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 LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 MRS. DONALD KELLOGG
 
 Oil llir C'i()(|U(.t Lawi).
 
 THE BEAILEiaHS 
 
 BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES LEVER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 " THE DODD FAMILY ABROAD," 
 
 " FORTUNES OF GLENCORE," 
 
 " HARRY LORREQUER," 
 
 " ROLAND CASHEL," 
 
 " TOM BURKE," 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 NEW EDITION 
 
 LONDON: 
 CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1872.
 
 SELECTION FROM NOTICES BY THE PRESS 
 
 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY 
 
 The Examinee. 
 " Mr. Lever has excelled himself in this capital novel, which possesses the merit 
 of a carefully planned plot, the mystery of which is so artfully contrived that the 
 reader does not suspect the very simple and natural solution untU it is unfolded to 
 him, combined with a group of thoroughly original personages who play their several 
 parts with life-like dignity and grace ; with charming naivete and sweetness ; or with 
 refined craft and cimning. We have the satisfaction of feeling throughout that the 
 work is in the hands of a master, and that all the representations are of the first 
 order." 
 
 The Economist. 
 " The story in every part is fresh ; the sketclies of Italian life and of the contrasts 
 in Irish country life are vivid and striking ; and if the author too often makes his 
 characters as clever as himself, when c.v hi/polhesi they are not, this, while a fault one 
 waj', rather enhances the pleasures of reading the volumes." 
 
 The Morxing Post. 
 " It needed not the voucher on the present title-page to proclaim the authorship. 
 The vast breadth of canvas, the bright colouring, the dash, the rollicking humour, 
 albeit sobered down, the ever-flowing animal spirits, the cosmopolitanism, and the 
 skill in sustaining reading interest throughout a long complication of the barely 
 possible, stamp as plainly as printer's ink could do the name of Charles Lever. . . . 
 It would be vain to attempt by mere indication the wonderful situations of the story 
 or the picturcs(iue beauty of many of the descriptions." 
 
 The Globe. 
 "In the 'Bramleighs' the characterisation and the descriptions arc really what 
 give life to the book. Such pictures as those our author affords of Lady Augusta, of 
 Lord Culduff, and the various eccentric types of Englishmen who draw around the 
 Protestant church in Rome, are scarcely to bo paralleled in English fiction. They &te 
 r.s real as sketches by Thackeray, as exact as photographs by Dickens." 
 
 The Stand.ard. 
 "All readers of 'Cornelius O'Dowd' will be charmed with these racy and brillidnt 
 volumes, which sparkle ou every page, with Mr. Lever's well-known cleverness as a 
 writer of smooth, easy, and amusing dialogue as well as pleasant incident." 
 
 LONDON: SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE.
 
 Til 
 B7 
 
 TO 
 
 ALEXANDER WILLIAM KINGLAKE, ESQ., 
 
 M.P., &c., &c. 
 
 Mv deah KixglakEj 
 
 If you should ever turn over tliese pages, I have no greater 
 Vvish than that they might afford you a tithe of the pleasure I have 
 derived from your own writings. Eut I will not asli you to read me, 
 l;ut to believe that I am, in all sincerity, your devoted admirer, for 
 both your genius and your courage, and your attached friend, 
 
 CHARLES LEVER. 
 Trieste, August 31«<.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Bishop's Folly 1 
 
 Lady Augusta's Lettee 5 
 
 " The Evening aeter a hard Run." „. .. 'lO 
 
 Ox THE Croquet Laavx IG 
 
 Confidential Talk 21 
 
 Up in THE Mountains 29 
 
 At Luncheon 35 
 
 The Arrival of a Great Man 3'J 
 
 Over the Fire 45 
 
 The Droppings of a Great Diplomatist 55 
 
 A Winter Day's Walk GO 
 
 An Evening below and above Stairs C7 
 
 At the Cottage 77 
 
 Official Confidences 86 
 
 With his Lawyer 91 
 
 Some Misunderstandings 95 
 
 At Castello 102 
 
 A Dull Dinner 108 
 
 A Departure 121 
 
 A Morning op Perplexities 129 
 
 George and Julia 140 
 
 In the Library at Castello 14G 
 
 The Curate Cross-examined 154 
 
 Doubts and Fears 159 
 
 Marion's Ambitions 172 
 
 Mr. Cutbill arrives at Castello 177 
 
 The Villa Altieri 1S2 
 
 Castello 188 
 
 The Hotel Bristol 196
 
 Till 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAOE 
 
 XXX. On the Eoai> 202 
 
 XXXI. On the Road to Italy 211 
 
 XXXII. The Church Patrons at Aleano 215 
 
 XXXIII. A SMALL Lodging at Louvain 224 
 
 XXXIV. At Louvain 232 
 
 XXXV. Mr. Cutbill's Visit 235 
 
 XXXVI. An Evening with Cutbill 240 
 
 XXXVII. The Appointment 245 
 
 XXXVIIL With Lord Culduff 251 
 
 XXXIX. At Albano 255 
 
 XL. " A Eeception " at Eome 203 
 
 XLT. Some " Salon Diplomacies " 26S 
 
 XLII. A Long Tkte-a-tete ; 274 
 
 XLIIL A Special Mission 285 
 
 XLIV. The Church Patrons 292 
 
 XLV. A Pleasant Dinner 298 
 
 XLVI. A Stroll and a Gossip 303 
 
 XLVn. A Proposal in Form 811 
 
 XLVm. "A Telegram " 316 
 
 XLIX. A Long Tete-a-Tete 325 
 
 L. Cattaro 331 
 
 LI. Some News from Without 335 
 
 LU. Ischia 342 
 
 LIII. A Rainv Night at Sea 351 
 
 LIV. The Letter Bag 358 
 
 LV. The Prisoner at Cattaro 366 
 
 LVI. At Lady Augusta's 371 
 
 LVII. At the Inn at Cattaro 376 
 
 LVIIL The Villa Life 383 
 
 LIX. A Very Brief Dream 388 
 
 LX. A Eeturn Home 394 
 
 LXI. Lady Culduff's Letter 401 
 
 LXII. Dealing with Cutbill 407 
 
 LXIII. The Client and his Lawyer 411 
 
 LXIV. A First Gleam of Light 415 
 
 LXV. The Light Stronger 422 
 
 LXVL Sedley's Notes 428 
 
 LXVIL A Wayfarer 433 
 
 LXVIII. a Meeting and a Parting 438 
 
 LXIX. The Last of All 442
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 On the Croquet Lawu - - - _ _' _ -18 
 
 •10 
 
 The Arrival of a Great 3Iau - 
 
 A Winter Day's Walk- - - - - . - 63 
 
 At the Cottage -------- 77 
 
 Looking down from the Cliff -----. io7 
 
 The Curate Cross-Examined ----__ 154 
 
 •'IMy Lord, you are a Model of Courtesy" - - - _ 19^ 
 
 A Small Lodging at Louvain -----_ -j-js 
 
 "George, George, do not give way thus! " - - - - 25S 
 
 A Reception at Rome ------- 260 
 
 A Pleasant Dinner -----__ ^DS 
 
 A Tcte-a-Tete - - - - - - _ - 326 
 
 The Letter-Bag -----__ 353 
 
 " Have you a sweetheart, Gretcheu ':" " - - - - 339 
 
 "Do you know that?"' ------ 419 
 
 A Meeting - - - - - - - -439
 
 THE 
 
 BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE bishop's folly. 
 
 TovvAEDS the close of the last century there was a very remarkable 
 man, Bishop of Down, in Ireland : a Liberal in politics, in an age 
 when Liberalism lay close on the confines of disloyalty ; splendidly 
 hospitable, at a period when hospitality verged on utter recklessness ; 
 he carried all his opinions to extremes. He had great taste, Vvhich 
 had been cultivated by foreign travel, and having an ample fortune, 
 was able to indulge in mauyvphims and caprices, by which some were 
 led to doubt of his sanity ; but others, who judged him better, ascribed 
 them to the self-indulgence of a man out of harmony with his time, 
 and contemptuously indifferent to what the world might say of him. 
 
 He had passed many years in Italy, and had formed a great attach- 
 ment to that country. He liked the people and their mode of life ; 
 he liked the old cities, so rich in ait treasures and so teeming with 
 associations of a picturesque past ; and he especially liked their villa 
 architecture, which seemed so essentially suited to a grand and costly 
 style of living. The great reception-rooms, spacious and lofty ; the 
 ample antechambers, made for crowds of attendants ; and the stairs 
 wide enough for even equipages to ascend them. No more striking 
 illustration of his capricious turn of mind need be given than the fact 
 that it was his pleasure to build one of these magnificent edifices in 
 an Irish county ! — a costly whim, obliging him to bring over from 
 Italy, a whole troop of stucco -men and painters, men skilled in fresco- 
 work and carving — an extravagance on which he spent thousands. 
 Nor did he live to witness the completion of his splendid mansion. 
 
 1
 
 2 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 After Ills death the huikling gradually fell into decay. His heirs, 
 not improbably, little caring for a project which had engulfed so large 
 a share of their fortune, made no efforts to arrest the destroying 
 influences of time and climate, and " Bishop's Folly " — for such was 
 the name given to it by the country-people — soon became a ruin. In 
 some places the roof had fallen in, the doors and windows had all 
 been carried away by the peasants, and in many a cabin or humble 
 shealing in the county around slabs of coloured marble or fragments 
 of costly carving might be met with, over which the skill of a cunning 
 workman had been bestowe/l for days long. The mansion stood on 
 the side of a mountain which sloped gradually to the sea. The 
 demesne, well wooded, but with young timber, was beautifully varied 
 in surface, one deep glen running, as it w'ere, from the very base of 
 the house to the beach, and showing ghmpses, through the trees, 
 of a bright and rapid river tumbling onward to the sea. Seen in its 
 dilapidation and decay, the aspect of the place was dreary and 
 depressing, and led many to wonder how the bishop could ever have 
 selected such a spot ; for it was not only placed in the midst of a 
 wild mountain region, but many miles away from anything that could 
 be called a neighboui'hood. But the same haughty defiance he gave 
 the world in other things urged him here to show that he cared little 
 for the judgments which might be passed upon him, or even for tbe 
 circumstances which would have influenced other men. " When it 
 is my pleasure to receive company, I shall have my house full no 
 matter where I live," was his haughty speech, and certainly the whole 
 character of his life went to confirm his words. 
 
 Some question of disputed title, after the Bishop's death, threw 
 the estate into Chancery, and so it remained till, by the operation of 
 the new law touching encumbered property, it became marketable, 
 and was purchased by a rich London banker, who had declared his 
 intention of coming to live upon it. 
 
 That any one rich enough to buy such a property, able to restore 
 such a costly house, and maintain a style of living proportionate to 
 its pretensions, could come to reside in the solitude and obscurity of 
 an Irish county, seemed all but impossible, and v\hen the matter 
 became assured by the visit of a well-known architect, and afterwards 
 by the arrival of a troop of workmen, the puzzle then became to 
 guess how it chanced that the great head of a rich banking firm, the 
 chairman of this, the director of that, the promoter of heaven knows 
 what scores of industrial schemes for fortune, should withdraw from 
 the great bustle of life to accept an existence of complete oblivion. 
 
 In the little village of Portshandon — which straggled along the 
 beach, and where, with a few exceptions, none but fishermen and
 
 THE BISHOP S FOLLY. 6 
 
 their families lived, — this question was liotly debateil ; an old ];air- 
 pay lieiitenaut, who by courtesy was called captain, being at the head 
 of those who first denied the possibility of the Bramleighs coining at 
 all, and when that matter was removed beyond a doubt, next taking 
 his stand on the fact that nothing short of some disaster in fortune, 
 or some aspersion on character, could ever have driven a man out of 
 the great world to finish his days in the exile of Ireland. 
 
 " I suppose you'll give in at last. Captain Craufurd," said Mrs. 
 Ba5'ley, the postmistress of Portshandon, as she pointed to a pile of 
 letters and newspapers all addressed to " Castello," and which more 
 than quadrupled the other correspondence of the locality. 
 
 " I didn't pretend they were not coming, Mrs. Bayley," said he, 
 in the cracked and cantankerous tone he invariably spoke in. "I 
 simply observed that I'd be thankful for any one telling mo why they 
 were coming. That's the puzzle, — why they'i'e coming ? " 
 
 " I suppose because they like it, and they can afibrd it," said she, 
 with a toss of her head. 
 
 "Like it !" cried he, in derision. " Like it ! Look out of the 
 window there beside you, Mrs. Bayley, and say, isn't it a lovely 
 prospect, that beggarly village, and the old rotten boats, keel upper- 
 most, with the dead fish and the oyster-shells, and the torn nets, and 
 the dirty children ? Isn't it an elegant sight after Hyde Park and tho 
 Queen's palace ? " 
 
 " I never saw the Queen's palace nor the other place you talk of, 
 but I think there's worse towns to live in than Portshandon." 
 
 " And do they think they'll make it better by calling it Castello ? " 
 said he, as with a contemptuous gesture he threw from him one of the 
 newspapers with this address. " If they want to think they're in 
 Italy they ought to come down here in November with the Channel 
 fogs sweeping up through the mountains, and the wind beating tho 
 rain against the windows. I hope they'll think they're in Naples. 
 "Why can't they call the place by the name we all know it by ? It was 
 Bishop's Folly when I was a boy, and it will be Bishop's Folly after 
 I'm dead." 
 
 " I suppose people can call their house whatever they like ? 
 Nobody objects to your calling your place Craufurd's Lea." 
 
 " I'd like to see them object to it," cried he, fiercely. " It's 
 Craufurd's Lea in Digge's Siirreij of Down, 1714. It's Craufurd's 
 Lea in the Antholotjia Hibernica, and it's down, too, in Joyce's 
 Iriifh Fisheries ; and we were Craufurds of Craufurd's Lea before 
 one stone of that big barrack up there was laid, and maybe we'll bo 
 so after it's a ruin again." 
 
 " I bopa it's not going to bo a ruin any more, Captain Craufui:d,
 
 4 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 all the same," said tlie post-mistress, tartly, for she was not disposed 
 to undervalue the increased importance the ueighhourhood was about 
 to derive from the rich family coming to live in it. 
 
 " Well, there's one thing I can tell you, Mrs. Bayley," said he, 
 with his usual grin. " The devil a bit of Ireland they'd ever come 
 to, if they could live in England. Mind my words, and see if they'll 
 not come true. It's either the Bank is in a bad way, or this or that 
 company is going to smash, or it's his wife has run away, or one of 
 the daughters married the footman ; — something or other has 
 happened, you'll see, or we would never have the honour of their 
 distinguished company down here." 
 
 " It's a bad wind blows nobody good," said Mrs. Bayley. "It's 
 luck for us, anyhow." 
 
 " I don't perceive the luck of it either, ma'am," said the captain, 
 with increased peevishness. " Chickens will be eighteenpence a 
 couple, eggs a halfpenny apiece. I'd like to know what you'll pay 
 for a codfish, such as I bought yesterday for fourpence ? " 
 
 " It's better for them that has to sell them." 
 
 " Ay, but I'm talking of them that has to buy them, ma'am, and 
 I'm thinking how a born gentleman with a fixed income is to compete 
 with one of these fellows that gets his gold from California at 
 market price, and makes more out of one morning's robbery on the 
 Stock Exchange, than a Lieutenant-General receives after thirty 
 years' service." 
 
 A sharp tap at the window-pane interrupted the discussion at 
 this critical moment, and Mrs. Bayley perceived it was Mr. Dorose, 
 Colonel Bramleigh's valet, who had come for the letters for the Great 
 House. 
 
 " Only these, Mrs. Bayley ? " said ho, half contemptuously. 
 
 " Well, indeed, sir ; it's a good-sized bundle after all. There's 
 eleven letter.-, and about fifteen papers and two books." 
 
 " Send tliem all on to Brighton, Mrs. Bayley. We shall not 
 come down here till the end of the month. Just give me The Times, 
 howevei' ; " and tearing open the cover, he turned to the City article. 
 "I hope you've nothing in Ecuadors, Mrs. Bayley? they look shaky. 
 I'm * hit,' too, in my Turks. I see no dividend this half." Here 
 ho leaned forward, so as to whisper in her ear, and said, "Whenever 
 you want a snug thing, Mrs. B., you're always safe with Brazilians;" 
 and with this he moved off, leaving the postmistress in a flurry of 
 shame and confusion as to what precise character of transaction his 
 counsel applied. 
 
 " Upon my conscience, we're come to a pretty pass ! " exclaimed 
 the captain, as, buttoning his coat, he issued forth into the street ;
 
 THE BISHOP S rOLLY. 5 
 
 nor v/as his temper mucli improved by findiug the way blocked un 
 by a string of ctirts and drays, slowly proceeding towards the great 
 house, all loaded with furniture and kitchen utensils, and the other 
 details of a large household. A bystander remarked that four saddle- 
 horses had passed through at day-break, and one of the grooms had 
 said, " It was nothing to what was coming in a few days." 
 
 Two days after this, and quite unexpectedly by all, the village 
 awoke to see a large flag waving from the flagstaff over the chief 
 tower of Castello ; and the tidings were speedily circulated that the 
 great people had arrived. A few sceptics, determining to decide the 
 point for themselves, set out to go up to the house ; but the lodge 
 gate was closed, and the gatekeeper answered them from behind it, 
 saying that no visitors were to be admitted ; a small incident, in its 
 way, but after all, it is by small incidents that men speculate cu the 
 tastes and tempers of a new dynasty. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 LADY Augusta's letteh. 
 
 It will save some time, both to writer and reader, while it will also 
 serve to explain certain particulars about those we are interested in, 
 if I give in this place a letter which v*-as written by Lady Augusta 
 Bramlcigh, the Colonel's young Vtife, to a married sister at Rome. 
 It ran thus : — 
 
 "Hanover Square, Kov. 10, 18—, 
 " Dearest Douothv, — 
 
 "Here we are back in town, at a season, too, when wa find 
 ourselves the only people left ; and if I wanted to make a long story 
 of how it happens, there is the material; but it is precisely what I 
 desire to avoid, and at the risk of being barely intelligible, I will be 
 brief. We have left Earlshope, and, indeed, Herefordshire, for 
 good. Our campaign there was a social fiiilure, but just such a 
 failure as I predicted it would and must be ; and although, possibly, 
 I might have liked to have been spared some of the mortifications 
 we met with, I am too much pleased with the results to quarrel ever 
 the means. 
 
 " You are already in possession of what wo intended by the 
 purchase of Earlshope — how we meant to become county magnates, 
 marry our sous and daughters to neighbouring magnates, and live as
 
 b THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 tliougU WO had been rooted to the soil for centuries. I say ' we,' 
 iny dear, because I am too good a wife to separate myself from 
 Col. B. in all these projects; but I am fain to own that as I only saw 
 defeat in the plan, I opposed it from the first. Here, in town, money 
 will do anything ; at least, anything that one has any right to do. 
 There may be a set or a clique to which it will not give admission ; 
 but who wants them, who needs them ? 
 
 " There's always a wonderful Yan Eyck or a Memling in a Dutch 
 town, to obtain the sight of which you have to petition the authorities, 
 or implore the StadtholJer ; but I "never knew any one admit that 
 success repaid the trouble ; and the chances are that you come away 
 from the sight fully convinced that you have seen scores of old 
 pictures exactly like it, and that all that could be said was, it was 
 as brown and as dusky, and as generally disappointing, as its fellows. 
 So it is with these small exclusive societies. It may be a great 
 triumph of ingenuity to pick the lock ; but there's nothing in the 
 coffer to reward it. I repeat, then, with money — and we had money 
 — London was open to us. All the more, too, that for some years 
 back society has taken a speculative turn ; and it is nothing dero- 
 gatory to find people ' to go in,' as it is called, for a good thing, in 
 'Turks' or 'Brazilians,' in patent fuel, or a new loan to the children 
 of Egypt. To these, and such like, j'our City man and banker is 
 esteemed a safe pilot ; and you would be amused at the amount of 
 attention Col. B. was accustomed to meet with from men who 
 regarded themselves as immeasurably above him, and who, all 
 question of profit apart, would have hesitated at admitting him to 
 their acquaintance. 
 
 " I tell you all these very commonplace truths, my dear Dorothy, 
 because they may not, indeed cannot be such truisms to yoa — you, 
 who live in a grand old city, with noble traditions, and the refine- 
 ments that come transmitted from centuries of high habits ; and I 
 feel, as I write, how puzzled you will often be to follow me. London 
 was, as I have twice said, our home ; but for that very reason we 
 could not bo content with it. Earlsliope, by ill luck, was for sale, 
 and wo bought it. I am afraid to tell you the height of our castle- 
 building ; but, as we were all engaged, the work went on briskly, 
 every day adding at least a story to the edifice. We were to start as 
 high-sheriff, then represent the county. I am not quite clear, I think 
 we never settled the point, as to the lord-lieutenancy ; but 1 know 
 the exact way, and the very time, in which we demanded our peerage. 
 How we threatened to sulk, and did sulk ; how we actually sat a 
 whole niglit on the back benches ; and how we made our eldest son 
 dance twice with a daughter of the ' Opposition.' — menaces that no
 
 LADY AUGUSTA S LETTER. 7 
 
 intelligent Cabinet or conscientious ' Whip ' could for a moment 
 misunderstand. And oh ! my dear Dora, as I write these things, 
 how forcibly I feel the prudence of that step which once we all were 
 so ready to condemn you for having taken. You were indeed right 
 to marry a foreigner. That an English girl should address herselt 
 to the married life of England, the first condition is she should never 
 Lave left England, not even for that holiday-trip to Paris and 
 Switzerland, which people now do, as once they v.'ere wont to ' do 
 Margate.' The whole game of existence is such a scramble with us : 
 we scramble for social rank, for place, for influence, for Court favour, 
 for patronage ; and all these call for so much intrigue and plotting, 
 that I vow to you I'd as soon be a Carbonara or a Sanfedista as the 
 wife of an aspiring middle-class Englishman. 
 
 " But to return. The county would not have us — we were rich, 
 and we were City folk, and they deemed it an unpardonable 
 pretension in us to come down amongst them. They refused our 
 invitations, and sent us none of their own. We split with them, 
 contested the election against them, and got beaten. We spent 
 unheard-of moneys, and bribed everybody that had not a vote for ten 
 miles round. With universal sufirage, which I believe we promised 
 them, we should have been at the head of the poll ; but the free- 
 holders were to a man opposed to us. 
 
 " I am told that our opponents behaved ungenerously and unjustly 
 — perhaps they did ; at all events, the end of the contest left us 
 without a single acquaintance, and we stood alone in our glory of 
 beaten candidateship, after three months of unheard-of fatigue, and 
 more meanness than I care to mention. The end of all was, to 
 shake the dust off our feet at Herefordshire, and advertise Earlshope 
 for sale. Meanwhile we returned to town ; just as shipwrecked men 
 clamber up the first rock in sight, not feeling in their danger what 
 desolation is before them. I take it that the generals of a beaten 
 army talk very little over their late defeat. At all events we observed 
 a most scrupulous reserve, audi don't think that a word was dropped 
 amongst us for a month that could have led a stranger to believe 
 that we had just been beaten in an election, and hunted out of 
 the county. 
 
 " I was just beginning to feel that our lesson, a severe one, it is 
 true, might redound to our future benefit, when our eldest-born, — I 
 call them all mine, Dora, though not one of them will say mamma to 
 me, — discovered that there was an Irish estate to be sold, with a fine 
 house and fine grounds, and that if wo couldn't be great folk in the 
 grander kingdom, there was no saying what we might not be in the 
 smaller one. This was too much for me. I accepted the Hereford-
 
 8 THE BKAMLEIGilS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 sh'u'c expedition because it smacked of active service. I knew well 
 we should be defeated, and I knew there would be a battle, but I 
 could not consent to banishment. What had I done, I asked myself 
 over and over, that I should be sent to live in Ireland ? 
 
 " I tried to get up a party against the project, and failed. 
 Augustus Bramleigh — our heir — was in its favour, indeed its chief 
 promoter. Temple, the second sou, who is a secretary of embassy, 
 and the most insufferable of puppies, thought it a ' nice place for 
 us,' and certain to save us money ; and John — Jack, they call him 
 — who is in the navy, thinks land to be land, besides that, he was 
 once stationed at Cork, and thought it a paradise. If I could do 
 little with the young men, I did less with the girls. Marion, the 
 eldest, who deems her papa a sort of divine-right head of a family, 
 would not discuss the scheme ; and Eleanor, who goes in for nati^re 
 and spontaneous feeling, replied that she was overjoyed at the thought 
 of Ireland, and even half gave me to understand that she was only 
 sorry it was not Africa. I was thus driven to a last resource. I 
 sent for our old friend, Doctor Bartlet, and told him frankly that he 
 must order me abroad to a dry warm climate, where there were few 
 changes of temperature, and nothing depressing in the air. He did 
 the thing to perfection ; he called in Forbes to consult with him. 
 The case was very serious, he said. The lung was not yet attacked, 
 but the bronchial tubes were afiected. Oh, how grateful I felt to my 
 dear bronchial tubes, for they have sent me to Italy. Yes, Dolly 
 dearest, I am off on Wednesday, and hope within a week after this 
 reaches you to be at your side, pouring out all my sorrows, and 
 asking for that consolation you never yet refused me. And now, 
 to be eminently practical, can you obtain for mc that beautiful little 
 villa that overlooked the Borghcse Gardens — it was called the Villino 
 Altieri. The old Prince Giuseppe Altieri, who used to be an adorer 
 of mine, if he bo alive may like to resume his ancient passion, and 
 accept mc for a tenant ; all the more that I can afford to be liberal. 
 Col. B. behaves well always where money outers. I shall want 
 servants, as I only mean to take from this, Rose and my groom. 
 You know the sort of creatures I like ; but, for any sake, be particular 
 about the cook — I can't cat ' Komanesquo ' — and if there be a stray 
 Frenchman wandering about, secure him. Do you remember dear 
 old Paoletti, Dolly, who used to serve up those delicious little 
 maccaroni suppers long ago in our own room ? — cheating us into gour- 
 mandism by the trick of deceit ! Oh, what would I give to be as 
 young again ! To be soaring up to heaven, as I listened with closed 
 eyes to the chaunt in the Sistine Chapel, or ascending to another 
 eiysium of delight, as I gazed at the ' noble guard ' of the Pope>
 
 LADY AUGUSTA S LETTER. \f 
 
 who, while his black charger was caracolling, and he was hoIJiug 
 ou by the mane, yet managed to dart towards me such a look of love 
 and devotion ! and you remember, Dolly, we lived * secondo piano,' 
 at the time, and it was plucky of the man, considering how badly he 
 rode. I yearn to go back there. I yearn for those sunsets from 
 the Pincian, and those long rambling rides over the Campagna, 
 leading to nothing but an everlasting dreaminess, and an intense 
 desire that one could go on day after day in the same delicious life 
 of unreality ; for it is so, Dolly. Your Roman existence is as much 
 a trance as anything ever was — not a sight nor sound to shock it. 
 The swell of the organ and the odour of the incense follow you even 
 to your pleasures, and, just as the light streams in through the 
 painted windows with its radiance of gold and amber and rose, so 
 does the Church tinge with its mellow lustre all that goes on within 
 its shadow. And how sweet and soothing it all is. I don't know, 
 I cannot know, if it lead to heaven, but it certainly goes in that 
 direction, so far as peace of mind is concerned. What has become 
 of Carlo Lambruschini ? is he married ? How good-looking he 
 was, and how he sung. I never heard Mario without thinking of 
 him. How is it that our people never have that velvety softness in 
 their tenor voices ; there is no richness, no latent depth of tone, 
 and consequently no power of expression ? Will his Eminence of 
 the Palazzo Antinori know me again ? I was only a child when he 
 saw me last, and used to give me his ' benedizioue.' Be sure you 
 bespeak for me the same CDndescending favour again, Heretic 
 though I be. Don't be shocked, dearest Dora, but I mean to bo 
 half converted, that is, to have a sort of serious flirtation with the 
 Church ; something that is to touch my aflfections, and j'et not 
 wound my principles ; something that will surround me with all 
 the fervour of the faith, and yet not ask me to sign the ordinances. 
 I hope I can do this. I eagerly hope it, for it will supply a void in 
 my heart which certainly neither the money article, uor the share 
 list, nor even the details of a county contest, have sufficed to fill. 
 Where is poor little Santa Eosa and his guitar '? I want them, 
 Dolly — I want them both. His little tinkling barcaroles were as 
 pleasant as the drip of a fountain on a sultry night ; and am I not 
 a highly imaginative creature, who can v.Tite of a sulti-y night in 
 this land of fog, east wind, gust, and gaslight ? How my heart 
 bounds to think how soon I shall leave it. How I could travesty 
 the refrain, and cry, ' Rendez moi mon passeport, ou laissez moi 
 mourii".' And now, Dolly darling, I have done. Secure me the 
 villa, engage my people. Tanti saluti to the dear cardinal, — as 
 many loves to all who are kind enough to remember me. Send me
 
 10 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 a lascia-passare for my luggage — it is voluminous — to the care of 
 the consul at Civita Vecchia, and tell him to look out for me by the 
 arrival of the French boat, somewhere about the 20th or 21st; he 
 can be useful with the custom-house creatures, and obtain me a 
 carriage all to myself in the train. 
 
