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AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST 
 
 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "CASHEL BVKO.n's rKOKESSION," ETC., KTC. 
 
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 LONDON: 
 
 SWAN SONNENSCHEIN, LOWREY & CO., 
 
 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 
 
 1887. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 BOOK L 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In the dusk of an October evening, a sensible looking 
 woman of forty came out through an oaken door to a 
 broad landing on the first floor of an old English country- 
 house. A braid of her hair had fallen forward as if she 
 had been stooping over book or pen; and she stood for 
 a moment to smooth it, and to gaze contemplatively — 
 not in the least sentimentally — through the tall, narrow 
 window. The sun was setting, but its glories were at the 
 other side of the house ; for this window looked eastward, 
 where the landscape of sheepwalks and pasture land was 
 sobering at the approach of darkness. 
 
 The lady, like one to whom silence and quiet were 
 luxuries, lingered on the landing for some time. Then she 
 turned towards another door, on which was inscribed, in 
 white letters. Class Room No. 6. Arrested by a whisper- 
 ing above, she paused in the doorway, and looked up the 
 stairs along a broad smooth handrail that swept round in 
 an unbroken curve at each landing, forming an inclined 
 plane from the top to the bottom of the house. 
 
 A young voice, apparently mimicking someone, now 
 came from above, saying. 
 
2 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 "We will take the Etudes de la Ve7oa'fe next, if you please, 
 ladies." 
 
 Immediately a girl in a Holland dress shot down through 
 space ; whirled round the curve with a fearless centrifugal 
 toss of her ankle ; and vanished into the darkness beneath. 
 She was followed by a stately girl in green, intently hold- 
 ing her breath as she flew ; and also by a large young 
 woman in black, with her lower lip grasped between her 
 teeth, and her fine brown eyes protruding with excitement. 
 Her passage created a miniature tempest which disarranged 
 anew the hair of the lady on the landing, who waited in 
 breathless alarm until two light shocks and a thump 
 announced that the aerial voyagers had landed safely 
 in the hall. 
 
 " Oh law ! " exclaimed the voice that had spoken 
 before. "Here's Susan." 
 
 " It's a mercy your neck aint broken," replied some 
 palpitating female. " I'll tell of you this time, Miss 
 Wylie ; indeed I will. And you, too, Miss Carpenter : I 
 wonder at you not to have more sense at your age and 
 with your size ! Miss Wilson cant help hearing when you 
 come down with a thump like that. You shake the 
 whole house." 
 
 " Oh bother ! " said Miss Wylie. " The Lady Abbess 
 takes good care to shut out all the noise we make. Let 
 us " 
 
 "Girls," said the lady above, calling down quietly, but 
 with ominous distinctness. 
 
 Silence and utter confusion ensued. Then came a 
 reply, in a tone of honeyed sweetness, from Miss Wylie. 
 
 "Did you call us, dear Miss Wilson ?" 
 
 " Yes. Come up here, if you please, all three." 
 
 There was some hesitation among them, each offering 
 the other precedence. At last they went up slowly, in the 
 order, though not at all in the manner, of their flying 
 descent ; followed Miss Wilson into the class-room ; and 
 stood in a row before her, illumined through three western 
 windows with a glow of ruddy orange light. Miss Carpenter, 
 the largest of the three, was red and confused. Her arms 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 3 
 
 hung by her sides, her fingers twisting the folds of her 
 dress. Miss Gertrude Lindsay, in pale sea-green, had a 
 small head, delicate complexion, and pearly teeth. She 
 stood erect, with an expression of cold distaste for reproof 
 of any sort. The hoUand dress of the third offender had 
 changed from yellow to white as she passed from the grey 
 eastern twilight on the staifcase into the warm western 
 glow in the room. Her face had a bright olive tone, and 
 seemed to have a golden mica in its composition. Her 
 eyes and hair were hazel-nut colour ; and her teeth, the 
 upper row of which she displayed freely, were like fine 
 Portland stone, and sloped outward enough to have spoilt 
 her mouth, had they not been supported by a rich under 
 lip, and a finely curved, impudent chin. Her half cajoling, 
 half mocking air, and her ready smile, were difficult to 
 confront with severity ; and Miss Wilson knew it ; for she 
 would not look at her even when attracted by a convulsive 
 start and an angry side glance from Miss Lindsay, who 
 had just been indented between the ribs by a finger 
 tip. 
 
 " You are aware that you have broken the rules," said 
 Miss Wilson quietly. 
 
 " We didnt intend to. We really did not," said the girl 
 in holland, coaxingly. 
 
 *' Pray what was your intention then, Miss Wylie .?" 
 
 Miss Wylie unexpectedly treated this as a smart repartee 
 instead of a rebuke. She sent up a strange little scream, 
 which exploded in a cascade of laughter. 
 
 ** Pray be silent, Agatha," said Miss Wilson severely. 
 Agatha looked contrite. Miss Wilson turned hastily to 
 the eldest of the three, and continued, 
 
 "I am especially surprised at you. Miss Carpenter. 
 Since you have no desire to keep faith with me by uphold- 
 ing the rules, of which you are quite old enough to under- 
 stand the necessity, I shall not trouble you with reproaches, 
 or appeals to which I am now convinced that you would 
 not respond " (here Miss Carpenter, with an inarticulate 
 protest, burst into tears) ; *' but you should at least think 
 of the danger into which your juniors are led by your 
 
4 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALISl. 
 
 childishness. How should you feel if Agatha had broken 
 her neck ? " 
 
 ** Oh ! " exclaimed Agatha, putting her hand quickly to 
 her neck. 
 
 ** I didnt think there was any danger," said Miss Car- 
 penter, struggling with her tears. "Agatha has done it 
 so oft — oh dear! you have torn me." Miss Wylie had 
 pulled at her schoolfellow's skirt, and pulled too hard. 
 
 '* Miss Wylie," said Miss Wilson, flushing slightly : ** I 
 must ask you to leave the room." 
 
 **0h no," exclaimed Agatha, clasping her hands in 
 distress. ** Please dont, dear Miss Wilson. I am so sorry. 
 I beg your pardon." 
 
 ** Since you will not do what I ask, I must go myself," 
 said Miss Wilson sternly. " Come with me to my study," 
 she added to the two other girls.^ " If you attempt to 
 follow. Miss Wylie, I shall regard it as an intrusion." 
 
 ** But I will go away if you wish it. I didnt mean to 
 diso " 
 
 " I shall not trouble you now. Come, girls." 
 
 The three went out ; and Miss Wylie, left behind in 
 disgrace, made a surpassing grimace at Miss Lindsay, who 
 glanced back at her. When she was alone, her vivacity 
 subsided. She went slowly to the window, and gazed 
 disparagingly at the landscape. Once, when a sound of 
 voices above reached her, her eyes brightened, and her 
 ready lip moved ; but the next silent moment she relapsed 
 into moody indifference, which was not relieved until her 
 two companions, looking very serious, re-entered. 
 
 "Well," she said gaily : *' has moral force been applied.'* 
 Are you going to the Recording Angel ? " 
 
 "Hush, Agatha," said Miss Carpenter. "You ought to 
 be ashamed of yourself." 
 
 " No, but you ought, you goose. A nice row you have 
 got me into ! " 
 
 " It was your own fault. You tore my dress." 
 
 " Yes, when you were blurting out that I sometimes slide 
 down the bannisters." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Miss Carpenter slowly, as if this reason had 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 5 
 
 not occurred to her before. " Was that why you pulled 
 me ? " 
 
 ** Dear me ! It has actually dawned upon you. You 
 are a most awfully silly girl, Jane. What did the Lady 
 Abbess say ?" 
 
 Miss Carpenter again gave her tears way, and could not 
 reply. 
 
 " She is disgusted with us, and no wonder," said Miss 
 Lindsay. 
 
 " She said it was all your fault," sobbed Miss Carpenter. 
 
 "Well, never mind, dear," said Agatha soothingly. 
 " Put it in the Recording Angel." 
 
 ** I wont write a word in the Recording Angel unless 
 you do so first," said Miss Lindsay angrily. **You are 
 more in fault than we are." 
 
 " Certainly, my dear," replied Agatha. " A whole page, 
 if you wish." 
 
 " I b-believe you like writing in the Recording Angel," 
 said Miss Carpenter spitefully. 
 
 " Yes, Jane. It is the best fun the place affords." 
 
 " It may be fun to you," said Miss Lindsay sharply ; 
 " but it is not very creditable to me, as Miss Wilson* said 
 just now, to take a prize in moral science and then have 
 to write down that I dont know how to behave myself. 
 Besides, I do not like to be told that I am ill-bred." 
 
 Agatha laughed. " What a deep old thing she is ! 
 She knows all our weaknesses, and stabs at us through 
 them. Catch her telling me, or Jane there, that we are 
 ill-bred ! " 
 
 " I dont understand you," said Miss Lindsay, haughtily. 
 
 " Of course not. That's because you dont know as 
 much moral science as I, though I never took a prize in it." 
 
 ** You never took a prize in anything," said Miss 
 Carpenter. 
 
 " And I hope I never shall," said Agatha. *' I would as 
 soon scramble for hot pennies in the snow, like the street 
 boys, as scramble to see who can answer most questions. 
 Dr. Watts is enough moral science for me. Now for the 
 Recording Angel." 
 
6 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ' She went to a shelf and took down a heavy quarto, 
 bound in black leather, and inscribed, in red letters. My 
 Faults. This she threw irreverently on a desk, and 
 tossed its pages over until she came to one only partly 
 covered with manuscript confessions. 
 
 ** For a wonder," she said, " here are two entries that 
 are not mine. Sarah Gerram ! What has she been con- 
 fessing } " 
 
 "Dont read it," said Miss Lindsay quickly. "You 
 know that it is the most dishonourable thing any of us can 
 do." 
 
 " Pooh ! Our little sins are not worth making such a 
 fuss about. I always like to have my entries read : it 
 makes me feel like an author ; and so in Christian duty I 
 always read other people's. Listen to poor Sarah's tale 
 of guilt. . * ist October. I am very sorry that I slapped 
 Miss Chambers in the lavatory this morning, and knocked 
 out one of her teeth. This was very wicked ; but it was 
 coming out by itself; and she has forgiven me because 
 a new one will come in its place ; and she was only 
 pretending when she said she swallowed it. Sarah 
 Gerram.' " 
 
 ** Little fool ! " said Miss Lindsay. " The idea of our 
 having to record in the same book with brats like that ! " 
 
 " Here is a touching revelation. ' 4th October. Helen 
 Plantagenet is deeply grieved to have to confess that I took 
 the first place in algebra yesterday unfairly. Miss Lindsay 
 prompted me ; and ' " 
 
 ** Oh ! " exclaimed Miss Lindsay, reddening. " That is 
 how she thanks me for prompting her, is it ? How dare she 
 confess my faults in the Recording Angel } " 
 
 ** Serve you right for prompting her," said Miss Carpen- 
 ter. ** She was always a double-faced cat ; and you ought 
 to have known better." 
 
 " Oh, I assure you it was not for her sake that I did it,'* 
 replied Miss Lindsay. **It was to prevent that Jackson 
 girl from getting first place. I dont like Helen Planta- 
 genet ; but at least she is a lady." 
 
 ** Stuff", Gertrude," said Agatha, with a touch of earnest- 
 
I 
 
 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 7 
 
 ness. "One would think, to hear you talk, that your 
 grandmother was a cook. Dont be such a snob." 
 
 "Miss Wylie," said Gertrude, becoming scarlet: "you 
 are very— Oh ! oh ! Stop Ag— oh ! I will tell Miss W — 
 oh ! " Agatha had inserted a steely finger between her 
 ribs, and was tickling her unendurably. 
 
 " Sh-sh-sh," whispered Miss Carpenter anxiously. 
 " The door is open." 
 
 "Am I Miss Wylie.?" demanded Agatha, relentlessly 
 continuing the torture. " Am I very — whatever you were 
 going to say } Am I } am I ? am I ?" 
 
 " No, no," gasped Gertrude, shrinking into a chair, almost 
 in hysterics. " You are very unkind, Agatha. You have 
 hurt me." 
 
 " You deserve it. If you ever get sulky with me again, 
 or call me Miss Wylie, I will kill you. I will tickle the 
 soles of your feet with a feather " (Miss Lindsay shuddered, 
 and hid her feet beneath the chair) " until your hair turns 
 white. And now, if you are truly repentant, come and 
 record." 
 
 " You must record first. It was all your fault." 
 
 " But I am the youngest," said Agatha. 
 
 " Well, then," said Gertrude, afraid to press the point, 
 but determined not to record first, "let Jane Carpenter 
 begin. She is the eldest." 
 
 " Oh, of course," said Jane, with whimpering irony. 
 " Let Jane do all the nasty things first. I think it's very 
 hard. You fancy that Jane is a fool ; but she isnt." 
 
 "You are certainly not such a fool as you look, Jane," 
 said Agatha gravely. " But I will record first, if you 
 like." 
 
 " No, you shant," cried Jane, snatching the pen from 
 her. " I am the eldest ; and I wont be put out of my 
 place." 
 
 She dipped the pen in the ink resolutely, and prepared 
 to write. Then she paused ; considered ; looked bewil- 
 dered ; and at last appealed piteously to Agatha. 
 
 " What shall I write .? " she said. " You know how to 
 write things down ; and I dont." 
 
8 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " First put the date," said Agatha. 
 
 " To be sure," said Jane, writing it quickly. ** I forgot 
 that. Well.?" 
 
 " Now write, * I am very sorry that Miss Wilson saw 
 me when I slid down the bannisters this evening. Jane 
 Carpenter.' " 
 
 " Is that all .? " 
 
 "That's all : unless you wish to add something of your 
 own composition." 
 
 '* I hope it's all right," said Jane, looking suspiciously 
 at Agatha. ** However, there cant be any harm in it ; for 
 it's the simple truth. Anyhow, if you are playing one of 
 your jokes on me, you are a nasty mean thing, and I dont 
 care. Now, Gertrude, it's your turn. Please look at mine, 
 and see whether the spelling is right." 
 
 *' It is not my business to teach you to spell," said 
 Gertrude, taking the pen. And, whilst Jane was murmuring 
 at her churlishness, she wrote in a bold hand, 
 
 I have broken the rules by sliding down the bannisters to-day with 
 Miss Carpenter and Miss Wylie. Miss Wylie went first. 
 
 *' You wretch ! " exclaimed Agatha, reading over her 
 shoulder. " Kn^your father is an admiral ! " 
 
 ** I think it is only fair," said Miss Lindsay, quailing, 
 but assuming the tone of a moralist. " It is perfectly 
 true." 
 
 " All my money was made in trade," said Agatha ; ** but 
 I should be ashamed to save myself by shifting blame to 
 your aristocratic shoulders. You pitiful thing ! Here : 
 give me the pen." 
 
 " I will strike it out if you wish ; but I think " 
 
 " No : it shall stay there to witness against you. Now 
 see how I confess my faults." And she wrote, in a fine, 
 rapid hand, 
 
 This evening Gertrude Lindsay and Jane Carpenter met me at the 
 top of the stairs, and said they wanted to slide down the bannisters and 
 would do so if I went first. I told them that it was against the rules, 
 but they said that did not matter ; and as they are older than I am, I 
 allowed myself to be persuaded, and slid. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 9 
 
 ^ "What do you think of that ?" said Agatha, displaying 
 the page. 
 
 They read it, and protested clamorously. 
 
 " It is perfectly true," said Agatha, solemnly. 
 
 " It's beastly mean," said Jane energetically. ** The idea 
 of your finding fault with Gertrude, and then going and 
 being twice as bad yourself! I never heard of such a 
 thing in my life." 
 
 ** * Thus bad begins ; but worse remains behind,' as the 
 Standard Elocutionist says," said Agatha, adding another 
 sentence to her confession. 
 
 But it was all my fault. Also I was rude to Miss Wilson, and 
 refused to leave the room when she bade me. I was not wilfully 
 wrong except in sliding down the bannisters. I am so fond of a slide 
 that I could not resist the temptation. 
 
 " Be warned by me, Agatha," said Jane impressively. 
 ** If you write cheeky things in that book, you will be 
 expelled." 
 
 ** Indeed ! " replied Agatha significantly. ** Wait until 
 Miss Wilson sees y^hdityou have written." 
 
 ** Gertrude," cried Jane, with sudden misgiving : *' has 
 she made me write anything improper } Agatha : do tell 
 me if " 
 
 Here a gong sounded ; and the three girls simul- 
 taneously exclaimed ** Grub ! " and rushed from the room. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 One sunny afternoon, a hansom drove at great speed along 
 Belsize Avenue, St. John's Wood, and stopped before a 
 large mansion. A young lady sprang out ; ran up the 
 steps ; and rang the bell impatiently. She was of the 
 olive complexion, with a sharp profile : dark eyes with 
 long lashes : narrow mouth with delicately sensuous lips : 
 small head, feet, and hands, with long taper fingers : lithe 
 
10- AN UNSOCIAL SOLIALIST. 
 
 and very slender figure moving with serpent-like grace. 
 Oriental taste was displayed in the colours of her costume, 
 which consisted of a white dress, close-fitting, and printed 
 with an elaborate china blue pattern ; a yellow straw hat 
 covered with artificial hawthorn and scarlet berries ; and 
 tan-coloured gloves reaching beyond the elbow, and 
 decorated with a profusion of gold bangles. 
 
 The door not being opened immediately, she rang again, 
 violently, and was presently admitted by a maid, who 
 seemed surprised to see her. Without making any inquiry, 
 she darted upstairs into a drawing-room, where a matron 
 of good presence, with features of the finest Jewish type, 
 sat reading. With her was a handsome boy in black 
 velvet, who said, 
 
 '* Mamma: here's Henrietta ! " 
 
 "Arthur," said the young lady excitedly: "leave the 
 room this instant ; and dont dare to come back until you 
 get leave." 
 
 The boy's countenance fell ; and he sulkily went out 
 without a word. 
 
 "Is anything wrong?" said the matron, putting away 
 her book with the unconcerned resignation of an experi- 
 enced person who foresees a storm in a teacup. " Where 
 is Sidney ? " 
 
 "Gone! Gone! Deserted me! I " The young 
 
 lady's utterance failed ; and she threw herself upon an 
 ottoman, sobbing with passionate spite. 
 
 " Nonsense ! I thought Sidney had more sense. There, 
 Henrietta : dont be silly. I suppose you have quarrelled." 
 
 " No ! No ! ! No ! ! ! " cried Henrietta, stamping on the 
 carpet. " We had not a word. I have not lost my temper 
 since we were married, mamma : I solemnly swear I have 
 not. I will kill myself: there is no other way. There's a 
 curse on me. I am marked out to be miserable. He " 
 
 "Tut tut ! What has happened, Henrietta ? As you 
 have been married now nearly six weeks, you can hardly 
 be surprised at a little tiff" arising. You are so excitable ! 
 You cannot expect the sky to be always cloudless. Most 
 likely you are to blame ; for Sidney is far more reasonable 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. il 
 
 than you. Stop crying, and behave like a woman of sense ; 
 and I will go to Sidney and make everything right." 
 
 " But he's gone ; and I cant find out where. Oh, what 
 shall I do } " 
 
 " What has happened ? " 
 
 Henrietta writhed with impatience. Then, forcing 
 herself to tell her story, she answered, 
 
 ** We arranged on Monday that I should spend two 
 days with aunt Judith instead of going with him to 
 Birmingham to that horrid Trade Congress. We parted 
 on the best of terms. He c — couldnt have been more 
 aifectionate. I will kill myself: I dont care about any- 
 thing or anybody. And when I came back on Wednesday 
 
 he was gone ; and there was this lett " She produced 
 
 a letter, and wept more bitterly than before. 
 
 ** Let me see it." 
 
 Henrietta hesitated ; but her mother took the letter from 
 her ; sat down near the wmdow ; and composed herself to 
 read without the least regard to her daughter's vehement 
 distress. The letter ran thus : — 
 
 Monday nighty. 
 
 My Dearest : / am off— surfeited with endear jnent — to live my own 
 life, and do my, own work. I could only have prepared you for this by 
 coldness or neglect, which are wholly impossible to me when the spell of 
 your presence is upon me. I find that I must fly if I am to save myself 
 
 I am afraid that I cannot give you satisfactory and intelligible reasons 
 for this step. You are a beautiful and luxurious creature : life is to 
 you full and complete only when it is a carnival of love. My case is just 
 the reverse. Before three soft speeches have escaped me, I rebuke myself 
 for folly and insincerity. Before a caress has had time to cool, a 
 strenuous revulsion seizes me : I long to return to my old lonely ascetic 
 hermit life ; to my dry books ; my Socialist propagandism ; my voyage of 
 discovery through the wilderness of thought. I married in an insane fit 
 of belief that I had a share of the natural affection which carries other 
 men through lifetimes of matrimony. Already I am undeceived. Yoti 
 are to me the loveliest woman in the world. Well, for five weeks I 
 have walked and talked and dallied with the loveliest woman in the 
 world ; and the upshot is that I am fiying fvm her, and am for a 
 he7-mit's cave until I die. Love cannot keep possession of me : all my 
 strongest powers rise up against it and will not endure it. Forgive me 
 for writing nonsense that you wont understand; and do not think too 
 hardly of me. I have been as good to you as my selfish nature allowed. 
 
12 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 Do not seek to disturb me in the obscurity which I desire and deserve. 
 My solicitor will call on your father to arrange business matters ; and 
 you shall be as happy as wealth and liberty can make you. We shall 
 meet again — some day. 
 
 AdieUy my last love. 
 
 Sidney Trefusis. 
 
 *'Well?" cried Mrs. Trefusis, observing through her 
 tears that her mother had read the letter, and was con- 
 templating it in a daze. 
 
 "Well, certainly ! " said Mrs. Jansenius, with emphasis. 
 " Do you think he is quite sane, Henrietta 7 Or have you 
 been plaguing him for too much attention. Men are not 
 willing to give up their whole existence to their wives, 
 even during the honeymoon." 
 
 *' He pretended that he was never happy out of my 
 presence," sobbed Henrietta. " There never was any- 
 thing so cruel. I often wanted to be by myself for a 
 change ; but I was afraid to hurt his feelings by saying so. 
 And now he has no feelings. But he must come back to 
 me. Musnt he, mamma ? " 
 
 ** He ought to. I suppose he has not gone away with 
 anyone ? " 
 
 Henrietta sprang up, her cheeks vivid scarlet. " If I 
 thought that, I would pursue him to the end of the earth, 
 and murder her. But no : he is not like anybody else. 
 He hates me. Everybody hates me. You dont care 
 whether I am deserted or not, nor papa, nor anyone in 
 this house." 
 
 Mrs. Jansenius, still indifferent to her daughter's agita- 
 tion, considered a moment, and then said placidly, 
 
 ** You can do nothing until we hear from the solicitor. 
 In the meantime you may stay with us, if you wish. I did 
 not expect a visit from you so soon ; but your room has 
 not been used since you went away." 
 
 Mrs. Trefusis ceased crying, chilled by this first intima- 
 tion that her father's house was no longer her home. A 
 more real sense of desolation came upon her. Under its 
 cold influence she began to collect herself, and to feel her 
 pride rising like a barrier between her and her mother. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 13 
 
 ■ " I wont stay long," she said. ** If his solicitor will not 
 tell me where he is, I will hunt through England for him. 
 I am sorry to trouble you." 
 
 **0h, you will be no greater trouble than you have 
 always been," said Mrs. Jansenius calmly, not displeased 
 to see that her daughter had taken the hint. " You had 
 better go and wash your face. People may call ; and I 
 presume you dont wish to receive them in that plight. If 
 you meet Arthur on the stairs, please tell him he may come 
 in." 
 
 Henrietta screwed her lips into a curious pout, and 
 withdrew. Arthur then came in, and stood at the window 
 in sullen silence, brooding over his recent expulsion. 
 Suddenly he exclaimed, ** Here's papa; and it's not five 
 o'clock yet ! " whereupon his mother sent him away 
 again. 
 
 Mr. Jansenius was a man of imposing presence, not yet 
 in his fiftieth year, but not far from it. He moved with 
 dignity, bearing himself as if the contents of his massive 
 brow were precious. His handsome aquiline nose and 
 keen dark eyes proclaimed his Jewish origin, of which he 
 was ashamed. Those who did not know this, naturally 
 believed that he was proud of it, and were at a loss to 
 account for his permitting his children to be educated 
 as Christians. Well instructed in business, and subject 
 to no emotion outside the love of family, respectability, 
 comfort, and money, he had maintained the capital 
 inherited from his father, and made it breed new capital 
 in the usual way. He was a banker; and his object 
 as such was to intercept and appropriate the immense 
 saving which the banking system effects, and so, as far as 
 possible, to leave the rest of the world working just as hard 
 as before banking was introduced. But as the world 
 would not on these terms have banked at all, he had to 
 give them some of the saving as an inducement. So they 
 profited by the saving as well as he ; and he had the 
 satisfaction of being at once a wealthy citizen and a 
 public benefactor, rich in comforts and easy in con- 
 science. 
 
14 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 He entered the room quickly ; and his wife saw that 
 something had vexed him. 
 
 ** Do you know what has happened, Ruth ? " he said. 
 
 " Yes. She is upstairs." 
 
 Mr. Jansenius stared. *' Do you mean to say that she 
 has left already } " he said. " What business has she to 
 come here .? " 
 
 " It is natural enough. Where else should she have 
 gone 1 " 
 
 Mr. Jansenius, who mistrusted his own judgment when 
 it differed from that of his wife, replied slowly, " Why did 
 she not go to her mother ? " 
 
 Mrs. Jansenius, puzzled in her turn, looked at him with 
 cool wonder, and remarked, " I am her mother, am I not ? " 
 
 " I was not aware of it. I am surprised to hear it, Ruth. 
 Have you had a letter too } " 
 
 " I have seen the letter. But what do you mean by 
 telling me that you do not know I am Henrietta's mother ? 
 Are you trying to be funny } " 
 
 '* Henrietta ! Is she here } Is this some fresh 
 trouble .? " 
 
 " I dont know. What are you talking about ? " 
 
 " I am talking about Agatha Wylie." 
 
 ** Oh ! I was talking about Henrietta." 
 
 ** Well, what about Henrietta ? " 
 
 '* What about Agatha Wylie } " 
 
 At this Mr. Jansenius became exasperated ; and she 
 deemed it best to relate what Henrietta had told her. 
 When she gave him Trefusis's letter, he said, more calmly, 
 ** Misfortunes never come singly. Read that," and handed 
 her another letter, so that they both began reading at the 
 same time. 
 
 Mrs. Jansenius read as follows. 
 
 To Mrs. Wylie, 
 Acacia Lodge, Chiswick. 
 
 Alton College, Lyvern. 
 
 Dear Madam : / write with great regret to request that you will at 
 once withdraw Miss Wylie from Alton College. In an establishment 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 15 
 
 like this, where restraint upon the liberty of the students is reduced to a 
 minimum, it is necessary that the small degree of stibordination which 
 is absolutely indispensable be acquiesced in by all without complaint 
 or delay. Miss Wylie has failed to comply with this condition. She 
 has declared her wish to leave ; and has assumed an attitude tozuards 
 myself and my colleagues which we cannot, consistently with our duty 
 to ourselves and her fellow students, pass over. If Miss Wylie has any 
 cause to co??iplain of her treatment here, or of the step zvhich she has 
 compelled us to take, she will doubtless make it known to yoti. 
 
 Perhaps you tuill be so good as to communicate with Miss Wylie' s 
 guardian, Mr. Jansenius, with whom I shall be happy to make an 
 equitable arrangement respecting the fees which have been paid in advance 
 for the current term. 
 
 I am, Dear Madam, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 Maria Wilson. 
 
 *• A nice young lady, that ! " said Mrs. Jansenius. 
 
 ** I do not understand this," said Mr. Jansenius, redden- 
 ing as he took in the purport of his son-in-law's letter. 
 " I will not submit to it. What does it mean, Ruth ? " 
 
 ** I dont know. Sidney is mad, I think ; and his honey- 
 moon has brought his madness out. But you must not let 
 him throw Henrietta on my hands again." 
 
 ** Mad ! Does he think he can shirk his responsibility 
 to his wife because she is my daughter } Does he think, 
 because his mother's father was a baronet, that he can 
 put Henrietta aside the moment her society palls on 
 him } " 
 
 " Oh, it's nothing of that sort. He never thought of 
 us" 
 
 " But I will make him think of us," said Mr. Jansenius, 
 raising his voice in great agitation. ** He shall answer 
 for it." 
 
 Just then Henrietta returned, and saw her father moving 
 excitedly to and fro, repeating, " He shall answer to me 
 for this. He shall answer for it." 
 
 ^ Mrs. Jansenius frowned at her daughter to remain 
 silent, and said soothingly, "Dont lose your temper, 
 John." 
 
 ** But I will lose my temper. Insolent hound ! Damned 
 scoundrel ! " 
 
■i6 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 "He is «<?/," whimpered Henrietta, sitting down and 
 taking out her handkerchief. 
 
 "Oh, come, come! " said Mrs. Jansenius peremptorily: 
 "we have had enough crying. Let us have no more of 
 
 it." . . 
 
 Henrietta sprang up in a passion, " I will say and do 
 as I please," she exclaimed. "I am a married woman ; 
 and I will receive no orders. And I will have my husband 
 back again, no matter what he does to hide himself. 
 Papa : wont you make him come back to me. I am dying. 
 Promise that you will make him come back." 
 
 And, throwing herself upon her father's bosom, she 
 postponed further discussion by going into hysterics, and 
 startling the household by her screams. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 One of the professors at Alton College was a Mrs. Miller, 
 an old-fashioned schoolmistress who did not believe in 
 Miss Wilson's system of government by moral force, and 
 carried it out under protest. Though not ill-natured, she 
 was narrow-minded enough to be in some degree contemp- 
 tible, and was consequently prone to suspect others of 
 despising her. She suspected Agatha in particular, and 
 treated her with disdainful curtness in such intercourse as 
 they had — it was fortunately little. Agatha was not hurt 
 by this ; for Mrs. Miller was an unsympathetic woman, who 
 made no friends among the girls, and satisfied her affec- 
 tionate impulses by petting a large cat named Gracchus, 
 but generally called Bacchus by an endearing modification 
 of the harsh initial consonant. 
 
 One evening Mrs. Miller, seated with Miss Wilson in 
 the study, correcting examination papers, heard in the 
 distance a cry like that of a cat in distress. She ran to 
 the door and listened. Presently there arose a prolonged 
 wail, slurring up through two octaves, and subsiding again. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 17 
 
 It was a true feline screech, impossible to localize ; but it 
 was interrupted by a sob, a snarl, a fierce spitting, and a 
 scuffling, coming unmistakably from a room on the floor 
 beneath, in which, at that hour, the older girls assembled 
 for study. 
 
 *' My poor Gracchy ! " exclaimed Mrs. Miller, running 
 downstairs as fast as she could. She found the room 
 unusually quiet. Every girl was deep in study except Miss 
 Carpenter, who, pretending to pick up a fallen book, was 
 purple with suppressed laughter and the congestion caused 
 by stooping. 
 
 " Where is Miss Ward ? " demanded Mrs. Miller. 
 
 ** Miss Ward has gone for some astronomical diagrams 
 in which we are interested," said Agatha, looking up 
 gravely. Just then, Miss Ward,, diagrams in hand, 
 entered. 
 
 " Has that cat been in here ? " she said, not seeing Mrs. 
 Miller, and speaking in a tone expressive of antipathy to 
 Gracchus. 
 
 Agatha started, and drew up her ankles as if fearful of 
 having them bitten. Then, looking apprehensively under 
 the desk, she replied, *' There is no cat here. Miss Ward." 
 
 '* There is one somewhere : I heard it," said Miss Ward 
 carelessly, unrolling her diagrams, which she began to 
 explain without further parley. Mrs, Miller, anxious for 
 her pet, hastened to seek it elsewhere. In the hall she 
 met one of the housemaids. 
 
 *' Susan," she said : " have you seen Gracchus ? " 
 
 " He's asleep on the hearthrug in your room, maam." 
 * But I heard him crying down here a moment ago. I 
 feel sure that another cat has got in, and that they are 
 fighting." 
 
 Susan smiled compassionately. " Lor* bless you,, maam," 
 she said, " that was Miss Wylie. It's a sort of play-acting 
 that she goes through. There is the bee on the window- 
 pane, and the soldier up the chimley, and the cat under 
 the dresser. She does them all like life." 
 
 **The soldier in the chimney!" repeated Mrs. Miller, 
 shocked. 
 
i8 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 "Yes, maam. Like as it were a follower that had hid 
 there when he heard the mistress coming." 
 
 Mrs. Miller's face set determinedly. She returned to 
 the study and related what had just occurred, adding some 
 sarcastic comments on the efficacy of moral force in main- 
 taining collegiate discipline. Miss Wilson looked grave ; 
 considered for some time ; and at last said, '* I must think 
 over this. Would you mind leaving it in my hands for the 
 present ? " 
 
 Mrs. Miller said that she did not care in whose hands 
 it remained provided her own were washed of it, and 
 resumed her work at the papers. Miss Wilson then, 
 wishing to be alone, went into the empty class-room at 
 the other side of the landing. She took the Fault Book 
 from its shelf, and sat down before it. Its record closed 
 with the announcement, in Agatha's handwriting, 
 
 Miss Wilson has called me impertinent, and has written to my uncle 
 that I have refused to obey the rules. I was not impertinent ; and I 
 never refused to obey the rules. So much for Moral Force ! 
 
 Miss Wilson rose vigorously, exclaiming, "I will soon 
 let her know whether — ." She checked herself, and 
 looked round hastily, superstitiously fancying that Agatha 
 might have stolen into the room unobserved. Reassured 
 that she was alone, she examined her conscience as to 
 whether she had done wrong in calling Agatha impertinent, 
 justifying herself by the reflection that Agatha had, in fact, 
 been impertinent. Yet she recollected that she had 
 refused to admit this plea on a recent occasion when Jane 
 Carpenter had advanced it in extenuation of having called 
 a fellow- student a liar. Had she then been unjust to Jane, 
 or inconsiderate to Agatha .? 
 
 Her casuistry was interrupted by some one softly whist- 
 ling a theme from the overture to Masaniello, popular at 
 the college in the form of an arrangement for six piano- 
 fortes and twelve hands. There was only one student 
 unladylike and musical enough to whistle ; and Miss 
 Wilson was ashamed to find herself growing nervous at 
 the prospect of an encounter with Agatha, who entered 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 19 
 
 whistling sweetly, but with a lugubrious countenance. 
 When she saw in whose presence she stood, she begged 
 pardon politely, and was about to withdraw, when Miss 
 Wilson, summoning all her judgment and tact, and hoping 
 that they would — contrary to their custom in emergencies — 
 respond to the summons, said, 
 
 " Agatha : come here. I want to speak to you." 
 
 Agatha closed her lips ; drew in a long breath through 
 her nostrils ; and marched to within a few feet of Miss 
 Wilson, where she halted with her hands clasped before her. 
 
 ** Sit down." 
 
 Agatha sat down with a single movement, like a doll. 
 
 *' I dont understand that, Agatha," said Miss Wilson, 
 pointing to the entry in the Recording Angel. "What 
 does it mean ? " 
 
 " I am unfairly treated," said Agatha, with signs of 
 agitation. 
 
 " In what way 1 " 
 
 " In every way. I am expected to be something more 
 than mortal. Everyone else is encouraged to complain, 
 and to be weak and silly. But I must have no feeling. 
 I must be always in the right. Everyone else may be 
 home-sick, or huffed, or in low spirits. I must have no 
 nerves, and must keep others laughing all day long. 
 Everyone else may sulk when a word of reproach is 
 addressed to them, and may make the professors afraid 
 to find fault with them. I have to bear with the insults 
 of teachers who have less self-control than I, a girl of 
 seventeen ! and must coax them out of the difficulties they 
 make for themselves by their own ill temper.^' 
 
 " But, Agatha, " 
 
 ** Oh, I know I am talking nonsense, Miss Wilson ; but 
 can you expect me to be always sensible } — to b^ in- 
 fallible .? " 
 
 " Yes, Agatha : I do not think it is too much to expect 
 you to be always sensible ; and " 
 
 *' Then you have neither sense nor sympathy yourself," 
 said Agatha. 
 
 There was an awful pause. Neither could have told 
 
20 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 how long it lasted. Then Agatha, feeling that she must 
 do or say something desperate, or else fly, made a dis 
 tracted gesture,, and ran out of the room. 
 
 She rejoined her companions in the great hall of the 
 mansion, where they were assembled after study fof 
 ** recreation," a noisy process which always set in spon- 
 taneously when the professors withdrew. She usually sat 
 with her two favourite associates on a high window seat 
 near the hearth. That place was now occupied by a little 
 girl with flaxen hair, whom Agatha, regardless of moral 
 force, lifted by the shoulders and deposited on the floor. 
 Then she sat down and said, 
 
 " Oh, such a piece of news ! " 
 
 Miss Carpenter opened her eyes eagerly. Gertrude 
 Lindsay aff"ected indifference. 
 
 " Someone is going to be expelled," said Agatha. 
 
 '' Expelled ! Who ? " 
 
 *' You will know soon enough, Jane," replied Agatha, 
 suddenly grave. " It is someone who made an impudent 
 entry in the Recording Angel." 
 
 Fear stole upon Jane ; and she became very red. 
 " Agatha," she said : "" it was you who told me what to 
 write. You know you did ; and you cant deny it." 
 
 " I cant deny it, cant I ? I am ready to swear that I 
 never dictated a word to you in my life." 
 
 " Gertrude knows you did," exclaimed Jane, appalled, 
 and almost in tears. 
 
 '* There," said Agatha, petting her as if she were a vast 
 baby. " It shall not be expelled, so it shant. Have you 
 seen the Recording Angel lately, either of you } " 
 
 *' Not since our last entry," said Gertrude. 
 
 *' Chips," said Agatha, calling to the flaxen haired 
 child : ** go upstairs to No. 6 ; and, if Miss Wilson isnt 
 there, fetch me the Recording Angel." 
 
 The little girl grumbled inarticulately, and did not stir. 
 
 '' Chips," resumed Agatha : " did you ever wish that 
 you had never been born } " 
 
 " Why dont you go yourself.? " said the child pettishly, 
 but evidently alarmed. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 21 
 
 " Because," continued Agatha, ignoring the question, 
 "you shall wish yourself dead and buried under the 
 blackest flag in the coal cellar if you dont bring me the 
 book before I can count sixteen. One — two " 
 
 " Go at once and do as you are told, you disagreeable 
 little thing," said Gertrude sharply. ** Hoav dare you be 
 so disobliging ? " 
 
 " — nine — ten — eleven — ^" pursued Agatha. 
 
 The child quailed ; went out ; and presently returned, 
 hugging the Recording Angel in her arms. 
 
 " You are a good little darling — when your better 
 qualities are brought out by a judicious application of 
 moral force," said Agatha, good-humouredly. ** Remind 
 me to save the raisins out of my pudding for you to- 
 morrow. Now, Jane, you shall see the entry for which 
 the best hearted girl in the college is to be expelled. 
 Voila ! " 
 
 The two girls read, and were awestruck : Jane opening 
 her mouth and gasping : Gertrude closing hers and look- 
 ing very serious. 
 
 " Do you mean to say that you had the dreadful cheek 
 to let the Lady Abbess see that ? " said Jane. 
 
 " Pooh ! she would have forgiven that. You should 
 have heard what I said to her ! She fainted three times." 
 
 " That's a story," said Gertrude, gravely. 
 
 ** I beg your pardon } " said Agatha, swiftly grasping 
 Gertrude's knee. 
 
 "■ Nothing," cried Gertrude, flinching hysterically. 
 *'Dont, Agatha." 
 
 ** How many times did Miss Wilson faint .?" 
 
 " Three times. I will scream, Agatha : I will indeed." 
 
 " Three times, as you say. And I wonder that a girl 
 brought up as you have been, by moral force, should be 
 capable of repeating such a falsehood. But we had an 
 awful row, really and truly. She lost her temper. For- 
 tunately, I never lose mine." 
 
 " Well, I'm blowed ! " exclaimed Jane incredulously. 
 " I like that." 
 
 *' (For a girl of county family, you are inexcusably 
 
22 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 vulgar, Jane). I dont know what I said ; but she will 
 never forgive me for profaning her pet book. I shall be 
 expelled as certainly as I am sitting here." 
 
 "And do you mean to say that you are going away .? " 
 said Jane, faltering as she began to realize the con- 
 sequences. 
 
 "I do. And what is to become of you when I am not 
 here to get you out of your scrapes, or of Gertrude without 
 me to check her inveterate nobbishness, is more than I 
 can foresee." 
 
 " I am not nobbish," said Gertrude, " although I do 
 not choose to make friends with everyone. But I never 
 objected to you, Agatha." 
 
 " No : I should like to catch you at it. Hallo, Jane ! " 
 (who had suddenly burst into tears) : " what's the matter .^ 
 I trust you are not permitting yourself to take the liberty 
 of crying for me." 
 
 " Indeed," sobbed Jane indignantly, " I know that I am 
 a f — fool for my pains. You have no heart." 
 
 " You certainly are a f — fool, as you aptly express it," 
 said Agatha, passing her arm round Jane, and disregard- 
 ing an angry attempt to shake it off; "but if I had 
 any heart, it would be touched by this proof of your 
 attachment." 
 
 " I never said you had no heart," protested Jane ; " but 
 I hate when you speak like a book." 
 
 "You hate when I speak like a book, do you .^ My 
 dear silly old Jane ! I shall miss you greatly." 
 
 "Yes, I dare say," said Jane, with tearful sarcasm. "At 
 least my snoring will never keep you awake again." 
 
 " You dont snore, Jane. We have been in a conspiracy 
 to make you believe that you do : that's all. Isnt it good 
 of me to tell you } " 
 
 Jane was overcome by this revelation. After a long 
 pause, she said with deep conviction, " I always knew that 
 I didnt. Oh, the way you kept it up ! I solemnly 
 declare that from this time forth I will believe nobody." 
 
 " Well, and what do you think of it all ? " said Agatha, 
 transferring her attention to Gertrude, who was very grave. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 23 
 
 " I think — I am now speaking seriously, Agatha — I think 
 you are in the wrong." 
 
 " Why do you think that, pray ? " demanded Agatha, a 
 little roused. 
 
 *' You must be, or Miss Wilson would not be angry with 
 you. Of course, according to your own account, you are 
 always in the right, and everyone else is always wrong ; 
 but you shouldnt have written that in the book. You 
 know I speak as your friend." 
 
 "And pray what does your wretched little soul know of 
 my motives and feelings } " 
 
 '' It is easy enough to understand you," retorted 
 Gertrude, nettled. ** Self-conceit is not so uncommon 
 that one need be at a loss to recognize it. And mind, 
 Agatha Wylie," she continued, as if goaded by some 
 unbearable reminiscence : " if you are really going, I dont 
 care whether we part friends or not. I have not forgotten 
 the day when you called me a spiteful cat." 
 
 ** I have repented," said Agatha, unmoved. ** One day 
 I sat down and watched Bacchus seated on the hearthrug, 
 with his moony eyes looking into space so thoughtfully and 
 patiently that I apologized for comparing you to him. 
 If I were to call him a spiteful cat he would only not 
 believe me." 
 
 '* Because he is a cat," said Jane, with the giggle which 
 was seldom far behind her tears. 
 
 ** No ; but because he is not spiteful. Gertrude keeps 
 a recording angel inside her little head ; and it is so full 
 of other people's faults, written in large hand and read 
 through a magnifying glass, that there is no room to enter 
 her own." 
 
 " You are very poetic," said Gertrude ; *' but I under- 
 stand what you mean, and shall not forget it." 
 
 *' You ungrateful wretch," exclaimed Agatha, turning 
 upon her so suddenly and imperiously that she involun- 
 tarily shrank aside : ''how often, when you have tried to 
 be insolent and false with me, have I not driven away 
 your bad angel — by tickling you } Had you a friend in 
 the college, except half-a-dozen toadies, until I came.? 
 
24 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 And now, because I have sometimes, for your own good, 
 shewn you your faults, you bear malice against me, and 
 say that you dont care whether we part friends or not ! " 
 
 " I didnt say so." 
 
 ** Oh, Gertrude : you know you did," said Jane. 
 
 " You seem to think that I have no conscience," said 
 Gertrude querulously. 
 
 ** I wish you hadnt," said Agatha. " Look at me ! I 
 have no conscience ; and see how much pleasanterl am!" 
 
 " You care for no one but yourself," said Gertrude. 
 "You never think that other people have feelings too. 
 No one ever considers me." 
 
 " Oh : I like to hear you talk," cried Jane ironically. 
 ** You are considered a great deal more than is good for 
 you ; and the more you are considered the more you want 
 to be considered." 
 
 *'As if," declaimed Agatha theatrically, "increase of 
 appetite did grow by what it fed on. Shakspere ! " 
 
 "Bother Shakspere," said Jane, impetuously: " — old 
 fool that expects credit for saying things that everybody 
 knows ! But if you complain of not being considered, 
 Gertrude, how would you like to be me, whom everybody 
 sets down as a fool } But I am not such a fool as " 
 
 "As you look," interposed Agatha. "I have told you 
 so scores of times, Jane ; and I am glad that you have 
 adopted my opinion at last. Which would you rather he a 
 greater fool than y " 
 
 "Oh, shut up," said Jane, impatiently: "you have 
 asked me that twice this week already." 
 
 The three were silent for some seconds after this : 
 Agatha meditating : Gertrude moody : Jane vacant and 
 restless. At last Agatha said, 
 
 " And are you two also smarting under a sense of the 
 inconsiderateness and selfishness of the rest of the world } 
 — both misunderstood } — everything expected from you, 
 and no allowances made for you } " 
 
 " I dont know what you mean by both of us," said 
 Gertrude, coldly. 
 
 "Neither do I," said Jane, angrily. "That is just the 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 25 
 
 way people treat me. You may laugh, Agatha ; and she 
 
 may turn up her nose as much as she likes : you know it's 
 
 true. But the idea of Gertrude wanting to make out that 
 
 she isnt considered, is nothing but sentimentality, and 
 
 vanity, and nonsense." 
 
 ■ "You are exceedingly rude, Miss Carpenter," said 
 
 Gertrude. 
 
 " My manners are as good as yours, and perhaps better," 
 retorted Jane. " My family is as good, anyhow." 
 
 ** Children, children," said Agatha, admonitorily : " do 
 not forget that you are sworn friends." 
 
 " We didnt swear," said Jane. " We were to have been 
 three sworn friends ; and Gertrude and I were willing ; 
 but you wouldnt swear, and so the bargain was cried off." 
 
 " Just so," said Agatha ; ** and the result is that I spend 
 all my time in keeping peace between you. And now, to 
 go back to our subject, may I ask whether it has ever 
 occurred to you that no one ever considers vie ? " 
 
 " I suppose you think that very funny. You take good 
 care to make yourself considered," sneered Jane. 
 
 ** You cannot say that / do not consider you," said 
 Gertrude reproachfully. 
 
 *• Not when I tickle you, dear." 
 
 ** I consider you; and I am not ticklesome," said Jane, 
 tenderly. 
 
 *' Indeed ! Let me try," said Agatha, slipping her arm 
 about Jane's ample waist, and eliciting a piercing combina- 
 tion of laugh and scream from her. 
 
 **Sh — sh," whispered Gertrude, quickly. **Dont you 
 see the Lady Abbess ? " 
 
 Miss Wilson had just entered the room. Agatha, with- 
 out appearing to be aware of her presence, stealthily 
 withdrew her arm, and said aloud, 
 
 " How can you make such a noise, Jane ? You will 
 disturb the whole house." 
 
 Jane reddened with indignation, but had to remain 
 silent ; for the eyes of the principal were upon her. Miss 
 Wilson had her bonnet on. She announced that she 
 was going to walk to Lyvern, the nearest village. Did 
 
26 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 any of the sixth form young ladies wish to accompany 
 her? 
 
 Agatha jumped from her seat at once ; and Jane 
 smothered a laugh. 
 
 " Miss Wilson said the sixth form, Miss Wylie," said 
 Miss Ward, who had entered also. ** You are not in the 
 sixth form." 
 
 " No," said Agatha, sweetly ; ** but I want to go, if I 
 may." 
 
 Miss Wilson looked round. The sixth form consisted 
 of four studious young ladies, whose goal in life for the 
 present was an examination by one of the Universities, or, 
 as the college phrase was, ** the Cambridge Local." None 
 of them responded. 
 
 " Fifth form, then," said Miss Wilson. 
 
 Jane, Gertrude, and four others, rose and stood with 
 Agatha. 
 
 " Very well," said Miss Wilson. " Do not be long 
 dressing." 
 
 They left the room quietly, and dashed at the staircase 
 the moment they were out of sight. Agatha, though void 
 of emulation for the Cambridge Local, always competed 
 with ardour for the honour of being first up or down stairs. 
 
 They soon returned, clad for walking, and left the 
 college in procession, two by two : Jane and Agatha 
 leading: Gertrude and Miss Wilson coming last. The 
 road to Lyvern lay through acres of pasture land, formerly 
 arable, now abandoned to cattle, which made more money 
 for the landlord than the men whom they had displaced. 
 Miss Wilson's young ladies, being instructed in economics, 
 knew that this proved that the land was being used to 
 produce what was most wanted from it; and if all the 
 advantage went to the landlord, that was but natural, as 
 he was the chief gentleman in the neighbourhood. Still, 
 the arrangement had its disagreeable side ; for it involved 
 a great many cows, which made them afraid to cross the 
 fields ; a great many tramps, who made them afraid to 
 walk the roads ; and a scarcity of gentlemen subjects for 
 the maiden art of fascination. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. rj 
 
 The sky was cloudy. Agatha, reckless of dusty stock- 
 ings, waded through the heaps of fallen leaves with 
 the delight of a child paddling in the sea ; Gertrude 
 picked her steps carefully ; and the rest tramped along 
 chatting subduedly, occasionally making some scientific or 
 philosophical remark in a louder tone in order that Miss 
 Wilson might overhear and give them due credit. Save 
 a herdsman, who seemed to have caught something of the 
 nature and expression of the beasts he tended, they met 
 no one until they approached the village, where, on the 
 brow of an acclivity, masculine humanity appeared in the 
 shape of two curates : one tall, thin, close shaven, with a 
 book under his arm, and his neck craned forward : the 
 other middle-sized, robust, upright, and aggressive, with 
 short black whiskers, and an air of protest against such 
 notions as that a clergyman may not marry, hunt, play 
 cricket, or share the sports of honest laymen. The shaven 
 one was Mr. Josephs: his companion, Mr. Fairholme. 
 Obvious scriptural perversions of this brace of names had 
 been introduced by Agatha. 
 
 ** Here come Pharaoh and Joseph," she said to Jane. 
 "Joseph will blush when you look at him. Pharaoh 
 wont blush until he passes Gertrude; so we shall lose 
 that." 
 
 ** Josephs, indeed ! " said Jane, scornfully. 
 
 " He loves you, Jane. Thin persons like a fine armful 
 of a woman. Pharaoh, who is a cad, likes blue blood on 
 the same principle of the attraction of opposites. That 
 is why he is captivated by Gertrude's aristocratic air." 
 
 ** If he only knew how she despises him ! " 
 
 *' He is too vain to suspect it. Besides, Gertrude de- 
 spises everyone, even us. Or rather she doesnt despise 
 anyone in particular, but is contemptuous by nature, just 
 as you are stout." 
 
 '*Mf! I had rather be stout than stuck-up. Ought we 
 to bow .? " 
 
 " I will, certainly. I want to make Pharaoh blush, if I 
 can." 
 
 The two parsons had been simulating an interest in the 
 
28 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 cloudy firmament as an excuse for not looking at the girls 
 until close at hand. Jane sent an eyeflash at Josephs with 
 a skill which proved her favourite assertion that she was 
 not so stupid as people thought. He blushed, and took 
 off his soft, low-crowned felt hat. Fairholme saluted very 
 solemnly ; for Agatha bowed to him with marked serious- 
 ness. But when his gravity and his stiff silk hat were at 
 their highest point, she darted a mocking smile at him ; 
 and he too blushed, all the deeper because he was enraged 
 with himself for doing so. 
 
 ** Did you ever see such a pair of fools } " whispered 
 Jane, giggling. 
 
 "They cannot help their sex. They say women are 
 fools ; and so they are ; but thank Heaven they are not 
 quite so bad as men ! I should like to look back and see 
 Pharaoh passing Gertrude ; but if he saw me he would 
 think I was admiring him ; and he is conceited enough 
 already without that." 
 
 The two curates became redder and redder as they 
 passed the column' of young ladies. Miss Lindsay would 
 not look to their side of the road ; and Miss Wilson's nod 
 and smile were not quite sincere. She never spoke to 
 curates, and kept up no more intercourse with the vicar 
 than she could not avoid. He suspected her of being an 
 infidel, though neither he nor any other mortal in Lyvern 
 had ever heard a word from her on the subject of her 
 religious opinions. But he knew that " moral science " 
 was taught secularly at the college ; and he felt that where 
 morals were made a department of science, the demand 
 for religion must fall off proportionately. 
 
 ** What a life to lead ! and what a place to live in ! " 
 exclaimed Agatha. "We meet two creatures, more like 
 suits of black than men ; and that is an incident — a start- 
 ling incident, in our existence ! " 
 
 "I think they're awful fun," said Jane; "except that 
 Josephs has such large ears." 
 
 The girls now came to a place where the road dipped 
 through a plantation of sombre sycamore and horse chest- 
 nut trees. As they passed down into it, a little wind 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 29 
 
 Sprang up ; the fallen leaves stirred ; and the branches 
 heaved a long rustling sigh. 
 
 ** I hate this bit of road," said Jane, hurrying on. " It's 
 just the sort of place that people get robbed and murdered 
 in." 
 
 " It is not such a bad place to shelter in if we get 
 caught in the rain, as I expect we shall before we 
 get back," said Agatha, feeling the fitful breeze strike 
 ominously on her cheek. ** A nice pickle I shall be in 
 with these light shoes on ! I wish I had put on my 
 strong boots. If it rains much I will go into the old 
 chalet." 
 
 '* Miss Wilson wont let you. It's trespassing." 
 
 " What matter ! Nobody lives in it ; and the gate is off 
 its hinges. I only want to stand under the veranda — not 
 to break into the wretched place. Besides, the landlord 
 knows Miss Wilson : he wont mind. There's a drop." 
 
 Miss Carpenter looked up, and immediately received a 
 heavy raindrop in her eye. 
 
 ''Oh!" she cried. "It's pouring! We shall be 
 drenched." 
 
 Agatha stopped ; and the column broke into a group 
 about her. 
 
 "Miss Wilson," she said: " it is going to rain in torrents; 
 and Jane and I have only our shoes on." 
 
 Miss Wilson paused to consider the situation. Someone 
 suggested that if they hurried on they might reach Lyvern 
 before the rain came down. 
 
 ** More than a mile," said Agatha scornfully; " and the 
 rain coming down already 1 " 
 
 Someone else suggested returning to the college. 
 
 "More than two miles," said Agatha. " We should be 
 drowned." 
 
 "There is nothing for it but to wait here under the 
 trees," said Miss Wilson. 
 
 " The branches are very bare," said Gertrude anxiously. 
 " If it should come down heavily, they will drip worse than 
 the rain itself." 
 
 "Much worse," said Agatha. "I think we had better 
 
30 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 get under the veranda of the old chalet. It is not half 
 a minute's walk from here." 
 
 "But we have no right " Here the sky darkened 
 
 threateningly. Miss Wilson checked herself, and said, ** I 
 suppose it is still empty." 
 
 " Of course," replied Agatha, impatient to be moving. 
 ** It is almost a ruin." 
 
 " Then let us go there, by all means," said Miss Wilson, 
 not disposed to stand on trifles at the risk of a bad cold. 
 
 They hurried on, and came presently to a green hill by 
 the wayside. On the slope was a dilapidated Swiss cottage, 
 surrounded by a veranda on slender wooden pillars, about 
 which clung a few tendrils of withered creeper, their stray 
 ends still swinging from the recent wind, now momentarily 
 hushed as if listening for the coming of the rain. Access 
 from the roadway was by a rough wooden gate in the 
 hedge. To the surprise of Agatha, who had last seen this 
 gate off its hinges and only attached to the post by a rusty 
 chain and padlock, it was now rehung and fastened by 
 a new hasp. The weather admitting of no delay to con- 
 sider these repairs, she opened the gate and hastened up 
 the slope, followed by the troop of girls. Their ascent 
 ended with a rush ; for the rain suddenly came down in 
 torrents. 
 
 When they were safe under the veranda, panting, 
 laughing, grumbling, or congratulating themselves on 
 having been so close to a place of shelter, Miss Wilson 
 observed, with some uneasiness, a spade — new, like the 
 hasp of the gate — sticking upright in a patch of ground 
 that someone had evidently been digging lately. She was 
 about to comment on this sign of habitation, when the 
 door of the chalet was flung open ; and Jane screamed as 
 a man darted out to the spade, which he was about to 
 carry in out of the wet, when he perceived the company 
 under the veranda, and stood still in amazement. He 
 was a young labourer with a reddish brown beard of a 
 week's growth. He wore corduroy trousers, and a linen- 
 sleeved corduroy vest: both, like the hasp and spade, new. 
 A coarse blue shirt, with a vulgar red-and-orange necker- 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. *3I 
 
 chief, also new, completed his dress; and, to shield 
 himself from the rain, he held up a silk umbrella with 
 a silver-mounted ebony handle, which he seemed unlikely 
 to have come by honestly. Miss Wilson felt like a boy 
 caught robbing an orchard ; but she put a bold face on 
 the matter, and said, 
 
 "■ Will you allow us to take shelter here until the rain 
 
 is over 
 
 ?" 
 
 " For certain, your ladyship," he replied, respectfully 
 applying the spade handle to his hair, which was combed 
 down to his eyebrows. *' Your ladyship does me proud 
 to take refuge from the onclemency of the yallowments 
 beneath my 'umble rooftree." His accent was barbarous ; 
 and he, like a low comedian, seemed to relish its vulgarity. 
 As he spoke, he came in among them for shelter, and 
 propped his spade against the wall of the chalet, kicking 
 the soil from his hobnailed blucher boots, which were 
 new. 
 
 ** I come out, honoured lady," he resumed, much at 
 his ease, " to house my spade, whereby I earn my living. 
 What the pen is to the poet, such is the spade to the 
 working man." He took the kerchief from his npck ; 
 wiped his temples as if the sweat -of honest toil were there ; 
 and calmly tied it on again. 
 
 ** If you'll 'scuse a remark from a common man," he 
 observed ; '* your ladyship has a fine family of daughters." 
 
 " They are not my daughters," said Miss Wilson, rather 
 shortly. 
 
 "Sisters, mebbe.^" 
 
 '*No." 
 
 " I thought they mout be, acause I have a sister myself. 
 Not that I would make bold for to dror comparisons, even 
 in my own mind ; for she's only a common woman — as 
 common a one as ever you see. But few women rise 
 above the common. Last Sunday, in yon village church, 
 I heard the minister read out that one man in a thousand 
 had he found ; ' but one woman in all these,' he says, * have 
 I not found ; ' and I thinks to myself, ' Right you are ! ' 
 But I warrant he never met your ladyship." 
 
32 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 A laugh, thinly disguised as a cough, escaped from Miss 
 Carpenter. 
 
 " Young lady a ketchin' cold, I'm afeerd," he said, with 
 respectful solicitude. 
 
 "Do you think the rain will last long?" said Agatha, 
 politely. 
 
 The man examined the sky with a weather-wise air for 
 some moments. Then he turned to Agatha, and replied 
 humbly, *' The Lord only knows, Miss. It is not for a 
 common man like me to say." 
 
 Silence ensued, during which Agatha, furtively scrutiniz- 
 ing the tenant of the chalet, noticed that his face and neck 
 were cleaner and less sunburnt than those of the ordinary 
 toilers of Lyvern. His hands were hidden by large 
 gardening gloves, stained with coal dust. Lyvern 
 labourers, as a rule, had little objection to soil their hands : 
 they never wore gloves. Still, she thought, there was 
 no reason why an eccentric workman, insufferably talka- 
 tive, and capable of an allusion to the pen of the poet, 
 should not indulge himself with cheap gloves. But then 
 the silk, silver-mounted umbrella 
 
 "The young lady's hi," he said suddenly, holding out 
 the umbrella, " is fixed on this here. I am well aware that 
 it is not for the lowest of the low to carry a gentleman's 
 brolly ; and I ask your ladyship's pardon for the liberty. I 
 come by it accidental-like, and should be glad of a reason- 
 able offer from any gentleman in want of a honest article." 
 
