A 
 STUDY 
 
 PREJUDICES 
 
 GEORGE FA5TON
 
 1 

 
 STUDY IN PREJUDICES 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE PASTON 
 
 fifeui. 
 
 AUTHOR OF A MODERN AMAZON, ETC. 
 
 tL^'lM 
 
 J 
 
 'A prejudice is a fond, obstinate persuasion, 
 for which we can give no reason." 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
 1895
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1895, 
 BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JASPER FLEMING, the now celebrated Royal Acad- 
 emician, whose pictures sell even in the hardest times, 
 and whose mannerisms are copied by so many admiring 
 disciples, owes a large measure of his success, as every 
 one knows, to the fact of his being a Shakespearean 
 student and fanatic. His first hit was made with a 
 picture called " Shakespeare's First Play," which pur- 
 ported to be a representation of the boy Shakespeare's 
 first visit to the theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, when he 
 stood between his father's knees, and studied the antics 
 of the strolling players. This work found favour in 
 the eyes of both critics and public, and after a Royal 
 personage had praised it, and an American millionaire 
 had bought it, Fleming found himself on the high road 
 to fame and fortune. He was clever enough to follow 
 
 up his success with a series of pictures illustrative of 
 
 i 
 
 2133097
 
 2 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 scenes or incidents in his idol's work, and his reputa- 
 tion increased year by year. But he did not only paint 
 Shakespearean subjects ; he also devoted much time 
 and thought to a study of the poet both as man and 
 artist. He groped his way along tortuous paths, made 
 dark by many commentators, stirred up the dry bones 
 of forgotten controversies, and added his quota to the 
 long list of attempts to disentangle hopeless knots and 
 solve insoluble problems. Needless to say, like all true 
 Shakespeare lovers he was also given to the fascinating 
 though delusive quest of autobiographical hints and 
 details in both plays and poems. 
 
 As a result of these studies he had conceived the 
 theory that the poet, at some period of his career, had 
 loved a woman called Eose, and that she was not the 
 dark-eyed, false-hearted heroine of the later sonnets, 
 but the original from whom some of his most exquisite 
 portraits of womanhood were drawn, namely the four 
 masquerading heroines, Rosalind, Viola, Portia and 
 Imogen. In these characters he fancied he could trace, 
 more or less distinctly, variations of the same feminine 
 type, a beautiful creature in the spring-tide of life, 
 fearless, quick-witted, and resourceful, combining the 
 daring and impetuosity of a high-spirited youth with 
 the passionate tenderness and self-abnegation of a true
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 3 
 
 woman. He further believed, whatever English or 
 German critics might say to the contrary, that some of 
 the love-letters in sonnet form were addressed to the 
 poet's true love Rose, and not to a male friend or to an 
 unfaithful mistress. This pretty little theory was of 
 course based on no better evidence than that which a 
 vivid imagination could supply, but it was at least not 
 more absurd than the theories of those who hold that 
 the sonnets are addressed to Pure Reason or to William 
 himself, and assert that the dark-eyed lady is either the 
 Catholic Church or the Bride of the Canticles. 
 
 At the time this story opens, when Jasper was about 
 eight-and- thirty, and still only an Associate, he had 
 long cherished the ambition of illustrating his pet 
 theory by a picture called " Shakespeare's Rose." In 
 this work the imaginary sweetheart was to be repre- 
 sented playing the spinet, with roses in her bosom and 
 her hair, while the picture was to have for a motto the 
 lines, from the 108th Sonnet : 
 
 "For nothing this wide universe I call, 
 Save thou, my Rose, in it thou art my all." 
 
 Jasper had managed to secure a professedly Elizabeth 
 spinet, and he could call roses from the South of 
 France even in the depths of winter, but for the face 
 and form of the Rose herself he had hitherto sought
 
 4 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 
 
 vainly among the models at his disposal, both profes- 
 sional and amateur. 
 
 At length, at an evening party at the house of his 
 friend Mrs. Marchmont, just as he had decided to bid 
 his hostess good-night, he caught sight of a face that 
 made him promptly relinquish his intention. He stood 
 still with a beating heart, while his eyes took in every 
 detail of the picture that had arrested him. A tall fig- 
 ure with the short waist and long limbs of a young 
 Diana, a small head set buoyantly upon the full white 
 throat, dark grey eyes placed well apart, a mouth of 
 gracious curves, and a chin that was not a meaningless 
 end to the face, but a finely-modelled feature in itself, 
 made up a whole that caused Jasper to exclaim half 
 aloud, " My Rose," and sent him off, as soon as he had 
 gazed his fill, to seek his hostess. 
 
 " Who is that tall girl in black standing by the 
 piano?" he asked eagerly, when he had detached 
 the lady of the house from the group of which she 
 was the centre. 
 
 " That is Cecily Tregarthen, a great favourite of 
 mine," replied Mrs. Marchmont, smiling at his impetu- 
 osity. " Her father and mine were brother-officers, 
 and I have known her ever since she was a child." 
 
 " I want you to introduce me to her directly,
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 5 
 
 please," he went on. " I must have her head no, I 
 must have the whole of her. I have been hunting 
 for her for months. Where does she come from ? 
 Has she any people?" 
 
 " Her father had a staff appointment at Chatham, 
 but he died rather more than a year ago, and left his 
 family little better than paupers. Cecily and her 
 sisters and brother live in London now, and work for 
 their bread." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that girl works ? " demanded 
 Jasper indignantly. " She ought to be paid a hand- 
 some salary for ornamenting this hideous city. What 
 does she do ? " 
 
 " Something in your line. She paints Christmas 
 cards, designs fashion advertisements, and is trying 
 to get a footing in the cheaper illustrated papers. 
 Madge, the eldest sister, has a typewriter, that genteel 
 substitute for a mangle, and Kate, the second, writes 
 for a sweating newspaper. The boy, Peter, only left 
 school a few months ago, and he has not yet succeeded 
 in finding anything to do." 
 
 " What an emotional creature it is," broke in Jas- 
 per, who had been too much occupied in gazing at 
 Miss Tregarthen to pay much attention to this ex- 
 planation. " She blushes whenever she speaks, and
 
 6 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 the tears rush to her eyes each time she laughs. And 
 only look at her dear chin ; it is shaped like a little 
 fig. She must be a survival of some old-world type, 
 for she makes all the other girls look either blowsy or 
 anaemic." 
 
 Mrs. Marchmont laughed. She and Jasper were 
 very good friends, and she was quite accustomed to his 
 sudden ardours and enthusiasms. Since his rapid rise 
 to fame he had been spoken of admiringly as " quite a 
 character," whereas, in the days of his obscurity, his 
 acquaintances had contented themselves with saying 
 that Fleming was rather queer. The truth was, there 
 was more of the natural man about Jasper than the 
 world altogether approves, except in the case of a celeb- 
 rity. He had no idea of posing as an eccentric, but 
 he was in the habit of saying what he thought, and, 
 so far as he could, doing what he liked. His spirits 
 varied between the abnormally high and the abysmally 
 low, and as he seldom dissembled his feelings, it was 
 only to be expected that he should be something of 
 an enigma to the more conventional among his 
 friends. 
 
 " I'll introduce you to Cecily as soon as I can get 
 her away from her admirers," said Mrs. Marchmont. 
 " But I warn you to look to your heart. Cecily doesn't
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 7 
 
 mean to be naughty, but she can't help being charm- 
 ing, and more than one man whom I have introduced 
 to her has no reason to thank me." 
 
 " You needn't fear for me. I am long past the 
 combustible age." 
 
 " Ah, but there are two combustible periods 
 in every man's life, and you may be approaching the 
 second." 
 
 " "Well, I'm willing to take all risks. She must and 
 shall sit to me, even if I have to abduct her forcibly 
 from her home." 
 
 " Let us hope no such violent measures will be 
 necessary. Now I have caught her eye, and she is com- 
 ing towards us." 
 
 The introduction took place, and the artist was de- 
 lighted to find that Miss Tregarthen gave herself none 
 of the airs of a beauty, but was perfectly simple and 
 unaffected. Encouraged by her friendliness, he ven- 
 tured, after a little talk upon indifferent topics, to ex- 
 press a hope that she would come and see his studio 
 some day. 
 
 " I shall be delighted," she said, her face lighting 
 up with pleasure. " I have never been to a distin- 
 guished artist's studio. The few painters I know are 
 still hopping about, trying to get one foot on the first
 
 8 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 rung of the ladder. May I bring one of my sisters 
 with me?" 
 
 " Of course," he replied. " Pray bring them both, 
 if they care to come. I have a sister too, whom I 
 should like to introduce to you. She is a chronic in- 
 valid, poor thing, and obliged always to lie on her 
 back." 
 
 " How dreadfully sad," said Miss Tregarthen sym- 
 pathetically. " Has she been ill long ? " 
 
 Before he could reply they were joined by a good- 
 looking though rather overblown young woman of 
 seven or eight-and- twenty, who broke in upon their 
 conversation with the remark : 
 
 " It is time to go, Cecily. Our cab is at the 
 door." 
 
 Thereupon Jasper was introduced to the elder Miss 
 Tregarthen, the invitation to the studio was repeated, 
 and it was agreed that the visit should take place on 
 the following Sunday. 
 
 That visit was a complete success from Jasper's 
 point of view. After tea he contrived to draw Cecily 
 aside under the pretext of showing her some pen and 
 ink sketches, explained (at considerable length) the 
 subject of his next picture, and finally made his request 
 for sittings.
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 9 
 
 "Oh, but do you think I should really do?" ex- 
 claimed Miss Tregarthen. " It seems so presumptuous 
 to sit for the portrait of even an imaginary sweetheart 
 of Shakespeare's." 
 
 " I am sure you will do beautifully," he said, smil- 
 ing. "And Shakespeare would have been a lucky 
 
 fellow to have " he stopped abruptly, feeling that, 
 
 considering the shortness of their acquaintance, he 
 was going too fast. But Miss Tregarthen did not seem 
 at all embarrassed. 
 
 "Lucky to have me for a sweetheart?" she said 
 composedly. "I'm afraid he would not have agreed 
 with you. He preferred a lady with black silk hair 
 and mourning eyes." 
 
 " Oh, but she was his evil genius," put in Jasper 
 eagerly. " His feeling for his real love, for Rose, must 
 have been of a very different kind. He probably 
 regarded her with the mixture of chivalrous homage 
 and passionate devotion that a man only feels for the 
 creature who is at once his guardian angel and his 
 earthly love." 
 
 " How very trying for Rose," remarked Cecily 
 meditatively. " If a man regarded me in that sort 
 of way I should live in perpetual terror lest he 
 should see me with a cold in my head or a black on
 
 10 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 my nose, which would of course quite destroy the 
 illusion." 
 
 Jasper laughed, and told himself that Miss Tre- 
 garthen seemed a jolly sort of a girl with no primness 
 or prudery about her. The remembrance of what 
 Mrs. March mont had said about his new model's 
 circumstances came back to his mind, and he won- 
 dered whether he could make her any return for her 
 services. 
 
 " I feel rather unhappy about wasting so much of 
 your time," he said. " I was going to ask you for a 
 whole morning at least once a week." 
 
 " You needn't distress yourself about that," she 
 replied, "for though I am a working woman I am 
 sorry to say that my time has a very small market 
 value at present." 
 
 " I hear that you are a sister of the brush," he went 
 on, a happy thought striking him. " I shall be very 
 pleased if you will allow me to give you a little instruc- 
 tion in return for the sittings." 
 
 "You couldn't suggest anything I should like 
 better," she said. "But I should feel that you were 
 paying your model much too highly." 
 
 " You wouldn't think so if you knew how long and 
 vainly I have sought for her. Besides, I really enjoy
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. H 
 
 teaching, and I am sure you would prove an apt 
 pupil." 
 
 " How can you possibly tell ? " she laughed. " Do 
 I bear the mark of genius on my brow ? " 
 
 It was finally arranged that for the present Cecily 
 should go twice a week to the studio, once for a sitting 
 and once for a lesson, it being understood that the 
 artist's invalid sister would act as chaperon on these 
 occasions.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THREE months later, on a bleak March afternoon, 
 Cecily Tregarthen was making her way in the teeth of 
 an east wind to Mr. Fleming's house in Wisteria Eoad, 
 St. John's Wood. The cold blast cut through her thin, 
 shabby jacket, numbed her fingers in their oft-mended 
 gloves, rasped her nerves and slightly affected her tem- 
 per. For it must here be confessed that Miss Tre- 
 garthen, however well she might look the part, was not 
 a heroine at all in the usual sense of the word, but only 
 a very human girl with, thanks to an erratic bringing 
 up, rather more than the average girl's share of 
 thoughtlessness and folly. No doubt, had there been 
 any necessity for such a course, she would not have ob- 
 jected to masquerading in boys' clothes, or to taking 
 advantage of a legal quibble to best a bloodthirsty Jew, 
 but as it was, she had no opportunity of doing any- 
 thing more heroic than flirting and dancing with any 
 
 Orlando or Bassanio who might come in her way. 
 
 12
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 13 
 
 It was like stepping into a new world to quit the 
 grey windy street and enter Mr. Fleming's studio, with 
 its blazing fire, warm rugs, sunlit landscapes on the 
 walls, and bowls of daffodils in every nook and corner. 
 The owner of the studio himself was a picturesque fig- 
 ure, with his brown handsome face, bright eyes, and 
 thick, dark hair, just touched with grey. 
 
 "You poor dear," exclaimed Jasper, coming for- 
 ward with outstretched hands to greet his visitor. 
 " You look as if you were frozen perfectly stiff. Come 
 here and let me thaw you before you attempt to 
 speak." 
 
 "You talk as if I were a joint of New Zealand mut- 
 ton," said Cecily, with a little laugh, but she permitted 
 her host to establish her in an easy-chair by the fire, 
 draw off her gloves, and warm her hands between his 
 own. For a few moments she lay back in her chair, 
 and allowed the warmth and perfume to steal over her 
 senses, and render her oblivious of the chill outer 
 world. The man at her side and his caressing atten- 
 tions were no more to her than the fire and the daffo- 
 dils, though by gratifying her vanity and soothing her 
 self-love, they put the finishing touch to her sense of 
 satisfaction and well-being. 
 
 She was roused from the delicious lethargy into
 
 14 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 which she had fallen by the consciousness that her 
 companion had raised her hand to his lips, and was 
 pressing kisses on the palm. 
 
 " We are wasting a great deal of time," she ob- 
 served, getting up from her chair. " Isn't your sister 
 coming in ? " 
 
 " Presently," he said ; " but you needn't be such a 
 prickly rose. I was only studying ' the tender inward 
 of your hand.' " 
 
 " It is not the turn for a sitting to-day. You are to 
 criticise my new drawings." 
 
 "Ah, you were much nicer to me the last time 
 you came. You quite forgot to ask where Dulcie 
 was." 
 
 " That was because it was your birthday," she an- 
 swered, blushing slightly. " I couldn't be cross to you 
 on such an auspicious occasion." 
 
 "No, you were very sweet, dearest, and you gave 
 me the nicest birthday present I ever had in my 
 life." 
 
 " You mean you took it," said Cecily, trying to look 
 severe. " And you know I don't like you to call me 
 dearest." 
 
 "But it doesn't mean anything from me," he 
 returned carelessly. " It is only one of my engag-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 15 
 
 ing little ways. Now let me see your latest chef 
 d'cenvre." 
 
 He opened the girl's portfolio, and glanced over its 
 contents. 
 
 " What on earth is this?" he inquired, holding up a 
 pen and ink sketch. 
 
 "Ah, that is my last success," said Cecily, with 
 pride. "It is a design for the advertisement of the 
 Empress Velvet. Don't you see that it represents a 
 girl, and a very pretty girl too, wearing a gown of Em- 
 press velvet, and sitting on a sofa with an obviously de- 
 voted young man. At a little distance is another girl, 
 not so pretty or so well dressed, who is sitting all alone, 
 and saying to herself, ' I wish I had a frock of the Em- 
 press velvet.' The manager was so pleased with the de- 
 sign that he said he would give me a guinea for it, if I 
 would work it up a little more." 
 
 " Bah, the idea of your wasting your talent and im- 
 agination on such trash," said Fleming impatiently. 
 " Several of these things are really charming in the 
 rather niggling style that seems inherent in every fem- 
 inine artist. You ought to work more with charcoal, 
 and try to acquire a broader method. With proper 
 training and more practice you should make your mark 
 in black and white."
 
 16 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " I do like you when you talk like that," said the 
 girl, flushing with pleasure. " Now give me something 
 to do to improve my niggling style." 
 
 Jasper brought out a cast of a piece of frieze, and 
 having provided his pupil with charcoal and paper, 
 amused himself by making a rough sketch of her bent 
 head and serious expression as she sat at work. Cecily 
 was still occupied with her drawing when the door 
 opened, and Miss Fleming was wheeled in on her re- 
 clining-chair. She was a plain woman, a year or two 
 older than her brother, with coarse features and 
 swarthy complexion, while her appearance was not im- 
 proved by the peevish, discontented lines about her 
 mouth. Her face brightened as she greeted her visitor, 
 for between the two women, so dissimilar in age, ap- 
 pearance, and circumstances, an odd kind of friend- 
 ship had sprung up. Miss Fleming had been attracted 
 from the first by the young girl who possessed all that 
 she herself lacked, but who was neither spoilt nor ar- 
 rogant, while Cecily on her part was sorry for the irri- 
 table, unattractive invalid, and always took her captious 
 humours in good part. 
 
 " Tea will be ready directly," said Miss Fleming. 
 "Jasper, as you have had Cecily to yourself all this 
 time, and as you never take tea, you might as well go
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 17 
 
 for a walk now, and leave us to have our gossip undis- 
 turbed by fear of your masculine criticism." 
 
 Her brother looked a little taken aback at this sug- 
 gestion, but as he was accustomed to allow the invalid 
 her own way in all minor matters, and as she was capa- 
 ble of making things unpleasant for him if he stayed, 
 he thought it better to accede to her request. 
 
 " Very well," he said reluctantly. " But first I 
 have to break a sad piece of news to my pupil. Get 
 your handkerchief ready, Miss Tregarthen. The mel- 
 ancholy fact is that I am going to Paris to-morrow for 
 a fortnight, or possibly three weeks." 
 
 " That is indeed a blow," answered Cecily with 
 mock seriousness. " I need scarcely say that I shall 
 count the days till you come back. Meanwhile I will 
 be very industrious, and do a number of charcoal 
 studies to surprise you with on your return." 
 
 "When Jasper had left the room Miss Fleming 
 turned and asked abruptly: 
 
 " Cecily, do you mean to marry my brother? " 
 
 " I ! Xo," replied the girl, laughing. " My in- 
 tentions are no more serious than his own." 
 
 " That is prevarication. You know perfectly well 
 that you could marry him if you chose. But if you 
 don't mean to take him you ought not to lead him on,
 
 18 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 and encourage him in the way you are doing. He has 
 had quite troubles enough in his life without another 
 unfortunate love affair being added to the list." 
 
 " But I don't believe he has ever thought of fall- 
 ing in love with me," pleaded Cecily. " He looks upon 
 me as part pupil, part playfellow, for he scolds or 
 teases me nearly all the time. Besides, he has told me 
 all about his first engagement, and shown me the girl's 
 photograph." 
 
 " Oh, yes, Jasper finds his broken heart very use- 
 ful when he wants to get on confidential terms with a 
 woman," observed Miss Fleming. " But the mere fact 
 that he scolds and teases you shows that he is in 
 danger. If he meant nothing he would be much more 
 sentimental." 
 
 " That sounds like a saying of Oscar Wilde's," said 
 Cecily, who was beginning to feel uncomfortable. 
 " Well, what do you wish me to do ? " 
 
 " Leave Jasper alone, if you think there is no 
 chance of your ever caring for him." 
 
 " I like him very much," said Cecily frankly. " He 
 has been very kind to me, and he amuses, interests, 
 and puzzles me. I really almost wonder that I haven't 
 lost my heart to him. But I fancy that in some ways 
 we are too much alike ; we are both rather easy-going
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 19 
 
 and self-indulgent. I think we ought to marry to 
 better ourselves from a moral point of view to choose 
 someone who will give us more ballast and keep us in 
 order." 
 
 " Well, don't play with Jasper if you don't con- 
 sider him good enough for you," said Miss Fleming 
 brusquely. " I shall miss your visits very much, but 
 naturally my brother must come first, and I consider 
 myself especially responsible for his peace of mind 
 because I broke off his first engagement. Did 
 he tell you about that among his other confi- 
 dences ? " 
 
 " No ; he has never said a word about you that was 
 not kind and brotherly." 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you the story, because it will show 
 you why I feel bound to try and save him from further 
 unhappiness. Besides, I'm not ashamed of it; I did 
 it for his sake as well as my own, and it has all turned 
 out for the best. I have already told you something 
 about my girlhood, how I was always ugly, uglier than 
 I am now, and how my mother never could be brought 
 to realise it." 
 
 " Yes," said the girl in some embarrassment. " But 
 if people are nice and kind one doesn't think about 
 their looks."
 
 20 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Doesn't one ? " returned Miss Fleming drily. 
 " You may not, but the world in general does. When 
 1 was a child I used to be told that if I was good every- 
 one would love me, but when I grew up I found that 
 to be one of the many pleasant fallacies we are taught 
 in childhood. Unfortunately, my mother, who had 
 been a beauty herself, had made up her mind that I 
 was to be lovely and charming. That was why she 
 called me Dulcibella, and she never could understand 
 why people sometimes smiled when they heard my 
 name. As soon as I was eighteen I was dressed up 
 like other girls, and taken to dances and parties of all 
 kinds. Ah, you can have no idea what sufferings 
 society can inflict upon a plain and unattractive girl. 
 I had just as much craving for pleasure, admiration, 
 yes, and love too, as the prettiest girl in London, but 
 at all the parties I went to I had to sit neglected and 
 forgotten among the elderly women, or to console my- 
 self with another social failure like myself. At dances 
 I used to think myself lucky if three charitable men 
 could be found by my hostess to bestow three duty 
 dances upon me. Even other girls avoided me, for, let 
 people say what they will, it is the pretty women 
 who have the most women friends. An ugly woman 
 is treated by her feminine acquaintances much in the
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 21 
 
 same manner as a wounded deer is treated by the rest 
 of the herd." 
 
 " Oh, don't say that," exclaimed Cecily, her eyes 
 filling with tears. " I can't bear to think of anyone 
 being made so unhappy." 
 
 " Well, suffering of that kind doesn't generally get 
 much sympathy, because it has not any of the dignity 
 of a great grief. It is only the result of the social law 
 which decrees that women of the upper classes must all 
 lead, or appear to lead, exactly the same manner of life. 
 We are all expected to dance and enjoy ourselves in our 
 youth, to marry and have children in due course, and 
 to occupy ourselves thenceforward in housewifely and 
 maternal duties. That man-made law does not take 
 into account the fact that there are hundreds and 
 thousands of women who never have the opportunity 
 of dancing and enjoying themselves, still less of 
 marrying and having children. It even denies to 
 the vast majority of these poor social failures the 
 only antidote to human sorrow and disappointment 
 work." 
 
 " But you have great artistic talent, judging from 
 your sketches," put in Cecily. " I wonder you did not 
 devote yourself to art." 
 
 " That is just what I longed to do, and when we
 
 22 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 were boy and girl my drawings were said to show more 
 promise than Jasper's. But my mother could not 
 afford to give us both lessons, and all the money she 
 could spare was spent on Jasper's training. Then so 
 much of my time was taken up in paying calls, trim- 
 ming hats, and arranging flowers that I could only have 
 worked at my drawing in a desultory amateurish way 
 and I love it too well to turn it into a mere pastime. 
 If I could have cultivated my talent I believe that I 
 should now be a healthy, contented woman. However, 
 you will ask what all this has to do with Jasper's love 
 affair. I am coming to that, but I wanted you to 
 understand what sort of a life I had led before I 
 meddled with his. When I was about eight-and- 
 twenty my back began to trouble me. Polite doctors 
 said it was spinal neuralgia, and rude doctors said it 
 was hysteria, but whatever it may have been, not one 
 of them was able to do me any good. Before I became 
 quite an invalid my mother died, and it was settled 
 that I should go and keep house for Jasper. We had 
 not been in our new home three mouths, however, 
 before he became engaged to a pretty, heartless, empty- 
 headed girl. She disliked me because I was ugly, and 
 I knew that Jasper would be completely lost to me if 
 he married her. There was nothing before me but life
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 23 
 
 in a cheap boarding-house or a lonely lodging. I felt 
 sure the girl would make him miserable, and for both 
 our sakes I determined to break off the match. As you 
 know, I accomplished my purpose ; it is not necessary 
 to tell you how I did it." 
 
 " Did your brother find out that it was your do- 
 ing ? " asked Cecily. 
 
 "Yes, unluckily he did. He was very unhappy 
 and very angry with me for a long time. He went 
 abroad for a year, so that I had to go into a boarding- 
 house after all. By the time he came back the girl 
 had married someone else, and I had become a helpless 
 invalid. He came to see me, forgave me, and took 
 me to live with him again. So now you see why I am 
 so anxious to save him an unnecessary heartache. I 
 should not mind your marrying him, because I think 
 you would make him happy, and I am sure you would 
 not treat me as if I were a female pariah. But don't 
 flirt with him, Cecily." 
 
 " I think he can play at that game as well as I," an- 
 swered the girl. " However, if you really believe that 
 he is more in earnest than he appears, the sittings had 
 better come to an end. He has made scores of studies 
 of me, and the picture is practically finished." 
 
 "Yes, and you see he is going away for two or
 
 24 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 three weeks. When he returns, come once more to give 
 him a final sitting, and bid him good-bye. You can 
 say that you cannot spare the time to continue your 
 visits. I dare say it is better for you that you should 
 have no more to do with us ; we are an unlucky fam- 
 ily, and generally bring ill luck on any one who is 
 connected with us." 
 
 " Well, you have brought me nothing but good 
 luck," said Cecily. " I have learnt a great deal from 
 your brother, and you have been very kind to me." 
 
 " Ah, but you can never depend upon us," said the 
 invalid in the tone of one who takes a morbid pride in 
 a family failing. " There is dark blood in us, you 
 know ; our great grandmother was a beautiful half- 
 caste. I suppose I inherit the features of one of her 
 most unprepossessing relations, but Jasper does not 
 show the taint at all except in his finger-nails. Still, 
 there is an uncivilised strain in both of us, and we are 
 
 not always to be trusted. So I warn you to be careful 
 
 - 
 
 in your dealings with us." 
 
 " I am not afraid," said Cecily, laughing. " I must 
 say good-bye now, but I shall come and see you while 
 your brother is away, because I know you will be lonely 
 without him."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON leaving the studio Cecily travelled by omnibus 
 as far as Marylebone Mansions, where she and her 
 sisters and brother occupied a flat on the fourth floor. 
 As every one knows, Marylebone Mansions are not 
 luxurious habitations. They cannot boast of a lift, 
 electric light, or even a boy in buttons. They contain 
 small suites of unfurnished apartments, which are let 
 at very moderate rents, and occupied, for the most part, 
 by decayed gentlepeople. 
 
 Cecily toiled slowly up the four steep flights, and at 
 last, breathless and exhausted, found herself in the 
 little sitting-room where her family had just sat down 
 to high tea. A large dish of mince formed the piece de 
 resistance of the meal, while half a cold rice pudding 
 and a seed-cake took the place of second course and 
 dessert. 
 
 " Mince again," observed Cecily, surveying the feast 
 with discontented eyes. " I should like to know what 
 
 25
 
 26 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 lost soul it was who first invented the combination of 
 tea and mince. I believe the tea turns the mince to 
 leather inside us." 
 
 " I'm afraid Mr. Fleming is spoiling you," said 
 Margaret good-humouredly. "You get such a nice 
 tea at the studio that you come home with no appetite 
 for our humble fare." 
 
 " It is very good mince," observed Peter, a blunt- 
 featured youth of about eighteen. " I ought to know, 
 because I helped to mince it." 
 
 " Then I hope you washed your hands first," said 
 Cecily. " As a rule all the blacks in London seem to 
 be attracted to your finger-tips." 
 
 Laying aside her hat and jacket she sat down to the 
 table, and thanks to a healthy appetite, made a very 
 fair meal off the despised dish. Before the rice pud- 
 ding stage had been reached, the little party was 
 startled by a sharp ring at the bell. Peter jumped up 
 to open the door, and a moment later ushered a gentle- 
 man into the room with the announcement : 
 
 " Here's Mr. Dormer." 
 
 Cecily made an involuntary gesture of dismay at 
 the sight of the visitor, who was a tall, distinguished- 
 looking man of about five-and-thirty, with broad, 
 slightly stooping shoulders, and a well-shaped head.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 27 
 
 His face was rather pale, with long, sharply-cut fea- 
 tures, and eyes so deep-set that their colour was scarce- 
 ly distinguishable. 
 
 " I hope you will forgive me for disturbing you at 
 dinner," he said, addressing Margaret in tone of rather 
 formal courtesy. " But at the eleventh hour I have 
 had to make some alteration in my play, to write a fresh 
 scene in short, and you know what my hand-writing 
 is ; it takes a person of some imagination to decipher 
 it. So I have come to ask you if you will be so very 
 kind as to copy it at short notice. The last rehearsal 
 takes place to-morrow afternoon. I will send my man 
 round for the copy in the morning if you will allow 
 me." 
 
 " Oh, but I will do it at once," said Madge briskly, 
 " and post it to you to-night." 
 
 " That would be very good of you," he returned 
 with an air of relief. " But are you sure that I am 
 not putting you to any inconvenience ? " 
 
 "Not a scrap," she replied, flashing her eyes and 
 teeth at him from sheer force of habit. " I wish you 
 were. Business is unpleasantly slack just now." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear it," he said, looking over her 
 head to avoid meeting her eyes. " But as you are not 
 very busy I hope you may be able to be present at the
 
 28 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 first performance of ' Noughts arid Crosses,' on Thurs- 
 day night. I have a couple of stalls at my disposal, 
 and I shall be very pleased if you and one of your sis- 
 ters will make use of them." 
 
 As he spoke he glanced at the two younger girls. 
 His eyes did not rest long on Kate's square, curly 
 head, or upon the handsome, decided little features 
 that surmounted the stiff shirt-front and spotted tie, 
 hut they lingered upon Cecily's pensive face. Her 
 head was slightly bent, her eyes downcast, and her 
 cheek had grown perceptibly paler. 
 
 " ' A maiden of our century, yet most meek,' " 
 quoted Dormer to himself approvingly. " What a 
 pity that she should be placed amid such dreadful 
 surroundings." 
 
 " Of course we shall be only too delighted to come," 
 said Madge, as Dormer produced the tickets. " I had 
 been looking forward to seeing the play some day, but 
 I did not expect to be there on the first night. I am 
 sure it will be a tremendous success." 
 
 " Thank you," he said. " I am not so sanguine. 
 What one has done always seems so poor compared 
 with what one meant and hoped to do. Good-night. 
 I hope you will excuse me for having intruded upon 
 you at so late an hour."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 29 
 
 He was about to leave the room, when his eye was 
 caught by some pen and ink sketches that were pinned 
 upon the wall. They purported to be studies of life in 
 fairyland, and represented Puck, Peaseblossom, and the 
 rest of the Shakespearean elves playing, courting and 
 quarrelling among tall grass and flowers. 
 
 " What pretty sketches ! " said Dormer. " May I 
 ask whose work they are ? " 
 
 " They are mine," said Cecily, coming forward, her 
 cheeks as red as a rose. She was given to blushing 
 vividly on the slightest provocation, but this habit is 
 not, invariably as Dormer supposed, a sign of excep- 
 tional modesty. 
 
 " They are quite charming," he said kindly, anxious 
 to reassure her. " You ought to try your hand at il- 
 lustrating stories. My publishers are bringing out 
 some fairy tales in the autumn, which are to be copi- 
 ously illustrated. I should be very pleased to show 
 them some of your drawings, if you think you would 
 like that kind of work." 
 
 " Oh, thank you," exclaimed Cecily, raising a pair 
 of shining eyes to his. " There is nothing I should 
 like better, if you really think my drawings are good 
 enough." 
 
 " They look to me decidedly more artistic than most
 
 30 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 of the illustrations in children's books. If you will 
 put together a few of the best I will come on Friday 
 to fetch them. I shall want to hear your opinion of 
 Thursday's performance." 
 
 As soon as the visitor was gone, Cecily turned to 
 her sisters with an expression of mingled ecstasy and 
 distress. 
 
 "Isn't he a perfect angel of kindness?" she ex- 
 claimed. " But wasn't it unlucky his coming just at 
 this time ? We shall be associated for ever after in 
 his mind with minced mutton and three-cornered bits 
 of toast." 
 
 " I don't suppose he noticed anything," said Madge 
 placidly. " And what does it matter if he did, as long 
 as he is connected in our minds with cheques and postal 
 orders? He is a small but regular income to us, 
 thanks to that threatening he had of writer's cramp." 
 
 " I believe he really is a good sort in spite of his 
 stand-off manners," said Kate, as she took up a position 
 with her back to the fire, and lighted a cigarette. " I 
 was talking to some fellows about him only the other 
 day, and they said that though he was rather a Phi- 
 listine and didn't know how to enjoy himself, yet that 
 he was popular in his profession. He's always ready to 
 put his hand in his pocket when a subscription is being
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 31 
 
 got up for any poor devil who has gone under, and he 
 has been known to give a leg-up to more than one 
 promising beginner." 
 
 Cecily listened to this account with an interest that 
 might have appeared rather extreme in one who, after 
 all, was a mere acquaintance, but the truth was that 
 like most women of impulsive emotional temperament 
 she had a pronounced tendency to hero-worship. No 
 sooner did she hear of a man who stood out from 
 among his fellows by reason of his physical courage, 
 mental strength, or moral excellence, than she instantly 
 exalted him upon an imaginary pedestal, and waved 
 before him the incense of her generous admiration. In 
 former days her father had been her hero-in-chief, but 
 he had shared his honours with various V.C.'s and 
 wounded veterans. Of late she had had no satisfactory 
 subject whereon to lavish her youthful enthusiasm, for 
 though she had endeavoured to raise Jasper Fleming 
 to the rank of a hero, he obstinately persisted in jump- 
 ing down from the pedestal upon which she placed 
 him. But Mr. Dormer was a far more hopeful speci- 
 men. His books and plays testified to his intellectual 
 powers, report spoke highly of his character and 
 manner of life, and she and her sisters had already 
 
 received several proofs of his kindness and helpfulness. 
 3
 
 32 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 The only drawback to her satisfaction with her new 
 hero was a mournful and humiliating convictiou that 
 she was utterly insignificant in his eyes; worse still, 
 that if he knew how foolish and frivolous she really was 
 he would regard her with only too well-justified disap- 
 proval and contempt. This feeling found a voice in 
 her comment upon Kate's words. 
 
 " How different he is from most of the men we have 
 met," she remarked in regretful tones. "Perhaps we 
 should have been better if we had know more of his 
 sort. We used to behave very badly in the old days." 
 
 " "We did rather," agreed Madge cheerfully. " But 
 we had plenty of fun." 
 
 " Ye es," returned Cecily, the pensive look in her 
 eyes gradually giving place to a wicked sparkle. " We 
 did have fun. Do you remember that last ball at 
 Canterbury, Madge ? " 
 
 " I should just think I did. You danced twelve 
 times with the Sandeman boy, and when I told father 
 he ought to scold you, he said he felt more inclined to 
 condole with you, that the crime must have brought its 
 own punishment." 
 
 " Poor father, he never could bear the Sandeman 
 boy because he wore spectacles," said Cecily. " But 
 you needn't talk about me, Madge. You went into
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 33 
 
 supper three times with that fat Major Dashwood, and 
 the third time he proposed to you. He cried when you 
 refused him, and we all said they must have been tears 
 of thankfulness at his escape." 
 
 These pleasing reminiscences of past misdoings were 
 cut short by the discovery that Peter had cleared away 
 the tea-things, and that it was time to begin the even- 
 ing's work. It should here be explained that Peter, 
 being a youth of spirit, had determined that until he 
 could find some means of adding to the family ex- 
 chequer, he would relieve his sisters of those domestic 
 duties which often proved a serious hindrance to their 
 more profitable occupations. Accordingly, he laid the 
 table, did the marketing, dusted the sitting-room, and 
 upon occasion assisted the inexperienced little servant 
 with the cooking. His afternoons were usually spent 
 in visits to agents' offices, or in applying for situations 
 that he had seen advertised, while his evenings were 
 devoted to a conscientious endeavour to supply the 
 deficiencies of his public school education. 
 
 On the present occasion Margaret prepared to copy 
 Mr. Dormer's manuscript, Kate, having finished her 
 cigarette, sat down to a big desk, covered with an 
 untidy mass of papers, and Peter reluctantly produced 
 a French grammar which, with many sighs and much
 
 34 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 rumpling of hair, he proceeded to study. Cecily seated 
 herself by her brother's side, and began to make the 
 desired alterations in her advertisement design. 
 
 " Any luck to-day, old boy ? " she asked presently, 
 noticing that Peter's studies seemed to have come to a 
 stand-still. 
 
 " The same as usual," answered the lad with an air 
 of would-be indifference. " I went after that secretary- 
 ship where no previous experience was necessary, you 
 know, and they were perfectly willing to engage me if I 
 would take shares in the business to the amount of five 
 hundred pounds. That being no go, I went on to the 
 warehouse where they wanted a corresponding clerk, 
 and found a queue of about thirty fellows waiting to 
 interview the manager. When I had my turn the old 
 fellow asked me if I could do book-keeping by double 
 entry, write shorthand, and correspond in French and 
 German. When I said I couldn't, he wanted to know 
 what I meant by wasting a busy man's time in that 
 fashion. Of course a German got the berth. He could 
 correspond in three languages, and do book-keeping 
 upside down, if necessary. The other fellows said that 
 he had undersold us, offered to take eighteen-and-six 
 instead of a pound a week." 
 
 " Oh, well, better luck next time," said Cecily
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 35 
 
 cheerfully. " Something is sure to turn up before 
 long." 
 
 " It's very odd," said the boy meditatively, " it's very 
 odd that a fellow's education should be no good to him 
 when he wants to earn a living. Here have I been 
 wasting years over Latin and Greek which are now no 
 earthly use to me, while the mathematics they make 
 such a fuss about are precious little help in commercial 
 accounts. Of course we always despised the foreign 
 masters too thoroughly to learn much of them, and no 
 one cared what sort of a fist we wrote." 
 
 " Yet your education cost double as much as all of 
 ours put together," remarked Kate, looking up from 
 her writing. 
 
 " And here are you girls all making money in one 
 way or another," went on Peter in aggrieved tones, 
 " while I can't turn an honest penny, do what I will." 
 
 " You save us plenty of pennies, which comes to the 
 same thing," put in Cecily consolingly. " I'd back you 
 to keep house against any boy in England. When you 
 marry your wife will find you a perfect treasure, espe- 
 cially if she is an advanced young lady. Yon mustn't get 
 downhearted, old man ; you've plenty of time before you." 
 
 " Oh, I'm all right," said the lad with a grin. 
 " Only blow these irregular verbs ! "
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " THERE'S been a woman murdered near Bethnal 
 Green," observed Kate next morning at breakfast, as 
 she looked up from her paper. " I should recommend 
 you to go off there at once, Cecily, and make sketches 
 of the locality. You might take them to the editor of 
 the Weekly Reporter ; if no one had been beforehand 
 with you, I think he would probably accept them." 
 
 " It is a dreadful morning," said Cecily, looking out 
 of the window at the dark sky from which the rain was 
 falling with quiet persistence. She was too much afraid 
 of Kate's sarcastic contempt to urge that she did not 
 like the nature of the task that had been proposed to 
 her. 
 
 " Working women can't stop to think about 
 weather," returned Kate. " It would be a pity to 
 throw away the chance of earning a little money with 
 very slight trouble." 
 
 This argument was not to be refuted in the present
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 37 
 
 state of the family exchequer. Cecily sighed, and 
 agreed to undertake the expedition. 
 
 Half-an-hour later she was seated in an omnibus 
 her cold feet resting on the muddy straw, and her spir- 
 its considerably below zero. Arrived at her destination, 
 a grimy alley leading out of a back street, Cecily stood 
 under a doorway, and sketched the scene of the trag- 
 edy. A number of roughs, male and female, were 
 hanging about the entrance to the alley, staring curi- 
 ously at the closed door and blank windows of the 
 police-guarded house, and repeating to each other in 
 unctuous tones all the ghastly details of the crime. 
 
 Candid critics among the crowd peered over Cecily's 
 shoulder, and compared her half-finished sketch unfa- 
 vourably with the original, and a ghoulish-looking 
 woman whispered in her ear that for a consideration she 
 might be able to get her a sight of the body. Sick at 
 heart and trembling in every limb, the girl hastily fin- 
 ished her task, and escaped from her horrible surround- 
 ings. She took the train to the Temple, and then walked 
 to the office of the Weekly Reporter in Bedford Street, 
 where she hoped to dispose of her work. But, alas ! 
 another artist had forestalled her, and his sketches, 
 though ill-drawn and inaccurate, had found favour in 
 the editor's sight by reason of their so-called " realism."
 
 38 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 
 
 They included a fancy portrait of the murderer and of 
 his victim, as well as a sketch of the public-house where 
 the former had maddened himself with drink before he 
 committed the crime. 
 