 " It is always more ' carino ' to talk of a husband at the last 
 lino of a letter, and so I say, give dear Tino all my loves, quite 
 apart and distinct from my other legacies of the like nature. Tell 
 him, I am more tolerant than I used to be — he' will know my 
 meaning — that I make paper cigarettes just as well, and occasion- 
 ally, when in high good-humour, even condescend to smoke one too. 
 Say also, that I have a little chestnut cob, quiet enough for his 
 riding, which shall be always at his orders ; that he may dine with 
 me every Sunday, and have one dish — I know well what it will be, 
 I smell the garlic of it even now — of his own dictating ; and if these 
 be not enough, add that he may make love to me during the whole 
 of Lent ; and with this, believe me 
 
 " Your own doatiug sister, 
 
 "Augusta Bramleigh." 
 
 " After much thought and many misgivings I deemed it advisable 
 to offer to take one of the girls with me, leaving it open, to mark my 
 indifference, as to which it should be. They both, however, refused, 
 and to my intense relief, declared that they did not care to come 
 abroad ; Augustus also protesting that it was a plan he could not 
 approve of. The diplomatist alone opined that the project had 
 anything to recommend it ; but as his authority, like my own, 
 in the family, carries little weight, we were happily outvoted. I 
 have, therefore, the supreme satisfaction — and is it not such ? — of 
 knowing that I have done the right thing, and it has cost me 
 nothing ; like those excellent people who throw very devout looks 
 towards heaven, without the remotest desire to be there." 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "the evening after a hard run." 
 
 It was between eight and nine o'clock of a wintry evenin;; near 
 Christmas ; a cold drizzle of rain was falling, which on the mountains 
 miglit have been snow, as Mr. Drayton, the butler at the Great 
 House, as Castello was called in the village, stood austerely with ids
 
 " THE EVENING AFTER A HAED RUN." 11 
 
 back to the fire in the dluing-room, and as he surveyed the tabic, 
 wondered within himself what could possibly have detained the young 
 gentlemen so late. The hounds had met that day about eight miles 
 ofi", and Colonel Bramleigh had actually put off dinner half-au-hour 
 for them, but to no avail ; and now Mr. Drayton, whose whole 
 personal arrangements for the evening had been so thoughtlessly 
 interfered with, stood there musing over the wayward nature of youth, 
 and inwardly longing for the time v/hen, retiring from active service, 
 he should enjoy the ease and indulgence his long life of fatigue and 
 hardship had earned. 
 
 " They're coming now, Mr. Dmyton," said a livery- servant, 
 entering hastily. " George saw the light of their cigars as they came 
 up the avenue." 
 
 " Bring in the soup, then, at once, and send George here with 
 another log for the fire. There'll be no dressing for dinner to-day, 
 I'll be bound ; " and imparting a sort of sarcastic bitterness to his 
 speech, he filled himself a glass of sherry at the sideboard and tossed 
 it off — only just in time, for the door opened, and a very noisy, 
 merry party of four entered the room, and made for the fire. 
 
 " As soon as you like, Drayton," said Augustus, the eldest 
 Bramleigh, a tall, good-looking, but somewhat stern-featured man of 
 about eight-and-twenty. The second. Temple Bramleigh, was middle- 
 sized, with a handsome but somewhat over-delicate-looking face, to 
 which a simpering afiectation of imperturbable self-conceit gave a sort 
 of puppyism ; v*-hile the youngest, Jack, was a bronzed, bright-eyed, 
 fine-looking fellow, manly, energetic, and determined, but with a 
 sweetness when he smiled and showed his good teeth that implied a 
 soft and very impressionable nature. They were all in scarlet coats, 
 and presented a group strikingly good-looking and manly. The 
 fourth of the party was, however, so eminently handsome, and so 
 superior in expression as well as lineament, that the others seemed 
 almost vulgar beside him. He was in black coat and cords, a checked 
 cravat seeming to indicate that he was verging, so far as he might, 
 on the limits of hunting costume ; for George L'Estrauge was in 
 orders, and the curate of the parish in which Castello stood. It is 
 not necessary to detain the reader by any lengthened narrative of the 
 handsome young parson. Enough to say, that it was not all from 
 choice he had entered the Church, — narrow fortune, and the hope of 
 a small family living, deciding him to adopt a career which to one 
 who had a passion for field-sports seemed the very last to gratify his 
 tastes. As a horseman he was confessedly the first in the country 
 round ; although his one horse — he was unable to keep a second — 
 condemned him to rare appearance at the meets. The sight of the
 
 12 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 parsou find his black mare, Nora Creina, in the fiehl, were treated 
 with a cheer, for he was a universal favourite, and if a general 
 suffrage could have conferred the episco2:)ate, George would have had 
 his mitre many a day ago. 
 
 So sure a seat and so perfect a haud needed never to have wanted 
 a mount. There was not a man with a stable who would not have 
 been well pleased to see his horse ridden by such a rider ; but 
 L'Estrange declined all such offers — a sensitive fear of being called 
 a hunting parson deterred him ; indeed it was easy to see by the 
 rarity with which he permitted himself the loved indulgence, what a 
 struggle he maintained between will and temptation, aud how keenly 
 he felt the sacrifice he imposed upon himself. 
 
 Such, in brief, was the party who were now seated at table, well 
 pleased to find themselves in presence of an admirable dinner, in a 
 room replete with every comfort. The day's run, of course, formed 
 the one topic of their talk, and a great deal of merriment went on 
 about the sailor-like performances of Jack, who had been thrown 
 twice, but on the whole acquitted himself creditably, and had 
 taken one high bank so splendidly as to win a cheer from all who 
 saw him. 
 
 "I wish you had not asked that poor Frenchman to follow you. 
 Jack," said Augustus ; "he was really ridiug very uicely till he came 
 to that unlucky fence." 
 
 "I only cried out, ' Venez done, monsieur,' and when I turned 
 my head, after clearing the bank, I saw his horse with his legs in the 
 air and monsieur underneath." 
 
 " When I picked him up," broke in L'Estrange, " he said, 
 * Merci uiille fois, monsieur,' and then fainted oft", the poor fellow's 
 face actually wearing the smile of courtesy he had got up to 
 thank me." 
 
 "Why will Frenchmen try things that are quite out of their 
 beat ? " said Jack. 
 
 " That's a most absurd prejudice of yours. Master Jack," cried 
 the diplomatist. " Frenchmen ride admirably, nowadays. I've seen 
 a steeplechase in Normandy, over as stiff a course, and as well ridden 
 as ever Leicestershire witnessed." 
 
 "Yes, yes; I've heard all that," said the sailor, "just as I've 
 heard that their iron fleet is as good, if not better than our own." 
 
 " I think our own newspapers rather hint that," said L'Estrange. 
 
 " They do more," said Temple ; " they prove it. They show a 
 numerical superiority in ships, and they give an account of guns, and 
 weight of metal dead against us." 
 
 " I'll not say anything of the French ; but this much I will say,"
 
 "the evening after a hard run." 13 
 
 cried the sailor; "the question will have to be settled one of these 
 days, and I'm right glad to think that it cauuot be done by writers in 
 newspapers." 
 
 " May I come in ? " cried a soft voice ; and a very pretty head, 
 with long fair ringlets, appeared at the door. 
 
 "Yes. Come by all means," said Jack; "perhaps we shall 
 be able, by your help, to talk of something besides fighting 
 Frenchmen." 
 
 "While he spoke, L'Estrange had risen, and approached to shako 
 hands with her. 
 
 " Sit down with us, Nelly," said Augustus, " or George will get 
 no dinner." 
 
 "Give me a chair Drayton," said she; and, turning to her 
 brother, added, " I only came in to ask some tidings about an 
 unlucky foreigner ; the servants have it he was cruelly hurt, some 
 think hopelessly." 
 
 "There's the culprit v.ho did the mischief," said Temple, 
 pointing to Jack; "let him recount his feat." 
 
 " I'm not to blame in the least, Xelly. I took a smashing high 
 bank, and the little Frenchman tried to follow me and came 
 to grief." 
 
 " Ay, but you challenged him to come on," said Temple. 
 " Now, Master Jack, people don't do that sort of thing in the 
 hunting-field." 
 
 "I said, 'Come along, monsieur,' to give him pluck. I never 
 thought for a moment he was to suffer for it." 
 
 " But is he seriously hurt ? " asked she. 
 
 "I think not," said L'Estrange; "he seemed to me more 
 stunned than actually injured. Fortunately for him they had not far 
 to take him, for the disaster occurred quite close to Duckett's Wood, 
 where he is stopping." 
 
 " Is he at Longworth's ? " asked Augustus. 
 
 " Yes. Longworth met him up the Nile, and they travelled 
 together for some months, and when thej* parted, it was agreed they 
 were to meet here at Christmas ; and though Longworth had written 
 to apprise his people they were coming, he has not appeared himself, 
 and the Frenchman is waiting patiently for his host's arrival." 
 
 "And laming his best horse in the meanwhile. That dark bay 
 will never do another day with hounds," said Temple. 
 
 " She was shaky before, but she is certainly not the better of this 
 day's work. I'd blister her, and turn her out for a full year," said 
 Augustus. 
 
 " I suppose that's another of those things in which the French
 
 14 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOI/LY. 
 
 arc our superiors," muttered Jack, "but I suspect, I'd think twice 
 about it before I'd iustall myself in a mau's house, aud ride his horses 
 iu his absence." 
 
 " It was the host's duty to be there to receive him," said Temple, 
 who was always on the watch to make the sailor feel how little he 
 knew of society and its ways. 
 
 " I hope when you've finished your wine," said Ellen, " you'll 
 not steal off to bed, as you did the other night, without ever appear- 
 ing in the drawing-room." 
 
 " L'Estrange shall go, at all events,'' cried Augustus. " The 
 church shall represent the laity." 
 
 " I'm not in trim to enter a drawing-room, Miss Bramleigh," said 
 the curate, blushing. " I wouldn't dare to present myself in such a 
 costume." 
 
 " I declare," said Jack, " I think it becomes you better than your 
 Sunday rig ; don't you, Nelly ? " 
 
 " Papa will be greatly disappointed, Mr. L'Estrange, if he should 
 not see you," said she, rising to leave the room; " he wants to hear 
 all about your day's sport, and especially about that poor Frenchman. 
 Do you know his name ? " 
 
 " Yes, here's his card ; — Anatole de Pracontal." 
 
 "A good name," said Temple, "but the fellow himself looks a 
 snob." 
 
 "I call that very hard," said Jack, "to say what any fellow 
 looks like when he is covered with slush aud dirt, his hat smashed, 
 and his mouth full of mud." 
 
 " Don't forget that we expect to see you," said Ellen, with a nod 
 and a smile, to the curate, and left the room. 
 
 " And who or what is Mr. Longworth ? " said Temple. 
 
 " I never met him. All I know is, that he owns that very ugly 
 red-brick house, with the three gables in front, on the hill-side as 
 you go towards Newry," said Augustus. 
 
 " I think I can tell you something about him," said the parson ; 
 " his father was my grandfather's agent. I believe he began as his 
 steward, when we had property in this county; he Inust have been a 
 shrewd sort of man, for he raised himself from a very humble origin 
 to become a small estated proprietor and justice of the peace ; and 
 when ho died, about four years ago, he left Philip Longworth some- 
 thing like a thousand a year iu landed property, and some ready 
 money besides." 
 
 " And this Longworth, as you call him, — what is he like?" 
 
 " A good sort of fellow, who would be better if he was not 
 possessed by a craving ambition to know line people, and move in
 
 " THE E\Ti:NIXG AFTER A HARD KUX." 15 
 
 their society. Not being able to attaiu the place he aspires to in 
 his own count}', he has gone abroad, and affects to have a horror 
 of English life and ways, the real grievance being his own personal 
 inability to meet acceptance in a certain set. This is what I hear 
 of him ; my own knowledge is very slight. I have ever found him 
 well-mannered and polite, and except a slight sign of condescension, 
 I should say pleasant." 
 
 " I take it," said the sailor, " he must be an arrant snob." 
 
 " Not necessarily, Jack," said Temple. " There is nothing ignoble 
 in a man's desire to live with the best people, if he do nothing mean 
 to reach that goal." 
 
 " Whom do you call the best people, Temple ? " asked the 
 other. 
 
 " By the best people, I mean the first in rank and station. I am 
 not speaking of their moral excellence, but of their social superiority, 
 and of that pre-eminence which comes of an indisputable position, 
 high name, fortune, and the world's. regards. These I call the best 
 people to live with." 
 
 " And I do not," said Jack, rising, and throwing his napkin on 
 the table, ' ' not at least for men like myself. I want to associate with 
 my equals. I want to mix with men who cannot overbear me by any 
 accident of their wealth or title." 
 
 " Jack should never have gone into the navy, that's clear," said 
 Augustus, laughing ; "but let us draw round the fire and have a 
 cigar." 
 
 " You'll have to pay your visit to the drawing-room, L'Estrange," 
 said Jack, " before we begin to smoke, for the governor hates tobacco, 
 and detects it in an instant." 
 
 "I declare," said the parson, as he looked at his splashed cords 
 and dirty boots, " I have no courage to present myself in such a trim 
 as this." 
 
 "Report yourself and come back at once," cried Jack. 
 
 " I'd say, don't go in at all," said Temple. 
 
 " That's what I should do, certainly," said Augustus. " Sit down 
 here. What are you drinking ? This is Pomare, and better than 
 claret of a cold evening." 
 
 And the curate yielded to the soft persuasion, and seated ai'ound 
 the fire, the young men talked horses, dogs, and field-sports, till the 
 butler came to say that tea was served in the drawing-room, 
 when, rising, they declared themselves too tired to stay up longer, 
 and wishing each other good-night they sauntered up to their rooms 
 to bed.
 
 16 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISflOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE CROQUET LAWN. 
 
 The (lay after a hard ruu, like the day after a battle, is often spent 
 in endeavours to repair the disasters of the struggle. So was it 
 here. The young men passed the morning in the stables, or going 
 back and forward with bandages and liniments. There was a 
 tendon to be cared for, a sore back to be attended to. Benbo, 
 too, wouldn't feed ; the groom said he had got a surfeit ; which 
 malady, in stable parlance, applies to excess of work, as well as 
 excess of diet. 
 
 Augustus Bramleigh was, as becomes an eldest son, grandly 
 imperious and dictatorial, and looked at his poor discomfited beast, 
 as he stood with hanging head and heaving flanks, as though to say 
 it was a disgraceful thing for an animal that had the honour to carry 
 him to look so craven and disheartened. Temple, with the instincts 
 of his craft and calling, cared little for the past, and tooV but small 
 interest in the horse that was not likely to be soon of use to him ; 
 while Jack, with all a sailor's energy, worked away manfully, and 
 assisted the grooms in every way he could. It was at the end of a 
 very active morning, that Jack was returning to the house, when he 
 saw L'Estrange's pony-chaise at the door, with black Nora in the 
 shafts, as fresh and hearty to all seeming as though she had not 
 carried her heavy owner through one of the stififcst runs of the season 
 only the day before. 
 
 "Is your master here. Bill ? " asked Jack of the small urchin, 
 who barely reached the bar of the bit. 
 
 " No, sir ; it's Miss Julia has druv over. Master's fishing this 
 morniug." 
 
 Now Julia L'Estrange was a very pretty girl, and with a captiva- 
 tion of manner which to the young sailor was irresistible. She had 
 been brought up in France, and imbibed that peculiar quiet coquetry 
 which, in its quaint demureuess, suggests just enough doubt of its 
 sincerity to be provocative. She was dark enough to be a Spaniard 
 from the south of Spain, and her long black eyelashes were darker 
 even than her eyes. In her v.'alk and her gesture there was that also 
 which reminded one of Spain : the same blended litheness and 
 dignity ; and there was a firmness in her tread which took nothing 
 from its elasticity. 
 
 When Jack heard that she was in the house, instead of hurrying 
 in to meet her he sat moodily down on the steps of the door and
 
 ON THE CROQUET LAWN. 17 
 
 lighted his cigar. " What's the use ? " muttered he, and the same 
 depressing sentence recurred to him again and again. They are 
 very dark moments in life in which we have to confess to our.sclves 
 that, fight how we may, f\ite must beat us ; that the very utmost we 
 can do is to maintain a fierce struggle with destiny, but that in the 
 end we must succumb. The more frequently poor Jack saw her, the 
 more hopelessly he felt his lot. What was he, — what could he ever 
 be, to aspire to such a girl as Julia ? Was not the very presumption 
 a thing to laugh at ? He thought of how his elder brother would 
 entertain such a notion ; the cold solemnity with which he would 
 ridicule his pretensions ; and then Temple would treat him to some 
 profound rellections on the misery of poor marriages ; while Marion 
 would chime in with some cutting reproaches on the selfishness with 
 which, to gratify a caprice — she would call it a caprice — he ignored 
 the just pretensions of his family, and the imperative ueces-;ity that 
 pressed them to secure their position in the world by great alliauces. 
 This was Marion's code : it took three generations to make a family ; 
 the first must be wealthy ; the second, by the united force of money 
 and abilit}', secure a certain station of power and social influence ; 
 the third must fortify these by marriages — marriages of distinc- 
 tion ; after which mere time would do the rest. 
 
 She had hoped much from her father's second marriage, and was 
 grievously disappointed on finding how her stepmother's family 
 affected displeasiu'e at the match as a reason for a coldness towai'ds 
 them ; while Lady Augusta herself as openly showed that she had 
 stooped to the union merely to secure herself against the accidents 
 of life, and raise her above the misery of living on a very small 
 income. 
 
 Jack was thinking moodily over all these things as he sat there, 
 and with such depression of spirit that he half resolved, instead of 
 slaying out his full leave, to return to his ship at Portsmouth, and 
 so forget shore life and all its fascinations. He heard the sound of 
 a piano, and shortly after the rich delicious tones of Julia's voice. It 
 was that mellow quality of sound that musicians call mezzo soprano, 
 whose gift it is to steal softly over the senses and steep them in a 
 sweet rapture of peaceful delight. As the strains floated out, he felt 
 as though the measure of incantation was running over for him, and 
 he arose with a bouud find hurried otf into the wood. " I'll start to- 
 morrow. I'll not let thii folly master me," muttered he. *' A fellow 
 who can't stand up against his own fancies is not worth his salt. Til 
 go on board again and think of my duty," and he tried to assure him- 
 self that of all living men a sailor had least excuse for such weak- 
 nesses as these. 
 
 2
 
 18 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 He had not ranch sympathy -with the family ambitions. He 
 thought that as they had wealth enough to live v.'ell and handsomely, 
 fi good station in the worhl, and not anyone detracting element from 
 their good-luck, either as regarded character or health, it was down- 
 right ingratitude to go in search of disappointments and defeats. It 
 was, to his thinking, like a ship with plenty of sea-room rushing 
 madly on to her ruin amongst the breakers. " I think Nelly is of my 
 own mind," said he, "but who can say how long she will continue 
 to be so ? theso stupid notions of being great folk will get hold of her 
 at last. The high-minded Marion and that great genius Temple are 
 certain to prevail in the end, and I shall always be a splendid example 
 to point at and show the melancholy consequences of degenerate tastes 
 and ignoble ambitions." 
 
 The sharp trot of a horse on the gravel road beside him startled 
 him in his musings, and the pony-carriage whisked rapidly by ; 
 Augustus driving and Julia at his side. She was laughing. Her 
 meiiy laugh rang out above the brisk jingle of horse and harness, 
 and to the poor sailor it sounded like the knell of all bis hopes. 
 " "What a confounded fool I was not to remember I had an elder 
 brother," said he, bitterly. That he added something inaudible 
 about the perfidious nature of girls is possibly true, but not being in 
 evidence it is not necessary to record it. 
 
 Let us turn from the disconsolate youth to what is ccrtes a prettier 
 picture — the croquet lawn behind the house, where the two sisters, 
 with the accomplished Temple, were engaged at a game. 
 
 "I hope, girls," said he, in one of his very finest drawls, " the 
 future head of house and hopes is not going to make a precious fool 
 of himself." 
 
 "You mean vdth the curate's sister," said Marion, with a saucy 
 toss of her head. " I scarcely think he could be so absurd." 
 
 " I can't sec the absurdity," broke in Ellen. " I think a duke 
 might make her a duckess, and no great condescension in the act." 
 
 " Quito true, Nelly," said Temple ; " that's exactly what a duke 
 might do ; but Mr. Bramleigh cannot. "When you are at the top of 
 the ladder, there's nothing left for you but to come down again ; but 
 the man at the bottom has to try to go up." 
 
 "But why must there be a ladder at all, Temple ? " asked she 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Isn't that speech Nelly all over ? " cried Marion, haughtily. 
 
 "I hope it is," said Ellen, "if it serves to convey what I faith- 
 fully believe, — that we arc great fools in not enjoying a very pleasant 
 lot in life instead of addressing ourselves to ambitious far and away 
 beyond lis."
 
 ox THE CROQUfiT L.VWN. 19 
 
 " And which be they ■?" asked Temple, crossing his arms over 
 his mallet, ami standing like a soldier on guard. 
 
 " To he high and titled, or if not titled, to he accepted among 
 that class, and treated as their equals in rank and condition." 
 
 " And why not, Nelly? What is this wonderful ten thousand 
 that we all worship ? Whence is it recruited, and how ? These 
 double wallflowers are not cf Nature's making ; they all come of 
 culture, of fine mould, careful watering, and good gardening. They 
 were single-petalled once on a time, like ourselves. Mind, it is no 
 radical says this, girls — ' moi qui vous parle ' am no revolutionist, 
 no leveller 1 I like these grand conditions, because they give existence 
 its best stimulus, its noblest aspirations. The higher one goes in 
 life — as on a mountain — the more pure the air and the wider the 
 view." 
 
 "And do you mean to tell me that Augustus would consult his 
 happiness better in marrying some fine lady, like our grand step- 
 mamma for instance, than a charming girl like Julia ? " said 
 Ellen. 
 
 "If Augustus' notions of happiness were to be measured by mine, 
 I should say yes, unquestionably yes. Love is a very fleeting 
 sentiment. The cost of the article, too, suggests most uncomfortable 
 reflections. All the more as the memory comes when the acquisition 
 itself is beginning to lose value. My former chief at Munich — the 
 cleverest man of the world I ever met — used to say, as an investment, 
 .1 pretty wife was a mistake. ' If,' said he, ' you laid out your money 
 on a picture, your venture might turn out a bargain ; if you bought a 
 colt, your two-year-old might win a Derby ; but your beauty of to-day 
 will be barely good-looking in five years, and will be a positive fright 
 in fifteen.' " 
 
 " " Your accomplished friend was an odious beast!" said Nelly. 
 " What was his name. Temple ? " 
 
 " Lord Culdutf, one of the first diplomatists in Europe." 
 
 " Culdufi' ? How strange ! Pupa's agent, Mr. Harding, 
 mentioned the name at breakfast. He said there was a nobleman 
 come over from Germany to see his estates in the north of Down, 
 where they had some hopes of having discovered coal." 
 
 " Is it possible Lord Culduft" could be in our neighbourhood ? 
 The governor must ask him here at once," said Temple, with an 
 animation of manner most unusual with hnn. " There must be no time 
 lost about this. Finish your game without me, girls, for this matter 
 is imminent; " and so saying, he resigned his mallet and hastened 
 away to the house. 
 
 " I never saw Temple so eager about anything before," said
 
 20 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 Nelly. " It's quite charming to see Low the mere mention of a grand 
 name can call forth all his energy." 
 
 " Temple knows the world very well ; and he knows how the 
 whole game of life is conducted by a very few players, and that every 
 one who desires to push his way must secure the intimacy, if he can, 
 or at least the acquaintance, of these." And Marion delivered this 
 speech with a most oracular and pretentious tone. 
 
 " Yes," said Nelly, with a droll sparkle in her eye ; " he declared 
 that profound statement last evening in the very same words. Who 
 shall say it is not an immense advantage to have a brother so full of 
 sage maxims, while his sisters are seen to catch up his words of 
 wisdom, and actually believe them to be their own ? " 
 
 " Temple may not be a Talleyrand ; but he is certainly as brilliant 
 as the charming Curate," said Marion, tartly. 
 
 " Oh, poor George ! " cried Nelly ; and her cheek flushed while 
 she tried to seem iuditfereut. " Nobody ever called him a genius. 
 "When one says he is very good-looking and very good-humoured, 
 tout est dit ! " 
 
 " He is very much out of place as a parson." 
 
 " Granted. I suspect he thinks so himself." 
 
 " Men usually feel that they cannot take orders without some 
 stronger impulse than a mere desire to gain a livelihood." 
 
 " I have never talked to him on the matter ; but perhaps he had 
 no great choice of a career." 
 
 "He might have gone into the army, I suppose? He'd have 
 found scores of creatures there with about his own measure of 
 intelligence." 
 
 " I fancied you liked George, Marion," said the other. And 
 there was something half tender, half reproachful, in her tone. 
 
 " I liked him so far, that it was a boon to find anything so like a 
 gentleman in this wild savageiy ; but if you mean that I would have 
 endured him in town, or would have noticed him in society, you are 
 strangely mistaken." 
 
 "Poor George! " and there was something comic in her glance 
 as she sighed these words out. 
 
 " There ; you have won," said Marion, throwing down her mallet. 
 " I must go and hear what Temple is going to do. It would be a 
 great blessing to see a man of the world and a man of mark in this 
 dreary spot, and I hope papa will not lose the present opportunity to 
 secure him." 
 
 "Arc you alone, Nelly?" said her eldest brother, some time 
 after, as he came up, and found her sitting, lost in thought, under 
 a tree.
 
 ON THE CROQUfiT LAWN. 21 
 
 "Yes. Marion got tired and weut iu, and Temple went to ask 
 papa about inviting sonio liigh and mighty personage who chances to 
 be iu our neighbourhood." 
 
 " Who is he ? " 
 
 " Lord Cuhlufif, he called him." 
 
 " Oh ! a tremendous swell ; an ambassador somewhere. What 
 brings him down here ? " 
 
 " I forget. Yes ! it was something about a mine ; he has found 
 tin, or copper, or coal, I don't remember which, on some property of 
 his here. By the way, Augustus, do you really think George 
 L'Estrange a fool ? " 
 
 "Think him a fool ? " 
 
 " I mean," said she, blushing deeply, " Marion holds his intelli- 
 gence so cheaply that she is quite shocked at his presuming to be 
 in orders." 
 
 " Well, I don't think him exactly what Temple calls an ' esprit 
 fort,' but he is a very nice fellow, very companionable, and a thorough 
 gentleman in all respects." 
 
 " How well you have said it, dear Augustus," said she, with a 
 face beaming with delight. "Where are you oli' to? Where are 
 you going?" 
 
 " I am going to see the yearlings, iu the paddock below the 
 river." 
 
 " May I go with you, Gussy ? " said she, drawing her arm within 
 his. " I do like a brisk walk with you ; and you always go like one 
 with a purpose." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COXFIDEXTIAL TALK. 
 
 Temple found his father in his study, deeply engaged with a mass of 
 papers and letters, and by the worn and fatigued expression of his 
 face showing that he had passed a day of hard work. 
 
 " I hope I do not disturb you," said Temple, as he leaned on the 
 table at which the other was seated. 
 
 " Throw that cigar away, and I'll tell you," said the old man, 
 with a faint smile. " I never can conquer my aversion to tobacco. 
 What do you want to say ? Is it anything we cannot talk over at 
 dinner, or after dinner ? — for this post leaves at such an inconvenient 
 hour, it gives me scant time to write."
 
 22 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I beg a thousacu pardons, sir ; but I have just beard that a 
 very distinguished member of our corps — I mean the diplomatic corps 
 — is down in this neighbourhood, and I Avant your permission to ask 
 him over here." 
 
 "Who is he?" 
 
