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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 LOS ANGELES 
 
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 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 BV 
 
 FRANXES MARY PEARD 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 'the rose garden,' 'contradictions,' 'ALICIA TENNANT," 
 
 ' HIS COUSIN BETTY,' ETC. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES 
 VOL. L 
 
 LONDON 
 
 R T C H A R D B E N T L E Y AND SON 
 
 publishers in (Drbinnrn to :i)cr J^njcstg the (Queen 
 
 1889 
 [A// 7-ig]its reservfd]
 
 
 V/r^^v/ ■;.^^ .■S^^^^f^J':)i. > ■'^;l^,i/uV^v:,vi^\'<;V;:^l'^Urli^\l^fe.\ 
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 -^ol«io 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Ashtons never missed a Richter con- 
 cert ; it appeared, indeed, as if they went so 
 far as to consider that a point of honour was 
 involved in their attending every performance. 
 It must not be understood that they were all 
 present, but two representatives maintained 
 the family traditions, and these two were 
 generally Elizabeth and Nan. On one par- 
 ticular Monday in May it was as usual Eliza- 
 beth and Nan who made a part of the great 
 crowd hushed into silence by a sign from the 
 conductor. Upon this silence broke one of 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
 577594
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Haydn's short slow introductions to a spirited 
 vivace, and through sadness and jest the C 
 symphony rushed on, swept along by wind 
 and strinos, dashin^r into fresh and deli- 
 cious melody in its final presto, till it ended, 
 and after the applause was over voices began 
 again. A lady just in front of Elizabeth 
 Ashton looked back over her shoulder. She 
 was small and fair, with an intelligent bird- 
 like face, a slight sharpness of feature being 
 softened by a kindly expression. 
 
 ' Herr Richter evidently wishes to put us 
 into good spirits at the very beginning to- 
 night,' she said, smiling. ' He has made me 
 think of all manner of pleasant things.' 
 
 ' I wish I shared them,' said Elizabeth, 
 sifrhinof. 
 
 * You might. You have been uhder the 
 maQiician.' 
 
 * Haydn has no spells for me. I want 
 something less simple, more exciting.' 
 
 * Less wholesome, you mean,' put in Lady
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Millicent, with a little nod. 'What is the 
 matter with you ? Nan, what is the matter 
 with Elizabeth ?' 
 
 ' Nan does not know — I don't know 
 myself — at least, I do, but it would take a 
 symphony to tell you,' said Elizabeth, with 
 a laugh ; ' and everything is to be hurried 
 to-night because the programme is too long. 
 Hush !' 
 
 When the second performance was ended, 
 it was Nan who leaned forward to speak to 
 Lady Millicent. She was the younger and 
 the prettier of the sisters, though there was 
 only the difference of a year between them, 
 and Nan was twenty-six. She was fair, with 
 fine eyes and a delicate yet rich complexion ; 
 whereas Elizabeth was sallow, and was one 
 of those persons who depend for their looks 
 upon their moods, and, it must be acknow- 
 ledged, their dress. Elizabeth was the tallest, 
 and showed to advantage in a crowd ; but she 
 was thin, and might become angular. It 
 
 I — 2
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 often seemed, indeed, as if I'^lizabeth suffered 
 rather unduly from the doom of possibilities, 
 as if she scarcely got her fair share of the 
 present. No one ever said that Nan might 
 become scraggy, or sharp, or bitter ; but poor 
 Elizabeth ran the gauntlet through all these 
 predictions, and perhaps, like other predic- 
 tions, they helped to fulfil themselves. Nan 
 was the greater favourite of the two sisters, 
 and yet Nan seldom put herself out of the 
 way for anyone. But she had a more win- 
 ning smile and a more sympathetic manner, 
 and these fascinations credited her with a 
 stock of sterling virtues. The Ashtons lived 
 in Hampshire, and always came to London 
 for the season ; this year they had taken a 
 small house in Albion Street. There was a 
 father, Colonel Ashton, who was under ex- 
 cellent control ; there was a mother, who was 
 an admirable manager, and had many philan- 
 thropic interests ; an elder sister, Susan, who 
 suffered from slight deafness ; and a younger,
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Constance, who was on the point of marriage. 
 They were a popular family ; they looked 
 well, talked well, and were asked to a large 
 number of entertainments, to which Elizabeth 
 and Nan generally went. 
 
 Nan had leaned forward to speak to Lady 
 Millicent. 
 
 ' Has Elizabeth told you the news ?' 
 
 * She has told me nothing. She is very 
 uncommunicative and dull to-night. I am 
 waiting patiently until her beloved Wagner 
 has awakened her ; but meanwhile you might 
 throw me something by way of a crumb. 
 What is going to happen ? Have Constance 
 and Mr. Maxwell quarrelled over their car- 
 pets ? Are you going to drag Colonel Ashton 
 to Homburg by-and-by ?' 
 
 ' No. It is nothing very personal. Only 
 imagine the Medhursts coming to town after 
 all !' 
 
 ' Nonsense. Do you really mean it ? How 
 interesting ! How exciting ! Oh, and here is
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN, 
 
 the music beginning again before I have 
 heard anything ! It is the Mcistersinger, and 
 EHz ' 
 
 But Lady MilHcent was obhged to stop 
 abruptly as the violoncellos took up their 
 grave introduction ; presently the wind in- 
 struments struck out the chorale, and the 
 strings interrupted it with the two ' lieder.' 
 It was quickly over, and Elizabeth leaned 
 back with another sigh. 
 
 ' I suppose it is a litde like dram-drinking,' 
 she said ; ' but certainly it stirs and stimulates 
 one to an extraordinary degree.' 
 
 * I have no time to quarrel with you now,' 
 Lady Millicent said. ' Tell me quickly, are 
 Lord and Lady Medhurst really going to 
 bring Joan to town ? Is the venture actually 
 to be made ?' 
 
 'Really.' 
 
 ' For the season ?' 
 
 ' For the season,' 
 
 ' Oh, that they should ever have been able
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 to make up their minds I I can hardly believe 
 it even now.' 
 
 ' I heard from Joan herself,' said Nan. 
 
 * And is she wild with excitement ?' 
 
 ' She ! My dear Millicent ! The poor child 
 is frightened to death, and hardly knows how 
 she is ever to endure such an awful ordeal. 
 The fact is, she has been so preached at, 
 and snubbed, and taught to consider herself 
 a nonentity, that she has the greatest dread 
 of the unknown world, and of what sort of 
 treatment she may meet with. It is really 
 absurd.' 
 
 Ladv Millicent shook her head. 
 
 ' It is a little sad, I think,' she said gently. 
 ' When one thinks what the reaction will 
 be.' 
 
 ' I am not so sure that there will be any 
 reaction,' said Elizabeth. 
 
 ' Oh, with her beauty and position, it is 
 inevitable.' 
 
 They were interrupted again, and when
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 next Lady Millicent spoke, It was to ask 
 whether the sisters were o'oinQf to the T'oreien 
 Office. 
 
 ' Yes,' Nan repHed. ' We were to meet 
 Mrs. Talbot.' 
 
 ' Then papa and I can drive you there. 
 Poor man ! it was very dutiful of him to bring 
 me to-night, for he only knows one tune, and 
 is a little doubtful about that. But there was 
 no one else to come, so he had to be the 
 victim.' 
 
 That Lady Millicent allowed her mind to 
 dwell rather pressingly upon what she had 
 heard was evident. She was standing near 
 Sir Henry Lancaster, late in the evening, 
 when she spoke of it. 
 
 ' Do you know the Medhursts ?' 
 
 * Him — slightly.' 
 
 ' They are coming to town.' 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 ' Why shouldn't they ? Forgive me, Lady 
 Millicent ; but you spoke with an almost
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 tragic note In your voice. Doesn't everyone 
 at this time of year do the same thing ? 
 Aren't we all puppets, set to dance on the 
 same treadmill ? Who are the Medhursts, 
 that they should be exceptions ?' 
 
 ' Oh, it is evident indeed that you do not 
 know them. They are persons to whom 
 London is an abomination, when by London 
 you mean the whirl of society. They love, 
 or perhaps it is he who loves, country, quiet, 
 strict routine, educational fads — oh, I assure 
 you, the uprooting will be something serious !' 
 
 ' Then why the need of it ? Why do they 
 come ?' 
 
 ' Apparently from a stern sense of duty, 
 and to bring out an only daughter.' 
 
 * They will soon carry her back again.' 
 
 ' I don't know. She is beautiful.' 
 
 ' Beautiful ?' Sir Henry raised his eye- 
 brows. * There is a large supply of beauty 
 this year, to judge from to-night.' 
 
 ' But not of such beauty as hers. If she
 
 lo THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 is as lovely as she was a year ago, she 
 must create a sensation, and the question is 
 how she will bear it. She has lived the 
 quietest life imaginable ; she has been very 
 much kept back and snubbed — I doubt 
 whether she even knows that she is pretty. 
 If she does, I have no doubt that she has been 
 so lon^- told that she is awkward or dull, or 
 that she stoops, that admiration will come 
 upon her quite unexpectedly. Poor Joan !' 
 
 ' I am afraid I hardly believe in such 
 blissful ignorance,' Sir Henry said. ' Depend 
 upon it, she knows all about it, and exactly 
 how pretty she is, for that kind of knowledge 
 comes to a girl just as surely as the air she 
 breathes.' 
 
 ' What do you know about girls ?' de- 
 manded Lady Millicent, smiling. 
 
 ' They share our human nature,' he re- 
 turned ; ' I know no more. Heaven forbid 
 that I should ever be called upon to study 
 a fashionable young lady ! I fly from the
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN n 
 
 o^enus.' Then he looked at her with a lauo^h. 
 ' Have I put my foot in it again ? You're 
 not one, are you ?' 
 
 ' I don't know how I am to disentangle 
 myself from the crowd,' she replied, with a 
 smile which was slightly wistful. ' I don't 
 know that I have any right to do so. I go 
 auout a good deal, and I think — yes, I am 
 sure that I enjoy it. Otherwise — well, you 
 know, I need not do it.' 
 
 He did not at once answer. Then he said 
 slowly : 
 
 ' I have never thought of you in that light. 
 I go out very little myself, only, indeed, as a 
 matter of what seems like necessity, as one is 
 here to-night, and I somehow fancied that 
 you had the same feeling. Of course I had 
 no right to fancy anything.' 
 
 Lady Millicent had grown slightly pale. 
 
 ' Once before,' she said, ' you said some- 
 thing of the sort, and I have been a little 
 ashamed of myself ever since, because I felt
 
 12 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 as if I had allowed you to keep an impression 
 
 which was not cjuite correct. I believe I am 
 
 really fond of gaiety.' 
 
 Elizabeth Ashton had once said of her 
 
 friend that she was inconveniently truthful. 
 
 It certainly at this moment cost her some- 
 thing to act up to her standard, and this may 
 have been owincr to a look on her com- 
 panion's face which she read as disappoint- 
 ment. He could make no answer, however, 
 to her confession, because at this moment 
 other people drifted into the conversation, 
 and Sir Henry moved aside, and stood re- 
 garding a bank of irises. 
 
 He was a somewhat remarkable-looking 
 man of two or three and thirty, who might 
 have been several years older. H e was large — 
 large in every way, in form and feature — large 
 and also clumsy. His head was massive, his 
 forehead broad ; his ears were long, straight, 
 and set square and low down in his head; eye- 
 brows level and overhanging; his nose was
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 13 
 
 thick, his mouth wide, but very beautifully and 
 hrmly cut ; while his eyes, by their keen in- 
 telligence, redeemed the lace from any pos- 
 sible accusation of heaviness. He had had 
 a singularly brilliant and successful career, 
 although the two things do not always go 
 together ; had carried off a seat which the 
 other side held to be exceptionally safe, and 
 now had attained to a place in the Ministry. 
 He was not universally popular ; indeed, it is 
 probable that such a position would have 
 made him miserable ; he was too strong in 
 his own opinions, too Intolerant of opposition 
 — while at all times ready himself for the fray 
 — too scathing in his scorn, for it to be certain 
 that he would ever rise to the foremost rank 
 amone statesmen. At the same time he had 
 many warm friends, and his enemies never 
 failed to listen to him with interest, not only 
 because he was always worth hearing, and 
 spoke with delightful pungency, but because 
 it was impossible not be struck with the
 
 14 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 man's honesty, generosity, and undaunted 
 courage. He went to few houses, express- 
 ing unbounded contempt for the shams and 
 frivoHties of London Hfe ; but he was seen 
 most often at Lord Waterton's — Lady Milli- 
 cent Fairlie's father — and once or twice, in 
 consequence, his name had been coupled 
 with hers. Nothing, however, had ever 
 passed between them which the whole 
 world might not have heard without find- 
 ing anything to comment upon, and those 
 who knew him best laughed loudest at the 
 idea of his marrying. They added, with 
 truth, that he infinitely preferred the society 
 of men to women, and, with less ground for 
 assurance, that he was altogether absorbed 
 in his political career. They might have 
 modified these assertions if they had not 
 overlooked another point in his character. 
 He was passionately attracted by beauty and 
 art. One or two of those who stared at him 
 with some curiosity as he was studying the
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 15 
 
 irises, imagined that in his attitude, and in 
 his standing, as it were, alone in a crowd 
 where he had innumerable acquaintances, 
 they saw a proof of that almost insolent care- 
 lessness of men and women's opinion with 
 which he was credited. But, in actual fact, 
 he had forgotten everything else in intense 
 admiration for the flowers. He was lost in 
 the charm of their delicate yet rich colouring, 
 their lovely gradations of shades, their strong 
 and slender stems, and he was thinking of 
 nothing else. Presently Lady Millicent's 
 words recurred to him, and he remembered 
 them with some regret. He had thought of 
 her perhaps more than he himself knew, and 
 possibilities had certainly crossed his mind — 
 crossed them for the very reason that he had 
 believed her to be superior to the other 
 frivolous women, as, with the injustice he 
 would have been the first to scarify in another, 
 he dubbed the crowd wholesale. Without 
 exactly [tutting it into words, he had taken
 
 l6 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 for granted that she went out night after 
 night to please some fancy of her father's, or 
 to tulfil some imaginary social duty ; it really 
 shocked him when she allowed that it was to 
 please herself, and he found it difhcult to 
 forgive her such a shortcoming. From sheer 
 force of habit he was at her side again, later 
 in the evening ; but he was silent and pre- 
 occupied, and Elizabeth Ashton, who was 
 standing by, chose an opportunity to bend 
 forward and whisper, rather maliciously : 
 
 ' My dear, you have not got your lion to 
 roar at all prettily to-night. Can it be be- 
 cause there are other and o^reater lions ? 
 
 O 
 
 But no — I apologize. With all his faults, 
 which are legion, that is not one of them. 
 Then what has happened ?' 
 
 ' Nothing,' said Lady Millicent, flushing 
 slightly. 
 
 'Well, we must go,' said Elizabeth aloud ; 
 ' a little eddy in the crowd has swept Nan 
 into view, and I can't lose her again. Good-
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 17 
 
 bye, Millicent. May I tell Joan that you 
 will assist us in protecting her from all the 
 draofons and terrors which are weio-hing; on 
 her country mind ?' 
 
 ' When do they come, and where ?' 
 
 ' This week, and to a house near ours, 
 because Medhurst thinks we are not (/uUe 
 in the vortex. Joan is to spend part of her 
 time at the South Kensington Museum. She 
 is also to be presented on the twenty-sixth. 
 Good-night, Sir Henry.' 
 
 Lady Millicent glanced at her companion. 
 He was frowning. 
 
 ' Well ?' she hazarded. 
 
 ' Well !' he repeated impatiently. ' That's 
 the sort of assistance a girl may look for 
 when she comes into this Babylon with the 
 intention of living a life not utterly vain and 
 senseless, A jest and a sneer.' 
 
 * You are hard upon Elizabeth. She can 
 be a very true friend,' said Millicent gently. 
 
 ' When I see, I'll believe.' 
 
 vol.. I. 2
 
 l8 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' I think you are rather put out this 
 evening.' 
 
 ' I dare say I am. The sight of all this 
 frivolity, and show, and artificial life always 
 makes me sick. Look at that old woman- 
 she ought to be spending her last days in a 
 more fitting place. And look at that young 
 one. If anything, she's worse to see. And 
 then, Lady Millicent, you talk of liking it ! 
 Good heavens, what is there to like ?' 
 
 ' Pray, are we all frivolous and artificial ?' 
 she demanded with spirit. 
 
 He stared at her. He was always a little 
 surprised when she held her own opinions 
 ao^ainst his. 
 
 ' Oh,' he retorted, ' if you are expecting 
 compliments ' 
 
 ' You would punish me if I were,' she said 
 playfully. ' And I cannot wait for even a 
 conscientious attempt, for here comes my 
 father, and I must go. No ; do not go down 
 with us ; stay behind, and if you can't be
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 19 
 
 social, remember that you are official. Won't 
 that inspire you ?' 
 
 She nodded gaily as she went off, though, 
 to say the truth, something in the evening's 
 talk had caused her a stranQfe sinkinof of 
 heart. She was sensitively alive to his 
 opinions, and it cost her a great deal to 
 acknowledge what she knew he would dis- 
 approve ; only her perfect honesty had led 
 her to say what she had said, and in his look, 
 in his words, she had read disappointment. 
 It was very bitter. He filled a large place 
 in her thoughts. At times she believed that 
 he liked her, and she had long given up the 
 attempt to persuade herself that her own 
 feelings were still undecided. They were all 
 his. When she heard him praised, her heart 
 leapt with pride, and the delicate colour stole 
 up to her face. When men blamed him she 
 thought with scorn that their own dull blind- 
 ness caused them to misunderstand him. 
 His friendship had been so great a satisfaction
 
 2c THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 that only lately had faint longings for some- 
 thing nearer and more tender pushed their 
 way to the surface; and often now she pressed 
 them down with the conviction that if she 
 could feel sure the present condition of things 
 would endure, she would desire nothing 
 better. 
 
 Lady Waterton had died before her child 
 was old enough for the loss to impress itself 
 upon her life, and Millicent's twenty-five 
 years had been very happy. Her father 
 adored her ; she had been blessed with an 
 excellent governess, and never had known 
 the pain of parting with Mrs. Jameson, for 
 this lady still lived with them in a certain 
 independent fashion which suited them all, 
 having her own rooms and going her own 
 way, except when Millicent wanted her, 
 which was, indeed, pretty frequently. Lord 
 Waterton was not a very rich man ; if he had 
 had half a dozen sons it is possible that he 
 would have been poor; but as it was, Millicent
 
 THE COUXTRY COUSIN 21 
 
 was his only child, and there was no lack of 
 money. During the autumn and winter they 
 lived at Denningham Park, in Derbyshire; 
 in the spring they often went abroad, and 
 the season they spent in Berkeley Square. 
 It was while they were at Rome, two years 
 before, that they found themselves in the same 
 hotel with Sir Henry Lancaster ; and while 
 Lady Millicent was struck by the individuality 
 of his remarks in a place which, though 
 suggestive enough, seems to have already 
 suggesf^d so much that it leaves little more 
 to be said, he, on his part, having fought 
 shy of his country people, was beginning to 
 feel, without acknowledging, a touch of for- 
 lornness. He had a mortal dread of flattery, 
 and Lady Millicent never flattered; she only 
 listened, and listened intelligently. So that 
 by the time they had travelled together the 
 greater part of the way to England — for Sir 
 Henry left them in Paris — they were excellent 
 friends, and it should at once be said of Sir
 
 22 rilE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Henry that he was very true to his friend- 
 ships. 
 
 Millicent had by this time become much 
 
 interested in his thoughts, and she was not 
 
 without fear that when he returned to his 
 
 poHtical work — although he was not then in 
 
 office — they would gradually fall back into 
 
 a more formal acquaintance. But this never 
 
 happened, and afterwards, when she had 
 
 proved his loyalty and warm-heartedness, she 
 
 was ashamed to have ever doubted him. He 
 
 came more to their house than to any other ; 
 
 he was faithfully interested in recollections 
 
 which brought back the sunny days they had 
 
 spent together ; and she was right in feeling 
 
 that there was a bond between tliem which 
 
 even London life — more potent than Time — 
 
 could not break. 
 
 If that had been enough ! But, alas for 
 our consistency, that what once made our joy 
 should grow to cause our sharpest pangs ! 
 As yet it was only now and then that the
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 23 
 
 pang" came, but the worst of it was that it 
 was utterly unreasonable in its attack. She 
 could neither guard against it nor ward it off, 
 nor learn any softening from experience. 
 Sometimes it was a keen momentary anguish, 
 sometimes a dull ache ; it came unexpectedly, 
 it was gone as causelessly. It had been with 
 her that night, and yet she was conscious 
 that he had spent more time with her than 
 with anyone else in the room. Elizabeth's 
 voice had been meaning, and even Lord 
 Waterton had remarked, as they drove home : 
 
 ' I didn't come across Lancaster, but you 
 and he seemed to find a o-ood deal to talk 
 about.' 
 
 ' I don't think he was in a very talkative 
 mood, for he is out of his element in those 
 parties,' said the girl, with a slight heaviness 
 in her voice. ' I believe we were chiefly 
 taken up with the Medhursts. Do you know 
 that they are really going to give Joan a 
 season in London ?'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 * Who told you ?' 
 
 ' The Ashtons. They are cousins, you 
 know.' 
 
 ' No — I'd forgotten. So they're coming ? 
 Well, time they should, if the girl is to see 
 anything of life. How old is she ?' 
 . ' Quite nineteen.' 
 
 ' And been kept in the schoolroom up to 
 now! That's one of Medhurst's fads. He 
 used to provoke his father with all his little 
 particularities, and then married a wife who 
 unfortunately encouraged them.' 
 
 ' Then old Lord Medhurst was different ?' 
 
 ' Different ? I believe you. He was a 
 wild harum-scarum sort of old fellow. I 
 don't know that there was any particular 
 harm in him, but he was the very opposite of 
 his son.' 
 
 Lord Waterton began to laugh at the 
 recollection. 
 
 'And now there is Joan,' said Millicent 
 thoughtfully.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 25 
 
 ' We must ask them to dinner/ went on 
 her father hospitably. ' Perhaps Lancaster 
 and Haddino- would come on Wednesday, 
 and the Ashtons, two of them — two's enough 
 — and a couple of others. See about it, my 
 dear, will you ?' 
 
 ' Yes, papa.' 
 
 Father and child walked together up the 
 broad staircase, but her step lagged a little, 
 and he noticed it. 
 
 ' Tm afraid you are tired,' he said, putting 
 a helping arm round her. ' Don't ride to- 
 
 morrow mornmg. 
 
 She brightened instantly. 
 
 ' Tired ? Not more than I ought to be, 
 and riding is the very thing to set me up. 
 You needn't hope to get off without me.' 
 
 ' You're sure you are not overdone ?' 
 
 ' Quite sure.' 
 
 ' There's nothing you would like me to do 
 for you ?' 
 
 ' Nothing.'
 
 26 TUF. COUXTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Then be off to bed, and mind you sleep 
 well,' he called after her anxiously. 
 
 She made some laughing rejoinder, but, 
 after all, her night was annoyingly resdess, 
 haunted by confused dreams, under which 
 she awoke and tossed, and slept and awoke, 
 until the minutes seemed to stretch themselves 
 into hours. She was vexed and ashamed 
 .that one idea should be so capable of domi- 
 nating her mind. When she had first ventured 
 to admit it, it had crept in with a show of 
 modesty which had deceived her ; it had 
 seemed then so little more than already ex- 
 isted. Alas ! now it had taken quite another 
 proportion ; day by day it grew sweeter and 
 clearer ; day by day it gained a firmer foot- 
 ing. It pushed that poor ideal friendship out 
 of its home. It was becoming clamorous, 
 insistent. It must not be thought that all 
 this was without a struggle. Her womanly 
 self-respect fought, and fought hard. Her 
 womanlv intuition warned her that before her
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 27 
 
 lav thorns and briars, amidst which she might 
 have to walk with bleeding feet. At times, 
 as now, her heart sank within her. But it 
 was too late for warnings. All that remained 
 now, if what they pointed at came, was to 
 endure, and to hide her pain. And, after all, 
 if she had these seasons of dejection, at other 
 times the future looked rosy. He liked her 
 — of that she was sure — that nothing could 
 take away. And she was also confident that 
 there was no one he liked better. It might 
 be that he would never care for any woman 
 well enough to marry her, and, indeed, this 
 conviction was very generally expressed ; but 
 the thought was not so unendurable as others, 
 and it appeared more liable to be proved 
 erroneous. When Lady Millicent rode the 
 ne.xt morning, she looked pale, but her 
 spirits had risen, and her father dismissed 
 his fears.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Lady Millicent's drawing-room was not 
 arranged according to the latest art develop- 
 ments, but, in spite of this shortcoming, it 
 was a very charming and comfortable room. 
 Two or three fine Vandykes which looked 
 from the walls crave it a certain air of dis- 
 tinction, and whenever anyone wished to sit 
 down, a chair was sure to offer itself at pre- 
 cisely the right angle, which, after all, is an 
 unfailing test of comfort. There was always 
 an abundance of flowers, for they were fully 
 supplied from Denningham, and were not 
 without marks of individuality which be- 
 longed to Lady Millicent. It must be owned
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 29 
 
 that since Sir Henry Lancaster, who was a 
 passionate lover of tiowers, had become so 
 frequent a visitor in Berkeley Square, the 
 baskets arrived more often, and had in- 
 creased in size. 
 
 On the occasion of the dinner-party which 
 was to be given in honour of the Medhursts, 
 the ofuests were to consist of those mentioned 
 by Lord Waterton, with the addition of Mr. 
 Jefferies, an artist, his wife, and Mrs. Jameson. 
 As yet, all had not arrived, and Lady Milli- 
 cent sat talking with Elizabeth Ashton on a 
 pretty chintz-covered double seat. The two 
 friends made a contrast — -Elizabeth, marked 
 in features and colouring, well dressed, and, 
 on the whole, an effective person ; Millicent, 
 fair, small, clad in some combination of white 
 and very pale blue, and one whom it would 
 be always a little difficult to distinguish in a 
 crowd. Lkit at this moment she looked, as 
 she felt, exceedingly happy. The little cloud 
 which a few days ago had dulled her horizon
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 had apparently passed away, and she and Sir 
 Henry, when last they met, had been on 
 excellent terms. She was now listening with 
 an eager sympathetic little face to some 
 grievance of Elizabeth's ; and Elizabeth had 
 a habit of expressing her grievances in a 
 picturesquely exaggerated form, which made 
 them rather amusing than otherwise to her 
 friends. 
 
 ' And they gave you no tea, after all ? Poor 
 Elizabeth !' 
 
 ' It was barbarous. They waited until I 
 was standing up to go, and then one of them 
 said — ^as if they had been pressing it upon 
 me all the time — " And you zuo/i^ have any 
 tea? I am i-(? sorry." They might have seen 
 that I was almost dead ; they did see it ; there 
 was something hungry in my eyes, no doubt, 
 and they were afraid I should devour too 
 much bread and butter. There is no margin 
 ever allowed in that house. Oh, I was so 
 enrasfed ! It will be a lono^ time before I
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 31 
 
 find myself there again. And the day was 
 so exhausting.' 
 
 ' Was it ? I thought it deh'ghtful ; but then 
 I was not dragging about Hke you, poor 
 EHzabeth I' 
 
 ' Who is to take me down to dinner ?' 
 
 ' I thought of Mr. Jefferies. Do you ap- 
 prove ?' 
 
 ' Yes ; I rather hke red-haired men, and I 
 don't suppose I shall be expected to admire 
 his paintings, because I don't. I hope I am 
 at a safe distance from Medhurst, as we 
 invariably fight, and ' 
 
 She was interrupted by Sir Henry Lan- 
 caster, who had just arrived, and who came 
 to speak to his hostess. The next moment 
 the Medhursts were announced, and Lady 
 Millicent rose with some curiosity. 
 
 Lord and Lady Medhurst looked as they 
 had looked for the last ten years — he, tall 
 and thin, with a long narrow face, high fore- 
 head, and light straight h^iir. His eyes were
 
 32 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 blue, and he kept them very steadily fixed on 
 the person to whom he spoke. His manner 
 was marked with a deliberation which gave 
 the effect of belonofini^: to an older man, so 
 that those who souoht his ac^e in the Peeracre 
 were surprised to find that it did not exceed 
 forty-five. Lady Medhurst was older ; she 
 had a handsome nose, which had always 
 been a satisfaction, and caused her to value 
 her profile ; and she had the highest possible 
 opinion of her husband's judgment. He and 
 she were thoroughly good and conscientious 
 persons, full of excellent works, and, above 
 all, desirous to root out any germs of vanity 
 which might show themselves in their 
 daughter, Joan. 
 
 It was Joan whom Lady Millicent felt a 
 curious longing to see, and her first impres- 
 sion was slightly touched with disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 She was — she could not fail to be — very 
 pretty. Her features, as you examined them,
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN ^5 
 
 were simply perfect, the forehead low and 
 broad, the nose exquisitely straight, the 
 upper lip short and deeply curved, the chin 
 softly rounded. Perhaps it was the gray 
 eyes, with their long dark lashes, which, 
 beautiful as they were, struck Millicent as 
 not so beautiful as she remembered them, 
 and yet it was difficult to conceive how this 
 should be. Certainly they carried in them 
 rather a startled look, but there was some- 
 thingf besides this which she could not fathom. 
 She was dressed in white, very simply and 
 plainly — so plainly, indeed, that the un- 
 finished look would have probably, in any 
 other girl, have been the first to strike a 
 beholder ; with Joan Medhurst it was only 
 apparent when the beholder began to wonder 
 whether her beauty were at all dependent 
 upon her dress. She was exceedingly slight, 
 and taller than she looked, and at this, 
 almost her first dinner-party, her face ex- 
 pressed unmistakably both alarm and dis- 
 VOL. I. ' 3
 
 34 'i'Hl' COl'NTUY COUSIN 
 
 comfort. Milliccnt, pitying both, addressed 
 several leadinir remarks to her as to what 
 she had already seen in London, but without 
 avail, and she heartily wished she had left 
 her alone when Lord Medhurst said, in his 
 high, deliberate tones : 
 
 ' Have you nothing more than yes and 
 no to contribute, my dear Joan ? It appears 
 to me that you have been supplied with 
 sufficient material to carry on a somewhat 
 more intelligent conversation.' 
 
 Fortunately at this moment the door was 
 ilung open, and Joan, who had crimsoned 
 at her father's words, was delivered over to 
 Sir Henry Lancaster. He had not heard 
 the words, but he had seen the blush, and it 
 caused him both v/onder and admiration, for 
 he had long maintained that the young ladies 
 of his day were incapable of blushing. He 
 began to remember that Lady Millicent had 
 told him something of this girl ; his recollec- 
 tions were not very clear, but she had spoken
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 35 
 
 of her havino- come from the country and 
 been kept much in the background. Her 
 remarkable beauty made him doubtful of 
 this possibility, and yet — the blush ! 
 
 He beofan to talk to her about the current 
 things of which everyone was talking, the 
 ordinary surface interests along which conver- 
 sation skims with safety — the pictures, the 
 park, the last book. To each of these the 
 girl returned short, shy, and ignorant answers. 
 Her father was watching her, and it was 
 quite true that she was terribly confused. 
 Lancaster could not be sure whether she 
 were a fool, or whether what Lady Millicent 
 had said gave the explanation. Ordinarily 
 he would have given her up and turned to 
 Mrs. Jameson, who was on his other side. 
 But she was so beautiful that he felt no 
 inclination to look away, and her beauty 
 certainly made him indulgent. He said to 
 himself that she was really only a frightened 
 child ; and Lancaster, witli all his occasional 
 
 3-2
 
 36 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 roughnesses, had. a very tender heart towards 
 children. 
 
 ' Tell me,' he said at last, determined to 
 force her answers into a more personal 
 channel, ' whether it is true that this is your 
 first visit to London ?' 
 
 ' Yes — no ; I was here when — when I was 
 a child.' 
 
 * Do you know that you are a most enviable 
 personage ?' 
 
 She turned her startled gray eyes upon 
 him for a moment. 
 
 ' Why r 
 
 ' Because you have all the freshness that 
 we have lost. There are many of us who 
 would give a great deal to see things for once 
 as you will necessarily see them, and to be 
 able to compare and contrast as justly.' 
 
 ' Would they ?' nervously. 
 
 ' Yes, of course they would. You can un- 
 derstand, can't you, that everything — the 
 simplest — gets in time overladen with a crust
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 37 
 
 of custom and conventionality ; one no longer 
 sees it as it is, but as one imagines it to be. 
 Or one is seized with a reactionary fur) , and 
 in attempting to get back to the real thini;, 
 strips it of what really belongs to it by right. 
 Then comes injustice.' 
 
 ' Does it ?' asked Joan, crumbling her 
 bread. She had slender fingers and a beau- 
 tifully shaped hand, as Sir Henry noticed. 
 Perhaps that prevented his being struck with 
 the attenuation of her reply. 
 
 ' I fancy so. I would give something to 
 be able to look at things from a fresh stand- 
 point. So you see what advantages are on 
 your side.' 
 
