country landscape. " Mais cest magnifiq2te ! " said Bruno, gazing as if he could never gaze enough. " What do you think of it ?" said Elsie to the French lady. "A beautiful landscape," said Madame Treguire, 128 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. in a distrait manner : she was looking at the room rather than the landscape. " Is this the only salon, Ralph ? It strikes me as small." " Oh no ; this is what they call the little drawing- room," said Ralph. " The other is not used now ; all the chairs and sofas are dressed up in sheets. But if you like to see it, here goes!" And he threw open the folding doors, and displayed a long dark room some fifty feet by thirty, full of mirrors and marble tables, and swathed furniture. " Look at the stupid place !" he said. "Who would ever sit there when there was this jolly little room to be used !" " But, Ralph, that room is quite beautiful ! Quite perfect for a large reception," said his mother. " Re- gard the mirrors, and the space ! When you marry, what reuniojis your wife will be able to give here !" " Oh, when I marry I'm sure I won't marry anybody who'll want to give parties," said the schoolboy. " I know what I'll do with it when it's mine, grandpapa : I'll turn it into a skating rink ! Wouldn't it be awful fun, Elsie ? We'd have skating going on here all the year round." All this while Bruno was looking out of the window absolutely lost in admiration. It was the first beau- x.] BRYNSCOMBE. 129 tiful scenery he had ever beheld, and it stirred the boy's susceptible heart so that he could hardly have spoken if he had tried. When Elsie had conducted Madame Treguire upstairs to her room, and the Doctor had gone out in the hall to talk to Purvis the butler, his reverie was interrupted by Ralph's hand on his shoulder, and his voice saying, " Well, old fellow, don't you think it's a jolly place on the whole ? " "Jolly? Glorious, magnificent; I never saw any- thing like it. You are a lucky fellow, Ralph." " Oh, you mean because it's mine ? I was only think- ing of it as a place to spend the holidays in. But it is very jolly to think it's one's own, too, though I don't like to say that, because it sounds as if a fellow was bragging." " I don't suppose you are given to bragging," said Bruno, looking at his cousin's bright, honest face, and smiling. " No ; I'm too wise. When first I went to Marl- borough I remember I said something idiotic, and made rather an ass of myself, and Winterton pitched into me like fun for it, so I never did it again. I don't like fellows that brag, myself." K 130 RALPH AND BRUNO. [CHAP. " Bruno," said Elsie, breaking in upon the conver- sation, " Madame Treguire says, if you will go up to her she will give you your keys." Bruno found his aunt standing by the window look- ing out, as he had done, upon the view into the valley. She turned sharply round as he came in. " How would you like to own this place instead of Ralph ? " she said, looking at him keenly. " Oh, I should have no objection," said Bruno, lightly. " It is a lovely place ; — look there at the light on that purple hill. If it were only in France, instead of in England, I should have lost my heart to it altogether, mamma." " If my husband had lived, Bruno, I should have been mistress here. Now I am nobody." " Poor mamma ! But never mind ; you know I should have had no one to look after me if you had not come and lived with papa, and all your heart would have gone to Ralph, and he would have had you and his inheritance too. That would not have been fair." It was not easy to. discover the slightest symptom of envy or jealousy in Bruno's tone ; and as his mother's expression of face caught his eye, he kissed x.J BRYNSCOMBE. 13 r her with the demonstrative affection of the French boy. " Come now, mamma clear, console yourself. It would be very good if you were mistress here, as you ought to be ; but it cannot be now, and you must not let that make you unhappy. When I am a great man I will buy a house and estate in France, even more beautiful than this, and you shall be mistress there. At present let us enjoy ourselves." That was the beginning of a month to which Ralph, Bruno, and Elsie looked back with delight for the rest of their lives. The weather favoured them : it was gloriously bright and warm, and day followed day in perfect enjoyment to these young folks. They were old enough to feel that they were happy, and young enough to be perfectly unconscious and care- less of the future. Long expeditions on shore - and hills — whortleberry and blackberry-picking, trout- fishing in the noisy little stream, or lazily rowing about the quiet blue bay to pick up the fish-lines which had been set over-night, and to find upon them all sorts of sea-treasures floated up from the other side of the world, more interesting than the eatable spoil which was their original object — all these were marvellously K 2 132 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. charming to these children, who had not yet quite left their childhood behind them. Ralph and Elsie were at all times happy in each other's company ; but Bruno was a novel element of pleasure to them. He entered into their pursuits with more zest than either ; he left his French schoolboy priggishness behind him, and turned into a natural, merry lad, vivacious and original, and highly entertaining to his companions. He learnt to use his arms and legs in rowing and climbing, was chivalrously respectful, and always anxious to assist Elsie, who was quite as good a climber as he was, and kept up a perpetual merriment among them by his amusing remarks and his boyish wit. He was much the cleverest of the three, and Ralph and Elsie en- joyed his company very much, and expressed their wonder to each other that a French boy should be so jolly and so easy to get on with. Certainly, he was the life and soul of the party in these days. There was one thing, however, which Bruno could not endure. This was the Sunday morning service at Brynscombe Church, which the Doctor told him plainly that he expected him to attend with them. If Madame Treguire had a headache on Sunday morn- ings, that was her affair. Bruno could plead no such x.] BRYNSCOMBE. 13: excuse. Accordingly every Sunday morning he found himself accompanying Ralph, Elsie, and the Doctor to the little stuffy, old-fashioned church, where the service was conducted by a mumbling old rector of seventy-five, and a sharp-voiced clerk who spoke the broadest West-country dialect, according to the most approved style in vogue sixty years before. On the second Sunday, after witnessing this per- formance for two weary hours of a sunny August day, Bruno could restrain himself no longer, and when he came out of church said, "Pardon me, monsieur, but will you tell me what is the good of our undergoing this infliction ? What is there edifying in your church service ? Why should you not wor- ship in the temple of Nature rather ?" " Poor Bruno ! I am afraid it is something of an infliction for you," said the Doctor, smiling. " I should not care so much if you made me read a sermon, or listen to prayers in the house," said Bruno ; " but to sit for hours in that hot, close church, which you have to reach by walking a mile and a half in the hot sun ! — " " That is trying in this weather, no doubt," said the Doctor ; " but though we might get our devotions 134 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. without these hardships, I do not think we should get the lesson of brotherhood which our public worship teaches us." " Brotherhood ? La fraternite?" said Bruno, with quick interest and questioning in his voice. "Yes. I don't like the word 'fraternity' in English ; it is not true English, and it sounds clap-trap. But to me our weekly public worship is a weekly avowal of the fact of our brotherhood with those whom in our present state of civilization we meet on no other ground. The poor, for instance, and those whom we do not come across in ordinary social intercourse." " But in France we meet them on other ground — on the ground of politics, of international assist- ance, of the solidarity of humanity," said Bruno. Ralph looked at Elsie, and gasped at this some- what ostentatiously ; but Bruno was too eager to heed. "But you build without a foundation if you act upon the principle of brotherhood without demon- strating the link that makes men brothers — their common Father and their common home," said the Doctor gravely. x ] BR YNSCOMBE. 1 35 Bruno knit his brows to consider this remark, but he was interrupted by Ralph : " There, now you have done enough philosophizing for the pre- sent, Bruno. I never knew such a fellow as you. Leave the solidarity of international politics alone, and come round with me by Barnes Wood, to see if any of those Painted Ladies are about to-day. I saw such a beauty yesterday, but I could not catch it." " All right," said Bruno ; and the two lads went off together after their butterflies, leaving Dr. Grace- dew to ponder over the precociously active mind of the French boy, and to wonder what his future would be. The days went on, with gay merriment and fun and now and then touches of deeper thought, which Bruno seemed to find congenial to his mind, and which brought from him ideas and sayings which showed the Doctor that, young as he was, he had already begun to think. But all things must draw to an end, and so did these pleasant holidays. The English and French schools, which the two boys attended, severally claimed their prey. Ralph endured the prospect with fair equanimity, because he was 136 RALPH AND BRUNO. [CHAP. very happy at school, and Bruno because he was eager about a certain prize which was to be given in the following winter, and which he meant to win. But still they counted with lingering affection these last days of the holidays, even though the weather was unkind enough to break up before they turned their backs upon Brynscombe. Madame Treguire, though she had not been an acquisition to the society of the Gracedews, had proved herself very harmless. She had held aloof from all the expeditions which the others had taken, saying that she preferred to stroll about the park by herself. She did not look well or happy ; but she refused all the Doctor's kindly-meant offers to prescribe for her headaches, and shut herself up a good deal in her own room when the others were noisily merry downstairs. She made no advances towards intimacy with Ralph ; in fact, she took very little notice of the boy, who did not break his heart, being always ill at ease when he had to talk to his mother. The natural relation be- tween them, once broken, did not seem inclined to right itself by artificial means. The day before they were to leave Brynscombe it x.] BRYNSCOMBE. 137 had been arranged that all the party should go for a sailing excursion to Warden Island, a little rocky- point of land about six miles off. However, when the clay came the weather looked so uncertain that Dr. Gracedew, who was careful of his little grand- daughter, decided that Elsie must stay at home. It would do the boys no harm if they got wet through with rain or sea-water, but a girl was more precious stuff. " You pay the penalty of your worth, little woman : — " Her 'prentice han' she tried on man, And then she made the lasses, O ! " laughed the Doctor, by way of comforting poor Elsie, who looked rather sad at the prospect of spending this last day alone with Madame Treguire, whom she was somewhat afraid of still. Poor child, the dreariness of this day surpassed all her expectations. She never found Madame Treguire very easy to get on with ; she sat with her work in the drawing-room, and tried to make talk virtuously without evoking much response. Madame Treguire thought "la petite Gracedew" brusque, English and uninteresting, and was at times most unnecessarily alarmed lest her friendly i 3 8 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. "bonne camaraderie" should attract Bruno to fall in love with her when she was a little older. After various attempts at conversation, poor Elsie was so snubbed that she took refuge in David Copperfield. Towards noon the wind began to rise, notwith- standing that Dr. Gracedew had been assured that the weather would be fine, and in the afternoon it blew a gale. Elsie began to look anxious, found Dickens insufficient to occupy her thoughts, and remained standing in that corner of the drawing- room window from which she could see the water with its white breakers. Old Purvis, the butler, came in with considerable perturbation in his coun- tenance, and pronounced that it was right down dangerous for any boat to be out in such a wind on such a coast, and what could Dr. Gracedew have been at to let master Ralph go? Elsie, with a white face, pronounced vehement assurances that she knew they were all right ; but as soon as Purvis had gone, she hid her face in her hands and began to cry silently. She hoped that Madame Treguire did not know of the danger : but her hopes were ill-founded. Before she knew that the Frenchwoman x.] BRYNSCOMBE. 139 was in the room, she felt her shoulder gript with a fierce grasp, and she looked up. " Are they in danger ? " said Madame Treguire fiercely. " 1 don't know," said Elsie in a low voice. " You do, little menteuse ! You know they are : and I wish to know what right your grandfather had to take my boy away from me ? " " Grandpapa loves Ralph as much as you do. He would not take him into needless danger if he could help it," said Elsie in indignation, shaking herself free of the gripping hand. " Ralph ! " said Madame Treguire in a tone that Elsie could not understand. It was a low utterance of the name, but to Elsie it sounded rather like sarcasm than anguish. But then Elsie never could understand Madame Treguire : the simple English maiden had so little in common with the complex- natured Frenchwoman. However, it was plain even to Elsie that Madame Treguire was in a violent passion of anger and terror combined, and hardly knew what she said. Perhaps, she thought afterwards, Madame Treguire was jea- lous because she was so much with Ralph, and so 140 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. much more to him than his mother was. She tried to soothe her in a sensible and commonplace way. " Old Sam is very careful : they are sure to have put ashore somewhere before the gale grew so bad. Indeed, madame, I am sure they are safe," she added in a faltering tone ; for, brave as her words were, Elsie was thoroughly alarmed herself. Madame Treguire only said "Petite sotte!" and continued to walk up and down the room. Then she opened the folding doors of the long saloon, and shut them after her. Elsie heard her walking up and down within, but did not like to intrude upon her grief. If she had, she would have thought that terror had driven the woman out of her mind ; for Eugenie was walking from one piece of furniture to the other, uncovering corners to gloat her eyes upon the rich upholstery which somehow seemed to appeal to her heart in a way incomprehensible to most people, and muttering to herself in whispers the while. Eugenie Treguire was a passionate woman, and a strong emotion made control almost impossible to her. The hours passed on heavily enough — more heavily to Madame Treguire, perhaps, than to x.] BRYNSCOMBE. 141 Elsie, who went up to her own room and said her innocent girlish prayers for the safety of those she loved, and found comfort there for herself. But at last, when it was getting dusk, and the wind was blowing great guns, and all the air seemed to be one great noise of storm and tempest, wheels drove up into the walled court. Elsie rushed downstairs in wild suspense, opened the door before Purvis could reach it, and rushed upon her grandfather, who composedly descended from the carriage, followed by Ralph and Bruno, full of spirits and very hungry. " I hope you have got some dinner ready for us, Elsie," said Ralph. " I hope you have not been frightened, my dear," said Dr. Gracedew at the same moment. " O grandpapa ! " said Elsie, with difficulty restraining a hysterical burst of tears, "we have been so frightened all day ! " "Poor little thing!" said her grandfather patting her shoulder ; " I was nowhere near a telegraph office or I would have tried to let you know. We were in rather a bad plight at one time, Elsie, for we had to take down our sail and trust to our oars, 142 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. x. and we could not make much head against the wind ; but providentially a steamer came by and took us on board, and carried us on to Ullacombe, where we got out and drove home. But the boys will tell you the rest of their adventures over their dinner." Madame Treguire did not appear at dinner : the day's excitement had given her a bad headache. Possibly three of the four there present enjoyed themselves all the more for her absence. How merry they were, and what jokes they had that evening! and how "grandpapa" enjoyed the young folks' fun ! They did not heed the howling of the storm or the wind now : they were all together, all happy in the frolicsome merriment of their youth. " We shall meet again another summer and have plenty of holidays like these, I hope," said Ralph to Bruno as they went up to bed, a little saddened with the consciousness that this was the end of the happy month. But the delight of those early days — their free, unconstrained, childish pleasure — never came back to them again. CHAPTER XL GOSSIP. " Was there no mystic virtue in the sense That joined your boyish girlish innocence ? " Clough. Madame TreguIRE, Bruno and Elsie, returned to Paris in due course of time ; the months passed quietly by, and at Christmas, as usual, Dr. Gracedew came over to Paris and fetched Elsie back aerain for her holidays. She had never spent more than six months, as yet, without a sight of home, Ralph, and grandpapa to solace her. Hitherto she had been a child, and Dr. Gracedew had had no diffi- culties in arranging les convenances for her; but this winter it suddenly flashed upon him that Elsie was growing up. She was just upon seventeen, emerging from girlhood into maidenhood ; and though she was simple, and even childish in some things, she 144 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. was a tall girl, and looked more like a woman than a child. Somehow, by some fatality, too, this winter was a very gay one in Middlebury. Sometimes there had been hardly any winter gaieties beyond a few state dinner parties, and one or two Christmas trees ; but this year the whole neighbourhood seemed to blos- som into hospitality. Then there was a ball given by the officers of the garrison. Middlebury had of late become a garrison town ; and Ralph, who hated dancing, or thought he did, declared he would not go unless Dr. Gracedew would let Elsie come too to dance with him. Elsie was only too delighted at the thought ; and as her aunt, Mrs. John Gracedew, was going to chaperon her own daughters, it seemed natural that she should be asked to chaperon her niece as well. Accordingly, Miss Elizabeth Grace- dew made her debut in white tarlatan, with a little spray of pink roses in her brown hair ; and though her features were not regular — (her aunt said she was "positively ugly, my dear, with her turned-up nose and her wide mouth ") — yet every one else said afterwards that she looked " the nicest girl there." The dancing brown eyes, the pure, fresh complexion, xi.] GOSSIP. 145 the tall, lithe girlish figure, and the eager intelli- gence of the expression more than counterbalanced the little disadvantages of which Mrs. John Grace- dew made so much ; and Elsie was engaged three or four deep all the evening. Her first ball was a decided success. The next day Mrs. John Gracedew called upon the Doctor, and asked to be shown at once into his study. She lived in a small house about five minutes' distance from Bridge Street. There had been a little coolness for two years or so between the Doctor and his daughter-in-law, because he could not see why, now that her girls had finished their education, she should not return to India to her husband. She said that her health would not stand it, and that her Brighton doctor had told her so. He said that he thought differently from the Brighton doctor, and that it was her duty at least to make the experiment. The good Doctor was perhaps a little severe on people who en- couraged invalidism to interfere with their duties. Anyhow, Mrs. John Gracedew thought him very hard upon her. But on this occasion she made up her mind that VOL. t. L 1 46 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. "somebody ought to speak;" and she spoke. She entered the study, where the Doctor was studying his microscope. He was making experiments for himself upon Pasteur's theory of germs, and both Ralph and Elsie had become surprisingly at home in the subject during these holidays. He did not look up when his daughter-in-law entered, but the rustle of her dress and her step told him plainly enough who she was, before her thin and rather strident voice sounded in his ears. " I called, Dr. Gracedew, to speak to you about our dear little Elsie." " Indeed," said the Doctor, relinquishing his microscope with a sigh. " Yes ; I thought it was only fair to you to let you know what people say." " They can hardly say much harm of the child at present," said Dr. Gracedew, smiling. " Perhaps," said his daughter-in-law, " you are not aware that last night she danced eight dances with Ralph Treguire." "Very likely. Ralph got me to let her go to the ball as a partner for him." " Well, people are beginning to talk. They say xi.] GOSSIP. 147 that you throw her in his way because you wish her to be Mrs. Treguire of Brynscombe." " Very kind of them, I am sure," said the Doctor, drily. " But, my dear Dr. Gracedew, you surely do not wish such things to be said ? Besides, if you are callous about the world's opinion yourself, you should take care for that poor motherless child's sake. You would not wish her to suffer from your eccentricity." " People can hardly visit my supposed designs upon her, I imagine," said Dr. Gracedew, a little less calmly than usual. Mrs. John Gracedew was right in saying Elsie was a motherless child, he thought to himself. This conventional nonsense might harm her as it would not harm a girl under a mother's charge. " No ; but they will say that she would not object to your views on her behalf." " Nonsense, Louisa ! " said the Doctor, now really stirred into wrath ; " the world is not so idiotic as that. A girl and boy of sixteen — why, they are just like brother and sister." " They are not brother and sister, you see," said L 2 H8 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Mrs. John Gracedew. " Of course, my dear Doctor, I know you have no views of the sort ; but it seems a pity that you should let people attribute such motives to you." " I don't care twopence what motives they attri- bute to me," said the Doctor, bluntly. " But you are sure — you do not think she has any girlish liking for the boy ? Because, if so, I will take every opportunity of contradicting the rumour." " I should be much more gratified if you would leave the child's name alone altogether," said the Doctor. " I don't want her talked about, nor notions put into her head. Besides " There he stopped, for he had never spoken to anyone at Middlebury about his special anxiety regarding Ralph, and the hereditary tendencies which he believed him to possess. " Of course, I only spoke out of consideration for you," said his daughter-in-law. " Thank you," said the Doctor, quietly. This ended the interview. But he did not return to his microscope. He sat on in his arm-chair, deep in thought. He was xi.] GOSSIP. 149 not alarmed about the probability of any love passages between Ralph and Elsie. Ralph was a mere boy still, not inclined to sentiment ; but Mrs. John Gracedew's words had brought plainly before him the need of guardianship for a young girl like Elsie, unless he wished her to "get talked about," as women say. The Doctor had never had to chaperon anyone in the course of his life. He had never had a sister nor a daughter, and he habitually thought little of Mrs. Grundy. But now that Elsie was growing up, things were changing. As Louisa Gracedew had remarked, Ralph and Elsie were not brother and sister, and both must find it out some day. Neither had discovered it yet. They had all their old memories of childhood together from the time when Ralph, a little tired, sleepy boy, had been brought into Elsie's nursery, and she had then and there stood by and seen him fed with her own bread and milk, till now, when the girl had acquiesced in giving him all the dances he asked for, to spare his boyish shyness in asking other and less familiar partners. Per- haps these two were even more demonstratively affectionate than most real brothers and sisters. ISO RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Even now they kissed naturally at meeting and parting. Some day, soon, they would have to break oft" the habit, now that Elsie was grown into a young lady. Ralph was always calling to her to share his employments, to help him in his work, to look out Greek words in his Liddell and Scott, to set his insects for him ; and Elsie was apt to insist upon his reading all her favourite stories and to criticise every stage of her water-colour drawings. Perhaps this familiar intimacy ought to end now ; perhaps, as " that woman " had sug- gested, it might be bad for Elsie's future that the world should come to talk about the matter. But how was it to be ended ? And would it be good for either that it should be ended ? It is no slight responsibility, thought the Doctor, to try to break a simple, true-hearted friendship that has grown up with people's lives, and worked itself into their very being. Neither Ralph nor Elsie had any brothers or sisters who could supply the place which each took in the other's affection. If he did this, would there not be a worse result than a heartache for both — the loss of the loving, simple confidences which are so wholesome from boy to xl] GOSS/P. 151 girl, and from girl to boy ? And yet, it was a fact that they were not brother and sister ; and circumstances, however worthy an imitation of the relationship they might produce, could not make them so in truth. Dr. Gracedew was not a man to settle his diffi- culties by an off-hand decision. He put them before himself as candidly as he could, and then, without deciding them one way or another, he put on his great-coat and hat and went off to visit his patients. He came back to luncheon to find Ralph and Elsie, full of fun and merriment, recalling the events of the night before. They were both easily amused, certainly ; but both the girl and the boy might be pardoned for making a good deal of their first ball. When the Doctor came in, they poured it all out into his ear, one capping the other with anecdotes and remarks. They had not seen him before that morning, as Elsie had slept until eleven, and Ralph until twelve. " And what sort of a partner did Ralph make, Elsie ? " said the Doctor. " Oh, he could dance with me very nicely," said 152 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Elsie, " because he was humble enough to let me guide him — weren't you, Ralph ? But when he was dancing with that big Miss Robinson, grand- papa " and both of them looked at each other and laughed. " What happened then ? " " She was too much for me," said Ralph, " and I couldn't guide her ; and Captain Dene came whirling up against us, and knocked us both down. Only, happily, we were close by the chairs, and so she only subsided on to one ; and, as Artemus Ward says, ' the ground riz up and struck me.' So, after that, I went to Elsie and put my name down on her card for all the round dances that she was not engaged for ; and we did very well like that, didn't we, Elsie ? " " I should think it was hardly fair upon Elsie's other partners," said the Doctor, laughing. " Oh, it was much nicer dancing with Ralph," said Elsie, " because I had not any conversation to think of. I don't know how many people I told that I was not really out, but was going back to Paris on the 20th ; and then they talked non- sense, when I said I should not be at the Bracken- xi.] GOSSIP. 153 ford ball at Easter. And then, you know, grand- papa, I did not exactly know what to say, because I thought it would not be civil to tell them that they talked rubbish, and, of course, I did not want them to think I believed them. So I thought it was very nice to get Ralph instead." " And did your cousins get plenty of dancing too, Elsie?" " Not as much as I did, grandpapa ; I never sat out one dance all the time, and they did for ever so many ; and, do you know, I did one thing that I suppose I ought not to have done — Mrs. Blagden laughed so at me ! Captain Dene came up to ask me to dance, and I was engaged to Ralph ; and I saw Laura sitting still, looking bored, so I said I was engaged, but I thought my cousin would very much like to dance, if she would do instead ! So then he said he would dance with her, if I would give him one too ; and so we danced the next Lancers together. And then, Ralph, he said he was awfully jealous of you ! " — and Elsie went into another peal of laughter. " I never heard such nonsense as those officers think it right to talk at a ball." 154 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. So far, at least, Dr. Gracedew could not help being satisfied. There was not the least shadow of consciousness between Elsie and Ralph — nothing but childish affection and innocent delight. If, what he called " nonsense " was not put into Elsie's head, no harm was done. As to the future, Dr. Gracedew had a firm belief, derived from the ex- perience of a lifetime, in the " morrow taking care for the things of itself." If there were a way by which he might do the best for his ward and his grandchild, he believed that he should be able to find it when the right time came ; and meanwhile, Elsie would be safe at Paris, and Ralph at Marl- borough. So the Doctor remained at home alone until May ; and, though he often thought over Mrs. John Gracedew's suggestion, he saw no way out of the matter. But in May a solution of the problem offered itself, on this wise. Edward Gracedew, Elsie's father, had married into a poor and proud family, by name Redmayne. Bessie Redmayne had insisted upon accepting the young doctor against the wishes of her family, and the only one of them who did not snub the xi.] GOSSIP. i ss aspirant to so lofty a height was her sister Emily, just then herself married to a young colonial em- ploye, Mr. Nevil. Mr. Nevil had risen, step by step, until he had become Governor-General of an important colony, and his wife, who had no children, had more than once offered to take charge of Bessie's little girl, if her grandfather would spare her. But Elsie being the very apple of the Doctor's eye, he had hitherto refused any such offer, as Mrs. Nevil had perhaps expected. He had resented the way in which the Redmaynes had treated his son, and he had no great desire that Elsie should fall under their influence ; but still, when in the May of this year Mrs. Nevil arrived in London, widowed and an invalid, the Doctor made a point of taking the first spare day he could find to run up to town to visit her. Her first words to him were — " Have you brought Bessie's little girl with you ? I did so want to see her ! " It was explained that Elsie was receiving her edu- cation in Paris, and Mrs. Nevil then put before the Doctor, quite humbly and very timidly, the request upon which all her hopes were set. She was going 156 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. to Switzerland for the summer, and to Italy for the winter, and would probably pass some years in a continental life for her health's sake. Would Dr. Gracedew let her take Elsie with her ? She would take the greatest care of her ; would give her all the advantages of lessons and of society : she was so lonely, said the poor widow, with tears in her eyes, and she had no one who belonged to her in the world — no English friends even, in consequence of her long colonial residence. Elsie was her only relation, beyond a brother in India, whom she had not seen since his boyhood. Would not Dr. Grace- dew consent, though she knew that she was asking a great deal ? She was right in saying that she was. asking a great deal. Dr. Gracedew had comforted himself during the long years of Elsie's exile with thoughts of the delight of her return ; and notwithstanding Mrs. John Gracedew's suggestions, he had never dreamed that anything might prevent her absence from ending when she returned home for good in two months. He had had ideas of possible arrange- ments by which he might take Ralph for some little holiday tour without Elsie ; but he had had no idea XI.] GOSSIP. 