 "Lord Culduff." 
 
 "What! that old scamp -uho ran away with Lady Clifford ? I 
 thought he couldn't come to England ? " 
 
 " Why, sir, he is one of the first men we have. It was he that 
 negotiated the Erzeroum treaty, and I heard Sir Stamford Bolter say 
 he was the only man in England who understood the Sound dues." 
 
 " He ran off with another man's wife, and I don't like t^iat." 
 
 " Well, sir, as he didn't marry her afterwards, it was clear it was 
 only a passing indiscretion." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! that view of it never occurred to me. I suppose, 
 then, it is in this light the corps regards it ? " 
 
 " I trust so, sir. Where there is no complication there is no loss 
 of character ; and as Lord Culduff is received everywhere, and coarted 
 in the very best circles, I think it would be somewhat strange if we 
 were to set up to teach the world how it ought to treat him." 
 
 " I have no such pretension. I simply claim the right to choose 
 the people I invite to my house." 
 
 " He may be my chief to-morrow or next day," said Temple. 
 
 " So much the worse for you." 
 
 " Certainly not, sir, if we seize the opportunity to show him some 
 attentions. He is a most high-bred gentleman, and from his abilities, 
 his rank, and his connections, sure to be at the head of the line ; and 
 I confess I'd be very much ashamed if he were to hear, as he is sure 
 to hear, that I was in his vicinity without my ever having gone to 
 wait on him." 
 
 "Go by all means, then. Wait upon him at once, Temple ; but 
 I tell you frankly, I don't fancy presenting such a man to your 
 sisters." 
 
 "Why, sir, there is not a more unobjectionable man in all 
 England ; his manners are the very type of respectful deference 
 towards ladies. He belongs to that old school which professes to bo 
 shocked with modern levity, while his v/hole conversation is a sort of 
 quiet homage." 
 
 " Well, well ; how long would he stay — a week ? " 
 
 " A couple of days, perhaps, if he came at all. Indeed, I greatly 
 doubt that he would come. They say he is here about some coal- 
 mine thoy have discovered on his property." 
 
 " What ! has he found coal ? " cried the old man, eagerly.
 
 CONFIDENTIAL TALK. 23 
 
 " So it is said, sir ; or, at least, he hopes so." 
 " It's only liguite. I'm certain it's ouly lignite. I have Leon 
 deceived myself twice or thrice, and I don't believe coal — real cjaI — 
 exists in this part of Ireland." 
 
 " Of that, I can tell you nothing; he, however, will only 'oe too 
 glad to talk the matter over with you." 
 
 " Yes ; it is an interesting topic, — very interesting. Sneii says 
 that the great carboniferous strata are all in Ireland, but tha,t they 
 lie deep and demand vast capital to work them. He predicts a great 
 manufacturing prosperity to the country when Manchester and 
 Birmingham will have sunk into ruins. He opines that this lignite 
 is a mere indication of the imoiense vein of true carbon beneath. 
 But what should this old debauchee know of a great industrial theme ! 
 His v.hole anxiety will be to turn it to some immediate profit. He'll 
 be looking for a loan, you'll see. Mark my words, Temple, he'il 
 want an advance on his colliery." And he gave one of those rich 
 chuckling laughs which are as peculiar to the moneyed classes as 
 ever a simpering smile was to enamelled beauty. 
 
 " I don't say," added he, after a moment, that the scheme may 
 not be a good one — an excellent one. Sampson says that all naanu- 
 foctures will be transferred to Ireland yet, — that this will be in some 
 future time the great seat of national industry and national v/eaith. 
 Let your grand friend come then by all means ; there is at least one 
 topic we can talk over together." 
 
 Too happy to risk the success he had obtained by any further 
 discussion. Temple hurried away to give orders for the great man's 
 reception. There was a small suite of rooms, Vv'hich had been 
 furnished with unusual care and elegance when it was believed that 
 Lady Augusta would have honoured Castello with her presence. 
 Indeed, she had so far favoured the belief aa to design some of 
 the decorations herself, and had photographs taken of the rooms 
 and the furnituie, as well as of the views Vihich presented them- 
 selves from the windows. 
 
 Though these rooms were on the second floor, they v.ere 
 accessible from without by a carriage-drive, which wound gradually 
 up among the terraced gardens to a sort of plateau, v.here a marble 
 fountain stood, with a group of Naiads in the midst, over whom a 
 perpetual spray fell like a veil ; the whole surrounded with flowery 
 shrubs and rare plants, sheltered from east and north Ly a strong 
 belt of trees, and actually imparting to the favoured spot the 
 chai-acter of a southern climate and country. 
 
 As tlie gardener was careful to replace the exhausted or faded 
 flowers by others in full bloo'.n, and as on every available day he
 
 24 THE BRAJILEIGHS OF BISHOP* S FOLLY. 
 
 displayed here the richest treasures of his conservatoiy, thei'e was 
 Fomething singularly beautiful in the contrast of this foreground, 
 glowing in tropical luxuriance, with the massive forest-trees down 
 below, and farther in the distance the stern and rugged lines of the 
 Mourne Mou^itains, as they frowned on the sea. 
 
 Within doors, everything that wealth could contribute to comfort 
 was pi'esent, and though there was magnificence in the costly silk of 
 the hangings and the velvety richness of the carpets, the prevailing 
 impression was that it was enjoyment, not splendour, was sought 
 for. There were few pictures — a Ruysdael over the fireplace in the 
 Ai'awing-room, and two or three Ciiyps — placid scenes of low-lying 
 landscapes, bathed in soft sunsets. The doors were all hidden by 
 heavy curtains, and a sense of voluptuous snugness seemed the 
 spirit of the place. 
 
 The keys of this precious suite were in Marion's keeping, and 
 as she walked through the rooms with Temple, and expatiated on 
 the reckless expenditure bestowed on them, she owned that for any 
 less distinguished guest than the great diplomatist she would never 
 liave consented to their being opened. Temple, however, was loud 
 in his praises, went over his high connections and titled relatives, 
 his great services, and the immense reputation they had given him, 
 and, last of all, he spoke of his personal qualities, the charm of his 
 manner, and the captivation of his address, so that finally she 
 became as eager as himself to see this great and gifted man 
 beneath their roof. 
 
 During the evening they talked much together of what they 
 should do to entertain their illustrious guest. There was, so to 
 say, no neighbourhood, nor any possibility of having people to meet 
 him, and they must, consequently, look to their home resources to 
 amuse him. 
 
 " I hope Augustus will he properly attentive," said Temple. 
 
 " I'm certain he will. I'm more afraid of Nelly, if there be 
 anything strange or peculiar in Lord CuLliift's manner. She never 
 puts any curb on her enjoyment of an oddity, and you'll certainly 
 have to caution her that her huraouristic talents must be kept in 
 abeyance just now." 
 
 " I can trust Lord CuldufiTs manner to repress any tendency of 
 this kind. Rely upon it, his courtly urbanity and high tone will 
 protect him from all indiscretions ; and Nelly — I'm sorry to say 
 it, Marion — but Nelly is vulgar." 
 
 " She is certainly too familiar on fresh acquaintance. I have 
 told her more than once that you do not always please people by 
 showing you are on good terms with yourself. It is a great mis-
 
 CONFIDENTIAL TALK. 25 
 
 fortune to her that she never was " out " before she carac here. 
 One season in town would have done more for her than all our 
 precepts.'* 
 
 " Particularly as she heeds them so little," said Temple, 
 snajipishly. 
 
 " Cannot we manage to have some people to meet Lord Culduff 
 at dinner ? Who are the Gages who left their cards ? " 
 
 "They sent them — not left them. Montifort Gage is the 
 master of the hounds, and, I believe, a person of some consider- 
 ation here. He does not, however, appear to invite much intimacy. 
 His note acknowledging our subscription — it was a hundred pounds 
 too — was of the coldest, a^d we exchanged a very few formal words 
 at the meet yesterday." 
 
 " Are we going to repeat the Herefordshire experiment here, 
 then ? " And she asked the question with a sparkling eye and a 
 flushed cheek, as though the feeling it excited was not easily to be 
 repressed. 
 
 " There's a Sir Roger Kennedy, too, has called." 
 
 " Yes, and Harding says he is married ; but his wife's name is 
 not on the card." 
 
 " I take it they know very little of the habits of the world. Let 
 us remember, M-irion, where we are. Iceland is next door but one. 
 I thought Harding v.-ould have looked to all this ; he ought to have 
 taken care that the county was properly attentive. An agent never 
 wishes to see his chief reside on the property. It is like in my 
 own career, — one is only charge-d'affaires when the head of the 
 legation is on leave." 
 
 " And this was the county, we were told, was ready to receive us 
 with a sort of frantic enthusiasm. I wonder. Temple, do people 
 ever tell the truth ! " 
 
 " Yes, when they want you not to believe them. You see, 
 Marion, we blundered here pretty much as we blundered in England. 
 You'll not get the governor to believe it, nor perhaps even Augustus, 
 but there is a diplomacy of cveiy-day life, and people who fancy they 
 can dispense with it invariably come to grief. Now I always told 
 them — indeed I grew tired telling them — every mile that separate? 
 you from a Capital diminishes the power of your money. In the 
 city you reign supreme, but to be a county magnate you need scores 
 of things beside a long credit at your banker's." 
 
 A very impatient toss of the head showed that Marion hci'self was 
 not fully a convert to these sage opinions, and it was with a half-rude 
 abruptness that she broke in by asking how he intended to convey 
 his invitation to Lord Culduff.
 
 26 THE LIUMLEIGHS OF LISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " There's the difficulty," said he, gravely. " He is goiug about 
 from one place to another. Harding says he was at Rathbeggan on 
 Sunday last, and was going on to Diuasker next day. I have been 
 looking over the map, hut I see no roads to these places. I think 
 our best plan is to despatch Lacy with a letter. Lacy is the 
 smartest fellow we have, and I think will be sure to find him. But 
 the letter, too, is a puzzle." 
 
 "Why should it be? It will he, I suppose, a mere formal 
 invitation ? " 
 
 " No, no. It would never do so say, Colonel Bramleigh 
 presents his compliments, and requests — and so on. The thing 
 must have another tone. It ought to have a certain turn of 
 expression." 
 
 "I am not aware of what amount of acquaintanceship exists 
 between you and Lord Culdufl"," said she stifily. 
 
 "The very least in life. I suspect if we met in a club we 
 should pass without speaking. I arrived at his Legation on the 
 morning he was starting on leave. I remember he asked me to 
 breakfast, but I declined, as I had been three days and nights on 
 the road, and wanted to get to bed. I never met him since. What 
 makes you look so serious, Marion ? " 
 
 "I'm thinking what we shall do with him if becomes. Does 
 he shoot, or hunt, or fish ? — can you give him any out-o'-door 
 occupation ? " 
 
 "I'm quite abroad as to all his tastes and habits. I only know 
 so much of him as pertains to his character in the ' line ; ' but I'll 
 go and write my note. I'll come back and show you what I have 
 said," added he, as he gained the door. 
 
 When Marion was left alone to reflect over her brother's v/ords, 
 she was not altogether pleased. She was no convert to his opinions 
 as to the necessity of any peculiar stratagem in the campaign of life. 
 Sl.'j had se?n the house in town crowded Avith very great and dis- 
 tinguished company ; she had observed how wealth asserted itself in 
 society, and she could not perceive that in their acceptance bj' the 
 world, there was any the slightest deficiency of deference and respect. 
 If they had failed in their county experiment in England, it was, she 
 thought, because her father rashly took up an extreme position in 
 politics, a mihtake which Augustus indeed saw and protested against, 
 but which some rash advisers were able to over-persuade the Colonel 
 into adopting. 
 
 Lady Augusta, too, was an evidence that the better classes did 
 not decline this alliance, and on the whole she felt that Temple's 
 reasonings were the oflshoots of his peculiar set ; that small priest-
 
 CONFIDENTIAL TALK. 27 
 
 hood of society ■who hokl themselves so essentially above the great 
 body of mankind. 
 
 " Not that wc must make any more mistakes, however," thought 
 she. " Not that wc can aflbrd another defeat ; " and as she arrived 
 at t^iis sage judgment, Temple entered, with some sheets of notepaper 
 in his hand. 
 
 " I'm not quite satisfied with any of these, Marion ; I suspect I 
 must just content myself with a mere formal ' requests the 
 company.' " 
 
 " Let me hear what you have said." 
 
 "Here's the first," said he, reading. " 'My dear Lord, — The 
 lucky accident of your lordship's presence in this neighbourhood : — 
 "which I have only accidentally learned.' " 
 
 " dear, no ! that's a chapter of ' accidents.' " 
 
 " Well; listen to this one: 'If I can trust to a rumour that, 
 has just reached us here, but which, it is possible our hopes may 
 have given a credence to, that stern fact will subsequently deny, or 
 reject, or contradict.' I'm not fully sure which verb to take." 
 
 " Much worse than the other," said Marion. 
 
 " It's all the confounded language ; I could turn it in French to 
 perfection." 
 
 " But I fancied your whole life was passed in this sort of phrase- 
 fashioning, Temple ? " said she, half smiling. 
 
 "Nothing of the kind. We keep the vernacular only for post- 
 paper, and it always begins : ' My Lord, — Since by my despatch 
 No. 7,028, in which I reported to your lordship the details of an 
 interview accorded me by the Secretary of State for Foreign Aflairs 
 of this Government ; ' and so on. Now all this, to the polite inter- 
 course of society, is pretty much what singlestick is to the rapier. I 
 wish you'd do this for me, Marion. After so many baulks, one always 
 ends by a tumble." 
 
 " I declare I see no occasion for smartness or epigram. I'd 
 simply say, ' I have only just heard that you are iu our neighbour- 
 hood, and I beg to convey my father's hope and request that you will 
 not leave it without giving us the honour of your company here.' 
 You can throw in as many of your personal sentiments as may serve, 
 like wool in a packing-case, to keep the whole tight and compact; but 
 I think something like tbat would suffice." 
 
 "Perhnps so," said he, musingly, as he once more returned to 
 his room. When he reappeared, after some minutes, it was with the 
 air and look of a man who had just thrown off some weighty burden, 
 " Thank heaven, it's done and despatched," said he. " I have 
 been looking over the F. 0. Guide, to see whether I addressed him
 
 28 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 aright. I fancied he was a Privy Councillor, and I find he is not ; 
 he°is a K.C.B., however, and a Gaelph, with leave to wear 
 the star." 
 
 "Very gratifying to us — I mean if he should come here," said 
 she, with a mocking smile. 
 
 " Don't pretend you do not value all these things fully as much 
 as myself, Marion. You know well what the world thinks of them. 
 These distinctions were no more made by us than the money of the 
 realm ; but we use one of them like the other, well aware that it 
 represents a certain value, and is never disputed." 
 
 " How old is your friend ? " 
 
 " Well, he is certainly not young. Here's what F. 0. contributes 
 to his biography. ' Entered the army as cornet in the 2ud Life 
 Guards, 1816.' A precious long time ago that. ' First groom of 
 the bedchamber — promoted — placed on half-pay — entered diplomatic 
 service — in — 19 ; special mission to Hanover — made Iv.C.B. — con- 
 tested Essex, and returned on a petition — went back to diplomacy, 
 and named special envoy to Teheran.' Ah ! now y;e are coming to 
 bis real career." 
 
 " Oh, dear. I'd rather hear about him somewhat earlier," said 
 she, taking the book out of his baud, and throwing it on the table. 
 " It is a great penalty to pay for greatness to be gibbeted in this 
 fashion. Don't you think so. Temple ? " 
 
 "I wish I could see myself gibbeted, as you call it." 
 
 "If the will makes the way, we ought to be very great people," 
 said she, with a smile, half derisive, half real. " Jack, perhaps 
 not ; nor Ellen. They have booked themselves in second-class 
 carriages." 
 
 " I'll go and look up Harding ; he is a secret sort of a fellow. 
 I believe all agents assume that manner to every one but the head of 
 the house ami the heir. But perhaps I could manage to find out 
 why these people have not called upon us ; there must be something 
 in it." 
 
 " I protest I think we ought to feel grateful to them; an exchange 
 of hospitalities with them would be awful." 
 
 " Very likely ; but I think we ought to have had the choice, and 
 this they have not given us." 
 
 " And even for that I am grateful," said she, as with a har.ghty 
 look she rose and left the room.
 
 ( 29 ) 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 UP IN THE MOUXTAINS. 
 
 About eighteen miles from Bishop's Folly, and in the very midst of 
 the Mourne Mountaias, a lo^Y spur of land projects into the sea by a 
 thin narrow promontory, so narrow, indeed, that in days of heavy 
 sea and strong wind, the waves have been seen to meet across it. 
 Some benevolent individual had once conceived the idea of planting 
 a small lighthouse here, as a boon to the fishermen who frequent the 
 coast. The lighthouse was built, but never occupied, and after 
 standing some years in a slate of half ruin, was turned into a sort 
 of humble inn or shebeen, most probably a mere pretext to cover its 
 real employment as a depot for smuggled goods ; for in the days of 
 high duties French silks and brandies found many channels into 
 Ireland beside the road that lay through her Majesty's customs. 
 Mr., or, as he was more generally called, Tim Mackessy, the 
 proprietor, was a well-known man in those parts. He followed 
 what in Ireland for some years back has been as much a profession 
 as law or physic, and occasionally a more lucrative line than either — • 
 Patriotism. He was one of those ready, voluble, self-asserting 
 fellows, who abound in Ireland, but whose favour is not the less with 
 their countrymen from the fact of their frequency. He had, he said, 
 a father, who suffered for his country in ninety-eight ; and he had 
 himself maintained the family traditions by being twice imprisoned 
 in Carrickfergus Gaol, and narrowly escaping transportation for life. 
 On the credit of this martjTdom, and the fact that Mr. O'Connell once 
 called him "honest Tim Mackessy," he had lived in honour and 
 repute amongst such of his countrymen as " fccl the yoke and abhor 
 the rule of the Saxon." 
 
 For the present, we are, however, less occupied by Tim and his 
 political opinions than by two guests, who had arrived a couple of 
 days before, and were now seated at breakfast in that modest apart- 
 ment called the best parlour. Two men less like in appearance 
 might not readily be found. One, thin, fresh-looking, with handsome 
 but haughty features, slightly stooped, but to all seeming as much 
 from hal)it as from any debility, was Lord Culdulf ; his age might 
 be computed by some reference to the list of his services, but would 
 have been a puzzling calculation from a mere inspection of himself. 
 In figure and build, he might be anything from five-and-thirty to two 
 or three and forty; in face, at a close inspection, he might have been 
 high up in the sixties.
 
 30 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 His companion was a middle-sized, middle-aged man, with a 
 mass of bushy curly black hair, a round bullet head, wide-set eyes, 
 nnd a short nose, of the leonine pattern; his mouth, large and thick- 
 lipped, had all that mobility that denotes talker and eater : for Mr. 
 Outbill, civil engineer and architect, was both garrulous and gour- 
 mand, and lived in the happy enjoyment of being thought excellent 
 company, and a first-rate judge of a dinner. He was musical too ; 
 he played the violoncello with some skill, and was an associate of 
 various philharmonics, who performed fantasias and fugues to dreary 
 old ladies and snuflfy old bachelors, who found the amusement an 
 economy that exacted nothing more costly than a little patience. 
 Among these Tom Cutbill was a man of wit and man of the world. 
 His career brought him from time to time into contact with persons 
 of high station and rank, and these he ventilated amongst his set in 
 the most easy manner, familiarly talking of Beaufort, and Argv-le, and 
 Cleveland, as though they were household words. 
 
 It was reported that he had some cleverness as an actor ; and he 
 might have had, for the man treated life as a drama, and was 
 eternally representing something, — some imaginary character, — till 
 any little fragment of reality in him had been entirely rubbed out by 
 the process, and he remained the mere personation of whatever the 
 society he chanced to be in wanted or demanded of him. 
 
 He had been recommended to Lord Culduff's notice by his lord- 
 ship's Loudon agent, who had said, — " He knows the scientific part 
 of his business as well as the great swells of his profession, and he 
 knows the world a precious sight better than they do. They could 
 tell you if you have coal, but he will do that and more ; he will tell 
 you what to do with it." It was on the advice thus given Lord 
 Culduff had secured his services, and taken him over to Ireland. It 
 was a bitter pill to swallow, for this old brokcu-down man of fashion, 
 selfindulgent, fastidious, and refined, to travel in such company ; 
 but his allairs were in a sad state, from years of extravagance and 
 high living, and it was only by the supposed discovery of these mines 
 on this unprofitable part of his estate that his creditors consented to 
 defer that settlement which might sweep away almost all that 
 remained to him. Cutbill was told, too, — " His lordship is rather 
 hard-up just now, and cannot be liberal as he could wish ; but he is 
 a charming person to know, and will treat you like a brother." The 
 one chink in this shrewd fellow's armour was his snobbcrv-. It was 
 told of him once, in a very dangerous illness, when all means of 
 inducing perspiration had failed, that some one said, — " Try him 
 with a Lord, it never failed with Tom yet." If an untitled squire 
 had proposed to take Mr. Cutbill over special to Ireland for a
 
 UP IN THE MOUNTAINS! . 81 
 
 hunili'ecl-pouiul noto and hi? expeuses, he would have indignantly 
 refused the ofTer, and assisted the proposer besides to some unpala- 
 table reflections on his knowledge of life ; the thought, however, of 
 journeying as Lord Culduff's intimate friend, being treated as his 
 brother, thrown, from the very nature of the country they travelled 
 in, into close relations, and left free to improve the acquaintance by 
 all those social wiles and accomplishments on which he felt he could 
 pride himself, was a bribe not to be resisted. And thus was it that 
 these two men, so unlike in every respect, found themselves fellow- 
 travellers and companions. 
 
 A number of papers, plans, and drawings littered the breakfast- 
 table at which they were seated, and one of these, representing the 
 little promontory of arid rock, tastefully coloured and converted 
 into a handsome pier, with flights of steps descending to the water, 
 and massive cranes swinging bulky masses of morchandiso into tall- 
 masted ships, was just then beneath his lordship's double eyeglass. 
 
 " Where may all this be, Cutbill ? is it Irish ? " asked he. 
 
 " It is to be out yonder, my lord," said he, pointing through the 
 little window to the rugged line of rocks, over which the sea w'as 
 breaking in measured rhythm. 
 
 "You don't mean there ? " said Lord Culduff, half horrified. 
 
 "Yes, my lord, there! Your lordship is doubtless not aware 
 that of all her Majesty's faithful lieges the speculative ai'e the least 
 gifted with the imaginative faculty, and to supply this unhappy want 
 in their natures, we, whose function it is to suggest great industrial 
 schemes or large undertakings, — we ' Promoters,' as we are called, 
 are obliged to supply, not merely by description, but actually 
 pictorially, the results which success will in due time arrive at. We 
 have, as the poet says, to annihilate * both time a:id space,' and 
 arrive at a goal which no effort of these worthy people's minds could 
 possibly attain to. What your lordship is now looking at is a case 
 in point, and however little promising the present aspect of that 
 coast-line may seem, time and money, — yes, my lord, time and money 
 — the two springs of all success — will make even greater change than 
 you see depicted here." 
 
 Mr. Cutbill delivered these words with a somewhat pompous tone, 
 and in a voice such as he might have used in addressing an acting 
 committee or a special board of works ; for one of his fancies was, to 
 believe himself an orator of no mean power. 
 
 " I trust, I fervently trust, Mr. Cutbill," said his lordship 
 nervously, " that the coal-fields are somewhat nigher the stage of 
 being remunerative than that broken line of rock is to Ibis fanciful 
 picture before me."
 
 82 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Wealth, my lord, like heat, has its latent conditions." 
 
 " Condescend to a more commonplace tone, sir, in consideration 
 of my ignorance, and tell me frankly, is the mine as far from reality, 
 as that reef there ? " 
 
 Fortunately for Mr. Cutbill perhaps, the door was opened at this 
 critical juncture, and the landlord presented himself with a note, 
 stating that the groom who brought it would wait for the answer. 
 
 Somewhat agitated by the turn of his conversation with the 
 engineer, Lord Cukluff tore open the letter, and ran his eyes towards 
 tlie end to see the signature. 
 
 "Who is Bramleigh — Temple Bramleigh ? Oh, I remember, 
 an attache. What's all this about Castello ? Where's Castello ? " 
 
 " That's the name they give the Bishop's Folly, my lord," said 
 the landlord, with a half grin. 
 
 " Wliat business have these people to know I am here at all ? 
 Why must they persecute me ? You told me, Cutbill, that I was 
 not to be discovered." 
 
 *' So I did, my lord, and I made the Down Express call you 
 Mr. Morris, of Charing Cross," 
 
 His lordship winced a little at the thought of such a liberty, 
 even for a disguise, but he was now engaged with the note, and 
 read on without speaking. 
 
 " Nothing could be more courteous, certainly," said he, folding 
 it up, and laying it beside him on the table. 
 
 "They invite me over to — what's the name? — Castello, and 
 promise me perfect liberty as regards my time. ' To make the 
 place my head-quarters,' as he says. Who are these Bramleighs ? 
 You know every one, Cutbill ; who are they ? " 
 
 " Bramleigh and Underwood are bankers, very old-established 
 firm. Old Bramleigh was a brewer, at Slough ; George the Third 
 never would drink any other stout than Bramleigh's. There was 
 a large silver flagon, called the ' King's Quaigh," always brought 
 out when his Majesty rode by, and very vain old Bramleigh used 
 to be of it, though I don't think it figures now on the son's side- 
 board — they have leased the brewery." 
 
 " Oh, they have leased the brewery, have they ? " 
 
 " That they have ; the present man got himself made Colonel 
 of militia, and meant to be a county member, and he might too, 
 if he hadn't been in too great a hurry about it ; but county people 
 won't stand being carried by assault. Then they made other 
 mistakes ; tried it on with the Liberals, in a shire where everything 
 that called itself gentleman was Tory ; in fact, they plunged from 
 one hole into another, till thoy regularly swamped themselves ; and
 
 UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. 88 
 
 as tLeir house held a large mortgage on these estates in Ireland, 
 they paid off the other encumbrances and have come to live here. 
 I know the whole story, for it was an old friend of mine who made 
 the plans for restoriug the mansion." 
 
 "I suspect that the men in your profession, Cutbill, know as 
 much of the private history of English families as any in the 
 land ? " 
 
 " More, my lord ; far more even than the solicitors, for people 
 suspect the solicitors, and they never suspect us. We are detectives 
 in plain clothes." 
 
 The pleasant chuckle with which Mr. Cutbill finished his 
 speech was not responded to by his lordship, who felt that the 
 other should have accepted his compliment, without any attempt 
 on his own part to " cap " it. 
 
 " How long do you imagine I may be detained here, Cutbill"? " 
 asked he, after a pause. 
 
 "Let us say a week, my lord, or ten days at furthest. AVe 
 ought certainly to see that new pit opened, before you leave." 
 
 " In that case I may as well accept this invitation. I can bear 
 a little boredom if they have only a good cook. Do you suppose 
 they have a good cook '? " 
 
 " The agent, Jos Harding, told mc they had a Frenchman, and 
 that the house is splendidly got up." 
 
 " What's to be done with rjou, Cutbill, eh ? " 
 
 "I am at your lordship's orders," said he, with a very quiet 
 composure. 
 
 " You have nothing to do over at that place just now ? — I mean 
 at the mine." 
 
 " No, my lord. Till Pollard makes his report, I have nothing 
 to call me over there." 
 
 " And here, I take it, we have seen everything," and he gave 
 a very hopeless look through the little window as he spoke. 
 
 " Thei-e it is, my lord," said Cutbill, taking up the coloured 
 picture of the pier, with its busy crowds, and its bustling porters. 
 " There it is ! " 
 
 "I should say, Cutbill, there it is not! " observed the other 
 bitterly. " Anything more unlike the reality is hard to conceive." 
 
 " Few things are as like a cornet in the Life Guards, as a child 
 in a perambulator " 
 
 " Very well, all that," interrupted Lord Culduff impatiently. " I 
 know that sort of argument perfectly. I have been pestered with the 
 acorn, or rather, with the unborn forests in the heart of the acorn 
 for many a dav. Let us get a stride in advance of these platitudes. 
 
 3
 
 3'1 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOp's FOLLY. 
 
 Is the whole thing like this ? " and he threw the drawing across tlie 
 table contemptuously as he spoke. " Is it all of this pattern, eh ? " 
 
 " In one sense it is very like," said the other, with a greater 
 amount of decision in his tone than usual. 
 