 ' Oh !' said Joan, with the first symptom 
 of strong feeling, ' I think it is all dreadful !' 
 
 ' What is dreadful ?' 
 
 ' This London — this life. I don't know 
 how I shall ever bear it !' 
 
 ' Why ? What is the trouble ?' 
 
 ' Because — because so much is expected
 
 38 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 from one It is bad enough even at home, 
 where I am always shocking them and failing 
 in some way ; but here it is all new, and I 
 don't in the least know what I should do. 
 IVIy father says I shall be the laughing-stock 
 of London.' 
 
 She spoke at last impetuously, and when 
 she turned her beautiful eyes upon Lancasttr 
 he saw, to his dismay, that they were full of 
 tears. For the moment he was almost dum- 
 founded. He answered quickly : 
 
 * You don't believe him — you can't ! Your 
 father says that to conceal his real pride in 
 you, and because he is afraid that if he 
 allowed you to see it, you would be vain,' 
 
 * Vain ! ' she repeated, with a touch of 
 bitterness. ' Do you know what I am wish- 
 ing when I come into a room ?' 
 
 ' No. How should I ?' 
 ' That I might sink into the ground. Sink 
 into the ground and be seen by nobody.' 
 He could not help smiling, there was
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 39 
 
 something so tragic in her words. And yet 
 he was touched. He tried to carry on these 
 revelations. 
 
 'I don't understand,' he said, 'why on 
 earth you should wish that.' 
 
 She looked at him with some impatience. 
 
 ' No, of course you don't,' she returned ; 
 ' you are a man. But you would if you were 
 lor ever being" told that you walked awk- 
 wardly, that you poked, that you didn't 
 know how to shake hands, that you were a 
 disgrace to your bringing up. It's horrid, I 
 can tell you.' 
 
 ' Well,' he answered with a laugh, for he 
 could not yet believe that all this was real to 
 her, ' of course your conviction of the truth 
 of these accusations makes them the more 
 painful to you.' 
 
 But he saw directly that he had made a 
 mistake, for she reddened and turned away. 
 
 'Good heavens!' he exclaimed vehemently, 
 * you don't suppose that I spoke seriously ?'
 
 40 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 She hesitated, and then looked at him with 
 a smile which he had not seen before, and 
 which appeared to him enchanting. 
 
 ' Were you only laughing at me, do you 
 mean ?' she asked. 
 
 ' I imagined I was laughing with you. I 
 couldn't conceive that you would suppose 
 that such — admonitions could carry any 
 actual sting,' 
 
 ' Why ?' 
 
 She put the question quite innocently, and 
 he found it hard to answer. Compliments 
 were always contemptible in his judgment, 
 but he could produce them when called upon, 
 and revenge himself by imparting a satirical 
 flavour, which decidedly took off from the 
 sweetness. Now he only said gravely : 
 
 ' When ) ou have had a little further ex- 
 perience of the world. Miss Medhurst, you 
 will be convinced by overwhelming testi- 
 mony that you could not walk awkwardly if 
 you would, and that those whom you honour
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 41 
 
 by shaking hands with them consider them- 
 selves the luckiest of mortals.' 
 
 Never before had Sir Henry Lancaster 
 made such a speech. It amazed and abashed 
 him to find himself saying the words, and he 
 was conscious that, had he overheard another 
 using them, he would have despised the 
 speaker. Yet he had merely spoken his 
 convictions. The effect upon her startled 
 him. She opened her eyes, and her whole 
 face was irradiated. 
 
 ' Do you really mean it ?' she asked 
 breathlessly. ' Do you think that it will not be 
 so dreadful, after all ? If you only knew how- 
 frightened I am when I think of all there is 
 to do ! 1 shall hate it, I know — I shall wish 
 myself at home a hundred times. I did, 
 before I was coming here to-night. Papa 
 told m(; that I was to try to talk intelligently, 
 and 1 had been thinkiuL; of what there was — 
 do you know, I really made some little notes 
 of what I thouLrlu nii^lu do, and 1 have [lot
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 thcni in my pocket. But the instant you 
 were brouoht up to me, I forgot ever\ thino^ ; 
 it all went out of my head.' 
 
 ' Can't you remember any of these heads?' 
 
 'No, I'm afraid I can't. It's very disap- 
 pointing.' 
 
 ' But how did you make them out^ — at 
 first, I mean ?' asked Lancaster, much 
 amused. 
 
 ' Oh, I asked mamma what people 
 generally talked about at diimer-parties, 
 and she told me what she could. She 
 didn't say very much ' — meditatively ; ' but 
 I thought it might help me — oh, now I 
 remember ! One of the things was our 
 election. Do you know anything about 
 elections ?' 
 
 'Well, yes — a little.' 
 
 ' But perhaps you have never seen one ? 
 Oh, you can't imagine how exciting it was ! 
 We drove in, and I never saw the town in 
 such a state!'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 43 
 
 ' I hope your side got in ? You haven't 
 told me which is your side.' 
 
 She turned upon him open-eyed. 
 
 ' Which side ! Why, of course we could 
 onlv be on one side. You're not ' — she 
 looked doubtfully at him — ' you're 710^ against 
 the Government ?' 
 
 ' No, I assure you,' he said with gravity. 
 * No ; I see we are both in the same boat. 
 I am particularly glad that you won your 
 election.' 
 
 ' Yes, we were all very glad. 1 liked it 
 immensely — except the speeches. Don't 
 you think that speeches are generally dull 
 things ?' 
 
 ' Yes, 1 do — very.' 
 
 ' Papa says it's my own ignorance. But 
 they hemmed and hawed so much, and said 
 the same things over and over again ; they 
 would never have convinced me if I hadn't 
 been convinced already, tlowever ' 
 
 She stoppe;d and sighed.
 
 44 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' You're not likely to be called upon to 
 hear speeches in London, that's one comfort 
 for you.' 
 
 ' Oh, but I shall ! Papa wishes me to 
 go to the House, and I believe I am going 
 to-morrow,' 
 
 ' Really ?' He looked up with a smile. 
 ' Isn't that rather hard on you ?' 
 
 ' Oh no !' she said eagerly. ' I shan't 
 mind so much, because there is nothing to 
 do there. I shan't have to move about, or 
 to talk before a lot of dreadful people. I 
 dare say it wi// be rather dull, but that 
 doesn't matter. No ; what makes me quite 
 ill with fright is the thought of that terrible 
 drawing-room. What am I to do with my 
 train ? Suppose I should tumble down ! 
 Papa and mamma would never forgive me. 
 And they say that is what I am sure to do.' 
 
 'Don't believe it — don't think of it! No 
 one ever tumbles down, even with those 
 ridiculous trains ; and I wish I was as sure
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 45 
 
 of — the next election as 1 am that you will 
 do nothinof awkward.' 
 
 He spoke with an energy which surprised 
 himself, and she gave him a grateful glance, 
 
 * I am so much obliged to you for saying 
 so,' she sighed. ' It does comfort one. I 
 only wish there were not six whole days 
 between this and Tuesday, because the more 
 I think the more I dread it.' 
 
 ' But thinofs are often more formidable in 
 imagination than reality. Now, you dreaded 
 this dinner-party.' 
 ' Oh, I did !' 
 
 ' Well, so far you have met with nothing 
 alarming ? We have got on very well, 
 though you have forgotten all — or most of 
 your heads.' 
 
 'Yes, it's wonderful,' she agreed, but 
 without smiling ; and Lancaster perceived 
 that she could not enter into a joke. She 
 was prepared to be laughed at rather than to 
 laugh, and things, with her, were apt to take
 
 46 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 a serious complexion. He mentally anathe- 
 matized Lord Medhurst for his pedantic 
 folly, and glancing at him, as it were, to 
 emphasize his displeasure, he became aware 
 that that gentleman was leaning forward, 
 evidently desirous of attracting his daughter's 
 attention, 
 
 * I think," said Lancaster unwillingly, ' that 
 Lord Medhurst wishes to speak to you.' 
 
 She flushed instantly, and he turned to his 
 other neighbour, but it must be owned that 
 he kept one ear open to what was going on at 
 his right. The question which her father put 
 was not in itself alarming — he merely desired 
 to know on what day Mr. Smith had arranged 
 to take them to the Burlington Fine Arts 
 Club ; it was not the question, it was the 
 having to speak, to say anything across that 
 terrifying space, to break the appalling silence 
 which suddenly seemed to have hushed all 
 the lively conversation. Joan looked at her 
 father, hesitated, faltered.
 
 THE COUNTRY CO C SIX 47 
 
 ' A little louder, my dear ; I did not catch 
 what you said.' 
 
 She began again desperately, faltered again, 
 was on the verge of breaking down ignomini- 
 ously, when a clear, unabashed, authoritative 
 voice at her elbow came to the rescue : 
 
 ' Miss Medhurst thinks that Saturday was 
 the day named, but she is not absolutely 
 certain.' Then, in almost a whisper : ' Will 
 tliat do ? Is diat near enough ? If not, I'll 
 correct myself, and say it was my mistake. 
 I'll make any statement you like — correct 
 or incorrect.' 
 
 ' Oh. I am so much obliged to you !' she 
 answered in the same tone. ' I don't know. 
 I can't remember — everything has gone out 
 of my head.' 
 
 Her voice shook, and he felt again the 
 same thrill at her childishness and evident 
 inexperience which had visited him before. 
 
 ' Never mind,' he said reassuringly, ' you 
 will get used to that sort of thing in time.'
 
 48 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' I don't know,' she repeated, sighing. 
 ' Mamma says so, but — I don't know. The 
 sound of one's own voice is so dreadful. It 
 doesn't really seem to belong to one any 
 more. Doesn't it seem wonderful to you 
 that people should be found able to make 
 speeches ?' 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 ' I believe I am more surprised that people 
 should be found to listen to them.' 
 
 ' Oh no ; it is easy enough to listen. It's 
 the having to say anything.' 
 
 It cost him some pains and trouble to get 
 her back to the ease into which he flattered 
 himself she had fallen before her father's un- 
 lucky question shook the foundations, but at 
 last he succeeded. She told him many par- 
 ticulars of her life at Ashbury, and of the small 
 interests which filled her days. It was like 
 —or so he thought — going himself into the 
 country, to have it brought before him in 
 this fresh and innocent manner ; he drew a
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 49 
 
 lone breath, as a man does when the sweet 
 air reaches him — blown across primrose banks 
 and daisied meadows. The whole account 
 of her surroundings seemed to him deliciously 
 pastoral and wholesome ; her poultry-yard, 
 her pigeons, her Persian kitten, her two 
 collies — Jack and Jill — her garden, the schools 
 in which she taught. What a contrast all 
 this presented to that fashionable round 
 which he abhorred ! What a contrast to a 
 London girl's — even to Lady Millicent's — 
 life ! Joined to this wonderful beauty, the 
 simplicity, the ignorance, the bashfulness, all 
 partook of its charm ; he could hardly con- 
 ceive that he should be sitting next a girl 
 who had never been to a play — a girl who 
 blushed, who was unconscious of, at any 
 rate — the power of her own loveliness, and 
 only wished to escape observation. It 
 must be allowed that the type is unusual, 
 and to Sir Henry Lancaster it appeared 
 ideal. 
 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 When the ladies left the din ing- room, Joan, 
 on her part, felt as if she were once more 
 obliged to set sail from a blessed harbour of 
 refuge. Her mother paused for her on the 
 stairs and told her not to stoop, and she 
 reached the drawing-room under a fresh 
 access of shyness. Elizabeth Ashton caught 
 hold of her with the kindest intentions, but 
 with her usual slight brusquerie. 
 
 ' Well, my country cousin,' she said, smiling, 
 ' what have you been doing to-day, and how 
 many lectures have you attended ?' 
 
 ' Papa took me to the National Gallery,' 
 said Joan. 
 
 • Was that all ?' 
 
 * No. He showed me the Houses of 
 Parliament and Westminster Abbey.' 
 
 ' Oh !' cried Elizabeth, smiling. ' Did you 
 talk to Sir Henry Lancaster about the 
 Houses of Parliament ? was he verv alarm- 
 ing ? I was sorry for you, when I found to 
 whom the Fates had consigned you.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 51 
 
 ' Why ?' asked Joan, with her wide open 
 look. 
 
 ' Why, don't you know who he is ?' 
 
 * No. Oh, I hope he's not a member of 
 Parliament ! He is ? Because I asked him 
 if he had ever seen an election.' 
 
 ' Not really ?' Elizabeth laughed long, and 
 caught Lady Millicent's dress as she passed. 
 ' Millicent, come and listen. This child actu- 
 ally asked the great Sir Henry if he had 
 ever been at an election ! I would have 
 eiven somethin<7 to have seen his face.' 
 
 Lady Millicent hesitated ; then sat down 
 on a three-cornered chair by the other two. 
 
 ' He will not mind,' she said sofdy. But 
 she said it to Elizabeth. 
 
 'Papa,' remarked Joan mournfully, 'says 
 that I always say the wrong thing.' 
 
 ' Well, you couldn't know,' returned her 
 cousin good-naturedly, ' that he was really 
 one of the Ministry. I would have coached 
 you before dinner, if you had not been so 
 
 4—2
 
 5-2. THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 late. But did he frighten you very much ? 
 He has the character for being very terrify- 
 ino- — considerino^ his a^e.' 
 
 ' He did not frighten me in the least, after 
 the first,' said the girl ; ' he was very kind. But 
 I shall never venture to speak to him again.' 
 
 ' Oh, nonsense !' said Elizabeth. ' I am 
 glad you said it, for it will do him good, and 
 you must learn to hold your own with these 
 young men. How old do you suppose him 
 to be ?' 
 
 ' How old ? I don't know — I suppose 
 perhaps as old as my father.' 
 
 'There!' cried Elizabeth, laughing trium- 
 phantly. ' Now, Millicent, what have I often 
 told you ? I was sure that was what we 
 should hear. He isn't your father's age at 
 all, Joan. He isn't much older than I am, 
 only two or three and thirty, though he does 
 look like Methuselah.' 
 
 'Lady Millicent had sat silent during this 
 little episode of questions and answers, her
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 53 
 
 hands lightly crossed on her lap, and her eyes 
 fixed either on Elizabeth or on a knot of pale 
 blue ribbon on her dress. At this moment 
 she got up hastily. ' I must go and talk to 
 Mrs. Jefferies,' she explained. And at this 
 moment also Lady Medhurst called her 
 daughter to be introduced to Mrs. Jameson, 
 and Joan effected a reluctant pilgrimage to 
 her mother's sofa. 
 
 ' Will she make a curtsy .'*' thought Eliza- 
 beth, watchino- them with amusement. 
 
 ' This is Joan,' said Lady Medhurst com- 
 fortably ; ' very much grown since you saw 
 her ten or twelve years ago, but rather a 
 child still, I am afraid. We are brins^i'is:' her 
 up because her father is anxious that she 
 should come out more, and take her position 
 better, and I trust that a season in London 
 will have that effect. I need hardly tell you 
 that it is a great trial to us. I am sure that 
 Joan will try to repay her father for the 
 effort.'
 
 54 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 * And I am sure she will enjoy herself,' 
 said Mrs. Jameson kindly. 
 
 She did not at this moment look as if this 
 were likely. She was glancing round with a 
 desperate longing for a chair into which she 
 might sink. 
 
 * No, my dear,' said Lady Medhurst calmly ; 
 ' I think you had better stand for a little 
 while. Young girls should always learn to 
 stand still without fidgeting.' 
 
 Joan stood — miserably conscious that all 
 the others were sitting. But when the door 
 opened and the first gentleman appeared, she 
 turned in desperation and fled — fled to a seat 
 behind a table, behind a flower-stand, behind 
 the three other ladies, who were now talking 
 together. Lord Medhurst, who had Feen 
 this retreat with displeasure, prepared at 
 once to extract her, but was intercepted by 
 Elizabeth Ashton ; and Sir Henry Lancaster, 
 whether from compassion, indifference, or 
 because from where he stood talking to Lady
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 55 
 
 MilHcent he had a satisfactory view of the 
 girl's lovely startled face, made no attempt to 
 approach ; indeed, he presently dropped into 
 a chair, so as yet more completely to isolate 
 her. 
 
 * I have come to apologize, Lady Millicent,' 
 he said. 
 
 She moved slightly, so as to avoid the 
 full light of a tall lamp, w^ith a shade the 
 size of a parasol, which was placed in the 
 angle of a screen. 
 
 ' Tsn't that rather unusual ?' she said vvith 
 a smile. 
 
 ' Possibly ; but the circumstances are un- 
 usual. Generally, I place implicit trust in 
 what you say, although we may disagree 
 over it to the knife ; but I really could not 
 believe what you told me of Miss Medhurst.' 
 
 ' And now ?' 
 
 ' Now I acknowledge that she is beautiful, 
 that she will make a sensation, and that she 
 has no idea of it.'
 
 56 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Yes,' said INIillicent quietly ; ' she is 
 beautiful.' 
 
 He looked at her as she spoke, and at 
 the same time seemed to see the lovely face 
 beyond, half hidden by the shadows into 
 which it had withdrawn. Lady Millicent 
 was not even pretty ; there was a delicate 
 refinement of feature and a frank nobility of 
 expression which he had been accustomed to 
 think more attractive than prettiness, but 
 somehow on this evening she struck him 
 as looking jaded. No wonder, he refiected, 
 when her life embraced such a weary round 
 — a round which she had confessed to liking. 
 That acknowledgment of poor Millicent's, 
 made by force of truthfulness, could not be 
 forgotten or pardoned, and he contrasted it 
 at once with the other girl's shrinking from 
 notice, and artless prattlings over her country 
 pursuits. These had been so fresh and 
 delicious that he smiled again to think of 
 them, and sat silent, while Colonel Ashton
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 57 
 
 came up and chatted with Lady INIillicent. 
 Then the Ashtons departed, and there was 
 a general break up. Joan had to emerge 
 from her corner, her father calHnQf to her 
 as she came to be careful not to knock 
 down the flower-stand ; and Sir Henry shook 
 hands with the girl, who never lifted her 
 eyes from the ground, and told her that 
 when they met again he hoped to hear 
 more of Jack and Jill.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Joan knew that she was in disgrace, and 
 her father's cough, and a peculiar dry clear- 
 ing of the throat, confirmed her fears. He 
 always cleared his throat in that manner 
 when he was ofoinQf to find fault with her. 
 To her amazement, however, her mother, 
 who disliked talking in a carriage, began to 
 remark upon the evening, and, indeed, re- 
 marked so much, that Lord Medhurst, who 
 prided himself upon his courtesy, was com- 
 pelled to give her his undivided attention. 
 Even when they had reached Albion Street, 
 and the dreaded ' My dear Joan, let me 
 speak to you for a moment before you go
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 59 
 
 to your room ' had been uttered, Lady Med- 
 hurst again interposed. 
 
 ' If you would kindly postpone your little 
 talk until the morning,' she said, ' I should 
 be glad. Joan looks pale, and she is so un- 
 accustomed to late hours, that we must begin 
 carefully. Good-night, my dear ; your father 
 will, I know, excuse you.' 
 
 * Only pray hold your candle straight,' 
 Lord Medhurst added with a slight irritation 
 in his tone. He turned into the library, 
 where a lamp was burning, and dismissed 
 the servants. ' My dear Emily, unless we 
 point out her mistakes to Joan at the time 
 they occur, the child will never correct them. 
 I should have been ^lad to have drawn her 
 attention to several little errors while the 
 impression of the evening was still fresh. 
 You must have had some reason for pre- 
 venting this ?' 
 
 ' 1 wanted to say a word to you first.' 
 
 'Yes?' Lord Medhurst returned regret-
 
 6o THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 full)'. ' In that case there is nothing to be 
 said, except that you may depend upon my 
 close attention. I dare say we shall find 
 that the same points have struck us both.' 
 
 He crossed his long legs, and leaned back, 
 fingering a paper-knife. 
 
 ' I thought the child looked very sweet,' 
 said his wife hesitatingly. ' Did you — did 
 you see much which required criticism ?' 
 
 ' My dear, she was most vexatiously shy 
 and awkward when we went into the room ; 
 she thrust out her hand to Lord Waterton 
 like an overcrrown school^jirl. Once or 
 twice at dinner I heard her lausfh much too 
 prominent, and she did not understand how 
 to divide her talk. She left Jefferies, on the 
 other side of her, completely out in the cold.' 
 
 ' But I was afraid that she mio-ht not talk 
 at all,' Lady Medhurst explained. ' It was 
 an absolute relief to me to find that she 
 appeared to be getting on so well with Sir 
 Henry Lancaster.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 6i 
 
 Lord iMedhurst pondered. 
 
 ' It is true,' he said, ' that there was so far 
 an improvement. But Lancaster can hardly 
 have found her conversation even approach 
 his level. I wonder very much what she 
 talked about. I must ask her.' 
 
 ' I wondered all the while,' agreed his wife ; 
 'but I am quite sure, from the expression of 
 his face and the attention he gave her, that 
 he was pleased. Were I you, Walter, I am 
 inclined to think that I would ask no ques- 
 tions.' 
 
 Lady Medhurst so rarely disagreed with 
 her husband, that he the more respected a 
 counter-opinion when it came, and merely 
 remarked, with a slight testiness : 
 
 ' But her extraordinary flight when we 
 appeared in the drawing-room ! Do you not 
 consider it advisable to point out to her that 
 young ladies do not generally barricade them- 
 selves, as if they were in an enemy's country, 
 when they are in society, and expected to
 
 62 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 play their fitting- part ? Sir Henry Lancaster, 
 if, as ) ou suggest, he was really successful in 
 overcoming her luauvaise Jionte at dinner, 
 could not possibly have succeeded in ap- 
 proaching her afterwards.' 
 
 ' But he could look at her,' said Lady Med- 
 hurst, ' and he did.' 
 
 * He looked at her ?' 
 
 ' My dear Walter, Joan is a very beautiful 
 girl — I think we sometimes forget how beau- 
 tiful. I know that with you good looks are 
 secondary to culture, but men are not all 
 so wise. Sir Henry Lancaster was unmis- 
 takably struck with Joan, and I imagined that 
 his good opinion would give you satisfaction.' 
 
 * The greatest,' said her husband warmly — 
 'the greatest ! He is one of the mosi rising 
 men of the day, and his character is unassail- 
 able. What you say, Emily, interests me 
 exceedingly. But, supposing it to have been 
 as you believe at dinner, is there not the more 
 reason for remonstrating with her upon her
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 63 
 
 absurd behaviour when we returned to the 
 drawing- room ?' 
 
 ' EHzabeth Ashton told me that the child 
 was frightened when she heard who Sir Henry 
 Lancaster was. She fancied she had been 
 talking to him too freely, and this made her 
 dislike to meet him airain. It was hearinof 
 the reason which inclined me to tell you what 
 had passed before you spoke to Joan. You 
 will know best, dear Walter, whether it might 
 not be well to let her fears subside, and not 
 to allow her to suppose that you observed 
 anything unusual.' 
 
 ' You may be right,' said Lord Medhurst 
 meditatively — ' you may be right, and I will 
 refrain from remarks which miofht tend to 
 cause her a feeling of uneasiness upon meet- 
 ing him again. But the shake of the hand ! 
 Really, I must point out what an ungraceful 
 effect she produced.' 
 
 ' Oh, the shake of the hand, of course !' ex- 
 claimed his wife. ' Mrs. Jameson seems to
 
 64. THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 think it probable that she will be very o;-reatly 
 admired, and Elizabeth Ash ton made the 
 same remark.' 
 
 ' We must not permit any admiration she 
 may meet with to turn her head/ said Lord 
 Medhurst, laying down the paper-knife and 
 risingf. 
 
 ' No-o-o,' said the mother, a little doubt- 
 fully. 
 
 ' I am particularly anxious that she should 
 not imagine her looks to be in any way 
 remarkable.' 
 
 ' I know, dear Walter, and I am as anxious 
 as you can be ; but ' 
 
 Lady Medhurst rose with a sigh, and, as 
 as the last word was spoken under her 
 breath, she was not called upon to ex- 
 plain it. 
 
 To her amazement and relief, Joan's morn- 
 ing lecture was confined to an exemplification 
 of the various ways of shaking hands, her 
 own being held up to scorn as the most
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 65 
 
 objectionable. The girl listened dutifully, but 
 somehow or other the humiliation was not so 
 keen as usual ; somehow or other her father's 
 words carried with them quite another sort of 
 refrain : ' Those whom you honour by shaking 
 hands with them will consider themselves the 
 luckiest of mortals.' Something consolatory 
 in these and, it must be owned, in certain 
 other of Lancaster's words and looks danced 
 before her eyes while her father was making 
 her shake hands again and again in the 
 manner which he desired her to cultivate, 
 and the recollection blotted out much of the 
 dismay with which she had been regarding 
 what she called her unlucky speeches. When 
 the lecture was finished, Lord Medhurst 
 inquired whether she would like to walk in 
 the Park. She hesitated — yesterday she 
 would not have hesitated — but the ordeal 
 appeared too severe, and she excused her- 
 self — she was never quite frank with her 
 father — by saying that there was shop- 
 voL. I. 5
 
 66 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ping which she was anxious to do with her 
 mother. 
 
 ' Mrs. Russell takes yuu to the House by- 
 and-by, I believe ?' 
 
 'Yes, papa.' 
 
 ' And to-night ?' 
 
 ' To-nio^ht there is a dance. Must I q;o ?' 
 her terrors reviving again. 
 
 ' Certainly, my dear. Your mother and I 
 are desirous that you should enjoy all the 
 pleasures appropriate to your age — in modera- 
 tion. It is for that reason that we are here.' 
 
 * Thank you, papa.' 
 
 ' I am rather anxious to see you dance. I 
 hope you will remember your master's injunc- 
 tions, and carry yourself with ease.' 
 
 This time Joan did not answer, but a light 
 sparkled in her eyes. She had always 
 believed that she could dance ; since last 
 night she felt sure of it. It was not the 
 dancing that she dreaded. 
 
 At the appointed time Mrs. Russell came
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 67 
 
 for her — a plain brisk little woman, whose 
 husband was an old friend of the Medhursts. 
 
 ' Robert will meet us at the House,' she 
 said ; ' but you may trust yourself to me, for I 
 go so often that I know all its ways and all the 
 officials. I am afraid it is rather a dull enter- 
 tainment for you, my dear child ; but your 
 father wishes you to see everythin^^^ and I 
 suppose you must go through a sort of pre- 
 liminary education.' 
 
 ' Oh, I like it ; I think it is better than other 
 things,' said Joan. 
 
 Mrs. Russell stared at her. 
 
 ' Well, I'm afraid you'll not long be so good 
 and obedient. We shall see.' 
 
 As she had promised, Major Russell met 
 them, did the lions for Joan with evident 
 satisfaction, and took them as slowly as he 
 could in the direction of the Ladies' Gallery. 
 He seized an opportunity of whispering to his 
 wife : 
 
 ' Why, the girl's lovely I' 
 
 5—2
 
 68 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Didn't I tell you so ? Pray, has she been 
 the subject of those important questions which 
 have been whispered in your ear ?' 
 
 * Yes, to be sure. Everyone's mad to know 
 who she is.' 
 
 * She'll soon get her head turned.' 
 ' If it isn't already.' 
 
 ' I think not,' said Mrs. Russell doubtfully. 
 ' I almost think she's unconscious. There, 
 don't say any more.' 
 
 Joan, indeed, was aware that they were 
 looked at with much attention. At first she 
 supposed that ladies might be unusual visitors ; 
 then she was seized with her usual panic that 
 there was about herself something uncouth 
 or remarkable ; then she reflected that they 
 looked rather kindly than critical. Never- 
 theless, she was not sorry to find herself 
 in the shrouded retirement of the Ladies' 
 Gallery. 
 
 ' There will be nothing very particular 
 to-day, but I can show you who's who,' said
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSLX 69 
 
 Mrs. Russell cheerfully ; ' at any rate, I can 
 show you the tops of their heads.' 
 
 She carried out her promise very faithfully. 
 Joan did not hear much, but became almost 
 bewildered by her bird's-eye view of men of 
 the day. Her companion was amused by 
 her remarks, for though extraordinarily simple 
 in some matters, she was shrewd and in- 
 telligent enough in others, and her father's 
 teaching, though pedantic, was solid. At 
 last a bald-headed gentleman rose and put a 
 question into an interminable procession of 
 words which half emptied the House, and 
 sent the greater part of those who remained 
 to sleep. Joan, however, remained patiently 
 attentive, and Mrs. Russell reflected that she 
 had been early trained to endure dulness. 
 
 ' Who is it ?' whispered the young girl. 
 
 • That ? Oh, only Mr. Stort. He is an 
 excellent man, and would die for his country ; 
 but even for her, he cannot hold his ton"-ue. 
 They will dispose of him in a few words.'
 
 70 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 The next moment, however, she leaned 
 forward with interest. ' How strange ! That 
 explains why the House has filled again. My 
 dear Joan, you are in luck !' 
 
 ' Why ?' 
 
 ' Because Sir Henry Lancaster is on his 
 legs, and a speech from him is a delightful 
 and rare pleasure. He generally reserves 
 himself for important occasions. However, 
 I suppose he will not say much. Now 
 listen !' 
 
 Mrs. Russell was again mistaken. Sir 
 Henry did not make a long speech, but it 
 was one of his most brilliant. The House, 
 now wide awake, roared with laughter, and 
 cheered him with enthusiasm. His voice, 
 clear and distinct as a bell, carried every 
 word to the farthest corners, even to the 
 Ladies' Gallery, and when he had finished, it 
 seemed as if nothing remained for anyone to 
 say. 
 
 * How fortunate for you !' Mrs. Russell
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 71 
 
 repeated. ' I never heard him in better 
 form. Sometimes he is like a thunderbolt' 
 but to-day he was so good-tempered and 
 amusing, and yet so telling! He is one of 
 the rising men, and people say has the ball 
 at his feet. He hates society — women's 
 society most of all. Certainly he excites a 
 eood deal of interest. I should not wonder 
 if my husband soon came to fetch us, for I 
 told him we did not wish to stay late. Ah, 
 I thought so,' she added presently. 
 
 When Joan got out, it appeared to her that 
 many more members were about, and that 
 Major Russell had a large circle of friends. 
 Several of them, indeed, showed a kindly 
 desire to be made acquainted with herselt, 
 but she was too much taken up with dread 
 lest they should meet Sir Henry Lancaster 
 to be greatly alarmed by these introductions. 
 Every now and then Mrs. Russell whispered 
 to her who someone was ; Joan glanced 
 timidly at them and hurried on — they were
 
 72 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 out of the last corridor, they were safe, when 
 Mrs. Russell touched her arm. 
 
 * Joan, you 7//?is/ look. That big man, 
 standing' with his back to us, is Sir 
 Henry.' 
 
 As if she had not already seen him ! As 
 if she were not calculating how softly they 
 might steal by unheard ! And the next 
 moment he had turned round as composedly 
 as if he had been waiting on purpose, and 
 strolled towards them. To Mrs. Russell's 
 amazement he shook hands with Joan (in 
 her worst manner, as the girl immediately 
 felt), and then with her husband, who in- 
 troduced him. But he walked on at once 
 with Joan. 
 
 ' Well,' he said, smiling, ' so you have 
 had to go through your threatened dose of 
 speechifying ?' She did not answer, and 
 though he tried to look in her face he did 
 not succeed. ' You don't bear me malice, I 
 hope ?' he went on with more anxiety in his
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 73 
 
 voice than many people had heard there. 
 ' Remember, I did not entrap you here, and 
 I couldn't provide that you should not have 
 dull speeches inflicted upon you.' 
 
 At last she gave him a quick glance. A 
 strange delightful suspicion had just reached 
 her, almost intoxicating in its novelty. 
 
 'Oh,' she said suddenly, 'then you didn't 
 really mind that night ? You know I did not 
 in the least know you were you. I was so 
 ashamed !' 
 
 ' W'h)' ? May I ask why ?' 
 
 ' It was so silly ! I asked you if you had 
 ever seen an election, and if you didn't think 
 speeches stupid.' 
 
 ' Why shouldn't you ?' 
 
 She looked at him again, and this time 
 with her enchanting smile. 
 
 ' I never dared tell papa what I had 
 said.' 
 
 'Of course; not. It was entirely between 
 you and me. So long as we were both satis-
 
 74 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 fied, no one else had anything to do with our 
 talk; 
 
 ' But I couldn't speak to you when you 
 came in after dinner.' 
 
 ' So I saw.' 
 
 ' Did you guess why ?' 
 
 ' I guessed some — ' he was going to say 
 ' meddling fool,' but changed the expression — 
 ' someone had been meddlinof.' 
 
 'Oh, of course they told me,' she said simply. 
 
 'And where are you going to-night ?' 
 
 ' To a dance — a dreadful dance at Lady 
 Isbister's.' 
 
 ' Dreadful ?' 
 
 ' Yes ; Mrs. Russell says there will be 
 crowds and crowds of people, and I shan't 
 know anyone.' More hopefully, ' Shall you 
 be there ?' 
 