157 but that Elsie should be established in September as mistress of the house ; that her bright young face would greet him the first thing in the morning, and that her kiss would be upon his cheek the last thing at night.' He was an elderly man, too, though a very hale and healthy one, and there might not be many years for him to enjoy Elsie's society, He said that he could not give Mrs. Nevil an answer at once : he would think about it. He went away to his lodging and thought about it for four con- secutive hours. Dr. Gracedew was a very unselfish man, and his unselfishness finally carried the day. After all, it was only his own wishes which weighed down the scale against the plan : Elsie's advantage, the obvious means of diminishing the intimacy between her and Ralph, and the loneliness of poor Mrs. Nevil, were all in the opposite balance. "Yes, I suppose it is the right thing to do," he said, lifting himself up with a sensation as if his mental struggle had been a bodily one : " Elsie must go to her aunt ; and as for me, if I am not to have my little girl's society in this world, I must wait a little longer for it, that is all." 158 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xi. Accordingly, next day he called on Mrs. Nevil and told her of his resolve. Elsie should go with her, and he would try to come out to her every year, if he could, to catch a glimpse of his child. Mrs. Nevil hoped that two or three years would be the utmost limit of her absence from England ; after that she might be able to return and to take a house at Middlebury. " But after all," said the Doctor, with a ray of hope, " you have not yet seen Elsie, and perhaps you will not like her when you do." " I am not afraid," said Mrs. Nevil. " Perhaps, indeed, she may not like to be tied down to live with an invalid ; and then I am sure I will not try to force her inclinations." The Doctor could give no answer to this gentle reply. He knew that his bright, eager, helpful little Elsie was in her element when she thought herself of use to anyone, and that she would never think of her own likings in the matter. He had rejoiced in her unselfish nature before; he rejoiced in it still, even though its exercise would deprive him of her society. " However, it is all for the best," he said stanchly, as he went home. CHAPTER XII. GOOD-BYE. " I wish and I wish that the spring would go faster, Nor long summer bide so late ; And I could grow on like the foxglove and aster, For some things are ill to wait." — J. Ingelow. Elsie awoke on a certain July morning with a choking in her throat and tears in her eyes. It was the last day of her Paris life, and she was very sorry to take leave of it ; people of an affectionate nature must be sorry to bid good-bye to what has become a portion of their life. She lay in a little white- curtained bed that morning thinking of the many happy days she had had at Madame Regnier's, and of all the people who had been so kind to her at Numero 34. The Dulauriers, and Herve, and Bruno, and the many friends whom the little English girl had won — when should she see them all again ? And the dearest of all, Madame Regnier, with her kind face and her gentle voice. Elsie was more 160 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. sorry than she could have believed possible to think that these school-days of hers were at an end. Neither was the girl thoroughly at ease about the future. The thought of Switzerland and Italy was very nice ; but this unknown Aunt Emily as her only companion was rather a fearful infliction — almost as bad as going back to school again. And then there would be no Ralph this time ; there would be none of the fun, and frolic, and nonsense which had always made the holidays so enjoyable until now. And grandpapa, too ! He said he wished for this plan himself, so that Elsie could not remonstrate : but she had made so many plans for her life at Middlebury when she left school ! She was to have had a little pony carriage, and then she had intended to embellish the drawing- room, after an idea of her own, with all sorts of contrivances of ferneries and mosscries (if there be such a word) ; and she meant to have worked hard at her drawing, and to have done wonders with her allowance by judicious dressmaking ; and, in fact, she had had all sorts of girlish visions floating in her brain, as they are apt to do at seventeen ; and she had thought that grandpapa would have wanted her ! XII.] GOOD-BYE, ,6i " It's not worth crying about if it has to be done, though," she said to herself, winking her eyes briskly as she watched the bright white daylight creeping in through a crevice in the " volets ; " " but I wish — oh, how I wish — I was going to Brynscombe again with Ralph as we did last year ! " There was a busy morning of packing, and then an afternoon of good-byes. Madame Regnier was very tearful and melancholy : but she had invited a little party to dinner to make their adieus to her pupil. M. Dulaurier had been invited, but he had been too busy to come : Madame Dulaurier, how- ever, and Lilie and Ninie, and Bruno, and even Herve the seminarist, were to be assembled to bid Elsie good-bye. Dr. Gracedew and Mrs. Nevil were to come that evening at eight o'clock, and during the next day Elsie would have little time for her old friends, By four o'clock, when the heat of the day began to go off, all Elsie's work was done, and she made her way into the little salon where the sound of Madame Regnier's rejoicing tones told her that Herve had arrived for his afternoon's holiday. He was still stunted, ugly, and withal sweet-faced and vol. I. M 162 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. gentle-spoken as in the days of his childhood. His face brightened at the sight of " Meess Elsie," for, notwithstanding their theological arguments, the two were warm friends. " I am so glad to be able to say good-bye to you, Herve," said Elsie in her frank English voice. " I should not have liked to slip away without saying good-bye to all my friends." " And I am also glad, though sorry too, Meess Elsie. My mother will miss you very much." " She ought to be glad to have no naughty English girl to worry her," said Elsie, looking up lovingly into the kind little woman's face. "Ah, do not let us talk of it now. When you are gone I shall weep, Elsie, but I do not want to weep while Herve is here." " I wonder whether you and I will ever meet in the future, Herve, when we are both grown up," said Elsie musingly. " Perhaps you will be a great preacher at Notre Dame, and I shall come to listen to your sermon." " Perhaps in the Madeleine," said Madame Regnier, with a proud smile at her son. " No, no, Herve, you must not preach in the xii.] GOOD-BYE. 163 Madeleine ; it is such an ugly old heathen church. Preach in Saint Eustache or Notre Dame," said Elsie. " I hope that when Mademoiselle comes to hear me I shall have the pleasure of preaching to a good Catholic," said Herve smiling. "No, don't let us begin an argument now," said Elsie ; " I am not in an arguing mood, Herve. Let us have one of our nice old talks : I see you so seldom now that you are a seminarist. Do you still hold to your old plans that you used to tell me about?" " I think I used to tell you nonsense that no human being could expect to carry out," said Herve, smiling and reddening a little : " but in the main my purpose holds, Meess Elsie. My mother agrees with me that I should not be wrong to offer myself to the service of the Church, as I have always hoped to do. We Catholics are happy, Meess Elsie, in having such an object of veneration within our reach to which we can devote our lives and our energies." " I dare say," said Elsie : " but do you mean to be a cure, or a monk, or what do you mean to do ? " " That will be for my directors to settle," said Herve: "whatever they decide I shall follow. It is M 2 1 64 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. thus that we are taught to annihilate self, Meess Elsie, and to give ourselves up freely to the service of God." " But do you mean that you will have no voice in the matter if they send you to Kamtschatka or to Central Africa or to the Grande Chartreuse ? " said Elsie. " They are not likely to send me to the Grande Chartreuse," said Herve : " but if they did, I should certainly go. With the Divine aid, nothing is im- possible." " And with the fervent faith of a Catholic, my son," added his mother, as an afterthought for Elsie's benefit. " All Catholics have not faith as fervent as they should have, my mother. I myself am of weak faith, I regret to say," said Regnier with that can- did simplicity which was part of his character, and which Elsie never quite knew whether to venerate or laugh at. She ended by doing both in a kind of compromise. " You should not say that before la petite" said his mother reproachfully. " She will think it is the fault of our system and not of your soul, Herve, though, after all, I know many people who call xii.] GOOD-BYE. 165 themselves fervent and who are not at all as good as you, my son." " Don't distress yourself, madame dear," said Elsie fondly, laying her hand on Madame Regnier's : " I know Herve is humble enough to say anything bad of himself that he does not deserve. But would you really let him go out to those missions that he used to talk about, where the missionaries die by hundreds, and no one hears of them any more ? " " Do not let us talk of it, my child," said Madame Regnier with a shudder. "If it comes, perhaps I may have strength to endure it, or I may die first ; or, again, it may not come at all. Who knows but that Herve may be . a popular preacher in Notre Dame as you suggested, Elsie, and that the Emperor and Empress may go to hear him, and that he may have the privilege of teaching the Empress her duty with regard to setting the Court a good example as regards dress and such things. Madame Schultz, the dressmaker of Madame Treguire, informs me that the court dresses are now so decolletes as to be quite shocking." 'Thanks, my mother," said Herve smiling; "but I do not think it will ever be my role to preach to 1 66 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. fine ladies. I shall never be eloquent, do what I may. My comrades laugh at me when the recita- tions take place : they say I am so ungraceful in my gestures, and so, doubtless, I am. Neither do I find the art of rhetoric easy to acquire." " It is all his humility," whispered his adoring mother to Elsie : but here the conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door, and the en- trance of Bruno Noel. There could hardly be a greater contrast than that between these two French friends, who happened to meet now for the first time for several months. Herve, short, stunted, rather unwholesome looking, with his ugly face and his redeeming expression ; and Bruno, tall, slender, dark, and handsome, with clear-cut noble features and a better set head than most French- men possess, and with the bright dark eyes, the alert look, and the mobile mouth which charac- terize the best specimens of the French nation. "Well, mon vieux," said Bruno when he had greeted Madame Regnier and Elsie, sitting down beside Herve, "it is good to catch a sight of you now and then when those cats of Jesuits let you out of their clutches." ML] GOOD-BYE. 167 "But I am not a mouse, my friend," said Herve with his contented smile. " You are certainly not a kitten : you will never develop teeth and claws, Herve." " I hope not to require them. And you, Bruno, you have really begun to study the law?" "Si, mon ami. Perhaps I shall be a judge by the time that you are a bishop." " Let us hope that it may be before then," said Herve. "And when does the bon docteur arrive?" said Bruno to Elsie. "To-night. I hope you will be able to see him. He remains in Paris over to-morrow." " I hope I shall. He was very kind to me at Brynscombe : I shall never forget his kindness," said Bruno with softened eyes. " Ah, Bruno, don't you wish we were going to spend the holidays at Brynscombe again ? Do you remember the day we left the luncheon basket behind, and had to eat whortleberries on Royal Moor ?" " I remember that Ralph was not nearly so philo- sophical about it as you and I." 1 68 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. "And who was in charge of you at the time?" said Madame Regnier. " No one, madame. We were very happy by ourselves." " Ah, these English notions ! They would not do in this country," said the little lady, shaking her head. " Mind, Elsie, you have now been taught what is discreet and convenable, and I look to hear- ing your French friends say of you, ' She is so bien-elevee, she might have been a Frenchwoman!'" "No, madame, don't tell her that," said Bruno. " I like a French girl to be French, but an English demoiselle should be English altogether, like Elsie : frank, and — pardon me, mademoiselle — I was going to add, tant soit peu gauche!' " She need not be gauche, Monsieur Bruno," said Madame Regnier, a little shocked ; but Elsie and Bruno were upon such terms that they could afford to laugh together at Bruno's plain speaking. " There a little of your own English blood appears, Bruno," said Elsie. And then came the Dulauriers ; Leon, the son, who was at Montauban in training for the Protes- tant pastorate, and who eyed the young seminarist XII.] GOOD-BYE. 169 somewhat as if he were a tiger in a leash, in a way which was irresistibly ludicrous to Elsie, who knew how very far from tigerish Herve's nature was ; Lilie and Ninie, the latter prettier and daintier than ever ; and their mother, who was really sorry to part with Elsie. M. Dulaurier hoped that Elsie would come and bid him good-bye before she went : they were all fond of the honest little Eng- lish maiden who had come so much into their life for so many years. Ninie and Lilie were divided at dinner by the young seminarist, whom Ninie snubbed unmercifully, half out of dislike of his ugli- ness, and half out of contempt of his creed ; and whom Lilie talked to in her dull, gentle way, be- cause she thought it was her duty. Bruno sat opposite to Ninie, and looked at her all through the meal : she was so pretty that it was impossible to wonder at his doing so. Elsie tried to talk to Leon Dulaurier, but found him, as of old, remark- ably heavy in hand : she thought his mother a much more agreeable companion. In fact, Madame Dulaurier was rather inclined to think that the little English girl would not make a bad wife for Leon when she was a little older. She was not exactly 170 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xii. the stereotyped style of French pastor's wife, but possibly Madame Dulaurier did not like her the less for this. The bon sang in the pastor's wife had to put up with many things she would not have chosen in life had she had her own way. After this, one by one, they took leave of Elsie, and said good-bye to her, with kindly speeches and gentle words ; and as they did so she felt as if she were taking leave of her childhood and bidding good-bye to a state of things which could never return again. The future might be bright and happy, but the past had its own special sweetness now that it was orbing into " the perfect star we saw not when we moved therein ; " and Elsie had depth and thoughtfulness enough, even at seven- teen, to feel this. Long afterwards, when she was among far other scenes, the faces of Madame Regnier, and Herve, and Bruno, and Lilie, would come suddenly to her memory out of those old Paris days, and the phrases of their tongue would rise uncalled to her lips. But for all that, the scene was over and the curtain had dropped, and it was time to be thinking about the next act of the drama of life. CHAPTER XIII. " LA FRATERNITfi." " Having first within his ken, What a man might do with men : And far too glad, in the evenglow, To mix with the world he meant to take Into his hand, he told you, so — And out of it his world to make, To contract or to expand, As he shut or oped his hand. " Browning. If this story had been bound by the require- ments of those Unities which were at one time considered so exacting in their rather unreasonable demands, it would have expired early in its career. We have to overleap another chasm of four years before we resume the course of its narrative, and the stray picture which we here bring before our readers must be regarded as merely an interlude with no positive bearing on what has already gone by or on what is now coming. 172 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. It is fresh May weather, about seven in the evening. Ralph, at Cambridge, is just now coming in from his boating with a hearty appetite for his dinner. Dr. Gracedew returns from a round of visits among his patients to a rather cheerless home, not without a longing for Elsie's bright face, expressed with a sigh of, " After all, she is happy away, and I am old enough by this time to put up with what I do not like." Elsie, away in Florence, tries to coax Aunt Emily into swallowing a little of the beef- tea which she has carefully prepared for the invalid's taste with her own notable little hands ; and Bruno Noel walks up the Boulevard towards his mother's house with a roll of paper in his hand, and a bright look in his eyes which makes him a pleasant ob- ject to look upon. Let us follow the last-named youth, and see into what these three years have transmuted him. Bruno at twenty is a boy no longer. He is a tall young man now, differing considerably in his physique from the usual run of under-sized and weak-muscled young Parisians among whom he lives. He is a well-developed, handsome youth, xin.] "LA FRATERNITE." i/3 with bright eyes and finely moulded features, and has nothing about him of the Paris dandy — that unwholesome development of humanity whose loftiest notion of pleasure is to sit in the cafes drinking absinthe and criticising the feminine passers-by. Bruno's countenance has a look of lofty absorption and enthusiasm as if life to him were not the mere commonplace matter it is to most people ; and his eyes have that peculiar still shine in them which shows when the mind is in the habit of working outward from itself instead of inward upon itself, and when the things which are external to it possess more interest than its own personal hopes and desires. Pure-hearted and unselfish as Bruno Noel was at this period of his life, his thoughts and ideas were nevertheless such as the Doctor would have been little able to sympathise with. In the first place, Bruno was a young Frenchman, and did his thinking in a French groove. He had been educa- ted in practical paganism, as far as his home teach- ing had been concerned ; he had had no religious education at school to counteract it ; and now, at twenty, his attitude towards Christianity was as 174 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. sceptical as that of any of his companions. But whereas with most of them the negation of the supernatural brought all things to a dead level of cynicism, and made their motto " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," Bruno had found a way out of this in the acceptance of the noble, though unreal and melancholy, theories of Auguste Comte. He was young enough not to feel their unreality or their melancholy at present. Their nobleness or their unselfishness satisfied him, and found an eager response in his own heart ; he dreamed of great achievements for his country, of great deeds done for the human race, of all the golden visions which a boy's enthusiasm could weave out of the " Religion of Humanity." At present the glamour of early youth glorified them, and the cold touch of reality had not dis- enchanted his eyes ; and Bruno gave to his dreams all the eagerness and zest which most young men of his age are wont to spend upon themselves. That roll of paper under his arm contained his first attempt at bringing his dreams into ac- tion. Bruno studied law still, but with only half a heart; his desires and his capabilities alike xiii.] "LA FRATERNITE." 175 pointed to journalism as his future career. He had the power of writing not only epigrammatically but eloquently, and for some months he had been regularly employed upon the staff of a paper of some note, which was edited by an ex-professor of the Lycee which he had attended. Not con- tent with this, however, he had set his heart upon making a venture of his own ; and his roll of paper contained the first proofs of the little newspaper, La Fraternitc, which was to indoctri- nate the artisans and mechanics of Paris with the true principles of philanthropic Positivism, and to be the first steps of that regeneration of France to which Bruno meant to devote his life. "What have you got there, Bruno?" said Madame Regnier languidly as he entered the room. She had grown thin and sallow in these years, and her eyes were dull and heavy; but his presence generally made her brighten up into something like animation. " I have got my proofs, mamma. Look at them !" " Why do you not have it printed in better type and on better paper? L 'Empire looked much more attractive," said his aunt. 1 76 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " Very likely. L 1 Empire was for the rich bourgeois, who could well afford to pay for good type and paper. La Fraternity is for the mechanics and artisans." "But you will go on writing for L Empire, will you not, Bruno ? All our friends read your articles when you wrote there, and M. Dulaurier told me that M. Guizot had remarked that you were a young writer of promise. Now, men of mark will never read a miserable little feuilleton like this ; " and she took up the thin crackling paper with its grey half-pressed type, which indeed looked uninviting enough. " I do not care to write for mere pcrsifleurs. I wish to persuade people to enter into my views ; and as long as I write in L ] Empire I shall never do that," said the young man. " I wish you had not taken up these views of yours, Bruno," said Madame Treguire. Your papa thinks that it is a great pity. They will stand in the way of your career all your life." " His views certainly did not stand in the way of his career," said Bruno with some contempt. " It is true : Horace was always too idle to bestir xiii.] "LA FRATERNITE." 177 himself about anything. But it is really hardly respectable, Bruno, to go about and speak at these Red clubs as you do.- Some day you will get warned by the police." " I doubt it, mamma ; they cannot call what- I say sedition. I do not like things as they are, it is true : I hate Emperor and Empire ; but I do not wish things to change at present. Liberty and Equality are preached enough ; but no one has yet preached Fraternity, and unless some one does so we shall have another Terror some day, when the people get the upper hand. No one can but be thankful to me if I preach Fraternity in its right place, the counterpoise to the two other war-cries of the Re- public ! " He looked so young and boyish in his enthu- siasm that most people would have smiled to hear him speak ; but Madame Treguire only looked anxious. " But indeed, Bruno, you should preach it to respectable circles through a respectable news- paper — not to otcvriers and such like." " Mamma, they would not read a respectable newspaper ; and they are the circles I wish to reach. You talk of respectability," he went on : "I hate VOL. I. N 178 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. respectability ; it has been the bane of our bour- geoisie all through this century ! They have refused to strike for their opinions ; they have submitted tamely to the Empire for the sake of their respecta- bility ; and they have kept their respectability, and have lost their liberty in consequence ! Whatever I may be, may Heaven preserve me from respecta- bility." As the speaker of this tirade was incontrovertibly an unusually respectable young man, his aunt was not so much shocked by it as a casual hearer might have been. She took up the paper and cast her eye over it. It was not long : it contained a couple of articles by Bruno, a story, after the manner of French news- papers, entitled " Comtesse et Grisette," a few casual notices, and a dozen or so advertisements of Menier's chocolate, and some one else's benzine. Bruno's first venture was a humble-looking affair enough ; but his hopes were elastic enough not to be damped by outside appearances. Enter M. Horace Noel, with his usual white ex- panse of waistcoat, about to start with an order for the theatre. " Ah, my son ! what have you there ? " he said, XIII.] "LA FRATERNITE? 179 advancing to the table and taking up the newspaper sheet that lay upon it. " La Fraternity ! Excellent and instructive to the highest degree ! It reads like an antiquity preserved from the year '89!" And he proceeded to read aloud, pompously, the following opening sentence, giving it exactly the right inflec- tion to turn it into ridicule : " The following pages are dedicated to all — no matter how poor, how little instructed, how weak — who own and who give to others the sacred name of brother. Brother ! It is a holy name ! It has been for ages appropriated by the priest-ridden victims of superstition who have confessed in word what they have denied in act. It remains for us, emancipated from ancient thraldoms, to show the world what true Fraternity is. This is the task of our age." " I fear the age will need a stronger arm than yours to flog it to its task, my son," said Horace Noel, with a laughing shrug as he went out. Bruno bit his lip, and opened the window which led out upon the garden terrace. " Where are you going ? " said his aunt. " I go to smoke a cigar in the air." " Walk softly under the windows ; the little Du- N 2 i So RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. laurier has been very ill all day. They are to take her to the sea as soon as she is able ; but I doubt when that will be." " Which ? " said Bruno. " Not Ninie ? " " Ninie ! I should think not. My dear Bruno, have you not heard that Lilie has been out of health for months ? You never hear anything ! " " I am very sorry to be so stupid, mamma," said Bruno ; and he stooped down and kissed her as he went out, with the demonstrative instinct of a French youth. Then he sat down on a garden-seat under the window, after carefully noting the way of the wind ; for he was thoughtful enough to watch that the odour of his cigar should not reach the sick- chamber, where the windows were open and the lights were moving about. The loveliest time in Paris is after sunset in the early summer, when the air is clear and the sky is gradated from blue to green and from green to gold, and when the nightingales sing in every littie stunted dusty plane and lime in the boulevards and in the gardens of the suburban houses. All the details of whiteness and newness which weary one in full sun- shine lie hidden in rosy grey; the sharp smell of the xiii.] "LA FRATERNITY 1S1 dust gives place to the fragrance of the dew, and the full-throated songs of the birds are as sweet as if they sang far away from the ken of man in some primeval wood. Bruno sat in the garden puffing at his cigar, enjoying the quietness and the solitude as few French youths of his age would have done ; but then he was something of a poet, and had his politi- cal visions and his castle-building to occupy him. He thought of his beloved Fraternity and his father's cynical contempt of his hopes. He thought of a poem which he had on hand, entitled " L'Avenir et le Passe," where the Future was represented as a veiled maiden with starry eyes faintly gleaming through her veil, and the Past as the lover who tries to woo her to his embraces. "Si tu me touches la main, Ce moment meme je meurs," were the words with which he had resolved to end the poem ; and he wished to show in it, not merely the obvious idea that the Future ceases to be the future when it becomes the present and is linked with the past, but also that the golden hopes of the Future must not be sullied by the cold common- place of achieved experience. It was a pretty idea 1 82 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. enough, but somewhat unreal, like most of Bruno's visions, since the experience of the past is the only foundation upon which we can expect to lay a prac- tical superstructure of future improvement; and those who think that the most splendid and glorious future possible to our race is but the result of the greatest event in its past history, do not hold with Bruno's depreciation of the past. However, there he sat, spinning his verses and smoking his cigar — one of a box which Ralph had brought him as a present during a visit which he had made to Paris in the Easter vacation ; and when he had shaped them to his own satisfaction, he went on dreaming in the twilight of the time " when man and man, the world o'er, shall brithers be for a' that." With no religious discords, thought the young Frenchman ; for thought would then be emancipated from servile bonds : with no conflicting interests, for science would then have taught men that the interest of one was the interest of all. Liberty without license, pre-eminence without jealousy, family life without dissension : poverty unknown, sickness casual, education and culture universal. The theory of universal philanthropy, xiii.] "LA FRATERNITY." 183 thought Bruno to himself, is the theory of the present day only : ought not the future as far to surpass any part of the past as our enlightenment surpasses theirs ? Voices in the room above roused him. " On what text do you preach to-morrow, papa ? " said a weak, girlish voice, soft and prim, which he recognized as Lilie Dulaurier. She suf- fered [from oppression of breath, and spent much of her time sitting propped with cushions at the open window, when she could not rest lying down. Her father, who was sitting beside her, answered her in the full rich voice which Paris Protestants knew well in his pulpit oratory. ' ' By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' That is my text. I am going to denounce those viiscr- ablts who would have us believe that atheism invites to the love of humanity more than Chris- tianity," said the pastor. ' It is a beautiful text, papa. I wish I could hear your sermon," said the sick girl ; while Bruno, interested by what the pastor had just told her, forgot that he was eaves-dropping, and thought 1 84 RALPH AND BRUXO. [chap. that he should rather like to go and hear M. Dulaurier in his chapel on Sunday, — if Bruno could only get him to listen to his arguments against it afterwards ! But as it was hardly likely that a middle-aged Protestant pastor would allow himself to be converted by the argument of a youthful sceptic of twenty, Bruno did not think very seriously of this plan. However, he did long to join battle with the pastor upon what he con- sidered his erroneous notions, and waited eagerly to hear what he was going to say. Would he hear himself denounced as a miserable ? Bruno's in- terest was quickened by the slight- personality involved, and he heard Lilie's gentle voice again after a pause : — " But you do not mean to denounce the people themselves, papa ; only their errors, n'est-ce pas ? I suppose we ought not to speak harshly of them, for you know God loves them, even though they do not know it." The pastor did not reply. Lilie's idea was not quite congenial to him, though he did not like to controvert it ; and Bruno, who was struck by the girl's words, and listened eagerly for her father's XIII.] "LA FRATERN1TE." 185 answer, was disappointed that none came. " That notion will not do for him," he said, moving away, suddenly remembering that he was doing' some- thing like eaves-dropping ; " it is the agreeable way in which amiable young ladies contemplate the universe. The good Doctor at Middlebury holds it, no doubt, but then the English are alto- gether homes in matters of religion, as M. Taine says. No ; there is nothing for it but to shake off all the shackles of the past, and to follow the leadings of science. A religion presque raisonnable will not do for me ! " Two months afterwards La Fraternite came to an end, having exhausted its proprietor's purse, and been threatened by the police as seditious ; and a few days later, Lilie Dulaurier was buried in the dreary Neuilly cemetery, with its gravel walks, its railed partitions, its absence of grass, and its general air of neglect and decay. Little plaster images, half soaked into clay by rain, and dirty weather-stained wreaths of immortelles, were the only signs of love and care upon the bare spaces of ground ; and they looked as if they had been for the most part put there when the grief was 1 86 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xiii. fresh, and forgotten when time had healed it. But on Lilie's grave they planted a bed of " muguets," in allusion to their English name ; and if they did not make the square fiat space as pretty and sug- gestive as a grass hillock in an English church- yard, yet there was something suitable and signifi- cant in the fragrant white bells hiding within their broad leaves as an emblem of the quiet, plain, sweet little soul which they commemorated. M. Dulaurier and his wife visited Lilie's grave every Sunday ; but it was noticeable that after the first two or three times Ninie shrank from accom- panying them. She did not wish, she said, to re- open the wound of her heart. They did not press her to do so, and thenceforward they went to the cemetery alone. CHAPTER XIV. A PASSING VISIT. " Les Anglais are for ever on the wing — ■ The condudeur said everybody knew We were descended of the Wandering Jew.'' Clough. Dr. GRACEDEW received a sudden summons to Mentone in the spring of the fourth year of Elsie's exile. Mrs. Nevil had suddenly failed, and had become so rapidly worse that the Mentone phy- sician thought very seriously of her state, Elsie said. Could grandpapa come to her ? " Grandpapa " came at once, and he was not there too soon. Mrs. Nevil had fallen into a state of unconsciousness, and died within twenty-four hours after Dr. Gracedew reached Mentone, and there were only the arrangements for the funeral for him to undertake. Elsie had been very fond of her gentle aunt, and felt her loss much ; but she could not help an undercurrent of gladness in her 1 88 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. heart when the train was actually bearing her to her dear English home — to Middlebury, and Ralph, and the old pleasures of her childhood, Her grand- father would not let her hurry home as she would have liked to do. He thought she had rather over- tasked herself with nursing, and insisted on her staying for a few days in Paris before she went on to England ; and here, of course, Elsie went to see all her old friends. She was quite surprised by the warmth of affection with which Madame Du- laurier greeted her. In former days the pasteur's wife had been kind, but not demonstratively affec- tionate ; but the sight of one who had been Lilie's friend unlocked her heart. She sat for an hour with Elsie's hand in hers, telling her the particu- lars of Lilie's illness, and all the little tender touches which a mother loves to remember about a dead daughter. " Ninie does not like to speak of these things," said Madame Dulaurier with a sigh : " she has missed her sister very much, I know, for they were always together. But it would have been such a comfort to me if we could have talked together of the dear child !" " Does not Ninie like to talk to you, then ? " xiv.] A PASSING VISIT. 189 " No ; she says it gives her too much pain. I sometimes wish that Ninie could have a thorough change ; it is not well for a young girl to live in a triste house such as this has been since our dear Lilie died. You see, she is but young. She sits in the house and sighs and mopes, and loses her pretty colour ; and then, if there is ever so little gaiety in prospect, she seems to get quite etourdie and wild over it while it lasts. Afterwards I find her sitting alone, doing nothing, as before. We had an offer of marriage for her not long ago from the son of a pasteur in the provinces ; but we would not press her against her inclinations, and Ninie declares that nothing shall induce her to marry a pasteur. Nor do I think that it would be suitable for her to do so. We are not all made alike." " Dear madame," said Elsie, " Madame Regnier has promised to come with us for a little visit. Could not Ninie come too, and return when she returns ? I am sure my grandfather would like it very much if she would. He was suggesting it in the train the other day, but we agreed that you and M. Dulaurier would not like to spare Ninie now that she was the only one left to you." i9o RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " We shall find our house blank, no doubt ; but if it is for Ninie's good I do not think we shall have the heart to refuse so kind an offer. I would not let her leave me to stay with most of my acquaintance ; but I know you well, and if Madame Regnier is really going with you so as to chaperon her as I should like, there can hardly be any reason against it. It is very kind of you, Elsie, and your dear grandpapa also." At this moment Dr. Gracedew entered the room, and Elsie appealed to him. " By all means. She will be a nice companion for Elsie while she is settling down into our quiet Middlebury life ; and you have always been so kind to my girl, Madame Dulaurier, that anything I can do for yours " Madame Dulaurier called her husband from his study, and the plan was discussed in all its bear- ings and finally agreed to. A little later Ninie came in. She had been spending the afternoon at the house of a pasteur's wife where several young people met together to make clothes for the poor, while the pasteur read them a little story of a moral tendency. This was Ninie's most exciting weekly xiv.] A PASSING VISIT. 