 " In which case, then, the sooner we abandon it the better," said 
 Lord Culduff, rising, and standing with his back to the fire, his head 
 high, and his look intensely haught}'. 
 
 " It is not for me to dictate to your lordship — I could never 
 presume to do so — but certainly it is not every one in Great Britain 
 who could reconcile himself to relinquish one of the largest sources 
 of wealth in the kingdom. Taking the lowest estimate of Carrick 
 Nuish mine alone, — and when I say the lowest, I mean throwing the 
 whole thing into a company of shareholders and neither w^orking nor 
 risking a shilling yourself, — you may put from twenty to five-and-twenty 
 thousand pounds into your pocket within a twelvemonth." 
 
 " "Who will guarantee that, Cutbill ? " said Lord Culduff with a 
 faint smile. 
 
 " I am ready myself to do so, provided my counsels be strictly 
 followed. I will do so, with my whole professional reputation." 
 
 "I am charmed t® hear you say so. It is a veiy gratifying 
 piece of news for mo. You feel, therefore, certain that we have 
 struck coal ? " 
 
 " My lord, when a young man enters life from one of the universi- 
 ties, with a high reputation for ability, he can go a long way — if he 
 only be prudent — living on his capital. It is the same thing in a 
 great industrial enterprise ; you must start at speed, and with a high 
 pressure — get way on you, as the sailors say — and you will skim 
 along for half a mile after the steam is off." 
 
 " I come back to my former question. Have we found coal ? " 
 
 " I hope fo. I trust we have. Indeed there is every reason to say 
 we have found coal. What we need most at this moment is a man 
 like that gentleman whose note is on the table — a large capitalist, 
 a great City name. Let him associate himself in the project, and 
 success is as certain as that we stand here." 
 
 '* But you have just told me ho has given np his business life — 
 retired from affairs altogether." 
 
 *' My lord, these men never give up. They buy estates, they gc- 
 livo at Rome or Paris, and take a chateau at Cannes, and try tc 
 forget Mincing Lane and the rest of it ; but if j-ou watch them, you'll 
 SCO it's the money article in The Times they read before the leader. 
 They have but one barometer for everything that happens in Europe 
 --h';warcthe exchanges? and they are just as greedy of a good 
 hig ag ou any morning they hunicd down to the City in a hansom
 
 UP IN THE FOUNTAINS. 85 
 
 to buy in or soil ont. See if I'm not ri^^lit. Just throw out a Lint, 
 110 more, that j-ou'd like a word of advice from Colonel Bramloigh 
 about 3'our project ; say it's a largo thing — too large for an individual 
 to cope with — that you are yourself the least possible of a business 
 man, being always engaged in very different occupations, — and ask 
 what course he would counsel you to take." 
 
 " I might show him these drawings — these coloured plans." 
 
 " Well, indeed, my lord," said Catbill, brushing his mouth with 
 his hand, to hide a smile of malicious drollery, *' I'd say I'd not 
 shuw him the plans. The pictorial rarely appeals to men of his 
 stamp. It's the multiplication-table they like, and if all the world 
 were like them one would never throw poetry into a project." 
 
 "You'll have to come with me, Cutbill ; I see that," said his 
 lordship, retlectingly. 
 
 " My lord, I am completely at your orders." 
 
 " Yes ; this is a sort of negotiation you will conduct better than 
 myself. I am not conversant with this sort of thing, nor the men 
 Yi'ho deal in them. A great treaty, a question of boundary, a royal 
 marriage, — any of these would find me ready and prepared, but with 
 the diplomacy of dividends, I own myself little acquainted. You must 
 come with me." 
 
 Cutbill bowed iu afquiesccucc, and was silent. 
 
 CHAPTER All. 
 
 AT LUNCHEON. 
 
 As the family at the Great House were gathered together at luncheon 
 on the day after the events we have just recorded, Lord Culduft's 
 answer to Temple Bramleigh's note was fully and freely discussed. 
 
 " Of course," said Jack, " I speak under correction; but how 
 comes it that your high and mighty friend brings another man with 
 him ? Is Cutbill an attach^ ? Is he one of what you call ' the 
 line ? ' " 
 
 '* I am happy to contribute the correction you ask for," said 
 Temple, haughtily. " Mr. Cutbill is not a member of the diplomatic 
 body, and though such a name might not impossibly be found in the 
 Navy list, you'll scarcely chance upon it at 1''. 0." 
 
 "My chief question is, however, still to bo answered. On what 
 pretext docs he bring him here?" said Jack, witia imbrokcu good- 
 humour.
 
 8G THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " As to that," broke in Augustus, " Lord Culduff's note is 
 perfectly explanatory; he says his friend is travelling with him; 
 they came here on a matter of business, and, in fact, there would 
 be an awkwardness on his part in separating from him, and on 
 ours, if we did not prevent such a contingency." 
 
 "Quite so," chimed in Temple. "Nothing could be more 
 guarded or courteous than Lord Culduff's reply. It wasn't in the 
 least like an Admiralty minute, Jack, or an order to Commander 
 Spiggins, of the Snarler, to take in five hundred firkins of pork." 
 
 "I might say, now, that you'll not find that name in the Navy 
 list, Temple," said the sailor, laughing. 
 
 " Do they arrive to-day ? " asked Marion, not a little uncomfort- 
 able at this exchange of tart things. 
 
 " To dinner," said Temple. 
 
 " I suppose we have seen the last leg of mutton we are to meet 
 with till he goes," cried Jack ; " that precious French fellow will now 
 give his genius full play, and we'll have to dine o9' ' salmis ' and 
 ' suprumes,' or make our dinner ofFbread-and-cheese." 
 
 " Perhaps you would initiate Bertond into the mystery of a sea- 
 pie, Jack," said Temple, with a smile. 
 
 '' And a precious mess the fellow would make of it ! He'd fill it 
 with cocks' combs and mushrooms, and stick two skewers in it with 
 a half-boiled truflle on each — lucky if there wouldn't be a British flag 
 in spun sugar between them ; and he'd call the abomination ' pate a 
 la gun-room,' or some such confounded name." 
 
 " A low, quiet laugh was now heard from the end of the table, 
 and the company remembered, apparently for the first time, that 
 Mr. Harding, the agent, was there, and very busily engaged with a 
 broiled chicken. 
 
 " Ain't I right, Mr. Harding ? " cried Jack, as he heard the low 
 chuckle of the small, meek, submissive-looking little man, at the other 
 end of the table. 
 
 "Ain't I right?" 
 
 " I have met with very good French versions of English cookery 
 abroad, Captain Bramleigh." 
 
 " Don't call me ' captain ' or I'll suspect your accuracy about the 
 cookery," interrupted Jack. " I fear I'm about as far off that rank 
 as Bertond is from the sea-pie." 
 
 " Do you know Cutbill, Harding ? " said Augustus, addressing tho 
 agent in the tone of an heir expectant. 
 
 " Yes. We were both examined in the same case before a com- 
 mittee of the House, and I made his acquaintance then." 
 
 " "What sort of person is he ? " asked Temple.
 
 AT LUNCHEON. 37 
 
 " Is lie jolly, Mr. Harding? — that's the questioij," cried Jack. 
 *' I suspect we shall be overborne by greatness, and a jolly fellow 
 would be a boon from heaven." 
 
 " I believe he is what might be called jolly," said Harding 
 cautiously. 
 
 " Jolly sounds like a familiar word for vulgar," said Marion. " I 
 hope Mr. Harding does not mean that." 
 
 " Mr. Harding means nothing of the kind, I'll be sworn," broke 
 in Jack. '' He means an easy-tempered fellow, amusing and 
 amusable. Well, Nelly, if it's not English, I can't help it — it ought 
 to be ; but when one wants ammunition, one takes the first heavy 
 thing at hand. Egad ! I'd ram down a minister plenipotentiary, 
 rather than fire blank-cartridge." 
 
 " Is Lord Culdutf also jolly, Mr. Harding ? " asked Eleanor, now 
 looking up with a sparkle in her eye. 
 
 " I scarcely know, — I have the least possible acquaintance with 
 his lordship; I doubt, indeed, if he will recollect me," said Harding, 
 with dillidence. 
 
 " What are we to do with this heavy swell when he comes, is the 
 puzzle to me," said Augustus, gravely. " How is he to be enter- 
 tained, — how amused ? Here's a county with nothing to see — 
 nothing to interest — without a neighbourhood. What are we to do 
 with him ? " 
 
 " The more one is a man of the world, in the best sense of that 
 phrase, the more easily he finds how to shape his life to any and every 
 circumstance," said Temple, with a sententious tone and manner. 
 
 " Which means, I suppose, that he'll make the best of a bad 
 case, and bear our tiresomeness with bland urbanity ? " said Jack. 
 " Let us only hope, for all our sakes, that his trial may not be a 
 long one." 
 
 " Just to think of such a country ! " exclaimed Marion ; " there 
 is absolutely no one we could have to meet him." 
 
 "What's the name of that half-pay captain who called here 
 t'other morning ? — the fellow who sat from luncheon till nigh dusk ? " 
 asked Jack. 
 
 " Captain Craufurd," replied Marion. " I hope nobody thinks of 
 inviting him ; he is insufferably vulgar, and presuming besides." 
 
 " Wasn't that the man, Marion, who told you that as my father 
 and Lady Augusta didn't live together the county gentry couldn't bo 
 expected to call on us ? " asked Augustus, laughing. 
 
 " He did more : he entered into an explanation of the peculiar 
 tenets of the neighbourhood, and told me if we h.ad had the good 
 luck to have settled in the south or west of L-eland, tbty'd not have
 
 38 THE LKAMLKIGHS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 miudccl it, ' but here/ he addod, ' we are great sticklers for 
 morality.' " 
 
 " Aud what reply did you make him, Marion ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I was so choked wifh passion that I couldn't speak, or if I did 
 say anything I have forgotten it. At all events ho set me off 
 laughing immediately after, as he said, — ' As for myself, I don't care 
 a rush. I'm a bachelor, aud a bachelor can go anywhere.' " 
 
 She gave these words with such a close mimicry of his voice and 
 manner, that a general burst of laughter followed them. 
 
 " There's the very fellow we want," cried Jack. "That's the 
 man to meet our distinguished guest ; he'll not let him escape with- 
 out a wholesome hint or two." 
 
 '•' I'd as soon see a gentleman exposed to the assault of a mastiff 
 as to the insulting coarseness of such a follow as that," said Temple, 
 passionately. 
 
 " The mischief's done already ; I heard the governor say, as he 
 took leave, — ' Captain Craufurd, are you too straitlaced to dine out 
 on a Sunday ? if not, will you honour us with your company at eight 
 o'clock ? ' And though he repeated the words ' eight o'clock ' with 
 a groan like a protest, he muttered something about being happy, a 
 phrase that evidently cost him dearly, for he went shuffiing down the 
 avenue afterwards with his hat over his eyes, and gesticulating with 
 his hands as if some new immorality had suddenly broke in upon 
 his. mind." 
 
 "You moan to say that he is coming to dinner here next 
 Sunday ? " asked Temple, horrified. 
 
 "A little tact and good management are always sufdcient to keep 
 these sort of men down," said Augustus. 
 
 **I hope we don't ask a man to dinner with the intention to 
 'keep him down,' " said Jack, sturdily. 
 
 "At all events," cried Temple, "he need not be presented to 
 Lord Culduff." 
 
 " I suspect you will sec very little of him after dinner," observed 
 Harding, in his meek fashion. " That wonderful '32 port will prove 
 a detainer impossible to get away from." 
 
 " I'll keep him company then. I rather like to meet one of these 
 cross-grained dogs occasionally." 
 
 " Not impossibly you'll learn something more of that same 
 ' public opinion ' of our neighbours regarding us," said Marion, 
 haughtily. 
 
 " With all my heart/' cried the sailor, gaily ; " they'll not ruffle 
 my temper, even if they won't flatter my vanity." 
 
 "Have you asked the L'Estrauges, Marion ? " said Augustus.
 
 AT LUNCHEON. 3D 
 
 " We always ask them after church ; they are sure to be dis- 
 engaged," said she. "I wish. Nelly, that you, who arc such a dear 
 friend of Julia's, would try aud persuade her to wear something else 
 than that eternal black silk. She is so intently bent on being an 
 Andalusian. Some cue unluckily said she looked so Spanish, that 
 she has got up the dress, aud the little fan coquetry, and the rest of 
 it, in the most absurd fashion." 
 
 " Her grandmother was a Spaniard," broke in Nelly, waiinly. 
 
 " So they say," said the other, with a shrug of the shoulders. 
 
 " There's a good deal of style about her," said Temple, with the 
 tone of one who was criticizing what he understood. She sings 
 prettily." 
 
 "Prettily?" groaned J;ick. "Why, v.here, except amongst 
 professionals, did you ever hear her equal ? " 
 
 " She slugs divinely," said Ellen; "aud it is, after all, one of 
 her least attractions." 
 
 "No heroics, for heaven's sake; leave that to your brothers, 
 Nelly, who are fully equal to it. I really meant jny remark about her 
 gown for good nature." 
 
 " She's a nice giid," said Augustus, " though she is certainly a 
 bit of a coquette." 
 
 " True ; but it's very good coquetry," drawled out Temple. " It's 
 not that jerking, uncertain, unpurpose-like style of affectation your 
 English coquette displays. It is not the eternal demand for attention 
 or admiration. It is simply a desire to please thrown into a thousand 
 little graceful ways, each too slight, and too faint, to be singled out 
 for notice, but making up a whole of wonderful captivation." 
 
 " Well done diplomacy ; egad, I didn't know there was that much 
 blood in the Foreign Office," cried Jack, laughing ; " and now I'm 
 off to look after my night-lines. I quite forgot all about tliem till 
 this minute." 
 
 " Take rac witli you, Jack," said Nelly, aud hastened after him, 
 hat in hand. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TrIE AKKIVAL OF A GI11:AT MAX. 
 
 It v;.\s wit'.ii'i a quarter of eight o'clock — forty-five minutes after 
 the usual diuncr-bour — when Lord Culduff's carriage drove up to 
 the door.
 
 40 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " The roads are atrocious down here," said TemiDle, apologizing 
 in advance for an offence which his father rarely, if ever forgave. 
 "Don't you think you ought to go out to meet him, sir ? " asked 
 he, half timidly. 
 
 " It would only create more delay; he'll appear, I take it, when 
 he is dressed," was the curt rejoinder, but it was scarcely uttered 
 when the door was thrown wide open, and Lord Cukluff and 
 Mr. Cutbill were announced. 
 
 Seen in the subdued light of a drawing-room before dinner, 
 Lord Culduff did not appear more than half his real age, and the 
 jaunty stride and the bland smile he wore, — as he made his round 
 of acquaintance — might have passed muster for five-and-thirty ; nor 
 was the round vulgar figure of the engineer, awkward and familiar 
 alternately, a bad foil for the very graceful attractions of his lord- 
 ship's manner. 
 
 " We should have been here two hours ago," said he, " but my 
 friend here insisted on our coming coastwise to see a wonderful bay 
 — a natural harbour one might call it. What's the name, Cutbill ? " 
 
 " Portness, my lord." 
 
 " Ah, to be sure, Portness. On your property, I believe ? " 
 
 " I am proud to say it is. I have seen nothing finer in the 
 kingdom," said Bramleigh ; " and if Ireland were anything but 
 Ireland, that harbour would be crowded with shipping, and this 
 coast one of the most prosperous and busy shores of the island." 
 
 " Vv'ho knows if we may not live to see it such? Cutbill's 
 projects are very grand, and I declare that though I deemed them 
 Arabian Night stories a few weeks back, I am a convert now. 
 Another advantage we gained," said he, turning to Marion; "we 
 came up through a new shrubbery, which we were told had been 
 all planned by you." 
 
 "My sister designed it," said she, as she smiled and made a 
 gesture towards Ellen. 
 
 "May I offer you my most respectful compliments on your 
 success ? I am an enthusiast about landscape-gardening, and 
 though our English climate gives us many a sore rebuff in our 
 attempts, the soil and the varied nature of the surface lend them- 
 selves happily to the pursuit. I think you were at the Hague with 
 me, Bramleigh ? " asked he of Temple. 
 
 " Docs he know how late it is ? " whispered Augustus to his 
 father. " Does ho know we are waiting dinner ? " 
 
 " I'll tell him," and Colonel Bramleigli walked forward from his 
 place before the fire. " I'm afraid, my lurd, the cold air of our hills 
 has not given you an appetite ? "
 
 The Arrival of a Or^ut JSJan,
 
 THE ARRIVAL OF A GREAT MAN. 41 
 
 " Quite the contraiy, I assure you. I am very. hungry." 
 
 "By Jove, and so are we!" blurted out Jack; "and it's 
 striking eight this instant." 
 
 " AVhat is your dinner-hour ? " 
 
 "It ought to be seven," answered Jack. 
 
 " Why, Cutbill, you told me nine." 
 
 Cutbill muttered something below his breath, and turned away ; 
 and Lord CuUluff hiughingly said, "I declare I don't perceive the 
 connection. My friend, Colonel Bramleigh, opines that a French 
 cook always means nine-o'clock dinner. I'm horrified at this delay : 
 let us make a hasty toilette, and repair our fault at once." 
 
 " Let mo show you where you are lodged," said Temple, not 
 sorry to escape from the drawing-room at a moment when his 
 friend's character and claims were likely to be sharply criticized. 
 
 " Cutty's a vulgar dog," said Jack, as they left the room. " But 
 I'll be shot if he's not the best of the two." 
 
 A hanghly toss of Marion's head showed that she was no con- 
 curring party to the sentiment. 
 
 "I'm amazed to see so j'oung a man," said Colonel Bramleigh. 
 " In look at least, he isn't forty." 
 
 "It's all make-up," cried Jack. 
 
 " He can't be a great deal under seventy, taking the list of 
 his services. He was at Vienna as private secretary to Lord 
 
 Borchester " As Augustus pi'onounced the words Lord Culduff 
 
 entered the room in a fragrance of perfume and a brilliancy of colour 
 that was quite effective ; for he wore his red ribbon, and his bine 
 coat was lined with white silk, and his cheeks glowed with a bloom 
 that youth itself could not rival. 
 
 " Who talks of old Borchester?" said he gaily. " My father 
 used to tell me such stories of him. They sent him over to Hanover 
 once, to report on the available princesses to marry the Prince : and 
 egad ! ho plaj'ed his part so well that one of them — Princess 
 Helena I think it was — fell in love with him ; and if it wasn't that 
 he had been married already, — May I offer my arm ? " And the 
 rest of the story was probably told as he led Miss Bramleigh in to 
 dinner. 
 
 Mr. Cutbill only arrived as they took their places, and slunk 
 into a seat beside Jack, whom, of all the company, he judged would 
 be the person he could feel most at ease with. 
 
 " Wiiat a fop ! " whispered Jack, with a glance at the peer. 
 
 " Isn't he an old humbug ? " muttered Cutbill. " Do you know 
 how he managed to appear in so short a time ? AVe stopped two 
 hours at a little inn on the road while he made his toilette ; and the
 
 42 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 whole get-up — paint ami paciding and all — was done then. The 
 gi-eat fur pelisse in which he made his entrance into the drawing- 
 room removed, he was in full dinner-dress underneath. He's the 
 best actor living." 
 
 " Have you known him long ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I know all of them," said he, with a little gesture of 
 his hand : " that is, they take devilish good care to know me.'' 
 
 " Indeed ! " exclaimed Jack, in the tone which seemed to ask 
 for some explanation. 
 
 " You see, here's how it is," taid Cutbill, as he bent over his 
 plate and talked in a tone cautiously subdued : " All those swells — 
 especially that generation yonder — are pretty nigh aground. They 
 have been living for forty or fifty years at something like five times 
 their income ; and if it hadn't been for this sudden rush of prosperity 
 in England, caused by railroads, mines, quarries, or the like, these 
 fellows would have been swept clean away. He's watching me now. 
 I'll go on by-and-by. Have you any good hunting down here, Colonel 
 Bramleigh ? " asked he of the host, who sat half hid by a massive 
 centrepiece. 
 
 "You'll have to ask my sous what it's like, and I take it 
 they'll give you a mount too." 
 
 "With pleasure, Mr. Cutbill," cried Augustus. "If we have 
 no frost, we'll show you some sport on Monday next." 
 
 '•' Delighted, — I like hunting of all things." 
 
 "And you, my lord, is it a favourite sport of yours? " asked 
 Temple. 
 
 " A long life out of England, — which has unfortunately been my 
 case, — makes a man sadly out of gear in all these things ; but I ride, 
 of course," and he said the last words as though he meant to 
 imply " because I do everything." 
 
 "I'll send over to L'Estrauge," said Augustus; "he's sure to 
 know where the meet is for Monday." 
 
 " Who is L'Estrange ? " asked his lordship. 
 
 " Our curate here," replied Colonel Bramleigh, smiling. "' xVu 
 excellent fellow, and a very agreeable neighbour." 
 
 ""Our only one, by Jove ! " cried Jack. 
 
 "How gallant to forget Julia," said Nelly tartly. 
 
 " And the fair Julia, — who is she ? " asked Lord CulduQ". 
 
 " L'Estrauge's sister," replied Augustus. 
 
 "And now, my lord," chimed in Jack, "you know the v.-liole 
 neighbourhood, if we don't throw in a cross-grained old fellow, 
 a half-pay lieutenant of the IJufl's." 
 
 "Small but select," said Lord CuldufT quietly. " j^'I^'v I
 
 THE ARRIVAL OF A GREAT MAN. 43 
 
 venture to ask you, Colonel Bramleigb, what determined j'ou in 
 your choice of a residence here ? " 
 
 "I suppose I must confess it was mainly a money consideration. 
 The bank held some rather heavy mortgages over this property, 
 which they were somewhat disposed to consider as capable of great 
 improvement, and as I was growing a little wearied of City life, 
 I fancied I'd come over here and " 
 
 " Regenerate Ireland, eh ? " 
 
 " Or, at least, live very economically," added he, laughing. 
 
 " I may be permitted to doubt that part of the experiment," 
 said Lord Culdutf, as his eyes ranged over the table set forth in 
 all the splendour that plate and glass could bestow. 
 
 " I suspect papa meaus a relative economy," said Marion, 
 " something very different from our late life in England." 
 
 '•Yes, my last three years have been very costly ones," said 
 Colonel Bramleigb, sighing. " I lost heavily by the sale of Earls- 
 hope, and my unfortunate election, too, was an expensive business. 
 It will take some retrenchment to make up for all this. I tell the 
 boys they'll have to sell their hunters, or be satisfied, like the 
 parson, to hunt one day a week." The self-complacent, mock 
 humility of this speech was all too apparent. 
 
 " I take it," said Culdufi', authoritatively, " that every gentle- 
 man" — and he laid a marked emphasis on the "gentleman" 
 — "must at some period or other of his life have spent more 
 money than he ought, more than was subsequently fuuud to be 
 convenient." 
 
 " I have repeatedly done so," broke in Cutbill, " and invariably 
 been sorry for it afterwards, inasmuch as each time one does it the 
 difficulty increases." 
 
 " Harder to get credit, you mean ? " cried Jack, laughing. 
 
 "Just so; and one's friends get tired of helping one. Just as 
 they told me, there was a fellow at Blackwall used to live by drown- 
 ing himself. He was regularly fished up once a week and stomach- 
 pumped and ' cordialled ' and hot-blanketed, and brought round by 
 the Humane Society's people, till at last they came to discover the 
 dodge, and refused to restore him any more ; and now he's reduced 
 to earn his bread as a water-bailiff — cruel hard on a fellow of such an 
 ingenious turn of mind." 
 
 While the younger men laughed at Cutbill's story, Lord Culduff 
 gave him a reproving glance from the other end of the table, 
 palpably intended to recall him to a more sedate and restricted con- 
 viviality. 
 
 "Are we not to accompany you ? ' said Lord Culduff to Marion,
 
 44 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 as she and her sister arose to retire. "Is this harharism of sitting 
 after dinner maintained here ? " 
 
 " Only till we finish this decanter of claret, my lord," said 
 Colonel Bramleigh, who caught what was not intended for his 
 ears. 
 
 "Ask the governor to give you a cigar," whispered Jack to Cut- 
 bill ; "he has some rare Cubans." 
 
 "Now, this is what I call regular jolly," said Cutbill as he drew 
 a small spider table to his side, and furnished himself with a glass 
 and a decanter of Madeira, "and," added he in a whisper to Jack, 
 "let us not be in a hurry to leave it. We only want one thing to 
 be perfect. Colonel Bramleigh." 
 
 " If I cau only supply it, pray command me, Mr. Cutbill." 
 
 "I want this, then," said Cutbill, pursing up his mouth at 
 one side, while he opened the other as if to emit the smoke of 
 a cigar. 
 
 "Do you mean smoking?" asked Colonel Bramleigh, in a half 
 irritable tone. 
 
 " You have it." 
 
 " Are you a smoker, my lord ? " asked the host, turning to Lord 
 Culduff. 
 
 '•■ A very moderate one. A cigarette after breakfast, and another 
 at bed-time, are about my excesses in that direction." 
 
 "Then I'm afraid I must defraud you of the full measure of your 
 enjoyment, Mr. Cutbill; we never smoke in the dining-room. Indeed, 
 I myself have a strong aversion to tobacco, and though I have con- 
 sented to build a smoking-room, it is as far off from me as I have 
 been able to contrive it." 
 
 "And what about his choice Cubans, eh ? " whispered Cutbill to 
 Jack. 
 
 " All hypocrisy. You'll find a box of them in your dressing- 
 room," said Jack, in an undertone, " when you go upstairs." 
 
 Temple now led his distinguished friend into those charming 
 pasturages where the flocks of diplomacy love to dwell, and where 
 none other save themselves could find herbage. Nor was it amongst 
 great political events, of peace or war, alliances or treaties, they 
 wandrfred — for perhaps in these the outer world, taught as they are 
 by newspapers, might have taken some interest and some share. 
 No ; their talk was all of personalities, of Russian princes and 
 grandees of Spain, archduchesses and " marchesas," whose crafts 
 and subtleties, and pomps and vanities, make up a 'world like no 
 other world and play a drama of life — happily it may be for humanity, 
 — like no other drama that other men and women ever figured in.
 
 THE ARRIVAL OF A GREAT MAN. 45 
 
 Now it is a strange fact — and I appeal to my readers if tlieir experi- 
 ence will not corroborate mine — that wbeu two men thoroughly 
 versed in these themes will talk together upon them, exchanging 
 their stories and mingling their comments, the rest of the company 
 will be struck with a perfect silence, unable to join in the subject 
 discussed, and half ashamed to introduce any ordinary matter into 
 such high and distinguished society. And thus Lord Culdutf and 
 Temple went on for full an hour or more, pelting each other with 
 little court scandals and small state intrigues, till Colonel Bramleigh 
 fell asleep, and Cutbill, having finished his Madeira, would probably 
 have followed his host's example, when a servant announced tea, 
 adding in a whisper, that Mr. L'Estrange and his sister were in the 
 drawing-room. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OVER THE FIRE. 
 
 In a large room, comfortably furnished, but iu which there was a 
 certain blending of the articles of the drawing-room with those of 
 the diuing-room, showing unmistakably the bachelor character of 
 the owner, sat two young men at opposite sides of an ample fireplace. 
 One sat, or rather reclined, ou a small leather sofa, his bandaged 
 leg resting on a pillow, and his pale and somewhat shrunken face 
 evidencing the results of pain and confinement to the house. His 
 close-cropt head and square-cut beard, and a certain mingled drollery 
 and fierceness in the eyes, proclaimed him French, and so M. Anatole 
 Pracontal was; though it would have been difficult to declare as much 
 from his English, which he spoke with singular purity and the very 
 fiiintest peculiarity of accent. 
 
 Opposite him sat a tall well-built man of about thirty-four or five, 
 with regular and almost handsome features, marred, indeed, iu ex- 
 pression by the extreme closeness of the eyes, and a somewhat long 
 upper lip, which latter defect an incipient moustache was already 
 concealing. The colour of his hair was, however, that shade of auburn 
 which verges on red, and is so commonly accompanied by a much- 
 freckled skin. This same hair, and hands and feet almost enormous 
 iu size, were the afflictions which imparted bitterness to a lot which 
 many regarded as very enviable in life ; for Mr. Philip Longwortu 
 was his own master, free to go where he pieased, and the owner of a 
 very sufficient fortune. He had been brought up at Oscot, and
 
 46 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 imbibed, witii a very fail* share of kuowledge, a large stock of that 
 general mistrust and suspicion Avhich is the fortune of those entrusted 
 to priestly teaching, and which, though he had travelled largely and 
 mixed freely with the world, still continued to cling to his manner, 
 which might be characterized by the one word — furtive, 
 
 Longworth had only arrived that day for diuner, and the two 
 friends were now exchanging their experience since they had parted 
 some eight months before at the second cataract of the Nile. 
 