 ' 1 ?' He hesitated. The Idea of his going 
 to a ball ! And yet he hesitated. 
 
 ' Yes. Do you mean that you are not 
 invited ? What a pity !'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 75 
 
 'Oh, I've a card somewhere, I beHeve, if 
 that were all.' 
 
 ' Oh, then come, please come ! It will be 
 such a comfort to know someone.' 
 
 ' You really wish it ?' 
 
 ' Of course I do. Mind, you have pro- 
 mised, and you must find me out in what- 
 ever,' she laughed, ' escape corner I may 
 have planted myself.' 
 
 'So you knew Sir Henry Lancaster, and 
 you never told me,' said Mrs. Russell, as they 
 drove away together. 
 
 ' I only met him last night.' 
 
 ' Well, he goes to very few places ; he is 
 something of a hermit — some people say of a 
 bear,' added Mrs. Russell, who was slightly 
 piqued. ' You will only meet him at an 
 occasional dinner-party or two ; never at 
 a ball.' 
 
 ' He is going to-night,' said Joan, widi 
 what might have been a ring of triumph in 
 her tone.
 
 76 
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 * To-night ! My dear Joan, impossible! 
 He was making fun of you !' 
 
 The girl's eyes clouded. Was that really 
 all that he meant ?
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 If Joan drove home with the accustomed 
 doubt re-awakened within her, Lancaster's 
 feehngs when, about midnight, he found him- 
 self on the way to Lady Isbister's, pointed to 
 a condition of mind which required many self- 
 apologies. It was so many years since he 
 had been at an entertainment of the kind, 
 that his going appeared to have something 
 portentous, something ridiculously important, 
 about it. He had always hated dancing, 
 having cut but a clumsy figure when he was 
 dragged into it as a youth, and now, in his 
 maturer age, he had revenged himself by 
 despising it. What influence was strong 
 enough to set aside this contempt ?
 
 78 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 He was not the man to take refujiife in 
 the vague pretences which another in his 
 position might have brought forward. What- 
 ever Lancaster's faults, he was invariably 
 honest, and as determined to get at the truth 
 with himself as with others. Indeed, one of 
 the stron<T^est forces which he wielded, and 
 which made his name a name of fear to not 
 a few, had its root in an acute sympathy for 
 the truth — a sympathy which took him direct 
 to where it lay hidden, and enabled him to 
 drag it forth triumphantly. It was the same 
 with his own motives. They were never — 
 willingly, at any rate — -covered up. 
 
 He could not, therefore, deceive himself 
 when new forces were at work — could not 
 say that he was simply interested in the 
 development of a young character which was 
 about to be placed in an untried position, and 
 exposed to an absolutely unknown set of 
 influences. 
 
 There was something more.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 79 
 
 And having acknowledged so much, he 
 was obliged to o-q farther, and to own that a 
 nearer, deeper interest was at work, and that 
 already this girl, who had crossed his path 
 only the day before, was filling his thoughts, 
 and leading him to commit absurdities which, 
 a week ago, he would have been the first to 
 ridicule. Indeed, he did not attempt to spare 
 himself now, feeling himself an awkward and 
 ponderous figure to be pushing his way up 
 the crowded staircase, oppressed with the 
 incongruity of his own presence, and vaguely 
 wishing that the conditions of life were other 
 than what they were, and that he could seek 
 and win her — if it came to that— in what he 
 felt to be a more manly fashion. 
 
 As it was, there was nothing for it but to 
 make the best of existing circumstances. 
 Lancaster struggled to his hostess, and then 
 carried his broad shoulders — somewhat too 
 imperiously, perhaps — into the dancing-room. 
 
 What had she talked about — an escape
 
 8o THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 corner ? He had smiled at the time, knowing- 
 that no such neglected fate would be hers. 
 He looked for her now straight into the 
 centre of the dancers, and there, of course, 
 she was, and his heart leapt when he saw 
 her. 
 
 It seemed to him that she was even more 
 beautiful than he had imagined her. Dressed 
 in what he thought the most simple and fairy- 
 like dress of unbroken white, radiant with 
 youth, and with a new light in her eyes, she 
 was like an embodiment of spring — as fresh 
 and as enchanting. The shy startled look 
 was still there, but it only gave her loveliness 
 an added grace, something which was wanting 
 to all others in the room. Lancaster leaned 
 against the doorway and yielded himself to 
 the intoxication of watching her. He knew 
 how to bide his time. 
 
 The house was not very large, and the 
 dancers were inconveniently crowded ; but 
 there was a deep porch, the top of which,
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 8i 
 
 having been shut in by awnings and banked 
 with tiowers, formed an outlet for those who 
 cared to escape from the heated air within. 
 Once or twice Joan's partners had paused 
 here and suggested a retreat, but the girl was 
 not to be attracted from the dancing ; that, to 
 her, was the end and aim of the evening. 
 She did not seem to feel the heat ; her cheek, 
 as cool and fresh as a rose-leaf, showed no 
 sign of heightened colour. Lord and Lady 
 Medhurst were both there, one or other 
 always in the dancing-room, and between the 
 dances Lancaster noticed that she went duti- 
 fully back to their side. His own presence, 
 too big to be ignored, had caused no little 
 astonishment ; but he spoke to no one. The 
 thronof was so thick that it made circulation 
 almost impossible, and he did not think that 
 Joan had yet seen him. He was quite con- 
 tent, as yet, to have her always before his 
 sieht. 
 
 Some little time had passed — though he 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 was not aware whether It were much or 
 little — when a couple tried to enter the room, 
 and in doing this they necessarily passed so 
 close as almost to touch him. He did not 
 glance at them, but the lady paused, and said 
 in an astonished voice : 
 
 ' Sir Henry !' 
 
 It was Lady Millicent, and the sound of 
 her voice brought Lancaster an amazing 
 conviction of his own incongruity. For 
 once in his life he was even a little em- 
 barrassed. 
 
 * You are surprised to see me .'*' 
 
 * I was — at first.' 
 
 He would have preferred to have said 
 with directness, ' I promised Miss Medhurst, 
 and so am here,' but that such an avowal 
 would have been unfair to Joan. Lady Milli- 
 cent, however, needed no words. When first 
 she saw him she had been struck with the 
 intentness of his gaze, although not tall 
 enough to see where it rested ; the next
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 83 
 
 moment her woman's intuition told her with 
 a sharp pang of pain. She went on quietly : 
 
 ' I am glad you have come ; it is a pretty 
 dance. And we are all interested in Miss 
 Medhurst's first appearance. Lady Isbister 
 has just told me that she is making quite a 
 sensation.' 
 
 ' Don't you consider her very beautiful ?' 
 asked Sir Henry eagerly. 
 
 ' Indeed I do. Very beautiful and very 
 unconscious.' 
 
 ' Yes, it is that look of innocent candour 
 which constitutes her chief charm.' 
 
 He was always accustomed to speak to 
 Lady iNIillicent with perfect frankness. She 
 paused for a moment, then said : 
 
 ' I am sure she is enjoying herself to- 
 night.' 
 
 ' I imagine so, but I have not yet spoken 
 to her.' 
 
 Lady Millicent moved on, and the next 
 minute Sir Henry saw his opportunity. The 
 
 6—2
 
 84 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 delicate and fantastic waltz stopped suddenly, 
 as if guided by some abrupt caprice, and Joan 
 was close to him. He pushed his way to her 
 side. 
 
 ' Miss Medhurst, you will allow me to take 
 you down to supper ?' 
 
 She turned upon him instantly with her 
 radiant look. 
 
 ' Oh, you have really come !' she exclaimed. 
 ' Mrs. Russell was sure you were only laughing 
 at me.' 
 
 He had her hand on his arm by this time, 
 and was leading her away. He had her, and 
 meant to keep her, and he did not answer 
 her remark until they were sitting at a small 
 table in the supper-room. Then : 
 
 ' Mrs. Russell had no ricrht to make un- 
 warrantable assertions. What I said I meant. 
 But now tell me how you like it ?' 
 
 ' Like it ? It is wonderful — delightful ! 
 And I was so frightened beforehand.' 
 
 'Ah, what did I tell you?'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 85 
 
 * Yes,' she said, * it does all seem to be 
 owing to you. Nobody is in the least 
 critical, and some of them dance so well !' 
 She added, with an innocently expressed 
 doubt, ' Do you care for dancing ?' 
 
 ' I don't dance at all — I can't,' returned 
 Lancaster bluntly. ' But,' he continued, 
 ' you must dance with me, all the same, only 
 we'll sit out. You won't mind that for 
 once ?' 
 
 ' Oh no,' she said frankly. ' When I came 
 I thought I should have to sit out a great 
 deal, and I haven't once.' 
 
 ' After this, in fact, you will have no more 
 fears about going out ? You won't talk 
 about dreadful dances ?' 
 
 'No- 0-0,' she said more doubtfully. 
 * Still, everything may not be so pleasant. 
 To-night there are so many men wanting to 
 dance, and of course — papa told me that I 
 should not always find it so.' 
 
 Lancaster wondered when Lord Medhurst
 
 86 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 had found time to deliver himself of this 
 characteristically cheering prediction. He 
 also felt a wild desire to know how she took 
 what these young men would assuredly say 
 to her. She had not finished. 
 
 ' And of course, too,' she went on, playing 
 with some strawberries, ' here one has only 
 got to dance — not to talk.' 
 
 ' I suppose they do talk ?' he remarked. 
 ' Oh, ///cy do. But I needn't. I need 
 only listen.' 
 
 And a little smile just touched the corners 
 of her mouth, as if the listening meant some- 
 thing pleasant. 
 
 ' I dare say they tell you a great deal ,'*' he 
 said tentatively. 
 
 * Yes, a great deal.' 
 
 She had her reserves. Lancaster respected 
 her for them. She was, indeed, he believed, 
 the most enchanting mixture of simplicity 
 and sweet dignity conceivable. Lady Mil- 
 licent Fairlie was at another table. He
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 87 
 
 only thought of her at this moment as a good 
 friend for this innocent child. Just then they 
 saw Lord Medhurst's tall thin form approach- 
 ing. He was peering about in his near- 
 sighted manner, and Joan half started from 
 her seat. 
 
 ' It is papa ! He is looking for me !' she 
 exclaimed. 
 
 Lancaster laid his hand on hers. It was 
 but for a second, yet the touch sent the hot 
 blood whirling to his head. 
 
 'Sit down,' he said authoritatively. 'If 
 Lord Medhurst does not see us, I will bring 
 him.' 
 
 But Lord Medhurst had discovered them, 
 with some surprise. He did not indeed 
 know how much reason he had for amaze- 
 ment, but he was aware that a dance was 
 not a scene likely to possess attractions for 
 Sir Henry Lancaster. He had intended to 
 rebuke his daughter for having failed to 
 present herself, but even to him the moment
 
 88 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 seemed scarcely opportune for rebuke. He 
 said no more when he had greeted Lancaster 
 than : 
 
 ' We were wonderini:/ what had become of 
 you, Joan, but I see that you are in safe 
 hands. You have, J think, ahnost danced 
 enough.' 
 
 ' Must we Q-Q ?' 
 
 * Shortly. Do not engage yourself any 
 more, for your mother must not be over- 
 done.' 
 
 She hesitated. 
 
 ' I am engaged to Sir Henry Lancaster, 
 papa. May I stay for that ?' 
 
 ' Certainly. Carry out whatever you have 
 already arranged, and then we will <^o.' 
 
 Lord Medhurst departed as solemnly as he 
 had arrived. Lancaster, who had sat down 
 again, and, with his elbow on his knee, was 
 passing his broad hand slowly across his face, 
 a frequent trick of his, looked after him with 
 a smile just thrusting up his under-lip.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 89 
 
 ' No one can say that you are not well 
 looked after, Miss Medhurst,' he remarked. 
 
 She answered carelessly : 
 
 ' Oh, I suppose everybody is the same.' 
 
 He lono-ed to ask if she did not sometimes 
 wish for a little more liberty, but he would 
 not have put the question for the world ; 
 there was something in her inexperience and 
 childishness which appeared to him beautiful 
 and full of promise for any man to whom she 
 might give herself. He was sick to death of 
 people of the world, sometimes flagrantly 
 unjust to them — worldliness, insincerity, 
 humbu"" were the sins which he loaihed, 
 which he scourged by look or word, which 
 he would have condemned to lowest circles. 
 Others might be condoned — these never. 
 And Joan knew so little of the world that 
 he was ready to treat her ignorance as 
 angelic. 
 
 'Come, then.' he said, rising; 'we'll have 
 our dance, at any rate.' And he took her
 
 90 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 upstairs, and to the improvised room over 
 the porch. It was now empty, and fresh 
 with the scent of dewy roses, which, spring- 
 incf from cool beds of moss or fern, filled 
 every corner, and formed the only decoration. 
 Lancaster looked round with relief. ' Ah,' 
 he said, ' I was afraid other people might 
 have been before us. This atmosphere is 
 something different from inside.' 
 
 ' Was it so very hot ?' she asked timidly. 
 
 ' To ordinary mortals. But you are not 
 ordinary. You don't look heated and fagged 
 like other girls ; you are as fresh as^ — one of 
 these roses. Tell me, am I a selfish brute in 
 keeping you here ? Would you rather be 
 dancingf ?' 
 
 She was smilinq-. His words were verv 
 pleasant to her, for she was beginning to feel 
 the intoxication of this new world of praise, 
 and to watch for its utterances. Moreover, 
 she was clever enough to gauge something 
 of the difference between this man and other
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 91 
 
 men. She had caucjht one or two remarks 
 as they passed along ; she had become aware 
 that her father's manner, when he came upon 
 them in the supper-room, was not the same 
 as it would have been had her companion 
 been only one of those with whom she had 
 just been dancing. Her senses were open- 
 ing and quickly adapting themselves to her 
 new surroundings, and she liked for the first 
 time in her life to feel that she might be an 
 influence. Mrs, Russell had said that Sir 
 Henry Lancaster never went to balls, but he 
 was here, and her heart whispered that he 
 was here to meet her. Somethino^ else had 
 flashed upon her when he had joined her at 
 the entrance to the House of Commons, 
 and the new excitement going on within 
 her would not be content until she had 
 made the matter sure. She said, and said 
 truly : 
 
 ' Oh no ; I like sitting here, and if Mr. 
 Cecil finds me out, I can tell him — can't I ? —
 
 92 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 that papa did not wish me to dance any 
 more.' 
 
 It was not exacdy what Lord Medhurst 
 had said ; but Lancaster, who in another 
 would have noticed the htde evasion with 
 contempt, was too sensible of the charm of 
 her avowal to see anything in it but an 
 enchantino' naiveU. 
 
 ' Yes,' he said with decision. ' Mr. Cecil 
 and all his crew have had their turn, and 
 now I am going to have mine. And Lord 
 Medhurst is quite right. You will have to 
 go through enough, and too much, of this 
 sort of thing, and you must not be knocked 
 up by it at the very beginning.' 
 
 ' I don't soon get tired. I am vei-y 
 
 strono^. 
 
 ' Yet I dare say you have had a hard 
 day's work ?' 
 
 ' Oh no ! I liked it.' 
 
 ' What, stupid speeches and all ?' 
 
 She coloured.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 93 
 
 ' Will you tell me something, please ? 
 Did you remember what I told you last 
 night ?' 
 
 'About Jack and Jill, and old Martha the 
 weeding-woman ?' 
 
 ' No, no ! You are laughing at me again, 
 I wish I had not talked about them.' 
 
 ' Now you are very unkind ; for I went to 
 bed and dreamt of country meadows, and 
 apple-blossom, and bees, and hay-making, 
 and everything that was pleasant, and it was 
 all owing to you.' 
 
 She turned to him an appealing look. 
 
 ' Please be serious. I really want to 
 know something, and — and I am afraid to 
 ask.' 
 
 He was instantly grave. 
 
 ' Afraid !' 
 
 ' Not now — not when you look like that. 
 It is when your mouth gives that little twist, 
 as if anyone who didn't agree with you must 
 be so very, very foolish.'
 
 94 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 She had hit the mark, and Lancaster 
 knew it. 
 
 ' That is inexcusable,' he said, ' and you 
 make me ashamed of myself. To show you 
 forgive, tell me what you want to know ?' 
 
 ' Did you remember I was going to the 
 House to-day ?' 
 
 ' Yes, I did,' he said, smiling again. 
 
 ' And was that why you spoke ? Oh, do 
 say yes !' she exclaimed eagerly. ' I shall 
 never tell anyone, of course ; but I should so 
 like to know, because Mrs. Russell said it was 
 so unusual, and that I was so lucky ! Do 
 say yes !' 
 
 ' Well, you know all Mr. Stort's long 
 speech was about my business.' 
 
 ' Yes, I know. But you needn't have 
 answered, need you } Somebody else might 
 have done it .'*' 
 
 * Perhaps.' 
 
 ' Perhaps } That means yes. Say yes, 
 please !'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 95 
 
 ' Yes, then,' 
 
 ' Oh, I hoped so — I hoped so !' cried Joan 
 deHghtedly. ' You don't know how glad I 
 am ! To have had a speech made all for 
 one's self! You did it to please me ?' 
 
 ' I wasn't so conceited. I did it to please 
 myself.' 
 
 She looked doubtfully at him for a 
 moment ; then she said in a more subdued 
 tone : 
 
 * It doesn't matter. I shall always believe 
 it was for me.' 
 
 The room had filled again. The Hun- 
 garian band was playing a wild waltz which 
 seemed to bring up all the whirling leaves of 
 a forest. Two persons came towards the 
 porch-room, paused, and turned away. 
 
 ' I don't think we should be very welcome,' 
 said the gentleman, with a laugh. ' Do you 
 know who that is, Lady Millicent ?' 
 
 ' Do you mean Sir Henry Lancaster ?' 
 
 ' 7/ie Sir Henry Lancaster ? No, is it ?
 
 96 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 I thought he eschewed all this sort of thinor. 
 He looks younger, too, than one imagined 
 him.' 
 
 ' He is still a young man.' 
 
 * And, to judge by appearances, going in 
 for the beauty,' laughed the young fellow, 
 who was at no time famous for tact. ' You 
 think her beautiful, don't you, Lady Milli- 
 cent ?' 
 
 ' I don't think anyone could help thinking 
 so.' 
 
 Meanwhile Joan had seen the couple, 
 thouo^h Lancaster had not. 
 
 ' That was Lady Millicent Fairlie,' she 
 said. 
 
 Lancaster did not glance round ; he was 
 looking at the young girl, who went on with 
 a sigh : 
 
 ' She is the person papa wishes that I 
 were like.' 
 
 He shifted his heavy figure with an im- 
 patient gesture.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 97 
 
 ' Don't try to be like anyone. Be your- 
 self,' he said abruptly. 
 
 She laughed. 
 
 ' Oh, how unlike you are to everybody 
 else ! They are always pointing out patterns 
 for me, and I must say I generally hate the 
 people, I get so sick of them ! You know 
 it is not very pleasant to have someone set 
 up on a pinnacle, whom you are advised to 
 copy, and I do think that they are often so 
 ugly and disagreeable. But Lady Millicent 
 is not ugly ; she has a dear sad little face. 
 I wonder if I shall ever look like that ?' 
 
 Apparently her expression struck her 
 companion. 
 
 ' Sad ?' he repeated. ' She has never 
 appeared so to me. I should have said she 
 was uniformly cheerful.' 
 
 ' Perhaps you don't know her very well,' 
 remarked Joan innocently. ' And, you see, 
 I must look at her if I am to grow like her. 
 Papa says she shakes hands so well.' 
 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 98 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' How do you shake hands ?' 
 
 ' Oh, all wrongly,' she said, shaking her 
 head. ' I believe I am generally a little too 
 limp, but I can't really tell, because when 
 papa is looking at me it makes me miserably 
 uncomfortable, and I do it worse than ever.' 
 
 ' Let me judge. He isn't looking now, 
 and there is nothing in me to alarm you ?' 
 
 She laughed gaily. 
 
 ' No, nothing. There, then !' She had 
 stretched out her slender hand, and he had 
 taken it in his, and again the touch thrilled 
 through him. As he did not speak, she 
 said, still smiling : ' Do you hate it as much 
 as papa ?' 
 
 'Hate it!' 
 
 'Well, but tell me quickly. Is It so very 
 bad?' 
 
 'It is perfect,' he said in a low voice. 
 He felt as if he could bear no more, released 
 her hand, and got up. ' I am afraid that 
 Lord Medhurst is looking for us.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 99 
 
 ' Oh, I forgot,' she said nervously, ' and 
 the dance is over ! I must go directly.' 
 
 Downstairs in the hall was Lady Millicent, 
 and when the Medhursts had driven off, 
 Lancaster returned to ask if there were any- 
 thing he could do for her. Joan's words 
 came back to him, though he did not think 
 she looked so much sad as wan, and he said 
 in a vexed tone : 
 
 ' You ought to be at home. You are kill- 
 ing yourself with this eternal going out. 
 How you women can stand it night after 
 night, I cannot imagine !' 
 
 She smiled at him bravely. 
 
 •■ Is that the best you can say for us after 
 your own trial of its fascinations ? I thought 
 you were becoming a convert.' 
 
 ' Never. It's all vanity.' 
 
 ' Well, perhaps I may go to Denningham 
 for a week. My father wants to see his 
 agent, and I have a fancy for running down 
 with him.'
 
 loo THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Do. You will come back with some 
 colour in your face. I shall tell Lord 
 Waterton so.' 
 
 ' Oh no !' she said quickly. ' Don't on any 
 account frighten my father. Is that the 
 carriage ? Thank you. Good-night !' 
 
 Lancaster chose to walk back, for many 
 thoughts were surging within him, and he 
 felt as if the freshness of the night would 
 help him to bring them into order. He 
 recognised that he was at the mercy of a 
 sudden impulse. A few days ago he had 
 had no thought of marrying — political life 
 filled his horizon ; and when other ideas 
 presented themselves he would answer that 
 they could wait until he found himself nearer 
 the point he had tacitly resolved to reach. 
 1 his idea, however, was swiftly becoming 
 dominant — it refused to wait ; he felt him- 
 self pushed, swept along. Joan was so 
 unlike the other women with whom he came 
 into contact, so innocent, so untainted by the
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN loi 
 
 world, that it appeared to him as if she were 
 another type. Her little action in placinij 
 her hand in his had gone straight to his 
 heart ; he read in it more than unconven- 
 tionality ; it had all the trustfulness of a 
 child, and — for if he eschewed women's 
 society it was not for want of a high ideal 
 — the touch seemed to him unutterably 
 sacred, and awoke the great tenderness of 
 his nature. Already he was planning how 
 to see her again, and Millicent Fairlie had 
 only so much place in his thoughts that 
 he determined, when she came back from 
 Denningham, to take her into his confidence, 
 and to ask her to assist him in the small 
 obstacles which, as he reflected grimly, his 
 bugbear Society had the power of inter- 
 posing between man and the object of his 
 love.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Breakfast at tlie Ashtons' was a straggling 
 and uncomfortable meal. Mrs. Ashton had 
 given up attempting to enforce punctuality, 
 but she would not allow late-comers the 
 luxury of hot relays. Colonel Ashton called 
 up his family in cheerfully stentorian tones at 
 intervals between eight and nine ; but as his 
 daughters had tea in their rooms, and paid 
 no attention beyond a sleepy answer, it 
 generally ended in he and his wife break- 
 fasting together and alone, although of late 
 Constance, who, owing to her engagement, 
 was in a state of energetic briskness, would 
 not infrequently make a third. She was not
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 SO pretty as Nan, but as fair ; she held 
 herself well, and spoke with decision, often 
 clashing with Elizabeth. 
 
 ' Where are those girls ?' demanded their 
 father, cracking his second egg. ' Every- 
 thing will be cold. Cover up the omelette, 
 Constance. Why on earth can't they be 
 down at a reasonable hour ?' 
 
 There was nuthino- new about these 
 remarks ; they came as regularly as the 
 tea and toast, and Colonel Ashton never 
 carried them farther. He would have been 
 the last, indeed, to have found fault with 
 his daughters, of whom he was immensely 
 proud. The only thing at all novel on this 
 particular Saturday morning was the appear- 
 ance of Elizabeth Ashton at least a quarter 
 of an hour before she might reasonably have 
 been expected. Her mother, who had been 
 a good-looking woman in her day, although 
 her coinplexion had now become slightly red- 
 dened, lifted her eyebrows when she saw her.
 
 104 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Are the skies going to fall, Elizabeth ?' 
 
 ' I can't say. I hope not, mother. I am 
 more likely to be rather cross all day, so 
 I give everybody warning.' 
 
 ' Thank you,' said Constance, with heavy 
 irony. ' Does that mean that we are to 
 be on our best behaviour ?' 
 
 ' You must be what you like,' returned 
 her sister carelessly. ' I can only speak 
 for myself.' 
 
 ' What'U you have, Elizabeth ? There's 
 chicken and ham on the sideboard, and the 
 omelette's quite hot yet. Have some ?' 
 
 ' Please,' said Elizabeth, pouring out her 
 coffee. ' Any letters ?' 
 
 ' Your mother had one from Bournemouth.' 
 
 ' Aunt Louisa is certainly better,' said Mrs. 
 Ashton. ' I begin to believe that she will 
 recover in spite of them all.' 
 
 • Poor Aunt Louisa !' said Elizabeth com- 
 passionately. ' Well, I have heard from Mary 
 Gray.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 105 
 
 ' From Mary ?' Colonel Ashton lowered 
 and looked over the corner of the Alorning 
 Post, which he secured at breakfast before his 
 daughters got hold of it. ' And what does she 
 say ?' 
 
 After a moment's pause, Elizabeth answered: 
 
 ' She is afraid that Basil will insist upon 
 coming back in spite of all.' 
 
 There was a general groan. 
 
 ' I thought he had a good appointment at 
 the Cape ?' said Mrs. Ashton. 
 
 ' So he had, so he had,' said her husband, 
 crumpling the paper on his knee ; ' but some 
 men have all the luck that's going, and are 
 not one scrap the better for it. Ton my soul, 
 someone ought to stop him from making such 
 a fool of himself!' 
 
 ' Why don't you go down and see them this 
 afternoon ?' suggested his wife. ' You might 
 advise them what to say.' 
 
 ' Well, I might.' 
 
 ' Go where }' asked Nan, who had just
 
 io6 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 iollovvcd Susan into the room. The facts had 
 to be repeated to her. ' I can't spare you to- 
 day,' she said to her father ; ' I want some- 
 one, and EHzabeth is engaged with MiUicent. 
 Why should we interfere ?' 
 
 ' Somebody must,' said Mrs. Ashton. 
 
 * Those poor women require assistance, and 
 I really think it is rather brutal not to offer 
 it. It would not be much, Nan, for you to 
 change your plans just for once ?' 
 
 ' Oh no,' said Nan good-humouredly, ' I 
 really can't.' 
 
 'Settle it between you,' said Colonel Ashton. 
 
 * I'll go where I'm most wanted.' 
 
 ' Mary says she has written to Sir Henry 
 Lancaster, so I dare say he'll go down,' re- 
 marked Elizabeth. 
 
 * Yes, of course, to-morrow,' agreed Nan. 
 
 * He is the right person, for I don't believe 
 Mrs. Gray will attend to anyone else. Sir 
 Henry is so peremptory. He makes her do 
 what he tells her ; while she wouldn't pay any
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 107 
 
 attention to papa. That settles it quite com- 
 fortably.' 
 
 ' And it's a real blessing when we see our 
 way clearly to other people's duties,' put in 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 ' That's what you said to Arthur, and he 
 didn't like it,' complained Constance. 
 
 ' \\ ell, my dear, it gave you an opportunity 
 of remarking that Elizabeth was often dis- 
 agreeable.' 
 
 ' Come, come,' said their father. ' Then 
 I'm not to go. Susie, did you hear ? 
 Here's Basil Gray coming home, when every- 
 one thought he was safely out of the country 
 for a dozen years or so.' 
 
 Susan, who was the smallest of the sisters, 
 and dark and sallow, said quietly : 
 
 • It's a great pity ; but I'm not surprised. 
 I shouldn't think anyone who knew Basil 
 would expect him to keep steadily to any- 
 thing for more than a few months. Has 
 Mary written ?'
 
 io8 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Elizabeth tossed her the letter. 
 
 'What will become of Sissy?' asked Mrs 
 Ashton. 
 
 ' Oh, she will stay where she is,' returned 
 Elizabeth. ' Basil is the last man to wish to 
 be saddled with a child. Sissy is safe.' 
 
 ' Poor Mary !' said Susan, returning the 
 letter to her sister. 
 
 'Why does no one ever say " Poor Mrs. 
 Gray !" ?' demanded Constance, while Nan 
 abstracted the principal sheet of the Mornino- 
 Post from her father. 
 
 ' Because that would show such a want of 
 appreciation of the fitness of things,' Mrs. 
 Ashton explained. ' Mrs. Gray couldn't be 
 called poor under any circumstances. I have 
 no doubt she is charmed at the prospect. 
 Basil has always been her favourite.' 
 
 * Listen, all of you,' said Nan, reading out. 
 ' The Medhursts were at Lady Vincent's last 
 night. Upon my word, they are going in 
 for the whole thing !'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 109 
 
 ' Oh, but on principle, remember,' added 
 Elizabeth, looking over her sister's shoulder. 
 • It will all be treated as a kind of solemn 
 duty, funereally conducted.' 
 
 ' That poor shy child must be suffering 
 untold miseries.' 
 
 ' She's amazingly good-looking, though,' 
 said Colonel Ashton, wandering disconso- 
 lately through his outer sheet of advertise- 
 ments ; ' and if once she gets the bit between 
 
 her teeth ' 
 
 ' May 1 be there to see !' cried Elizabeth, 
 laughing. ' Imagine — can anyone imagine 
 Medhurst's face ! No, no, no, I back Med- 
 hurst !' 
 
 ' Elizabeth !' 
 
 ' It's Arthur Maxwell, mother. He and 
 Constance have become so dreadfully horsey 
 they're corrupting us all.' 
 ' Elizabeth !' 
 
 ' it's quite true, Constance. I heard you, 
 and you can't deny it — can she, Susan }' in a
 
 no THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 louder tone ; ' I heard you betting- a pair of 
 gloves on the Derby. I was very much 
 shocked, but I k(4)t silence until now, when 
 you have really forced me to speak.' 
 
 ' As if it mattered with Arthur ! Of course 
 it was only fun,' said Constance, secretly no 
 little pleased at the attack. 
 
 ' I can't interfere between Constance and 
 Arthur, but I detest slang,' remarked Mrs. 
 Ashton somewhat irrelevantly. 
 
 'So does Medhurst, mother. W^hat I 
 would give to teach that innocent Joan to 
 say something that would shock him !' 
 
 ' Leave Joan alone, if that is all you can do 
 for your cousin. Edward,' to her husband, 
 * we must ask them to dinner.' 
 
 ' All right. Who besides .?' 
 
 ' Susan shall make out a list, Susan always 
 knows exactly.' She smiled at her eldest 
 daughter, who sat glancing from one to 
 the other with an attentive look on her 
 face.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN iii 
 
 * And you don't want me to go to Roe- 
 hampton ?' asked Colonel Ashton. 
 
 ' I tell you what we'll do,' Elizabeth replied 
 decidedly. ' I will write to Mary and tell her 
 to let us know if Sir Henry does not g[o 
 down. Then you will,' 
 
 So it was settled. Mrs. Ashton fathered 
 up the many hospital and nursing reports 
 which were strewn round her plate and de- 
 parted ; Colonel Ashton retired to a writing- 
 table and a bronze inkstand ; Nan drank her 
 coffee and read the paper ; Susan, who at- 
 tended to the flowers, went in pursuit of a 
 watering-pot ; Constance, having endless in- 
 terviews with dressmakers upon her mind, 
 announced that she was Quoins: out with the 
 maid. At the door she paused : 
 
 ' Have you girls quite determined upon 
 reseda for the bridesmaids ? And LTuelder 
 roses ? Arthur doesn't much like it ; he wants 
 you to have something blue.' 
 
 ' Arthur must be crushed,' said Elizabeth
 
 112 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 calmly. ' The idea of his having an 
 opinion !' 
 
 'Well, you know he has excellent taste,' 
 argued Constance, with warmth. 
 
 Nan laid down her newspaper. 
 
 ' My dear Constance,' she said pleasantly, 
 * if Arthur had talked the dresses over as I 
 have with Madame Lebrun, he would be con- 
 vinced that they were lovely. For myself, I 
 don't care in the least whether we have pink 
 or blue or white ' — it was to please Nan's 
 ideas about her complexion that the colour 
 had been chosen — ' but for pity's sake, let us 
 keep to what has been decided upon. Arthur 
 is so sensible he will quite understand if you 
 tell him.' 
 
 ' Yes, I will explain,' said Constance, molli- 
 fied. ' And it will suit Joan.' 
 
 * Joan ?' 
 
 ' Yes, didn't mamma tell you ^ She asked 
 her yesterday.' 
 
 ' Oh !'
 
 THE COUXTRY COUSIN 113 
 
 Nan did not look pleased. 
 