 As he spoke, two gentlemen, much in want of the 
 article, as their clinging wet coats shewed, ran through the 
 gateway, and made for the chalet. Fairholme arrived 
 first, exclaiming, " Fearful shower ! " and briskly turned 
 his back to the ladies in order tc stand at the edge of the 
 veranda, and shake the water out of his hat. Josephs 
 came next, shrinking from the damp contact of his own 
 garments. He cringed to Miss Wilson, and hoped that 
 she had escaped a wetting. 
 
 ** So far I have," she replied. " The question is, how 
 are we to get home ? " 
 
 "Oh, it's only a shower," said Josephs, looking up 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 33 
 
 cheerfully at the unbroken curtain of cloud. ** It will clear 
 up presently." 
 
 " It aint for a common man to set up his opinion again' 
 a gentleman wot have profesh'nal knowledge of the 
 heavens, as one may say," said the man ; " but I would 
 'umbly offer to bet my umbrellar to his wide-awake that it 
 dont cease raining this side of seven o'clock." 
 
 " That man lives here," whispered Miss Wilson ; ** and 
 I suppose he wants to get rid of us." 
 
 *' Hm ! " said Fairholme. Then, turning to the strange 
 labourer with the air of a person not to be trifled with, he 
 raised his voice, and said, ** You live here, do you, my 
 man } " 
 
 "I do, sir, by your good leave, if I may make so bold." 
 
 " What's your name } " 
 
 *' Jeff Smilash, sir, at your service." 
 
 *' Where do you come from .?" 
 
 ** Brixtonbury, sir." 
 
 ** Brixtonbury ! Where's that .? " 
 
 ** Well, sir, I dont rightly know. If a gentleman like 
 you, knowing jography and such, cant tell, how can I } " 
 
 *' You ought to know where you were born, man. 
 Havent you got common sense 1 " 
 
 "Where would such a one as me get common sense, 
 sir } Besides, I was only a foundling. Mebbe I warnt 
 born at all." 
 
 ** Did I see you at church last Sunday } " 
 
 '* No, sir. I only come o' Wensday." 
 
 *' Well, let me see you there next Sunday," said Fair- 
 holme shortly, turning away from him. 
 
 Miss Wilson looked at the weather ; at Josephs, who was 
 conversing with Jane ; and finally at Smilash, who knuckled 
 his forehead without waiting to be addressed. 
 
 '* Have you a boy whom you can send to Lyvern to get 
 us a conveyance — a carriage .? I will give him a shilling 
 for his trouble." 
 
 "A shilling !" said Smilash, joyfully. "Your ladyship 
 is a noble lady. Two four-wheeled cabs. There's eight 
 on you." 
 
34 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 " There is only one cab in Lyvern," said IVCiss Wilson. 
 " Take this card to Mr. Marsh, the jobmaster ; and tell him 
 the predicament we are in. He will send vehicles." 
 
 Smilash took the card, and read it at a glance. He 
 then went into the chalet. Reappearing presently in a 
 sou'wester and oilskins, he ran off through the rain and 
 vaulted over the gate with ridiculous elegance. No sooner 
 had he vanished than, as often happens to remarkable 
 men, he became the subject of conversation. 
 
 **A decent workman," said Josephs. *'A well mannered 
 man, considering his class." 
 
 **A born fool, though," said Fairholme. 
 
 ** Or a rogue," said Agatha, emphasizing the suggestion 
 by a glitter of her eyes and teeth, whilst her schoolfellows, 
 rather disapproving of her freedom, stood stiffly dumb. 
 " He told Miss Wilson that he had a sister, and that he 
 had been to church last Sunday ; and he has just told you 
 that he is a foundling, and that he only came last 
 Wednesday. His accent is put on ; and he can read ; 
 and I dent believe he is a workman at all. Perhaps he 
 is a burglar, come down to steal the college plate." 
 
 ** Agatha," said Miss Wilson gravely : ** you must be 
 very careful how you say things of that kind." 
 
 " But it is so obvious. His explanation about the 
 umbrella was made up to disarm suspicion. He handled 
 it and leaned on it in a way that showed how much more 
 familiar it was to him than that new spade he was so 
 anxious about. And all his clothes are new." 
 
 ** True," said Fairholme ; ** but there is not much in all 
 that. Workmen nowadays ape gentlemen in everything. 
 However, I will keep an eye on him." 
 
 " Oh, thank you so much," said Agatha. • 
 
 Fairholme, suspecting mockery, frowned ; and Miss 
 Wilson looked severely at the mocker. Little more was 
 said, except as to the chances — manifestly small— of the 
 rain ceasing, until the tops of a cab, a decayed mourning 
 coach, and three dripping hats, were seen over the hedge. 
 Smilash sat on the box of the coach, beside the driver. 
 When it stopped, he alighted ; re-entered the chalet 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 35 
 
 without speaking ; came out with the umbrella ; spread 
 it above Miss Wilson's head ; and said, 
 
 " Now, if your ladyship will come with me, I will see 
 you dry into the shay ; and then I'll bring your honoured 
 nieces one by one." 
 
 •* I shall come last," said Miss Wilson, irritated by his 
 assumption that the party was a family one. " Gertrude : 
 you had better go first." 
 
 " Allow me," said Fairholme, stepping forward, and 
 attempting to take the umbrella. 
 
 ** Thank you : I shall not trouble you," she said frostily, 
 and tripped away over the oozing field with Smilash, who 
 held the umbrella over her with ostentatious solicitude. 
 In the same manner he led the rest to the vehicles, in 
 which they packed themselves with some difficulty. 
 Agatha, who came last but one, gave him threepence. 
 
 *' You have a noble 'art, and an expressive hi, Miss," 
 he said, apparently much moved. " Blessings on both ! 
 Blessings on both ! " 
 
 He went back for Jane, who slipped on the wet grass 
 and fell. He had to put forth his strength as he helped 
 her to rise. 
 
 ** Hope you aint sopped up much of the rainfall. Miss," 
 he said. *' You are a fine young lady for your age. Nigh 
 on twelve stone, I should think." • 
 
 She reddened and hurried to the cab, where Agatha 
 was. But it was full ; and Jane, much against her will, had 
 to get into the coach, considerably diminishing the space 
 left for Miss Wilson, to whom Smilash had returned. 
 
 ** Now, dear lady," he said, ** take care you dont slip. 
 Come along." 
 
 Miss Wilson, ignoring the invitation, took a shilling 
 from her purse. 
 
 *' No, lady," said Smilash, with a virtuous air. ** I am 
 an honest man, and have never seen the inside of a jail 
 except four times, and only twice for stealing. Your 
 youngest daughter — her with the expressive hi — have paid 
 me far beyond what is proper." 
 
 "■ I have told you that these young ladies are not my 
 
-36 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 daughters," said Miss Wilson, sharply. "Why do you 
 not listen to what is said to you ? " 
 
 ** Dont be too hard on a common man, lady," said 
 Smilash, submissively. " The young lady have just given 
 me three 'arf-crowns." 
 
 ** Three half-crowns ! " exclaimed Miss Wilson, angered 
 at such extravagance. 
 
 " Bless her innocence, she dont know what is proper 
 to give to a low sort like me ! But I will not rob the 
 young lady. 'Arf-a-crown is no more nor is fair for the 
 job ; and 'arf-a-crown will I keep, if agreeable to your 
 noble ladyship. But I give you back the five bob in trust 
 for her. Have you ever noticed her expressive hi } " 
 
 ** Nonsense, sir. You had better keep the money now 
 that you have got it." 
 
 '* Wot ! Sell for five bob the high opinion your ladyship 
 has of me ! No, dear lady : not likely. My father's very 
 last words to me was " 
 
 " You said just now that you were a foundling," said 
 Fairholme. *' What are we to believe ? Eh .? " 
 
 "So I were, sir; but by my mother's side alone. Her 
 ladyship will please to take back the money ; for keep it I 
 will not. I am of the lower orders, and therefore not a 
 man of my word ; but when I do stick to it, I stick like 
 wax." 
 
 " Take it," said Fairholme to Miss Wilson. " Take it, 
 of course. Seven and sixpence is a ridiculous sum to give 
 him for what he has done. It would only set him drink- 
 ing." 
 
 " His reverence says true, lady. The one 'arf-crown 
 will keep me comfortably tight until Sunday morning ; 
 and more I do not desire." 
 
 "Just a little less of your tongue, my man," said Fair- 
 holme, taking the two coins from him, and handing them 
 to Miss Wilson, who bade the clergymen good afternoon, 
 and went to the coach under the umbrella. 
 
 " If your ladyship should want a handy man to do an 
 odd job up at the college, I hope you will remember me," 
 Smilash said, as they went down the slope. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. yj 
 
 **0h: you know who I am, do you ? " said Miss Wilson 
 drily. 
 
 " All the country knows you, Miss, and worships you. 
 I have few equals as a coiner ; and if you should require 
 a medal struck to give away for good behaviour or the 
 like, I think I could strike one to your satisfaction. And 
 if your ladyship should want a trifle of smuggled 
 lace " 
 
 " You had better be careful, or you will get into trouble, 
 I think," said Miss Wilson sternly. **Tell him to drive on." 
 
 The vehicles started ; and Smilash took the liberty of 
 waving his hat after them. Then he returned to the 
 chalet ; left the umbrella within ; came out again ; locked 
 the door ; put the key in his pocket ; and walked off 
 through the rain across the hill without taking the least 
 notice of the astonished parsons. 
 
 In the meantime, Miss Wilson, unable to contain her 
 annoyance at Agatha's extravagance, spoke of it to the 
 girls who shared the coach with her. But Jane declared 
 that Agatha only possessed threepence in the world, and 
 therefore could not possibly have given the man thirty 
 times that sum. When they reached the college, Agatha, 
 confronted with Miss Wilson, opened her eyes in wonder, 
 and exclaimed, laughing, " I only gave him threepence. 
 He has sent me a present of four and ninepence ! " 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Saturday at Alton College, nominally a half holiday, was 
 really a whole cne. Classes in gymnastics, dancing, 
 elocution, and drawing, were held in the morning. The 
 afternoon was spent at lawn tennis, to which lady guests 
 resident in the neighbourhood were allowed to bring their 
 husbands, brothers and fathers : Miss Wilson being anxious 
 to send her pupils forth into the world free from the 
 uncouth stiffness of schoolgirls unaccustomed to society. 
 Late in October came a Saturday which proved any- 
 
38 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 thing but a holiday for Miss Wilson. At half-past one, 
 luncheon being over, she went out of doors to a lawn 
 that lay between the southern side of the college and 
 a shrubbery. Here she found a group of girls watching 
 Agatha and Jane, who were dragging a roller over the 
 grass. One of them, tossing a ball about with her racket, 
 happened to drive it into the shrubbery, whence, to the 
 surprise of the company, Smilash presently emerged 
 carrying the ball ; blinking ; and proclaiming that, though 
 a common man, he had his feelings like another, and that 
 his eye was neither a stick nor a stone. He was dressed 
 as before ; but his garments, soiled with clay and lime, no 
 longer looked new. 
 
 '* What brings you here, pray } " demanded Miss Wilson. 
 
 ** I was led into the belief that you sent forme, lady," he 
 replied. ** The baker's lad told me so as he passed my 
 'umble cot this morning. \ thought he were incapable of 
 deceit." 
 
 '* That is quite right : I did send for you. But why did 
 you not go round to the servants' hall ? " 
 
 *' I am at present in search of it, lady. I were looking 
 for it when this ball cotch me here " (touching his eye). 
 **A cruel blow on the hi nat'rally spiles its vision and 
 expression, and makes a honest man look like a thief." 
 
 " Agatha," said Miss Wilson : " come here." 
 
 "My dooty to you. Miss," said Smilash, pulling his 
 forelock. 
 
 "This is the man from whom I had the five shillings, 
 which he said you had just given him. Did you do so } " 
 
 *' Certainly not. I only gave him threepence." 
 
 " But I showed the money to your ladyship," said 
 Smilash, twisting his hat agitatedly. " I gev it you. 
 Where would the like of me get five shillings except by 
 the bounty of the rich and noble } If the young lady 
 thinks I hadnt ort to have kep the tother 'arf- crown, I 
 would not object to its bein' stopped from my wages if I 
 were given a job of work here. But " 
 
 ** But it's nonsense," said Agatha. " I never gave you 
 three half-crowns." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 39 
 
 ** Perhaps you mout 'a made a mistake. Pence is 
 summat similar to 'arf-crowns ; and the day were very 
 dark." 
 
 '* I couldnt have," said Agatha. ** Jane had my purse 
 all the earlier part of the week, Miss Wilson ; and she can 
 tell you that there was only threepence in it. You know 
 that I get my money on the first of every month. It never 
 lasts longer than a week. The idea of my having seven 
 and sixpence on the sixteenth is ridiculous." 
 
 '* But I put it to you, Miss, aint it twice as ridiculous for 
 me, a poor labourer, to give up money wot I never got } " 
 
 Vague alarm crept upon Agatha as the testimony of her 
 senses was contradicted. *' AH I know is," she protested, 
 "that I did not give it to you; so my pennies must have 
 turned into half-crowns in your pocket." 
 
 " Mebbe so," said Smilash gravely. ** I've heard, and I 
 know it for a fact, that money grows in the pockets of the 
 rich. Why not in the pockets of the poor as well ? Why 
 should you be su'prised at wot 'appens every day ? " 
 
 " Had you any money of your own about you at the 
 time?" 
 
 " Where could the like of me get money ? — asking 
 pardon for making so bold as to catechise your ladyship." 
 
 " I dont know where you could get it," said Miss 
 Wilson testily : " I ask you, had you any ? " 
 
 " Well, lady, I disremember. I will not impose upon 
 you. I disremember." 
 
 *' Then you have made a mistake," said Miss Wilson, 
 handing him back his money. ** Here. If it is not yours, 
 it is not ours ; so you had better keep it." 
 
 " Keep it ! Oh, lady, but this is the heighth of nobility ! 
 And what shall I do to earn your bounty, lady ? " 
 
 ** It is not my bounty : I give it to you because it does 
 not belong to me, and, I suppose, must belong to you. 
 You seem to be a very simple man." 
 
 " I thank your ladyship : I hope I am. Respecting the 
 day's work, now, lady : was you thinking of employing a 
 poor man at all ? " 
 
 '* No, thank you : I have no occasion foi your services. 
 
40 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 I have also to give you the shilling I promised you for 
 getting the cabs. Here it is." 
 
 " Another shillin' ! " cried Smilash, stupified. 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Wilson, beginning to feel very angry. 
 " Let me hear no more about it, please. Dont you under- 
 stand that you have earned it 1 " 
 
 " I am a common man, and understand next to nothing," 
 he replied reverently. " But if your ladyship would give 
 me a day's work to keep me goin', I could put up all this 
 money in a little wooden savings bank I have at home, 
 and keep it to spend when sickness or old age shall, in a 
 manner of speaking, lay their 'ands upon me. I could 
 smooth that grass beautiful : them young ladies'll strain 
 themselves with that heavy roller. If tennis is the word, 
 I can put up nets fit to catch birds of paradise in. If the 
 courts is to be chalked out in white, I can draw a line so 
 straight that you could hardly keep yourself from erectin' 
 an equilateral triangle on it. I am honest when well 
 watched ; and I can wait at table equal to the Lord Mayor 
 o' London's butler." 
 
 " I cannot employ you without a character," said Miss 
 Wilson, amused by his scrap of Euclid, and wondering 
 where he had picked it up. 
 
 "I bear the best of characters, lady. The reverend 
 rector has known me from a boy." 
 
 " I was speaking to him about you yesterday," said Miss 
 Wilson, looking hard at him; "and he says you are a 
 perfect stranger to him." 
 
 " Gentlemen is so forgetful," said Smilash sadly. " But 
 I alluded to my native rector — meaning the rector of my 
 native village. Auburn. * Sweet Auburn, loveliest village 
 of the plain,' as the gentleman called it." 
 
 ** That was not the name you mentioned to Mr. Fair- 
 holme. I do not recollect what name you gave ; but it 
 was not Auburn, nor have I ever heard of any such place." 
 
 " Never read of sweet Auburn ! " 
 
 " Not in any geography or gazetteer. Do you recollect 
 telling me that you have been in prison ? " 
 
 ** Only six times," pleaded Smilash, his features working 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 41 
 
 convulsively. " Dont bear too hard on a common man. 
 Only six times, and all through drink. But I have took 
 the pledge, and kep' it faithful for eighteen months 
 past." 
 
 Miss Wilson now set down the man as one of those 
 keen half-witted country fellows, contemptuously styled 
 originals, who unintentionally make themselves popular by 
 flattering the sense of sanity in those whose faculties are 
 better adapted to circumstances. 
 
 "You have a bad memory, Mr. Smilash," she said good- 
 humouredly. " You never give the same account of your- 
 self twice." 
 
 " I am well aware that I do not express myself with 
 exactability. Ladies and gentlemen have that power over 
 words that they can always say what they mean ; but a 
 common man like me cant. Words dont come natural 
 to him. He has more thoughts than words ; and what 
 words he has dont fit his thoughts. Might I take a turn 
 with the roller, and make myself useful about the place 
 until nightfall, for ninepence } " 
 
 Miss Wilson, who was expecting more than her usual 
 Saturday visitors, considered the proposition, and assented. 
 " And remember," she said, " that as you are a stranger 
 here, your character in Lyvern depends upon the use you 
 make of this opportunity." 
 
 " I am grateful to your" noble ladyship. May your lady- 
 ship's goodness sew up the hole which is in the pocket 
 where I carry my character, and which has caused me to 
 lose it so frequent. It's a bad place for men to keep their 
 characters in ; but such is the fashion. And so hurray for 
 the glorious nineteenth century ! " 
 
 He took off his coat ; seized the roller ; and began to 
 pull it with an energy foreign to the measured mill-horse 
 manner of the accustomed labourer. Miss Wilson looked 
 doubtfully at him, but, being in haste, went indoors with- 
 out further comment. The girls, mistrusting his eccentri- 
 city, kept aloof. Agatha determined to have another and 
 better look at him. Racket in hand, she walked slowly 
 across the grass, and came close to him just as he, unaware 
 
42 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 of her approach, uttered a groan of exhaustion, and sat 
 down to rest. 
 
 ** Tired already, Mr. Smilash } " she said mockingly. 
 
 He looked up deliberately ; took off one of his wash- 
 leather gloves ; fanned himself with it, displaying a white 
 and fine hand ; and at last replied, in the tone and with 
 the accent of a gentleman, 
 
 "Very." 
 
 Agatha recoiled. He fanned himself without the least 
 concern. 
 
 *' You — you are not a labourer," she said at last. 
 
 " Obviously not." 
 
 " I thought not." 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 *' Suppose I tell on you," she said, growing bolder as 
 she recollected that she was not alone with him. 
 
 ** If you do, I shall get out of it just as I got out of the 
 half-crowns ; and Miss Wilson will begin to think that you 
 are mad." 
 
 " Then I nsally did not give you the seven and six- 
 pence," she said, relieved. 
 
 " What is your own opinion } " he answered, taking 
 three pennies from his pocket, jingling them in his 
 palm. " What is your name } " 
 
 " I shall not tell you," said Agatha with dignity. 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. *■' Perhaps you are right," 
 he said. " I would not tell you mine if you asked me." 
 
 " I have not the slightest intention of asking you." 
 
 " No ? Then Smilash shall do for you ; and Agatha 
 will do for me." 
 
 " You had better take care." 
 
 '* Of what?" 
 
 "Of what you say, and — Are you not afraid of being 
 found out } " 
 
 " I am found out already — by you ; and I am none the 
 worse." 
 
 " Suppose the police find you out ! " 
 
 " Not they. Besides, I am not hiding from the police. 
 I have a right to wear corduroy if I prefer it to broadcloth. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 43 
 
 Consider the advantages of it ! It has procured me 
 admission to Alton College, and the pleasure of your 
 acquaintance. Will you excuse me if I go on with my 
 rolling, just to keep up appearances. I can talk as I 
 roll." 
 
 "You may, if you are fond of soliloquizing," she said, 
 turning away as he rose. 
 
 " Seriously, Agatha, you must not tell the others about 
 me." 
 
 ** Do not call me Agatha," she said impetuously. 
 
 " What shall I call you, then } " 
 
 ** You need not address me at all." 
 
 " I need, and will. Dont be ill natured." 
 
 "But I dont know you. I wonder at your " She 
 
 hesitated at the word which occurred to her, but, being 
 
 unable to think of a better one, used it. " at your 
 
 cheek." 
 
 He laughed ; and she watched him take a couple of turns 
 with the roller. Presently, refreshing himself by a look 
 at her, he caught her looking at him, and smiled. His 
 smile was commonplace in comparison with the one she 
 gave him in return, in which her eyes, her teeth, and the 
 golden grain in her complexion seemed to flash simultane- 
 ously. He stopped rolling immediately, and rested his 
 chin on the handle of the roller. 
 
 "If you neglect your work," said she maliciously, "you 
 wont have the grass ready when the people come." 
 
 " What people } " he said, taken aback. 
 
 " Oh, lots of people. Most likely some who know you. 
 There are visitors coming from London : my guardian, my 
 guardianess, their daughter, my mother, and about a 
 hundred more." 
 
 " Four in all. What are they coming for } To see 
 you } " 
 
 "To take me away," she replied, watching for signs of 
 disappointment on his part. 
 
 They were at once forthcoming. " What the deuce are 
 they going to take you away for } " he said. " Is your 
 education finished } " 
 
44 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 " No. I have behaved badly ; and I am going to be 
 expelled." 
 
 He laughed again. " Come!" he said : " you are begin- 
 ning to invent in the Smilash manner. What have you 
 done } " 
 
 '* I dont see why I should tell you. What have you 
 done ? " 
 
 " I ! Oh : I have done nothing. I am only an unromantic 
 gentleman, hiding from a romantic lady who is in love with 
 me." 
 
 " Poor thing ! " said Agatha sarcastically. " Of course, 
 she has proposed to you ; and you have refused." 
 
 " On the contrary : I proposed ; and she accepted. That 
 is why I have to hide." 
 
 " You tell stories charmingly," said Agatha. ** Good-bye. 
 Here is Miss Carpenter coming to hear what we are talk- 
 ing about." 
 
 " Good-bye. That story of your being expelled beats 
 
 Might a common man make so bold as to inquire 
 
 where the whitening machine is, Miss } " 
 
 This was addressed to Jane, who had come up with some 
 of the others. Agatha expected to see Smilash presently 
 discovered ; for his disguise now seemed transparent : she 
 wondered how the rest could be imposed on by it. Two 
 o'clock, striking just then, reminded her of the impending 
 interview with her guardian. A tremor shook her ; and 
 she felt a craving for some solitary hiding-place in which 
 to await the summons. But it was a point of honour with 
 her to appear perfectly indifferent to her trouble ; so 
 she stayed with the girls, laughing and chatting as 
 they watched Smilash intently marking out the courts 
 and setting up the nets. She made the others laugh too ; 
 for her hidden excitement, sharpened by irrepressible 
 shootings of dread, stimulated her ; and the romance of 
 Smilash's disguise gave her a sensation of dreaming. Her 
 imagination was already busy upon a drama, of which she 
 was the heroine and Smilash the hero ; though, with the 
 real man before her, she could not indulge herself by 
 attributing to him quite as much gloomy grandeur of 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 45 
 
 character as to a wholly ideal personage. The plot was 
 simple, and an old favourite with her. One of them was 
 to love the other, and to die broken-hearted because the 
 loved one would not requite the passion. For Agatha, 
 prompt to ridicule sentimentality in her companions, and 
 gifted with an infectious spirit of farce, secretly turned for 
 imaginative luxury to visions of despair and death ; and 
 often endured the mortification of the successful clown who 
 believes, whilst the public roar with laughter at him, that 
 he was born a tragedian. There was much in her nature, 
 she felt, that did not find expression in her popular repre- 
 sentation of the soldier in the chimney. 
 
 By three o'clock, the local visitors had arrived ; and 
 tennis was proceeding in four courts, rolled and prepared 
 by Smilash. The two curates were there, with a few lay 
 gentlemen. Mrs. Miller, the vicar, and some mothers and 
 other chaperons looked on and consumed light refresh- 
 ments, which were brought out upon trays by Smilash, who 
 had borrowed and put on a large white apron, and was 
 making himself officiously busy. 
 
 At a quarter past the hour, a message came from Miss 
 Wilson, requesting Miss Wylie's attendance. The visitors 
 were at a loss to account for the sudden distraction of the 
 young ladies' attention which ensued. Jane almost burst 
 into tears, and answered Josephs rudely when he in- 
 nocently asked what the matter was. Agatha went away 
 apparently unconcerned, though her hand shook as she 
 put aside her racket. 
 
 In a spacious drawing-room at the north side of the 
 college, she found her mother, a slight woman in widow's 
 weeds, with faded brown hair, and tearful eyes. With her 
 were Mrs. Jansenius and her daughter. The two elder 
 ladies kept severely silent whilst Agatha kissed them ; 
 and Mrs. Wylie sniifed. Henrietta embraced Agatha 
 eff"usively. 
 
 "Where's Uncle John.?" said Agatha. " Hasnt he 
 come .?" 
 
 ** He is in the next room with Miss Wilson," said Mrs. 
 Jansenius coldly. " They want you in there." 
 
46 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 "I thought somebody was dead," said Agatha: "you 
 all look so funereal. Now, mamma, put your handkerchief 
 back again. If you cry, I will give Miss Wilson a piece 
 of my mind for worrying you." 
 
 ** No, no," said Mrs. Wylie, alarmed. " She has been 
 so nice ! " 
 
 " So good ! " said Henrietta. 
 
 ** She has been perfectly reasonable and kind," said 
 Mrs. Jansenius. 
 
 "She always is," said Agatha complacently. "You 
 didnt expect to find her in hysterics, did you ? " 
 
 "Agatha," pleaded Mrs. Wylie: "dont be headstrong 
 and foolish." 
 
 " Oh, she wont : I know she wont," said Henrietta 
 coaxingly. " Will you, dear Agatha } " 
 
 " You may do as you like, as far as I am concerned," 
 said Mrs. Jansenius. " But I hope you have more sense 
 than to throw away your education for nothing." 
 
 "Your aunt is quite right," said Mrs. Wylie. "And 
 your Uncle John is very angry with you. He will never 
 speak to you again if you quarrel with Miss Wilson." 
 
 " He is not angry," said Henrietta ; " but he is so 
 anxious that you should get on well." 
 
 " He will naturally be disappointed if you persist in 
 making a fool of yourself," said Mrs. Jansenius. 
 
 " All Miss Wilson wants is an apology for the dreadful 
 things you wrote in her book," said Mrs. W^ylie. " You'll 
 apologize, dear, wont you } " 
 
 " Of course she will," said Henrietta. 
 
 " I think you had better," said Mrs. Jansenius. 
 
 " Perhaps I will," said Agatha. 
 
 "That's my own darling," said Mrs. Wylie, catching 
 her hand. 
 
 " And perhaps, again, I wont." 
 
 " You will, dear," urged Mrs. Wylie, trying to draw 
 Agatha, who passively resisted, closer to her. " For my 
 sake. To oblige your mother, Agatha. You wont refuse 
 me, dearest ? " 
 
 Agatha laughed indulgently at her parent, who had long 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 47 
 
 ago worn out this form of appeal. Then she turned to 
 Henrietta, and said, '* How is your caro sposo ? I think it 
 was hard that I was not a bridesmaid." 
 
 The red in Henrietta's cheeks brightened. Mrs. 
 Jansenius hastened to interpose a dry reminder that Miss 
 Wilson was waiting. 
 
 "Oh, she does not mind waiting," said Agatha, ** because 
 she thinks you are all at work getting me into a proper 
 frame of mind. That was the arrangement she made with 
 you before she left the room. Mamma knows that I have 
 a little bird that tells me these things. I must say that 
 you have not made me feel any goody-goodier so far. 
 However, as poor Uncle John must be dreadfully frightened 
 and uncomfortable, it is only kind to put an end to his 
 suspense. Good-bye." And she went out leisurely. But 
 she looked in again to say in a low voice, ** Prepare for 
 something thrilling. I feel just in the humour to say the 
 most awful things." She vanished ; and immediately they 
 heard her tapping at the door of the next room. 
 
 Mr. Jansenius was indeed awaiting her with misgiving. 
 Having discovered early in his career that his dignified 
 person and fine voice caused people to stand in some awe 
 of him, and to move him into the chair at public meetings, 
 he had grown so accustomed to deference that any ap- 
 proach to familiarity or irreverence disconcerted him 
 exceedingly. Agatha, on the other hand, having from her 
 childhood heard Uncle John quoted as wisdom and 
 authority incarnate, had begun in her tender years to scoff 
 at him as a pompous and purseproud city merchant, whose 
 sordid mind was unable to cope with her transcendental 
 affairs. She had habitually terrified her mother by 
 ridiculing him with an absolute contempt of which only 
 childhood and extreme ignorance are capable. She had 
 felt humiliated by his kindness to her (he was a generous 
 giver of presents) ; and, with the instinct of an anarchist, 
 had taken disparagement of his advice and defiance of his 
 authority as the signs wherefrom she might infer surely 
 that her face was turned to the light. The result was that 
 he was a little afraid of her without being quite conscious 
 
48 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 of it ; and she not at all afraid of him, and a little too 
 conscious of it. 
 
 When she entered with her brightest smile in full play, 
 Miss Wilson and Mr. Jansenius, seated at the table, looked 
 somewhat like two culprits about to be indicted. Miss 
 Wilson waited for him lo speak, deferring to his imposing 
 presence. But he was not ready ; so she invited Agatha 
 to sit down. 
 
 " Thank you," said Agatha sweetly. ** Well, Uncle 
 John : dont you know me ? " 
 
 " I have heard with regret from Miss Wilson that you 
 have been very troublesome here," he said, ignoring her 
 remark, though secretly put out by it. 
 
 " Yes," said Agatha contritely. ** I am so very sorry." 
 
 Mr. Jansenius, who had been led by Miss Wilson to 
 expect the utmost contumacy, looked to her in surprise. 
 
 ** You seem to think," said Miss Wilson, conscious of 
 Mr. Jansenius's movement, and annoyed by it, ** that you 
 may transgress over and over again, and then set yourself 
 right with us" (Miss Wilson never spoke of offences as 
 against her individual authority, but as against the school 
 community) " by saying that you are sorry. You spoke in 
 a very different tone at our last meeting." 
 
 " I was angry then. Miss Wilson. And I thought I had 
 a grievance — everybody thinks they have the same one. 
 Besides, we were quarrelling — at least I was ; and I always 
 behave badly when I quarrel. I am so very sorry." 
 
 ** The book was a serious matter," said Miss Wilson 
 gravely. "You do not seem to think so." 
 
 " I understand Agatha to say that she is now sensible of 
 the folly of her conduct with regard to the book ; and that 
 she is sorry for it," said Mr. Jansenius, instinctively inclin- 
 ing to Agatha's party as the stronger one, and the least 
 dependent on him in a pecuniary sense. 
 
 " Have you seen the book ? " said Agatha eagerly. 
 
 " No. Miss Wilson has described what has occurred." 
 
 " Oh, do let me get it," she cried, rising. " It will 
 make Uncle John scream with laughing. May I, Miss 
 Wilson?" 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 49 
 
 " There ! " said Miss Wilson, indignantly. " It is this 
 incorrigible flippancy of which I have to complain. Miss 
 Wylie only varies it by downright insubordination." 
 
 Mr. Jansenius too was scandalized. His fine colour 
 mounted at the idea of his screaming. ** Tut, tut ! " he 
 said: "you must be serious, and more respectful to Miss 
 Wilson. You are old enough to know better now, Agatha 
 — quite old enough." 
 
 Agatha's mirth vanished. ** What have I said ? What 
 have I done ? " she asked, a faint purple spot appearing 
 in her cheeks. 
 
 ** You have spoken triflingly of — of the volume by which 
 Miss Wilson sets great store, and properly so." 
 
 ** If properly so, then why do you find fault with me } " 
 
 *' Come, come," roared Mr. Jansenius, deliberately losing 
 his temper as a last expedient to subdue her: *' dont be 
 impertinent. Miss." 
 
 Agatha's eyes dilated : evanescent flushes played upon 
 her cheeks and neck : she stamped with her heel. *' Uncle 
 John," she cried : " if you dare to address me like that, I 
 will never look at you, never speak to you, nor ever enter 
 your house again. What do you know about good 
 manners, that you should call me impertinent? I will 
 not submit to intentional rudeness : that was the begin- 
 ning of my quarrel with Miss Wilson. She told me I 
 was impertinent ; and I went away and told her that she 
 was wrong by writing it in the fault book. She has been 
 wrong all through ; and I would have said so before, but 
 that I wanted to be reconciled to her, and to let bygones 
 be bygones. But if she insists on quarrelling, I cannot 
 help it." 
 
 " I have already explained to you, Mr. Jansenius," said 
 Miss Wilson, concentrating her resentment by an effort to 
 suppress it, " that Miss Wylie has ignored all the oppor- 
 tunities that have been made for her to reinstate herself 
 here. Mrs. Miller and I have waived merely personal 
 considerations ; and I have only required a simple 
 acknowledgment of this offence against the college and 
 its rules." 
 
50 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 " I do not care that for Mrs. Miller," said Agatha, snap- 
 ping her fingers. '* And you are not half so good as I 
 thought." 
 
 ** Agatha," said Mr. Jansenius : "I desire you to hold 
 your tongue." 
 
 Agatha drew a deep breath ; sat down resignedly ; and 
 said, "There! I have done. I have lost my temper; so 
 now we have all lost our tempers." 
 
 " You have no right to lose your temper, Miss," said 
 Mr. Jansenius, following up a fancied advantage. 
 
 " I am the youngest, and the least to blame," she replied. 
 
 *' There is nothing further to be said, Mr. Jansenius," 
 said Miss Wilson, determinedly. *' I am sorry that Miss 
 Wylie has chosen to break with us." 
 
 *' But I have not chosen to break with you ; and I think 
 it very hard that I am to be sent away. Nobody here has 
 the least quarrel with me except you and Mrs. Miller. 
 Mrs. Miller is annoyed because she mistook me for her 
 cat, as if that was my fault ! And really. Miss Wilson, I 
 dont know why you are so angry. All the girls will think 
 I have done something infamous if I am expelled. I 
 ought to be let stay until the end of the term ; and as 
 to the Rec — the fault book, you told me most particularly 
 when I first came that I might write in it or not just as 
 I pleased, and that you never dictated or interfered with 
 what was written. And yet the very first time I write a 
 word you disapprove of, you expel me. Nobody will ever 
 believe now that the entries are voluntary." 
 
 Miss Wilson's conscience, already smitten by the coarse- 
 ness and absence of moral force in the echo of her own 
 ** You are impertinent," from the mouth of Mr. Jansenius, 
 took fresh alarm. " The fault book," she said, ** is for 
 the purpose of recording self-reproach alone, and is not 
 a vehicle for accusations against others." 
 
 *' I am quite sure that neither Jane nor Gertrude nor I 
 reproached ourselves in the least for going downstairs as 
 we did ; and yet you did not blame us for entering that. 
 Besides, the book represented moral force — at least you 
 always said so ; and when you gave up moral force, I 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 51 
 
 thought an entry should be made of that. Of course I 
 was in a rage at the time ; but when I came to myself I 
 thought I had done right ; and I think so still, though it 
 would perhaps have been better to have passed it over." 
 
 "Why do you say that I gave up moral force ?" 
 
 *' Telling people to leave the room is not moral force. 
 Calling them impertinent is not moral force." 
 
 ".You think then that I am bound to listen patiently to 
 whatever you choose to say to me, however unbecoming 
 it may be from one in your position to one in mine ? " 
 
 " But I said nothing unbecoming," said Agatha. Then, 
 breaking off restlessly, and smiling again, she said, " Oh, 
 dont let us argue. I am very sorry, and very troublesome, 
 and very fond of you and of the college ; and I wont 
 come back next term unless you like." 
 
 "Agatha," said Miss Wilson, shaken: "these expres- 
 sions of regard cost you so little, and, when they have 
 effected their purpose, are so soon forgotten hy you, that 
 they have ceased to satisfy me. I am very reluctant to 
 insist on your leaving us at once. But as your uncle has 
 told you, you are old and sensible enough to know the 
 difference between order and disorder. Hitherto you 
 have been on the side of disorder, an element which was 
 hardly known here until you came, as Mrs. Trefusis can 
 tell you. Nevertheless, if you will promise to be more 
 careful in future, I will waive all past cause of complaint ; 
 and at the end of the term I shall be able to judge as to 
 your continuing among us." 
 
 Agatha rose, beaming. "Dear Miss Wilson," she said, 
 " you are so good ! I promise, of course. I will go and 
 tell mamma." 
 
 Before they could add a word, she had turned with a 
 pirouette to the door, and fled, presenting herself a 
 moment later in the drawing-room to the three ladies, 
 whom she surveyed with a whimsical smile in silence. 
 
 " Well ? " said Mrs. Jansenius peremptorily. 
 
 " Well, dear ? " said Mrs. Trefusis, caressingly. 
 
 Mrs. Wylie stifled a sob and looked imploringly at her 
 daughter. 
 
52 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " I had no end of trouble in bringing them to reason," 
 said Agatha, after a provoking pause. " They behaved like 
 children ; and I was like an angel. I am to stay, of 
 course." 
 
 *' Blessings on you, my darling," faltered Mrs. Wylie, 
 attempting a kiss, which Agatha dexterously evaded. 
 
 '* I have promised to be very good, and studious, and 
 quiet, and decorous, in future. Do you remember my Cas- 
 tanet song, Hetty ? 
 
 Tra ! lalala, la ! la ! la ! 
 Tra ! lalala, la ! la ! la ! 
 Tra ! lalalalalalalalalalala !" 
 
 And she danced about the room, snapping her fingers 
 instead of castanets. 
 
 " Dont be so reckless and wicked, my love," said Mrs. 
 Wylie. "You will break your poor mother's heart." 
 
 Miss Wilson and Mr. Jansenius entered just then ; and 
 Agatha became motionless and gazed abstractedly at a 
 vase of flowers. Miss Wilson invited her visitors to join 
 the tennis players. Mr. Jansenius looked sternly and 
 disappointedly at Agatha, who elevated her left eyebrow 
 and depressed her right simultaneously; but he, shaking 
 his head to signify that he was not to be conciliated by 
 facial feats, however difficult or contrary to nature, went 
 out with Miss Wilson, followed by Mrs. Jansenius and 
 Mrs. Wylie. 
 
 "■ How is your Hubby ? " said Agatha then, brusquely 
 to Henrietta. 
 
 Mrs. Trefusis's eyes filled with tears so quickly that, 
 as she bent her head to hide them, they fell, sprinkling 
 Agatha's hand, 
 
 " This is such a dear old place," she began. ** The 
 associations of my girlhood " 
 
 " What is the matter between you and Hubby ? " de- 
 manded Agatha, interrupting her. "You had better tell 
 me, or I will ask him when 1 meet him." 
 
 " I was about to tell you, only you did not give me 
 time." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 53 
 
 " That is a most awful cram," said Agatha. " But no 
 matter. Go on." 
 
 Henrietta hesitated. Her dignity as a married woman, 
 and the reality of her grief, revolted against the shallow 
 acuteness of the schoolgirl. But she found herself no 
 better able to resist Agatha's domineering than she had 
 been in her childhood, and much more desirous of obtain- 
 ing her sympathy. Besides, she had already learnt 
 to tell the story herself rather than leave its narration 
 to others, whose accounts did not, she felt, put her case 
 in the proper light. So she told Agatha of her marriage ; 
 her wild love for her husband ; his wild love for her ; and 
 his mysterious disappearance without leaving word or sign 
 behind him. She did not mention the letter. 
 
 ** Have you had him searched for ? " said Agatha, re- 
 pressing an inclination to laugh. 
 
 ** But where } Had I the remotest clue, I would follow 
 him barefoot to the end of the world." 
 
 *' I think you ought to search all the rivers : you would 
 have to do that barefoot. He must have fallen in some- 
 where, or fallen down some place." 
 
 " No, no. Do you think I should be here if I thought 
 his life in danger ? I have reasons — I know that he is 
 only gone away." 
 
 *' Oh, indeed ! He took his portmanteau with him, did 
 he ? Perhaps he has gone to Paris to buy you something 
 nice, and give you a pleasant surprise." 
 
 " No," said Henrietta dejectedly. " He knew that I 
 wanted nothing." 
 
 '* Then I suppose he got tired of you and ran away." 
 
 Henrietta's peculiar scarlet blush flowed rapidly over her 
 cheeks as she flung Agatha's arm away, exclaiming, '* How 
 dare you say so ? You have no heart. He adored me." 
 
 " Bosh ! " said Agatha. ** People always grow tired of 
 one another. I grow tired of myself whenever I am left 
 alone for ten minutes ; and I am certain that I am fonder 
 of myself than anyone can be of another person." 
 
 " I know you are," said Henrietta, pained and spiteful. 
 *' You have always been particularly fond of yourself." 
 
54 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " Very likely he resembles me in that respect. In that 
 case he will grow tired of himself and come back ; and 
 you will both coo like turtle doves until he runs away 
 again. Ugh ! Serve you right for getting married. I 
 wonder how people can be so mad as to do it, with the 
 example of their married acquaintances all warning them 
 against it." 
 
 **You dont know what it is to love," said Henrietta, 
 plaintively, and yet patronizingly. " Besides, we were 
 not like other couples." 
 
 " So it seems. But never mind : take my word for it, 
 he will return to you as soon as he has had enough of his 
 own company. Dont worry thinking about him; but come 
 and have a game at lawn tennis." 
 
 During this conversation they had left the drawing- 
 room, and made a detour through the grounds. They 
 were now approaching the tennis courts by a path which 
 wound between two laurel hedges through the shrubbery. 
 
 Meanwhile, Smilash, waiting on the guests in his white 
 apron and gloves (which he had positively refused to take 
 off, alleging that he was a common man, with common 
 hands such as born ladies and gentlemen could not be 
 expected to take meat and drink from) had behaved 
 himself irreproachably until the arrival of Miss Wilson 
 and her visitors, which occurred as he was returning to 
 the table with an empty tray, moving so swiftly that he 
 nearly came into collision with Mrs. Jansenius. Instead 
 of apologizing, he changed countenance, hastily held up 
 the tray like a shield before his face, and began to walk 
 backward from her, stumbling presently against Miss 
 Lindsay, who was running to return a ball. Without 
 heeding her angry look and curt rebuke, he half turned, 
 and sidled away into the shrubbery, whence the tray 
 presently rose into the air ; flew across the laurel hedge ; 
 and descended with a peal of stage thunder on the stooped 
 shoulders of Josephs. Miss Wilson, after asking the 
 housekeeper, with some asperity, why she had allowed 
 that man to interfere in the attendance, explained to the 
 guests that he was the idiot of the countryside. Mr. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 55 
 
 Jansenius laughed, and said that he had not seen the 
 man's face, but that his figure reminded him forcibly of 
 some one : he could not just then recollect exactly whom. 
 
 Smilash, making off through the shrubbery, found the 
 end of his path blocked by Agatha and a young lady 
 whose appearance alarmed him more than had that of 
 Mrs. Jansenius. He attempted to force his way through 
 the hedge, but in vain : the laurel was impenetrable ; and 
 the noise he made attracted the attention of the approach- 
 ing couple. He made no further effort to escape, but 
 threw his borrowed apron over his head, and stood bolt 
 upright with his back against the bushes. 
 
 " What is that man doing there 1 " said Henrietta, 
 stopping mistrustfully. 
 
 Agatha laughed, and said loudly, so that he might hear, 
 *' It is only a harmless madman that Miss Wilson employs. 
 He is fond of disguising himself in some silly way, and 
 trying to frighten us. Dont be afraid. Come on." 
 
 Henrietta hung back ; but her arm was linked in 
 Agatha's, and she was drawn along in spite of herself. 
 Smilash did not move. Agatha strolled on coolly, and 
 as she passed him, adroitly caught the apron between her 
 finger and thumb, and twitched it from his face. Instantly 
 Henrietta uttered a piercing scream, and Smilash caught 
 her in his arms. 
 
 ** Quick," he said to Agatha : " she is fainting. Run 
 for some water. Run ! " And he bent over Henrietta, 
 who clung to him frantically. Agatha, bewildered by the 
 effect of her practical joke, hesitated a moment, and then 
 ran to the lawn. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " said Fairholme. 
 
 " Nothing. I want some water — quick, please. Henri- 
 etta has fainted in the shrubbery : that is all." 
 
 " Please do not stir," said Miss Wilson authoritatively : 
 " you will crowd the path, and delay useful assistance. 
 Miss Ward : kindly get some water and bring it to us. 
 Agatha : come with me and point out where Mrs. 
 Trefusis is. You may come, too. Miss Carpenter : you are 
 so strong. The rest will please remain where they are." 
 
56 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 Followed by the two girls, she hurried into the shrub- 
 bery, where Mr. Jansenius was already looking anxiously 
 for his daughter. He was the only person they found 
 there. Smilash and Henrietta were gone. 
 
 At first the seekers, merely puzzled, did nothing but 
 question Agatha incredulously as to the exact spot on 
 which Henrietta had fallen. But Mr. Jansenius soon made 
 them understand that the position of a lady in the hands 
 of a half-witted labourer was one of danger. His agitation 
 infected them ; and when Agatha endeavoured to reassure 
 him by declaring that Smilash was a disguised gentleman. 
 Miss Wilson, supposing this to be a mere repetition of her 
 former idle conjecture, told her sharply to hold her tongue, 
 as the time was not one for talking nonsense. The news 
 now spread through the whole company ; and the excite- 
 ment became intense. Fairholme shouted for volunteers 
 to make up a searching party. All the men present 
 responded ; and they were about to rush to the college 
 gates in a body when it occurred to the cooler among them 
 that they had better divide into several parties, in order 
 that search might be made at once in different quarters. 
 Ten minutes of confusion followed. Mr. Jansenius started 
 several times in quest of Henrietta, and, when he had 
 gone a few steps, returned and begged that no more time 
 should be wasted. Josephs, whose faith was simple, 
 retired to pray, and did good, as far as it went, by with- 
 drawing one voice from the din of plans, objections and 
 suggestions which the rest were making: each person 
 trying to be heard above the others. 
 
 At last Miss Wilson quelled the prevailing anarchy. 
 Servants were sent to alarm the neighbours and call in the 
 village police. Detachments were sent in various direc- 
 tions under the command of Fairholme and other energetic 
 spirits. The girls formed parties among themselves, which 
 were reinforced by male deserters from the previous levies. 
 Miss Wilson then went indoors, and conducted a search 
 through the interior of the college. Only two persons 
 were left on the tennis ground : Agatha and Mrs. 
 Jansenius, who had been surprisingly calm throughout. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 57 
 
 " You need not be anxious," said Agatha, who had been 
 standing aloof since her rebuff by Miss Wilson. ** I am 
 sure there is no danger. It is most extraordinary that they 
 have gone away ; but the man is no more mad than I am ; 
 and I know he is a gentleman. He told me so." 
 
 ** Let us hope for the best," said Mrs. Jansenius, 
 smoothly. ** I think I will sit down — I feel so tired. 
 Thanks." (Agatha had handed her a chair.) ** What did 
 you say he told you } — this man." 
 
 Agatha related the circumstances of her acquaintance 
 with Smilash, adding at Mrs. Jansenius's request, a 
 minute description of his personal appearance. Mrs. 
 Jansenius remarked that it was very singular, and that she 
 was sure Henrietta was quite safe. She then partook of 
 claret-cup and sandwiches. Agatha, though glad to find 
 someone disposed to listen to her, was puzzled by her 
 aunt's coolness, and was even goaded into pointing out 
 that though Smilash was not a labourer, it did not follow 
 that he was an honest man. But Mrs. Jansenius only said, 
 *' Oh : she is safe — quite safe. At least, of course I can 
 only hope so. We shall have news presently," and took 
 another sandwich. 
 
 The searchers soon began to return, baffled. A few 
 shepherds, the only persons in the vicinity, had been 
 asked whether they had seen a young lady and a labourer. 
 Some of them had seen a young woman with a basket of 
 clothes, if that mout be her. Some thought that Phil 
 Martin the carrier would see her if anybody would. None 
 of them had any positive information to give. 
 
 As the afternoon wore on, and party after party returned 
 tired and unsuccessful, depression replaced excitement ; 
 conversation, no longer tumultuous, was carried on in 
 whispers ; and some of the local visitors slipped away to 
 their homes with a growing conviction that something 
 unpleasant had happened, and that it would be as well not 
 to be mixed up in it. Mr. Jansenius, though a few words 
 from his wife had surprised and somewhat calmed him, 
 was still pitiably restless and uneasy. 
 
 At last the police arrived. At sight of their uniforms, 
 
58 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 * 
 excitement revived : there was a general conviction 
 that something effectual would be done now. But the 
 constables were only mortal ; and in a few moments a 
 whisper spread that they were fools. They doubted every- 
 thing told them, and expressed their contempt for amateur 
 searching by entering on a fresh investigation, prying with 
 the greatest care into the least probable places. Two of 
 them went oif to the chalet to look for Smilash. Then 
 Fairholme, sunburnt, perspiring, and dusty, but still 
 energetic, brought back the exhausted remnant of his 
 party, with a sullen boy, who scowled defiantly at the 
 police, evidently believing that he was about to be 
 delivered into their custody. 
 
 Fairholme had been everywhere, and, having seen 
 nothing of the missing pair, had come to the conclusion 
 that they were nowhere. He had asked everybody for 
 information, and had let them know that he meant to have 
 it too, if it was to be had. But it was not to be had. The 
 sole result of his labour was the evidence of the boy 
 whom he didnt believe. 
 
 " Hm ! " said the inspector, not quite pleased by Fair- 
 holme's zeal, and yet overborne by it. '* You're Wickens's 
 boy, aint you ? " 
 
 " Yes I am Wickens's boy," said the witness, partly 
 fierce, partly lachrymose ; " and I say I seen him ; and if 
 anyone sez I didnt see him, he's a lie." 
 
 " Come," said the inspector sharply : " give us none of 
 your cheek ; but tell us what you saw, or you'll have to 
 deal with me afterwards." 
 
 "I dont care who I deal with," said the boy, at bay. 
 ** I cant be took for seein' him, because there's no lor agin 
 it. I was in the gravel pit in the canal meadow " 
 
 " What business had you there ? " said the inspector, 
 interrupting. 
 
 " I got leave to be there," said the boy insolently, but 
 reddening. 
 
 " Who gave you leave ? " said the inspector, collaring 
 him. '* Ah," he added, as the captive burst mto tears : " I 
 told you you'd have to deal with me. Now hold your 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 59 
 
 noise, and remember where you are and who you're speakin* 
 to ; and perhaps I maynt lock you up this time. Tell me 
 what you saw when you were trespassin' in the meadow." 
 
 **I sor a young 'oman, and a man. And I see her 
 kissin' him ; and the gentleman wont believe me." 
 
 ** You mean you saw him kissing her, more likely." 
 
 " No I dont. I know wot it is to have a girl kiss you 
 when you dont want. And I gev a screech to friken 'em. 
 And he called me and gev me tuppence, and sez, ' You go 
 to the devil,' he sez ; * and dont tell no one you seen me 
 here, or else,' he sez, * I might be tempted to drownd you,' 
 he sez, * and wot a shock that would be to your parents ! ' 
 * Oh yes, very likely,' I sez, jes' like that. Then I went 
 away, because he knows Mr. Wickens ; and I was afeerd of 
 his telling on me." 
 
 The boy being now subdued, questions were put to him 
 from all sides. But his powers of observation and descrip- 
 tion went no further. As he was anxious to propitiate his 
 captors, he answered as often as possible in the affirma- 
 tive. Mr. Jansenius asked him whether the young woman 
 he had seen was a lady ; and he said yes. Was the man 
 a labourer ? Yes — after a moment's hesitation. How was 
 she dressed ? He hadnt taken notice. Had she red 
 flowers in her hat 1 Yes. Had she a green dress 1 Yes. 
 Were the flowers in her hat yellow ? (Agatha's question.) 
 Yes. Was her dress pink } Yes. Sure it w^asnt black ? 
 No answer. 
 
 " I told you he was a liar," said Fairholme contemp- 
 tuously. 
 
 " Well : I expect he's seen something," said the 
 inspector ; ** but what it was, or who it was, is more than 
 I can get out of him." 
 
 There was a pause ; and they looked askance upon 
 Wickens's boy. His account of the kissing made it almost 
 an insult to the Janseniuses to identify with Henrietta the 
 person he had seen. Jane suggested dragging the canal, 
 but was silenced by an indignant " sh-sh-sh," accompanied 
 by apprehensive and sympathetic glances at the bereaved 
 parents. She was displaced from the focus of attention 
 
6o AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 by the appearance of the two policemen who had been 
 sent to the chalet. Smilash was between them, apparently 
 a prisoner. At a distance, he seemed to have suffered 
 some frightful injury to his head ; but when he was 
 brought into the midst of the company, it appeared that 
 he had twisted a red handkerchief about his face as if 
 to soothe a toothache. He had a particularly hangdog 
 expression as he stood before the inspector with his head 
 bowed and his countenance averted from Mr. Jansenius, 
 who, attempting to scrutinize his features, could see 
 nothing but a patch of red handkerchief. 
 
 One of the policemen described how they had found 
 Smilash in the act of entering his dwelling ; how he had 
 refused to give any information or to go to the college, and 
 had defied them to take him there against his will ; and 
 how, on their at last proposing to send for the inspector 
 and Mr. Jansenius, he had called them asses, and con- 
 sented to accompany them. The policeman concluded 
 by declaring that the man was either drunk or designing, 
 as he could not or would not speak sensibly. 
 
 ** Look here, governor," began Smilash to the inspector : 
 " I am a common man — no commoner goin', as you may 
 See for " 
 
 " That's 'im," cried Wickens's boy, suddenly struck with 
 a sense of his own importance as a witness. " That's 'im 
 that the lady kissed, and that gev me tuppence and 
 threatened to drownd me." 
 
 ** And with a 'umble and contrite 'art do I regret that I 
 did not drownd you, you young rascal," said Smilash. *' It 
 aint manners to interrupt a man who, though common, 
 might be your father for years and wisdom." 
 
 " Hold your tongue," said the inspector to. the boy. 
 " Now, Smilash : do you wish to make any statement .? Be 
 careful ; for whatever you say may be used against you 
 hereafter." 
 
 ** If you was to lead me straight away to the scaffold, 
 colonel, I could tell you no more than the truth. If any 
 man can say that he has heard Jeff Smilash tell a lie, let 
 him stand forth." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 6i 
 
 ** We dont want to hear about that," said the inspector. 
 ** As you are a stranger in these parts, nobody here knows 
 any bad of you. No more do they know any good of you 
 neither." 
 
 *' Colonel," said Smilash, deeply impressed : ** you have 
 a penetrating mind ; and you know a bad character at 
 sight. Not to deceive you, I am that given to lying, and 
 laziness, and self-indulgence of all sorts, that the only 
 excuse I can find for myself is that it is the nature of the 
 race so to be ; for most men is just as bad as me, and some 
 of 'em worser. I do not speak pers'nal to you, governor, 
 nor to the honourable gentlemen here assembled. But 
 then you, colonel, are a hinspector of police, which I take 
 to be more than merely human ; and as to the gentlemen 
 here, a gentleman aint a man — leastways not a common 
 man : the common man bein' but the slave wot feeds and 
 clothes the gentleman beyond the common." 
 
 *' Come," said the inspector, unable to follow these ob- 
 servations : "you are a clever dodger ; but you cant dodge 
 me. Have you any statement to make with reference to 
 the lady that was last seen in your company ? " 
 
 ** Make a statement about a lady ! " said Smilash indig- 
 nantly. *' Far be the thought from my mind ! " 
 
 "What have you done with her.?" said Agatha, im- 
 petuously. *' Dont be silly." 
 
 " You're not bound to answer that, you know," said the 
 inspector, a little put out by Agatha's taking advantage of 
 her irresponsible unofficial position to come so directly to 
 the point. " You may if you like, though. If you've done 
 any harm, you'd better hold your tongue. If not, you'd 
 better say so." 
 
 ** I will set the young lady's mind at rest respecting her 
 honourable sister," said Smilash. " When the young lady 
 caught sight of me, she fainted. Bein' but a young man, 
 and not used to ladies, I will not deny but that I were a 
 bit scared, and that my mind were not open to the sen- 
 siblest considerations. When she unveils her orbs, so to 
 speak, she ketches me round the neck, not knowin' me 
 from Adam the father of us all, and sez, ' Bring me some 
 
62 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 water ; and dont let the girls see me.' Through not 'avin' 
 the intelligence to think for myself, I done just what she 
 told me. I ups with her in my arms — she bein' a light 
 weight and a slender figure — and makes for the canal as 
 fast as I could. When I got there, I lays her on the bank, 
 and goes for the water. But what with factories, and 
 pollutions, and high civilizations of one sort and another, 
 English canal water aint fit to sprinkle on a lady, much less 
 for her to drink. Just then, as luck would have it, a barge 
 came along, and took her aboard ; and " 
 
 " No such a thing," said Wickens's boy stubbornly, em- 
 boldened by witnessing the effrontery of one apparently of 
 his own class. ** I sor you two standin' together, and her 
 a kissin' of you. There wornt no barge." 
 
 *' Is the maiden modesty of a born lady to be disbelieved 
 on the word of a common boy that only walks the earth 
 by the sufferance of the landlords and moneylords he helps 
 to feed ? " cried Smilash indignantly. ** Why, you young 
 infidel, a lady aint made of common brick like you. She 
 dont know what a kiss means ; and if she did is it likely 
 that she'd kiss me when a fine man like the inspector here 
 would be only too happy to oblige her. Fie, for shame ! 
 The barge were red and yellow, with a green dragon for a 
 figurehead, and a white horse to win' of it. Perhaps you're 
 colour-blind, and cant distinguish red and yellow. The 
 bargee was moved to compassion by the sight of the poor 
 faintin' lady and the offer of 'arf-a-crown ; and he had a 
 mother that acted as a mother should. There was a cabin 
 in that barge about as big as the locker where your ladyship 
 keeps your jam and pickles ; and in that locker the bargee 
 lives, quite domestic, with his wife and mother and five 
 children. Them canal boats is what you may call the 
 wooden walls of England." 
 
 *' Come : get on with your story," said the inspector. 
 "We know what barges is as well as you." 
 
 " I wish more knew of 'em," retorted Smilash : " perhaps 
 it 'ud lighten your work a bit. However, as I was sayin', 
 we went right down the canal to Lyvern, where we got off; 
 and the lady she took the railway omnibus, and went away 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 63 
 
 in it. With the noble openhandedness of her class, she 
 gave me sixpence : here it is, in proof that my words is 
 true. And Iwish her safe home ; and if I was on the rack 
 I could tell no more, except that when I got back I were 
 laid hands on by these here bobbies, contrary to the British 
 constitooshun ; and if your ladyship will kindly go to where 
 that constitooshun is wrote down, and find out wot it sez 
 about my rights and liberties — for I have been told that 
 the working-man has his liberties, and have myself seen 
 plenty took with him — you will oblige a common chap 
 more than his education will enable him to express." 
 
 ** Sir," cried Mr. Jansenius suddenly : ** will you hold up 
 your head, and look me in the face ?" 
 
 Smilash did so, and immediately started theatrically, 
 exclaiming, " Whom do I see ? " 
 
 *' You would hardly believe it," he continued, addressing 
 the company at large ; " but I am well beknown to this 
 honourable gentleman. I see it upon your lips, governor, 
 to ask after my missus ; and I thank you for your condes- 
 cending interest. She is well, sir ; and my residence here 
 is fully agreed upon between us. What little cloud may 
 have rose upon our domestic horizon has past away ; and, 
 governor," — here Smilash's voice fell with graver emphasis 
 — " them as interferes betwixt man and wife now will incur 
 a nevvy responsibility. Here I am, such as you see me ; 
 and here I mean to stay, likewise such as you see me. 
 That is, if what you may call destiny permits. For destiny 
 is a rum thing, governor. I came here thinking it was the 
 last place in the world I should ever set eyes on you in ; 
 and blow me if you aint a'most the first person I pops on." 
 