 Against attractions such as these Cecily felt that it 
 was hopeless to compete, so she rolled up her drawings 
 and went out into the street. The rain had increased 
 to a downpour, the omnibuses were all full, and as she 
 realised that she had had. all her trouble and distress 
 for nothing she felt that she would like to sit down 
 upon a doorstep and indulge in a good cry. That be- 
 ing clearly impossible, she stood for a moment at the 
 corner of the street, debating whether she should get 
 some lunch at a shop or go straight home. She had 
 just decided on the former course when a young man 
 who was hurrying past suddenly stopped short and ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Miss Tregarthen, by all that's wonderful ! What 
 can have brought you down to the Strand on such a 
 morning ? " 
 
 " I have been taking some drawings to an editor," 
 replied Cecily, with a blush that was inspired partly by 
 shame at her errand, partly by the recollection of the 
 somewhat violent flirtation she had carried on with Mr. 
 Bassett at their previous meetings. The young man
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 39 
 
 had been introduced to her at Mrs. Marchmont's house, 
 and she had afterwards met him at two or three musi- 
 cal parties, at which he, a rising drawing-room tenor, 
 had been engaged to sing. " But the editor wouldn't 
 have them," she went on mournfully, as the blush died 
 away, leaving her cheeks paler than before. 
 
 " Then he ought to be shot," remarked the young 
 man cheerfully. " But I say, Miss Tregarthen, you 
 look awfully fagged ; I expect you want your luncheon. 
 I wish you'd come with me to Batti's. I was on my 
 way there when I met you." 
 
 " Oh, thanks very much," said Cecily feebly, for in 
 her hungry, exhausted condition the proposal sounded 
 almost irresistibly tempting. " But I think I ought to 
 get home to lunch." 
 
 " Nonsense, you would faint by the way. You 
 don't think there would be any harm in lunching with 
 me, do you ? I assure you Batti's is a most respectable 
 place ; lots of ladies go there, both alone and with their 
 men friends." 
 
 Cecily mentally acknowledged that what Mr. Bas- 
 sett said was perfectly true. Though it might not be a 
 very conventional proceeding to go to a Strand restau- 
 rant with a male acquaintance, yet there was no actual 
 harm in it, and many girls would accept such an in vita-
 
 40 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 tion as a matter of course, her sister Kate among 
 others. Still she hesitated and endeavoured to effect a 
 compromise. 
 
 " I really am very hungry," she said. " Will you 
 take me to a confectioner's for a cup of coffee and a 
 bun?" 
 
 " Certainly not," he replied. " I consider confec- 
 tioners' shops most dangerous and demoralising places ; 
 the young women behind the counter are always so 
 alarmingly affable. Come along to Batti's, and I will 
 promise you something better than a cup of coffee and 
 a bun." 
 
 Cecily made no further protest, but meekly accom- 
 panied her friend to the restaurant. She was obliged 
 to admit that it was very pleasant to rest her weary 
 limbs on a comfortable seat in a well- warmed room, and 
 to allay the pangs of hunger with a charming little 
 luncheon, which included a bottle of champagne. It 
 was seldom in those days that she tasted wine, and one 
 glass of champagne went like fire through her veins, 
 brightening her eyes, flushing her cheeks and causing 
 her to feel on the best of terms with herself and the 
 whole of mankind. She laughed at her companion's 
 jokes with rather more appreciation than was justified 
 by their intrinsic merits, and could not bring herself to
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 41 
 
 snub him when his hitherto respectful manner gradually 
 gave way to an easy familiarity which occasionally bor- 
 dered on impertinence. 
 
 When at length Cecily declared for the fourth time 
 that she really must go, she positively must not stop a 
 minute longer, Mr. Bassett glanced out of the window, 
 and observed : 
 
 " It's raining hard still. I don't see the use of 
 going home. I mean to try and get into the Gaiety ; 
 there's a matinee to-day of ' Puss in Boots up to 
 Date.' You had better come too. They'll give me a 
 couple of stalls if the house is not full." 
 
 " Oh, no, that's quite impossible," said Cecily in 
 virtuous tones, though at the bottom of her pleasure- 
 loving soul she was yearning to accept the invitation. 
 " Margaret wouldn't like it." 
 
 "Who the deuce is Margaret?" asked the young 
 man lightly. 
 
 " My eldest sister," replied Cecily, vainly trying to 
 look as if she were shocked at his disrespectful 
 language. 
 
 " If she's the sister I saw with you at the Brereton's, 
 I'm sure she wouldn't mind," he remarked. " She 
 looked much too good a fellow to spoil sport. I ex- 
 pect she'd like to stand in your shoes."
 
 4-2 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " So she would," said Cecily, rather amused at his 
 penetration. 
 
 " Then come on," he continued brusquely. " Don't 
 be obstinate. What's the good of spending a dull 
 afternoon at home when you might be listening to 
 Arthur Roberts at the Gaiety?" 
 
 This reasoning seemed quite unanswerable. Cecily 
 assured herself that Leonard Bassett was nothing but 
 a boy, that to go to a theatre with him was very 
 much the same as going with Peter or one of Peter's 
 friends. Besides, it was perfectly true that Madge 
 would not really be shocked at such a proceeding, 
 and that Kate would wonder why she hesitated. 
 
 " Oh, well, I think I may as well go if you are 
 sure you can get tickets," she said, jumping up and 
 arranging her hat before one of the mirrors. A good 
 many glances were turned upon her as she stood 
 there, patting the little locks that curled all the more 
 crisply for their wetting, and pulling down the spotted 
 veil that seemed to emphasise rather than to conceal 
 the brilliance of her eyes and cheeks. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later Miss Tregarthen and 
 her companion were seated in the second row of stalls 
 at the Gaiety, listening to the lively music, and laugh- 
 ing at the astounding jokes of " Puss in Boots up to
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 43 
 
 Date." In spite of, or perhaps because of, its flavour 
 of forbidden fruit, Cecily was thoroughly enjoying her 
 afternoon's entertainment. She looked compassionately 
 at a trio of girls in the next row, who were plain and 
 dowdy, had no male escort, and did not look as if 
 they had indulged in champagne for luncheon. Poor 
 things! She wondered whether they found much 
 pleasure in life, and fancied that they must feel rather 
 envious of her superior lot. 
 
 The burlesque went gaily on its way, the crowded 
 theatre grew very hot, and Mr. Bassett, inspired per- 
 haps by the music in addition to the lion's share of 
 the champagne, became alarmingly empresse in his 
 manner. Even Cecily, enthusiastic theatre-goer though 
 she was, felt rather relieved when at length the per- 
 formance came to an end. 
 
 " You'll come and have some tea before you go 
 home," said Bassett as they left the building. 
 
 " No, thank you," replied Cecily with unmistakable 
 decision this time. " I must take an omnibus home 
 at once." 
 
 " I'm going your .way," said the young man. " You 
 must let me drop you at your own door." 
 
 He hailed a hansom, and Cecily stepped into it 
 with a sigh of resignation. She felt as though she
 
 44 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 had spent centuries in his company, but it seemed 
 impossible to escape from him. As they drove up 
 Eegent Street she caught sight of a pale intellectual- 
 looking face among the crowd on the pavement, and 
 hastily leant back in the cab to avoid being seen. 
 
 " Did you see that tall round-shouldered fellow on 
 the right ? " asked Bassett. " That's Dormer, the 
 author and dramatist. He's quite a celebrity nowadays. 
 I can't say I care much about his books, they are too 
 jolly clever for me ; but I know he's a kind-hearted 
 chap. He helped a chum of mine out of a tight place 
 the other day." 
 
 As Cecily listened to his careless words, she felt a 
 sudden sense of revulsion against herself, her com- 
 panion, and her afternoon's amusement. She dis- 
 covered that Mr. Bassett was nothing but a pert 
 empty-headed youth, and that the admiration, the 
 luncheon, and the burlesque that she had so enjoyed, 
 were most ignoble sources of pleasure. And how Mr. 
 Dormer would despise her, if he knew in what manner 
 she had spent the afternoon. She felt sure that he 
 was wholly indifferent to luncheon, that he would be 
 horribly bored by a burlesque, and that he would thor- 
 oughly disapprove of any young woman who went 
 about unchaperoned in the company of a young man.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 45 
 
 " I wish I were good," she thought to herself re- 
 gretfully. " If only mother had lived, or we had grown 
 up in a more particular, steady-going set, I might have 
 been a nicer sort of girl." 
 
 At this point her reflections were interrupted hy 
 Mr. Bassett, who fancied that her silence was caused 
 by regret that the moment of their separation was so 
 near at hand. 
 
 " Well," he said, trying to assume a tone of senti- 
 mental tenderness, " we shall soon have to say good-bye, 
 worse luck. We've had a ripping good time though, 
 haven't we ? Can't we arrange to have another after- 
 noon together ? We might do one of the music halls 
 next time." 
 
 As he spoke he laid his hand with a gentle pressure 
 upon hers. If he had been in a four-wheeler he 
 thought that he would have put his arm round her 
 waist. Rather to his surprise, Cecily withdrew her 
 hand with a petulant gesture, and shrank as far from 
 him as space would allow. 
 
 " You're uncommon cruel all of a sudden," he re- 
 marked in injured tones. " We've been such good 
 friends all the afternoon." 
 
 Cecily shrugged her shoulders, but was saved the 
 necessity for explaining her change of conduct by the
 
 46 A STDDY IX PREJUDICES. 
 
 fact that at the same moment the cab drew up at her 
 own door. 
 
 " Good-bye," she cried, her spirits rising at the 
 prospect of release. " Thanks so much for everything. 
 I dare say we shall meet again some day." 
 
 With a sigh of relief she sprang to the pavement, 
 and ran into the house without so much as a backward 
 glance at her playfellow of the afternoon. 

 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON the following evening the first performance of 
 Mr. Dormer's new play " Noughts and Crosses " was to 
 take place. Kate had insisted that Cecily should make 
 use of the second ticket since she herself would prob- 
 ably be able to get an order later on from the person- 
 age whom she was accustomed to speak of as " my 
 editor." Peter was to accompany his sisters and fight 
 his way into the pit. The Miss Tregarthens set out 
 upon their omnibus journey to the theatre in high 
 spirits, for they were conscious of looking well, in spite 
 of the shabbiness of their old black dresses, and they 
 had every anticipation of an interesting and exciting 
 evening. The stalls were empty when the sisters ar- 
 rived, but they quickly filled up with a representative 
 "first-night" audience, and there seemed every pros- 
 pect that the house would be crowded from floor to 
 ceiling. A good many glasses were levelled at the two 
 striking-looking young women in black, and Miles, 
 
 4 47
 
 48 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 from his seat at the back of a stage-box, caught a 
 glimpse of a little head "sunning over with curls" 
 which he guessed to be Cecily's, and for some unac- 
 countable reason he felt an additional tremor of nerv- 
 ousness at the sight. 
 
 It soon appeared, however, that there was no occa- 
 sion for anxiety on the part of the dramatist or his 
 friends, for the cleverness of " Noughts and Crosses " 
 was not to be denied by even the most captious of 
 critics. The plot was ingenious, the characters with 
 one exception were convincing, the dialogue was often 
 brilliant and always pointed, while the situations were 
 contrived with an ingenuity that proved the author to 
 have an unusual talent for dramatic effect. There 
 seemed to be only one defect of any importance in the 
 whole play, and this was to be found in the character 
 of the heroine, who was evidently intended to be the 
 embodiment of all the feminine graces, but who failed 
 to arouse either interest or sympathy by reason of her 
 feebleness and unreality. The lack of warmth and 
 passion that was occasionally noticeable in the love 
 scenes was due to the insipidity of this prominent 
 character rather than to any weakness in the dialogue 
 or action. 
 
 A lady who was seated just in front of the Tre-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 49 
 
 garthens made comments upon the play to her compan- 
 ion in the tone and manner of one having authority. 
 
 "It's good it's absolutely good," she remarked as 
 the curtain went down at the conclusion of the first 
 act. "Every word tells, and the men are all there. 
 But when is the heroine going to wake up? Poor 
 Delaunay is doing her best with the part, but she never 
 gets a chance. Has Mr. Dormer never met a real live 
 woman that he should draw such a stick in petticoats ? 
 Has he never made a fool of himself about anybody 
 that he should write such pasteboard love scenes ? " 
 
 " He must have had his romances," said her com- 
 panion. " He's a good bit over thirty." 
 
 "Oh yes, he must have had romances, or he 
 couldn't write them," went on the critical lady. " But 
 I don't believe that he has ever had a grand passion, 
 ever loved a woman so that he wanted to stand on his 
 head and make himself ridiculous for her sake. That's 
 the greatest proof of affection a man can give, you 
 know." 
 
 Cecily listened to these comments with an odd 
 mingling of annoyance and satisfaction, annoyance at 
 the adverse criticisms, satisfaction at the suggestion 
 that her hero had never experienced the fret and fever 
 of a grand passion. She liked to think of him us
 
 50 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 "unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow," to fancy that 
 he alone of all the men she knew was proof against 
 pretty faces and feminine wiles. 
 
 "When the curtain came down for the second time, 
 the lady in front again gave vent to her irritation 
 against the character of the heroine. 
 
 "It's all so perfect except for that woman," she 
 complained. " The dialogue is really witty, which is 
 curious considering that Mr. Dormer is rather a dull 
 man in private life ; I suppose he keeps his good 
 things for his books and plays. But I should like to 
 run a bonnet-pin into the heroine, only I know she 
 wouldn't bleed ; she can have nothing but sawdust in 
 her veins. Did you notice a proof of the author's 
 ignorance of feminine nature in the last scene? He 
 really might know by this time that when a woman 
 adores a man, and knows herself to be adored by him, 
 she doesn't go about mewing all the time. . As long as 
 she is alone with her lover she is as jolly as possible, 
 however many stern parents or jealous husbands there 
 may be in the background. And then what a mistake 
 to make a proposal take place in the morning. No 
 man ever proposed to me before lunch. If he had I 
 should have told him to go and have a beefsteak and a 
 bottle of Bass, and then come and ask me again."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 51 
 
 i 
 
 "Evidently you combine observation with experi- 
 ence," said her companion, laughing. " You ought to 
 write a book on dramatic art, Mrs. Thornton, and give 
 these poor duffers the benefit of your superior knowl- 
 edge." 
 
 At the conclusion of the play there were the usual 
 shouts of " Author ! Author ! " and the applause which 
 had been vociferous throughout was renewed again and 
 again. The enthusiasm reached its height when 
 Dormer came before the foot-lights to bow his ac- 
 knowledgments. He was neither nervous nor excited 
 now. He had been through very much the same scene 
 twice before, and, so soon does success lose its savour, 
 he found himself wondering why on earth any one 
 should be gratified by all this stamping and clapping. 
 It had been pleasant enough the first time, no doubt, 
 but now it seemed to him little more than meaningless 
 noise. He was glad that the piece had gone off well ; 
 after all the worry and labour of preparation he should 
 have been vexed if it had made a fiasco. Yet neither 
 success nor failure would have affected any one but 
 himself and the personnel of the theatre. In the latter 
 event he knew that his friends and acquaintances would 
 have condoled with him civilly enough, but that in 
 their secret hearts they would have felt rather amused
 
 52 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 at his misfortune, and told each other behind his back 
 that they had always thought him an over-rated 
 fellow. 
 
 At this point in his reflections his eyes, wandering 
 carelessly over the rows of upturned faces, suddenly 
 encountered another pair of eyes, that looked into his 
 with a happy, triumphant gaze, eyes that were proud 
 for him, glad for him, exultant for him, and all with- 
 out one thought of self, as the eyes of a wife or sweet- 
 heart might have been. As Miles stood before the foot- 
 lights and looked round upon the applauding crowd, he 
 felt as if he and Cecily Tregarthen, the owner of the 
 eyes, were alone in the building, for a sudden convic- 
 tion forced itself upon him that she was the only crea- 
 ture among those indifferent multitudes who honestly 
 rejoiced at his success, the only creature who would 
 have sincerely grieved at his failure. And in the same 
 moment he realised that success was still sweet, and 
 that failure would have been intolerable. 
 
 When the tumult had subsided somewhat, the Tre- 
 garthens made their way to the entrance, there to wait 
 until Peter had emerged from the pit. Miles, who had 
 been putting some friends into their carriage, came 
 up to the girls, and asked if he might get them a 
 cab.
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 53 
 
 " No, thanks," said Madge. " We don't run to cabs. 
 We are going home by omnibus, with Peter to take care 
 of us." 
 
 Though he knew that he ought to be distributing 
 himself among a dozen influential personages, Miles 
 lingered with the girls, for well as they were able to 
 take care of themselves, he could not bring himself to 
 leave them standing under the electric light, exposed to 
 the gaze of all the loafers who had collected round the 
 entrance. He listened absently to Margaret's compli- 
 ments and congratulations, but from time to time his 
 eyes stole to Cecily's face, in the half-conscious hope of 
 meeting once again that wonderful revelation of sym- 
 pathy and understanding. But the rose-flush of excite- 
 ment had died out of her cheeks, and her eyes remained 
 obstinately fixed upon the ground. She contributed 
 little to Madge's admiring comments on the play ; per- 
 haps she was aware that she had already revealed her 
 thoughts. 
 
 Presently Peter made his appearance, looking warm 
 and dishevelled, as though he had taken more than his 
 share of pushing and being pushed. Before he hurried 
 his sisters away Miles found time to say to Cecily : 
 
 "Have you looked out your drawings? I am com- 
 ing for them to-morrow, you know."
 
 54: A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " They are quite ready," she replied, with a glance 
 of shy gratitude. " It is so good of you to think of 
 them at such a time." 
 
 Then she disappeared into the night, and Miles hur- 
 ried away to receive the guests whom he had invited to 
 sup with him at the Circus Restaurant. The party, 
 consisting chiefly of the heroes and heroines of the 
 evening, was extremely lively, and the festivity pro- 
 longed itself into the small hours of the morning. 
 Miles was heartily tired of the entertainment long be- 
 fore it was over, and as he drove home to his chambers, 
 he realised more keenly than ever before that the joy of 
 creation, the unalloyed satisfaction in the completion of 
 a piece of honest work, the sense of having fought a 
 good fight with the difficulties of conception and exe- 
 cution and come off victorious that these are the au- 
 thor's true rewards, and outvalue all the success and 
 notoriety the world has to give. But now for the first 
 time he began to ask himself whether this feeling was 
 not partly due' to his peculiar circumstances, whether 
 fame might not seem sweeter and fortune more desira- 
 ble if he had some one to share them with, some one to 
 whom his triumph would be as her own. 
 
 With a certain shy surmise which was quaint 
 enough in one to whom the critics alluded as " that
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 55 
 
 popular dramatist," he wondered how he should feel if 
 he were driving home that night with a young wife at 
 his side. He would have his arm round her waist per- 
 haps, and it was possible that her head might be resting 
 on his shoulder. His heart gave a little jump at the 
 thought, and involuntarily his arm stole out from his 
 side, while he glanced down as though half expecting 
 to see a fair bowed head upon his coat sleeve. He 
 laughed at his own folly the next moment, as his arm 
 clasped the empty air, and he hastened to remind him- 
 self of his long-cherished articles of faith, that marriage 
 was a lottery in which there were few prizes, that a wife 
 was usually a clog on a man's career, and that children 
 were the source of more anxiety than comfort. He had 
 acquired certain old-bachelor instincts and prejudices 
 which caused him to shrink from the idea of a woman's 
 constant presence in his house, from the intrusion of 
 feminine affairs and domestic details into the comfort- 
 able privacy of celibate life. He was dimly conscious, 
 moreover, that his disposition was jealous and exacting, 
 and if he once placed his peace of mind and happiness 
 in the hands of a woman what tortures might she not 
 cause him, how entirely Avould he be at her mercy! 
 How he would have suffered that very night if he had 
 been married, and if his wife, instead of rejoicing over
 
 56 
 
 his success, had been flirting with some other man, and 
 making her husband ridiculous in the sight of the 
 whole audience. Under the influence of this awful 
 thought the dream of warm fingers twined within his 
 own, the vision of a bright head on his shoulder melted 
 rapidly away, and he thanked the fates that he was still 
 alone and free.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHEN Cecily came down to breakfast the morning 
 after the first performance of "Koughts and Crosses," 
 she looked anxiously round the table, and then asked 
 what had become of the newspaper. 
 
 " Kate has taken it," replied Margaret. " She had 
 to go off in a hurry to interview somebody. But I 
 glanced through it first, and there was nothing 
 in it." 
 
 "Oh, of course, people always say that after they 
 have read a paper," returned Cecily, with pardonable 
 irritation. " Surely there must have been some notice 
 of the play?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, the usual sort of thing. Lots of praise, 
 a very little blame, and compliments all round to the 
 actors." 
 
 Cecily, not feeling much the wiser for this ex- 
 plicit account, took out her purse and produced a 
 
 penny. 
 
 sr
 
 58 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Peter, go out and get me a Daily Telephone, 
 there's a dear," she said coaxingly. 
 
 " All right," replied the boy. " I've got to fetch a 
 piece of scrag for Irish stew, so I'll get the paper at 
 the same time." 
 
 When Peter returned, bearing the scrag and the 
 Daily Telephone, Cecily seized the latter and hastily 
 turned it over until she arrived at the column devoted 
 to dramatic criticism. The notice of " Noughts and 
 Crosses " was extremely favourable ; praise was be- 
 stowed in unstinted measure upon the plot, the dia- 
 logue and the majority of the dramatis persona, but 
 the writer, like the critical lady in the stalls, regarded 
 the character of the heroine as the one unsatisfactory 
 feature in an otherwise excellent play. 
 
 When Mr. Dormer desired to create a heroine, ob- 
 served the critic, he evidently followed the same 
 method as the German savant who intended to write 
 an essay upon the camel, namely, locked himself into 
 his study, and evolved the animal out of his inner 
 cpnsciousness. 
 
 Cecily's cheeks grew hot as she read this disparag- 
 ing comment. The overflowing meed of praise that 
 had preceded it seemed to her no more than bare 
 justice, while the flaw in the tribute offered to her hero
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 59 
 
 hurt her more than any personal affront to her- 
 self. She wondered whether Mr. Dormer had been 
 annoyed by the criticism ; she hoped that he had 
 only treated the impertinence with dignified con- 
 tempt. 
 
 When Dormer arrived according to his promise, 
 Cecily was vexed to find herself more tongue-tied than 
 ever in his presence, and quite unable to join in the 
 discussion that presently arose upon the merits of his 
 play. She did not choose to echo Madge's unintelli- 
 gent praises, and it was impossible for her to emulate 
 Kate's coolly critical tone. She fancied that Mr. Dor- 
 mer must regard her as next door to an imbecile, lit- 
 tle thinking that what seemed to him her modest 
 diffidence constituted her most potent charm in his 
 eyes. Miles, though he would never have confessed it, 
 was afraid of women in general ; he seldom felt quite 
 at his ease with them, and he was haunted by a dread- 
 ful suspicion that they were aware of this weakness, 
 and despised him for it. lie had a humiliating con- 
 sciousness, moreover, that he did not shine in society, 
 for his brain was a slow worker, and the epigrams and 
 repartees that sparkled in his works were the outcome 
 of lonely walks and sleepless nights. True, he received 
 many more invitations than he could accept, but that,
 
 60 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 he knew, was merely a tribute to his literary lionliood, 
 and no proof of personal popularity. 
 
 Cecily Tregarthen was one of the few women he 
 knew who had never inspired him with fear, and his 
 instinct told him that she liked and respected him as 
 a man, and not merely as a writer of books and plays. 
 Since he had been introduced to the Tregarthen family 
 by a common friend, with the petition that he would 
 give them a helping hand if he could, he had called at 
 the flat from time to time, his own chambers being in 
 the neighbourhood. He disapproved of Margaret, and 
 he positively disliked Kate, but he told himself that 
 he was sorry for " that nice youngest girl," and he had 
 made more than one attempt to find employment for 
 Peter. 
 
 Cecily was utterly taken aback when Miles suddenly 
 turned to her, and said with a subtle change of tone : 
 
 " I should like to know which part struck you as 
 the best." 
 
 In her embarrassment she was on the point of dis- 
 gracing herself for ever by saying, "I don't know," 
 when a happy inspiration came to her aid, and she 
 answered with conviction : 
 
 " The scene in the conservatory between Mabel and 
 Lester."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 61 
 
 Now this was the principal love scene, and the one 
 which the critics had been almost unanimous in 
 characterising as the least successful in the whole 
 play. 
 
 " Ah, then you didn't think my heroine such a poor 
 creature after all," said Dormer, his face lighting up 
 with pleasure. " You know most people don't agree 
 with you about the conservatory scene." 
 
 " I don't care," replied Cecily. " I thought 
 it beautiful, and the heroine seemed quite real to 
 me." 
 
 " So she did to me," admitted Miles. " Still, it may 
 be that I did not succeed in treating the character so as 
 to make her real to other people. But I am very glad 
 to know that you approve of her, and of the conserva- 
 tory scene, because it is quite possible that a young girl 
 may have a truer instinct in such matters than a case- 
 hardened critic." 
 
 Cecily blushed with pleasure at his praise, though 
 the next moment her heart sank a little as she reflected 
 that his heroine, that faultily faultless young person of 
 irreproachable demeanour, was probably his feminine 
 ideal. Miles, meanwhile, was remarking to himself 
 that the youngest Miss Tregarthen was an unusually 
 charming girl. In spite of her objectionable sisters,
 
 62 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 
 
 and the unfortunate circumstance that she was com- 
 pelled to work for a living, she seemed to be gentle, 
 modest and reserved, and though he would not accuse 
 her of any unwomanly pretentious to intellectuality, 
 she evidently possessed that delicate feminine intuition 
 which is sometimes a surer guide than masculine 
 knowledge or experience. How quick she had been to 
 recognise the merits of his heroine and the charm of his 
 love scene, points which had quite escaped the dull eyes 
 of the professional critics. 
 
 The same evening as Dormer sat at work upon the 
 novel that he had lately begun, the comparison of him- 
 self with the German savant returned to his mind, and 
 he asked himself uneasily whether there might not be 
 a measure of truth in the accusation. It was a fact 
 that while the majority of his characters in both books 
 and plays had been based upon, though not copied from 
 living originals, his heroines had never existed save in 
 his own imagination. They were all more or less faith- 
 ful portraits of the ideal woman of his dreams. He was 
 obliged to admit that these ladies had never been re- 
 ceived with much favour by the public. His books 
 were greater favourites with men who could appreciate 
 their literary qualities than with the general reader. 
 They had always sold fairly well, but they had never
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 63 
 
 run through a dozen editions in six months, like the 
 novels that hit the feminine taste. 
 
 For the first time it occurred to him that he might 
 stand a better chance of success if he were to study his 
 heroine from the life. Hitherto he had never met any 
 woman who so entirely satisfied his fastidious taste that 
 he could regard her as in any degree the flesh and blood 
 embodiment of his feminine ideal. But now a girl's 
 portrait seemed graven upon the tablets of his mind. 
 There was the little head poised like a flower upon the 
 white throat, the grey eyes shining with unconscious 
 sympathy, the dimple that woke in the soft cheek 
 before a smile dawned upon the lips. It was the por- 
 trait of Cecily Tregarthen slightly idealised by his 
 imagination. Could he do better, he asked himself 
 suddenly, than take that sweet girl, who seemed the 
 quintessence of all that was pure and womanly, as the 
 original of his next heroine? In order to do this it 
 would, of course, be necessary for him to make oppor- 
 tunities for studying her character and disposition. He 
 would, have to contrive excuses for calling more fre- 
 quently at the Mansions, take his manuscripts in person 
 instead of sending them by post, go to tea occasionally 
 on Sundays, and perhaps escort the girls to a play or a 
 
 concert. All this would involve a good deal of trouble 
 5
 
 64 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 and waste of time, no doubt, but lie reminded himself 
 that no sacrifice was too great that was made in the in- 
 terests of art. 
 
 In pursuance of this resolution he paid two visits at 
 Marylebone Mansions in the course of the next ten days. 
 But on neither of those occasions did he have much 
 opportunity of prosecuting his study of feminine char- 
 acter. The first time that he called, ostensibly with a 
 manuscript for Madge to copy, Kate and Peter were at 
 home as well as his model, and the former took the 
 lion's share of the conversation. His second visit, 
 which he paid in the character of negotiator between 
 Cecily and his publishers, was on a Sunday, when he 
 found the Miss Tregarthens entertaining two or three 
 friends at tea. On this occasion he managed to get 
 Cecily to himself for a little while, and succeeded in- 
 making her talk about her hopes and ambitions with 
 regard to her work. He congratulated himself upon 
 the fact that her timidity was gradually wearing off, 
 and he took unusual pains to draw her out and set her 
 at her ease with him. 
 
 Still he was not satisfied with the progress he had 
 made so far, and in the course of the week he came to 
 the conclusion that he must try to arrange a tete-a-tete 
 with the object of his study, who, it seemed probable,
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 65 
 
 would talk more freely to him if she were relieved of 
 the presence of her elder sisters. He remembered hav- 
 ing heard that Kate usually spent Saturday afternoon 
 at the British Museum ; therefore if he were to send a 
 concert ticket to Margaret for the following Saturday, 
 there would be every reason to hope that he might find 
 Cecily alone. 
 
 This plan he carried out to the letter, and felt not a 
 little pride in his own ingenuity when, on calling at the 
 Mansions the next Saturday afternoon, he was informed 
 by the maid-servant that only Miss Cecily was at home. 
 It was by no means in accordance with his sense of 
 what was fitting and seemly that a young girl should 
 receive male visitors unchaperoned, but he felt sure 
 that Cecily only committed this breach of decorum out 
 of ignorance of social usage, and he was not above tak- 
 ing advantage of her ignorance to further the interests 
 of his book. 
 
 " I am so sorry both my sisters are out," said Cecily 
 rather nervously, as she shook hands with her visitor. 
 " But I expect Madge will be home by half-past 
 five. She has gone to St. James' Hall with the 
 ticket you kindly sent her. Kate is at the Museum 
 as usual." 
 
 " I'm sorry to miss them," returned Miles politely.
 
 66 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " But perhaps you won't mind putting up with me for 
 a little while." 
 
 " Putting up with you ! " she echoed, a little dimple 
 suddenly appearing near the corner of her mouth. "Do 
 people generally find much difficulty in putting up with 
 you?" 
 
 " I fancy young ladies think me rather a bore," he 
 went on. " I don't know what to talk to them about, 
 and they naturally consider me stupid and tiresome." 
 
 " How can you say such things ? " she exclaimed in- 
 dignantly, defending him, as it were, against his own 
 accusations. " They are probably overcome by the hon- 
 our of talking to a distinguished author." 
 
 " But I don't care to be regarded only in the light 
 of an author," he said, his face clouding a little. " Peo- 
 ple seem to think that if a man writes books he cannot 
 be a human being as well." 
 
 " I don't," returned Cecily. " I am sure that a man 
 cannot write books worth reading unless there is much 
 of the human being in him. He must have felt and 
 suffered, as well as seen and heard a great deal." 
 
 "Suffered! Yes," remarked Miles rather grimly. 
 " The education of suffering is the cheapest and the 
 most easily procured that I know of. I have graduated 
 in that school like other men."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 67 
 
 He was surprised at his own words the moment he 
 had uttered them. He had come to the house with the 
 intention of making Cecily talk about herself, and here 
 was he, who scarcely ever spoke of his own feelings or 
 experiences, actually beginning to confide in his girl- 
 hostess. 
 
 " The school of suffering doesn't seem to have hard- 
 ened you as it does some people," she said. " I think it 
 has made you better able to feel for other people, and 
 more ready to help them." 
 
 It was evident that she was only saying what she 
 honestly thought and believed, without any intention 
 of flattering her visitor's vanity. Before Miles could 
 answer, the servant appeared with the tea-tray, and 
 Cecily going to the table, began to pour out the tea. 
 As Miles sat and watched her an indefinable sense of 
 comfort and well-being stole over him. It struck him 
 as strange and at the same time very pleasant that he 
 and she should be having tea alone together in that 
 little room. The idea that had occurred to him as he 
 drove home from the theatre after the first performance 
 of his play returned to his mind. Again he wondered 
 how he should feel if he were married, and this were 
 his young wife making tea for him after his long day's 
 labour. In imagination he seemed to hear that vision-
 
 68 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 ary wife questioning him about his work, hoping that 
 he was not doing too much, begging him not to over- 
 tire himself, for her sake as well as his own. 
 
 Under the influence of this idea he forgot all about 
 his social duties, but sat gazing steadily at Cecily, 
 whose colour came and went under his unconscious 
 scrutiny, and whose eyes were rivetted upon her tea- 
 tray. Presently she rose, and brought him a cup of 
 tea. As he took it their fingers met, and he awoke 
 from the dream to the reality. He was only a visitor 
 in this, as in every other house, and to this girl he was 
 no more than a mere acquaintance. Perhaps she was 
 already tired of him and looking forward to the time 
 when he should take his departure. A sudden feeling 
 of forlornness and desolation came over him, as he 
 realised that there was no one in the world who cared 
 for him first and best, no human heart in which he 
 reigned as monarch by the right divine of love. 
 
 He looked up at Cecily as he took the cup from her 
 hand with a wistful expression like that of a dog which 
 is pleading for something, but which has no words 
 wherein to frame its petition. Miles knew that he 
 wanted something, but he had not yet any clear idea 
 what it was, and he was as incapable as a dumb animal 
 of asking for it. Cecily stood still for a moment,
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 69 
 
 glancing down at him irresolutely, a longing to help 
 and comfort him in her heart. 
 
 " You look very tired," she said at length. " I 
 hope you are not working too hard." 
 
 Miles started, for those were the very words he had 
 fancied a possible wife might address to him as she 
 gave him his tea in his own home. It was curious 
 how that vision of feminine love and solicitude haunted 
 him as he sat apparently listening to Cecily's remarks, 
 though he had not the faintest idea what she was talk- 
 ing about. So real had the dream become, that he felt 
 it would be a perfectly natural proceeding if he were to 
 get up and say : 
 
 " Now, my dear, I must go back to the study, and 
 get on with my work." 
 
 He wondered what Cecily, or rather his imaginary 
 wife, would reply. Would she beg him to stay and talk 
 to her a little^ longer, and tell him how lonely she was 
 without him, or would she encourage him to go on 
 with his work, and suppress all personal hopes and 
 wishes in her unselfish desire for his success ? As he 
 looked questioningly across at his hostess, it suddenly 
 dawned upon him that she was sitting quite silent 
 with a little flush upon her cheeks, and a troubled 
 look in her eyes. He jumped up in embarrass-
 
 70 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 ment, scarcely knowing where he was or what he was 
 saying. 
 
 " I'm afraid I've been dreadfully rude," he ex- 
 claimed. " But the fact is, from living so much alone 
 I get absent fits sometimes which make me quite unfit 
 for human society. You see I was speaking no more 
 than the truth when I told you that I was too dull 
 and stupid to get on with young ladies." 
 
 " You have never been anything but kind and 
 pleasant to me," said Cecily, an unmistakable ring of 
 sincerity in her tones. " I saw that you were thinking 
 of something else just now, so I held my tongue for 
 fear my chatter should lose you a valuable idea." 
 
 " It is very good of you to forgive me," said Miles, 
 holding out his hand. 
 
 " Must you go ? " she asked. " I thought perhaps 
 you would wait till Madge came home." 
 
 Her words might have been inspired by mere con- 
 ventional politeness, but he fancied that he could de- 
 tect a note of genuine regret in her tone. His empty 
 heart, his long-repressed emotions, began slowly to 
 awaken at the strange delicious thought that this beau- 
 tiful young creature had a kindly feeling for him, that 
 she was glad to have him with her, sorry when he 
 parted from her.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 71 
 
 " Would you rather I stayed ? " he asked in a husky 
 voice that he scarcely recognised as his own. 
 
 "Yes," answered Cecily quite simply, looking him 
 straight in the face with her truthful eyes. 
 
 She had scarcely uttered the little monosyllable 
 than everything became clear to Miles. He knew what 
 it was he wanted of her, what it was that she could 
 give him if she would. But the shy reserved man, 
 who had never been a favourite with women, found it 
 impossible to believe that there was any hope of his at- 
 taining his desire, while his whole nature shrank from 
 the possibility of receiving a repulse. 
 
 "You you couldn't care for me a little, could 
 you ? " he asked in the same uncertain, quavering tones. 
 
 The wistfulness of his glance, the timid longing in 
 his words, went straight to the girl's impulsive heart, 
 and kindled a flame therein. 
 
 "Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes and mouth opening 
 simultaneously at the suddenness of the revelation that 
 forced itself upon her. " I believe I could ! "
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IT was characteristic of both the man and the 
 woman that he should have asked for a confession of 
 love, and that she should have given it, before he made 
 any avowal of his own feelings. Miles never could 
 quite remember what happened next, for the assurance 
 that he was beloved went to his head like new wine. 
 But a few moments later he found himself sitting in 
 an easy-chair with Cecily in his arms. Her face was 
 hidden on his shoulder, and he was kissing her hair, 
 and murmuring at intervals : 
 
 " I love you I love you I love you." 
 
 He, who had always prided himself on his com, 
 mand of language, could not for the moment think of 
 anything else to say ; the rest of his extensive vocabu. 
 lary had gone completely out of his head. He felt as 
 if he had forgotten all he ever knew, as if he were 
 ignorant of everything save the one exquisite fact that 
 he loved and was beloved. 
 
 72
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 73 
 
 As he grew somewhat calmer, he began to long for 
 the sight of the face and the sound of the voice that 
 now belonged to him alone, had been created, it ap- 
 peared, for his sovereign pleasure. He put his hand 
 under Cecily's chin and turned her face up to his. 
 Iler cheeks were pale, and her eyes looked heavy and 
 half-dazed, like the eyes of a woman who has just 
 awoke out of a long sleep. As she smiled back at him 
 with the frankness of a happy child, he could read her 
 heart like an open book, and he realised that she had 
 given herself to him with completest self-surrender. 
 Even in that moment of perfect happiness he could 
 not help remembering the conduct of his latest heroine 
 when going through a similar experience, her bashful 
 flutterings, her maidenly reserve, and the admirable 
 sentiments to which she gave utterance as she gently 
 rebuked her young lover for his too impetuous method 
 of courtship. Had the critics been justified in their 
 disparaging comments on the lady's behaviour after all, 
 or and his heart stood still at the thought was 
 Cecily's happy fearlessness due to the fact that this 
 was not her first experience of the tender passion, that 
 she had played a leading part before in the drama of 
 love? 
 
 " Cecily," he exclaimed, his anxiety betraying itself
 
 T4 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 in his voice, "have you ever cared for any man 
 before?" 
 
 " Never," she replied with perfect truth, for though 
 she had often played at sentiment no man had ever 
 touched her heart. 
 
 " No other man has ever kissed you, or held you in 
 his arms ? " demanded Miles. 
 
 There was a scarcely perceptible pause, and then 
 Cecily answered steadily as she looked him straight in 
 the eyes : 
 
 " No, you are the first." 
 
 It was a lie, but at that moment she would have 
 committed a crime to keep the treasure she had so 
 newly won. The truth, she was persuaded, would have 
 lost her the love of her hero, who had so unexpectedly 
 stooped from his pedestal to raise her to his side ; but 
 as she uttered the denial, she made a mental vow that 
 though he was not the first lover he should be the 
 last. 
 
 " Darling, no one could look in your eyes and doubt 
 it," exclaimed Miles rapturously, as he pressed his 
 cheek to hers. " How soft your cheeks are," he went 
 on, in a tone of surprise, as though he had expected to 
 find them hard or rough. As a matter of fact every- 
 thing about her seemed new and wonderful now that
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 75 
 
 he realised that she and all her beauty and sweetness 
 were really his. 
 
 " You have such lovely hair," he murmured, as a 
 coil slipped down and fell upon his hand. 
 
 She twisted the shining strand round his wrist. 
 
 "Now I have caught you in my chains," she cried, 
 with a little laugh. " You will never he able to get 
 away again." 
 
 Her laughter rang strangely in her lover's ears. His 
 ideal heroine was always in such deadly earnest; she 
 wept often, and fainted occasionally, but he could not 
 remember that he had ever permitted her to laugh. 
 
 " As if I needed any chains to keep me by you," he 
 said, pressing his lips to her hair. " My sweetheart, my 
 wife." 
 
 It had just occurred to him that so far he had asked 
 Cecily for nothing but her kisses, a fact which might 
 cause them some embarrassment if they were to be sur- 
 prised in their present position. A delicious tremor ran 
 through him as he uttered the words " My wife " ; they 
 sounded to him so solemn and beautiful. To Cecily, 
 however, they came like a breath of chill air on the 
 first glow of her happiness. Marriage meant common- 
 place cares, duties and anxieties, when she desired 
 nothing but love, caresses, and freedom to rejoice in
 
 76 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 her youth. At her lover's words the recollection of 
 certain married couples of her acquaintance forced 
 itself upon her mind; the bored indifferent husband, 
 the stout uninteresting wife, with their spoilt children, 
 squabbles about bills, and endless household worries. 
 Consequently she did not respond with any enthusiasm 
 to Miles's last remark. 
 
 " Oh, don't call me your wife," she exclaimed ; " it 
 sounds so dull and middle-aged. Call me your sweet- 
 heart as often as you like." 
 
 "But we are engaged, aren't we?" put in Miles with 
 some anxiety. " You will be my wife some day?" 
 
 " Oh yes, some day," said Cecily easily. " But we 
 needn't think about it now; we have plenty of time 
 before us, and we are so happy as we are. Oh 
 dear, it's striking half-past five, and Madge will be in 
 directly." 
 
 " Then give me a kiss," returned Miles, with appar- 
 ent irrelevance, though, as Cecily complied with his re- 
 quest, he felt that he had never made a more appropri- 
 ate remark. 
 