 ' Of course,' said Elizabeth. ' There could 
 not be anyone better,' 
 
 ' She will do something awkward. How- 
 ever, if she's asked there's no more to be said.' 
 
 ' I hope she won't step on my train,' said 
 Constance nervously. 
 
 ' But she will — that is just what she will 
 do. And she is too tall to walk with 
 Millicent.' 
 
 ' Oh, we can manage that, and, you see, 
 there is to be a different arrano-ement for 
 standing. First Susan alone, then you and 
 I, and then the four in one line. Constance, 
 you will certainly be late.' 
 
 ' Yes, I shall, but you don't know how 
 interesting all this is !' sighed Constance, 
 departing at last. 
 
 ' She is very well pleased with herself, her 
 Arthur, and all the ruling of the world,' said 
 Elizabeth, smiling. ' I wonder how you and 
 I should feel in her place, Nan T 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 114 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' I dare say we may soon know,' replied 
 her sister, with a lazy smile. 
 
 ' You may.' 
 
 Elizabeth had her hand on her sister's 
 shoulder, and as she spoke, Nan drew it 
 down and sat upri^^ht. 
 
 ' You are not still thinking about that 
 man ? It is only the talk about him this 
 morning which has brought him back.' 
 
 The answer was a slight pressure of her 
 hand, which she understood. 
 
 ' Oh !' she cried reproachfully, ' I felt 
 certain you had forgotten.' 
 
 ' I don't think I forget very easily,' said 
 Elizabeth in an odd jarred voice. 
 
 ' Oh, I wish he wasn't coming. Think 
 how badly he behaved,' 
 
 * Yes, I remember it — all — very well. You 
 needn't be afraid. Nan. Only it seems to me 
 that when I think of Basil Gray I am two 
 persons at once. There's the girl who was 
 in love with him, who believed in him, and
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 115 
 
 was ready to stick to him through everything 
 — poverty, disgrace, if that had actually come ; 
 and there's the woman, quite aware what a 
 fool the girl was, down upon him — with the 
 rest of you. It's odd, isn't it, to feel one's 
 self both ? Did you ever hear of it with 
 anyone else ?' 
 
 * Only with Captain Jekyll and Dr. Hyde,' 
 said Nan, who was never known to give a 
 name or a quotation correctly ; ' and that all 
 ended very uncomfortably. Elizabeth, I feel 
 sure he ought not to come back. Can't they 
 telegraph or something ? Look here,' she 
 went on with an heroic effort — ' if you would 
 like papa to go down, I'll manage.' 
 
 * Fifty people going down would not stop 
 him if he intended to come. The next thing 
 we shall hear of Basil will be his arrival,' said 
 Elizabeth calmly. 
 
 * How will you bear it ?' 
 
 ' Oh, I shall bear it. One gets to bear 
 anything. I dare say I shall behave rather 
 
 8-2
 
 Ii6 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 worse than usual to Constance, but she will 
 be taken up by her Arthur, and will not 
 mind.' 
 
 ' You don't manage Constance well,' said 
 her sister. ' You squabble over small things 
 and let her completely override you in what 
 is of real consequence. Now, this very 
 morning you would have rubbed her up 
 the wrong way, and ended by falling into 
 their ridiculous fancy about the bridesmaids' 
 dresses.' 
 
 * Yes, it's quite true. I get smitten by 
 remorse. Well, I must go and write.' 
 
 ' To Mary ?' 
 
 ' Yes, to Mary, I suppose. I said I 
 would.' 
 
 ' Take care,' said Nan authoritatively. 
 * Don't say too much. Don't let Mary see 
 that you are tw^o persons in one.' 
 
 * No one would suspect that,' returned 
 Elizabeth, with a hard little laugh. ' And it 
 is an untold comfort that nobody else really
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 117 
 
 knows.' She lingered for a moment to say, 
 ' 1 shall have luncheon with Millicent.' 
 
 ' Perhaps she will have something to tell 
 you. I do think it is time.' 
 
 ' Perhaps. I don't know. She is very 
 happy as she is — the happiest person of my 
 acquaintance.' 
 
 This time she really went away, though 
 not to write letters. She felt bruised with the 
 violence of her emotions, which for want of 
 an outlet had been driven backwards and for- 
 wards in her own heart. She wanted some 
 place in which to be alone, and that in a 
 small London house is an almost unattainable 
 luxury. But she reflected that Nan never 
 willingly mounted to the room they shared 
 together, and she thought that for half an 
 hour or so she was safe. She ran up, locked 
 the door, and sat with her elbows on the 
 window-sill, staring out at the colourless 
 backs of houses and the gaunt and hideous 
 chimney-tops, but seeing only the dead past
 
 Ii8 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 which she had tried to cover up and bury, 
 but which had been alive, as she had owned, 
 all the time, and now stood before her with 
 mockery on its lips. How much ot it had 
 gone ? What had she forgotten ? 
 
 Not a word — not a look. 
 
 Basil Gray, with his bright sunny face and 
 what Sir Henry Lancaster had once happily 
 called his inadequate expression, had been the 
 hero of her girlhood. If anyone is disposed 
 to moralize upon the vanities of life, a not 
 unfruitful subject would be the ease with 
 which some men, without possessing the 
 smallest shred of right to the distinction, are 
 turned into heroes, while the real claimants 
 to the title go on their ways unhonoured and 
 unsung. Basil Gray was no more than a 
 very good-looking, well-grown young fellow, 
 bent upon getting as much pleasure at as 
 little trouble out of the world as was possible. 
 Piaving no money of his own to spend, he 
 spent other people's, and on the whole pre-
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 119 
 
 ferred it. The worst was, that to this luxury- 
 there naturally comes a limit, while he did not 
 know where to stop. His father had died 
 while he was a baby, and when his sister 
 Mary was a child of eight. His mother 
 cared a good deal more for her boy than for 
 the very quiet little girl ; she encouraged him 
 in what she called spirit, defended him when 
 he got into scrapes, and sympathized with his 
 extravaofances. Under this trainino^ Master 
 Basil expanded as largely as might have been 
 expected. He got into the army because he 
 cared to do so ; then he proceeded to make 
 love to Elizabeth Ashton, who had been his 
 playfellow as a child, and who had grown into 
 a strikinci-lookinof Sfirl. He made love while 
 she felt it, and he never openly proposed, 
 though she rested content in the belief of a 
 faithful understanding. Upon this dream 
 there fell one day the news of his engage- 
 ment with a girl at whom he had often 
 laughed with Elizabeth — a girl without family,
 
 I20 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 without mind, without refincmeni, but with 
 the unreserved control of her own money. 
 He married her at once, and spent her money 
 as quickly as possible ; but he was never 
 unkind to her, and she continued to adore 
 him till she died. The next thing that Eliza- 
 beth heard of Basil Gray, with whom events 
 certainly travelled fast, was that he had been 
 permitted to resign his commission, that he 
 was abroad, and the child under the care of 
 her grandmother and aunt — finally, that, to 
 the joy of everyone, his cousin. Sir Henry 
 Lancaster, had contrived to get him into some 
 post at the Cape. 
 
 And now he was comino; home again. 
 
 Elizabeth had certainly carried her secret 
 well. Not one of her family except Nan, 
 with whom she shared all her thoughts, 
 suspected that there had ever been anything 
 more than a liking on his part. This, 
 considering their opinion of the man, was 
 sufficiently alarming, and Mrs. Ashton was
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 121 
 
 intensely relieved when he married and 
 removed the fear. For a brief period she 
 was almost in charity with him, but when 
 his wife died, she felt it necessary to say 
 something disapproving when his name was 
 mentioned. Elizabeth did not resent it ; 
 there were times when all her love seemed 
 turned to bitterness, and no one was more 
 thoroughly aware than she of the worthless- 
 ness of the man she loved. Her contempt 
 for him embraced herself. She could have 
 beaten herself for her amazing folly ; there 
 was always a struggle, and sometimes a fierce 
 fight, going on between those two selves of 
 which she had spoken to Nan. But the 
 contest, though it was bravely waged, had 
 lett with her a certain hardness, such as men 
 resent, and for which they rarely show much 
 mercy in their judgment. Elizabeth was not 
 such a lavourite as Nan. 
 
 She drew out Mary's letter and read it 
 once more.
 
 122 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Basil writes by this mail to say that 
 he is sick of the life out there, and hates 
 the people, and we are not to be astonished 
 if he throws up his appointment and comes 
 home. I shall not be astonished, but I shall 
 be very, very sorry, and what a return it is 
 to make to Henry after all his great kind- 
 ness ! I am really ashamed to tell him, but 
 my mother says that I had better write to-day 
 so that he may have time to get over his 
 anger before Basil comes — if he does 
 come.' 
 
 ' Oh, he will come !' said Elizabeth bitterly. 
 
 The few tears she had shed were dried, 
 her eyes were quite bright, and there were 
 stroncr lines about her mouth. Shame that 
 every now and then there should come a 
 flash of warm over-mastering delight, con- 
 tempt for his want of manly purpose, Indigna- 
 tion, hopelessness, misery — all these quickly 
 leave their mark upon a face. When she 
 rose up at last, and, standing, stared without
 
 THE CUUXTRY COUSIN 
 
 seeing at one group of chimneys, she looked 
 ten years older than the day before. 
 
 When she had walked to Berkeley Square 
 she found Lady Millicent in her little morning- 
 room. 
 
 ' It is very good of you to come,' said the 
 girl, kissing her, ' for papa has gone down to 
 Reading, and Mrs. Jameson has a cold. I 
 have not seen you comfortably alone for a 
 long- time, and there must be a •'^reat deal for 
 me to hear about Constance and her affairs. 
 I have not troubled myself much in the 
 conflict as to the dresses, for I was quite sure 
 that Nan would carry the clay. It is coming 
 near, isn't it ? Only three weeks !' 
 
 ' Onlv three weeks, and I shall be thankful 
 when it is all over,' said Elizabeth wearily. 
 ' Constance — Constance has placed Arthur 
 as a sort of central sun in our universe, and 
 expects us all to revolve. Why can't people 
 i)e married without making preposterous 
 bores of themselves ?'
 
 124 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Elizabeth, you're cross and worried.' 
 
 ' Cross — yes. I expect you to send nie 
 back in a more Christian frame of mind, for 
 which they will all be thankful.' She paused 
 and looked round her. ' You are very 
 soothing, Millicent. Everything here looks 
 peaceful and harmonious. Do you have no 
 storms, no disturbances ? When I come 
 here I seem to breathe a different atmosphere, 
 and it makes me wonder whether this is ever 
 ruffled.' 
 
 The other girl looked away. 
 
 ' You don't really doubt it ?' she said. 
 
 ' I do. 1 like to think of you as riding in 
 smooth seas, in a harbour of, let us say, the 
 Fortunate Isles. I never begrudge it to you, 
 Millicent.' 
 
 ' You need not' 
 
 * But I sometimes wish I could be moored 
 for a little while close by your side.' 
 
 ' Don't !'- — ^with so passionate an emphasis 
 that Elizabeth turned in surprise. Millicent's
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 125 
 
 little bird-like face was very pale, but she had 
 quickly recovered herself. ' There are cur- 
 rents and ground-swells in every harbour,' 
 she said with an effort. ' Let nobody think 
 he can safely venture upon unknown seas. 
 There ! I feel as if I had delivered myself 
 of a world of wisdom.' 
 
 'You are almost worthy of Medhurst/ said 
 Elizabeth, smiling in spite of herself. ' Have 
 you seen our cousins lately ?' 
 
 ' I saw them on Thursday night.' 
 
 ' Ah ! who were at Lady Isbister's ?' 
 
 ' The usual set.' She named a number of 
 people, and hesitated. ' Oh, and Sir Henry 
 Lancaster,' she ended. 
 
 ' Sir Henry Lancaster ! At a dance, 
 Millicent !' 
 
 * Yes, really,' said the other, smiling. 
 
 ' He must have been miserable, unless you 
 were able to talk to him the whole evenino-.' 
 
 ' Indeed, I did not talk to him at all, and 
 he did not look in the least miserable.'
 
 126 
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Elizabeth thought this odd. but her mind 
 was too deeply absorbed in her own affairs 
 for her to be very keen-sighted about those 
 of others. Besides, after that one word, 
 Lady Millicent was as easy and serene as 
 ever, and showed no signs of disturbance.
 
 CHAPTER VI, 
 
 Ox Sunday afternoon Sir Henry Lancaster 
 was driving down to Roehampton, not very 
 willingly, for he had made other and more 
 attractive plans, and he doubted whether he 
 would get back in time to call at the Med- 
 hursts'. If he did, they would probably be 
 out. He knew very well that he was bound 
 on an unprofitable errand, that as usual the 
 weak man would have his way, and the strong 
 mi^ht (JO to the wall. Basil was as little to 
 be turned aside when once he had started on 
 his course as the flowing, yielding, irresistible 
 stream of lava. But for the sake of his 
 relations, for the sake especially of his cousin
 
 128 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Mar}', he must once more make the vain 
 attempt, and as he was a man who detested 
 feeling- himself powerless, his thoughts of 
 Basil were the reverse of charitable, and 
 included some strong epithets. He was not 
 in the best of tempers when he flung himself 
 into a hansom. However, the hansom was 
 well turned out, and the horse was good ; rain 
 had laid the dust and freshened the air ; all 
 the May gaiety was abroad ; lilacs, laburnums, 
 horse-chestnuts, hawthorns, were brightening ; 
 the delicate foliage and the burnished brown 
 of the copper beeches, and even the little 
 suburban houses by the way, had reached 
 their one moment of beauty. Lancaster was 
 curiously sensitive to these outer influences, 
 and as they took effect upon him his thoughts 
 stole back to a pleasanter groove; everything 
 young and fresh and beautiful seemed to 
 bring a suggestion of Joan. He felt as if, with 
 her radiance and innocence, she belonged alto- 
 gether to spring, with its charm and its hope.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 129 
 
 By this time he had made up his mind 
 fully, if there had been hesitation before, 
 that she was the one woman in the world 
 for him, the one he wanted for his wife. He 
 was always strong in his resolves, and in this 
 he admitted no doubt. Women of the world 
 were obnoxious to him ; even women in the 
 world, he held, could scarcely escape some 
 taint, some loss of the delicate sweetness, the 
 divine purity, which he read in this young 
 girl's eyes. How free she was from the 
 mischievous longing to shine, to be admired ! 
 She only dreaded what others perilled their 
 souls to get. How sweet it would be to keep 
 her as she was, as simple, as guileless ! Her 
 mind would expand, her intellect be enriched, 
 and the innocent child-like heart remain all 
 her own — hers and his. He was not much 
 troubled with fear of failure. He was older 
 than she by thirteen or fourteen years, but 
 she liked him, and he was imperiously con- 
 scious that his dominant will could generally 
 
 VOL. I. 9
 
 I30 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 gain what he desired, when he desired it with 
 the force which was stirring within him now. 
 He did not bring- into the balance his position 
 or his fortune ; his ideal Joan was not one to 
 care for the one or the other ; what he felt he 
 had with which to win her was the strong, 
 warm, masterful love in his heart — strong 
 enouoh that to move the world. No orass 
 should grow under his feet ; he would woo, 
 win, sweep her into his keeping, snatch her 
 away from the fate of frivolity, hold her 
 innocence sacred and sheltered. It may be 
 said that it was impossible for him to have 
 given a stronger proof that he was yet 
 young. 
 
 But these thoughts — these dreams — - 
 brought a smile into his face, and kept him 
 so well occupied that he thought no more of 
 Basil Gray's shortcomings until, just where 
 the road edged the common, the driver 
 pulled up before a closed gate which led 
 into a gravelled sweep.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 131 
 
 ' That will do- -you needn't drive in,' 
 Lancaster called as he jumped out. 
 
 He pushed open the gate and went in. 
 Passing the usual nest of evergreen shrubs, 
 he came in view of a house, not large, but 
 well-placed, with a pretty sweep of garden 
 on two sides, and a terrace-walk in front of 
 the house, up and down which a lady with a 
 slight figure and springy walk was pacing. 
 Hearing steps, she turned briskly and came 
 towards him, holding out her hand. 
 
 ' Ah, here you are, Henry 1' she exclaimed, 
 'and JNIary was right. She vowed you 
 would come down to-day, but I thought 
 you would have fifty other engagements.' 
 
 Her face and manner were so young, that 
 it was difficult to conceive that she could be 
 the mother of a daughter older than Lan- 
 caster ; and yet she presented the effect of 
 genuine youthfulness, and not of a made-up 
 old woman. 
 
 ' It seemed necessary that someone should 
 
 9—2
 
 132 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 come,' Lancaster returned bluntly. ' What 
 folly possesses Basil ?' 
 
 'You are a little abrupt, my dear Henry,' 
 she said reproachfully, though still smiling ; 
 * and you must agree that life in those un- 
 civilized reg^ions would be a Pfreat trial to the 
 poor boy. Oh, I know — you need not tell 
 me that your getting the appointment was 
 an excellent thing for him, and I wish with 
 all my heart that he could have seen his 
 way to staying ; still, I understand what he 
 felt. I am afraid I have the same sort 
 of impulse myself — I mean, the impulse to 
 get out of a thing when it becomes unen- 
 durable. And I don't know that it's a bad 
 plan.' 
 
 ' Not for one's self, perhaps,' said her 
 nephew drily. 
 
 * Nor for others. I don't know what you 
 think, but to me the people who pose as 
 suffering martyrs are odious.' 
 
 ' Where's Mary ?'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN I 133 
 
 ' I suspect, instructing Sissy. Shall we go 
 and see ?' 
 
 ' Presently.' Me was rather ashamed of 
 his inclination to hear whatev^er disagreeables 
 were to come from his cousin. And, after 
 all, what did anything matter ? The thought 
 of Joan crept into his heart, and his face 
 became less stern. ' Well,' he said with a 
 half-laugh, ' it is evident that Basil has no 
 intention of posing as a suffering martyr. 
 What does he say for himself ?' 
 
 ' He says the people about him are such a 
 set !' 
 
 ' Oh !' Lancaster's mouth was contemp- 
 tuous again. ' Anything more ?' 
 
 ' And he finds the office work distasteful.' 
 
 Sir Henry straightened his great figure. 
 
 ' Aunt Helena, I have no wish wantonly 
 to hurt your feelings, but you must be aware 
 that Basil is acting like a fool. Now, is 
 anyone to have the chance of writing and 
 telling him so, or is it too late ? Does he
 
 134 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 say he is thinking of throwing up his ap- 
 pointment, or has he already done so ? I 
 must know.' 
 
 ' You are very peremptory,' said Mrs. 
 Gray, smiHng. 
 
 ' It appears to me necessary that I should 
 be.' 
 
 ' Suppose I go and find Mary, and let her 
 bring out Basil's last letter.' 
 
 ' Don't trouble, I'll go myself. Where is 
 she likely to be ?' 
 
 ' In the dining-room, where poor Sissy's 
 view is circumscribed.' 
 
 Sissy did not look like a victim when Lan- 
 caster put his head in at the door. She 
 stopped short in the hymn she was repeating, 
 with a rapturous cry, and rushed at the in- 
 truder. She was a pretty, fair-haired little 
 girl of four or five years old, and Lancaster, 
 who loved children with all the strength of 
 his nature, lifted her at once in his arms. 
 His manner to Mary was very kindly.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 135 
 
 ' I'm sent in ; will you have me ?' he de- 
 manded. ' I expect, at any rate, Sissy isn't 
 sorry ?' 
 
 ' No, we want you,' said Sissy with de- 
 cision. ' I've finished.' 
 
 Mary, who had flushed at his entrance, 
 shook her head, smiling. The contrast be- 
 tween herself and her mother had never 
 struck Lancaster more forcibly. Mary was a 
 small, compact, prim little creature ; she was 
 very plainly dressed, and looked older than 
 her years. There were marks of care on her 
 face ; indeed, her cousin fancied she had been 
 crying ; certainly her eyes, which were her 
 prettiest feature, were not so clear as usual. 
 But she greeted him with a smiling, delicate 
 cheerfulness. 
 
 ' How kind of you to come !' 
 
 ' I don't know that I can be any good.' . 
 
 ?^Iary was silent. 
 
 ' You don't think I can, I see. Well, just 
 let me hear whether there is still time to do
 
 136 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 anything^. Would a telegram, short and 
 sharp, produce effect ^' 
 
 She was knitting her soft hands nervously 
 together. 
 
 * Haven't you seen my mother ?' 
 
 ' Yes, and she made ine over to you.' He 
 added with a short laugh, ' So I imagine 
 something worse remains untold.' 
 
 ' I don't know about worse. It must have 
 come. However — last night we had another 
 letter.' 
 
 ' Last night ? How's that ?' asked Lan- 
 caster quickly. 
 
 She shrank a little, but did not hesitate. 
 
 * Basil is in England. He came by the 
 very mail which brought his first letter.' 
 
 Lancaster's face expressed intense disgust. 
 Sissy leaned her head back and looked up. 
 
 ' Daddy will soon be here,' she announced 
 triumphantly, and her aunt made a movement 
 to take her from his knee, but her cousin put 
 out his hand to keep her back.
 
 THE COUNTRY CO U SIX 137 
 
 ' No,' he said, ' I'm not going to say any- 
 thing. Where's the good ? I might have 
 known that nothino^ — nothinof would stick in 
 the way of an impulse.' 
 
 Mary was mute. She sat looking down. 
 
 ' Didn't like the people ! Couldn't stand 
 office work ! There must be a special world 
 constructed for such men to live in.' Then 
 he caught her shame-smitten face. * My 
 dear child, don't look like that ! Heaven 
 knows there is nothing for you to reproach 
 yourself about !' 
 
 She set aside the remark quietly. 
 
 ' We can't separate ourselves from one 
 another.' 
 
 ' Hum, I don't know,' said Sir Henry 
 grimly. ' There is one person who isn't 
 much troubled.' 
 
 * Oh, you don't understand,' said Miss 
 Gray, speaking eagerly for the first time. 
 ' Her sympathy is very complete. She 
 enters into a great deal which we don't in
 
 138 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 the least realize, and that gives her a wonder- 
 ful intuition. It is not that she does not see 
 what would be best for him, and wish that he 
 would hold to it, but that she has such a keen 
 comprehension of what he finds difficult that 
 she can make excuses.' Then she suddenly- 
 glanced up at him, and shook her head. 
 ' No,' she repeated, * you don't understand.' 
 
 Lancaster, indeed, was looking impatient ; 
 but he was reflecting what he could do to 
 help her. He knew he might trust her to 
 tell him what was necessary, for she never 
 flinched from disagreeables, and, indeed, many 
 people doubted whether she felt them. Her 
 cousin never doubted ; he felt a very sincere 
 pity for her ; but this did not make him 
 hesitate to question her when he thought it 
 necessary. 
 
 ' I suppose,' he said, ' that money has been 
 already wanted ?' 
 
 ' My mother had some she could send.' 
 
 ' She always h as — for him ; and of course he
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 139 
 
 builds upon it,' said Lancaster bitterly. ' I 
 wish I could impress upon her, for your own 
 sakes and for this ' — he touched the litde 
 girl's soft hair gendy — 'that it's the very 
 reverse of kindness. No one can do any- 
 thing while that is inevitable.' 
 
 Her lip quivered. ' I know it, but ' 
 
 ' But what ?' 
 
 'Why should I say it? It is only an 
 excuse for weakness, and you don't like 
 excuses. I was going to say that it is hard 
 even to me to refuse, and of course it is 
 infinitely worse for my mother.' 
 
 ' How long will it last ? When will he 
 come here ?' 
 
 Mrs. Gray put her head in at the door. 
 She was smiling. 
 
 ' Is it all over, and does he know ? It was 
 rather a shame, Mary, but I was sure you 
 would tell him in fewer words. Now come 
 out, all of you ; that poor little Sissy looks as 
 if she wanted fresh air.'
 
 MO THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 As they stood up, Mary whispered hur- 
 riedly, ' Basil is in London. He comes here 
 to- morrow.' 
 
 'Yes,' said Mrs. Gray, overhearing. 
 ' Naturally he wants a little taste of London 
 after his exile, and I dare say he has things 
 to get ; Basil was always very particular 
 about his tailor.' 
 
 ' More particular about ordering than 
 paying, wasn't he ?' muttered Lancaster. 
 
 He was not at his best with his aunt ; she 
 roused the combative and sterner side of his 
 nature. Her lightness, her youthfulness, the 
 charm of manner which made her attractive to 
 most people, were all to him mere unrealities. 
 On her part he amused her ; she spoke of him 
 as an excellent bear. When frightened by the 
 menace of actual disaster, she obeyed him 
 implicitly ; but once the danger was past, 
 would take him off with irresistible drollery, 
 and forget with a facility which he could not 
 but consider wilful. Now she refused to
 
 THE COUXTRY COUSIN 141 
 
 see any inconveniences in Basil's return ; 
 something would, no doubt, turn up, and 
 she had never looked upon his life at the 
 Cape as more than a temporary arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 ' Basil is not like other people,' she said, 
 stooping to gather a few fresh spikes of 
 ribbon grass and some double lilac primroses. 
 ' I dare say you, Henry, find it difficult to 
 understand him ; you and Mary are quite of 
 another type. Both of you have an absolute 
 genius for sticking to what you undertake, 
 whether you hate it or whether you love it ; 
 and that is what Basil would never dream of 
 doing ; he would say life was much too short 
 to be wasted in grinding against your will. 
 Well, you know, you may be right, or he — 
 you can't force your views of life upon 
 another, can you ? That's what I want you 
 both to recollect.' 
 
 Lancaster stared. 
 
 * Don't you call it forcing your view of life
 
 142 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 upon Others when you ask them to pay for 
 it ?' he asked bluntly, 
 
 * Poor Basil !' said Mrs. Gray, shaking her 
 head. ' No, no, that's only an accident. He 
 would gladly do as much for any of us, if the 
 Fates ran that way — you know he would ! 
 He can't stick to money more than to any- 
 thing else, poor fellow ; but he would never 
 begrudge his last penny, that I will say for 
 him.' 
 
 To Lancaster this was no virtue of which 
 to boast ; the last penny would probably be 
 no more Basil's own than those he had 
 squandered before it ; but although not averse 
 from presenting his aunt with stiff facts, he 
 had long given up attempting to argue with 
 her. 
 
 ' Well — let us hope he has some plan in 
 his head at present.' 
 
 ' But he hasn't,' Mrs. Gray acknowledged 
 with a laugh ; ' whatever he has, it won't be 
 a plan. Imagine Basil with a plan! He
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 143 
 
 wouldn't know what to do with it. We must 
 do all the planning, Henry ' 
 
 * You must. I leave it to you.' 
 
 He would have liked hastily to add that 
 for his part he shook himself free from Basih 
 that he had had more than enough of him ; 
 but his eye fell upon Mary walking along 
 with her smooth neat little head bent. He 
 knew she was encountering all the shame 
 which her mother could put lightly on one 
 side, and he was silent, out of pity. Mrs. 
 Gray went cheerfully on : 
 
 ' Ah, I was afraid you might have some 
 feeling of that sort, and I don't in the least 
 blame you. As I said, you are of a different 
 type. But I have my own ideas. I think 
 the time has come for Basil ' — she lowered 
 her voice — ' to marry again.' 
 
 * Good heavens !' broke involuntarily from 
 Lancaster. 
 
 ' To marry well — we must see to that. 
 Some nice girl, with money — there must be
 
 144 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 fift}^ such. And it is not the least as if one 
 were asking her to make a sacrifice, for any 
 one who marries Basil will have a most 
 delightful companion. See how poor Laura 
 adored him ! I shall suggest it to him directly 
 he comes. Meanwhile let us all look about, 
 and if you see the paragon who would be 
 suitable, give me a hint, my dear Henry. I 
 don't ask much, you will allow, I know you 
 have done a good deal for my naughty boy, 
 and that you are feeling a little, just a little 
 disappointed ; I know it, because, to tell you 
 the truth, you are a tiny bit grumpy this 
 afternoon.' 
 
 The idea that Lancaster could be a tiny 
 bit anything would have been fatally comic 
 to a bystander. Luckily he felt it himself, 
 and burst into a laugh. Sissy, hearing these 
 sounds of mirth, came racing back, and caught 
 his hand, and Mrs. Gray lightly and genially 
 turned the talk to other topics. Presently 
 they went in for tea, and a General Murchison
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 145 
 
 was announced. Lancaster could not but be 
 struck by the ingenious manner with which his 
 aunt contrived to monopoHze the new-comer, 
 though he did not like her the better for it. 
 Coquetry he always abhorred, but a coquette 
 at sixty seemed to him a horrible anomaly. 
 
 It gave him, however, the opportunity of a 
 few words with his cousin. 
 
 ' So there is nothing to be done,' he said. 
 ' If later on you find that someone is wanted 
 — to prevent your being fleeced,' he mentally 
 added — ' why, you must let me know.' 
 
 ' We can't thank you enough. It all makes 
 me feel so ashamed !' said poor Mary, with a 
 helpless movement of her small hands. 
 
 ' Don't fret,' he said kindly, 'and never 
 mind about me. A good deal depends upon 
 you — as usual !' he added with a laugh. ' I'm 
 off.' 
 
 ' Going, Henry ?' said Mrs. Gray, turn- 
 ing round. ' Well, I dare say Basil will 
 soon look you up, and if not, you shall 
 
 VOL. I. 10
 
 146 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 hear. Good-bye, my dear boy ; come 
 down again when you can; you are always 
 welcome.' 
 
 Mary went with him to the gate. He 
 meant to walk down the hill to Putney 
 Station, and he thought it would be possible 
 to find the Medhursts before dinner. The 
 feeling that this might be done put him 
 into excellent spirits. Mary meanwhile 
 looked sad and abstracted, in spite of all his 
 efforts to cheer her. 
 
 ' Hope is a wonderfully robust character- 
 istic,' he said. ' With Aunt Helena it is a 
 characteristic. You see it is as vigorous 
 and strong- as ever. Basil is to take the 
 town by storm, and marry where it pleases 
 him to drop the handkerchief.' 
 
 * I can't hope it — I can't even wish it,' 
 said Miss Gray quietly. ' I have a con- 
 viction that this coming home of Basil's will 
 bring nothing but misery.' 
 
 ' Come, come !'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 147 
 
 She was silent, with a slight movement of 
 her head. 
 
 ' Now, I draw the line between you both. 
 Not misery, but worry — worry, I dare say, 
 and something less than the heiress on the 
 other side.' 
 
 She smiled, but she did not take back 
 her words, and he left her standing in the 
 road outside the gate, under a horse-chest- 
 nut, a little black subdued figure, with droop- 
 ing shoulders, which looked too frail for the 
 weight she had to bear. Henry Lancaster 
 felt the same compassion which the sight of 
 a helpless child would have stirred in him — 
 felt an added indignation against Basil for 
 the annoyances he foresaw his sister would 
 suffer. 
 
 ' Confound the fellow !' he muttered to 
 himself. ' I did think we had him safe on 
 the other side of the seas this time. But 
 no, he is exactly like an aggravating Jack- 
 in-the-box, continually popping up] under 
 
 10 — 2
 
 148 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 your nose when you least want him. I've 
 done with you, my fine fellow, for one. 
 You may rest assured you won't have the 
 chance of making a fool of me any more. 
 No more appointments, thank you, and not 
 so much as a ten-pound note. No ; so far 
 as I am myself concerned, your going or 
 cominof will be a matter of absolute indiffer- 
 ence ; and as my wonderful aunt seems quite 
 content, there's only poor Mary to think of. 
 Poor Mary ! she has a time of it between 
 one and another. What a woman that is ! 
 Laying it into that old man as if she were 
 eighteen and he twenty ! My Joan, my 
 little, simple, unconscious girl, if I thought 
 you could grow into that, I believe it would 
 break my heart. But you couldn't. And 
 if I can prevent it, the world shall never 
 lay its coarse hardening finger upon your 
 innocence.' 
 
 When he reached London he jumped 
 into a cab and drove to the Medhursts'.
 
 CHAPTER VII, 
 
 Joan the unconscious was, at the moment 
 when she was thus apostrophized, disporting 
 herself witli much satisfaction in the Park. 
 She had been twice to church with her father 
 and mother, then had coaxed her mother into 
 going- to tea with Mrs. Russell, and had 
 finally succeeded in a further attempt to be 
 allowed to "o with the Russells to the Park. 
 Lord Medhurst was to walk down and ex- 
 tricate her at half-past six, and meanwhile 
 there was an hour of blissful freedom, of 
 which she was fully resolved to make the 
 most. 
 
 It will be seen that already a decided
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 change had taken place in her opinions, and, 
 it must be owned, in herself. But a few days 
 before such a diversion would hav^e seemed a 
 terrible ordeal, to be begged off or averted at 
 all costs ; she would have been ready to 
 shrink into the dullest obscurity rather than 
 face a fastidious crowd ; and every look cast 
 upon her would have made her torture her- 
 self with the question of what particular 
 awkwardness had been discovered and 
 marked. Lord Medhurst had so far suc- 
 ceeded in his system of training — adopted 
 with the best intentions in the world — that 
 his daughter had come to London oppressed 
 with the belief that she was below the averac;-e 
 in all points — except dancing. No snubs 
 succeeded in persuading her that she could 
 not dance. 
 
