UNIV. OP CALIF. LIBRARY. LOS ANGELED
 
 A MAGNIFICENT 
 
 YOUNG MAN 
 
 BY 
 
 'John Strange Winter } 
 
 AUTHOR OF " BOOTLES' BABY," "AUNT JOHNNIE, 
 
 "EVERY INCH A SOLDIER," "ONLY HUMAN, 
 
 "THE OTHER MAN*S WIFE," ETC. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 1903.
 
 CO?YRIGHT, 
 BY 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
 
 PWTEA BY i. B. LlWMNCOTT COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA. U-3.M
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGB 
 
 I. BLADENSBROOK OF BLADENSBROOK 5 
 
 II. TOLD BY THE GIPSY 15 
 
 III. MRS. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS 24 
 
 IV. HEYDAY 36 
 
 V. YOUNG FOLKS' WAYS 44 
 
 VI. GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT 51 
 
 VII. MARGOT'S DUENNA 63 
 
 VIII. A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING 72 
 
 IX. AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT 84 
 
 X. A DREADFUL SCRAPE 95 
 
 XI. A SUDDEN RESOLUTION . . 103 
 
 XII. HUSBAND AND WIFE 112 
 
 XIII. A Two DAYS' HONEYMOON 123 
 
 XIV. A MYSTERY 133 
 
 XV. ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE 144 
 
 XVI. AT A DEAD END 154 
 
 XVII. A QUESTION 165 
 
 XVIII. THE SORROW OF OTHERS 174 
 
 XIX. THE QUIET END 184 
 
 XX. MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A PLAIN QUESTION 192 
 
 XXI. GOING HOMB 204 
 
 XXII. COMING AND GOING 214 
 
 XXIII. A PRECIOUS MISSIVE 224 
 
 XXIV. RALPH 235 
 
 XXV. AN UNLOCKED FOR VISITOR 245 
 
 XXVI. ASTOUNDING NEWS ' 256 
 
 XXVII. WIDE OF THE MARK 266 
 
 XXVTJr. COMMON SENSE , . 273 
 
 XXIX. : '-To WILLIAM SMITH, OF LONDON" . . . 285 
 
 XXX. A TERRIBLE SHOCK 295 
 
 XXXI. CAUGHT RED-HANDED 306 
 
 XXXII. MY SON HAS MORE THAN SATISFIED ME! . . 316 
 
 3 
 
 2133937
 
 A MAGNIFICENT 
 
 YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BLADENSBROOK OF BLADENSBROOK. 
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK was queen regent of the 
 estate which bore the same name as she did. 
 Whether the original possessor of Bladensbrook 
 had taken his name from the soil, or whether the 
 soil had taken its name from the original possessor, 
 history does not record, but the Bladensbrooks of 
 Bladensbrook had been powers in Blankshire for 
 some hundreds of years, and when young Godfrey 
 Bladensbrook, the last representative of the old 
 family, was three years old his father was killed 
 by a kick from one of his horses, and Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook became for the time queen regent. 
 
 Godfrey the elder, the one who died from a kick 
 of a horse, was a typical Bladensbrook, of immense 
 size and great personal beauty, and with an upper 
 storey less well furnished than any other part of 
 him. The most astute thing that he had ever 
 done in the whole of his thirty-six years of life 
 was his marriage. He had not married for money, 
 i* 5
 
 6 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 nor had he gone where money was, but he had 
 chosen a woman of undeniable position. Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook was styled Honourable, the keen- 
 brained daughter of an exceptionally keen-brained 
 father, a peer who in his time had filled the highest 
 offices in the land open to a subject, a woman of 
 extraordinary acumen, who understood thoroughly 
 to use Godfrey Bladensbrook's own words how 
 many beans made five. Being herself irreproach- 
 able as to family, Mrs. Bladensbrook at once flung 
 herself heart and soul into the traditions of the 
 family into which she had married. She always 
 spoke of the Bladensbrooks as if they were a race 
 entirely and distinctly apart from the majority of 
 people. In her estimation the upper classes in 
 this country were divided into three the Peerage, 
 the Bladensbrooks, and the county families. " You 
 must never forget," she would say to her son, " that 
 you were born a Bladensbrook" By reason of 
 this wholesale adoption of her husband's family, 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook obtained and kept during the 
 five years of her married life an absolute power 
 over her husband. He worshipped her from first 
 to last ; he adored her. If they were parted for a 
 few hours he was as a lost soul, as a needle with- 
 out its pole ; a boat without a rudder was truly an 
 apt illustration of what Godfrey Bladensbrook was 
 like when he was separated for ever so short a 
 time from his wife. His opinion of her far-sighted 
 shrewdness was immense, his belief that she would 
 understand the most difficult accounts, advise him 
 rightly in the most awkward situation, might be as
 
 BLADENSBROOK OF BLADENSBROOK. / 
 
 a tower of strength in the most trying circum- 
 stances, was as unshakable as it was genuine. 
 
 So after the fatal day when Godfrey Bladens- 
 brook was found done to death by the hoofs of 
 his own favourite hack, no one was surprised that 
 he was found to have left a will naming his widow 
 as his sole executor and the sole guardian of his 
 only child, leaving her, in fact, queen regent over 
 the Bladensbrook property, and over the last of 
 the name. He had made no provision against his 
 wife's marrying again, and Mrs. Bladensbrook's 
 father was quick to notice it and to comment upon 
 it. " I shall never marry again," said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook quietly; " all my interest in life will be 
 to bring up my son to be as worthy of his name 
 as his father was before him." " Quite right, my 
 dear," said Lord Pollington approvingly ; " I am 
 very glad that you accept your responsibilities so 
 thoroughly. They are responsibilities, and very 
 grave ones, but you will be more than equal to 
 them." In truth, Lord Pollington had always 
 regarded the dead and gone Godfrey as a thor- 
 oughly good fellow who was as near an idiot as 
 it was possible for an English gentleman to be; 
 but of course there was no occasion to express 
 that opinion in plain words to his widow. 
 
 For a little time people round about the neigh- 
 bourhood of Bladensbrook discussed the new state 
 of affairs, and even ventured on more or less lugu- 
 brious predictions concerning the future of the 
 child and the care which would be taken of the 
 property, but as Mrs. Bladensbrook had no one to
 
 8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 consider but herself, she did not trouble about 
 what rumour might be saying, even if she ever 
 knew it ; still less did she trouble as to the opinion 
 of others in the upbringing of her only child. 
 From the very first she treated him as if he were 
 a young king. She impressed a due sense of his 
 responsibilities upon him, made him fully aware 
 of the importance of his place in this world, and 
 always treated him even when correcting him 
 with a certain deference which she held due to the 
 head of her family ; and it must be remembered 
 that young Godfrey was only three years old 
 when his father died. From the day following 
 that of Godfrey the elder's funeral, the young 
 squire sat in his place, and was invariably spoken 
 of and to as Mr. Bladensbrook. It was charac- 
 teristic of this woman that she never called him 
 Godfrey when speaking of him to anyone else, 
 not even to people who were more than her social 
 equals ; she invariably said " My son." Some- 
 times, if she chanced to be speaking to a very 
 great lady, she would soften it to " My little son," 
 but to all people inferior to herself, she made a 
 rule of calling him Mr. Bladensbrook. 
 
 She never did marry again. She held the reins 
 of government with a firm yet easy hand. She 
 neither rushed into undue extravagance nor cur- 
 tailed expenses. In fact, she lived in precisely the 
 same manner as she had lived during the five years 
 of her husband's lifetime. During the first twelve 
 months she did not entertain. She wore the deep- 
 est of widow's weeds, and accepted no invitations
 
 BLADENSBROOK OF BLADENSBROOK. 9 
 
 whatever, but she always had three men servants to 
 wait at dinner, and the dignified butler always stood 
 behind " Mr. Bladensbrook's" chair at luncheon. 
 At the end of the twelve months she relaxed her 
 mourning and her seclusion, breaking the ice by 
 going to a few small entertainments, and by giving 
 several small dinner parties. At the end of two 
 years she had laid aside her mourning, and enter- 
 tained on precisely the same scale as she and her 
 husband had been wont to do, with this exception 
 that she never gave hunt breakfasts as he had 
 done. 
 
 So the years passed over, and young Godfrey 
 Bladensbrook grew up. In some senses he had 
 been very wisely governed. He had been fear- 
 lessly given over to the instructions of the coach- 
 man, the head groom, and the head gamekeeper. 
 He had had the manliest tutor whom Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook could hear of, and the result was that 
 when he was old enough to go to Eton he knew 
 most things that a boy should know of country 
 life, and rode, drove, shot, and fished with any 
 other boy of his age, was big and strong for his 
 years, and quite as handsome as his father had 
 been before him, was exceedingly sweet-tempered, 
 and without being brilliant in the way of intellect, 
 had certainly inherited a fair share of his mother's 
 astuteness of character ; and yet, he had been so 
 hedged about, so guarded, so watched, so con- 
 sidered in every way, that in some respects he had 
 grown up to be what other boys of his age called 
 a " bit of an ass !" There were joys in the lives
 
 10 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 of other lads which had never entered into his. 
 His mother had never debarred him from seeing 
 as much as was possible of the boys of his own 
 class in the neighbourhood, but they were not 
 many, and when he was with them he could 
 scarcely understand their likings and dislikings 
 any more than a grown-up man or woman might 
 be able to do. He could not for the life of him 
 see anything to go into ecstasies over in a filthy, 
 evil-smelling ferret, guinea-pigs bored him to death 
 and always had done, rabbits he would have none 
 of, and white rats and mice were an abomination 
 to him. " They stink so !" was his comment when 
 the two lads .at the Rectory took him to their own 
 quarters adjoining the stables and proudly dis- 
 played to him all their live stock. " I can under- 
 stand you thinking a lot about that fellow," pointing 
 to a very well-bred bull-terrier who was standing 
 by quivering with excitement on the chance of 
 there being a rat-hunt on foot, " but these horrid, 
 sinuous, ill-smelling ferrets I cannot see anything 
 to like in !" 
 
 The two young Dangerfields, not knowing what 
 sinuous meant, did not pursue the subject further, 
 but led their guest on to the pen where the rabbits 
 were. It was no use. Rabbits, white rats, white 
 mice, guinea-pigs, all met with the same quiet 
 disgust as the ferrets had done, and so the two 
 lads looked at one another with a look which 
 conveyed, " What an ass this chap is !" and sug- 
 gested that perhaps he would like to go and see 
 the pigs. The Dangerfield lads loved the pigs
 
 BLADENSBROOK OF BLADENSBROOK. 1 1 
 
 themselves, and were on the most friendly rela- 
 tions with all of them. There was Mrs. Isaacs, a 
 large black lady who spent the greater part of her 
 days in hanging over the edge of her sty watching 
 for the pail-full of steaming wash which filled her 
 trough at certain hours. If Mrs. Isaacs was not 
 standing on her hind legs watching for the pail, 
 she was sure to be lying flat on her side basking 
 in the hottest rays of the sun, or to be within the 
 sty half buried in a heap of clean straw. These 
 two lads loved Mrs. Isaacs. They simply could 
 not understand the mind which could regard Mrs. 
 Isaacs as an ordinary pig, and take no more interest 
 in her than if she were one of the white sows down 
 the village. On the other side of the yard was 
 Mrs. Isaacs's last family, nine small black persons, 
 who also waited with great eagerness for the arrival 
 of the wash-pail, but who had not yet attained to 
 the height which permitted their mother to hang 
 over the edge of her sty and look for it. Then 
 a little further down was Mrs. Grundy. Mrs. 
 Grundy was a younger lady than Mrs. Isaacs, and 
 scarcely so advanced in worldly knowledge, but 
 she was very dear to the two boys, and they spent 
 many a ten minutes scratching away at the back 
 of one or the other of them with an old stable 
 broom. In an adjoining shed was a nine weeks' 
 old calf, a wee, bonny thing that mistook every- 
 body's fingers for feeding-bottles. Young Godfrey 
 Bladensbrook did not conceal the fact that he 
 strongly objected to fostering such an illusion. 
 " They are so slobbery !" he said, as he watched
 
 12 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Jack Dangerfield standing patiently while the 
 pretty brown animal sucked away at his two first 
 fingers, " You will have to go and wash your 
 hands now." 
 
 As a truthful chronicler I must confess that Jack 
 Dangerfield laughed outright, and the next mo- 
 ment he wiped his fingers on the side of his trousers, 
 first the inside, then the outside " Oh, they are 
 all right," he said ; " it's clean enough, poor little 
 thing." 
 
 Two stalls away was the mother of the calf, a 
 patient Alderney cow, who apparently found life 
 no small trial. 
 
 " What's she kicking up that row for ?" asked 
 young Godfrey. You see, he never went into his 
 own farmyard; indeed, it was three miles away 
 from the house, so perhaps he had not the same 
 temptation to do so as the young Dangerfields. 
 
 " Oh, she's worrying after her calf. He has only 
 been taken from her since yesterday or the day 
 before, or some time or other. Poor Daisy," patting 
 the bereaved mother upon the neck. " It is very 
 hard on you to have your children taken away, 
 isn't it ? And the little chap's going to the butcher 
 next week !" 
 
 Young Godfrey turned round and walked straight 
 out of the shed. It was his first intimate introduc- 
 tion to the maternal joys "and sorrows of the stock- 
 yard. He felt as if he could never touch veal again 
 as long as he lived. 
 
 ' " You must come and see the donkey," said Jim 
 Dangerfield, catching him by the arm.
 
 BLADENSBROOK OF BLADENSBROOK. 13 
 
 " Oh, yes, where is the donkey ?" He felt that 
 a donkey would be comparatively harmless. 
 
 This donkey was, however, not quite harmless. 
 He was a pet and went in a small governess cart, 
 being most often driven by the Rector's little 
 daughter Margot ; but something happened to be 
 wrong with Joko that day, and he made himself 
 so intensely unpleasant that Jack and Jim escorted 
 their young guest back to the front of the house 
 in a state of mind akin to despair. 
 
 " Oh, here's Margot," said Jim, as they turned 
 the corner by the drawing-room windows. 
 
 It was a glorious July day, and Margot, who 
 was ten years old, was just coming out of the 
 house by way of the conservatory. " Have you 
 been round the yard ?" she asked. 
 
 " Yes," answered Jack. 
 
 " I do think it's mean of you to go round the 
 yard without me. You know I love going round. 
 I call it horrid of you both." 
 
 " It was rather horrid," admitted Jim, " but you 
 see we didn't know what to do with Godfrey here." 
 
 " You might have come to the foot of the stairs 
 and shouted," said Margot, indignantly. 
 
 Now, one of the articles of faith in which God- 
 frey Bladensbrook had been brought up was ex- 
 cessive courtesy and attention towards womenkind. 
 Although they had been intimately known to each 
 other for years and years, ever since they had been 
 little toddling children, so that the Dangerfields 
 and young Bladensbrook were more like brothers 
 and sister than neighbours, he took off his hat to 
 
 2
 
 14 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Margot as he would have taken it off to Her 
 Majesty. Margot was very much flattered, and 
 instantly attached Godfrey to herself, leaving her 
 two older brothers to follow behind them. 
 
 " Have you seen everything ?" she asked. 
 
 " I believe I have," said Godfrey, very politely, 
 and scarcely able to repress a shudder of disgust. 
 
 " Did you see the ferrets ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And the guinea-pigs ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And the rats ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And the mice ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And the rabbits ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And the calf?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And the cow ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And the donkey ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " You never went and showed my donkey ?" 
 
 " I am afraid we did, Margot," said Jack, apolo- 
 getically. 
 
 " You are afraid you did ? Then I suppose you 
 went and showed my kittens ?" 
 
 " No, we forgot the kittens !" cried Jim and Jack 
 in the same breath. 
 
 " Well, then, I will take you to see my kittens," 
 said Margot, turning to Godfrey triumphantly.
 
 TOLD BY THE GIPSY. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TOLD BY THE GIPSY. 
 
 IT was brilliant summer weather once more. 
 Nearly a year had gone by since the day on which 
 the young Dangerfields had introduced Godfrey 
 Bladensbrook to Mrs. Isaacs and the donkey, and 
 since that time they had not met. All three boys 
 had been at their respective schools, Godfrey at 
 Eton, and Jim and Jack Dangerfield at Charter- 
 house. Godfrey had not come home to Bladens- 
 brook for Christmas, his mother having spent the 
 entire winter in the south of France, where he had 
 joined her on his holidays beginning. The Easter 
 vacation he had of course spent with her in London, 
 and so it was with a sense of everything being to 
 a certain extent strange that he found himself once 
 more in his own kingdom. 
 
 He had reached home but barely in time to dress 
 for dinner, and naturally he and his mother had 
 much to say to each other during the first evening. 
 The following day, too, he had more than enough 
 to occupy him, improvements to see, different ser- 
 vants and workmen to speak to, to go through the 
 stables and glass houses, and to hear a good deal 
 of what his mother had been doing during his 
 absence ; and immediately after lunch the two lads 
 from the Rectory arrived to bid him welcome home 
 and to beg that he would come down and spend
 
 1 6 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 the afternoon with them. On the whole, young 
 Godfrey would rather have done nothing of the 
 kind. He had had a good deal of boys' society 
 at Eton, and would have preferred to drive with 
 his mother and discuss several questions which 
 were far more interesting to him than the Rectory 
 ferrets ; but Mrs. Bladensbrook, who never lost a 
 chance of any course which she believed would 
 give her boy's mind a right turn, took it for 
 granted that he would prefer to spend the rest 
 of the day with those of his own level rather 
 than with her. 
 
 " Oh, Godfrey will be very pleased, won't you, 
 Godfrey ?" she said, as Jim preferred his request. 
 
 Whereupon Godfrey had practically no choice 
 but to acquiesce in his mother's decision. 
 
 " I am going to make a call some miles away," 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook went on, in her great lady 
 fashion, " and shall not be back till nearly dinner- 
 time, so you will not trouble about me, Godfrey." 
 
 " Not at all, Mother," said he. In truth, he never 
 did trouble about his mother. He would have con- 
 sidered it rather an impertinence than otherwise to 
 trouble about a lady who was so terribly well able 
 to take care of herself as Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " If you would like Jim and Jack to come back 
 to dinner with you, pray bring them," the lady 
 went on ; " Godfrey spend the afternoon with you, 
 and you come up and dine with Godfrey." 
 
 "Oh, thank you awfully, Mrs. Bladensbrook," 
 said Jack, who was more impulsive than Jim and 
 sometimes spoke first.
 
 TOLD BY THE GIPSY. \"J 
 
 " And be sure that you are here at a quarter to 
 eight," Mrs. Bladensbrook continued. 
 
 " A quarter to eight ? Yes, we will be here. 
 And Margot, are we to bring Margot ?" Jack 
 asked. 
 
 " Oh, well, do you think that your mother will 
 allow Margot to come ?" 
 
 "Oh, I think Mother will allow it. You see, 
 Margot is so dreadfully put out if she is left out 
 of it in any way. I think if you don't mind our 
 bringing Margot " 
 
 " Very well, if your mother will allow Margot 
 to come I shall be very pleased, and you can say 
 that I will send you home in the carriage at ten 
 o'clock." 
 
 " Very well, thank you awfully. Then we will 
 be going along now, if you don't mind, Godfrey." 
 
 So the two carried Godfrey off in triumph be- 
 tween them. He was rather bored at the prospect 
 of the ferrets, Mrs. Isaacs and the other pigs, to 
 say nothing of any calves and other domestic 
 animals that might be hanging about, but he was 
 very fond of Margot, and the certainty that she 
 would be there somewhat mitigated his feeling of 
 unwillingness to have his original plans altered. 
 
 They found Margot under the great weeping 
 elm, which shaded the lawn in front of the Rec- 
 tory, swinging herself to and fro in a hammock in 
 company with Dido, the pug, and two small pug 
 puppies. As she caught sight of Godfrey she 
 jumped up, upsetting herself, Dido, and the pup- 
 pies on to the ground. "Oh, Godfrey, I didn't
 
 1 8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 really believe that you were coming back !" she 
 exclaimed, holding out both her hands. " Why, it 
 isyears since you were here last !" 
 
 " Only one year," interrupted Godfrey. 
 
 " Only one year ? ten ten ! I thought you 
 were never coming back again. How horrid of 
 you to go to France for your Christmas holidays. 
 We were dreadfully dull without you. See, this 
 is my pug, Dido, isn't she a beauty ? And these 
 are her pups. Father said I was absolutely in- 
 sane to want to keep them both ; he would have 
 drowned them, but it would have been wicked to 
 drown them, wouldn't it? They are such beau- 
 ties." 
 
 " They are beauties," said Godfrey, who knew 
 the points of a dog as well as most boys of his 
 age. 
 
 " We have got all sorts of young things in the 
 yard," Margot went on, looking at him out of a 
 pair of brilliant hazel eyes, and having evidently 
 no idea that his soul loathed ferrets and such like ; 
 " would you like to go round the yard now, God- 
 frey, or would you like to stay here under the 
 tree ? Or would you like to go and see if there 
 are any strawberries ? Or have you too many 
 strawberries up at Bladensbrook ? Or shall we 
 go and see if Mrs. Wilson has got any cakes ? 
 I know she has cakes, for I was in the kitchen 
 this morning, and saw them being made. They 
 are little cakes, you know ' fat rascals' with cur- 
 rants in. Wouldn't you like some of those, God- 
 frey ?"
 
 TOLD BY THE GIPSY. 1 9 
 
 Godfrey sighed. He had just eaten an exceed- 
 ingly good lunch, and did not feel that even fat 
 rascals, whose quality was well known to him, 
 were particularly desirable. However, his code 
 of manners did not allow him to refuse the offer- 
 ing of a lady, so he assented to her proposal that 
 they should pay a visit to the Rectory cook, and 
 felt himself lucky that her heart's desire did not 
 tend towards the ferrets. It was quite a new ex- 
 perience for the young squire to find himself going 
 round to the kitchen entrance to gather largesse of 
 the cook. In his own establishment if he had 
 desired a plateful of fat rascals he would have 
 rung the bell and ordered them, but on the prin- 
 ciple of doing in Rome as the Romans do, he 
 meekly went along kitchenwards with Margot, 
 who calmly told the two boys that as they had 
 been exceedingly rude to Mrs. Wilson during the 
 morning, they had better keep themselves out of 
 sight, and she would get what provender she 
 could and bring it out to the hammock, where 
 they would divide and enjoy the spoils. 
 
 Now the way in which domestic affairs were 
 arranged at Bladensbrook was no secret in the 
 village. It was well known in the Rectory kitchen 
 that if the young squire chanced to be lunching or 
 dining alone he would be waited on in precisely 
 the same state as if his mother were there ; it was 
 well known that he would dress for his dinner, and 
 have the regular number of courses, and behave 
 himself as if he were forty instead of fourteen ; so 
 when he appeared together with Miss Margot in
 
 2O A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 quest of fat rascals, Mrs. Wilson could to use 
 her own phraseology " have been knocked down 
 with a feather." " Law, there, now," said she, to 
 the parlourmaid afterwards, "it give me quite a 
 turn when I see that grand young gentleman 
 coming along with Miss Margot to ask for a plate- 
 ful of fat rascals. Lucky thing to have had 'em 
 by me. Many's the day when I haven't got a fat 
 rascal in the place, and it would have looked poor 
 to the squire if we hadn't got that much. I don't 
 think he had ever been through a kitchen door in 
 his life before. He touched his hat and he says 
 ' Aw good day,' as if he was a long way off and 
 didn't quite see me. It was very queer, and Miss 
 Margot she says to me, says she, ' Mrs. Wilson,' 
 she says, ' please we have come to ask you a 
 favour.' ' Certainly Miss and Sir,' said I. ' Well, 
 you did a baking of fat rascals this morning ?' ' I 
 did, Miss Margot,' says I, ' and Sir.' ' Well, please, 
 Mrs. Wilson, if you don't want them all for tea we 
 should like to have some, because the squire here 
 has never tasted a fat rascal in his life, have you, 
 Godfrey ?' The young squire said he believed as 
 he hadn't. So I bustles in and fetches 'em out a 
 plateful, and temptin' they were. I meant to have 
 had that plateful for our tea, Patterson, though 
 that's neither here nor there. You girls must just 
 put up with a spoonful of jam instead. And Miss 
 Margot said to me, ' Are these all you made this 
 morning ?' ' They are not quite all,' says I. 
 'Well, then, Mrs. Wilson, we'll have the lot,' 
 say she; 'what do you think?' she says, turning
 
 TOLD BY THE GIPSY. 21 
 
 to the squire. ' Aw,' says he, ' yes I think if 
 Mrs. Wilson doesn't mind that it would be as 
 well to have the lot. You see, there are others.' 
 Now both the young gentlemen was very saucy 
 to me this morning; but there, I couldn't deny 
 Miss Margot before the squire's very face, so I 
 bustled in again and I fetched out all that I had 
 made. It do go to my heart, but there, it's to 
 keep up the credit of the house, and Miss Margot 
 she picks out a little nice brown one and she sticks 
 it up to the squire's mouth and says, ' Taste that !' 
 and he took it quite meekly, though he did look 
 as if he was forty instead of fourteen, and she 
 gives me a nod and says, ' Thank you, Mrs. Wil- 
 son, you are an old duck !' and then they went 
 away together and all my fat rascals with 'em." 
 
 " Godfrey," said Margot, as they turned out of 
 the back premises into a more showy part of the 
 Rectory demesne, " you are a brick !" 
 
 " I am glad to hear that," said Godfrey. 
 
 " Because you might have spoiled everything if 
 you had been stupid and stuck-up and pretended 
 you didn't know what a fat rascal was. We should 
 have been undone, and Jack and Jim would have 
 been the losers, because I shouldn't have shared 
 out with them unless I had got the lot." 
 
 They found that Jim and Jack had brought 
 several basket-chairs out under the great elm, and 
 so the four sat and disposed of the dainty little 
 cakes, Margot and Godfrey sitting in the hammock, 
 which her restlessness swung to and fro, and the 
 two boys reposing in deep basket-chairs.
 
 22 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Margot," said Jim, with his mouth full, " what 
 a brick you are, though you are a girl !" 
 
 " No, it's Godfrey who is the brick," said Margot. 
 " I shouldn't have got them all out of Mrs. Wilson 
 unless Godfrey had been there. Godfrey, I think 
 she thought you were going to hit her." 
 
 " Oh, no, I was quite civil." 
 
 " My dear, you were deadly civil deadly civil, 
 but it awed Mrs. Wilson, and I can tell you, God- 
 frey, it takes a lot to awe Mrs. Wilson." 
 
 They were still sitting there, and the last of the 
 fat rascals had vanished, when a soft voice from 
 the other side of the privet hedge accosted them : 
 " My pretty lady and gentlemen, let the poor gipsy 
 tell your fortune." 
 
 " Oh, what a lark !" cried Jack. 
 
 " What do you charge, because we haven't got 
 much ?" added Jim. 
 
 " Cross the poor gipsy's hand with a bit of silver. 
 The poor gipsy will never be hard on young ladies 
 and gentlemen." 
 
 " Well, go down the hedge a little way and you 
 will come to a gate. Don't let any one see you," 
 said Jim. 
 
 " Never fear," answered the gipsy. 
 
 A few minutes later there was a rustling behind 
 them, and the branches of the great elm parted. 
 
 " I have got no money," said Margot. 
 
 " Let me cross the gipsy's palm for you, Mar- 
 got," said Godfrey. 
 
 The Rectory children were not proud. Their 
 parents were very comfortably off, and their pocket
 
 TOLD BY THE GIPSY. 23 
 
 money was quite reasonably indulgent, but they 
 never had any to spare as Godfrey had. So Mar- 
 got put out her little soft palm, and Godfrey laid a 
 shilling upon it. The gipsy pocketed the shilling 
 after spitting upon it for luck, and holding the 
 little soft hand looked at Margot long and steadily. 
 " Years and years, in time to come," she began, in 
 a strange, far-away voice, " I see this little lady set 
 very high in the land. The future is not all bright, 
 not all happiness. Ambition will be gratified, I 
 think, although there is not much ambition in your 
 heart, little lady not much. The day will come 
 when that proud head shall bend, when those 
 bright eyes shall shed tears, when all the world 
 will seem black and dark, but always remember 
 this, little lady, that the poor gipsy told you two 
 things first, that your place will be high, second, 
 that your lover will be more true to you than he 
 seems to be.'' 
 
 " I don't call that much," said Margot. 
 
 " Ah, it may not seem much to the little lady 
 now," the gipsy went on, " but it will seem much 
 by and by when she comes to understand the poor 
 gipsy's words. Tell your fortune, my pretty gentle- 
 man ?" she continued, turning to Godfrey. 
 
 " Oh, yes, Mother, certainly," holding out his 
 hand with another shilling upon it. 
 
 She took that shilling and spit upon that also, 
 presumably for luck, and, having pocketed it, she 
 attentively scrutinized both the palm and Godfrey. 
 " Great wealth, good fortune, high place. You will 
 always drive a carriage and foui men servants
 
 24 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 and maid servants and one black, black cloud 
 but that will pass ; I don't want to say any more." 
 
 " Come, you have said nothing," said Godfrey, 
 looking resolutely at the Romany woman. 
 
 She gazed back at him sideways. " No, pretty 
 gentleman, what the poor gipsy sees in your hand, 
 the poor gipsy will keep to herself." 
 
 " But I paid you to tell me !" 
 
 "Not so; you crossed your palm for luck. 
 What I see in your hand I would not tell you for 
 worlds !" 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MRS. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS. 
 
 IN due course of time Godfrey Bladensbrook 
 passed through his school-boy days and was en- 
 tered at Sandhurst, as the preliminary step to 
 going into the army. His mother had not been 
 exactly willing that he should take up any profes- 
 sion. To her it was or should have been 
 enough that a Bladensbrook was a Bladensbrook ; 
 but Godfrey thought otherwise, and the effect of 
 his mother's general training had been such that, 
 having made up his mind to go into the army, he 
 showed her very plainly, though with perfect po- 
 liteness, not to say deference, that as the head of 
 the family, as Bladensbrook of Bladensbrook, he 
 did not expect to be thwarted, even by his mother.
 
 MRS. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS. 2$ 
 
 Being confronted by this kind of spirit, Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook had no choice but to give way, but for 
 some little time she stood firm as to what branch 
 of the Service her son should enter. Her idea 
 was that a Bladensbrook could by no chance go 
 into any regiment except one of the household 
 troops ; Godfrey himself had a preference for the 
 cavalry of the line, and for some little time it was 
 a moot point whether he should follow his own 
 will or listen to the dictates of his mother's reason. 
 Eventually young Godfrey carried the day, and he 
 was duly entered at Sandhurst with the object of 
 obtaining a commission in one of the home regi- 
 ments. 
 
 His mother's feelings at this juncture can only 
 adequately be described as being mixed. She was 
 like a mother eagle who had discovered her one 
 chick to be a true-bred eaglet. If you can imagine 
 a lady of that stately, feathered race so imperious, 
 so filled with pride, so dominant and resolute in 
 will that she could brook no interference, permit 
 no will to be set against her own, and who had 
 brought up her one chick quite as if he were but 
 the progeny of a barn-door fowl, you can imagine, 
 perhaps, what the state of her maternal feelings 
 would be when she discovered that her chick was 
 no barn-door creature, but an eaglet as proud, as 
 stately, as domineering, as imperious as herself. 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook was curiously mixed in sensa- 
 tion half instinctively annoyed at being set on one 
 side, yet half proud to find that Godfrey had in- 
 herited all the Pollington imperiousness in addition 
 B 3
 
 26 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 to all the Bladensbrook form and beauty. Her 
 mind ran something like this : " He has gone 
 against me, against my wishes, against my views, 
 in utter contrariety to every argument that I have 
 put forward, but he is Bladensbrook of Bladens- 
 brook, and it is becoming that he should be the 
 ruler of his own destiny." 
 
 In some senses Mrs. Bladensbrook was a singu- 
 larly ignorant woman. I do not mean in the way 
 of reading or writing, or the etiquette of society, 
 or in the suitable list of accomplishments such as 
 every woman of position is supposed to have ac- 
 quired no, not in that way, but in many matters 
 outside her own immediate existence she was 
 strangely deficient in knowledge. She quite had 
 an idea that her son would be the arbiter of his own 
 fortunes, and if she could have come to a sense of 
 what life at Sandhurst really was, I think that she 
 would have taken to her bed and died. She fondly 
 imagined that Godfrey would take there precisely 
 the same position that he took in his own neigh- 
 bourhood and on his own estates. She was as 
 deeply interested in his outfit as she would have 
 been in the trousseau of a young daughter who 
 was going to marry a duke, little thinking that 
 nothing would be held sacred from the inquisitive 
 eyes and prying fingers of the other young gentle- 
 men who would be his comrades for the next 
 couple of years. 
 
 On the whole, Godfrey Bladensbrook got 
 through his time at Sandhurst very well. He had 
 little or no fancy for anything pertaining to the
 
 MRS. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS. 2/ 
 
 disreputable, freaks and scrapes had no pleasures 
 or terrors for him, and his manners being irre- 
 proachable and his sense of the weight of authority 
 extremely well defined, he went on from beginning 
 to end in a thoroughly respectable and ordinary 
 manner. He passed well, not brilliantly, but ex- 
 ceedingly well for so rich a young man, and in 
 due course of time he found himself gazetted to 
 the 25th Dragoons, otherwise known as the Black 
 Horse, then quartered at Aldershot, and with a 
 couple of months' leave before him. 
 
 The greater part of this leave he spent at Bla- 
 densbrook, and somehow or other Bladensbrook 
 seemed utterly different from what it had seemed 
 during all his previous life. For one thing it was 
 soft autumn weather weather when the days de- 
 clined slowly but surely, when the many-coloured 
 leaves were fast soddening under foot and the 
 branches from which they had fallen becoming 
 quickly bare, when there were all manner of out- 
 door pursuits to occupy a young fellow just nine- 
 teen years old, such as shooting and cubbing and 
 rabbiting ; and he spent a good deal of time in the 
 shelter of the woods. It may seem a queer thing 
 for a young man who was omnipotent on that large 
 estate to have passed many hours sitting in a more 
 or less damp wood on the lichen-covered trunk of 
 a fallen tree. There were so many things that 
 young Bladensbrook might have done other than 
 that, and yet that was his chief amusement. 
 
 It happened that autumn that Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 had been suffering from a severe attack of bron-
 
 28 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 chitis, and she intended, so soon as Godfrey should 
 have joined his regiment, to betake herself to the 
 sunny shores of the Mediterranean. Her medical 
 advisers had indeed suggested that it would be well 
 if she went immediately, but having Godfrey on 
 her mind, and having arranged with him that she 
 should not go abroad until he had left home, no 
 mere suggestions served to make her alter her 
 plans. Mrs. Bladensbrook was one of those ex- 
 ceedingly tiresome people who pride themselves 
 upon keeping to their original programme, and she 
 was determined, even at the cost of her life, to 
 carry it out to the last letter in this particular in- 
 stance ; consequently, Godfrey was entirely de- 
 pendent upon himself for all out-door occupations. 
 Aforetime there had been calls to make, drives and 
 walks to take with his mother, and these had taken 
 up a large share of the day; now he never saw 
 her until lunch-time, and it was seldom that she 
 enquired how he had occupied himself; indeed, 
 it was part of her code that she should not in 
 any way seem to spy upon her son's movements. 
 After lunch he would sit with her for half an hour 
 or so, and then she would say to him, "Well, don't 
 you mean to go out this afternoon ?" and then he 
 would always reply, " I think I will if you don't 
 want me any longer. Is there anything I can do 
 for you, Mother?" Sometimes she would say yes, 
 and more often she would say no, and then God- 
 frey would quietly disappear out of the house and 
 be seen no more until he made his appearance 
 dressed for dinner.
 
 MRS. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS. 29 
 
 As I have said, there was cubbing, shooting, and 
 rabbiting, but there was not very much of the first, 
 and Godfrey did not go out more than once a week. 
 He did shoot a good deal, but rabbiting he had no 
 fancy for, so that he had a good deal of spare time 
 on hand, and, as I have said, he spent a good deal 
 of it sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree in that 
 part of Bladensbrook woods which was familiarly 
 known as the fir coppice. Not alone ; oh, dear, 
 no ! Although he was only just turned nineteen, 
 and the one little damsel down at the Rectory was 
 three years younger, nobody knew anything about 
 it. Mrs. Dangerfield had been dead more than 
 three years, and the old Rector spent the greater 
 part of his day shut up in his library studying 
 ecclesiastical carvings. Indeed, he was writing a 
 book on the subject, a book which was to inform 
 the world what sort of " trimmings" as Margot 
 persisted in calling it there were to the pillars of 
 all the different cathedrals in the United Kingdom, 
 a stupendous work which was to fill exactly twelve 
 volumes. Mr. Dangerfield had got about a third 
 of the way through the first one, and became more 
 absorbed in the subject with every day that went 
 over his head, therefore he could not be expected 
 to look after Margot. It had been suggested to 
 him, at the time of his wife's death, that he ought 
 to have a resident governess for his daughter, or 
 else to send her to a good boarding-school ; but it 
 happened that Mrs. Dangerfield had always had 
 an absolute horror of that method of educating 
 young girls, while the Rector had an equal horror 
 3*
 
 30 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 of what is called a resident governess. He had a 
 sort of dim, half-defined feeling that if he were to 
 start a resident governess she would soon develop 
 into a permanent mistress of the establishment ; 
 so he resolutely refused to make any such addi- 
 tion to his household. " Why should I do any- 
 thing of the kind ?" he said, plaintively, to a 
 widowed sister who had been elaborately ex- 
 pounding her views ; " Mrs. Wilson is an excel- 
 lent housekeeper. She really managed everything 
 in my dear Claudia's time, and has a good general 
 idea of what we liked and what we disliked in the 
 matter of foods. Claudia never knew what was 
 coming up for breakfast, or what was coming up 
 for dinner, and why, after more than fifteen years, 
 should I take these details out of Mrs. Wilson's 
 excellent hands and put them into the hands of 
 an incapable or, at least, a person whose capabili- 
 ties are not known to me? I really must, my dear 
 Marcia, refuse to consider the question altogether." 
 
 " But the child, William, the child" said Mrs. 
 Blake, impatiently. 
 
 "The child? You mean Margot? Ah, well, 
 you see I promised my dear Claudia that I would 
 never send her to a boarding-school. I believe 
 she had been at one herself where the food was 
 insufficient, or something of that kind ; at all 
 events, she had a prejudice against boarding- 
 schools ; and I made her a promise, poor darling, 
 within a week of her death. I could not consent 
 to break a promise to Claudia, my dear Marcia ; it 
 is out of the question."
 
 MRS. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS. 31 
 
 " But, my dear William," said Mrs. Blake, " you 
 cannot have Margot running about wild here." 
 
 " Margot running about wild ! She has always 
 run about wild. She has beautiful manners," said 
 the Rector, looking at his sister over the tops of 
 his spectacles. 
 
 " How is she to be educated ?" 
 
 " My dear Marcia, her mother never educated 
 her. Of course, Miss Atkinson will come over 
 every day by train, as she has been accustomed to 
 do. I take it that four hours in the morning is 
 quite sufficient to ground a young lady, who will 
 have a very tidy income of her own by and by, in 
 all that is necessary. You forget that Margot will 
 not be dependent. Under her mother's will she 
 will have about six hundred a year er h'm at 
 my death, and therefore I do not consider that it is 
 necessary she should be educated as if she were 
 going to be a Board school-mistress. Miss Atkin- 
 son is a very conscientious, excellent person. She 
 has given us unbounded satisfaction during the 
 two years that she has been coming to and fro on 
 Margot's account. I think that Margot will hold 
 her own with almost any young person of her age. 
 She reads and writes French exceedingly well." 
 
 " And her music and her dancing and drawing, 
 and all the other things that a girl ought to know," 
 interrupted Mrs. Blake, hotly. 
 
 " Well, my dear Marcia, Margot is not a musical 
 girl. My dear Claudia and I had a very careful 
 and long discussion before we arrived at the con- 
 clusion that Margot would be wasting time to
 
 32 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 study any sort of music. She has a very pretty 
 turn for sketching very pretty, indeed. I assure 
 you some of her little bits done from Nature the 
 woods and the waterfalls and the cottages in the 
 village would quite astonish you, Marcia, quite 
 astonish you, I am sure, but for music she has 
 unfortunately no ear. Now I ask you is it reason- 
 able to make a young girl waste many hours of 
 her life studying something for which she has no 
 aptitude and at which she will never be able to 
 make any reasonable progress ? I take it that I 
 have really done a great favour to my neighbours, 
 or to Margot's future neighbours, not to attempt 
 to force her in this direction. At all events, that 
 was the decision I arrived at with my darling 
 Claudia, and nothing now would induce me to 
 allow Margot to be taught music, therefore I do 
 not wish er I do not see er that anything 
 more need be said. I assure you, Marcia, I am 
 more than broken down with my irreparable loss, 
 with our irreparable loss. Nothing can ever make 
 up to us for the bright soul who has gone. I 
 should be doing ill were I to subject Margot to 
 the daily dominance of a person who would be a 
 sort of paid spy upon her. Her mother always 
 treated Margot as a responsible person. From the 
 time that she was a baby three, four, five years 
 old Margot was always treated as a person with 
 enough common sense to carry her safely through 
 the ordinary affairs of life. We have found the 
 system work admirably, quite admirably, my dear 
 Marcia, I assure you. For instance, there is round
 
 MA'S. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS. 33 
 
 in the farm buildings a chaff-cutting machine. Do 
 you know what a chaff-cutting machine is, Mar- 
 cia ?" 
 
 " I don't," said Mrs. Blake, shortly, feeling .that 
 she was getting the worst of the argument. 
 
 " A chaff-cutting machine, my dear Marcia, is a 
 thing with many knives, and a child happening to 
 be standing too near might easily be caught by its 
 pinafore or something and drawn through its teeth 
 only to come out at the other end in little slices. 
 They are fascinating things to watch, and children 
 mostly love them dearly. I believe that some 
 mothers with chaff-cutting machines I mean to 
 say some mothers who have chaff-cutting machines 
 upon their premises suffer untold agony on ac- 
 count of the tendency of children always to go where 
 there is danger. Now my dear Claudia was a wise 
 woman. When we came here to Dangerfield, she 
 at once investigated every point of serious danger. 
 It seemed to her that the chaff-cutting machine was 
 quite the most dangerous thing in the establish- 
 ment ; so she gathered her children together, the 
 two boys and Margot, and she said to them, ' I 
 want you to come with me into the chaff-cutting 
 house.' I believe that Jim remarked that it would 
 be very jolly, but Claudia said, ' Perhaps it won't 
 be as jolly as you think. I want to explain to you, 
 my dear children,' she continued, when she had 
 them all assembled in the little shed where the 
 machine is, ' that this is a most dangerous ma- 
 chine. We have to use it, because chaff must be 
 cut up and properly prepared for the animals to
 
 34 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 eat it, and there may be times when the door will 
 be unlocked and you will be able to walk in as 
 easily as you can walk into the drawing-room. 
 So I want you to see what a chaff-cutting machine 
 can do. I have brought a chicken with me. Now, 
 Bill,' she said to one of the men, ' I want you to 
 hold this so that the machine will catch it. You, 
 George, will be good enough to turn the machine 
 for me exactly as you do when you are cutting up 
 chaff. Now, children, be sure that you watch this. 
 Now Bill will hold the chicken just where he puts 
 his hand and he will leave it there. Now, do you 
 see ?' Well, I need not tell you, Marcia, that in 
 about three minutes that chicken was perfectly 
 useless for culinary purposes, and when they had 
 gathered the fragments together, my dear Claudia 
 said to the children, ' Now, I want you to clearly 
 understand that if you get any of your fingers 
 caught in this chaff-cutter, this is what you will 
 come out like at the other end.' It was far better 
 than forbidding them to go into the chaff-cutting 
 house. I feel," said the Rector, resting his elbowi 
 on the arms of his chair and putting the tips ol 
 his fingers together, " that in carrying out my deaj 
 Claudia's system my dear dead wife's system witr 
 regard to the children that I shall be doing thjf 
 only right thing, apart from our irreparable loss 
 for already, I assure you, Marcia, I feel terriblj 
 the want of somebody to go and talk to, somebodj 
 to whom I can explain my book, somebody to 
 whom I can tell little details in the parish, some* 
 body to whom I can carry my little worries and
 
 MRS. DANGERFIELD'S NOTIONS. 35 
 
 troubles, more than you perhaps can suspect. I 
 daresay as time goes on I shall feel it less time is 
 very merciful fo all of us but I should ill requite 
 my dear Claudia if, now that she is removed from 
 us to our intense sorrow, I were deliberately to alter 
 one jot of the rules she has laid down for the house- 
 hold. Therefore, Mrs. Wilson will continue to be 
 the housekeeper, as she has been for fifteen years ; 
 Miss Atkinson will continue her work of educating 
 Margot, that is to say, she will come out from 
 Swanborough every morning by th eight o'clock 
 train, and she will return by the train which goes 
 immediately after lunch. Once a week Margot 
 will go in for her dancing lesson, because my dear 
 Claudia was firmly of opinion that dancing was 
 excellent for developing a young girl's figure and 
 for improving her health. She will go to church 
 on Sundays and sit where she has always sat, and 
 sometimes she will go up to the House and see 
 our good friend Mrs. Bladensbrook, and sometimes 
 she will have young friends here or she will go to 
 see young friends, and although she will miss her 
 mother terribly terribly yet I hope that her 
 father will contrive to make her life fairly bright 
 and certainly happy. And now, Marcia, my dear 
 sister, I thank you very much for your well-meant 
 interference, but I feel there is nothing more to be 
 said upon the subject." 
 
 " And if ever," Mrs. Blake said to herself later 
 on when thinking over the conversation, " if ever 
 a consummate idiot lived, my brother, William 
 Dangerfield, is that one !"
 
 36 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 -. x HEYDAY. 
 
 HOWEVER, idiot or not, the Rector was the master 
 of Danger-field Rectory, and life went on exactly 
 as he had said it would do. Time did soften the blow 
 of losing his wife ; as he became absorbed in his 
 great book he missed her less and less, and as 
 Margot grew up straight and strong and exceed- 
 ingly fair to see, as she made very good progress 
 with her lessons, he did not see that he had made 
 any mistakes in the planning out of her every-day 
 life. 
 
 " Always remember, Margot," he said to her one 
 day, when she had shown him some bold little 
 sketch in sepia of the church-tower and one angle 
 of the church-yard, " always remember that this is 
 your gift. General education is very well, very 
 good for all of us, but a little general education 
 goes a long way, but a little cultivation of our gift 
 whatever our gift may be scarcely goes any 
 way at all. Any mediocre brain can learn to read 
 and write, to speak good English and intelligible 
 French, to add up two and two and the like ; but 
 to be able, with a few strokes of the paint-brush, 
 to reproduce a scene as you have done here, that 
 is a gift, and you cannot cultivate a gift too much, 
 you cannot spare too much time, you cannot be- 
 stow too much pains upon it; therefore, let me
 
 HEYDAY. 37 
 
 urge you as your best friend to do all that you 
 can to increase your talent in this direction. Go 
 to Nature, my child, go to Nature ! The greatest 
 painter who ever glorified the English nation was 
 one William Turner. Why did Turner succeed ? 
 Because he was bold enough to paint Nature as 
 he saw her." 
 
 Consequently, when Mrs. Dangerfield had been 
 dead three years, and Margot had found out the 
 charms of sitting upon the trunk of a fallen tree in 
 the fir coppice, her father's advice to go to Nature 
 stood her in good stead. It was not very likely 
 that he would ask her on her return where she 
 had been. If he did so, she would say, " Oh, I 
 have been painting such a lovely bit. I will get it 
 and show you, Dad." But Margot kept discreetly 
 silent about trunks of fallen trees. Sometimes she 
 mentioned quite incidentally that she had seen 
 Godfrey Bladensbrook, that he was still at home 
 looking forward very much to joining his regiment, 
 and that his mother's bronchitis was little, if any, 
 better. On these occasions Mr. Dangerfield al- 
 most invariably made the same remark, " Ah, I 
 am afraid that iron constitution is giving way a 
 little. I must go up and see my good friend. A 
 wonderful woman, Margot ! A wonderful woman ! 
 A good mother to young Godfrey if ever a good 
 mother lived." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; Godfrey always says so. Godfrey 
 adores his mother," Margot would say. 
 
 " Yes ; well, he has every right to do so. I 
 must go up and see her. I will go to-morrow." 
 4
 
 38 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 And sure enough the following day the Rector 
 would quietly stroll over to the Hall and spend 
 an hour very profitably with its mistress. They 
 were great friends, Mrs. Bladensbrook and the Rec- 
 tor; they had many ideas in common and a mu- 
 tual interest in looking after the welfare of their 
 children, and then, you see, neither of them knew 
 that at that very moment Godfrey and Margot 
 were sitting two miles away in a damp wood try- 
 ing hard to catch rheumatic fever. 
 
 " Dad has gone up to see your mother," Margot 
 was saying at the very moment the Rector was 
 condoling with the mistress of the great house on 
 her enforced stay indoors. 
 
 " Oh, has he ? Well, that is awfully good of 
 him," said Godfrey. " You know, my mother is 
 feeling being shut up most awfully. She is so 
 active, and somehow she always wants to be in 
 the thick of everything, that it is a real hardship to 
 her to have to stay cooped up a perfect prisoner 
 as she is. I am glad the Rector has gone up to 
 see her, dear old chap. I always think," he went 
 on, reflectively, leaning forward with his elbows 
 on his knees and fixedly regarding the knob of his 
 stick, " I always think my mother and your father 
 must have a great deal in common. You see, they 
 both got left." 
 
 " Yes, and they neither of them got married," 
 said Margot. 
 
 " Oh, my mother wouldn't have married any- 
 body !" 
 
 " Neither would my father," retorted Margot.
 
 HE YD A Y. 39 
 
 " Of course," she went on, with a sort of sigh, " if 
 my father had married again, or if he had listened 
 to Aunt Marcia's suggestion that I should have a 
 horrid dragon of a governess stuck always in the 
 house, life would have been dreadful for me 
 dreadful. But father wouldn't ; he was much too 
 loyal to mother. He wouldn't send me to school 
 and he wouldn't have a governess in the house ; 
 and I can tell you it was a blessing. Why, if I 
 had had a step-mother, or even a governess, I 
 should not have been able to come out this after- 
 noon. I should have had to say where I was go- 
 ing and what I was going to do ! It would have 
 been dreadful !" 
 
 " I suppose the Rector never asks you ?" 
 
 " No sometimes he does. Sometimes he says 
 in a casual sort of way, ' Well, Kitten, where have 
 you been to-day ?' " 
 
 " And you always tell him ?" 
 
 " Why, yes. If I have been in the woods, I say 
 I have been in the woods. I couldn't tell stories 
 about it. Why should I ?" 
 
 " Oh, no ; I didn't mean that ; but, of course, 
 you know, Margot, there are people round about 
 Bladensbrook who might think it a little out of the 
 ordinary that you and I should be as good friends 
 as we are." ' 
 
 " Yes," Margot admitted, " that is quite true. I 
 remember how last year they used to talk over 
 Miss Westaby and the curate; but, then, they 
 were going to be married, and that is different to
 
 40 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " I don't know why it should be so different to 
 us," said Godfrey, working vigorously at the dis- 
 placement of a root which had grown above 
 ground. 
 
 " Ah, well, but it is," said Margot. " I like you 
 and you like me, and we are great friends, but, at 
 the same time, you are going into the Black Horse 
 when this leave comes to an end, and I well, I 
 don't know what is going to happen to me." 
 
 " What do you think is going to happen to 
 you ?" said Godfrey. 
 
 "Well, I don't know, but I rather think that 
 father intends to get six months* leave and to 
 take me abroad." 
 
 " Oh, is that a new scheme ?" 
 
 " Well, it is and it isn't. You see, father is writ- 
 ing this book on ecclesiastical carvings the trim- 
 mings on the tops of the pillars, you know and 
 he wants to compare all the principal cathedrals in 
 England with all the principal cathedrals on the 
 Continent. He and my mother always promised 
 themselves that they would take this trip, and 
 father doesn't see why he and I should not go just 
 the same." 
 
 " And after that ?" said Godfrey. 
 
 " After that," said Margot, " I don't know. One 
 never knows what will happen. You see, I shall 
 be seventeen when we come back again, and I 
 shall have done with Miss Atkinson and all that 
 lot, and I shall come out and go to dances and 
 that sort of thing." 
 
 " And perhaps," said Godfrey, in a voice which
 
 HEYDAY. 41 
 
 he tried hard to make quite an ordinary one, " and 
 perhaps you might marry somebody." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I might marry somebody," said Mar- 
 got, lightly ; " I might meet with a German prince, 
 or an Italian count, or a French circus rider, or 
 come back here and marry a curate: one never 
 knows. If I was going to marry anybody," she 
 went on, " I would rather not marry him here. I 
 would rather not have it happen here." 
 
 "Why?" he asked. 
 
 " Because round about Bladensbrook everybody 
 talks so they all do it, we all do it, everybody 
 does it; and when Miss Westaby married Mr. 
 Winnington, do you know she wasn't even let to 
 choose her own wedding-gown ? no, indeed she 
 wasn't ! Miss Westaby made up her mind she 
 would be married in a travelling dress, which was 
 most sensible of her, though, all the same, I would 
 rather be married in white myself. She bought 
 herself a tailor-built dress when she was in Lon- 
 don perfect ! I assure you, Godfrey, it was just 
 perfect, and you know what a good figure Miss 
 Westaby had ; she really looked killing in it, and 
 she had a dear little duck of a hat to match, and, 
 in fact, everything that suited her best. But Mrs. 
 Westaby must needs go and tell all the old ladies 
 and people, you know, what her daughter was 
 going to wear, and they all said she must be mar- 
 ried in a bride's dress. She said she wouldn't be 
 married in a bride's dress, that she was going to 
 live in an East End parish, and she wouldn't be 
 able to wear out a white satin dress, and she 
 4*
 
 42 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 wouldn't buy a white satin dress. But they wor- 
 ried her to such an extent that at last she gave 
 way and compromised the matter, and she was 
 married in a handsome brown brocade, in which 
 she looked perfectly dowdy. No, it's very certain 
 that any girl living within five miles of Bladens- 
 brook will have a better time if she marries whilst 
 she is away on a visit." 
 
 " But if she wanted a Bladensbrook man ?" God- 
 frey suggested. 
 
 " I couldn't imagine anybody wanting a Bladens- 
 brook man," said Margot. " There is only one 
 family in Bladensbrook who is worth looking at, 
 and that is your own ; and you are much too young 
 to even think about being married for years to 
 come !" 
 
 " You think so ?" 
 
 " My dear Godfrey, you are only nineteen ; you 
 are out of the running altogether, and you will 
 never marry anybody in Bladensbrook. You will 
 go away into the army next month, and you will 
 marry a royal princess or a duke's daughter, or 
 something of that kind. All these Westabys and 
 such like are not for you at least, you are not 
 for them." 
 
 To do Margot justice, she uttered the words 
 without the smallest sense of their in any way ap- 
 plying to herself. To her, Godfrey Bladensbrook 
 was as much a thing apart from any idea of an 
 eventual marriage as he would be in the case of 
 people like the Westabys. He was her great 
 friend, her chum, her better than brother, but she
 
 HE YD A Y. 43 
 
 had no second thoughts in so deliberately discuss- 
 ing the question of his eventual marriage. And 
 Godfrey Bladensbrook worked harder than ever 
 trying to dig up the root which grew just across 
 his feet. For a moment or two there was silence, 
 then he said, without looking at his companion 
 and in a tone which was very much Bladensbrook 
 of Bladensbrook, " I suppose as you would regard 
 Jim and Jack, you would call nineteen fearfully 
 young ; but I am not like most fellows of nineteen : 
 I have always taken a man's place in the world. I 
 have always been practically my own master, and 
 when I make up my mind about a thing I don't 
 often change it." 
 