 A few minutes later the sound of a key turning in 
 the lock roused the lovers from their happy absorption 
 in each other, and their forgetfulness of all the world 
 besides. Cecily sprang out of Miles's arms, and rushing
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 77 
 
 to the glass, pinned up the fallen lock, and smoothed 
 down her ruffled curls. Madge's surprise at finding 
 Mr. Dormer tete-a-tete with her sister quickly changed 
 to a suspicion that something unusual had occurred, 
 while the suspicion gave way to sisterly rejoicings at 
 the news which Miles announced to her. An engage- 
 ment, whether it came to anything or not, was always 
 an interesting and exciting event in Madge's eyes, and 
 she was a young woman of experience in such matters, 
 having been engaged more than once herself to various 
 members of "the service." From her delighted con- 
 gratulations Miles presently escaped, after arranging to 
 come the following afternoon and take Cecily for a 
 walk in the Park. 
 
 The news of the engagement was received with less 
 enthusiasm by the other two members of the family., 
 Peter expressed his opinion, in Cecily's absence, that 
 Mr. Dormer, though "not a bad sort of chap in his 
 way," was too old and too solemn for his sister, while 
 upon Margaret remarking that Cecily was a very lucky 
 girl, Kate burst forth indignantly : 
 
 " Lucky ! Lucky to lose her liberty, and all chance 
 of doing anything in the world at two-and-twenty ! 
 You will see, her talent will be completely thrown 
 away. She will become a mere appendage to that man,
 
 78 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 the wife of his bosom, the mother of his children, and 
 nothing more." 
 
 " And enough too," said Madge sturdily. " After 
 all, even you must admit that marriage is the most 
 natural lot for a woman." 
 
 " I don't admit anything of the sort," retorted Kate. 
 "Monogamous marriage happens ^to be the custom of 
 the country, but custom is not nature, though thanks to 
 woman's fatal adaptability it is apt to become second 
 nature. If celibacy became the fashion the women 
 who married would be considered objectionably eccen- 
 tric, while if polygamy should ever be legalised in Eng- 
 land people would declare that it was woman's natural 
 lot to be one of half-a-dozen wives. If she wanted to 
 have a husband to herself she would be called a ' new 
 woman ' or a ' shrieking sister.' I believe there is more 
 cant talked about women than about any other subject 
 under the sun." 
 
 " Well, I can't argue about it," said Madge good- 
 humouredly, as delightful visions of long days spent in 
 choosing new clothes floated through her brain. " All 
 I know is that Cecily is very happy and I am very 
 pleased, and that is enough for me." 
 
 When Miles arrived at Marylebone Mansions the
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 79 
 
 next afternoon he found that Cecily's family had con- 
 siderately taken themselves out of the way, and left her 
 to receive him alone. She was more shy with him than 
 she had been on the previous day, and seemed anxious 
 to set out at once for their walk. But Miles was in no 
 hurry to leave the quiet little room where he had his 
 sweetheart to himself. He wanted a repetition of the 
 delights of the day before, delights that more than 
 once during the past night he had feared to wake and 
 find only an exquisite dream. 
 
 " Sit down and talk to me for a little while," he 
 said, trying to remove Cecily's hat with clumsy fingers, 
 and surprised to find that it was pinned to her hair. 
 " I want you to tell me why you were awake so late last 
 night." 
 
 " How did you know I was ? " asked Cecily. 
 
 " Because lovers are foolish creatures, darling, a fact 
 that I have just been proving in my own person. 
 Last night as I was walking home after dining at the 
 club I saw a fire-engine tearing up Regent Street 
 Though it might have been on its way to any house in 
 North London, a horrible fear seized me lest it should 
 be going to Marylebone Mansions, so I took a cab to this 
 door to satisfy myself that all was right. There was no 
 
 fire, but there was a light in one of these rooms. I 
 6
 
 80 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 thought perhaps you were ill, so I walked up and down 
 till the light was put out, which was not until two 
 o'clock, and then I went home." 
 
 " The light was in my room," said Cecily, laughing. 
 " But Kate sleeps with me, and she usually reads some 
 abstruse book till the small hours of the morning. I 
 wish I had known you were outside ; I should have 
 come and peeped at you through the curtain." 
 
 " You darling ! " he exclaimed, clasping her in his 
 arms. " Do you know, Cecily, I must warn you that I 
 am of a fearfully jealous disposition. I don't believe 
 I should have fallen in love with you if I had not 
 guessed that no other man had ever caressed you, and I 
 expect I shall be a regular Bluebeard of a husband. I 
 feel as if I should like to practise Merlin's charm upon 
 you, the charm of ' woven paces and waving hands,' by 
 virtue of which no man would see you more, nor you 
 see any man but me." 
 
 " Ah," said Cecily, whose cheek had turned suddenly 
 pale. " But the woman on whom the charm was 
 worked ' lay as dead, and lost all use of life.' You 
 wouldn't wish me such a fate as that ? " 
 
 " As long as you were alive to me, your husband, 
 your life would be put to its best and sweetest use," 
 replied Miles. " However, unfortunately, the charm is
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 81 
 
 lost, and I cannot prevent other men from seeing you. 
 But unless you always love me first and best, we shall 
 both of us live to repent that we ever met." 
 
 " Of course I shall always love you first and best," 
 she answered. " But don't let us be so tragic. I want 
 you to take me across the park to Mrs. Marchmont's 
 house in Cornwall Gardens. You are to leave me at 
 her door, because I want to tell her all about about 
 you and me. She is the best friend I have in the 
 world. Ever since we came to London she has taken 
 me about with her, and lent me things when I had 
 nothing to wear, and been as kind ta me as if she were 
 my elder sister." 
 
 " Then she and I must be friends," said Miles, as 
 he followed Cecily down the stairs. " I have met her 
 occasionally, and always felt sorry for her, because she 
 has such a little blackguard of a husband." 
 
 " Yes, poor dear," exclaimed Cecily mournfully. 
 "And she is so good and brave; I have never heard 
 her utter a word of complaint. And yet it must be so 
 awful to have a husband like Mr. Marchmout. I would 
 far rather live and die an old maid than marry a man 
 who was not as good as as you." 
 
 " I wish we were in a wood," returned Miles, who 
 felt that under the circumstances it was very incon-
 
 82 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 siderate of the public to throng the streets. " But I 
 don't know why you should think me good. I have 
 told you that I am very jealous, and now I am going to 
 ask you something which will probably make you con- 
 sider me a very fussy, tiresome person." 
 
 " What is it ? " she asked rather anxiously. " Break 
 it to me gently." 
 
 " Well, in the first place I want you to give up 
 sitting to Fleming. I don't know anything definite 
 against him, but he has the reputation of being a 
 queer wild sort of fellow, and I don't like the idea 
 of your running in and out of his studio by your- 
 self." 
 
 " Oh, is that all ? " said Cecily, much relieved. " I 
 decided at the last sitting that I would only give him 
 one more. He has been away lately, but when he 
 comes back I am going for a final seance. His sister is 
 generally there, you know." 
 
 " I should hope so," returned Miles. " But that 
 isn't all, Cecily. If you wish to please me you won't 
 go out alone more than you can help. I shall prob- 
 ably be able to take you out nearly every afternoon, 
 but when I am "not able to go with you, perhaps you 
 could get Peter or one of your sisters to accompany 
 you."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 83 
 
 " Of course I wish to please you," she said, a little 
 taken aback at this proposed curtailment of her free- 
 dom. " But in our circumstances a chaperon is gen- 
 erally looked upon as a superfluous luxury. It is often 
 a choice between going out alone, and not going out 
 at all. Still, I would rather be shut up all day than 
 do anything to vex you. So I promise that I will not 
 go out alone oftener than I can possibly help." 
 
 " Thank you, dearest," he said, inwardly congratu- 
 lating himself upon having secured such a sweet, yield- 
 ing creature for his wife. "And you know you can 
 put an end to the present state of things whenever 
 you please. You seem to dislike the idea of a speedy 
 marriage, yet what have we to wait for ? I am not a 
 rich man, but I am making a very fair income now, 
 and I would insure my life for your benefit, as well as 
 settle upon you what little money I have of my own. 
 I am so much older than you, and I have had so little 
 happiness in the past ; why should we remain apart 
 longer than is absolutely necessary? You could be 
 ready to marry me in a month, couldn't you ? and then 
 we could go abroad while our house was being pre- 
 pared for us." 
 
 " Oh, don't talk about anything so prosy as houses 
 and settlements," exclaimed Cecily with a touch of
 
 84 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 petulance. " We are very well as we are ; why should 
 we tempt Providence by trying to improve our con- 
 dition ? Eemember, when a man marries his troubles 
 begin ; much more a woman's. Tell me you love me, 
 and don't hint at anything so dreadful as insuring 
 your life." 
 
 " You know I love you with all my heart," replied 
 Miles fervently. " But that is just the reason why I 
 want no more partings, no more good-byes. However, 
 we won't talk about it now if you don't wish it. You 
 have been a good girl to give in about the other 
 matters." 
 
 " It is not a question of giving in," she said, slightly 
 ruffled by his tone. " It is my pleasure to do as you 
 wish. I do it of my own free will, out of love to 
 you." 
 
 " Well, the motive doesn't much matter," he an- 
 swered, laughing, " as long as the result is satisfactory. 
 Now I suppose we must say good-bye, if I am really to 
 leave you at Mrs. Marchmont's door. To-morrow I am 
 coming in the morning, because I want to take you out 
 to lunch with my half-sister, Mrs. Bingley. She is 
 very anxious to make your acquaintance." 
 
 "Is she like you? Shall I get on with her?" 
 asked Cecily rather nervously.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 85 
 
 " I don't think she is much like me, but she is a 
 very sensible woman, and what used to be called a 
 notable housewife. She will be able to give you plenty 
 of useful advice when you have a house and servants 
 of your own." 
 
 " That will be very kind of her," said Cecily, 
 though she did not look particularly delighted at the 
 prospect.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " So the first volume has come to an end, and the 
 second volume is just beginning," said Mrs. March- 
 mont, a pretty, pale woman of about eight-and-twenty, 
 when Cecily had announced her news. " Do you know 
 I fancied that Jasper Fleming was going to be the 
 hero of your life's romance." 
 
 " Oh no," said Cecily, blushing rather uncomfort- 
 ably. " He is very nice, but he is not my idea of a hus- 
 band. I think that marriage, especially for a woman 
 who has been silly and thoughtless in her youth, ought 
 to be a fresh start in life. I always hoped that I 
 should marry a wise, strong man who would teach me 
 to become wise and strong too." 
 
 "Wisdom and strength are not the qualities men 
 generally desire in their wives," said Mrs. Marchmont, 
 with a faint sneer. " Don't cherish too many illusions 
 about your future husband, my dear, or the disappoint- 
 ment will be all the more bitter when you find out 
 that he is a mere man after all."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 87 
 
 " I have no illusions about Miles, and he will never 
 disappoint me," said Cecily stoutly. " I know his 
 only two faults already. He has told me that he is 
 jealous, and I have found out that he likes his own way." 
 
 " And he doesn't forgive . easily ; I can read that 
 in his face. You will have to mind your p's and q's, 
 my dear girl, when you are Mrs. Dormer. No more 
 flirtations, no more indiscretions, no more escapades, 
 but, on the contrary, a tame and sober existence with 
 a strict observance of all social laws and conventions. 
 I fancy that your Miles sacrifices at the altar of the 
 Goddess Grundy." 
 
 " Then that proves that the Goddess Grundy is a 
 very nice person," said Cecily. " I am tired of doing 
 as I like. I shall do what Miles likes in the future ; 
 he will be my conscience." 
 
 " And when are you going to take your conscience 
 for better for worse?" 
 
 " Oh, not for ages ; a year, perhaps, or more. 
 There is no hurry." 
 
 Rosamund Marchmont laughed. " You are quite 
 right," she said. " It is far better to be engaged than 
 married to a conscience. Then you can always escape 
 from it if it pricks you unpleasantly. Have you been 
 introduced to any new relations yet ? "
 
 88 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 "No, Miles is going to take me to lunch with his 
 half-sister, Mrs. Bingley, on Tuesday. He says she will 
 give me good advice about housekeeping." 
 
 " Poor Cecily ! Yes, Mrs. Bingley is understood to 
 have the whole theory of domestic management at her 
 finger-ends. You will have lectures on the iniquity of 
 tradespeople, the short-comings of servants, and the 
 proper training of children, with object-lessons in the 
 same. I lunched with her once. Again I say, poor 
 Cecily!" 
 
 On her return home Cecily found a note awaiting 
 her, the sight of which gave her a little shock of un- 
 easiness and remorse. It was from Jasper Fleming, 
 and stated that he had returned the night before from 
 Paris, and hoped that she would come to the studio for 
 a lesson or a sitting the next morning. Cecily, in the 
 first agitation of her new happiness, had succeeded in 
 putting Mr. Fleming and the possible pain that her en- 
 gagement might cause him out of her head. At the 
 bottom of her heart she knew that his feeling for her, 
 whether consciously or not, was something more than 
 the playful friendship that she had tried to believe it. 
 The recollection of her behaviour to him as well as to 
 other admirers oppressed her now, and took off the edge
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 89 
 
 of her delight ill Miles's love. She had not meant to 
 do wrong, or to make any one unhappy, but she realised 
 for the first time that she had often acted thoughtlessly 
 and selfishly in giving encouragement to men who were 
 indifferent to her, that she had taken a mischievous 
 pleasure in playing with fire, and, knowing that her 
 own fingers were safe, had felt but little pity when a 
 playmate was scorched. 
 
 This reprehensible conduct had been caused partly, 
 no doubt, by the fact that she herself had never known 
 a heart-ache. It had been so hard to believe that what 
 was only play to her might mean suffering to another. 
 Besides, it was almost impossible to one of Cecily's na- 
 ture to treat with severity a man whose only fault was 
 that he liked and admired her. She would tell herself 
 that Mr. So-and-So merely meant to be kind and pleas- 
 ant, and that, consequently, there was no need to snub 
 his attentions ; but when it became clear that he meant 
 something more than kindness, she would feel bound to 
 try and console him for his disappointment. 
 
 Now that she had learnt what love meant, however, 
 all these little excuses and palliations faded away, and 
 left her nothing but remorse for the follies and indis- 
 cretions of her girlhood. She had been obliged to lie 
 to her lover in the first moment of their mutual happi-
 
 90 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 ness, and the sweetness of his caresses was clouded by 
 regret that she had not kept herself for him, that other 
 men had had the first fruits of her lips. There would 
 always be the possibility that Miles would find out that 
 she had deceived him, that she was not the .inexperi- 
 enced girl he fondly thought her. She put the idea res- 
 olutely away from her, however. Miles would never find 
 out, or if he did, he would have learnt to love and trust 
 her so well by that time that he would certainly forgive 
 her. She was determined never to cause him a mo- 
 ment's uneasiness, but to make him as good and faith- 
 ful a wife as if she had really been the ideal maiden of 
 his dreams. 
 
 It was with rather a sinking heart that Cecily set 
 forth upon her last visit to the studio. She found Mr. 
 Fleming alone, his sister, as he explained, being too un- 
 well to see anyone that morning. Jasper, like his visi- 
 tor, seemed in rather subdued spirits. 
 
 " I did not enjoy myself at all," he said, in answer 
 to Cecily's inquiry about his stay in Paris. "But I 
 made a discovery while I was away, a discovery that I 
 want to tell you about this morning." 
 
 " I made a discovery, too, while you were away," re- 
 marked Cecily. " And I want to tell you about it this 
 morning."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 91 
 
 " Well, tell me yours first," he said, " then the 
 ground will be clear for my story." 
 
 " No, I would rather you told me yours first," re- 
 turned Cecily, who welcomed the chance of postponing 
 her announcement. " Mine will keep." 
 
 " Very well then. Come and sit down here, and pre- 
 pare for a shock." 
 
 Cecily seated herself obediently and waited, but 
 Jasper seemed to have a difficulty in beginning his 
 tale. 
 
 " Well," she said at length. " What is it ? " 
 
 "It is this," he answered, speaking with evident 
 effort. " When I got to Paris, I discovered something 
 that I ought to have known long ago Oh, Cecily, can't 
 you guess what it was ? " 
 
 The girl gave a little start of dismay. 
 
 " No, I can't," she said hastily ; " and I don't think 
 I want to hear your discovery. I would rather tell you 
 mine at once. It is that " 
 
 " No, no, wait," he cried. " Hear me out. I real- 
 ised as soon as I was far away from you that I loved 
 you, that you were the only woman in the world for 
 me. I must tell you this even though you do not, and 
 perhaps never may, care anything for me. But, Cecily, 
 I want you to give me the chance of winning you.
 
 92 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Sometimes I have thought that you liked me a little, 
 that you were glad to be with me, and as long as you 
 are heart-whole, there is always the hope that I may be 
 able to change your little liking into something 
 warmer." 
 
 " Oh dear," exclaimed Cecily, jumping up from her 
 chair, and going to the other side of the room. " How 
 dreadful everything is ! What a wicked girl I have 
 been ! " 
 
 Her conscience was reproaching her sharply for the 
 encouragement that she had given her friend to think 
 that she liked him a little, and even more than a little. 
 She sat down by the table and leant her head on her 
 hands in an attitude of despondency and self-abasement. 
 Jasper, surprised and alarmed at her behaviour, came 
 and stood beside her. 
 
 "What is it?" he inquired anxiously. "I am not 
 asking you for anything now, dear. I only wanted to 
 tell you what I felt for you. I shall be contented to 
 wait months, or even years, on just a grain of hope that 
 there might be a chance for me some day." 
 
 He felt considerably more confidence than his words 
 implied. He knew that Cecily had enjoyed her visits 
 to the studio, he knew that she had taken pleasure in 
 his society, that she admired his talent, and was grate-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 93 
 
 ful for his kindness, and sometimes he had fancied that 
 she was growing to regard him with a yet warmer feel- 
 ing. In short, there seemed to be no reason why he 
 should not teach her the lesson of love. 
 
 " Cecily," he urged as he stooped over her, " look 
 up, and say that you are going to be kind to me." 
 
 She raised a pale, penitent face to his. " I want 
 you to forgive me," she murmured. " I have behaved 
 very badly, but I did not mean to make you unhappy. 
 I did not know it myself till till " 
 
 " Know what ? " he asked sharply, a sudden sus- 
 picion darting into his mind. "Not not that there is 
 some one else ? " 
 
 Cecily dropped her head on her hands again, and 
 the suspicion became a certainty. Jasper strolled 
 across the room to the window, where he stood for a 
 few moments in silence, staring intently at a milkman 
 who was carrying on a promising flirtation with the 
 cook at the opposite house. Why, he wondered 
 vaguely, should the course of a milkman's love run 
 smooth when his own suffered shipwreck ? 
 
 " Well," he remarked, scarcely knowing what he 
 said, " I ought to be very lucky at cards." 
 
 There was another silence for a few moments, and 
 then Jasper heard something like a subdued sniff, a
 
 94 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 sound that instantly made him forget himself and his 
 own disappointment. 
 
 " You're not crying?" he said, hurrying across the 
 room to the table where the girl still sat with her face 
 bowed on her arms. " Cecily, you must not mind about 
 me. It wasn't your fault in the least. No one but a 
 conceited ass would ever have thought you cared a pin 
 about him. I always knew I wasn't half good enough 
 for you. You mustn't make yourself unhappy, dear ; I 
 can't bear to see you cry. Come, wipe your eyes, and 
 tell me who the happy man is." 
 
 Thus adjured, Cecily raised her head a little, and 
 murmured in dolorous tones : 
 
 "Mr. Dormer." 
 
 "Dormer!" exclaimed Jasper in surprise, and 
 stopped himself just in time from saying, " That prig." 
 He had a slight acquaintance with Miles, and won- 
 dered what on earth Cecily could see to love in such a 
 solemn, middle-aged young man. As he pondered over 
 this question he remembered that Dormer must be 
 making a very good income, and the idea occurred to 
 him that in the Tregarthens' circumstances that fact 
 might have something to do with Cecily's acceptance of 
 so unsuitable a lover. Could it be possible that she 
 really cared a little for him, Jasper, after all, and that
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 95 
 
 her tears were caused as much by sorrow for her own 
 disappointment as for his ? He cursed his own blind- 
 ness in not having discovered his feelings before. If 
 only he had told her that he loved her before he left 
 England. Now, he supposed that it was too late. 
 
 "Are you do you care for him?" he asked doubt- 
 fully. 
 
 As Cecily nodded in reply, a big tear splashed down 
 upon the table, a tear that almost confirmed Jasper in 
 his suspicions. 
 
 " Poor little girl," he said involuntarily. " Are you 
 going to be married soon ? " 
 
 " Oh, no," answered Cecily quickly. " It is to be a 
 very long engagement." 
 
 Jasper brightened up a little. Anything might 
 happen in the course of a long engagement. 
 
 " Then you will be able to go on with your sittings ? " 
 he said more cheerfully. 
 
 " No, I shall not have time," she replied. " And 
 Mr. Dormer does not like my going out alone. I am 
 very sorry to have to give up my visits, but I think 
 it will be better that I should not come here 
 again for the present. Dulcie will understand why I 
 stay away." 
 
 " She is afraid of herself," thought Jasper with 
 
 7
 
 96 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 melancholy satisfaction ; " she cannot trust herself to 
 see much of me. Why why didn't I speak when she 
 was still free ? " 
 
 " Will you tell Dulcie my news?" went on Cecily, 
 " and say good-bye to her for me. I am sorry she was 
 not well enough to see me to-day. I ought to go home 
 now. I hope you won't think anything more about 
 me ; I am not worth it." 
 
 " I shall always think about you," he said ; " but as 
 long as I can think that you are happy, that must be 
 enough for me. If anything should ever occur to make 
 you unhappy, if you should ever want the advice or 
 help of a friend, promise that you will come to me. I 
 shall always be ready and willing to do you service."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Miles came to take his fiancee out to lunch- 
 eon next day he found her in an unusually quiet, almost 
 depressed state of mind. 
 
 " Is anything wrong, my darling?" he asked as they 
 walked towards Westbourne Terrace, where Mrs. Biug- 
 ley's house was situated. " You seem rather out of 
 spirits." 
 
 "No, nothing is exactly wrong," answered Cecily. 
 " Only I have been wishing that I were more worthy of 
 you. You don't know how wicked I arn." 
 
 " I think I can guess," he said, laughing. " You 
 have been late for breakfast sometimes, and you have 
 often thought about your new hat in church when you 
 ought to have been listening to the sermon. Perhaps 
 you may even have out-run your dress allowance when 
 the shops have been particularly tempting. No doubt, 
 those peccadilloes seemed like crimes to your tender 
 
 97
 
 98 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 little conscience, but I am ready to give you absolution 
 for them all." 
 
 " Thank you," said Cecily with a faint sigh. The 
 impulse to confession had passed. She felt it to be im- 
 possible to enlighten Miles on the subject of her past 
 misdeeds when she saw how far he was from suspecting 
 the truth. 
 
 On their arrival at the house in Westbourne Terrace 
 they were ushered, rather to Cecily's surprise, into a 
 drawing-room which had obviously been neither swept 
 nor dusted that morning. A newly-lighted fire was 
 struggling for existence in the unpolished grate, and 
 the air of the whole house seemed to be impregnated 
 with the smell of boiled mutton. A heavy clumping 
 overhead announced that the hostess was hastily attir- 
 ing herself to receive her visitors, and at the end of ten 
 minutes she made her appearance. Cecily was con- 
 scious of a little shock of disappointment as she found 
 herself welcomed by a stout, florid, black -haired lady, 
 dressed in a combination of fawn-colour and magenta. 
 Mrs. Bingley had been considered a fine woman when 
 she married, and she was a well-preserved woman still, 
 her tight smooth skin being unmarked save by a few 
 lines of worry about the opaque dark eyes and the thin- 
 lipped mouth. Her face belonged to the type which has
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 99 
 
 been described as presenting a portrait rather than a 
 record, and in her case the portrait was neither an inter- 
 esting nor attractive one. 
 
 " You find me in rather a muddle," she exclaimed 
 breathlessly. " But the fact is, I have had to dismiss 
 my cook at a moment's notice, and the housemaid has 
 given me warning in consequence servants always 
 hang together, you know so I have had to get in a 
 charwoman, who doesn't know my ways." 
 
 Cecily and Miles hastened to assure her that they 
 quite understood, expressed their regrets for having in- 
 advertently come at such an awkward time, and listened 
 respectfully to Mrs. Bingley's recital of her late cook's 
 misdeeds, and of her own astuteness in discovering 
 them. Cecily's attention wandered from time to time, 
 but she gathered that the trouble had something to do 
 with dripping, and culminated in the disappearance of 
 a pound and a half of the best beef-steak, which treas- 
 ure had been unearthed by its rightful owner under a 
 pile of dish-cloths in the left-hand drawer of the kitch- 
 en dresser. Every now and then Miles, who seemed to 
 be listening with the most conscientious attention to 
 the unfolding of the tale, glanced at Cecily with an ex- 
 pression that seemed to say, " You see I was right when 
 I told you that she was a domestic genius."
 
 100 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Lunch was announced at last, and in the dining- 
 room Cecily was introduced to Mr. Bingley, a little man 
 with a conical-shaped head, short-sighted eyes, and a 
 sandy beard. Two small Miss Biugleys also made their 
 appearance in the charge of a cowed-looking governess. 
 Cecily did not find her host very interesting, socially 
 speaking, but her respect for him increased when she 
 noticed the pleasant civility of his manner to the plain 
 little governess, and her heart warmed towards him 
 when she discovered that during the long pause be- 
 tween the disappearance of the meat and the arrival of 
 the pudding, he was holding his little daughter's hand 
 under the table. She made up her mind that he was 
 one of those men in whom the paternal instinct is more 
 highly developed than the conjugal, and as she observed 
 the manner in which he looked at and addressed his 
 Maria, it struck her that he regarded a wife as a dis- 
 agreeable but necessary ingredient in the making of a 
 home and the founding of a family. 
 
 Mrs. Bingley's contributions towards the conversa- 
 tion were chiefly composed of further reminiscences on 
 the subject of the departed cook. A minute account 
 of an altercation between that domestic and herself on 
 the question of whose duty it was to " do the front 
 hall " occupied the greater part of the luncheon-hour,
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 and was only cut short on the return of the ladies to 
 the drawing-room by the arrival of the two nursery 
 children, who claimed the visitor's whole attention. 
 Cecily was not particularly struck by the manners or 
 appearance of her prospective nephew and niece. The 
 five-year-old girl was so shy that she could not be per- 
 suaded to leave the shelter of her mother's skirts, but 
 the boy, who was a couple of years older, was propor- 
 tionately bold and forward. 
 
 " You're our new aunt, ain't you ? " he said, ad- 
 vancing upon Cecily with the air of a young bandit. 
 " What presents have you brought us ? " 
 
 Bather taken aback at this unexpected demand, 
 Cecily explained that she was not yet his aunt, but 
 that she would bring him a present next time she 
 came, and inquired what he would like. 
 
 " I want a rocking-horse with harness that takes 
 off, and a mail-cart to hold four," replied the young 
 man without an instant's hesitation. 
 
 " There, that will do, Harold," put in his mother, 
 glancing at Cecily as though to challenge her admira- 
 tion for such a prodigy. " You know that I have 
 told you it is naughty to tease people for things. Go 
 and play with your bricks. He has such a spirit," she 
 added, turning to her visitor. " He is getting quite
 
 102 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 beyond nurse, and even I find him a handful when he 
 is in one of his rampageous moods." 
 
 It appeared that Harold was in a rampageous mood 
 that afternoon, for while his mother was entertaining 
 her guests with a circumstantial account of the sayings 
 and doings of the five children, their remarkable 
 health and cleverness, and her own methods of nursery 
 management, he amused himself by building a tall 
 tower with his bricks, and then knocking the erection 
 down with a deafening clatter. 
 
 " Not so much noise, darling," protested his mother 
 at length. " The lady will think you quite a little 
 bear." 
 
 " When is the lady going away ? " asked Harold, 
 scowling at Cecily. 
 
 " You mustn't ask rude questions," replied his fond 
 parent. " Now play quietly, or I shall have to send 
 you to nurse." 
 
 A few moments of peace and quiet were succeeded 
 by a crash that made Cecily nearly jump out of her 
 chair. 
 
 " Now, Harold, what did I say ? " demanded his 
 mother. " Go to nurse at once." 
 
 " Don't want to," whined Harold. 
 
 " You are a very naughty boy not to do what
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 103 
 
 mother says. Now go when I tell you. Do you hear 
 me?" 
 
 But apparently Harold was deaf, for he refused to 
 budge. 
 
 " Well, will you go if I give you a chocolate ? " 
 asked Mrs. Bingley, suddenly changing her tactics. 
 
 The boy considered a moment. " I'll go if you'll 
 give me two large ones," was his ultimatum. 
 
 " Oh, anything to get rid of you," said his mother 
 fretfully. " But I know you will be bilious to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 The chocolates were produced, and the rebel de- 
 parted. 
 
 " It's no easy matter to manage a boy like that," 
 remarked Maria. " It requires so much tact and 
 firmness." 
 
 The weary visit came to an end at last, and Cecily 
 took leave of her hostess with a joyful heart. 
 
 " I daresay you got a lot of useful hints from 
 Maria," observed Miles cheerfully, as they walked 
 away. 
 
 He looked so convinced of the success of the visit 
 that Cecily had not the heart to tell him of her 
 doubts of Mrs. Bingley's housewifely and maternal 
 virtues.
 
 104 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " She certainly told me a good deal," she returned 
 evasively. " She seems to be much interested in do- 
 mestic affairs." 
 
 When the couple reached the Mansions they found 
 the flat deserted. Madge had not been engaged twice 
 herself without acquiring a knowledge of the needs of 
 a pair of lovers. 
 
 " Now we can enjoy ourselves," said Miles, sitting 
 down and drawing Cecily on to his knee. " Do you 
 know, darling, I have been thinking things over, and I 
 have come to the conclusion that I cannot go on 
 much longer in this vague indefinite way. I don't 
 want to hurry you, but I should like you to fix, 
 at any rate, an approximate date for our marriage. 
 At present I feel so unsettled and uncertain about 
 everything. I am afraid of waking up some 
 morning and finding that all my happiness was a 
 dream." 
 
 " You would be more likely to wake to that dis- 
 covery if we were married," replied Cecily. " At least 
 if one may judge from the experiences of one's friends. 
 Think of Rosamund Marchmont, whose husband you 
 said yourself was a blackguard, and think of all the 
 prosy married couples you know, of whom the best 
 that can be said is that they tolerate each other.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 105 
 
 They are none of them happy like us ; they none of 
 them love as we do." 
 
 " You foolish child," he said, pulling one of the 
 little curls that broke loose upon the nape of her neck. 
 " Our case would be quite different from any of theirs. 
 I should not turn out a blackguard, and no life could 
 be prosy in which you had a part. It is not like you 
 to be self-willed and unreasonable, dearest. Come, be 
 good, and say that the wedding shall be this day 
 month." 
 
 " No, no," she cried, with a shudder, " I couldn't I 
 really couldn't." 
 
 " I don't understand you," he said, beginning to 
 feel both hurt and angry. " There must be something 
 behind all this. If you love me as well as you profess 
 to do, you must have some reason for wishing to defer 
 our marriage, which you have not told me. Please let 
 me hear it now." 
 
 " I don't like to tell you," murmured Cecily, letting 
 her head drop on his shoulder. 
 
 " But you must ; don't be afraid, sweet one. I like 
 to know everything that is passing in your little mind." 
 
 " Well then," she said, with the sudden frankness 
 of desperation. " I daresay you will think me horrid, 
 but if you must know, it is because I don't want to
 
 106 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 die just wheii I am so happy, and I am dreadfully 
 afraid of suffering." 
 
 " Die ! Suffering ! What are you talking about ? " 
 exclaimed Miles, beginning to fear that his fiancee had 
 taken leave of her wits. 
 
 " Oh, can't you understand ! Do men never realise 
 how much more serious a matter marriage is for girls 
 than for them ? Does it never occur to them that 
 when a woman marries she risks her life, and accepts 
 the practical certainty of having to undergo the most 
 terrible of all suffering ? You pretend to love me, 
 and yet you are anxious to expose me to all that." 
 
 " Oh," said Miles, drawing a long breath, as the 
 look of mystification and alarm died away from his 
 face. " I never knew that girls thought about such 
 things. It is the decree of Nature you know, dear, 
 that women should bear children. We cannot alter 
 Nature's laws." 
 
 " No, but if Nature chooses to punish us so cruelly 
 for carrying on the race, she cannot be surprised if we 
 shrink from marriage." 
 
 Miles looked puzzled. He had been accustomed to 
 talk about the blessed privileges of maternity with the 
 comfortable fluency of one who knows that he will 
 never be called upon to share those privileges and their
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 107 
 
 attendant pains, while he had always fancied that every 
 woman worthy of the name wished for children, just as 
 ever girl-child craved for dolls. It struck him with a 
 sense of surprise and injury that his feminine ideal 
 would never have talked as Cecily had just done. 
 Still, his real sweetheart was so much more charming in 
 every other way than his ideal that he could not bring 
 himself to be angry with her. 
 
 " When a woman cares very much for a man," he 
 said gently, " she generally thinks that his love and 
 the prospective love of her children more than coun- 
 terbalance all the danger and suffering." 
 
 " But men very often take a dislike to their wives 
 when they see them looking ugly and repulsive," put 
 in Cecily. " And the children turn out badly, or die 
 just as their mothers have begun to look upon them as 
 the only comfort they have left." 
 
 " That is taking a morbid view of the matter. You 
 surely cannot think that I should ever love you the 
 less because you were the mother of my children ; and 
 as for disappointment and death, we cannot guard 
 against them whatever lot we may choose. And I 
 firmly believe that the family life is the best that the 
 world has to offer both to men and women, in spite of 
 the occasional suffering and anxiety that it may entail."
 
 108 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Cecily made no reply, but Miles knew by the 
 movement of her shoulders that she was crying. He 
 sat in silence for a moment, wondering how he was to 
 reconcile his sweetheart to the " august martyrdom of 
 maternity." Reasoning seemed to have no effect ; 
 therefore he decided to try another method. 
 
 " Dearest love," he murmured, clasping her more 
 closely in his arms, "you don't know how happy it 
 would make me if I felt that we were together, never 
 to be parted again. I am so much older than you, 
 and I have led such a lonely life all these years. I 
 am longing for my home and my wife, and you ah, 
 Cecily how can you have the heart to send me back 
 to those empty rooms alone ? "
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Two months later the lovers were married. Cir- 
 cumstances had combined to further Miles's wishes, 
 and to overrule Cecily's objection to an early mar- 
 riage. In the first place, Madge, unable to endure the 
 sight of a love-drama in which she did not play the 
 principal part, and thoroughly weary of her daily per- 
 formance on the typewriter, suddenly decided to accept 
 the fourth proposal of a three times rejected but not 
 disheartened major. This faithful swain was approach- 
 ing middle-age and unromantic in appearance, but he 
 was good-tempered, his income was handsome, and he 
 hinted at further expectations. Altogether, Madge 
 thought that Fergus would be kind, and that she 
 would be comfortable, a sufficient basis in her opinion 
 for matrimonial happiness. The major's regiment was 
 going out to India in the autumn, and as he had 
 influential friends among tea and coffee planters, he 
 good-naturedly suggested that Peter should accompany 
 
 109
 
 HO A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 himself and Madge, and look in the East for that 
 berth which had eluded all search in the West. 
 
 The home being thus prospectively broken up, Kate 
 decided to take bachelor lodgings somewhere between 
 the British Museum and Fleet Street, a region which, 
 in her eyes, constituted the centre of the universe, and 
 Cecily saw no course open to her but to consent to en- 
 ter the perilous yet prosaic state of matrimony on the 
 same day as her sister. Accordingly the double wed- 
 ding took place in July, and immediately afterwards Mr. 
 and Mrs. Dormer left England for the Continent. 
 
 For three long delightful months, the pair wandered 
 together through foreign lands, going whither they 
 would, staying where they pleased, free from the jars 
 and rubs of every day existence, alone with their love, 
 undisturbed in their happiness. There was scarcely a 
 day or an hour in which Miles did not discover some 
 new and delightful trait in his wife's mind or disposi- 
 tion. He had known that her temper was sweet, and 
 that she was naturally unselfish and pliable, but he 
 soon perceived that her character was neither weak 
 nor colourless. She had her own likes, ideas, and opin- 
 ions, but she yielded to his wishes because she loved 
 him, and deferred to his opinions because she believed 
 in him.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 The discovery of her bright intelligence and curi- 
 ously receptive mind was a continual source of astonish- 
 ment to him. He had neither expected nor desired 
 to find a mental companion in his wife, for a clever 
 woman was his bugbear, but he could not deny that life 
 was infinitely pleasanter and more amusing when it 
 was shared with a lively quick-witted girl who, thanks 
 to her feminine adaptiveness and powers of intuition, 
 picked up ideas and assimilated information with an 
 ease that seemed to him almost uncanny. It was true 
 that such knowledge as she did possess was superficial, 
 and that, thanks to a thoroughly defective education, 
 her ignorance on many subjects was positively abysmal, 
 but she showed an extraordinary faculty for making the 
 most of her newly-gained ideas, and turning them to 
 the very best account. After a couple of months in 
 Italy her appreciation of the methods and character- 
 istics of the old masters bade fair to eclipse his own 
 carefully-acquired artistic knowledge, while with a few 
 idioms, a little patois, and a great deal of gesticulation 
 she could always make herself understood by the na- 
 tives before he had framed his first sentence of classical 
 Italian. All this was quite wrong from the feminine 
 ideal point of view, yet he was compelled to admit that 
 
 he had never enjoyed himself so much in his life. 
 8
 
 112 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 It promised well for the continuation of his happi- 
 ness that Cecily showed none of the young wife's jeal- 
 ousy of her husband's work. On the contrary, she was 
 even more anxious than himself that he should win a 
 greater rneed of fame in the future, and infinitely 
 prouder of what he had accomplished in the past. 
 Whenever they stayed more than a day or two in one 
 place, she unpacked his writing materials, and insisted 
 upon his sitting down to a good morning's work. And 
 Miles, who had been a writer and nothing but a writer 
 long enough to have acquired a touch of the " ink-crav- 
 ing," needed but little persuasion. It quickly became 
 clear to him that he was working better during those 
 holiday weeks than he had done at any period in his 
 previous career. His was the mastery of word and 
 phrase, the gift of imagination, the power of selection, 
 the knowledge of men, and now to these good things 
 were added the tenderness, the sympathy, and the in- 
 sight into feminine nature that can only be learnt in 
 the school of love. One unlooked-for difficulty, how- 
 ever, he found to be inseparable from his project of 
 sketching his new heroine from his wife instead of from 
 an ideal of his own conception. 
 
 " Do you know you are giving me a great deal of 
 trouble ? " he said to Cecily one day, at the close of a
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. H3 
 
 morning's work. " You have compelled me to change 
 nearly the whole plot of my book. According to my 
 original plan the heroine had to undergo many trials 
 and much tribulation, and the story ended badly. But 
 now I can't bring myself to make her very miserable 
 because she looks at me so reproachfully with your eyes. 
 I have had to lighten her troubles, and even allow her 
 to live happily ever after. But that involves the 
 rewriting of all that I had done before I knew 
 you." 
 
 " Oh, what a pity ! " said Cecily regretfully. " I 
 give you free leave to treat me as badly as you like in 
 fiction. You may throw me off horses, upset me out of 
 boats, and even put a rope round my neck and sell me 
 at Smithfield, as long as you are always nice to me in 
 real life." 
 
 Only one slight passing cloud marred the perfect 
 serenity of the long honeymoon. It was the third 
 Sunday after their marriage, and the couple were at 
 Florence. As they sat at breakfast Miles suddenly 
 asked : 
 
 "Wouldn't you like to go to church this morn- 
 ing, Cecily? You haven't been since we left Eng- 
 land, and I believe there is a fairly good service 
 here."
 
 114 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " If you wish to go, Miles, I should like to go with 
 you. I didn't know you ever went to church." 
 
 " No, I don't. But I thought you did." 
 
 " Yes, we always went as long as we lived at Chat- 
 ham, and when we came to London we began by going 
 to a different church every Sunday, and we heard some- 
 thing different at each. One clergyman told us that 
 all men except a select few would go to hell, and 
 another that there was no such place. A third said 
 that it was wicked not to pray for rain, and a fourth 
 that we ought only to pray for spiritual blessings. 
 Some told us that everything that happened had been 
 predestined from the beginning of the world, and 
 others that every man could make his own fate, and 
 was the master of his circumstances. Then they all 
 interpreted the Bible in different and often contradic- 
 tory ways, so at last I got quite confused and dis- 
 heartened, and I gave up going to church or reading 
 the Bible. But now if you will tell me what you 
 believe, I will believe it too. Your faith shall be my 
 faith, and your God my God." 
 
 " That is impossible," he said. " A man hammers 
 out his faith, such as it is, by means of long years of 
 thought and reading. A woman cannot do that, and 
 therefore she must believe what she is told. In any
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. H5 
 
 case the faith of a thinking man would not be definite 
 enough for her. She requires dogmas, symbols, and 
 ceremonies." 
 
 Cecily looked sad. 
 
 "I am sorry that we must be separated in our 
 religion," she said mournfully. " Do you think there 
 will be a little heaven for women, and a big one for 
 men?" 
 
 " I can't say," replied Miles. " But there is another 
 reason for feminine orthodoxy. A woman must take 
 her children to church, teach them the catechism, and 
 tell them about little Samuel and David and Bathsheba. 
 An agnostic child would be a monster, worse than an 
 agnostic woman. So when we settle down at home, 
 Cecily, I will take a sitting for you at the nearest 
 church, and you had better believe what the clergyman 
 tells you. If you never go anywhere else you won't hear 
 him contradicted." 
 