 " I do not choose to be a party to this mummery 
 of " 
 
 " Asking your leave to take the word out of your mouth, 
 governor : I make you a party to nothink. Respecting my 
 past conduct, you may out with it or you may keep it to 
 yourself. All I say is that if you out with some of it I will 
 out with the rest. All or none. You are free to tell the 
 inspector here that I am a bad un. His penetrating mind 
 have discovered that already. But if you go into names 
 
64 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 and particulars, you will not only be acting against the 
 wishes of my missus, but you will lead to my tellin' the 
 whole story right out afore everyone here, and then goin' 
 away where no one wont never find me." 
 
 *' I think the less said the better," said Mrs. Jansenius, 
 uneasily observant of the curiosity and surprise this dia- 
 logue was causing. " But understand this, Mr. " 
 
 ** Smilash, dear lady : Jeff Smilash." 
 
 " — Mr. Smilash. Whatever arrangement you may have 
 made with your wife, it has nothing to do with me. You 
 have behaved infamously ; and I desire to have as little as 
 possible to say to you in future." 
 
 " I desire to have nothing to say to you — nothing!''^ said 
 Mr. Jansenius. ** I look on your conduct as an insult to 
 me, personally. You may live in any fashion you please, 
 and where you please. All England is open to you except 
 one place — my house. Come, Ruth." He offered his 
 arm to his wife ; she took it ; and they turned away, look-" 
 ing about for Agatha, who, disgusted at the gaping 
 curiosity of the rest, had pointedly withdrawn beyond ear- 
 shot of the conversation. 
 
 Miss Wilson looked from Smilash — who had watched 
 Mr. Jansenius's explosion of wrath with friendly interest, 
 as if it concerned him as a curious spectator only — to her 
 two visitors as they retreated. ** Pray do you consider this 
 man's statement satisfactory } " she said to them. ** / do 
 not." 
 
 " I am far too common a man to be able to make any 
 statement that could satisfy a mind cultivated as yours has 
 been," said Smilash ; ** but I would 'umbly pint out to you 
 that there is a boy yonder with a telegram trying to shove 
 hisself through the 'iborn throng." 
 
 " Miss Wilson ! " cried the boy shrilly. 
 
 She took the telegram ; read it ; and frowned. " We 
 have had all our trouble for nothing, ladies and gentle- 
 men," she said, with suppressed vexation. ** Mrs. Trefusis 
 says here that she has gone back to London. She has 
 not considered it necessary to add any explanation." 
 
 There was a general murmur of disappointment. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 65 
 
 " Dont lose heart, ladies," said Smilash. ** She may be 
 drowned or murdered for all we know. Anyone may send 
 a telegram in a false name. Perhaps it's a plant. Let's 
 hope for your sakes that some little accident — on the 
 railway, for instance — may happen yet." 
 
 Miss Wilson turned upon him, glad to find someone 
 with whom she might justly be angry. ''You had better 
 go about your business," she said. " And dont let me see 
 you here again." 
 
 *' This is 'ard," said Smilash plaintively. " My inten- 
 tions was nothing but good. But I know wot it is. It's 
 that young varmint a-saying that the young lady kissed 
 me." 
 
 ** Inspector," said Miss Wilson : " will you oblige me 
 by seeing that he leaves the college as soon as possible." 
 
 *' Where's my wages ? " he retorted reproachfully. 
 ** Where's my lawful wages ? I am su'prised at a lady like 
 you, chock full o' moral science and political economy, 
 wanting to put a poor man off. Where's your wages fund.^ 
 Where's your remuneratory capital .? " 
 
 *' Dont you give him anything, maam," said the inspector. 
 " The money he's had from the lady will pay him very 
 well. Move on here, or we'll precious soon hurry you." 
 
 " Very well," grumbled Smilash. " I bargained for 
 ninepence ; and what with the roller, and opening the 
 soda water, and shoving them heavy tables about, there 
 was a decomposition of tissue in me to the tune of two 
 shillings. But all I ask is the ninepence, and let the lady 
 keep the one and threppence as the reward of abstinence. 
 Exploitation of labour at the rate of a hundred and twenty- 
 five per cent., that is. Come : give us ninepence ; and I'll 
 go straight off." 
 
 ** Here is a shilling," said Miss Wilson. " Now go." 
 
 "Threppence change ! " cried Smilash. " Honesty has 
 ever been " 
 
 '* You may keep the change." 
 
 " You have a noble 'art, lady ; but you're flying in the 
 face of the law of supply and demand. If you keep payin' 
 at this rate, there'll be a rush of labourers to the college ; 
 
66 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 and competition '11 soon bring you down from a shilling 
 to sixpence, let alone ninepence. That's the way wages 
 goes down and deathrates goes up, worse luck for the likes 
 of hus, as has to sell ourselves like pigs in the market." 
 
 He was about to continue, when the policeman took 
 him by the arm ; turned him towards the gate ; and pointed 
 expressively in that direction. Smilash looked vacantly at 
 him for a moment. Then with a wink at Fairholme, he 
 walked gravely away, amid general staring and silence. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 What had passed between Smilash and Henrietta remained 
 unknown except to themselves. Agatha had seen Henri- 
 etta clasping his neck in her arms, but had not waited to 
 hear the exclamation of" Sidney, Sidney," which followed, 
 nor to see him press her face to his breast in his anxiety 
 to stifle her voice as he said, "My darling love, dont 
 screech, I implore you. Confound it, we shall have the 
 whole pack here in a moment. Hush ! " 
 
 *' Dont leave me again, Sidney," she entreated, clinging 
 faster to him as his perplexed gaze, wandering towards the 
 entrance to the shrubbery, seemed to forsake her. A din 
 of voices in that direction precipitated his irresolution. 
 
 ** We must run away, Hetty," he said. " Hold fast 
 about my neck ; and dont strangle me. Now then." He 
 lifted her upon his shoulder, and ran swiftly through the 
 grounds. When they were stopped by the wall, he placed 
 her atop of it ; scrambled over ; and made her jump into 
 his arms. Then he staggered away with her across the 
 fields, gasping out, in reply to the inarticulate remon- 
 strances which burst from her as he stumbled and reeled at 
 every hillock, '* Your weight is increasing at the rate of a 
 stone a second, my love. If you stoop you will break my 
 back. Oh Lord, here's a ditch ! " 
 
 ** Let me down," screamed Henrietta in an ecstasy of 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 67 
 
 delight and apprehension. ** You will hurt yourself; and — 
 Oh do take " 
 
 He struggled through a dry ditch as she spoke, and came 
 out upon a grassy place that bordered the tow-path of the 
 canal. Here, on the bank of a hollow where the moss was 
 dry and soft, he seated her ; threw himself prone on his 
 elbows before her ; and said, panting, 
 
 " Nessus carrying off Dejanira was nothing to this ! 
 Whew ! Well, my darling : are you glad to see me } " 
 
 "But " 
 
 " But me no buts, unless you wish me to vanish again 
 and for ever. Wretch that I am, I have longed for you 
 unspeakably more than once since I ran away from you. 
 You didnt care, of course." 
 
 ** I did. I did indeed. Why did you leave me, 
 Sidney .? " 
 
 *' Lest a worse thing might befall. Come, dont let us 
 waste in explanations the few minutes we have left. Give 
 me a kiss." 
 
 "Then you are going to leave me again. Oh, Sid- 
 ney " 
 
 " Never mind to-morrow, Hetty. Be like the sun and 
 the meadow, which are not in the least concerned about 
 the coming winter. Why do you stare at that cursed 
 canal, blindly dragging its load of filth from place to place 
 until it pitches it into the sea — ^just as a crowded street 
 pitches its load into the cemetery .? Stare at me ; and give 
 me a kiss." 
 
 She gave him several, and said coaxingly, with her arm 
 still upon his shoulder, "You only talk that way to frighten 
 me, Sidney : I know you do." 
 
 " You are the bright sun of my senses," he said, embrac- 
 ing her. *' I feel my heart and brain wither in your smile ; 
 and I fling them to you for your prey with exultation. 
 How happy I am to have a wife who does not despise me 
 for doing so — who rather loves me the more ! " 
 
 " Dont be silly," said Henrietta, smiling vacantly. Then, 
 stung by a half intuition of his meaning, she repulsed him 
 and said angrily, " You despise me'^ 
 
68 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** Not more than I despise myself. Indeed, not so much ; 
 for many emotions that seem base from within, seem lov- 
 able from without." 
 
 ** You intend to leave me again. I feel it. I know it." 
 
 ** You think you know it because you feel it. Not a bad 
 reason, either ! " 
 
 '* Then you are going to leave me ? " 
 
 " Do you not feel it and know it } Yes, my cherished 
 Hetty : I assuredly am." 
 
 She broke into wild exclamations of grief; and he drew 
 her head down, and kissed her with a tender action which 
 she could not resist, and a wry face which she did not see. 
 
 " My poor Hetty, you dont understand me." 
 
 *' I only understand that you hate me, and want to go 
 away from me." 
 
 " That would be easy to understand. But the strange- 
 ness is that I love you and want to go away from you. Not 
 for ever. Only for a time." 
 
 " But I dont want you to go away. I wont let you go 
 away," she said, a trace of fierceness mingling with her 
 entreaty. ** Why do you want to leave me if you love 
 me ? " 
 
 " How do I know .? I can no more tell you the whys 
 and wherefores of myself than I can lift myself up by the 
 waistband and carry myself into the next county, as some 
 one challenged a speculator in perpetual motion to do. I 
 am too much a pessimist to respect my own aifections. 
 Do you know what a pessimist is } " 
 
 "A man who thinks everybody as nasty as himself, and 
 hates them for it." 
 
 " So, or thereabout. Modern English polite society, 
 my native sphere, seems to me as corrupt as conscious- 
 ness of culture and absence of honesty can make it. A 
 canting, lie-loving, fact-hating, scribbling, chattering, 
 wealth-hunting, pleasure-hunting, celebrity-hunting mob, 
 that, having lost the fear of hell, and not replaced it by 
 the love of justice, cares for nothing but the lion's share 
 of the wealth wrung by threat of starvation from the hands 
 of the classes that create it. — If you interrupt me with 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 69 
 
 a silly speech, Hetty, I will pitch you into the canal, and 
 die of sorrow for my lost love afterwards. — You know 
 what I am, according to the conventional description : a 
 gentleman with lots of money. Do you know the wicked 
 origin of that money and gentility ? " 
 
 " Oh, Sidney : have you been doing anything ? " 
 ** No, my best beloved : I am a gentleman, and have 
 been doing nothing. That a man can do so and not 
 starve is now-a-dajs not even a paradox. Every halfpenny 
 I possess is stolen money ; but it has been stolen legally ; 
 and, what is of some practical importance to you, I have 
 no means of restoring it to the rightful owners even if I 
 felt inclined to. Do you know what my father was } " 
 
 " What difference can that make now ? Dont be dis- 
 agreeable and full of ridiculous fads, Sidney dear. I 
 didnt marry your father." 
 
 *' No ; but you married — only incidentally, of course — 
 my father's fortune. That necklace of yours was pur- 
 chased with his money ; and I can almost fancy stains of 
 
 blood " 
 
 "■ Stop, Sidney. I dont like this sort of romancing. 
 It's all nonsense. Do be nice to me." 
 
 " There are stains of sweat on it, I know." 
 ** You nasty wretch ! " 
 
 ** I am thinking, not of you, my dainty one, but of the 
 unfortunate people who slave that we may live idly. Let 
 me explain to you why we are so rich. My father was a 
 shrewd, energetic and ambitious Manchester man, who 
 understood an exchange of any sort as a transaction by 
 which one man should lose and the other gain. He made it 
 his object to make as many exchanges as possible, and to 
 be always the gaining party in them. I do not know 
 exactly what he was ; for he was ashamed both of his 
 antecedents and of his relatives ; from which I can only 
 infer that they were honest and therefore unsuccessful 
 people. However, he acquired some knowledge of the 
 cotton trade ; saved some money ; borrowed some more 
 on the security of his reputation for getting the 
 better of other people in business ; and, as he accurately 
 
"70 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 told me afterwards, started for himself. He bought a 
 factory and some raw cotton. Now you must know that a 
 man, by labouring some time on a piece of raw cotton, can 
 turn it into a piece of manufactured cotton fit for making 
 into sheets and shifts and the like. The manufactured 
 cotton is more valuable than the raw cotton, because the 
 manufacture costs wear and tear of machinery, wear and 
 tear of the factory, rent of the ground upon which the factory 
 is built, and human labour, or wear and tear of live men, 
 which has to be made good by food, shelter, and rest. 
 Do you understand that } " 
 
 " We used to learn all about it at college. I dont see 
 what it has to do with us, since you are not in the cotton 
 trade." 
 
 ** You learned as much as it was thought safe to teach 
 you, no doubt ; but not quite all, I should think. When 
 my father started for himself, there were many men in 
 Manchester who were willing to labour in this way ; but 
 they had no factory to work in, no machinery to work 
 with, and no raw cotton to work on, simply because all 
 this indispensable plant, and the materials for producing 
 a fresh supply of it, had been appropriated by earlier 
 comers. So they found themselves with gaping stomachs, 
 shivering limbs, and hungry wives and children, in a 
 place called their own country, in which nevertheless 
 every scrap of ground and possible source of subsistence 
 was tightly locked up in the hands of others and guarded 
 by armed soldiers and policemen. In this helpless con- 
 dition, the poor devils were ready to beg for access to a 
 factory and to raw cotton on any conditions compatible 
 with life. My father oflfered them the use of his factory, 
 his machines, and his raw cotton, on the following con- 
 ditions. They were to work long and hard, early and late, 
 to add fresh value to his raw cotton by manufacturing it. 
 Out of the value thus created by them, they were to re- 
 coup him for what he supplied them with : rent, shelter, 
 gas, water, machinery, raw cotton — everything ; and to 
 pay him for his own services as superintendent, manager, 
 and salesman. So far he asked nothing but just remunera- 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 71 
 
 tion. But after this had been paid, a balance due solely 
 to their own labour remained. ' Out of this,' said my 
 father, * you shall keep just enough to save you from starv- 
 ing ; and of the rest you shall make me a present to 
 reward me for my virtue in saving money. Such is the 
 bargain I propose. It is, in my opinion, fair and cal- 
 culated to encourage thrifty habits. If it does not strike 
 you in that light, you can get a factory and raw cotton for 
 yourselves : you shall not use mine.' In other words, they 
 might go to the devil and starve — Hobson's choice! — for all 
 the other factories were owned by men who offered no better 
 terms. The Manchesterians could not bear to starve or to 
 see their children starve ; and so they accepted his terms 
 and went into the factory. The terms, you see, did not 
 admit of their beginning to save for themselves as he had 
 done. Well, they created great wealth by their labour, and 
 lived on very little ; so that the balance they gave for nothing 
 to my father was large. He bought more cotton, and more 
 machinery, and more factories with it ; employed more 
 men to make wealth for him ; and saw his fortune increase 
 like a rolling snowball. He prospered enormously ; but 
 the workmen were no better off than at first ; and they 
 dared not rebel and demand more of the money they had 
 made ; for there were always plenty of starving wretches 
 outside willing to take their places on the old terms. 
 Sometimes he met with a check : as, for instance, when, in 
 his eagerness to increase his store, he made the men manu- 
 facture more cotton than the public needed ; or when he 
 could not get enough of raw cotton, as happened during 
 the civil war in America. Then he adapted himself to cir- 
 cumstances by turning away as many workmen as he could 
 not find customers or cotton for; and they, of course, 
 starved or subsisted on charity. During the war-time a 
 big subscription was got up for these poor wretches ; and 
 my father subscribed one hundred pounds, in spite, he 
 said, of his own great losses. Then he bought new 
 machines ; and, as women and children could work these 
 as well as men, and were cheaper and more docile, he 
 turned away about seventy out of every hundred of his 
 
72 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 hands (so he called the men), and replaced them by their 
 wives and children, who made money for him faster than 
 ever. By this time he had long ago given up managing the 
 factories, and paid clever fellows who had no money of 
 their own a few hundreds a year to do it for him. He also 
 purchased shares in other concerns conducted on the 
 same principle ; pocketed dividends made in countries 
 which he had never visited by men whom he had never 
 seen ; bought a seat in Parliament from a poor and cor- 
 rupt constituency ; and helped to preserve the laws by 
 which he had thriven. Afterwards, when his wealth grew 
 famous, he had less need to bribe ; for modern men wor- 
 ship the rich as gods, and will elect a man as one of their 
 rulers for no other reason than that he is a millionaire. 
 He aped gentility ; lived in a palace at Kensington ; and 
 bought a part of Scotland to make a deer forest of. It is 
 easy enough to make a deer forest, as trees are not neces- 
 sary there. You simply drive oif the peasants ; destroy 
 their houses ; and make a desert of the land. However, 
 my father did not shoot much himself: he generally let 
 the forest out by the season to those who did. He pur- 
 chased a wife of gentle blood too, with the unsatisfactory 
 result now before you. That is how Jesse Trefusis, a poor 
 Manchester bagman, contrived to become a plutocrat and 
 gentleman of landed estate. And also how I, who never 
 did a stroke of work in my life, am overburdened with 
 wealth ; whilst the children of the men who made that 
 wealth are slaving as their fathers slaved, or starving, or 
 in the workhouse, or on the streets, or the deuce knows 
 where. What do you think of that, my love } " 
 
 " What is the use of worrying about it, Sidney? It can- 
 not be helped now. Besides, if your father saved money, 
 and the others were improvident, he deserved to make a 
 fortune." 
 
 ** Granted ; but he didnt make a fortune : he took a 
 fortune that others had made. At Cambridge they taught 
 me that his profits were the reward of abstinence — the 
 abstinence which enabled him to save. That quieted my 
 conscience until I began to wonder why one man should 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 73 
 
 make another pay him for exercising one of the virtues. 
 Then came the question : what did my father abstain from ? 
 The workmen abstained from meat, drink, fresh air, good 
 clothes, decent lodging, holidays, money, the society of 
 their families, and pretty nearly everything that makes life 
 worth living, which was perhaps the reason why they 
 usually died twenty years or so sooner than people in our 
 circumstances. Yet no one rewarded them for their 
 abstinence. The reward came to my father, who abstained 
 from none of these things, but indulged in them all to his 
 heart's content. Besides, if the money was the reward of 
 abstinence, it seemed logical to infer that he must abstain 
 ten times as much when he had fifty thousand a- year as 
 when he had only five thousand. Here was a problem for 
 my young mind. Required, something from which my 
 father abstained and in which his workmen exceeded, and 
 which he abstained from more and more as he grew richer 
 and richer. The only thing that answered this descrip- 
 tion was hard work ; and as I never met a sane man will- 
 ing to pay another for idling, I began to see that these 
 prodigious payments to my father were extorted by force. 
 To do him justice, he never boasted of abstinence. He 
 considered himself a hard-worked man ; and claimed his 
 fortune as the reward of his risks, his calculations, his 
 anxieties, and the journeys he had to make at all seasons 
 and at all hours. This comforted me somewhat until it 
 occurred to me that if he had lived a century earlier ; in- 
 vested his money in a horse and a pair of pistols ; and 
 taken to the road : his object — that of wresting from others 
 the fruits of their labour without rendering them an equiva- 
 lent — would have been exactly the same, and his risk far 
 greater ; for it would have included risk of the gallows. 
 Constant travelling with the constable at his heels, and 
 calculations of the chances of robbing the Dover mail, 
 would have given him his fill of activity and anxiety. On 
 the whole, if Jesse Trefusis, M.P., who died a millionaire 
 in his palace at Kensington, had been a highwayman, I 
 could not more heartily loathe the social arrangements 
 that rendered such a career as his not only possible, but 
 
74 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 eminently creditable to himself in the eyes of his* fellows. 
 Most men make it their business to imitate him, hoping 
 to become rich and idle on the same terms. Therefore I 
 turn my back on them. I cannot sit at their feasts know- 
 ing how much they cost in human misery, and seeing how 
 little they produce of human happiness. What is your 
 opinion, my treasure ? " 
 
 Henrietta seemed a little troubled. She smiled faintly, 
 and said caressingly, "It was not your fault, Sidney. / 
 dont blame you." 
 
 " Immortal powers ! " he exclaimed, sitting bolt upright, 
 and appealing to the skies : ** here is a woman who believes 
 that the only concern all this causes me is whether she 
 thinks any the worse of me personally on account of it ! " 
 
 " No, no, Sidney. It is not I alone. Nobody thinks 
 the worse of you for it." 
 
 " Quite so," he returned, in a polite frenzy. " Nobody 
 sees any harm in it. That is precisely the mischief of it." 
 
 "Besides," she urged, "your mother belonged to one 
 of the oldest families in England." 
 
 "And what more can man desire than wealth with 
 descent from a county family ! Could a man be happier 
 than I ought to be, sprung as I am from monopolists of 
 all the sources and instruments of production — of land on 
 the one side, and of machinery on the other ? This very 
 ground on which we are resting was the property of my 
 mother's father. At least the law allowed him to use it 
 as such. When he was a boy, there was a fairly prosperous 
 race of peasants settled here, tilling the soil ; paying him 
 rent for permission to do so ; and making enough out of 
 it to satisfy his large wants and their own narrow needs 
 without working themselves to death. But my grandfather 
 was a shrewd man. He perceived that cows and sheep 
 produced more money by their meat and wool than 
 peasants by their husbandry. So he cleared the estate. 
 That is, he drove the peasants from their homes, as my 
 father did afterwards in his Scotch deer forest. Or, as his 
 tombstone has it, he developed the resources of his 
 country. I dont know what became of the peasants : he 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 75 
 
 didnt know, and, I presume, didnt care. I suppose the 
 old ones went into the workhouse, and the young ones 
 crowded the towns, and worked for men like my 
 father in factories. Their places were taken by cattle, 
 which paid for their food so well, that my grandfather, 
 getting my father to take shares in the enterprise, hired 
 labourers on the Manchester terms to cut that canal for him. 
 When it was made, he took toll upon it ; and his heirs 
 still take toll ; and the sons of the navvies who dug it and 
 of the engineer who designed it pay the toll when they 
 have occasion to travel by it, or to purchase goods which 
 have been conveyed along it. I remember my grandfather 
 well. He was a well-bred man, and a perfect gentleman 
 in his manners ; but, on the whole, I think he was 
 wickeder than my father, who, after all, was caught 
 in the wheels of a vicious system, and had either to. spoil 
 others or be spoiled by them. But my grandfather — the 
 old rascal ! — was in no such dilemma. Master as he was 
 of his bit of merry England, no man could have enslaved 
 him ; and he might at least have lived and let live. My 
 father followed his example in the matter of the deer 
 forest ; but that was the climax of his wickedness, whereas 
 it was only the beginning of my grandfather's. Howbeit, 
 whichever bears the palm, there they were, the types after 
 which we all strive." 
 
 "Not all, Sidney. Not we two. I hate tradespeople 
 and country squires. We belong to the artistic and 
 cultured classes ; and we can keep aloof from shop- 
 keepers." 
 
 " Living, meanwhile, at the rate of several thousand a 
 year on rent and interest. No, my dear : this is the way 
 of those people who insist that when they are in heaven 
 they shall be spared the recollection of such a place as 
 hell, but are quite content that it shall exist outside 
 their consciousness. I respect my father more — I mean I 
 despise him less — for doing his own sweating and filch- 
 ing than I do the sensitive sluggards and cowards who 
 lent him their money to sweat and filch with, and asked 
 no questions provided the interest was paid punctually. 
 
76 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 And as to your friends the artists, they are the worst of 
 all." 
 
 ** Oh, Sidney : you are determined not to be pleased. 
 Artists dont keep factories." 
 
 *' No ; but the factory is only a part of the machinery 
 of the system. Its basis is the tyranny of brain force, 
 which, among civilized men, is allowed to do what 
 muscular force does among schoolboys and savages. The 
 schoolboy proposition is, * I am stronger than you : there- 
 fore you shall fag for me.' Its grown-up form is, *I 
 am cleverer than you : therefore you shall fag for me.' 
 The state of things we produce by submitting to this, bad 
 enough even at first, becomes intolerable when the 
 mediocre or foolish descendants of the clever fellows claim 
 to have inherited their privileges. Now, no men are 
 greater sticklers for the arbitrary dominion of genius and 
 talent than your artists. The great painter is not satisfied 
 with being sought after and admired because his hands 
 can do more than ordinary hands, which they truly can ; 
 but he wants to be fed as if his stomach needed more food 
 than ordinary stomachs, which it does not. A day's work 
 is a day's work, neither more nor less ; and the man who 
 does it needs a day's sustenance, a night's repose, and due 
 leisure, whether he be painter or ploughman. But the 
 rascal of a painter, poet, novelist, or other voluptuary in 
 labour, is not content with his advantage in popular esteem 
 over the ploughman : he also wants an advantage in money, 
 as if there were more hours in a day spent in the studio 
 or library than in the field ; or as if he needed more food 
 to enable him to do his work than the ploughman to enable 
 him to do his. He talks of the higher quality of his work, 
 as if the higher quality of it were of his own making! — 
 as if it gave him a right to work less for his neighbour 
 than his neighbour works for him ! — as if the ploughman 
 could not do better without him than he without the 
 ploughman ! — as if the value of the most celebrated 
 pictures has not been questioned more than that of any 
 straight furrow in the arable world ! — as if it did not take 
 an apprenticeship of as many years to train the hand and 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 77 
 
 eye of a mason or blacksmith as of an artist ! — as if, in 
 short, the fellow were a god, as canting brain worshippers 
 have for years past been assuring him he is. Artists are 
 the high priests of the modern Moloch. Nine out of ten 
 of them are diseased creatures, just sane enough to trade 
 on their own neuroses. The only quality of theirs which 
 extorts my respect is a certain sublime selfishness which 
 makes them willing to starve and to let their families 
 starve sooner than do any work they dont like." 
 
 '' Indeed yon are quite wrong, Sidney. There was a 
 girl at the Slade school who supported her mother and 
 two sisters by her drawing. Besides, what can you do ? 
 People were made so." 
 
 ** Yes : I was made a landlord and capitalist by the folly 
 of the people ; but they can unmake me if they will. 
 Meanwhile I have absolutely no means of escape from my 
 position except by giving away my slaves to fellows who 
 will use them no better than I, and becoming a slave 
 myself; which, if you please, you shall not catch me doing 
 in a hurry. No, my beloved : I must keep my foot on 
 their necks for your sake as well as for my own. — But you 
 do not care about all this prosy stuff. I am consumed 
 with remorse for having bored my darling. You want 
 to know why I am living here like a hermit in a vulgar 
 two-roomed hovel instead of tasting the delights of 
 London society with my beautiful and devoted young 
 wife." 
 
 " But you dont intend to stay here, Sidney." 
 
 " Yes, I do ; and I will tell you why. I am helping to 
 liberate those Manchester labourers who were my father's 
 slaves. To bring that about, their fellow slaves all over 
 the world must unite in a vast international association 
 of men pledged to share the world's work justly ; to share 
 the produce of the work justly ; to yield not a farthing — 
 charity apart — to any full-grown and ablebodied idler or 
 malingerer ; and to treat as vermin in the commonwealth 
 persons attempting to get more than their share of wealth 
 or give less than their share of work. This is a very 
 difficult thing to accomplish ; because working men, like 
 
78 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 the people called their betters, do not always understand 
 their own interests, and will often actually help their 
 oppressors to exterminate their saviours to the tune of 
 * Rule Britannia,' or some such lying doggrel. We must 
 educate them out of that, and, meanwhile, push forward 
 the international association of labourers diligently. I am 
 at present occupied in propagating its principles. Capital- 
 ism, organized for repressive purposes under pretext of 
 governing the nation, would very soon stop the associa- 
 tion if it understood our aim ; but it thinks that we are 
 engaged in gunpowder plots and conspiracies to assas- 
 sinate crowned heads ; and so, whilst the police are 
 blundering in search of evidence of these, our real work 
 goes on unmolested. Whether I am really advancing the 
 cause is more than I can say. I use heaps of postage 
 stamps ; pay the expenses of many indifferent lecturers ; 
 defray the cost of printing reams of pamphlets and hand- 
 bills which hail the labourer flatteringly as the salt of the 
 earth ; write and edit a little socialist journal ; and do 
 what lies in my power generally. I had rather spend my 
 ill-gotten wealth in this way than upon an expensive house 
 and a retinue of servants. And I prefer my corduroys and 
 my two-roomed chalet here to our pretty little house, and 
 your pretty little ways, and my pretty little neglect of the 
 work that my heart is set upon. Some day, perhaps, I 
 will take a holiday ; and then we shall have a new honey- 
 moon," 
 
 For a moment Henrietta seemed about to cry. Sud- 
 denly she exclaimed with enthusiasm, ** I will stay with 
 you, Sidney. I will share your work, whatever it may be. 
 I will dress as a dairymaid, and have a little pail to carry 
 milk in. The world is nothing to me except when you 
 are with me ; and I should love to live here and sketch 
 from nature." 
 
 He blenched, and partially rose, unable to conceal his 
 dismay. She, resolved not to be cast off, seized him and 
 clung to him. This was the movement that excited the 
 derision of Wickens's boy in the adjacent gravel pit. 
 Trefusis was glad of the interruption ; and, when he gave 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 79 
 
 the boy twopence and bade him begone, half hoped 
 that he would insist on remaining. But though an 
 obdurate boy on most occasions, he proved complaisant 
 on this, and withdrew to the highroad, where he made 
 over one of his pennies to a phantom gambler, and tossed 
 with him until recalled from his dual state by the appear- 
 ance of Fairholme's party. 
 
 In the meantime, Henrietta urgently returned to her 
 proposition. 
 
 "We should be so happy," she said. "I would house- 
 keep for you ; and you could work as much as you pleased. 
 Our life would be a long idyll." 
 
 " My love," he said, shaking his head as she looked 
 beseechingly at him : " I have too much Manchester 
 cotton in my constitution for long idylls. And the truth 
 is, that the first condition of work with me is your absence. 
 When you are with me, I can do nothing but make love 
 to you. You bewitch me. When I escape from you for 
 a moment, it is only to groan remorsefully over the hours 
 you have tempted me to waste, and the energy you have 
 futilized." 
 
 " If you wont live with me, you had no right to marry 
 me." 
 
 ** True. But that is neither your fault nor mine. We 
 have found that we love each other too much — that our 
 intercourse hinders our usefulness ; and so we must part. 
 Not for ever, my dear: only until you have cares and 
 business of your own to fill up your life and prevent you 
 from wasting mine." 
 
 " I believe you are mad," she said petulantly. 
 
 ** The world is mad now-a-days, and is galloping to the 
 deuce as fast as greed can goad it. I merely stand out 
 of the rush, not liking its destination. Here comes a 
 barge, the commander of which is devoted to me because 
 he believes that I am organizing a revolution for the 
 abolition of lock dues and tolls. We will go aboard and 
 float down to Lyvern, whence you can return to London. 
 You had better telegraph from the junction to the college : 
 there must be a hue and cry out after us by this time. 
 
8o AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 You shall have my address; and we can write to one 
 another or see one another whenever we please. Or you 
 can divorce me for deserting you." 
 
 " You would like me to, I know/' said Henrietta, 
 sobbing. 
 
 *' I should die of despair, my darling," he said com- 
 placently. *' Ship aho-o-o-y ! Stop crying, Hetty, for 
 God's sake. You lacerate my very soul." 
 
 *'Ah-o-o-o-o-o-o-oy, master! " roared the bargee. 
 ** Good-arternoon, sir," said a man who, with a short 
 whip in his hand, trudged beside the white horse that 
 towed the barge. *' Come up ! " he added malevolently 
 to the horse. 
 
 ** I want to get on board, and go up to Lyvern with 
 you," said Trefusis. " He seems a well fed brute, that." 
 
 ** Better fed nor me," said the man. ** You cant get the 
 work out of a hunderfed 'orse that you can out of a hunder- 
 fed man or woman. I've bin in parts of England where 
 women pulled the barges. They come cheaper nor 
 'orses because it didnt cost nothing to get new ones 
 when the old ones was wore out." 
 
 **Then why not employ them?" said Trefusis, with 
 ironical gravity. ** The principle of buying labour-force in 
 the cheapest market and selling its product in the dearest 
 has done much to make Englishmen — what they are." 
 
 ** The railway comp'nies keeps 'orspittles for the like of 
 'm," said the man, with a cunning laugh, indicating the 
 horse by smacking him on the belly with the butt of the 
 whip. " If ever you try bein' a labourer in earnest, governor, 
 try it on four legs. You'll find it far preferable to trying 
 on two." 
 
 *' This man is one of my converts," said Trefusis apart 
 to Henrietta. " He told me the other day that since I set 
 him thinking he never sees a gentleman without feeling 
 inclined to heave a brick at him. I find that Socialism is 
 often misunderstood by its least intelligent supporters and 
 opponents to mean simply unrestrained indulgence of our 
 natural propensity to heave bricks at respectable persons. 
 Now I am going to carry you along this plank. If you 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 8l 
 
 keep quiet, we may reach the barge. If not, we shall 
 reach the bottom of the canal." 
 
 He carried her safely over, and exchanged some 
 friendly words v/ith the bargee. Then he took Hen- 
 rietta forward, and stood watching the water as they were 
 borne along noiselessly between the hilly pastures of the 
 country. 
 
 "This would be a fairy journey," he said, **if one could 
 forget the woman down below, cooking her husband's 
 dinner in a stifling hole about as big as your wardrobe, 
 and " 
 
 "Oh, dont talk any more of these things," she said 
 crossly : " I cannot help them. I have my own troubles 
 to think of. Her husband lives with her." 
 
 " She will change places with you, my dear, if you make 
 her the offer." 
 
 She had no answer ready. After a pause he began to 
 speak poetically of the scenery, and to offer her loverlike 
 speeches and compliments. But she felt that he intended 
 to get rid of her ; and he knew that it was useless to try 
 to hide that design from her. She turned away and sat 
 down on a pile of bricks, only writhing angrily when he 
 pressed her for a word. As they neared the end of her 
 voyage, and her intense protest against desertion remained, 
 as she thought, only half expressed, her sense of injury 
 grew almost unbearable. 
 
 They landed on a wharf, and went through an unswept, 
 deeply rutted lane up to the main street of Lyvern. Here 
 he became Smilash again, walking deferentially a little 
 before her, as if she had hired him to point out the way. 
 She then saw that her last opportunity of appealing to 
 him had gone by ; and she nearly burst into tears at the 
 thought. It occurred to her that she might prevail upon 
 him by making a scene in public. But the street was a 
 busy one ; and she was a little afraid of him. Neither 
 consideration would have checked her in one of her 
 ungovernable moods ; but now she was in an abject one. 
 Her moods seemed to come only when they were harmful 
 to her. She suffered herself to be put into the railway 
 
 6 
 
82 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 omnibus, which was on the point of starting from the 
 innyard when they arrived there ; and though he touched 
 his hat ; asked whether she had any message to give him ; 
 and in a tender whisper wished her a safe journey, she 
 would not look at nor speak to him. So they parted ; and 
 he returned alone to the chalet, where he was received by 
 the two policemen who subsequently brought him to the 
 college. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The year wore on ; and the long winter evenings set in. 
 The studious young ladies at Alton College, elbows on 
 desk and hands over ears, shuddered chillily in fur tippets 
 whilst they loaded their memories with the statements of 
 writers on moral science, or, like men who swim upon 
 corks, reasoned out mathematical problems upon postu- 
 lates. Whence it sometimes happened that the more 
 reasonable a student was in mathematics, the more un- 
 reasonable she was in the affairs of real life, concerning 
 which few trustworthy postulates have yet been ascer- 
 tained. 
 
 Agatha, not studious, and apt to shiver in winter, 
 began to break Rule No. 17 with increasing frequency. 
 Rule No. 17 forbade the students to enter the kitchen, 
 or in any way to disturb the servants in the discharge 
 of their duties. Agatha broke it because she was fond 
 of making toifee, of eating it, of a good fire, of doing 
 any forbidden thing, and of the admiration with which 
 the servants listened to her ventriloquial and musical 
 feats. Gertrude accompanied her because she too liked 
 toffee, and because she plumed herself on her condescen- 
 sion to her inferiors. Jane went because her two friends 
 went ; and the spirit of adventure, the force of example, 
 and the love of toffee, often brought more volunteers 
 to these expeditions than Agatha thought it safe to 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 83 
 
 enlist. One evening, Miss Wilson, going downstairs 
 alone to her private wine cellar, was arrested near the 
 kitchen by sounds of revelry, and, stopping to listen, over- 
 heard the Castanet dance (which reminded her of the 
 emphasis with which Agatha had snapped her fingers at 
 Mrs. Miller") ; the bee on the window pane ; " Robin Adair" 
 (encored by the servants) ; and an imitation of herself in 
 the act of appealing to Jane Carpenter's better nature to 
 induce her to study for the Cambridge Local. She waited 
 until the cold and her fear of being discovered spying 
 forced her to creep upstairs, ashamed of having enjoyed 
 a silly entertainment, and of conniving at a breach of the 
 rules rather than face a fresh quarrel with Agatha. 
 
 There was one particular in which matters between 
 Agatha and the college discipline did not go on exactly 
 as before. Although she had formerly supplied a dis- 
 proportionately large number of the confessions in the 
 fault book, the entry which had nearly led to her expulsion 
 was the last she ever made in it. Not that her conduct 
 was better : it was rather the reverse. Miss Wilson never 
 mentioned the matter, the fault book being sacred from 
 all allusion on her part. But she saw that though Agatha 
 would not confess her own sins, she still assisted others 
 to unburden their consciences. The witticisms with 
 which Jane unsuspectingly enlivened the pages of the 
 Recording Angel were conclusive on this point. 
 
 Smilash had now adopted a profession. In the last 
 days of autumn he had whitewashed the chalet; painted 
 the doors, windows, and veranda ; repaired the roof and 
 interior ; and improved the place so much that the land- 
 lord had warned him that the rent would be raised at the 
 expiration of his twelvemonth's tenancy, remarking that 
 a tenant could not reasonably expect to have a pretty, 
 raintight dwelling-house for the same money as a hardly 
 habitable ruin. Smilash had immediately promised to 
 dilapidate it to its formei state at the end of the year. 
 He had put up a board at the gate with an inscription 
 copied from some printed cards which he presented to 
 persons who happened to converse with him. 
 
84 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 JEFFERSON SMILASH 
 
 Painter, Decorator, Glazier, Plumber & Gardener. 
 
 Pianofortes tuned. Domestic Engineering in all its 
 
 Branches. Families waited upon 
 
 at table or otherwise. 
 
 Chamounix Villa, 
 
 (N,B.— Advice Gratis. LyVERN. 
 
 No reasonable offer refused.) 
 
 The business thus announced, comprehensive as it was, 
 did not flourish. When asked by the curious for testimony 
 to his competence and respectability, he recklessly referred 
 them to Fairholme, to Josephs, and in particular to Miss 
 Wilson, who, he said, had known him from his earliest 
 childhood. Fairholme, glad of an opportunity to show 
 that he was no mealy-mouthed parson, declared, when 
 applied to, that Smilash was the greatest rogue in the 
 country. Josephs, partly from benevolence, and partly 
 from a vague fear that Smilash might at any moment take 
 an action against him for defamation of character, said 
 he had no doubt that he was a very cheap workman, and 
 that it would be a charity to give him some little job 
 to encourage him. Miss Wilson confirmed Fairholme's 
 account ; and the church organist, who liad tuned all the 
 pianofortes in the neighbourhood once a year for nearly 
 a quarter of a century, denounced the new-comer as Jack 
 of all trades and master of none. Hereupon the radicals 
 of Lyvern, a small and disreputable party, began to assert 
 that there was no harm in the man, and that the parsons 
 and Miss Wilson, who lived in a fine house and did 
 nothing but take in the daughters of rich swells as 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 85 
 
 boarders, might employ their leisure better than in taking 
 the bread out of a poor workman's mouth. But as none 
 of this faction needed the services of a domestic engineer, 
 he was none the richer for their support ; and the only 
 patron he obtained was a housemaid who was leaving her 
 situation at a country house in the vicinity, and wanted 
 her box repaired, the lid having fallen off. Smilash 
 demanded half-a-crown for the job ; but on her demurring, 
 immediately apologized and came down to a shilling. 
 For this sum he repainted the box ; traced her initials on 
 it ; and affixed new hinges, a Bramah lock, and brass 
 handles, at a cost to himself of ten shillings and several 
 hours' labour. The housemaid found fault with the colour 
 of the paint ; made him take off the handles, which, she 
 said, reminded her of a coffin ; complained that a lock 
 with such a small key couldnt be strong enough for a 
 large box ; but admitted that it was all her own fault for 
 not employing a proper man. It got about that he had 
 made a poor job of the box ; and as he, when taxed with 
 this, emphatically confirmed it, he got no other commis- 
 sion ; and his signboard served thenceforth only for the 
 amusement of pedestrian tourists, and of shepherd boys 
 with a taste for stone throwing. 
 
 One night a great storm blew over Lyvern ; and those 
 young ladies at Alton College who were afraid of light- 
 ning, said their prayers with some earnestness. At half- 
 past twelve, the rain, wind, and thunder made such 
 a din, that Agatha and Gertrude wrapped themselves in 
 shawls ; stole downstairs to the window on the landing 
 outside Miss Wilson's study; and stood watching the 
 flashes give vivid glimpses of the landscape, and discuss- 
 ing in whispers whether it was dangerous to stand near 
 a window, and whether brass stair-rods could attract 
 lightning. Agatha, as serious and friendly with a single 
 companion as she was mischievous and satirical before a 
 larger audience, enjoyed the scene quietly. The lightning 
 did not terrify her ; for she knew little of the value of life, 
 and fancied much concerning the heroism of being in- 
 different to it. The tremors which the more startling 
 
86 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 flashes caused her, only made her more conscious of her 
 own courage and its contrast with the uneasiness of 
 Gertrude, who at last, shrinking from a forked zigzag of 
 blue flame, said, 
 
 '* Let us go back to bed, Agatha. I feel sure that we 
 are not safe here." 
 
 ** Quite as safe as in bed, where we cannot see anything. 
 How the house shakes ! I believe the rain will batter in 
 the windows before " 
 
 *^ Hush," whispered Gertrude, catching her arm in 
 terror. " What was that .? " 
 
 "What.?" 
 
 ** I am sure I heard the bell — the gate bell. Oh, do let 
 us go back to bed." 
 
 " Nonsense ! Who would be out on such a night as 
 this } Perhaps the wind rang it." 
 
 They waited for a few moments : Gertrude trembling ; 
 and Agatha feeling, as she listened in the darkness, a 
 sensation familiar to persons who are afraid of ghosts. 
 Presently a veiled clangour mingled with the wind. A few 
 sharp and urgent snatches of it came unmistakably from 
 the bell at the gate of the college grounds. It was a loud 
 bell, used to summon a servant from the college to open 
 the gates ; for though there was a porter's lodge, it was 
 uninhabited. 
 
 *' Who on earth can it be .?" said Agatha. "Cant they 
 find the wicket, the idiots ! " 
 
 ** Oh, I hope not ! Do come upstairs, Agatha." 
 
 " No, I wont. Go you, if you like." But Gertrude was 
 afraid to go alone. ** I think I had better waken Miss 
 Wilson, and tell her," continued Agatha. " It seems 
 awful to shut anybody out on such a night as this." 
 
 " But we dont know who it is." 
 
 "Well, I suppose you are not afraid of them, in any 
 case," said Agatha, knowing the contrary, but recognizing 
 the convenience of shaming Gertrude into silence. 
 
 They listened again. The storm was now very bois- 
 terous ; and they could not hear the bell. Suddenly there 
 was a loud knocking at the house door. Gertrude 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 87 
 
 screamed ; and her cry was echoed from the rooms above, 
 where several girls had heard the knocking also, and had 
 been driven by it into the state of mind which accompanies 
 the climax of a nightmare. Then a candle flickered on 
 the stairs ; and Miss Wilson's voice, reassuringly firm, was 
 heard. 
 
 *' Who is that.?" 
 
 '*It is I, Miss Wilson, and Gertrude. We have been 
 watching the storm ; and there is some one knocking at 
 
 the " A tremendous battery with the knocker, followed 
 
 by a sound, confused by the gale, as of a man shouting, 
 interrupted her. 
 
 "They had better not open the door," said Miss Wilson, 
 in some alarm. "You are very imprudent, Agatha, to 
 
 stand here. You will catch your death of Dear me 1 
 
 What can be the matter } " 
 
 She hurried down, followed by Agatha, Gertrude, and 
 some of the braver students, to the hall, where they found 
 a few shivering servants watching the housekeeper, who 
 was at the keyhole of the house door, querulously asking 
 who was there. She was evidently not heard by those 
 without ; for the knocking recommenced whilst she was 
 speaking ; and she recoiled as if she had received a blow 
 on the mouth. Miss Wilson then rattled the chain to 
 attract attention ; and demanded again who was there. 
 
 ** Let us in," was returned in a hollow shout through the 
 keyhole. "There is a dying woman and three children 
 here. Open the door." 
 
 Miss Wilson lost her presence of mind. To gain time, 
 she replied, " I — I cant hear you. What do you say .?" 
 
 "Damnation!" said the voice, speaking this time to 
 someone outside. " They cant hear." And the knocking 
 recommenced with increased urgency. Agatha, excited, 
 caught Miss Wilson's dressing gown, and repeated to her 
 what the voice had said. Miss Wilson had heard distinctly 
 enough ; and she felt, without knowing clearly why, that 
 the door must be opened ; but she was almost over- 
 mastered by a vague dread of what was to follow. She 
 began to undo the chain; and Agatha helped with the 
 
88 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 bolts. Two of the servants exclaimed that they were all 
 about to be murdered in their beds, and ran away. A few 
 of the students seemed inclined to follow their example. 
 At last the door, loosed, was blown wide open, flinging 
 Miss Wilson and Agatha back, and admitting a whirl- 
 wind that tore round the hall ; snatched at the women's 
 draperies ; and blew out the lights. Agatha, by a flash of 
 lightning, saw for an instant two men straining at the door 
 like sailors at a capstan. Then she knew by the cessation 
 of the whirlwind that they had shut it. Matches were 
 struck, the candles relighted, and the new comers clearly 
 perceived. 
 
 Smilash, bareheaded, without a coat, his corduroy vest 
 and trousers heavy with rain. A rough looking middle- 
 aged man, poorly dressed like a shepherd, wet as Smilash, 
 with the expression, piteous, patient, and desperate, of one 
 hard driven by ill-fortune, and at the end of his resources. 
 Two little children, a boy and a girl, almost naked, cower- 
 ing under an old sack that had served them as an 
 umbrella. And, lying on the settee where the two men 
 had laid it, a heap of wretched wearing apparel, sacking, 
 and rotten matting, with Smilash's coat and sou'wester : 
 the whole covering a bundle which presently proved to 
 be an exhausted woman with a tiny infant at her breast. 
 Smilash's expression, as he looked at her, was ferocious. 
 
 " Sorry fur to trouble you, lady," said the man, after 
 glancing anxiously at Smilash as if he had expected him 
 to act as spokesman ; " but my roof and the side of my 
 house has gone in the storm ; and my missus has been 
 having another little one ; and I am sorry to ill-conveni- 
 ence you. Miss ; but — but " 
 
 "Inconvenience!" exclaimed Smilash. **It is the 
 lady's privilege to relieve you — her highest privilege ! " 
 
 The little boy here began to cry from mere misery ; and 
 the woman roused herself to say, " For shame, Tom ! 
 before the lady," and then collapsed, too weak to care for 
 what might happen next in the world. Smilash looked 
 impatiently at Miss Wilson, who hesitated, and said to 
 him, 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 89 
 
 " What do you expect me to do ? " 
 
 " To help us," he replied. Then, with an explosion of 
 nervous energy, he added, ** Do what your heart tells you 
 to do. Give your bed and your clothes to the woman ; 
 and let your girls pitch their books to the devil for a few 
 days, and make something for these poor little creatures 
 to wear. The poor have worked hard enough to clothe 
 them. Let them take their turn now and clothe the poor." 
 
 ** No, no. Steady, master," said the man, stepping 
 forward to propitiate Miss Wilson, and evidently much 
 oppressed by a sense of unwelcomeness. " It aint any 
 fault of the lady's. Might I make so bold as to ask you to 
 put this woman of mine anywhere that may be convenient 
 until morning. Any sort of a place will do : she's accus- 
 tomed to rough it. Just to have a roof over her until I 
 find a room in the village where we can shake down." 
 Here, led by his own words to contemplate the future, he 
 looked desolately round the cornice of the hall, as if it 
 were a shelf on which somebody might have left a suitable 
 lodging for him. 
 
 Miss Wilson turned her back decisively and contemp- 
 tuously on Smilash. She had recovered herself. ** I will 
 keep your wife here," she said to the man. ** Every care 
 shall be taken of her. The children can stay too." 
 
 *' Three cheers for moral science ! " cried Smilash, ecsta- 
 tically breaking into the outrageous dialect he had forgotten 
 in his wrath. "Wot was my words to you, neighbour, 
 when I said we should bring your missus to the college ; 
 and you said, ironical-like, * Aye, and bloomin' glad they'll 
 be to see us there.' Did I not say to you that the lady had 
 a noble 'art, and would shew it when put to the test by 
 sech a calamity as this } " 
 
 "Why should you bring my hasty words up again' me 
 now, master, when the lady has been so kind ? " said the 
 man with emotion. " I am humbly grateful to you. Miss ; 
 and so is Bess. We are sensible of the ill-convenience 
 we " 
 
 Miss Wilson, who had been conferring with the house- 
 keeper, cut his speech short by ordering him to carry his 
 
90 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 wife to bed, which he did with the assistance of Smilash, 
 now jubilant. Whilst they were away, one of the servants, 
 bidden to bring some blankets to the woman's room, re- 
 fused, saying that she was not going to wait on that sort 
 of people. Miss Wilson gave her warning almost fiercely 
 to quit the college next day. This excepted, no ill will 
 was shown to the refugees. The young ladies were then 
 requested to return to bed. 
 
 Meanwhile, the man, having laid his wife in a chamber 
 palatial in comparison with that which the storm had blown 
 about her ears, was congratulating her on her luck, and 
 threatening the children with the most violent chastisement 
 if they failed to behave themselves with strict propriety 
 whilst they remained in that house. Before leaving them, 
 he kissed his wife ; and she, reviving, asked him to look at 
 the baby. He did so, and pensively apostrophized it with 
 a shocking epithet in anticipation of the time when its 
 appetite must be satisfied from the provision shop instead 
 of from its mother's breast. She laughed and cried shame 
 on him ; and so they parted cheerfully. When he returned 
 to the hall with Smilash, they found two mugs of beer 
 waiting for them. The girls had retired ; and only Miss 
 Wilson and the housekeeper remained. 
 
 " Here's your health, mum," said the man, before drink- 
 ing ; "and may you find such another as yourself to help 
 you when you're in trouble, which Lord send may never 
 come ! " 
 
 '* Is your house quite destroyed } " said Miss Wilson. 
 ** Where will you spend the night } " 
 
 ** Dont you think of me, mum. Master Smilash here 
 will kindly put me up 'til morning." 
 
 " His health ! " said Smilash, touching the mug with his 
 lips. 
 
 " The roof and south wall is blowed right away," con- 
 tinued the man, after pausing for a moment to puzzle over 
 Smilash's meaning. "I doubt if there's a stone of it 
 standing by this." 
 
 ** But Sir John will build it for you again. You are one 
 of his herds : are you not } " 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 91 
 
 *• I am, Miss. But not he : he'll be glad it's down. He 
 dont like people livin' on the land. I have told him time 
 and again that the place was ready to fall ; but he said I 
 couldnt expect him to lay out money on a house that he 
 got no rent for. You see, Miss, I didnt pay any rent : I 
 took low wages ; and the bit of a hut was a sort of set-off 
 again' what I was paid short of the other men. I couldnt 
 afford to have it repaired, though I did what I could to 
 patch and prop it. And now most like I shall be blamed 
 for letting it be blew down, and shall have to live in half 
 a room in the town and pay two or three shillin's a week, 
 besides walkin' three miles to and from my work every day. 
 A gentleman like Sir John dont hardly know what the 
 value of a penny is to us labourin' folk, nor how cruel hard 
 his estate rules and the like comes on us." 
 
 " Sir John's health ! " said Smilash, touching the mug 
 as before. The man drank a mouthful humbly ; and Smi- 
 lash continued, " Here's to the glorious landed gentry of 
 old England : bless 'em ! " 
 
 " Master Smilash is only jokin'/' said the man apologeti- 
 cally. " It's his way." 
 
 "You should not bring a family into the world if you are 
 so poor," said Miss Wilson severely. ** Can you not see 
 that you impoverish yourself by doing so — to put the matter 
 on no higher grounds." 
 
 " Reverend Mr. Malthus's health ! " remarked Smilash, 
 repeating his pantomime. 
 
 ** Some say it's the children ; and some say it's the drink. 
 Miss," said the man submissively. " But from what I see, 
 family or no family, drunk or sober, the poor gets poorer 
 and the rich richer every day." 
 
 " Aint it disgustin' to hear a man so ignorant of the im- 
 provement in the condition of his class } " said Smilash, 
 appealing to Miss Wilson. 
 
 " If you intend to take this man home with you," she said, 
 turning sharply on him, "you had better do it at once." 
 
 " I take it kind on your part that you ask me to do any- 
 think, after your up and telling Mr. Wickens that I am the 
 last person in Lyvern you would trust with a job." 
 
^2 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** So you are — the verv last. Why dont you drink your 
 beer?" 
 
 *' Not in scorn of your brewing, lady ; but because, bein' 
 a common man, water is good enough for me." 
 
 " I wish you good-night, Miss," said the man ; ** and 
 thank you kindly for Bess and the children." 
 
 "■ Good-night," she replied, stepping aside to avoid any 
 salutation from Smilash. But he went up to her and said 
 in a low voice, and with the Trefusis manner and accent, 
 
 ** Good-night, Miss Wilson. If you should ever be in want 
 of the services of a dog, a man, or a domestic engineer, 
 remind Smilash of Bess and the children, and he will act 
 for you in any of those capacities." 
 
 They opened the door cautiously, and found that the 
 wind, conquered by the rain, had abated. Miss Wilson's 
 candle, though it flickered in the draught, was not extin- 
 guished this time ; and she was presently left with the 
 housekeeper, bolting and chaining the door, and listening 
 to the crunching of feet on the gravel outside dying away 
 through the steady pattering of the rain. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Agatha was at this time in her seventeenth year. She 
 had a lively perception of the foibles of others, and no 
 reverence for her seniors, whom she thought dull, cau- 
 tious, and ridiculously amenable by commonplaces. But 
 she was subject to the illusion which disables youth in 
 spite of its superiority to age. She thought herself an ex- 
 ception. Crediting Mr. Jansenius and the general mob 
 of mankind with nothing but a grovelling consciousness 
 of some few material facts, she felt in herself an exquisite 
 sense and all-embracing conception of nature, shared only 
 by her favourite poets and heroes of romance and history. 
 Hence she was in the common youthful case of being a 
 much better judge of other people's affairs than of her own. 
 
AN LNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 93 
 
 At the fellowstudent who adored some Henry or Augustus, 
 not from the drivelling sentimentality which the world 
 calls love, but because this particular Henry or Augustus 
 was a phoenix to whom the laws that govern the rela- 
 tions of ordinary lads and lasses did not apply, Agatha 
 laughed in her sleeve. The more she saw of this weak- 
 ness in her fellows, the more satisfied she was that, being 
 forewarned, she was also forearmed against an attack of it 
 on herself. Much as if a doctor were to conclude that he 
 could not catch small pox because he had seen many cases 
 of it ; or as if a master mariner, knowing that many ships 
 are wrecked in the British channel, should venture there 
 without a pilot, thinking that he knew its perils too well 
 to run any risk by them. Yet, as the doctor might hold 
 such an opinion if he believed himself to be constituted 
 differently from ordinary men ; or the shipmaster adopt such 
 a course under the impression that his vessel was a star, 
 Agatha found false security in the subjective difference 
 between her fellows seen from without and herself known 
 from within. When, for instance, she fell in love with 
 Mr. Jefferson Smilash (a step upon which she resolved the 
 day after the storm), her imagination invested the pleasing 
 emotion with a sacredness which, to her, set it far apart 
 and distinct from the frivolous fancies of which Henry 
 and Augustus had been the subject, and she the con- 
 fidant. 
 
 " I can look at him quite coolly and dispassionately," 
 she said to herself. "Though his face has a strange 
 influence that must, I know, correspond to some un- 
 explained power within me, yet it is not a perfect face. I 
 have seen many men who are, strictly speaking, far hand- 
 somer. If the light that never was on sea or land is in his 
 eyes, yet they are not pretty eyes — not half so clear as 
 mine. Though he wears his common clothes with a 
 nameless grace that betrays his true breeding at every 
 step, yet he is not tall, dark, and melancholy, as my ideal 
 hero would be if I were as great a fool as girls of my age 
 usually are. If I am in love, I have sense enough not to 
 let my love blind my judgment." 
 
94 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 She did not tell anyone of her new interest in life. 
 Strongest in that student community, she had used her 
 power with goodnature enough to win the popularity of 
 a school leader, and occasionally with unscrupulousness 
 enough to secure the privileges of a school bully. Popu- 
 larity and privilege, however, only satisfied her when she 
 was in the mood for them. Girls, like men, want to be 
 petted, pitied, and made much of, when they are diffident, 
 in low spirits, or in unrequited love. These are services 
 which the weak cannot render to the strong, and which 
 the strong will not render to the weak, except when there 
 is also a difference of sex. Agatha knew by experience 
 that though a weak woman cannot understand why her 
 stronger sister should wish to lean upon her, she may 
 triumph in the fact without understanding it, and give 
 chaff instead of consolation. Agatha wanted to be under- 
 stood and not to be chaffed. Finding herself unable to 
 satisfy both these conditions, she resolved to do without 
 sympathy and to hold her tongue. She had often had to 
 do so before ; and she was helped on this occasion by a 
 sense of the ridiculous appearance her passion might wear 
 in the vulgar eye. 
 
 Her secret kept itself, as she was supposed in the col- 
 lege to be insensible to the softer emotions. Love wrought 
 no external change upon her. It made her believe that 
 she had left her girlhood behind her, and was now a 
 woman with a newly developed heart capacity at which 
 she would childishly have scoffed a little while before. 
 She felt ashamed of the bee on the window-pane, although 
 it somehow buzzed as frequently as before in spite of her. 
 Her calendar, formerly a monotonous cycle of class times, 
 meal times, play times, and bed time, was now irregularly 
 divided by walks past the chalet and accidental glimpses 
 of its tenant. 
 
 Early in December came a black frost ; and navigation 
 on the canal was suspended. Wickens's boy was sent to 
 the college with news that Wickens's pond would bear, and 
 that the young ladies should be welcome at any time. 
 The pond was only four feet deep ; and as Miss Wilson set 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 95 
 
 much store by the physical education of her pupils, leave 
 was given for skating. Agatha, who was expert on the 
 ice, immediately proposed that a select party should go 
 out before breakfast next morning. Actions not in them- 
 selves virtuous often appear so when performed at hours 
 that compel early rising ; and some of the candidates for 
 the Cambridge Local, who would not have sacrificed the 
 afternoon to amusement, at once fell in with her sugges- 
 tion. But for them, it might never have been carried out ; 
 for when they summoned Agatha, at half-past six next 
 morning, to leave her warm bed and brave the biting air, 
 she would have refused without hesitation had 'she not 
 been shamed into compliance by these laborious ones 
 who stood by her bedside, bluenosed and hungry, but 
 ready for the ice. When she had dressed herself with 
 much shuddering and chattering, they allayed their inter- 
 nal discomfort by a slender meal of biscuits ; got their 
 skates ; and went out across the rimy meadows, past 
 patient cows breathing clouds of steam, to Wickens's pond. 
 Here, to their surprise, was Smilash, on electro-plated 
 acme skates, practising complicated figures with intense 
 diligence. It soon appeared that his skill came short of 
 his ambition ; for, after several narrow escapes, and some 
 frantic staggering, his calves, elbows, and occiput smote 
 the ice almost simultaneously. On rising ruefully to a 
 sitting posture, he became aw^re that eight young ladies 
 were watching his proceedings with interest. 
 
 ** This comes of a common man putting himself above 
 his station by getting into gentlemen's skates," he said. 
 " Had I been content with a humble slide, as my fathers 
 was, I should ha' been a happier man at the present 
 moment." He sighed ; rose ; touched his hat to Miss 
 Ward ; and took off his skates, adding, " Good-morning, 
 Miss. Miss Wilson sent me word to be here sharp at six 
 to put on the young ladies' skates ; and I took the liberty 
 of trying a figure or two to keep out the cold." 
 