 " Yes, that is true," said Margot. 
 
 " When I want to get married," he went on, with 
 a certain lofty doggedness, " I shall get married. 
 It may be in or out of Bladensbrook, and she may 
 be a duke's daughter or well a girl of less place 
 in the world, but I shall marry her all the same, 
 and all the talking in the county won't stop me." 
 
 " I like to hear you say that !" said Margot, en- 
 thusiastically ; " it is quite lovely ! But then, you 
 know, you are a Bladensbrook : you can do what 
 you like ; everybody is not so lucky." 
 
 " And yet you think," said he, turning to her 
 for the first time, " that this Bladensbrook is too 
 young to know his own mind."
 
 44 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 YOUNG FOLKS' WAYS. 
 
 OF a truth, Godfrey Bladensbrook had been well 
 within the truth when he told Margot Dangerfield 
 that he was not like other young men of his age 
 that he had always taken a man's place in the 
 world, had always been practically his own mas- 
 ter. That was so. Mrs. Bladensbrook has always 
 treated him first as the master of Bladensbrook, 
 and then as her son. As soon as he had entered 
 upon his teens she had been careful to keep him 
 well informed as to every change or innovation 
 that had taken place in connection with his estates, 
 and as soon as he left school and entered at Sand- 
 hurst, she had made a rule of consulting him upon 
 every point above those of ordinary importance. 
 In some ways this was a good thing for the boy, 
 but, at the same time, it gave him a sense of his 
 own dignity and a somewhat exaggerated idea of 
 the importance of his opinions and decisions. It 
 was not his fault, but he could not understand that 
 the opinion of others might be more valuable than 
 his own. His mother's most firmly rooted idea 
 had 'been that the upper classes in this country 
 consisted of the Peerage, the Bladcnsbrooks, and 
 the county families, but the effect of her teaching 
 upon her son had been such as to give him a de- 
 cided notion that they consisted of the Bladens-
 
 YOUNG FOLKS 1 WAYS. 45 
 
 brooks and then the Peerage. The two boys at the 
 Rectory were really the only people in the neigh- 
 bourhood who ever treated him strictly as one of 
 themselves. They were, as I have said before, a 
 little younger in years than young Bladensbrook, 
 but they would have died the death rather than 
 have deferred to him in any possible way. They 
 were both well-looking, tall, well-bred lads, Jim 
 destined for a career in a line regiment, and Jack 
 already launched upon the only profession that he 
 had ever consented to hear of, that is* the Royal 
 Navy. They had been intimate with Godfrey 
 Bladensbrook for years and years ; they addressed 
 him as " old chap" and other such boyish terms 
 of endearment, wrangling with him enough to 
 show that there was no superiority in being a Bla- 
 densbrook in their minds, at least, even if they 
 were the only minds in the world which followed 
 that particular bent. 
 
 And Margot, of course, treated him precisely 
 in the same way, except that she never wrangled. 
 She didn't mind frankly saying that she considered 
 the Bladensbrooks the only family in the neigh- 
 bourhood worth calling a family, but, at the same 
 time, she never in any sense flattered Godfrey ; she 
 had never done so from their earliest acquaintance. 
 The fact, that if he was dining alone he would 
 be waited upon in full state, made no difference 
 to Margot. If he happened to be down at the Rec- 
 tory when the nursery tea was on, Margot would 
 ask him to share whatever it was without any idea 
 of remembering the contrast between their plain,
 
 46 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 wholesome, nursery fare and the elaborate meals 
 to which he was used. Many was the slice of 
 thick bread and treacle with which Margot had 
 regaled him in their younger days, and her hazel 
 eyes would have opened very widely indeed had 
 anyone told her that his very gorge rose at the 
 sight of that particular dainty. But with all the 
 other young people for miles round Bladensbrook 
 he was very different. To them he was always 
 painted in the colours in which his mother had 
 painted him : he was always the master of Bla- 
 densbrook; he was always the lucky owner of 
 thirty thousand a year. No other boys and girls 
 besides the Dangerfields had ever been able to get 
 over the feeling that he was a thing apart. With 
 Margot, it was always " Jim, and Jack, and God- 
 frey," and this was perhaps why the young squire 
 was on such entirely intimate terms at the Rectory 
 as he was. 
 
 As the time drew near for him to take his de- 
 parture from home to join his regiment at Alder- 
 shot, Mrs. Bladensbrook began to improve in 
 health, and was able to accompany him to various 
 places which she considered it necessary he should 
 visit before his departure. It was characteristic of 
 this lady that she let her only child go out into 
 the world without in any way attempting to give 
 him advice, or to bind him down to any particular 
 line of conduct. Many women, when their sons 
 make their first plunge from the home nest, egg on 
 their husbands to bestow a little wholesome advice 
 upon them out of their own wider experience, and
 
 YOUNG FOLKS' WAYS. 47 
 
 some mothers who do not happen to have hus- 
 bands, or whose husbands object to preaching to 
 their sons, find an opportunity of saying at least 
 a word or two which they may carry with them in 
 times of temptation, of doubt, or of difficulty after- 
 wards. Not so Mrs. Bladensbrook. She didn't so 
 much as say, " Godfrey, you will remember before 
 all things that you carry with you the honour of 
 the Bladensbrook family." She didn't say to him 
 that she hoped he would remember that when the 
 time came for him to marry he must choose one 
 who would be fitting and suitable to his position. 
 No, not a single word. She took his advice upon 
 various matters connected with the management 
 of the estates, she spoke of his going as she might 
 have spoken of his paying a short visit, she spoke 
 of his return in much the same manner, but from 
 first to last she never gave utterance to a single 
 word which in any way savoured of advice giving. 
 From his infancy she had brought him up to re- 
 gard the honour of the Bladensbrooks as the 
 proudest of his possessions, and now that he had 
 arrived at man's estate she did not condescend 
 even to remind him that such a possession was 
 his. 
 
 Naturally, as he had to pass more time in at- 
 tendance upon his mother, Godfrey Bladensbrook 
 saw Margot less ; yet the meetings in the wood 
 were not stopped, and the very day before his de- 
 parture found him sitting in the same place on the 
 trunk of a fallen tree with Margot Dangerfield by 
 his side.
 
 48 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " My mother has sent down to the Rectory to ask 
 you and the Rector to come to dinner to-night 
 my last night," he said, when she had settled her- 
 self down comfortably. 
 
 " Really ! What made her think of that ?" 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. My mother is a woman who 
 does think of things. She knew that I should be 
 glad if she did ask you. You will come, of course?" 
 
 " Oh, of course," said Margot. " Father wasn't 
 going anywhere to-night, and he is sure to have 
 accepted," 
 
 " We have got to the last day now," said God- 
 frey, pegging away at the root which he had 
 almost succeeded in excavating. 
 
 " Yes. Oh, Godfrey, it will be horribly dull 
 when you are gone," she said, in a matter of fact 
 tone. " I feel so lost when Jim and Jack first go 
 away from home ; but when you are all gone, when 
 there is not one of you here, it really is dreadful. 
 However, we sha'n't be very long here after you, 
 that's one comfort." 
 
 "You will come in the wood then, I suppose?" 
 
 " Sometimes," she returned. 
 
 " But not with any one else ?" he said, half hesi- 
 tatingly. 
 
 " My dear old boy," said the girl, " who could I 
 come with ? Jack won't be back for months and 
 months, and Jim would rather see me shot before 
 he would come into the woods with me. He hates 
 woods. I don't know why he should, but he does. 
 He says they are damp and creepy and generally 
 horrible. There is no one else."
 
 YOUNG FOLKS' WAYS. 49 
 
 " But would^you come with anyone else if there 
 was ?" he persisted. 
 
 " I don't know. It would depend. I don't think 
 so. How long shall you be away ?" 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. A year, I should think. 
 I may get a few days' leave, but I shall not have 
 any long leave until next winter." 
 
 " We shall be home by then," said Margot. 
 
 " And then you will be quite grown up. You 
 won't think me so awfully young then, Margot." 
 
 " I don't think you so awfully young now," she 
 returned ; " not in the way you mean. I think 
 you are very old for your age." 
 
 " You think I don't know my own mind." 
 
 " I never said so !" 
 
 " I think you did." 
 
 " Well, if I said it, I'll stick to it ; but perhaps I 
 didn't altogether mean it, because I have not known 
 you change your mind very much, it is true." 
 
 " You will remember," he said, with the gravity 
 of extreme youth, " you will remember by and by 
 that I am the least changeable person in all the 
 world. And as to our being young, we are both 
 young, Margot, and it's a fault we shall mend of 
 every day that we live. I am young much too 
 young to ask you to consider yourself engaged to 
 me, because you might change your mind, and I 
 should not like to feel that I had placed you in a 
 position which would make it necessary for you to 
 ask me to give you up." 
 
 " I I don't altogether understand you " she 
 said, beginning to tremble. 
 c d 5
 
 50 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 "You don't? You don't?" he echoed. "I 
 think it is so simple. It is just this, Margot: you 
 and I have been boy and girl together, and I am 
 going away to-morrow possibly, never to come 
 back again. It will be years and years before I 
 really live at Bladensbrook again, and it wouldn't 
 do for me to ask you to marry me now because 
 we should have to wait so long more than two 
 years at the very earliest so I cannot say much 
 more to you than this, that you will never have in 
 all your life a truer friend than Godfrey Bladens- 
 brook, even if he is too young to know his own 
 mind." 
 
 " I don't think," said Margot, casting a half-in- 
 dignant glance at him, " that you need have said 
 that to me. I didn't mean anything unkind when 
 I called you so young. You are young we are 
 both horribly young, and the idea of what you 
 suggested just now never came into my mind be- 
 fore. I never thought of you as anything but as 
 I think of Jim and Jack. I I shall miss you 
 dreadfully when you are gone, because we have 
 always been such friends, you and I, and because 
 well, for other things than just that. Don't say 
 anything more about it, Godfrey. As you say, 
 you are going away for years and years, and when 
 you see other people you don't know what you 
 will feel like. I I you don't know what / shall 
 feel like. I I don't know myself I think I 
 shall go home. I feel I feel -frightened" 
 
 She got up as she spoke, and stood . half turned 
 away from him. He looked at her irresolutely for
 
 GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT. 51 
 
 a moment. " Margot," he said, at last, " I ought 
 not to have said anything of this to you at all. I 
 feel in a sense as if I had betrayed our friendship. 
 You will forgive me, won't you ? I am cut up at 
 having to go away to-morrow, although I am go- 
 ing by my own choice and by my own wish. You 
 are sure that you are not angry with me for having 
 said what I did ?" 
 
 " Oh no I am not angry," she said, hurriedly. 
 
 " You would rather that I didn't walk back with 
 you ?" 
 
 " Yes ; and I would rather go now, and you can 
 go home by the other way by the park road. I 
 would much rather." 
 
 " And you will not forget me ?" 
 
 " Oh, no. I promise you I won't forget you." 
 She put out both her hands to him, and a glint of 
 sunlight came through the fir trees, falling upon 
 her radiant hair and showing up the depths of her 
 brilliant hazel eyes. She was half frightened, and 
 yet she was irresistible, and for the first time in their 
 lives the young squire bent down and kissed her 
 upon the lips. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT. 
 
 BEFORE Godfrey Bladensbrook had been a week 
 with his regiment he had been dubbed " Godfrey 
 the Magnificent." You know soldiers are very 
 quick to find out a man's weak points. For years
 
 52 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 past no subaltern had joined the Black Horse with 
 so little annoyance to himself as this young man. 
 Perhaps for the first time in the history of the regi- 
 ment the time-honoured operation which is known 
 as " drawing" a youngster was admitted to be a 
 dismal failure. It was not that Godfrey Bladens- 
 brook resented the process he knew his fate, and 
 prepared himself at once cheerfully to meet it ; but 
 he was so cheerful, his manners were so good, his 
 acquiescence so complete, that for once the salt had 
 lost its savour altogether. 
 
 It would be hard to say why he had been so 
 speedily dubbed " the Magnificent." It might have 
 been because he had a full set of photographs, 
 neatly framed in black, of his ancestral home the 
 North front, the South front, the East front, the 
 West terrace, the pavilion in the garden, the 
 stabling, the historic oak in the park, the view 
 across the mere, a view of the great drawing-room, 
 another of the picture gallery, and a third of the 
 great hall with all its treasures of armour and of 
 curiosities. Naturally, when his. rooms got put 
 into shape, the regiment took an opportunity of 
 inspecting them. Godfrey's rooms were very sim- 
 ple. He was too sensible and too thoroughly pos- 
 sessed with a sense of the fitness of things to have 
 anything approaching to fine furniture in bachelor 
 quarters, but still they were all rather new. A 
 dark felting covered the floor, and was brightened 
 by one or two Eastern-looking rugs ; he had the 
 rooms repapered, which, indeed, was very neces- 
 sary, and his curtains, though plain, were of the
 
 GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT. 53 
 
 thick material known as "plushette," and were 
 quite handsome looking. His only extravagance 
 was in pictures and in his toilet equipment ; every- 
 thing else was simple and suitable. Even his 
 toilet things were but modestly good ordinary 
 ivory-backed brushes with his crest and monogram 
 engraven upon them, an ordinary large-sized toilet 
 glass that would pack up flat into a case when he 
 should have to make a move ; but the pictures 
 well, it was not that they were so magnificent, but 
 they were so many. Besides the views of Bladens- 
 brook, there was a portrait of his father and a por- 
 trait of his mother, a fine photograph of Margot 
 Dangerfield, a great many sporting sketches which 
 he had had at Sandhurst, and a quantity of old 
 engravings of all sizes and all degrees of value. 
 
 The first day that his rooms were what might 
 be called finished, a couple of his brother officers 
 sauntered in to reconnoitre. 
 
 " Well, you have got plenty of pictures, Bladens- 
 brook," remarked Linden, looking round. 
 
 " Yes, I like pictures, even if they are not of 
 much value," said Godfrey, choosing a cigarette 
 from a box on the chimney-shelf. 
 
 " Ah, yes ; they make a room look very home- 
 like very homelike, indeed. By Jove, that's a 
 fine place !" 
 
 Godfrey looked up carelessly. " Yes, it is, 
 rather." 
 
 " Your own home ?" asked Linden. 
 
 " Yes, that is my home." 
 
 " All these your home ?" 
 5*
 
 54 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Different views," said Godfrey, indifferently. 
 
 " Very fine place," said Linden, after having care- 
 fully looked round the room. Then he brought 
 himself to an anchorage in the chair opposite to 
 the fire and helped himself to a cigarette from the 
 box which Godfrey handed to him. " By the bye, 
 have you any brothers ?" 
 
 " No ; I have no brothers or sisters," Godfrey 
 replied. 
 
 " Really ? Well, perhaps that is as well for 
 you." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," said Godfrey, carelessly. 
 " I would have liked brothers and sisters well 
 enough if I had had them." 
 
 " Well, my dear chap, I have got any quantity 
 of brothers and sisters, and I can tell you it isn't 
 all beer and skittles being one of a large family." 
 
 " No, I suppose not," rejoined Godfrey ; " but 
 still, I should have liked them well enough." 
 
 " I thought, perhaps," Linden went on, with a 
 fine air of carelessness, " that this might be your 
 sister," pointing to the portrait of Margot, which 
 stood at one end of the chimney-shelf. 
 
 " That ? Oh, dear, no," said Godfrey, in a very 
 heart-whole tone, or what sounded so ; " that's the 
 picture of our Rector's daughter at Bladensbrook. 
 No relation of mine." 
 
 " She is very pretty," remarked Linden. 
 
 " Oh, yes, she is very pretty," said Godfrey, 
 without hesitation, " awfully pretty. A good-look- 
 ing family. Her two brothers are two of the best- 
 looking chaps I know."
 
 GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT. 55 
 
 " Ah ! Parsons ?" 
 
 " Not a bit of it. One has gone into the Line 
 and the other one into the Navy." 
 
 " Really ? You don't say so ? Ah, by the bye, 
 are you going into town, or anything ?" 
 
 "No; I am not going down just yet," Godfrey 
 answered. " I must write half a dozen letters be- 
 fore I turn out. I have some cheques and things 
 to send off which won't wait." 
 
 " Well, then, St. George and I will be going 
 down, old fellow. There is a bazaar thing on. 
 Shall you look in ?" 
 
 " Yes ; I will go straight down there. It is at 
 the Town Hall, isn't it ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 The two departed then and went off in the di- 
 rection of the town together. " I suppose, then," 
 said Linden to his companion, " that this young 
 chap will come in for everything." 
 
 " My dear fellow, he has come in for everything." 
 
 " Oh ! Is his father dead ?" 
 
 " Oh, dear, yes ; died years and years and years 
 ago. I remember it quite well. He was kicked 
 to death by one of his horses. It must be sixteen 
 or seventeen years ago." 
 
 " Oh, I didn't know he was actually in posses- 
 sion." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; from the time he was quite a little 
 chap. I believe he is tremendously rich." 
 
 " You don't say so ? Well, for a rich chap, he 
 isn't beastly assuming. That is something, be- 
 cause, you know, we should have had to take it
 
 56 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 out of him ; but, really, he is wonderfully in shape 
 already." 
 
 " Oh, wonderfully. I think he is a nice young 
 chap." 
 
 I don't wish to imply that life for Godfrey Bla- 
 densbrook was all honey and roses, because it was 
 nothing of the kind. He was " drawn" almost 
 every night for the first six weeks after he had 
 joined, and his rooms soon began to assume that 
 half-apologetic air which you generally find about 
 an officer's quarters. What his brother officers 
 began, his two big dogs completed, and at the end 
 of six months nobody could have told that the 
 furniture had been so short a time in use. 
 
 Somehow, he never developed into what is 
 known as a very popular officer. His manners 
 were excellent, as I have said before, but he was 
 neither a brilliant soldier nor a brilliant wit. Like 
 his father had been before him, he was exceedingly 
 good to look upon, blessed with indomitable pride, 
 but it was that kind of pride which helps instead 
 of hinders a man ; indeed, I think it was more his 
 pride that earned for him his name of " Godfrey 
 the Magnificent" than any other quality that he 
 possessed. By his great size he was cut off" from 
 any wonderful exploits in the way of hunting or 
 riding. There was nothing whatever of the devil- 
 may-care about him ; he was not reckless, because 
 he took no pleasure in being so ; he was not ex- 
 travagant, because he thought it was caddish to 
 waste money or to make an unnecessary show. 
 He was quite the richest man in the regiment, but
 
 GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT. $f 
 
 he regulated all his subscriptions and other ex- 
 penses strictly by the examples of his equals, 
 that is to say. of the other subalterns. He was 
 always ready with a subscription when it was 
 wanted, but he was never one of the first to plank 
 down his guineas. Now the Black Horse was not 
 a particularly affluent regiment, and a good many 
 of the officers would have felt themselves bitterly 
 aggrieved and justly so if this new-comer had 
 regulated his spendings in accordance with his in- 
 come rather than in accordance with his position 
 among them. So from first to last Godfrey Bla- 
 densbrook was well liked. Everybody had a good 
 word for him, although he had neither the dash 
 nor the charm of manner which are absolutely 
 necessary to make what is called a very popular 
 officer. 
 
 As he had predicted to Margot, a year went by 
 before he was seen at Bladensbrook again. He 
 had several times had a few days' leave, but he 
 had always spent them elsewhere. When, how- 
 ever, the leave season came round again, and he 
 was free to call his time his own for fifty-six days, 
 he naturally turned his thoughts and his eyes 
 homewards. Mrs. Bladensbrook was very much 
 excited at the home-coming of her soldier son. 
 " I am asking," she wrote to him just before he 
 left Colchester, " some very nice people to come 
 for Christmas, and you might care to ask some of 
 your brother officers to come to us then. The 
 hunting at present is excellent, and Barker tells 
 me that the shooting has never been so good. I
 
 58 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 have just been having the billiard-table done up, 
 and think you will be exceedingly pleased with 
 the result. I have also had a high seat put the 
 whole length of the billiard-room. It is a great 
 improvement, and a feature which it sadly lacked 
 in the old times. I remember your poor father, 
 only a week or two before his death, saying that 
 he would have it done. But somehow, when there 
 is only a woman and no man in the house, these 
 things slide on from day to day and get sadly 
 neglected. However, it is done now, my dear boy, 
 and I hope very much that you will approve of it 
 when you have time to see it." In truth, Godfrey 
 did not care anything about the billiard-table. He 
 had always regarded that particular luxury at Bla- 
 densbrook as being as good as any reasonable 
 man could wish for, and he closed the letter with 
 a very different idea in his mind to all the little 
 plans which his mother had laid out for him. " I 
 wonder why she never mentioned Margot," his 
 thoughts ran as he laid the letter back on his table. 
 However, as there was little chance of his hearing 
 from his mother again before his return home, he 
 did not allude to the subject in the letter which he 
 wrote to her informing her of the hour of his ar- 
 rival, and when he reached home and found some 
 eight or ten guests gathered in the wonderful old 
 hall enjoying the delights of afternoon tea, he had 
 no opportunity of asking any question about the 
 family at the Rectory. 
 
 It was not until he went into the drawing-room 
 just before dinner that the Dangerfields were even
 
 GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT. $9 
 
 mentioned. He found his mother there before him, 
 looking very stately and distinguished in a rich 
 black velvet gown, with a quantity of wonderful 
 old yellowish lace and a few fine diamonds, talking 
 to a tall, aesthetic-looking clergyman whom he had 
 never seen before. " This is my son, Mr. Morris," 
 she said, indicating Godfrey with a gesture. " God- 
 frey, this is Mr. Morris. He has taken duty at the 
 Rectory for a time." 
 
 " Really ? I am very pleased to meet you," 
 holding out his hand ; " but where is the Rector, 
 Mother ?" 
 
 " Oh, the Rector has gone abroad, dear." 
 
 " Gone abroad !" echoed Godfrey. 
 
 "Yes. He and Margot were away for six 
 months, and came back in the summer. As soon 
 as autumn set in, Mr. Dangerfield's lungs gave 
 way, and he was ordered off to the south of 
 France, really to save his life." 
 
 " You don't say so ? Oh, I am sorry," said 
 Godfrey, in a tone of genuine concern. "And 
 where have they gone ?" 
 
 " Oh, they went to Mr. Morris, where are 
 
 they ?" 
 
 "They are at San Remo just now. I had a 
 letter from Mr. Dangerfield this morning," the 
 clergyman replied. 
 
 " And you like Bladensbrook, Sir ?" said God- 
 frey, in his pleasant, smooth accents. 
 
 " Oh, I think it is an ideal place an ideal vil- 
 lage. I don't wonder that Mr. Dangerfield was so 
 unwilling to go away as he was. They were both
 
 6O A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 unwilling. I came down a week or so before they 
 left Mr. Dangerfield and his daughter, you know 
 and really I was quite sorry for them both. They 
 seemed to dislike the idea of going away again so 
 much. But the doctors were most insistent, more 
 particularly Sir Fergus Tiffany, whom he consulted 
 in town. In fact, he wrote to him from the Rectory 
 after I arrived and asked him if he arranged to have 
 no clerical duty whatever whether he could not 
 remain at home. Sir Fergus Tiffany wrote back 
 saying that if he remained at home he would do 
 so at his own risk, and that he had told him plainly 
 and distinctly that it would cost him his life. And 
 so, of course," Mr. Morris ended, "they had to 
 
 g-" 
 
 " Oh, yes, yes, of course," said Godfrey. " Then 
 it was his lungs ?" 
 
 " Yes, his lungs, and something wrong with his 
 throat, too, and general weakness, you know. Of 
 course, the Rector is not a young man, and in my 
 opinion he stuck too closely to that architectural 
 book of his." 
 
 " I think so, too," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. " I 
 told him so a dozen times at least during this sum- 
 mer. Whenever I met Margot, whenever Margot 
 came here, whenever I called upon her, she always 
 said the same thing, ' Oh, my father is hard at 
 work on his book.' " 
 
 " Ah, it is a great pity he is such an enthusiast," 
 said Godfrey, then turned as the door opened and 
 others of the house party came into the room. 
 
 He was intensely disappointed. He had been
 
 GODFREY THE MAGNIFICENT. 6 1 
 
 looking forward so long to seeing Margot during 
 this visit. It was by way of a shock to him to find 
 that they were gone off on their travels again when 
 he had believed them to be safe and snug at Bla- 
 densbrook Rectory. He thought that Margot 
 might have let him know, and yet, of course, it 
 was true that Margot had never corresponded with 
 him ; it is true that he had never asked her to do so, 
 for he had felt that while it would be delightful, it 
 would scarcely be fair to so young a girl. 
 
 " I suppose," he said to his mother the last thing 
 that evening, "that Margot Dangerfield is quite 
 grown up ?" 
 
 " Oh, quite grown up, dear, and quite a beauty." 
 
 " Is she really ?" he said, with an indifferent air, 
 just as if he had not known that Margot Danger- 
 field was sure to have grown up a beauty. 
 
 " I have written to the boys to ask them to spend 
 part of their leave here. Jim has accepted for the 
 week after next, and Jack hopes to be able to come 
 later on. I fancy he is rather uncertain about 
 his leave. He may have to go off to Corfu or 
 somewhere, but if he gets leave, of course he is 
 coming." 
 
 " That is very good of you, Mother," said God- 
 frey, " because you know it is a serious thing to 
 have to spend two months' leave staying about 
 with strangers. I am glad you asked them. I am 
 very fond of Jim and Jack. I like them better 
 than any fellows I have ever known. Of course, 
 these men I have asked from the regiment very 
 good sort and tremendously nice fellows, you will 
 6
 
 62 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN, 
 
 like them awfully but they are not to me like old 
 Jim and Jack, you know." 
 
 " No, no, of course not," said the mother, sooth- 
 ingly. " I, too, am exceedingly fond of them, and 
 of Margot, and of the dear Rector. I feel great 
 sympathy with the dear Rector. I don't think, you 
 know, Godfrey, in spite of what Mrs. Blake said, 
 that he was wrong about that dear little girl. It 
 would have been a great slight on poor Mrs. Dan- 
 gerfield who was a sweet woman, a very good 
 woman, Godfrey, without the least trace of cant 
 about her, a woman with a proper idea of her own 
 position, a woman with a suitable amount of 
 worldliness for a clergyman's wife of position I 
 do think it would have been a slight upon her 
 memory if he had radically altered the child's up- 
 bringing. And really, now that Margot is finished 
 and a grown-up young lady, she is so delightful, 
 she is so dainty, so charming, such a little lady. 
 All the girls of the present day are not that. I 
 meet many girls whose manners strike me as dis- 
 tinctly wanting. Their whole mind and their 
 whole time seem to be taken up with tennis and 
 golfing, cycling or cricketing, or something of that 
 kind. I am glad that little Margot is not like that; 
 and really, although I miss her and the dear Rec- 
 tor very much, in spite of my liking Mr. Morris, 
 who is quite charming, I do think it is a good 
 thing for Margot to be about in the world a little. 
 A girl gets such a polish if she has had a sem 
 sible up-bringing among socially good people. A 
 few months in a French town seem to do won-
 
 MARGOT'S DUENNA. 63 
 
 ders for her ; gives her a chic, you know, that noth- 
 ing else in the world is able to do." 
 
 " You are very fond of Margot ?" said Godfrey, 
 in a questioning tone. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARGOT'S DUENNA. 
 
 NOT a little to Godfrey Bladensbrook's surprise, 
 his mother definitely decided not to go abroad for 
 any portion of that winter. They had several large 
 house parties during the first half of his long leave, 
 and Godfrey suggested to his mother that if she 
 was going abroad he would just as soon go with 
 her. She had spent a good many winters out of 
 England, and for many years had not spent one in 
 it, so that he was greatly astonished when she told 
 him that she had quite made up her mind not to 
 go abroad at all. " But why not ?" he said. 
 
 " Well, I feel better and stronger than I have 
 done for a long time," she replied ; " and you 
 know, my dear boy, I never think that there is any 
 place in the world to equal Bladensbrook. I am 
 never so happy anywhere else as I am here, and 
 your long leave has been such a pleasure to me 
 that I don't want to lose a day of it. Being abroad 
 with you would be quite a different thing : it would 
 be cut off from all the associations of home, and I 
 should not enjoy it at all."
 
 64 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " But when my leave is over," said he, " you will 
 be left here alone, and that would be wretched for 
 you. Why not let me go out with you to some 
 of those foreign places and spend the last week 
 or so ?" 
 
 " No, my dear Godfrey, not this year not this 
 year. I shall go down to Bournemouth if I feel 
 the need of a change." 
 
 " Why Bournemouth ?" said Godfrey. 
 
 " Well, for one thing, it is not such a long jour- 
 ney, and for another thing, Sophia is down there 
 with her girl. Vivienne is very delicate this win- 
 ter, and the doctor insisted upon Bournemouth. 
 Sophia is very anxious I should go down and be 
 with her, and I think I should enjoy it for a time. 
 But I shall not go until you have gone back; I 
 told Sophia that distinctly." 
 
 Sophia was Mrs. Bladensbrook's sister, another 
 of Lord Pollington's daughters, but, unlike Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, the mother of seven stalwart sons 
 and one remarkably delicate daughter. 
 
 " I have not seen Vivienne for years," said God- 
 frey, finding that there was nothing more to be 
 said on the subject of a foreign resort. " What sort 
 of a looking girl is she ?" 
 
 " Vivienne ? Oh, she is good-looking enough 
 a nice girl enough, and your Aunt Sophia is quite 
 wrapped up in her foolishly so, I think. She 
 takes fright at the slightest ailment, and from what 
 she says this is not a small ailment indeed, to me 
 it sounds remarkably like consumption." 
 
 " Poor Aunt Sophia !" said Godfrey, pityingly.
 
 MARGOT'S DUENNA. 65 
 
 So his leave went over. He had news of Mar- 
 got from Jim and Jack, who both came in turn to 
 enjoy the hospitality of Bladensbrook, but he did 
 not see her, nor did he hear from her directly. 
 He went down to the wood well, overcome by a 
 certain sense of sentimentality, and sat on the tree 
 where they had been used to sit together ; but the 
 charm was gone ; the wood without Margot was 
 nothing more than a wood, it was no longer a 
 paradise. The tree was damp and the ground was 
 sodden, and Godfrey Bladensbrook shivered and 
 came home again. After all, it is the Eve which 
 makes the Paradise, not the scenic setting. 
 
 He met her again at Easter, when he had a few 
 days' leave, which he spent with his mother, but 
 their chances of meeting alone were not many, and 
 on those nights when the father and daughter dined 
 at Bladensbrook she was not, in the natural course 
 of events, placed very near to the young host. 
 There were too many men staying in the house 
 for a meeting in the wood to be possible, and 
 though Godfrey went down and called at the Rec- 
 tory he did not find Margot alone. For her sins, 
 as she herself said, her Aunt Marcia was paying 
 her brother a visit, and Aunt Marcia, having no 
 opinion of young ladies who lived without a shred 
 of a chaperon in the household, remained on guard 
 with an amount of vigilance and suspicion worthy 
 of a Spanish duenna of the olden time. Godfrey 
 was very polite ; told her that he liked being in the 
 army very much, and that he should be home 
 again for his coming of age in the early autumn. 
 
 e 6*
 
 66 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Aunt Marcia laid considerable stress upon the 
 duties of his position, and Godfrey told her with 
 an air that she forgot the excellent queen regent 
 who remained behind when he was away. 
 
 " I often think," said he, in a tone which con- 
 veyed that the discussion need not continue much 
 longer, " I often think how extraordinarily lucky 
 I have been in my mother. You see, Mrs. Blake, 
 my father died when I was so very young, and if 
 I had had a weak mother or a foolish mother, it 
 would have made all the difference to me ; but she 
 is so wise, and she has the instinct of rule so strong 
 in her, that the longer I leave the major portion 
 of the dominance in her hands the better it will be 
 for everybody concerned." 
 
 " Then you don't intend to give up the army 
 when you are of age ?" said Mrs. Blake. 
 
 " I have no such intention at present," said God- 
 frey. " It would hardly have been worth going 
 into the Service for two years." 
 
 "Well," said Aunt Marcia, folding her hands 
 and looking at him sideways, " I must say that I 
 think a young man's place is at home." 
 
 " At that rate," said Godfrey, " the world would 
 stand still." 
 
 " Ah, in the ordinary sense, as in the case of my 
 brother's boys, it is different ; but where a young 
 man is the owner of a large estate, his first duty is 
 towards those who look to him to be their leader." 
 
 " Very possibly you are right," said Godfrey ; 
 " but I must confess that at present I do not see 
 the full force of what you say."
 
 MARGOT'S DUENNA. 6? 
 
 He tried then to talk to Margot a little; he 
 tried, too, to draw her out of that stuffy and un- 
 comfortable room, but it was no good. He even 
 went so far as to enquire after Mrs. Isaacs, only to 
 be told that that porcine lady had passed beyond 
 the bourne several years before. Godfrey knew it 
 well enough, having, as a matter of fact, been pres- 
 ent at her obsequies. He thought that Margot 
 would have the nous to take the cue from him and 
 leave out the name of the present lady in posses- 
 sion of the pig-sty ; but Margot knew too well what 
 an avalanche of reproach such conduct would have 
 brought down upon her devoted head. An out- 
 sider might have imagined that a lady who came 
 so seldom to the Rectory would not have known 
 the exact details of the domestic animal portion of 
 the establishment ; but Aunt Marcia was blessed 
 afflicted, her nephews and niece said with a 
 memory which was, to all practical intents and 
 purposes, a disease, and the history of Mrs. Isaacs 
 was painfully well known to her. Then Godfrey 
 enquired after the donkey, to be told that it had 
 been lent in its old age to an invalid child some 
 miles away, one of those poor little twisted crea- 
 tures who use sofa carriages and never go faster 
 than a foot's pace even in such an one. Then he 
 asked how the pony was. He had never before 
 taken any interest in the pony, because it was one 
 which the Rector used for parishing and light sta- 
 tion work, when, indeed, he hadn't need to use the 
 larger carriage and the horse. 
 
 " Ah, you are thinking of poor dear Topsy," said
 
 68 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Margot. " Alas, Godfrey, she is dead. She died 
 the last time we were abroad. It was such a 
 trouble to us, so much so that we have not yet 
 replaced her, though Father does say that he 
 means to do so." 
 
 Then Godfrey's ingenuity gave out, and, after 
 enduring a little more of Aunt Marcia's ponder- 
 ous remarks, he got up to take his leave. 
 
 " I will come down to the gate with you," said 
 Margot, making a desperate effort to shake herself 
 free of the shackles of Aunt Marcia. 
 
 "Yes, it is a lovely evening," said the lady, 
 glancing out at the window, " and really, for the 
 time of year, wonderful weather." As she spoke, 
 she picked up an atrocious cape of some dark 
 wool work and wrapped it about her ample shoul- 
 ders. 
 
 Godfrey groaned as he opened the door for the 
 two ladies to pass out through the conservatory. 
 Margot cast a significant glance at him. " You 
 see, it is no use," her eyes said, and so five minutes 
 later at the gate they took their leave. 
 
 " Do you think, Mother," said Godfrey, later in 
 the evening, when he and Mrs. Bladensbrook were 
 sitting over dessert and the servants had left the 
 room, " do you think that Mrs. Blake is likely to 
 come in September ?" 
 
 " What, for the festivities, dear ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I don't know, I am sure. She does seem to 
 come to the Rectory a good deal since Mr. Blake 
 died."
 
 MARGOT'S DUENNA. 69 
 
 " Does she ? She is a horrid nuisance." 
 
 " Oh ! Why, do you find her so ?" 
 
 " Oh, she is so interfering and so officious, and 
 so blatant in giving her advice. I hate people 
 who give their advice gratuitously on every sub- 
 ject." 
 
 " They are tedious," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 delicately dipping an early strawberry into the 
 little heap of powdered sugar on her plate. " She 
 once tried it with me. I didn't encourage her in 
 the habit." 
 
 Godfrey looked down the table at his mother 
 with a glance of excessive admiration. " By Jove, 
 but I do admire you, Mother !" he burst out. 
 " You have the splendid power of being able to 
 put people back in their places without offending 
 them. A man can't do that." 
 
 " Particularly a young man," interposed Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook. 
 
 " Particularly a young man," Godfrey agreed. 
 " Now, to-day, I went down and called upon 
 Margot, of course, and the result was a prolonged 
 conversation with Aunt Marcia, whom I didn't 
 want to see, and should not mind if I never saw. 
 again. She chose to read me a homily on the 
 duties of my position." 
 
 " Extremely impertinent of her," said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook, stiffening all over with a curious wave 
 of pride. 
 
 " Yes ; she told me that when I was of age I 
 ought to leave the Service and settle down at
 
 70 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " What did she mean by settling down ?" 
 
 " Oh, do my duty to my tenants, and so on." 
 
 " Indeed ! And what did you say ?" 
 
 " Well, I expatiated on my good fortune in hav- 
 ing such a regent as yourself, and we changed the 
 conversation." 
 
 " I don't think," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, smiling, 
 and holding her white jewelled hands together by 
 the tips of the fingers, " I don't think that you need 
 envy me any gift of mine, Godfrey." 
 
 " Oh, I was very polite," said Godfrey. 
 
 " Yes ; but you probably made Aunt Marcia feel 
 sorry she had spoken." 
 
 "I don't think so," said Godfrey, quickly; "I 
 really don't think so. Most officious woman I 
 call her. I do hope she won't come down in Sep- 
 tember." 
 
 " We will try to avoid it," said the mistress of 
 Bladensbrook, quietly. 
 
 So Godfrey went back to his regiment comforted 
 by the thought that, even in the bustle and stir 
 which would naturally be occasioned by his 
 coming of age, he would be able to see some- 
 thing of Margot. But for once Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook proved to be wrong in her calculations. 
 She was a very great and puissant lady, and her 
 will was practically law in the neighbourhood of 
 Bladensbrook, but with all her powers she could 
 not positively dictate to the Rector whether he 
 should have guests at the Rectory or not. She 
 made an effort oh, yes, trust Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 for that.
 
 MARGOT'S DUENNA. Jl 
 
 " Dear Rector," she said to him about a month 
 before Godfrey's birthday, " I want you to do me 
 a favour." 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Bladensbrook," said the Rector, 
 in a tone which implied that the favour was already 
 hers. 
 
 " Well, you see we are having a large house 
 party for Godfrey's coming of age." 
 
 " Naturally naturally," said the good parson. 
 
 " And I want to ask several more people than 
 we have sleeping accommodation for. I have 
 taken all the rooms at the inn for servants, you 
 know, and bachelors." 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Bladensbrook," said the Rector, 
 genially, " whatever sleeping accommodation, there 
 is at the Rectory, you are most welcome to. I need 
 hardly tell you that. Let me see : I suppose Jim 
 will be coming home for the week. I think Godfrey 
 told me something about his having asked him 
 already ; but there's Jack's bedroom and the blue 
 room and the pink room that is three and the 
 little green room four bedrooms certainly, and to 
 them you are most welcome. I am afraid the 
 Indian room I shall not be able to give up, as my 
 sister, you know " 
 
 "Mrs. Blake?" interposed Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 trying not to betray the agony which she felt. 
 
 " Yes. She particularly wished to be here at 
 that time, and, poor thing, being a widow, I never 
 like to say nay." 
 
 " Of course not, of course not," returned the 
 lady of the soil, promptly.
 
 72 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 She wrote to Godfrey that evening, " No use, 
 my dear boy," she said ; " she is coming /" 
 
 " I knew it !" exclaimed Godfrey, in a tone of 
 extremest disgust as he read the letter. 
 
 , CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING. 
 
 HE did, however, contrive to see something 
 of Margot during the festivities. The Rector's 
 daughter is naturally on pretty close terms with 
 the young squire, and in what you may call parish 
 festivities she is usually more in evidence than the 
 average young lady. They practically spent the 
 week at Bladensbrook. Mrs. Bladensbrook filled 
 up the Rectory bedrooms, and professed herself 
 under great obligations for the use thereof; and 
 breakfast at the Rectory became quite an important 
 function ; but during the rest of the day the charm- 
 ing old house was practically deserted, and it must 
 be confessed that Margot enjoyed herself very 
 much. She danced several times with Godfrey 
 during the coming-of-age dance the dance with 
 the " quality," that is and on the following days 
 she had fine times at the various entertainments. 
 There was the tenants' dinner and the tenants' ball, 
 then the ball for the servants, then the dinner to 
 the labourers and their wives and children, the
 
 A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING. 73 
 
 Sunday-school feasts, and the tea to the old people 
 in the various almshouses, which was shared by 
 the inmates of the workhouse a mile away. Mar- 
 got was very busy and very happy, and Mrs. 
 Blake's self-imposed duties as chaperon became 
 too onerous to attempt to carry out in their en- 
 tirety ; but of private intercourse the young couple 
 had very little, and the little there was was stolen ; 
 and perhaps it was all the sweeter on that account. 
 Only once did they manage to meet at their old 
 trysting-place in the wood. It was an affair which 
 was conducted with much diplomacy and with a 
 great amount of strategy, for Godfrey, being the 
 hero of the hour, had the greatest difficulty in get- 
 ting a single moment to himself, while on her side 
 Margot had to satisfy Aunt Marcia as to her do- 
 ings from morning till night. Fortune favoured 
 them, however. The Rector, in obedience to a 
 hint from his daughter, although quite unconscious 
 of having received anything of the kind, insisted 
 upon Aunt Marcia's accompanying him for a drive 
 into the neighbouring town. 
 
 " I would far rather stay at home quietly in the 
 garden," said Aunt Marcia, when the Rector put 
 the proposal before her. 
 
 " My dear Marcia," said the Rector, " I really 
 need your advice and help." 
 
 " Take Margot/' said Mrs. Blake. 
 
 " My dear Marcia," said the Rector, " Margot 
 would be no use to me whatever. I particularly 
 want you to come." 
 
 So, perforce, Aunt Marcia had no choice but to
 
 74 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 acquiesce. " Of course, you are going with us, 
 Margot," she remarked, when she came down- 
 stairs equipped for the drive. 
 
 " No, Auntie ; not to-day," said Margot, very 
 cheerfully. 
 
 " But what will you do ?" 
 
 "I? Oh, I shall be all right. You forget that 
 I am at home to-day, so I could not possibly 
 go." 
 
 " But you would have done had it not been for 
 me." 
 
 " I doubt it," said Margot ; " anyway, I am not 
 going." 
 
 " But there is plenty of room," said Mrs. Blake. 
 
 " Yes, Auntie, there is plenty of room ; but I am 
 not going. Two is company, you know ; and you 
 and Dad will get on very well without me." 
 
 " I don't quite like it," said Aunt Marcia. 
 
 " Can't help that," returned Margot. " I am 
 not very particular, but I do object to the back 
 seat in the Stanhope. It is the most tiresome 
 
 thing in the world, and on a dusty day like this 
 
 Oh, no, Aunt Marcia ; very kind of you to want 
 me, but I much prefer staying at home." 
 
 " Come, my dear," said the Rector from the 
 door ; " come, Marcia, my dear." 
 
 So Aunt Marcia had no choice but to go, and 
 Margot, having seen them turn the corner of the 
 road towards their destination, went gaily indoors 
 with a hop and a skip, and rushed off to her 
 room to put on her hat. She did not generally go 
 up-stairs to dress before going out in the village or
 
 A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING. ?$ 
 
 thereabouts ; but to-day she was going to meet 
 Godfrey; and, although she did not change her 
 dress, there were various little touches to give here 
 and there, such as made her look absolutely be- 
 witching when she started off in her charming 
 white cotton frock and sailor-hat with its white 
 ribbon. She did not go by way of the village 
 oh, no ; she knew better than that. She turned 
 sharp to the left on leaving the orchard gate, went 
 straight across the road and over a stile into a kind 
 of shrubbery, then she struck across the corner of 
 the park and dived into the woods, where she knew 
 Godfrey would be sooner or later. 
 
 He was not as yet there, but Margot did not 
 mind. She sat down on the old tree and quietly 
 waited, and very soon he came. 
 
 " I thought I should never get off," he remarked, 
 as he sat down and promptly put his arm round 
 her waist. " Margot, my dear, I am so delighted 
 to see you." 
 
 " You have seen me all the week," said Margot, 
 smiling at him. 
 
 " Yes ; I have seen you, danced with you, talked 
 to you ; but that is not like this. It is only like 
 half seeing you. Oh, how tiresome it is to have 
 to dodge humanity at large." 
 
 " It is," said Margot ; " I have had to do it. 
 Aunt Marcia was determined I should go into Ex- 
 hampton with them." 
 
 " Was she, though ?" 
 
 " Yes, she was ; but I was firm." 
 
 " I am glad you were firm," said Godfrey, hold-
 
 76 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 ing her hand in his and comparing the little, soft, 
 white member with his own broad, brown palm. 
 " Do you remember the last time we met here ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Margot, blushing a little. 
 
 " Dearest, it is nearly two years since." 
 
 " Yes, it was ; before we went to Italy." 
 
 " Do you remember what you told me then ?" 
 
 " Well some of it." 
 
 " You told me that I was so dreadfully young 
 that I didn't know my own mind ; but, you see, my 
 mind has not changed at all." 
 
 " Apparently not," said Margot. 
 
 " It hasn't changed one whit," Godfrey declared, 
 stoutly ; " not in any little detail where you are 
 concerned. And about yourself, eh, Margot ?" 
 
 " Oh, I am not at all ashamed of my mind," 
 said the girl, coquettishly. 
 
 "And you have not changed, either?" 
 
 " I don't think so. I don't feel like it except 
 except " 
 
 " Yes, except ?" 
 
 " Well," turning her head away shyly, " perhaps 
 I don't like you quite the same as I did then." 
 
 " You don't ? How do you mean ?" in a quick 
 access of alarm. 
 
 " Well," still keeping her head turned half away, 
 " perhaps I like you more than I did then." 
 
 And then Godfrey caught her to him and called 
 her a great many endearing names his love, his 
 sweetheart, his queen, his wife. " And you don't 
 think I am too young to marry ?" he ended. 
 
 " Oh, but I do !" cried Margot. " It's ridiculous,
 
 A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING. 77 
 
 the idea of your being married yet. We are so 
 young. People will laugh at us." 
 
 " Let them laugh ; let those who will, laugh. 
 We shall have won each other. We can afford to 
 laugh ; we can afford to let others laugh." 
 
 " Oh, but, Godfrey, I am sure you are too young. 
 Dear boy, let us wait a little while before we say 
 anything. Don't let us have it all ragged over with 
 Aunt Marcia here. She interferes so ; and she is 
 sure to offend your mother ; and think what my 
 life would be worth if I offended your mother. It 
 would be dreadful." 
 
 " You forget," said he, " that when once you are 
 my wife, you will be Mrs. Bladensbrook." 
 
 " Yes ; but I shall always stand in awe of your 
 mother." 
 
 " You will have no need to stand in awe of any- 
 body. People will stand in awe of you. You don't 
 seem to realize that." 
 
 " No, I don't. I may some day, when I am used 
 to it ; but I am not used to it yet ; and I would 
 really like to keep our secret a little time ; yes, I 
 would indeed, Godfrey, particularly as long as 
 Aunt Marcia is here." 
 
 " It shall be exactly as you like," said Godfrey, 
 to whom the appeal about Aunt Marcia was 
 stronger than any other she could have put for- 
 ward. " Then, Margot, we will keep it to our- 
 selves just a little while, our precious, beautiful 
 secret ; and you will remember, dear, that as soon 
 as you wish to speak you have only to give me a 
 hint and I will go down and see the Rector at once." 
 7*
 
 78 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Yes, I will remember ; but you know, Godfrey, 
 if you have changed your mind by then, or if you 
 have seen anybody else, you have only to tell me. 
 You needn't consider yourself bound, because I 
 wouldn't marry anybody, not even you, if I wasn't 
 sure that I was everything in the world to him. 
 I am very proud, you know, Godfrey." 
 
 " I know you are. I love you the better for it ; 
 but I shall not change. The Bladensbrooks do 
 not change, Margot; it isn't a family failing of ours. 
 You have never known me change since we were 
 little children together; you have never known my 
 mother change; you never knew well, you didn't 
 know my father, but I am told that he was just 
 the same." 
 
 " I don't want you to change, Godfrey," said 
 Margot, very softly. 
 
 And then he kissed her again you know how 
 young things do at such times. If you don't, you 
 will some day ; if you are beyond that and have 
 never known, well, I am sorry for you, that's all. 
 And so Godfrey left matters when he returned 
 once more to his regiment. He carried with him 
 Margot's latest photograph, a twist of her brilliant 
 hair, an indelible impression of her radiant eyes, 
 and the equally indelible impression of her kisses 
 upon his lips. 
 
 By that time the regiment had been moved from 
 Aldershot to Blankhampton, in which place God- 
 frey Bladensbrook found himself the object of 
 much solicitous attention. He thought that he 
 had never seen so many mothers and daughters in
 
 A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING. 79 
 
 one community before, and our old friend, Lady 
 Vivian, with her seven stalwart sons and her 
 daughterless heart, came to him as a sort of de- 
 lightful refreshment. " And have you no daugh- 
 ters, Lady Vivian ?" he asked her when he had 
 been talking to her for the first time. 
 
 " No, I never had a daughter," said she, half 
 regretfully ; " it has been the only regret of my 
 life. Seven great big boys, seven such dear boys, 
 Mr. Bladensbrook, but never a girl. I often think 
 that mothers who have no daughters never know 
 half the joy of motherhood." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," said Godfrey ; " I never 
 had any sisters, and my mother never seemed to 
 want any. I think I should have liked a sister." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; my boys were always wild to have a 
 sister. They would have made such a pet of her. 
 However, it was not to be ; and they are dear boys, 
 and good boys, and I have to put up with them." 
 
 But the other mothers and daughters in Blank- 
 hampton ! They made Godfrey Bladensbrook's 
 brain reel. The fathers and brothers who came 
 and called upon him, the sheaves of invitations 
 which were showered upon him, the tempting 
 little baits which were held out for his delectation 
 they were as numberless as the hairs of one's 
 head or the sands of the sea. Yes, and I speak 
 advisedly, for at last Godfrey Bladensbrook lost 
 count, and more than one Blankhampton matron 
 remarked to one or other of his brother officers 
 " that it was a pity Mr. Bladensbrook gave himself 
 such airs !"
 
 80 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Oh, my dear lady," said St. George one day to 
 the mother of Tina Mornington-Brovvn, " I assure 
 you a greater mistake was never made. Bladens- 
 brook is the simplest, easiest, most unassuming 
 fellow that we have ever had in the regiment. 
 The whole of us are agreed upon that point. In 
 spite of his enormous wealth, he never shows it in 
 any way, or presumes on it, or anything of the 
 kind. Really, you must be thinking of somebody 
 else. Bladensbrook is quite ridiculously unas- 
 suming." 
 
 " I mean Mr. Bladensbrook" said the lady, rather 
 stiffly. " I asked him to afternoon tea yesterday, 
 but he neither answered nor came." 
 
 " Didn't he ? Oh, well, it must have been some 
 mistake, because he isn't at all the kind of man to 
 do anything like that ; that isn't his form, I assure 
 you ; but, really, he has had so many invitations. 
 You see, he is so rich, Mrs. Brown." 
 
 Mrs. Mornington-Brown stiffened. She was a 
 pathetic-looking lady, very fragile and delicate, 
 with a curious shadow of beauty about her, of 
 beauty which, by the bye, had never existed. Her 
 first impulse was to disclaim any idea of having 
 invited Mr. Bladensbrook to tea because he was 
 enormously rich ; but on second thoughts she bit 
 off the reply, feeling that it would be an unwise 
 one, and said, in a much milder tone, " Ah, well, 
 perhaps my note miscarried; but I was disappointed 
 that he did not come. I had some quite wonder- 
 ful skirt dancing." 
 
 Yes, they had got skirt dancers in Blankhamp-
 
 A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING. 8 1 
 
 ton. Two mature ladies of massive proportions 
 who wore Spanish costumes and what they were 
 pleased to call " make-up." Their performances 
 excited a great deal of interest, as indeed they 
 were likely to do, but they would not have brought 
 them name and fame in London. But they had 
 caught on in Blankhampton, and there was quite 
 a competition to secure them for diverse forms of 
 entertainments. They were in great request for 
 afternoon teas, evening parties and village con- 
 certs, especially village concerts, and Mrs. 
 Mornington-Brown thought that she had been 
 quite fortunate in having secured them for the 
 previous day. 
 
 But it must not be supposed for a moment that 
 Godfrey held himself at all aloof from those who 
 entertained in the old city; nothing of the kind. 
 Although his heart was filled with the image of 
 Margot, there was nothing whatever of the churl 
 about him. He occasionally lost count, but he 
 went out a great deal, and he also entertained a 
 good deal in return. It may be said that he was 
 the first Army man on record who utilized the 
 good Bonner's tea-rooms for the purpose of giving 
 pleasant little tea-fights entirely on his own 
 account. By these means he made his peace 
 with the mother of Tina. It is wonderful how a 
 fancied slight is smoothed away by an equally 
 small attention. Somehow, we think less of the 
 attentions than we do of the slights. It is so all 
 the world over. We are quite careless about 
 going to Mrs. So-and-so's parties, and always feel
 
 82 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 that we flatter her by going to them ; but let the 
 lady give a party without bidding us to it and we 
 are slighted immediately ; and it is astonishing how 
 long such a slight will rankle in our minds. Mrs. 
 Mornington-Brown had been feeling very sore on 
 the subject of Godfrey Bladensbrook, but when 
 she received an invitation to his first little tea- 
 party at the good Mr. Bonner's tea-rooms she 
 promptly buried all resentment out of sight forever. 
 Nay, she went further than that even ; for she won- 
 dered a little in her timid and hesitating mind 
 whether the invitation was the outcome of politeness 
 or whether it meant Tina. But Tina, alas, was not 
 as young as she had been once. She was getting 
 perilously near to that age when a feminine crea- 
 ture who has been called a girl by courtesy for a 
 long time suddenly develops into a woman of certain 
 age, and Mrs. Mornington-Brown could not shut her 
 eyes to the fact that Godfrey Bladensbrook was 
 still very young. Tina was, in fact, old enough to 
 be his mother. It was borne in upon her reluc- 
 tant mind, as she looked round upon the girls of 
 the rising generation, that it was useless to specu- 
 late any longer about Tina's future. Tina's 
 future was fairly well assured, or, at least, settled. 
 It would be a future with a modest income, a 
 house shared with her elder sister; she knew 
 positively for the first time that Tina had overshot 
 her mark, a fatal impediment to what may be 
 called the turn-over of business. Poor Mrs. 
 Mornington-Brown ! I always think me of such 
 with profoundest pity. It must be so sad for
 
 A DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING. 83 
 
 a woman in her declining years to feel that the 
 time is fast drawing near when she will have to 
 leave the daughters she has brought into the world 
 to get on as best they can without her. There 
 must come moments in such lives when the chief 
 thought is a wild wish that they had brought up 
 their daughters to some other profession than that 
 of marrying. Everybody cannot marry, and mar- 
 riage is a great lottery at best. One wonders why 
 some people do not marry, but I think one won- 
 ders more why some people do, or at least why 
 other people married them. Tina Mornington- 
 Brown was pretty still, but her mother felt that 
 she would be Tina Mornington-Brown always. 
 
