;i*■Ssi^:t;Eit5^4•^liSIS•lmx-^■.-.v:•,.■:^ '^'^•^*^^^Bil^'^SvPi^''i^'- ^-v^^^'I ''" ^WS::'?-' „,. .,.,.,V'Si»SS'!!;v'"i'«P«*'''i'''-''i-^ ~)fi^i\ ";'!;i.^ •i'^-i';- 'h"i' ;'j;:.,~:/'', .:',;, =i,-';: \^/ iStS; ':-:;r:"r":--ii:^f;:':' "i'i ^.■'•", - • :..■ „■.•■,■:;' ^'''i'H^^;■^■:i.X' , ;^^?;:;E ^ilffSiii i -Jf¥f IS: '^^Mw- :;|^|| iliii^ '^3 iii •';:'^y';'\.' ^■i'5-':::^':::^^^^^V-:^. 'i.K^M ,:•l^!;:i^i^ ^;:' i^-:';:;^ ■'■.'• '^i^i'-^'h •;:■■.' ;■;':';■• if' i '"ii'j'i^l ^'^^'' 't';;!;; 'i.' ' ^'i.--;. ■: >J^!''-''. ,, ■;■ LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Ex Libris ISAAC FOOT V s I I HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Giyz^ -1^. '^>o^A"r^ (6ah ^ Ote^ TT' xA'ti^TTZ't^^^l^ <^J(?t^-'t- - DOWNEY & CP L'™ Harry Coverdale's Courtship AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT BY (prank e. smedley) AUTHOR OF " FRANK FAIELEGH,' " LEWIS ARUNDEL,' ETC. "Those false alarms of strife, Between the husband and the wife, And little quarrels, often prove To be but new recruits of love; And tho' some fit of small contest Sometime fall out among the best, That makes no breach of faith and love, But rather (sometimes) serves t' improve.' BUTLEE. NEW YORK NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY LONDON DOWNEY & CO., Limited as H27 1900 LONDON: PEIKTBD BT GILBERT AND EIVINGION, LTD., ST, John's house, cleekbnwell, k.c. CONTENTS CEAPTEK PAGE I. TREATS OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE ... 1 II. AFFORDS A SPECIMEN OF HARRY's " QUIET MANNER " WITH HIS TENANTRY .... 5 III. HAZLEHURST PLEADS HIS CAUSE AND WINS IT . 11 IV. CONTAINS, AMONG OTHER " EXQUISITE " SKETCHES, A PORTRAIT OF A PUPPY (NOT BY LANDSEER) . 16 V. PROVES THE ADVISABILITY OF LOOKING BEFORE YOU LEAP 21 VI. JEST AND EARNEST 27 VII. WHEREIN SYMPTOMS OF HARRY's COURTSHIP BEGIN TO APPEAR ON A STORMY HORIZON ... 33 VIII. HARRY CONDESCENDS TO PLAY THE AGREEABLE . 38 IX. CONTAINS LITTLE ELSE SAVE MOONSHINE ... 45 X. "equo ne credite teucri." — Yirgil ... 53 XI. " POST EQUITEM SEDET ATRA CURA." — Horace . . 56 XII. HARRY PUTS HIS FOOT IN IT 62 XIII. "deeper and deeper still" 67 XIV. DECIDEDLY EMBARRASSING 73 XV. RELATES THE UNEXPECTED BENEVOLENCE OF HORACE d'ALMAYNE 79 XVI. TREATS OF THINGS IN GENERAL 84 XVII. PLOTTING AND COUNTER-PLOTTING .... 92 XVIII. ALICE'S FIRST INTRODUCTION TO HER HUSBAND'S "quiet manner" 96 XIX. A COMEDY OF ERRORS 106 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGB XX. THE MORNING OF THE FIEST OF SEPTEMBER . 109 XXI. THE EVENING OF THE SAME DAT .... 112 XXII. KATE SOWS THE WIND 117 XXIII. ADVICE GRATIS 122 XXIV. A STORM BREWING 126 XXV. THE STORM BURSTS 132 XXVI. THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS CLOUDY . . .135 XXVII. THE PLEASURES OF KEEPING UP THE GAME . , 141 XXVIII. ALICE SUCCOURS THE DISTRESSED .... 151 XXIX. HOW TO MAKE HOME HAPPY 158 XXX. INTRODUCES A LORDLY GALLANT 163 XXXI. SPIDERS AND FLIES 168 XXXII. A GLIMPSE AT THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER . . 180 XXXIII. TELBMACHUS AND MENTOR 184 XXXIV. CIRCE 193 XXXV. FLOWERS AND THORNS 200 XXXVI. ARCADIA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY , . 205 XXXVII. A CONCESSION AND A " PARTIE CARREE " . . 211 XXXVIII. SOME OF THE JOYS OF OUR DANCING DAYS . . 218 XXXIX. ARABELLA 229 XL. DEEPER AND DEEPER STILL . . . . . 237 XLI. ADVICE GRATIS 244 XLii. l'embarras DES RICHESSES 250 XLIII. EATING WHITEBAIT 257 XLIV. LORD ALFRED COURTLAND SOWS A FEW WILD OATS 263 XLV. THE OVERTURE TO DON PASQUALE .... 270 XLVI. KATE BEGINS TO REAP THE AVHIRLWIND . . 275 XLVII. A GLIMPSE AT THE CLOVEN FOOT .... 283 XLVIII. MAGNANIMITY 289 XLIX. ALICE PERCEIVES THE ERROR OF HER WAYS . 292 L. THE LETTER . . . 297 LI. OTHELLO VISITS CASSIO 306 LII. A GLEAM OF LIGHT 313 CONTENTS vii CIIAPTEE PAGK LIII. AFTER THE MANNER OF " BELL'S LIFE "... 316 LIV. SETTLING PRELIMINARIES 326 LV. THE RACE 331 LVI. THE CATASTROPHE 335 LVII. AN ANONYMOUS LETTER 339 LVIII. DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND 343 LIX. HORACE WEATHERS THE STORM 350 LX. ANXIETY 355 LXI. ALICE APPOINTS HER SUCCESSOR 363 LXII. MRS. COVERDALE THINKS BETTER OF IT . . . 369 LXIII. LORD ALFRED SEVERS HIS LEADING STRINGS . . 375 LXIV. d'ALMAYNE plays HIS LAST CARD .... 382 LXV. SETTLES EVERYBODY AND EVERYTHING . . . 387 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS A " ctit " not like to be soon healed . . . . A promising Foru'-year-old A Specimen of Harry's " Qniet Manner " . Unaccountable Bebaviour of Aunt Sally . A Fencing Lesson For the last Time Han-y's quiet manner of taking " tbe sby " out of liim Paterfamilias sbows bis Teetb Han-y's first appearance as Romeo .... Getting up Steam ! Wife-breaking — (Tbeory) Wife-breaking — (Practice) Tbe Crime Tbe Capture Alice's debut as Lady Bountiful HigbArt L'Inferno Paradise A pleasant Sigbt for a Husband An agreeable Prospect for a Wife .... Mistrust Spitting a Spy That dreadful Leg of Mutton ! Rejected Addresses Tbe Wife's Secret A Clencber Starting from tbe Pandemonium .... A foul Stroke Tbe tender Mercies of tbe Wicked .... Hope deferred PAGE Frontispiece Engraved title face page 9 ,, 19 , 24 31 , 55 , 64 , 101 , 104 , 126 . 135 , 147 , 151 , 153 179 , 189 , 207 , 228 232 , 243 265 , 283 , 289 , 300 , 311 , 320 , 331 , 348 364 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT CHAPTER I. TREATS OF THE PHILOSOPHY OP LIFE. Harry Coverdale stood six feet one in or oiat of his stockings, rode sometliing over eleven stone, was unusually good, or, as young ladies term it, interesting-looking, numbered six-and-twenty years last gi'ass, and lived at Coverdale Park when he was at home, with five thousand a year to pay for his housekeeping, of which he spent about two. At the happy moment in which we have the pleasure of introducing him to our readers he was not at home, at least not literally, thoiigh figuratively he appeared to be making himself so very decidedly. He had anived in London that morning, and had dined at his club, and strolled down to the Temple aftei-wards, where, finding that his friend, Arthur Hazlehurst, was expected to return every minute, he had taken possession of his vacant chambers, lighted a cigar, laid hands on a number of " The Sporting Magazine," and flinging himself at full length on the sofa (sofas do occasionally appear in the chambers of the briefless), looked, and was, especially comfortable. He was not, however, allowed to enjoy his position long in peace ; for scarcely had he established himself when a man's foot- step was heard running hastily up the interminable staircase, while a quick eager voice, addi*essing the small boy who did duty for clerk, exclaimed, — " Eh ! a gentleman whom you don't know lying on my sofa and smoking my last cigai" ! that's coming to the point and no mistake ; cool though — I wonder who the deuce it can be — not a client, of course. — Ah ! HaiTy, my dear old boy, this is an unexpected pleasure ; why, I'm as glad to see you as if yo\i were a client almost. I thought you were in the Red Sea, man, dredging for defunct Egyptians, or chipping old blocks with Layard, or some such slow thing ; when did you retul^rl ? " Arthur* Hazlehurst, the originator of the foregoing speech, was an B 2 HARRY CO VERD ALB'S COURTSHIP old college chum of Coverdale's, who, when his friend had taken his de^-ee (a highly respectable one) and started on an enlarged edition of the grand tour, had gone to read \yith a special pleader. Having by a special slice of luck contrived to acquire a knowledge of the law from that process, instead of the more usual result of learning how to spend five hundred per annum out of an allowance of two, and possessing, moreover, an acute intellect, and a fair portion of industry, Arthui' Hazlehurst was looked upon as a rising young man. In appearance he was, for a fair man, rather handsome than otherwise, but if his talent for rising could have been exercised bodily, as well as professionally, it would have been as well for him, for his friend had the advantage of him in stature by some three inches ; his manner and way of speaking were quick and eager, and he had altogether a wide-awake look about him, as though he regarded society at large as perpetually in a witness-box, and was always prepared to cross-examine and be down upon it. "I returned to England some three weeks since," replied Cover- dale, abstracting the cigar from his mouth, and lazily flipping off the ashes from the lighted end with his finger ; " but I went quietly down to the Park, and hav^e been plodding over accounts with the agent ever since. Shocking bad tobacco they make you put up with here ; you shall try the glorious stuff I've brought back from Constanti- nople — your Turk is the boy to smoke. So you've become learned in the law, I hear, since I went abroad." " Eh ! Yes, I believe I've picked up a thing or two," retimied Hazlehurst modestly; " I've found out the great secret of life ; the next move is to make the knowledge pay, and that's not so easy." " I didn't laiow there was a great secret to find out," observed Coverdale, stroking his curly black whiskers, " the rule of life seems easy enough to me — make up your mind what you want to do, and then quietly do it — that's my recipe." " A very good one for you, my dear fellow, you've only to put your hand in your pocket, and, as your money rattles, difficulties disappear ; but we're not all boi-n to ^65000 a year, worse luck ; fathers have flinty hearts, and even the amenities of the nineteenth century hare failed to macadamize them — ' I've given you an expensive education, sir, and I expect to see you turn it to account.' That's about the style of blessing we inherit now-a-day ; however, my secret of life is this : everything has a culminating point, and the dodge is to hit tipon it yourself, and bring others to it with the least delay possible ; in these four words — come to the point, is embodied the whole philosophy of existence." "Well, yes, I dare say there is something in it," retui'ned Cover- dale meditatively, " it never exactly struck me before, but there's a beaiitiful simplicity about it that I rather admire— a little too rail- roadish, perhaps, unless a man's in an awful huny; you lose the bright sunny peeps and the jolly old roadside alehouses of life by rushing so straight to your object." AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 3 " Sunny nonsenses," was the uncourteous rejoinder — " none of your old slow-coaching days for me ; life's not long enough for dreaming — Parr's life pills are a swindle, and Methuselah died without leaving his recipe behind him ; — so come to the point say I." '' Though I won't promise to adopt your philosophy for a perma- nency, I'll act upon it for once, at all events," replied Coverdale, smiling (and a nice, genial, pleasant smile it was too, showing a white, even row of teeth, and lighting up a pair of large, dark, intelligent eyes, and making the " smiler " look particularly hand- some). "So to come to the point, I'm here to enlist you in my service for what the women call a ' day's shopping ' to-morrow : I've no clothes to my back, no horses to ride, no dog-cart to knock about in — in fact, none of the necessaries of life ; — then, having benefited by your advice and experience, I mean to carry you off to Coverdale for a crack at the rabbits ; thank goodness ! they've got the game up and the poachers down since I've been abroad: that was the only thing I made a row about when I came into the property. Why, there are no preserves like the Coverdale woods in the county, and yet my poor uncle never had a pheasant on his table. Things are rather different now, my boy, and my only real sorrow at the present moment is, that there are two whole months to be got rid of before the first of September : well ! what do you say to my proposal ? " " Done, along with you," replied Hazlehurst ; "but on one condition only, viz., that when we've polished off the rabbits, you'll come with me to the Grange, and make acquaintance with those members of the worthy family of Hazlehurst, whose virtues are as yet unknown to you." " You're very kind ; but you've a lot of sisters, or she-cousins, or some creatures of that dangerous nature, haven't you ? Of course I mean no disparagement to the ladies of your family in particular ; but 'pon my word, my dear feUow, I cannot stand women : in Turkey they shut 'em up, you know, so that I'm not accustomed to them ; I've given up flii-ting and dangling, and all the rest of it, long ago ; it's very well for green boys, but at my time of life a man has something better to think about : " and, as he spoke, Coverdale flung the end of his cigar into the empty fireplace, pitched " The Sporting Maga- zine " unceremoniously on the table, and, looking at his watch, continued, " It's eight o'clock ; I took a couple of stalls for the 'Prophete' this morning, on the chance of catching you; so jump into a pair of black trousers and let us be ofB." " Not a bad move," replied his companion, " I'll adorn and be with you in — " " ' Einem augenblick,' " suggested the grand tourist, philologically . "If that's Gei-man for the twinkling of a bed-post, yes!" was the rejoinder, and in less than ten minutes the friends descended the staircase arm-in-arm, Hazlehurst leaving strict directions with the small clerk to inform any one who might ask for him, that he was summoned to attend a very important consultation. 4 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP The next day was devoted to the piarchase of Coverdale's neces- saries of life. Owing to Hazlehurst's perseverance in bringing all the tradesmen to the point, a vast deal of business was transacted, and before nightfall Han-y was the fortunate possessor of a spicy dog-cart, a blood mare to run in it, who could trot fourteen miles an hour, and really did perform ten miles in that space of time, equally to her own satisfaction and to that of her new master — two showy saddle-horses, the best being vip to fifteen stone with any hounds — a double-barrelled gun, by a famous maker — a brace of thorough-bred pointers — and a whole host of the minor " necessaries " animate and inanimate, all of which, put together, made a considerable hole in a thousand pounds ; but, as Harry sapiently obsei'ved, " a man could not live in the country without them, so where was the use of bothering." On the following morning the two young men and all the pur- chases, horses included, started by the Midland Counties Railway, and dinner-time found them safely deposited at Coverdale Park, a fine old place, which, with its pictm-esque mansion, beautiful view, and goodly extent of wood and water, field and fell, was as desirable a property as any English gentleman need wish to possess. After dinner the gamekeeper was summoned : he was a sturdy, good-looking fellow, who had filled the post of imder- keeper in the time of Admiral Coverdale (Harry's deceased uncle, an old bachelor, to whose in- vincible hatred of matrimony his nephew was indebted for his present position). Harry, before he went abi-oad, bad discovered the head- keeper to be in league with a gang of poachers, receiving a per- centage on all the game they sold; he had accordingly dismissed him, and elected his subordinate to fill the vacant situation — an experiment which had proved eminently successful. " Take a glass of wine, Markum ; this is my friend, Mr. Hazle- hurst. We mean to have a slap at the rabbits to-morrow ; so be here at eight o'clock, and then we shall get a good long day : any more poachers since we caught those last fellows ? " And, as Coverdale spoke, he filled a large claret glass to the brim with splendid old port, and handed it to the keeper, who received it bashfully, and then, scraping with his foot and ducking his head twice with an expression of coitntenance as of a sheep about to bvitt, replied, — " Your 'ealth, Mr. Coverdale, sir — your 'ealth, gents both," tossed it oif at a di*aught — " there ain't been no reglur poarchin a-goin on, sir," he continued, setting down his glass as if it bumed his fingers, and then jibbing away from the table as though he had shied at it " but that 'are young Styles has been a-shooting rabids on Wild Acre farm, and seems to say as he considers he's a right so to do." " Styles ? who is he ? " inquired Harry, quickly. " Well, he's the son of old Farmer Styles, and he used to shoot just when and where he liked in the Admiral's time, and that's how he fancies he's got a sort of right, do you see, Mr. 'Enery — that is, Mr. Coverdale, sir." AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 5 " Rabbits are not game, so you can't touch him on the score o£ poaching, Harry ; but, to come to the point, if he's on your land ■without your permission, he's trespassing, and that's where you can be doAvn upon him," inteiTupted Hazlehurst, sententiously. " Then I shall have the law o' my side in pitching into him, I suppose, sir ? " inquired Markum, eagerly. " No, no, my good fellow ; I don't wish to quaiTel with any of my tenantry, about here," exclaimed Coverdale hastily, "they'll be breaking pheasants' eggs, and playing up all sorts of mischief, — no : we must have nothing of that kind — I'll s^jeak to the young man myself ; there's a quiet way of doing these things, as I must teach you all. Good-night; remember eight o'clock to-moiTow:" and Markum, looking sheepish and rebuked, quitted the room, to tell the tale in the kitchen with the following reflection appended, " And if that 'are young Styles happens to be as cheeky to master as he is to other folks, it strikes me the quiet dodge won't pay." CHAPTER II. AFFORDS A SPECIMEN OF HARRY's " QUIET MANNER" WITH HIS TENANTRY. By two o'clock next day, Coverdale and Hazlehm-st had walked for some six hours, and conjointly taken the lives of seven couple of rabbits, ten unfortunates having fallen victims to the new double- barrel, while Hazlehurst had disposed of the remaining four. A sumptuous luncheon, with unlimited pale ale and brown stout, awaited them at the gamekeeper's cottage, to which repast they did ample justice. " I tell you what it is, Harry," exclaimed Hazlehurst, setting down an empty tumbler, " if I eat any more luncheon, you will have to send me home in a wheelbarrow, for to walk I shall not be able — as it is, I feel like an alderman after a city feast." " In that case, you'd require a very capacious wheelbarrow, and I should pity the individual who had to trundle it. Come ! finish the bottle — you won't ? then I will — and now we'll be off^it strikes me fatigue has something to do with it, as well as the luncheon ; you've been smoke-diying in London, young man, till you're out of condi- tion," retiumed Coverdale, laughing, as he remarked the stiff manner in which his friend rose and walked across the cottage. Another hour's striding through high grass and fern proved the 6 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP correctness of this assertion ! for Hazlehurst, unaccustomed to such severe exercise, hep^an to show unmistakable symptoms of knocking up. His friend observed him with attention — '" You really are tired, Arthur," he said good-naturedly, "you'll be fit for nothing to-morrow, if you walk much farther. Go back, Markum, and send one of your boys for the shooting pony ; let him bring it to us at the bridge foot — I am going over Wild Acre farm next : I shall try through the spinney and round the large meadow, so you can cut across and join us again in half an hour — and, Markum — wait one moment : — What sort of person is this man Styles P How should I know him if I should happen to run against him ? " " Well, he be a tall, broad-shouldered, roughish-looking chap, rather an orkard customer for to tackle, Mr. Coverdale, sir, and he generally have a sort of cross-bred, lurcher-like dog along with him, if you please, Mr. 'Enry, that is, Mr. Coverdale, sir " — and so saying, Markum stai*ted at a swinging trot to execute his master's wishes. " The fellow looks as if he could go on at that pace for a fortnight without turning a hair," observed Hazlehui-st, pausing to wipe his brow ; " I never saw such a cast-iron animal." " He's at it every day, and that keeps him in good order," replied Coverdale : " but I've walked him down before now, and should not wonder if I were to do so to-day — I'm just getting what the jockeys call my ' second wind,' and am good for the next four hours at least — ha ! there's a rabbit sitting, pull at it when I clap my hands." " It's too long a shot for me," replied Hazlehm-st, " bag him yourself." Thus urged, Coverdale brought his gun to his shoulder and drew the trigger, but the cap was a bad one, and would not go off, and his second ban-el being loaded with small shot, in the hope of picking up a landrail (of which Markum had reported the probable whereabouts), the rabbit skipped away uninjured. It had not proceeded ten paces, however, when it sprang into the air, and rolled over dead — at the same moment the report of a gun rang out from behind some low bushes, and a lurcher dog dashed forward, and picked up the defunct rabbit. Coverdale's face flushed with anger, and hastily exchanging the defective perciission cap for a sound one, he i-aised his gun with the intention of shooting the dog; but, though quick-tempered^ Hai-ry was a thoroughly kind-hearted fellow, and a moment's reflection caused him to relinquish his purpose ; recovering his gun, he muttered — " Poor brute, why should I kiD it ? — it's not his fault, but his master's." As he spoke a tall figure rose from behind the bushes, whence the shot had proceeded, and whistling to the dog, took the rabbit from him, and put it in the pocket of a voluminous-skirted shooting- jacket. " That's the redoubtable Mr. Styles, ' in propria persona,' I imagine," obBerved Hazlehurst. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 7 " And a cool hand he seems too," returned Coverdale, scowling at the delinquent, who stood quietly reloading his gun, as though he were " monarch of all he surveyed," — " however, I'm not going to lose my temper about it; it's a great object with me, just now, to conciliate all the neighbouring farmers." " Then are you going to give him ' carte blanche ' to spiflicate rabbits when and where he likes P " inquired his fi-iend. '■ Not a bit of it ! " was the reply, " I mean to put a stop once for all to such practices ; but there is a quiet way of managing these matters quite as effectual as putting oneself into a rage." " Don't be a week about it, that's all— come to the point at once, there's a good fellow, for I want to knock over another rabbit or two before my Bucephalas arrives," rejoined Hazlehurst. Thus urged, Coverdale advanced towards the stranger, and slightly raising his wide-awake as he approached him, said with an air of Grandisonian politeness — " Mr. Styles, I presume P " " Yes, young man, my name's Styles. What's yourn ? " was the unceremonious reply. He does not know me, thought Harry : now for astonishing him — rather! "My name, sir, is — ahem! — Henry Coverdale, of Coverdale Park, at your service." He paused to watch the effect of this announcement. Ha ! I thought so, he trembles, he is — why, con- found the scoundi'el ! I do believe he's giinning — he can't have Tinderstood me — " My name is Coverdale, I say, sir." " Well, then, Mr. Coverdale, if that's your name, the sooner you take yourself back to Coverdale Park the better I shall be pleased, for I'm a shooting rabbits, and your jabbering scares the creeturs," was the astounding rejoinder. Coverdale could scarcely believe his ears ; however, he contrived by a strong effort to subdue his rising passion, as he answered, " If, as I imagine, you are the son of old Farmer Styles, of Wild Acre, you must be aware, sir, that the farm your father rents is my pro- perty, and that the rabbits you are shooting are my rabbits ; I must, therefore, trouble yoii to hand over the one you have just killed, and to abstain from shooting entirely, except on any occasion when I may invite you to join me, or otherwise give you permission." " I knows this, that father and I have got thirty years' lease to run, and that when I wants a day's rabbiting, I means to take it, whether you likes it, or whether you doesn't. Why, the old Admiral never said a word agen it ; but he was something like a gentleman, he was ! " was the surly answer. Harry's eyes flashed fire. " Do you mean to insinuate that I am not one then, fellow P " he asked in a voice that trembled with passion. "And suppose I does, what then? feller!" returned the other insolently. " This ! " was the reply, as springing hastily forward, Coverdale struck Styles so violent a blow on the cheek with the back of his 8 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP open hand, that he staggered and nearly fell ; — recoverinof himself with difficulty, and holdino; one hand to his injured jaw, he muttered with an oath, " If it wasn't for the confounded guns, I'd give you the heai-tiest thrashing ever you had in your life." " Or get one youi-self ," replied Harry, now thoroughly roused ; " but, if you're at all inclined that way, don't disturb yourself about the guns ; if you will discharge yours, I and imy fi-iend will do the same by oui'S, it's only wasting a charge or two of powder " — and, as he spoke, he fired both barrels in the air. Styles paused a moment, to assui'e himself that no stratagem was contemplated, and then dis- charged his gun also, while Hazlehurst, having glanced at his friend with an expression of the deepest astonishment, hastened to follow their example. At this moment the clatter of a horse's hoofs was heard, and Markum, the keeper, cantered up on the shooting pony. " Ah ! that's right ! " exclaimed Coverdale, who appeared suddenly to have regained his good temper — " tie the pony up to a tree and come here. Hazlehurst, you will pick me up if I require it, and Markum will do the same kind office by Mr. Styles, and I don't intend him to have a sinecure either," he added. ' sotto voce.' " Tou don't mean seriously you're going to fight the fellow ? " inquired Hazlehurst. " Indeed, I do, and, what's more, nobody shall prevent me, unless he shows the white feather," was the positive answer. " But — bvit you'll get knocked about so : besides, the brute's a bigger, heavier man than you, and as strong as an elephant. Suppose he should injiu-e you," remonstrated Hazlehurst. "He may if he can," was the confident reply; "why, Arthm*, you're as nervous as a girl ; this is not the first time you've seen me use my fists, and I've taken lessons from Ben Gaunt since the old Eton days." " Go in and win, then, if you will make a fool of yom-self," rejoined Hazlehurst moodily, as he helped his friend to divest himself of his shooting- jacket and waistcoat. " Now, Mr. Styles, I'm at your service," remarked Coverdale, addressing his antagonist politely. "So you mean fighting, do you?" inquired Styles, half in- credulously. " I mean to try and give you the thrashing with which you have threatened me," was the reply. " And if you do, I'll promise never to shoot another rabbit without your permission ; but if I'm best man, blest if I don't smash 'em when and where I likes," was the rejoinder. " It's a bargain," returned Coverdale, " so come on." — As his antagonist bared his brawny arms and muscular throat, Harry felt that, if his skill were at all commensurate with his strength, he had cut himself out a somewhat troublesome task, and he l>egan to own, in his secret soul, that Hazlehurst was right, and that he was about to do a very foolish thing. However, he had great confidence in his 51* 'Ai»(^ ■/;,lffi!^ H;?!|fe rAv^ 111 J ' AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 9 own skill and activity, and to these qualities did he trust to relieve him from his difl&culties. If those amiable philanthropists, whose ranks, once numbering a large majority of the aristocracy and gentry of the land, have, as civilization has spi'ead, grown " small by degi'ees and beautifully less " (we allude to the " Patrons of the Ring,") — if these humane and enlightened individuals expect a detailed account, a la " Bell's Life," of.the " stunning mill between the Coverdale Cove and the Stylish Farmer," they must be doomed to the pangs of dis- appointment ; for unfortunately neither our taste nor oiu* talent lies in that direction. Suffice it then to relate, that Mr. Styles' science proving an article of the very roughest country manufacture, while his antagonist went to work with the skill and composure of a finished artist, Coverdale soon perceived that he had only to stop or avoid his opponent's blows, to keep cool and to abide his time, in order to insure him an easy victory — and the event justified his expectations. After six rounds — in the course of which the farmer acquired two beautiful black eyes, while Coverdale had not got a scratch — time was called and the seventh round commenced. Styles, smarting from the punishment he had received, and in-itated to the highest degree by his adversary's coolness, I'ushed on so fm-iously, and hailed such a shower of blows upon his opponent, that Coverdale found it would be impossible entirely to ward them off, and not wishing to be disfigured by a black eye or flattened nose, was forced to exert himself in real earnest to endeavour to bring the battle to a conclusion; — watching his opportunity, therefore, he drew back, stopped a terrific hit cleverly with his left hand, and then flinging out his right arm straight from the shoulder, and bounding forward at the same moment, he struck his antagonist a crashing blow, which, catching him full on the side of the head, sent him dowTi like a shot. " That has terminated the case for the defendant, I expect," observed Hazlehuret, sententiously, as, breathless and with bleeding knuckles, his friend seated himself on his extended knee — " he had had nearly enough before, and he has got rather too much now. You hit him an awful crack ! " " It was his own fault," returned Coverdale. " I did not want to hurt the man if he would have fought quietly, and like a civilized Christian, instead of a raging lunatic ;— but he's only stunned — see, he's reviving already. Confound the fellow, his head is as hard as a cannon-ball, to which fact my knuckles bear witness." So saying, Coverdale rose, and resuming his coat and waistcoat, approached his fallen foe, who, with his head leaning against Markum's shoulder, was staring vacantly at the sky. " He's as unconscionable as a hinfant, Mr. Coverdale, sir : you've been and knocked his hintellects slap out of him, which only sarves him right, and is what all poachers 'andsomely desarves," i*emarked the gamekeeper cheerfully. " I know what will be the medicine to cure him,'' exclaimed 10 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Hazlehurst, producing a pocket-flask, and applying it to the lips of the vanquished Styles. At first the patient seemed inclined to resist ; bnt as soon as he tasted the flavour of the contents of the pocket- pistol, he raised his hand, and pushing aside Hazlehurst's fingers, drained it to the bottom. " Gently, my friend," remonstrated the young barrister, " that's Kinahan's best whisky — fortunately I supplied the vacuum created at luncheon with spring water. Ah, I thought as much, that's the true ' elixir vitas,' " he continued, as Styles, relinquishing the flask, sat up and began to stare wildly about him. "Styles, my good fellow; how do you feel now? You were stunned, you know ; but I shall be vei-y soiTy if I've hui-t you ? " observed Coverdale, good-natxu-edly. As he spoke. Styles tunned and regarded him attentively, measimng his tall, active figure with his glance from top to toe. At length he muttered, "WeU, I didn't think he had it in him, that I didn't ; " he then rubbed his head, with a look of thorough perplexity, once more fixing his eyes on his late opponent, as if he were some strange monster, wonderful to behold : having, apparently, satisfied himself that he was a real flesh and blood man. and not some new-fangled, cast-iron boxing-machine, he turned to the gamekeeper, observing, " Markum, lend us a fin, old man, for I feels precious staggery-like, I can tell you. Tour guv'nor hits hard." On obtaining the required assistance, he rose, not with- out difficulty, approached Coverdale, and holding out a hand some- what smaller than a shoulder of mutton, said, " Shake hands, sir, you're a gentleman, and what's far more in my eyes, you're a man every inch of you, and I humbly begs your pardon for insulting of you." " Say no more about it, my good friend," returned Coverdale, heartily shaking his proffered hand, "we did not understand each other before, but we do now, and shall get on capitally for the future I don't doubt." " I shan't disturb your rabbits again, sir," continued the penitent Styles, entirely subdued by Coverdale's hearty manner, " and if the creeturs should do any damage to the crops, why I know a gentleman like you will bear it in mind on the rent-day." " Certainly," was the eager reply ; " my object now is to get up the game, and no tenant who assists me in this will find me a hard landlord." And so, after an amicable colloquy, they parted the best friends imaginable ; Styles observing, as he turned to go, " I did not think there was a man living who could have sewn me up in ten minutes like that; but you are imaccountable quick with yoiu- fists, to be sure, Mustur Coverdale." " Pray, Hari-y. is this to l)e considered a specimen of your ' quiet manner ' with your tenantry ? " inquired Hazlehurst dryly, as he bestrode the broad back of his shooting pony. His friend coloured as he replied with a forced laugh, " "Well, I AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 11 must confess that for once in my life I a little lost temper ;— but you see, old boy," he continued, bringing his hand down upon Hazlehurst's knee with a smack which caused that delicate youth to spring up in his saddle — " but you see I managed to conciliate him after aU." CHAPTER III. HAZLEHURST PLEADS HIS CAUSE AND WINS IT. "And the worst of it is the fellow's right — what a bore life is — confound everything ! — " As he gave utterance to this sweeping anathema, HaiTy Coverdale lifted a shaggy Scotch terrier by the ears out of an easy chair wherein it was reposing, and flinging him- self on the seat thus made vacant, waited disconsolately till Hazle- hurst should have finished a letter, which, with uuwontedly grave brow, he was perusing. Having continued his occupation till his friend's small stock of patience was becoming well-nigh exhausted, Hazlehiu'st closed the epistle, muttering to himself — " Well ! they know best, I siippose— but I don't admire the scheme, aU the same — " then, tunaing towards his companion, he continued aloud — " I beg yoiu- pardon, my dear fellow ! but the governor's letter contains a budget of family politics, which is, of coui*se, moi'e or less interesting to me, especially as, in the event of certain contingencies, he talks of increasing my allow- ance. But you're looking sentimental — what's the matter ? " " Oh ! nothing," was the reply, " only that fellow Markum has been boring about the rabbits ; he says we've woiked them quite enough, and that the" foxes will be pitching into the pheasants if they can't get plenty of rabbits to eat, and that so much shooting will make the birds wild before the 1st. — I know it as well as he does— there ought not to be another gun fired on the property till the 1st of September. But then what is a fellow to do with himself ? I might go to Paris— but I've been there and done it aU — besides, I hate their dissipation, it bores me to death ; London is empty, and if it wasn't, it's worse than Paris — more smoke and less fun. I'd start to America, and do Niagara, and all the other picturesque dodges, only, if the wind were to turn restive, or anything go wrong in the boiler-bursting line. I might be delayed and miss the first day of partridge-shooting, so it would not do to risk it.'' " By no means," rejoined Hazlehurst, shaking his head with an air of mock solemnity — "but luckily I've a better plan to propose; I 12 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP must make my way home at once — you shall come with me, and stay till we are all mutually tired of each other." " But your father and mother? " urged Coverdale. "Are more anxious than I am on the subject. Read that, you unbelieving Jew!" So: saying, Hazlehm-st turned down' a portion of his letter, and handed it to Coverdale ; it ran thus — " Mind you bring your friend with you ; independently of our desire to become acquainted with one who has shown you such unvarying kindness, Mr. Coverdale is just the person to make up the party." " Yes, they're very kind," began Coverdale, returning the letter, " very kind, but — " " But what, man," rejoined Hazlehurst quickly, " we want you to come to us ; you have not only no other engagement, but actually don't know what to do with yourself, and yet you hesitate. How- ever, to come to the point at once, I ask you plainly, and expect a plain answer— where's the hitch ? " " Well done, most leai'ned coiinsel, that is the way to browbeat a witness, and no mistake," replied Coverdale, laughing at his friend's vehemence ; " however, I won't provoke any farther display of your forensic talents by attempting to prevaricate. The fact is, I know you've a bevy of sisters, she-cousins, and what not, very charming girls, I daresay ; but yoii see I'm not fit for women's society, and that's the truth of it — I've chosen my line — I know what suits me best — and I daresay I shall live and die a bachelor, as the old Admiral did before me. I know what women are, and what they expect of one ; if a fellow happens to be a little bit rough and ready, they call him a bear, and vow he's got no soul ; 'gad, that's what the Turks say of them, by-the-bye ! — Poetical justice ; eh ? " " My dear boy, you'll excuse my saying so, but you really are talk- ing great nonsense," interrupted Hazlehiirst ; " you're a thorough gentleman in mind, manners, and appearance, if I know the meaning of the term, and neither my sisters, nor my cousin (there is but one), have such bad taste as to prefer a finical fop to a fine manly fellow like yourself — no, they're more likely to fall into the other extreme." " And that would be the worst of the two by long odds," exclaimed Harry aghast ; " only fancy me with a wife in the shooting- season — bothering me to stay at home with her, or to drive her out in a four-wheeled arm-chair with a pair of little hopping rats of ponies, that the best whip in the thi'ee kingdoms could not screw above six miles an hour out of, if he were to flog their hides off ; or, worse still, to take me boxed up in a close carriage to call upon somebody's grandmother, and I breaking my heart all the time to be blazing away at the partridges. I know what it is— I was staying down in Leicestershire, before I went abroad, with poor Phil Anderton, as staunch a sportsman, and as thoroughly good a fellow, as ever drew trigger, before he married Lady Mirvinia Bluebas. Well, they hadn't been coupled six months before she'd got him so tight in hand that he daren't smoke a cigar without a special licence. The first season, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 13 she let him shoot Wednesdays and Fridays, and hunt Thursdays and Satiirdays. The next year she made him sell off his ^iins, dogs, and horses, and carried him over to the Continent. What was the result? — why, the poor fellow became so bored and miserable, that he took to gamblinff, lost every farthing he had in the world at roulette, and — didn't blow his brains out ; so my lady has the pleasm-e of keeping him, and living herself, upon five hundi'ed a year pin- money." "Verdict, served her right" — observed Hazlehurst judicially; " but you forget, my dear boy, that Anderton, though a good fellow enough in his way, was made of such yielding materials, that anybody could do what they liked with him — rather soft here," he continued, tapping his forehead ; " now you have got sterner stuff in you, and if a woman were to try it on with you in that style, it strikes me she'd find her master." " Ah ! I don't know," sighed Coverdale reflectively : " it's easier to talk about managing women han to do it — they've got a way with 'em, at least the pleasant ones have, of coming over a fellow some- how, and making him fancy for the moment (it doesn't last, mind you — and there's the nuisance of it) that he'd rather do Avhat they wish him, than what he wants to do himself. Then again, if a man offends you, you can quietly knock him do^vn, and if he feels aggrieved, he can have you out (not that I admire duelling) ; bx;t if you quaiTel with a woman, there's no ' dernier resort,' you can't knock her down, poor weak thing, and so you're reduced to growl like a dog, and she to spit like a cat, and you leave off as you began, with- out having attained any definite result." " I have heard of such a thing as moral force," suggested Hazle- hurst ironically. " That's one's only chance," returned Coverdale, " though it is one that, to speak seriously and sensibly, I've tolerably strong faith in. A fellow miTst be wanting in manliness of chai-acter, if he cannot contrive to manage a woman by moral force, as you call it ; there's a quiet way of doing that as well as everything else, only it's such a confoimdedly slow process." " No making 'em to come to the point, eh ? " rejoined Hazlehui-st ; " Well, I have my own ideas about it ; how they would work, remains to be proved ; but as you've such splendid theories on the subject, don't pretend you're unfitted for woman's society. Why, man, you're equal to a whole seminary of young ladies — your ' quiet manner ' would prove as irresistible with them as it did with the redoubtable Mr. Styles." By way of reply to this impertinent allusion, Coverdale shook his clenched fist (which still bore traces of his late encounter) in his friend's face with a pseudo-threatening gesture. Hazlehurst sprang back in pretended alarm, with so sudden a movement as to arouse the Scotch terrier from his nap, who, waking up in a fright, immediately recun-ed to his leading idea that there were thieves in 14 HARRr COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP the house, and rushed to the door barking furiously. When the laughter, which this little incidenb excited, had in some degree abated, Hazlehvirst resumed, — " But seriously, Harry, I want you to come home with me, and I'll tell you in confidence why. You and I have known each other from the time we were schoolboys tos^ether, and though, as in re Styles, you act a little hastily sometimes, there is no man on whose clear judgment and high principle I've greater reliance than on yours. I've received a letter from home this morning, which has annoyed me more than I can tell you. To come to the point at once, the case stands thus : — My father's pet weakness (rather a creditable one) is family pride ; now, the Grange has belonged to the Hazlehiu'sts for the last three hundred years, but in my great- grandfather's time the estate became woefully diminished — the old scamp was a regular wild one, and not only made ducks and drakes of everything he could lay hands on, but as soon as my grandfather came of age, induced him to cut ofE the entail, and sold the best half of the family property ; some of this my gi'andfather contrived to redeem in his lifetime, and my Governor has been scheming and screwing all his days in order to buy back the rest. In an evil hour he was induced to invest his savings in a railroad, hoping to attain his object sooner ; of course it paid beautifully at first ; of course in due time a crash came, and the pater not only lost all his savings, but was forced to sell a farm of five hundred acres, dear to him as the apple of his eye. The in- dividual who purchased it, and who owns the property my great- grandfather sold, is a certain millionaire cotton spinner, as rich as Croesus ; the fellow is said to have .£20,000 a year. "Well, since the railroad affair, a jolly old aunt has died, and left the Governor some tin. and he's breaking his heart to buy back the farm, but cotton spinner refuses to sell. Now, at the last Hunt Ball, my eldest sister came out — she is very pretty, and a nice, taking sort of girl in society — and said cotton spinner came, saw, and was conquered ! so much so, that having offered serious intentions ever since, he has ended by offering himself. Thereupon arose a difference of opinion between Alice and the Governor — Alice pleading that she didn't love cotton spinner one bit, and didn't expect she ever should do so, and Governor declaring that it was all sentimental bosh, and that if she manned the man. as much love as it was at all proper for a young lady to feel, would come afterwards. At last, they made a compromise — Alice was to consent to see more of Mr. Crane, and do her best to like him, in which case, said Crane would allow her to postpone her decision till a future period : to this Alice was fain to consent, and now the suitor is coming to the Grange, on approval, and the Governor's asked a party of people to meet him." " And how do you stand affected towards the proposed alliance ? " inquired Coverdale, lifting the Skye terrier into his lap by the nape of its neck, and then curling it up like a fried whiting. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 15 " Not over favourably," returned Hazleliui'st, " which, by the way, is very disinterested of me ; for if the affair comes off, and the Governor buys his farm back ag^ain — which of course is what he is looking to — he promises to settle the residue of the aunt's legacy upon me, by which I should be some ^200 a year the better ; but it would not be a match to please me. I'm very fond of Alice ; she is a dear good girl as ever lived, and I don't admire the cotton spinner : in the first place, he's nearly or quite forty, while she was nineteen last term ; in the second place, he's a slow coach, good-natured enough, and all that, but notliing in him." " No soul," suggested Harry. " Not enough to animate a kitten, I should imagine," was the reply; — "not that the man's a fool — indeed, in his own line he is said to be clever. He invented some dodge to simplify his machinery, by which he nearly doubled his fortune." " That was decidedly clever " — remarked Harry, busily engaged in dressing the " Skye " in a muslin " anti-macassar," placed clean upon the sofa that morning. " To come to the point, however," continued Hazlehurst — " I want you to see the man, and try and find out what he's made of." " Fool's-flesh probably," suggested Coverdale ' sotto voce.' " I wish you would try and be serious for five minutes," returned Hazlehurst testily ; " nothing is more provoking than small attempts at wit, when one wants a man to give his attention sensibly to that which one is saying." "I stand, or more properly sit, connected: so continue, most sapient and sm-ly brother ! " was the mocking answer. Hazlehurst tried to look angry and dignified, but a glance at his friend's handsome, meny, and, withal, slightly impudent face, dis- armed his wrath, and muttering — " Confound you for a stupid, provoking old humbug " — he burst into a fit of laughter. As soon as he had recovered his gravity, he resumed : " As I said before, I want you to come and make youi- observations on the cotton spinner, and if your opinion agrees with mine, you must back me up in making a serious remonstrance with the Governor. I know the old gentleman well, and am sure he'll think twice as much of what I say when he finds that you, a man of the world and a large landed proprietor (that'll tell with hira immensely) look upon the matter in the same light. And now you know my reasons, what do you say ? " " Say ! what can I say but that I — ahem ! — respect the sacred call of friendship, and am prepared to sacrifice nayself upon its altar : that's the correct phraseology, isn't it ? I tell you what, though," continued Harry gravely, " I make one condition, without which I don't stir a peg : I'm at your service and that of the cotton spinner, as much as you please ; but beyond the requirements of society, I'm not to be expected to concern myself about the women — I'm not to be forced into ' tete-a-tdte ' drives in pony-chaises, or set to turn over 16 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP mnsic-books at the piano — I know what all that sort o£ thing leads to well : is it a bargain ? " " Of course it is," returned Hazlehurst eagerly ; " come to please me, and I leave you to please yourself when you get there." " Then, as Sam Weller says, ' Tou may take down the bill, for I'm let to a single gentleman,' " was Coverdale's reply — and so the affair was settled. CHAPTER IV. CONTAINS, AMONG OTHER " EXQUISITE " SKETCHES, A PORTRAIT OF A PUPPY (not by LANDSEER). Hazlehurst Grange was a picturesque old mansion, modernized out of all resemblance to its moated namesake which Tennyson has immortalized, by the addition of gay flower-beds, closely-shaven lawns, judiciously -planted shrubberies, and other appliances of land- scape gardening. It was situated about eighteen miles from Cover- dale Park, a distance which Harry's trotting mare, who had grown plump and saucy upon rest and good keep, accomplished, to her owner's intense satisfaction, in less than five minutes over the hour and a half. " Pretty fair travelling that, eh, Master Arthm'," he observed, replacing his watch in his waistcoat pocket, " and what I particularly like about it is, that the mare did it all willingly and of her own accord, took well to collar at starting, and kept it up steadily, and in a business-like manner, till her work was done." " In fact, behaved as utterly unlike a female throughout the whole affair, as if she had belonged to the nobler sex," returned Hazlehurst, sarcastically. '* ' Infandum renovare dolorem ! ' why will you remind me of my coming trials, and not suffer me to enjoy the pleasiu-es of forgetful- ness while I may?" was Coverdale's desponding rejoinder. " Simply because, xmless I am greatly mistaken, they literally are coming trials," was the reply. " Look through that belt of trees on the left ; don't you see the flutter of something white ? " " Muslin, by all that's flimsy, frivolous, and feminine ! " exclaimed Harry, aghast : " I say, Arthur, can't we turn off somewhere ? " " By all means, if you wish it ; there's a gravel-pit on the right- hand, and a precipitous bank sloping down to the river on the left, which will you prefer ? " was the obliging rejoinder. As he spoke, a turn in the road disclosed to their view a group of three figures. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 17 slowly advancing' in the same direction as that in which they were themselves proceeding. " My cousin, Kate Marsden, my sister Alice, and a gent, name unknown," observed Hazlehurst, as his eyes fell upon the trio. " Why, sm-ely it is — ^no, it can't be — yes, it is, Horace D'Almayne." " Allowing, merely for the sake of ai-gument, that it is the indi- vidual you mention, who may he happen to be ? " inquired Hany, taking up the whip which had hitherto reposed innocuously between them, and performing rash feats with it over the ears of " My old Aunt Sally " — (for so in honour of the Ethiopian Serenaders, then in the zenith of their popularity, had Harry named his new favourite) . " My dear fellow, you don't mean to say that you never heard of him ? Not to know Horace D'Almayne argues yourself unknown ; why, man, he is a noted wit, a successful poet, the greatest dandy, and the most incorrigible male flirt about town : knows everybody, has been everywhere, and done everything." " What is he like across a stifE line of country, and how many brace can he bag to his own gun ? " inquii-ed Harry di'ily. " Not knowing can't say," was the rejoinder, " but that's not at all in his way; he affects, if it is affectation, the man of sentiment ; however, just now he is believed in to the fullest extent, and con- sidered a regular lion." " A regular tiger, I should have fancied rather," was the cynical reply. " Why, the brute actually wears moustaches." " He has served in the Austrian army, and sports the mouse-tails on the strength of his military pretensions," was the reply. After a minute's pause, Coverdale observed, inquiringly, " I suppose we must needs pull up and do the civil by these good people." " Why, considering that I have not seen my sister for the last five months, family affection (to say nothing of the duties of society) demands the sacrifice," retiu-ned Hazlehurst. " Cut it short then, there's a good fellow, the mare's too hot to be allowed to stand long, and I would not have anything go wrong with her after the splendid manner in which she has brought us to-day, for three times the money I gave for her." As he spoke, Hany again impatiently flirted the whip over the ears of " My old Aunt Sally," an indignity which excited the fiery disposition of that highly-descended quadruped, who, throwing up her head and tail, flinging out her fore feet, as though she were sparring with the distance her speed must overcome, and altogether looking her very handsomest, dashed up to the group of pedestrians so suddenly as to cause the two ladies to draw back in alarm ; while even the redoubtable Horace himself sprang out of the way with a degree of alacrity which evinced a stronger regard for his personal safety than might have been expected from so heroic a character. For this sacrifice of dignity to the first law of nature, self-preserva- c 18 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP tion, lie endeavom-ed to compensate himself by stroking his mous- taches, and staring superciliously at the new comers. While Hazlehnrst, who sprang down the moment the dog-cai-t stopped, was exchanging greetings with his cousin and sister, Han'y was left undistui-bed to make his observations on the trio to whom he was about to be introdiiced. The elder of the two young ladies, who responded to the definition, " My cousin. Miss Kate Marsden," was above the middle height, and of a singularly graceful figm-e ; her featiu-es were delicately formed and regular, her complexion pale, but clear, her hair and eyes dark, the latter being large and expressive, her hands and feet small, and her whole bearing and appearance refined and aristocratic in the extreme ; but her features bore a look of proud reserve, which interfered with the effect which her beaiity would otherwise have produced — an inscrutable look, which seemed to say, " I have a peculiar and decided character, but I defy you to read it." It is of no iTse to attempt to describe Alice Hazlehurst, for the simple reason that no description could convey an adequate idea of her. Not that she was anything particularly wonderful; she was not even a miracle of beauty — she was only about the best thing this fallen world of ours contains — a bright, high-spii-ited, pm-e. simple, true-hearted, lovely, and loveable yoitng girl, just emerging into graceful womanhood; veiy shy, slightly romantic, full of kindly sympathies and generous impulses, which she concealed as carefully as bad men hide unpopular vices, and with all the deep and noble qualities of her woman's nature, as well as, alas ! its faults and foibles, lying donnant within her, either to be developed in their full com- pleteness, or dwarfed into comparative insignificance, as the hands into which she might fall should prove fitted or unfitted to the great, yet enviable, responsibility of foi-ming her character. As Hazlehurst leaiDt down, she sprang forward to meet him ; then drew back from his hearty embrace with a smile and a blush, which very unnecessarily made her appear prettier than before, to acknowledge, with a bow, her introduction to her brother's friend. The third member of the party, Horace D'Almayne, had been well fitted by nature to sustain the chai-acter of "exquisite" — tall, and with a graceful, slender figure, his well-formed and regular features, soft dark hair, and brilliant complexion, gave him an undoubted right to the epithet handsome, although it was in a style suited rather to a woman than to a man. The expression of his face, cynical and supercilious when in repose, or when he spoke to one of his own sex, relaxed into a smile of sentimental self-confidence when he addressed a woman. He appeared veiy young, probably not above two or three and twenty, and was dressed up to the " ne plus ultra " of refined dandyism. " Why, D'Almayne," exclaimed Hazlehin-st, " how is it that we come to be honoui'ed by your company ? I was not even aware that my father possessed the pleasure of your acquaintance." i ,7' "" ■ AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 19 " Nor did lie a week ago ; but tlie matter came about thus," was tlie reply. " Dui-ing the London season I was introduced at one of the Duke of D 's parties, to an opiilent individual of the name of Crane, learned his opinion prospective and retrospective in regard to the weather, bowed adieu, and straightway forgot him. About a month since, being in a cafe at Baden-Baden, my attention was atti'acted by an awful ' charivari ' ; and on attempting to investigate the cause thereof, discovered Friend Crane lamenting himself pathetically in bad French and worse German, and surrounded by a mob of foreigners. Having in some degree appeased his polyglot passion, I soon contrived to make out that his pocket having been picked by A., he had accused innocent B., and denounced un- offending C. — a vicarious system of reprisals which those victimized individuals appeared, not unnaturally, inclined to resent. Under- standing somewhat better than our irascible friend the language and customs of the natives, I contrived to extricate him from the dilemma; for which act of good Samaritanism I have been, from that time foi*ward, more or less the victim of his indefatigable gi'atitude. Your worthy father finding me a few days since located in the Chateau Crane, j)olitely included me in his invitation. I amved this morning, and under the able tuition of your cousin and sister, was rapidly becoming acquainted with the beauties of Hazlehurst, when you drove up." As he insinuated this skilfully-veiled compliment, the exquisite Horace pointed its application by favouring Alice with a langxiishing ■' ceillade," which was certainly not without effect ; for it excited in the breast of HaiTy Coverdale a sudden, intense, and unreasonable desire then and there heartily to kick the talented originator of the compliment. This impulse he was only enabled to check by a powerful effort, which caused him to twitch the reins so suddenly, as painfully to compress the delicate mouth of "My Aunt Sally," to an extent wbich justified that outraged quadi'uped in converting herself for the time being into a biped, by standing erect on her hind legs, and pawing the air with her fore feet. " Soho, girl ! gently, gently ! " exclaimed Hazlehurst, who, not having perceived the exciting cause of the manoeuvre, attributed the mare's unmannerly behaviour to an otitbreak of inherent viciousness. " Why, Han-y, what on earth is the matter with the creature ? " " Probably nothing more than a reasonless caprice natural to her sex," was HaiTy's ungallant reply. " Possibly she may have the bad taste to prefer the creatm-e comforts of a cool stable and a good feed of corn, to remaining in the broiling sunshine, even with the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the beauties of Hazle- hiu'st ; " and as he made this sarcastic remark, Harry glanced carelessly round over wood and field, so that any one not well acquainted with the play of his features would have been puzzled to decide whether he was himself aware of the full meaning of his words. 20 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " A pretty broad hint tliat I am not to keep the mare standing- any longer," retui-ned Hazlehurst, turning to his cousin and sister. "That fellow cares for nothing in the world biit his horses, except his dogs and his double-barrel. Well, I suppose you girls will be coming home soon." " Quite as soon as we are wanted if your amiable and compli- mentaiy friend has any voice in the matter," returaed Alice, " sotto voce." " Nonsense," was the I'eply in the same tone ; " you know nothing about him, you silly child. Harry is the kindest-hearted, best- tempered fellow in the world, as you'll find out before long." Alice's only reply was an incredulous toss of her pretty head, and the parties separated. " Of all the puppies I ever beheld, that creatm-e D Almayne is the most insufferable — the very sight of him irritates me. What busi- ness has he to pay his absurd compliments to your sister, when he has only known her for a few hours ? If I were you, 1 should not stand it." " At all events, his compliments are of a more civil natui'e than yours," returned Hazlehurst with a smile ; " why, Harry, you are becoming as peppery a character as your namesake Hotspur himself." " I am like him in one particular, at all events," was the i'eply, " for I cannot abide a coxcomb." " It strikes me, that is not the only point in which you resemble the ' gunpowder Percy,' as old Falstaff calls him. By the way," he continued, " what in the world was the matter with ' Aunt Sally,' a minute ago ? she seems to go quietly enough now." " I rather fancy something must have hurt her mouth," replied Harry, turning away his head to conceal a smile. As he spoke, they drove round the gravel sweep leading to the hall door of Hazlehm-st Grange. Beneath the porch st-ood two gentlemen — in one of whom, corpulent and elderly, Coverdale had little trouble in recognizing, from his likeness to his friend, Mr. Hazlehurst senior ; while the other, tall, thin, and cadaverous-looking, he rightly conjectured to be the opulent and amorous cotton spinner, Jedediah Crane. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 21 CHAPTER V. PROVES THE ADVISABILITY OF LOOKING BEFORE YOU LEAP. Nearly a week had elapsed since Hairy Coverdale liad first become an inmate of Hazlehiirst Grange, during which period he had con- trived to win the good opinion of the elders of the party, pique the young ladies by his " brusquerie " and neglect, annoy Hazlehurst by his insensibility and determination not to make himself agreeable, and finally to have provoked the enmity of the fascinating Horace D'Almayne, which last piece of delinquency was a source of unmiti- gated satisfaction to its perpetrator. The day on which we resume the thread of our narrative, was to be devoted to a picnic party, the object being to devour unlimited cold lamb and pigeon-pie amongst the ruins of an old abbey, some eight miles from the Grange. The morning was lovely, everyone appeared in high spirits, and the ex- pedition promised to be a prosperous one. "Now, then, good loeople," exclaimed Arthur Hazlehurst, " what are the arrangements — who rides, who drives, who goes with who ? — come to the point and settle something, for the ' tempus ' is ' fugit '-ing at a most alarming pace." "I am desirous," observed Mr. Crane slowly and solemnly, "of soliciting the honour of driving Miss Hazlehurst in my phaeton, if I may venture to hope such an arrangement will not be disagreeable to that lady ; " and as he spoke, the cotton spinner, whose tall, ungainly figure, clad in a dust-colo\u*ed wrapper, white trousers, and white hat. gave him the appearance of a superannuated baker's boy nin very decidedly to seed, bowed appealingly to Alice, who, perceiving her father's eye upon her, was forced unwillingly to consent. " Mr. Coverdale, will you drive a lady in the pony-chaise ? " inquired Hazlehurst pere. " My niece will be happy to accompany you, or my saucy little Emily here," he continued, gazing with paternal fondness on his younger daughter, a pretty but slightly pert girl of sixteen. " I should have much pleastu-e," muttered Hari-y ; " but — but — I contrived to hurt my right hand a few days ago, and — ar — not being used to the ponies, I should scarcely feel justified in undertaking the charge." "Indeed," was the rejoinder; " I noticed you always wore a glove — how did the accident happen, pray ? " " I hit — that is — I struck my hand against something very hard," stammered Ham-y, actually colouring like a girl, as he caught Hazle- hurst's suppressed chuckle, and obsei-ved Alice's bright eyes fixed upon him inquisitively. 22 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " Kate, if nobody else will dinve you, I suppose I must take com- passion on you myself," remarked Arthur, " sotto voce," to his cousin. " Ah ! but here comes somebody who intends to relieve you of the trouble," was the reply, in the same low tone ; " do not make any objection," she continued quickly, " you will only annoy my uncle to no purj)ose ; he would not have even a feather of the Crane's tail niffled on any account." As she spoke, she glanced meaningly towards Horace D Almayne, at that moment engaged in drawing on a pair of kid gloves too small even for his delicate hands. Coming forward, he languidly, and in an absent manner, volunteered to di-ive Miss Marsden — an offer which that young lady quietly accepted, either not pei'ceiving, or dis- regarding, the look of annoyance with which her cousin turned and left the spot. " Oh, you are going to ride, Mr. Coverdale ; here comes Sir Lancelot, looking like a pictm-e," exclaimed Tom Hazlehurst, a fine, handsome lad, " anno setatis " foui-teen, an Etonian, and (need we add ?) a pickle — " Oh ! do let me go with you ; Alice will lend me her pony — won't you, Alice ? I'll take such care of it, and you don't want it yoiu'self , you know — ask her to lend it to me, Mr. Coverdale, do, please." If Harry had a weakness, it was that he could never say no, when his good natui'e was aj)pealed to in any matter in which another's pleasui'e was involved. Tom, moreover, had conceived for him one of those violent friendslii])s which boys feel towards men a few years older than themselves who realize their " beau ideal " of perfection ; and Hari-y, pleased with his luidisguised admiration, responded to it by indulging the yoimg scapegrace in all his vagaries. " I'm afraid my voice is not so potential as you imagine, Tom," was his reply ; " butiif my assm-ance that I will use my best endeavoiu-s to keep you and the pony in good order, will have any weight with Miss Hazlehurst, I am i^erfectly willing to give it." " If papa has no objection, Tom, you have my consent,"' replied Alice, blushing and smiling, while, at the bottom of her heai't she wished both Mr. Crane and Harry safely located at Coventry, Jericho, or any other refuge for bores, that might be suitable for putting those who are in the way out of the way ; in which case she would herself have enjoyed a canter with Master Tom. " Oh. the Governor won't say no — will you. Daddy ? " was Tom's confident reply ; and Mr. Hazlehurst, who, being a dreadful autocrat to his elder children, made up for it by weakly indulging his youngest born, having signified his consent, the cavalcade proceeded to staii; — a close carriage and a barouche conveying the remaining juveniles, and all the elders of the pai-ty, with the exception of Mrs. Hazle- hurst, who, being a confirmed invalid, i-emained at home, in company with a weather-wise old maid, proprietress of a meteorological com, which having given warning that a change was at hand, led her to mistmst the brilliant sunshine. AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 23 " Can't we find our way across the fields somehow, Tom, without riding' along the dusty road the whole distance ? " inquired HaiTy. " To be sure we can," was the reply ; " don't I know a way, that's all ? Turn down the next lane to the right, and then there are lots of jolly grass fields and a wide common, so that we can gallop as much as we like, and get there before them — won't they be surprised to see us just ? What a lark ! " Tom's topographical knowledge proving' correct, they cantei-ed away merrily over field and comaion, till they had ridden some five or six miles. " You really have an imcommonly good seat, Tom," observed his friend ; " only remember to turn your toes in, and keep your bridle hand low, and you'll do— you've plenty of pluck, and when you've acquired a little more judgment and experience, you'll be able to ' hold your own ' across a coimtry with some of the best of 'em." " Ah, shouldn't I like to go out himting, that's all ? " exclaimed the boy eagerly. " Have you never done so ? " inquired his friend. " No ; I tried it on last winter, but the Governor cut up rough, and wouldn't stand it." ■' Can you sit a leap ? " asked Harry. " I believe you, rayther, just a very few," was the confident reply, " Well, you must come to Coverdale, in the Christmas holidays, and I'll mount you and take you out with me ; I mean to get up a stud, and hunt regularly this season," obseined Harry. " Won't that be jolly just ? — I'll come whether they'll let me or not, depend upon it ; but now this is the last grass field, let's have a race for a wind-up." So saying. Master Tom laid his whip smartly across his pony's shoulder, and dashed off, while Coverdale, gradually giving his spirited but pei-fectly broken horse the rein, soon overtook him. A brushing gallop of five minutes brought them to the border of the field, which was surrounded by a ditch and bank, with a sufficiently high rail at top to constitl^te an awkward leap. " How are we going to find our way out ? " inquired HaiTy. " Get off, pull down a rail, and then jump it," was the reply. " Yes, that will be the best way for you and the pony to get over," returned Covei'dale, " but I'll take it as it stands. I've never yet had a chance of trying Lancelot at a stiff fence, and I want to see how he'll act : don't you attempt to follow me ; as soon as I am over, I'U dismoimt and pull down the rail for you." As he spoke Harry put his horse in motion, cantei'ed him up to the fence, and faced him at it. Sir Lancelot did not belie the chai*acter that had been given of him. As he approached the bank he quick- ened his pace of his own accord, gathered his legs well under him, and then rising to the leap, sprang over with a motion so easy and elastic that his rider appeared scarcely to move in his saddle. The descent on the farther side was steeper than Harry had expected, and the leap altogether might be considered a difficult one. Delighted 24 HARRY COVERD ALE'S COURTSHIP with his horse's performance, Harry pulled up, and turned, with the intention of alighting, in order to remove a rail of the fence, and thus facilitate the transit of Tom and the pony ; when, to his alarm and vexation, he perceived that the boy, deceived by the appai'ent ease with which he had accomplished the task (a delusive appearance, produced as much by the coolness and address of the rider as by the power and excellent training of the horse), had determined to display his prowess by following him ; nor could HaiTy interfere to prevent him, for at the moment he turned, Tom was in the act of galloping up to the fence : all that remained for him, therefore, was to shout, " Give the pony his head, and hold tight with your Knees," and to await the result. The pony, excited by seeing its companion on the other side, faced the leap boldly, and cleared the ditch and bank, but catching its hoofs against the rail, fell, pitching its rider over its head into the field beyond, where he lay as if stunned. In an instant Han-y had sprung from his saddle and lifted him in his arms. " Thank Heaven ! " he exclaimed as the boy opened his eyes, and, perceiving Coverdale bending over him, smiled to evince his gi'atitude. " You don't feel as if you were seriously hurt anywhere, do you ? " " All right ! " was the reply. " I feel a little bit shaky and con- fused ; rather as if somebody had gone and kicked me into the middle of next week, that's all." " Then you've escaped more easily than you had any right to expect, you heedless, impetuous young monkey," returned Coverdale, sharply. " You must have been mad to suppose that a half-bred, thick-headed beast like that pony would can-y yoii over such a fence as that. Why, I know men, who call themselves good riders, who would refuse it, unless they were very well mounted." " If the pony did not caiTy me over, he shot me over, and that did just as well," was the careless reply. " But I say, Mr. Coverdale, only look at his knees ! Oh ! shan't we get into a jolly scrape just P " Thus appealed to, Harry turned to examine the pony, which, in his anxiety for the safety of the boy, he had hitherto forgotten. The result of his scrutiny was by no means satisfactory. " He has broken both knees ! " he exclaimed ; " the right one is cut severely, and however favourably it may go on, there will always remain a scar ; you've knocked ten pounds off the pony's price by that exploit of yours, Master Tom, besides rendering the animal unsafe for your sister to ride." " You've put your foot in it as well as I, Mr. Coverdale," returned the young imp, grinning. " You promised Alice you would do your best to keep me, and the pony too, in proper order, you know P " " Why, you ungrateful young scamp, I'm sure I told you not to attempt the leap," replied Harry, restraining a strong inclination to lay his horsewhip across the young pickle's shoulders. " Yes ; and then you and Lancelot went flying over it as lightly as if he had wings, like that fabulous humbug Pegasus, that old Buzwig k.- AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 25 is always bettering us about. The copy-book says, ' Practice before precept,' and so say I. Why, you did not expect I was going to be such a muff as to stay behind, did you ? " " I was a fool if I did, at all events," muttered Harry, " sotto voce " ; then, turning good-naturedly to the boy, he continued, " The copy- book also says, ' What can't be cured must be endui-ed,' does it not, Tom ? So we must get out of the scrape as best we can. We'll leave the pony at the nearest farm-house, and I'll send my groom to doctor him — so lead him by the rein and come along." Of course, when they joined the rest of the party and told their misdeeds, Alice lamented over the pony's troubles after the usual fashion of tender-heai-ted young ladies. Of course, Hazlehurst senior, discerning a long fan-ier's bill in prospective, with the possi- bility of being coaxed out of a new pony as a not unlikely contingent result, was gi'umpy, as governors usually are when they foresee a strain upon their purse strings ; and, of com-se. although these lamentations and threatenings were launched at the curly head of Master Tom, they yet glanced off that unimpressable substance, only to fall upon and ovei-whelm with shame and confusion Hany Cover- dale, who began mentally to curse the day when, false to his own presentiments, he had yielded to his friend's impoi'tunities, and sxiffered himself to become an inmate of Hazlehiu-st Grange. Bent on avoiding young ladies, and having no taste for the society of old ones, Han-y wandered about disconsolately, until, attracted by a dark archway and a worm-eaten winding staircase, which, as Master Tom expressed it, looked " jolly queer and ghostified," he made his way up the mouldering steps imtil he found himself at the top of a battlemented tower, where he was repaid for the trouble of the ascent by a beautiful and widely-extending \iew. Ha-v-ing con- trived to get rid of the voluble and restless Etonian, Coverdale seated himself on a projecting fragment of masoni-y, and glancing round to see that he was not observed or observable, lit a cigar, and his raffled feelings being soothed by its mollifying influence, remained lazily watching the movements of the pleasure-seekers — his reflections running somewhat after the following fashion : — " There's old Crane maundering about after Alice as usual — don't think he gets on with her though, rather t'other way — decided case of jibbing, I should say. She looked awfully bored and frightened too, up in that phaeton with him ; and no wonder either, for the old boy is nothing of a whip — I should be soiTy to trust a cat of mine to his driA-ing. Ah ! she's given him the slip, and that Miss Marsden has taken him in tow. I can't make that woman out — she is so civil to him ; perhaps she thinks the affair with Alice may miss fire, and she is looking out for the reversion of the cotton spinner herself. Arthur says she's vei-y poor, and that there are a large family of them ; if so, it's not a bad dodge, and, supposing she plays her cards ■well, one by no means unlikely to succeed. There's that confounded puppy D'Almayne swaggering up to Alice, stroking his stupid 26 HARRY COVERD ALE'S COURTSHIP moustaclies — yes, and she smiles and takes his arm, of course — believes all his lies, and thinks him a hero, I dare say. Oh ! the poor silly fools of women that can't distinguish a man from a jackanapes — I should have fancied Alice had more sense ; but they're all alike. Look at the idiot simpering ; that's only to show his white teeth now: the brute has no idea of a real joke — hasn't got it in him. Well, thank 'goodness, it's no concern of mine : but if I were Crane, I'd interfere with his flirting rather. The fellow talks as if he were a dreadful fire-eater — I should like to try what he's made of : but I expect it's all talk and nothing else — I wish I could coax him into putting on the gloves with me some day — I'd astonish his moustaches for him. Well, he has walked her off at all events. I wonder where they're going to. Are they ? Yes — no— yes, by Jove, if he isn't going to take her across that field which Tom and I rode through, where the bull was grazing — the biiite is mischievous, too, or I am much mistaken — confound the fool, he'll go and frighten the poor girl out of her senses, and, perhaj^s, get her hm-t into the bargain ; for, if the bull i-eally is vicious, ten to one Moustaches loses pluck, and bolts or something ridiculous. I've a great mind to follow them, it can do no harm, and may do some good — 'gad, I will too. Alice is far too pretty to be gored by a bull ; besides, for Arthru"'s sake, one is bound to take cai-e of her — luckily, I've just finished the cigar, so ofE we go." Having arrived at this point in his meditations, Harry rose from his seat, ran lightly down the stairs till he reach a i-uined window about six feet from the gi'ound, through which he leaped, then settling into a long swinging trot, he ran, at a pace with which few could have kept up, in the direction taken by Alice and D'Alraayne : they had, however, obtained so greatly the start of him, that they had already entered the field occupied by the dangerous bidl, ere he had overtaken them. It was a remarkably warm day — the field in which pastnred the alarming bull was distant from the abbey ruins half a mile at the very least. Now, to jvmip thi-ough a window six feet or thereabouts from the gi'ound, run at the top of one's speed half a mile, leaping recklessly over two gates and a stile in the course of it ; and to do all this in a state of anxious excitement on a day when the thermo- meter stands at seventy degrees in. the shade, naturally tends to make a man not only hot, but (if his temper be not semi-angelic) cross also. At all events, Harry Coverdale was in the former, if not the latter, condition, when, panting and breathless, he overtook Alice Hazlehurst and Horace D'Almayne, half-way across the dangerous field. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 27 CHAPTER VI. JEST AND EARNEST. " Mr. Coverdale, is anytliing the mattei'? — why, you are quite out o£ breath with running ! " exclaimed Alice, starting as she beheld him. " Uncomfortably warm, too, I should say," drawled D Almayne, glancing significantly at Harry's glowing cheeks, which were certainly too red to be romantic ; " really now, do you consider it judicious to overheat yourself so ? — of coiu'se, I merely ask as a matter of cui'iosity." HaiTy magnanimously repressed a strong inclination to knock him down ; but he felt that to answer him coolly was both litei'ally and metaphorically out of his power, so he confined his reply to Alice's question. "There is nothing the matter, Miss Hazlehui'st," he said; "but seeing you take this direction, and thinking that Mr. D'Almayne might not be aware a bull was grazing in this meadow, I thought it advisable to follow and put you on your guard, even at the risk of making myself unbecomingly hot ; " and as he pi'onounced the last two words he looked at D'Almayne as though he wished he had been the bull, and would oblige him by evincing an inclination to attack them. " How very kind and thoughtful of you ! " i-etumed Alice, bestowing on him one of her brightest smiles; "but is there any danger? — what had we better do ? " "Eh, really, danger! not the slightest; am not I with you?" interposed D'Almayne, majestically bending over her. " A bull, did you say, Mr. Coverdale ? — ar — really, I don't perceive such a creature. — Are yoii quite sure he exists anywhere but in your vivid and poetical imagination ? " Hari-y's reply, if reply it can be called, to this impertinent ques- tion, was made by gi-asping D'Almayne's elbow so tightly as to cause that delicate young gentleman to wince under the pressui'e. Having thus attracted his attention at a moment when Alice's head was turned in an opposite direction, he pointed towards a group of trees, under the shadow whereof might be discerned a large brindled individual of the bovine species, who stood attentively regarding the trio with a singularly unamiable, not to say vicious expression of countenance. Placing his finger on his lips as a hint to D'Almayne to keep the knowledge thus acquired to himself, Harry answered Alice's inquiry by saying, — 28 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " It is always tlie safest policy to misti'ust a bull ; so I would advise you to turn and make tlie best of your way towards the stile over whicli I came ; walk as quickly as you please, but do not ran, as that would only tempt the animal to follow you." " Yes, really, Miss Hazlehurst, we must not risk the chance of frightening you merely because we men enjoy the excitement of a little dangei — take my arm," hastily rejoined Horace D'Almayne, and suiting the action to the word, he drew Alice's arm within his own, and marched her off at a pace with which she found consider- able difficulty in keeping up. Harry, ere he followed them, remained stationary for a minute or so, to reconnoitre the movements of the bull. That animal, having apparently satisfied his curiosity in regard to the intiaiders on his domain, was now assiduously working himself up into a rage, preparatoiy, no doubt, to institiiting vigorous measures for their expulsion. The way in which he signified this intention was by tossing his head up and down, tearing up the tiu-f with his fore-feet, and uttering from time to time a low angi-y roar, like the rvxmbling of distant thimder. When HaiTy turned to leave the spot the animal immediately followed him, though only at a walk. As soon as he became aware of this disagreeable fact. Cover- dale paused and faced his undesirable attendant ; which manoeuvre, as he expected, caused the bull to stop also, though it was evident it had the effect of increasing the creature's rage. In spite of this discovery, Harry waited till his companions had reached the stile, and D'Almayne had assisted Alice to get over it— a piece of chivah-y by which he very materially lessened his own chances of safety, as the bull's small stock of patience being exhausted, it became evident he was preparing for a rush. Trusting to his swiftness of foot, Harry was about to make an attempt to reach the stile before the bull should overtake him, when suddenly the yelping of a dog was heard, and a terrier belonging to Arthiu- Hazlehiirst, which had followed them unobserved, ran foi-ward and distracted the bull's attention by barking round him, taking especial care to keep out of the reach of the animal's horns. This diversion in his favour enabled Coverdale to rejoin his companions unmolested. " Oh, Mr. Coverdale, what a savage-looking creature ! I was so afi-aid it was going to attack you. I do not know how to thank you properly for having saved me from at least a terrible fright," ex- claimed Alice as Harry ran up to them. " Ar — from alann possibly ; but really I don't conceive there was the slightest danger ; the animal was a very mild specimen of his class ; even a little dog, you see, was sufficient to turn him," observed DAlmayne slightingly. " I'D bet you fifty pounds to one you don't walk across that field while the buU remains there," exclaimed Han-y eagerly — "Miss Hazlehurst shall be umpire, and I'll promise to come and do my best to help you if you get into any scrape— what do you say, is it abet?" AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 29 " I never bet, and — ar — never do useless and unreasonable tbings on a bot day in order to establisb a fast reputation. Sucb little excitements may be all very well for a sporting ebaracter like your- self, my dear Coverdale ; but — ar — a man wbo has sbot bison on the American prairies does not need them ; so really you must hold me excused. Shall we rejoin the rest of the party, Miss Hazleluirst ? they seem assembling for luncheon. Let me recollect, we were talking of that charming soul-ci"eation of Tennyson, ' Locksley Hall.' I think, before this absurd interruption occurred ; what an imrivalled pictm*e does it not present of the spirit torture of a proud despair ? " — and chattering on in the same pseudo-romantic and grandiloquent strain, the man of sentiment fairly walked Alice off, leaving Cover- dale in the unenviable position popularly ascribed to virtue, viz., that of being its own reward. Having waited till the pair were out of sight he flung himself down at the foot of an old beech-tree, and indulged in the following mental soliloquy : — " Well, Master Harry ! you've been and done something clever— you have, certainly ; run like an insane creature more than half-a- mile, on by far the hottest day we've had this summer, and placed yourself in a situation where nothing but a lucky accident saved you from being run at, and possibly gored, by rather a mad bull than otherwise, only to be pooh-poohed by an insolent coxcomb, and have a cold-hearted ungrateful girl lisp out a missish inquiry, ' whether there was any danger,' forsooth ! 'gad, I almost wish I'd left her and her swain to find out for themselves." He i^aused, removed his hat to allow a slight breeze which had sprung up to cool his heated forehead, and then sti'etching himself, resumed, — " I hope I'm not really becoming morose and ill-tempered, as Arthur hinted the other day. I mi^st take care, or I shall be grow- ing a savage old brute, and have everybody hate me. It's all that puppy D'Almayne ; he keeps me in a constant state of suppressed irritation with his affected airs of superiority; — but puppies will exist on the face of the earth, I suppose, whether I like it or not, and must be endured; so we'll endeavour to look upon him as an appointed trial, and see if we can turn him to good account in that way. There's always the possibility of horse-whipping him as a ' deraier resort,' that's one consolation. Now I'll go to luncheon, and try whether I can put some of my good intentions into practice. Heigho! life's hard woi-k, and no mistake; particularly in warm weather." Thus cogitating, HaiTy slowly gathered himself up, and betook himself to join the luncheon party, actuated thereunto, amongst other reasons, by the discovery of a serious attack of appetite. In the meantime, a scene of a very different character was being enacted between two others of oui* " dramatis personse." Arthur Hazlehurst, foiled in his attempt to secure a " tete-a-tete " drive with his cousin, Kate Marsden, having, after his usual habit, bustled about, settled everything for everybody, and made himself 30 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP very generally useful and agreeable, had contrived on amving at the rnins to withdraw himself from the rest of the party, and having watched the proceedings of his cousin and Mr. Crane, waited until she separated from that gentleman, when he joined hei', and induced her to stroll with him along a shady, serpentine, romantic-looking pathway leading throiigh a wood. Agreeable as were external circumstances, however, neither the lady nor the gentleman appeared to be in a sympathetic frame of mind ; for a cloud hung on Arthiu*'s brow, while his cousin's features wore a cold, uncompromising look of defiance. They ])roceeded for some little distance in silence; Hazlehurst was the first to speak. " Tou found yom* companion amusing, I hope ; pray what might he be talking about so earnestly ? " " Do you really care to know ? " was the reply ; " he was making me his ' confidante ' in regard to Alice. The poor man is at his wits' end — if a quality which he does not possess can be said to have an end ; at all events, he is ' au desespoir.' Even his obtuseness cannot be blind to the fact that she dislikes him, and the worthy soul is now beginning to gi'ow mildly jealous of D'Almayne." " And what advice did you give him ? " inquired her cousin sternly ; " tell me the truth." As he spoke the girl's eyes flashed, and a slight coloiu* burned for a moment in her pale cheeks. " How dare you say such a thing to me ! " was her indignant rejoinder; "have I ever attempted to deceive you? — you know I have not ; but let it pass. You ask me what advice I gave him : I told him to persevere, reminded him that a faint heai-t never won a fair lady, which I believe he took to be an entirely original remark on my part, and gently insinuated that no girl in her senses could refuse him." Ai-thur fixed his piercing glance upon her, as he replied, — " And why did you say this ? Do you believe, indeed, that Alice will eventually be prevailed upon to man-y him ? — or did you say it to deceive him for a purpose of your own ? " "I gave him good sound advice," was the answer; "I do not believe Alice will man-y him ; but that is no reason why he should not use his best endeavoiu-s to obtain what he wishes, or fancies he wishes. I shall advise him to prosecute his suit, and at the right moment to ofEer to her in person." " In order that she may iiTitate him, and offend my father, by a refusal. Kate, you are playing some deep game in all this, and one of which you know I should disapprove, or else you would not so studiously conceal it from me," returned Hazlehurst, gloomily. There was a moment's pause ere the yoimg lady replied, — " Let events um-avel themselves, my worthy cousin ; the result will appear all in good time." They walked on in silence, till a turn in the path brought them --v- AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 31 before a smootli moss-prrown bank, on wbicli the varied roots of an old pollard-oak formed a natural rustic seat. " Let us rest here, and enjoy the sunshine while we may ; there is not too much of it in the world," observed Kate, in a srentler tone than she had hitherto used. There was a touch of sadness in her voice which Arthur could not hear unmoved, and merely waitino^ till she had seated herself, he placed himself on a root of the tree at her feet. For some minutes neither of them spoke, till as it were imconsciously, Kate allowed her hand to rest on his head, while her fingers played with a lock of his rich chestnut hair. As he felt her soft touch upon his brow, he raised his eyes to her countenance — the stern, hard expression had vanished, and in its place appeared that look which, once seen, the recollection dies only with memory itself, — the fond, wistful, tender gaze a loving woman turns on him she loves. For a minute he remained silent and motionless, subdued by the power of her rare beauty ; then springing to his feet, he exclaimed, — " Ton shall trifle with me thus no longer ; I am no petulant boy, to be repiilsed one hour, and caressed into good humour the next. What is the meaning of this estrangement which you have chosen shall spring up between us ? Why do you ? — but such questions are useless — this shall decide the point — once and for ever : — Do you love me, or do you not P " For a moment she was silent ; then turning her head to avoid his eager sci-utinizing glance, she miirmured, — *' Have we not known each other from childhood, and loved each other always ? " " That is no answer ; you only seek to evade my question," was the angi-y reply. He stood for a moment, his lips quivering with emotion, and his hands clenched so tightly that the blood receded from the points of his fingers, leaving them cold and colourless as marble. His companion did not speak, but continued to regard him with a look half-pitying, half-imploring pity. As their eyes met, his mood appeared suddenly to change, and springing to her side, he exclaimed in a voice tremulous with emotion, — " Kate, dearest, why will you thus torture yourself and me ? Hear me, dear one ; you know I love you better than any created thing — better than my own soul. You say truly, that I have loved you always^with the tender unconscious love of the child, with the happy romantic love of the boy, and, lastly, with the deep, earnest, absorbing passion of mature manhood ; and you, Kate, you must — nay, you do love me ! " As he spoke, he drew her gently towards him, and unrepulsed pressed a kiss upon her soft lips. She did not resist or respond to his caress, but suffered her head to rest passively against his shoulder, as he continued, — " I do not inquire — I heed not — what mad schemes you may have dreamed of ; but I ask — nay, I implore you, by all you hold sacred to 32 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP put them away from you, and to wait patiently for a few, a very few short years, until I can claim you for my beloved, my honoured wife. Kate, you will do as I desire ? — speak to me, my own love ! " Unheeding his appeal, she remained for a minute silent, while a few tears stole imchecked down her pale cheeks, then rousing herself by an effort, she wiped away the traces of her late emotion, gently removed her cousin's arm, which still encircled her waist, and draw- ing herself up, exclaimed, — " This is weakness — folly; I never intended it should have come to this ; but I was taken by surprise — unprepared — " She paused, struggling to regain self-possession, then in a calmer voice resumed, — " My poor Arthur ! I do, indeed, appreciate your noble, generous self-sacrifice, and were I alone concerned, would desire no happier fate than to share and aid you in your struggle with the world ; but it may not be so ; others have claims upon me — my father's health is failing— the cai'es of that bitter curse, poverty, are wearing out my mother's little remaining strength, and blighting the talents and crushing the youth and spirits of the childi-en. Dear Arthur, for- give me the pain I cost you when I tell you — I can never be your ■wife ! " " But, Kate," inteiTupted her cousin, eagerly, " listen to me, dear one ; you do not suppose that I had forgotten all this ; only agree to my proposal, and I will be a son to your mother, a father — if, as you fear, my uncle's health is breaking — to her children. My practice is increasing every day ; I shall soon be in the receipt of a good income ; Coverdale is rich, and loves me as a brother ; he will advance me money ; I will work day and night to repay him." " My husband destroy his health to support my family ! — is this the prospect of happiness you would offer me ? — ai'e these the arguments you would bring forward to induce me to agree P " was the reply. " No, Arthur, I can never be your wife ; you must fi'om this moment forget that such an idea has crossed your mind." " But, Kate, only hear me ! — " he exclaimed passionately. " I have already heard too much for your happiness, or for my own," was the moimiful reply ; then, by a powerful effort i-esuming her usual manner, she exclaimed, " Come, no more of this folly, our paths in life lie separate ; it is inevitable — therefore repining becomes worse than viseless ; we are not boy and girl, to stand rehearsing romantic love-scenes together ; let us rejoin the others." For a moment Hazlehurst remained silently gazing on the cold, immovable expression of her features ; then, coming close to her, he said in a low, hoarse whisper, " I read your heart, and perceive the wickedness, for such it is, you contemplate. I will give you till to- morrow morning to reflect on what has passed between us ; if then you adhere to your determination, I leave you to the fate you HAVE chosen ! " and as he uttered the last words, he turned and quitted her. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 33 Kate Mavsden gazed aftei- him witli the same cold expression of defiance on her featiires till his retreating figure became no longer visible, then, sinking back upon the rnstic bench, she covered her face with her hands and wept bitterly. CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN SYMPTOMS OF HARRY's COURTSHIP BEGIN TO APPEAR ON A STORMY HORIZON, The humom-s of a picnic have been too often described to need repetition ; suffice it to say, that the picnic in question was decidedly a favoiirable specimen of its class. Of coiu-se everybody voted it to be the siimmit of human felicity, to sit in an uncomfortable position upon something never intended for a seat, beside a table-cloth spread upon the grass, which, being elastic and uneven, caused everything that should have remained perpendicular to assume a horizontal attitude. Of course, when the inevitable frog hopped across the table-cloth, and, losing its presence of mind on finding itself so unexpectedly launched into fashionable life, sought refuge in the pigeon-pie, the ladies screamed little picturesque screams, which were increased twentyfold when Tom Hazlehurst fished it out with a table-spoon, and sun-eptitiously immersed it in the jug of beer, which liquid he artfully incited Mr. Crane to poui' out, thereby landing the frog, decidedly inebriated and most uncomfortably sticky, upon the elaborately embroidered shirt-front of Horace D'Almayne. Of course the salt and the sugar had fraternized, and the cayenne had elicited new and striking effects by mingling indiscriminately with things in general, and the sweets in particular ; and of course all these shocking disasters irritated the few and delighted the many, and added immensely to the liveliness and hilarity of the party. " Tom, you're di'inking too much champagne ! " exclaimed an elderly maiden sister of Mr. Hazlehui-st, decidedly like a hippo- potamus in face and figm-e. " Mi'. D'Almayne, may I trouble you to hand me his glass, the boy will make himself poorly." Thus appealed to, DAlmayne languidly extended his arm in the necessai-y direction, but the Etonian was not to be so easily desiDoiled of his beverage. " Mille pardons, mounseer ! " he exclaimed, mimicking the affected half -foreign accent with which the exquisite Horace usually spoke ; 34 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " ' mais c est tout a fait '—out of the question ; ' ne souhaitez-vous pas. que vous pouvez I'obtenir ? '—don't you wish you may ^et it ? Equally obliged to you, but I'd rather do my own drinking myself. Why, my dear Aunt Betsy, how dreadfully ungrateful of you, just when I was going to propose your health, too ! Silence, gentlemen, for a toast ! Come, Governor (to his father, who. delighted with the young pickle's ready wit, was vainly endeavouring to preserve an appear- ance of majestic disapproval), fill up; DAlmayne, my boy. no heel- taps ; are you all charged ? ' My Aunt Betsy, and the rest of her lovely sex !— hip ! hip ! hip ! hun-ah ! ' " So saying, and with a know- ing wink at Coverdale, who. if the truth must be told, encouraged him in his inclination to be impei-tinent to DAlmayne, Master Tom tossed down his glass of champagne amidst a general chorus of laughter. And thus the "dejeuner" passed off to all appearance men-ily enough; though in two, if not more, of the company, a smiling exterior hid an aching heart. " Have you seen the rabbit waiTen yet, Mr. Coverdale ? Do come, there are such a lot of the beggars jumping about ! I found my way there before limcheon, and it won't take long," exclaimed Tom Hazle- hurst, gi-asping Hany's arm imploringly. " It strikes me I shall be considered especially rude if I again absent myself," was the reply. " Who by ? — the women ? " inquired Tom, scornfully. " Never mind them — poor, weak-minded, fickle things ; there is nothing I consider a greater nuisance than to have a pack of silly girls dangling about one, that won't leave a fellow alone ; there, you needn't toss youi* head and tui'n up yoiu* nose about it, Emily, beneficent Natiu-e's done that for you sufficiently already. Now will you come, Mr. Coverdale ? there are some black rabbits among them, such rum shavers ! " " Ai-e there ? " exclaimed Haia-y, eagerly. " I wonder whether I could contrive to buy a few couples of them ; I want to get some black rabbits at the park excessively ; come along, for our time is gi'owing short, I expect." And as he spoke, Coverdale strode off, entii-ely forgetful of the pretty Emily, with whom, on the strength of her juvenility, he had considered he might safely allow himself to laugh and talk, and to whom he had, therefore, been unconsciously rendering himself very agreeable. The wan-en was further than he had expected it would be, and the black rabbits were so long before they chose to show themselves, that Han*y began to grow sceptical as to their existence ; even when they did appear, a gamekeeper had to be routed out, and terms for the transfer of ten couples to Coverdale Park agi-eed upon ; so that by the time Tom and his companion rejoined the pleasure-seekers, there were but few left to rejoin. These few consisted of the old maiden aunt; a time-honoured female friend of the same — older, uglier, still more like a hii^popotamus, and with a double portion of the vinegar of inhuman unkindness in her nature ; and, lastly, a AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 35 plain youn^ lady, tbe daughter of nobody in particular, who lived with the time-honoured friend as companion, in a state of chronic martyrdom, for which perpetual sacrifice she received thirty pounds a year, and pel-mission to cry herself to sleep every night, in misty wonderment why so sad a ci-eature as she was, should ever have been born into the world. Besides tliis uncomfortable trio, who composed the cargo of a brougham, and were rather a tight fit, there remained Mr. Crane and Alice, who, it seemed, were waiting for the phaeton, which had not yet made its appearance. " Upon my word. Miss Hazlehurst," began the sour friend, addressing the acidulated aunt, " this is very provoking, ma'am ; it's six 'o'clock, and it's growing cold, land it will be quite dusk before we get home ; and I really believe Miss Corntoe was right this moi'ning, and that we shall have a wet night after all." " Shall I run down to the inn and see what causes the delay ? I must go there to get my horse," inquired Coverdale, good- naturedly. "If you would be so kind, we really should be extremely obliged to you," returned Miss Hazlehurst senior, with her most gracious and least hippopotamic smile ; and thiis urged, Coverdale huiTied off. In the meantime poor Alice, who by no means admired the posi- tion of affairs, and had mox-eover been considerably alarmed in the morning by Mr. Crane's unskilful di'iving, whispered a pathetic appeal to her aunt to be allowed to accompany the brougham party, — " she could sit on the box, Wilson, the coachman, was so incon- ceivably respectable, and she was almost sure it would not rain ; " — but her aunt was a strong-minded woman, and a warm advocate of the Crane alliance, and she would not hear of such a change of plan. As soon as Coverdale aiTived within sight of the inn, he perceived the missing phaeton standing in front of the doorway, the horses ready haraessed, and the groom seated on the driving-seat; accordingly he made signs to him to come on, of which, for some unaccountable reason, the man took not the slightest notice. Surprised at this, Harry made the best of his way to the spot, and on reaching it dis- covered, from the swollen, heated look of the fellow's features, and the stupid, obstinate expression which characterized them, that he had been di-inking to excess. " Why, the man is intoxicated ! " exclaimed Coverdale, turning to the ostler, who, with one or two hulking village lads, stood staring at the coachman with a grin of amusement on their vacant faces ; "why did not you make him get down, and bring the carriage yourself ? " " A did troy, but a woldn't budge a inch — a be properly dnink, to be zure ! " " Oh, he would not, eh ? " inquired Coverdale ; then turning to the groom, he continued, " Get down directly, my friend, I want pai-ticu- larly to speak to you." To this the groom contrived to stammer out an insolent refusal, 36 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP accompanied by a recommendation to Coverdale to mind liis 0"\vn business, and give orders to his own servants. " My business just at present is to make you get down from that phaeton," returned Harry, bis eyes flashing. " Oh ! it is, is it ? — I should like to see you do it, that's all ! " re- joined the other, with a gesture of drunken defiance. " You shall," was the concise reply, as,'directing the ostler to stand by the horses' heads, Coverdale, ere the fellow was aware of his intention, or could take measures to prevent him, sprang lightly up, forced the reins from his uncertain grasp, twisted him suddenly round, then placing his hands under his arms, lifted him by sheer strength, and dropped him to the ground. Having performed this feat -with the neatness and celerity of some harlequinade trick, he glanced round to see that the fellow had fallen clear of the wheels, and taking the reins, drove off. While this little affair had been proceeding, the sky had become overcast, and a few large drops of rain came pattering heavily to the ground ; alarmed by these symptoms, the brougham party no sooner perceived the phaeton approaching, than they scrambled into their vehicle and started. As their road lay in a direction opposite to that by which Coverdale was advancing, they were nearly out of sight by the time he reached the spot where Alice and Mr. Crane awaited him. Jumping down with the reins in his hand, he was explaining to the owner of the phaeton the plight in which he had found his servant, when a faint flash of lightning glanced across the sky, followed after an interval by a clap of distant thunder, at which the horses, which were young and spirited, began to prick up their ears and evince such unmistakable signs of alarm, that their master, fearing they were about to dash off, ran to lay hold of their heads. Misfortune often brings about strange associations. If any one had that morning told Alice Hazlehurst that before the day should be over she would have appealed for protection to, and confided in, " Arfhiu-'s cross, disagreeable friend," she would have utterly dis- believed the statement — and yet so it was to be. The moment Mr. Crane left her side, she turned to Harry exclaiming, — " Oh, Mr. Coverdale, I am so frightened ! He will never be able to manage those horses : he could scarcely hold them in this morning, and the groom was forced to get down to them twice — he does not know how to drive one bit ! " Poor little Alice ! she was trembling from head to foot, and looked so pretty and interesting in her alarm, that Hariy felt peculiar, he didn't exactly know how, about it. " I'll speak to Mr. Crane, and persuade him to let me drive you home," he replied eagerly. (He would have knocked him down without the smallest hesitation, if Alice had in the slightest degree prefen-ed it.) " I've been accustomed to horses all my life, and have not a doubt of being able to manage these, even if the thunder should startle them ; so please don't look so frightened." AND ALLiTHAT CAME OF IT 37 And as Hany said tliis with his very brightest, kindest smile, Alice wondered she had never before noticed how handsome he was, and began to think he could not be so very cross after all. When Hany lu-ged his request, Mr. Crane was considerably embaiTassed as to the nature of his reply. In his secret soul he was delighted to be relieved from the danger and responsibility of driving Alice and himself home through a thunder-storm ; but, on the other hand, he could not disguise the fact, that by allowing himself to be so relieved, he should detract from the heroic style of character he wished Alice to impute to him. Had it been D Almayne instead of Coverdale who sought to become his substitute, he would probably, at the hazard of breaking his own neck and that of his lady-love, have refused to permit him ; but he had observed, as indeed he must have been blind if he had not done, Harry's marked avoidance of the young lady, and trusting to these liis mysogynistic principles he. with many excuses and much circumlocution, agreed to Hairy's proposal that he should ride his horse, and allow him to drive the phaeton. " Ahem ! — if the storm should come on violently," observed the cotton-spinner, as a second growl of thunder became audible, '" I shall wait till it has subsided ; so don't let them expect me till they see me : getting wet always gives nie cold." " All right, sir," returned Harry, as he wrapped Alice carefully up in his own mackintosh ; " take care of yourself by all means — good people are scarce. We shall see nothing more of friend Crane to- night," he continued, as he drove off ; " the old gentleman is very decidedly alarmed — that is, I suppose I ought not to call him an old gentleman," he stammered, suddenly recollecting with whom he was conversing. " Why should you not when he is so? " returned Alice, innocently. Han-y turned his head away to conceal a smile which the " naivet6 " of the reply had called forth, muttering to himself as he did so, " Poor Crane ! " After a few minvites' silence, Alice began abruptly, and apolo- getically, — " I'm sure I ought to feel very much obliged to you, Mr. Coverdale —and indeed I do; this is the second really good-natured thing you've done by me to-day." The tone in which she spoke so completely betrayed that sui-prise was the feeling uppermost in her mind, that Han-y, slightly piqued, could not help replying, — " You did not, then, give me credit for possessing the least particle of good-nature ? " Alice smiled as she answered, — " If I had had a proper degree of faith in Arthur's representations I need not have felt surprise." The delicate irony of this reply was not lost upon Coverdale ; bu he knew that he had deserved it, and, with the ready frankness 38 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP which was one of his best characteristics, he hastened to acknow- ledge it. " I certainly have done little towards practically vindicating the character yoiu- brother's partiality has bestowed upon me," he said ; "but I must be allowed to plead in justification, that I am quite aware of my own deficiencies, and told Ai-thur that I had been roughing it abroad so long, that I was totally unfitted for ladies' society. He would not admit the excuse ; but it was a full, true, and sxTfficient one, nevei-tlieless." As he uttered the last words, a dazzling flash of lightning appeared almost to envelop them, followed instantaneously by a deafening peal of thunder. Half blinded by the blaze of light, the frightened horses stopped abritptly, then terrified at the prolonged thunder, tried to tm-n short round ; foiled in this attempt by the skill and promptitude of their driver, they began rearing and plunging in a way which threatened every moment to overturn the phaeton. Fortunately the road happened to be unusually wide at this point, and Hairy, who never throughout the affair in the slightest degree lost his presence of mind, deciding that whatever might most effectually frighten the horses, would create the impulse they would eventually obey, determined to try the effect of a little judicious discipline. Accordingly, standing up, he began to administer the whip to their sleek sides with an amount of strength and determination which, from the contrast it afforded to the mild and timid driving to which they were accustomed, so astonished the animals, that bounding forward with a snatch which tried the soundness of their harness, they dashed off at a fiu-ious gallop ; at the same moment, a second peal of thunder, even louder than the preceding one, increased their alarm to siich a degree, that Coverdale, despite his utmost efforts, found it completely beyond his power to hold them in. CHAPTER VIII. HARET CONDESCENDS TO PLAT THE AGREEABLE. " Miss Hazlehurst !