 " Miss Wilson did not tell me that she ordered you to 
 come," said Miss Ward. 
 
 "Just like her to be thoughtful and yet not let on to be ! 
 
96 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 She is a kind lady, and a learned — like yourself, Miss. 
 Sit yourself down on the camp-stool ; and give me your 
 heel : if I may be so bold as to stick a gimlet into it." 
 
 His assistance was welcome ; and Miss Ward allowed 
 him to put on her skates. She was a Canadian, and could 
 skate well. Jane, the first to follow her, was anxious as to 
 the strength of the ice ; but when reassured, she acquitted 
 herself admirably ; for she was proficient in out-door 
 exercises, and had the satisfaction of laughing in the field 
 at those who laughed at her in the study. Agatha, con- 
 trary to her custom, gave way to her companions ; and her 
 boots were the last upon which Smilash operated. 
 
 " How d'you do, Miss Wylie ? " he said, dropping the 
 Smilash manner now that the rest were out of earshot. 
 
 " I am very well, thank you," said Agatha, shy and con- 
 strained. This phase of her being new to him, he paused 
 with her heel in his hand, and looked up at her curiously. 
 She collected herself; returned his gaze steadily; and said, 
 " How did Miss Wilson send you word to come } She 
 only knew of our party at half-past nine last night." 
 
 " Miss Wilson did not send for me." 
 
 *' But you have just told Miss Ward that she did " 
 
 ** Yes. I find it necessary to tell almost as many lies 
 now that I am a simple labourer as I did when I was a 
 gentleman. More, in fact." 
 
 ** I shall know how much to believe of what you say in 
 future." 
 
 " The truth is this. I am perhaps the worst skater in 
 the world ; and therefore, according to a natural law, I 
 covet the faintest distinction on the ice more than immortal 
 fame for the things in which nature has given me aptitude 
 to excel. I envy that large friend of yours — Jane is her 
 name, I think — more than I envy Plato. I came down 
 here this morning, thinking that the skating world was all 
 a-bed, to practise in secret." 
 
 "I am glad we caught you at it," said Agatha, mali- 
 ciously ; for he was disappointing her. She wanted him 
 to be heroic in his conversation ; and he would not. 
 
 " I suppose so," he replied. *' I have observed that 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 97 
 
 Woman's dearest delight is to wound Man's self-conceit, 
 though Man's dearest delight is to gratify hers. There is 
 at least one creature lower than Man. Now, off with you. 
 Shall I hold you until your ankles get firm ? " 
 
 ** Thank you," she said, disgusted : **/ can skate pretty 
 well ; and I dont think you could give me any useful 
 assistance." And she went off cautiously, feeling that 
 a mishap would be very disgraceful after such a speech. 
 
 He stood on the shore, listening to the grinding, sway- 
 ing sound of the skates, and watching the growing com- 
 plexity of the curves they were engraving on the ice. As 
 the girls grew warm and accustomed to the exercise, they 
 laughed ; jested ; screamed recklessly when they came into 
 collision ; and sailed before the wind down the whole 
 length of the pond at perilous speed. The more animated 
 they became, the gloomier looked Smilash. 
 
 " Not two-penn'orth of choice between them and a parcel 
 of puppies," he said ; " except that some of them are con- 
 scious that there is a man looking at them, although he is 
 only a blackguard labourer. They remind me of Henri- 
 etta in a hundred ways. Would I laugh, now, if the whole 
 sheet of ice were to burst into little bits under them .?" 
 
 Just then the ice cracked with a startling report ; and 
 the skaters, except Jane, skimmed away in all directions. 
 
 " You are breaking the ice to pieces, Jane," said Agatha, 
 calling from a safe distance. " How can you expect it to 
 bear your weight ? " 
 
 " Pack of fools ! " retorted Jane indignantly. " The 
 noise only shows how strong it is." 
 
 The shock which the report had given Smilash answered 
 him his question. '* Make a note that wishes for the de- 
 struction of the human race, however rational and sincere, 
 are contrary to nature," he said, recovering his spirits. 
 " Besides, what a precious fool I should be if I were work- 
 ing at an international association of creatures only fit for 
 destruction ! Hi, lady ! One word. Miss." This was to 
 Miss Ward, who had skated into his neighbourhood. " It 
 bein' a cold morning, and me havin' a poor and common 
 circulation; would it be looked on as a ^liberty if I was 
 
98 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 to cut a slide here, or take a turn in the corner all to 
 myself?" 
 
 " You may skate over there if you wish/' she said, after 
 a pause for consideration, pointing to a deserted spot at 
 the leeward end of the pond, where the ice was too rough 
 for comfortable skating. 
 
 " Nobly spoke ! " he cried, with a grin, hurrying to the 
 place indicated, where, skating being out of the question, 
 he made a pair of slides, and gravely exercised himself 
 upon them until his face glowed and his fingers tingled 
 in the frosty air. The time passed quickly: when Miss 
 Ward sent for him to take off her skates, there was a 
 general groan and declaration that it could not possibly 
 be half-past eight o'clock yet. Smilash knelt before 
 the camp-stool, and was presently busy unbuckling and 
 unscrewing. When Jane's turn came, the camp-stool 
 creaked beneath her weight. Agatha again remonstrated 
 with her, but immediately reproached herself with flippancy 
 before Smilash, to whom she wished to convey an impres- 
 sion of deep seriousness of character. 
 
 ** Smallest foot of the lot," he said critically, holding 
 Jane's boot between his finger and thumb as if it were an 
 art treasure which he had been invited to examine. '* And 
 belonging to the finest built lady." 
 
 Jane snatched away her foot ; blushed ; and said, 
 " Indeed ! What next, I wonder } " 
 
 ''T'other un next," he said, setting to work on the 
 remaining skate. When it was off, he looked up at her ; 
 and she darted a glance at him as she rose which showed 
 that his compliment (her feet were in fact small and pretty) 
 was appreciated. 
 
 ** Allow me, Miss," he said to Gertrude, who was 
 standing on one leg, leaning on Agatha, and taking off 
 her own skates. 
 
 ** No, thank you," she said coldly. " I dont need your 
 assistance." 
 
 " I am well aware that the offer was overbold," he 
 replied, with a self-complacency that made his profes- 
 sion or humility exasperating. " If all the skates is off, I 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 99 
 
 will, by Miss Wilson's order, carry them and the camp- 
 stool back to the college." 
 
 Miss Ward handed him her skates and turned away. 
 Gertrude placed hers on the stool and went with Miss Ward. 
 The rest followed, leaving him to stare at the heap of skates, 
 and consider how he should carry them. He could think 
 of no better plan than to interlace the straps, and hang 
 them in a chain over his shoulder. By the time he had 
 done this, the young ladies were out of sight ; and his 
 intention of enjoying their society during the return to the 
 college was defeated. They had entered the building long 
 before he came in sight of it. 
 
 Somewhat out of conceit with his folly, he went to the 
 servants' entrance, and rang the bell there. When the 
 door was opened, he saw Miss Ward standing behind the 
 maid who admitted him. 
 
 " Oh," she said, looking at the string of skates as if she 
 had hardly expected to see them again. *' So you have 
 brought our things back." 
 
 ** Such were my instructions," he said, taken aback by 
 her manner. 
 
 ** You had no instructions. What do you mean by getting 
 our skates into your charge under false pretences ? I was 
 about to send the police to take them from you. How dare 
 you tell me that you were sent to wait on me, when you 
 know very well that you were nothing of the sort } " 
 
 " I couldnt help it. Miss," he replied submissively. " I 
 am a natural born liar — always was. I know that it must 
 appear dreadful to you that never told a lie, and dont hardly 
 know what a lie is, belonging as you do to a class where 
 none is ever told. But common people like me tells lies 
 just as a duck swims. I ask your pardon. Miss, most 
 humble ; and I hope the young ladies '11 be able to tell one 
 set of skates from t'other ; for I'm blest if I can." 
 
 " Put them down. Miss Wilson wishes to speak to you 
 before you go. Susan : show him the way." 
 
 ** Hope you aint been and got a poor cove into trouble, 
 Miss." 
 
 ** Miss Wilson knows how you have behaved." 
 
100 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 He smiled at her benevolently, and followed Susan up- 
 stairs. On their way they met Jane, who stole a glance at 
 him, and was about to pass by, when he said, 
 
 *' Wont you say a word to Miss Wilson for a poor 
 common fellow, honoured young lady ? I have got into 
 dreadful trouble for having made bold to assist you this 
 morning." 
 
 " You neednt give yourself the pains to talk like that," 
 replied Jane, in an impetuous whisper. " We all know that 
 you are only pretending." 
 
 ** Well : you can guess my motive," he whispered, looking 
 tenderly at her. 
 
 "■ Such stuff and nonsense ! I never heard of such a 
 thing in my life," said Jane, and ran away, plainly under- 
 standing that he had disguised himself in order to obtain 
 admission to the college, and enjoy the happiness of looking 
 at her. 
 
 *' Cursed fool that I am ! " he said to himself: " I cannot 
 act like a rational creature for five consecutive minutes." 
 
 The servant led him to the study, and announced, " The 
 man, if you please, maam." 
 
 " Jeff Smilash," he added, in explanation. 
 
 " Come in," said Miss Wilson sternly. 
 
 He went in, and met the determined frown which she 
 cast on him from her seat behind the writing table, by 
 saying courteously, 
 
 " Good-morning, Miss Wilson." 
 
 She bent forward involuntarily, as if to receive a gentle- 
 man. Then she checked herself and looked implacable. 
 
 ** I have to apologize," he said, " for making use of your 
 name unwarrantably this morning — telling a lie, in fact. I 
 happened to be skating when the young ladies came down ; 
 and as they needed some assistance which they would 
 hardly have accepted from a common man — excuse my 
 borrowing that tiresome expression from our acquaintance 
 Smilash — I set their minds at ease by saying that you had 
 sent for me. Otherwise, as you have given me a bad 
 character — though not worse than I deserve — they would 
 probably have refused to employ me ; or at least I should 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. loi 
 
 have been compelled to accept payment, which I of course 
 do not need." 
 
 Miss Wilson affected surprise. **I do not understand 
 you," she said. 
 
 "Not altogether," he said, smiling. ** But you understand 
 that I am what is called a gentleman." 
 
 ** No. The gentlemen with whom I am conversant do 
 not dress as you dress, nor speak as you speak, nor act as 
 you act." 
 
 He looked at her ; and her countenance confirmed the 
 hostility of her tone. He instantly relapsed into an aggra- 
 vated phase of Smilash. 
 
 ** I will no longer attempt to set myself up as a gentle- 
 man," he sajd. ** I am a common man ; and your ladyship's 
 hi recognizes me as such and is not to be deceived. But 
 dont go for to say that I am not candid when I am as 
 candid as ever you will let me be. What fault, if any, do 
 you find with my putting the skates on the young ladies, 
 and carryin' the camp-stool for them .? " 
 
 "If you are a gentleman," said Miss Wilson, reddening, 
 " your conduct in persisting in these antics in my presence 
 is insulting to me. Extremely so ! " 
 
 " Miss Wilson," he replied, unruffled : " if you insist on 
 Smilash, you shall have Smilash : I take an insane pleasure 
 in personating him. If you want Sidney — my real Christian 
 name — you can command him. But allow me to say that 
 you must have either one or the other. If you become 
 frank with me, I will understand that you are addressing 
 Sidney. If distant and severe, Smilash." 
 
 *' No matter what your name may be," said Miss Wilson, 
 much annoyed, ** I forbid you to come here or to hold any 
 communication whatever with the young ladies in my 
 charge." 
 
 -Why?" 
 
 " Because I choose." 
 
 *' There is much force in that reason. Miss Wilson ; but 
 it is not moral force in the sense conveyed by your college 
 prospectus, which I have read with great interest." 
 
 Miss Wilson, since her quarrel with Agatha, had been 
 
102 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 sore on the subject of moral force. " No one is admitted 
 here," she said, '* without a trustworthy introduction or 
 recommendation. A disguise is not a satisfactory substitute 
 for either." 
 
 " Disguises are generally assumed for the purpose of 
 concealing crime," he remarked sententiously. 
 
 " Precisely so," she said, emphatically. 
 
 "Therefore, I bear, to say the least, a doubtful character. 
 Nevertheless, I have formed with some of the students here 
 a slight acquaintance, of which, it seems, you disapprove. 
 You have given me no good reason why I should discon- 
 tinue that acquaintance ; and you cannot control me except 
 by your wish : a sort of influence not usually effective with 
 doubtful characters. Suppose I disregard your wish ; and 
 that one or two of your pupils come to you and say, ' Miss 
 Wilson : in our opinion Smilash is an excellent fellow: we 
 find his conversation most improving. As it is your prin- 
 ciple to allow us to exercise our own judgment, we intend 
 to cultivate the acquaintance of Smilash.' How will you 
 act in that case ? " 
 
 ** Send them home to their parents at once." 
 
 *' I see that your principles are those of the Church of 
 England. You allow the students the right of private 
 judgment on condition that they arrive at the same con- 
 clusions as you. Excuse my saying that the principles of 
 the Church of England, however excellent, are not those 
 your prospectus led me to hope for. Your plan is coercion, 
 stark and simple." 
 
 " I do not admit it," said Miss Wilson, ready to argue, 
 even with Smilash, in defence of her system. '* The girls 
 are quite at liberty to act as they please ; but I reserve 
 my equal liberty to exclude them from my college if I do 
 not approve of their behaviour." 
 
 '* Just so. In most schools children are perfectly at 
 liberty to learn their lessons or not, just as they please ; 
 but the principal reserves an equal liberty to whip them 
 if they cannot repeat their tasks." 
 
 *' I do not whip my pupils," said Miss Wilson indig- 
 nantly. *' The comparison is an outrage." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 103 
 
 " But you expel them ; and, as they are devoted to 
 you and to the place, expulsion is a dreaded punishment. 
 Yours is the old system of making laws and enforcing 
 them by penalties ; and the superiority of Alton College 
 to other colleges is due, not to any difference of system, 
 but to the comparative reasonableness of its laws, and the 
 mildness and judgment with which they are enforced." 
 
 ** My system is radically different from the old one. 
 However, I will not discuss the matter with you. A mind 
 occupied with the prejudices of the old coercive despotism 
 can naturally only see in the new a modification of the 
 old, instead of, as my system is, an entire reversal or 
 abandonment of it." 
 
 He shook his head sadly, and said, "You seek to 
 impose your ideas on others, ostracising those who reject 
 them. Believe me, mankind has been doing nothing else 
 ever since it began to pay some attention to ideas. It has 
 been said that a benevolent despotism is the best possible 
 form of Government. I do not believe that saying, 
 because I believe another one to the effect that hell is 
 paved with benevolence, which most people, the proverb 
 being too deep for them, misinterpret as unfulfilled inten- 
 tions. As if a benevolent despot might not by an error 
 of judgment destroy his kingdom, and then say, like 
 Romeo when he got his friend killed, * I thought all for 
 the best ! ' Excuse my rambling : I meant to say, in 
 short, that though you are benevolent and judicious, you 
 are none the less a despot." 
 
 Miss Wilson, at a loss for a reply, regretted that she 
 had not, before letting him gain so far on her, dismissed 
 him summarily instead of tolerating a discussion which she 
 did not now know how to end with dignity. He relieved 
 her by adding unexpectedly, 
 
 *' Your system was the cause of my absurd marriage. 
 My wife acquired a degree of culture and reasonableness 
 from her training here which made her seem a superior 
 being among the chatterers who form the female season- 
 ing in ordinary society. I admired her dark eyes, and 
 was only too glad to seize the excuse her education offered 
 
ro4 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 me for believing her a match for me in mind as well as 
 in body/' 
 
 Miss Wilson, astonished, determined to tell him coldly 
 that her time was valuable. But curiosity took possession 
 of her in the act of utterance ; and the words that came 
 were, ** Who was she ? " 
 
 " Henrietta Jansenius. She is Henrietta Trefusis ; and 
 I am Sidney Trefusis, at your mercy. I see I have roused 
 your compassion at last." 
 
 "Nonsense!" said Miss Wilson hastily ; for her surprise 
 was indeed tinged by a feeling that he was thrown away 
 on Henrietta. 
 
 " I ran away from her and adopted this retreat and 
 this disguise in order to avoid her. The usual rebuke to 
 human forethought followed. 1 ran straight into her 
 arms — or rather she ran into mine. You remember the 
 scene, and were probably puzzled by it." 
 
 " You seem to think your marriage contract a very light 
 matter, Mr. Trefusis. May I ask whose fault was the 
 separation } Hers, of course." 
 
 "■ I have nothing to reproach her with. I expected to 
 find her temper hasty ; but it was not so : her behaviour 
 was unexceptionable. So was mine. Our bliss was per- 
 fect ; but unfortunately I was not made for domestic bliss : 
 at all events, I could not endure it ; so I fled ; and when 
 she caught me again I could give no excuse for my flight, 
 though I made it clear to her that I would not resume our 
 connubial relations just yet. We parted on bad terms. I 
 fully intended to write her a sweet letter to make her 
 forgive me in spite of herself; but somehow the weeks 
 have slipt away and I am still fully intending. She has 
 never written ; and I have never written. This is a pretty 
 state of things, isnt it, Miss Wilson, after all her advan- 
 tages under the influence of moral force and the move- 
 ment for the higher education of women } " 
 
 " By your own admission, the fault seems to lie upon 
 your moral training, and not upon hers." 
 
 "The fault was in the conditions of our association. 
 Why they should have attracted me so strongly at first. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 105 
 
 and repelled me so horribly afterwards, is one of those 
 devil's riddles which will not be answered until we shall 
 have traced all the yet unsuspected reactions of our 
 inveterate dishonesty. But I am wasting your time, I 
 fear. You sent for Smilash ; and I have responded by 
 practically annihilating him. In public, however, you 
 must still bear with his antics. One moment more. I 
 had forgotten to ask you whether you are interested in 
 the shepherd whose wife you sheltered on the night of the 
 storm } " 
 
 " He assured me, before he took his wife away, that he 
 was comfortably settled in a lodging in Lyvern." 
 
 *' Yes. Very comfortably settled indeed. For half-a- 
 crown a week he obtained permission to share a spacious 
 drawing-room with two other families in a ten-roomed 
 house in not much better repair than his blown-down 
 hovel. This house yields to its landlord over two hundred 
 a year, or rather more than the rent of a commodious 
 mansion in South Kensington. It is a troublesome rent to 
 collect; but on the other hand there is no expenditure 
 for repairs or sanitation, which are not considered neces- 
 sary in tenement houses. Our friend has to walk three 
 miles to his work, and three miles back. Exercise is a 
 capital thing for a student or a city clerk ; but to a shep- 
 herd who has been in the fields all day, a long walk at 
 the end of his work is somewhat too much of a good 
 thing. He begged for an increase of wages to compensate 
 him for the loss of the hut ; but Sir John pointed out to 
 him that if he was not satisfied, his place could be easily 
 filled by less exorbitant shepherds. Sir John even con- 
 descended to explain that the laws of political economy 
 bind employers to buy labour in the cheapest market ; and 
 our poor friend, just as ignorant of economics as Sir John, 
 of course did not know that this was untrue. However, 
 as labour is actually so purchased everywhere except in 
 Downing Street and a few other privileged spots, I 
 suggested that our friend should go to some place where 
 his market price would be higher than in merry England. 
 He was willing enough to do so, but unable from want 
 
lo6 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 of means. So I lent him a trifle ; and now he is on his 
 way to Australia. Workmen are the geese that lay the 
 golden eggs; but they fly away sometimes. I hear a 
 gong sounding, to remind me of the flight of time and 
 the value of your share of it. Good-morning." 
 
 Miss Wilson was suddenly moved not to let him go 
 without an appeal to his better nature. " Mr. Trefusis," 
 she said : ** excuse me ; but are you not, in your generosity 
 to others, a little forgetful of your duty to yourself; 
 and "' 
 
 ** The first and hardest of all duties ! " he exclaimed. 
 " — I beg your pardon for interrupting you. It was only 
 to plead guilty." 
 
 ** I cannot admit that it is the first of all duties ; but it 
 is sometimes perhaps the hardest, as you say. Still, you 
 could surely do yourself more justice without any great 
 eff"ort. If you wish to live humbly, you can do so without 
 pretending to be an uneducated man, and without taking 
 an irritating and absurd name. Why on earth do you call 
 yourself Smilash } " 
 
 " I confess that the name has been a failure. I took 
 great pains, in constructing it, to secure a pleasant impres- 
 sion. It is not a mere invention, but a compound of the 
 words smile and eyelash. A smile suggests good humour: 
 eyelashes soften the expression and are the only features 
 that never blemish a face. Hence Smilash is a sound 
 that should cheer and propitiate. Yet it exasperates. It 
 is really very odd that it should have that eff'ect, unless it 
 is that it raises expectations which I am unable to satisfy." 
 
 Miss Wilson looked at him doubtfully. He remained 
 perfectly grave. There was a pause. Then, as if she 
 had made up her mind to be off"ended, she said, " Good- 
 morning," shortly. 
 
 " Good-morning, Miss Wilson. The son of a millionaire, 
 like the son of a king, is seldom free from mental disease. 
 I am just mad enough to be a mountebank. If I were 
 a little madder, I should perhaps really believe myself 
 Smilash instead of merely acting him. Whether you ask 
 me to forget myself for a moment, or to remember myself 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 107 
 
 for a moment, I reply that I am the son of my father, and 
 cannot. With my egotism, my charlatanry, my tongue, 
 and my habit of having my own way, I am fit for no calling 
 but that of saviour of mankind — ^just of the sort they 
 like." After an impressive pause, he turned slowly and 
 left the room. 
 
 *• I wonder," he said, as he crossed the landing, 
 "whether, by judiciously losing my way, I can catch a 
 glimpse of that girl who is like a golden idol." 
 
 Downstairs, on his way to the door, he saw Agatha 
 coming towards him, occupied with a book which she 
 was tossing up to the ceiling and catching. Her melan- 
 choly expression, habitual in her lonely moments, shewed 
 that she was not amusing herself, but giving vent to her 
 restlessness. As her gaze travelled upward, following the 
 flight of the volume, it was arrested by Smilash. The 
 book fell to the floor. He picked it up and handed it to 
 her, saying, 
 
 ** And, in good time, here is the golden idol ! " 
 
 " What } " said Agatha, confused. 
 
 ** I call you the golden idol," he said. "When we are 
 apart, I always imagine your face as a face of gold, with 
 eyes and teeth of bdellium, or chalcedony, or agate, or 
 any wonderful unknown stones of appropriate colours." 
 
 Agatha, witless and dumb, could only look down de- 
 precatingly. 
 
 ** You think you ought to be angry with me ; and you 
 do not know exactly how to make me feel that you are so. 
 Is that it.?" 
 
 " No. Quite the contrary. At least — I mean that you 
 are wrong. I am the most commonplace person you can 
 imagine — if you only knew. No matter what I may look, 
 I mean." 
 
 *' How do you know that you are commonplace } " 
 
 *' Of course I know," said Agatha, her eyes wandering 
 uneasily. 
 
 " Of course you do not know : you cannot see yourself 
 as others see you. For instance, you have never thought 
 of yourself as a golden idol." 
 
io8 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 "But that is absurd. You are quite mistaken about 
 me." 
 
 ** Perhaps so. I know, however, that your face is not 
 really made of gold, and that it has not the same charm 
 for you that it has for others — for me." 
 
 " I must go," said Agatha, suddenly in haste. 
 
 " When shall we meet again ? " 
 
 " I dont know," she said,- with a growing sense of alarm. 
 " I really must go." 
 
 " Believe me, your hurry is only imaginary. Do you 
 fancy that you are behaving in a manner quite unworthy 
 of yourself, and that a net is closing round you ? " 
 
 " No. Nothing of the sort ! " 
 
 *' Then why are you so anxious to get away ? " 
 
 " I dont know," said Agatha, affecting to laugh as he 
 looked sceptically at her from beneath his lowered eyelids. 
 *' Perhaps I do feel a little like that ; but not so much as 
 you say." 
 
 "I will explain the emotion to you," he said, with a 
 subdued ardour that affected Agatha strangely. " But 
 first tell me whether it is new to you or not." 
 
 " It is not an emotion at all. I did not say that it was." 
 
 " Do not be afraid of it. It is only being alone with 
 a man whom you have bewitched. You would be mistress 
 of the situation if you only knew how to manage a lover. 
 It is far easier than managing a horse, or skating, or 
 playing the piano, or half a dozen other feats of which 
 you think nothing." 
 
 Agatha coloured, and raised her head. 
 
 " Forgive me," he said, interrupting the action. " I 
 am trying to offend you in order to save myself from 
 falling in love with you ; and I have not the heart to let 
 myself succeed. On your life, do not listen to me or 
 believe me : I have no right to say these things to you. 
 Some fiend enters into me when I am at your side. You 
 should wear a veil, Agatha." 
 
 She blushed, and stood burning and tingling, her 
 presence of mind gone, and her chief sensation one of 
 relief to hear — for she did not dare to see — that he was 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 109 
 
 departing. Her consciousness was in a delicious con- 
 fusion, with the one definite thought in it that she had 
 won her lover at last. The tone of Trefusis's voice, rich 
 with truth and earnestness ; his quick insight ; and his 
 passionate warning to her not to heed him, convinced 
 her that she had entered into a relation destined to 
 influence her whole life. 
 
 "And yet," she said remorsefully, ** I cannot love him 
 as he loves me. I am selfish, cold, calculating, worldly, 
 and have doubted until now whether such a thing as love 
 really existed. If I could only love him recklessly and 
 wholly, as he loves me ! " 
 
 Smilash was also soliloquizing as he went on his way. 
 
 *' Now I have made the poor child — who was so anxious 
 that I should not mistake her for a supernaturally gifted 
 and lovely woman — as happy as an angel ; and so is that 
 fine girl whom they call Jane Carpenter. I hope they 
 wont exchange confidences on the subject." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Mrs. Trefusis found her parents so unsympathetic on 
 the subject of her marriage, that she left their house 
 shortly after her visit to Lyvern, and went to reside with 
 a hospitable friend. Unable to remain silent upon the. 
 matter constantly in her thoughts, she discussed her 
 husband's flight with this friend, and elicited an opinion 
 that the behaviour of Trefusis was scandalous and wicked. 
 Henrietta could not bear this, and sought shelter with a 
 relative. The same discussion arising, the relative said, 
 
 *' Well, Hetty, if I am to speak candidly, I must say 
 that I have known Sidney Trefusis for a long time ; and 
 he is the easiest person to get on with I ever met. And 
 you know, dear, that you are very trying sometimes." 
 
 "And so," cried Henrietta, bursting into tears, "after 
 the infamous way he has treated me, I am to be told that 
 it is all my own fault." 
 
no AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ^ She left the house next day, having obtained another 
 invitation from a discreet lady who would not discuss 
 the subject at all. This proved quite intolerable ; and 
 Henrietta went to stay with her uncle Daniel Jansenius, 
 a jolly and indulgent man. He opined that things would 
 come right as soon as both parties grew more sensible ; 
 and, as to which of them was in fault, his verdict was, 
 six of one and half a dozen of the other. Whenever he 
 saw his niece pensive or tearful, he laughed at her, and 
 called her a grass widow. Henrietta found that she could 
 endure anything rather than this. Declaring that the 
 world was hateful to her, she hired a furnished villa in 
 St. John's Wood, whither she moved in December. But, 
 suffering much there from loneliness, she soon wrote a 
 pathetic letter to Agatha, entreating her to spend the 
 approaching Christmas vacation with her, and promis- 
 ing her every luxury and amusement that boundless 
 affection could suggest and boundless means procure. 
 Agatha's reply contained some unlooked-for information. 
 
 Alton College. Lyvern. 
 14//^ December. 
 
 Dearest Hetty : / dont think I can do exactly what you want, as 
 I must spend Xmas zoith mamma at Chiswick ; but I need not get there 
 until Xmas Eve, and 7ve break up here on yesterday tveek, the 2.0th. So 
 I will go straight to you and bring you with me to mamma's, where 
 you will spend Xmas much better than moping in a strange house. It 
 is not quite settled yet about my leaving the college after this term. You 
 must promise not to tell anyone ; but I have a new friend here — a lover. 
 Not that I am in love with hiffi, though I think very highly of him — 
 you know I am not a romantic fool — ; but he is very much in love with 
 me ; and I wish I could return it as he deserves. The French say that 
 one person turns the cheek and the other kisses it. It has not got qtiite 
 so far as that with us : indeed, since he declared what he felt, he has 
 only been able to snatch a few words with me when 1 have been skati?ig 
 or walking. But there has always been at least one word or look that 
 meant a great deal. 
 
 And now, who do you think he is ? He says he knows you. Can 
 you guess ? He says you know all his secrets. He says he knows your 
 husband well ; that he treated yoti very badly ; and that you are greatly 
 to be pitied. Can you guess now ? He says he has kissed you— for 
 shame, Hetty ! Have you guessed yet ? He was going to tell me some 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. in 
 
 thinf^ more when we were interrupted ; and I have not seen him since 
 except at a distance. He is the man with whom you eloped that day 
 when you gave us all such a fright, — Mr. Sidney. I was the first to 
 penetrate his disguise ; and that very morning I had taxed him with 
 it, and he had confessed it. He said then that he was hiding ^ from a 
 woman who was in love with him ; and I should not be surprised if it 
 turned out to be true ; for he is wonderfully original — in fact what 
 makes me like him is that he is by far the cleverest man I have ever 
 7net ; and yet he thinks nothing of himself I cannot imagine what he 
 sees in me to care for. though he is evidently ensnared by my charms. 
 I hope he wont find out how silly I am. He calls me his golden idol 
 
 Henrietta, with a scream of rage, tore the letter across, 
 and stamped upon it. When the paroxysm subsided, she 
 picked up the pieces; held them together as accurately 
 as her trembling hands could ; and read on. 
 
 — but he is not all honey, and will say the most severe things some- 
 times if he thinks he ought to. He has made me so ashamed of my 
 ignorance that I am resolved to stay here for another term at least, and 
 study as hard as I can. I have not begun yet, as it is not worth while 
 at the eleventh hour of this term ; but when I return in January I will 
 set to work in earnest. So you may see that his infizunce over me is an 
 entirely good one. I will tell you all about him when we meet ; for I 
 have no time to say anything now, as the girls are bothering me to go 
 skating with them. lie pretends to be a xvorkman, and puts on our 
 skates for us ; and Jane Carpenter believes that he is in love with her. 
 Jane is exceedingly kindhearted ; but she has a talent for making herself 
 ridiculous that nothing can suppress. The ice is lovely, and the weather 
 jolly : we do not mind the cold in the least. They are threatening to 
 go without me — good-bye ! 
 
 Ever your affectionate 
 
 Agatha. 
 
 Henrietta looked round for something sharp. She 
 grasped a pair of scissors greedily, and stabbed the air 
 with them. Then she became conscious of her murderous 
 impulse, and shuddered at it ; but in a moment more her 
 jealousy swept back upon her. She cried, as if suifocating, 
 ** I dont care : I should like to kill her ! " But she did 
 not take up the scissors again. 
 
 At last she rang the bell violently, and asked for a rail- 
 way guide. On being told that there was not one in the 
 house, she scolded her maid so unreasonably that the girl 
 
112 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 said pertly that if she were to be spoken to like that, she 
 should wish to leave when her month was up. This check 
 brought Henrietta to her senses. She went upstairs, and 
 put on the first cloak at hand, which was fortunately a 
 heavy fur one. Then she took her bonnet and purse ; left 
 the house ; hailed a passing hansom ; and bade the cab- 
 man drive her to St. Pancras. 
 
 When the night came, the air at Lyvern was like iron 
 in the intense cold. The trees and the wind seemed ice- 
 bound, as the water was; and silence, stillness, and starlight, 
 frozen hard, brooded over the country. At the chalet, 
 Smilash, indiflferent to the price of coals, kept up a roaring 
 fire that glowed through the uncurtained windows, and 
 tantalized the chilled wayfarer who did not happen to 
 know, as the herdsmen of the neighbourhood did, that he 
 was welcome to enter and warm himself without risk of 
 rebuff" from the tenant. Smilash was in high spirits. He 
 had become a proficient skater; and frosty weather was 
 now a luxury to him. It braced him, and drove away his 
 gloomy fits ; whilst his sympathies were kept awake, and 
 his indignation maintained at an exhilarating pitch, by 
 the suff"erings of the poor, who, unable to aff"ord fires or 
 skating, warmed themselves in such sweltering heat as 
 overcrowding produces in all seasons. 
 
 It was Smilash' s custom to make a hot drink of oatmeal 
 and water for himself at half-past nine o'clock each 
 evening, and to go to bed at ten. He opened the door 
 to throw out some water that remained in the saucepan 
 from its last cleansing. It froze as it fell upon the soil. 
 He looked at the night, and shook himself to throw off" an 
 oppressive sensation of being clasped in the icy ribs of the 
 air ; for the mercury had descended below the familiar 
 region of crisp and crackly cold, and marked a temperature 
 at which the numb atmosphere seemed on the point of 
 congealing into black solidity. Nothing was stirring. 
 
 " By George ! " he said : " this is one of those nights on 
 which a rich man darent think ! " 
 
 He shut the door ; hastened back to his fire ; and set to 
 work at his caudle, which he watched and stirred with a 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 113 
 
 solicitude that would have amused a professed cook. 
 When it was done, he poured it into a large mug, where 
 it steamed invitingly. He took up some in a spoon, and 
 blew upon it to cool it. Tap, tap, tap, tap! hurriedly 
 at the door. 
 
 "Nice night for a walk," he said, putting down the 
 spoon. Then, shouting, '* Come in." 
 
 The latch rose unsteadily ; and Henrietta, with frozen 
 tears on her cheeks, and an unintelligible expression of 
 wretchedness and rage, appeared. After an instant of 
 amazement, he sprang to her and clasped her in his arms ; 
 and she, against her will, and protesting voicelessly, 
 stumbled into his embrace. 
 
 *' You are frozen to death," he exclaimed, carrying her 
 to the fire. *' This seal jacket is like a sheet of ice. So 
 is your face" (kissing it). "What is the matter.? Why 
 do you struggle so } " 
 
 " Let me go," she gasped, in a vehement whisper. " I 
 h — hate you." 
 
 *' My poor love, you are too cold to hate anyone — even 
 your husband. You must let me take oif these atrocious 
 French boots. Your feet must be perfectly dead." 
 
 By this time her voice and tears were thawing in the 
 warmth of the chalet and of his caresses.. " You shall not 
 take them oif," she said, crying with cold and sorrow. 
 ** Let me alone. Dont touch me. I am going away — 
 straight back. I will not speak to you, nor take off my' 
 things here, nor touch anything in the house." 
 
 " No, my darling," he said, putting her into a capacious 
 wooden armchair, and busily unbuttoning her boots : "you 
 shall do nothing that you dont wish to do. Your feet are 
 like stones. Yes, yes, my dear : I am a wretch unworthy 
 to live. I know it." 
 
 " Let me alone," she said piteously. " I dont want your 
 attentions. I have done with you for ever." 
 
 " Come : you must drink some of this nasty stuff. You 
 will need strength to tell your husband all the un- 
 pleasant things your soul is charged with. Take just a 
 little." 
 
 8 
 
114 A^ UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 She turned her face away, and would not answer. He 
 brought another chair, and sat down beside her. " My 
 lost, forlorn, betrayed one " 
 
 " I am," she sobbed. ** You dont mean it; but I am." 
 
 *' You are also my dearest and best of wives. If you 
 ever loved me, Hetty, do, for my once dear sake, drink 
 this before it gets cold." 
 
 She pouted ; sobbed ; and yielded to some gentle force 
 which he used, as a child allows itself to be half persuaded, 
 half compelled, to take physic. 
 
 ** Do you feel better and more comfortable now } " he 
 said. 
 
 " No," she replied, angry with herself for feeling 
 both. 
 
 *' Then," he said cheerfully, as if she had uttered a 
 hearty affirmative, " I will put some more coals on the fire ; 
 and we shall be as snug as possible. It makes me wildly 
 happy to see you at my fireside, and to know that you are 
 my own wife." 
 
 " I wonder how you can look me in the face and say 
 so," she cried. 
 
 " I should wonder at myself if I could look at your face 
 and say anything else. Oatmeal is a capital restorative : 
 all your energy is coming back. There : that will make 
 a magnificent blaze presently." 
 
 *' I never thought you deceitful, Sidney, whatever other 
 faults you might have had." 
 
 " Precisely, my love. I understand your feelings. 
 Murder, burglary, intemperance, or the minor vices you 
 could have borne ; but deceit you cannot abide." 
 
 ** I will go away," she said despairingly, with a fresh 
 burst of tears. *' I will not be laughed at and betrayed. 
 I will go barefooted." She rose, and attempted to reach 
 the door ; but he intercepted her, and said, 
 
 **My love: there is something serious the matter. What 
 is it ? Dont be angry with me." 
 
 He brought her back to the chair. She took Agatha's 
 letter from the pocket of her fur cloak, and handed it to 
 him with a faint attempt to be tragic.^ 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 115 
 
 ** Read that," she said. "And never speak to me again. 
 All is over between us." 
 
 He took it curiously, and turned it to look at the 
 signature. " Aha ! " he said : " my golden idol has been 
 making mischief, has she ? " 
 
 ** There ! " exclaimed Henrietta. "You have said it to 
 my face ! You have convicted yourself out of your own 
 mouth ! " 
 
 ** Wait a moment, my dear. I have not read the letter 
 yet." 
 
 He rose and walked to and fro through the room, read- 
 ing. She watched him, angrily confident that she should 
 presently see him change countenance. Suddenly he 
 drooped as if his spine had partly given way ; and in 
 this ungraceful attitude he read the remainder of the 
 letter. When he had finished, he threw it on the table ; 
 thrust his hands deep into his pockets ; and roared 
 with laughter, huddling himself together as if he could 
 concentrate the joke by collecting himself into the smallest 
 possible compass. Henrietta, speechless with indignation, 
 could only look her feelings. At last he came and sat 
 down beside her. 
 
 "And so," he said, "on receiving this, you rushed out 
 in the cold, and came all the way to Lyvern. Now, it 
 seems to me that you must either love me very much " 
 
 " I dont. I hate you." 
 
 " or else love yourself very much." 
 
 " Oh ! " And she wept afresh. " You are a selfish 
 brute ; and you do just as you like without considering 
 anyone else. No one ever thinks of me. And now you 
 wont even take the trouble to deny that shameful letter." 
 
 " Why should I deny it } It is true. Do you not see 
 the irony of all this ? I amuse myself by paying a few 
 compliments to a schoolgirl for whom I do not care two 
 straws more than for any agreeable and passably clever 
 woman I meet. Nevertheless, I occasionally feel a pang 
 of remorse because I think that she may love me seriously, 
 although I am only playing with her. I pity the poor 
 heart I have wantonly ensnared. And, all the time, she 
 
ii6 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 is pitying me for exactly the same reason ! She is con- 
 science-stricken because she is only indulging in the 
 luxury of being adored by * by far the cleverest man she 
 has ever met/ and is as heart-whole as I am ! Ha, ha ! 
 That is the basis of the religion of love of which poets are 
 the high-priests. Each worshipper knows that his own 
 love is either a transient passion or a sham copied from 
 his favourite poem ; but he believes honestly in the love 
 of others for him. Ho, ho ! Is it not a silly world, my 
 dear ? " 
 
 ** You had no right to make love to Agatha. You have 
 no right to make love to anyone but me ; and I wont bear 
 it." 
 
 "You are angry because Agatha has infringed your 
 monopoly. Always monopoly ! Why, you silly girl, do 
 you suppose that I belong to you, body and soul }■ — that I 
 may not be moved except by your affection, or think 
 except of your beauty ? " 
 
 '* You may call me as many names as you please ; but 
 you have no right to make love to Agatha." 
 
 " My dearest : 1 do not recollect calling you any names. 
 I think. you said something about a selfish brute." 
 
 ** I did not. You called me a silly girl." 
 
 ** But, my love, so you are." 
 
 "And 's.oyou are. You are thoroughly selfish." 
 
 " I dont deny it. But let us return to our subject. 
 What did we begin to quarrel about ? " 
 
 *' I am not quarrelling, Sidney. It is you." 
 
 "Well, what did I begin to quarrel about .?" 
 
 " About Agatha Wylie." 
 
 " Oh pardon me, Hetty : I certainly did not begin to 
 quarrel about her. I am very fond of her — more so, it 
 appears, than she is of me. — One moment, Hetty, before 
 you recommence your reproaches. Why do you dislike 
 my saying pretty things to Agatha } " 
 
 Henrietta hesitated, and said, " Because you have no 
 right to. It shows how little you care for me." 
 
 " It has nothing to do with you. It only shows how 
 much I care for her." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 117 
 
 *' I will not stay here to be insulted," said Hetty, her 
 distress returning. ** I will go home." 
 
 " Not to-night : there is no train." 
 
 '* I will walk." 
 
 " It is too far." 
 
 " I dont care. I will not stay here, though I die of 
 cold by the roadside." 
 
 ** My cherished one : I have been annoying you pur- 
 posely because you show by your anger that you have not 
 ceased to care for me. I am in the wrong, as I usually 
 am ; and it is all my fault. Agatha knows nothing about 
 our marriage." 
 
 ** I do not blame you so much," said Henrietta, suffer- 
 ing him to place her head on his shoulder ; *' but I will 
 never speak to Agatha again. She has behaved shame- 
 fully to me ; and I will tell her so." 
 
 " No doubt she will opine that it is all your fault, 
 dearest ; and that I have behaved admirably. Between 
 you I shall stand exonerated. And now, since it is too 
 cold for walking ; since it is late ; since it is far to Lyvern 
 and farther to London, I must improvise some accommoda- 
 tion for you here." 
 
 '' But " 
 
 " But there is no help for it. You must stay." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Next day, Smilash obtained from his wife a promise that 
 she would behave towards Agatha as if the letter had 
 given no offence. Henrietta pleaded as movingly as she 
 could for an immediate return to their domestic state ; but 
 he put her off with endearing speeches ; promised nothing 
 but eternal affection ; and sent her back to London by the 
 twelve o'clock express. Then his countenance changed : 
 he walked back to Lyvern, and thence to the chalet, like a 
 
Il8 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 man pursued by disgust and remorse. Later in the after- 
 noon, to raise his spirits, he took his skates and went to 
 Wickens's pond, where, it being Saturday, he found the 
 ice crowded with the Alton students and their half-holiday 
 visitors. Fairholme, describing circles with his habitual 
 air of compressed hardihood, stopped and stared with 
 indignant surprise as Smilash lurched past him. 
 
 " Is that man here by your permission ? " he said to 
 Farmer Wickens, who was walking about as if superintend- 
 ing a harvest. 
 
 ** He is here because he likes, I take it," said Wickens 
 stubbornly. " He is a neighbour of mine, and a friend of 
 mine. Is there any objections to my having a friend on 
 my own pond, seein' that there is nigh on two or three 
 ton of other people's friends on it without as much as a 
 with-your-leave or a by-your-leave ? " 
 
 " Oh no," said Fairholme, somewhat dashed. " If you 
 are satisfied, there can be no objection." 
 
 ** I'm glad on it. I thought there mout be." 
 
 *' Let me tell you," said Fairholme, nettled, ** that your 
 landlord would not be pleased to see him here. He sent 
 one of Sir John's best shepherds out of the country, after 
 filling his head with ideas above his station. I heard 
 Sir John speak very warmly about it last Sunday." 
 
 " Mayhap you did, Muster Fairholme. I have a lease 
 of this land — and gravelly, poor stuff it is — ; and I am no 
 ways beholden to Sir John's likings and dislikings. A 
 very good thing too for Sir John that I have a lease ; for 
 there aint a man in the country 'ud tak' a present o' the 
 farm if it was free to-morrow. And what's a' more, though 
 that young man do talk foolish about the rights of farm 
 labourers and such-like nonsense ; if Sir John was to hear 
 him layin' it down concernin' rent and improvements, and 
 the way we tenant farmers is put upon, p'raps he'd speak 
 warmer than ever next Sunday." 
 
 And Wickens, with a smile expressive of his sense of 
 having retorted effectively upon the parson, nodded and 
 walked away. 
 
 Just then Agatha, skating hand in hand with Jane 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 119 
 
 Carpenter, heard these words in her ear. " I have some- 
 thing very funny to tell you. Dont look round." 
 
 She recognized the voice of Smilash, and obeyed. 
 
 " I am not quite sure that you will enjoy it as it deserves," 
 he added, and darted off again, after casting an eloquent 
 glance at Miss Carpenter. 
 
 Agatha disengaged herself from her companion ; made 
 a circuit ; and passed near Smilash, saying, " What is 
 it.?" 
 
 Smilash flitted away like a swallow; traced several 
 circles around Fairholme ; and then returned to Agatha 
 and proceeded side by side with her. 
 
 **I have read the letter you wrote to Hetty," he 
 said. 
 
 Agatha's face began to glow. She forgot to maintain 
 her balance, and almost fell. 
 
 ** Take care. And so you are not fond of me — in the 
 romantic sense } " 
 
 No answer. Agatha dumb, and afraid to lift her eye- 
 lids. 
 
 " That is fortunate," he continued ; ** because — good 
 evening. Miss Ward : I have done nothing but admire 
 your skating for the last hour — because men were 
 deceivers ever ; and I am no exception, as you will presently 
 admit." 
 
 Agatha murmured something ; but it was unintelligible 
 amid the din of skating. 
 
 *' You think not ? Well, perhaps you are right : I have 
 said nothing to you that is not in a measure true : you 
 have always had a peculiar charm for me. But I did not 
 mean you to tell Hetty. Can you guess why ? " 
 
 Agatha shook her head. 
 
 ** Because she is my wife." 
 
 Agatha's ankles became limp. With an effort she kept 
 upright until she reached Jane, to whom she clung for 
 support. 
 
 " Dont," screamed Jane. ** You'll upset me." 
 
 " I must sit down," said Agatha. " I am tired. Let 
 me lean on you until we get to the chairs." 
 
120 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** Bosh ! I can skate for an hour without sitting down," 
 said Jane. However, she helped Agatha to a chair, and 
 left her. Then Smilash, as if desiring a rest also, sat 
 down close by on the margin of the pond. 
 
 *' Well," he said, without troubling himself as to whether 
 their conversation attracted attention or not : " what do 
 you think of me now } '' 
 
 "■ Why did you not tell me before, Mr. Trefusis ? " 
 
 " That is the cream of the joke," he replied, poising his 
 heels on the ice so that his skates stood vertically at legs 
 length from him, and looking at them with a cynical air. 
 *' I thought you were in love with me, and that the truth 
 would be too severe a blow to you. Ha ! ha ! And, for 
 the same reason, you generously forbore to tell me that you 
 were no more in love with me than with the man in the 
 moon. Each played a farce, and palmed it off on the 
 other as a tragedy." 
 
 *' There are some things so unmanly, so unkind, and so 
 cruel," said Agatha, " that I cannot understand any gentle- 
 man saying them to a girl. Please do not speak to me 
 again. Miss Ward ! Come to me for a moment. I — I 
 am not well." 
 
 Miss Ward hurried to her side. Smilash, after staring 
 at her for a moment in astonishment, and in some concern, 
 skimmed away into the crowd. When he reached the 
 opposite bank, he took off his skates, and asked Jane, who 
 strayed intentionally in his direction, to tell Miss Wylie 
 that he was gone, and would skate no more there. 
 Without adding a word of explanation, he left her, and 
 made for his dwelling. As he went down into the hollow 
 where the road passed through the plantation on the 
 college side of the chalet, he descried a boy, in the 
 uniform of the post office, sliding along the frozen ditch. 
 A presentiment of evil tidings came upon him like a 
 darkening of the sky. He quickened his pace. 
 
 "Anything for me } " he said. 
 
 The boy, who knew him, fumbled in a letter case, 
 and produced a buff envelope. It contained a tele- 
 gram. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 From Jansenius, London. 
 
 To J- Smilash, Chamounix Villa, Lyvern. 
 
 Henrietta 
 
 dangerously 
 
 HI 
 
 after 
 
 Journey 
 
 wants 
 
 to 
 
 see 
 
 you 
 
 doctors 
 
 say 
 
 must 
 
 come 
 
 at 
 
 once 
 
 There was a pause. Then he folded the paper methodi- 
 cally, and put it in his pocket, as if quite done with it. 
 
 "And so," he said, "perhaps the tragedy is to follow 
 the farce, after all." 
 
 He looked at the boy, who retreated, not liking his 
 expression. 
 
 " Did you slide all the way from Lyvern ? " 
 
 " Only to come quicker," said the messenger, faltering. 
 ** I came as quick as I could." 
 
 " You carried news heavy enough to break the thickest 
 ice ever frozen. I have a mind to throw you over the top 
 of that tree instead of giving you this half-crown." 
 
 " You let me alone," whimpered the boy, retreating 
 another pace. 
 
 " Get back to Lyvern as fast as you can run or slide, and 
 tell Mr. Marsh to send me the fastest trap he has, to drive 
 me to the railway station. Here is your half-crown. Off 
 with you ; and if I do not find the trap ready when I want 
 it, woe betide you." 
 
 The boy came for the money mistrustfully, and ran off 
 with it as fast as he could. Smilash went into the chalet, 
 and never reappeared. Instead, Trefusis, a gentleman in 
 an ulster, carrying a rug, came out ; locked the door ; and 
 hurried along the road to Lyvern, where he was picked up 
 by the trap, and carried swiftly to the railway station, just 
 in time to catch the London train. 
 
 " Evening paper, sir ? " said a voice at the window, as 
 he settled himself in the corner of a first-class carriage. 
 
122 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " No, thank you." 
 
 " Footwarmer, sir?" said a porter, appearing in the 
 newsvendor's place. 
 
 *'Ah: that's a good idea. Yes: let me have a foot- 
 warmer." 
 
 The footwarmer was brought ; and Trefusis composed 
 himself comfortably for his journey. It seemed very short 
 to him : he could hardly believe, when the train arrived 
 in London, that he had been nearly three hours on the 
 way. 
 
 There was a sense of Christmas about the travellers and 
 the people who were at the terminus to meet them. The 
 porter who came to the carriage door reminded Trefusis 
 by his manner and voice that the season was one at 
 which it becomes a gentleman to be festive and liberal. 
 
 *' Wot luggage, sir ? Ensom or fourweoll, sir ? " 
 
 For a moment Trefusis felt a vagabond impulse to 
 resume the language of Smilash, and fable to the man of 
 hampers of turkey and plum-pudding in the van. But he 
 repressed it ; got into a hansomx ; and was driven to his 
 father-in-law's house in Belsize Avenue, studying in a 
 gloomily critical mood the anxiety that surged upon him 
 and made his heart beat like a boy's as he drew near his 
 destination. There were two carriages at the door when 
 he alighted. The reticent expression of the coachmen 
 sent a tremor through him. 
 
 The door opened before he rang. " If you please, sir," 
 said the maid in a low voice, ** will you step into the 
 library ; and the doctor will see you immediately." 
 
 On the first landing of the staircase, two gentlemen 
 were speaking to Mr. Jansenius, who hastily moved out of 
 sight, not before a glimpse of his air of grief and discom- 
 fiture had given Trefusis a strange twinge, succeeded by 
 a sensation of having been twenty years a widower. He 
 smiled unconcernedly as he followed the girl into the 
 library, and asked her how she did. She murmured some 
 reply, and hurried away, thinking that the poor young man 
 would alter his tone presently. 
 
 He was joined at once by a grey whiskered gentleman. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 123 
 
 scrupulously dressed and mannered. Trefusis introduced 
 himself; and the physician looked at him with some 
 interest. Then he said, 
 
 *' You have arrived too late, Mr. Trefusis. All is over, I 
 am sorry to say." 
 
 "Was the long railway journey she took in this cold 
 weather the cause of her death } " 
 
 Some bitter words that the physician had heard upstairs 
 made him aware that this was a delicate question. But he 
 said quietly, *' The proximate cause, doubtless. The proxi- 
 mate cause." 
 
 ** She received some unwelcome and quite unlooked-for 
 intelligence before she started. Had that anything to do 
 with her death, do you think } " 
 
 " It may have produced an unfavourable effect," said the 
 physician, growing restive, and taking up his gloves. " The 
 habit of referring such events to such causes is carried too 
 far, as a rule." 
 
 " No doubt. I am curious because the event is novel in 
 my experience. I suppose it is a commonplace in yours." 
 
 ** Pardon me. The loss of a lady so young and so 
 favourably circumstanced, is not a commonplace either in 
 my experience or in my opinion." The physician held up 
 his head as he spoke, in protest against any assumption that 
 his sympathies had been blunted by his profession. 
 
 '' Did she suffer .? " 
 
 " For some hours, yes. We were able to do a little to 
 alleviate her pain — poor thing ! " He almost forgot Tre- 
 fusis as he added the apostrophe. 
 
 '* Hours of pain ! Can you conceive any good purpose 
 that those hours may have served } " 
 
 The physician shook his head, leaving it doubtful whether 
 he meant to reply in the negative, or to deplore considera- 
 tions of that nature. He also made a movement to depart, 
 being uneasy in conversation with Trefusis, who would, he 
 felt sure, presently ask questions or make remarks with 
 which he could hardly deal without committing himself in 
 some direction. His conscience was not quite at rest. 
 Henrietta's pain had not, he thought, served any good pur- 
 
124 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 pose ; but he did not want to say so, lest he should acquire a 
 reputation for impiety and lose his practice. He believed 
 that the general practitioner who attended the family, and 
 had called him in when the case grew serious, had treated 
 Henrietta unskilfully ; but professional etiquette bound him 
 so strongly that, sooner than betray his colleague's ineffi- 
 ciency, he would have allowed him to decimate London. 
 
 " One word more," said Trefusis. " Did she know that 
 she was dying ? " 
 
 ** No. I considered it best that she should not be in- 
 formed of her danger. She passed away without any 
 apprehension." 
 
 *' Then one can think of it with equanimity. She dreaded 
 death, poor child 1 The wonder is that there was not 
 enough folly in the household to prevail against your good 
 sense." 
 
 The physician bowed, and took his leave, esteeming him- 
 self somewhat fortunate in escaping without being re- 
 proached for his humanity in having allowed Henrietta to 
 die unawares. 
 
 A moment later the general practitioner entered. Tre- 
 fusis, having accompanied the consulting physician to the 
 door, detected the family doctor in the act of pulling a long 
 face just outside it. Restraining a desire to seize him by 
 the throat, he seated himself on the edge of the table, and 
 said cheerfully, 
 
 " Well, doctor : how has the world used you since we 
 last met ? " 
 
 The doctor was taken aback ; but the solemn disposition 
 of his features did not relax as he almost intoned, " Has 
 Sir Francis told you the sad news, Mr. Trefusis ? " 
 
 " Yes. Frightful, isnt it } Lord bless me, we're here 
 to-day and gone to-morrow." 
 
 " True, very true ! " 
 
 *' Sir Francis has a high opinion of you." 
 
 The doctor looked a little foolish. "Everything was 
 done that could be done, Mr. Trefusis ; but Mrs. Jansenius 
 was very anxious that no stone should be left unturned. 
 She was good enough to say that her sole reason for 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 125 
 
 wishing me to call in Sir Francis was that you should have 
 no cause to complain." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " An excellent mother ! A sad event for her ! Ah 
 yes, yes ! Dear me ! A very sad event ! " 
 
 " Most disagreeable. Such a cold day too. Pleasanter 
 to be in heaven than here in such weather, possibly." 
 
 '' Ah ! " said the doctor, as if much sound comfort lay 
 in that. " I hope so : I hope so : I do not doubt it. Sir 
 Francis did not permit us to tell her ; and I, of course, 
 deferred to him. Perhaps it was for the best." 
 
 ** You would have told her, then, if Sir Francis had not 
 objected .? " 
 
 " Well, there are, you see, considerations which we 
 must not ignore in our profession. Death is a serious 
 thing, as I am sure I need not remind you, Mr. Trefusis. 
 We have sometimes higher duties than indulgence to the 
 natural feelings of our patients." 
 
 " Quite so. The possibility of eternal bliss and the 
 probability of eternal torment are consolations not to be 
 lightly withheld from a dying girl, eh .? However, what's 
 past cannot be mended. I have much to be thankful for, 
 after all. I am a young man, and shall not cut a bad 
 figure as a widower. And now tell me, doctor : am I not 
 in very bad repute upstairs } " 
 
 ** Mr. Trefusis ! Sir ! I cannot meddle in family matters. 
 I understand my duties, and never overstep them." The 
 doctor, shocked at last, spoke as loftily as he could. 
 
 " Then I will go and see Mr. Jansenius," said Trefusis, 
 getting off the table. 
 
 ** Stay, sir ! One moment. I have not finished. Mrs. 
 Jansenius has asked me to ask — I was about to say that I 
 am not speaking now as the medical adviser of this family; 
 but although an old friend — and — ahem ! Mrs. Jansenius 
 has asked me to ask — to request you to excuse Mr. Jansenius, 
 as he is prostrated by grief, and is, as I can — as a medical 
 man — assure you, unable to see anyone. She will speak 
 to you herself as soon as she feels able to do so — at some 
 time this evening. Meanwhile, of course, any orders you 
 
126 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 may give — you must be fatigued by your journey, and I 
 always recommend people not to fast too long : it produces 
 an acute form of indigestion — any orders you may wish to 
 give will, of course, be attended to at once." 
 
 •'* I think,'' said Trefusis, after a moment's reflection, ** I 
 will order a hansom." 
 
 "There is no ill-feeling," said the doctor, who, as a 
 slow man, was usually alarmed by prompt decisions, even 
 when they seemed wise to him, as this one did. "■ I hope 
 you have not gathered from anything I have said " 
 
 " Not at all : you have displayed the utmost tact. But 
 I think I had better go. Jansenius can bear death and 
 misery with perfect fortitude when it is on a large scale, 
 and hidden in a back slum. But when it breaks into his 
 own house, and attacks his property — his daughter was his 
 property until very recently — he is just the man to lose his 
 head and quarrel with me for keeping mine." 
 
 The doctor was unable to cope with this speech, which 
 conveyed vaguely monstrous ideas to him. Seeing Trefusis 
 about to leave, he said in a low voice, "Will you go 
 upstairs ? " 
 
 "Upstairs! Why.?" 
 
 " I — I thought you might wish to see " He did not 
 
 finish the sentence ; but Trefusis flinched : the blank had 
 expressed what was meant. 
 
 " To see something that was Henrietta, and that is a 
 thing we must cast out and hide, with a little superstitious 
 mumming to save appearances. Why did you remind me 
 of it .? " 
 
 " But, sir, whatever your views may be, will you not 
 as a matter of form, in deference to the feelings of the 
 family- } " 
 
 " Let them spare their feeling.s for the living, on whose 
 behalf I have often appealed to them in vain," cried 
 Trefusis, losing patience. " Damu their feelings ! " And, 
 turning to the door, he found it open, and Mrs. Jansenius 
 there listening. 
 
 Trefusis was confounded. He knew what the eff"ect of 
 his speech must be, and felt that it would be folly to attempt 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 127 
 
 excuse or explanation. He put his hands into his pockets; 
 leaned against the table ; and looked at her, mutely 
 wondering what would follow on her part. 
 
 The doctor broke the silence by saying, tremulously, 
 ** I have communicated the melancholy intelligence to Mr. 
 Trefusis." 
 
 ** I hope you told him also," she said sternly, " that, 
 however deficient we may be in feeling, we did everything 
 that lay in our power for our child." 
 
 ** I am quite satisfied," said Trefusis. 
 
 *' No doubt you are— with the result," said Mrs. Jan- 
 senius, hardly. " I wish to know whether you have 
 anything to complain of." 
 
 ** Nothing." 
 
 " Please do not imply that anything has happened, 
 through our neglect." 
 
 '* What have I to complain of ? She had a warm room 
 and a luxurious bed to die in, with the best medical advice 
 in the world. Plenty of people are starving and freezing 
 to-day that we may have the means to die fashionably : ask 
 them if they have any cause for complaint. Do you think 
 I will wrangle over her body about the amount of money 
 spent on her illness } What measure is that of the cause 
 she had for complaint ? I never grudged money to her — 
 how could I ? seeing that more than I can waste is given 
 to me for nothing. Or how could you ? Yet she had 
 great reason to complain of me. You will allow that to 
 be so." 
 
 " It is perfectly true." 
 