 The Black Horse had been in Blankhampton 
 for more than twelve months. Godfrey Bladens- 
 brook had spent part of his long leave at home, 
 and again Margot had put off the ratification of 
 their engagement on the score of their extreme 
 youth. " Dear Godfrey," she said, " wait until 
 you are three-and-twenty. As soon as you like 
 after you are three-and-twenty, but not before 
 that. We are both so preposterously young." 
 He felt that there was truth in what she said, and 
 he acquiesced in hei wishes, though it must be 
 confessed not without a good deal of argument. 
 Then, when his twenty-third birthday was fast ap- 
 proaching, Margot wrote to him that she was pay- 
 ing a visit to Mrs. Blake, who lived at Brixham, a 
 manufacturing town about fifty miles from Blank- 
 hampton. "I am going from here," she said, "to 
 stay with some other people. They are the
 
 84 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Merediths of Heckmansworth ; you are sure to 
 know the name. I go on the fourteenth. I want 
 you to come and meet me on the road and travel 
 a little way with me all the way, if you like. I 
 shall be leaving this by the train which starts at 
 four o'clock in the afternoon. I get to Heckmans- 
 worth in time for dinner." 
 
 I need hardly say that as he had not seen her 
 for over six months, and as in the absence of a 
 formal engagement he could not very well take a 
 fifty miles' journey to call upon a young lady, 
 Godfrey Bladensbrook simply jumped at the 
 chance which was thus held out to him of a 
 couple of hours' uninterrupted enjoyment of his 
 sweetheart's presence. He asked for and obtained 
 a few days' leave, and went off early in the morn- 
 ing to Marley Spa, which was the first stopping- 
 place on her journey. This was a town only some 
 five miles from the town near which she was stay- 
 ing, and when the Brixham train reached the little 
 station, there she was in a carriage by herself, 
 looking radiantly happy and more lovely than 
 ever. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT. 
 
 "ISN'T it fun!" Margot exclaimed as Godfrey 
 joined her. " Think what all those dear people 
 your people and my people and my friends this 
 end and my friends the other end ; think what fits
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT. 85 
 
 they would have if they knew what we were up 
 to ! Don't you think I was exceedingly clever, 
 to carry out my idea ?" 
 
 " I always think you exceedingly clever," said 
 Godfrey, holding her close to him. 
 
 " Ah, yes ; but I mean extra clever. I had to 
 think it out, you know ; and then, if it is a little 
 out of the way, Godfrey, there is no great 
 harm in it, is there ? You see, we shall be en- 
 gaged very soon now well, we are engaged, of 
 course ; but what I mean is, we shall be announced 
 to the world as engaged, and then I suppose we 
 shall be married quite soon ?" 
 
 " Quite soon," said Godfrey. " Considering the 
 length of time that I have been kept waiting, I 
 should say it must be quite soon." 
 
 " And after all, it's only a couple of hours' 
 journey, or something like that ; but it's enough to 
 make me feel desperately wicked, anyway." 
 
 " If you never do anything that is more 
 wicked," said Godfrey, very tenderly, "you will 
 have a singularly clear conscience for the rest 
 of your life. But there, what an absurd thing 
 for me to say to you. Of course, your con- 
 science is clear ! How should it be anything 
 else ?" 
 
 " I don't know," said Margot ; " when I think of 
 the tricks I have played Aunt Marcia in my time, 
 I really feel now and then as if I ought to blush 
 for myself." 
 
 " Oh, Aunt Marcia will forgive you when you 
 are Mrs. Bladensbrook," said he, easily.
 
 86 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 "Yes, I know she will. I have been staying 
 with her, you know." 
 
 " Yes, I know. Did you enjoy yourself?" 
 
 " No, I didn't enjoy myself at all ; but I feel that 
 I am going to be compensated, because the Mere- 
 diths to whom I am going are the most charming 
 people in the world the dearest, sweetest, best 
 and most delightful people I ever knew. Aunt 
 Marcia has gone away." 
 
 " Oh, has she ! Where ?" 
 
 " She has gone to Italy." 
 
 " Really ?" 
 
 " Yes, she has gone to Italy. She suddenly made 
 up her mind that she has never travelled enough, 
 so she decided to go and do Italy thoroughly. 
 She seemed very much aggrieved that Father didn't 
 ask her to go with us when we have been abroad ; 
 but somehow Father best likes to go away only 
 with me. Aunt Marcia fidgets so ; and she is not 
 as pleasant in hotels and elsewhere as she might 
 be ; and you know Father is very sensitive. He never 
 gives much trouble himself; he is always sweet and 
 civil and charming to everybody ; and it makes him 
 feel ill when Aunt Marcia talks about her position 
 and what she is used to at home, and all that, don't 
 you know ; so he never would ask her to go away 
 with us." 
 
 " And I suppose he never will ?" 
 
 " Never, I should say. Anyway, Aunt Marcia 
 has gone off with her maid, and they have shut up 
 the house, and the gardener's wife is just looking 
 after it a little."
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT. 87 
 
 " And they have actually gone ?" 
 
 " Yes, she started at ten o'clock this morning. 
 She wanted me to start at a quarter-past nine, so as 
 to get out of the house before her, -but I said, 
 ' Really, Auntie, I can't do it. I can't arrive at a 
 house early in the morning. It would be dread- 
 ful. I like to get there in time for dinner, and 
 make an entrance.' So eventually she consented 
 to my being left to start by this train. One has 
 to be very firm with Aunt Marcia sometimes. 
 She always thinks that what she arranges and 
 what she plans out must be better than the 
 arrangements and plans of everybody else in the 
 world put together. Now, you know, I call that 
 very conceited." 
 
 " So do I," said Godfrey. 
 
 " Yes, because, when you come to think of it, a 
 person who is going on a journey likes to plan 
 that journey herself. Aunt Marcia planned her 
 own journey to town, and she crosses to-night ; but 
 she wasn't satisfied for me to plan my journey to 
 my liking. However, she did give way, quite 
 gracefully for her. She said she didn't know what 
 the young people of the present day w r ere coming 
 to, and that when she was my age she wouldn't 
 have minded what hour she arrived on a new visit, 
 but, as I told her, girls think of effect more now 
 than they used to do, and she raised her hands at 
 that and said, ' Tut tut tut !' But still, I came 
 by the train that I meant to come by. Well, for 
 one thing, perhaps a little because I thought it 
 would be more convenient to you."
 
 88 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 "So it is, much more convenient. We don't 
 have to go through Blankhampton ?" 
 
 " Oh, no ; we branch off at Chorley." 
 
 But as a matter of fact they did not branch off 
 at Chorley, for, to be explicit, they never got to 
 Chorley at all. The words were scarcely out of 
 his mouth when something happened, a something 
 which banged them up against the other side of 
 the carriage, a something which sent the lamps 
 out and left them in the total darkness of a tunnel. 
 
 " By Jove ! We are in for a smash !" exclaimed 
 Godfrey, catching hold of her. " Are you hurt, 
 darling?" 
 
 " No I am not hurt I am a bit shaken." Her 
 teeth chattered together with fear. " Oh, do you 
 hear that ? Oh, those awful bumps ! Oh, God- 
 frey, I believe we shall all be killed !" 
 
 " Here, hold tight on to me. Hold tight There, 
 it is coming to a stop. It is all right. We are off 
 the rails, I think. It will be all right, dear ; don't 
 tremble so." 
 
 " I can't help trembling. Oh, I feel as if every- 
 thing was going upside down," and then she dis- 
 tinguished herself by quietly sitting down in the 
 darkness and fainting. 
 
 The situation was really a horrible one. With- 
 out, all was confusion and excitement. Godfrey 
 let down the window and peered out into the thick 
 gloom. There was a flare of light just ahead of 
 him where he imagined the engine was ; and the 
 engine itself was snorting so as to drown every 
 noise except the loudest shrieks of the affrighted
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT. 89 
 
 passengers. He felt in his pocket for the match- 
 box which he always carried, and which was filled 
 with wax vestas, and one served to show him what 
 had happened to Margot. At that moment a guard 
 came running along and asked him if he was hurt. 
 
 " Not at all ; but here is a lady who has fainted. 
 Can you get her some water ?" 
 
 " Yes, Sir ; a passenger gave me this flask. It 
 is full of brandy and water. Do you think she is 
 hurt ?" 
 
 " No, I don't think she is hurt. I think she is 
 just frightened and shaken. I will get her to take 
 a little if I can." He forced a few drops between 
 Margot's lips, enough to make her shiver and 
 open her eyes. "You are all right? You are 
 not hurt, are you ? I don't think you are hurt." 
 
 " No, I don't think I am hurt. Godfrey, what 
 happened ? Oh, we got smashed up, didn't we ? 
 Is any one hurt?" 
 
 " I believe they are, on in front. Take a little 
 more of this, and let the guard have it to give to 
 others." 
 
 She did as he bade her, but expressed great re- 
 pugnance at the unusual draught. "It is very 
 nasty," she said, weakly. 
 
 " Yes, I know ; but it will put life into you, and I 
 must get you out of this. Here, my man, thank 
 you awfully much. Here is half a crown for you. 
 The lady is all right; she was only a bit frightened." 
 He turned round to Margot again as the man 
 passed on with a word of thanks. " Margot," he 
 said, taking hold of her hand and holding it hard, 
 8*
 
 90 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 "I want you to keep your wits about you. We 
 shall not be able to get forward, I am afraid. We 
 may be hours in this beastly tunnel. For Heaven's 
 sake, keep your wits about you! Everything de- 
 pends upon it. They are sure to come and ask 
 what our names are, being first-class passengers ; 
 and I shall say Smith. Do you hear? Can you 
 understand? You mustn't say you are Miss Dan- 
 gerfield, of Bladensbrook ; it will give us away im- 
 mediately. Even the fellows at Blankhampton, 
 seeing our names in the paper, would know in a 
 moment why I had got a couple of days' leave, 
 and that it was so as to meet you. Remember 
 you are Miss Smith my sister. Do you clearly 
 understand me ?" 
 
 " Yes, I am Miss Smith, your sister." 
 
 " Of where ? Of London. Smith, of London, 
 is safe. Now you are sure you will remember even 
 if you should faint again ?" 
 
 " I am not going to faint again, Godfrey," said 
 Margot ; " I am all right. It was the shaking or 
 something of that kind. I feel quite right, thank 
 you," but she spoke in a dreamy kind of way, and 
 he was by no means sure that she was all right, or 
 anything near it. 
 
 "Do you think you can get down if I help 
 you ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, of course. Do you think it would be 
 better?" 
 
 " I think it will be better to be clear of the 
 wreckage, you know. Although this carriage is 
 not much damaged, at the same time one never
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT. gi 
 
 knows what may happen. I should feel more 
 comfortable if we were out on the line." 
 
 " Then we will go on the line. You go first and 
 help me down." 
 
 They were soon out of the carriage and walking 
 along the line. Margot was still trembling and 
 clung tight to Godfrey's arm. They soon came 
 upon the guard who had first spoken to Godfrey. 
 
 " The question is," said the guard, " which will 
 be the best way to get out of this tunnel ? We are 
 six miles from the station ahead of us ; we are only 
 about two miles from the last one we passed. If 
 one of the passengers would walk back and get us 
 help, it would be the best thing possible. I daren't 
 leave my post." . 
 
 " Oh, we will go back and get help. I will 
 simply tell them at the station ?" 
 
 "That's all, Sir. Tell them to come on with 
 another train at once, and to bring doctors and 
 such things as are necessary for the injured. But 
 they will know what to do, Sir, if you will tell 
 them what sort of a smash it is." 
 
 " Then, come along," said Godfrey to Margot. 
 
 " Well, Sir, I would like to have your name, you 
 know." 
 
 " Oh, Smith, of London." 
 
 " And this lady ?" 
 
 " My sister. Well, we'll go, and I will send 
 back help as quickly as possible. Come, my child, 
 come." 
 
 They started at a quick pace up the line in the 
 direction in which they had just come. It was
 
 Q2 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 horribly dark, and Margot caught tight hold of her 
 companion's arm, clutching at him in deadly fear, 
 although there was no possible chance of another 
 train coming behind them, and it would be easy to 
 get out of the way of another train which they 
 might meet. Besides, as Godfrey told her, it was 
 not very likely that any train would be allowed to 
 pass the last station until signalled " road clear" 
 from the one six miles ahead. Still, the way was 
 gloomy and full of terror. Now and again he 
 lighted a match to see how they were getting on, 
 and at last they saw a gleam of bluish light ahead, 
 and presently they emerged into the light of day. 
 She gave a great shudder as she felt herself once 
 more in the fresher air. 
 
 " We have a mile and a half to walk ; do you 
 think you can manage it ?" he asked ; " or shall I 
 leave you here on the bank and run the whole 
 way ?" 
 
 " Oh, don't leave me !" she cried, " don't leave 
 me ! I know I shall go into screaming hysterics 
 if you do. I know I am quite well and strong, and 
 I can walk very well, so for mercy's sake don't 
 leave me." 
 
 " I won't leave you. I promise you, I won't." 
 
 So they took hands again and trudged steadily 
 along in the direction of Brixham. They didn't 
 .vaste breathe in talking. Margot was shattered 
 and upset, and Pull of anxiety to get help to the 
 injured as soon as possible. Godfrey was troubled 
 in another way. He kept turning and turning in 
 his mind how he could account for Margot being
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT. 93 
 
 in the train or, at least, for his being in the train 
 with Margot. 
 
 " I don't believe you will be able to get on to- 
 night, you know," he said at last, when they came 
 within sight of the little country station. 
 
 " Oh, well, never mind, dear. It doesn't matter. 
 We can talk it out afterwards. You get help sent 
 off, and let the rest take care of itself. It really 
 doesn't matter much." 
 
 He knew that there was truth in what she said 
 and quickened his footsteps. He found the three 
 officials in the little country station full of dismay 
 and consternation. They had assumed, from not 
 having received the usual " line clear" signal, that 
 some accident had happened, and were soon busy 
 telegraphing his information to head-quarters. 
 
 He learned that a train following the wrecked 
 express was then nearly due, and would come on as 
 far as that point as usual, and would then be cleared 
 and sent forward to the scene of the accident. 
 
 " And your name, Sir ?" said the station- 
 master. 
 
 " Smith," replied Godfrey, " and my sister." 
 As the words passed his lips, he suddenly remem- 
 bered that Margot's luggage was in the train. 
 " Margot," he said, in an undertone, " your lug- 
 gage was in the train, of course ?" 
 
 " Why, of course it was of course it is," she 
 replied. 
 
 " Are your boxes marked ?" 
 
 " I have only one huge trunk with me ; yes, it 
 is marked."
 
 94 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " How marked ? What name is on it ?" 
 
 " Well, there is no name on it ; it is marked 
 ' M. D.', and it is labelled to Heckmansworth." 
 
 " Well, then, how the deuce am I to get your 
 luggage without saying who you are ? Oh, con- 
 found it ! This has put us in a pretty hole." 
 
 "Well, I can go to Heckmansworth and claim 
 it there, surely ?" 
 
 " No ; I will go back along the line and get that 
 guard chap to hand it out to me. Look here, if 
 I get you something to eat and drink, do you feel 
 fit to go back, when they get a train here, and 
 secure your luggage ?" 
 
 " Oh, I am fit to do anything," said Margot, 
 " rather than have a row about it , and there will 
 be a row if Aunt Marcia finds out. She'll know 
 then why I wouldn't go at nine o'clock in the 
 morning." 
 
 " Well, then, I will tell the station-master here 
 that I will go back, and that you prefer to go back 
 with me so as to get your luggage. Which end 
 of the train is it in ?" 
 
 " Oh, in the end nearest the engine." 
 
 " There, now ! On my word, it is aggravating ! 
 But at all events, that is the best thing we can do. 
 Now come across ; here is a little inn, and they will 
 be able to give you something to eat. Will you 
 have tea ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I would rather have tea than any- 
 thing. That brandy has made my head ache." 
 
 " Very likely so ; but it saved you." 
 
 He went and sought out the station-master and
 
 A DREADFUL SCRAPE. 95 
 
 told him that he would prefer to go back with the 
 first train to the scene of the accident. " My sis- 
 ter is very anxious to secure her luggage, if pos- 
 sible. She is very much pressed for time, and, if 
 it is possible to rescue her luggage, we can proceed 
 on our journey without any delay." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A DREADFUL SCRAPE. 
 
 WITH little difficulty, Godfrey found the friendly 
 guard and unfolded to him his ideas for rescuing 
 Margot's luggage. 
 
 " Which van was the lady's luggage in, Sir ?" 
 the man asked. 
 
 " It was in the van nearest to the engine." 
 
 " Oh, well, Sir, I am sorry not to be able to 
 oblige you ; but you might as well ask me to get 
 you one of the jewels out of the Queen's crown 
 as to get any luggage out of that first van. I 
 assure you, Sir, I have been over the wreckage, 
 and the first half-dozen carriages are telescoped 
 one into another. Ton my word, it is the most 
 dreadful sight I ever saw in my life." 
 
 " Do you think it will be recognisable when it 
 does come out ?" 
 
 " I can't speak to that, Sir. I can't say anything 
 as to that. It may be, or it may not be. I should 
 say myself everything will be pretty much knocked
 
 96 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 about. Of course, the lady can claim and have the 
 loss made good, you know, Sir. The company will 
 make the loss good. Was the lady's name on the 
 luggage ?" 
 
 " No, no," said Godfrey. " Look here ; I will 
 come up in a couple of days' time. Where shall 
 I be likely to find you ?" 
 
 " Well, Sir, I really can't say ; but if you would 
 leave me your address, I would write to you. But 
 how shall I know the lady's luggage ?" 
 
 " By the bye, is there any initial on your box ?" 
 said Godfrey, turning to Margot. 
 
 " Well, yes, ' M. D.' " 
 
 " M. D. ! What on earth were you doing with 
 a box marked M. D. ?" 
 
 " Well, I had Margot's box," said she, in a wild 
 fit of semi-prevarication. 
 
 "Oh, I see. That will account for it Well, 
 M. D. and labelled to Heckmansworth ; and look 
 here," taking out a letter from his pocket and 
 hastily tearing off the half sheet, " you write to 
 me at Brixham. I shall be there for a day or two." 
 He hastily scribbled the name " W. Smith, Rose 
 and Crown Hotel, Brixham." 
 
 " Well, Sir, you are likely to be wanted at the 
 enquiry." 
 
 " Oh, no ; I knew nothing of the accident." 
 
 " I think the directors will like to thank you, 
 Sir." 
 
 " Oh, no ; I don't want any thanks. Very glad 
 to do all I could. You have been exceedingly 
 civil to me. And you understand, now, you write
 
 A DREADFUL SCRAPE. 97 
 
 to me as soon as you can get any possible informa- 
 tion about the luggage ?" 
 
 " I will that same, Sir, I will." 
 
 So they had nothing to do but to return by the 
 relief train to the little country station at which 
 they had given the details of the accident. By 
 that time it was close on six o'clock ; Margot was 
 getting desperately anxious and not a little hungry. 
 " What do you think I had better do ?" she asked, 
 when they found themselves once more on the line. 
 
 " My dear girl, we shall have to go back to 
 Brixham. You may be able to go on by another 
 route." * 
 
 " But how am I to go without my luggage ? I 
 have nothing but what I have got on ; and they 
 have a dinner-party to-night ; and I can't get there 
 now till ever so late. Besides, it will tell them 
 that I was in the smash, and then it will all come 
 
 out that I was with a man and Oh, there 
 
 will be such an awful row about it." 
 
 " Well, dear, we must wait till we get back to 
 Brixham. You couldn't go to a shop there and 
 get some things sharp ?" 
 
 " I might," she said, doubtfully ; " but it is late 
 now." 
 
 However, by the time they got to Brixham it 
 was already half-past six. 
 
 " They do keep open late in these country 
 towns," said she, hopefully ; " but still, in any case, 
 I can't get there till midnight. I don't know what 
 to do. They were to send to meet me at the 
 station. I feel most anxious." 
 
 E g 9
 
 9 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Look here," said Godfrey ; " you had better 
 telegraph and put your visit off for a couple of 
 days. To-morrow you can go into the town and 
 get yourself a complete wardrobe. It's the simplest 
 matter in the world. Get a box, have your initials 
 on it, get evening dresses and everything that you 
 can possibly require till you get home again, and 
 let's leave your own luggage to itself. Are there 
 any letters in your trunk ?" 
 
 " No, no letters, but there is a certain amount 
 of jewellery." 
 
 " That doesn't matter, as long as there is nothing 
 to show who you are. What is your linen marked ?" 
 
 " Oh, M. D. everything. I always have it em- 
 broidered." 
 
 " Then you are safe enough." 
 
 " But Auntie's house is shut up. I can't sleep in 
 a house by myself." 
 
 " You must sleep at a hotel." 
 
 " But what will people say ?" 
 
 " Why, they will say that you are my sister, 
 Miss Smith. We shouldn't be such idiots as to 
 tell them." 
 
 " Oh, I do feel so uneasy. I don't know what 
 on earth to do. Is there no other way out of it ?" 
 
 " My dear child, what other way is there out of 
 it ? Fortunately, I have got a few days' leave, and 
 therefore I can see you safely through this. Tele- 
 graph to Mrs. Meredith and say, 'Unexpectedly 
 detained. Obliged to put visit off for a couple of 
 days. Beg you will excuse me. Writing by to- 
 night's post.' I daresay you will have to keep a
 
 A DREADFUL SCRAPE. 99 
 
 bit wide of the actual facts to explain matters ; but 
 you can say that your movements were dependent 
 on your aunt's. They will understand that." 
 
 " Yes, I can say that. How shall I get their 
 answer ?" 
 
 " Well that is rather a question. How to get 
 their answer ? Yes, of course you must give an 
 address. Can't that old gardener's wife be squared ? 
 Does she know where you were going ?" 
 
 " Oh, no ; I don't think so." 
 
 " Well, you walk up in the morning. Go in a 
 casual way, and ask her to keep any letters that 
 may come for you. Tell her you are staying in 
 the town for a day or two with some friends. It 
 is quite true. Give her a half-crown for herself; 
 it is quite simple." 
 
 " Of course, Auntie is going to be away at least 
 six months " 
 
 " Oh, she will have forgotten all about it long 
 before Mrs. Blake comes back again. It is the 
 simplest way out of the difficulty. Above all 
 things, Margot, don't say a word that would raise 
 her suspicions. Don't ask her not to say anything 
 about it, or anything at all, and she will take it as 
 a matter of course. How does she know who 
 you might know in the neighbourhood ?" 
 
 " No, no, true ; yet I feel it will all come out. 
 What shall I do if it does ?" 
 
 " Well, you will have to bear it. The whole 
 thing is an accident." 
 
 " Your being with me is not an accident God- 
 frey."
 
 IOO A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Well, my dear child, we are engaged ; we are 
 going to be married. After all, we have done 
 nothing wrong." 
 
 "Oh, that is what people who get into scrapes 
 always say," said Margot, with a groan. 
 
 " However, here we are. Shall we go right 
 away to the telegraph office and send off that 
 message now ?" 
 
 " Yes, that will be the best thing." 
 
 They were just turning into the telegraph office, 
 when a sudden thought occurred to Godfrey. " By 
 the bye, we had better send it from the town. It 
 won't make five minutes' difference, and a telegram 
 from here would have 'station' on it. We had 
 better go into the town, and don't let's lose a 
 moment." 
 
 They took a cab and went off to the post-office, 
 where Godfrey Bladensbrook wrote out the message 
 which had been agreed upon between them. 
 
 " Dreadfully sorry. Prevented at last moment 
 from starting. Excuse me if I put my visit off for 
 two days. Am writing." 
 
 " Any telegrams or letters that may come for 
 Miss Dangerfield, keep here," said Godfrey to the 
 clerk ; " she is staying in the town. Mrs. Blake's 
 house is shut up, and we will come in to-morrow 
 for any letters or telegrams." 
 
 " I am afraid I can't keep letters back, Sir. 
 Stay ; the young lady can have a form and fill it in, 
 asking to have any letters kept for her at the post- 
 office." 
 
 " Godfrey," said Margot, as they walked away
 
 A DREADFUL SCRAPE. IOI 
 
 down the street, " I can't tell you what I feel like. 
 Oh, Godfrey, I can't tell you what I feel like. I 
 feel frightened" 
 
 "Oh, my dear, don't say that. It will be all 
 right. Everything is working out quite smoothly. 
 By the bye, hadn't you better go and get some 
 things before the shops close ?" 
 
 " My dear, look at them all ! It is early closing 
 day. Fate is against us fate is against me. I 
 never felt so frightened in my life." 
 
 " My dear child, there is not the least need for 
 you to feel anything of the kind. I tell you every- 
 thing is working out quite smoothly." 
 
 " Godfrey, how can we go to the hotel without 
 any luggage ?" 
 
 " Well, that is quite simple. We must go and 
 say the truth, that we've got our luggage locked 
 up in the tunnel under half a dozen railway car- 
 riages." 
 
 " What, tell them we have been in the accident ?" 
 
 " Oh, of course." 
 
 "Oh, I see. Well, then, do you think I had 
 better go and get some things for to-night? I 
 have got nothing to sleep in." 
 
 " Certainly go ; but let's go to the hotel and order 
 our dinner first ; then, whilst it is getting ready, you 
 can go out and buy some things. 
 
 " And you ?" 
 
 " I ? Oh, yes, I will go too. There are sure to 
 be some shops open." 
 
 They met with no difficulty whatever at the 
 hotel. The landlord, who met them in the hall, 
 9*
 
 102 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 seemed to think it the most natural thing in the 
 world that they should have been smashed up in 
 an appalling railway accident. 
 
 " Certainly, Sir, we can accommodate you most 
 comfortably. Very annoying for the lady to have 
 so much difficulty, but glad to say we shall be 
 able to make you very comfortable. Can we lend 
 the lady any things ?" 
 
 " My sister thought of going out to buy some." 
 
 "Oh, that is not at all necessary, Sir. I am 
 quite sure my wife can lend the lady suitable gar- 
 ments to sleep in. She would perhaps prefer to 
 buy a hair-brush." 
 
 " Oh, the hair-brush will always come in use- 
 ful," said Margot. 
 
 "And your name, Sir?" 
 
 " Smith William Smith, London, and my sis- 
 ter, Miss Smith." 
 
 Margot blushed. She was painfully conscious 
 that she did not look like a Miss Smith. People 
 whose names are Dangerfield and Bladensbrook 
 and other uncommon appellations always have a 
 feeling that they do not look like anybody with a 
 name which is shared largely by others of the 
 community. The hotel keeper noticed the blush. 
 Hotel keepers, as a rule, are people who do notice 
 trifles. Sometimes those who frequent hotels 
 would be surprised to know how accurately mine 
 host is able to sum them up, socially, mentally, and 
 financially. 
 
 " You will have dinner, Sir," said he to Godfrey. 
 
 " Yes, as soon as you can."
 
 A SUDDEN RESOLUTION. 103 
 
 " In the dining-room ?" 
 
 " I would rather have a private sitting-room." 
 
 " Certainly, Sir ; very nice private sitting-room on 
 the first floor, bedroom opening out of it" 
 
 " That will do very well. Then, Nellie," he 
 said, turning to Margot, " we will go right away 
 and buy ourselves some hair-brushes. How soon 
 will dinner be ready ?" 
 
 " Half an hour, Sir. You will dine off the roast, 
 of course ?" 
 
 " Yes, yes ; with one or two other things. Give us 
 a regular dinner.' 
 
 " In half an hour, Sir." 
 
 " Very well, then. Come along, Nellie." 
 
 " Oh, Godfrey !" she said. 
 
 " You mustn't call me Godfrey, that's certain. 
 You had better call me Willie; it sounds nice and 
 homely and sisterly. How do you like your new 
 name, Miss Smith ? Miss Nellie Smith ?" 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. Willie Smith ; I like it very 
 much." 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A SUDDEN RESOLUTION. 
 
 WHEN they were safely in their sitting-room, 
 Margot caught hold of Godfrey's sleeve with her 
 two little trembling hands. " Oh, Godfrey," she 
 said, " something dreadful will come of all this ! I 
 know it. I feel it. What in the world shall I do ?
 
 104 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 How shall I explain it ? Oh, what in the world 
 are we to do ?" 
 
 "Nothing of the kind," said he, soothingly. 
 "Not a soul will know anything about it." 
 
 " Well, but how am I to account to Aunt Marcia 
 for not going by that train ? How am I to ac- 
 count to her for your being in the train ? And 
 how am I to account; to her for wiring to Mrs. 
 Meredith that I couldn't come to-day? I don't 
 know what in the world I shall do. We had far 
 better have made a clean breast of it and simply 
 said we were in the train, and have gone back and 
 slept at the hotel without any concealment, but to 
 go and give the name of Smith ! What were we 
 thinking of, Godfrey ?" 
 
 " My dear child," said he, " it is no use thinking 
 of anything now. The only thing we have got to 
 do is to eat our dinner. Dinner will straighten 
 things out, show things in a different light, and 
 generally bring matters to a satisfactory conclu- 
 sion. Without dinner, everything looks black, 
 wretched, and frightful." 
 
 " My dear Godfrey," said Margot, " when you 
 told the landlord that I was your sister, he turned 
 and looked at me. Oh, I thought I should have 
 died. I would have liked the floor to have opened 
 and swallowed me up. I felt myself blushing a 
 horrid, red, vivid, guilty, ashamed scarlet. I don't 
 wonder they called the Scarlet Woman the symbol 
 of sin, for sin is red." 
 
 " But you are not a sinner," said Godfrey, laugh- 
 ing at her.
 
 A SUDDEN RESOLUTION. 105 
 
 " Very near to it. We have told downright lies 
 to-day, Godfrey, you and I." 
 
 " Well, if you put it in that way, we have. The 
 fact is, I suppose I ought not to have come along 
 to meet you before our engagement was definitely 
 announced. Having done so, perhaps it would 
 have been better to make a clean breast of it. 
 However, it is done now. I did it for the best. I 
 thought to keep your name out of the smash alto- 
 gether ; and, after all, there's no great harm done; 
 and there, don't say another word. I hear the 
 waiter." 
 
 The next moment the waiter bustled in with the 
 first course of the dinner. The two went to the 
 table and seated themselves. 
 
 " What will you drink, Sir ?" the waiter asked. 
 
 " Drink ? Nellie, what will you have to drink ?" 
 
 " Some water," said she, promptly. 
 
 " Oh, my dear child, you can't drink water. 
 Oh, is that the list ? Well we'll have a bottle of 
 that." 
 
 " A large bottle or small bottle, Sir ?" 
 
 " Oh, a large bottle. My dear," turning to 
 Margot, " you must drink to our safety. By 
 Jove, you and I might have been jolly well 
 smashed up by this time if it hadn't been for 
 sheer luck !" 
 
 By dint of much persuasion and argument, he 
 induced Margot to v make a very tolerable meal and 
 to drink a couple of glasses of the champagne 
 which he had ordered. But as the time wore on 
 he found that Margot grew more and more dis-
 
 106 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 mayed with the idea of what they had done. " I 
 can't think," she said, for about the fiftieth time, 
 " how in the world I am to explain things." 
 
 " My dear child, there is no great necessity to 
 explain anything. In the first place, your aunt and 
 Mrs. Meredith don't seem to know one another." 
 
 " They might meet." 
 
 " Well, they might; but it isn't likely Mrs. Blake 
 will ask Mrs. Meredith what time you arrived on 
 a visit that happened half a year before." 
 
 " No ; but Mrs. Meredith may think she may 
 be thinking that I might have wired at once when 
 I found that I missed the train instead of waiting 
 three hours at least. She is sure to ask why I 
 didn't wire at once; why I let them send the 
 horses to the station to meet me." 
 
 " Well, you must make the best explanation 
 you can." 
 
 " What explanation can I make ? Oh, I feel as 
 if it is sure to come out. It is bound to come out. 
 I shall not be able to get my luggage ; I have noth- 
 ing to take. Even if I told her that my things 
 accidentally went up by that train, she will know 
 perfectly well that I was in the train, too. I don't 
 know what to do. I think I will write and put 
 Mrs. Meredith off altogether, and I will go home, 
 I will write and tell her that Father is not well, or 
 something." 
 
 " Don't commit yourself." 
 
 " Well, I will write and tell her that I will, I'll 
 write to-night, and I will go home to-morrow. 
 That will be the best way out of it. I will go
 
 A SUDDEN RESOLUTION. IO/ 
 
 home to-morrow. I must write to Mrs. Meredith 
 to-night, anyhow." 
 
 " Well, then, write and get it off your mind." 
 
 So Margot wrote. It was a somewhat lame let- 
 ter, and it told Mrs. Meredith that she was not 
 very easy about her father, that she had had a 
 letter from home, and that she felt her father missed 
 her, and that if she didn't mind she would put off 
 her visit to her for some little time. " I have been 
 away now for more than a fortnight," she ended, 
 " and it is very easy to see from Father's letters that 
 he misses me dreadfully. It isn't as if I had a 
 mother, dear Mrs. Meredith ; and I know you will 
 forgive me, and not think me capricious if I go 
 straight back again. I therefore purpose going 
 home to-morrow." 
 
 " And what address have you given ?" 
 
 " Oh, Auntie's address." 
 
 " Oh, well, send that. It will be all right. My 
 dear, she won't care a bit whether you come or 
 whether you don't. By the bye, I am going out. 
 I want some matches. I'll get a paper, too, if there's 
 one to be had in this absurd little town ; so, if you 
 will give me your letter, I will post it." 
 
 Five minutes after his return, however, a new 
 terror assailed her. " Supposing she should 
 chance to keep that letter and show it to Aunt 
 Marcia, and Aunt Marcia finds out that I was not 
 at Eastleigh after she left, what then ? And then, 
 you see, I have left my jewellery in my box. It 
 isn't much, but, still, it is important to me. There 
 are things there that Aunt Marcia gave me herself
 
 IO8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Oh, Godfrey, it's bound to come out. It's all 
 bound to come out. And when you think of the 
 row there will be between your mother and my 
 father and Aunt Marcia oh, it appals me." 
 
 For a few minutes Godfrey did not reply. He 
 walked up and down the room puffing fiercely at 
 his cigarette, his brows knit moodily together, his 
 whole appearance that of a man engaged in grap- 
 pling with some very difficult problem. " Look here, 
 child," he said, at last, coming to a stand-still in 
 front of her, " as far as I can see, there is only one 
 thing for us to do. Let us get married at once." 
 
 "But how?" 
 
 " It is quite easy. There is a train up to town 
 or should be about midnight. I will go up by 
 it. You will be quite safe here, and I will come 
 down by the first train to-morrow morning, if I 
 can arrange my business, bringing a special license 
 with me. Then we can get married, and I will get 
 a few days' leave and talk things quietly over with 
 my mother. I would rather, if you don't mind, 
 break it to her, because she is not in very good 
 health, and, although she is very fond of you, it 
 may come in a certain sense as a shock to her." 
 
 Margot's heart almost stood still with fear. 
 " Godfrey," she said, under her breath, " do you 
 mean that ?" 
 
 " Yes, of course I mean it. Mind you, I have 
 no doubt there will be a row of some kind ; there 
 will be a fuss ; there will be an unpleasantness ; 
 but at the same time the various people con- 
 cerned cannot say the same things to my wife
 
 A SUDDEN RESOLUTION. 1 09 
 
 that they would feel themselves perfectly justified 
 in saying to my fiancee. Of course, if nothing 
 comes out, we shall have given ourselves trouble 
 for nothing; on the other hand, if everything does 
 come out, the whole affair will have a very ugly 
 look and a still worse sound. We know per- 
 fectly well that if we are married the question is 
 settled, and we intend to be married sooner or 
 later ; and the sooner we are married the better 
 pleased /shall be, as I need hardly explain to you." 
 
 " You think it would be the best thing to do ?" 
 she asked, looking at him anxiously. 
 
 " Well, my dear, I don't see that we can do any- 
 thing else. There will be an awful row if it comes 
 out. In fact, I have bungled the whole thing. I 
 admit it. I have made a mess of everything. Of 
 course, I ought to have spoken of you as a young 
 lady whom I had rescued. We Bladensbrooks, 
 you know, never had any brains ; but once married, 
 there can be no mistake about our intentions or 
 anything else ; so depend upon it, it is the best 
 thing we can possibly do, and, as I say, it will save 
 a fearful lot of argument afterwards. Now, if I 
 were you, I wouldn't go out at all. You will be 
 all right here. And now, let me see, I shall be 
 back to breakfast, well, to a late breakfast. Well, 
 stop ; it is four hours from here to town, and there 
 is a train leaves at twelve o'clock, so I shall be here 
 at four ; and I shall find a parson, and we will have 
 it all comfortably pulled off before dinner-time ; and 
 we'll pay our bill here and go off to town and 
 have a couple of days together before we worry
 
 110 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 about outside influences at all. By Jove ! What 
 fun it will be ! Two whole days together before any 
 of our people know that anything has happened." 
 
 " You are sure you will come back ?" said 
 Margot. 
 
 Godfrey caught hold of her, " Why, my dear, 
 what can you be thinking of? If I am alive, of 
 course I shall come back." 
 
 " And you think I shall be able to get my 
 things ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I shall probably be able to get them 
 for you later on. If not, it is no use worrying 
 about so small a matter. You will want new 
 clothes to be Mrs. Bladensbrook. All girls want 
 new clothes when they get married, don't they ?" 
 
 " Yes, I suppose they do." 
 
 There was no answering smile on her face. She 
 was too anxious, too much distracted to see even 
 the smallest ghost of a joke. 
 
 " And, by the bye," said he, " before I go, I must 
 have the size of your finger, to get your wedding 
 ring, madam ; for you cannot be married without a 
 ring. Give me the one that you are wearing now. 
 I suppose one of that size will be all right ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, quite right." 
 
 She took the ring off and gave it to him, then 
 Godfrey rang the bell, which was answered by the 
 ubiquitous waiter. " By the bye, waiter," he said, 
 " I don't think you need trouble about any things 
 in my room. I must go up to London, and I will 
 go by the train at one o'clock. The mail, isn't it ?" 
 
 "Yes, Sir."
 
 A SUDDEN RESOLUTION. Ill 
 
 " My sister will stay here. You will be sure to 
 take the greatest care of her until to-morrow. I 
 shall be back well, there is a train leaves town at 
 twelve o'clock. I shall come down by that." 
 
 When they were once more alone, Godfrey sat 
 down on the sofa beside his sweetheart. " The 
 best thing you can do, dearest," he said to her, " is 
 to go off to bed in reasonable time and try to get 
 as good a night's rest as possible." 
 
 " Oh, I would rather stay up and see you go," 
 she said, hurriedly. 
 
 " My dear child, I beg you will do nothing of 
 the kind. In the first place, for a few hours we 
 are brother and sister; no sister would stay up 
 till one o'clock to see a brother go away for a few 
 hours on business. It is half-past ten now ; let me 
 entreat you to go to bed at eleven o'clock, and I 
 will go down to the smoking-room and put in the 
 time there until I must start. It is quite the best 
 thing that we can do. Remember that to-morrow 
 we shall be together for always." 
 
 " Well, in a certain sense," said Margot, " that 
 is, if everything comes out all right." 
 
 " My dear child, everything must come out all 
 right. Supposing they are very angry, that cannot 
 take us away from each other. You forget that 
 we shall be man and wife. Don't you know," 
 seizing hold of her two little hands and holding 
 the tips of the fingers together, " don't you know 
 the old saw which says, ' Parent and child may 
 part, brother and sister may part, best of friends 
 may part, but husband and wife can never part ?' "
 
 112 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 She pulled herself together by a great effort and 
 looked up at him half bravely and half in trepida- 
 tion, " I can't help it, Godfrey ; I feel as if I was 
 doing something outrageously and abnormally 
 wicked. I know that you are right ; I know that 
 we have got ourselves into a silly, idiotic scrape, 
 and that you are taking the best possibly way out 
 of it ; but all the same I feel wretched and unhappy. 
 You see, I have never been in the habit of going 
 out and getting married in this sly, underhand kind 
 of way perhaps next time I shall take it more 
 coolly." 
 
 He laughed as if she had made the most brilliant 
 and original joke in the whole world; and so they 
 sat there for yet half an hour longer, when he in- 
 sisted upon her going off to bed. " Good-night, 
 my dear love. God bless you and take care of you," 
 were his parting words. " Try not to be dull while 
 I am gone. Remember that when we meet again 
 it will be to pledge ourselves for all time." 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 
 
 IN spite of her natural doubts and fears, it must 
 be admitted that Margot Dangerfield slept like a 
 child or a top that night in the hotel at Brixham. 
 You see, at nineteen anxiety does not bite very 
 deeply. She was very anxious and troubled, but
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 113 
 
 it cannot be said that she was in the least degree 
 unhappy. Before all other men in the world, 
 Godfrey Bladensbrook was the man of her choice ; 
 from her early childhood he had been the one 
 dominant note of her existence ; so, although she 
 was to a certain extent troubled and doubtful as to 
 whether she was doing quite the right thing in 
 taking so important a step without consulting her 
 own people, the feeling was more than overpowered 
 by the joy of knowing that in a few short hours 
 she would be Godfrey Bladensbrook's wife. So 
 she slept like a child or a top until quite late in 
 the morning, when in answer to her summons a 
 sympathetic chambermaid told her that it was past 
 nine o'clock and a very fine day. Margot asked 
 for a cup of tea, and lay quietly back among her 
 pillows thinking over all that had happened and 
 all that was about to happen. How wonderful it 
 all was to think that before night-fall she would 
 be Godfrey Bladensbrook's wife, the mistress of 
 Bladensbrook ; and, in spite of the strange circum- 
 stances under which the marriage had been brought 
 about, she was the most utterly happy girl to be 
 found from John O'Groats to Land's End. The 
 most wonderful thing of all, her thoughts ran, was 
 that Godfrey should be willing to make her his 
 wife for Margot, you see, had very little apprecia- 
 tion of herself. She had been used to herself so 
 long that, to a certain extent, familiarity had bred 
 contempt of herself in her own mind. Some of 
 us are like that in this world ; some of us are just 
 the opposite. One knows people generally them- 
 k 10*
 
 114 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 selves credited with extreme shyness whose mar- 
 vellous opinion of themselves is a source of ever- 
 lasting wonder to their friends and acquaintances. 
 Such persons always make me think of the quota- 
 tion, " God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." 
 It is well that they have this overwhelming conceit, 
 for if they had not a good opinion of themselves, 
 they would indeed be poor creatures. The old 
 Scotch minister who prayed, " Lord, gie us a guid 
 conceit o' oursels," was a wise man in his day and 
 generation ; he knew the full truth of the saying 
 that the world takes you very much at your own 
 valuation. Margot Dangerfield, however, genuinely 
 did not think much of Margot Dangerfield ; and it 
 was wonderful to her that Godfrey, who had and 
 would have the opportunity of marrying so many 
 girls, should have chosen her of all to be his life's 
 companion. It must be confessed that she looked 
 forward to the subsequent explanations which must 
 be made to the ex-queen regent of Bladensbrook 
 with anything but relish. If Margot was afraid of 
 any living being on the face of the earth, that being 
 was Mrs. Bladensbrook, her prospective mother-in- 
 law. However, she felt that even Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook would understand the peculiar circumstances 
 of temptation in which she had been placed ; and 
 let her take it as she might, after -all, it would be 
 Godfrey who would bear the brunt of whatever 
 storm might arise upon the domestic horizon. So 
 she lay back among her pillows and thought out 
 the wonderful change which had so unexpectedly 
 come into her life.
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE, 11$ 
 
 She was still lying there when the sympathetic 
 chambermaid came back again. " You would like 
 to get up, Miss ?" she asked. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I should like to get up, please." 
 
 " You would like a bath, Miss ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Is there anything that I can get you ? Mrs. 
 Jones told me to ask you if there was anything 
 you wanted." 
 
 " I don't think so, thank you," said Margot. " I 
 got one or two things yesterday, and probably I 
 shall get my box back this morning, or what is left 
 of it. I suppose you have heard no more about 
 the accident ?" 
 
 " No, Miss, I have heard no more. The poor 
 fellow that was took to the orspital died last 
 night." 
 
 " Oh, who was it ?" 
 
 " One of the stokers, Miss." 
 
 " Oh, dear, dear, I am so sorry. It was an 
 awful smash. I was never in a railway accident 
 before. I hope that I shall never be again." 
 
 " Well, Miss," said the chambermaid, " it isn't 
 an experience that any of us would 'unger after." 
 
 " No, indeed," said Margot; "indeed, no." 
 
 " Then you won't want the mistress to lend 
 you any pocket-handkerchers or anything of that 
 kind?" 
 
 " No, thank you ; I got some yesterday." 
 
 The maid stood reflectively by the side of the 
 bed, and as Margot spoke she stooped to the floor 
 and picked up a handkerchief which had fallen
 
 Il6 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Curing the course of the night. " That is a pretty 
 ankercher, Miss," she said, as she laid it on the bed. 
 
 " Oh, thank you yes yes, it is rather pretty," 
 said Margot. A sudden awful realization came 
 over her of the fact that she was known in the 
 hotel as Miss Smith and that the handkerchief was 
 elaborately embroidered " M. D." It was one of a 
 set which her old governess, Miss Atkinson, had 
 \nade for her last birthday. The initials were 
 large and painfully clear, and Margot laid her 
 hand over it, devoutly hoping that her face was not 
 as red as it felt ; she felt, indeed, as if all the blood 
 in her body had rushed into her cheeks. How 
 could she have been such a fool as to leave that 
 tell-tale handkerchief with its staring monogram 
 just where everybody could see it ! "I will get 
 up, now," she said, almost curtly. " Tell them to 
 give me breakfast in the sitting-room at well, in 
 half an hour's time." 
 
 She thrust the delicate bit of cambric into a 
 place of safety between her corsets and the gar- 
 ment that came immediately under them, and 
 taking one of the uncomfortable new ones which 
 she had bought the previous afternoon she passed 
 presently into the cosy sitting-room. It was 
 rather a mockery sitting down to breakfast by her- 
 self, but still she was young and healthy, and she 
 ate quite enough breakfast to satisfy the amour 
 propre of the watchful waiter. She even went the 
 length of asking for a newspaper, and, having 
 dawdled away as much time as she possibly could, 
 she put on her hat and, taking her sunshade in her
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. I \J 
 
 hand, she went out into the busy little town. She 
 returned for lunch at two o'clock, and having eaten 
 a little she asked for writing materials ; and wrote 
 a letter to her father, in which she announced her 
 intention of returning home a couple of days 
 later. She did not think it necessary to make any 
 detailed explanation to him. "Aunt Marcia left 
 yesterday for Italy, and I am staying a day or two 
 longer. I shall be home in time for dinner ; and if 
 you will send to the station to meet me, that is, I 
 think, all." 
 
 She carried this letter down the street to the 
 post-office herself, and took the opportunity of 
 going in to enquire whether there were any letters 
 lying there for her. There happened to be two, 
 both wholly unimportant, and merely those which 
 would have been sent on to Mrs. Meredith's in the 
 ordinary course of events. As yet there was no 
 reply from that lady ; but Marcia, knowing how free 
 and easy she was, did not trouble about that. 
 These odds and ends of occupation brought her 
 well within the time of Godfrey's arrival. She 
 sauntered up to the station to meet him, more 
 because she had nothing else to do than of any set 
 purpose ; anything was better than staying alone 
 in the dull sitting-room of the hotel. And when 
 Godfrey arrived he was radiant. He had got the 
 license without any trouble, and he had also 
 brought the wedding ring and several others, his 
 marriage gift to her. 
 
 " Now, my dear child, there is no time to lose. 
 Do you go back to the hotel and order me some-
 
 Il8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 thing to eat just a trifle because I am hungry, 
 and I will take a cab and find a friendly parson 
 without delay. I have got the address of one here 
 in the town and a letter to him from a letter ? That 
 is to say, a card from a chap whom I met in the 
 train. He says he is a good fellow, and we could 
 not have anybody nicer to help us at such a time. 
 So I will go straight up to him and get him to 
 arrange it as soon as he possibly can." 
 
 He put her into a cab and told the man where 
 to drive ; then got into another vehicle himself and 
 drove off in quest of the necessary clergyman. 
 In less than half an hour he came back radiant to the 
 hotel. " It is all right, my dear child ! At five 
 o'clock we are to be at the church, and with the 
 help of the pew-opener and her good man we 
 are to be comfortably and safely tied up, and 
 then " 
 
 " And then for the row," said Margot. 
 
 " Oh, well, a row won't have much effect on us. 
 I don't suppose even your Aunt Marcia would 
 raise any very great dust on your side ; and as for 
 mine, it is no use raising a dust on mine ; a digni- 
 fied acquiescence is the only demeanour which any 
 one is likely to indulge in." 
 
 I always think a wedding is a sad ceremony. I 
 don't know why it should be so, and yet one often 
 feels more inclined to shed tears over a wedding 
 than one does over a funeral. So often the young 
 couple are like young bears, with all their troubles 
 before them ; while at a funeral one feels so fre- 
 quently that another poor struggling soul has got
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 1 19 
 
 over the worst, has got the hard times over, and 
 has attained to the blissful haven of an apparently 
 everlasting rest. This wedding was peculiarly sad. 
 It took place in a gaunt, bare, barrack of a church, 
 a gloomy barn of a building, through whose dingy 
 windows the already waning light of afternoon 
 came but dully. The attire of neither bride nor 
 groom was festive. There were none of the 
 adjuncts and emblems of marriage. No crowd of 
 eager friends, no scent of costly flowers, no shim- 
 mering bridal robes, no bevy of sweet-faced 
 bridesmaids ; no, no ; only a young couple in every- 
 day attire standing before a dingy altar and 
 attended by a snuffy old woman in a poke-bonnet 
 and an equally snuffy old man with a pair of sil- 
 ver-rimmed spectacles. Somehow in that great 
 echoing, solemn church the impressive words of 
 the marriage service seemed to fall with greater 
 significance than usual. I think if marriages were 
 like executions, conducted in private, if these func- 
 tions were shorn of everything which makes them 
 gay and festive, the solemn pledges and promises 
 which brides and grooms take upon themselves 
 would strike home more significantly than they do 
 nowadays, when they are given and taken in the 
 midst of a grinning, giggling, irreverent crowd, 
 when the bride is thinking more of the set of her 
 train and the hang of her veil than she is thinking 
 of her duty as a wife to be, when the groom is 
 wondering whether his best man will take proper 
 care of his hat rather than whether he will make 
 the bride of his choice a good husband.
 
 120 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Every word of the short service seemed to be 
 beating itself into Margot's brain. I think if she 
 had realized how much she was undertaking, how 
 great and important a step marriage really was to 
 her, she would have hesitated before she would 
 have consented to its taking place in that way. 
 As it was, she did not even realize the full value 
 of her act until the final words had been spoken 
 which bound her to Godfrey Bladensbrook for the 
 rest of their lives. They passed into the dingy 
 little vestry and duly signed the registers ; then the 
 clergyman wished them every happiness, and God- 
 frey pushed something half surreptitiously into his 
 hand, something which rustled pleasantly. 
 
 " Oh, but this is not necessary," said he, in mild 
 protest. 
 
 " Well, Sir, we have put you to considerable 
 trouble, and it was important to us that we were 
 married to-day." Then he drew him a little aside. 
 " For a week or so I am anxious that our mar- 
 riage should not be disclosed. We have arranged 
 the affair somewhat in a hurry, and I wish my 
 people and my wife's to hear of it from me. If 
 you will be kind enough not to speak of it for a 
 week, I shall be very grateful to you." 
 
 " Oh, certainly, certainly. It is no business of 
 mine more particularly as I am not the vicar, but 
 only his substitute. Of course, if anybody comes 
 and wishes to search the registers I have no choice 
 in that case. And the vicar will see the registers, 
 or may see them, on his return home in a fort- 
 night's time."
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 121 
 
 " Ah, that is different. Nobody will come. The 
 fact is, in a couple of days our people will know 
 all about it." 
 
 Then, having thanked him for his good wishes, 
 the two took leave of the clergyman and passed 
 out into the world man and wife. 
 
 " I don't see the good of moving on to-night, 
 Margot," said Godfrey, as they walked down the 
 street. " It will be better on all accounts if we 
 can get that box of yours Supposing we go back 
 and pay our bill, and we simply go off to the Mitre, 
 which looks to me a very good hotel, indeed, and 
 which will accommodate us as well as any other?" 
 
 " Just as you like," said she ; " but how can I go 
 to another hotel and explain about the railway 
 accident and having no clothes ?" 
 
 " I never thought of that," he returned ; " dear 
 me. how very stupid of me. Well, let us go off to 
 the station and see if we can hear any news of 
 your things." 
 
 But there they got little or no satisfaction. They 
 were told that the line was now open, that all the lug- 
 gage rescued from the two wrecked trains had 
 been carried to the station on the other side of 
 the tunnel in which the accident had taken place. 
 " I believe there is a deal of property there, Sir," 
 said the official who gave the information ; " and 
 the easiest thing for you to do is simply to go on 
 to Ruxford and claim it." 
 
 " Is there any kind of a hotel at Ruxford ?" 
 
 "Well, there is a very decent one, Sir. It is 
 nothing out of the way, being quite a small market-
 
 122 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 town ; but it is quite a place to be made comfortable 
 for a few hours." 
 
 " Then the best thing we can do is to go on to 
 Ruxford." 
 
 Accordingly they went back to the hotel, paid 
 their bill, and packed the few things which Margot 
 had in a Gladstone bag which she had purchased 
 in Brixham. 
 
 " I really think," said Margot, " that the easiest 
 thing would be to give our own names. I mean to 
 give my name that was, because you see my box 
 was marked ' M. D.' " 
 
 " Your box, my dear, is a pitiable and absolute 
 wreck. The best you may be able to do is to 
 claim any loose belongings that you may recognize. 
 Of course, we can give our own names, if you like. 
 Perhaps you are right, and it will be the wiser." 
 
 However, when they got out of the train at 
 Ruxford station, the first person whom they saw 
 was the very guard to whom they had first spoken 
 on the subject of Margot's luggage on the scene 
 of the accident, who told them that he had been 
 placed in charge of the luggage collected from the 
 train. 
 
 " I doubt," said he, touching his cap, " that the 
 lady will find but a sad wreck of what was once 
 her luggage. If you will step this way, Sir, I will 
 show you what there is. Some of it, of course, 
 has been claimed, but what is left is really a sorry 
 sight." 
 
 He led the way round to the back of the station, 
 and there in a large room was the greater portion
 
 A TWO DAYS' HONEYMOON. 12$ 
 
 of the luggage which had been rescued from the 
 wrecked train. 
 
 " Oh !" said Margot, " that is my best dress !" 
 
 "Ah, I doubt it won't be the better for the 
 rumplin' it's had since you last wore it, Miss," said 
 the guard. 
 
 " Oh, did you ever see anything like this ? Oh, 
 that poor woman's hat ! She'll never be able to 
 wear that any more." 
 
 " She's gone where they don't want no 'ats," said 
 the guard. 
 
 " Oh, was she killed ?" 
 
 " Yes, Miss. I am sorry to say she was ; and 
 'er poor 'usband he come in 'ere last night and he 
 see 'er 'at, and he just sat down and cried like a 
 child over it." 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A TWO DAYS' HONEYMOON. 
 