 " Won't you ever go with me ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, now and then," he answered reluctantly, 
 for he was too honest not to shrink from appearing to 
 profess a religion whose dogmas he did not believe. 
 " At any rate I will take you to the door, and come and 
 fetch you afterwards." 
 
 " Well, I will go to church every Sunday to please
 
 116 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 you," said Cecily. "I would attend meetings of the 
 Salvation Army if I knew you wished it." 
 
 Unfortunately, the motto of Warren Hastings' 
 adoption, " This too will pass," applies to honeymoons 
 as well as to less agreeable periods of life, and by the 
 middle of October the Dormers were back in town. 
 They were saved the trouble of house-hunting and 
 furnishing by the opportunity that offered itself of 
 taking over a furnished house in Camden Gardens, 
 which belonged to an artist friend of Miles, who found 
 himself obliged to economise on the Continent. The 
 house was comfortable, the furniture was in good taste, 
 and the couple were not sorry to settle down in a home 
 of their own, even though they felt some regrets that 
 they could no longer be sufficient unto themselves, but 
 must, in a measure at least, come back to the world, 
 submit to visit and be visited, and recognise the claims 
 of friends, relations, and society in general. 
 
 Cecily was brought down to earth somewhat roughly 
 in the course of an early visit from her sister-in-law, 
 Mrs. Bingley. That lady, who had been in the country 
 when the Dormers first returned to town, made her ap- 
 pearance at eleven o'clock one morning, when they had 
 been settled about a fortnight in their new home. She 
 was accompanied by a small child, who had to be
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 refreshed with cake and provided with a picture-book 
 before her elders could indulge in any conversation. 
 As soon, however, as Miss Tottie was happily engaged 
 in crumbling cake over a valuable illustrated book, 
 Mrs. Bingley opened fire with the inquiry : 
 
 " Well, and how are you getting on with your 
 housekeeping? I daresay you still feel quite at 
 sea." 
 
 "No, I find it easier than I expected," answered 
 Cecily, inwardly wondering at the fascination which the 
 more sordid details of life possess for a certain order of 
 mind. " The cook seems a good manager, and with her 
 help I have got on very well so far." 
 
 " Ah, I shouldn't put too much faith in the help 
 of cooks," observed Mrs. Bingley with a grim smile. 
 " Does your husband give you an allowance for the 
 housekeeping ? " 
 
 "No, we pay all our bills weekly, and Miles and 
 I go through the books on Monday mornings. Of 
 course I could do it alone, but we like doing things 
 together." 
 
 " H'm," said Maria, " I don't hold with paying 
 bills weekly. The tradespeople are much more civil 
 and supply you with better goods if you keep a run- 
 ning account. And I should certainly advise you to
 
 118 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 have an allowance for housekeeping. Then you can 
 pinch a bit when you and your husband are alone, and 
 make more of a dash when you have company. A man 
 is none the better for living well every day ; he only 
 gets bilious." 
 
 " Pinch Miles ! " cried Cecily, in horror-stricken 
 tones. " Why, I would rather never ask a guest to the 
 house from one year's end to another than entertain at 
 the cost of his discomfort." 
 
 " Ah, you're young," said Mrs. Bingley indulgently. 
 " You will soon grow out of those ideas. By the way, 
 my dear, I think you make a mistake in having such a 
 good-looking parlour-maid. It's never safe where 
 there's a man in the house." 
 
 " But we don't keep a man," answered Cecily inno- 
 cently. 
 
 " But I suppose you call your husband a man." 
 
 " Miles ! " exclaimed the young wife with an 
 indignant flush. " Do you mean to suggest that 
 there would be any danger to Miles from a good-look- 
 ing parlour-maid ? " 
 
 " Oh, I don't wish to offend you, my dear ; but 
 you must remember that all men are weak, and easily 
 led astray by a pretty face. It is a wife's first duty 
 to put temptation out of her husband's way. Now,
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. H9 
 
 dees Miles belong to the same clubs as he did before 
 he married ? " 
 
 " I suppose so." 
 
 " Not the Barbarian ? " 
 
 "Certainly; why not?" 
 
 " Ah, you ought to make him give up that at once. 
 My husband belonged to four clubs when he married 
 me, and now he has given them all up except the 
 Academy, and he does not go there often. He is 
 much better, as I tell him, at home with me and the 
 children. When a lot of men get together they talk 
 nothing but wickedness, and encourage each other in 
 vice. If you'll take my advice you won't allow your 
 husband to see too much of his bachelor friends ; they 
 only lead a married man into mischief, and make him 
 discontented with domestic life." 
 
 " I should never dream of interfering with Miles's 
 friends," answered Cecily haughtily. " And if he ever 
 tires of his home and me I shall not raise a finger to 
 prevent him from seeking amusement elsewhere. I 
 would never condescend to keep my husband with me 
 against his will." 
 
 " What nonsense," said her sister-in-law with a fat 
 laugh. " Do you really fancy that your husband will 
 always be your lover? Well, well, I suppose most
 
 120 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 young wives have their little illusions, but they soon 
 wear off." 
 
 When Mrs. Bingley and her sticky-fingered child 
 had taken their departure, Cecily sat still for a moment 
 clenching her hands and repeating to herself : 
 
 "She is Miles's half-sister! She is Miles's half- 
 sister ! " 
 
 If it had not been for that relationship she thought 
 that she must have ordered the dangerously good- 
 looking Jane never to admit Mrs. Bingley again. 
 When she had recovered her composure somewhat, she 
 went into the study where her husband was at work, 
 and stood silently behind the chair, with her chin 
 resting on the top of his head. Miles, who was 
 becoming accustomed to such little attentions, and 
 who looked upon them as no interruption to his work, 
 went on with his writing until he came to the end of 
 a paragraph. Then he laid down his pen, and stole his 
 arm round his wife. 
 
 " Do you want anything, dear?" he asked. 
 
 "Nothing particular," answered Cecily, her late 
 sufferings making themselves apparent in her 
 tones. 
 
 "What a mournful little voice," exclaimed Miles. 
 " Come in front, and let me look at you. Why, you
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICE& 121 
 
 are quite pale, darling, and there are tears in your eyes. 
 What can be the matter ? " 
 
 " I only wanted to ask you something," returned his 
 wife, swallowing a sob. " Miles, do you think you 
 belong to enough clubs ? " 
 
 "Why, yes, I belong to three. I had thought 
 of giving up the Barbarian ; I hardly ever go 
 there." 
 
 " Oh, don't do that," exclaimed Cecily. " Or if you 
 do, couldn't you belong to another, one you would go 
 tooftener?" 
 
 " You seem very anxious to get rid of me," he said, 
 a little inclined to feel hurt. " Have I inflicted too 
 much of my society upon you?" 
 
 "No, you know you couldn't do that. I only 
 wanted you to feel as free and independent as you did be- 
 fore you married. And Miles, haven't you any bachelor 
 friends you would like to ask to dinner ? I could dine 
 in the breakfast-room if you would rather have them 
 alone." 
 
 " Thank you," he returned, " but I much prefer 
 your company at dinner to that of any bachelor ac- 
 quaintance. When I feel a craving for exclusively mas- 
 culine society I will let you know." 
 
 " Yes, be sure you do," said his wife.
 
 122 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 There was silence between them for a few moments, 
 which Cecily broke with the inquiry : 
 
 " Miles, do you ever feel bilious?" 
 
 " Certainly not," replied her husband, repudiating 
 the insulting suggestion with excusable warmth. " I 
 never felt better in my life. Do you want to know any- 
 thing else?" 
 
 " No yes. Don't you think Jane a very pretty 
 girl?" 
 
 " Jane ! " said Miles with a puzzled look, for he was 
 not yet accustomed to the apparent irrelevance of the 
 feminine mind. " Oh, you mean the parlour-maid. I 
 haven't observed her very closely, but she seems a nice, 
 fresh-looking girl." 
 
 " Oh, but she is really quite handsome. She has 
 such a straight nose, and such long eyelashes. Do look 
 at her when she is waiting at dinner to-night." 
 
 " Certainly, if you wish it," he answered, absently. 
 " Now, suppose you fetch your work, and come and sit 
 by me, while I read you what I have written this morn- 
 ing. I think it goes rather well."
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 IN spite of the annoyances inflicted by the Mrs. 
 Bingleys of society, and the inevitable small worries of 
 every-day life, Cecily was almost as completely happy 
 during the first few weeks in her new home as she had 
 been upon her wedding journey. Perhaps the knowl- 
 edge that a chance revelation of some of the follies of 
 her past might lower her for ever in her husband's eyes, 
 might even destroy his love for her, made her hug her 
 happiness all the closer, treasuring it as we seldom 
 treasure what we actually have, exulting over each day 
 and hour that her precious possession was left to her. 
 
 The only check inflicted upon her perfect content- 
 ment with her lot was in connection with her desire to 
 develop her artistic talent, and turn it to the best 
 account. 
 
 " Miles," she said one morning, when the furniture 
 had all been re-arranged, and the wheels of the house- 
 keeping machinery had begun to run smoothly, " would 
 
 123
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 you have any objection to my attending some art- 
 classes ? " 
 
 " Art-classes ! " said her husband, raising his eye- 
 brows. " What on earth do you want to do that for ? " 
 
 " Because I should like some more lessons in design, 
 and later on I want to learn etching." 
 
 " But what for ? " he repeated. 
 
 " Why, so as to make the most of my one small 
 talent. Mr. Fleming always said that with more teach- 
 ing and practice I ought to do good work some day." 
 
 " Work ! " exclaimed Miles, his face clouding. 
 " You don't suppose I am going to allow my wife to 
 work, do you ? I can make money enough for both of 
 us, and I don't ask my darling to do anything but at- 
 tend to the house-keeping, and enjoy herself in her own 
 way." 
 
 " But with servants like ours the house-keeping 
 doesn't take half an hour," pleaded Cecily, " and draw- 
 ing is the occupation I enjoy most of all, only I don't 
 care about doing it in an amateurish way. I know 
 there is no actual need for me to earn money, but if 
 one's work has a market value, that is at least a proof 
 that it is worth doing, that there is some demand for it 
 in the world." 
 
 Miles reflected for a moment. He was sincerely
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 125 
 
 anxious that his wife should have everything her heart 
 desired, and yet he had a horror of the publicity of 
 professional work for a woman, believing it to be un- 
 sexing, if not actually demoralising. After a moment's 
 thought, however, his face cleared, for he fancied that 
 he had hit upon a solution of the problem. 
 
 " Have as many lessons as you please, dearest," he 
 said. " Only you must take them privately. I don't 
 admire the type of woman who attends public classes. 
 And as regards work, I have a volume of short stories 
 coming out next season, and I propose that you should 
 illustrate them with some of your charming designs. 
 I will pay you with a brooch or a bangle, and your 
 name need not appear, so that you will be saved all 
 unpleasant publicity." 
 
 " Of course I shall be delighted to illustrate your 
 stories," said Cecily, though she did not quite see 
 how this arrangement met the question of market 
 value. " And I want no payment beyond your ap- 
 proval." 
 
 " And afterwards," went on Miles, warming with 
 his theme, " you can design initial letters and tail- 
 pieces for my books, and perhaps programmes for my 
 plays. Besides, you can always make drawings for 
 presents to your friends, and to sell at bazaars."
 
 126 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Yes, so I can," she returned, trying not to look 
 disappointed, for it was hard to give up her own little 
 private ambition altogether. She had the genuine 
 creative impulse which burns in the soul of its pos- 
 sessor as money burns in the pocket of a spendthrift, 
 and her whole nature craved for a fuller, freer develop- 
 ment. However, she quickly forgot her disappoint- 
 ment in the interest of planning illustrations for 
 Miles's stories, -which of course demanded her best 
 thought and most finished execution. If the designs 
 only helped the book to sell, and quickened the 
 reader's appreciation of its contents, it would matter 
 little, she decided, that the artist remained anony- 
 mous. 
 
 As Miles was now working steadily at his new book, 
 and was consequently shut up in his study during a 
 great part of the day, Cecily felt the necessity of find- 
 ing congenial occupation for her leisure hours. She 
 could not draw all day, but her talent found an out- 
 let in the needle as well as the pencil, and she took a 
 keen pleasure in knitting silken socks in elaborate 
 patterns for her husband's wear, and in embroidering 
 his handkerchiefs with the most ornamental and inex- 
 tricable of "M's" and " D's." Then again, she de- 
 cided to begin a course of reading calculated to im-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 127 
 
 prove her mind and render her a more satisfactory 
 companion for an intellectual man. Hitherto, she had 
 read little but novels, poetry, and a few modern biog- 
 raphies, but her recent travels had stimulated her in- 
 telligence, and imbued her with a desire to learn some- 
 thing more of the world in which she found herself, 
 and more especially of the record of her own kind. 
 
 With this end in view, she made a raid upon her 
 husband's library, and carried off " The Descent of 
 Man," which she believed, from what she had heard, 
 would be a good book to begin upon. She intended to 
 keep the plan a secret from her husband, in the hope 
 of surprising him some day with the result of her 
 newly-acquired knowledge. She had read little more 
 than half the book, however, when Miles, coming into 
 the drawing-room unexpectedly one morning, caught 
 her with the volume in her hand. 
 
 " Why, what dingy-looking tome have you got 
 there ? " he inquired. " I believe you have been plun- 
 dering my book-shelves." 
 
 " Yes, I have," replied Cecily, with conscious pride. 
 " I wanted to read ' The Descent of Man,' so I stole 
 it one day when you were out." 
 
 " What can have put the ' Descent of Man ' into 
 
 your head?" asked Miles, his brow contracting. 
 9
 
 128 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " You have your subscription at Mudie's, and I see 
 you have got Temple Bar and Mrs. Oliphant's latest 
 novel." 
 
 " Yes, but one gets tired of novels and magazines, 
 and I felt as if I wanted something more solid. Be- 
 sides, I thought it would be such a good thing if I 
 could improve my mind a little so as to be more of a 
 companion to you." 
 
 " But I don't want you to improve your mind ; I 
 am quite satisfied with you as you are. And I would 
 rather you did not read books of that kind." 
 
 " Why, is there any harm in it ? " asked Cecily. 
 " I was getting quite interested in it, and I am de- 
 lighted to find that I can understand it nearly all. 
 There are only a few scientific terms I wanted to ask 
 you the meaning of." 
 
 " I don't approve of science as a study for women," 
 he said decidedly. " It unsettles their minds, and 
 makes them tiresome and pedantic. You see your dear 
 little brains are not strong enough to take a compre- 
 hensive view of any wide subject." 
 
 " Oh," said Cecily, looking rather depressed at the 
 thought of the mental inferiority of her sex. " Do you 
 know, Miles, I sometimes wonder why God made 
 women."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 129 
 
 " To carry on the race and make their husbands 
 happy," he returned, with the air of one who solves a 
 very easy problem. 
 
 " Then unmarried women are of no use at all." 
 
 " Well, not much, except to criticise the bringing 
 up of other people's children, and pauperise the 
 poor." 
 
 " But there are so many of them," she said, as her 
 thoughts turned to the spinsters of her own class, many 
 of them active-minded intelligent women, with a long- 
 ing to turn their lives to some account, yet condemned 
 by reason of a defective education and the prejudices of 
 their male relations to a weary round of afternoon calls 
 and tea-parties, relieved only by district visiting. " It 
 seems a pity that they should not be given an opportu- 
 nity of doing something really useful, and taught how 
 to do it properly." 
 
 " I don't see what they could do that would not take 
 the bread out of men's mouths and be more or less un- 
 sexing. They are barren fruit-trees mere cumberers 
 of the ground." 
 
 " But," said Cecily gently, " even barren fruit-trees, 
 if they are properly tended and allowed room to grow 
 and put forth leaves, may give a pleasant shade and 
 help to sweeten the air around them. It is only when
 
 130 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 they are cramped or neglected that they become stunted 
 withered things, mere cumberers of the ground." 
 
 " You look quite mournful over the fate of the 
 poor fruit-trees," he said, smiling. " Come, give me 
 your Darwin, and I will bring you up a volume of Ten- 
 nyson or Mrs. Browning. Poetry will be a change from 
 novels and magazines." 
 
 Cecily relinquished her book without any further 
 protest. She had not got far enough in her scientific 
 studies to feel any poignant regret at being obliged to 
 give them up. 
 
 It soon became clear that the Dormers were not to be 
 left much longer to the uninterrupted enjoyment of 
 each other's society. In literary and artistic circles 
 " everybody " is in town in November when a season 
 begins, which is pleasanter and more sociable, if less 
 brilliant, than the orthodox one which extends from 
 May to July. The house in Camden Gardens was soon 
 besieged by callers, who followed up the attack by in- 
 vitations to dinners, dances, and " At Homes." 
 
 The first entertainment of any importance to which 
 the newly-married couple were invited was a ball given 
 by a Maecenas of the theatrical world, in celebration of 
 the five-hundredth performance of the play which was 
 running at his theatre.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 131 
 
 ."I suppose we must go," said Miles with a sigh 
 when he saw the gorgeous invitation card. " It is as 
 well for the poor playwright to keep on good terms 
 with Belger. I dare say it .will amuse you to see Bo 
 hernia in excelsis for once in a way, Cecily. You 
 must put on all your finery, my pretty one, for the 
 theatrical beauties will be there in all their war- 
 paint." 
 
 On the night in question, Cecily arrayed herself 
 with anxious care, for she was determined that Miles 
 should be proud of her, and that his friends should 
 think that she did credit to his taste. When she had 
 donned her white satin gown and the pearl ornaments 
 that had been her husband's gift, and arranged her hair 
 in the most becoming fashion, she could not help smil- 
 ing with pleasure at her own image in the glass. Never 
 had she felt less personal vanity, nor more gratitude 
 for the meed of beauty that had been vouchsafed to 
 her. 
 
 " I know Miles doesn't love me for my looks alone," 
 she said to herself. " But all the same, I am glad for 
 his sake as well as my own that I haven't got a pug 
 nose and a squint." 
 
 With this thought in her mind she went down to 
 the drawing-room, where her husband was awaiting her,
 
 132 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 and placed herself full in the light of a big standard 
 lamp. 
 
 " Well, do you like me ? " she asked, glancing shyly 
 up at him. "Shall I do?" 
 
 Miles stared silently at her for a moment, almost 
 dazed by the brilliancy of the apparition. He had 
 never seen his wife in a ball-dress before, and he felt a 
 thrill of mingled admiration and uneasiness at the sight 
 of this superb young creature, with the swan-like neck, 
 the dazzling arms and shoulders, the satin, lace, and 
 pearls. He realised that they had come to the end of 
 their happy solitude a deux, the final break-up of their 
 Eden life, in which there had been but one man and 
 one woman. When Cecily had once been seen, society 
 would certainly assert its claim upon her ; she would be 
 admired, flattered, and made much of, while he he 
 who had the best right to her would look on from the 
 background with wistful eyes, and be thought ridiculous 
 if he claimed a word or a glance from her. Other men, 
 younger and more attractive than he, would listen to 
 the voice, bask in the smiles, and enjoy the favours that 
 once had been reserved for himself alone. To do him 
 justice, he was not jealous of his wife's prospective so- 
 cial success, nor doubtful of her constancy, but he was 
 troubled at the thought of losing her from his side even
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 133 
 
 for a few hours, sharing her interest and sympathy with 
 others, and seeing her happy and at home in a world in 
 which he always felt himself an alien and a stranger. 
 
 Something of his feeling must have shown itself in 
 his face, for the light died out of Cecily's eyes, and she 
 asked anxiously : 
 
 "Is anything wrong? Don't you like me?" 
 
 " I think you are the lovelist creature I ever saw," 
 he answered slowly. " There won't be another woman 
 there to-night fit to hold a candle to you." 
 
 " Not in your opinion, perhaps," said Cecily, smil- 
 ing. " Their husbands and lovers may think differ- 
 ently. But if you are really pleased with me, why do 
 you look so sad ? " 
 
 " I was only thinking something rather foolish. 
 I won't tell it you for fear it should spoil your 
 evening's pleasure." 
 
 " But you must ! " she cried peremptorily. " You 
 never think foolish thoughts, and how could I enjoy 
 myself when you were looking sorrowful? Tell 
 me," she repeated, leaiiing over his chair, and bring- 
 ing her head down on a level with his. " Tell me, 
 dear." 
 
 "I was only thinking," said Miles reluctantly, as 
 though the words were drawn from him against his
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 will, " that I shall scarcely be able to exchange a word 
 with you to-night. And perhaps I was regretting just 
 a little the long delightful evenings when I had you all 
 to myself, when we read, and talked, and worked to- 
 gether, and forgot that anyone else existed in the 
 whole world. But I am afraid that was a surly and 
 selfish rather than a foolish thought." 
 
 "Is that all that was troubling you?" exclaimed 
 Cecily, her face lighting up again. " Fancy your not 
 having the courage to tell me at once. Do you suppose 
 I wouldn't rather spend the evening alone with you 
 than go to a million balls ? I was only glad to think 
 I looked nice because I wanted to do you credit. 
 But why should we go to parties or strangers' houses 
 when we are so happy alone together at home? "We 
 will not go, Miles." 
 
 " Yes, yes, we must," he put in hastily. " I cannot 
 keep you to myself for ever, darling you who are so 
 young and pretty and full of life. Don't attend to 
 what I said ; I did not really mean it. I want you to 
 be happy and enjoy yourself." 
 
 His protestations were cut short by the entrance of 
 the parlour-maid, and the announcement that the 
 carriage was at the door. 
 
 " Send it away," said her mistress impetuously.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 135 
 
 "We are not going out to-night. And, Jane, you 
 can go to bed as soon as you like ; we sha'n't want 
 anything more." 
 
 As soon as the astonished maid had retired, Cecily 
 turned to her husband again. 
 
 " I'll just go up and exchange my finery for a tea- 
 gown," she said. " And then we will have one of our 
 own delightful evenings." 
 
 " No, no," cried Miles. " I want to have you as 
 you -are, pearls and satin, and beauty and all. I want 
 to feel that you are mine all mine, and that no other 
 man has any share in you, even with his eyes." 
 
 He opened his arms, and Cecily dropped into them 
 like a great white bird settling down into its nest. Laces 
 were crushed, satins creased, and curls ruffled by his 
 embrace; but she gave no thought to her crumpled 
 plumes, since perfect love is strong enough to cast out 
 even feminine vanity.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A FEW days after the night of the ball, which the 
 Dormers had enjoyed by their own fireside, Cecily re- 
 ceived a note of invitation which gave her unusual 
 pleasure, and helped to lighten the burden of appre- 
 hension which, though often forgotten or ignored, was 
 never long absent from her mind. 
 
 " Dear Cecily," it ran. " You know I can't call on 
 you so will you waive your bridal dignity, and come 
 and see me ? I did not answer your letter announc- 
 ing your engagement because I thought you had be- 
 haved badly both to Jasper and to me in giving us no 
 hint of it beforehand. You know you did encourage 
 Jasper in a very reprehensible manner, considering that 
 you had no serious intentions. However, as I miss 
 your visits, and am curious to hear how you like being 
 married, I am willing to forgive you so far as to receive 
 you amiably whenever you choose to call. 
 " Yours sincerely 
 
 " DULCIBELLA FLEMING." 
 136
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 137 
 
 Cecily was so much relieved by the tone of this 
 note, which was quite cordial for Dulcibella, that she 
 determined to call in Wisteria Road the same after- 
 noon. It seemed clear that Jasper as well as his sister 
 must have forgiven her, or Dulcie would never have 
 sent her an invitation to renew their intimacy, and 
 therefore she concluded that she had nothing to fear 
 on account of any wound she might unwittingly have 
 caused him. 
 
 On her arrival at the Flemings' house Cecily was 
 shown into Dulcie's little sitting-room, where the in- 
 valid was lying on her sofa, a pile of new books and 
 magazines on the table by her side. 
 
 " Come here," she said, as Cecily entered the room. 
 " Come and stand in front of me, and let me have a 
 good look at you. Ah," she continued, as her visitor 
 obediently placed herself in the required position, 
 " you are even better-looking than you were, or perhaps 
 it is only that you are better dressed. Well, and how 
 does being married agree with you ? " 
 
 " Very nicely, thank you," replied Cecily demurely. 
 
 " You must bring your Mr. What's-his-name to see 
 me next time you come," went on Miss Fleming. " I 
 shall be curious to see what sort of blank you have 
 drawn in the marriage lottery, but I suppose you think
 
 138 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 him a prize at present. Of course, he'll dislike me, 
 but that's of no consequence. I daresay I shall return 
 the compliment." 
 
 " You may dislike him," said Cecily, " but I am 
 sure that he will like you, because he knows that you 
 have been very kind to me." 
 
 " Then I conclude that he will like Jasper even 
 better, because Jasper was a great deal kinder to you 
 than I was." 
 
 Cecily flushed under the taunt, but made no reply. 
 
 " There, I won't tease you any more," said Dulcie. 
 "I only wanted to make you feel a little uncomfort- 
 able, because you look so insolently well and so arro- 
 gantly happy. What fools people are who talk about 
 the laws of compensation. Here am I, old, ugly, help- 
 less, and without the consolation of having had joy and 
 love in my youth. And here are you, young, healthy, 
 beautiful, and married to the man of your heart. 
 Even if you lose your happiness in the future, you 
 can never be brought down to my level. You will 
 have had it." 
 
 " Yes, I shall have had it," replied Cecily solemnly, 
 as though she had a prophetic vision of days in which 
 the " remembering of happier things " would be her 
 only comfort as well as her crown of sorrows.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 139 
 
 " Well, I didn't mean to make you gloomy," said 
 Dulcie. " I can always manufacture my own gloom on 
 the premises. Tell me things to make me laugh." 
 
 Thus bidden, Cecily did her best to enliven the in- 
 valid with an account of her adventures abroad, and 
 her experiences since her return. Half an hour 
 passed in this way before she summoned up courage 
 to ask : 
 
 " How is your brother ? Quite \vell, I hope." 
 
 " Oh, Jasper is all right," returned Dulcie care- 
 lessly. " He seems to have got over you wonderfully 
 well, thanks to not seeing you ; it is always a case of 
 ' out of sight, out of mind ' with him. Besides you 
 are not the sort of woman a man can be angry with 
 long, however badly you may behave to him. Jasper is 
 so far convalescent that I thought it would be safe 
 for him to see you again, as long as you will promise 
 not to encourage him. Shall I send and tell him you 
 are here, or will you go and surprise him in the 
 studio ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, I would rather you sent for him," replied 
 Cecily nervously. 
 
 A few minutes later Jasper made his appearance. 
 He was evidently ill at ease, and to hide his embarrass- 
 ment had wrapped himself in one of his most sombre
 
 140 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 and melancholy moods. Cecily found it hard to realise 
 that barely six months before, this Byronic-looking 
 creature, with the air of impenetrable gloom, had 
 chased her round the studio, and kissed her behind the 
 asel. So much had happened since that day that she 
 could scarcely consider herself responsible for her past 
 flightiness, feeling rather as if her youthful escapades 
 had been committed by some other girl masquerading 
 under the name of Cecily Tregarthen. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. Fleming sat at the foot of the in- 
 valid's couch, and returned pessimistic commonplaces 
 to his visitor's questions about himself and his work. 
 Art in England, if he was to be believed, was not only 
 dead and buried, but beyond all hope of resurrection. 
 His most important Academy picture was turning out a 
 miserable failure, but then it was impossible to hire sat- 
 isfactory models, or even to buy colours fit to work 
 with. Added to which, he had a strong suspicion, al- 
 most amounting to a certainty, that his eyesight was 
 giving way. 
 
 Cecily listened and sympathised until her host had 
 talked out all his bitterness and discontent, when he 
 suddenly cheered up, and insisted upon her coming into 
 the studio to see her picture in its finished state. Cec- 
 ily followed him in seme trepidation, but when he had
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 placed the picture upon an easel, and turned on the 
 electric light, she forgot her misgivings in unfeigned 
 admiration and delight. 
 
 " Oh, how lovely it is," she exclaimed. " But surely 
 you have idealised it almost out of knowledge." 
 
 "No, it is impossible for art to idealise Nature," he 
 replied, " though it may misrepresent her in a nattering 
 manner. I simply managed to catch you in your best 
 looks, and wearing your most charming expression. It 
 is only very occasionally that you look as beautiful 
 as that, once in two or three months, perhaps, and 
 only for half an hour at a time. The portrait cer- 
 tainly flatters you as you are now, but the capacity to 
 look like that is always there." 
 
 " I must try and practice that expression before the 
 glass," said Cecily, delighted to find that he had for- 
 given her sufficiently to resume his old habit of plain 
 speaking. " How is it that the picture was never ex- 
 hibited?" 
 
 " I decided neither to exhibit it nor to sell it," re- 
 plied Jasper shortly. He did not think it necessary to 
 inform her that her husband had written to say he 
 wished to buy the picture, and had begged, as a per- 
 sonal favour to himself, that it might not be exhibited, 
 since he disliked the idea of his future wife's features
 
 14-2 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 being exposed to public view at Burlington House. To 
 that letter Fleming had replied that he did not intend 
 to sell the picture, but that in deference to Mr. Dor- 
 mer's wishes, he would refrain from exhibiting it. 
 
 " How are you getting on with your drawing ? " 
 asked Jasper presently. " I hope you don't think, like 
 many women, that marriage is a profession in itself, and 
 one that cannot be carried on in conjunction with any 
 other." 
 
 " Oh, no," said Cecily, looking a little embarrassed. 
 " I haven't given up my drawing. I am designing a set 
 of illustrations for a volume of short stories of of Mr. 
 Dormer's." 
 
 The artist turned from her with an impatient ges- 
 ture, and busied himself in putting the picture away. 
 Then Cecily declared that it was time for her to go, and 
 held out her hand in farewell. As Jasper held it for a 
 moment between his own, he asked, with a sudden 
 change of look and tone : 
 
 " Are you happy, Cecily ? " 
 
 " Yes, of course," she answered, with a nervous little 
 laugh. " Good-bye." 
 
 By the indifference of her manner, the lack of en- 
 thusiasm in her voice, and her formal mention of her 
 husband as " Mr. Dormer," she had quite unconsciously
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 produced a false impression on her former lover. Jas- 
 per possessed a dangerously vivid imagination, and in 
 spite of his superficial pessimism, was incurably san- 
 guine at heart. On the slender foundation of Mrs. 
 Dormer's words and tone, and the fact that her hus- 
 band was not socially popular, he built up an elaborate 
 superstructure of fancy. A very little reflection sufficed 
 to convince him that Cecily could never have loved that 
 " sulky fellow," but that she had been persuaded into 
 the marriage by her family. It seemed probable that 
 she would soon be heartily tired of her dull husband ; 
 it was not impossible that he might come to treat her 
 with unkindness and neglect. Already in imagination 
 he saw the young wife alone and unhappy, her heart 
 crying out for affection and sympathy. More dimly he 
 could perceive a man at her side, offering such consola- 
 tions as respectful admiration and disinterested friend- 
 ship might afford. He did not pursue the dream 
 further, but concluded his meditations with the deci- 
 sion that since his sister was unable to fulfil her social 
 duties, it was necessary that he, Jasper, should sacrifice 
 his feelings on the altar of politeness, and return Mrs. 
 Dormer's call. 
 
 Mr. Fleming would have been much hurt if he 
 
 could have known that Mrs. Dormer's thoughts, as she 
 10
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 drove home, were occupied with his sister to the total 
 exclusion of himself. Cecily could not shake off the 
 sense of depression which Dulcibella's remarks about 
 the law of compensation had roused in her. Her great 
 happiness made her nervous, and not for the first time, 
 she asked herself uneasily, why she, who had done 
 nothing to deserve it, should be so blessed, while other 
 women who were far better than herself, dragged out 
 dreary, loveless lives ? She remembered that it was not 
 always the unmarried who were the most lonely, and 
 her thoughts turned in mingled pity and apprehension 
 to the unenviable lot of many of the married women in 
 her circle of acquaintance, more especially the younger 
 ones, since youth compassionates nothing in the elderly 
 but their age. It was a continual puzzle to her how 
 Eosamund Marchmont could endure the misery and 
 degradation of her life, and yet turn a brave and cheer- 
 ful face to the world. 
 
 Cecily received some explanation of this marvel a 
 day or two later, in the course of an afternoon's drive 
 with her friend. After an interesting interview with a 
 well-known tailor, the pair were driving down Picca- 
 dilly on their way to the Park when, in passing the 
 entrance to the Burlington Arcade, they saw Mr. 
 Marchmont come out, accompanied by a golden-haired
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 145 
 
 lady, with a complexion that was wonderfully and 
 fearfully made. He followed his companion into a 
 hansom, and, a block occurring at the moment, was 
 detained for a few seconds face to face with his wife. 
 Cecily felt herself blushing hotly in sympathy with her 
 friend, but Mrs. Marchmont sat looking straight in 
 front of her with an expression of the calmest indif- 
 ference. Presently she turned and met Cecily's eyes. 
 
 "Don't look so miserable," she said with a slight 
 smile. " What am I that I should hope to compete 
 with such a rival ? I haven't got black eyelids, a pink 
 chin, or butter-coloured hair." 
 
 Cecily gazed at her in astonishment. " How can 
 you bear it? "she broke out passionately. " How can 
 you take it so lightly ? I should kill either myself or 
 him." 
 
 " Yes, I can remember the time when I used to talk 
 in that sort of way," said Mrs. Marchmont. " But one 
 outgrows heroics." 
 
 "But why do you put up with it?" asked Cecily, 
 seeing that all reserve between them was at an end. 
 " Why do you remain with him ? " 
 
 " Because I was brought up to keep my word. I 
 took my husband for better for worse, and I promised 
 to cleave to him only as long as we both should live. I
 
 146 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 would willingly leave him if he desired it, but he never 
 has desired it. When he is ill, or when one of his loves 
 has been unkind, he is very glad to turn to me for 
 consolation and sympathy. The worst of it is that he 
 still falls in love with me periodically, and thinks me 
 very hard-hearted because I refuse to listen to his 
 protestations." 
 
 " But he has not kept his share of the contract." 
 
 " No, but as long as a man only perjures himself to 
 a woman and lies about a horse his honour remains 
 intact. On the other hand, if a woman deceives her 
 husband, she is an abandoned reprobate ; that is part of 
 the gospel according to man. You see I have learnt 
 my lesson quite perfectly. I know how to control my 
 face as well as my feelings ; I have my heart in perfect 
 order, and my emotions under military discipline." 
 
 " Oh, don't talk like that I hate to hear it," ex- 
 claimed Cecily passionately. " When a woman is young 
 and pretty and has a natural craving for love and hap- 
 piness, how can she crush down her heart and set a seal 
 upon her emotions ? " 
 
 " Only by cultivating her mind," replied Mrs. 
 Marchrnont, "and even that resource would be with- 
 held from her if most men could have their way. She 
 may read, of course, as long as she keeps the repre-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 147 
 
 hensible practice to herself, but that is like living 
 entirely on tinned and potted foods. She seldom 
 meets another woman with whom she can exchange 
 ideas, or discuss the questions that interest her, while 
 the men of her acquaintance brand her as 'new' or 
 * advanced ' if she ventures into deeper water than a 
 dissertation on the last new play or picture-show. It is 
 a curious thing that people are always filled with pity 
 and indignation when they hear of a woman's body 
 being starved, but they have no sympathy for one who 
 suffers the far worse starvation of heart and mind. 
 However, I ought not to grumble, for I actually have 
 one man friend who talks to me as if I were a rational 
 being, who doesn't think that if one is born a woman 
 one ought to die a house-keeper." 
 
 " Mr. Spenser ? " put in Cecily. 
 
 " Yes, for the past two years we have been trying 
 that experiment which the world can never be brought 
 to believe in a friendship between a man and a 
 woman." 
 
 " I'm afraid yours is rather a one-sided friendship," 
 said Cecily, smiling. " At least, Mr. Spenser does not 
 look at you in a very friendly way." 
 
 " A^ one-sided friendship is more likely to last than 
 a two-sided one. The woman can generally keep her
 
 148 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 heart when she knows that the man has lost his ; that 
 is, if there are good reasons that she should do so. 
 That sounds rather cruel, but I don't believe it does a 
 man any harm to fall in love with a woman whom he 
 knows he can neither marry nor lead astray. It teaches 
 him self-control and respect for the other sex, while he 
 enjoys a happy love-affair all the more when it comes, 
 as it surely will. A man is always ready to exchange 
 the substance of friendship for the shadow of love." 
 
 " And a woman ? " asked Cecily softly. 
 
 "As a rule she grows passionate when the man 
 turns platonic, but as she has been brought up to 
 suppress her feelings, she shows nothing of the 
 change that has taken place within her, and no harm 
 is done." 
 
 " No harm in unrequited love ! " exclaimed Cecily. 
 " Oh, how I wish that you and every other woman 
 could be as happy as I am." 
 
 " Poor child, you think you have found the phi- 
 losopher's stone," said Mrs. Marchmont, " when all you 
 have got is a little bit of tinsel, which I and most 
 other women have held in our hands at some time or 
 other. When we find that it is nothing but common 
 tinsel, some of us throw it away, and continue our 
 search for the stone that shall transmute all our sur-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 149 
 
 round ings into gold, while some of us keep our bit of 
 tinsel, and make the best of it. You will have to make 
 your choice some day." 
 
 Cecily made no reply, but reflected that her friend's 
 unfortunate experience had rendered her unduly cyni- 
 cal and pessimistic. The love of ordinary men per- 
 haps, was no better than tinsel, but surely the love of 
 a man like Miles might be compared to the magic 
 stone that was able to transform even the basest clay 
 into precious metal.
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 WITH a pathetic desire to conciliate Fate by diffus- 
 ing some of her own unmerited happiness, Cecily 
 began, in the first weeks of her new life, to look around 
 her for some of those step-children of nature or society 
 who are in chronic need of help and sympathy. In 
 this benevolent purpose she received every encourage- 
 ment from her husband, for Miles, mindful of his own 
 early struggles, had been accustomed, since the dawn 
 of more prosperous days, to give aid both in time and 
 money to some of the youngsters of his acquaintance 
 who were still going through the literary or artistic 
 mill, and getting ground rather small in the process. 
 Cecily was delighted to share in such a kindly work. 
 She invited hungry journalists and dramatic authors to 
 meet editors and managers at dinners calculated to 
 soften the hearts of the latter, listened with inexhaust- 
 ible patience to the outpourings of minor poets, took 
 anaemic girl-students for country drives, and induced 
 
 150
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 151 
 
 her husband to lend small sums to poverty-stricken 
 artists, who only needed the means of procuring 
 colours and models in order to produce Academy 
 pictures. 
 
 As the winter wore on, the Dormers' circle of ac- 
 quaintance was daily enlarged, and invitations poured 
 in upon them with embarrassing abundance. It would 
 have been impossible to refuse even a tithe of the din- 
 ners, dances, theatre-parties, and " At Homes," without 
 offending well-meaning friends, old or new; besides, 
 when the plunge was once taken, Cecily felt no desire 
 to renounce society altogether in favour of her own 
 fireside. It was undeniably pleasant to be sought 
 after and made much of, to find herself surrounded, 
 wherever she went, by friendly faces and admiring eyes. 
 Moreover, the hours wherein she was forced to ignore 
 her husband's presence and bestow all her attention on 
 strangers, were more than compensated for by the en- 
 hanced delight they felt in each other's company when 
 they were alone together once more. 
 
 And strange to say, Miles, who had hitherto only 
 regarded society as a fine field of observation for the 
 novelist or the playwright, began to catch the infection 
 of Cecily's enjoyment, though his was of a more vica- 
 rious kind. He felt a genuine pride in his wife's beauty
 
 152 A STUDY IN PKEJUDICES. 
 
 and charm ; he liked to see her admired and petted, 
 and, rather to his own surprise, he had been, so far, 
 entirely free from jealousy. But then Cecily had al- 
 ways walked so circumspectly, and was, moreover, so 
 utterly and undisguisedly devoted to himself, that it 
 would have taken a more unreasonable man than Miles 
 to doubt her constancy. 
 
 But it is impossible for a woman to be beautiful 
 and popular without making enemies, either among 
 the admirers she has been compelled to snub, or among 
 the women from whom she has unconsciously filched 
 them. As time went on there were whispers that Mrs. 
 Dormer was not as good as she looked, and that hers 
 was a case of " still waters run deep " ; while many 
 eyes and ears were open to detect the young wife in 
 some piece of imprudence or worse, which should 
 justify the rumours that were afloat concerning 
 her. 
 
 Among the keenest of the watching eyes and lis- 
 tening ears were those of Mrs. Bingley, who bore a 
 grudge against her sister-in-law on several counts. In 
 the first place, Cecily had refused to profit by Maria's 
 advice about house-keeping matters, an injury which was 
 aggravated by the fact that she kept her servants and 
 gave excellent dinners. Secondly, Mrs. Dormer had
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 153 
 
 treated her nephews and nieces with most culpable 
 neglect, not even giving a children's party for them at 
 Christmas, which, Mrs. Bingley considered, was her 
 bounden duty as the aunt of such interesting cherubs. 
 Worst of all, Cecily was a social success, which Mrs. 
 Bingley most distinctly was not. The elder lady was 
 accustomed to thank Heaven that she was no gad- 
 about, a compulsory virtue, since she eagerly accepted 
 every invitation that she received. It was a bitter an- 
 noyance to her that Mrs. Dormer was invited to many 
 desirable houses, the doors of which had never been 
 open to Mrs. Bingley. Maria was one of those persons, 
 not rarely to be met with, who have a chronic quarrel 
 with society because, although they contribute noth- 
 ing towards its pleasure or amusement, it does not 
 instantly recognise and appreciate their intrinsic 
 merits. 
 