 ** Well, when I am in the humour for it, I will reproach 
 myself and not you." He paused, and then turned forcibly 
 on her, saying, *' Why do you select this time, of all others, 
 to speak so bitterly to me ? " 
 
 ** I am not aware that I have said anything to call for 
 such a remark. T)\dyou " (appealing to the doctor) " hear 
 me say anything ? " 
 
 *' Mr. Trefusis does not mean to say that you did, I am 
 sure. Oh no. Mr. Trefusis's feelings are naturally — are 
 harrowed. That is all." 
 
128 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " My feelings ! " cried Trefusis impatiently. " Do you 
 suppose my feelings are a trumpery set of social obser- 
 vances, to be harrowed to order and exhibited at funerals ? 
 She has gone a^ we three shall go soon enough. If we 
 were immortal, we might reasonably pity the dead. As 
 we are not, we had better save our energies to minimize 
 the harm we are likely to do before we follow her." 
 
 The doctor was deeply offended by this speech ; for the 
 statement that he should one day die seemed to him a 
 reflection upon his professional mastery over death. Mrs. 
 Jansenius was glad to see Trefusis confirming her bad 
 opinion and report of him by his conduct and language in 
 the doctor's presence. There was a brief pause ; and then 
 Trefusis, too far out of sympathy with them to be able to 
 lead the conversation into a kinder vein, left the room. In 
 the act of putting on his overcoat in the hall, he hesitated, 
 and hung it up again irresolutely. Suddenly he ran upstairs. 
 At the sound of his steps, a woman came from one of the 
 rooms, and looked inquiringly at him. 
 
 "Is it here ,?" he said. 
 
 " Yes, sir," she whispered. 
 
 A painful sense of constriction came in his chest ; and 
 he turned pale and stopped with his hand on the lock. 
 
 *' Dont be afraid, sir," said the woman, with an en- 
 couraging smile. '* She looks beautiful." 
 
 He looked at her with a strange grin, as if she had 
 uttered a ghastly but irresistible joke. Then he went in, 
 and, when he reached the bed, wished he had stayed 
 without. He was not one of those who, seeing little in 
 the faces of the living, miss little in the faces of the dead. 
 The arrangement of the black hair on the pillow, the soft 
 drapery, and the flowers placed there by the nurse to 
 complete the artistic eff'ect to which she had so confi- 
 dently referred, were lost on him : he saw only a lifeless 
 mask that had been his wife's face ; and at sight of 
 it his knees failed, and he had to lean for support on the 
 rail at the foot of the bed. 
 
 When he looked again, the face seemed to have changed. 
 It was no longer a waxlike mask, but Henrietta, girlish 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 129 
 
 and pathetically at rest. Death seemed to have cancelled 
 her marriage and womanhood : he had never seen her 
 look so young. A minute passed ; and then a tear dropped 
 on the coverlet. He started ; shook another tear on his 
 hand ; and stared at it incredulously. 
 
 ** This is a fraud of which I have never even dreamed," 
 he said. '* Tears and no sorrow ! Here am I crying ! 
 growing maudlin ! whilst I am glad that she is gone and 
 I free. I have the mechanism of grief in me somewhere : 
 it begins to turn at sight of her though I have no 
 sorrow ; just as she used to start the mechanism of passion 
 when I had no love. And that made no difference to her : 
 whilst the wheels went round she was satisfied. I hope the 
 mechanism of grief will flag and stop in its spinning as 
 soon as the other used to. It is stopping already, I think. 
 What a mockery ! Whilst it lasts I suppose I am really 
 sorry. And yet, would I restore her to life if I could } 
 Perhaps so : I am therefore thankful that I cannot." He 
 folded his arms on the rail, and gravely addressed the dead 
 figure, which still afl"ected him so strongly that he had to 
 exert his will to face it with composure. *' If you really 
 loved me, it is well for you that you are dead — idiot that I 
 was to believe that the passion you could inspire, you poor 
 child, would last. We are both lucky : I have escaped 
 from you ; and you have escaped from yourself." 
 
 Presently he breathed more freely, and looked round the 
 room to help himself into a matter-of-fact vein by a little 
 unembarrassed action, and the commonplace aspect of the 
 bedroom furniture. He went to the pillow, and bent over 
 it, examining the face closely. 
 
 ** Poor child ! " he said again, tenderly. Then, with 
 sudden reaction, apostrophizing himself instead of his wife, 
 " Poor ass ! Poor idiot ! Poor jackanapes ! Here is the 
 body of a woman who was nearly as old as myself, and 
 perhaps wiser ; and here am I moralizing over it as if I 
 were God Almighty and she a baby! The more you 
 remind a man of what he is, the more conceited he 
 becomes. Monstrous ! I shall feel immortal presently." 
 
 He touched the cheek with a faint attempt at roughness, 
 
 9 
 
130 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 to feel how cold it was. Then he touched his own, and 
 remarked, 
 
 " This is what I am hastening toward at the express 
 speed of sixty minutes an hour ! " He stood looking down 
 at the face and tasting this sombre reflection for a long 
 time. When it palled on him, he roused himself, and 
 exclaimed more cheerfully, 
 
 ** After all, she is not dead. Every word she uttered — 
 every idea she formed and expressed, was an inexhaustible 
 and indestructible impulse." He paused ; considered a 
 little further ; and relapsed into gloom, adding, ** And the 
 dozen others whose names will be with hers in the Times 
 to-morrow ? Their words too are still in the air, to endure 
 there to all eternity. Hm ! How the air must be crammed 
 with nonsense ! Two sounds sometimes produce a silence : 
 perhaps ideas neutralize one another in some analogous 
 way. No, my dear : you are dead and gone and done with ; 
 and I shall be dead and gone and done with too soon to 
 leave me leisure to fool myself with hopes of immortality. 
 Poor Hetty ! Well : good-bye, my darling. Let us pretend 
 for a moment that you can hear that : I know it will please 
 you." 
 
 All this was in a half articulate whisper. When he ceased, 
 he still bent over the body, gazing intently at it. Even 
 when he had exhausted the subject, and turned to go, he 
 changed his mind, and looked again for a while. Then he 
 stood erect, apparently nerved and refreshed, and left the 
 room with a firm step. The woman was waiting outside. 
 Seeing that he was less distressed than when he entered, 
 she said, 
 
 '* I hope you are satisfied, sir ! " 
 
 '* Delighted ! Charmed ! The arrangements are ex- 
 tremely pretty and tasteful. Most consolatory." And he 
 gave her half-a-sovereign. 
 
 *' I thank you, sir," she said, dropping a curtsey. " The 
 poor young lady ! She was anxious to see you, sir. To 
 hear her say that you we're the only one that cared for her ! 
 And so fretful with her mother, too. * Let him be told 
 that I am dangerously ill,' says she, ' and he'll come.' She 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 131 
 
 didnt know how true her word was, poor thing ; and she 
 went off without being aware of it." 
 
 ** Flattering herself, and flattering me. Happy girl ! " 
 
 " Bless you, I know what her feelings were, sir : I have 
 had experience." Here she approached him confidentially, 
 and whispered, " The family were again' you, sir ; and she 
 knew it. But she wouldnt listen to them. She thought of 
 nothing, when she was easy enough to think at all, but of 
 your coming. And — hush ! Here's the old gentleman." 
 
 Trefusis looked round, and saw Mr. Jansenius, whose 
 handsome face was white and seamed with grief and annoy- 
 ance. He drew back from the proffered hand of his son- 
 in-law, like an overworried child from an ill-timed attempt 
 to pet it. Trefusis pitied him. The nurse coughed, and 
 retired. 
 
 ** Have you been speaking to Mrs. Jansenius.^" said 
 Trefusis. 
 
 *' Yes," said Jansenius offensively. 
 
 ** So have I, unfortunately. Pray make my apologies to 
 her. I was rude. The circumstances upset me." 
 
 " You are not upset, sir," said Jansenius, loudly. " You 
 do not care a damn." 
 
 Trefusius recoiled. 
 
 " You damned my feelings ; and I will damn yours," con- 
 tinued Jansenius, in the same tone. Trefusis involun- 
 tarily looked at the door through which he had lately 
 passed. Then, recovering himself, he said quietly, 
 
 *' It does not matter. She cant hear us." 
 
 Before Jansenius could reply, his wife hurried upstairs ; 
 caught him by the arm ; and said, *' Dont speak to him, 
 John. And you," she added, to Trefusis : " will you be- 
 gone." 
 
 **What! " he said, looking cynically at her. "Withou 
 my dead ! Without my property ! Well : be it so." 
 
 "What do you know of the feelings of a respectable 
 man ? " persisted Jansenius, breaking out again in spite of 
 his wife. *' Nothing is sacred to you. This shows what 
 Socialists are ! " 
 
 " And what fathers are, and what mothers are," retorted 
 
132 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 Trefusis, giving way to his temper. ** I thought you loved 
 Hetty ; but I see that you only love your feelings and your 
 respectability. The devil take both ! She was right : my 
 love for her, incomplete as it was, was greater than yours." 
 And he left the house in dudgeon. 
 
 But he stood awhile in the avenue to laugh at himself 
 and his father-in-law. Then he took a hansom, and was 
 driven to the house of his solicitor, whom he wished to 
 consult on the settlement of his late wife's affairs. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The remains of Henrietta Trefusis were interred in High- 
 gate Cemetery the day before Christmas Eve. Three noble- 
 men sent their carriages to the funeral ; and the friends and 
 clients of Mr. Jansenius, to a large number, attended in 
 person. The bier was covered with a profusion of costly 
 flowers. The undertaker, instructed to spare no expense, 
 provided long-tailed black horses, with black palls on their 
 backs, and black plumes upon their foreheads ; coachmen 
 decorated with scarves and jack-boots ; black hammer- 
 cloths, cloaks, and gloves ; with many hired mourners, 
 who, however, would have been instantly discharged had 
 they presumed to betray emotion, or in any way overstep 
 their function of walking beside the hearse with brass- 
 tipped batons in their hands. 
 
 Among the genuine mourners were Mr. Jansenius, who 
 burst into tears at the ceremony of casting earth on the 
 coffin ; the boy Arthur, who, pre-occupied by the novelty 
 of appearing in a long cloak at the head of a public pro- 
 cession, felt that he was not so sorry as he ought to be 
 when he saw his papa cry ; and a cousin who had once 
 asked Henrietta to marry him, and who now, full of tragic 
 reflections, was enjoying his despair intensely. 
 
 The rest whispered, whenever they could decently do 
 so, about a strange omission in the arrangements. The 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 133 
 
 husband of the deceased was absent. Members of the 
 family and intimate friends were told by Daniel Jan- 
 senius that the widower had acted in a blackguard way, 
 and that the Janseniuses did not care two-pence whether 
 he came or stayed at home ; that, but for the indecency of 
 the thing, they were just as glad that he was keeping 
 away. Others, who had no claim to be privately informed, 
 made inquiries of the undertaker's foreman, who said he 
 understood the gentleman objected to large funerals. 
 Asked why, he said he supposed it was on the ground of 
 expense. This being met by a remark that Mr. Trefusis 
 was very wealthy, he added that he had been told so, but 
 believed the money had not come from the lady ; that 
 people seldom cared to go to a great expense for a funeral 
 unless they came into something good by the death ; and 
 that some parties, the more they had, the more they 
 grudged. Before the funeral guests dispersed, the report 
 spread by Mr. Jansenius's brother had got mixed with the 
 views of the foreman, and had given rise to a story of 
 Trefusis expressing joy at his wife's death with frightful 
 oaths in her father's house whilst she lay dead there, and 
 refusing to pay a farthing of her debts or funeral expenses. 
 Some days later, when gossip on the subject was sub- 
 siding, a fresh scandal revived it. A literary friend of Mr. 
 Jansenius's helped him to compose an epitaph, and added 
 to it a couple of pretty and touching stanzas, setting forth 
 that Henrietta's character had been one of rare sweetness 
 and virtue, and that her friends would never cease to 
 sorrow for her loss. A tradesman who described himself 
 as a " monumental mason " furnished a book of tomb 
 designs ; and Mr. Jansenius selected a highly ornamental 
 one, and proposed to defray half the cost of its erection. 
 Trefusis objected that the epitaph was untrue; and said 
 that he did not see why tombstones should be privileged 
 to publish false statements. It was reported that he had 
 followed up his former misconduct by calling his father- 
 in-law a liar, and that he had ordered a common tomb- 
 stone from some cheap-jack at the East-end. He had, in 
 fact, spoken contemptuously of the monumental tradesman 
 
134 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 as an "exploiter" of labour, and had asked a young 
 working mason, a member of the International Associa- 
 tion, to design a monument for the gratification of 
 Jansenius. 
 
 The mason, with much pains and misgiving, produced 
 an original design. Trefusis approved of it, and resolved 
 to have it executed by the hands of the designer. He 
 hired a sculptor's studio ; purchased blocks of marble of 
 the dimensions and quality described to him by the mason ; 
 and invited him to set to work forthwith. 
 
 Trefusis now encountered a difficulty. He wished to 
 pay the mason the just value of his work, no more and no 
 less. But this he could not ascertain. The only available 
 standard was the market price, and this he rejected as 
 being fixed by competition among capitalists who could 
 only secure profit by obtaining from their workmen more 
 products than they paid them for, and could only tempt 
 customers by offering a share of the unpaid-for part of the 
 products as a reduction in price. Thus he found that the 
 system of withholding the indispensable materials for 
 production and subsistence from the labourers, except on 
 condition of their supporting an idle class whilst accepting 
 a lower standard of comfort for themselves than for that 
 idle class, rendered the determination of just ratios of 
 exchange, and consequently the practice of honest dealing, 
 impossible. He had at last to ask the mason what he 
 would consider fair payment for the execution of the 
 design, though he knew that the man could no more solve 
 the problem than he, and that, though he would certainly 
 ask as much as he thought he could get, his demand must 
 be limited by his poverty and by the competition of the 
 monumental tradesman. Trefusis settled the matter by 
 giving double what was asked, only imposing such condi- 
 tions as were necessary to compel the mason to execute 
 the work himself, and not make a profit by hiring other 
 men at the market rate of wages to do it. 
 
 But the design was, to its author's astonishment, to be 
 paid for separately. The mason, after hesitating a long 
 time between two-pounds-ten and five pounds, was em- 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 13$ 
 
 boldened by a fellow-workman, who treated him to some 
 hot whiskey and water, to name the larger sum. Trefusis 
 paid the money at once, and then set himself to find out 
 how much a similar design would have cost from the hands 
 of an eminent Royal Academician. Happening to know 
 a gentleman in this position, he consulted him, and was 
 informed that the probable cost would be from five 
 hundred to one thousand pounds. Trefusis expressed his 
 opinion that the mason's charge was the more reasonable, 
 somewhat to the indignation of his artist friend, who 
 reminded him of the years which a Royal Academician 
 has to spend in acquiring his skill. Trefusis mentioned 
 that the apprenticeship of a mason was quite as long, 
 twice as laborious, and not half so pleasant. The artist 
 now began to find Trefusis's Socialistic views, with which 
 he had previously fancied himself in sympathy, both odious 
 and dangerous. He demanded whether nothing was to be 
 allowed for genius. Trefusis warmly replied that genius 
 cost its possessor nothing ; that it was the inheritance of 
 the whole race incidentally vested in a single individual ; 
 and that if that individual employed his monopoly of it to 
 extort money from others, he deserved nothing better than 
 hanging. The artist lost his temper, and suggested that 
 if Trefusis could not feel that the prerogative of art was 
 divine, perhaps he could understand that a painter was not 
 such a fool as to design a tomb for five pounds when he 
 might be painting a portrait for a thousand. Trefusis 
 retorted that the fact of a man paying a thousand pounds 
 for a portrait proved that he had not earned the money, 
 and was therefore either a thief or a beggar. The common 
 workman who sacrificed sixpence from his week's wages 
 for a cheap photograph to present to his sweetheart, or a 
 shilling for a pair of chromolithographic pictures or delft 
 figures to place on his mantelboard, suffered greater priva- 
 tion for the sake of possessing a work of art than the 
 great landlord or shareholder who paid a thousand 
 pounds, which he was too rich to miss, for a portrait that, 
 like Hogarth's Jack Sheppard, was only interesting to 
 students of criminal physiognomy. A lively quarrel 
 
136 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ensued : Trefusis denouncing the folly of artists in fancy- 
 ing themselves a priestly caste when they were obviously 
 only the parasites and favoured slaves of the moneyed 
 classes ; and his friend (temporarily his enemy) sneering 
 bitterly at levellers who were for levelling down instead of 
 levelling up. Finally, tired of disputing, and remorseful 
 for their acrimony, they dined amicably together. 
 
 The monument was placed in Highgate Cemetery by a 
 small band of workmen, whom Trefusis found out of 
 employment. It bore the following inscription. 
 
 THIS IS THE MONUMENT OF 
 
 HENRIETTA JANSENIUS 
 
 WHO WAS BORN ON THE 26tH JULY, 1856, 
 
 MARRIED TO SIDNEY TrEFUSIS ON THE 23RD AUGUST, 1875, 
 
 AND WHO DIED ON THE 2IST DECEMBER IN THE SAME YEAR. 
 
 Mr. Jansenius took this as an insult to his daughter's 
 memory, and, as the tomb was much smaller than many 
 which had been erected, in the cemetery by families to 
 whom the Janseniuses claimed superiority, cited it as an 
 example of the widower's meanness. But by other 
 persons it was so much admired that Trefusis hoped it 
 would ensure the prosperity of its designer. The contrary 
 happened. When the mason attempted to return to his 
 ordinary work, he was informed that he had contravened 
 trade usage, and that his former employers would have 
 nothing more to say to him. On applying for advice and 
 assistance to the trades-union of which he was a member, 
 he received the same reply, and was further reproached for 
 treachery to his fellow-workmen. He returned to Trefusis 
 to say that the tombstone job had ruined him. Trefusis, 
 enraged, wrote an argumentative letter to the Times, which 
 was not inserted ; a sarcastic one to the trades-union, 
 which did no good ; and a fierce one to the employers, 
 who threatened to take an action for libel. He had to 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 137 
 
 content himself with setting the man to work again on 
 mantelpieces and other decorative stone-work for use in 
 house property on the Trefusis estate. In a year or 
 two his liberal payments enabled the mason to save 
 sufficient to start as an employer, in which capacity he 
 soon began to grow rich, as he knew by experience 
 exactly how much his workmen could be forced to do, and 
 how little they could be forced to take. Shortly after this 
 change in his circumstances, he became an advocate of 
 thrift, temperance, and steady industry ; and quitted the 
 International Association, of which he had been an enthu- 
 siastic supporter when dependent on his own skill and taste 
 as a working mason. 
 
 During these occurrences, Agatha's school-life ended. 
 Her resolution to study hard during another term at the 
 college had been formed, not for the sake of becoming 
 learned, but that she might become more worthy of 
 Smilash ; and when she learned the truth about him from 
 his own lips, the idea of returning to the scene of that 
 humiliation became intolerable to her. She left under the 
 impression that her heart was broken ; for her smarting 
 vanity, by the law of its own existence, would not perceive 
 that it was the seat of the injury. So she bade Miss 
 Wilson adieu ; and the bee on the window-pane was heard 
 no more at Alton College. 
 
 The intelligence of Henrietta's death shocked her the 
 more because she could not help being glad that the only 
 other person who knew of her folly with regard to Smilash 
 (himself excepted) was now silenced for ever. This seemed 
 to her a terrible discovery of her own depravity. Under 
 its influence she became almost religious, and caused 
 some anxiety about her health to her mother, who was 
 puzzled by her unwonted seriousness, and, in particular, 
 by her determination not to speak of the misconduct of 
 Trefusis, which was now the prevailing topic of conversa- 
 tion in the family. She listened in silence to gossiping 
 discussions of his desertion of his wife ; his heartless in- 
 difference to her decease ; his violence and bad language by 
 her deathbed ; his parsimony ; his malicious opposition to 
 
138 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 the wishes of the Janseniuses ; his cheap tombstone with 
 the insulting epitaph ; his association with common work- 
 men and low demagogues ; his suspected connection with 
 a secret society for the assassination of the royal family 
 and blowing up of the army; his atheistic denial, in a 
 pamphlet addressed to the clergy, of a statement by the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury that spiritual aid alone could 
 improve the condition of the poor in the East-end of 
 London ; and the crowning disgrace of his trial for sedi- 
 tious libel at the Old Bailey, where he was condemned to 
 six months' imprisonment : a penalty from which he was 
 rescued by the ingenuity of his counsel, who discovered 
 a flaw in the indictment, and succeeded, at great cost to 
 Trefusis, in getting the sentence quashed. Agatha at last 
 got tired of hearing of his misdeeds. She believed him 
 to be heartless, selfish, and misguided ; but she knew that 
 he was not the loud, coarse, sensual and ignorant brawler 
 most of her mother's gossips supposed him to be. She 
 even felt, in spite of herself, an emotion of gratitude to the 
 few who ventured to defend him. 
 
 Preparation for her first season helped her to forget her 
 misadventure. She *' came out" in due time; and an ex- 
 tremely dull season she found it. So much so, that she 
 sometimes asked herself whether she should ever be 
 happy again. At the college there had been goodfellow- 
 ship, fun, rules and duties which were a source of strength 
 when observed and a source of delicious excitement when 
 violated, freedom from ceremony, toffee making, flights on 
 the bannisters, and appreciative audiences for the soldier 
 in the chimney. In society there were silly conversations 
 lasting half-a-minute, cool acquaintanceships founded on 
 such half-minutes, general reciprocity of suspicion, over- 
 crowding, insufficient ventilation, bad music badly executed, 
 late hours, unwholesome food, intoxicating liquors, jealous 
 competition in useless expenditure, husband-hunting, flirt- 
 ing, dancing, theatres, and concerts. The last three, 
 which Agatha liked, helped to make the contrast between 
 Alton and London tolerable to her ; but they had their 
 drawbacks ; for good partners at the dances, and good 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 139 
 
 performances at the spiritless opera and concerts, were 
 disappointingly scarce. Flirting she could not endure : 
 she drove men away when they became tender, seeing in 
 them the falsehood of Smilash without his wit. She was 
 considered rude by the younger gentlemen of her circle. 
 They discussed her bad manners among themselves, and 
 agreed to punish her by not asking her to dance. She thus 
 got rid, without knowing why, of the attentions she cared 
 for least (she retained a schoolgirl's cruel contempt for 
 "boys"), and enjoyed herself as best she could with such 
 of the older or more sensible men as were not intolerant 
 of girls. 
 
 At best, the year was the least happy she had ever spent. 
 She repeatedly alarmed her mother by broaching projects 
 of becoming a hospital nurse, a public singer, or an actress. 
 These projects led to some desultory studies. In order to 
 qualify herself as a nurse, she read a handbook of physi- 
 ology, which Mrs. Wylie thought so improper a subject for 
 a young lady, that she went in tears to beg Mrs. Jansenius 
 to remonstrate with her unruly girl. Mrs. Jansenius, better 
 advised, was of opinion that the more a woman knew, the 
 more wisely she was likely to act ; and that Agatha would 
 soon drop the physiology of her own accord. This proved 
 true. Agatha, having finished her book by dint of exten- 
 sive skipping, proceeded to study pathology from a volume 
 of clinical lectures. Finding her own sensations exactly 
 like those described in the book as symptoms of the direst 
 diseases, she put it by in alarm, and took up a novel, which 
 was free from the fault she had found in the lectures, 
 inasmuch as none of the emotions it described in the least 
 resembled any she had ever experienced. 
 
 After a brief interval, she consulted a fashionable teacher 
 of singing as to whether her voice was strong enough for 
 the operatic stage. He recommended her to study with 
 him for six years, assuring her that at the end of that 
 period — if she followed his directions — she should be the 
 greatest singer in the world. To this there was, in her 
 mind, the conclusive objection that in six years she should 
 be an old woman. So she resolved to try privately whether 
 
140 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 she could not get on more quickly by herself. Meanwhile, 
 with a view to the drama in case her operatic scheme 
 should fail, she took lessons in elocution and gymnastics. 
 Practice in these improved her health and spirits so much 
 that her previous aspirations seemed too limited. She 
 tried her hand at all the arts in succession, but was too 
 discouraged by the weakness of her first attempts to perse- 
 vere. She knew that as a general rule there are feeble and 
 ridiculous beginnings to all excellence ; but she never 
 applied general rules to her own case, still thinking of 
 herself as an exception to them, just as she had done when 
 she romanced about Smilash. The illusions of adolescence 
 were thick upon her. 
 
 Meanwhile her progress was creating anxieties in which 
 she had no share. Her paroxysms of exhilaration, followed 
 by a gnawing sense of failure and uselessness, were known 
 to her mother only as " wildness" and " low spirits" ; to 
 be combated by needlework as a sedative, or beef tea as a 
 stimulant. Mrs. Wylie had learnt by rote that the whole 
 duty of a lady is to be graceful, charitable, helpful, modest 
 and disinterested whilst awaiting passively whatever lot these 
 virtues may induce. But she had learnt by experience that 
 a lady's business in society is to get married ; and that 
 virtues and accomplishments alike are important only as 
 attractions to eligible bachelors. As this truth is shameful, 
 young ladies are left for a year to two to find it out for 
 themselves : it is seldom explicitly conveyed to them at 
 their entry into society. Hence they often throw away 
 capital bargains in their first season, and are compelled to 
 offer themselves at greatly reduced prices subsequently, 
 when their attractions begin to stale. This was the fate 
 which Mrs. Wylie, warned by Mrs. Jansenius, feared for 
 Agatha, who, time after time when a callow gentleman of 
 wealth and position was introduced to her, drove him 
 brusquely away as soon as he ventured to hint that his 
 affections were concerned in their acquaintanceship. The 
 anxious mother had to console herself with the fact that 
 her daughter drove away the ineligible as ruthlessly as the 
 eligible ; formed no unworldly attachments ; was still very 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 141. 
 
 young ; and would grow less coy as she advanced in years 
 and in what Mrs. Jansenius called sense. 
 
 But as the seasons went by, it remained questionable 
 whether Agatha was the more to be congratulated on having 
 begun life after leaving school, or Henrietta on having 
 finished it. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST BOOK. 
 
BOOK 11. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Brandon Beeches, in the Thames valley, was the seat of 
 Sir Charles Brandon, seventh baronet of that name. He 
 had lost his father before attaining his majority, and had 
 married shortly afterwards; so that in his twenty-fifth 
 year he was father to three children. He was a little 
 worn, in spite of his youth ; but he was tall and agreeable, 
 had a winning way of taking a kind and soothing view of 
 the misfortunes of others, could tell a story well, liked 
 music and could play and sing a little, loved the arts of 
 design and could sketch a little in water colours, read every 
 magazine from London or Paris that criticized pictures, 
 had travelled a little, fished a little, shot a little, botanized 
 a little, wandered restlessly in the footsteps of women, and 
 dissipated his energies through all the small channels that 
 his wealth opened and his talents made easy to him. He 
 had no large knowledge of any subject, though he had 
 looked into many just far enough to replace absolute 
 unconsciousness of them with measurable ignorance. 
 Never having enjoyed the sense of achievement, he was 
 troubled with unsatisfied aspirations that filled him with 
 melancholy and convinced him that he was a born artist. 
 His wife found him selfish, peevish, hankering after 
 change, and prone to believe that he was attacked by 
 dangerous diseases when he was only catching cold. 
 
144 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 Lady Brandon, who believed that he understood all the 
 subjects he talked about because she did not understand 
 them herself, was one of his disappointments. In person 
 she resembled none of the types of beauty striven after by 
 the painters of her time; but she had charms to which 
 few men are insensible. She was tall, soft and stout ; 
 with ample and shapely arms, shoulders and hips. With 
 her small head, little ears, pretty lips and roguish eye, 
 she, being a very large creature, presented an immensity 
 of half womanly, half infantine loveliness which smote 
 even grave men with a desire to clasp her in their arms 
 and kiss her. This desire had scattered the desultory 
 intellectual culture of Sir Charles at first sight. His 
 imagination invested her with the taste for the fine arts 
 which he required from a wife ; and he married her in her 
 first season, only to discover that the amativeness in her 
 temperament was so little and languid that she made 
 all his attempts at fondness ridiculous, and robbed the 
 caresses for which he had longed of all their anticipated 
 ecstasy. Intellectually she fell still further short of his 
 hopes. She looked upon his favourite art of painting as a 
 pastime for amateur, and a branch of the house furnishing 
 trade for professional artists. When he was discussing it 
 among his friends, she would offer her opinion with a 
 presumption which was the more trying as she frequently 
 blundered upon a sound conclusion whilst he was reason- 
 ing his way to a hollow one with his utmost subtlety and 
 seriousness. On such occasions his disgust did not trouble 
 her in the least : she triumphed in it. She had concluded 
 that marriage was a greater folly, and men greater fools, 
 than she had supposed ; but such beliefs rather lightened 
 her sense of responsibility than disappointed her ; and, as 
 she had plenty of money, plenty of servants, plenty of 
 visitors, and plenty of exercise on horseback, of which she 
 was immoderately fond, her time passed pleasantly enough. 
 Comfort seemed to her the natural order of life : trouble 
 always surprised her. Her husband's friends, who mis- 
 trusted every future hour, and found matter for bitter 
 reflection in many past ones, were to her only examples 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 145 
 
 of the power of sedentary habits and excessive reading to 
 make men hipped and dull. 
 
 One fine May morning, as she cantered along the 
 avenue at Brandon Beeches on a powerful bay horse, the 
 gates at the end opened, and a young man sped through 
 them on a bicycle. He was of slight frame, with fine dark 
 eyes and delicate nostrils. When he recognized Lady 
 Brandon he waved his cap ; and when they met he sprang 
 from his inanimate steed, at which the bay horse shied. 
 
 " Dont, you silly beast ! " she cried, whacking the 
 animal with the butt of her whip. *' Though it's natural 
 enough, goodness knows ! How d'ye do ? The idea of 
 any one rich enough to afford a horse, riding on a wheel 
 like that ! " 
 
 ** But I am not rich enough to afford a horse," he said, 
 approaching her to pat the bay, having placed the bicycle 
 against a tree. '* Besides, I am afraid of horses, not being 
 accustomed to them ; and I know nothing about feeding 
 them. My steed needs no food. He doesnt bite, nor 
 kick. He never goes lame, nor sickens, nor dies, nor 
 needs a groom, nor " 
 
 " That's all bosh," said Lady Brandon impetuously. 
 ** It stumbles, and gives you the most awful tosses ; and 
 it goes lame by its treadles and thingamejigs coming off; 
 and it wears out, and is twice as much trouble to keep 
 clean and scrape the mud off as a horse ; and all sorts o<f 
 things. I think the most ridiculous sight in the world is 
 a man on a velocipede, working away with his feet as hard 
 as he possibly can, and believing that his horse is carrying 
 him instead of, as anyone can see, he carrying the horse. 
 You neednt tell me that it isnt easier to walk in the 
 ordinary way than to drag a great dead iron thing along 
 with you. It's not good sense." 
 
 '* Nevertheless I can carry it a hundred miles further in 
 a day than I can carry myself alone. Such are the marvels 
 of machinery. But I know that we cut a very poor figure 
 beside you and that magnificent creature — not that anyone 
 will look at me whilst you are by to occupy their attention 
 so much more worthily." 
 
 10 
 
146 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 She darted a glance at him which clouded his vision 
 and made his heart beat more strongly. This was an old 
 habit of hers. She kept it up from love of fun, having no 
 idea of the effect it produced on more ardent tempera- 
 ments than her own. He continued hastily, 
 
 " Is Sir Charles within doors .?" 
 
 " Oh, it's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of in 
 my life," she exclaimed. " A man that lives by himself in 
 a place down by the Riverside Road like a toy savings 
 bank — dont you know the things I mean } — called Sallust's 
 House, says there is a right of way through our new 
 pleasure ground. As if anyone could have any right there 
 after all the money we have spent fencing it on three sides, 
 and building up the wall by the road, and levelling, and 
 planting, and draining, and goodness knows what else ! 
 And now the man says that all the common people and 
 tramps in the neighbourhood have a right to walk across 
 it because they are too lazy to go round by the road. Sir 
 Charles has gone to see the man about it. Of course he 
 wouldnt do as I wanted him." 
 
 " What was that } " 
 
 ** Write to tell the man to mind his own business, and 
 to say that the first person we found attempting to trespass 
 on our property should be given to the police." 
 
 " Then I shall find no one at home. I beg your pardon 
 for calling it so ; but it is the only place like home to me." 
 
 ** Yes : it is so comfortable since we built the billiard 
 room, and took away those nasty hangings in the hall. I 
 was ever so long trying to pers " 
 
 She was interrupted by an old labourer, who hobbled 
 up as fast as his rheumatism would allow him, and began 
 to speak without further ceremony than snatching off his 
 cap. 
 
 " Th'ave coom to the noo grouns, my lady : crowds of 
 'em. An' a parson with 'em, an' a flag ! Sur Chorles he 
 dont know what to say ; an' sooch doins never was." 
 
 Lady Brandon turned pale, and pulled at her horse as 
 if to back him out of some danger. Her visitor, puzzled, 
 asked the old man what he meant. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 147 
 
 ** There's goin' to be a proceyshon through the noo 
 grouns," he replied ; ** an' the master cant stop 'em. 
 Th'ave throon down the wall : three yards of it is lyin' 
 on Riverside Road. An' there's a parson with 'em, and 
 a flag. An' him that lives in Sallust's Hoos, he's there, 
 hoddin' 'em on." 
 
 " Thrown down the wall ! " exclaimed Lady Brandon, 
 scarlet with indignation and pale with apprehension by 
 turns. ** What a disgraceful thing ! Where are the police ? 
 Chester: will you come with me and see what they are 
 doing : Sir Charles is no use. Do you think there is any 
 danger 1 " 
 
 "There's two police," said the old man; "an' him that 
 lives at Sallust's dar'd them stop him. They're lookin' on. 
 An' there's a parson among 'em. I see him puUin' away 
 at the wall with his own ban's." 
 
 " I will go and see the fun," said Chester. 
 
 Lady Brandon hesitated. But her anger and curiosity 
 vanquished her fears. She overtook the bicycle ; and 
 they went together through the gates and by the high- 
 road to the scene the old man had described. A heap 
 of bricks and mortar lay in the roadway on each side of a 
 breach in the newly built wall, over which Lady Brandon, 
 from her eminence on horseback, could see, coming 
 towards her across the pleasure ground, a column of about 
 thirty persons. They marched three abreast in good 
 order and in silence : the expression of all except a few 
 mirthful faces being that of devotees fulfilling a rite. The 
 gravity of the procession was deepened by the appearance 
 of a clergyman in its ranks, which were composed of men 
 of the middle class, and a few workmen carrying a banner 
 inscribed The Soil of England the Birthright of 
 ALL HER People. There were also four women, upon 
 whom Lady Brandon looked with intense indignation and 
 contempt. None' of the men of the neighbourhood had 
 dared to join : they stood in the road whispering, and 
 occasionally venturing to laugh at the jests of a couple of 
 tramps who had stopped to see the fun, and who cared 
 nothing for Sir Charles. 
 
148 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 He, standing a little way within the field, was remon- 
 strating angrily with a man of his own class, who stood 
 with his back to the breach and his hands in the pockets 
 of his snufF-coloured clothes, contemplating the procession 
 with elate satisfaction. Lady Brandon, at once suspect- 
 ing that this was the man from Sallust's House, and 
 encouraged by the loyalty of the crowd, most of whom 
 made way for her and touched their hats, hit the bay 
 horse smartly with her whip, and rode him, with a clatter 
 of hoofs and scattering of clods, right at the snuff-coloured 
 enemy, who had to spring hastily aside to avoid her. 
 There was a roar of laughter from the roadway ; and the 
 man turned sharply on her. But he suddenly smiled 
 affably; replaced his hands in his pockets after raising 
 his hat ; and said, 
 
 ** How do you do. Miss Carpenter } I thought you 
 were a charge of cavalry." 
 
 " I am not Miss Carpenter : I am Lady Brandon ; and 
 you ought to be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Smilash, if it 
 is you that have brought these disgraceful people here." 
 
 His eyes as he replied were eloquent with reproach to 
 her for being no longer Miss Carpenter. " I am not 
 Smilash," he said : *' I am Sidney Trefusis. I have just 
 had the pleasure of meeting Sir Charles for the first time ; 
 and we shall be the best friends possible when I have 
 convinced him that it is hardly fair to seize on a path 
 belonging to the people, and compel them to walk a mile 
 and a half round his estate instead of four hundred yards 
 between two portions of it." 
 
 " I have already told you, sir," said Sir Charles, " that I 
 intend to open a still shorter path, and to allow all the 
 well-conducted work-people to pass through twice a day. 
 This will enable them to go to their work and return from 
 it ; and I will be at the cost of keeping the path in 
 repair." 
 
 *' Thank you," said Trefusis drily ; ** but why should we 
 trouble you when we have a path of our own to use fifty 
 times a day if we choose, without any man barring our 
 way until our conduct happens to please him. Besides, 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 149 
 
 your next heir would probably shut the path up the 
 moment he came into possession." 
 
 " Offering them a path is just what makes them im- 
 pudent," said Lady Brandon to her husband. " Why did 
 you promise them anything } They would not think it 
 a hardship to walk a mile and a half, or twenty miles, to 
 a public-house ; but when they go to their work they 
 think it dreadful to have to walk a yard. Perhaps they 
 would like us to lend them the waggonette to drive in." 
 
 " I have no doubt they would," said Trefusis, beaming 
 at her. 
 
 " Pray leave me to manage here, Jane : this is no place 
 for you. Bring Erskine to the house. He must be " 
 
 " Why dont the police make them go away } " said 
 Lady Brandon, too excited to listen to her husband. 
 
 " Hush, Jane, pray. What can three men do against 
 thirty or forty ? " 
 
 " They ought to take up somebody, as an example to 
 the rest." 
 
 ** They have offered, in the handsomest manner, to 
 arrest me if Sir Charles will give me in charge," said 
 Trefusis. 
 
 *' There ! " said Lady Jane, turning to her husband. 
 " Why dont you give him — or someone — in charge } " 
 
 '* You know nothing about it," said Sir Charles, vexed 
 by a sense that she was publicly making him ridiculous. 
 
 ** If you dont, I will," she persisted. "The idea of 
 having our ground broken into, and our new wall knocked 
 down ! A nice state of things it would be if people were 
 allowed to do as they liked with other peoples' property. 
 I will give every one of them in charge." 
 
 " Would you consign me to a dungeon ? " said Trefusis, 
 in melancholy tones. 
 
 " I dont mean you exactly," she said, relenting. ** But 
 I will give that clergyman into charge, because he ought 
 to know better. He is the ringleader of the whole thing." 
 
 ** He will be delighted. Lady Brandon : he pines for 
 martyrdom. But will you really give him into custody } " 
 
 *' I will" she said vehemently, emphasizing the assur- 
 
ISO AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ance by a plunge in the saddle that made the bay 
 stagger. 
 
 *' On what charge ? " he said, patting the horse, and 
 looking up at her. 
 
 " I dont care what charge," she replied, conscious that 
 she was being admired, and not displeased. *' Let them 
 take him up : that's all," 
 
 Human beings on horseback are so far centaurs that 
 liberties taken with their horses are almost as personal as 
 liberties taken with themselves. When Sir Charles saw 
 Trefusis patting the bay, he felt as much outraged as if 
 Lady Brandon herself were being patted ; and he felt 
 bitterly towards her for permitting the familiarity. He 
 was relieved by the arrival of the procession. It halted 
 as the leaders came up to Trefusis, who said gravely, 
 
 " Gentlemen : I congratulate you on the firmness with 
 which you have this day asserted the rights of the people 
 of this place to the use of one of the few scraps of mother 
 earth of which they have not been despoiled." 
 
 *• Gentlemen," shouted an excited member of the pro- 
 cession : ** three cheers for the resumption of the land of 
 England by the people of England ! Hip, hip, hurrah ! " 
 
 The cheers were given with much spirit. Sir Charles's 
 cheeks becoming redder at each repetition. He looked 
 angrily at the clergyman, now distracted by the charms 
 of Lady Brandon, whose scorn, as she surveyed the crowd, 
 expressed itself by a pout which became her pretty lips 
 extremely. 
 
 Then a middle-aged labourer stepped from the road into 
 the field, hat in hand ; ducked respectfully ; and said, 
 " Look 'e here. Sir Charles. Dont 'e mind them fellers. 
 There aint a man belonging to this neighbourhood among 
 'em : not one in your employ or on your land. Our dooty 
 to you and your ladyship ; and we will trust to you to do 
 what is fair by us. We want no interlopers from Lunnon 
 to get us into trouble with your honour ; and " 
 
 " You unmitigated cur," exclaimed Trefusis fiercely : 
 "what right have you to give away to his unborn children 
 the liberty of your own ? " 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 151 
 
 " They're not unborn," said Lady Brandon indignantly. 
 " That just shows how little you know about it." 
 
 " No, nor mine either," said the man, emboldened by 
 her ladyship's support. "And who are you that call me a 
 cur.?" 
 
 " Who am I ! I am a rich man — one of your masters, 
 and privileged to call you what I please. You are a 
 grovelling famine-broken slave. Now go and seek redress 
 against me from the law. I can buy law enough to ruin 
 you for less money than it would cost me to shoot deer in 
 Scotland or vermin here. How do you like that state of 
 things? Eh.?" 
 
 The man was taken aback. " Sir Charles will stand by 
 me," he said, after a pause, with assumed confidence, but 
 with an anxious glance at the baronet. 
 
 " If he does, after witnessing the return you have made 
 me for standing by you, he is a greater fool than I take 
 him to be." 
 
 " Gently, gently," said the clergyman. " There is much 
 excuse to be made for the poor fellow." 
 
 ** As gently as you please with any man that is a free 
 man at heart," said Trefusis ; *' but slaves must be driven ; 
 and this fellow is a slave to the marrow." 
 
 ** Still, we must be patient. He does not know " 
 
 " He knows a great deal better than you do," said Lady 
 Brandon, interrupting. ** And the more shame for you, 
 because you ought to know best : I suppose you were 
 educated somewhere. You will not be so satisfied with 
 yourself when your bishop hears of this. Yes," she 
 added, turning to Trefusis with an infantile air of wanting 
 to cry and being forced to laugh against her will : *' you 
 may laugh as much as you please — dont trouble to pretend 
 it's only coughing — ; but we will write to his bishop, as he 
 shall find to his cost." 
 
 " Hold your tongue, Jane, for God's sake," said Sir 
 Charles, taking her horse by the bridle, and backing him 
 from Trefusis. 
 
 " I will not. If you choose to stand here and allow them 
 to walk away with the walls in their pockets, I dont and 
 
152 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 wont. Why cannot you make the police do some- 
 thing?" 
 
 *' They can do nothing," said Sir Charles, almost beside 
 himself with humiliation. " I cannot do anything until I 
 see my solicitor. How can you bear to stay here wrang- 
 ling with these fellows } It is so undignified ! " 
 
 " It's all very well to talk of dignity ; but I dont see 
 the dignity of letting people trample on our grounds 
 without leave. Mr. Smilash : will you make them all go 
 away, and tell them that they shall all be prosecuted and 
 put in prison." 
 
 *' They are going to the cross roads, to hold a public 
 meeting and — of course — make speeches. I am desired to 
 say that they deeply regret that their demonstration should 
 have disturbed you personally, Lady Brandon." 
 
 " So they ought," she replied. ** They dont look very 
 sorry. They are getting frightened at what they have done ; 
 and they would be glad to escape the consequences by 
 apologizing, most likely. But they shant. I am not such 
 a fool as they think." 
 
 "They dont think so. You have proved the con- 
 trary." 
 
 ** Jane," said Sir Charles pettishly : " do you know this 
 gentleman .? " 
 
 " I should think I do," said Lady Brandon emphati- 
 cally. 
 
 Trefusis bowed as if he had just been formally intro- 
 duced to the baronet, who, against his will, returned the 
 salutation stiffly, unable to ignore an older, firmer and 
 quicker man under the circumstances. 
 
 " This seems an unneighbourly business. Sir Charles," 
 said Trefusis, quite at his ease ; " but as it is a public 
 question, it need not prejudice our private relations. At 
 least I hope not." 
 
 Sir Charles bowed again, more stiffly than before. 
 
 " I am, like you, a capitalist and landlord " 
 
 " — which it seems to me you have no right to be, if you 
 are in earnest," struck in Chester, who had been watching 
 the scene in silence by Sir Charles's side. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 153 
 
 ** Which, as you say, I have undoubtedly no right to be," 
 said Trefusis, surveying him with interest ; " but which I 
 nevertheless cannot help being. Have 1 the pleasure of 
 speaking to Mr. Chichester Erskine, author of a tragedy 
 entitled * The Patriot Martyrs,' dedicated with enthusiastic 
 devotion to the Spirit of Liberty and half a dozen famous 
 upholders of that principle, and denouncing in forcible 
 language the tyranny of the late Tsar of Russia, Bomba 
 of Naples, and Napoleon the Third ? '* 
 
 ** Yes, sir," said Erskine, reddening; for he felt that this 
 description might make his drama seem ridiculous to those 
 present who had not read it. 
 
 " Then," said Trefusis, extending his hand — Erskine at 
 first thought for a hearty shake — " give me half-a-crown 
 towards the cost of our expedition here to-day to assert the 
 right of the people to tread the soil we are standing upon." 
 
 *'You shall do nothing of the sort, Chester," cried Lady 
 Brandon. *' I never heard of such a thing in my life ! 
 Do you pay us for the wall and fence your people have 
 broken, Mr. Smilash : that would be more to the purpose." 
 
 ** If I could find a thousand men as practical as you, 
 Lady Brandon, I might accomplish the next great revolu- 
 tion before the end of this season." He looked at her 
 for a moment curiously, as if trying to remember; and 
 then added inconsequently, ** How are your friends 7 
 There was a Miss — Miss — I am afraid I have forgotten all 
 the names except your own." 
 
 " Gertrude Lindsay is staying with us. Do you remem- 
 ber her } " 
 
 " I think — no, I am afraid I do not. Let me see. Was 
 she a haughty young lady ? " 
 
 ** Yes," said Lady Brandon eagerly, forgetting the wall 
 and fence. " But who do you think is coming next Thurs- 
 day 7 — I met her accidentally the last time I was in town. 
 She's not a bit changed. You cant forget her ; so dont 
 pretend to be puzzled." 
 
 " You have not told me who she is yet. And I shall 
 probably not remember her. You must not expect me to 
 recognize everyone instantaneously, as I recognized you." 
 
154 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 '* What stuff! You will know Agatha fast enough." 
 
 " Agatha Wylie ! " he said, with sudden gravity. 
 
 **Yes. She is coming on Thursday. Are you glad ?" 
 
 " I fear I shall have no opportunity of seeing her." 
 
 " Oh, of course you must see her. It will be so jolly for 
 us all to meet again just as we used. Why cant you come 
 to luncheon on Thursday ? " 
 
 " I shall be delighted, if you will really allow me to 
 come after my conduct here." 
 
 " The lawyers will settle that. Now that you have found 
 out who we are, you will stop pulling down our walls, of 
 course." 
 
 " Of course," said Trefusis, smiling, as he took out a 
 pocket diary and entered the engagement. " I must hurry 
 away to the cross roads. They have probably voted me 
 into the chair by this time, and are waiting for me to 
 open their meeting. Good-bye. You have made this 
 place, which I was growing tired of, unexpectedly interest- 
 ing to me." 
 
 They exchanged glances of the old college pattern. 
 Then he nodded to Sir Charles; waved his hand familiarly 
 to Erskine ; and followed the procession, which was by 
 this time out of sight. 
 
 Sir Charles, who, waiting to speak, had been repeatedly 
 baffled by the hasty speeches of his wife and the unhesitat- 
 ing replies of Trefusis, now turned angrily upon her, saying, 
 
 " What do you mean by inviting that fellow to my 
 house ? " 
 
 " Your house, indeed ! I will invite whom I please. 
 You are getting into one of your tempers." 
 
 Sir Charles looked about him. Erskine had discreetly 
 slipped away, and was in the road, tightening a screw in 
 his velocipede. The few persons who remained were out 
 of earshot. 
 
 " Who and what the devil is he ; and how do you come 
 to know him.?" he demanded. He never swore in the 
 presence of any lady except his wife, and then only when 
 they were alone. 
 
 " He is a gentleman, which is more than you are," she 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 155 
 
 retorted, and, with a cut of her whip that narrowly missed 
 her husband's shoulder, sent the bay plunging through 
 the gap. 
 
 ** Come along," she said to Erskine. *' We shall be late 
 for luncheon." 
 
 ** Had we not better wait for Sir Charles .? " he asked, 
 injudiciously. 
 
 ** Never mind Sir Charles : he is in the sulks," she said, 
 without abating her voice. " Come along." And she 
 went off at a canter: Erskine following her with a mis- 
 giving that his visit was unfortunately timed. 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 On the following Thursday, Gertrude, Agatha and Jane 
 met for the first time since they had parted at Alton Col- 
 lege. Agatha was the shyest of the three, and externally 
 the least changed. She fancied herself very different from 
 the Agatha of Alton ; but it was her opinion of herself 
 that had altered, not her person. Expecting to find a 
 corresponding alteration in her friends, she had looked 
 forward to the meeting with much doubt, and little hope 
 of its proving pleasant. 
 
 She was more anxious about Gertrude than about Jane, 
 concerning whom, at a brief interview in London, she had 
 already discovered that Lady Brandon's manner, mind and 
 speech were just what Miss Carpenter's had been. But, 
 even from Agatha, Jane commanded more respect than 
 before, having changed from an overgrown girl into a fine 
 woman, and made a brilliant match in her first season, 
 whilst many of her pretty, proud and clever contem- 
 poraries, whom she had envied at school, were still 
 unmarried, and were having their homes made uncom- 
 fortable by parents anxious to get rid of the burthen of 
 supporting them, and to profit in purse or position by 
 their marriages. 
 
156 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 This was Gertrude's case. Like Agatha, she had thrown 
 away her matrimonial opportunities. Proud of her rank 
 and exclusiveness, she had resolved to have as little as 
 possible to do with persons who did not share both with 
 her. She began by repulsing the proffered acquaintance 
 of many families of great wealth and fashion, who either 
 did not know their grandparents or were ashamed of them. 
 Having shut herself out of their circle, she was presented 
 at court, and thenceforth accepted the invitations of those 
 only who had, in her opinion, a right to the same 
 honour. And she was far stricter on that point than the 
 Lord Chamberlain, who had, she held, betrayed his trust 
 by practically turning Leveller. She was well educated ; 
 refined in her manners and habits ; skilled in etiquette to 
 an extent irritating to the ignorant ; and gifted with a 
 delicate complexion, pearly teeth, and a face that would 
 have been Grecian but for a slight upward tilt of the nose, 
 and traces of a square, heavy type in the jaw. Her father 
 was a retired admiral, with sufficient influence to have had 
 a sinecure made by a Conservative government expressly 
 for the maintenance of his son pending alliance with 
 some heiress. Yet Gertrude remained single ; and the 
 admiral, who had formerly spent more money than he 
 could comfortably afford on her education, and was still 
 doing so upon her state and personal adornment, was 
 complaining so unpleasantly of her failure to get taken 
 off his hands, that she could hardly bear to live at home, 
 and was ready to marry any thoroughbred gentleman, 
 however unsuitable his age or character, who would 
 relieve her from her humiliating dependence. She 
 was prepared to sacrifice her natural desire for youth, 
 beauty and virtue in a husband if she could escape from 
 her parents on no easier terms ; but she was resolved to 
 die an old maid sooner than marry an upstart. 
 
 The difficulty in her way was pecuniary. The admiral 
 was poor. He had not quite six thousand a year ; and 
 though he practised the utmost economy in order to keep 
 up the most expensive habits, he could not afford to give 
 his daughter a dowry. Now the well born bachelors of 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 157 
 
 her set, having more blue blood, but much less wealth, 
 than they needed, admired her ; paid her compliments ; 
 danced with her; but could not afford to marry her. 
 Some of them even told her so ; married rich daughters 
 of tea merchants, ironfounders, or successful stockbrokers ; 
 and then tried to make matches between her and their 
 lowly born brothers-in-law. 
 
 So, when Gertrude met Lady Brandon, her lot was 
 secretly wretched ; and she was glad to accept an invita- 
 tion to Brandon Beeches in order to escape for a while 
 from the admiral's daily sarcasms on the marriage list in 
 the Times. The invitation was the more acceptable 
 because Sir Charles was no mushroom noble ; and, in 
 the schooldays which Gertrude now remembered as the 
 happiest of her life, she had acknowledged that Jane's 
 family and connexions were more aristocratic than those 
 of any other student then at Alton, herself excepted. To 
 Agatha, whose grandfather had amassed wealth as a 
 proprietor of gasworks (novelties in his time), she had 
 never offered her intimacy. Agatha had taken it by force, 
 partly moral, partly physical. But the gasworks were 
 never forgotten ; and when Lady Brandon mentioned, as a 
 piece of delightful news, that she had found out their old 
 school companion, and had asked her to join them, Ger- 
 trude was not quite pleased. Yet, when they met, her 
 eyes were the only wet ones there ; for she was the least 
 happy of the three ; and, though she did not know it, her 
 spirit was somewhat broken. Agatha, she thought, had 
 lost the bloom of girlhood, but was bolder, stronger and 
 cleverer than before. Agatha had, in fact, summoned all 
 her self-possession to hide her shyness. She detected the 
 emotion of Gertrude, who at the last moment did not try 
 to conceal it. It would have been poured out freely in 
 words, had Gertrude's social training taught her to express 
 her feelings as well as it had accustomed her to dissemble 
 them. 
 
 ** Do you remember Miss Wilson ? " said Jane, as the 
 three drove from the railway station to Brandon Beeches. 
 ** Do you remember Mrs. Miller, and her cat } Do you 
 
158 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 remember the Recording Angel ? Do you remember how 
 I fell into the canal ? " 
 
 These reminiscences lasted until they reached the house 
 and went together to Agatha's room. Here Jane, having 
 some orders to give in the household, had to leave them 
 — reluctantly; for she was jealous lest Gertrude should 
 get the start of her in the renewal of Agatha's affection. 
 She even tried to take her rival away with her; but in 
 vain : Gertrude would not budge. 
 
 " What a beautiful house and splendid place ! " said 
 Agatha, when Jane was gone. ** And what a nice fellow 
 Sir Charles is 1 We used to laugh at Jane ; but she can 
 afford to laugh at the luckiest of us now. I always said 
 she would blunder into the best of everything. Is it true 
 that she married in her first season ? " 
 
 " Yes. And Sir Charles is a man of great culture. I 
 cannot understand it. Her size is really beyond every- 
 thing ; and her manners are bad." 
 
 *' Hm ! " said Agatha, with a wise air. ** There was 
 always something about Jane that attracted men. And 
 she is more knave than fool. But she is certainly a great 
 ass." 
 
 Gertrude looked serious, to imply that she had grown 
 out of the habit of using or listening to such language. 
 Agatha, stimulated by this, continued, 
 
 " Here are you and I, who consider ourselves twice 
 as presentable and conversable as she, two old maids." 
 Gertrude winced ; and Agatha hastened to add, " Why, 
 as for you, you are perfectly lovely ! And she has asked 
 us down expressly to marry us." 
 
 *' She would not presume " 
 
 ** Nonsense, my dear Gertrude. She thinks that we are 
 a couple of fools who have mismanaged our own business ; 
 and that she, having managed so well for herself, can 
 settle us in a jiffy. Come : did she not say to you, before 
 I came, that it was time for me to be getting married } " 
 
 '' Well, she did. But " 
 
 " She said exactly the same thing to me about you when 
 she invited me." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 159 
 
 ** I would leave her house this moment," said Gertrude, 
 *' if I thought she dared meddle in my affairs. What is it 
 to her whether I am married or not ? " 
 
 " Where have you been living all these years, if you do 
 not know that the very first thing a woman wants to do 
 when she has made a good match, is to make ones for all 
 her spinster friends. Jane does not mean any harm. She 
 does it out of pure benevolence." 
 
 " I do not need Jane's benevolence." 
 
 " Neither do I ; but it doesnt do any harm ; and she 
 is welcome to amuse herself by trotting out her male 
 acquaintances for my approval. Hush! Here she comes." 
 
 Gertrude subsided. She could not quarrel with Lady 
 Brandon without leaving the house ; and she could not leave 
 the house without returning to her home. But she privately 
 resolved to discourge the attentions of Erskine, suspect- 
 ing that instead of being in love with her as he pretended, 
 he had merely been recommended by Jane to marry her. 
 
 Chichester Erskine had made sketches in Palestine with 
 Sir Charles, and had tramped with him through many 
 European picture galleries. He was a young man of 
 gentle birth, and had inherited fifteen hundred a year 
 from his mother : the bulk of the family property being 
 his elder brother's. Having no profession, and being 
 fond of books and pictures, he had devoted himself to 
 fine art, a pursuit which offered him on the cheapest 
 terms a high opinion of the beauty and capacity of his 
 own nature. He had published a tragedy entitled, "The 
 Patriot Martyrs," with an etched frontispiece by Sir 
 Charles ; and an edition of it had been speedily disposed 
 of in presentations to the friends of the artist and poet, 
 and to the reviews and newspapers. Sir Charles had 
 asked an eminent tragedian of his acquaintance to place 
 the work on the stage and to enact one of the patriot 
 martyrs. But the tragedian had objected that the other 
 patriot martyrs had parts of equal importance to that 
 proposed for him. Erskine had indignantly refused to 
 cut these parts down or out ; and so the project had fallen 
 through. 
 
l6o AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 Since then, Erskine had been bent on writing another 
 drama, without regard to the exigencies of the stage ; but 
 he had not yet begun it, in consequence of his inspiration 
 coming upon him at inconvenient hours, chiefly late at 
 night, when he had been drinking, and had leisure for 
 sonnets only. The morning air and bicycle riding were 
 fatal to the vein in which his poetry struck him as being 
 worth writing. In spite of the bicycle, however, the 
 drama, which was to be entitled " Hypatia," was now in 
 a fair way to be written ; for the poet had met and fallen 
 in love with Gertrude Lindsay, whose almost Grecian 
 features, and some knowledge of the differential calculus 
 which she had acquired at Alton, helped him to believe 
 that she was a fit model for his heroine. 
 
 When the ladies came downstairs, they found their host 
 and Erskine in the picture gallery, famous in the neigh- 
 bourhood for the sum it had cost Sir Charles. There was 
 a new etching to be admired ; and they were called on to 
 observe what the baronet called its tones, and what 
 Agatha would have called its degrees of smudginess. Sir 
 Charles's attention often wandered from this work of art. 
 He looked at his watch twice, and said to his wife, 
 
 **I have ordered them to be punctual with the luncheon." 
 
 •' Oh yes : it's all right," said Lady Brandon, who had 
 given orders that luncheon was not to be served until the 
 arrival of another gentleman. *' Show Agatha the picture 
 of the man in the " 
 
 " Mr. Trefusis," said a servant. 
 
 Mr. Trefusis, still in snuff" colour, entered : coat un- 
 buttoned and attention unconstrained : exasperatingly 
 unconscious of any occasion for ceremony. 
 
 ** Here you are at last," said Lady Brandon. " You 
 know everybody, dont you ? " 
 
 ** How do you do ? " said Sir Charles, off"ering his hand 
 as a severe expression of his duty to his wife's guest, who 
 took it cordially ; nodded to Erskine ; looked without 
 recognition at Gertrude, whose frosty stillness repudiated 
 Lady Brandon's implication that the stranger was ac- 
 quainted with her ; and turned to Agatha, to whom he 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. i6l 
 
 bowed. She made no sign: she was paralyzed. Lady- 
 Brandon reddened with anger. Sir Charles noted his 
 guest's reception with secret satisfaction, but shared the 
 embarrassment which oppressed all present except Trefusis, 
 who seemed quite indifferent and assured, and uncon- 
 sciously produced an impression that the others had not 
 been equal to the occasion, as indeed they had not. 
 
 "We were looking at some etchings when you came 
 in," said Sir Charles, hastening to break the silence. **Do 
 you care for such things } " And he handed him a proof. 
 
 Trefusis looked at it as if he had never seen such a 
 thing before, and did not quite know what to make of it. 
 ** All these scratches seem to me to have no meaning," he 
 said dubiously. 
 
 Sir Charles stole a contemptuous smile and significant 
 glance at Erskine. He, seized already with an instinctive 
 antipathy to Trefusis, said emphatically, 
 
 "There is not one of those scratches that has not a 
 meaning." 
 
 ** That one, for instance, like the limb of a daddy-long- 
 legs : what does that mean ? " 
 
 Erskine hesitated a moment; recovered himself; and 
 said, " Obviously enough — to me at least — it indicates the 
 marking of the roadway." 
 