 AFTER all, Godfrey Bladensbrook and Margot 
 eventually went back to Brixham. Such luggage 
 as was worth claiming they packed into a trunk, 
 hastily bought at the nearest shop where such 
 articles were procurable, and carried back with 
 them. To Margot's joy the things at the bottom 
 of her own trunk were not much the worse. Her 
 trinkets and toilet necessaries were as good as ever, 
 and her dresses were singularly little damaged ; her 
 linen, too, was but little the worse. She having 1
 
 124 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 packed all these things into a modest tin box, which 
 was the best thing Ruxford could produce, they 
 took the next train to Marley Spa and drove at 
 once to the Mitre Hotel. This was the inn or small 
 country hotel from which Godfrey Bladensbrook 
 had telegraphed his address to the regiment, and 
 at first he had suggested that they might as well 
 stay there under their own names as go elsewhere. 
 He went in, leaving Margot in the cab. " I want 
 you," he said to the manageress whom he met in 
 the hall, " to retain my rooms for a week. I was 
 prevented from coming here to-day as I had to 
 run up to London, and am now staying with friends. 
 If any letters or telegrams come for me, be good 
 enough to keep them." He had gone into the 
 house with the intention of making sure that his 
 rooms were retained before asking Margot to 
 alight. Then it occurred to him that it would be 
 just as well if they retained the name under which 
 they had been passing for the few days they would 
 be together. He went back to the door of the cab. 
 " I say, dearest," he said, putting his head well in- 
 side and speaking in an undertone, " I really do 
 think it would be better not to use our own name 
 for a day or two. You see, these railway people 
 may come after me at any time ; and here I gave 
 my own name, because I had to telegraph my ad- 
 dress to the regiment ; at least, I wrote to them from 
 Blankhampton, and took rooms, thinking I might 
 be about the neighbourhood for a week or so. I 
 think we had better go the King's Arms at Brix- 
 ham. I gathered at the station just now that it is
 
 A TWO DAYS' HONEYMOON. 125 
 
 quite a good hotel, and we shall go as ordinary 
 people. Then you can shop and get your things 
 without any trouble, and we can get our letters 
 from the post-office and the Mitre. I can run over 
 here by an early train each morning without the 
 smallest difficulty." 
 
 Naturally enough Margot raised no especial ob- 
 jection, and so they went back to Brixham and 
 drove at once to the King's Arms, there asking 
 for rooms for a few days. This was a very much 
 larger and better hotel, and they were given a 
 pleasant sitting-room on the first floor overlooking 
 the market-place. 
 
 " This is really quite awfully jolly," said Godfrey 
 to Margot, as the door closed behind the very 
 smart young woman who had shown them the 
 way. " My dearest, I now begin to feel for the 
 first time that you are now and for always mine." 
 
 To the head waiter who ministered to them half 
 an hour later in the form of an excellent dinner, 
 and the chambermaid who came to see that the 
 lady had everything she required, the young couple 
 were a great source of mystery. Poor young things, 
 they imagined that they were taken for quite ordi- 
 nary visitors. They would have been considerably 
 astonished if they could have heard themselves 
 discussed by the aforesaid waiter and chambermaid. 
 
 " What is the name of them new people, Wil- 
 liam?" the lady enquired. 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Smith, of London," William said. 
 " New married, I should say." 
 
 " Very new married, I should say," replied Jessica,
 
 126 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 which was the name of the chambermaid. " A) 
 the lady's things is marked M. D." 
 
 " What sort of things ?" enquired William. 
 
 " Why her 'air-brushes and the 'and glass an* 
 her little fid-fads for her pins and such like; M.D 
 in silver letters, as plain as a pikestaff; no mistake 
 about it ; and his sleeve-links is marked with \ 
 crest and a monygram that I can't make 'ead noi 
 tail of, but not an ' S' in it; as to that I'll take my 
 oath." 
 
 " Oh, well, well, that's as may be. They are a 
 good-looking young couple, though." 
 
 " Oh, they are good-looking enough. He is a 
 splendid feller," said Jessica ; " and she have got 
 such nice manners, so civil and so pleasant in 
 everything she says to one. How long are they 
 going to stay, William ?" 
 
 " Oh, that's more than I can tell you a day or 
 two." 
 
 "What sort of a dinner did they eat?" asked 
 Jessica. 
 
 " Oh, middlin'. Quite peckish for a new-married 
 couple. I don't know whether she was quite so 
 inclined for a good dinner as he was, but he kept 
 saying to her, ' Now, dearest, have a bit of this/ 
 and, ' You had better try this, darling ; it is good, 
 and I am sure you are hungry.' " 
 
 " What I can't make out," said Jessica, " is that 
 box of 'er's. It ain't in any sort of keeping with 
 'er linen and 'er brushes and things." 
 
 " Well, but they was in the railway accident." 
 
 " Oh, then it ain't 'er box ?"
 
 A TWO DAYS 1 HONEYMOON. \2J 
 
 " Yes, it is 'er box ; but it's one she bought just 
 to bring her things back in. They are going to 
 get things just to carry 'em on in the morning." 
 
 " Oh, then perhaps they are not new married." 
 
 " Well, they haven't been married very long." 
 
 " I'll take my oath of that, unless they was mar- 
 ried in short frocks and pinafores well, you know 
 what I mean, William. You do take one up so 
 sharp, really you do. Anyway, she's a pretty 
 creature. It's a pleasure to do for such people 
 after the lot that comes in and out 'ere, people 
 that looks upon hotel servants as dirt." 
 
 Meantime, Godfrey and Margot having finished 
 dinner were sitting at the wide open window over- 
 looking the old market-place. There was a couch 
 drawn to one side of the window, which was a 
 French one and opened on to a stone balcony. 
 The balcony was radiant with flowers, geraniums, 
 calceolarias, nasturtiums, and lobelia, and to Mar- 
 got, even in her anxiety as to the uproar which 
 she naturally expected would follow their exploits, 
 the scene was a perfect Paradise. 
 
 " You know really, Godfrey," she said for about 
 the twentieth time, " I do feel most awfully fright- 
 ened when I think of what every one will say." 
 
 " My dearest child," he said, holding her quite 
 close to him and smiling at her fears, " you seem 
 to have forgotten one thing there is nobody in 
 the world who can make you afraid now. You are 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 "I don't think," said she, "that I shall ever 
 really feel like Mrs. Bladensbrook."
 
 128 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Oh, yes," he replied, in reassuring yet master- 
 ful tones ; " in twelve months' time, my dear child, 
 you will feel very much like Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 and in as many years you will feel as if you had 
 been born Mrs. Bladensbrook. One so soon gets 
 used to any new position in this world ; and after 
 all, whatever happens, we shall always have the 
 joy of remembering that these few precious days 
 were ours ours alone ; that they were shared by no 
 one else. They belong to you and to me alone ; 
 nobody else even knows of them." 
 
 It cannot be said that Brixham was an ideal 
 place for a young couple's honeymoon. It was a 
 large, busy, populous, manufacturing town ; it could 
 not even boast of being the county town of the 
 shire in which it stood. Twenty years before 
 Brixham had been a mere village ; it now boasted 
 a great net-work of busy streets peopled by a 
 swarm of human bees. There was little loafing 
 and next to no cadging in busy Brixham, men, 
 women, and children were all intent on the business 
 of money-making, and of the few private people 
 who lived there each and all were retired, or, as in 
 the case of Mrs. Blake, the widows of those who 
 had been in business in the town. Staying there 
 was in itself something of a risk for Margot, but, 
 as she wisely remarked to Godfrey, not a soul 
 likely to be on visiting terms with her aunt would 
 remain in the town during that particular month 
 of the year. Her aunt, for instance, who had gone 
 off to Italy by way of Geneva, had complained 
 most bitterly during the last ten days of her stay
 
 A TWO DAYS HONEYMOON. 129 
 
 that never before had she slept in Brixham after 
 the first of August, and that under no circum- 
 stances would she ever again do a similar thing. 
 She had more than once professed herself devoutly 
 thankful to Providence that she was not likely to 
 be seen by anybody who knew her, and she said 
 several times that she should stay away at least 
 six months probably for eight or nine in order 
 that she might be asked no question as to the 
 actual date of her leaving home. 
 
 So these two remained in the quiet hotel, taking 
 all their meals in their own room, sitting a good 
 deal on the balcony, which was discreetly shaded 
 besides being screened with flowers, and dreaming 
 long, delicious, golden dreams of the brilliant and 
 happy future which spread itself out so alluringly 
 before them. On the third day, the day on which 
 Margot had promised to go home, Godfrey Bla- 
 densbrook found a letter at the Mitre Hotel which 
 had been forwarded to him among others from 
 his regiment. It was from his mother, and was 
 strangely unlike her firm, decisive, well-rounded 
 sentences. 
 
 "I have a strange foreboding of coming ill," 
 she wrote. " I don't know why I should have, 
 because everything here is pretty much as usual, 
 and if anything were wrong with you, I feel sure 
 that I should have heard it before this. I am 
 almost afraid that something has gone wrong with 
 my heart. I seem to have such sudden attacks of 
 faintness, and they come on me most often in the 
 small hours of the morning, when everything is still
 
 I3O A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN, 
 
 and not a soul is moving in this great house. You 
 cannot imagine what a horrid, dreary, weird feel- 
 ing it is to have this sudden fluttering of one's 
 heart, this sudden feeling as it were like a hand 
 gripping at one's vitality. I am not nervous, as 
 you know ; but if you can possibly get a few days' 
 leave and will come up to town to meet me, I will 
 go next Monday. I shall stay at the Alexandra ; 
 it is so near to the green of the Park, and at this 
 time of year one wants greenery before all else. 
 You might send me a wire to say whether you 
 will meet me there or not" 
 
 Without waiting to go back to the King's Arms 
 and to consult Margot, Godfrey Bladensbrook 
 turned straight into the post-office and wired to 
 his man-servant at Blankhampton : " Wire in my 
 name to Mrs. Bladensbrook at Bladensbrook," he 
 said, " and say that, if possible, I will meet her in 
 London on Monday." Having sent this off, he 
 felt a little more easy and went back to the King's 
 Arms, where he found Margot busily engaged in 
 packing her belongings in a new trunk as nearly a 
 counterpart of the one which had been wrecked in 
 the tunnel as they had been able to procure. 
 
 " My dearest," he said to her, " I have a piece 
 of rather unpleasant news to tell you." 
 
 "Oh, Godfrey!" she cried, clasping her hands 
 together ; " what is it ?" 
 
 "They haven't found anything out not a 
 word, not a thing but here is a letter from my 
 mother. You see, she seems to have got some- 
 thing wrong with her heart. I cannot refuse to go
 
 A TWO DAYS' HONEYMOON. 131 
 
 to London, and under the circumstances I know 
 perfectly well that I shall be able to get leave, even 
 if it is only for the one night ; but I must ask you 
 to keep our secret for a few days longer for this 
 reason. I cannot possibly go and break it to her in 
 the face of such a letter as this. You know with 
 flutterings and faintnesses and such like things, 
 sometimes it may be laid at the door of indigestion 
 and dyspepsia. Goodness knows, it seems too funny 
 to think of my mother being troubled with either 
 one or the other ! Of course, it may not be more 
 serious than that. I should like to go up and meet 
 her, see what the doctor says, and, if a favourable 
 opportunity of telling her occurs before I come 
 back, I shall take it." 
 
 " Of course," said Margot, " you must do what 
 you think best about that. After all, a few days 
 more or less will make no difference to anybody. 
 I don't suppose that anybody at home will notice 
 that my things are different, or will dream that I 
 have not come straight from Aunt Marcia's house. 
 At all events, if the worst comes to the worst, I 
 must just bear it until you come and rescue 
 me." 
 
 " I think," he said, " that I had better give you 
 some money, that you may get yourself some more 
 dresses and replace those that were damaged. I 
 don't want to change a cheque here indeed, 
 they would not have changed a big cheque here 
 so I went to the bank the other morning and 
 they got me some money from town, from my 
 own bank, that is. Here are one hundred pounds.
 
 132 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 I brought fifty pounds in gold and fifty pounds in 
 notes." 
 
 " I shall not want so much," said Margot 
 
 " Well, you had better take it. One never knows 
 what may happen, and you might chance to want 
 something between this and the next ten days, and 
 I would rather that you had plenty of money by 
 you." 
 
 " I will get a couple of dresses," said she ; " but 
 the notes I will keep until we meet again." 
 
 " As you like about that. Of course, you will 
 be able to get as many dresses as you want as 
 soon as the real position of things is announced." 
 
 She put the money away in her purse, and 
 making the notes into a parcel in her handker- 
 chief she thrust them into her bosom. 
 
 " I shall stay here to-night," he said, " and go 
 back to Blankhampton to-morrow ; see if I cannot 
 get my leave, and go to London on Monday morn- 
 ing. And you will write to me?" 
 
 " Well, I shall not get home until after the post 
 has gone out, dear," said Margot ; " and there is 
 no Sunday post at Bladensbrook, you know." 
 
 " Then write to me on Monday, and address me 
 to the Alexandra Hotel. And now I think it is 
 time I saw you safely off on your journey."
 
 A MYSTERY. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A MYSTERY. 
 
 LOOKING back, Margot afterwards regarded 
 that journey homewards as one of the most 
 anxious and wretched times which she had ever 
 experienced. She felt guilty; she felt that she 
 was going home to be found out; she had no 
 realization of being Mrs. Bladensbrook, Godfrey's 
 wife ; she only felt that she was in for the biggest 
 thing in the shape of a row which she had ever 
 experienced. She felt as if her doings of the last 
 few days were branded upon her forehead, that 
 nobody could look at her without perceiving the 
 change in her. The Margot who was going back 
 was not the Margot who had come away from the 
 simple country Rectory ; it was a new Margot. It 
 was not the lady regnant of Bladensbrook ; it was 
 a frightened, nervous, and miserable little girl who 
 was inevitably to be found out. But when she got 
 to the end of her journey and had reached her 
 destination, she found everything had turned out 
 quite differently to what her anxious anticipations 
 had conjectured. The stanhope was at the station 
 to meet her, and in reply to her eager enquiry as 
 to how the Rector was, old Thomas replied that 
 he was but sadly. 
 
 " How do you mean ?" Margot asked, in alarm. 
 
 " I don't know, Miss ; but I doubt the Rector is
 
 134 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 not the man he was. He seems dull and dreary- 
 like, as if he had no spirit to rouse himself and do 
 anything; and there he sits in that study poring 
 over that great book and all them sheets of writin' 
 until my brains feel addled to think of it." 
 
 " Ah, but my father is used to it," said Margot, 
 as she climbed into the stanhope and took the 
 reins. 
 
 " Well, yes, Miss, there's no gainsaying that ; but 
 he is looking very sadly this last few days, very 
 sadly, indeed." 
 
 " Have you any other news, Thomas ?" Margot 
 asked, as they turned out of the station-yard. 
 
 " Well, I did hear the mistress at the Hall was 
 not at all well. She swounded away once or twice, 
 and they had rather a work to get her to last 
 time." 
 
 " Oh, you don't say that !" said Margot, feigning 
 a great surprise. 
 
 "Yes, Miss, that's what they tell me. I see 
 Long Tom this mornin' from the Hall, and he tell 
 me they were all in a rare taking about it. I believe 
 the mistress is going to London on Monday to get 
 device." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear that," said Margot, simu- 
 lating her surprise very cleverly. 
 
 Arrived at the Rectory, she found all was peace 
 and quietness and ignorance. The Rector was in 
 his roomy old study with the long French win- 
 dows opening on to a wide veranda, which was 
 occupied at that moment by half a dozen lounging 
 chairs and a couple of wicker tables.
 
 A MYSTERY, 135 
 
 " Ah, my child, is that you ?" he asked, as Mar- 
 got put her bright face in at the door. " I have 
 missed you more than I can say ; nobody knows how 
 much ; and right glad I am to get you back again." 
 
 "Dear Daddy," said Margot, putting her arm 
 round his shoulder, " I have come back, again like 
 a bad ha'penny. It is a shame." 
 
 " What ! that you are come back again, or that 
 you are come back again like a bad ha'penny ?" 
 said the Rector, smiling at her. 
 
 " Oh, that I have come back at all, still less that 
 I have come back like a bad ha'penny. But, 
 Daddy, dear, have you had any tea ?" 
 
 " No ; I waited for you." 
 
 " Then we will have tea at once." She rang the 
 bell and ordered it, then sat down upon the edge 
 of his solid oak writing-table and went on chat- 
 ting. " And how is every one ? Everything going 
 on pretty much as usual, I suppose. What's this 
 I hear about Mrs. Bladensbrook ?" 
 
 " Ah, poor soul poor soul," said the Rector, 
 laying down his pen and staring in a far-away 
 manner at his daughter, " I am afraid she is in 
 very indifferent kind of health. People may be 
 ill, you know, very ill, and yet it may be nothing 
 that really alarms one ; but when a woman of Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook's age begins to have faintings and 
 flutterings of the heart, and all that sort of thing, 
 it makes it a very anxious piece of business. Oh, 
 my dear child, I have missed you very much, and 
 I hope you won't go away again for a very long 
 time."
 
 136 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 "I don't know, Daddy," said Margot, who had, 
 it must be remembered, the intention of going 
 away for a very long time at no very distant 
 period. 
 
 " Somehow the house is not the same without 
 you. I always feel, when you are away for a few 
 days or even a few hours, that there is something 
 missing, that I have lost something. See what it 
 is to be indispensable, my dear; but don't let it 
 make you too conceited." 
 
 " Daddy," said Margot, slipping off the table 
 and going towards the window, " you will come 
 out and have your tea, won't you ?" 
 
 " Yes, my dear ; yes, yes." 
 
 "And the book, Daddy?" said Margot. 
 
 "The book, did you say? Oh, it gets on, but 
 very slowly. I have neither the time nor the in- 
 clination to work in a way that one really calls 
 work, but I sit here and I potter at it ; but it is 
 only pottering, my child ; it is only pottering, and 
 one never turns out much of the world's work in 
 that way." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know, dear ; you have worked 
 very hard at that old book. I don't believe it will 
 ever repay you." 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but some day, when your old 
 Daddy is dead and gone, you will be able to look 
 back and think, ' He wrote the greatest book on 
 architectural embellishments that is to be found in 
 the whole world.' " 
 
 Margot dropped the tongs back upon the sugar 
 basin and stretched out a little trembling hand
 
 A MYSTERY. 137 
 
 towards her old father. " Dear Daddy," she said, 
 " when that day comes I shall not remember you 
 by your book. I shall always be proud of you, 
 always be proud of everything that you have done ; 
 but I shall remember you first and last as my own 
 dear old Daddy. After all, however valuable the 
 book may be and however famous it may make 
 you, you will always be Daddy to us, first and last, 
 just the same." 
 
 " My dear little girl," said the old Rector ; " my 
 dear little girl" 
 
 They had quite a merry tea after this, with fruit 
 and cream and cakes, and even with a plateful of 
 fat rascals. 
 
 " I will tell you," said Margot, " we never had 
 such a tea as this at Brixham." 
 
 " Didn't you, though ? And does Marcia keep 
 the austere table that she used to do ?" 
 
 " Yes, dear worse. She says that eating is 
 fleshly and ought to be suppressed. Aunt Marcia 
 never suppresses her own eating. She preaches 
 and other people practice." 
 
 " Ah," laughed the Rector, " that is Marcia all 
 over. Ton my word I never did wonder, fond as 
 I am of Marcia my dear, I wouldn't say a word 
 against my own sister? is it likely? but I never 
 wondered that poor old Blake died. She used to 
 dragoon him in really terrible fashion. Poor old 
 chap, never a pipe did he have in peace ; never an 
 afternoon snooze did he have without interruption, 
 unless she was away. He did have a life, and no 
 mistake about it. So she has gone off to Italy. 
 
 12*
 
 138 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 What made her go off to Italy at this time of 
 year ?" 
 
 " Well, Daddy, she has really gone to Geneva. 
 She is going to stay at Geneva until the weather 
 turns chilly, and then she is going to Italy." 
 
 " Did it ever strike you," said the Rector, in a 
 mysterious tone, "that she would have liked to 
 have gone to Italy with us ?" 
 
 " Yes, Daddy. I think Aunt Marcia was bitterly 
 offended that we did not ask her to join us." 
 
 " Ah, well," said the Rector, stirring his tea 
 round and round, " I never mind Marcia's coming 
 here ; I never mind Marcia when I have got my own 
 study at hand in which I can barricade myself with 
 sermons ; but Marcia in a foreign hotel ; Marcia 
 sniffing at the foreign cooking and sprawling about 
 on the foreign floors and screeching at the foreign 
 beggars, and generally making, everything and 
 everybody extremely uncomfortable, is beyond my 
 powers of endurance. Do you think she realized 
 that, or did she think it was an oversight ?" 
 
 " Aunt Marcia didn't think it was an oversight, 
 Daddy," said Margot, her face dimpling all over. 
 "Aunt Marcia expressed herself in the strongest 
 and plainest terms on the subject. ' I don't under- 
 stand people,' she said, very pointedly, ' who can 
 ask one to pay them interminable visits in dull 
 country rectories which are not half as comfortable 
 as one's own suitable domicile. I should under- 
 stand a relation who really cared for one offering 
 to make a journey together. I should have been 
 pleased to share expenses,' she added."
 
 A MYSTERY. 139 
 
 "Oh, did she ? Dear me ! Well, if she stays 
 away six months this time ; did you say six 
 months, Margot?" 
 
 " Six or seven or eight or nine months, dear." 
 " Well, if she stays away as long as that, she 
 won't want to go away again very soon, at least I 
 should think not. I am glad she has gone to 
 Italy. I didn't want to go to Italy this winter. I 
 wanted to go to Biarritz and see a little of the 
 Basque country, and perhaps a little of the Pyr- 
 enees. I don't think Marcia would care about 
 that, would she ? And next winter, if we have to 
 go away again," which was a delicate way of say- 
 ing if he were still alive, " I am particularly anxious 
 to go to Greece. It would please me very much. 
 I shouldn't say that Marcia would care about going 
 to Greece, Margot?" 
 
 " I really don't know, dear. I should say not." 
 So Margot's first chat with her father passed 
 over without any suspicion entering his mind that 
 things were not quite as they seemed. It was not 
 until she got up-stairs again, when she went to 
 change her dress for dinner, that she realized that, 
 although you can usually blind a man, it is not as 
 easy a task to blind a woman. The housemaid, 
 Nancy, who had been at the Rectory since long 
 before Margot was born, was in her room, occupied 
 in putting away her things. " Why, Miss Margot," 
 she remarked, as soon as the girl put her head into 
 the room, " you have got a new trunk." 
 
 " Yes, I have, Nancy," said Margot ; " my own 
 happened an accident, and I bought a new one."
 
 140 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " And you never had your initials put on, Miss ?" 
 
 " No, I didn't. I only got it at the last minute." 
 
 "There, now! And you have only brought 
 about half your things home with you." 
 
 " Have I, Nancy ?" said Margot. 
 
 " That indeed you haven't. There's your black 
 silk dress is missin' and your white satin. What 
 have you done with them ?" 
 
 " I got them both spoilt, Nancy." 
 
 " Why, however did that happen ?" asked the 
 maid, turning upon Margot, with the deepest 
 interest. 
 
 " Well, they both got spoiled," said Margot ; 
 " and it was no use bringing home the fragments, 
 so I left them behind. I am going into Exhamp- 
 ton to-morrow to get a couple of new dresses." 
 
 " You have got a new umbrella and a new sun- 
 shade!" said Nancy, who seemed determined to go 
 on with the subject to the bitter end. 
 
 " Yes, I know. I lost them," said Margot. As a 
 matter of fact, Margot had left them in the railway 
 carriage in the tunnel between Brixham and Rux- 
 ford, but she could not very well tell Nancy that. 
 " I lost them, Nancy, and had to get new ones." 
 
 " Dear me, you didn't used to be so careless, 
 Miss Margot," was Nancy's astonished remark. 
 " To spoil your two best dresses and lose your 
 umbrella and your sunshade ! I can't make head 
 nor tail of it" 
 
 " Well, Nancy, it isn't necessary that you should 
 make head or tail of it. I spoilt the one and I 
 lost the other ; and I am going to buy new ones
 
 A MYSTERY. 141 
 
 to replace them. Really, Nancy, you are very in- 
 quisitive." 
 
 " Not at all, Miss Margot ; but I wait upon you 
 and I put your things away, and I wondered where 
 they were." 
 
 " Well, they are gone, my dear Nancy, and you 
 will never see any of them again ; neither shall I. 
 It's no use crying over spilt milk, Nancy." 
 
 She quickly changed her dress and got out of 
 the old servant's way. So that evening passed 
 over without any more comments. Mr. Danger- 
 field did not ask one single embarrassing question, 
 and Margot took care that she did not put herself 
 in the way of further gratifying Nancy's curiosity. 
 
 The following day was bright and fair, a late 
 August day, with the scent of roses everywhere 
 and a certain sense of sleepy luxuriousness hang- 
 ing over everything. She saw as soon as she 
 entered the church that Mrs. Bladensbrook was in 
 her accustomed seat, looking very much the same 
 as usual, but a trifle pale and bright about the eyes. 
 She saw, too, that she was not alone in the great 
 square pew as was her custom, but that her maid, 
 a staid, lady-like looking woman of some forty 
 years old, sat in the opposite corner. It was the 
 first time that she had ever seen a servant in the 
 Bladensbrook family pew. Evidently Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook was afraid of one of these new attacks 
 of faintness coming upon her during the service. 
 As usual, the lady of the manor and the Rector's 
 daughter went out by the little chancel-door into 
 the glorious summer sunshine.
 
 142 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Ah, my dear," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, hold- 
 ing out her hand, " I am very glad to see you back 
 again. Your father has missed you very much. 
 I have been obliged to look after him quite like a 
 mother." 
 
 " Oh, how good of you !" cried Margot, who 
 with the weight of her secret full in her mind felt 
 doubly indebted towards this gracious lady who, 
 whatever her own pain or weakness, never forgot 
 those who were near to her. 
 
 " And how did you leave Mrs. Blake ?" 
 
 " Oh, she has gone to Geneva," said Margot. 
 
 " Really ? Did she leave before you ?" 
 
 " Yes, a little while. She is going to stay away 
 a long time ; all the winter, and perhaps longer." 
 
 " And she went before you ?" 
 
 " Well, you see, I meant to pay another visit to 
 some very dear friends of mine about fifty miles 
 from Auntie; and just at the last minute I had a 
 letter from Father in which he seemed so moped 
 and so lonely without me that I thought I had 
 better give it up and come straight home, so I put 
 off my visit." 
 
 " That was very good of you. I am glad you 
 did that," said Mrs. Bladensbrook in her most 
 gracious accents ; " because you know, my dear, 
 you have only one father, and now that your dear 
 mother is gone he is very lonely. You ought to 
 make very much of him." 
 
 " I am very fond of my Daddy," said Margot, 
 with a suspicious choking in her throat. 
 
 " I am going to London to-morrow," said Mrs.
 
 A MYSTERY. 143 
 
 Bladensbrook as they reached the gate where her 
 carriage was standing. " I have not been very well, 
 dear, lately, and I am going to see my doctor. 
 Godfrey will meet me in town. Come and dine with 
 me to-night if the Rector will bring you. It will 
 do him good, and I shall be very glad of your 
 company." 
 
 For a moment Margot felt as if the very earth 
 must open and swallow her. She, who knew 
 Godfrey's movements much better than his mother 
 did, to be having this told to her as a piece of news 
 was too dreadful to one of her open and candid 
 mind. 
 
 " I suppose I may take all sorts of messages 
 from you ?" said Mrs. Bladensbrook with a last 
 gracious wave of her hand, and Margot gave a 
 sort of smile and a strange tremulous gesture 
 which might have passed for one of acquiescence, 
 but she spoke no word ; indeed, her lips positively 
 refused to utter a single sentence. 
 
 It was a time of torture to her that evening be- 
 cause her father at once joyfully acquiesced in 
 the invitation, and they walked up to the House 
 together in the cool of the delightful summer even- 
 ing. And the first thing which greeted her in the 
 morning was the sight of Nancy standing by her 
 bed with a little tray on which was a cup of tea, a 
 bit of toast, and a letter addressed in a handwriting 
 somewhat resembling Godfrey's. She tore it open 
 eagerly. It contained but these few words, " My 
 dearest, don't write at all until you hear from me. 
 On no account disclose anything" of wKat has
 
 144 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 passed, and don't part with the notes which I gave 
 you. If necessary, destroy them ; in that case only 
 destroy them by burning. When we meet I will 
 explain everything to you. Forgive me for putting 
 this ban upon you ; but I have only two minutes to 
 decide in, and it is the only way I can see to get 
 you out of the difficulty in which I find myself. 
 Always your true, loving, and devoted Godfrey." 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE. 
 
 IT was but natural that the receipt of such a 
 letter filled Margot's mind with many and strange 
 conjectures. During the whole of that lovely sum- 
 mer day she went about the Rectory and the old 
 garden wondering what in the world could be the 
 meaning of a communication so mysterious and 
 yet so vague. In what difficulty could Godfrey 
 Bladensbrook have found himself? Possibly it 
 was something connected with the railway acci- 
 dent ; and yet it could hardly be that : possibly he 
 had been sent for from his regiment ; and yet that 
 was hardly likely. She thought and puzzled and 
 wondered, but all her tangle of conjecture brought 
 her no nearer to the actual truth. When night- 
 fall came, she was still as much in the dark as she 
 had been at the beginning of the day. Nothing, 
 she thought, could have happened to Godfrey,
 
 ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE. 145 
 
 because she had seen Mrs. Bladensbrook drive past 
 on her way to the station, and that gracious lady 
 had waved her hand with many smiles and just 
 her usual suavity of manner. What could such a 
 difficulty be ? It must have been something con- 
 nected with the railway accident. But wondering 
 and fretting and speculating were all of no use. 
 She wandered about idly during the whole morn- 
 ing, and after lunch she went off in her pony-cart 
 to try to kill time that way. She had half an idea 
 that there might be a letter by the second post ; 
 for there was a second post at Bladensbrook, not 
 in the regular order of things, but because any 
 letters for the Rectory were always included in 
 the afternoon bag for the House. She stayed out 
 until very near to dinner-time, but no letter greeted 
 her on her arrival home. She dressed and spent 
 the evening very much as usual, going to bed 
 somewhat early; and as soon as she was safely 
 locked within the shelter of her own room she took 
 out the notes which Godfrey had given her. Why 
 was she not to use those notes ? Of course, for 
 some reason connected with their numbers. She 
 made them into a very small parcel, sealed it care- 
 fully, and put it away in a small secret drawer be- 
 longing to her jewel case. It was a case which 
 she had bought with her own money about a year 
 previously. She had chanced to pick it up in 
 Milan, and it really was a secret drawer, one which 
 she had not herself found out for some months 
 after the case had come into her possession. Girl- 
 like, having no secrets to guard, she had carefully 
 G k 13
 
 146 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 kept the secret of the little drawer, so that she 
 was not in the least afraid that any one would find 
 it out. 
 
 The following day Mrs. Bladensbrook returned 
 home, and the Rector chancing to meet her on her 
 way from the station heard and brought the news 
 to Margot that Godfrey had failed to meet her in 
 London, and had not given her any explanation of 
 his non-appearance. " I cannot understand why 
 he did not come," she had said to him. " I had a 
 telegram from him saying that he would meet me 
 at the Alexandra ; but he not only did not come, 
 but he never telegraphed or wrote his reason. I 
 have just sent off a telegram to Blankhampton to 
 make sure that he is not ill. Godfrey is quite one 
 to say nothing if he were seized with illness, for 
 fear of agitating me, and really I do feel most in- 
 tensely anxious." 
 
 Later in the evening the brougham came down 
 from the House with a note begging the Rector to 
 come up to Mrs. Bladensbrook without a moment's 
 delay. The Rector and Margot had but just fin- 
 ished dinner, and he set off at once, leaving his 
 daughter with a sinking heart and with an awful 
 feeling of coming disaster weighing heavily upon 
 her. She had to endure two hours of anguish be- 
 fore the carriage was heard bringing her father 
 back again. " What was the matter, Daddy ?" 
 she asked, coming out into the hall. 
 
 " Really, my dear child, I can hardly tell you," 
 was his reply. She heard from his tone that, what- 
 ever the matter was, it was nothing personal to her-
 
 ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE. 147 
 
 self, that so far nothing had come out of their 
 escapade together. 
 
 Mr. Dangerfield went into the drawing-room and 
 closed the door after Margot. " My dear child," 
 he said, "it is really most extraordinary. Mrs, 
 Bladensbrook wrote to young Godfrey, told him 
 how ill she was, and asked him to meet her in town 
 yesterday." 
 
 " Yes, I know that," said Margot ; " she told me." 
 " Well, he telegraphed back to say that he would 
 come to the hotel some time during Monday. She 
 went there, but he never turned up at all. She 
 naturally concluded that duty of some kind had 
 kept him back, and that she would have a letter 
 the next morning. She had no letter. She there- 
 fore went to see the doctor, and, according to her 
 original plan, returned home thinking that she 
 would find a letter. However, when she reached 
 Exhampton, it occurred to her that the wisest 
 thing was to telegraph to Godfrey at Blankhamp- 
 ton to know if anything was wrong with him. She 
 received an answer just before eight o'clock which 
 said that Godfrey was not at Blankhampton ; that 
 his address during the last ten days had been at 
 Marley Spa. Accordingly she had sent down for 
 me, scarcely knowing what she ought to do. It 
 was really most difficult for me to give her any 
 advice at all," said the Rector, looking perplexedly 
 at Margot. " You see I have known her for so many 
 years, and, except upon parochial matters, Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook had never asked my advice at all. 
 When the squire died and she became the regent
 
 148 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 of everything, she never dreamed of asking my ad- 
 vice about any matters whatever, and I really felt 
 quite like a fish out of water. However, she seemed 
 in such distress and Mrs. Bladensbrook in distress 
 is really a dreadful sight, my child that I advised 
 her to wait till morning and to telegraph to Marley 
 Spa. Of course, poor lady, she is fancying all 
 sorts of the wildest things, really the most incom- 
 prehensible things, for which she has no grounds 
 whatever. Of course it is very unusual and queer, 
 but young men often do queer and unusual things, 
 and, of course, equally there is nothing for it but 
 for her to wait patiently until the morning and 
 then find out as much as the telegraph wires will 
 tell her." 
 
 "It seems most extraordinary," said Margot, 
 who, poor child, scarcely knew what to say. Of 
 course, she well knew that Marley Spa was the 
 name of the place where Godfrey had ostensibly 
 been living during the last few days. An awful 
 thought occurred to her that if anything had 
 happened to him, surely they would connect his 
 having stayed there with the fact that Marley Spa 
 was only a few miles from Brixham. Then every- 
 thing was bound to come out, and in the face of 
 that letter from Godfrey she would be able to 
 explain nothing. Indeed, if Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 passed a bad night during those dark hours which 
 intervened between the Rector's departure from 
 the House and the opening of the telegraph office 
 in the morning, Margot kept her company. Not 
 an eye did the girl close. She spent most of the
 
 ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE. 149 
 
 night, if the truth be told, sitting at the open win- 
 dow, huddled in a shawl and wondering what she 
 should do if that link were made in the chain. 
 
 Immediately after breakfast the Rector trotted 
 away to see how Mrs. Bladensbrook was getting 
 on. Margot was dying to go with him, but under 
 the circumstances she did not like to propose it, 
 so she remained dawdling about the garden pre- 
 tending to do a dozen things and in reality occu- 
 pied with nothing, her mind torn by a thousand 
 emotions and full of anxiety. She almost flew to 
 her father when he made his appearance. " Well, 
 Daddy," she asked, " and what is the news ?" 
 
 " News ? My dear, there is next to none. The 
 plot darkens, the mystery thickens. Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook has had a long telegram from the adju- 
 tant of Godfrey's regiment and another long tele- 
 gram from the landlord of the hotel where he was 
 supposed to have been staying at Marley Spa. The 
 adjutant says that he has been away for ten days ; 
 that he went to Marley Spa feeling not very well, 
 and saying that a few days of the waters would do 
 him good. His leave is up to-night. The land- 
 lord of the hotel at Marley Spa says that he paid 
 for his rooms in advance for ten days ; went sev- 
 eral mornings to ask if there were any letters or 
 telegrams, but that he has never slept there." 
 
 " And what does Mrs. Bladensbrook think ?" 
 
 " Ton my word, I don't know what she does 
 
 think. I told her the best thing she can do is to 
 
 wait a few days and see what Godfrey says for 
 
 himself. He is not the kind of young man to 
 
 13*
 
 I5O A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 brook much interference ; after all, he is a man out 
 in the world, his own master, and, as I told Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, he is not accountable to her or any- 
 body else for his comings and goings, and that the 
 best thing to do would be to write to the regiment 
 a letter which will await his return, and simply ask 
 for an explanation of why he did not keep his 
 promise to meet her in London." 
 
 "And what did Mrs. Bladensbrook say?" asked 
 Margot, eagerly. 
 
 "Well, she was rather unreasonable about it," 
 said the Rector. " You see I could not tell her so, 
 seeing that she was in such a great state of distress 
 and anxiety, but I hinted as much. Yes, I think 
 she was decidedly unreasonable. You see she has 
 brought up Godfrey from his early childhood to 
 consider himself the most important person in his 
 sphere, and for years past, long before he came 
 into possession of his kingdom, she accustomed 
 him to have the casting vote about everything, to 
 be dominant, to judge for himself, and the fact that 
 he has gone away for a few days without consult- 
 ing her is quite what she might reasonably expect. 
 Possibly he has hurt himself or met with some 
 small accident, and he doesn't wish to worry her 
 about it." 
 
 " But he would have telegraphed ; he would 
 have written saying why he did not go to meet her 
 in London," said Margot. 
 
 " Well, that is what she says yes, but still, he 
 didn't go, did he? And that is just the long and 
 short of it. I am quite sure that the best possible
 
 ABSENT WITHO UT LEAVE. 1 5 1 
 
 thing to do is to wait patiently for a few days and 
 see what the natural sequence of events will do in 
 the matter." 
 
 And Mrs. Bladensbrook did wait for a few days, 
 but no word or sign came from Godfrey, or indeed 
 from any one else. Then she lost all patience, and 
 set off to Blankhampton to see whether she could 
 discover any trace of him herself. At the end of 
 three days she wrote to the Rector, " I can find 
 no trace of Godfrey whatever. I don't understand 
 this mystery. I feel convinced that he has been 
 murdered or got out of the road in some way. I 
 have put the matter in the hands of the police, and 
 the colonel of the regiment thinks that I am doing 
 perfectly wisely. Most of Godfrey's things are at 
 the hotel at Marley Spa, that is to say, most of the 
 things which he seems to have taken with him 
 from Blankhampton. They tell me that he was 
 perfectly well in health, but complained the day be- 
 fore he asked for his leave of feeling not quite the 
 thing. He started from Blankhampton to go to 
 Marley Spa for a short course of the waters, but 
 has never slept in the hotel. The rooms are paid 
 for and his things are still there. The landlord 
 has not the smallest idea whether he slept in the 
 town or not. I can find no trace of him at the 
 station. Nobody seems to have noticed anything 
 about him, which seems very remarkable, as God- 
 frey is particularly noticeable in appearance. Some 
 of his belongings are missing. I took his port- 
 manteau and all the things that I found at the 
 hotel at Marley Spa back to Blankhampton ; and
 
 I$2 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 his body-servant tells me that a similar portman- 
 teau and several suits of clothing, together with 
 his combs and brushes and other toilet appliances, 
 are all missing." 
 
 It is almost impossible to describe with what 
 mixed feelings Margot read this letter. She knew 
 but too well that all Godfrey's toilet appliances 
 had been destroyed in the railway accident. They 
 had found the debris of certain ivory-backed 
 brushes and such things in the shed at Ruxford ; 
 and Godfrey had pointed them out to her privately 
 with a laugh at their ruined condition, but had not 
 claimed them because of the crest and monogram 
 emblazoned upon them. " It is no use claiming 
 these," he said to her ; " they are completely done 
 for. And as I have given the name of Smith, it will 
 be best not to claim anything with G. B. stamped 
 on it, more particularly as you have claimed things 
 marked with other initials than those under which 
 you are passing." 
 
 After ten days or so, Mrs. Bladensbrook returned 
 home no wiser than she had been when she left it. 
 Apparently Godfrey had disappeared utterly and 
 entirely ; he had disappeared as completely as if 
 the earth had opened and swallowed him up ; there 
 was apparently no trace of him. It was as if he 
 had vanished from off the face of the earth. The 
 day after her return Mrs. Bladensbrook drove down 
 to the Rectory in order to talk it all over, and to 
 tell the Rector and Margot the very latest news, 
 or want of news. 
 
 "If there were any reason for it," said Mrs.
 
 ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE. 153 
 
 Bladensbrook for about the twentieth time, when 
 she had told them all that she knew or did not 
 know ; " if there were any reason for it, then it 
 would be understandable enough ; but Godfrey was 
 not like other young men : he is so rich, so free in 
 his circumstances ; it is so unlike him. I cannot 
 make it out. And really there is nothing about 
 his rooms to show that he was mixed up in any 
 way with anybody outside. His colonel and I 
 looked over his letters such as were lying about 
 and they were all the veriest and most unim- 
 portant trifles, invitations and such like. There 
 are no signs of his being entangled in any way. 
 There is a portrait of myself and Margot and your 
 two boys and a set of photographs of Bladens- 
 brook, but all things that he has had about him 
 for years. I cannot understand it. And, of 
 course, his leave is long since at an end. He is 
 absent without leave, a grave military offence. It 
 seems impossible that a Bladensbrook could de- 
 liberately absent himself when his leave was fin- 
 ished. What do you think, Margot ?" 
 
 "I don't know what to think," said Margot, 
 which was true enough.
 
 154 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 AT A DEAD END. 
 
 ALL the efforts of Mrs. Bladensbrook to elicit 
 information about Godfrey's movements and where- 
 abouts proved to be unavailing. So far as she was 
 able to trace him herself just so far did the police 
 go likewise, then the traces broke off sharp, and 
 all her efforts and all those of the detectives whom 
 she employed proved to be absolutely unavailing. 
 
 The weeks went by and the glorious summer 
 weather waned into autumn. In due course of 
 time Godfrey was gazetted as being superseded for 
 absence without leave ; then, indeed, did Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook begin to realize that her son was irre- 
 trievably lost to her. " And yet," she said to 
 Margot, " I cannot think that Godfrey is dead. I 
 think if he were dead he would come back ; he 
 would find some means of letting me know what 
 had happened to him. I feel sure that he would 
 never leave me in this terrible anxiety and sus- 
 pense. He would come; he would send some 
 token ; he would let me know somehow. Yet, 
 why is he staying away ? Or, if he finds it neces- 
 sary, for some reason best known to himself, to 
 throw over his whole career, to abandon every- 
 thing that life has held for him up to now, why 
 does he not set my mind at rest? Godfrey has 
 always been so affectionate, so thoughtful, so con-
 
 AT A DEAD END. 155 
 
 siderate for me before all, and, indeed, before every- 
 body about him. I feel convinced, from the state 
 of his papers, for every reason, that he left Blank- 
 hampton intending to return; that he had no 
 thought of all this happening. Then, what about 
 those notes ?" 
 
 " What notes ?" asked Margot. 
 
 " My dear, whilst he was at Marley Spa he went 
 to the bank. He gave them a cheque for one 
 hundred and thirty pounds, and he told them to 
 get it cashed and that he would come for the 
 money in a couple of days' time. He took the 
 money fifty pounds of it in bank-notes and 
 eighty pounds in gold. Naturally, the numbers 
 of those notes were taken before the clerk handed 
 them to him ; and, although they have communi- 
 cated with every bank in England, not one of 
 those notes has been traced or has come back. 
 How do you account for that ?" 
 
 Now, as Margot had the whole of the notes in 
 her possession at that moment, she could have ac- 
 counted for it very easily, but the possession of 
 Godfrey's last letter was sufficient to make her 
 keep the fact to herself. 
 
 " If Godfrey had been maltreated and robbed 
 for the sake of that hundred and thirty pounds," 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook went on, " the thieves would 
 certainly have spent the money. Some of the 
 notes would be in circulation by this time, but 
 there is not a trace of any one of those notes to 
 be found anywhere. How do you, I say, account
 
 156 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " I suppose whoever has them is afraid to pass 
 them," said Margot. 
 
 " Well, if that is so, we shall probably never 
 hear of them. They are probably destroyed long 
 ago. But I want to know where is Godfrey? 
 Why should Godfrey leave me like this ? Why 
 should he go against all the habits and customs 
 of his life ? I cannot make it out." 
 
 " Nor I," said Margot. 
 
 "And yet," Mrs. Bladensbrook went on, "I feel 
 convinced that Godfrey is alive; that he is not 
 dead. I shall always think that, unless I have 
 actual proof of it." 
 
 Margot, however, had no opinion to offer on 
 the subject of Godfrey's whereabouts or as to 
 what had happened to him. If she had made a 
 clean breast of it, that is to say of her own part in 
 Godfrey's life, she could have told nothing except 
 that he was certainly alive on the day previous to 
 that whereon he was to have met his mother in 
 London. His whereabouts she did not know nor 
 whether he were actually alive or not, but her be- 
 lief was that for some strange and mysterious 
 reason of his own he was keeping out of sight. 
 How long it would last, what the consequences 
 would be, she had no notion ; but in the face of 
 Godfrey's last letter to her she unhesitatingly set 
 herself to wait his time of disclosing the necessity 
 for keeping silence. She was not exactly uneasy ; 
 she felt that Godfrey knew best what was the best 
 both for her and for him ; she was more than sorry 
 for his mother's anxiety and Mrs. Bladensbrook
 
 AT A DEAD END. 157 
 
 was not a woman who bore anxiety well yet she 
 was firmly convinced that in any case it was not 
 for her to interfere or to make even the smallest 
 admission or disclosure. 
 
 The days wore on, and the people round about 
 Bladensbrook began to lose interest somewhat in 
 the fate of the master of the house. I do not 
 mean the actual entourage of Bladensbrook, but 
 the friends and acquaintances of the family for a 
 few miles around. Mrs. Bladensbrook went no- 
 where; the continual fretting and anxiety told 
 terribly upon her already indifferent health, and 
 she denied herself to all visitors excepting the 
 Rector and Margot ; she went nowhere excepting 
 sometimes to the Rectory to see the Rector when 
 he was unable to go to the House. She took her 
 drives within the confines of the estate ; in short, 
 she lived almost the life of a recluse. 
 
 " You have quite decided to go to the Pyre- 
 nees ?" she said to Mr. Dangerfield one day when 
 she had gone down to tea at the Rectory. 
 
 " It has been decided for me," said the Rector, 
 gently. 
 
 " Oh, is that so ? And how is that ?" 
 
 " Well, it has been decided that I ought to go 
 into a milder climate, somewhere where the air is 
 mild and pure. I am tired of the Riviera, and I 
 don't want to go to Italy. I feel as if the Pyrenees 
 would suit us very well, and the doctors are im- 
 perative that I should be away from England in 
 less than a fortnight." 
 
 " I envy you," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 14
 
 158 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " But why need you envy us ? Why cannot 
 you go, too ? Change of scene and seeing people 
 who know nothing of your anxiety would be very 
 good for you." 
 
 " I cannot leave Bladensbrook. I must stay at 
 home. I should not have an easy moment. Oh, 
 no ; don't suggest such a thing as my going away." 
 
 "My dear lady," said the old Rector, gently, 
 "as your good friend of many years, I do suggest 
 it. I beg you to think of it. I feel it would be 
 the wisest course that you could take. It isn't 
 like the old times ; you would be in telegraphic 
 communication with your own people the whole 
 time." 
 
 But Mrs. Bladensbrook shook her head in that 
 gentle yet decided way which, as the Rector well 
 knew, indicated that it was useless for him to say 
 another word on the subject. " I should not be 
 happy away from Bladensbrook," she said, simply ; 
 "not at present, at all events. Perhaps I may 
 come and join you later. In the meantime I must 
 stay here and keep my stewardship. I am con- 
 vinced that Godfrey is not dead. 
 
 " I hope not, indeed," said the Rector, fervently. 
 
 Then Mrs. Bladensbrook took her leave and 
 went home again ; Margot going with her to the 
 carriage and seeing her safely into it." 
 
 " Poor woman," said the Rector, when Margot 
 went back to the fireside, " how she clings to the 
 mere chance of the boy being still alive. It only 
 shows how the most sensible people can deceive 
 themselves when their hearts lead them in a certain
 
 AT A DEAD END. 159 
 
 direction. I am afraid there is little chance of 
 Godfrey Bladensbrook ever coming back to his 
 own again." 
 
 "Then you think he is dead, Daddy?" said 
 Margot. 
 
 " I should say that there is every probability of 
 it. Most likely he has been put out of the road 
 for the sake of the bit of money and the few 
 jewels he had about him. One thing is certain, at 
 least to my .mind, were he alive he would never 
 leave his mother, to whom he has always been 
 so devoted, in such anxiety and suspense. Besides, 
 what reason can he possibly have for deliberately 
 losing himself, as would be the case if her theory 
 was a right one ? No, no ; that poor boy has been 
 got out of sight, and it is a thousand chances to 
 one that the end will ever be accurately known. 
 Perhaps it is better for her, poor soul, that she 
 should cling to this hope, for it will accustom her 
 to being without him, and will certainly deaden 
 the blow when it does fall." 
 
 " I don't believe that blow will fall," said Margot, 
 in a trembling voice. 
 
 " Ah, no, your heart goes out to the poor mother. 
 Women are all alike, young and old ; they hope 
 for what they wish; men learn only to hope for 
 what is possible." 
 
 Eventually it was decided that the Rector and 
 Margot should make Pau their immediate destina- 
 tion, and within the time stipulated by the doctors 
 they left the Rectory. Mrs. Bladensbrook came 
 down to see them the previous afternoon, and then
 
 l6o A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 the Rector unfolded to her an idea which was 
 troubling him not a little. " There is something 
 on my mind which I wanted to consult you about," 
 he said to her. " You have said several times 
 lately that you were so glad that I have managed 
 to persuade Mr. Morris to remain here as curate, 
 that he might have sole charge during my winter 
 absence." 
 
 " Yes, I think it an excellent thing ; far better 
 than getting a locum tenens" said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook, decidedly. 
 
 " You like Morris, don't you ?" 
 
 " Very much, indeed," she replied. 
 
 "Don't you think," said the Rector, "that in 
 common justice I ought to resign the living?" 
 
 "No, I do not," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. "I 
 don't think so at all." 
 
 " But, dear lady, is it quite fair to go on when I 
 have to be months and months away and can take 
 but little active part in the work of the parish ?" 
 
 " My dear Rector," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " I 
 think I am right in saying that not a man, woman, 
 or child in the whole of Bladensbrook parish but 
 would be bitterly grieved if you were to leave 
 it. It would be time enough if ever you were 
 taken away to think of your successor ; while you 
 are alive I hope that nothing, not even a bishopric, 
 would induce you to turn your back upon us." 
 
 " I shall never have that inducement, Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook," said he, smiling ; " they don't make 
 bishops of such men as I am. They don't take 
 Derby winners off the cab rank."
 
 AT A DEAD END. l6l 
 
 " No, no ; I was speaking figuratively. But pray 
 do put any idea of leaving right out of your head. 
 In the first place, Godfrey is away, and a new Rector 
 could not be appointed without him." 
 
 " I thought you held Godfrey's power of attor- 
 ney ?" 
 
 " So I do ; but I do not consider that my powers 
 go so far as the presentation of a living." 
 
 " I believe they do in law," said the Rector. 
 
 " Well, whether you believe that or not, I beg 
 that you will say no more about it. You will 
 make me very unhappy if you suggest anything 
 of the kind. Mr. Morris is very nice, very dear, 
 very sympathetic, a good worker, everybody likes 
 him, but he is not our own old Rector, and we cannot 
 spare you. We cannot have you for the whole 
 year because your health demands otherwise ; we 
 prefer to have you while we can than to have you 
 not all. I entreat you to say nothing more about 
 it." 
 
 So, with a sigh, it must be admitted of infinite 
 relief, the Rector put the subject away from his 
 mind. In his own heart he knew that it would 
 not be very long before there would be no question 
 about the choice of a new Rector for Bladensbrook. 
 There are certain diseases which in the ordinary 
 course of events must come to an end sooner or 
 later, and Mr. Dangerfield knew perfectly well that 
 the time was not very far distant when that con- 
 tingency would present itself necessitously before 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook's mind. Still, he loved every 
 stick and stone, every yard of turf, every tree and 
 / 14*
 
 1 62 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 shrub about the Rectory in which he had been so 
 happy and so supremely contented ; and it was a 
 threefold joy to him to feel that he might linger 
 out his last few years in that well-loved spot with- 
 out feeling that he was looked upon as a cumberer 
 of the ground. 
 
 And with what a sinking heart did Margot 
 prepare for her journey. It would indeed be 
 hard for me to describe. As every day went 
 past, hope seemed to recede further and further 
 from her, and an awful unfathomable dread of the 
 future to press closer and closer upon her, looming 
 in front of her, tall, dark, foreboding, a something 
 that could not be excised or frightened away ; a 
 something planted immovably in front of her ; a 
 something which could only be lived through day 
 by day and hour by hour. She had a feeling that 
 it would not be safe for her to carry those bank- 
 notes on their expedition. She therefore packed 
 them together with Godfrey's last letter into a 
 fresh parcel, which she secured with many seals, 
 on the back of which she wrote, " In case of my 
 death, this parcel is to be burned unopened," and 
 this she locked away in a large dressing-case which 
 had belonged to her mother, and which she never 
 took abroad with her on account of its size and 
 weight. This box she in turn hid away at the 
 bottom of her largest wardrobe, which she care- 
 fully locked, carrying the key with he.r ; thus she 
 felt that there would be no excuse for any person 
 or persons who came into her room to tamper in 
 any way with the box containing the sealed packet.
 
 AT A DEAD END. 163 
 
 " I am afraid, Margot," said Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 that last afternoon, "that you are much more 
 anxious about your father than he has any idea of." 
 
 " I am very anxious about him," said Margot, 
 looking away from Mrs. Bladensbrook and out 
 over the dull, wintry landscape. 
 
 " I can see it, dear. I know you are. My heart 
 aches for you. You are too young to have such 
 anxiety pressing upon you. Ah, if only your aunt, 
 Mrs. Blake, were more genial, more kindly, how 
 much she could take off your young shoulders." 
 
 " We are much happier without Aunt Marcia," 
 said Margot, decidedly. 
 
 " Yes, dear, I have no doubt you are ; but still 
 it is too much for you. You look so ill, so wor- 
 ried. You know, dear child, I really don't think 
 that the Rector is any worse than he has been for 
 several years past." 
 
 " Don't you ?" said Margot. " I think Daddy 
 is very much worse. He does less ; he exerts 
 himself less ; he eats less ; he sits longer at a time 
 doing nothing. Oh, I think Daddy is very much 
 changed." 
 
 " And you dread going away with him so far ?" 
 
 " A little," said Margot. 
 
 " Well, dear child, if he should be very ill, you 
 know you need only send for me and I will come 
 to you. I don!t feel that I can go now. My place 
 is here ; my duty to Godfrey imperatively bids me 
 stay where I am, and, besides those considerations, 
 I should be wretched away from home ; but if the 
 Rector were very ill, if you felt that you must
 
 164 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 have somebody with you, that would be different ; 
 and you must not hesitate to send for me, and I 
 would start at an hour's notice." 
 
 " How good you are," said Margot, in a trem- 
 bling voice. " Why should you be so good to us ?" 
 