191 gaiety. She was not fond of plain work, but this "reunion," and the small opportunities of gossip it contained, were to her preferable to the dulness of her home. She did not know that the Gracedews were expected, and a bright flush lighted up her cheeks as she saw them, and changed the wearied discontent of her expression into pleasure." "Ah, ma fille," said the pasteur, "you do not guess what an invitation we have accepted for you." Ninie looked from one to the other in wonder and surprise. " What would you say to coming to England with us, Mademoiselle Ninie?" said the Doctor. Ninie clapped her hands with a little shriek of delight. "Not really! It is too good to be true!" she said, as she looked inquiringly at her father. " Quite true. Dr. Gracedew has been kind enough to invite you to his house for a visit, and your mamma and I think that the change would be good for you. We are glad to give you pleasure, my daughter." There was a certain reproachful intonation in M. Dulaurier's voice as he spoke the last words. "You are very good, my papa," she said, lifting 192 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. up her face to his for a kiss. Such a pretty face it was ! The exquisitely shaped head was poised on the slender little neck in a way that irresistibly reminded you of the corolla of a flower ; the hair, too, was not fashionably stuffed with pads and horsehair, but lay plaited in smooth, shining braids at the back. French beauty is a good deal rarer than English beauty, but when you find it, it is not less perfect of its kind. " This will make it possible for you to accompany me to America, Louise," said M. Dulaurier sud- denly ; " that is, if we shall not be trespassing upon Dr. Gracedew's kindness in leaving Ninie with him for so long." Then it appeared that the pasteur was going to a meeting of the Evangelical Alliance held at New York ; that he had wished to take his wife with him to pay a visit to her sister who was settled there, but that they had decided that they could not well leave Ninie behind, and that they could not afford the double expense involved in taking her. Now they would be able to do so, and could call at Middlebury for Ninie on their way back- through England. xiv.] A PASSING VISIT. ■ i 9: Ninie was absolutely wild with pleasure. All the stories she had read of English life, and all that she had heard from Elsie, had conveyed to her mind the idea that English girls had much more fun and frolic than she had ever known. She knew that there would be no theatres or operas in a country-town like Middlebury : theatres and operas were the much desired forbidden fruit in the little Protestant girl's mind, but she knew that it was their absence which made her father look on English country society as so innocuous. But Ninie had heard of dances and garden parties, and croquet and archery, and free and pleasant intercourse with young men ; and Ninie had scarcely ever spoken to a young man except in her mother's presence. The girl went singing about the house for the next few days, as she had never had spirits to do since Lilie's death ; there was a light in her eyes and a flush on her cheeks which gladdened the heart of her parents, who had sometimes fancied that she was not well, and that she might fade from their sight as Lilie had done. " She has been triste and dull all this time, but the change will do everything for her," they said, resigning themselves cheerfully to her absence. VOL. I. . O 194 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Dr. Gracedew went to call on Madame Treguire, whom he thought much altered since he had last seen her at Brynscombe. Nine years ago when he had brought Elsie to Madame Regnier's, Madame Treguire had been a remarkably handsome and well-preserved woman for her years ; now her face was aged and thinned and sharpened so that she looked much older than her real age. Ill health was plainly to be read on the sallow face and the sunken eyes, and there was a restless nervousness about her expression which increased the alteration frpm her former self. She seemed weary and indif- ferent when Dr. Gracedew spoke of Ralph ; she said she hoped he would do well at College and not fall into wild extravagant ways, but there was little symptom of motherly interest in her tone. It was very different from the nervous eagerness with which she spoke when Bruno was the subject of conversation. " He is a puzzle to me, Dr. Gracedew," she said : " I do not know how to deal with him. He has taken up these new political ideas, and he runs wild upon them ; and I fear that he should get himself into trouble. Now might I ask you to do xiv.] A PASSING VISIT. 195 me a great kindness ? Bruno respects you, he has often told me so ; he does not respect my brother Horace. Could you not say something to persuade him to give these wild notions up, and to live a quiet and easy life like other young men ? He will never range himself in respectable society while he consorts with his present companions ; and if only he would give up politics, and study law his professors have told me that he would be sure to rise. Will you not try to persuade him of this ? " " I doubt about my powers of persuasion, but I should like a talk with him very much. Could he come and dine with me and Elsie at Vefour's restaurant to-night at seven ? " " Certainly, monsieur. I will tell him, and he shall be sure to come." " I wish you would let me prescribe for you, madame. You are not well, I am sure," said Dr. Gracedew, holding her hot tremulous hand in his? and looking at her with kindly, professional eyes. " It is nothing, thank you," said Madame Treguire, drawing back into herself so quickly that the Doctor could say nothing more, and took his leave. O 2 1 96 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Bruno came to Vefour's at the appointed time. Dr. Gracedew had set himself and Elsie down at a quiet little white covered table in the recess of the window, and had ordered as recherche a little dinner as he knew how, wishing to do honour to his guest, under the impression that all young Parisians were more or less given to daintiness in food : but Bruno Noel had only a vague appreciation of the Doctor's efforts on his behalf. Ralph would have enjoyed them more, but then he would not have sat at the table as Bruno did with his head poised slightly back, and his knife and fork idle on his plate, re- counting his views of the then state of society in Paris, or at least as much of them as he could before Elsie, and his hopes for its amendment. He had an interested if not always a sympathising listener, and he did not bore either of his hearers. If he had not been conscious that they liked to hear him, Bruno would not have been encouraged to speak as he did. In ordinary society he was apt to sit silent and listen without speaking ; and though he had pleasant manners, he had individuality enough to be known among the other students as " ce clrdle dc Noel" and to undergo a good deal of chaff when xiv.] A PASSING VISIT. 197 he said or did anything not precisely like other people. Nevertheless, though all was from his heart, the young enthusiast talked a good deal of nonsense. He told the Gracedews in a tone of firm conviction that the Emperor was widening the streets of Paris, not to improve the city, but to render them capable of being swept clear by cannon ; and that he was paving them with asphalte that there might be no stones to be used in them for a barricade. The Emperor, to Bruno, was at this time an incarnate fiend, of whom any evil might without difficulty be believed, without reaching to the measure of his wickedness. At last the Doctor, seeing that Bruno's vehement speech was attracting the attention of some of his neighbours at adjoining tables, thought it best to change the subject by talking about Ralph. " Ah, how I should like to see Ralph again ! " said Bruno. " And he is getting on well at college ? " " Better than I could have hoped at one time. You see, he never appreciated the classics very highly : but he always had something of a turn i 9 3 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. for physical science, and two years ago he took a fancy for dabbling in chemistry, and picking my brains on medico-chemical questions. So I told him I advised him under the circumstances not to think of taking up the ordinary honour examination, but to go in for physical science. I have always thought there was plenty of room in the world for such a thing as a medical squire, who does not I believe exist in the world at present. Think what a man might do by putting all his labourers into the most perfect hygienic condition that could be aimed at by the modern lights of science ? " " Experimentum in corpore vili," said Bruno in his French Latin, smiling. " Well, be it so. Such an experiment will teach the world more than they have yet learnt, if it does require a little patriarchal treatment to carry it out." " And Ralph has really been taking to these scientific studies ? " " Yes, he has worked at them as he never worked at anything in his life. I coach him in the vacations, and my only complaint is that he has that paralyzing fortune hung round his neck, so that he cannot make it his profession. He xiv.] A PASSING VISIT. 199 might do well in that some day, but he will never make a name in any other manner, as far as I can foresee. Well, never mind ; he is a dear good old fellow, and I cannot wish him very different from what he is." ' I believe you would not be very sorry if Brynscombe were to be submerged by the sea, grandpapa," laughed Elsie ; " you are always wishing Ralph had nothing." " For Ralph's sake I should not particularly object. It is not the kingdom of heaven only that is barred by riches ; it is the kingdom of science, literature, art. A rich man is seldom more than a mere dilettante." "Ah, I am glad I am not Ralph," said Bruno. ' If I were a rich man, my friends among the artisans would have little to say to me. Poverty gives me my power with them ; they feel that I am one of their own class." " Surely not really, Bruno," said Elsie, with her English views of social grades. " Yes, really, mademoiselle. You cannot re- generate society by beginning from the top ; you must begin from the bottom, and throw in your 2oo RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xiv. lot with the oppressed and the down-trodden, if you wish to ameliorate their condition. That is what I am going to do." The bright, frank young face looked so eager, so resolute, so hopeful. How long would its bright- ness and hopefulness last under the pressure of the world and its struggles ? and would his high aims for the benefit of mankind end as his aunt wished, in his leading a "quiet and easy life like other young men ? " Dr. Gracedew did not think it would be for Bruno's advantage if it were so. The Doctor was a Christian, and Bruno was a sceptic ; but the Doctor would not for the world have susr- gested that Bruno should yield to the influence of a lower motive, because the premises of the argu- ment which urged him to the higher one were not those with which he himself agreed. CHAPTER XV. OLD ANXIETIES. " All things in order stored, A haunt of ancient peace." Tennyson. Elsie was naturally a merry and mirthful girl, and for some months past she had been in close attendance upon a suffering invalid. The pressure had been too heavy to be at once removed : she had felt the loss of her aunt, and she had been unusually quiet and depressed for the first part of their homeward journey. But time and change seemed to bring back the natural reaction to the girl's mind ; and on the day on which she was travelling homeward to England she felt so young, so joyous, so light-hearted, that she began to think she must be inexcusably hard to forget dear Aunt Emily so soon. And yet, how could she help it ? Take herself to task as she pleased, the fact re- 202 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. mained that her exile was at an end ; that she was going home to Middlebury, and Middlebury meant grandpapa and Ralph ; and girlish fun, and ease and love all her own once more. Perhaps Elsie was not quite conscious which was the greatest attraction of all. This was how Elsie mused, sitting in her corner seat of the carriage, as the train flew over the dull bare plains between Paris and Amiens. Opposite to her was Ninie Dulaurier's pretty face, eager with excitement and pleasure, a perfect picture from the shining hair to the round chin, the fresh lips displaying a lovelier curve parted than shut, and the white silk necktie tied in a dainty bow which nothing could teach Elsie to imitate. Elsie liked to give pleasure, and she had a special tenderness for Ninie as belonging to those childish days, which were now over for ever, connected with her child-friend Lilie Dulaurier, who had in- vested all that belonged to her with that touch of pathos that comes from the thought of "the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of a voice that is still." Elsie was one of those people who are very easily touched by vibrations from XV.] OLD ANXIETIES. 203 the past : Ninie seldom felt them. If it had not been for the old associations on Elsie's side, and for the pleasure she was capable of imparting to Ninie, there would have been but little in com- mon between the two. The Doctor sat by Elsie's side, and held Trentc et Quarantc open in his hand ; but in reality he was less interested in that inimitably amusing story than in the drama of real life in which he himself was one of the actors. The fact was, that the good Doctor, between his care for Elsie, his care for Ralph, his anxiety not to depress Ralph when he was working hard for his examination, and his sense that he ought not to come back into Elsie's company without knowing of the facts which forbade him to fall in love with her — a catastrophe more likely now, when for four years they had been strangers to each other, than if they had always been on the brother-and-sister footing of their childhood — had been at once over- cautious and over-rash. When he had been sum- moned to Mentone to bring Elsie back, he had written to Ralph to announce the fact, and, at the same time, had almost suddenly resolved that 204 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Ralph should no longer be kept ignorant of the Treguire history. He had intended not to tell him until he had done with brainwork at Cam- bridge ; but the prospect of Elsie's return pre- cipitated matters, and the Doctor, as gently as he could, put the facts of the case to Ralph in his letter. He did not alarm him about any pros- pect that he would himself have to undergo the Treguire malady. He belonged to the alternate generation which had frequently escaped, and the only point which the Doctor insisted upon strongly was that it was his duty to consider whether, under the circumstances, he was not morally debarred from marriage. He hoped very much that if, as he thought, Ralph was still heart- whole, the matter might not strike him as a severe personal deprivation, and might take shape gradually in his mind as an external circumstance of his life to which he had to conform his wishes, a limit of necessity within whose barrier he must restrain his steps. He did not think it strange that he had re- ceived no answer from Ralph. Ralph had written to Elsie, in answer to her letter telling him of her xv.] OLD ANXIETIES. 205 aunt's death, and had said, " I don't think I have ever thanked the Doctor for his last letter." This Dr. Gracedew took as a tacit acknowledgment of his advice. He was not surprised at its brevity, for Ralph was not a good letter-writer, and was more reserved by letter than in person. Accord- ingly, he did not mention the subject again. He meant to tell Elsie some time, but he was not sure whether Ralph would not rather mention it himself. Elsie had been his sister-confidante all his life. It might be better to let her hear it at once from him. ' I wonder who will win and wear my jewel after all !" here the Doctor's eyes rested lovingly upon Elsie's face. " She is quite as fresh-looking as she was that Christmas time when every one admired her, but she has gained in expression since then. Of course she has no pretensions to be considered a beauty like that pretty little French girl opposite, but it is a face that will wear — a face that husband and children may learn to love and reverence more and more until it attains to the ' clear light upon the holy candlestick — the beauty of the face in ripe 206 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. age.' The son of Sirach was a sceptic generally as to women, but I forgive him much for the sake of that sentence of his. Ah! if poor Ralph were not debarred from ever knowing the blessing of a good wife, could I wish better for my Elsie than the fate I am doing so much to avert from her now ?" " Amiens — Amiens ! Dix minutes d'arret ! " shouted the guard, bringing the Doctor's meditations to a conclusion, and immerging all the party in the general crowd round the buffet, anxious to procure soup which might be eaten in time without excori- ating the throat by its heat. Afterwards, when they started again, there was more to be seen from the windows ; and Elsie and her grandfather looked out at the poplar-wooded country with its shining streams, and rejoiced to think how near they were coming to their English home and the English life together, to which both looked forward with such pleasant anticipation. Then came the breezy Channel passage, which sent Ninie and Madame Regnier below into the cabin, but which brought fresh roses into Elsie's cheeks and fresh brightness into her eyes. " How glad I am, grandpapa," she said, "to think that I don't belong xv.] OLD ANXIETIES. 207 to the Continent, after all. It is so much pleasanter to live on an island, washed round and round day and night with this pure delicious salt freshness." "So you have not lost your patriotism yet, young woman ? " " O no ! I don't think anyone can who lives long abroad. Every year we used to see the English people rushing abroad, and I used to think that I should only be too thankful to get home and walk with you by the towing-path, instead of constantly going off to fresh places that I had never seen before. When I shut my eyes at night, I used sometimes to try and fancy that Ralph and I were little again, walking home with you by the river, and all the sky and water golden, and the roofs and spires of the town standing out clear and sharp and purple against the sunset. I am sure I never saw anything prettier than that anywhere." " Poor little home-sick girl ! It was hard upon you, sending you into exile for so long." " Oh, of course it could not be helped. Aunt Emily wanted me, and you could spare me : but I did so wish sometimes you had wanted me, instead grandpapa ! " 208 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " My dear little woman, I did want you very much indeed : quite as much as you wanted me." "Then why — " began Elsie. " For one thing : because I did not think I had any right to keep you from that poor lon'ely woman ; and for another, — because I thought that it was a better thing for you to learn discretion under a lady than under a rough old stager like me." " Grandpapa ! Was I so very indiscreet in the old days, then ? " said Elsie smiling. " I remember scandalizing Aunt Louisa by dancing all the round dances with Ralph, at my first ball ; but how was I indiscreet otherwise ? " " I don't know that you were, little woman ; but you see you had no mother to keep you in check, and I did not want your aunt Louisa to be per- petually talking about your little mistakes all over Middlebury, especially as I should never have found out myself that you were not conforming most rigidly to Mrs. Grundy's laws." "And now, I suppose, you consider me perfect in etiquette ? " said Elsie, smiling at him. " Do you know, grandpapa, I am afraid you have made a xv.] OLD ANXIETIES. 209 mistake, after all, if you think I have learnt all the ways that Aunt Louisa thinks correct, for I am afraid her idea of etiquette is very different from poor dear Aunt Emily's. You will have to forgive me if I shock her with my foreign notions even now. By the by, grandpapa, you have told me so very little about Ralph. I suppose he will be back in three weeks or so now, won't he ? " " I imagine so," said the Doctor, looking watch- fully at her. If she had dilated with any warmth upon her delight in the prospect of seeing him again, he might have thought that she too needed to know the facts about the Treguire history before she was again thrown into contact with Ralph. But Elsie said nothing ; and the Doctor, wise in much knowledge of his fellow-creatures, was not wise enough to know that this reticence in a girl like Elsie showed exactly the reverse of what he imagined it to do. But then he had had so little experience of girls ; and his wife had certainly never troubled him or puzzled him with reticence on any subject whatever. All musings, however, were suddenly dispersed when the Doctor, looking forward in the direction VOL. 1. P 210 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. to which they were going, perceived that the white cliffs, green grass, and brown houses of Dover had, while they had been talking, apparently advanced close to the steamer, and that in five minutes more they would be landing. This put an end to all conversation, and produced a hunt for rugs, shawls, bags, and straps, which were only just arranged when they drew up by the side of the pier, happy in that they were not the sport of the unsym- pathizing populace who haunt the pier in the afternoon to gloat over the miseries of their fellow- creatures. Madame Regnier and Ninie were brought up- stairs considerably relieved by the conclusion of their voyage, and the remainder of the day was spent in travelling home to Middlebury. It was evening before they reached it, and Elsie's first impulse on reaching the house was to run out through the garden-door and catch sight of the sunset flaming up between spires and chimneys, and reddening the grass and* the flowers in the dear old garden. " I do not like the house as well as I thought I should," said Ninie aside to Madame Regnier. " It is so sombre, and the furniture is so old. I xv.] OLD ANXIETIES. 211 thought that it would be larger, and finer, like Madame Treguire's salon." " Ah, my child, you cannot expect Parisian taste in the English ! " said little Madame Regnier, with a pitying inflection in her voice. P 2 CHAPTER XVI. AN ENGLISH HOME. " O fearful heart and troubled brain, Take hope and strength from this, That Nature never hints in vain Nor prophesies amiss." Whittier. The summer sun was shining in at the breakfast- room window when Dr. Gracedew came in the next morning at eight o'clock. Early as he was, however, some one else had been up before him ; and as he opened the door Elsie came in through the window, bearing in her hands a beauteous bunch of lilies of the valley which she had just gathered for the deco- ration of the table. " O grandpapa, you are too early ! I hoped I should have done this, and made the place respect- able before you came to see it ! " said the girl as she stood before him in the sunshine, which lighted up her white half-mourning gown and sunny brown hair. chap, xvi.] AN ENGLISH HOME. 213 It was a very sweet rosy face that was lifted up to his for the morning kiss, and there was an unusual solemnity of thankfulness in the Doctor's greeting — " God bless you, my dear ! " instead of the usual good-morning. Elsie liked it ; it seemed to con- secrate the new life which was beginning for her. " I told Ninie and Madame Regnier they were not to think of coming down before ten ; they both seemed so tired after their journey. Besides, I thought it would be nice to breakfast with you again as I used to do, only that we want Ralph to make it perfect. Dear old Ralph ! only think that I have not seen him for four years ! I hear the servants coming in to prayers ; shall I get your big Bible ? Here it is, looking just the same as ever — only a little dusty. I suppose Hannah's eyes are getting dim, and she does not see dust as she used to do." Elsie's talk was interrupted by the entrance of the three maids and the man who formed the Doctor's establishment ; and the Doctor read prayers in that tone of his, so unconventional, yet so deeply reve- rent, which Elsie said made you join in the prayers whether you felt inclined or not. Then Elsie sat 214 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. down at the head of the table, and poured out a cup of coffee which could not have been surpassed in Paris ; and the unoccupied chairs prepared for Madame Regnier and Ninie were forthwith filled by the two animals of the household — the big tabby cat Michael, and the little black-and tan terrier Carl. " And I suppose you will be busy all day seeing all your old parents after your holiday, grandpapa ? It is board-day, too. Now that I am come home I shall look after you, and scold you if you work too hard." " Ah, Miss, you will not have the general resource of womankind when they want to condemn men to a course of uselessness — to call in the doctor to frighten them into it ! " " No ; but I shall trust to my moral influence." " Very well ; I shall trust to mine to counteract yours, and we will see which is the strongest." "Ah! a little bird told me that I was very much wanted here, for a certain Doctor very seldom re- membered his meals when he was by himself." " That little bird committed the error of drawing an inference from one cr two exceptional cases." xvi.] AN ENGLISH HOME. 215 " Very well. I shall watch to see that the one or two exceptional cases do not occur again." " And what are you going to do with yourself all dav ? " "■ I suppose I must go to see Aunt Louisa some- time this morning, or else I shall be put into her black books for a month. I think I shall go directly after breakfast, which will kill two birds with one stone ; get a disagreeable thing done, and leave me free for Madame Regnier and Ninie when they come down." " By the by, I forgot one thing." The Doctor put his hand into his pocket and brought out a cheque for twenty pounds. " There, young woman ; that is to get some new and pretty furniture for your bedroom. I thought you should do it yourself when you came home ; then you could suit your own taste. A lovely maiden should have a lovely bower, you know." " An unlovely maiden too, I hope," said Elsie, kissing him ; " what a dear grandpapa you are to have thought of it ! I will take Madame Regnier into my counsels ; it is just the thing she will like. O, how nice it will be ! " 216 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. In another half-hour the Doctor was off in his pony-carriage ; and Elsie, hatted and gloved, was walking down Bridge Street to the little house where Mrs. John Gracedew still lived with her two daughters. The Doctor had hoped that his son John would have been able to come home before now ; but his wife always said that it was out of the question that he should do so until he had made sufficient money to place them in what she con- sidered competence for the rest of her life. " Competence, bare competence — not luxury — for me and my dear girls. I feel that it is my duty to take my stand upon tliat" she would say. " My good lady," said the Doctor on one occa- sion, waxing wroth, " you know perfectly well that if you were left a widow to-morrow, you and the two girls would have ten thousand pounds between you. " And that, Dr. Gracedew, is not what I consider competence ! " cried the lady, in evident displeasure. " It may have been my misfortune to be brought up in another circle and with other ideas than those which you seem to think fitting for me ; but my ideas of competence can hardly be expected to be those xvi.] AN ENGLISH HOME. 217 which no doubt I should have had if I had always lived in your sphere ! " She intended this to be cutting, but Dr. Gracedevv only laughed. It was a peculiarity of the good Doctor's that while he could get seriously angry on an impersonal cause, anything like a personal insult brought him at once to imperturbable good humour. So well was this known in Middlebury that his coarsest-fibred opponents in civic matters were wont to think twice before making personal attacks upon him, because the good humour of his laughing repartees was apt to make them feel small. On this occasion, Elsie rang at her aunt's bell, and was told that the family were at breakfast. Her cousins, good-natured, though rather shallow young women, hearing her voice, at once rushed out to bring her in ; and she was at once brought in to greet Mrs. John Gracedew. " How do you do, my dear Elsie ? I am indeed glad to see you, though you are such an early visitor," said her aunt, with a little reproach in her tone. " I am sorry to come so early, Aunt Louisa ; but 2i 8 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. I thought that if I came now, I should be able to leave my guests with a clear conscience, because they are not yet up." " But it is only your French governess, is it ? " said Fanny, looking puzzled. " ' Only ' in that case means a great deal to me," said Elsie, laughing. " It is quite right," said Mrs. Gracedew, " to be as particular as possible in civility to those kind of people. I am extremely glad, my dear Elsie, to know that you see your duty so clearly. Nothing is so much against people as to let it appear that one is conscious of social distinction." " I don't think I am conscious of any social dis- tinction in this case," said Elsie, much amused. " No ; perhaps you are right. Dr. Gracedew's position, of course, is a very humble one, in a social point of view — " " I did not mean that," said Elsie, firing up a little ; "I am sure grandpapa is as good as any- body, as far as that goes ; but I meant that Madame Regnier is quite as much a lady as any of us. She happens to be poor, but that makes no difference." xvi.] AN ENGLISH HOME. 219 Elsie spoke with some decision, and an implied protest against those plutocrat opinions of Mrs. John Gracedew, which she and her grandfather held in so much abhorrence. " Madame Regnier has brought her daughter with her, has she not ? " asked Fanny. " She has none," said Elsie ; " Ninie Dulaurier is here, that is all. M. Dulaurier was the Protestant pastor who used to give me Bible lessons on Sun- days," she added. " Oh, indeed. I suppose those French Protestants are very worthy sort of people, like our Dissenters. Is the young person come permanently, as a com- panion for you, my dear ? " " Oh no, of course not," said Elsie, laughing ; " Ninie is only come to stay with me for two months or so. She lost her only sister a year ago, and has been out of spirits ever since, and we all thought it would be good for her. What should I want with a companion ? " "Well, my dear, you are very young to be left alone all day, as Dr. Gracedew must leave you. If he had engaged some older person to live with you and keep up your French, I should have 220 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. thought it a very natural step," said Mrs. John, a little happily. " However, Ninie is two years younger than I am, and a great deal prettier, so I am afraid she would be very little use as a chaperon," laughed Elsie. " Talking of chaperons," said Laura — the link was not very obvious to any mind but her own — " how is it that you have not come back engaged. Elsie ? " " Yes," said Fanny, " you have seen so much society. We all fully thought we should have heard news of some sort about you." "You were mistaken, you see," said Elsie, with- out the slightest blush or confusion. " I found that I was very comfortable as I was. No one wished to marry me, and I did not wish to marry anybody : accordingly, here I am, an unpretending spinster, aged twenty-one last birthday." " Ah," said Mrs. Gracedew, meaningly, " it is all very well to talk like that. For my part, I always suspect a girl of a previous attachment, if she sees plenty of eligible young men, and fancies none of them." XVI.] AN ENGLISH HOME. 221 Perhaps it was the tone and the look, rather than the words, that made Elsie's rosy cheeks flush to a decidedly rosier hue. Perhaps it was merely anger at the impertinence of the attack. Anyhow she answered in a very quiet voice, " People are at liberty to bring- forward any amount of unfounded suspicions, I suppose. I should say they might find better things to do than to trouble themselves about what goes on in the inside of girls' minds ; but if they like to use their ingenuity in that way, I suppose there is nothing to prevent them." " You have not seen Ralph Treguire since you left England, I suppose?" said her aunt. " No. I suppose I shall find him a good deal altered. Good-bye, I must go," said Elsie, rising, and with difficulty restraining her wrath until the door into the street was shut behind her. No one was passing, and Elsie, notwithstanding her mature age, exploded girlishly in a dance of wrath. " I knew that would be it ! I knew they would begin their matrimonial chaff as soon as I got into the house ! If ever I accepted anybody, I do believe it would be because then there would 222 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. be a stop to Aunt Louisa's banter ! As if Ralph and I were not to be friends without the whole world at once taking it into their heads that we were to be engaged ! Dear old Ralph, who is just like my brother ! How I do want to see him again ! How I wonder whether he is changed ; his letters don't read as