 "Not a bit of it," said Trefusis. "There never was 
 such a mark as that on a road. It may be a very bad 
 attempt at a briar ; but briars dont straggle into the 
 middle of roads frequented as that one seems to be — 
 judging by those overdone ruts." He put the etching 
 away, showing no disposition to look further into the 
 portfolio ; and remarked, " The only art that interests me 
 is photography." 
 
 Erskine and Sir Charles again exchanged glances ; and 
 the former said, 
 
 "Photography is not an art in the sense in which I 
 understand the term. It is a process." 
 
 " And a much less troublesome and more perfect process 
 than that," said Trefusis, pointing to the etching. " The 
 artists are sticking to the old barbarous, difficult, and im- 
 
:I62 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 perfect processes of etching and portrait painting merely 
 to keep up the value of their monopoly of the required 
 skill. They have left the new, more complexly organized, 
 and more perfect, yet simple and beautiful method of 
 photography in the hands of tradesmen, sneering at it 
 publicly, and resorting to its aid surreptitiously. The 
 result is that the tradesmen are becoming better artists 
 than they, and naturally so ; for where, as in photography, 
 the drawing counts for nothing, the thought and judg- 
 ment count for everything ; whereas in the etching and 
 daubing processes, where great manual skill is needed to 
 produce anything that the eye can endure, the execution 
 counts for more than the thought ; and if a fellow only fit 
 to carry bricks up a ladder or the like has ambition and 
 perseverance enough to train his hand and push into the 
 van, you cannot afford to put him back into his proper 
 place, because thoroughly trained hands are so scarce. 
 Consider the proof of this that you have in literature. Our 
 books are manually the work of printers and papermakers : 
 you may cut an author's hand off, and he is as good an 
 author as before. What is the result ? There is more 
 imagination in any number of a penny journal that in half- 
 a-dozen of the Royal Academy rooms in the season. No 
 author can live by his work and be as empty-headed as 
 an average successful painter. Again, consider our imple- 
 ments of music — our pianofortes, for example. Nobody 
 but an acrobat will voluntarily spend years at such a diffi- 
 cult mechanical puzzle as the keyboard ; and so we have 
 to take our impressions of Beethoven's sonatas from acro- 
 bats who vie with each other in the rapidity of their 
 prestos, or the staying power of their left wrists. Thought- 
 ful men will not spend their lives acquiring sleight-of-hand. 
 Invent a piano which will respond as delicately to the 
 turning of a handle as ^our present ones do to the pres- 
 sure of the fingers, and the acrobats will be driven back to 
 their carpets and trapezes, because the sole faculty neces- 
 sary to the executant musician will be the musical faculty, 
 and no other will enable him to obtain a hearing." 
 The company were somewhat overcome by this unex- 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 163 
 
 pected lecture. Sir Charles, feeling that such views bore 
 adversely on him, and were somehow iconoclastic and low- 
 lived, was about to make a peevish retort, when Erskine 
 forestalled him by asking Trefusis what idea he had 
 formed of the future of the arts. He replied promptly, 
 
 " Photography perfected in its recently discovered 
 power of reproducing colour as well as form ! Historical 
 pictures replaced by photographs oi tableaux vivants formed 
 and arranged by trained actors and artists, and used 
 chiefly for the instruction of children. Nine-tenths of 
 painting as we understand it at present extinguished by the 
 competition of these photographs ; and the remaining 
 tenth only holding its own against them by dint of extra- 
 ordinary excellence ! Our mistuned and unplayable organs 
 and pianofortes replaced by harmonious instruments, as 
 manageable as barrel organs ! Works of fiction super- 
 seded by interesting company and conversation, and made 
 obsolete by the human mind outgrowing the childish- 
 ness that delights in the tales told by grown-up children 
 such as novelists and their like ! An end to the silly 
 confusion, under the one name of Art, of the tom- 
 foolery and make-believe of our playhours with the higher 
 methods of teaching men to know themselves ! Every 
 artist an amateur ; and a consequent return to the healthy 
 old disposition to look on every man who makes art a 
 means of money-getting as a vagabond not to be enter- 
 tained as an equal by honest men ! " 
 
 " In which case artists will starve ! and there will be no 
 more art." 
 
 ** Sir," said Trefusis, excited by the word, " I, as a 
 Socialist, can tell you that starvation is now impossible, 
 except where, as in England, masterless men are forcibly 
 prevented from producing the food they need. And you, 
 as an artist, can tell me that at present great artists invari- 
 ably do starve, except when they are kept alive by charity, 
 private fortune, or some drudgery which hinders them in 
 the pursuit of their vocation." 
 
 ** Oh ! " said Erskine. ** Then Socialists have some 
 little sympathy with artists after all." 
 
l64 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " I fear," said Trefusis, repressing himself and speaking 
 quietly again, *' that when a Socialist hears of a hundred 
 pounds paid for a drawing which Andrea del Sarto was 
 glad to sell for tenpence, his heart is not wrung with pity 
 for the artist's imaginary loss, as that of a modern capital- 
 ist is. Yet that is the only way nowadays of enlisting 
 sympathy for the old masters. Frightful disability, to be 
 out of reach of the dearest market when you want to sell 
 your drawings ! But," he added, giving himself a shake, 
 and turning round gaily, " I did not come here to talk 
 shop. So — pending the deluge — let us enjoy ourselves 
 after our manner." 
 
 " No," said Jane. " Please go on about Art. It's such 
 a relief to hear any one talking sensibly about it. I hate 
 etching. It makes your eyes sore — at least the acid gets 
 into Sir Charles's ; and the difference between the first and 
 second states is nothing but imagination, except that the 
 last state is worse than the — here's luncheon ! " 
 
 They went downstairs then. Trefusis sat between 
 Agatha and Lady Brandon, to whom he addressed all his 
 conversation. They chatted without much interruption 
 from the business of the table ; for Jane, despite her 
 amplitude, had a small appetite, and was fearful of growing 
 fat ; whilst Trefusis was systematically abstemious. Sir 
 Charles was unusually silent. He was afraid to talk about 
 art, lest he should be contradicted by Trefusis, who, he 
 already felt, cared less and perhaps knew more about it 
 than he. Having previously commented to Agatha on the 
 beauty of the ripening spring, and inquired whether her 
 journey had fatigued her, he had said as much as he could 
 think of at a first meeting. For her part, she was intent 
 on Trefusis, who, though he must know, she thought, that 
 they were all hostile to him except Jane, seemed as con- 
 fident now as when he had befooled her long ago. That 
 thought set her teeth on edge. She did not doubt the 
 sincerity of her antipathy to him even when she detected 
 herself in the act of protesting inwardly that she was not 
 glad to meet him again, and that she would not speak to 
 him. Gertrude, meanwhile, was giving short answers to 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 165 
 
 Erskine, and listening to Trefusis. She had gathered from 
 the domestic squabbles of the last few days that Lady 
 Brandon, against her husband's will, had invited a noto- 
 rious demagogue, the rich son of a successful cotton- 
 spinner, to visit the Beeches. She had made up her mind 
 to snub any such man. But on recognizing the long- 
 forgotten Smilash, she had been astonished, and had 
 not known what to do. So, to avoid doing anything im- 
 proper, she had stood stiffly silent and done nothing, as 
 the custom of English ladies in such cases is. Subse- 
 quently, his unconscious self-assertion had wrought with her 
 as with the others ; and her intention of snubbing him had 
 faded into the limbo of projects abandoned without trial. 
 Erskine alone was free from the influence of the intruder. 
 He wished him elsewhere ; but beside Gertrude the 
 presence or absence of any other person troubled him very 
 little. 
 
 ** How are the Janseniuses .? " said Trefusis, suddenly 
 turning to Agatha. 
 
 *' They are quite well, thank you," she said in measured 
 tones. 
 
 " I met John Jansenius in the city lately. You know 
 Jansenius ? " he added parenthetically to Sir Charles. "Cot- 
 man's bank — the last Cotman died out of the firm before 
 we were born. The Chairman of the Transcanadian 
 Railway Company." 
 
 ** I know the name. I am seldom in the city." 
 
 ** Naturally," assented Trefusis ; ** for who would sadden 
 himself by pushing his way through a crowd of such slaves, 
 if he could help it } I mean slaves of Mammon, of course. 
 To run the gauntlet of their faces in Cornhill is enough to 
 discourage a thoughtful man for hours. Well, Jansenius, 
 being high in the court of Mammon, is looking out for a 
 good post in the household for his son. Jansenius, by- 
 the-bye, is Miss Wylie's guardian, and the father of my 
 late wife." 
 
 Agatha felt inclined to deny this ; but, as it was true, 
 she had to forbear. Resolved to show that the relations 
 between her family and Trefusis were not cordial ones, 
 
166 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 she asked, deliberately, ** Did Mr. Jansenius speak to 
 you ? " 
 
 Gertrude looked up, as if she thought this scarcely 
 ladylike. 
 
 " Yes," said Trefusis. " We are the best friends in the 
 world — as good as possible, at any rate. He wanted me 
 to subscribe to a fund for relieving the poor at the east 
 end of London by assisting them to emigrate." 
 
 " I presume you subscribed liberally," said Erskine. " It 
 was an opportunity of doing some practical good." 
 
 " I did not," said Trefusis, grinning at the sarcasm. 
 "This Transcanadian Railway Company, having got a 
 great deal of spare land from the Canadian government 
 for nothing, thought it would be a good idea to settle 
 British workmen on it and screw rent out of them. 
 Plenty of British workmen, supplanted in their employment 
 by machinery, or cheap foreign labour, or one thing or 
 another, were quite willing to go ; but as they couldnt 
 afford to pay their passages to Canada, the Company 
 appealed to the benevolent to pay for them by subscription, 
 as the change would improve their miserable condition. 
 I did not see why I should pay to provide a rich company 
 with tenant farmers ; and I told Jansenius so. He re- 
 marked that when money and not talk was required, the 
 workmen of England soon found out who were their real 
 friends." 
 
 "I know nothing about these questions," said Sir Charles, 
 with an air of conclusiveness ; ** but I see no objection to 
 emigration." 
 
 " The fact is," said Trefusis, ** the idea of emigration is 
 a dangerous one for us. Familiarize the workman with it, 
 and some day he may come to see what a capital thing 
 it would be to pack off me, and you, with the peerage, and 
 the whole tribe of unprofitable proprietors such as we are, 
 to St. Helena : making us a handsome present of the island 
 by way of indemnity ! We are such a restless, unhappy 
 lot, that I doubt whether it would not prove a good thing 
 for us too. The workmen would lose nothing but the 
 contemplation of our elegant persons, exquisite manners, 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 167 
 
 and refined tastes. They might provide against that loss 
 by picking out a few of us to keep for ornament's sake. 
 No nation with a sense of beauty would banish Lady 
 Brandon, or Miss Lindsay, or Miss Wylie." 
 
 ** Such nonsense ! " said Jane. 
 
 " You would hardly believe how much I have spent in 
 sending workmen out of the country against my own view 
 of the country's interest," continued Trefusis, addressing 
 Erskine. "When I make a convert among the working 
 classes, the first thing he does is to make a speech some- 
 where declaring " his new convictions. His employer 
 immediately discharges him — * gives him the sack ' is the 
 technical phrase. The sack is the sword of the capitalist ; 
 and hunger keeps it sharp for him. His shield is the law, 
 made for the purpose by his own class. Thus equipped, 
 he gives the worst of it to my poor convert, who comes 
 ruined to me for assistance. As I cannot afford to 
 pension him for life, I get rid of him by assisting him 
 to emigrate. Sometimes he prospers and repays me : 
 sometimes I hear no more of him : sometimes he comes 
 back with his habits unsettled. One man whom I sent to 
 America made his fortune ; but he was not a social 
 democrat : he was a clerk who had embezzled, and who 
 applied to me for assistance under the impression that I 
 considered it rather meritorious to rob the till of a 
 capitalist." 
 
 " He was a practical Socialist, in fact," said Erskine. 
 
 **0n the contrary, he was a somewhat too grasping 
 Individualist. Howbeit, I enabled him to make good his 
 defalcation — in the city they consider a defalcation made 
 good when the money is replaced — and to go to New York. 
 I recommended him not to go there ; but he knew better 
 than I ; for he made a fortune by speculating with money 
 that existed only in the imagination of those with whom he 
 dealt. He never repaid me : he is probably far too good 
 a man of business to pay money that cannot be extracted 
 from him by an appeal to the law or to his commercial 
 credit. Mr. Erskine," added Trefusis, lowering his voice, 
 and turning to the poet : "you are wrong to take part with 
 
l68 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 hucksters and money-hunters against your own nature, 
 even though the attack upon them is led by a man who 
 prefers photography to etching." 
 
 ** But I assure you — You quite mistake me," said 
 
 Erskine, taken aback. '* I " He stopped ; looked to 
 
 Sir Charles for support ; and then said airily, *' I dont 
 doubt that you are quite right. I hate business and men 
 of business ; and as to social questions, I have only one 
 article of belief, which is, that the sole refiner of human 
 nature is fine art." 
 
 " Whereas I believe that the sole refiner of art is human 
 nature. Art rises when men rise, and grovels when men 
 grovel. What is your opinion } " 
 
 ** I agree with you in many ways," replied Sir Charles 
 nervously; for a lack of interest in his fellow-creatures, 
 and an excess of interest in himself, had prevented him 
 from obtaining that power of dealing with social questions 
 which, he felt, a baronet ought to possess ; and he was 
 consequently afraid to differ from any one who alluded to 
 them with confidence. ** If you take an interest in art, I 
 believe I can show you a few things worth seeing." 
 
 " Thank you. In return I will some day shew you a 
 remarkable collection of photographs I possess : many of 
 them taken by me. I venture to think they will teach you 
 something." 
 
 ** No doubt," said Sir Charles. " Shall we return to 
 the gallery } I have a few treasures there that photography 
 is not likely to surpass for some time yet." 
 
 ** Let's go through the conservatory," said Jane. ** Dont 
 
 you like flowers, Mr. Smi I never can remember your 
 
 proper name." 
 
 " Extremely," said Trefusis. 
 
 They rose, and went out into a long hothouse. Here 
 Lady Brandon, finding Erskine at her side, and Sir Charles 
 before her with Gertrude, looked round for Trefusis, with 
 whom she intended to enjoy a trifling flirtation under 
 cover of showing him the flowers. He was out of sight ; 
 but she heard his footsteps in the passage on the opposite 
 side of the greenhouse. Agatha was also invisible. Jane, 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 169 
 
 not daring to rearrange their procession lest her design 
 should become obvious, had to walk on with Erskine. 
 
 Agatha had turned unintentionally into the opposite 
 alley to that which the others had chosen. When she saw 
 what she had done, and found herself virtually alone with 
 Trefusis, who had followed her, she blamed him for it, and 
 was about to retrace her steps when he said coolly, 
 
 "Were you shocked when you heard of Henrietta's 
 sudden death ? " 
 
 Agatha struggled with herself for a moment, and then 
 said in a suppressed voice, ** How dare you speak to me?" 
 
 ** Why not ? " said he, astonished. 
 
 " I am not going to enter into a discussion with you. 
 You know what I mean very well." 
 
 *' You mean that you are oifended with me: that is plain 
 enough. But when I part from a young lady on good 
 terms ; and after a lapse of years, daring which we neither 
 meet nor correspond, she asks me how I dare speak to 
 her, I am naturally startled." 
 
 *' We did not part on good terms." 
 
 Trefusis stretched his eyebrows, as if to stretch his 
 memory. " If not," he said, " I have forgotten it, on my 
 honour. When did we part, and what happened } It cannot 
 have been anything very serious, or I should remember it." 
 
 His forgetfulness wounded Agatha. ** No doubt you 
 
 are well accustomed to " She checked herself, and 
 
 made a successful snatch at her normal manner with 
 gentlemen. " I scarcely remember what it was, now that 
 I begin to think. Some trifle, I suppose. Do you like 
 orchids } " 
 
 " They have nothing to do with our affairs at present. 
 You are not in earnest about the orchids ; and you are 
 trying to run away from a mistake instead of clearing it up. 
 That is a short-sighted policy, always." 
 
 Agatha grew alarmed ; for she felt his old influence over 
 her returning. ** I do not wish to speak of it," she said 
 firmly. 
 
 Her firmness was lost on him. ** I do not even know 
 what // means yet," he said ; ** and I want to know ; for I 
 
17Q AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 believe there is some misunderstanding between us ; and 
 it is the trick of your sex to perpetuate misunderstandings 
 by forbidding all allusions to them. Perhaps, leaving 
 Lyvern so hastily, I forgot to fulfil some promise, or to say 
 farewell, or something of that sort. But do you know how 
 suddenly I was called away ? I got a telegram to say that 
 Henrietta was dying; and I had only time to change my 
 clothes — you remember my disguise — and catch the 
 express. And, after all, she was dead when I arrived." 
 
 *' I know that," said Agatha uneasily. *' Please say no 
 more about it." 
 
 " Not if it distresses you. Just let me hope that you did 
 not suppose I blamed you for your share in the matter, 
 or that I told the Janseniuses of it. I did not. Yes: 
 I like orchids. A plant that can subsist on a scrap of 
 board is an instance of natural econ " 
 
 ''You blame me!^' cried Agatha. **/ never told the 
 Janseniuses. What would they have thought of you if I 
 had ? " 
 
 " Far worse of you than of me, however unjustly. You 
 were the immediate cause of the tragedy ; I only the 
 remote one. Jansenius is not far-seeing when his feelings 
 are touched. Few men are." 
 
 ** I dont understand you in the least. What tragedy do 
 you mean .? " 
 
 *' Henrietta's death. I call it a tragedy conventionally. 
 Seriously, of course, it was commonplace enough." 
 
 Agatha stopped and faced him. ** What do you mean 
 by what you said just now ? You said that I was the 
 immediate cause of the tragedy; and you say that you 
 were talking of Henrietta's — of Henrietta. I had nothing 
 to do with her illness." 
 
 Trefusis looked at her as if considering whether he 
 would go any further. Then, watching her with the 
 curiosity of a vivisector, he said, *' Strange to say, Agatha" 
 (she shrank proudly at the word), '* Henrietta might have 
 been alive now, but for you. I am very glad she is not ; 
 so you need not reproach yourself on my account. She 
 died of a journey she made to Lyvern in great excitement 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 171 
 
 and distress, and in intensely cold weather. You caused 
 her to make that journey by writing her a letter which 
 made her jealous." 
 
 *' Do you mean to accuse me " 
 
 " No : stop ! " he said hastily, the vivisecting spirit in 
 him exorcised by her shaking voice : *' I accuse you of 
 nothing. Why do you not speak honestly to me when you 
 are at your ease ? If you confess your real thoughts only 
 under torture, who can resist the temptation to torture you } 
 One must charge you with homicide to make you speak of 
 anything but orchids/' 
 
 But Agatha had drawn the new inference from the old 
 facts, and would not be talked out of repudiating it. ** It 
 was not my fault," she said. *' It was yours — altogether 
 yours." 
 
 " Altogether," he assented, relieved to find her indignant 
 instead of remorseful. 
 
 She was not to be soothed by a verbal acquiescence. 
 "Your behaviour was most unmanly ; and I told you so ; 
 
 and you could not deny it. You pretended that you 
 
 You pretended to have feelings You tried to make 
 
 me believe that Oh, I am a fool to talk to you : you 
 
 know perfectly well what I mean." 
 
 " Perfectly. I tried to make you believe that I was in 
 love with you. How do you know I was not } " 
 
 She disdained to answer ; but as he waited calmly she 
 said, " You had no right to be." 
 
 ** That does not prove that I was not. Come, Agatha : 
 you pretended to like me when you did not care two 
 straws about me. You confessed as much in that fatal 
 letter, which I have somewhere at home. It has a great 
 rent right across it ; and the mark of her heel : she must 
 have stamped on it in her rage, poor girl ! So that I can 
 shew your own hand for the very deception you accused 
 me — without proof — of having practised on you." 
 
 " You are clever, and can twist things. What pleasure 
 does it give you to make me miserable ? " 
 
 " Ha ! " he exclaimed, in an abrupt, sardonic laugh. 
 " I dont know : you bewitch me, I think." 
 
I7i AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 Agatha made no reply, but walked on quickly to the end 
 of the conservatory, where the others were waiting for 
 them. 
 
 ** Where have you been ; and what have you been doing 
 all this time ? " said Jane, as Trefusis came up, hurrying 
 after Agatha. " I dont know what you call it ; but I call 
 it perfectly disgraceful ! " 
 
 Sir Charles reddened at his wife's bad taste ; and Trefusis 
 replied gravely, " We have been admiring the orchids, and 
 talking about them. Miss Wylie takes an interest in 
 them." 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 One morning Gertrude got a letter from her father. 
 
 My dear Gerty : I have Just received a bill for £i\o from Madame 
 Smith for your dresses. May I ask you how long this sort of thing is to go 
 on ? 1 need not tell you that I have not the means to support you in such ex- 
 travagance. I am, as you know, always anxious that you should go about 
 in a style worthy of your position) but unless you can manage without 
 calling on me to pay away hundreds of pounds every season to Madame 
 Smith, you had better give up society and slay at home. I positively cannot 
 afford it. As far as I can see, going into society has not done you much 
 good. I had to raise £^oo last month on Franklands ; and it is too bad 
 if I must raise more to pay your dressmaker. You might at least employ 
 some civil person, or one whose charges are moderate. Madame Smith 
 tells me that she will not wait any longer, and charges £60 for a single 
 dress. I hope you fully understand that there must be an end to this. 
 
 I hear from your mother that young Erskine is with you at 
 Brandon's. I do not think much of him-. He is not well off, nor likely 
 to get on, as he has taken to poetry and so forth. I am told also that a 
 man named Trefusis visits at the Beeches a good deal fiow. He must be 
 a fool ; for he contested the last Birmingham election, and came out at 
 the foot of the poll with thij'ty-iwo votes through calling himself a Social 
 Democrat or some such foreign rubbish, instead of saying out like a man 
 that he was a Radical. I suppose the name stuck in his throat ; for his 
 mother was one of the Howards of Breconcastle ; so he has good blood in 
 him, though his father was nobody. I wish he had your bills to pay : 
 he could buy and sell me ten times over, after all my twenty-five years 
 service. 
 
 As I am thinking of getting something done to the house, I had rather 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 173 
 
 you did not come back this month, if you can possibly hold on at Brandon^ s. 
 Remember me to him, and give our kind regards to his wife. I should 
 be obliged if you would gather some hemlock leaves and send them to me. 
 I want them for my ointment : the stuff the chemists sell is no good. Your 
 mother's eyes are bad again ; and your brother Berkeley has been gamblings 
 and seems to think I ought to pay his debts for him. lam greatly worried 
 over it all ; and I hope that, until you have settled yourself you will be 
 more reasonable, and not run these everlasting bills upon me. You ai'e 
 enjoying yourself out of reach of all the unpleasantness ; but it bears 
 hardly upon 
 
 your affectionate father, 
 
 C. B. Lindsay. 
 
 A faint sketch of the lines Time intended to engrave on 
 Gertrude's brow appeared there as she read the letter; but 
 she hastened to give the admiral's kind regards to her host 
 and hostess, and discussed her mother's health feelingly 
 with them. After breakfast she went to the library, and 
 wrote her reply. 
 
 Brandon Beeches. 
 Tuesday. 
 
 Dear Papa : Considering that it is more than three years since you paid 
 Madame Smith last, and that then her bill, which included 7ny court 
 dress, was only £\%o, 1 cannot see how I could possibly have been more 
 economical, unless you expect me to go in 7-ags. I am sorry that Mada?7ze 
 Smith has asked for the money at stich an inconvenient time ; but when 
 I begged you to pay her something in March last year you told vie to keep 
 her quiet by giving her a good order. I am not surprised at her not being 
 very civil, as she has plenty of tradesmen'' s daughters among her customers 
 who pay her more than ;^300 a year for their dresses. I am wearing a 
 skirt at present which I got two years ago. 
 
 Sir Charles is going to town on Thursday : he will bring you the 
 hemlock. Tell jnamma that there is an old woman here who knows some 
 wonderful cure for sore eyes. She will not tell what the ingredients are ; 
 but it cures everyone ; and there is no use ingivitig an oculist two guineas 
 for telling us that reading in bed is bad for the eyes, when we know 
 perfectly well that mamma will not give up doing it. If you pay Berkeley's 
 debts, do not forget that he ozoes me £2,. 
 
 Another schoolfellow of mine is staying here now ; and I think that 
 Mr. Trefusis will have the pleasure of paying her bills so?ne day. He is 
 a great pet of Lady Brandon's. Sir Charles was angry at first because 
 she invited him here ; and we were all surprised at it. The man has a 
 bad reputation, and headed a mob that threw down the walls of the park ; 
 and we hardly thought he would be cool enough to come after that. But 
 
174 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 he does not seem to care whether we want him or not ; and he comes when 
 he likes. As he talks cleverly^ we find hitn a godsend in this dull place. 
 It it really not such a paradise as you seem to think; but you need not be 
 afraid of my returning any sooner than I can help. 
 
 Your affectionate daughter, 
 
 Gertrude Lindsay. 
 
 When Gertrude had closed this letter, and torn up her 
 father's, she thought little more about either. They might 
 have made her unhappy had they found her happy ; but as 
 hopeless discontent was her normal state, and enjoyment 
 but a rare accident, recriminatory passages with her father 
 only put her into a bad humour, and did not in the least 
 disappoint or humiliate her. 
 
 For the sake of exercise, she resolved to carry her letter 
 to the village post office, and return along the Riverside 
 Road, whereby she had seen hemlock growing. She took 
 care to go out unobserved, lest Agatha should volunteer 
 to walk with her, or Jane declare her intention of driving 
 to the post office in the afternoon, and sulk for the rest 
 of the day unless the trip to the village were postponed 
 until then. She took with her, as a protection against 
 tramps, a big St. Bernard dog named Max. This animal, 
 which was young and enthusiastic, had taken a strong 
 fancy to her, and had expressed it frankly and boisterously ; 
 and she, whose affections had been starved in her home 
 and in society, had encouraged him with more kindness 
 than she had ever shown to any human being. 
 
 In the village, having posted her letter, she turned 
 towards a lane that led to the Riverside Road. Max, una- 
 ware of her reason for choosing the longest way home, 
 remonstrated by halting in the middle of the lane, wagging 
 his tail rapidly and uttering gruff barks. 
 
 " Dont be stupid, sir," said Gertrude impatiently. " I 
 am going this way." 
 
 Max, apparently understanding, rushed after her ; passed 
 her ; and disappeared in a cloud of dust raised by his effort 
 to check himself when he had left her far enough behind. 
 When he came back she kissed his nose, and ran a race 
 with him until she too was panting, and had to stand still 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 175 
 
 to recover her breath, whilst he bounded about, barking 
 ferociously. She had not for many years enjoyed such 
 a frolic ; and the thought of this presently brought tears 
 to her eyes. Rather peevishly she bade Max be quiet; 
 walked slowly to cool herself ; and put up her sunshade 
 to avert freckles. 
 
 The sun was now at the meridian. On a slope to Gert- 
 rude's right hand, Sallust's House, with its cinnamon 
 coloured walls and yellow frieze, gave a foreign air to the 
 otherwise very English landscape. She passed by without 
 remembering who lived there. Further down, on some 
 waste land separated from the road by a dry ditch and a 
 low mud wall, a cluster of hemlocks, nearly six feet high, 
 poisoned the air with their odour. She crossed the ditch ; 
 took a pair of gardening gloves from her plaited straw 
 handbasket ; and busied herself with the hemlock leaves, 
 pulling the tender ones, separating them from the stalk, 
 and filling her basket with the web. She forgot Max until 
 an impression of dead silence, as if the earth had stopped, 
 caused her to look round in vague dread. Trefusis, with 
 his hand abandoned to the dog, who was trying how much 
 of it he could cram into his mouth, was standing within a 
 few yards of her, watching her intently. Gertrude turned 
 pale, and came out hastily from among the bushes. Then 
 she had a strange sensation as if something had happened 
 high above her head. There was a threatening growl, a 
 commanding exclamation, and an unaccountable pause, at 
 the expiration of which she found herself supine on the 
 sward, with her parasol between her eyes and the sun. A 
 sudden scoop of Max's wet warm tongue in her right ear 
 startled her into activity. She sat up, and saw Trefusis on 
 his knees at her side, holding the parasol with an uncon- 
 cerned expression, whilst Max was snuffing at her in restless 
 anxiety opposite. 
 
 *' I must go home," she said. " I must go home 
 instantly." 
 
 ** Not at all," said Trefusis, soothingly. "They have 
 just sent word to say that everything is settled satis- 
 factorily, and that you need not come." 
 
176 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " Have they ? " she said faintly. Then she lay down 
 again ; and it seemed to her that a very long time elapsed. 
 Suddenly recollecting that Trefusis had supported her 
 gently with his hand to prevent her falling back too 
 rudely, she rose again, and this time got upon her feet 
 with his help. 
 
 ** I must go home," she said again. ** It is a matter of 
 life or death." 
 
 " No, no," he said softly. *' It is all right. You may 
 depend on me." 
 
 She looked at him earnestly. He had taken her hand 
 to steady her ; for she was swaying a little. ** Are you 
 sure," she said, grasping his arm. ''Are you quite 
 sure } " 
 
 " Absolutely certain. You know I am always right, do 
 you not ? " 
 
 **Yes, oh yes: you have always been true to me. 
 
 You " Here her senses came back with a rush. 
 
 Dropping his hand as if it had become red hot, she said 
 sharply, " What are you talking about ? " 
 
 " I dont know," he said, resuming his indifferent manner 
 with a laugh. " Are you better } Let me drive you to the 
 Beeches. My stable is within a stone's throw : I can get 
 a trap out in ten minutes." 
 
 *' No, thank you," said Gertrude haughtily. " I do not 
 wish to drive." She paused, and added in some be- 
 wilderment, '* What has happened } " 
 
 ** You fainted ; and " 
 
 *' I did not faint," said Gertrude indignantly. " I never 
 fainted in my life." 
 
 '' Yes, you did." 
 
 " Pardon me, Mr. Trefusis. I did not." 
 
 *' You shall judge for yourself. I was coming through 
 this field when I saw you gathering hemlock. Hemlock 
 is interesting on account of Socrates ; and you were inte- 
 resting as a young lady gathering poison. So I stopped to 
 look on. Presently you came out from among the bushes 
 as if you had seen a snake there. Then you fell into my 
 arms — which led me to suppose that you had fainted — ; 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 177 
 
 and Max, concluding that it was all my fault, nearly sprang 
 at my throat. You were overpowered by the scent of the 
 water-hemlock, which you must have been inhaling for 
 ten minutes or more." 
 
 ** I did not know that there was any danger, " said 
 Gertrude, crestfallen. *' I felt very tired when I came to. 
 That was why I lay so long the second time. I really 
 could not help it." 
 
 ** You did not lie very long." 
 
 " Not when I first fell : that was only a few seconds, I 
 know. But I must have lain there nearly ten minutes 
 after I recovered." 
 
 " You were nearly a minute insensible when you first 
 fell ; and when you recovered you only rested for about 
 one second. After that you raved ; and I invented suitable 
 answers until you suddenly asked me what I was talking 
 about." 
 
 Gertrude reddened a little as the possibility of her 
 having raved indiscreetly occurred to her. " It was very 
 silly of me to faint," she said. 
 
 " You could not help it : you are only human. I shall 
 walk with you to the Beeches/' 
 
 " Thank you : I will not trouble you," she said 
 quickly. 
 
 He shook his head. " I do not know how long the 
 effect of that abominable water-weed may last," he said ; 
 " and I dare not leave you to walk alone. If you prefer 
 it I can send you in a trap with my gardener ; but I had 
 rather accompany you myself." 
 
 "You are giving yourself a great deal of unnecessary 
 trouble. I will walk. I am quite well again, and need no 
 assistance." 
 
 They started without another word. Gertrude had to 
 concentrate all her energy to conceal from him that she 
 was giddy. Numbness and lassitude crept upon her; and 
 she was beginning to hope that she was only dreaming it 
 all when he roused her by saying, 
 
 ** Take my arm." 
 
 " No, thank you." 
 
 12 
 
178 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** Do not be so senselessly obstinate. You will have to 
 lean on the hedge for support if you refuse my help. I 
 am sorry I did not insist on getting the trap." 
 
 Gertrude had not been spoken to in this tone since 
 her childhood. " I am perfectly well," she said sharply. 
 "You are really very officious." 
 
 ** You are not perfectly well ; and you know it. How- 
 ever, if you make a brave struggle, you will probably be 
 able to walk home without my assistance ; and the effort 
 may do you good." 
 
 " You are very rude," she said peremptorily. 
 
 ** I know it," he replied calmly. '* You will find three 
 classes of men polite to you : slaves ; men who think 
 much of their manners and nothing of you; and your 
 lovers. I am none of these, and therefore give you back 
 your ill manners with interest. Why do you resist your 
 good angel by suppressing those natural and sincere 
 impulses which come to you often enough, and some- 
 times bring a look into your face that might tame a bear 
 — a look which you hasten to extinguish as a thief darkens 
 his lantern at the sound of a footstep." 
 
 " Mr. Trefusis : I am not accustomed to be lectured." 
 
 ** That is why I lecture you. I felt curious to see how 
 your good breeding, by which I think you set some store, 
 would serve you in entirely novel circumstances — those of 
 a man speaking his mind to you, for instance. What is 
 the result of my experiment ? Instead of rebuking me 
 with the sweetness and dignity which I could not, in spite 
 of my past observation, help expectmg from you, you 
 churlishly repel my offer of the assistance you need ; tell 
 me that I am very rude, very officious ; and, in short, do 
 what you can to make my position disagreeable and 
 humiliating." 
 
 She looked at him haughtily; but his expression was 
 void of offence or fear ; and he continued, unanswered, 
 
 "I would bear all this from a working woman without 
 remonstrance ; for she would owe me no graces of manner 
 or morals. But you are a lady. That means that many 
 have starved and drudged in uncleanly discomfort in order 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 179 
 
 that you may have white and unbroken hands, fine gar- 
 ments, and exquisite manners — that you may be a living 
 fountain of those influences that soften our natures and 
 lives. When such a costly thing as a lady breaks down 
 at the first touch of a firm hand, I feel justified in com- 
 plaining." 
 
 Gertrude walked on quickly, and said between her teeth, 
 ** I dont want to hear any of your absurd views, Mr. 
 Trefusis." 
 
 He laughed. "My unfortunate views!" he said. 
 ** Whenever I make an inconvenient remark, it is alway§ 
 set aside as an expression of certain dangerous crazes with 
 which I am supposed to be afflicted. When I point out to 
 Sir Charles that one of his favourite artists has not accur- 
 ately observed something before attempting to draw it, he 
 replies, 'You know our views diff'er on these things, 
 Trefusis.' When I told Miss Wylie's guardian that his 
 emigration scheme was little better than a fraud, he said, 
 * You must excuse me ; but I cannot enter into your 
 peculiar views.' One of my views at present is that Miss 
 Lindsay is more amiable under the influence of hemlock 
 than under that of the social system which has made her 
 so unhappy." 
 
 ** Well ! " exclaimed Gertrude, outraged. Then, after a 
 pause, "I was under the impression that I had accepted 
 the escort of a gentleman." Then, after another pause, 
 Trefusis being quite undisturbed, " How do you know that 
 I am unhappy } " 
 
 " By a certain defect in your countenance, which lacks 
 the crowning beauty of happiness ; and a certain defect in 
 your voice which will never disappear until you learn to 
 love or pity those to whom you speak." 
 
 "You are wrong," said Gertrude, with calm disdain. 
 " You do not understand me in the least. I am particularly 
 attached to my friends." 
 
 " Then I have never seen you in their company." 
 
 " You are still wrong." 
 
 ** Then how can you speak as you do, look as you do, 
 act as you do } " 
 
i8o AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " What do you mean ? How do I look and act ? " 
 
 " Like one of the railings of Belgrave Square, cursed 
 with consciousness of itself, fears of the judgment of the 
 other railings, and doubts of their fitness to stand in the 
 same row with it. You are cold, mistrustful, cruel to 
 nervous or clumsy people, and more afraid of the criticisms 
 of those with whom you dance and dine than of your 
 conscience. All of which prevents you from looking like 
 an angel." 
 
 " Thank you. Do you consider paying compliments the 
 perfection of gentlemanly behaviour ? " 
 
 "■ Have I been paying you many } That last remark of 
 mine was not meant as one. On my honour, the angels 
 will not disappoint me if they are no lovelier than you 
 should be if you had that look in your face and that tone 
 in your voice I spoke of just now. It can hardly displease 
 you to hear that. If I were particularly handsome myself, 
 I should like to be told so." 
 
 " I am sorry I cannot tell you so." 
 
 ** Oh ! Ha ! ha ! What a retort. Miss Lindsay ! You 
 are not sorry either : you are rather glad." 
 
 Gertrude knew it, and was angry with herself, not 
 because her retort was false, but because she thought it 
 unladylike. " You have no right to annoy me," she 
 exclaimed, in spite of herself. 
 
 *' None whatever," he said, humbly. *' If I have done 
 so, forgive me before we part. I will go no further with 
 you : Max will give the alarm if you faint in the avenue, 
 which I dont think you are likely to do, as you have for- 
 gotten all about the hemlock." 
 
 *' Oh, how maddening ! " she cried. ** I have left my 
 basket behind." 
 
 " Never mind : I will find it and have it filled and sent 
 to you." 
 
 ** Thank you. I am sorry to trouble you." 
 
 " Not at all. I hope you do not want the hemlock to 
 help you to get rid of the burden of life." 
 
 ** Nonsense. I want it for my father, who uses it for 
 medicine." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, i8l 
 
 "I will bring it myself to-morrow. Is that soon 
 enough ? " 
 
 ** Quite. I am in no hurry. Thank you, Mr. Trefusis. 
 Good-bye." 
 
 She gave him her hand, and even smiled a little ; and 
 then hurried away. He stood watching her as she passed 
 along the avenue under the beeches. Once, when she 
 came into a band of sunlight at a gap in the trees, she 
 made so pretty a figure in her spring dress of violet and 
 white that his eyes kindled as he gazed. He took out his 
 note-book, and entered her name and the date, with a 
 brief memorandum. 
 
 *' I have thawed her," he said to himself as he put up 
 his book. ** She shall learn a lesson or two to hand on 
 to her children before I have done with her. A trifle 
 underbred, too, or she would not insist so much on her 
 breeding. Henrietta used to wear a dress like that. I 
 am glad to see that there is no danger of her taking to 
 me personally." 
 
 He turned away, and saw a crone passing, bending 
 beneath a bundle of sticks. He eyed it curiously; and 
 she scowled at him, and hurried on. 
 
 " Hallo," he said. 
 
 She continued for a few steps ; but her courage failed 
 her, and she stopped. 
 
 *' You are Mrs. Hickling, I think } " 
 
 " Yes, please your worship." 
 
 " You are the woman who carried away an old wooden 
 gate that lay on Sir Charles Brandon's land last winter, 
 and used it for firewood. You were imprisoned for seven 
 days for it." 
 
 " You may send me there again if you like," she re- 
 torted, in a cracked voice, as she turned at bay. " But 
 the Lord will make me even with you some day. Cursed 
 be them that oppress the poor and needy : it is one of the 
 seven deadly sins." 
 
 " Those green laths on your back are the remainder of 
 my garden gate," he said. " You took the first half last 
 Saturday. Next time you want fuel, come to the house 
 
I82 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 and ask for coals ; and let my gates alone : I suppose you 
 can enjoy a fire without stealing the combustibles. Now 
 pay me for my gate by telling me something I want to 
 know." 
 
 " And a kind gentleman too, sir : blessings " 
 
 " What is the hemlock good for } " 
 
 " The hemlock, kind gentleman } For the evil, sir, to 
 be sure." 
 
 " Scrofulous ulcers ! " he exclaimed, recoiling. " The 
 father of that beautiful girl ! " He turned homeward, and 
 trudged along with his head bent, muttering, ** All rotten 
 to the bone. Oh civilization ! civilization ! civilization ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 "What has come over Gertrude } " said Agatha one day 
 to Lady Brandon. 
 
 " Why } Is anything the matter with her .? " 
 " I dont know : she has not been the same since she 
 poisoned herself. And why did she not tell about it } 
 But for Trefusis we should never have known." 
 *' Gertrude always made secrets of things." 
 " She was in a vile temper for two days after ; and now 
 she is quite changed. She falls into long reveries, and 
 does not hear a word of what is going on around. Then 
 she starts into life again, and begs your pardon with the 
 greatest sweetness for not catching what you have said." 
 
 " I hate her when she is polite : it is not natural to her. 
 As to her going to sleep, that is the effect of the hemlock. 
 We know a man who took a spoonful of strychnine in a 
 bath ; and he never was the same afterwards." 
 
 " I think she is making up her mind to encourage 
 Erskine," said Agatha. " When I came here he hardly 
 dared speak to her — at least, she always snubbed him. 
 Now she lets him talk as much as he likes, and actually 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 183 
 
 sends him on messages and allows him to carry things 
 for her." 
 
 ** Yes. I never saw anybody like Gertrude in my life. 
 In London, if men were attentive to her, she sat on them 
 for being officious ; and if they let her alone she was 
 angry at being neglected. Erskine is quite good enough 
 for her, / think." 
 
 Here Erskine appeared at the door, and looked round 
 the room. 
 
 ** She's not here," said Jane. 
 
 *M am seeking Sir Charles," he said, withdrawing some- 
 what stiffly. 
 
 ** What a lie ! " said Jane, discomfited by his reception 
 of her jest. ** He was talking to Sir Charles ten minutes 
 ago in the billiard room. Men are such conceited fools ! " 
 
 Agatha had strolled to the window, and was looking 
 discontentedly at the prospect, as she had often done at 
 school when alone, and sometimes did now in society. 
 The door opened again ; and Sir Charles appeared. He, 
 too, looked round ; but when his roving glance reached 
 Agatha, it cast anchor ; and he came in. 
 
 ** Are you busy just now, Miss Wylie } " he asked. 
 
 ** Yes," said Jane hastily. ** She is going to write a 
 letter for me." 
 
 " Really, Jane," he said, " I think you are old enough 
 to write your letters without troubling Miss Wylie." 
 , " When I do write my own letters, you always find fault 
 with them," she retorted. 
 
 *' I thought perhaps you might have leisure to try over 
 a duet with me," he said, turning to Agatha. 
 
 " Certainly," she replied, hoping to smooth matters by 
 humouring him. "The letter will do any time before 
 post hour." 
 
 Jane reddened, and said shortly, ** I will write it myself, 
 if you will not." 
 
 Sir Charles quite lost his temper. ** How can you be so 
 damnably rude } " he said, turning upon his wife. ** What 
 objection have you to my singing duets with Miss Wylie.?" 
 
 *' Nice language that ! " said Jane. ** I never said I 
 
i84 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 objected ; and you have no right to drag her away to the 
 piano just when she is going to write a letter for me." 
 
 ** I do not wish Miss Wylie to do anything except what 
 pleases her best. It seems to me that writing letters to 
 your tradespeople cannot be a very pleasant occupation." 
 
 ** Pray dont mind me," said Agatha. ** It is not the 
 least trouble to me. I used to write all Jane's letters for 
 her at school. Suppose I write the letter first ; and then 
 we can have the duet. You will not mind waiting five 
 minutes ? " 
 
 ** I can wait as long as you please, of course. But it 
 seems such an absurd abuse of your good nature, that I 
 cannot help protesti " 
 
 ** Oh, let it wait ! " exclaimed Jane. " Such a ridiculous 
 fuss to make about asking Agatha to write a letter, just 
 because you happen to want her to play you your duets ! 
 I am certain she is heartily sick and tired of them." 
 
 Agatha, to escape the altercation, went to the library, 
 and wrote the letter. When she returned to the drawing- 
 room, she found no one there ; but Sir Charles came in 
 presently. 
 
 *' I am so sorry, Miss Wylie," he said, as he opened the 
 piano for her, ** that you should be incommoded because 
 my wife is silly enough to be jealous." 
 
 " Jealous ! " 
 
 " Of course. Idiocy ! " 
 
 "Oh, you are mistaken," said Agatha, incredulously. 
 " How could she possibly be jealous of me ? " 
 
 "She is jealous of everybody and everything," he replied 
 bitterly; "and she cares for nobody and for nothing. 
 You do not know what I have to endure sometimes from 
 her." 
 
 Agatha thought her most discreet course was to sit 
 down immediately, and begin " I would that my love." 
 Whilst she played and sang, she thought over what Sir 
 Charles had just let slip. She had found him a pleasant 
 companion, light-hearted, fond of music and fun, polite 
 and considerate, appreciative of her talents, quickwitted 
 without being oppressively clever, and, as a married man, 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 185 
 
 disinterested in his attentions. But it now occurred to her 
 that perhaps they had been a good deal together of late. 
 
 Sir Charles had by this time wandered from his part 
 into hers ; and he now recalled her to the music by 
 stopping to ask whether he was right. Knowing by ex- 
 perience what his difficulty was likely to be, she gave him 
 his note, and went on. They had not been singing long 
 when Jane came back and sat down, expressing a hope 
 that her presence would not disturb them. It did disturb 
 them. Agatha suspected that she had come there to 
 watch them ; and Sir Charles knew it. Besides, Lady 
 Brandon, even when her mind was tranquil, was habitually 
 restless. She could not speak because of the music ; and, 
 though she held an open book in her hand, she could not 
 read and watch simultaneously. She gaped, and leaned 
 to one end of the sofa until, on the point of overbalanc- 
 ing, she recovered herself with a prodigious bounce. 
 The floor vibrated at her every movement. At last she 
 could keep silence no longer. 
 
 " Oh dear ! " she said, yawning audibly. " It must be 
 five o'clock at the very earliest." 
 
 Agatha turned round upon the piano-stool, feeling that 
 music and Lady Brandon were incompatible. Sir Charles, 
 for his guest's sake, tried hard to restrain his exasperation. 
 
 " Probably your watch will tell you," he said. 
 
 ** Thank you for nothing," said Jane. ** Agatha : where 
 is Gertrude } " 
 
 ** How can Miss Wylie possibly tell you where she is, 
 Jane ? I think you have gone mad to-day." 
 
 " She is most likely playing billiards with Mr. Erskine," 
 said Agatha, interposing quickly to forestall a retort from 
 Jane, with its usual sequel of a domestic squabble. 
 , ** I think it is very strange of Gertrude to pass the whole 
 day with Chester in the billiard room," said Jane discon- 
 tentedly. 
 
 ** There is not the slightest impropriety in her doing so," 
 said Sir Charles. " If our hospitality does not place Miss 
 Lindsay above suspicion, the more shame for us. How 
 would you feel if any one else made such a remark .? " 
 
l86 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " Oh, stuif ! " said Jane peevishly. ** You are always 
 preaching long rigmaroles about nothing at all. I did not 
 say that there was any impropriety about Gertrude. She 
 is too proper to be pleasant, in my opinion." 
 
 Sir Charles, unable to trust himself further, frowned and 
 left the room : Jane speeding him with a contemptuous 
 laugh. 
 
 ** Dont ever be such a fool as to get married," she said, 
 when he was gone. She looked up as she spoke, and was 
 alarmed to see Agatha seated on the pianoforte, with her 
 ankles swinging in the old school fashion. 
 
 " Jane," she said, surveying her hostess coolly : ** do you 
 know what I would do if I were Sir Charles } " 
 
 Jane did not know. 
 
 ** I would get a big stick ; beat you black and blue ; and 
 then lock you up on bread and water for a week." 
 
 Jane half rose, red and angry. *' Wh why } " she 
 
 said, relapsing upon the sofa. 
 
 ** If I were a man, I would not, for mere chivalry's sake, 
 let a woman treat me like a troublesome dog. You want 
 a sound thrashing." 
 
 ** I'd like to see anybody thrash me,^' said Jane, rising 
 again and displaying her formidable person erect. Then 
 she burst into tears, and said, " I wont have such things 
 said to me in my own house. How dare you } " 
 
 " You deserve it for being jealous of me," said Agatha. ' 
 
 Jane's eyes dilated angrily, ** I ! — I ! — I jealous of 
 you ! " She looked round, as if for a missile. Not finding 
 one, she sat down again, and said in a voice stifled with 
 tears, ** J — Jealous oiyou, indeed ! " 
 
 *' You have good reason to be ; for he is fonder of me 
 than of you." 
 
 Jane opened her mouth and eyes convulsively, but only 
 uttered a gasp ; and Agatha proceeded calmly, " I am 
 polite to him, which you never are. When he speaks to 
 me, I allow him to finish his sentence without expressing, 
 as you do, a foregone conclusion that it is not worth 
 attending to. I do not yawn and talk whilst he is singing. 
 When he converses with me on art or literature, about 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 187 
 
 which he knows twice as much as I do, and at least ten 
 times as much as you" (Jane gasped again) "I do not 
 make a silly answer and turn to my neighbour at the other 
 side with a remark about the stables or the weather. 
 When he is willing to be pleased, as he always is, I am 
 willing to be pleasant. And that is why he likes me." 
 
 ** He does not like you. He is the same to every one." 
 
 ** Except his wife. He likes me so much, that you, like 
 a great goose as you are, came up here to watch us at our 
 duets, and made yourself as disagreeable as you possibly 
 could whilst I was making myself charming. The poor 
 man was ashamed of you." 
 
 *' He wasnt," said Jane, sobbing. ** I didnt do anything. 
 I didnt say anything. I wont bear it. I will get a 
 divorce. I will ■" 
 
 ** You will mend your ways, if you have any sense left," 
 said Agatha remorselessly. " Do not make such a noise, 
 or some one will come to see what is the matter ; and I 
 shall have to get down from the piano, where I am very 
 comfortable." 
 
 " It is you who are jealous." 
 
 *' Oh, is it, Jane } I have not allowed Sir Charles to 
 fall in love with me yet; but I can do so very easily. 
 What will you wager that he will not kiss me before 
 to-morrow evening .? " 
 
 " It will be very mean and nasty of you if he does. You 
 seem to think that I can be treated like a child." 
 
 '* So you are a child," said Agatha, descending from her 
 perch, and preparing to go. "An occasional slapping 
 does you good." 
 
 " It is nothing to you whether I agree with my husband 
 or not," said Jane with sudden fierceness. 
 
 " Not if you quarrel with him in private, as well bred 
 couples do. But when it occurs in my presence, it makes 
 me uncomfortable ; and I object to being made uncom- 
 fortable." 
 
 " You would not be here at all if I had not asked you." 
 
 "Just think how dull the house would be without me, 
 Jane ! " 
 
l88 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " Indeed ! It was not dull before you came. Gertrude 
 always behaved like a lady, at least." 
 
 "I am sorry that her example was so utterly lost on 
 you." 
 
 ** I wont bear it," said Jane with a sob, and a plunge 
 upon the sofa that made the lustres of the chandeliers 
 rattle, ** I wouldnt have asked you if I had thought you 
 could be so hateful. I will never ask you again." 
 
 ** I will make Sir Charles divorce you for incompatibility 
 of temper and marry me. Then I shall have the place to 
 myself." 
 
 " He cant divorce me for that, thank goodness. You 
 dont know what you're talking about." 
 
 Agatha laughed. " Come," she said good-humouredly : 
 " dont be an old ass, Jane. Wash your face before any one 
 sees it ; and remember what I have told you about Sir 
 Charles." 
 
 " It is very hard to be called an ass in one's own house.'* 
 
 ** It is harder to be treated as one, like your husband. 
 I am going to look for him in the billiard room." 
 
 Jane ran after her, and caught her by the sleeve. 
 "Agatha," she pleaded: "promise me that you wont be 
 mean. Say that you wont make love to him." 
 
 ** I will consider about it," replied Agatha gravely. 
 
 Jane uttered a groan, and sank into a chair, which 
 creaked at the shock. Agatha turned on the threshold, 
 and seeing her shaking her head, pressing her eyes, and 
 tapping with her heel in a restrained frenzy, said quickly, 
 
 *' Here are the Waltons, and the Fitzgeorges, and Mr. 
 Trefusis coming upstairs. How do you do, Mrs. Walton ? 
 Lady Brandon will be so glad to see you. Good-evening, 
 Mr. Fitzgeorge." 
 
 Jane sprang up ; wiped her eyes ; and, with her hands 
 on her hair, smoothing it, rushed to a mirror. No 
 visitors appearing, she perceived that she was, for perhaps 
 the hundredth time in her life, the victim of an imposture 
 devised by Agatha. She, gratified by the success of her 
 attempt to regain her old ascendency over Jane — she had 
 made it with misgiving, notwithstanding her apparent 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 189 
 
 confidence — went downstairs to the library, where she 
 found Sir Charles gloomily trying to drown his domestic 
 troubles in art criticism. 
 
 " I thought you were in the billiard room," said Agatha. 
 
 ** I only peeped in," he replied ; ** but as I saw some- 
 thing particular going on, I thought it best to slip away ; 
 and I have been alone ever since." 
 
 The something particular which Sir Charles had not 
 wished to interrupt was only a game of billiards. It was 
 the first opportunity Erskine had ever enjoyed of speaking 
 to Gertrude at leisure and alone. Yet their conversation 
 had never been so commonplace. She, liking the game, 
 played very well and chatted indifferently : he played badly, 
 and broached trivial topics in spite of himself. After an 
 hour-and-a-halfs play, Gertrude had announced that this 
 game must be their last. He thought desperately that if 
 he were to miss many more strokes the game must presently 
 end, and an opportunity which might never recur pass 
 beyond recall. He determined to tell her without preface 
 that he adored her; but when he opened his lips a question 
 came forth of its own accord relating to the Persian way of 
 playing billiards. Gertrude had never been in Persia, but 
 had seen some Eastern billiard cues in the India Museum. 
 Were not the Hindoos wonderful people for filagree work, 
 and carpets, and such things } Did he not think the 
 crookedness of their carpet patterns a blemish } Some 
 people pretended to admire them; but was not that all 
 nonsense "^ Was not the modern polished floor, with a rug 
 in the middle, much superior to the old carpet fitted into 
 the corners of the room } Yes. Enormously superior. 
 Immensely 
 
 ** Why, what are you thinking of to-day, Mr. Erskine } 
 You have played with my ball." 
 
 '* I am thinking of you." 
 
 " What did you say 1 " said Gertrude, not catching the 
 serious turn he had given to the conversation, and poising 
 her cue for a stroke. *'Oh ! I am as bad as you : that was 
 the worst stroke I ever made, I think. — I beg your pardon : 
 you said something just now." 
 
190 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 "I forget. Nothing of any consequence." And he 
 groaned at his own cowardice. 
 
 "Suppose we stop," she said. "There is no use in 
 finishing the game if our hands are out. I am rather tired 
 of it." 
 
 " Certainly — if you wish it." 
 
 " I will finish if you like." 
 
 " Not at all. What pleases you, pleases me." 
 
 Gertrude made him a little bow, and idly knocked the 
 balls about with her cue. Erskine's eyes wandered ; and 
 his lip moved irresolutely. He had settled with himself 
 that his declaration should be a frank one — heart to heart. 
 He had pictured himself in the act of taking her hand 
 delicately, and saying, ** Gertrude : I love you. May I 
 tell you so again?" But this scheme did not now seem 
 practicable. 
 
 " Miss Lindsay." 
 
 Gertrude, bending over the table, looked up in alarm. 
 
 " The present is as good an opportunity as I will — as I 
 shall — as I will " 
 
 " Shall," said Gertrude. 
 
 ** I beg your pardon } " 
 
 ''Shall,'" repeated Gertrude. "Did you ever study the 
 doctrine of necessity } " 
 
 " The doctrine of necessity } " he said, bewildered. 
 
 Gertrude went to the other side of the table in pursuit 
 of a ball. She now guessed what was coming, and was 
 willing that it should come ; not because she intended to 
 accept, but because, like other young ladies experienced 
 in such scenes, she counted the proposals of marriage she 
 received as a Red Indian counts the scalps he takes. 
 
 "' We have had a very pleasant time of it here," he said, 
 giving up as inexplicable the relevance of the doctrine of 
 necessity. "At least, I have." 
 
 " Well," said Gertrude, quick to resent a fancied allusion 
 to her private discontent : " so have I." 
 
 "I am glad of that — more so than I can convey by 
 words." 
 
 "Is it any business of yours ? " she said, following the 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 191 
 
 disagreeable vein he had unconsciously struck upon, and 
 suspecting pity in his efforts to be sympathetic. 
 
 ** I wish I dared hope so. The happiness of my visit 
 has been due to you entirely." 
 
 '* Indeed," said Gertrude, wincing as all the hard things 
 Trefusis had told her of herself came into her mind at the 
 heels of Erskine's unfortunate allusion to her power of 
 enjoying herself. 
 
 ** I hope I am not paining you," he said earnestly. 
 
 ** I dont know what you are talking about," she said, 
 standing erect with sudden impatience. " You seem to 
 think that it is very easy to pain me." 
 
 " No," he said timidly, puzzled by the effect he had 
 produced. *' I fear you misunderstand me. I am very 
 awkward. Perhaps I had better say no more." 
 
 Gertrude, by turning away to put up her cue, signified 
 that that was a point for him to consider : she not intend- 
 ing to trouble herself about it. When she faced him again, 
 he was motionless and dejected, with a wistful expression 
 like that of a dog that has proffered a caress and received 
 a kick. Remorse, and a vague sense that there was some- 
 thing base in her attitude towards him, overcame her. She 
 looked at him for an instant, and left the room. 
 
 The look excited him. He did not understand it, nor 
 attempt to understand it ; but it was a look that he had 
 never before seen in her face or in that of any other woman. 
 It struck him as a momentary revelation of what he had 
 written of in *' The Patriot Martyrs " as 
 
 " The glorious mystery of a woman's heart," 
 
 and it made him feel unfit for ordinary social intercourse. 
 He hastened from the house ; walked swiftly down the 
 avenue to the lodge, where he kept his velocipede ; left 
 word there that he was going for an excursion and should 
 probably not return in time for dinner ; mounted ; and 
 sped away recklessly along the Riverside Road. In less 
 than two minutes he passed the gate of Sallust's House, 
 where he nearly ran over an old woman laden with a 
 basket of coals, who put down her burthen to scream curses 
 
192 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 after him. Warned by this that his headlong pace was 
 dangerous, he slackened it a little, and presently saw 
 Trefusis lying prone on the river bank, with his cheeks 
 propped on his elbows, reading intently. Erskine, who 
 had presented him, a few days before, with a copy of 
 ** The Patriot Martyrs and other Poems," tried to catch 
 a glimpse of the book over which Trefusis was so serious. 
 It was a Blue Book, full of figures. Erskine rode on 
 in disgust, consoling himself with the recollection of 
 Gertrude's face. 
 
 The highway now swerved inland from the river, and 
 rose to a steep acclivity, at the brow of which he turned 
 and looked back. The light was growing ruddy ; and the 
 shadows were lengthening. Trefusis was still prostrate 
 in the meadow ; and the old woman was in a field, gathering 
 hemlock. 
 
 Erskine raced down the hill at full speed, and did not 
 look behind him again until he found himself at nightfall 
 on the skirts of a town, where he purchased some beer and 
 a sandwich, which he ate with little appetite. Gertrude 
 had set up a disturbance within him which made him 
 impatient of eating. 
 
 It was now dark. He was many miles from Brandon 
 Beeches, and not sure of the way back. Suddenly he 
 resolved to complete his unfinished declaration that even- 
 ing. He now could not ride back fast enough to satisfy 
 his impatience. He tried a short cut ; lost himself; spent 
 nearly an hour seeking the high road ; and at last came 
 upon a railway station just in time to catch a train that 
 brought him within a mile of his destination. 
 
 When he rose from the cushions of the railway-carriage, 
 he found himself somewhat fatigued ; and he mounted the 
 bicycle stiffly. But his resolution was as ardent as ever ; 
 and his heart beat strongly as, after leaving his velocipede 
 at the lodge, he walked up the avenue through the deep 
 gloom beneath the beeches. Near the house, the first 
 notes oVCrudel perche finora^^ reached him; and he stepped 
 softly on to the turf lest his footsteps on the gravel should 
 rouse the dogs and make them mar the harmony by barking. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 193 
 
 A rustle made him stop and listen. Then Gertrude's voice 
 whispered through the darkness. 
 
 " What did you mean by what you said to me within ? " 
 
 An extraordinary sensation shook Erskine : confused 
 ideas of fairyland ran through his imagination. A bitter 
 disappointment, like that of waking from a happy dream, 
 followed as Trefusis's voice, more finely tuned than he had 
 ever heard it before, answered, 
 
 " Merely that the expanse of stars above us is not more 
 illimitable than my contempt for Miss Lindsay, nor brighter 
 than my hopes of Gertrude." 
 