 " And so, Pracontal, you never got one of my letters ? " 
 
 " Not one, — on my honour. Indeed, if it v/ere not that I 
 learned by a chance meeting with a party of English tourists at 
 Cannes that they had met you at Cairo, I'd have begun to suspect 
 you had taken a plunge into the Nile, or into Mohammedom, for 
 which latter you were showing some disposition, you remember, when 
 we parted." 
 
 "True enough; and if one was sure never to turn westward 
 again, there are many things in favour of the turban. It is the most 
 sublime conception of egotism possible to imagine." 
 
 " Egotism is a mistake, mon cher," said the other ; " a man's 
 own heart, make it as comfortable as he may, is too small an 
 apartment to live in. I do not say this in any grand benevolent 
 spirit. There's no humbug of philanthropy in the opinion." 
 
 "Of that I'm fully assured," said Longworth, with a gravity 
 which made the other laugh. 
 
 " No," continued he, still laughing. "I want a larger field, a 
 wider hunting-ground for my diversion than my own nature." 
 
 " A disciple, i i fact, of your great model, Louis Napoleon. 
 You incline to annt. nations. By the way, how fares it with your 
 new projects ? Have you seen the l.iwyer I gave you the letter 
 to?" 
 
 " Yes. I stayed eight days in town to confer with hi;n. I heard 
 from him this very day." 
 
 " Well, what says^he ? " 
 
 *' His letter is a very savage one. He is angry with me for having 
 come here at all ; and particularly angry because I have broken my 
 leg, and can't come away." 
 
 " What docs he think of your case, however ? " 
 
 "He thinks it manageable. He says — as of course I knew ho 
 would say — that it demands most cautious treatment and great acute- 
 ncss. There are blanks, historical blanks, to be filled up ; links to 
 connect, and such like, which will demand some time and some money. 
 I have told him I have an inexhaustible supply of the one, but for the 
 other I am occasionally slightly pinched."
 
 OVEU THK riiiE. 47 
 
 " It promises well, however"? " 
 
 "Most hopefully. Aud Avheu once I have proved myself — not 
 always so easy, as it seems — the son of my father, I am to go ovct 
 aud see him again in consultation." 
 
 " Kelson is a man of station and character, and if he undertakes 
 your cause it is in itself a strong guarantee of its goodness." 
 
 " Why, these men take all that is offered them. They no more 
 refuse a bad suit than a doctor rejects a hopeless patient." 
 
 "Aud so will a doctor, if he happen to be an honest man," said 
 Longworth, half peevishly. " Just as he would also refuse to treat 
 one who would persist in following his own caprices in defiance of all 
 advice." 
 
 " Which touches me. Is not it so ? " said the other, laughing. 
 " Well, I tliink I ought to have stayed quietly here, and not shown 
 myself in public. All the more, since it has cost me this," aud he 
 pointed to his leg as he spoke. "But I can't help confessing it, 
 Philip, the sight of those fellows in their gay scarlet, caracolliug over 
 the sward, and popping over the walls and hedges, provoked me. It 
 was exactly like a challenge ; so I felt it, at least. It was as though 
 they said, ' What ! you come here to pit your claims against ours, 
 and you are still not gentleman enough to meet us in a fair field and 
 face the same perils that we do.' And this, be it rememberecl, to one 
 who had served in a cavalry regiment, and made campaigns with the 
 Chasseurs d'Afrique. I couldn't stand it, and after the second day I 
 mounted, and — " a motion of his hand finished the sentence. 
 
 " All that sort of reasoning is so totally different from an English- 
 man's that I am unable even to discuss it. I do not pretend to 
 understand the refined sensibility that resents provocations which 
 were never offered." 
 
 " I know you don't, aud I know your countrymen do not either. 
 You are such a practical people that your very policemen never inter- 
 fere with a criminal till he has fully committed himself." 
 
 " In plain words, we do not content ourselves with inferences. 
 But tell me, did any of these people call to sec you, or ask after 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes, they sent the day after my disaster, and they also told the 
 doctor to say how happy they should be if they could be of service to 
 me. And a young naval commander, — his card is yonder, — came, I 
 think, three times, and would have come up if I had wished to receive 
 him ; but Kelson's letter, so angry about my great indiscretion as he 
 called it, made me decline the visit, and confine my acknov.'ledgment 
 to thanks." 
 
 " I wonder what my old gatekeeper thought when he saw them,
 
 48 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 or their liveries, in this avenue ? " said Longworth, with a peculiar 
 bitterness in his tone. 
 
 " Why, what should he think, — was there any feud between the 
 families ? " 
 
 " How could there be ? These people have not been many months 
 in Ireland. What I meant was with reference to the feud that is six 
 centuries old, the old open ulcer, that makes all rule in this country 
 a struggle, and all resistance to it a patriotism. Don't you know," 
 asked he, almost sternly, " that I am a Papist '? " 
 
 " Yes, you told me so." 
 
 " And don't you know that my religion is not a mere barrier to 
 my advancement in many careers of life, but is a social disqualification 
 — that it is, like the trace of black blood in a crcole, a ban excluding 
 him from intercourse with his better-born neighbours — that I belong 
 to a class just as much shut out from all the relations of society, as 
 were the Jews in the fifteenth century ? " 
 
 " I remember that you told me so once, but I own I never fully 
 comprehended it, nor understood how the question of a man's faith 
 was to decide his standing in this world, and that, being the equal of 
 those about you in bii'th and condition, your religion should stamp 
 you with inferiority." 
 
 " But I did not tell you I was their equal," said Longworth, with 
 a slow and painful distinctness. " We are novi homines here ; a 
 couple of generations back we were peasants, — as poor as anything 
 you could see out of that window. By hard work and some good luck 
 — of course there was luck in it — we emerged, and got enough 
 together to live upon, and I was sent to a costly school, and then to 
 college, that I might start in life the equal of my fellows. But what 
 avails it all ? To hold a station in life, to mix with the world, to 
 associate with men educated and brought up like myself, I must quit 
 my o"wn country and live abroad. I know, I see, you can make 
 nothing of this. It is out and out incomprehensible. You made a 
 clean sweep of these things with your great Revolution of '93. Ours 
 is yet to come." 
 
 " Per Dio ! I'd not stand it," cried the other passionately. 
 
 " You couldn't help it. You must stand it; at least, till such 
 time as a good many others, equally aggrieved as yourself, resolve to 
 risk something to change it ; and this is remote enough, for there is 
 nothiug that men, — I mean educated and cultivated men, — are more 
 averse to, than any open confession of feeling a social disqualification. 
 I may tell it to you here, as we sit over the fire, but I'll not go o.ut 
 and proclaim it, I promise you. These are confessions one keeps for 
 the fireside."
 
 OVER THE FIRE. 49 
 
 " Auil will not these people visit you ? " 
 
 " Nothing less likely." 
 
 " Nor you call upon them ? " 
 
 " Certainly not." 
 
 " And will you continue to live within an hour's drive of each 
 other without acquaintance or recognition ? " 
 
 "Probably, — at least we may salute when we meet." 
 
 " Then I say the guillotme has done more for civilization than 
 the schoolmaster," cried the other. " And all this because you are 
 a Papist ? " 
 
 " Just so. I belong to a faith so deeply associated with a bygone 
 inferiority that I am not to be permitted to emerge from it, — there's 
 the secret of it all." 
 
 " I'd rebel. I'd descend into the streets ! " 
 
 " And you'd get hanged for your pains." 
 
 A shrug of the shoulders was all the reply, and Longworth went 
 on : — 
 
 " Some one once said, ' It was better economy in a state to teach 
 people not to steal than to build gaols for the thieves ; ' and so I 
 would say to our rulers it would be cheaper to give us some of the 
 things we ask for than to enact all the expensive measures that are 
 taken to repress us." 
 
 " What chance have I, then, of justice in such a country ? " cried 
 the foreigner passionately. 
 
 " Better than in any land of Europe. Indeed I will go further, 
 and say it is the one land in Europe where corruption is impossible 
 on the seat of judgment. If you make out your claim, as fully as you 
 detailed it to me, if evidence will sustain your allegations, your flag 
 will as certainly wave over that high tower yonder as that decanter 
 stands there." 
 
 " Here's to la bonne chance," said the other, filling a bumper and 
 drinking it off. 
 
 " You will need to be very prudent, very circumspect : two things 
 which I suspect will cost you some trouble," said Longworth. " The 
 very name you will have to go by will be a difficulty. To call your- 
 self Bramltigh will be an open declaration of war ; to write yourself 
 Pracoutal is an admission that you have no claim to the other 
 appellation." 
 
 " It was my mother's name. She was of a Provencal family, and 
 the Pracontals were people of good blood." 
 
 " But your father was always called Bramleigh ? " 
 
 " My father, ?non chcr, had fifty aliases ; he was Louis Lagrange 
 under the Empire, Victor Cassagnac at the Restoration, Carlo Salvi 
 
 •1
 
 50 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOr's FOLLY. 
 
 when sentenced to the galleys at Naples, Niccolo Baldassare when he 
 shot the Austrian colonel at Cainia, and I believe when he was last 
 heard of, the captain of a slaver, he was called, for shortness' sake, 
 ' Brutto,' for he was not personally attractive." 
 
 " Then when and where was he known as Bramleigh ? " 
 
 " Whenever he wrote to England. Whenever he asked for 
 money, which, on the whole, was pretty often, he was Montagu 
 Bramleigh." 
 
 " To whom were these letters addressed ? " 
 
 "To his father, Montagu Bramleigh, Portland Place, London. I 
 have it all in my note -hook." 
 
 " And these appeals were responded to '? " 
 
 " Not so satisfactorily as one might wish. The replies were flat 
 refusals to give money, and rather unpleasant menaces as to police 
 measures if the iusistauce were continued." 
 
 " You have some of these letters ? " 
 
 " The lawyer has, I think, four of them. The last contained a 
 bank order for five hundred francs, payable to Giacomo Lami, or 
 order." 
 
 " Who was Lami ? " 
 
 "Lami was the name of my grandmother; her father was 
 Giacomo. He was the old fresco-painter who came over from Rome 
 to paint the walls of that great house yonder, and it was his daughter 
 that Bramleigh married." 
 
 " Which Bramleigh was the father of the present possessor of 
 Castello?" 
 
 "Precisely. Montagu Bramleigh married my grandmother here 
 in Ireland, and when the troubles broke out, either to save her father 
 from the laws or to get rid of him, managed to smuggle him out of 
 the countiy over to Holland, — the last supposition, and the more 
 likely, is that he sent his wife off with her father." 
 
 " What evidence is there of this marriage ? " 
 
 "It was registered in some parish authority; at least so old 
 Giacorao's journnl records, for we have the journal, and without it we 
 might never have known of our claim ; but besides that, there are two 
 letters of Montagu Bramloigh's to my grandmother, written when he 
 had occasion to leave her about ten days after their marriage, and 
 they begin, ' My dearest w'ife,' and are signed, ' Your affectionate 
 husband, iJ. Bramleigh.' The lawyer has all these." 
 
 " How did it come about that a rich London banker, as Bramleigh 
 was, should ally himself with tlio daughter of a working Italian 
 tradesman '? " 
 
 " Here's the story, as conveyed by old Giacomo's notes. Bram-
 
 OVER THE FIKE. 51 
 
 leigli came over here to look after the progress of the works for a 
 great man, a bishop and a lord marquis too, who was the owner of 
 the phice ; he made the acquaintance of Lami aad his daughters : 
 there were two ; the younger only a child, however. The eldest, 
 Enrichetta, was very heautiful, so beautiful indeed, that Giacorao was 
 eternally introducing her head into all his frescoes ; she was a blonde 
 Italian, and made a most lovely Madonna. Old Giaccmo's journal 
 mentions no less than eight altar-pieces where she figures, not to say 
 that she takes her place pretty frequently in heathen society also, and 
 if I be rightly informed, she is the centre figure of a ' fresco ' in this 
 very house of Caste! lo, in a small octagon tower, the whole of which 
 Lami painted with his own hand. Bramleigh fell in love with this 
 girl and married htr." 
 
 " But h^he was a Catholic." 
 
 " No. Lami was originally a Waldcnsiau, and held some sort 
 of faith, I don't exactly know what, that claimed affinity with the 
 English church ; at all events, the vicar here, a certain Robert 
 Mathews, — his name is ia the precious journal, — married them, and 
 man and wife they were." 
 
 " When and how did all these facts come to your knowledge ? " 
 
 " As to the when and the how, the same answer will suffice. I 
 v/as serving as sous-lieutenant of cavalry in Africa when news reached 
 me that the Astradella, the ship in which my father sailed, was lost 
 off the Cape Verde islands, with all on board. I hastened ofl" to 
 Naples, where a Mr. Bolton lived, who was chief owner of the vessel, 
 to hear what tidings had reached him of the disaster, and to Icarn 
 something of my father's affairs, for he had been, if I might employ 
 so fine a word for so small a function, his banker for years. Indeed, 
 but for Bolton's friendship and protection — how earned I never knew 
 — my father would have come to grief years before, for he was a 
 thorough Italian, and always up to the neck in conspiracies ; he had 
 been in that Bonapartist atiair at Rome ; was a Carbouaro and a 
 Camorrist, and heaven knows what besi Jes. And though Bolton was 
 a man very unlikely to sympathize with these opinions, I take it my 
 respected parent must have been a hon (liable that men who knew 
 him would not willingly see v/recked and ruined. Bolton was most 
 kind to myself personally. He received rac with many signs ot 
 friendship, and without troubling me with any more details of law 
 than were positively unavoidable, put me in possessian of the little my 
 father had left behind him, which consisted of a few hundred francs 
 of savings and an old chest, with some older clothes and a mass of 
 papers and letters — dangerous enough, as I discovered, to have 
 compromised scores of people — and a strange old manuscript book,
 
 ij2 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 clasped aud locked, called the Diary of Giacomo Lami, with matter 
 in it for half-a-dozen roujances ; for Giacomo, too, had the con- 
 spirator's taste, had known Danton intimately, and was deep in the 
 confidence of all the Irish repuhlicans who were affiliated with the 
 French revolutionary party. But hesides this the book contained a 
 quantity of original letters ; aud when mention was made in the text 
 of this or that event, the letter which related to it, or replied to some 
 communication about it, was appended in the original. I made this 
 curious volume my study for weeks, till, in fact, I came to know far 
 more about old Giacomo and his times than I ever knew about my 
 father and his epoch. There was not a country in Europe in which 
 he had not lived, nor, I believe, one in which he had not involved 
 himself in some trouble. He loved his art, but he loved political 
 plotting and conspiracy even more, and was ever ready to resign his 
 most profitable engagement for a scheme that promised to overturn a 
 government or unthrone a sovereign. My first thought on reading 
 his curious reminiscences was to make them the basis of a memoir 
 for publication. Of course they were fearfully indiscreet, and involved 
 reputations that no one had ever thought of assailing ; but they were 
 chidly of persons dead and gone, and it was only their memory that 
 could suffer. I spoke to Bolton about this. He approved of the 
 notion, principally as a means of helping me to a little money, which 
 I stood much in need of, and gave me a letter to a friend in Paris, 
 the well-known publisher, Lecoq, of the Kue St. Honore. 
 
 " As I was dealing with a man of honour aud high character, I 
 had no scruple in leaving the volume of old Giacomo's memoirs in 
 Lecoq's hands ; and after about a week I returned to learn what he 
 thought of it. He was frank enough to say that no such diary had 
 ever come before him — that it cleared up a vast number of points 
 hitherto doubtful and obscure, and showed an amount of knowledge 
 of the private life of the period absolutely marvcjlous ; ' but,' said he, 
 * it would never do to make it public. -"Most of these men are now 
 forgotten, it is true, but their descendants remain, and live in honour 
 amongst us. What a terrible scandal it would be to proclaim to the 
 world that of these people many were illegitimate, many in the enjoy- 
 ment of large fortunes to which the}' had not a shadow of a title ; in 
 fact,' said he, ' it would bo to hurl a live shell in the very midst 
 of society, leaving the havoc and destruction it might cause to blind 
 chance. But,' added he, ' it strikes me there is a more profit- 
 able use the volume might be put to. Have you read the narrative 
 of your grandmother's marriage in Ireland with tliat rich Englishman ? ' 
 I owned I had road it candessly, and without bestowing much interest 
 on the theme. ' Go back and re-road it,' said ho, ' and come and
 
 OVER THE FIRE. 53 
 
 talk it over with me to-morrow evening.' As I entered his room 
 the next night he arose ceremoniously from his chair, and saiil, in 
 a tone of well- assumed obsequiousness, ' Si je ne me ti'ompc pas, 
 j'ai rhouueur de voir Monsieur Lramleigh, u'est-ce pas '? ' I laughed, 
 and replied, ' Je ne m'y oppose pas, Monsieur ; ' and we at once 
 launched out into the details of the story, of which each of us had 
 formed precisely the same opinion. 
 
 " 111 luck would have it, that as I went hack to my lodgings on 
 that night I should meet Bertani, and Varese, and Manini, and he 
 persuaded to go and sup with them. They were all suspected by 
 the police, from their connection with Fieschi ; and on the morning 
 after I received an order from the Minister of War to join my 
 regiment at Oran, and an intimation that my character being fully 
 known it behoved me to take care. I gave no grounds for more 
 stringent measures towards me. I understood the ' caution,' and, 
 not wishing to compromise M. Lecoq, who had been so friendly in 
 all his relations with me, I left France, without even an opportunity 
 of getting back my precious volume, which I never saw again till I 
 revisited Paris eight years after, having given in my demission from 
 the service. Lecoq obtained for me that small appointment I held 
 under M. Lesscps in Egypt, and which I had given up a few weeks 
 before I met you on the Nile. I ought to tell you that Lecoq, for 
 what reason I can't tell, was not so fully persuaded that my claim 
 was as direct as he had at first thought it ; and indeed his advice to 
 me was rather to address myself seriously to some means of livelihooLl, 
 or to try and make sohie compromise with the Bramleighs, with whom 
 he deemed a mere penniless pretender would not have the smallest 
 chance of success. I hesitated a good deal over his counsel. There 
 was much in it that weighed with me, perhaps convinced me : but I 
 was always more or less of a gambler, and more than once have I 
 risked a stake, which, if I lost, would have left me penniless ; and at 
 last I resolved to say, Va Banque, here goes ; all or nothing. There's 
 my story, men cher, without any digressions, even one of which, if I 
 had permitted myself to be led into it, would have proved twice as 
 long." 
 
 " The strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest link, the 
 engineers tell us," said Lougworth, " and it is the same with evidence. 
 I'd like to hear what Kelson says of the case." 
 
 " That I can scarcely give you. His last letter to me is full of 
 questions which I cannot answer ; but you shall read it for yourself. 
 Will you send upstairs for my writing-desk? " 
 
 " We'll con that over to-morrow after breakfast, when our heads 
 will be clearer and brighter. Have you old Lami's journal with you ? "
 
 54 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " No. All ir.y papers are with Kelson. The only thing I have 
 here is a sketch in coloured chalk of my grandmother, in her 
 eighteenth year, as a Flora, and, from the date, it must have been 
 done in Ireland, when Giacomo was working at the frescoes." 
 
 " That my father," said Pracontal, after a pause, " counted with 
 certainty on this EUccassion, all his own papers show, as well as the 
 care he bestowed on my early education, and the importance he 
 attached to my knowing and speaking English perfectly. But my 
 father cared far more for a conspiracy than a fortune. He was one 
 of those men who only seem to live when they are confronted by a 
 great danger, and I believe there has not been a great plot in 
 Europe these last five-and-thirty years without his name being in it. 
 He was twice handed over to the French authorities by the English 
 Government, and there is some reason to believe that the Bramleighs 
 v/ere the secret instigators of the extradition. There was no easier 
 way of getting rid of his claims." 
 
 " These are disabilities v/hich do not attach to you." 
 
 " No, thank heaven. I have gone no farther with these men 
 than mere acquaintance. I kuo-w them all, and tliey know me wadl 
 enough to know that I deem it the greatest disaster of my life 
 that my father was one of them. It is not too much to say that 
 a small part of the energy he bestowed on schemes of peril and 
 ruin would have sufficed to have vindicated his claim to wealth and 
 fortune." 
 
 " You told me, I think, that Kelson hinted at the possibility of 
 some compromise, — something which, sparing them, the penally of 
 publicity, would still secure to yon an ample fortune." 
 
 " Yes. What he said was, ' Juries are, with all their honesty of 
 intention, capricious things to trust to ; ' and that, not being rich 
 enough to suffer repeated defeats, an adverse verdict might be fatal 
 to me. I didn't like the reasoning altogether, but I was so com- 
 pletely in his hands that I forbore to make any objection, and so the 
 matter remained." 
 
 "I suspect he was right," said Longworth, thoughtfully. " At 
 the same time, the case must be strong enough to promise victory, to 
 sustain the proposal of a compromise." 
 
 " And if I can show the game in my hand why should I not claim 
 the stakes ? " 
 
 " Because the other party may delay the settlement. They may 
 challenge the cards, accuse you of ' a rook,' put out the lights, any- 
 thing, in short, that shall break up the game." 
 
 " I see," said Pracontal, gravely ; " the lawyer's notion may be 
 better than I thought it."
 
 OVER THi; riuE. 55 
 
 A long silence ensued between them, then Longworth, looking at 
 his watch, cxclaimeil, " Who'd believe it ? It wants only a few 
 minutes to two o'clock. Good-night." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DROPPINGS OF A GREAT DIPLOMATIST. 
 
 AVnEK a man's manner and address are very successful with the world 
 — when he possesses that power of caplivalion which extends to 
 people of totally dilTerent tastes and habits, and is equally at home, 
 equally at his ease, with ycung and old, with men of grave pursuits 
 and men of pleasure — it is somewhat hard to believe that there must 
 not be some strong sterling quality in his nature ; for we know that 
 the base metals never bear gilding, and that it is only a waste of 
 gold to cover them with it. 
 
 It would be, therefore, very pleasant to think that if people should 
 not be altogether as admirable as they were agreeable, yet that the 
 qualitios which made the companionship so delightful should be 
 indications of deeper and more solid gifts beneath. Yet I am afraid 
 the theory will not hold. I suspect that there are a considerable 
 number of people in this world who go through life trading on credit, 
 and who renew their bills with humanity so gracefully and so cleverly, 
 they are never found out to be bankrupts till they die. 
 
 A very accomplished specimen of this order was Lord Culdufi'. 
 He was a man of very ordinary abilities, commonplace in every way, 
 and who had yet contrived to impress the world with the notion of 
 his capacity. He did a little of almost everything. He sang a little, 
 played a little on two or three instruments, talked a little of several 
 languages, and had smatterings of all games and Celd-sports, so that 
 to every seeming, nothing came amiss to him. Nature had been 
 gracious to him personally, and he had a voice very soft and low and 
 insinuating. 
 
 He was not an impostor, for the simple reason that he believed in 
 himself. He actually had negotiated his false coinage so long that 
 he got to regard it as bullion, and imagined himself to be one of the 
 first men of his age. 
 
 The bad bank-note, which has been circulating freely from hand 
 to hand, no sooner comes under the scrutiny of a sharp-eyed 
 functionary of the bank than it is denounced and branded ; and so 
 Culduff would speedily have been treated by any one of those keen
 
 56 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 men ■who, as Ministers, grow to acquire a knowledge of human nature 
 as thorough as of the actual events of the time. 
 
 The world at large, however, had not this estimate of him. They 
 read of him as a special envoy here, an extraordinary minister there, 
 now negotiating a secret treaty, now investing a Pasha of Egypt with 
 the Bath ; and they deemed him not only a trusty servant of the 
 Crown, hut a skilled negotiator, a deep and accomplished diplomatist. 
 
 He was a little short-sighted, and it enabled him to pass 
 objectionable people without causing offence. He was slightly deaf, 
 and it gave him an air of deference in conversation which many were 
 charmed with ; for whenever he failed to catch what was said, his 
 smile was perfectly captivating. It was assent, but dashed with a 
 sort of sly flattery, as though it was to the speaker's ingenuity he 
 yielded, as much as to the force of the conviction. 
 
 He was a great favourite with women. Old ladies regarded him 
 as a model of good ton ; younger ones discovered other qualities in 
 him that amused them as much. His life had been anything but 
 blameless, but he had contrived to make the world believe he was 
 more sinned against than sinning, and that every mischance that 
 befell him came of that unsuspecting nature and easy disposition of 
 which even all his experience of life could not rob him. 
 
 Cutbill read him thoroughly : but though Lord Culduff saw this, 
 it did not prevent him trying all his little pretty devices of pleasing 
 on the man of culverts and cuttings. In fact, he seemed to feel that 
 though he could not bring down the bird, it was better not to spoil 
 his gun by a change of cartridge, and so he fired away his usual little 
 pleasantries, well aware that none of them were successful. 
 
 He had now been three days with the Bramleighs, and certainly 
 had won the suffrages, though in different degrees, of them all. He 
 had put himself so frankly and unreservedly in Colonel Bramleigh's 
 hands about the coal-mine, candidly confessing the whole tbing was 
 new to him, he was a child in money matters, that the banker was 
 positively delighted with him. 
 
 With Augustus he had talked politics confidentially, — not 
 questions of policy nor statecraft, not matters of legislation or 
 government, but the more subtle and ingenious points as to what 
 party a young man entering life ought to join, what set he should 
 attach himself to, and what line he should take to insure future dis- 
 tinction and office. He was well up in the gossip of the House, and 
 knew who was disgusted with such an one, and why so-and-so 
 "wouldn't stand it" any longer. 
 
 To Temple Bramleigli he was charming. Of the " line," as they 
 love to call it, he knew positively everything. Nor was it merely how
 
 THE DROPPINGS OF A GREAT DIPLOMATIST. 57 
 
 this or that legation was conducted, how this man got on with his 
 chief, or why that other had asked to he transferred : hut he knew 
 all the mysterious goings-on of that wonderful old respository they 
 call " the Office." " That's what you must look to, Bramleigh," he 
 would say, clapping him on the shoulder. " The men who make 
 plcnipos and envoys are not in the Cabinet, nor do they dine at 
 Osborne ; they are fellows in seedy black, with brown umbrellas, who 
 cross the Green Park every morning about eleven o'clock, and come 
 back over the self-same track by six of an evening. Staid old dogs, 
 with crape on their hats, and hard lines round their mouths, fond 
 of fresh caviare from Russia, and much given to cursing the 
 messengers." 
 
 He was, in a word, the incarnation of a very well-bred selfish- 
 ness, that had learned how much it redounds to a man's personal 
 comfort that he is popular, and that even a weak swimmer who goes 
 with the tide, makes a better figure than the strongest and bravest 
 who attempts to stem the current. He was, iu his way, a keen 
 observer, and a certain haughty tone, a kind of self-assertion in 
 Marion's manner, so distinguished her from her sister, that he set 
 Cutbill to ascei-tain if it had any other foundation than mere tempera- 
 ment ; and the wily agent was not long iu learning that a legacy of 
 twenty thousand pounds iu her own absolute right from her mother's 
 side accounted for these pretensions. 
 
 " I tell you, Cutty, it's only an old diplomatist, like myself, would 
 have detected the share that bank debentures had iu that girl's de- 
 meanour. Confess, sir, it was a clever hit." 
 
 " It was certainly neat, my lord." 
 
 " It was more. Cutty; it was deep — downright deep. I saw where 
 the idiosyncrasy stopped, and where the dividends came iu." 
 
 Cutbill smiled an approving smile, and his lordship turned to 
 the glass over the chimney-piece and looked admiringly at himself. 
 
 " Was it twenty thousand you said ? " asked he, indolently. 
 
 " Yes, my lord, twenty. Her father will probably give her as 
 much more. Harding told me yesterday that all the younger children 
 are to have share and share alike — no distinction made between sous 
 and daughters." 
 
 " So that she'll have what a Frencliman would call ' un million 
 de dot.' " 
 
 "Just about what we want, my lord, to start our enterprise." 
 
 " Ah, yes. I suppose that would do; but we shall do this by 
 a company, Cutty. Have you said anything to Bramleigh yet on the 
 subject ? " 
 
 " Nothing further than what I told you yesterday. I gave him
 
 bo THE LRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 the papers with the surveys and the specifications, and he said he'd 
 look over them this morning, and that I might drop in upon him to- 
 night in the library after ten. It is the time he likes best for a little 
 quiet chat." 
 