if he were. How I wish there was another ball coming on, and that he and I might dance eight dances together again ! Oh, how glad I am to be at home again, not- withstanding Aunt Louisa ! " Ninie and Madame Regnier had just made their appearance when Elsie came in. " There, madame," said Elsie, kissing the kind little withered face, " you will never believe again that the sun never shines in England, will you ?" "The day is beautiful — quite like Paris," said Madame Regnier. "And, my child, how beautiful your flowers are too ! How I wish Herve could be here to see them ! He loves flowers as much as I do." " He is at Rome, is he not ? He will get better flowers there," said Elsie. " Do they have gardens at the Jesuits' College ? " XVI.] AN ENGLISH HOME. 223 said Ninie, drily. Ninie was a very ardent Pro- testant. Her religion was not remarkably percep- tible in its effect upon her daily life, but she hated everything to do with the Roman Church with a hatred which would have satisfied the Rock. Her father and mother, who were by no means bigoted in their own views, agreed that in this respect at least Ninie was perfectly safe, and that Madame Regnier's influence, if she exerted any, would be perfectly innocuous to Ninie's Protes- tantism. Madame Regnier went into ecstasies over the coffee and eggs, and all that was on the breakfast- table. She could not have imagined, she said, that such coffee, or such eggs, or such white bread could have been produced in such a country as England. She must go round the house, and Elsie must show her an- English kitchen. She had heard of spits turned by dogs. Did Carl turn the kitchen spit ? and how could such a very small dog have sufficient strength for the work ? Ninie, on the other hand, was all anxiety to see the game of croquet, which figured so much in the English story books she had read. Would Elsie teach her 224 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. to play ? Elsie promised to perform both these conflicting tasks, explaining that Madame Regnier must not expect to see Carl turning the spit on which a great piece of raw rosbif a VAnglaise was hanging, and that Ninie would run some risk of sunstroke if she attempted to play croquet in the full sun between eleven and one. She proposed instead that they should both give their advice as to the spending of the twenty pounds with which her bedroom was to be furnished, and accordingly she and her guests went upstairs to inspect the room. Elsie's bedroom had been her own and Ralph's day-nursery when they were children ; and it had a homelike, nurserv look about it still. There was a high grate with hobs, which reminded Elsie of the bread and milk which used to stand there to sim- mer, and a high fender, which she could remem- ber looking through before she was tall enough to see over it ; and two sunny windows looking out into the garden. Carpet and curtains would have to be bought, and Madame Regnier proposed that they three should be their own upholsterers, so as to make the money go further. Likewise she sug- gested that they should cover the sofa and old arm- XVI.] AN ENGLISH HOME. 225 chair with new chintz, and make a cover of the same, French fashion, for the bed. The little woman entered so heartily into these plans, that they were all infected with her eagerness, and set to work, under her directions, that very afternoon. Perhaps all this may seem to be a very trivial matter — not worth putting into a story that pro- fesses to tell of the depths of men's and women's lives — but I tell it because these three weeks during which Elsie and her guests were thus em- ployed stood out in Elsie's mind for the rest of her life like the last half hour of serene weather before the clouds begin to darken the sky, or like the end of the bright allegretto movement in a sonata before the minor wail of the adagio. How often afterwards she recollected the light heart with which she stitched at that chintz, with its pattern of green and brown ferns on a white ground ; and the French chattering that went on over it ; and the delightful old traditions which Madame Regnier raked up out of her memory for the benefit of the two girls who sat and listened ! Ninie was happy and amused by the change ; and she was not yet bored by the quiet life they led, VOL. I. q 226 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xvi. and proved herself the nimblest worker of all ; and the Doctor was proud and pleased and happy at having his little Elsie back again. Those were the days when his patients congratulated him on growing younger, rather than older ; and his eyes shone brightly as he replied that it was all from the care his little granddaughter took of him. The days lengthened, and the leaves broadened and darkened, and the birds hushed from full song into happy chirpings and trills, as though their domestic cares were adverse to artistic perfection. It was June, and on the 20th of June Ralph was to come home to Middlebury. Elsie found herself counting the days, as she used to do at Paris when it grew near the holidays. She said very little about it, however. Mrs. John Gracedew, or her own heart, had made her conscious so far as caution went ; and, of course, she only cared for Ralph Treguire as a brother CHAPTER XVII. RALPH'S RETURN. " That is my home of love: if I have ranged, Like him that travels, I return again, Just to the time, not with the time exchanged." , Shakespeare. The birds were chirping cheerily in the branches, and the air was blue with the blueness of an English summer morning ; and Elizabeth Gracedew awoke from the sound sleep of her twenty-one years with one thought in her mind — a very pleasant one, as you would gather from her waking smile — " Ralph is coming home to-day ! " All that morning she looked brimful of happi- ness ; smiling to herself unconsciously at intervals, and taking little dancing steps instead of walking when she was alone. Ninie laughed at her, and asked her why she put on that air joyeux. " Because it is such charming weather," said Elsie. Q 2 228 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " Then I suppose," said Ninie, " that you are always triste when there are fogs ? " " Elsie has a contented disposition, which goes for much," said Madame Regnier. " It is very easy to be contented when one has all one can desire," said Ninie, rather enviously. " Very," said Elsie laughing. " I don't know any human being whom I should wish to change with at present ; so that I can't take much credit to myself for contentment." Elsie went out into the garden, and gathered flowers, and arranged them in her French biscuit- vase for Ralph's room. Then she took a look round it, and thought that the old table-cloth looked shabby ; she would replace it with the fresh one bought for her own room. She set the vase in the centre, and fetched some of her own books to fill the little carved bookstand which she had given him for a birthday present years ago : Heine's songs, Ruskin's " Queen of the Air," "The Earthly Paradise," and "The Idylls of the King." She arranged the ornaments on the mantel- piece in a more graceful way, and brought in one or two fresh ones to fill up gaps. " Dear old xvil] RALPH'S RETURN. 229 Ralph," she said to herself as she lingered over her task with loving touches, " I hope he will think that there is some good in having a lady in the house to make things look nice. I wonder whether he will get on well with Ninie ? He used to be rather shy with strange girls. However, he can't be shy with her long, she is so pretty and has such pretty ways." "Are you coming down to the station with me, Elsie?" said her grandfather, when it drew near the time of Ralph's arrival. " I have to go on to Clover End to see the Dixeys ; but you might as well come with me, and bring Ralph back." " Or," said Elsie, fired by a sudden thought, " we might both walk up to Clover End with you. Ralph will have lunched in town, and it is such a lovely afternoon for a walk. Ninie and Madame Regnier have some shopping to do in the town." " And can they perform that without your assistance ? " " Why, yes, grandpapa ! Ninie talks English as fluently as I do ; it is only her accent that betrays her. * Oh, I have no compunction in letting them do their shopping without me ; besides, they 230 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. shop like Frenchwomen, and take so much time over it ! " " Come along, then. The train will be due in ten minutes." Elsie was ready in a moment, and she and her grandfather walked down together to the station, which was not far off. A few moments of waiting, and the train steamed up all noise and bustle, and a slight, grey-coated young man sprang out and came up to them." " Well, Ralph ! " « Well, Elsie ! This is jolly ! " This was all the greeting that passed, but eyes and faces said a great deal more ; and when Ralph had rescued his portmanteau from the van, and delivered it into the porter's charge, he gladly hailed Dr. Gracedew's proposal of walking at once with him and Elsie to Clover End, instead of re- turning home straightway. Ralph was still boyish-looking, and not very tall, though he had grown to his full height. There was nothing very distinctive about his look, either for good or ill. You would not remark on him as either tall or short, handsome or ugly. When [I.] RALPH'S RETURN. 231 you came to look closely at him, you perceived that, although none of his features were good, there was a pleasant frankness about their expres- sion ; the complexion was clear and healthy, and the forehead was well formed. He appeared younger than his real age, and was rather like a public school-boy in his last year ; he looked ycu full in the face when he spoke, and had a ready and pleasant boyish laugh. Anything less like the traditional aspect of the Treguires — tall, broad, and dark-complexioned — could scarcely be imagined, and the Doctor rejoiced in the unlikeness. He looked keenly at the lad to see if there were any change in his countenance such as might have been pro- duced by brooding upon the facts of the letter he had sent him ; but Ralph looked unusually merry and light-hearted. " Ah," thought the Doc- tor, " boys take things lightly, if they don't inter- fere with their present enjoyment. Ralph's mind would probably have been much more disturbed, if I had told him that he was debarred from boating, or from going in for his degree, than it is by being forbidden to think of a vague, ' not impossible she.' " -32 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " Well, old fellow, and what are you going to do all this vacation ? " " I am going to be very virtuous ; stay at home and read till the middle of August," said Ralph. " After that, I mean to go up to Scotland with Urquhart, who has asked me and one or two other men to come and stay on his moor for the grouse- shooting. So I must get all my reading done before then." " And what will you get ? " " Oh, I shall not do anything more than pass ; but I don't expect to be plucked," said Ralph, looking up at Elsie's bright face. " Plucked ! I should think not indeed," said the girl merrily ; " unless you have grown much more idle than you used to be when I last knew you, Ralph." " Ah, what ages it is since I saw you last, Elsie ! " " Yes. You had not a shadow of beard then, and you were in the sixth form at Marlborough, and used to lament that you had only one more term there. But you seem to have survived leaving it nevertheless ! " xvii.] RALPH'S RETURN. 233 " You will have a chance to rub up your French now, Ralph, and I hope you will take the oppor- tunity of making yourself very agreeable to Elsie's little French friend," said the Doctor. " I'll try. I could hardly believe in the French invasion when I first heard of it, though ; it seemed so unlike your old habits, sir." It had been " grand- papa " in the old days, and Elsie's quick ear noted the difference; but the "sir" was quite as affec- tionate and eager in tone as the old appellation, and after all, she could not well expect Ralph to go on all his life assuming a relationship to the Doctor which did not exist. " Madame Regnier's visit was a long-standing promise," said the Doctor ; " and Mademoiselle Dulaurier has been in trouble, poor child ! She lost her sister a year ago, and has not recovered her spirits since. Do you recollect her, Ralph?" " I recollect a merry little tomboy of a child, who played cricket, and who was promptly ex- tinguished by her mother for so doing ; and a dull one, priggish and good. Which is this ? " " The tomboy," said Elsie ; " Lilie was the one who died. Ninie always was brighter and prettier 234 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. than her sister ; but Lilie was a dear good little thing, and more to Ninie than she knew until she lost her. Ninie pined very much after her, but I think she is getting brightened up now, don't you, grandpapa ? " They passed on out of the town into the plea- sant green meadows, talking in the free pleasant way which old friends do after a long absence : when what is said seems to be but a little frac- tion of all that has to be told, and yet for that very reason nothing in the telling is forced or hurried. " Here we are at Clover End," said the Doctor at last ; " I must leave you young people to entertain each other outside while I go into this house." Accordingly he entered, and Elsie sat down on the stile, while Ralph took his pipe out of his pocket and lighted it. " Ah, Ralph, that is a new accomplishment," she said. " Yes ; the Doctor made me promise when first I went to school that I would never smoke until I had done growing ; and a year ago I considered that that desirable time had arrived. So since then XVII.] RALPH'S RETURN. we have smoked our pipes together every evening, to his immense advantage over me." " How ? " " Because the dear old governor is so agreeable over his pipe that I can't resist telling him all the secrets of my heart when he pumps me. I don't believe there is such another man in England, do you ? " " No, nor in the world," said his granddaughter. " He has missed you awfully. I am very glad you have come home, for his sake," said Ralph. " So am I ; but I can't see that it can make much difference to him, or I suppose he would not have insisted on my staying away so long." " Why, Elsie," said Ralph, " don't you know better than that ? Don't you know that it is a part of his Quixotism — that he will never let his own wishes interfere with what he thinks good for anyone else ? " " It was not nearly so good for me to go rack- eting over the Continent for four years as it would have been to stay quiet with him here," said Elsie. " I wish he had asked my opinion about it ! " " Well, it does not seem to have altered you 236 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. much," said Ralph, eyeing her. " You look awfully nice, Elsie." Elsie coloured with pleasure. There was nothing but brotherly frankness in Ralph's tone, but his remark was very pleasant to her ; all the more, per- haps, for that. How often lately she had wondered whether Ralph would think her spoiled by her exile — whether he would think that she had grown into the conventional young lady whom in early days they had both agreed in abhorring. Her mind was set at ease upon that score, and she carried on the subject by saying — "Of course I was very glad to be a comfort to poor Aunt Emily, ill and lonely as she was ; but I daresay I was a little goose ; I was rather vexed to think that grandpapa gave me up to her so easily. "You may comfort yourself with the thought that he hated it just as much as you could," said Ralph, puffing away at his pipe. "Did he really? I am very glad if he did. Do you know, Ralph, I have only just arrived at the fact that you are of age, and don't want a guardian any longer ? " xvii.] RALPH'S RETURN. 237 " I do, though. I always make him tell me what to do all the same. I flatter myself that if I have one small grain of sense in my head it is that I value the governor's brains at what they are worth, and make them do duty for his and mine too." " And did you have rejoicings at Brynscombe ? " " No, I wasn't such a fool. What on earth was there to rejoice about ? " " Why, you may be glad to come of a long line of ancestors who have had Brynscombe from time immemorial." " I don't fancy my ancestors were fellows to be particularly proud of. At least, so somebody in- formed me once ; but then he heard it from the Wyvertons, who think they ought to have had Brynscombe themselves, and may feel it their duty to blacken the poor old Treguires. Old Wyverton appears to have said that the only respectable man among them for generations was my grandfather, who spent his life wandering over the world to study the religion of savages. He was awfully clever, but as mad as a hatter. That is what some of the men say of me, because I take a little interest in my physical science, and think it 238 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. necessary to do a certain amount of work in the course of the day ; " and Ralph laughed. " But I don't care ; the governor says all the Treguires have had a hobby, or come to grief for want of one. And I never did see why a man should be idle because he has a certain amount of tin of his own." "Nor I," said Elsie. " That same tin is so absurdly overrated, too ! Why Elsie, last summer I was staying in two or three country houses for the shooting, towards the end of the ' Long ' ; and Winterton was there too. You know he is worth a dozen of me in brains and goodness, and anything you like to mention except money ; and yet those idiotic women were always passing him over, and going out of their way to be extra civil to me. I assure you, I once overheard old Lady Maria giving it to her daughter for having been no more than commonly civil to him, after all. She said he was nobody ! I should have liked to tell her that we don't call a man nobody who was senior classic of his year, and stroke of the 'Varsity eight ! " Elsie laughed, but Ralph was quite serious. xvn.] RALPH'S RETURN. 239 " People say that is the way in society, and I oueht to cro in for a London season to rjet used to it. I wouldn't for the world. I'm glad you've never had a London season, Elsie. I'm sure they must be awfully bad things for girls." " I'd rather spend my time at home," she answered, much amused at his earnestness. " So would I. I've settled what I mean to do when I leave Cambridge." " What ? " " Well, I mean to spend the autumn and winter at Brynscombe, and hunt and shoot, and work at physical science in between. In the spring I mean to come here for a long visit always, when other people go to town ; and then I shall go abroad about July, and get Bruno Noel to come with me to Switzerland, or Spain, or somewhere pleasant of that sort, and come home by the first of September, and shoot partridges. I think that will be a very jolly life, don't you?" "Till Mrs. Ralph turns up." " Oh, she won't turn up yet. No fear." Dr. Gracedew, coming out of the cottage, paused a moment to look at his bright young pair, as 240 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xvii. they sat in the sunshine talking by the stile. There was a thorough look of enjoyment about both, visible not only in expression, but in attitude ; and Elsie, who was one of those people who could look positively pretty at times, and almost plain at others, looked her very best now, with the long white gown flecked with shadow and sunshine, and a stray sunbeam lighting up her rosy cheek and bright brown hair. " I have kept you a long time, but we must come home now," said the Doctor. CHAPTER XVIII. NINIE. " A blooming pair of vermeil cheeks, Like Hebe in her ruddiest hours, A breath that softer music speaks, Than summer winds awooing flowers." Anon. " Nobody in the drawing-room," said Elsie, peeping in. " Ah, I see Ninie's grey gown in the garden ; let me go and find her, Ralph. I want to intro- duce you to her." Ninie did not move or speak as they came towards her, and Elsie, with some amusement, said, " I do believe it is a case of the Sleeping Beauty, Ralph ! Come close up to her and admire her, for she always looks so pretty when she is asleep." Ninie was half-sitting, half-lying on the grass, in a graceful attitude — she could not put herself into an ungraceful one if she tried — and her head, VOL. i. R 2 \2 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. turned towards one shoulder, and slightly bent orward, was supported by the moss-covered trunk of one of the Doctor's fine old trees. The long eyelashes lay upon the pink cheek, and the pretty pouting lips were in their prettiest curve of repose. Elsie looked up at Ralph, and saw him gazing in speechless admiration at the dark-haired little beauty before him. " Get out of the way for a minute, Ralph," said Elsie ; " I want to wake her, and she will be con- fused if you catch her in the act of sleeping in the garden." Ralph accordingly walked away. " Wake up, Ninie, dear," said Elsie, stooping down and kissing her. " I have brought Ralph Treguire here, and I want to introduce him to you." Ninie started up, flushing pinker at the thought of having been caught asleep ; but Ralph had dis- creetly retired into a side walk, and by the time he emerged from it Ninie had recovered her com- posure. " I remember myself of you very well, Mr. Treguire," she said ; the slip in her English being the only thing which proved that she was still either only half awake, or slightly confused. xviii.] NINIE. 243 " I remember a game of cricket in which I had the pleasure of instructing you once," said Ralph, smiling. " Oh, do you remember that ? " said Ninie, eagerly ; " and how we ran in our best frocks, and mamma was vexed ? " " Have you ever played cricket since then, Made- moiselle Dulaurier ? " " Never. I wish I had ; it was so good ! " she said regretfully. " Let us have a game in the field now, Elsie," said Ralph, eagerly. " Oh, I wish we could ! But no ; Madame Regnier would see, and report it to mamma, and mamma would scold," said Ninie simply. "We must content ourselves with croquet, then. Have you forgotten your croquet, Elsie ? " said Ralph. " No ; I have been playing a good deal with Ninie of late. But wait a minute, Ralph, and I will fetch Madame Regnier to make a fourth ; the dear old thing does enjoy it so much !" And accordingly the little Frenchwoman was brought down to join them, and Elsie took charge of R 2 244 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. her play. They had a very merry game together, Ralph and Ninie against Elsie and Madame Regnier; and though Ninie was not a brilliant player, it was surprising how much praise and encouragement her performance elicited from Ralph. Elsie was glad to see that the two seemed to be getting on well together ; for notwithstanding Ninie's pretty face and dainty ways, Elsie herself missed a good deal that she would have liked in a friend, and feared that Ralph might have been bored by her. Such, however, was evidently not the case this after- noon, whatever it might be on a longer acquaint- ance. After Ninie had gone to bed that evening, Elsie sat upstairs in her room pondering over her friend's character, as she had never done before. She did not analyse the impulse that made her do it now : if she had been of a more self-conscious mould she might have done so. Ralph had said to her that evening, " What a perfectly charming little person your friend is, Elsie ! " and Elsie had re- plied warmly "Yes; is not she quite as pretty as I said ? " " Pretty and nice too ; perfect, in fact," said Ralph to this : and Elsie was wondering XVlil.] NINIE. ; 45 whether it was a beam in her own eye which made her so conscious of the mote in Ninie's. " Perfect," thought Elsie ; " no, I don't think she is that. She is very childish still. I dare say she will improve as she grows older; but I don't think she behaved quite as she ought to have done after Lilie's death, when her father and mother were so unhappy, and she would not open to them as they wished her to do. Of course, people can't help being reserved ; but Ninie was more than re- served — what I should call selfish — and all the time she is the very apple of her parents' eyes. And then one has to be so careful about making her angry ; she gets angry so easily about some things. I always feel like Ralph's dog Rolf by the side of Carl when I am with her. She seems easily moved, and shallow, like a gold-fish pond ; and yet I know she has plenty of good in her, and feels strongly on some things. I dare say I am very uncharitable, and she is a great deal better in many things than I am, but she is not perfect ! " Ninie was late for prayers next morning, but she came down to breakfast with her hair ar- ranged in a newer and perhaps more becoming 246 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. way than that in which she had been wont to wear it, with a pink bow on one side. Ralph sat opposite to her, and looked at her all breakfast- time. Madame Regnier glanced at her in distinct disapproval. She liked young girls to dress a r ingenue, and she felt herself to a certain degree responsible for Ninie's appearance. Madame Du- laurier, she said, had confided Ninie to her care, and she therefore felt it necessary to watch over her as if she were her own daughter. Probably she said something of this to Ninie ; for in the course of the day Ralph said to Elsie " I fancy your little friend would enjoy herself much more without her duenna." "Madame Regnier? why, Ralph, she is kindness itself to Ninie, I am sure." " Ninie is very much afraid of her, I think, from what she has said to me." " O Ralph, if you knew Madame Regnier as Ninie and I do, you would not think it possible to be afraid of her." " I don't suppose you are given to be afraid of anyone," said Ralph ; " but that little girl is of a different mould. What a sweet little poetical face XVIII.] NINIE. 247 she has, Elsie ! she looks as if she ought to be put under a glass case, and shielded from all the roughness of life. There is a great charm about those fragile, imaginative creatures who ought to sleep on rose leaves and feed on fresh fruit with the dew on it." " She has made you poetical for the first time," laughed Elsie, stifling the impulse which would have led her to declare that Ninie had nothing poetical about her except her face ; for that a more unimaginative and practical little French- woman never existed. Ninie had had no pains spared in her education ; but her recollections of " Esther " and " Athalie " were of the dreariest de- scription ; she rarely opened a book of any sort voluntarily ; she was clever at her needle, and (when she chose) at the kitchen arts ; and she was cap- able of making a clever, economical, managing little Parisian matron, when the right man should be found for her by her parents. But as to her being poetical ! Carl was quite as poetical as Ninie, Elsie thought, as she patted his shining black head, and felt him press his cold nose into her hand in token of affection. 248 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. The fact was that Elsie had in the last twenty- four hours found in her mind a constant inclination to disparage Ninie, and she therefore took special pains not to do so. Perhaps it was as well that she should keep silence as she did, as it was not likely that Ralph would have accepted her reading of the French girl's character rather than his own. Even as it was, Ralph thought her less sympathetic on this subject than he had fancied she would be. A ring at the bell disturbed this interview, which was a very casual one, carried on while Elsie was doing various things which fall within the sphere of the lady head of a household, tying up club-books, arranging fresh flowers, altering the position of various ornaments, which were arranged by the old housemaid rather with a view to "what came handiest" than to any abstract ideas of beauty. " Mrs. John Gracedew and the Miss Gracedews " were announced, and Elsie gave one look of comical misery at Ralph as the trio swept into the room, arrayed in costumes that might have been suitable for driving in Hyde Park, but were singularly out of place in a quiet country town. But then this was a state visit performed in Ralph's honour. The fair xviii.] NINIE. 249 Fanny and Laura were still single, and Mrs. John Gracedew would have had no objection to see either of them change their name for that of Ralph Treguire of Brynscombe. She did not at all approve of Elsie Gracedew coming home, and her grandfather positively throwing her at the poor young man's head ; she had warned him many years ago of what would be said of both of them. It was as much for his sake as for anyone's that she felt it her duty to look after Elsie when Ralph Treguire was in the way. For this pur- pose she came to call this afternoon. There was nothing for it but to endure the infliction. The three visitors sat down on three chairs, and Mrs. Gracedew addressed her con- versation to Elsie, leaving the coast clear for Ralph to make himself agreeable to her daughters. Mrs. Gracedew always did this when she made a morning call ; it was her principle, and she was a staunch adherent to most social principles of this nature. Mrs. Gracedew was just impressing upon Elsie that the drawing-room furniture needed renewing, and offering her the benefit of her own experience 250 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. and advice if she could persuade the Doctor to think so, when a vision of beauty came to the window in the shape of Ninie, with a basket of roses in her hand, which she had brought from an old Middlebury lady, a friend of the Doctor's, who had taken a fancy to the pretty French girl. She had not been aware of the presence of visitors, and the unexpected sight of Elsie's aunt and cousins made her cheeks flush suddenly ; but she recovered herself, and walked in at the window with shy composure, very pretty to see. " How do you do, Mademoiselle Dulaurier ? " said Mrs. Gracedew, with frigid politeness. She persisted in looking on Ninie in the light of a humble com- panion, with the social status of the daughter of a country Dissenting minister. " I am quite well, I thank you," said Ninie, in the laboriously correct English which she always used when she was shy. " I suppose you are enjoying yourself here greatly. I daresay you find the society here very different to that which you are accustomed to at home," said Mrs. Gracedew, in her most patronizing voice. " I find it very agreeable, madame," answered the xviil.] NINIE. 251 French girl, with instinctive good breeding which did not admit of betraying the wrath which she could not help feeling. "Ah, yes. I can quite believe that. You must not let Elsie spoil you for your home, made- moiselle." " Madame ? " said Ninie, not altogether compre- hending. " I mean that no doubt it is a pity to become used to a style of life different from that to which you have been born." " What do you mean, Aunt Louisa ? " said Elsie indignantly ; and Ralph at the same time said quietly, but decidedly, " I think you must be mis- taking Mademoiselle Dulaurier for some one else, Mrs. Gracedew." Mrs. Gracedew subsided, and Elsie began talking fast to Fanny' and Laura in order to change the subject. Ninie put down her roses and went out. Ralph was just rising to follow her, when Mrs. Gracedew stopped him. " What do you mean, Mr. Treguire ? Surely that young person is only the Protestant minister's daughter ? " " Monsieur Dulaurier is one of the finest orators RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. and the most respected men in Paris," said Ralph, " and Madame Dulaurier is descended from the ancienne noblesse. And allow me to remark that as the young lady is a guest in Dr. Gracedew's house, I do not think he would wish her to be " — insulted Ralph was going to say, but he changed it into " disparaged." He bowed and went out, leaving Mrs. John Gracedew somewhat extinguished. Ninie was walking along the shady side of the garden, where she could not be seen from the drawing-room. Her face was flushed, and there were angry tears in her eyes. Ralph came up to her and said courteously, " I feel as if we must all beg your pardon for that woman's rudeness." "What did she mean by insulting me in that way ? " said Ninie, turning round upon him. " Those are the English manners ! No Frenchwoman would have been so insolent ! " " I gave her a little piece of my mind, however," said Ralph. " Don't mind about her, Ni — made- moiselle ; she is a vulgar, under-bred woman, and Elsie and I both let her see what we thought of her behaviour." xvm.] NINIE. 253 " It is very kind of you to take my part," said Ninie gratefully. " Everyone must have done that. But made- moiselle, I want to make a little compact with you. " Eh bien ? " said Ninie. " When we were children, and played that memor- able game of cricket, we called each other by our Christian names. Don't you think we might re- vert to the custom ? You always call Elsie by hers, you know, and I am just like Elsie's brother," said Ralph, using an argument which would not hold much water. " Is that the English custom in such cases ? " said Ninie simply. " Yes, invariably," answered Ralph. " When people have been intimate as children they never call one another Mr. and Miss in after life." It was perhaps a stretch of imagination that Ralph and Ninie had ever been intimate as chil- dren, but that could not be helped. They were now established firmly on the footing of Christian names, as Ralph told Elsie when they came in about an hour later. It never seemed to strike 254 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. him that Elsie had been sitting alone in the drawing-room all this time, prevented from coming out to them by the necessity of arranging Ninie's roses in water, and of otherwise setting the room to rights. Madame Regnier was upstairs writing to her son, and Elsie had had no companion. She seemed somehow " out of it," and that is never pleasant to anyone. In the evening it was the same. Ralph and Ninie went out into the garden to look at the stars. Dr. Gracedew went to sleep, and Madame Recnier talked to Elsie about the difference be- tween English and French manners. " Do you think it is improper, my dear ? Ought I to call Ninie in, as I should at once do if I were in France ? " " Oh no, madame, there is nothing improper in it," said Elsie laughing ; but her heart was heavy all the time. She went to the piano and played Ralph's old favourite, the "March of the Priests," from " Athalie." She had a vague idea in her mind that it would bring him inj it would have done so in the old days when they met in the holidays, and could not make too much of one xviil.] NINIE. 