 But now ? Well, now these more than 
 misgivings were being swept away by a force 
 so violent that it made her giddy. This 
 terrible world which had been held up as a
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 151 
 
 Stern harsh critic — was it not at her feet ? 
 These were not criticisms which were 
 showered upon her ; the stones she had 
 expected turned into smiles, Bowers, sweet- 
 nesses. For the first time in her Hfe she 
 heard that everything about her was perfect, 
 was adorable. And whereas she had only 
 been inclined to pray that she might avoid 
 attracting notice, it was a very different 
 matter when she found that notice meant 
 admiration and everything that was delight- 
 ful. 
 
 Whose head could have stood the dizziness 
 of such a violent, such a sudden contrast ? 
 Not Joan's. Her father had hoped that 
 when the test came, all the sober repressive 
 training she had gone through would act 
 like ballast, would keep her from yielding a 
 too ready ear to flattering tales. But the 
 tales had all the charm and excitement of 
 novelty added to the danger of their fascina- 
 tions ; and as for a ready ear, she was ready.
 
 152 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 eager to listen with both ears — she would 
 have Hked to have been all ear — what was 
 said to her was so enchanting. Only one 
 thing vexed her. She had awakened to the 
 fact that she was badly dressed — not badly, it 
 must be said, as to choice of colours, but 
 more quietly, perhaps more dowdily — so she 
 called it, at any rate — than other girls. She 
 had not yet discovered that her beauty and 
 her wonderful freshness were really indepen- 
 dent of dress, and, if she had, you may be 
 very certain she would not have believed 
 her eyes ; and so, when she looked about 
 her, she was intensely mortified to discover 
 that she was at least two years behind the 
 fashions. 
 
 Otherwise, things were charming. Mrs. 
 Russell was an easy chaperon ; Major 
 Russell liked walkinof with a beautiful orirl, 
 and the very air seemed full of pleasant 
 remarks. It was immeasurably more 
 agreeable than the walk to Chaverton
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 153 
 
 Chace, which Lord Medhurst hked to ac- 
 complish on Sunday afternoons at home, 
 when she was inevitably called over the 
 coals for stooping, or humming the air of the 
 last hymn, or getting her boots dusty or 
 muddy, as the case might be. She found 
 herself at one moment poking a hole in the 
 grass with her parasol, a trick which he 
 particularly hated ; but the young men 
 grouped round her looked as if she could 
 have done nothinsf more charmin^-, and she 
 dug her hole deeper with a sense of triumph. 
 The crowd, the whole scene, the characters 
 pointed out to her, did not rouse her imagi- 
 nation ; she liked to know, to be admitted, 
 as it were, into the great circle ; but it was 
 herself — her new identity, her changed 
 position — which she found fascinating. 
 Once her face clouded over. 
 
 'You're coming to Ascot, of course, Miss 
 Medhurst ?' said Sir Brudenel Forbes, a 
 young Guardsman.
 
 154 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' No, no, indeed ! I am afraid there isn't 
 the smallest chance of our going.' 
 
 ' But you must. It's a simple necessity. 
 Do you mean that Lord Medhurst objects ? 
 Oh, then you must just strike, and go with 
 somebody else ! As for your not being 
 there ' 
 
 ' That would be too awful a sell !' drawled 
 another young man, who was nursing his 
 leg and looking quite effectively vacuous. 
 
 ' Oh, it's dreadful !' cried Joan. ' I see 
 now how dreadful it will be. I want to 
 do everything and go everywhere.' 
 
 ' I say, that's strong measure,' said the 
 young man, a little shaken in his admiration 
 by this overflow of energy ; ' but Ascot — 
 Ascot's indispensable. It's a fact. You'll 
 have to go — won't she, Forbes ?' 
 
 ' I should think so, indeed. It wouldn't 
 be anything without you.' 
 
 ' But,' cried Joan naively — 'but you don't 
 understand. I cant ; can I, Major Russell ?'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 155 
 
 ' We might put It to Lord Medhurst as 
 a sort of educational duty that you should 
 see everything national,' suggested that 
 gentleman. 
 
 ' Is Ascot so national ?' 
 
 ' Eminently. Anything to do with royalty 
 must be national — for a little while longer, at 
 any rate.' 
 
 ' Well, please try,' said Joan doubtfully. 
 * I'm afraid it will be of no use.' 
 
 ' Why, isn't that Basil Gray ?' demanded 
 Major Russell. ' Hallo, Gray ! who'd have 
 expected to see you ? Thought you were in 
 Australia or somewhere.' 
 
 ' Don't talk of it, my dear fellow,' said the 
 man he addressed, with a shudder. ' I mean 
 to drop that part of my career in future. 
 That's what a fellow does when he's been 
 in prison, isn't it ? I feel as if I'd been 
 in prison, or buried, or something, and had 
 just come to life again.' 
 
 He did not look like it ; he was very
 
 156 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 handsome, and his dress could not have been 
 improved upon. He stared a Httle at Joan, 
 and then dropped into a chair by Mrs. 
 Russell. 
 
 ' It's awfully good of you to remember 
 a poor outcast after all this time. Will 
 you show a little further compassion, and 
 enlighten him as to who's who and what's 
 what in this year of grace ? There's a man 
 in a white waistcoat, whose face I know as 
 well as my own !' 
 
 ' That ? That is Mr. Peter Melhuish.' 
 
 ' Peter Melhuish ? Of course I shall be 
 askine who Tom Lovell is next. How well 
 the old fellow wears !' 
 
 ' Better than he deserves, I should say,' 
 returned Mrs. Russell drily. 
 
 She was not very well pleased with her 
 husband for having tacitly admitted Mr. 
 Gray into their circle. He was a man whom 
 she liked well enough when they were alone, 
 but with Miss Medhurst under their charge
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 157 
 
 it was necessary to be more exclusive. His 
 next question, put in an undertone, did not 
 add to her comfort. 
 
 ' Who's the young lady with you ? She, at 
 any rate, has blossomed since my departure.' 
 
 Mrs. Russell swept the chairs on either 
 side of her with her glance, as if wondering 
 whom he meant, before answering. But as 
 he kept his eyes fixed on Joan, she could not 
 carry on the wonder very long. 
 
 ' Do you mean Miss Medhurst ?' 
 
 ' I mean the young lady I'm looking at,' he 
 said with a smile. 
 
 ' Yes, that is Miss Medhurst.' 
 
 ' Medhurst — Lord Medhurst? Isn't he 
 the Ashtons' cousin ?' 
 
 ' Of course,' said Russell, turning round as 
 he caueht the words. ' You know the Ash- 
 tons very well, don't you ?' 
 
 His wife was making despairing signals 
 behind the vouncr man's back, which he 
 anxiously misinterpreted.
 
 158 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 * Miss Medhurst,' he began, 'you ought to 
 know Mr. Basil Gray. He is a friend of 
 your cousins the Ashtons.' 
 
 Joan, who had not as yet quite reached the 
 heights of social ease, and was aware that 
 Gray had been looking at her ever since he 
 joined the party, blushed. Gray instantly 
 drew his chair nearer to hers. 
 
 ' I've heard of you so often,' he said 
 mendaciously, ' that I scarcely feel as if any 
 introduction were needed. Do tell me about 
 the Ashtons. I've been out of England for 
 a century — in exile in Siberia — and when 
 you come back into the rush of the world 
 again you are almost afraid to ask questions. 
 You don't know how many things may have 
 happened in a moment.' 
 
 * Oh yes,' cried Joan with interest. ' I 
 can understand that. I feel as if it were 
 months since we left Ashbury, and yet it is 
 only ten days.' 
 
 ' You're ever so much ahead of me, though.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 159 
 
 Two days ago I made my first appearance. 
 Why, I shall come to you to tell me every- 
 thing.' 
 
 He laughed, and she laughed. There was 
 a boyishness, an irresponsible boyishness, 
 about him which seemed in harmony with 
 the gaiety of her spirits, with the scene, with 
 the feeling of spring which was abroad. 
 
 ' How co2i-/d you \' whispered Mrs. Russell 
 tragically to her husband. 
 
 ' Why — didn't you wish it ?' 
 
 ' Wish it !' 
 
 She would say no more, and his discourage- 
 ment took the form of attachinsf himself to 
 the conversation of the young couple. 
 
 * But, seriously, where have you been, 
 Gray ?' he demanded. 
 
 ' Lording it over the Zulus. Lancaster 
 got me out there, and thought I was good 
 for a dozen years of it — a good way 
 off.' 
 
 Joan had not passed the point at which a
 
 i6o THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 name she recognised seemed something at 
 which to clutch. 
 
 'Was that Sir Henry Lancaster?' she 
 asked. 
 
 * Yes. Do you know him ? He's a cousin 
 of ours. Good sort of fellow, too, but — by 
 Jove, he is a Methuselah ! And never was 
 anything else, that's the worst of him. Just 
 conceive old Lancaster in a place like this !' 
 
 The other young men, finding Miss Med- 
 hurst suddenly monopolized, were devoting 
 themselves to Mrs. Russell, who was thus 
 prevented from effecting a diversion. Joan 
 was seized by an unhappy impulse. 
 
 ' Why not ?' she inquired calmly. 
 
 ' Why not ? Oh, I say, you can't know 
 Lancaster very well. He in such a haunt of 
 vanity ! Why, I'd expect his very appear- 
 ance to cause an earthquake ; the dresses 
 would turn to sackcloth, the very dows would 
 tremble, and all the paint and powder would 
 become ashes. Happily for society, the thing's
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN i6i 
 
 an impossibility. No, no, no, Miss Medhurst, 
 we shall never see Lancaster here. Don't 
 tell me that even the century I have spent in 
 exile could have effected such a revolution.' 
 
 ' What will you say if I bring him ?' 
 
 ' When ?' 
 
 ' Next Sunday.' 
 
 ' I shall say half a dozen pairs of gloves. 
 But you don't know what a herculean task 
 you are attempting — everything about Lan- 
 caster is herculean, isn't it ? I can conceive 
 your accomplishing most things — almost 
 everything," he added, sinking his voice to a 
 dangerous softness, ' but 'even sirens must 
 have shrunk before such a pair of shoulders.' 
 
 Then they laughed again. 
 
 ' I don't know anything about sirens,' said 
 Joan audaciously ; ' but Sir Henry shall come 
 with me next Sunday. Mind you are here to 
 see.' 
 
 Here was a transformation, if only Gray 
 had known it, at least as wonderful as that in 
 
 VOL. I. I 1
 
 1 62 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 which he affected to disbelieve ! It was lost 
 upon Major Russell, for that gentleman, 
 having successfully interpreted further signals 
 of his wife to signify that he was to keep up 
 with the conversation to his ricrht, was cud- 
 ofellinor his brains for some li<j-ht material with 
 which to carry out her commands. And he 
 did not hear a word of Gray's answer, because 
 it was again very low. 
 
 * You may be sure I shall be wherever I 
 have a chance of seeing you.' 
 
 Joan blushed again, and Mrs. Russell saw 
 the blush. She rose in desperation. 
 
 ' My dear Joan,' she said, ' I think your 
 father will be waiting.' 
 
 The girl started up guiltily. 
 
 'Oh, I had forgotten— quite forgotten !' she 
 exclaimed. ' Is it half-past six i^' 
 
 ' We shall take some time to get down to 
 the other end, where I think he was to be. 
 Robert, will you look after Miss Medhurst ?' 
 — severely. ' But I should have kept him
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 163 
 
 waiting,' she reflected, ' if Robert had not 
 made such a blunder.' 
 
 Conscious of past dehnquencies, Major 
 Russell did his utmost to act up to his pre- 
 sent duties ; but, alas, it was impossible for 
 him to be on both sides of Joan at once, and, 
 though one of the other young men made an 
 attempt to occupy the unguarded position, 
 Basil Gray contrived to oust him and to hold 
 what he had gained with perfect coolness. 
 Joan liked him exceedingly. He seemed 
 younger than the others, and more on her 
 own level. Nothing about him could, by any 
 stretch of imagination, be called alarming. 
 He had an effective way of looking at things, 
 and never missed a situation. Evidently, 
 moreover, his admiration for her was very 
 genuine. Her eye brightened, her spirits rose. 
 
 But down they dropped again when she 
 beheld her father's tall thin form marchinof 
 backwards and forwards under the trees, with- 
 drawn from the crowd. 
 
 1 1 — 2
 
 1 64 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 'Oh, papa, you have not been waiting!' 
 she cried, hurrying before the others. 
 
 ' I could have waited a few moments 
 longer, my dear, in order that you mi^^ht 
 have all arrived together,' he replied, with 
 his little air of repression, which Elizabeth 
 Ashton likened to the drip of a shower-bath, 
 * It was not very convenient for me to come, 
 but as your mother undertook that you should 
 be met, I am here.' 
 
 He shook hands with the Russells and with 
 Sir Brudenel. Mindful of his failure, Major 
 Russell would have ignored Basil Gray, but 
 that his wife promptly introduced him. For 
 this he afterwards reproached her in an injured 
 tone. 
 
 * Wrong for her and right for him ! How 
 on earth is one to know, Maud ?' 
 
 ' You never will understand,' she said with 
 a laugh. ' You dear good old blunderer, 
 don't you see that for Basil Gray to know 
 the daughter and be unknown to the elders
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 165 
 
 puts him at once into just the sort of position 
 he enjo}'s ? No, whenever I have to do with 
 him, I can tell him everything shall be open 
 and above-board.' 
 
 ' He isn't a bad fellow,' murmured the 
 Major feebly. 
 
 ' He won't hurt us,' returned his wife, 
 ' unless he borrows a ten-pound note, and I 
 am sure he is very welcome to that so far as 
 I am concerned ; but he is not the man to 
 introduce to Joan Medhurst, and I shall 
 always believe he behaved very badly to 
 Elizabeth Ashton.' 
 
 Meanwhile, when this was said, the 
 party had been broken up, and Lord 
 Medhurst and his daughter were making 
 their way across the Park at a quick 
 pace. 
 
 ' A gay scene,' he began at last ; ' but I 
 confess 1 was not particularly edified with 
 what I saw.' 
 
 ' Oh, papa, it really was delightful! Every-
 
 1 66 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 thing looked so pretty, and — ' hesitatingly, 
 'everybody was so kind.' 
 
 * You and I regard It from a different point 
 of view, my dear,' he said, not unkindly; ' but 
 I own I should be sorry for you to come here 
 habitually; and I imagine that, being, as it is, 
 so entirely different from anything to which 
 you have hitherto been accustomed, you would 
 not yourself desire it.' 
 
 Oh, foolish man — so different ! As if he 
 could not see that here lay the charm. 
 She hesitated. 
 
 * Not every Sunday, of course,' she said 
 slowly. 
 
 But her heart was beating. Come she 
 must ; it was too delightful an experience to 
 be given up, 
 
 * Not many Sundays,' he said more per- 
 emptorily. ' Indeed, Joan, I should be glad 
 to think that in deference to my wishes you 
 would be content with what you have already 
 seen. I do not like the custom.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 167 
 
 She was silent, and he took her silence for 
 agreement. 
 
 ' I thought you looked unlike the rest, my 
 little country maid,' he said. 
 
 She coloured, not detecting the real 
 satisfaction in his tone. 
 
 ' They don't think me so unlike other 
 people !' she exclaimed, with a vehemence 
 which amazed him. 
 
 ' They could hardly tell you if they did,' 
 he returned more coldly. ' People in society 
 do not remark to your face what they 
 are ready enough to laugh at when your 
 back is turned. It is those who love you 
 who see your defects and desire to cure 
 them.' 
 
 She turned a mutinous and glowing face 
 away. ' He sees nothing but defects,' she 
 said to herself, ' and Mr. Gray saw none. 
 Why shouldn't he be as right as papa ?' 
 Two men who were passing stared at her. 
 Lord Medhurst said irritably :
 
 1 68 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' My dear, do not carry your parasol in that 
 fashion. Everybody looks at you,' 
 
 This time she did not redden ; she smiled. 
 
 ' They are not looking at my parasol,' she 
 went on softly to herself, ' but at w<?, and it is 
 because I am pretty, pretty, pretty — the 
 prettiest girl in London, I heard someone 
 say to-day. I wonder if it is true.' 
 
 Poor Lord Medhiirst — if he could only 
 have known ! Yet some hint, some shadow 
 of the change must have touched him, for 
 he impressed her shortcomings upon his 
 daughter with all tlie solemnity possible in 
 the time that remained before they reached 
 Albion Street. Joan no longer felt crushed 
 under these remarks, but they stirred within 
 her quite a new spirit of impatient rebellion ; 
 they contrasted too sharply with the sugar- 
 sweet compliments which she had found 
 delightful. Wishing to escape a repetition, 
 she was rushing upstairs past the drawing- 
 room door, when her father called her back.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 169 
 
 ' Let your mother know that you have re- 
 turned, and pray do not go upstairs like a 
 whirlwind,' he said reprovingly. 
 
 She did not feel unlike one as she turned 
 into the drawinQ^-room. 
 
 ' Now for another lecture !' she said to 
 herself. ' though mamma is not quite so bad. 
 I think mamma does a //^^/e understand. 
 
 Still !' Still, it was a delightful reprieve 
 
 to find Sir Henry Lancaster sitting im- 
 patiently in the largest chair in the room, 
 and to hear the unmistakable pleasure in 
 his voice. On this point there could be no 
 doubt. 
 
 ' Here you are at last,' he said. ' I began 
 to fear you would never be able to tear your- 
 self from that scene of enchantment.' 
 
 ' Oh yes,' said the young girl ; ' you might 
 have been certain papa would bring me 
 away.' 
 
 He saw that she accepted his description, 
 which he had meant for an exaggeration, and
 
 I70 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 he was not sure that there was not a Httle 
 bitterness in her tone. 
 
 ' And was it all you pictured it ?' he went 
 on, smiling. 
 
 ' I don't know that I pictured much. I 
 liked it,' 
 
 ' Your father was rather vexed to hear 
 that you had gone,' remarked Lady Med- 
 hurst. 
 
 ' Yes, I know,' said Joan. 
 
 Lancaster felt an immediate compassion 
 for the lecturing she must have endured. 
 He said promptly : 
 
 ' Oh, of course she must go. What are 
 you here for, except to go through the great 
 round ?' 
 
 Joan flashed her enchanting smile upon 
 him. 
 
 ' That's what I feel. Will you talk 
 mamma over, and come with us yourself 
 next Sunday ?' 
 
 ' Joan !' cried Lady Medhurst, scandalized.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 171 
 
 But Lancaster, who had flushed a little, 
 interposed : 
 
 ' Would you really like it ?' 
 
 ' Oh, I should !' 
 
 ' Then I will come,' he said earnestly. 
 
 The young girl looked at him with a soft 
 gratitude, which he read without fathoming 
 the touch of triumph behind. 
 
 ' Who was there to-day ? Who did you 
 see ?' he went on. 
 
 ' Oh, there was Mr. Burgess, and Sir 
 Brudenel Forbes, and Lord Islington, and 
 Mr. Basil Gray,' she answered, treating the 
 question as if it immediately concerned her- 
 self. 
 
 ' Who did you say ? Basil Gray ?' de- 
 manded Lancaster. , 
 
 ' Yes, and he was a cousin of yours, and a 
 friend of the Ashtons, he said. Is he really 
 your cousin ?' 
 
 ' He is,' returned Lancaster briefly. 
 
 ' He was delightful — so amusing,' said
 
 172 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Joan, with enthusiasm ; ' and, as he has been 
 away for a long time in some dreadful place, 
 he pretended that everything was as new to 
 him as it was to me.' 
 
 ' That must have taken a good deal of 
 pretending,' said Sir Henry, with a tighten- 
 ing of his under-lip. 
 
 At that moment Lord Medhurst came in. 
 
 ' I had no idea you were here,' he ex- 
 plained. ' You have not come from the 
 Park ?' 
 
 ' No, that isn't much in my line. Still, 
 I'm going next Sunday, if Miss Medhurst 
 will take me.' 
 
 ' Joan will be very happy,' said her father, 
 with stiff gratification. 
 
 ' Oh, it is a different story now, is it ? 
 thought the young lady delightedly. ' Sir 
 Henry has only to put out his finger, and 
 everything is quite smooth directly. But 
 the others — the others who thought I could 
 not bring him — little they know ! Little
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 173 
 
 they guess that he made a speech, and came 
 to a ball, all to please me. I wonder what 
 else I can Q-et him to do ? I don't feel the 
 least afraid of him now, and a week aofo — 
 what a goose I was ! A week ? It was 
 only Wednesday that I ran into a corner to 
 avoid him, just like a baby. I think he 
 pitied me that night ; but I don't mean to be 
 pitied any more : I mean to enjoy myself, if 
 
 only ' She heaved a sigh, and looked at 
 
 her father. Lord Medhurst certainly, even 
 at his most genial level, could not be said to 
 present an encouraging aspect. ' If only he 
 \\\\\ let me,' she ended, sighing again, and 
 feelinfr disheartened. Then she heard her 
 father asking Sir Henry to stay and dine, 
 and plucked up her courage. If he stayed, 
 her lectures were over for that evening, at 
 any rate, and poor Sir Henry little thought 
 how much her swift appealing look had to 
 do with her own comfort. It had its effect, 
 for he stayed ; he was glad to stay, it need
 
 174 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 hardly be said, though he was mortally afraid 
 of saying something uncivil to his host, 
 whose elaborate courtesy he found very irri- 
 tatin";. He reflected afterwards that he had 
 controlled himself creditably ; but Joan was 
 quick to notice more than he suspected 
 having shown. 
 
 ' Papa would not have a chance with him,' 
 she said joyfully to herself, ' if once they 
 began to argue. Sir Henry would pound 
 him up in a minute. He would just go 
 straight on quite indifferently, and there 
 would soon be an end of poor papa. But he 
 doesn't do it ' — she began to smile — ' he 
 doesn't do it because he fancies I shouldn't 
 like it— papa little thinks why he is spared. 
 How I should like him to know, just once 1 
 It would astonish him so. Look at Sir 
 Henry's face now, and yet if I speak it will 
 grow nice directly.' 
 
 With this amusement Joan's evening passed 
 far more agreeably than when they were
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 175 
 
 alone. She was not brave, and she found it 
 delightful to shelter herself behind a champion 
 so strong as Lancaster. Gray was spoken of 
 again, and Lancaster by an effort held his 
 peace ; for although he hated the idea of his 
 coming into contact with Joan, he thought it 
 ungenerous to use his power to crush the 
 poor devil. He spoke shortly and without 
 cordiality, but such signs were lost upon Lord 
 Medhurst, who was not quick to see below 
 the surface. Then he trot the vouncf girl out 
 upon the balcony, and made her talk to him 
 about Ashbury and all the pursuits on which 
 she had waxed eloquent a few days ago. 
 Now, she would rather have talked of any- 
 thing else ; now, the safe haven of home took 
 very dingy colouring ; now, it was the delight- 
 ful, fascinating world into which she had 
 plunged, which was inviting, intoxicating her 
 — but this he little knew. Little he imacrined 
 that while; he was, as he believed, reading her 
 inmost heart and more and more losing his
 
 176 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 own, her fancies were clustering round very 
 different scenes, her thoughts dancing to quite 
 a different tune. But she was accustomed to 
 repress them, and he never suspected the 
 change.
 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Basil Gray ran down to Roehampton on 
 Monday, but he went back again to London, 
 for, as he assured his mother, if he were to 
 have any chance of finding an appointment 
 he must be on the spot, and not allow other 
 fellows to slip in before him — even five 
 minutes might make a difference. His 
 sister sugfaested that it would be a q^ood 
 deal more economical for him to live with 
 them, but his mother fully agreed with his 
 arguments against this arrangement. 
 
 ' My dear,' she said to her daughter 
 gaily, ' you don't understand — you never 
 will.' 
 
 VOL. L 12 •
 
 I7S THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Sissy would see somethino^ of you,' Mary 
 urged with unusual persistence. 
 
 ' Sissy's a very <Tood little soul,' returned 
 Basil with a laugh ; ' but don't make her 
 too prim. She rather took my breath away 
 just now.' 
 
 ' Oh, she's not prim,' said Mrs. Gray. 
 
 ' So Henry was down yesterday, and you 
 had to break my return to him. Is he as 
 much of an elephant as ever ?' 
 
 ' More. You should have seen that chair 
 when he got out of it.' 
 
 They both laughed. 
 
 ' And I'm in awful disgrace, of course,' 
 said the young man, stretching himself out 
 luxuriously. ' I must go and leave a card. 
 He won't be there, that's one mercy ; and 
 as he has a blessed contempt for us poor 
 society butterflies, we don't run much chance 
 of fluttering up against him round a door- 
 way. Though there was a pretty little 
 girl in the Park yesterday who vowed
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 179 
 
 she'd bringr him there next Sunday. She 
 won't.' 
 
 ' Who was it ?' asked his mother with 
 interest. 
 
 * Miss — Miss — oh, Medhiirst, that was 
 the name. Cousin or somethinof of the 
 Ashtons.' 
 
 'That must be the girl Elizabeth Ashton 
 cal's their country cousin, Mary. Painfully 
 shy, she says.' 
 
 'Shy — hum — yes, perhaps a bit,' said 
 Basil, remembering the blush. ' She won't 
 be shy or country very long, I take it. 
 Her dress wants putting to rights, but she'll 
 soon wake up to that. And she's pretty- 
 confoundedly pretty. No other girl that I 
 saw yesterday could have stood up to her, 
 and I expect most of them were there on 
 show.' 
 
 Mary made a quick unnoticed movement 
 with her hands. 
 
 ' Has she money ?' asked IVIrs. Gray. 
 
 I 2 — 2
 
 i8o THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Can't say — shouldn't wonder.' 
 
 ' Perhaps she would do for you. I was 
 saying- only yesterday I wished you would 
 marry again.' 
 
 His face changed a little. 
 
 ' I've had enough of that. (3nce in a 
 man's life does.' 
 
 ' Nonsense. You had nothing to complain 
 of, I'm sure.' 
 
 ' Perhaps she had,' said Basil in the same 
 tone. 
 
 Mrs. Gray returned to the charge. 
 
 ' You know you must do something, Basil.' 
 
 * I'm very ready to do it. I've tried a 
 good many things, and I really don't think 
 you can say I'm particular.' 
 
 He spoke with the greatest good-humour, 
 employing himself with stroking a white 
 Persian cat which had sprung lightly on his 
 knee. 
 
 ' By the way,' he went on, ' what an ugly 
 clumsy-looking new maid you have !'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN i8i 
 
 * Ah, you mustn't say anything against her;, 
 she's Tx proti'gc'c of Mary's, and cheap,' 
 
 ' Anyone could see that. Mary always had 
 a lurking love for cheap things and bargains. 
 All her dresses are remnants, aren't they, 
 Mary ? I know exactly the look of the 
 counters she haunts. But, my dear child, 
 you forget that the cheap market is often the 
 dearest in the long-run. I'll bet either of 
 you a sovereign now that maid of yours is a 
 breaker.' 
 
 His mother laughed. 
 
 'Yes, she is,' she allowed. 'Poor Mary 
 spent an hour this morning mending dishes.' 
 
 ' I knew it," he said serenely. ' The only 
 wonder is that Mary never discovers that a 
 pound or two more a year would prove real 
 economy in the end.' 
 
 Mary was sitting in the window-seat, 
 finishing some exquisitely fine stitching. 
 
 ' Find me the one or two pounds, then,' 
 siie returned gently, without raising her eyes.
 
 1 82 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Perhaps her brother, to do him justice, was 
 for the moment disconcerted, for he did not 
 answer ; it was his mother who said, smihno: : 
 
 ' You see, Basil, you or I must marry. 
 The poor family does sadly want a little 
 money brought into it, and I don't see what 
 other way there is. On the whole, I think it 
 had better be you. The General is a dear, 
 good man, but — oh, heavens ! to be prosed at 
 from morning to night ! No — sooner rags or 
 
 remnants. But you, Basil Now, do be 
 
 serious ; do make some inquiries about this 
 Miss Medhurst. Go and call on the 
 Ashtons.' 
 
 Mary lifted her head, but, if she were going 
 to speak, checked herself. Basil was still 
 lazily stroking the cat. 
 
 ' How's Elizabeth ?' he asked. 
 
 ' Gone off, I think. She is so thin, Con- 
 stance is to be married very soon, and, by 
 the way, Miss Medhurst is to be a brides- 
 maid,'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 183 
 
 He put the cat off his knee, and stood up, 
 looking very handsome. 
 
 ' Come, mother,' he said, ' we'll say no 
 more about this at present. No one could 
 ever accuse me of being mercenary. Where's 
 Sissy ? Let's go and rake her out. I should 
 like her to have a little fun on the days when 
 1 come down.' 
 
 She had. Basil was never wanting in a 
 feeling for what was appropriate. He was 
 seldom deficient in a fine ideal — at any rate, 
 in an aesthetic adjustment. The position of 
 father and motherless child, what could be 
 more touching ? And while he never put 
 himself out nor faced disagreeable tacts on 
 Sissy's behalf, he was very desirous to make 
 himself as charming as possible to her. He 
 played with her, petted her, made jokes at 
 which she laughed with the helpless, ecstatic 
 laugh of childhood, and when she at last fell 
 down and scraped her little round knees, 
 kissed h(!r and hurriedly carried her in to
 
 i84 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 deliver her to Aunt IMarv for consolation. 
 As he went back to London he thought of 
 his afternoon with all the satisfaction which 
 a well-spent hour can afford. He said to 
 himself that a man's own home was the right 
 place for him ; turned in his head the possi- 
 bilities of living at Roehampton, but decided 
 that to look at Martha every day would be 
 more than he could be expected to endure. 
 No, he would not live there, but he would go 
 down very often, and make his mother bring 
 Sissy up for something or other ; at this 
 supreme moment he even felt equal to the 
 Zoological Gardens. And thinking of all 
 these acts of beneficence was really as satis- 
 factory as if he had performed them. 
 
 As for Joan, he made no resolutions. Pro- 
 bably — indeed, undoubtedly — he would meet 
 her, and he thought her development might 
 prove interesting. 
 
 And as for Elizabeth Ashton, there the 
 interest was past, but the situation as an c^ld
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 185 
 
 friend of the family remained picturesque, 
 and oLig-ht not to be harshly foregone. 
 
 He called at the Ash tons' the next after- 
 noon, and it appeared that he had chosen an 
 admirable moment for his purpose. He had 
 re illv foro-otten that Elizabeth Ashton had 
 anything against him, but he had a vague 
 disinclination to meeting her alone ; he pre- 
 ferred the familv c^i viassc. On this occasion 
 the room appeared to be full, and he presently 
 perceived that he had stumbled upon one of 
 those intimate and informal functions whi.':h 
 follow a drawing-room, and allow a further 
 display of the dresses to a more openly 
 admirincr circle. 
 
 Elizabeth and Nan, in their Court dresses, 
 were in the centre of the room. Elizabeth 
 had her back turned to the door when Gray 
 was announced, and she; did not immediately 
 turn round. Sh(j went on talking to Lady 
 Medhursi, also in Court dress. 
 
 ' That is very evidcmt,' Lady JNledhurst
 
 i86 rilE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 was saying. ' But I am not certain that I 
 quite cauo^ht your distinction. Did you mean 
 
 me to understand that in the one case ' 
 
 ' Mr. Basil Gray.' 
 
 ' the sister was to blame, and in the 
 
 other, the wife herself had shown a loss of 
 temper ?' 
 
 ' No — yes,' said poor Elizabeth, looking at 
 her through a mist. ' I am afraid I was not 
 
 very clear. I think I meant — the other ' 
 
 ' The other ?' 
 
 Lady Medhurst looked mystified. 
 ' I must talk it out with you another time. 
 Do have some tea now. Susan, will you get 
 Emily some tea ? She must be tired to death ; 
 I am, I know.' 
 
 By this time she had herself well in hand 
 again. One support she had, moreover — the 
 consciousness that she looked well in her 
 yellow dress. She turned and faced him 
 with a little air of smiling surprise. 
 
 ' You here, Basil ? We heard that you
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 187 
 
 were coming back, but it seemed as if you 
 had only just gone.' 
 
 ■ It seemed very different to me,' he said, 
 putting on a little air of mortification. 
 ' Don't make me feel more than I do like 
 a bad penny.' 
 
 ' Oh, if you feel it, I hav^e nothing to 
 say.' 
 
 Basil was silent for a moment ; then he 
 said softly : 
 
 ' Are you going to be so hard on me ?' 
 
 ' I ? No,' said Elizabeth, staring. But 
 her heart was beatino- at his tone. ' You 
 would care very little whether I were hard 
 or no,' she added weakly, and conscious of 
 her weakness. 
 
 ' You know better.' 
 
 He was not going to say much, but what 
 little he said he intended that she should feel. 
 And meanwhile he looked as closely as he 
 ccjuld at Miss Medhurst, who was standing, a 
 radiant wliite vision, at the other end of the
 
 1 88 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 room. Nan contrived to pass them at this 
 moment. 
 