 "He seems a very cautious, I'd almost say, a timid man." 
 
 " The city men arc all like that, my lord. They're always cold 
 enough in entering on a project, though they'll go rashly on after 
 they've put their money in it." 
 
 " What's the eldest'son ? " 
 
 " A fool — ^iust a fool. He urged his father to contest a county, 
 to lay a claim for a peerage. They lost the election and lost their 
 money ; but Augustus Bramleigh persists in thinking that the party 
 are still their debtors." 
 
 " Very hard to make Ministers believe that," said Culduff, with 
 a grin. "A vote in the House is like a bird in the hand. The second 
 fellow, Temple, is a poor creature." 
 
 " Ain't he ? Not that he thinks so." 
 
 " No ; they never do," said Culduff, caressing his whiskers, and 
 looking pleasantly at himself in the glass. " They see one or two 
 men of mark in their career, and they fancy — heaven knows why — • 
 that they must be like them ; that identity of pursuit implies equality 
 of intellect ; and so these creatures spread out their little sails, and 
 imagine they are going to make a grand voyage." 
 
 " But Miss Bramleigh told me yesterday you had a high opinion 
 of her brother Temple." 
 
 " I believe I said so," said he, with a soft smile. " One says 
 these sort of things every day, irresponsibly. Cutty, irresponsibly, 
 just as one gives his autograph, but would think twice before signing 
 his name on a stamped paper." 
 
 Mr. Cutbill laughed at this sally, and seemed by the motion of his 
 lips as though he were repeating it to himself for future retail ; but 
 in what spirit, it would not be safe perhaps to inquire. 
 
 Though Lord Culduff did not present bimself at the family break- 
 fast-table, and but rarely appeared at luncheon, pretexting that his 
 mornings were always given up to business and letter- writing, he usually 
 came down in the afternoon in some toilet admirably suited to the 
 occasion, whatever it might be, of riding, driving, or walking. In 
 fact, a mere glance at his lordship's costume would have unmistakably 
 shown whether a canter, the croquet lawn, or a brisk walk through 
 the shrubberies, were in the order of the day. 
 
 "Do you remember. Cutty," said he suddenly, " what was my 
 engagement for this morning ? I promised somebody to go some- 
 where and do something ; and I'll be shot if I can recollect."
 
 THE DROPPINGS OF A GREAT DIPLO:\rATIST. 59 
 
 ** I am totally unablo to assist your lordship," said the other, with 
 a smile. " The young men, I kuow, are out shooting, and Miss 
 Eleanor Bramleigh is profiting by the snow to have a day's sledging. 
 She proposed to me to join her, hut I didn't sec it." 
 
 " Ah ! I have it now, Catty. I was to walk over to Port- 
 fchandon, to return the curate's call. Miss Bramleigh was to come 
 with me." 
 
 "It was scarcely gallant, my lord, to forgot so charming a pro- 
 ject," said the other slyly. 
 
 " Gallantry went out, Cutty, with slashed doublets. The height 
 and the boast of our modern civilization is to make women our perfect 
 equals, and to play the game of life with them on an absolutely equal 
 footing." 
 
 " Is that quite fair ? " 
 
 " I protest I think it is, except in a few rare instances, where the 
 men unite to the hardier qualities of the masculine intelligence, the 
 nicer, finer, most susceptible instincts of the other sex — the organi- 
 zation that more than any other touches on excellence ; — except, I 
 say, in these cases, the women have the best of it. Now what chance, 
 I ask you, would you have, pitted against such a girl as the elder 
 Bramleigh ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid a very poor one," said Cutbill, with a look of deep 
 humility. 
 
 " Just so, Cutty, a very poor one. I give you my word of 
 honour I have learned more diplomacy beside the drawing-room fire 
 than I ever acquired in the pages of the blue-books. You see it's 
 a quite ditlcrent school of fence they practise ; the thrusts are 
 different and the guards are different. A day for furs essentially, a 
 day for furs," broke he in, as he dre\Y on a coat lined with sable, and 
 profusely braided and ornamented. " What was I saying ? where 
 were wc ? " 
 
 " You were talking of women, my lord," 
 
 " The faintest tint of scarlet in the under vest — it was a device 
 of the Regent's in his really great day — is always eflective in cold, 
 bright, frosty weather. The tint is carried on to the cheek, and 
 adds biilliancy to the eye. In duller weather a coral pin in the cravat 
 will suffice ; but, as David Wilkie used to say, ' Nature must have 
 her bit of red.' " 
 
 " I wish you would finish what you were saying about women, my 
 lord. Your remarks were full of originality." 
 
 " Finish ! finish. Cutty ! It would take as many volumes as the 
 'Abridgment of the Statutes ' to contain one-half of what I could 
 say about them ; and, after all, it would be Sanscrit to you." His
 
 60 THE BllAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 lordship now placed his hat on his head, slightly on one side. It 
 was the " tigerism " of a past period, and which he could no more 
 abandon than he could give up the jaunty swagger of his walk, or 
 the bland smile which he kept ready for recognition. 
 
 " I have not, I rejoice to say, arrived at that time of life when I 
 can aflect to praise bygones; but I own, Cutty, they did everything 
 much better tive-and-twenty years ago than now. They dined better, 
 they dressed better, they drove better, they turned out better in the 
 field and in the park, and they talked better." 
 
 " How do you account for this, my lord ? " 
 
 '* Simply in this way. Cutty. We have lowered our standard in 
 taste just as we have lowei'ed our standard for the army. We take 
 fellows five feet seven into grenadier companies now ; that is, we 
 admit into society men of more wealth— the banker, the brewer, the 
 railway director, and the rest of them ; and with these people we 
 admit their ways, their tastes, their very expressions. I know it is 
 said that we gain in breadth : yet, as I told Lord Cocklethorpe, (the 
 mot had its success,) what we gain in breadth, said I, we lose in 
 height. Neat, Cutty, Avasn't it ? As neat as a mot well can be in 
 our clumsy language." 
 
 And with this, and a familiar "bye bye," he strolled away, 
 leaving Cutbill to practise before the glass such an imitation of him 
 as might serve, at some future time, to convulse with laughter a 
 select and admiring audience. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A WINTER day's WALK; 
 
 Lord Culduff and Marion set out for their walk. It was a sharp 
 frosty morning, with a blue sky above and crisp snow beneath. AVe 
 have already seen that his lordship had not been inattentive to the 
 charms of costume. Marion was no less so ; her dark silk dress, 
 looped over a scarlet petticoat, and a tasteful hat of black astracan, 
 well suited the character of looks where tlie striking and brilliant 
 wove as conspicuous as dark eyes, long lashes, and a bright com- 
 plexion could make them. 
 
 " I'll take you by the shrubberies, my lord, which is somewhat 
 longer, but pleasanter walking, and if you like it, we'll come back 
 by the hill path, which is much shoi-ter." 
 
 "The longer the road the more of your company, Miss Bram- 
 leigh. Therein lies my chief interest," said he, bowing. 
 
 I
 
 A WINTER day's WALK. ^i 
 
 They talked away pleasantly as they went along, of the country 
 find the scenery, of which new glimpses continually presented them- 
 selves, and of the country people and their ways, so new to each of 
 them. They agreed wonderfully on almost everything, but especially 
 as to the character of the Irish — so simple, so confiding, so trustful, 
 so grateful for benefits, and so eager to be well governed ! They 
 knew it all, the whole complex web of Irish difliculty and English 
 misrule was clear and plain before them ; and then, as they talked, 
 they gained a height from which the blue broad sea was visible, 
 and thence descried a solitaiy sail afar off, that set them speculating 
 on what the island might become when commerce and trade should 
 visit her, and rich cargoes should cumber her quays, and crowd her 
 harbours. Marion was strong in her knowledge of industrial 
 resources ; but as an accomplished aide-de-camp always rides a 
 little behind his chief, so did slie restrain her acquaintance with 
 these topics, and keep them slightly to the rear of all his lord- 
 ship advanced. And then he grew confidential, and talked of coal, 
 •which ultimately led him to himself, the theme of all he liked the 
 best. And how differently did he talk now ! AVhat vigour and 
 animation, what spirit did he not throw into his sketch ! It was 
 the story of a great man, unjustly, hardly, dealt with, persecuted 
 by an ungenerous rivalry, the victim of envy. For half, ay, for the 
 tithe of what he had done, others had got their advancement in the 
 peerage — their blue ribbons and the rest of it ; but Canning had 
 been jealous of him, and the Duke was jealous of him, and Palmers- 
 ton never liked him. " Of course," he said, " these are things a 
 man buries in his own breast. Of all the sorrows one encounters 
 in life, the slights are those he last confesses ; how I came to 
 speak of them now I can't imagine — can you ? " and he turned 
 fuily towards he:-, and saw that she blushed and cast down her 
 eyes at the question. 
 
 "Bat, my lord," said she, evading the replj*, " you give me the 
 idea of one who would not readily succumb to an injustice. Am I 
 right in my reading of you ? " 
 
 "I trust and hope you are," said he, haughtily; "and it is my 
 pride to think I have inspired that impression on so brief an 
 acquaintance." 
 
 " It is my own temper, too," she added. " You may convince ; 
 you cannot coerce me." 
 
 " I wish I might try the former," said he, in a tone of much 
 meaning. 
 
 " We agree in so many things, my lorJ," said she, laughingly. 
 " that there is little occasion for your persuasive power. There, tio
 
 62 THE BliAMLElGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 you see that smoke-wreath yonder '? that's from the cottage whore 
 we're going." 
 
 " I wish I knew where we wcra going," said he, with a sigii of 
 wonderful tenderness. 
 
 " To Pioseneath, my lord. I told you the L'Estranges lived 
 there." 
 
 " Yes : but it was not that I meant," added he, feelingly. 
 
 " And a pretty S2wt it is," continued she, purposely misunder- 
 standing him ; " so sheltered and secluded. By the way, what do 
 you think of the curate's sister ? She is very beautiful, isn't she ? " 
 
 " Ani I to say the truth ? " 
 
 " Of course you are." 
 
 " I mean, may I speak as though we knew each other very well, 
 and could talk in confidence together ? " 
 
 " That is what I mean." 
 
 " And wish ? " added he. 
 
 " Well, and wish, if you will supply the word." 
 
 " If I am to be frank, then, I don't admire her." 
 
 " Not think her beautiful ? " 
 
 "Yes; there is some beauty— a good deal of beauty, if you 
 like ; but somehow it is not allied with that brightness that seems 
 to accentuate beauty. She is tame and cold." 
 
 " I think men generally accuse her of coquetry." 
 
 "And there is coquetry, too ; but of that character the French 
 call minauderic, the weapon of a vci'y small enchantress, I assure 
 you." 
 
 "You are, then, for the captivations that give no quarter?" 
 said she, smiling. 
 
 "It is a glory to be so vanquished," said he, heroically. 
 
 " My sister declared the other night, after Julia had sung that 
 barcarole, that you were fatally smitten." 
 
 " And did you concur iu the judgment ? " asked he, tenderly. 
 
 "At first, perhaps I did, but when I came to know you a little 
 better " 
 
 " After our talk on the terrace ? " 
 
 " And even before that. When Julia was singing for you, — 
 clearly for you, there was no disguise in the matter, and I whispered 
 you, ' What courage you have ! ' you said, ' I have been so often 
 under fire,' — from that instant I knew you." 
 
 " Knew me, — how far ? " 
 
 " Enough to know that it was not to such captivations you 
 would yield, — that you had seen a great deal of that sort of thing.'' 
 
 "Oil, have I not ! "
 
 A Winter Day's Walk.
 
 A WINTER day's \VALK. 63 
 
 'Perhaps not always unscatbed," said she, with a sly glance. 
 
 " I will scarcely go that far," replied he, with the air of a man 
 on the best possible terms with himself. " They say he is the best 
 rider who has had the most falls. At least, it may be said that he 
 who has met no disasters has encountered few perils." 
 
 "Now, my lord, j'ou can see the cottage comi)letcIy. Is it not 
 very pretty, and very picturesque, and is there not something very 
 interesting, — touching almost, in the thought of beauty and captiva- 
 tion, — dwelling in this untravelled wilderness ? " 
 
 He almost gave a little shudder, as his eye followed the line of 
 the rugged mountain, till it blended with the bleak and shingly shore 
 on which the waves were now Vv'ashing in measured plash, — the one 
 sound in the universal silence around. 
 
 " Nothing but being desperately in love could make this solitude 
 endurable," said he at last. 
 
 " Why not try tbat resource, my lord ? I could almost promise 
 you that the young lady who lives yonder is quite ready to be adored 
 and worshipped, and all that sort of thing ; and it would be such a 
 boon on the frosty days, when the ground is too hard for hunting, 
 to have this little bit of romance awaiting you." 
 
 " Coquetry and French cookery pall upon a man who has lived 
 all his life abroad, and he actually longs for a little plain diet, in 
 manners as well as meals." 
 
 "And then you have seen all the pretty acts of our very pretty 
 neighbour so much better done ? " 
 
 " Done by real artists," added he. 
 
 " Just so. Amateurship is always a poor thing. This is tie 
 way, my lord. If you will follow me, I will be your guide here ; the 
 path here is very slippery, and you must take care how you go." 
 
 " When I fall, it shall be at your feet," said he, with his hand 
 on his heart. 
 
 As they gained the bottom of t!ie little ravine down which the 
 footpath lay, they found Julia, hoe in hand, at work in the garden 
 before the door. Her dark woollen dress and her straw hat were 
 only relieved in colour by a blue ribbon round her throat, but she 
 v^as slightly flushed by exercise, and a little flurried perhaps by 
 the surprise of seeing them, and her beauty, this time, certainly 
 lacked nothing of that brilliancy which Lord Culdufl' had pro- 
 nounced it deficient in. 
 
 "My brother will be so sorry to have missed you, my lord," 
 said she, leading the way into the little drawing-room, where, 
 amidst many signs of narrow fortune, there were two or three of 
 those indications which vouch for cultivated tastes and pleasures.
 
 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 '* I had told Lord Culduff so much about your cottage, Julia," 
 said Marion, " that he insisted on coming to sec it, without even 
 apprising you of his intention." 
 
 "It is just as well," said she artlessly. "A little more or less 
 sun gives the only change in its appearance. Lord Culduff sees it 
 now as it looks nearly every day." 
 
 " And very charming that is," said he, walking to the window 
 and looking out ; and then he asked the name of a headland, and 
 how a small rocky island was called, and on which side lay the village 
 of Portshandon, and at what distance was the church, the replies to 
 which seemed to afford him unmixed satisfaction, for as he resumed 
 his seat he muttered several times to himself, " Very delightful 
 indeed ; very pleasing in every way." 
 
 " Lord Culduff was asking me, as he came along," said Marion, 
 " whether I thought the solitude — I think he called it the savagery 
 of this spot — was likely to be better borne by one native to such 
 wildness, or by one so graced and gifted as yourself, and I protest 
 he puzzled me." 
 
 " I used to think it very lonely when I came here first, but I 
 believe I should be sony to leave it now," said Julia calmly. 
 
 "There, my lord," said Marion, "you are to pick your answer 
 out of that." 
 
 " As to those resources, which you are so flattering as to call my 
 gifts and graces," said Julia, laughing, " such of them at least as 
 lighten the solitude were all learned here. I never took to gardening 
 before ; I never fed poultry." 
 
 " Oh, Julia ! have mercy on our illusions." 
 
 " You must tell me what they are, before I can spare them. 
 The curate's sister has no claim to be thought an enchanted 
 princess." 
 
 "It is all enchantment! " said Lord CuldufT, who had only very 
 imperfectly caught what she said. 
 
 " Then, I suppose, my lord," said Marion, haughtily, " I ought 
 to rescue you before the spell is complete, as I came here in quality 
 of guide." And she rose as she spoke. " The piano has not been 
 opened to-day, Julia. I take it you seldom sing of a morning ? " 
 
 " Very seldom indeed." 
 
 " So i told Lord Culduff; but I promised him his recompence 
 in the evening. You are coming to us to-morrow, ain't you ? " 
 
 " I fear not. I think George made our excuses. We are to have 
 Mr. Longworth and a French friend of his here with us." 
 
 " You see, my lord, what a gay neighbourhood wc have ; here is 
 a rival dinner-party," said Marion.
 
 A ■WINTER DAY S WALK. 
 
 " Thoro's no question of a dinner : they come lo tea, I assure 
 yen," said Julia, laughing. 
 
 " No, my lord : it's useless, quite hopeless. I assure you she'll 
 not sing for you of a morning." This speech was addressed to Lord 
 Culduff, as he was turning over some music-hooks on the piano. 
 
 " Have I your permission to look at these ? " said ho to Julia, as 
 he opened a book of drawings in water-colours. 
 
 " Of course, my lord. They arc mere sketches taken in the 
 neighbourhood here, and, as you will see, very hurriedly done." 
 
 "And have you such coast scenery as this ? " asked he, in some 
 astonishment, while he held up a rocky headland of several hundred 
 feet, out of the caves at whose base a tumultuous sea was tumbling. 
 
 " I could show you finer and bolder bits than even that." 
 
 " Do you hear, my lord ? " said Marion, in a low tone, only 
 audible to himself. " The fair Julia is offering to be your guide. 
 I'm afraid it is growing late. One does forget time at this cottage. 
 It was only the last day I came here I got scolded for being late at 
 dinner." 
 
 And now ensued one of those little bustling scenes of shawling 
 and embracing with which young ladies separate. They talked 
 together, and laughed, and kissed, and answered half-uttered 
 sen'ences, and even seemed after parting to have something more to 
 say ; they were by turns sad, and playful, and saucy — all of these 
 moods being duly accompanied by graceful action, and a chance 
 display of a hand or foot, as it might be, and then they parted. 
 
 " Well, my lord," said Marion, as they ascended the steep path 
 that led homewards, " what do you say now ? Is Julia as cold and 
 impassive as you pronounced her, or are you i;ngrateful enough to 
 ignore fascinations all displayed and developed for your own especial 
 captivation ? " 
 
 " It was very pretty coquetry, all of it," said he, smiling. " Her 
 eyelashes are even longer tlian I thought them." 
 
 " I saw that you remarked them, and she was gracious enough 
 to remain looking at the drawing sufHciently long to allow you full 
 time for the enjoyment." 
 
 The steep and rugged paths were quite as much as Lord Culduff 
 could manage without talking, and ho toiled along after her in silence, 
 till they gained the beach. 
 
 " At last a bit of even ground," exclaimed he, with a sigh. 
 
 " You'll think nothing of the hill, my lord, when you've come it 
 three or four times," said she, with a malicious twinkle of the eye. 
 
 " Which is precisely what I have no intention of doing." 
 
 " AVhat ! not cultivate the acquaintance so auspiciously opened ? " 
 
 6
 
 THE EEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 " Not at this price," said he, looking at his splashed boots. 
 
 " And that excursion, that ramble, or whatever be the name for 
 it, you were to take together ? " 
 
 " It is a bliss, I am afraid, I must deny myself." 
 
 "You are wrong, my lord; very wrong. My brothers at least 
 assure me that Julia is charming en tete-a-tete. Indeed, Augustus 
 says one does not know her at all till you have passed an hour or two 
 in such confidential intimacy. He says ' she comes out ' — whatever 
 that may be — wonderfully." 
 
 " Oh, she comes out, does she ? " said he, caressing his whiskers. 
 
 " That was his phrase for it. I take it to mean that she ventures 
 to talk with a freedom more common on the Continent than in these 
 islands. Is that coming out, my lord ? " 
 
 " Well, I half suspect it is," said he, smiling faintly. 
 
 " And I suppose men like that ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid, my dear Miss Bramleigh," said he, with a mock air 
 of deploring — " I'm afraid that in these degenerate days men are 
 very prone to like whatever gives them least trouble in everything, 
 ami if a woman will condescend to talk to us on our own topics, and 
 treat them pretty much in our own way, we like it, simply because 
 it diminishes the distance between us, and saves us that uphill clamber 
 we are obliged to take when you insist upon our scrambling up to the 
 high level you live in." 
 
 " It is somewhat of an ignoble confession you have made there," 
 said she, haughtily. 
 
 " I know it — I feel it — I deplore it," said he, aifectedly. 
 
 "If men will, out of mere indolence — no matter," said she, biting 
 her lip. " I'll not say what I was going to say." 
 
 " Pray do. I beseech you finish what you have so well begun." 
 
 " Were I to do so, my lord," said she, gravely, " it might finish 
 more than that. It might at least go some way towards finishing 
 our acquaintanceship. I'm sorely afraid you'd not have forgiven me 
 had you heard me out." 
 
 " I'd never have forgiven myself, if I were the cause of it." 
 
 For some time they walked along in silence, and now th.e Great 
 House came into view — its windows all glowing and glittering in 
 the blaze of a setting sun, while a faint breeze lazily moved the 
 heavy folds of the enormous flag that floated over the high tower. 
 
 " I call that a very princely place," said he, stopping to 
 admire it. 
 
 " What a caprice to have built it in such a spot," said she. 
 " The country people were not far wrong when they called it 
 Bishop's Folly." 
 
 i
 
 A WINTER day's V\'ALK. C7 
 
 " They gave it that name, did they ? " 
 
 " Yes, my lord. It is one of the ways in which humble folk 
 reconcile themselves to lowly fortune ; they ridicule their betters." 
 And now she gave a little low laugh to herself, as if some unuttcred 
 notion had just amused her. 
 
 " What made you smile ? " asked he. 
 
 "A very absurd fancy struck me. 
 
 " Let me hear it. Why not let me share in its oddity ? " 
 
 " It miglit not amuse you as much as it amused me." 
 
 " I am the only one who can decide that point." 
 
 " Then I'm not so certain it might not annoy you." 
 
 " I can assure you on that head," said he gallantly. 
 
 "Well, then, you shall hear it. The caprice of a great divine 
 nas, so to say, registered itself yonder, and will live, so long as stone 
 and mortar endure, as Bishop's Folly ; and I was thinking how strange 
 it would bo if another caprice just as unaccountable were to give a 
 name to a less pretentious edifice, and a certain charming cottage be 
 known to posterity as the Viscount's Folly. You're not angry with 
 me, are you ? " 
 
 " I'd be very angry indeed with you, with myself, and with the 
 whole world, if I thought such a casualty a possibility." 
 
 " I assure you, when I said it I didn't believe it, my lord," said 
 she, looking at him with much graciousness ; and, indeed, I would 
 never have uttered the impertinence if you had not forced me. There, 
 there goes the first bell ; we shall have short time to dress," — and 
 with a very meaning smile and a familiar gesture of her hand, she 
 tripped up the steps and disappeared. 
 
 " I think I'm all right in that quarter," was his lordship's reflection 
 as he mounted the stairs to his room. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 AN E\T3NING BELOW AND ABOVE STAIRS. 
 
 It was not very willingly that Mr. Cutbill left the drawing-room, where 
 he had been performing a violoncello accompaniment to one of the 
 young ladies in the execution of something very Mendelssohnian and 
 profoundly puzzling to the uninitiated in harmonics. After the peerage 
 he loved counter-point ; and it was really hard to tear himself away 
 from passages of almost piercing shrillness, or those still more 
 suggestive meanings of a double bass, to talk stock and share-list
 
 68 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOr's FOLLY. 
 
 witli Colonel Braruleigli in the library. Resisting all the assurances 
 that '* papa wouldn't mind it ; that any other time would do quite as 
 well," and such like, he went up to his room for his books anl 
 papers, and then repaired to his rendezvous. 
 
 " I'm sorry to take you away from the drawing-room, Mr. Cutbill," 
 said Bramleigh, as he entered, " but I am half expecting a summons 
 to town, and could not exactly be sure of an opportunity to talk over 
 this matter on which Lord Culduff is very urgent to have my 
 opinion." 
 
 " It is not easy, I confess, to tear oneself away from such society. 
 Your daughters are charming musicians. Colonel. Miss Bramleigh's 
 style is as brilliant as Meyer's ; and Miss Eleanor has a delicacy of 
 touch I have never heard surpassed." 
 
 " This is very flattering, coming from so consummate a judge as 
 yourself." 
 
 " All the teaching in the world will not impart that sensitive 
 organization which sends some tones into the heart like the drip, 
 drip of water on a heated brow. Oh, dear ! music is too much for 
 me-; it totally subverts all my sentiments. I'm not fit for business 
 after it. Colonel Bramleigh, that's the fact." 
 
 *' Take a glass of that ' Bra Mouton.' You will find it good. It 
 has been eight-and-thirty years in my cellar, and I never think of 
 bringing it out except for a connoisseur in wine." 
 
 " Nectar, positively nectar," said he, smacking his lips. " You 
 are quite right not to give this to the public. They would drink it 
 like a mere full-bodied Bordeaux. That velvety softness, — that sub- 
 dued strength, faintly recalling Burgundy, and that delicious bouquet, 
 would all be clean thrown away on most people. I declare, I believe 
 a refined palate is just as rare as a correct ear ; don't you think so ? " 
 
 " I'm ghid you like the wine. Don't spare it. The cellar is not 
 far off. Now then, let us see. These papers contain Mr. Stcbhing's 
 report. I have only glanced my eye over it, but it seems like every 
 other report. They have, I think, a stereotyped formula for these 
 things. They all set out with their bit of geological learning ; but 
 you know, Mr. Cutbill, far better than I can tell you, you know sand- 
 stone doesn't always mean coal ? " 
 
 "If it doesn't, it ought to," said Cutbill, with a laugh, for the 
 wine had made him jolly, and familiar besides. 
 
 " There are many things in this world which ought to be, but 
 which, unhappily, arc not," said Bramleigh, in a tone evidently meant 
 to be Jialf-rcproachful. " And as I have already observed to you, 
 mere geological formation is not suflicient. We want the mineral, 
 sir; we want the fact."
 
 AN EVENING BELOW AND ABOVE STAIKS. 69 
 
 " There you have it ; there it is for you," said Cutbill, pointing 
 to a somewhat bulky parcel in brown paper in the centre of the 
 table, 
 
 "This is not real coal, Mr. Cutbill," said Bramleigh, as he tore 
 open the covering, and exposed a black mis-shapen lump. " You 
 would not call this real coal ? " 
 
 " I'd not call it Swansea nor Cardiff, Colonel, any more than I'd 
 say the claret we had after dinner to-day was ' Moutoa ; ' but still 
 I'd call each of them very good in their way." 
 
 "I return you my thanks, sir, in the name of my wine-merchant. 
 But to come to the coal question, — what could you do with this ? " 
 
 " What could I do with it '? Scores of things, — if I had only 
 enough of it. Burn it in grates — cook with it — smelt metals with it 
 — burn lime with it — drive engines, not locomotives, but statiouarios, 
 with it. I tell you what, Colonel Bramleigh," said he, with the air 
 of a man who was asserting what he would not suffer to be ^ainsayed. 
 "It's coal quite enough to start a company on ; coal within the 
 meaning of the Act, as the lawyers would say." 
 
 "You appear to have rather loose notions of joint-stock enterprise-, 
 Mr. Cutbill," said Bramleigh, haughtily. 
 
 "I must say, Colonel, they do not invariably inspire me with 
 sentiments of absolute veneration." 
 
 "I hope, however, you feel, sir, that in any enterprise — in any 
 undertaking — where my name is to stand forth, either as promoter or 
 abettor, that the world is to see in such guarantee the assurance of 
 solvency and stability." 
 
 " That is precisely what made me think of you : precisely what 
 led me to say to Culduff, ' Bramleigh is the man to carry the scheme 
 out.' " 
 
 Now the familiarity that spoke of Culduff' thus unceremoniously 
 in great part reconciled Bramleigh to hear his own name treated in 
 like fashion, all the more that it was in a quotation ; but still he 
 winced under the cool impertinence of the man, and grieved to think 
 bow far his own priceless wine had contributed towards it. The 
 Colonel therefore merely bowed his acknowledgment and was silent. 
 
 " I'll be frank with you," said Cutbill, emptying the last of the 
 decanter into his glass as he spoke. " I'll be frank with you. We've 
 got coal ; whether it be much or little, there it is. As to quality, as 
 I said before, it isn't Cardiff. It won't set the Thames on fire, any 
 more than the noble lord that owns it : but coal it is, and it will 
 burn as coal — and yield gas as coal — and make coke as coal, and who 
 wants more ? As to working it himself, Culduff miglit just as soon 
 pretend he'd pay the National Debt. He is over head and cars
 
 70 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 already ; — lie has been in bondage with the children of Israel this 
 many a day, and if he wasn't a peer he could not show ; — but that's 
 neither here nor there. To set the concern a-going, we must either 
 have a loan or a company. I'm for a company." 
 