255 another. But the charm failed now, and Elsie was vexed with herself for having tried it. Ralph did come in at last, but it was only to say, " Elsie, Ninie says she can sing that pretty little thing, Si vous naves ricn a me dire, if you will play it for her." Elsie played it, but it was rather dreary work for her. Ninie had a sweet little shrill voice, not very full, but capable of a good deal of coquettish expression ; and she gave her fullest power to this song. Elsie herself did not sing, though she had a good ear and played well ; and Dr. Gracedew awoke and listened contentedly to Ninie's song, and thanked her courteously when it was done for the pleasure she had given him. Then it was time for prayers, and then they all went to bed, the Doctor remarking as they did so that Elsie looked tired. Elsie was tired, but sleep did not come to her quite so soon as usual. Could she be growing jealous of poor little Ninie ? CHAPTER XIX. CONFIDENCES. " But were there ever any, Writhed not at passed joy? To know the change and feel it, When there is none to heal it Or numbed sense to steal it, Was never said in rhyme." Keats. The days went on ; bright, pleasant summer days they were, full of little innocent amusements and gaieties, such as Elsie would have enjoyed to the full at any other time. But now the edge of her enjoyment seemed to be taken off by a thousand little trivial occurrences, each of which singly was too little to notice, but which, massed together, kept up a constant little annoyance and sense of something denied in a mind ordinarily very easily contented. Summed up, the matter seemed to be that Ralph was always entertaining Ninie, and that Ninie preferred being entertained in ways which CHAP, xix.] CONFIDENCES. 257 took her out of Madame Regnier's sight. This in- volved Elsie's staying to entertain Madame Regnier, whom her sense of hospitality would not allow her to neglect ; and she could not help thinking that it would have been kinder of Ralph if he had now and then recollected that it was dull for her to be so often left out of amusements which she would have enjoyed extremely ; and if he had proposed to Ninie that they should do something which would include Madame Regnier and Elsie in their party. The old Ralph that she had cared for so long, and carried in her heart all these years would, she thought, have done so ; but Ralph ac- quiesced immediately in any suggestion of Ninie's, and Ninie never had any ideas but for her own gratification. At last there came a picnic, given by the rector's wife, Mrs. St. John, to which they were all invited. They were to go with the rectory party ; and the morning broke cloudless and sunny. At twenty- one a picnic is something of an event, and Elsie may therefore be excused if she felt slightly dis- appointed when the morning's post brought a note from an ancient maiden lady, a contemporary of VOL. I. S 258 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. her grandmother, to say that she was coming to luncheon, and hoped to make acquaintance with the Doctor's sweet little granddaughter, of whom she had heard so much. Now, the Doctor was obliged to be out all day, and though he did not like to disappoint Elsie, he was equally loth to fail in respect towards Miss Beadon, who had been very kind and helpful in ancient days, when some domestic trouble had befallen Mrs. Gracedew. Ac- cordingly the Doctor's sweet little granddaughter, with much reluctance, made up her mind that she ought to stay at home. Her feelings towards Miss Beadon were not inwardly of the most amiable character, but she managed to disguise them so that the worthy old lady did not discover that her ill-timed visit had kept back her hostess from a pleasure party, and thought that Elsie enjoyed her conversation very much. At last Miss Beadon departed, and Elsie was left to her own devices. She had the house to herself: it was pleasant and cool in the hot July afternoon, and she took her work and sat in the drawing-room window, looking out into the sunny garden, feeling rather glad of the rest and quiet, xix.] CONFIDENCES. 259 and for once rejoicing in her absolute solitude. As usual, her thoughts strayed from her work to Ralph and Ninie. What had once been merely a suspicion in her mind was now grown into a con- viction, namely — that Ralph was falling every day deeper in love with the little French beauty, and poor Elsie could not help making herself miserable over the thought. " For I know Ninie too well not to see what a wilful, selfish little thing she is, notwithstanding all her pretty ways. She will never make Ralph happy. She will turn him round her little finger for her own ends, as she used to do with me and Lilie. She is not in the least worthy of him, and she will make him unhappy all his life. Oh, why did I ever ask her to come here ? " Elsie laid down her work and looked out of the window with swimming eyes that saw very little of the sunshine outside. Then she forced back the tears with cheeks that flushed scarlet with shame at herself. " What a horrid wretch I am ! I never thought I was jealous, but now I see I must be. Why can't I see Ninie's good points as well as her bad ones ? Why should I expect Ralph to ■ S 2 260 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. think as much of me as he used to do when he is in love with her? Oh, if Aunt Louisa knew what a horrid little wretch I am, would not she think all her insinuations were true ? They are not true ! " protested Elsie vehemently to herself, while her cheeks flamed hotly as if to contradict her thoughts. "Of course Ralph is only a ( brother to me ; but even a sister might be excused if she did not wish to see her brother throwing himself away on a girl like Ninie. And at this very moment I suppose they are mooning about to- gether, and she is taking him in with those soft, shy, pretty looks of hers that she always puts on when she has nothing to' say. I know how little they really mean, but I can't tell him. How wicked and disgusting I am growing ! " Here Elsie threw down her work, and walked up and down the room with her hands pressed together. "There must be some way out of this for me. It's nonsense to say that I'm in a position where I can't help being jealous and uncharitable. That is worse than look- ing on and seeing Ralph fall in love with Ninie. What am I to do ? I suppose there is only one way to conquer all this. I must put myself out xix.] CONFIDENCES. 261 of the question altogether and try to sympathize with both of them. I might influence Ninie, though I don't believe anyone ever will, and make her see how Ralph needs to be treated if she is to make him happy. I am sure if they do marry one another they will need somebody to set their jars straight; and if I had tact I might be of use then. But I am so horridly abrupt and downright ! I shall never be any use in that way, I am afraid. Still they may both be glad some day to have some one who loves them unselfishly, and will stand by them if they are in trouble. I must try to be that one. Of course I shall always be free for it. I shall devote myself to grandpapa, and he will have me to himself all his life. And I suppose one ought not to mind if things do go all crooked in this life ; there is a Providence over us all — over Ralph, and Ninie, and me — and perhaps this may be the right thing for us all to go through, though I don't quite see how." And Elsie — the aching at her heart a little quieted by the true grandeur of that apparently trite thought — went out into the garden and paced up and down the grass, letting the soft air blow 262 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. upon her heated brow. Her face grew quiet and serene as she walked and mused, and a new clear- ness shone out of her eyes as she climbed the hard steps of self-renunciation and acquiescence in the dispositions of a Higher Will. When Elsie came in she put away her work, and sat down to write letters at her Davenport, to divert her thoughts from the question which had been so hard for her to consider. Then she went out into the hall to put the letters into the post- box, and in doing so she made a curious discovery. The hall was usually dark from the absorption of light by the dark wood with which it was panelled ; but in the afternoon the sunshine fell straight into it through the high west window, and lighted it up with long lines of glorified dust, which produced a soft, velvety, and wholly artistic effect. Just now the sunbeams fell upon the letter-box, and Elsie perceived a slightly gaping crack at the side, as if the glue with which it was joined together had given way. Taking it up to examine it, she per- ceived that the side was slightly warped, and that an envelope had got wedged in the fissure. She took it up, and perceived that .it was in her xix.] CONFIDENCES. 263 grandfather's handwriting, and was addressed to Ralph Treguire, Trinity College, Cambridge. It must therefore be quite an old letter, Elsie thought, as Ralph had left Cambridge for a month or so already. She put the letter into her pocket, and went back into the drawing-room, thinking little more of the matter. Dr. Gracedew was called that afternoon to watch a critical case which kept him from returning home to dinner, and Elsie forgot to give the note to Ralph when he returned from his party with Ninie and Madame Regnier, all of whom seemed to have enjoyed themselves greatly. Ninie and Madame Regnier were tired, and went to bed early ; and Elsie intended to sit up for her grandfather until there was no chance of his returning that night. Thus it was that she and Ralph had an unwonted tete-a-tete that evening in the garden. " Oh, by the by, Ralph," she said, " I rescued a note to you from grandpapa out of the letter-box to-day, where it had stuck. How stupid of me ! I have left it in the pocket of my other gown. However, I daresay it will keep." "Yes, never mind," said Ralph. "I say, Elsie, 264 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. I have got something I want awfully to say to you — to consult you about." It was dark, but Elsie detected a certain amount of consciousness in his tone. " Do you think the Dulauriers would object to me — to letting Ninie marry an Englishman ? " " I should think not," said Elsie, nerving her voice to sound perfectly steady and natural. " I mean to ask them, at any rate. You must have guessed what I thought of her, Elsie." "Yes, Ralph," said Elsie. " Oh Elsie, isn't she a darling ? You have known her so long, you can't be surprised at my thinking of her as I do. So pretty, and sweet, and lovely in every way. I remember thinking her quite lovely when I saw her at Paris, when she was a child." " But Ralph, isn't it rather a short acquaintance to decide upon already ? " said Elsie, with a little hesitation. "Do you think she knows you enough?" " Well, she has heard of me from you very often, she tells me. It was very good of you to talk about me to her as you must have done, Elsie." Elsie's cheeks burned in the darkness. " She says she xix.] CONFIDENCES. 265 quite felt as if she knew me when first she saw me. Of course I have said nothing definite to her : I suppose her parents, being French, will have to be spoken to first. But I am thinking whether I could not telegraph to them by the Atlantic cable, or run over to New York to see them in person, or some- thing of that sort. It seems such an awful bore to have to wait a month ! " " Have you spoken to grandpapa ? " " No ; 1 was afraid of his laughing at me for being too quick about it," said Ralph. " I know he will want me to take up a much longer time before I make up my mind. Of course I must wait, anyhow, owing to those idiotic parents of hers being over in New York ; so I thought I would wait before I spoke to him. But I was obliged to speak to somebody, Elsie, so I could not help speaking to you. You are a dear old thing, just the right sort for a depositary of secrets, and like a well for keeping them close, I know." Elsie gave a little half tremulous laugh. " I am very glad to be your depositary," she said. " But can you imagine anything so absolutely idiotic as that Evangelical Alliance taking people 266 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. half over the world, and making them leave a daughter like Ninie at home, with no one to give consent if anyone wishes to marry her ! It's — it's distinctly mad, you know. How can I telegraph to them about it ? " " I don't think you can. I can't see that there is anything for you, except to wait till they come home, and then apply to them in person. Besides, even if they were in Paris, you could not go over there without telling grandpapa what you were doing." " No ; the dear old governor would have to be told, of course. Then you don't think there is any- thing to prevent things going smoothly ? You don't think she has seen anybody she may like better ? " " I feel sure she has not. She is very young, you know, and has lived a very quiet life." I need not reiterate all that Ralph said and Elsie answered in the garden that evening. He poured out his confidence fully and freely as he might have done if Elsie had been really his sister ; and Elsie replied with all the warmth and sympathy which a sister would have shown in like case. But it was hard work to sustain her part ; and she xix.] CONFIDENCES. 267 decided earlier than she would otherwise have done that grandpapa would not come home to-night, and that she must go to bed. Ralph went to his room to dream of Ninie : and Elsie to hers ; but she felt almost too weary to undress, and sat down in the chintz-covered armchair to rest. The strain had been greater than she knew at the time, and she felt positively stiff and weary with the effort it had been to her. She had not undressed when the latch-key turned in the house door, and she knew that her grandfather had come in. He would be tired, and would want some creature comforts, such as his age required, after his exertions, and Elsie rose to go down to him, to boil a little hot water for toddy or tea for him, since the servants were gone to bed. He looked rather tired, and scolded her kindly for staying up for him ; but he liked the care she took of him, and said that no one could mix his whiskey and water as she could. " Grandpapa," said Elsie, as he sat sipping his beverage, "I found a letter from you to Ralph in the letter-box to-day : it had stuck in a crack. I suppose it is not important, as you must have told 268 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. him anything you would have written to him by this time." " I don't know. Where is it ? I am sorry to trouble you, my dear, but I should like to see it," said the Doctor, with unusual eagerness, as Elsie left the room, and soon afterwards reappeared with the letter. He opened it with eager fingers, and saw within two closely written sheets in his own handwriting. One glance sufficed to give him certainty, and his face grew anxious as he received it. " Is it anything that matters much, grandpapa ? " said Elsie. " I can't say. I hope it may not be too late. Poor Ralph ! I don't think I ever wrote him any letter but this one that was of real importance as to time ; and this has been delayed!" " Did you write it long ago, grandpapa ? " " Just before I started for Mentone to bring you home. It is a long story now, and I can't enter into it at this time of night. I hope no harm may have been done. I am very glad you found it, my dear, anyhow. Good night now, and go to sleep ; you look as if you wanted a good night's rest, and you won't get much beauty-sleep to-night." xix.] CONFIDENCES. 269 Elsie went up to bed, and once there, slept well for very weariness, notwithstanding all the troubles and conflicting emotions of the day. Dr. Gracedew lay awake for hours, pondering on the adverse fate which had delayed his letter to Ralph. He had thought that his words had been sufficiently strong to keep him from losing his heart. " He has only been here for a fortnight, anyhow," thought the Doctor, " and much harm cannot be done in that time. But what an old fool I have been to shirk the subject with him as I have done ! " CHAPTER XX. A DISCLOSURE. ' ' I have submitted to a new control : A power is gone which nothing can restore : A deep distress hath humanized my soul. " Wordsworth. Neither Dr. Gracedew nor Elsie looked altogether like themselves the next morning. The Doctor was preoccupied, and Elsie unwontedly still and quiet, as though all her energies were still taken up in compelling herself to look on without rebellion while Ralph devoted himself to Ninie, and to try- to feel glad that her two friends should win each the love of the other. Madame Regnier was rather knocked up with the unusual dissipation of the day before, and only Ninie and Ralph were as gay and lig-ht-hearted as usual. Ninie was in a state of wild delight and exultation. All throughout the picnic Ralph had been entirely devotea to her. He CHAP, xx.] A DISCLOSURE. 271 had shown her this and that ; he had refused every inducement to leave her side ; he had rendered her an object of envy in the eyes of the other young ladies ; and Ninie, who had been rendered very needlessly sensitive as to her position by Mrs. John Gracedew's rudeness, rejoiced proportionately in the distinction. Besides — though Ninie was not so worldly - minded and hardened as consciously to scheme for the future at nineteen — there was a fairy vista of delight opened for her by Ralph's attentions- No more charitable drudgery, no more exclusion from social enjoyments, lest the congregation should be scandalized by the sight of the pastor's daughter at a play or a dance ; but the free, charming, ex- quisite life of the lady of an English chateau, with a husband devoted to her every wish, and dress, and admiration, and amusement to her heart's con- tent. She liked Ralph very much : it was very new and very charming to be made so much of, and if he were not remarkably handsome or distinguished looking, what did that matter ? In fact, Ninie was very young and tcte montie at this time, and she was too much dazzled and fascinated with the brilliant prospect before her to analyse it consciously 272 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. in its component parts. Poor Ninie ! her castle in the air was about to come down with a crash. " Ralph, could you give me half-an-hour in the study?" said Dr. Gracedew, as they rose from breakfast. " Certainly, sir," was the answer, and the old man and his ward departed together. While Elsie in the dining room wondered and longed to hear what was the matter, the Doctor put into Ralph's hand the letter which he had written to him, and which Elsie had found in the letter-box. " My dear boy, I should like you to read that letter, if you do not mind. I meant you to have had it some time ago, but like an old fool, I fancied you had had it, and wished you to take your own time for discussing it with me." Ralph took the letter and unfolded it. Dr. Gracedew walked to the window and looked out. He would have liked to observe every change of the young man's countenance, but he resolutely kept his eyes away until Ralph had finished reading the letter, and had folded it up again and put it into its envelope. Then he turned round and looked XX.] A DISCLOSURE. at his ward's face. It was white and quivering, as if a boyish burst of tears was impending, and was only just kept back by all the self-control he could muster. " My poor dear boy ! " said Dr. Gracedew, putting his hand on the young man's shoulder, " does it come so very hard upon you ? You know I do not think that personally you have any special cause for appre- hension. You belong to the generation that has generally escaped." " It is not that," said poor Ralph in a half-choked voice. " But — but I hoped " " You hoped for what ? " said Dr. Gracedew, looking wistfully into the young man's face, feeling convinced that the next word would reveal his attachment to Elsie. And Elsie — did she return it ? A tumult of apprehensions raged in the good Doctor's mind during the hour-like moment that elapsed before Ralph could steady his voice enough to say, " I hoped to ask Ninie Dulaurier to be my wife." In spite of his commiseration for Ralph, anc J his reproach of himself, the Doctor gave a sigh of relief as he sat down in his chair. Ralph vol. I. t 274 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. turned away from him and burst into tears. Poor Ralph ! It was not a very heroic way of enduring this revelation, and he was furious with himself for belying his manhood thereby ; but there was no help for it. His love for Ninie might be only a boy's vehement passion, soon to vanish in smoke, like so many other youthful love affairs ; but while it was on him it was hot and strong. The Doctor replied, " My dear boy, I shall never forgive myself for letting you in for this. I ought not to have trusted to a letter. I ought to have seen you and told you the facts myself. I am terribly grieved about this." " But perhaps, sir," said Ralph, catching at a straw of comfort, "the Dulauriers may not see it in the same light. It was just the same with my father and my grandfather, and they found girls willing to marry them notwithstanding." The boyishness of the argument made the Doctor smile for a moment ; but a second thought gave a sterner tone to his answer. " I don't doubt but that you will find many a woman in the world, Ralph, who will think that an indefinite risk which she will probably refuse to believe in xx.; A DISCLOSURE. 275 weighs lightly in comparison with becoming mistress of Brynscombe. The question is what you your- self ought to think about it." Ralph looked up inquiringly ; he had hardly yet grasped that aspect of the question. Dr. Gracedew went on to speak to him of his grandfather's views, and of his own, on the subject ; of the sad family tragedies of the Treguire family, of which Ralph had never heard ; and of his own view of the right and wrong that existed in the matter. " Look here, my boy," he said at last ; " you have, I hope, a long and a good life before you, with chances of work and usefulness such as don't fall in the way of most men ; but it has pleased God to try you in this way : that you must either pass on to your descendants the curse which has made the lives of the Treguires miserable for generations, or you must sacrifice yourself for the good of your fellow-creatures, and be content to lead a lonely life without the domestic happiness which other men have a right to look for. If you can rise to the occasion, Ralph, and choose the nobler and the harder part, I shall be prouder of you than I can say, my boy." T 2 276 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. Then there was a pause, after which Ralph spoke tremulously. "Then I suppose I ought to go away. I can't see her again and not care for her — and she will think me such a brute — and — and " "Will you come with me to Brynscombe for a week ? Then we can settle what else is to be done afterwards," said the Doctor. "You can't get away just now, sir, with all those hospital committees on hand, can you ? " said Ralph. " I would make a push for it in this case. For a week I think I could. After that perhaps you could get one of your Cambridge friends to go for a little walking tour with you, till the Dulauriers come back for Ninie." " One thing," said Ralph, with boyish imploring in his tone. " Do you think people need know anything about it ? I would so much rather they did not. I can't bear being looked upon as — as — " •And here he broke down again for a moment, but recovered himself and went on, "Except Elsie. I should like Elsie to know ; nobody besides, though." • "Very well. Then we will start this afternoon. Will you come with me on my rounds, Ralph ? The xx.] A DISCLOSURE. 277 air will do you good, and you need see no one then before you go." "Thank you, sir. Yes, that will be a good plan," said Ralph. "Very well, then, we will start in half-an-hour. Now then, I must see Elsie. You may stay here, my boy, if you like to be quiet." Ralph accepted the offer gratefully, and sat on in the cool quiet room thinking over the strange revelation of the morning, while the Doctor walked up and down the shady garden-paths with Elsie, telling her much of what he had just told Ralph. "And now, most unluckily, the boy has taken it into his head to fall in love with Ninie Dulaurier. Had you any idea of it, Elsie?" " Yes, grandpapa. I thought it was coming to that, and he told me about it last night," said Elsie quietly. " I don't think it can go very deep," said the Doctor, trying to comfort himself; "he is such a boy, and he has only known the girl for a fort- night. Poor dear fellow ! it upset him dreadfully ; but he really took it very well. I hope he will be man enough to make up his mind once for all now, so as not to have this sort of trouble twice." 278 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " Dear old Ralph ! " said Elsie, with tears in her eyes, and a strange compound of pain and relief in her heart, " I am so sorry for him. Only, grandpapa, I am sure Ninie would never have made him really happy." " As to that, my dear, I don't think you need have troubled yourself. It is only a case of calf-love on his part ; and though he is very miserable just now, I dare say he will soon get over it. But what annoys me is that I might have spared it him if I had not been such an old fool. I feel the more bound to go and look after him, lest he should come to harm somehow. So I am going to take him away this afternoon. By the way, Elsie, can't you take those two guests of ours out for a drive this afternoon, so that Ralph may have no leave-taking to go through ? " " Wouldn't it do if they drove by themselves just for once?" said Elsie, pleadingly. "I don't like to rush away as if I did not care to say good-bye to him just now when he is unhappy !" The Doctor consented to this, and the result of the matter was that about four o'clock that afternoon, when the sun was hot and glaring outside, Elsie was xx.J A DISCLOSURE. 279 sitting alone in the drawing-room, as she had done the day before, thinking about the new aspect that affairs had taken, and her heart throbbing with sisterly affection and pity for her dear Ralph, whom she longed to comfort and cure of his pain. She was a little sorry for Ninie, and the future disappointment which she foresaw for her ; but she thought most of Ralph. And yet, much as she grieved for his trouble, which seemed to her much less trivial than it did to her grandfather, it was yet a secret pleasure to her to resolve that Ralph should never be utterly lonely in the world ; that he should always have her sisterly love and sympathy, and that she would never put anyone before him, come what might ; "Never!" said the girl to herself, clasping her hands with a strange feeling, compounded of motherly yearning, sisterly affection, and — though she would not confess it to herself — of maidenly love. When the wheels of the Doctor's gig sounded at the door, and Ralph came into the cool, quiet room, looking hot, dusty, and dejected, Elsie could almost have wished that he still had hopes of possessing Ninie to comfort him — almost, not quite. To him, the aspect of the room, the stillness of the 2 So RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. summer afternoon, and the repose of the moveless shadows in the hot, yellow sunshine, and Elsie in her cool cambric gown, all gave a sensation of calm and comfort, heightened by the sweet tenderness o( the girl's expression as she looked up at him as he entered. All she said, however, was, " I have seen about your packing as well as grand- papa's, Ralph ; you will find your portmanteau all ready," ' Thank you," he said. Then, after a little pause, ' Will you give this to Ninie yourself, Elsie ? I could not bear to leave her without one word of good-bye, though that is all over now." The boyishness had gone out of his face, and for the first time Ralph stood before her as a man. " I will, indeed," she said, taking up the little note. " I should like you to read it, to see if you think I have said too much," he said, a little wistfully, unfolding it. She read : — " I cannot leave you without saying good-bye to you, and telling you how sorry I am to go away. I do not think I shall ever see you again, but I shall never forget how pleasant this last fortnight xx.] A DISCLOSURE. 28 1 has been, or your kindness to me. I hope you will have a very happy and bright life — happier and brighter than I could have made it if things could have been as I wished. They never can be ; so now I am going away. Good-bye. "Ralph Treguire." " You would not tell her the real reason ? " said Elsie, doubtfully. " No ; I could not bear to think that she asso- ciated that sort of idea with me," said poor Ralph, shrinking at the thought. " I may be a fool, but to me it would be quite unbearable that people should know about it. I don't suppose they do now ; the Doctor says it was always supposed that my father died of brain fever, and that my grand- father kept it dark on purpose. I should like Winterton to know as well as you, and no one else. O Elsie, can you imagine that it was only last night that you and I were walking together in the starlight, and we were so happy ? " The happiness which he attributed to Elsie had but little foundation in actual fact. " It does seem a long time ago," she said gently. 282 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. " And now I feel as if I were in a horrid sort of nightmare. The Doctor says I'm safe, because I'm in the right generation to miss it ; but I don't believe you can depend on that. Will you come and see me when I'm in Bedlam, Elsie?" " Don't, Ralph ! " Then recalling her words, " Of course I would ; but I don't believe such a thing is the least likely to happen." " It may, and then you will look on me as a disgrace to you, and try to forget my existence. People always do," said poor Ralph, dejectedly. " Nonsense, Ralph ! " said Elsie, indignantly. " Do you think grandpapa and I are so heartless and horrid that we should leave off loving you and caring for you just because you were in an awful lonely trouble where we could not help you ? Of course, we should love you all the more. And besides — " here Elsie laid her soft, firm, vigorous hand gently on his, and lifted her shining eyes to look into his face, till his insensibly caught the reflection of her hope and faith, " if such a thing ever did happen, it would only be because God saw it was the right thing for you to have to go through, and He would bring you out of it in time, when xx.] A DISCLOSURE. 2S3 you had been enduring it long enough. But I don't the least think you need dread it. Promise me not to go and brood over it, at least, Ralph. Look here ; I am sure you have it in you to be a splen- didly useful man, and do all sorts of fine things that are waiting for you to do, and that most men fail in because they are hampered by looking after their wives, and having to accommodate their wishes to their necessities. Now you will be able to devote yours unconditionally, out and out. You will have splendid opportunities to make use of in your life, Ralph ! " " Yes ; that would be all right and jolly if I were a fellow like Bruno, or Winterton, or anybody not so commonplace as myself," said Ralph, regretfully. "Perhaps this will make just the difference to you, and take all the commonplaceness away ; though I don't see that you are so commonplace as you think yourself. However, that is neither here nor there. What I want you to do is not to make yourself melancholy over what is not at all likely to happen, and see that you may have quite an endurable life after all, if you can't get all you want in it. And we shall always be proud of you if you come to make 284 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xx. it a great one or a good one. You know we shall, Ralph ! " All Ralph said was, in a half-choked voice, " I believe you will stick to me, whatever happens, old Elsie ! " CHAPTER XXI. BRUNO'S VISIT. " So did Pelleas lend All the young beauty of his soul to hers, Believing her." Idylls of the King. The week of the Doctor's absence was rather dreary to all the three women at Bridge House. Ninie was very much disappointed at the vanishing of her plea- sant little fairy vision : and though her heart had been but very slightly affected in comparison with her vanity, she cried bitterly in her own room, and came down with red eyes to tea. She was aggrieved and vexed rather than melancholy, and Elsie could not sympathize with her frame of mind as otherwise she might have been able to do, for Ninie was cross and snappish, and repelled all sympathy. Elsie had known her much in the same state in childish days, 286 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. when she had been disappointed of a treat or a present. Nothing would please her ; her views of the English climate and English society became more and more gloomy, and even Madame Regnier, who remained stanchly Parisian to the backbone, hinted to her that it was hardly well-bred in a guest thus to abuse her host's friends and their belongings. Little Madame Regnier herself was rather aggrieved about Ralph's desertion of Ninie. She liked Ralph so much, and she had flattered herself that the Dulauriers would give her credit for good manage- ment when the master of Brynscombe, with his fine estate, his unexceptionable character, and his eight thousand "pounds sterling," should propose for the young lady's hand. Now she inveighed against the English matrimonial system, which left such matters to young people to settle for themselves when they did not know their own minds, instead of committing them to the sage discretion of parents and guardians. Nothing but miseries and broken hearts, she declared, could come from such a system. " Now, when I was young, how differently matters were arranged ! My beloved Herve's parents came to see my parents ; they said that they were seeking for a wife for their XXI.] BRUNO'S VISIT. 