— Alice ! are you mad? Only ^t still, don't go and scream or anything, and all will come right." Thus appealed to, or rather commanded— for the tone of the speaker's voice was unmistakably imperative — Alice, who when the horses bolted had half risen from her seat, and in an agony of teiror glanced round as though she meditated an attempt to jump out, shrank down again, and covering her eyes with her hands, remained per- AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 39 fectly still and motionless, tlins enabling Coverdale to devote his whole attention to the horses. The terrified animals, after galloping nearly a mile, their fears being kept alive by repeated flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, while a perfect deluge of rain con- verted the dusty road! beneath their feet into a morass, at length began to relax their speed. As soon as Harry perceived this to be the case, he turned to his companion, saying, " There, Miss Hazle- hurst, I have got them in hand again, they'i'e quite under command now, and the worst of the stonn is over too, so you needn't be frightened any longer ; you have behaved like a " — (regular brick was the simile that rose to his lips, but he refrained, and substituted) — " complete , heroine, since you overcame that slightly insane impulse to commit suicide by jiTmping out." Reassured by his manner, Alice ventured to open her eyes, and the first use she made of them was to fix them upon the countenance of her companion, sti-iving to read therein whether the hopes with which he sought to inspire her were true or false. But Harry's was a face about which thei'e could be no mistake ; truth and honesty were wi-itten in every featm-e so legibly, that the veriest tyro in physiognomy cordd not fail at once to perceive them. " How fortunate it was that you were di'iving, and not Mr. Crane ! " were the first words Alice uttered; " we should have been overturned to a certainty if the horses had behaved so this moiming. I'll take good care not to let him di'ive me again. How cleverly you managed the creatures when they were phmging and rearing ! I should never have dared to whip them while they were in that furious state, but it answered capitally." " Yoii observed that, did you ? " inquired Harry in a tone of siu'prise. Alice favoured him with a quick glance, as she replied, half archly, half petulantly, " Of course I did ; what a stupid siDy little thing you seem to consider me ! " HaiTy paused for a minute ere he rejoined, laughingly, "You know nothing about what I consider you. Miss Hazlehiu'st, and therefore I advise you not to form any theories whatsoever on the subject, as they are tolerably cei-tain to be wrong ones." " I daresay you. have never given yourself the trouble to reflect at all on so fi-ivolous a topic," returned Alice ; " I know your heterodox notions in regard to our sex ; you consider us all simpletons." " I'm sure I never told you so," Avas aU the denial Harry's con- science permitted him to make. " Not ' viva voce,' perhaps," replied Alice ; " but I have heard it second-hand from Master Tom : the boy was vmcomplimentary enough before you came, but he has been fifty times worse since you've been here to encourage him in his impertinence." " A young cub ! " muttered HaiTy aside, " I'll twist his neck if he teUs tales out of school in this way ; " turning to Alice, he continued, ' it is never too late to mend, is it ? If I confess my sins, promise 40 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP never to do so any more, and throw myself on the mercy of the com-t, is there any chance of my obtaining forgiveness ? " "As far as I am concerned, yes," was the reply; "in consideration of your sendees this afternoon, I graciously accord you a free pardon for all past offences, and for the futiu-e we will try and be fi-iends." As she spoke she half playfully, half in earnest, held out her hand. HaiTy took it in his own, and shook it — even in a glove it was a nice, warm, soft little hand, a kind of hand that it was impossible to relin- quish without giving it a squeeze, at least such was Hari-y'slimpression, and he acted upon it, although to do so was by no means in accord- ance with his iDrinciples; but he did not happen to be thinking about his x>rinciples just then. By this time the storm, which had pretty well exhausted itself by its violence, resigned in favour of a lovely sunset; and the horses having come to the conclusion that they had thoroughly disgraced themselves, and behaved with an equal disregard of i^rinciple and propriety, trotted steadily along under Coverdale's skilful guidance, like a pair of four-legged penitents, anxious to retrieve their character. And HaiTy and Alice sviddenly found a great deal to talk about, and were quite surprised when they perceived themselves to be in sight of the Grange ; and the gentleman felt moved by a sudden impulse to declare that, despite its rmpropitious commencement, he did not know when he had had such a delightful drive, to which the lady replied that it certainly had been veiy agreeable, an admission which she endeavoured to qualify by attributing her pleasurable sensations to the influence of the setting sun and the delicious coolness of the evening air — a transparent attempt at decei^tion that only rendered the tmth more obvious. The next morning a groom brought back Sir Lancelot, together with a note from Mr. Crane, saying that he had contrived to get wet thi-ough on his way to the inn, that he feared he had taken cold, and therefore considered it most prudent to return home for a day or two ; adding that he should hope to be sufficiently convalescent to rejoin the pai-ty at the Grange that day week, when a dinner was to be given by Mr. Hazlehurst to some of the county magnates. His note wound up with an elaborate inquiry as to whether Alice had expei'ienced any ill-effects from the " atmospheric inclemency," as he was pleased to style the thunder-storm, accomj^anied by an infallible specific against all sore throats, colds, hoarsenesses, and rheumatic affections, which that yoimg lady straightway committed to the waste-paper basket. There was also a note for Horace D'Almayne, from which dropped an inclosui'e that, as the exquisite stooped to pick it up, looked marvellously like a cheque. " A — really I find I must go to town — a — business of importance — can I execute any little commissions for you, Miss Hazlehurst ? I've excellent taste in ribands, I assure you." " There, do you hear that ? " observed Tom " sotto voce " to Cover- dale. " I always thought he'd been a coimter- jumper ! " AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 41 " Kate, must I accompany him ? " inquired Ai-thur of his cousin, " sotto voce " ; " remember, if you send me from you now, we meet a^ain as strangers ! " There was a moment's struggle, and her coloiu- went and came — then in a cold, hard voice she answered, " Yes, go!" Arthur looked at her ; her features might have been sculptured in marble, so fixed and immovable was their expression. That look decided him ; and with set teeth and lowering brow he rose and quitted the room. In less than half an hour he returned, prepared for a journey ; and beckoning Coverdale aside, began, " Harry, I have a favour to ask of you. I am obliged to go to town suddenly, in consequence of an afBair which has caused me some annoyance ; but I shall come back for the dinner-party on the — th. Crane will also retm-n then ; and from what I can make out, Alice's affair will be definitely settled one way or other. The more I see of Crane, the more I perceive how thoroughly he and Alice are imsuited ; but my father appears obstinately bent on the match : and if Alice is to refuse him, she will require all the support that can be given her. My poor mother's health is, as you are aware, so delicate, that although she is as much averse to the match as any of us, we cannot expect her to exert her- self ; indeed, our chief anxiety is to prevent her attempting to do so. The whole thing will, therefore, fall upon me : and your support and assistance will be invaluable. My father has taken a great fancy to you ; and your opinion weighs with him more than you will believe. I am sorry to perceive that you are bored to death here ; but I trust to your friendship to remain till after my return. Am I taxing your kind feeling too far ? " " My dear boy, don't make pretty speeches ; for I can stand any- thing but that," was the reply. " As to staying here, I had no thought of going away till you had done with me. In regard to being bored, I'm getting over that beautifully. Your family are charming jieople. I'm becoming used to women's society, and, in fact, find it's not by any means as bad as imagination painted it ; and when DAlmayne is fairly out of the house, I really shall not care how long I remain in it ; so will that satisfy you ? " " My dear fellow," rejoined Hazlehurst, warmly, " there's nobody like you in the world ! I've always said so, from the day that I first set eyes on you at Eton, when you thrashed the bully of the form for striking me, and then boxed my ears because I took a blow from a boy less than myself, without returning it. I shall never quite turn misanthrope while I've you for a friend." " Misanthrope ! no, why should you ? " was the surprised rejoinder. " What ails you, man ? — you look ill and luiliappy. It's nothing in the money way, is it ? I've got a few odd thousands lying idle at my bankers, that I should really be obliged to you to make use of." Hazlehurst shook his friend's hand heartily. " God bless you, old fellow! I know you would," he said; "but money can't help me : I 42 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP must fight it out alone. I shall be myself again by the time I return — till then, good-bye," and wi-inging Coverdale's hand once more, he turned and was gone. " Alice, here's a treat ! evei-ybody's going away except that hoiTid Harry Coverdale! " exclaimed Emily, in a tone of despair; " we shall have him on om- hands, talking stable, and wishing we were dogs and horses, for a whole week ! What are we to do with the creatui-e ? " Alice tiu-ned her head to hide her heightened colour, as she replied, in a tone of voice that was almost cross, " Really, Emily, you should be careful not to carry that absurd habit of yoiu'S of laughing at everybody too far. People -will begin to call you flippant. Mr. Coverdale is so good-natured that he is the easiest person in the world to entertain. Sui-ely, Arthur has a right to ask his friend to remain here without consulting you or me on the subject." " Phew ! " whistled Emily, and a droll little parody of a whistle it was ; " the wind has changed, has it ? I suppose that was the thunder-storm yesterday; not to mention a certain "tete-a-tete" drive. Take care. Ally : recollect that sweet bird the Crane ! what does the song say ? " and popping herself down at the pianofoi'te, she ran her fingers lightly over the keys, as she sang with mischievous archness : — " 'Tis good to be merry and wise, "lis good to be honest and true, 'Tis good to be off with the old love Before you are on. with the new." The party which sat down to dinner at Hazlehurst Grange on that day was a very select one. Mr. Hazlehurst had driven over to the neighboiuing town on justice business, and having sentenced certain deer-stealers to undergo divers unpleasantnesses in the way of oakum- picking, solitary confinement, and other such amenities of prison discipline, had stayed to reward virtue by dining with his brother- magistrates upon orthodoxly-slaughtered venison. Accordingly, Mrs. Hazlehurst and the three young ladies, Hari-y Coverdale and Master Tom, sat down to what Mrs. Malaprop would have termed " quite a ' tete-a-tete ' dinner " together ; — a tame and docile curate, invited on the spur of the moment to counterbalance Hairy, having missed fire, owing to the untimely repentance of a perverse old female parishioner, who, being taken poorly and penitent simultane- ously, had sent her imperative compliments to the Rev. B. A. A. Lambkin, and she would feel obliged by his coming to convert her at his very earliest possible convenience ; to which serious call he felt obliged to respond. Coverdale had found himself in an unusual and peculiar frame of mind all day ; for perhaps the first time in his life he had felt disin- clined to active exertion ; and had positively gone the length of abstracting from the library a volume of Byron, and spent the after- noon lying under a tree, reading the " Bride of Abydos." Now his peculiarity took a newtiu-n; and, freed from his incubus, DAlmayne, a sense of the domestic and sociable suddenly sprang up within him, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 43 and throwing off all reserve, lie appeared for the first time during his yisit in his true colours — that is, unaffected, courteous, kind-heai-ted, amusing, and well-informed. In consequence possibly of this change, the dinner went off most agreeably ; and the absence of the Reverend Lambkin was mentally decreed to be a subject of thanksgi\'ing, by more than one member of the party. In the evening there were certain wasps' nests to be destroyed, about which Harry had expressed much interest ; but now he dis- covered that he had blistered his heel on the previous day, by running in a tight boot ; and Tom, mightily discontented at his defection, was forced to invade the enemy's country without the assistance of his ally. When Coverdale rejoined the ladies, Emily was reading Tennyson's " Princess " aloud, and the moment he appeared, she declared she was tired, and handed the book to him, begging him to proceed; her mischievous intention being thereby to overwhelm him with confusion, and derive amusement from his conseqi^ent mistakes. But she met her match for once, as Harry, coolly replying that he should have much pleasure, took the book and began reading in a deep rich voice, with so much taste and feeling, that her surprise soon changed to admiration. After tea, music was proposed, and the moment Alice began to sing, Coverdale, for the first time since he had been in the house, approached the piano, and actually turned over the leaves for her ! " That lovely ' La ci darem ! ' Ah, Alice ! if we had but a gentle- man's voice to take the second ! Why don't you sing, Mr. Cover- dale ? " exclaimed Emily, turning over the pages of the duet. " I'D try what I can do if you wish it," was Coverdale's quiet reply. Alice, to whom he spoke, glanced at him in speechless surprise, but Emily, at once making up her mind that he was attempting a hoax, and eager to turn the tables upon him, resumed, — •' Bravo ! give me your seat, Alice, I'll play the accompaniment for you both." Now the truth was. that Harry had been gifted by nature with a rich powei-ful voice and excellent ear, qualities which the admiration of his " set " at Cambridge had induced him to cultivate. When he first started on his grand tour, he encountered at Florence the mother and sisters of an old college friend, and those being the days before he had forsworn young ladies' society, he was let in for a mild flirtation with one of the daughters. The "emphatic she" happened to be " fanatica per la musica." Accordingly for three months Han-y took lessons of the best master in the place, and sang duets morning, noon, and night ; at the end of which period the " loved one " bolted with a black-bearded native, who called himself a count, and was a courier. Since which episode, Harry, disgusted with the whole affair, and all connected with it, had chiefly confined his singing to lyrical declarations that he would " not go home till morning." It will therefore be less a matter of surprise to the reader, than it was to his audience at the Grange, that Coverdale 44 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP performed liis pai-t in tlie duet with equal taste and skill, and very mucli better than Alice did hers— that young lady pronoimcing her Italian with rather a midland-county accent than otherwise, although her sweet, fresh, young voice, in great measure atoned for this little peculiarity. " Why, Mr. Coverdale, what a charming voice you have, and how beautifully you sing ! " exclaimed Emily, looking at him as if she could not even yet believe that it was possible he should have so distinguished himself. " I thought you were hoaxing us, and I sat down to play the duet for the amiable purpose of exposing you.r ignorance." " How did you acquire such a pure Italian accent ? " asked Mrs. Hazlehurst ; " it will be of the greatest advantage to my girls to sing with you." " I learned of an Italian fellow when I was at Florence, and I suppose he taught me to do the business all right," was the careless reply. " And yoii have been here more than a week," continued Mrs. Hazlehiu'st, " and allowed Mr. D Almayne to monopolize both the reading and singing department, though he cannot fill either one quarter as eflficiently as you are able to do. You really are too diffident." " I don't imagine diffidence to have had very much to do with it," observed Kate Marsden, quietly raising her eyes from her work (a crochet piirse with steel beads), and fixing them on Coverdale. Harry laughed slightly as with heightened colour he replied, " You are too clever. Miss Marsden. I by no means approve of being subjected to such subtle clairvoyance ; however, I may as well honestly confess that you are right, and that a feeling more akin to pride than to humility has prevented my seeking to rival Mr. D'Almayne." " We have found you out at last thoiigh," returned Emily, " and 1 for one will do my best to punish you for your idleness, by making you sing every song I can think of. I don't believe it was either pride or humility which kept you silent — it was nothing but sheer idleness." " Judging of her principles from her practice, I can readily believe Miss Emily Hazlehurst must consider silence to result from some reprehensible cause," replied Coverdale, with a meaning smile. Of course Emily made a pert rejoinder, and of course Coverdale was forced to sing half-a-dozen more songs, which, as he had by this time got up the steam considerably, he did in a style which won him fresh laurels ; but it was a remarkable fact, that from the moment in which Harry began to read aloiid, Alice, although her attention had never flagged, had scarcely uttered a single word— perhaps it was because she thought the more. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 45 CHAPTER IX. CONTAINS LITTLE ELSE SAVE MOONSHINE. Mrs. Hazlehurst was so confii-med an invalid as to be unable to walk, even so short a distance as from the drawing-room to her own bed-room, whither she was nsually carried by either her husband or her son. She was in the habit of retiring at nine o'clock, but on the evening referred to in the last chapter the clock chimed the haK-hour after nine, and Mr. Hazlehurst had not returned. " Mamma, dear, you are looking tired — you ought not to sit up so late ! " exclaimed Alice, who had been observing her mother atten- tively for some minutes. " Do allow Evans to carry you up : papa is sometimes kept till eleven o'clock at these magistrates' meetings, you know." One great charm which Alice possessed in Han-y's eyes was her devotion to her mother, for whom she entertained an affection which was, perhaps, one of the strongest feelings of her nature. " I had rather wait, dear," was the patient reply : — " the worthy Evans is growing fat and old, and I am always afraid of his falling ; and James is very willing, poor lad, but he is so awkward that he rubs me against all the comers we pass, and only escapes knocking my brains out by a succession of miracles." " If you would allow me to assist you, Mrs. Hazlehurst," began Coverdale, in a hesitating voice, as though he were about to ask rather than to confer a favour — " I am siu-e I could carry you safely; I have observed exactly how Arthur holds you, and it would give me so much pleasure to be of use to you." " You are very kind," returned Mrs. Hazlehurst, while a glow of grateful siu-prise coloured her pale cheeks; "but I cannot bear to give you the trouble — you do not know how heavy I am." " You do not know how strong I am, my dear madam," was the good-natm"ed rejoinder; "allow me — that I think is right," and raising the light form of the invalid in his powerful arms he carried her, as easily and tenderly as a mother would her child, to her room, where carefully depositing her in an easy-chair, he wished her good night, and left her, withoiit waiting to receive her thanks, " Alice, love, Emily will stay and read to me — go down and tell Mr. Coverdale how much obliged I am ; he carried me as comfoi-tably as if he had been in the constant habit of doing so for years. The kind- ness of heart, and delicacy of feeling with which he made the offer, have gratified me exceedingly ; depend upon it he is an unusually amiable, excellent yoimg man." 46 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP "He certainly appears in a new character to-night." returned Emily, laughing; "hitherto he has performed the modern Timon most naturally and successfully. I wonder what made the creature take it into his head to act the man — or rather the woman — hater ! You'd better ask him, Alice, perhaps he will tell you ! — What, gone already ! " she continued, glancing round the room. " Well then, mamma dear, as there seems to be no more fun forthcoming, let me give you your dose of Jeremy Taylor ; that is our present good book, I believe." A reproof for the levity with which Emily spoke rose to her mother's lips ; but Mrs. Hazlehurst was a sensible woman as well as a good one, and so, being able to distinguish between the exuberance of high spirits and a scoffing turn of mind, she only murmured, " Silly child," and shook her head, with a reproving smile. When Alice returned to the drawing-room she at first imagined it to be tenantless ; but on looking more attentively she perceived the tall figure of HaiTy Coverdale standing with folded arms in the recess of one of the windows. So noiselessly did she enter that Harry, whose face was turned away from the door, was not aware of her approach until she was within a few yards of him. As with a sudden start he looked round, she was svirj^rised to observe the traces of deep emotion visible on his features, which were usually characterized by an expi-ession of so completely opposite a nature. With a miu'mured apology for intruding on him. Alice was about to withdraw, when Coverdale hastened to prevent her. " Do not run away," he said quickly, then continued. " Tou are surprised to see me look sad ; I think I should like, if you will permit me, to tell you the cause. It is so seldom I meet with any- body to whom I can talk about such things — people in general would not understand me, but I feel an instinctive certainty that you will. It is such a lovely night, would you object to come out? Your cousin, Miss Marsden, is already enjoying the moonlight." As he spoke, he pointed to a white figure pacing, with bent head and measured steps, along a teiTace-walk on the further side of the lawn. Throwing a shawl over her head to protect herself from the night dew, Alice signified her consent, and opening one of the French windows, they descended into the garden. For some minutes they strolled on side by side without speaking; the silence at length becoming embaiTassing, Alice broke it by obser\'ing, — " I must not forget to deliver mamma's thanks for your kindness. You carried her so easily and carefully, she says, she could almost imagine you must have been accustomed to such an occupation before." HaiTy smiled a melancholy smile. " That was what I was going to tell you about," he said, " only when it came to the point, I felt as if it were impossible to begin. Carrying Mrs. Hazlehurst to-night brought back such a flood of recollections ! " He paused, then in a low tone continued : " For many months before her death my own AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 47 poor mother became perfectly helpless, and I used to can-y her like a child from room to room. I was only seventeen when I lost her, and, except your brother, I have never had any one to love since ; and though Arthur is as good a fellow as ever breathed, and all that one can wish a friend to be, yet somehow, whether it is the diiference between's a man's mind and a woman's, or what, I cannot tell, but there are things I've never talked about with anybody since my mother died, because I've felt that nobody else could understand me. Perhaps, if she had lived, I might have been more what I some- times wish I were — less rough, and — but I do not know why I should bore you with what must be singularly unintei'esting to you." " Pray go on," replied Alice ; " I have heard so much of you from Arthur, that I always hoped I should some day know you myself . and that we might become friends; but — " here she stopped, apparently embarrassed how to proceed. Harry came to her assistance — " But when I did appear, I made myself so disagreeable that you naturally repented ever having wasted a thought upon such an unamiable savage. Is not that what you would have said ? Well, you are quite right, I deserve that it should be so." There was a degree of regretful earnestness in his voice and manner which touched Alice's gentle heart, and she hastened to reply,— " Nay, it was only that you did not know us ; and — I think that silly Mr. D'Almayne annoyed you with his airs and affectation ; but I am sure you will never be so — so — " " Brutish ! " suggested Harry. " So unjust to yoiu'self again," resumed Alice. " You are very kind — kinder than I deserve by far," i-eplied Cover- dale. He paused, then continued, " I don't think I was naturally such a bear ; but from childhood I have had to battle with the world on my own behalf. Did Arthur ever tell you any of my earlier histoi*y ? " " No ; he often alluded to it as curious, but said we ought to see you first, and then we should understand you better and care more to hear it," was the simple reply. Harry smiled. " The only romantic episode in my career occui-red when I was a very young boy," he said, " so young, that if I had not heard the story over and over again from the mouth of my late uncle, the old Admiral. I should scarcely have remembered it. To enable you to comprehend the situation properly, I must trouble you with a few family details. My grandfather had two sons — the Admiral the elder, and my father the younger. My father, when a lieutenant in a marching regiment, fell in love with a very pretty, amiable, but portionless girl ; my grandfather desired him to marry an heiress ; my father refused, and urged his affection for another ; my grandfather grew imperative, my father recusant ; my grandfather stormed, my father persisted ; and the affair ended by my father 48 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP maiTying his lady-love, and my grandfather disinheriting him for so doing. The natural consequences ensued : my grandfather devoted his fortune and influence to my uncle's advancement, and at the age of fifty he became an admiral ; at the same age my father found himself a captain, existing on half -pay, with a microscopic pension and an incurable wound in his side, as rewards for having served his country. ' England expects every man to do his duty,' and occasionally recompenses him for it with honourable starvation. As my father's health decreased his expenses increased, unpaid doctors' bills stared him in the face, and butchers and bakers grew uncivil and imiDortunate. "At my grandfather's death he left every farthing he possessed to his eldest son. Angry at the injustice, my father refused his brother's offer of an allowance, and unwisely determined to dispute the will. Accordingly, he not only lost his cause, but irritated my imcle to such a degree, that all communication ceased between them. When I was approaching the august age of ten years, and affairs seemed to be coming to a crisis, by some chance I, playing with and apparently absorbed by a regiment of tin soldiers, happened to be present at a family committee of ways and means. During this colloquy, the unfortunate disagreement between the brothers was talked over and lamented by my mother ; who exei-ted all her eloqiience to persuade my father to wi-ite to the Admiral and inform him of his failing health and ruined fortunes, and trust to his generosity to forgive and forget the past. But my father's pride stood in the way. He would willingly have been reconciled to his bi'other, if he had not required pecxmiary assistance at his hands ; but the consciousness of this necessity rendered him inexorable. So finding his wife's arguments unanswerable, he adopted the usual resource in such cases — viz., he talked himself into a rage, and flinging out of the room, slammed the door behind him, leaving my mother and me ' tete-a-tete.' " After a minute's silence, I surprised her by asking, ' Papa's very poor, and my uncle's very rich ; and papa would ask uncle to give him some money, only they quarrelled when grandpapa stopped papa's pocket-money : isn't that it, mamma ? ' "'Yes, my dear,' was the reply; 'but you must not talk about it to anybody, remember.' " I nodded assent, then resumed, ' Uncle's a good, kind man, isn't he?' "'Yes, my love; a good man I know him to be, and he was kind once,' was the reply. " ' Then why don't you go and tell him that papa's very sorry he was naughty, and wants to make friends again ; and if imcle is good and kind, he will say yes ; and when they are friends again, uncle will be sure to give him some of his pocket-money without being asked, because they are brothers. Won't that do, mamma ? ' " My mother rose with tears in her eyes, stroked the haii- back from AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 49 my forehead, impi-inted a kiss on it, and murninrinpf, ' Your papa would never allow me to do so, darlinor,' qiiitted the room. " Well. I sat and cogitated the matter : even as a child I was of a fearless nature, and confident in my own resources ; and at last a plan occun-ed to me. At that time we lived in London, and I attended a public school as a day-scholar. At this school I had a friend — a boy some two or thi-ee years older than myself. To him. in strict confidence, I imparted my scheme, which he was pleased prraciously to approve of, and in which he volunteered to aid me. Accordingly, on the following morning, when my parents imagined I was declining ' hie, hsec, hoc,' I was, under the able guidance of my school-fellow, making my way to the office of a coach which passed within half a mile of Coverdale Park. Having seen me set ofE in high health and spirits, my friend after school-hours left the following note at our house : — " ' Dear Mamma, — I have gone to see my uncle Coverdale, as you could not do it. Papa never told me not to — so he won't lie angry with me. Thompson saw me off, and will leave this, so no more at present, " ' From your dutiful son, "'H. C "I reached Coverdale Park without adventure, and greatly astonishing a solemn butler by demanding to see my uncle forth- with, was ushered into a large oak-panelled apai-tment, wherein sat a fine, portly-looking gentleman, eating his dinner in solitary dignity. As soon as his eyes fell upon my features he started, exclaiming, — " ' Bless my soul, boy ! who are you ? ' " ' Tour nephew Harry Coverdale, uncle,' returned I, looking him full in the face. My gaze seemed rather to emban-ass him, for his lips moved convulsively ere he was able to frame a reply. At length he exclaimed angrily, — " ' And pray, sir, what do you want here ? ' "Feeling by no means inclined to enter abruptly upon family affairs in presence of the servants, I paused. But certain inward cravings, aroused by the sight of the good things before me, soon furnished me with an idea, and with a decidedly suggestive emphasis, I answered, ' I have not had any dinner yet.' My uncle again looked at me, to see whether my observ^ation was the result of impudence or simplicity — deciding apparently in favour of the latter, he desired the servant to place me a chair and give me a knife and fork. Fortified by a good dinner, and encouraged by a kind twinkle in the comer of my uncle's eye, which belied all his attempts to look angiy, I soon began to chatter away freely and enlighten my newly-found relative as to my opinion of things in general. After the cloth was removed, and I had volunteered grace, at which my uncle appeared first surprised and then edified, he began, — E 50 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " ' Now, boy, tell me tlie tnitli— but first, you shall have a glass of wine ; which will you take ? ' " ' I always tell the truth, uncle, even if it gets me a thrashing ; and I'll take port, for that's the only wine fit for a gentleman,' answered I, which reply so delighted my uncle, that he poured me out a bumper, and patting me on the back exclaimed, — " ' Bravo, my boy ! stick to truth and port wine through life, and you'll be a credit to your name ! ' " That speech of mine won the day. I explained the object of my visit, and that it had originated wholly with myself ; and succeeded so well, that on the following moraing my uncle accompanied me home, was reconciled to my father, to whom, till the day of his death (which occuiTed within the next year), he showed every kindness, and after that event took my dear mother to reside with him at the Park, provided for my education, and eventually made me his heir." To this recital, followed by a detail of "many of those piu'e thoughts and deep feelings which lie hidden in the breast of every generous- hearted man, till heaven blesses him with a female friend woi-thy to receive such sacred confidence, did Alice listen with growing interest and sympathy ; and when, two hours afterwards, Mr. Hazlehurst returned home in a great state of universal vinous philanthropy, Harry and his companion could scarcely believe they had been walking together for more than half an hour. The week passed away like a dream. Harry walked, and drove, and sang, and read poetry with the young ladies,' and found himself especially happy and comfortable. Moreover, he contiived to institute a system of romantic rambles with Alice, during which they talked about all those peciiliar subjects Avhich can only be discussed comfort- ably in a ' tete-a-tete ' — thoughts and feelings too delicate to be sub- mitted to the rough handling of a crowd. And Alice, after three days' experience, told Kate Marsden, in strict confidence, that she had formed the highest opinion of Mr. Coverdale's principles ; that he was so good and sensible, and in every way su^Derior to the young men one generally meets, that it was quite a pri^alege to possess his friendship— didn't Kate think so ? To which Kate replied in the afl&i'mative, adding that girls were usually so frivolous and empty- headed that they were not worth cultivating. " Where was the good of making friends of people, unless one coidd look up to them ? " Alice responded, " "Where, indeed ! " and considered that Kate took a very proper and sensible view of the matter. One small incident occurred, however, which somewhat rufiled the smooth surface of Alice's tranquillity. Two or three days after the picnic, there arrived from Mr. Crane a note, together Avith a slim and genteel quadnaped, possessing a greyhound-like outline, shadowy legs, and a long tail, and purporting to be a thoroughly-broken lady's horse, with which the cotton-spinner begged— "Miss Alice would allow him to replace the pony injui-ed by the furious riding of her brother and Mr. Coverdale,"— an association in iniquity which AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 51 ■delighted Tom as mucli as it provoked HaiTy, and, secretly, Alice also. This horae Mr. Hazlehiirst insisted upon it Alice should not refuse ; and he became so angry when a faint remonstrance was attempted, that the poor girl quitted his study in tears — a melancholy fact, which Emily, in a truly feminine and injudicious hurst of virtuous indignation, revealed to Coverdale. thereby laying in him the foundation of a deeply-rooted aversion to the animal, which led to results that would have been better avoided. The morning following the arrival of this undesirable addition to the family, Mr. Hazlehurst announced his intention of riding over to call upon and inquire after Mr. Crane, and his wish (which meant command) that Alice should accompany him on her new horse. " Mr. Coverdale, will you ride with us ? " continued the head of the family graciously ; " I do not think you have seen Cra.ne Court yet. The scenery in and around the park is very rich, and the view from the teiTace most extensive." Harry, in his secret soul disliking Mr. Crane and all that apper- tained to him, and fancying, moreover, that the presence of Mr. Hazlehurst would effectually neutralize the pleasure of Alice's society, as their conversation would be thereby restricted to unmean- ing commonplaces, was about to invent some polite reason for de- clining, when, happening to glance at the young lady in question, he read, or imagined he read, something in the expression of her counte- nance which induced him to alter his determination. Accordingly, Tom was made happy by obtaining permission to go to the village inn, where Coverdale's horses were put up, order the groom to saddle Sir Lancelot, and ride that exemplary qiiadruped back, as a reward for his trovible. " How do you like Mr. Crane's present to my daughter? In my opinion it is one of the most perfect lady's horses I have ever seen," complacently remarked Mr. Hazlehiu'st to Coverdale, as they stood at the hall door, criticizing the horses which a groom was leading up and down. " I dare say the old gentleman " — (Mr. Hazlehurst's brow darkened) — " paid a high figure for the animal," was the reply ; " it has its good points, and is very well fitted for a park hack ; but it's a weedy, straggling sort of beast — showy action, but badly put together; — and there's something queer about its eyes — it has an uncomfortable way of leering round at you, and showing the whites, that I don't like. You can see it's been fed under the mark, and I shouldn't wonder if, now it's on full allowance, it were to turn out skittish." " I can't say I at all agree with you, Mr. Coverdale," was the hasty reply. " I flatter myself I know something of horses, and I consider this as perfect a lady's hack as I ever beheld, and a most valuable animal into the bargain. As to temper, it's as quiet as a lamb — a child might ride it. I must beg you will not say anything which might tend to alarm my daughter or prejudice her against it." Harry tm-ned away to hide a smile, as he replied, " Never fear, sir ; 52 HARRY COVERD ALE'S COURTSHIP Miss Hazleliurst shall form her own opinion of its merits, without my attempting to bias her judgment." When Mr. Hazlehurst assisted his daughter to mount. Harry, who really doubted the temper of the animal, watched it closely, and his previous opinion Avas confirmed by observing that it laid back its ears, glanced viciously round, and at the moment when Alice sprang up, made a faint demonstration with its mouth, as though it coveted a sample of Mr. Hazleliurst from the region of that gentleman's coat-tails, and was only restrained from attempting to obtain one by a recollection of former punishment. The preliminai-y an-angements being safely accomplished, the trio started, followed by a mounted groom, Coverdale keeping close to Alice's bridle-rein. They had proceeded some distance without anything occiUTing to justify his suspicions; and, in spite of all drawbacks, Alice was really beginning to enjoy her ride, when her father proposed a canter ; and on quickening her pace, the odd manner in which her horse tossed and shook his head in some degree alarmed her. " Loosen the cux-b-rein a little." suggested Harry, " and try to hold him entirely by the snaffle. I wll keep close to you, so do not be afraid, lest he should bolt." Alice complied, and the horse appearing to approve of the alteration, ceased to shake its head ; but as it became warm to its work, it pulled so hard against the snaffle, that Alice's delicate hands were imable to prevent the canter from increasing into something very like a gallop. Sir Lancelot kept pace with him, stride for stride; but Mr. Hazlehurst's short-legged cob — the " dray-horse-in-miniature — wan-anted-equal-to-sixteen-stone '* style of animal, which elderly gentlemen ride for the benefit of their digestions, not being calculated for such fast work, was very soon distanced. " What has become of papa ? " exclaimed Alice, glancing I'ound ; " we ought to wait for him, but I can't make this creature go slower — it pulls dreadfully. May I use the ciu'b ? " " I had rather you did not," was the reply ; " the biiite seemed so uneasy when you tried it before — perhaps its mouth is tender ; I will examine it when you dismount. Canter on to the next hill, and then we will stop for Mr. Hazlehurst."' And they did so accordingly, though Alice was unable to pull in her horse until Harry leaned over and gave her the assistance of his strong arm. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT CHAPTER X. EQUO NE CREDITE TEUCRI. — Virgil. " Why didn't you hold in yoin- horse, Alice, and ride at a proper lady-like pace, instead of tearing along in that extraordinary manner ? " inquired Mr. Hazlehurst, coming up very red in the face, hot, and discomposed, both himself and the coh being entirely out of that useful article, breath. " I could not contrive to make him go slower, i^apa," replied poor Alice timidly; " even now you see he is very fidgetty and keeps con- tinually pulling." This was perfectly true ; for the horse, excited by its gallop, began to demonstrate its real character, and i-efusing to walk, sidled along, tossing its head impatiently, pricking up its ears at every soimd, and looking as if it were prepared to shy upon the very slightest provocation. *' Pulling ! — yes, of course it does," rejoined Mr. Hazlehurst angrily ; " you can't expect to hold a fine, liigh-coui'aged animal like that wdth the snaffle only— tighten the cm-b-rein directly. Take care what you are doing ! — steady ! horse, steady ! — touch him with the whip on the shoulder. Bless me ! she'll be thi'own ! " While Mr. Hazlehurst was speaking they had, in turning a corner, come suddenly upon a wheelbarrow, in which were deposited two jackets and a hat, belonging to some men who were mending tbe road. The moment Alice's horse caught sight of this object it stopped short, and as, in obedience to her father's directions, the frightened girl jerked the curb-rein, and struck the animal with her whip, it reared, and at the same time plunged round so suddenly as to unseat its rider. Fortimately, Coverdale had kept as near to her as possible, and by a quick motion of the bridle-hand and touch with the spur, he caused his horse to turn at the same moment as did that on which Alice was mounted ; he was thus enabled to pass his arm round her waist and prevent her from falling. " Is your foot clear of the stiiTiip ? "' he inquired hastily. Percedv- ing that it Avas so, he continued, " Let go the rein, then, and trust yourself entirely to me."' As he spoke, the groom came up, and catching the bridle of the plunging horse, led it away ; while Mr. Hazlehurst, descending from his saddle with a gi-eater degree of celerity than might have been expected from a man of his age and stoutness, received his daughter in his arms, and lifted her to the grormd ;— for which feat of agility, Harry, who was by no means im- patient to be relieved of his lovely bui-then, mentally anathematized him. Then ensued a great confusion of tongues ; Mr. Hazlehurst 54 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP being himself chiefly to blame, evinced his penitence by accusing^ everybody else, especially the groom— an old favourite retainer, who held and expressed a strong imgi-ammatical and illogical opinion, diametrically opposed to his master's, on all subjects, divine, moral, and physical. At length, in utter despair of attaining any practical result, Harry, nnittering to himself his surprise that people would not adopt his system, and strike out for themselves a quiet way of doing things, coolly took the matter into his own hands, by shifting Alice's saddle to the back of the cob ; when he had completed this arrangement and assisted the young lady to mount, he politely held Sir Lancelot's stirrup for the accommodation of Mr. Hazlehurst, observing, — "He will carry you just as quietly and easily as your own horse, sir ; he is a hand or two higher, certainly ; but if you should take a sudden fancy to leap the next stiff fence you come to, he'll can-y you over it like a bird ; so you must set the good against the evil." " You're very kind, sir. Ugh ! what a height the brute is ! " — (these words accompanied the effoi't of literally climbing to the saddle) — " But — but — I've dropped my pocket-handkerchief — thank you. What are you going to ride yourself ? " " I am going, if you have no objection, to find out why Mr. Crane's purchase dislikes to pass that wheelbaiTow, and to convince him that there exists a strong necessity for his so doing," returned HaiTy, with his head under the flap of a saddle — he beuig engaged in securing with his own hands the girt around Alice's discarded steed, despite sundry futile attempts at kicking and biting instituted by that un- amiable quadruped. " Oh, Mr. Coverdale — please — pray do not attempt it ! " exclaimed Alice eagerly ; " I'm sure the creatui-e is vicious ! you will be thrown and huiii, to a certainty ! " Haiiy, thus apostrophized, emerged from beneath the saddle-flap, and tossing back his dishevelled hair, and replacing his hat, which for the greater convenience of strenuous buckling he had taken off, crossed over to Alice's side. " You are holding the reins twisted, Miss Hazlehurst," he said ; " let me aiTange them for you." As he restored the reins properly placed to her grasp, somehow their fingers became interlaced, and Han-y appeared unable to disentangle his for some seconds ; during which space of time, Alice, blushing and turning away her head, mm'mured imploringly, — " You wiU not ride that creatm-e ! " " Your father will never be convinced that the brute is unsafe for you \inless he sees it in its true colours ; besides, I dare say I shall have no trouble in getting it past the barrow — there is a quiet way of doing these things," was the confident reply. Alice still sought to remonstrate, but in vain ; for pressing her delicate fingers as though he were loath to relinquish them, Coverdale turned away with a gay smile, and placing his toe in the stirrup, vaulted lightly to his saddle. X I I AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 55 Having waited till Mr. Hazleluirst and his daughter had ridden ou a short distance, Harry put his horse in motion and prepared to follow them ; but the moment it caught sight of the alarming wheel- barrow, it again stopped short and attenuated to repeat its former manceuvi-e. Willing to try mild measures first, Coverdale, although he prevented the animal from dashing round as it had done when it unseated Alice, allowed it to turn, and riding it back a few paces, gave it time to compose its excited feelings, ere he again brought it up to the object of its fear. As it approached the spot he kept" it tightly in hand, and, when it began to waver, stimulated its flagging resolution by the most delicate hint imaginable from his " armed heel." The instant it felt the spur, it swerved aside, dashed round, and as soon as its head was tui-ned in a homeward direction, evinced an unmistakable desire to bolt. HaiTy's brow grew dark. " Lend me your whip," he said, appx'oaching the servant, who sat gi-inning with the satisfaction usually displayed by professional horsemen ou witnessing the discomfiture of an amateur rider — more especially if the amateur happen to be a gentleman. " You be too good-natured with him, Mr. Coverdale ; you should give it him hot and strong, sir. But law ! that hanimal ain't fit for ladies and gentlemen ; he wants a reglar sharp rough-x-ider on hi* back, that'll take the nonsense out of him, he do." " Your whip is too light ; get down and cut me a good, tough ash stick out of the hedge there. I will hold your horse," was the only reply Harry vouchsafed. The man glanced at his face in surprise, and seeing that he was in earnest, hastened to execute his wishes, returning in two or three minutes with a couple of plants of ground-ash about the thickness of a finger. Having carefully examined these, Han-y selected the one he considered the most serviceable. The groom watched him narrowly. " So you really means business, eh, sir ? " he said. " I do," was the concise reply, as, with compressed lips and flashing eyes, Harry turned and rode oif . Probably, from some instinctive consciousness that he was not to be allowed his own way without more serious opposition than he had yet encountered, the horse, as he drew near the dreaded spot, dis- played stronger signs of fear and ill-temper than before, staring from side to side, with his ears in constant motion, arching his neck, and tossing the foam-flakes from his mouth, as he impatiently champed the bit. The moment he caught sight of the wheelbarrow, he swerved aside with a boimd which would have imseated any but a first-rate horseman, and attempted his usual manoeuvre of turning round. In this he was foiled by an unpleasantly sharp stroke on the side of the nose from the ash sapling, which, obliging him to turn in an opposite direction, brought him again in sight of the wheelbarrow, while a stronger application of the spm-s caused him to bound forward ; thereupon he reared, but a crack over the ears brought him down 56 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP again; then be set to kicking, for wliich he was rewarded by finding his mouth violently sawed by the snaffle-bit, while a perfect tornado of blows from the ash stick was hailed upon his flanks and shoulders. Finding this the reverse of agreeable, he, as a last resoiu'ce, reared ■till he stood perfectly erect, pawing the air wildly with his forefeet. 'Bxit he had overshot the mark. At the conclusion of the previous stmggle, the ash stick had broken off short in Coverdale's hand ; consequently, he was prevented from a{)plying the counter-irritation principle as before, and was only able, by great quickness, to extricate his feet from the stirnips, ere the horse overbalanced itself, and fell heavily backwards. Fortunately for his own safety, HaiTy was unusually prompt and active in all situations of danger; and, in the present emergency, these qualities stood him in good stead. Althoiigh, of course, unable entirely to free himself from the falling animal, he contrived to slip aside, so that it should not fall upon him ; and almost as soon as the frightened creature had regained its legs, he also had sprung up, apparently unhurt, and leaped upon its back. But the fight was won. Completely cowed by its fall, and wearied out by the pertinacity of its rider, the conquered animal permitted Coverdale to ride it backwards and forwards past the dreaded wheelbarrow, approaching nearer at each turn, until at length he made it pause, with its nose within half a yard of the alarming jackets, and discover for itself that they were made of fustian, of the most innocent quality, and flavoured with the usual cottage smell of bacon and wood smoke. Elated with his success, he rejoined Alice and her father, saying, as he did so, " Well, Miss Hazlehurst, I told you there was a quiet way of taming the dragon, and you see I was right." Alice, who was very pale and trembling, murmured something about her " rejoicing that he was not hurt." But Mr. Hazlehurst, who appeared unusually cross and grumpy, replied, " If that's what you call a quiet way of enforcing obedience, Mr. Coverdale, all I can say is, I pity any poor creature that happens to be under your •control ! " CHAPTER XI. POST EQUITEM SEDET ATRA CURA. — Horace. Mr. Hazlehurst, in his position of father of a family, had been so long accustomed to consider his will law, that the possibility of his being in the wrong was one which he never contemplated ; the fact, therefore, of any one having proved him to be so constituted in his AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 57 «eyes a Higli and unpardonable misdemeanour. Of this capital crime had Harry Coverdale, on the occasion just described, been guilty ; and Mr. Hazlehnrst, albeit outwardly he resumed his usual manner towards his guest, could not in his secret soul either forget or forgive his offence — more especially as the circumstance of Mi*. ■Crane's present being demonstrated to be unsafe for a lady to ride (and that it was so, even Mr. Hazlehurst's powers of self-deception <;ould not conceal from him) was at that particular juncture of affairs singularly embarrassing. Of this change of sentiment, straightforward, unsuspicious Harry never dreamed ; accordingly, he continued to behave towards the old gentleman as freely as he had hitherto done, maintaining his own opinions, even when they ^ntii-ely differed from those of his host, courteously, indeed, but with the sturdy independence natural to his character — a sturdiness which, until it was exerted in opposition to his sovereign will and pleasure, Mr. Hazlehurst had particularly admired. So for the rest of the week affairs (with this single exception) went on most agree- ably and satisfactorily to all parties. Harry, having once broken the ice, contrived speedily to win the good opinions (to use no stronger term) of all the female portion of the community. From the kind attention he paid Mrs. Hazlehurst. he soon acquired so much influence over that amiable lady that, to ijlease him, she consented to varioiis schemes devised for her benefit ■and amusement, which her daughters had previously urged upon her in vain ;— for instance, when Harry, instructed by Alice in regard to times and seasons and the like minor particulars, came at the very moment when she was going to decide that she did not feel equal to going out at all that day, to tell her that the pony-phaeton was waiting at the door, and that he should really think her unkind and imagine he must have done something to offend her, if she refused to allow him the pleasure of can-ying her to the chaise, and driving her just far enough to do her good, and not to tire her, — what could she do but consent ? " Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute." This point gained, it was easy to persuade the invalid to take a short excursion daily ; and as her complaint was in some degree on the nerves, the beneficial effects of the fresh air and exercise soon became apparent. Moreover, as Alice knew how to drive a little, and wished to improve in that useful accoTuplishment, Harry could do no less, when he had brought Mrs. Hazlehurst safely home from her daily drive, than take out the yoimg lady, and give her a lesson, and as these lessons usually lasted some two hours at a stretch, the fat ponies began to get into excellent working condition, and considering themselves put upon, wondered why the Society for the Prevention -of Ciiielty to Animals neglected to interfere in their behalf. Emily,, too, had quite altered her opinion of their guest, and entirely sympathized with Tom's declaration that he was " a stunning good fellow, and no mistake ! " Kate Marsden said little, but obsei-ved the progi-ess of events with calm approval ; for she perceived that 58 HARRY COVER DALE'S COURTSHIP to be going on which would gi-eatly facilitate the execution of certain schemes which she had deWsed. At length arrived the impoi'taut day of the dinner-party. Wei'e we called upon to define the meaning of the term dinner-party, we shonld denominate it an awful immolation of mind to matter, a wanton sacrifice of the head to the stomach. Why. on a hot summer's day, eighteen individuals, supposed to be in their proper senses, who might dine at home if they chose, should agree of their own free-will to victimize themselves and each other by congregating together in one room, for the space of two mortal hours, to eat — and, in the case of the lords of the creation, probably to drink also — a gi-eat deal more than is good for them, is one of those social problems of which we expect to arrive at the solution about the time when mankind is thoroughly regenerated by Miss Martineau's atheological views (to coin a word), but not before. If there were no other argument against this insane system of monster dinner-parties, the frightful state of discomfort into which the family of the giver of the feast is thrown by the coming event would alone be sufficient to prove our case. Uidess the establish- ment be on a scale proportionable to that of the individual wlio, on finding the number of his guests exceeded the means of conveyance provided for them, coolly ordered round " more phaetons ! " anarchy and confusion reign predominant throughout the devoted mansion for at least foxu--and-twenty hours before the affair comes off. In the first place, the sen'ants, male and female, all go mad ; if you give an order, the reciijient stares you vacantly in the face, and does something else immediately ; if you lay down a book, or any similar ai-ticle, in its proper i^lace, somebody instantly removes it and hides it in an imjiroper one, where you are fortimate if you stumble upon it by accident in the course of the following six months. The lunacy of the servants reacts upon their betters — everybody is a little out of temper, everybody is over-officious, and has a way of his or her own for doing everything diametrically opposed to the various diverging ways of everybody else. From the earliest dawn the very garrets are redolent of " making soup," which odour remains in possession of the house till about the time at which hmcheon should be, but of course is not, forthcoming, when it is superseded, and retires vice the venison put down to roast, which we would rather decree should be " put down " as a nuisance — at least, as far as regards our olfactory nerves. But it were an endless task to attempt to sum up all the miseries incidental to the preparations for celebrating one of those " feasts of un-reason," nor do we expect very many of the gentle public to sympathize in our views ; for in every society which we have as yet frequented, " L' Amphitryon ou Ton dine," though he be heavy as his own dinners, is certain to be a popular' man. However this may be, one thing is certain, that Harry Coverdale. on the morning preceding the dinner-party at the Grange, experienc- AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 59 ing in his proper person many of the inconveniences alluded to, and having made several attempts to improve his position by- seeking to induce somebody to do something sensible or agreeable, all of -which proved abortive, by reason of the impossibility of extracting even Alice from the vortex of preparation — Haii'y Cover- dale, thus victimized, " faute de mieux." mounted his good steed and set off to ride away from the blue devils ; but the remedy did not succeed— the devils folio-wed him, and grew bluer and bluer with every mile he passed over, and, at last, the bluest of them all assumed the likeness of Mr. Crane ! " Confound Mr. Crane ! " — thus ran Harry's thoughts — " confound the old fellow ! he's coming to marry Alice — my nice, warm-hearted little friend, Alice ! I don't by any means approve of it ! He's old enough to be her father, or anybody else's, for that matter : the thing is ridiculous — quite absurd ! — Besides, the dear little girl dislikes him — naturally she does : there's nothing to like in him. Why, she cares aaore aljout me than she does abovit him ! " He paused in thought, removed his hat, pushed back his thick, clustering hair, put his hat on again, and continued : " I declare if I'd not entirely made up my mind against maiTying, I'd enter for the stakes myself, and see if one could not jockey the old fellow and governor Hazlehurst too. Alice is a prize well woi'th winning, but it's too late to change one's mind ! I ought to have behaved differently to her at first, if I'd wanted her to fall in love with me — though I think I've got over ail that pretty thoroughly, too. Ah ! well, I've chosen my line, and must stick to it ; and as the shooting season isn't so very far off now, thank goodness, I shall contrive to make it out somehow, I dare say. And, by Jove, there's a whole pack of birds sunning themselves in that great field — five ,or six coveys all got together — and stunning good coveys they must be, too ! There's a gap in the hedge ; I'll leap over and see if I can get near enough to count them. Kow, Lancelot — steady, sir ! — you must do it — over we go ! Famously cleared ! I wouldn't take five hundi'ed guineas for you, you beauty ! that I wouldn't. We'll show some of 'em the way across country when the hunting begins ; won't we astonish their weak minds for them, rather ! " and so, patting and caressing his horse, HaiTy made a wide circuit, and availing himself of the shelter of a belt of trees, contrived to get near enough to the par- tridges to count them ; by Avhich i^rocess he arrived at the interesting discovery that there were exactly thirty brace, with one bird over; which ornithological irregularity rather distressed and provoked him, though why it should have done so, neither he, nor, as we imagine, anyone else, could possibly conceive. But the partridges being counted, back came the blue devils in greater force than ever, and his thoughts grew so troublesome, not to say unbearable, that Han-y began to imagine he must be be- witched — a supposition in which, perhaps, he was not so very far wrong after all. As a last refuge against his persecutors, he 60 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP resolved on a good gallop ; and so made his way across country, a distance of some eight miles, as straight as the crow flies, leaping gates and crashing through hedges in a very reckless and steeple- chasing kind of manner, which obtained for him a more than suflicient amotmt of hard British swearing from sundry irate members of the Agricultural Association, who, for once in their lives, had a real gi-ievance to complain of. As he cleared the last fence leading into the park in which the Grange was situated, the village clock struck six, and he could 'perceive a carriage, with the Crane liveries (green turned up with yellow), winding slowly through the trees. Three minutes more found him in the stable- yard, and flinging the bridle of his reeking steed to his groom, while he uttered the hasty caution, " You see the state he's in ; take proper care of him," he made his way to his bedroom by a back staircase, ovei-tuming a water-can, and running into the arms of a pretty hoiisemaid (to whom he aisologized by mentioning that he was sori-y he was in too great a hun-y to give her a kiss), in the course of his rapid career. And so, very hot, very dusty, considerably tired, and with a most unromantic appetite, he set vigorously to work to (as servants inelegantly, but graphically term it) clean himself. When, some twenty minutes afterwards, Coverdale reached the drawing-room, he found all the guests assembled. Many of them, to whom he was personally known, immediately claimed acquaintance, recognizing him in spite of the improvements which his residence abroad had wrought in his manners and appearance. Some two or three of the younger men were old college chums, who were really overjoyed to see him again, and who immediately gathered round him and besieged him with questions. Glancing round the circle, he perceived D Almayne bending tenderly over Alice ; but the sight no longer annoyed him — he had got over that. Alice saw the exquisite in his true colours ; Alice had laughed at him — poor D' Al- mayne ! But on her other hand sat the cotton-spinner, and he was more formidable ; for he did not (fortunately for himself) depend on his personal attractions alone — there were twenty thousand solid good reasons per annum why he should not be refused; reasons which rendered his alliance with Mr. Hazlehurst's family so desir- able, that all that gentleman's paternal authority was certain to be stretched to its uttermost limit to enable Mr. Crane to carry his point. Moreover, as Harry entered the drawing-room, Tom had given him the following note : — " Dear Hal, — I have written to tell the governor that I shall be detained in coui-t so late that it will be impossible for me to get away to-night (the truth, you heretic!). I shall start [by the first train to-morrow, and be with you to breakfast. Keep a sharp look- out upon the cotton-spinner ; and if at any moment he appears as if he were prepai'ing to pop, throw a book at his head without hesita- tion ! So will you continue to deserve the good opinion of "Arthur H." AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 61 At dinner, Coverdale was seated next a fast young lady, who rather made love to him than otherwise ; but she did not take much by her motion, for Harry had a good deal of business on his hands. First, there was his appetite to satisfy, and the monster was very insatiate after his gallop across coimtry ; next, he felt it incumbent upon him to keep a strict watch over Mr. Crane and Alice, who were seated nearly opposite to him ; and he seriously debated in his own mind whether a finger-glass might not be considered a legitimate substitute for a book, on one or two occasions, when the cotton- spinner appeared to be attempting the excessively tender. Good eating requires good drinking ; thirst demands pale ale, etiquette obliges champagne, and the mixed duties of society necessitate port and sheri-y ; hock is very refreshing in hot weather ; it is no use to hand round curagoa, if jjeople won't drink it ; Hermitage and Lunel are so nice that everybody takes them ; claret is a necessity in all properly ordered establishments ; and if your host produces a bottle of good old burgundy, he must be a fool who refuses to taste it. But for a man to do all this, and at the same time to think, feel, and express himself as coolly and prudently as he would after a mutton-chop and a glass of table-beer, would require him to possess a brain made of cast-ii-on and no heart at all ; and such was by no means the physical conformation of our hero. Harry, however, possessed a good strong head of his own ; and although, as dessert proceeded, his eyes grew brighter, and he invohmtarily emulated D'Almayne by smiling frequently and unconsciously, displaying an even row of white teeth, these peculiarities only sei'ved to make him look especially handsome. But the wine did something else ; for, as the ladies rose to leave the room, it inspired him with a determina- tion to jockey DAlmayne, who usually usurped the privilege of opening the door on such occasions— a " cutting out " expedition which Harry conducted with equal skill and success. As Alice, who came last, passed him, some spirit (whether of wine, or another equally favourite theme for minstrel's lay, we cannot tell) urged him to bend his head and whisper the inquii-y, " Have you been happy with your delightful companion ? " A contemptuous smile, and a slight negative motion of the lips answered the question; and, for a moment, their eyes met. Alice's must have been a singularly expressive glance, for Harry read therein that she was anxious and dispirited, but felt a vague and general reliance on his willingness and ability to afford her comfort and protection. Had Mr. Crane known the exact feelings with which Coverdale gi-asped a finger-glass and mentally calculated the amount of force it would require to launch the missile against the chinchilla-crowned head of his opposite neighbour, that woi-thy man would scarcely have ventured to continue his mild and meaningless prosing so con- tentedly. 62 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP CHAPTER XII. HAREY PUTS HIS FOOT IN IT. The moment Harry reseated himself at the dining-table, two of his old college friends placed themselves beside him, and plunging at once into recollections of '" auld lang syne," completely monopolized him. The sound of his own name eagerly pronounced roused him at length from an interesting reminiscence of how gloriously drunk Jones of Magdalen had been at Tipple ton's wine-party (when he woiild sing a pathetic ballad, beginning, " There's a wail on the mountain ! " and was stopped by a roar of laughter, chorusing the inquiry, "how the deuce it— the whale— got there?"). The speaker was Mr. Hazlehurst. " Excuse my interrupting your conversation for a few minutes, Mr. Coverdale," !he began, *' but we want your opinion. You've travelled and seen the working of different tariff regulations, and had opportunities of comparing the prosperity of other nations with that of our own, while at the same time you are a sufficiently large landed xDroprietor to give jow a stake in the country and to induce you to feel a strong interest in the general prospects of the agricultural population. I am sure you must agree with me in considering iDrotection a most essential and salutary measure." " If I might be allowed to make just one observation before Mr. Coverdale favours us with his views on this imi^ortant question," in- sinuated Mr. Crane, in the mildest and most affectionate tone of voice imaginable — wine always reducing this excellent man to a state of weak and inappropriate iphilanthropy — " if I might observe that, with the highest respect for, and admiration of, the agricultural popxilation of this great country, I feel it incompatible with my feelings as a Protestant, and therefore, so to speak, in a general way as a brother, not to say as a man also, and more particularly as a mill- owner, to forget the thousands of operatives who crowd our large cities, and who, when satisfied with cheap bread, add to the dignity and prosperity of the nation ; but, on the contrary, when deprived of this means of support, object to resign themselves to the dispensa- tions of a beneficent Providence, and fly in the face of society as chai-tists, levellers, red republicans, and all that is dangerous and subversive of morality and security of property. If I may so far presume as to call Mr. Coverdale's attention to the desirableness of providing food at a rate which will enable the manufacturing classes to exist without constantly working themselves up into a state of illegal desperation, I shall feel that I have, if I may be allowed the expression, unburthened my conscience." Thus saying, Mr. Crane AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 6:3 cast a timid and appealing look from Harry to his host, and sipped a glass of bm-gnndy with the air of a man apologizing for some misdeed. " It is not a subject upon which I have ever exi^ended any vast amount of consideration," began Coverdale. wishing in his secret soul that he might have the feeding of Mr. Crane for the ensuing six months entrusted to him, in which case he would have afforded that gentleman an opportunity of practically testing the merits of very cheap bread indeed, and of nothing else — except, perhaps, cold spring water ; " but the common sense of the matter appears to lie in a niitshell : the two great divisions ( f the poorer classes are the manufactiu'ing poor and the agricultural poor, the manufacturers being the most numerous— to sacrifice one to the other is unfair, but to offer up the greater to the less is ridiculous. Free trade has had a fair trial, and has been proved to benefit the masses, though it lies heavily on the land-owners. Well, then, relieve land of its biu-thens, and make the income-tax permanent to reimburse the Exchequer. That's the line I should take if I were Premier, which, thank heaven, I'm not." As HaiTy concluded, two or three men began to speak at once, but Mr. Hazlehurst, by a solemn wave of the hand, immediately silenced them. That excellent magistrate had drunk more wine than was by any means good for him ; his constitution was gouty, and he had not had a fit for some time ; before such attacks he was usually as iiTitable as though his bi-ain were a hedgehog and society at large a pack of wire-haired terriers attempting to unroll it. Claret was the most imwholesome wine he could take, and on the evening in question he had imbibed nearly a bottle thereof ; but of all this " dessous des cartes." Harry was innocently unconscious. " I beg your pardon, gentlemen." began Mr. Hazlehurst solemnly, " but the right of reply at present rests with myself. Moreover, if my ears did not deceive me, Mr. Coverdale has made an observation which I must call upon him either to explain or retract ; but in the first place, let me express my surpi-ise and regi-et, sir," here he addressed himself pointedly to Harry, " that a young man in your position, a large landed proprietor, a lover of field sports, possessing a practical knowledge of land, and a personal acquaintance with the habits and customs of the agricultural poor — the bone and sinews of om- coxmtry, should thus turn against and betray the interests of the class to which he belongs, and league himself with those who would, in their short-sightedness, sap the \atals of that free and independent character which has made us the great nation that we are. With regard to the observation to which I alluded, I believe, that having stigmatized the opinions I hold as a sacrifice of the greater to the less, you deliberately pronounced those opinions ridiculous. Have I not repeated your words correctly ? " " I certainly said that to sacrifice the greater number to the less wo\ild be ridiculous," returned Han-y, completely taken 64 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP aback at this sudden and unexpected accusation ; " but I only meant — " ■' You meant what you said, I presume ? " interposed Mr. Hazle- liurst, in the magisterial tone of voice in which, he was accustomed to cross-examine and be down upon equivocating poachers. " Of coiu'se I did," returned Harry, his eyes flashing as he obsei-ved a sarcastic smile upon the face of Hoi'ace D'Almayne. " I always mean what I say ; but my remai-k related solely to general principles, and had not the smallest reference to you personally, sir." " Which is equivalent to saying that I do not understand the common meaning of words," returned Mr. Hazlehurst, in the same in-itating tone of voice. " Really, Mr. Coverdale, your explanations do not tend to do away with the rmfavourable impression your observation forced upon me." " It is equivalent to nothing of the kind, sir," rejoined Harry, losing his self-command as a second glance at D'Almayne I'evealed the fact that he was hiding a laugh behind an elaborately-worked cambric handkerchief ; " but if you choose to put a wrong construc- tion upon every word I utter, it is useless for me to discuss the matter further with a man so — a — so " At this critical moment Tom Hazlehurst, who had been listening with a countenance of blank dismay to the altercation between his father and his friend, contrived, either by accident or design, to throw down and break a valuable china plate. This incident created a diversion by calling forth an outburst of parental wrath, under cover whereof Harry regained suiiicient self-control to enable him to suppress the word " wrong-headed," with which he had been on the point of concluding his sentence. At the same time, Mr. Crane, having a mortal antipathy to anything like qiiaiTclling, which, as he said, produced " an insalubrious agitation of his nervous system," or, in plain English, frightened him out of his wits, suggested that they should join the ladies — a proposal which led to a general move. Five minutes' reflection, in an atmosphere less oppressive than that of the heated dining-room, caused Han-y to perceive that, by having allowed himself to be provoked by the obstinacy of a pig- headed and slightly tipsy old gentleman into even a momentary forgetfulness of the respect due to Mr. Hazlehurst's years and posi- tion, he had acted wrongly and foolishly. It moreover occun-ed to him, now that it was too late to be of the slightest use, that owing to this unfortunate disagreement he must have completely neutral- ized any influence he might have possessed with his host, and thus, in fact, frustrated the whole purpose of his visit, by which means Arthur would be vexed, and the possibility of Alice's marriage with Mr. Crane rather increased than otherwise. Just as he was about to exchange the cool air of the garden (whither, on leaving the dining-room, he had betaken himself) for the less agreeable tempera- ture of a crowded drawing-room, he was patted on the shoulder by one of his college acquaintance. % AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 65 "All. Knigliton ! what is it, man? " observed Harry, wishing his dear friend at Jericho. " I took you for the stem of a tree, you stood so motionless." " Why, the fact is, my dear fellow," returned Knighton, a well- disposed goose, who, when Harry first commenced his college career, had formed an enthusiastic attachment for him, in return for which he expected his friend to advise him how to act and what to say upon eveiT occasion, trifling as well as important — a tax which even Harry's good-natui-e found somewhat oppressive, " the fact is, I consider it quite providential, if I may say so, finding you here to- night : you know I always like to have your opinion before I make up my mind ; there is nobody with such good sense as you, at least, nobody that I've ever met with. My dear Coverdale, I'm going to take the most important step — that is, if you see no reason against it, which I can scarcely feel a doubt of ; but I'll tell you the whole affair, beginning properly at the beginning. When I was down in Hampshire three years ago " but we will not inflict Mr. Knigh- ton's amiable prolixity on the reader, suffice it to say that, having linked his aiTU within that of Coverdale, he paraded his victim up and down a gravel walk for the space of at least three quarters of an hour, while he pom-ed into his ears as dull a tale of true love as ever ran smooth : true love of the very mildest quality, which, from the beginning, was certain to end simply and naturally in a stupid marriage, about the whole of which affair there could not by possibility be two opinions. At length, when HaiTy had agreed with everything and to everything at least twice over, and strongly advised his tormentor to act as he felt certain he would have done if his advice had been just the other way (for this young man, although he eagerly sought counsel, by no means considered himself bound to walk thereby), it suddenly occui-red to Mr. Knighton that he was doing an unkind thing by his friend, and a rude one by his host, in not sooner joining the ladies ; accordingly, at (literally) the eleventh hour, he exercised thus much self-denial, viz. having nothing more to say, he said it. When Coverdale entered the drawing-room, he cast round his eyes to discover what might have become of Alice and Mr. Crane, and failing to perceive them, was about to find some excuse for making his way into the boudoir beyond, when Emily pounced upon him to entreat him to sing for the edification of some dear Mai-y Jane or other, who was dying to hear him ; and the very identical Mary Jane herself seconding the request in a mild, insinuating, blatant tone of voice, as of some bashful but persuasive sheep, there remained nothing for him but to consent, which he did with a very ill grace indeed. Having dashed through a tender and sentimental Italian love ditty in a ferocious, not to say sanguinary, style, he declared he was so hoarse that he could not sing another note, and again made an attempt to enter the boudoir, which he succeeded in reaching just in time to see Alice quit the room with a heightened coloiu' and in a F 66 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP manner which "betokened liurry and agitation, wliile Mr. Crane remained gazing after her with a coimtenance indicative of the deepest and most helpless bewilderment. From these symptoms Han-y rightly conjectured that while he had been off duty the cotton- spinner had popped; hut whether his offer had been accepted or rejected he was iitterly imable to divine. Mr. Crane looked stupid and puzzle-pated — but that he was sure to do in any case. For the rest of the evening Coverdale was in a fearful state of mind ; people stayed late, and it seemed to him as if evei-ybody had entered into a league to worry and torment him. First, the young lady who had sat next him at dinner got at him again, and flii-ted at him so violently, that (his thoughts running entirely on man-ying and giving in marriage) he became possessed of a nervous dread lest she should be going to make him an offer — this idea gaining confirma- tion from its suddenly occurring to him that it was leap year, he grew desperate, and pretending that Emily had made him promise to sing again, astonished that damsel by crossing over to inform her that his hoarseness had entirely departed, and that he should have the gi'eatest pleasure in favouring her friend with the song she had wished to hear; for which piece of inconsistency Emily bestowed upon him a glance so penetrating and satirical, that he longed to box her pretty pert little ears for it. When the song was over, Knighton emerged from behind a broad old lady, somebody's mother-in-law, very far gone in CuraQoa, which she concealed behind a pious zeal for clothing the female natives of Barelyaragon (an unknown island, discovered by Juan de Chuzacriiz in the sixteenth centui-y, and forgotten ever since) in the cast-off garments of the Bhiecoat- School boys. The moment Knighton got clear of this philanthropic elder he pounced upon Coverdale, and caiTying him off to a recess, then and there related to him an additional episode in his amatory career, which was not of the slightest importance either to himself or to anybody else, but which took nearly as long to communicate as the original histoi^y. Diuing this infliction, HaiTy's attention was occupied by observing the behaviour of Mr. Crane. Almost as soon as Alice quitted the boudoir, Kate Marsden had entered it, and begun a long and apparently interesting conversation with Mr. Crane, during which that gentleman, who at the commencement appeared rather low and desponding, gradually brightened up, and, under the influence of his fair companion's society, grew quite lively and animated ; in fact (if by any stretch of imagination the reader can connect two such antagonistic and incongruous ideas as Mr. Crane and flii-tation), an uninitiated spectator, beholding the pair, might legitimately have come to the conclusion that Kate Marsden and the cotton- spinner were very decidedly and unmistakably flirting. The longest evenings come to an end at last, and Coverdale having seen Knighton safely deposited in a dog-cart, with nobody to bore but a sleepy groom, was making his way to the spot where the bed- room candlesticks were usually to be discovered, when he suddenly AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 67 encoxmtered Mr. Hazleliiirst. Standing aside to let him pass, Hai-ry, in his most polite and conciliatory manner, wished him good-night Tlie only reply vouchsafed was the slightest and stiffest possible nod of the head, and with a countenance as dark and lowering as the most viciously disposed thunder-cloud, the offended autocrat passed on. CHAPTER XIII. " DEEPER AND DEEPER STILL." "When Coverdale reached his own room, his first act was to lock the door, his nest to fling open the window ; he then untied his neck- cloth, pulled off his coat and boots, and substituting for them a dressing-gown and slippers, cast a long, lingering glance at his cigar- case. Shaking his head negatively, he muttered, "I daren't risk it; old Hazlehurst has a wonderful nose for tobacco — if it were but as good for partridges and pheasants he'd make an invaluable retriever ! " — he paused, sighed deeply, partly for want of a. cigar — partly because, though he Avas not at all aware of it, one of the g'reat realities of life was for the first time dawning upon him ; then drawing a chair to the open window he seated himself, and gave way to thought. " I've made a pretty mess of it this evening, and no mistake ! " — thus ran his ideas — " gone and offended the governor, and rendered him as cantankerous as an old rhinoceros, so that the more I want him to do anything, the less likely he'll be to do it. Then, in my confounded good-nature, I've allowed that ass Knighton to detain me with his stupid prosing, so that I lost sight of the cotton-spinner, and gave him a chance of making Alice an offer — a chance of which the old fellow was inspired with wit enough to avail himself, I'm almost certain, Arthiir will be pi'eciously savage ! and enough to make him— the notion of sacrificing Alice to siTch an old anatomy as that — a yellow-skinned brute like a resuscitated miimmy, without more than two ideas in his head, and two such ideas — cash and cotton ! he thinks of nothing else, asleep or awake. I wonder what answer Alice gave him ; but there isn't much doubt of that, the poor girl daren't disobey her father — besides, women don't refuse =£20,000 a year. Well, I wish old Crane joy of his bargain. She'll soon get sick of him, and be miserable of course ; then she'll take to flirting with every young fellow she meets, to get rid of her ' ennui ' ; choose out one 68 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP to establish a platonic f riendsliip with, perhaps !— I've seen all that sort of thing in France and Italy often enough. D'Almayne very likely, he's just the sort of puppy to lead a woman on — she lavighs at him now, but it may be different when she's only old Crane to contrast him with. By the way, I'll give Arthur a hint on that score." He rose, paced up and down the room several times, then continued—" I wonder what the deuce is the matter with me ! I feel most absurdly and impleasantly miserable." He reseated himself by the window, tossed back his hair, and sat silently watching the moon, just then emerging from behind a bank of clouds. It was a time and scene to elevate and refine man's nature ; and Harry was not in- sensible to the influence. He thought of his boyhood, and his mother's tender love ; he recurred to the moonlight stroll in which he hadi confided these cherished memories to Alice, and the warm and ready sympathy with which she listened to the recital ; then minute points in their subsequent intercom-se forced themselves into his recollection — smiles, words, and glances, trifles in themselves, but when collected, suggestive of a definite idea ; and lastly, her look when she quitted the dining-room that evening flashed across him, and with a sudden start he pressed his hand to his forehead as he resumed — " Fool that I am, I see it all now — now when it is too late ! I love her, and I might have won her love— it only required to tell her of my own feelings, to change the affectionate interest she has con- ceived for me into a warmer sentiment ; and now, perhaps piqued by my apparent indifference, she has accepted this man, and sealed her own unhappiness — and mine too, for that matter ; but I deserve it ! Why did I let this chance of a bright future escape me ! To fancy that the mere physical excitements of hunting and shooting (pastimes for a thoughtless boy) could content a being endowed with reason and feeling ! — though really I doubt whether I deserve such a title. I must have been blind — stultified, not to see all this before ! " Burying his face in his hands, he remained for some time in deep and self -upbraiding thought ; rousing himself at length by an effort, he continued — " well ! it's no good sitting here tormenting myself all night long — I'll go to bed (though, of course, I shall not sleep a wink), and in the morning I'll walk over to the station, meet Arthur — tell him how I've mismanaged everything he expected me to do, and find some excuse for leaving this place to-morrow. I should go mad if I were to stay here longer ! Heigho ! I wonder what will become of me — it will be no i^leasure to look forward to the shooting season now ! I don't believe I shall ever care to hit a bird or mount a horse again. I'll go to India, and join the army as a volunteer, or start off to look for the north pole, or something. I shall hang myself if I stay at home, and do nothing but think about Alice and that detestable old Crane!" By the time his meditations had reached this point, Coverdale was unrobed, and, jumping disconso- lately into bed, had not laid his head on his piUow for five minutes ere he fell soimd asleep, and dreamed of a battue, in which he triei AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 69 to shoot Mr. Crane (who, on that occasion only, appeared ornitho- loorically and picturesquely attired in the tail and plumage of a cock- pheasant), and could by no means induce his gun to go off. The sun shining in through the open window awoke Harry, when he fancied he might have been asleep about a quarter of an hour ; on referring to his watch, however, he found it was half -past six, and as the train by which Arthur Hazlehurst was expected would arrive at twenty minutes past seven, and it was a good half -hour's walk to the station, he rose and began dressing. As his thoughts recurred to the events of the previous evening, all his cares and anxieties came back upon him with redoubled force, and he felt more thoroughly out of sorts and unhappy than he ever remembered to have done since he had come to man's estate. When the operation of shaving obliged him to look in the glass, he was surprised, and if the truth must be told, rather alarmed also, as he caught sight of the expression of his features. " "What a hang-dog, miserable brute T look like ! " he muttered to himself ; " it strikes me I drank more wine than is good for one last night — that comes of old Hazlehurst bringing out burgundy after everybody had had enough. The old boy must have been frightfully screwed himself, or he would never have got so cantankerous with me about nothing — I hate a man who grows quairelsome over his liquor ! Heigho ! I feel shockingly seedy and down in the mouth. What the deuce am I to say to Arthur ! — how on earth am I to set things right again with the old man ! I wonder whether he will be stupid enough to expect me to make an apology ? I wouldn't mind doing it to an old codger like that, but 'pon my word I should not know what to say— I've nothing to apologize about that I can see. I hope Arthur won't be angi-y, or worse still, unhappy about Alice — poor, dear Alice : if she comes down to breakfast look- ing miserable, I shall never be able to stand it ! I'd better not look at her at all — that will be the only plan : I'll be oif before hmcheon. "When I get home, all by myself, and have nothing to do but sit and think, I shall have a pleasant life of it ! Well, I certainly have gone and done it this time handsomely — rather ! " Thus fretting and worrying himself he finished di-essing, and, making his way quietly do^vn stairs, effected his exit imobserved. Fancying he was late he started at a brisk walk, and having crossed the open part of the park, reached a stile at the entrance of a grass- grown footpath overshadowed with trees. Before entering this he looked at his watch, and found that instead of too late he was too early, by nearly half an horn* ; accordingly, getting leism-ely over the stile, he strolled onward in the direction of a rustic bench, which he remembered to have seen some short distance farther up the path, where, if the truth must be told, he proposed to console himseH with a cigar. As he came in sight of this bench he perceived that it was occupied, and a second glance was scarcely needed to convince him that the oecii]5ant was Alice. For a moment he was perplexed as to what com-se to take, whether to join her, or to retrace his steps, and 70 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP avoid a meeting wliicli lie felt, under the circumstances, must necessarily be most embarrassing. Perceiving that the yovmg lady's head was turned in the opposite direction, and that she had therefore not yet seen him, he drew back a pace or two, so as to place the trunk of a towering elm between them. " What shall I do ? " thought HaiTy ; " I have not an idea what to say to her that would be likely to be of any use ; in fact, there's nothing to be said. She has accepted old Crane, and now she's come here to meet Arthur, tell him what she's done, say she could not help it, and ask him to forgive her and make the best of it. I shall be ' de trop ' evidently, so the best thing I can do is to jog back again ; and yet — and yet I should like to walk by her side, and look into her dear blue eyes once more — heigho! I almost wish my dream would come true, only reversed, and that I were the pheasant and Crane going to shoot me, though I should not be in much danger, for the old mufO would be safe to miss me. Well, I suppose I'd better be ofB — is she there still ? yes, but what is she doing — crying ? — why, by heaven, she's crying as if her heai-t would break ! Oh, you know I can't stand this, so it's no use thinking any more about it ; speak to her I must and will ! " And, suiting the action to the word, he was about to spring forward and join her, when it occurred to him that it would only distress and annoy her if he were to obtiTide his presence upon her when, imagining herself alone, she was unrestrainedly giving way to her grief ; so, with that tact springing from innate delicacy of feeling whicli prevented Coverdale's honest, straightforward character from ever becoming rough or overbearing, he waited till poor Alice had dried her tears, and with slow, listless footsteps (sadly different from her usual bounding and elastic gait) resumed her walk in the direc- tion of the railway station. As soon as she was fairly started Harry emerged from his hiding-place, and followed her with vigorous strides. When he had approached within hearing distance, he endeavoured by various means, such as stamping with his feet, bnishing against the underwood as he passed, and the like, to render her aware of his presence, but for some minutes without success. At length, however, a violent onslaught he made against a blackthorn bush (by which means he acquired a practical knowledge of the penetrating i^roperties of thorns) attracted her attention, and with a start sufficiently violent to show that her nervous system was un- usually excited, she turned and beheld him. Reassured by finding that the alarming sounds had been caused by the approach of a friend, rather than by that of a wild beast or an ogre (plagues so common in the midland counties of " England in y^ nineteenth centui-y," that of course her imagination had instantly suggested them), Alice waited till he came up, and received him with her cus- tomary bright smile, although her heightened colour, and an unusual degree of consciousness in her manner, proved that for some reason the meeting rather emban-assed her also. " You walk betimes, Miss Hazleliurst," liegan Harry, anxious to AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 71 break tlie ice, but not knowincr in the slightest degree how, when it should be broken, he was going to proceed : "' Tou are really a pattern of early rising ; but I have a notion we are both bound on the same eiTand. namely, to meet Ai-thur — am I wrong ? " " QiTite right," was the reply ; " I got up at a wonderfully early hour ; I siippose I was too much excited by such an unaccustomed event as a dinner-party to be able to sleep at all soundly." "Tou look fagged and weary even now," returned Coverdale, regarding her anxiously, " and you will fatigue youi-self still more by walking to the station and back. Are you prudent to undertake so long an expedition before breakfast ? " " Oh yes," was the reply ; it will refresh me and do me good ; besides, I want particularly to see and talk to Arthur." " I will accompany you as far as the station, if you will allow me," returaed Harry, " and, as soon as your brother amves, leave you to talk with him in peace ; the few words I have to say to ,him will do equally well after breakfast." Alice signified her consent, and the conversation continued for several mintites to turn on indifferent subjects, though the burden of sustaining it fell chiefly upon Alice, Harry's observations becoming shorter and less coherent at each reply. At length, however, Alice's stock of small talk failed her, and Hariy, in despair, was about to hazard some such original observation as, that the grass was looking remarkably green, when his companion suddenly addressed him. " I am afraid that you will think that I am interfering very un- necessarily and impertinently, Mr. Coverdale, but I must trust to your kindness to make allowance for me." " She is actually going to confess the cotton-spinner to me, and tell me I'm in the way, I do believe ! Cool hands women are, and no mistake ! " thought Coverdale ; he only said, however, " Pray go on." "The fact is," resumed Alice, -wdth a faltering voice, " my brother Tom informed me (you must not be angry with the poor boy, for he did it out of regard for you) that you — that is, that my father and you differed about some political question after dinner yesterday, and that my father was so can-ied away by the subject as to become injudiciously warm, and, from Tom's account, personal, and that his observations annoyed you. Now, I am so veiy soiTy this should have occurred, for he had formed such a high opinion of you, and Ai'thur was so much pleased to see how well you got on with him — a point on which he appeared particularly anxious." (Coverdale bit his lip, and cut off a thistle's head viciously with his cane.) " But, if you could be so very good as to overlook anything my father may have said, it would make me — I mean it would make Arthur, and — and — all of us so much happier." "My dear Miss Hazlehurst," began Harry vehemently, "how very kind of you to trouble yourself about me ! I can assure you I am most anxious to say or do anything to regain Mr. Hazlehurst's 72 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP good opinion. I know I made him rather an impertinent answer ; but really I was so unprepared for such an attack ; and then, to make matters worse, that old idiot, Mr. Crane — that is," he con- tinued, suddenly recollecting' to whom he was speaking, and turning crimson as he did so, " I beg yoiu- pardon for speaking so disrespect- fully of him to you; I really forgot — I am certainly losing my senses ! " With a blush as bright, though not quite so deep coloured as that of Coverdale, Alice, turning away her head, replied, — " Mr. Crane's only claim on my respect is, that he is my father's friend ; if I must own the truth, I do not myseK consider him very wise." " His only claim did you say ! " exclaimed Han-y earnestly. " Oh, Miss Hazlehurst — Alice — pardon me if I ask yoii to deal openly with me ; am I indeed wrong in supposing that you are engaged, or about to become so, to Mr. Crane ? " " Oh yes ! " was the hiuTied reply ; " such a fate would render me most miserable." Upon this hint Harry spake ; the reality and strength of his feelings imparted an earnest dignity to his manner and an imwonted eloquence to his speech, which woiild have deeply affected his fair auditor, even had her o"^\ti heart not pleaded warmly in his favoiu*. As it was, before they arrived in sight of the railroad station, Han-y had somehow come to the conclusion that the communication he should have to make to his friend Arthvir would be veiy miich more satisfactory, though perhaps little less emban-assing, than the one he had originally designed. It certainly was a considerable change in the tenoiu- of his report to be forced to explain that, instead of con- sidering himself the most miserable being in the world, he felt con- vinced he was by far the happiest ; for that Alice — resolved not to man-y the cotton-spinner — had given her heart, and promised her hand, to him. And thus, short, sharp, and decisive, began and ended " Harry Coverdale's Courtship;" all the results, good and evil, '"that came of it," may be learned by any reader sufficiently perseveiing to peruse that which remains to be told of this veracious history. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 73 CHAPTER XIY. DECIDEDLY EMBARRASSING. Alice and Harry were so deeply engrossed with each other, and so absorbed in the interchange of those mysterious but delightful nothings which form the staple of lovers' communications, and which, deeply interesting to the happy pair, appear to the un- susceptible public the veriest nonsense imaginable, that they were still some distance from the station when the train rushed up, sneezed out a few passengers, and, snorting and coughing, dashed off like a well-disposed fiery dragon, warranted quiet to ride and drive. Walking on rapidly they soon discovered Arthur, embarrassed by a carpet-bag and a mackintosh, making the best of his way to meet them ; the moment he came within speaking distance, he ex- claimed, — " What do I behold ! Harry Coverdale with a yoixng lady on his arm ! Surely the age of miracles is returaing ! well, I never did ! did you ever ? And Alice looking so deliciously self-satisfied and unconscious, too ! Why, you stupid little owl (you're very like one, with your hooked nose and great eyes) , don't you know you're boring him to death ? he cares for nothing but horses, dogs, and guns, and above all perfectly abominates women." Alice smiled, and attempted to make a playful rejoinder, but in vain, — her heart was too full ; had she spoken at that moment she must have burst into tears. The speech affected Han-y differently. " I do nothing of the kind," he said angrily; " Ai'thur, how can you be so absiird ! " Pausing for a moment, the ludicrous nature of the situation occuiTed to him, and with difficulty restraining a laugh, he turned the conversation by seizing his friend's carpet-bag, exclaiming as he did so, " Come, give it up, of course I'm not going to let you carry it; you're looking horridly thin and pale, as Londoners always do : is he not, Al — a — , Miss Hazlehurst ? What ! you refuse ; give it up this instant, or I declare I'll can-y you and it too." During the playful striiggle which ensued for the possession of the cai-pet-bag, in which contention Han-y was soon victorious. Alice, glad to obtain a few minutes in which to compose herself, walked on. As the young men hastened to rejoin her, Hazlehurst, laying his hand on Coverdale's arm, inquired, " How has it all gone off P Crane hasn't ventured to offer yet, of course ? " "Yes, by Jove, he has thoiigh!" was the reply; "the old muff 74 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP contrived to pop last night— confound liim ! — wlien I was out of the room, and hadn't a chance of throwing anything at his head." " And Alice ? '" iiiquii-ed the brother eagerly ; but his eagerness frustrated its own purpose (no uncommon case by the way), for, pronouncing the name in a louder key than he was aware of, the fair OAvner thereof stopped short, and thus prevented the possibility of further explanation. As they continued their homeward walk, Arthur, who was a quick observer, soon detected a change in Haii-y's manner towards his sister; for which, at first, he felt excessively puzzled to account. A respectful tenderness was apparent in his tone when he addressed her, and he exhibited a degree of eager, almost affectionate, solicitude for her ease and comfort, in all the minor incidents of a coimtry walk, such as Hazlehurst, during the whole of their intimacy, had never before seen him evince towards a young lady. " What has come to Harry now, I wonder P " thus ran his reflec- tions ; '■ if it were any one in the world but him, I should say he was flirting with Alice ; but Harry never flirted in his life, so that is impossible." He pondered for a moment, then an idea struck him. " I see it now ; my father has forced the poor child to accept old Crane : Harry knows it, and the pity his kind wai'm-hearted nature leads him to feel towards her influences his manner. They were each coming to tell me all that has occurred, and have met by accident ; yes, that must be it." In oi'der, however, more fully to satisfy himself of the correctness of his theory, he observed, in his usual light, jesting manner, "I think, Mr. Coverdale, it behoves me, as ' a man and a Ijrother,' to inquire how you happen to be marching about the country, ' tete-a-tete ' with my sister, at this unconscionably early hour ? " Harry, who, between his desire to enlighten Arthur as to the new and transcend ently tdelightful, but especially embarrassing turn affairs had taken, and the impossibility of doing so before Alice — the overpowering nature of his feelings towards that young lady, and his extreme happiness at finding them reciprocated — the great and imminent danger in re Crane, and the humiliating confession regarding his lost inflxience with Mr. Hazlehurst, together with the awkwai'd position in which he stood towards that outraged and obdurate elder — was in a tremendous fi'ame of mind, merely started and stared vacantly at his interrogator. But Alice, having by this time regained in some degree her self- possession, replied qiiietiy, '" Mr. Coverdale and I were both coming to meet you, and encountering each other accidentally, walked on together." As she spoke, Arthur, striving to i-ead her countenance, fixed his eyes upon her. Unable to meet his glance she turned away with an April look, half tears half smiles. " It must be as I thought," reflected Ai-thur ; " but if anything is to be done to save her. no time should be lost. Ill not waste the present opportunity. My dear AND ALL THAT CAME OB^ IT 75 Coverdale," he continued aloud, "I wish to have a few minutes' private conversation with my sister ; you and I are too old friends to stand upon ceremony, so you will not be offended if I ask you to walk on, and wait for us at the stile at the end of the ])ath." This direct appeal brought Han-y to his senses, but not feeling sure whether Alice would approve of ha\'ing the whole burden of explanation thrown upon her, he glanced inquiringly towards her ere he ventured to reply. Now. Alice, fond as she was of her brother, was also (from their difference in point of age, as well as from the fact that Arthur's nature was more firm and resolute than her own, and his manner quick and abrupt) a little afraid of him. Thus, being aware how very highly he esteemed Coverdale — an estimation which she was inclined to transcend rather than to depreciate — a sudden fear seized her lest Ai-thur, deeming her a mere silly child, should consider his friend had done a fooHsh thing in choosing her for a wife, when he might have selected, at the very least, some strong-minded peeress, and that he might be augry with her for her presumption in having accepted him. This feeling, overpowering for the moment every other, induced her to respond to Hany's look of inquiry by a slight shake of the head, and a glance which would have kept him by her side if a whole regiment of brothers, armed with Minie rifles and Colt's revolvers, had attempted to separate them. But Arthui-, being totally unarmed, and having simply asked a civil question, the answer which Harry, appropriately quoting Walter Scott, might have made to the hypothetical regiment, " Come one, come all, this rock (not that there was a rock, but that is a trifle) will fly from its firm base as soon as I," was imfitted for the present emergency, and no other equally good suggested itself. What he did say was this, — '• A — really — of course I'd do it in a minute, my dear fellow — but — a — I'm not quite sure," — here he glanced at Alice — " that is, I'm positively certain that— a — in fact, the thing's impossible." '• You're certain that it's impossible that you can walk on to the stile before Alice and me ! My dear Harry, what are you talking— or rather (for the truth is you're preoccupied), what are you thinking about ? " inquired Arthur, in amazement, seeing from the expression of his friend's countenance that he was really anxious and excited. Coverdale was again hesitating how to reply, when Alice relieved him from his difiiculty by saying hurriedly, " I will walk on, and leave you to talk to Mr. Coverdale." As she spoke, they reached the rustic bench before alluded to, and Ai-thur. completely mystified, seated himself, and made a sign to Coverdale to follow his example. " One moment, and I'll be with you," replied Coverdale, springing to Alice's side ; " then I may tell him everything ? " he continued. " Oh yes," was the unhesitating answer. " And you will wait for us at the stile ? I won't detain him five minutes." 