 For some time Mrs. Bingley found no better 
 method of venting her ill-humour against her sister-in- 
 law than by deploring to all her friends the levity and 
 worldliness of her poor brother's young wife, and by 
 remarking to Cecily herself that Miles was looking thin 
 and yellow, and suggesting that he was probably kept 
 up too late at night, or in need of a plainer, more 
 wholesome diet. But eyes sharpened by malice usually 
 
 t
 
 154: A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 contrive, sooner or later, to see all that they desire 
 to see. 
 
 " I find that I shall be obliged to go down to 
 Devonshire to-morrow on business," said Miles one 
 morning at breakfast. " It is a great nuisance, because 
 I shall not be able to get back until the afternoon of 
 the following day." 
 
 "But you will take me with you," said Cecily, 
 surprised at his speaking as though he intended to 
 leave her behind. " What part of Devonshire are you 
 going to ? " 
 
 " Ilf racombe," he replied, looking a little embar- 
 rassed. " You see it is a long way to go for so short a 
 time, and the country will be looking dreary at this 
 season of the year, so I thought it would be better 
 for you to remain comfortably at home." 
 
 " Oh, but I should enjoy the change,," she said, feel- 
 ing hurt at the ease with which he was arranging to 
 leave her for at least a day and a half. " I have always 
 wished to see Devonshire, because it is your native 
 county. Perhaps we should have time to visit your 
 old home." 
 
 " No, I must get back next day," he said. " And I 
 am afraid you would find it very dull, dearest. I should
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 155 
 
 have to leave you alone while I attended to this busi- 
 ness. If you wish to see Devonshire I will take you 
 there when the warm weather comes, and we will do 
 the regular round." 
 
 "But it isn't Devonshire I really care about," 
 pleaded Cecily, her eyes filling with tears. " I only 
 wanted to be with you. But perhaps you would rather 
 go alone ; perhaps it would be more of a holiday for 
 you." 
 
 A big lump rose in her throat and checked further 
 speech, while the tears that had gathered in her eyes 
 welled over, and began to trickle slowly down her 
 cheeks. It was the first time that Miles had seen her 
 cry since their wedding-day, when she had wept over the 
 parting with Madge and Peter, and the sight filled him 
 with consternation and self-reproach. 
 
 " Don't cry, my darling," he cried, upsetting his egg- 
 cup, and hurrying round to Cecily's end of the table, his 
 handkerchief in one hand, and a piece of toast in the 
 other. " You make me feel such a monster of cruelty. 
 Of course I want to have you with me now and always ; 
 it was on your account that I thought of going alone. 
 You shall do whatever you like, my dearest child, if 
 only you will stop crying, and tell me that you forgive 
 me."
 
 156 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 "You gave me such a fright," said Cecily, as her 
 husband kissed away the tears from her eyes. " I 
 thought you were beginning to get tired of me. And I 
 should have been so dreadfully anxious and miserable if 
 you had gone away without me. I should have lain 
 awake all night thinking about robbers and railway 
 accidents and hotel fires." 
 
 " And you are really willing to face all these dangers 
 for my sake?" returned Miles with a laugh which 
 sounded just a little forced. 
 
 The next morning the pair set off together on their 
 long journey, Cecily in high spirits at the prospect of 
 their holiday, and feeling as if she was about to enjoy a 
 second honeymoon. Miles was more silent than usual, 
 and if his wife had been in the mood to criticise him, 
 she might have noticed that his manner was slightly 
 uneasy and constrained. They reached Ilfracombe in 
 time for a late lunch, and afterwards Miles explained 
 that he would have to go out at once to see about his 
 business, which would probably detain him until near 
 dinner-time. 
 
 " What would you like to do with yourself ? " he 
 asked. "Will you walk about, or would you rather 
 have a carriage for a couple of hours ? " 
 
 "I think I had better drive, as I don't know my
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 157 
 
 way about," said Cecily. "Can I drop you any- 
 where?" 
 
 "No, I shall be glad to stretch my legs after the 
 long journey," he replied. " Besides, I am going to an 
 uninteresting part of the town." 
 
 The afternoon was fine for the time of the year, and 
 Cecily enjoyed her leisurely drive about the town and 
 the neighbourhood. After she had given the order to 
 return to the hotel, the carriage passed along a road 
 which seemed to be wholly given up to lodging houses. 
 Cecily was glancing languidly at the dingy little build- 
 ings with the highly ornamental names when her eyes 
 suddenly lit up with interest, for she fancied that she 
 discerned a familiar figure some way ahead. Surely 
 that was Miles's coat and Miles's walk. She was still 
 trying to make up her mind as to his identity when he 
 turned in at the garden-gate of a small detached house, 
 and rang the bell. He was standing with his back to 
 the road as the carriage passed, but it was Miles him- 
 self beyond a doubt. Glancing over her shoulder 
 Cecily saw that he was admitted into the house, which 
 bore the name of Combe Cottage, and was more attrac- 
 tive in appearance than most of its neighbours, having 
 clean curtains and flowers in the windows. 
 
 Miles did not get back to the hotel till just in time
 
 158 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 to dress for dinner. He looked pale and tired, but 
 made an effort to talk and appear like himself, in- 
 quiring about Cecily's drive and the various places she 
 had seen. When she had answered all his questions, 
 she asked with a mischievous smile : 
 
 " And you ? Did you enjoy yourself at Combe 
 Cottage?" 
 
 To her astonishment her husband started as if he 
 had been shot, and turned upon her a look of mingled 
 fury and suspicion. 
 
 " You you followed me ? " he stammered in husky 
 tones. 
 
 " No, of course not," answered Cecily, in hurt sur- 
 prise. " How can you think of such a thing ? I hap- 
 pened to be driving that way, and I saw you at the door 
 of Combe Cottage. You surely don't suspect me of 
 spying upon you ? " 
 
 " No, no, I beg your pardon," he said hastily. " I 
 am tired and stupid to-night, and I could not under- 
 stand how you had got the name so pat. The fact is," 
 he continued, recovering his self-possession, " my busi- 
 ness was really on other people's account, and I felt 
 bound to respect their confidence." 
 
 " I see," said Cecily, only too glad to be reassured. 
 " I suppose it is nothing in which I could help ? "
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 159 
 
 " No, dear ; it is only a case of a little advice and 
 assistance to two maiden ladies whose father had a farm 
 close to my old home. They used to be very kind to 
 me when I was a boy, and now that they have come 
 down in the world I am glad to have the opportunity of 
 helping them. They keep a lodging-house, and they 
 managed to get into difficulties with their landlord, 
 but I have been able to put the business straight for 
 them. I did not suggest taking you to see them, be- 
 cause they are very sensitive, and would not like anyone 
 to know that they have received assistance from me." 
 
 " Poor old dears ! I am glad they have found a 
 friend in you," said Cecily. " How good you are, 
 Miles." 
 
 " Nonsense, it is no question of goodness," he replied 
 brusquely. " Any other man in my position would have 
 done the same." 
 
 11
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 ONE of the most regular attendants at Mrs. Dormer's 
 Sunday afternoon " At Homes " was her whilom instruct- 
 or, Jasper Fleming. Cecily could not accuse herself of 
 having encouraged his visits ; indeed, mindful of Dulci- 
 bella's warning, she had never invited him to the house, 
 though Miles had occasionally proposed his name when 
 an " unattached man " was required for a dinner-party. 
 But in spite of the fact that she was not responsible for 
 his frequent appearance in her drawing-room, and that 
 she invariably introduced him to the prettiest women 
 present, in the hope that he might embark upon an- 
 other and more fortunate love-affair, she could not help 
 feeling a little nervous and a little guilty each time 
 that his name was announced. Yet Jasper invariably 
 behaved with the most absolute propriety, never singling 
 out his hostess by his attentions, but devoting himself 
 rather to the society of her husband, whose liking he 
 had won by offering to paint for him a replica of the 
 
 160
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 161 
 
 picture, " Shakespeare's Rose." Miles was accustomed 
 to say that Fleming was a pleasant, sensible fellow, and 
 worth a dozen of the empty-headed puppies who played 
 about his wife's drawing-room. 
 
 Most conspicuous among the young men thus con- 
 temptuously designated was Leonard Bassett, who had 
 returned from a six months' residence in Italy, decid- 
 edly improved both in voice and manners. Cecily had 
 been by no means delighted to see him when he first 
 made his appearance at her house, by reason of certain 
 incidents in her former relations with him which she 
 would gladly have forgotten. But his deferential man- 
 ner, his evident anxiety to please, and most of all his 
 charming tenor voice, overcame her misgivings and in- 
 duced her to extend to him the sort of elder-sisterly 
 patronage that she had formerly bestowed upon Peter. 
 Leonard was always ready to make himself useful in 
 little ways, to run errands, procure concert- tickets, take 
 the dog for an airing, and sing at her musical parties, 
 while in return for these services he seemed to expect 
 no reward beyond an occasional tete-a-tete, with his 
 hostess, in which he confided to her his troubles and his 
 aspirations, his successes and his disappointments. 
 From the height of her newly-acquired dignity Cecily 
 soon came to regard him as " a nice boy," over whose
 
 162 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 music and morals it seemed possible that she might ex- 
 ercise a beneficent influence. 
 
 It was natural, perhaps, that Mr. Bassett should 
 regard himself and his relations with Mrs. Dormer in 
 rather a different light. He was an astute young man 
 with a keen eye to his own interest, and he knew that 
 the Dormers, or rather the people that he met at their 
 house, were likely to be useful to him from a profes- 
 sional point of view. He was aware also that he would 
 become an object of envy and admiration to all his 
 men friends if he were believed to be au mieux with 
 the beautiful Mrs. Dormer. He had not the faintest 
 intention of committing any serious indiscretion, or of 
 indulging in the luxury of a grand passion; but the 
 consciousness that he had mildly compromised the 
 lady, or caused her husband just a little uneasiness, 
 would have been deliciously flattering to his self- 
 esteem. 
 
 The world was not long in discovering that the 
 good-looking young tenor was constantly at Mrs. Dor- 
 mer's house, that he generally managed to attend the 
 same parties as herself, and that he never sang with so 
 much expression as when his eyes were fixed upon her 
 face. Women who had been unable to tempt Mr. 
 Bassett into a flirtation with themselves, or to persuade
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 163 
 
 him to sing at their houses, began to exchange smiles 
 and meaning glances whenever his name was coupled 
 with Cecily's ; while older women, with whom coquetry 
 had given place to an ambition for the reputation of a 
 popular hostess, made a point of inviting Leonard to 
 the same entertainments as Mrs. Dormer, and always 
 arranged that they should sit next each other at dinner. 
 
 It is probable that gossip would never reach the 
 ears of the persons gossiped about if it were not for the 
 good offices of near relations -or old family friends, who 
 really enjoy plain-speaking, and seldom shrink from 
 making unpleasant revelations. Thus Miles remained 
 in blissful ignorance of the fact that Cecily was being 
 " talked about " until the scandal came to Mrs. Bing- 
 ley's ears. That lady promptly decided that it was her 
 painful duty to inform her poor deluded brother of the 
 reputation that his wife had already gained for herself 
 in society. 
 
 Calling in Camden Gardens at a time when she 
 knew Cecily would be out, she ordered the servant to 
 show her into Mr. Dormer's study. Miles looked up 
 from his work as she entered with an air of gloomy 
 resignation. Much as he respected his sister's house- 
 wifely capabilities, he did not enjoy the prospect of a 
 lete-a-tete with her.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " I am sorry to disturb you," began Maria, sitting 
 down and getting up again two or three times, after 
 the manner of women who carry useful articles in 
 pockets situated at the back of their gowns, " but I 
 wanted to speak to you privately, so I came this morn- 
 ing because I heard Cecily say that she was going to 
 her dressmaker's." 
 
 " You wanted to speak to me about Cecily ? " asked 
 Miles. 
 
 " Yes, it is about Cecily," replied Mrs. Bingley ; 
 " but nothing very pleasant, I am sorry to say. I 
 thought it my duty to tell you that people are talking 
 very disagreeably about your wife and that good-look- 
 ing young Bassett. You know he is constantly at this 
 house, and they are always meeting elsewhere. In fact 
 people say they seem quite inseparable." 
 
 " Oh, people say ! " echoed Miles angrily. " I 
 wonder you take the trouble to repeat such idle non- 
 sense, Maria. Cecily finds the boy useful at her 
 parties, and it isn't her fault if he happens to be in- 
 vited to the same houses as herself. But I suppose 
 that is quite enough to make all the envious old 
 women talk ! " 
 
 "That's all very well," returned Maria, with of- 
 fended dignity, " but the world doesn't usually talk
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 165 
 
 without good reason. It never talked about me, for 
 example, or accused me of flirting. However, as long 
 as you are satisfied it is not for me to interfere. All 
 the same, I should advise you to keep an eye on that 
 young man, and you will soon see whether or not I 
 was justified in repeating what you call idle non- 
 sense." 
 
 " That would involve watching my wife," said 
 Miles coldly, " which I certainly should not condescend 
 to do." 
 
 " "Well, of course you must please yourself. I can 
 only tell you that everybody is remarking that you 
 are an extremely easy-going husband. And many 
 people are surprised, too, that you should allow your 
 wife to be so intimate with a woman of Mrs. March- 
 mont's stamp." 
 
 " "What is the matter with Mrs. Marchmont ? " asked 
 Miles irritably. 
 
 " Didn't you know that she holds dreadfully ad- 
 vanced views? I have heard that she thinks women 
 ought to have the same education as men, and that 
 they should all be brought up to some profession. 
 I dare say she thinks they ought to be allowed to 
 vote too." 
 
 " I never knew that she had any nonsense of that
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 sort in her head," said Miles, not unwilling to make 
 a scapegoat of Mrs. Marchmont. " She has always 
 seemed to me a womanly woman." 
 
 "Ah, that's all put on," returned Mrs. Bingley, 
 shaking her head. "But it is not only her opinions 
 that are unsound; it's her conduct. You know that 
 Mr. Spenser ? " 
 
 " Spenser ? Yes, what of him ? " 
 
 "He and Mrs. Marchmont are very intimate indeed. 
 They go to theatres and concerts together, and discuss 
 books that most women would not like to confess that 
 they had read. Of course they pretend that they are 
 only friends, but we all know what friendship means 
 between a man and a woman. I don't consider her at 
 all a desirable companion for a young wife." 
 
 " I can't say I am anxious that Cecily should be 
 inoculated with the views that you attribute to Mrs. 
 Marchmont," said Miles. " I will speak to her about 
 the matter. And, Maria, I don't think you need make 
 yourself uncomfortable about the world's opinion of 
 Cecily. People are always ready to slander a pretty 
 woman ; but I have absolute confidence in my 
 wife." 
 
 "I'm glad to hear it, I'm sure. I hope you may 
 never find out that the world was right," replied Mrs.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 167 
 
 Bingley mournfully, as if she felt it to be more than 
 doubtful that her aspiration would be fulfilled. 
 
 When his visitor had left him Miles tried to go on 
 with his work, but the thread of his thought was 
 broken, and do what he would he could not get the 
 vision of a handsome youthful face out of his mind, 
 while the sound of a passionate tenor voice rang per- 
 sistently in his ears. Like most men, he set a quite 
 disproportionate value upon youth and good looks, or 
 rather he exaggerated the extent of their influence 
 upon the feminine mind. Although he had pretended 
 to turn a deaf ear to Maria's reports of the gossip that 
 was afloat concerning Cecily, he had too rooted a belief 
 in his sister's judgment and perspicuity not to feel 
 troubled and uneasy at the recollection of her signifi- 
 cant words and looks. 
 
 " "What are you going to do this afternoon ? " 
 he inquired, as he and his wife sat at luncheon 
 together. 
 
 "Rosamund and I are going to tea at the Chro- 
 matic Club," replied Cecily. "Leonard is giving a 
 party, and he wants me to play hostess for him." 
 
 " Who is Leonard ? " asked Miles snappishly. 
 
 " Why, Leonard Bassett of course. Everybody 
 calls him Leonard."
 
 168 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " That is no reason why you should," retorted 
 her husband. "I suppose you mean the puppy with 
 the eyeglass who is always getting under one's feet at 
 your parties." 
 
 " Has he bothered you ? " asked Cecily. " I'll give 
 him a hint not to come so often." 
 
 " That won't be much use considering that we meet 
 him wherever we go," grumbled Miles. "And he 
 seems to impose upon your patience and good-nature in 
 a very unjustifiable manner. I wonder you don't get 
 tired of his eternal flow of empty chatter." 
 
 " I do very often, but then I just tell him to hold 
 his tongue. He is a harmless, well-meaning little boy, 
 and invaluable at afternoon teas, but perhaps he has 
 given us an over-dose of his society of late." 
 
 She spoke so naturally that Miles felt that his, or 
 rather the world's suspicions were manifestly absurd. 
 He thought it better to change the subject, and 
 seek another outlet for the discomfort which was 
 oppressing him. 
 
 "I have lately heard reports about your friend 
 Mrs. Marchmont that surprised me very much," he 
 remarked after a pause. 
 
 " About Rosamund," said Cecily, inwardly wonder- 
 ing what could be the matter with Miles. Had he
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 1G9 
 
 stuck fast in his book, or could he have eaten some- 
 thing that had disagreed with him? 
 
 "Yes, I am told that she is quite an emancipated 
 woman, that she holds Tory advanced views." 
 
 " Rosamund is not a shrieking sister, if that is 
 what you mean," returned Cecily. " She says that the 
 principal opinion she holds upon the woman question 
 is one that she shares with Plato, Sir Thomas More, 
 and Stuart Mill, namely that women should have the 
 same training and the same opportunity for work as 
 men. That can't be such a very new or foolish opinion 
 if it was held by three wise dead men." 
 
 " Plato, More and Mill were all cranks on some sub- 
 ject or other," said Miles shortly. 
 
 " It is odd though that they should all be cranks 
 upon the same subject." 
 
 " Pray don't get into the habit of arguing," he said 
 irritably. " It's a most disagreeable trick in a woman. 
 I had no idea that you had taken up any ideas of this 
 sort, and I hope you will drop them again as soon as 
 possible. To return to Mrs. March mont ; I hear that 
 apart from her objectionable views she has been making 
 herself very conspicuous with Spenser." 
 
 " They are great friends," said Cecily ; " and I have 
 no doubt that his companionship is a comfort to her in
 
 170 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 her unhappy life. But she is perfectly straight; I 
 would vouch for her honour with my own." 
 
 " I don't believe in platonics," returned Miles con- 
 temptuously. " Altogether Mrs. Marchmont seems to 
 be a most unsuitable friend for you, and I wish you to 
 withdraw gradually from your intimacy with her. 
 There need be no open rupture." 
 
 " Give up Eosamund ! " exclaimed his wife aghast. 
 " Oh, but I couldn't do that." 
 
 " Not when I desire it ? " 
 
 " I don't want to do anything against your wishes," 
 said Cecily ; " but I am sure that you are mistaken 
 about Kosamund Marchmont. She is a good woman, 
 and it is an honour to be her friend." 
 
 " That is a point upon which we differ," said Miles 
 coldly. "And I must ask you to be guided by my 
 judgment, which is, at least, more experienced than 
 your own. We need not discuss the question further. 
 You know my wishes, and that ought to be enough for 
 you." 
 
 Cecily hesitated. It was the first time that she had 
 come into serious conflict with her husband's will, since 
 in no previous discussion between them had any ques- 
 tion of principle been involved, and she was always 
 ready to give up her personal wishes to his. But a true
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 
 
 friendship was too precious a thing to be thrown lightly 
 away, and besides, she had an instinctive feeling that to 
 one in Mrs. Marchmont's position the confidence and 
 affection of another woman might be a help in time of 
 need. 
 
 " I have no doubt you think you are acting for the 
 best," she said at length ; " but that is because you do 
 not know all the circumstances of the case. I could 
 not be happy in an intimacy that you disapproved of, 
 and yet I could not drop an old friend without giving 
 her any reason. I will explain to Rosamund that you 
 have been misinformed about her, and that conse- 
 quently you have desired me to see less of her for the 
 present. But I shall tell her that I shall always remain 
 unchanged to her in heart, and that I hope some day 
 you will find out that you were mistaken, and then we 
 can be friends openly as before." 
 
 " You may tell her what you please so long as you 
 do as I wish," said Miles gruffly. " But I should have 
 thought it would have been less embarrassing to have 
 gradually dropped her without any scenes or explana- 
 tions." 
 
 " It would be more embarrassing to me to be thought 
 a faithless friend," returned Cecily with unconscious 
 sarcasm.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CECILY felt but little in the mood for her tea-party 
 after the just recorded conversation with her husband, 
 and the entertainment, in spite of the united efforts of 
 Mr. Bassett and his friends to make it go off well, 
 struck her as a dismal failure. 
 
 " What is the matter with you ? " asked Mrs. March- 
 mont, as they drove home together. " You look as if 
 you had a burden on your mind, and would be the bet- 
 ter for sharing it." 
 
 " Yes, I am rather bothered just now," replied Cec- 
 ily, feeling that she had better plunge at once into her 
 disagreeable task. " Some wretched mischief-maker 
 has been to Miles and filled his mind with nonsense 
 about you ; told him that you held unsound views upon 
 the woman question, and that you well, that you saw 
 too much of Mr. Spenser." 
 
 " And of course he believed it all," said Rosamund. 
 
 178
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 173 
 
 " Men always believe the worst of women. Does he 
 want to put a stop to our friendship ? " 
 
 " He wants us to be less intimate. Of course it is 
 nothing but a stupid misunderstanding, and he will 
 probably come round in time, but till then " 
 
 " Till then we are only to have a bowing acquaint- 
 ance, I suppose. Or perhaps we may be allowed to ex- 
 change remarks about the weather ; it would be diffi- 
 cult to hold unsound views on the weather question, 
 wouldn't it? Well, I'm glad you had the courage to 
 tell me, Cecily. I should not have liked to be a bone 
 of contention between you and your husband, and it 
 would have hurt me very much if you had cooled off 
 without giving any reason." 
 
 " Yes, I thought you would feel like that," said 
 Cecily. " That is the best of having to do with a large- 
 minded woman. And we can still be friends at heart, 
 can't we? You won't think me faithless or ungrate- 
 ful?" 
 
 " No, I know you too well for that," replied the 
 elder woman. " You mustn't allow the matter to 
 cause you any distress. As long as your husband is 
 good to you and makes you happy, that is all that 
 really signifies. The gain or the loss of a friend is but 
 a trifle in comparison."
 
 174 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Miles is the best husband in the whole world," 
 observed Cecily with conviction. " But I do wish he 
 hadn't a sister Maria. I believe that she is at the bot- 
 tom of all the mischief. What is it about Maria that 
 makes men like Miles believe so implicitly in her prac- 
 tical judgment and good sense. She seems to me a 
 hopeless failure in every walk of life, even as a Haus- 
 frau. She spoils her children, is always changing her 
 servants, and never gives her husband anything fit to 
 eat." 
 
 " That is easily explained. Mrs. Bingley has the 
 one thing needful in masculine eyes stupidity. When 
 a woman is entirely lacking in mind and imagination 
 the void is supposed by men to be filled up with all 
 the housewifely and maternal virtues. I believe the 
 fallacy is partly the outcome of the masculine inability 
 to distinguish between dulness and ignorance, or be- 
 tween learning and intelligence. Men never seem to 
 realise that a stupid woman may acquire the knowledge 
 of a sixth-form boy, while a clever woman may be un- 
 able to write a letter without a dictionary beside her. 
 They can't understand that an intelligent woman, 
 whether she knows much or little, has the faculty of 
 doing things well and adapting herself to circum- 
 stances, while a brainless woman is incapable of doing
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 175 
 
 anything well, from the bringing up of her children to 
 the keeping down of her bills, even though she thinks 
 and talks of nothing else." 
 
 " Like Maria," said Cecily with a sigh. " I wish 
 Miles could be persuaded to see Maria in her true 
 light." 
 
 " I am afraid he is not likely to do that. He prob- 
 ably once knew a clever woman who did not choose to 
 give her mind to the details of domestic management, 
 and with that power of generalising which, as George 
 Eliot says, gives man so great a superiority in mistake 
 over the dumb animals, he decided that all clever 
 women were bad house- wives." 
 
 " But he married me, and I am not really stupid," 
 put in Cecily naively. 
 
 " No, but you are so pretty and well-dressed that no 
 man would ever suspect you of possessing anything so 
 objectionable as brains. When Mr. Dormer fell in 
 love with you he probably thought you far less intelli- 
 gent than you really are, and the fact that you have 
 turned out such a successful little house-keeper must 
 thoroughly have confirmed him in his low opinion of 
 your intellectual powers." 
 
 " I think you are exaggerating a little. Men are 
 
 not all so prejudiced and narrow-minded." 
 12
 
 176 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 "No, not all, but the vast majority are. I speak 
 of the things that I know, and testify to that which I 
 have read in novels and heard at theatres. You have 
 been to the plays that profess to deal with the woman 
 question, and you must have noticed that the senti- 
 ments which call forth the most frantic applause from 
 the masculine part of the audience are to the effect 
 that a woman should be a woman and nothing more, 
 or a wife and mother and very little else. In short, the 
 ideal woman of the ' old man ' appears to be a female 
 animal of the human species with an instinct instead 
 of a mind, and passions in place of principles. Her 
 sympathies and interests are strictly limited to her own 
 home, and even there she proves a failure. She is 
 jealous of her husband's work, incapable of entering 
 into his pursuits, and has not sufficient sense to man- 
 age her household, nor sufficient intellect to influence 
 her children. A combination of the doll- wife and 
 cow-mother is the most popular heroine of masculine 
 fiction and drama." 
 
 Although Miles had protested to his sister that he 
 was not jealous, and had assured her that he should not 
 condescend to watch his wife, he found it impossible, 
 now that the seed of doubt had once been sown in his
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 177 
 
 mind, to adhere to his resolution. Involuntarily, his 
 eyes and ears were ever on the alert for meaning words 
 or tender looks that might be exchanged between Cecily 
 and Leonard Bassett. Little marks of attention, pass- 
 ing asides, trifling compliments, which formerly he 
 would have regarded as the small change of social 
 intercourse, now seemed magnified into gross imperti- 
 nence on the part of the young man, or shameless 
 coquetry on the part of his wife. Moreover, he became 
 uncomfortably conscious of the regularity with which 
 they met the tenor at their friends' houses, and the 
 curious coincidence that always placed him next Cecily 
 at the dinner-table. 
 
 It was true that Leonard came less often to Camden 
 Gardens than formerly, for Cecily, mindful of her 
 husband's apparent irritation against the youth, had 
 frankly told him that he wasted too much of his time 
 at her tea-parties, and ordered him not to come to the 
 house more than once a fortnight. Leonard, far from 
 being offended by this candour, was highly flattered by 
 a command which he believed to be inspired by marital 
 jealousy, for it would never have occurred to him that 
 his attentions could be unwelcome to any woman. The 
 pleasure that he took in Mrs. Dormer's society was 
 immensely enhanced by the piquant consciousness
 
 178 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 that there was just a souppon of danger in their present 
 relations. He allowed himself to look at her with 
 obtrusive sympathy, broke off in the midst of harmless 
 speeches when he saw that her husband was within 
 hearing, and spoke of her to his men friends, as " that 
 poor little Mrs. Dormer." 
 
 Cecily, for her part, found it impossible to take the 
 boy seriously, but contented herself with snubbing his 
 pretty speeches, laughing at his sentiment, and anx- 
 iously inquiring if he didn't feel well when he gazed at 
 her with (as he imagined) his whole soul in his eyes. 
 Unfortunately, Leonard's mental skin was far too 
 thickly padded with vanity to allow of his being easily 
 discouraged, and Miles, seeing lover-like glances, and 
 hearing broken snatches of low-toned conversation, 
 began to feel a terrible conviction that Maria's warning 
 had been but one more proof of her natural astuteness. 
 
 Matters came to a crisis one evening at a party at 
 the house of a famous Academician. 
 
 A series of tableaux vivants had been arranged, 
 illustrative of scenes from Browning's poems, and in 
 these Cecily had been asked to take part. The most 
 successful of all the pictures was a representation of 
 the poem, " A Toccata of Galuppi's." In the character 
 of the Venetian beauty with " cheeks so round and lips
 
 A STCDY IN PREJUDICES. 17-9 
 
 BO red," Mrs. Dormer, attired in many-hued brocade 
 and seated in a high-backed carved chair, appeared to 
 be dividing her attention between the brave music of 
 the old maestro and the soft nothings that her knight, 
 Leonard Bassett, was whispering in her ear. At an old 
 clavichord, his long fingers resting on the keys, sat a 
 picturesque white-haired figure, whose profile was rec- 
 ognised by the audience as that of a celebrated 
 pianist-composer. 
 
 This tableau roused so much enthusiasm that the 
 curtain had to be raised and lowered half a dozen times 
 before the actors could be released. 
 
 Miles, standing in the background of the darkened 
 room, occupied with his own gloomy thoughts, was 
 startled to hear his wife's name lightly uttered by a 
 smooth-faced, flat-headed boy, who stood a little in 
 front of him. 
 
 " Pretty woman Mrs. Dormer," observed the youth 
 to his neighbour in tones of condescending approval. 
 
 "Yes," said the other, a prematurely bald young 
 man, with an upper lip that curled back when he 
 spoke, and revealed a row of yellow teeth. " I should 
 think her husband finds her a handful though." 
 
 " Ah," said the first speaker, " she has been going 
 the pace with that ass Bassett."
 
 180 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Yes, that's an old affair ; it dates from before her 
 marriage. I remember seeing her lunching alone with 
 Basse tt at a restaurant in the Strand when she was Miss 
 Tregarthen. They were at the Gaiety together after- 
 wards. Apparently she still has a, penchant for her old 
 flame. But what can you expect? A woman with a 
 mouth like that would never be content with the 
 kisses of one man." 
 
 Miles moved hastily out of earshot lest he should 
 be unable to control the impulse to strike the speaker 
 to the ground, a proceeding which would only give 
 publicity to the scandal that was already busy with his 
 wife's name. His heart seemed turned to ice, though 
 his brain was on fire as he made his way slowly through 
 the crowded room to the spot where Cecily, still in her 
 Venetian dress, was standing in the middle of a little 
 group of admirers. Leonard Bassett was not among 
 them, for, thrown a little off his balance by success 
 combined with champagne, he had forgotten his usual 
 discretion, aud had offended Mrs. Dormer by expres- 
 sions of too open admiration. She had told him that 
 he was an ill-behaved boy, and ordered him not to 
 speak to her again until she gave him permission. 
 Leonard was so much upset at this rebuke that he had 
 to go and have some more champagne, after which he
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 181 
 
 felt that he should never know a happy moment until he 
 had made his peace with Mrs. Dormer. But how was 
 this to be done when she had forbidden him to speak 
 to her ? Like a flash of inspiration came the idea that 
 he might write to her, and that a tiny pencilled note 
 might be slipped into her hand when he bade her good- 
 night. She could not refuse to give him her hand, 
 especially as other people would be present, and he 
 would obey the letter of her command by remaining 
 absolutely dumb. 
 
 Tearing a leaf out of his note-book he hastily 
 scribbled a petition that Mrs. Dormer would take pity 
 on her slave, and by walking in the Park between 
 twelve and one next morning, give him an opportunity 
 of expressing his penitence for having unintentionally 
 offended her. Scarcely had he finished than he saw 
 Cecily and her husband moving towards the door. 
 Leonard followed them into the entrance-hall, and 
 taking Mrs. Dormer's cloak from the hands of a serv- 
 ant, silently placed it on its owner's shoulders. Cecily 
 dared not show any resentment against the offending 
 youth for fear of exciting her husband's suspicions, nor 
 could she withhold her hand at parting. A glow of 
 anger rose to her cheek, however, as she felt a piece of 
 paper pressed against her palm. Surrounded as they
 
 182 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 were, it was impossible for her to drop the note, but as 
 her hand closed upon it, she turned a glance of mingled 
 scorn and indignation upon her tactless admirer. Her 
 hope that her husband had not observed the little 
 episode was quickly dispelled, for no sooner were they 
 seated in the brougham than Miles grasped her wrist, 
 and said in a tone that she had never heard from him 
 before : 
 
 " Give me that note." 
 
 Cecily instantly unclosed her hand and delivered up 
 the paper. 
 
 " I don't know what is in it," she said, trying to 
 keep a quaver out of her voice. " Some nonsense from 
 that impertinent boy, I suppose." 
 
 There was no reply, and the pair drove home in a 
 silence which Cecily felt to be far worse than angry 
 speech. On entering the house, Miles went to the 
 study, followed by his wife, unfolded and read the note, 
 and then threw it into the fire. 
 
 "Won't you tell me what it was about?" asked 
 Cecily, to whom the silence was becoming intoler- 
 able. 
 
 " It contained a request from Mr. Bassett that you 
 would meet him at a certain time, in a certain place, 
 for a certain purpose," replied Miles, with crushing
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 133 
 
 courtesy. " A request that I have put it out of your 
 power to grant." 
 
 "Oh, Miles, how can you speak to me and look at 
 me like that?" exclaimed Cecily. "As if I should 
 have been likely to grant it ! Though I am certain he 
 meant no harm, and he would never have had the 
 impudence to write me that note if he had been quite 
 quite himself to-night." 
 
 "He is fortunate in having you for his cham- 
 pion," returned her husband, with an exasperating 
 bow. 
 
 " Oh, what can I say ? " cried poor Cecily in 
 despair. " Indeed, I have given him no encourage- 
 ment beyond what you know of. Till to-night no 
 word has ever passed between us that I should 
 have been ashamed for you and all the world to 
 hear." 
 
 " Possibly," retorted Miles. " Some people are de- 
 ficient in a sense of shame." 
 
 Cecily looked at him helplessly. It seemed to her 
 as if her husband had suddenly been transformed into 
 a cynical, sneering stranger, who suspected her of some 
 unknown crime, and judged her without listening to 
 her defence. Naturally she knew nothing of the 
 various causes that had contributed to feed the flame of
 
 184 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Miles's wrath, and to heighten his distrust of her 
 relations, past and present, with Leonard Bassett. 
 
 "It is difficult," went on Miles, in the same cold, ju- 
 dicial tones, " to reconcile your assertion that you have 
 never encouraged Mr. Bassett, with the fact that he has 
 dared to address you in terms which no man, not even a 
 society tenor, would venture to use to a woman from 
 whom he had received no encouragement. Possibly, 
 however, he may have been emboldened by reminis- 
 cences of his former acquaintance with you of the days 
 of Strand luncheons and Gaiety burlesques, for ex- 
 ample." 
 
 A sudden light broke in upon Cecily's bewildered 
 mind. 
 
 "Oh, I meant that I had never encouraged him 
 since I was married ? " she said, with an air of relief. 
 " I know I did flirt with him a long time ago, when I 
 was a girl. But I only once lunched and went to 
 the Gaiety with him, and that was quite an acci- 
 dent." 
 
 " I never knew until to-night that my wife was a 
 professed flirt." 
 
 " I never flirted after I knew that you loved me, 
 Miles, and I am sorry I did before ; but most of the 
 girls I knew did the same, and I had no one to tell me
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 185 
 
 that there was any harm in it. Miles," she continued, 
 after waiting for him to speak, " you know the whole 
 truth now. Won't you forgive me, and love me as you 
 did before ? I always told you that I wasn't good 
 enough for you, only you wouldn't believe it. But if 
 you will forgive me for the past I will try to be all that 
 you could desire in the future." 
 
 " I forgive you," said Miles slowly ; " but I am 
 afraid it will be long before I can forget the occurrences 
 of this evening. I must confess to feeling much 
 grieved and disappointed." 
 
 " I always knew that you would be disappointed in 
 me when you found me out. Please make up your 
 mind, once and for all, that I am a very unsatisfactory 
 person, but that with your help I may be more worthy 
 of your trust and affection some day." 
 
 She went closer to him, and held up her face to his. 
 Miles was on the point of yielding altogether when his 
 eye fell on the soft full curves of the lips that were 
 so temptingly near his own. The stranger's words, 
 " A woman with a mouth like that will never be satis- 
 fied with the kisses of one man," came back to his 
 mind, and he jerked away his head with a little gesture 
 of repulsion. His ungracious action worked an in- 
 stantaneous transformation in his wife. Her chin
 
 186 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 went up, and a look of scorn flashed into her face as 
 she said : 
 
 "You say you forgive me, but you don't seem to 
 know what forgiveness means." 
 
 Then without another word, she turned and left 
 him.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE next morning Miles was careful to avoid all 
 reference to the painful scene that had taken place the 
 night before. He had forgiven his wife with his lips 
 though not with his heart, and it was his nature to 
 brood over an injury in silence, to allow a wound to 
 rankle and fester, rather than to let the poison escape 
 in openly-expressed reproaches, while it would have been 
 impossible for him to put the matter out of his mind 
 altogether. With true masculine modesty, he had 
 always determined that when it pleased him to marry 
 his wife should be a wingless angel, pure in thought as 
 in deed, ignorant as she was innocent of evil. Cecily 
 had attracted him by her gentle, modest demeanour far 
 more strongly than by her beauty, and when he won 
 her he had congratulated himself upon having secured 
 a pearl of great price. But now his domestic treasure 
 turned out to be, apart from her sweetness and charm, 
 very much like other people's treasures, a mere every- 
 
 187
 
 188 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 day young woman who had romped and flirted, and 
 said and done foolish things without any prophetic con- 
 sciousness of the high honour that fate held in store for 
 her. It was true that even now, in face of the disillu- 
 sionment that he had just undergone, he did not really 
 doubt Cecily's devotion to himself, but he wondered 
 gloomily how long a man could depend upon the con- 
 stancy of an avowed coquette. 
 
 His jealousy was now thoroughly alight, and he 
 watched his wife's behaviour to every man she met 
 with eyes that magnified the sweetness, of each smile, 
 exaggerated the meaning of each look, and suspected 
 surreptitious notes in every hand-clasp. Although he 
 never openly accused her of encouraging the attentions 
 of the men with whom she came in contact, his irrita- 
 tion and uneasiness showed themselves either in fits of 
 sulky taciturnity, or else in contemptuous sarcasms and 
 cutting remarks which never failed to leave their sting 
 in Cecily's heart. Social intercourse to her, no less 
 than to him, began to assume the form of a daily 
 martyrdom, and dinner-parties and dances seemed the 
 most exquisite form of torture that human ingenuity 
 could devise. She bore her husband's ironical speeches 
 and reproachful silence meekly, and seldom attempted 
 any self-defence, for she honestly believed that he was
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 189 
 
 justified in his displeasure, and thought it only natural 
 that so admirable a man should be bitterly disap- 
 pointed when he discovered what a faulty imperfect 
 creature he had taken to wife. Yet just at that period 
 his harshness was very hard to bear, for Cecily, who 
 all her life had enjoyed robust health and the buoyant 
 spirits that are its natural complement, was suffering 
 from strange feelings of weakness and depression, 
 which, combined with the heart-ache caused by her 
 husband's behaviour, compelled her to realise for the 
 first time that life was not necessarily a pleasant pil- 
 grimage through a summer land, where love and hap- 
 piness sprang up like wild flowers about the traveller's 
 path. Never before had she been so keenly in need of 
 tenderness and affection, and never before had she 
 felt so lonely and forlorn. With Madge in India, her 
 friendship with Mrs. Marchmont forbidden, and her 
 husband estranged, whom had she to turn to ? It was 
 true that there were times when Miles forgot his jeal- 
 ousy and suspicions, when for a day or an hour he 
 would be his old self again, kind and loving as ever ; 
 but even then things were no longer quite the same, 
 for he and she had wandered out of Eden, and the 
 curse fell heaviest on the woman's head. 
 
 The change that had taken place in Mrs. Dormer's
 
 190 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 looks and spirits, her subdued demeanour and anxious 
 eyes, did not escape the notice of her friends. At a 
 musical " At Home " two or three weeks after the 
 night of the tableaux vivants, Mrs. Marchmont came 
 up to her, remarking, as she perceived Cecily's look of 
 alarm : 
 
 " Don't be frightened. I have just asked your 
 husband if I may talk to you, and he has given his 
 august permission." 
 
 " I am very glad," said Cecily. " It seems a long 
 time since I have seen anything of you." 
 
 " And you don't look as if you had been getting 
 on very well without me," observed Mrs. Marchmont. 
 " Is anything wrong ? You are not a bit like yourself 
 to-night." 
 
 " I have rather a headache," returned Cecily. " But 
 I think I ought to ask what is wrong with you. I 
 noticed that you were out of spirits directly you came 
 into the room." 
 
 " Oh, something is always more or less wrong with 
 me. And that reminds me, do you know that one of 
 your husband's objections to our friendship has been 
 removed ? " 
 
 " No, which is it ? Have you been getting up a 
 society for the promotion of feminine ignorance ? "
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " No, but I have lost what he would consider an un- 
 desirable friend." 
 
 " Mr. Spenser," said Cecily with a glance of sym- 
 pathy. " I am so sorry. How came that about ? " 
 
 " People have been telling him for years that he 
 ought to marry because he has an old family estate, 
 and in this country the heir is provided for the 
 property, not the property for the heir. He has lately 
 been introduced to a pretty, well-brought-up and 
 properly inane young lady of nineteen, who is sup- 
 posed to be willing to marry him if he asks her." 
 
 " And he ? " inquired Cecily. 
 