 ' Ah, Mr. Gray,' she said coldly. ' Eliza- 
 beth. Mrs. Leslie says she has not seen you.' 
 
 Elizabeth went away, angry with herself 
 for the wrench it cost her to move ; Nan 
 passed on, and (jray made his way very 
 cleverly towards Joan. 
 
 He was amazed at her beauty. The whiie 
 dress is not th(^ most becoming thing in the 
 world by broad daylight, but with the young 
 girl it seemed only to set off the exquisite 
 clearness of her skin. It was well, though 
 simply, made, as Gray noticed at once, and 
 she had a posy of lilies of the valley, which 
 seemed to afford her immense satisfaction. 
 
 ' Thouofh I wanted white fritillarias,' she 
 said, holding the lilies out for his inspection. 
 ' But it is too late. They are all over.' 
 
 * I can't conceive anything which could 
 exceed the perfection of this,' said Gray, 
 with a meaning glance which swept her from
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 189 
 
 head to foot. ' How happy I am to have 
 found you here !' 
 
 ' What brought you ?' she asked, smiling. 
 
 * A fortunate impulse.' 
 
 ' A fortunate impulse !' repeated the young 
 girl. 
 
 ' Yes. You don't forbid me to call it 
 fortunate ?' 
 
 ' Oh, I am very glad you came !' she said 
 frankly. ' I have liked all the day so much ; 
 it has been so excitincr- And I can't imacrine 
 why I ever dreaded it.' 
 
 ' Nor 1/ he said, with an unmistakable 
 look of admiration. 
 
 She did not blush ; her face was quite 
 tranquil, 
 
 ' I think I am getting used to things very 
 fast. I know now ' 
 
 ' What ?' 
 
 But apparently her confidences were at an 
 end. He found them amusing, and he liked 
 his position, which others evidently desired to
 
 I90 TIIF COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 usurp. He had no intention of allowing 
 them to do so. 
 
 ' Do you go out a great deal ?' she asked 
 suddenly. 
 
 ' I shall go now wherever I have a hope 
 of seeing you. And that, I imagine, is every- 
 where.' 
 
 ' No,' she said, in a vexed tone. ' My 
 father does not care for so much gaiety. 
 Invitations are pouring in, and I am burning 
 to eo to them, but he v/on't hear of it. 
 We shall have to refuse the most delightful 
 things. Isn't it dreadful ? One mio^ht as 
 well be in the country as shut up in one's 
 own house in London.' 
 
 ' Dreadful ? It is barbarous ! Something- 
 must be done. A petition should be got up 
 — royalty will have to interfere. Surely in 
 these days, Miss Medhurst, young ladies 
 don't submit to be locked up.' 
 
 Her eyes sparkled ; her little foot was 
 tapping the ground.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 191 
 
 ' I should like ' she began, and then 
 
 stopped. Her father was at her elbow. 
 
 ' My dear, your mother desires me to say 
 that she wishes you to sit down after all your 
 fatigue. You will find a chair by her.' 
 
 Joan looked at Basil, hesitated — she 
 certainly hesitated ; but habit was too strong 
 for her, and she went. Basil, who had 
 watched the little scene with amusement, 
 found himself left with Lord Medhurst as 
 a companion, an exchange not at all to his 
 taste. If he had known it, moreover. Lord 
 Medhurst had come with a deliberate pur- 
 pose. Something in Mr. Gray's appear- 
 ance gave him an undennable feeling of 
 distrust, and he was not certain that it was 
 not a presumption in him to be standing 
 ill the middle of the room addressing Joan. 
 Then there had been a touch — just a touch 
 — of something unsatisfactory in a word he 
 had caught from Mrs. Ashton. ' That,' she 
 had said to someone — ' that is Mr. Basil
 
 192 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Gray, returned from the Cape.' This could 
 not he called an accusation, and yet it in- 
 spired uneasiness. Lord Medhurst resolved 
 to remove his daughter, and find out for 
 himself what and who was this young" man, 
 who had suddenly stepped into their horizon. 
 He felt quite equal to the task. 
 
 ' You — ahem — Mr. Gray, you have, 
 I understand, lately returned from the 
 colonies ?' 
 
 ' Very lately indeed. By the last mail,' 
 said Basil, with the smile which usually 
 disarmed everybody. 
 
 ' Ah ! From the Cape, I think ?' 
 
 ' Been making inquiries about me,' reflected 
 the younger man suspiciously. 
 
 He was always rapid in grasping a situa- 
 tion, and he turned now quickly upon his 
 questioner. 
 
 ' From the Cape. By the way, Lord Med- 
 hurst, aren't you a great authority about the 
 Cape ?'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 193 
 
 No one dislikes to be credited with wisdom, 
 and this was rather a fine stroke. Lord Med- 
 hurst made haste to disclaim. 
 
 ' Though,' he said, ' the subject of our 
 colonies is one which naturally has attracted 
 a good deal of my attention.' 
 
 'Hanged if I know why naturally!' reflected 
 Basil. ' However, here goes. Haven't you 
 written on the subject ?' 
 
 ' Only a couple of letters to the news- 
 papers ' 
 
 ' Which, I wonder ?' thought the other. 
 Aloud he said : ' Ah, yes, of course, that was 
 it !' 
 
 But Lord Medhurst was absolutely truthful. 
 
 * I was going on to say that they were not 
 inserted.' 
 
 Basil looked at him reflectively. 
 
 ' Someone must have mentioned them to 
 me, however,' he said ; ' otherwise, how could 
 I have heard of them ? My memory is such 
 — such a slippery customer,' he added, with 
 
 VOL. I. 13
 
 194 rUE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 his pleasant laugh, ' that I can't trust it ; but 
 I suspect one of the fellows about the — 
 the ' 
 
 ' The Stmidard' 
 
 * Ah, yes, yes, that was it, no doubt. One 
 of them, probably, mentioned the letters to me 
 as having made an impression; but — well, 
 they don't dare to print everything, that's the 
 truth.' 
 
 ' Ah ?' said Lord Medhurst eagerly. 
 
 ' Things may be as true as true ; in fact, 
 they're the worse for that. They bring a 
 very hornets' nest about your ears, and the 
 editors ' — he was going to say, ' funk it ;' but, 
 looking at Lord Medhurst, he withdrew the 
 expression — 'are afraid.' 
 
 ' Is that really so T 
 
 ' I wasn't out there very long ; the climate 
 didn't suit me very well, and I'd left my little 
 girl behind in England ; but I saw enough in 
 a short time. I suspect if I heard your views 
 you would find mine very much on the same
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 195 
 
 side,' said Basil, longing to have someone at 
 hand to enjoy the interview with him. 
 
 ' It would give me much satisfaction,' said 
 Lord Medhurst with solemnity, 'to discuss 
 them with you. Will you do us the favour of 
 dining in Albion Street one day this week ?' 
 
 Was Joan worth the bore'Iom ? Basil 
 decided that she was. Besides, he found real 
 enjoyment in skilfully playing with Lord 
 Medhurst's little foibles, and managing them 
 so that they might work for him if he required 
 them. He had made no plan. As his 
 mother had laughingly said, he was never 
 known to have a plan, treating existence in 
 a far more irresponsible fashion. But one 
 never knew what might turn up, what might 
 or might not be useful, and his unquenchable 
 good temper made him like to be on friendly 
 terms with everybody. Neither for himself 
 nor for anybody else would he submit to what 
 he found disagreeable ; but there was perhaps 
 a certain compensation in the fact that he did 
 
 13—2
 
 196 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 not often make himself disagreeable to any- 
 one. And he had not been so much about in 
 the world without gaining a good deal of ex- 
 perience, which stood him at times in good 
 service. Lord Medhurst had forgotten all his 
 distrust when they parted, and had introduced 
 him to his wife with a little marked air of ap- 
 proval. He thus found himself close to Joan, 
 and smiled significantly. 
 
 ' Let me know when you strike for liberty,' 
 he said. ' Where are you going this week ?' 
 
 * To Brantwood House to-morrow, and 
 another day to Lady Holborn's.' 
 
 * Come, Joan,' called her father. 
 
 ' I must and will dance with you,' said 
 Basil hurriedly. ' Keep some waltzes for me, 
 1 implore you !' 
 
 Keep some waltzes ! Of course she would; 
 but how charming, how delicious it was to be 
 thus entreated ; how different the glowing 
 facts were from those gloomy prognostica- 
 tions of social failure which had sent her
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIX 197 
 
 heart down to a low level of distracted fear ! 
 Having once had her eyes opened, she was 
 quick enough to read admiration in the looks 
 which followed her — to catch words which 
 were uttered as she passed. She had tasted 
 these delights to the full at the Drawing-room 
 that day ; there had been no fright except 
 for a few short moments, and even these 
 moments, looked back upon, she now felt 
 sure had been full of triumph. But the 
 more all this came home to her, the more she 
 resented her father's attitude. Rebellion, 
 indeed, was fast springing up in her brain, 
 thouofh she had not the courage to show it. 
 To be treated as a child ! — to be called away ! 
 — to be told to sit down ! The sense of 
 power had been aroused too suddenly for her 
 to be satisfied with limits ; she was beginning 
 to long for broader fields. ' Strike for 
 liberty ? I only wish I could !' she said to 
 herself that evening when Lord Medhurst, 
 who had caused his wife to decline further
 
 198 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 engagements for that day, was gravely point- 
 ing out to Joan certain little points in her 
 deportment which he considered required 
 alteration. Once it is possible that he de- 
 tected signs of impatience, for he stopped his 
 homily suddenly. 
 
 'Joan,' he said, earnestly, 'what I am 
 saying may not be very agreeable for you 
 to hear, but, believe me, it is necessary. 
 Your mother and I feel it to be our duty to 
 press upon you these little details now. 
 Should you marry and be removed from our 
 care, it will be too late.' 
 
 The girl looked at him — startled. Her 
 father had never before alluded to her 
 possible marriage ; she had not dreamed of 
 it herself, except as an event in the distant 
 future. But now, now it flashed upon her 
 as a means of freedom. If she married — no 
 more lectures, no more snubbings. Delight- 
 ful thought !
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Lancaster was rather heavily weighted at 
 this time by his duties in the House, but he 
 got away from them when he could ; and 
 though he could not be at Lady Holborn's 
 dance, he was present at a small dinner 
 which the Ashtons gave on the same even- 
 ing. So — owing to Colonel Ashton's ex- 
 pansive hospitality, and a certain want of 
 tact which his wife had never contrived to 
 overcome — was Basil Gray. Susan had un- 
 fortunately mentioned that one more man 
 was needed for the necessary balance, and 
 Colonel Ashton, undertaking to provide one, 
 stumbled upon Basil. When he came home
 
 20O rilE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 and made this announcement there was a 
 general outcry. 
 
 ' Basil Gray ! Papa, how could you !' 
 
 'Why, where's the harm? How you do 
 all cry out !' said the poor Colonel, who 
 had expected to be told that he had done 
 very well. ' He's been a great fool with 
 his money, but he hasn't done anything to 
 be cut for that I know of, and in common 
 civility one must have shown him some 
 attention. Besides, you know very well that 
 it isn't as if it were a big affair. Just half 
 a dozen, and no more. But, there, I never 
 can do anything right,' 
 
 ' If it had been a big affair it wouldn't 
 have mattered half so much,' groaned Mrs. 
 Ashton. ' It is just this, that we must be 
 all thrown so closely together.' 
 
 ' Well, why shouldn't we ?' demanded the 
 Colonel, sticking to his colours, but alarmed. 
 'Who objects ?' 
 
 ' Papa never understands. I am sure no
 
 THE COUXTRY COUSIN 201 
 
 one wants to meet a man like Basil, who 
 has run through everything he ever pos- 
 sessed,' announced Constance, whose Arthur 
 had always been a model of prudence. 
 
 ' As to that,' said Elizabeth, speaking for 
 the first time, 'perhaps at a dinner-party 
 he mieht be a more agreeable element 
 than a man who can only talk about lawn- 
 tennis.' 
 
 Constance coloured up. 
 
 'You mean that for Arthur, Elizabeth, 
 and it is very unfair. Because Arthur ' 
 
 Nan rushed in with a diversion. 
 
 ' It's done, and it can't be helped ; but 
 Sir Henry will be awfully disgusted, and I 
 don't think Basil ought to be encouraged. 
 He should have stayed out and made the 
 most of his chance.' 
 
 ' So he should, but I can't help that, 
 can I ?' said her father, rallying his forces. 
 ' Lancaster had better make up his mind to 
 knock up against him pretty often, for Basil
 
 202 THE COUNTRY CUL'SIN 
 
 will be asked everywhere, you'll see. More 
 mutton, Susie ?' 
 
 After dinner Constance carried off her father 
 to unpack wedding presents in the room behind 
 tlic dining-room, which was his dressing-room, 
 but now was generally littered with boxes and 
 straw. Elizabeth vanished, and Mrs. Ashton 
 went slowly upstairs to bewail herself to Susan 
 and Nan. 
 
 ' Constance should not say it, but it is true 
 that your father does not understand. To 
 think that he should have hit upon Basil Gray, 
 of all people in the world !' 
 
 ' And there were so many others,' said Nan 
 gloomily, ' Susie, why didn't you come to 
 me?' 
 
 ' I wish I had,' penitently. 
 
 ' It is not that I exactly mind,' explained 
 her mother, ' At one time I was afraid that 
 something might come of it, but that passed 
 away with his marriage, and as Elizabeth did 
 not fall a prey then, of course, she would be
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 too sensible to think of him now, when every- 
 body knows how absurdly extravagant he has 
 been. But he is not the right person to have. 
 Independently of Sir Henry's natural feelings 
 about Basil, we ought to have found someone 
 whom Medhurst could have talked to. It is 
 a great mistake.' 
 
 ' It will be so difficult to arrange the party,' 
 said Nan, with an uncomfortable remembrance 
 of Elizabeth's confidences. ' As bad as the 
 man with the wolf and the grapes.' 
 
 ' The fox, the goat, and the cabbage — well 
 done, Nan !' laughed her mother. ' So it will. 
 I think I shall give Susie Mr. Basil. She 
 will keep him in order. He shall sit between 
 Susie and Emily.' 
 
 ' Or me. if you like. He would have to be 
 on his best behaviour with me, I can promise 
 him. Connie,' as Constance appeared in the 
 doorway, ' 710^ another mustard-pot !' 
 
 ' Twelve — this makes the twelfth,' said 
 Constance, holding up the last arrival with an
 
 204 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 attempt at cheerfulness. Elizabeth, behind 
 her, was exclaiming : 
 
 ' Oh, it is awful — really awful ! Twelve 
 mustard-pots ! Where on earth can you put 
 them ? If there weren't so many of us, Arthur 
 might give a mustard-pot to each brides- 
 maid ; but three sisters, each with a silver 
 mustard-pot — no, thank you, that would 
 never do !' 
 
 ' As if he would think of such a thing !' 
 cried Constance indignantly. ' I am not to 
 tell you what it is, but he has the most 
 delightful, the most original idea for the 
 bridesmaids — just like Arthur. No, he says, 
 we can choose out two or three of these — the 
 nicest, you know — and keep the rest for 
 wedding presents, as we want them. If we 
 have a list — you're writing the list, aren't you, 
 Susie ? please put this down, and a travelling- 
 clock from the Arnotts — if we have a list, 
 there will be no fear of our returning them to 
 the people who sent them, will tliere ? Mus-
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 205 
 
 tard-pot, Davys — clock, Arnotts. Coming, 
 coming, papa !' 
 
 ' Only a fortnight more,' sighed Elizabeth, 
 as her sister left the room, ' and we may hope 
 to subside into quiet again.' 
 
 ' You are too hard on your sister, Elizabeth,' 
 said her mother. * It is very natural that she 
 should be excited.' 
 
 ' Yes, mamma ; but you will allow that a 
 hailstorm of mustard-pots is a little uninterest- 
 ing for relations. As for poor papa, he is 
 almost smothered in straw and packing-paper. 
 The only happy person is Susie, who gets 
 nice little pieces of twine to put away in her 
 drawer.' 
 
 ' I shouldn't so much mind if Arthur 
 wouldn't have original ideas,' said Nan, 
 yawning. ' He keeps me in hot water. I 
 give you both warning that something ap- 
 palling will be produced for the bridesmaids 
 unless I manage to get to the bottom of it in 
 time.'
 
 :o6 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 The dinner went off better than the hostess 
 expected. It is true that she had her private 
 uneasinesses, but these she could keep to 
 herself. If Lancaster was annoyed at the 
 presence of his cousin, he did not show it 
 unpleasantly. It was the first time they had 
 met, and Basil was very well content to get 
 the meeting over in public, and to get it over 
 without a sharp snub. 
 
 To tell the truth, Sir Henry was too much 
 taken up with Joan to have many thoughts to 
 spare for such an insignificant person as his 
 cousin. He did not care in the least who 
 observed his eyes following her from point to 
 point, or who read his feelings. He was not 
 ashamed of them, and he intended to carry 
 them out to their legitimate end. 
 
 It fell to his lot again to take her in to 
 dinner. 
 
 A very little time had passed since he had 
 carried off a shrinking frightened girl, to go 
 throucrh the same ceremonv at Lord Water-
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 207 
 
 ton's ; but if he had been in the least ex- 
 perienced in the ways of women, he would 
 have perceived that a great change had taken 
 place In Joan during that short ten da)s. 
 Gray, who had only known her half the 
 time, was perfectly conscious of, and greatly 
 amused by, the development. Her very 
 appearance was more finished, had about it 
 that little air of an inexplicable something 
 which he recoQ[-nised at once. But she still 
 wore what Lancaster would have called a 
 white muslin frock, was still in his eyes sim- 
 plicity itself. To be sure, she had got over 
 what he remembered tenderly as her first 
 fright. She did not shake — yes, he really 
 believed she had shaken when he asked his 
 first questions, and her pretty fingers did not 
 crumble the bread quite so nervously. But 
 he liked to think that this grain of ease 
 belonged to him, and perhaps only to 
 him ; that she had grown accustomed to his 
 presence, and that the little confidences she
 
 2o8 77/ A- COiWTRY COUSIN 
 
 bestowed so charmingly were all his. The 
 love he felt was very strongly mixed with 
 deep tenderness and reverence. 
 
 Joan, on her pirt, was awakening to an 
 understanding of what was in his heart. She 
 had thought a good deal of her father's words 
 — thought of them in a manner which would 
 have amazed their utterer. All her per- 
 ceptions seemed to be quickened and stimu- 
 lated just now by some process of astonishing 
 rapidity, and they centred in the idea that 
 what would be the most delio^htful thine in 
 the world was a larger freedom, release from 
 vexatious restraints, and an atmosphere of 
 appreciation. 
 
 To gain this it appeared that she must be 
 married. 
 
 She had no objection. It was something 
 which she had always expected must come 
 about some day, though she had never re- 
 garded it as other than a distant prospect. 
 But now it appeared to be a part of her
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 209 
 
 coming out, a really desirable part — more 
 than desirable, necessary, if she were to taste 
 to the full what she was beginning to find so 
 delightful. 
 
 Having got so far, the next step was to 
 consider whom she should marry. 
 
 It must not be anyone she disliked. That 
 she determined strongly. It must be some- 
 one nice, someone pleasant, someone who 
 would not be constantly finding fault — some- 
 one, indeed, who was not likely to find fault 
 at all. She wished him to be rich, and in a 
 good position. Finally, she supposed he must 
 be in love with her. 
 
 Then she beo-an to look about to discover 
 who fulfilled all these conditions, and Sir 
 Henry Lancaster would have been greatly 
 surprised if he had known that while he was, 
 as he fondly imagined, helping her along, and 
 encouraging her artless talk, she was reflect- 
 ing as to whether he came up to the required 
 point. It must not be supposed that she 
 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 ?Io THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 had any thought, any dream of scheming to 
 marry him ; she was incapable of anything 
 so degrading. But it perhaps afforded some 
 measure of her inexperience that, perceiving 
 he hked and wished to please her, she deter- 
 mined that he would certainly bring matters 
 to the conclusion of wishing to marry her, 
 and while she talked, she pondered whether 
 she should accept him. 
 
 Ugly and clumsy he was, careless of 
 appearances, and she had been sufficiently 
 criticised herself to be ready with her 
 criticisms of others. Yes, there was no 
 doubt that appearances were not in his 
 favour. Moreover, she could read in his 
 face, in his manner, that when he pleased he 
 could be both peremptory and masterful ; 
 there was strength in every movement, in 
 the very way in which his broad hand lay 
 between them on the tablecloth. He was a 
 man of whom a good many people, she was 
 aware, would be mortally afraid — -indeed,
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 21 
 
 Elizabeth Ashton at her first party had com- 
 miserated her fate in beinof eiven over to 
 such an alarming personage. She would not 
 like a masterful husband. 
 
 But, then, if to her he was never masterful ? 
 If she had the charm to chano^e his looks and 
 tones and soften them as no other could do ? 
 She knew this was so, and the consciousness 
 gave her a delicious sense of power ; perhaps 
 nothing else could have been so grateful and 
 delightful to her. After having grown up 
 under the shade of a moral extinguisher, to 
 find that her opinion was valued, her tastes 
 inquired after, brought her a thrill of joyful 
 surprise. And if it would have been welcome 
 from anyone, it was doubly, trebly so from a 
 man of Sir Henry's position. 
 
 Then her eyes fell upon Basil Gray, and 
 met his own. 
 
 Something in the look stirred, almost 
 startled her. She read in it the same admira- 
 tion that she was learninof to look for, and 
 
 14 — 2
 
 212 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 she bco-an to think th;it there was anothc^r to 
 be weighed in the balance of possibihties. 
 When she fell to comparing the two men, the 
 comparison of appearances was immensely in 
 favour of Gray. He appeared ten years 
 younger than his cousin, though really not 
 more than two. And he was exceedingly 
 good-looking, with refined and delicate 
 features, and fair hair, with a close ripple 
 upon it, instead of dark and straight. 
 
 She found her dinner quite amusing enough 
 by the aid of these reflections, and if she were 
 sometimes so engrossed by them as to remain 
 rather silent, Lancaster was sufficiently in 
 love to discover fascination in her very 
 silences ; which seemed to him more natural 
 and desirable than the constant flow of small- 
 talk with which young ladies were in the 
 habit of meeting him. And the only thing 
 Joan brought upon herself in consequence 
 was a mental note by her father to talk to 
 her on the duty of making conversation.
 
 THE COUXTRY COUSIN 213 
 
 She showed some eagerness when Lan- 
 caster asked if she remembered her promise 
 to convoy him to the Park. 
 
 ' Remember ? 1 should think so, indeed. 
 I should not have let you escape ; I was going 
 to bind you safely down to-night. You must 
 come to us lor tea, and we will all go to- 
 gether. Will that do ?' 
 
 ' I would rather it was a walk at Ashbury 
 that we were going to take — a walk across the 
 down towards the windmill. You see, 1 know 
 exactly what are your favourite haunts ; I can 
 picture you there as readily as if I had seen you. 
 However — we can't fly to Ashbury, can we ?' 
 
 ' No, indeed,' said the young girl, with a 
 thankful intonation in her voice which he did 
 not detect. Ashbury no longer represented 
 a safe retreat, but a spot to which she dreaded 
 the return. 
 
 ' You are dragging me out, you see ; you 
 are making me what my friends would call 
 quite a civilized being.'
 
 14 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Am I ?' — smiling. 
 
 ' Yes, but I like to be in the same boat with 
 >ou. I feel as much out o( my element as 
 you ever could have fancied yourself. Be- 
 cause you know it only was fancy. I dare say 
 you are not much troubled with fears now ?' 
 
 The fear that was troubling her was 
 whether if they married he would insist upon 
 living- some country secluded existence such 
 as that from which she had just emerged. 
 But no. His ambition, his political life, lay in 
 London ; that gave her the best security pos- 
 sible against such a dreadful, such an unen- 
 durable collapse ; and while he was interested 
 in the House, and in his Parliamentary duties, 
 she might go her own way and enjoy herself. 
 Poor Lancaster ' Little he thought how 
 quickly her mind was travelling along the 
 same road as his heart, and with what differ- 
 ent results in view ! 
 
 But he was quite content when he jumped 
 into a hansom and was being driven down
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 215 
 
 to Westminster, although he left them all 
 going off to Lady Holborn's, and Basil Gray 
 one of the number. What was Basil Gray 
 to him ? He despised him heartily as a 
 frivolous spendthrift. He himself knew so 
 well what he was worth. It was so patent to 
 him from every word, every look, that he 
 could not imagine any other person forming a 
 different estimate. Basil — he scarcely flung 
 him a thought. 
 
 But his Joan — his little Joan ! He breathed 
 her name with a sense that she was his ; 
 smiled, thinking of her ignorance of the world, 
 her simplicity. She had had the same effect 
 upon him from the first. A breath of country 
 air came to him when she spoke, something 
 of the delicate freshness of a spring morning. 
 God helping him, he would try to shield her, 
 to keep her untainted from the world. And 
 she should soon know, they should all soon 
 know, that he loved her. No one had ever 
 yet been able to accuse Henry Lancaster of
 
 2i6 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 being uncertain as to his own mind. He did 
 not hesitate now. He would woo, win, and 
 marry her at once ; at all events, before the 
 recess. It will be seen that he was not the 
 man to torment himself with scruples. 
 
 Joan, too, had her thoughts on the subject. 
 She would have liked to have buried herself 
 in her corner of the carriage, and brought 
 them out one by one, but there were other 
 matters to mind. 
 
 ' My dear, if you lean back you will crush 
 the trimming on your body,' said her mother 
 anxiously. 
 
 ' And, recollect, Joan, I must beg you to be 
 ready to leave punctually at one o'clock, or 
 even earlier, should it prove desirable,' from 
 her father. ' I have always felt it would have 
 been more prudent to have declined this 
 second invitation for to-night.' 
 
 ' rhe child would have been so dis- 
 appointed,' Lady Medhurst said good- 
 naturedly.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 217 
 
 Joan gave her mother's foot a httle squeeze 
 with both her own. She did not dare stand 
 up against her father, but she feh enraged 
 and rebelHous at the manner in which her 
 happiness was circumscribed with restrictions. 
 It would be bhss to escape from them. She 
 began to think how she could compass a litde 
 more freedom this very night — one o'clock — • 
 just when all would be at its best and most 
 ])rilliant ! And now this inexorable one 
 o'clock would be ringing in her ears all 
 the evening. As the time approached, 
 she would have to explain— to excuse her- 
 self 
 
 • To say that I mayn't dance any more, 
 because I am to be whipped off the very 
 instant the hateful clock strikes ! It is too 
 honid of papa! And if I hide myself, if I 
 keep out of the way, he will be so displeased 
 I shall be kept at home altogether from the 
 next dance. I shall be lectured till I am 
 quite sick of the subject. Did he ever lecture
 
 2i8 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 mamma, 1 wonder ? I suppose not. Wiv^es 
 can hold their own. They are ever so much 
 better off than the unfortunate daughters. 
 Oh, if there were a good big family of us to 
 run riot and stand together ! But only one 
 poor me I Only one to bear it all !' 
 
 The carriage stopped. 
 
 ' Have you got everything, Joan ?' 
 
 ' Yes, papa, everything.' 
 
 But the next moment came a start of 
 dismay. Her fan ! She had no fan. She 
 must have left it on the Ashtons' dinner-table. 
 Her father was certain to discover her loss. 
 It was a present he had but that week made 
 to her, and — how much he would say about 
 it, what dire disgrace would her carelessness 
 land her in ! Joan's steps faltered, and she 
 looked frio^htened to death as she took off her 
 cloak and felt Lord Medhurst scanning her. 
 If she could only hide the loss from him to- 
 night, and rush into her cousins' house to 
 reclaim the fan in the morning 1
 
 THE COUNTRY CO U SIX 219 
 
 * Here before you, you see, after all,' said a 
 voice in her ear. 
 
 ' Mr. Gray !' she exclaimed, startled. ' But 
 we left you behind us.' 
 
 ' You didn't suppose I was going to let my 
 chances slip ? If I had given you five minutes' 
 stirt, where would my waltzes have been ? 
 Now you'll have a little pity for a faithful 
 follower, won't you ? The first ? Thank 
 you. And the second and third ?' 
 
 'Oh, stop, stop, I cant P cried Joan in an 
 agony. 
 
 ' Well, we'll begin, and then we'll see. 
 Lady Holborn is a compassionate woman, 
 and doesn't crush her guests to death. Shall 
 we go on }' 
 
 ' Oh, keep behind my {'a'Ocxq.x^ please.' 
 
 But the blow fell. Lord Medhurst turned 
 and surveyed his daughter. 
 
 ' My dear,' he said judicially, ' I don't see 
 your fan.' 
 
 She was speechless.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Here it is, here it is,' interposed Gray. 
 * I was only carryin^^ it for Miss Medhurst 
 till we ofot out of the crowd.' 
 
 The next moment they were with the 
 dancers, and Joan was pouring forth her 
 gratitude. 
 
 ' How did you manage it.'* How did you 
 know it was mine ? And then just to pro- 
 duce it at the right moment ! Papa would 
 have been so vexed at my being so careless !' 
 
 ' You left it behind you on the dinner-table ; 
 I saw it, and I couldn't resist the pleasure 
 of having something of yours in my possession 
 for once. If Lord Medhurst had not called 
 for it in such an alarming tone, you might not 
 have had it so quickly.' 
 
 ' It was alarming, wasn't it ?' asked the girl 
 with a mutinous face. 
 
 ' Awfully. 1 don't wonder at your looking 
 scared.' 
 
 * He thinks 1 am still a little girl.' 
 
 ' London will soon open his eyes, I imagine,
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 22\ 
 
 said Gray coolly. ' Now, I can't afford to 
 lose a minute of this waltz.' 
 
 She had not had anything like it yet. His 
 dancing was what she had dreamed of — 
 smooth, strong ; no fear of being rammed 
 against another couple ; no jerks, no loss of 
 head or breath. On and on they floated, and 
 it seemed to Joan that she could so go on for 
 ever. When they stopped she gave a sigh 
 of rapturous enjoyment. He looked round 
 at her with a smile. 
 
 ' You are not tired ? But I needn't ask.' 
 
 ' Tired ! No.' 
 
 ' You dance exactly as I knew you would.' 
 
 He said no more, but there was that in his 
 tone which she could not mistake. Basil had 
 a capability for using these tones ; they were 
 often a good deal more effective than words. 
 Certainly nothing could well have been more 
 perfect than their dancing together. And, 
 interspersed with the pleasant praise which 
 he contrived to insinuate, the young girl
 
 222 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 found it very delightful indeed. She danced 
 with others, of course ; the most indolent 
 man in the room roused himself to the 
 amazinof effort of askinof her ; others crowded 
 round ; it was an hour of veritable triumph, 
 but nothing" was so absorbing, so enchanting, 
 as waltzing with Gray. 
 
 'And to think,' she said to him mournfully, 
 ' that it will all be over now — presently. 
 Horrible one o'clock is close.' 
 
 ' Let us hide !' 
 
 ' Oh, I daren't, I daren't 1' 
 
 ' Then let us dance, dance to the last 
 minute — engaged, are you ? Never mind ; 
 forget it. We won't stop until Lord Med- 
 hurst appears like fate in the doorway, and 
 not even then, unless you insist. He can't 
 rush in and hold on to my coat.' 
 
 She would be scolded, she knew, but she 
 could not resist ; the hour came, and Lord 
 Medhurst appeared, yet still they went on 
 and on. For ten whole minutes he had to
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Stand waiting, and as they drove home Joan 
 almost made up her mind that no transgres- 
 sion was worth such results. Almost — she 
 was not sure. For as they parted, Basil 
 Gray had looked into her eyes, and held her 
 hand a trille longer than was necessary ; she 
 felt sure that here, too, was another means of 
 deliverance. Personally, she thought that 
 he was nicer than Sir Henry, who certainly 
 v.ould never be able to waltz with her ; the 
 very idea of his attempting it nearly made 
 her laugh aloud at what would have been a 
 most inconvenient moment. But for the rest, 
 she did not know ; she must wait and see 
 what — who turned up. 
 
 Basil Gray's rejections led him to much 
 the same end. He was not indisposed to — 
 as he expressed it — go in for the running. 
 Joan was an only daughter, and, though 
 anyone else would have been daunted by 
 the idea of facing Lord Medhurst without 
 any income to speak oi, he treated it in his
 
 224 'i'ii^ COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 usual buoyant and audacious fashion. He 
 sHouIlI tumble into something ; he always 
 did. He could get over Lord Medhurst ; 
 fathers invariably came round in the end. 
 And something else there was — something 
 which gave an added zest to the thought 
 of winning Joan's affections. Shallow as he 
 was, he was extremely sharp, and he had 
 seen enough at dinner to convince him that 
 Lancaster was at last in love. The discoverv 
 tickled him vastly. At last! His big, steady, 
 invulnerable cousin in love ! And with such 
 a creature ! ' A pretty dance she'll lead him,' 
 chuckled Basil. ' He knows no more of women 
 than a hayrick, and, by Jove, she'll teach him ! 
 Got it in her, for all her innocent airs.' 
 