76 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " If you wish it." " Can yoiT doubt it ? " were the necessary lover-like rejoinders ; and Coverdale returaed to his friend, who looked especially puzzled and slightly provoked. " Now be silent ! " exclaimed Hazlehurst, as Han-y was about, with the greatest volubility, to plunge at once " in medias res." " You have lived amongst women till you've learned to chatter like them, I think. I shall never bring you to the point, unless you vnll let me cross-examine you." " Fire away, then ; only look sharp, for your sister must not be kept waiting," was the reply. " YouVe grown wonderfully polite and attentive all of a sudden," returned Arthur sarcastically. " But now listen to me. Has Crane made Alice an offer ? " Harry replied in the aflBrmative. " Did she refuse him ? " " Of course she did," was the disdainful rejoinder. " I don't see any ' of course ' in it," returned Hazlehurst moodily. " My father is resolved on the match : Alice has been brought up to obey him implicitly, and the habit of obedience is very strong in such a gentle, yielding nature as hers." " If she is gentle and yielding, I'm not ! " exclaimed Harry vehemently ; " and with your support, and the knowledge that his daughter's happiness is at stake, Mr. Hazlehurst must listen to reason." " My dear boy," returned Ai-thur earnestly, " what a warm-hearted, thorough-going friend you are ! You really take as much interest in the affair as if it were youi* own. I see you naturally reckon on the extent of your influence with my father, and I have reason to believe you do not oveiTate it. Why, what is the matter now ? Have you taken leave of your senses ? " This inquiry refeiTed to a sudden and alarming outbreak on the part of Coverdale, who, when his influence with Mr. Hazlehurst was mentioned, sprang to his feet, uttering what mild mammas, engaged in the moral instruction of their tender offspring, tei'm a " naughty word." " You are enough to drive one mad ! " he exclaimed angrily ; " saying, and making me say, all sorts of absurd things at cross- pui-poses, because you won't listen to the explanation I'm remaining here on purpose to give you ; keeping Alice waiting, too ! " " Well, let her wait," returned Arthvu- testily, woiTied by HaiTy's constant reference to this point ; " anybody would think you were Alice's lover instead of old Crane ! " " And so I am," was the iinexpected rejoinder ; " and what is more, old fellow, her accepted lover also ! Oh, Aithur," he continued, seating himself by his friend's side, and laying his arm on his shoulder, " I'm the happiest, luckiest dog in existence ! To think that she should be able to love such a rough, uncultivated — but AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 77 you are not displeased, are you — surprised, of course, you must be." " Surprised, indeed," was tlie reply ; " so much so, that even yet I can scarcely believe it ; it has almost taken my breath away ! But displeased !— why, my dear Harry, I'd rather she married you than any man breathing, be he prince, duke, or what not. It is the most charming, glorious, wonderful thing that ever haiDpened ! Biit even now I can't conceive how it has come about ; and yet, when I begin to reflect, I fancied that Alice was growing shy and conscious in regard to something or somebody, before I went away. It's natural enough that she should fall in love with you ; but that you should take a fancy to her, or indeed to any girl, does, I own, surprise me. I had so thoroughly made up my mind that you meant to be an old bachelor." " You could not have done so more completely than I had," rejoined Hariy ; " but the fact is, that from the first moment in which I saw your sister I fell in love with her, though I had not the most remote idea of it at the time. I can trace it all now ; hence my dislike of D'Almajme and the iDOor old cotton-spinner. I was afraid the fascinations of the one might win her heart, or the fortune of the other obtain her hand — in fact, I was unconsciously jealous of them both. But now come on, we are really keeping Alice an un- reasonable time. Aye, you may laugh; I don't care a sou now that you know all about it. Why, Arthiir, old boy, you will be my real ' bona fide ' brother one of these days ! — that is a contingent ad- vantage Avhich has only just occurred to me." Seizing his friend's hand as he spoke, he pressed it with such good- will, that Hazlehurst was enabled to give a shrewd guess at the sensation prodiiced by that interesting medieeval amenity, the thumb- screw. And thus mutually pleased and excited, the young men proceeded, both talking volubly, and generally at the same moment, till they reached the stile, where they found Alice awaiting them, looking very timid, very conscious, but exceedingly pretty. She need not have been luieasy, however, for Arthur had too much good taste and kind feeling to laugh at her at that moment ; on the contrary, he hastened to set her mind at rest by whispering, as he imprinted a kiss on her glowing cheek, — " My darling child, you have made me almost as hajppy as you have rendered him." The walk home was a very delightful one. Alice leaned on Harry's stalwart arm, and felt the most perfect and in-ational confidence in his power to shield her from the effects of her father's anger, Mr. Crane's despair, and all other uncomfortable consequences of the act of filial disobedience which she meditated. Harry, already experiencing a sensation of delicious proprietorship in regard to the sweet girl beside him, felt himseK exalted in the scale of humanity, and held his head a good inch higher on the strength of it ; from which moral and physical elevation he looked down upon all field- 78 HARRY CO VERB ALE'S COURTSHIP sports as soulless and ignoble pastimes, and despised them accordingly. Arthur, Loping that his sister's attachment to a man in every way so worthy of her would inspire her with the firmness requisite to withstand successfully his father's possible opposition to the match, and that the matter would eventually end by securing her happiness and that of his friend, " forgot his own griefs," to rejoice in their bright prospects. And so they reached the pleasure- grounds, where Alice, sejjarating from the two gentlemen, ran in to compose her excited feelings before appearing at breakfast. " Arthur, wait one moment," exclaimed Coverdale, laying his hand on his friend's arm to detain him ; " I have something important to say to you ;— isn't she an angel, my dear boy ? " " Why, really, my good fellow, betAveen friends, and seeing that you appear to attach so much importance to the fact, I should say. taking into consideration the evidence in the case, and coming to the point without any unnecessary prolixity, that she was by no means an angel, but simply a very pleasant little female mortal, and — ahem ! my poor sister, sir." " Psha ! you stiipid old humbug ! " returned Harry, giving him a playful push, which caused him involuntarily to leap over a flower- bed; "do just listen to me for a minute, and give me a sensible answer if you can. It's all very pretty for my darling Alice, and you and I, to settle this matter so sweetly and easily ; but remember, there's the governor to bring round, and Crane and his confounded ^820,000 a year to beat out of the field ; it strikes me we're in an awful fix, and about to become an interesting young couple. What is to be the next move, eh ? " " Oh, the affair lies in a nutshell," returned Hazlehurst. " Foi-tu- nately, my father has always appreciated you properly, and now the xmusual degree of influence you have acquired over him will stand you in good stead. He may be a little annoyed at first, when he finds he miist relinquish his favourite design of pui'chasing old Crane's farm ; but he is very fond of Alice, and very proud of her." " He'd be a most unnatural old heathen if he wasn't," muttered Harry, sotto voce. " Conseqviently," continued Hazlehurst, not heeding the interrup- tion, " when he perceives the immeasurable advantages to be obtained by alloAving her to marry a man she loves, and who is in every way deserving of her affection, instead of an old scarecrow, who will be in his dotage (I believe he is so already, more or less !) while Ally is still quite a young woman, he cannot hesitate for a moment in giving his consent. Tou had better speak to him the instant breakfast is over ; depend upon it yoii'll find him all amiability." " Depend upon it I shall find him nothing of the kind," returned Coverdale snappishly ; then, seeing the look of surprise that spread over his friend's countenance, he continued, dejectedly : — '* Ah, my dear boy, you little know the extent to which I've been putting my foot in it since you went away. Tom tells me I annoyed your AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 79 governor three or four days ago, by taking tlie nonsense out of tliat beast of a horse old Crane bad the stupidity to give Alice ; a brute which would have bi'oken her sweet neck, if I hadn't luckily been at hand to catch her as she was falling. Then, to improve the matter, last night we all drank wine enough, and the head of the family got a little too much into it to be good for its proprietor ; accord- ingly, he forced me to give my opinion about Free-trade, and then pitched into me for so doing, and declared I'd insulted him : upon which I lost my temper, and said something rude ; and, to come to the point, as you call it, he is now as savage as a bear with me, and all the blessed influence you've been paying me such pretty compli- ments about, if it ever existed, is scattei'ed to the winds. I dare not speak to him, it would be worse than useless ; he'd be only too glad to refuse me at once, lest he should lose such a good opportunity of paying me ofE for last night. Ah ! " he continued, " you may well look pvizzled — you would not like to have many clients with such a talent as I possess for unconsciously cutting their own tlu-oats ! What's to be done ? — divide the wires of the electric telegraph at King's Cross station, and then take Alice along the Great Northern to Gretna Green — though Gretna Green has been done brown by some recent act, has it not, and the harmonious and hymeneal black- smith retired into private life ? Come, advise, for I can hit upon nothing ; only remember one thing — since Alice is good enough to say she will have me, married I must and will be, if all the fathers in England were to set themselves against it ! " CHAPTER XV. RELATES THE UNEXPECTED BENEVOLENCE OF HORACE D'aL3IAYNE. Arthur Hazlehurst, with an aspect gi-aver than his wont, replied to HaiTy's appeal — " It cei-tainly is veiy imfortunate that you should have selected last night, of all others, to displease my father; because, owing to the Crane o:ffer, time is of the greatest importance ; but for that I should not have cared ; you would only have had to wait for a week or two, taking pains to be especially polite and deferential in the interval, and he would have totally forgotten his anger. As it is, perhaps I had better speak to him— he is sure to tell me about the cotton-spinner, and I can avail myself of that opportunity to come to the point; and now, if you have nothing 80 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP better to propose, we'll go in to breakfast. Love may possibly destroy the appetite, but a raili-oad journey lias a directly contrary effect." Harry bad nothing better to propose— for a vague suggestion in regard to punching old Crane's head, if he (Crane) did not mind what he was about, could scarcely be considered in the light of a serious, practical amendment— so they wentin to breakfast accord- ingly. This meal appeared to be a most unsatisfactory one to " all who assembled within those walls ; " for, despite the presence of every delicacy of the season, and a few over, each individual seemed labouring under some secret sorrow, and a general wet blanket damped, and hung hea\'y on, the spirits of the whole party, with the exception, perhaps, of Horace D'Almayne, who was unusually animated, and watched the proceedings with a look of quiet pene- tration. When the ladies quitted the room, Mr. Crane called Mr. Hazle- hurst aside, and informed him that he wished for the honour of an interview; to which request that gentleman acceded in his most gracious manner, and they adjourned together to the library. Harry, with a significant glance to Ai'thur to remain on the look- out and watch proceedings, strolled off with Tom on some horse-or- dog-inspecting pretext, but really to keep himself out of harm's way till he was wanted — so low an estimate had he now acquired of his own diplomatic abilities. D'Almayne and Arthur being thus left tete-a-tete, the former accosted the latter after the following fashion : — " Hazlehurst, ' mon cher,' I shall die of ennui if we have many such ' tristes affaires ' as this meal of which we have just pai-taken. Now, without being more inquisitive than my neighbours, you cannot suppose I have remained entirely in the dark in regard to the little amusements your friends and relations have devised to vary the monotony of life withal." " And the result of these your observations ? " inquired Arthur coldly. " Is, that the various interests clash, and that delicate dilemmas innumerable must, ere long, present their horns ; — now I, being an easy-tempered fellow, like to be happy myself, and to see every brother man, and sister woman, hai^py also. I shall, therefore, have much pleasure in doing ' mon petit possible ' to smooth away these difficulties— an endeavour in which my influence with our good friend Crane will gi-eatly assist me ; but to enable me to do this, you must of course take me so far into your confidence as to tell me whether I am right in my preconceived ideas — ' che dice, Signor ? ' " Arthur reflected for a moment — he knew D'Almayne to be quick- sighted, clear-headed, and fertile in expedient, at the same time he believed he was designing and self-interested ; in the present emer- gency, however, he might, from his influence with Mr. Crane, be AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 81 possibly of some use, wliile lie could scarcely, witli the worst inten- tions, render the aspect of affairs more complicated and unsatisfactory than it now appeared. Accordingly, he replied, " It cannot involve any alarming stretch of confidence on my part, merely to tell you whether youi* ' guesses at tiiith ' have hit the mai-k, or flown wide of it. So you have only to propound yoiu- queries, and I will answer them as clearly and concisely as in me lies." " C'est bon ! " was the reply. " A — to begin with — I am correct am I not, in supposing that last night my worthy friend Crane offered his hand and ,£20,000 per annimi (in which latter item his heart is of course wrapped up and included) to your amiable and accomplished sister?" Hazlehurst nodded assent, and DAlmayne continued, — " The young lady, however, or I am much mistaken, gi-eatly prefers your excellent and energetic friend, Mr. Coverdale (who, you must pardon me for saying, reminds me of a well-inten- tioned, enthusiastic bull in a china-shop), which preference the gentle- man returns to such a degree, that I am inclined to believe he has told, or in some other manner rendei-ed the fair Alice aware of his love. Her manner at breakfast this morning, was compounded of such an elaborate endeavour to conceal the conscious and confiding, behind the most transparent eidolon of indifference, that no one at all acquainted with woman's nature could doubt about the matter." " Tou are indeed a close observer ! " exclaimed Arthur, surprised out of his caution. " Coverdale's attachment was a thing I never even suspected till — a — till this morning." '■ Mr. Crane tells me, your father is intensely anxious to purchase one of his fai-ms adjoining your estate, which he (Ci'ane) is unwilling to part with," resumed DAlmayne ; " thence, I imagine, proceeds your respected i^rogenitor's anxiety to bring about the match. To finish the catalogue of my observations up to the jpresent time, I conceive Mr. Crane to be now in the act of urging his suit to Mr. Hazlehurst, and complaining that ' Miss Alice ' as he calls her (he always talks on such subjects like an underbred greengrocer, or second footman), rather kicked, than jumped, at him when he offered her — ahem — his income and his affections." " Tour sumiises are so wonderfully correct," rejoined Arthur (determining to make a merit of necessity, and appear open with one who seemed thus well acquainted with all the family secrets), '■ that in telling you that as soon as Mr. Crane leaves the study, I mean to appeal to my father in my fi-iend's behalf, I shall, probably, only forestall you in ex^Dressing another of your judicious anticipa- tions." " I rather imagined that would be the next move," was the easy, self-satisfied reply, — " Mr. Coverdale, with all his surprising fresh- ness and naivete of character, could scarcely propose to lu-ge bis suit in person, after having quarrelled with your father over his wine last night ; for which reason, by the way, it requires no very G 82 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP s:reat tact to divine tliat Mr. Crane's proposal will find 'favour in Mr. Hazlehurst's eyes, and Mr. Coverdale's be rejected." ■' And the remedy ? " inquired Arthur eagerly. DAlmayne paused, then a meaning but disagreeable smile passed across his handsome features, as he replied, "If I can induce Mr. Ci'ane to withdraw his suit of his own accord, yet con- tinue his amicable relations towards this family, and be willing to sell the farm to your father at his own price, and by these means lead Mr. Hazlehnrst to regard your friend's offer favourably, shall I be acting in accordance with your wishes ? " " Nay, my dear D'Almayne, if you can indeed persuade Mr. Crane to perform so magnanimous a part, I shall consider you the best and cleverest fellow in the world. As to my wishing you to do so, I should as soon have thought of wishing you to appoint me First Lord of the Treasury — one only wishes for such things [as one, in some degi'ee, expects to obtain. But surely you over-calculate your powers of persuasion," returned Hazlehurst, scarcely knowing whether D'Almayne might not be amusing himself at his expense. " I will remain here and await the result of your inteiwiew with your father, and if it terminates as I predict, I wiU attempt my little bit of diplomacy ; — the result will prove to you whether or not I overrate my Machiavelian talents," was the confident reply — and so they pai-ted. Mr. Hazlehurst, senior, was by no means in an amiable frame of mind when his son entered the librai-y — the gout, considerably in- creased by the wine-bibbing of the pre"\"ious evening, pervaded his entire system, mental and bodily; and through the atrabilious medium of a disordered stomach, he looked back upon his disagree- ment with Coverdale, till it became magnified into a serious quaiTcl. Mr. Crane had just informed him that, on renewing his offer to Alice on the previous evening, the young lady rauttered a few words, incoherent indeed, but, as he conceived, of a negative tendency, and instantly conveyed herself away without affording him an oppor- tunity of obtaining an explanation. Whereupon Mi-. Hazlehurst, waxing wroth, declared she should accept him that very morning ; begged him to retire until he should have seen his daughter, and, as he was pleased to term it, brought her to her senses ; and having just despatched a summons to the poor girl, was waiting her arrival to perpetrate an act of parental tyi-anny, when his son entered. The consequences may readily be imagined : — Coverdale was angrily and unceremoniously refused ; Alice anathematized, excommiinicated, and ordered magisterially to be imprisoned in her own room till f ai-ther notice ; and Arthur severely reprimanded for having intro- duced Coverdale to the family (which, be it remembered, he had done at his father's particular request), and cautioned against venturing to countenance Alice in her disobedience, or ever again to refer to the subject in his (Mr. Hazlehurst's) sovereign presence, on pain of being cut off with the trifling patrimony of one shilling AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 83 sterling. Arthur attempted a mild remonstrance, wliereby lie obtained a pai-ticiilar request instantly to leave the room, and a general order in regard to the entire altei'ation of his conduct, and abnegation of his present opinions on all subjects, human and divine. Returning to the breakfast-room in the frame of mind naturally consequent upon such a reception, he discovered D'Almayne com- fortably lounging in an easy-chair, and perusing a handsomely bound copy of the " Pleasiu'es of Memory." Glancing up as Hazlehurst entered, he observed coolly, '" I need not ask you how it has gone, ' uion ami,' yoiu" face tells me." Hazlehurst strode impatiently up and down the apartment ; then stopping short in front of his companion, he exclaimed abruptly, " Try your plan, whatever it maybe; for common sense is thrown away iipon a man so prejudiced and positive as my father has shown himself to be ; and common patience cannot bear the irritating speeches he makes, when all the time one feels that one is striving for the right, and that he is totally and entirely wi'ong." " Tou are warm, ' mon cher,' " was the calm reply. " Papas have been wi-ong-headed time out of mind, and will probably continue so till time shall have passed away, together with all other sublunary weights and measm-es ; so why afflict yourself at the inevitable ? But I will now proceed without delay to try my eloquence upon the dear rejected Mr. Crane— a — by the way, you must give me one promise. ' On their own merits modest men are dumb ; ' now my modesty is so outrageously sensitive, that I am 'not only dumb myself, but require my friends to be so likewise ; in plain English, if I do this thing to oblige you, you must promise me to keep my share in the transaction a secret ; the change must appear to emanate from the united kind regards and amiable self-sacrifice of your father and Mr. Crane." Seeing Arthur hesitate, he continued, " Withovit this assurance, you must excuse my declining to interfere." " Be it as you will then," began Arthur. As he spoke the door flew open, and Alice, eager and tearful, Inu'ried in, exclaiming, " You have seen my father ! Can it be true that he is so cruel as to refuse his consent. He has just written me such a dreadful note, ordering me not to quit my room ! " Here, catching sight of D'Almayne, she stopped short in confiision and alarm. That individual hastened to relieve her by walking to the door; but as he passed Arthur he whispered, "You may make an exception in your sister's favour. I absolve you from your vow of secrecy as far as she is concerned. I am a tender-hearted fellow, and beauty in tears is always too many for me." As he spoke, he left the apartment, and closed the door behind him. Alice heard Ai'thm-'s account of D'Almayne's unexijected access of benevolence with surprise ; but not having witnessed the quiet confidence with which he asserted his power of inliiiencing Mr. Crane, she put but little trust in his assurances, merely setting them down as the vain boasting of a conceited youth, who was actuated by 84 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP a good-natui-ed desire to lielp them out of their difficulties. That she did him injustice may be gathered from the fact, that hater in the day Mr. Crane sought a second interview with Mr. Hazlehurst, after which the latter gentleman summoned Harry Coverdale to his august presence ; and when that happy but much confused young man entered the " sanctum sanctorum " of the library, sent for his daughter Alice likeAvise, and having pronounced a strongly acidulated, not to say, crabbed, benediction upon their youthful heads, dismissed them in time to write by that day's post to his man of business, to prepare the purchase-money for the Hazlecroft fai-m, then the property of Jedediah Crane, Esq. The dinner-party that evening passed off much more agreeably than the breakfast had done. Coverdale sat by his lady-love, looking the picture, or better still, the reality of happiness ; but Arthur Hazlehurst wore a gloomy brow when he perceived that his cousin, Kate Marsden, had paired off with the cotton-spinner, and that they appeared mutually satisfied with the an-angement. CHAPTER XVI. TREATS OF THINGS IN GENERAL. It must be confessed that Harry Coverdale was of a somewhat impetuous disposition. No sooner had he obtained Mr. Hazlehurst's consent to the match, than he commenced a system of alternate petting and persecution, whereby he contrived to render the lives of Alice and her mother scarcely endurable, until he had induced them to fix an early day for his " execution," as Tom irreverently para- pkrased the solemnization of the marriage ceremony. This object happily accomplished, a journey to London was proposed, whereat Mr. Hazlehurst looked very black ; but when Alice seated herself on his knee, and, stroking his bald head, called him a dear, good, kind, papa (on speculation, i)robably, for at that moment he did not in the slightest degree look the character), his heart softened, and he con- sented to the plan. Then somebody told Arthur of a wonderful doctor, who had found out a new system of curing everything, and especially complaints analogous to that under which Mrs. Hazlehui'st laboured; accordingly, he determined his mother should form one of the London party, and consult this fashionable fee-taker ; and when Ai'thur had determined on a thing, it generally came to pass. Therefore, after considerable pro-ing and con-ing, and macadamizing AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 85 of difficulties, the matter was finally arranged by Mrs. Hazlehui-st, her son, and her two daughters, taking np their abode at Cherry's Hotel, in Jermyn Street, while Coverdale established himself in his old quaiiers at the Tavistock, in Covent Garden. Then they began to be overwhelmed with business. First, the infallible doctor was to be consiilted ; so poor Mrs. Hazlehnrst was dragged ont of bed some three honrs sooner than usual, breakfasted in a nervous tremor, which rendered the ceremony a most unreal mockery, was transported from her carriage to a stately dining-room, where some twenty fellow-victims were already incarcerated, whence (having waited two hours, because, in her ignorance of London rascalities, she had omitted to fee the noble creatiire in plush and powder who had admitted her) she was at length (his nobleness not being able longer to exclude her) ushered into the presence of the potentate of pills himself. This erudite individual was a short, stiff man, with a short, stiff appearance — the result of the most severe application of starch and hair-brushes, — and a short, stiff manner, assumed, as are the stare and swagger of Van [Amburg and other tiger-tamers, for the ]3urpose of browbeating and mentally subduing refractory or sceptical patients. Seeing at a glance, however, that poor Mrs. Hazlehm'st was already subdued, he obligingly let off a little superfluous starch, slightly disarranged his hair, smiled, to show a fine set of false teeth, put in at trade-price by a fi-iendly dentist, and having thus brought himself somewhat nearer the limp- ness of average humanity, added (as he would have probably expressed it) a couple of drachms '" syrupi saccarinis " to his manner, ere he proceeded to catechize his patient as to her symptoms, and the remedies that had been applied to remove them. To each fact thus elicited, he replied by frowning ]3ortentously, screwing round liis mouth, and muttering, "I knew it,"' in a gloomy and mysterious manner, as though he had acquired the knowledge by some awful and supernatviral coiirse of study ; and, indeed, as Mrs. Hazlehurst's confessions involved her having had a dangerous fall from her horse at a period when he. the doctor, must have been about five years old, and that she had been laid up with a bilious fever exactly two calendar months and four days before he was born, he can scarcely be supposed to have come by his information honestly and lawfully. In fact, to a logical mind, the question resolved itself into the following hypothesis — that he must either be a ti-ue prophet, or a lying doctor. Having elicited all the facts he cared to learn (which, if he knew them before, he might as well have saved himself the trouble of doing), he drew himself up to his extreme altitude, — which was nothing very tremendous after all, — got his starch up to high- pressure pitch, judiciously tempering its stiffness with soothing syrup, and delivered himself of the following opinion : — " Madam, you have told me nothing that, the moment I beheld you, I was not prepared to hear. I do not in the slightest degree impugn 86 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP tlie judgrnent and skill of Mr. Smitliers " (the Hazlehurst general practitioner), "but tlie instant I glanced at his first prescription I saw he had taken a -vvi-ong view o£ our case. Superacetate of Euroclydon and bi-carbonate of Hydrocephalus would never remove the pain and pali^itation on our right side — " " The left is the side on which I usually feel the pain," began Mrs. Hazlehurst mildly. " Eh ! left — yes, of course ; I said left, didn't I ? I believe I observed to you before, madam, that the moment I set eyes on you I became aware of — in fact. I felt (if I may so express myseK) that pain and laalpitation on our left side ; and I said to myself, if that very talented practitioner, Mr. Smithers, has administered Super- acetate of Euroclydon, and bi-carbonate of Hydrocephalus to that pain of ours — with the highest respect for Smithers (he was walking" St. Bartholomew's when I was dresser to the late celebrated and lamented Flayflesh), I must say he has mistaken our case. Now, I shall just — I make no secret of my practice — I shall just throw in three gi-ains of extr. Borealis Aurorse, with equal propoi'tions of Astri caninis, Geminorum siamesiae, and sesqui-carbonate (mind that) sesqiai-carbonate of Pantapolion, and oiu' pain will lapse (as Byron so beautifully expresses it) into ' a happy memory of the past.' You will take the mixture six times in the twenty-four hours, and the pills immediately before dinner. With regard to diet, everything you have been accustomed to eat is wrong ; your appetite is weak, and yoti like delicacies, as they are called, better than substantial joints, I dare say ? " Mrs. Hazlehurst acknowledged that his penetration had not failed him ; and he resumed sharply, — " Madam, we musn't touch them ! they are poison in such a case as ours. No ; we must restrict ourselves to plain beef and mutton, very much underdone ; stale bi'ead, no vegetables, no fruit, no nice things, very bitter beer, with plenty of the camomile in it (that's the brewer's secret, strychnine's all a delusion), and stick to the sesqui- carbonate of Pantapolion, and we shall be a different woman in a short time. Let me see you again on Friday. Good morning. And so, pocketing his guinea with less respect than many men pay to a fourpenny-piece, the fashional)le quack allowed his -victim to escape. Then there was shopping. There are a good many shops in Regent Street, and those that are not there are in Bond Street, at least a fair sprinkling of them ; but Harry solemnly declared (after his marriage) that during the fortnight the party were in London, they went into them all, and every man knows what that involves. Give a woman her head, so far as to allow her to put it into a shop, and he must indeed be a clever fellow who can coax or coerce her out of it under half an hour. But Harry was in love, and love is blind (though it has an awkward trick of recovering its eyesight after marriage, and making up for lost time, by spying out all kinds of AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 87 things to wliicli it had far better liad remained blind) ; besides, Alice was not more " exigeante " than a lovei generally desires his mistresa should be : too much independence of character in a young girl being by no means an attractive quality. Then there was a good deal of sight-seeing to be got through. Emily had never been in London before, and Alice only once for a week. So they " did " "Westminster Abbey, which, they really enjoyed ; and St. Paul's, which they pretended to admire, and didn't : and the Tower, where Emily called the figures in the horse-annoury a set of qiiizzical old things ; and the Polytechnic, where they saw a man go down in a diving-bell, to pick up nothing at the bottom of a large wash-hand-basin, and come up again half suffocated, which they considered curious and highly satisfactory, as no doubt it was to everybody but that unfortunate martyr to popular science himself, who (taking the most cheerful view of his amphibious occupation) can scarcely be i-egarded in the light of a jolly young watemian. Then they went to the National Gallery to see the pictures, which, as it was not an unusually bright and clear day, of course they were unable to do ; but they had the pleasure of seeing the building itself, and the fountains in Trafalgar Square, which they all agreed they had never beheld anything like before ; and Han-y added, that in his travels he had not met with anything to equal the whole affair in its peculiar style, and that he thought foreigners must be very strongly impressed by it, and that it must at once give them a clear idea of English taste ; which remarks it was a pity the architect was not there to hear, as they might possibly have been of use to him. Emily had never beheld a play, so they went to the I-see-um Theatre, where they witnessed the performance of a veiy long melodrama, adapted from the French (that is, all that was national and peculiar — without which the plot became a mere silly tissue of improbable events and impossible situations — omitted, and the place supplied by worn-out and conventional clap-traps). This " piece de resistance," which was to last the play-going public for some foiu* or six months, according to the degree in which it suited their appetites, was so well put on the stage, and so well acted, that the false sentiment and worse morality which pervaded it were for the 'time forgotten, and it was not till Arthur called his attention to the fact, that Harry recollected this un-English jumble of crimes and follies, was played night after night to crowded houses, while the masterpieces of Shakspere, the greatest dramatist who ever lived, were banished to an obscure theatre in the outskirts of London, or wei-e forced to be translated into a foreign language, and acted by a foreign company, ere the " ears polite " of London fashionables could be persuaded to listen to them. The two young men argued the question in all its bearings, and arrived at this conclusion, viz. either that if Shakspere were better acted it would be better attended, or that if Shakspere were better attended, better actors would soon be found to perforai the chaa'acters ; though which of these statements might be regarded as 88 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP the cause, and wliicli as the effect, they could by no means agree. And by that time, the play being concluded, Emily declared that it was quite perfect, really charming ; and that, as to Shakspere, he was an obsolete old slow-coach, and very wicked too — or else, why did they want a family edition of him ? Whereas, if there had ever been any harm in this play, which she did not believe could have been the case, dear Mr. Kingsby Florence had translated it so beavitifully that it might have been acted anywhere — in a church almost. Then she turned and appealed to her sister, to support her in her girlish and unorthodox enthusiasm. Alice replied gravely, and with a pseudo-matronly air which was highly amusing, that although she miist confess she had been interested and entertained by the play she had just witnessed, yet that she had listened to Arthur's argument with Mr. Coverdale, and quite agreed in the view taken by the latter gentleman ; for which sympathy of opinion Harry possessed himself of the lovely sympathizer's hand, and pressed it gratefully ; while he inwardly thanked heaven for having bestowed upon his future wife such a correct taste and sound understanding. And so, between doctoring, and shopping, and sight-seeing, and hurrying dressmakers, and tailors, and coach-builders, and a host of minor tradesmen, all the wedding paraphernalia were purchased, a vast amount of business transacted, settlements prepared, and money spent ; and a fortnight passed away so quickly, that it appeared like two or three days to the actors in the genteel comedy thiis performed. Then they all returned to the country, Han-y going to the Park to make arrangements for the incoming of ho use- decorators and fur- nishers innumerable, who were to put to the rout all the old admiral's bachelor abominations, and prepare the mansion for the reception of its fair mistress. That auaiable young lady was beginning to find, by experience, that to be " going to be married " is very hard work indeed, the wear and tear of the feelings being a marked and alarm- ing feature in the case. Thus, whenever Harry was away for a day, she found herself anxious, low-spirited, and a prey to innumerable misgivings lest evil should befall him. On one evening in particular, when he returned full twenty minutes later than he should have done, she felt so convinced that " dreadful trotting-mare " had by some means compassed his destruction, that she received him with a gentle shower of tears, which of course he kissed away, as he whispered that very soon she would be his dear little wife, and then nothing should part them even for an hour ; and Alice smiled through her tears as she thought how, with every taste and feeling in common, they should trip gaily along the pathway of life, hand in hand, like a conjugal couple of Siamese twins. Dreams! pretty Alice, dreams ! which many a young girl's loving heart has framed ere this, only to awaken to a far different reality, and weep over the depai-ture of such bright illusions. But there was not much time for di'eaming or romance at the AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 89 Grangre, for the " fatal day " came nearer and nearer witli alarming velocity, until at last it actually arrived ; and everybody was in such a state of excitement, that an uninitiated spectator might have imagined the whole household, instead of merely one member of it, was going to be married. As every one expected a most fatiguing day, of course no one slept a wink during the previous night ; and as the match was in every way most desirable, and Alice enjoyed as fair a prospect of happiness as those who loved her best could wish her, of course all the women, the moment it was light, indulged in the feminine luxury of " a hearty cry " ; after which libation to sensibility, they set to woi'k in real earnest to dress themselves and each other as becomingly as they possibly could. On the bride's dressing-table was found a set of pearl ornaments, supposed by the learned in such matters to have cost at least ^£500, together with a slip of paper, representing Mr. Crane's best Avishes for her happiness ; which piece of generosity Alice thoiight very amiable and pretty of him, as indeed it was. Kate (wearing a splendid bracelet, giver unknown) and Emily were to be bridesmaids, and four of the prettiest bosom friends the bride possessed made up the team. These six susceptible young creatures turned out in light blue, and very nice they looked, only (as Master Tom, reprieved for a week from Eton in order to be present at the ceremony, observed) they did not step well together — a deficiency for which he accounted by remarking that his cousin Kate carried her head so high, without a bearing rein, and had such grand action, that it naturally made the other girls look rather screwy ; and indeed Master Tom's descriptive powers so far exceed our ovra, that we shall violate confidence by availing ourselves of a letter he despatched the next morning to one of his friends at Eton in which he gave his own impressions of the eventful day. It ran as follows : — " Dear Tipsbt, — If this blessed hot weather does not make dripping of a fellow prematurely, you will have an opportunity of weeping on the affectionate bussim of ' Yoiirs, truly,' by the 5 p.m. train on Monday next. The cause of my shirking a week is not, as you impertinently insinuate, my having ' over-goosebeiTied myself,' but the no less alarming fact that my eldest sister has been and gone and committed matrimony, and I have waited to see her tiu-ned off. The ' shocking event ' arrived at a climax (that's grammar, ain't it ?) yesterday. I rose with the lark (i.e. Arthur, my big brother, came and dragged me out of bed at seven o'clock), and dressed myself. Yes, I should think I did — rather ! Kerseymere sit-upons, made precious loose in the leg, and with a large pink check on a lavender ground — stunnin ! satin vest, colours to sympathize ; silk necktie, pink gi-ound, lavender jDattem, once round— ends at least a quarter of a yard long, and such a bow ! — there's high art for you, my boy ! — and last, not least, real Oxford bang-tail coatee (none of your blackguard boys' jackets), bright blue, with only two buttons and buttonholes about it, and all sorts of jolly pockets in original places ; but, don't fret. 90 HARRY CO VERB ALE'S COURTSHIP you shall see it. Well, to return to our mutton, as the French say : very few showed at early breakfast, sensibilities superseding' appetites in a general way, though I can't say I perceived much difference as regarded number one : yet, when I come to think of it, I recollect I only eat three eggs ; but then the ham was a real brick. Nothing particular occurred till we were to go to church ; but when the traps came round, you may fancy there was something to look at. My brother-in-law, Coverdale— oh. Tips, he really is a fine fellow, as handsome as fun^cau ride anything you like to put him across — a dead shot — A 1 with his fists ('gad, I should be sorry to get even a left-hander from him), and as good-tempered and jolly as a cock; but you shall see him some day : well, he came up with his own horses, a pair of blood bays, he gave ^350 for 'em, and they're dii-t cheap at the money; he is a first-rate judge of a horse : but I'll tell you all about the traps when we meet. Then down came the girls; Ally (that's my eldest sister) was smothered with veils, and flounces, and pearls, and that sort of nonsense ; and looked precious pale and interesting, and like to blub; so we bundled her into the family- coach, and Coverdale jumped into his own trap, and away we all scuttled to church. We've got a good, sharp parson, that can go the pace slap up when he likes ; and, knowing that the chami)agne was waiting for him, he put the harness on 'em in no time; and the women did the water-cart business in style — where all their tears came from I can't think — but they laid the diTst beautifully. Then there was signing names in the vestry, and a lot of chaff about kissing the bride, which so upset that muff. Lambkin, the parson's apprentice (curate, I suppose, is what they call the chap), that he fairly turned tail and bolted. Next, we all bundled home again; Ally in Coverdale's trap this time (and precious handsome he looked, as he handed her in, I can tell you) ; and then came the ' crowning mercy ' (as Lambkin said in his sermon last Sunday), the wedding breakfast. The governor had done the thing well for once in his life, I will say that for the old boy. There were all the delicacies of all the four seasons (one only Avished one had four stomachs, like a camel, to pay them i^roper attention : though I didn't do badly, in spite of my mono-stomachic conformation). Then the champagne; — my dear Tips, I am not iising a mere figure of rhetoi-ic when I say the supply was unlimited ; — how much I drank I literally cannot tell, but, in mentioning the affair to inquiring friends, you had better restrict your statement to half-a-dozen bottles — as a general rule, a gentleman should not take more on such occasions — it is not every man who possesses my strength of head and self-control. I sat next to one of the bridesmaids, — " ' A little, laughing fairy thing, Just like an angel on the wing ; ' A rosebud 'neath the moon's pale ring A playful zephyr, whispering Some secret to the early Si)ring. As Tennyson has it— stunning poet, Tennyson ! At first my AND ALL THAT CAIVIE OF IT 91 modesty prevented my fretting on witli lier quite as fast as I could have wished ; in fact, till after my foiu-th glass of champagne, I had not gone beyond asking if she liked roast chicken, and saying ' Bless yon,' when she sneezed ; which I have since thought might not be quite etiquette, for she certainly looked surprised. However, ' in vino jollitas,' as Cicero says ; after imbibing the ' rosy,' I went ahead like beans, and I flatter myself — ahem!— made a very con- siderable impression ; but then recollect the expense with which I was got up ! the woman who could look on that bang-tail coatee with indifference must be a heartless tigi-ess. At all events, Juliana Georgina (sweet, poetical name ! ain't it, Tips P) didn't ; and if my mother invites her here dm-ing the Christmas holidays — which, betwixt you and me and the post, is not impossible — I should not be surprised if the affair were to assume quite a serious complexion. It is some time since I have experienced what the mounseers call a ' grande passion.' When the pai-ty generally had pitched into the gi-ub, till the powers of nature were forced to ci-y 'Hold, enough !' (though, for my part, I don't think one's bread-basket does by any means hold enough on such occasions) everybody drank everybody's health, and everyl^ody returned thanks. My brother-in-law. Cover- dale, made a stunning speech, the best that was made, by long odds ; though Master Arthur didn't disgrace his profession in the jawing line either. The governor did the ])athetic and paternal ; but it was precious slow, and all his jokes old ones. Mr. Crane (he's a rich old buffer that was nibbling after Ally, but it wasn't likely she'd have anything to say to him when she'd a chance of taking such a trump- card as my brother-in-law, Coverdale, into her hand) followed in the benevolent and philanthropic line ; but he made a regular mull of it, worse than the daddy ; and when they'd done making fools of them- selves, the sitting broke up, and my brother-in-law and Alice started for the Continent. And the last thing before they were off. Cover- dale, while he was waiting in the hall for his wife (women are always too late for everything) , tipped me a flimsy to the time of ten pounds, and told me not to forget I was to come to the Park in the hunting- season, and he'd take care to find me a good mount ; but if ever there was a real brick, my brother-in-law Coverdale is the identical article, and no mistake. And that this is a full, true, and pai-ticular account of this wonderful wedding, sayeth and attesteth, " Tours, in the bonds of jollity, "Tom Hazlehurst." " P.S. — Advice to cricketers ! Mind your batting, old fellow ; for I've been put up to some first-rate bowling dodges by my brother-in- law, Coverdale (he's one of the top-sawyers at Lord's), that will send your stumps flying about your ears, if you don't mind your eye. Yerbum sat. slow-coachici ! " 92 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP CHAPTER XYII. PLOTTING AND COUNTER-PLOTTING. The same post-bag in whicli Tom Hazlelmrst despatched liis letter to liis schoolfellow, conveyed also two other epistles written by inmates of the Grange. For the reader's benefit we will take the same liberty with them, which we have already taken with the Etonian's literary effusion. The first was from Kate Marsden to Miss Arabella Crofton, a lady some three or fom* years older than herself, who had been one of the teachers at the school at which Kate had been brought up, and was now governess in a German family. Miss Crofton was a woman of unusual mental ability, and having in a great degree moulded Kate's character, was now her sole confidante and mentor. It ran thus : — " Dear Arabella, — Since I finally determined on following your advice, fate seems to have played my game for me, and I now consider it as secure as anything which has not actually come to pass can be. I told jo\i, when I wrote to yon at Baden-Baden, that his friend, Mr. Coverdale, and my cousin Alice, were evidently becoming attached ; you will, therefore, be the less surprised to hear that they were man'ied yesterday ; the matter came about thus : — Soon after I wrote to you, Mr, Crane, by my advice, offered ; Alice of course refused him, but so equivocally (she is quite a child in such things) that the poor, dear, dull creature scarcely caught her meaning. I immediately took him in hand, and, availing myself of the situation, flattered his vanity to such a degree, that ere the evening finished he believed not only that Alice would accept him, but that I, Kate Marsden, was hopelessly in love with him. Accordingly, when he learned unmistakably next morning that Alice meant to refuse him, my good taste stood out in very favourable contrast. In the mean- time, Mr. Crane's offer brought Mr. Coverdale to the point, and Alice gladly accepted him, in doing which she acted wisely, for he is a good, amiable, sterling man ! and when the romance has worn off, and they have got over the bore of awakening from ' Love's yoimg di'eam,' I believe they will settle down into a very happy couple. My uncle at first refused his consent, for Coverdale has only five, instead of twenty thousands a year ; and Mr. Crane sulked in a comer ; but that strange Mr. D'AImayne, about whom I told you before, and who possesses a degi'ee of influence over Mr. Crane of which I by no means approve, went to him, and persuaded him not only to give up Alice good-humoiiredly, but actually to play a generous part, and talk my AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 93 uncle over to give his consent to my cousin's union with Mr. Cover- dale. Thus, you see, as I began by saying, my game was played for me, and I had only to sit still and avail myself of the moves as the others made them . " I am miich puzzled by this Mr. D'Almayne. He is, unless I am much deceived, a complete adventurer, scheming for his own advan- tage (I ought to be able to recognize such a character) ; but what his object can have been in this affair I cannot jDossibly conjecture. Pure philanthropy had nothing to do with it, of that I am certain. Again, how he contrived to influence Mr. Crane to behave so amiably I cannot conceive. Sometimes I fancy he has divined my intention of mai-rying the millionaire ; but if so, why should he aid me in my project ? — for I know by his manner (although he is very cautious) that he admires me himself. Certain it is, that since the conversa- tion I have alluded to, Mr. Crane has been at my feet, and is only waiting to offer till he imagines time enough shall have elapsed to prevent the transfer of his affections (?) from Alice to me appearing too ridiculous. However, the affair will unravel itself some day. And now that my plans are likely to be crowned with success, you will ask me how I feel on the subject. Determined as ever ! that which I have begun I will carry through ; but, Arabella, I am most miserable ! For myself alone I should not care ; to rescue my family from poverty, I should be happy to sacrifice my personal hopes and wishes ; but to see Arthur suffer is indeed bitterness, and tbat he does suffer frightfully, I, who can read his every look and gesture, cannot for a moment doubt. Oh, that I had known the depth and reality of his affection sooner, or that the necessity were less cogent ! Then he bears it with such manly endurance! his manner to his family is exactly the same as i;sual ; not one of them suspects that anything has occurred to pain him. Again, it is such an aggrava- tion of my sorrow that he blames me so deeply ! Sometimes, when I am talking to Mr. Crane, I catch his stem, penetrating glance fixed upon me -svith a calm earnestness of rebuke, which affects me more deeply than covild the most vehement reproaches ; and when I have acted my part for the day, and, in the solitude of my chamber, I recall all that has passed between us, and reflect that it is I who have brought this sorrow upon him — I who even now feel that I love him better than my own soul — I who woidd gladly have died for him, I sit, night by night, like a cold statue of despair, or lie sleepless, shedding such tears as I trust God's mercy permits not to flow quite in vain ! Tet it is my duty — you know, you cannot doubt for a moment, it is my duty — you could never have dared to counsel such a sacrifice of the only thing which can make the biu'den of life en- durable, a real, deep, trae affection, if you had not felt certain it was my duty. '■ You have set me a ci'uel task, Arabella, but I do not flinch from it; you shall find your pupil worthy the trouble you have bestowed upon her. I shall write again when anything conclusive is settled. 94 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP If all .?oes well. I shall be in a position to fulfil my old promise, and offer you a Lome on yonr return to England. Would to God it were likely to be a happier, though a humbler one ! But that is past now. Farewell. " Yoiu's, in many senses of the word. " Kate Maksden." The third epistle was from Horace D'Almayne to a friend and ally in Paris. We transcribe it verbatim :— " Alphonse. mon CHER, — I enclose you a draft for 3000 francs, wherewith I beg you to satisfy CaiTcau, the tailor ' et tous les autres brigands,' who render Paris an unsafe residence for me. Ton will naturally ask how I have obtained the money ; not at the gaming-table, nor on the highway, like Claud Duval. Rail- roads and police have freed England from highwaymen. No; I have for the present filled my purse by studying the great game of life; in which, like all other games, you must either pillage, or be pillaged. You and I, men of wit and of action, naturally belong to the former class, and have meritoriously laboured to fulfil our destiny. Since I have been in England this time, I have seditiously cultivated the millionaire I introduced to you last season, whose pocket you so obligingly relieved of .£500 at piquet. I made a bad bargain there in only claiming one-third of the spoil; I should have demanded half, for without my assistance you could have done nothing with him ; but I understand them, these cautious islanders, some of their blood runs in my veins — my mother, as you know, having been an Englishwoman. However, the time spent on my millionaire has turned out a more profitable investment than I at all calculated upon. He is a weak, vacillating character, one of those feeble-minded mortals who always require some intelligence stronger than their own to lean upon. This support he has found in your humble servant; and so convinced has he become of my diplomatic powers, that just at present he can do nothing without my approval and sanction. His great object in life is to marry, and it is to assist him in obtaining a wife that my counsel is required. When I first anived here, I found he was dangling after a charming little country girl, the daiighter of a landed proprietor, in these parts. I soon discovered that the said proprietor, for mercenary reasons, desired the match ; but with the young lady I could do nothing. I gave her the fuU benefit of my eyes, which, as you know, are not wont to look in vain; but it was no use — even 'les petites moustaches noires,' iisually so in-esistible, were thi-own away upon her; nor had friend Crane's ,£20,000 per annum ("mon Dieu, Alphonse, quelle somme merveilleuse ! ') any more effect upon her. But I soon found a clue to her obduracy — the silly child was enamoured of her brother's friend, a fox-hunting squire, a true specimen of young John Bull. I saw how the game would go, John Bull returned her affection; he is a real type of his class. Rich, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 95 oTjstinate, and impetuous, he was resolved to maiTy tlie pretty rustic ; she was equally determined ; her brother befriended him ; the thing was to be, so I arranged my hand accordingly. There is in the family a ' belle cousme ' — such a splendid creature, Alphonse ! beautiful as an angel, the contour of a Juno, the port of an empress. She has tact and talent ! a soul of fire beneath an exterior of ice ; she is poor and ambitious. I could not have hoped to find one better suited to my purpose. She shall marry Crane ; his purse will be in her hands ; he will become her slave ; and, Alphonse, she shall be mine ! Do you doubt my success, ' mon ami ' ? Bah ! the game is as simple as child's play. She is young, ardent ; she will marry an old man to satisfy her ambition — she will despise him. Her heart will pine for an object on which to lavish its tenderaess ; I shall present myself, become her friend, her counsellor — and the result ? Oh, you cannot doubt it. So I have pulled the strings, and my marionettes have danced and are dancing. My millionaire offered — the little rustic refused him. While he was smarting from this insult, I suggested to him that ' la belle coxisine ' pined for love of him ; praised her wit and beauty ; and advised him to revenge himself by transferring his attentions to her. The bait took ; I worked out all the minor incidents admirably ; the young fox-hunter has married the pretty rustic, and taken her out of my way yesterday. The lovely Kate, playing her own game, laboui's indefatigably for my interest also. My friend Crane is delighted, and shows his gi'atitude by tirging me to borrow money of him — (I have mort- gaged my farm in Brittany to him for sis ;times its value ; when the three prior claims upon it are satisfied, and he brings forward his, this fact will surprise him, and teach him prudence for the future) — I avail myself of his liberality with caution, for I must not cut up my golden goose too quickly. But it is well to have more than one resource to rely upon; so if your rich young German countess should resolve on visiting England, send me timely notice. I feel that my star is in the ascendant. Cher Alphonse, wish your friend the success which should reward talent, in the use of which you have so well instnicted your devoted " Horace." 96 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP CHAPTER XYIII. Alice's first introduction to her husband's " quiet MANNER." If our readers, gentle or simple, will obligingly sti-etch their imagina- tions sufficiently to depict for tliemselves the happiness of Alice and Harry during the first month of their married life, popularly denominated the honeymon, and be content to permit us to resume oru- office of clu-onicler at the termination of that mellifluous (though to all but the parties concerned, especially insipid) season, the readers aforesaid will merit our eternal gratitude, which we hereby beg to present them with. Alice and Harry, then, having been married one calendar month, dm-ing which i^eriod they had been " up " the Rhine, and one or two of the Swiss mountains — having seen a great many strange things and strange people — having talked a vast amount of bad French and worse German, and narrowly escaped an attack of cholera from listen- ing to the dissonance of that arch-delusion the " Ranz-des-Vaches " — having eaten such wonderfid articles, cooked in such wonderful fashion, that if the genus Bimana were not providentially omnivorous, they would infallibly have been poisoned — having travelled overland and water by every species of conveyance known to the annals of locomotion, except iDerhaps a balloon, or the back of an elephant — had at length made their way to Paris ; and as the inhabitants of that skittish and inconstant capital were then figuratively patting each other on the back, by way of congratulation on the fortunate accident which had preserved those that remained alive after the latest revolution from having shot each other through the head, our bride and bridegi'oom, established in a comfortable hotel, had de- termined to remain there till such time as they should mutually agree upon for their retiirn to England. For, be it observed, that enough of the halo of the honeymoon yet lingered around this young couple, to keep them in the misty delusion that they possessed but one " will of their own " between them. They had yet to leam that there is a higher, truer, nobler state of association to be arrived at even here on earth — a state in which we recognize the deep happiness of being inivileged to sacrifice ovir own desires to those of the being we love better than om-selves. A logician may stigmatize this as merely a refined iDhase of selfishness ; but it is such selfishness as might cling to us in heaven, and we yet remain sinless. Be this as it may, Alice, who had never been abroad before, found eveiy pleasui-e enhanced by the charm of novelty, and was in a perfect Elysium of AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 97 happy excitement. Harry had seen and done it all, and a great deal more besides ; and would have found it a bore, only it was sufficient amusement to him to watch his young wife's delight at all she saw and heard. Whether this amusement of watching, petting, and spoiling Alice was at all beginning to lose its charm, may be gathered from the following conversation : — " Harry, you sleepy old thing, this is the third time I've asked you whether Madame de Beauville is certain of getting us an in- vitation to Lord N 's picnic at Versailles ; do rouse yourself and answer me ! " Thus apostrophized, Coverdale — who was stretched at full length on (and beyond) a brocaded sofa, and had been lazily watching his wife, as with a vast deal of imnecessary energy, she stitched away at a button, which, according to button nature, had " come ofE " her husband's glove the very first moment he attempted to draw it on — half -raised himself on his ell^ow as he replied, — " There is nothing certain under the sim, except that my little wife has the prettiest hand and arm of any woman (I don't care who she may be — Jew, Turk, infidel, heretic, or Christian) in the known world. But that old humbug, Madame de Beauville, promised me faithfully to do her best for us — not that I'd believe her on her oath ; she tried to book me for one of her scraggy daughters, the last time I was here ; but it wouldn't act — the trap was too visible, and the bait not sufficiently tempting. What very high action you have with that needle-hand of yours ! you'll overreach yourself, or get sprained in the back sinews, some of these days, if you don't look out." "I will not allow you to ' talk stable ' in that way, sir," returned Alice, playfully shaking her finger at her reciimbent spouse ; " you shall not go to the picnic at all, you naughty boy, unless you behave better. Come, get up," she continued, " if you lie dovm again you'll be asleep in a minute ; you're so idle, you're actually growing fat! " " Nonsense, you don't really mean it ! " exclaimed Harry, springing up with a bound which shook the room, and startled Alice so much that she dropped the glove, needle, thread, button, and all, pricking her finger into the bargain. " By Jove," he continued, regarding himself anxiously in a large pier-glass, "so I am! I tell you what, Mrs. Coverdale, this is getting serious, and must be put a stop to ! " "My dearest Harry, how dreadfully impetuous you are!— you've made me jump so, that I've dropped my work, and been and gone and pricked my favourite finger, as you say in your horrid slang — look!" So saying, the pretty Alice pouted like a spoilt child, as she then most assuredly was, and held iip the injured finger to excite her husband's commiseration. When a proper degree of pity had been shown, and the necessary amount of matrimonial felicity transacted, Alice resumed : " What a dreadfully conceited fellow you are, to be so alarmed at growing fat ! Are you afraid of losing yom- beauty ? " " My how much ? " was the astonished reply. " What funny ideas H 98 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP do come into a woman's head, to be sure! Why, you silly child, do you think I ever set up for a ' beauty ' man ? or care two straws what I look like ? Such follies are very well for got up puppies, like Horace D'Almayne ; but they're not in my line." " I'm sure you're fifty times as handsome as Mr. D'Almayne," was Alice's ea^ev rejoinder ; " but," she continued reflectively, " if you are not afraid of your good looks, why are you so horrified at the idea of growing fat ? " Harry coloured slightly, and tried to evade the question ; but his wife's curiosity being by this time excited, was not so easily baffled, and Ooverdale had nothing for it but to confess the truth, which he did thus : — " Well, if you must know, little Avife, I've a bay colt by Fencer out of a Harkaway mare, and a chestnut filly by Hercules out of Bullfinch, both rising five (I refused 600 guineas for the pair of 'em a year ago), which I expect to do most of my work with next hunting season ; but as they're both young unmade horses, I would not ride over twelve stone for anything ; nothing cows a young horse more than overweighting him at starting." " Oh, Harry ! " exclaimed Alice reproachfully, " I thought you meant to give up hunting now — I'm sure you said so when you were , that is, before we were married. Why, you -would be away from me more than half the day every time you went out ! besides, it's so dangerous ! Oh, no ; you may go shooting sometimes, and I can ride a pony and mark for you, as I used to do with papa and Arthur, but you must not hunt." " And can't you ride and see the hounds throw off, darling ? It's one of the prettiest sights in the world. The first thing I mean to do when we get back, is to buy jow a perfect lady's horse ; something rather different from that brute j^oor old Crane gave you." " Then you won't promise to give up hunting, you naughty boy — not even when I ask you to do so to please me ? " And, confident in her own power, the young wife cast a look, half- imploring, half-commanding on her lord and master, which he would have fovind it no easy matter to resist to a degree Avhich should vindicate his right to such a title, when the opportune entrance of the valet, with a packet of letters, extricated him from his dilemma. " A note from Madame de Beauville, containing an invitation to the picnic !— how delightful ! " exclaimed Alice, appealing for sympathy to her better half ; but he was engaged in perusing the following epistle, which, owing to the peculiarities both of diction, writing, and spelling, it was not too easy to decipher : — "HoNOUiiED SuR,— I remain your humbel survunt and gaim- keepur as wos, John Markum, whech I would not 'ave intruded on you injoying of yourself in furring parts as is most fit. having married a beutiful yung English lady, as they do tell me, and the darter of Squire Hazlehurst likewise ; which having caused a many things to go AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 99 rong at home, I thort you wovild be glad to hear on it, and so rite, which I 'ope is no offence, the same being unintenshonal on my part ; but the new stewart is agoin on oudacious, a ordering of me to kill gaim for him to sell, which, refusing to do, agin your ordurs, Honoured Sur, and he putting the money in his durty pocket, savin your presents, am discharged with four small childring, and a little stranger expected, which would have been welcome, but now must be a birding on the parish with his poor mother; which, knowin Honoured Sur, as injustice to unborn innocents is not in your line, nor in that of any gents but dishonest stewarts spoken agen in Scriptiu', I umbly takes the liberty of trustin in Providence, which supports his poor mother agen the thorts of workous baby-linen, that hangs heavy on a woman accustomed to wash for the family and keep herself respectabul ; so do not give up all hope of seeing you home. Honoured Sur, before every bed of gaim is destroyed, in which case Mr. stewart may lurn that honesty is the best politics arter all ; and so remain, " Your humbel survunt to commarnd, " John Markum." "P.S. — The I'abbids is agoin to town in the carriiu*'s cart, frightful, likewise the peasants." " My dearest HaiTy, there is to be a ' bal costum^ after the picnic, and that kind Madame de Beauville sends us tickets for both ! How charming ! " exclaimed Alice, so engrossed in her pleasant anticipa- tions that she had not observed the gloom gathering upon her husband's brow, and was, therefore, quite unprepared when he broke out suddenly, — " 'Pon my word, it's enough to drive a man distracted ! the moment one turns one's back everything goes to — —Ahem ! — Here's a scoundrel, who lived eight years with Lord FlashiiJan, and who came to me with a character fit for a bishop, and now he's not only selling my game by cart-loads, but has actually dared to discharge Markum ! — as honest, trustworthy a fellow, and as good a keeper as man need to require. Oh, if I was but near him with a horse-whip, I wouldn't mind paying for the assault ! I'd give him something to remember Harry Coverdale by — he might thank his stars if I didn't break every bone in his skin. And that poor fellow Markum turned out, and all his little curly-headed brats, too— that makes me as mad as any of it ! " He strode wp and down the room angrily, his wife watching him in terrified amazement. At length he exclaimed abruptly, " Alice, my dear, we must start for England to-moiTow morning ! " " But the picnic and the ' bal costume,' Harry, dearest, do not come off till the day after that ; and Madame de Beauville has just sent me tickets for them both ! " urged his wife, timidly. " I'm sorry, my love, that it should have happened so, but go we must," was the unyielding reply. 100 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " But Madame de Beauville has taken so miicli trouble, and been so kind," miimanred Alice. " The devil fly away with the old hag and her kindness too ! " was the angry rejoinder. " I wish to heaven she'd attend to her own afEairs, and not try to inspire you with a taste for dissipation. How- ever, there is a quiet way of settling this question : if you choose to stay and go to this partj^ stay ; and when I've been to Coverdale, and settled scores with that rascal Cribbins, I'll come back and fetch you ; so please yourself." Poor Alice ! this was her first experience of Harry's " qiiiet way " ; the implied indifference was more than she could bear, and miu'mur- ing, in a broken voice, " Do you wish to leave me already ! " she burst into a flood of tears. Of course, that settled the question. Harry called himself a brute, and thought he was one, and felt as if he could have cried too, when he saw the bright drops glistening in Alice's soft, loving eyes, and so set himself to work in earnest to console her ; and succeeded to such an extent that ere a quarter of an hour had elapsed, Alice pronounced herself to be a silly child, and wondered how she could have been so foolish as to cry because Harry, the kindest and most affectionate of husbands, had evinced his just indignation on learning how the miscreant Cribbins had tyrannized over the faithful and unfortunate Markum, and his dear little interesting, curly-pated family. Then, as a personal favour to herself, she begged Harry would let her give up the picnic, and stai-t for England next morning ; she would be quite ready to go at five a.m., or earlier, if he wished it. To which Harry replied that nothing should induce him to deprive her of a pleasure he knew she had set her heart on ; that a French picnic and ' bal costume ' were things she could never see in England, and that as they were there it would be really a pity not to avail themselves of so good an opportunity ; and he begged she would instantly sit down and write his thanks, as well as her own, to that thoroughly friendly, kind-hearted woman, Madame de Beauville. "While Alice was thus engaged, Hari-y took pen in hand, and dashed off a hurried epistle to Arthur, begging him to run down to Coverdale Park by the next train, and in his name cashier Cribbins, and re- instate the ill-used Markum, and his much-enduring wife, if possible, before the arrival of the expected little sti'anger should add another small item to his embaiTassments. The picnic was a very gay one, and the ' bal costume ' all that Alice's " fancy had painted it," — and a few over, as her slang husband was pleased to express it. The young couple went dressed as Romeo and Juliet. Hari-y, if left to himself, would have chosen a clown's suit of motley ; but Alice considered the romantic preferable to the ridiculous, and so he yielded ; though it must be confessed that he afforded the most stalwart, robust, and cheerful representation of the forlorn Veronese lover that can well be imagined. Alice (although she also would have looked the part better if her damask cheek had ^^ AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 101 not glowed quite so brio-litly witli health and happiness) made an extremely fascinating? little Juliet, and produced a sensation which delighted her husband, and bid fair to turn her own pretty head. The ' bal ' and picnic being safely accomplished, and Alice pei-ceiving that, although he did not again openly broach the subject, Han-y's thoughts Avere continually wandering to Coverdale Park, pretended (like a loving little hypocrite as she was) that she also began to feel home-sick ; and that, although Paris was all very charming and agreeable for a little while, she should be very sorry to stay there long. Thus, the day of their departure was fixed, so that Harry should be enabled to reach home before the first of September — as Alice (choosing the lesser of two evils) meant to encourage his shoot- ing (occasionally for a few hours), as a bribe to induce him to give up that senseless and dangerous pastime, hunting ; and she actvially believed that her influence could accomplish all this — dear, innocent little Alice. On the morning before they were to start, a letter arrived from the Grange. Alice read it eagerly. " Oh, Harry ! " she exclaimed, " what do you think Emily tells me ? What a strange, extraordinary, wretched thing ! — it seems quite impossible ! " " What is it, little ,wife ? " returned Harry. " Has your father turned free-trader, and invited Messrs. Cobden and Bright to stay with him ; or has Arthur been made Lord Chancellor ? " " Something almost as wonderful," was the rejoinder. " Mr. Crane has f»roposed for my cousin Kate's hand and she has positively accepted him ! " " And a vei-y sensible thing too," replied Harry, who, leaning over the back of his wife's chair, was wickedly and surreptitiotisly attaching an ornamental pen-wiper to the end of one of her long, silky ringlets ; " I dare say, now, you're bitterly repenting your own folly in having allowed her the chance." Alice, turning her head quickly to administer condign punish- ment for this speech, by a tug at her lord and master's ample whiskers, became aware of the scheme laid against her unconscious ringlet by reason of a twitch, which Harry, unprepai'ed for her sudden movement, was unable to avoid giving it. " You silly boy ! what are you doing to me ? oh ! you've tied a liori'id thing to my pet curl ; take it off directly, sir ! But seriously, now, about Kate ; — dearest Harry — do be sensible, please, and let me talk to you." This exhortation was called forth by the fact of the incon-igible Coverdale having placed the pen-wiper — which was a sort of cross between a three-barrelled cocked hat and an improbable pyramid — on the top of his wife's head, just where the cross-roads in the parting of her hair occurred. " Talk away, darling ; I'm about as sensible as it's at all likely yoii'll ever find me," was the reply. " Well, don't you really and truly think it very shocking that such 102 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP a girl as Kate — so clever and handsome, so unusually superior in every point — should throw herself away upon that silly old man, whom she cannot even respect ? " rejoined Alice. *' If I must speak the plain truth," replied Harry, " I should say that a girl who could make such a sacrifice of her own free will isn't worth pitying for it ; she must be both mercenary and ambitious — serious faults in a man, but positive vices in a woman, because in yielding to them she is sinning against all the better instincts of her nature : for such a character I can feel no sympathy." " But indeed, Harry, she is not such a dreadful heartless creature as yoii imagine her : at least, she never used to be. On the contrary, when we wei'e all children together, she was rather high-flown and romantic. It was during the time that she was at school, and xmder the care of a horrid woman, a Miss Crofton — " '* A Miss how mvich ? " inquired Harry. " Miss Crofton." " What was her Christian name ? " continued Hany. "Arabella," was the reply. " By Jove ! did you ever see her ? Was she a tall, dark-looking ci'eature, with great flashing eyes like a gi^Dsy's ? " "Yes, that is an exact description of her," returned Alice, in surprise ; " but why do you ask ? What do you know of her?" " No good," returned HaiTy, mysteriously, shaking his head ; " but never mind, go on." " I was only going to say that I feel sure Kate must have some better reason than a mere wish to become a great lady, to induce her to marry Mr. Crane. Tou know her father and mother are very poor, and she has several younger brothers and sisters ; perhaps she wishes to help them." " I dare say she does," replied Hany, turning away to conceal a yawn ; " nobody is all bad, any more than they are all the other thing. Characters are like zebras — alternate stripes of black and white ; the only difference is, that in some one colour predominates, in some the other." There was a pause, then in a lower voice Alice resumed, " Harry, did it ever occur to you (of course, I do not want you to betray con- fidence even to me), but did you ever suspect that Arthur was attached to Kate ? " " Never in my life," was the unhesitating reply. " Arthur always laughed the tender passion, as he used to call it, to scorn." " I felt almost certain it was so," continued Alice ; " but I most earnestly hope, for his sake, that I was mistaken ; if not, only con- ceive how wretched this engagement will make him ! " " Judging by my own feelings, when I fancied you had accepted the in-esistible cotton-spinner," returned Coverdale, " I should say that Prometheus, who had a perennial vulture making ' no end ' of a meal on his liver (which I take to be simply a metaphorical method AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 103 of stating that the unfortunate Titan was afflicted with hepatic disease), was, by comparison, 'a gentleman who lived at home at ease.' " " I used to fancy sometimes," pvirsued Alice, " that Kate returned his afPection ; but she was so reserved, and her manner was always so calm and self-possessed, that it was impossible to judge, with any degree of certainty, what her feelings might be. However, this settles the point so far as she is concerned ; if she had really cared about him, she could never have consented to marry Mr. Crane." " Hum ! well I don't know that," returned Han-y meditatively ; " it is not all women who have such simple, true, loving hearts as you, my own darling; and a pupil of Arabella Crof ton's may very well be capable of loving one man and marrying another." " Why, how came you to know anything aboiit Miss Crofton, Harry ? " exclaimed Alice, her curiosity being thoroughly roused by her husband's second allusion to some previous acquaintance with her cousin's ci-devant governess. " I met her in Italy, if you must know," returned Coverdale. " She lived as governess in a family where I visited, and I saw a good deal of her at one time." There was something so odd and conscious in his manner of speaking, that Alice exclaimed, " She fell in love with you, I am certain of it. Come, confess now that I am right." " Do you think that every woman must needs be as foolish as yourself, you silly child ? " was the iincomijlimentary reply. " I can assure you, Miss Crofton is as utterly unlike you in tastes, habits, and opinions, as she is in person ; and that is a pretty considerable assertion, I take it. And now it is time for you to get ready for our last drive in the Bois de Boulogne, and I must go out and buy a clean pair of gloves ; so for ten minutes I shall wish yovi an affec- tionate farewell." Thus saying, Harry quitted the apartment ; and Alice, going to prepare for her drive, forgot, for the time, her husband's mysterious intimacy with Miss Crofton — it occurred to her afterwards, indeed, when , but we must not anticipate. The next morning saw them ' en route.' As they were about to embark at Boulogne, a sensation was created, at the hotel at which they waited till the tide served for the packet to start, by the arrival of a travelling carriage drawn by four horses, with a lady inside, and her soubrette, and an out- landish, courier-like creature in the rumble. " By Jove ! " exclaimed Harry, who, ensconced behind a window- curtain, had been examining the turn out with all the interest with which a position of enforced idleness invests every trifle. "By the powers, there's a foreign coronet on the carriage, and ditto on Don Whiskerando's buttons ! I wonder what she is like ! Young and pretty, by all that is interesting and romantic ! I dare say she is going to cross in the same boat as we are. Yes ! Whiskerandos is gesticulating and explaining, and the landlord waves his hand in the 104 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP direction of tlie pier. Now comes the bore of being a married man : wliat a splendid adventure I am shut out from ! If I were but single, an opportunity now offers of captivating a lovely and accom- plished foreign countess, with a dowi-y of diamonds in her di'essing- box, and a gold mine in her precious pocket : there's a good opening for a nice young man ! " " Pray avail yourself of it," retin*ned Alice. " Don't let me be any obstacle ; carry off the countess, and I will remain behind with that noble creature whom yoti style Don Whiskerandos. I prefer him infinitely to you, he is so like a very well-trained baboon." Harry's conjecture that the mysterious countess meant to cross in the same vessel with himself and his wife proved correct ; for, scarcely had he seen Alice comfortably established on a snug bench, where, if the sea-fiend should be so uncourteous as to attack her, she could on an emergency lie down, when daintily tripped along the human chicken-ladder which connected the vessel with the shoi-e, the graceful, " bien chausse," little feet of the countess. Then ensued a grand scene. Whiskerandos either did not comprehend, or refused to comply with some demand of the hotel commissionaire, who had taken i;pon himself the charge of the baggage, and who accordingly resisted his conveying his mistress's luggage on board. Whiskerandos grimaced and chattered in a polyglot jargon, apparently compounded of every language imder heaven, and utterly incomprehensible to the deei^est philologist extant: the commissionaire was immovable. Whiskerandos implored — the commissionaire was deaf to his entreaties. Whiskerandos stormed — the commissionaire was inexorable. Whiskerandos, unable to endure his fate with calmness, went raving mad — he swore oaths so replete with improbable consonants that it is only a wonder they did not smash every tooth in his head ; he stamped, shrieked, clenched his fists, and shook them in the face of his adversary — in vain; the commissionaii'e remained adamant, and prepared actually to carry off the offending luggage. " Look at that ape," observed Harry to his wife, who was watching the scene, half in amusement, half in terror ; " he's going into sky- blue fits apparently : of all absurd sights an angry foreigner is the most ridiculous. Do you see his moustaches p^they actually stand on end with fury, like the hairs on the tail of an excited cat. But see, the Don appeals to his mistress ; the Countess will have to settle the affair ' in ])ropria iDcrsoua.' " This affair, however, was not to be arranged so easily ; for the inflexible commissionaire proved as deaf to the entreaties of the mistress as he had shown himself to the thi'eatenings of the man ; and the Countess, if countess she was, having remonstrated to no purpose in a gentle, timid voice, looked helplessly round, as though she would appeal to society at large to aid her in her difficulty. " Poor thing ! those men have frightened her ; she looks ready to cry ! " exclaimed Alice. " Harry, dear, do go and see if you cannot ^ AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 105 assist her — you iinderstancl how to manage those people so well ; besides, they always attend to a gentleman." Thus urged, Han-y crossed the deck, and Alice saw him take off his hat and address the interesting foreigner ; she bowed her head, and was evidently making a grateful answer ; then Harry turned to the disputants, who both assailed him with a volley of words, upon which he first silenced Whiskerandos, then he exchanged a few cabalistic sentences with the commissionaire, and slipped a talisman into his hand, whereupon, with the celerity of some harlequinade trick, he changed into an amiable, obliging creature, only too anxious to please everybody, and went olf, patting Whiskerandos on the back, and calling him a " brave gar? on," to assist with his own silver-absorbing fingers in conveying the Countess's luggage on board. Then the Countess overwhelmed Harry with thanks, and Harry smiled benignantly upon the Countess, and they " talked conversation " for a few minutes ; after which they both looked at Alice, and Harry with his best company manner on (which was merely his own natural manner brushed smooth), crossed over to her, "She is really a Countess," he began, " and a very charming, refined style of young woman too. She wants to be introduced to you, so come along." " But, Harry, dear, I shall break my neck, or tumble into the sea, if I attempt to walk ; just look how it's rolling about ! " remonstrated Alice, whose essentially terrestrial education had given her rather a horror of all nautical matters. " We'll fall in together then," returned Harry, laughing, " at all events don't let us fall out about it. Come along, littla wife, and trust yourself to me ; I've paced a vessel's deck when the sea's shown rather a different sort of surface from that which it wears to-day." As he spoke, he lalaced his arm I'ound his wife's slender waist, and half supported, half led her across the deck in safety. " What is her name, Harry ? " inquired Alice, as they were effect- ing the transit. " Bertha seems to be her Christian name— of course her surname is something unpronounceable and appalling ; but if you call her Countess Bei-tha that will do ; at all events, as long as our acquaint- ance with her is likely to last," was the reply. Alice having never before encountered a real, live Countess, felt a little shy at first; but the young foreigner's manner, which was perfectly easy without being too familiar, soon reassured her, and the two girls (for the Countess appeared little older than Alice) chatted away, at first in French, but when it came out that the stranger likewise understood English, in that language to their mutual satisfaction. But in about half an hour a breeze (not metaphorical, but literal) sprung up, and the Countess signified her wish to retire to the cabin, upon which Coverdale summoned her maid, and then assisted her to effect the desired change of locality. 106 HARRY COVERDALES COURTSHIP CHAPTER XIX. A COMEDY OF ERRORS. " There now, I consider I've done the polite in tlie first style of fashion and elegance," observed Harry, self-comf)lacently, as he rejoined his wife; " Horace D'Almayne himself could not have polished off the young woman more handsomely, for all his moustaches." " How you do hate that poor Mr. D'Almayne ! " retui-ned Alice, laughing. " Do you know, I think you are jealous of him." " I was once, and that's the truth — very savage it made me too ; for if you could have been fascinated by such a puppy as that, I felt I had mistaken your character ' in toto,' and that the Alice I loved was a creature of my own imagination, not a reality — but I soon saw my eiTor." Alice glanced at him archly. " Are you quite sure you did not fall into a greater mistake when you fancied yourself so certain of my indifference ? " she inquired. Harry fixed his eyes upon her with a look of inquiry, which, when he saw that she was joking, changed to an expression of tenderness ; — " I could not look in that dear face, where every thought can be read as in a book, and remain jealous for five minutes," he answered. Alice made no reply, unless placing her little hand in that of her husband, with a confiding gesture, can be called so. The wind continuing fresh, the unfortunate Countess did not re- appear ; but Coverdale and his wife, being so happily constituted that the tossing produced no ill-effects upon them, remained upon deck till the vessel reached Dover. Amid the scene of confusion attending the arrival of a steamer, Harry, having secured his luggage, was standing sentinel over a moderately-sized pyramid, which he had caused to be erected of the same, when Alice, then seated upon a large black trunk, which she had seduced her husband into buying in the Rue St. Honor<5, and which would very easily have held her, bonnet, cloak, and all, suddenly exclaimed, — " Oh, Harry ! do look at that yoimg exquisite who has just come on board : why he's the very moral, as the old women say, of the person we've been discvissing — Mr. D'Almayne ! " " By Jove, he's more than the moral ! " returned Coverdale, as the individual thus alluded to advanced towards them bowing and smiling, " it's the veritable Horace himself, I vow — talk of the devil—. My dear fellow, how are you? who'd have thought of seeing you AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 107 here ! You've not turned Custom-house ofl&cer, have you ? I've nothing contraband about me, except this morning's ' Galignani ' ; if you are inclined to make a seizure of that, you're very welcome." " You're nearer the mark than you imagine, my dear sir," was the reply ; " though not exactly a professional attache to the Customs, I must own that I am here as an amateur in that capacity — my object being to facilitate the transmission of a lady's luggage." " Yes P — how interesting ! I hope she's yoimg and pretty," observed Alice. " Come, Mr. D'Almayne, having let us so far into the secret, it's no use to affect the mysterious, so tell us who and where she is." " Where she is, perhaps you may be able to inform me, my dear Mrs. Coverdale," replied D'Almayne, smoothing his moustaches. " The object of my search is a young German lady, the Countess Bertha Von Rosenthal, to whom I have promised my friend, the Honourable Mrs. Botherby, to act as ' preux chevalier.' Accordingly I came down by train this morning, provided with an order from the Board of Customs to the people here to pass the Countess's luggage unexamined, and show her every attention which may facilitate her transit ; thence I am to escort her and her i)roperty to Park Lane ; by all which ' double, double, toil and trouble,' I secure an early introduction to, and confer a favour upon, a young and lovely heiress." " That's my Countess, as sure as fate ! " exclaimed Harry. " She said her name was Bertha " — and he then related to D'Almayne the circumstances with which the reader has already been made acquainted. " And," he continued in conclusion, as a female figure, leaning on the arms of the soubrette and Don Whiskerandos, emerged from the ladies' cabin—" and here she comes, looking rather poorly still — nothing of the v/ater-witch about her, at all events. Have you met before, or shall I introduce you ? " " Do, by all means, ' mon cher ' ; we are total strangers to each other," was the reply. And with an injunction to Alice to remain where she was till he should return, Harry seized D'Almayne's arm, and hurried him away. Before two minutes had elapsed, Coverdale returned alone. "It's all right," he said: "but come along; D'Almayne's order will clear our luggage also, and we can all get away together." Then ensued a grand scena of bustle and confusion, during which, supported by her husband's stalwart arm, Alice caught glimpses of D'Almayne smiling to show his white teeth, and striving vigorously to enact the part of guardian angel to the rich young heiress. " That puppy is in his glory now," observed Coverdale snap- pishly ; " I dare say that silly woman will take him at his own price, and believe in him to any extent to which he may like to lead her — perhaps marry him after all, and make him Count von Rosenthal : that would suit his complaint exactly, the fortune-hunting young humbug ! " 108 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " My dear Harry, what words ! " exclaimed Alice. " You are really quite savage to-day ; I shall he ohliged to take Mr. D Almayne under iny protection, if you go on so." " No need to do that, my dear," rehirned Hai-ry, his face resuming its usual hright, kind expression, as his glance fell upon his wife ; " your protege is quite certain to take the hest possible care of him- self — now come along ; " and in another five minutes they had left the vessel and entered a railroad-carriage, in which the Countess and D Almayne had already established themselves. The journey to London was a very agreeable one ; — the Countess, having recovered with marvellous celerity the moment she placed her pretty little foot on ten'a firma, exei-ted herself to make up for lost time, and succeeded so well that DAlmayne, who became more and more '* empress^ " and devoted every moment, determined, if he should be able to ascertain beyond a doubt that her fortune was as large as it had been represented, to give up every other speculation, and devote all his energies to secui-e the hand and purse of this fascinating foreigner. As they approached the London Bridge terminus the Countess, turning to her new guai'dian, inquired whether it was very far to Park Lane : — " About half an hour's drive. The carriage will, I trust, be there to meet this train ; though, owing to our having avoided all delay at the Custom-house, we shall be in town some two hours sooner than the other steamboat passengers. However, if we arrive earlier than is expected, it will only be an agreeable surprise to our kind friend, Mrs. Botherby." " Mais oui ! " returned the Countess with a look of innocent per- plexity ; " and who may be ' cette chere ' Madame Bodairebie ? " " Mrs. Botherby, my dear Countess," returned DAlmayne, Avho began to think his charming friend must be slightly insane, " Mrs. Botherby — the Honourable Mi-s. Botherby — is the lady who obtained for me the j)leasure of rendering you this slight service." " Quelle drole de chose. I shall not know some Mrs. Bodairebie no veres," was the astounding reply. "But — but — "stammered DAlmayne, as an idea occurred to him sufficiently alarming to surpi-ise him out of his usual " sang froid," "excuse me — but surely you are the Countess Bertha von Rosen- thal ? " A peal of silvery laughter was the only reply the unhappy exquisite was at first able to obtain ; but as soon as she could recover hei'self , the mysterious lady began : " Mille pardons ! I am so rude to make a laugh at you, but I am so gay I alvays must laugh ven I see a ridiculous thing in front of — bah — vot you call before me. Mon cher Monsieur, you have, I know not how, tumbled into a delusion. I am not at all zie Coimtess Bertha von Rosenthal, but zie Countess Bertha Nasimoif , en route to stay viz my fi-iend. Lady St. Clare, in Park Lane, London, till my hosband shall capture zie permission of die Czar to leave Petei-sburg and transport liimseHs after me." AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 109 Coverdale, Alice, and the Coiintess Nasimoff, glanced first at D'Almayne, then at one another, and then — but if they were heart- less enough to laugh consumedly, we will draw a veil over such un- feeling conduct. CHAPTER XX. THE MORNING OF THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER. The first of September ! We wonder if we were a covey of partridges what we should think about the first of September, and how, generalizing from that idea, we should feel towards the race of men, — sons of guns, as in partridge parlance we should, doubtless, metaphorically term them ! We wonder from what point we should regard pointers (disappointers, as a witty friend of ours called a couple of " wild young -dogs," who ran in upon their game, and cheated him of a promising shot), or how we shovild look upon a setter making 'a " dead set " at us ! Reasoning by analogy, and not supposing partridges to be better Christians than Christians them- selves, we fear we should consider sportsmen (the very name is an addition of insult to injury) greater brutes than their four-footed allies ; and that the idea of standing fire (either kitchen or gun), the notion of the roasting we must undergo after we have been plucked, • — of the way'in which we should be cut up by a set of blades, who are, after all, ready enough to pick our brains, and avail themselves of our merry thoughts, would put us in such a flutter that it would be a mercy if we were not to show the white feather, and refuse to die game after all. Such, however, were by no means the sentiments with which Harry Coverdale looked forward to the first of September. On the con- trary, although he endeavoured to disguise the fact from his wife, and indeed from himself, as far as in him lay, the truth was that he was as much delighted at the prospect of a good day's partridge shooting, as the veriest school-boy released from the drudgery of dictionary and grammar. Markum, that trustworthy custodian of game, and original specimen of a polite letter- writer, who had been safely re-instated in his office, and received such handsome presents of baby-linen and other infantry accouti'ements that the ilhistrious " little stranger," who had wisely postponed his arrival till the evil day had departed, bid fair to be clothed in a style befitting the heir- apparent to a dukedom rather than to a double-barrelled gun — no HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Markum repoi'ted that altlioiigh tlie liares and pheasants (which he persisted in calling peasants) had suffered some diminution from the practices of the dishonest steward, yet that he'd never " in all his bora days seen such a blessed sight o' partridges." Stimulated by this information, and by the recollection that on the preceding first of September he had been kicking his heels and ciu'sing his evil fortune, as he jDerformed quarantine in a red-hot port of the Mediterranean, Harry — having greatly amused Alice by the earnest zeal with which, on the 31st of August, he examined and re-examined his " Joe Man ton," and the exact and stringent orders he gave in regard to the feeding of his dogs, than which the most fastidious invalid could not have been more delicately and precisely dieted — awoke at four o'clock on the eventful morning, and, without disturb- ing Alice, who was sleeping as calmly as a child, arose and dressed himself in a thoroughly workmanlike shooting costume. Having accomplished this feat without waking Alice, he wrote on a bit of paper, " Good morning and good-bye, dearest. As I intend to have a glorious day of it, do not expect me till near dinner-time, when I hope to return with a full bag and an awful appetite. Tours ever, H. C," and placing it on his wife's dressing-table, stole on tiptoe to the door, closed it noiselessly after him; and when, three hours afterwards, Alice opened her eyes, he was striding through stubble on the farther side of the estate, having bagged four brace of birds and a well-conditioned and respectable Jack hare. Mrs. Coverdale was some few minutes before she was, literally, awake to a sense of her situation ; and the lady's-maid entei'ing while she was still between sleeping and waking, she half uncon- sciously asked the not unnatural question — " What has become of your master ? " " If you please, Mem, Master's been out shooting pai-tringers ever since five o'clock, Wilkins says. It you please, Mem, there's a note for you, Mem, lying on your dressing-table, in Master's hand- ■svi-iting." Rousing herself, Alice read it eagerly. The contents did not seem particularly to please her. for, as she refolded the paper, she looked grave, and gave vent to a mild sigh. " Do not undraw the curtain," she said ; " come again in an hour, Ellis ; I feel sleepy, and there is nothing to get up for," she added, in a slightly pettish tone. Falling asleep the moment she laid her head upon the pillow, Alice dreamed that when she came down to breakfast she found Harry had returned, saying that he could not bear to leave her alone all day, and so had come back and wished to drive her to call upon that agreeable woman, Mrs. Felicia Tabinette (a name Avith which she was inspired for the occasion, as no such neighbour existed), to which proposition she gladly assenting, they had gone out in a pony-chaise made of coral and mother-of-pearl, and drawn by two lovely little sea-green ponies with lilac manes and tails, and harness made of the best point lace. And she was just advancing the unanswerable proposition AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 111 that, as lace was the fittest material of which to make a lady's collar, it must also be the most propei' fabric for that of a horse, when the inexorable Ellis appeared for the second time, and dispelled all her bria^ht visions by awakening her to the dull reality. Alice, however, took her revenge upon that " dis-illusioning "—as a Frenchman would have called it— lady's maid, for she was more fastidious and difficult to please, and almost snappish, than Ellis had ever known her before, insouiuch that the excellent Abigail afterwards pro- pounded her opinion in the servants' hall, that " Missus was ' tuter fay ' outer sorts," which disheartening fact she accounted for by the hypothesis that she— Mrs. Ooverdale— must have got oxit of bed with the wrong foot foremost. While the tea for her solitary breakfast was drawing, Alice, having no one else to look at, amused herself by regarding her own natural — no term could be more appropriate — face in a large pier- glass, and was quite startled to behold the immistakably ci-oss expression which characterized it. Taking herself to task for this, she, sipping her tea, which did not taste nearly so good as when Harry was at home, mentally decided that she was very unreason- able, and childish, and ridiculous— that when Harry had been devoting himself for the last month to her pleasure and amusement, going to balls and all sorts of places which he did not care a pin about, solely to please her, it was horribly selfish in her to griidge him a few hours to devote to a favourite pursuit — though how men could find delight in killing those poor birds, she could not tell. She did not so much wonder about other people ; she believed men were generally cruel; but Hariy was so unusually kind-hearted. She supposed it must be the excitement, and the beautiful scenery, and the interest in watching those dear, clever dogs stick out their long tails to point at the partridges with — which, looking at it in a Chesterfieldian point of view, was decidedly impolite, if not positively rude, of them ; and yet she had heard gentlemen talk about their sporting dogs being so well-bred. Having thus reasoned herself into a wiser frame of mind, she resolved to make the best of it ; and suddenly recollecting she had at least a thousand things to do, which she was continually putting aside till some time or other when Harry should be out, she decided that this was the time, and that now or never must they all be done. Accordingly, she set vigorously to work, and wrote three letters one after another, to three former schoolfellows, whei'ein she described her husband as a species of modern demi-god, compounded of equal parts of Solomon and Adonis, with a dash of Achilles thrown in to do justice to his heroic qualities ; and depicted matrimonial felicity in such glowing colours, that the richest and prettiest of her correspondents eloped the next week with her music-master; and one of the others, who was neither rich nor i^retty, turned pious out of spite, and went into a sort of High. Church Pi'otestant nunnery- and-water, to punish the men, who, it must be confessed, appeared to 112 HARRY CO VERD ALE'S COURTSHIP submit to the trial with the most cheerful resignation. Then Alice brought out a large roll of bills, and a thick house-keeping book, ruled with blue lines, and having a business-like smell of new leather about the binding, which Alice flattered herself would impress even the stately housekeeper (who Avas old enough to be her mother, and stiff enough for anything ; and of whom Alice, in her secret soul, stood very much in dread) with a deep sense of her being a very dragon of housewifery, prepared to be down upon the slightest attempt at peculation like an avenging fury. But the bills were so complicated, and never would add up twice alike, and the butcher was so inconsistent and slippery about his prices, sometimes charg- ing 7d. and sometimes Tid., as " if once a pound of mutton, always a pound of mutton," were not an incontrovertible axiom ; and the baker was as bad, besides choosing to spell dough, d-o-e, which at first made her think that he was the butcher and sold venison ; and the hams seemed always to come from the tallow-chandler's with the candles, which wasn't by any means an agreeable association of ideas ; and the footman was evidently of Esquimaux descent, and lived sumptuously upon lamip-oil at 8s. the gallon ; and the coachman appeared to feed the carriage-horses with sponges, wash-leather, and rotten-stone, which she was sure could not be good for them ; and she thought the under-housemaid had ordered herseK a " Tiu-k's- head " dessert-cake, for her own private eating, but it turned out to be a particular species of broom ; while the amomit of hearth-stones and house-flannels that girl consumed would have served to build an "Albert pattern" model cottage once a quarter, and furnish the pauper inhabitants thereof with winter clothing : so that by the time luncheon arrived poor Alice, tired and confused, with inky fingers and an aching head, had come to the conclusion that she had nothing in common with Joseph Hume, M.P., and that for the future she should resign the glory of managing the housekeeper's book to Mrs. Gripples, and restrict her department to the equally dignified, but less onerous, duty of making Harry sign the cheques, and handing them over to that august domestic to pay the bills with. CHAPTER XXI. THE EVENING OF THE SAME DAY. Luncheon — a dreadful hot kmcheon— luncheon enough for four himgry men, at least; and Alice had a headache. Of course she could not touch a bit, so she listlessly nibbled a biscviit, and sipped AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 113 lialf a glass of wine, and felt very lonely and nncomfoi'table, and sat down to think — whicli was just the very worst thing she could have done under the circumstances, for it brought on a second attack of the " neglected wife " state of feeling ; and she had actually proceeded so far, that she was about mentally to convict Harry (that matrimonial phcenix) of positive selfishness, when the enormity of the idea horrified her, and pi-oduced an instantaneous reaction, and she told herself, roundly and sharply, that she was ungrateful in the extreme, and weak, and childish, and vacillating, and altogether iinworthy of such a blessing of a husband as Harry Coverdale. And thus, having taken herself severely to task, and repented and confessed, and promising amendment for the future, yet refused herself absolution, she recovered sufficiently to determine that she would do something energetic to dissipate reflection, though of what nature the deed was to be she had not the smallest conception. Should she order the carriage, and pay visits ? — no, impossible ! they were all first visits to a set of total strangers, and she could no more call upon them alone than "she could fly : besides, she would be lost in that great carnage all by herself, and the horses would be sure to avail themselves of the opportunity to shy and run away, if Harry were not there to protect her. She knew the white- legged horse had a spite against her, for when she wanted to pat his nose one day, he tried to bite her — what a wonderful thing instinct was, to be sure ! No, she would go and take a brisk walk, that would rouse her and do her headache good ; besides, she could have the dear dogs for company — oh yes ! a walk by all means. Where should she go ? — why, across the fields to visit Mrs. Markum, and see how the little stranger looked in his gorgeous apparel, and learn whether mother or son wanted for anything. Harry would like her to do that, he was so fond of Markum. Ah, Alice ! had you no mental reservation ? — did not a hope lurk in the bottom of your heart that at the gamekeeper's cottage you might possibly catch a glimpse of his master, calling in for dry shoes, or a relay of powder and shot P Poor, loving little Alice, ashamed to confess, even to herself, the depth and sti-ength of her affection !