 " Miss Lindsay always to you, if you please, Mr. 
 Trefusis." 
 
 ** Miss Lindsay never to me, but only to those who 
 cannot see through her to the soul within, which is 
 Gertrude. There are a thousand Miss Lindsays in the 
 world, formal and false. There is but one Gertrude." 
 
 " I am an unprotected girl, Mr. Trefusis ; and you can 
 call me what you please." 
 
 It occurred to Erskine that this was a fit occasion to 
 rush forward and give Trefusis, whose figure he could now 
 dimly discern, a black eye. But he hesitated ; and the 
 opportunity passed. 
 
 "■ Unprotected ! " said Trefusis. "Why, you are fenced 
 round and barred in with conventions, laws, and lies that 
 would frighten the truth from the lips of any man whose 
 faith in Gertrude was less strong than mine. Go to Sir 
 Charles and tell him what I have said to Miss Lindsay; 
 and within ten minutes I shall have passed these gates 
 with a warning never to approach them again. I am in 
 your power ; and were I in Miss Lindsay's power alone, my 
 shrift would be short. Happily, Gertrude, though she 
 sees as yet but darkly, feels that Miss Lindsay is her 
 bitterest foe." 
 
 ** It is ridiculous : I am not two persons : I am only 
 one. What does it matter to me if your contempt for me 
 is as illimitable as the stars .? " 
 
 ** Ah : you remember that, do you } Whenever you hear 
 a man talking about the stars, you may conclude that he 
 
 13 
 
194 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 is either an astronomer or a fool. But you and a fine 
 starry night would make a fool of any man." 
 
 ** I dont understand you. I try to ; but I cannot : or, if 
 I guess, I cannot tell whether you are in earnest or not." 
 
 ** I am very much in earnest. Abandon at once and for 
 ever all misgivings that I am trifling with you, or passing 
 an idle hour as men do when they find themselves in the 
 company of beautiful women. I mean what I say literally, 
 and in the deepest sense. You doubt me: we have brought 
 society to such a state that we all suspect one another. 
 But whatever is true will command belief sooner or later 
 from those who have wit enough to comprehend truth. 
 Now let me recall Miss Lindsay to consciousness by re- 
 marking that we have been out for ten minutes, and that 
 our hostess is not the woman to allow our absence to pass 
 without comment," 
 
 ** Let us go in. Thank you for reminding me." 
 
 " Thank you for forgetting." 
 
 Erskine heard their footsteps retreating, and presently 
 saw the two enter the glow of light that shone from the 
 open window of the billiard room, through which they 
 went indoors. Trefusis, a man whom he had seen that 
 day in a beautiful landscape, blind to everything except a 
 row of figures in a Blue Book, was his successful rival, 
 although it was plain from the very sound of his voice that 
 he did not — could not — love Gertrude. Only a poet could 
 do that. Trefusis was no poet, but a sordid brute unlikely 
 to inspire interest in anything more human than a public 
 meeting, much less in a woman, much less again in a 
 woman so ethereal as Gertrude. She was proud too : yet 
 she had allowed the fellow to insult her — had forgiven him 
 for the sake of a few broad compliments. Erskine grew 
 angry and cynical. The situation did not suit his poetry. 
 Instead of being stricken to the heart with a solemn 
 sorrow, as a Patriot Martyr would have been under similar 
 circumstances, he felt slighted and ridiculous. He was 
 hardly convinced of what had seemed at first the most 
 obvious feature of the case, Trefusis's inferiority to himself. 
 He stood under the trees until Trefusis reappeared 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 195 
 
 on his way home, making, Erskine thought, as much noise 
 with his heels on the gravel as a regiment of delicately 
 bred men would have done. He stopped for a moment to 
 make inquiry at the lodge as he went out : then his foot- 
 steps died away in the distance. 
 
 Erskine, chilled, stiff, and with a sensation of a bad cold 
 coming on, went into the house, and was relieved to find 
 that Gertrude had retired, and that Lady Brandon, though 
 she had been sure that he had ridden into the river in 
 the dark, had nevertheless provided a warm supper for him. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Erskine soon found plenty of themes for his newly be- 
 gotten cynicism. Gertrude's manner towards him softened 
 so much that he, believing her heart given to his rival, 
 concluded that she was tempting him to make a proposal 
 which she had no intention of accepting. Sir Charles, 
 to whom he told what he had overheard in the avenue, 
 professed sympathy, but was evidently pleased to learn 
 that there was nothing serious in the attentions Trefusis 
 paid to Agatha. Erskine wrote three bitter sonnets on 
 hollow friendship, and showed them to Sir Charles, who, 
 failing to apply them to himself, praised them highly, and 
 showed them to Trefusis without asking the author's per- 
 mission. Trefusis remarked that in a corrupt society 
 expressions of dissatisfaction were always creditable to 
 a writer's sensibility ; but he did not say much in praise 
 of the verse. 
 
 ** Why has he taken to writing in this vein ? " he said. 
 ** Has he been disappointed in any way of late ? Has he 
 proposed to Miss Lindsay and been rejected ?" 
 
 " No," said Sir Charles, surprised by this blunt reference 
 to a subject they had never before discussed. ** He does 
 not intend to propose to Miss Lindsay." 
 
 " But he did intend to." 
 
196 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " He certainly did ; but he has given up the idea." 
 
 " Why ? " said Trefusis, apparently disapproving strongly 
 of the renunciation. 
 
 Sir Charles shrugged his shoulders, and did not reply. 
 
 " I am sorry to hear it. I wish you could induce him 
 to change his mind. He is a nice fellow, with enough 
 to live on comfortably ; whilst he is yet what is called a 
 poor man, so that she could feel perfectly disinterested in 
 marrying him. It will do her good to marry without 
 making a pecuniary profit by it : she will respect herself 
 the more afterwards, and will neither want bread and 
 butter nor be ashamed of her husband's origin, in spite 
 of having married for love alone. Make a match of it if 
 you can. I take an interest in the girl : she has good 
 instincts." 
 
 Sir Charles's suspicion that Trefusis was really paying 
 court to Agatha returned after this conversation, which he 
 repeated to Erskine, who, much annoyed because his 
 poems had been shown to a reader of Blue Books, thought 
 it only a blind for Trefusis' s design upon Gertrude. Sir 
 Charles pooh-poohed this view ; and the two friends were 
 sharp with one another in discussing it. After dinner, 
 when the ladies had left them. Sir Charles, repentant and 
 cordial, urged Erskine to speak to Gertrude without 
 troubling himself as to the sincerity of Trefusis. But 
 Erskine, knowing himself ill able to brook a refusal, was 
 loth to expose himself to one. 
 
 ** If you had heard the tone of her voice when she asked 
 him whether he was in earnest, you would not talk to me 
 like this," he said despondently. ** I wish he had never 
 come here." 
 
 ** Well, that, at least, was no fault of mine, my dear 
 fellow," said Sir Charles. ** He came among us against 
 my will. And now that he appears to have been in the 
 right — legally — about the field, it would look like spite if 
 I cut him. Besides, he really isnt a bad man if he would 
 only let the women alone." 
 
 ** If he trifles with Miss Lindsay, I shall ask him to 
 cross the Channel, and have a shot at him," 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 197 
 
 '*I dont think he'd go," said Sir Charles dubiously, 
 "If I were you, I would try my luck with Gertrude at 
 once. In spite of what you heard, I dont believe she 
 would marry a man of his origin. His money gives him 
 an advantage, certainly ; but Gertrude has sent richer men 
 to the rightabout." 
 
 *' Let the fellow have fair play," said Erskine. " I may 
 be wrong, of course : all men are liable to err in judging 
 themselves ; but I think I could make her happier than 
 he can." 
 
 Sir Charles was not so sure of that ; but he cheerfully 
 responded, ** Certainly. He is not the man for her at all ; 
 and you are. He knows it, too." 
 
 *'Hmf!" muttered Erskine, rising dejectedly. "Let's 
 go upstairs." 
 
 " By-the-bye, we are to call on him to-morrow, to go 
 through his house, and his collection of photographs. 
 Photographs ! Ha, ha ! " 
 
 " Damn his house ! " said Erskine. 
 
 Next day they went together to Sallust's House. It 
 stood in the midst of an acre of land, waste except a little 
 kitchen garden at the rear. The lodge at the entrance 
 was uninhabited; and the gates stood open, with dust 
 and fallen leaves heaped up against them. Free ingress 
 had thus been afforded to two stray ponies, a goat, and a 
 tramp, who lay asleep in the grass. His wife sat near, 
 watching him. 
 
 " I have a mind to turn back," said Sir Charles, looking 
 about him in disgust. "The place is scandalously neg- 
 lected. Look at that rascal asleep within full view of the 
 windows." 
 
 " I admire his cheek," said Erskine. " Nice pair of 
 ponies, too." 
 
 Sallust's House was square and painted cinnamon colour. 
 Beneath the cornice was a yellow frieze with figures of 
 dancing children, imitated from the works of Donatello, 
 and very unskilfully executed. There was a meagre portico 
 of four columns, painted red ; and a plain pediment, painted 
 yellow. The colours, meant to match those of the walls, 
 
198 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 contrasted disagreeably with them, having been applied 
 more recently, apparently by a colour-blind artist. The 
 door beneath the portico stood open. Sir Charles rang 
 the bell ; and an elderly woman answered it ; but before 
 they could address her, Trefusis appeared, clad in a 
 painter's jacket of white jean. Following him in, they 
 found that the house was a hollow square, enclosing a 
 courtyard with a bath sunk in the middle, and a fountain 
 in the centre of the bath. The courtyard, formerly open 
 to the sky, was now roofed in with dusty glass ; the nymph 
 that had once poured out the water of the fountain was 
 barren and mutilated ; and the bath was partly covered in 
 with loose boards : the exposed part accommodating a heap 
 of coals in one corner, a heap of potatoes in another, a beer 
 barrel, some old carpets, a tarpaulin, and a broken canoe. 
 The marble pavement extended to the outer walls of the 
 house, and was roofed in at the sides by the upper stories, 
 which were supported by fluted stone columns, much 
 stained and chipped. The staircase, towards which 
 Trefusis led his visitors, was a broad one at the end 
 opposite the door, and gave access to a gallery leading 
 to the upper rooms. 
 
 "This house was built in 1780 by an ancestor of my 
 mother," said Trefusis. '* He passed for a man of 
 exquisite taste. He wished the place to be maintained 
 for ever — he actually used that expression in his will — as 
 . the family seat ; and he collected a fine library here, which 
 I I found useful, as all the books came into my hands in 
 J good condition, most of them with the leaves uncut. 
 I Some people prize uncut copies of old editions : a dealer 
 gave me three hundred and fifty pounds for a lot of them. 
 I came into possession of a number of family fetishes — 
 heirlooms, as they are called. There was a sword that 
 one of my forbears wore at Edgehill and other battles in 
 Charles the First's time. We fought on the wrong side, of 
 course ; but the sword fetched thirty-five shillings never- 
 theless. You will hardly believe that I was offered one 
 hundred and fifty pounds for a gold cup worth about 
 twenty-five, merely because Queen Elizabeth once drank 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 199 
 
 from it. This is my study. It was designed for a ban- 
 queting hall." 
 
 They entered a room as long as the wall of the house, 
 pierced on one side by four tall windows, between which, 
 square pillars, with Corinthian capitals supporting the 
 cornice, were half sunk in the wall. There were similar 
 pillars on the opposite side ; but between them, instead of 
 windows, were arched niches in which stood life-size plaster 
 statues, chipped, broken, and defaced in an extraordinary 
 fashion. The flooring, of diagonally set narrow boards, 
 was uncarpeted and unpolished. The ceiling was adorned 
 with frescoes, which at once excited Sir Charles's interest ; 
 and he noted with indignation that a large portion of the 
 painting at the northern end had been destroyed, and some 
 glass roofing inserted. In another place, bolts had been 
 driven in to support the ropes of a trapeze and a few other 
 pieces of gymnastic apparatus. The walls were white- 
 washed ; and at about four feet from the ground a dark 
 band appeared, produced by pencil memoranda and little 
 sketches scribbled on the whitewash. One end of the 
 apartment was unfurnished, except by the gymnastic appa- 
 ratus, a photographer's camera, a ladder in the corner, and 
 a common deal table with oil cans and paint pots upon it. 
 At the other end a comparatively luxurious show was made 
 by a large bookcase ; an elaborate combination of bureau 
 and writing desk ; a rack with a rifle, a set of foils, and an 
 umbrella in it ; several folio albums on a table ; some 
 comfortable chairs and sofas ; and a thick carpet under 
 foot. Close by, and seeming much out of place, was a 
 carpenter's bench with the usual implements, and a number 
 of board sof various thicknesses. 
 
 ** This is a sort of comfort beyond the reach of any but a 
 rich man," said Trefusis, turning and surprising his visitors 
 in the act of exchanging glances of astonishment at his 
 taste. ** I keep a drawing room of the usual kind for re- 
 ceiving strangers with whom it is necessary to be conven- 
 tional ; but I never enter it except on such occasions. 
 What do you think of this for a study ? " 
 
 " On my soul, Trefusis, I think you are mad," said Sir 
 
200 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 Charles. "The place looks as if it had stood a siege. How 
 did you manage to break the statues and chip the walls so 
 outrageously } " 
 
 Trefusis took a newspaper from the table, and said, 
 " Listen to this. 
 
 * In spite of the unfavourable nature of the weather, the sport of the 
 Emperor and his guests in Styria has been successful. In three days 52 
 chamois and 79 stags and deer fell to 19 single barrelled rifles, the 
 Emperor allowing no more on this occasion.' 
 
 "I share the Emperor's delight in shooting; but I am no 
 butcher, and do not need the royal relish of blood to my 
 sport. And I do not share my ancestor's taste in statuary. 
 
 Hence " Here Trefusis opened a drawer, took out a 
 
 pistol, and fired at the Hebe in the farthest niche. 
 
 " Well done ! " said Erskine coolly, as the last fragment 
 of Hebe's head crumbled at the touch of the bullet. 
 
 " Very fruitlessly done," said Trefusis. " I am a good 
 shot ; but of what use is it to me } * None. I once met 
 a gamekeeper who was a Methodist. He was a most 
 eloquent speaker, but a bad shot. If he could have 
 swapped talents with me I would have given him ten 
 thousand pounds to boot willingly, although he would have 
 profited as much as I by the exchange alone. I have no 
 more desire or need to be a good shot than to be king of 
 England, or owner of a Derby winner, or anything else 
 equally ridiculous ; and yet I never missed my aim in my 
 life — thank blind fortune for nothing ! " 
 
 ** King of England ! " said Erskine with a scornful laugh, 
 to show Trefusis that other people were as liberty-loving 
 as he. ** Is it not absurd to hear a nation boasting of its 
 freedom and tolerating a king ? " 
 
 ** Oh, hang your republicanism, Chester ! " said Sir 
 Charles, who privately held a low opinion of the political 
 side of the Patriot Martyrs. 
 
 " I wont be put down on that point," said Erskine. ** I 
 admire a man that kills a king. You will agree with me 
 there, Trefusis, wont you ? " 
 
 " Certainly not," said Trefusis. " A king nowadays is 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 201 
 
 only a dummy put up to draw your fire off the real oppres- 
 sors of society ; and the fraction of his salary that he can 
 spend as he likes is usually far too small for his risk, his 
 trouble, and the condition of personal slavery to which 
 he is reduced. What private man in England is worse 
 oif than the constitutional monarch ? We deny him all 
 privacy : he may not marry whom he chooses, consort with 
 whom he prefers, dress according to his taste, or live where 
 he pleases. I dont believe he may even eat or drink what 
 he likes best : a taste for tripe and onions on his part would 
 .provoke a remonstrance from the Privy Council. We dic- 
 tate everything except his thoughts and dreams ; and even 
 these he must keep to himself if they are not suitable, in 
 our opinion, to his condition. The work we impose on 
 him has all the hardship of mere task work : it is unfruitful, 
 incessant, monotonous, and has to be transacted for the 
 most part with nervous bores. We make his kingdom a 
 treadmill to him, and drive him to and fro on the face of 
 it. Finally, having taken everything else that men prize 
 from him, we fall upon his character, and that of every 
 person to whom he ventures to show favour. We impose 
 enormous expenses on him ; stint him ; and then rail at 
 his parsimony. We use him as I use those statues — stick 
 him up in the place of honour for our greater convenience 
 in disfiguring and abusing him. We send him forth through 
 our crowded cities, proclaiming that he is the source of 
 all good and evil in the nation ; and he, knowing that many 
 people believe it ; knowing that it is a lie, and that he is 
 powerless to shorten the working day by one hour, raise 
 wages one penny, or annul the smallest criminal sentence, 
 however unjust it may seem to him ; knowing that every 
 miner in the kingdom can manufacture dynamite, and that 
 revolvers are sold for seven and sixpence apiece ; knowing 
 that he is not bullet proof, and that every king in Europe 
 has been shot at in the streets ; he must smile and bow, 
 and maintain an expression of gracious enjoyment whilst 
 the mayor and corporation inflict upon him the twaddling 
 address he has heard a thousand times before. I do not 
 ask you to be loyal, Erskine ; but I expect you, in common 
 
202 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 humanity, to sympathize with the chief figure in the pageant, 
 who is no more accountable for the manifold evils and 
 abominations that exist in his realm than the Lord Mayor 
 is accountable for the thefts of the pickpockets who follow 
 his show on the ninth of November." 
 
 Sir Charles laughed at the trouble Trefusis took to prove 
 his case, and said soothingly, " My dear fellow, kings are 
 used to it, and expect it, and like it." 
 
 ** And probably do not see themselves as I see them, 
 any more than common people do," assented Trefusis. 
 
 " What an exquisite face ! " exclaimed Erskine suddenly, 
 catching sight of a photograph in a rich gold and coral 
 frame on a miniature easel draped with ruby velvet. 
 Trefusis turned quickly, so evidently gratified that Sir 
 Charles hastened to say, " Charming ! " Then, looking 
 at the portrait, he added, as if a little startled, *' It certainly 
 is an extraordinarily attractive face." 
 
 *' Years ago," said Trefusis, ** when I saw that face for 
 the first time, I felt as you feel now." 
 
 Silence ensued : the two visitors looking at the portrait : 
 Trefusis looking at them. 
 
 ** Curious style of beauty," said Sir Charles at last, not 
 quite so assuredly as before. 
 
 Trefusis laughed unpleasantly. ** Do you recognize the 
 artist — the enthusiastic amateur — in her ? " he said, open- 
 ing another drawer and taking out a bundle of drawings, 
 which he handed to be examined. 
 
 "Very clever. Very clever indeed," said Sir Charles. 
 *' I should like to meet the lady." 
 
 ** I have often been on the point of burning them," said 
 Trefusis ; " but there they are ; and there they are likely 
 to remain. The portrait has been much admired." 
 
 " Can you give us an introduction to the original, old 
 fellow } " said Erskine. 
 
 " No, happily. She is dead." 
 
 Disagreeably shocked, they looked at him for a moment 
 with aversion. Then Erskine, turning with pity and dis- 
 appointment to the picture, said, "Poor girl! Was she 
 married .? " . 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 203 
 
 **Yes. To me." 
 
 '* Mrs. Trefusis ! " exclaimed Sir Charles, ** Ah ! Dear 
 me ! " 
 
 Erskine, with proof before him that it was possible for a 
 beautiful girl to accept Trefusis, said nothing. 
 
 ** I keep her portrait constantly before me to correct my 
 natural amativeness. I fell in love with her, and married 
 her. I have fallen in love once or twice since ; but a 
 glance at my lost Hetty has cured me of the slightest in- 
 clination to marry." 
 
 Sir Charles did not reply. It occurred to him that Lady 
 Brandon's portrait, if nothing else were left of her, might 
 be useful in the same way. 
 
 ** Come : you will marry again one of these days," said 
 Erskine, in a forced tone of encouragement. 
 
 "It is possible. Men should marry, especially rich 
 men. But I assure you I have no present intention of 
 doing so." 
 
 Erskine's colour deepened ; and he moved away to the 
 table where the albums lay. 
 
 ** This is the collection of photographs I spoke of," said 
 Trefusis, following him and opening one of the books. "I 
 took many of them myself under great difficulties with 
 regard to light — the only difficulty that money could not 
 always remove. This is a view of my father's house — or 
 rather one of his houses. It cost seventy-five thousand 
 pounds." 
 
 '* Very handsome indeed," said Sir Charles, secretly dis- 
 gusted at being invited to admire a photograph, such as 
 house agents exhibit, of a vulgarly designed country house, 
 merely because it had cost seventy-five thousand pounds. 
 The figures were actually written beneath the picture. 
 
 "This is the drawing-room ; and this one of the best 
 bedrooms. In the right hand corner of the mount you 
 will see a note of the cost of the furniture, fittings, napery, 
 and so forth. They were of the most luxurious descrip- 
 tion." 
 
 " Very interesting," said Sir Charles, hardly disguising 
 the irony of the comment. 
 
204 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** Here is a view — this is the first of my own attempts — 
 of the apartment of one of the under servants. It is 
 comfortable and spacious, and solidly furnished." 
 
 ** So I perceive." 
 
 ** These are the stables. Are they not handsome } " 
 
 " Palatial. Quite palatial." 
 
 " There is every luxury that a horse could desire, includ- 
 ing plenty of valets to wait on him. You are noting the 
 figures, I hope. There is the cost of the building, and the 
 expenditure per horse per annum." 
 
 " I see." 
 
 " Here is the exterior of a house. What do you think 
 of it ? " 
 
 *' It is rather picturesque in its dilapidation." 
 
 *' Picturesque ! Would you like to live in it ? " 
 
 " No," said Erskine. *' / dont see anything very pictur- 
 esque about it. What induced you to photograph such a 
 wretched old rookery ? " 
 
 " Here is a view of the best room in it. Photography 
 gives you a fair idea of the broken flooring and patched 
 windows ; but you must imagine the dirt and the odour of 
 the place. Some of the stains are weather stains : others 
 came from smoke and filth. The landlord of the house 
 holds it from a peer, and lets it out in tenements. Three 
 families occupied that room when I photographed it. 
 You will see by the figures in the corner that it is more 
 profitable to the landlord than an average house in Mayfair. 
 Here is the cellar, let to a family for one and sixpence a 
 week, and considered a bargain. The sun never shines 
 there, of course : I took it by artificial light. You may 
 add to the rent the cost of enough bad beer to make the 
 tenant insensible to the filth of the place. Beer is the 
 chloroform that enables the labourer to endure the severe 
 operation of living : that is why we can always assure one 
 another over our wine that the rascal's misery is due to his 
 habit of drinking. We are down on him for it, because, 
 if he could bear his life without beer, we should save his 
 beer-money — get hiin for lower wages. In short, we 
 should be richer and he soberer. Here is the yard : the 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 205 
 
 arrangements are indescribable. Seven of the inhabitants 
 of that house had worked for years in my father's mill. 
 That is, they had created a considerable part of the vast 
 sums of money for drawing your attention to which you 
 were disgusted with me just now." 
 
 " Not at all," said Sir Charles faintly. 
 
 " You can see how their condition contrasts with that of 
 my father's horses. The seven men to whom I have alluded, 
 with three hundred others, were thrown destitute upon the 
 streets by this." (Here he turned over a leaf and displayed 
 a photograph of an elaborate machine.) ** It enabled my 
 father to dispense with their services, and to replace them 
 by a handful of women and children. He had bought the 
 patent of the machine for fifty pounds from the inventor, 
 who was almost ruined by the expenses of his ingenuity, 
 and would have sacrificed anything for a handful of ready 
 money. Here is a portrait of my father in his masonic 
 insignia. He believed that freemasons generally get on in 
 the world ; and as the main object of his life was to get 
 on, he joined them, and wanted me to do the same. But 
 I object to pretended secret societies and hocus pocus, and 
 would not. You see what he was — a portly, pushing, 
 egotistical tradesman. Mark the successful man, the 
 merchant prince with argosies on every sea, the employer of 
 thousands of hands, the munificent contributor to public 
 charities, the churchwarden, the member of parliament, 
 and the generous patron of his relatives : his self-approba- 
 tion struggling with the instinctive sense of baseness in the 
 money-hunter, the ignorant and greedy filcher of the 
 labour of others, the seller of his own mind and manhood 
 for luxuries and delicacies that he was too lowlived to 
 enjoy, and for the society of people who made him feel his 
 inferiority at every turn " 
 
 ** And the man to whom you owe everything you pos- 
 sess," said Erskine boldly. 
 
 ** I possess very little. Everything he left me, except 
 a few pictures, I spent long ago; and even that was 
 made by his slaves, and not by him. My wealth comes 
 day by day fresh from the labour of the wretches who live 
 
206 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 in the dens I have just shown you, or of a few aristocrats 
 of labour who are within ten shillings a week of being 
 worse off. However, there is some excuse for my father. 
 Once, at an election riot, I got into a free fight. I am a 
 peaceful man ; but as I had either to fight or be knocked 
 down and trampled upon, I exchanged blows with men 
 who were perhaps as peacefully disposed as I. My father, 
 launched into a free competition (free in the sense that the 
 fight is free : that is, lawless) — my father had to choose 
 between being a slave himself and enslaving others. He 
 chose the latter ; and as he was applauded and made much 
 of for succeeding, who dare blame him ? Not I. Besides, 
 he did something to destroy the anarchy that enabled him 
 to plunder society with impunity. He furnished me, its 
 enemy, with the powerful weapon of a large fortune. Thus 
 our system of organizing industry sometimes hatches the 
 eggs from which its destroyers break. Does Lady Bran- 
 don wear much lace } " 
 
 *' I No : that is How the deuce do I know, 
 
 Trefusis } What an extraordinary question ! " 
 
 ** This is a photograph of a lace school. It was a filthy 
 room, twelve feet square. It was paved with brick ; and 
 the children were not allowed to wear their boots, lest the 
 lace should get muddy. However, as there were twenty 
 of them working there for fifteen hours a day — all girls — 
 they did not suffer much from cold. They were pretty 
 tightly packed — may be still, for aught I know. They 
 brought three or four shillings a week sometimes to their 
 fond parents ; and they were very quick-fingered little 
 creatures, and stuck intensely to their work, as the overseer 
 always hit them when they looked up or " 
 
 " Trefusis," said Sir Charles, turning away from the 
 table : " I beg your pardon ; but I have no appetite for 
 horrors. You really must not ask me to go through your 
 collection. It is no doubt very interesting; but I cant 
 stand it. Have you nothing pleasant to entertain me 
 with?" 
 
 ** Pooh ! you are squeamish. However, as you are a 
 novice, let us put off the rest until you are seasoned. The 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 207 
 
 pictures are not all horrible. Each book refers to a 
 different country. That one contains illustrations of modern 
 civilization in Germany, for instance. That one is France : 
 that, British India. Here you have the United States of 
 America ; home of liberty ; theatre of manhood suffrage ; 
 kingless and lordless land of Protection, Republicanism and 
 the realized Radical Programme, where all the black chattel 
 slaves were turned into wage-slaves (like my father's white 
 fellows) at a cost of 800,000 lives and wealth incalculable. 
 You and I are paupers in comparison with the great 
 capitalists of that country, where the labourers fight for 
 bones with the Chinamen, like dogs. Some of these great 
 men presented me with photographs of their yachts and 
 palaces, not anticipating the use to which I would put them. 
 Here are some portraits that will not harrow your feelings. 
 This is my mother, a woman of good family, every inch a 
 lady. Here is a Lancashire lass, the daughter of a common 
 pitman. She has exactly the same physical characteristics 
 as my well-born mother — the same small head, delicate fea- 
 tures, and so forth : they might be sisters. This villainous- 
 looking pair might be twin brothers, except that there is 
 a trace of good humour about the one to the right. The 
 good-humoured one is a bargee on the Lyvern Canal. The 
 other is one of the senior noblemen of the British Peerage. 
 They illustrate the fact that Nature, even when perverted 
 by generations of famine fever, ignores the distinctions we 
 set up between men. This group of men and women, all 
 tolerably intelligent and thoughtful looking, are so-called 
 enemies of society — Nihilists, Anarchists, Communards, 
 members of the International and so on. These other 
 poor devils, worried, stiff, strumous, awkward, vapid, and 
 rather coarse, with here and there a passably pretty woman, 
 are European kings, queens, grand-dukes and the like. 
 Here are ship-captains, criminals, poets, men of science, 
 peers, peasants, political economists and representatives 
 of dozens of degrees. The object of the collection is to 
 illustrate the natural inequality of man, and the failure 
 of our artificial inequality to correspond with it." 
 
 "It seems to me a sort of infernal collection for the 
 
2o8 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 upsetting of people's ideas," said Erskine. *' You ought 
 to label it * A Portfolio of Paradoxes.' " 
 
 " In a rational state of society they would be paradoxes ; 
 but now the time gives them proof — like Hamlet's paradox. 
 It is, however, a collection of facts ; and I will give no 
 fanciful name to it. You dislike figures, dont you } " 
 
 *' Unless they are by Phidias, yes." 
 
 " Here are a few, not by Phidias. This is the balance 
 sheet of an attempt I made some years ago to carry out 
 the idea of an International Association of Labourers — 
 commonly known as The International — or union of all 
 workmen throughout the world in defence of the interests 
 of labour. You see the result. Expenditure, four thousand 
 five hundred pounds. Subscriptions received from work- 
 ing men, twenty-two pounds, seven and tenpence half- 
 penny. The British workmen showed their sense of my 
 eff"orts to emancipate them by accusing me of making 
 a good thing out of the Association for my own pocket, 
 and by mobbing and stoning me twice. I now help them 
 only when they show some disposition to help themselves. 
 I occupy myself partly in working out a scheme for the 
 reorganization of industry, and partly in attacking my own 
 class, women and all, as I am attacking you." 
 
 "There is little use in attacking us, I fear," said Sir 
 Charles. 
 
 '* Great use," said Trefusis confidently. " You have a 
 very difi"erent opinion of our boasted civilization now from 
 that which you held when I broke your wall down, and 
 invited those Land Nationalization zealots to march across 
 your pleasure ground. You have seen in my album some- 
 thing you had not seen an hour ago ; and you are conse- 
 quently not quite the same man you were an hour ago. 
 My pictures stick in the mind longer than your scratchy 
 etchings, or the leaden things in which you fancy you see 
 tender harmonies in grey. Erskine's next drama may be 
 about liberty ; but its Patriot Martyrs will have something 
 better to do than spout balderdash against figure-head 
 kings who in all their lives never secretly plotted as 
 much dastardly meanness, greed, cruelty, and tyranny 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 209 
 
 as is openly voted for in London by every half-yearly 
 meeting of dividend-consuming vermin whose miserable 
 wage-slaves drudge sixteen hours out of the twenty-four." 
 
 ** What is going to be the end of it all ? " said Sir 
 Charles, a little dazed. 
 
 ** Socialism, or Smash. Socialism if the race has at last 
 evolved the faculty of co-ordinating the functions of a 
 society too crowded and complex to be worked any longer 
 on the old haphazard private property system. Unless 
 we reorganize our society socialistically — humanly a most 
 arduous and magnificent enterprise : economically a most 
 simple and sound one — Free Trade by itself will ruin 
 England ; and I will tell you exactly how. When my 
 father made his fortune, we had the start of all other nations 
 in the organization of our industry and in our access to iron 
 and coal. Other nations bought our products for less than 
 they must have spent to raise them at home, and yet for so 
 much more than they cost us, that profits rolled in Atlantic 
 waves upon our capitalists. When the workers, by their 
 trades-unions, demanded a share of the luck in the form of 
 advanced wages, it paid better to give them the little they 
 dared to ask than to stop gold-gathering to fight and crush 
 them. But now our customers have set up in their own 
 countries improved copies of our industrial organization, 
 and have discovered places where iron and coal are even 
 handier than they are by this time in England. They pro- 
 duce for themselves, or buy elsewhere, what they formerly 
 bought from us. Our profits are vanishing : our machinery 
 is standing idle : our workmen are locked out. It pays 
 now to stop the mills and fight and crush the unions when 
 the men strike, no longer for an advance, but against a re- 
 duction. Now that these unions are beaten, helpless, and 
 drifting to bankruptcy as the proportion of unemployed 
 men in their ranks becomes greater, they are being petted 
 and made much of by our class : an infallible sign that they 
 are making no further progress in their duty of destroying 
 us. The small capitalists are left stranded by the ebb : the 
 big ones will follow the tide across the water, and rebuild 
 their factories where steam power, water power, labour 
 
210 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 power, and transport are now cheaper than in England, 
 where they used to be cheapest. The workers will emigrate 
 in pursuit of the factory ; but they will multiply faster than 
 they emigrate, and be told that their own exorbitant 
 demand for wages is driving capital abroad, and must 
 continue to do so whilst there is a Chinaman or a Hindoo 
 unemployed to underbid them. As the British factories 
 are shut up, they will be replaced by villas: the manu- 
 facturing districts will become fashionable resorts for 
 capitalists living on the interest of foreign investments : the 
 farms and sheep runs will be cleared for deer forests. 
 All products that can in the nature of things be manu- 
 factured elsewhere than where they are consumed, will be 
 imported in payment of deer-forest rents from foreign 
 sportsmen, or of dividends due to shareholders resident in 
 England, but holding shares in companies abroad ; and 
 these imports will not be paid for by exports, because rent 
 and interest are not paid for at all — a fact which the Free 
 Traders do not yet see, or at any rate do not mention, 
 although it is the key to the whole mystery of their 
 opponents. The cry for Protection will become wild ; but 
 no one will dare resort to a demonstrably absurd measure 
 that must raise prices before it raises wages, and that has 
 everywhere failed to benefit the worker. There will be no 
 employment for any one except in doing things that must 
 be done on the spot, such as unpacking and distributing 
 the imports, ministering to the proprietors as domestic 
 servants, or by acting, preaching, paving, lighting, house- 
 building and the rest ; and some of these, as the capitalist 
 comes to regard ostentation as vulgar, and to enjoy a 
 simpler life, will employ fewer and fewer people. A vast 
 proletariat, beginning with a nucleus of those formerly 
 employed in export trades, with their multiplying progeny, 
 will be out of employment permanently. They will demand 
 access to the land and machinery to produce for themselves. 
 They will be refused. They will break a few windows, 
 and be dispersed with a warning to their leaders. They 
 will burn a few houses and murder a policeman or two ; 
 and then an example will be made of the warned. They 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 211 
 
 will revolt, and be shot down with machine guns — emigrated 
 — exterminated anyhow and everyhow ; for the proprietary 
 classes have no idea of any other means of dealing with 
 the full claims of labour. You yourself, though you would 
 give fifty pounds to Jansenius's emigration fund readily 
 enough, would call for the police, the military, and the 
 Riot Act, if the people came to Brandon Beeches and bade 
 you turn out and work for your living with the rest. Well : 
 the superfluous proletariat destroyed, there will remain a 
 population of capitalists living on gratuitous imports, and 
 served by a disaffected retinue. One day, the gratuitous 
 imports will stop in consequence of the occurrence abroad 
 of revolution and repudiation, fall in the rate of interest, 
 purchase of industries by governments for lump sums, not 
 reinvestable, or what not. Our capitalist community is 
 then thrown on the remains of the last dividend, which 
 it consumes long before it can rehabilitate its extinct 
 machinery of production in order to support itself with 
 its own hands. Horses, dogs, cats, rats, blackberries, 
 mushrooms, and cannibalism only postpone " 
 
 *' Ha ! ha! ha ! " shouted Sir Charles. " On my honour, 
 I thought you were serious at first, Trefusis. Come : 
 confess, old chap : it's all a fad of yours. I half suspected 
 you of being a bit of a crank." And he winked at Erskine. 
 
 " What I have described to you is the inevitable outcome 
 of our present Free Trade policy without Socialism. The 
 theory of Free Trade is only applicable to systems of 
 exchange, not to systems of spoliation. Our system is 
 one of spoliation ; and if we dont abandon it, we must 
 either return to Protection or go to smash by the road I 
 have just mapped. Now, sooner than let the Protectionists 
 triumph, the Cobden Club itself would blow the gaff, and 
 point out to the workers that Protection only means com- 
 pelling the proprietors of England to employ slaves 
 resident in England, and therefore presumably — though 
 by no means necessarily — Englishmen. This would open 
 the eyes of the nation at last to the fact that England is 
 not their property. Once let them understand that, and 
 they would soon make it so. When England is made the 
 
212 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 property of its inhabitants collectively, England becomes 
 socialistic. Artificial inequality will vanish then before 
 real freedom of contract; freedom of competition, or 
 unhampered emulation, will keep us moving ahead ; and 
 Free Trade will fulfil its promises at last." 
 
 " And the idlers and loafers," said Erskine. " What of 
 them.?" 
 
 " You and I, in fact," said Trefusis. ** Die of starvation, 
 I suppose, unless we choose to work ; or unless they give 
 us a little outdoor relief in consideration of our bad 
 bringing-up." 
 
 ** Do you mean that they will plunder us } " said Sir 
 Charles. 
 
 " I mean that they will make us 'stop plundering them. 
 If they hesitate to strip us naked, or to cut our throats if 
 we offer them the smallest resistance, they will shew us 
 more mercy than we ever shewed them. Consider what 
 we have done to get our rents in Ireland and Scotland, 
 and our dividends in Egypt, if you have already forgotten 
 my photographs and their lesson in our atrocities at home. 
 Why, man, we murder the great mass of these toilers with 
 overwork and hardship : their average lifetime is not half 
 as long as ours. Human nature is the same in them as in 
 us. If we resist them, and succeed in restoring order, as 
 we call it, we will punish them mercilessly for their insub- 
 ordination, as we did in Paris in 1871, where, by-the-bye, 
 we taught them the folly of giving their enemies quarter. 
 If they beat us, we shall catch it ; and serve us right. 
 Far better turn honest at once, and avert bloodshed. Eh, 
 Erskine.?" 
 
 Erskine was considering what reply he should make, 
 when Trefusis disconcerted him by ringing a bbll. Pre- 
 sently the elderly woman appeared, pushing before her an 
 oblong table mounted on wheels, like a barrow. 
 
 " Thank you," said Trefusis, and dismissed her. " Here 
 is some good wine, some good water, some good fruit, and 
 some good bread. I know that you cling to wine as to a 
 good familiar creature. As for me, I make no distinction 
 between it and other vegetable poisons; I abstain from 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 213 
 
 them all. Water for serenity: wine for excitement. I, 
 having boiling springs of excitement within myself, am 
 never at a loss for it, and have only to seek serenity. 
 However " (here he drew a cork), " a generous goblet of this 
 will make you feel like gods for half an hour at least. 
 Shall we drink to your conversion to Socialism } " 
 
 Sir Charles shook his head. 
 
 '* Come : Mr. Donovan Brown, the great artist, is a 
 Socialist ; and why should not you be one } " 
 
 " Donovan Brown ! " exclaimed Sir Charles with interest. 
 " Is it possible ? Do you know him personally ? " 
 
 ** Here are several letters from him. You may read 
 them : the mere autograph of such a man is interesting." 
 
 Sir Charles took the letters, and read them earnestly : 
 Erskine reading over his shoulder. 
 
 " I most cordially agree with everything he says here," 
 said Sir Charles. *' It is quite true, quite true." 
 
 *' Of course you agree with us. Donovan Brown's 
 eminence as an artist has gained me one recruit; and 
 yours as a baronet will gain me some more." 
 
 ** But " 
 
 ** But what ? " said Trefusis, deftly opening one of the 
 albums at a photograph of a loathsome room. *' You are 
 against that, are you not } Donovan Brown is against it ; 
 and I am against it. You may disagree with us in every- 
 thing else ; but there you are at one with us. Is it not 
 so } " 
 
 " But that may be the result of drunkenness, improvi- 
 dence, or " 
 
 ** My father's income was fifty times as great as that of 
 Donovan Brown. Do you believe that Donovan Brown is 
 fifty times as drunken and improvident as my father was } " 
 
 " Certainly not. I do not deny that there is much in 
 what you urge. Still, you ask me to take a rather im- 
 portant step." 
 
 " Not a bit of it. I dont ask you to subscribe to, join, 
 or in any way pledge yourself to any society or conspiracy 
 whatsoever. I only want your name for private mention 
 to cowards who think Socialism right, but will not say so 
 
214 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 because they do not think it respectable. They will not 
 be ashamed of their convictions when they learn that a 
 baronet shares them. Socialism oifers you something 
 already, you see : a good use for your hitherto useless 
 title." 
 
 Sir Charles coloured a little, conscious that the example 
 of his favourite painter had influenced him more than his 
 own conviction or the arguments of Trefusis. "What do 
 you think, Chester } " he said. " Will you join ? " 
 
 '* Erskine is already committed to the cause of liberty 
 by his published writings," said Trefusis. ''Three of the 
 pamphlets on that shelf contain quotations from the 
 Patriot Martyrs." 
 
 Erskine blushed, flattered by being quoted : an attention 
 that had been shewn him only once before, and then 
 by a reviewer with the object of proving that the Patriot 
 Martyrs were slovenly in their grammar. 
 
 " Come ! " said Trefusis. " Shall I write to Donovan 
 Brown that his letters have gained the cordial assent and 
 sympathy of Sir Charles Brandon ? " 
 
 "Certainly, certainly. That is, if my unknown name 
 would be of the least interest to him." 
 
 " Good," said Trefusis, filling his glass with water. 
 " Erskine : let us drink to our brother Social Democrat." 
 
 Erskine laughed loudly, but not heartily. " What an ass 
 you are, Brandon ! " he said. " You, with a large landed 
 estate, and bags of gold invested in railways, calling your- 
 self a Social Democrat ! Are you going to sell out and 
 distribute .? — to sell all that thou hast and give to the 
 poor .? " 
 
 *' Not a penny," replied Trefusis for him promptly. " A 
 man cannot be a Christian in this country : I have tried it, 
 and found it impossible both in law and in fact. I am a 
 capitalist and a landholder. I have railway shares, mining 
 shares, building shares, bank shares, and stock of most 
 kinds ; and a great trouble they are to me. But these 
 shares do not represent wealth actually in existence : they 
 are a mortgage on the labour of unborn generations of 
 labourers, who must work to keep me and mine in idleness 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 215 
 
 and luxury. If I sold them, would the mortgage be can- 
 celled and the unborn generations released from its thrall ? 
 No. It would only pass into the hands of some other 
 capitalist ; and the working class would be no better off 
 for my self-sacrifice. Sir Charles cannot obey the com- 
 mand of Christ : I defy him to do it. Let him give his 
 land for a public park : only the richer classes will have 
 leisure to enjoy it. Plant it at the very doors of the poor, 
 so that they may at least breathe its air ; and it will raise 
 the value of the neighbouring houses and drive the poor 
 away. Let him endow a school for the poor, like Eton or 
 Christ's Hospital ; and the rich will take it for their own 
 children as they do in the two instances I have named. 
 Sir Charles ,'does not want to minister to poverty, but to 
 abolish it. No matter how much you give to the poor, 
 everything except a bare subsistence wage will be taken 
 from them again by force .? All talk of practising Christi- 
 anity, or even bare justice, is at present mere waste of 
 words. How can you justly reward the labourer when you 
 cannot ascertain the value of what he makes, owing to the 
 prevalent custom of stealing it } I know this by experi- 
 ence : I wanted to pay a just price for my wife's tomb ; 
 but I could not find out its value, and never shall. The 
 principle on which we farm out our national industry to 
 private marauders, who recompense themselves by black 
 mail, so corrupts and paralyzes us that we cannot be 
 honest even when we want to. And the reason we bear it 
 so calmly is that very few of us really want to." 
 
 " I must study this question of value," said Sir Charles 
 dubiously, refilling his goblet. '* Can you recommend me 
 a good book on the subject } " 
 
 " Any good treatise on political economy will do," said 
 Trefusis. " In economics all roads lead to Socialism ; 
 although in nine cases out of ten, so far, the economist 
 doesnt recognize his destination, and incurs the maledic- 
 tion pronounced by Jeremiah on those who justify the 
 wicked for reward. I will look you out a book or two. 
 And if you will call on Donovan Brown the next time you 
 are in London, he will be delighted, I know. He meets 
 
'2l6 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 with very few who are capable of sympathizing with him 
 from both his points of view — social and artistic." 
 
 Sir Charles brightened on being reminded of Donovan 
 Brown. " I shall esteem an introduction to him a great 
 honour," he said. " I had no idea that he was a friend of 
 yours." 
 
 ** I was a very practical young Socialist when I first met 
 him," said Trefusis. *' When Brown was an unknown and 
 wretchedly poor man, my mother, at the petition of a friend 
 of his, charitably bought one of his pictures for thirty 
 pounds, which he was very glad to get. Years afterwards, 
 when my mother was dead, and Brown famous, I was 
 offered eight hundred pounds for this picture, which was, 
 by-the-bye, a very bad one in my opinion. Now, after 
 making the usual unjust allowance 'for interest on thirty 
 pounds for twelve years or so that had elapsed, the sale of 
 the picture would have brought me in a profit of over seven 
 hundred and fifty pounds, an unearned increment to which 
 I had no righteous claim. My solicitor, to whom I men- 
 tioned the matter, was of opinion that I might justifiably 
 pocket the seven hundred and fifty pounds as reward for 
 my mother's benevolence in buying a presumably worthless 
 picture from an obscure painter. But he failed to convince 
 me that I ought to be paid for my mother's virtues, 
 though we agreed that neither I nor my mother had 
 received any return in the shape of pleasure in contemplat- 
 ing the work, which had deteriorated considerably by the 
 fading of the colours since its purchase. At last I went 
 to Brown's studio with the picture, and told him that it 
 was worth nothing to me, as I thought it a particularly 
 bad one ; and that he might have it back again for fifteen 
 pounds, half the first price. He at once told me that I 
 could get from any dealer more for it than he could afford 
 to give me ; but he told me too that I had no right to 
 make a profit out of his work, and that he would give me 
 the original price of thirty pounds. I took it, and then 
 sent him the man who had offered me the eight hundred. 
 To my discomfiture. Brown refused to sell it on any terms, 
 because he considered it unworthy of his reputation. The 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 217 
 
 man bid up to fifteen hundred ; but Brown held out ; and 
 I found that instead of putting seven hundred and seventy 
 pounds into his pocket, I had taken thirty out of it. I 
 accordingly offered to return the thirty pieces. Brown, 
 taking the offer as an insult, declined all further communi- 
 cation with me. I then insisted on the matter being sub- 
 mitted to arbitration, and demanded fifteen hundred pounds 
 as the full exchange value of the picture. All the arbitrators 
 agreed that this was monstrous ; whereupon I contended 
 that if they denied my right to the value in exchange, they 
 must admit my right to the value in use. They assented 
 to this after putting off their decision for a fortnight in 
 order to read Adam Smith and discover what on earth I 
 meant by my values in use and exchange. I now shewed 
 that the picture had no value in use to me, as I disliked 
 it ; and that theref4fre I was entitled to nothing, and that 
 Brown must take back the thirty pounds. They were glad 
 to concede this also to me, as they were all artist friends 
 of Brown, and wished him not to lose money by the 
 transaction ; though they of course privately thought that 
 the picture was, as I described it, a bad one. After that 
 Brown and I became very good friends. He tolerated my 
 advances, at first lest it should seem that he was annoyed 
 by my disparagement of his work. Subsequently he fell 
 into my views much as you have done." 
 
 "That is very interesting," said Sir Charles. "What a 
 noble thing — refusing fifteen hundred pounds ! He could 
 ill afford it, probably." 
 
 " Heroic — according to nineteenth century notions of 
 heroism. Voluntarily to throw away a chance of making 
 money ! that is the ne plus ultra of martyrdom. Brown's 
 wife was extremely angry with him for doing it." 
 
 "It is an interesting story — or might be made so," said 
 Erskine. " But you make my head spin with your con- 
 founded exchange values and stuff. Everything is a 
 question of figures with you." 
 
 %,> " That comes of my not being a poet," said Trefusis. 
 " But we Socialists need to study the romantic side of our 
 movement to interest women in it. If you want to make 
 
2i8 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 a cause grow, instruct every woman you meet in it. She 
 is or will one day be a wife, and will contradict her husband 
 with scraps of your arguments. A squabble will follow. 
 The son will listen, and will be set thinking if he be 
 capable of thought. And so the mind of the people gets 
 leavened. I have converted many young women. Most 
 of them know no more of the economic theory of Socialism 
 than they know of Chaldee ; but they no longer fear or 
 condemn its name. Oh, I assure you that much can be 
 done in that way by men who are not afraid of women, 
 and who are not in too great a hurry to see the harvest 
 they have sown for." 
 
 " Take care. Some of your lady proselytes may get the 
 better of you some day. The future husband to be con- 
 tradicted may be Sidney Trefusis. Ha ! ha ! ha ! " Sir 
 Charles had emptied a second large goblet of wine, and 
 was a little flushed and boisterous. 
 
 " No," said Trefusis : " I have had enough of love 
 myself, and am not likely to inspire it. Women do not 
 care for men to whom, as Erskine says, everything is a 
 question of figures. I used to flirt with women : now I 
 lecture them, and abhor a man-flirt worse than I do a 
 woman one. Some more wine } Oh, you must not waste 
 the remainder of this bottle." 
 
 " I think we had better go, Brandon," said Erskine, his 
 mistrust of Trefusis growing. "We promised to be back 
 before two." 
 
 '* So you shall," said Trefusis. "It is not yet a quarter 
 past one. By-the-bye, I have not shewn you Donovan 
 Brown's pet instrument for the regeneration of society. 
 Here it is. A monster petition praying that the holding 
 back from the labourer of any portion of the net value 
 produced by his labour be declared a felony. That is 
 all." 
 
 Erskine nudged Sir Charles, who said hastily, " Thank 
 you ; but I had rather not sign anything." 
 
 ** A baronet sign such a petition ! " exclaimed Trefusis. 
 " I did not think of asking you. I only shew it to you as an 
 interesting historical document, containing the autographs 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 219 
 
 of a few artists and poets. There is Donovan Brown's 
 for example. It was he who suggested the petition, which 
 is not likely to do much good, as the thing cannot be done 
 in any such fashion. However, I have promised Brown to 
 get as many signatures as I can ; so you may as well sign 
 it, Erskine. It says nothing in blank verse about the 
 holiness of slaying a tyrant ; but it is a step in the right 
 direction. You will not stick at such a trifle — unless 
 the reviews have frightened you. Come : your name and 
 address." 
 
 Erskine shook his head. 
 
 '*Do you then only commit yourself to revolutionary 
 sentiments when there is a chance of winning fame as a 
 poet by them .? " 
 
 ** I will not sign, simply because I do not choose to," 
 said Erskine warmly. 
 
 " My dear fellow," said Trefusis, almost affectionately, 
 " if a man has a conscience he can have no choice in 
 matters of conviction. I have read somewhere in your 
 book that the man who will not shed his blood for the 
 liberty of his brothers is a coward and a slave. Will you 
 not shed a drop of ink — my ink, too — for the right of your 
 brothers to the work of their hands } I at first sight did 
 not care to sign this petition, because I would as soon 
 petition a tiger to share his prey with me, as our rulers to 
 relax their grip of the stolen labour they live on. But 
 Donovan Brown said to me, * You have no choice. Either 
 you believe that the labourer should have the fruit of his 
 labour or you do not. If you do, put your conviction on 
 record, even if it should be as useless as Pilate's washing 
 his hands.' So I signed." 
 
 " Donovan Brown was right," "said Sir Charles. " / 
 will sign." And he did so with a flourish. 
 
 *' Brown will be delighted," said Trefusis. " I will 
 write to him to-day that I have got another good signature 
 for him." 
 
 "Two more," said Sir Charles. "You shall sign, 
 Erskine : hang me if you shant ! It is only against rascals 
 that run away without paying their men their wages." 
 
220 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 
 
 " Or that dont pay them in full," observed Trefusis, with 
 a curious smile. ** But do not sign if you feel uncomfort- 
 able about it." 
 
 "If you dont sign after me, you are a sneak, Chester," 
 said Sir Charles. 
 
 " I dont know what it means," said Erskine, wavering. 
 " I dont understand petitions." 
 
 ** It means what it says : you cannot be held responsible 
 for any meaning that is not expressed in it," said Trefusis. 
 ** But never mind. You mistrust me a little, I fancy, and 
 would rather not meddle with my petitions ; but you will 
 think better of that as you grow used to me. Meanwhile, 
 there is no hurry. Dont sign yet." 
 
 " Nonsense ! I dont doubt your good faith," said 
 Erskine, hastily disavowing suspicions which he felt but 
 could not account for. " Here goes ! " And he signed. 
 
 ** Well done ! " said Trefusis. '* This will make Brown 
 happy for the rest of the month." 
 
 *' It is time for us to go now," said Erskine gloomily. 
 
 *' Look in upon me at any time : you shall be welcome," 
 said Trefusis. "You need not stand upon any sort of 
 ceremony." 
 
 Then they parted : Sir Charles assuring Trefusis that he 
 had never spent a more interesting morning, and shaking 
 hands with him at considerable length three times. 
 Erskine said little until he was in the Riverside Road 
 with his friend, when he suddenly burst out, 
 
 " What the devil do you mean by drinking two tumblers 
 of such staggering stuff at one o'clock in the day in the 
 house of a dangerous man like that } I am very sorry I 
 went into the fellow's place. I had misgivings about it ; 
 and they have been fully borne out." 
 
 " How so .?" said Sir Charles, taken aback. 
 
 " He has overreached us. I was a deuced fool to sign 
 that paper; and so were you. It was for that that he 
 invited us." 
 
 " Rubbish, my dear boy. It was not his paper, but 
 Donovan Brown's." 
 
 '* I doubt it. Most likely he talked Brown into signing 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 221 
 
 it just as he talked us. I tell you his ways are all crooked, 
 like his ideas. Did you hear how he lied about Miss 
 Lindsay ? " 
 
 ** Oh, you were mistaken about that. He does not care 
 two straws for her or for any one." 
 
 ** Well, if you are satisjfied, I am not. You would not 
 be in such high spirits over it if you had taken as little 
 wine as I." 
 
 ** Pshaw ! you're too ridiculous. It was capital wine. 
 Do you mean to say I am drunk ? " 
 
 " No. But you would not have signed if you had not 
 taken that second goblet. If you had not forced me — I 
 could not get out of it after you set the example — I would 
 
 have seen him d d sooner than have had anything to 
 
 do with his petition." 
 
 ** I dont see what harm can come of it," said Sir 
 Charles, braving out some secret disquietude. 
 
 '*I will never go into his house again," said Erskine 
 moodily. " We were just like two flies in a spider's web." 
 
 Meanwhile, Trefusis was fulfilling his promise to write 
 to Donovan Brown. 
 
 Sallust's House. 
 
 Dear Brown : I have spent the forenoon angling for a couple of very 
 young fish^ and have landed them with more trouble than they are worth. 
 One has gaudy scales : he is a baronet, and an amateur artist, save the 
 mark. All my arguments and my little museum of photographs were 
 lost on him ; but when I mentioned your name, and promised him an 
 introduction to you, he goiged the bait greedily. He was half drunk 
 when he signed ; and I should not have let him touch the paper if I 
 had tiot convinced myself beforehand that he means well, and that my 
 wine had only freed his natural generosity from his conventional cow- 
 ardice and prejudice. We must get his na?ne published itt as many 
 journals as possible as a signatory to the great petition : it will draw on 
 others as your name drew him. The second novice, Chichester Erskine, 
 is a young poet. He will not be of much use to us, though he is a devoted 
 champion of liberty in blank verse, and dedicates his works to Mazzini, 
 etc. He signed reluctantly. All this hesitation is the uncertainty that 
 comes of ignorance : they have not found out the truth for themselves, 
 and are afraid to trust me, matters having come to the pass at which no 
 man dares trust his fellow. 
 
 I have m^t a pretty young lady here who might serve you as a model 
 
222 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 for Hypatia. She is crammed with all the p7-ejudices of the peerage ; but 
 I am effecting a cure. I have set my heart on marrying her to Erskine, 
 7uho, thinking that I am making love to her on ?7iy own account^ is Jealous. 
 The weather is pleasant here ; and I am having a merry life of it ; but 
 I find myself too idle. Etc., etc., etc. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 One sunny forenoon, as Agatha sat reading on the door- 
 step of the conservatory, the shadow of her parasol 
 deepened ; and she, looking up for something denser than 
 the silk of it, saw Trefusis. 
 
 - Oh ! " 
 
 She offered him no further greeting, having fallen in 
 with his habit of dispensing, as far as possible, with salu- 
 tations and ceremonies. He seemed in no hurry to speak ; 
 and so, after a pause, she began, *' Sir Charles " 
 
 ** — is gone to town," he said. ** Erskine is out on his 
 bicycle. Lady Brandon and Miss Lindsay have gone to 
 the village in the waggonette ; and you have come out 
 here to enjoy the summer sun and read rubbish. I know 
 all your news already." 
 
 *' You are very clever, and, as usual, wrong. Sir Charles 
 has not gone to town. He has only gone to the railway 
 station for some papers: he will be back for luncheon. 
 How do you know so much of our aifairs ? " 
 
 " I was on the roof of my house with a field-glass. I 
 saw you come out and sit down here. Then Sir Charles 
 passed. Then Erskine. Then Lady Brandon, driving 
 with great energy, and presenting a remarkable contrast 
 to the disdainful repose of Gertrude." 
 
 ** Gertrude ! I like your cheek." 
 
 " You mean that you dislike my presumption." 
 
 " No : I think cheek a more expressive word than pre- 
 sumption ; and I mean that I like it — that it amuses me." 
 
 " Really ! What are you reading ? " 
 
 " Rubbish, you said just now. A novel." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 223 
 
 *'That is, a lying story of two people who never existed, 
 and who would have acted very diflferently if they had 
 existed." 
 
 "Just so." 
 
 " Could you not imagine something just as amusing for 
 yourself .^ " 
 
 " Perhaps so ; but it would be too much trouble. Besides, 
 cooking takes away one's appetite for eating. I should 
 not relish stories of my own confection." 
 
 " Which volume are you at } " 
 
 ** The third." 
 
 " Then the hero and heroine are on the point of being 
 united } " 
 
 '* I really dont know. This is one of your clever novels. 
 I wish the characters would not talk so much." 
 
 ** No matter. Two of them are in love with one another, 
 are they not } " 
 
 " Yes. It would not be a novel without that." 
 
 " Do you believe, in your secret soul, Agatha — I take the 
 liberty of using your Christian name because I wish to be 
 very solemn — do you really believe that any human being 
 was ever unselfish enough to love another in the story-book 
 fashion } " 
 
 " Of course. At least I suppose so. I have never thought 
 much about it." 
 
 " I doubt it. My own belief is that no latter-day man 
 has any faith in the thoroughness or permanence of his 
 affection for his mate. Yet he does not doubt the sincerity 
 of her professions ; and he conceals the hollowness of his 
 own from her, partly because he is ashamed of it, and partly 
 out of pity for her. And she, on her side, is playing 
 exactly the same comedy." 
 
 *' I believe that is what men do, but not women." 
 
 ** Indeed ! Pray do you remember pretending to be very 
 much in love with me once when " 
 
 Agatha reddened, and placed her palm on the step as if 
 about to spring up. But she checked herself, and said, 
 *' Stop, Mr. Trefusis. If you talk about that I shall go 
 away. I wonder at you ! Have you no taste } " 
 
■224 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " None whatever. And as I was the aggrieved party on 
 that — stay : dont go. I will never allude to it again. I 
 am growing afraid of you. You used to be afraid of me." 
 " Yes ; and you used to bully me. You have a habit of 
 bullying women who are weak enough to fear you. You 
 are a great deal cleverer than I, and know much more, I 
 daresay ; but I am not in the least afraid of you now." 
 
 ** You have no reason to be, and never had any. Hen- 
 rietta, if she were alive, could testify that if there is a defect 
 in my relations with women, it arises from my excessive 
 amiability. I could not refuse a woman anything she had 
 set her heart upon — except my hand in marriage. As long 
 as your sex are content to stop short of that, they can do 
 as they please with me." 
 
 ** Ho^ cruel ! I thought you were nearly engaged to 
 Gertrude." 
 
 *' The usual interpretation of a friendship between a 
 man and a woman ! I have never thought of such a thing ; 
 and I am sure she never has. We are not half so intimate 
 as you and Sir Charles." 
 
 ** Oh, Sir Charles is married. And I advise you to get 
 married if you wish to avoid creating misunderstandings 
 by your friendships." 
 