 " Because I have loved you all for years and 
 years and years," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, looking 
 at her sadly. " My own life has not been so 
 happy as to make me indifferent to the sorrows of 
 others. You know, dear, I lost the best and 
 dearest husband in the world without a moment's 
 notice. He was quite a young man, and I little 
 more than a girl. I was very anxious during my 
 boy's young days ; anxious to do the best for him 
 in every sense, and until now, Godfrey has never 
 given me an hour's anxiety in his life. I don't 
 think he is dead ; I believe that he will come back 
 again. I believe he will explain everything to my 
 perfect satisfaction. I will trust him through all 
 and in spite of all. But still, here I am, a lonely 
 woman, feeble in health, anxious in mind and very 
 sorrowful. Can you wonder that I feel towards 
 you, dear child, as if you were my own little 
 daughter ? Surely not." 
 
 " Oh, don't," cried Margot ; " oh, don't say that, 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook ! I am very unhappy. I I 
 don't feel that you ought to say that to me. I am 
 not the girl that you think me, and I am afraid that 
 some day you may see me as I really am."
 
 A QUESTION. 165 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A QUESTION. 
 
 FOR several months after the departure of the 
 Rector and Margot for their winter resting-place, 
 life went on at Bladensbrook with a monotony 
 which to the anxious woman in possession there 
 was little short of maddening. Margot wrote to 
 her every week, sometimes more often than that, 
 giving her the latest news of her father and dis- 
 cussing odds and ends of information concerning 
 the parish as Mrs. Bladensbrook from time to time 
 had mentioned in her letters. " Daddy is certainly 
 very much better," she wrote, when they had been 
 there some three or four weeks ; " very, very much 
 better. You would hardly know him for the same 
 person. He has taken to golfing, and seems to be 
 out all day long. Indeed, I look at him sometimes 
 in absolute wonder." She then went on to give 
 various little sketches of the people whose ac- 
 quaintance they had made, and with whom they 
 were the most intimate, and also of those who 
 were the most marked figures in the bright little 
 town where they were sojourning. 
 
 Between Mrs. Bladensbrook and the curate, Mr. 
 Morris, a great friendship had sprung up. The 
 curate was a young man of some property, very 
 much alone in the world, and of very pronounced 
 and dominant character. Short of a living of his
 
 1 66 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 own, his cure at Bladensbrook suited him as prob- 
 ably no other cure in the world would have done. 
 So long as he did not offend the lady of the soil 
 or wound the susceptibilities of the poorer folk, 
 Mr. Dangerfield left him a free hand, and he was 
 therefore able to make many improvements and 
 changes ; facts which are not always synonymous. 
 To Mrs. Bladensbrook his friendship was peculiarly 
 welcome. He had seen and admired Godfrey, and 
 was especially sympathetic when she spoke to him 
 of her anxiety and her hopes and fears ; to every- 
 one else she was absolutely silent on the subject ; 
 even the steward was afraid to mention the young 
 squire other than as if he were but putting in 
 time with his regiment. Mrs. Bladensbrook always 
 settled every question in some such way as, " I think 
 Mr. Bladensbrook would like that," or " I feel quite 
 sure that Mr. Bladensbrook would approve of that." 
 " We must do so-and-so for the present and settle 
 the question definitely when Mr. Bladensbrook 
 returns." There were times when the poor steward 
 thought that the lady's head was a little turned by 
 her troubles, but he no more dared have spoken 
 of it to her than he dared have struck her in the 
 face. 
 
 " It seems so hard," she said one day to the 
 curate when he had been dining with her and they 
 were left alone at the table together, " it seems so 
 hard, when there are so many bad husbands and 
 sons, that mine, who were both good, should have 
 been taken away from me. I assure you I never 
 had an indifferent word from my husband in my
 
 A QUESTION. 16? 
 
 life. There was never one moment, from first to 
 last, when my interests were not his interests and 
 his interests mine. As for Godfrey, from the time 
 he was a baby he never gave me a moment's un- 
 . easiness until now. Why, I assure you he got his 
 teeth without our even knowing it. It seems so 
 strange that these two should be taken and so many 
 bad ones left." 
 
 " And it is strange," said the curate, " it is most 
 strange, Mrs. Bladensbrook. But you are still con- 
 vinced that your son is " 
 
 " Living ?" she ended as he hesitated. " More 
 convinced of it than ever ; perfectly assured that 
 in time he will explain everything to my full satis- 
 faction, and yet I can't help worrying and fretting 
 and thinking about him. I feel, when I lie awake 
 in the night and wonder where he is and what he 
 is doing, I feel as if I am insulting him by having 
 even a qualm, even a doubt; and yet the qualms 
 and the doubts and the fears are there, and some- 
 times I can see my people look at me and I can see 
 writ plain on their faces that they think I am mad." 
 
 " Oh, no, no !" 
 
 " Yes, yes," speaking very sadly. " I was con- 
 sulting with the agent this morning about some 
 improvements ; he knew his place too well to say 
 so, but I could see pity and commiseration stamped 
 on every line of his face ; it rang in every tone of 
 his voice ; he was so sorry for me, and he thinks I 
 am a little mad. Now you know I am not a bit 
 mad ; as a matter of fact, I am a hard-headed, sensi- 
 ble woman, with no more madness about me than
 
 168 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 a conviction of something to come. Tell me truly, 
 do you think that Godfrey is alive ?" 
 
 " I don't know. You see I don't know him as 
 you do, and yet I confess I think you are right. I 
 think that you would never have such a conviction 
 without some ground for it, and I would prefer to 
 trust your judgment in such a matter rather than 
 my own under the circumstances." 
 
 " I am glad of that," said Mrs. Bladensbrook in 
 a tone of satisfaction, " because it tells me that you 
 do not think that my belief is a sign of my mind 
 being diseased. Somehow, I don't like people to 
 think that I am not right in my head. It is a 
 dreadful feeling ; I dislike it very much. However, 
 what others think is no matter to me. When 
 Godfrey comes home again, they will all say, ' Ah, 
 she is a wonderful woman ; she said he was not 
 dead.' They will all think I have some marvellous 
 power of second-sight, people are so silly." 
 
 They left the table presently and went into the 
 cosy smaller drawing-room, which Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook particularly affected as her own especial 
 sanctum. There they drank their coffee, and then 
 Mr. Morris showed his hostess a particularly new 
 and intricate form of Patience, a game of which 
 she was exceedingly fond. She used to say that 
 she loved Patience in any form because she could 
 play it by herself and think at the same time. " I 
 never was much of a sewing-woman," she said as she 
 turned the cards out of their inlaid box and began 
 shuffling them with her handsome jewelled fingers. 
 " I never could see the virtue of making holes to
 
 A QUESTION. 169 
 
 stitch them up again. If I want lace, I buy lace ; if 
 I want embroidery, I buy embroidery ; but to ruin 
 my eyesight, spoil my digestion, and fret my tem- 
 per by trying to do something that I know I could 
 never do well is not my idea of proper occupation. 
 I read the papers, look after the estate, write a good 
 many letters, and play Patience. It has saved me 
 many a time from getting down into the very 
 slough of despond. Now, there are the cards; 
 show me this wonderful new game of yours." 
 
 The curate took one pack from her, saying, " It 
 only needs a single pack. You deal thirteen cards 
 into a heap," he said, " then place four for the col- 
 umns and one as the. turn-up for the base cards, 
 then you pile downwards for the columns alter- 
 nately red and black, upwards for the bases in their 
 own suits. You turn your rubbish heap as many 
 times as you like until you can get no more cards 
 out, and you turn them three at a time." 
 
 " It sounds rather intricate," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook. " Do you play a game and I will watch 
 you. I shall learn the quickest that way." 
 
 He played for a little while in comparative 
 silence, only pointing out to her points in the game 
 such as " You see you always play to the bases." 
 " You see you always fill up from the pack, never 
 from the rubbish heap. If a similar card is on the 
 top of the pack, your object is to diminish this. 
 Yes, that seven goes on that eight and then a black 
 six. Do you see ?" 
 
 " I see," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. " It looks 
 quite easy. You are doing it the first time." 
 H 15
 
 I/O A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " T have not done it yet," said the curate. He 
 played a little longer in silence and finally came to 
 a stop. "There's just a chance," he said, "but 
 only one. I may now take a single card off any 
 of the bases, if it will fit on to one of the columns, 
 and so relieve the congestion. See, I will take that 
 four and put it on this five. 1 Ah, it is no use." 
 
 " But you are nearly done ?" 
 
 " But I am not quite done," said he, smiling ; 
 " that is where the demon comes in. It is well 
 called ' Demon Patience.' I have often tried a 
 dozen times to do it, and failed each time when it 
 has seemed just within my grasp. Believe me, 
 my dear lady, it is the one form of Patience which 
 puts all the others into the shade ; it is the one form 
 of which one never tires ; it is always interesting, 
 always fresh, always tantalizing." 
 
 "But you can do it sometimes?" said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook. 
 
 " Oh, yes, sometimes, but not very often." 
 
 She took the other pack, then, and began to 
 play the game herself, the curate watching her and 
 throwing in a word of advice now and again. She 
 failed, however, to carry the game to a satisfactory 
 conclusion. " It is a game !" she exclaimed, when 
 she found she could go no further. " I am most 
 obliged to you, Mr. Morris, for telling me of it. 
 It will keep me amused many an hour when I can- 
 not keep my attention to a book or a paper, and it 
 is rightly called ' Demon Patience.' It is a demon." 
 She began to shuffle the cards and to deal them 
 out again, idly, almost unthinkingly. " I had a
 
 A QUESTION. I/I 
 
 letter from Margot Dangerfield to-day," she ob- 
 served, casually. 
 
 " Oh, yes ? I hope the Rector is going on well. 
 I have not heard for several days, well, for nearly 
 a week." 
 
 " She says that he is greatly better, wonderfully 
 better ; and she writes more brightly, more about 
 the people whom they are among and of the place, 
 and so on. A charming girl, Mr. Morris." 
 
 " A very charming girl," said the curate, looking 
 at the cards and not at Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " I have known her ever since she was born 
 she was born in the Rectory, you know. I have 
 seen her grow up, a wee toddling thing, ruling those 
 two big boys and my Godfrey with a rod of iron. 
 She is a good girl, a dear girl. I know of no unmar- 
 ried, feminine person so gentle, so sweet, so reliable 
 and dependable as little Margot. Godfrey was ex- 
 ceedingly fond of her I don't mean in that-way; 
 of course, if he had chosen to make her his wife I 
 should have said nothing. He was perfectly free 
 to follow his own bent. Of course, he might have 
 looked higher, but there was never anything of that 
 kind between them. She was his dear little sister, 
 and he, just like the two boys, a big brother to her. 
 I have a very high opinion of Margot Dangerfield." 
 
 " I admire her very much," said the curate, " very 
 much, indeed ; more than any young lady I have 
 seen here at all." 
 
 " The girls hereabouts are not especially nice," 
 said Mrs. Bladensbrook in rather a freezing tone. 
 " It would have been a great grief to me if my son
 
 172 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 had ever contemplated marrying any daughter of 
 the people surrounding us. They mostly seem to 
 me a little underbred, and well, perhaps, I had 
 better not say that, but I don't like the manners of 
 the girls of to-day too well. I prefer my little Mar- 
 got ; she is the essence of good breeding. She was 
 always so. As a tiny little toddling child in short 
 frocks and socks she was always the same perfect 
 little lady. Do you put that king on the ace ?" 
 
 " Yes, for the columns always." 
 
 " I see. Margot was very much down about her 
 father before they left home. I think she had an 
 idea that he was very much worse than he really 
 is. She said as much to me ; but I never thought 
 that the Rector was so very ill. Of course, he was 
 ill enough to take care, ill enough to be careful 
 what he was doing, but that is all ; and Mr. Danger- 
 field is getting a good age ; he must be sixty-two or 
 three, perhaps a little more." 
 
 "And Miss Dangerfield is feeling happier about 
 him?" 
 
 " Oh, very much so, very much so, indeed. She 
 writes quite blithely, more like her old self. They 
 were very anxious that I should go to Pau with 
 them ; but I felt that my place was here. I felt that I 
 should be unhappy and wretched away from home 
 until I hear from Godfrey. Mr. Morris," she said 
 suddenly, and with a change of tone and clasping 
 her hands nervously together on the edge of the 
 table, " where do you think my son is?" 
 
 " Ah, that is beyond me," said the curate, shak- 
 ing his head.
 
 A QUESTION: 173 
 
 " I have thought, sometimes," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook, " that I would run up to London and see a 
 clairvoyant. Tell me, do you think there is any- 
 thing in it?" 
 
 " I don't know," said the curate, " I don't know. 
 Sometimes I think there must be. You know 
 Shakespeare says, ' There are more things in 
 Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in thy 
 philosophy.' Soothsayers and seers have been 
 believed in from the time of earliest history. I 
 don't think that there would be so general a belief 
 if there were not at least something in it. Whether 
 the people whom you employ professionally are to 
 be depended upon is another question. Of course, 
 up in Scotland, away in the Highlands, where the 
 second sight is an undoubted gift, and where the 
 seer only speaks when he sees, it is apparently 
 reliable ; but these people to whom you go and pay 
 five or ten shillings, how are you to know that 
 they see anything, that the whole thing is not a 
 humbug ?" 
 
 " True ; and yet, if one said, if one bargained, 
 that if they saw nothing they should be honest and 
 say so, what then ?" 
 
 " I don't know," said the curate ; " it might do ; 
 but the difficulty is to get reliable information." 
 
 " You would not be utterly shocked if you knew 
 that I had gone to town for that purpose ?" 
 
 " My dear lady," said the curate, looking at her 
 
 straight in the eyes, " I should not be shocked at 
 
 any fair means by which you strove to satisfy your 
 
 anxiety. If it would comfort you to go to some 
 
 15*
 
 1/4 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 clairvoyant and ask for information concerning 
 your son, far be it from me to say one word that 
 would stop you. If these people have such a 
 power, God above gave it to them." 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE SORROW OF OTHERS. 
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK, however, did not call in 
 the good offices of a clairvoyant. The wind was 
 cold and bleak, and she was a good deal troubled 
 by the bronchial affection which had been hanging 
 about her for several years. The effort of going 
 to London was more than she felt inclined to face, 
 and so she stayed at Bladensbrook, living a quiet, 
 anxious, monotonous life. So far as Bladensbrook 
 itself was concerned, the management of affairs went 
 on precisely as they had done at anytime since the 
 death of Godfrey's father. The household was 
 managed in precisely the same way, except that 
 there was provision for no visitors made beyond a 
 single cover, which was always laid for Mr. Morris. 
 " You will always find a cover laid for you," said 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook soon after the Dangerfields had 
 gone abroad. " I am never out ; I have never any 
 other visitors. You will never find yourself de trop 
 or anything but welcome, therefore, at any time when 
 you wish to see me, or when you think it would be a 
 charity to come and relieve my loneliness, remember
 
 THE SORROW OF OTHERS. 175 
 
 that you need no invitation, that your chair is 
 always set ready for you." 
 
 Mr. Morris availed himself very often of Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook's invitation. He liked her,. he re- 
 spected her, he admired her, and he was intensely 
 sorry for the thick cloud of apparently impenetrable 
 anxiety and sorrow which at present overshadowed 
 her. He consulted her about most of the parish 
 work, and her charity was bestowed through his 
 hands. Mrs. Bladensbrook had always been very 
 much the great lady to the poor people on the 
 estate. No widows and orphans went begging in 
 Bladensbrook, the old were never hustled into the 
 workhouse, old age there was an honourable estate 
 to be cared for rather than to be spurned, widows 
 were helped to help themselves, aye, and helped 
 substantially and with sound, practical common 
 sense ; but Mrs. Bladensbrook had never been in 
 the habit of trotting in and out of the cottages as 
 so many Ladies Bountiful do, pleased to have their 
 people make a fuss of them, pleased to sit down on 
 the newly-dusted chair and hear all the latest news 
 of the family, and gather a great deal of gossip as 
 they go along ; Mrs. Bladensbrook had never been 
 that kind of woman. She had been just, firm, 
 kind, but decided, and, now that the greatest sorrow 
 of her life had fallen upon her, she did not unbend 
 from her former habits ; on the contrary, she became 
 to all those outside her own house more distant 
 and unapproachable than she had been before. 
 
 It happened, one day, that Mr. Morris walked up 
 to the House in time for dinner. Mrs. Bladens-
 
 176 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 brook had just come down into the little drawing- 
 room after changing her morning dress for a velvet 
 tea-gown. " Oh, is that you ?" she said, as she 
 perceived that she had a visitor. " I am so glad to 
 see you. I have been feeling so dull and so lonely 
 all the day, and with this bitter wind I was afraid 
 to venture outside the door. I was in two minds 
 whether to send down to you or not to beg you to 
 come and take some dinner with me." 
 
 "And I have come most opportunely to beg for 
 that very thing," said the big parson, taking her 
 hand and holding it between both of his. " I have 
 a sad story to tell you." 
 
 "About Godfrey?" 
 
 " Oh, no ; would that I had. No, it is about an- 
 other widow who is in trouble for her only child, 
 her only son." 
 
 "Ah, that is ?" 
 
 " That is Mrs. Daniels." 
 
 " Mrs. Daniels at the Fir Cottage ? Oh, I am 
 sorry to hear that." 
 
 " And I, too. It seems that young Daniels was 
 caught poaching last night, and he is in prison." 
 
 " Young Daniels ? Impossible." 
 
 " It seems impossible. His mother declares that 
 there is not the slightest foundation for it. He was 
 caught red-handed, well, no, not exactly that ; he 
 was caught coming through the wood. He de- 
 clared he had been to see his sweetheart ; but he 
 won't give up her name because her father is against 
 the marriage. Her father thinks that she is a cut 
 above him, and that a mere labouring-man with an
 
 THE SORROW OF OTHERS. I// 
 
 aged mother has no right to look at any girl, at 
 least not this particular girl. She had been to meet 
 him unknown to her father, and, rather than give 
 up her name, he prefers to take a punishment 
 for a crime which he swears he has not com- 
 mitted." 
 
 " You have seen him ?" 
 
 " Yes ; I went and saw him in the lock-up this 
 morning. He is very firm, looked me straight in the 
 face, declared that the mistress would know he was 
 incapable of poaching ; traps were discovered, game 
 was found in them, but young Daniels says the 
 traps are not his, and he had no knowledge of 
 their being there. His presence was a pure acci- 
 dent. He declares that you will never believe him 
 guilty of anything of the kind. ' Why should I 
 want to poach ?' he said ; ' I have no wife nor child, 
 and as for the old mother, if she fancied a chicken 
 or she fancied a rabbit, I have but to speak to the 
 mistress, and I know she would have it.' " 
 
 " That is true enough," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " His mother is coming up in the morning. The 
 magistrates do not sit for two days. His mother 
 believes that she will be able to put things right 
 if she can get speech of you. I assure you, Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, the poor old soul was very pathetic, 
 very noble in her distress, very straight in her 
 glance, very confident of your being above ordi- 
 nary suspiciousness and mischief-making. ' I will 
 go and see Madam in the morning,' said she. 
 ' Madam will know better than to be influenced 
 by them game-keepers ; Madam knows them that
 
 1/8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 have served her and hers for generations. . I am 
 not afraid of Madam's mind being poisoned.' " 
 
 " Poor soul !" said Mrs. Bladensbrook. " Yes, I 
 will certainly see her in the morning when she 
 comes, and young Daniels won't feel much the 
 worse for having been kept in the lock-up for a 
 couple of days. I will see that it is made right." 
 
 So, when Mrs. Daniels came up to the house the 
 following morning, dressed in decent black and 
 with a warm winter shawl which had been Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook's own gift to her, she was shown 
 straight into the morning-room where the mistress 
 of the house was sitting. " Ah, is that you, Mrs. 
 Daniels ?" said Mrs. Bladensbrook, as the old 
 woman stood courtesying before her; " I hear that 
 you are in trouble about your son." 
 
 On this the old woman poured out her tale. 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook listened kindly enough, and 
 bade her sit down on a chair just on the other side 
 of the fireplace. " And they say that George was 
 poaching ?" she said, when the voluble tongue at 
 last came to an end of the recital. 
 
 " Oh, my lady, they do, they do indeed, but 
 there's not a word of truth in it," cried the old 
 woman. "Why should my son be wanting to 
 poach ? He is in regular work and gets good 
 money, and it isn't much of a burden that I am to 
 him. Thanks to Madam's kindness, I have my 
 cottage and my coals and my bread and my joint 
 of beef every week from the butcher ; what more 
 can I want? As for rabbits and pheasants and 
 such-like, I am hale and hearty, and I have not
 
 THE SORROW OF OTHERS. l?g 
 
 been used to such things. I am not over-fond of 
 them. As for George, why, my boy can eat any- 
 thing. He gets plenty of good meat, and a better 
 son never stepped, Madam, that I assure you." 
 
 " He won't give up the name of this girl ?" 
 
 " Well, Madam, how can I ask him to do it ? 
 How could he give it up ? Her father would be 
 fit to kill her if he knew. She is above my George 
 not too good for him, my George is good 
 enough for anybody, my lady but her father is a 
 man of money and a man of solid position, and he 
 is wild with her for liking my boy better than some 
 others. He'd be fit to kill her, my lady, if he 
 knew." 
 
 " Well, I am glad to hear that there are young 
 men who will think of their sweethearts first and 
 themselves afterwards," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 very kindly ; " all men ought to do so, Mrs. 
 Daniels ; but I am afraid that a great many men do 
 not see the necessity of that. I will see the magis- 
 trates or I will write. I will see them, if possible. 
 The Court sits ?" 
 
 " To-morrow. To-morrow morning at eleven 
 o'clock, my lady." 
 
 " I shall probably go down myself. I will take 
 care that he has my good word, in any case. You 
 see I am troubled with my chest, and I have some- 
 thing here," pointing to her chest ; " if it is very 
 cold to-morrow, I shall be obliged to write ; but I 
 will do something. And how is the rheumatism ?" 
 
 " Well, my lady, it is well, to tell you the 
 
 truth, I had forgotten all about my rheumatism.
 
 ISO A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 I've been so anxious these few hours about George. 
 But it is there, my lady ; yes, it is still there; and it 
 will be there until I am dead and gone." 
 
 "It won't be there then," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook, smiling. " Well, then, you may go down 
 and let your son know that I shall speak for him ; 
 and you must go and have a glass of wine with 
 Mrs. Moore." She rang the bell as she spoke and 
 told the servant who answered it to take Mrs. 
 Daniels into the house-keeper's room and give her 
 a glass of wine and some cake. " And do you 
 keep up a good heart about the matter. I shall 
 speak for your son." 
 
 The footman went out of the room and the old 
 woman turned back to the lady of the house. 
 " My lady," she said, in a shaking voice, " I came 
 to you in the blackest hour of my life. I am poor, 
 but I am honest, and you have lifted a load off my 
 heart such as may you never know the feeling of. 
 God bless you, my lady." 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook laid her white, jewelled hand 
 upon the old woman's shawl-covered shoulder. 
 " There, there," she said, gently, " perhaps I know 
 the feeling of such a burden as well as you do. I 
 have a son, too, and I know not whether all is well 
 with him or not. Pray for me, my good soul, that 
 is the kindest thing you can do," and then she 
 turned back to the fire, and the old woman stum- 
 bled out of the room too blinded by her tears to 
 see quite where she was going. Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook stood looking into the fire, contrasting her 
 lot with that of the old widow and thinking how
 
 THE SORROW OF OTHERS. l8l 
 
 very near their common human interests had 
 brought them. " Her son is to her what Godfrey 
 is to me. She trusts him implicitly because she 
 judges him out of the past. I know that my boy 
 has some good reason for his silence. I will trust 
 him, also." 
 
 Later in the day she received a long letter from 
 Margot Dangerfield which brought the sad news 
 that the Rector had taken a turn for the worse. 
 " Father is very ill," wrote Margot, " and the doc- 
 tors seem to think that his complaint had made 
 great strides forward during the past fortnight. He 
 seemed so well, so strong, so gay, so full of spirits 
 and energy, that I fancied he was going to get over 
 it and be his old self again. The doctor doesn't 
 put it into plain English, but he gives me to under- 
 stand that he had not regarded his apparent im- 
 provement in health as a good sign, rather that it 
 was a flicker in the socket. I am so lonely and so 
 frightened here alone among all these strangers. 
 Though they are very kind and good to me, still 
 they are not like one's own people. Aunt Marcia 
 is in Naples, and Father is particularly averse to my 
 sending for her. He says she would worry him to 
 death. Dear Mrs. Bladensbrook, you said before 
 we left home that if he was worse you would come 
 to me ; will you keep that promise now if it is not 
 impossible to you ? I want somebody to lean on. 
 You are so strong, so full of courage, you always 
 know what to do in every emergency ; but I am so 
 young, so ignorant of sickness, I get more fright- 
 ened every hour. If only you would come out to 
 16
 
 1 82 A MAGNIPICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 me I should bless you so. You don't know the 
 load it would take off my mind." 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook laid the letter down with a 
 very grave face. " I am afraid that poor child has 
 a very sad experience before her," her thoughts 
 ran. " Of course, I must go out there. I can't 
 leave her alone to face what is coming. Ah, is 
 that you, Matthew ? Yes, I am glad of my tea. 
 Matthew, I have just had a letter from Miss Dan- 
 gerfield. The Rector is very ill ; I am afraid we 
 shall never see him here again." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear that, Madam," said Mat- 
 thew, with genuine regret in face and tone. " I 
 thought the Rector looked as if he was breaking 
 up the very last time he dined here." 
 
 " And poor Miss Margot is all alone with him 
 i all alone, Matthew. She seems very nervous 
 and very excited. I think that I shall be obliged 
 to go and look after them a little." 
 
 " Well, M'm, if you go, there's no doubt the poor 
 young lady will be helped through it in the best 
 possible way. It's a dreadful time of the year to 
 take such a journey, and with your browntitis, 
 too. Don't you think, M'm, that I had better go 
 along with you ? Me and Perkins will be able to 
 take care of you all right." 
 
 " Well, Matthew, I don't know that that would 
 not be a good plan. Besides that, you might be a 
 great deal of comfort to the dear Rector. I think 
 you had better make your arrangements, and be 
 sure that you leave everything here in train so that 
 Robert knows exactly what to do if Mr. Bladens-
 
 THE SORROW OF OTHERS. 183 
 
 brook comes home during my absence. You can 
 arrange everything can you not ? without leav- 
 ing too much in Robert's hands ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, M'm, of course I can. That is a sim- 
 ple matter. I can leave the principal keys with 
 Mrs. Moore ; everything will be safe with her." 
 
 " Then, Matthew, I think you had better make 
 all your arrangements. We will try and start to- 
 morrow afternoon, and we can get across to-morrow 
 evening. I cannot go by the earliest train because 
 young Daniels is in trouble, and I must go down to 
 the Court House and speak to the magistrates for 
 him. You might send down to the Rectory by 
 and by now and ask Mr. Morris if he could 
 come up and dine with me to-night. I can then talk 
 over with him anything that he wishes done, a'ny- 
 thing that he wishes said to the Rector. To-mor- 
 row I shall be so busy I shall not have time for a 
 word with anyone." 
 
 " I will send down at once, M'm," said Matthew, 
 settling the tea-tray to his entire satisfaction. 
 " Shall I mention it to Perkins when she comes to 
 tea, M'm ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, certainly. She can come to see me 
 when she has had her tea ; she can come in here to 
 me. And, Matthew, send off a telegram at once to 
 Miss Dangerfield at the St. Antoine Hotel, Pau, 
 France, and say that I am coming to her at once 
 and will start from London to-morrow evening."
 
 1 84 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE QUIET END. 
 
 As soon as Mrs. Bladensbrook arrived at Pau 
 she saw that the Rector was a great deal worse in 
 health than even Margot had any idea of; she saw, 
 indeed, that his days were numbered, and that the 
 number of them was but few. He was sitting near 
 the window in a large chair with pillows behind 
 him and a rug over his knees. Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 went up to him and took his hand. " Why, my 
 dear old friend," she said, in as bright a tone as she 
 could assume, " how comes it that I find you like 
 this ? I have changed my mind and come out for 
 a little holiday, and I find you have suddenly got 
 ill, just when you ought to have been as well as 
 possible, so as to give me a good time. It is really 
 very inconsiderate of you. I am afraid you have 
 been committing some indiscretion or other." 
 
 " I don't think I have," said the Rector ; " I 
 have been very queer for a few days now, but I am 
 glad you have come. Margot is nervous and not 
 up to very much in the way of sick nursing ; she 
 looks pale and anxious and worried, and she thinks 
 I am going to die right off." 
 
 " Oh, come, you are not going to do that," said 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook, decidedly. 
 
 " Oh, no, no ; I shall hang on a little while. I
 
 THE QUIET END. 1 8$ 
 
 don't think, all the same, that I shall ever see 
 Bladensbrook again." 
 
 "Oh, nonsense! You mustn't say that. Bladens- 
 brook is there, and you must come back to it. We 
 cannot do without you. Now that I have come, 
 mind you are to be very good. I have brought 
 Perkins with me. Perkins is an excellent nurse, and 
 Perkins will have no mercy on you ; when Perkins 
 brings you beef-tea, you will have to drink it; when 
 Perkins says it is time for your medicine, there is 
 no disputing the point; when Perkins says it is 
 time to go to bed, to bed you go, as if you were a 
 child of two years old." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I will do all that. It is very kind of 
 you to take any interest in me. I have about run 
 my course, and you know that as well as I do." 
 
 " Well, well, we will not give way for the sake 
 of the child. Remember, you will leave your little 
 girl alone, or almost alone, and you must keep 
 a good heart and be brave for her sake. You 
 would not like to leave her to some people Aunt 
 Marcia, for instance ?" 
 
 " No, I should not ; and that is one reason why I 
 am so anxious to see you and have a talk with you 
 before before anything does happen. If I do 
 not get over this and I don't think I shall I 
 should like to lie in the little God's acre here. I 
 feel as if I should rest better in this pure air with 
 the sunshine always shining down upon my grave. 
 Don't carry me home, I would rather be left where 
 I am. And about my will, I have made a new will, 
 but I have said nothing about the guardianship of 
 16*
 
 1 86 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 the child. Would it be asking you too much if 
 if I asked you to undertake that office ?" 
 
 " I will be Margot's guardian with pleasure," 
 said Mrs. Bladensbrook, gently. " Margot and I 
 know one another very well, and I think we are 
 fond of one another, and I doubt if it would be 
 for very long. I will do it with pleasure, will do 
 anything which will make you feel happier in your 
 mind or more comfortable concerning her." 
 
 " That is very good of you," said the Rector. 
 
 " But, you know," Mrs. Bladensbrook went on, 
 assuming a brighter tone, " you may be giving us 
 all this scare for nothing. I have very little faith 
 in you, Rector, very little faith. You have cried 
 ' wolf so many times, and we think you may be 
 mistaken this time." 
 
 " Well, I may be," said the Rector, " I may be ; 
 but I doubt it. I think the doctor chap will tell 
 you the same thing. I am booked, my dear lady. 
 However, now that my mind is made easy about 
 Margot, I may as well tell you that I am almost 
 indifferent one way or the other. It is a great 
 effort going on living when one is very ill ; when 
 one has to think of every morsel one eats, and 
 every place where one chooses to sit down, and 
 every habit that one has, it is scarcely worth the 
 trouble, and I shall not be sorry to go, though, 
 true, I have one great regret in leaving you all, 
 which is that I have not finished my great book." 
 
 " I wouldn't trouble about the book," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, who had a very small opinion of the 
 value of architectural embellishments.
 
 THE QUIET END. 1 87 
 
 They brought up tea and fruit, and she sat there 
 in the pleasant afternoon, entertaining the invalid 
 with all the latest news of the village which they 
 both loved so dearly. She ended by telling him 
 of the trouble with young Daniels, and how she 
 had had herself to go to the Court House to give 
 him a character, and, as he was suspected of poach- 
 ing her game, to declare her belief in his inno- 
 cence. " You know, of course, game-keepers and 
 such people are very pig-headed, and I am almost 
 afraid that there has been a certain amount of 
 jealousy at work. You see, young Daniels is very 
 respectable, and his mother is a woman who keeps 
 herself very much to herself; and Lennard, who, 
 of course, is an excellent game-keeper and quite 
 a valuable servant, would like to have Mrs. Dan- 
 iels's house for his young son, who is going to 
 be married you know, the under-keeper." 
 
 " Oh, yes, yes ; that would be a very comfortable 
 arrangement." 
 
 " Now, Mrs. Daniels's husband was in our em- 
 ployment oh, well, long before I came on the 
 scene and I am quite sure nothing would have 
 displeased my husband so much as to know that 
 she was turned out of the cottage, whether for 
 a game-keeper or an under-keeper or anybody 
 else ; and Godfrey, of course, feels precisely the 
 same." 
 
 " And you have news of Godfrey ?" said the 
 Rector, turning his haggard face towards her. 
 
 " No, I have no news. I have not heard a 
 word. If I had not such trust and confidence in
 
 1 88 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Godfrey, I should have begun to despair long 
 before this." 
 
 ' You still believe that he is alive ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, and also that he has a good reason for 
 his extraordinary silence." 
 
 " It is a great thing for Godfrey," said the Rec- 
 tor, " that he has a mother who can trust in him 
 implicitly in the face of all apparent evidence to 
 the contrary. I have thought a great deal about 
 him since we left home, and especially since I 
 have been a prisoner in this room. I hope you 
 are right." 
 
 "I feel sure I am right," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook. 
 
 " I hope so ; for I have known and liked Godfrey 
 ever since he was a baby ; and yet it seems so in- 
 explicable ; it seems so unlike him. I cannot make 
 it out." 
 
 " Nor I," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 One of the great advantages of having taken 
 Matthew with her to Pau lay in the fact that he 
 was able to while away time with the Rector as, 
 perhaps, nobody else could have done. " You 
 know, dear Rector," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, two 
 or three days after her arrival, " the child is look- 
 ing very ill." 
 
 " I think she is worried to death," said the Rec- 
 tor, " here in a strange land, and my being so ill, 
 and really so unexpectedly ill. I think she got 
 frightened and nervous." 
 
 " Well, yes, I thought so too ; but she is looking 
 ill. I don't like that drawn look she has at all.
 
 THE QUIET END. 189 
 
 You must let me take her out for a few drives 
 and give her as much fresh air as possible." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; do, do," said the Rector ; " I shall be 
 all right. By the bye, Matthew could come and 
 talk to me. Matthew could come and play cribbage 
 with me. I believe Matthew is a first-rate hand 
 at cribbage." 
 
 " I shouldn't be at all surprised," said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook, who had that kind of faith in Matthew 
 which was ready to credit him with any accom- 
 plishment. She took an opportunity, an hour or 
 so later, of sounding Matthew upon the subject 
 of cribbage. " Matthew," she said, " can you play 
 cribbage?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, M'm ; I am reckoned a very good 
 cribbage player." 
 
 " Well, now, I tell you what, my good Matthew, 
 you shall do. I am feeling very uneasy about Miss 
 Dangerfield. She looks so ill, so drawn, I think 
 the anxiety of her father's condition has told upon 
 her terribly. I am going to take her about a little, 
 to get a few drives, to give her fresh air, and to 
 distract her thoughts somewhat from the trial that 
 lies before her, and you can stop with the Rector 
 and play cribbage with him. He loves it ; he is 
 very anxious that Miss Dangerfield should be 
 distracted a little from her present sad surround- 
 ings." 
 
 " Very good, M'm." 
 
 Accordingly that very afternoon Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook and Margot went for a long drive together. 
 " I want to see colour in those pale cheeks, Mar-
 
 190 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 got," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, looking at her criti- 
 cally. Margot flushed a vivid scarlet. " Nay, 
 child, there's nothing to blush at," said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook. " Your poor looks are but natural in 
 the face of all the anxiety and strain that you have 
 been suffering ; but, now that I have come to 
 relieve you, I will take care that you get more 
 fresh air and more distraction than you have had 
 so far. You will need it all," she said, in a lower 
 tone. 
 
 " Oh, indeed, yes ; I know that I shall need it 
 all," said Margot. 
 
 They had turned homewards again before Margot 
 ventured to ask a question which had been trem- 
 bling on her lips ever since Mrs. Bladensbrook's 
 arrival. " You have no news of Godfrey, Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook ?" 
 
 " None, my dear, none. He is as silent as if the 
 grave had opened and swallowed him ; more silent, 
 indeed ; because I feel convinced that if he were 
 dead he would have come back just to let me 
 know. I cannot make it out. I have suffered 
 dreadfully since you left home ; Bladensbrook is 
 like a graveyard to me full of broken hopes." 
 
 The two drove together every day, sometimes 
 twice, but it cannot be said that much colour came 
 back into Margot's cheeks, or that she looked less 
 ill than she had done for some little time past. 
 She stayed a great deal with her father when Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook did not carry her off in the carriage, 
 playing all manner of games with him, and often 
 reading aloud to him from the lighter journals of
 
 THE QUIET END. '9! 
 
 the day. And so the time wore on, with each day 
 the Rector growing weaker and weaker, less able 
 to do anything for himself, not suffering much 
 except from an overpowering weariness, which 
 from time to time seemed entirely to overcome 
 him. He never complained. Many of the Eng- 
 lish residents, knowing his position and the nature 
 of his illness, came to see him or sent him frequent 
 gifts of flowers or loans of books and papers. " So 
 kind of everybody," he said several times, " so good 
 of people to come and tire themselves by sitting 
 with an invalid whom they really don't know. It 
 is the fashion to call this a hard world, but there is 
 a great deal of goodness in it; and if sometimes it 
 is so latent that it seems not to be there, we may 
 always comfort ourselves with the feeling that it is 
 there, that it only needs some trifling incident to 
 bring it out, to bring it all to the surface." 
 
 Then there came a few days in which the invalid 
 was considerably worse ; these in turn were fol- 
 lowed by a few hours of semi-unconsciousness, 
 and then there was no Rector of Bladensbrook. 
 Margot had no father. Mrs. Bladensbrook's old 
 friend had passed.
 
 :()2 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A PLAIN QUESTION. 
 
 IN all her life, Mrs. Bladensbrook had never been 
 so much surprised as she was by Margot's manner 
 during this time. She had expected in one so 
 young a great outburst of grief when the knowl- 
 edge of her grea t loss fell upon her. Those who 
 have been watching during a long and anxious 
 period the gradual dissolution of those nearest and 
 dearest to them, those who have known for a long 
 time that the end was certain and almost what the end 
 would be, frequently nay, generally give way to 
 great grief when the actual wrench comes ; but 
 with Margot nothing of the kind happened. When 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook turned from the bedside and 
 made as if to draw her away, saying, " We can do 
 nothing more for him, dear. It is all over," Mar- 
 got remained apparently perfectly unmoved. She 
 was as white as death and looked worn out, but no 
 tears came, no signs of grief showed themselves, 
 and it seemed to the older woman's keen eyes as 
 if her expression were one almost of relief. On 
 the face of it that seemed impossible, and yet she 
 could not shake off the impression that it was so. 
 Jim, the elder of the two boys, who had arrived 
 two days before from England, was standing look- 
 ing down upon his dead father, his face convulsed, 
 tears streaming down his cheeks.
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A QUESTION. 193 
 
 " Come, Margot, we car do nothing more," said 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook. She was afraid that this unnat- 
 ural calm would end in a terrible storm of grief; 
 but as the hours wore on Margot did not give way 
 at all, but stayed quiet and silent with that strange, 
 crushed look in her young face which seemed out 
 of place even in her sad circumstances. According 
 to the Rector's wishes, expressed so plainly to 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook, there was no thought or ques- 
 tion of their taking all that was left of him home 
 for burial. A grave was chosen in the sunniest 
 part of the pretty cemetery, and Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook gave orders that it should be lined with 
 moss and studded with flowers. Most of the 
 English people staying in the place attended the 
 funeral, and many wreaths and beautiful blossoms 
 were sent as a last tribute to one who had died so 
 far from home. The will was in charge of an Eng- 
 lish solicitor staying for a couple of months in 
 Pau, and he made the contents known to the son 
 and daughter in a friendly and informal fashion. 
 
 " You see, Margot," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 "your dear father left me your guardian. Of 
 course, it will not be for very long ; and I hope, 
 dear, it will never be irksome to you. I am a very 
 lonely woman, with a thick cloud of sorrow over 
 my life ; you have passed under a bitter experience, 
 and that should be enough to draw us closer to- 
 gether than we have ever been. We will go home 
 to Bladensbrook and make all necessary arrange- 
 ments. There is so much to be done." 
 
 " What is there to do ?" asked Margot. 
 i n 17
 
 194 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN, 
 
 " Well, dear, in the first place, the living must be 
 filled up within a certain time or else my right to 
 make a presentation lapses to the bishop. Then 
 we must arrange what to do with all the things at 
 the Rectory." 
 
 " But J thought Father said they were all to be 
 sold," said Margot. 
 
 " Well, dear, there are some things which you 
 and the boys will naturally wish to keep portraits 
 and silver and such things would only be thrown 
 away in a sale. Your father particularly leaves 
 instructions that personal things are to be divided 
 between you and the boys as you may agree 
 among yourselves. Anything that you wish to 
 keep you can do so ; it is merely the residue that 
 he directs to be sold. Of course, it would be too 
 dreadful to think that your mother's portrait should 
 be put up to auction, and there are many other 
 things almost of equal value." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know that. One wouldn't like any 
 of Mother's china to be thrown away, she was so 
 fond of it. I don't know that either I or the boys 
 care for it as she did, or ever will do so, because 
 Mother was quite an expert in old china, and knew 
 by the mere feel of a thing where it had come from 
 and how old it was I mean what pottery it had 
 come from." 
 
 " Yes, yes, dear, your mother was an excellent 
 judge of china. I always consulted her when I 
 bought anything of importance. I am thinking of 
 offering the living to Mr. Morris. I like him and 
 Godfrey likes him very much ; also he worked well
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A QUESTION. 195 
 
 with your father, and he is very popular with the 
 people, so that I don't think that I could make a 
 wiser choice or one less calculated to hurt you 
 young people in any way." 
 
 " Oh, we would rather have him than any one," 
 said Margot, brightening up a little ; " isn't that so, 
 Jim ?" 
 
 " Yes, certainly, Mrs. Bladensbrook. Morris is 
 a good fellow, and Father thought no end of him. 
 It must hurt when those who are appointed make it 
 their first duty to upset every institution in the parish. 
 You remember, Margot, when Greenhaugh died. 
 He was rather inclined to be High Church, and the 
 new man was a perfect iconoclast and tore down 
 everything, Really, it seemed to those looking on 
 as if he had done it because it was there a memento 
 of his predecessor. I am quite sure that Father 
 himself would have said, ' Give it to Morris,' if you 
 had asked him who was to follow him." 
 
 "Then that decides me," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook ; " that also will make it very much easier 
 when we go back again. There will be many 
 things that he will be glad to take over from you, 
 being a bachelor and living already in the house. 
 The best thing we can do is to give him the choice 
 of taking the entire furniture at a valuation after 
 you three have taken away the things that you 
 wish to keep for yourselves. I shall write to him 
 at once about it." 
 
 " Then when shall we go back ?" asked Jim. 
 
 " My dear boy," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " it 
 depends partly upon how long your leave lasts."
 
 196 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Oh, I have got a fortnight's leave, and can get 
 an extension for a few days, if necessary." 
 
 " Well, supposing that we go back on Tuesday ? 
 That would give you a few days at Bladensbrook. 
 The best thing to do will be to take all the silver, 
 all the china, and all the pictures of interest and 
 any pieces of furniture that you fancy and pack 
 them all safely at the House. Then, when Jack 
 comes home, you can amicably settle which of you 
 will take which. It would be a great thing to get 
 the whole business over and done with as soon as 
 possible, and, as you and I are the executors, it 
 can be done quite easily, without any fuss or disa- 
 greement." 
 
 " There will be no disagreement," said Jim. 
 
 " No, my dear ; I don't mean to imply that there 
 can be ; but under some circumstances, of course, 
 such a business might be exceedingly disagreeable. 
 I suppose, Margot," she went on, "that your 
 mother's jewellery was put away ?" 
 
 " Oh, Father gave me all the jewellery," said 
 Margot; " and he always said that the boys were to 
 have all the silver, because he wanted me to have 
 mother's jewellery." 
 
 " I see. Then that makes it still more easy, 
 Jim. Shall we so decide ?" 
 
 " Certainly. Just as you like." 
 
 " I do think it would be the best." 
 
 " You are going to drive this afternoon ?" asked 
 Margot. 
 
 " Yes, dear, we may as well." 
 
 " Then I will go and get ready."
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A QUESTION. 197 
 
 She left the room and for a minute or two neither 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook nor Jim spoke. At last Jim 
 got up and went to the window, where he stood 
 with his hands in his pockets looking out into the 
 sunlight. " Mrs. Bladensbrook ?" he said, at last. 
 
 "Yes, Jim." 
 
 " Do you think Margot looks all right ?" 
 
 " No, my dear boy, I think she looks all wrong," 
 was her prompt reply. " Of course, one expects 
 her to be terribly upset by our loss." 
 
 " But she is so unlike what I should have ex- 
 pected her to be. Have you noticed it ?" 
 
 " I am very uneasy about her," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook. " But perhaps, when she gets home and 
 away from the place where she has been alone 
 with her anxiety, she will feel different about it. 
 If not, I must take her away somewhere else. 
 Poor little girl, I am so sorry for her. It seems so 
 sad, when they were so happy together, that he 
 should have been taken like this." 
 
 " You don't mind being left Margot's guardian, 
 do you ?" Jim asked, after a moment's pause. 
 
 " Oh, my dear boy, your father consulted me 
 about it. I would have done anything to give him 
 a little ease of mind ; and I am very fond of Mar- 
 got; she has always been a great favourite of mine. 
 And, now that I am so lonely not knowing where 
 Godfrey is or what has become of him or whether 
 I shall ever see him again it will be a ^perfect 
 God-send to me to have this young companion, I 
 was going to say this gay young thing, about me, 
 but there is little gaiety about the poor child now. 
 
 17*
 
 198 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Still, as she gets over this she will be more as she 
 used to be. It is early days for her to have for- 
 gotten or to have even tried to take up the ordinary 
 threads of life again." 
 
 In truth, Margot was a veiy great puzzle both to 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook and Jim. In manner and ex- 
 pression she was utterly changed. She seemed to 
 be wrapped up in an impenetrable shroud of cogi- 
 tation, her thoughts always seemed to be far away. 
 She talked a little as they drove that afternoon, 
 very quietly and collectedly, but seemed to take 
 little or no interest in the scenery, and had never a 
 smile on her face. 
 
 " You will be glad to get home to Bladensbrook," 
 said Mrs. Bladensbrook to her that evening as they 
 sat together after dinner. 
 
 Margot turned a pair of startled eyes upon her. 
 " To go home ?" she repeated. " No, I don't think 
 I shall be glad to go home at all. I wish that I 
 were never going home again." 
 
 " But, my dear child, I know exactly what you 
 mean. It will be painful, very painful, going home 
 to what will practically be an empty house ; but it 
 will soon be over, and the sooner it is done the less 
 you will feel it." 
 
 " I was not thinking of that," said Margot. 
 
 " Then of what were you thinking, dear ? Of 
 the future ? You know you and I will be very 
 happy .together, and by and by perhaps you will 
 marry, who knows." 
 
 " Oh, no," cried Margot ; " you don't under- 
 stand. I I shall never do that. Of course, it
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A QUESTION. 199 
 
 is very kind of you to let me be with you and to 
 live with you, and I I only hope that you 
 may never repent it, but I am afraid you may." 
 
 " Repent having you to live with me, Margot ! 
 Oh, nonsense !" said Mrs. Bladensbrook, very 
 kindly. " It is entirely my gain. I am delighted 
 that your father chose me to be your guardian. I 
 have always longed for a daughter, and, as I have 
 not one of my own, you will be just the same 
 to me. I daresay," Mrs. Bladensbrook went on, 
 " that your Aunt Marcia will want you to pay her 
 a long visit. Would you care for that ?" 
 
 " I would rather die," said Margot. " Aunt 
 Marcia is tiresome enough at ordinary times. I 
 could not bear to be with her now. I I should 
 go mad, I think." 
 
 " My poor child, you shall not do that ; nobody 
 can force you to go ; my consent is necessary for 
 anything that you would require to do, and I 
 should certainly not allow you to go anywhere 
 where you would be unhappy. I only say that 
 she would expect it, and, of course, it is no use 
 quarrelling with your aunt for nothing, and, of 
 course, there are considerations that make it better 
 that you should keep in with her." 
 
 " I would rather not go to Aunt Marcia's at 
 present," said Margot. " I couldn't bear it." 
 
 " Then you shall stay at Bladensbrook with me," 
 said the lady in a tone that evidently decided the 
 question for her, but Margot's spirits did not rise 
 at all. 
 
 The days went by and with each one that came
 
 200 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 she seemed to be more wrapped up in her own 
 thoughts and to look more strained and anxious. 
 
 "You know you are looking very ill, Margot," 
 said Mrs. Bladensbrook, abruptly, to her on the 
 day before they were to start for home. 
 
 Margot flushed a vivid scarlet. " I I am not 
 very well," she stammered. 
 
 " My dear, you are very far from well. I think 
 I have never seen anyone whose looks changed so 
 much. You are not like the same girl." 
 
 " I am not the same girl," said Margot. 
 
 " But, my dear, it is not right that you should 
 grieve for your father in this way. He was quite 
 willing to go, and he would have suffered more 
 and more had he lived longer. It is no use griev- 
 ing and fretting for those that have left us, how- 
 ever dear they may have been ; however dear they 
 may be to us still. It is better to resign ourselves 
 to the will of Heaven. I am sure your father 
 would be the very first to say so if he were here 
 now." 
 
 Margot opened her mouth as if to speak, but shut 
 it again without saying a word. In truth, a denial 
 of Mrs. Bladensbrook's words had risen to her lips, 
 and she had almost blurted out that she was not 
 grieving after or fretting for her father ; that much 
 as she had loved him and empty as life seemed to 
 her then without him, yet her chief feeling at the 
 time of his death had been one of intensest relief. 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook went on. " And you know, 
 dear, I don't want to compare my trouble with 
 yours in any way ; but you should remember that
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A QUESTION. 2OI 
 
 you know the worst. You know that your father is 
 at peace, at rest forever, while I go on day after 
 day, week after week, month after month, in abso- 
 lute ignorance of whether my boy is alive or dead. 
 Think if you were in my case." 
 
 " I do," said Margot. Of a truth she was so 
 exactly in the same situation as her guardian that 
 it seemed almost ludicrous to her to have stress 
 laid upon the difference between their feelings, be- 
 tween what Mrs. Bladensbrook knew of her own 
 and imagined Margot's to be. " I am not repining 
 after Father at all," said Margot, presently. " Dear 
 Daddy, he was so good, so kind, so true and loyal, 
 and he made so much of us all. It will be dread- 
 ful going back to see the Rectory without him 
 however nice Mr. Morris is, he is not Daddy. To 
 think of going back to the Rectory to root every- 
 thing out from its place, to break up what has been 
 our home ever since we can remember, is abhorrent 
 and dreadful, to me, at all events, and I believe to 
 poor old Jim also." 
 
 " My dear, it will be a dreadful wrench, but the 
 sooner it is over the sooner you will put it back in 
 the past, and I hope think about it no more. After 
 all, it will be better if Mr. Morris decides to take 
 over the furniture from you ; it will be better to 
 think that he, who loved your father, who worked 
 with him so well, is to use all the familiar things 
 rather than that they are scattered to the four 
 winds of Heaven, a bit here, a piece there, so that 
 they can never be gathered together again." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose so," said Margot. " Of course
 
 2O2 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 he will have the living, and equally, of course, he 
 will be glad to take the furniture, but I dread going 
 back to Bladensbrook oh, so much, you don't 
 know." 
 
 " I know, dear child, I can see it in your sad 
 little face. Margot, you are strangely altered." 
 
 " Oh, don't tell me that again," said Margot. " I 
 know that I am altered, I know it so well. I am 
 altered. I am not the same girl I was. I feel 
 sometimes as if I would like to go away and lose 
 myself." 
 
 Her words and the manner of uttering them 
 caused Mrs. Bladensbrook to look at her still more 
 keenly. Margot, unable to bear the close scrutiny, 
 jumped up from her chair and went over to one 
 of the windows where she stood half turned away, 
 looking out. There was a long silence, such a 
 silence as comes but seldom into our lives, a silence 
 which can actually be felt, then Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 put down her magazine and went across the room 
 to where the girl was standing. " Margot," she 
 said, laying her hand upon her shoulder and 
 speaking in quite a different tone, " what are you 
 brooding over ?" 
 
 "Brooding?" said Margot, turning scarlet. 
 
 " Yes, my child, brooding. You have some- 
 thing on your mind, something that is not con- 
 nected with your father's death. What is it ?" 
 
 " Oh, what should make you think that ?" asked 
 Margot, nervously. 
 
 " Your strange manner, your more than strange 
 words, and the evidence of my own eyes," said
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK ASKS A QUESTION. 203 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook, very quietly. " Margot, my 
 dear child, daughter of my old friend, I am afraid 
 that somebody has deceived you." 
 
 Margot's shoulder shrank a little under the 
 touch of the kind, firm hand. She kept her face 
 averted, but Mrs. Bladensbrook could see that the 
 outline of the cheek not so round as it once was 
 was flaming crimson. " I I am not quite 
 what you think me," said Margot, painfully, after 
 a long silence. 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook's mind went back swiftly 
 over the immediate past, back to the moment of 
 the Rector's death, when Jim had stood by the 
 bedside with the tears chasing one another swiftly 
 down his cheeks, and Margot's expression had 
 been one of intensest relief. It had puzzled her 
 at the time, now she clearly understood. It was 
 relief that her father had died without learning the 
 truth. " Have you nothing to tell me ?" said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, at last. 
 
 " No nothing," said Margot. 
 
 " Don't you mean to confide in me ?" 
 
 " I cannot." 
 
 " Why not ?" 
 
 " Because I am under a solemn promise to be- 
 tray nothing." 
 
 " But, my dear child, this cannot go on ; this 
 cannot be hidden ; this is bound to come out and 
 before long. What are you thinking of doing ?" 
 
 " I don't know," said Margot. " I am trusting 
 to time and chance." 
 
 " It is no use trusting to time and chance in such
 
 2O4 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 circumstances. You must act, you must think, 
 we must plan. This must be kept." 
 
 " If it can be kept," said the girl. 
 
 " It will not be easy; but it must be done. My 
 God ! To think how near your father came to know- 
 ing everything. It would have broken his heart." 
 
 " No," said Margot ; " because he would have 
 understood." 
 
 " Margot," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " I am your 
 guardian. I am your only friend ; I am the only 
 person in the world that you can safely confide in. 
 I was your dead father's friend ; your dead mother's 
 friend likewise ; there is one question which I must 
 ask you and which you must answer Who de- 
 ceived you ?" 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 GOING HOME. 
 
 WHEN Mrs. Bladensbrook put that direct ques- 
 tion to Margot, the girl moved away for the first 
 time from the kindly sheltering hand lying upon 
 her shoulder. " Who deceived you ?" she asked. 
 
 " I cannot tell you," answered Margot. 
 
 " My dear, you cannot keep it a secret." 
 