 " You are for a company," reiterated Bramleigh, slowly, as he 
 fixed his eyes calmly but steadily on him. 
 
 " Yes, I'm for a company. With a company, Bramleigh," said he, 
 as he tossed off the last glass of wine, " there's always more of P. E." 
 
 " Of what?" 
 
 "Of P. E. — Preliminary Expenses ! There's a commission to 
 inquire into this, and a deputation to investigate that. No men on 
 earth dine like deputations. I never knew what dining v/as till I 
 was named on a deputation. It was on sewerage. And didn't the 
 champagne flow ! There was a viaduct to be constructed to lead 
 into the Thames, and I never think of that viaduct without the taste 
 of turtle in my mouth, and a genial feeling of milk-punch all over me. 
 The assurance offices say that there was scarcely such a thing known 
 as a gout premium in the City till the joint-stock companies came 
 in ; now they have them every day." 
 
 " Eevenons a nos moutons, as the French say, Mr. Cutbill," said 
 Bramleigh, gravely. 
 
 " If it's a pun you mean, and that we're to have another bottle 
 of the same, I second the motion." 
 
 Bramleigh gave a sickly smile as he rang the bell ; but neither 
 the jest nor the jester much pleased him. 
 
 "Bring another bottle of ' Mouton,' Drayton, and fresh glasses," 
 said he, as the butler appeared. 
 
 "I'll keep mine, it is warm and mellow," said Cutbill. " The 
 only fault with that last bottle was the slight chill on it." 
 
 " You have been frank with me, Mr. Cutbill," said Bramleigh, 
 as soon as the servant withdrew, " and I will be no less so with you. 
 I have retired from the world of business, — I have quitted the active 
 sphere where I have passed some thirty odd years, and have sur- 
 rendered ambition, either of money-making, or place, or rank, and 
 come over here with one single desire, one single wish, — I want to 
 see what's to be done for Ireland." 
 
 Cutbill lifted his glass to his lips, but scarcely in time to hide the 
 smile of incredulous drollery which curled them, and which the other's 
 quick glance detected. 
 
 " There is nothing to sneer at, sir, in what I said, and I will 
 repeat my words. I want to see what's to be done for Ireland." 
 
 " It's very laudable in you, there can be no doubt," said Cutbill, 
 gravely.
 
 AN E^'EXING BELOW AND ABOVE STATES. 71 
 
 " I am well aware of the peril incurred by addressing to men like 
 yourself, Mr. Cutbill, any opinions — any sentiments — which savour 
 of disinterestedness, or — or " 
 
 " Poetry," suggested Cutbill. 
 
 " No, sir ; patriotism was the word I sought for. And it is not 
 by any means necessary that a man should bo an L'ishman to care for 
 Ireland. I think, sir, there is nothing in that sentiment at least 
 which will move your ridicule." 
 
 " Quite the reverse. I have drunk ' Prosperity to Ireland ' at 
 public dinners for twenty years ; and in very good liquor too, 
 occasionally." 
 
 " I am happy to address a gentleman so graciously disposed to 
 listen to me," said Bramleigh, whose face was now crimson with 
 anger. " There is only one thing more to be wished for, — that he 
 would join some amount of trustfulness to his politeness ; with that 
 be would be perfect." 
 
 " Here goes, then, for perfection," cried Cutbill, gaily. " I'm 
 ready from this time to believe anything you tell me." 
 
 " Sir, I will not draw largely on the fund you so generously place 
 at my disposal. I will simply ask you to believe me a man of honour." 
 
 " Only that ? No more'than that ? " 
 
 " No more, I pledge you my word." 
 
 " My dear Bramleigh, your return for the income-tax is enough 
 to prove that. Nothing short of high integrity ever possessed as 
 good a fortune as yours." 
 
 " You are speaking of my fortune, Mr. Cutbill, not of my 
 character." 
 
 " Ain't they the same ? Ain't they one and the same ? Show 
 me your dividends, and I will show you your disposition — that's as 
 ;rue as the Bible." 
 
 " I will not follow you into this nice inquiry. I will simply return 
 to where I started from, and repeat, I want to do something for 
 Ireland." 
 
 " Do it, in God's name ; and I hope you'll like it when it's done. 
 I have known some half-dozen men in my time who had the same 
 sort of ambition. One of them tried a cotton-mill on the Lifiey, and 
 they burned him down. Another went in for patent fuel, and they 
 shot his steward. A third tried Galway marble, and they shot him- 
 self. Bat after all there's more honour where there's more danger. 
 What, may I ask, is your little game for Ireland ? " 
 
 " I begin to suspect that a better time for business, Mr. Cutbill, 
 might be an hour after breakfast. Shall we adjourn till to-morrow 
 morning ? "
 
 72 THE BR.UILF.IGIIS OF LISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 "I am completely at 3'our orders. For ray own part, I never felt 
 clearer iu my life than I do this minute. I'm ready to go into coal 
 ■with you : from tlie time of sinking the shaft to riddling the slack, my 
 little calculations are all made. I could address a hoard of managing 
 directors here as I sit ; and say, what for dividend, v.hat for repairs, 
 what for a reserved fund, and what for the small rohberies." 
 
 The unparalleled coolness of the man had now pushed Bramleigh's 
 patience to its last limit ; hut a latent fear of what such a fellow 
 might he iu his enmity, restrained him and compelled him to be 
 cautious. 
 
 " What sum do you think the project will require, Mr. Cutbill ? " 
 
 " I think about eighty thousand; but I'd say one hundred and 
 fifty — it's always more respectable. Small investments are seldom 
 liked ; and then the margin — the margin is broader." 
 
 "Yes, certainly ; the margin is much broader." 
 
 " Fifty-pound shares, with a call of five every three months, will 
 start us. The chief thing is to begin with a large hand." Here he 
 m-ade a wide sweep of his arm. 
 
 " For coal like that j-ondcr," said Bramleigh, pointing to the 
 specimen, "you'd not get ten shillings the ten." 
 
 " Fifteen — fifteen. I'd make it the test of a man's patriotism to 
 use it. I'd get the Viceroy to burn it, and the Chief Secretary, and 
 the Archbishop, and Father Cullen. I'd heat St. Patrick's with it, 
 and the National Schools. There could be no disguise about it ; like 
 the native whisky, it would be known by the smell of the smoke." 
 
 " You have drawn up some sort of prospectus ? " 
 
 " Some sort of prospectus ! I think I have. There's a document 
 there on the table might go before the House of Commons this 
 minute; and the short and the long of it is, Bramleigh " — here he 
 crossed his arms on the table, and droirped his voice to a tone of great 
 confidence — " it is a good thing — a right good thing. There's coal 
 there, of one kind or other, for five-and-twenty years, perhaps more. 
 The real, I may say, the only difficulty of the whole scheme will be 
 to keep old Culduff from running off with all the profits. As soon as 
 the money comes rolling in, he'll set off shelling it out ; he's just as 
 wasteful as he was thirty years ago." 
 
 " That will be impossible when a company is once regulai'ly 
 formed." 
 
 " I know that. I know that ; but men of his stamp say, ' Wo 
 know nothing about trade. We haven't been bred up to ofllce- 
 stools and big ledgers ; and when wc want money, we get it how 
 we can.' " 
 
 " Wc cau't prevent him selling out or mortgaging his shares.
 
 A.:i EVENING BELOW AND ABOVE STAIRS. 73 
 
 You mean, in short, that he should not be on the direction ? " 
 added he. 
 
 " That's it; that's exactly it," said Cutbill, joyously. 
 
 " Will he like that ? Will he submit to it ? " 
 
 " He'll like whatever promises to put him most speedily into 
 funds ; he'll submit to whatever threatens to stop the supplies. 
 Don't you know these men better than I do, who pass lives of 
 absenteeism from their country ; how little they care how or whence 
 money comes, provided they get it ? They neither know, nor want to 
 know, about good or bad seasons, whether harvests are fine, or trade 
 profitable ; their one question is, * Can you answer my draft at thirty- 
 one days ? ' " 
 
 " Ah, yes ; there is too much, far too much, of what you say in 
 the world," said Bramleigh, sighing. 
 
 " These are not the men who want to do something for Ireland," 
 said the other, quizzically. 
 
 " Sir, it may save us both some time and temper if I tell you I 
 have never been ' chafiod.' " 
 
 " That sounds to me like a man saying, I have never been out in 
 the rain ; but as it is so, there's no more to be said." 
 
 " Nothing, sir. Positively nothing on that head." 
 
 " Nor indeed on any other. Men in my line of life couldn't get 
 on without it. Chaif lubricates business just the way grease oils 
 machinery. There would be too much friction in life without chaff, 
 Bi'amlcigh." 
 
 " I look upon it as directly the opposite. I regard it as I would 
 a pebble getting amongst the wheels, and causing jar and disturb- 
 ance, sir." 
 
 " Well, then," said Cutbill, cmptyicg the last drop into his glass, 
 "I take it I need not go over all the details you will find in those 
 papers. There are plans, and specifications, and estimates, and 
 computations, showing what we mean to do, and how ; and as I 
 really could add nothing to the report, I suppose I may wish you a 
 good night." 
 
 " I am very sorry, Mr. Cutbill, if my inability to be jocular should 
 deprive me of the pleasure of your society, but there are still many 
 points on which I desire to be informed." 
 
 *' It's all there. If you v. ere to bray me in a mortar you 
 couldn't get more out of me than you'll find in those papers ; and 
 whether it's the heat of the room, or the wine, or the subject, but 
 I am awfully sleepy," and he backed this assurance with a hearty 
 yawn. 
 
 " Well, sir, I must submit to your dictation, I will trv and
 
 74 THE BKAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 master these details before I go to bed, and we'll take some favourable 
 moment to-morrow to talk them over." 
 
 "That's said like a sensible man," said Catbill, clapping him 
 familiarly on the shoulder, and steadying himself the while ; for as 
 he stood up to go, he found that the wine had been stronger than he 
 suspected. " Wken we see a little more of each other," said he, in 
 the oracular tone of a man who had drunk too much ; " when we see 
 a little more of each other, we'll get on famously. You know the 
 world, and I know the world. You have had your dealings with men, 
 and I have had my dealings with men, and we know what's what. 
 Ain't I right, Bramleigh '? " 
 
 " I have no doubt there is much truth in what you say." 
 
 " Truth, truth, it's true as gospel ! There's only one thing, how- 
 ever, to be settled between us. Each must make his little concession 
 with reci-procity — reci-procity, ain't it ? " 
 
 " Quite so ; but I don't see your meaning." 
 
 " Here it is then, Bramleigh ; here's what I mean. If we're 
 to march together we must start fair. No man is to have more 
 baggage than his neighbour. If I'm to give up chaff, do you see, 
 you must give up humbug ? If I'm not to have my bit of fun, old 
 boy, you're not to come over me about doing something for Ireland, 
 that's all," and with this he lounged out, banging the door after him 
 as he went. 
 
 Mr. Cutbill, as ho went to his room, had a certain vague 
 suspicion that he had drunk more wine than was strictly necessary, 
 and that the lifjuor was not impossibly stronger than he had 
 suspected. He felt, too, in the same vague way, that there had 
 been a passage of arms between his host and himself, but as to what 
 it was about, and who was the victor, he had not the shadow of a 
 conception. 
 
 Neither did his ordinary remedy of pouring the contents of his 
 water-jug over his head aid him on this occasion. 
 
 "I'm not a bit sleepy; nonsense!" muttered he, "so I'll go 
 and see what they are doing in the smoking-room." 
 
 Here he found the three young men of the house in that semi- 
 thoughtful dreariness which is supposed to be the captivation of 
 tobacco ; as if the mass of young Englishmen needed anything to 
 deepen the habitual gloom of their natures, or thicken the sluggish 
 apathy that follows them into all inactivity. 
 
 "How jolly," cried Cutbill, as he entered. "I'll be shot if I 
 believed as I came up the stairs that there was any one here. You 
 haven't even got brandy and seltzer." 
 
 " If you touch that bell, they'll bring it," said Augustus, languidly.
 
 AN EYENIXG BELOW AND ABOVE STAIRS. 75 
 
 ** Some Moselle for vie," said Temple, as the servant entered. 
 
 " I'm glad you've come, Cutty," cried Jack; "as old Kemp used 
 to say, any tiling is Letter than a dead calm, even a mutiny." 
 
 " What au infernal old hurdy-gurdy. Why haven't you a decent 
 piano here, if you have one at all ? " said Cutbill, as he ran his 
 hands over the keys of a discordant old instrument that actually shook 
 on its legs as he struck the chords. 
 
 " I suspect it was mere accident brought it here," said Augustus. 
 ** It was invalided out of the girls' schoolroom, and sent up here to 
 be got rid of." 
 
 " Sing us something, Cutty," said Jack ; " it will be a real boon 
 at thi.^ moment." 
 
 " I'll sing like a grove of nightingales for you, when I have wet my 
 lips ; but I am parched in the mouth, like a Cape parrot. I've had 
 two hours of your governor below stairs. Very dry work, I promise you." 
 
 " Did he ofi'er you nothing to drink ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Yes, we had two bottles of very tidy claret. He called it 
 ' Moutou.' " 
 
 " By Jove ! " said Augustus, " you must have been high in the 
 governor's favour to be treated to his ' Bra Mouton.' " 
 
 " We had a round with the gloves, nevertheless," said Cutbill, 
 " and exchanged some ugly blows. I don't exactly know about what 
 or how it began, or even how it ended; but I know there was a black 
 eye somewhere. He's passionate, rather." 
 
 " He has the spirit that should animate every gentleman," said 
 Temple. 
 
 " That's exactly w-hat I have. I'll stand anything, I don't care 
 what, if it be fun. Say it's a 'joke,' and you'll never see me show 
 bad temper ; but if any fellow tries it on with me because he fancies 
 himself a swell, or has a handle to his name, he'll soon discover his 
 mistake. Old CuldufF began that way. You'd laugh if you saw how 
 he floundered out of the swamp afterwards." 
 
 " Tell us about it. Cutty," said Jack encouragingly. 
 
 " I beg to say I should prefer not hearing anything ^\hich might, 
 even by inference, reflect on a person holding Lord Culdufl"s position 
 in my profession," said Temple haughtily. 
 
 " Is that the quarter the wind's in ? " asked Cutbill, with a not 
 very sober expression in his face. 
 
 " Sing us a song, Cutty. It will be better than all this spar- 
 ring," said Jack. 
 
 " What shall it be ? " said Cutbill, seating himself at the piano, 
 and running over the keys with no small skill. " Shall I describe 
 my journey to Ireland ? "
 
 7G THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " By all means let's hear it," said Augustus. 
 
 " I forget how it goes. Indeed, some verses I was making on 
 the curate's sister have driven the others out of my head." 
 
 Jack drew uigh, and leaning over his shoulder, whispered some- 
 thing in his ear. 
 
 " What! " cried Cuthill, starting up; "he says he'll pitch me 
 neck and crop out of the window." 
 
 " Not unless you deserve it — add that," said Jack sternly, 
 
 " I must have an apology for those words, sir. I shall insist on 
 your recalling them, and expressing your sincere regret for having 
 ever used them." 
 
 " So you shall, Cutty. I completely forgot that this tower was 
 ninety feet high ; but I'll pitch you downstairs, which will do as well." 
 
 There was a terrible gleam of earnestness in Jack's eye as he 
 spoke this laughingly, which appalled Cutbill far more than any 
 bluster, and he stammered out, " Let us have no practical jokes; 
 they're bad taste. You'd be a great fool, admiral " — this was a 
 familiarity he occasionally used with Jack — "you'd be a great fool 
 to quarrel with mc. 1 can do more with the fellows at Somerset 
 House than most men going ; and when the day comes that they'll 
 give you a command, and you'll want twelve or fifteen hundred to set 
 you afloat, Tom Cutbill is not the worst man to know in the City. 
 Not to say, that if things go right down here, I could help you to 
 something very snug in our mine. Won't we come out strong then, eh ? " 
 
 Here he rattled over the keys once more ; and after humming to 
 himself for a second or two, burst out with a rattling, merry air, to 
 which he sung, — 
 
 With crests on our harness and breechin, 
 
 In a carriage and four we shall roll, 
 With a sjilcndid French cook in the kitchen, 
 
 If we only succeed to find coal, 
 
 Coal! 
 
 If we only are sure to find coal. 
 
 " A barcarole, I declare," said Lord Culduff, entering. " It was 
 a good inspiration led mo up here." 
 
 A jolly roar of laughter at his mistake welcomed him ; and 
 Cutty, with an aside, cried out, " He's deaf as a post," and con- 
 tinued, — 
 
 If wo marry, we'll marry a beauty, 
 
 If single we'll try and control 
 Our tastes within limits of duty, 
 And make ourselves jolly with coal. 
 
 Coal ! 
 And make ourselves jolly with coal.
 
 At. die *,ijlc;i''o.
 
 AN EVENING BELOW AND ABOVE STAIHS. 77 
 
 Thev may talk of the mines of Golconda r, 
 
 Or the'i- hafts of Fucbla del Sol ; 
 But to lill a man's pocket, I wonder, 
 
 If there's anything equal to coal. 
 Coal ! 
 
 If there's anything ecjual to coal. 
 
 At Naples we'll live on the Chiaji, 
 
 'With our schooner-yacht close to the Mole, 
 
 And make daily picknickings to Baja, 
 If we only come down upon coal, 
 Coal I 
 If we only come down upon coal. 
 
 ** One of the fishermen's songs," said Lord Calduflf, as lie beat 
 time on the table. " I've passed many a uiglit on the Bay of Naples 
 listening to them." 
 
 And a wild tumultuous laugh now convulsed the company, and 
 Cutbill, himself overwhelmed by the absurdity, rushed to the door, 
 and made his escape without waiting for more. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AT THE COTTAGE. 
 
 Julia L'Esteange was busily engaged in arranging some flowers in 
 certain vases in her little drawing-room, and, with a taste all her 
 own, draping a small hanging lamp with creepers, when Jack Bram- 
 leigb appeared at the open window, and leaning on the sill, cried out, 
 " Good morning." 
 
 " I came over to scold you, Julia," said he. " It was very cruel 
 of you to desert us last evening, and we had a most dreary time of it 
 in consequence." 
 
 " Come round and hold this chair for me, and don't talk 
 nonsense." 
 
 " And what are all these fine preparations for ? You are decking 
 out your room as if for a village fete," said he, not moving from bis 
 place nor heeding her request. 
 
 " I fancy that young Frenchman who w%as here last night," said 
 sbe, saucily, " would have responded to my invitation if I had asked 
 him to hold the chair I was standing on." 
 
 " I've no doubt of it," said he, gravely. " Frenchmen are 
 vastly more gallant than we are." 
 
 " Do you know, Jack," said she again, *' he is most amusing ? "
 
 78 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Very probably." 
 
 "And has such a perfect accent; that sort of purring French 
 one only hears from a Parisian." 
 
 " I am charmed to hear it." 
 
 " It charmed me to hear it, I assure you. One does so long for 
 the sounds that recall bright scenes and pleasant people ; one has 
 such a zest for the most commonplace things that bring back the 
 memory of very happy days." 
 
 " What a lucky Frenchman to do all this ! " 
 
 " What a lucky Irish girl to have met with him," said she, 
 
 gaily- 
 
 " And how did you come to know him, may I ask ? " 
 
 " George had been several times over to inquire after him, and 
 out of gratitude Count Pracontal, — I'm not sure that he is count 
 though, but it is of no moment, — made it a point to come here the 
 first day he was able to drive out. Mr. Longworth drove him over 
 in his pony carriage, and George was so pleased with them both 
 that he asked them to tea last evening, and they dine here to- 
 day ? " 
 
 " Hence these decorations ? " 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " What a brilliant neighbourhood we have ! And there are 
 people will tell you that this is all barbarism here." 
 
 " Come over this evening. Jack, and hear M. Pracontal sing, — 
 he has a delicious tenor voice, — and you'll never believe in that 
 story of barbarism again. We had quite a little saloii last 
 night." 
 
 " I must take your word for his attractive qualities," said Jack, 
 as his brow contracted and his face grew darker. " I thought your 
 brother rather stood aloof from Mr. Longworth. I was scarcely 
 prepared to hear of his inviting him here." 
 
 " So he did ; but he found him so different from what he 
 expected, — so quiet, so well-bred, that George, who always is in a 
 hurry to make an amende when he thinks he has wronged any one, 
 actually rushed into acquaintance with him at once." 
 
 "And his sister Julia," asked Jack, with a look of impertinent 
 irony, " was she, too, as impulsive in her friendship ?J' 
 
 " I think pretty much the same." 
 
 " It must have been a charming party." 
 
 " I flatter myself it was. They stayed till midnight ; and 
 M. Pracontal declared he'd break his other leg to-morrow if it 
 would ensure him another such evening in his convalescence." 
 
 *' Fulsome rascal ! I protest it lowers my opinion of women
 
 AT THE COTTAGK. 79 
 
 altogether when I think these are the fellows that always meet their 
 favour." 
 
 " Women would be very ungrateful if they did not like the 
 people who try to please them. Now certainly, as a rule, Jack, 
 you will admit foreigners are somewhat more eager about this than 
 you gentlemen of England." 
 
 " I have about as much of this as I am likely to bear well from 
 my distinguished stepmother," said he roughly, " so don't push my 
 patience further." 
 
 " What do you say to our little salon now ? " said she. " Have 
 you ever seen ferns and variegated ivy disposed more tastefully ? " 
 
 "I wish — I wish," — stammered he out, and then seemed unable 
 to go on. 
 
 " And what do you wish '? " 
 
 " I suppose I must not say it. You might feel offended besides." 
 
 " Not a bit, Jack. I am sure it never could be your intention 
 to offend me, and a mere blunder could not do so." 
 
 " Well, I'll go round and tell you what it is I wish," and with 
 this he entered the house and passed on into the drawing-room, 
 and taking his place at one side of the fire, while she stood at the 
 other, said seriously, " I was wishing, Julia, that you were less of a 
 coquette." 
 
 " You don't mean that ? " said she roguishly, dropping her long 
 eyelashes, as she looked down immediately after. 
 
 " I mean it seriously, Julia. It is your one fault ; but it is an 
 immense one." 
 
 " My dear Jack," said she, veiy gravel}', " you men are such 
 churls that you are never grateful for any attempts to please you 
 except they be limited strictly to yourselves. You would never 
 have dared to call any little devices, by which I sought to amuse or 
 interest j'ou, coquetry, so long as they were only employed on your 
 own behalf. My real offence is that I thought the world consisted 
 of you and some others." 
 
 " I am not your match in these sort of subtle discussions," said 
 he, bluntly, " but I know what I say is fact." 
 
 " That I'm a coquette ? " said she, with so much feigned horror 
 that Jack could scarcely keep down the temptation to laugh. 
 
 "Just so; for the mere pleasure of displaying some grace or 
 some attraction, j-ou'd half kill a fellow with jealousy, or drive him 
 clean mad with uncertainty. You insist on admiration — or what 
 you call ' homage,' which I trust is only a French name for it, — and 
 what's the end of it all ? You get plenty of this same homage ; but 
 — but — never mind. I suppose I'm a fool to talk this way. You're
 
 80 THE BRAIMLEIGHS OF EISIIOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 laughing at mc, besides, all this wliilo. I see it — I see it iii your 
 eyes." 
 
 " I wasn't laughing, Jack, I assure you. I was simply thinking 
 that this discovery — I mean of my coquetry — wasn't yours at all. 
 Come, be frank and own it. Who told you I was a coquette. Jack ? " 
 
 "You regard me as too dull-witted to have found it out, do 
 you ? " 
 
 " No, Jack. Too honest-hearted — too unsuspecting, too generous, 
 to put an ill construction where a better one would do as well." 
 
 " If you mean that there are others who agree with me, you're 
 quite right," 
 
 "And who may they be?" asked she, with a quiet smile. 
 " Come, I have a right to know." 
 
 " I don't see the right," 
 
 " Certainly I have. It would be very ungenerous and very 
 unjust to let me continue to exercise all those pleasing devices you 
 have just stigmatized for the delectation of people who condemn 
 them." 
 
 " Oh, you couldn't help that. You'd do it just to amuse your- 
 self, as I'm sure was the case yesterday, when you put forth all 
 vour captivations for that stupid old viscount." 
 
 "Did I?" 
 
 " Did you ? You have the face to ask it ? " 
 
 " I have. Jack. I have courage for even more, for I will ask 
 you, was it not Marion said this ? Was it not Marion who was so 
 severe on all my little gracefulnesses ? Well, you need not answer 
 if3'OU don't like. I'll not press my question; but own, it is not 
 fair for Marion, with every advantage, her beauty and her sur- 
 roundings " 
 
 " Her what ? " 
 
 " Well, I would not use a French word ; but I meant to say, 
 those accessories which are represented by dress, and 'toilette,' — 
 not mean things in female estimation. With all these, why not 
 have a little mercy for the poor curate's sister, reduced to enter the 
 lists with very uncouth weapons ? " 
 
 "You won't deny that Ellen loves you ? " said he, suddenly, 
 
 " I'd be sorry, very sorry, to doubt it ; but she never said I was 
 a coquette ? " 
 
 " I'm sure she knows you are,-" said he doggedly, 
 
 " Oh, Jack, I hope this is not the way you try people on court- 
 martial ? " 
 
 " It's the fairest way ever a fellow was tried ; and if one doesn't 
 feel him guilty he'd never condemn him,"
 
 AT THE COTTAGE. 81 
 
 ** I'd rather people would feel less, and think a little more, if I 
 was to be ' the accused,' " said she, half pettishly. 
 
 " You got that, Master Jack ; that round shot was for you,'" said 
 he, not without some irritation in his tone. 
 
 " Well," said she, good-humouredly, " I believe we are firing 
 into each other this morning, and I declare I cannot see for what." 
 
 " I'll tell you, Julia. You grew very cross with me, because I 
 accused you of being a coquette, a charge you'd have thought pretty 
 lightly of, "if you hadn't known it was deserved." 
 
 " Might there not have been another reason for the crossness, 
 supposing it to have existed ? " said she quietly. 
 
 "I cannot imagine one ; at least, I can't imagine what reason 
 you point at." 
 
 " Simply this," said she, half carelessly, " that it could have 
 been no part of your duty to have told me so." 
 
 "You mean that it was a great liberty on my part — an un- 
 warrantable liberty ? " 
 
 " Something like it." 
 
 "That the terms which existed between us" — and now he 
 spoke with a tremulous voice, and a look of much agitation — 
 " could not have warranted my daring to point out a fault, even 
 in your manner ; for I am sure, after all, your nature had nothing 
 to do with it ? " 
 
 She nodded, and was silent. 
 
 " That's pretty plain, anyhow," said he, moving towards the 
 table, where he had placed his hat. "It's a sharp lesson to give a 
 fellow though, all the more when he was unprepared for it." 
 
 " You forget that the first sharp lesson came from youy 
 
 "All true ; there's no denying it." He took up his hat as she 
 spoke, and moved, half awkwardly, towards the window. " I had a 
 me-ssage for you from the girls, if I could only remember it. Do you 
 happen to guess what it was about ? " 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders slightly as a negative, and was 
 silent. 
 
 "I'll be shot if I can think what it was," muttered he; " the 
 chances are, however, it was to ask you to do something or other, 
 and as, in your present temper, that would be hopeless, it matters 
 little that I have forgotten it." 
 
 She made no answer to this speech, but quietly occupied herself 
 arranging a braid of her hair that had just fallen down. 
 
 " Miss L'Estrauge ! " said he, in a haughty and somewhat 
 bold tone. 
 
 " Mr. Bramleigh," replied she, turning and facing him with 
 
 6
 
 82 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 perfect gravity, though her tremulous lip and sparkling eye showed 
 what the eflbrt to seem serious cost her. 
 
 " If you will condesccud to be real, to be natural, for about a 
 minute and a half, it may save us, or at least one of us, a world of 
 trouble and uuhappiueFs." 
 
 " It's not a very courteous supposition of yours that implies I am 
 unreal or unnatural," said she, calmly; "but no matter, go on; 
 say what you desire to say, and you shall find me pretty attentive." 
 