 " He is beginning to find friendship a little unsat- 
 isfying, and is decidedly flattered at the notion of 
 being loved by a rosy-cheeked girl of half his age. 
 He consulted me upon the matter, and I advised him 
 to marry the girl, because I saw that his own mind was 
 practically made up. Of course he said that he hoped 
 our friendship would continue just the same, and 
 equally of course I determined that it should come to 
 an end at once. He won't miss me at first ; he will bo 
 quite happy with his young wife for a few months, or 
 possibly a year. Afterwards, when the novelty of mar- 
 ried life has worn off, and he no longer knows whether 
 
 his companion is pretty or plain, he will suddenly dis- 
 13
 
 192 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 cover that there is nothing in her. Then he will be- 
 gin to suffer, for he is even more dependent than 
 most men upon a woman's sympathy and understand- 
 ing." 
 
 " Then he will want to come back to you." 
 
 "Very likely; but I hope I shall never do any- 
 thing to cause another woman unhappiness. The 
 poor little wife will have plenty to put up with in 
 any case, for her husband will want something of her 
 that she cannot give him. Yet he will have no one 
 to blame but himself. A man knows perfectly well 
 that pink cheeks, bright eyes, and round arms are not 
 lasting charms, and if he marries a girl for her physi- 
 cal attractions only, he has no right to complain when 
 her freshness fades, as if he were a child whose wax 
 doll had melted by the fire. A marriage of that sort 
 could only be successful if it were a septennial arrange- 
 ment, like our parliament, with the possibility of a dis- 
 solution at any moment." 
 
 "But .you?" put in Cecily, remembering her 
 friend's words, " When the man becomes platonic 
 the woman grows passionate." " You will miss him 
 dreadfully." 
 
 " Yes, there will be rather a blank in my life just 
 at first. I shall forget that I am a reasoning being
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 193 
 
 when I haven't him to talk to. But I have a large 
 subscription at Mudie's, and a slum in Whitechapel, 
 and I am learning to play the zither, and oh, iu 
 these days a woman has no time to break her heart. 
 Besides, we are going abroad very soon. My hus- 
 band's health is supposed to require the air of Monte 
 Carlo." 
 
 " Oh, I am sorry you are going away," said 
 Cecily regretfully. " Even if I may not see very 
 much of you, it is a comfort to know that you are 
 within reach, and to be able to exchange a word with 
 you now and then." 
 
 Mrs. Marchmont was not the only person who 
 noticed the difference in Mrs. Dormer's spirits. Jasper 
 Fleming was still a regular visitor at the house in Cam- 
 den Gardens, and though he had never been received 
 with more than common friendliness by Cecily, he 
 had not quite renounced the hope that some day he 
 might have the opportunity of doing her a service, even 
 if it were nothing more than a proffer of sympathy 
 or consolation in an any trouble that might come 
 upon her. He was not a villain by nature, and he had 
 no definite intention in his mind, no deliberate plot 
 against the virtue of the woman he loved. But his 
 feeling for her had been strengthened and deepened by
 
 194 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 the knowledge that she was forbidden fruit, and his 
 visits to Camden Gardens were now the chief events of 
 his existence, the keenest pleasure and excitement that 
 remained to him. "When it became evident that Cecily 
 was not so happy as formerly, when her eyes began to 
 look wistful and her mouth had taken a pathetic 
 droop, he" assured himself that it was his duty to watch 
 over her in order that he might be able to render her 
 the help and protection of a true friend should she 
 ever be in need of one. As for his reward, that was a 
 secondary matter. If he served his lady with the faith- 
 fulness and devotion of a minnesinger of old, he felt 
 that he might safely leave the recompense to her tender 
 heart and generous nature. 
 
 His opportunity came sooner than he expected. 
 The electricity of the Dormers' domestic atmosphere 
 culminated one day in a storm of unusual magnitude. 
 Miles, while searching for a reference among the vol- 
 umes of poetry in Cecily's room, chanced to take up a 
 gaily-bound book entitled " The Passions of an Hour," 
 by John William Stubbs. After a contemptuous glance 
 at its contents, he was about to replace the volume 
 when his eye was caught by some writing on the fly- 
 leaf. " With fondest love from the author. May 3rd, 
 189-," he read, or rather the words seemed to burn
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 195 
 
 themselves upon his brain. On the 3rd of May, he 
 and Cecily had been engaged just a fortnight, and 
 even then she must have had a second string to her 
 bow, a poetical Stubbs who dared to regard her with 
 fondest love. His head turned dizzy at the thought, 
 and his jealous heart ached with an almost intolerable 
 pain, yet he could not summon up courage to carry his 
 discovery to his wife, and openly accuse her of treach- 
 ery. He preferred to brood over his supposed wrong, 
 and covertly revenge himself by cold looks and sneer- 
 ing words. 
 
 For three miserable days he tortured his wife by his 
 unaccountable moroseuess, but on the fourth day a sar- 
 castic allusion to the poet Stubbs gave Cecily the clue 
 to the cause of his late displeasure. 
 
 " The poet Stubbs ! " she exclaimed, her sad little 
 face suddenly brightening. " Oh, have you been look- 
 ing at her absurd little book ? " 
 
 "Her?" returned Miles inquiringly. 
 
 " Yes. John "William Stubbs is the pseudonym of 
 an old school-fellow of mine, Milly Dasent. She is a 
 wild little Irish girl in real life, but dreadfully morbid 
 in her poetry." 
 
 " How is it that I have never heard of her before? " 
 he asked suspiciously.
 
 196 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Because she lives in the wilds of Tipperary, and we 
 don't correspond regularly. We were never really great 
 friends, but she has a way of bestowing her fondest love 
 upon the merest acquaintances." 
 
 This explanation sounded plausible enough, yet 
 Miles was not appeased. He was angry with himself 
 for having wasted so much anguish over a mere fancy, 
 angry with his wife for having unintentionally led him 
 into such an absurd mistake, and more angry still with 
 the poet Stubbs for her ridiculous pseudonym. He felt 
 sure that Cecily must have guessed the suspicion that 
 had been troubling him perhaps at that moment she 
 was laughing at him in her sleeve and goaded by the 
 intolerable smart of humiliated egoism he cast about for 
 some means of saving his dignity. The fact that this 
 could only be done by sacrificing his wife's dignity did 
 not prevent him from snatching at the first idea that 
 occurred to him. 
 
 " That is a very neatly contrived little story," he re- 
 marked sardonically. " Milly Dasent, the wilds of 
 Tipperary, a school-girl friend. I congratulate you 
 upon the excellence of your inventive powers." 
 
 "With these words he walked out of the room. Cec- 
 ily, after standing still for a few moments in bewilder- 
 ment, threw herself upon the sofa and burst into a pas-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 197 
 
 sion of tears. It was clear that Miles had lost all faith 
 in her, and that must mean that he no longer loved her. 
 Would she have to drag out the rest of her life bereft 
 of love, shrinking before stony looks, cut to the quick 
 by contemptuous tones. She could not bear it she 
 would far rather die. Death was no longer a dim far- 
 away terror ; it seemed to have crept closer to her of 
 late, and now it lurked at her very elbow. She had felt 
 so ill all that day; the light of her life was darkened, 
 the solid earth seemed to reel beneath her feet, and an 
 horrible dread overwhelmed her. 
 
 Cecily was still lying on the sofa in the chill dusk of 
 the early spring afternoon, the tears of mingled exhaus- 
 tion and misery slowly stealing down her cheeks, when 
 "Mr. Fleming" was announced. A minute later the 
 servant brought in lights, and then Jasper noticed that 
 Mrs. Dormer's eyes were red and swollen, and that 
 there were unmistakable traces of recent tears upon her 
 face. Perceiving that any attempt at concealment 
 would be useless, Cecily took out her handkerchief and 
 wiped her eyes, saying frankly : 
 
 " I was feeling moped and stupid this afternoon, so 
 I amused myself in feminine fashion by indulging in a 
 good cry about nothing." 
 
 " You never used to mope in the old days," said Jas-
 
 198 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 per, sitting down beside her, and looking into her face 
 with sympathetic eyes. " And it is not like you to cry 
 about nothing." 
 
 " Oh, yes, it is ; you don't know how foolish I am. 
 Besides, I really have a headache, and my new dress 
 doesn't fit." 
 
 " Ah, you can't turn it off like that," he said, with 
 genuine feeling in his tones. " "Won't you tell me what 
 your trouble is, and let me try to help you ? It might 
 comfort you a little to talk it over with a friend. 
 And you do look upon me as a friend, don't you, 
 Cecily?" 
 
 The kindness of his manner touched her to the 
 quick. Try as she would she could not choke down the 
 sobs that threatened to suffocate her, nor could she pre- 
 vent the tears from filling her eyes again, though she 
 turned away her head in the hope that Jasper might 
 not see them. 
 
 " You are very good," she said, trying to speak in 
 her natural tone, " and I do look upon you as a friend. 
 But there are times when we must all be alone, when 
 no one can help us." 
 
 The sight of her tears, the sound of the sob in her 
 voice, sent the blood to Jasper's head, and made him 
 for the moment forget all motives of prudence, honour,
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 199 
 
 or self-control. Seizing Cecily's two bauds in his, he 
 exclaimed passionately : 
 
 "Not the man who loves you not the man who 
 Would lay down his life to save you from a finger 
 ache? Cecily, I cannot bear to see you unhappy, to 
 stand by and do nothing to comfort you. Ah, if you 
 would only trust yourself to me you should never 
 have another moment's suffering ; I would devote my 
 whole life to making yours one long dream of bliss. 
 And it would not be wrong, darling, because it is love 
 that constitutes marriage, and not the ceremony. If a 
 man does not make his wife happy he is not really 
 married to her ; he is not her husband in the sight of 
 Heaven. But you and I, dearest " 
 
 At this point his flow of eager rapid words was cut 
 short, for Cecily wrenched her hands from his, and 
 springing up, looked round helplessly, as though ask- 
 ing the unseen powers by what cruel freak it was 
 that this undesired and terrifying declaration had been 
 brought upon her. 
 
 " Oh, what have I done ? How have I deserved 
 this ? " she cried, throwing out her arms with a ges- 
 ture of despair. " Am I really wicked, or is it some 
 horrible delusion that makes everybody think me so 
 depraved ? "
 
 200 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Cecily," said Jasper, sobered by the unexpected 
 effect of his impulsive speech. " Don't talk like that. 
 Nobody thinks you wicked, I least of all. If the 
 knowledge of my love only alarms and distresses you, 
 forget what I have said. You shall never be troubled 
 by me again." 
 
 She turned and looked him straight in the 
 face. 
 
 " I don't wish to assume any high and mighty airs 
 of virtue," she said quietly. " If I had made you re- 
 spect me in the past I suppose you would never have 
 used those words to me to-day. But if it is true that 
 love alone constitutes marriage, then I am fast married 
 to my husband, for I love him with all my heart, and 
 I would rather be miserable with him than happy 
 with any other man in the whole world." 
 
 " Then there is nothing more to be said," returned 
 Jasper, trying to assume a tone of easy indifference, 
 " except to beg your forgiveness for the annoyance my 
 stupid blunder must have caused you." 
 
 " I think there is one thing more to be said," re- 
 plied Cecily gently. " The next time you try to com- 
 fort an unhappy woman, don't offer her shame in ex- 
 change for tears." 
 
 When Miles came in, his ill-humour nearly dis-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 201 
 
 pelled by a long walk, and his conscience pricking him 
 slightly for his behaviour in the matter of the poet 
 Stubbs, he was surprised to find his wife prone upon 
 the sofa with her face turned to the wall. Contrary 
 to her usual custom, she did not spring up to welcome 
 him, or give any sign that she had noticed his en- 
 trance. 
 
 " Is anything the matter ? " he asked, advancing to 
 her side. " Aren't you feeling well ? " 
 
 " I am feeling as if as if I ought never to 
 have been born," she replied, without turning her 
 head. 
 
 It was so unlike Cecily to be sulky or resentful 
 that Miles was thoroughly frightened by her be- 
 haviour, and lost no time in trying to make his peace 
 with her. 
 
 "I am afraid you have been thinking of what I 
 said this afternoon," he murmured apologetically. 
 " But I didn't really mean it ; only when one is angry 
 and suspicious one doesn't stop to weigh one's words. 
 I know I have been rather a brute to you of late," he 
 went on, eating his humble pie with as good a grace as 
 as he could assume, " but it's all because I love you so, 
 darling, that I should like to kill every man who so 
 much as looks at you. Come, give me a kiss, and say
 
 202 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 you forgive me, and I'll try never to be disagreeable 
 again." 
 
 He put his hand under her head, and gently 
 turned her face round to his. Cecily submitted pas- 
 sively to his caress, but for the first time she did not 
 return it.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE stormy scene recorded in the last chapter 
 seemed to have cleared the air, for it was followed by 
 a lull that lasted unbroken for a week or ten days. 
 Miles, a little penitent on account of his own behav- 
 iour, and considerably disturbed by his wife's pale face 
 and listless manner, was honestly trying to control his 
 unreasoning suspicions, and to make up by his tender- 
 ness in the present for the harshness of which he had 
 been guilty in the past. Cecily, who was incapable of 
 bearing malice, responded readily to his kindness, and re- 
 joiced in her optimistic heart at the prospect of a renewal 
 of the peace and happiness of their early wedded life. 
 She made up her mind that at the first favourable 
 opportunity she would confide a new and wonderful 
 secret to Miles, a secret which, she knew, would 
 cause him intense gratification, and, in all probability, 
 render their relations more permanently stable and 
 harmonious 
 
 203
 
 204 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Meanwhile Jasper Fleming was endeavouring, not 
 very successfully, to forget his disappointment, and 
 stamp out his passion for Cecily. 
 
 The knowledge that she really loved her husband, 
 the destruction of his vague but long-cherished hope, 
 left a blank in his life which rendered him moody, 
 restless and miserable. He was unable to sleep, to eat 
 with any appetite, or paint to any purpose, and his 
 sister, who depended upon his humours for her sun- 
 shine or her gloom, felt as though another and a deeper 
 shadow had been cast upon her joyless life. Jasper 
 had confided nothing to her of his recent adventure, 
 bat Dulcibella had no difficulty in guessing the cause 
 of his depression. Although she had no scruples 
 about teasing and scolding her brother herself, she 
 seldom allowed any one else to vex him with impunity, 
 and she believed that Cecily had trifled with Jasper's 
 feelings out of deliberate vanity and wantonness. 
 
 " That little coquette," she said to herself, " like all 
 pretty women she thinks that she has a perfect right 
 to make men miserable, that they are only paying a 
 fair price for the privilege of gazing upon her pink 
 cheeks and simpering lips. I hope she will be made a 
 fool of herself some day, and then she will learn what a 
 heartache feels like."
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 205 
 
 The invalid was left much alone just then, and 
 during the long weary hours she lay and meditated in 
 impotent bitterness upon the injustice of Fate, and the 
 folly of those who believed that the children of men 
 enjoyed any degree of equality. Why, she asked her- 
 self, over and over again, should some people have 
 unbroken prosperity, whether they deserved it or not, 
 while others dragged out the slow years in shadow and 
 solitude? In the midst of her musings a strange 
 thought grew up in her mind. Providence, when 
 left to itself, took no trouble to ensure equality in the 
 fortunes of men and women, but Providence might be 
 assisted in its operations, might be given a little 
 impetus in the right direction. As she pondered 
 over these things, a solution of the problem sug- 
 gested itself, and a resolve slowly took shape in the 
 poor warped brain. The vision of Cecily's happy 
 lot, brimming over, as Dulcie believed, with love and 
 brightness, rose before her eyes, and side by side 
 with it the vision of her own maimed and blighted 
 life, as well as of her brother's aching heart and 
 disappointed hopes. Something must be done to 
 rectify matters, to give the spoiled child of fortune 
 a taste of the suffering which she had so wantonly 
 inflicted upon others, and Dulcie determined that
 
 206 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 she would take upon herself the office of executioner 
 of justice. 
 
 She was confirmed in her resolution next morning 
 when a new doctor who had been called in to see her 
 recommended that she should try some lately discovered 
 German baths, which were supposed to have a won- 
 derful effect upon nervous ailments. Jasper, in his 
 feverish restlessness, had jumped at the idea of a 
 thorough change, and insisted that they should start 
 at a few days' notice for Schleppenbad. Dulcie was 
 willing to face the fatigues of a long journey and the 
 discomforts of a foreign hotel in the hope that change 
 of scene might enable Jasper to forget his woes, but 
 before she left England she intended to carry out her 
 little project of righteous vengeance. On the evening 
 that the date of departure was finally arranged, Jasper 
 being at his club, she had herself wheeled into 
 the studio, where she hunted through her brother's 
 portfolios for his charcoal sketches of Cecily's head. 
 Choosing two or three of the most successful, she 
 returned to her own room, and ordering the maid to 
 bring her a board and drawing materials, she was soon 
 busily at work. 
 
 Three or four mornings later, while Miles was sit- 
 ting at work in his study, a large flat parcel was
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 207 
 
 brought to him, addressed in printing characters. He 
 laid it aside while he finished a sentence, then carelessly 
 cut the string and unfolded the paper covering. His 
 indifference turned to stony horror, however, at the 
 sight of the contents, which consisted of a spirited 
 chalk drawing, entitled " The Artist and his Model. 
 Sketched from the Life." 
 
 Miles sat staring blankly at the picture for a few 
 moments, then suddenly springing to his feet he seized 
 the drawing, and rushed to the morning-room where he 
 knew that he should find his wife occupied with her 
 accounts. 
 
 " What has passed between you and Fleming ? " he 
 demanded in a voice that he scarcely recognised as his 
 own. 
 
 Cecily turned quickly round, and catching sight of 
 her husband's livid cheeks and burning eyes, said to 
 herself : 
 
 " He knows everything and believes the worst." 
 
 A strange calmness came over her, the calmness of 
 one who has lost all, and has nothing more to hope for. 
 She felt no fear of her husband, but she knew that it 
 would be impossible to make him understand how 
 much or how little she had been to blame, and she did 
 
 not intend to plead vainly with him for forgiveness. 
 
 H
 
 208 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Mr. Fleming is not coming here again," she said 
 quietly. 
 
 " You have forbidden him the house, have you ? " 
 cried Miles with an angry laugh. " Wasn't that rather 
 like locking the stable door after the horse was stolen ? 
 I don't want to know what precautions you have taken 
 to ensure your present safety; I want to know what 
 passed between you and Fleming before you married 
 me. Tell the truth, if you can ; I am sick of lies and 
 subterfuges." 
 
 " I am going to tell you the truth," replied Cecily. 
 " You can believe me or not as you please. I sat to Mr. 
 Fleming as you know, and he gave me lessons in return. 
 He was very kind and amusing, and I liked him very 
 much, and as we got to know each other better he 
 we were often very silly. We played and talked non- 
 sense together, and, I suppose, behaved very badly, but 
 I thought there was no harm in flirting in those days." 
 
 " I had no idea I had married a woman of such wide 
 experience," observed Miles. " I should like to know 
 how many favoured lovers you have in the background. 
 I presume that Fleming treated you like a lover. Did 
 he kiss you ? " 
 
 " Once or twice." 
 
 Miles gave another laugh.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 209 
 
 " Lord ! what exquisite fools men are. I flattered 
 myself that I had won a girl as pure and truthful as the 
 day, and she turns out to be a thorough-paced coquette, 
 who has changed her lovers as she changed her gloves, 
 and an accomplished liar into the bargain." 
 
 " I have only lied to you once," said Cecily steadily, 
 " and that was because I loved you so that neither truth 
 nor anything else seemed of any consequence compared 
 with the fear of losing you." 
 
 " Have any other men kissed you ? " he demanded. 
 
 " Two or three at dances," she confessed, as though 
 the circumstances were a partial justification of the 
 offence. 
 
 " After supper, I presume," said Miles, with a grin 
 like that of an angry dog. " Now will you kindly pro- 
 ceed with the narrative of your last romance, if it is 
 your last. You encouraged your lover to continue his 
 attentions to you at my house." 
 
 " I did not encourage him. I allowed him to come 
 to the house like any other acquaintance because I be- 
 lieved that he had quite got over his fancy for me." 
 
 " And afterwards you found that you were mis- 
 taken?" 
 
 " Yes ; but of course that was the end of our friend- 
 ship."
 
 210 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " I should have thought it was rather late in the 
 day for scruples of delicacy, considering the terms of 
 familiarity upon which you had stood in the past," 
 sneered Miles. 
 
 As his wife made no reply to his taunt, he suddenly 
 produced the drawing, and held it up before her eyes. 
 
 " I was alluding to the days when this sketch was 
 taken," he said. 
 
 Cecily gave a gasp of astonishment, and then, much 
 to her own surprise, broke into a fit of nervous 
 laughter, the result of long pent-up emotion and 
 physical exhaustion. But Miles, regarding this be- 
 haviour as a proof that she was even more hardened 
 than he had imagined, exclaimed indignantly : 
 
 " Woman, are you so lost to all sense of shame that 
 you can laugh at your own infamy ? " 
 
 " Infamy ! Miles," cried Cecily, with a little 
 hysterical giggle. " You can't really believe that I 
 sat to Mr. Fleming in that costume. It is a cruel 
 hoax, and I believe I know who is the author of it." 
 
 " I hope it may be a hoax," said Miles, " though of 
 course I cannot any longer place reliance on your word. 
 But the sketch, whether it were taken from the life or 
 no, has done its part ; it has enabled me to convict you 
 out of your mouth. I knew nothing about your rela-
 
 A STDDY IN PREJUDICES. 211 
 
 tions with Fleming when I came into this room, and 
 now I know a good deal, though I dare not hope every- 
 thing." 
 
 There was a pause. 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " asked Cecily at 
 length. 
 
 " I think I had better go abroad for a time, for I 
 really cannot stand the resurrection of any more lovers 
 just at present," he replied. " I don't accuse you of 
 having done anything that would justify a separation in 
 the eyes of the world, for women like you are generally 
 careful to keep within the letter of the law. It amuses 
 you to dance on the edge of a precipice, but it is self- 
 interest, not virtue, that keeps you from toppling over. 
 Personally, I have more respect for the woman who falls 
 a victim to the warmth of her passions than for a re- 
 spectable, cold-blooded coquette. I fully admit your 
 legal claim upon me, but when love and confidence 
 have been destroyed, it seems to me a mere farce for a 
 married couple to remain under the same roof. You 
 can stay here if you please, or you can go elsewhere, 
 and in either case I will make you a suitable allowance. 
 Some day when I have got over the shock of the 
 discovery of your real character, it may be possible for 
 me to contemplate a renewal of our life together."
 
 212 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Cecily did not answer at once. She was debating 
 within herself whether or no she should tell Miles her 
 secret. She had intended to confide it to him that 
 very day, if he continued to be in a kind and affection- 
 ate mood. She had really looked forward to forgetting 
 her personal fears in the knowledge of his pride, his 
 happiness and his tender solicitude for herself. But 
 now all was changed, for the news would cause him 
 more embarrassment than pleasure. He would control 
 his anger, no doubt, conceal his disdain, and perhaps 
 decide to remain with her, but he would be actuated by 
 pity, not by love. No, she felt that it would be impos- 
 sible to make the revelation in that miserable moment. 
 Later on, when they were far apart, tidings would reach 
 him that would surely soften his heart towards his 
 unsatisfactory wife, and bring him back to her side 
 with pardon and tenderness in his heart. But for the 
 present she could not endure the thought of remaining 
 in London, in the sight of all her friends a forlorn and 
 deserted wife. 
 
 " I would rather go away somewhere," she said. " I 
 suppose I must take some of your money, as you 
 allowed me to give mine to Kate and Peter? But I 
 can manage with very little." 
 
 " I shall give you the allowance suitable to my
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 213 
 
 wife," he replied, seating himself at the writing-table. 
 He wrote a cheque for a hundred pounds, and handed 
 it to her. " I will tell my bankers to send you the 
 same quarterly if you will let them have your address," 
 he said. " Of course you understand that the allowance 
 will only be continued as long as I have reason to 
 believe that you are living in a manner of which I 
 should approve." 
 
 If Cecily had had only herself to think of she would 
 have refused the money thus offered, but the recollec- 
 tion of her secret forced her to subdue her pride, and 
 she took the cheque without a word. 
 
 " You can tell your friends what story you please," 
 said Miles. " I shall not contradict it. I daresay the 
 world would consider my conduct absurdly fastidious 
 and over-strained if it knew my true reason for leaving 
 you. But I think differently from the world in these 
 matters, and I am convinced that in the present state 
 of my feeling towards you it would not be for the real 
 good of either of us if we remained together." 
 
 "I have no doubt you are right," replied Cecily, 
 speaking as dispassionately as if she were discussing the 
 case of a third person. " Xow that you have lost your 
 love for and trust in me you would only be miserable if 
 we went on living together, and you would make me
 
 214 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 miserable too. I can quite understand your feeling, for 
 it was my faith in your goodness that first drew me to 
 you, and made my love for you so satisfying and com- 
 plete. I forgot that our marriage might not be a fair 
 bargain for you, that there was such a thing as a moral 
 mesalliance. You seemed so ready to take me with all 
 my faults, so willing to make allowance for all my 
 weakness, that I I had not the strength to throw 
 away what looked like a chance of perfect happiness." 
 
 Truth rang out of every word, candour shone from 
 her unclouded eyes. Miles, as he looked and listened, 
 felt his pride weakened, his resolution wavering, even 
 his belief in the evidence of his own senses shaken. 
 
 " You need not hurry to go," he said, realising that 
 his only chance of safety lay in flight. " I shall take a 
 room at the club for a few days and only come back to 
 pack up." 
 
 " No, no, I would rather go at once," cried Cecily, 
 across whose mind flitted visions of unaired sheets 
 which would give Miles rheumatism, or a feather-bed 
 which would give him nightmares. " It is only eleven 
 o'clock ; I shall be gone by three. So if you come 
 home to dinner you will find no one here." 
 
 " As you please," he said, turning to leave the room, 
 but not trusting himself to bid his wife farewell.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 215 
 
 " Any letters that you may send here will be forwarded 
 to me, and when I know your address I will let you 
 hear from time to time how I am getting on." 
 
 "Thank you," said Cecily. "And, Miles," she 
 called, before he had time to reach the door, " you will 
 take care of yourself, won't you ? Don't go into dan- 
 gerous places, or run any unnecessary risks." 
 
 " You needn't be anxious about me," returned her 
 husband, as he finally made his escape. " No harm 
 ever comes to people who have nothing left to live 
 for." 
 
 Cecily felt tempted to cry after him, " You may 
 have more to live for than you think," but she con- 
 trolled the impulse, and a moment later she heard the 
 hall door slam, and realised that she was that most 
 lonely of all created beings a deserted wife.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 WHEN" Cecily understood that Miles had really 
 gone, that there was no looking back, no relenting in 
 his heart, she went to her room, and began to pack 
 such of her belongings as she desired to take with her 
 in a dull mechanical sort of way. It was not until the 
 packing was finished, a short letter of explanation 
 written to Kate, and a cab whistled for, that she re- 
 membered it would be necessary for her to fix upon 
 her destination 
 
 " Where to, ma'am ? " asked the parlour-maid, 
 whose curiosity about this sudden departure had not 
 been satisfied by her mistress's explanation that she 
 had been called unexpectedly into the country. 
 
 " Where to ? " Cecily stared vaguely for a moment 
 in the woman's face, and then uttered the only 
 words that occurred to her, " To Paddington Station." 
 
 On the occasion of their journey to Ilfracombe, the 
 only time that Miles and she had gone out of town 
 
 216
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 217 
 
 since their return from their wedding-tour, they had 
 started from Paddington Station, and it was natural, 
 perhaps, that in this moment of misery and bewilder- 
 ment the name should suggest itself to her mind. 
 Before the cab had proceeded far, however, she recol- 
 lected that if she wished to keep her whereabouts a 
 secret, it would be as well to cash her cheque before 
 leaving town. Accordingly, she ordered the cabman to 
 drive to the West End branch of her husband's bank, 
 and, having accomplished her business, she resumed 
 her journey to Paddington. Arrived at the station, 
 she found her way somehow to the booking-office, but 
 here another difficulty presented itself. To what place 
 should she take a ticket? Ilfracombe was the only 
 name she could recollect, and why not Ilfracombe as 
 well as any other place? There, at least, she would 
 find warmth, sunshine, and beautiful scenery, to say 
 nothing of bitter-sweet memories of happier things. 
 She took a ticket to Ilfracombe ; an express, she was 
 told, would start at three-thirty, and it was already past 
 three. 
 
 For the next five or six hours the cast-off wife sat in 
 the corner of a carriage, her eyes and mind alike a 
 blank. People got in and out, but she did not notice 
 them ; one or two spoke to her, but she did not know
 
 218 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 what she answered them. Occasionally the name of a 
 station brought a gleam of consciousness. Here Miles 
 had bought a book for her, there he had brought her a 
 cup of tea, and here again they had started guiltily 
 apart when the guard appeared at the window. When 
 at length the train ran into Ilfracombe she sat still in 
 her corner until a porter came to tell her that the ter- 
 minus was reached. Seeing that she looked strange 
 and ill, he managed to find her luggage with such 
 vague description as she could give him, and put her 
 into a cab, when, for the third time, came the puzzling 
 question : 
 
 " Where to ? " 
 
 " To Combe Cottage, Bideford Road," replied Cecily, 
 in whose brain the address seemed to have stuck to the 
 exclusion of all else. She recollected the bill " Apart- 
 ments to Let " in the window, and it being then only 
 the beginning of May, she thought there was a fair 
 chance that one room, at least, would be vacant. Nor 
 was she disappointed. When the cab stopped at the 
 door of the cottage a tall middle-aged woman came out, 
 followed by a little maid, and received the weary trav- 
 ellers There was no difficulty about rooms ; the cottage 
 was empty at present, but unrecommended lodgers were 
 expected to pay a week's rent in advance. Cecily paid
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 219 
 
 the sum demanded, and then begged to be shown 
 straight to her room. She was tired and poorly, she 
 explained, and wanted nothing but a cup of tea and a 
 good night's rest. 
 
 The first few days in her abode passed with Cecily 
 like an uneasy dream. Afterwards she had vague mem- 
 ories of aimless strolls about the town, which, somehow, 
 always led to the hotel where she and Miles had passed 
 the night, of long hours spent in listless idleness and 
 unrefreshing sleep, of repulsive-looking meals that ap- 
 peared only to be sent away again, of an occasional 
 snappish remark or suspicious question from her land- 
 lady, Miss Susan Redd. As the days passed on, how- 
 ever, thought and consciousness began to return, the 
 bruised heart reviving like a trampled plant under the 
 healing influences of warm sunshine and pure air. 
 Cecily still possessed all the recuperative force of youth ; 
 she was feeling better physically than she had done for 
 some time past, and she was insensibly cheered and 
 soothed by the beauty of her surroundings and the 
 charm of the May weather. She began to take herself 
 to task, to tell herself that in her circumstances it was 
 criminal to fret, and that there was no occasion for 
 despair. She reminded herself that Miles, in spite of 
 his natural indignation and disappointment, had not
 
 220 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 cast her off for ever, and she resolved to pass her period 
 of probation in a way that would be likely to commend 
 itself to his mind when he should be pleased to receive 
 her back into favour again. 
 
 She spent a great part of the long warm days out 
 upon the cliffs, now drinking in the beauty of the 
 scenes around her, now trying to transfer some of them 
 to paper. Sometimes she brought out a book from the 
 library, making pathetic endeavours to choose works 
 that would be likely to strengthen and improve her 
 character, and that yet were not what her husband 
 would consider too advanced for feminine perusal. At 
 home there was the finest and most delicate of needle- 
 work to be done, stitching so elaborate that it required 
 brain as well as eyes and fingers, and served to distract 
 her thoughts from herself, her cares and anxieties. In 
 spite of the loneliness of her lot she was not actually 
 unhappy during those long quiet weeks. She was lead- 
 ing a healthy, innocent life, she had plenty of occupa- 
 tion in the present, and she had hope for the future. 
 Even the ordeal that lay before her, and that once 
 would have filled her with terror, she now looked for- 
 ward to with cheerful courage, much as a good Catholic 
 might look forward to the fires of purgatory, knowing 
 them to be the only means of reaching the joys of
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 221 
 
 heaven. Wishing to keep her hiding-place a secret for 
 the present, Cecily had given her name as Mrs. Miles, 
 and had not sent her address even to her sister. If 
 her child died she was determined to take no more 
 of her husband's money, but to go and live with Kate, 
 who, she felt sure, would be able to put her in the way 
 of earning her bread. But if it lived then she would 
 take it to Miles, and he would freely forgive her for the 
 sake of the innocent little creature, who would be the 
 unconscious means of their reconciliation, and the 
 pledge of the renewal of their love. There were mo- 
 ments in which she could almost see Miles's expression 
 of incredulous delight at the gift she had brought him, 
 almost feel his arms round her in loving pardon, 
 mingled perhaps with just a touch of penitence. And 
 she would use no reproach to him more bitter than Imo- 
 gen's gentle " Why did you throw your wedded lady 
 from you ? " She fancied she could hear him reply, as 
 she clung round his neck : " Hang there like fruit, my 
 soul, till the tree die." 
 
 Gradually she fell into the habit of living almost 
 entirely in the past or the future, for companionship 
 in the present she had none. Miss Rhoda, the younger 
 of the two ladies of the house, had been away since 
 Cecily's arrival, nursing her invalid mother, and Miss
 
 222 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Susan's society was not an unmixed pleasure. Once or 
 twice Cecily had asked her landlady questions about 
 her old home, in the hope of hearing incidentally 
 something about Miles, but she had never been grati- 
 fied in this desire. Miss Redd seemed to be suffering 
 from a chronic sense of injury, and to have a perma- 
 nent quarrel with Fate ; consequently, she had nothing 
 pleasant to tell. Of course she had seen better days, 
 but the better days themselves were a source of griev- 
 ance, in that they had departed. 
 
 " Ah, I never thought I should come down to doing 
 a menial's work in another person's house," she said 
 one day with an indignant sniff. " It seems going 
 against Xature to make the elder sister servant to the 
 younger." 
 
 " But I thought you were joint-owners of the 
 house," said Cecily. " I understood that you were 
 my landlady." 
 
 " Oh dear me, no, I'm only the slavey," returned 
 Miss Susan with what she believed to be cutting sar- 
 casm. " It's Rhoda's house, and Rhoda is mistress 
 here. I never did anything but lead a steady, hard- 
 working life on the farm, looking after the dairy and 
 attending to father and mother. I never made anyone 
 miserable, nor brought misfortune on my home. So,
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 223 
 
 of course, I don't deserve to have a house and furniture, 
 and servants under me. I couldn't expect it." 
 
 Cecily was puzzled by this speech, which was not 
 the first of the kind she had heard from the lips of 
 Miss Eedd, but it was so obviously inspired by envy 
 and malice that she did not choose to ask for an ex- 
 planation. She felt certain that she should like Miss 
 Rhoda, a conviction that was strengthened by the study 
 of a photograph of the younger Miss Redd which stood 
 on the parlour mantel-piece, and which represented a 
 comely-looking woman, with honest eyes, and a kindly, 
 capable expression. Cecily often found herself wishing 
 that Rhoda would come home; it would be such a 
 comfort to have a nice, sensible woman in the house. 
 
 Miss Susan was not without her curiosity about 
 her lodger, who was evidently a lady and possessed 
 of means, but who appeared to have no friends, and 
 never received a letter. 
 
 " I suppose you'll be expecting your husband back 
 before long, Mrs. Miles?" she remarked one evening 
 as she was clearing away the tea things. 
 
 " I don't know not just yet," stammered Cecily, 
 flushing crimson under the other's look and glance. 
 " He's gone abroad, you see, and I can't tell how long 
 
 he may be detained." 
 15
 
 224 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " He don't seem to write often." 
 
 " No, I haven't heard from him since I have been 
 here. He is travelling in out-of-the-way parts, and I 
 don't expect a letter at present." 
 
 " H'm, it's a queer time to choose to travel in out-of- 
 the-way parts," observed Miss Redd, with a glance at 
 the little garment in Cecily's hand. 
 
 " He was obliged to go ; he couldn't help him- 
 self," murmured Cecily. " But he will be coming 
 back some day, and I keep my spirits up looking 
 forward to that." 
 
 When Cecily had been rather more than a month at 
 Combe Cottage a gleam of interest was introduced into 
 her uneventful life by the appearance of her husband's 
 novel. She could not resist committing the extrava- 
 gance of sending a guinea to a press-cutting-agency 
 for notices of the book, and these, as they arrived, 
 were a source of unqualified delight. The critics were 
 almost unanimous in declaring that in his latest work 
 Miles Dormer had made a great step in advance, that 
 he might now take his place in the front rank of the 
 novelists of the day. Several of the reviewers ex- 
 pressed their surprise at the hitherto unsuspected 
 capabilities of pathos and passion suddenly revealed by 
 the author, as well as their admiration at his exquisite
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 225 
 
 study of feminine character as depicted in the per- 
 son of his heroine. Cecily laughed and cried as she 
 read and re-read the notices. She knew that she her- 
 self had been the inspiration of the book, and that 
 though Miles had proved himself so woefully mistaken 
 in his estimate of her character, yet that she, or rather 
 his idea of her, was the model from which the much-be- 
 lauded heroine had been drawn. When she saw that 
 by his latest book, Miles's reputation as a successful 
 novelist was held to be thoroughly established, she was 
 able to console herself with the thought that she had 
 brought him something better than pain and dis- 
 appointment. His love for her, based on illusion 
 though it were, had taught him secrets that he had 
 never known before.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 AFTER the parting scene with his wife Miles had 
 dashed out of the house, not caring whither he went 
 nor what he did so long as he was not reminded of the 
 unworthy woman who bore his name. After lunching 
 at his club, the happy thought occurred to him that 
 he would call on Miss Nora Vavasour, the actress who 
 had played juvenile lead in his last piece, and who, at 
 rehearsals, had made a determined effort to get up a 
 flirtation with the author of the play, an effort which 
 he had as resolutely discouraged. But now, if Miss Va- 
 vasour chose to renew the hitherto one-sided flirtation, 
 she should find him ready to meet her more than half- 
 way. As it happened, the actress was at home, taking 
 a nap before the labours of the evening, but she was 
 quickly wide-awake when Mr. Dormer was announced, 
 for she was convinced that, heavy in hand as she had 
 always found him, it was well worth her while to be on 
 good termfe with so successful a playwright. Miss Va- 
 
 226
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 227 
 
 vasour could still boast of an effective " stage presence," 
 but on a bright May afternoon even pink blinds could 
 scarcely disguise the fact that she was no longer physi- 
 cally adapted for juvenile lead. She was extremely 
 vivacious and friendly, however, and Miles did his best 
 to keep pace with her chaff, and respond to her play- 
 fulness. She struck him as unusually vulgar and 
 stupid, and he was aware that her reputation was none 
 of the best, but he told himself savagely that women 
 were all alike, and that the apparently refined and in- 
 nocent were just as worthless as the rowdy and world- 
 worn. Miles had not much notion of flirting, but he 
 astonished and rather frightened Miss Vavasour by 
 sitting very close to her on the sofa, staring into her 
 face with strained, feverish eyes, and paying her sar- 
 donically extravagant compliments. She contented 
 herself, however, with rapping his fingers with a tea- 
 spoon when he tried to take her hand, and parrying 
 warmer attentions with the sofa-cushion, and Miles, 
 though he was not enjoying himself at all, fancied that 
 in some inexplicable way he was taking his revenge 
 upon Cecily. 
 
 When at length he rose to say good-bye, he felt 
 that he was on sufficiently familiar terms with his hos- 
 tess to attempt to snatch a farewell kiss. Miss Vava-
 
 228 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 
 
 sour's golden head, when she stood up, was nearly on a 
 level with his own, and as he bent towards her, his 
 purpose plainly visible in his eyes, she showed no signs 
 of alarm. But just at the critical moment, a stream of 
 sunshine stole from behind the pink blinds and lit up 
 the actress's face, with its canvas-like skin, red with- 
 ered lips, and elderly chin. The remembrance of 
 Cecily's soft cheeks and roseleaf lips came between 
 him and the face so near his own, and much to Miss 
 Vavasour's surprise he suddenly relinquished his pur- 
 pose, and with a muttered farewell, hurried out of the 
 room. After a good dinner at his club, with consider- 
 ably more than his usual allowance of wine, Miles al- 
 lowed himself to be carried off by a youthful-minded 
 friend to spend the evening at a popular music-hall, 
 where he was assured that the entertainment provided 
 would " make his hair curl." Here he tried to find 
 amusement in the songs, tried to take an interest in the 
 dancing, tried to admire some of the beauties in the 
 promenade, and failed in all three attempts, his heart 
 and mind remaining, against his will, resolutely faith- 
 ful to his wife. The performance was followed by a 
 little supper, and then Miles realised that he would 
 have to go home no, not home, only back to his 
 house, for he remembered that Cecily had told him he
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 229 
 
 would find no one there. And so it was. When he 
 let himself in he went slowly up to her room, half- 
 hoping, half -fearing to see a curly head on the pillow. 
 But the room was empty, and there was no sign of its 
 former occupant except a few scattered trifles, a cut- 
 glass bottle of eau-de-cologne, a scrap of lace hanging 
 out of a half-open drawer, and a pair of tiny scarlet 
 slippers under the dressing-table. He took up one of 
 the slippers and looked at it curiously. Here was the 
 little half-worn thing lying safely in his hand, while 
 the precious foot it once contained had wandered he 
 knew not whither, banished by his own decree. When 
 he went into his dressing-room the slipper was still in 
 his hand, and scarce conscious of what he did, he 
 locked it away in the drawer that contained his 
 favourite photograph of Cecily and a curl of her 
 hair. 
 