287 son, and had heard that Mademoiselle Aimee — that was myself — was industrious, gentle, and amiable, and would have a dot of so many francs. My parents sent for me ; I came in and made my reve- rence; and though I was never beautiful, I was not then bad-looking, and had been taught to behave myself prettily in society. They told me that M. Regnier had proposed for me in marriage ; I acquiesced, and in due time I had my corbeille de noces, and was married. And a very happy life I led for three years, until my beloved husband died. He was twice my age, but I did not love him the less for that. Ah, I am sure the English system is not nearly so good as the French one ! " At the end of the week Dr. Gracedew came home alone. He had sent Ralph off to Norway, under the charge of his friend Winterton ; and when Madame Regnier and Ninie were gone to bed that evening, he had a long talk with Elsie on the subject. " The boy has taken it very well," he said. " He will soon recover from his fancy for Ninie ; it did not go very deep, as I suspected. The contemplation of his own position took off his mind from her a good deal, I could see. He reverted several times to 288 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. something you had said to him, Elsie, that seemed to have stirred him up." Elsie's face glowed with pleasure. " He talks now of reading hard at his physical science, and trying to get a first, when he comes back. ' The harder I work the less I shall think about her,' he said. Poor fellow ! I patted him on the back, and told him he would be a man yet. Between ourselves, Elsie, I have often wished to see him less of a boy ; I think this will do it, though more roughly than I could have wished. But if he takes it in this way it will not do him any harm." The next day, when the Doctor was out visiting his patients, there came a ring at the door-bell, followed by the appearance of a tall handsome young man, with dark eyes and a brown complexion, who was introduced by the parlour-maid, in a low and hesitating tone, as Mr. Brown Hole. " Bruno ! " said Elsie, springing up. " What fun ! here we are, quite a little Paris colony now that you are come." " I must apologize for my unexpected appearance, mademoiselle," said Bruno. " The fact is that I had to eo to London about some business connected xxi.] BRUNO'S VISIT. 289 with the newspaper for which I chiefly write, and I thought I might catch sight of Ralph, if I accepted the Doctor's invitation of coming here." " What a pity ! Ralph is in Norway. But you will stay here to-night, at least, and see grandpapa ? " "Willingly, if I am not intruding. Excuse my sitting down," said Bruno, taking the nearest chair. " The fact is that I have had a little accident in London, and have hurt my knee in descending from an omnibus ; and walking makes it rather painful." "Grandpapa will doctor it for you," said Elsie. " You know that Ninie Dulaurier and Madame Regnier are here ? " " Yes, I heard that they had been staying here." " They are out in the garden. No, don't move, stay here and rest," said Elsie. And then her two other French guests were brought in, and they talked of Paris news, and of Boulevard N., and asked after all their friends, until the Doctor came in from his rounds in time for afternoon tea, and warmly wel- comed his visitor. He quickly discerned that Bruno was in pain, and then and there took him aside to examine his knee. VOL. 1. U 290 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. It had been a slight sprain at first, but Bruno had gone on neglecting it, and walking about London until it had become considerably inflamed ; and the Doctor told him that he should not dream of letting him go away the next day, but that he must stay at Bridge House and lay it up, probably for a fortnight at least. "If not you will have more trouble with it than you like," said the Doctor seriously. Bruno demurred as to the trouble he was giving, but he had passed the last day or two in a state of so much pain that he was now in a mood to take advice. Besides, Bridge House was not a bad place to be laid up in, with the Doctor as host, and Elsie as hostess, and Ninie Dulaurier's lovely little face to contemplate between whiles. So, with many thanks and apologies, he consented to establish himself at Middlebury for an indefinite number of days, until the Doctor chose to let him go. He was given a bedroom on the ground-floor, that he might have no stairs to mount, and the only move he was allowed was from his room to the drawing- room sofa, and from the drawing-room sofa to a couch placed outside the window in the shade which fell there so pleasantly in the afternoon. It was the first xxi.] BRUNO'S VISIT. 291 time that Bruno had ever been treated as an invalid, and the novelty rather amused him. The first morn- ing of his stay at Bridge House, Elsie, while busy about her housekeeping cares, asked Ninie to sit in the drawing-room and see if the patient wanted any- thing. Madame Regnier was busy writing to Herve ; she always wrote him voluminous letters on the thin- nest of paper and in the smallest of hands twice a week. She considered that she was duly chaperoning Ninie by her presence ; though when she once became embarked in a letter to her son, the most open flirta- tion might have taken place in the room and she would never have seen it. The drawing-room at Bridge House looked to the south-east, and the rays of the morning sun were shut off by blinds of a pleasant buff colour that shaded off the heat but kept the glow. Through the open window came sweet scents, and sunny green glitter of leaves and climbing rose-buds ; and just in the bay sat Ninie, where a gleam of light fell upon her pretty hair and pink sprigged cotton gown, and the dainty little figure which gave any artistic eye quite as much pleasure to behold as the Venus de Medici. More, possibly, for the Venus de Medici always remains in U 2 292 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. the same position, and Ninie put herself into twenty fresh attitudes, all equally lovely, in five minutes. Bruno watched her, and thought that she had developed into fresh beauty since she had been away. He had never thought before how exquisitely lovely she was. He wished she would come and sit nearer to him, so that he could look at her without turn- ing his head backwards. Just at that moment Ninie came up to him, and he saw the pretty pensive little face looking down at him with liquid dark eyes that might have contained any amount of pitiful commiseration. " Can I do anything for you, Monsieur Bruno ? " she said in her sweet voice. " I wonder, mademoiselle, if you would mind reading to me a little ! " he said with a sudden inspiration. " Certainly, monsieur, if you like. But what book shall it be ? " said Ninie, doubtfully. " There are so few French books here, except the classical works of Moliere and Racine." " True. But will you not read to me an English book ? I know you read English beautifully, much better than I do. Poetry, now. I am sure you xxi.] BRUNO'S VISIT. 293 would read poetry exquisitely ; I see it in your face." Ninie accordingly started upon " Elaine " in the " Idylls," and read neatly and correctly enough several pages of that poem. She thought it rather dull, but Bruno appeared to enjoy it, and complimented her so prettily on her reading that she went on doing so. She did not care for poetry, but she liked admiration ; and Bruno's eyes were more eloquent than his lips as he lay watching her. " O thank you, Ninie ; how good of you ; I was afraid Bruno would be dull, but I see you are enter- taining him famously," said Elsie coming in. "Yes, is it not kind of her to take compassion upon me ? " said Bruno. " She has been reading to me such a lovely poem, mademoiselle, and reading it so well too. I wish I could read English poetry as well." " Ninie is very good at her English," said Elsie patting her friend's shoulder. "Yes, and then she enters into the poetry she reads so well" (which was a delusion on Bruno's part). " It is a great treat to me to hear it." " Then you will not mind if I leave you to 294 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. entertain one another a little longer. My aunt is vexed with me because I have not been to see her lately ; and I ought to go, I know. Will you go on reading to him, Ninie ? " " O yes, with great pleasure," said Ninie with alacrity. She had been half afraid that Elsie might send her away and take her place ; and Ninie would not have liked that, though in Elsie's place the little thing would probably have done so, and she knew it. In the afternoon they were sitting on the lawn, when Elsie was again called away by her grand- father about some trifling household business. Madame Regnier was again nominally chaperoning Ninie, but the afternoon was hot, and she was asleep in the comfortable garden chair which gave such a convenient rest to one's head. By this time Bruno had had several hours' ob- servation of Ninie, and the conclusion to which it had led him was conveyed in his remark, a little abruptly, as he looked at her bending pensively over her lace work, " Mademoiselle Ninie, you look a little unhappy. I hope nothing is the matter at your home ? " xxi.] BRUNO'S VISIT. 295 " Nothing, thank you," said Ninie, flushing car- nation in spite of herself. "Perhaps you are home-sick. Are they kind to you here ? " he said a little sharply. " They mean to be. They cannot help it if they are English, and a little hard," said Ninie pensively. Bruno thought her answer angelic in its sweetness. " But you will go home soon, and all will be well," he said consolingly. " No," said Ninie, shaking her pretty head softly, " it will not be well. Nothing will be the same as it used to be, when my dear Lilie was alive. It will never be the same any more." "Ah!" " It is so dull at home now — you do not know how dull. I have no companion to amuse me ; papa and mamma are busy all day with the affairs of the con- gregation, and they think I ought to take my amuse- ment in it too. But I cannot; it is not suitable for me. I sit at home all day and ennuis myself. I have no sister to talk to now, and no one who cares whether I am happy or unhappy." And two big tears of self-pity fell from Ninie's eyes, unchecked by the consciousness 296 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. of the " big story " she had perhaps unwittingly- told. " Then they are brutes, ingrates," began Bruno, indignantly ; but Ninie's soft voice checked him. " No, Monsieur Bruno ; they only do not under- stand me. How should they ? It is long since they were young ; and they are pious, and enjoy the consolations of religion. But I am young, and I am not pious enough, and I care for les choscs mon- daines. Perhaps when I am old I shall not care, and then I shall be happy. Only now, you see, it seems just a little hard." He would have been a brute who had not pitied the pretty creature as she sat there with her head a little on one side, and her big eyes swimming in tears. Besides which, it was all sincere on Ninie's part ; she was not acting ; she really and truly believed in her own miseries. Ninie was not an actress ; it was only that she was so acutely touched by everything that concerned herself that she could not help magnifying it beyond its due proportions, whenever she had a sympathizing listener ; and when the sympathizing listener was absent, she made one out of her own heart xxi.] BRUNO'S VISIT. 297 Bruno again thought her angelic ; and though the conversation was here interrupted by the appearance of Elsie, whose coming awoke Madame Regnier, and made the conversation general, he pondered over it as much as Ninie could possibly have desired, and pro- bably much more than she imagined any one likely to do. " The sweet little flower ! The darling ! " he thought to himself when he was alone in his room that evening, stirred in his heart as he had never yet been in his life. " How cruel of Fate to treat her thus — to give her in charge to that rigid old pastor and his wife, who have no thoughts but of their gloomy religion ! They ought to let her live in the loveliest surroundings ; they ought to let her soul vibrate to the glories of art and music, and she should sit all day in a bovver of the most exquisite flowers, and have nothing more burdensome to do than to water them and tend them. Or," and here Bruno actually felt giddy with the splendour of the thought that struck upon his brain, " she might develop into the sweetest little wife that ever a man had. She would not mind a little room, nor small means. What would it not be to work for her — to come home and 298 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. find the lovely little face waiting and watching, and to see it light up when she caught sight of him. And then to brine: all one's cares and labours and tell them to her sympathizing ear, and to see her trans- figure them into beauty by her smile ! Nay, more ; what could be desired by a patriot better than to be inspired by so sweet and heroic a little soul as must surely dwell in that beautiful frame ? Must ? Nay, did. Had he not had proof of her touching simple- ness, her angelic sweetness ?" Women in general might be what French novelists represented them ; Bruno had always hitherto held aloof from them ; half from shyness, half from vague dread of the possible and unknown magic of their power; but Ninie Dulaurier was of a different nature. In fact, like his cousin Ralph, Bruno had fallen head over ears in love with the bewitching little beauty from his first day of familiar intercourse with her, and drew in his imagination an utterly different Ninie from the true one whom he beheld with his actual eyes. The danger, too, was greater for Bruno than for Ralph. Bruno was a man rather than a boy, and his nature was more emotional and more passionate than Ralph's. Then, too, he had a much more vivid xxi.] BRUNO'S VISIT. 299 imagination, and he bestowed upon the Ninie of his dreams all sorts of mental qualities and feminine virtues which the real Ninie did not possess, besides all those which she had really. Thus he marvelled at her deftness and quickness in the little household matters in which she helped Elsie, and at her indus- trious little fingers which were never idle ; and he added to these the depth and poetry with which he credited her, but of which she had not a grain. If when he uttered some poetical idea he seemed to see appreciation of it in the liquid dark eyes upraised to his own, it did not at all follow that Ninie was not really thinking how many more Catherine wheels she had to put into her embroidery, or wishing that Bruno would say something to which she could reply without committing herself. Nevertheless, she was really happy and amused while she was so evi- dently the one object of Bruno's thoughts ; and though with him there was no delightful back- ground of Brynscombe to throw up his attractions, he was handsomer and cleverer than Ralph, and Ninie was not altogether a worldly-wise woman at nineteen. CHAPTER XXII. A SUMMONS. " The valley lay smiling before me, Where lately I left her behind : Yet I trembled, and something hung o'er me, That saddened the joy of my mind." Moore. BRUNO'S cure took some time, for he had made his sprain so much worse by persisting in neglecting it that the inflammation did not for some time yield to the Doctor's remedies. He was rather glad than sorry, however, and willingly endured the pain which it caused him, because of the accompanying pleasure of Ninie's presence. Otherwise he might have been rather an obstreperous patient, and might have argued against the inaction to which the Doctor condemned him ; but as it was he enjoyed to the full all the sweetness of this his first love. Sometimes Ninie read to him; more often he -read to Ninie, and she sat by his side and worked at her em- chap, xxii.] A SUMMONS. broidery, which she liked best. If he had not been so much in love with her he might have imagined that the Ah que cest beau ! which was the one stereo- typed form of praise wherewith she filled all the pauses of his reading, was a little unsatisfactory ; but then the beautiful eyes lifted up under their dark fringes seemed to say all that the lips left unsaid. There was not anything that could be called open flirtation between them. Ninie had strict views of propriety, and Madame Regnier and Elsie were almost always of the party ; but Bruno and Ninie when they were together, had little perception of the presence of anyone but each other. Yes, Ninie too was in love by this time, at least as much as was possible to one of her nature. Ralph had only touched her vanity ; Bruno touched her heart. He thought her perfect ; he longed to remove the thorns which pricked her little white feet as they trod the path of life; and Ninie was touched by his earnestness, and conscious that there was something unusual in the fervent love of the pure-souled poet nature that was poured out at her feet. His devotion awakened a reflection in her mind ; true, it was but as moonlight unto sunlight, 302 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. and as water to wine, but it was sufficient to take away for the time all regrets for the once possible glories of Brynscombe and Brynscombe's master. Ninie began to think that it might be very pleasant to be a poor man's wife, if the poor man were Bruno Noel. There would be a charming little romance about it. They might have small apart- ments, but everything about them should be charm- ing, and in the best taste. " And I am little myself," thought Ninie with satisfaction, as she contemplated herself in the glass while she was building this castle in the air. So far these two understood one another, though Bruno's love had hitherto been spoken rather by looks and tones than by words. Bruno thought himself extraordinarily fortunate for the chance which suffered him to do his love- making a VAnglaise instead of a la Franqaise. Elsie seemed to think it quite a matter of course that the young Frenchman should enjoy the young Frenchwoman's society frankly and naturally, and Madame Regnier being told that it was the custom of the country that young people should amuse themselves together without restraint, had nothing xxil.j A SUMMONS. 303 to say, and contented herself with acting chaperone to Ninie whenever she thought that a tete-a-tete with Bruno had lasted long enough. She could not set herself against the custom of the country, or make herself disagreeable. At last Bruno's knee was well, and he could not delay his departure any longer ; but the Doctor persuaded him to stay three or four days more for a great civic feast that was to be held in the town on the occasion of the opening of a new Town Hall. But on the day before it was to take place he received a letter from his father, telling him that his aunt Madame Treguire had been taken seriously ill, and that she wished to see him, as the Doctor was under grave apprehensions as to her recovery. Bruno made up his mind to cross that night from Southampton, which would bring him to Paris the next day. This involved his spending the afternoon at Middlebury, but it was impossible to travel all the way to Dover or Folkestone for the night steamer. He was much upset and grieved about Madame Treguire, whom he loved very dearly, and perhaps his grief was one of the reasons for his failing to hold to the plan he had decided upon 304 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. respecting Ninie. He had intended to say nothing to her at present, but to address himself to her parents the moment they returned from America, and to present them in due form his proposal for Ninie's hand. Circumstances, or the ardent passion of the young man's heart, however, were too strong to allow him to carry out this proper and sensible programme. He came from his room where he had been packing his portmanteau into the drawing-room, where he found Ninie alone. Bruno had shed a good many tears in his solitude, and he looked very sad and melancholy as he entered the room. . " This is a sad ending to my pleasant visit," he tried to say unconcernedly, but his eyes filled with tears again, and Ninie — our little prosaic, unromantic Ninie — actually caught the infection and began to cry. " Are you crying for me, Ninie ? O my darling my darling ! do you really care ? " And then, somehow, she felt his arms round her, and his kisses on her brow. " I can bear it now that I know you care for me," he said, kissing her again. xxii.] A SUMMONS. 305 It was the work of a moment, and the sound of a footstep in the hall made Ninie shake herself free of the encircling arm. However, it was only the Doctor going to his study, and she stood before Bruno crimson, with drooping head. " I meant to have gone to your father first, and asked for you properly, Ninie," he said, recalled to himself ; " but you will forgive me ? My darling, my darling, you do not know how happy you have made me ! See, a little while ago I said to myself, 'If my dear aunt dies, there will be no one left to love me or care if I am happy or miserable.' But now I shall comfort myself; I shall have my own little Ninie's heart, and she will always care. Ninie, my darling, say once to me, Je faime. " Je faime" said Ninie, in the sweetest and most silvery little voice that could be. She thought she did, poor child. They billed and cooed a little longer, and then Ninie looked up and said shyly, " Only, please, Bruno, you will not tell papa that you have spoken to me at all. He might not like it." " Just as you please, my darling. I am quite satisfied, now that you have said that little word. voi,. r. x 306 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. We shall not be rich, you know, but I think we shall be very happy." " Always — with you," said Ninie, with an upward look of those liquid eyes of hers. They had another leave-taking in the garden that evening, and Bruno departed with a strange mixture of joy and pain in his heart. The joy of happy love was the greatest of the two during the first part of his journey ; but as it went on, anxiety about his aunt took its natural place in his mind. When he arrived at the door he was comforted by seeing that the shutters were open. " Madame lives yet," said the stolid Alsace maid-servant, without the slightest touch of sympathy or concern in her voice ; " but she is not going to live out the day." Bruno gave a great sob and went on. He paused for a moment outside Madame Treguire's door, but hear- ing voices within he took courage and entered. The sick woman was lying on the bed with yellow face and glazed eye, in extremity of sickness, but just conscious. Poor Eugenie ! she had lived in practical heathenism all the days of her life, and her death- bed was in keeping with it. There was not a sign there to tell of any hope of life beyond ; nothing xxii.] A SUMMONS. 307 but the dreary ending of everything connected with this world, and the ugly signs of disease and decay in the haggard frame that had once been beautiful. It was a cloudy, windy day, with a dispersed white shadowless light that made everything look dreary and commonplace beyond description. Poor Eugenie had been proud of her embroidered curtains and walnut-wood furniture ; they were about her now, but they gave her little comfort, as she lay dying in their midst. She made a motion of her hand to show that she was conscious of Bruno's entrance, and he sat down by her side, laying his hand tenderly on hers. Horace Noel was not there ; he said that he could be of no use, and that he could not support the atmosphere of the sick-room. Bruno was not so heartless. He did not know whether his aunt were conscious of his presence or not, but he would not leave her, notwithstanding the strange oppression which the presence of the awful Shadow brought over his mind. According to his creed, this was the end of all things ; the end of life, of hope, of love, of honour. Suppose it were Ninie who lay there dying instead ? No, replied the illogical voice of 3 o8 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap his heart, it could not be. There was something im- mortal about love, as about the noble deeds in which a man must earn himself immortality and live on in the life of his race. If that awful Fate were stilF lurking in the background, the only thing to do was to ignore -it by winning fame and honour and the love of mankind in spite of it, as Bruno meant to do, scorning delights and living laborious days. And with health and youth and a noble purpose,, and a pure love, would he not be strong enough to^ defy its power, and make as much out of his life as ever man had yet made ?' So Bruno preached to himself through the long hours during which he sat by the first death-bed he had ever seen, Granting his position, perhaps it was the bravest view he could take of life ; there is but one creed which can deliver man from the dread of that awful, aimless, blind Necessity which lurks watchful but unseen behind the fair covert of human hopes and the blossoms of human love, and of that creed Bruno as yet knew so little as to account it slavish instead of free. It was well for him that he could see good and evil clearly enough to reject both the Epicureanism and the bitter xxn.] A SUMMONS. 309 cynicism which have engulfed so many who believe as he did. After long and sad watching the end came. " Kiss me," murmured the dying woman feebly ; and then Bruno heard some scarcely audible words that sounded like " I have set it right now — Horace knows." It was the last thing she spoke consciously. She began to wander, and a short period of raving exhausted the feeble life that was still left in her. She fell into a stupor and never awoke again. Bruno- stayed beside her until they said, " Elle est morte." Then he went into his own room and threw himself on his bed, weeping bitterly for the loss of the only mother he had ever knowni His grief was interrupted by his father, who came in to see him. "This is very sad, my son. Poor Eugenie ! I thought she would have been a long- lived woman. I suppose it was but natural that Ralph did not care to come." " He could not — he was in Norway," said Bruno. " Ah well, some one must write to him and tell him of this lamented affair. A son ought to be sorry for his mother's death — do not you think so, Bruno ? " 3i° RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. To Bruno the question hardly seemed to require an answer. " Of course," he said. " Shall I write, or you ? " " Well — " said Horace considering. " On the whole I think you had best write ; it will save me the trouble. Your poor aunt said nothing before she died, Bruno ? " " Only that she had set something right, and that you knew. I did not understand to what she referred." " Ah ! no doubt to the will she has made, leaving all her little savings to you. I might complain, but I am of too exalted a spirit to do so, though I cannot now imagine how I shall live. Of course her annuity dies with her ; it is very hard upon me." Bruno was not much disposed to enter into this question, and the conversation dropped. Eugenie Treguire was laid in one of the square compartments of the Neuilly cemetery, and three wreaths of immortelles, rendered yet more immortal by being executed in china, were placed upon her grave by Bruno. Horace left all the arrangements to his son ; he said it was too painful to him to xxn.] A SUMMONS. 311 visit the grave of his late lamented sister, and he never did anything which might rouse painful feelings. As he had said, Madame Treguire. had left her savings to Bruno ; and they were by no means in- considerable. She had lived on the proceeds of her lodging-house, and had spent little of her annuity ; and Bruno found that he would have quite sufficient to enable him to marry and live in a small way as a working journalist. The furniture of the lodging-house was bequeathed to Horace, who in- tended to go on with it as his means of livelihood. Whether he would make it answer now that his sister's economical and managing headship was removed was doubtful ; but as he must live some- how, he intended to try it. As a first step to success in it, he surprised his son by announcing, a week after the funeral, that he had made proposals of marriage to a lady who had promised to become Bruno's stepmother. The future Madame Noel was a middle-aged widow, rather ugly, but with a comfortable little sum of money at her own disposal. Bruno replied that his father had a perfect right to do as he pleased, but 312 RALPH AND BRUNO. [chap. xxii. that under the circumstances he hoped Horace would not be vexed if he himself took lodgings elsewhere. It would be painful to him to see another lady so soon filling the place of his dear aunt. Horace Noel acquiesced readily enough ; there never had been much sympathy between his son and himself. And so Bruno waited hopefully until the Dulauriers should return from America, and he should be able to claim Ninie's hand. END OF VOL. I. Bedforu Street, Covent Garden, London. October 1875. Macmillan & Co.'s Catalogue of Works in Belles Lettres, including Poetry, Fiction, etc. Allingham.— LAURENCE BLOOMFIELD IN IRELAND; or, the New Landlord. By William Allingham. New and Cheaper Issue, with a Preface. Fcap. 8vo. cloth. 4J. 6d. " It is vital with the national character. .... It has something 0/ Pope's point and Goldsmiths simplicity, touched to a more modern issue. " — Athenaeum. An Ancient City, and other Poems. — By A Native, of Surrey. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. Archer.— CHRISTINA NORTH. By E. M. Archer. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. " The work of a clever, cultivated person, wielding a practised pen. The characters are drawn with force and precision, the dialogue is easy : the whole book displays powers of pathos and humour, and a shrewd knowledge of men and things?' — Spectator. Arnold. — the complete poetical works. Vol. I. Narrative and Elegiac Poems. Vol. II. Dramatic and Lyric Poems. By Matthew Arnold. Extra fcap. 8vo. Price 6s. each. The two volumes comprehend the First and Second Series of the Poems, and the New Poems. "Thyrsis is a poem of perfect delight, exquisite in grave tenderness of reminiscence, rich in breadth of western light, breathing full the spirit of gray and ancient Ox- ford."— Saturday Review. Atkinson. — AN ART TOUR TO THE NORTHERN CAPITALS OF EUROPE. By J. Beavington Atkinson. 8vo. 1 2 j. " We can highly recomtnend it ; not only for the valuable informa- tion it gives on the special subjects to which it is dedicated, but also for the interesting episodes of travel which are interwoven with, and lighten, the weightier matters of judicious and varied criticism on art and artists in northern capitals." — Art Journal. Baker.— CAST UP BY THE SEA; OR, THE ADVEN- TURES OF NED GREY. By Sir Samuel Baker, M.A., F.R.G.S. With Illustrations by Huard. Fifth Edition. Crowa 8vo. cloth gilt. fs. 6d. " An adm-rdble tale of adventure, of marvellous incidents, wild exploits, and terrible denouements." — Daily News. "A story of advemui ~ iy sea and land in the good old style." — Pall Mall Gazettp. Baring-GCuid. — Works by S. Baring-Gould, M.A. :— IN EXITU ISRAEL. An Historical Novel. Two Vols. 8vo. 21s. u Full of vi most exciting incidents and ably portrayed characters, 10,000, 10, 187s. A BELLES LETTRES. Baring-Gould — continued. abounding in beautifully attractive legends, and relieved by descrip- tions fresh, vivid, and truth-like." — WESTMINSTER REVIEW. LEGENDS OF OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, from the Talmud and other sources. Two vols. Crown 8vo. \6s. Vol. I. Adam to Abraham. Vol. II. Melchizedek to Zachariah. " These volumes contain much that is very strange, and, to the ordinary English reader, very novel." — Daily News. Barker. — Works by Lady Barker:— "Lady Barker is an unrivalled story-teller." — GUARDIAN. STATION LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND. New and Cheape* Edition. Crown 8vo. y. 6d. '* We have never read a more truthful or a pleasanter little book." — Athenaeum. SPRING COMEDIES. Stories. Contents : — A Wedding Story — A Stupid Story — A Scotch Story — A Man's Story. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d t "Lady Barker is endowed -with a rare and delicate gift for nar- rating stories, — she has the faculty of throwing even into her printed narrative a soft and pleasant tone, which goes far to make the reader think the subject or the matter immaterial, so long as the author will go on telling stories for his benefit." — Athenaeum. STORIES ABOUT:— With Six Illustrations. Third Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 4r. 6d. This volume contains several entertaining stories about Monkeys, Jamaica, Camp Life, Dogs, Boys, &*c. "There is not a tale in the book which can fail to please children as well as their elders." — Pall Mall Gazette. A CHRISTMAS CAKE IN FOUR QUARTERS. With Illustra- tions by Jellicoe. SecondEdition. Ex. fcap. 8vo. cloth gilt. <\s.6d. " Contains just the stories that children should be told. ' Christmas Cake' is a delightful Christmas book." — Globe. RIBBON STORIES. With Illustrations by C. O. Murray. Second Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. cloth gilt. 4s. 6d: "We cannot too highly commend. It is exceedingly happy and original in the plan, and the graceful fancies of its pages, merry and pathetic turns, will be found, the best reading by girls of all ages, and by boys too." — Times. SYBIL'S BOOK. Illustrated by S. E. Waller. Second Edition. Globe 8vo. gilt. 4s. 6d. " Another of Lady Barker's delightful stories, and one of the most thoroughly original books for girls that has been written for many years. Grown-up readers will like it quite as much as young people, and will even better understand the rarity of such simple, natural, and unaffected writing." — Times. Bell. — ROMANCES AND MINOR POEMS. By Henry Glassford Bell. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. "Full of life and genius."— Court Circular. Besant. — studies in early French poetry. By Walter Besant, M.A. Crown 8vo. Ss. 6d. T7ie present work aims to afford information and direction touching BELLES LETT RES. the early efforts of France in poetical literature. " In one mode- rately sized volume he has contrived to introduce us to the very best, if not to all of the early French poets." — Athenaeum. Betsy Lee ; A FO'C'S'LE YARN. Extra fcap. Svo. 3*. 6d. " There is great vigour and much pathos in this poem.'" — Morning Post. v We eon at least say that it is the work of a true poet.'''' — Athe- Black (W.) — Works by W. Black, Author of "A Daughter of Heth." THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF A PHAETON. Ninth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. Also, Illustrated by S. E. Waller, Svo. cloth gilt. 10s. 6d. ** The book is a really charming description of a thousand English landscapes and of the emergencies and the fun and the delight of a picnic journey through them by a party determined to enjoy them- selves, and as well matched as the pair of horses which drew the phaeton they sat in." — Times. A PRINCESS OF THULE. Eighth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. The Saturday Review says : — " A novel which is both romantic and natural, which has much feeling, without any touch of mawkishngss, which goes deep into character without any suggestion of painful analysis — this\is a rare gem to find amongst the debris of current literature, and this, or nearly this, Mr. Black has given us in the ' Princess of Thule.'" " A beautiful and nearly perfect story." — Spectator. THE MAID OF KILLEENA, and other Stories. Crown Svo. 6s. ' ' A collection of pretty stories told in the easiest and pleasantest manner imaginable." — Times. " It was with something akin to joy that we drew our chair closer to the fire as the weary work of the novel critic gave place to the smile of satisfaction and pleasure, when, in the very fist page of our book, we discovered that we had come again to those Western Isles in the quid summer sea in the far North, and to those simple people amidst whose loving alle- giance the Princess of Thule — Sheila — held her modest Court . . . We shall not be satisfied till ' The Maid of Killeena ' rests on our shelves. " — Spectator. Borland Hall.