 " I not only can, but I will. Mrs. Bladensbrook," 
 she said, and then she turned round and flung her- 
 self upon her knees at the older woman's feet, 
 clasping her gown on either side and looking up 
 with her white, pinched face full of piteous entreaty
 
 GOING HOME. 20$ 
 
 mingled with firmness, " Mrs. Bladensbrook, you 
 have known me all my life; you know that I am 
 not a bad girl ; you know that I am not the 
 kind of girl who would do an unforgivable thing ; 
 will you grant me one favour ? I know it is 
 the very hardest, the most difficult, the most im- 
 possible that I can ask you, but will you trust me? 
 Some day I shall be able to satisfy you absolutely 
 that I have done no wrong. I cannot answer 
 your question. Will you promise me that you will 
 stand by me in the time coming, that you will 
 help me to keep this back from my brothers until 
 such time as they and everybody else may know 
 the whole truth ? Will you trust me so far that 
 you will ask me no question, that you will try to 
 find out nothing ? Oh, Mrs. Bladensbrook, I can't 
 tell you what a load you will take off my mind if 
 you will only do that for me. It is so much to me, 
 it would be so little to you." 
 
 " But why can you not tell me ?" Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook asked. 
 
 " Because I have given my word that until a 
 certain time has passed I will confide in nobody, 
 tell nobody, bear anything that comes. If you 
 won't help me, what can I do ? Where can I go ? 
 I am your prisoner. I have no refuge but death." 
 
 " My dear child, don't talk such nonsense," said 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook, almost sternly " What has a 
 young thing like you to do with death, excepting 
 when it comes in your way as it did the other day ? 
 Don't talk in that wild way ; I cannot bear to hear 
 you." 
 
 18
 
 206 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " But you will do what I ask ?" cried Margot, 
 still pleading upon her knees. 
 
 "Shall I be doing right?" replied the older 
 woman. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I swear to you, yes. Don't you think 
 I would tell you if I were free to do so ? Don't 
 you think that after keeping it all these months, 
 after having to confide in nobody, to tell nobody, 
 to consult nobody, to ask nobody to help to bear 
 the burden with me, don't you think that gladly 
 would I tell you every detail, everything? Oh, 
 yes, a thousand times yes. But I have given my 
 word to one whom I trust now and for eternity. 
 It may be that I shall never be free ; it may be that 
 I shall have to bear this burden to my grave; but 
 there is a reason, there is a good reason, and I will 
 bear it, if need be, to the very end." 
 
 " But, my dear child," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 trying to raise her from the ground, " would it not 
 be better to tell me ?" 
 
 " I cannot tell you. I have no leave to tell you ; 
 nay, more than that, I must beg, pray, implore you 
 not to find out anything, not to ask me any more ; 
 but I give you my word of honour that it is not 
 as you think." 
 
 " That means that you are married ?" 
 
 " Yes," said Margot ; " it means that I am mar- 
 ried." 
 
 " In church ?" 
 
 " Yes, in church, safely married, legally married. 
 There is no doubt about it. He would rather 
 have died than have played me false."
 
 GOING HOME. 2O/ 
 
 " If you think so, my child, why are you bound 
 like this ?" 
 
 " I cannot tell you. I can tell you nothing 
 more ; I only ask, as the one great favour that you 
 can do me, that you will not seek to find when or 
 by whom I was married." 
 
 " You were married in England ?" 
 
 " Yes, in England. But you won't find out ; you 
 won't try, will you ? You will let me keep my 
 bitter secret until the proper time comes ?" 
 
 " Yes, I will do that for you. My mind misgives 
 me, Margot. I don't understand it. Girls did not 
 do these things when I was young at least, not 
 the girls that I knew. I am sorry that you mar- 
 ried without your father's knowledge somebody 
 who was not bold enough and brave enough to 
 go to your father and honestly ask for you for his 
 wife." 
 
 " It was not for that reason," said Margot ; " it 
 was not, indeed. It was for something quite differ- 
 ent. Some day I shall be able to explain every- 
 thing, everything that now seems so impossible, 
 so dishonourable, so unnecessary, and then you 
 will say that I was not wrong, even if I was not 
 right." 
 
 " It seems to me," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, "that 
 the ideas of right and wrong of to-day are different 
 from what those ideas were in my time. But, my 
 poor child, I will not reproach you. I will do what 
 you ask ; I will help you to keep this dreadful se- 
 cret. How shall we best manage it ? Let me see : 
 we must go home to-morrow as we originally in-
 
 2O8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 tended, nothing can be done there without us, and 
 time presses. We must stay a few days ; you must 
 keep as quiet and as much out of sight as you 
 can. There is nothing to be gained by letting 
 your world know what has happened. I will make 
 arrangements to leave home, and I will take you 
 away. I might take you to Switzerland. I don't 
 think people from Bladensbrook often go to Swit- 
 zerland. I never knew one." 
 
 " Oh, how good you are !" cried Margot, " how 
 good you are ! What should I have done with- 
 out you ?" 
 
 " I don't know," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. " You 
 would have done very badly. It's no use mincing 
 matters ; it's no use trying to smooth things down 
 between ourselves ; you and I have got a difficult 
 task in front of us, a very difficult task, and we 
 shall have to play our cards very, very carefully. 
 I don't know that I am altogether right, and yet 
 it cannot be wrong to hide the knowledge of such 
 a situation from the world. It can do no good for 
 people to know it. Yes, we will go to Switzer- 
 land, that will be the best place. We can go to 
 some little village up in the mountains and keep 
 pretty well out of the road of every one. Jim will 
 not be able to come out, and Jack will not be back 
 until everything is safe. I will get a fresh maid. 
 I will leave Perkins at home with a special mission 
 to do certain work for me. I will have a fresh maid, 
 who will know nothing of our circumstances or 
 who you are. If this matter is to be kept dark it 
 can only be kept through your own circumspect
 
 GOING HOME. 2OQ 
 
 behaviour. Remember, you are going home 
 among your own people who have not seen you 
 for many months ; you will have to be very careful 
 in every way." 
 
 " I will do anything," said Margot. " I will give 
 my very life to make up to you for this. Oh, how 
 good you are ! And to think that I was once 
 afraid of you." 
 
 " Afraid of me !" said Mrs. Bladensbrook, in a 
 tone of intense astonishment. " But why ?" 
 
 " I don't know," said Margot. " Because you 
 were Mrs. Bladensbrook, I think ; but until now I 
 have always regarded you with awe, thought of 
 you with nervousness ; I have always been a little 
 afraid of you." 
 
 " My dear child, there was never any woman of 
 whom you had less need to be afraid than I. How- 
 ever, for the present, don't let us speak of this 
 again. Let us go home, get through all our busi- 
 ness, get rid of that dear boy, Jim, and make 
 our arrangements for leaving Bladensbrook, before 
 we speak on the subject again. I don't intend to 
 watch you ; that would betray you at once. I only 
 urge you now for the last time to remember that it 
 depends entirely upon your own demeanour whether 
 the truth comes out now or not. It is time we went 
 for our last drive here. Jim has gone off by him- 
 self; do you and I get ready and go ; and remem- 
 ber that we do not speak upon the subject again 
 until we are back in London after our visit home." 
 
 It seemed to Mrs. Bladensbrook, during the few 
 days that followed, as if she must have been some- 
 o 18*
 
 210 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 thing more than blind not to have seen the change 
 in Margot as soon as she arrived in Pau. It 
 seemed to her that everybody who saw the girl 
 must notice the terrible difference in her. She 
 looked with a curious astonishment at Jim and at 
 all the people in the hotel as they talked that 
 last evening, wondering how in the world it had 
 happened that there was no suspicion of the truth ; 
 then she remembered that she, who had known 
 Margot from her babyhood, had noticed nothing, 
 had only fancied her ill and fretting for her father. 
 Surely, if she could be deceived, she who knew her 
 so well, those who were comparative strangers to 
 her would hardly be likely to notice anything. As 
 for Jim, of course it was proverbial that boys never 
 noticed their sisters' looks, so why should Jim any 
 more than any other brother ? 
 
 At last they had left Pau behind them and were 
 well on their journey towards home. It was tire- 
 some and tedious, but the worst journey comes to 
 an end in time, and at last they drove up to the 
 great entrance and it was over. The new Rector 
 was waiting to bid them welcome. He met Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook with the warmth of an intimate and 
 devoted friend, shook hands with Jim with that 
 peculiar air of sympathy which men show to one 
 another in times of great affliction ; and then he 
 went and took Margot's two little hands, holding 
 them in his own and looking down upon her with- 
 out a single word of greeting for her. Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook's heart stood positively still at the sight 
 of it, for this was a contingency of which she had
 
 GOING HOME. 211 
 
 never thought, for which she had never in her own 
 mind provided. Of course, he was in love with 
 Margot ; for Margot's sake he had remained on 
 doing curate's work in the little country parish, 
 this brilliant man with his exceptional powers of 
 organization, his great gift of eloquence, and his 
 striking personality ; it was for Margot's sake that 
 he had accepted the living at Bladensbrook, and it 
 was all no good, all for nothing no use. She 
 could not even warn him by so much as a hint 
 that it was no use, and Mrs. Bladensbrook's brain 
 positively reeled at the thought of the complica- 
 tions which were fast setting in upon her. Oddly 
 enough a quotation came into her mind in that 
 moment of meeting, " Oh, that a man might know 
 the end of this day's business ere it comes." What 
 would be the end of this business ? She greatly 
 feared shame and tribulation for Margot, pain and 
 humiliation for the new Rector, that is to say, the 
 Rector that was to be. 
 
 " It was kind of you to come up to welcome us 
 home," she said, feeling that she must say some- 
 thing, however common-place, however trivial. 
 " It is a sad home-coming for us all, and we have 
 still sadder work before us. You will stay and dine, 
 Mr. Morris ?" 
 
 " I should be most happy to do so," he replied, 
 turning his eyes reluctantly from Margot. 
 
 " That is good. Margot, the blue room, dear, 
 next to mine." 
 
 " Thank you ; I will go now and take my things 
 off," said Margot
 
 212 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 They had stayed a night in London on their 
 journey home, and Margot had bought, among 
 other things, a tea-gown, all black, of deepest 
 mourning fashion, which swathed her like a cloud 
 of night. The new Rector positively jumped when 
 she came down into the little drawing-room again. 
 She looked so like a child swathed in those crape 
 folds ; she looked so young, so ill, so helpless ; he 
 longed to take her bodily in his strong arms and 
 bid her confide in him all the grief and trouble 
 that he could see was eating her very heart out. 
 He, as Mrs. Bladensbrook had been, was quite 
 mistaken in Margot. He believed that she was 
 pining after her dead father, that she was fretting 
 herself to a shadow, when in truth the burden on 
 her mind was of "so different a kind. " You know," 
 he said, when he found himself alone with her, 
 " that Mrs. Bladensbrook has offered me the liv- 
 ing." 
 
 " Yes, I knew it," said Margot. " I am so glad. 
 Daddy would have loved you to have it. I know 
 he would ; he was very fond of you, Mr. Morris." 
 
 " I believe he was, and I of him. Would that 
 he were still in his old place. But you may rest 
 assured that I shall make no changes excepting 
 those that I feel he would have approved." 
 
 " Father always approved your changes," said 
 she. 
 
 " I know. He was very good. I have thought 
 of you so often, so much, and everybody here was 
 so full of sympathy for you. The church was full 
 when we had the service in his memory, as full as
 
 GOING HOME. 21$ 
 
 when the bishop preaches. Everybody brought 
 flowers, the altar was hidden by them. I know the 
 Rector himself would have loved to see how much 
 affection was shown for him." 
 
 " People are very good," said Margot ; " and you 
 are more than good, because they knew Daddy 
 years and years and years ago, before I was born, 
 but you have only known us a little while " 
 
 Before he could say anything, Jim Dangerfield 
 came in and joined them. His entrance, of course, 
 put to flight anything that the new Rector might 
 have had in his mind to say. Later on in the 
 evening, when Mr. Morris had gone back to the 
 Rectory and Margot had gone to bed, Jim said 
 uneasily to Mrs. Bladensbrook, " I feel sure that 
 Margot is feeling this more than she will own to." 
 
 " Oh, yes, my dear boy, the poor child is hold- 
 ing up wonderfully ; but she is very much broken. 
 Don't take any notice at all of her manner or notice 
 her appearance. She is ill and fretting and best 
 left to herself. I think if she doesn't pick up within 
 a day or two I shall take her up to town again 
 and consult Sir Fergus Tiffany. There is nobody 
 quite like him. I have the most implicit confidence 
 in his judgment. I think that I shall take her to 
 Switzerland for a time." 
 
 " That would be very kind of you. Poor little 
 girl, you see she has always had some one to lean 
 on before, and to be there alone. I have felt all 
 along that Margot has borne more than her share." 
 
 "My dear boy," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, "you 
 may leave Margot implicitly to me. I will do the
 
 214 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 best for her as I would for a girl of my own, and I 
 always longed for a daughter always, so you may 
 rest quite tranquil about Margot. I daresay she 
 will feel greatly better when we have got through 
 the exceedingly unpleasant business of deciding 
 what is to be kept and what is to be sold of the 
 things at the Rectory." 
 
 " Did Morris say anything about it to-night ?" 
 
 " Yes ; he says he will take over exactly what we 
 leave ; so we shall have no trouble beyond the mere 
 going through the rooms and choosing such things 
 as will have to be spared. The silver, you know, 
 is here already." 
 
 " Is that so ?" 
 
 " Yes. Each winter that your father spent away 
 I have had the silver in my strong room, so we 
 need not trouble to go over that, as you would not 
 be dividing that until one of you was married, or 
 at least until Jack comes back again. Really, the 
 other things will soon be settled ; but," she added, 
 " I shall be glad when it is all comfortably over." 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 COMING AND GOING. 
 
 DURING the next few days there was much com- 
 ing and going between the Rectory and the House. 
 The day after their return home, Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook with Margot and Jim Dangerfield went down
 
 COMING AND GOING. 21$ 
 
 soon after breakfast and spent some hours at the 
 old home which was now to pass away from them. 
 
 " I think we may save all the china, Margot ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, I should like to keep the china," said 
 Margot, " very much." 
 
 "The silver, you know," Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 went on to the new Rector, " is all at the House, so 
 that we need not trouble about that. Then there 
 are the pictures ; what about the pictures, dear ?" 
 
 The brother and sister went together round the 
 lower rooms picking out the different pictures that 
 they particularly wished to have preserved. Then 
 Margot reminded Jim that a certain cabinet in the 
 hall belonged to him. " You know Aunt George 
 left it to you. Don't you remember ?" 
 
 " Yes, of course. By Jove ! I had forgotten it," 
 said Jim. " I ought to stick to that, I think." 
 
 " Mark it down," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " And there is that model of the man-of-war that 
 belongs to Jack. I believe he would be very much 
 upset if we let that go. And you don't want it ?" 
 said Margot, turning to the new Rector. 
 
 " I am at your disposal," said he. 
 
 "Then there are all Father's books," Margot 
 went on. " I don't think we want many of the 
 books, Jim. What do you think ? There were all 
 his sermons and a great many lectures." 
 
 "And a great many manuscripts," said Mr. 
 Morris, indicating the closets underneath the book- 
 shelves in the Rector's study. 
 
 " I should like to keep the manuscripts," said 
 Margot " Father never finished his book. I
 
 2l6 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 wonder if they will be of any use to anybody ? It 
 was the work of his life, and he left it." 
 
 "Well, dear, these things are in other hands 
 than ours," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, who did not 
 want to go into a disquisition on the dead and gone 
 Rector's life-work just at that time, she being in 
 great dread of the girl's nerves breaking down. 
 
 " All his sermons. Wouldn't you like to have 
 them ?" said Margot, looking at the Rector. " I 
 don't mean to buy them. We couldn't sell Father's 
 sermons ; but you might like to have them. I 
 shouldn't like to see them burned." 
 
 " I should be delighted to have them, Miss Dan- 
 gerfield," said Mr. Morris, very gravely, " Any- 
 thing of your father's that you like to leave for 
 me I will take care of with the greatest pleasure." 
 
 " Thank you so much, so much. I want to get 
 out of this room," she said, turning round to Jim. 
 " I cannot bear being here. There is the chair and 
 the desk that Father used to sit at. Dear Daddy ! 
 I I cannot bear it. Could you not finish this 
 without me ?" 
 
 She did not wait for a reply, but turned and went 
 quickly out of the room, across the hall and into 
 the quaint, old-fashioned drawing-room with its 
 beautiful Chippendale furniture and wealth of old 
 china. " Mother loved old furniture ; she was so 
 fond of Chippendale," her sad thoughts ran as she 
 looked round the long, low room. " Oh, you are 
 there, Mrs. Bladensbrook. I suppose it wouldn't 
 do to take this furniture ? My Mother loved it." 
 
 " My dear, she well might. It is very beautiful.
 
 COMING AND GOING. 2 1/ 
 
 If you would like to have it, you have only to say 
 so." 
 
 " It seems rather hard to come and take the best 
 of everything away, doesn't it ?" 
 
 " My dear child, it is to be sold. It would be 
 much harder to make you sell what you wish to 
 keep." 
 
 " Yes, yes, that is so. And that set of miniatures 
 on the screen, I would not like to part with those.' 
 Margot went on, looking round with sad eyes. 
 " And Mother worked the fire-screen herself. I 
 remember her doing it so well. And there's that 
 little table with all the bits of silver on it. I think 
 we ought to keep that, don't you ? I don't think 
 we need think about these chairs and tables. It is 
 only the Chippendale things that I am really very 
 keen on keeping. I don't care about the others. 
 What do you say, Jim ?" 
 
 Jim, who had just come into the room, agreed 
 with Margot. In truth, he himself would have let 
 everything go, plate, pictures, china, and all. 
 Boys are like that : it is women who cling to the 
 home ; it is women who make themselves nests , 
 women who keep sentiment alive. So they went 
 through the entire house until they came at length 
 to Margot's own bedroom. " I don't want any- 
 thing from here," she said, " excepting what Nancy 
 knows about, nothing else. I want those pictures 
 and just my own things. Nancy knows, don't 
 you, Nancy?" 
 
 " Why, yes, Miss Margot, of course I do. I can 
 remember which birthday everything came on, 
 K 19
 
 21 8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 which was from the dear master and from the dear 
 mistress, so of course I do." 
 
 " Yes, Nancy knows. I am sure we needn't go 
 over all this. Good-bye, little bedroom," she said 
 in an undertone, as she passed out of the long 
 corridor. 
 
 " Miss Margot," said Nancy, " there's a letter for 
 you down-stairs. It came this morning." 
 
 " Oh, is there ? Where is it ?" 
 
 " I left it in my workroom. I left it there in- 
 tending to bring it up to you myself at the House." 
 
 " I will come, Nancy." She followed Nancy 
 down the corridor towards her own workroom. 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook went the same way, not intend- 
 ing to follow the girl, but simply because that was 
 the way that led towards the stairs. 
 
 " Here it is, Miss Margot," said Nancy, emerg- 
 ing from her room with the letter in her hand. 
 
 " Oh, thank you, Nancy. Thank you." She 
 had caught sight in a moment of the superscrip- 
 tion on the envelope, and she saw that it was in the 
 half-disguised writing in which Godfrey had written 
 to her once before. She took it with a shaking 
 hand, her heart palpitating, her throat bursting, and 
 every drop of colour fled from her never very 
 rosy cheeks. 
 
 " I wanted to ask you a question, Miss Margot," 
 said Nancy, " and now that Madam is here it is a 
 good opportunity for me to ask it. Do you wish 
 me to stay with you? Mr. Morris has asked me 
 to remain just as I have always been, and I told him 
 I should be very pleased, if so be that you didn't
 
 COMING AND GOING. 2 19 
 
 require me. If you want me, there is not another 
 situation in the world I would say thank you for." 
 
 Margot looked piteously at Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 " Well, really, I hardly know what to say, Nancy. 
 You have been so long with Miss Dangerfield." 
 
 " Yes, a long time," said Nancy, closing her 
 mouth very tightly. 
 
 " Mrs. Bladensbrook," said Margot, in an under- 
 tone, " let us talk it over before we decide. Any- 
 how, Nancy might come up and see me to-morrow 
 afternoon may she ?" 
 
 " My dear, when you like to arrange for her 
 coming." 
 
 " To-morrow afternoon about between four and 
 five, and then we will talk over what I am going 
 to do. I must discuss it all with Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook first. You dear Nancy !" she exclaimed 
 impulsively, suddenly catching the old servant 
 round the shoulders and kissing her on either 
 cheek. " There will never be anybody like you to 
 me, never never !" 
 
 The quick tears came into Nancy's hard eyes, 
 and she caught her nursling in a grip that was 
 almost convulsive. " My precious lamb ! I can't 
 bear to see you with the shadows on your face as 
 they are " 
 
 " No, Nancy, no ; don't say the thing. Don't 
 break me down here. It is so bad for the new 
 Rector. It makes him feel that we grudge him the 
 place." 
 
 " I think the new Rector understands, Miss Mar- 
 got, exactly what you and me is feeling," said the
 
 220 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 old servant, holding the girl's hand fast and look- 
 ing at her with yearning eyes. " I think the new 
 Rector is more sorry for all of us than words can 
 say. He was rare and put out when the poor 
 master was took ; aye, I didn't think that anybody 
 who had known him so short a time could have 
 felt it so deeply." 
 
 " Don't, Nancy," said Margot, " please don't !" 
 
 " Come, my dear, you and Nancy will get over 
 this by and by, at present you upset each other. 
 It is quite natural, Nancy. I appreciate your devo- 
 tion to the dear Rector very highly, but Miss Mar- 
 got is not very strong yet ; she has gone through a 
 great deal, and you shall come up to-morrow after- 
 noon and we will talk over all the future." 
 
 " Thank you, Madam, thank you," said Nancy, 
 dropping a curtsey. She dabbed away a few 
 tears viciously and as if she were ashamed of them, 
 then with a hurried kiss on her nursling's cheek 
 she turned and fled away down the corridor. 
 
 " I knew Nancy would upset me," said Margot. 
 
 " No, my dear, she will do nothing of the kind. 
 You must learn not to be upset by one so kind. 
 Pull yourself together. Let us go down and finish 
 what is to be done." 
 
 " Mrs. Bladensbrook, I cannot do any more. I 
 am utterly knocked over for to-day. I wish you 
 would take me home." 
 
 " My dear child, of course I will take you home 
 if you feel like that. You have only to speak. I 
 will order the carnage at once. My dear Mr. 
 Morris," she said, as they reached the hall again,
 
 COMING AND GOING. 221 
 
 " this child is tired out : she is not very strong 
 yet. Now you will let us go to-day and come 
 back again to-morrow and finish everything. 
 Shall we see you up at the House to-day ?" 
 
 " I think not to-day," said he, half hesitatingly. 
 
 " Won't you dine with us ?" 
 
 " You are very kind." 
 
 " Does that mean yes ?" 
 
 " I hardly like to say so ; but yet I don't like 
 saying no." 
 
 " Then it is settled that you come, and we will 
 expect you. Now come, Margot, don't look round 
 any more, dear; not even at your own especial 
 things. Come, dear, let us go." 
 
 But even then Margot had no chance of reading 
 her precious letter, not even at taking a peep at the 
 outer cover that she might glean something of its 
 inward sweetness. Still, all excitement and anxiety 
 as she was, hedged round in every way as she was 
 at that moment, she had the glorious satisfaction 
 of knowing that Godfrey was at least alive ; he had 
 written to her with his own hand, and she felt 
 stronger and better able to bear her fate than she 
 had done for months past. 
 
 They went straight into lunch, for they reached 
 the house at the ordinary luncheon hour. Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook sat some little time at table talking 
 things over with Jim, and every now and again 
 drawing Margot into the conversation, so that she 
 had no excuse for slipping away to read her pre- 
 cious letter. Oh, how long it was ! She kept put- 
 ting her hand into her pocket and fingering it 
 19*
 
 222 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 feeling it, as if by so doing she would extract some 
 information from it, but from this occupation she 
 extracted nothing except a certain satisfaction that 
 it had come straight to her from Godfrey. 
 
 " I can't think," Jim was saying, " where you will 
 put all these things." 
 
 " My dear boy, have you never seen the up-stairs 
 rooms ? We have some twenty rooms at the top 
 that have nothing in them and are never used. You 
 see, this house is so large and we don't have large 
 house-parties, so the attics have never been fur- 
 nished, and so anything that is up there will be 
 looked after and taken care of. Pray put that idea 
 out of your head. I am only too glad to do such 
 a trifle for either of you." 
 
 " That is awfully good of you," said Jim, grate- 
 fully. " By the bye, Margot, do you remember a 
 curious little picture, a sort of old oil-painting done 
 on a panel ?" 
 
 "Do you mean the strawberry man?" asked 
 Margot. 
 
 " Yes, the strawberry man," said Jim. 
 
 " Oh, yes, that ? Father got it into his head 
 that it was a valuable picture and sent it to be 
 cleaned or something in London. I think we 
 shall find a memorandum of it somewhere." 
 
 " I don't remember such a picture," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook. 
 
 "Oh, yes, surely you must. You remember the 
 little ante-room between the drawing-room and the 
 dining-room ? That little place that Mother used 
 to call the corner room ?"
 
 COMING AND GOING. 22$ 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Well, it was in that. Just by the drawing-room 
 door, a very curious old panel, a picture of a man 
 with a strawberry mark on his face. Now, don't 
 you remember ?" 
 
 " My dear, so I do. True. Why, I haven't seen 
 it, I was going to say, for years." 
 
 " No, I don't suppose you have seen it for years. 
 It is quite a year since Father took it into his head 
 that it was a valuable painting. I know he sent it to 
 London, and I believe he forgot to write about it." 
 
 " I must look out for some mention of it when 
 I go over the papers with Margot," said Jim. 
 
 " Yes, that would be a good plan. You are 
 going down to-morrow, are you not ?" 
 
 " To-morrow morning. We think it is best that 
 they should be gone through, and, of course, he 
 wants the room. Besides, there are all sorts of 
 letters and receipts and old bills and pamphlets 
 and all sorts of things that are no use except for 
 waste paper, so I am going to-morrow morning and 
 we will get it turned out. You don't want to go 
 down for that, Margot ?" 
 
 " Oh, no, certainly not. I hate going." 
 
 " And I will tell you what there is, old girl ; there 
 is a splendid toboggan in the outhouse, I think. 
 What about that ?" 
 
 " Is that worth keeping ?" asked Margot. 
 
 " No, I don't know that it is worth keeping." 
 
 " Well, then, my dear Jim, take it then. You 
 have no objection to Jim taking that, have you, 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook ?"
 
 224 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " My dear, I have no objection to Jim's taking 
 anything that he wishes to have ; besides, it was 
 yours, wasn't it, Jim ?" 
 
 " Yes, it was mine and Jack's. Old Jack hasn't 
 much use for a toboggan out on the high seas or 
 on a foreign station." 
 
 " Oh, no ; you have it," said Margot. " And if 
 you don't want me any more, I would like to go and 
 lie down. I have got such a headache." 
 
 " Do, dear child, lie down and go to sleep. I 
 won't come near you till tea-time, and then I will 
 let you know." 
 
 " Thank you so much." She went from the room 
 a little unsteadily, opening and closing the door 
 very softly, her fingers tightly clasping the precious 
 letter from Godfrey. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A PRECIOUS MISSIVE. 
 
 ONCE safe in the shelter of her own room, Mar- 
 got was free to open the letter from Godfrey. She 
 noticed first of all that the envelope was pink and 
 very common, having a hideous embossed spray of 
 flowers on the flap, which opened so as to allow the 
 letter to be drawn out endways. She tore it open 
 with trembling fingers and drew out the contents, 
 not a sheet of pink paper to match the envelope, 
 but a mere scrap of white paper of a thicker kind
 
 A PRECIOUS MISSIVE. 22$ 
 
 just doubled in two. On it was written in pencil, 
 without any attempt at disguise in the handwrit- 
 ing : 
 
 " MY OWN DARLING, This is to tell you that I am yours still 
 and forever. I am tolerably well, and must ask you to still keep my 
 secret our secret as faithfully as you have done up to the present 
 time. I think of you continually, and wonder if you still trust me as 
 you promised to do. I know it is a very hard test of faith, but when 
 I am able to tell you everything, you will see that I have acted in 
 the only way that was possible to me. I wish that I could hear 
 from you, but that is quite impossible. I would write to my mother 
 if I could, but cannot do so. She will understand that I have a 
 reason, and a good one. Dearest, I have lived on the memory of 
 our few happy days together. I exist until we meet again. Your 
 true and devoted Godfrey." 
 
 She sat staring at the letter for a long time try- 
 ing to make out what it could possibly mean. It 
 was inexplicable to her that Godfrey should write 
 on a soiled half-sheet of note-paper, using a common 
 envelope, such as she was sure he had never seen 
 in his life before ; that he should have any difficulty 
 in writing, and that the postmark was London, each 
 was inexplicable. Where could he be? Why was 
 he hiding, keeping out of sight in this mysterious 
 manner ? She had never heard that any of the 
 Bladensbrooks had been affected in their minds ', 
 but it seemed to her then as if Godfrey must have 
 taken leave of his senses; it seemed to her as if he 
 must have gone entirely wrong in his head. Could 
 he have been taken with any delusion and be hid- 
 ing in some squalid part of London out of every- 
 body's way for no earthly reason ? She read the 
 letter again. The handwriting was firm, Godfrey's
 
 226 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 own handwriting, although it is true it was in pen- 
 cil ; then she looked at the envelope ; that was in 
 pencil, too, and had been written over with ink. It 
 was like and yet unlike Godfrey's handwriting. 
 She could not make it out. She read it again 
 and yet again with a sinking heart and a choking 
 throbbing in her throat. He was still her " true 
 and devoted Godfrey," but her mind misgave her 
 whether he was still the same Godfrey that she 
 had known during her whole life. At last she 
 locked the letter away in her desk and laid down 
 upon the couch, which was drawn up to the fire, 
 and as she lay there among the silken cushions, 
 wondering and conjecturing, puzzling and trying 
 to piece the fragments of the communication 
 together so as to evolve some tangible whole out 
 of them, she fell asleep, and was sleeping when 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook came to tell her that tea was 
 ready. 
 
 " I am glad you have been asleep, Margot," she 
 said, kindly. " I looked in to tell you, dear, that 
 tea will be ready in five minutes. Do you feel 
 inclined to come down?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, of course," answered Margot, " of 
 course I will come down. I have been to sleep for 
 a long, long time." 
 
 " Do you feel better ?" 
 
 " I feel less tired," the girl replied. She washed 
 her hands and touched her hair here and there 
 before she descended to join Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 and Jim in the little drawing-room. 
 
 " I cannot make you out, Margot," said Jim, sud-
 
 A PRECIOUS MISSIVE. 22/ 
 
 denly, as she sat down not very far from the little 
 table. 
 
 " Cannot make me out, Jim ? Why ?" 
 
 " I don't know. You look so much older. You 
 have got such a queer, old-womanish sort of way 
 about you. Why don't you walk into the room ? 
 Why do you creep like that ?" 
 
 Margot went scarlet instantly. " I I didn't 
 know that I did." 
 
 " Don't tease her, Jim," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " I had no intention of teasing her," said Jim, 
 looking at her half contritely ; " but I have been 
 accustomed to a Margot that was bright and brisk. 
 This Margot is neither bright nor brisk." 
 
 " Margot has been through a terrible time of 
 trouble," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, somewhat indig- 
 nantly. 
 
 " Yes, I know that. We have all been the same ; 
 but, although, goodness knows, I am as sorry that 
 my father is dead as any man can be, it doesn't 
 affect my way of walking into a room." 
 
 " Ah, Margot has sat up too long ; she sat up 
 with your father a great deal ; she fagged herself 
 out ; her spine is very weak," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook, decidedly. " After three or four months of 
 Switzerland, she will be quite the Margot you like 
 to see her and whom you have been accustomed to 
 see." 
 
 " I am sure I hope so," said Jim, not in the least 
 daunted from the position he had taken up. " I 
 believe the best thing you can do, my dear child, 
 is to come out on the tandem with me and have a
 
 228 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 good spin for ten or twelve miles. It would do 
 you all the good in the world ; you have got humped 
 up and moped. Come out on the tandem with me." 
 
 Margot looked at Mrs. Bladensbrook. " I don't 
 think," she said, " that a good spin on the tandem 
 will help me at all just now." 
 
 " Ah, you coddle yourself too much. That's the 
 worst of girls. You ought to get out into the 
 open, into the fresh air ; walk, ride, strengthen your- 
 self up. I do hope if you take her to Switzerland, 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook, that you will make her walk 
 every day." 
 
 " I shall be most strict with her," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, not looking at Margot ; " she shall 
 do all sorts of things when she gets to Switzerland. 
 The truth is, my dear Jim, that you don't under- 
 stand, being only a young man, how very much 
 your dear father's death and long illness have taken 
 it out of Margot's vitality." 
 
 " Perhaps I don't," said Jim, in a contrite voice. 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook felt as if she had been 
 guilty of telling a deliberate and down-right lie, for 
 she knew perfectly well that it was not the Rector's 
 illness and death which had so altered Margot from 
 her old self. It would be hard to express how 
 much Mrs. Bladensbrook pondered over the gen- 
 eral situation from first to last. She had never seen 
 the smallest signs of flirtation about Margot ; she 
 had always regarded her as a little simple, innocent 
 girl who might marry some day, but hardly as one 
 who would ever have a lover. There are many 
 girls who marry, who make model wives and
 
 A PRECIOUS MISSIVE. 22$ 
 
 mothers, who never really live, who never under- 
 stand the greater ecstasies of life, whose whole 
 existence is passed in a kind of twilight so far as 
 the greater passions are concerned. Somehow 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook had always pictured Margot in 
 her own mind as being one of these ; and yet here 
 was Margot in as awkward a position as any young 
 girl could find herself in. She had taken her word 
 that she really was married ; she had trusted her, 
 and meant to do so until such time as she could 
 speak ; but the whole thing was inexplicable to the 
 lady of Bladensbrook, who had looked upon 
 Margot Dangerfield as the very last person in the 
 world to inspire or to experience anything ap- 
 proaching to a grand passion. Now, Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook had, during the short time which had passed 
 between her arrival at Pau and the death of Mr. 
 Dangerfield, built up a very nice little romance in 
 her own mind of which Margot was one of the 
 principal figures. She had arranged everything in 
 quite a cut and dried fashion that she should give 
 the living to the curate in charge, that he would 
 take over all the furniture, and he would marry 
 Margot. Nothing could be better, no position 
 could be more desirable to the girl than that which 
 had been hers all her life. She knew everybody 
 at Bladensbrook and everybody at Bladensbrook 
 knew and liked her, she would make an ideal little 
 Rector's wife ; and the Rector to be would make an 
 ideal husband for Margot. Unfortunately, Margot 
 had put this little scheme outside the bounds 
 of possibility forever ; Margot had shown herself
 
 230 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 capable of planning out her own life, not very suc- 
 cessfully, it is true, so far, but still sufficiently so 
 to make other people's plans of no value whatever. 
 The first thing that Mrs. Bladensbrook noticed on 
 her return from Pau was that a similar scheme had 
 presented itself to the mind of the new Rector. 
 She had perceived it with a kind of horror ; she 
 felt, having had such an idea herself, as if she were 
 the cause of it ; she felt guilty, and she felt some- 
 thing more than guilty in possessing the knowledge 
 of the true state of affairs and yet in not being able 
 to warn Mr. Morris that he had better put any such 
 idea out of his mind without the delay of a single 
 moment. That evening, for instance, she watched 
 him with a sense of uneasy guilt, and she saw that 
 he was attracted to a very dangerous extent by her 
 young ward. He waited upon her, watching her 
 every movement with an assiduity which made 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook, who had only just discovered 
 the true state of affairs for herself, wonder where 
 the man's eyes could possibly be. And Margot, 
 in her deep mourning attire, out of which her 
 slender young throat and thin little hands seemed 
 to come like snow-flakes, only served to heighten 
 his admiration and to deepen Mrs. Bladensbrook's 
 extreme uneasiness. 
 
 " Margot," she said, a little later, when the Rec- 
 tor had said good-night to them and Jim had gone 
 to see him off, " you must be very careful what you 
 are doing." 
 
 " I ?" said Margot, looking up with startled eyes. 
 " Why ?"
 
 A PRECIOUS MISSIVE. 2$l 
 
 " Because Mr. Morris is not a little attracted." 
 
 " By me ?" said Margot. 
 
 " Yes, by you, Of course, it is the most natural 
 thing in the world that he should be, the most 
 natural thing in the world that he should be think- 
 ing of marrying, and that he should be thinking of 
 marrying you." 
 
 Margot sat bolt upright. " I really don't know 
 how he dare !" 
 
 " My dear, any man dare admire any woman. 
 He has admired you for a long time." 
 
 "Oh, no." 
 
 " Oh, yes." 
 
 " Why, I wouldn't marry him if " 
 
 " My dear child," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, dryly, 
 " you couldn't marry him however much you wanted 
 to ; so it is no use discussing that question ; but as 
 you cannot tell the man just now precisely why 
 you are neither able nor willing to marry him, it 
 would be the kindest to discourage him as much 
 as you possibly could." 
 
 The result of this was that when the Rector 
 came up to the House again Margot treated him 
 with the most chilly and deadly indifference. Only 
 a very young woman could have done it so openly 
 and plainly as she did. At first the new Rector 
 noticed nothing. He sat down beside her and 
 began admiring a bit of many-coloured embroidery 
 with which she was toying. " By the bye, Miss 
 Dangerfield," he said, " Nancy has told me that 
 she is perfectly sure there are some things that you 
 have not remembered that you would wish to
 
 232 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 keep. Could you not come down to the Rectory 
 to see them ?" 
 
 " No," said Margot, " I I could not." 
 
 " Oh, but would it not be better ?" 
 
 " No, not at all. Nancy knows very well what 
 I am likely to want, and if Nancy says I ought to 
 keep them, I will keep them." 
 
 " But why shouldn't you come down and see 
 them ?" 
 
 " Because I don't want to come," said Margot, 
 bluntly and looking half indignantly at him. " It 
 is not pleasant to me to go home to the place that 
 is no longer my own, Mr. Morris. I suffered 
 dreadfully the other morning. I really could not 
 come again." 
 
 " Margot," said he, dropping his voice, "there is 
 one way in which you could come with every 
 right." 
 
 " I don't know that way," said Margot. 
 
 " It is a very simple one." 
 
 " It is impossible and out of the question. I 
 shall never come to the Rectory again. Please 
 don't suggest it. Tell Nancy that what she thinks 
 I would care to keep she will do right in sending 
 up here with the other things." And then Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook came into the room and the tete-a- 
 tete was at an end, not a little to his chagrin, not a 
 little to Margot's satisfaction. 
 
 " I suppose your brother goes back to his regi- 
 ment soon ?" said the Rector, when he had greeted 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " Yes, he goes back to-morrow."
 
 A PRECIOUS MISSIVE. 233 
 
 " And you go away ?" he asked, turning to the 
 lady of the house. 
 
 " We go on Monday yes, Monday. We shall 
 be away some months . I thought it better for many 
 reasons that we should get a long change from the 
 painful associations that Bladensbrook has for both 
 of us. Of course, I shall be in continual commu- 
 nication with my people here, and if anything 
 should require my presence I can come home at a 
 moment's notice." 
 
 During these few days there were very few vis- 
 itors at Bladensbrook. For months past Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook had been living such a retired life 
 and had shown so little disposition to confide her 
 trouble to any of her neighbours, that they had by 
 common consent come to leave her almost alone. 
 She was not a woman who had inspired intimate 
 friendships, indeed such had always bored her or 
 would have done so if she had allowed them to 
 come about. Nobody in the neighbourhood had 
 been as intimate with her as Margot's father, and 
 Margot had learned more of her ways and disposi- 
 tion during the past few months than she had done 
 in all the years of her life. 
 
 How Margot puzzled about that letter ! How 
 often she took it out, read it, turned over the en- 
 velope, looked at the postmark, at the semi-dis- 
 guised handwriting of the address, at the common 
 little embossment on the flap. But they told her 
 nothing, each and all only served to deepen the 
 mystery by which Godfrey was surrounded. 
 
 On Saturday evening, Nancy, the old servant 
 20*
 
 234 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 who had been Margot's nurse, left the Rectory and 
 took up her abode at the House. Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook and Margot had thoroughly discussed the 
 question of what maid they should take with them. 
 From the very first Mrs. Bladensbrook had de- 
 clared against the idea of taking her own maid 
 with them. " I can leave her behind in a position 
 of trust which will thoroughly satisfy her soul," 
 she said to Margot. " The only fault that Perkins 
 has is that she talks. Now to me that has never 
 mattered, because I have never had any page in 
 my life which could not be talked about ; but it 
 would matter to us now. The question is would it 
 be better to have a strange maid and keep her in the 
 dark, or would it be better to take Nancy into our 
 confidence and trust to her holding her tongue ?" 
 
 " I think we had better tell Nancy," said Margot, 
 " because she is very reticent. Father always used 
 to say she was as close as wax, and she is very fond 
 of me, anything that I tell her will be sufficient. I 
 mean to say, she won't doubt my word, she is much 
 too fond of me. It would be much more pleasant 
 for me if Nancy knew, and we might leave her in 
 charge of you know what I mean after- 
 wards" 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " of course there 
 is that to be thought of, and Nancy is a very trust- 
 worthy person in every way. I almost think that 
 the best thing to do would be to take a cottage 
 somewhere on the south coast and put Nancy there 
 with the child and another maid. I don't know 
 what else can be done with it."
 
 A PRECIOUS MISSIVE. 23$ 
 
 " I am sure that Nancy will be the best," said Mar- 
 got ; " but, oh, Mrs. Bladensbrook, if we were only 
 out of this. You don't know how I dread people. 
 I am so frightened of Mr. Morris." 
 
 " Why, dear ?" 
 
 " Oh, I am so afraid of him. He suggested that 
 I should go back to the Rectory yesterday." 
 
 " What ? he proposed to you ?" 
 
 " Well, he would have done if I didn't put him 
 off; and I am afraid I was very rude, but I was so 
 frightened." 
 
 " My dear child, this really is most awkward. 
 You know, Margot, I am afraid you will find the 
 inconvenience of the situation something terrible." 
 
 " I cannot help it," said Margot. " It is worse 
 for me than for anybody else, and I do get so 
 frightened when when " 
 
 " Yes, I understand," said the other, dryly. " I 
 quite understand. You must try to make your- 
 self less attractive, my dear child." For somehow 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook had come to look upon Margot 
 as a very attractive, dangerously attractive, person 
 indeed, seeing that the Rector was evidently hope- 
 lessly in love with her, and so must have been the 
 unknown who had won her heart.
 
 236 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 RALPH. 
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK'S last instructions to her 
 steward were to forward all letters immediately to 
 her latest address, to retelegraph any telegrams, 
 and to give her address to nobody. " I am going 
 away for rest and change," she said to him, " and 
 I don't want to be joined by any people I know ; 
 so if any one asks you where I am say that I am 
 in Switzerland or in the Austrian Tyrol or wherever 
 the district may be, but don't give the address ; 
 don't say what town or village I may be in. You 
 may forward any letters to me, that is quite suffi- 
 cient for anybody to know." 
 
 They left Bladensbrook attended only by Nancy, 
 and if Mrs. Bladensbrook missed the attentions of 
 her own maid she bore it cheerfully and uncom- 
 plainingly for Margot Dangerfield's sake. She did 
 not hustle Margot straight off to Switzerland; oh, 
 dear, no. She took her to London, then to Paris, 
 then to Aix-le-Bains, where she herself took a 
 course of the baths, and thence to Geneva, from 
 which they were free to go to any out-of-the-way 
 spot best suited to their purpose. From the time 
 of leaving London, Margot had dropped her own 
 name and had assumed that of Mrs. Trevor. This 
 had been the outcome of much cogitation, of much 
 going over pros and cons, whys and wherefores
 
 RALPH. 237 
 
 for and against. " I am quite convinced," said 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook, " that it is best to keep this 
 affair as dark as possible. You can go to the 
 Consul and register the child in its proper name. 
 I ask no questions ; I have promised to trust you, 
 and I will do so to the end, therefore everything 
 will be quite legal and straight and above-board, 
 but for ourselves, I feel that the best thing you 
 can do is to have as little opportunity of identify- 
 ing Mrs. Trevor with Miss Dangerfield as it is 
 possible to have. For instance, if any of the 
 people at home hear of this or get any inkling of 
 it, they will make life exceedingly unpleasant for 
 you. Heaven knows, I don't like lending myself 
 to anything of the kind, but your father left you to 
 me, and I must do the best I can for you. I only 
 feel truly thankful that this affair all happened in 
 your father's lifetime ; that I am not in any way 
 responsible for it." 
 
 So Margot began to be known as Mrs. Trevor 
 as soon as she reached the other side of the chan- 
 nel, and Miss Dangerfield was discreetly dropped. 
 It was wonderful how her health and spirits im- 
 proved when once they had left England behind 
 them. They were very fortunate in not coming 
 across any of their acquaintances. Once they had 
 a very narrow shave of coming face to face with 
 Margot's aunt, Mrs. Blake. They happened to be 
 in Lausanne, when Nancy came bolting up into 
 their sitting-room, " Oh, M'm, Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 Madam, what are we to do ? She is down-stairs !" 
 
 " Who is down-stairs ?" asked Mrs. Bladens-
 
 238 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 brook, standing up and looking very much aston- 
 ished. 
 
 " Oh !" cried Nancy, holding her hand to her 
 chest as if to still the tumultuous beating of her 
 heart ; " oh, Madam, you might have knocked me 
 down with a feather !" 
 
 " Who is it, Nancy ?" asked Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " Oh, Madam don't flurry me ! I have had 
 that turn I scarcely know whether I am standing 
 on my head or my heels ! Oh, Miss Margot 
 Oh, Madam she is down-stairs ! She is in this 
 hotel. Lucky you didn't write your name in the 
 books." 
 
 " Who is it ?" asked Mrs. Bladensbrook for the 
 third time. 
 
 " Mrs. Blake !" said Nancy. 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Bladensbrook !" cried Margot; "what 
 in the world are we to do ?" 
 
 " Do, my dear ? We must pay for our rooms 
 and for our dinner and go. Nancy, go down-stairs 
 stay, ring the bell, ring the bell, Nancy. Now I 
 insist upon it that you don't get flurried, either of 
 you. It merely requires a little careful handling 
 to get out of this quite easily. Nancy, before the 
 waiter comes go down-stairs, find out from the 
 chambermaid where Mrs. Blake comes from ; how 
 long she is going to stay ; if possible, where she is 
 going." 
 
 " Yes, Madam." 
 
 " Oh, Garcon, I want you to get us our bill. I 
 am afraid we shall not be able to remain. I will 
 pay for our rooms and dinner. I know you have
 
 RALPH. 239 
 
 a great many people coming, so that it will make 
 no difference to you. It will be rather a conven- 
 ience." 
 
 " As Madame chooses," said the waiter, politely. 
 
 " I feel that the air of this place does not suit 
 me. I will pay for the rooms and dinner, and will 
 go on by the train leaving about four o'clock. I 
 will have a private carriage to the station." 
 
 When Nancy came back again she had discovered 
 that Mrs. Blake had been staying for some days 
 in the house; that she was intending to remain 
 there for some little time longer, and was going 
 thence to Geneva on her way home to England. 
 
 " And she did not see you ?" 
 
 " No, Madam, she didn't see me at all. She 
 has gone out for a drive and will not be back for 
 two hours." 
 
 " And from whom did you get all this informa- 
 tion ?" 
 
 " Oh, I got it from her maid. Mrs. Blake's maid 
 is in the servants' hall, and I entered into conversa- 
 tion with her quite naturally." 
 
 " But supposing she brings her maid to Oh, 
 
 I forgot ; she won't come to the Rectory any more. 
 We are not likely to see her maid." 
 
 " I don't think I am likely to see her maid, 
 Madam," said Nancy, " because she is only going 
 with her as far as London ; she doesn't particularly 
 care for Mrs. Blake's service, and she gladly talked 
 over her place with me and told me everything 
 that I wanted to know." 
 
 " You think Mrs. Blake did not see you ?"
 
 240 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 "I am sure she did not, Madam," answered 
 Nancy. 
 
 " Then we will go by the train that leaves at 
 four o'clock. You had better go down to the 
 bureau and find out exactly what time the train 
 leaves. We can telegraph from the station to the 
 Grand Hotel du Lac, and we must trust to getting 
 rooms ; but as it is so early in the year we shall be 
 able to do that." 
 
 In a trice Nancy was hard at work packing up 
 the things which she had but just taken out of their 
 boxes, and at the appointed time Nancy, having 
 gone down to see that the coast was clear, was fol- 
 lowed by the two ladies, who slipped into the open 
 carriage and put up their parasols so as to shade 
 their faces as much as possible. They were fortu- 
 nate in finding rooms reserved for them at the 
 hotel, and they remained for a few days at Vevey 
 ere they moved on into the less frequented districts. 
 Finally, they came to a resting-place in a secluded 
 valley within reach of an English doctor, but quite 
 apart from the general stream of tourists and holi- 
 day makers. Here Mrs. Bladensbrook secured a 
 suite of rooms in the best of the three modest 
 hotels, and here they were joined by an English 
 nurse sent out from a great institution in London. 
 
 "You will understand," said Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 to her, " that I am particularly anxious that you 
 should not talk about me at all. I shall make you 
 a very handsome present on condition that you 
 will never mention my name to a soul. It is better 
 to take you into my confidence, because I don't
 
 RALPH. 241 
 
 want you to think that we are doing anything in 
 the least underhand ; but the young lady whose 
 confinement you are to attend is my ward. She 
 is married; but her marriage cannot be divulged 
 at present, and I am very anxious that she should 
 not have the unpleasantness of this being known 
 among her friends, so that we shall keep the whole 
 affair out of sight until it is time for her husband 
 to declare the marriage. Do we quite understand 
 one another ?" 
 
 " Oh, certainly, Madam, absolutely. I have 
 attended similar cases. We nurses find it best to 
 hold our tongues. Of course, in the case of any- 
 thing connected with the law I should have no 
 choice." 
 
 " There will be nothing connected with the law," 
 said Mrs. Bladensbrook ; " nothing whatever. If 
 anybody asks you what you were doing in Switzer- 
 land, you can say quite frankly that you were attend- 
 ing a young English lady, a Mrs. Trevor. It is 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook who wishes to be kept as much 
 as possible in the background." 
 
 " Very good, Madam ; I will not say a word to 
 anybody. I will not mention your name." 
 
 Naturally, Margot had not many letters to re- 
 ceive ; only those from her two brothers, which, 
 for the sake of convenience, went to Bladensbrook 
 and were forwarded under cover with Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook's correspondence. 
 
 So in the modest hostel of a small Swiss town 
 the little heir of the Bladensbrooks was born into 
 the world ; coming with no flourish of trumpets 
 
 L q 2*
 
 242 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 and pomp and ceremony, as would have been the 
 case had such a birth taken place openly at Bla- 
 densbrook, but ushered in by stealth, a nameless 
 little waif who had come at an inconvenient time, 
 and who was really not wanted ; who was nothing 
 but a trouble and a nuisance to those who would 
 have been the most proud of him had he been 
 born in the cradle of his race. However, in spite 
 of the decided awkwardness of becoming possessed 
 of a baby, it must be admitted that Margot was 
 exceedingly happy in the society of this small 
 atom of pink humanity. " Oh, Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook," she cried,- when she woke from her first 
 sleep to find her guardian sitting by the window 
 deeply engrossed in some intricate game of Patience, 
 "isn't he delicious? Did you ever see such a 
 dear little thing ?" 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook got up, leaving her cards 
 with what was almost a sigh, and came and stood 
 beside the bed, looking down upon the downy head 
 snoozling against Margot's bosom. " Well, my 
 dear," she said, " I am very pleased that you are 
 pleased with it; for my own part I may sound 
 very unwomanly and very unfeminine, but I never 
 could see very much in very young infants. They 
 all seem to me just alike. Now, my dear, God- 
 frey was just such a baby as that." 
 
 Margot felt herself going a painful and an abject 
 crimson. There was no possibility of hiding her 
 face, though she did put up one little snow-flake 
 of a hand to brush an imaginary something away 
 from her forehead. " I think he is a dear," she
 
 RALPH. 243 
 
 said, with an assumption of indignation which she 
 did not in the least feel ; " and you may decry him 
 as much as ever you like, but I shall always think 
 so just the same." 
 
 " Very right and proper, my dear child. I have 
 no objection to your thinking all the world of the 
 little creature," said the other with kindly good- 
 nature. " His coming is a little inconvenient, and 
 it is a great pity we could not arrange that he 
 should stay where he was for another year or so ; 
 but as humanity has not yet been brought to that 
 pitch of perfection, we must just make the best of 
 it. It would be dreadful, indeed, for a child if his 
 own mother had no welcome for him," and then 
 she gave another sigh, thinking of the welcome she 
 would give to her child if he should reappear at 
 ever so inopportune a moment, and then she turned 
 and went back to her game again leaving Margot 
 free to fuss over the baby to her heart's content. 
 
 " By the bye," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, some 
 three or four days later, " that child will have to be 
 registered." 
 
 " What is that ?" asked Margot. 
 
 " Well, you have to put a child down, to register 
 it, to prove its identity, its nationality, its citizen- 
 ship, and it will have to be baptized. Now, you 
 have your reasons for not wishing to divulge the 
 name of the father, but you must divulge it to the 
 registrar, and you must have the child baptized in 
 its own name." 
 
 Margot looked at her guardian with scared eyes. 
 " What had I better do ?" she asked.
 
 244 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Well, my dear, I don't want to pry into your 
 secret, goodness knows. I told you in the begin- 
 ning that I would trust you and try to find out 
 nothing. You had better let nurse go and register 
 the birth. She will give you her word to say noth- 
 ing about the name of the father, and being per- 
 fectly indifferent to your affairs it can be but a 
 matter of business to her. As for the baptism, we 
 had better have the child baptized here by the 
 English clergyman, and you can give him the 
 names and the information." 
 
 " If you don't mind," began Margot. 
 
 " Mind, my dear ? I told you in the beginning 
 that I would trust you. I wish all this necessity 
 for secrecy had not arisen ; and even now I cannot 
 make up my mind whether it would not be better 
 for you to go back to Bladensbrook as Mrs. Trevor. 
 The only thing is it might set curious people search- 
 ing the registers for your marriage, and that would 
 be awkward for you." 
 
 " Mrs. Bladensbrook," said Margot, in an eager 
 and trembling voice, " I have given my word to 
 my husband that I will not divulge our secret until 
 I see him again. The reason for this I cannot 
 imagine. I have no idea why he asked me to 
 do this at least, I mean, that I, of course, know 
 why he wished it, but I have no idea why he wishes 
 it to last so long. I cannot help it if people choose 
 to examine the registers ; they will find my mar- 
 riage there right enough. Indeed, I do think it 
 would be better for me to go back to Bladensbrook 
 as Mrs. Trevor, because, if I don't do that, if I go
 
 AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR. 245 
 
 back as Margot Dangerfield* I shall have to leave 
 my baby behind me." 
 
 " Very well. Then we will break the news of 
 the marriage to everybody concerned. They are 
 not many. By the bye, what do you mean to call 
 the baby ?" 
 
 " I should like to call him Ralph," said Margot, 
 nervously. 
 
 " Ralph ?" Mrs. Bladensbrook's accents were of 
 complete surprise. " How very strange." 
 
 " Yes, I think it would be a charming name." 
 
 " I am glad you are going to call your baby 
 Ralph," said the older woman, very softly. " My 
 husband was called so." 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR. 
 