 The next morning Miles awoke to the consciousness 
 that he was alone and thoroughly miserable. His 
 righteous indignation was already beginning to fade 
 away, and leave an aching void in its place. For the 
 first time in ten months he breakfasted by himself, and 
 decided that the most forlorn being in the whole world 
 was a man pouring out his own tea. Unable to bear 
 the sight of the empty place opposite to him, he took
 
 230 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 up the paper and glanced over its contents. Among 
 the smaller items of news was a paragraph which stated 
 that Mr. Jasper .Fleming, A. R. A., had left England 
 for the Continent, and therefore would be unable to 
 take the chair at the annual dinner of the Society of 
 Painters in Pastel. Miles threw down the paper with 
 an exclamation of annoyance. He had intended to go 
 to the artist's house that very morning, and demand 
 the meaning of the drawing that had been sent to him. 
 He would have been glad of the opportunity of work- 
 ing off his wrath upon a legitimate object, but now it 
 appeared that this satisfaction was denied to him. It 
 was not of much consequence after all, he reflected, 
 since Cecily's confession, and not the drawing, was the 
 real cause of his separation from her. 
 
 He decided to prepare at once for a long-projected 
 tour in Norway. There, amid new scenes and fresh 
 faces, he would have nothing to remind him of the 
 woman who had caused him so much suffering, but 
 everything to distract his thoughts and occupy his 
 mind. No doubt he would be able to pick up plenty 
 of local colour, and he had some idea of laying the 
 scene of his next book in Scandinavia. These reso- 
 lutely cheerful thoughts were interrupted from time to 
 time by a twinge at his heart, which made him catch
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 231 
 
 his breath and clench his hands to prevent himself 
 from groaning aloud in agony. 
 
 He was disturbed in his preparations by the an- 
 nouncement that Mr. Bingley had called to see him. 
 Miles, fancying that the news of his domestic misfor- 
 tunes had already reached the Bingleys, and that his 
 brother-in-law had come to remonstrate or condole with 
 him, stiffened his neck and went down to his study 
 with the determination to snub any such ill-judged in- 
 tentions. He found Mr. Bingley sitting on the edge 
 of the most uncomfortable chair in the room, his nose 
 slightly red, and his eyes more watery than ever. He 
 did not look as if he required snubbing, and Miles 
 greeted him with contemptuous urbanity. 
 
 " I have come," said the little man with impressive 
 solemnity, " to consult you upon a very serious matter 
 a matter that affects the happiness and well-being of 
 my five children no less than of myself." 
 
 " I shall be very glad if I can be of any service to 
 you," returned Miles, wondering what could be wrong 
 with the domestic affairs of a man who rejoiced in the 
 possession of a household treasure like Maria. 
 
 " Miles," said Mr. Bingley, with the pathetic dig- 
 nity of one who has drunk the cup of suffering to its 
 bitterest dregs, " I am a very miserable man."
 
 232 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Miles was on the point of saying, " What, you too ! " 
 but he controlled the impulse, and answered gently : 
 
 " Tell me what is wrong with you." 
 
 " I can tell you in one word," said his brother-in- 
 law. " Maria is what is wrong with me. Yes, I don't 
 wonder you look surprised. I have never told you what 
 I have suffered from her before because she is your sis- 
 ter, but I don't see why you should not hear the truth 
 about her for once ; I have held my tongue long 
 enough. Maria has not only ruined my life that is 
 no great matter but she is ruining the lives of my 
 children as well, and that is more than I can stand." 
 
 " Maria ! " gasped Miles, his own troubles com- 
 pletely driven out of his head for the moment by this 
 astounding revelation. " But I always thought " 
 
 " Oh, yes, you always thought that Maria was a do- 
 mestic paragon because she talked of nothing but her 
 children and servants," said the other with a touch of 
 scorn. " It is curious how easily the cleverest man may 
 be taken in by the stupidest woman. Maria is like 
 those pseudo-pious people who are always talking about 
 religion but who never practise it. Do you know that 
 I've never had a comfortable meal in my own home 
 since I married ? Do you know that we don't keep a 
 servant on an average more than three months? Do
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 333 
 
 you know that I have been made to quarrel with all my 
 old friends, that I have had to scheme and intrigue like 
 the hero of a Palais Royal farce to get a few hours to 
 myself, that all my manhood, such as it is, has been 
 sapped away, by living for fifteen years with a feminine 
 fool? But all that is nothing compared with the misery 
 of seeing her disastrous influence on my children." 
 
 " But what has she done ? What are you talkiug 
 about?" asked Miles, still scarcely able to believe his 
 ears. 
 
 " That's what I am going to tell you. You know I 
 always had domestic tastes, and that I married Maria 
 chiefly because I thought that having no apparent in- 
 tellect and no education worthy of the name, she was 
 certain to prove an excellent wife and mother. Like 
 you and most other men I believed that a clever woman 
 was likely to play the devil in a home. Well, with 
 Maria I have never had a home ; she has been no com- 
 panion or helpmate to me, and now she is destroying 
 my children, body and soul. You will hardly believe 
 it, but I discovered the other day that she had been 
 putting Molly, who is just twelve, into corsets. She 
 had forbidden the child to tell me, but I found the 
 little thing crying one evening, and I coaxed her to tell 
 me what was the matter. I give you my word, Dormer,
 
 234 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 the infernal things were laced tight, and there was the 
 mark of the whalebone in red lines on Molly's flesh. I 
 spoke to Maria as quietly as I could, and explained to 
 her the fearful mischief she might cause, in language 
 that you would have thought a child could understand, 
 but it was no use. She answered all my arguments with 
 the assertion that a mother must know best how to dress 
 her daughter, and that she could not allow Molly to 
 grow up with a figure like a sack. That was the finish- 
 ing stroke ; but there are other things as bad or worse. 
 The two nursery children are taught to be greedy, de- 
 ceitful, and disobedient, and as their nurse is changed 
 about once in two months they never have any proper 
 discipline. Maria can only manage them by bribing 
 them with sweets that ruin their teeth and their diges- 
 tions. The elder ones have improved under Miss Jef- 
 freys, but now Miss Jeffreys is to be dismissed because 
 Maria thinks that I am too polite to her. Good God ! 
 Dormer, I wonder I haven't been driven out of my 
 senses." 
 
 " I had no idea of all this," said Miles, quite over- 
 whelmed by this sudden outburst from his quiet little 
 brother-in-law. " Of course I knew you changed your 
 servants pretty often, but I thought that was because 
 Maria was too clever for them, and always found them
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 235 
 
 out while other women were hoodwinked. But if 
 things are as you say, why don't you put your foot 
 down, and make an end of it ? " 
 
 " Because at the first hint of fault-finding Maria 
 goes into hysterics, and if you had ever seen or heard 
 Maria in hysterics you would not wonder at my weak- 
 ness. No, I lie awake at nights and turn over plans for 
 rescuing the children, but in the morning none of them 
 seem feasible. I have thought of escaping to America 
 or the Antipodes with the five poor little things, and 
 bringing them up there under a false name. And I 
 have thought of jumping into the Thames and leaving 
 directions in my will for the children to be entrusted 
 to the care of competent guardians, and their mother 
 only allowed to visit them once a month, on pain of 
 losing her income if she disobeys my wishes. Some- 
 times I have almost summoned up courage to propose 
 to her that we shall place all the children in schools and 
 institutions, and agree to see them only at stated inter- 
 vals. But I know that it would be useless. She could 
 never be made to understand her own incompetence 
 through that impenetrable crust of ignorant self-con- 
 ceit. And, after all, she is their mother ; she suffered 
 the pains of bearing them, they are a part of her very 
 self. What right have I to take her own flesh and
 
 236 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 blood from her, and yet what right have I to stand by 
 and see their young lives ruined ? It is a terrible prob- 
 lem, and one that is too hard for me to solve." 
 
 " Nonsense," said Miles sharply. " Assert yourself 
 show that you are master in your own house. If Maria 
 goes into hysterics, throw a jug of water over her. She 
 will like and respect you all the more. Send the elder 
 children to school, and get a nursery governess for the 
 younger ones." 
 
 " I will do my best to follow your advice," said the 
 poor little gentleman, who looked all the better for 
 having relieved his mind. " But it is so easy for an- 
 other man to talk like that, especially for the husband 
 of a woman like your Cecily. Ah, you have a jewel of 
 a wife in her, you lucky fellow ! To go to your house 
 from mine is like going from purgatory to paradise. 
 Everything here is so sweet and clean, and the servants 
 always have cheerful faces ; whereas at home, the ban- 
 nisters are sticky, there is a smell of boiled cabbage all 
 over the house, and the maids are either sulky or in 
 tears. Here I am welcomed by a nice woman all smiles 
 and brightness, there by a scolding fool. Of course I 
 know that your wife is not a blue stocking, but she 
 seems to have intelligence enough to do well anything 
 she gives her mind to, and it is a treat to talk to her on
 
 A STUDY IX PREJUDICES. 237 
 
 any subject, whether she knows anything about it or 
 not, because she takes such an interest in all you tell 
 her, and understands what you mean almost before 
 you've said it. You may congratulate yourself upon 
 having drawn the gros lot in the marriage lottery." 
 
 Miles hesitated for a moment. 
 
 " I may as well tell you now," he said, curtly, " that 
 Cecily and I have agreed to part for a time at any rate. 
 I start for Norway to-morrow, and I cannot tell when I 
 shall return." 
 
 " What ! " shouted Mr. Bingley, springing up from 
 his chair. " You have driven that dear woman away 
 from you ! for you needn't talk to me about ' agreeing 
 to part.' She worshipped the ground you walked on, 
 and would never have left you of her own free will. 
 Good heavens, man! what could you be thinking of? 
 Were you mad ? " 
 
 "Not that I am aware of," replied Miles coldly. 
 " Cecily had disappointed me, and she had the sense to 
 see that it would be better for me to go away by myself 
 for a time, until I could get over the shock of disil- 
 lusionment. Of course this is quite between our- 
 selves." 
 
 " Disappointed you ! " repeated Mr. Bingley. " Well, 
 I should like to know what you expected, or what you
 
 238 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 thought you deserved. However, there's some small 
 consolation for me in your trouble. If you could not 
 find happiness in marriage with a woman like Cecily, it 
 must be useless for any man to expect it, and I may as 
 well make the best of Maria."
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AT Ilfracombe the days glided quietly by. Cecily's 
 stay at Combe Cottage had extended over nearly three 
 months when Miss Redd appeared one morning in a 
 gown of rusty black, and announced that poor mother 
 was dead at last, and that the funeral was to take place 
 on the following Friday. She hoped that Mrs. Miles 
 would not mind being left to tb.3 care of Jane for one 
 night. Cecily soon reassured her on that point, and 
 after a few words of sympathy, inquired whether Miss 
 Rhoda would return to the cottage after the funeral. 
 In the midst of her decorous emotion, Miss Susan could 
 not resist a sarcasm at the expense of her envied elder 
 sister, but replied, with her habitual sniff, that the 
 mistress of the house would return with her, and that 
 then everybody would be put in their proper places. 
 
 Cecily felt a gleam of pleasure at the prospect of 
 Rhoda's advent, for she looked forward to receiving 
 help and comfort from the sweet-faced original of the 
 
 16 289
 
 2iO A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 photograph. Nor was she disappointed. Rhoda, her 
 gentle eyes swollen with weeping, her comely face worn 
 with watching, was not too much absorbed in her own 
 grief to take a motherly interest in her young lodger, 
 and from the moment she entered the house, Cecily felt 
 that in the new arrival she had found a kind and capa- 
 ble friend. Although Rhoda was homely of speech and 
 could boast but little learning, there was nothing unre- 
 fined about her mind or her manners, while her unas- 
 suming simplicity and sound common sense made her 
 society eminently soothing and agreeable. 
 
 By the end of a week Cecily and her new acquaint- 
 ance were upon quite confidential terms. Rhoda had 
 told her young lodger all about her mother's last illness, 
 her brother's troubles with his farm, and some of her 
 own experiences with eccentric boarders, while Cecily 
 had been unable to refrain from confiding in Rhoda 
 certain of her hopes and anxieties, and had even made 
 up her mind that very soon she would indulge 
 herself with a casual mention of Miles's name when 
 there seemed every probability that Rhoda would 
 enlarge upon the fascinating theme. Her sense of 
 desolation was already lightened by her intercourse 
 with so sensible and sympathetic a soul. Rhoda saved 
 her all trouble about ordering her meals, gave her
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 practical hints about her health, and trotted in and ont 
 of the room at all hours with cups of tea, basins of 
 broth, and little saucers of jelly. Cecily gratefully 
 accepted these attentions for the sake of the friendly 
 presence whose very nearness was a comfort to her, and 
 the pleasant voice that never uttered any but cheering 
 words. It was so sweet to be petted and cared for 
 again after her long months of loneliness and isolation. 
 
 The only drawback to this new friendship was the 
 fact that Miss Susan's temper seemed to have un- 
 dergone a decided change for the worse. She had 
 never made any effort herself to win her lodger's liking, 
 yet she was obviously jealous of the regard which Cecily 
 bestowed upon Rhoda. Her chronic discontent grew 
 more pronounced, and she complained bitterly of 
 having to do the whole work of the house, while her 
 sister sat like a lady in the parlour. As there was very 
 little work to do, and as Rhoda took more than her 
 share of that little, these complaints received but scant 
 attention from the offending persons. 
 
 One evening, about a fortnight after her return, 
 when Rhoda had finished clearing away her lodger's 
 supper things, Cecily called her back as she was leaving 
 the room. 
 
 " Stay and talk to me a little," she said. " I am so
 
 242 A STUDY IN PKEJUDICES. 
 
 tired of being alone. Sit down and tell me about your 
 home, and what you did when you were a girl. Didn't 
 you say your father's farm was on Exmoor ? " 
 
 " Just on the borders, ma'am. He had a right to 
 pasture a certain number of ponies and cows on the 
 moor." 
 
 " "What was the name of the place ? " 
 
 "The village was called Tarracombe, but our 
 farm was in an outlying hamlet. It was a lonely 
 place." 
 
 " Tarracombe ! I know a gentleman who used to 
 live there when he was a boy, Mr. Mr. Dormer. Did 
 you ever see him ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Khoda, stooping to pick up her ball 
 of worsted, which had rolled along the ground. " He 
 used to come and play with my brothers when he was 
 at home for his holidays." 
 
 " Was he was he a nice boy ? " asked Cecily, trying 
 to keep her voice steady. " It is so difficult to realise 
 that a clever man like Mr. Dormer was ever a boy, 
 playing pranks and getting into mischief." 
 
 "He was a very nice young gentleman," replied 
 Rhoda, raising a flushed face from her search for the 
 ball. " He used to come and help gather the apples for 
 the cider sometimes, and he was always kind to us girls.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 243 
 
 He would shake the trees for us, and he never allowed 
 the other boys to be rough with us." 
 
 "Ah, I can quite believe that," exclaimed Cecily 
 with shining eyes. "Always thoughtful and con- 
 siderate just as he is now, except except when people 
 are thoroughly undeserving. Did you ever see him 
 after he grew up ? " 
 
 " Yes. The family left Tarracombe before he went 
 to college, but some years afterwards he came back to 
 spend the summer at our farm. He wasn't well when 
 he came, and it turned out that he had typhoid fever. 
 It was a long illness, and mother and I nursed him 
 through it." 
 
 " Oh, how lucky he was to have a good, kind woman 
 
 like you to nurse him," exclaimed Cecily. " I wish" 
 
 she broke off abruptly, for her sentence would have run, 
 " I wish I had been there to help." " Have you seen 
 him often since?" she continued. 
 
 "Sometimes," replied Khoda. "He was kind to 
 us in our troubles, and helped us to set up in this 
 house." 
 
 Here the conversation was interrupted by the en- 
 trance of Susan, who was evidently in one of her 
 worst humours. 
 
 "Are you ever coming to supper, Rhoda?" she
 
 244 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 asked wrathfully. "Here have I been left alone all 
 the evening while you sit gossiping here." 
 
 " You musn't scold your sister," put in Cecily 
 pleasantly, for the mere fact that she had been talk- 
 ing about Miles was sufficient to put her in good 
 spirits. " It is iny fault for keeping her. We have 
 had a little chat about a friend of hers and mine, Mr. 
 Dormer." 
 
 Susan cast a vixenish glance at her sister, and her 
 red face took a deeper shade. 
 
 "Friend indeed!" she snapped. "A fine friend 
 he's been to her and the rest of us. If it hadn't been 
 for him we might be living on our own land now, 
 instead of demeaning ourselves by taking in lodg- 
 ers." 
 
 " Susan, Susan," put in Rhoda in warning tones, 
 " Mr. Dormer is a great friend of Mrs. Miles." 
 
 " I don't care whose friend he is," cried the angry 
 woman, losing all control over her tongue. " I only 
 know he brought nothing but shame and ruin upon us. 
 I wonder you should be the one to defend him, Rhoda. 
 I suppose you think money makes amends for every- 
 thing." 
 
 Cecily looked from one to the other with blanched 
 cheeks and dilated eyes.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 245 
 
 "What does it all mean? What is she talking 
 about? "she asked in trembling tones. 
 
 "Oh, Susan, what have you done?" said Rhoda 
 sadly. " What good can it do you or anyone else to 
 rake up what is past and gone ? " 
 
 " Well, I wonder you can make so light of what 
 broke father's heart, and made us all a byword to our 
 neighbours," returned Susan defiantly. 
 
 " Miss Redd," said Cecily, suddenly recovering her 
 self-possession, "will you kindly leave your sister and 
 me alone for a few minutes ? I wish to speak to her 
 in private." 
 
 Cowed by the authoritativeness of her lodger's tone 
 and manner, Miss Susan went muttering out of the 
 room, and banged the door behind her. 
 
 "Now," said Cecily, turning to Rhoda, who stood 
 before her with bent head and downcast eyes, " tell 
 me what all this means. What is Mr. Dormer to 
 you?" 
 
 " I suppose it's no use trying to hide it from you 
 now," said Rhoda slowly. " You have heard too much 
 to rest satisfied without hearing more. But, remember, 
 it all happened long before Miles Mr. Dormer knew 
 you. It is an old story now." 
 
 " What is an old story now ? " asked Cecily, with-
 
 24:6 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 out noticing the allusion to her own relations with 
 Miles. 
 
 " Well, that when he got better of his illness, and 
 was going back to London Mr. Dormer asked me to go 
 with him, and and I went." 
 
 "Miles was your lover?" murmured Cecily in 
 scarcely audible tones. 
 
 "I suppose he must have been fond of me in a 
 way. You see he was still weak and ailing, and he 
 had got used to me. 1 understood how to take care 
 of him and make him comfortable." 
 
 " And you loved him ? " 
 
 " I would have given my life for him if it would 
 have done him any good," replied Rhoda simply. " I 
 did more than that ; I sacrificed father, mother, home 
 and good name for him. They said the shame broke 
 father's heart when I went away. He took no more 
 interest in anything, and let the farm go to ruin, so 
 that it had to be sold when he died. He forgave me at 
 the last, though, and when mother was dying she 
 would have nobody but me to nurse her." 
 
 "And Miles?" put in Cecily impatiently, for she 
 could attend to no other part of the story. " You lived 
 with Miles?" 
 
 " He took a little house for me near Bedford Park,"
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 247 
 
 went on Rhoda, " and though he kept on his chambers 
 in town he spent most of his spare time with me. In 
 the summer we went away somewhere into the country. 
 Ah, I know it was selfish and wicked, but I was very 
 happy all the same. People tell lies when they say you 
 can't be happy unless you're good. The knowledge 
 that you are sacrificing your very soul to your lover 
 makes your love all the stronger, and your happiness all 
 the deeper. And then you don't know what it is, 
 ma'am, for a girl who has only associated with common 
 men to have a gentleman for a lover. All a gentle- 
 man's little ways, his talk, his politeness, the very tones 
 of his voice have more power over her than ever his 
 money could have." 
 
 " But how how long ? " gasped Cecily. 
 
 " We were together, off and on, for nearly three 
 years. Of course, I knew it couldn't last. I knew he 
 would tire of me, sooner or later, because I wasn't a 
 lady, nor educated enough to be a companion to him. 
 But he was very good to me from first to last. He was 
 working hard at his newspaper and play-writing at 
 that time, and he used to say that it rested him to 
 come home to some one who was not clever in a book- 
 learned way. But the third winter he came less and 
 less often, and I could see that he was beginning to
 
 24:8 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 weary of me. He was stronger iu health then, and so 
 he didn't need me to look after him and take care of 
 him any more. When I saw how it was I said we had 
 better part, and though he was angry at first he came 
 round after a bit, and said I must do as I pleased." 
 
 " How long ago ? " asked Cecily. 
 
 " Five years. He wanted me to keep the house on 
 and take an allowance from him, but I said I would 
 rather do something to earn my living and help my 
 sister, because the home was broken up by that time. 
 So he set me up in this house, and he has always been 
 ready to help me if I was in any difficulty. He came 
 down here only last winter to settle a trouble with the 
 landlord. That was when I first saw you. I knew he 
 had his wife with him, and I went to the station and 
 saw you go away. There was no doubt about his being 
 in love with you, ma'am, and I'm sure he'd make a good 
 husband to a lady like you, who could talk to him and 
 understand all he was thinking about." 
 
 Cecily made no reply. She was sitting quite still, 
 with a strange inward look in her eyes. 
 
 " You won't let what I have told you set you against 
 him, will you ? " pleaded Bhoda. " He's not a bad man, 
 you know, not like some of them. He was kind to me 
 even after he was tired of me, when many men would.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 249 
 
 have turned me into the streets, and never cared what 
 became of me. You won't be hard on him, will yon, 
 dear ma'am ? because I'm sure you love each other, and 
 there's the child coming and all. Say you will forgive 
 him." 
 
 To Rhoda's consternation Cecily suddenly broke into 
 a wild peal of laughter. 
 
 " Forgive him ! " she cried. " Don't you know that 
 he thinks himself the ninety-and-nine just persons who 
 need no forgiveness rolled into one? He is the lineal 
 descendant of the prodigal's blameless elder brother, 
 and of the Pharisee who thanked Heaven that he was 
 not as other men were. If he had been present when 
 the woman taken in adultery was brought before Christ 
 he would not have hesitated to cast the first stone." 
 
 Her speech was interrupted by another uncontrol- 
 lable spasm of laughter, while Rhoda stood by in silent 
 dismay. 
 
 " Oh, he is a model of masculine virtue," went on 
 Cecily as soon as she had recovered her breath. " I 
 have always looked up to him as a saint and a hero, 
 and meekly borne all his anger and contempt because 
 I felt that I was unworthy of such a piece of perfection. 
 And I have been trying to improve myself so as to be- 
 come more worthy of him, and even looking forward
 
 250 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 cheerfully to the pains of hell because I hoped that the 
 child would bring us together again. It is all so funny, 
 I believe it will kill me with laughing. Oh, Rhoda, I 
 can't stop laughing. Help me I can't get my breath 
 I am going to die ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MILES set out upon his travels with a heavy heart, 
 which he fondly hoped would become lighter when he 
 had put a few thousand miles between himself and the 
 scene of his misfortunes. But it soon became apparent 
 to him that, travel as far and as fast as he would 
 whether by rail, coach, or steamer, he could not out- 
 distance memory nor leave thought behind. After the 
 close companionship in which he had lived during the 
 past year, solitude seemed a strange and dismal thing, 
 and he found himself continually comparing his pres- 
 ent experiences with those of his last tour, when his 
 pleasure in beautiful landscapes or ancient buildings, 
 and his interest in quaint customs or types of character, 
 had been more than doubled by the fact that they were 
 shared with his wife. 
 
 And yet his loneliness was not the worst of his 
 sorrows. As a murderer is sometimes haunted by the 
 apparition of his victim, so Miles was haunted, waking 
 
 251
 
 252 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 and sleeping, by Cecily's eyes and Cecily's voice. 
 Night after night he endured the Tantalus sufferings 
 
 of the widower, 
 
 " When he sees 
 
 A late-lost form that sleep reveals, 
 And moves his doubtful arms, and feels 
 Her place is empty." 
 
 He decided at length that he wanted a companion, 
 that it was always a mistake for a man to travel alone. 
 Accordingly, he persuaded an acquaintance whom he 
 had met at Christiana to accompany him on a trip to 
 the land of the midnight sun. But the travelling 
 companion turned out a most disappointing failure. 
 He had always seemed a good enough fellow during 
 casual interviews at the club, but now Miles discovered 
 him to be a little dense, more than a little selfish, 
 strangely unsympathetic, and possessed of several irri- 
 tating tricks. A hundred times a day he caught him- 
 self comparing his present companion with his former 
 one, who was never dense, never selfish, who always en- 
 tered into her husband's interests, and had no fidgety 
 tricks. 
 
 As the sense of blank grew and deepened Miles's 
 resentment against his wife gradually cooled, and the 
 wound to his vanity began to heal. When he left 
 England he had set no limit in his own mind to the
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 253 
 
 period over which his absence should be prolonged. 
 But now as time passed on, and the tugging at his 
 heart-strings grew ever more intolerable, he began to 
 ask himself whether he had not been just a little hard 
 upon his wife, who might not be the white-souled saint 
 he once had thought her, but whose love it was impos- 
 sible to doubt, and who held his peace and happiness 
 in her hand. Of course she had been thoughtless and 
 imprudent, but her girlish crimes grew less black with 
 every hour that he spent away from her. It became 
 so easy to find excuses for her too. She had no 
 mother, poor child ; she had grown up in a fast set ; 
 her sisters had set her a bad example. He himself 
 was partly to blame, no doubt ; he had expected too 
 much, had fancied that his wife must needs be a fault- 
 less paragon instead of a creature of ordinary flesh and 
 blood. But had not her punishment lasted long 
 enough ; would she not by this time have learnt a 
 salutary lesson ? Presently this vague questioning re- 
 solved itself into a determination to return to London 
 at the end of three months from the day on which he 
 had quitted it, and straightway to reconcile himself 
 with his wife. Perhaps he would have gone at once if 
 it had not been for his comfortable conviction that he 
 would find no difficulty in making his peace with
 
 254 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 Cecily, that he had only to whistle to her and she 
 would fly to his arms like a bird at the voice of the 
 charmer. 
 
 By the exercise of a vast amount of resolution and 
 self-control, Miles succeeded in remaining abroad for 
 the full period of three months, and only set foot in 
 England on the exact day that he had fixed for his 
 return. His heart felt as light as a boy's when he 
 found himself once more in London, and even the 
 sight of his own empty house and shrouded furniture 
 had no power to damp his delight at the thought that 
 soon he would clasp his forgiven wife in his arms. His 
 feelings of happy anticipation received a sudden check, 
 however, when he learnt that no news had been re- 
 ceived of Cecily either by her sister or his bankers. 
 His spirits sank as he realised that it might not be 
 such an easy matter to recall the exile after all. 
 
 He shrank from the idea of employing an agent to 
 discover his wife's hiding-place, and after a few days 
 spent in fruitless inquiries, he chose the lesser evil of 
 putting an advertisement in the daily papers requesting 
 C. D. to communicate with M. D. The advertisement 
 appeared between an appeal for the return of a fox- 
 terrier answering to the name of Spot, and an offer of 
 five pounds reward for a diamond star dropped in the
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 55 
 
 promenade of the Alhambra. The whole proceeding 
 offended his taste, and reminded him of an incident in 
 his literary bugbear, a sensation novel ; but, failing 
 a detective, he did not see what else could be 
 done. 
 
 Two days passed, during which he awaited the 
 arrival of every post with heart-sick longing, but no 
 answer came to his advertisement. On the third morn- 
 ing, as he was sitting alone in his study trying to forget 
 his anxiety over the reading of proofs, the caretaker put 
 her untidy head in at the door, and announced : 
 " A lady to see you, sir." 
 
 Miles sprang to his feet and hurried forward with 
 eager face and outstretched hands, but he stopped 
 short in bitter disappointment as Mrs. Marchmont 
 entered the room. The next moment, however, it 
 occurred to him that his visitor might have brought 
 some tidings of his wife, but this hope too was speedily 
 dispelled, for Mrs. Marchmont, without noticing the 
 hand he offered her, demanded sternly : 
 " What have you done with Cecily ? " 
 Miles's face fell as he stammered out : 
 " You don't know where she is then ? " 
 " I ! No, I know nothing. We only returned to 
 towD yesterday, and I was told that you had left your 
 
 IT
 
 256 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 wife. Do you mean to say that you don't know what 
 has become of her ? " 
 
 " No," replied Miles, trying to meet her eyes. " But 
 I am looking for her. I have put an advertisement in 
 the paper asking her to return." 
 
 " How noble of you," said Mrs. Marchmont con- 
 temptuously. " Of course I know nothing of the 
 reasons of your separation, but I take it for granted 
 that Cecily did not leave you of her own accord. 
 When last I saw her she was perfectly infatuated about 
 you." 
 
 " No, it was my doing," replied Miles gloomily. 
 " There were reasons I thought it better we should 
 part, at least for a time." 
 
 , " You thought it better," repeated his visitor with 
 ironical emphasis. " Oh, I have no doubt your reasons 
 for casting off your wife were excellent. I suppose she 
 had committed the crime of not admiring you suffi- 
 ciently, or perhaps she had refused to give up some old 
 friend at your bidding." 
 
 " I don't know what right you have to speak to me 
 like that," said Miles. " I did not cast my wife off. I 
 told her she could remain here while I was abroad, or 
 live where she pleased on an allowance from me. As 
 for my reasons for separating from her I can assure you
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 257 
 
 that they were not what you so kindly attribute to me. 
 Cecily never refused any request of mine, and she 
 always admired me a thousand times more than I 
 deserved." 
 
 " Then why in the name of folly and cruelty did 
 you leave her ? " 
 
 " Because I made a discovery about her, a discovery 
 which will probably be no news to you. I found that 
 she was not what I thought her, that I had been 
 deceived in her character and antecedents." 
 
 "Good heavens! what are you talking about?" 
 exclaimed Mrs. Marchmont. " If you mean that Cecily 
 was unworthy of being your wife, that is certainly news 
 to me." 
 
 " I mean," said Miles, keeping his temper with an 
 effort, " I mean that when I married her I believed her 
 to be a modest, innocent girl, but afterwards I discovered 
 accidentally that " 
 
 " Well, what ? " demanded his visitor impatiently. 
 
 "That she had had other lovers before me," he 
 concluded solemnly. 
 
 Mrs. Marchmont burst into a fit of angry laugh- 
 ter. 
 
 " So that was the portentous discovery. And pray, 
 did you imagine that it was possible to marry a beauti-
 
 258 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 f ul girl of two-and-twenty who had never had a lover ? 
 Did you think that all men were blind except your- 
 eslf ? " 
 
 "I mean lovers whom she had encouraged," re- 
 turned Miles ; " to whom she had allowed familiarities 
 that she should only have permitted to the man she 
 intended to marry. When I questioned her upon the 
 subject the day that we became engaged, she assured 
 me that I was the first man who had ever kissed her, 
 but long afterwards I learned from her own lips that 
 she had deliberately deceived me." 
 
 "Ah," said Mrs. Marchmont gravely, "that was 
 very wrong of her certainly; she had no business to 
 sacrifice truth to love, and I don't wish to defend her 
 conduct in other respects. She was a flirt, no doubt ; 
 all the Tregarthen girls were flirts, as their mother was 
 before them, but their indiscretions were the result of 
 soft hearts and high spirits, never of deliberate cold- 
 blooded coquetry. Cecily had no one to tell her that 
 her behaviour was foolish or worse, that she might be 
 wronging the real lover of the future. Of course if you 
 expected your wife's mind to be a piece of blank 
 paper I can understand that you must have been 
 annoyed to find it a sheet of manuscript scrawled over 
 with the beginnings of half a dozen romances. I sup-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 259 
 
 pose that the book of your own life contains nothing 
 but fly-leaves." 
 
 " I don't see what that has to do with the matter." 
 
 " No ? Well, not much perhaps, from the mascu- 
 line point of view. But there are one or two ques- 
 tions I should like to ask you, and if you answer them 
 truthfully I will promise to help you to get back 
 your wife, which may not be so easy a matter as you 
 imagine. Have you any good reason for believing that 
 Cecily deceived you after your marriage ? " 
 
 " No ; at least I don't think so now." 
 
 " Did she suit you as a wife ? Did she make you 
 happy ? " 
 
 " She was the very light of my eyes," he answered, 
 speaking as though the words were wrung from his 
 heart. 
 
 " Have you missed her since you parted from 
 her?" 
 
 " I have never had a happy moment except when 
 I was asleep, and dreamed that she had come back 
 to me." 
 
 "Then, you poor fool, why did you throw away 
 such a priceless treasure? When a human being steps 
 out from the indifferent crowds around us, and bestows 
 upon us a faithful and unselfish love, what are we,
 
 260 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 even the best of us, that we should despise that being 
 because he or she is only human, and reject the love 
 because the lover is not immaculate ? " 
 
 She paused, but Miles did not answer for a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 " I am doing my best to find her," he said at 
 length. 
 
 " Yes, but how do you know that you may not be 
 too late? She may have discovered that it was not 
 you she loved but an ideal of her own creation, or 
 she may have given the affection that you threw away 
 to one who would value it more, or or she may have 
 died in exile." 
 
 " Don't don't," exclaimed Miles, springing to his 
 feet. " How can you torture me with such cruel 
 words ? If you have any friendship for her, any pity 
 for me, help me to find her." 
 
 " I'll do my best," said Mrs. Marchmont. " But I 
 must know exactly how the case stands. You say 
 Cecily had money when she went away ? " 
 
 "Yes, a hundred pounds. It was to be her first 
 quarter's allowance." 
 
 " And she took it without protest though you 
 had shown her that you thought her unfit to be 
 your wife ? "
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 261 
 
 "She took the money." 
 
 "Then now I am sure of something that I sus- 
 pected before. Cecily would have starved sooner 
 than take you money if she had had only herself to 
 think of." 
 
 Miles stared for a moment in blank bewilderment. 
 
 " "What do you mean ? " he asked. 
 
 Then a light seemed to break in upon him, for in 
 an instant his face turned grey and haggard like the 
 face of a man who has received a mortal blow. 
 
 "My God! what have I done?" he cried, putting 
 his hands to his head. " What have I done ? " 
 
 " You have left the woman you promised to love 
 and cherish to bear her trial alone among strangers ; 
 denied her the protection and tenderness that only the 
 most degraded of mankind refuses to his wife at such 
 a time." 
 
 " But I never knew I never suspected it. My poor 
 darling, why didn't she tell me? And she always 
 dreaded it she shrank from suffering ; but I meant to 
 make up to her for everything by my love, by my devo- 
 tion. And I always have loved her ; it was my cursed 
 pride and folly that drove me away from her. But the 
 thought of her followed me wherever I went ; I could 
 not escape from it, and now I shall never rest, never
 
 262 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 know peace or happiness again until I have found her. 
 Tell me what I must do," he demanded, turning upon 
 his visitor. " I can't wait any longer I must go to her 
 at once." 
 
 " Well, if you have heard nothing from her by to- 
 morrow I don't see what you can do but employ a de- 
 tective to find her. It is the quickest and surest way. 
 Let me know as soon as you have tidings of her, and, if 
 you wish it, I will go with you to fetch her. She may 
 be glad of a woman friend." 
 
 " Thank you," he murmured brokenly. " You 
 are very good ; I am sorry I judged you harshly 
 before. But if any harm has come to my darling, 
 my bitterest enemy need wish me no worse punish- 
 ment." 
 
 " Oh, we mustn't anticipate evil," said Mrs. March- 
 mont. " Cecily is young and strong. There is no rea- 
 son to fear that anything worse than suffering has be- 
 fallen her, and that is never supposed to harm a 
 woman." 
 
 The following morning, just as Miles had made up 
 his mind to act upon Mrs. Marchmont's advice, and en- 
 gage a human bloodhound to track the fugitive to her 
 hiding-place, he received a telegram from Combe Cot- 
 tage, Ilfracombe, containing these words :
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 263 
 
 " Come at once. Your wife is here and ill. R. 
 REDD." 
 
 Half beside himself with anxiety, he despatched a 
 telegram to Rhoda to say that he would start by the 
 afternoon express, and another to Mrs. March mont to 
 beg her to meet him at Paddington, in order to travel 
 down to Ilfracombe, where Cecily was lying ill. 
 
 On his arrival at the station Miles found his com- 
 panion awaiting him, and the two set out together upon 
 their journey with heavy hearts. They exchanged but 
 few words, for Miles, at least, had ample food for reflec- 
 tion. First and foremost came the sickening doubt 
 whether he should find his wife alive on his arrival. 
 The thought returned again and again, however reso- 
 lutely he might put it from him. Of course she would 
 be alive, he assured himself ; Fate would never be so 
 cruel as to deprive him of her just as he had realised 
 her true value for the first time, and was looking for- 
 ward to a lifetime of happiness at her side. 
 
 But even if she were living and on the road to re- 
 covery, there was a harrowing possibility that her love 
 and belief in him might bo destroyed. What had taken 
 her to Ilfracombe he could not tell, but it seemed only 
 too likely that she would have learnt one not very 
 creditable chapter of his past, and after his harsh treat-
 
 264 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 ment of her own delinquencies lie felt it to be more 
 than doubtful whether her faith in him would have 
 stood the shock of the revelation. Women have such 
 primitive ideas about right and wrong, he reflected ; they 
 imagine that it is as easy to distinguish good from evil 
 as black from white. Cecily was probably ignorant of 
 the unwritten law, which ordains that it is a trivial 
 error for a man to ruin a woman, but an unpardonable 
 crime for a woman to be ruined by a man. 
 
 The " world- without-end journey " was over at last, 
 and Miles and his companion drove through the sum- 
 mer twilight to Combe Cottage. As the cab stopped at 
 the gate the eyes of both travellers turned involuntarily 
 to the windows, and both drew a deep breath of relief 
 at the sight of the unshrouded panes. Ehoda opened 
 the door to them, and Miles was too full of his own ab- 
 sorbing anxiety to feel any embarrassment at this 
 strange meeting with his old love. 
 
 "Is she " he began in trembling tones, then 
 
 changed the form of his question to, " how is she ? " 
 
 " Very weak," was the reply. " But the doctor 
 thinks that she may pull through." 
 
 " Is she awake ? Can I see her ? " 
 
 " She would like to see the lady for a quarter of an 
 hour," replied Rhoda, who had been apprised by tele-
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 265 
 
 graph of Mrs. Marcbmont's advent. " She does not feel 
 equal to seeing you to-night." 
 
 Miles, who had forgotten all about his companion, 
 stepped back, feeling as though his wife had dealt him 
 a blow from her sick-bed. She must indeed be ill or 
 changed if she were not equal to seeing him, her hus- 
 band, her lover. At Rhoda's invitation he turned into 
 the little parlour, and sat there while the two women 
 went upstairs together. All around him were signs of 
 Cecily's recent occupation of the room, her books, her 
 work, a half-finished sketch upon a board, yet he had 
 never felt so far away from her as at that moment. 
 Overhead he could hear footsteps and voices, Mrs. March- 
 mont's clear tones and a faint murmur in reply, a mur- 
 mur which made his heart-strings quiver and all his 
 pulses throb. 
 
 In a few moments he was joined by Rhoda. 
 
 " I thought the ladies would like to be left alone," 
 she said, "and I knew you would be anxious to hear 
 about your wife." 
 
 "Oh, Rhoda," he said brokenly, "you < were always 
 good to me, though I behaved cruelly and selfishly to 
 you. You won't fail me now ? " 
 
 " No," said Rhoda quietly, " I have done my best 
 for you."
 
 266 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Does she does Cecily know all ? " 
 " Yes ; I tried to keep it from her, but Susan let 
 it out, and then I had to tell her everything. That 
 was what made her so ill. Her baby was born 
 dead." 
 
 " Ah, then it was true. My poor angel, and she was 
 all alone. No, not alone, but with a stranger who was 
 kinder to her than her own husband. When was it, 
 Bhoda ? What does the doctor say ? " 
 
 " A fortnight ago. He thought she would make a 
 quick recovery, because she has a good constitution. 
 But she does not get any stronger, and seems to have 
 no desire to live. The doctor told me this morning 
 that there were symptoms he did not like, and said 
 something about shock and cerebral disturbance. He 
 told me to telegraph to you on the chance of your 
 being in London, because he thought that your coming 
 might rouse her, and induce her to take more inter- 
 est in life. She was angry at first when she heard 
 what I had done, but afterwards she said it did not 
 matter." 
 
 " How did she take the discovery about about you 
 and me?" 
 
 " She laughed till I thought she would have killed 
 herself?"
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 267 
 
 " Laughed ! " exclaimed Miles. " She was not 
 angry ? " 
 
 "I don't know. She laughed because she had al- 
 ways thought you so good, and had been trying to make 
 herself more worthy of you. I suppose it must have 
 seemed rather funny." 
 
 "But do you think she forgives me?" he asked, 
 wincing under these matter-of-fact words. "Do you 
 think she will ever love me again as she used to do ? " 
 
 "She said you wouldn't think you needed forgive- 
 ness. I am afraid she is changed towards you, but the 
 state of her health may have something to do with that. 
 She doesn't seem to care about anything now. If 
 when she gets better she will feel differently no doubt. 
 I have always spoken up for you, and told her that you 
 were not a bad man, and that anyhow she is married to 
 you, and her place is by your side." 
 
 " But without love," groaned Miles. " What a mis- 
 erable farce ! What an empty mockery ! "
 
 'CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Mrs. Marchmont entered the sick-room, she 
 could scarcely repress an exclamation of dismay at the 
 sight of the fragile creature with wan cheeks and hol- 
 low eyes, which was all that remained of the girl whom 
 she remembered as the picture of health and overflow- 
 ing with spirits. 
 