— By the Author of " Olrig Grange." Cr.8vo.7j-. Bramston. — RALPH AND BRUNO. A Novel. By M. Bramston. 2 vols, crown Svo. 2ls. Brooke. — THE FOOL OF QUALITY ; or, THE HISTORY OF HENRY, EARL OF MORELAND. By Henry Brooke. Newly revised, with a Biographical Preface by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, M.A., Rector of Eversley. Crown Svo. 6s. Broome.— THE STRANGER OF SERIPHOS. A Dramatic Pooen. By Frederick Napier Broome. Fcap. Svo. S s - A 2 BELLES LETT RES. Bilist.— BIRDS, THEIR CAGES AND THEIR KEEP : Being a Practical Manual of Bird-Keeping and Bird-Rearing. By K. A. Buist. With Coloured Frontispiece and other Illustrations. Crown Svo. $s. Burnand.—MY TIME, AND WHAT I'VE DONE WITH IT. By F. C. Burnand. Crown 8vo. 6.f. Cabinet Pictures.— Oblong folio, price us. Contents : — " Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" and " The Fighting Temeraire" by J. M. W. Turner ; " Crossing the Bridge" by Sir W. A. Callcatt ; " The Cornfield" by John Constable; ana " A Landscape," by Birket Foster. The Daily News says of them, " They are very beautifully executed, and might be framed and hung up on the wa.ll, as creditable substitutes for Pie originals." CABINET PICTURES. A Second Series. Containing: — " The Baths of Caligula " and " The Golden Bough," by f. W. M. Turner; " The Little Brigand," by T. Uwins , " The Lake of Lucerne," by Percival Skelton ; " Evening Rest," by E. M. Wimperis. Oblong folio. 2is. Cameron. — LIGHT, SHAPE, AND TOIL. Poems by W. C. Cameron, with Introduction by the Rev. W. C. Smith, D.D. Extra fcap. Svo. 6s. Carroll. — Works by "Lewis Carroll:" — ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. With Forty- two Illustrations by Tenniel. 46th Thousand. Crown 8vo. cloth. 6s. A GERMAN TRANSLATION OF THE SAME. With Ten- niel's Illustrations. Crown Svo. gilt. 6s. A FRENCH TRANSLATION OF THE SAME. With Ten- niel's Illustrations. Crown Svo. gilt. 6s. AN ITALIAN TRANSLATION OF THE SAME. By T. P. Rossette. With Tenniel's Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. " Beyond question supreme among modern books for eJiildren." — Spectator. " One of the choicest and most charming books ever composed for a child's reading." — Pall Mall Gazette. ' ' A very pretty and highly original book, sure to delight the little world of wondering minds, and which may well please those who have unfortunately passed the years of wondering." — Times. THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS, AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. With Fifty Illustrations by Tenniel. Crown 8vo. gilt. 6s. 35th Thousand. " Qpite as rich in humorous whims of fantasy, qtdte as laughable in its qiuer incidents, as loveable for its pleasant s£k-it and grace- ful manner, as the wondrous taleef Alice 's former adventures." — Illustrated London News. " If tfds /had bean givm to the world first it would have enjoyed a success at least equal to ' Alice in Wonderland.' " — Standard. BELLES LETT RES. 5 Christmas Carol (A). ^Printed in Colours from Original Designs by Mr. and Mrs. Trevor Crispin, wfth Illuminated Borders from MSS. o€ the 14th and 15th Centuries. Imp. 410. cloth elegant. Cheaper Edition, 2\s. * A nuost exquisitely got up volume. Legend, carol, and text art firt&iously enshrined in its emblazoned pages, and the illuminated borders are far and away the best example of their art we have seen this Christmas. The pictures and borders are harmonious in their colouring, the dyes are brilliant without being raw, and the volume is a trophy of colour-printing. The binding by Burn is in the very best taste." — Times. Church (A. J.)— HOR^E TENNYSONIAN^E, Sive Eclogs e Tennysono Latine redditae. Cura A. J. Church, A.M. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. Clough (Arthur Hugh).— THE POEMS AND PROSE REMAINS OF ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH. With a Selection from his Letters and a Memoir. Edited by his Wife. With Portrait. Two Vols. Ccown 8vo. 21s. "Taken as a whole," the Spectator says, " these volumes cannot fail to be a lasting monument of one of the most original men of our age." THE POEMS OF ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH, sometime Fellow ©f Oriel College, Oxford. Fourth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. "Prom the higher mind of cultivated, all-questioning, but still conser- vative England, in this our puzzled generation, we do not know of any utterance in literature so characteristic as the poems of Arthur Hugh Clough." — Fraser's Magazine. Clunes. — THE STORY OF PAULINE: an Autobiography. By G. C. Clunks. Crown 8vo. 6s. " Both for vivid delineation of character and fluent lucidity of style, 1 The Story of Patiline' is in the first rank of modern fiction." — Globe. Coleridge.— HUGH CRICHTON'S ROMANCE. A Novel. By Christabel R. Coleridge. 3 vols, crown 8vo. 3U. 6d. Colects of the Church of England, with a beautifully Coloured Floral Design to each Collect, and Illuminated Cover. CroWn 8vo. 12s. Also kept in various styles of morocco. " This is beyond question," the ART Journal says, "the most beautiful book of the season." The Guardian thinks it "a suc- cessful attempt to associate in a natural and unforced manner th-e flowers of our fields and gardens with the course of the Christian year." COX.— RECOLLECTIONS OF OXFORD. By G. V. Cox, M.A., late Esquire Bedel and Coroner in the University of Oxford. Second and cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. The Times says that it "will pleasantly recall in many a country parsonage the memory of youthful days." BELLES LETTRES. Dante. — DANTE'S COMEDY, THE HELL. Translated by W. M. Rossetti. Fcap. 8vo. cloth. 5.5-. " The aim of this translation of Dante ?nay be summed up in owe word —Liter ality. To follow Dante sentence for sentence, line for line, word for word — neither more nor less, has been my strenuous endeavour." — Author's Preface. Day.— GOVINDA SAMANTA; or, THE HISTORY OF A BENGAL RAIYAT. By the Rev. Lal Beiiari Day. 2 vols. crown Svo. i\s. " The book presents a careful, minute, and well-drawn picture of Hindoo peasant life."— Daily News. Days of Old ; stories from old English history. By the Author of "Ruth and her Friends." New Edition. l8mo. cloth, extra. 2s. 6d. " Full of truthful and charming historic pictures, is everywhere vital with moral and religious principles, and is written wiffi a brightness of description, and with a dramatic force in the representation of charaoter, that have made, and will always make, it one of the greatest favourites with reading boys." — Nonconformist. D&ane. — MARJORY. By Milly Deane. Third Editiem. With Frontispiece and Vignette. Crown Svo. 4s. 6d. The Times of September nth says it is "A very ttmchmg story, full of promise for the after career of the authoress. It is so tenderly drawn, and so full of life and grace, that any attempt to analyse or describe it falls sadly short of the original. We will venture to say that few readers of any natural feeling or sensibility will take up 'Marjory ' without reading it through at a sitting, and we hope we shall see more st-ories by the same hand." The Morning Post calls it "A delicioudy fresh and charming little love story." Doyle (Sir F. H.)— LECTURES ON POETRY, delivered before the University of Oxford in 1868. By Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford. Crown 8vo. "$s. 6d. ElSie.— A LOWLAND SKETCH. By A. C. M. Crown Svo. 6s. Estelle Russell. — By the Author of "The Private Life of Galileo." New Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. Full of bright pictures of French life. The English family, whose fortunes farm the main drift of the story, reside mostly in FraMct, but there are also many English characters and scenes of great interest. It is certainly the work oj a fresh, vigorous, and most interesting writer, with a dash of sarcastic humour which is refreshing ana not too bitter. " We can send our readers to it with confidence." — Spectator. Evans. — Works by Sebastian Evans. BROTHER FABIAN'S MANUSCRIPT, AND OTHER POEMS. Fcap. Svo. cloth. 6s. ** In this volume we have full assurance that he has ' the vision and BELLES LETTRES. the faculty divine.'' . . . Clever and full of kindly humour." — Globe. IN THE STUDIO : A DECADE OF POEMS. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5^. " The finest thing in the book is 'Dudmau in Paradise,' a wonderfully vigorous and beautiful story. The poem is a most remarkable one, full of beatify, humour, and pointed satire." — ACADEMY. Evans. — THE CURSE OF IMMORTALITY. By A. Eubule Evans. Crown 8vo. 6s. " Nroer, probably, has the legend of the Wandering Jeiv been more ably and poetically handled. The author writes as a true poet, and with the skill of a true artist. The plot of this remarkable drama is not only well contrived, but worked out with a degree of simplicity and truthful vigour altogether unusual in modern poetry, hi fact, since the date of Byron's ' Cain,' we can scarcely recall any venc at once so terse, so powerful, and so ?uasterly." — Standard. Fairy Book.— The Best Popular Fairy Stories. Selected and Rendered anew by the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." With Coloured Illustrations and Ornamental Borders by J. E. Rogers, Author of " Ridicula Rediviva." Crown 8vo. cloth, extra gilt. 6s. (Golden Treasury Edition. i8mo. 4s. 6d.) "A delightful selection, in a delightful external form" — Spectator. " A book which will prove delightful to children all the year round." —Pall Mall Gazette. Fawcett.— TALES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY. By Mil- licent Fawcett, Author of "Political Economy for Beginners." Globe 8vo. 3s. The idea is a good one, and it is quite wonderful what a mass of economic teaching the author manages to compress into a small space. . . The true doctrines of international trade, currency, and the ratio between production and population, art set before us and illustrated in a masterly manner." — Athenaeum. Fletcher THOUGHTS FROM A GIRL'S LIFE. By Lucy Fletcher. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4^. 6d. Gamett.— IDYLLS AND EPIGRAMS. Chiefly from the Greek Anthology. By Richard Garnett. Fcap. 8vo. 2s 6d. "A charming little book. For English readers, Mr. Garnett 's translations will open a new world of thought" — Westminster Review. Gilmore. — STORM WARRIORS ; OR, LIFE-BOAT WORK ON THE GOODWIN SANDS. By the Rev. John Gilmore, M.A., Rector of Holy Trinity, Ramsgate, Author of "The Ramsgate Life-Boat," in Macmillan 's Magazine. Crown 8vo. 6j. " The stories, which are said to be literally exact, are moj-e thrilling than anything in fiction. Mr. Gilmore has done a good work as well as written a good book. " — Daily News. 8 BELLES LETTRES. Gray. — THE POETICAL WORKS OF DAVID GRAY. New and Enlarged Edition. Edited by Henry Glassford Bell, late Sheriff of Lanarkshire. Crown 8vo. 6s. Guesses at Truth. — By Two Brothers. With Vignette Title and Frontispiece. New Edition, with Memoir. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. Also see Golden Treasury Series. Halifax. — AFTER LONG YEARS. By M. C. Halifax. Crown 8vo. ios. 6d. " A story of very unusual merit. The entire story is well conceived, •well written, and well carried out ; and the reader will look forward with pleasure to meeting this clever author again." — Daily News. " This is a very pretty, simple love story. Standard. Hamerton. — A PAINTER'S CAMP. Second Edition, revised. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. ' ' These pages, written with infinite spirit and humour, bring into close rooms, back upon tired heads, the breezy airs of Lancashire moors and Highland lochs, with a freshness which no recent novelist has succeeded in preserving.' 1 '' — Nonconformist. Harbour Bar (The).— a tale of SCOTTISH LIFE. Two Vols. Crown 8vo. i\s. " The author has a great many of the qualifications of a novelist. A keen eye for the picturesque and a power op close obsen'ation are indicated in this very lifelike picture of fisher-life on the north- east coast of Scotland." — Athenaeum. Heaton. — HAPPY SPRING TIME. Illustrated by Oscar Pletsch. With Rhymes for Mothers and Children. By Mrs. Charles Heaton. Crown 8vo. cloth extra, gilt edges. 3J. 6d. " The pictures in this book are capital." — Athenaeum. Hervey. — DUKE ERNEST, a Tragedy; and other Poems. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. "Conceived in pure taste and true historic feeling, and presented with muck dramatic force. .... Thoroughly original." — British Quarterly. Higginson. — MALBONE : An Oldport Romance. By T. W. Higginson. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Hillside Rhymes. — Extra fcap. 8vo. 5*. Holland. — HARTLEIGH. A Novel. By Penelope Holland. Crown 8vo. 6^. Home. — BLANCHE LISLE, and other Poems. By Cecil Home. Fcap. 8vo. 4^. 6d. Hood (Tom).— THE PLEASANT tale of puss and ROBIN AND THEIR FRIENDS, KITTY AND BOB. Told in Pictures by L. Frolich, and in Rhymes by Tom Hood. Crown 8vo. gilt. 3s. 6d. " The volume is prettily got up, and is sure to be a favourite in the nursery." — Scotsman. " Herr Frolich has outdone himself in \iLtictures of this dramatic chase." — Morning Post. BELLES LETTRES. Irving (Washington.)— OLD CHRISTMAS. From the Sketch Book. With upwards of ioo Illustrations by Randolph Caldecott, engraved by J. D. Cooper. Crown 8vo. cloth elegant. Keary (A.) — Works by Annie Keary: — CASTLE DALY : THE STORY OF AN IRISH HOME THIRTY YEARS AGO. Second and cheaper Edition. 2 vols, crown 8vo. 21s. " Extremely touching, and at the same time thoroughly amusing.' 1 '' — Morning Post. JANET'S HOME. New Edition. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. CLEMENCY FRANKLYN. New Edition. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. " Full of 'wisdom and goodness, simple, truthful, and artistic. . . It is capital as a story; better still in its pure tone and wholesome influence. " — Globe. OLDBURY. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6*. "This is a very powerfully written story." — Globe. "This is a really excellent novel." — Illustrated London News. " The sketches of society in Oldbury are excellent. The pictures of child life are full of truth.' 1 '' — Westminster Review. Keary (A. and E.) — Works by A. and E. Keary :— THE LITTLE WANDERLIN, and other Fairy Tales. l8mo. 2s. 6d. "The tales are fanciful and well written, and they are sure to win favour amongst little readers. " — Athenaeum. THE HEROES OF ASGARD. Tales from Scandinavian Mythology. New and Revised Edition, Illustrated by Huard. Extra fcap. 8vo. 4?. 6d. " Told in a light and amusing style, which, in its drollery and quaintness, reminds us of our old favourite Grimm." — Times. Kingsley. — Works by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, M.A., Rector of Eversley, and Canon of Westminster : — "WESTWARD HO!" or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh. Eleventh Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. Fraser's Magazine calls it "almost the best historical novel of the day." TWO YEARS AGO. Sixth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. " Mr. Kingsley has provided us all along with such pleasant diversions — such rich and brightly tinted glimpses of natural history, such suggestive remarks on mankind, society, and all sorts of topics, that amidst the pleasure of the way, the circuit to be made will be by most forgotten." — Guardian. HYPATIA ; or, New Foes with an Old Face. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. HEREWARD THE WAKE— LAST OF THE ENGLISH. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. YEAST : A Problem. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo. S s - ALTON LOCKE. New Edition. With a New Preface. Crown 8vo. 4r. 6d. io BELLES LETTRES. Kingsley (C.)— -continued. The author shows, to quote the Spectator, "what it is that con- stitutes the true Christian, God-fearing, man-living gentleman." THE WATER BABIES. A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby. New Edition, with additional Illustrations by Sir NoelPaton, R.S.A., and P. Skelton. Crown 8vo. cloth, extra gilt. 5^. " In fun, in humour, and in innocent imagination, as a child's book we do not know its equal." — London Review. "Mr. Kingsley must have the credit of revealing to us a new order of life. . . . There is in the ' Water Babies ' an abundance of wit, fun, good humour, geniality, elan, go." — Times, THE HEROES ; or, Greek Fairy Tales for my Children. With Coloured Illustrations. New Edition. i8mo. 4-r. 6d. " We do not think these heroic stories have ever been more attractively told. . . There is a deep under-current of religious feeling traceable throughout its pages which is sure to influence young readers power- fully." — London Review. " One of the children's books that will surely become a classic." — Nonconformist. PHAETHON ; or, Loose Thoughts for Loose Thinkers. Third Edition, Crown 8vo. 2s. " The dialogue of ' Phaethon ' has striking beauties, and its sugges- tions may meet half-way many a latent doubt, and, like a light breeze, lift from the soul clouds that are gathering heavily, and threatening to settle down in misty gloom on the summer of many a fair and promising young life." — Spectator. POEMS ; including The Saint's Tragedy, Andromeda, Songs, Ballads, etc. Complete Collected Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6.?. The Spectator calls "Andromeda" " the finest piece op English hexameter verse that has ever been written. It is a volume which many readers will be glad to possess." PROSE IDYLLS. NEW AND OLD. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 5s. Contents : — A Chartn of Birds ; Chalk-Stream Studies ; The Fens ; My Winter-Garden ; From Ocean to Sea ; North Devon. "Altogether a delightful book // exhibits the author's best traits, and cannot fail to infect the reader with a love of nature and of out-door life and its enjoyments. It is well calculated to bring a gleam of summer with its pleasant associations, into the bleak winter-time ; while a better companion for a summer ramble could hardly be found." — British Quarterly Review. Kingsley (H.) — Works by Henry Kingsley :— TALES OF OLD TRAVEL. Re-narrated. With Eight full-page Illustrations by Huard. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. cloth, extra gilt. 5-r. ' ' We know no better book for those who want knowledge or seek to refresh it. As for the ' sensational,' most novels are tame com- pared with these narratives." — Athenaeum. " Exactly the book to interest and to do good to intelligent and high-spirited boys." — Literary Churchman. BELLES LETTRES. 1 1 Kingsley (H..)— continued. THE LOST CHILD. With Eight Illustrations by Frolich Crown 4to. cloth gilt. 3.V. 6d. "A pathetic story, and told so as to give children an interest in Australia;: wa vs and scenery. " — Globe. ' ' Very charmingly and ■very touchingly told." — Saturday Review. OAKSHOTT CASTLE. 3 Vols. Crown 8vo. 3jtj. 6d. ' ' No one -who takes up ' Oakshott Castle ' will willingly put it down until the last page is turned. . . . It may fairly be considered a capital story, full of go, and abounding in word pictures of storms and wrecks." — Observer. Knatchbull-Kugessen. — Works by E. H. Knatchbull- Hugessen, M.P. : — Mr. Kuatchbull-Hugessen has won for himself a reputation as a teller of fairy-tales. " His powers," \,says the Times, "are of a very high order ; light and brilliant narrative flows from his pen, and is fed by an invention as graceful as it is inex- haustible." " Children reading his stories," the SCOTSMAN says, "or hearing them read, will have their minds refreshed and in- vigorated as much as their bodies would be by abundance of fresh air and exercise." STORIES FOR MY CHILDREN. [With Illustrations. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 5-r. " The stories are charming, and full of life and fun." — Standard. " The author has an imagination as fanciful as Grimm himself, while some of his stories are superior to anything that Hans Chris- tian Andersen has "written." — Nonconformist. CRACKERS FOR CHRISTMAS. More Stories. With Illustra- tions by Jellicoe and Elwes. Fifth Edition. Crown Svo. $s. ' ' A fascinating little volume, which will make him frie7ids in every household in which there are children." — Daily News. MOONSHINE: Fairy Tales. With Illustrations by W. Brunton. Sixth Edition. Crown 8vo. cloth gilt. 5-r. "A volume of fairy tales, written not only for ungrown children, but for bigger, and if you are nearly worn out, or sick, or sorry, you will find it good reading. " — Graphic. ' ' The most charming volume of fairy tales which we have ever read. . . . We cannot quit this very pleasant book without a word of praise to its illustrator. Mr, Brunton from first to last has done admirably." — Times. TALES AT TEA-TIME. Fairy Stories. With Seven Illustra- tions by W. Brunton. Fifth Edition. Crown Svo. cloth gilt, $s. " Capitally illustrated by W. Brunton. . . . In frolic and fancy they are quite equal to his other books. The author knows how to write fairy stories as they should be written. The whole book is full of the most delightful drolleries." — Times. QUEER FOLK. FAIRY STORIES. Illustrated by S. E. Waller. Fourth Edition. Crown Svo. Cloth gilt. $s. " Decidedly the author s happiest effort. . . . One of the best story books of the year." — Hour, \ 12 BELLES LETTRES. Knatchbull-Hugessen (Louis). — the HISTORY OF PRINCE PERRYPETS. A Fairy Tale. By Louisa Knatch- bull-Hugessen. With Eight Illustrations by Weigand. New Edition. Crown 4to. cloth gilt. is. 6d. "A grand and exciting fairy tale. " — Morning Post. ' ' A delicious piece of fairy nonsense." — Illustrated London News. Knox. — SONGS OF CONSOLATION. By Isa Craig Knox. Extra fcap. 8vo. Cloth extra, gilt edges. 4s. 6d. " The verses are truly sweet ; there is in them not only much genuine poetic quality, but an ardent, flowing devotedness, and a peculiar skill in propounding theological tenets in the most graceful way, which any divine might envy." — Scotsman. Latham. — SERTUM SHAKSPERIANUM, Subnexis aliquot aliunde excerptis floribus. Latine reddidit Rev. H. Latham, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5^. Lemon. — THE LEGENDS OF NUMBER NIP. By Mark Lemon. With Illustrations by C. Keene. New Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Life and Times of Conrad the Squirrel. A Story for Children. By the Author of "Wandering Willie," " Effie's Friends," &c. With a Frontispiece by R. Farren. Second Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. " Having commenced on the first page, we were compelled to go on to the conclusion, and this we predict will be the case with every one who opens the book." — Pall Mall Gazette. Little E Stella, and other FAIRY TALES FOR THE YOUNG. i8mo. cloth extra. 2s. 6d. " This is a fine story, and we thank heaven for not being loo wise to enjoy it." — Daily News. Lome (Marquis of). — GUIDO AND LITA : A TALE OF THE RIVIERA. A Poem by the Marquis of Lorne. Small 4to. cloth elegant, with Illustrations. "]s. 6d. Lowell. — Works by J. Russell Lowell :— AMONG MY BOOKS. Six Essays. Dryden — Witchcraft — Shakespeare once More — New England Two Centuries Ago— Lessing — Rousseau and the Sentimentalists. Crown 8vo. 7-r. 6d. COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS of James Russell Lowell. With Portrait, engraved by Jeens. i8mo. cloth extra. 4?. 6d. "All readers who are able to recognise and appreciate genuine verse will give a glad welcome to this beautiful little volume." — Pall Mall Gazette. Lyttelton. — Works by Lord Lyttelton :— THE "COMUS" OF MILTON, rendered : into Greek Verse. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5j. ■ . THE "SAMSON AGONISTES" OF MILTON, rendered into Greek Verse. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. 6d. BELLES LETT RES. 13 " Classical in spirit, full of force, and true to the original." — Guardian. Macdonell.— FOR THE KING'S DUES. By Agnes Mac- donell, Author of " Martin's Vineyard." Crown 8vo. \os. 6d. ' ' It is rarely that so pleasant and unaffected piece of fiction finds its way into the reviewer's hands." — Court Circular. " It is briqht, pleasant, and wholesome .''. . An exceedingly tender, natural, and fascinating little love story." — Morning Post. Maclaren. — THE FAIRY FAMILY. A series of Ballads and Metrical Tales illustrating the Fairy Mythology of Europe. By Archibald Maclaren. With Frontispiece, Illustrated Title, and Vignette. Crown 8vo. gilt. $s'. " A successful attempt to translate into the vernacular some of the Fairy Mythology of Europe. The verses are very good. There is no shirking difficulties of rhyme, and the ballad metre which is oftenest employed has a great deal of the kind of 'go ' which we find so seldom outside the pages of Scott. The book is of permanent value." — Guardian. Macmillan's Magazine. — Published Monthly. Price is. Volumes I. to XXXII. are now ready, ys. 6d. each. Macquoid. — PATTY. By Katharine S. Macquoid. Third and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. " A book to be read." — Standard. "A powerfid and fascinating s tory." — Daily Telegraph. TJie Globe considers it " well- written, amusing, and interesting, and has the merit of being out of the ordinary run of novels." Maguire,— YOUNG PRINCE marigold, and other FAIRY STORIES. By the late John Francis Maguire, M.P. Illustrated by S. E. Waller. Globe 8vo. gilt. 4*-. 6d. " The author has evidently studied the ways and tastes of children and got at the secret of amusing them ; and has succeeded in what is not so easy a task as it may seem — in producing a really good children's book."— Daily Telegraph. Marlitt (E.)— THE COUNTESS GISELA. Translated from the German of E. Marlitt. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. "A very beautiful story of German country life.'" — Literary Churchman. Masson (Professor). — Works by David Masson, M.A., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the University of Edinburgh. BRITISH NOVELISTS AND THEIR STYLES. Being a Critical Sketch of the History of British Prose Fiction. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. WORDSWORTH, SHELLEY, KEATS, AND OTHER ESSAYS. Crown 8vo. 5^. CHATTERTON : A Story of the Year 1770. Crown 8vo. $s. THE THREE DEVILS : LUTHER'S, MILTON'S, and GOETHE'S ; and other Essays. Crown 8vo. Sj. i 4 BELLES LETT RES. Mazini. — IN THE GOLDEN SHELL; A Story of Palermo. By Linda Mazini. With Illustrations. Globe 8vo. cloth gilt. 4-f. 6d. "As beautiful and bright and fresh as the scenes to which it wafts us over the blue Mediterranean, and as pure and innocent, but piquant and sprightly as the little girl who plays the part of its heroine, is this admirable little book. "—Illustrated London News. Merivale. — KEATS' HYPERION, rendered into Latin Verse. By C. Merivale, B.D. Second Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3j. 6d. Milner. — THE LILY OF LUMLEY. By Edith Milner. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. Milton's Poetical Works. — Edited with Text collated from the best Authorities, with Introduction and Notes by David Masson. Three vols. 8vo. With Three Portraits engraved by C. H. Jeens and Radcliffe. (Uniform with the Cambridge Shakespeare.) Mistral (F.) — MIRELLE, a Pastoral Epic of Provence. Trans- lated by H. Crichton. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. " It would be hard to overpraise the sweetness and pleasing freshness of this charming epic." — Athenaeum. Mitford (A. B.)— TALES OF OLD JAPAN. By A. B. Mitford, Second Secretary to the British Legation in Japan. With Illustrations drawn and cut on Wood by Japanese Artists. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. " They will always be interesting as memorials of a most exceptional society ; while, regarded simply as tales, they are sparkling, sensa- tional, and dramatic, and the originality of their ideas and the quaintness of their language give them a most captivating piquancy. The illustrations are extremely interesting, and for the curious in such matters have a special and particular value." — Pall Mall Gazette. Morgan. — BARON BRUNO ; or, THE UNBELIEVING PHILOSOPHER, AND OTHER FAIRY STORIES. By LouisaMorgan. Illustrated by R. Caldecott. Crown 8vo. gilt. $s. Mr. Pisistratus Brown, M.P., in THE HIGHLANDS. New Edition, with Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3-r. 6d. " The book is calculated to recall pleasant memories of holidays well spent, and scenes not easily to be forgotten. To those who have never been in the Western Highlands, or sailed along the Frith of Clyde and on the Western Coast, it will seem almost like a fairy story. There is a charm in the volume which makes it anything BELLES LETT RES. 15 but easy for a reader who has opened it to put it down until the last page has been rad." — Scotsman. Mrs. Jerningham's Journal, a Poem purporting to be the Journal of a newly-married Lady. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. " It is nearly a perfect gem. We have had nothing so good for a long time, and those who neglect to read it are neglecting one oj the jewels of contemporary history." — Edinburgh Daily Re- view. " One quality in the piece, sufficient of itself to claim a moment's attention, is that it is unique — original, indeed, is not too strong a word — in the manner of its conception and execution." — Pall Mall Gazette. Mudie. — STRAY LEAVES. By C. E. Mudie. New Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. Contents: — "His and Mine" — "Night and Day"— "One of Many," &c. This little volume consists of a number of poems, mostly of a genuinely devotional character. ' ' They are for the most part so exquisitely sweet and delicate as to be quite a marvel of composition. They are worthy of being laid up in the recesses of the heart, and recalled to memory from time to time." — Illustrated London News. Murray. — THE BALLADS AND SONGS OF SCOTLAND, in View of their Influence on the Character of the People. By J. Clark Murray, LL.D., Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy in McGil'l College, Montreal. Crown 8vo. 6j. " Independently of the lucidity of the style in which the whole book is written, the selection of the examples alone would recommend it to favour, while the geniality of the criticism upon those examples cannot fail to make them, highly appreciated and valued." — Morning Post. Myers (Ernest). — THE PURITANS. By Ernest Myers. Extra fcap. 8vo. cloth. 2s. 6d. " It is not too much to call it a really grand poem, stately and dig- nified, and shoiviiig not only a high poetic mind, but also great power over poetic expression." — Literary Churchman. Myers (F. W. H.)— POEMS. By F. W. H. Myers. Con- taining "St. Paul," "St. John," and others. Extra fcap. 8vo. 4j. 6d. "It is rare to find a writer who combines to such an extent the faculty of communicating feelings with the faculty of euphonious expres- sion." — Spectator. '"St. PauT 1 stands without a rival as the noblest religious poem which has been written in an age which beyond any other has been prolific in this class of poetry. The sub- limest conceptions are expressed in language which, for richness, taste, and purity, we have never seen excelled." — John Bull. Nichol. — HANNIBAL, A HISTORICAL DRAMA. By John Nichol, B.A. Oxon., Regius Professor of English Language and Literature in the University of Glasgow. Extra fcap. 8vo. "]s. 6d. " The poem combines in no ordinary degree firmness and workman- 16 BELLES LETT RES. ship. After the lapse of many centuries, an English poet is found paying to the great Carthagenian the worthiest poetical tribute which has as yet, to our knowledge, been afforded to his noble and stainless name." — Saturday Review. Nine Years Old.— By the Author of "St. Olave's," "When I was a Little Girl," &c. Illustrated by Frolich. Third Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. cloth gilt. 4-f. 6d. It is believed that this story, by the favourably known author of " St. Olave's," will be found both highly interesting and instructive to the young. The volu?ne contains eight graphic illustrations by Mr. L. Frolich. The Examiner says: "Whether the readers are nine years old, or twice, or seven times as old, they must enjoy this pretty volume." Noel.— BEATRICE, AND OTHER POEMS. By the Hon. Roden Noel. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. "It is impossible to read the poem through without being powerfully moved. There are passages in it which for intensity and tender- ness, dear and vivid vision, spontaneous and delicate sympathy, may be co?npared with the best efforts of our best living writers." — Spectator. Norton. — Works by the Hon. Mrs. Norton : — THE LADY OF LA GARAYE. With Vignette and Frontispiece. New Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4.J. 6d. ' ' Full of thought well expressed, and may be classed among her best efforts." — Times. OLD SIR DOUGLAS. Cheap Edition. Globe 8vo. is. 6d. " This varied and lively novel — this clever novel so full of character, and of fine incidental remark." — Scotsman. "One of the pleasantest and healthiest stories of modern fiction." — Globe. Oliphant. — Works by Mrs. Oliphant : — AGNES HOPETOUN'S SCHOOLS AND HOLIDAYS. New Edition with Illustrations. Royal i6mo. gilt leaves. 4s. 6d. ' ' There are few books of late years more fitted to touch the heart, purify the feeling, and quicken and sustain right principles." — Nonconformist. "A more gracefully written story it is impos- sible to desire." — Daily News. A SON OF THE SOIL. New Edition. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. " It is a very different work from the ordinary run of novels. The whole life of a ?nan is portrayed in it, worked out with subtlety and insight." — Athenaeum. Olrig Grange. Edited by Hermann Kunst, Philol. Professor. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. 6d. Our Year. A Child's Book, in Prose and Verse. By the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." Illustrated by Clarence Dobell. Royal i6mo. 3^. 6d. "It is just the book we could wish to see in the hands of every child." —English Churchman. * BELLES LETTRES. 17 Owen Gwynne's Great Work— By the Author of " Wandering Willie." 