 If it had not been for this, it is probable 
 he would have done no more than flirt with 
 Joan whenever he got the opportunity, but 
 this — this made it irresistible. If, by making 
 love to the girl, he could but tease Henry, 
 * then,' Basil concluded, ' here goes !'
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Elizabeth Asiiton had noticed Basil's man- 
 ner towards her cousin at Lady Holborn's 
 dance, without attaching any importance to 
 it, except that she called herself to account 
 with scornful shame for the pang it gave her. 
 It did not require to see them together for her 
 to be aware that Basil could not be in the 
 society of a pretty girl without proceeding, 
 in his easy fashion, to make love to her ; 
 but anything more serious was so completely 
 and ludicrously out of the question that 
 it never crossed her mind. She wondered 
 contemptuously how long it might be before 
 father or mother realized that he was even so 
 VOL. I. 15
 
 226 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 presumptuous as to admire, and before Joan 
 received the admonition which would promptly 
 follow. She did not blame Basil ; she kept her 
 whole blame and mockery for herself, and she 
 said nothing of her thoughts even to Nan. 
 
 On the Sunday she learnt more. 
 
 She went with her cousins to the Park. 
 Lady Medhurst asked her to do so, feeling, ii 
 the truth must be told, a little need of sup- 
 port in the unaccustomed scene. The mother 
 read the change in her child more clearly 
 than the father, and it amazed her — it even a 
 little alarmed her. But she could not moot 
 the subject to her husband, for he was 
 serenely confident in the necessary results of 
 his system. 
 
 Lancaster came, and Elizabeth began to 
 open her eyes. Joan was bubbling over with 
 triumph. She got hold of Elizabeth as they 
 walked across the Park. 
 
 * Isn't it fun ? Isn't it amusing ? I don't 
 believe he has ever been here before.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 227 
 
 * Nonsense,' said Elizabeth sharply. ' Do 
 you suppose a chit of a child like you knows 
 what he has or hasn't done ?' 
 
 ' Yes, very well,' said the girl saucily. 
 
 ' Upon my word, Joan, you are cominor 
 on. When first you appeared on the scene 
 I thought you were a nice quiet little 
 eirl.' 
 
 ' Ah, that was a long time ago. But it is 
 quite true that Sir Henry has never done 
 anything so frivolous before, and he would 
 not have come now if ' 
 
 ' If what ?' 
 
 ' If I had not asked him.' 
 
 ' Don't flatter yourself,' said Elizabeth. 
 ' If any lady had asked him, he could 
 scarcely have refused ; but most of us would 
 have had better taste. What made you 
 think of anything so inappropriate ?' 
 
 ' Because they said he wouldn't come.' 
 
 ' They ? Who are they .>' 
 
 ' Mr. Gray,' said Joan unhesitatingly. 
 
 5"
 
 228 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Elizabeth was silent for a moment, then 
 she said : 
 
 ' So this was a sort of trial of strength on 
 your part ?' 
 
 The girl began to laugh. 
 
 * Well, you see, I won my day.' 
 
 She had raised her voice a little, and Lan- 
 caster, glad of the interruption, looked round. 
 
 ' What day did you win ?' he asked. 
 
 Joan changed colour and looked frightened 
 again. 
 
 ' What was it, Joan ?' demanded her 
 mother. 
 
 * Never mind,' said Lancaster quickly. ' I 
 had no business to ask.' But he contrived to 
 fall back by her side. 
 
 He went through his part, on the whole, 
 very well, so well that Elizabeth, with a start 
 of dismay, began to realize what had brought 
 him there. A great deal more flashed upon 
 her when once the idea presented itself, and 
 many small actions of his which had seemed
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 surprising found their explanation. Her 
 heart sani<. Millicent had never breathed a 
 word in her ear, but long ago she had read 
 Millicent's secret — she liked, she loved this 
 man, of that she was convinced ; and now, 
 that a girl's face, a dozen days, should v/reck 
 it all ! 
 
 ' If he really likes Joan, he will marry her,' 
 Elizabeth decided. ' Medhurst would be 
 charmed with the marriage, and she, poor 
 foolish little thinsf, she could no more resist 
 than a butterfly.' 
 
 Half a dozen others soon joined them, and 
 among the half-dozen Basil Gray. He caught 
 his opportunity to whisper : 
 
 ' Won, fairly won, and nobody but you 
 could have done it. What is your size .'* 
 Sixes ?' 
 
 ' Oh no,' cried the girl, glancing round in 
 alarm. 
 
 ' No ? Yes, indeed. They are yours in' 
 the most absolute and unquestionable manner.'
 
 i^o THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' No, no, you mustn't — I daren't. Papa — 
 papa would be so angry !' 
 
 ' Angry ! — with you /' 
 
 She made a hurried si<^n to him to be 
 silent, 
 
 Elizabeth, watching with a sore and hurt 
 heart, felt as if Joan's advent had brought 
 nothing but pain. She did not like her, 
 perhaps could not under any circumstances 
 have liked her ; for Basil she knew a pretty 
 face was enough, but Sir Henry, was he no 
 wiser than his cousin ? And Millicent — poor 
 Millicent! Once she made an effort, 
 
 ' I heard from Millicent yesterday, Sir 
 Henry,' she said. 
 
 ' And was she better— stronger ?' 
 
 ' She did not say.' 
 
 ' She is not one to talk of herself,' he said, 
 with cordial appreciation. ' When she went 
 away she looked as if she wanted change of 
 air, and I hope she will not be hurrying up 
 from Dennincrham.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 231 
 
 ■ But we want her back,' said Elizabeth 
 impulsively. 
 
 ' Oh, I can understand that you want her,' 
 he said carelessly. 
 
 He did his best to monopolize Joan, and to 
 others he appeared to have succeeded ; Lady 
 Medhurst, indeed, was in an extremely bliss- 
 ful condition. But in Basil Gray he had an 
 alert rival, one who could contrive to make 
 all his words interesting, take advantage of 
 every point, establish small confidences, send 
 ridicule into the enemy's camp, be audacious, 
 amusing, and who, moreover, was a born 
 Batterer. Lancaster was too downright, too 
 honest, too unsuspicious for such warfare ; 
 he did not so much as discover that it was 
 going on ; and as for supposing that Joan 
 had part in it, such an idea could not have 
 found entrance into his brain. 
 
 Gray had something else which Lancaster 
 had not — leisure. Wherever she went that 
 week, there, somehow or other, was Basil
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Gray. Th*:^)' were on excellent confidential 
 terms with each other. He contrived very 
 cleverly not to excite Lord Medhurst's alarm, 
 and the reflection that he was Lancaster's 
 cousin gave a certain stately approval to that 
 gentleman's treatment of him. Mrs. Ashton 
 was taken up with Constance and her coming 
 wedding, and went nowhere. Perhaps if Joan 
 had possessed any girl friend to whom she 
 could talk and pour out her heart, she would 
 not have turned to Basil ; but there was no 
 one, and she had a hundred little confidences, 
 jokes, perplexities, indignities, which cried 
 out to be repeated to someone. Mr. Gray 
 was delightfully sympathetic and understand- 
 ing ; he might not have been a day older than 
 she was herself ; he was an excellent mimic, 
 and he retailed delightful remarks about her- 
 self in a tone which added cream to the sugar. 
 One day he came upon her in a picture- 
 gallery. Joan held the catalogue, and Lord 
 Medhurst was going heavily and con-
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 233 
 
 scientiously through the entire exhibition, 
 insisting upon his daughter reading each 
 name aloud. 
 
 ' Oh,' said Gray, shaking hands, ' I'm par- 
 ticularly glad to have met you to-day, Lord 
 Medhurst. Wrexham is here — you know 
 Wrexham ? he hunts up all the old pictures 
 in the country — and the other day he was 
 speaking of your Gainsboroughs, and wish- 
 ing he could get a sight of them. May I 
 bring him up ? He's a capital man for this 
 sort of thing, too.' 
 
 To Wrexham he rushed and said : 
 
 ' Come along, and I'll introduce you to 
 Lord Medhurst. Talk to him a lot about 
 the pictures here, and butter him up a bit, 
 and you'll get the Gainsboroughs for your 
 next show. Well ?' he was saying to Joan 
 five minutes afterwards. 
 
 ' Oh, I am more glad than I can tell 
 you ! I was so tired of those horrid pictures. 
 And yesterday, where do you think I was
 
 234 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 obliged to go ? To a lecture — a dreadful 
 lecture.' 
 
 Basil tlung back his head and laughed, 
 and Joan laughed too. 
 
 ' By Jove ! it is a shame. I can't think 
 how you stand it as well as you do. What 
 do you do ? Go to sleep ?' 
 
 ' No, I thought all about that last dance 
 we had. And I never heard one word of 
 what the stupid man was saying. 
 
 ' That was fulfilling your mission with a 
 vengeance !' 
 
 ' Well, papa ought not to take me to those 
 places.' 
 
 ' Who are the victims ? That sort of thing 
 might be an entertaining study, just for once. 
 Is everyone as old as the hills ?' 
 
 ' Oh, there were some dowdy young — 
 persons,' said the young girl with scorn; 
 ' and they took notes.' 
 
 This made them both laugh again. 
 
 ' Why, it's worse than this,' said Basil.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 235 
 
 ' It must spoil the whole season for 3'ou, 
 having to go to such things. Why do you 
 do it ?' 
 
 ' How can I help it ?' 
 
 ' Oh, you can help it/ he said, letting his 
 voice drop. ' You've got the remedy in your 
 own hands.' As she looked at him, he went 
 on in a whisper: ' You can marry.' 
 
 Joan looked down. 
 
 ' Perhaps,' she said slowly, ' it might be as 
 bad then.' 
 
 ' Perhaps. But that will be your own 
 fault. If you choose rightly, you need have 
 no fear. I wish I might be the one to teach 
 you what your lot would be like.' 
 
 ' What r" she asked after a moment's 
 hesitation. 
 
 ' It should be as beautiful as you are your- 
 self.' His voice was breathlessly eager. 
 ' May I try ?' 
 
 • Joan ' — it was Lord Medhurst's voice — 
 ' can you renicmber the precise date of the
 
 236 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 painting- of the later Gainsborough ? My 
 daughter, Mr. Wrexham, is by some persons 
 considered to bear a certain resemblance to 
 her ancestress.' 
 
 ' I wish we had Gainsborough alive now, 
 my lord, to paint the young lady,' said Mr. 
 Wrexham, in a tone of unmistakable ad- 
 miration. 
 
 Joan immediately gave him a look and 
 a little smile which he found charming. Gray 
 was not sure how seriouslv she took his 
 words ; but at any rate she was not disturbed 
 by them, and for all the effect they produced 
 upon her she mii^ht have been hearing their 
 like every day for the last month. 
 
 ' She'll be a tremendously cool hand by- 
 and-by,' said Gray to himself. 'And this is 
 the girl whom they call shy !' 
 
 He was not sorry himself for the interrup- 
 tion ; perhaps, on the whole, did not par- 
 ticularly care to carry things to their farthest 
 point. If he could get Joan's promise he
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 237 
 
 would also make her engage for a while to 
 be secret, and he had said enough to estab- 
 lish a sort of relation between them. ' Made 
 her think of me,' he said to himself with 
 satisfaction. 
 
 But in truth Joan had already been 
 thinking, and she had not by any means 
 made up her mind. She took care to talk 
 to Mr. Wrexham, and to another gentleman 
 who presently joined them. Mr. Wrexham 
 made the prettiest speeches, and the pictures 
 grew interesting. 
 
 ' The portraits are not up to the average 
 this year, but I don't know whether that 
 is altogether the fault of the painters,' he 
 said. ' I hope you are going to inspire 
 them.' 
 
 ' 1 !' said the young girl, smiling. 
 
 ' I have been talking about it to Lord 
 Medhurst, and we must keep him up to 
 it. I know exactly who will be the right 
 man for your style ; and it should be a very
 
 238 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 right man indeed,' he added significantly, 
 with a nod which Joan fully understood, 
 * to do justice to his sitter.' 
 
 That afternoon Joan ran in to the Ash tons' 
 at tea-time. Their room always had the 
 effect of being full ; many tables and chairs 
 stood about ; and the sisters were tall, and 
 took up a good deal of room. Mr. Maxwell 
 was there, and Constance moved about with 
 an aspect of happy importance, which was 
 the least bit in the world irritating. Mrs. 
 Ashton, when Joan came in, kissed her, and 
 turned to a lady who was sitting by her side, 
 and who looked very small among the larger 
 people. 
 
 ' This is Joan Medhurst,' she said. ' Sit 
 down here, my dear, and make friends with 
 a special friend of Elizabeth's — Miss Gray. 
 I must go and find Susie.' 
 
 Joan promptly sat down. 
 
 * I know Mr. Gray,' she said eagerly. 
 
 * Yes,' said Mary, with a little painful
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 239 
 
 hesitation ; ' Basil told us of you. He came 
 down yesterday.' 
 
 ' I saw him to-day,' said the girl, smiling, 
 * at a picture-gallery. We see him very 
 often. How well he dances!' 
 
 ' Does he ? I don't know. I have never 
 seen him dance.' 
 
 ' That seems so odd !' 
 
 ' He has been very little with us,' Mary 
 went on in her low voice. She hesitated 
 again, then she said more firmly : ' Perhaps 
 we all wish that he had less time for 
 dancing.' 
 
 ' Why ?' asked Joan, gazing at her. 
 
 ' He ought to be at work,' said Miss Gray, 
 looking down. 
 
 Mrs. Ashton came back at this moment, 
 and Constance with her, in great excitement. 
 
 ' Mary, Mary, come and look at the 
 diamond stars dear old Lady Maxwell has 
 sent! You never saw anything so lovely, and 
 Arthur says I must wear them on the day.
 
 240 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 I 7/(7^/ meant to keep to only pearls ; but 
 then, you know, I had not seen these 
 diamonds, and Arthur wishes it. Come 
 and see them, and say if you don't think 
 I had better change. Joan, won't you come, 
 too?' 
 
 But Joan had other intentions. 
 
 ' Miss Gray is not in the least like her 
 brother, Cousin Charlotte,' she began as the 
 others went off. 
 
 * Not in the least, fortunately,' said Mrs. 
 Ashton with some asperity. 
 
 The young girl glanced at her. ' Don't 
 you like him ?' 
 
 ' Oh, everybody likes him. Only, some- 
 how, one does not care to have him repeated.' 
 
 'You mean you don't approve of him.' 
 
 'Certainly I don't,' Mrs. Ashton returned 
 decidedly. ' He is very charming, very 
 delightful-^at one time we saw a great deal 
 of him — and abominably selfish. He only 
 thinks of his own pleasure; he would sacrifice
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 241 
 
 poor little Mary without hesitation. And 
 now that he is no longer so very young, and 
 has a dear little orirl of whom he ous^ht to 
 think, I have really no patience with him. I 
 will say that he has one shadow of excuse — 
 his mother always spoilt him shamefully. 
 She is coming here presently, I believe. 
 No, indeed, I don't approve of him.' 
 
 ' Is he rich ?' demanded Joan. 
 
 Mrs. Ashton looked at her in surprise. 
 She had been simply speaking out her own 
 opinions — she was very outspoken — without 
 any intention of delivering herself of a note 
 of warning. Joan Medhurst was seeing a 
 great many new people, and naturally con- 
 sidered them of importance. But there was 
 something in this question which took the 
 elder lady aback. She answered, however, 
 at once. 
 
 ' He is very poor. He has had money, 
 and has spent it recklessly ; debts have been 
 paid, appointments got for him, and all that 
 
 VOL. I. 16
 
 242 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 is done is like pouring water into a sieve. 
 It is most unsatisfactory.' 
 
 ' Yes,' said the girl reflectively, ' that is 
 very unsatisfactory.' 
 
 ' If only he would work, if only he would 
 put his shoulder to the wheel, if only he 
 would take his weight off poor Mary, one 
 would say something.' 
 
 ' Even then,' Joan went on in the same 
 tone, ' it would be a long time before he 
 reached any position.' 
 
 The remark was very simple, and Mrs. 
 Ashton laughed. 
 
 ' I am afraid a very, very long time,' she 
 replied emphatically. * Have you had any 
 tea, Joan ? I think Nan wants to ask you 
 some questions about your dress.' 
 
 And by the time she had said this she had 
 forgotten the strange little idea which had 
 dashed into her brain when the girl put her 
 brief question. She had had no suspicion. 
 Elizabeth, as we have seen, had kept her
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 243 
 
 discoveries to herself, and this was not one 
 which would have spontaneously reached any- 
 one. When she thoutjht of the conversation 
 afterwards she smiled at the girl's simplicity. 
 ' She knows so little about the world, and 
 it is so impossible for her to ask at home, 
 that naturally, poor child, she puts odd 
 questions. Imagine Basil Gray reaching a 
 position !' 
 
 Joan, when she joined the others, found a 
 discussion, as usual, going on. Constance, by 
 right of her Arthur and her position as bride- 
 elect, was disposed to lord it over the family, 
 and her sisters were not at all inclined to yield 
 to such a reversal of rights. 
 
 ' Unless papa's dressing-room is given up, 
 and thrown into the dining-room, I am quite 
 certain there won't be room to move/ she 
 was announcing loudly. ' Arthur says if he 
 were papa he is sure he wouldn't mind.' 
 
 ' Poor papa !' cried Elizabeth. ' Consider- 
 ing the discomfort he has lived in all this 
 
 16 — 2
 
 244 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 time, you might have a little consideration, 
 Constance.' 
 
 * The doors must be taken away, and 
 where could the sideboard go ?' said Susan 
 anxiously. 
 
 ' Oh, anywhere ! If the people are all 
 squeezed together at tea they will hate the 
 whole thing, won't they, Arthur? I can't 
 think how you don't all see it.' 
 
 ' You will be out of it, at any rate,' said 
 Nan idly. 
 
 This was not a personal affair, and she 
 left it to her sisters. 
 
 ' Mamma is the person to decide, and 
 mamma will not have it,' said Elizabeth with 
 determination. 
 
 * Not when you are all against it' — in a 
 tone of vexation. * But Arthur — Arthur 
 fully agrees with me.' Constance drew her- 
 self up ; not one of the others had an 
 Arthur to be unreservedly on her side. 
 Then she flew at Joan and kissed her.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 245 
 
 * Joan dear, your father and mother have 
 sent the most lovely ring — sapphires and dia- 
 monds. I am so glad they chose sapphires. 
 Fancy my not having said anything about 
 it when you first came in ! But there 
 are so many things to think about and 
 arrancre. We have been settlino^ on which 
 table Arthur's presents shall be laid out ; he 
 has such a number — he is so popular ' — in 
 a whisper. ' Don't you think this corner 
 will be the best light ? What do you say, 
 Mary .?' 
 
 But Mary was gone. Elizabeth had drawn 
 her away. 
 
 ' When Constance is in that self-con- 
 gratulatory mood, she is insupportable,' she 
 said with a laugh ; ' or if she is not, I am.' 
 Suddenly : ' Is Basil going to remain in 
 London ?' 
 
 His sister pressed her delicate hands 
 together. 
 
 ' So he says.'
 
 246 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' But it is madness. He oucrlit to work — 
 to try for something.' 
 
 ' He says he has more chance here.' 
 
 EHzabeth was silent. 
 
 * He is only amusing- himself,' she said at 
 length. * Do you know who is the last person ?' 
 
 ' Miss Medhurst,' said Mary softly ; ' I 
 have been trying to tell her what he is.' 
 
 ' Oh, Mary !' 
 
 Elizabeth's voice was full of pain. 
 
 ' I must,' said the other feverishly. ' Some- 
 one must. I cannot have it on my con- 
 science. I did not say enough.' 
 
 ' She would not understand. She is too 
 inexperienced. Besides, Medhurst would be 
 too watchful to allow things to go far — oh, 
 it's absurd !' 
 
 ' There is no one but me,' said Miss Gray, 
 looking up. ' Elizabeth, when I think what 
 pain he has made you suffer, I can't endure 
 to hear them speak as if a girl's heart were 
 nothing in the way.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 247 
 
 The other was staring straight before her ; 
 her eyes were softened — they might even 
 have had tears in them. 
 
 ' Poor Basil !' she said gently.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Joan did not spend half the night in reflection, 
 neither was her sleep in the least disturbed by 
 what she had heard of Mr. Basil Gray; 
 nevertheless, she thought it over carefully. 
 She liked him, she owned ; she felt that he 
 was the pleasantest, the most amusing person 
 of her acquaintance. He was the one she 
 looked forward chiefly to seeing at different 
 houses, the one for whom her eye sought 
 directly she arrived, and the one whom she 
 most missed if ill-fortune kept him away. 
 They never met but he had something 
 charming to sav, somethinfj which made her 
 eyes brighten and her cheek glow. When
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 249 
 
 her father was tiresome, his look, his whisper 
 — everything- expressed the most perfect, the 
 most sympathetic understanding. She owned 
 tliis with a sigh. When he had spoken to her 
 that morning, she had been conscious of a 
 thrill of pleasure unlike anything she had felt 
 before, and if only she had heard a different 
 tale this afternoon, how gladly would she have 
 thrown over Lancaster and any other lovers 
 who might present themselves. 
 
 But to be poor — to be really poor ! Joan 
 made a face of disgust at the idea, which did 
 not agree in the least with her blissful visions 
 of liberty and enjoyment. Were not these 
 what she meant to marry for ? And to live 
 in some poky little hole, to be unseen, unad- 
 mired — no, thank you ! that would indeed be 
 a descent from the clouds. She jumped up 
 from the chair before her looking-glass and 
 began to walk up and down the room, her 
 feet now and then breaking, as if spon- 
 taneously, into a little dancing movement.
 
 '■so THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 She made a charming picture at this moment, 
 still in her white evening frock, open enough 
 to show the soft roundness of the beautiful 
 neck ; her hair twisted lightly now at the top 
 of her head, instead of being plaited dis- 
 creetly in a smooth circle at the back, and 
 falling in little light uneven rings on her fore- 
 head. She was smiling with the pleasantness 
 of her thoughts, and suddenly stopped, laid 
 her hands on the back of her chair, and bent 
 forward to look at herself in the glass. The 
 smile deepened a little ; the eyes began to 
 dance. 
 
 ' To think that I did not know ! To think 
 that I made myself miserable with all papa 
 said, and dreaded this delightful, enchanting 
 life ! Only it might be so much better still ; 
 there are so many things he keeps me out of. 
 Ascot now ' — she frowned a little — ' if I were 
 married I should be there, of course.' 
 
 She began to imagine the dress she would 
 have worn, the nice remarks which would have
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 251 
 
 been repeated in her ears. How hard that 
 she should miss them all ! And how dread- 
 fully tiresome papa was about her frocks and 
 things I He would not see that a girl wanted 
 so many, if — if she was to look at all nice. 
 ' And I do like to look nice,' went on Joan, 
 after a little pause, during which her lovely 
 lips curved into a fuller smile. If she married 
 someone — someone, say, like Lancaster — she 
 was sure he would never stint or contradict 
 her. Why should he ? She was not unrea- 
 sonable ; she only wanted what other girls 
 had. Basil Gray would have flung his gifts 
 at her feet, would have walked hand-in-hand 
 with her along the primrose path — if he could. 
 Poor Basil — how handsome he had looked 
 that morning ! If he could — but he couldn't. 
 There was the rub. From what Mrs. Ashton 
 had said, it was very certain that he was as 
 poor as a church mouse ; and as for putting 
 her hand into his and walking away from that 
 new and charming state of existence into
 
 252 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 which she had just fluttered, why — it was 
 Hke asking a butterlly to become a grub once 
 more. No, no, Mr. Gray — that she could 
 not do. 
 
 Joan straightened herself and threw back 
 her head with the air of one who knows she 
 has worlds to conquer. It was as she had 
 said before — youth was so strong within her, 
 that she felt as if she wanted to be doine 
 everything and going everywhere. 
 
 ' Why shouldn't I .'^' cried the girl, stretching 
 out her arms and making as tragic an appeal 
 to the universe as if life and death and the 
 great mysteries were in her thoughts. ' There 
 is no harm in it, I only want to be happy. 
 He would be kind ; he wouldn't interfere or 
 worry ; and if he did, I could easily persuade 
 him — I know I could.' 
 
 There is something piteous in the fashion 
 in which the desire of a man's heart often 
 comes to him. He spends his strength in his 
 longings, in his plannings ; he marshals his
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 253 
 
 forces to carry the stronghold ; he holds his 
 breath in the eagerness of his hope ; he be- 
 lieves that his courage, his persistence, his 
 love, are the armed men which must force an 
 entrance and break down the door ; and lo ! 
 all the while they make no impression, until 
 some little imp of vanity or pique steps out 
 from within, draws back the lock, and, hey, 
 presto ! the gates are flung open, and in he 
 marches, litde knowing how small a part he 
 has played in the matter. The worst of it is 
 that — not knowing — he often gives himself 
 the air of a conqueror. 
 
 ' They all think that he will not marry — he 
 is supposed to care for nothing but position, is 
 he ? Well, they will see something different, 
 and I must say I shall enjoy their faces. 
 Poor Basil ! If I were to marry him, the 
 faces would tell quite a different story. And 
 papa and mamma, how surprised they will 
 be ! I suppose it never enters into their 
 heads to think it possible that Sir Henry
 
 254 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Lancaster — their great Sir Henry Lancaster 
 — can fall in love with poor me ? I see papa 
 thinks I am tremendously honoured whenever 
 he speaks to me. I believe he expects that 
 he will be Prime Minister one of these days. 
 I wonder what it would be like to be the wife 
 of a Prime Minister. I know one thine. I 
 know ril get something good — something 
 very good for poor Jem Fowler at the Ash- 
 bury post-office, and perhaps I needn't wait 
 till then — perhaps Sir Henry could get it now. 
 ril try.' She paused again, meditating, ' I 
 do wish he could dance. Come in, Maria.' 
 
 ' My lady hopes, Miss Joan, that you will 
 not be late to-nio-ht.' 
 
 Time was when this little exhortation would 
 have produced its due effect, but now Joan 
 did not trouble herself about it. 
 
 ' Maria, I must try on that dress you are 
 making. Fly and get it !' 
 
 Maria expostulated that my lady would 
 wish herself to see it.
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 255 
 
 ' She shall, she shall ; but not till I have 
 tried it. I don't believe I shall be able to 
 stand that stupid way of draping the skirt. 
 We must alter it, and then mamma is sure to 
 like it. Perhaps she won't even notice the 
 difference.' 
 
 Very different times were these for Maria 
 from the old days at Ashbury, when the diffi- 
 culty had been to induce Miss Joan to stand 
 still and endure the fitting of some very 
 simple garment. Now it was all the other 
 way. Now it was Joan who was as sharp as 
 a needle in finding out a wrinkle where 
 wrinkle should not be, who must have this 
 fold altered and that plait removed, until 
 Maria was driven to her wits' end. But when 
 it came to reducing the sleeve, Maria struck 
 altogether. 
 
 ' I can't do that, Miss Joan; I can't indeed. 
 My lady would be that displeased. You 
 know how particular she is.' 
 
 ' Oh, but you must, Maria. Everyone has
 
 256 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 it SO, and you can't conceive how poky I 
 feel. Just a little bit, you know — she will 
 never notice it. Give mc the scissors. There, 
 that's better.' 
 
 ' Oh, Miss Joan, stop, stop ! Whatever 
 will my lady say ? Why, you've cut the stuff 
 right up ! I can never put it right again !' 
 
 * It's better. It's not quite enough, but 
 it's better. Never mind mamma,' said the 
 young lady calmly. 
 
 Not mind Lady Medhurst ! Was this the 
 Joan of a month ago who spoke? Not mind ! 
 No transformation had befallen Maria, and 
 bewilderment, utter bewilderment, came over 
 her. 
 
 ' Take off those stupid little ribbons/ went 
 on her young mistress ; ' they make me feel a 
 hundred years old. Flowers might do there, 
 but certainly not ribbons.' 
 
 'My lady ' began Maria once more, but 
 
 Joan cut her short. 
 
 ' Take them off, please, and don't let me
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 257 
 
 see them again. Now, are you sure there is 
 no wrinkle — not the tiniest suspicion of a 
 wrinkle at the back ? If there is, you know, 
 Maria, I shall never forgive you. Well, then, 
 I will take it off; but if there is anything you 
 want to do to make sure of the fit, do it while 
 you have the chance.' 
 
 There was nothing, Maria felt indeed as 
 if the whole world were upside down. 
 
 ' Well,' she said at last, ' you as never 
 would give me time to put in a pin ! I don't 
 know, Miss Joan, whatever has come to 
 you.' 
 
 * Oh, several things !' said the young girl, 
 getting out of her dress with a jump. 
 
 VOL. I. 17
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Lancaster was not going to let Basil escape 
 without making him clearly understand what 
 he thouQfht of him ; and fortune delivered 
 him into his hands one afternoon outside his 
 club. 
 
 ' Ah,' he said, ' you're the very man I 
 wanted to have a word with. I'll come in 
 if I may.' 
 
 There was no getting out of it, even for 
 one so fertile in expedients as Basil. He 
 resolved to take the bull by the horns. 
 
 ' Yes, come in,' he said. ' I've tried to 
 look you up once or twice, but you're awfully 
 hard to catch.'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 259 
 
 ' I don't suppose you were particularly 
 anxious,' returned Lancaster grimly, * A 
 pretty trick you've played us.' 
 
 ' Ah,' returned his cousin, with a mis- 
 chievous look on his face, ' you were all 
 uncommonly well pleased, weren't you ? 
 Thought youVl got me out there for life. 
 But, look here, Henry, you don't know what 
 an awful banishment it war. Blacks all round 
 one — nothing else; and I'm ready to own 
 that for some reason or other — I dare say it 
 shows a contemptible want of breadth — I 
 can't stomach a black chap. The black 
 women are worse, if possible. I swear those 
 heads of theirs used to give me a sort of 
 creepy feeling, which made it impossible for 
 me to do them justice. Whenever I got any 
 case to settle, I gave it dead against them, 
 whatever the rights of it. You ought to be 
 precious glad to see me back, let me tell you, 
 for there'd have been hot- water if I'd stayed, 
 and as it was, I candidly own I don't think 
 
 17—2
 
 26o THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 I've left any prejudice for the old country 
 behind me.' 
 
 Basil said all this with the easiest grace 
 in the world, Ivincr back in his chair and 
 liL;hting a cigarette. His cousin eyed him 
 impatiently. 
 
 ' And so, because of a squeamish fancy, 
 you kick over your one chance of an honest 
 livelihood,' he said shortly. 
 
 Basil laughed. 
 
 * Come, come, I demur. I'm not in the 
 awful presence of a Bow Street beak. Honest 
 livelihood ! Anybody who heard that would 
 imagine that I had been qualifying for a 
 highwayman, at least.' 
 
 ' There are more ways than that of 
 livme 
 
 ft 
 
 Lancaster jerked himself up. Basil, with 
 an unchanged face, suggested : 
 
 ' By one's wits ?' 
 
 * No, Upon other people. What have 
 you got of your own ?'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 261 
 
 ' Not much, when you come to think of it. 
 It really is ridiculously little.' 
 
 * And so you fall back upon your mother's 
 and sister's pittance ! It seems to me that 
 a man might do most things and yet avoid 
 that,' said Lancaster in a tone which was 
 righteously stern. ' You must know that at 
 the best Mary has a hard time in making 
 two ends meet — how she does it, I can't 
 conceive, but she does : she lives hardly 
 herself, and scrapes together all she can for 
 my aunt and your child.' 
 
 ' Yes, she's a dear good soul,' said Basil 
 lightly. ' But she couldn't spend on herself, 
 however much she tried. It isn't in her.' 
 
 ' That's neither here nor there ; you take 
 care she hasn't the chance,' said his cousin. 
 He spoke sharply, yet he was conscious 
 of keeping back so much more than he 
 said, that his self-restraint surprised himself. 
 ' What are you going to do ?' 
 ' What do you advise; ?'
 
 262 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' I ? I advise nothing. I've done with 
 my advice.' 
 
 ' I think on the whole you're right,' said 
 Basil thoughtfully. ' It's like rolling a stone 
 uphill ; as often as not it comes back on one's 
 own head. The last piece of advice I be- 
 stowed was on a Zulu. I looked in the 
 opposite direction and ' 
 
 ' That'll do,' interrupted Lancaster. 'Upon 
 my soul, Basil, I feel infernally like looking 
 in the opposite direction at this moment.' 
 
 ' Do/ retorted the other. ' I shan't mind.' 
 But the next minute he went on : ' I never 
 knew before how well obligations are adapted 
 to take the place of heels. You've got me 
 under yours, and so you say what you like.' 
 
 His cousin stared. 
 
 ' Oh, that! I'd forgotten it. It was Mary 
 I had in my mind.' 
 
 Basil shrugged his shoulders, but he had 
 got back his easy good-temper. 
 