 Trefusis was struck. Instead of answering, he stood, 
 after one startled glance at her, looking intently at the 
 knuckle of his forefinger. 
 
 " Do take pity on our poor sex," said Agatha maliciously. 
 " You are so rich, and so very clever, and really so nice 
 looking, that you ought to share yourself with somebody. 
 Gertrude would be only too happy." 
 
 Trefusis grinned, and shook his head, slowly but empha- 
 tically. 
 
 " I suppose / should have no chance," continued Agatha 
 pathetically. 
 
 " I should be delighted, of course," he replied with 
 simulated confusion, but with a lurking gleam in his eye 
 that might have checked her, had she noticed it. 
 
 ** Do marry me, Mr. Trefusis," she pleaded, clasping her 
 hands in a rapture of mischievous raillery. " Pray do." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 225 
 
 ** Thank you," said Trefusis determinedly: "I will." 
 
 ** I am very sure you shant," said Agatha, after an incredu- 
 lous pause, springing up and gathering her skirt as if to 
 run away. " You do not suppose I was in earnest, do 
 you ? " 
 
 *' Undoubtedly I do. / am in earnest." 
 
 Agatha hesitated, uncertain whether he might not be 
 playing with her as she had just been playing with 
 him. *'Take care," she said. "I may change my mind 
 and be in earnest too ; and then how will you feel, 
 Mr. Trefusis } " 
 
 ** I think, under our altered relations, you had better call 
 me Sidney." 
 
 " I think we had better drop the joke. It was in 
 rather bad taste ; and I should not have made' it, per- 
 haps." 
 
 *' It would be an execrable joke : therefore I have no 
 intention of regarding it as one. You shall be held to your 
 offer, Agatha. Are you in love with me .? " 
 
 " Not in the least. Not the very smallest bit in the world. 
 I do not know anybody with whom I am less in love or 
 less likely to be in love." 
 
 " Then you must marry me. If you were in love with 
 me, I should run away. My sainted Henrietta adored me ; 
 and I proved unworthy of adoration — though I was 
 immensely flattered." 
 
 " Yes : exactly ! The way you treated yciir first wife 
 ought to be sufficient to warn any woman against becoming 
 your second." 
 
 " Any woman who loved me, you mean. But you do 
 not love me ; and if I run away you will have the advantage 
 of being rid of me. Our settlements can be drawn so 
 as to secure you half my fortune in such an event." 
 
 ** You will never have a chance of running away from 
 me." 
 
 " I shall not want to. I am not so squeamish as I was. 
 No : I do not think I shall run away from you." 
 
 " I do not think so either." 
 
 " Well : when shall we be married .? " 
 
 15 
 
226 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** Never," said Agatha, and fled. But before she had 
 gone a step he caught her. 
 
 " Dont," she said breathlessly. ** Take your arm away. 
 How dare you } " 
 
 He released her and shut the door of the conservatory. 
 *' Now," he said, " if you want to run away, you will have 
 to run in the open." 
 
 " You are very impertinent. Let me go in immediately." 
 
 " Do you want me to beg you to marry me after you have 
 offered to do it freely .? " 
 
 " But I was only joking : I dont care for you," she 
 said, looking round for an outlet. 
 
 *' Agatha," he said, with grim patience : " half an hour 
 ago I had no more intention of marrying you than of 
 making a voyage to the moon. But when you made the 
 suggestion, I felt all its force in an instant ; and now 
 nothing will satisfy me but your keeping your word. Of all 
 the women I know, you are the only one not quite a fool." 
 
 ** I should be a great fool if " 
 
 " If you married me, you were going to say ; but I dont 
 think so. I am the only man, not quite an ass, of your 
 acquaintance. I know my value, and yours. And I loved 
 you long ago, when I had no right to." 
 
 Agatha frowned. " No," she said. " There is no use 
 in saying anything more about it. It is out of the 
 question." 
 
 ** Come : -dont be vindictive. I was more sincere then 
 than you were. But that has nothing to do with the present. 
 You have spent our renewed acquaintance on the defensive 
 against me, retorting upon me, teasing and tempting me. 
 Be generous for once ; and say Yes with a good will." 
 
 "■ Oh, I never tempted you," cried Agatha. ** I did not. 
 It is not true." He said nothing, but offered his hand. 
 *•' No : go away : I will not." He persisted ; and she felt 
 her power of resistance suddenly wane. Terror-stricken, 
 she said hastily, " There is not the least use in bothering 
 me : I will tell you nothing to-day." 
 
 " Promise me on your honour that you will say Yes to- 
 morrow ; and I will leave you in peace until then." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 227 
 
 " I will not." 
 
 ** The deuce take your sex," he said plaintively. ** You 
 know my mind now ; and I have to stand here coquetting 
 because you dont know your own. If I cared for my 
 comfort I should remain a bachelor." 
 
 " I advise you to do so," she said, stealing backward 
 towards the door. " You are a very interesting widower. 
 A wife would spoil you. Consider the troubles of 
 domesticity, too." 
 
 ** I like troubles. They strengthen — Aha ! " (she had 
 snatched at the knob of the door ; and he swiftly put his 
 hand on hers and stayed her). " Not yet, if you please. 
 Can you not speak out like a woman — like a man, I mean ? 
 You may withhold a bone from Max until he stands on his 
 hind legs to beg for it ; but you should not treat me like a 
 dog. Say Yes frankly, and do not keep me begging." 
 
 *' What in the world do you want to marry me for ? " 
 
 ** Because I was made to carry a house on my shoulders, 
 and will do so. I want to do the best I can for myself ; 
 and I shall never have such a chance again. And I cannot 
 help myself, and dont know why : that is the plain truth 
 of the matter. You will marry someone someday." She 
 shook her head. " Yes, you will. Why not marry 
 me.?" 
 
 Agatha bit her nether lip ; looked ruefully at the ground ; 
 and, after a long pause, said reluctantly, " Very well. But 
 mind, I think you are acting very foolishly; and if you are 
 disappointed afterwards, you must not blame me.^^ 
 
 " I take the risk of my bargain," he said, releasing her 
 hand, and leaning against the door as he took out his 
 pocket diary. "You will have to take the risk of yours, 
 which I hope may not prove the worse of the two. This 
 is the seventeenth of June. What date before the twenty- 
 fourth of July will suit you ? " 
 
 ** You mean the twenty-fourth of July next year, I pre- 
 sume." 
 
 ** No : I mean this year. I am going abroad on that 
 date, married or not, to attend a conference at Geneva ; and 
 I want you to come with me. I will show you a lot of 
 
228 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 places and things that you have never seen before. It is 
 your right to name the day ; but you have no serious busi- 
 ness to provide for ; and I have." 
 
 " But you dont know all the things I shall — I should 
 have to provide. You had better wait until you come back 
 from the continent." 
 
 ** There is nothing to be provided on your part but settle- 
 ments and your trousseau. The trousseau is all nonsense ; 
 and Jansenius knows me of old in the matter of settlements. 
 I got married in six weeks before." 
 
 " Yes," said Agatha sharply ; " but I am not Henrietta." 
 
 " No, thank Heaven," he assented placidly. 
 
 Agatha was struck with remorse. ** That was a vile 
 thing for me to say," she said ; ** and for you too." 
 
 " Whatever is true is to the purpose, vile or not. Will 
 you come to Geneva on the twenty-fourth } " 
 
 " But I really was not thinking when I I did 
 
 not intend to say that I would I " 
 
 " I know. You will come if we are married." 
 
 " Yes. 7/* we are married." 
 
 "We shall be married. Do not write either to your 
 mother or Jansenius until I ask you." 
 
 ** I dont intend to. I have nothing to write about." 
 
 ** Wretch that you are! And do .not be jealous if you 
 catch me making love to Lady Brandon. I always do so : 
 she expects it." 
 
 " You may make love to whom you please. It is no 
 concern of mine." 
 
 " Here comes the waggonette with Lady Brandon and 
 
 Ger and Miss Lindsay. I mustnt call her Gertrude 
 
 now except when you are not by. Before they interrupt us, 
 let me remind you of the three points we are agreed upon. 
 I love you. You do not love me. We are to be married 
 before the twenty-fourth of next month. Now I must fly 
 to help her ladyship to alight." 
 
 He hastened to the house door, at which the waggonette 
 had just stopped. Agatha, bewildered, and ashamed to 
 face her friends, went in through the conservatory, and 
 locked herself into her room. 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 229 
 
 Trefusis'went into the library with Gertrude whilst Lady 
 Brandon loitered in the hall to take off her gloves and ask 
 questions of the servants. When she followed, she found 
 the two standing together at the window. Gertrude was 
 listening to him with the patient expression she now often 
 wore when he talked. He was smiling ; but it struck Jane 
 that he was not quite at ease. 
 
 " I was just beginning to tell Miss Lindsay," he said, 
 ** of an extraordinary thing that has happened during your 
 absence." 
 
 ** I know," exclaimed Jane, with sudden conviction. 
 " The heater in the conservatory has cracked." 
 
 " Possibly," said Trefusis ; ** but, if so, I have not heard 
 of it." 
 
 "If it hasnt cracked, it will," said Jane gloomily. 
 Then, assuming with some effort an interest in Trefusis's 
 news, she added, "Well: what has happened.'*" 
 
 ** I was chatting with Miss Wylie just now, when a sin- 
 gular idea occurred to us. We discussed it for some time ; 
 and the upshot is that we are to be married before the 
 end of next month." 
 
 Jane reddened and stared at him ; and he looked keenly 
 back at her. Gertrude, though unobserved, did not suffer 
 her expression of patient happiness to change in the least ; 
 but a greenish white colour suddenly appeared in her face, 
 and only gaye place very slowly to her usual complexion. 
 
 "Do you mean to say that you are going to marry 
 Agatha .<'" said Lady Brandon incredulously, after a pause. 
 
 " Yes. I had no intention of doing so when I last saw 
 you, or I should have told you." 
 
 " I never heard of such a thing in my life ! You fell in 
 love with one another in five minutes, I suppose." 
 
 " Good Heavens, no ! we are not in love with one 
 another. Can you believe that I would marry for such 
 a frivolous reason } No. The subject turned up acci- 
 dentally; and the advantages of a match between us 
 struck me forcibly. I was fortunate enough to convert 
 her to my opinion." 
 
 " Yes : she wanted a lot of pressing, I dare say," said 
 
230 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 Jane, glancing at Gertrude, who was smiling un- 
 meaningly. 
 
 ** As you imply," said Trefusis coolly, " her reluctance 
 may have been affected, and she only too glad to get such 
 a charming husband. Assuming that to be the case, she 
 dissembled remarkably well." 
 
 Gertrude took off her bonnet, and left the room without 
 speaking. 
 
 •'This is my revenge upon you for marrying Brandon," 
 he said then, approaching Jane. 
 
 ** Oh yes," she retorted ironically. " I believe all that, 
 of course." 
 
 "You have the same security for its truth as for that of 
 all the foolish things I confess to you. There ! " He 
 pointed to a panel of looking glass, in which Jane's figure 
 was reflected at full length. 
 
 " I dont see anything to admire," said Jane, looking at 
 herself with no great favour. *' There is plenty of me, if 
 you admire that." 
 
 "It is impossible to have too much of a good thing. 
 But I must not look any more. Though Agatha says she 
 does not love me, I am not sure that she would be pleased 
 if I were to look for love from anyone else." 
 
 " Says she does not love you ! Dont believe her : she 
 has taken trouble enough to catch you." 
 
 " I am flattered. You caught me without any trouble ; 
 and yet you would not have me." 
 
 *' It is manners to wait to be asked. I think you have 
 treated Gertrude shamefully — I hope you wont be offended 
 with me for saying so. I blame Agatha most. She is an 
 awfully double-faced girl." 
 
 " How so .?" said Trefusis, surprised. "What has Miss 
 Lindsay to do with it } " 
 
 " You know very well." 
 
 " I assure you I do not. If you were speaking of your- 
 self, I could understand you." 
 
 " Oh, you can get out of it very cleverly, like all men ; 
 but you cant hoodwink me. You shouldnt have pretended 
 to like Gertrude when^ you were really pulling a cord with 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 231 
 
 Agatha. And she, too, pretending to flirt with Sir Charles 
 — as if he would care twopence for her ! " 
 
 Trefusis seemed a little disturbed. " I hope Miss 
 Lindsay had no such — but she could not." 
 
 " Oh, couldnt she } You will soon see whether she had 
 or not." 
 
 ** You misunderstood us, Lady Brandon : Miss Lindsay 
 knows better. Remember, too, that this proposal of mine 
 was quite unpremeditated. This morning I had no tender 
 thoughts of anyone — except one whom it would be im- 
 proper to name." 
 
 " Oh, that is all talk. It wont do nowT 
 
 " I will talk no more at present : I must be off to the 
 village to telegraph to my solicitor. If I meet Erskine, I 
 will tell him the good news." 
 
 *' He will be delighted. He thought, as we all did, that 
 you were cutting him out with Gertrude." 
 
 Trefusis smiled ; shook his head ; and, with a glance of 
 admiring homage to Jane's charms, went out. Jane was 
 contemplating herself in the glass when a servant begged 
 her to come and speak to Master Charles and Miss Fanny. 
 She hurried upstairs to the nursery, where her boy and 
 girl, disputing each other's prior right to torture the baby, 
 had come to blows. They were somewhat frightened, but 
 not at all appeased, by Jane's entrance. She scolded, 
 coaxed, threatened, bribed, quoted Dr. Watts, appealed to 
 the nurse and then insulted her, demanded of the children 
 whether they loved one another, whether they loved 
 mamma, and whether they wanted a right good whipping. 
 At last, exasperated by her own inability to restore order, 
 she seized the baby, which had cried incessantly through- 
 out ; and, declaring that it was doing it on purpose and 
 should have something real to cry for, gave it an exem- 
 plary smacking, and ordered the others to bed. The boy, 
 awed by the fate of his infant brother, offered, by way of 
 compromise, to be good if Miss Wylie would come and 
 play with him : a proposal which provoked from his 
 jealous mother a box on the ear that sent him howling 
 to his cot. Then she left the room, pausing on the thres- 
 
232 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 hold to remark that if she heard another sound from them 
 that day, they might expect the worst from her. On 
 descending, heated and angry, to the drawing-room, she 
 found Agatha there alone, looking out of window as if 
 the landscape were especially unsatisfactory this time. 
 
 *' Selfish little beasts ! " exclaimed Jane, making a 
 miniature whirlwind with her skirts as she came in. 
 ** Charlie is a perfect little fiend. He spends all his time 
 thinking how he can annoy me. Ugh ! He's just like 
 his father." 
 
 ** Thank you, my dear," said Sir Charles, from the 
 doorway. 
 
 Jane laughed. ** I knew you were there," she said. 
 "Where's Gertrude.?" 
 
 ** She has gone out," said Sir Charles. 
 
 ** Nonsense ! She has only just come in from driving 
 with me." 
 
 " I do not know what you mean by nonsense," said Sir 
 Charles, chafing. ** I saw her walking along the Riverside 
 Road. I was in the village road ; and she did not see 
 me. She seemed in a hurry." 
 
 ** I met her on the stairs, and spoke to her," said 
 Agatha; "but she didnt hear me." 
 
 ** I hope she is not going to throw herself into the 
 river," said Jane. Then, turning to her husband, she 
 added, " Have you heard the news } " 
 
 ** The only news I have heard is from this paper," said 
 Sir Charles, taking out a journal, and flinging it on the 
 table. " There is a paragraph in it stating that I. have 
 joined some infernal Socialistic league ; and I am told 
 that there is an article in the Times on the spread of 
 Socialism, in which my name is mentioned. This is all 
 due to Trefusis ; and I think he has played me a most 
 dishonourable trick. I will tell him so, too, when next 
 I see him." 
 
 "You had better be careful what you say of him before 
 Agatha," said Jane. "Oh, you need not be alarmed, 
 Agatha : I know all about it. He told us in the library. 
 We went out this morning — Gertrude and I ; and when 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 233 
 
 we came back we found Mr. Trefusis and Agatha talking 
 very lovingly to one another on the conservatory steps, 
 newly engaged." 
 
 " Indeed ! " said Sir Charles, disconcerted and dis- 
 pleased, but trying to smile. **I may then congratulate 
 you, Miss Wylie } " 
 
 " You need not," said Agatha, keeping her countenance 
 as well as she could. " It was only a joke. At least it 
 came about quite in jest. He has no right to say that we 
 are engaged." 
 
 " Stuff and nonsense," said Jane. ** That wont do, 
 Agatha. He has gone off to telegraph to his solicitor. 
 He is quite in earnest." 
 
 "I am a great fool," said Agatha, sitting down and 
 twisting her hands perplexedly. " I believe I said some- 
 thing ; but I really did not intend to. He surprised me 
 into speaking before I knew what I was saying. A pretty 
 mess I have got myself into ! " 
 
 ** I am glad you have been outwitted at last," said Jane, 
 laughing spitefully. ** You never had any pity for me 
 when I could not think of the proper thing to say at a 
 moment's notice." 
 
 Agatha let the taunt pass unheeded. Her gaze wandered 
 anxiously, and at last settled appealingly upon Sir Charles. 
 ** What shall I do } " she said to him. 
 
 ** Well, Miss Wylie," he said gravely : " if you did not 
 mean to marry him, you should not have promised. I 
 dont wish to be unsympathetic ; and I know that it is very 
 hard to get rid of Trefusis when he makes up his mind to 
 get something out of you ; but still " 
 
 " Never mind her," said Jane, interrupting him. " She 
 wants to marry him just as badly as he wants to marry her. 
 You would be preciously disappointed if he cried off, 
 Agatha ; for all your interesting reluctance." 
 
 " That is not so, really," said Agatha, earnestly. " I 
 wish I had taken time to think about it. I suppose he has 
 told everybody by this time." 
 
 " May we then regard it as settled } " said Sir Charles. 
 
 *' Of course you may," said Jane contemptuously. 
 
234 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " Pray allow Miss Wylie to speak for herself, Jane. I 
 confess I do not understand why you are still in doubt — 
 if you have really engaged yourself to him." 
 
 " I suppose I am in for it," said Agatha. " I feel as if 
 there were some fatal objection, if I could only remember 
 what it is. I wish I had never seen him." 
 
 Sir Charles was puzzled. " I do not understand ladies' 
 ways in these matters," he said. ** However, as there 
 seems to be no doubt that you and Trefusis are engaged, 
 I shall of course say nothing that would make it un- 
 pleasant for him to visit here ; but I must say that he has 
 — to say the least — been inconsiderate to me personally. 
 I signed a paper at his house on the implicit understanding 
 that it was strictly private ; and now he has trumpeted it 
 forth to the whole world, and publicly associated my name 
 not only with his own, but with those of persons of whom 
 I know nothing except that I would rather not be connected 
 with them in any way." 
 
 "What does it matter.?" said Jane. *' Nobody cares 
 twopence." 
 
 ** / care," said Sir Charles angrily. " No sensible 
 person can accuse me of exaggerating my own importance 
 because I value my reputation sufficiently to object to my 
 approval being publicly cited in support of a cause with 
 which I have no sympathy." 
 
 " Perhaps Mr. Trefusis has had nothing to do with it," 
 said Agatha. ** The papers publish whatever they please, 
 dont they ? " 
 
 " That's right, Agatha," said Jane maliciously. " Dont 
 let anyone speak ill of him." 
 
 " I am not speaking ill of him," said Sir Charles, before 
 Agatha could retort. " It is a mere matter of feeling ; and 
 I should not have mentioned it had I known the altered 
 relations between him and Miss Wylie." 
 
 ** Pray dont speak of them," said Agatha. " I have a 
 mind to run away by the next train." 
 
 Sir Charles, to change the subject, suggested a duet. 
 
 Meanwhile, Erskine, returning through the village from 
 his morning ride, had met Trefusis, and attempted to pass 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 235 
 
 him with a nod. But Trefusis called to him to stop ; and 
 he dismounted reluctantly. 
 
 " Just a word to say that I am going to be married," 
 said Trefusis. 
 
 " To } " Erskine could not add Gertrude's name. 
 
 **To one of our friends at the Beeches. Guess to 
 which." 
 
 " To Miss Lindsay, I presume." 
 
 ** What in the fiend's name has put it into all your heads 
 that Miss Lindsay and I are particularly attached to one 
 another?" exclaimed Trefusis. " You have always appeared 
 to me to be the man for Miss Lindsay. I am going to 
 marry Miss Wylie." 
 
 " Really ! " exclaimed Erskine, with a sensation of 
 suddenly thawing after a bitter frost. 
 
 " Of course. And now, Erskine, you have the advantage 
 of being a poor man. Do not I'et that splendid girl marry 
 for money. If you go further you are likely to fare worse ; 
 and so is she." Then he nodded and walked away, leaving 
 the other staring after him. 
 
 *' If he has jilted her, he is a scoundrel," said Erskine. 
 " I am sorry I didnt tell him so." 
 
 He mounted, and rode slowly along the Riverside Road,- 
 partly suspecting Trefusis of some mystification, but 
 inclining to believe in him, and, in any case, to take his 
 advice as to Gertrude. The conversation he had overheard 
 in the avenue still perplexed him. He could not reconcile 
 it with Trefusis's profession of disinterestedness towards 
 her. 
 
 His bicycle carried him noiselessly on its indiarubber 
 tires to the place by which the hemlock grew ; and there 
 he saw Gertrude sitting on the low earthern wall that 
 separated the field from the road. Her straw bag, with 
 her scissors in it, lay beside her. Her fingers were inter- 
 laced ; and her hands rested, palms downwards, on her 
 knee. Her expression was rather vacant, and so little 
 suggestive of any serious emotion that Erskine laughed as 
 he alighted close to her. 
 
 •* Are you tired } " he said. 
 
236 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** No," she replied, not startled, and smiling mechani- 
 cally — an unusual condescension on her part. 
 
 ** Indulging in a day-dream ? " 
 
 " No." She moved a little to one side, and concealed 
 the basket with her dress. 
 
 He began to fear that something was wrong. "Is it 
 possible that you have ventured among those poisonous 
 plants again.?" he said. "Are you ill.?" 
 
 " Not at all," she replied, rousing herself a little. " Your 
 solicitude is quite thrown away. I am perfectly well." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," he said, snubbed. " I thought 
 
 Dont you think it dangerous to sit on that damp wall } " 
 
 *' It is not damp. It is crumbling into dust with dry- 
 ness." An unnatural laugh, with which she concluded, 
 intensified his uneasiness. 
 
 He began a sentence ; stopped ; and, to gain time to 
 recover himself, placed his velocipede in the opposite 
 ditch : a proceeding which she witnessed with impatience, 
 as it indicated his intention to stay and talk. She, however, 
 was the first to speak ; and she did so with a callousness 
 that shocked him. 
 
 " Have you heard the news } " 
 
 " What news } " 
 
 " About Mr. Trefusis and Agatha. They are engaged." 
 
 " So Trefusis told me. I met him just now in the village. 
 I was very glad to hear it." 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 " But I had a special reason for being glad." 
 
 " Indeed } " 
 
 " I was desperately afraid, before he told me the truth, 
 that he had other views — views that might have proved 
 fatal to my dearest hopes." 
 
 Gertrude frowned at him ; and the frown roused him to 
 brave her. He lost his self-command, already shaken by 
 her strange behaviour. " You know that I love you. Miss 
 Lindsay," he said. " It may not be a perfect love ; but, 
 humanly speaking, it is a true one. I almost told you so 
 that day when we were in the billiard room together ; and 
 I did a very dishonourable thing the same evening. When 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 237 
 
 you were speaking to Trefusis in the avenue, I was close 
 to you ; and I listened." 
 
 "Then you heard him," cried Gertrude vehemently. 
 " You heard him swear that he was in earnest." 
 
 ** Yes," said Erskine, trembling ; " and I thought he 
 meant in earnest in loving you. You can hardly blame 
 me for that: I was in love myself; and love is blind and 
 jealous. I never hoped again until he told me that he 
 was to be married to Miss Wylie. May I speak to you, 
 now that I know I was mistaken, or that you have changed 
 your mind ? " 
 
 ** Or that he has changed his mind," said Gertrude 
 scornfully. 
 
 Erskine, with a new anxiety for her sake, checked him- 
 self. Her dignity was dear to him ; and he saw that her 
 disappointment had made her reckless of it. ** Do not 
 say anything to me now, Miss Lindsay, lest " 
 
 ** What have I said ? What have I to say ? " 
 
 "Nothing, except on my own affairs. I love you dearly." 
 
 She made an impatient movement, as if that were 
 a very insignificant matter. 
 
 " You believe me, I hope," he said, timidly. 
 
 Gertrude made an effort to recover her habitual ladylike 
 reserve ; but her energy failed before she had done more 
 than raise her head. She relapsed into her listless attitude, 
 and made a faint gesture of intolerance. 
 
 "You cannot be quite indifferent to being loved," he 
 said, becoming more nervous and more urgent. " Your 
 existence constitutes all my happiness. I offer you my 
 services and devotion. I do not ask any reward." (He 
 was now speaking very quickly and almost inaudibly.) 
 " You may accept my love without returning it. I do not 
 want — seek to make a bargain. If you need a friend, you 
 may be able to rely on me more confidently because you 
 know I love you." 
 
 " Oh, you think so," said Gertrude, interrupting him ; 
 " but you will get over it. I am not the sort of person 
 that men fall in love with. You will soon change your 
 mind." 
 
238 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 " Not the sort ! Oh, how little you know ! " he said, 
 becoming eloquent. " I have had plenty of time to 
 change ; but I am as . fixed as ever. If you doubt, wait 
 and try me. But do not be rough with me. You pain 
 me more than you can imagine, when you are hasty or 
 indifferent. I am in earnest." 
 
 *' Ha, ha ! That is easily said." 
 
 ** Not by me. I change in my judgment of other people 
 according to my humour ; but I believe steadfastly in your 
 goodness and beauty — as if you were an angel. I am in 
 earnest in my love for you as I am in earnest for my own 
 life, which can only be perfected by your aid and in- 
 fluence." 
 
 " You are greatly mistaken if you suppose that I am an 
 angel." 
 
 "You are wrong to mistrust yourself; but it is what I 
 owe to you and not what I expect from you that I try to 
 express by speaking of you as an angel. I know that you 
 are not an angel to yourself But you are to me." 
 
 She sat stubbornly silent. 
 
 ** I will not press you for an answer now. I am content 
 that you know my mind at last. Shall we return to- 
 gether } " 
 
 She looked round slowly at the hemlock, and from that 
 to the river. Then she took up her basket ; rose ; and 
 prepared to go, as if under compulsion. 
 
 ** Do you want any more hemlock } " he said. *' If so, 
 I will pluck some for you." 
 
 '* I wish you would let me alone," she said, with sudden 
 anger. She added, a little ashamed of herself, " I have a 
 headache." 
 
 " I am very sorry," he said, crestfallen. 
 
 "It is only that I do not wish to be spoken to. It 
 hurts my head to listen." 
 
 He meekly took his bicycle from the ditch, and wheeled 
 it along beside her to the Beeches without another word. 
 They went in through the conservatory, and parted in the 
 dining-room. Before leaving him she said, with some 
 remorse, " I did not mean to be rude, Mr. Erskine." 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 239 
 
 He flushed ; murmured something ; and attempted to 
 kiss her hand. But she snatched it away and went out 
 quickly. He was stung by this repulse, and stood mortify- 
 ing himself by thinking of it until he was disturbed by the 
 entrance of a maid-servant. Learning from her that Sir 
 Charles was in the billiard-room, he joined him there, and 
 asked him carelessly if he had heard the news. 
 
 '* About Miss Wylie ? " said Sir Charles. " Yes, I 
 should think so. I believe the whole country knows it, 
 though they have not been engaged three hours. Have 
 you seen these } " And he pushed a couple of newspapers 
 across the table. 
 
 Erskine had to make several efforts before he could 
 read. " You were a fool to sign that document," he said. 
 *' I told you so at the time." 
 
 ** I relied on the fellow being a gentleman," said Sir 
 Charles warmly. '* I do not see that I was a fool. I see 
 that he is a cad ; and but for this business of Miss Wylie's 
 I would let him know my opinion. Let me tell you, 
 Chester, that he has played fast and loose with Miss 
 Lindsay. There is a deuce of a row upstairs. She has 
 just told Jane that she must go home at once ; Miss 
 Wylie declares that she will have nothing to do with 
 Trefusis if Miss Lindsay has a prior claim to him ; and 
 Jane is annoyed at his admiring anybody except herself. 
 It serves me right : my instinct warned me against the 
 fellow from the first." 
 
 Just then luncheon was announced. Gertrude did not 
 come down. Agatha was silent and moody. Jane tried 
 to make Erskine describe his walk with Gertrude ; but he 
 baffled her curiosity by omitting from his account every- 
 thing except its commonplaces. 
 
 " I think her conduct very strange," said Jane. ** She 
 insists on going to town by the four o'clock train. I 
 consider that it's not polite to me, although she always 
 made a point of her perfect manners. I never heard of 
 such a thing ! " 
 
 When they had risen from table, they went together to 
 the drawing-room. They had hardly arrived there when 
 
240 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 Trefusis was announced ; and he was in their presence 
 before they had time to conceal the expression of con- 
 sternation his name brought into their faces. 
 
 ** I have come to say good-bye," he said. " I find that 
 I must go to town by the four o'clock train to push my 
 arrangements in person : the telegrams I have received 
 breathe nothing but delay. Have you seen the Times ? " 
 
 " I have indeed," said Sir Charles, emphatically. 
 
 " You are in some other paper too, and will be in half- 
 a-dozen more in the course of the next fortnight. Men 
 who have committed themselves to an opinion are always 
 in trouble with the newspapers: some because they cannot 
 get into them : others because they cannot keep out. If 
 you had put forward a thundering revolutionary manifesto, 
 not a daily paper would have dared allude to it: there 
 is no cowardice like Fleet Street cowardice ! I must run 
 off : I have much to do before I start ; and it is getting 
 on for three. Good-bye, Lady Brandon, and everybody." 
 
 He shook Jane's hand ; dealt nods to the rest rapidly, 
 making no distinction in favour of Agatha ; and hurried 
 away. They stared after him for a moment ; and then 
 Erskine ran out and went downstairs two steps at a time. 
 Nevertheless he had to run as far as the avenue before he 
 overtook his man. 
 
 "Trefusis," he said breathlessly: "you must not go by 
 the four o'clock train." 
 
 "Why not.?" 
 
 " Miss Lindsay is going to town by it." 
 
 " So much the better, my dear boy ; so much the better. 
 You are not jealous of me now, are you ? " 
 
 " Look here, Trefusis. I dont know and I dont ask 
 what there has been between you and Miss Lindsay ; but 
 your engagement has quite upset her ; and she is running 
 away to London in consequence. If she hears that you 
 are going by the same train, she will wait until to-morrow ; 
 and I believe the delay would be very disagreeable. Will 
 you inflict that additional pain upon her ? " 
 
 Trefusis, evidently concerned, looking doubtfully at 
 Erskine, and pondered for a moment. " I think you are 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 241 
 
 on a wrong scent about this," he said. *' My relations 
 with Miss Lindsay were not of a sentimental kind. Have 
 you said anything to her } — on your own account, I 
 mean." 
 
 " I have spoken to her on both accounts ; and I know 
 from her own lips that I am right." 
 
 Trefusis uttered a low whistle. 
 
 " It is not the first time I have had the evidence of 
 my senses in the matter," said Erskine significantly. 
 '* Pray think of it seriously, Trefusis. Forgive my telling 
 you frankly that nothing but your own utter want of feeling 
 could excuse you for the way in which you have acted 
 towards her." 
 
 Trefusis smiled. " Forgive me in turn for my inquisi- 
 tiveness," he said. " What does she say to your suit } " 
 
 Erskine hesitated, shewing by his manner that he 
 thought Trefusis had no right to ask the question. *' She 
 says nothing," he answered. 
 
 " Hm ! " said Trefusis. ** Well, you may rely on me as 
 to the train. There is my hand upon it." 
 
 " Thank you," said Erskine fervently. They shook 
 hands and parted : Trefusis walking away with a grin 
 suggestive of anything but good faith. 
 
 CHAPTER XVH. 
 
 Gertrude, unaware of the extent to which she had 
 already betrayed her disappointment, believed that anxiety 
 for her father's health, which she alleged as the motive of 
 her sudden departure, was an excuse plausible enough to 
 blind her friends to her overpowering reluctance to speak 
 to Agatha or endure her presence ; to her fierce shrinking 
 from the sort of pity usually accorded to a jilted woman ; 
 and, above all, to her dread of meeting Trefusis. She had 
 for some time past thought of him as an upright and 
 perfect man deeply interested in her. Yet, comparatively 
 
 16 
 
242 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 liberal as her education had been, she had no idea of any 
 interest of man in woman existing apart from a desire to 
 marry. He had, in his serious moments, striven to make 
 her sensible of the baseness he saw in her worldliness, 
 flattering her by his apparent conviction — which she 
 shared — that she was capable of a higher life. Almost in 
 the same breath, a strain of gallantry which was incorrigi- 
 ble in him, and to which his humour and his tenderness to 
 women whom he liked gave variety and charm, would 
 supervene upon his seriousness with a rapidity which her 
 far less flexible temperament could not follow. Hence 
 she, thinking him still in earnest when he had swerved 
 into florid romance, had been dangerously misled. He 
 had no conscientious scruples in his love-making, because 
 he was unaccustomed to consider himself as likely to 
 inspire love in women ; and Gertrude did not know that 
 her beauty gave to an hour spent alone with her a transient 
 charm which few men of imagination and address could 
 resist. She, who had lived in the marriage market since 
 she had left school, looked upon love-making as the most 
 serious business of life. To him it was only a pleasant 
 sort of trifling, enhanced by a dash of sadness in the 
 reflection that it meant so little. 
 
 Of the ceremonies attending her departure, the one that 
 cost her most was the kiss she felt bound to offer Agatha. 
 She had been jealous of her at college, where she had 
 esteemed herself the better bred of the two ; but that 
 opinion had hardly consoled her for Agatha's superior 
 quickness of wit, dexterity of hand, audacity, aptness of 
 resource, capacity for forming or following intricate 
 associations of ideas, and consequent power to dazzle 
 others. Her jealousy of these qualities was now barbed 
 by the knowledge that they were much nearer akin than 
 her own to those of Trefusis. It mattered little to her 
 how she appeared to herself in comparison with Agatha. 
 But it mattered the whole world (she thought) that she 
 must appear to Trefusis so slow, stiff", cold, and studied, 
 and that she had no means to make him understand that 
 she was not really so. For she would not admit the 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 243 
 
 justice of impressions made by what she did not intend 
 to do, however habitually she did it. She had a theory 
 that she was not herself, but what she would have liked 
 to be. As to the one quality in which she had always 
 felt superior to Agatha, and which she called " good 
 breeding," Trefusis had so far destroyed her conceit in 
 that, that she was beginning to doubt whether it was not 
 her cardinal defect. 
 
 She could not bring herself to utter a word as she em- 
 braced her schoolfellow ; and Agatha was tongue-tied too. 
 But there was much remorseful tenderness in the feelings that 
 choked them. Their silence would have been awkward but 
 for the loquacity of Jane, who talked enough for all three. 
 Sir Charles was without, in the trap, waiting to drive Ger- 
 trude to the station. Erskine intercepted her in the hall 
 as she passed out ; told her that he should be desolate 
 when she was gone ; and begged her to remember him : 
 a simple petition which moved her a little, and caused her 
 to note that his dark eyes had a pleading eloquence which 
 she had observed before in the kangaroos at the Zoological 
 Society's gardens. 
 
 On the way to the train, Sir Charles worried the horse in 
 order to be excused from conversation on the sore subject 
 of his guest's sudden departure. He made a few remarks on 
 the skittishness of young ponies, and on the weather ; and 
 that was all until they reached the station, a pretty building 
 standing in the open country, with a view of the river from 
 the platform. There were two flies waiting, two porters, 
 a bookstall, and a refreshment room with a neglected 
 beauty pining behind the bar. Sir Charles waited in the 
 booking office to purchase a ticket for Gertrude, who went 
 through to the platform. The first person she saw there 
 was Trefusis, close beside her. 
 
 *' I am going to town by this train, Gertrude," he said 
 quickly. " Let me take charge of you. I have something 
 to say ; for I hear that some mischief has been made be- 
 tween us which must be stopped at once. You " 
 
 Just then Sir Charles came out, and stood amazed to see 
 them in conversation. 
 
244 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 "It happens that I am going by this train," said Trefusis. 
 *' I will see after Miss Lindsay." 
 
 *'Mjss Lindsay has her maid with her," said Sir Charles, 
 almost stammering, and looking at Gertrude, whose expres- 
 sion was inscrutable. 
 
 "We can get into the Pullman car," said Trefusis. 
 " There we shall be as private as in a corner of a crowded 
 drawing-room. I may travel with you, may I not .'^ " he 
 said, seeing Sir Charles's disturbed look, and turning to 
 her for express permission. 
 
 She felt that to deny him would be to throw away her 
 last chance of happiness. Nevertheless she resolved to do 
 it, though she should die of grief on the way to London. 
 As she raised her head to forbid him the more emphatically, 
 she met his gaze, which was grave and expectant. For an 
 instant she lost her presence of mind, and in that instant 
 said, " Yes. I shall be very glad." 
 
 " Well, if that is the case," said Sir Charles, in the tone 
 of one whose sympathy had been alienated by an un- 
 pardonable outrage, " there can be no use in my waiting. 
 I leave you in the hands of Mr. Trefusis. Good-bye, Miss 
 Lindsay." 
 
 Gertrude winced. Unkindness from a man usually kind 
 proved hard to bear at parting. She was offering him her 
 hand in silence when Trefusis said, 
 
 "Wait and see us off. If we chance to be killed on the 
 journey — which is always probable on an English railway 
 — you will reproach yourself afterwards if you do not see 
 the last of us. Here is the train : it will not delay you a 
 minute. Tell Erskine that you saw me here ; that I have 
 not forgotten my promise ; and that he may rely on me. 
 Get in at this end. Miss Lindsay." 
 
 " My maid," said Gertrude hesitating ; for she had not 
 intended to travel so expensively. " She " 
 
 " She comes with us to take care of me : I have tickets 
 for everybody," said Trefusis, handing the woman in. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Take your seats, please," said the guard. " Going by 
 the train, sir } " 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 245 
 
 " Good-bye, Sir Charles. Give my love to Lady Brandon, 
 and Agatha, and the dear children ; and thanks so much 
 
 for a very pleasant " Here the train moved off ; and 
 
 Sir Charles, melting, smiled and waved his hat until he 
 caught sight of Trefusis looking back at him with a grin 
 which seemed, under the circumstances, so Satanic, that he 
 stopped as if petrified in the midst of his gesticulations, 
 and stood with his arm out like a semaphore. 
 
 The drive home restored him somewhat ; but he was 
 still full of his surprise when he rejoined Agatha, his wife, 
 and Erskine, in the drawing-room at the Beeches. The 
 moment he entered, he said without preface, " She has 
 gone off with Trefusis." 
 
 Erskine, who had been reading, started up, clutching his 
 book as if about to hurl it at some one ; and cried, 
 " Was he at the train } " 
 
 ** Yes, and has gone to town by it." 
 
 ** Then," said Erskine, flinging the book violently on the 
 floor, *' he is a scoundrel and a liar." 
 
 "What is the matter.?" said Agatha rising, whilst Jane 
 stared openmouthed at him. 
 
 " I beg your pardon. Miss Wylie : I forgot you. He 
 pledged me his honour that he would not go by that train. 
 
 I will " He hurried from the room. Sir Charles 
 
 rushed after him, and overtook him at the foot of the 
 stairs. 
 
 " Where are you going ? What do you want to do .? " 
 
 " I will follow the train and catch it at the next station. 
 I can do it on my bicycle." 
 
 " Nonsense ! you're mad. They have thirty-five minutes 
 start ; and the train travels forty-five miles an hour." 
 
 Erskine sat down on the stairs, and gazed blankly at the 
 opposite wall. 
 
 "You must have mistaken him," said Sir Charles. " He 
 told me to tell you that he had not forgotten his promise, 
 and that you may rely on him." 
 
 " What is the matter } " said Agatha, coming down, 
 followed by Lady Brandon. 
 
 " Miss Wylie," said Erskine, springing up : ** he gave 
 
246 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 me his word that he would not go by that train when I 
 told him Miss Lindsay was going by it. He has broken 
 his word and seized the opportunity I was mad and 
 credulous enough to tell him of. If I had been in your 
 place, Brandon, I would have strangled him or thrown 
 him under the wheels sooner than let him go. He has 
 shewn himself in this as in everything else, a cheat, a 
 conspirator, a man of crooked ways, shifts, tricks, lying 
 
 sophistries, heartless selfishness, cruel cynicism " He 
 
 stopped to catch his breath ; and Sir Charles interposed 
 a remonstrance. 
 
 "You are exciting yourself about nothing, Chester. 
 They are in a Pullman, with her maid and plenty of people; 
 and she expressly gave him leave to go with her. He 
 asked her the question flatly before my face ; and I must 
 say I thought it a strange thing for her to consent to. 
 However, she did consent; and of course I was not in 
 a position to prevent him from going to London if he 
 pleased. Dont let us have a scene, old man. It cant be 
 helped." 
 
 " I am very sorry," said Erskine, hanging his head. " I 
 did not mean to make a scene. I beg your pardon." 
 
 He went away to his room without another word. Sir 
 Charles followed and attempted to console him ; but 
 Erskine caught his hand, and asked to be left to himself. 
 So Sir Charles returned to the drawing-room, where his 
 wife, at a loss for once, hardly ventured to remark that she 
 had never heard of such a thing in her life. 
 
 Agatha kept silence. She had long ago come uncon- 
 sciously to the conclusion that Trefusis and she were the 
 only members of the party at the Beeches who had much 
 common sense ; and this made her slow to believe that he 
 could be in the wrong and Erskine in the right in any mis- 
 understanding between them. She had a slovenly way of 
 summing up as " asses " people whose habits of thought 
 differed from hers. Of all varieties of man, the minor poet 
 realized her conception of the human ass most completely ; 
 and Erskine, though a very nice fellow indeed, thoroughly 
 good and gentlemanly, in her opinon, was yet a minor poet, 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 247 
 
 and therefore a pronounced ass. Trefusis, on the contrary, 
 was the last man of her acquaintance whom she would have 
 thought of as a very nice fellow or a virtuous gentleman ; 
 but he was not an ass, although he was obstinate in his 
 socialistic fads. She had indeed suspected him of weak- 
 ness almost asinine with respect to Gertrude ; but then all 
 men were asses in their dealings with women ; and since 
 he had transferred his weakness to her own account it no 
 longer seemed to need justification. And now, as her 
 concern for Erskine, whom she pitied, wore off, she began 
 to resent Trefusis' s journey with Gertrude as an attack on 
 her recently acquired monopoly of him. There was an air 
 of aristocratic pride about Gertrude which Agatha had 
 formerly envied, and which she still feared Trefusis might 
 mistake for an index of dignity and refinement. Agatha 
 did not believe that her resentment was the common feeling 
 called jealousy ; for she still deemed herself unique ; but it 
 gave her a sense of meanness that did not improve her 
 spirits. 
 
 The dinner was dull. Lady Brandon spoke in an under- 
 tone, as if someone lay dead in the next room. Erskine 
 was depressed by the consciousness of having lost his head 
 and acted foolishly in the afternoon. Sir Charles did not 
 pretend to ignore the suspense they were all in pending 
 intelligence of the journey to London : he ate and drank 
 and said nothing. Agatha, disgusted with herself and with 
 Gertrude, and undecided whether to be disgusted with 
 Trefusis or to trust him affectionately, followed the 
 example of her host. After dinner she accompanied him 
 in a series of songs by Schubert. This proved an aggra- 
 vation instead of a relief. Sir Charles, excelling in the 
 expression of melancholy, preferred songs of that character; 
 and as his musical ideas, like those of most Englishmen, 
 were founded on what he had heard in church in his child- 
 hood, his style was oppressively monotonous. Agatha 
 took the first excuse that presented itself to leave the piano. 
 Sir Charles felt that his performance had been a failure, 
 and remarked, after a cough or two, that he had caught a 
 touch of cold returning from the station. Erskine sat on 
 
248 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 a sofa with his head drooping, and his pahns joined and 
 hanging downward between his knees. Agatha stood at 
 the window, looking at the late summer afterglow. Jane 
 yawned, and presently broke the silence. 
 
 " You look exactly as you used at school, Agatha. I 
 could almost fancy us back again in number six." 
 
 Agatha shook her head. 
 
 *' Do I ever look like that ? — like myself, as I used to be." 
 
 " Never," said Agatha emphatically, turning and sur- 
 veying the figure of which Miss Carpenter had been the 
 unripe antecedent. 
 
 " But why } " said Jane querulously. ** I dont see why 
 I shouldnt. I am not so changed." 
 
 " You have become an exceedingly fine woman, Jane," 
 said Agatha gravely, and then, without knowing why, 
 turned her attentive gaze upon Sir Charles, who bore it 
 uneasily, and left the room. A minute later he returned 
 with two buff envelopes in his hand. 
 
 "A telegram for you. Miss Wylie ; and one for Chester." 
 Erskine started up, white with vague fears. Agatha's 
 colour went, and came again with increased richness as she 
 read, 
 
 / have arrived safe and ridiculously happy. Read a thousand things 
 between the lines. I will write tomorrow. Good night. 
 
 "You may read it," said Agatha, handing it to Jane. 
 
 ** Very pretty," said Jane. " A shillingsworth of attention 
 — exactly twenty words ! He may well call himself an 
 economist." 
 
 Suddenly a crowing laugh from Erskine caused them to 
 turn and stare at him. '* What nonsense ! " he said, 
 blushing. *' What a fellow he is ! I dont attach the 
 slightest importance to this." 
 
 Agatha took a corner of his telegram and pulled it 
 gently. 
 
 *' No, no," he said, holding it tightly. " It is too absurd. 
 I dont think I ought " 
 
 Agatha gave a decisive pull, and read the message aloud. 
 It was from Trefusis, thus, 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 249 
 
 I forgive your thoughts since Brandons rettirn. Write to her to-night ; 
 and follow your letter to receive an affirmative atistver in person. I 
 promised that you might rely on me. She loves you. 
 
 *' I never heard of such a thing in my life," said Jane. 
 " Never ! " 
 
 ** He is certainly a most unaccountable man," said Sir 
 Charles. 
 
 *' I am glad, for my own sake, that he is not so black as 
 he is painted," said Agatha. ** You may believe every 
 word of it, Mr. Erskine. Be sure to do as he tells you. 
 He is quite certain to be right." 
 
 ** Pooh ! " said Erskine, crumpling the telegram and 
 thrusting it into his pocket as if it were not worth a second 
 thought. Presently he slipped away, and did not reappear. 
 When they were about to retire. Sir Charles asked a 
 servant where he was. 
 
 "In the library, Sir Charles; writing." 
 
 They looked significantly at one another, and went to 
 bed without disturbing him. 
 
 CHAPTER XVHI. 
 
 When Gertrude found herself beside Trefusis in the 
 Pullman, she wondered how she came to be travelling 
 with him against her resolution, if not against her will. 
 In the presence of two women scrutinizing her as if they 
 suspected her of being there with no good purpose, a male 
 passenger admiring her a little further off, her maid 
 reading Trefusis's newspapers just out of earshot, an un- 
 interested country gentleman looking glumly out of window, 
 a city man preoccupied with the Economist, and a polite 
 lady who refrained from staring but not from observing, 
 she felt that she must not make a scene : yet she knew he 
 had not come there to hold an ordinary conversation. 
 Her doubt did not last long. He began promptly, and 
 went to the point at once. 
 
250 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 ** What do you think of this engagement of mine ? " 
 
 This was more than she could bear calmly. ** What is 
 it to me ?" she said indignantly. " I have nothing to do 
 with it." 
 
 "Nothing! You are a cold friend to me then. I 
 thought you one of the surest I possessed." 
 
 She moved as if about to look at him, but checked her- 
 self ; closed her lips ; and fixed her eyes on the vacant 
 seat before her. The reproach he deserved was beyond 
 her power of expression. 
 
 " I cling to that conviction still, in spite of Miss Lindsay's 
 indifference to my affairs. But I confess I hardly know how 
 to bring you into sympathy with me in this matter. In 
 the first place, you have never been married : I have. In 
 the next, you are much younger than I, in more respects 
 than that of years. Very likely half your ideas on the 
 subject are derived from fictions in which happy results 
 are tacked on to conditions very ill-calculated to produce 
 them — which in real life hardly ever do produce them. If 
 our friendship were a chapter in a novel, what would be the 
 upshot of it } Why, I should marry you ; or you break 
 your heart at my treachery." 
 
 Gertrude moved her eyes as if she had some intention of 
 taking to flight. 
 
 " Bat our relations being those of real life — far sweeter, 
 after all — I never dream of marrying you, having gained 
 and enjoyed your friendship without that eye to business 
 which our nineteenth century keeps open even whilst it 
 sleeps. You, being equally disinterested in your regard for 
 me, do not think of breaking your heart ; but you are, I 
 suppose, a little hurt at my apparently meditating and 
 resolving on such a serious step as marriage with Agatha 
 without confiding my intention to you. And you punish 
 me by telling me that you have nothing to do with it — 
 that it is nothing to you. But I never meditated the step, 
 and so had nothing to conceal from you. It was conceived 
 and executed in less than a minute. Although my first 
 marriage was a silly love match and a failure, I have always 
 admitted to myself that I should marry again. A bachelor 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 251 
 
 is a man who shirks responsibilities and duties : I seek 
 them, and consider it my duty, with my monstrous super- 
 fluity of means, not to let the individualists outbreed me. 
 Still, I was in no hurry, having other things to occupy me, 
 and being fond of my bachelor freedom, and doubtful some- 
 times whether I had any right to bring more idlers into 
 the world for the workers to feed. Then came the usual 
 difficulty about the lady. I did not want a helpmeet : I 
 can help myself. Nor did I expect to be loved devotedly ; 
 for the race has not yet evolved a man lovable on thorough 
 acquaintance : even my self-love is neither thorough nor 
 constant. I wanted a genial partner for domestic business ; 
 and Agatha struck me quite suddenly as being the nearest 
 approach to what I desired that I was likely to find in the 
 marriage market, where it is extremely hard to suit oneself, 
 and where the likeliest bargains are apt to be snapped up 
 by others if one hesitates too long in the hope of finding 
 something better. I admire Agatha's courage and capa- 
 bility, and believe I shall be able to make her like me, 
 and that the attachment so begun may turn into as close 
 a union as is either healthy or necessary between two 
 separate individuals. I may mistake her character ; for 
 I do not know her as I know you, and have scarcely 
 enough faith in her as yet to tell her such things as I have 
 told you. Still, there is a consoling dash of romance in 
 the transaction. Agatha has charm. Do you not think so .^ " 
 
 Gertrude's emotion was gone. She replied with cool 
 scorn, "Very romantic indeed. She is very fortunate." 
 
 Trefusis half laughed, half sighed with relief to find her 
 so self-possessed. " It sounds like — and indeed is — the 
 selfish calculation of a disilluded widower. You would not 
 value such an oifer, or envy the recipient of it } " 
 
 " No," said Gertrude with quiet contempt. 
 
 " Yet there is some calculation behind every such offer. 
 We marry to satisfy our needs ; and the more reasonable 
 our needs are, the more likely are we to get them satisfied. 
 I see you are disgusted with me : I feared as much. You 
 are the sort of woman to admit no excuse for my marriage 
 except love — pure emotional love, blindfolding reason." 
 
252 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 I really do not concern myself- 
 
 ** Do not say so, Gertrude. I watch every step you take 
 with anxiety ; and I do not believe you are indifferent to 
 the worthiness of my conduct. Believe me, love is an 
 overrated passion : it would be irremediably discredited 
 but that young people, and the romancers who live upon 
 their follies, have a perpetual interest in rehabilitating it. 
 No relation involving divided duties and continual inter- 
 course between two people can subsist permanently on love 
 alone. Yet love is not to be despised when it comes from a 
 fine nature. There is a man who loves you exactly as you 
 think I ought to love Agatha — and as I dont love her." 
 
 Gertrude's emotion stirred again ; and her colour rose. 
 ** You have no right to say these things now," she said. 
 
 " Why may I not plead the cause of another } I speak 
 of Erskine." Her colour vanished ; and he continued, 
 *' I want you to marry him. When you are married you 
 will understand me better ; and our friendship, shaken 
 just now, will be deepened ; for I dare assure you, now 
 that you can no longer misunderstand me, that no living 
 woman is dearer to me than you. So much for the 
 inevitable selfish reason. Erskine is a poor man ; and in 
 his comfortable poverty — save the mark — lies your salva- 
 tion from the baseness of marrying for wealth and position : 
 a baseness of which women of your class stand in constant 
 peril. They court it : you must shun it. The man is 
 honourable and loves you : he is young, healthy, and 
 suitable. What more do you think the world has to offer 
 
 you 
 
 " Much more, I hope. Very much more." 
 *' I fear that the names I give things are not romantic 
 enough. He is a poet. Perhaps he would be a hero if it 
 were possible for a man to be a hero in this nineteenth 
 century, which will be infamous in history as a time when 
 the greatest advances in the power of man over nature only 
 served to sharpen his greed and make famine its avowed 
 minister. Erskine is at least neither a gambler nor a 
 slavedriver at first hand : if he lives upon plundered 
 labour, he can no more help himself than I. Do not say 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 253 
 
 that you hope for much more ; but tell me, if you can, 
 what more you have any chance of getting. Mind : I do 
 not ask what more you desire : we all desire unutterable 
 things. I ask you what more you can obtain ! " 
 
 " I have not found Mr. Erskine such a wonderful person 
 as you seem to think him." 
 
 " He is only a man. Do you know anybody more 
 wonderful } " 
 
 ** Besides, my family might not approve." 
 
 ** They most certainly will not. If you wish to please 
 them, you must sell yourself to some rich vampire of 
 the factories or great landlord. If you give yourself away 
 to a poor poet who loves you, their disgust will be un- 
 bounded. If a woman wishes to honour her father and 
 mother to their own satisfaction nowadays, she must 
 dishonour herself." 
 
 " I do not understand why you should be so anxious for 
 me to marry someone else } " 
 
 " Someone else } " said Trefusis, puzzled. 
 
 ** I do not mean someone else," said Gertrude hastily, 
 reddening. " Why should I marry at all } " 
 
 *' Why do any of us marry } Why do I marry } It is a 
 function craving fulfilment. If you do not marry betimes 
 from choice, you will be driven to do so later on by the 
 importunity of your suitors and of your family, and by 
 weariness of the suspense that precedes a definite settlement 
 of oneself. Marry generously. Do not throw yourself 
 away or sell yourself : give yourself away. Erskine has as 
 much at stake as you ; and yet he offers himself fear- 
 lessly." 
 
 Gertrude raised her head proudly. 
 
 ** It is true," continued Trefusis, observing the gesture 
 with some anger, '* that he thinks more highly of you than 
 you deserve ; but you, on the other hand, think too lowly 
 of him. When you marry him you must save him from a 
 cruel disenchantment by raising yourself to the level he 
 fancies you have attained. This will cost you an effort ; 
 and the effort will do you good, whether it fail or succeed. 
 As for him, he will find his just level in your estimation if 
 
254 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 your thoughts reach high enough to comprehend him at 
 that level." 
 
 Gertrude moved impatiently. 
 
 ** What ! " he said quickly. " Are my long-winded 
 sacrifices to the god of reason distasteful ? I believe I am 
 involuntarily making them so because I am jealous of the 
 fellow after all. Nevertheless I am serious : I want you 
 to get married ; though I shall always have a secret grudge 
 against the man who marries you. Agatha will suspect me 
 of treason if you dont. Erskine will be a disappointed 
 man if you dont. You will be moody, wretched, and — 
 and unmarried if you dont." 
 
 Gertrude's cheeks flushed at the word jealous, and again 
 at his mention of Agatha. *' And if I do," she said bitterly : 
 ** what then } " 
 
 '* If you do, Agatha's mind will be at ease ; Erskine will 
 be happy ; and you ! You will have sacrificed yourself, 
 and will have the happiness which follows that when it is 
 worthily done." 
 
 *' It is you who have sacrificed me," she said, casting 
 away her reticence, and looking at him for the first time 
 during the conversation. 
 
 " I know it," he said, leaning towards her and half 
 whispering the words. '* Is not renunciation the beginning 
 and the end of wisdom } I have sacrificed you rather than 
 profane our friendship by asking you to share my whole life 
 with me. You are unfit for that ; and I have committed 
 myself to another union, and am begging you to follow my 
 example, lest we should tempt one another to a step which 
 would soon prove to you how truly I tell you that you are 
 unfit. I have never allowed you to roam through all the 
 chambers of my consciousness ; but I keep a sanctuary 
 there for you alone, and will keep it inviolate for you 
 always. Not even Agatha shall have the key : she must 
 be content with the other rooms — the drawing-room, the 
 working- room, the dining-room, and so forth. They would 
 not suit you : you would not like the furniture or the 
 guests : after a time you would not like the master. Will 
 you be content with the sanctuary } " 
 
AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST, 255 
 
 Gertrude bit her lip : tears came into her eyes. She 
 looked imploringly at him. Had they been alone, she 
 would have thrown herself into his arms and entreated him 
 to disregard everything except their strong cleaving to one 
 another. 
 
 ** And will you keep a corner of your heart for me } " 
 
 She slowly gave him a painful look of acquiescence. 
 
 •' Will you be brave, and sacrifice yourself to the poor 
 man who loves you } He will save you from useless 
 solitude, or from a worldly marriage — I cannot bear to 
 think of either as your fate." 
 
 ** I do not care for Mr. Erskine," she said, hardly able 
 to control her voice; "but I will marry him if you wish 
 it." 
 
 " I do wish it earnestly, Gertrude." 
 
 ** Then you have my promise," she said, again with some 
 bitterness. 
 
 " But you will not forget me } Erskine will have all 
 but that — a tender recollection — nothing." 
 
 ** Can I do more than I have just promised } " 
 
 ** Perhaps so ; but I am too selfish to be able to conceive 
 anything more generous. Our renunciation will bind us 
 to one another as our union could never have done." 
 
 They exchanged a long look. Then he took out his 
 watch, and began to speak of the length of their journey, 
 now nearly at an end. When they arrived in London, the 
 first person they recognized on the platform was Mr. 
 Jansenius. 
 
 *' Ah ! you got my telegram, I see," said Trefusis. 
 " Many thanks for coming. Wait for me whilst I put this 
 lady into a cab." 
 
 When the cab was engaged, and Gertrude, with her maid, 
 stowed within, he whispered to her hurriedly, 
 
 " In spite of all, I have a leaden pain here " (indicating 
 his heart). " You have been brave ; and I have been 
 wise. Do not speak to me ; but remember that we are 
 friends always and deeply." 
 
 He touched her hand, and turned to the cabman, direct- 
 ing him whither to drive. Gertrude shrank back into a 
 
2S6 AN UNSOCIAL SOCIALIST. 
 
 corner of the vehicle as it departed. Then Trefusis, 
 expanding his chest like a man just released from some 
 cramping drudgery, rejoined Mr. Jansenius. 
 
 " There goes a true woman," he said. ** I have been 
 persuading her to take the very best step open to her. I 
 began by talking sense, like a man of honour, and kept at 
 it for half an hour ; but she would not listen to me. Then 
 I talked romantic nonsense of the cheapest sort for five 
 minutes ; and she consented with tears in her eyes. Let 
 us take this hansom. Hi ! Belsize Avenue. Yes : you 
 sometimes have to answer a woman according to her 
 womanishness, just as you have to answer a fool according 
 to his folly. Have you ever made up your mind, Jansenius, 
 whether I am an unusually honest man, or one of the worst 
 products of the social organization I spend all my energies 
 in assailing — an infernal scoundrel, in short } " 
 
 ** Now pray do not be absurd," said Mr. Jansenius. *' I 
 wonder at a man of your ability behaving and speaking as 
 you sometimes do." 
 
 *' I hope a little insincerity, when meant to act as 
 chloroform — to save a woman from feeling a wound to her 
 vanity — is excusable. By-the-bye, I must send a couple of 
 telegrams from the first post office we pass. Well, sir, I am 
 going to marry Agatha, as I sent you word. There was 
 only one other single man, and one other virgin down at 
 Brandon Beeches ; and they are as good as engaged. 
 And so 
 
 ' Jack shall have Jill ; 
 Nought shall go ill ; 
 The man shall have his mare again ; 
 And all shall be well.'" 
 
 London, 1883. 
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., Loudon and Aylesbury.