2 vols, crown 8vo. zis. Oxford Spectator, The.— Reprinted. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3.r. 6d. Palgrave. — Works by Francis Turner Palgrave, M.A., late Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford : — THE FIVE DAYS' ENTERTAINMENTS AT WENTWORTH GRANGE. A Book for Children. With Illustrations by Arthur Hughes, and Engraved Title-page by Jeens. Small 4to. cloth extra. 6s. " If you want a really good book for both sexes and all ages, buy this, as handsome a volume of tales as you'll find in all the market. " — Athenaeum. ' 'Exquisite both inform and substance. ' ' — Guardian. LYRICAL POEMS. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. (t A volume of pure quiet verse, sparkling with tender melodies, and alive with thoughts of genuine poetry. . . . Turn where we will throughout the volume, toe find traces of beauty, tenderness, and truth ; true poet's work, touched and refined by the master-hand oj a real artist, who shows his genius even in trifles." — Standard. ORIGINAL HYMNS. Third Edition, enlarged, i8mo. is. 6d. " So choice, so perfect, and so refined, so tender in feeling, and so scholarly in expression, that we look with special interest to every- thing that he gives us." — Literary Churchman. GOLDEN TREASURY OF THE BEST SONGS AND LYRICS. Edited by F. T. Palgrave. i8mo. 4s. 6d. SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS AND SONGS. Edited by F. T. Palgrave. Gem Edition. With Vignette Title by Jeens. p. 6d. " For minute elegance no volume could possibly excel the ' Gem Edition.' " — Scotsman. THE CHILDREN'S TREASURY OF ENGLISH SONG. Selected and arranged with Notes by F. T. Palgrave. In Two Parts, is. each. Complete in 1 vol. i8mo. Cloth, 2s. Parables.— TWELVE PARABLES OF OUR LORD. Illus- trated in Colours from Sketches taken in the East by McEniry* with Frontispiece from a Picture by John Jellicoe, and Illumi- nated Texts and Borders. Royal 4*0. in Ornamental Binding. i6s. The Times calls it ' ' one of the most beautiful of modern pictorial works ;" while the Graphic says " nothing in this style, so good, has ever before been published. " Patmore. — THE CHILDREN'S GARLAND, from the Best Poets. Selected and arranged by Coventry Patmore. New- Edition. With Illustrations by J. Lawson. Crown 8vo. gilt. 6s. Golden Treasury Edition. i8mo. 4;. 6d. " The charming illustrations added to many of the poems will add greatly to their value in the eyes of children" — Daily News. B 1 8 BELLES LETTRES. Pember. — THE TRAGEDY OF LESBOS. A Dramatic Poem. By E. H. Pember. Fcap. 8vo. 4-r. 6d. Founded upon the story of Sappho. ' 'He tells his story with dramatic force, and in language that often rises almost to grandeur" — Athenaeum. Poole. — PICTURES OF COTTAGE LIFE IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND. By Margaret E. Poole. New and Cheaper Edition. With Frontispiece by R. Farren. Crown 8vo. 2 s - 6d. " Charming stories of peasant life, written in something of George Eliot's style. . . . Her stories could not be other than they are, as literal as truth, as romantic as fiction, full of pathetic touches and strokes of genuine humour. ... All the stories are studies of actual life, executed with no mean art." — Times. Population of an Old Pear Tree. From the French of E. Van Bruyssel. Edited by the Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe." With Illustrations by Becker. Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. gilt. 4s. 6d. " This is not a regular book of natural histoiy, but a description of all the living creatures that came and went in a summer's day beneath an old pear tree, observed by eyes that had for the nonce become microscopic, recorded by a pen that finds dramas in every- thing, and illustrated by a dainty pencil. . . . We can hardly fancy anyone with a moderate turn for the curiosities of insect life, or for delicate French esprit, not being taken by these clever sketches. " — Guardian. ' 'A whimsical and charming little book. " — Athenaeum. Prince Florestan of Monaco, The Fall of. By Himself. New Edition, with Illustration and Map. 8vo. cloth. Extra gilt edges, 5-r. A French Translation, 5^. Also an Edition for the People. Crown Svo. is. " Those who have read only the extracts given, will not need to be told how amusing and happily touched it is. Those who read it for other purposes than amusement can hardly miss the sober and sound political lessons with which its light pages abound, and which are as much needed in England as by the nation to whom the author directly addresses his moral. "—Pall Mall Gazette. ' ' This little book if very clever, wild with animal spirits, but showing plenty of good sense, a?nid all the heedless nonsense which fills so many of its pages. " — Daily News. ' ' In an age little remarkable for powers of political satire, the sparkle of the pages gives them everv claitn to welcome." — Standard. Rankine.— SONGS AND FABLES. By W. J. McQuorn Rankine, late Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. Realmah. — By the Author of "Friends in Council." Crown Svo. 6s. Rhoades. — POEMS, By James Rhoades. Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. BELLES LETTRES. 19 Richardson. — THE ILIAD OF THE EAST. A Selection of Legends drawn from Valmiki's Sanskrit Poem, "The Ramayana." By Frederika Richardson. Crown 8vo. js. 6d. " It is impossible to read it without recognizing the value and interest of the Eastern epic. It is as fascinating as a fairy tale, this romantic poem of India. " — Globe. ' ' A charming volume, which at once enmeshes the reader in its snares." — Athen^um. Roby.— STORY OF A HOUSEHOLD, AND OTHER POEMS. By Mary K. Roby. Fcap. 8vo. 5-r. Rogers. — RIDICULA REDIVIVA. Old Nursery Rhymes. Illustrated in Colours, by J. E. Rogers, with Ornamental Covers. In four parts, is. each, or complete in 1 vol. $s. " The most splendid, and at the same time the most really' meritorious of the books specially intended for children, that we have seen." — Spectator. " These large bright pictures will attract children to really good and honest artistic work, and that ought not to be an indifferent consideration with parents who propose to educate their children?' — Pall Mall Gazette. Rossetti. — Works by Christina Rossetti : — POEMS. Complete Edition, containing " Goblin Market," "The Prince's Progress," &c. With Four Illustrations. Extra fcap. Svo. SPEAKING LIKENESSES. Illustrated by Arthur Hughes. Crown Svo. gilt edges. 4s. 6d. " Certain to be a delight to many a juvenile fireside circle." — MORN- ING Post. Runaway (The). A Story for the Young. By the Author of " Mrs. Jerningham's Journal." With Illustrations by J. Lawson. Globe 8vo. gilt. 4^. 6d. ' ' This is one of the best, if not indeed the very best, of all the stories that has come before us this Christmas. The heroines are both charming, and, unlike heroines, they are as pill of fun as oT charms. It is an admirable book to read aloud to the youn > fol ■'■ they are all gathered round the fire, and nurses and other apparitions are still far azuay. " — Saturday Review. Ruth and her Friends. A Story for Girls. With a Frontis- piece. Fourth Edition. i8mo. Cloth extra, is. 6d. " We wish all the school girls and home-taught girls in the land had the opportunity of reading it." — Nonconformist. Scouring of the White Horse; or, the Long VACATION RAMBLE OF A LONDON CLERK. Illustrated by Doyle. Imp. i6mo. Cheaper Issue. I s . 6d. Shairp (Principal).— KILMAHOE, a Highland Pastoral, with other Poems. By John Campbell Shairp, Principal of the United College, St. Andrews. Fcap. 8vo. $s. B 2 2 o BELLES LETTRES. " Kilmahoe is a Highland Pastoral, redolent of the warm soft air of the western lochs and moors, sketched out with remarkable grace and picturesqueness.'''' — SATURDAY REVIEW. Shakespeare.— The Works of William Shakespeare. Cam- bridge Edition. Edited by W. George Clark, M.A. and W. Aldis Wright, M.A. Nine vols. 8vo. cloth. 4/. 14s. 6d. The Guardian calls it an " excellent, and, to the student, almost indispensable edition ;" and the Examiner calls it "an unrivalled edition. " Shakespeare's Tempest. Edited with Glossarial and Ex- planatory Notes, by the Rev. J. M. Jephson. New Edition. i8mo. ' is. Slip (A) in the Fens.— Illustrated by the Author. Crown 8vo. 6s. " An artistic little volume, for every page is a picture? — Times. "It will be read with pleasure, and with a pleasure that is altogether innocent. " — Saturday Review. Smedley — TWO DRAMATIC POEMS. By Menella Bute . Smedley, Author of " Lady Grace," &c. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. " May be read with enjoyment and profit.'''' — Saturday Review. Smith. — POEMS. By Catherine Barnard Smith. Fcap. 8vo. 5*. Smith (Rev. Walter).— hymns OF CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. By the Rev. Walter C. Smith, M.A. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. " These are among the sweetest sacred poems we have read for a long time. With no profuse imagery, expressing a range of feeling and expression by no means uncom?uon, they are true and elevated, and their pathos is Profound and simple.'" — NONCONFORMIST. Stanley, — TRUE TO LIFE.— A SIMPLE STORY. By Mary Stanley. Crown 8vo. io.r. 6d. ' ' Fgr many a long day we have not met with a ?nore simple, healthy, and unpretending story." — Standard. Stephen (C. E.) — THE SERVICE OF THE POOR; being an Inquiry : nto the Reasons for and against the Establishment of Religious Sisterhoods for Charitable Purposes. By Caroline Emilia Stephen. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. " It touches incidentally and with much wisdom and tenderness on so many of the relations of women, particularly of single women, with society, that it may be read with advantage by ma7iy who have never thought of entering a Sisterhood.'" — Spectator. Stephens (J. B.)— CONVICT ONCE. A Poem. By J. Brunton Stephens. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3-r. 6d. . " It is as far more interesting than ninety-nine novels out of a hundred, as it is superior to them in power, worth, and beauty. We should most strongly advise everybody to read ' Convict Once.' ' — Westminster Review. BELLES LETTRES. 21 Streets and Lanes Of a City : Being the Reminiscences of Amy Dutton. With a Preface by the Bishop of Salis- bury. Second and Cheaper Edition. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. " One of the most really striking books that has ever come before us." — Literary Churchman. Strivelyne — THE PRTNCESS OF SILVERLAND; and other Tales. By Elsie Strivelyne. With Frontispiece by Sir Noel Paton. Globe Svo. gilt. 4s-. " Delightfully fresh and original." — Graphic. " Readable and pleasant." — Athenaeum. Tell Me a Story, with Illustrations by Walter Crane. Globe Svo gilt. 4.J. 6d. Thring.— SCHOOL SONGS. A Collection of Songs for Schools. With the Music arranged for four Voices. Edited by the Rev. E . Thring and H. Riccius. Folio, js. 6d. Tom Brown's School Days. — By An Old Boy. Golden Treasury Edition, 4s. 6d. People's Edition, is. With Seven Illustrations by A. Hughes and Sydney Hall Crown Svo. 6s. " The most famous boy's book inthe language." — Daily News. Tom Brown at Oxford. — New Edition. With Illustrations. Crown Svo. 6s. " In no other work that we can call to mind are the finer qualities of the English gentleman more happily portrayed" — Daily News. "A book of great power and truth." — National Review. Trench. — Works by R. Chenevix Trench, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin. (For other Works by this Author, see Theological, Historical, and Philosophical Catalogues.) POEMS. Collected and arranged anew. Fcap. 8vo. 'js. 6d. HOUSEHOLD BOOK OF ENGLISH POETRY. Selected and arranged, with Notes, by Archbishop Trench. Second Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5j. 6d. ' ' The A rchbishop has conferred in this delightful volume an important gift on the whole English-speaking population of the world." — • Pall Mall Gazette. SACRED LATIN POETRY, Chiefly Lyrical. Selected and arranged for Use. By Archbishop Trench. Third Edition, Corrected and Improved. Fcap. 8vo. "Js. Trollope (Anthony). — sir HARRY HOTSPUR OF HUMBLETHWAITE. By Anthony Trollope, Author of "Framley Parsonage," etc. Cheap Edition. Globe 8vo. 2s.6d. The Athen^um remarks : "No reader who begins to read this book is likely to lay it down until the last page is turned. This brilliant novel appears to us decidedly more successful than any other of Mr. Trollope s shorter stories." 22 BELLES LETTRES. Turner. — Works by the Rev. Charles Tennyson Turner :— SONNETS. Dedicated to his Brother, the Poet Laureate. Fcap. 8vo. 4^. 6d. SMALL TABLEAUX. Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. Tyrwhitt — OUR SKETCHING CLUB. Letters and Studies on Landscape Art. By Rev. R. St. John Tyrwhitt, M.A. With an Authorized Reproduction of the Lessons and Woodcuts in Professor Ruskin's "Elements of Drawing." Second Edition. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. Under the Limes. — By the Author of "Christina North." Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. " One of the prettiest and best told stories which it has been our goodjortune to read for a longtime." — Pall Mall Gazette. Veitch.— THE TWEED, AND OTHER POEMS. By J. Veitch, LL.D., Professor of Logic and Rhetoric in Glasgow University. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. 6d. Vittoria Colonna. — LIFE AND POEMS. By Mrs. Henry Roscoe. Crown 8vo. gs. Waller. — SIX WEEKS IN THE SADDLE : A Painter's Journal in Iceland. By S. E. Waller. Illustrated by the Author. 'Crown 8vo. 6.f. " An exceedingly pleasant and naturally written little book. . . Mr. Waller has a clever pencil, and the text is well illustrated with his own sketches." — Times. Wandering Willie. By the Author ot " Effie's Friends," and " John Hatherton." Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. " This is an idyll of rare truth and beauty. . . . The story is simple and touching, the style of extraordinary delicacy, precision, and pictu?'esqueness. . . . A charming gift-book for young ladies not yet promoted to novels, and will amply repay those of their elders who may give an hour to its perusal '." — Daily News. Webster. — Works by Augusta Webster :— "// Mrs. Webster only remains true to herself, she will assuredly take a higher rank as a poet than any woman has yet done." — Westminster Review. DRAMATIC STUDIES. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5^. " A volume as strongly marked by perfect taste as by poetic power f — Nonconformist. A WOMAN SOLD, AND OTHER POEMS. Crown 8vo. -Js. 6d. "Mrs. Webster has shotvn us that she is able to draw admirably from the life; that she can observe with subtlety, and render her observations with delicacy ; that she can impersonate complex con- ceptions and venture into which few living writers can follow her. " — Guardian. BELLES LETTRES. 23 Webster — continued. PORTRAITS. Second Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. "Mrs. Webster's poems exhibit simplicity and tenderness . . . her tasA is perfect . . . This simplicity is combined with a subtlety of thought, feeling, and observation which demand that attention which only real lovers of poetry are apt to bestow." — Westminster Review. PROMETHEUS BOUND OF ^ESCHYLUS. Literally translated into English Verse. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. " Closeness and simplicity combined with literary skill.'" — Athe- n^um. "Mrs. Webster's 'Dramatic Studies' and ' Translation of Prometheus ' have won for her an hone.:/ able place among our female poets. She writes with remarkable vigour and dramatic realization, and bids fair to be the most successful claimant of Mrs. Browning's mantle." — British Quarterly Review. MEDEA OF EURIPIDES. Literally translated into English Verse. Extra fcap. 8vo. ^s. 6d. " Mrs. Webster's translation surpasses our utmost expectations. It is a photograph of the original without any oj that harshness which so often accompanies a photograph'' — Westminster Review. THE AUSPICIOUS DAY. A Dramatic Poem. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5j. v " The ' Auspicious Day' shows a marked advance, not only in art, but, in what is of far more importance, in breadth of thought and intellectual grasp." — Westminster Review. " This drama is a ?nanifestation of high dramatic power on the part of the gifted writer, and entitled to our warmest admiration, as a worthy piece of work." — Standard. YU-PE-YA'S LUTE. A Chinese Tale in English Verse. Extra fcap. 8vo. 2> s - &d- "A very charming tale, charmingly told in dainty verse, with occasional lyrics of tender beauty." — Standard. " We close the book with the renewed conviction that in Mrs. Webster we have a profound and original poet. The book is marked not by mere sweetness of melody — rare as that gift is — but by the infinitely I rarer gifts of dramatic power, of passion, and sympathetic insight." — Westminster Review. When I was a Little Girl, stories for children. By the Author of "St. Olave's." Fourth Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. With Eight Illustrations by L. Frolich. "At the head, and a long way ahead, of all books'^ for girls, we place ' When I was a Little Girl.' " — Times. " It is one of the choicest morsels of child-biography which we have met with." — Nonconformist. White.— RHYMES BY WALTER WHITE. 8vo. >]s. 6d. Whittier.— JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER'S POETICAL WORKS. Complete Edition, with Portrait engraved by C. H. Jeens. i8mo. 4J. 6d, 24 BELLES LETTRES. " Mr. Whittier has all the smooth melody and the pathos of the author of 'Hiawatha* with a greater nicety of description and a quainter fancy."— Graphic. Willoughby.— FAIRY GUARDIANS. A Book for the Young. By F. Willoughby. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. gilt. 5j. Wolf.— THE LIFE AND HABITS OF WILD ANIMALS. Twenty Illustrations by Joseph Wolf, engraved by J. W. and E. Whymper. With descriptive Letter-press, by D. G. Elliot, F.L.S. Super royal 4to, cloth extra, gilt edges. 2\s. This is the last series of drawings which will be made by Mr. Wolf, either upon wood or stone. The Pall Mall Gazette says: " The fierce, untameable side of brute nature has never received a more robust and vigorous interpretation, and the various incidents in which particular character is shown are set forth zaith rare dra- matic power. Tor excellence that will endure, we incline to place this very near the top of the list of Christmas books.'" And the Art Journal observes, "Tardy, if ever, have we seen animal life more forcibly and beautifully depicted than in this really splendid volume. " Also, an Edition in royal folio, handsomely bound in Morocco elegant, Proofs before Letters, each Proof signed by the Engravers. Wollaston. — LYRA DEVONIENSIS. ByT. V. Wollaston, M.A. Fcap. 8vo. 3-r. 6d. "It is the work of a man of refined taste, of deep religious sentiment, a true artist, and a good Christian." — Church Times. Woolner. — MY BEAUTIFUL LADY. By Thomas Woolner. With a Vignette by Arthur Hughes. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 5-y. " No matt can read this poe?n without being struck by the fitness and finish of the workmanship, so to speak, as well as by the chastened and unpretending loftiness of thought which pervades the whole." — Globe. Words from the Poets. Selected by the Editor of " Rays of Sunlight." With a Vignette and Frontispiece. l8mo. limp., u. " The selection aims at popularity, and deserves it." — Guardian. Yonge (C. M.) — Works by Charlotte M. Yonge. THE HEIR OF REDCLYFFE. Twenty-first Edition. With Illus- trations. Crown 8vo. 6s. HEARTSEASE. Thirteenth Edition. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE DAISY CHAIN. Twelfth Edition. With {Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE TRIAL: MORE LINKS OF THE DAISY CHAIN. Thirteenth Edition. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. DYNEVOR TERRACE. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. HOPES AND FEARS. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE YOUNG STEPMOTHER. Sixth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. BELLES LETTRES. 25 Yonge (C. M.) — continued. CLEVER WOMAN OF THE FAMILY. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. ' ' We think the authoress of ' The Heir of Redely ffe ' has surpassed her previous efforts in this illuminated chronicle of the olden time.'''' — British Quarterly. THE CAGED LION. Illustrated. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. ' ' Prettily and tenderly w)-itten, and will with young people especially be a great favourite." — Daily News. " Everybody should read this." — Literary Churchman. THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS; or, THE WHITE AND BLACK RIBAUMONT. Crown 8vo. 6s. Fourth Edition. " Miss Yonge has brought a lofty aim as well as high art to the con- struction of a story which may claim a place ar?iong the best efforts in historical romance." — Morning Post. " The plot, hi truth, is of the -very first order of merit." — Spectator. " We have seldom read a more charming story." — Guardian. THE PRINCE AND THE PAGE. A Tale of the Last Crusade. Illustrated. i8mo. 2s. 6d. " A tale which, we are sure, will give pleasure to many others besides the young people for whom it is specially intended. . . . This extremely prettily-told story does not require the guarantee afforded by the name of the author of ' The Heir of Redclyffe ' on the title- page to ensure its becoming a universal favourite." — Dublin Evening Mail. THE LANCES OF LYNWOOD. New Edition, with Coloured Illustrations. i8mo. 4*. 6d. " The illustrations are very spirited and rich in colour, and the story can hardly fail to charm the youthful reader.'" — Manchester Examiner. THE LITTLE DUKE : RICHARD THE FEARLESS. New Edition. Illustrated. l8mo. 2s. 6d. A STOREHOUSE OF STORIES. First and Second Series. Glebe 8vo. 3^. 6d. each. Contents of First Series : — History of Philip Quarll — Goody Twoshoes — The Governess — Jemima Placid — The Perambu- lations of a Mouse — The Village School — The Little Queen — History of Little Jack. " Miss Yonge has done great service to the infantry of this generation by putting these eleven stories of sage simplicity within their reach." — British Quarterly Review. Contents of Second Series : — Family Stories — Elements of Morality — A Puzzle for a Curious Girl — Blossoms of Morality. A BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS OF ALL TIMES AND ALL COUNTRIES. Gathered and Narrated Anew. New Edition, with Twenty Illustrations by Frolich. Crown 8vo. cloth gilt. 6s. 26 BELLES LETTERS. Yonge (C. M.)— continued.* (See also Golden Treasury Series). Cheap Edition, is. " We have seen no prettier gift-book for a long time, and none which, both for its cheapness and the spirit in which it has been compiled, is more deserving of praise." — Athenaeum. LITTLE LUCY'S WONDERFUL GLOBE. Pictured by Frolich, and narrated by Charlotte M. Yonge. Second Edition. Crown 4to. cloth gilt. 6s. " ' Lucy's Wonderful Globe ' is capital, and will give its youthful readers more idea op foreign countries and customs than any number of books of geography or travel." — Graphic. CAMEOS FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. From Rollo to Edward II. Extra fcap. 8vo. $s. Third Edition, enlarged. 5*. A Second Series. THE WARS IN FRANCE. Third Edition. Extra fcap, 8vo. 5^ '''■Instead oj dry details" says the Nonconformist, "we have living pictures, faithful, vivid, and striking." P's and Q's ; OR, THE QUESTION OF PUTTING UPON. With Illustrations by C. O. Murray. Second Edition. Globe 8vo. cloth gilt. 4-f. 6d. " One of her most successful little pieces .... just what a narrative should be, each incident simply and naturally related, no preaching or moralizing, and yet the moral coming out most powerfully, and the whole story not too long, or with the least appearance of being spun out." — Literary Churchman. THE PILLARS OF THE HOUSE; or, UNDER WODE, UNDER RODE. Cheaper Edition. Two vols, crown 8vo. \zs. ' ' A domestic story oj English professional life, which for sweetness of tone and absorbing interest from first to last has never been rivalled." — Standard. " Miss Yonge has certainly added to her already high reputation by this charming book, which, keeps the reader's attention fixed to the end. Indeed we are only sorry there is not another volume to come, and part with the Underwood family with sincere regret." — Court Circular. LADY HESTER; or, URSULA'S NARRATIVE. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. " We shall not anticipate the interest by epitomizing the plot, but we shall only say that readers will find in it all the gracefulness, right feeling, and delicate perception which they have been long accustomed to look for in Miss Yonge's writings." — Guardian. MY YOUNG ALCIDES; or, A FADED PHOTOGRAPH. Crown 8vo. GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES. 27 MACMILLAN'S GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES. Uniformly printed in i8mo., with Vignette Titles by Sir Noel Paton, T. Woolner, W. Holman Hunt, J. E. Millais, Arthur Hughes, &c. Engraved on Steel by Jeens. Bound in extra cloth, 4s. 6d. each volume. Also kept in morocco and calf bindings. " Messrs. Macmillan have, in their Golden Treasury Series, especially provided editions of standard works, volumes of selected poetry, and original compositions, which entitle this series to be called classical. Nothing can be better than the literary execution, nothing more elegant than the material workmanship." — British Quarterly Review. The Golden Treasury of the Best Songs and LYRICAL POEMS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Selected and arranged, with Notes, by Francis Turner Palgrave. " This delightful little volume, the Golden Treasury, which contains many of the best original lyrical pieces and songs in our language, grouped with care and skill, so as to illustrate each other like the pictures in a well-arranged gallery.'''' — Quarterly Review. The Children's Garland from the best Poets. Selected and arranged by Coventry Patmore. " It includes specimens of all the great masters in the art of poetry, selected with the matured judgment of a man concentrated on obtaining insight into the feelings and tastes of childhood, and desirous to awaken its finest impulses, to cultivate its keenest sensi- bilities." — Morning Post. The Book Of Praise. From the Best English Hymn Writers. Selected and arranged by Lord Selbourne. A New and En- larged Edition. " All previous compilatiofis of this kind must undeniably for the preseitt give place to the Book of Praise. . . . The selection has been made throughout with sound judgment and critical taste. The pains involved in this compilation must have been immense, em- bracing, as it does, every writer of note in this special province oj English literature, and ranging over the most widely divergent tracks of religious thought." — Saturday Review. The Fairy Book ; the Best Popular Fairy Stories. Selected and rendered anew by the Author of " John Halifax, Gentleman." "A delightful selection, in a delightful external fortn ; pull op the physical splendour and vast opulence of proper fairy tales"— Spectator. The Ballad Book. A Selection of the Choicest British Ballads. Edited by William Allingham. 28 GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES. ' ' His taste as a judge of old poetry will be found, by all acquainted with the various readings of old English ballads, true eno7igh to justify his undertaking so critical a task." — Saturday Review. The Jest Book. The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings. Selected and arranged by Mark Lemon. " The fullest and best jest book that has yet appeared." — Saturday Review. Bacon's Essays and Colours of Good and Evil. With Notes and Glossarial Index. By W. Aldis Wright, M.A. " The beautiful little edition of Bacon' 's Essays, now before us, does credit to the taste and scholarship of Mr. Aldis Wright. . . . Is puts the reader in possession of all the essential literary facts and chronology necessary for reading the Essays in connection with Bacon's life and times." — SPECTATOR. The Pilgrim's Progress from this World to that which is to come. By John Bunyan. •' A beautiful and scholarly reprint." — SPECTATOR. The Sunday Book of Poetry for the Young. Selected and arranged by C. F. Alexander. " A well-selected volume of Sacred Poetry." — Spectator. A Book of Golden Deeds of All Times and All Countries Gathered and narrated anew. By the Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe." "... To the young, J or whojn it is especially intended, as a most interesting collection of thrilling tales well told ; and to their elders, as a useful handbook of reference, and a pleasant one to take up when their wish is to while away a weary half hour. We have seen no prettier gift-book for a longtime." — Athenaeum. The Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Edited, with Biographical Memoir, Notes, and Glossary, by Alexander Smith. Two Vols. " Beyond all question this is the most beautiful edition of Burns yet out."— Edinburgh Daily Review. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Edited from the Original Edition by J. W. Clark, M.A. Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. " Mutilated and modified editions of this English classic are so much the rule, that a cheap and pretty copy of it, rigidly exact to the original, will be a prize to many book-buyers." — Examiner. The Republic of Plato. Translated into English, with Notes by J. LI. Davies, M.A. and D. J. Vaughan, M.A. "A dainty and cheap little edition." — Examiner. The Song Book. Words and Tunes from the best Poets and Musicians. Selected and arranged by John Hullah, Professor of Vocal Music in King's College, London. GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES. 29 " A choice collection of the sterling songs of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with the music of each prefixed to the Words. How much true wholesome pleasure such a book can diffuse, and will diffuse, we trust through many thousand families." — Examiner. La Lyre Francaise. Selected and arranged, with Notes, by GUSTAVE Masson, French Master in Harrow School. A selection of the best French songs and lyrical pieces. Tom Brown's School Days. By An Old Boy. " A perfect gem of a book. The best and most healthy book about boys Jor boys that ever was written." — Illustrated Times. A Book Of Worthies. Gathered from the Old Histories and written anew by the Author of " The Heir of Redclyffe." "With Vignette. " An admirable addition to an admirable series." — Westminster Review. A Book of Golden Thoughts. By Henry Attwell, Knight of the Order of the Oak Crown. i( Mr. Atlwell has produced a book of rare value . . . - Happily it is small enough to be carried about in the pocket, and of such a com- panion it would be difficult to weary." — Pall Mall Gazette. Guesses at Truth. By Two Brothers. New Edition. The Cavalier and his Lady. Selections from the Works of the First Duke and Duchess of Newcastle. With an Intro- ductory Essay by Edward Jenkins, Author of "Ginx's Baby," &c, "A charming little volume" — Standard. Theologia Germanica. — Which setteth forth many fair Linea- ments of Divine Truth, and saith very lofty and lovely things touching a Perfect Life. Edited by Dr. Pfeiffer, from the only complete manuscript yet known. Translated from the German, by Susanna Winkworth. With a Preface by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, and a Letter ; to the Translator by the Chevalier Bunsen, D.D. Milton's Poetical Works. — Edited, with Notes, &c, by Professor Masson. Two vols. i8mo. gs. Scottish Song. A Selection of the Choicest Lyrics of Scotland. Compiled and arranged, with brief Notes, by Mary Carlyle Aitkin. "Miss Aitken's exquisite collection of Scottish Song is so alluring, and suggests so many topics, that we find it difficult to lay it down. The book is one that should find a place in every library, we had almost said in every pocket, and the summer tourist who wishes to carry with him into the country a volume of genuine poetry, will find it difficult to select one containing within so small a compass so much of rarest value." — Spectator. Deutsche Lyrick. — The Golden Treasury of the best German Lyrical Poems, selected and arranged with Notes and Literary Introduction. By Dr. BUCHHEIM. 3 o GLOBE LIBRARY. MACMILLAN'S GLOBE LIBRARY. Beautifilly printed on toned paper and bound in clotk extra, gilt edges, price 4s. 6d. each ; in cloth plain, y. 6d. Also kept in a variety oj calf and morocco bindings at moderate, prices. Books, Wordsworth says, are "the spirit breathed By dead men to their kind ; " and the aim of the publishers of the Globe Library has been to make it possible for the universal kin of English- speaking men to hold communion with the loftiest " spirits of the mighty dead ; " to put within the reach of all classes complete and accurate editions, carefully and clearly printed upon the best paper, in a convenient form, at a moderate price, of the works of the master-minds of English Literature, and occasionally of foreign literature in an attractive English dress. The Editors, by their scholarship and special study of their authors, are competent to afford every assistance to readers of all kinds : this assistance is rendered by original biographies, glossaries of unusual or obsolete words, and critical and explanatory notes. The publishers hope, therefore, that these Globe Editions may prove worthy of acceptance by all classes wherever the English Language is spoken, and by their universal circula- tion justify their distinctive epithet ; while at the same time they spread and nourish a common sympathy with nature's most "finely touched" spirits, and thus help a little to " make the whole world kin." The Saturday Review says : " The Globe Editions are admirable for their scholarly editing, their typographical excellence, their com- pendious form, and their cheapness:' The British Quarterly Review says : ' ' In compendiousness, elegance, and scholarliness, the Globe Editions of Messrs. Macmillan surpass any popular series of our classics hitherto given to the public. As near an approach to miniature perfection as has ever been made." Shakespeare's Complete Works. Edited by W. G. Clark, M. A., and W. Aldis Wright, M. A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, Editors of the "Cambridge Shakespeare." With Glossary, pp. 1,075. 77^Athen/eum says this edition is " a marvel of beauty, cheapness, and compactness. . . . For the busy man, above all for the ■working student, this is the best of all existing Shahespeares." Tl ARY UNI FFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-25/«-9,'47(A5618)444 4161 B55r '1 .^SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 366 618 i