 ' Mary ought to be very much obliged to
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 263 
 
 you ; I have no doubt she is. Mary never 
 fails in her duties. I wish I had the same 
 good conscience. However — we can't gather 
 up spilt milk, and I don't at present see any- 
 thing more substantial waiting for me to pick 
 up. My writing wouldn't do for a clerk. 
 1 tell you what, I think I'll undertake trom- 
 bone in an orchestra. Have you any interest 
 in that line ? 1 really think I shouldn't 
 dislike it.' 
 
 Lancaster looked at him. 
 
 ' I believe that's your one test.' 
 
 ' Liking or disliking ? It has a good deal 
 to do with one's comfort, hasn't it ?' 
 
 ' Does it ever strike you that at least you 
 might give up something ? This club, for 
 instance ?' 
 
 ' My dear fellow, I'd rather go without my 
 dinner.' 
 
 * Well, //la^ would be a step.' The next 
 moment Lancaster got up. ' I'm a fool to 
 talk to you. You must go your own way.'
 
 264 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' You'd like a good swear, old fellow, now 
 wouldn't you ?' said Basil with a laugh. ' I'm 
 not your sort — not the stuff out of which 
 Cabinet Ministers are hewn. It's an awful 
 bore for you to have such a cousin, instead 
 of a good steady-going, hard-headed young 
 fellow whom you might have pulled up the 
 ladder after you — a real credit to his family. 
 It's a pity. Mary's a true Lancaster, and 
 Mary's no good. But there's no knowing. 
 Perhaps I shall astonish you yet.' 
 
 ' Scarcely.' 
 
 •Oh, I'm ingenious; I don't despair. I 
 may tumble into something before I fall back 
 upon the trombone.' 
 
 He began to play upon an Imaginary 
 instrument. 
 
 ' What do you mean ?' asked Lancaster, 
 struck with a certain significance in his 
 tone. 
 
 'Ah, I can't tell you just yet. It doesn't 
 do to proclaim one's possible future by the
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 265 
 
 town-crier. Wait, and you'll see — perhaps. 
 Mind, I only say perhaps.' 
 
 His manner said more, and Lancaster Wcis 
 puzzled. The next moment he dismissed it 
 from his mind ; Basil was too inconse- 
 quent for his idle speeches to be regarded 
 seriously. 
 
 * I wish you'd had something more satis- 
 factory to suggest,' he said ; 'as you haven't, 
 there's no use in my staying. Only remem- 
 ber that I shall use all my influence with 
 Mary to keep them from impoverishing them- 
 selves on your behalf. That's all I can 
 do.' 
 
 ' Poor old Mary !' replied Basil, smiling. 
 ' I expect she's awfully hard up sometimes. 
 She doesn't take it as quietly as I do.' 
 
 Lancaster looked at him. Where was the 
 use of choosing scathing words, of trying to 
 pierce this leathery armour of invulnerable 
 good-temper ? He was not a particularly 
 good-tempered man himself, and he could
 
 266 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 never avoid yielding a certain admiration to 
 the quality. But there were occasions — and 
 this was one of them — when it provoked him 
 more than anything else. 
 
 Nobody knew this better than Basil, who 
 was quick enough in reading other people's 
 moods. He stood at the window and watched 
 his cousin going down the steps and along 
 Pall Mall, with real amusement. 
 
 ' Perhaps,' he repeated. 'And if I'm not 
 mistaken, that'll be a queer sort of a per- 
 haps for you, old fellow. To think of his 
 being hit, and by a girl like Joan Medhurst ! 
 It would be a kindness to him to keep him 
 from marrying her, for he'd never understand 
 her, and then a pretty row there'd be ! He 
 should marry a good steady prosaic girl, such 
 as Mary. By Jove, I wonder I never thought 
 of it before. Mary would be the very wife 
 for him.' 
 
 He thrust his hands into his pockets and 
 laughed gaily. He had no feeling of resent-
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 267 
 
 ment against Lancaster, in spite of the hard 
 things his cousin had said ; no desire to sup- 
 plant him, though he allowed there might be 
 some fun in the process. Simply, if inclina- 
 tion led him to make love to a girl, he would 
 not have abstained had his dearest friend stood 
 between her and him. That was all. 
 
 And he was taken by Joan. He sym- 
 pathized with her in her struggle for liberty. 
 He was a connoisseur in beauty, and her 
 beauty was remarkable. He had not thought 
 much about marrying again until his mother 
 put it into his head, but consideration led him 
 to ao;ree with her that it would be the most 
 direct way out of his difficulties ; and his 
 former attempt had been so easily managed 
 that he was not much troubled by fear of 
 failure. Indeed, if he failed, he only re- 
 mained where he was. 
 
 As yet he had not concerned himself about 
 Joan's fortune, having been content to swing 
 lazily along with the tide. Nothing more
 
 268 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 than impulse had carried him so far as he had 
 gone. He did not res^ret it, because he 
 argued that it was useless to trouble himself 
 about rocks ahead until he had made sure 
 that he must encounter them. First win 
 Joan — the pleasantest part of the business — 
 afterwards consider some way of coming over 
 Lord Medhurst. 
 
 There would be no such luck as in his first 
 marriage, absolute control of the fortune. 
 That — he need not waste his hopes by con- 
 sidering. 
 
 ' After all, perhaps as well,' he moralized. 
 ' Not so pleasant, but more lasting.' 
 
 He half wished now that the last fortune 
 had been tied up. And Lord Medhurst cer- 
 tainly must have some interest, could get him 
 something — something in more agreeable 
 society than Zulus. Oh, he had no fears — ■ 
 Basil never had any fears ; never, as he said, 
 allowed himself to be worried. The vaguer 
 his prospects, the more brilliantly he might
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 269 
 
 lay on his tints, unchecked by that horrible 
 bondacre to facts which is so relentless for 
 sensible people. ■ ■ 
 
 His future had never yet suffered from lack 
 of colour. 
 
 He looked at his watch. Time to be 
 thinking about making his way to a garden- 
 party at Fulham, where he knew he should 
 meet Joan, and where he thought he might 
 put the finishing touch to his conquest. 
 Women were all alike. There was a certain 
 monotony in the process of winning their 
 hearts — a look took you so far, a word so 
 much farther, and Basil smiled as he re- 
 flected that, after all, a handsome face was 
 something of a fortune in itself, the sort of 
 fortune that Lancaster could not be expected 
 to understand, yet that might be found to 
 weiofh down more solid advantages. To an 
 easy-going, irresponsible nature like his, it 
 really seemed a much more valuable posses- 
 sion than such trilling qualities as integrity
 
 170 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 and an honourable name, and he thought 
 of his cousin with a certain mild compassion, 
 as a poor devil who had many things to 
 struggle against. 
 
 As he stood on the steps of the club he 
 hesitated. The day was fine, though cloudy, 
 and a brisk breeze was blowing. Should 
 he walk across the Park and go down by 
 train ? But the sight of a well-appointed 
 hansom passing inquiringly by quickly 
 decided him. It was absurd. He would 
 have some distance to walk at the other 
 end. 
 
 He signalled to the hansom, jumped 
 in, and felt as if the hesitation in itself had 
 amounted to an economical action. 
 
 Joan, meanwhile, was driving down with 
 Lady Medhurst and Elizabeth Ashton. 
 Elizabeth was conscious of her own folly, 
 for whenever she saw Basil the pain seemed 
 greater than she could bear, yet she could 
 no more keep away from him than a bit
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 271 
 
 of iron can avoid its masinet. She looked 
 
 at Joan half with anger, half with pity ; it 
 
 was natural enough that she should be 
 
 deceived ; how was the child to know that a 
 
 man could throw so much feeling into his 
 
 eyes wdien the feeling did not exist, or was 
 
 at best no more than a sham ? Yet, thought 
 
 Elizabeth, she was to blame. She was a 
 
 little eoose to listen so readilv ; she should 
 
 have asked advice. More than all, she 
 
 should not have shown her interest with 
 
 such astonishing simplicity as was proved 
 
 by her questions of Mrs. Ashton. 
 
 The girl herself was a little thoughtful. 
 She was not as yet used to such a decision 
 as was thrust upon her, and, indeed,, was 
 hoping that she might somehow slip out of 
 it. Yet it pleased her to imagine that Basil 
 would not be able to endure the uncertainty, 
 that he had been counting the hours and 
 minutes with feverish impatience, and had 
 no other care in the world but to know
 
 272 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 what her answer might be. The gravity 
 in her face vanished as they drove up to 
 the door and she saw the throng- of 
 carriages. 
 
 The hostess was popular, and, to use a 
 comprehensive expression, everybody was 
 there. Even the rooms were crowded, 
 though for the most part the crowd only 
 passed through them on their way to the 
 garden, where, under the shadow of great 
 trees, the fine smooth turf stretched down 
 towards a silver-gray river. With every 
 minute the day brightened ; tender blue 
 patches of sky were revealed as the luminous 
 clouds were brushed away by the force of 
 an eager wind. For up there, and on wide 
 undefended places — on the sea for instance, 
 towards which the silver-gray river was 
 hurrying — the wind was having a joyous 
 time of it, and carrying things with a high 
 hand. But here, in the sheltered garden, 
 little more was felt than a sort of exhilara-
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 273 
 
 tion, which people were more ready to put 
 down to the bursts of warm sunshine than 
 to the more bracing influence of the wind. 
 The garden was just now in its fullest beauty ; 
 roses were growing in delightful abundance, 
 and skilfully grouped in all manner of un- 
 expected places ; and the air was delicious 
 with the fine fresh fragrance of the noisettes. 
 The tea was in the house, but on low tables 
 all about the garden were piles of strawberries 
 and tall white mugs of cream. For those 
 who cared to go on the river there were boats 
 waiting, and nothing could have been more 
 gay, more charming, than the scene. 
 
 Joan was quickly the centre of a group. 
 
 ' Not bad, is it ?' said Lord Islington, 
 allowing a little approval to be manifest in 
 his voice. 
 
 * Even his look drawls,' thought Joan, 
 glancing at him. ' I wonder how he 
 manages to make it all match.' 
 
 * Very far from being bad now,' said 
 VOL. I. 18
 
 274 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 Captain Burgess, with a slight bow towards 
 Miss Medhurst, ' whatever it may have been 
 ten minutes aofo.' 
 
 She had not yet learnt — being really so 
 young and inexperienced still — how to 
 answer a compliment with the necessary 
 indifference. It invariably pleased her, and 
 seemed real — something to be implicitly 
 believed in. She smiled now at Captain 
 Burgess. 
 
 ' Will somebody be so kind,' she said, ' as 
 to bring me some strawberries ? And if 
 somebody else could find a chair, things 
 would be almost as pleasant as it is possible 
 for them to be.' 
 
 ' Why not quite ?' said Captain Burgess, 
 who kept his place while the others went off 
 on these quests. 
 
 ' Oh, nothing is quite, except a dance. 
 Don't you think that dancing is nicer than 
 anything else in the world ?' 
 
 ' Well, I wasn't prepared to go those
 
 THE COUXTRY COUSIN 275 
 
 lengths. But you — that's one thing I admire 
 in you, Miss Medhurst, you do seem to 
 enjoy everything so awfully !' 
 
 'Yes, I do — I really do! It's the sur- 
 prise, I think. You know when I first came 
 up I was so frightened ' 
 
 ' Not really ?' 
 
 'Yes, really' — taking the strawberries 
 from Lord Islington — * frightened out of 
 my wits. And I thought I should never 
 be able to endure Sfohi^ out.' 
 
 ' Oh, I say ! Well, you soon got over it,' 
 said Lord Islington. 
 
 ' Luckily for us.' 
 
 'Very soon,' said Joan radiantly; 'very 
 soon indeed.' 
 
 ' And you think it a nice sort of world i*' 
 
 ' A delightful world '—with emphasis. 
 
 'Joan,' said her mother's voice, ' I should 
 like you to come with me and be introduced 
 to Lady Netley.' 
 
 ' Mamma — my strawberries !' 
 
 18—2
 
 276 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 * Finish them, then, my dear, as quickly as 
 you can, and I will wait.' 
 
 But to eat strawberries with a vicrilant 
 
 O 
 
 mother looking on is a very different thing 
 from enjoying them slowly with an accom- 
 paniment of admiring looks and speeches, 
 and Joan soon relinquished her plate, and 
 followed Lady Medhurst unwillingly across 
 the grass to where Lady Netley, a very aged 
 and a very shrewd old lady, sat, and held 
 a sort of court. Elizabeth Ashton was 
 already there. 
 
 * So this is the new beauty,' said Lady 
 Netley, looking at her with not unkindly 
 eyes. 
 
 Lady Medhurst hastened to interpose. 
 
 ' You will frighten Joan,' she said. ' She 
 has no pretensions to fill such an unenviable 
 position.' 
 
 * Oh yes, she has,' returned the old lady. 
 * She knows all about it, and fifty people 
 have told her the same thing already. You
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 277 
 
 and Medhurst will never be able to keep 
 it from her, and 1 advise you all to make the 
 best of it. You're very pretty, my dear, and 
 I hope you'll do your face justice. Mind, 
 vou needn't be a fool because vou're a 
 beauty, though there's no doubt that a good 
 many beauties are fools.' 
 
 The young girl looked down, smiling. 
 When she ventured to raise her eyes she 
 saw that Basil Gray was one of the group. 
 As soon as he could he joined her. 
 
 ' You got through your ordeal splendidly,' 
 he whispered ; ' but let me tell you that old 
 cat doesn't often favour her victims with such 
 sugary treatment. I felt for you when I 
 saw you in her clutches.' 
 
 ' Oh, I didn't much mind,' said Joan 
 calmly. 
 
 ' I dare say not,' said Gray, with an amused 
 look at her. ' But now you've had your 
 audience, and nothing more will come of it. 
 Stroll down to the river with me.'
 
 278 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 * I can't — I can't !' returned the girl in a 
 hurried undertone. ' Manima would not 
 like it.' 
 
 ' Oh, I'll make it straight. I'll get a 
 chaperon.' He went up to Miss Ashton : 
 ' Elizabeth, haven't you had enough of this ? 
 Come and have a look at the river.' 
 
 Foolish, foolish Elizabeth ! — no one know- 
 ing better than herself how foolish. Yet it 
 was so sweet to hear his voice in her ear, and 
 he had come to her from Joan: he wanted ^er. 
 She hesitated ; she looked in his face with a 
 look which, if he had but understood it, was 
 tender, pathetic, forgiving ; she had one 
 minute's happiness before she turned silently 
 to go with him, before she heard him saying: 
 
 ' Here are two very nice people going down 
 to the river. Miss MedhursL ; don't you think 
 you would like to go with them ?' 
 
 ' Yes, go, my dear,' said Lady Medhurst, 
 seeincr Elizabeth, She was sure her husband 
 would strongly disapprove of Lady Netley's
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 279 
 
 remarks to Joan. And then Elizabeth saw- 
 why she had been asked. 
 
 It had not lasted long — her happiness. 
 It had been just one of those bright evan- 
 escent bubbles which in a moment melt 
 into air. He wanted her — yes. But only 
 to give him the chance of talking to an- 
 other woman, not for her own sake, not 
 for even so much as a remembered ten- 
 derness. For if he had remembered he 
 could hardly, she thought, have done this. 
 But he showed no signs of embarrassment, 
 walking cheerfully on, with now and then a 
 look at Joan, which she interpreted to mean 
 that he was wishing for the possibility of say- 
 inof some words to her alone. Elizabeth's 
 heart swelled. If she could she would have 
 abruptly quitted them, but that would have 
 been too evident a betrayal of her own feel- 
 ings, and her aim was to prevent Basil from 
 ever knowing how sharply he had wounded 
 her. She could not, however, talk with any
 
 28o THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 freedom ; her answers were curt, and she 
 looked about with longing for some chance of 
 separating herself from her companions. Pre- 
 sently it came. They met a group coming up 
 from the river, and one of the number was a 
 lady whom Elizabeth knew. She stopped to 
 speak to her, while Basil and Joan strolled 
 on, not unwillingly, and Elizabeth made a 
 laughing excuse about the wind, and turned 
 towards the house. 
 
 ' At last !' cried Basil, orlancino^ round. ' T 
 beean to think I should never have a word 
 with you.' 
 
 ' But I must go back, too,' said the young 
 girl, stopping, ' to mamma.' 
 
 ' No, no ; indeed you will not be so cruel. 
 The strictest mother cannot think you to 
 blame if your chaperon runs away from you. 
 Besides, we shall find her again — we shall join 
 somebody. And think of what my life has 
 been, of what I have suffered, since I saw 
 you. You would not condemn me to a longer
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 281 
 
 torture. Joan, you are going to end it all, 
 are you not ? You are going to be merciful ?' 
 
 He dared not attempt to take her hand, 
 because people were constantly appearing and 
 disappearing between the trees ; but he bent 
 his head, and looked at her with eyes which 
 again gave her that delightful thrill, and he 
 threw the more expression into his voice, 
 because the more he looked the more he felt 
 that she was enchantingly pretty. It did not 
 discourage him that she shook her head. 
 
 * I dare say you think me very presump- 
 tuous,' he went on, pouring out his words 
 quickly ; ' so I am, so would be anybody who 
 aspired to you — and I'm not rich ; I'm 
 afraid I've managed to spend a good deal of 
 money. But I should be very different now, 
 with you to care for. I've always got along, 
 and something is sure to tumble in soon — ^it 
 always does ; and even if we weren't rich I 
 could make you happy — I know I could. 
 You should do as you liked ; you would never
 
 282 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 have a cross word ; I should live just to make 
 
 you happy.' 
 
 Joan had let him goon. She liked hearing 
 
 it very much ; she began to think that she 
 
 liked him exceedingly, and she wished with 
 
 all her heart that things were different, that he 
 
 could change places with some other persons. 
 
 But 
 
 ' No, no,' she said softly. ' I am so sorry 
 
 that you should feel all this. I knew even 
 the other day, you know, that it was im- 
 possible.' 
 
 Basil felt his first stab of doubt. 
 
 'Don't,' he said — 'don't crush me with 
 that word.' 
 
 ' But I must,' said the girl, still speaking 
 in the same tone. 
 
 ' Do you mean that you think Lord 
 Medhurst would not agree ?' 
 
 She looked down. 
 
 ' I was not thinking of my father.' 
 
 ' You are only speaking of yourself, then ?'
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 283 
 
 he said with mortification. 'You mean that 
 you don't like me well enough ?' 
 
 They had reached the river by this time. 
 The sturdy current was running swiftly past, 
 sombre in colour and in purpose ; a boat 
 which had put off had some difficulty in 
 pulling up against it — the wind at this point 
 was very fresh. 
 
 ' Not to marry you,' said Joan slowly. ' I 
 am very sorry.' 
 
 He looked at her for a moment in silence ; 
 then : 
 
 'You are too ambitious,' he said. 
 
 ' I don't think I am ambitious at all.' 
 
 ' Well, you are not following your heart. 
 You are calling in some other motives.' 
 
 She reddened slightly. 
 
 ' I felt the same the other day.' 
 
 ' But you didn't mean it — then,' 
 
 ' You have no right to say so.' 
 
 ' I have — I have, because I am certain you 
 liked me then.'
 
 284 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ' Oh, I like you now,' said the girl, looking 
 at him with a charming smile — so charming 
 that he felt a passionate impulse to win her. 
 
 ' If you like me — that is all I ask.' 
 
 ' Ah, but it is not all' 
 
 ' Believe me,' he said imploringly, ' you 
 should never repent it. I know what you 
 care for — you should have it.' 
 
 For an instant she turned her eyes ques- 
 tioningly upon him. Could he give it ? If 
 only he could ! But Mrs. Ashton's words 
 came back. It was impossible. 
 
 ' I cannot marry you,' she said in a clear 
 voice. ' Please do not say more about it. 
 Please do not think about it. What an odd- 
 looking party of people have just come down ! 
 I wonder where Elizabeth went. Shall we 
 go and find her ?' 
 
 Basil turned silently. To tell the truth, he 
 was intensely mortified by his rejection. He 
 was prepared for opposition from Lord Med- 
 hurst, but Joan herself he had had very little
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 285 
 
 doubt would have yielded at first, even if she 
 had been frightened out of it in the end. It 
 had been an experiment, but he was quite 
 unprepared for the first step proving un- 
 successful. He must make one more 
 attempt. 
 
 ' Is this all I am to have — is it absolutely 
 your last word ? At least, if you — like me, 
 let me have a little grace. I might gain 
 something more with time.' 
 
 He did not speak with his usual ease, and 
 Joan made a quick movement forward. 
 
 ' No, no,' she said ; ' you must not say any 
 more. Oh, there is mamma ! She is lookinor 
 for me; we must hurry. Where is Elizabeth, 
 mamma ?' she went on the instant she reached 
 her. ' She started with us, and then deserted 
 us.' 
 
 'She came back,' said Lady Medhurst 
 gravely. ' I have been expecting you.' 
 
 ' A great many people are going out in 
 boats,' said the girl ; ' and it was very amusing
 
 286 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 to watch them. Why can't he speak ; why- 
 does he leave it all to me ?' she said to her- 
 self angrily, for, after all, this declaration of 
 Basil's did not affect her very seriously. It 
 was a little like being asked to dance with a 
 good partner and having to refuse. She 
 wished it had been otherwise, but as it was 
 not to be, it was useless to think much about 
 it, and though it was no doubt right that he 
 should break his heart for love of her, that 
 should not have prevented his coming for- 
 ward to speak when she required his assist- 
 ance. ' Where is Elizabeth ?' she asked 
 
 agam. 
 
 ' She is going to drive back later with the 
 Russells, because your father was anxious we 
 should return early. Mr. Gray, would you 
 kindly desire them to call our carriage ?' 
 
 'And I should like to have stayed,' 
 pouted Joan. 'It is so stupid always being 
 whisked off in the midst of things. There 
 are Mr. Talbot, and Colonel Trentham, and
 
 THE COUNTRY CO U SIX 287 
 
 Lord Robert Harwood, and they are all 
 wanting to come and talk, and there am I 
 obliged to go away, just as if I were a little 
 girl who had to go home to her lessons. I 
 never, never have enough of anything. They 
 don't seem to think I need have a word to 
 say in the matter, and — I know mamma's 
 face ; I know she has got a fine lecture in 
 store for me. She will say I ought not to 
 have walked away with Mr. Gray. Poor 
 Mr. Gray ! I am sure it wasn't so pleasant 
 for him, but it had to be done ; at least ' — 
 with a sigh — ' I suppose so.' 
 
 She was called by her mother in the midst 
 of her suppositions, and, as she had foreseen, 
 when they were in the carriage. Lady Med- 
 hurst spoke with some displeasure. 
 
 ' You started with Elizabeth — that was 
 very well ; but when she left )ou, you should 
 have returned to me. You are quite ignorant 
 of the ways of the world, my dear, and you 
 do not know that unless a young girl is care-
 
 288 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 ful she exposes herself to remarks which are 
 sometimes unkind and oftener thoughtless, 
 but which are most harmful in the sort of 
 impression they leave. I am displeased 
 with Mr. Gray. He should not have placed 
 you in that position. Be more cautious in 
 future ; don't give your father and me cause 
 to regret having brought you to London, or 
 to fear that we may take our little girl back 
 to dear Ashbury less simple-minded and un- 
 sophisticated than when she left. Aren't you 
 longing to see Ashbury, Joan ? I am. One 
 gets so tired of living in a crowd — an artificial 
 crowd. The garden will be in full beauty 
 just now. And your father must be terribly 
 missed. It was a great wrench for him to 
 leave all his useful work, and I suspect we 
 shall none of us be sorry when the time 
 comes to get back to a more sensible life. 
 Perhaps we may shorten our stay here a 
 little.' 
 
 * Oh !' cried Joan, with a sinking of her
 
 THE COUXTRY COUSIN 289 
 
 heart. But Lady Medhurst went placidly on, 
 uncomprehending : 
 
 ' You thoucrht it a dreadful fate to be torn 
 away from Ashbury, did you not? But, 
 after all, one values one's home the more 
 when one goes back to it. And I think 
 your father is a little disappointed, because 
 he hoped there would have been more time 
 for you to benefit by some of the real — the 
 great educational advantages of London. 
 However, I tell him that when you get home 
 again, after having had this little stimulating 
 taste of them, you will set to work in good 
 earnest.' 
 
 ' Yes, mamma,' said Joan faintly. To 
 herself she cried out, ' I must marry ! Cer- 
 tainly, 1 must marry !' 
 
 VOL. I. 19
 
 
 ^'^ M 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 It is not easy to give an idea of the state of 
 Joan's mind at this time. It was full of in- 
 consistencies, but, then, we are all inconsistent 
 — except in biographies. It was open, eat^erly 
 open to impressions, and these impressions, 
 on account of their novelty, appeared of great 
 importance to herself. Her training hitherto 
 had been cramped ; she had been kept closely 
 within four walls, and now it was as if she 
 stood in the doorway, caressed by sun and 
 wind, and longing to step out to roam freely 
 in a beautiful world which looked all sun- 
 shine. This longing took possession of her ; 
 it gained quite an undue proportion, because
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 291 
 
 it was SO different from all that she had ex- 
 pected and been told — she had expected to 
 be repelled by what she saw. If her father's 
 teaching had in this matter been so mistaken 
 she couldn't credit his other lessons. She 
 was disposed to see and judge for her- 
 self. 
 
 But if the training had been cramped, it 
 had also been honest. All that she had 
 received from her father had been true and 
 honourable, and it had taken its place ; it 
 could not be lightly cast away. There were 
 traditions whicii must all her life take their 
 part ill tlie ruling of her life, though they 
 might clash with opposite longings, and even 
 with actions. They were so strong that they 
 mi^ht have served for armour in all that she 
 was "'oina; through at this time, so that it 
 might have left no mark upon her, if she had 
 been less wanting in courage ; but the most 
 likely thing to injure her was her fear of con- 
 sequences, a fear which disposed her to hold 
 
 19 — 2
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 back confidence, and to conceal even trilling 
 actions. 
 
 She was ready to cry when she thought of 
 going back to Ashbiiry ; but she did not hate 
 Ashbury, and would have bestowed many 
 thoughts upon the people whom she had 
 known all her life had there been time for 
 ihouofht between her small excitements. As 
 it was, when, two days before the wedding, a 
 letter was put into her hands saying that 
 Martha Potter, the old weeding-woman, had 
 fallen down and broken her leg so badly that 
 there were o-reat fears whether she would Qet 
 over it, Joan let fall the bridesmaid's dress, 
 which she had been examining with profound 
 interest, and cried out in dismay : 
 
 ' Oh, how dreadful ! Maria, Maria, do you 
 hear ! Poor dear old Martha, what will she 
 do ? Oh, I am so sorry !' 
 
 Maria was very much shocked also. She 
 picked up the pretty, soft dress and laid it 
 carefully on the bed, and wondered what
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 293 
 
 old Thomas would do. Thomas was bed- 
 ridden. 
 
 ' It is too sad !' cried her young mistress 
 mournfully ; ' none of us there, no one to look 
 after her ' 
 
 ' Miss Joan, the ribbons! See how you're 
 crumpling the ribbons !' 
 
 ' Never mind the ribbons,' tossing them 
 from her indifferently; 'it is horrid of you 
 to think so much of them, Maria, when poor 
 old Martha may be dying. I wish I could 
 see her. I wonder if papa would take me ; I 
 think I will ask him.' 
 
 She flew downstairs, and caught Lord 
 Medhurst in the hall. 
 
 ' Papa, I have heard from home, and the 
 saddest thing has happened : poor old Martha 
 has fallen down and broken her leg, and she 
 is dreadfully ill.' 
 
 'Old Martha! I am truly sorry,' said her 
 father in a tone of genuine concern. 
 
 ' I can't think how they will manage ; there
 
 2 94 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 is no one, absolutely no one. She is sure to 
 fret about not seeing us. Papa ?' 
 
 ' My dear.' 
 
 ' Don't yon think that it would be very 
 nice if we could just go down and see her — 
 to-morrow?' 
 
 ' Very nice, but out of the question — alto- 
 gether out of the question. I have engage- 
 ments to-morrow which it would be impossible 
 for me to defer.' 
 
 ' Oh !' — with great disappointment. 
 
 'Your mother will write to Mrs. Jones and 
 request her to see that Martha has everything 
 that the doctor orders. You must be content 
 with that, my dear, and trust us for not 
 allowing her to be neglected, although we 
 cannot follow your kind impulse.' 
 
 ' Yes, papa.' 
 
 ' Go and tell your mother ; you will find her 
 in her room. I am going to the reading-room 
 in the South Kensington Museum.' 
 
 Joan went slowly upstairs, but she turned
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 295 
 
 into the drawing-room and stood at the open 
 window. Her thoughts were completely 
 taken up by old Martha's accident ; her heart 
 was moved, and for the moment the little 
 whirl of vanity in which she had been 
 absorbed lost all its enchantin^^ colours. 
 The old woman lying in her little cottage by 
 the side of the helpless husband whom she 
 had so faithfully tended touched her heart 
 with that touch which is given only by the 
 ereat realities of life, a touch which shrivels 
 smaller things. Death. The young girl 
 shivered slightly and her eyes filled with 
 tears. She did not hear a knock or a step 
 on the stairs. 
 
 ' Sir Henry Lancaster.' 
 
 It was delightful to him to see her there 
 and to see her alone ; but when she turned 
 round the trouble in her face crave him a 
 sharp shock. He stopped short. 
 
 ' Is anything the matter ?' 
 
 ' Yes,' said Joan sadly ; ' at least, I don't
 
 296 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 know if you will think a great deal of it, bu^, 
 I do. It is poor old Martha, our weeding- 
 wuman — she has met with an accident, and 
 they are afraid she will die. You can't think 
 what an old dear she is, never grumblin^^, 
 though old Thomas tries her very much. I 
 am so fond of her. I think I like her better 
 than any of the people there.' She lifted 
 her beautiful eyes to his as she spoke, and he 
 thought he had never seen anything so lovely 
 as the tears which trembled in them. He 
 hardly knew what he said in return. 
 
 ' I am very sorry, very sorry indeed. No 
 doubt you are wishing you were there.' 
 
 ' Yes, so much !' she said with eagerness. 
 ' I know she will miss us so dreadfully. I 
 wanted papa to take me down to-morrow — 
 we could come back quite late, you know, but 
 he said it was impossible. Mamma will write 
 to our housekeeper, Mrs. Jones, only — I 
 don't know ; I sometimes think Mrs. Jones is
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 297 
 
 not very nice to the people. And it will 
 be so horrid if she is not nice to old 
 Martha!' 
 
 ' Oh, but she must be, she cannot fail to be 
 — now.' 
 
 Joan shook her head. 
 
 ' I don't know — I wish I could have seen 
 her. I could have told in a minute just what 
 slie wanted, and whether she was comfortable. 
 I wish papa could have gone.' 
 
 Lancaster felt a delicious thrill at these 
 iimocent confidences, which seemed to him 
 to have something- infinitely sacred about 
 them in their kindness and simplicity. Her 
 face, with its new gravity about it, had gained 
 in his eyes another and tenderer charm. She 
 was sitting by the open window on a \uw 
 cJiair. The sunlight came softly in through 
 a striped awning, and a low bank of fiowers 
 ran along outside. He looked with a kind 
 of awe and wonder at her beauty and youth.
 
 298 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 and the strong- man felt an almost irresistible 
 
 & 
 
 impulse to take her in his arms and kiss away 
 the tears which still hunof on her lon«: lashes. 
 But he could see that she was not thinking of 
 him with any thought of love, and that she 
 was absorbed in the contemplation of Martha's 
 woes. It leaped into his mind that he would 
 go to Ashbury the next day, and bring back the 
 news she longed for ; then he would tell her 
 the following day at the Ashton wedding, and 
 in imagination he saw the surprised delighted 
 look which would flash into her eyes, and the 
 smile with which she would reward him. He 
 had always set the wedding-day before him 
 as a limit, resolving not to speak to her before, 
 and for a man of powerful will there is an 
 immense reluctance to breaking a determina- 
 tion, even when it is only made with relation 
 to himself. Such a man builds his life with 
 strong materials, and cannot easily pull out a 
 plank or two to reshape it. He said a few
 
 THE COUNTRY COUSIN 299 
 
 words which set Joan off upon more Ashbury 
 recollections, and nothing was so sweet to 
 him as to hear of her life there. It always 
 gave him a sense of refreshment, and he de- 
 lighted in picturing her in the water-meadows 
 where the grass grew so greenly, and the 
 golden water-ranunculuses bordered the small 
 stream. It was the setting which took his 
 fancy — for her, though he himself could only 
 • have borne it for a little while, his mind being 
 one which craved for the full swing and rush 
 of human life. But he held that women 
 should be as much removed from this as 
 possible, and he especially hated the mixing 
 up of women with political life. He was 
 still a young man, it must be remembered, 
 and flattered himself that he could shape his 
 own part of the world according to his own 
 ideas. 
 
 Very soon Lady Medhurst came in, and 
 the tale had to be told to her. But Joan,
 
 ;oo THE COUNTRY COUSIN 
 
 when she thought about it afterwards, with 
 an awakening of more personal feeHngs, was 
 sure that Lancaster's sympathy had been 
 more Hvely than her mother's. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 BILLING & SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD. 
 
 G., C. 6^ Co 
 
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