— silly little Alice, jealous even of her involiuitary rivals, the partridges, who would gladly have dispensed with the attentions her husband was paying them ! — weak, foolish, little Alice ! — and yet more truly wise in such loving folly, stronger in the weakness of such tender womanly devotion, nearer the Divine ideal, whence God, who made man in His ONvn image, formed woman as a helpmeet for him, than the most self-engrossed esprit fort who ever confused herself and others by prating of things above her comprehension. So Alice set out for her solitary ramble, taking with her Pepper and Ginger, which (although the former was often found in a pretty pickle, and woiild have been wholly inappropriate in a cream tai-t ; a,nd the latter, judging by the appearance of a very red tongue, was I 114 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP decidedly " liot i' the mouth ") were not a couple of spicy condiments, but a brace of Skye terriers. The dogs were in charming spirits, which they displayed by running after and barking at respectable blackbirds seeking their frugal " diet of worms ; " coming back in eccentric and violent circles, to twitch the ends of Alice's boa and the corners of her shawl, only to dash away again and lose themselves, by forcing burglarious entrances into forbidden rabbit-burrows, with the vicious intention of worrying the timid inmates, in their little brown coats, with iDractical jokes of tails. And here be it observed parenthetically, that of all the freaks of nature, the unexpected way in which she has seen fit to turn u]) rabbits' tails and to line them with white, to the great disfigurement and i)ersonal hazard of the owners, has always appeared to lis one of the strangest, and only to be accounted for by the hypothesis of a chronic practical joke. Whether this idea enhanced the fun Pe])per and Ginger had with the rabbits during that expedition, or whether it never occiu-red to them, is more than we can tell ; but the extent to which those dogs persisted in bui-ying themselves alive, and harassing their mistress by a succession of these amateur extramural interments, almost justifies us in supposing it must have done so. Having at last succeeded in reducing her four-footed torments to such a measure of obedience that, when thoroughly tired of scamper- ing and scratching, they condescended to follow her, Alice entered a grass field, and had walked half across it ere she discovered the alarming fact that there were some cows gi'azing in it, one of which she, to her intense discomposure, immediately decided to be a bull, because, as she afterwards graphically described it, " it moo'd so low down its throat that it almost growled at her." Of course all bulls being mad, and a mad bull being enough to frighten anybody, Alice began to run ; which feat of activity (or activity of feet, if any reader should prefer the phrase so transposed) charmed the dogs — who thought she did it for their express delectation — to such an extent, that they began to bark furiously, which frightened the cow (for despite her bass voice, she was a " very " cow after all, and fortunately a qiiiet one into the bai-gain), so that, exalting her tail, and twisting it like a corkscrew for the greater effect, she also set off running, thereby adding to Alice's terror to such a degree that, if a providential stile had not mercifully rescued her, the consequences might have l)een serious. This last " spirt," however, brought her to Markum's cottage, where she foiind the Isaby in a great state of slobbering splendour — very red, ugly, and ]:)roniising, and altogether (as an assistant old lady, not to say hag. rather the worse for some- thing that had dropped into her tea out of the gin bottle, and who, from the accident, was in an extensive condition of maudlin and inappropriate Christianity, piously observed), a "little crowing- mercy." Having done her duty by this young child — that is, having said it was very pretty, which, to speak mildly, was untrue — and a very fine child^ which, as far as regarded its dress, it certainly AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 115 was' — and exactly like its f atlier, which was an awful well, never mind, pious fraud we'll call it, — Alice tipped the inappropriate Christian half-a-crown (in exchange for which she received a tipsy blessing), and took leave, having obtained geographical instructions by which she might, on her homeward route, avoid the proximity of the basso profondo cow. The walk back (with the trifling exception of an episode wherein Ginger disturbed the tenants of a wasps' nest) proved singularly uneventful, and Alice, in her secret soul, pronounced the whole expedition a failure — which, as it had cured her headache, was very ungrateful of her ; but she was so engrossed by a little pain about the heart, which nothing but her husband's retui'n could cure, that she had entirely forgotten her headache. The hall clock struck four as its mistress entered — four o'clock, two long- hours to dinner time ! the time when Hariy would, that is, ought to, return ; for she daresay'd he would be late, and that they should not sit down to table till half -past six at the very earliest. What should she do to fill up this unharmonious interval ? Why, as she had worked so hard all the morning, surely she had a right to amuse herself now. She would read some entertaining book, which would make her laugh and raise her spirits ; for, despite her best endeavours, she was getting decidedly miserable. So to this end she opened a parcel of books from the library, and began upon a new novel by that veiy talented lady, Mrs. Bluedeville, and read how a " fair and gentle girl," brougbt up by a select coterie of fiendish relations, and subjected from infancy to a series of tortures, sufficient to have expended the stoutest negro, developed, under these favourable circumstances, into a perfect Houri of Paradise, with the " additional attraction " of possessing the mind, manners, eiaxdition, and phrase- ology of an old divine of the Church of England. This interesting young mart3T.% released from her educational Bastille, and turned out to grass for a brief space in a pleasant meadow, wherein pastured a gallant, but very moral, officer of dragoons, naturally falls in love with the same, who fortunately does not resent the liberty. Angelica, taken up from her month's run and put to work much too heavy for her, becomes better and better, until, as might have been expected, she overdoes the thing, and getting too good to ;live, has nothing left for it but to die, which she accordingly does on the anival of the post which brings an account of the bold dragoon (in whom, from a fancied resemblance to Harry, Alice had taken the deepest interest) having fallen a \'ictim to his dauntless courage, which, leading him to kill sixteen mounted Sikhs in single combat, had failed to preserve him from the vindictive fury of the seventeenth evil-disposed survivor. Strange to say, this talented work, delightfvil as it was, failed to render Alice much more cheerful ; but it succeeded in occupying her till it was time to go and dress for dinner, and for this she was grateful to the genius of Mrs. Bluede-vdlle. By six o'clock Alice, ready for dinner in more senses than one. 116 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP betook lierself to the drawing-room, wliei-e she waited patiently for half-an-hour, reading up svmdi-y parts of Mrs. Blnedeville, which, in her rapid flight through that lady's insti-uctive romance, she had failed to peruse. At seven o'clock she rang the bell, and inquired of the butler whether his master had come in, or whether, if not, anything definite was known of his whereabouts. The reply was unsatisfactory in the extreme. Master had not returned, he (Wilkins) could form no idea where he was likely to be ; but, as a general maxim, considered shooting to be a highly dangerous amusement. "Would Mrs. Coverdale obligingly condescend to ring the bell when she wished the dinner to be brought lip? Shooting a dangerous amusement! Yes, of course, so it was — gims constantly went off of their own accord and shot those who were can-ying them. How was it she had never thought of this before ? and she had been blaming Harry, when, perhaps the idea was too hon-ible to clothe in words, but it had occun-ed to her, and for Alice now there was no peace. Mrs. Blnedeville was thrown aside with no more ceremony than if she had been a penny-a-liner ; and with flushed cheeks and a beating heart the anxious young wife began to pace up and down the apai-t- ment. As the minutes crept by (so slowly !) Alice's fear increased, until, at half-past seven, the suspense grew intolerable ; and. ringing the bell, she was just giving incoherent orders for two mounted grooms to set off in utterly useless directions, when bang ! bang ! went a double-baiTelled gun in the stable-yard, and Wilkins (an amiable but timid London servant) and his mistress nearly jumped into each other's aiTus. Still haunted by the conviction that something untoward must have happened, Alice hastened to meet her husband as he entered the hall. " Oh, Harry dearest, how glad I am yoii are safe ! " she exclaimed ; " but tell me," she exclaimed, refeiTing to the mysterious cause of his prolonged absence, " tell me — what is it ? " " Sixteen brace of birds, three hares, two couple of rabbits, a land- rail, and a wood-pigeon ; and a vei-y fair bag I call it for one gun," was the unexpected reply. Relieved, yet slightly provoked, Alice resumed : " But what has made you so late ? I have been dreadfully frightened about you — " " Frightened ! what at ? oh, you silly child ! But come, let us have dinner ; I shall be ready in less than ten minutes. The idea of being frightened ! " and with a smile of compassionate derision, Hany marched off to dress, humming, — " A southerly wind and a cloudy sky Proclaim it a hunting morning-." And this was Alice's recompense for a lonely day spent in looking forward to, and longing for, her husband's return, ending in half an hour of breathless anxiety for his safety ! She felt decidedly cross, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 117 and we think she had a right to be so. During dinner she was silent and dignified on piinciple — her husband should see that she felt his neglect. But Han-y didn't see it one bit, bless him ! He was very hungiy, so for some time kept strictly to business, and he was very happy, so when his appetite was appeased, he rattled on about any- thing and everything, and was so pleasant and cheerful that Alice felt dignity would be quite out of place, had a little struggle with her feelings, and then mentally forgave him. To prove that she did so, she laid herself out to entertain and amuse him, and with this view, when the servant had left the room, she treated him to a comic account of her day's adventures, and having talked herself into a great state of communicativeness and sociability, had just reached the bass cow episode, when a slight sound, not very unlike the voice of the cow itself, reached her ear — Harry had fallen fast asleep ! CHAPTER XXII. KATE SOWS THE WIND. So Kate Marsden man-ied the cotton-spinner, and old Mr. Hazlehurst repurchased his farm on very easy terms. We wonder which of the two was best pleased with the bargain ! Kate tm-ned very pale when she promised to love, honour, and obey a man whom she disliked, despised, and intended to rule ; nor do we wonder at it, for, with all her faults, Kate perceived the intrinsic beauty of truth, and loved it, as she did everything beautiful. But though she loathed herself for what she was doing, though her bitterest enemy could not have taken a harsher view of her conduct than she herself took, she had gone too far to retract, and having swallowed the camel of crushing her own heart and that of Arthur Hazlehurst, she could not stultify berself by straining at the gnat of swearing falsely in the service for the solemnization of matrimony. Kate's was one of that peculiar order of consciences which can commit a sin knowingly, on an emergency, but dare not be guilty of a bliuider. In the one case, the end appears to justify the means ; while in the other, the entire transaction is unworthy. Sophistry, Kate, sophisti*y ! which, while you think it, and act upon it, fails to satisfy even your warped and distorted sense of right and wrong. Kate Marsden man-ied Mr. Crane — there was a union ! On the 118 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP one side youtli and Ijeaiity ; intellect, lofty enough to have aimed at any achievement which the mind of woman has accomplished ; energy sufficient to have gained the object striven for ; ambition, that when all was won would have despised the trophies at her feet, and sighed for more worlds to conquer ; and a deep passionate nature, combin- ing the fiery elements of a southern temperament with the steady perseverance and inflexible resolution characteristic of a daughter of the sturdy north ; on the other side, advancing age, mental weak- ness, timidity, and its natural concomitant — suspicion, together with a general paucity of ideas, centred in a vulgar pride of wealth. All Kate's friends congratulated her, and many envied her good fortune ; and Horace DAlmayne smiled on his future victim, as he surely reckoned her; and Arthur Hazlehurst sat alone in his dusky chambers, with bitter thoughts busy at his heart, struggling, like a brave and good man, against the tempting fiend that bade him rise up and curse her who had thus rendered desolate his young existence; and the minister of religion stood before the altar and pronounced his blessing over this hollow mockery of maiTiage, which no amount of blessing could hallow ; and the happy pair drove off to some fool's paradise to enjoy the honeymoon. Poor Mr. Crane ! if he had dreamed of the volcano of feeling that smouldered at his side beneath that cold, calm exterior, he would assuredly have flimg open the carriage door, sprung out (albeit not accustomed to such feats of activity), and never ceased running until he had reached Manchester. Fortunately, however, his wife's mind was a sealed book to him, and so he reached the end of his journey in peace and safety. Having borne the honeymoon with resignation, Kate endured her bad bargain tete-a-tete at various watering-places and amongst innumerable lakes and mountains of toiirist notoriety, until she had taught him the only accomiDlishment she cared to inculcate, viz., obedience, which he learned very readily, seeing that it relieved him from all trouble and responsibility. This point accomplished, she took him to a fashionable hotel in St. James's Street, where she wi-ote to her friend, Arabella Crofton, to join her. However, before that excellent young woman of the world had time to wind up the ends of a few trifling skeins of policy, with which she had been constructing nets for small birds at Baden-Baden, Horace D'Almayne found out the residence of the happy couple, and proceeded to call upon, dine with, and make himself generally useful and agreeable to them. Kate did not like him, but she had been for two months tete-a-tete with Mr. Crane, and Horace possessed this advantage over that devoted husband, that he was not a fool, and Mr. Crane was. Horace was not a fool ; on the contrary , he was such a clever knave that it was really a pity that he was not something better ; he saw the game he had to play, and he resolved to play it as skilfully as his faculties and experience would enable him. He possessed considerable insight into character, and sufficient tact to accommodate himself to the peculiarities, and AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 119 avail himself of the weaknesses, he might thus discover. Accordingly, his fii'st move was to endeavonr to lull Kate's suspicions of him, which he saw had been aroused ; his next to make himself by degrees useful to hei* — necessary to her ; then, let him win her confidence on any subject (he would have been delighted if she had told him the day of the month, or that she had dropped a pin, in confidence, for it would have been a beginning), until by word, look, or sign, she admitted her indiiference towards her husband, and then the game would be his own. With Mr. Crane, D Almayne's course appeared very simple. The millionaire's one clear idea was the omnipotence of wealth ; he knew D'Almayne was poor, and that he had lent him money which he never exiiected to be repaid. He considei'ed him in the light of a sort of master of the ceremonies, who could guide him in the ways of fashionable life, whereof he felt his ignorance — a kind of iipper upper-servant — the vizier to his caliphship, and he lent him money as a delicate way of paying his wages. At present D'Almayne was in high favour with Mr. Crane ; his wife was looking very handsome, quite a gem of a wife — equal to his pictures or his port wine ; DAlmayne had negotiated his marriage for him, and the specula- tion had been a successful one ; he lent D'Almayne ^500 before he had been in town a week. Horace saw it all, but he was not proud ; as he would have said, " It suited his book too well," so he pocketed his. wages meekly. " My dear Kate, can yoii amuse yourself for a couple of hours or so alone ? D'Almayne and I are going to look at a pair of carriage- horses — a — I shall bring him home to luncheon, and — a — now I think of it, I asked him to dine here and go to the concert at the Hanover Square Rooms with us afterwards ; " and having thus un- folded his programme for the day, Mr. Crane glanced timidly towards his wife, to learn whether it would receive her sanction and approval. There was a moment's silence, and then in a low, musical voice, Kate replied coldly, — " I have letters to write this morning, so the arrangement will suit me perfectly. If the horses are fine ones, I hope you will buy them." Mr. Crane stroked his chin (a habit in which he indulged when any- thing pleased him) and smiled. His wife was satisfied with him — happy man ! But he had stroked his chin rather prematurely, for, in the same cold tone, Kate resumed, — " There is one point on which I am anxious clearly, to understand you. Is it your wish that Mr. D'Almayne should virtually live with us ? because, that he will do so, unless some decided measui-es are taken to discourage him, is self-e"vident." This was a straightforward and uncompromising way of putting the case which slightly discomposed poor Mr. Crane. D'Almayne was, as we have said, eminently iisef vil to his patron, so much so, that at that precise epoch the good gentleman would have been sorely 120 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP puzzled how to get on without him ; but the more he acknowledged this in his secret soul, the less did he desire that any one, and especially his young wife, should perceive it. " Well, my dear Kate," he began, " you see Mr. D'Almayne has turned his attention to points which, engaged as I have been for many years in commerce, I have never found time or opportunity to render myself acquainted with." " In fact, he has made himself necessary to yon," interposed Kate. " No, my dear, no — by no means necessary — not at all so ; but that he is useful, very useful to me, I confess. I am sorry to perceive that you have taken up a slightly unreasonable (if I may be permitted to say so) prejudice against this young man." "Ton are mistaken," returned Kate calmly. "I am perfectly indifferent to him. If it is your wish to make use of him, he will of course be here constantly ; but as yoii have so kindly yielded to my desire that my friend. Miss Crofton, shoidd reside with us, his presence or his absence will make little difference to me — only, if at any future time you should hear comments on the intimacy, you will remember that I have admitted it solely to gratify you." Mr. Ci'ane, propitiated by this concession, and by the grounds on which Kate had placed it, was endeavouring to stroke some form of thanksgi'S'ing out of his chin, when the door opened, and the subject of their conversation was shown in. After a few desultory remarks, Horace, turning to Mr. Crane, observed, — " I called at the house agent's in my way here, and have obtained the particulars of two houses which it will be quite worth your while to look at; one is in. Belgrave Square, the other in Park Lane." As he spoke Kate raised her head and fixed her large eyes upon his face; but he appeared unconscious of having deserved her scrutiny, and was quietly examining some memoranda he had written on the back of a card" regarding the number of rooms and other particulars I'especting the houses. So perfectly unconscious was his manner, that for once Kate's penetration was at fault. She re- membered ha\'ing on one occasion, months befoi'e, at the Grange, mentioned in his i)resence that if she went to live in London she should prefer either Belgrave Square or Park Lane for her residence ; but whether he also had recollected this, or whether his selection was the result of accident, she could not decide. Moreover, it was not easy for her to determine how to act in the matter. If he had made the selection intentionally, and she allowed it to pass unnoticed, it would be a sort of tacit admission that she was willing to receive such secret attentions fi-om him, appreciating them as kindnesses rather than resenting them as impertinences ; while, on the other hand if by any chance it was a mere coincidence, she was unwilling to afford him even the minute triumph of perceiving that she felt sufficient interest in him to remember whether or not he had been AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 121 present on an occasion, since wliicli sereral montlis had elapsed, or that she cared to know if he had observed or regarded her wishes. So she took a middle course, and, availing' herself of a pause in the conversation, inquired carelessly, — " Where did you say the houses were situated, Mr. D'Almayne ?" On obtaining the information she required, she added, " And how came you to select those particular localities ? " As he tunied to reply, their glances met, but his face was perfectly inscrutable. " If. as your tone implies, they do not meet your appi-oval, my dear Mrs. Crane, we need take no fui-ther trouble in regard to them," was his ambiguous reply. " I chose them because I fancied situations so generally popular might not be displeasing to you." Kate was again foiled, and D Almayne, as he quietly observed it, muttered inwardly, " Won the first trick, at all events ! " Mr. Crane, leaving the room to put on his great-coat, a precaution without which he was most careful not to stir from home, D'Almayne observed, — " You would prefer bay carriage-borses to grey, or any moi'e conspicuous colour, would you not ? " Surprised at his having thus discovered lier taste, Kate was so far thrown off her guard as to exclaim, — ■' How in the world do you know that ? " Horace smiled a quiet smile. " I reasoned from analogy," he said ; " your dress is always rich, and striking, but never showy ; and the effect is produced by its consistency as a whole." Kate involuntarily returned bis smile ; tact and keen intelligence were qualities she highly appreciated. " Ton are a close obsei-ver," she said, " and shall be rewarded by learning the interesting fact that I do prefer bay horses to those of any other colour." Before the week was over, Mr. Crane had purchased a magnificent pair of bay cai-riage-horses, and had taken a lease of a noble mansion in Park Lane. The only fault Kate could discover in either was the conviction forced upon her that it was to the agency of Horace DAlmayne she was indebted for them. 122 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP CHAPTER XXIII. ADVICE GRATIS. Harry could not give iip shooting, Han-y wonld not give up shoot- ing, and Harry did not give np shooting. On the contrary, he conld, would, and did shoot every day, and all day long, except on Sundays, throughout September and October ; at least, there were so few exceptions that they only proved the rule. Alice did not like it at all; at first she was very miserable. One day Harry found her ci-ying, and being considerably surprised and greatly concerned at the unaccountable discovery, did not rest tuitil he had ascertained the caiise, when he was particularly shocked, and blamed himself so miich, that he refrained from shooting for two whole days, and really would have striven to reform his conduct, only that, unfortu- nately, an invitation arrived to join a grand battiie at a certain Colonel Crossman's. This, in his then frame of mind, he would have refused ; but there being a Mrs. Crossman in the case, Alice was included in the invitation, and they were begged to stay three or four days, which, as Popem Park preserves were the best stocked of any in the county, was an offer not likely to be rejected. Thus, xinfortunately, they went — we say unfortunately, because Colonel Crossman Avas, taken as a whole, a jovial, hot-tempered, selfish brute ; and his wife a quick-witted, worldly-minded, selfish fool. They did very well together, because, as he usually lived out of the house, and she in it, and both did exactly as they liked, when they liked, their faults seldom clashed ; if such a collision did take place, there was an awful tumult, in which brutality had his way for the minute, and paid for it in minor miseries which folly inflicted upon him for the next fortnight. And yet this amiable couple had a kind of theoretical and useless affection for each other, which was engendered partly by habit and partly by a deep and essentially vulgar reverence for appearances, which, together with going to church once on Sunday, stood them in the stead of religion and of morality. Thus were they bad counsellors for our young married couple. On the first morning of her visit, Alice was standing at the drawing-room window, watching the figm-es of her husband and Colonel Crossman striding through a turnip field about a quarter of a mile distant, when Mrs. Crossman joined her. "Ah! there they go," she observed, in a vinegar-aud- water voice ; " we shall see no more of them till seven o'clock, depend upon it." " Does Colonel Crossman never return to luncheon ? " inquired AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 123 Alice timidly, for she stood slightly in awe of ithe female soldier "beside her. " Return to luncheon ! " was the astonished reply, delivered in much such a tone as might have been anticipated if Alice had inquired whether the gallant Colonel usually made his mid-day meal upon red-hot ploughshares ; " come home to luncheon ! not he. He wouldn't do such a thing to save my life, I believe ; certainly not if the scent was lying well. Why, Mr. Coverdale does not spoil you in that way to be sm'e, does he ? The Colonel told me he was a thorough sportsman." " So he is," returned Alice with a sigh, which escaped her involuntarily. " Ah ! no woman with a heart should ever mari-y a sportsman," rejoined Mrs. Crossman, with rather more vinegar and less water in her tone than before. " Out all day, from the first of September till the breeding season comes round again ; then the moment they've finished dinner and .their bottle of port wine, asleep they go, and only wake to stamp and swear with the cramp and drop off again, till they tumble iipstairs to bed, and are no comfort to anybody. You are a young wife yet, my dear, and your husband's hardly grown tired of you, perhaps ; but wait another month or two and yoii'll see — men are all alike ! " There was just enough applicability to her own case in this tirade to make Alice feel rather angry and thoroughly uncomfortable ; but the idea of comparing Harry with Colonel Crossman was too bad, and anger predominated as she replied, " Mr. Coverdale is not quite so selfish as yoii imagine, my dear madam ; certainly he left me a good deal alone when the shooting season first began, but as soon as he was aware how dull and lonely I felt, he gave up shooting for, for—" "Half a day ? " inquired Mrs. Crossman sarcastically. " He did not go out for two whole days, and since that he has generally returned to luncheon," replied Alice, colouring from vexation. " Wonderful ! " exclaimed Mrs. Crossman, with an affectation of extreme surprise ; " actually stayed at home for two whole days, when he's been married as many months — what a model man ! Not that I believe Colonel Crossman ever did so much as that even," she continued, turning on the vinegar. " I picked him iip in India, you know— was actually weak enough to fall in love with the creature ! even went the length of refusing two district judges and the resident at Bamboozle for his sake ! And would you believe it, we hadn't been married above a week, when the man was brute enough to go out hog-hunting and leave me all by myself at Boshbogie, on the borders of the great Flurry-yunghal Jungle, with nothing more conversable than tawneys and tigers within thirty miles of me ; but, however, I was not long before I learned how to take care of myself — and the sooner you do the same, my dear, the better for your 124 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP happiness. Men are easily enough managed if you do but set the right way to work. If you choose to he always humble and meek to 'em, they'll let you lie down for them to wipe their boots on, but if you only show them you've got a spirit of your own, and don't cai-e for 'em " " But I don't know that I have got what you call a spirit of my own," interrupted Alice, smiling at her companion's vehemence, " and I certainly do care about my husband." " Ah, my dear, that's all very well now ; but wait a bit — wait till some day when he wants to go shooting, and you want him to do something else, and then see of how much use your meekness and fondness will be to you. He will think to himself, ' Oh ! she will be just as well pleased a couple of hours hence, as if I had lost my day's sport for her silly nonsense.' I know he will, men are all alike. No ; sooner or later you'll find you will have to pluck up a spirit, and treat your husband as he will treat you. If he leaves you by yoiu-self all day, fill your house with company ; if he goes out shooting and hunting with his friends, do you go out riding or dri\ing with yours ; if he has his season in the country, do you have yoiu's in London ; operas and shopping are amusements you've just as good a right to as he has to go popping at the partridges and pheasants ; and if you care so much about keeping him at home, hook some young dandy (there will be plenty ready to nibble when such a bait as your pretty face is hung out for them), and flii-t with him steadily till the desired eifect is produced. That will bring your husband to his senses, if anything will. I once settled the Colonel in three days by going all respectable lengths with Adolphiis Fitz-duckling. It led to a duel, though ; biit that was because both Duck and Grossman were army men and mixed up with a fighting set. I took care never to go quite so far again, except with a civilian ; but then I hadn't got such a quiet, demure manner as you have. A set of impudent yoimg puppies in the Old 43rd used to call me ' Flii-ting Fan.' However, 1 can tell you I was able to keep the Colonel in much better order, ' flirting him down,' as I used to call it, than I've ever managed to do since I grew old — that is, less young than I was at that time." And so this good woman, or rather this woman who, despite her favdts, had some good in her, whereby she rindicated her title to humanity, ran on until Alice heariily wished her back again amongst the ta^vTieys or the tigers ; we ai*e afraid that at that esf)ecial moment our little heroine would decidedly have prefeiTcd the latter. In the meantime, Harry and the Colonel wei'e blazing away at the long-tails most unmercifully, Harry, who was a crack shot, bringing down everything he pointed his gun at, while the Colonel, whose hand had an awkward trick of shaking, as if its proprietor was in the habit of imbibing too much port wine, missed much oftener than was agreeable to him, on each of which several occasions he attributed his failure to, and condemned in no measured terms either the gun, or the bird, or both. About two o'clock Han-y pulled AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 125 ©tit his watch, and glancing at it obsei-ved, " I don't know what your aiTangements may be, Colonel, but if Mrs. Grossman is of as sociable a disposition as my little wife, she will consider ns great bears if we don't return till dinner time." At this moment a splendid cock-pheasant rose, *" whirring " into the air at some considerable distance from the sportsmen, whereupon the Colonel, considering it a difficult shot, called out, " Your bu-d, Coverdale." Han-y, embarrassed with his watch, which he still held in his hand, i*aised his gun, and catching his finger in the guard chain, pulled the trigger too soon, and missed with both barrels, while the Colonel, seeing that the pheasant was now so far off that it could be no discredit to miss it, pulled at it, and by accident brought it down. " Bravo ! Colonel, that is the cleverest shot that has been made to-day by long odds ! " ejaculated Harry. " Ah ! that's a trifle to what I used to do when I was yoiu- age," was the slightly apocryphal reply ; " nothing with feathers or hair on it had a chance, if I put my gun up at it, I can tell you. But what were you saying about going home ? why, I'm just getting into shooting order ! you're not knocking up, to be siire, already." " No ; nor six hours' more hard walking would not do it," i-eturned HaiTy, laughing, as he mentally contrasted his own powers with those of the Colonel, who, although he had carefully assigned all the toughest of the work to his guest, was evidently beginning " to want his corn," as Coverdale metaphorically paraphrased the fact of his entertainer's requiring his luncheon. " I merely asked you whether Mrs. Crossman would not disapprove of our remaining out all day?" " Mrs. Crossman may go and hang herself in her own petticoat strings ! " was the uncoiuteous rejoinder. " Ah ! I see how it is," continued the " old soldier." " I see all about it : you're a young hand yet, Coverdale, and I'm an old one ; take my advice. You've man-ied a nice gal, and a pretty gal — don't you go and spoil her ; it's the nature of women to like to have their own way ; and one of their ways — and a most aggravating and unaccountable one it is — is always to have a fellow dangling about after them, and there they'll keep him driving 'em out, or riding with 'em, or dawdling in shops, and paying their bills for 'em — they don't forget that, mind you — or reading to 'em, or some such confounded humbug. Hang it, sir, I'd sooner be a galley-slave or a black nigger at once ! Well, if yoii begin by indulging a woman (they're all alike in such points), she'll be yoiu* master ever after, and youi* life won't be worth a " (As we do not know the exact value of the coin to which the Colonel alluded, we abstain from a moi-e particular mention of it.) " No ; if you're to have any peace or comfort in the maified state, you must let your wife see that you're determined to show you're the superior. The only way to do it effectually is — come to heel. Countess, ah ! would you then ! " (and whack, whack, went the dog- whip against 126 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP poor Countess's sides) — "tlie only way to break 'em in is — (whack) — to show 'em clearly whose will is the strongest, and whose must yield. I had trouble enough with Mrs. Grossman, I can assure you. She was not an easy woman to break in, sir ; but she found she'd met her match. If she scolded, I stormed ; if she raved, I swore; if she sulked, I whistled ; if she cried, I lit a cigar ; if she fainted, I laid her on the hardest board that I could i)ick out in the floor, and smoked till she came round again. The only time she went into hysterics I flung a pail of cold water over her— that cured her at once and for ever. I dare say you think me an old brute, but the day will come when you'll recollect my advice, and be glad enough to act upon it. Women are all alike, more or less." Harry did think him an old brute, and thanked his stars that neither in mind nor in person did Alice in the smallest degree resemble Mrs. Grossman ; he also thought that he should never remember the Golonel's advice with any other feeling than disgust. Ah ! Harry — Harry ! GHAPTER XXIV. A STORM BREWING. Harry ! My dear Harry ! — Wilkins, where is your master ? I told you I must speak to him before he went out, and now you've let him go without " " Wilkins ! where the d Oh ! Wilkins, what did you do with that bag of snipe-shot I brought down from London ? " Thus apostrophized by an agitated soprano at the drawing-room door, and an impatient tenore robusto in the entrance-hall, Wilkins, the amiable and timid London butler, who had played the character of Job's comf oi-ter to Alice's " Didone abandonata " on the memorable evening of the first of September, made two or thi-ee steps in the direction of the drawing-room, then twisting round with a sudden jerk, as though he had been worked by machinery with which somebody was playing tricks, rushed frantically into the hall, and handing his master a wi'ong bag of shot exclaimed, without any breath left, — " This — a — is them, sir ; and my mistress — a — says " " Swan-shot, you fool — that is, Wilkins, big enough to roll over a bxxllock ! It's the snipe-shot I'm looking for. No, not that. Don't you know snipe-shot when you see it ? When the scent's getting duller every miniite, too ! I ought to have been out these two hours. ^. \V^ AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 127 That's right, my good fellow ; don't he a month about it — give it me. I shall be home to dinner." " But my mistress particularly wishes to speak " faltered poor Wilkins. HaiTy, flinging down with an angry gesture the shot-belt he had just filled, and muttering that he had better give up going out at all, strode off to the drawing-room, and putting his head in through the partially opened door, as though he were afraid of being taken prisoner if he trusted himself bodily in the apartment, exclaimed, — '■ Now. then, little woman, what is it ? Quick, please, for I want to be off." " There is an invitation just amved fi'om AUerton House for Tuesday week. What am I to say ? " " Oh. we must go, of com-se. I want you to get intimate with Lady Allei-ton, she's a charming woman, and Lord George is a good little fellow in his way, though an awfully bad shot. Dinner, I suppose ? " " Yes ; but, HaiTy, wait one moment and listen to me ! " exclaimed Alice. ''You need not be in such a hurry; you will have plenty of time for that hoirid shooting before six o'clock." "■ Hon-id shooting, indeed I Much you know about it," muttered the victimized spoi"tsman, inwardly chafing at the delay ; " it will be hoiTid shooting in one sense, if I am hindered much longer. The scent won't lie when the dew is off, and I may as well go out with a walking-stick as with a gun, for there will be nothing to shoot at." " Well, I'll let you go dii-ectly, you impatient, siUy boy," returned Alice, smiling at the serious, business-like view her husband took of his amusement. " The only thing I wish to say is, that if we accept this invitation, we shall be almost certain to meet the Duke and Duchess of Bi'entwood there ; and j'ou know I've been waiting for you to go with me. day after day, and I've never returned their visit yet. You must take me to call before Tuesday week ; I've been quite rude already." " All right." returned Hany ; " we'll go in style, and call on the old duchess. I'll wear a red coat, and stick a peacock's feather in my hat, if that will please you. It's a pity she's so like a chimpanzee ! Most probably she is related to the monkey tribe — suppose we ask her when we call ; it will be a new and original style of conversation, eh ? Well, ta-ta ! It's so late now that I'm afraid you won't have the felicity of seeing me again till dinner time ; " and without allowing his wife an opportunity of remonstrating, Harry closed the door, and was soon paying off the long-bills in a way in which they scarcely approved of having their " little accounts " settled. Alice watched him depart with a smile, .which faded into a sigh as she tm-ned to write an acceptance to the dinner invitation, and then employ and amuse herself as best she might dui-ing the weary houi-s which must elapse ere her husband would retxu-n. Lord Allerton was the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of 128 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Brentwood, who were the great people, ' par excellence,' of the Cover- dale Park neighbourhood ; and when the Duke and Duchess came to spend then* Christmas in the country, Alice, stimiilated thereunto by the conversation of the Mesdames Jones, Brown, and Robinson of those parts, felt slightly curious to know whether these ancient and venerable limbs of the aristocracy would deign to honour her by a call, and was iDroportionably gratified and bored when, on a di-eary morning, the dull old Duchess came and paid her a singularly heavy and iminteresting visit. To induce Hai-ry to accompany her when she returned this equally flattering and alarming civility had been for several days the sole object of Alice's existence, — an object in which, as the reader may perceive by the foregoing conversation, she had hitherto been unsuccessful. The next morning Alice once again made an attempt to entice her better half away from the pleasures of the plains ; but the rabbits had begun barking the iyoung ash-trees in a favourite plantation, and were to be " pulled down " accordingly. This occupation lasted several days, at the expiration of which period certain poachers, choosing to join in the ami;sement uninvited, had to be " pulled up " for their iniquities — a series of ups and downs which left only two days vacant before the impox'tant Tuesday dedicated to the dinner- party at Allerton would an-ive. The first of these days it rained cats and dogs, and snowed fragments of polar bears so decidedly, that even Han-y could not get out till about half -past three, when, in desperation, he enveloped himself in a macintosh, and galloped over to the town, five miles off (as aD to^vns are from all country houses), to match some ribbon for Alice and look at the newspaper on his own account. The " County Press " was just out, and therein Harry ijerceived a leading article attacking the decision an-ived at by himself and his brother magistrates in the case of the " pulled up " poachers. This being equally irritating and interesting, he sat down in the reading-room of the librai-y diligently to peruse the same — phsa-ing, pish-ing, and ".confounding the fellow " at every second line. He had just got to a paragi-aph beginning, " Mr. C — d — le may be well qualified to lead the way across a stiff line of country after the hounds, or roll over unoffending hares and rabbits in a battue — but that is no proof that he possesses an equal right to ride rough-shod over the enactments of a British Parliament, or to ovei-turn the decrees of abler lawyers than are to be foimd among the bench of magistrates at H ," when a large hand was placed over his eyes, and a loud, jovial voice exclaimed, — " Never mind, Harry, my boy — little Flipkins the editor's got a wife with the devil's own temper, and she helps him to write the leaders ; she took a dislike to you when she was Miss Jamby, and kept the confectioner's shop, when you neglected her, and flirted with the girl behind the counter, because she happened to be the prettiest, and now she's paying you off ; you can't horsewhip ^a woman, you knoAv, so you'd better take it easy." AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 129 Before the speaker had arrived at the conclusion of his advice gratis, Coverdale had removed the hand which impeded his vision, and turning round, exclaimed, — "Why, it's Tom Rattleworth, by all that's extraordinary— I thought you were in Canada, with your regiment, man ! " " So I was till the gout can-ied ofE the governor, and left me a miserable orphan with ^15,000 a year in my pocket. When that lamentable event occui-red I thought I was, for the first time in my life, worth taking care of, so determined to cut the red cloth and pipe-clay business, and come home and live virtuously ever after." " You seem to have recovered your spirits pretty well, if one may judge by present appearances," returned Coverdale, half-amused, half-disgusted at his quondam friend's sentiments—" at all events you've not grown thin upon it." " No ! but that's the very fact which proves how deeply I feel my forlorn condition; it's old FalstafE— is it not— observes how grief swells a man ? I don't ride a pound under twelve stone," was the rejoinder. " By the way," continued Rattleworth, " that reminds me —it's deucedly lucky I met you ; you're the very man that can tell me all about it— Broomfield is anxious to give up the fox-hounds ; he is gi-owing old and lazy, and he wants me to take 'em." "My dear fellow, I'm delighted to hear it," exclaimed Harry eagerly ; " old Broomfield is completely past his work, and of all the men I know you're the fittest to succeed him— you will do the thing as it ought to be done. I should have undertaken them my- self, if I had not become a Benedict : Broomfield tried to persuade me." " Well now look here," resumed Rattleworth, meditatively ; " I've promised to meet Broomfield to-mon-ow, and take his horses and evei-ything at a valuation. Now there is not a man in the county whose opinion aboiit a horse I'd sooner have than yours ; can you spare time to go with me ? I shall really consider it a personal favour if you -w-ill do so." " Of course I will." returned Harry ; for if he had a weak point on which he was accessible to flattery, it was conceming his knowledge of horse-flesh ; " there can be nothing I should like better, in f act— what time do you go ? " " I was to lunch with him at one," was the reply ; " and we were to look at his stud afterwards." " Then I'll meet you at the cross roads by Hanger Wood, at half- past twelve." returned Han-y ; and so, with a hearty shake of the hand, the friends parted. Tom Rattleworth was the only son of a man who had begun life as a land-agent and attorney in H ; but having very early in his career dabbled in stock-jobbing till he made a considerable sum of money, which his business connection enabled him to lay out to great advantage, he gi-ew rich, purchased an estate, married into one of the K 130 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP county families, and brought his son up " as a gentleman "' — that is, he sent him to Eton, where he learned nothing but how to get into and out of scrapes ; and bought him a commission which he would have done better without. Nature having thus ])laced a silver spoon in Tom's mouth, appeared to consider his head sufficiently furnished without going to any unusual expense in the article of brains ; so she gave him barely an average quantity, and made up the deficiency by an actual passion for horse-flesh. Thomas, thus endowed, was the schoolfellow and holiday associate of Harry Coverdale ; and having one, and only one taste in common, they had kept up their intimacy, until HaiTy started on his gi'and toi^r, and Tom was sent with his regiment to Canada, since which period the inter\'iew we have just described was their first meeting. As Coverdale cantered home through the mud, and rain, and sleet, it suddenly flashed across him that the next was the only day remaining in which to call on the Duke and Duchess of Brentwood before the dinner at AUerton House ; and his conscience smote him as he reflected that the engagement he had formed would prevent him from accompanying Alice ; indeed, so annoyed did he feel at thisimlucky coincidence, that for a moment he was on the point of turning his horse's head, and liding after Tom Rattleworth to get off the engagement ; but it was growing dusk, and he reflected that Chase Hall, the residence of the renowned Thomas, was so far otit of his way that he should be iinable to reach home by dinner-time, and then Alice would get fi-ightened about him, which would annoy her more than being obliged to pay hei- visit alone ; so with this bit of sophisti-y he, for the moment, quieted his conscience. Before he an-ived at his own house, he had mentally decided that, as it would only worry his wife, he should say nothing about the Rattleworth engagement to her that evening, and that in the moniing he should mention it as an equally unfortunate and unavoidable necessity, and persuade her to pay the first visit without him. Of course she would be a little annoyed just at first, but she was so sweet- tempered and amiable, that — that — and here his reflections refused to clothe themselves in intelligible language; — had they done so honestly, the sentence would have ended thus — " that she would submit without making a scene." And so he cantered home, where Alice, with her sunny smile and bright loving eyes, was waiting to receive him, and made a vast fuss with the poor dear liecause he must be so wet, which, thanks to Mr. Macintosh — his admirable invention— he was not in the slightest degi-ee, though he appreciated the affectionate fuss Alice made about him all the same. Han-y ! you blind, stupid Hairy ! — as if her little finger, bless it, were not worth all the horse-flesh that ever was foaled, fi-om Bucephalus, down to the winner of the last Derby. The next morning was a very fine one. Alice and HaiTy made their appearance in the breakfast parlour about nine o'clock ; each was a little out of sorts. Alice, not having been able to get any air AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 131 or exercise on the previous day, had waked with a headache, which Han-y continually forgetting', would leave the door of his di'essins:- room open, and attire himself to the tune of " A hunting we will go." Then a new morning gown, on which Miss Flippery, the dressmaker at H , had staked her credit, did not fit, and in turning round to look at the set of the back, Alice trod on the skirt, and tore it out of the " gathers " — whatever they may be ; and as women seldom swear, and the evil was scarcely serious enough to cry over, poor little Mrs. Coverdale was unable to vent her annoyance, and brought it down to breakfast with her accordingly. Harry, on the other hand, conscious that he was about to commit an act of injustice, on which (although he repented of it suflBciently to feel very uncomfortable) he was still determined, tried to keep up his courage by affecting a degree of hilarity which caused him to make bad jokes about every subject mentioned, and to evince such a total want of sympathy with his wife's headache and consequent depression of spirits, that Alice for the first time in her life considered him tiresome and in the way, and felt inclined to say sharp things to him and snub him. After a longish pause, inten-upted only when, on two occasions, Harry was pulled xip for whistling, and a third time for beating the devil's tattoo on the chimney-piece, Alice began, *" Really Wilkins has taken to buraing the toast so black, it is impossible to eat it. I wish you would speak to him about it, HaiTy." " Certainly, my love," was the cheei-ful reply ; " what shall I say to him ? That although I approve of his blacking my boots, I dis- approve of his blacking my toast, and that I shall tha,nk him to do it brown in future ? " '* If you like to risk the chance, which is almost a cei"tainty, that the man will misunderstand you, for the sake of making a stupid slang pun, I advise you to do so," was the captious reply. '■ Phew ! " whistled Harry ; " how solemn, and sensible, and serious we've gi'O^vn all of a sudden ! I beg to inform you, Mrs. Coverdale, that I expect my wife to admire my puns, if nobody else does." " Then you must contrive to make better ones, and to time them rather more appropriately," rejoined Alice, so snappishly, that her hiisband looked up in surprise. Recalled to herself by the un- mistakable astonishment depicted on the bright, good-natured countenance of her better half, Alice continued in a milder tone, '* You must not mind what I say this morning, Hany, dear, my headache makes me so dreadfully cross and stupid." " Poor little thing ! you were shut up all yesterday, you know, and that is enough to give anybody a headache," returned Hariy, who considered houses were built only to dine and sleep in. and would have had Alice spend her days "al fresco," even as he delighted to do. " You must go out as much as possible to-day ; luckily it is very fine" '■ Yes; and I am to be honoured with my husband's company too, 132 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP which is a most unaccustomed pleasure," rejoined Alice, brightening' up at the recollection. '' It is certainly very jjood policy to make youi-self so scarce, though I Avish you did not adhei-e quite so strictly to it; why you have not driven out with me since we returned from Popem Park ! At what time do you mean to order the carriage ? " "Why it's an hour's drive at least; James had better be at the door by two o'clock," replied Han-y. Then turning towards the fire, and moving the ornaments on the chimney-piece into wrong posi- tions, he continued, with an elaborate attempt at nonchalance, which veiled most inefficiently his consciousness that he was about to perform an act against which his moral sense rebelled, he resumed : '■ I'm afraid, my love, that I must ask you to call upon the Duchess of Brentwood without me this morning — a lousiness engagement of — a — importance — that is, one that I cannot avoid, will, I am afraid " And here he broke off abniptly, for, glancing at his wife, he l^erceived an expression in her pretty face that he had never beheld thex'e before ; the bright eyes were flashing, the soft cheeks biu-ned. and the coral lij)s pouted with unmistakable anger. Han-y had at length gone too far. and his sweet-tempered, loWug-heai-ted little wife was positively and seriously angry with him. But so unusual a circumstance demands a fresh chapter. CHAPTER XXV. THE STORM BURSTS. Alice Coverdale, annoyed and pained by what she considered her husband's injustice and unkindness, did not leave him long in doubt as to her feelings upon the subject ; for as soon as she could conquer a choking sensation in the throat sufficiently to speak, she exclaimed, — '' Really, Hany, I must say you are most imkind and incon- siderate ; you chose of youi- own accord to accept the iiiA-itation to Allerton House, though I warned you at the time that it would necessitate your calling on the Duke and Duchess first : you agreed — in fact you promised to do so. There has not been a day since that I haven't reminded you of this promise, so it is impossible you can have forgotten it ; — there was a time, and not so very long ago- either, when you were ready enough to go anywhere with me, and AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 133 were only too glad to find I wished yoii to do so. I little thought, poor foolish gii-1 that I was, how soon things would alter ; and now, when you knew as well as I did that this is the last day on which we can pay this visit, you've f omied some stupid engagement (to go and shoot somewhere, I dare say ; I wish gi;ns had never been invented — hon-id dangerous things— always going off unexpectedly and killing people), and so made it impossible to retuni the Duchess's call : and to-morrow I shall be ashamed to look her in the face, or to speak to her ; though I dare say she won't give me a chance to do that, for she is as proud as Lu as a woman can be." Here, from sheer want of breath, Alice being forced to pause, HaiTy qiiietly remarked : " Women can be as proud as men for that matter, ' ecce signum ' ; but now just listen to a little common sense for a minute. I fully intended and wished to accompany you, but I happened yesterday, at H , to meet with a very old fi-iend of mine, who informed me tliat he was going this morning to transact ceiiain business matters which would involve the expenditure of a considerable sum of money, in regard to which aifair he particularly required my advice and opinion." " He must be going to buy a gun or a horse then," intemipted Alice ; " those are the only things people imagine you understand ; and I don't wonder at them either, when they see you waste half your life about this horrid sporting. If yoia give up all intellectual pursuits in this way. you'll go on till you become fit for nothing biit to himt, shoot, eat, drink, and sleep, like that dreadfiil old creature, Colonel Grossman." Thoroughly provoked by this last speech (which touched on a sensitive point in Han-y's disposition, and aroused a latent fear, by which he was always more or less oppressed, lest people should consider him, from his fondness for field sports, a mere addle-pated, fox-hunting squire), he replied, with more asperity in his tone than he had ever before used, or believed it possible he could use, towards Alice, " Take care you don't become a peevish shrew, like Mrs. Crossman. You are angi-y, and foi-get yourself ; when you gi-ow calm again, you will perceive how foolish and unreasonable you have been to lose your temper about such a silly ti-ifle." " You think being i-ude to your friends and unkind to your wife a silly trifle, do you ? '' inquired Alice. HaiTy's colour rose as he took a turn up and down the room to compose his feelings ere he would trust himself to reply. " You Avant to make me angiy," he said, " but I do not intend to afford you that satisfaction. Listen to me," he continued, seeing that his wife was again about to inteniipt him, " listen to me, and when you have heard what I am about to say, you can reply as you please. I made this engagement to oblige my friend, without at the moment recollecting that to-day was the time appointed for caDing on the Duchess; but when I reflected that one was business of importance, and the other a mere visit of ceremony, I hoped and believed you 134 HARRY COVERD ALE'S COURTSHIP would be reasonable enougrh. when I should have explained the matter to you, not even to wish nie to give up my engagement, and would exercise sufficient common sense and self-control to go and pay the visit alone." " Then you thought wrongly," returned Alice, with vehemence ; " if you required a wife who coiild go al>out by herself and visit a set of proud, stiff people, who are strangers to her, and keep up your position in the county, while you are out himting and shooting all day. for your own selfish amusement, you should have chosen some fashionable woman of the world, and not a poor simple country girl like myself, who relied on your affection to protect and encourage her ; " and here Alice showed strong symptoms of a disposition to bring that " young wife's last resource " of a flood of tears to bear upon her disobedient and refi"actoi*y spouse. HaiTy, seeing this, and having been throughout the inten'iew haunted by a latent consciousness that he was in the wTong, was strongly tempted to yield, and despatching a messenger to Tom Rattleworth furnished \vith some good and sufficient social white lie to account for his non-appearance, to stay quietly at home till the time should have an-ived to accompany his wife to visit their aristo- cratic neighbours ; but, unhappily. Colonel Crossman's caution, " You've man-ied a nice gal and a pretty gal, take care you don't go and spoil her," flashed across hiui : " women are all alike, more or less ; it's the nature of 'em to choose to have their own way ; if you indulge 'em at first, they will be your masters ever after ; show your wife she has met her match," &c., &c. — these, and such like precepts, rang in Harry's ears. Alice was angry and unreasonable, striving for the upper hand, in fact ; he must not permit this : for her sake, as much as for his own, he was called ujjon to assert himself, and vindicate his marital authority. Yes, painful as it was to his feelings to speak or act harshly to his young wife, whom, even at that moment, he cared for more than any other created being, he would give her a lesson which should cure the evil at once and for ever. So putting on a very grave look he began : " My dear Alice, you are forgetting yourself, forgetting our relative positions ; but there is a quiet way of settling such affairs ; verbose discussions of this nature do not suit me — I am essentially a man of action. It is the husband's right to command, the wife's duty to obey. I had hoped your own proper feeling would have saved me the pain of being forced to remind you of this. I must now add, that I consider myself bound to fulfil my engagement to my friend, and intend to do so : during my absence, it is my wish and desire that you should drive and call on the Duchess of Brentwood ; if, which I can scarcely conceive i^ossible. you still refuse to do as I have pointed out, I shall, before I leave this room, -svi-ite a note to Lady AUerton, infomiing her that we are unable to dine with her to-moiTOw, without assigning any cause whatsoever for this change of intention — which, as I cannot give the true reason, and will not stoop to invent a false one, is the only course left open to me." AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 135 Having delivered liimself calmly and firmly of this despotic speech, HaiTy folded his amis across his broad chest, and leaning his autocratic back against the chimney-piece, stood looking as if he felt himself completely " monarch of all he surveyed," his wife included. Meanwhile a fearful struggle between good and evil was proceeding in Alice's mind ; a kind word or look would instantly have caused the good to triumph : but her husband stood cold and inexorable as a statue of Fate. Then the same personage who tempted Eve to the sin which lost her Eden, suddenly caused to flash across Alice's recollection all Mrs. Grossman's arguments, and she deteiTnined to follow her advice, to " pluck up a spirit, and treat her husband as he treated her," &c. Accordingly, by a gi-eat etforf restraining her tears, which during HaiTy's harangue had begun to flow, she looked up with flashing eyes and ci'imson cheeks, as she replied, — "' The ol>edience you require is not that of a wife but of a slave, and I refuse to yield it. You have treated me unkindly and unjustly, and I will not sacrifice myself to oblige you." Han-y made no reply, though his lips moved convulsively, as though he could scarcely command himself to keep silence ; then snatching pen and ink, he scrawled a hasty note, sealed and directed it, and rising, quitted the room without uttering a single word. As the door closed behind him, the tears which Alice had hithei-to with such difl&culty repressed, burst forth luirestrained. She was roused from a paroxysm of weeping by the sound of horses' feet, and springing to the window, reached it in time to see Hany give a note to a groom, who rode away at speed in the direction of AUerton House ; then moivnting his own horse, he also galloped off, ere Alice could muster sufiicient presence of mind to attempt to recall him. CHAPTER XXVI. THE ATMOSPHEEE REMAINS CLOUDY. Falling out with the wife of one's bosom is a process that bears a marked affinity to two other domestic operations which, from time immemorial, have lapsed into well-merited disrepute — viz. quarrelling with one's bread and butter, and cutting off one's nose to spite one's f nee ; the same moral but uncomfortable necessity of inherent self- chastisement being common to all thi'ee. Thus Harry Coverdale, 136 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP having vindicated his marital dignity, and galloped ofP the irritation conseq\ient upon so acting, heartily wished the deed undone, and Alice and himself friends again ; for, little as he appeared to prize it. her affection had become necessai-y to him, and he conld no more do without it, than he could have dispensed with sunshine in summer or fires at Chinstmas. Accordingly it was in no very amiable fi*ame of mind that he joined his fox-himting ally ; and it required all the allurements of oysters, poi-ter. devilled bones, and unimpeachable port wine, to enable him to " cast dull care away," sufficiently to take a proper and spoi*tsman-like interest in all the miniitise of the proposed transfer of stock, canine and equestnan. Once fairly in for it, howevever, his stable-minded propensities asserted them- selves, and he spent a deeply interesting afternoon in feeling back- sinews, detecting incipient curbs and spavins, condemning an incur- able sand-crack, and othei-wise testing and pronouncing judgment upon the quadi'upedal inmates of Squire Broomfield's hunting stables As the waning light heralded the approach of dinner time (that important epoch in the day with all country gentlemen, and with most London ones also), and the last horse had been trotted out and trotted in again, and its petticoats (which gi-ooms call " body clothing '') replaced, Han-y's thoughts fell back into their former gloomy train. Anxious, therefore, to leam how Alice was progressing under the weight of his high displeasure, he was about to take leave, when Tom Rattleworth drew him aside, obseiwing in a confidential whisper, — " I say, Coverdale, old Broomfield is going to ask you to stay and dine — I know he is. he looks so pleased with himself. For mercy's sake don't refuse, or else I shall have to endure a ' tete-a-tete ' with the old boy. and that will use me up all together — horse, foot and artillery ; for besides being bored to extinction, he will do me out of every advantage you have obtained for me to-day. He's an awful screw, and I'm good for nothing at a bargain after the first bottle ; so if you leave me to his tender mercies, I'm safe to be butchered like a lamb, and served up in my own mint sauce befoi'e we quit the mahogany." " I'm afraid I must decline," was the reply, " for my wife has been at home by herself all day, and it is not fair to expect her to spend the evening in solitude also. But you need not be victimized on that account ; come home and dine with us. Tou've never met my wife ; she was in the school-room and a pinafore when you went abroad with your regiment. Say yes, and then you can tell old Broomfield that you are engaged to me." " So be it then," was the rejoinder, and thus was Mr. Broomfield cheated of his guests, and Harry enabled to avoid a ' tete-a-tete ' dinner, and possibly a scene, with his outraged spouse. In the mean- time, Alice had been enduring all the mental torments consequent upon having been angry with the person one loves best in the world. First, the idea that she had been most cruelly used, and extensively AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 137 sinned against, and put upon, was the only one whioli presented itself to her mind in anything like a clear and definite shape ; and she be-wailed her evil fortune in a very thunderstorm of weeping. Having by this means condensed, juid disposed of, a vast amount of superfluous steam, she grew calmer and more reasonable, when the uncomfortable possibility gi-a dually dawned i;pon her, that she also might have been to blame — that she had first irritated, and then defied Harry, and utterly and completely failed in her duty as a wife ; and so penitent did she become on the strength of this conviction, that if her husband had returned at that moment, she would have thrown herself at his feet and humbly implored his pardon, which act of unqualified submission must have disarmed Harry so entirely and totally, that he would instantly have forgiven her, and frankly confessed himself to blame, and Alice would never again have experienced the eifects of his " quiet manner." But, unfortunately, Harry was at that moment difPerently occupied, in impressing upon Tom Rattleworth the impoi-tant fact, that Lucifer would be all the better for having a red-hot iron passed lightly over his off fetlock at the first convenient opportunity, and thus Alice's extreme penitence evaporated as her anger had done. The final conclusion at which she aiTived was, that she would confess her fault to Harry on his return, and then tiy calmly and quietly to convince him of his injustice. If she shoiild siicceed in this, of which she did not feel by any means certain, they would exchange forgiveness ; and, warned by that which had occurred, take heed to their ways, and live in harmony and affection ever after. All these sentiments Alice proposed to deliver when she and her husband should be ' tete-a-tete' after dinner, at which time she had obsei-ved Hariy to be usually in an amiable and convincible frame of mind. It may easily be imagined, therefore, that when she heard Tom Rattleworth declare with much enthusiasm, and in a voice raised to the pitch in which its possessor had been wont to direct the gallant fraction of the British army lately under his command to "Shoiild — der ar-r-ums," that he was open to " be blessed," on the spot, if " the joUy old place did not look stunning," she was by no means inclined to afford him the benediction he had invoked, and heartily wished him at the bottom of the Red Sea, which we take to be the lowest geographical limit to which a lady's anathema can be permitted to descend. She had not time to do more than condemn her unknown visitor to the oceanic penal settlement aforesaid, ere a sound as of a jibbing man impelled forward by some powerful agency in the rear, together with the following expostulation, met her ear : — " My dear fellow, I'm not fit to be introduced ; I'm all over mud, I am upon my life ! " In another moment the drawing-room door flew open, and her husband and a tall, large, bushy-whiskered, bluff, young man, who looked as if he could only have been brought in doors by way of a trick, like a pony, or a wheelbarrow, stood before her. " Alice, this is Tom Rattleworth, an old schoolfellow of mine, who 138 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP is very anxious to form j'our acquaintance, and has kindly consented to dine with us," observed Harry. " Hey ! — haw ! " besran Tom Rattleworth, uttering' sounds like a bashful Off re in his intense consciousness of his muddy disqualifica- tion for female society ; '" haw ! hey ! the kindness lies all — haw ! — the other way. I hope— Mrs. Coverdale — my dear fellow — will excuse — I told you I wasn't fit to be seen ; but you seem to be — the roads are — impetuous as ever — so very muddy." Having delivered himself of this slightly incoherent address, the embryo M.F.H. '■ made his revei-ence " to Alice, and then performing the militaiy evolution expressed in the mysterious terms "To the right about! wheel ! " he laid violent hands upon his host, and forced shim out of the room as energetically as he had been himself propelled into it. The dinner soon made its appearance, and was a '' real blessing " to all i^arties, for it provided them something wherewith to occupy their mouths, and thus obviated the painful necessity of manu- facturing small-talk — a toil compared with which the labours of Hercules appear child's play, and the up-hill work of Sisyphus a mere game at hall. The first shai-p edge of his appetite taken off, Tom Rattleworth began to converse fluently upon the only topic which never failed him, and which invariably formed the staple ingredient in his discourse, and, indeed, in his thoughts generally — viz. himself and his own sayings and doings. Alice, bored and unhappy, uttered monosyllabic rej)lies, when she perceived that she was expected to do so ; and remained silent and " distraite " when such exertions were not required of her. Han-y, partly grieved at perceiving the accustomed smishine in his wife's pretty face overcast, partly iiritated at what he imagined to be the sulkiness of her manner; annoyed at liis friend's egotistic chatter, which he felt was disgusting Alice, and which he could not contrive to check (seeing that the obtuseness of Tom Rattleworth's faculties rendered him totally impervious to a hint) ; and generally provoked by the change from his usual state of careless, light-hearted happiness to his present iincomfortable frame of mind — a change which he rightly enough attributed in a great measure to his o^Ti hastiness and mismanagement, almost lost his temper. This he displayed by rating the lad who assisted Wilkins, until he reduced that unhappy juvenile to such a pitch of nervousness and general mental debility, that, having inveigled his mistress into sugaring instead of peppering a broiled turkey's leg, and reijlenished the Champagne glasses from a bottle of bitter ale, he was sent out of the room in disgrace. But in this mortal life (which would be qtiite ujiendurable if such were not the case) all things sooner or later come to an end — and dull dinners are no exceptions to the rule — thus, after the dessert had been placed on the table, Alice, having finished her half -glass of sherry and nibbled a fragment of some AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 13» little vegetable absurdity preserved in candied sugar, and looking like a geological specimen rather tban a sweetmeat, reckoned slie had sufficiently fulfilled her duty as hostess, and was watching for an oppoi-tunity to escape and go and be wi'etched comfortably by herself, when Tom Rattleworth, addressing her especially, Ijegan : — " 'Pon my word, my dear Mrs. Coverdale, when I see you and my friend HaiTy here so happy together" (Harry seized a pear and began denuding it of its rind Avith a kind of ferocious eagerness, suggestive to any one acquainted with the " dessous des cai-tes " of his willingness to perform a similar operation upon his " mal a-propos " guest), ■■ I declare it makes a fellow feel quite doA\Ti in the mouth when he thinks of going home to enjoy his own single blessedness, as they call it — though single t'other thing would be more like the truth, I fancy — but then it isn't everybody that's as lucky as Han-y and you — not suited to each other so charmingly, you understand." (Alice, avoiding her husband's eye, bent over her sweetmeat as though she were anxious to count the number of spangles of candied sugar it took to cover a square .inch thereof.) "Now there was a man in our regiment — cui'ious coincidence, his name was Han-y, too — but ^hose things do happen so curiously — Han-y Flusterfon his name was — well, ma'am, when we were quartered up at Montreal, there was a family there to whom Han-y and I took out introductions, and as we found ourselves decidedly hard up for amusement, we used to visit there pretty much. There were two or three daughters in the family, but the eldest was the one that took my fancy most, and Harry Flustei-ton was of the same opinion. Accordingly we both laid siege to her, but Han*y soon began to shoot ahead, and I, find- ing that it was no go, quietly took up with number two, who, although she hadn't her sister's points, figure, or action, was by no means a girl to be despised, especially in a dull place like that ; well, my dear fellow — haw ! — my dear ma'am, I mean — 'pon my word, I'm not fit for ladies' society — but the long and short of it is, Han-y was married — everybody thought he was the luckiest dog ))reathing — I'm sure I did for one, and said as much to Eliza — that was the younger one, you undei-stand, that I was obliged to put up with. When I made that remai-k to her, she looked at uie queer like, and says she, ' I hope your friend is a very sweet temper, Mr. Rattlewoi-th ? ' 'Of com-se he is,' retm-ned I, for he was, up to the day he man-ied, as easy tempered a fellow as you'd wish to meet with. Would you believe it, Mrs. Coverdale, this charming creature that we had both fallen so desperately in love with (not but that I liked Eliza just as well when I once got used to her) turned out a regular vixen — a perfect vii-ago, ma'am ; why Harry himself told me that they hadn't much more than got over the honeymoon, when the first time he wanted her to do something she didn't like, some nonsense about visiting, or some such stuff, the way she flared up was a caution to single men — " 140 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " My dear Rattlewortb, I'm sorry to interiiipt you," exclaimed Coverdale, who coixld bear it no longer, " but I'm afraid my wife is a little overcome by the heat of the room — those servants will make such ridiculously large fires. My dear Alice, if you i^refer the drawing-room, I'm sure Rattleworth will excuse you ; this place is like the black-hole in Calcutta." And while Rattlewoi-th, talking all the time, sprang to open the door, Harry covered his wife's retreat by instituting a fm'ious onslaught upon the unoffending fire. It was well he came to the rescue when he did, for in another minute Alice would have been in hysterics. To get rid of his dear friend as soon as possible was Haii-y's next anxiety, but this was no such easy matter. Thomas Rattleworth, Esq., M.F.H., was at that happy moment the victim of two strenuous necessities — one to listen to the sound of his o^vn voice, expressing not so much his ideas as his paucity thereof ; and the other to imbibe a bottle of poi-t wine, in twelve doses of a wine-glass each ; and these necessities had the imf ortunate property of re-acting upon and increasing each other ; for talking made him thirsty, and drinking made him talkative, so that it was eleven o'clock before he had talked himself out, by whicb time the terminus of a second bottle of port had been arrived at. With a feeling of relief such as Sinbad the Sailor might have experienced when he felt the legs of the Old Man of the Sea gi'adually relaxing their clasp around his weaiied shoulders, did Han-y assist his friend to light a cigar, then Avatched its fiery tip gradually disappear in the darkness, as Rattleworth's cover hack cantered off with its master's six feet one of good-natui-ed goose- flesh. Left to his own meditations, Han-y started a cigar on his own account, and, the night being a fine one, he paced up and down the gravel walk in front of the house until he should have cleared his brain from the fumes of the wine civility had forced him to swallow. The calm stars came out one by one, and as he watched their bright effulgence, an idea of his childhood, that they might be the eyes of angels, recun-ed to his memory ; and he could even fancy they appeared to gaze upon him reproachfully. No human being possess- ing even the lowest order of reflective powers, or the faintest vestige of imagination, can watch the tranquil splendour of a starlight night — a scene which at once proclaims God's omnipotence, and appears a work fitted to the majesty of the Great Being who created it for His own glory — without becoming imbued with the idea of rest and peace, and desirous of realizing these blessings in his own life. With God and infinity so near us, how we loathe the trifles of existence ! and, above all, how we despise and contemn the littleness of our fallen nature ! how we repent with bitter tears of shame and contrition the evils they have vsrought in ourselves, and through us to others ! And how, at such a moment, do the qualities we inherit from heaven — truth, and love, and mercy — expand within us, and fill om- soids. and raise us, for the time, above ourselves, and nearer to the high estate AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 141 from which we have fallen— alas ! that it should be only for the time ! Coverdale was not insensible to these elevating inflnences ; his love for Alice returned in all its original strength and pm-ity, and he determined, before he slept that night, to bring about a reconciliation, even if his wife should refuse to confess that she had acted wrongly. Yes ! he would actually go the length of owning that he had been to blame and was soriy for it, and then Alice would forgive him, and all would be as though this foolish disagree- ment had never occurred. False reasoning, Hany ! there are two things a woman, however thoroughly she may forgive them, never forgets — neglect and unkindness ; and when once these have cast their shadow across the bright eager gladness with which she yields i;p her whole soul as a thank-offering to him she loves, man, with his stronger, sterner nature, can no more bring back the delicacy and freshness of that young affection, than he can restore to the peach the bloom which his careless fingers have profaned — the love may still exist in its full reality, but the bright halo of early romance which surrounded it has been dispelled, never to return ! CHAPTER XXYII. THE PLEASURES OF KEEPING UP THE GAME. Having looked at the stars, and profited Isy their quiet teaching, Hai-ry went in a sadder and a wiser man, resolved, ere he slept that night, to confess his fault, and. if it might be so, obtain Alice's forgiveness. But Alice, tired and imhappy. had gone to bed, and cried herself to sleep like a weary child ; and when Hai'ry entered her room, he found her lying with her head pillowed on her arm, and the tear-drops scarcely dried upon her long silken eyelashes, as soundly asleep as though care, and sin, and soitow, were evils of which her philosophy had never dreamed— so Coverdale could only invoke a silent blessing upon her, and hasten to follow her example by going to bed and to sleep himself. Thus an opportunity was lost of regaining the " high estate " in his wife's affections, from which he had fallen by reason of his inconsiderate selfishness, and hasty and impetuous temper ; and it is a fact equally true and tiying, that an opportunity once lost never returns, even an advertisement in the *' Times " would fail to regain it. One of the strangest and least comprehensive of psychological 142 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP phenomena is the total change produced in our thoughts, feelings, opinions, hopes, fears, sympathies, antipathies, and all the other component pai-ts which make up that wonderful spiritual steam- engine, the mind of man, by a good night's sleep. We go to bed desperately in love with some charming girl we have flirted with half the evening, despising her cruel old male parent, who would come and disturb ovir ' tete-a-tete,' and take her away at least an hour sooner than anybody not utterly callous to all the finer feelings of human nature would have dreamed of doing; and hating with un- christian mtdignity her tall coiisin in the Blues, who, having known her from her cradle upwards, dared to call her " Gussie "' to ow' very face — we sleep soundly, om* mind lies fallow for some six hours, and lo ! a change has come o'er us ; our goddess has stepped do^NTi from ber pedestal, and appears a very average specimen of white muslined femininity and flirtation, while her father has improved into quite an amiable model paterfamilias, at whose patient benignity in remain- ing, to please his daughter, at an evening parfy till half-past three a.m. we actiially marvel ; and as to that fine young fellow her cousin, we are really shocked when we recall om* unchnstian feelings towards him, and, as some slight compensation, mentally book him for an invite to that dinner at Blackwall which we propose bestowing upon a dozen of our very particular friends, in the unlikely event of our exchequer holding out till the whitebait season. Thus, by the next moniing, Coverdale had slept off the sharp edge of his penitence, and when Alice began by a great efforf to refer to the events of the previous day, with the intention of confessing herself in the "WTong, and asking forgiveness, Hany, dreading a scene with a degree of hoiTor equally masculine and English, checked the flow of her eloquence by ex- claiming abruptly and cheerfully. '' Yes, dear, certainly — but don't say another word about it ; we were both very silly, and made each other very miserable, Avhen we might be as happy as the day is long ; let bygones be bygones, we will forgive and forget, and be wiser for the future, eh ? " As he spoke, he drew her to him, and sealing his forgiveness on her lips with a kiss, rendered all discussion impossible by leaving the room. This speech (kiss included) ought to have satisfied any reasonable wife, but unfortunately at that moment Alice was not exactly in a reasonable frame of mind ; she had dwelt so long on one idea, in accordance with which she had aiTanged the whole progamme of a dramatic reconciliation scene, that she by no means approved of Han-y's short cut to concord, rendering null and void aU her explana- tion of how, and why, and wherefore she had come to behave ill, to- gether with a spu-ited sketch in monologue of her contrition for the past and vows of amendment for the future ; the whole to conclude with certain annotations and reflections, which she trusted would so affect her husband's feelings, and convince his understanding, that he would for the future restrict shooting to two short mornings a week, and cast hunting " to the dogs " entirely, and now all the AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 143 mysterious pleasure tlie gentler sex derive from talking a thinof well over, was denied lier. Ah ! that "' talking over," what a wonderful female attribute it is ! how vast and impoitant a part of " woman's mission " does it con- stitute I in fact, we have met innumerable women — the majority of our female acquaintance, we should say — whose whole and entire mission appears to consist of a " call " to "' talk over," first, their neighbom-s' affairs (a duty to their neighbour in which they never fail), secondly, their own. The French aphorism (seldom acted upon by its voluble originators), " Cela va sans dire," must seem imspeak- ably absurd to these advocates for an indefinite extension of the " freedom of debate ; " while the " silent system " must appear a more " capital punishment " than death itself, always supposing the excellence of a punishment to be tested by its severity : — but we are slightly digressing. If anything were needed to prove the absurdity of human beings — creatures with immortal souls, placed in this world to prepare for eternity — darkening the sunshine of each other's lives by bickering about trifles, that evidence wouldl be afforded when we observe the manner in which such mental " nebulie " vanish before the presence of any of the stem realities of existence. Thus when, breakfast being concluded, Hairy was called mysteriously out of the apartment to leaiTi that a moimted gi-oom had just an-ived from Hazlehurst Grange, with the intelligence that old Mr. Hazlehurst had been seized ^^^th a fit, from which, when the servant came away, he was not expected to recover. Coverdale's only thought was how most tenderly and judiciously to break the sad news to Alice. Having executed his painful task with a degi-ee of tact and delicacy of feeling for which those who knew only the rough side of his character would scai-cely have given him credit, and soothed, to the best of his ability, the burst of gi'ief with which Alice received the intelligence, Harry con- tinued, "And now, love, the moment you are able to start, the phaeton will be ready : it is lighter than the close can-iage, and in an emergency like the present, eveiy minute becomes of consequence." "And you ? " inquired Alice, glancing at him timidly thi-ough her tears. "I of course will drive you myself; you did not suppose I should let you go alone." Alice could not reply, but as she pressed her husband's hand caressingly, the old loving look came back into her eyes, and Harry felt that he was forgiven. On reaching the Grange the report of the sick man was more favoui'uble than Alice had dared to hope. An apoplectic fit constitutes one of the few exceptional cases in which prompt medical assistance does not necessarily increase the evil. and the Esculapius of the neighbourhood had this time successfully intei-posed between death and his victim ; while Mr. Hazlehurst had received a lesson sufficiently severe to prevent him from objecting to the substitution of toast and water and " bland " puddings for port 144 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP wine, bottled in the year 1830, and the roast beef of Old Enerland. Coverdale having remained at the Grange for thi'ee days, during which time he had shaken hands with, and lamented over Arthur (who, summoned at the commencement of his father's illness, appeared looking so pale and thin, that it was decided " nem. con." that he was working himself to death — a view of the case which he rather than othenvise encouraged by the faintness of his denial), was forced to retm-n to the Park to attend the next meeting of magis- trates, and finally to dispose of the offending poachers. Accord- ingly, ha^•ing arranged with Alice to send the close carnage for her on the day but one following, he took leave of the Hazlehurst family, and drove to H . Here, after a long examination, the aforesaid poachers were convicted, and sentenced, one to nine months', another to a year's imprisonment — Markum's evidence being so clear and convincing, that such an issue became inevitable. As the game- keeper left the coiu-t, a tall, gipsy-looking fellow came up to him, and muttered in his ear, "You'll live to repent this day's work, Master Keeper ; look to yoiu-self one of these dark nights." " Look to yom-self if I catch you on om* groimd," was Markum's contemptuous rejoinder; "there's enough oakum to "pick in H gaol for Tom and you too." " Who is that fellow 'i " inquii'ed Coverdale, as the man, percei\-ing that the keeper's reply was beginning to attract attention, turned away with a scowl. " That be Jack Hargiave. Mi\ Coverdale, sir," returned Markum ; " brother along o' Tom, as we've give twelve months to ; and sarve 'im right, a poachin', thievin' wagrant." ■• Is this fellow a poacher also ? " asked HaiTy. *' That is he then," was the reply ; '" a reg'lar bred un, and as deep a hand as ever set a snare, only he's so ' wide o',' that it's not so easy to nab the warmint; but I'll be down upon 'im yet, for all his threatenings. He's bin heai-d to swear he'll put a charge o' shot under my veskit some o' these nights ; he'd better not, though, or he may find there's two can play at that game." " No \dolence, my good fellow, no violence ; it's not a light thing to shed the blood of a fellow-creature — besides, there's a quiet way of managing these affairs. I shall warn the police to keep an eye on that man Hargrave; he looks dangerous; and you may as well put on another watcher, it won't do to be short-handed just now." So saying, Coverdale tm-ned away, and was soon deep in conversation with the inspector of the mounted rui-al police ; after which, refusing to make one of a jo^^al party who were about to dine with Tom Rattleworth, and were tolerably certain to remain playing whist, and imbiliing strong liquors till the small hours should be again upon the increase, he drove home to his solitary mansion. It was the first time since his maniage that Coverdale had dined by himself, and he felt propoi-tionably lonely ; everything tended to remind him of Alice — her favourite dog, a little black-and-tan AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 145 spaniel, witli large loving eyes, not unlike her own, leaped on his knee after dinner, and gazing wistfully at the empty chair opposite, uttered a low whine, as though it would inquire, " Where's my mistress P" The footstool,' whereon her dainty little feet were wont to repose — the screen with which she was accustomed to shade her fair cheek from the too (ardent advances of the fire — each object, animate or inanimate, recalled his thoughts to Alice ; and feeling, even more strongly than he had ever yet felt, how deeply and tenderly he loved her, he for the first time perceived that love in its true light, and, in acknowledging its full reality, became conscious of the duties and responsibilities such an afEection entailed upon him. Faintly and dimly at first the light broke in xipon him ; deeply did he feel the difficulties of the task, and his own inability to perform it ; and bittei'ly, most bitterly, did he regi'et his own selfish carelessness, which had, as he was fain to confess, tended ah-eady to estrange his young wife's afEection, and to convei-t a gentle, yielding girl, into a wilful and exacting woman. And thus he sat, pondering over and regretting the past, and forming wise and good resolutions for the future, while minutes gliding by unobserved grew into houi-s, until the sudden restlessness of the little dog, which had been sleeping quietly iipon his knees, roused him, and looking at his watch, he perceived it was nearly midnight. As he did so the dog, whose restlessness appeared to increase, uttered a short bark, while at the same moment a distant sound was faintly audible, which Han-y's practised ear instantly recognized as the report of a gun. To spring to the window, open the shutter, and fling up the sash, was the work of an instant ; a like space of time sufficed to resolve doubt into certainty, — guns were being discharged in a favourite plantation about half a mile from the house — a plantation in which the pheasants were as well fed and tame as bani-door fowls ; it was evident the poachers were taking their revenge, and that these sacred birds, the Lares and Penates of Han-y's sporting mythology, wei'e being ruthlessly slaughtered on their roosts. Han-y rang the bell furiously ; then before the alarmed Wilkins (who, having commenced his career in the service of an apoplectic alderman, laboured under a chronic impi-ession that somebody was in a fit) had passed beyond the door of the servants' hall, he mshed impetuously out of the dining-room, and meeting that bewildered domestic in full career, nearly frightened him into an attack of the malady he so much dj-eaded for others, by exclaiming, " Here, quick ! Tell Saunders, or some of them, to saddle the shooting cob and bring him round instantly ; then find me a hat and pea-jacket. Quick, I say ! " As the butler vanished on his mission, Coverdale took down from a peg in the hall, a special constable's staff which had been entrusted to him on behalf of her gracious Majesty, at a time when an extra dose of politics and strong beer had proved too potent for the dense agricultm-al pates of certain free and independent (alias bribed and tipsy) electors of the neighbouring county town. It was a stout L 146 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP piece of ash, about a foot and a half lonest she could assist the distressed mother. The fii'st point was to leant to whom to apply in favoiu- of the culprits, and she accordingly inquired on whose land they had been taken, and in whose service the wounded gamekeeper resided ? The answer was at the same time emban-assing 154 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP and satisfactory. Of cotu'se, if the offence had been committed upon her husband's propei'ty, he could, if he would, decline to prosecute the offenders — if he would ? — there lay the difficulty. Alice was well aware of the serioiis li.£?ht in which Han-y regarded the crime of poaching ; and the attack on the gamekeeper even she was forced to reprobate ; but if it should prove that the man was not seriously injured, she trusted to her newly-regained influence to enable her to place the matter in such a light that Harry would agree with her in overlooking the culprit's offence for the sake of his family ; or, at all events, if that was expecting too much of his penitence, she had only to ask it as a personal favour, and he surely could not refuse her. So, carried away by her feelings of kindly sympathy, and acting on the impulse of the moment, she put|f orth all her powers of consolation, and ended by disclosing her name, and the relation in which she stood towards that persecutor of poachers. Harry Coverdale, at the same time promising to use her influence, whicli she represented as all-power- ful, to screen the culprits from the effects of their misdemeanoiu-s. Before her consolatory harangue was well concluded, the caiTiage arrived, and Alice, having kissed the children (the unfortunate baby being ai-oused expressly for the performance of the affectionate ceremony, a violation of the rights of the siibject which it resented by crying and slobbering with a twenty-infant power over Alice's velvet mantle), left five shillings in the hands of their mamma, by way of a peace-offering, and departed, thoroughly satisfied with her ' debut ' in the character of poor man's friend and cottager's comforter. All the way she drove home she was building castles in the air for the benefit and behoof of the ruined family, having mentally adopted the little girl as lady's-maid, and apprenticed the baby, which was of the nobler sex, to a serious and immaculate cai-penter, before she reached the Park. Coverdale was absent when his wife anived, having ridden over to H , to assist at the committal of Jack Hargi'ave and his accomplice ; but she received from Wilkins, who was, in more senses than one, a confidential servant, an over-fvdl, untrue, and particularly- exaggerated account of the aff'ray of the previous night, from which she acquired two facts, which tended considerably to disquiet her, viz. : — first, that the wounded man was Markum, her husband's especial favourite; and secondly, that Harry had been personally involved in the affair ; both of which considerations increased the difficulty of the negotiation for gaol-delivery to which she had incautiously pledged herself. Having taken off her things, she proceeded first to fraternize with her King Charles spaniel and the two canary-birds (which latter plumed bipeds celebrated her return in songs of shrill triumph, like a couple of inebriated penny whistles), then to put all the ornaments right, which the housemaid had dusted into uncomfortable and heterodox positions. She had just discovered a china cup, which nobody had broken, and which yet was divided in several places, having probably split its own sides AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 155 laughing at the grotesque figures with which its manufacturer had seen fit to embeUish it, and she was hunting for a bottle of diamond cement wherewith to repair the damage before her husband's retui*n, when the sound of horses' feet announced that event to have taken place. The first words that met her ear were, " Let one of the helpers go down to Mai-kum's cottage, wait till Mr. Gouger has seen hiiu again, and bring me his report without a moment's delay ; if it should be unsatisfactory I'll send for Brodie by electric telegraph. Is youi- mistress returned ? " A warm embrace, an expression of his delight at having her back again, a hurried inquiry after Mr. Hazlehm-st, and then Han-y rushed into his narrative of the poaching aifair, and in his eagerness to detail eveiT circumstance of a matter which interested him so deeply, did not notice the tameness of Alice's sympathy, or the lukewarm manner in which she seconded his vii-tuous indignation against the miscreants who had all but murdered good, honest Markum : " And small thanks to them that it was ' all but,' for, if ever a scoundrel meant mischief, that scoundi'el was Jack Hai'grave." Alice saw tliis was no time to urge her suit, and so merely confined herself to tlie general remiu-k, that it was a dreadful affair for all parties, and that she pitied the wives of the wretched men who had committed the rash act, as much as anybody concenied in the matter ; to which Harry replied, — " That it sei-ved them right for maiTying poachers, and that they might think they were lucky not to be the victims themselves, for that a fellow who would take to poaching was capable oi cutting his wife's throat, or of any other enormity." Mr. Gouger' s report was, on the whole, satisfactoi-y- Markum was going on well, though he (Gouger) could not pronounce him out of danger; the injury was very serious, and several days must elapse before the idterior consequences would be apparent; or, as the doctor himself remarked, " the effect of extraneous particles of plumbago, or lead, introduced into the vital system by the sudden expansion of saltpetre and other explosive compounds compressed within the narrow limits of a gun-barrel, and discharged thence by ignition, according to the natural laws of projectiles, was most subtle and deleterious, leading sometimes to the total destruction of animal life, at others to a concussion of the nervous system; or again," &c., &c. : from which sapient opinion Harry collected that Brodie need not be sent for immediately. Days glided by, the prisoners were remanded till Markum's chance of life or death should be ascertained, and Alice had not found a fitting moment in which to make her appeal. At length the surgeon, with grave looks, which might mean everything, anything, or nothing, advised, merely as a matter of precaution, that the wounded man should make a deposition before a magistrate, so that if any- 156 HARRY CO VERD ALE'S COURTSHIP thing were to happen, the jury mio^ht have the advantage of his statement of facts. Coverdale, therefore, having persuaded one of his brother magistrates to accompany him, proceeded to the cottage for the above pui"pose. Shoi-tly after he had set off, Alice waa informed that a poor woman was desirous of speaking to her ; and on ordering her to be shown in, she was less surprised than embaiTassed to recognize in the tearful applicant her cottage hostess, the wife of the culprit, Jack Hargrave. The result of the interview may be easily foreseen. Alice descanted on the greatness of the crime committed, Mr. Coverdale's virtuous indignation against the offendei's, and the consequent difficulty of persuading him not to prosecute them. Mrs. Jack brought foi'ward, in reply, the l)aby and a flood of tears, — arguments so xmanswerable that Alice, having kissed the one, and all but joined in the other, dismissed the afflicted matron, having renewed her pledge of exerting her whole influence in favour of the prisoners. It was with a feeling akin to desperation that she determined to plead her prot^g^es' cause the moment Harry should return, certain that if she again allowed her ardour to cool, she should never have courage to enter upon the subject to him. Accordingly, as soon as he had finished giving her an account of the clear and able manner in which Markum had detailed the proceed- ings of the eventful night on which the affray had occurred, she began, — " I, too, have had rather a tiying interview ; the wife of one of the men who have been taken up on suspicion has been here — a frail, delicate-looking, young creature, scarcely more than a girl, with the dearest, sweetest little baby imaginable. I do so wish you had seen it!" HaiTy muttered a reply, which, though scarcely audible, conveyed the impression that he was perfectly content without haWng had ocular demonstration of its infantine perfections ; and Alice continued, — " Yes, I wish you had seen both mother and child — its sweet, innocent looks, and the poor girl's tears, would have pleaded her cause better than any arguments of mine can do, your kind heart could never have resisted them." " Plead her cause," repeated Coverdale ; " that means, because her husband and his accomplice have been so obliging as to destroy my game, and murder, or half murder, as the case may prove, my head keeper, she considers it my duty to support herself and family, I suppose ; she has brought this irresistible baby as a safe dodge to work upon yom* feminine susceptibiUties ; and, with thorough woman's logic, she has persuaded you to look upon her as a suffering innocent, and upon me as a tyrannical oppressor. Now confess — is not this the truth ? " " No, really it is not," replied Alice eagerly. " I own I think you, from your passion for field-sports, take rather an exaggerated vievf of the crime of poaching ; but I quite feel as you do. that wounding AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 157 poor Markum was a cruel and cowardly act ; still, revenging it upon this family wiU not benefit him nor ourselves." " I don't wish the people to stai've, of course," returned Hari-y, moodily, " though I should imagine the young woman and her brats can scarcely have got through all the game in her larder yet. I should not mind starving on hashed hare and broiled pheasants' legs myself for a week or two ; however, if the poor gii-l really is in want, I have no objection to your relieving her, but do not be imposed upon, darling, that is all that I mean to say." The kindness of her husband's manner, and the good-natured way in which he appeared willing to support the family of the man who had injured him. served alike to remove Alice's fears, and to lead her to oveiTate the extent of her influence with her husband ; so, leaning her arm on his shoulder, while with her other hand she smoothed back his clustering hair, she continued, " What a good, kind boy it is, though it does growl sometimes. But now, to show you that my protegee is not seeking to impose on me for the sake of obtaining money, I will tell you that her petition was for quite a different object, and one ci'editable alike to her feelings as a wife and a sister : she wants you to act as only a high and generous nature like your own would be capable of acting — she implores you to pardon her husband and her brother." " To do WHAT ! " exclaimed Hari-y sharply, a dark shade coming across his features. "To let off two of the men who were engaged in this unlucky business — her husband and her brother — not to prosecute them, I mean." returned Alice, removing her hand from her husband's shoulder and preparing to '" hold her own," in the dispute she fore- saw impending. " And their names ? " inquired Coverdale. Alice repeated them. " As I expected," resumed Coverdale ; " the man who fired the shot and his accomplice, who, more guilty than himself, xirged him to do it. Now, ask your own good sense, Alice, and reflect a moment before you answer. Even were I willing, can I in common justice let these fellows off ? " " Oh, yes I " exclaimed Alice, without a moment's deliberation ; " it is so great— so noble to forgive an injui-y ! Revenge is but a mean, petty feeling, after all." " An admirable reason for shaking hands with an individual who has knocked you down," returned Coverdale, " but none whatsoever for screening two malefactors from the just punishment of their ill- deeds ; " then, lapsing into the magistrate, he continued, " You mistake the whole scope and intention of our penal code, my dear Alice. We do not punish offenders as an act of revenge upon the individual, but in order to benefit society by deten*ing others from committing a like crime ; thus, laying aside personal feeling, I should be doing an injury to the community at large, by 158 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP refusing to prosecute these fellows. You see this clearly, do you not?" Alice's reasoninff powers did see it, and had seen it all alonof, but Alice had also seen the poor wife and the meritorious and seductive baby, and she cared " fifty thousand times " (as she herself would have expressed it) more for them than for the community at larsre ; so finding that the argument was going against her, she, woman-like, adroitly shifted her ground. " According to your reasoning, there woiild be no room for such a quality as mercy," she began ; " stem, inexorable justice would condemn every criminal, no matter what extenuating circumstances there might be; in each case punishment must follow sin, as effect follows cause. I, for one, should be very sorry always to be judged by such a cruel rule." " Oh. if you're going to put German metaphysical sophistries in the place of English common-sense, I've no more to say about it." I'etunied Harry giniffly ; " only it seems to my simplicity that punish- ment always does follow crime in this world, as soon as it's found out. If a brat steals the sugar, its mother slaps it ; if a schoolboy prigs apples, the master flogs him ; if an apprentice bolts with the till, the law transports him ; if Jack murders Tom. the hangman stretches his neck for him ; — and serve 'em all right say I ; it would be a precious deal worse world to live in if it were not so, to my thinking." Alice paused to consider the justice of this remai'k — we will follow her example ! CHAPTER XXIX. H0V7 TO MAKE HOME HAPPY. Mrs. Coverdale, resuming the matrimonial discussion broken off at the end of the last chapter, thus pursued the argument by which she hoped to induce her husband to let off her poaching protege. " In the present case the innocent must suffer with the guilty. I see no justice in ruining a poor family by imprisoning or transport- ing the only member who is able to work and support it." " The said member should have thought of that himself," returned Harry ; " if he had been working and supporting his family, he would have been safe fi'om transportation, like any other honest man ; but as he preferred to steal my game and shoot my keeper, he thereby deprived his family of .the pleasure of his inestim- able society ; it is he, therefore, who has brought this evil upon them. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 159 not I ; and when I consent to your relieving their necessities out of my pocket, I think I am doing, to say the least of it, as mnch as any reasonable woman ous^ht to expect of me." Despite her prejudices in favom* of the seraphic baby and its interesting mother, Alice felt the tiiith of her husband's reasoning ; but she had boasted of her power too confidently, and pledged her- self to exert it too deeply, to retreat; so, perceiving that argiiment woidd avail her nothing, she was obliged to fall back upon woman's last resoiu'ce — personal influence, and strive to win from Hairy's affection that which his reason had denied her. A dangerous experi- ment, pretty Alice ! and one in which, if your philosophy did but go deep enough to enable you to discern it, you would perceive success to be a greater evil than failure, for it would argue culpable weakness in him on whom jou have to lean for support through life. But Alice was by no means in an ethical frame of mind at that moment, and cared only for obtaining her point by any means which occurred to her ; so, drawing a stool close to Han-y, she meekly seated herself at his feet, and looking up into his face with her large imploring eyes, began coaxingly, " Han-y, deai", ai-e you quite, quite determined to say No ? " An affirmative bend of the head was the only reply. " Biit if I make it a personal request," she continued, laying her soft cheek caressingly against his hand ; " if I ask you to forgive these men for my sake, and so afPord me the exquisite pleasure of making this poor woman happy ? Oh ! you will not refuse me. If you do, I shall think you do not love me. Come, you will say Yes." Poor Hany ! he was sorely perplexed. Had it been any personal sacrifice — even a pledge to give up hunting or shooting — which she required of him, he would gladly have yielded, in the true and deep tenderaess towards his wife which his late self-examination had aroused. But the serious thoughts which a review of his past eiTOrs had called forth, while they pointed out to him how he had failed in his duty to her whom he had vowed to love and pi'otect, also proved to him that whei'e Alice was inclined to act wrongly, or foolishly, he was bound to save her even from herself ; and his clear, good sense instantly told him that this was a request which she ought not to have urged, since to grant it would necessitate a sacrifice of principle on his part. Accordingly, he replied, — " Alice love, listen to me ; this is not a mere matter of pex-sonal feeling, or I would jaeld to you withoiit a moment's hesitation, but it involves a question of right and wrong. I could not i-efuse to prosecute these men without diffusing an amount of moral evil amongst the whole of my poorer tenantry, which years of the most careful supei-vision would fail to eradicate. The utmost I can promise you is, that the culprits shall have every opportunity afforded them of clearing themselves ; and if, as I am convinced, that proves impossible, every palliating circumstance shall be brought forward and allowed its fullest weight. I have already 160 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP given you my fvee permission to assist tlie poor woman and lier children, and more than this you cannot expect me to say." " But I do, or rather I did, expect you to say more," returned Alice, with flashing eyes and glowing cheeks ; " I expected you to say what I would have said to you, if you had appealed to me thus — that there was nothing, even if it were life itself, that I would not give up for your sake. But I see how it is, you do not really care for me, or, if you do, man's love is not like woman's ; it is merely the excite- ment of the pursuit that interests you — the prize once attained becomes valueless in your eyes : in fact, love, which makes the entire joy or soiTOw of a woman's life, is to men but a superior kind of sporting — more engrossing than a fox-chase, or than hunting a poor stag to death, simply because the game is of a higher order." She paused to give vent to a sob which she was unable entirely to repress, then continued in a sarcastic tone of voice : " However, mighty hunter as you are, I do not intend to give you the satisfaction of being in at Tny death ; I have too much of the old Hazlehurst spirit about me to break my heart for a man who does not love me. There is a quiet way, as you call it, of an-anging these affairs : you have yoiir own I)iu-suits and amusements, henceforward I shall have mine. You need not di-ead my again attempting to interfere either with your pleasui-es, or your graver occupations. I have had too severe a lesson on each point to forget it readily. But I expect you to exercise the same forbearance towards me. From this day forth we each follow our ovra line ! " and, di-awing her shawl over her shoulders, with an imperious gesture, as of an offended queen, Alice swept out of the room, leaving Han-y in a frame of mind which may be more easily imagined than described. A complete change, which might have been dated from the above conversation, appeared to have taken place in Alice Coverdale. Instead of shrinking, as she had hitherto done, from society, she rather courted it than otherwise — ordering the carriage, and visiting the different families in the neighbourhood, without consulting Harry on the subject, or seeming to care in the slightest degree whether he accompanied her or not. At first this conduct on his wife's part occasioned Coverdale the greatest uneasiness ; but, after a time, seeing that she was amused and interested by the new acquaintances she thus formed, he began to hope that good might perhaps come out of evil, and that the intimacies then commenced might afford sources of lasting pleasm-e when the feeling of pique which had led her to seek them should have long since died away. And so the time glided on, working its usual changes in men and things as it passed away. Mr. Gouger having ventured one day to commit himself to the rash assertion that Markum was sinking rapidly, and could not possibly survive the week, from that hour the gamekeeper began to amend, and had sufficiently advanced in bis progress towards recovery to be able to appear and give evidence in person, when Jack AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 161 Har^rave and his accomplice took their tnal at the next assizes. So unmistakably was their guilt brought home to them that they were each sentenced to seven years' transportation, and would probably have had fourteen allotted to them, but for the thorough good faith with which Harry redeemed his promise to Alice that every extenuating circumstance should be clearly placed before the jury. Indeed, he laboured so strenuously to impress this point upon the counsel for the prisoners, that the learned brother, entertaining a proper degree of professional scepticism in regard to the purity of human motives, immediately settled, to his o^vn satisfaction, that Jack Hargrave must be a natural son of the late Admiral Coverdale, commended, with his dying breath, to his nephew's especial care and protection. Alice received the news of the verdict with great sang- froid, merely remarking that she had felt certain all along that it would be so; but when she had gained the privacy of her own chamber she indulged in a hearty flood of tears, occasioned as much by what she was pleased to consider her husband's inhumanity as by he)- compassion for the poor woman and her transcendental baby. As these latter individuals exercise no further influence over the destinies of our principal " dramatis persona;," we may as well, ere we finally take leave of them add the information that Alice (having supported them much l^etter than Jack Hargrave had done in his best days), at the expiration of two years sent them out at her own expense to join that worthy, who, reformed by sea sickness and the amenities of convict discipline, had obtained a ticket of leave, by reason of which privilege he was enacting the part of a penitent buUock-diiver, to the admii-ation of all right-minded settlers in Australia. The month of May had begun to temper with a dash of simshine the fine old English east winds of April, which annually sow their share of the seeds of consumption in the glorious British constitu- tion—Harry Coverdale had ceased to oppress the brute creation, leaving foxes and pheasants to increase and multiply by antagonistic progression— and all London was flocking to the Royal Academy Exhibition, to see a great many very original portraits of gentlemen, who scarcely looked the character after all— when one fine morning Alice received a letter from the modern Babylon in Mrs. Crane's handwriting. Having eagerly perused it, she exclaimed,— " Kate has written a most kind and pressing invitation to us to come and stay with them ; Mr. Crane wishes it as much as she does." " Or as much as she orders him to do rather," muttered Coverdale, ' sotto voce.' " Of course you can have no objection to my accepting it," con- tinued Alice ; " for myself, at all events ? " " Am not I invited ? " inquired Harry gravely. " Yes, certainly ; only I did not know whether you could tear your- self away from your dearly beloved dogs and guns." M 162 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " And you were willing to have gone without me ? " " I did not wish to be any tie upon you," was Alice's reply, though she coloured slightly and tunied away her head as she spoke. " You remember our compact; I am a great advocate for free will." " Between husband and wife such a question ought never to arise," rejoined Harry seriously biit kindly ; " there should be complete imanimity. I hoped you had forgotten all that folly." " I never forget uukindness," was the cold reply ; " but I see you are going to favour me with a specimen of your ' quiet manner,' and as I am not in the humour for a scene or a lecture, you really must excuse my leaving you;" and as she spoke she rose to quit the apartment. For a moment Han*y's eyes flashed, then a look of pain passed across his features, and, taking his wife's hand, he led her back to the sofa on which she had been seated, saying gently, but i-eproach- fully,- " Why will you misunderstand me thus ? You wish to accept your cousin's invitation ?"' Alice bowed her head in token of assent. " Then write and tell her we shall be happy to do so ; I shall be ready and willing to accompany you at whatever time you and she like to arrange together." " Oh, that is very nice and kind of yon ! " returned Alice, " de- lighted at getting her way so easily ; I thought you were going to be cross and disagreeable, as — as you sometimes are." " As usual, you were going to say," rejoined Hairy ; " speak yoiu* thoughts honestly, whatever injustice they may do me. But if, in future, instead of condemning me unheard, you were to admit the possibility — nothing more — of my being willing occasionally to sacrifice my wishes to yours, it might save us both considerable pain and misconception ; recollect this, and reflect upon it quietly and calmly." So saying, he lilaced his wife's writing-table before her, found her a foot-stool, and left the room. As the soimd of his retreating footsteps died away in the distance, Alice felt decidedly penitent, and wished she could unsay all the sharp things she had uttered at the beginning of the conversation ; but this was a frame of mind too uncomfoi-table to last long, and so she consoled herself by the reflection that if, on this particular occasion, she had done her husband an injustice, it was his conduct at other times which had led her to do so. It was imfair to blame herself for the natural effect his selfishness and unkiudness had produced tipon her mind; she was sure there had been a period, before she was so rudely awakened from her "love's young dream," when she had given him credit for possessing every noble, heroic, and tender quality under the sun : it was not her fault that she could think so no longer — people must take the consequences of their own misdeeds. And so, consoling herself with these and many like arguments, and magnifying the mote in her husband's eye and AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 163 ignoring the beam in her o^vn, Alice talked herself into her former frame of mind, and sat down to write her acceptance of Kate's invitation, convinced that if her husband had said " Yes " on this occasion, he woiild say " No " on evei*y other. CHAPTER XXX. INTRODUCES A LORDLY GALLANT. That day week saw Alice, Han-y, and Celeste (a little pert ' soubrette,' whom Alice had brought back from Pains \vith her) on their way to the railway station at H , a gi'oom and a couple of saddle-horses (without which Harry could not support the burden of a London life) having preceded them by a slower train. As HaiTy had a great hoiTor of being too late, and had flumed and bustled Alice to such a degree that, if she had not been the most good-natured little woman in the world (except in matters connected with the feelings), she would assuredly have lost her temper, of course they wei'e at least a quarter of an hour too soon, and were forced to promenade up and down beneath a Brobdignagian glass roof, open at each end, and enjoy the lai-ge supply of draughts afforded by this ingenious compromise between indoors and out of doors. Having paced up and down the platform for some ten minutes or so — lost Celeste and the trunks, and found them again — and narrowly escaped violent death from wild luggage-barrows, m-ged by reckless and excited porters, neatly bound in gi-een corduroy and numbered like the lots in a sale-room, — the train by which they were to fly to London crawled uj) ignominiously at the tail of a strong-minded cai't horse, which a heroic but unclean supernumerary conducted in the way he should go. Just as Alice had taken her seat, and was imploring Harry to join her before a dreadful green dragon of a locomotive engine (which had been getting up its steam, and taking in its fuel, and wetting its whistle, and otherwise pei-foi-ming its awful toilet in a neighbouring cavern, whence it issued looking as vicious, and dangerous, and eager to burst in a tunnel as a furious steam-devil could do) should get at him and do him a mischief, a tall elegant- looking young man, who was seeking for an unoccupied place, suddenly exclaimed, — " I beg pardon, but surely I have the pleasure of seeing Han-y — a —that is— Mr. Coverdale ? " " A true bill, sir," replied Han-y ; " but just at present you've all the pleasure to yoiu-self , for I must honestly confess that I do not 164 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP recollect you ; and yet — no— yes — why, it can't be little Alfred Courtland P " "As for the ' little,' I must leave you to judge for yourself; the copy-books tell us that ' ill weeds grow apace,' and I'm afraid I'm a shocking example ; but Alfred Courtland I most certainly am, and delighted tx) meet an old acquaintance — if an lu-chin in the under- school dare pretend to have been on such a footing with one of the sixth form." "Little Alfred Couiiland, six feet high, and cultivating whiskers ! Wonders will never cease," resumed Harry, meditatively ; " but are you going by this train ? Jump in here, man, and I'll introduce you to my wife. Alice, this is Alfred — I beg his pardon, but I can't remember he's not a little boy still —Lord Alfred Courtland. You remember Arthur Hazlehurst, my ' fidus Achates,' don't you. Court- land ? My wife is his sister. Tickets ! well, here they are. What a suspicious generation these railway ofiBcials are ! anybody would suppose they had been accustomed to deal with thieves and pick- pockets all their lives, instead of honest Englishmen. But I hate the railroads, root and branch, that's a fact ; they've ruined the breed of horses in this country." While Harry ran on in this style, Alice had time to observe her new acquaintance more attentively. He appeared very young, scarcely above nineteen or twenty. His figure, though tall and graceful, was slight and boyish ; his head was smaU and well set on, and his pale, delicate features were shaded by a profusion of fair curling hair; while his bearing and appeai-ance were singularly refined and aristocratic ; or, as Harry afterwards observed, " He looked thoroughbred, eveiy inch of him." His expression was good and amiable; but a want of firmness and resolution a1)Out the lines of his mouth belied the promise of intellect afforded by his high smooth brow, and bright, speaking eyes. " And what are you doing with yourself ? " inquired Coverdale, after si;ndi'y mi;tual acquaintances had been talked over and the reminiscences usual between old schoolfellows ran through ; " are you at either of the universities ? " " Yes, I'm a Cantab," was the reply ; " but scarcely more than nominally so, for during my first term I got a tumble into the Cam, boating — dined at Ely in my wet clothes, and was rewarded for my carelessness by an aguish low fever, which I am only now recovering from ; so I am ordered to be perfectly idle and amuse myself — a prescription which, I am afraid, agi'ees but too well with my tastes and habits." " And finding country ingredients too mild, you are going to town to try and get a stronger dose there, I suppose ? " inquii-ed Harry. " You must be a wizard," was the reply. " The fact is, my people have wintered abroad, and Chiselborough became so duU the moment the hunting was over, that I found ' ennui ' was bringing my ague back again; so holding solemn conclave with the apothecary and my AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 165 valet, we yesterday decided, ' nem. con.,' upon a couple of months' sojourn in the modera Babylon." To this piece of intelligence Hari-y vouchsafed no further answer than a shrug of the shoulders by which significant gesture he intended to telegraph to his wife his opinion as to the wisdom of trasting the young gentleman to his own sapient guidance amidst the shoals and quicksands of a London season. At this period the dragon, which had been drawing the train very quietly and peacefully, suddenly gave a prolonged scream (by courtesy termed a whistle), panted violently, hissed a good deal, and having by these manoeuvres " blown off " its superfluous steam, it kindly postponed bursting for a short time, and condescended obligingly to stop at the Tearem and Smashingly Junction, without demanding any immediate sacrifice of human life. Coverdale and Lord Alfred instantly jumped out (although perfectly aware that they should be obliged to jump in again at the expiration of three minutes and a quarter), and, after the fashion of impatient male humanity, which, as Harry somewhat paradoxically observed, " Cannot stand sitting," began stamping up and down the platform as though a legion of black-beetles, or some such entymological freebooters, had crept up their trousers' legs, and they were striving to dislodge them. Some operation, however, which was going on under one of those queer kind of sheds peculiar to railway stations, which give one an idea of a child's toy magnified, attracted their attention and caused them to discontinue their amusement. After gazing earnestly for a few seconds, Harry exclaimed, — " They'll never do it so, never ! There, do you see, he's standing right before him, dragging at his head, and yet expects the poor animal to go on ; the man must be an idiot ! Yes, of course, hit the poor thing for your own fault, and frighten him, so that you'll be able to do nothing with him. Ah ! I thought so ; they'll have an accident directly, the fools ! as if there wasn't a quiet manner of doing these things. Hold my great coat, Alfred ; I shall be back in two seconds." And suiting the action to the word, he tossed his coat to his companion and ran off. " Where has he gone to ? " inquired Alice disconsolately, from the window of the railway carriage. " To assist a stvipid groom to put a very fine horse into one of the horse-boxes," was the reply. " He said he should be back in a minute." " Now, gentlemen, take your places ; the train's going to start — take your places," vociferated an individual, who looked like a very oddly-dressed soldier, but who was the railway guard. " Oh ! where can he be P We shall start without him ! " exclaimed Alice in dismay. " I'll go and look for him," rejoined Lord Alfred good-naturedly. " If you would be so very kind," returned Alice, her lovely eyes sparkling with gratitude. 166 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP » "Better not, sir; only lose your own place, without finding the gent — train's agoin' to start. I must shut the door," grumbled a cynical porter. " Pray keep it open till the last moment ! " exclaimed Alice, drawing out her purse, while Lord Alfred, disregarding the porter's advice, dashed off on his mission. " Am I allowed to give you anything ? " continued Alice timidly, as a vague suspicion of the illegality of bribing railway porters flashed across her. The man looked up and down the platform, and perceiving no informer near, did not commit himself by words, but partially closing the door, so as to conceal the action, held out his hand, with the palm turaed suggestively upwards. As his fingers closed over the half-crown which Alice, with a strong idea that she was commit- ting an indictable offence, placed within his grasp, an angry and imperative voice called out, " Now then, shut that door there ! " and in spite of Alice's remonstrances, the poi-ter was about to obey, when, bi'eathless with running. Lord Alfred sprang into the carnage, the door was slammed to, a bell rang furiously, the dragon gave a short, pert scream of delight at getting its head, and the train started. Unheeding, in fact, scarcely hearing Lord Alfred's mild remonstrance that he believed it was reckoned dangerous to put one's head out of the window of a railway can-iage, Alice immediately committed that folly, and was rewarded for her impnidence by seeing, just as the train was getting to its full speed, Harry rush distractedly on to the platform, shake his fist at the reti'eating carnages, and then, watch in hand, stride up to the station master, and evidently afford him a specimen of his quiet manner. With a feeling half way between an inclination to laugh and a disposition to cry, Alice resumed her seat, and, imder pretence of arranging her veil, took a glance roimd the cari'iage. Her only companion, besides Lord Alfred Courtland, was a species of prize old gentleman, who having spent his life hitherto in gi-owing as fat as the nature of the case admitted, was evidently resolved to guard against the possibility of his shadow becoming less, by devoting the remainder of his existence to the duties of eating, drinking, and sleeping, which latter accomplishment he was then displaying to the admiration of all lovers of that science of which honest Sancho Panza so fervently blessed the inventor. Having mentally summed him up in the definition "wi'etched old thing," Alice next took a siu-vey of her new friend, and decided that he had such a good, innocent, childlike expression of countenance, that young and handsome as he was, she would not have minded even if the " wretched old thing " had not been present to play chaperone in dumb show. " How very provoking for Mr. Coverdale to lose the train, and all through his good-nature, too," began Lord Alfred ; " I saw the affair as well as he did, but it would never have occun-ed to me to interfere." AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 167 "Nor to anyone else except to Mr. Coverdale," returned Alice scornfully ; " his devotion to horses and dogs is quite exemplary." " As a pattern or as a warning ? " inquired Lord Alfred, favouring her with a look of intelligence for which she was scarcely prepared. " You ai'e laughing at me," she said ; " but I will honestly confess that it is rather trying to see Mr. Coverdale place himself and me in a ridiculous, if not actually an embarrassing situation, merely for the sake of a horse." " It was a very fine horse," observed Lord Alfred meditatively. " And therefore the worthier animal of the two — thank you for the compliment, my lord," was the slightly piqued reply, which of course produced a carefully veiled but teasing rejoinder ; and with such like light badinage did they beguile the time, until having rushed for some distance over acres of turnips, stubble, grass-land, and other such agricultural territory, changing as by some pantomimic agency to the roofs of houses, with elegant parterres of chimney- pots, they were surprised to find they had reached the London terminus. The cessation of movement having roused the prize elder from his meritorious slumbers, Alice waited until, with many snorts and grunts he had ai'oused his legs (which were evidently each enjoying a separate and independent nap of its own) and toddled off upon them ere she inquired in rather a forlorn tone, " and now I wonder what is to become of me? Would yon kindly ascertain when the next train will be in ? " Lord Alfred made the inquiry, and obtained the cheering intelli- gence that the next train which stopped at the Tearem and Smash- ingly Junction wovild amve in exactly two hours fifteen minutes and a quarter, at which time, as nearly as Alice could calculate, the Crane butler would be removing the fish and soup. " It is impossible that you can wait here all that time, my dear Mrs. Coverdale ! " exclaimed Lord Alfred. " What will you like me to do for you ? You must tell me exactly what you wish." " You are very kind," returned Alice, feeling much inclined to get into a fuss at the odduess of the situation which thus forced her to rely on a handsome young man with whom she had been acquainted some two hours. Then submitting to her fate with a feeling of desperation, she continued, " First give me your arm, and conduct me to the ladies' waiting-room ; and then if you would be so kind as to look for Celeste, my maid, and — really I am ashamed to trouble you, my lord, but there are some trunks she ought to find, and she can't speak a dozen words of English intelligibly; and — how you're to recognize her I can't tell ; really how Mr. Coverdale could — " But before she could finish her accusatoi-y sentence Lord Alfred, anxious to distinguish himself in his new capacity of squii'e of dames, had disappeared. In less time than Alice had deemed possible, he i-etunied with Celeste and a bundle of shawls and wi'appers on one arm, and carrying a carpet bag with the other. 168 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " My mission has been accomplished with the most signal success, I flatter myself : and now I hope your difficulties are ended, my dear Mrs. Coverdale ; Celeste and I have found all the trunks. Fortu- nately, my brougham is here, and I need scarcely add, entirely at your service." Seeing she hesitated, he continixed, " Don't be alarmed about the propiueties, I have been too well drilled in such matters by my sisters to intiiide where I am not wanted." " Really, your loi-dship is most kind," exclaimed Alice, all her scruples vanishing before his good-nature and consideration. And there being nothing for it but to take his arm (relinquished somewhat hastily by Celeste when she discovered that it was a ' milor anglais ' with whom she had made so free) and allow him to put her into the well-appointed brougham, Alice did so with an interesting succession of smiles and blushes which made her look most dangerously pretty. Thei'eupon the two hundred guinea horse, which was so thoroughly stuffed with oats that it might almost as well have been a corn-bin, and which, being an animal of the highest breeding, had evinced such an amount of disgust and terror at the hissing, snorting, whistling, and other low habits of the steam dragon, that nothing but the strongest sense of propriety and a very severe curb bit could have kept it from running away, stood on its hind legs like a Christian, vindicated its transcendentalism by salaaming like a Turk ere it resumed its quadrupedal attitude, and finally set off, at about the rate of fifteen miles an hour, %vith its head and tail as erect as if some invisible giant were attempting to lift it up by them. CHAPTER XXXI. SPIDERS AND FLIES. " Mt dear Kate, I think your cousin, Mrs. Coverdale, has just driven up ; and yet I don't know. Is it likely, or, as I may say, probable, that she should arrive in a brougham ? " "With a high-stepping horse and a coronet on the panels? — scarcely, I should imagine." The speakers were Mr. Crane, who had grown rather less like a scaffold pole since we last were favom'ed with his society, and Horace D'Almayne, who appeared quite himself and quite at home. Attracted by their remarks, Kate joined her husband at the window. " It can't be them," she said, " there is no luggage ; " but, as if to contradict her remark, at the moment she ceased to speak a cab dashed into Park Lane with a fair amount of imperials, cap-cases, AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 169 poi-t-manteaus, cai-pet-bags, and otlier female travelling miscellanea, and drew up behind tlie brougham. As it stopped, a tall, handsome yoimg man sprang out ; and opening the door of the brougham, offered his arm to Alice, and conducted her up the steps most care- fully. " Why, that surely cannot be Mr. Coverdale ; or, at least, if I may be permitted to say so, he has become singularly thin and— and youthful-looking, if it is," bleated Mr. Crane. *' No, that is not Han-y Coverdale," returned Kate wonderingly, " nor do I see anything of him either ! " " If Mrs. Coverdale has lost her husband, really she has found a most attractive substitute— a— it almost seems one of the cases in which such a loss might be considered a gain," lisped D'Almayne, in so low a tone that Mr. Crane, who was nearly as slow of hearing as he was of understanding, did not catch the remark. " Really, quite a touching farewell," he continued, as Alice, ere she entered the house, shook hands most cordially with her young cavalier ; " and the gallant, gay Lothario jumps into the brougham (which coronet, high-stepping horse, and all, evidently calls him master) and is lost to our admiring gaze." At this juncture a fat and rosy butler (who looked as if he had been brought up by hand upon port wine and had remained faithful to it ever since) flung open the door, and announced Mrs. Cover- dale. Throwing off, for once in her life, all coldness and reserve, Kate embraced her cousin warmly, and holding her by both hands, led her to the sofa. " My dearest child," she exclaimed, " how delightful it is to see you once again ! " " But if I may be permitted," began Mr. Crane, " if I may be allowed to inquire, what have you done with— or perhaps I should rather say— what has become of our good friend, Mr. Coverdale ? " " And how came you in a brougham with a coronet upon it ? and who was that handsome and distinguished-looking yoimg exquisite whom you had inveigled into playing courier— eh, Mistress Alice ? " inquired Kate archly. " I expected to find you a pattern wife, and to have your example held up for my imitation twenty times a day ; but I have alarmed myself very unnecessarily, it seems." " Don't tease, dear," was the reply ; " it was all the fault of that silly husband of mine : he got out at one of the stations, and seduced by the attractions of a restive horse, contrived to be out of the way when the train stai-ted, and so I was forced to do the best I could for myself." "Which theory you reduced to practice by selecting the hand- somest young man you could find as a ' cavalier servente,' " returned Kate, laughing. " But who is your friend ? I hope he is coming to call upon you ! " " Oh, yes, he means to call— to-morrow I think he said. I'm glad 170 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP you consider him handsome : it's always satisfactory to have one's taste approved of by one's friends ; and I honestly confess I admire him particularly." Ml*. Crane's countenance, during this speech of Alice's, was wonderful to behold ; the intense sui-prise with which he listened to the beginning of it gi-adually changing to the deepest disgust as she continued, afforded such a clear index to his thoughts that Horace D'Almayne turned away to hide an in-epressible smile, which Kate perceiving, observed with a slight shade of annoyance, — " And now, having mystified us thoi'oughly, be kind enough to tell us who the gentleman really is, and how he came to offer you his brougham and his services." Thus appealed to, Alice was obliged to confess that, in point of fact, there was nothing wrong or romantic in the adventure from beginning to end — that Lord Alfred Com-tland was an old school- fellow of her husband's, who had travelled in the same carriage with them, and who had naturally done all he could to save her from being inconvenienced by the effects of Han-y's stupidity, on which she dwelt rather more at length than Kate approved of, that young lady having a very keen perception of right and wi-ong, although she by no means always acted up to the light thus afforded her. Some few hours later HaiTy arrived, very anxious about his wife, and decidedly crestfallen and penitent, and bore all the quizzing which fell to his share with most exemplary patience ; although any attempt to excite his jealousy in regard to Lord Alfred Coui-tland proved a dead failure, his reply being that " He was always a very good little boy, and that he did not see much difference in him except in height." When the Coverdales went up to dress for dinner the following dialogue ensued : — " How well your cousin Kate is looking," observed Hairy ; " the pomps and A-anities of this wicked world appear to agi'ee with her ; now she has grown a little stouter, she really is a splendid woman." " Yes. she appears in better health," returned A.lice slowly, " but—" "But what?" inquired Harry. "A woman's 'but' is like the postcript to her letter; it unsays all she has said before. Come, out with this ' arriere-pensee,' as that puppy D'Almayne would call it. By the way, he seems regularly domesticated here. I wonder old Crane likes it; I should not, in his position, I know." " I wonder Kate likes it," returned Alice ; " however, my ' but ' had nothing to do with the fascinating Horace. I was going to say that although Kate looked well, yet she had a listless, weary expression of countenance, which gave me the idea that, with all her riches and splendoiir, she was far from happy." " The same being a result rather to be expected than othei-wise, when a lovely and talented young female sees fit to espouse an elderly and feeble-minded old scarecrow," rejoined Han'y, making AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 171 frantic dives into his portmanteau, and fishinpr up patent bootjacks, miraculous I'azor-strops — everything but the dress neck-tie he was in search of. " I don't believe they see anything of Ai'thur," continued Alice reflectively ; " I asked Kate, and she seemed to know nothing about him— such friends as they used to be at one time— it's very odd ! " " I don't see the oddness myself," retimied Hany, speaking through his dressing-room door, which stood ajar; " there is a great difference between feeling spooney about a pretty cousin, when you're living in the house with her, and have nothing better to do, and dangling after her to the neglect of your business, when she lives at one end of London and you at the other — when, moreover, she's married to a dreadful old muff, antiqiiated enough to be her father, and slow enough to be the father of every fool in the kingdom. I think it's easily accounted for by prose means, without adopting the poetical hypothesis of a romantic attachment — two fond young hearts blighted, and all that ' Keepsake ' style of business ; besides, Arthur's a great deal too good a lawyer to fall in love ; it's only idle fellows like myself who commit such follies." " You must go and call on Ai-thur to-moiTOw, and you will soon perceive by his manner whether he is averse to coming here; but mind j'ou are very caref id not to let hini see that you suspect any- thing ; I am quite sure he would be most sensitive on such a point," observed Alice, in a tone in which you would caution a schoolboy against playing with gunpowder. " Keep your advice for your own benefit, most sententious Alice, seeing that you are the suspecting party, and that such an idea would never have occurred to my unassisted reason," was Harry's rejoinder ; and the dinner-bell at that moment ringing, the conver- sation ceased. The next day, however, Ai-thur put an end to the controversy by making his appearance in Park Lane soon after luncheon. Although no one alliided to the circumstance, it was the first time he had set his foot in Mr. Crane's house, or indeed seen Kate since her man-iage. He looked pale and ovei'worked, and thei'e was a restless excitement in his manner, which Alice's quick eye at once discovered. Beyond this, however, there was nothing which tended in the slightest degi-ee to confirm her in her suspicions. He apologized quietly and naturally to Kate for not having called oftener, adducing business as a good and sufficient reason for his remissness ; then, turning to Alice, he informed her that she could not have chosen a more unfortunate time for her visit to London, at least, as far as he was concerned, as he was obliged to stai-t the next morning for Naples, being sent out by the Foreign Office on an affair of some importance, which, if he could bring the matter to a successful issue, might tend to his ultimate advancement. Kate, on the contrary, appeared nervous and ill at ease, and probably feeling that for once she could not rely 172 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP on her self-command, took an early opportunity of quitting the room, leaving the brother and sister ' tete-a-tete.' " Alice, you are changed," exclaimed Arthur, as the door closed on her whom he had once so deeply loved, towards whom he now felt as we can only feel towards those whom we have admitted into the inmost recesses of the heart, and who have availed themselves of the privilege to profane and make desolate the sanctuary, " you were a girl, you have become a woman ; has matrimony produced the alteration ? " " Yes, I suppose so," was the rejoinder. " You know one can't remain a child always ; the realities of life are sure to find one out sooner or later, and I was a mere baby in the ways of the world when I married." There was a spice of regret in the tone of this remark, which did not escape Ai'thur's quick ear and keen intelligence, and he hastened to reply, — " You mean more than you say ; why, surely, Alice, with such a husband you must be perfectly happy ; it is impossible that it can be otherwise." As he spoke, he fixed his dark eyes questioningly upon her. Unable fairly to meet his gaze, Alice tunied away her head, as she replied, with an effort at careless gaiety, — "Don't alarm yourself, most romantic of barristers; there is no Bluebeard's closet at Coverdale, nor does Hari-y turn into a skeleton, or anything else but his bed, at twelve o'clock at night. He is just the thoroughly good fellow (that is the term you men delight in) he always was, and devoted to — " " His wife ! " interrupted Arthur. " Well, I was going to say dogs, guns, and horses," returned Alice ; " and I'm afraid I must adhere to my text, unless you prefer fiction to fact." She spoke jestingly ; but the lines which care, and thought, and intellectual exertion had already traced on Arthur's brow deepened, as, after a pause, he mui'mured, half in reply to Alice, half in soliloquy, — " I am disappointed, deeply disappointed ; it ought to be so different ! I — I wish I were not going abroad to-moiTOw ; and yet I could not be a frequent visitor in this house ! " The last words were inaudible, though, by one of those intuitions which often compensate for the inefficiency of our physical powers, Alice divined his train of reasoning, and with subtle generalship diverted the attack by carrying the war into the enemy's country, as she replied, — "Do not puzzle your brains about me and Han-y; we jog on very serenely together, now we have found out each other's peculiarities." " But you never had any peculiarities, either o you," interrupted Arthur positively ; " except that Harry was the finest, noblest, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 173 manliest fellow going, and you were a good, simple-hearted, sweet- tempered little girl. What do you mean by peculiarities ? " " Never mind us," continued Alice, not heeding his inteiTuption ; " I want to know something about you. You say I have changed from a child into a woman, but you have turned from a young man into a middle-aged one during these last six months ; you are either ill or unhappy, or working yourself to death— all three, perhaps." " Oh, you are fanciful, and not used to the pale faces of us Londoners," returned Ai-thur. "You cannot put me off in that manner," continued Alice pertinaciously ; " people do not look ill and careworn without some cause for doing so. Hoav is it, pray, that you never come here ? so fond as you used to be of Kate, too ! I expected to find you regularly installed as ' I'enfant de famille.' Do you know I begin to have my suspicions — " "Hush!" inten-upted Arthur, in a low, stem voice; "whatever you may suspect, never refer to this subject again, there are some sorrows in life for which there is no remedy ; these must be endured and stniggled with in silence, for so only can they be borne. If you would not give me pain, forget that this idea ever occmTed to you." As he spoke his pale face flushed, and his lip quivered with tlie emotion he strove, but was unable entirely to conceal. " Forgive me, dear Arthur ! " exclaimed Alice, whilst tears of ready sympathy glistened in her eyes ; " I spoke carelessly— foolishly : in- deed, indeed, I did not mean to give you pain ! But you are not angry with me ? " As she spoke she laid her hand caressingly on his shoulder, and glanced up in his face with a beseeching look which would have melted the most flinty-hearted stoic. Arthur drew her to him, and kissed her smooth brow, in token of forgiveness, ere he replied,— " Before we quit this subject, never to resume it, let me say this much to you: in this matter I have nothing to reproach myself with ; as far as I have been able to see what was right, I have acted up to it. This is my only comfort. That I have suffered much, I will not attempt to deny ; but I am thankful to say the blow, though severe, has not paralyzed me. The sunshine of my life may be destroyed for years, perhaps for ever, but my vigour and energy are left me, and I will yet make myself a name and win myself a posi- tion that the mere possession of wealth can never bestow. Now, forget that this conversation ever took place." As he spoke the door flew open, and Han-y and Lord Alfred Courtland, having encountered each other at the club, made their appearance arm in arm, like a pair of well-grown Siamese twins, and Alice was dispatched all in a huriT to put on her " things," to be taken to a private view of the annual exhibition of the Society of Amalgamated Amateurs in Water Colours, whom Han-y irreverently paraphrased as the " Amalgamated Muffs," a definition the truth of which a closer inspection of the efforts of those mild and amiable 174 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP caricatm-ists did not tend to disprove. As tliey strolled up and down the rooms, waiting for Kate and Mr. Crane, who had promised to join them. Lord Alfred, on whose arm Alice was leaning, and who had been rattling on with great volubility and in the highest possible spirits, suddenly observed, — " I do find myself such a complete country cousin in London, that really it's quite ridiculous ! I meet all sorts of celebrities, and don't know one of them by sight. Now, for instance, do you see that pair of young exquisites lounging elegantly along, like a couple of self- enamoured sleep-walkers, and dressed like beatific visions of dandies, rather than mere sublunary fops ? I'm sure I've met the youngest of them somewhere — he with the ' petites moustaches noires,' which are so iiresistible that I should certainly cultivate a paii' myself, if I did not feel morally certain that my prejudiced progenitor would cut them and me off with the same shilling." " In fact, cut off his beir because you would not cut off yours," punned Coverdale. " But in regard to your beatific swells, I fancy Alice can enlighten you as to the patronymic of one of them, if she chooses ; he is a very jiarticular friend, to say nothing more, of hers. She only married me because she failed in captivating him." Alice rej>lied to Lord Alfred's expressive look, which asked as plainly as words could have done, " Is this all jest, or is there a small foundation of fact for it to rest upon ? " — " If that had been my only reason for accepting my romancing husband, I should have remained Miss Hazlehurst still ; however, I plead guilty to knowing Mr. D'Almayne, as he happens to be an intimate friend of Mr. Crane, the gentleman who married my cousin Kate, and in whose house we are now staying." While they thus chatted, the following conversation was being carried on in French between the subject of their remai'ks and his companion, a showily-dressed man, some half-dozen years older than Horace D'Almayne, with handsome featui-es, but a worn dissipated look, which involimtarily prejudiced one against him. He spoke with a thoroughly foreign accent, and the animated gestures with which he sought to elucidate his meaning also tended to prove he was not a native of this country. " The plan has been worked out," he continued, referring to some subject with which D'Almayne appeared acquainted, " and with his name as director, and .£1000 ready money to pay clerks and establish the concern on a respectable foundation, the affair will go charm- ingly ; John Bull shall buy our shares and hand us his money, and in six months' time, with that and " — here he sank his voice — " the club in J Street, we may set fortune at defiance." " Mind you are careful aboitt keeping our connection with the club secret," returned D'Almayne, almost in a whisper ; " we are not in Pai'is, remember ; and the slightest suspicion that we played would be fatal to your hopes of inducing men of capital to join the other affair." AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 175 " Do not fear, * men clier ' ; I know my game," was the reply. As he spoke, his eye fell upon the Coverdale party, and hastily indicating Lord Alfred Courtland to his companion, he continued, " Do you see that stripling? he was pointed out to me last night as a pigeon worth plucking and easily handled; he is a young milor, very soft, and what you call ' green.' You must get introduced, and bring him to ' the club.' " " The boy is not of age yet," returned D Almayne, " and English fathers never pay gambling debts ; so you must not hope for large gains from him." " He can sign bills and post-obits, I presume," rejoined his companion, with a sneering laugh ; " but the people he is with are regarding you as if they were of your acquaintance — is it so P " " Decidedly," was the reply. " I will effect the introduction you desire at once, biit as soon as it is over you must find an oppoi'tunity of withdrawing ; I will join the party, feel my way cautiously, and you shall see Milor Courtland's childish face in J Street before a fortnight has passed. ' Allons, mon cher.' " Having offered two fingers to Coverdale and three to his wife, DAlmayne glanced towards Lord Alfred with a supercilious look, which seemed to express, " I perceive you, but on account of your extreme youth and inexperience, am wholly indifferent to the fact of your existence ; " at least so his lordship interpreted it, and was immediately seized with an eager desire to know the man who could thus afford to look down on him. " Introduce me to your friend, will you, Coverdale ? " he said ; " I must get him to give me a few lessons in dress and deportment ; he really is a second Brummell." " He really is a conceited, empty-headed puppy," returned Cover- dale, sotto voce, "and it's little good you'll leara of a jackanapes like that ; but I suppose if I didn't introduce you, somebody else would — so come along." Then placing his hand upon his shoulder, and urging him forward, he continued, 1 " D'Almayne, here's my friend, Lord Alfred Courtland, wishes to be introduced to you : he thinks it is his duty to know every well-dressed man in London, and you're so ' facile princeps ' in that line — so transcendently got up — that he's dying to ask your tailor's address and the length of tick he allows." " You're so obliging as to laugh at me, Mr. Coverdale, because I cannot reconcile myself to yom- English Schneiders, and still patronize Blin et Fils, in that paradise of tailors, Paris ; but — ar — really you are uncivilized in this particular, and require reform in your coats more than in your constitution, which, glorious as you consider it, you are always altering. Does not Lord Alfred Court- land agree with me ? " And as he made this appeal, Horace D'Almayne simpered, to show his white teeth, stroked his moustache, and awaited a reply. Ere Lord Alfred had found words to imply his admiration of 176 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Horace's taste without paying liim an actual broad and unmistak- able compliment, Harry put his ideas to flight by exclaiming,— " Listen to a word of common sense, Alfred, my boy. Men make coats — if you can properly call a tailor a man — but coats can never make men. You may dress an ass up in the grandest lion skin going, but you can make nothing of him but an ass, neverthe- less. In fact, I never believe a man's a man till I've seen him with his coat off ; then if he can use liis fists as a man should, I believe in him." " Aha! I comprehend ; ce monsieur refers to your English science of the box. Very clever science is the box ; I am acquiring him of a professeur, who keeps a restaurant, what you call a public-house in Smissfiel." As D'Almayne's companion thus spoke, Horace seized the oppor- tunity of introducing him, which he did as follows, — " Allow me to make you acquainted with my friend. Monsieur Adolphe GuiUemard, a gentleman connected with the financial interest in Paris and with that of Europe generally." Then in a stage whisper, he added, " He was educated in Rothschild's house." So Harry bowed, and Lord Alfred bowed, and Alice inclined her head in rather a stately manner, because she did not approve of Monsieur Guillemard's roving eyes; and Monsieur GuiUemard bowed and scraped, and laid his hand on his waistcoat, where his heart ought to have been, and abased his unappreciated optics, and appeared profoundly touched and anxious to weep on the bosom of society at large ; and Mr. Crane, who at that moment came up in his wife's custody, not making allowance for foreign manners, thought he was in a fit. Then Monsieur GuiUemard drew out his watch, and found he had an engagement at the Bourse, as he was pleased to call the Stock Exchange; and so took leave of his new acquaintance, squeezed both the yellow kid hands of his cher Hoi'ace, and with short, jaunty footsteps as of a male ballet-dancer, quitted the spacious gallery, sacred to the noble efforts of the Amal- gamated Amateurs. And when he had depai-ted, of course his friends began to talk him over. D'Almayne drew Mr. Crane aside and related to him wonderful anecdotes of his (GuiUemard's) skill in foreseeing political events and their consequences, and the splendid hits he had thus made in stockjobbing for himself, and others who had wisely availed themselves of his talent, and what Baron Roths- child", had said and thought of him, until Mr. Crane began to imagine him an incarnation of Mammon, and yearned to fall down and adore him on the spot. For, be it observed, parenthetically, that Mr. Crane, albeit nominally a member of the Established Church, was verily and indeed a worshipper of a certain golden calf, to whose likeness he had for years striven earnestly, and not unsuccessfully, to assimilate himself. And Harry remarked confidentially to Alice, Kate, and Lord Alfred, that he was prepared to bet a pony that GuiUemard was neither more nor less than a " leg," and that whoever AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 177 had many dealings with him woidd be safe to put his or her foot in it— which sentence sounded like nonsense, but was only slang. And Lord Alfred laughed, and replied that Harry said so because he was jealous of the superior cut of Monsieur Guillemard's garments. Alice agreed perfectly with her husband, which, Kate remarked, was the most original feature of the whole aif air — an observation intended for a mild and playful jest, but at which Alice blushed and Harry suddenly became engi-ossed by a spirited sketch, in very water colours, of Ophelia as she appeared when drowning, which, according to the talented representation of Miss Appela Brown, M.S.A.A., was remark- ably jolly and slightly inebriated — next to which hung a portrait of Miss Brown herself, seated at her easel, her pre-Raphaelite countenance beaming with mingled talent and astonishment on the picture growing beneath her gifted brush — a compound expression, at which, as the subject was some demi-god or other mythical celebx'ity, in heroic muscular proportions strongly developed, and nothing else, we can scarcely feel surprise. Then the whole party devoted their serious attention to the performances of the amalgamated ones, and were re- warded by beholding many fearful and wonderful things. There were " young gentlemen taken from life " and transported by amalgamated magic into the regions of romance — an unlikeness of Snook's niddy face being affixed to Hamlet's velvet body, or Mary Ann Jones's very retrousse profile heading Joan of Arc's steel bodice, and a select squadron of twelve French soldiers in gi-een hunting-coats and fancy hats and feathers, prepared to " mourir pour la patrie" to any extent which the said Mary Ann might require of them. Then there were landscapes with gamboge foregrounds, pasturing comical cows of shapes and colours iuikno\vn to zoology ; tind middle distances, gloomy with indigo trees, and cast-iron rivulets purling rigidly over wild rocks, suggested by bald places, showing the naked paper through a severe application of sepia and neutral tint. Ferocious battles were there also, designed by gentle girls, who had never witnessed so much as a street row, wherein gallant Henri Quatre-like parties, with slim waists, feminine complexions, and white waving plumes, slaughtered strong men in funny dresses and pranced over their dead bodies with the most heroic magnanimity and indiffer- ence. Then there was Mount Vesuvius during an eniption, Avhich, to ji;dge by the colouring, must have been the eruption attendant on scarlet fever ; and Mont Blanc well iced, showing the " mer de glace " (the most difficult mare to mount on record, as *' we know who " would say), and the last batch of proselytes from the Egyptian Hall sliding serenely down on their haunches, as wolves are repoi-ted to do, only the proselytes appear to have got the advantage of the wolves by reason of their coat-tails. Scripture pieces, too,'.had some of these rash amateurs perpetrated, wherein " daughters of Babylon" appeared like the '' corps de ballet," and kings, prophets, and patriarchs had evidently found their prototypes in Mario, Lablache, and Tamburini — a fact which afforded Horace D'Almayne an opportunity of observ- HAR] Horace's taste \v\ able complimen.| " Listen to a coats — if yon make men. going, but less. In fa(j his coat off j him." "Aha! of the professej Smissfif As tunitj anee l'< jAbvlt Giitl ament a' aatit I the t non indeed had f^, te himr Lord . •d was n' jicMi it-ur lie financial ." T- Ma ^hiM lice inclined her d not approve of nsieiir Guillemard ■nistcoat, where his lilted optics, and som of • up in -II manners, ; irew out his 'ursc, as he was i"ok leave of his ip yellow kid hands of his cher "> as of a male bullet-dancer, t li. noble effoi-ts of the Amal- le had departed, of course his D'Almayne drew Mr. Crane aside ! lul anecdotes of his (Guillemard's) skill in s and their consequences, and the splendid i stockjobbing for himself, and others who ' 03 of his talent, and what Baron Roths- ' )f him, until Mr. Crane began to imagine nimon, and yearned to fall down and . l)e it obsei-ved, parenthetically, that Mr. a member of the Established Church, was .rshipper of a certain golden calf, to whose ears striven earnestly, and not imsnccessfuUy. And Han-y remarked confidentially to Alice, ;, that he was prepared to bet a pony that more nor less than a " leg," and that whoever vT C41tl. >lMa ibai H.. J of Hr— im I, er hut^iaad. vlAet le whole aflair— A. it at which kiy uiritedikaikci. ■rownine. ■• lumn^-coatH and fancy pouilu patrie" to any lit require cthem. Then there foi'egroiinds. paairiuK comical cowa ^o^^^l to zooloj^y ; at iniddle diHtances, m, and cast-iron vivu!- • ii,' riffidly over by bidd places, shux'. i naked paper iition of sepia and neuul tint. FerociouH desijfued by gentle jtIk, who had never Street row, whei-ein gallab Henri Quatrc-like ^vaists, feminine complexion and white waving ;d strong men in funny dresw and pranced over ies with the most heroic mapiuuir''y and indiffer- lere was Mount Vesuvius during n iiiitiou. which, to colouring, must have been the erjt n attendant on and Mont Blanc well iced, showinji:!:'- ' nier deglace " lifficult mai-e to mount on record, cj " we know who " and the last batch of proselytes fix>ithe Egn^tian Hall jnely down on their haunches, aa wives are reiKji-ted to ke proselytes appear to have got the adviti^'c of the wolves of their coat-tails. Scripture pieces, t«,.li;id some of these jurs perpetrated, wherein "daughters oBabylon" appeared coips de ballet," and kings, prophets^nd patriarchs had found their prototypes in Mario, Labhhe, and Tamburini rhich afforded Horace D'AlmajTie an ojortunity of observ- «• '^Lii^tL^'' AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 170 his eyes steadily fixed upon au amalgamated catalogue, desirous not to add to Kate's embarrassment; but at length, surprised at her silence and immobility, he ventured to glance towards her, and was alarmed to perceive that she had turned pale to her very lips, while she grasped the brass rail, which was placed to protect the pictures, convxilsively, in order to save herself from falling. Anyone with less tact than D'Almayne would, in officious eagei-ness to assist her, have made a fuss, and caused her to become the subject of general attention ; but Horace knew better how to turn the situation to account; handing her a chair, he said quietly, — " The heat has made yoix feel faint ; sit dovm. for a moment, and perhaps the feeling may pass otf ." As Kate hastened to follow his suggestion, she glanced towards him to read in his featui-es whether he also had overheard the conver- sation which had affected her. Whether his subtle intellect had led him to divine hei" intention, and he was enacting the character he considered most likely to tell with Kate, or whether he was merely obeying a natural impulse, we do not attempt to decide ; suffice it to state that, when she looked at him, he was scowling after the amiable family whose conversation had caused the eml>arrassnient, with so angi-y an expression of countenance, that a fear seized his companion lest he should be about to do something indignant and foolish, which might attract attention to her and produce the scene she dreaded. A moment's reflection on his cautious, pnident character would have pi-oved to her the unreasonableness of such a fear ; but she spoke without allowing herself this, — "What are you going to do?" she said, in a hui-ried whisper; " you can take no notice of — of ; " and unable to find words to express her meaning, she paused in confusion. D'Almayne finished her sentence for her : — " — Of those people's ignorance of the usages of society ? No, I am not so inconsiderate ; pardon me that I allowed you to see my just indignation, but for the moment I was completely earned away by feeling. Now," he continued, " if you can make the effoi-t, let us join the othei's ; no one has, as yet, observed your indisposition." By Avay of reply, Kate rose and took his proffered arm. " Get them away from this place," she said humedly ; " I shall suffocate if I remain here longer." Horace bowed assent, and after exchanging a few indifferent remarks with Alice and Lord Alfred Courtland, turned to Mr. Crane, observing, — " Will you forgive me for pleading the cause of one of your new caiTiage horses ? The coachman tells me it has a slight cough ; and it will scarcely tend to get rid of the ailment to wait too long in this piercing east wind." " No, indeed," chenipped Mr. Crane ; " and a horse that cost a hundred and thirty puns " (he meant pounds !) " must not be injured, even, if I may be allowed to say so, to please the ladies." 180 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP And havinf? spoken, straightway he fell into a fidfret ; so that, in less than two minutes, the noble productions of the Amalcjamated Amateurs became as a dream of the past to oiir dramatis person*. On reaching the street, with his wife hanging on his arm. Mr. Crane, ere he placed her in the carriage, thus addressed his domestic, — '* Why, coachman, you never told me one of the horses had a cough." As he spoke, Kate, perfectly understanding that the horse's cough was ;in invention of DAlmayne's to enable them to get away from the gallery in accordance with her wishes, involuntarily glanced towards him. But where manceuvi-ing and finesse wei'e required, Horace was quite in his element. Catching the attention of the servant (whom he had himself recommended) by a fictitious attack of the malady under which the quadruped was supposed to labour, he, by an almost imperceptible contraction of the eyelid, telegraphed his wishes, ensuring their fulfilment by suggestively tapping the silver head of his cane to express that in that metal should his compliance be rewarded ; so Mr. Crane was glibly informed that his horse had suffered under a bronchial affection for about the space of four days, more or less ; but that he, the coachman, having applied an invalu- able specific, kno^vn only to himself, had not considered the matter sufficiently serious to trouble his master withal ; — for which reticence he bore meekly Mr. Crane's peevish rebuke, consoled by the expec- tation of five shillings the next morning from Horace D'Almayne. The polished boots of that good young man trod upon roses rather than granite, as he ambled down Pall Mall ; for, by means of those trifles which make the sum of human things, he had achieved a great and almost unhoped-for success — he had succeeded in establish- ing a private understanding with the young and beautiful wife of the millionaire ! CHAPTER XXXII. A GLIMPSE AT THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER. Having consoled himself by a canter in Rotten Row for the minor martyrdom he had undergone in his pursuit of the fine arts, as mis- represented by the Amalgamated Amateurs, Harry made the best of his way to Park Lane. As he entered, a note was handed to him by AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 181 the pompous butler, who took the opportunity to inform him, in a voice husky with the bee's-wing, from which his throat was never entirely free, that " dinner would be served in a quarter of an hour." — " Then I've no time to lose," was the reply, and without looking at the note, Han-y dashed upstairs, three steps at a time. On reaching his room, however, and finding that Alice's toilet was by no means in an alarming state of forwardness, he recovered his composure, and opened the note ; it i-an as follows :— "On my arrival here two hours ago, I was surprised and em- ban-assed by hearing that you and your bride are staying in the house. Had I been aware of this fact, I need scarcely tell you I would have delayed making my appearance until your visit should have ended. But, although I knew you had married a connection of Mrs. Crane, such a probability never occin-red to me. However, it was not likely that, mixing in the same gi-ade of society, we should pass through life without ever again encountering each other; and I am still weak enough to dread our first meeting and to wish it over. I know your generous nature, and feel the utmost confidence that the past will remain a secret between us. It will, perhaps, be better— easier for us both, not to pretend to uieet as strangers. An accidental travelling acquaintance will sufficiently account for our knowing the same places, people, &c. For your own sake as well as mine, I implore you to be careful— I have never forgotten your advice and have striven to act upon it— but mine is ?. rebellious nature. Destroy this note as soon as you have read it. " Arabella." With stem compressed lips and knitted brow Harry perused this mysterious epistle, and when he had finished it, ci-ushed it in his hand and threw it on the fire with a gesture of impatience. " Your letter does not seem to please you," observed Alice ; " does it come from a dun, or is there a screw loose (don't I get on with my slang !) in the stable or the kennel ? " Absorbed in thought, Han-y made her no reply, until, sui-prised and slightly annoyed at his silence, she resuuied,— " Has the mysterious epistle stricken you dumb, or have we become so thorouglily matrimonial that you don't consider it worth while to answer your wife when she asks you a question ? " " Eh ! what f* I beg your pardon, dear, the letter ? no it was not from a dun. I never was preyed upon by those vampires, thank Heaven ; ' out of debt out of danger,' has always been my motto," replied Coverdale, rousing from his reverie. "If it was not from a dun, whom was it from then ?" continued Alice pertinaciously. "You are singularly curious all of a sudden," rejoined HaiTy; " all I shall tell you about the matter is that the note refen-ed to a disagi-eeable affair which happened three or four years ago, and which I had hoped was entirely passed and forgotten."' 182 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " And having raised my curiosity thus, do you actually mean to Bay that you will not gratify it farther ? " inquired Alice. " As you can have no good reason for asking, and as I have a very good and sufficient one for keeping my own counsel, I am afi-aid I must leave you in ignorance," was HaiTy's tantalizing reply. Alice glanced at his face, and reading there that he was in earnest and meant to act on what he had said, pouted like a spoilt child who had been refused some coveted plaything, while Coverdale betook him- self to his dressing-room in a " who-the-deuce-would-have-thouglit- of-her-tuming-up ! " frame of mind, from which he had by no means recovered when, with his wife, still mildly vindictive, hanging on his arm, he descended to the drawing-room. There they found Mr. and Mrs. Crane and a lady whom Kate introduced as her old and particular friend, Miss Crofton. Having bowed to Alice, Miss Crofton tui'ued towards Harry, observing to Kate, as she did so, — " I have never had the pleasm'e of meeting Mrs. Coverdale before ; but Mr. Coverdale and I ai-e old acquaintances ; when I was travel- ling in Italy with the Muirs, Mr. Coverdale was also indulging his taste for the fine arts, and we encountered each other at several points of the route." As she spoke she held out her hand to Coverdale, who, after a moment's hesitation, and with a slight accession of colour, just touched and immediately relinquished it, saying, in a cold but polite tone of voice, — "Do you know whether the Muirs are in England now. Miss Crofton ? " As the person addressed remarked his look and tone, she pressed her lips together so forcibly that every trace of red vanished from them ; but repressing all other signs of emotion, she i-eplied to his question. Then taking a seat next Alice, she began cultivating her good graces with a degree of tact and talent which evinced her powers of shining in society, and deserved more success than it appeared to meet with. Arabella Crofton was a handsome woman of thirty, looking younger than her age. She was taU, and her figiu-e was fully developed without being actually embonpoint. Her hands and feet, although proportioned to her height, were beautifully modelled, and the fonner imusuaUy white and soft. In feature she resembled Kate, so much so that she had more than once been mistaken for her former pupil's elder sister ; but the expression of the two faces was totally dissimilar. In Kate Crane a fiery passionate natm-e was kept under control by an equally strong degree of pride and an amount of self-respect which served her in place of a higher principle ; in Arabella Crofton lay concealed even a gi'eater depth of passion, but its sole antagonist was an intellect keen, strong, and acute, though not of the highest order, and a determination of will and fixity of purpose which, while it led her straight towai'ds the object AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 183 she sought, rendered her somewhat unscrupulous as to the means by which it was to be attained ; and as the mind usually writes itself more or less legibly on the countenance, so did the expression differ in Kate and her late governess. Still Miss Crofton's was a face to attract and rivet attention, a face which exercised a species of fascination over those who beheld it, so peculiar that it is not easy to define it. As you gazed upon it, you felt that you were in the presence of an intelligence of no common order, but of whose nature, hopes, fears, wishes, and designs, you were entirely ignorant — nay, in regard to which you could not decide whether the good or evil principle predominated. In this sense of power with which she impressed others, together with the uncertainty how it might be directed, lay the secret of much of Arabella Crofton's influence. Alice, not being metaphysical, did not attempt to define the sensa- tions with which her new acquaintance inspired her ; had she done so, it might have appeared that she had formed much the same estimate of her manner and appearance as that with which we have furnished the reader. But if Alice did not moralize, she arrived at strong and definite conclusions without that process, for before she had been half an hour in Miss Crofton's company, she felt morally convinced that she should hate her, and tliat it would turn out that the ci-devant governess either had done, or was about to do, some- thing which would completely account for and justify this sudden animosity. During dinner a note arrived from Lord Alfred Courtland, offer- ing Alice and Han-y seats in his opera-box, which offer, after a few polite speeches to and from Mr. Crane, in his (in ?) capacity as master of the house, was accepted. As they di'ove to the theatre, the following conversation jjassed between the husband and wife, the lady of course beginning it. " What a detestable woman that Miss Crofton is ! I'm sure I shall never be able to endure her. I see now where Kate's faults came fi'om. Miss Crofton has taught her to be worldly-minded, and ambitious, and all sorts of hon-id things which she never used to be ; and the creature is an old acquaintance of yours, too ! Did you know her well — intimately ? " " Eh ? yes ! I saw a good deal of her at one time. How slow this fellow drives, we shall lose the overture ! " was Han-y's reply, which, if he intended thereby to change the subject of the conversation, proved a dead failure, for A.lice continued, — " Oh ! then you are not mere acquaintances, as she tried to make out ! I thought she wasn't speaking the truth. Well, and did you like her ? — I dare say you did, for I feel sui-e she was in love with you ; indeed, I think she is still, by the way she casts down those great roUing eyes of hers whenever you say a word to her. I declare I feel quite jealous." Coverdale paused for a moment, ere he replied : " My dear Alice, you speak thoughtlessly, but you do not know how such remarks 184 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP annoy me — faults I have, and more serious ones than until lately I was at all aware of; but to suppose that since I fii'st saw you, I have ever devoted one minute's thought to any other woman breathing, would be to do me a foul injustice." Alice perceived, from his manner of speaking, that her vague suspicions had really pained him, and having no other ground for them but an instinct which she confessed to herself to be utterly unsanctioned by i-eason, she determined to confess her sin and obtain absolution. This is in many cases a tedious and difficult opei'ation, but when individuals are on those easy and agreeable terms which sometimes last so long as a year after man-iage, the process becomes greatly facilitated. Thus, by a little gi-aceful and appro- priate pantomime, Alice caused it to be understood that she felt deeply penitent, and in a state of mental self-accusation only to be allayed by a remedy consisting (as some light-minded jester has phrased it), like a sermon, of " two heads and an application." When this specific for female grief had been duly administered by Harry, peace was for the time restored, and the evening passed away most harmoniously in every sense of the Avord. CHAPTER XXXIII. TELEMACHUS AND MENTOR. The opera-house was very full and pi'oportionably hot on the evening when Coverdale and his wife visited it (it being the d^but of the since famous Signora Bettimartini). Alice, unused to London gaieties, and uneasy from the suspicions she could not contrive to banish, acquired a headache, which, when she went to bed, prevented her from falling asleep. Thus being anxious to court without loss of time nature's sweet restorer, of course she chose the most vexatious and exciting topic she could select as a subject of thought, and began to speculate on all the evidence she could call to mind in regard to her husband's relations, past and present, towards Arabella Crofton, who, as the reader must have perceived, was just at that especial epoch poor little Mrs. Coverdale's " bete noire." The first circum- stance she could recollect to form the initial link in her chain of evidence was Harry's inquiry about her when Alice casually men- tioned her name during the halcyon days of their honeymoon. In this conversation, Harry had confessed to a previous acquaintance with Miss Crofton, and when pressed farther, added that he knew no AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 185 g'ood of her, or words to that effect. His manner, Alice remembered, was so peculiar that her curiosity had been at once excited, or as she mentally put it, that " naturally she felt her husband ought imme- diately to have told her everything about it — she had no conceal- ments from him, she was sure." Following up this train of thought, another instance of this unkind and unflattering want of confidence occurred to her — the mysterioiis epistle which he had received that veiy afternoon, which had annoyed him so much, and about which he had refused to afford her any explanation ; and here a new idea flashed like an infernal inspiration across her brain — could that note be in any way connected with Miss Crofton's aiTival? " Yes! it must be so." She remembered when they entered the drawing-room, and she had felt surprise at finding a stranger there, Harry seemed to take it as a matter of course : good reason why, he knew it previously — this hateful woman, this detestable creatui'e, Arabella Crofton, had written to him privately, informing him of her an-ival ! Oh ! she saw it all ; and how she would try to wean his affections away from his poor wife — his poor, neglected, betrayed wife ! and succeed most likely — men were such fickle, wicked things ; and then it would break her heart, that there could be no question of ; and she should die in the course of a year— in six months, very likely, for she wasn't at all strong, though she had a colour — consumptive people always had brilliant complexions — think of her poor aunt Kitty ; and Han-y would be sorry when it was too late, perhaps. And so, di'awing a vivid picture of her repentant husband grieving over her untimely decease, she cried herself to sleep, bedewing with her tears the *' fickle, wicked thing," calmly slumbering at her side, who straight- way dreamed that, being out hunting and riding a young thorovigh- bred, he had chai-ged a brook, and that his horse refusing it, had pitched him head foremost into its rapid watei's. A month soon elapsed — the London season was at its height. Evei-ybody had been everywhere, and was going again ; Grisi and Mario had an-ived, recovered from sea-sickness and British catarrh, and " surpassed themselves " in their favourite characters. A mob of costly equipages jostled each other round Hyde Park every after- noon ; can'iage-horses, deprived of their sleep o'nights, began to grieve coachmen's hearts by revealing the position of their ribs ; young ladies from the country danced away their roses and their " embon- point "; men whose book for the Derby was at all " shy" trembled in their patent leather boots ; the glory of the lilacs in the squares had departed ; water-carts made unpleasant canals of the principal thoroughfares ; the Honourable Mrs. Windsor Soape had presented her youngest daughter at the last drawing-room, and tried without success to stuff her down the throats of several eligible eldest sons ; Lady Close Shaver had inveigled a hundred and seventy unfortu- nates into her hot drawing-rooms, bored them with Signor Violini's scientific rendering of Beethoven's sonata in A B C minor, poisoned them with bad ice and worse champagne, and turned them out to 186 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP grass upon lobster salads, of which the principal feature was the xmaccoiintable absence of lobster : these, and many other miseries attendant on the " joys of our dancing days," had been gladly suffered by the fanatical votaries of the Juggernaut of Fashion, and still the Coverdales lingei'ed within the precincts of the modem Babylon. Lord Alfred Coui-tland, having received a summons to join his family at Leghorn, had refused to obey it on the plea of ill health, backed by a physician's opinion, which cost one guinea, and was worth ! Well, really in this case it was worth something, for it saved Lord Alfred a lecture, and he disliked being lectured, even for his good — silly young man ! so he stayed in town, doing as other folks did, and hoping thereby to become a man of fashion ; but as he only acted like other people, and did nothing very clever, or vei'y foolish, or very wrong, he by no means succeeded in obtaining the reputation he coveted. With this consciousness of failure befoi-e his eyes, he one night lounged dismally out of his stall at the opera and was proceeding with dejected steps along the lobby when he suddenly encountered Horace D'Almayne, better dressed and better pleased with himself than ever. " Well met, my lord ; I was just wishing for an agreeable com- panion,"' was his complimentary salutation. " I am natiu'ally a sociable animal ; if you have no better employment, will you take pity on me for an hour or so ? " Deeply impressed with such unexpected condescension, and over- come by the transcendent cut of D'Almayne's waistcoat, nothing remained for Lord Alfred but gratefully to consent, which he accordingly did. Linking his arm in that of his companion, D'Almayne continued, — " You are looking ' triste, ennuy^ ' ; has Grisi developed a cold, or Cerito a corn ? is it opera or ballet which has thus bored you ? " "Neither one nor the other," was the reply, " though even operas cease to excite after one has grown accustomed to them." "Yes! that is true; except to an educated musician" (and D'Almayne looked as if he humbly trusted that he was equal to Mendelssohn, at the very least), " I can conceive they grow tedious ; but," he continued, " you should seek some moi-e exciting amuse- ment : mix in clever, witty society ; do things — see things ; in fact, enjoy life as a young man with such advantages of person and of station should do." " It may seem easy to you, who have achieved a reputation in the ' beau monde,' and can command any society you please, to accom- plish this ; but it is the reverse of easy for a yoimg man in these days, even if he have a handle to his name, to persuade people that he has anything in him ; in fact, I think a title stands rather in a young fellow's way on entering London life ; people have somehow taken to connect the ideas of a lord and a fool, until I believe they begin to think the tei'ms synonymous ! " " What a frightfully democratic opinion for one of your order to AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 187 promulgate ! " returned D'Almayne, smiling at the disconsolate tone in whicli Lord Alfred spoke ; " really, you ought to have been born on the other side of the Channel ; but I think I perceive your difficulty : you do not cai'e to be admitted into society merely for your rank, but wish to achieve a distinctive social reputation for yourself; is it not so ? " " Yes ! you have expressed my ideas exactly, a great deal better than I could have done myself," was the reply. " And now tell me in what way is this desirable consummation to be effected." " Nothing is more easy. In the first place you require self-con- fidence ; let people see that you think yourself a fine fellow, and they will begin to think so too. In the next place, take a decided line of some kind and adhere to it steadily ; but, in order to be able to do so, be careful, ere you select it, that it is in accordance with your natural dispositions and tastes." " Good general maxims," returned Lord Alfred ; " and now to apply them to the pai-ticular instance." D Almayne paused for a moment ere he replied, — " If you really wish me to constitute myself your Mentoi-, you must allow me more opportunities of enjoying your society than I have hitherto possessed, and then, from time to time, I dare say I may be able to give you a few hints which you may find practically beneficial ; and as there is nothing like making use of the present occasion, what say you to allowing me to introduce you to a kind of private club, where I and a few of my particular set sometimes meet after the opera, and while away an hour or two with a hand at whist or ^cai-t^, or exchange our ideas on the topics of the day over a game of billiards ; the stakes are, of course, suited to the measure of our pm-ses, my own being an uncomfortably shallow one. We are close to the entrance, shall we turn in ? " After a moment's hesitation, the result of an indefinite notion that he was about to do something wi'ong, Lord Alfred consented ; and D Almayne knocked at the door of what looked like a good private house. The portal unclosed and immediately shut again by some mysterious agency, for, when they entered, no domestic was visible ; and they proceeded along a passage to a second door covered with red baize, with a glass eye, lilaced cyclop-like in the middle of its forehead, through which a human face observed them for a moment, then disappeared, and the red baize door opened and admitted them of its own accord, as the outer one had set it the example. Follow- ing his companion up a flight of stone stairs, at the top of which yet another baize door with a cyclopian optic presented itself. Lord Alfi'ed Coiu-tland heard the sounds of laughing and conversation, and in another moment found himself in a lai'ge, well-lighted apart- ment, round which were dispersed sundi'y small tables, at which wei'e seated, in gi'oups of thi*ee or four, from a dozen to fifteen men, all of whom were recruiting exhausted nature with champagne, pine- apple ice, or more substantial viands, if their tastes inclined them 188 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP thereunto. Placing himself at an unoccupied table, D'Almayne in- quired in his most insinuating tone,— " Champagne, claret, johannisherg — what is your pet vanity, my lord ? — ' c'est affreux,' the inefficient ventilation of that opera-house. I am positively famished with thirst, and must drown my enemy before Horace is himself again." "Having obtained the privilege of considering you my Mentor, I cannot do better than avail myself of yom- valuable taste and experience in the selection of a beverage," returned Lord Alfred, falling into his companion's humour with that dangerous facility which was at once his bane and his greatest charm. So champagne and ice, and biscuits, all first-rate of their kind, were brought and discussed, and during the demolition thereof, one or two intimates of D'Aluuiyne, faultless in mien and manners, lounged up, and were introduced to his lordship, and drank wine dreamily, and talked smart nothings with a sleepy wittiness as of inspired dormice; and otherwise exhibited symptoms of that life-weary, all-to-pieces con- dition which very young men believe in as the " ne plus ultra " of modern dandyism ; and Lord Alfred's heart leaped within him as he thought that now he had at last reiJly begun " life," and was in a fair way to become a nuin about town. Such wonderful beings are we, " a3tatis " nineteen I When a man is thirsty nothing is easier than to drink a bottle of champagne without knowing it, perhaps even till the next moraing ; I never heard of the delusion lasting longer. Whether Lord Alfred Courtland drank more or less than a bottle on the occasion in ques- tion, history relateth not, but certainly, when he rose and strolled into the billiard-room, he felt considerably exhilarated, and eager to achieve something " fast," which might tend to impress his incipient " about-townishness " on the minds of his fashionable acquaintances. Thus, hearing the rattle of dice in a further apartment, he, to D' Almayne's surprise and amusement, declared billiards a bore, and whist " slow," and " voted " for something with a little more fun in it. So, " Dante "-like, entering the infernal regions, they very soon *' knew a bank whereon " much " wild time " had been wasted, and an immense crop of wild oats sown; — and off which cei-tain pro- prietors had reaped many golden sheaves, while the sowers them- selves had gained only experience, teaching them how to take care of their money, about the time when their money was all gone, which must have been more improving than consolatory to the " cleaned out ones." Then first upon Lord Alfred's youthfvd ear fell the command, diabolical in its persuasive eloquence, " Faites le jeu, messieurs!" then timidly, and with feelings akin to those of mediaeval youths who, in the good old feudal times, signed imcom- fortable compacts with the Evil One, which never turned out satisfactorily for them even in this world, did Lord Alfred stake his first guinea, and unfortunately lose it. We say unfortunately, for had he won, and so come, seen, and conquered, he might have \ AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 189 listened to the appeals of conscience which just then were striving to make a coward of this neophyte man aljout town ; bnt, as matters stood, he felt a stern necessity to vindicate the "sang froid" with which lie could support a run of ill luck, and playing again — won, doubled his stake — won ; then, against D' Almayne's advice, staked his winnings on " le rouge," and that colour proved successful; and then the gambler spirit came upon him, and he played with a fierce eagerness, and drank more champagne, and played again, until two hours later D'Almayne almost forced him away from the table, and took him home, flushed and excited, a winner of one hundred pounds ! Poor boy ! as he left that haunt of soi'did vice and idle folly, he believed that he had done something clever, and spirited, and manly, and longed for the next evening, when he might again distinguish him- self ; but could he have foreseen half the consequences of this, his first step in evil, or the sorrrow he was thereby bringing upon true hearts that loved him, he would have shrunk from again crossing the threshold, as though it were indeed that of the hell which in their unseemly jesting men term it. Rising late the next morning, he was informed that a gentleman was waiting to see him, and on entering the sitting-room found Horace D'Almayne in an easy chair and an elegant attitude. " I was anxious about you, mon cher" (they had grown wonder- fully familiar over their champagne), "you appeared so much excited last night,"' he began, uncrossing his graceful legs, clad in a seraphic pair of Blin et Fils' chefs-d'ojuvre. " Sure Buch a pair wore never seen ! " "You seemed so caiTied away by your enthusiasm that I thought you would not sleep, and thus ventured to call at this unreasonable hour to see how you were getting on." " Very kind and friendly of you, I'm sure," returned Lord Alfred, quite overcome by such unhoped-for condescension on the part of his model Mentor. " I suppose I did get rather excited, but I'm all right again this morning, — at least I shall be," he continued, as a dizzy swimming in the head obliged him to grasp a chair- back for support, " as soon as I have had a cup of coffee." " Or if I might suggest, a bottle of seltzer water with a susi)icion of cognac in it, is a much more efficient substitute : allow me to brew for you ; — may I ring the bell ? " Receiving the permission he sought, Horace acted accordingly, and when the seiwant appeared, desired him (on a glance from Lord Alfred, delegating all authority to him) to bring a bottle of seltzer water, brandy, and a lemon. Possessed of these desiderata, he commenced shredding off two or three delicate little spiral circles of lemon-peel, like yellow watch-springs, then dropping these into a Brobdignagian tumbler, warranted not to run over under any severity of effervescence, he added thereunto a liqueur glass full of the purest (and strongest) cognac. Unwiring the seltzer water, he 100 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP allowed it to draw its own cork (for thus, under his skilful control, did the operation appear to be performed), and, forcinpf it to explode into the tumbler, he presented the beverapje, foaminj? wildly, to Lord Alfred, who. at the risk of immediate suffocation, drank it off in that rabid condition, and providentially survivinj?, declared himself greatly benefited by the treatment. Havinp thus re-inviporated his patient's exhausted frame, DAlmayne proceeded to pei-form the same friendly office by his mind, and very {jood counsel did he bestow upon him — only that his advice had this peculiarity, viz., that whilst in words he recommended Lord Alfred Courtland to bend his steps in a northerly direction, that youn^r nobleman felt an unaccountable conviction that by proceeding; due south, he should raise himself in the estimation of his Mentor and of all other men of s))irit. Thus he heard, with a complacent smile, tliat DAlmaynewas surprised at the manner in which he had carried all before him at the f^^aminj^-table on the previous evening ; that every one imagined him to be an old hand at such matters ; and one individual, who was generally supposed to make a very decent living by gambling, had declared his conviction that Lord Alfred played on a system, and a deiicedly clever system too ! — At all of which D Alma)Tie appeared alarmed and imeasy, and assured his friend that it was a very dangerous talent for a young man, and that it would be a gi'eat relief to his mind if Lord Alfred would promise never to go there again; to which his lordship replied by lighting a cigar, handing the box to his Mentor, and asking him whether he considered him such an irre- claimable muff as not to be able to win or lose a matter of a hundred poiinds without making a ninny of himself. Declaring himself innocent of any such disrespectful innuendo, D Almayne also lighted a cigar (it being impossible in these piping times to do anything withoiit plenty of puffing), and these new allies grew loquacious and confidential ; but with this difference, that Lord Alfred gave his confidence, and Horace obligingly received the sacred deposit. Thus, after a fair amount of the hoiiicultural ci-iielty, yclept "beating about the bush," had been committed, that good young man was made acquainted with the '* secret sorrow," which, as the reader is aware, was with much success performing the part of the " womi i' the bud " to Lord Alfred's " damask cheek." As soon as Mentor thoroughly imderstood the state of the case, which he did in an incredibly short space of time — tact being so strongly developed in him that it almost amounted to intuition — he followed the advice of Polly in the " Beggar's Opera," by " pondering well " before he ventured to prescribe for the complaint of his Telemachus. Having sat with bent brows until his cigar was exhausted, he flimg the end into the grate, smoothed his beloved moustaches, and then spoke oracularly : — *' You see, mon cher," he began, " you are taking to the rule of a ' flaneur,' what you call a man about town, full early for an English- man ; thus, the chief thing you want is self-confidence, without AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 191 which a man can neither do proper justice to himself nor to his position. Now it seems to me the best thing for you would be to get some pretty woman of good station to take you in hand ; you must try and establish a flirtation with somebody." " Cui bono?" inquired Telemachus; "the governor would never stand me maiTying for — oh ! not for the next five years ! " " Marrying before you're one-and-twenty ! My dear fellow, what can have put such a frightful idea into your head ! " exclaimed Mentor, aghast at tlie supposition. " No, no ; marriage is the last thing I should dream of recommending, except quite as a ' dernier ressoi't.' For which reason I was about to add that the best practice to sot you at ease with yourself, and therefore witli other peojjle, will be to devote your attentions to some pretty and fashionable married woman ; — there ! don't look so awfully scandalized ; of course I only mean a sentimental and platonic affair — just enough to excite and interest you into self-oblivion. When you once forget your " ipsissimus ego " — when, as that j)unning friend of your.'^, Mr. Coverdale, would say, you cease to mind your I — all your anxieties in regard to popular opinion will vanish, and you will soon find that with your face, figure, address, and position. Lord Alfred Courtland will become the admired of all admirers. And that reminds me that Mrs. Coverdale would be just the person for that pui-pose;— she is very pretty, moves n good society, and, ' entre nous,' is smitten with you already ! " " But really— of course I don't set up to be any better than my neighbours," stammered the poor boy, colouring at the possibility of being suspected of such slow attributes as good feeling and right principle, and yet unable entirely to silence the promptings of his better nature; — "of course I don't set up for a saint; but Harry Coverdale is an old friend and schoolfellow, and one of the best creatures in the world ; I should not like — that is, I really couldn't — But, I beg your pardon, I don't think I exactly understand your meaning." " I don't think you do," returned D'Almayne. his sarcastic tone expressing such unmistakable contemjit that Lord Alfred actually winced as if in pain ; " I don't think you have the faintest glimmer of my meaning. You don't suppose I intend you to order a chaise and four and run off with pretty Mrs. Coverdale to the Continent, do you ? My ideas are much less alarming, I can assure you ! ' par exemple ' — your friend Harry is a physical force man ; he is a mighty hunter, a dead shot ; he loves only his dogs and his horses ; but requires a Joe Manton to ensure him good sport and a pretl y wife to sit at the head of his table : Mrs. Coverdale, on the other hand, has a soul— reads Tennyson, feels her husband's neglect, and pines for some one who will appreciate her and sympathize with her ; you, in the kindness of your heart, pity her, and knowing you can afford her the consolations of congeniality, obligingly make up for her good man's deficiency ; therefore, you read poetry with her, explain the 192 HARRY COVERDALES COURTSHIP obscure passat^cs which neither she, you, nor any one else can under- stand ; her mind reposes on your superior intelligence ; she trusts yon and confides to you impoi'tant secrets, — the exact age of her dearest female friend, whom she snspects of designs upon your heart, the dress she is going to wear at the next fancy ball, — and eventually, with heightened colour and averted eyes, the history of that ring with the turquoise forget-me-not, together with a biographical sketch of the noble giver — showing how he lived pathetically, and died in the odour of heroism, fighting at the head of his regiment in the Punjaub, the centre of a select circle of slaughtered foemen ; which latter confidence may be considered as the latch-key to the fair lady's heart, ensuring yon admittance at all times and seasons." " And having attained this agreeable position, how long do you expect so pleasant a state of things to last, and what is to be the end of it? " inquired Telemachus. " Oh ! until she has got rid of her romance, and you of your diffidence, by which time you will have gro^vn mutually tired of each other, and the London season will have come to an end," was Mentor's oracular reply. Telemachus mused, lit a fresh cigar, and nursed again. He liked the idea, had a faint suspicion it might be \vi'ong, but was quite sure it would be very pleasant. Mentor, thinking this a prouiising frame of mind in which to leave his pupil, would not weaken the force of his argument by vain repetitions, so made an engagement to meet again in the evening, and departed. And while " les petites moustaches noires " wounded female hearts as he passed down coui-tly St. James's Street, the spirit of the good young man, their wearer, glowed within him, and. — " As he walked by himself, He talked to himself, And thnu to himeelf said he ! " "Ha! ha! Milord Coiirtland, you are mine- -your purse, your credit, yoiir influence — all are mine ! But what a child it is ; what a baby ! ' Sacr6 ! ' at his age I was winning twenty pounds a day at billiards in New Orleans !— And you, Harry Coverdale, ' mon ami,' I will teach you to watch me with black looks when I am conversing with ' la belle millionaire ' ; yoiT had better attend to your own wife now — young, pretty, and neglected ! ' Le petit ' Alfred has a fair game before him, if he have but wit to play it— yes ! all goes as it should ! fortune fills the sails ! there is a cool head and a steady hand at the helm : ' vogue la galere ! ' " AND ALL THAT CABIE OF IT m CHAPTER XXXIV. CIRCE. In this " ticrht little island,"' — of which as a whole we are all so proud, althougrh it aiSords amjile occupation for its public in grumbling at its institutions, via its *' Times " newspaper — the only season of the year when fogs are not, and every day does not resemble a " washing- day " on a large scale, the only period in fact when the country is endurable, is the early summer. Thus the educated classes, whose well-balanced and cai'efully-developed minds enable them to arrive at sound conclusions, and whose well-stored pockets render them free to come and go untrauimelled by pecuniai-y considerations, have bound themselves by the laws of the tyrant Fashion to spend June and July in London, where they simmer in hot rooms, when they should be in bed and asleep, until all the goodness is boiled out of them — which new " theory of evil " we beg to offer to the notice of Miss Martineau, and all other speculative minds anxious to elevate humanity by substituting earthly nonsense for heavenly revelation. But however you may brick her up and smoke-dry her, nature will assert herself, and, turning with disgust from oats at 40s. the quai-ter in a mahogany manger, pine for green meat and a canter over the spring turf. So a compromise has been effected between town and countiy amusements, and horticultural fetes have been devised to afford parboiled fashionables breathing time between their rounds of dissipation, together with a gentle reminder of the " pleasures of the plains," which they are sacrificing to their craving for unnatural excitement. Horticultm-al fetes are brought about in this wise : Early in the inclemency of a British spring, when all London is shivering over its fondly cherished fire, that noun of multitude per- ceives in the first column of its " Times " a notice that members of the Horticultural Society may obtain tickets at priWleged prices until some specified day; thereupon All-London writes to its par- ticular friend the M. H. S. for an "order," and the member vouching by implication for All-London's standing and respectability — into which he has probably gone no deeper than its coat — All-London besieges the ofiice of that floral autocrat. Dr. Lindley, and clamours for tickets, crying " Give, give," and insatiable as the daughter of the horse-leech. Having at length obtained its desire, All-London buttons up its great-coat and waits timidly but eagerly for the first Horticultural. But the London season is an outrage upon, and an insult to natm-e, and nature takes her change out of the first Horti- o 194 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP cultural ; it is a poiu'ing wet day, Chiswick becomes Keswick, and the Duke of Devonshire's grounds, yielding to hydraidic pressure, cease to be dry grounds any longer. Dr. Lindley ... we have not the pleasure of that gentleman's personal acquaintance, but we can imagine Dr. Lindley feels disappointed and . . . expresses it. Then All-London exchanges its great-coat for a paletot, and looks forward with a timid anxiety to the second Horticultural, which being in June enjoys the advantage of April weather, and is only showery, so the boldest quarter of London goes, from the Herbert Fitz-tip-tops, careless of the bronchial tubes of their serving-men and carriage- horses, down to the Robinson Joneses, safe in the immunity of a hack brougham, driver, and horse — a long- suffering trio, so ac- customed to wait in the rain, that use has become a second nature to these amphibious hirelings. Om* enterprising pleasure-seekers come back ere de^vy eve, and say that, considering the fact that flowers won't blow out of doors in cold weather, and that the gravel was a swamp, and the turf a morass, the tents very hot, and the east wind very cold, and that there was nobody there except a few dreadful people who really ought not to be anywhere— (Mrs. Robinson Jones was actually pushed up against Mr. Cutlet and his rib, her o^vn butcher, who makes a clear .