 BY the help of the good nurse, the difficulty of 
 registering the birth and of baptizing the infant 
 were got comfortably and safely over. Before the 
 baby was a month old, however, an imperative 
 summons came for Mrs. Bladensbrook to go home. 
 " My dear Margot," she said, when she had read 
 the letter, which was practically one of recall, 
 " there is no help for it. I must go to Bladensbrook 
 at once." 
 
 " But why ?" 
 
 " There is something wrong with those cottages
 
 246 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 just beyond the stables. They have got typhoid 
 among them, and very badly, too. The drainage 
 seems to be all wrong, the drinking water seems to 
 be wrong, the wells are poisoned. I must go at 
 once. The question is what in the world I am to 
 do with you ? I cannot take you back there. In 
 the first place, you could not take such a long jour- 
 ney ; and in the second place, it is impossible for 
 you or the child to go into any infected districts ; 
 and, in Godfrey's interests, it is necessary that I 
 should be on the spot for a time to see that every- 
 thing is done as if he were at home or as if I were 
 still in full power. The best thing I can do is to 
 leave you here with nurse and Nancy. I can say 
 that I was afraid of your going into infection, and 
 that I have left you with Nancy. Nancy, of course, 
 is a sufficient guarantee of safety and respectability 
 for any enquirer." 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed, I do think that would be the 
 best," said Margot 
 
 " Not only that. I have been thinking, Margot, 
 if we divulge this marriage I mean to say if we 
 divulge the fact that you are married and that you 
 have got a baby it will set your Aunt Marcia fer- 
 reting out things. I am sure it will be best to say 
 nothing until we are driven to it." 
 
 So they arranged it, and Mrs. Bladensbrook went 
 off to England by herself, leaving the strictest in- 
 junctions with Nancy and the nurse to take the 
 utmost care of Mrs. Trevor until her return. When, 
 however, Mrs. Bladensbrook set foot once more 
 upon her own threshold, she found that her troubles
 
 AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR. 247 
 
 had begun in real earnest. She was greeted with 
 the news that the typhoid had developed into a very 
 dangerous form of typhus ; that, in spite of the care 
 and attention she had given during the whole of 
 her regency to the improvement of the estate, many 
 cottages were condemned as being absolutely un- 
 sanitary, and a great deal of money would have to 
 be spent in satisfying the requirements of the au- 
 thorities in that respect. " My dear Sir," she said 
 to the officer who first broke the news to her that 
 the village of Bladensbrook was in a very bad con- 
 dition, " in my son's absence I am perfectly willing 
 to do anything in the world to prevent the recur- 
 rence of such an epidemic. You know you can see 
 for yourself that our people are well cared for ; we 
 have practically no workhouse in Bladensbrook, at 
 least we do not contribute anything like our share 
 to the workhouse of the district. Our people are 
 satisfied, as they have been for generations as I 
 hope they will be for generations to come ; this 
 terrible epidemic is a visitation. I can regard it as 
 nothing else. Why it should have come is beyond 
 me. Every one of those cottages was officially in- 
 spected less than two years ago, and they were 
 declared then by your predecessor, or, perhaps, by 
 one of his assistants, to be in perfect condition. We 
 have not a roof that has a tile wrong, unless it has 
 got wrong since I went abroad ; we have not a 
 hedge that is broken ; the entire estate is in the 
 most perfect order. Can you explain the cause of 
 this epidemic ?" 
 
 " Yes, the cause is perfectly easy to explain, per-
 
 248 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 fectly simple. The drainage which goes down the 
 main street of the village is absolutely wrongly 
 planned ; the entire village will have to be re- 
 drained. It will cost a great deal of money, I am 
 sorry, but it will cost a very great deal of money." 
 
 " Never mind what it costs ; but how am I to 
 know that new drainage will be efficacious ? Your 
 predecessor was an excellent man of business, a man 
 of most enlightened ideas, great sympathy with the 
 poor ; and I always regarded him as an exceedingly 
 intelligent person. The present drainage is en- 
 tirely arranged on his plan ; his ideas have been 
 carried out to the last detail. Now, what guarantee 
 have I that if I carry out your ideas I shall be 
 any better off than I am now ?" 
 
 " Well," said he, smiling and shrugging his 
 shoulders, " I can give you no guarantee, none 
 whatever. I can only tell you what I believe would 
 be the safest plan of drainage for this village. My 
 predecessor did the same thing. He knew the vil- 
 lage and the ground in the neighbourhood better 
 than I do, because he had been here for twenty 
 years, and his plan has proved to be wrong. If I 
 were you, Mrs. Bladensbrook, as money is not an 
 object with you, I would have a big man down 
 from town and go over the ground with him, so 
 as to get him to give you his reasons for everything 
 that he suggests. It would be a little dearer in 
 the beginning, but such a plan would pay you in 
 the end." 
 
 " That is a good idea. Now, who would you 
 advise me to consult ?"
 
 AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR. 249 
 
 " Well, the most practical authority on drainage 
 that I know is Sir Herbert Silver excellent, all- 
 round, safe man, not brilliant, no fireworks, but a 
 simple, practical, and thoroughly understandable 
 authority. He has won his honours by sheer dom- 
 inant hard work and common sense. He will 
 charge you a hundred guineas, but you will get 
 the best advice that you can get in the world." 
 
 " I will send for him at once," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook. 
 
 A few days later the great authority on drainage 
 came down to Bladensbrook. He was entertained 
 by the mistress of the house, and as they sat at 
 dinner on the evening of his arrival she explained 
 to him thoroughly what had happened in the past, 
 what she was prepared to do in the future. " You 
 will quite understand, Sir Herbert," she said, " that 
 I have no wish to throw away my son's money. I 
 don't want to spend money on useless ornamenta- 
 tion or on fads, but the drainage is absolutely wrong, 
 and it must be altered. I want to have the best 
 that you can suggest to us ; I want it to be good 
 and lasting ; I want my son's people to be well, to 
 live in peace and without fear of this terrible scourge 
 returning upon them. To-morrow morning I will 
 take you all over the village, and the district-sur- 
 veyor will meet you. You can give him the benefit 
 of your opinions ; it was he who suggested that I 
 should consult you." 
 
 " I shall be very pleased to meet him," said Sir 
 Herbert. " I fancy your last man, Vincent, was a 
 bit of a dreamer. I had to overhaul some work
 
 250 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 of his not many months ago about fifteen or 
 twenty miles from here at Colbrook." 
 
 " Oh, yes, of course. So you were consulted 
 then?" 
 
 " Yes. His idea was good, you know ; it was very 
 good, it was scholarly, it was beautifully worked 
 out. I assure you the plans we have were worth 
 framing, but they were not practical. Now, in 
 drainage, you first of all want to be practical. One 
 man can draw you a plan with a bit of blue pencil 
 on the back of an old envelope that will work bet- 
 ter for a generation than the plans of another man 
 that have taken weeks to bring to perfection 
 That is the kind of work that Vincent turned oul 
 wonderful details, nicely rounded little edges to 
 everything, bits of trimming here and there, all 
 very nice and dainty, but very provocative of typhus 
 and such-like things. I wonder you have got 
 along as well as you have done. From a letter I 
 had from Mr. Hardy, I gather that all your places 
 were overhauled two years ago. I suppose you 
 spent a good bit then ?" 
 
 " Oh, a great deal, a great deal. The village was 
 not redrained, not as far as the main was con- 
 cerned, but every cottage was separately attended 
 to." 
 
 " Ah, that is just it ; that accounts for it. If the 
 cottages had been let alone and left on the old 
 system which must be about twenty years old 
 they would probably have worked right enough. 
 Vincent went and ordered new-fangled house ar- 
 rangements to be joined on to old-fashioned main
 
 AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR. 2$ I 
 
 arrangements. The best thing that you can do is 
 to root the whole affair up and put in a new system 
 from beginning to end." 
 
 " That was exactly what Mr. Hardy suggested." 
 " Hardy ? Ah, he is a sensible man, a good 
 practical man. I have had my eye on him for 
 some time, a very practical man. However, I can 
 tell you more definitely in the morning in five 
 minutes than I can if I talk the whole of to- 
 night," with which hint Mrs. Bladensbrook changed 
 the subject. 
 
 It was well for the people of Bladensbrook that 
 " Madam" had been in the habit of ruling the 
 affairs of the estate with a high hand. Like all 
 country people they were bitterly suspicious of any 
 manner of innovation, and the presence of typhus 
 notwithstanding, they were intensely resentful of 
 the presence of the district-surveyor and of the 
 strange gentleman from London. It was bad 
 enough to have " Madam" herself poking in and 
 out of their houses, consulting with the doctor and 
 talking over their cases, but to have " Madam" 
 peering into their wells, sniffing at their drainage 
 arrangements, and discussing what they considered 
 their most private affairs with a person whom they 
 had never seen before, was almost beyond the 
 bounds of human endurance. " Madam" herself, 
 however, was quite unconscious of this. She went 
 to and fro, walked here and there, sniffed and poked 
 and pried at least, that was the way that the villa- 
 gers put it among themselves. To " Madam" her- 
 self it was but the most ordinary kind of inspection
 
 252 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 that she conceived to be her duty to her son's 
 tenantry. 
 
 These inspections and consultations resulted in 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook remaining among her people 
 for several weeks. Every few days she heard from 
 Margot, giving her rapturous accounts of the in- 
 creasing beauty and vitality of her wonderful baby. 
 " He grows more lovely every day," Margot wrote. 
 " I know even you will say, when you come back 
 again, that he is not at all like other babies, that he 
 is anything but an atom, being an immensely large, 
 strong, fine boy. He laughs at us now and crows 
 and gurgles and chuckles like a parrot." 
 
 " I suppose that means," said Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 to herself, " that the child is afflicted with the wind. 
 That was what they always told me when Godfrey 
 was a baby and crowed and smiled at the angels 
 and such-like." She therefore wrote back to Mar- 
 got, " Try peppermint," a proposition which set 
 Margot, Nancy, and the nurse fairly chattering in 
 their wrath and indignation. 
 
 And during the whole of this time not one word 
 of news came about Godfrey. Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 was pining at home and Margot was semi-pining at 
 Grigon, but no word or line came from Godfrey. 
 During almost every day the Rector came up and 
 he was very eager for news of Margot. He sup- 
 pressed his natural inclination and asked after her 
 in a very steady and almost indifferent voice. Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook saw through the pretence, however, 
 and tried her utmost to let him know, without put- 
 ting it too plainly, that Margot was not for him, but
 
 AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR. 253 
 
 the Rector either could not or would not perceive 
 her meaning. He taught her several new games 
 of Patience, and discussed the drainage question 
 from every conceivable point of view excepting that 
 of the villagers, and every now and again he would 
 bring the conversation back to the old Rector 
 or the Rectory and then to Margot, and gently 
 hinted his desire for information concerning her. 
 " Why did you not bring Miss Dangerfield back 
 with you ?" 
 
 " Oh, I thought it was most dangerous her 
 coming into a place where there was a chance of 
 her getting infection," she answered, promptly. 
 
 " There is no danger at the House." 
 
 " No, perhaps not ; but Margot has not been very 
 well. She felt her father's death a greal deal, and 
 she is not as strong as I could wish. I thought 
 she was much better left at Grigon with Nancy. 
 The climate suits her to perfection ; she is much 
 better since she went there ; but, still, I was afraid to 
 venture on her coming home." 
 
 At last the Rector, with a certain accession of 
 colour in his face, blurted out something of the 
 truth. " Well, Mrs. Bladensbrook," he said, " I 
 don't mind frankly owning up that I am fearfully 
 disappointed. When I heard that you were com- 
 ing home, and your people told me that they had 
 sent for you or practically sent for you I thought 
 of course that Margot was coming home with you, 
 and I counted very much on seeing her. The fact 
 is, Mrs. Bladensbrook, I am getting tired of living 
 alone at the Rectory."
 
 254 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " You are thinking of marrying ?" said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook, in a distant sort of voice. 
 
 " I am very anxious to marry." 
 
 " You want to marry Margot ?" 
 
 " I should like to marry Margot." 
 
 " My dear Rector," said she, very quietly, " when 
 I offered you the living, I confess to you that I 
 thought you were attracted by Margot, and I 
 thought it would be a delightful arrangement if 
 you two were to make a match of it ; but, since 
 then, circumstances have arisen which have led me 
 to believe that no such arrangement will ever come 
 to pass." 
 
 " But why not ?" 
 
 " Because Margot is not at all fit to be your 
 wife no, don't misunderstand me, I don't mean in 
 that sense at all but Margot is is well, there is 
 somebody else." 
 
 " Margot is engaged ?" 
 
 " No, I don't say that. I cannot tell you as 
 much as I know, but Margot has other views. 
 She will never be your wife, Mr. Morris." 
 
 " You are sure ?" 
 
 " I am quite sure of it, and when I tell you that 
 this has been one of my dearest wishes, you will 
 understand that I do not speak so definitely without 
 having a definite reason." 
 
 " And he is at Grigon ?" said he. 
 
 " No, she is there with Nancy. I have not seen 
 him, but at the same time Margot will never marry 
 you. I do hope that you won't take it very much 
 to heart," she went on ; " of course you cannot be
 
 AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR. 2$$ 
 
 very, very much in love with Margot, very much 
 attracted, I know, very fond of her I know, too, but 
 you will look out for somebody else. I am sorry 
 about it, very sorry, but believe me it is quite out 
 of the question." 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Bladensbrook," said the Rector, 
 " pray don't say anything more about it. Margot 
 cares for another, and that is sufficient. I don't say 
 that I srtell not marry somebody else, because I 
 have always felt that man was not made to live 
 alone, and Bladensbrook is not the most lively 
 place in the world, especially when you are 
 away from it. I thank you so very much for 
 your frankness and your kindness to me in every 
 way." 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook sat for some time after he 
 had left her wondering whether Margot had, in 
 taking this mysterious husband of hers, done as 
 well for her life's happiness as if she had taken the 
 steady, solid, good Rector. " How strange it is," 
 her thoughts ran, "that these young creatures 
 show so little discrimination in choosing their 
 lovers. One would think that a man so eminently 
 attractive, so brilliant in conversation, so full of 
 wit and good humour and sound common sense, 
 with his exceptional qualities as a preacher, his 
 splendid gifts of organization, his family, his pres- 
 ent position, that he would have been the beau 
 ideal of a young girl's love ; but, no, she gives her 
 whole life away into the keeping of some fellow 
 who skulks out of sight. It is very curious. Wei!, 
 what is it, Matthew ?"
 
 256 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Mrs. Blake is in the drawing-room, M'm." 
 " What Mrs. Blake ?" asked Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 " Mrs. Blake, M'm ; Mr. Dangerfield's sister." 
 " Mrs. Blake !" said Mrs. Bladensbrook, in intense 
 astonishment. 
 " In the drawing-room, M'm," said Matthew. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ASTOUNDING NEWS. 
 
 MRS. BLADENSBROOK went at once to her visitor 
 in the drawing-room. " I had no idea that you 
 were in the neighbourhood," she said, as she held 
 out her hand. 
 
 " I came into the neighbourhood especially to 
 see you," replied Mrs. Blake, in a portentous tone. 
 
 " Yes ? I am very pleased to see you, of course," 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook replied. It was not quite true, 
 but it was as true as many of the every-day amen- 
 ities of society usually are. 
 
 " I don't know that you will be so pleased to see 
 me when you have heard why I have come," said 
 Mrs. Blake, in very dignified accents. 
 
 " My dear lady, that sounds like a revelation of 
 some kind." 
 
 " I have a revelation to make to you." 
 
 " You don't say so ? Stay, you had better come 
 into my own sitting-room, had you not ? We shall 
 be undisturbed there by any other visitors." She
 
 ASTOUNDING NEWS. 2$? 
 
 turned and led the way back to her own favourite 
 room, and, having pointed out a comfortable chair 
 to her visitor, sat down near to her and waited in 
 an attitude of expectancy for the news which Mrs. 
 Blake had to tell. 
 
 " First," said Mrs. Blake, " I want to ask you 
 where is Margot, my niece ?" 
 
 " Your niece, Margot, is at Grigon in Switzer- 
 land." 
 
 " Why did you not bring her over here ?" 
 
 " Because I thought she was better away. She 
 is waited on by Nancy, whom you must have 
 known for many years, and of whom your brother, 
 the Rector, had the very highest opinion. I knew 
 my duty to my ward better than to expose her to 
 the risk of contracting typhus fever in this village." 
 
 " And that was really the reason why you did 
 not bring Margot home with you ?" 
 
 "That was my principal reason," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, putting her head back against the 
 high chair and looking at her visitor through half- 
 closed eyes. 
 
 " Oh, has anything unusual happened to Margot, 
 really unusual ?" 
 
 " How do you mean ?" 
 
 " Has it occurred to you that Margot is a differ- 
 ent girl from what she was ?" 
 
 " Yes, very different," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 " She has felt her father's death most deeply." 
 
 " I do not mean anything connected with her 
 father's death," said Mrs. Blake ; " that is as may 
 be ; I was not there. As you are aware, neither my
 
 258 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 brother nor his daughter thought me of sufficient 
 importance to send for me, although I would gladly 
 have joined them." 
 
 " That was not their reason at all," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook in accents which she tried to make 
 smooth and conciliatory. " I went over to Pau 
 because I was in great anxiety, as I am still, and 1 
 wanted a little change. I saw the Rector was worse 
 when I got there, and the end was very rapid. 
 You must not indeed think that there was any 
 desire to slight you on either side. My being there 
 was more or less of an accident. Margot, poor 
 child, took her father's death very much to heart ; 
 she has never been quite the same since. That 
 was one reason why I took her to Switzerland." 
 
 " I see. Well, Mrs. Bladensbrook, I am going 
 to put a very "plain question to you." 
 
 " And I," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, "will give you 
 a plain answer if it is in my power to do so." 
 
 " Had you any idea that Margot was married ?" 
 
 For a moment there was dead silence between 
 the two ladies. Then Mrs. Bladensbrook opened 
 her eyes and looked at her visitor. " I knew that 
 Margot was married," she said. 
 
 "Indeed! And you felt justified in keeping 
 that knowledge from me ?" 
 
 " I did." 
 
 " May I ask why ?" 
 
 " Because I am Margot's sole guardian, and I did 
 not see the necessity of informing any one for the 
 present." 
 
 " But why ?"
 
 ASTOUNDING NEWS. 2$$ 
 
 " Because Margot did not wish the fact of her 
 marriage to be divulged just yet." 
 
 " And may I ask why ?" 
 
 " That," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " is more than 
 I can tell you. Margot was married some time last 
 year." 
 
 " You don't know when ?" 
 
 " No ; Margot has not told me. She has told me 
 that she is married. She assures me that it is really 
 so ; that her marriage was quite straight and proper. 
 She promised her husband not to divulge the mar- 
 riage to anybody for a certain time. She asked me 
 to trust her, and I have trusted her to the extent 
 of not trying to find out anything about it." 
 
 " And you don't know to whom she was mar- 
 ried ?" 
 
 " No, Mrs. Blake ; I have not the smallest idea." 
 
 Mrs. Blake drew a long breath. " Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook," she said at last, " what I have to say to 
 you will astonish you greatly unless I am very 
 much mistaken. I happen to have found out by 
 the merest accident when, where, and to whom my 
 niece, Margot, was married. She was married last 
 August, nearly a year ago, at a church in Brixham, 
 to your son, Godfrey Bladensbrook." 
 
 " What ? Margot is married to Godfrey ? To 
 Godfrey, my son ?" 
 
 " To Godfrey, your son. I have brought you 
 a copy of the marriage certificate. There is no 
 doubt about it whatever." 
 
 " And the date ?" said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 "Was the i6th of August of last year."
 
 260 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " God Almighty !" Mrs. Bladensbrook ejaculated, 
 while through her bewildered brain there rang a 
 rapid calculation that the marriage had taken place 
 four days before Godfrey's disappearance. For 
 some little time she did not speak, her mind was 
 travelling back over the past few months, and a 
 thousand things were made clear which had been 
 mysterious so far little signs and tokens, tricks 
 of manner, glances, inflexions of her voice, trifles 
 which told her that she ought to have known from 
 the very beginning who was the husband so mys- 
 teriously kept in the background, who was the 
 father of Margot's child, why she had wished that 
 child to be called Ralph. 
 
 " I am afraid," said Mrs. Blake, in a dangerously 
 polite voice, " that this has been a great blow to 
 you, Mrs. Bladensbrook. Possibly Margot is not 
 the wife you would have chosen for your son." 
 
 " My dear lady," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, with 
 decision, " I should never at any time have dreamt 
 of interfering with my son's choice. I am exceed- 
 ingly fond of Margot, and she is quite the wife I 
 would have chosen for Godfrey, provided always 
 that Godfrey's choice lay in that direction. My son 
 was quite old enough and quite sensible enough to 
 choose his wife without consultation with me. I 
 admit to you that you have surprised me very 
 much. I don't understand why this marriage was 
 made in secret, or why it was kept a secret ; but, 
 at the same time, neither do I understand why my 
 son Godfrey has been invisible for nearly twelve 
 months. I am not at all surprised that Margot did
 
 ASTOUNDING NEWS. 26 1 
 
 not tell me to whom she was married. She had 
 promised him that, until he gave her leave, she 
 would not divulge the marriage, and, therefore, she 
 was perfectly right to keep her word to him. It is 
 quite what I should have expected of Margot. I 
 feel more glad now that I trusted her implicitly 
 from the first. Being her guardian, I might have 
 made her life very much more unhappy and anx- 
 ious than it is. It is easy now to understand a 
 great deal that has puzzled me very much in the 
 immediate past. By the bye, how did you find out 
 about the marriage ?" 
 
 " I discovered it," said Mrs. Blake, " by the 
 merest accident. You will remember that last year 
 or, perhaps, you never knew it but as a matter 
 of fact I went last year to Switzerland, and thence 
 to Italy for the winter. Margot was staying with 
 me up to the time of my leaving. She was to pay 
 another visit to some friends at Heckmansworth, 
 and was to have left by an earlier train than I did. 
 She raised an objection to doing so, saying that she 
 preferred to get there in time for dinner. She never 
 paid that visit at all. She wired to them late in the 
 evening that she had been detained, and that she 
 would follow later. The following day she wrote 
 to this lady saying that she was not easy about 
 her father, and would prefer to go home in three 
 days' time, therefore she would put off her visit for 
 some months. Several days passed before she re- 
 turned home to Bladensbrook. During those days 
 she was married to your son, as the paper in my 
 hand is sufficient to show."
 
 262 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " And how did you find out ?" Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook asked. 
 
 " Well, I did not go back to Brixham until the 
 end of May. I stayed all the winter in Italy, and 
 then I went home by way of Geneva and stayed 
 a few days in that neighbourhood. I also stayed a 
 few days in Paris, and I reached home at the end 
 of May. I happened several evenings ago to be 
 dining with a friend, a friend who had known Mar- 
 got, having seen her in my house. She asked me 
 in the most casual way if it were true that her 
 father was dead, and I replied that it was ; so she 
 asked, then, where she was, and I replied that she 
 had been left to your guardianship, and that I be- 
 lieved she was with you in Switzerland. The gen- 
 tleman who had taken me into dinner was the 
 Rector of an adjoining parish ; he turned round and 
 said, ' What was the name of the lady who has 
 been left guardian to your niece ?' ' Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook of Bladensbrook,' I replied. 'Ah,' said he, 
 ' that is a very uncommon name, isn't it ?' I told 
 him that I did not believe there was another family 
 of the same name in England, that it was a very 
 uncommon name. ' Well,' he remarked, ' not many 
 months ago a young fellow called Bladensbrook was 
 married in my church. It was while I was away, 
 but I noticed the very uncommon name in the 
 register the next time I had occasion to open it. 
 It was a special license marriage, and the girl's 
 
 name was ' However, he could not remember 
 
 what the girl's name was beyond the fact that it 
 was an uncommon name, like that of the bride-
 
 ASTOUNDING NEWS. 263 
 
 groom. ' I will look it up the next time I am in 
 the vestry,' he said, ' and when I see you again I 
 will let you know who the girl was.' The following 
 afternoon he came to see me, bringing me this slip of 
 paper. I saw in a moment that it was Margot who 
 was married to your son. I then went to Mrs. 
 Meredith, at Heckmansworth, and found out all 
 that she knew, and I thought it my duty to come 
 on here and acquaint you with the true state of 
 affairs." 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook drew a long breath. " My 
 dear lady," she said, " you have astonished me very 
 much. I don't know that I was ever so much as- 
 tonished in my whole life before. I must say, 
 however, I am very glad that my son's wife is so 
 exactly what I would have chosen for him. Now 
 that you have acquainted me with this great secret, 
 Margot will, of course, be released from that part 
 of her promise to Godfrey, and together we may 
 bring to light some facts which may help us to 
 a discovery of where he is." 
 
 " You don't know where he is ?" asked Mrs. 
 Blake. 
 
 " I have not the very smallest idea. I had a letter 
 from my son dated the 2Oth of August last. He 
 promised to meet me the following day at the 
 Alexandra Hotel in London. He never came to 
 meet me. I have never seen or heard a single 
 word of him from that day to this." 
 
 " But he may be dead !" Mrs. Blake cried. 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook shook her head. " I don't think 
 that Godfrey is dead. I have never thought so.
 
 264 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 I believe if he were dead, that he would have found 
 some means of letting me know it, so as to put my 
 anxiety at an end. No, there is a reason, a very 
 mysterious reason ; what it is I cannot imagine ; but 
 I am convinced that when Godfrey comes home he 
 will explain everything to my full satisfaction." 
 
 " It is just as well that you think so," said Mrs. 
 Blake, dryly. " Then I suppose you will send for 
 the young lady at once and try to get something 
 more of the truth out of her ?" 
 
 " No," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " I shall certainly 
 not send for Margot. I don't think that this place 
 is fit for any young girl to live in if she can possibly 
 keep away from it indeed, to one coming fresh 
 from the pure Swiss air it would be most dangerous, 
 worse than for those who have lived in it during 
 the whole time of the epidemic. When I have 
 quite finished my business here, I shall go back to 
 Grigon, and then Margot and I will talk everything 
 over together." 
 
 I think that Mrs. Blake felt that she had never 
 really known Mrs. Bladensbrook. She felt that a 
 woman who was capable of hearing such important 
 news without going into hysterics over it was a 
 being with whom she had no power to cope. 
 " Well, I confess," she said, not a little indignantly, 
 " that I cannot understand your attitude. I should 
 have thought that you would be furious and indig- 
 nant at being kept in the dark in this shameful 
 way. I feel myself that I can never forgive Mar- 
 got for having gone out of my house and deceived 
 me so utterly, for having behaved in this sly and
 
 ASTOUNDING NEWS. 26$ 
 
 underhand manner. I had intended to leave Mar- 
 got a large share of my property, but after this I 
 shall be very much disposed to change my inten- 
 tion entirely." 
 
 " I think," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " that you 
 had far better leave what money you wish to the 
 two boys, Jim and Jack. They are dear, good, 
 honest, open boys, and they have none too much 
 of this world's goods. As it is, Margot will never 
 require more money than she will have as my son's 
 wife." 
 
 " But if your son never comes back again the 
 estate then goes to another ; it passes from this 
 branch, does it not ?" said Mrs. Blake, who knew 
 perfectly well the exact history of the Bladens- 
 brook family. 
 
 " That is so ; but that consideration I think will 
 not need to trouble Margot or myself. A long 
 time must elapse before the law would be satisfied 
 that my son was dead. I, for one, shall never be- 
 lieve it until I have the most absolute proof of it. 
 My position is, of course, assured in any case ; but 
 if the worst came to the worst, and I knew that I was 
 childless, Margot's position would be just the same 
 as it is to-day. Whether Godfrey ever returns 
 home or not, Margot will always be secure in her 
 position as the mother of his child."
 
 266 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 WIDE OF THE MARK. 
 
 WHEN Mrs. Bladensbrook made known the in- 
 formation to her visitor that Margot was the mother 
 of a child, that lady realized all at once that the 
 great bomb-shell which she had intended to drop 
 into the Bladensbrook household had fallen utterly 
 wide of its mark. In truth, Mrs. Blake was bitterly 
 angry that the Rector had left his daughter to the 
 guardianship of Mrs. Bladensbrook rather than 
 allowing that office to devolve upon her. Mrs. 
 Blake had always liked Margot. She had never 
 had a child of her own, and she had always felt 
 somewhat of a grudge against the Rector in that 
 he had been blessed with three. She was a woman 
 who loved hectoring over others ; she loved to 
 make Margot feel that she must obey the com- 
 mands which she laid upon her, and she had 
 thought that in the event of her brother's death 
 she would be left Margot's sole guardian, and that 
 until she was one-and-twenty at least she would 
 remain, body and soul, so to speak, at her disposal. 
 All these nice little plans had been frustrated by 
 the Rector's action in leaving Margot to the care 
 of Mrs. Bladensbrook, and it was with a feeling 
 almost of vindictiveness that she had hurried off to 
 lay bare the whole truth before that lady as soon 
 as she discovered the fact of Margot's marriage to
 
 WIDE OF THE MARK. 267 
 
 Godfrey ; and then to find that after all she had 
 only known half the story, to discover that Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook was evidently more relieved than 
 words could tell, to find that she had only brought 
 welcome information, and that her shot had abso- 
 lutely failed in its intention, was truly exceedingly 
 bitter to her. " I will ask you," she said with much 
 dignity, " to ring for the fly which brought me 
 here." 
 
 As Mrs. Blake grew more angry, Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook became more suave and gracious. " No, no ; 
 I cannot hear of your going like this. You are 
 staying the night in Exhampton. I will ring for 
 tea ; it will be here in a few minutes, and then 
 you will stay and have some dinner with me ?" 
 
 " No, I thank you, I thank you very much. I 
 return this evening." 
 
 " Not to Brixham, surely ?" 
 
 " Not to Brixham. I go to London." 
 
 " In that case, of course, I cannot detain you," 
 said Mrs. Bladensbrook ; " but there is no train to 
 London until the one at five minutes after six 
 o'clock. As it is now but a little after four, you 
 have lots of time to have a cup of tea before you 
 go. I beg you will not refuse me. I shall be 
 very unhappy and uncomfortable if you go without 
 having anything." 
 
 Thus adjured, Mrs. Blake consented very stiffly, 
 indeed, to remain for a cup of tea. 
 
 " Matthew," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, when that 
 bland personage came to her in answer to her sum- 
 mons, "let us have tea immediately, and don't
 
 268 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 admit any other visitors no, not even the Rector. 
 Mrs. Blake and I have still something to talk 
 over. But do you let us have tea at once, and a 
 nice tea something hot, muffins, toast, I don't 
 know as nice as you can bring. And Mrs. Blake's 
 cabman, see that he has a thoroughly good tea, 
 and that the horse is fed and all that; and Mrs. 
 Blake would like to have her cab at the door what 
 time shall we say, Mrs. Blake ? A quarter to five ? 
 That will give you half an hour longer." 
 
 " Yes, thank you ; a quarter to five," said Mrs. 
 Blake. 
 
 " That will get you back in nice time for the 
 train in very good time for the train. Yes, Mat- 
 thew, as quickly as you can." 
 
 The discreet Matthew bustled noiselessly away 
 and returned so soon that it was evident the tea 
 had been actually on its way when his mistress had 
 summoned him. Mrs. Blake was herself a rich 
 woman, but a woman who did not make the best 
 use of her riches I mean who did not extract the 
 utmost comfort and enjoyment out of the amount 
 of money that she annually spent. She looked at 
 the delicate tea-cloth with its deep edge of coarse 
 lace, at the great silver tray and small extra table 
 set out with good things, a glass and silver jar 
 filled with the daintiest bon-bons, a covered dish 
 containing the " something hot" Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 had asked for, and a charming arrangement with 
 several compartments holding different kinds of 
 bread and butter, cake and biscuits. She realized 
 that although none of this was beyond her means,
 
 WIDE OF THE MARK. 269 
 
 yet that she could never induce her servants to 
 serve afternoon tea quite in the same way. " I sup- 
 pose it is with being a manufacturing town," her 
 thoughts ran ; " these servants have been here for- 
 ever. It must make a great difference ; mine are 
 always aching to get married." 
 
 They were very friendly over the little meal, but 
 did not revert in any way further to the news which 
 Mrs. Blake had brought, and when the time was 
 drawing near for her departure, Mrs. Blake asked 
 how long her hostess would be remaining at Bla- 
 densbrook. 
 
 " I cannot very well leave for a few days," she 
 replied. " Of course, there is no particular hurry, 
 as Margot is quite safe with Nancy and her 
 nurse." 
 
 " You won't go back on purpose ?" 
 
 " No ; I shall not go back until I have finished 
 my business here," Mrs. Bladensbrook replied. 
 
 " And what do you intend to do afterwards ?" 
 
 " To do ? I don't quite understand you." 
 
 " There's my fly, so that I cannot explain myself 
 fully ; but do you expect me to be silent about this 
 marriage ?" 
 
 " By no means," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. " Tell 
 everybody the sooner the better. You will leave 
 me that certificate, won't you ? I shall need it for 
 several reasons." 
 
 " Then you mean to announce the marriage ?" 
 
 " Certainly. I shall do so as soon as I have seen 
 Margot. I would do so at once, only she is not 
 very strong yet, and it would be unwise to spring the 
 23*
 
 2/0 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 news upon her. " Well, so you must go ? Well, 
 good-bye, dear lady, and thank you so very much 
 for bringing me this news. You have gladdened 
 my heart more than words of mine can express to 
 you." 
 
 In the face of such a sentiment as this Mrs. 
 Blake had no choice but to grin and nod her head 
 and take both Mrs. Bladensbrook's dainty hands, 
 and finally get herself back into the dingy fly, nod- 
 ding and jerking her hand to and fro like a dilapi- 
 dated mandarin. She was very angry, but it was 
 no use being angry with Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 Nobody could show anger to a woman who had 
 received such a piece of news in such a manner. 
 
 Meantime, Mrs. Bladensbrook had gone back 
 into the house and sat down again just where she 
 had been sitting during the time that her visitor 
 had been with her. So this was the bottom of the 
 mystery, and Godfrey and Margot were man and 
 wife, father and mother of that child ! It was very 
 strange. It was something more than strange. 
 And how odd to think that she had never once 
 suspected it ; she ought to have known it, it was 
 plain enough to be seen for any one that had eyes 
 to see. The likeness of the child to Godfrey was 
 so strong that now she wondered what she could 
 have been thinking of to have watched that child 
 day after day and not have known just where to 
 place the likeness. But all this brought her no 
 nearer to the whereabouts of Godfrey. She felt 
 sure that Margot was as much in the dark as she 
 herself; she felt convinced that if she had known
 
 WIDE OF THE MARK. 2Jl 
 
 anything of Godfrey's whereabouts she would not 
 have looked so desolate, so heart-broken as she 
 had done for months before the birth of the child. 
 Yet, why had this marriage been kept a secret? 
 What could have been Godfrey's reason ? He 
 could have had no real reason except possibly an 
 entanglement with another woman. Well, she must 
 possess her soul in patience until she found her- 
 self back at Grigon and was able to elicit from 
 Margot any information that she might happen to 
 possess. 
 
 At this moment Matthew came discreetly in. 
 " The Rector, Madam, is coming up the drive. 
 Will you receive him ?" 
 
 " Oh, certainly. It was only that Mrs. Blake 
 wanted to talk something over, Matthew. Cer- 
 tainly I will see the Rector. Bring in some fresh 
 tea." 
 
 " My dear Rector," she said, a moment later, "you 
 have just missed our esteemed friend, Mrs. Blake 
 Aunt Marcia. Ah, I forget ! You do not know 
 her as I do. She is a somewhat grewsome lady 
 of gloomy aspects and a blighted kind of existence. 
 I never could tell why Aunt Marcia always 
 seemed to be blighted. She is very comfortably 
 off; she has no one to say her nay ; she comes and 
 goes as she likes, and is blessed with excellent 
 health, but still she always seems to take a gloomy 
 pleasure in seeing the worst of everything and of 
 everybody a curious habit, a very curious habit." 
 
 " And of whom has she been seeing the worst 
 now ?"
 
 2/2 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Well, she has not exactly been seeing the 
 worst of anybody Oh, I didn't mean that for a 
 moment, but she brought me a piece of news. You 
 remember what I told you about Margot some 
 time ago ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, perfectly," said the Rector. 
 
 "Well, Mrs. Blake by a mere chance happened 
 to light upon a piece of news which I might almost 
 call the fulfilment of what I told you." 
 
 " Indeed !" 
 
 " Yes. Margot I had better tell you without 
 breaking it to you, you are a man and men take 
 things more easily than women do : Margot is 
 married." 
 
 " Margot is married ?" 
 
 "Well, to tell you the truth, Rector, I have 
 known for some time that Margot was married, 
 since just after the death of our friend, in fact." 
 
 " You don't mean it !" 
 
 " Yes. Did it never strike you as possible ?" 
 
 " Never." 
 
 " Well, Margot is married. I knew it ; I taxed 
 her with it. She admitted it, and she implored me 
 to ask no questions and to find out nothing for a 
 time, as she was under a promise to say nothing. I 
 am very fond of the child, and I consented. Mar- 
 got was married last August." 
 
 " Impossible !" 
 
 "Yes, true. She is very much married. She 
 ~-in fact, there is a baby." 
 
 " Mrs. Bladensbrook !" 
 
 " That was the reason I did not bring her home
 
 COMMON SENSE. 2f$ 
 
 one reason, at least with me this time. Mrs. 
 Blake to-day brought me the news of the wedding. 
 It was no news to me, but she brought me a piece 
 of information which was news to me great news 
 to me, astounding news. Margot was married on 
 the 1 6th of August last to my son. Margot's 
 little child is my grandson Godfrey's heir!" 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 COMMON SENSE. 
 
 As soon as she could free herself of the business 
 matters at Bladensbrook, Mrs. Bladensbrook re- 
 turned with as little delay as possible to the Swiss 
 town where she left Margot and the child. Her 
 meeting with Margot in the new guise of her son's 
 wife was very characteristic of Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 She met her exactly as if she had learned nothing, 
 admired the child, talked a little with the nurse, 
 was graciously commendatory to Nancy, and said 
 not one word of the knowledge which had come 
 to her ears until they had dined and she and Mar- 
 got were sitting in their sitting-room alone together. 
 Then she as characteristically plunged straight into 
 the subject. " My dear child," she said, " I have a 
 great piece of news for you." 
 
 " You have heard something of Godfrey ?" said 
 Margot, turning her startled eyes upon Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook.
 
 274 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Yes, I have heard something of Godfrey, but 
 not of Godfrey's whereabouts. It is no use beat- 
 ing about the bush, Margot ; it is better for me to 
 tell you at once that I know who your husband is 
 and the father of your child, my grandson, Ralph 
 Bladensbrook." 
 
 Margot half jumped up from her seat, then sank 
 back into it with a scared white face and trembling 
 hands. " How did you hear?" she asked. 
 
 " I tried to find out nothing," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook, putting out a cool, steady hand and laying 
 it upon the girl's shaking fingers. " I trusted you, 
 and I had given you my promise, and therefore 
 I never thought for a moment of trying in any way 
 to spy upon your reserve, or of trying to make you 
 break your promise to one who is absent, but I had 
 a visitor whilst I was at home, a visitor whose pres- 
 ence surprised me more than I can tell you. I 
 think it was a surprise to herself." 
 
 " A lady ?" said Margot. 
 
 " A lady your Aunt Marcia." 
 
 " Aunt Marcia !" 
 
 " Yes. Apparently she came over from Brixham 
 a good long journey, Margot on purpose to 
 tell me the astounding news that you were married. 
 Well, of course, my dear child, that was no news to 
 me, though I was surprised to find that you were 
 married to Godfrey." 
 
 " And you didn't mind ?" cried Margot. 
 
 " I should not mind at all if we knew where 
 Godfrey was, and why he is keeping out of our 
 sight in this inexplicable manner. But, now that
 
 COMMON SENSE. 2?$ 
 
 you are released from the necessity of any longer 
 hiding from me who your husband is, there can be 
 no reason why you should not confide in me as 
 fully as lies in your power ; and I have great hopes, 
 Margot, that through such confidence we may gain 
 a clue to Godfrey's present whereabouts." 
 
 " Oh, I can tell you all now," said Margot, " all 
 that has been so carefully kept back from you be- 
 cause of my promise ; all that I have been dying 
 to tell you, and that I feel sure you have been 
 wanting to hear, even though you did not know it 
 was Godfrey all the time. You see, dear lady, I 
 was bound by my promise. I had no choice but to 
 obey Godfrey's wishes, particularly as he was so 
 soon lost to me. But do tell me Aunt Marcia, 
 was she very angry ?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, she was rather angry," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook. "She indignantly refused tea I 
 asked her to dinner, but she rejected that proposal 
 with contumely, not to say upbraiding I finally 
 persuaded her to have tea, and she made a very 
 good tea. I took particular notice of that because 
 she was so instant in refusing it at first. Well, she 
 is rather angry, Margot, and she doesn't think that 
 she is going to leave you any money." 
 
 " Oh," said Margot, " I shall get over that." 
 
 " I politely told her so. I very politely and 
 suavely recommended her to leave anything that 
 she has to spare from other purposes to your 
 brothers. I told her that under any circumstances 
 you would never want money. Whether she will 
 take my advice or not, of course, remains to be
 
 2/6 A MAGNIFICENT* YOUNG MAN. 
 
 seen. Of course, it was a tremendous card being 
 able to tell me that your husband was my son, 
 Godfrey, but on the other hand I had quite a check- 
 mate in being able to tell her of my grandson, 
 Ralph. I enjoyed the interview. I also told Mr. 
 Morris." 
 
 " You told him" breathed Margot 
 
 " My dear child, I announced it to the servants, 
 of course I did. I don't know Godfrey's reasons 
 for keeping the marriage secret ; they are to me in- 
 explicable, seeing that he had nobody but himself 
 to consult ; but as the marriage is known to more 
 than one person, to persons whom we could not 
 ask to keep such a matter secret and who will, in- 
 deed, make a point of spreading the information 
 wherever they go, it is better to be prepared at once 
 for action, and to that end I shall immediately an- 
 nounce your marriage and the birth of the child in 
 all the leading English papers. By the bye, Mar- 
 got, what was the reason that you and Godfrey 
 kept this matter secret at all ?" 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Bladensbrook," cried Margot, sink- 
 ing down in a heap on the floor at her mother-in- 
 law's feet, " I can tell you everything now so far 
 as I know it. Godfrey and I had been engaged 
 ever so long well, engaged in this way. He didn't 
 ask me to marry him because, as he said, he was so 
 ridiculously young and I was still worse, but we un- 
 derstood each other, and then when he came of age 
 oh, surely, you must have noticed something ?" 
 
 " Not a thing, my dear. I had no suspicion of 
 the truth whatever."
 
 COMMON SENSE. 277 
 
 " Well, he did speak out then, and I said that we 
 were so awfully young I felt that people would 
 laugh at us, and I made him promise to wait until 
 his next birthday before he announced it, and then, 
 of course, I would have been married in three 
 months or four months, just as he chose. Of course, 
 you quite understand that I didn't bind Godfrey in 
 any way. I told him that he ought to see other 
 girls, that he might change. I wouldn't hear of 
 anything binding." 
 
 " I see. In short, you acted very discreetly." 
 
 " Well, then I was staying with Auntie at Brix- 
 ham. It was very dull, and I hated being with 
 Auntie ; she is so uncomfortable to live with, always 
 fussing after the servants and never satisfied with 
 anything, and always spying around and wanting 
 to see one's letters and generally making herself 
 a nuisance ; and really I had done quite a long 
 duty visit, and I was awfully tired of being there 
 with Auntie, and I had promised to go and pay a 
 little visit to Mrs. Meredith. Well, I had to go 
 past, or at least very near to, Blankhampton, and 
 Godfrey had been writing to me, since some little 
 time, indeed, and I suggested, or he suggested, or 
 it came about somehow, that he should meet me 
 on the journey and travel with me until he saw me 
 safe into the second train which would take me to 
 Mrs. Meredith's station. Of course, I suppose it 
 was rather wrong. Auntie would have been furious 
 if she had known, but still we were engaged, you 
 know. And the train got smashed up." 
 
 " With you in it ?" 
 
 24
 
 2/8 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Yes. There were several people killed. You 
 won't remember the accident, but it was in a tunnel 
 just before you get to Ruxfurd, and all my things 
 were smashed up, my box was found under the 
 engine I can't tell you how dreadful it was. And 
 of course I couldn't get on to Heckmansworth, for 
 the tunnel was blocked and was not likely to be 
 cleared in time for me to get on that night. Well, 
 eventually we got back to Brixham, and I tele- 
 graphed to Mrs. Meredith that she was not to ex- 
 pect me. I said my plans were changed, and so on, 
 and then I wrote to her and told her that I was 
 rather uneasy about Father which was true, you 
 know and that I would prefer going home and 
 paying my visit to her later. Then I had to think of 
 going home and arriving with no clothes. I knew 
 if I said I was in a railway accident that Father 
 would apply for my things, and you see, Godfrey, 
 in a moment of real recklessness when the guard 
 asked him for his name, said ' Smith, of London,' 
 and that I was his sister ! I don't know what pos- 
 sessed him he said afterwards that he didn't know 
 himself but I was in an awful state and frightened 
 to death, and I thought that perhaps you would 
 object to me altogether if you knew, and so he 
 determined that he would rush up to town the 
 next morning and get a special license. And so he 
 did, and we were married the next afternoon." 
 
 " Then you went back to the hotel as Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook ?" 
 
 " No, we went to the hotel as Mr. and Miss 
 Smith. He went up to town that night I forgot
 
 COMMON SENSE. 279 
 
 that he went up by the last train, by the mail, and 
 we were married at five o'clock in the afternoon at 
 the church, the certificate says I forget the name 
 and then we went to another hotel as Mr. and 
 Mrs. Smith." 
 
 " But, my dear child, why as Mr. and Mrs. 
 Smith ?" 
 
 " Well, it was like this. We went to see after 
 my clothes. We found that there was no chance 
 of getting anything except just a little box that 
 had some trinkets in it, everything else was ruined, 
 and I only wanted to stay long enough to get a 
 few things so that nobody would notice the ab- 
 sence of luggage when I got home. Of course, 
 Nancy did notice, and I had to put her off with the 
 best excuse I could. Well, the first person we saw 
 when we got to Ruxfurd was the guard who had 
 seen us when we first got out of the wrecked train. 
 He recognized us at once, and told Godfrey he 
 thought he might be wanted at the inquest, and 
 Godfrey thought as he had given the name of 
 Smith he had better stick to it whilst he was in the 
 neighbourhood. Well, he intended to meet you 
 on the Monday, and told me everything about it, 
 and that he should take an opportunity of disclos- 
 ing everything to you. I parted from him on the 
 Saturday and he went back 'to Blankhampton, and 
 I have never heard or seen anything of him since 
 except two letters I have had." 
 
 " You have had a letter from him ?" 
 
 " Yes, I had a letter from him on the day you 
 went to meet him in London. I have been burst-
 
 2 SO A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 ing to tell you. I felt that I ought to tell you, and 
 yet because of my promise I have been obliged to 
 keep it locked up in my breast. That is why I 
 have been so wan and wretched. It is only dar- 
 ling Baby that has lifted the load a little from my 
 heart." 
 
 "My poor child!" said Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 "there is no reason to distress yourself. I am 
 quite sure that Godfrey has some good reason for 
 this curious disappearance of his. What did he 
 say on the morning that you heard from him ?" 
 
 " Stay, I will go and get you the two letters," 
 said Margot. She jumped up from her lowly po- 
 sition and ran into the adjoining room, that is to 
 say, her bedroom. In a few minutes she came back 
 carrying a small jewel-box, which she unlocked 
 and from which she took two letters and handed 
 them to Mrs. Bladensbrook. The first was the let- 
 ter which she had received on the 2Oth of August 
 of the previous year. 
 
 " I told you so !" said Mrs. Bladensbrook, as soon 
 as her eyes had scanned the page. " I knew there 
 was a reason for it. Now what is that reason ?" 
 
 " Nay," said Margot, " I have racked my brains 
 day and night wondering what could have happened 
 to make Godfrey turn his back deliberately and 
 unmistakably and by his own will as you will see 
 when you read this letter upon all of us. I might 
 have thought that he had repented ; but still, if 
 he had, Godfrey Bladensbrook would never have 
 turned his back upon the victim of such a mistake. 
 Besides there is the other letter."
 
 COMMON SENSE. 28l 
 
 " Let me read it," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 But the second letter was more inexplicable than 
 the first one. " What in the wide world can it 
 mean ?" said Godfrey's mother. 
 
 " It is a mystery," said Godfrey's wife, " and I 
 have been trying to fathom it ever since the 2Oth 
 of last August." 
 
 For some little time Mrs. Bladensbrook sat pro- 
 foundly silent leaning her head upon her hands. 
 Margot did not dare to interrupt her by so much 
 as a word ; then at last Godfrey's mother looked 
 up and spoke. " Margot, my child," she said, in a 
 tone of one who has come to a complete conclu- 
 sion after long thinking, " I will tell you what we 
 will do first of all. We will get this marriage of 
 yours thoroughly announced, so that there shall be 
 no mistake upon that score, then we will leave this 
 place and we will go home. We cannot perhaps 
 take the child to Bladensbrook ; we will see what 
 sort of a bill of health the place shows in a week's 
 time if we cannot take him there, he shall go to 
 some seaside place where you can easily join him 
 then you and I will go to Brixham " 
 
 " Not to Brixham !" cried Margot 
 
 " Oh, yes ; we are not obliged to stay with your 
 Aunt Marcia, that would be a most unnecessary 
 complication of affairs. We will go to Brixham, 
 and we will see if we cannot trace out the career of 
 Mr. William Smith, of London, from the time at 
 which you parted with him believing he was to 
 return direct to Blankhampton." 
 
 " It might do," said Margot, doubtfully, " but I 
 24*
 
 282 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 don't believe that an ordinary person like William 
 Smith, who practically came from nowhere and 
 apparently went to nowhere will be easy to trace." 
 
 " Not easy, perhaps," said Mrs. Bladensbrook ; 
 " but it is a chance, and you and I will follow it to 
 the very end. And now, my dear child, you must 
 remember this there is to be no more dolce far 
 niente with that baby of yours. He is very precious 
 and very beautiful, I admit, and the wonder to me 
 is that I did not see the likeness in him to God- 
 frey. He is exactly like what Godfrey was at that 
 time of day, the likeness is ludicrous. It only 
 shows how blind we are until things are pointed 
 out to us but, charming and delightful as little 
 Ralph is, you and I have sterner work to do than 
 to make love to him. You must lose no chance of 
 getting strong and well, able to bear fatigue, sus- 
 pense and anxiety we do not know what may be 
 before us, we do not know how far our strength 
 may be taxed ; you must eat, drink, walk, sleep, do 
 everything to make yourself fit and strong, strong 
 to endure and fit to help me to find Godfrey. I 
 feel perfectly certain that there is some awful and 
 dreadful mistake at the bottom of all this business. 
 I don't know why I should have had such a convic- 
 tion, but you will remember from the very first I 
 put aside all idea of Godfrey being dead. I knew 
 Godfrey was living. I feel as certain now that if 
 we make an effort we shall succeed in finding him." 
 
 " I will do anything that you tell me. I will do 
 anything that you wish," said Margot. 
 
 " That is my good child that is my own daugh-
 
 COMMON SENSE. 283 
 
 ter, my son's wife, my grandson's mother," ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Bladensbrook, in what for her was 
 quite a gush of tenderness. " Then, Margot, our 
 first task will be to announce the truth to Nancy 
 and the nurse." 
 
 " That is as you think best," said Margot. 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook did announce the news to 
 Nancy in quite her own characteristic fashion, and 
 Nancy, who stood in as much awe and admiration 
 of the lady of Bladensbrook, received the informa- 
 tion with uplifted hands and many expressions of 
 wonder which, as a matter of fact, were indications 
 of a position a very long way from the actual truth. 
 
 " I guessed all along who my young lady's hus- 
 band was," she said to the nurse, when they were 
 discussing their breakfast." 
 
 " What ! You knew ?" 
 
 " I didn't know, of course. As you went and reg- 
 istered the child and answered all the questions 
 about the baby at the baptism, I knew, of course, 
 that you knew. I didn't ask you, because it wasn't 
 my business to find out what my young mistress 
 wanted to keep a secret I preferred to know 
 nothing of it but at the same time I have always 
 had eyes in my head, and I always thought that 
 Mr. Bladensbrook was the man." 
 
 " What made you think so ?" asked the nurse. 
 
 " Why, didn't her husband and Madam's son 
 disappear on the very same day? I have been 
 wondering all along where Madam's wonderful wit 
 was. They always say at home, at Bladensbrook, 
 you know, that Madam can see through a two-inch
 
 284 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 deal board and right through a stone wall, but I 
 begin to have my doubts about Madam's wonder- 
 ful quickness. And then my young lady, she goes 
 and calls the child Ralph. Why the old squire 
 that was kicked to death by his favourite hunter, 
 he was called Ralph ! And yet Madam never 
 noticed it Dear ! How blind some of these 
 clever people are." 
 
 " You knew, perhaps, that they were courting ?" 
 
 " Well, I didn't know, not as a matter of fact," 
 said Nancy, who was quite above any pretensions 
 in the matter, " and I don't pretend to have second 
 sight or anything of that kind, but I do pretend to 
 have common sense and I used it." 
 
 " Ah," said the nurse, " for every-day hard wear 
 recommend me to common sense." 
 
 A few days after this everybody who knew the 
 name of Bladensbrook was startled by the appear- 
 ance of two announcements in every English paper 
 of note. They ran thus, 
 
 On the 1 6th August, 18 , Godfrey Bladensbrook of Bladens- 
 brook to Margot, only daughter of the Reverend William Dan- 
 gerfield. Rector of Bladensbrook, Loamshire. 
 
 On May gth, at Grigon, Switzerland, Mrs. Bladensbrook of 
 Bladensbrook, Loamshire, of a son and heir.
 
 " TO WILLIAM SMITH, OF LONDON." 285 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 "TO WILLIAM SMITH, OF LONDON." 
 
 IF an observant person had studied the agony 
 column of the various papers on the day on which 
 the announcements of Godfrey Bladensbrook's 
 marriage and of the birth of his son and heir made 
 their appearance, they would have noticed the fol- 
 lowing advertisement, which was addressed to 
 " William Smith, of London." It ran thus : 
 
 " Your mother and wife entreat you to communicate with them. 
 They cannot understand why you have remained silent so long. 
 If you look at the papers carefully you will see interesting news 
 concerning yourself. Now, that all is known there can be no 
 reasonable necessity for your remaining out of sight any longer ; 
 at the same time your mother does not see why the necessity need 
 ever have arisen, as you were at'perfect liberty to please yourself in 
 all matters concerning your mode of life. Your wife received your 
 letters of August -gth, postmark Brixham, and February 1 7th, 
 postmark London ; and as you are aware is not able to answer 
 them as you gave no address. You had better address, when 
 writing, to Messrs. Wood & Co,, 200 Old Jewry, London, E. C., 
 as your wife and mother are not at home and will therefore receive 
 the letter a day or more earlier." 
 