 " You poor child," she said, taking one of the inva- 
 lid's thin hands in hers, " why didn't you let your 
 friends know where you were ? I can't bear to think 
 of your having been ill all alone among strangers." 
 
 " Oh, I have been well looked after," answered Cec- 
 ily feebly. " I have a regular nurse, and Miles's first 
 wife has been like a sister to me." 
 
 Mrs. Marchmont looked perplexed. "Was the pa- 
 tient wandering ? she asked herself, or did these words 
 refer to some mystery to which she had not the key ? 
 
 " Miss Eedd tells me that the poor baby died," she 
 said gently. 
 
 268
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 269 
 
 " Yes ; but it was just as well, since she was a girl," 
 replied Cecily indifferently. " The world is so hard on 
 little girls ; it never laughs at their pranks, and says, 
 ' girls will be girls.' " 
 
 " So much the better for the girls," returned Mrs. 
 Marchmont, who had chosen her part. " They reap 
 the benefit in health and conscience. The world is 
 much harder upon boys, because it withholds from 
 them a safeguard which they require even more than 
 girls." 
 
 She was silent for a moment, and then, as Cecily 
 did not reply, she continued : 
 
 " You know who is here, don't you ? Some one who 
 is very anxious to see you." 
 
 " Oh, you mean Miles. I suppose I must see him 
 to-morrow ; it will be as well to get it over. But his 
 first wife will look after him. She knows how to take 
 care of him and make him comfortable." 
 
 At this second allusion, Mrs. Marchmont began to 
 set her wits to work, and by connecting Cecily's words 
 with some incoherent explanations of Miles's as to the 
 reason that could have brought his wife to Combe Cot- 
 tage, she thought she had found the clue to the mys- 
 tery. 
 
 " Your husband is very penitent for his past be-
 
 270 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 haviour to you," she said. "And he hopes that you 
 will forgive him, and take him back to your heart 
 again." 
 
 " I don't bear malice," said Cecily carelessly. " I 
 could not expect him to be faithful to me before he 
 knew me, and since the woman he wronged has for- 
 given him, I am willing to grant him absolution, 
 though he showed no mercy to me. But love is a dif- 
 ferent matter. I could love a publican, but not a 
 Pharisee." 
 
 " You must not judge him as though he were alto- 
 gether a responsible being," said Mrs. Marchmont. 
 " Men, even more than women, are the creatures of cus- 
 tom, the puppets of prejudice. Strip him of his swath- 
 ings of conventionality, take away from him the sup- 
 port of public opinion, and you will find the natural 
 man but a meagre, shivering little being. But cover 
 him up with custom, pad him out with prejudice, and 
 he becomes quite an imposing personage, with small 
 mercy for the peccadilloes of the other sex." 
 
 " I never thought that Miles was a hypocrite," mur- 
 mured Cecily. " What right had he to be so hard on 
 me when he was a much worse sinner himself ? " 
 
 " The right that society gives him. And let us look 
 at the matter fairly, since that is to your interest as
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 271 
 
 well as to his. How do we know that he was a much 
 greater sinner than you? how can one sex judge the 
 other ? Has it never struck you that a technically vir- 
 tuous woman, who has lived a fenced and guarded life, 
 may, by sinning against the spirit of the law, be as 
 guilty as the man who, yielding to temptation and op- 
 portunity, breaks the letter of the law as well? Be- 
 sides, the fact that he judged you harshly is no reason 
 why you should judge him harshly, since two wrongs 
 can never make a right." 
 
 " I have said that I am willing to forgive him," re- 
 turned Cecily. " But one cannot compel love." 
 
 " No," said Mrs. Marchmont, " but one may coax it 
 and cultivate it, so that even when it seems withered 
 and dead it may shoot up again into a goodly plant. 
 Now I mustn't keep you talking any longer. Think of 
 what I have said, dear, and tell yourself that there is 
 still happiness for you in the future." 
 
 The next morning, Cecily being none the worse for 
 her interview with Mrs. Marchmont, it was decided 
 that Miles might be allowed to see her for a few 
 minutes. When he entered the room, he was conscious 
 of nothing but a pair of large dark eyes eyes which 
 hitherto had always lit up at the sight of him, but 
 
 which now remained dull and lifeless. 
 18 \
 
 272 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 " Cecily," he said, kneeling down by the side 
 of the bed, " I have come to beg for your forgive- 
 ness." 
 
 " I forgive you," she answered mechanically, allow- 
 ing her fingers to lie listlessly in his. 
 
 " I was cruel and unjust to you, darling. I was 
 blinded by my own pride and egoism, but I see things 
 clearly now. I know that I am unworthy of your 
 love." 
 
 " Love doesn't depend altogether upon worth," re- 
 plied Cecily, in a tone that struck him as curiously im- 
 personal. 
 
 " Then do you think you will be able to love me 
 again some day ? " he asked, a faint hope rising in his 
 heart. 
 
 " I don't know ; I feel as if the spring of my love 
 were broken," she answered. " Still, I pledged myself 
 to take you for better for worse, and if I get well I will 
 keep my word. I will come back to you if you wish 
 for me, and I will try to do my duty by you." 
 
 Miles shrank back at her words as though she had 
 struck him in the face. Duty ! What a cold and 
 empty word it was compared with love. 
 
 " But, dearest," he pleaded, " if I try to become the 
 man you once thought me, will you give me no hope
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 273 
 
 that some day I may win back my lost happiness our 
 lost happiness ? " 
 
 " If I get well I will make you as happy as I can," 
 replied Cecily wearily. " I can't promise more than 
 that." 
 
 " You speak as if you had no desire to live," he 
 said reproachfully. 
 
 " I don't seem to care much ahout it now," she 
 answered. " I have done a good deal of thinking as I 
 lay here alone, and I have got rid of most of my ab- 
 surd illusions. I have begun to realise that it is far 
 better for women to die young than to live to middle 
 age. You see, when they are girls they seldom have 
 the chance of being anything better than fresh and 
 pretty bodies. They are laughed out of reading, and 
 discouraged from following any pursuit but that of a 
 husband, and so when they come to middle life they 
 are incapable of being anything except worn and use- 
 less bodies. If they marry, their husbands' love 
 changes first to indifference and then to dislike as 
 their faces change with the years. If they have chil- 
 dren, their sons grow up to despise them because they 
 are only women, and their daughters leave them for 
 homes of their own. Too old to acquire a taste for 
 reading, or to qualify themselves for any useful work,
 
 274: A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 they are left alone to drag out a death in life. And 
 things are no better for the women who seek another 
 sphere than that of marriage. If they follow some 
 profession no insult is too vile, no mud too black for 
 the men of that profession to throw at them ; if they 
 remain at home and devote themselves to gossip, fancy- 
 work, and district- visiting they are regarded as human 
 rubbish mere cumberers of the ground. Man is born 
 of a woman, but he always seems to have done his best 
 to belittle and degrade his mother. I begin to think," 
 she concluded with a laugh, " that the man in the para- 
 ble who had only one talent was really a woman, and 
 that she wrapped it in a napkin and buried it in the 
 ground to please her male relations." 
 
 Miles knew not what to reply to these bitter words. 
 He would have found it difficult to refute her main 
 statements, so he took refuge in some vague generali- 
 ties about the decrees of Nature. 
 
 " Then Nature is a cruel stepmother to women," 
 returned Cecily, " and we owe her no gratitude." 
 
 She turned her face to the wall, and Miles felt that 
 he was dismissed. "When he went down he found 
 Khoda in the hall with a little rosy-cheeked, grey- 
 headed man, whom she introduced as Dr. Larkin. 
 Miles waited anxiously at the foot of the stairs until
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 275 
 
 the doctor had seen his patient, and then he seized 
 upon the little gentleman and almost dragged him into 
 the sitting-room to hear his report. Dr. Larkin, a 
 Scotchman, who had modelled himself upon Aber- 
 nethy, was brusque as to manner but evasive as to 
 matter. His patient was no worse, but her pulse was 
 still very feeble. There were disquieting symptoms ; it 
 was impossible to tell at present how matters would 
 turn out. Her youth and fine constitution were in her 
 favour. He would be able to speak more positively in 
 a day or two. 
 
 " One question more," said Miles, as the doctor was 
 preparing to depart. "Did she when her child was 
 born did she suffer much ? " 
 
 " She had a sharp time, poor little thing," said the 
 other. " I was told that she had received some sort of 
 shock just before. Unfortunately it was not a case in 
 which one could administer chloroform." 
 
 Miles turned away with a smothered groan and hur- 
 ried out of the house. For an hour or two he wandered 
 miserably about the streets, jostled by the tourists with 
 whom the town swarmed, staring with vacant wonder at 
 the extraordinary spectacle presented by some of the 
 "cheap trippers," the stout elderly ladies in deer- 
 stalker caps, and the stunted anaemic-looking girls in
 
 276 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 draggled white frocks and mangy boas. He tried to 
 distract his thoughts with the humours of the crowd in 
 the hope of driving away the vision that pursued him 
 wherever he went, the vision of Cecily's face, white with 
 terror and drawn with pain. For the first time he fully 
 realised the nature of the tie that binds a man to his 
 wife, to the woman who sacrifices health and strength 
 for his sake, who risks pain and death for love of him. 
 
 When he returned to Combe Cottage the report 
 from the sick-room was " Much the same." Cecily had 
 seen Mrs. Marchmont again, but she had not asked for 
 her husband, and now she was dozing. 
 
 " There's no need to be so cast down, sir," Ehoda 
 assured her former lover, for though he had often 
 wrung her heart, she could not bear to see him suffer 
 without trying to console him. " When people are ill 
 they often take against those they love best when they 
 are well." 
 
 " Yes, I have heard that," returned Miles, looking 
 into her face with wistful eyes. " And she will get well 
 soon, won't she Ehoda? You will save her for me." 
 
 " I will do my best," said Rhoda, involuntarily re- 
 calling the days when Miles had looked into her face 
 with much the same expression in his eyes, though the 
 boon he craved was a different one.
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 277 
 
 When Miles, who had taken a room at the nearest 
 hotel, arrived at the cottage next morning, he was 
 greeted with the news that the invalid had passed a 
 bad night, and that she was still feverish and wander- 
 ing. She had been calling for him, but it was uncer- 
 tain whether she would recognise him. He hastened to 
 his wife's room, and found her sitting up in bed, a 
 pink flush upon her cheeks and her eyes strangely 
 bright. 
 
 " Miles, I want Miles," she was saying in eager, ex- 
 cited tones. " I am sure he would come at once if he 
 knew I was ill. I do so want to see him again, and 
 hear him say that he forgives me." 
 
 Miles, with a thrill of joy at his heart, advanced to 
 the side of the bed. 
 
 " Here I am, darling," he said. " I have come back 
 to you, and we will never, never be parted again." 
 
 The bright eyes rested upon him for a moment, and 
 then a look of bitter disappointment came over the 
 eager face. 
 
 " No, no, you are not Miles," she said fretfully. 
 " You have stolen his face and voice, but you can't de- 
 ceive me. I know who you are," she went on, shrink- 
 ing away from him in evident terror. "There is a 
 stone in your hand, and it is sharp and jagged. Rhoda,
 
 278 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 don't let him throw it at me. It is the first stone the 
 first stone ! " 
 
 " Oh, Cecily, don't you know me ? " said the poor 
 fellow, trying to take her hand. "I am your Miles, 
 though I was never all you thought me. But I always 
 loved you." 
 
 "How dare you talk to me like that?" cried Cecily, 
 pushing him away from her with all her feeble force. 
 " You would not do it if Miles were here to protect me. 
 Oh, I do wish he would come, I am so tired of waiting 
 for him. I want to feel his arms round me again, and 
 to rest my head on his shoulder. Can't you send for 
 him ? " she asked, turning to Mrs. Marchmont. " I am 
 sure he would come if he knew how ill I was. But 
 make this man go away. Don't let him stand there 
 and throw stones at me." 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Mrs. Marchmont soothingly. " I 
 have sent for your husband, and he will come as soon 
 as he can. You had better go," she added in an aside 
 to Miles ; " the sight of you only agitates her." 
 
 He stole out of the room, and stood in the pas- 
 sage, close to the open door. Cecily was quiet for a 
 few moments, and then the wailing voice began 
 again. 
 
 "Miles, I do want Miles. Why won't he come?
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 279 
 
 Hasn't he forgiven me yet? I shall never get 
 better till he comes back and tells me he loves me 
 still." 
 
 Presently the doctor arrived, and his face length- 
 ened as he perceived his patient's condition. After 
 administering opiates, and giving a few directions to 
 the nurse, he asked to see Mr. Dormer. 
 
 " I can't conceal from you that there has been a 
 change for the worse during the night," he said when 
 he found himself alone with Miles. " The temper- 
 ature is very high, and your wife has no strength to 
 bear up against the fever which is consuming her. 
 She may rally again, but I think it exceedingly 
 doubtful." 
 
 " But you must save her, doctor," cried Miles, 
 gripping the other's arm. " You mustn't let her die ; 
 do you hear? I have been a brute to her; I drove 
 her away from me. And now that I have found her 
 again, now that I have just learnt how to value her, I 
 can't lose her she mustn't die." 
 
 " You should have thought of all that before," said 
 the little man irritably, for he had taken a fancy to his 
 patient, and was annoyed at the prospect of her slip- 
 ping through his fingers. "When you had a good 
 thing it's pity you didn't know how to take care of it.
 
 280 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 But as to ill-treating your wife, that's nothing to make 
 a fuss about ; men do that every day." 
 
 " But will she never know me again ? " asked Miles, 
 paying no attention to the other's words. " Shall I 
 never hear her say she forgives me ? " 
 
 " There may be a lucid interval before the end, and 
 then she will probably know you. Whether she will 
 forgive you or not, I can't say." 
 
 Before the end ! The harrowing uncertainty of the 
 past two days seemed positive bliss compared with the 
 terrible enlightenment of the present. Feeling that 
 he would suffocate if he remained indoors any longer, 
 Miles dashed out of the house, and speedily left the 
 town with it shops and tourists behind him. On and 
 on he went until at last he found himself alone on the 
 edge of a cliff with the dull roar of the Atlantic in his 
 ears. "With Nature's usual lack of sympathy for hu- 
 man sorrow, the blue sky and sunlit sea seemed to be 
 cruelly mocking his misery, and the very birds to be 
 singing joyously, " Cecily is going to leave you ! Cecily 
 is going to die ! " He tried to pray, but he knew not 
 whom or what to address. It is difficult to offer up 
 fervent petitions to a possibly beneficent First Cause, 
 and he could hardly expect that a God whose existence 
 he had always regarded as more than problematical
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 281 
 
 should pay any heed to his prayers. Besides, he had 
 hitherto thought it presumptuous to imagine that the 
 laws which govern the universe would be tampered 
 with on account of the infinitesimal troubles of the 
 poor little insect called man. 
 
 He threw himself down upon the turf, and pres- 
 ently his thoughts began to wander back over the 
 incidents of his short married life. He had so truly 
 loved his wife, had meant to be such a model husband, 
 and had acted so entirely for what he believed to be 
 the best, that it was strange the impression produced 
 by those reminiscences should be almost entirely one of 
 failure and mistake. He and Cecily had been very 
 happy at first, it was true, but something told him that, 
 apart from his jealous temper, their happiness could 
 not have lasted, could never have survived the passing 
 of youth, the wearing away of novelty, or the approach 
 of the stern realities of life. And why ? With whom 
 lay the fault? Not with Cecily surely, for he had 
 undertaken the conduct of their lives, had laid down 
 certain rules for her observance, and those rules she 
 had implicitly obeyed. He remembered how careful 
 he had been to nip off with the frost of his disapproval 
 the tender shoots put forth by her awakening nature, 
 how ruthlessly he had extinguished her desire for
 
 282 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 knowledge and work. But then everybody knew that 
 knowledge and work incapacitated a woman for per- 
 forming the duties of her sex. But did they ? Was 
 ignorance, after all, the first qualification in the tete- 
 a-tete companion of half a life-time, and was a wasp- 
 waisted fashion-plate the most desirable mother of a 
 race ? Then there was the woman's own happiness to 
 be considered. He knew that he should have been 
 utterly wretched in the life to which he had con- 
 demned his wife ; he could imagine the sufferings that 
 must result from the unsatisfied cravings of a naturally 
 eager and inquiring mind, the bitter regret arising 
 from the consciousness of uncultivated talents and 
 wasted time. And what right had he to doom another 
 human being to such an existence, simply because that 
 being happened to belong to a different sex ? Was not 
 life for women as well as for men a many-stringed 
 instrument, meant to be played upon and not locked 
 away in a more or less ornamental case ? 
 
 For the first time he laid aside the eighteenth- 
 century spectacles through which he had hitherto sur- 
 veyed the question, and determined to look at it fairly 
 with his own eyes. The old and now discredited argu- 
 ment that might is right and possession nine points of 
 the law, was the original justification, he supposed, of
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 283 
 
 the present state of things. It was natural enough, too, 
 that the average man should have been tenacious of the 
 privileges he had acquired by force, and bitterly jealous 
 of any encroachment upon them. But were men like 
 himself, liberal and enlightened thinkers, who uttered 
 fine sentiments about woman's duties and woman's 
 sphere were they merely puppets who danced to the 
 piping of their inferiors? had they been gulled into 
 accepting as a sacred tradition what was in reality noth- 
 ing but a vulgar superstition ? Certainly the effort to 
 condemn one half of the human race to ignorance and 
 inactivity must have been but a short-sighted policy if 
 the poet were right when he declared that men and 
 women " rise and sink together, dwarfed or god-like, 
 bond or free." In that case it would be truer selfish- 
 ness to help the women up, to guide their feet into the 
 higher paths. But then the ordinary man had no de- 
 sire to rise ; he preferred a comfortable mediocrity, and 
 he took care that, except in the matter of morality, his 
 womenkind should always remain a step or two beneath 
 him. 
 
 Miles began to feel a humiliating suspicion that his 
 own attitude towards women in general and his wife in 
 particular had been determined, not by any high and 
 holy principle, but rather by a stupid and ignorant
 
 284: A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 prejudice, the outcome of the short-sighted selfishness 
 and petty jealousy of the average man. 
 
 "Weary at last of thoughts that brought him nothing 
 but mortification and vain regret he turned his steps 
 homewards with a faint hope in his heart that the rally 
 of which the doctor had spoken might have taken 
 place. Cecily was asleep when he reached the house, 
 and he was told that he might go into her room without 
 fear of disturbing her. He stole to the bed-side and 
 watched by her, as she lay in the unnatural stillness 
 of drug-given sleep. On her eyelashes the tears still 
 glistened, and a damp spot on the pillow showed how 
 long and bitterly she had wept for the husband she be- 
 lieved to be far away from her. 
 
 It was arranged that Miles should sleep on the sofa 
 in the sitting-room that night in order that he might 
 be at hand should any further change take place. 
 Being literally heavy with grief he had fallen into an 
 uneasy slumber, when he was roused by a touch on his 
 shoulder, and Ehoda's voice saying : 
 
 " Come ! " 
 
 Only half awake, he sprang up, and hastened to his 
 wife's room. Cecily was sitting up in bed supported 
 by pillows. The feverish flush was gone from her 
 cheeks, the painful glitter from her eyes, and her face
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 285 
 
 looked young and round again. She gave a little cry of 
 joy at the sight of her husband. 
 
 " Oh, you've come at last," she said, holding out 
 both hands to him. "I thought you would. I have 
 been wearying for you so long." 
 
 Miles threw himself on his knees beside the 
 bed. 
 
 " Oh ! my love," he cried, " you have forgiven me at 
 last." 
 
 "There is no question of forgiveness between two 
 people who love and understand each other," she said, 
 nestling into his arms and letting her head fall on his 
 shoulder. 
 
 "Ah, but though I loved I never understood till 
 now," he said. " I never realised how deeply I had 
 wronged you. In my blind and stupid arrogance I 
 thought myself justified in thwarting your most inno- 
 cent and natural desires, and I condemned you to an 
 existence that would have been purgatory to myself. 
 I even thought you unworthy of me, though I am 
 no better than a beast by the side of you. Even 
 though you forgive me, how can I ever forgive my- 
 self?" 
 
 " But I know you didn't mean it," said Cecily softly. 
 " You thought you were acting for my good as well as
 
 286 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 
 
 your own. I suppose it is natural that men should be- 
 lieve the platitudes that the world is always dinning 
 into their ears on the subject of sex, and perhaps it is 
 impossible for more than one in a generation to put 
 himself in a woman's place, and see things from her 
 point of view. But you and I were very happy to- 
 gether, Miles, and we taught each other love. Nothing 
 can ever rob us of that memory ; we are gods compared 
 with the poor mortals who have never known happi- 
 ness, and never tasted love." 
 
 " And now we are going to have the reality as well 
 as the memory," cried Miles, clasping her more closely 
 in his arms. " To-morrow we will begin our beautiful 
 new life, all doubts and prejudices shall be at an end 
 for ever, and the prince will give the princess the half 
 of his kingdom." 
 
 " Yes ; to-morrow we will begin our beautiful 
 new life," said Cecily, as she pressed her cheek 
 to his. " But to-night I am so tired ; I only 
 want to rest. Don't leave me, Miles. Lay your 
 head on the pillow, and let me go to sleep in your 
 arms." 
 
 Miles obeyed. Cecily was soon sleeping like a tired 
 child, and his own eyelids gradually closed. How long 
 he slept he never knew, but he was awakened by a
 
 A STUDY IN PREJUDICES. 287 
 
 strange sense of chill and desolation that seemed to 
 strike him to the very heart. Rhoda was standing by 
 his side, and when she saw that his eyes were open, she 
 gently unclasped Cecily's hands from his, and folded 
 them upon her breast. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 189. The Vengeance of James VansUtarl. By Mre. J. H. NEEDELL. 
 
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 far a|>|x>ured in this excellent series. Not one is lacking in positive merit, aud 
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 a good i-tory well told can buy any issue in the Town and Country Library with 
 th utmost confidence of finding something well worth while." Boston Beaton. 
 
 Each, 12mo, paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00. 
 
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 LATEST FICTION. 
 
 MARRIAGE OF ESTHER. By GUY 
 
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 Mr. Bopthby has entered the first rank of antipodean writers of romance, and the 
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 'TTHE GODS, SOME MORTALS, AND LORD 
 * WICKENHAM. By JOHN OLIVER HOBBES. With Portrait. 
 
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 grams, but a complete novel in which she has gone deeper and further than 
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 -* of Old Nuremberg. By GEORG EBERS, author of " Cleopatra," 
 
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 In this picturesque travel romance the author of " The Land of the Sky " 
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 of Mexico. What they see and what they do are described in a vivacious 
 style which renders the book most valuable to those who wish an inteiesting 
 Mexican travel-book unencumbered with details, while the story as a story 
 sustains the high reputation of this talented author. 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue:
 
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 HE STORY OF SONNY SAHIB. Illustrated. 
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 DAUGHTER OF TO-DAY. A Novel. lamo. 
 
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 SOCIAL DEPARTURE: How Orthododa and I 
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 HE SIMPLE ADVENTURES OF A MEM- 
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 " It is like traveling without leaving one's armchair to read it Miss Dunran has 
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 English colony." Philadelphia Telegraph. 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.
 
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 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ANY INVENTIONS. By RUDYARD KIPLING 
 
 Containing fourteen stories, several of which are now pub- 
 lished for the first time, and two poems. I2mo, 427 pages. 
 Cloth, $1.50. 
 
 "The reader turns from its pages with the conviction that the author has no supe. 
 ' ior to-day in animated narrative and virility of style. He remains master of a powei 
 n which none of his contemporaries approach him the ability to select out of countless 
 Jetails the few vital ones which create the finished picture. He knows how, wiih a 
 phrase or a word, to make you see his characters as he sees them, to make you feel 
 the full meaning of a dramatic situation." New York 'tribune. 
 
 " ' Many Inventions ' will confirm Mr. Kipling's reputation. . . . We would cite 
 with pleasure sentences from almost every page, and extract incidents from almost 
 every story. But to what end ? Here is the completest book that Mr. Kipling has yet 
 given us in workmanship, the weightiest and most humane in breadth of view." 
 'Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 " Mr. Kipling's powers as a story-teller are evidently not diminishing. We advise 
 everybody to buy ' Many Inventions,' and to profit by some of the best entertainment 
 that modern fiction has to offer." New York Sun. 
 
 " ' Many Inventions ' will be welcomed wherever the English language is spoken. 
 . . . Every one of the stories bears the imprint of a master who conjures up incident 
 as if by magic, and who portrays character, scenery, and feeling with an ease which is 
 only exceeded by the boldness of force." Boston Globe. 
 
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 Bookseller. 
 
 " Mr. Rudyard Kipling's place in the world of letters is unique. He sits quite aloof 
 and alone, the incomparable and inimitable master of the exquisitely fine art of short- 
 story writing. Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson has perhaps written several tales which 
 match the run of Mr. Kipling's work, but the best of Mr. Kipling's tales are matchless, 
 and his latest collection, 'Many Inventions,' contains several such." Philadelphia 
 Press. 
 
 "Of late essays in fiction the work of Kipling can be compared to only three 
 Blackmore's ' Lorna Doone," Stevenson's marvelous sketch of Villon in the 'New 
 Arabian Nights,' and Thomas Hardy's ' Tess of the r/Urbervilles." . . . It is probably 
 owing to this extreme care that ' Many Inventions ' is undoubtedly Mr. Kipling's best 
 book." Chicago Post. 
 
 " Mr. Kipling's style is too well known to American readers to require introduction, 
 but it can scarcely be amiss to say there is not a story in this collection that does not 
 more than repay a perusal of them all." Baltimore American. 
 
 " As a writer of short stories Rudyard Kipling is a genius. He has had imitators, 
 but they have not been successful in dimming the luster of his achievements by con- 
 trast. . . . 'Many Inventions' is the title. And they are inventions entirely origi- 
 nal in incident, ingenious in plot, and startling by their boldness and force." Rochester 
 Herald. 
 
 "How clever he is! This must always be the first thought on reading such a 
 collection of Kipling's stories. Here is art art of the most consummate sort Com- 
 pared with this, the stories of our brightest young writers become commonplace.". 
 New York Evangelist. 
 
 " Taking the group as a whole, it may be said that the execution is up to his best 
 in the past, while two or three sketches surpass in rounded strength and vividness ol 
 imagination anything else he has done." Hartford Courant. 
 
 "fifteen more extraordinary sketches, without a tinge of sensationalism, it would 
 be hard to find. . . . Every one has an individuality of its own which fascinates tbij 
 reader." Boston Times. 
 
 New York: D. APPLETON & CO.. 72 Fifth Avenue.
 
 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 NOVELS BY MAARTEN MAARTENS. 
 
 GREATER GLORY. A Story of High Life. 
 By MAARTEN MAARTENS, author of " God's Fool," " Joost 
 Avelingh," etc. I2mo. Cloth, $1.50. 
 
 " Until the Appletons discovered the merits of Maarten Maartens, the foremost of 
 Dutch novelists, it is doubtful if many American readers knew that there were Dutch 
 novelists. His ' God's Fool" and 'Joost Avelingh' made for him an American reputa- 
 tion. To our mind this just published work of his is his best. . . . He is a master oj 
 epigram, an artist in description, a prophet in insight." Boston Advertiser. 
 
 " It would take several columns to give any adequate idea of the superb way in 
 which the Dutch novelist has developed his theme and wrought out one of the most 
 impressive stories of the period. ... It belongs to the small class of novels which 
 one can not afford to neglect" San Francisco Chronicle. 
 
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 day in intellectual subtlety and imaginative power." Boston Beacon. 
 
 FOOL. By MAARTEN MAARTENS. i2mo. 
 
 Cloth, $1.50. 
 
 " Throughout there is an epigrammatic force which would make palatable a less 
 interesting story of human lives or one less deftly told." London Saturday Review. 
 
 " Perfectly easy, graceful, humorous. . . . The author's skill in character-drawing 
 is undeniable." London Chronicle. 
 
 "A remarkable work." New York^Times. 
 
 "Maarten Maartens has secured a firm footing in the eddies of current literature. 
 . . . Pathos deepens into tragedy in the thrilling story of ' God's Fool.' "Philadel- 
 phia Ledger. 
 
 " Its preface alone stamps the author as one of the leading English novelists of 
 to-day." Boston Daily Advertiser. 
 
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 realistic and intense ; and there is a constantly underlying current of subtle humor. 
 ... It is, in short, a book which no student of modern literature should fail to read." 
 Boston Times. 
 
 " A story of remarkable interest and point." New York Observer. 
 
 'OOST AVELINGH. By MAARTEN MAARTENS. 
 
 I2mo. Cloth, $1.50. 
 
 "So unmistakably good as to induce the ho;>e that an acquaintance with the Dutch 
 literature of fiction may soon become more general among us." London Morning 
 Post. 
 
 " In scarcely any of the sensational novels of the day will the reader find more 
 nature or more human nature." London Standard. 
 
 "A novel of a very high type. At once strongly realistic and powerfully ideal- 
 istic." London Literary World. 
 
 " Full of local color and rich in quaint phraseology and suggestion." London 
 Telegraph. 
 
 " Maarten Maartens is a capital story-teller." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
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 Daily Post. ^__ 
 
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 CTUAL AFRICA; or, The Coming Continent: A 
 Tour of Exploration. By FRANK VINCENT, author of "The 
 Land of the White Elephant," etc. With Map and 102 Illus- 
 trations. 8vo. Cloth, $5.00. 
 
 This thorough and comprehensive work furnishes a survey of the entire continent, 
 which this experienced traveler has circumnavigated in addition to his inland explora- 
 tions. The latter have included journeys in northern Africa, Madagascar, southern 
 Africa, and an expedition into the Congo country which has covered fresh ground. His 
 boo!< has the distinction of presenting a comprehensive summary, instead of offering an 
 account of one special district. It is more elaborately illustrated than any book upon 
 the subject, and contains a large map carefully corrected to date. 
 
 " Mr. Frank Vincent's books of travel meiit to be ranked among the very best, not 
 only for their thoroughness, but for the animation of their narrative, and the skill 
 with which he fastens upon his reader's mind the impression made upon him by his 
 voy agings." Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. 
 
 " A new volume from Mr. Frank Vincent is always welcome, for the reading public 
 have learned to regard him as one of the most intelligent and observing of travelers. " 
 Ne-w York Tribune. 
 
 /I ROUND AND ABOUT SOUTH AMERICA : 
 ** Twenty Months of Quest and Query. By FRANK VINCENT. 
 With Maps, Plans, and 54 full-page Illustrations. 8vo, xxiv + 
 473 pages. Ornamental cloth, 5.00. 
 
 " South America, with its civilization, its resources, and its charms, is being con- 
 stantly introduced to us, and as constantly surprises us. ... The Parisian who thinks 
 us all barbarians is probably not denser in his prejudices than most of us are about our 
 Southern continent We are content not to know, there seeming to be no reason why 
 we should. Fashion has not yet directed her steps there, and there has been nothing 
 to stir us out of our lethargy. . . . Mr. Vincent observes very carefully, is always 
 good-humored, and gives us the best of what he sees. . . . The reader of his book will 
 gain a clear idea of a marvelous country. Map? and illustrations add greatly to the 
 value of this work." New York Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 "The author's style is unusually simple and straightforward, the printing is re- 
 markably accurate, and the forty-odd illustrations are refreshingly original for the most 
 part." The Nation. 
 
 " Mr. Vincent has succeeded in giving a most interesting and valuable narrative. 
 His account is made doubly valuable by the exceptionally good illustrations, most of 
 them photographic reproductions. The printing of both text and plates is beyond 
 criticism." Philadelphia Public Ledger. 
 
 /N AND OUT OF CENTRAL AMERICA ; and 
 other Sketches and Studies of Travel. By FRANK VINCENT. 
 With Maps and Illustrations. I2mo. Cloth, $2.00. 
 
 "Few living travelers have had a literary success equal to Mr. Vincent's." 
 Harper's Weekly. 
 "Mr. Vince 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.
 
 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 TTANDJBOOK OF BIRDS OF EASTERN 
 
 ** NORTH AMERICA. With Keys to the Species, Descrip- 
 tions of their Plumages, Nests, etc., and their Distribution and 
 Migrations. By FRANK M. CHAPMAN, Assistant Curator of 
 Mammalogy and Ornithology, American Museum of Natural 
 History. With over 200 Illustrations. 121110. Library Edition, 
 cloth ; Pocket Edition, flexible covers. 
 
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 accuracy of detail that makes it a standard authority on the birds of eastern North 
 America." J. A. Allen, Editor of The Auk. 
 
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 " As a handbook of the birds of eastern North America it is bound to supersede all 
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 AMI LIAR FLO WERS OF FIELD AND GAR- 
 DEN. By F. SCHUYLER MATHEWS. Illustrated with 200 
 Drawings by the author. I2mo. Library Edition, cloth ; Pocket 
 Edition, flexible covers. 
 
 In this convenient and useful volume the flowers which one finds in the fields are 
 identified, illustrated, and described in familiar language. Their connection with gar- 
 den flowers is made clear. Particular attention is drawn to the beautiful ones which 
 have come under cultivation, and, as the title indicates, the book furnishes a ready 
 guide to a knowledge of wild and cultivated flowers alike. 
 
 HE ART OF NEWSPAPER MAKING. By 
 CHARLES A. DANA. i2mo. Cloth, $1.00. 
 
 The art of making a newspaper that is read is one of which Mr. Dana has proved 
 himself a past master. Those who follow his calling will turn to this book to discover 
 the secret. Those who read newspapers and this is a nation of newspaper readers 
 will feel a lively interest in the views and experiences of the dean of American news- 
 paper makers. 
 
 N AIDE-DE-CAMP OF NAPOLEON. Mem- 
 oirs of General COUNT DE SGUR. I2mo. Cloth. 
 
 This volume forms a natural companion or pendant to the " Memoirs of the Baron 
 de Meneval." The Count de Se'gur's military career began in 1800. He was made a 
 general in 1812, and took part in all the wars of the empire as a member of Napoleon's 
 staff or the commander of a select corps. Hohenltnden, missions to Denmark and 
 Spain, the execution of the Due d'Knghien, the preparations for the invasion of Eng- 
 land, Austerlitz, Ulm.Jena, Berlin, Spain, and the intrigues of FouchS and Heinadotte, 
 are among the subjects of his chapters treated with the advantages of personal knowl- 
 edge, and, in the earlier pages, of intimate information due to his father's associations 
 and position. The historical value of the memoirs is obvious, and their interest is 
 enhanced by the author's graphic and lucid style. 
 
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 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE CRIMINOLOGY SERIES. 
 
 Edited by DOUGLAS MORRISON. 
 
 'HE FEMALE OFFENDER. By Prof. LOM- 
 BROSO. Illustrated. I2tno. Cloth, $1.50. 
 
 In " The Female Offender " we see the manner in which Lombroro applies 
 the anthropological method. He examines whether, and to what extent, the 
 female criminal differs from the average woman in bodily and mental char- 
 acteristics. As a result of this examination he arrives at many interesting 
 conclusions as to the personal or individual conditions which are calculated 
 to turn women into offendsrs against criminal law. 
 
 IN PREPARATION. 
 
 UR JUVENILE OFFENDERS. By D. MOR- 
 
 O 
 
 /CRIMINAL SOCIOLOG Y. By Prof. FERRI. 
 
 V--' 
 
 /^RIME A SOCIAL STUDY. By Prof. JOLY. 
 \^ 
 
 The study of criminal tendencies is occupying advanced students through- 
 out the world, but the science has been carried further by the Italian school 
 of criminologists than by any other scientists. The influence of heredity, 
 the psychological study of criminals, the mutual relations of offenders and 
 society, the measures which society should adopt, and other aspects of the 
 problem, are treated in these books by the most advanced students of the 
 subject. This series embodies the most interesting and suggestive results of 
 extended investigations. The subject is dealt with from the scientific, not 
 from the purely philanthropic, point of view, but the conclusions must 
 necessarily form the basis for humanitarian endeavor. 
 
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 VOLUTION AND EFFORT. By EDMOND 
 KELLY. i2mo. Cloth, $1.25. 
 
 The author, who has been so prominent in the movement for municipal 
 reform in New York, has written a book of peculiarly timely interest which 
 discusses Evolution in its application to the religious and political life of the 
 day, with illustrations drawn from recent events in New York. This book is 
 an attempt to show that the Evolution of to-day is differentiated from the 
 Evolution which preceded the advent of man by the factor of conscious 
 effort ; that man, by virtue of his faculty of conscious effort, is no longer the 
 product of Evolution but the master of it ; that the chief ally of this faculty 
 is religion, and its most fruitful though as yet neglected field is politics ; that 
 an alliance between religion and politics is essential to progress in the struggle 
 of humanity with evil and with pain ; and that this alliance must practice 
 the gospel of effort and not that of laissez faire. 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.
 
 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 r\EGENERAT!ON. By Professor MAX NORDAU. 
 
 -*^ Translated from the second edition of the German work. 8vo, 
 Cloth, $3.50. 
 
 "A powerful, trenchant, savage attack on all the leading literary and artistic idols of 
 the time by a man of great intellectual power, immense range of knowledge, and the 
 possessor of a lucid style rare among German writers, and becoming rarer everywhere, 
 owing to the very influences which Nordau attacks with such unsparing energy, such 
 eager hatred." London Chronicle. 
 
 " The wit and learning, the literary skill and the scientific method, the righteous in- 
 dignation, and the ungoverned prejudice displayed in Herr Max Nordau's treatise on 
 ' Degeneration ' attracted to it, on its first appearance in Germany, an attention that 
 was partly admiring and partly astonished." London Standard. 
 
 " Let us say at once that the English-reading public should be grateful for an 
 English rendering of Max Nordau's polemic. It will provide society with a subject 
 that may last as long as the present Government. . . . We read the pages without 
 finding one dull, sometimes in reluctant agreement, sometimes with amused content, 
 sometimes with angry indignation." London Saturday Review. 
 
 " Herr Nordau's book fills a void, not merely in the systems of Lombroso, as he 
 says, but in all existing systems of English and American criticism with which we are 
 acquainted. It is not literary criticism, pure and simple, though it is not lacking in 
 literary qualities of a high order, but it is something which has long been needed, for 
 of literary criticism, so called, good, bad, and indifferent, there is always an abundance; 
 but it is scientific criticism the penetration to and the interpretation of the spirit 
 within the letter, the apprehension of motives as well as means, and the comprehension 
 of temporal effects as well as final results, its explanation, classification, and largely 
 condemnation, for it is not a healthy condition which he has studied, but its absence, 
 its loss ; it is degeneration. . . . He has written a great book, which every thouehtful 
 lover of art and literature and every serious student of sociology and morality should 
 read carefully and ponder slowly and wisely." Richard Henry Stoddard, in The 
 Mail and Express. 
 
 cago Evening Post. 
 
 " A most absorbing book, and is likely to displace ' Trilby' as a subject of popular 
 discussion." Chicago Tribune. 
 
 " A ponderous volume whose every page is full of interest. So full is it in detail, so 
 scientific in its method, so irresistible in its invitation to controversy, that it must get 
 the worlds of arts and letters by the ears." New York Recorder. 
 
 " The intense interest currently shown in the subject treated in the book, the original 
 ideas it offers, and the imperturbable spirit of the scientific investigator which animates 
 and sustains the author, will unquestionably command for it in this country the atten- 
 tion it has received abroad ; and it may be safely predicted that ' Degeneration ' 
 already known here :n literary circles, is destined to attain an immediate and widespread 
 popularity." Philadelfhia Telegraph. 
 
 "This fascinating and most suggestive book gives a picture of the aesthetic mani- 
 festations of the times, drawn with rare adroitness, vigor, and command of satire, and 
 it will be found to hold a place which has not been occupied." Cincinnati Commercial- 
 Gazette. 
 
 " Certain to arouse a storm of discussion." Philadelphia Ledger. 
 
 "The interest which ' Degeneration ' causes in the reader is intense." New York 
 Times. 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.
 
 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF USEFUL STORIES. 
 
 Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. have the pleasure of announcing a series of 
 little books dealing with various branches of knowledge, and treating each 
 subject in clear, concise language, as free as possible from technical words 
 and phrases. 
 
 The volumes will be the work of writers of authority in their various 
 spheres, who will not sacrifice accuracy to mere picturesque treatment or 
 irrelevant fancies, but endeavor to present the leading facts of science, his- 
 tory, etc., in an interesting form, and with that strict regard to the latest 
 results of investigation which is necessary to give value to the series. 
 
 Each book will be complete in itself. Illustrations will be introduced 
 whenever needed for the just comprehension of the subject treated, and every 
 care will be bestowed on the qualities of paper, printing, and binding. 
 
 The price will be thirty cents per volume. 
 
 NOW READY. 
 
 HE STORY OF THE STARS. By G. F. CHAM- 
 BERS, F. R. A. S., author of " Handbook of Descriptive and 
 Practical Astronomy," etc. With 24 Illustrations. 
 
 " Such books as these will do more to extend the knowledge of natural science 
 among the people than any number of more elaborate treatises." Cincinnati Tribune. 
 
 " An astonishing amount of information is compacted in this little volume." Phil- 
 adelphia Press. 
 
 'HE STORY OF PRIMITIVE MAN. By ED- 
 WARD CLODD, author of " The Story of Creation," etc. 
 
 "This volume presents the results of the latest investigations inlo the early history 
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 T 
 
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 HE STORY OF THE EARTH. By H. G. SEE- 
 LEY, F. R. S., Professor of Geography in King's College, London. 
 With Illustrations. 
 
 HE STORY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. By 
 G. F. CHAMBERS, F. R. A. S. 
 
 HE STORY OF THE PLANTS. By GRANT 
 
 ALLEN, author of " Flowers and their Pedigrees," etc. 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.
 
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