£2000 a-year, while genteel Robinson Jones scarcely averages ofiloOO at the Bar ; but what does that signify h) — and that the female Quarter-of -London had got the ridiculous soles of its little French shoes wet through in five minutes, and had felt a tightness at its chest ever since ; allowing for these and several other slight drawbacks, it really was not such a complete failure after all ! But even English weather has its bright side ; and, content with taking the shine out of the first two, on the third Hoi-ticultural fete the sun seems resolved to come out strong, and, setting parasols at defiance, imprint his burning kisses on the pale features of all the pretty women in' town, like an ardent old luminai-y as he is. And All-London finding that it really is a beautiful day, puts on its best bib and tucker, and takes its wife and daughters to Chiswick. Where the roads are watered they are very muddy, Avhere they are not watered they are dusty ; and as the dust sticks to the carnages, and the dust sticks to the mud, and the horses get first very hot going there, then very cold waiting there, and the pole of every other carriage invariably runs through the back panel of the [vehicle immediately preceding it, coachmen are not, as a general rule, fond of the third Horticultm-al ; but nothing can please everybody, and these Flower-shows " please the ladies "' (to quote Mr. Crane's favourite phrase), and that is the great point after all. It was probably with a view to " pleasing the ladies " that Mr. Crane had thought proper to invest capital in half-a-dozen Horticultural tickets — seeing that his own horticultural tastes were confined to drinking Sherry-cobbler in an arbour, whenever such a privilege was vouchsafed to him, and his knowledge limited to the capability of discriminating between a cabbage and a cauliflower. The weather having been such AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 195 as we have described it during the first and second fetes — on both which occasions Mr. Crane bewailed the useless expense into which his gallantry had seduced him, with a truly touching degree of pathos — these tickets remained unused until the third and last flower-show, when " the face of all nature looking gay," and " bright Phoebus '' obligingly condescending to " adorn the hills," the ex-cotton-spinner and his spouse, Harry Coverdale and Alice, together with Arabella Crofton, availed themselves of five of them — Horace D'Almayne quietly pocketing the sixth in a fit of mental (and physical) abstrac- tion. They were to stai-t at a quai'ter before two, as Mr. Crane always prefen-ed being early on all occasions ; but at a quarter before two, when the carriages drew up to the door, Alice was not ready ; and moreover it was Alice's own fault that she was not ready ; and thus it fell out. Lord Alfred Courtland played the flute well for so young a man. and an amateur ; since he had been in town, a talented professor instructed him in this art, who was an exiled patriot — that is to say, he and several other ardent young men had attempted one fine morning to take their " Fatherland " away from the gentle- man in possession, and give it to the Secret Blood-and-bones-united- brother-band — the same being a pet name by which they saw fit to call themselves. What they would have done with their fatherland, if they had got it, neither do they nor does any one else appear to have the least idea ; bi;t this difficulty of disposing of their country was fortunately spared them, as their enterprise consisted simply of a stroll along the principal street of their native city, in company with a drum and a little red flag, bearing the cheerful device of a skull and cross-bones, with the motto, " Death to Tyrants ! " which stroll continued until they accidentally encountered a company of soldiers, who conveyed them — drum, flag, and all — to the state prison, where they were detained, until it being discovered that they were eating their heads ofp, the authorities exiled them, to save their keep. Herr Hildebrand TootletootzakofEski, one of this devoted band, had brought his Polish sorrows and his German flute to England, and between them both managed to make a much more comfortable income than tyranny had hitherto allowed him to enjoy under the mildewed institutions of his o^vn blighted country. For the rest he was a mild little man, addicted to conversing on music and patriotism with a sort of washy sentimentality which enabled him to pass as an individual of refined tastes and cultivated mind with those who did not look beyond the surface ; personally he rejoiced in a complexion as of bad putty, and an amount of hei'oic Vjeard and moustaches which would have stufEed a chair-cushion very comfortably. And being such as we have described him, Herr Hildebrand— an acquain- tance of and introduced by Horace DAlmayne, who, in his multi- farious occupations, may have been a banded-brother, for aught we know to the contrary — had suggested to Lord Alfred Courtland the great advantage it would be to him in his, the professor's talented absence, if he, Lord Alfred, coidd find any amiable pianiste of his 196 HARRY COVERD ALE'S COURTSHIP acquaintance, able and willing to play duets with him, to " impi-ove his time " ; and as he said this in the presence of and immediately after a tete-a-tete with Horace D'Almayne, it really was scarcely necessai-y for that judicious Mentor to suggest to his lordship pretty little Mrs. Coverdale, although to guard against mistakes he did so. Thus Alfred Courtland and Alice had played a good many duets in Park Lane ; and on the morning in question, luncheon being announced in the middle of one of these interesting performances half an hour sooner than usual, to guard against the possibility of anybody's being too late, Alice, feeling by this time quite at home in her coiisin's house, coolly told Lord Alfred to come down and partake of the mid-day meal, as she was resolved to finish the duet after it was over, before she went to dress, and if they made haste she was sure there was plenty of time. But time unfortunately is one of those stubborn facts with which it is impossible to take a liberty without suffering for one's rashness ; and, although the latter part of the duet was rattled through with a Costa-like rapidity, which elicited from his breathless lordship an acknowledgment that " it is the pace that kills," yet when all the rest of the party were assembled Alice was only half dressed. Then, as was his wont on such occasions, Mr. Ci-ane fell into a fi*etful fuss, and trotted up and do\vn the room, and made everybody fidgety and unoomfoi*table, especially Harry, who was provoked with Mr. Crane for being annoyed with Alice, and with Alice for having given him cause for annoyance. " There is a quiet way of arranging the matter, my dear sir," he said ; " let those who are ready start in the bai'ouche, and I will wait and di'ive Alice in the mail-phaeton." " Yes, and then we shall never meet at the gardens, and never all come away at the same time, and my aiTangements will be completely subverted, and everything will go wi-ong," whined Mr. Crane. On this Harry ran up to hasten Alice, and Alice, who was attiring her- self at express speed, was cross, and snubbed him out of the room, and he rejoined the company in the di'awing-room with compressed lips and an angry flush on each cheek ; and Arabella Crof ton f avoui'ed him with a glance of intelligent pity, which, if it were intended to soothe his wounded spirit, failed in its effect most signally. After the lapse of an a%vful ten minutes, by the expiration of which period Mr. Crane was on the verge of tears, the culprit Alice made her appearance, looking very pretty, but not altogether as penitent as might have been desired ; but as she said in a cheerful tone that she "really was quite distressed at having kept them all waiting," we will hope she felt more than she allowed to appear. Then arose a debate and confusion of tongues and opinions as to how the party was to di\'ide. Hari-y offered to drive the phaeton, Mr. Crane having privately hinted that such an an-angement would meet with his approval — who was to accompany him? HaiTy suggested his o^vn wife, meaning to treat her to a gentle reproof on the road for her ■want of consideration in having kept a whole party waiting merely to AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 197 finish a silly duet with that boy Alfred Coui'tland. But Kate dis- approved of this arrangement — pei'haps because she had begun to suspect that the Coverdale couple did not always in " their little nest agree," and had read in Han-y's flashing eyes warning of a pertiu-bed spirit. Whether Alice's conscience led her to the same result we do not pretend to decide, but for some reason she seconded her cousin until she discovered that by doing so Arabella Crofton would be her substitute, by which time the affair was settled beyond her power of altering. Her annoyance would have been sensibly diminished, however, if she could have known that the arrangement was, if possible, more distasteful to her husband than to herself, but un- foi-tunately there was no clairvoyant at hand to afford her this desirable intelligence. Having handed up his companion, and done all that his chivalrous nature taught him was due from a gentleman to any woman entmsted to his care, and nothing farther, Han-y gathered up his reins, placed himself by Miss Crofton's side in the phaeton, and sitting bolt upright, drove off with an unapproachable expression of face, which indicated, as plainly as words could have done, his resolve not to advance beyond monosyllables until they reached Chiswick. But Hai-ry was in such matters no match for the astute woman of the world who sat beside him. Apparently falling in with his humour she leaned back in the can-iage, and the only sign she gave of her presence was an occasional sigh, which escaped her, as it appeared, involuntarily. Before they had proceeded far, however, they encountered the i)eripatetic theatre of that inconvenient humorist, dear old Punch, with his private band pop-going-the- weasel hke an harmonious steam-engine; whereat the horses (the identical pair which had nan away with Han-y and Alice in the early springtime of their courtship, and which Mr. Crane still retained, although he carefully avoided driving them himself) — preferring probably a more classical style of music — began to express their disapprobation by plunging violently, nearly dashing the phaeton against a coal waggon, a catastrophe which nothing but the most consummate skill on the part of their driver could have averted. As Coverdale succeeded in reducing the rebellious steeds to order, he could not help involuntarily glancing at his companion to ascertain how the incident had affected her. She was leaning forward, her attitude and the expression of her features indicated excitement and interest rather than tenor, while her fine eyes, dilated and sparkling with a more than ordinary lustre, were fixed upon his countenance with looks of unmistakable admiration. Courage, or as he would have tenned it, '' pluck," especially in a woman, where he considered it as an "additional attraction," while in a man it was simply a " sine qua non," always delighted Han-y Coverdale ; and, being as innocent and natural as a child, he could no more help expressing his senti- ments, than he could exist without inhaling vital air. " Well, I never did see such nerve in a woman ! " he exclaimed ; " why you look pleased rather than frightened ! not that there was 198 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP any danger, except of damaging Mr. Crane's near hind wheel. They don't bit these horses properly, and that white-nosed animal hasn't the tenderest mouth at the best of times." And as he spoke he administered a smartish cut across the ears as a practical comment on the delinquent's oral insensibility. " You are such a good whip," was the reply, " and it always interests me to see brute force controlled by skill, energy, and strength of will. You guide these fiery horses with such a calm sense of power, that T could never feel afraid when you were driving me." Miss Crofton was decidedly a clever woman ; if there was one thing on which in his secret soul Harry prided himself, it was on his driving ; and this practical compliment, standing as it unfortunately did, in somewhat marked contrast to his wife's feminine dislike of certain contentions with " queer tempered " horses, which had at odd times come in for a specimen of Coverdale's " quiet manner," appealed to his weak point — he was mortal, and it touched him, and at the touch his taciturnity vanished, and straightway he began to confide to his dangerous comi^anion all his most secret thoughts and feelings in regard to bitting hard-mouthed horses. It seemed an unlikely topic for Arabella to make much of, and yet she allowed him to I'un on, listening with a smile of pleased attention ; for though his talk was solely equestrian, yet it served as well as any other subject to melt away the icy ban-ier behind which Harry had hitherto entrenched himself, and thus effectually defended himself against all attempts at a renewal of the former intimacy which appeared to have existed between them. Having explained couii)letely to his own satisfaction the advantage which in the instance under consideration would be gained by dri\'ing " brown muzzle " up at the " cheek," and the white- nosed horse in the " lower-bar," together with copious notes, descrip- tive and explanatory, and voluminous annotations and reflections on this momentous question, Harry metaphorically resumed his seat amid continued cheering, and Arabella Crofton rose in reply. Of course she started on horses, to which she soon attached carnages, by means of which she in an incredibly short time contrived to ride back to Italy, and finding Harry stood it better than she expected, she continued in a voice indicative of deep but repressed feeling, — " Ah ! that was a strange, strange summer we passed there ! And yet, now I can calmly look back upon it, there were many happy hours, bright, sunny little bits, to set against the deep shadows of such a life as mine, times when I enjoyed the privilege of your fi-iend- ship, before " — and here her voice faltered — " before I forfeited that and everything, even my self-respect, by my o-mi mad folly ! " She paused in emotion, and her companion replied in a kind, frank manner, — " Why distress yourself by reviving a disagreeable reminiscence ? " (as he used the word a slight shudder seemed to convulse her, and a look of pain, but not the pain of contrition, flitted across her hand* some features) — " an affair which I have, as I promised you, practi- AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 199 cally forgotten, whicli I should never again have entered upon with you, and in regard to which my lips are sealed to every other living creature." " You are kind and generous-hearted, as you ever were," was the rejoinder, " but I cannot forget so readily " — here she paused, sighed deeply, then continued — " I am so glad to have had this — this conversation with you ; your manner has been so cold and stem, I was afraid you had repented of your promise that if we ever met again it should be as fi-iends." " Well, you see," returned Harry, in an embarrassed tone, " you see circumstances have changed with me since the time to which you refer ; and I thought — in fact, you yourself said in that note it would be better — I assiu-e you I meant nothing unkind, why should I ? as long as you " and here, having been on the point of " putting his foot in it," as he mentally paraphrased his colloquial " etourderie," Harry paused in confusion, actually blushing in his generous fear of wounding his companion's feelings. Having relieved his emban'ass- ment by giving that unfortunate scajDCgoat, the white-nosed horse, one more for himself, he resumed—" And now let me ask you whether you approve of the wife I have chosen 't " Hairy made this inquiry, not because he felt particularly anxious to learn Arabella's opinion of Alice, but because he wanted to say something.'and this was the first ideawliich occurred to him, thus the moment he had spoken he wished the speech unsaid. Miss Crofton hesitated for a moment ere she replied, in a slightly constmined tone of voice, — " Yom" choice does your taste credit; for, in her style, Mrs. Covei'- dale is singularly pretty, and I can imagine her very attractive — when she pleases." "You speak as if she had not pleased, in your case," rejoined Harry, smiling at the unmistakable emphasis with which the con- cluding words had been spoken. Miss Crofton smiled also; then with a melancholy expression she replied, — " In my anomalous position in life, I am too well accustomed to slights to feel a moment's annoyance at such trifles." ■' But it annoys me though," returned Coverdale, fii'ing up with the indignation all generous natures feel at the idea of indignity being offered to any one in a dependent situation. " I am surprised at such want of right feeling, or even common courtesy, in Alice ! She cannot be aware of the impression her manner has made on you. I shall speak to her about it," '* Do not think of such a thing ! " exclaimed Arabella hastily ; " it was folly in me to mention it ; " — she fixed her eyes on his face, and reading there that his resolution was unchanged, she laid her hand gently on his arm, and continued. " Listen, and I will tell you the whole truth : womanly instinct, I suppose, made your wife dislike me from the first moment she was introduced to me. I have tried in vain to conquer her dislike, and we now, by a sort of tacit consent, avoid 200 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP each other ; were yon to interfere in my behalf, it would be of no avail ; on the contrary, it woiild inci'ease the evil, and, pardon my saying', mip-ht lead to a disagreement between you ; for, I may be mistaken, but I have fancied Mrs. Coverdale appears a little im- patient of control sometimes — I hope I am mistaken." She waited for a reply ; but Han-y, not beiug able to deny the charge, and not choosing to assent to it, remained silent, and she, rightly inteiTsreting his reserve, continued, — " In that case, I implore you, do not dream of advocating my caiise. Were I to be the occasion of any difference between you, it would render me most unhappy." After a moment's silence she added, — " I was so much interested when I heard you were going to be man-ied, and hoped, nay prayed, that you might ,be as happy as I woiild — would always have you. I am gi-ieved to think that Mrs. Coverdale should not fully appreciate the prize she has drawn in that most uncertain of all lotteries, man-iage ; but I feel sm-e she will leani to understand you better, and all will come right : you are evidently much attached to her, and that being the case, she must love you." Then in a lower tone she added—" You are not one likely to love in vain." What reply, if any, Harry would have made to this speech, will never be known, as at that minute they entered the line of carriages setting down at the gate of the Chiswick Gardens, and Coverdale had enough to occupy him in preventing his excitable horses from com- mitting a breach of the peace. Whether or no the phaeton groom was an observant man we cannot say, but if he felt the degree of amiable interest usually displayed by domestic sen'ants in the affairs of their superiors, he must have been struck when mentally contrasting Mr. Coverdale's manner of handing Miss Crofton into and out of that open can-iage by an immense accession of cordiality, for which he was probably more puzzled to account than we trust the reader finds himself. CHAPTER XXXV. FLOWERS AND THOENS. " We have somehow contrived to lose sight of the barouche," ex- claimed Coverdale, after looking up and down the line of carriages in vain ; " I expect they must have escaped us when that white-nosed horse shied at Punch ; I fancied I knew which way they bad turned, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 201 but I nmst have gone clown a wi-ong street— poor old Crane will be in fits — I wonder what we had better do P " '■ What I should suggest is to walk slowly backwards and forwards inside the gate, and watch for their an-ival," returned Arabella, wishing in her secret soul that one of the barouche-horses might have fallen dead hime, or that any other catastrophe, not involving injury to life or limb, might have befallen the rest of the party. After parading up and down with most laudable perseverance for nearly half an hour, during which time the crowd grew thicker and thicker, and everybody an-ived except the party they were in search of, Harry suddenly exclaimed, — " You'll be tired to death with all this pushing and squeezing ; they must have come some shorter way, and got here before us ; let us go on to the conseiTatory, we shall meet them there, I dare say." When they reached the consei-vatory, however, they found the crowd so dense that to attempt to discover their missing friends would have involved a difficulty, beside which that popular defi- nition of a forlora hope, " looking for a needle in a bottle of hay," would have sunk into comparative insignificance. There were a couple of chairs near the exit from the conservatory, from which a lady and gentleman rose as they approached. " Suppose we take possession of those seats," suggested Arabella, " and watch the people as they come out ; I must honestly confess I am both hot and tired." " I sympathize in the first adjective," retunied Harry, taking off his hat to allow the air to cool his heated brow ; " I've walked up hill through heather on the moors for six hours at a stretch, and not been so warm as this ; but then I must own I was in better condition ; one eats too many dinners in London, don't you see, and can't get exercise enough to keep a fellow in working order." Having made a suitable reply to this and sundry other thoroughly Han-y Coverdale-ish remarks, Miss Crofton turned the conversation by asking, — " Pray, is that Mr. DAlmayne a particular favourite of yours ?" " Not a bit of it," was the unhesitating reply ; " rather the other thing, in fact. I consider him a confounded puppy ; and have what you ladies call a presentiment that some of these days I shall be obliged to give him a lesson which he will not forget in a huny." " Then you also have obsei'ved— " began Arabella. " I have observed nothing in particular," interrupted HaiTy quickly ; " but I know this, if I were old Crane I would not have an insufferable, ridiculous, young fop dangling about my house every day, and all day long." " I think it is silly and imprudent in Kate to allow it," returned Arabella, " and I ventured to tell her so, but she did not take the hint kindly, and I have not attempted to recur to the subject. I am afraid her man-iage has not improved her ; I reaUy believe since I spoke to 202 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP her she has been kinder to Mr. D'Almayne than before ; he and his insinuating yonng friend, Lord Alfred Courtland, have almost lived in Park Lane this last week." " His friend ! " exclaimed Harry, '' little Alfred is my friend — he and I were at school together — that is, he was at the bottom when I was at the top ; I introduced him to D'Almayne myself, and now I wish I had left it alone ; oh, there's no hai-m in little Alfred — besides, I never heard him speak a dozen words to Kate Crane." A meaning smile passed across his companions handsome features, bxit she only said, — "I am sorry he is your friend; I am afraid Mr. DAlmayne is a dangerous acquaintance for so vain and weak a young man.'' " Alfred is no fool, tliough perhaps firmness is not his strong point," returaed Coverdale ; " vain perhaps he is — all handsome boys are, I suppose. But why do you say you are soiTy he is my fxnend ? " Miss Crofton was silent for a minute, then in a timid and hesitat- ing voice replied, — '■ You will be angry with me if I tell you my reason for disliking Lord Alfred's constant visits ; you will doubt what I say, and impute to me all kinds of false and evil motives for saying it." " Go on," retui'ned Harry, in a low, stern voice, " you have said too much for me to rest satisfied not to hear more— tell me all you know or suspect ; but take care— if, as you say, you value my good opinion — that you speak only the simple truth." Thus urged. Miss Crofton proceeded cautiously to relate, that much as it gi'ieved her to say anything which might cause him pain or annoyance, she would not disguise from him that she felt con- vinced Lord Alfred Courtland was deeply smitten with Alice, and that his frequent visits to Park Lane were the result of his ad- miration—that, moreover, Horace D'Almayne was evidently doing his best to nurse what had been a mere boyish fancy into a warmer and stronger feeling ; of his motive she was unable to judge, but of the fact she was certain ; she believed, moreover, that he possessed a strong and daily inci'easing influence over the young man. " And Alice ? " inquired Coverdale, with flashing eyes, " what of Alice ? Beware how you tell me that she encourages this misguided, foolish boy ! for by heaven, if you do, and it should appear that you have misjudged her, I should be tempted to inform her and all the world the reason which has induced you to invent such malicious calumnies ! " *' You wrong me by yoiu' unkind suspicions," was Ai'abella's calm reply, " as much as you wi'ong yourself by an luigenerous threat which you would be incapable of executing ; it is not for me to judge Mrs. Coverdale one way or the other. I have satisfied my conscience in warning you ; I leave you now to examine and observe for your- seK, and test the ti-uth of my statement — but of one thing I am certain, Horace D'Almayne has some deep scheme ' in petto,' and that he is an unsci'upulous adventurer, clever enough to render him AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 203 a most dangerous associate for any one — a person to beware of, in short." "If I become convinced lie is putting young Alfred up to any such rascality as you imagine, I'll break the scoundrel's neck for him ! " gi-owled Coverdale, in a tone like the rumbling of distant thunder. As he spoke someone touched him on the shoulder, and looking roimd, he was more surprised than pleased to see the object of his kind intentions standing behind the chair on which he was seated. How long he might have been there, or how much of their conversa- tion he might have heard, it was impossible to tell ; but so convinced was Coverdale that D'Almayne had been playing the eavesdropper, that he was on the point of inquiring what amount of information he had thus acquired, and especially whether he had clearly under- stood the fate that awaited him, if he were really inciting " little Alfred " to make love to his wife, when D'Almayne, who possessed a womanly predilection for always having the first and last word, began, — " Pardon me if I interrupt what appears a most interesting con- versation, but I have been hunting aU over the gardens for the last half-hour to find you. Mr. Crane imagines you have eloped with his phaeton and horses, and Mrs. Coverdale is so completely ' au d^sespoir ' at the loss of her husband, that even Lord Alfred Court- land's attentions are powerless to console her ; — really, Miss Crofton, it is too ciiiel of you to seduce Benedick from his allegiance to his Beatrice — you might be content with enslaving us poor bachelors ! " This speech was not particularly palatable to Arabella, and she would probably have passed it over in contemptuous silence had she not glanced at Coverdale ; but, perceiving by his flashing eye and quivering lip that he was so angry that he literally dared not trust himself to reply, she hastened to prevent anything unpleasant occurring between them, by observing in her usual calm, slightly sarcastic manner, — "It is like Mr. D'Almayne's policy to screen himself by throwing the blame on the injured party. We have been roaming up and down like restless ghosts, hunting for Mi-s. Crane and Mrs. Cover- dale for the last half-hour — ever since we anivedin fact, until I grew so tired, that out of compassion Mr. Coverdale allowed me to sit down and rest." " One word, Mr. D'Almayne," interrupted Harry, regardless of an imploring look and gentle pressure of the arm from Arabella Crofton, " you made a joke (for I suppose you do not wish me to consider you spoke sei-iously) about my wife a minute ago ; now I'm a quick-tempered fellow — touchy you may call it, upon some points, and this happens to be one of them ; so to prevent anything disagreeable, I tell you frankly I don't like such jokes— you under- stand ? " 204 HARRY CO VERD ALE'S COURTSHIP Horace did understand ; he glanced at Han-y's face. The hand- some mouth was sternly compressed— the small, well-cut nostril quivered, and the large dark eyes flashed with the anger he could scarcely restrain, his tall form was drawn up to its full height— his broad chest dilated, and the muscles stood out on his stalwart arms until their shape became visible beneath the '" Zephyr Paletot " ; altogether, Coverdale did not look just then the kind of man with whom it would be pleasant to quarrel : so D'Almayne, deeming " discretion the better part of valour," smiled, and said something which might mean anything, and conveyed a clear idea of nothing, in his most fascinating manner, and then piloted his companions to the spot where he had agreed on a rendezvous at a certain time with the Crane party. They had not yet made their appearance, however, and D'Almayne (who, since Harry gave him the " caution " conveyed in his last speech, had evinced a marked desire to keep on good terms with, and out of arms reach of, so dangerous an acquaintance), guessing their whereabouts, volunteered to go and fetch them. •■ Pray do not quanel with that man." iirged Ai-abella, as D Almayne quitted them ; " you are as little his equal in scheming and mananivring, as he is youi-s in strength and ;com-age, and for this reason he is more to be dreaded than if he were a very Hercules ; do not lose your temper with him, for by so doing you will put your- self in the wrong and play his game ; come, be guided by me in this matter ; believe me, my only object is to secure your happiness." As she spoke, she looked xip in his face with such an expression of interest, not to say affection, that Coverdale. whose anger at the worst was always a very evanescent affair, felt an impulse of pity for her, which appeared in the [softened tones of his voice, as he replied, — " Dont be afraid ; I'm not going to give him his deserts at present, and I'm very soiTy I spoke harshly to you just now ; but I know Alice to be so good, and true, and pure — innocent and spotless as a child (by heaven, the slightest blow to my faith in her would drive me mad !), and the mere mention of that foolish boy supposing Iher to be a fit recipient for his romantic sentimental nonsense, made me lose my temper : but you need not fear my doing anything hasty. I shall, as you advise, observe Alfred Courtland, and if, as I feel certain, his attentions annoy Alice, I shall speak to him seriously and kindly (I know the boy has a good heart, and that it is D'Almayne who has set him on this business, if he is set on it) ; then, finding I am aware of it, his fancy wiD die a nattu-al death ; but I have little expectation that my preaching will be required, Alice's indifference will work the best cure." As he spoke, the Crane party came in sight, Kate and her husband leading the van, closely attended by Horace D'Almayne ; while, at some little distance behind them, lingered Alice on the arm of Lord Alfred Courtland. As they came up, he was addressing her in an earnest, pleading manner. Alice appeared thoughtful and AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 205 " distraite," bxit the moment her eye fell upon Harry and Miss Crof ton she started, coloured up, and turning to her companion, said in a hui-ried, eager tone, — " Such constancy and perseverance, my lord, deserve rewarding; " and as she spoke she gave him a rosebud she carried in her hand, which he fastened in his button-hole with an expression of eager delight. Alice's words and action were neither of them lost iipon her husband or his companion. CHAPTER XXXVI. ARCADIA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. It is popularly asserted and believed that everything has two sides to it. Even a plum pudding has an inside and an out ; and that romantic malady, yclept " love unrequited," although at first sight it appears an entirely one-sided affair, often demonstrates its bilateral capabilities by proving a much less heai-trending business than was imagined, when the lapse of time enables one to discern the bright side of the picture. The Crane expedition to the Horticultural Fete formed no exception to this law of nature : — thus at the moment Avhen Harry, like Hamlet's unfortimate papa, was having poison iwured into his ear, and was gradually w^orking himself up to the bolster scene in Othello pitch, Alice, that pleasant little Desdemona, imconsciously amused lierseK with Cassio, Lord Courtland, emida- ting Dr. Watts's ''busy bee," by flitting from flower ^to flower, laughing at very small jokes, and altogether conducting herself with great levity, and in a singularly iindignified manner— at least, so Mr. Crane thought ; and as he was said to be made of gold, his opinions ought to have partaken of the value of that precious metal. But Mr. Ci-ane had never quite forgiven Alice for not appreciating his many excellences, and was disposed to judge her harslily. After a time, however, when the novelty of the scene began to wear off — when Alice had reviewed the contents of Howell and James's, Swan and Edgar's, Redmayne's, and other ruination shops, on the fair forms of the ladies of the land — Avhen she had " oh-how-beautiful-ed " and " is-n't-it-lovely-ed " the flowers to her heart's content — when she had heard, and longed to dance to, the Guards' band, suddenly a dark vision rose to her mind's eye — her husband tete-a-tete with that evil mystery, Arabella Crofton, obscured the sunshine of her spirit ; 206 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP the rose-coloured spectacles through which she had beheld Vanity Fair fell oft"; the serpent had entered in; and, for Alice Coverdale, Chiswiok was Paradise no longer. Thereupon she decided that Lord Alfred was a silly tiresome boy, and worried her with his childish nonsense ; that Mr. Crane was a fractious old idiot, who ought to be shut up in an appropriate asylum ; that Kate looked bored and tired, which she did not wonder at; that Horace D'Almayne was fitter for the Zoological than the Horticultural Gardens, and deserved to be caged with the chimpanzees without loss of time ; and, finally (forgetting their separation had resulted from a caprice of her o^vn), that Harry was very unkind to stay away from her in that way, with that hateful creature, Arabella Crofton, whom she was sui'S he liked after all, though he did pretend to treat her so coldly. Then people began to push and crowd, and dresses became tumbled ; and D'Almayne having left the party to look for Han-y and Miss Crofton, Mr. Crane misled them, and they fell into difficulties, and were very hot and uncomfortable ; and Alice quite pined to meet her husband, whose sturdy arm would have supported her, and whose tall figure and broad shoulders would have forced a way for her through the crowd. Next, Lord Alfred began to tease her to give him a flower from her bouqxTet, and got snubbed for his pains ; until Horace D Almayne, returning, made his report, viz. that, after much toil and trouble, he had at length discovered Miss Crofton and Mr. Coverdale, seated together in a shady corner, apparently absorbed in some deeply interesting topic of conversation. This information, tallying so exactly with her worst fears, and finding poor little Mrs. Coverdale both vexed and tired, very nearly produced a burst of tears, to avoid which pathetic display she did that which the unfortimate first Mrs. Dombey failed to effect — viz. she " made an eft'ort," and became, not exactly herself again, but Alice Coverdale as she ai^peared when enacting the heai-tless coquette. And this she did, poor child ! not from a want, but from a superfluity of heart. So, seeking to read her truant husband a jjractical moral lesson on the iniquity of charioteering dangerous damsels, in common with whom he possessed mysterious antecedents, she afforded Lord Alfred a " material guarantee " of her favour, in the shape of the flower he had coveted ; and haA'ing thus firmly riveted his chains, ostensibly petted and made much of her captive. This conduct on his wife's part was by no means calculated to soothe Harry Coverdale, pained, rufiled, and excited by his conversation with Arabella Crofton ; and, without reflecting on the prudence or politeness of such a proceeding, he left his late companion to take care of herself, and stalking with stately steps, as of an offended lion, up to Lord Alfred Courtland, observed, in a tone of dignified irony, — " I am much obliged to your Lordship for taking such extreme care of Mrs. Coverdale, but will now relieve you from any further trouble on her account : take my arm, Alice." AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 207 Lord Alfred, stronc? in the possession of his rosebud, felt inclined to resist, and murmured something about its being a pleasure rather than a trouble ; while Alice was just determining to suppoi-t her swain, when luckily she ha]Dpened to read in Harry's flashing eye symptoms of the approach of an attack of his " quiet manner," so hastily disengaging her arm, she placed it within that of her husband, saying, as she did so, — " I am not going to let this truant escape, now that I have caught him. He deserves punishment — so I shall inflict my society upon him for the rest of the afternoon, unless," she added, with a glance which bewitched Lord Alfred more comiDletelyithan before, " I should find any stringent necessity to exercise my feminine pi-erogative of changing my mind." " Your fnend Mr. Coverdale's method of relieving you of your fair charge was more vigoi-ous than polite, mon cher," remarked D Almayne to Lord Alfred, who, feeling he was " de trop," had left the wedded pair to their own devices. " However, I think I have obtained a clue, which I have only to follow up to arrive at a dis- covery which will help you on with your pretty little lady-patroness, by rendering her more the ' femme incomprise,' and neglected wife than ever." " Indeed ! " was the reply ; " what a clever fellow you are ! I certainly owe Coverdale one, for his muuner to me just now was anything but nice. Tell me, what have you discovered ? " " Well, it seems nothing very remarkable at first ; but many a large and goodly oak has grown from as small an acorn. Listen : — the immaculate Harry Coverdale has a private understanding with that dark-eyed gipsy, Arabella Crofton ; they are a great deal more intimate and confidential in a ' tete-a-tete ' than they allow themselves to appear in general society. I must try and learn what passed between them in Italy, and I think I can do so with very little trouble. I saw a man in to-wn yesterday, Archie Campbell, who married one of the Muir girls, ,witli Avhom the fair — or rather the dark — Arabella lived as govenie8s,Iwhen they tried to exchange their Scotch brogue for the 'lingua Toscana.' She went to Italy with them, and there met Han-y Coverdale — that I know as a fact; for additional particulars, I shall apply to the said Archie." "Then do you think — do you conceive — do you mean to imply, in fact, that Mr. Coverdale is attached to this Miss Crofton ? " stammered Lord Alfred, colouring, as though he, and not Alice's husband, were the supposed delinquent. " You always put things into such plain words, ' mon cher ' ; it is a foolish habit, and the sooner you can divest yourself of it the better," was D'Almayne's reply ; " probably the mighty Nimrod, in flirting with Miss Crofton, means no more harm than you do by your Platonic attachment for his pretty wife. Nevertheless, if such should prove the fact, and you gently insinuate the same to la belle Alice, the chances are that she will be kinder than ever, to evince 208 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP her gratitude for your having rendered her jealous of her husband —not that you seem to require any help— I saw where that rosebud came from, coquin ; but now you may, if you will, render me a service ; find your way to the entrance gate, and wait till my friend. Monsieur Guillemard, makes his appearance— probably you will find him iwaiting there ah-eady— and having discovered him, bring him here." As the obedient lordling strolled away on his mission, the inde- fatigable Horace gathered a rose ; then approaching Kate Crane, he lisped in his most dreamy and affected style,— "I've been searching everywhere to find a rose of that peculiar tint which might harmonize and yet contrast well with your di'ess ; at length I am charmed to say my effoi-ts have l)een successful. Mr. Crane, will you favour me by presenting this rose to Madame P Coming through your hands, I feel sure it will be accepted." " No, positively ; that is, really it will be much more fitting — if I may be allowed to say so — that, as you have been so obliging as to find it, you should yourself present it. Mrs. Crane will, I feel con- vinced, be happy to acknowledge your politeness by accepting a flower offered— if I may be permitted to say so — with such propriety and respect." D'Almayne appeared about to avail himself of the permission which Mr. Crane thus graciously accorded him ; when s\iddenly drawing back, he exclaimed. " Excuse me one minute ; the thonis are so very sharp, I am afraid to hand it to you without some protection against them ; " — then, taking a slip of paper from his waistcoat pocket, he wound it round the stem of the flower, and fixing his eyes with a meaning look on those of Kate, he gave her the rose. Having done so, he began talking to Mr. Crane ; and soon contrived, by a judicious selection of topics, chiefly connected with the Stock Exchange, to engross that zealous Mammonite's attention. As soon as his wife perceived this to be the case, she unrolled the paper from the stem of the rose, and, glancing at it hastily, perceived the following words wi'itten in Horace D'Almayne's neat hand : " Give me five minutes' conversation — I will make the opportunity, if you -will avail yourself of it." Instantly crushing it in her hand, she i-ushed into conversa- tion with Arabella Crofton, on the merits and demerits of certain new annuals; which subject, skilfully managed, lasted her until Lord Alfred Courtland retiu-ned, arm in arm with Monsieur Guille- mard, better got up, more jaunty, and in yellower kid gloves than ever. This ^^vacious foreigner was instantly captured by Horace, and desired to explain, " as he alone could do," the peculiar advan- tages of that famous investment in Ten-a Cotta preference bonds, as Mr. Crane had an odd .£10,000 lying comparatively fallow— only at three-and-a-half per cent. — which he would be glad to put out well. So foolish avarice and clever roguery ambled off together. Then D'Almayne contrived to despatch Coverdale and his wife to look at a wonderful specimen of the Hypothetica Screamans, and to AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 200 saddle Lord Alfred with Arabella Crofton, although that smitten young aristocrat would have jjreferred to have trotted mildly about after Alice, like a pet lamb. Having disposed of these super- numeraries, he as a matter of coiu-se offered his arm to Kate, who had quietly acquiesced in his arrangements, and followed at such a judicious distance that, although they still belonged to the party, in effect they enjoyed all the advantages of a tete-a- tete. D'Almayne was the first to break silence. " This is most kind," he said, " and leads me to hope that you are at length beginning to understand me — to pei'ceive that my only wish is to act the part of a true friend towards you. I have a con- viction that I owe a duty to you, for I often i-eflect with pain how large a share I had in bringing about your mannage." At these words Kate gave a slight start, and her colour deepened ; not appearing to observe these signs of agitation, her companion resumed : — " You may not be aware that it was by my advice that Mr. Crane transferred his attentions fi'om your cousin (whose affection for Mr. Coverdale I perceived would oppose an effectual barrier to his wishes) to yourself : — my object in doing so was twofold. Mr. Crane had shown me much kindness and attention ; he was anxious to maiTy some one whose presence would invest his home with an air of distinction and attractiveness which his wealth could never bestow. The moment I belield Miss Marsden, I felt that no one could do so more efl&eiently. Thus, from an impulse of gi'atitude towards Mr. Ci'ane, I persuaded him that it would be in every way a most suitable and desirable match, and induced him to make such an offer to Mr. Hazlehurst as should neutralize any objection that gentleman might have had to your occupying the position he had destined for his daughter. Again mistaking, in great measure, both your character and that of Mr. Crane, I believed you would have suited each other far better than I fear is the case : I fancied you ambitious, and that the power which wealth would bestow would render you not only contented, but happy, while I trusted man-iage would develop in Mr. Crane traits of generosity and tenderaess of which I now am forced to confess his nature is incapable. Had I guessed this sooner, I need scarcely add, the respect and admiration I have always experienced for one so gifted as you are would have prevented my advocating the match. All that now remains for me is to compensate, as far as it is in my power to do so, for any little failures in tact (believe me they are nothing more) of which my excellent friend, Mr. Crane, may be guilty ; and I speak thus honestly and openly in order that, appreciating my motives, you may place full confidence in me, and thus enable me "—and here he sank his voice almost to a whisper — "to assist you in bearing the burden which I have unconsciously helped to place upon you." " I must believe you mean kindly by me," was Kate's reply ; " but p 210 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP you are aware that -wltli me deeds tell better than words. Has the application been made ? " " Yes." " And with what result ? But I fear I need scarcely ask." " Not a favourable one, I rep:ret to say. Mr. Crane saw Mrs. Leonard, hoping, I fancy, that she might have learned some tidings of her husband ; but when he became aware of the object of her visit, he not only refused to assist her, or to do anything for her childi'en, but grew irritated, reproached her with what he termed her husband's infamous conduct, declared he had lost thousands of pounds by his negligence, and wound up by threatening that, if she ever set foot in his house again, he would give her in charge to the police. When I visited her, I found her in tears, and utterly heart-broken by this failure of her last hope." " You must go to her again," exclaimed Kate eagerly ; " tell her you have mentioned her necessities to a lady of your acquaintance, who is willing, and, thank God, able to assist her ; give her money ; find out what she most requires ; devise some plan by which she may be enabled to support herself and educate her children. Oh ! if I can save this poor family from ruin, it will be some little " She checked herself abruptly, then continued : " Mr. Crane is most liberal to me, and allows me more than 1 have the least occasion or desire to spend on myself — so do not let them want for anything And oh ! be most careful— you say she is a lady, poor thing ! — be most careful not to wound her feelings. You do not know how shrinkingly sensitive poverty makes natures that are at all refined." " I fear Mr. Crane's words, spoken, I dare say, under a very just feeling of annoyance, both pained and irritated her," returned D'Almayne. " She naturally draws a strong line between the fact that her husband has been imprudent and unfortunate and the insinuation that he had been criminal. Mr. Crane, I grieve to say, appeared to doubt the truth of her statement that Mr. Leonard was ignorant of his partner's intended flight and defalcation." " Ungenerous ! cruel ! " murmured Kate, carried away by her ex- citement, and forgetting, or perhaps at the moment scarcely heeding, the fact that D Almayne's quick ears were eagerly drinking in these acknowledgments of the estimation in which she held her husband. " I am most anxious to save you all trouble in this matter," resumed D'Almayne ; " but it would be a great satisfaction to me, and relieve me of a responsibility for which I am scarcely fitted, if you would not object to visit Mrs. Leonard yourself. She is alreadj'^ most anxious to see and thank the kind benefactress to whom I have in- formed her she is indebted. "Were you once to talk to her. you would Ijerceive the gentle yet strong nature we have to deal with; you would learn her hopes, fears, and prospects from her own lips rather than thi-ough such an unworthy interj^reter as myself ; you would see the interesting children ; — may I hope that you will consent ? " Kate i)aused — considered ; but her answer demands a fresh chapter. AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 2n CHAPTER XXXVII. A CONCESSION AND A " PABTIE CARRIE," The question we left Kate Ci-ane considering in the last chapter she decided thus : — " I should like to visit Mrs. Leonard," she said slowly. " I feel the truth of all you urge — but there are difficulties in the way ; Mr. Crane would greatly disapprove of such a proceeding on my part." " He need never know it," suggested D'Almayne, in a voice little above a whisper. " He need not," returned Kate calmly, " but I have since my marriage made it a point of conscience never to do anything which I should object to Mr. Crane's hearing of ; I still consider the rule at good one, and am disinclined to break thi-ough it." "Does not your sensitive conscience," rejoined D'Almayne, "lead you to refine rather too much, until, adhering to the form of goodness^ you in a great degree lose the substance, and thus, by a chivalrous scruple of never disobeying your husband, miss an opportunity of doing real good, by which you would neutralize the injury which Mr. Crane's peculiarities may otherwise inflict upon this unfortunate family ? I think, if you reflect on this for a minute, your excellent sense will convince you that your amiable but romantic scruple is fallacious." Kate did reflect, and apparently her convictions assumed the shape D'Almayne had predicted, for she replied in a less assured voice than that in which she had formerly addressed him, — " Mr. D'Almayne, you have spoken more honestly and openly to-day than you have ever done before, and I will treat you with equal frankness. You were acquainted with Mr. Crane before I had ever heard his name ; you appear to know him well ; you have alluded gene- rally to his good points, and have pointed out his weak ones with equal talent and perspicuity. I neither admit nor deny your statements — but, in the individual instance before us, I believe that you are right. You have been very kind in this matter ; you first introduced this poor Mrs. Leonard to my notice ; you have since taken much dis- interested trouble on her account ; you possess great tact, and have divined the happiness it affords me to assist those who, from mis- fortune and poverty, have fallen from the rank of gentlewomen ; — therefore in this matter, I feel you have a claim to woi-k with me ; for the first time, therefore, I will repose confidence in you. I wish to visit this poor lady — how am I to accomplish it without my husband's knowledge ? " 212 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Horace D'Almayne had won his point, Horace D'Ahnayne was happy! yet he did not clap his hands, neither did he hurrah wildly, nor dance a lively measure around Kate Crane, whom he believed he had circumvented in a different manner ; but he forced his imper- turbable countenance into an expression of philanthropic benevolence and gratitude, and arranged with Mrs. Crane a plan by which, during her husband's daily worship in the temple of Mammon, his god — an edifice more familiarly known in the good city of London as the Stock Exchange — she should visit unfortunate Mrs. Leonard, and witness with her own eyes how justly the prince of this world (who is identical with the monarch of a lower kingdom still) distributes his subjects' property. About this time all the members of this disunited party assembled and jointly and severally ended their day's enjoyment (?) by returning home tired, dejected, and suffering more or less from that ailment which defies those guinea-pigs, " the faculty " — an ailment as rife in St. James's as are cholera and small-pox within the precincts of St. Giles's — an ailment which, thanks to those bitter curses, the forms, ceremonies, requirements, and prejudices of society, afflicts and hangs heavily on many an honest man and loving woman — an ailment indigenous even in our glorious constitution, and which has as many aliases as shapes, the spleen, ennui, but truest name of all, the Heart-ache. " Ogni Medaglia ha il suo reverso," there is no rule without its exception! Horace DAlmayne was the exception to this particular rule — he was not troubled with heart-ache, because in the meta- physical sense of the word, he did not possess a heart ; but nature had made it up to him by giving him a very clear head, and thus it reasoned : — " Yes, my pi-etty Kate, ' tout va bien ' ; you have grown civil, almost kind— not yet affectionate, but that is to come. Yet she is clever, doubts, suspects me ! — what children women are, even clever women ; once appeal to their feelings, their impulses — bah ! their reason lies captive before you — they are puppets in yoixr hand. ' Ah ! c'est bien drole, cette petite existence ici-bas ! ' for the rest, all goes well ; the beautiful Kate shall compromise herself — the millionaire shall open wider his purse strings — the bank wins for me — the little Alfred plays my game — courage, Horace ! thy star is in the ascendant, you will die a rich man yet ! " The morning after the Horticultural Fete, Coverdale suggested to his wife that they had, in his opinion, spent sufiicient time and money in the gay metropolis, and that agricultural and manorial duties called him to the country forthwith ; but Alice pleaded so earnestly for only one week more of dissipation, with Lady Tattersall Trotte- mout's " soiree dansante " at the end of it, that Harry could not find it in his heart to refuse her. Scarcely had he yielded the point AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 213 wlien a letter arrived from Tom Rattleworth, Magristrate, and Master of Fox-hounds, to inform liim that, owing to the baneful influence of a certain grand seigneur in the neighbourhood, it was proposed to enclose a common and turn a road, which would desti'oy a favourite fox cover and give Coverdale half a mile further to drive to the nearest railway station — that the matter was to be decided at the next meeting of magistrates — that he (Thomas) had striven tooth and nail to get up an opposition, in which he had been tolerably successful, and that he considered it only required Coverdale's presence to prevent the evil altogether. Thus urged, Harry had but one coiu'se to pursue, viz. commend his wife to Mrs. Crane's safe custody, and start for Coverdale Park forthwith, promising to return in time for " Lady Tat. Trott.'s benefit," as he was pleased to term it. Alice at first opposed his going, but when she found the question resolved itself into one of these altei'natives, either that she must let him go alone, or give up her ball and accompany him, her opposition ceased. So Harry packed his carpet-bag and departed — and the hours rolled by on their patent noiseless wheels, until the time appointed for that notable solemnity, Lady Tattersall Trotte- moiit's " soir<5e dansante," arrived. On that day Lord Alfred Courtland invited to a quiet dinner, at his comfortable bachelor lodgings, Horace D'Almayne, Monsieur Guillemard, and a youth who, because he was in every particular Lord Alfred's exact opposite, was an especial crony of his. Jack Beaupeep, getatis twenty-five, was a clerk in a public ofiice with a salary of ^6150 per annum, on which, by means of his talents, he contrived to live at the rate of — anything under a thousand. As, however, we shall not have very much to do with him in the course of this history, we will spare the reader further details by summing up his character in the two expressive words, " fast " and " fimny." Everybody knows a fast, funny man ; and his was a bad case of the complaint. At a quarter to eight, p.m., on the day in question, this excellent young buffoon of private life betook himself to Lord Alfred's lodgings, and finding himself first in the field looked around with a practised eye for the best means of turning the situation to comic effect. First he perceived a valuable statuette of Yenus, as she appeared before the discovery of the art of dress-making, for which his innate sense of propriety led him to improvise a petticoat, by means of a doyley and a small portion of the red tape of Old England, purloined from her Britannic Majesty's stores that morning, and secreted by the delinquent for any possible exigencies of practical jesting. Having attired this young lady to his satisfaction, he obligingly bestowed on her a real Havannah cigar, which, thrust through an opening left by the sculptor in her clenched hand, with the end resting against her ambrosial lips, resembled a speaking-trumpet, and gave her that " ship-ahoy ! " kind of appearance with which early engravers were pleased to endow Fame. He then wrote and wafered on the pedestal of the statuette thus embellished a label, bearing the inscription. 214 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP "Eugenie, Empress of tlie Frencli," munnuriiig to himself, "Delicate little compliment to the illustrious foreigner who is coming." Next he availed himself of a pair of boxing-gloves ; " unearthing," as he termed it, the rolls inserted in two of the dinner napkins, and substituting for them these elementary instructors in the noble art of self-defence ; and, lastly, espying the cruet-stand, he had just time to reverse the contents of the pepper and sugar casters, and confuse all the sauces, when to him entered Lord Alfred Courtland. This young nobleman's appeai-ance had considerably changed since first we had the pleasure of describing him. By abstruse study and imflagging attention to the sayings and doings of men-about-town, he had acquired many noble attril)utes — he could lounge and dawdle, aad walk with a pert yet lazy roll in his gait, as of a tipsy dancing- master, or of a cock-sparrow afflicted with sciatica ; he coiild lisp as though his A-^ery tongue was too about-town-ish to speak plain, unadulterated English; he could make play with his eyes half shut, like a timid girl, or stare with them offensively wide open, like an insolent coxcomb, though he was not quite perfect in this last manceuvre as yet. Also his clothes were large and loose enough for himself and half another man-about-town besides; and he had a bunch of baby's toys, modelled in gold, dangling from his watch- chain — Lilliputian house furniture, and a gun, and a sword, and a pistol to match, and a little man in armour with impossible features, aiccompanied by a horrid little skull of the same after his decease, with two of his little golden mari-ow-bones crossed lunder it, as if tliey were saying their prayers ; there was likewise a ri-dicnlous fish, which wagged its tail, and a fox's mask, as it is " knowing " to term the physiognomy of that astute quadrapedal mai-tyi- ; the whole to conclude with a limp and jointed puuchinello, or tomfool, as a pendant (in evei-y sense of the word) to the fool of larger growth who wore these childish absurdities. Thus attired and adorned, Lord Alfred Courtland withdrew one white hand from a pocket of his liberal trousers, and laying it on Beaupeep's shoulder with a want of energy, general lassitude, and fish-out-of-water-ishness of manner which did him infinite credit, drawled forth, — " Ay ; my dear fellar ! this is veray good of you to come at such short notice ! " " Not at all, not at all," was the brisk reply, for Beaupeep did not go in for, or revere, the all-to-pieces style, but rather made it a theme for playful jesting ; " when I got your invite, I just scribbled off a line to Palmerston to say I'd dine with him to-morrow instead of to- day." Lord Alfred quietly raised his eyebrows, while, nothing abashed Beaupeep continued, — "It's very jolly to be on those terms with a man like ' Pam.,' and I consider it quite sufficient recompense for my unwearying devotion to my public duties," AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 215 " It really won't do with me, my dear Jack," interrupted Lord Alfred, in a tone of affectionate remonstrance ; " reflect how lonrought from the hall her garden bonnet, and drawing her arm within his own. they walked on for some distance in silence. At length Han-y observed, "Alice, dear, you seem downcast and unhappy — why is this ? surely you cannot regret that hot, miserable, artificial London ? you must be glad to get back to our own dear, quiet home again ? " " I do not in the least regret London," was the reply ; " on the contrary, I am glad to be once more in the countiy again." " Then why this gloomy manner ? " urged Coverdale ; " I may have been a little annoyed with you at times lately, but I am quite prepared to believe it was mere thoughtlessness on your part ; in fact, I never considered it anything else. I feel sure when you come to reflect seriously on the matter, you will yourself see that your conduct was a little injudicious ; and, in that case, believe me the affair is from this moment forgotten and forgiven." Hairy paused for a reply, but for several moments none was forthcoming ; at last, his patience being exhausted, he inquired in a tone of surprise, " Alice, did yol^ hear what I was saying ? " "I beg your pardon," rejoined Alice, starting, " I was not attend- ing properly at that moment; you were blaming me for something, were you not ? I am very sorry — what was it ? " As she spoke Harry glanced towards her to discover whether she had been really too much pre-engrossed to attend to him, or whether she merely affected to have been so for the amiable purpose of provoking him ; deciding in favour of the first hypothesis, he resumed : " I was saying, my dear Alice, that although your flirtation with that foolish boy, Alfred Courtland, had caused me some un- easiness — because people dared to remark on it, unluckily not in a way that I could take up — yet that I was convinced it was merely thoughtlessness on your part, and was anxious to forgive and f oi'get it." If he had expressly tried to rouse Alice from the state of gloomy depression into which she had fallen, Harry could not have devised means more effectual than the speech he had just addressed to her. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 237 With flashing eyes she heard him to the end, then inquired • " And pray, who has dared-(you may well use the word!)-who has dared ^accuse me of flirting? But I need not ask," she continued bitterly ; no one but Miss Crofton would have ventured to asperse your w.fes character before you-from no one else would you have belfeve it ' '''' "" ^^l^ehood-no one else could have induced you to Astoni^shed. and if the truth must be told, somewhat confounded at having the tables thus turned upon him, Harry exclaimed, "Alice what do you mean? what ai-e you talking about? have you taken leave of your senses all of a sudden ? " " If I had I should scarcely be surprised," was the rejoinder • " but I k-now only too weU what I am saying, and the cause I have to sav and believe it; however, I do not want to reproach you, that would do no good: but-but- knowing what I know-" an hysterical sob choked _her voice-'- it is too hard that you should accuse me of flu-tmg -and here, utterly overcome by her feelings, she burst into a paroxysm of weeping. WhoUy confounded at this unexpected result of his veiy mild remonstrance, which had been intended more as a judicious way of forgi^'ing Alice's misdemeanours than as a reprimand. Harry led her to a seat, and then used his best endeavours to console and bring her to reason ; but in vain, nor was it until she was fam to stop through sheer physical exhaustion that her tears ceased; by which time, what between bodily fatigue (she had not been in bed imtil between three and four on the previous night or rather mommg, could not sleep then, and had accomplished a railway journey smce) and mental agitation, she was so completely wora out that even Hany, who was not usually too clear-sighted on such pomts. perceived this was not a fitting opportunity to continue the discussiou. CHAPTER XL. DEEPER AND DEEPER STILL. On the afternoon of the day after that on which she returned home, Alice was to go to the Grange, and take her sister's place as compamon to Mrs. Hazlehurst. During the morning Harry was occupied with his bailife and the farming accounts, but he made his appearance at luncheon. When that meal was concluded, and the servants had quitted the room, he began gravely, but kindly :— 238 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " Alice, dear, I do not wish to distress or annoy you, but, 1)efore you leave home, I must once ajjain refer to the convereation of lust nif,'ht. I know not who has coupled my name with that of your cousin Kate's friend. Miss Crofton, nor what falsehoods they may liave coined to blacken my character in your eyes ; but, since I have known you, I have never attempted to deceive you on any point ; and I tell you now, on my honour as a prentleuum, that nothing; ever has passed, or is in the smallest depn'ee likely to pass, between myself and that young lady, calculated to cause you the sliprhtest pain or even uneasiness. Does this satisfy you, or, if not, can I say or do anything that will ? " "Yes!" exclaimed Alice, her face flushing with eagerness as the idea stiixck her. " Promise to tell me exactly all that passed between you and her in Italy ! — promise me this ; show me that you are willing to confide in me ; trust to my affection to forgive you, should you tell me anything you think may displease me ; and I will, on my part, tiy to forget my own convictions that— that — in fact, that you do not love me as I believe you once did! Tell me all frankly, and there may yet be happiness in store for us both." She paused, breathless with emotion, and fixing her large eyes on her husband's countenance, as though she fain would read his very thoughts, awaited a reply ; but for a minute none appeared likely to come. Coverdale. pushing back his hair, rubbing his forehead, and evincing unmistakable signs of annoyance and perjilexity, at length roused himself by an effort, and. in a constrained, emban-assed tone of voice, replied, — " Ask me anything but that: I am under a solemn promise never to mention the facts you desire to learn ; I cannot l)reak my word even to regain your affection." "I will ask nothing more of you," retunied Alice, in a tone of deeply-wotmded feeling ; " it was foolish to ask that — I might have known you would I'efuse to answer me ; ;ind it was woi-se than folly to fancy you eared to retain my affection ! And now let me go home to mamma ; thank God I may yet be of some use and comfort to her, and, at all events, I know that she loves me — oh ! that I had never left her ! " and disregarding Harry's exclamation, " Alice, hear me ! indeed you mistake — " she hurried out of the room. Her huslxind remained motionless until her retreating footsteps became inaudible, then, springing from his chair, he began pacing up and down with hasty strides, while his ideas an-anged themselves somewhat after the following fashion ; — " Well, I've made a pretty mess of it now, and no mistake ! Of all things in the world for her to have fixed upon — to want to know about Arabella ; and poor Arabella has behaved so nicely and kindly too in this affair ! I can't tell her ! besides, there's my promise — come what may I'll keep my promise ; but I am an unlucky dog as ever lived ! Ah ! I never ought to have mari-ied, that's the whole truth. Women don't seem to understand me, and I'm sure I don't AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 239 understand them ; whetlier I'm stern or whether I'm kind it all tnnis out alike, and all Avi-ong. Poor, dear little Alice ! she is makinj^ herself just as miserable as she has made me : and for the life of me, I don't know how to say or do anything to mend matters ! I must leave it to time, I suppose. Perhaps her mother may talk her into a happier frame of mind. I am glad she is going back to the Grange ; I think 111 leave her there for a shoi-t time — home influences may soften her, and induce her to judge me more charitably. I'm certain it's all my own fault, somehow ! She was as sweet-tempered as an angel when I married her." He continued to pace the room, and after some moments a new notion seemed to strike him. " I wonder who has l)een putting these ideas about Arabella into her head," he resumed, " somebody has been telling her about the Florence business, that's clear — lies most likely, and in order to set her against me. That man D'Aluiuyne, I mistrust him — he's playing a deep game of some kind ; and his manner to Kate Crane I disapprove of strongly. If he has been meddling— if he has dared to say or insinuate anything against me to Alice, by heaven, I'll— I'll - no, I could not trust myself to horsewhip him, at least not just yet, I should kill the scoundrel. I've a gieat mind to run up to London, when I've taken Alice to the Grange, and ti-y and find out something about it ; but I won't be hasty — I must not I the interests at stake are too important — Alice's happiness for life, to say {nothing of my own, which is bound up in hers, depends upon how I behave for the next few months — no ; I won't act rashly or hastily, nothing shall induce me to do so ! " Of all the high and solemn mysteries that enshroud the spirit-life none are more inscnitable, yet invested with a deeper and more vital interest, than those apparently in-econcilable paradoxes — predestina- tion and free-will. Our possession of this latter attribute is a tenet held, and carelessly acquiesced in, by Christians of every denomina- tion; yet how little do we realize or estimate its practical importance. It is impossible to reflect, even for a moment, on so vast a field of thought without eliciting ideas at once salutai-y and impressive. Nor can we fully recognize our obligations as responsible beings until, in tracing the fortunes of some fellow-creature, of whose path through life oui' limited powers enable us to perceive only the dim and shadowy outline, we see how what appear trifles— made a right use of, as they should be, or abused, as they too often are— influence a lifetime here, and fearful thought, determine an eternity hereafter ! In things spii-itual, as well as in things material, cause goveiTis effect, and the laws which regulate consequences are equally stringent and immutable in both cases, although in the former they are not so easily traceable. Still to the earaest, careful, and patient observer of the mysterious ways of Providence, suggestive glimpses are afforded, aided by which he may reason from things seen to things unseen. Thus remarking how some strange train of events result from a single act which we may long have feebly i^roposed to perform, 240 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP but the execution of whicli we have delayed from day to day, until some unexpected excitement has quickened our resolve into action, we may le{?itimately arL,'ue that tliese events have been, as it were, ■waiting? for the touch which was to set the train in motion ; that if that motive power had been applied sooner, the same results would have been proportionably hastened ; and that if it had never been applied at all, the history of events would have borae a different record. "We are so fearfully and wonderfully constituted, and the dealinjfs of the Creator with His creatures are so complicated and inscrutnble. that we know not what <,'reat events may hinpfe upon our sli^'htest iictions. The avalanche lies in all its dread sublimity, apparently as immovable as the mountain sid« it rests on; the careless foot of some chamois hunter di8U)dges a stone— the spell which enchained the destroyer is broken — with the velocity of the whirlwind the mass descends, crushing and overwhelming all before it — and heart-rending memories are all that reauiin to beai* witness of some once prosperous village and its inhabitants. One, who saw all clearly where we but blindly and feebly catch a ray of light, i)rayed for His executioners in these remarkable words — "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!" Ideas such as the foregoing are calculated to inspire feelings of awe ; but, if they are true, they should not be put aside because they give a solemn view of oiu- responsibilities ; when, moreover, rightly con- sidered, they teach an important practical lesson — namely, never to neglect what appear to be little duties, or carelessly to fall into little sins. It seems but a little duty to extinguish a fallen spark ; yet that spark may kindle a fire Avhich may consume a city, which, save for that accident, might have endured for centuries. It seems but a little sin to utter a playful jest on some serious subject ; but that jest may inspii'e a doubt which may injure a wavering faith, and en- danger a soul's salvation. Some may deem these remarks misplaced in a work of fiction ; but if it be a novelist's endeavour to depict truly the various phases of human life, nought that truly affects the springs of human action can be foreign to his subject. The evening of Lady Tattersall Trottemout's party was not the first occasion on which Harry Coverdale had bestowed good and sound advice on Arabella Crofton, but never before had it produced the desired effect. Now, however, a new impulse spi-ang up within her — she would conquer her hopeless, selfish, sinful love for him. and strive to render herself worthy of his friendship, and win at least his esteem ; but how should she begin practically to work out his advice — how attempt to render hei'self independent — what duty lay most directly in her path ? Her intention was honest and sincere, and that morning's post brought an answer to her question. A female relation whom she had hitherto neglected, was taken sei-iously ill, and wi'ote wishing, but scarcely expecting her to come to her im- mediately. This lady was old, uninteresting, and in straitened cir- cumstances ; to go to her was an act of unmitigated self-sacrifice. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 24t and in Ai-abella's then frame of mind this was its prreat atti-action. Kate Crane was sori-y to pai-t with her, although the short time they had passed together had sufficed to convince her of the disagieeable fact that her dear friend no longer suited her as she had done in her schoolgirl days. There was a very simple reason for this, although Kate did not at once perceive it : Ai-abella Crof ton was at an age when the mind and body having reached maturity, if they do not remain stationary, yet alter so gradually, that the change is almost imperceptible ; she was, therefore, much what she had been four years previously. Kate, on the contrary, had advanced from a girl into a woman ; and her intellectual powers had not only developed until they were now in every respect superior to those of her " ci-devant " governess, but her taste had been formed on a better and purer model, and her natural instincts were of a higher and more refined character. Thus, Arabella was constantly jamng against and annoying Kate's sensitiveness by thought, word, and deed ; and she felt that a gulf had gi-own up between them, which would effectually prevent her friend's society from affording her the comfort and support she had hoped and expected. Aral)ella was much too quick- sighted not to have perceived the effect this feeling had produced uix)n Kate's manner, although she was ignorant of the cause. Thus, the parting between the friends — for, from old association, friends they still were — was by no means so painful as under other circum- stances they might have considered it. Left to her own devices, Kate bethought her of the expedition to visit Mrs. Leonard, which Horace D'Almayne had proposed to heron the occasion of the horticultural fdte, but which she had never yet found an opportunity to accom[)li8h. Mrs. Leonard's history was a distressing one. Her husband had been partner in a north coimtry bank, at which Mr. Crane usually kept a considerable account. On one occasion, when his balance there exceeded even its usual limits, a junior partner suddenly absconded to Amei'ica, taking with him so considerable a sum that the bank was obliged to stop payment, and Mr. Leonard found himself a ruined man. In his adversity, his mind became engrossed by one fixed idea, which almost assumed the character of a monomania — viz., that it was his mission to trace out his late partner, and recover the money with which he had made away ; this notion preyed upon him until one morning he, too, suddenly disappeared, leaving a letter to inform his wife that he had set out in search of the delinquent, and that she would hear nothing more of him until he had succeeded in his object. On inquiry, it appeared that he had taken a berth in an American packet, which had just sailed, and, beyond that, all trace of him was lost. Consequently, his family had fallen into actual poverty, which, day by day, assumed a sterner and more hopeless character. A gentleman well versed in the details of Mr. Crane's early acquaintance with Mr. Leonard (who, before Mr. Crane had amassed the fortune he now possessed, had several times advanced him money, and in a a. 242 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP measure, therefore, contributed to his success in life) advised Mrs. Leonard to apply to him for assistance ; and beiucf aware how much the millionaire was guided by the opinion of Horace D'Alniayne, suggested that she should make her first application through him : in which ap[)eal the fertile brain of that good young man perceived matter which might be made profitable to the furtherance of hiii designs, and rean-anged his hand, so as to take in the new cards thus placed within his reach. The plan which D'Almayne had settled with Kate was this : — she was sitting for her portrait to an artist friend of Horace's, to whose painting-room she went twice a week ; D'Almayne proposed to send away the carriage and servants, when he would have a hired brougham in readiness to convey her to the obscure sulnirb in which Mrs. Leonard's poverty compelled her to reside ; he would meet her on her aiTival there, and introduce her to Mrs. Leonard ; she could then return to the artist's, whence her own carriage could again fetch her and convey her home. Kate disliked all this clandestine contrivance; but, considering the end of sufficient importance to justify the means, she was unable to devise any less objectionalde scheme, and so reluctantly consented. She reached her destination •without adventure. The dwelling occupied by Mrs. Leonard was situated in one of the labyrinths of small, unwholesome streets which lie between Islington and Pentonville, and contain a description of houses too good, or, more truly speaking, too expensive, for the very lowest orders to reside in, and yet so confined and comfortless that it appears incredible that any persons, accustomed to even the ordinary requirements of respectable life, can tolerate them. D'Almayne was waiting in readiness to receive her, and. offerinjf her his arm, led her up the narrow steps and into a miserable parlour, some eight feet square, with the same elaborate and coxcombical politeness with which he would have conducted her across the receiving-room of a duchess. Mrs. Leonard was a singularly gentle, lady-like pei'son, evidently worn down by her continued stinaggle to support herself and family, which consisted of two boys and three girls, the eldest son and daughter being respectively fourteen and fifteen, whence their ages decreased down to a little pale thing of four years old, whose juvenile roses coidd not bloom for want of purer air and more nutritious diet. To them, with the greatest tact and kindness, did Kate proceed to enact the character of guardian angel ; and, ere she had been half-an-hour in the house, had completely won all their affections, from the poor mother, who began to see light breaking in upon her darkness, to the olive-branch of four — whose visions of unlimited sugar-plums bade fair to be realized. Ah ! it is easy to buy golden opinions of the poor and needy in this world : generosity, i.e., judiciously disposing of superfluous cash, is a virtue strangely overrated. The widow's mite is an offering for which one can feel respect, even -with a well-filled stomach ; but that shrine for an Englishman's heart must be indeed empty ere he can "i/ AXD ALL THAT CAME OF IT 213 thank Dives for his crumbs. But, when Kate smiled brightly, and 8ix)ke kindly and tenderly as she opened her purse-strings, what wonder that the inmates of that house of mourning were ready almost to worship her beauty and munificence? nay, in the excess of her gratitude, poor Mrs. Leonard so lauded Horace D'Almayne for the sunshine he had caused to faU upon the " frost of her despair," that this excellent young man really began to believe himself to have been actuated by pure philanthropy, and wished he had not, from disuse, entirely lost the power of blushing. So he talked, and she talked, and they talked, and were all very much pleased with themselves and with each other ; and Kate Crane turned to depart, with her puree and her heart etiually lightened by this most satisfactory visit. D'Almayne, enraptui-ed alike with tiie success of his scheme, and with himself for having so cleverly devised and executed the same, led Kate to her brougham with nearly as conspicuous a display of gallantry to the lady, and admiration of himself, as that which distinguished Lord Bateman's proud young porter on the memorable occasion of his playing gentleman usher to the fair Soi)hia. Having placed her in the brougham, handed her parasol (why do ladies take parasols about in carriages, where there is not the most remote chance of their being required ?), and a shawl, and a carriage-bug full of elegant rubbish, and smirked to show his white teeth three times — once for each article -ho received as a reward a kindly smile (for Kate really felt obliged to him for tho opportunity of doing good which he had afforded her), which he received with a look of deferential ecstasy, and the brougham, with its fair occupant, drove off. On a sordid pallet, in the garret of the house opposite to that in which Mrs. Leonard resided, lay a man who, having lived wickedly, was then dying miseral>ly : stricken with remorseful terror at the near approach of death — inevitable, fearful, retributive death— gate to the stem, inexorable Future, when he would be weighed in the balance and found wanting — he had wished, poor wretch 1 to undo some of the evil he had committed, and so sent to a rising young banister, then getting up evidence in a disputed peerage case, to confess to him the forgery of a name in a pai-ish-register and other iniquities, the knowledge of which would materially strengthen the cause of the young lawyer's client. The interview, a most painful one to any man of feeling, was concluded ; and, having taken copious notes of the dying forger's confession in the presence of a competent witness, soothed the miserable being with such comfort as human sympathy could suggest, and promised to send the clergyman whom his patient and gentle persuasion had induced him to receive, the young ban-ister left the house at the moment D'Almayne handed Kate Crane to the brougham. Why does the stranger turn first red, then pale ? why does he clench his fist till the nails dig deep into the flesh ? why does he make a hasty stride forward, then, with an exclamation half curoc, half sob, as hastily draw back, and screen 244 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP himself in the shadow of the doorway until the carriage had driven off ? He starts because he has seen the woman he once loved better than his own life — the woman he has striven to forgive and forget, and has succeeded in accomplishing neither the one nor the other — leave a shabby house in a disreputable suburb, whither she has been in the society of a notorious libertine ! He clfnched his fist and strode forward from an impulse of rightful indignation, which made him burn to annihilate the scoundrel who stood triumphing in his villainy before him : but he checked himself as the bitter remem- brance flashed across him that he had no claim on her which could give him a right to interfere, although — and this, even at that moment, was the most painful thought of all — another had ! — who was evidently incompetent to fulfil the sacred trust which he had xmdertaken. So, with old wounds thus cruelly reopened, Arthur Hazlehurst, heai't-sick and weary, returned to his chambers, ponder- ing many things, both of this life and of the life to come. CHAPTER XLI. ADVICE GRATIS. It is a dreary thing when much of life seems still before us, and a dark, unfathomable f utiire lies between lis and the grave ; it is a bitter thing to sit alone and ponder on the days to come, and discover no bright spot in the darkness — discern no kind hand to beckon us forward — hear no friendly voice to counsel and encourage us in the battle of life ; it is an uphill task to struggle through existence without an object on this side the tomb — a hard and cruel lot to hope for nothing until death shall have changed hope into f i-uition ! To live in order to fit oneself to die is the duty of every Chi'istian, but to live for that alone requires a far higher degi'ee of sph-ituality than to lay do^vn one's life for the faith : the stake and the axe of persecution are tender mercies compai'ed with the chronic martyrdom of such a life-long sacrifice. Some such gloomy thoughts as these passed through the over- wrought brain of Arthur Hazlehurst as, late in the night after Kate's visit to Mrs. Leonard, he folded up the last document of which he had made himself master relative to the disputed peerage case in which he was retained. The evidence of which he had that day become possessed would, he felt certain, ensure his client's success, in which event his own career would in all probability be a prosper- ous one, and fame and fortune become his ; but how worthless did AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 245 these appear now they could no longer be shared with her he loved. Until the incident of that morning had so powerfully affected him, he hoped that he had in gi-eat measure eradicated this affection, which his good sense enabled him to perceive could only be a source of grief to him : but the pain he had then experienced effectually dispelled the illusian, and he was fain to acknowledge that, strongly as he condemned her conduct in sacrificing his deep and true regard to (as he deemed it) a desire for wealth and the pomps and vanities of fashionable life, he yet, despite his reason, loved her as he felt he never could love any other woman ; and the thought that through her husband's neglect and incompetency she was exposed to the insidious advances of such a character as Horace D'Almayne weighed upon him, and grieved and in-itated him until he could endure it no longer. " C >me what may of it, I will see her and warn her; she shall not be led on by that scoundrel without knowing his true character ! " he exclaimed, rising and hastily pacing the room. "For what purpose could she have accompanied him to such a neighbourhood as that? "he continued, musing ; "he may possibly have got up some plausible lie to induce her to do so, merely to com- promise her in the eyes of her husband— such a scheme is not unlikely to have occun-ed to his subtle brain. Yes, come what may, I will see her to-morrow ; and, unless she is indeed lost to all better feeling, I will rouse her to a sense of duty, and thwart that scoundrel's designs. If her husband should learn my interference, I care not ; because, in his incapacity, he neglects the sacred tinist he has undertaken, that is no reason why I should stand tamely by and see her sacrificed ; no— I will save her in spite of herself ! this shall be my revenge for the happiness which she has blighted. God grant my interference may not prove too late ! " His mind occupied with such thoughts as these, Ai-thur Hazle- hurst passed a sleepless night, and the first moment he could tear himself away from business on the following day, he betook himself to Park Lane. Kate was from home when he an-ived ; but having notified to the servant his intention of awaiting her return, he was shown into the drawing-room, where he foimd a tall, fashionably, dressed young man standing in a disconsolate attitude by the fire- place, to whom he made a slight inclination of the head, heartily wishing him at Jericho, or any other locality equally remote from Park Lane ; then, taking up a book, he left him to his own devices. Things remained in this thoroughly English and unsociable state for about ten minutes, towards the end of which period the fashionable yoimg man, having stared hard at Hazlehurst, grew first interested, then excited, and finally the spirit moved him, and he spake : — "I beg pardon— a— really I don't think I can be mistaken— a— very absurd, I'm sure, if I am — but I was at school with one Arthur Hazlehurst — and — " " And I am he," was the reply ; "but you have the advantage of 246 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP me ; for I was at school with some four hundred boys, and, to tell you the honest truth, it does not at this moment occur to me which of them you may have been." " Yet Alfred Courtland has to thank you for such slight skill as he may possess in the noble ai-ts of boot-cleaning, brushing clothes, and frying sausages ; besides early lessons in the demolition of oysters and poi-ter— enforced by example rather than precept," was the re- joinder; and the unsocial ice of Old England being thus broken, the " ci-devant " schoolfellows talked on until they grew quite intimate. At length,Lord Alfred looked at his watch, was silentand" distrait " fora minute or two, then began in a timid, hesitating voice, " I was waiting here to see Mrs. Crane ; but, I don't know— that is, I feel as if I could tell you all about it quite as well ; you can do what I wish better than she could ; and I don't think you'll be angry with me when I've made you understand the affair." " Suppose you come to the point, and tiy to do so at once," replied Arthur, anxious to get him away, if possible, before Kate's retiu-n. " Well, you see, my dear Hazlehurst, I wish you hadn't been abroad, and then you would have understood it all so much better ; but since you went away — though, by Jove, now I come to think of it, I saw you here one day when Coverdale and your sister first came to town— deuced odd I didn't make you out then ; but if I recollect, you went away just as I came in — " and thus rambling on, he gave a time though by no means a full and particular account of his intimacy with the Coverdales, continuing : " Your sister was veiy kind to me, and took so much trouble about our duets. She pianos, and I do a little in a mild way on the flute, you know, and we were gi'eat friends, and got on very serenely until the other night, when I was fool enough to do, or rather to say, something which made her angry — a good right she had to be so ; but the fact is, I'd had some men dining with me, and we drank a lot of wine, and then sat down to cards, and I lost my money and my temper, and in this frame of mind I met Mrs. Coverdale at Lady Tattersall Trottemout's ' let off,' and she snubbed me— I dare say I deserved it, but I didn't like it ; and, as my evil genius would have it, a man I know related to me a tale in regard to her husband's flii'tations with a pretty governess in Italy, and to tease her I, like a fool, must needs go and repeat it to her ; and she took it more seriously to heart than I had expected, and was angiy with me, and — but I see you are getting impatient — " " Not at all, not at all," returned Arthur, who, preoccupied with his own cares and anxieties, and nervous in regard to the approaching interview with his cousin, scarcely heard or understood half Lord Alfred was saying, and was only desirous to get rid of him before Kate should arrive ; " no ; it's merely a legal habit I've fallen into of ti-ying to bring people to the point with as little delay as possible. Yes ; I quite understand— Alice told her husband of your flirting with a pretty govei-ness, and he said something which offended you." " No ; it was I who told the stoi-y,'" interrupted Lord Alfred, aghast AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 247 at the state of confusion his auditor appeared to have fallen into, and from which he immediately endeavoured to extricate him by com- mencing a long explanation. Obliged in self-defence to attend, Arthur soon found out that Lord Alfred's object in his ill-timed confidence was to ask him to convey his apologies to his sister, whenever he might be wi-iting to her; whereupon, considering the whole affair a mei*e silly, boyish pimctilio, he replied, — " If you'll take my advice, my Lord, I should say, get a sheet of rose- scented paper and a diamond-pointed pen " — (a sheet of foolscap and a goose-quill would be more appropriate, was his mental commen- tary) — " and sit down and write yoiu' penitence to the fair lady yoiir- self . Alice must be greatly altered for the worse if she does not grant you a ready pardon." '* But do you really think — " began Lord Alfred, in remonstrance. Arthur cut him short — " I don't think about it, my dear Courtland ; I feel as certain of the result as if I had already seen her answer. Do you suppose I don't know my own sister, man ? But, to come to the point, here's her address ; " he drew a card from his pocket, hastily scribbled a few words, then handing it to Lord Alfred, continued, " and the sooner you go to your club and write the letter, the sooner will your mind be at ease." Puzzled, confused, half -alarmed and half -pleased with the new idea thus forced upon him, one thing alone seemed clear to the bewildered yoimg nobleman, viz. that for some reason unexplained his old new acquaintance was desii'ous of getting rid of him ; and, not having yet sufficiently acquired the habits and feelings of a man-about-town to be utterly regardless of the wishes of others, he shook Arthur's hand, promised to act upon his advice, and departed. He had scarcely been gone five minutes when a thundering knock at the house-door announced that its mistress had returned, and ere Arthur had time to do more than spring to his feet, Kate, attired in the richest and most becoming out-of-doors costume, entered. As she perceived who was her guest, she started, and her colour went and came rapidly ; but I'^covering herself by a powerful effort, she advanced towards him, and, extending her hand, obseiwed, — " You are such an unaccustomed visitor, that I could scarcely believe my eyes. When did you return from the Continent ? I am afraid you expected to find Alice here, biit she and Mr. Coverdale left me some days since." " I returned the day before yesterday," was the reply, " and found a note from Coverdale, informing me they had left town ; my visit here to-day is to yourself." As he uttered the last words, his voice unconsciously assumed a stenier tone, and a shade came across his careworn features. An idea suddenly flashed into Kate's mind, and in a voice which sufficiently attested her alarm, she exclaimed, — " Something is the matter ! I was sure of it the moment I saw you. 248 HARRY CO VERD ALE'S COURTSHIP Yov would not come here"— (she unconsciously emphasized the words in small capitals)—" unless such were the case. What is it ? I am strong, I can bear it— is my father worse ?— dying ? " As she spoke she sank into a chair, and fixing her eyes upon his face, awaited his reply. " You alarm yourself imnecessarily," he said calmly, almost coldly; " I am the bearer of no ill tidings : that I have an object in visiting you I do not deny; whether you will consider it a justifiable one I know not ; I regard it in the light of a duty, and therefore, even at the risk of paining and offending you. it must be performed." He paused for a reply, but as Kate remained silent, he continued: "Your brothers are mere boys, your father a confirmed invalid; circum- stances lead me to doubt whether your— whether Mr. Crane is aware of the character of a person who is, I am grieved to find, a constant visitor at this house; and I therefore conceive I have a duty to dis- charge to one whom I have known from childhood — one in whose welfare an in-evocable past, which cannot be forgotten while memory remains, forces me to interest myself. Kate, I am here to warn you against the insidious advances of that heai-tless profligate, Horace D'Almayne ! " As he spoke, he fixed his eyes upon her with a searching glance. Kate coloured, drew herself up haughtily, and appeai-ed about to make an angry reply ; cheeking the impulse almost as it arose, she answered, — " I am bound, and indeed most willing to believe, you mean kindly by me ; I will therefore explain to you that which I would not have condescended to explain to any other man living— that I merely admit Mr. D'Almayne's intimacy to oblige my husband, who has become so accustomed to his society and services as to consider them indispen- sable. Mr. D Almayne may or may not deseiwe the harsh epithets you apply to him ; but if you are aware of any circumstances seriously affecting his character, it is to Mi*. Crane you should mention them, not to me." For a moment Ai-thur remained silent, then pressing his hand to his forehead, he murmured inaudibly, " She can actually stoop to deceit ! — is such a change possible ! " Surprised and hurt at his silence, Kate resumed : " Why do you not speak ? You look at me as if you doubted my assertion ! " Unheeding her question, Arthur still continued to regard her with an expression in which grief, surprise, and disapproval contended for the mastei^y. At length he said, in a low, deep voice, which caused a shudder to pass through the frame of his auditor, — " I have suffered much on your account, but such pain as this I never thought to experience ! Kate, you once said you had never attempted to deceive me — can you say so now ? " " I am at a loss to understand you," was the reply ; and as she grew angry at what she deemed unmerited insult, her self-possession retm-ned, and she spoke in her usual cold, hard tone of voice. " I can AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 249 only repeat what I before stated, that I allow Mr. D'Almayne's in- timacy merely to obligre my husband. From yoiir manner you still appear to doubt the fact— may I ask why ? " Arthur paused a moment, then, with an eager and excited voice, he exclaimed, — " Kate, hear me ! I have not taken this step lightly, or without due consideration. I seek not to refer to the past, though that past is never absent from my memory ; but you may imagine it cost me some resolution to come here to-day, when I tell you that I had rather have seen you lying dead before my eyes, feeling towards you as I felt one short year ago, than behold you sun-ounded by the luxuries of wealth-knowing as I do that you have obtained them by the sacrifice of all that is lovable in woman, by sinning against all your best and noblest impulses, by forfeiting all that renders life aught but one weary endless round of cares and duties ! To look on you as you ai-e now— to read, as I can read, in every feature of your countenance, which, though a sealed book to others, I have studied too long not to decipher at a glance, traces of that desolation of heart which you have prepared for yourself-to see you thus, and to know that I am powerless to help you, and that you must sustain the burden of such an 'existence unaided, is to me bitter pain, and I have avoided this house as though it were plague-stricken. But as I sat through the long hours last night, striving to weigh dispassionately the past and the present, I arrived at the conclusion that even yet I owed you a duty, and I came here to-day actuated only by a desire to warn you, and to save you from a fate, to contemplate the mere possibility of which inspires me with hoiTor. I came, regardless of my own feelings, forgetful of my wrongs, to do you a benefit; ana now you close your soul against me, and receive me with hard words and cold looks ! Kate, I have not deserved this at your hands ! " "But, indeed— believe me you are mistaken," replied Kate, eagerly ; " I appreciate and thank you for the interest you still take in one who, as you truly say, has forfeited eveiy claim on your regard ; but your fears and suspicions are groundless— the intimate footing Mr. D'Almayne has attained in this house is merely a natural consequence of the trust Mr. Crane reposes in him. Why will you not believe the truth of what I tell you ? " "Because it is impossible for me to do so without doubting the evidence of my own senses," was the stem reply. " If you require any further reason for my scepticism it is this : I was in Street, Pentonville, at two o'clock yesterday ! " "And if you were," rejoined Kate, with flashing eyes, " you saw nothing to justify you in entertaining such a cruel and unjust suspicion of one whom you should have been the last to believe likely to sacrifice anything for love ; and whom you might have known better than to deem an easy prey for the first self-confident libertine who should condescend to display his butterfly attractions in her presence. I consider that you have insulted me deeply— so 250 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP deeply as to relieve me from part of the weight of self-i-eproach with which I have hithei*to deplored the injury that by my choice of a career I have inflicted on you. You say it pains you to enter this house; I now therefore heg you to leave it, and will esteem it a favour — the only one I desire of you — not to enter it again until — yes ! until I send for you ! " As she spoke she rose hastily, and rang the bell. Astonished at the effect of his speech, and for the moment oveipowered by lier vehemence, Ai-thur stood speechlessly regarding her. Then rousing himself by an effort, he said in a low, deep voice, that trembled with suppressed emotion, — "Remember the words you have spoken! I shall need no second bidding ; I will not enter this house, nor will I see your face again, until you send for me ! And since you thus drive your best friend from you, and encourage your bitterest enemy, may God protect you; and when you see and repent of your eiTor, may He bless you also ! " As he uttered the last words, he seized his hat, hun-ied from the room, and ere Kate could sufficiently recover herself to attempt to stop him, she heard the house-door close behind him : and then the proud woman's haughty spirit failed her, and murmunng — " I shall never see him again — never, never ! " she buried her face in her hands, and wept bitterly. CHAPTER XLII. l'embarras des richesses. The reader, if that noble myth who rules the destiny of us poor wi-itei's be possessed of an average amount of memory, will recollect that on the evening when Lord Alfred Courtland entei-tained Jack Beaupeep and friends at his comfortable bachelor lodgings, a gentleman then first mentioned, bearing the euphonious patronymic of Le Roux, conveyed to Monsieur Guillemard the startling intelli- gence that the Russian Count Ratrapski had broken the bank in J Street. Now, although immediately after receiving this news, Horace D'Almayne had proceeded to Lady Trottemout's " soir6e," and, according to his wont, made himself universally agreeable, and transacted a more than usual amount of mischief, by bringing about the most serious disagreement which had yet occurred between HaiTy Coverdale and Alice his wife, it must not be supposed that the intelligence did not interest him. On the contrary, it appealed AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 231 invested «s mt\e aM, at f.ti^ZZZTjT, ^^^oTltt It those who had not, he rather prefened beiag insolrent- and pa^ worltoff"f T ^7--' T^'""'"^ himself best oft when he T^ voi-t off-for then he was obliged to exert all his energies to ensnm pro ilT T" ^""^ *"'* *■"" "^ °™ »''°"1-1 -lax its^ti" s ": provide for his necessities. ^^^i^oS to Thus on the vei-y day on wHch Arthur Hazlehurst had his un satis actory interview with Kate Crane, the husband of that pJud beauty met by appointment, at an office not far from the Royal Exchange, Monsieixr Guillemai-d,-Mr. Vondenthaler a BeS capital.t,-Mr^BonusNu.,et,a man well known upok 'Chl^'^- n Alnmjne. Mr. Crane havmg seated himself, after undergoing the mTXr 'of tif "'r'"\*^ Mr. Yondenthaler,who wasThe^oL, prreer/sbyXr^W^^^^^^ "" '^" ^'^'"^^^^ ^^^^^^ ''^ " Well, gentlemen, I am glad to tell you that everything is pro Ih^d th \' "' '"^l'/^^'' ''^^ '^^* ™y 1---- calcu'latiofs wMch I had the honour of laying before you at our last meeting, appear infoims me that the apphcations for shares from the principal O Bnen wiU tell you the same in regard to their own connection Is it not so, Captam ? " r.1 ^l^^i' ^""^^^ '": *^.^°'" '■"P""'^ *^^ gentleman thus Boosted, who possibly, from his having mixed so much with the aristocra;y o^ Eniope generally, spoke with a strong Irish accent. "Bedad sir the way they come tumbling in is perfectly astonishing; 'tis upo^' me conscience ! ' "^'^" " The only thing that remains then, before we proceed to issue the shares and receive deposits, is to decide how many we shall aUot to wd:^i^.Ta:rafhl;r'^^^'^^^^^^^ fiv^tx^^ittTcre^ "-''' '^ ""'-'-- ' -^^ -^-* ." ' ;^^' ^'* ^"^ ' ' ^^* ^l^^ll be him," muttered Mr. Vondenthaler. ].. ^ f^ ^ *^^* '^°'^'" exclaimed the Captain, "if you leave a thundering wide margin for the shares we may retaii for our friends; for, to be plain with ye, gentlemen, my best friend in the 252 HARRY COVERDALES COURTSHIP world, and that's Terence O'Brien, means to go in for this business in real earnest; and if I can't invest capital that will take five figures to write, bedad I'd rather be out of it altogether." "Ten thousand, which I presume is the sum you hint at. Captain O'Brien, could not, I think, be objected to," observed Mr. Bonus Nugget, as if .£10,000 were a mere cab-fai-e. "' Mais oui,' we will all demand so much as him, he is so small; ' n'est-ce pas, mon cher ' ? " interposed Monsieur Guillemard, favour- ing Horace D'Almayne with a grimace indicative of the tenderest affection. " If I might be allowed— if I might venture to suggest," began Mr. Crane, timidly, " I would propose that, at so early a stage in the affair, no limit should be placed to the number of shares the directors may hold. I am, ahem ! a— myself I am a man who has been tolerably fortunate in my commercial speculations, and might be disposed— in fact. I may say I am disposed— to embark an amount of capital considerably above the sum lately mentioned by Captain O'Brien." " Sir ! your sentiments do you honour ! Sir. I'm proud of your acquaintance ; you're not one to do things by halves, I see. I like plain speaking — the speculation's a da-vlish good speculation, or you would not find such men as Mr. Vondenthaler and my fiiend Bonus Nugget in it. We're going to give our valuable time and trouble to work the thing ship-shape ; and bedad, sir, if we're not to profit by it, I'd jist like to know who should ! " " Yes, that is aU vei-y well for you, O'Brien," observed Mr. Nugget, speaking with an air of authority ; " but I happen to know a thing or two. Mr. Crane, gentlemen, is — I say it to his face — able to go doviTi to his bankers, and draw a cheque, which they will honoiu', for more money than any two of us could raise between us. Vei^y well ; now, it's no news to any of us to be told that ' money is power.' But if Mr. Crane thinks, because he can embark his ,£50,000, — or I believe I might raise the figure as high again without overstating the matter, — that he is going to ride rough-shod over the practical men who have started this scheme, and to take the lion's share of the enormous profits that he is sharp enough to foresee must accrue, I for one beg to tell him I won't stand it." " Ta ! ya ! ' das ist gut ' ! Ye have not started to be shod rough by Cranes ! Herr Bonus he knows a thing ! 'das ist recht und gut ' ! Ve vill not be roughed by Cranes ! " muttered Mr. Vondenthaler through the thick hay-colom-ed moustachios invariably worn by Belgian capitalists. " ' Mais oui,' you have reasons, Monsieur Vondenthaler, ' mon ami ' : but if you yourself have mistaken, ' n'est-ce pas ' ? " interposed Monsieur Guillemard, eagerly. " I am assured Monsieur Crane is not ' vm homme comme ga ' ; he shall not ' se promener a cheval ' — vot you call ride on a horseback ovaire us ' du tout ' ; 'an contraire,' zies grate skim whom we are zie undairetakers for, shall advance herself AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 233 on his capital for zie goods of us all. ' Voyez vous, clier Monsieur Bonous ' ! " " Ton me conscience, now ye're the first set of men I ever yet clapped eyes on that made a fuss about taking money when it was offered to 'em ! " exclaimed the Hon. Captain O'Brien, sui-prised into a stronger brogue than he had yet allowed to appear. " Sure, now, by the time we've tunnelled imder the whole of Arabia Pethreea, and flimg our Britannia-metal tubular bridge across the Persian Gulf, we'll find money growing pretty tight with us." " As there seems some difference of opinion on the point," returned Mr. Bonus Nugget, " I would suggest that we summon a general meeting of all the directors, and appoint a managing committee to decide such matters for the future." This proposition was agreed to " nem. con ,"and a day having been fixed for their next meeting, D'Almayne began : — '* In my capacity as secretary, I have to call your attention to one point before this meeting breaks up. I have, in accordance with a resolution passed at the last board, gone into the current outlay, and find that to pay the engineers now sui-veying the portion of the line already decided on, and other expenses which I will not detain you by enumerating, the account at our bankers is overdrawn. I would propose, therefore, that two of the directors should sign a cheque for jBSOOO, to be placed to the company's credit." "Better say five," interposed Nugget; "it don't do to be over- drawing our accoimt ; I've known a trifle like that ruin a speculation as promising even as the present one. Don't let this occur again, D'Almayne ; I can let you have money at any moment, as you are well aware." " Ya ! ya ! or I, vin you please ; you must not stance him for no accounts," chimed in the Belgian capitalist. " Certainly, ^£5000 should be paid in at once," obsei*ved Mr. Crane, producing a cheque-book. " I shall have much pleasure in advancing the sum, if you gentlemen will sanction my so doing." This both Nugget and the Belgian protested against, each urging their claims as oi'iginators of the scheme ; but O'Brien silenced their opposition, and settled the matter by exclaiming in his off-hand manner, — " Let Mr. Crane have his way, sir ! — he's a fine fellow entirely— a liberal and enlightened man he is— one of the merchant princes of this great counthry ; • and though I'd the misfortune to be born an aristoci'at myself, I've no class bigotiy about me. I admire a. true Briton when I meet with one ; and whoever wishes to bully and browbeat that Briton in my presence, must do it some time when Terence O'Brien isn't there to stand up for him. Shake hands, Mr. Crane— I'm proud to know you. Take this pen and write, sir! Browbeat a man like that, indeed ! — 'pon my conscience, what next, I wonder ! " And so, under cover of the Captain's blustering, Mr. Crane signed 254 HARRY CO VERD ALE'S COURTSHIP a cheque for £5000, for wliicli D'Almayne grave him a receipt in the name of the company ; then howinf? to his co-directors, and exchang- ing a word or two aside with D'Almayne, he depai-ted. As the sound of his retreatiuff footsteps died away in the distance, D'Almayne, quietly pocketing the cheque, observed,— " If we can but get the shares to sell for— say twenty thousand, the speculation will not pay badly. You see, Guillemard, these crafty islanders- these denizens of ' perfide Albion ' — their pockets are not impregnable when you assault them judiciously. Five thousand pounds from one man is not such a bad morning's work ! '* " Tlu'ue for you, me boy!" exclaimed the Irishman: "by the powers, a few more such mornings' work will make men of us, if it please Providence to keep us out of jail so long ; but it's a dangerous game you're playing. Sure, now, there's jist five of us here present — why wouldn't we take a thousand a-piece, and make ourselves scarce without any more ado ? I'm content for one, bedad." " You'll do nothing of the soi-t, Terence," was the reply : " for two very good reasons : one Ijeing, that if you remain quiet and follow my lead, I will enable you to bolt — if it come to bolting — with X 10,000 instead of one ; and the other, that Mr. Crane's cheque is very safely buttoned up in my pocket, to be applied as I think best ; and any man who attempts to take it from me will become practically acquainted with the merits of this ingenious little instrument," and as he spoke he drew from his breast-pocket a small, beautifully-finished revolving pistol, whereupon the individual termed Nugget interposed by observing, — " Nonsense, D'Almayne, put that thing away : we're not in New Orleans, man ; and the report of that would blow our schemes to the devil long before the bullet had penetrated O'Brien's thick skull. But really thei'e is nothing to disagree about that I can see ; it's quite clear, gentlemen, that D'Almayne knows perfectly well what he's doing, and that om- interests could not be in better hands. "We meet again on Friday. D'Almayne, you'll see me to-night in J Street ; and now that we're in funds again. Ratrapski will be as 'good as a fortune to us : a man does not break the bank twice." Then, nodding familiarly to the others, Mr. Bonus Nugget resumed his usual " City " look (worth five hundred a-year to him at the most moderate computation), and departed. " Terence, never look sulky, man ; I meant no harm ; what I said was as much for your good as my own," began D'Almayne, in a con- ciliatory tone. " Come, I want you and Guillemard to dine at Black- wall, to meet an unfledged lordling, to whom I'll allow you to sell a horse, if you like ; and you may do a little bit of ' turf ' business too, if he'll bite ; only it must be done in a quiet, gentlemanly way. mind, because I've ulterior views in regard to my young friend : he has a taste for the club in J Street— you understand ? " " I believe ye, me boy ! an it's a fine child ye are intirely ; and the way ye've cut yer wisdom teeth is a credit to yer blessed mother — AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 255 always supposing ye ever possessed sucli a respectible relative," was the Hibernian's reply. '■ By the way, if you're really going in for the horse business," resumed D'Alaiayne, meditatively,," you may as well do the thing properly. Get a flash trap, you know, and di-ive us do\vn; and— who's that sporting-looking young fellow you had backing you at Epsom — dark cui-ly hair, and grey hawk's eyes ? " ''Oh, Phil Tirrett, the great Yorkshire breeder's son; he is his father's London agent, and a very promising young — " " Scoundrel," interposed D'Almayne, " I read it in his face. How- ever, you'll want somebody to back up your lies, and he'll pass with such green boys as we shall have to-day ; so bring him. Let me see — it's now two o'clock— call for me at the Pandemonium at five ; and, excuse me, but drop the Irish blackguard, and assume the foreign militaire as much as you conveniently can. Remember, you're captain in the Austrian service, and I was in youi* regiment, your sub., for a year." " Bedad I it's as well you reminded m^ of that same, for it had slipped my memory some way," was the afEable reply, as, ari-ang- ing his aubm-n, not to say red, hair under his hat, the gallant Captain prepared to take himself off. Ere he did so, however, he chanced to cast his eyes on the Belgian capitalist, who was amusing his leisure moments by performing some intricate manoeuvres with a pack of cards, an occupation which he interrupted by slapping Vonden- thaler on the back with such force that a covey of cards flew out of the pack about the room. " What devil's dodge are you planning there, you old sinner ! " he exclaimed ; " let's look at ye ! " he continued, seizing him by the chin, and turning his head so that the light fell upon his countenance ; " bedad ! them moustachios alter you sui-pi-ising ! Nobody that had not known ye as I've done, since I. could liandle a dice-box, and that was before I was into me teens, would recognize in Mr. Vondenthaler, the Belgian merchant, Le Roux the old croupier ! " "Leave him alone," observed D'Almayne; "Le Roux's a steady, sensible man, and one I have a great respect for; he knows his work, and does it well and quietly ; and I'd back his long head against your noisy talent (for the ' gift of the gab,' as you term it, is a noisy talent and a dangerous one) any day. Captain." Then, turning to Le Roux, he said — " The bank will reopen to-night, and we shall be there in force. Mind the champagne's better than the last batch. Let every- thing be in first-rate style, and spare no expense. Guillemard, you heard the rendezvous ? Five o'clock, monsieurs, ' au revoir.' " So saying, D'Almayne bowed with as much scrupulous politeness to the worshipful fraternity of men of science he was quitting, as if he had been leaving the council-chamber of a prince. Calling a hansom cab, this industrious and zealous young man di'ove to his ■west-end lodgings, and exchanging his suit of quiet black, in which he had dressed the man-of -business character he had been pleased to 25« HARRY COVERDALES COURTSHIP enact, for more butterfly garments, went down to a certain fashion- able club, where he felt sure of meeting Lord Alfred Courtland, and found him accordingly, but by no means in the amiable, docile frame of mind in which he usually rejoiced. The hour preceding that at which D'Almayne entered the club had been spent by Lord Alfred in concocting, pursuant to Arthur Hazlehurst's advice, a penitent letter to Alice Coverdale — a composition which had cost him much trouble and anxiety, and wherein he had endeavoured in some measure to justify himself, by shifting as much of the blame as he truthfully could on to the shoulders of Horace D'Almayne ; and he had just closed and disi)atched this accusatory epistle, when, as though to overwhelm him with shame at such a betrayal of one who professed himself, and whom in gi-eat measure he still believed to be his friend, his aspersed mentor seated himself opposite to him, and addressing him by his usual endearing epithet of " mon cher," invited him to dine with him that day, and meet a few choice spirits at Blackwall. " You're vei"y kind, bxit you really must excuse me," was Lord Alfred's reply. " I've been knocking about a good deal lately, and begin to want a little quiet." " Yes, I know," was D'Almayne's rejoinder : " such is always one's morning theory — but one never puts it into practice ; when eight o'clock comes, ' il faut diner ' ! Seriously, however, I can't let you off. 1 have asked two or three men to meet you. who are most anxious to make your acquaintance " — (this was strictly true), — "and who will be aAvfully savage if you don't come." " Come — of course hell come, and so will I too, if anybody will ask me, and there's a lark in hand — what does Milton say r* — ' A bird in hand is better far. Than two that in the bu.shea are.' Fine poem, * Paradise Lost.' By the way, did you ever hear my riddle on that head ? Why is the fact of the contents of a backgammon- board having been thi'own out of the window like Milton's ' chef- d'ceuvi*e ' ? Do you give it up ? Because it's a pair o' dice lost. None so dusty that— eh ? for a commoner like me ? We poor devils that have to gr-ind all day to procure oiu* modest chop and our un- assuming pint of London porter, can't be expected to say such brilliant things as you noble swells, who have had nothing to do but cultivate your understandings ever since you came into the world with gold spoons in your mouths. But you have not told me what's up yet." Here the speaker, who was none other than the facetious Jack Beaupeep, paused for want of bi-eath, and DAlmayne interposed with a reply to his question, — " The pai-ticular event exalted at the moment you joined us is a bachelor dinner at Blackwall to-day, for which I am trying to beat up a few recruits ; let me hope you will enlist under my banner, and, with such a reinforcement, I am sure Lord Alfred will surrender at discretion." AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 257 " All serene ! " rejoined the voluble Jack ; " I was ' to let un- f uraislied ' (with a dinner) — and let me tell you a Blackwall feed is a special mercy that's not to be sneezed at. Come, Alfred, my boy, merge the haughty noble in the jolly-good-fellow till further notice, and say ' I will.' " " Have it your own way. Since you're both determined on my capture, it's hopeless to resist," said Lord Alfred, his feeble attempt at reformation completely defeated; *' but I certainly had made up my mind to spend a quiet evening." " So had I," returned Jack ; " but then I did not expect such luck as to come in for a noisy one. What time, and where do we meet ? " " At the Pandemonium, at five o'clock," was D'A.lmayne's reply ; " and mind you are both punctual." CHAPTER XLIII. EATING WHITEBAIT. Nero fiddled while Rome blazed ! We possess the record of the main fact, but all details connected with that memorable perfonnance have perished in the lapse of ages. We can imagine, however, that the novelty and horrid grandeur of the situation by no means inter- fered with the skill and execution of the imperial amateur; but rather added a force and brilliancy to his playing, for which it may not have been usually remarkable. If he had at all a tui*n for im- provisation, an opportunity then offered for his making a great hit ; the roaring of the flames, the crash of falling buildings, the coai-se huighter of a biaital soldiery, mingling with the shrieks of women and children, and with the shouts changing to the half-curse, half-prayer, of the death agony of brave, true-hearted men, striving to rescue the helpless ones, and perishing in the exei'cise of their noble daring, all must have afforded a sviggestive theme for the crescendo and diminuendo of the tyrant's catgut, which may have been handed down to posterity, until the tradition may have furnished the thesis of that classic and artistic composition, the " Battle of Prague." Everybody considers Nero a hateful tyrant, and everybody may be in the main right ; although good Dr. Goldsmith, in his interesting Roman history (which has been pei^petually " abridged for the use of schools " ever since it was wi'itten, and is not half short enough yet), has probably applied too deep a coating of lampblack even to Nero. But, though as manners and customs change, the outward seeming 258 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP of things varies with them, human nature, too bad ever to be all good, and too good to be all bad, remains much the same, despite the preaching of Paul and the watering-pot of Apollos. Thus, while in the heart of mighty London vice filled model prisons with tlie recklessly depraved, or, far worse, the recklessly hypocritical —while hospital wards teemed with those comparatively fortunate victims of disease and improvidence whom some good Samaritaji had thus far rescued, when a frightful majority were dying untended in reeking alleys and other hotbeds of pestilence— while covetousnesa and hatred were scarcely restrained from breaking forth into rapine and murder by the strong arm of the law— my Lord Alfred Court- land, and the leeches who sought to prey upon his youth and in- experience, drove do^\Ti to Blackwall to nibble a small fry of ridicu- lous little fishes, enveloped in batter, called whitebait, and esteemed, for some undiscoverable reason, a delicacy. Exactly as the clock stiaick five, a dark, well-appointed drag, with three bays and a chestnut — all thoroughbred, or thereabouts — drew up at the entrance to the Pandemonium. Captain O'Brien, handing the reins to a dark-whiskered, good-looking young fellow, who was his companion on the box, descended, and entering the club, was introduced by D'Almayne to Lord Alfred Courtland and Jack Beaupeep ; the first mentioned individual acknowledging his saluta- tion by the slightest possible removal of the hat, together with an all but invisible motion of the head, the latter by a profound salaam, together with the diffident remark, — " Sir, you do me proud." " Not at all, sir, not at all ; on the contrary, it's proud I am to make your acquaintance, and you a mimber of the government, too. Did ye know Smith O'Brien, now ? " Not waiting a reply, he con- tinued. " Oh, he's a great legislathur entirely ; and sure them that don't die first will live to see him prime minister of this counti'y,one of these fine mornings ; and a ' prime ' minister he'll make, sure ! ' Justice to Ireland ' will be found engraved in copper-plate on his heart by any gentleman who may have the pleasure of attending the post-mortenr examination of his remains, and long life to 'em ! " " Are we waiting for any one ?" inquired Horace, fearful lest his Hibernian associate should disgust Lord Alfred by his offensive familiarity at first starting. " Guillemard has, I see, ali'eady taken his seat. Have you any objection to pull up at the Guards' Club, O'Brien ? There are three or four army men who have promised to come, and your drag will carry them easily." The Captain agreeing to this— as indeed he appeared willing to agree to any and everything suggested by D'Almayne— they took their places ; O'Brien insisting on Lord Alfred succeeding to the box-seat, vacated for that purpose by the dark-whiskered, hawk-eyed youth, who was none other than Phil Tirrett, the horse-breeder's son, whom Horace D'Almayne had designated as a very ijromising young scoundrel— a style of character which he was so well able to recognize, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 259 and so thoroughly competent to form an opinion upon, that we feel convinced he only did the youn^ gentleman's merits justice. By no means captivated by O'Brien's manners or address, Lord Alfred was at first haughty and monosyllabic ; but perceiving that D'Almayne was as scrupulously polite to this son of Erin as to the most polished member of the fashionable world, it occurred to him that in his character of man-about-town the correct thing was to assume a general languid citizen-of-the-worldship ; and, as a duty to his presumed impei-tm-bability, to appear, not all things to all men, but the same thing to every man. Thus, I'ousing himself, he paid a die-away and meaningless compliment to the workmanlike manner in which Captain O'Brien — " Ar — put his team along, and — ar— the correct style of the whole affair." This led to an equestrian and sporting rhapsody on the part of the Hon. Terence, interspersed with anecdotes — strange, if true — of the dams and the sires, and the own brothers and sisters, of the individual members of the team, and especially of the chestnut, which had been " The sweetest thing, sir, across a stiff country that ever man rode ; no day was too long and no burst too fast for him, bedad ! and the bittei-est moment ever I, Terence O'Brien, knew (ban-ing the loss of me matei*nal grandmother, by spontaneous com- bustion, from fortuitously sitting down upon a lighted cinder, which had providentially popped out of the fire for that purpose), was when I staked him above the near hock at Melton, last season ; and he's never been fit to gallop since, or it isn't in harness ye'd see him now — and him costing me a cool <£400, and worth all the money now, if he was but sound," &c., &c. The witty author of " Tristram Shandy," in introducing to the reader that most lovable of humorists, my Uncle Toby, has dis- coursed eloquently on the various hobby-horses which take posses- sion of, and enslave, the mind of man. Fortification, which was my Uncle Toby's mania, engi'ossed his thoughts, and influenced his conversation, until nothing but his simplicity and kindness of heai-t saved him from degenerating into a complete bore ; but when a man's hobby-horse is the equine animal itself, you can no more unhorse him than if he were — as assuredly he ought to have been, if mind and body had bonie a pi'oper affinity to each other — a centaur. O'Brien was a centam-, and having once mounted his hobby, he rode him all the way to Blackwall, to Lord Alfred's extinction, or thereabouts ; but considering that a certain amount of " tui-f " adheres to the character of a man-about-town, he bore the infliction like a — well, suppose, though we have foresworn slang as low, we for this once say — a brick. Three guardsmen, and a young heavy dragoon who lived to con- sume beer and cigars and produce moustachios and stupidity, were duly added to the party ; and by the time they reached Blackwall everybody grew hungry, and prepared to do ample justice to the whitebait. Of course, everybody has at some period of their earthly 2G0 HARRY CO VERD ALE'S COURTSHIP career eaten a Blaclcwail dinner, and such feeds are all exactly alike. First appears a course of fish, enough to constitute a dinner in itself ; sea-fish, river-fish, pond-fish— fishes boiled, fried, stewed, and be- deviled in various ways, which it would require the knowledge of the supposed inventor of cooks himself to detail ; then come the wonder- ful whitebait themselves, their stupid little bodies enveloped in skeleton dresses of batter ; and then fishes are ignored, and develop, according to the " Vestiges of Creation " theory, into the higher forms of animal, into which the highest form of all— man— pitches cannibal-like, until the culinary cosmos is resolved into its pristine chaotic elements. And around this hecatomb of slaughtered zoology and feasting humanity skip nimble waiters, furnished with bottles of every shape and hue ; for, since Noah first discovered the seductive beverage, wine-bibbing has been a levelling principle, by means of which the lords of the creation have been accustomed to assimilate themselves to their subjects the brutes, despite the hydraulic pressure of Father Mathew and all others who have pledged them- selves to cold-water such degrading customs. And. indeed, we fear that of the two parties whose respective mottoes might be " in vino Veritas," and " truth lies at the bottom of a well," the latter will continue to constitute the minoi-ity until the end of the chapter ; or, as Jack Beaupeep expressed the same sentiment, when DAlmayne propounded to him a somewhat similar theory, be " safe to kick the bucket if they don't put their foot in it in any other way " : but that misguided young man not only made, but rejoiced in, shocking bad puns. The dinner had been done ample justice to — the wines (and their name was legion) had not been at all neglected — Lord Alfred had become quite intimate with the guardsmen, who, as the wine un- locked their tongues, began, in a quiet, gentlemanly way, to qiiiz everything and everybody, especially the heavy dragoon, who rejoiced in the patronymic of Gambler — a name on which the other military gentlemen were pleased to exercise their wit whenever they addressed him. As, for example, 1st guardsmen, loquitur : — " I say, Beaupeep, have you heard Fred's (2nd guardsman's) last ? " " I haven't even heard his first," was the rejoinder, " No ; I should think not," continued No. 1 ; "he made that when he was quite a baby in arms." " Ye may as well say before he could speak, while ye are about it," suggested O'Brien. "Bravo, Captain! you won't better that," said the narrator. " However, Fred's last and worst was this — ' "Why is the gallant cornet opposite an addition to any mess-table?' Do you give it up? ' Because he's half game and half beer ! " " I dare say it's very funny," muttered the heavy subject of the jest, " but I don't see the point myself." " It's a pint of half-and-half," obsei-ved Jack Beaupeep, explana- torily. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 261 " Or ' heavy ' wet if he were out in the rain," added guardsman No. 2. " Talking of heavy wet puts me in mind of coming down with the dust. When are you going to pei-form that operation in regard to the Windsor Steeplechase ? " inquired the comet surlily, who, not having anything witty to reply to his assailant, substituted instead the most unpleasant topic he could select. " That is soon answered," was the rejoinder ; "whenever you'll malce a fresh match between the horses, and give Rattletrap a chance of showing Teacaddy the way home, when he's not been pricked in shoeing by a confounded blacksmith." " Oh ! if that's all, you may hand over the cash to-morrow morning," returned the dragoon ; " the mare's in first-rate order, and I'm game to back her for a match, hurdle-race, steeplechase, or what you will," was the confident reply. " Ah ! Is It II steeplechase now, ye' re talking of ? " inteiTupted O'Brien, filling himself a tumbler of claret ; " sure, an' I've got a horse I'd be proud to enter, if it wasn't jist putting me hand in your pockets and taking the money out of 'em ; for if he's in the race, I'd name the winner before they start." " He must be a wonderful animal, Captain," observed the first guardsman ; " high-pressure, express train style of quadruped, eh ? " " Furnished with a screw-propeller, more likely," added his companion ironically. " Faith, an' ye're wi'ong there entirely : it's little of the screw ye'll find about Bi'oth-of-a-boy. Talk about railroads, indeed, I never knew what flying was till the day I first galloped him in the Phcenix Pai-k. I only wish I'd had him in Spain, when I served with the legion of Sir De Lacy Evans; it isn't overtaken and kilt entirely by their blackguard dragoons I'd have been then — though it's little but hard blows and hard swearing they got out of me, as it was, the Lord be praised ! " " Hear, hear ! a stoi-y, a story ! " " Military reminiscences of Captain O'Brien ! order, order ! " " Silence for the noble anecdote ! " " Out witli it, Captain ! " &c., &c., were some of the exclamations with which the Hibernian's last speech was hailed by various members of the party, upon whom the whitebait (?) was beginning totcU. Thus urged, that worthy, clearing his throat by a sip at the claret, which half emptied the tumbler, began : — " WeU, boys " (here he caught a look from Horace D'Almayne, which caused him, nothing abashed, to add parenthetically), "if in the congeniality of good fellowship you will permit me to call ye so, the stoiy's nothing so very wonderful, after all — it was just a bit of a spree, do ye see, nothing more ; but such as it is ye're welcome to it " — (polite aside from Jack Beaupeep for Lord Alfred's benefit — " You're too liberal, really ! ") " I was with Sir De Lacy Evans in Spain, captain in a regiment of lancers; 262 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP a rare set of rattling dogs tliey were too— up to everything, from robbing a henroost to burning towns and sacking monasteries " — (Beaupeep aside — " A decidedly sac-religious act, that last ! ") " On one occasion, we were stationed at a place distant about four miles from a village occupied by a strong body of Carlists ; well, sir, for several nights nmning, our sentinels on the side towards the village were assassinated — stabbed through the heart they were ! We had 'em doubled, two men to each post ; bedad, the only improvement that effected was, we got two men murdered instead of one ; and yet the scamp that did it always contrived to get away clear and clean — we never so much as clapped eyes on him ! Well, I bothered and puzzled the matter over, and thought of this thing and that thing, and at last I got hold of a notion I fancied might work well ; so I cut off to our Colonel, and ' Colonel,' says I, ' with your kind permission, I thiiik I can stop these assassinations.' ' What is it, O'Brien ? ' says he, ' you're a clever, rising yountr officer, and a man that bids fair to be an oniament to his profession ; ' but I won't trouble ye with the illegant eulogy he was so polite as to pronounce upon me that day " — (" Hear, hear! "from Beaupeep and the guardsmen). "So I jist obtained his permission to select two well-mounted troopers out of my own company, and leave to do what I pleased with them and myself during the night, and that was all I wanted. I happened at that time to have a particularly fast mare — a sweet thing she was, bay, with black points, nearly thorough-bred, a head like an antelope, and as to pace, 'gad there wasn't a horse in the regiment could come near her. Before nightfall I picked out my two troopers — sharp, plucky young fellows, that I knew I could depend upon if it came to hard fighting, each of them well moiinted ; and I took care to see that their horses and the mare were properly fed and watered, so as to be fit for a stiff burst ; then I amused myself with sharpening the point of my lance till it was as keen as a razor. About a stone's throw from the post where the sentry they used to assassinate was stationed" — ("Of course, the same man every night till fui-ther notice," murmiu-ed Jack Beaupeep, continuing his running com- mentary) — " there was a thicket of olive bushes and other shrubs ; behind this, as soon as it grew dusk, I posted my men with the horses, while I availed myself of a rise in the ground to advance nearer, and lie down, hidden from sight by a stunted Isush or two. Well, I waited and waited, and watched and watched, so that a mouse could not have stirred without my noticing it ; but nothing did I see, except the shadowy figure of the sentinel pacing up and down in the moonlight, as though he were the discontented ghost of one of his murdered comrades "—(" Very pretty— quite poetical, I declare ! " from Beaupeep). " Well, at last, just about a quarter of an hour before daybreak, which is the darkest period of the night in those latitudes, whether I had dozed off for a minute I don't know, but I was staitled by a noise differing from the monotonous tread of AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 263 the sentinel, and which sounded to my ear like the cracking of a di-y twig ; in another moment I perceived a dark, round object movinpc upon the ground which I soon made out to be the head of a man drawing himself along, snake-fashion, upon his stomach — while so close had he got to the unconscious soldier that I perceived, if I would save the poor lad's life, not an instant was to be lost. I therefore gave the signal to my troopers to come up, and drawing my sword rushed forward to secure the assassin. As I did so, a light, active figure sprang up from the ground, and brandishing a long, keen dagger, made a furious stab at the sentiy; but, fortimately, my approach confused the scoundi-el, so that he missed his stroke, and instead of killing the man, merely inflicted a slight flesh wound of no consequence. Notwithstanding his sxirprise — for, as the soldier afterwards declared to me, his antagonist seemed to have risen out of the earth— the senti-y attempted to seize him ; but he contrived to slip out of his hands like an eel, and before I could reach the spot, had disappeared in the darkness. In another moment the dull sound of a horse's feet galloping over the turf jn-oved to me that he was away ; but my oAvn horse being brought up, I sprang into the saddle, snatched my lance from the trooper who held it, and ordering the men to follow me, started in pursuit. " 'Pon me conscience, gentlemen, I niver reflect on me feelings at tliat critical moment but it makes me — Ah, well! I'll jist trouble your Lordship for the claret." CHAPTER XLIV. LORD ALFRED COURTLAND SOWS A FEW WILD OATS. Captain O'Brien, having finished his glass of claret, and turned lip the points of his carroty moustaches, thus resumed his stoi*y : — " At first it was as much as I was able to do to track the fellow by the sound of his horse's hoofs upon the soft tui-f, but I trusted a good deal to the mare's instinct to follow the horse before her; fortunately we had not very far to go before we got upon the hard village road, and then there was nothing to do but ride him down, for the grey light that precedes the dawn enabled me to see his figure distinctly. But that same riding him down was easier to talk about than to do, for the scoxmdrel had obtained a long stai-t of us, and thoiigh I was well mounted, I soon perceived that he was equally so. Away we rattled at a slashing pace, and for about a 264 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP mile the two troopers managed to keep up pretty tolerably ; but by the time we had ridden rather more than twice that distance, I found my friend was gi'adually drawing^ ahead, and that if I waited for my men, I should soon have seen my last of him ; so {^ivinf? the mare her head, and a triflinf^: reininder with the spur besides, I left them, and they p^"adually tailed off in the distance, until a turn of the road hid them altof»ether. In my time I've ridden st-eeple- chases, hurdle-races, and every species of race that the divil ever invented, but a faster thinj? than that morning's ride I never saw nor heard of. The horses wei'e well matched as to speed, mine was rather the freshest, but then the Carlist was the lighter weight; the thing could not have been fairer. However, after a couple of miles or so more, I was glad to perceive that I was gi-adually creeping up to him ; and I suppose he began to suspect it too, for, as the light increased, 1 saw him every now and then look round suspiciously, and m-ge his horse still faster at each successive glance. Al>out a mile from the village, I had gained upon him so decidedly that it was evident I must overtake him before he could reach its friendly shelter. Apparently he was of the same opinion, for, before I was aware of his intention, he unslung a carbine he carried, pulled up suddenly, and turning in his saddle, levelled it, and took a delil)erate aim at me. Everybody that knows Terence O'Brien, knows he's no coward; but 'pon me conscience, at that moment, I wouldn't have been son-y to have turaed my horses head, and cried quits with him ; however, a bullet is a style of ai'ticle that doesn't allow a man much time for deliberation, so seeing it was a case of hit or miss, I only rammed in the spurs harder, bent down my head, couched my lance, and galloped on. Bang went the carbine ; and almost before the report reached me, a bullet whistled through the air ; I heard a sort of ' thud,' as when an arrow strikes a straw target, and felt my throat-strap suddenly tightened — the messenger of death had passed through my cap, sevenng a lock of hair and just raising the skin, without doing me the slightest injury ; but it was a close shave in every sense of the word. Well, as soon as the scoundrel perceived that his shot had failed, he felt that his only chance was to exert every nerve to reach the village before I overtook him ; so, flinging away his dischaa-ged carbine, he dashed on, urging his failing steed with voice and spurs, and even, as I gained upon him, with the point of his dagger. Another minute brought us in sight of the village, where a sleepy sentinel was pacing up and down the road in front of a sort of toll-house. Astonished at the sight of two men riding like lunatics, he first attempted to close the bar fixed there to defend the entrance to the village, then, recognizing my companion, he paused, and before he had come to any decision, we had dashed past him — my friend obligingly desiring him to ' shoot the dog of a Christino,' as we flew by ; an order which, fortunately for me, he was too much confused to execute, discharging his fii-elock harmlessly into the air. As we passed the toll-house, I was not above two horse- AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 2G5 leiif?ths from my antajfonist, and graininff upon him at evei-y stride. Any feelings of compunction I might have had at the thought of sLiying a fellow-creature had been effectually pxit to flight by the shot he had so deliberately fired at me ; thus when I found myself at length coming up with him, I grasped my lance more firmly, set my teeth, drove the spurs into the mare, and dashed at him. In another moment I had overtaken him, the point of my lance entered his back between the shoulder-blades, and by the mere impetus of my onwai-d career I drove it through him. As the weapon transfixed him, the poor wretch uttered a yell of agony, and fell forward on his horse's neck a coi-pse. If you'll believe me, gentlemen, it wasn't till I'd thus squared accounts with the rascal for our sentries that he'd murdered in cold blood, that the idea ever striick me how I was to get back again, with the Carlist village between me and oiir camp. The first thing I tried was to pull my lance out of the dead assassin, as he lay on his face in the middle of the road ; but the more I pulled, the more it wouldn't come — I'd driven it in with such force ; and, at last, with a wrench I gave it, I snapped the staff in two. Seeing there was no time to lose, I was about to turn my mare's head in a homeward directiun, when it occurred to me that they'd never believe in the regiment that I'd killed the fellow;" — (" Not an improbable thing,'' soliloquized Beaupeep) — " so I jumped down, secured the scoundi-el's sash and dagger, remounted, and rode off. As I expected, the sentinel's shot had roused the village, and just as I got back, a company of soldiers were turning out, half-awake and in gi'eat con- fusion, and the lieutenant contrived to draw a file across the road to stop me. There was nothing for it but impudence ; so, drawing my sabi-e, I waved it in the air, then looking round, as if I'd got a regiment at my back, I sang out, ' Come on, boys ! — trot, gallop, charge ! ' and dashed at 'em, cut do^vn the lieutenant, and what between their fright and their confusion, broke their line, rode slap through 'em, escaped by good luck half-a-dozen bullets that were sent after me, and should have got clear away but for a patrol of dragoons that came up on hearing the firing, and who, learning how the matter stood, gave chase. As their horses were fresh, while the race she'd won had piunped every puff of wind out of my mare, they soon over- took me ; and after two or thj-ee minutes' hard fighting, a cut in the sword-arm disabled me, and I was forced to give in. Well, they canned me back to the village, settled that I was a spy, besides having killed Don Pedrillo Velasquez de Matadoro, or some such jargon » for which double crime I was to be hung at noon. Owing to the fortunate an-ival of my lancers and a regiment of rifles, however, that event was indefinitely postponed ; but I'll mercifully spare you the recital of the scrimmage, which ended in our taking the village ; and, as talking is dry work, I'll just thank you for the claret, D'Almayne, me boy ! " Much cheering and acclamation followed the conclusion of the Captain's story, under cover whereof Jack Beaupeep insinuated to 266 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Lord Alfred his opinion tliat the history in question was better suited to the capacity of the marines than to that of able-bodied seamen, to which his Lordship, quoting' Horace, replied, that " Judseus Apella " might believe it, but that he did not ; which, as he said it in the original langnage of the Roman poet, elicited from his companion the remark that it sounded very pretty, and he wished that he understood Dutch. " But about this said race ; what is it to be, and when is it to come off ? " inquired the heavy cornet, who possessed every requisite except brains to become a first-rate blackleg. " Do you really mean that you've a horse you'd like to enter for, say, a hurdle-race, Captain O'Brien P " observed the first guardsman, thinking the gallant Hibernian had been rhapsodizing, and desii'ous of exposing the fact. " Indeed, then, an' I have, if you're plucky enough to enter any horse against him," was the confident reply. " Broth-of-a-boy will show 'em the way home in style ; but there may be a very pretty race for second, nevertheless." A laugh followed this slightly gasconading assertion, and the " Heavy " continued : " Suppose we try and make a good race of it, and each of vis here enter a horse, and do the thing well." " " Mais que diable ' — vot shall he mean ? " inquired Monsieur Guillemard, completely out of his depth ; " to entaire, to valk into ! — how shall ve valk into a horse ? " " Oh, it's a mere ' fagon de pai-ler,' " retm-ned Beaupeep, delighted at an opportunity of mystifying a foreigner ; " it's merely a term used in this kind of game ; it is a soi-t of lottery, in which each person thinks of — invents, in fact — some horse's name, Jaques-bon-Homme, or Moi-t-de-ma-Vie, or any other name that occixrs to him; then, some day that may be agreed on, these names are written on slips of paper, and drawn out of a hat or cap, and those that don't lose, win ; but there's very little chance of losing — almost everybody wins ; it's a pretty game, and very simple when you're used to it. Do you quite understand, or shall I say it again ? " " ' Mais oui,' you ai*e polite, not at all. I shall apprehend him one day, when I shall have played at him : ' vive la bagatelle ! ' long live zie rubbish ! " was the cheerful rejoinder. While this little conversation had been proceeding, the dark, handsome young man, yclept Phil Tirrett, receiving a hint from O'Brien, conveyed in a contraction of the eyelid, so slight that no one but himself perceived it, wrote a few words on a scrap of paper, and tossed it to Horace D'Almayne. Having read it» D'Almayne crushed it in his hand ; then, turning to Lord Alfred, he said, — " Do you know who my left-hand neighbour is ? " " What, the good-looking, gipsy-like pai'ty P — no ; you will surprise me if you tell me he's a gentleman," was the sarcastic reply. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 267 " By no means," returned D'Almayne, helping himself to claret, and pushing tbe bottle to Lord Alfred; "but, although he would pass with less discriminating critics than ourselves, what I like about him is, that he never pretends to anything of the kind— he knows perfectly well his position, and the terms on which he gets admitted to society such as the present. His father is a great Yorkshire horse-breeder — a man who supplies half the London market, and exports largely into tbe bargain; there's not a year in which old Tirrett does not turn over his ten or fifteen thousand pounds, and bag four or five of 'em clear profit by the end of it. This lad is his eldest son, and comes up to town every season with a lot of young horses ; some are bought by the dealers, others, gener- ally two or three of the best, he shows himself, and keeps back till he finds an opportunity of placing them to advantage. This is his third season in town ; and from his manner and appearance, not to men- tion the chance of picking up a first-rate liorse from him, he has acquired a sort of standing among tui-f-men." " And this brief biography comes ' a propos ' to what ? " inquired Lord Alfred languidly, filling his glass. '"A propos' to his banding me this bit of paper," rejoined D'Almayne. Lord Alfred unrolled the mysterious " billet-doux " ; it ran as follows : — " If your friend Lord A. C. has a fancy to enter a horse, I can show him one to-morrow no one in London has yet seen, or heard of ; it can beat any animal that will be named to-night, I know ; and, for its stamp, the figure is not a high one. If he likes the idea, let him name Don Pasquale." Lord Alfred pondered : during his life in London his money had been making itself wings, and .using them also with alarming assi- duity. For a peer, his father was not a rich man, and his own allowance, although enough for a gentleman to live tipon carefully, was by no means calculated to withstand stich reckless inroads as bad lately been made upon it. As yet he was not in debt, and had a virtuous horror of becoming so ; but to purchase a racehorse, with such a name as Don Pasquale — an animal with a reputation which would ensure its beating any horse likely to be entered by cavalry cornets, real live guardsmen, or} captains of lancers who had speared Carlist spies, was an idea equally fearful and fascinating, which, even the mystical information tbat (for such an unparalleled quadruped) the figure was not to be a high one, was unable to divest of its equal powers of terror and temptation. He glanced at the cornet and at the guardsmen ; the cornet might be about his own standing, but he felt a proud consciousness that if the prejudices of bis benighted country had alloAved him to wear a moustache, lie could have grown a much more imposing style of article. One guardsman was a noble adult, endowed by nature with unimpeachable black whiskers, and impregnable in the " sang-froid " of three decimals ; but 268 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP the other, the fastest and punningest of the pavty, was a mei*e boy, apparently his lordshi^D's junior by a year or more : yet this pre- cocious young warrior talked of entering racehorses and betting cool hundreds as though such pursuits were analogous to playing marbles for stakes payable in the copper coinage sacred to the effigy of Britannia, of wave-ruling celebrity. And should he, the knowing man-about-town, the friend and favourite pupil of Horace D'Almayne, should he be deterred by prudential considerations which even that boy had the spirit to ignore and disregard ? D Almayne's eyes looked through him as if he had been made of plate-glass, perceived his hesitation and its cause, and hastened to put an end to it. " Have nothing to do with it, ' nion cher,' " he said, " sotto voce " ; " you've been spending money pretty fast lately, and we shall have yoiir noble father cutting up rough, and refusing the supplies." " You seem to think I am a baby ! " was Lord Alfred's piqued reply, as he filled a large claret-glass to the brim, having already partaken of that liqiior and others freely ; " yon fancy I am to go through life in leading-strings ; but you will learn better some of these days ; " then with a confidential nod to Phil Tirrett, which that accomplished young scoundrel acknowledged with a significant smile, he continued aloud, " Captain O'Brien, I am cvirious to test your assertion, and beg to enter a horse of mine, Don Pasquale, in order to discover whether Broth-of-a-boy can show him the way home, as that is a feat which I have yet to seek the animal able to perform." At this challenge, so boldly thrown down, evei-ybody grew clamorous and excited, with the exception of Jack Beaupeep, who, for the delectation of himself and the younger guardsman, went through a pantomimic representation of first hanging himself, then, with a dessert-knive, severing his carotid artery — regarding Lord Alfred the while with a smile of mock commiseration, as though to signify his conviction that the yoimg nobleman was metaphorically performing a similar suicidal operation on his own account. Horace D'Almayne, with a face indicative of deep concern, vainly endeavoured to dissuade Lord AKred from having anything to do with horse-racing, which he described as a snare and a delusion, with such pathetic earnestness that his Lordship, bent on vindicating his enfranchisement from parental or moral leading-strings, even if he were necessitated to throw himself over a precipice in order to do so, became more than ever determined to have his own way. Accord- ingly, he made an appointment to meet the guardsman and Captain O'Brien on the following morning at the Pandemonium, and settle all the preliminaries of the race. This interesting and important matter being thus pnt properly in train, much " turf " conversation followed ; and too much wine was drunk by the pai-ty generally, and Captain O'Brien in particular ; until somebody suggesting that they had a longish drive before them, the meeting broke up, and D'Almayne AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 269 retired with the head-waiter, to undergo that uncomfortable opera- tion yclept " paying the bill." As he did so, Tirrett drew Lord Alfred into a corner, and inquired in a low tone, — " How early may I call on your Lordship, and take you to see Don Pasquale ? " " Eh ? early did you say ? — do you mean really and positively early, or early for London ? I seldom breakfast before eleven," was the " about-townish " reply. " I did mean really early," rejoined Tirrett. " Don Pasquale is at a stable a little way out of town, whei'e I would advise your Lordshix) to keep him quiet tiU after the race ; and, as there is no good in letting too many people into the secret of his whereabouts. I was going to propose to meet you at Hyde Park Corner at eight o'clock to-morrow morning, and drive you down ; in which case you might be in town again by your usual breakfast bour, and no one any the wiser for our expedition." " Yes — you know best, of course; but really it's an alarming sacri- fice of ' nature's sweet restorer ' ; still, I'm game for the exertion — a — eigbt o'clock did you say ? 'Gad, I'd better book it, for my memory is not my strong point," and as he spoke Lord Alfred produced a knowing little betting-book, wbich he considered it the correct thing to carry, and, in the portion thereof dedicated to memoi'anda, entered, " Mr. Tirrett, H. P. C, 8 a.m. " ; then, replacing it in his pocket, joined a group, in the centre whereof Jack Beaupeep was spinning a dessert-plate on the point of his f orefingei', and performing various feats of legerdemain. The drag being reported in readiness, this facetious young gentleman was obliged summarily to discontinue His performance, or, as he expressed it, " shut up shop, in conse- quence of the early closing movement"; and, after an agi-eeable moonlight drive, they reached town without adventure about eleven o'clock. " D' Almayne, my boy, what are we to do with ourselves ? " inquired the punning guardsman ; " I'm open to anything — except, of course, going quietly to bed." " Sure, and can't we get into a row anywhere, now ? — is there any gentleman's head handy that we could punch for a little harmless divarsion ? " asked O'Brien. " What do you say to kidnapping a policeman, charter a cab, convey him to a gin-palace in some obscure locality, fill him blind diimk, shave off his whiskers, blacken his face, and then dei)osit him at the door of the nearest station-house, to be pimished for insobriety, riotous conduct, and neglect of duty ? " suggested Beaupeep, with the air of a philanthi-opist proposing some plan for the benefit of his species. " Sure, an' it's a gi-eat idea intirely, and a thing that should be done forthwith," observed O'Brien, meditatively and approvingly. " You can, of course, please yourselves, gentlemen," replied D'Almayne : " but such valorous achievements are scarcely in my 270 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP line, or in tliat of my friend Lord Courtland ; ' n'est-ce pas,' Alfred, ' mon clier ' ? " " Yes, decidedly. I was going to propose that we should look in at J Street for an liour or so, and then go quietly to bed — I don't want to be late to-night." " I'm with you," chimed in the first guardsman, "what say you, Fred ? " " All serene ; though I was in a position to vocalize in the teeth of a footpad — ' vacuus canit,' etc., you know — regularly cleaned out, the last time I quitted those realms of enchantment ; but never mind, faint heart never succeeded with lovely woman, eh ? Go in and win, that's aboiTt the time of day ! " " Of night, rather," suggested Beaupeep critically ; then, assum- ing a severe tone and manner, he continued, " I'll tell you what it is, you're a set of very dissipated young men, and gambling is a vice of which all your anxious parents most strongly disapprove ! " " Faith, and if mine should happen to do that same it won't cost me any overpowering amount of remorse thin ; for me father died some years before I came into this wicked world, and my mother was so cut up by the catastrophe that she did not survive him many days," remarked O'Brien, with drunken gi-avity. And having by this time reached the door of the mysterioiis club in J Street, DAlmayne knocked a peculiar knock, and the whole party entered, with the exception of Jack Beaupeep, who, observing that he had to wi-ite a private despatch to the Pope, and a confidential note to Abd-el-Kader, before he went to bed, excused himself on the score of his official duties. As he turned to depart, he glanced at Lord Alfred Courtland, who, with flashing eyes and heightened colour, was the first to enter. " If that poor boy has not fallen into the hands of the' Philistines, it's a pity ! " was his mental comment, and he shook his head with the ominous i^rof undity of a second Lord Bui-leigh, CHAPTER XLV. THE OVERTURE TO DON PASQUALE. No one could justly accuse Mr. Philip Tii-rett, son and agent to the well-known Yorkshire horse-breeder, of that prolific vice, idleness — mother of evil— on the night and morning after D'Almayne's white- bait dinner. So far, indeed, was he from evincing any reprehensible slothf ulness in attending to his father s (and his own) interest, that AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 271 hastening, tlie moment lie quitted his companions, to his lodgings, he exchanged his evening costume for his every-day habiliments ; then lying down, ready dressed as he was, he snatched a couple of hours' sleep ; and, as soon as the first ray of daylight became visible, rose and took his way to a neighbouring livery stable. Arriving there, he roused a sleepy helper, and desired him to saddle the bay mare ; which, when his order had been complied with, he mounted ; and telling the man to have the tilbury and the chestnut thorough- bred ready by a quarter before eight, rode ofE. As at that early hour the entrances to Hyde Park were still closed, he followed the wind- ings of Park Lane, until he reached Cumberland Gate, when, giving his mare the rein, he rode at a smart trot down the Bayswater Road, until he reached the turnpike, after passing which he increased the trot to a fast canter. This pace he kept up for about four miles along the Harrow Road ; then tui'ning off to the right, he ijroceeded about a mile farther, until he came to a gate leading across a field, on the opposite side of which were situated a cottage and some farm build- ings. Riding into the yard, Tirrett gave a shrill whistle, and immediately a round, bullet-shaped, close-cropped head was pro- tnided from a stable -door. " Come and take my mare, Dick ; put her in and give her a handful of corn to nibble at. How is the Don ? " " He be a getting on stunnin', Mr. Philip ; I've kept him bandaged, as you told me, sir, and it ain't hardly noticeable." " Let me have a look at him," was the reply ; and after leading the mare into the stable from which he had originally himself appeared, Dick produced a key, and, imlocking therewith the door of another stable, Tirrett entered. In a loose-box, enveloped in cloths, stood a remarkably fine horse, which, as the door opened, turned its small, well-formed head to gaze at the intruders, laying back its ears and showing its teeth when Tirrett approached it. Master Phil, however, appeared perfectly aware of its varioiis little peculiarities, both of temper and bodily estate. " Put a saddle and bridle on him," he said ; " I want to see him out." The execution of this order invoked a scene analogous to the little " ballet d'action " usually performed between a refractoi'y child requiring to have its face washed and a firm but tender and judicious nurse. Thus, on Dick apiDroaching his charge gingerly, with the bridle held out in a tempting and sedtictive manner, that perverse quadruped immediately elevated its head to the altitude of that of a cameleopard, or thereabouts ; which, as Dick was rather under than over the middle height, completely frusti'ated his purpose ; whereupon the groom told Pasquale to "now then ! " supei-adding a request to him to " come out o' that, will yer ! " without unnecessary delay. If the demonstrative pronoun refen-ed to the Don's attitude, he did "come out of it" instantly, by turning short round, and in a most senseless and uncivil fashion presenting his tail to be bi'idled instead of his head ; but this little display of wilfulness and ill-breeding defeated his object, for by his sudden 272 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP gyration lie placed himself in a corner of his loose- box, where Dick cleverly contrived to pin him, and before (if he had possessed the faculty of speech) he could have invoked .Tack Robinson, clapped the bridle on him, and " brought him round " in every sense of the term. " Take the bandage off the foreleg," was Tirrett'snext order; as soon as the groom had executed it, his employer stooped down and care- fully felt and examined the uncovered leg. " The heat and tender- ness seem aU gone," he said ; " there's a little fulness still, but that will go down when you've had him out for half an hour. Does he show lame at all ? " "I ain't took him out of a valk, you know, since it happened, Master Phil ; but he don't valk lame none," was the reply. " I must see him out, Dick ; take him down to the meadow with a saddle on over his clothes. How is his temper ? " was the next inquiry. " Veil, he ain't jist the sort o' hanimal for a timid old gentleman, you know, Master Phil ; it takes a man to ride him ; but he'd be civil enough with you or me on his back, after the first five minutes," rejoined Dick, buckling the girths so tightly as disagreeably to compress the person of the irascible Don Pasquale, who, fortunately for himself, by no means resembled in figure his namesake, as enacted by the inimitable Lablache; but who still resented this indignity by making sundry vigorous but aboi-tive efforts to bite and kick his attendant, by which he obtained an exhortation to "cup!" (which we take to be an abbreviation of "come up!"), together with the inteiTogative remonstrance, " what are you ai-ter — can't ye ? " His toilet thus completed, the Don was led, snorting and curvetting, across the yard to a gate opening into a grass paddock of from ten to twelve acres ; where, as soon as he was fairly inside the gate, he commenced a series of violent pantomimic protestations against the indignity of being mounted ; nor was it until Dick, having exhausted his entire vocabulary of eqiiine endearment, had been forced to betake himself to a course of hard Yorkshire swearing, that he could be induced to stand still for ten consecutive seconds. That desideratitm being fortunately attained just before Dick became black in the face from the force of the language he was compelled to employ, the groom, gathering up the reins, grasped the fi'ont of the saddle firmly, and requested from Tirrett the favour of a " leg up," a demand to which that young gentleman responded by seizing him by the right knee, and flinging him recklessly upward into space, whence by a special mercy he descended on the saddle, and therefore on the back of Don Pasquale. Then that noble quadruped tried to obtain forcible possession of his own head, with the felonious intention of careering madly round the meadow, and annihilating Dick in his rapid cai-eer ; but the astute groom, fore- seeing some such catastrophe, would by no means permit liim to accomplish his design, but retained possession of his head by a strong hand, a stout rein, and a powerful bit. Frustrated in his AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 273 amiable intention, the Don appeared determined to prove to society at large that, if he had lost his head, he at all events possessed the f i-ee use (not to say abuse) of his limbs ; so he pranced, and sidled, and jumped with all four feet off the ground at once, varying the performance by alternately kicking and rearing, until he had in that rash and inconsiderate manner made the circuit of the paddock, when, finding his rider clung to the saddle with an adhesive perti- nacity which rendered the prol^ability of throwing him completely a forlorn hope, he apparently gave the matter up in despair, dropped quietly into the habits and customs of ordinary horses, and permitted himself to be ridden hither and thither at his master's and his master's master's pleasure. " Take him by at a slow trot, then at a fast, then at a canter," was Tin-ett's first direction ; when this had been complied with, he continued, " Now take him over the leaping-bar." Dick, who seemed devoid of all individuality of will, and to exist only in order to do as he was bid, without the slightest reference to its compatibility with the safety of his own life and limbs, immediately turned to obey; but Don Pasquale, whatever degree of fondness he had evinced for gymnastic exercises on his own account, clearly had not the smallest inclination to i^erform such feats for the pleasure of others : thus, when brought up to the leaping-bar, he not only refused to go over it, but actually turned his " head where was his tail," and dashed ofE in a diametrically opposite direction. But it was of no avail ; Dick, once mounted, was immovable, inexorable ; moreover, he wore a ])air of singularly sharp spurs, with which he had a disagreeable habit of excoriating the sides of any cantankerous quadruped he might bestride. So, after fight number two, the Don was again conquered, and taken over the leaping-bar, which he cleared in gallant style. " That will do, bring him here," continued Tirrett ; "he scarcely shows lame at all; but he's too fresh, his temper appears too plainly, he wants severe exercise. Will the fore-leg stand training for a race, do you think ? " " Yell, if ve has the doing of it. Master Phil ; so as we can humour liim, and doctor him, and vork him only on the soft turf, and little and often, not to overtire the back sinews, do yer see ; and keep him cold-bandaged at night ; and so work the horacle that fashion, the thing may be done without making a mull on it." Tirrett removed his hat, passed his fingers through his hair, re- placed it again, thought for a moment, once more felt the suspicious back sinews, shook his head, and then resumed : " Keep him out for the next two hours ; give it him sufficiently stiff to take the devil completely out of him ; then feed and clean him, and have him ready to show by half-past eight. Get yourself dressed, too, for if I sell the horse I shall let you go with him for a time — you understand ; but you shall have full directions when I see my way clearly. Now I must be off ; you need not come in, I can get the mare myself. Take him over that bar again once or twice ; it won't do for him to 274 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP shirk it wlieii I'm sliowin^^ him — remember, half -past eight." So saying, Tirrett returned to the stable, brought out his mare, re- mounted, and rode off at the same speed as that at which he had arinved. When he reached the livery stable whence he had procured the mare, it still wanted a quarter of seven ; calling a cab, he drove without delay to a small street in the neighboiu-hood of Leicester Square, and rang twice at one of the houses without producing any result, but a third and more strenuous application of the bell-pull uneai-thed a curl-papered and slip-shod maid-servant, who replied to his inquiry, " Whether the captain was at home ? " that he was in bed and asleep, for aught she knew to the contrary. " Show me his room," was the reply. The girl scrutinized him with a doubtful air, which TiiTett, perceiving, continued, " It's all right, my good girl, I'm not a dun ; " at the same time he placed a shilling in her hand, and, her scruples vanishing at the magic touch of silver, she led the way up two flights of stairs, then, tapping at a bedroom door, she exclaimed, — " Here's a gentleman to see you. Captain." TiiTett, without farther announcement, opened the door and walked in ; thereby relieving the gallant tenant of the apartment from an alarming suspicion which was continually haunting him. " Ar, Phil me boy, and I'm glad to see you are your own self then, and not a sheriff's officer. What has brought ye here at this onconscionably early hour of the night ? Have ye set the Thames on fire, or bolted with the Bank of England ? " "Neither," was the reply; "both exploits are more in your way than mine ; but I've not a minute to lose. I've just come back from the stables at Shark's Farm, and I'm to drive that green goose, with a handle to his name, down to look at the horse at eight o'clock." " You've got his Lordship so far as that, have ye ? 'Pon me conscience, you're a clever lad, and your father ought to be proud of ye," was the complimentary remark this announcement drew forth. Unheeding it, Tirrett continued : " And now. Captain, before we go any farther, let us come to a clear understanding ; the matter, I think, at present stands thus : I sold you the horse for 200 guineas, and half everything he might win during the ensuing year ; 100 you paid out of your Derby winnings, 100 you still owe me; you next made a foolish bet, when you wei-e half screwed, that the horse could perform an impossible leap, and in attempting it thi-ew him dowm and lamed him ; from that lameness he has wonderfully recovered — sound I never expect him to get ; though, with care and manage- ment, he ;may now be sold and trained ; but how are we to arrange about terms ? " " Terms, indeed ! " was the astonished reply. " Why, I'll pay you your second hundred out of the price I get for him ; and well content ye should be with your good luck, — for if the nag had gone to the AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 275 bad, it's more kicks tlian ha'pence ye'd liave got from Terence O'Brien." "Won't do, Captain," was the cool rejoinder: "I must have the hundred down, and half whatever you get beyond. Why, there's a bill of thirty pounds from the ' vet.' for time and medicines, besides the half share of the winnings which I lose by your selling him." The angry discussion which ensued, and which ended in O'Brien's obtaining terms slightly more favourable for himself, we will not inflict on the reader; suffice it to say that, ere the associates parted, all their differences were reconciled, and their alliance likely to be cemented more firmly than ever, by their proposed inroad on the credulity and cash of Lord Alfred Courtland. CHAPTER XLVI. KATE BEGINS TO REAP THE WHIRLWIND. Kate Crane was the eldest of a large family ; two children younger than herseK had died in infancy, so that her next brother was five years her junior. He was a fine, high-spirited lad, generous to a fault, as wilful and determined as his sister, but unfortunately with- out her power of self-control or steadiness of principle. Thus constituted, he was at once the darling and the torment of his family. Through Mr. Crane's interest he had obtained a good position in a large mercantile establishment in the City, where, though Kate had at first entertained considerable apprehensions as to his steadiness, he appeared to be going on satisfactorily. One moraing, about three weeks after the date of the occun-ences we have related, Mr. Crane having as usual departed for the City to coin money, the mid-day post brought the following letter for his wife : — " Dearest Kate, — It is with reluctance that I take up my pen to ask you whether it will inconvenience you to pay me a part of the next quarter's allowance you so generously make us, in advance. You know well how I strive and struggle to keep down our expenses, without depriving your dear father (who, I grieve to say, gets weaker and weaker) of the comforts which his declining health renders daily more necessary for him. My best endeavours cannot, however' prevent some of the tradesmen's bills from getting in arrear, — the fearful expense of your father's illness absorbing the addition to our 276 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP income which your kind husband's liberality has enabled you to make. Such a difficulty is now pressinf? upon me, and induces me to apply to you. If you can help me, I am sure you will ; if you are unable to do so, I can only trust that the beneficent Providence who has hitherto supported me under my heavy trials will not now desert me. Believe me to remain, dearest Kate, " Ever yom* affectionate mother, " Rachel Marsden." " P.S. — I am uneasy aboitt Fred ; his letters have been short and unsatisfactoi'y for some time ; and for the last three weeks he haa not written to me at all. I wish you would see him, and endeavour to learn from him how he employs his evenings, &c. You will think my fears unreasonal^le ; but you know how fond and proud we both are of our boy. If anything were to po wrong with him, in your father's present stat^ of debility, I believe it would be his death- blow." Kate's first impulse on reading the above epistle was to fly to her writing-desk — ten, twenty, thirty pounds, was all that remained : the liberal assistance she had bestowed on Mrs. Leonard and her family having reduced her finances to this low ebb. Reserving only five poimds for her own use, she immediately dispatched a hun-ied answer, enclosing an order for five-and-twenty pounds, and explain- ing, in general terms, the reason of her inability to render her parents more effectual assistance, promising to be more cai-eful of their interest for the future. As she was desiring the servant to ix)st her letter without delay, a shai-p knock at the street-door caused her to start, and she had barely time to close her writing-desk, ere Mr. Frederick Marsden was announced, and a tall, handsome lad entered. " Why, Fx-ed, how is this ? away from business at this hour ! what will that tremendous individual, the 'Head of the Firm,' say to you ? " inquired Kate, with an attempt at gaiety which scarcely concealed an undefined dread of something having gone wrong, with which her brother's unexpected arrival, and the information contained in her mother's letter, had inspired her. Young Marsden waited until the sei'vant had quitted the room, then, meeting his sister's glance steadily, he replied, — " It does not much signify what he might say, Kate, for I no longer am a member of his establishment." " What do you mean ? You have surely never been so mad — so ungrateful to Mr. Crane — so cruel to oiu- mother, as to throw up your appointment ! " *' Do not add to my misfortimes by upbraiding me, for I am wretched enough as it is ; or, at all events, hear what I have to tell you first," was the reply. Kate made a gesture for him to continue; and he immediately AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 277 bepran an eager, hurried recital of bis troixbles and difficulties. It ■was the old story — poverty and pride, temptation resisted often, yielded to once ; and that once effacing in a moment the recollection and results of the repeat-ed resistance. Youth and impetuosity, led astray by high and generous impulses, without judgment to control them ; meanness and malevolence profiting thereby to effect the poor boy's ruin. And as he stood before her, with his fair clustering hair in wild disorder, his bright cheeks glowing with contrition for the past, and real, earnest, good i-esolutions for the future, — with the tear-di-op sparkling in his bright blue eye, suggesting the childhood from which he had so lately emerged, while the compression of the short, stem upper lip indicated the approach of the full rich man- hood into which, if the world will but grant him forbearance for the present and fair play for the future, he will surely develop, — what wonder that his sister, deeming him more sinned against than sinning, shoi;ld press him to her warm woman's heart, as she murmured, — " My poor boy ! don't make yourself so miserable ; we must see what can be done to help you." When, however, she had in some degree succeeded in calming his emotion, and they came quietly to review his position, the said question of " What could be done to help him ? " appeai-ed no easy one to answer. The son of his late employer, and junior partner in the establish- ment — a dissipated and unprincipled young man— had, on Fred Marsden's first arrival, taken, or pretended to take, an extreme fancy to him, introduced him to his sporting acquaintance, and made him his constant companion. The first fruits of this ill-assorted alliance were, that the high-spii-ited boy, eager to vie with his associates, was led almost unconsciously into expenses, which soon left him first penniless, then in debt. In debt! — to owe a few shillings, a few pounds, appears a mere trifle — an imprudence, perhaps, but scarcely a sin ; or if a sin, a veiy venial one — a peccadillo, nothing more. Believe it not ! the fact of owing that which, if it be required of him, a man cannot pay, is the step across the Rubicon between honesty and dishonesty, between honour and dishonour, between being a free agent or a bond-slave. To be in debt is to forfeit self-respect ; to lose self-respect is to lose the practical i-esult of obedience to the guiding principles of religion and morality; a loss too soon followed by a distaste for the holy things thus dishonom-ed, by a relaxation of all attempts at self- improvement, by a reckless indifference to the opinion of the good and the true : — the stone set rolling gathers speed from its own impetus; the wedge inserted, the seam widens, and the stoutest oak is riven. Let a young man be once in debt, and no helping hand stretched out to save him from the consequences of his imprudence before the sense of shame has depai-ted, and the dereliction of duty acquired the fatal force of habit, and it does not require any very 278 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP profound experience of life to prophesy his future career. No one who has witnessed the mean siabterf uges — the palti-y evasions — the shameless encroachment on kindness— the parasitical cringinpr to opulence, which the burden of debt forces on natures not originally deficient in generosity and delicacy of feeling, but must dread for those near or dear to him the first downward step towards this abyss of misery, and exert every nerve to restrain them, ere it be too late. Frederick Marsden, ignorant as a child of the value of money, and imagining his salary calculated to supply his every ftincy, had spent it at least three times over, ere the uncomfortable possibility of being in debt occuiTcd to him ; and when he did open his eyes to the fact, his pseudo-friend soon quieted his scriiples by lending him a sum — not indeed sufficient to defray his debts, but to enable him to continue his career of extravagance a little longer. But the delusion was soon rudely dispelled : after a wine-party, at which Marsden had drunk quite as much, and his friend considerably more than was good for him, the latter, returning home, chose to follow and insult an unprotected girl. Fred attempted to restrain him, but in vain ; and on his instituting a more vigorous remonstrance, a quan-el ensued, in which, heated by wine and anger, the junior partner struck his subordinate, by whom he was immediately knocked down in return. Becoming from this moment Frederick's bitter enemy, he commenced a series of petty persecutions, to which the high- spirited boy submitted with unexpected patience, until on one occasion, stung beyond his powers of endm-ance by some unjust indignity inflicted on him in the presence of several of his fellow- clerks, he gave vent to his anger, and was instantly summoned before the head of the firm, and only saved himself from dismissal by taking the initiative, and resigning his situation, " And now, Kate," he continued, " I have told you the whole truth ; I own myself to blame, I see where I have been weak and foolish, where I have been headstrong and impetuous ; and I admit that by contracting these debts which are weighing me do^vn, and paralyzing any efforts I might hope to make to regain my character and position, I have acted weakly, and— and" — (with a choking sob) — " almost dishonestly ; — " he paused, then added, " and now, seeing all this, feeling it most deeply ; anxious only to retrieve the past, or if that is impossible, at all events to do better for the future, how am I to carry out my intentions — how prove to my poor mother that I am in earnest ? Oh, Kate, dear Kate, help me— advise me ! I know I don't desei-ve it ; but I have nobody but you to look to ! " Thiis appealed to, Kate would not have been the true woman she was, had she hesitated. Fred had acted wrongly, foolishly, but he had one nothing unmanly or mean ; he was her own dear brother stiU, and all the assistance in her power she would render him gladly. But what was in her power ? there was the rub. What were his own ideas ? Had he any friends, any future prospects ? Friends likely to assist AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 279 him lie had none — future prospects he had plenty, but they were very hazy. He should like to go out to India— could Mr. Crane get him a cadetship, or anything else which would enable him to earn his own living ? Kate did not know. Mr. Crane would, of course, be very angry, but she would talk to him, and see what could be done ; these debts were the worst part of the alfair— did Fred know their amount ? Fi-ed was not exactly aware of their uncomfortable total, but was afraid they could not be less than ^150: and a peculiar feature in the case was, that the tradesmen appeared by instinct to have dis- covered his altered prospects, and were all sending in their bills at once, and clamouring for payment. And so while they schemed and devised, and hoped, the time slipped away, imtil it approached the hour at which Mr. Crane usually returned, when Frederick grew alarmed, and would by no means risk meeting him until Kate had talked to him well— from which colloquial process he seemed to expect extraordinary results : thereby proving that this young fellow, however deficient he might be upon most points of worldly knowledge, was not wholly ignorant of some of the ai'cana of mamed life ; especially of those private enactments relating to the mainte- nance of the proper authority, rule, and goventiance of the wife over that legal and clerical fiction, her loi'd and master. When her brother had left her, Kate sat down, and endeavoured to review quietly and dispassionately the circumstances of the case. Her brother must be saved at all hazards ; as a first step, his debts must be paid; to do this .£150 were required, and she possessed exactly ^5, and would not receive any more for another month. She must apply to her husband, that was clear ; and now she should reap the advantage of her sacrifice. Had she married Arthur Hazlehurst, knowing that every farthing he possessed was acquired by his mental labour, she could not have ventured to ask him— it would have been unfair to him, wrong on her part ; but now the case was different. What were a couple of hundred pounds to a man whose income was reported to be .£20,000 a year? True, Fi-ed had thrown up the appointment which Mr. Crane had obtained for him ; this she knew would offend and vex him : worse still. Fred had run in debt— a sin which, as he had no temptation to it himself, her husband regarded with the gi-eatest hoiTor. He would be very angry with Fi-ed, and perhaps refuse to assist him. No doubt she had great influence with him, and where money would in any way make a show, as in the matter of carriages and horses, plate, jewellery, and the like, he was liberal in the extreme ; but on other points he was strangely parsimonious. She had never known him give a sixpence away in charity since she had been married ; and all such appeals invariably in-itated him, and threw him into a state of dogged obstinacy, in which it was perfectly impossible to influence or in any way control his actions. Her pride rebelled against asking him a favour, even for her brother's sake ; but the mental suffering Kate had gone through since we first made 280 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP her acquaintance, had given her truer views on certain important points, and she had begun to perceive pride to be one of the rocks on which she had shipwi-ecked her happiness, and had learned to mis- trust it accordingly. Occupied by such thoughts as these, she, for the first time in her married life, sat awaiting her husband's return with a feeling of mingled anxiety and impatience. At last the ex. pected knock sounded, and in due time Mr. Crane made his appear- ance in the drawing-room ; his greeting to his wife ran thus : — " Really, my dear, I must be excused for observing that I know no door in London at which I am kept waiting so long as at my own. I am sure my establishment costs me money enough ; but the better servants are paid, and the more they're indulged, the more useless they become. I shouldn't be surprised if I've taken cold standing there. I did hope — no doubt it was unreasonable of me — but I certainly did expect when I married, that a household conducted on so liberal a scale as — I must be allowed to remark — mine is, would be well regulated ; that the eye of a mistress would see whether the domestic duties were performed properly." He paused, so evidently expecting a reply, that Kate felt it in- cumbent on her to say something, so she began, — " If Thomas is inattentive, you should desire Roberts to reprove him ; and if that does not produce the desii'ed effect, give him warning and let him go." " Yes, it is easy to say, ' Let him go,' but you forget that one has to teach a new servant all one's habits and wishes. Thomas has lived with me for some years, and though at times he is slow and dilatory, yet he knows my ways — not that I require much waiting on ; thank Heaven, I can wait upon myself : still, I am not going to part with a faithful servant merely to satisfy — if I may be allowed the expression — female caprice." Having delivei'ed himself of this sensible and consistent opinion, Mr. Crane solemnly stalked off to prepare for dinner. Poor Kate ! she had by this time become acquainted with her husband's small and di'eary peculiarities, and she perceived, from his fretful, in-itable manner, that something had occurred to disquiet him in the course of the morning. It was clear that this was no favourable moment in which to make her appeal ; and yet time pressed. She trusted the dinner would produce a tranquillizing effect on him ; and she must choose a favourable opportunity, while he was sitting over his wine, to introduce the subject of her brother's troubles and indiscretions. Mr. Crane [reappeared with a gloomy brow ; he had been obliged to wash his hands in cold water — the hot was a perfect sea of blacks. " Why were his things not put out for him to dress ? " Kate believed they had been ; unless she was very much mistaken, she had seen them laid out in his dressing-room. " What, his dress shoes ? " Kate did not remember to have seen the shoes. " No ! he should think not ; the shoes were what he was particularly alluding to — they were not put out : ou the contrary, it took him quite five minutes to hunt for them. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 281 But it was always the case — few things as he required, those few were certain to be neglected ; " and in this strain did he bewail him- self, until, to Kate's inexpressible relief, dinner was announced. Without being exactly a gourmand, Mr. Crane took a deep and solemn interest in his dinner, the cooking of which he criticized with equal acumen and severity. On the present occasion he helped him. self to soup, and tasted the first spoonful with an air of anxious inquiry. As he became aware of the flavour, his countenance fell, and the shadow on his brow darkened. " Have you tasted that compound, Mrs. Crane ? " he asked, in a tone indicative of deep but tragic feeling. " It's rather salt, is it not ? " returned Kate. " Rather salt ! it's brine, made with sea- water, I'm certain ! such a deleterious mixture as that is siu'e to disagree with me : the way they dress my food in this house is undermining my constitution — bringing me to my grave ! I'm certain of it ! Roberts, take that do-v\Ti to Mrs. Trimmins, and tell her I can't touch it ; and mind such stufE as that does not come lap again. That's the way money is wasted in this family; that woman gets the best and most expensive materials, and then, just because she has not to pay for them herself, goes and spoils them by her unpardonable carelessness — it's too bad ! — oyster sauce. My dear Kate, you've given me no sounds now ! " "Really." rejoined Kate, colouring with annoyance, and making vigorous but fruitless pokes at the cod with the fish-slice, " really, I'm afraid there are no sounds with this fish." " No sounds ! " repeated Mr. Crane, in a high, whimpering falsetto ; " codfish and no soimds ! the only part, as Mrs. Trimmins knows, that I care about ! Serve up a codfish without sounds ! No, really this cannot be allowed to go on ; there's no man cares less about his eating than I do. Take it away, Roberts, I shall not touch a bit. A crust of bread and cheese, if it is but clean and wholesome, is all I require ; still, when I do sit down to a dinner, I like to have that dinner fit to eat. As a bachelor, I put up with such annoyances ; if they spoilt one's dinner, one dined at one's club for the next week, and so gave the cook a hint, which rendered her more careful ; but I own, when I married, I did hope that these things might be remedied ; that while I was out, working hard from breakfast till dinner-time, to provide funds for all these expenses, the eye of a mistress might have been applied to an occasional inspection of her household ; and that her husband's comfort would have been a fitter study for an amiable and domestic character than the immoral and pernicious wa-itings of German and French novelists. Take that horrible joint up to your mistress, Roberts, and bring me the cutlets and tomato sauce. I should have thought Mrs. Trimmins might have known by this time how much I dislike a great coarse leg of mutton ; but I suppose your rural tastes lead you to prefer it to a more refined style of cookery, in which case I must only request that your favourite dish may always be placed at your end of the table ; I declare the 282 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP sigM of it is enougli to destroy my appetite, and makes me quite un- comfortable ! " " Don't you think there may be a little fancy in that P " returned Kate, as cutlet and tomato sauce at last filled Mr. Crane's mouth, and stopped his gi-umbling monologue ; " I cannot help thinking good roast meat must contain more nourishment, and for that reason be more wholesome than made dishes." A struggle between his rising anger and his descending food having occasioned a fit of choking, which did not tend to increase his general amiability, Mr. Crane, as soon as he was sufl&ciently recovered, continued, — " Unless it may be for the sake of contradicting me, my dear, I cannot conceive — ugh ! ugh ! — I cannot conceive why you should imagine it possible you can form a judgment about the matter; with such a strong — I may say Hei-culean — digestion as you are gifted with, how should you guess how these things affect a delicate organi- zation like mine ? Toil can doiibtless eat these feai-f ul legs of mutton with impunity ; but were you to eat the legs of a horse — as I verily believe you could — that would be no argument in favour of dieting me on dog's meat. I know you think me fanciful ; your more robust temperament does not enable you to sympathize with the difficulties my delicate, sensitive digestion subjects me to — ugh ! " " The better way will be to give the housekeeper a general order never again to send a leg of mutton up to table," returned Kate ; " I have no especial predilection for the joint, and can dine quite as satisfactorily on anything else." " No, my dear ; I beg you will give no such order. I am not of such a selfish disposition as to wish the dinner ordered merely with a view to my likes and dislikes ; neither is it my desire to curtail any of your enjoyments, however much I may regret that they are not of a more refined or intellectual nature ;— have your legs of mutton as you have been accustomed to have. I dare say there will always be bread and cheese or cold meat in the house ; thank Heaven, I am not particular, anything simple and wholesome — give me some wine, Roberts ; no, the Burgundy, only half a glass — simple a,nd wholesome does for me. Roberts, desire Mrs. Trimmins to take care that she provides a liberal supply of legs of mutton for her mistress." " Really, Mr. Crane, you mistake me ; I have no particular prefer- ence for legs of nuitton, I assm*e — " began Kate. Mr. Crane raised his hand deprecatingly, and checked her in mid speech. " Quite enough has been said on this subject," he inteiposed severely ; " these endless discussions weary me. I come home tired and annoyed wdth the cares, and anxieties, and fatigues of business : and when I seek for quiet and repose in the bosom of my family, I am met by these frivolous and vexatious complaints, my dinner made a trial to me, and my digestion upset, my constitution undennined, and my comfort in my home— my domestic comfort, Mrs. Crane — AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 283 entirely destroyed ! However, one word shall end this matter ; if I am to be subjected to these ebullitions of — I am afraid I must say, a fretful and dissatisfied temjjer, I dine at my club in future." And having thus worked himself up into a mild, childish, and ineffectual rage, Mr. Crane continued to growl at his wife and harass the seiwants until dinner was over and the domestics had departed. And then came out the cause of this agreeable episode in Kate's married life — the " Bvindelcundah," East Indiaman, had gone down at sea, all hands had perished, and ,£40,000 worth of cargo, the pro- perty of Jedidiah Crane, had gone down with them ! Tears for their loved and ]ost ones dimmed the eyes of the widows and orphans of the gallant seamen who had sunk in the " Bundel- cundah " ; mothers wept as memory recalled some bright young face, glowing with health and youthful daring, which now lay pale and swollen in the depths of mighty waters ; girls, with blanched lips and hollow eyes, grieved for the lovers whom they should behold no more till the sea should give up its dead, in an agony of speechless anguish, to which the soirow that can find vent in tears would have been a merciful relief ; and Crane, the millionaire, fretted over the loss of his .£40,000 with a grief as lively and earnest as any of them — for " where the treasure is, there shall the heart be also." During all this scene her brother's difficulties were never absent from the mind of Kate Crane, but she felt that this was not the time to bring them forward, and kept silence. Did the idea occur to her how differently she would have felt had Arthur Hazlehurst been the person to whom she had desired to confide her ti'ouble ? Let us hope not, for her heart was full enough without it. CHAPTER XL VII. A GLIMPSE AT THE CLOVEN FOOT. " So he will not do anything for me ? " " Nothing, my poor boy ! " " And you asked him — pressed him very much ? " " Don't speak of it! I actually stooped to implore him ; I did my duty by you thoroughly ; I kept down my rebellious heart, though it throbbed as if it would burst. I told him of your youth, your peni- tence, and I entreated him to befriend you." " And he still refused ? " " He said money was ' tight ' in the City, and that he had none to waste on an ungrateful boy who did not know its value." 284 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " I am not likely to leani it practically now, unless by trying liow I can live without it. I have just five shillings left though as I am in debt, I cannot honestly call those my own," was the bitter re[)ly. Tliere was a pause ; then suddenly raising his head, Frederick asked abruptly, " Kate, have you got any money ? " "Never was anything so unfortunate!" was Kate's answer; "I have been at a good deal of expense lately in assisting a distressed family ; and yesterday, just before you came, I received a letter from mamma, telling me she was pressed for money in consequence of poor papa's illness, and, excepting five pounds, I sent her every ftu-thing I had." As she thus destroyed his last hope, her brother sprang to his feet, and began to pace the room with hun-ied strides. At length he exclaimed, " I'll not stay here to beg or starve — I'll enlist in a cavalry regiment ; I'm quite six feet now, and i-ide under nine stone : I should not wonder if they'd take me in the Lifeguards or the Blues." Kate's only reply was by a mournful and dissentient shake of the head, and Frederick continued, — " What ! you don't think it gentlemanly to enlist as a private ? Well, it would be a bore, having to associate with the common men — not that I've any false pride about me, but a gentleman can't help being a gentleman, and I own I should feel out of my element. I have it — I'll work my way out as a sailor to Avistralia, and go to the gold-fields— eh ? Gold is what I want, you know. I'll dig up enough to pay my debts, and keep a decent coat on my back for a year or two, and then I'U come home, and be a credit to you yet — why won't that do ? " " Think of our poor mother, Fred ; it would break her heart ! She is so wrapped up in you — has always loved you the best of all her children ; think of all she has upon her now — you would not add to her distress ! Oh, no, you must give up all such wild thoughts, it would be too cruel ! " As she spoke the boy paused in his impetuous walk, and murmur- ing, " I shall break her heart any way, miserable wi'etch that I am ! " he flung himself on the sofa, and gave vent to an outburst of mingled shame and contrition. Kate's unhappiness at witnessing his grief — which she could soothe, indeed, but of which she was powerless to remove the cause — may readily be imagined. Having after a time succeeded in subdu. ing his extreme sorrow, of which unavailing self-reproach formed the sharpest sting, Kate gave him thi-ee out of her five pounds, to pro- vide for his immediate necessities, and dismissed him, promising to take advantage of any symptoms of relenting which Mr. Crane might evince, again to press her suit ; and the poor boy departed, in some degree reassured by hopes of which, even as she expatiated upon them, she j)erceived the probable fallacy. As soon as he had quitted her, she sat down and fell into a train of gloomy and bitter reflections. Tliis wealth that surrounded hei', of AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 285 what use was it in her trouble ? None ! She could not convert it into money to save her brother ; and its possession had hardened the heai't of him to whom she should naturally turn for assistance — her husband ! And as she pronounced the name, an involuntary shudder came over her. She had sold herself to a man she despised for the pood of her family ; sold herself to save them from the curse of poverty ; and now, at her utmost need, her self-sacrifice proved un- availing — the money she required was denied her — her earnest pleadings were disregarded — the evil she dreaded had come upon her in its bitterest form, and she was powerless to avert it. Was it for this, then, that she had stifled the voice of affection in her heart — • was it for this she had thrown aside the priceless love of Arthur Hazlehurst, and embittered his life and her own by so doing ? And now the harrowing doubt which, from the first hour in which she had conceived the project of marrying Mr. Crane, to this moment in which the conviction of its fri;itlessness was forced upon her, had never ceased to haunt her, recurred with redoubled vigour. In so acting, had she indeed deceived herself ? — had she, instead of performing an act of generous self-sacrifice, committed a sin against her better nature, for which she had no justification, and of which she was now paying the bitter penalty ? As she thought it over, the conviction forced itself upon her, more and more strongly, that she had rebelled against the decrees of Providence, and sought to free herself and her family from the cross He had seen fit to lay upon them, by unlawful means ; that, blinded by the proiid and haughty spirit which precedes a fall, she had done evil that good might come : she had sown the wind — what wonder that she should reap the whirl- wind ! It was a cruel discovery to make now, when it was too late to remedy the evil ; but, fortunately, Kate had a strong, brave spirit for good, as well as for evil ; and though this new aspect in which she regarded her past conduct occasioned her the deepest remorse, though it displayed her faults of pride and overweening self- confidence in their worst and most repulsive aspect, yet she did not shrink from the scrutiny, but honestly sat in judgment on herself ; and where, weighing herself in the balance, she was found wanting, she recognized the deficiency, and unhesitatingly acknowledged her transgression. Yes ! she saw it clearly, now it was too late — in the deep, earnest, tender affection of Arthur Hazlehurst, Heaven had bestowed upon her an inestimable blessing, which she had no right to cast from her. By so doing she had inflicted the bitterest wound man can receive on him who thus had given her his all of love — a woimd which time indeed may heal superficially, but which contimies to throb and bleed internally while life remains; — that death-blow to hope which the heart receives, when the conviction is forced upon it that the idol enshrined in its inmost recesses is un- worthy of such holy sanctuary. Well, she had chosen her lot, and m^^st abide by it ; repining was worse than useless ; all chance of happiness she had forfeited by her 286 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP own act ; but there still remained to her tlie possibility of resi^a- tion, wbicb, persevered in, mierlit produce contentment. Could she gain that, and the self -approval of her own conscience, life might become endurable, after all. But, to obtain this, one path alone was open to her — the rigid path of duty. She had done Mr. Crane sufficient wrong in marrying him without affection, and for the sake of expediency : if she could not love and honour him— as at God's holy altar she had falsely sworn to do — she could at least obey him, and strive to render his life as easy and comfortable as in her lay : she would alter her cold manner towards him ; she would refrain from the covert sarcasm which lurked under every word she had hitherto addressed to him, and which so thinly veiled the contempt she felt for him, that occasionally even his dull perception penetrated it. Oh, how as the clearer light in which she now regarded her past behaviour fell upon each separate fault and error, did she abhor herself ! with what bitter tears of unavailing contrition did she bewail the thoughts, words, and actions, which could never be re- called ! — unavailing contrition ! yes, unavailing as regards the ii-revocable past, but the past only, for there was One who witnessed her true penitence, who has declared, in His gi'acious mercy, that " a broken and contrite heart He will not despise." How long she thus sat, reviewing and grieving over her past errors, and forming good resolutions for the future, and imploring strength from above to enable her to carry them into effect, Kate Crane knew not ; but she was startled from her reverie by a knock at the house-door ; and ere she had time to banish the traces of her late emotion, a light footstep bounded up the stairs, and Horace D'Almayne entered. AssTiming as composed a manner as she was able, she began, — " You are an early visitor to-day, Mr. D'Almayne ; so early, indeed, that Mr. Crane has not yet returned from the City." " I am aware of that fact already, my dear Mrs. Crane, having parted from my good friend scarcely an hour since, when I left him engaged at Lloyd's, going into the details of his losses on the un- fortunate East Indiaman. I was on my way to visit a friend in Belgravia, when a circumstance occurred which induced me to alter my destination and take the chance of finding you disengaged ; in which case I ventured to hope you would allow me a few minutes' conversation." Rather surprised at his mysterious manner, though by no means so much so as if she had been unacquainted with his habit of making a mountain of any molehill he might happen to stumble upon, Kate motioned to him to be seated, resumed her own chair, and wondered what was to come next. Probably reading as much in her expression, D'Almayne began, — " You will at once imderstand why I have thus pi-esumed upon my privilege as an old friend, when I tell you that I have just met, and AND ALL THAT CAjME OF IT 287 had a long, and I liope not entirely profitless, conversation witli your brother." " With Fred ! " exclaimed Kate, colouring with mingled surprise and annoyance, for D'Almayne was about the last person to whom she desired to confide her family troubles. D'Almayne read her thoughts. " Tour brother." he said, in a tone expressive of wounded feeling, "your brother, entertaining no unkind suspicions of my friendly interest, imhesitatingly confided to me the dilemma in which his inexperience has placed him, and which his want of knowledge of the world has magnified into something much more alarming than it really is. So I obtained his permission to speak to you on the subject, promising, if he would alloAv me to do so, that between us we should very soon devise means to relieve him from his dilficulties." " I'm afraid, then, you have only prepai'ed a fresh disappointment for the poor boy," returned Kate. " Did he not tell you that he had already applied to me, and that I was so unfortimate as to be unable to render him any effectual assistance ? " " Surely a word from you to Mr. Crane would remove all difficulty ? Believe me, you are the only person who could for a moment doubt the effect of such an appeal; "and, as he spoke, D' Alma jTie fixed his dark, piercing eyes upon her, as though he would read her very soul. For a moment Kate looked down in confusion and annoyance ; then her spirit rose, and calmly returning his glance, she replied, — " My brother, no doubt, wished to spare me pain, by concealing from you that I have ah-eady applied to Mr. Ci-ane ; but that, irritated against poor Fred, and vexed by the loss of this ship, my husband refused my request." Smarting under Mr. Crane's unkindness, anxious and unhappy about her brother, provoked at Fred's imprudence in admitting Horace D'Almayne to his confidence, yet clinging to the hope that her companion's tact and knowledge of life might devise some means of extricating her brother from his difficulties, Kate forgot her usual caution, and spoke eagerly and hastily. D'Almayne glanced at her as, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, she owned her vain appeal to her husband's liberality — never had he seen her look so lovely; he had always admitted her statuesque grace, but now the statue had become animated, and her beauty appeared to his fascinated vision enthralling, entrancing; while the absence of the reserve she usually maintained towards him misled him and threw him off his guard. Thus, utterly sceptical as to the existence of female vii-tue, urged by the impulses of his wai-m southern blood, and deceived by his experiences of foreign society, he conceived the moment for which he had so long waited and schemed had arrived ; gamester-like, he resolved to stake all on the hazard of a die; and, turning towards her, while his 288 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP voice trembled with an emotion which for once was not fei^ed, he exclaimed passionately, — " I have witnessed long and silently,' though that silence has proceeded from an effort of the sti-ongest self-control, the mean- spirited and selfish conduct of the cold-hearted, witless ' imb(5cile ' to whom it is youi' misfortune to be allied ; I have seen also, with sentiments of the warmest and most vivid admiration, the heroic endurance with which you have borae his insults — the gentle tenderness with which you have striven to conceal his faults — the noble generosity with which you have impoverished yourself to atone for his selfish parsimony. I have seen all this with feelings of the deepest indignation towards him — of the warmest, the most devoted admiration towards you. I have perceived the low, sordid spirit of the one — the beautiful angelic nature of the other ; and I have afflicted myself with a vain remorse when the reflec- tion that I was a weak, blind instrument in bringing about this incongi-uous, this most abhon-ed union, forced itself upon me — night after night have I lain sleepless, indulging in these sombre reflections. At length a thought, an idea, an inspiration, as it were, flashed across my brain, like lightning through the darkness that ovei-whebned me. The laws of man change, it said ; they are weak, vain, frivolous; a breath can make, a breath can alter them ; but the laws of Heaven are immiitable — written on human hearts, whence death alone can efface them. In the stillness of night a voice said, ' Look within ; read your own heart ; what do you find written there? Is it not that a strange, sweet, yet mysterious sympathy atti-acts you towards her — links you to her ? Does not an intuition teach you her evei-y thought and wish ? When she smiles, does not an extatic joy pervade your frame ? "When she suffers, do you not suffer also ? ' I recognized the truth, delightful yet exquisitely painful ; but I put it away from me. I said. ' Our paths in life diverge — the joy of such soul-communion is not for me — I am alone in life ! ' But I watched you ; I saw yovu* unhappiness increase; you required a friend — again the voice addressed me; it said, ' Be that friend; ' and I came, and did the little I was able to aid you. I was of use to you, and for the time I was happy. Once more, this day, when your brother confided in me, the voice spoke, ' Go, Horace,' it exclaimed, ' she requires you.' It had not deceived me; I found you pale, dejected, traces of tears on your silken lashes, sorrow marked in every line of your speaking countenance — in eveiy pose of youi- graceful figure; and with flashing eyes and burning cheeks you tell me of your wrongs. Again, at this moment, the voice addresses me :' It is in vain to strive,' it cries, ' you cannot silence the titterances of the heart ; they may be repressed for a time, but they will make themselves heard. Listen to their dictates now. She who is part of your soul is unhappy : she seeks affection, and is repelled with insensate coldness ; she requii'es a mind capable of appreciating and reciprocating her own, and is met by feeble in- AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 289 capacity; she asks foi* common justice — common courtesy, and encounters sordid illiberality, fretfid cliurlislmess. Oppressed by her dismal fate, she sits alone and weeps. And shall this continue ? — no! break throiigh the trammels of dull conventionality, and let heart speak to heart; tell her of your ardent sympathy — of your tender devotion ; ask her to permit your boundless love to compensate for the eiSfete indifference of her despicable pai-tner.' " Up to this point Kate had been so entirely taken by surprise, and so carried away by the A^ehemence of D'Almayne's address, that she could scarcely collect her ideas siifficiently either to comprehend his meaning' or to attempt to check him ; when, however, encouraged by her silence, he exchanged his German sentimentalism for the plain speaking contained in his last sentence, Kate's indignation could no longer be restrained, and she cut him short by exclaiming, — " Do not further degrade yourself or insult me, Mr. D'Almayne, by continuing to address to me language which I should have thought you had known me sufficiently to feel sure could excite in me no other feelings than those of contempt and disgust. Leave me, sir ! I am disappointed in you ; I believed you were too much of a gentleman to have presumed upon Mi-. Crane's mistaken confidence in you, and dared thus to insult me ! I shall now, however, feel it my duty to enlighten him as to the true character of the mau he liaa BO injiidiciously trusted." As Kate thus reproached him, a look of fiend-like malignity, com- pounded of disappointed passion, baffled rage, and an eager thirsting for revenge, passed across D'Almayne's usually immoved counte- nance ; it came and went in an instant, but not so quickly as to escape Kate's keen glance ; and, from that time forth, she knew that he was a man to be feared, as well as to be disliked. CHAPTER XLYIII. MAGNANIMITY. The malevolent glance with which D'Almayne favoured Kate passed away in a moment, and was succeeded by his usual expression of quiet, contemptuous sarcasm. " If you choose thus to i-eseut the warmth of expression into which my sympathy for your trials has betrayed me," he said, " at the same time that you inform Mr. Crane of my delinquencies, pray tell him of the attentions which you have accepted from me, as well as of the u 290 HARRY COVE RD ALE'S COURTSHIP one you reject. Tell him of the scroll wrapped round the rose-stalk, asking a private intei'view, which you instantly gi-anted; tell him of the ostensible visits to the portrait painter, undertaken to conceal the secret expedition to Mrs. Leonard ; tell him that this expedition was made in a carriage hired by me to convey you to meet me by appointment at a hoiise in an obscure quarter of London ; and ask him, as a man of the world, whether he imagines you went there simply out of pure benevolence, and whether that benevolence to the wife of a man whom he supposes to have defrauded him meets with his approval ; or rather, I will ask him all this when he applies to me for an explanation of my conduct." He paused, then perceiving from Kate's look of emban-assment and annoyance that she recog- nized and was disconcerted by the force of his remarks, he continued : " You now see the absurdity, as well as the danger, of threatening me. Were Mr. Crane to break with me toonorrow, it would only l^e the loss of a dull acquaintance — " " Indeed ! " interrupted Kate, with quiet but cutting ii'ony ; " I should rather have compared it to the fact of yoiu- banker failing." D'Almayne's cheeks gi-ew pale, and his lips quivered with suppressed anger, but he continued as if she had not spoken : — " His vengeance does not gi-eatly alarm me. A man who can snuff a candle with a bullet at twelve paces need not fear an old gentle- man!" — (he sneered as he pronounced the word) — "who pi-obably never saw a pistol levelled in his life, and woiild not easily be brought to face one." Finding that Kate made no reply, he resumed in a more conciliatoi-y tone : " I think your quick intelligence has by this time sho-\\Ti you the folly of quaiTcIling with me ; let there be truce between us. I will ovna. that, carried away by my feelings, I used language in which perhaps I was scarcely wan-anted ; but you must remember that the blood of sunny Fi-ance sparkles through my veins — that one of my parents spi-ang from a race, who (unlike you cold and cautious islanders), when they feel strongly, speak with warmth and ardoiu* ; and now say, is it to be peace or war between us ? " "I perceive that by my own imprudence, springing not so much from a misconception of your titie character as from a desire not to act from the dictates of what I strove to convince myself was an unfounded prejudice against you, I have so far placed myself in your power that I cannot in a moment judge whether I shall be doing right or wrong by infonning my husband of your conduct towards me ; but of two things be sure, first, that whatever I decide to be right, I will do ; secondly, that neither your threats nor your sophistries will turn me from my pui-pose ; for the rest, after what has occurred to-day, there can be no farther — friendship I will not call it, for it never was so — but alliance between us. I now know you, sir ! and that is enough." Again the evil look flashed across D'Almayne's handsome features, but so transient was it that even Kate failed to perceive it. DAlmayue's quick wit showed him that he had already gained an AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 291 advantage, which, if he could follow it x\p, would e your true name ; and that your identity with Le Roux, the croupier, was never even suspected by me. Of course, in these instances, I shall be swearing falsely ; you, truly ; nevertheless, I shall come off with flying colours, and you will be transpoi-ted. ' Telle est la vie ! ' Would you oblige me by ringing that bell twice, for the laoliceman ? " The transition, from the assurance of successful cunning, to self- distriist, anxiety, rage, despair, which flitted across the sharp but expressive face of Le Roux, showed how strongly D'Almayne's words had agitated him. For a moment, he stood trembling in every limb, clenching his hands until the nails dug into the flesh ; then, carried away by the impulse of his overpowering terror, he flung himself at Horace D'Almayne's feet, exclaiming, — " For God's sake, Mr. D'Almayne, have pity on me ! I am an old man, sir ; older than I seem. I am sixty -five next month ; I am, indeed ; and I have led such a wretched, miserable life ! I have always been somebody's tool, somebody's slave. Sir, I have been for years the victim of a monomania : as a very young man, I lost every ■^yn^^tcc^ AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 349 halfpenny I possessed (and that was enounrh to have secured me a competence in some i-espectable line of life) at the gaminc^-table ; and since that time I have been haunted by the idea that, by intensely studying, and constantly calculating the chances, I should discover some infallible system by which I could not only retrieve my losses, but realize a large fortune. Over and over again have I tried, and over and over again have I failed; until, at last, experience has brought some little wisdom, even to such a miserable fool as I have proved myself, and I have given iip all attempts at discovering a system ; but, sir, when this last hope failed me, the little honesty I had left deserted me, and you have divined the result. Mr. D'Almayne, I have a wife and three little innocent children at Biiissels ; they were to join me in America if this attempt (which they only know of as a mercantile speculation) had proved successful. If I am sent out of this country as a convicted felon, it will break my wife's heart ; and my little children will be left to starve. Mr. D'Almayne, for the love of Heaven, have pity, if not on me, on them ! " During this appeal, Horace remained in an easy and fashionable attitude, with his back against the closed door which detained his captive, and the points of his white and taper fingers inserted in his trousers pockets ; at its conclusion, he said, in his usual cool and indifferent manner, "I think, my good friend, you began this harangue with a complimentary appeal to my common sense ; not wishing to discredit your flattering opinion, let me ask you, is it likely that, having toiled and schemed for the last twelve months to bring these two projects of the gambling-house and the railroad company into working (and paying) order, I should allow you to go quietly to America, carrying with you the fruits of my labour, fore- thought, and sagacity, merely because, when your last subterfuge has failed you, you whine out a beggar's petition about the love of Heaven and a wife and three children ? Bah ! it is childish, it is really too absurd ! Still, for old acquaintance sake, I do not want to be hard on you; and if you will do exactly as I shall propose, perhaps there may still remain some middle course, by which such an uncomfortable result as transportation for life may be spared you. What say you ? " Poor wretch ! his crime discovered, its fearful penalty awaiting him, and the " tender mercies of the wicked " his only hope and refuge — with remorse for the past and desjmir for the future, rending his very heart asunder — what remained for him but to give himself up, soul and body, as the dupe, tool, and agent of Horace D'Almayne? Long and earnest was their conference: the valise was opened; money and papers produced and examined ; accotmts gone into ; arrangements for the present, and schemes for the future, discussed and agreed upon. The result may be summed up in a few words : when the New York packet sailed, at eight o'clock that evening, Le Roux had taken possession of his berth, with his valise considerably 350 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP lightened ; and Horace D'Almayne, having seen his associate safely out of the country, departed by the last ti-ain which left for London, some ten thousand pounds richer than he had been on his arrival that moi-ning in the good city of Liverpool ! CHAPTER LIX. HORACE WEATHEBS THE STORM. Mr. Crane obtained nothing by his visit to the city, except a bad cold, caught in a draughty omnibiis, in which he rode because he was too stingy to indulge himself with a cab ; all the men he wished to see were out of town, or attending some special appointment, and no information could he obtain in regard to the seciu-ity of his propei-ty invested in the "Direct Overland Route to India Railway " shares, so he i-eturned home in a worse temper than any in which Kate had yet seen him, and led her such a life of misery, during the evening, by means of a process termed, in the patois of back kitchens and washhouses, " nagging " at her, that when she retired to her own room, at ten o'clock, she was so utterly worn out, that she sat down and cried, from sheer nervous depression. If Arthur Hazlehurst could have seen her then, he would scarcely have recognized in that shrinking, trembling, spirit-broken woman, the proud, cold, haughty, beautiful Kate, who had won his heart but to trample on it in her career of worldly ambition ; — if he had heard her broken, faltering prayer that death might soon relieve her from the daily, hourly martyrdom of striving to render respect and obedience to a man whom she did not hate, only because hate involves some degree of equality, and Mr. Crane she too utterly despised ; — if Arthur could have witnessed her total prostration, mental and bodily, he would scarcely have retained his hard thoughts of her, although the gentler ones which might have replaced them would, in their way, have been exquisitely painful to him. The next morning, Mr. Crane's cold was worse, and Kate recom- mended him to dispatch a note to his man of business, asking him to come to Park Lane ; which advice, being good and sensible, was, of course, rejected, and Kate was asked whether, not content with impoverishing him by her extravagance and by the burden of supporting her i^auper relatives, she wished to ruin him quite, by inducing him to neglect the management of his property. Having AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 351 delivered himself of this kind and judiciotia remark, so well calculated to call forth and rivet the affection of the wife of his bosom, this noble specimen of "Man, the great master of all," took 'bus for the city, to clip the wings which, he feared, his riches were about to make for themselves. His man of business was again " in court," and tincome-at-able ; but when he reached the office of the " Overland Route to India Railway Company," he found there Mr. Bonus Nugget in as near an approach to a rage as was at all compatible with his high standing and intense respectability ; a frame of mind in which Mr. Crane speedily sympathized, when the disastrous intelligence was communicated to him that a sum of nearly ^18,000 had been drawn out of their bankers' hands, in the joint names of Horace D'Ahnayne and Herr Vondenthaler, the former being abroad, and no trace to be discovered of the latter. Poor Mr. Crane! he loved his money dearly, he could not bear to part with it even to pay a bill ; and, as to giving it in charity (" fooling it away" was the term he applied to such a senseless squandering), that was an unbusiness-like weakness of which he had never been guilty ; and now to have his idol thus rudely torn from him, oh ! it was too cruel. If Nugget had not been present, he would have sat down and cried, for his sympathy with, and pity for, himself was un- bounded ; but, as he was not alone, he swore instead, for the sake of appearances ; but he did not swear well : for to anathematize, " con brio," demands more energy than Mr. Crane possessed. Having sworn, however, to the best of his ability, he and Mr. Nugget went into the affairs of the company together, and really, according to the latter gentleman's showing, the speculation appeared to be progressing so well, that these ministers of Mammon agreed the defalcation must be made good and the public be kept in the dark as to aught being "rotten in the state of Denmark." So .strange and mysterious pi'oceedings were entered upon ; bills for large sums of money, drawn by Mr. Nugget and endorsed by Mr. Crane, and cheques bearing that gentleman's signature were deposited with the company's bankers, to replace the ^818,000 with which Herr Vondenthaler had eloped ; also astiite detectives were placed on that gentleman's track, and desired to look out for Horace D'Ahnayne, should he venture to set lais foot on English soil — an imprudence which Mr. Crane declared, confidentially, he was sure he never would be fool enoiTgh to commit. For once, however, that worthy man's sagacity was at fault, as he was informed on his retura home that a gentleman was waiting to see him in his library ; and greatly was he astonished, and if the truth must be told, considerably alarmed also, when the stranger proved to be none other than the unblushing Horace himself. Thei)* interview was long, but it ended much more agreeably than it began; for Horace, first clearing himself from the imputation of having had any hand in the railway company defalcation by proving that, at the time the cheque was drawn and presented, he was at Ostend, gradually elicited from Mr. Crane the fact of the anonymous letter, 352 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP wliicli, when it was witli mneli reluctance submitted to him, he at once recognized to be in the handwriting of the perfidiou.s Vonden- thaler. Having produced satisfactory evidence of this fact also, he produced something still more satisfactory, viz. certain bills promis- ing to pay on demand, at an early date, the cash which he had pro- ceeded to Holland to obtain. This palpable proof of his factotum's integrity quieted all Mr. Crane's suspicions, and D'Almayne was fi'om that moment reinstated in his pati'on's good opinion. But now, according to his own show- ing, this excellent young man was himself the victim of circum- stances. His name, having been the name selected by the forger Vondeuthaler, he felt that he ought to withdraw from the railway company altogether ; if he remained, he should always be an object of suspicion. He knew the nature of city capitalists well; they had not all such enlightened views, such generous souls, as his excellent friend Mr. Crane ; besides, he could not reconcile it with his honour to remain a director withoiit paying, in ready money, his share of the loss they had sustained by the rascality of Vondenthaler — a man who, he blushed to reflect, he had introduced. He would most gladly pay his share that minute, but he honestly confessed he had not the money ready. He knew what he would do; he would sell his estate in Normandy — England was the country of his adoption ; if he could not live there, life woiild become a burden to him. No ; he would go to France, sell his estate, and with the i^roceeds, return to redeem his honour. But it would be at a sacrifice ; he must part with his shares in the Overland Railway, shares that were cei-tain to become so fine an investment: did Mr. Crane know anyone who would like to purchase them ? Mr. Crane paused, considered, and then, in what he considered to be an off-hand, indifferent manner, though eager rapacity twinkled in his cunning eye and quivered on his trembling lip, he replied, " If it will be any accommodation to you, D'Almayne, I don't know that I should object to take your shares myself ; and, in regard to your Normandy estate, it seems a pity you should be forced to sell it at a time, perhaps, when you may not obtain its pro])er value. You have the title deeds in England ; suijpose we look through them together. I have lent you money on them already, and might perhaps be willing to advance you more on the same terms — six per cent., I think ? this would afford you time to look about you, and to sell your estate, if you must ]iart with it, to better advantage." Horace D'Almayne's gratitude was quite touching to witness ; so was his manner at dinner, which Mr. Crane insisted upon his stopping to partake of. Kate was greatly astonished, and not best pleased, to find him reinstated in his former high ])osition in her husband's favour ; Ijut he treated her with such respectful deference, and his conversation was so clever and interesting, that it was impossible for her not to contrast his social advantages with those of Mr. Crane, which did not gain by the comparison. Kate was nervous and unhappy, a state of mind in AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 353 wliich kindness, or its i-everse, is felt with a morbid deppt'ee of acuteness ; and just as much as Mr. Crane's peevish imtability oppressed and annoyed her, did Horace D'Almayne's soft voice, polished manner, and considerate tact calm and soothe her, and reinvigorate her drooping s])irits. If Kate Crane had a heart to win, now was the time to gain it. Horace D'Almayne was by no means a tyro in such cases ; he perceived the situation at a glance and availed himself of it to the utmost. When he rose to take leave, Kate, knowing to what his departure would expose her, and being, as we have before explained, overwrought and ill, forgot her self-control so far as to observe, " It is vei'y early ; are you obliged to go so soon ? " The moment she had spoken the words she would have given worlds to have recalled them. Her husband's fretful observation, " Really, my dear, it's j)ast ten o'clock," — and D'Almayne's look of triumph, ill-concealed under the guise of polite, conventional regret at being obliged to leave such kind friends, showed her the indiscretion of which she had been guilty. But ere she could sufficiently collect her ideas to attempt to redeem the false step she had made, Horace had bowed himself out. Then Mr. Crane took up his parable, and drew a feeble pictm-e of a vicious young wife, who, possessing a sapient, tender, and judicious husband, in the prime of life, laid herself out to attract the attentions of, if he might be allowed the expression, mere boys, who, fortunately for her, had too strongly innate ideas of— yes, of propriety and morality, to avail themselves of her very reprehensible levity, &c., &c. Poor proud Kate ! she bore it all silently — her will was now as strong for good as it had once been for evil, and duty sealed her lips, though she siiffered none the less for her silence. Saint Bartholomew was flayed alive, yet we nowhere read that the good man was garruloiis under the operation. When D'Almayne quitted Park Lane he returned to his former lodgings, and taking pen, ink, and paper, wrote the following note to the waiter at Liverpool : — " A well-wisher of yours has much pleasure in enclosing for your acceptance a ^£10 note ; should any impertinent inquiries be made in regard to the gentlemen who have visited your hotel lately, he feels sure you know your duty too well, as a faithfiil servant of the establishment, to reply to them in any way which might injure the interests of your employer or your own ! in which case you shall hear again from — "More v^^hebe this comes from." Having dispatched this Machiavellian document, Horace the indefatigable sought and obtained interviews with Guillemard, Bonus Nugget, and Captain O'Brien, from all of whom he obtained useful information ; then proceeded to the gaming-house in J Street, where he found the Russian Prince Ratrapski, unprofitably sober and playing for sovereigns only. To him therefore he A a 354 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP devoted himself with so much success, that between five and six on the following morning the Russian was taken home in a cab, con- siderably disguised in liquor, having lost above .