 There are always some curious persons who read 
 their newspapers rather for the sake of gaining 
 sensations than from a desire to learn the news of 
 the day. A very estimable person confessed to 
 me not long ago that the reason she never read a 
 newspaper on Sunday was, not because she thought 
 it particularly wicked, but because there was no
 
 286 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Court news in it. She was one of the strictest sect, 
 well, we will not say of the Pharisees, but of a 
 noted Nonconformist body which forbids the use of 
 newspapers and other amusements on the Sabbath. 
 But that was her candid opinion, her inside opinion, 
 so to speak, not the opinion she gave to the world, 
 her world, but the one which she gave to me. 
 There is another class of persons who always read 
 the agony column, and of the many who read it 
 on the day when the advertisement to William 
 Smith made its appearance, few there were who did 
 not turn the paper inside and out scanning it 
 eagerly to discover the interesting news for which 
 William Smith had been bidden to search, but of 
 all these there was only one who in any sense put 
 two and two together, and that one did not put 
 together the two and two of the agony and the 
 " Hatch, Match, and Despatch" column. This one 
 was a young lady at Brixham, in short, the daugh- 
 ter of the hotel-keeper at whose establishment 
 Godfrey and Margot had passed their brief honey- 
 moon. She read the announcement again and 
 again, and then she carried the paper out of the 
 bar into the private parlour where her father was 
 enjoying his afternoon forty winks. " Are you 
 awake, Dad ?" she asked. 
 
 " Awake ? Yes, I never go to sleep. I was only 
 resting a bit." 
 
 " Yes, I know, Dad, you were resting. But you 
 are rested enough to let me show you something ?" 
 
 " Why, yes, my dear, why shouldn't I be ?" 
 
 " Well, look here ; here's the queerest announce-
 
 " TO WILLIAM SMITH, OF LONDON." 287 
 
 ment in the paper I have ever seen. And if it 
 isn't mixed up with that William Smith ! You 
 know ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, read this," and she handed him the paper. 
 " You see it mentions Brixham," she said. 
 
 " Ah, yes, that's 'im right enough," said the land- 
 lord. 
 
 " Then you may depend upon it his wife and his 
 mother don't know where he is. Whether that was 
 his wife here with him " 
 
 " I don't believe it. If you remember at the 
 time we said we didn't believe that they was really 
 married." 
 
 " Well, Jessica said so, and so did Tom, but don't 
 you think servants often get fancying things ? Par- 
 ticularly when they are accustomed to hotel life. 
 Jessica said that she had a handkerchief marked 
 with something that was not N. S. He called her 
 Nellie, and they called themselves Smith. Jessica 
 said that he was wearing silver links that had not 
 a W. nor an S. on them, but some other initials ; 
 she didn't have a chance of finding out what. She 
 thought one was B." 
 
 " Yes, so she did." 
 
 " Well, it is very evident that the poor things 
 don't know what got him." 
 
 " Well, it looks like it,' said the landlord. " But 
 you see, it is evident that he wrote to her on the 
 1 7th of February, now, how the dickens did he 
 manage that ? I wonder " 
 
 " Nay," said the girl, " I suppose he got a friend
 
 288 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 to do it for him. What will you do about it, 
 Dad?" 
 
 " Well, my dear, I don't see that I can do any- 
 thing about it." 
 
 " But won't you write ?" 
 
 " Well, what is the good of writing ? The feller 
 was a swell, there's no doubt about that ; but then 
 there's plenty of swells that have uncommonly 
 shady records. He has never let his wife and 
 his mother know anything about what happened 
 last year ; I don't know that we ought to back on 
 him and split After all, he was a guest here and 
 he paid up fair and square." 
 
 " But think what they must be suffering, Dad." 
 
 " Well, perhaps they'll suffer less if they are kept 
 in ignorance than if they knew everything," said 
 the landlord, prosaically. " Well, my girl, I really 
 don't know what I had better do. There was some- 
 thing that wasn't quite explained in that affair he 
 said so at the time ; don't you remember, Minnie, 
 just before they went .he turned round to me and 
 he said in that 'igh and 'aughty way of his, ' I 
 know exactly what this must look like, landlord, 
 but the least said the soonest mended, and I have 
 got to thank you very much for your attentions 
 to us whilst we have been staying in your house.' 
 I thought at the time," the landlord went on, " that 
 there had been a mistake made, and I have 
 thought so whenever the name of Smith has 
 crossed my memory since." 
 
 " Then, Dad," said the girl, earnestly, " all the 
 more reason that you should let his mother and his
 
 " TO WILLIAM SMITH, OF LONDON." 289 
 
 wire know exactly what happened to him. If they 
 do turn out to be people of position, they may be 
 able to put everything straight yet." 
 
 " Well, my girl, I will do as you like, but you 
 cannot undo what's been done ; nothing on earth 
 will ever undo what's 'appened between last August 
 and to-day, so you may put that idea out of your 
 mind at once for good and all." 
 
 However, egged on by his daughter's persistency 
 and by the fact that the announcement to William 
 Smith remained in the agony column, he was not 
 in danger of forgetting his existence. After about 
 a week had elapsed, the landlord of the King's 
 Arms sat down at his desk and with labour indited 
 a letter to the solicitors in Old Jewry who managed 
 the most of Mrs. Bladensbrook's affairs. 
 
 " DEAR SIRS," he began, " I enclose a cutting from the Daily 
 Telegraph addressed to one William Smith, of London. As your 
 names are mentioned at the foot of the advertisement as being the 
 proper persons to write to, I herewith write to let you know that 
 the said gentleman, or one of the said name but I believe it to 
 be the same stayed at my hotel for a few days during the August 
 of last year. A young lady was with him at the time professing 
 to be his wife, but as she left the previous day to the gentleman 
 I cannot speak on that point. Any person requiring real informa- 
 tion on the subject of the said William Smith can apply to me 
 direct by letter or in person. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "JOHN TRIMMINS." 
 
 The letter done, John Trimmins went to the 
 door and shouted for his daughter. " I am here, 
 Dad," she cried, " I will come in a minute." And 
 N / 25
 
 290 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 surely enough in a very short time she appeared. 
 " What do you want, Dad ?" 
 
 " Well, I have written this letter you have been 
 jacketting me about for a week past. Just come 
 and cast your eye over it and tell me if you think 
 it will do." 
 
 Thus bidden, the girl took the letter and read it 
 from beginning to end. " Why," she said, " you 
 have told them nothing !" 
 
 " Them that wants to 'ear anything perticular 
 can take the trouble to come and 'ear it from me," 
 said John Trimmins, sturdily. " I am going to write 
 nothing that will incriminate me if I can 'elp it. 
 John Trimmins is here and will answer any ques- 
 tions that is put to 'im, barring they are not too im- 
 pudent. I 'ave given them a chance, and that is 
 as much as anybody can expect of me." 
 
 " Oh, my dear Dad, it is very good of you, and 
 I am very glad you have written. It will do quite 
 well. You don't know how much good you may 
 do that poor mother and wife." 
 
 Accordingly, the letter was posted, and in due 
 time received by Mrs. Bladensbrook's solicitors. 
 The heads of the firm conned over the sheet of 
 paper and looked in one another's faces as who 
 would say, " Here is a clue at last !" 
 
 " We had better let Mrs. Bladensbrook have a 
 wire," said the senior partner to the junior. 
 
 " Yes, most decidedly. Shall I see to it ?" 
 
 " I think you had better. The sooner she 
 knows that there is a clue, the better for her." 
 
 " Shall I wire contents of the letter?"
 
 " TO WILLIAM SMITH, OF LONDON." 2$l 
 
 " No, I don't think so. Say there is a clue which 
 can only be followed up personally ; letter follow- 
 ing. And send her copy of this letter, and ask if 
 we shall attend to it for her or would she prefer to 
 come herself?" 
 
 Accordingly a telegram and letter were duly 
 dispatched to Mrs. Bladensbrook, who was still 
 detained in Geneva. She had been kept there 
 for nearly a fortnight by the illness of the little 
 heir; and as both mother and grandmother felt 
 the stake in the little life was so great, they had 
 delayed their journey home until he was really 
 well rather than run the slightest risk of increas- 
 ing his ailment. Mrs. Bladensbrook received the 
 letter with considerable interest and eagerness, but 
 Margot, after scanning its contents, laid it down 
 with a disappointed expression. " I don't call that 
 a clue," she said, quietly. " That is from the land- 
 lord of the hotel that we stayed at in Brixham. I 
 knew at the time they didn't think I was Godfrey's 
 wife. You see, I had one or two handkerchiefs 
 marked M. D., and I saw the chambermaid look 
 at one. They are so quick, these people, they 
 notice everything. They can only tell you that 
 we stayed there for a few days, and that I left 
 the day before he did. They have told you that 
 already." 
 
 ''My dear, I think we had better follow it. 
 This man implies that he has something else to 
 tell." 
 
 " Ah, he wants to get us to go and stay a few 
 days again," said Margot. "At all events, dear
 
 292 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Mother," she had long ago begun to call Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook by the tender and homely name, 
 " I wouldn't rush there, and don't let your hopes 
 dwell too much upon it. I am sure it is no real 
 clue and will tell us nothing definite about God- 
 frey. How should they know any better than I ? 
 And, really, Baby isn't fit to take such a long jour- 
 ney yet." 
 
 " Well, my dear, I will write to Woods and tell 
 them to acknowledge the letter, and say that I will 
 go and see Mr. Trimmins on my return to Eng- 
 land. That will be the best way. I can then 
 leave it open, and we can take an opportunity, 
 when dear Baby is very well again, to make the 
 journey home." 
 
 " Dear Baby," however, continued to show con- 
 siderable signs of delicacy well, that is to say, he 
 was troubled with one childish ailment after an- 
 other, infantile troubles that would not have seemed 
 like troubles in an ordinary house or to an every- 
 day family, but which to such an inexperienced 
 mother as Margot, and to such an anxious grand- 
 mother as Mrs. Bladensbrook, took upon them- 
 selves the importance of serious and dangerous 
 illnesses. 
 
 But in the beginning of August Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook and Margot were able to return to England 
 and to make their way towards Brixham. For 
 one thing, Margot was glad that they had been 
 detained so long, because she knew Mrs. Blake 
 would not be visible in Brixham in August, and 
 she felt neither strong enough nor brave enough to
 
 " TO WILLIAM SMITH, OF LONDON." 293 
 
 face the torrent of reproaches which she knew 
 would be hers when she and that lady did happen 
 to come together. Nancy and the nurse travelled 
 in charge of the precious baby, putting up at the 
 Mitre, at Marley Spa, the hotel where Godfrey was 
 supposed to have stayed during the August of the 
 previous year. From this house Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 and Margot went over to Brixham, going direct to 
 the King's Arms Hotel, there to interview its pro- 
 prietor, Mr. John Trimmins. 
 
 Miss Trimmins peeped out of the bar as the two 
 ladies came into the hall, and seeing by the man- 
 ner of the elder one that they were somebody of 
 unusual importance, she came out of the little 
 glazed hutch and advanced to meet them. " I 
 have a letter here," began Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 " written by Mr. John Trimmins to my solicitors 
 in London." 
 
 " Oh," said Miss Trimmins, " about Mr. William 
 Smith ?" 
 
 " Yes, about Mr. William Smith," said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook, feeling as if she were telling a lie. 
 
 " Will you come this way ?" said Miss Trimmins. 
 " If you will come into my father's private sitting- 
 room, I will fetch him to you. He is not in the 
 house, but he is close at hand." Then her eyes 
 wandered from Mrs. Bladensbrook's face to that 
 of her companion, and she recognized with a start 
 that this was the young lady who had been their 
 guest a year previously. " Good-morning, Mrs. 
 Smith," she said, pleasantly. 
 
 " Good-morning," said Margot. 
 25*
 
 294 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " I hope you are quite well," said Miss Trim- 
 mins. 
 
 " Quite well, thank you, said Margot. " I need 
 hardly ask you the same question ; you look 
 extremely well." 
 
 " Yes, thank you, I am quite well," said Miss 
 Trimmins. " This way." She opened the door of 
 the little private room and ushered the two ladies 
 into it. " Shall I say Mrs. William Smith ?" said 
 she, half hesitatingly. 
 
 " This is my mother-in-law," said Margot, feeling 
 that the silence was awkward. 
 
 " Oh, really. Then I will say Mrs. Smith and 
 Mrs. William Smith ?" 
 
 " Thank you," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, stiffening 
 all over with indomitable pride. As the door 
 closed behind Miss Trimmins, she turned sharply 
 to Margot. " My dear child, don't you think I 
 had better tell these people what our name is? It 
 is dreadful to be going about as Smith." 
 
 " Well, yes, dear ; but don't you think we had 
 better hear all they have got to tell first ? Because 
 if they don't know much only that we stayed here 
 last year they might as well not know that we are 
 Bladensbrooks at all." 
 
 " Yes, you are quite right." 
 
 A few minutes later the door opened and the 
 landlord of the hotel walked into the room.
 
 A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 2$$ 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 
 
 " GOOD-MORNING, ladies!" he said. "I 'ope I 
 see you well." 
 
 " Good-morning," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, with 
 gracious dignity. 
 
 " Good-morning," said Margot, in her soft voice. 
 
 " You wrote me a letter at least, you wrote a 
 letter to my solicitors," Mrs. Bladensbrook began. 
 
 " I did, Ma'am, yes, I did. You see, I 'appened 
 to see an advertisement in the paper at least, my 
 daughter did about a young gentleman that stayed 
 here last August, the young gentleman that this 
 young lady was good lady to, if I mistake not ?" 
 
 " You are quite right," said Margot. 
 
 " You can give me some information about this 
 Mr. William Smith ?" 
 
 " I can tell you what 'appened 'ere after the 
 young lady left," said the landlord, sticking his 
 thumb into his armhole and looking steadily at 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook began to feel that after all 
 the man did know something. She immediately 
 sat down and rested her elbow and hand on the 
 table. " Mr. Trimmins," she said, " I may as well 
 tell you that I have never seen or heard of my son 
 since the iQth of last August."
 
 296 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " That was the day on which it took place," said 
 John Trimmins. 
 
 " The day on which what took place ?" 
 
 " On which he left this house," said the landlord. 
 
 " Well, you will understand that I am exceed- 
 ingly anxious, and my daughter-in-law likewise, to 
 know where Mr. William Smith is." 
 
 " It wasn't 'is right name to begin with," said 
 John Trimmins, deliberately. 
 
 " That is rather beside the question. It was the 
 name under which you knew him." 
 
 " But it wasn't 'is right name for all that," said 
 the landlord, calmly. " I said to my daughter at 
 the time, and I said to her the other day when I 
 wrote to your lawyers, that Mr. William Smith was 
 no common man he was a gentleman, and I 'ave 
 never rightly settled in my mind that what 'appened 
 'ere on the iQth of last August came out right side 
 uppermost." 
 
 " But what did happen ?" said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 She spoke with great patience, for she saw that the 
 landlord was a garrulous person and must practi- 
 cally be left to tell his story in his own way. 
 
 " Well, Ma'am, the young lady left on Saturday 
 morning and the young gentleman stayed the Sat- 
 urday night 'ere by 'isself. On the Saturday night 
 there was a bit of a rumpus I cannot say quite 
 what it was, for I wasn't present at the time but 
 there was a feller staying in the house that got a 
 bit impudent or something, and your son put 'im 
 out Well, I spoke to 'im about it, and when he 
 explained 'ow things 'ad been, I thanked 'im for
 
 A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 297 
 
 'aving taken a 'igh 'and in the matter, for I 'ave no 
 fancy for my 'ouse being known for anything dis- 
 reputable. Well, the next day, just when Mr. 
 William Smith was leaving he 'ad paid 'is bill and 
 all he was arrested." 
 
 " What !" cried Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " It is the plain truth, Ma'am. He was arrested." 
 
 " And for what ?" 
 
 " He was arrested for theft." 
 
 " My son !" 
 
 " Mr. William Smith, that was the 'usband of 
 this young lady, he was arrested for theft. He 
 was charged by a visitor staying in the house with 
 having stolen various articles of jewellery and 
 some money. He offered to 'ave 'is things searched 
 well, of course, that made no difference, because 
 the police were there and they would 'ave searched 
 the boxes of a suspected party in any case, and the 
 things was all found in 'is portmanteau in my en- 
 trance 'all, packed ready to go to the station. He 
 was arrested ; he asked for ten minutes alone with 
 me and the police knew me, and I said that it 
 would be all right, and they allowed 'im to 'ave it. 
 I was ten minutes alone in this room with 'im. He 
 wrote a letter which 'e asked me to post without 
 looking at the address, and I did so. I conclude it 
 was the letter that was mentioned in the advertise- 
 ment as having a Brixham post-mark. But I was 
 true to my word, and I never looked at the direc- 
 tion at all. And then 'e got up and 'e said in 'is 
 'igh and 'aughty way, ' Now look here, landlord, 
 you quite understand that there has been a mistake
 
 298 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 here. I don't know yet what I shall do, but I shall 
 thank you to speak of this to nobody.' He was 
 committed for trial ; he was tried at the county 
 town assizes, and he was sentenced to 'ighteen 
 months' hard labour." 
 
 " And you mean to tell me," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook, staring at the landlord with a white set face, 
 " that my son is in prison ?" 
 
 " Your son, Ma'am, is in prison at this moment, 
 if so be that he is alive. I can't say what prison, 
 but that would be easy enough to find out from the 
 officials at Chalkley." 
 
 " But," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, holding hard on 
 to the table, and still fixing the landlord with a 
 haggard gaze, " the whole thing is absurd. My 
 son ! Why, it is preposterous ! My son has thirty 
 thousand a year. Did he explain nothing ? Were 
 you at the trial ?" 
 
 " I was, and he said nothing." 
 
 " He didn't explain his position ? What defence 
 did he make ?" 
 
 " Well, Ma'am, practically 'e made no defence. 
 'E explained nothing about matters except that he 
 was William Smith, of London." 
 
 " He quietly accepted the situation ?" 
 
 " Well, practically, Ma'am, that was what 'e did. 
 As to 'is 'aving thirty thousand a year or being in 
 any way well off, he never breathed it. If 'e 'ad it 
 might have put a different complexion on the whole 
 case, but 'e shut 'is mouth like a steel gin and he 
 said nothing at all. They couldn't drag a word 
 out of 'im. And when the jedge giv 'im 'is sen-
 
 A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 299 
 
 tence, 'e just made 'im a little bow and 'e turned 
 round and walked out of the dock without a word. 
 I knew there was something wrong. I came 'ome 
 and I said to Minnie, my daughter, ' That young 
 feller never stole them diamonds, them studs, you 
 know.' ' Well, Dad,' said she, ' what were they 
 doing in 'is box ?' ' I don't believe,' said I, ' that 
 'e put 'em there.' ' Well, then,' said she, * who 
 could or did, and why ?' And there was reason in 
 it, and it was no business of mine, and if I 'ad made 
 it ever so much business of mine, I couldn't 'ave 
 done anything, I was as 'elpless as the new-born 
 babe. So I wondered a bit and I thought a bit 
 more until the matter dropped, and then I see your 
 advertisement." 
 
 " There has been some horrible mistake," said 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook. In her horror at the news of 
 Godfrey which had so unexpectedly come to her, 
 she forgot even to feel a thrill, a tiny thrill of in- 
 dignation, to hear this common man speak of 
 him as a "young feller." For a few minutes 
 none of the three broke the silence. The landlord, 
 with his thumb still stuck in his armhole and his 
 other hand thrust deep into his trouser pocket, 
 stood gazing at Mrs. Bladensbrook. Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook sat gripping the edge of the table and star- 
 ing at the landlord's rubicund face as if she would 
 fain gather more from there than he had already 
 told her, then Margot created a diversion by slip- 
 ping to the floor in a dead faint. 
 
 By dint of cold water, brandy, a fan, and the 
 strongest of smelling salts, the landlord and Mrs.
 
 300 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN, 
 
 Bladensbrook succeeded between them in bringing 
 Margot back to her senses. " Come, come, my 
 dear," said the older woman, " it has been an awful 
 shock to you ; I know by what I feel myself; but 
 we mustn't give way, there is a great deal to be 
 done. We have to discover the true thief, to estab- 
 lish Godfrey's innocence and to get him out of the 
 place where he is now. We must not give way." 
 
 " No," said Margot, " I won't give way any 
 more." But she closed her eyes, and but for a 
 vigorous application of the salts would probably 
 have slipped quietly off again. " No, I won't give 
 way," she said, " I won't, really. But it was such 
 a shock, such a revelation. Whatever will Aunt 
 Marcia say if she finds out ?" 
 
 " Oh, it doesn't matter what she says," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, contemptuously. " You and I have 
 got sterner work to do than to worry about Aunt 
 Marcia. Now, Mr. Trimmins," she added, having 
 straightened Margot's hair and set her hat at its 
 proper angle once more, " I have to thank you very 
 very much for all your kindness to me. Later 
 on that is to say in a few days I will send your 
 daughter a little present to remember us by, and 
 if I succeed in getting my son cleared of this ridic- 
 ulous charge, I shall ask you to accept something 
 much more substantial than what I shall send now. 
 You have been exceedingly kind to me, and I thank 
 you with all my heart." 
 
 " Well, I am sure, Ma'am," said John Trimmins, 
 " I liked the gentleman and I liked the young lady, 
 and it's dreadful to think of your having been
 
 A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 30! 
 
 all this time in anxiety and trouble about 'im. 'E 
 didn't look like anything of that kind, and I don't 
 see as long as 'e was right in 'is 'ead why 'e 
 should 'ave done it or be blamed for doing it, or 
 why anybody should try to put such a suspicion 
 upon 'im, I really don't. It is a mystery." 
 
 " Yes, it is a mystery," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 " But you know, Mr. Trimmins, there is no mystery 
 so deep but what some way can be found to unravel 
 it There is no mystery so mysterious but what 
 there is some little thread which will make every- 
 thing as clear as the light of day. If you knew 
 my son as I know him, you would understand 
 that it is quite an impossible thing that he should 
 have taken those jewels ; and I confess it seems im- 
 possible that anybody could be found in the world 
 so malicious as to try to fasten such a dastardly 
 crime upon him. Murder will out, Mr. Trimmins, 
 and, although this is not murder, I feel perfectly 
 sure that in this instance crime will out likewise." 
 
 " Well, Ma'am, I 'ope so with all my 'eart," said 
 Mr. Trimmins, in his cheery, honest tones. 
 
 And then Mrs. Bladensbrook with the most un- 
 usual graciousness for her put out her hand and 
 laid it in that of the rubicund Boniface with an air 
 as if she were a sovereign bestowing the highest 
 honour upon the humblest of her subjects. The 
 landlord was duly impressed. " My," said he to 
 his daughter later on, " but that is a grand lady, and 
 no mistake about it ! Lor' in my own house she 
 made me feel that small and that 'umble I could 
 scarcely believe it was myself standing there !"
 
 3<D2 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Meantime, Mrs. Bladensbrook and Margot were 
 driving back to the station. Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 had but scant mercy upon Margot's physical deli- 
 cacy. She was sorry that she had fainted, but she 
 thought it distinctly weak of her to do so at such 
 a juncture. " Now, my dear," she said, as soon as 
 they had driven well away from the hotel, " you 
 must not allow yourself to give way. You and I 
 have to go straight from here to Chalkley ; we have 
 to find out where Godfrey is ; we must get an order 
 to visit him ; we shall not get at anything like the 
 truth until we have seen him." 
 
 " But to see Godfrey in prison ! Oh, Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook ! With his head cropped and the broad 
 arrow stuck all over him Oh, Mother, Mother, I 
 shall never get over it !" 
 
 " Oh, yes, my dear, you will ; you will get over it 
 quite well. If Godfrey were justly in such a place, 
 you never would be able to get over it; there 
 would be no getting over such a situation on this 
 side of the grave ; but this is a mere bagatelle, an 
 accident, a chance, a contretemps. You and I are 
 as sure of Godfrey's innocence as we are of our 
 own, so that it need not trouble us for a moment, 
 beyond feeling vexation at the discomfort through 
 which he has gone." 
 
 The lady was as good as her word. She whisked 
 Margot into the train which they just caught 
 she whisked her out at the other end when they 
 reached the county town of Chalkley. " Now, my 
 dear," she said, " do you think we had better have 
 a cup of tea before we go up to the gaol ?"
 
 A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 303 
 
 Margot's wan looks decided the question, and 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook carried her off into the little 
 refreshment room, where she administered to her 
 very much after the manner of a nurse adminis- 
 tering medicine to an unwilling child. Then she 
 found a cab and they went up to the gaol to- 
 gether. Of course there was a difficulty there 
 is always a difficulty in surmounting any situa- 
 tion which is tinged with officialism. First of all, 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook was told that she could not 
 possibly see the Governor; it was not hours to 
 see the Governor; he was probably not in his 
 house, and he was sure to be engaged if he did 
 happen to be at home. Mrs. Bladensbrook was, 
 however, not a person who allowed herself to be 
 put out of her way by trifles or petty obstacles. 
 She did not on this account disdain the use of 
 a silver key, and she carried her point sufficiently 
 to drive in under the great gates and up to the 
 house which was pointed out as the Governor's. 
 The Governor's parlour-maid, being a person less 
 open to suspicion than the gate porter, did not 
 refuse her admittance or question her right of 
 entry, and presently the Governor of the gaol, a 
 tall, middle-aged man of military appearance, came 
 to her, asking her what he could have the pleas- 
 ure of doing for her. She saw that he recognized 
 her quality at a glance, and to him she unfolded 
 her tale, not, however, divulging her own name. 
 "A young man was sentenced at the Chalkley 
 Assizes last September to eighteen months' im- 
 prisonment for stealing jewellery and other effects
 
 304 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 at an hotel at Brixham," she said. " I have only 
 just discovered the facts of the case. That young 
 man is my son. I am perfectly convinced that 
 there is a mystery which can be unravelled and 
 explained. It is preposterous and absurd to think 
 that he should have soiled his hands for a mo- 
 ment with such a deed. He is very rich, and at 
 the time of the alleged robbery he had been mar- 
 ried three days. I want you to tell me where he 
 is and advise me how I may best have an inter- 
 view with him, also to tell me whether I can have 
 an absolutely private interview ?" 
 
 " Without any witnesses ?" said the Governor. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " That, of course, is impossible except by breach 
 of custom. What was your son's name ?" 
 
 " He is called William Smith." 
 
 "Oh, Smith?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I confess I always had my doubts about his 
 case." 
 
 " You had ? Why ?" 
 
 " Why, because he is a gentleman and he looks 
 honest. The governor of a gaol usually knows the 
 true character of every person under his charge." 
 
 " And is my son here now ?" 
 
 " Yes. Men under sentences no longer than his 
 are not taken to the great penal establishments, 
 but work out their time in the county gaols where 
 they have been sentenced. I could let you see 
 your son, certainly, but not alone. If you will 
 come this way, you shall see him in five minutes,"
 
 A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 305 
 
 " Oh, you are very good," replied Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook. 
 
 " Not at all, not at all. I would do more than 
 that for a well-behaved prisoner, to say nothing of 
 being willing to oblige a mother, more especially 
 when she happens to be a woman of your evident 
 standing. And this young lady ?" with a gesture 
 towards Margot. 
 
 " Is my son's wife." 
 
 " Oh, really ! Well, come this way. You shall 
 see him." 
 
 They were led down several long passages 
 through heavily-barred doors and gateways, and 
 then they were shown into a small room divided in 
 the middle by a double trellis-work of iron. There 
 the Governor left them. In less than five minutes 
 the door of the other compartment to that in which 
 they stood was flung open and Godfrey Bladens- 
 brook, cropped as to the head and clad in hideous 
 prison garments, walked into the room. A turnkey 
 immediately appeared in the division between the 
 two barriers of trellis-work. Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 ran close up to the barrier and said in a palpitating 
 voice " Godfrey !" 
 
 He cast one glance at her, then turned sharply 
 to the warder. " This lady," he said, " has made 
 a mistake. I don't know her." 
 
 " Godfrey !" cried Margot. 
 
 But Godfrey never turned. " I don't know these 
 ladies," he said, in a deliberate voice. " They are 
 making a mistake. I am not the person they seek." 
 
 26*
 
 300 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 CAUGHT RED-HANDED. 
 
 WHEN the door had closed behind Godfrey 
 Bladensbrook, and the turnkey had disappeared 
 from the gangway between the two compartments 
 of the room, Mrs. Bladensbrook and Margot turned 
 and looked at one another. Margot was trembling 
 violently from head to foot, her face white, drawn, 
 and quivering, her eyes staring as if they would 
 start out of their sockets. This phase did not, 
 however, last for more than a few seconds. With 
 a cry she sprang to her mother-in-law and hid her 
 face upon her breast, but Mrs. Bladensbrook never 
 lost her presence of mind for a single instant. She 
 soothed the girl very tenderly ; but at the same time 
 whispered words bidding her bear up and not show 
 the state of agitation she was in. " Come, come," 
 she said, " you must dry your eyes ; you must pull 
 down your veil and go out as if nothing had hap- 
 pened, as if we had made a mistake. Godfrey has 
 a good reason ; he looked right into my eyes, and I 
 saw nothing there to be ashamed of. He knows 
 what he is doing ; he is doing it for the best. We 
 must fall in with his evident desires. Come, my 
 dear, it is only a few months more and then every- 
 thing will be explained to us. I shall tell the 
 Governor that his prisoner is quite right and we 
 have made a mistake."
 
 CAUGHT RED-HANDED. 307 
 
 " But it is Godfrey," said Margot, with a wail of 
 despair. 
 
 " Yes, my dear, of course it is Godfrey ; but 
 Godfrey wishes us not to reveal his name and 
 identity. He is here as William Smith, and de- 
 pend upon it he has a good reason for what he is 
 doing. You and I must not be the ones to betray 
 him. Come, brace yourself up ; nerve yourself; 
 shake yourself together, Margot. Your husband's 
 whole future depends upon it." 
 
 By the dint of alternate warnings and coaxings 
 she succeeded in so bracing Margot to action that 
 she dried her eyes, drew down her veil, and straight- 
 ened herself generally. "I am quite ready, if you 
 don't expect me to talk," she said. " I I cannot 
 talk And I can't help shaking." 
 
 " Leave it all to me," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 " Don't utter a word. I will tell the Governor that 
 you are naturally very much upset and to a certain 
 extent relieved to find that your husband is not 
 here. It isn't true ; but still Godfrey must have a 
 good reason Hush ! Here is the warder." 
 
 "The other warder tells me, Madam, that the 
 prisoner says you have made a mistake ?" 
 
 " That is quite true," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, 
 speaking with the utmost dignity and gracious- 
 ness. " I was, of course, deceived by the similarity 
 of name. I am sorry to have given you so much 
 trouble. Perhaps you will present my compliments 
 to the Governor, and thank him for allowing me to 
 satisfy myself?" She pressed a handsome douceur 
 into his hand and sailed out into the dreary corridor
 
 308 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 again, drawing Margot with her by the hand. 
 " Come, my dear child," she said to her, " we will 
 get out of this dreadful place. You know," speak- 
 ing very graciously to the warder, " it is a dreadful 
 place to us. We are not used to prisons. My 
 daughter-in-law is a little overcome by this inter- 
 view and the shock of it all. You will make my 
 apologies to the Governor, will you not ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, Madam ; in fact, I think the Governor 
 has gone out." 
 
 " Thank you so much," and she half lifted, half 
 hurried Margot into the cab, and told the warder 
 to tell the cabman to drive back to the station. 
 Not until they were once more safely in the train 
 did Margot speak again I should say speak again 
 on the subject which was lying so near to both of 
 their hearts. " Oh, dear Mother, what can this 
 mystery be ? It was Godfrey Godfrey, that ob- 
 ject, degraded, shamed like that, with his head 
 ugh ! horrid horrid and those dreadful clothes 
 on." 
 
 " My dear child, what do clothes matter ? And 
 as for his head, the hair will grow again in a few 
 weeks. As for the shame and the degradation 
 well, I cannot make it out ; but Godfrey never stole 
 oh, it is too ridiculous. It is absurd for you and 
 me to discuss it, to question it, to trouble ourselves 
 about it. There has been a mistake, and Godfrey 
 has his reasons for what he is doing urgent 
 reasons ; that goes without saying." 
 
 " What are we to do now ?" Margot asked. 
 
 " My dear child, there is nothing for us to do
 
 CAUGHT RED-HANDED. 309 
 
 but to go back to Marley Spa, eat our dinner, 
 spend the night, and get home to Bladensbrook as 
 quickly as we reasonably can do. We are better 
 there ; the place must be looking lovely. We are 
 satisfied as to where Godfrey is, and we must make 
 up our minds to wait his time ; we can wait better 
 in Bladensbrook than anywhere else ; besides that, 
 it would be so good for the child ; among our own 
 people, with every possible plans for his comfort 
 and well-being, he will thrive there as he would 
 do nowhere in hotels." 
 
 " And I we shall not know till next March," 
 said Margot, with a pitiful sigh. 
 
 " My dear, anything may happen between this 
 and next March ; it is a long time to wait. One 
 never knows what a day may bring forth, nor how 
 soon this mystery may be elucidated. At all 
 events, to me the satisfaction of knowing that God- 
 frey is alive and in good health has outweighed 
 everything for the moment; for the rest, I trust 
 him as absolutely as I have trusted him all his life, 
 and I am quite content to wait his time for being 
 able to tell me the why and the wherefore of the 
 whole extraordinary incident. Of course, now 
 that your marriage and Baby's birth have been 
 announced, there need be no hesitation about our 
 going back to Bladensbrook." 
 
 " It will be very dreadful," said Margot. 
 
 "Oh, yes, my dear; there are many dreadful 
 things in this life through which we must go cheer- 
 fully and uncomplainingly, showing only a brave 
 front to the world ; that is our portion. Now, I
 
 3IO A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 wish for your sake that you were going back to 
 your husband and to take your own place ; but 
 you young people acted for the best, or as you 
 thought was for the best, and it is no use now re- 
 pining or looking back over what is unalterable." 
 
 But nevertheless to Margot the home-coming to 
 Bladensbrook was wholly and entirely painful. If 
 it had been to a strange place, to the home of her 
 husband which she had never seen, she fancied she 
 would not have felt it half so deeply, but to go 
 where every villager knew her, knew a part at 
 least of the strange story, where people were still 
 conjecturing as to where Godfrey Bladensbrook, 
 the squire, could possibly be, and why he was 
 keeping so persistently out of sight, to go back to 
 meet the man who had proposed to her, to meet all 
 the people who had known her all her life and 
 who many of them looked as if they believed that 
 Godfrey had kept out of sight through some dis- 
 satisfaction with her, it was a dreadful trial. But 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook was indomitable. She went 
 home speaking of " my daughter-in-law" and of 
 " m y grandson" as if they were accepted facts of 
 years' standing, and at last, when somebody ven- 
 tured to ask her very diffidently whether they had 
 any news of Godfrey, she answered in the most 
 airy manner, " Oh, dear, yes ! My son will be 
 home very shortly." But somehow nobody liked 
 to ask any further questions, and the neighbour- 
 hood of Bladensbrook was more mystified than 
 ever. To nobody but the Rector did Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook vouchsafe anything like an explanation.
 
 CA UGHT RED-HANDED. 3 1 1 
 
 " My dear Rector," she said, when he gave vent to 
 a similar enquiry, " I really can tell you very little. 
 Margot is Godfrey's wife, and Godfrey has been 
 engaged in some most important and intricate 
 business. I can explain nothing of it to you ; but 
 he will be home in the spring, and then you will 
 hear what he says himself." 
 
 At this time Margot's nurse left them and was 
 replaced by a very dignified personage who took 
 up her abode at Bladensbrook on a more perma- 
 nent basis than anyone belonging to an institution 
 was capable of doing. From the very first the air 
 of Bladensbrook seemed to suit the little heir ; he 
 grew and throve like a young plant, doing much 
 to fill up that great empty space in Margot's heart, 
 and to make his grandmother content to wait until 
 blustering March should bring back her son to 
 give what explanation he would of the strange 
 events of the past eighteen months. They were 
 not so cut off from the world as Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook had been during the first six months of 
 Godfrey's absence. She conceived it to be her 
 duty to go back to her ordinary life, and she 
 visited in a stately fashion among her neighbours, 
 giving dinner-parties now and again, and became 
 quite her own vigorous queenly self. 
 
 It was during this time that the head-keeper at 
 Bladensbrook came up to the house one morning 
 and asked to see the mistress. He was shown 
 into the study, which was a little room where Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook invariably conducted all business 
 connected with the estate, and there Mrs. Bladens-
 
 312 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 brook joined him. " Well, Walters," she said, 
 "what is it?" 
 
 " Excuse me, Madam," said Walters, making his 
 obeisance and standing up, looking very straight 
 and tall in. his picturesque brown velveteen gar- 
 ments, " but I happen to have found out that I 
 was right in my suspicions about young Daniels." 
 
 " Oh, is that so ?" 
 
 " Yes, Madam, that is so. I have got the best 
 of evidence agen him, and I think we shall nab 
 my gentleman red-handed to-night." 
 
 " I scarcely believe it, Walters," said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook, in her calm, equable tones. 
 
 " Well, Madam, that is as time and chance will 
 show. I thought it my duty to come up and 
 warn you, my lady, that we are on the track. A 
 deal of game is being snared the last few weeks ; 
 we have been on the track day and night as you 
 may say, and from information I have received I 
 think we ought to land the gentleman to-night." 
 
 "Very well, Walters ; if you land him fairly and, 
 as you say, red-handed, I will acknowledge that I 
 was wrong, but until you do so I must say that I 
 have every faith in young Daniels." 
 
 " Very good, Madam." He then consulted her 
 on one or two other points connected with the 
 shootings, and disappeared when by a gesture she 
 dismissed him. 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook sat for some little time in the 
 large chair by the fire thinking deeply. " I cannot 
 think," her thoughts ran, " that I can be so deceived 
 in young Daniels. No, I won't believe it until I
 
 CA UGHT RED-HANDED. 3 I 3 
 
 have no choice but to do so. If there is anything 
 in physiognomy, that young man is as straight as a 
 die, and I have believed in physiognomy all my 
 life. A man who can look you straight in the eyes 
 and answer you without hesitation or a stumble, a 
 man who walks well with his feet to right and left, 
 that man is seldom dishonest. It is against nature 
 even to suspect him. However, of course, the 
 game has been taken, and Walters is perfectly right 
 to try to trap this poacher still, I cannot think 
 that young Daniels is the man." She got up at 
 last with an impatient sigh, knowing that if she sat 
 there till night her cogitations would not make the 
 smallest difference in the actuality of the events 
 which would come to pass during the next twenty- 
 four hours. She went back to her occupation of 
 writing important letters and the incident passed 
 almost out of her mind. 
 
 She and Margot had lunch together and the 
 little heir was brought down by his nurse for half 
 an hour while they had their coffee, then she and 
 Margot went out together in the open carriage. 
 They had rather a long drive that day, for their 
 errand was to go to see a lady recovering from a 
 somewhat severe illness, a lady who had always 
 been a friend of Mrs. Bladensbrook's, and who was 
 as near to an intimate as she possessed in the 
 world. "Nobody would believe that we were 
 almost upon Christmas," she said, as they drove 
 back through the fast darkening country lanes. 
 
 " No, it is quite mild," said Margot " Did you 
 notice those curious red things half flowers, half 
 o 27
 
 314 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 berries that Lady Constance had on her table ? 
 I never saw anything so curious in my life. And 
 how they lighted up that part of the room ?" 
 
 " I did notice them. I meant to ask her where 
 they had come from, and then something she said 
 put it out of my mind. By the bye, how dreadful 
 Miss Drummond looked. What was it ?" 
 
 " I think it was her hat," said Margot 
 
 " But what was her hat ?" 
 
 "Ah, that is more than I can tell you. It was 
 very queer, and she did look so satisfied with it " 
 
 " Stop !" said Mrs. Bladensbrook imperatively to 
 the coachman at that moment. They were still a 
 good nine miles from home, and, as the carriage 
 drew up with a jerk, a tall figure stopped, turned 
 and came back to the door on Mrs. Bladensbrook's 
 side. " Is that you, Daniels ?" she asked, sharply. 
 
 " Yes, my lady." 
 
 "Oh, where are you going?" 
 
 " I am going into Eccrington, my lady." 
 
 " Shall you be long before you return ?" 
 
 " Well, my lady, I was not coming back very 
 early," the young man replied. " The fact is, I am 
 going to see some cousins, and they have got a 
 bit of a merry-making on. I don't intend to be 
 back much before midnight. Is there anything I 
 can do for you, my lady ?" 
 
 " No, thank you no, it doesn't matter. I wanted 
 to know where you were going, that was all. 
 Good-night." 
 
 " Good-night, my lady." He stood and looked 
 after the carriage with its champing horses and
 
 CAUGHT RED-HANDED. 315 
 
 flashing lights. " Now, I wonder what made her 
 ask me that ?" he said to himself. " Why should 
 she want to know where I was going and how long 
 I was going to stop ?" 
 
 At that very moment Margot was asking Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook the same question. " Why did you 
 want to know where young Daniels was going ?" 
 she enquired. 
 
 " I had a reason," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, who 
 seldom made explanations needlessly. 
 
 They were some time before they reached home, 
 which they did in time to dress for dinner. They 
 were quite alone that evening, but they were not 
 dull ; they were never dull together, for Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook was at all times a most entertaining 
 companion. When the clock struck ten, however, 
 and Matthew appeared bringing in a small table with 
 a silver tray and a liqueur-stand, Mrs. Bladensbrook 
 looked up with a start. " How the evening has 
 slipped away I" she said. " I feel as if it was not 
 half an hour since dinner. Matthew, what is that ?" 
 
 " I will see, M'm," said Matthew. 
 
 It was somebody at the principal entrance-door, 
 somebody who knocked imperatively. In a few 
 minutes Matthew came back again, showing in the 
 Rector. " My dear Rector, is anything the matter ?" 
 said Mrs. Bladensbrook, as soon as she had glanced 
 at his face. 
 
 " Something very dreadful has happened," he said. 
 " I really hardly know how to tell you the news. 
 There has been a poaching affray in the woods just 
 back of the house and a man has been shot, Mrs.
 
 316 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Bladensbrook. It is a mile to the village, and he 
 is a dying man. I have told them to bring him in 
 here I felt that you would not mind. All the 
 village people are in bed long ago. I hope you 
 don't mind." 
 
 " My dear Rector, of course not. But who has 
 been shot ? Not one of my men, I hope." 
 
 " I don't know. He didn't give his name, but he 
 is dying, and he has asked to see a magistrate. He 
 has something of importance to tell him." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 MY SON HAS MORE THAN SATISFIED ME! 
 
 IN a moment Mrs. Bladensbrook had rung the 
 bell for Matthews, by whom she sent instructions 
 to the housekeeper to make ready a room imme- 
 diately in which the dying man could be received. 
 In answer to this message the housekeeper herself 
 came hurriedly to her mistress. " Don't you 
 think, Ma'am, that the little blue room would do 
 quite well? It is conveniently near the stairs 
 leading to our passage, and can be ready in ten 
 minutes." 
 
 " I do, certainly, Mrs. Moore. Have a fire lighted 
 and do everything that is necessary. Although 
 the man has been taken red-handed snaring our 
 game, Mr. Morris, he is dying, and of course death 
 wipes out all scores. Let him have every atten-
 
 MY SON HAS MORE THAN SATISFIED ME! 317 
 
 tion that is necessary. I suppose," turning to the 
 Rector, " that you have sent for the doctor ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, Mrs. Bladensbrook, the doctor is with 
 him now. It will be a question of a very few 
 hours. One of the under-keepers has gone for the 
 nearest magistrate that, by the bye, is Mr. Bui- 
 more." 
 
 " Oh, yes. Well, I hope he will come in time. 
 Of course, you will not expect me to see him ?" 
 
 " Oh, I don't think so ; I don't think it is at all 
 necessary. Mrs. Moore and I and the doctor can 
 do everything that is needful." 
 
 " Then Margot and I will sit here until we know 
 that the man is safely in bed. You might let us 
 have the news. You will stay here to-night, I 
 suppose ?" 
 
 " I will not leave him," said the Rector ; " the 
 whole thing is very dreadful to be taken red- 
 handed like this, the work of weeks, and after try- 
 ing very hard to compromise another man, an 
 innocent man. I could not leave such a case at all." 
 
 " Then you will consider this your house, my 
 dear Rector. Anything that you order, Mrs. Moore 
 and Matthew will supply you with. Matthew, you 
 will remain within call of the Rector to-night." 
 
 " Oh, yes, M'm, yes. I shall not dream of going 
 to bed." 
 
 The Rector then went out of the room and passed 
 out to the great entrance steps to listen whether 
 the men were approaching with their burden. They 
 came presently, carrying the wounded man upon a 
 hurdle, upon which a few coats and rugs had been 
 27*
 
 318 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 hurriedly thrown. There was no question of being 
 able to carry their burden straight up-stairs, and 
 they took him up the great staircase and along the 
 wide corridor until they came to the door which 
 led into the bachelor quarters of the house. There 
 they laid the hurdle down upon the floor and, lift- 
 ing him as gently as they could, carried him by 
 hand into the room which had been prepared for 
 him. Matthew came down presently to tell Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook that the move had been safely accom- 
 plished. " He is very ill, M'm ; a wretched-looking 
 creature, quite a stranger. Nobody seems to know 
 anything about him. He says he has been living 
 in the woods and feeding himself on what he could 
 get, and by his looks he is a regular gaol-bird." 
 
 Well, it is no use spinning out this part of the 
 story. During the solemn watches of that night 
 the spirit of the wounded stranger fled, and all 
 that was left of him lay clothed in the majesty of 
 death under the roof of the woman he had robbed. 
 Somehow, Mrs. Bladensbrook never dreamed of 
 going to sleep, or of going to bed, even. She sat 
 up in the little drawing-room thinking deeply. 
 Twice she urged Margot to go to bed, but Mar- 
 got said that if she did she could not sleep, and 
 so the two women kept their vigil together. It 
 was almost morning when the Rector came back 
 and told them that all was over. 
 
 " It is the most extraordinary story," he said, 
 " that he has told the magistrate that I have ever 
 heard. His has been a singular life ; he was not a 
 common man, but fairly educated and quite of the
 
 MY SON HAS MORE THAN SATISFIED ME! 319 
 
 middle class. He has left not only a confession of 
 having for weeks past snared your game, but also 
 of his having tried to cast the blame upon another, 
 a young man who offended him some little time 
 ago by refusing to become in any sense his friend." 
 
 " That was young Daniels, of course," said Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook. " Ah, well, Margot and I met him 
 to-night, nine miles away, footing it steadily in the 
 direction of Eccrington. I stopped the carriage 
 and asked him where he was going, and he said to 
 some cousins who were merry-making, and that he 
 would not be back until midnight, so that I knew 
 that he meant to have no hand in this night's 
 work, although Walters was convinced that Daniels 
 was the poacher after whom he was so keenly 
 searching. I never believed that he would take 
 a feather from me." 
 
 " Well, his innocence is established now. But 
 that is not the only confession that this wretched 
 fellow had to make. It seems that last year he 
 deliberately put the blame of a theft on to a man 
 who was absolutely innocent. This man, whom 
 he described to me as a howling swell, was stay- 
 ing in an hotel in a manufacturing town Oh, I 
 forget the name and he seems to have snubbed 
 his advances, and to have told him flatly that he 
 would not associate with him in any way. It 
 seems that he deliberately stole some jewels from 
 a gentleman staying in the hotel and introduced 
 them into this man's portmanteau. He was ar- 
 rested but, Mrs. Bladensbrook, you seem very 
 
 much interested !"
 
 320 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " It is an interesting story," said Mrs. Bladens- 
 brook, breathlessly. " Go on !" 
 
 " Well, this man was arrested, as it were taken 
 red-handed, tried, and sentenced to hard labour 
 for eighteen months. He has been serving that 
 sentence ever since." 
 
 " And his name ?" said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 
 " His name !" breathed Margot, scarcely above a 
 whisper. 
 
 " I don't think anybody you know," said the 
 Rector. " The name he gave in the deposition is 
 a very common one it is William Smith." 
 
 For the third time in her life Margot quietly 
 fainted away. Mrs. Bladensbrook took no more 
 notice of the girl than if she had sighed in her 
 sleep. " What will be done with that deposition ?" 
 she asked. 
 
 "That, of course, will be sent to the proper 
 authorities ; the Home Secretary will be communi- 
 cated with, and the unfortunate William Smith will 
 have a free pardon." 
 
 " You are sure of that ?" 
 
 " Oh, certain." 
 
 Mrs. Bladensbrook gave a deep sigh of relief. 
 " I am very glad that this wretch had the grace to 
 make a clean breast of it before he was taken. 
 Think what that poor thing has suffered, knowing 
 his own innocence ; think what his mother must 
 have borne !" 
 
 " Well, well," said the Rector, " we must leave 
 all that. After all, his people can only be thank- 
 ful that reparation has been done, although it is
 
 MY SON HAS MORE THAN SATISFIED ME! 32 1 
 
 late in the day; but," turning his head suddenly 
 and seeing Margot's senseless condition, " Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook, your daughter-in-law !" 
 
 " Oh, dear, dear ! Poor child ! This has been 
 too much for her. Where is Matthew ? Matthew, 
 get a little brandy ; Mrs. Godfrey has fainted." 
 
 A few days later Mrs. Bladensbrook and Margot 
 were comfortably ensconced in a well-known Lon- 
 don hotel. To say that they were anxious is to 
 express nothing of the tumult of feelings, hope, 
 fear, doubt, expectation, delirious joy, anxiety, all 
 combined, which filled their hearts, for they were 
 expecting Godfrey ! Every moment that passed 
 brought him nearer, every tick of the little clock 
 upon the mantel-shelf brought the period of sep- 
 aration 'nearer to its close. At last, Margot, who 
 was standing by the window, turned round in her 
 excitement. " Mother," she said, " I cannot wait 
 here any longer. I believe he is just coming. I 
 would rather leave you to see him first. After 
 all, he did write to me twice. It is your due that 
 you should see him first." ' 
 
 " Oh, my dear," said the mother. 
 
 "Yes, I wish it so. He would rather explain 
 to you than to me. He made his last appoint- 
 ment with you. I will come when you send for 
 me." 
 
 She whisked out of the room and Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook went impatiently to the window, where 
 she stood tapping her fingers restlessly upon the
 
 322 A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 pane and looking up and down the street as if 
 by oft looking she could bring her son more 
 quickly. And at last he came a Godfrey that 
 she scarcely knew, a Godfrey with his hair still 
 painfully short, but a well-dressed, well-groomed, 
 well-turned-out Godfrey of whom no mother could 
 be ashamed. 
 
 " My boy !" she cried, and the next moment she 
 was in his arms. 
 
 She was not a demonstrative and foolish mother, 
 her raptures did not last long ere she held him 
 at arm's length and asked him a question. " Now 
 tell me, why did you deny us when we came to 
 see you ?" 
 
 " Why ?" he said, very tenderly, " because, when 
 that awful suspicion came upon me, that suspicion, 
 Mother, under which I should have believed any 
 other man in the world to be guilty, that suspi- 
 cion from which I could never hope that my bare 
 word or even my position would save me, I felt 
 that it was only due to myself and to you to 
 my race to my regiment, to let things pass as 
 they would without explanation. It seemed to 
 me that an explanation would only serve to tar- 
 nish the name of Bladensbrook. After all, there 
 is no record of a Bladensbrook having suffered 
 imprisonment for the low crime of theft ; there is 
 no record concerning any person but William 
 Smith, that could hurt nobody. It seemed to me 
 that I was in for a bad piece of luck, and that, 
 try as I would, I could only get through it by 
 endurance, so when you came you and Margot
 
 My SON HAS MORE THAN SATISFIED ME I 323 
 
 so unexpectedly to see me, I had not a moment 
 to think in, not a moment for preparation. I 
 didn't know what to do, and then it came to me 
 that you would understand that if I denied you, I 
 should not do so without a reason." 
 
 "I did understand you," said Mrs. Bladensbrook. 
 "I told Margot that I was satisfied you had a 
 reason, and a good reason." 
 
 " And Margot, where is she ? Mother, you don't 
 know everything." 
 
 " My dear boy," said Mrs. Bladensbrook, " I told 
 Woods to say nothing to you. I have known 
 everything fora long time. It is you, dear, who 
 are in the dark ; it is you who don't know every- 
 thing yet." 
 
 " And Margot ?" 
 
 " Margot knows all that has happened every- 
 thing that has happened," said his mother, " every- 
 thing. She was here in this room five minutes 
 ago ; she was so nervous, and she fancied I ought 
 to see you first, but she is waiting to be sent 
 for." 
 
 " Margot is in this house?" 
 
 " Yes. I will send for her now." She went 
 across the room to ring the bell, perhaps for the 
 first time that she had ever done such a service 
 for her son. " Go and ask Mrs. Godfrey Bladens- 
 brook to come here," she said to the man who 
 answered the summons. 
 
 "It sounds so strange to hear Margot called 
 Mrs. Godfrey Bladensbrook !" said he, taking hold 
 of his mother's hand and smiling down upon her.
 
 324 ^ MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN. 
 
 " Margot is quite used to it," said Mrs. Bladens. 
 brook the elder. " Ah, here she is ! Margot he 
 is come." 
 
 " Godfrey !" cried Margot. And that was all. 
 There were no explanations ; she asked none, he 
 gave none ; his arms were about her, hers about 
 him. " Godfrey !" was all that she could find to 
 say. But by and by, when the two had calmed 
 down, a recollection came back to Margot of some- 
 thing that she had to tell Godfrey. " Dear God- 
 frey," she said, looking up at him and holding his 
 great hand closely between her two little snow- 
 flakes, " we have so much to tell you, your mother 
 and I, we don't know where to begin at least, we 
 know where to begin, but we shall not know where 
 to go on after that. You haven't told him yet, 
 Mother?" 
 
 " I haven't told him one word," said Mrs. Bla- 
 densbrook, smiling. 
 
 " Told me about what ? asked Godfrey. 
 
 "Ah, we have a little surprise for you your 
 mother and I. We have something to show you." 
 Then she too jumped up and flitted across the 
 room to ring the bell. " You must sit still, God- 
 frey ; don't listen to what I am going to say." She 
 went to the door and whispered something to the 
 waiter, who promptly disappeared. "Sit quite 
 still, Godfrey; look at the fire don't turn your 
 head don't try to listen." 
 
 " I won't," said Godfrey. 
 
 And then there was a silence. 
 
 " Now you may look round," said Margot.
 
 MY SON HAS MORE THAN SA TI SPIED ME / $2$ 
 
 And when Godfrey looked round he saw his wife, 
 with a beautiful blooming babe in her arms, smiling 
 at him over a little golden downy head, with a new 
 light in her eyes which he had never seen there 
 before. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 Two months later, the squire, with his wife and 
 son, accompanied by her who had for so many 
 years been queen regent of Bladensbrook, returned 
 home. Nobody liked to ask him where he had 
 been, and Godfrey volunteered no information ; but 
 at last one venturesome lady put a question to Mrs. 
 Bladensbrook the elder. Her answer was charac~ 
 teristic and at the same time politely crushing. 
 " My son," she said, " has been in very strange 
 places. A most curious accident befell him which 
 prevented him from communicating with us for 
 some little time." 
 
 " Is he going to stay at home now ?" asked the 
 questioning lady. 
 
 " Oh, yes. He will not go away again. There 
 will be no need. What ? Did I mind Godfrey's 
 being away so long ? Well, neither his wife nor I 
 liked it ; but he thought it necessary, and she and 
 I had no choice but to acquiesce in his absence. 
 As for his motives, well, it isn't for me to talk 
 about them, but I may tell you that my son has 
 always more than satisfied me !" 
 
 THE END.
 
 By MRS. ALEXANDER. 
 
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