£20,000 to the bank. It is a laudable practice of some pastors to exhort the members of their flock to chew the cud of reflection before they retire to rest, and so to strike a balance of the good and evil deeds which, in the course of that day's transactions, they may have performed. Now, although Horace D'Almayne had either no conscience at all, or one of such an elastic material that its expansive limits were still un- discovered ; although, moreover, if he belonged to a flock, it must have been composed of the very blackest sheep known to zoology, he nevertheless conformed to this good habit of self-examination ; and on the night, or rather morning in question, his meditations assumed some such shape as the following : — " Voyons, Horace, mon ami ! Tou have not been slothful, what have you accomplished ? the affair of Le Roux safely got over, without the fact of our having encountered each other being suspected ; good so far : but the interview might transpire at any moment : I dare not remain here very many days, scarcely hours longei' — Crane, ha ! ha ! there is no pleasure in duping him, he is so dense a fool ; but if there is no pleasure there is pi'ofit, which suits my book equally well — what between the shares and the Normandy mortgage, I shall draw ^5000 of him ; to-morrow morning I must obtain the money. — Then the Russian ; I did that neatly ; my share will be .£7000 ; though I shall claim more, for it was all my management — yes, when I turn my back upon this triste and mercenary country, I shall be able to take at least ^£30,000 with me." He paused, reflected for some minutes, then continued, " With such a capital as that to start with in America a man with a head on his shoulders may do and become almost anything, president perhaps, who knows ? She is ambitious, I can read it in her haughty glance, her queenly step ; such a career might tempt her ! " Again he mused, but the working of his features showed how deeply his feelings were excited. Rousing himself with a start, he ex- claimed passionately, " I shall fail with her, I know ; I feel it ! — she does not love me, nor, excepting at times when I make her feel my power, does she even hate me ; I wish she did, for then I should have more hope — why should she be so indifferent to me ? I have played my game well and carefully ; if I had it to play over again, I do not see how I coiild mend my hand. That declaration, perhaps, was premature ; yet with any other woman, though it failed at the time, it wo aid have told afterwards. I wonder whether she had any attachment before she married Crane ? that cousin Arthur Hazle- hurst, perhaps ; if so, she loves him still ; in that case, I need not seek far for revenge, even if she again disdains my iDassion. Married to Crane and loving her cousin, she must bear about a living hell in her own bosom. Sti'ange the power she has over me ; I really and AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 355 honestly believe I am as completely in love with her as if I were a green boy of eighteen ! if I had known her five years sooner, before I became so thoroughly and hopelessly involved, I might have been very different, who can say ? that old man Le Roux was right, the life of an adventiu-er is an unsatisfactory affair, either to look back upon, or worse still, to look forward to ; but so it is with eveiy phase of life when you come to know it well and examine it closely ; — for what are we placed here ? nay, what are we ourselves ? have we lived before ? shall we live again ? can spirit exist without matter ? who knows ? the religionist ? bah ! a set either of feeble-minded enthu- siasts, bigoted to childish superstitions, or canting hypocrites, who assume piety as a cloak beneath which to conceal their vices, as the devil is said to lurk behind the cross. Who then ? philosophers, meta- physicians, your men of science P solemn pedants, dreamy mystics, vain fools, who, because they have invented a rxishlight, fancy they can illuminate the universe — ah ! charlatans, all of them ; an adventurer's career is preferable to a life devoted to such dreary mummeiies, I may succeed with the fascinating Kate yet ; she was singularly amiable last night ! and if so, Horace, ' mon ami,' the line you have selected will not prove such an unprofitable one, after all." CHAPTER LX. ANXIETY. Harry Coverdale was blessed with an iron constitution, or, as he would himself have expressed it, the good keep and training he had come in for ever since he was a colt had put real hard flesh and muscle on him, so that take him when you would, he was always in work- ing order. Thus, although the hurried journey he had performed with a broken arm and a series of bruises from head to foot would have stretched most men on a bed of sickness, and although Scalpel Gouger, M.D., elongated his already sufficiently lengthened visage on beholding his condition, and prophesied results of which lock-jaw was by no means one of the most terrible, Harry yet experienced no ill effects from his imprudence. His stiffness wore off after a day or two, the biniises disappeared one by one, and the broken bone began to reunite as quickly as in the nature of things was possible. But although his bodily ailments gave him little cause for uneasiness, his mind remained a prey to anxiety, grief, and remorse ; for Alice, his young wife — the depth and strength of his love for whom he became painfully aware of, now that, as it appeared, he was about to lose her 350 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP — lay at the point of death. The demon of fever had fixed his burn- ing fingers upon her, and held her in an iron grasp which no moi-tal power seemed able to unclasp. When Harry an-ived, Alice did not recognize him, her state alternating between attacks of delirium, in which she talked with the wildest incoherence, and intervals of stupor, during each of which she lay perfectly unconscious and prostrated by the violence of the paroxysm which had preceded it. Poor Harry lost not an instant in making his way to her room, disregarding the housekeeper's entreaties to wait for Dr. Gouger's return. When he entered, Alice was sitting up in bed, with flushed cheeks and eyes brilliant with the unnatural lustre of feverish excitement, and talk- ing with the utmost volubility ; at first he fancied she recognized him, for regarding him earnestly, she exclaimed, — " So you have come at last, have you? — and now tell me quickly, what news do you bring me ? " Without waiting a reply, she con- tinued : " Why don't you speak ? No news, do you say ? — it is false, you are trying to deceive me; I can read it in your face. — What! have they met already ? then Harry is killed. Ah ! I knew it, I knew it ! D'Almayne is a dead shot — Alfred Courtland told me so in that letter. — What did you mutter ? — au accident, — it was no accident. — D'Almayne has shot him, killed him in a duel ; but it was my fault, I made him angry, — I drove him to go up to London, — it is I who have murdered him. Oh, Han-y, my own loved husband, if I could but have died for you ! — shall I never see him again ? " She con- tinued wildly : " Ah, yes, I must, I will ! Let me go to him, I say ; " and as she spoke she attempted to get out of bed. Throwing his un- injured round her, Harry prevented her from accomplishing her purpose, though she struggled so violently that he was obliged to obtain the assistance of the hired nurse who had been recommended by the medical man. " Alice, love, look at me," he said tenderly. " I am safe — I am here by your side — I will not leave you. Do you not know me ? " Gazing at him wildly, she tore herself from his embrace, exclaiming in a tone of horror, — " Know you ? yes, I know you, fiend ! demon ! you are Horace D'Almayne ! Do you come here with my husband's blood fresh upon your hands, and dare to insult me by your detestable caresses ? — are not you afraid that the ground will open and swallow you ? Leave me, leave instantly, or, weak woman as I am, I will take my vengeance into my own hands, and stab you to the heart ! " This idea that Harry was D'Almayne recun'ed to Alice's mind whenever she beheld her husband, and was the source of so much pain and distress to him, that for both their sakes Mr. Gouger for- bade him to enter her room for two or three days, by which time he tnisted the delusion might have worn itself out. The prohibition was a judicious one, as it enabled Harry to obtain the rest he so much required; and when, after an intei-val of nearly a week, he again returned to his wife's apartment, although she was still unable AND ALL THAT CAME OP IT 357 to recoernize him, she no longer evinced any repugnance on his approach. Her fits of delirium became less violent and frequent, but she appeared to be gradually sinking into a state of prostration, mental and bodily, which to the eye of the medical man was even more alarming. Her next fancy was, that Harry was her brother Arthm- ; she talked to him of old scenes and recollections, of their childhood, and half bx-oke poor Han-y's heart by deploring in the most pathetic terms the loss of her husband's affection, which she declared Arabella Crofton had stolen from her. " Ah, Arthur," she would exclaim, " it is cniel of her, because, you know, I loved him so very, very much ! Until I saw him I meant never to marry ; I fancied I could not bear to leave dearest mamma, and Emily, and Tom, and all of you. But it was of no use : he was 80 good and kind, and brave, and handsome ; and though he was a little rough at first, I soon saw what a noble, gentle heart his rough manner concealed, and when I foiind he loved me (for he did love me once, Arthur), how could I, how could any girl, help loving him with her whole soul ? " Poor Hari-y, as she thus wildly talked, would lean over and kiss her pale, worn cheeks, and tell her he was her o^vn loving husband, and doted on her, and her only, — that he never cared, and never would care, for any other woman, and she would smile faintly, and reply, — " No, Aithur, Harry would not say that ; he loved her before he knew me, over in Italy ; Alfred Courtland told me all about it, — how they ran away together, and all." As she uttered these words Coverdale started, and a shade passed across his brow ; not heeding it, Alice continued, — " Oh ! she is a dreadful woman, and so clever ! all the foolish things I did to pique Han-y, in order to regain his affection, she showed them up to him in a false light, and made him believe me as wicked as herself, and so she stole his love away from poor, poor Alice ; " then she would turn her face from him, and wail feebly like an un- happy child. At other times she would burst into the most violent self-reproaches. " Yes, I deserve it all," she would exclaim ; " I deserve to lose his affection ; what right had I to expect him to give up all his manly sports, which had made him so brave and strong, to sit at home with a poor foolish girl like me, who have not even wit enough to amuse him ; I who should have been too proud even of his slightest notice, and to thwart him and try to make him do foolish and wrong things, and to lose my temper, and grieve and wrong him, — oh ! how wrong and wicked of me ! — I must have been mad to do it ; and now he has left me, gone with Arabella Crofton to Italy, and I shall never see him again, never, never ! " and then she would break off and resume her weeping. And so the weary days passed on ; Emily, who had come over as soon as she had heard of her eister's illness, was an indefati- 358 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP gable nurse, and slie and Harry sat up with the patient on alternate nitjhts, Coverdale having on one occasion discovered the hired nurse fast asleep when she ought to have been wide awake and giving Alice her medicine. As soon as his arm ceased to cause him such violent Ijain, Harry's attendance by his wife's bedside became unremitting, and night after night he sent Emily to bed, and remained watching Alice's broken slumbers, or to the best of his power soothing her, during her fits of delirious excitement. Could those who had known Coverdale as the rough and eager sportsman, or the just, but stem and inflexible, magistrate, have seen him then, as (heedless of the pain of his injured arm) he tended with all a woman's devotion, and more than woman's strength and judgment, the sick couch of his (as at times he feared) dying wife, they would have been unable to recognize the same individual whose nature they, in their hasty judgment, had so wholly mistaken. His dying wife ! ah ! how the idea haunted him. Alice, his loved one, would die ; she would be taken from him while they were both so young, and he would have to live on during long, dreary years alone ! — alone ! yes, but how bitterly did he feel the hope-crushing significance of that cruel word ! true, his married life had been a somewhat stormy one, still it had taught him the charm of that spiritual companionship with a beloved and loving woman, without which a man's best nature remains incom- pletely developed. To feel a deep, true, and unselfish affection for an object worthy of so precious a boon raises a man's whole moral nature, and (if he is good for anything) makes him wiser and better ; to be loved in return renders him happy, despite the toils and trials of life. Of these great truths, the events which we have in the course of this history endeavoured to portray, had caused Harry to acquire a painful consciousness ; he had become aware also of the caiises which had hitherto militated against the full amount of the happiness to be enjoyed in such a position. He had learned from poor Alice's delii-ious confessions both the depth of her attachment to him and the fact that experience had in her case also produced its bitter but salutary fmits. Thus, should she indeed be restored to him, what a bright, enviable future lay extended before them ! even as the thovight occuiTcd to him, his eye fell upon her thin, pale f eatiares, her parched lips, sunken cheeks, and the dark, ominous hollows beneath her closed eyes ; nay, as she lay motionless, wrapped in a heavy, oppressive slumber, the hoiiible idea flashed across him that she might be dead already ; and with a shudder he placed his hand upon her wrist, to feel the beating of her feeble yet rapid pulse, ere he could satisfy himself that his frightful suspicion was but the off- spring of a morbid fancy. Still, the idea had occui-red to him, and he could not divest himself of it — what if she should never wake again, or if she should die without any return of reason — die, ignorant of the depth of loving tenderness towards her which filled his breast. Oh! if he could but pui'chase her life at any sacrifice; there was AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 359 notliing he would not gladly give np — wealth, position, even his cherished field sports, everything ! — how powerless he was, and how utterly wretched! Accustomed, as he had hitherto been, to rely entirely on his own strength, both o£ mind and body, to accomplish his wishes, the situation was equally new and painful to him. But Coverdale had a powerfiil and singularly healthy mind, and even while he smarted under this severe chastening, he recognized the Hand which inflicted it, and the purpose for which it was sent ; and, mindful of the lessons of his childhood, the strong man sank upon his knees by the side of his wife's sick cox^ch, and prayed to his Father in Heaven to si^are, in His mercy, the one little ewe-laml) without which he must wear out the rest of his earthly pilgrimage desolate and lonely-hearted. The crisis of Alice's complaint was now rapidly approaching, and Harry sent for one of the leading London i^hysicians, who, after a careful examination of the patient, and a long and solemn consulta- tion with Dr. Gouger, was pleased to say the latter gentleman had pursued exactly the orthodox method of treatment ; that he feared Mrs. Coverdale's state was a very precarious one, but that she could not be in safer hands than those of Scalpel Gouger, M.D. After Sir J. C had taken his departure and his fee of fifty guineas, Coverdale, who had sent Emily from Alice's bedside, with strict orders to take a long stroll and refresh herself, was somewhat surprised to see her return in less than half an hour considerably excited and with a heightened colour, which made her look remark- ably pretty. She beckoned Coverdale out of the sick room, and then began, — " Oh ! Harry, dear, I want to speak to you, please ; and you must be good and kind, and not fierce, you know ! " In spite of his heavy heart, Coverdale could not help smiling at his little sister-in-law's address. "What is it, my dear child?" he said kindly. "I'll promise to behave prettily ; my fierceness, as you call it, is tolerably well taken out of me by this time." "Well, I was walking in the Park, you know," resumed Emily, " and just as I got to Markum's cottage, I perceived a tall, aristo- cratic-looking young man talking to Mrs. Markum ; as soon as she caught sight of me, she exclaimed, ' Here is Miss Hazlehurst, sir ; she has just come from the house, and can tell you the last account of poor mistress.' Whereupon, the gentleman approached me, and taking oif his hat, said, ' I believe I have the pleasure of addressing a sister of Mrs. Coverdale P ' I bowed assent, and he continued, ' My name is Alfred Courtland. I do not know whether Coverdale has told you— (here he stammered and blushed, so like a frightened gii-1, that I began to feel quite brave) — that is, whether you are aware, that it was in my service he met with his accident, and that— that, in fact, I cnnnot but feel that your sister's illness has been, in great measure, brought on by my folly ; the consequence is, that ever since 360 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP I heard of her attack, I have been miserable. Coverdale said he would write me word how she was goin^ on, but I suppose in his soiTow and anxiety his promise has escaped his memory. I bore the suspense so long as I was able, until yesterday, hearing by accident that Sir J. C had been sent for, I could stand it no longer ; so I put myself into a train the first thing this morning, and came down to leara the truth ; may I ventui'e to hope that, as you are able to leave your sister, her danger has been exaggerated ? ' Then I told him that dearest Ally was still very ill, but that you were head nurse, and had forced me to come out to get a little air ; and I said I was sure you would like to see him. He was dreadfully afraid of intrud- ing, and for some time refiTsed to come, but at last he changed his mind, and walked home with me ; he's in the library, and you will go and see him, there's a dear boy, for he is very rmhai^py, and I'm sure he's a nice fellow." At any other time Coverdale would have been amused at the extreme zeal with which Emily had taken up and advocated Lord Alfred's cause, and have teased her about her undisguised admira- tion of the handsome young peer, but his heart was too heavy for jesting, so he merely replied, — " In the library, did you say ? it's very good of the boy to take such interest about poor Alice, but he always was kind-hearted. Go to her at once, Emily, dear ; she was asleep when you sent for me, but she might wake at any minute, you know — go to her, I won't be away long." On reaching the library, Coverdale found Lord Alfred awaiting his arrival in an extreme state of nervous trepidation ; gi-asping his band, Harry shook it warmly, saying, — " This is very kind of you, Alfred, my dear boy ; you see you find ITS still anxious ; I hope there is no serious cause for alarm, but you know it's a case in which a man can't help feeling very, veiy anxious." As Coverdale thns spoke words of encouragement, which his looks and manner, his quivering lip, brimming eye, and the forced cheer- fulness of his voice, alike belied, Lord Alfred, more deeply affected than he could have been by the most vehement reproaches, lost aU self-control, and, bursting into tears, exclaimed, — " Do not speak so kindly to me ; it kills me. I'd rather by half you would horsewhip me until I conld not stand, for that is what I deserve. Oh ! what misery my wicked folly has brought about ! But for me, you would never have met with this accident, and Mrs. Coverdale would have escaped the anxiety and the shock which has brought on this illness ; if I could but do anything to help you or her, I should hate myself less." Han-y approached him and laid his hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me, my dear boy," he said kindly, but impressively, " these things cannot happen to a man without obliging him to reflect seriously, and, as I hope, to some good purpose ; you should not judge AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 361 of your own conduct, or of any one's else, simply by results; we are instruments in God's liand to work out His designs ; and all that we can do is to make ourselves acquainted witli the rules He has laid down for our guidance, and strive to act according to them, but the results are in His hands, and there we must be content to leave them. You have acted foolishly, but you are aware of it, and sorry for it; and in such a case, to look back is worse than useless ; the only good in ever recalling the past is, that the recollection may guard you against falling again into a similar temptation should such a one come in your way. So much for sermonizing ; and now, you say, you want to make yourself of use, and I can see you mean it. My poor Alice's mother is a great invalid, and the shock of hearing of this affair has made her more ill than usual : she is most anxious about her daughter Emily — you met Emily ? " " Tes, a most interesting, charming young lady ; I knew her directly from her likeness to poor Mrs. Coverdale," was the reply. " Well, Emily or I write every day, but the letter ta,kes twelve hours to get there by post ; now. Sir J. C is coming down this afternoon to see poor Alice again, and Gouger fancies some change is about to take place in her ; he snpiDoses the crisis of the complaint is at hand — in fact — " Han-y paused, for as he spoke of the approach of the moment in which Alice's sentence for life or death was to declare itself, a choking sensation in his throat deprived him of the power of ntterance ; trying to conceal his emotion under a feigned cough, he resumed, " Now, if you wish to perform a really kind and good- natured action, will you remain here until the physician has given his opinion, and then take my dog-cart and mare, and drive over to the Grange and detail his report to Mrs. Hazlehurst ? They will give you a kind welcome and a bed, and you can either go to town from thence, or come back and dine and sleep here ; you'll not be a bit in the way, and will help to amuse Emily, and tempt her out of the sick room : for the good little girl is so zealous in her atten- dance on her sister that I live in constant dread of her knocking up, and then I should have two of them on my hands at once — what do you say ? " " Say ! if you think that by going to the world's end I can be of the smallest use or comfort to you, you have only to speak the word, and I'm off," was the eager reply ; then in a jjlaintive tone. Lord Alfred continued : " Coverdale, are you quite sure you don't hate me for all this misery I've brought upon you ? " " Go into the dining-room and eat some luncheon, you young muff," was the unsentimental reply; "why, you have not a better friend in the world than I am, or at all events a more sincere one, you stupid boy ; but, come along, I'll send Emily to play hostess, and mind you make her eat well. I know that girl will knock up if she refuses her corn." The luncheon passed off pleasantly enough — Emily not being overburthened with shyness, and possessing a flow of animal spirits 362 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP whicli even her anxiety for lier sister coiild not wholly overcome, chatted away so pleasantly that Lord Alfred caught the infection, and took his share in the conversation with spirit, so that when the meal was over, they parted mutually pleased. Sir J. C arrived true to his appointed time, examined his patient, looked grave, con- sulted with Dr. Gouger, and then the two medicos summoned Coverdale. As he entered, the physician, who was a tall gaunt man, ■with a large, sharp nose, raised himself on tiptoe, as if he were trying to fly, then giving it up as hopeless, subsided on his heels again, cleared his throat, stroked his chin, looked at Coverdale as if he wished to feel his pulse or give him a pill, and began in a bland and insinuating tone of voice, — " You are anxious, my dear sir — naturally anxious as to the state in which we (here by a little condescending but patronizing pantomimic action he indicated Gouger) have found Mrs. Cover- dale ? " Poor HaiTy, boiling with anxiety and impatience, shot a " Tes, of course," at him as if he had been a partridge. In no way disturbed, however, the autocrat of all the jjill-boxes continued, — " The duration of your justifiable anxiety, my dear sir, will not be much further prolonged ; in less than twelve hours the complaint will have reached its crisis, and the result will not be long in reveal- ing itself to educated eyes." " And you think you feel reason to believe that the result -will be favourable," stammered Harry, his stalwart frame trembling from head to foot with the emotion he was unable to conceal — " You do not think your patient worse than when you last saw her ? " The physician paused, then replied gravely, — " It would be mistaken kindness to disguise from you the truth, sir. Mrs. Coverdale is in a most precarious state — her life hangs on a thread; I do not say that she must die, but it is my duty to tell you that it is more than probable that she may do so ; the next twelve hours will probably decide the question. She is now appar- ently sinking into a heavy slumber — from this she may never awake, or it may be succeeded by fits of delirium, from which she would be unable to rally." Harry shuddered, then asked, — *' And what woiild be a favourable symptom ? " " If Mrs. Coverdale should wake free from delirium, so as to be able to recognize those about her, you may reckon that the fever has worn itself out ; and the only thing then to dread will be her extreme weakness ; in that case every effort must be made to keep her up : give her port wine, or even biandy, a teaspoonful every five minutes if she appears faint; but my friend, Mr. Gouger, is quite aware of the proper measures to be taken— she cannot be in better hands." AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 3G3 CHAPTER LXI. ALICE APPOINTS HER SUCCESSOR. That stipposed .trreat arbiter of life and death, the London ]:)liysician, bad departed, leaving' at least one aching heart behind him; for Coverdale could not disguise from himself that, although Sir J, C ■ had not actually pronounced Alice's sentence in plain words, bis intention had been to prepare him for the worst. In pity to Emily's youth and warm affection for her sister, he did not acquaint her with the immediate proximity of the crisis on which depended their loved one's fate and his happiness ; nor, not placing any great reliance on Lord Alfred Courtland's power of keeping a secret, did he enlighten him either; but he made some excuse for detaining him and offering him a bed. so that he might be unable to start on his mission to Hazlehurst Grange until the next moraing. As the evening advanced, Alice, who bad been alternately dozing and waking \ip to bewail herself in wild, incohei'ent sentences, fell into a deep, heavy sleep. Dr. Gouger, having yielded to Harry's earnest request that he would return and sleep at Coverdale Park that night, set out to pay two or three indispensable visits, promising to be back in good time. Abovit eleven o'clock, Emily used every argument she could think of to try and induce Harry, who had sat up during the last three nights, to allow her to take his place, but in vain ; and reading in his pale, anxious countenance that his mind was made up, she contented herself with obtaining his promise that if any change took place, she should be summoned immediately, went to bed, and dreamed that Lord Alfred Courtland was a Persian prince, disguised as a physician, who had brought a talisman to cure Alice, for which he was to be liberally and appropriately rewarded with her (the dreamer's) own fair hand and the Archbishopric of Canterbury. Emily had scarcely retired when Dr. Gouger returned. Alice was still rapt in a heavy sleep, from which, he gave strict orders she should not be aroused. " Who sits up with her P" he inquired. " The nurse, of course," returned Harry : " that is, if snoring in an arm-chair deserves to be called so ; and, until she is out of danger, or, if it should be so, until God may see fit to take her from me, I will never leave her ! " " Well, then, if she wakes cf herself before morning, be very careful not to startle or alarm hei-. Watch her eyes closely, and see if she i-ecognizes you ; if she does so, that will be a favourable symptom ; if 364 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP she speaks to jon, control yoiii" feelings, and answer lier quietly and calmly ; then instantly send for nie. I think you perfectly under- stand P Well then, as I've ridden a good many miles to-day, and have even a longer round to take to-morrow, I'll go and lie down. I shall not undress, so I can be with our patient the moment you send for me." Thus saying, the doctor, who was a short, plump, florid little man with a plain face preserved from insignificance by a pair of bright, keen eyes, and a magnificent forehead, yawned twice, and betook him- self to the spare room allotted to him. Twelve o'clock ! Alice still asleep ! The nurse having arranged a formidable line of medicine bottles ready for use, produces a well- thumbed volume from her pocket, and adjusting her si^ectacles, sits down to read by the night-lamp. One o'clock ! The nurse, after many fruitless attempts to keep up appearances, and delude Harry into the belief that she is wide awake, begins to nod over her book, occasionally varying the performance by trying to swallow a sup- pressed snore, and choking in the attempt. Two o'clock ! No change in the patient ; but the nurse, who during the last half -hour has settled down into a deep and undisgiiisable sleep, begins to snore so loudly that Ooverdale, afraid of her disturbing Alice, takes her by the shoulder and leads her quietly, but unresistingly, into the dressing-room, and seats her on a sofa ; to which discipline the nurse, who has once or twice before experienced the force of Han-y's quiet manner, submits with a lamb-like meekness and docility, of which those who had seen her tyrannizing in the sick chambers of her poorer clients, would scarcely have deemed her capable. Three o'clock ! How long the hours seem, and how dreary ! The stillness — broken only by the measured breathing of the patient and the distant snoring of the banished nurse — the deep, solemn stillness of a country house at night, becomes painfully oppressive to the over- •wi'ought senses of the watcher. Will the crisis never arrive ? Alice moves slightly, and moans in her sleep. Harry trembles from head to foot. Is she about to wake ? Will she recognize him ? No ! — she sinks again into a deep, heavy slumber, and Harry breathes a sigh of relief and of thankfulness that the fearful moment is again postiDoned. Four o'clock ! The dim grey light of dawn begins to peep in through the opening in the shutters, caiising the lamp to shed lurid, flickering rays round the sick room, and thus adding to rather than diminishing, the darkness. How cold it has become ! and how every nerve and fibre in Harry's injured arm aches and throbs ! What an etenaity of anguish appears capable of being condensed into a few minutes of severe bodily pain ! Hark ! what is that low, wailing sound outside the window ? He starts, and turns pale ! Why do those foolish, hateful legends of banshees throng and crowd into his brain? Why does he remember with shivering dread that old wife's tale of a white lady who weeps and wrings her hands before the death of any member of the AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 30j Coverdale family ? He lauj^lied at it as a boy, and dressed himself in white to frighten the maids. He cannot laugh at it now ! Again it comes, louder and more prolonged ; but he knows this time that it is the howling of a dog — the King Charles's spaniel, Alice's pet, which he has been obliged to have tied up, lest it might disturb her ; but hitherto it had bome its confinement quietly . "Why should it howl so dismally to-night ? Did any strange instinct warn it of its mistress's danger ? Ah ! that word — danger ; — yes, a danger from which all his deep fervent love, and his unequalled, manly strength, were alike powerless to shield her. How crushed, and helpless, and miserable, well-nigh despairing, he feels ! And yet are they not both in the hands of a merciful Father ? God's will be done ! but as the words of resignation pass his lips, the big tears roll down his cheeks as the recollection of all that he might be resigning wrung his loving breast. Covering his eyes with his hand, he strove to shut out all thought, all feeling ! How long he remained in this position he never knew; but as soon as he removed his hand, it struck him that Alice had changed her attitude. Shading his eyes from the glare of the lamp, he gazed earnestly at her. Tes, she had moved, and surely she was awake. While he yet looked, unable to trust the evidence of his senses, a soft, faint voice, scarcely above a whisper, pronounced his name: so low was the sound, that, fancying it might be a delusion of his own overwrought senses, Harry bent down his head, as he asked, in a quiet, gentle tone of voice, — " Alice, darling are you awake ? Did you call me ? " For a moment there was no reply, and then the same gentle voice whispered, — " Harry, dear, you have been away a long, long time." As she spoke, she tried to raise her arm to draw his face nearer ; but the wasted muscles refused to do their duty, and the poor thin almost transparent hand, di'opped powerless beside her. " I am very weak. Hairy, love," she said ; then, with an effort at recollection, she added : " Where am I ? — here, at home ? Have I been ill long ? " " You have been very ill, my own darling ; but you will soon get well now. Don't try to talk, or think about it yet. I will fetch you a soothing draught, and then you must endeavour to go to sleep again." Fearful of over-exciting her, he rose to call the nurse. As he turned to leave her for this purpose, Alice again stretched out her hand to detain him. " Harry, love, do not go away, please. I will do everything you tell me, but I shall die if I lose you again." Harry stooped and kissed her pale, thin cheek. " I am only going to call the nurse," he said. " I will never leave you any more, dearest ! " Alice faintly endeavoured to return his caress, and sank back exhausted on her pillow. 366 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP HaiTy roused the still sleeping nurse, and dispatched lier to summon Dr. Gouger. Then returning to his wife's bedside, he took her thin hand in his ; and as his affectionate pressure was feebly returned, the hope that Alice might be restored to him — a hope which that night of anxious watching had nearly destroyed — began once more to reanimate him. Dr. Gouger, accustomed to be called up at all hours of the night, made his appeai-ance in an incredibly shoi't space of time. As he approached the bed, Alice perceived him, and smiled faintly in token of recognition— a favourable symptom, at which the doctor nodded approval. Having made a careful examination of the patient, he prepared a draught, which he gave her. Then saying, " Now try and go to sleep, my dear madam, and I trust to find you much refreshed to-morrow morning," he turned to leave the room. HaiTy followed him to the door. *' Well ? " he said, in a tone of the deepest anxiety. '■ The disease has worn itself out. Mrs. Coverdale is free from fever, and the only thing we have now to fear is weakness," was the doctor's reply. " She must be kept perfectly quiet both in mind and body for some days. "When she wakes in the morning, throw a cape or something over that arm of yours ; it might give her a shock if she were to perceive it suddenly. It is a very favourable symptom her having recovered consciousness so completely, — in fact, the case is going on as well as, under the circumstances, I conceive to be possible." " Thank GOD ! " was all the reply Harry could make ; but as Alice, with her hand in his, fell into a sound, refreshing slumber, his whole soul poured itself out in silent but heartfelt thanksgiving to the Father of all mercies, who had accepted his penitence, and again entrusted to his care the tender flower which, in his inconsiderate carelessness, he had once neglected. When Emily came down to breakfast on the following morning, she quite started with pleased surprise to perceive the bright, happy expression of her brother-in-law's countenance. " I need not ask whether Alice is better," she began ; " I can read it in your face. But has any gi-eat change taken place since yester- day?" In reply to her question, Harry told her all — told her even more than he had ever confessed to himself — how, day by day, his hopes had diminished and his fears increased, until, after the physician's caution on the previous morning, he had made up his mind that the medical men considered Alice dying ; how he had concealed from her that the crisis of the complaint was at hand ; and how he had passed the night in an agony of trembling expectation, longing for and yet dreading the moment in which she should awake ; together with his delight when he heard her pronoimce his name. Lord Alfred Courtland set off in high glee for Hazlehurst Grange, certain of a hearty welcome, as bearer of such good AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 367 tidinsrs, and happier, as he dechired, than he had felt for the last six months. A week passed away. For two or three days, Alice appeared to progress favourably — as favourably as even her husband's anxiety could desire. She knew every one, and conversed reasonably upon all subjects ; but with the return of consciousness, a settled melan- choly appeared to have taken possession of her. This, together with her extreme weakness, gave uneasiness alike to her indefatigable nurses, Harry and Emily, and to Dr. Gouger. Taking Harry aside one morning, he began, — " There are symptoms about Mrs. Coverdale which I cannot under- stand, and which appear to me more mental than bodily. They are retarding her recovery ; and if you could ascertain the cause, and were able to remove it, I do not hesitate to tell you that you would prove a more effectual physician than I, or any one else, can be to her ; but you must bear in mind her state of extreme debility ; she is not fit to discuss any exciting topic at present." *' Then how would you recommend me to proceed ? " inquired Harry, the doctor's warning having impressed him with two diametx'ically opposite ideas : — first, that it behoved him to ascertain whether anything, and (if anything) what, was preying upon his wife's mind ; and, secondly, that by so doing, he should probably lead her to talk on some exciting subject, which, in her present weak state, was the thing of all others to be avoided. How were these difficulties to be reconciled ? Dr. Gouger's ansvver did not tend greatly to elucidate matters. " Really, my dear sir, that is a point on which I can give you no advice. In the treatment of all bodily ailments, I, with all due deference to my professional bi-ethren, consider myself as com- petent as any man ; but were I so far to overstep my proper province as to attempt to ' minister to a mind diseased,' as our great poet has it, I shoxild be guilty of unpardonable presumption. No, my dear sir, I have given you the suggestion, and must leave it to your sound judgment how far, or in what way, it may be desirable to act upon it." Poor Harry! just the very points upon which he felt most incompetent to form an opinion were those on which he was called upon to decide and act ; but Harry had one adviser which never failed him — his own simple, straightforward commonsense ; and to that, and the so-called chapter of accidents, he resolved to trust. During the remainder of that dtiy, however, the aforesaid chapter did not afford him the opportimity he sought for. Alice appeared weak and depressed, and more inclined to sleep than to converse. On the following morning, she seemed a degree stronger and less disinclined to exertion. She inquired into the particulars of the steeple-chase, and especially interested herself in all the details relat- ing to the leap at which he met with his accident, and his " pluck " in remounting and winning the race with a broken arm. 3G8 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP After Hariy bad ^iven a full, true, and particular account of the affair from beg^inning to end, and bis wife bad evinced all proper interest and sympatby, a pause ensued in tbe conversation, wbich was broken by Alice. " Emily bas been telling me bow you would sit up witb me, nigbt after nigbt, wben you ougbt to bave been lying in bed yourself witb your poor arm," sbe said ; " bow kind and good it was of you ! I bope you do not suffer very miicb pain now ? " *' Ob, no ! it is troublesome at times, biit in general it is pretty easy," was tbe reply. After anotber pause, Alice asked, in a low, trembling voice, — " Did you tbink I sbould die, HaiTy ? " " I was natm-ally very anxious and unhappy about you," returned Coverdale, " and^well, since you are getting on so nicely, I will confess that I was terribly frightened about you at one time, — that night on which tbe crisis took place especially ; I never wish to pass such another six hours, I assiire you ! " " HaiTy, love, I hope it would not make you very unhappy to lose me. Just a little sori-y I sbould wish you to feel ; I should like you, when you are recollecting me, to think, ' she was a poor, foolish little thing, very obstinate and perverse at times, but still she loved me as well as such a silly little thing could.' " " Alice, my own darling, why indulge in such gloomy fancies ? " replied her husband tenderly; "you know, you must be sure, it woidd break my heart to lose you. Ask Emily whether I am not a different creature since the doctors bave pronoimced you out of danger P " " Harry, my own dearest husband, I love to hear you say that, and I know it is true ; but, dear Harry, you must not be very unhappy if stich a thing were to occur, for — for — I think I shall die yet ; I tbink I grow weaker and weaker every day ; I shall never bave strength enough to get well again." Coverdale was about to interrupt her, but she placed her finger on bis lips to imply her wish that be should remain silent as sbe con- tinued, — " Yes, dearest, I believe I am gradually sinking into my grave ; it made me very, very unhapi)y at first ; for life is pleasant, and I am yoimg to die ! besides. I know, love, what a bad, tiresome wife I liaA^e been to you, and I did so want to try if I could not do better ; I know what a proud, rebellious, wilful temper I have shown towards you, but indeed I don't tbink I bave altogether a bad heart, and I did hope if I tried very bard, perhaps I coiild make you happy ; but lately I have begun to think it may be better for you as it is." " My own darling, what strange, silly fancies are these ? Gouger says you are going on as well as possible ; you make me wretched to hear you talk so, and what do you mean by it being better for me as it is ? If I were to lose you, I sbould never know another happy hour." AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 3G9 " Ton tliink so now, deai'," was the reply, " and very kind it is of you to be so fond of your naughty, tii'esome little wife ; and I know you will be very unhappy at first when I die ; but you must go abroad or take a shooting tour somewhere, to keep you from thinking and fretting about me ; and — you must not be angry at what I am going to say, dear — in a year or so you must come back, and then you can maiTy some one who will make you a better wife than jjooi", silly little Alice — some one who has been attached to you a long time, and whom there will be no I'eason why you should not love in return when I am out of the way ; she is more clever and courageous than I am, and vsall be able to enter into your pursuits, and help you with your magistrate's business, and — and — oh ! I am sure you will be very happy with her, dear ! " CHAPTER LXIL MRS, COVERDALE THINKS BETTER OF IT, Harry listened with all the patience he could muster while Alice was thus comfortably arranging her o"vvn decease and his second marriage, then speaking gi-avely, though still in the most affectionate manner, he replied, — " I cannot even feel annoyed with yoti now you are so ill and weak, nay poor child, but the matter to which you allude is most repugnant and distasteful to me ; it is a subject, in fact, on which I wonld not allow any human being but yoiu-self to address me. I will not pretend to niisvmderstand your allusion; but I do most solemnly assure you that you are mistaken, and that were it, indeed, God's will that you should be taken from me, no new ties should come between my soul and the memory of the only woman, except my poor mother, whom I have ever really loved. I see that you do not believe me ! it is unjust, almost unkind of you ! " Harry spoke with deep feeling ; and. Alice, with tears in her eyes, placed her poor, thin hand within that of her husband as she replied, — " I do most fully believe that you love me as you say, and that at this moment you do not imagine you could be happy with anybody else, but it is a comfort to me to think that when I am parted from yoix there will still be some one to care for you. I assure you I feel quite differently towards Miss Crofton now ; I was jealous of her, dreadfully jealous— I confess it ! but I now am grateful to her for £ b 370 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP loving you, and sorry I ever entertained such uncharitable feelings towards her. I mean to leave her all my jewels, except one or two little things I should like to give poor Emily." Alice paused, partly through weakness, partly because she wanted her husband to signify his approval of her sentiments, which she considered was the least he could do, in return for what was, in fact, to her, an act of almost supei'human charity and self-denial. But Coverdale was in no humour to comply with her desire ; on the con- trary, so distasteful was the whole matter, and poor Alice's idea of the situation so far from the truth, that he was driven to his wits' end with perplexity and annoyance, which nothing but a sense of his wife's unfitness to sustain so energetic a mode of address prevented from breaking forth in a burst of his " quiet manner." As he con- tinued silent, Alice resumed : — " You mvist not be angry with me for knowing about it, HaiTy dear, for the knowledge was forced upon me, nor was I aware what Lord Alfred Courtland was about to tell me until I had heard so much that my womanly dignity would not allow me to stop him ; I did not choose to let him think I could believe it possible you had done anything I should be afraid to hear, and so he told me all." " And pray what might all be ? " inquired Harry, as calmly as he was al)le. " Oh ! about her being in love with you, and your a'unning away together, and old Mr. Somebody (I can't remember names) taking her away again, and preventing you from marrying her ; yes, he told me all about it." " He told you a pack of lies, so mixed up with a little truth, that unless I were able to give you a detailed account of the affair I could not separate them, and I am under a solemn promise not to say any- thing about it : but I know what I wiU do. In the meantime believe this — I love you with my whole lieai't and soul, and you only, and if you have any regard for me you will strive to banish all these silly fancies, which only delay your recovery, and get well as fast as you can for my sake. And now you have talked more than is good for you, so I shall send Emily to you to read you to sleep." As soon as he had put this resolution into practice, he betook himself to the library, and wrote as follows : — " Dear Arabella, — The promise I made you at the inn, at Fiumalba, I have up to this time kept faithfully ; I now ask you to release me from it. My wife's happiness (in which my own is bound up), perhaps her life even, depends upon your doing so: she has just passed the crisis of a brain fever, her bodily weakness is lamentable to witness, and the mental depression naturally arising from it leads her to take a morbid and desponding view of her own chances of recovery : in such a position, anything that will conduce to raise her spirits and tranquillize her mind will effect more than AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 371 twenty doctors. Some mischief-maker lias caused her to obtain a garbled account of a certain occurrence, to which I will not farther refer ; nothing but the whole truth will suffice to set her mind at rest. Arabella ! I deeply regret this necessity ; but it cannot be avoided, and I trust to you to act towards me as I would act by you if the situation were reversed. " I remain always, " Your true and sincere friend, "Haert Coverdale." For two or three days after that on which the foregoing conversa- tion between Coverdale and his wife took place, Alice continued much in the same condition, the idea that she should die, and that after her death Harry would espouse Arabella Crofton, and be much happier than she had been able to make him, appeared never absent from her mind ; her appetite decreased, her sleep became broken and fitful, and Mr. Gouger's face grew longer, and his head shook more and more like that of Lord Bui'leigh in the " Critic," every time he visited her. One morning, on Coverdale's return from the neighboiiring town, whither he had ridden to procure some delicacy wherewith to try and tempt Alice's capricious appetite, he was equally surprised and pleased on entering her room to perceive a brightness in her eye and a colour in her cheek, such as he had feared never to see there again. " Why, Alice darling, this fine morning has inspired you — you are looking more like yourself than I have seen you this many a long day!" he exclaimed, as he seated himself by the easy-chair which Alice had gained sufficient strength to use as a substitute for her couch. Regarding him with a smile and blush, which tinged her pale cheeks with the most delicate rose-colour, she replied, — " You have grown very clever in reading people's faces of late, Harry dear; but you are quite right in fancying something has inspired me— at least, if feeling very happy is what you mean by inspiration. But oh ! how foolish I have been ! how wrong, how unjust I was ever to doubt you ! Harry dearest, can you forgive me for not feeling certain that you had always acted as nobly and generously before I knew you as you have done since ? If you could tell how I hate and despise myself for my silly, illiberal suspicions ! But you must wonder all this time what has set me raving in this strange way. What do you think of my having had a letter from — yes ! actually from Miss Crofton, telling me — here, read it yourself, I am certain every word of it is true ; and oh ! how I pity her for being obliged to write it, and, indeed, for the whole affair, poor thing ! " As Alice spoke she drew a letter from the pocket of her dress, and gave it to her husband ; it ran as follows : — " I have received a note from Mr, Coverdale, urging me to release 372 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP liim from a promise lie most kindly made me at a time when, bowed down by sliame and contrition, liis doing so saved me, as I verily believe, from madness or suicide. He tells me your bealtb and his happiness depend upon my complying with his request ; it becomes then a duty in me to do so ; and, however painful it may be, I will not flinch from it. It appears to me that the most effectual way to remove any misapprehension from your mind in regard to the natiire and extent of my acquaintance with Mr. Coverdale before his marriage will be to give you a concise account of the occurrences which took place during the summer I spent in Italy, whither I had accompanied a family of the name of Muir, in the capacity of governess. The Muirs were well-meaning, commonplace people, not possessing the slightest tact or refinement of feeling. I was at that time young and morbidly sensitive ; and the slights they put upon me, without, as I can now perceive, intending any unkindness, or, indeed, being aware of the effect their thoughtlessness was producing upon me, were a daily martyrdom to my proud spirit. We spent three months at Florence; and shortly after we had settled there, John Muir, the eldest son, who had been making a tour among the Swiss mountains, rejoined his family, accompanied by Mr. Coverdale, who had known him at the university. Slightly attracted, I fancy, by the good looks of my eldest pupil, who was an iinusually pretty nonentity, Mr. Coverdale, always talking of tlie necessity of continu- ing his journey to the East, still lingered at Florence. The great kindness of heart and delicacy of feeling which lie hid under a roughness of manner that can only mislead a very superficial observer, soon led him to perceive and pity my isolated position ; and from the moment in which he became aware how keenly the sense of dependence preyed ujDon me, he treated me with a degree of defei'ence and attention which could not but conti-ast most favourably with the neglect I experienced from others. Under the cold manner which circumstances have forced me to assume, I have concealed a naturally ardent and impetuous disposition, and as deeply as I had been affected by the ungenerous conduct of the Muirs did I now appreciate Mr. Coverdale's sympathy and kindness — in a word, for I have resolved to conceal nothing from you, I loved him with all the force of my passionate nature. But the very strength of my feelings led me studiously to conceal them ; nor, until the elopement of my eldest pupil with a scheming Italian adventurer broke up the party, did I give Mr. Coverdale the slightest opportimity of suspect- ing the warm interest he had excited in me ; but when about to bid him farewell as I imagined for ever, my self-control gave way, and I burst into a passionate flood of tears. Equally grieved and surprised, he soothed me with his accustomed kind and considerate delicacy, begged me always to look upon him as a friend, and apply to him in any emergency, as to a brother ; and as soon as I became somewhat more composed, left me. The next tidings I heard of him were that he had quitted Florence. Scarcely had I retired to my room, to AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 373 endeavour to calm my excitement, and to struggle to subdue my hopeless attacliment in tears and solitude, when Mrs. Muir sent for me, and reproached me with equal virulence and unkindness for her daughter's elopement, Avhich she declared to have been the conse- quence of my neglect. ' Had you,' she continued, ' been less engrossed by seeking to ensnare the aifections of Mr. Coverdale, you would have been better able to perform the duties of your situation, and this misfortune might never have come upon us.' Stung by the mixture of truth and falsehood in this cruel reproach, I replied— I know not what — proudly, and I can now well believe impertinently ; and the next thing that I became aware of was, that a sum of money sufficient to defray my expenses to England was placed before me, and that I was dismissed. Thrown thus on my own resources in a foreign land, withoiit a single friend near to help or advise me, what wonder that I instinctively tunied to the only quarter from which I had for years (for mine had been a desolate youth) met with kindness, consideration, and sympathy ; and that from the chaos of conflicting emotions one idea alone stood out clear and defined — to seek Harry Coverdale, tlii'ow myself on his generosity, tell my tale of sorrow and of love, and leave the result to him and destiny. That such a course was unwomanly, almost unpardonable in me, none can be more bitterly aware than I am ; but I pray God that those of my own sex who are inclined to condemn me may never be tempted as I was tempted — may never fall as, but for the superhuman goodness of heart, and the tender, simple, yet chivalrous nature of yoiu' husband, I should have fallen. With me, to resolve and to act were simul- taneous. I lost not a moment in ascertaining the route Mr. Cover- dale had taken, and ere the Muir family were aware of my departure I had followed him to Fiumalba, a small town within a few hours' journey of Florence. Without allowing myself an instant's time for reflection, I sought the hotel at which Mr. Coverdale was stopping, and in my distraction flung myself at his feet, and told him every- thing — how I loved him better than any other created being — better even than my own womanly pride and good name — how I felt con- vinced that such love as mine mvTst in time win return — how that if he would make me his wife, I would devote every thoiTght, every action of my future existence, to secure his happiness— how, if he refused me, I would lie down at his feet and die, but never leave him. Then did he indeed redeem his promise of acting by me as a brother — then did he save me from my worst enemy — myself. Having soothed and quieted my agony of spirit, by his calm good sense and judicious kindness, he appealed to my reason — set before me how, by yielding to my request, and making me the partner of his future life, while unable to feel for me that degree of afilection without which such a tie must become unbearable, he would be doing me an injury i-ather than confemng a benefit ; nor did he leave me until he had obtained my consent to allow him to return to Florence, explain the whole matter to Mr. Muir, expostulate with him as to the cruelty 374 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP and injustice of thus dismissing me with an undeserved shir on my character as a governess, and endeavour to arrange that I should remain with his wife and daughter, and accompany them on their return to England. In this negotiation he was successful. Mr. Muir — an easy, self-indulgent character, yet one who coiild, on occasions such as that to Avhich I refer, act kindly and honourably — accompanied Mr. Coverdale back to Fiumalba, where he informed me that he had prevailed on Mrs. Muir to agree to the above proposal, adding that he and Mr. Coverdale were the only persons aware of the imprudent step I had taken, and that they were both willing to make me a solemn promise never (unless by my desire) to reveal the transaction to any one. Utterly broken-spirited and miserable, I consented, and, taking leave of my preserver, returaed with Mr. Muir to Floi'ence. Frora that day, imtil our accidental meeting in Park Lane, I saw Mr. Coverdale no more. What it has cost me to write this I will not attempt to describe, but that every word of it is the simple truth, I call Heaven to witness ; that the knowledge of it may for ever reconcile all differences between you and your noble, generous-hearted husband, and that you may be restored to make him as happy as I am cei-tain it is in your power to do, is the wish and prayer of one who, if she has erred deeply, has suffered equally, as she hopes not without some good result. "Arabella Ckofton." When Harry had finished reading the letter, he returned it to his wife, observing, — " That is, as she says, a faithful account of all that ever occun-ed between us. You now see why I was unable to explain to you the apparent mystery. I hold a promise to be so sacred a thing, that nothing — not even the loss of your affection — could induce me to break one. And now, my poor child, I hope you are satisfied that I indeed love you with my whole heart, and that the affection of a thousand Arabella Crof tons would never compensate me for the loss of one bright smile or fond look from my own darling wife." Alice attempted to reply, but her heart was too full for words : bursting into a flood of tears of mingled joy and contrition, she flung her arms around her husband's neck, and in that prolonged embrace ended once and for ever all Harry Coverdale's matrimonial disputes and discomforts. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 375 CHAPTER LXIII. LOKD ALFRED SEVERS HIS LEADING STRINGS. Lord Alfred Courtland and Horace D'Almayne were both members of the Pandemonium, at which notable club the latter, when he had no rich victim on whom to quarter himself, chiefly spent his days. The visit which Lord Alfred had paid to Coverdale Park, and his subsequent mission to Hazlehurst Grange, had impressed him deeply and brought out all his best qualities. On his return to town, he took himself to task more seriously than he had yet done for the careless and extravagant life he had been leading ; and, warned by experience how futile such repentance might prove, unless followed by some practical eiforts at self-reform, he set to work with his accustomed impetuosity to remedy the evils resulting from his injudicious attempt to become a fast " man-about- town." The Honourable Billy Whipcord relieved him of one difiiculty by purchasing Don Pasquale for the same amount which Lord Alfred had given Tirrett for the animal, and with the money thus obtained, together with his winnings on the steeple-chase, he, like an honest fellow, paid all his creditors. Feeling much happier for this step in the right direction, he determined to follow it up by another, and accordingly wi-ote to his father, saying that, bis health being now re-established, it was his wish to return to Cambridge, and endeavour to make up for lost time. Having dispatched this letter and ridden for a couple of hours in the Park, the necessity of dining occurred to him, and he turned his horse's head towards the Pandemonium. As he rode thither, it struck him that he might possibly encounter Horace DAlmayne, and he bethought him of his promise to Harry Coverdale to give up the acquaintance of the man whom he had so incautiously trusted, and who had abused that trust by leading him into evil whenever an opportunity presented itself for so doing. Tes ! disagreeable as it was, perhaps even dangerous (for D Abnayne was not a man to insult with impunity), he would redeem his pledged word — he would show his gratitude to Coverdale. If DAlmayne was at the club, he would cut him in a marked and unmistakable manner! As these thoughts were passing through his brain, he became aware of a young man, flashly dressed and mounted on a magnificent horse, who, as he passed, took off his hat to him. Confused for the moment by the idea that it must be some acquaintance whom he ought to recognize, he bowed stiffly, where- upon the horseman wheeled his steed, and rode up to Lord Alfred's side, — 376 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP " I beg your Lordsliip's pa,rdon," he becran, " but I wish to say a few words to you. Does not your Lordship remember me ? " " Your behaviour towards me, Mr. Tirrett, was of a nature neither easily to be forgotten, nor calculated to make me desirous of cultivating your fui-ther acquaintance. I have the honour of wishing you good morning." Saying this with the hauteur and dignity of the whole House of Peers combined, Lord Alfred turned his head away from his unwished- f or acquaintance and rode on ; but Tirrett had an object in view, and was, therefore, not to be so easily shaken olf . " I won't deny," he said coolly, " that your Lordship has good reason to be angry with me, for I played you a trick that, if I'd been a gentleman, and your Lordship's equal, I should consider a very dirty one ; but, if yoiu: Lordship will consider a minute, you'll perceive the difference between us." Amused, in spite of his anger, at the fellow's cool audacity. Lord Alfred replied, with a sarcastic laugh, — " I should scarcely imagine that would require any very deep thinking to discover ! " " Tour Lordship is sharp upon me this afternoon," observed Tirrett, in no way disconcerted, " but I was going to remark that horse-dealing and horse-racing, which you gentlemen enter into for amusement, is the regular business by which such men as myself gain oiu' livelihood ; it's a ticklish sort of trade at the best of times, for we're liable to be deceived and cheated on all sides as well as other people ; so a fellow's obliged to look out and never throw away a chance. Now your job was just this, — the Don was recovering from a bad sprain in the off -foreleg when I sold him to you." " Pleasant intelligence for the Honourable Billy ! " miu'mured Lord Alfred. " I thought he'd stand]training, but expected he'd break down in the race, and as I never like to ride a losing horse if I can help it, I made my book to win on Black Eagle, but I was obliged to promise to ride Don Pasquale for you, or else you wouldn't have bought him. I don't say I acted right by you ; but I mean to say that I didn't act any worse than others that call themselves gentlemen and your friends too ! " '* Do you allude to any one in particular, may I ask P — it is' as well to know one's friends from one's foes," inquired Lord Alfred, his curiosity beginning to awaken. " I allude to Horace D'Almayne. Your Lordship best knows whether you consider him your friend," was the reply. " I certainly did at one time, if I do not now ; but what has he to do with the affair ? " asked Lord Alfred, his attention now fully aroused. In answer to this question, TiiTett entered into a full account of the plot connected with the white-bait dinner, his own acquaintance AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 377 •witli Captain O'Brien, and other particulars, witli which the reader is ah-eady acquainted, dwelling especially on D'Almayne's advice to him to throw over Lord Alfred and ride for Captain Annesley, for which D'Almayne bargained to receive a percentage on his winnings. " And now," he continued, " if I can afford your Lordship proof of the truth of my statement, in D'Almayne's o^vn hand-writing, and let you have that proof, so that you may, if you please, coufront him with it, perhaps your Lordship will set that off against my refusal to ride the steeple-chase for you." " Let me see your proof, sir ; I shall then be better able to judge of my amomit of obligation to you," was the curt reply. Thus urged, TiiTctt drew from his pocket the identical epistle which D'Almayne had written to him from Lord Alfred's lodgings on the morning (as the date testified) before he started for the continent. Lord Alfred perfectly remembered his writing the note; but the authenticity of the document was established beyond a doubt by the paper, which was stamped with a coronet and the cyi^her A. 0. As this proof of his Mentor's treachery was brought before him, Lord Alfred coloured with anger, and drawing out his pocket-book, he said, — " You must permit me to keep this document, Mr, Tirrett ; but, as I consider it of value, I shall give you an equivalent for it." Then handing him a ten-pound note, he continued, " Note for note is a fair exchange." Tirrett glanced at the money as if he had half a mind to return it ; but a moment's reflection served to dispel the romantic scruple, and adhering to his rule of never throwing a chance away, he pocketed the cash, and raising his hat, began, — " Really, your Lordship's too liberal ! I am off for Yorkshire to- morrow morning ; but I shall be up again before the hunting season with a lot of very first-rate horses ; and as I hope I've now made all straight with your Lordship, I shall be highly honoured if your Lordship will look through the stable before I let the dealers see them." Then, with another low bow, he turned his hoi'se's head, and touching him with the spur, cantered off, leaving Lord Alfred to his own reflections, which ran somewhat after the following fashion : — " So much for there being honour amongst thieves ! Tirrett coolly sacrifices his accomjjlice in order to retain my custom ! What an inconceivable scoundrel that Horace D'Almayne turns out! I'm about as easy-tempered a fellow as can be ; too much so, I'm afraid ; for I often say Yes when I feel I ought to say No; but I'll cut the swindler dead at the club, or wherever I meet him, and if he does not like it, I'll show him his note to Tirrett, or better still, read it out at the club ; such perfidy ought to be exposed, and I'll not flinch from doing so. Coverdale shall see that his example of straightforAvard manliness is not quite thrown away upon me. I've followed a bad 378 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP model witli tolerable success, and reaped the fruits of sucli folly, and now I'll try whether I cannot imitate a ^ood one. I'd do a great deal to reinstate myself in the good opinion of Harry and his wife ; they've been very kind to me, too kind, for it overpowers me ; but of course they must have lost all respect for me— Harry thinks me a soft, foolish boy, and Alice, a weak, sentimental puppy. Well, I'll do my best to gain their esteem, and if I fail, I shall be none the worse for having tried. How pretty that little Emily is ! prettier than her sister, I think ; and she believes in me to a great extent, that's some comfort ! " By the time his Lordship's meditations had reached this point, his Lordship's horse had reached the Pandemonium, which fact, forcing itself on his Lordship's attention, he dismounted, and, consigning the animal to the care of his groom, entered the club-room, when, of course, the first person he encountered was Horace D'Almayne. Owing to Lord Alfred's absence from town D'Almayne had not seen him since his return from the continent, he, therefore, advanced to meet him with the greatest empressement, greeting him with the usual "Ah ! mon cher," which he reserved for those of his associates whom he particularly delighted to honour. Great, therefore, was his astonishment and disgust when Lord Alfred walked past him with his head in the air and his eyes immovably fixed tipon the cornice of the apartment. For a moment D'Almayne could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses, so much at variance was his late pupil's conduct with Horace's pre-conceived ideas of his gentle, yielding character ; but a covert smile on the faces of Barrington and several of the usual club-loungers was sufiicient to convince him of the irritating fact that, in the presence of the very men before whom he had often boasted of and paraded his intimacy with and influence over Lord Alfred Courtland, that young nobleman had most decidedly and unequivocally cut him. For some days past D'Almayne had perceived a change to have "come o'er the spirit" in which he had been received by society at large. Intimates had suddenly become slight acquaintances ; slight acqiiaintances had grown strangely short- sighted ; and when he forced himself upon their notice, appeared afflicted with a painful degree of stiffness in the " upper spine." Still, until that moment, no one had ventured actvially to cut him. Now the matter had come to a climax, Horace felt himself brought fairly to bay, and in such a frame of mind he was dangerous. After Lord Alfred had passed D'Almayne, he touched the Honourable William Barrington, alias Billy Whipcord, on the arm, and drawing him aside, said, — " I have just been let into a pleasant little secret ; it seems that the reason my dishonourable young acquaintance, Mr. TiiTctt, set his face so detenninately against riding Don Pasquale was that the notable quadruped had a screw loose in the back sinew of one of its inestimable fore-legs, and Tirrett was afraid he would break down in the race. Now as I have become aware of this only within the last AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 379 half hour, I daresay I have asked and you have given too much for the brute. ' Caveat emptor ' may be a very good general maxim, but I never can see why a gentleman should act about selling a horse in a manner undeserving that title — so, if you find the creature unsound, I shall be happy to hand you back a fifty-poxind note, or more, if you require it. I've passed my ' little go,' as a patron of the turf, and wish to come out of it with clean hands ere I take my leave of that noble pastime." " Really, my dear Com'tland, yoxi're too chivalrous," was the reply ; " but I'm quite content with my bargain ; the Don is sound enough to answer my purpose " (he had sold him that morning, and pocketed a cool hundi-ed by the transfer), " and if he were not, I have pur- chased him, and must abide the loss ; — but, excuse me, are you aware that you have just cut Horace D'Almayne ? " " As he deserves to be cut by every honourable man," interrupted Lord Alfred, " and, for reasons which I will ex})lain here, before every member of this club now present, if he has the audacity to — to venture to force himself upon me," he continued angrily, as he per- ceived D'Almayne sauntering up to him, with his accustomed listless gait indeed, but with a sparkle in his eye and a red spot on each cheek, which to those who were well acquainted with him showed that he was unusually excited. " Has foreign travel and the lapse of a fortnight really altered me so much that your Lordship is unable to recognize an old friend ; or to what other circumstance am I to attribute your singular failure of memory when I accosted you on your entrance ? " he inquired in his most superciliously polite tone and accent. " Attribute it to its right cause," was the spirited reply ; " that I desire to associate only with men of honour, an idiosyncrasy which precludes my longer availing myself of the privilege of Mr. D'Al- mayne's society." " In fact, that, having made use of me to convert a raw school-boy into a very tame specimen of a fast man, yoii fancy now you are able to run alone, and that it will add to your reputation for fastness to kick down the ladder by which you have mounted the social mole-hill you stand on," was the sneering answer ; " but you have mistaken your man, my Lord. Horace D'Almayne is not a puppet of which you hold the wires to dance, or to be thrown aside, at your Lordship's pleasure. Had you simply chosen to deny me your further acquain- tance, I should have set the gain of valuable minutes against the loss of one of the social incubi my good-nature has entailed upon me, and overlooked the boyish impertinence ; but as you have seen fit to insult me publicly, nothing short of an equally public apology will satisfy me. Should you be infatuated enough to refuse me this, I will for once flatter your Lordship's vanity by supposing you man enough to be aware of the alternative." As D'Almayne spoke, he drew himself up with an expression of contemptuous superiority, half-pitying, haK-defiant, which he imagined highly effective. 380 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP It certainly liad one effect, that of rousing Lord Alfi-ed's temper to tlie utmost extent ; and, with flashing eyes and quivering lips, he replied, — " If I could believe that you had one thought or feeling of a gentle- man in your composition which my conduct could wound, I would accept one of the alternatives you propose ; but to a man who can abuse the confidence of friendship by availing himself of it to swindle and betray the friend who trusted him, — to such a low, sordid black- leg, I will neither apologize, nor will I afford him the satisfaction due to wounded honour." For a moment, as D'Almayne's glance met that of the man he had wronged, his self-possession failed him ; and, ignorant to what extent Lord Alfred might have become cognizant of his nefarious iDractices, he hesitated how far he dared provoke any disclosure. But it was too late to retract : his social position, on which depended his very means of existence, was at stake; and as the thought crossed his mind, the gambler spirit awoke within him. He would carry the matter with a high hand; a bold course was always the wisest; Fortim.e would favoui- those who trusted her. It was his only article of faith, and he clung to it with the pertinacity of a zealot. " Highly melodramatic ! " he! said, with a sarcastic sneer. " Tour Lordship has a real speciality for juvenile tragedy. But may I be allowed to inquire what pai-ticular perfidy of mine has elicited the burst of virtuous indignation which you have selected for yoiu* histrionic debut ? " " I was willing to have spared you the disga-ace of a public ex- posure," was Lord Alfred's reply ; " but since you choose thus to provoke your fate, I can have to reason for longer concealing the cause which has led me to consider you unfit for the society of honourable men." Tiiming to Barrington, who happened to be standing next him, he continued, " You, sir, and other gentlemen present, may remember how, not many weeks since, a certain steeple- chase rider, named Tirrett, suddenly left me in the Im-ch, by refusing at the last minute to ride for me, by which rascality I was on the point of losing the race, upon which I had made an imprudently heavy book. Mr. D'Almayne was at that time abroad, and, I presvime, imagined, owing to that circumstance, he might transact a little profitable black-leg business with impunity. He accordingly wrote a note to Tirrett, suggesting to him the scheme which he afterwards attempted to carry out ; stipulating, in case of its success, to be paid fifty ]30unds and a percentage on Tirrett's winnings." As Lord Alfred concluded, a murmur of disap]jrobation ran round the room, and all eyes were tmnied upon Horace D'Almayne. " A cleverly devised tale ! " he said scornfully ; " a mole-hill ingeniously inflated until it appears a mountain. I certainly betted on the race ; I may have given the jockey Tirrett the benefit of my suggestions on the subject, as any other man who has ever been on the turf would have done ; but that all this demonstrates anything, AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 381 except Lord Alfred Courtland's deplorable ipfiiorance of that said art of ' life about town,' in which he appears to have striven in vain to become a proficient, I am at a loss to conceive." " Perhaps the simplest answer to Mr. D'Almayne's statement will be to place the note, on which the foundations of my ' mole-hiU inflated into a mountain ' rest, in Mr. Barrington's hands, asking him, for his own satisfaction, and for that of the other gentlemen present, to read it aloud." As he spoke. Lord Alfred drew from his pocket the note given him by Tirrett, and handed it to Barrington, who, after a moment's hesitation, read aloud the following notable epistle, which the reader may remember was written by D'Almayne, with his usual cool audacity, in Lord Alfred Courtland's lodgings : — "Dear Tirrett,— Your game is clear : let A. C and O'B- — n each believe that you will ride for him, and at the last minute throw both over. In this case. Captain Annesley's Black Eagle is safe to win, as I daresay you know better than I do ; thus you will perceive how to make a paying book. If I prove a true prophet, I shall expect a fifty pound note from you, as O'B n will (before you quan-el with hiin) tell you I got up the whole affair myself, introducing him to A. C , &c. " I remain, yours faithfully, " You'll knov^t Who w^hen I claim the Tin. " P.S. — If you make a heavy purse out of the business, I shall expect ten per cent, on all beyond five hundred pounds." As Barrington ceased reading, D'Almayne obseiwed coolly, — "Exactly as I expected — an anonymous letter, supposed to be mine on the word of a blackguard horsedealer (who probably wrote it himself to conceal his own rascality) , and eagerly caught at by this fiery young gentleman, who, anxious to prove that he is out of leading-strings, gladly seeks any pretext for quarrelling with one to whom his Lordship has a painful consciousness that he appears no more a hero than to his valet de chambre. Tirrett declares that I wrote this letter, I say I did no such thing ; there is no proof about the matter, it is simply a question of assertion — Tirrett's word against mine. I leave it to the gentlemen present to say which is most worthy of credit." " Allow me to mention one small circumstance which may assist them to an-ive at a just decision," interposed Lord Alfred quietly ; " I have a perfect recollection of Mr. D'Almayne's writing a note, much resembling the one in question, at my lodgings, on the morning before he left England. If I am right in my conjecture, the date would be the 5th of last month, and the post-mark Pall Mall ; may I trouble you to ascertain the point, Mr. Bar- rington? " " Right in both respects," was the unhesitating reply. " Moreover, 382 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP here is a coronet and the initials A. C. stamped on the paper, a corroboration which quite satisfies my mind on the subject." D'Almayne glanced round, and read his sentence on the faces which surrounded him — faces of men, who, in the insolence of his false position, he had made to feel the lash of his covert sarcasm. Amongst the many there he could not discern one friend. But his self-possession did not forsake him. " Of course, all against me," he said ; then turning to Lord Alfred, he continued, — " Your Lordship once expressed a doubt as to the social value of a title; you now, I shonld imagine, perceive your error : for the rest, the letter is an impudent forgery, and the accusa- tion false ; but until I can prove the whole story the clumsy fabrica- tion I know it to be, I shall leave the matter where it stands, unless" — and he glanced round the circle with a savage light in his cold, grey eyes, which no one cared to meet—" unless any gentleman feels inclined to make a personal affair of it, in which case I shall have much pleasure in affording him the satisfaction he requii-es." No one appearing desirous of improving the occasion as D Almayne had suggested, the baffled intriguer stalked out of the room with a look of scornful indifference on his features, and rage and hatred burning in his breast. CHAPTER LXIV. D' ALMAYNE PLATS HIS LAST CARD. "Leave me, sir ! I consider yoiu* very presence an insult ! " " Before you drive me from you for ever, I am determined to set plainly before you the results which must inevitably follow your decision, and show you unmistakably the difference between the future which awaits you and the lot which might even yet be yours if you have only sufficient strength of character to cast aside the meaningless conventionalities of a false and hollow state of society." D Almayne — for as the reader has no doubt ab-eady conjectm-ed, the foregoing speech proceeded from his lips — paused for a moment to control the excitement under which, despite his endeavours to conceal it, he was evidently labouring. Kate Crane appeared again about to interrupt him ; but by a glance and a gesUire of the hand he resti-ained her, while he continued : — " Ton talk of marriage as a holy tie, and where such a bond is indeed one of the heart, I, sceptic and libertine as you consider me, entirely agree with you; but such a term cannot apply to the cruel mockery which has bound youth, beauty, and intellect to age, decrepitude, and imbecility. AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 3S3 But putting aside all idea of affection, the temptation wliicli led you to commit this outrage against every better feeling of your nature exists no longer. Mr. Crane is a ruined man; if, therefore, you adhere to the conventional prejudice which you vainly endeavour to dignify by the name of duty, you have nothing to hope but to sacrifice to it the best years of your life, years in which you will still be young, when your queenly beauty and bright clear intellect will fit you to shine in and lead society of a class in which your elegant tastes and refined sympathies would meet with a gratification sufl&cient in itself to render life one scene of pleasurable excitement. But, more than this, you are ambitious ; I can read it in your flash- ing eye, in the curl of your haughty lip. I would open to you such a field for that ambition as in your wildest moments you have never dreamed of. You do not believe me ! you consider me a base, un- scrupulous adventurer. If it wei'e so, what have I ever had to call out the higher, nobler qualities of my nature ? Nothing ! But with such a soul as yours to urge and inspire me, and with your love as my reward, to what height might not my genius soar ! What was the gi'eat Napoleon but a Corsican adventurer ? and yet his was a career an Emperor's daughter was proud to share. You think I am romancing — talking bombastic nonsense ; but it is not so. In America, at the present time, there is an immense field for talent. I know the character of the nation well, know how both its strong and weak points could be turned to account, and form the ladder by which I might climb even to the President's seat, and once there ! — Presidents have ere now become Emperors — from democracy to despotism is the natural transition — history proves it. Since I have known yon, a change has come over my every thought and feeling ; hitherto I have exerted my talents merely to supply my own fastidious requirements, but now my ideas are enlarged, my aspira- tions heightened. Broiight i;p from my earliest childhood among men, clever indeed, but without one pure thought, one disinterested feeling, I became — what I am. You have excited in me higher, nobler feelings. I will not deny that your beauty first attracted me ; but since I have known you, and each day discovered new qualities with which I could sympathize, I have learned to love yoiT with the only deep, real sentiment I have ever yet felt for one of your sex. Hitherto I have looked on women as mere toys wherewith to solace one's leisui-e hours ; but in you I recognize a loftier nature ; I feel not only in the presence of an intelligence equal to my own, but I have an instinctive perception that you might become my leading star, my tutelary deity ! Kate, hear me ! my destiny is in your hands. Fly with me to America — everything is prepared ; and when we aiTive on the soil of a new world, yoii shall become the bride of a man already possessed of riches sufficient to obtain for you luxuries greater than you have yet enjoyed, and with a gift riches are Ijowerless to procure — talent which has never yet failed me, however critical the position — talent which, henceforward, you shall direct 384 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP into any coiu'se tliat best may win yoTir approval ; knowing- that whatever career you may select, the sole reward I shall seek will be your appi'obation — my only happiness, your affection. You have not heard me unmoved — you cannot, will not refuse me ! " As D'Almayne concluded, he fixed his eyes on Kate's face, as thou,^h he soui^ht to read there his sentence before her lips should pronounce it, while his cheeks flushed, and his eyes glistened with unfeigned emotion. For an instant, unable to bear the intensity of his glance, Kate turned away with a heightened coloui*, then, recovering her self-possession by a powerful effort, she replied calmly, — " I have heard you thus far, Mr. D'Almayne, without inteiTuption, partly because I believe that, for once, you are speaking under the influence of real feeling ; partly because I owe you, as I imagine, a debt of gratitude for your kindness to my brother; these reasons have induced me to listen to addresses, every word of which I consider as the deepest insult which can be offered to a pure-minded woman. You tell me I married Mr. Crane for money; I neither admit nor repel the accusation — like most taimts, it contains a half- truth, so disguised by sarcasm as to appear a whole one. But how doubly sordid should I be, were I to act on your suggestion and quit my husband, — who, if yoiu' supposition be coi'rect, I have sufficiently wronged akeady, — because he has, as you inform me, been swindled out of his wealth — how I leave your own conscience to inform you ! The fact that he is poor, and that you profess yourself rich, is enough to carry conviction to my mind. But I will not enter further into the question : suffice it that your sophistries have failed to blind me, and that I am still able to discern the path of duty — let it lead whither it may, I am resolved to follow it. I have given you, as you requested, a fair hearing and a deliberate reply. For your kindness to my brother I again thank yo\i. As I gather that you are about to leave this country, and can well imagine it may be necessary for you to do so, farewell for ever ! I set your one good deed against your evil ones, and bear you no ill-will. We part neither as friends nor foes." As Kate spoke, she rose to quit the room, but D'Almayne inter- posed between her and the door — " One moment," he said in his usual tone of sarcasm ; " my modesty cannot permit me to depart, taking credit for a good deed which I have never performed. It was not I who rescued your brother from his difficulty ; though, as a stepping-stone to your favour, I would willingly have done so : for that act of kindness you are indebted to-" " Whom ? " inquired Kate eagerly. " One to whom, if he had this morning pleaded as I have done, I fancy even your rigid virtue might have afforded a kinder answer — your cousin, Arthur Hazlehurst ! " D'Almayne spoke at random, but the arrow wounded as dee])]y as AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 385 even his disappointed malevolence could have desired. With every vestige of colour banished from her pale cheek, Kate sank back upon her chair, and drawing her breath with diflBculty, i^laced her hand upon her side, as if in pain. Heedless of her suffering — nay, rather rejoicing in it— the evil expression came across D'Almayne's face as, in a tone of sarcastic triumph, he exclaimed, — " You love him ! I was certain of it, and am fully avenged. Chained by your marriage vow to a decrepid imbecile, while you love another with all the depth and fire of your passionate nature, you will experience the torments of the damned. To the remorse and despair these reflections will engender, — a despair so desolating that you will live to regret even your decision of this morning, — I leave you. When your husband returns to-night, a ruined man, remember my words — the curse that you have brought upon yourself v/ill have begun to work ! " Unable to reply, Kate remained leaning back, her eyes fixed upon him with a kind of horrible fascination. Leisurely drawing on his gloves, he appeared to be feasting his gaze with the misery he had created ; then, casting on her a look of sardonic malevolence that a fiend might have emulated, but could scarcely have surpassed, he turned and quitted the apartment, and immediately afterwards the house. Kate's reflections after D'Almayne had left her may easily be imagined ; all feelings of resentment against the man who had insulted her were merged in the one thought that her cousin, Arthur Hazlehurst, had been her brother's unknown benefactor. When she had imagined him implacably offended at the unjustifiable manner in which, during their last interview, she had treated him, he was still watching over her interests, and with a chivalrous devotion to the remembrance of their former attachment (for such could be the only kindly sentiment he could now cherish towards her), he had come forward and saved'^her brother from the ruin which had appeared inevitable. She had received a note that morning from Frederick, informing her of his retuiii from the Continent, and stating his intention of ^payingjher a visit immediately, adding that he had obtained his benefactor's sanction to tell her to whom he was indebted for his present good fortune, and all other particulars she might wish to learn. While thus engaged, a knock at the door announced a visitor, and in another moment her brother's arms were thrown around her. Sixlmonths' foreign travel, and daily association with persons mixing in fgood society, had produced a great change in Fred Marsden's appearance : the handsome boy had become a fine manly young fellow, whose frank address and courteous manners were cei'tain to ensure him'Ja kindly welcome and greatly increase his chances of success injlife. Fred had much to tell, and found an eager listener in Kate. Arthur was the best, kindest, wisest, most generous of men ; Arthur had sent him abroad more to finish his education than for any iTselhe could be of in a business point of view ; c c 386 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP Arthur was most liberal to him in money matters ; and yet supei-ior as lie was in evei-ything — talent, age, position — Arthur treated him like an equal, nay, like a brother. While he thiis ran on, a cab drove up to the door, and shortly after Mr. Crane entered the apartment ; he appeared to walk feebly, and once staggered, and nearly fell in crossing the room. Glancing angrily towards Fred, he muttered, " Send that boy away, Mrs. Crane — I— I wish to speak with you on matters of importance." Hastily dismissing her brother— promising to \vi-ite him word when to come again— Kate returned to her husband. " Tou look ill and won-ied," she said ; " let me fetch you a glass of wine and a biscuit." " 111 and won-ied indeed ! I tell you, Mrs. Crane, I have tbis day received my death blow. Don't reply, madam ; don't mock me with any pretence of affection — I know its worth. Tou married me for my money — I am not so blind as you may imagine — yes ! you maiTied me for my money ; and now you are rightly served, for I am a ruined man. Tou may well stare and look surprised, for I can scarcely believe it myself. Oh, it is too cruel — hon-ible, to think that I, Jedediah Crane, whose name has been good for five hundred thousand pounds any day, should die a beggar,! " Here he paused, and broke into a fit of childish weeping ; after a time he again resumed angrily, " And for this, madam, I have chiefly to thank your precious admirer, Horace D'Almayne ; my money was safe enough till he led me on to speculate ; and I believe your arts and allui-ements were the chief cause that attracted him here. But your wickedness has brought its own punishment, for you must work for your living now — you and all your pauper family, whom you have supported out of my pocket; and as for D'Almayne, may the bitterest curses light upon him — may " Here, siiddenly breaking off, he stared roimd him wildly, raised his hand to his forehead, murmured, " Oh, my head ! " and sank back in his chair. Greatly alai-med, Kate rang the bell violently, and whilst the butler and another servant conveyed Mr. Crane to his room, she dispatched a third in search of medical assistance. That evening Ai-thur Hazlehurst received the following note : — "In the unpardonable pnde which has been my besetting sin through life, but to which, if suffering can eradicate faults, I ought never again to yield, I requested you not to enter my house imtil I sent for you ; deeming, when I said it, that I was pronouncing a sentence of banishment which would continue in effect as long as we should both survive. Having placed this bar between myself and the generous friendship you have always evinced for me, I dare not now ask your assistance ; but if in the gi-eat strait in which I am placed you would advise me to whom I ought to apply, you will be rendering me a kindness I have little deserved at your hands. Mr. Crane returned home this evening greatly excited, and declared that AND ALL THAT CAME OF IT 387 lie was a ruined man ; whilst still raving almost incoherently on the subject, he was attacked with paralysis, and now lies in a state which the two physicians I have called in inf oi-m me is in the highest degree critical. He has recovered his conscioiisness, but his speech is so much affected that I can only collect that his mind is still troubled by business details. I am not aware of the name of his legal adviser, nor, indeed, certain whether he was in the habit of consulting one. I await your reply with much anxiety. "Kate Crane." Within a quarter of an hour after he received this note Arthur Hazlehurst was in Park Lane. CHAPTER LXV. SETTLES EVERYBODY AND EVERYTHING. PiVE years had elapsed since the events narrated in the last chapter occurred — five years ! — a twentieth portion of one of those centuries which stand like milestones along the path of time and index the slow but steady march of human progress and development. To the different characters of our story these years had brought many changes. Arthur Hazlehurst, summoned by Kate Crane in her hour of need and difficulty, fully justified the high o]3inion she entertained of him. Aijplying all the powers of his acute intellect and legal experience to the involved affairs of Mr. Crane, he contrived to secure a small competency from the wreck of his once colossal fortune, on which, by Arthur's advice, Kate, as soon as her husband was sufficiently recovered to bear the joiu'ney, retired to a small town in the south of France, where she continued to reside until some arrangement could be effected with the shareholders of the railway company started by Monsieur Guillemard and Horace DAlmayne. After a severe illness, from which he was at one time not expected to recover, Mr. Crane partially regained his health, but the paralytic stroke which had reduced him to this extremity had aifected his mind to such a degree that he remained nearly cliildish. His wife's attention to him was most kind and devoted. When he was able to walk out for the finest half hour in the day it was Kate's arm which supported his tottering footsteps. So strong was her sense of the duty she owed him, that the tenderest affection could not have dic- tated a more exemplary line of conduct. Arthur Hazlelnirst, who was rapidly acquiring a very high standing in his profession, paid SSS HARRY COTERDALE'S COrRTSHIP them occasional visits, to report as to the siare of ilr. Crane's aSairs, ■w-hicli were left entirely to his control. His manner to Kate on snch occasions was that of a kind and judicious friend, but nothing' more. He never niade the least allusion to old times : indeed, his avoidance of any approach to topics which might elicit the slightest display of feeling was most marked, yet a close observer might have seen that he noticed Kate's every word and action, especially her behaviour to her husband, with a keenness of scrutiny which allowed nothing to escape it. Of Horace D'Almayne nothing more was known than that he had somehow ehided the search made after him, and got clear away, as it was supposed, to America. We will now trouble the imagination of our readers to travel with ns as far as H shire, and join a group gathered one fine autxtmn mor nin g around the hall door at Coverdale Park. The centre of it, and the especial object of interest to the bystanders, was a rough little Shetland pony, on which was mounted a singularly pretty boy of some, possibly, four years of age, in whose chubby features might te traced a marked resemblance both to Harry and Alice, the farmer of whom was settling the reins in the child's hand, and giving Tiim directions both how to sit and to manage the pony, while the latter was regarding the young equestrian with looks of mingled anxiety and affection. A sweet little girl, the image of her mother, perhaps a year older than her youthful playfellow, was endeavouring to attract the pony's attention towards a tuft of grass, which she held at a respectful 'iistance from his nose. " Xow, my boy, stick your knees well into the saddle, give bim his head, and let us see how you can canter round the sweep," observed Coverdale, who, save that his complexion had assumed a more manlj brown than ever, and that his broad shoulders looked broader stDl, was little altereerple5ed between his parental responsibility and his delight at his boy's spirit ; " why, I say that if you don't mind what your mother tells you, the thrashing I shall give you one of these days will considerably astonish your jurenile intelligence ; with which qualification I confess, taking you alto- gether, I consider you a very promising young four-year-old. And now, brats, be o5 with yon ! I hare got a letter which I want to talk to Tnamma about.'' As soon as the children had departed, in conToy of a groom and a nnrsoy-maid, Harry drew from his pocket a letter with a black border and seal. " It is for you, love." he said, " from your cousin Kate ; but I can tell you the news it will contain ; Arthur enclosed it to me, with a line, telling me that poor old Crane is dead at last." •• And Arthur writes to teU you — what does he say r "' demanded Alice eagerly. " He siniply informs me of the fact ; states that, for business reasons, Kate, who is left sole executrix, must immediately return to England ; and suggests that till some i)ermanent arrangement can be made for her, it would be weUthat she should cx^me to us : adding, that if we agree with him in thinking so, he would be glad if I could make it convenient to go down to Dover and meet her, as profes- sional duties will detain bim in town. — ^which of course I shall be delighted to do, and she must come and live with us, poor thing." Alice could not for a moment reply ; but she pressed her husband's hand in silent acknowledgment of his kindness. Another week saw Kate domesticated bene-ath their hospitable roof. Header, our tale is weU-nigh told. Horace D'Ahnayne had absconded with a considerable sum of money in his possession, and all attempts to trace him failed. His less fortunate co-swindler (if we may coin a word), Guillemard, became practically acquaint-ed with the interior of a British prison and the amenitiK of haz^d labour. All that transpired in regard to D'Almayne's forther career "was, tliat some years after he was connected with a kindred spirit in oondnct- ing a notorious gambling house in X ew Orleans ; a quarrel ensuing between Sedgwick (for so was his paitnar named) and D'Ahnayne, the latter gave his antagonist a practical l^ecai as to the advisability of studying the habits and customs of the natives before you settle in a country, by discharging the contents of his revolver into his 390 HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP ribs. Unfortunately for society, the wound did not prove fatal ; but not choosing to await the result, D'Ahnayne again made himself in- visible ; he was last heard of at the head of a band of very question- able individuals, who were proceeding to the diggings to procure gold, whether by fair means or foul, history sayeth not. Lord Alfred Courtland, warned by the disastrous results of his attempt to become a fast " man-about-town," contented himself for the future by fulfilling his duties as a high-born gentleman, and if he ever did anything at all likely to disgrace his noble order, it was by the obstinate determination he evinced to marry none other than Emily Hazlehurst ; but " a wilful man must have his way," and eventually, after much useless opposition from his patrician papa, Lord Alfred had his. Of Harry and Alice we need say no more ; perfectly happy in each other's aif ection (which, warned by the past, they never again suffered their faults or foibles to endanger), theirs was a joy to which only hearts, true, pure, and simple as their own can ever attain. And what of Arthur Hazlehu.rst ? Kate, his first, his only love, was again free ! — true, she had eiTed deeply, but had she not repented more deeply, and worked out her penitence during long years of trial and of suffering ? She was free ! would wounded pride prevent him from taking the only step which could ensure his happiness and her own ? or should " Love be still the lord of all ? " Those only who have siiffered and loved as he had done can be competent to decide, — and in their hands we leave the matter ! THE END. LONDON : PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LTD. ST. John's house, clerkenwell, e.c. ILLUSTRATED EDITION of F. E. SMEDLEY'S NOVELS, WITH ALL THE ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK and PHIZ, Printed from the original steel plates. Demy 8vo Gilt Top, 10s. 6d. net per vol. Frank Fairlegh : Scenes from the Life of a Private Pupil. With a Preface by the Author, and Thirty-two Etchings by GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. Lewis Arundel ; or, the Railroad of Life. With Forty-two Etchings by Phiz. Harry Coverdale's Courtship and All that Came of it. With Thirty Etchings by Phiz. The most beautifully illustrated Sporting book ever produced. THE LIFE OF JOHN MYTTON, Esq. By NIMROD With a Memoir of " Nimrod " by R. S. Surtees, Author of " Handley Cross," With 20 Beautifully Coloured Illustrations Reproduced in Facsimile FROM THE ORIGINAL WATER COLOUR DRAWINGS By henry ALKEN and T. J. RAWLINS In the possession of Mr. Joseph Grego. Price Two Guineas net. One of these pictures^ though originally draivn for the book, has never before been reproduced, and three others appear o?ily in the exceedingly rare First Edition. *^* There is also a small limited large paper edition. Par- ticulars on application to the Publishers or to any of the principal Booksellers. DOWNEY & CO. Ltd., \z York Street, Covent Garden, London. DATE DUE GAYLORO PRINTEDIN U.S.A. AA 001 131 986 o NIVERSITY OF CA., RIVERSIDE LIBRARY 3 1210 01218 9435