 " Vvliat I want to say is this, then," said he, approaching where 
 she stood, and leaning one arm on the chimney close to where her 
 own arm was resting ; "I wanted to tell — no, I wanted to ask you, 
 if the old relations between us are to be considered as bygone ? — if I 
 am to go away from this to-day believing that all I have ever said to 
 you, all that you heard — for you did hear me, Julia " 
 
 " Julia ! " repeated she, in mock amazement. " What liberty is 
 this, sir ? " and she almost laughed out as she spoke. 
 
 " I knew well how it would be," said he, angrily. " There is a 
 heartless levity in your nature that nothing represses. I asked you 
 to be serious for one brief instant." 
 
 " And you shall find that I can," said she, quickly. " If I have 
 not been more so hitherto, it has been in mercy to yourself." 
 
 " In mercy to me ? To me ! What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Simply this. You came here to give me a lesson this morning. 
 But it was at your sister's suggestion. It was her , criticism that 
 prompted you to the task. I read it all. I saw how ill prepared 
 you were. You have mistaken some things, forgotten others ; and, 
 in fact, you showed me that you were far more anxious I should 
 exculpate myself than that you yourself should be the victor. It was 
 fir tiiis reason that I was really annoyed — seriously annoyed, at what 
 you said to me ; and I called in what you are so polite as to style 
 n;y ' levity ' to help me through my ditliculty. Now, however, you 
 have made me serious enough ; and it is in this mood I say. Don't 
 charge yourself another time with such a mission. Reprove whatever 
 you like, but let it come from yourself. Don't think light-hearted- 
 ness — I'll not say levity — bad in morals, because it may be bad in 
 taste. There's a lesson for you, sir." And she held out her hand 
 as if in reconciliation. 
 
 "But you haven't answered my question, Julia," said he, 
 tremulously. 
 
 " And what was your question ? " 
 
 " I asked you if the past — if all that had taken place between us 
 — was to be now forgotten ? " 
 
 " I declare hero is George," said she, bounding towards the
 
 AT THE COTTAGE. 83 
 
 wiudow and opening it. " What a splcuclitl fish, George ! Did you 
 take it yourself? " 
 
 " Yes, and he cost me the top joiut of my rod ; aud I'd have lost 
 him after all if Lafierty had not waded out and lauded him. I'm 
 between two minds, Julia, whether I'll send him up to the 
 Bramleighs'." 
 
 She put her finger to her lip to impose caution, aud said, " The 
 admiral" — the nickname by which Jack was known — " is here." 
 
 "All right," replied L'Estrange. " We'll try and keep him for 
 dinner, and eat the fish at homo." He entered as he spoke. " Where's 
 Jack? Didn't you say he was here ? " 
 
 " So he vras when I spoke. He must have slipped away without 
 my seeing it. He is really gone." 
 
 " I hear he is gazetted ; appointed to some ship on a foreign 
 station. Did he tell you of it ? " 
 
 " Not a word. Indeed, he had little time, for we did nothing 
 but squabble since he came in." 
 
 " It was Harding told mc. He said that Jack did not seem 
 overjoyed at his good luck ; aud declared that he was not quite sure 
 he would accept it." 
 
 " Indeed," said she, thoughtfully. 
 
 " That's not the only news. Colonel Bramloigh was summoned to 
 town by a telegram this morning, but what about I didn't hear. If 
 Harding knew — and I'm not sure that he did — he was too discreet 
 to tell. But I am not at the end of my tidings. It seems they have 
 discovered coal on Lord Culduii's estate, and a great share company 
 is going to be formed, and untold wealth to be distributed amongst 
 the subscribers ? " 
 
 " I wonder why Jack did not tell me he was going away ? " 
 said she. 
 
 " Perhaps he does not intend to go ; perhaps the colonel has gone 
 up to try and get something better for him ; perhaps " 
 
 " Any perhaps will do, George," said she, like one willing to 
 change the theme. " What do you say to my decorations ? Have 
 you no compliments to make me on my exquisite taste?" 
 
 " Harding certainly thinks well of it," said he, not heeding her 
 question. 
 
 " Thinks well of what, George ? " 
 
 " He's a shrewd fellow," continued he; " and if he deems the 
 investment good enough to venture his own money in, I suspect, Ju, 
 we might risk ours." 
 
 "I wish you would tell me v,-hat you are talking about ; for all 
 this is a perfect riddle to me."
 
 84 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISH01''S FOLLY. 
 
 "It's about vesting your two thousaud pounds, Julia, which now 
 return about seventy pounds a year, in the coal speculation. That's 
 what I am thinking of. Harding says, that taking a very low 
 estimate of the success, there ought to be a profit on the shares of 
 fifteen per cent. In fact, he said he wouldn't go into it himself 
 for less." 
 
 " Why, George, why did he say this ? Is there anything wrong 
 or immoral about coal ? " 
 
 " Try and be serious for one moment, Ju," said he, with a slight 
 touch of irritation in his voice. " What Harding evidently meant 
 was, that a speculative enterprise was not to be deemed good if it 
 yielded less. These shrewd men, I believe, never lay out their money 
 without large profit." 
 
 " And, my dear George, why come and consult me about these 
 things ? Can you imagine more hopeless ignorance than mine must 
 be on all such, questions ? " 
 
 "You can understand that a sum of money yielding thi-ee 
 hundred a year is more profitably employed than when it only 
 returned seventy." 
 
 " Yes ; I think my intelligence can rise to that height." 
 
 " And you can estimate, also, what increase of comfort we should 
 have if our present income M'ere to be more than doubled, — which it 
 would be in this way ? " 
 
 " I'd deem it positive affluence, George." 
 
 " That's all I want you to comprehend. The next question is to 
 get Vickars to consent ; he is the surviving trustee, and you'll have 
 to write to him, Ju. It will come better from you than me, and say 
 — what you can say with a safe conscience — that we are miserably 
 poor, and that, though we pinch and save in every way we can, 
 there's no reaching the end of the year without a deficit in the 
 budget." 
 
 " I used that unlucky phrase once before, George, and he replied, 
 ' Why don't you cut down the estimates ? ' " 
 
 " I know he did. The old curmudgeon meant I should sell Nora, 
 and he has a sou, a gentleman commoner at Cambridge, that spends 
 more in wine-parties than our whole income." 
 
 "'But it's his own, George. It is not our money he is 
 wasting." 
 
 " Of course it is not ; but does that exempt him from all com- 
 ment ? Not that it matters to us, however," added he, in a lighter 
 tone. " Sit down, and try what you can do with the old fellow. You 
 used to be a great pet of his once on a time." 
 
 " Yes, he went so far as to say that if I had even twenty thousand
 
 AT THE COTTAGE. bi) 
 
 pounds, lic clidu't know a girl he'd rather have for a danghter- 
 ia-law." 
 
 " He didn't tell you that, Ju ? " said L'Estraugc, growing almost 
 purple with shame and rage together. 
 
 " I pledge you my word he said it." 
 
 " And what did you say ? What did you do ? " 
 
 " I wiped my eyes with my handkerchief, and told him it was for 
 the first time in my life I felt the misery of heing poor." 
 
 " And I wager that you hurst out laughing." 
 
 "I did, George. I laughed till my sides ached. I laughed 
 till he rushed out of the room in a fit of passion, and I declare, 
 I don't think he ever spoke ten words to me after." 
 
 " This gives me scant hope of your chance of success with him." 
 
 " I don't know, George. All this happened ten months ago, 
 when he came down here for the snipe-shooting. He may have 
 forgiven, or, better still, forgotten it. In any case, tell me exactly 
 what I'm to write, and I'll see what I can do with him." 
 
 " You're to say that your brother has just heard from a person, 
 in whom he places the most perfect confidence, say Harding in 
 short — Colonel Bramleigh's agent — that an enterprise which will 
 shortly be opened here ofiers an admirable opportunity of investment, 
 and that as your small fortune in Consols " 
 
 "In what?" 
 
 " No matter. Say that as your two thousand pounds, — which 
 now 3'ield an interest of seventy, could secure you an income fully 
 four times that sum, you hope he will give his consent to withdraw 
 the money from the Funds, and employ it in this speculation. I'd 
 not say speculation, I'd call it mine at once — coal-mine." 
 
 " But if I own this money, why must I ask Mr. Yickars' leave 
 to make use of it as I please ? " 
 
 " He is your trustee, and the law gives him this power, Ju, 
 till you are nineteen, which you will not be till May next." 
 
 " He'll scarcely be disagreeable, when his opposition must end in 
 five months." 
 
 " That's what I think too, but before that five mouths run over 
 the share list may be filled, and these debentures be probably double 
 the present price." 
 
 " I'm not sure I understand your reasoning, but I'll go and write 
 mj letter, and you shall see if I have said all that you wished."
 
 86 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 OFFICIAL CONFIDEXCE-S. 
 
 LoED CxJLDL'FF accompaniccl Colonel Bramleigli to town. He wanted 
 a renewal of his leave, and deemed it better to see the head of the 
 department in person than to address a formal demand to the office. 
 Colonel Bramleigh, too, thought that his lordship's presence might 
 be useful when the day of action had arrived respecting the share 
 company — a Lord in the City having as palpable a value as the most 
 favourable news that ever sent up the Funds. 
 
 "When they reached London they separated, Bramleigh taking up 
 his quarters in the Burlington, while Lord Culduff — on pretence of 
 running down to some noble duke's villa near Pdchmond — snugly 
 installed himself in a very modest lodging off St. James's Street, 
 where a former valet acted as his cook and landlord, and on days of 
 dining out assisted at the wonderful toilet, whose success was alike 
 the marvel and the envy of Culduffs contemporaries. 
 
 Though a man of several clubs, his lordship's favourite haunt 
 Vvas a small unimposing-looking house close to St. James's Square, 
 called the " Plenipo." Its members were all diplomatists, nothing 
 below the head of a mission being eligible for ballot. A Masonic 
 mystery pervaded all the doings of that austere temple, whose dinners 
 were reported to be exquisite, and whose cellar had such a fame that 
 " Plenipo Lafite " had a European reputation. 
 
 Now, veteran asylums have many things recommendatory about 
 them, but from Greenwich and the Invalides downwards there is one 
 especial vice that clings to them — they are haunts of everlasting 
 complaint. The men who frequent them all belong to the past, their 
 sj'mpathies, their associations, their triumphs and successes, all pertain 
 to the bygone. Harping eternally over the frivolity, the emptiness, 
 and sometimes the vulgarity of the present, they urge each other on to 
 most exaggerated notions of the time when they were young, and a 
 deprecatory estimate of the world then around them. 
 
 It is not alone that the days of good dinners and good conversation 
 have passed away, but even good manners have gone, and more 
 strangely too, good looks. " I protest you don't sec such women 
 now" — one of these bcwigged and rouged old debauchees would say, 
 as he gazed at the slow procession moving on to a drawing-room, and 
 his compeers would concur with him, and wonderiugly declare that 
 the thing was inexplicable. 
 
 In the sombre-looking breakfast-room of this austere temple,
 
 OFFICIAL CDXFIDENCEP. 87 
 
 Lord Cukluft' sat reading Tlie Tiwe!^. A mild soft rain was falling 
 without ; the water dripping tepid and dirty through tlie heavy 
 canopy of a London fog ; and a large coal fire blazed within, — that 
 fierce furnace which seems so congenial to English taste ; not im- 
 possibly because it recalls the factory and the smelting-house — the 
 '' sacred fire " that seems to inspire patriotism by the suggestion of 
 industry. 
 
 Two or three others sat at tables through the room, all so wondei'- 
 fully alike in dress, feature, and general appearance, that they almost 
 seemed reproductions of the same figure by a series of mirrors ; but 
 they were priests of the same " caste," whose forms of thought and 
 expression were precisely the same, — and thus as they dropped their 
 scant remarks on the topics of the day, there was not an observation 
 or a phrase of one that might not have fixllcu from any of the 
 others. 
 
 " So," cried one, " they're going to send the Grand Cross to the 
 Duke of Hochmariugen. That will be a special mission. I wonder 
 who'll get it ? " 
 
 " Cloudesloy, I'd say," observed another ; "he's always on the 
 watch for anything that comes into the ' extraordiuaries.' " 
 
 " It will not bo Cloudesley," said a third. "He stayed away 
 a year and eight months when they sent him to Tripoli, and there 
 was a rare jaw about it for the estimates." 
 
 "Hochmariugen is near Baden, and not a bad place for the 
 summer," said Culduff. " The duc-hess, I think, was daughter of the 
 margi'avine." 
 
 "Niece, not daughter," said a stern-looking man, who never 
 turned his eyes from his newspaper. 
 
 " Niece or daughter, it matters little which," said Culduff, irritiitcd 
 at correction on such a point. 
 
 " I protest I'd rather take a turn in South Africa," cried another, 
 " than accept one of those missions to Ccntn'.l Germany." 
 
 " You're right, Upton," said a voice from the end of the room ; 
 " the cookery is iusufl'erable." 
 
 " And the hours. You retire to bed at ten." 
 " And the ceremonial. Blouutc never threw oil' the lumbago ho 
 got from bowing at the court of Jiratensdorf." 
 
 " They're ignoble sort of things, at the best, and should never 
 be imposed on diplomatic men. These investitures should always 
 be entrusted to court functionaries," said Culduff, haughtily. " If 
 I were at the head of F. 0., I'd refuse to charge one of the ' line ' 
 with such a mission." 
 
 And now somethinpf that almost verged on an animated dis-
 
 88 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 cussion ensued as to what was and Avliat was not the real province 
 of diplomacy ; a majoiity inclining to the opinion that it was deroga- 
 tory to the high dignity of the calling to meddle with what, at best, 
 was the function of the mere courtie;'. 
 
 " Is that Culduff driving away in that cah ? " cried one, as he 
 stood at the window. 
 
 "He has carried away my hat, I see, by ini-.take," said another. 
 " What is he up to at this hour of the morning ? " 
 
 "I think I can guess," said the grim individual who had 
 corrected him in the matter of genealogy ; " he's off to F. 0. 
 to ask for the special mission he has just declared that none of 
 us should stoop to accept." 
 
 " You've hit it, Grindesley," cried another, " I'll wager a pony 
 you're right." 
 
 " It's so like him." 
 
 " After all, it's the sort of thing lie's Lest up to. La Ferronaye 
 told me he was the best master of the ceremonies in Europe." 
 
 "Why come amongst us at all, then? Why not get himself 
 made a gold-stick, and follow the instincts of his genius ? " 
 
 " Well, I believe he wants it badly," said one who alTected a 
 tone of half kindliness. " They tell me he has not eight hundred 
 a year left him." 
 
 " Not four. I doubt if he could lay claim to three." 
 
 " He never had in his best day above four or live thousand, 
 though he tells you of his twenty-seven or twenty-eight." 
 
 " He had originally about six ; but he always lived at the rate 
 of twelve or fifteen, and in mere ostentation too." 
 
 " So I've always heard." And then there follov^'ed a number of 
 little anecdotes of Cukluff's selfishness, his avarice, his meanness, 
 and such like, told with such exactitude as to show that every act of 
 these men's lives was scrupulously watched, and when occasion offered 
 mercilessly recorded. 
 
 While they thus sat in judgment over him, Lord Culduff him- 
 self was seated at a fire in a dingy old room in Downing Street, the 
 Chief Secretary for Foreign Affairs opposite him. They were talking 
 in a tone of easy familiarity, as men might who occupied the same 
 social station, a certain air of superiority, however, being always 
 apparent in the manner of the Minister towards the subordinate. 
 
 " I don't think you can ask for this, Culdutl"," said the great 
 man, as he puffed his cigar tranquilly in front of him. " You've 
 had three of these special missions already." 
 
 " And for the simple reason that I was the one man in England 
 who knew how to do them."
 
 OFFICIAL CO.NFIDENCES. 89 
 
 " We don't dispute the way you did the:n ; we only say all the 
 prizes in the wheel should not fall to the same man." 
 
 "You have had my proxy for the last live years." 
 
 "And we have acknowledged the support — acknowledged it hy 
 more than lu'ofessions." 
 
 " I can only say this, that if I had heeu with the other side, I'd 
 have met somewhat different treatment." 
 
 " Don't beHeve it, Culduff. Every party that is in power 
 inherits its share of obligations. We have never disowned those 
 we owe to you." 
 
 " And why am I refused this, then '? " 
 
 " If you wanted other reasons than those I have given you, I 
 might be able to adduce them — not willingly indeed — but under 
 pressure, and especially in strict confidence." 
 
 " Reasons against my having the mission ? " 
 
 " Reasons against your having the mission." 
 
 "You amaze me, my lord. I almost doubt that I have heard 
 you aright. I must, however, insist on your explaining yourself. 
 Am I to understand that there are personal grounds of unfitness ? " 
 
 The other bowed in assent. 
 
 " Have the kindness to let me know them." 
 
 " First of all, Culduff, this is to be a family mission — the 
 duchess is a connection of our own royal house — and a certain 
 degree of display and consequent expense will be required. Y'our 
 fortune does not admit of this." 
 
 " Push on to the more cogent reason, my lord," said Culduff, 
 stiffly. 
 
 "Here, then, is the more cogent reason. The court has not 
 forgotten — what possibly the world may have forgotten — some of 
 those passages in your life for which you, perhaps, have no other 
 remorse than that they are not likely to recur ; and as you have 
 given no hostages for good behaviour, in the shape of a wife, the 
 court, I say, is sure to veto your appointment. You see it all as 
 clearly as I do." 
 
 " So far as I do see," said CuldulT, slowly : "the first objection 
 is my want of fortune, the second, my want of a wife ? " 
 
 " Exactly so." 
 
 " Well, my lord, I am able to meet each of these obstacles ; my 
 agent has just discovered coal on one of my Irish estates, and I am 
 now in town to make arrangements on a large scale to develope the 
 source of wealth. As to the second disability, I shall pledge myself 
 to present the Viscountess Culduff' at the next drawing-room." 
 
 " Married already ? "
 
 90 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 "No, but I may be witbin a few weeks. In fact, I mean to 
 place myself in such a position, that no one holding your office can 
 pass me over by a pretext, or affect to ignore my claim by affirming 
 that I labour under a disability." 
 
 " This sounds Hke menace, does it not ? " said the other as he 
 threw his cigar impatiently from him. 
 
 " A mere protocol, my lord, to denote intention." 
 
 " Well, I'll submit your name. I'll go further, — I'll support it. 
 Don't leave town for a day or two. Call on Beadlesworth and see 
 Repsley ; tell him what you've said to me. If you could promise it 
 was one of his old maiden sisters that you thought of making Lady 
 Culduff, the thing could be clenched at once, — but I take it, you 
 have other views ? " 
 
 " I have other views," said he gravely. 
 
 "I'm not indiscreet, and I shall not ask you more on that head. 
 By the way, isn't your leave up, or nearly up ? " 
 
 " It expired on Yv^ednesday last, and I want it renewed for two 
 months." 
 
 " Of course, if we send you on this mission, j-ou'U not want the 
 leave ? I had something else to say. What was it ? " 
 
 " I have not the very vaguest idea." 
 
 " Oh ! I remember. It was to recommend you not to take your 
 wife from the stage. There's a strong prejudice iu a certain quarter 
 as to that, — in fact, I may say it couldn't be got over." 
 
 " I may relieve you of any apprehensions on that score. Indeed, 
 I don't know what fact in luy life should expose me to the mere 
 suspicion." 
 
 "Nothing, — nothing, — except that impulsive generosity of your 
 disposition, which might lead you to do what other men would stop 
 short to count the cost of." 
 
 " It would never lead me to derogate, my lord," said he proudly 
 as he took his hat, and bowing haughtily left the room. 
 
 " The greatest ass in the whole career, and the word is a bold 
 one," said the Minister as the door closed. "Meanwhile, I must 
 send in his name for this mission, which he is fully equal to. What 
 a happy arrangement it is, that in an age when our flunkies aspire 
 to be gentlemen, there arc gentlemen who ask nothing better than to 
 be flunkies ! "
 
 ( 01 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WITH niS LAWYER. 
 
 Though Colonel Bramleigh's visit to town was supposed to be in 
 furtherance of that speculation by which Lord Culdufi" calculated on 
 wealtli and splendour, he' had really another object, and while Culduff 
 imagined him to be busy in the City, and deep in shares and stock 
 lists, he was closely closeted with his lawj-er, and earnestly poring 
 over a mass of time-worn letters and documents, carefully noting down 
 dates, docketing, and annotating, in a way that showed what import- 
 ance he attached to the task before him. 
 
 " I tell you what, Sedley," said he, as he threw his pen disdain- 
 fully from him, and lay back in his chair, " the whole of this move 
 is a party dodge. It is part and parcel of that vile persecution with 
 which the T017 faction pursued me during my late canvass. You 
 remember their vulgar allusions to my father, the brewer, and their 
 coarse jest about my frothy oratory '? This attack is but the second 
 act of the same drama." 
 
 " I don't think so," mildly rejoined the other party. " Conflicts 
 are sharp enough while the struggle lasts ; but they rarely carry their 
 bitterness beyond the day of battle." 
 
 " That is an agent's view of the matter," said Bramleigh, with 
 asperity. " The agent always persists in believing the whole thing 
 a sham fight ; but though men do talk a great deal of rot and hum- 
 bug about their principles on the hustings, their personal feelings 
 are just as real, just as acute, and occasionally just as painful, as on 
 any occasion in their lives ; and I repeat to you, the trumped-up 
 claim of this foreigner is neither more nor less than a piece of party 
 malignity." 
 
 "I cannot agree with you. The correspondence we have just 
 been looking at shows how upwards of forty years ago the same 
 pretensions were put forward, and a man calling himself Montagu 
 Lami Bramleigh declared he was the reightful heir to your estates." 
 
 "A rightful heir whose claims could be always compromised by a 
 ten-pound note was scarcely very dangerous." 
 
 " Why make any compromise at all if the fellow was clearly au 
 impostor ? " 
 
 " For the very reason that you yourself now counsel a similar 
 course : to avoid the scandal of a public trial. To escape all those 
 insolent comments which a party press is certain to pass on a political 
 opponent."
 
 92 THE r.llAMLEIGHS OF DISIIOp's FOLLY. 
 
 "That could scarcely have been appreheudcil from the Bramleigh 
 I speak of, who was clearly poor, illiterate, and friendless ; whereas 
 the present man has, from some source or other, funds to engage 
 eminent counsel and retain one of the first men at the bar." 
 
 " I protest, Sedley, you puzzle me," said Bramleigh, with an 
 angry sparkle in his eye. " A few moments back you treated all this 
 pretension as a mere pretext for extorting money, and now you talk 
 of this fellow and his claim, as subjects that may one day be matter 
 for the decision of a jury. Can you reconcile two views so diametrically 
 opposite ? " 
 
 " I think I can. It is at law as in war. The feint may be 
 carried on to a real attack whenever the position assailed be possessed 
 of an over-confidence or but ill defended. It might be easy enough, 
 perhaps, to deal with this man. Let him have some small success, 
 however ; let him gain a verdict, for instance, in one of those petty 
 suits for ejectment, and his case at once becomes formidable." 
 
 "All this," said Bramleigh, "proceeds on the assumption that 
 there is something in the fellow's claim ? " 
 
 " Unquestionably." 
 
 "I declare," said Bramleigh, rising and pacing the room, "I 
 have not temper for this discussion. My mind has not deen disciplined 
 to that degree of refinement that I can accept a downright swindle as 
 a demand founded on justice." 
 
 " Let us prove it a swindle, and there is an end of it." 
 
 " And will you tell me, sir," said he, passionately, " that every 
 gentleman holds his estates on the condition that the title may be 
 contested by any impostor who can dupe people into advancing money 
 to set the law in motion ? " 
 
 " When such proceedings are fraudulent a very heavy punishment 
 awaits them." 
 
 "And what punishment of the knave equals the penalty inflicted 
 on the honest man in exposure, shame, insolent remarks, and 
 worse than even these, a contemptuous pity for that reverse of 
 fortune which newspaper writers always announce as an inevitable 
 consummation ? " 
 
 " These are all hard things to bear, but I dou't suspect they ever 
 deterred any man from holding an estate." 
 
 The half jocular tone of his remark rather jarred on Bramleigh's 
 sensibilities, and he continued to walk the room in silence ; at last, 
 stopping short, he wheeled round and said, — 
 
 "Do you adhere to your former opinion ? would you try a com- 
 promise ? " 
 
 " I would. The man has a case quite good enough to interest a
 
 WITH HIS LAWYER. 93 
 
 speculative lawyer, — good enough to go before a jury, — good enough 
 for everything, but success. One half what the defence would cost 
 you will probably satisfy his expectations, not to speak of all you will 
 spare yourself in unpleasantness and exposure." 
 
 " it is a hard thing to stoop to," said Bramleigh, painfully. 
 
 " It need not be, at least not to the extent you imagine ; and 
 when you throw your eye over your lawyer's bill of costs, the phrase 
 ' incidental expenses ' will spare your feelings any more distinct refer- 
 ence to this transaction." 
 
 " A most considerate attention. And now for the practical part. 
 Who is this man's lawyer? " 
 
 "A most respectable practitioner, Kelson, of Temple Court. A 
 personal friend of my own." 
 
 " And what terms would you propose ? " 
 
 " I'd oiler live thousand, and be prepared to go to eight, possibly 
 to ten." 
 
 " To silence a mere menace." 
 
 " Exactly. It's a mere menace to-day, but six months hence it 
 may be something more formidable. It is a curious case, cleverly 
 contrived and ingeniously put together. I don't say that we couldn't 
 smash it ; such carpentry always has a chink or an open somewhere. 
 Meanwhile the scandal is spreading over not only England, but over 
 the world, and no matter how favourable the ultimate issue, there 
 will always remain in men's minds the recollection that the right 
 to your estate was contested and that you had to defend your 
 possession." 
 
 " I had always thought till now," said Bramleigh, slowly, " that 
 the legal mind attached very little importance to the flying scandals 
 that amuse society. You appear to accord them weight and influence." 
 
 " I am not less a man of the world because I am a lawyer, Colonel 
 Bramleigh," said the other, half tartly. 
 
 " If this must bo done, the sooner it be over the better. A man 
 of high station — a peer — is at this moment paying such attention to 
 one of my daughters that I may expect at any moment, to-tlay 
 perhaps, to receive a formal proposal for her hand. I do not 
 suspect that the threat of an unknown claimant to my property 
 would disturb his lordship's faith in my security or my station, but 
 the sensitive dislike of men of his class to all publicity that does not 
 redound to honour or distinction, — the repugnance to whatever 
 draws attention to them for aught but court favour or advance- 
 ment, — might well be supposed to have its influence with him, 
 and I think it would be better to spare him, — to spare us, too, — this 
 exposure."
 
 94 THE BRA3ILEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 "I'll attend to it immediately. Kelson hinted to me that t 
 claimant was now in England." 
 
 " I was not aware of that." 
 
 " Yes, he is over here now, and I gather, too, has contrived to 
 interest some people in his pretensions." 
 
 *' Does he aliect the station of a gentleman ? " 
 
 " Thoroughly; he is, I am told, well-mannered, prepossessing in 
 appearance, and presentable in every respect." 
 
 " Let us ask him over to Castello, Sedley," said Bramleigh, 
 laughing. 
 
 " I've known of worse strategy," said the lawyer, dryly. 
 
 " What ! are you actually serious ? " 
 
 "I say that such a move might not be the worst step to an 
 amicable settlement. In admitting the assailant to see all the worth 
 and value of the fortress, it would also show him the resources for 
 defence, and he might readily compute w^hat poor chances were his 
 against such odds." 
 
 " Still, I doubt if I could bring myself to consent to it. There 
 is a positive indignity in making any concession to such a palpable 
 imposture." 
 
 " Not palpable till proven. The most unlikely cases have now 
 and then pushed some of our ablest men to upset. Attack can always 
 choose its ovm time, its own ground, and is master of almost every 
 condition of the combat." 
 
 *' I declare, Sedley, if this man had retained your services to 
 make a good bargain for him, he could scarcely have selected a more 
 able agent." 
 
 " You could not more highly compliment the zeal I am exercising 
 in your service." 
 
 " Well, I take it I must leave the whole thing in your hands. I 
 shall not prolong my stay in town. I wanted to do something in the 
 City, but I find these late crashes in the banks have spread such terror 
 and apprehension, that nobody will advance a guinea on anything. 
 There is an admirable opening just now, — coal." 
 
 " In Egypt ? " 
 
 " No, in Ireland." 
 
 " Ah, in Ireland? That's very different. You surely cannot expect 
 capital will take that channel ? " 
 
 "You arc an admirable lawj'er, Sedley. I am told London 
 has not your equal as a special pleader, but let me tell you you 
 are not cither a projector or a politician. I am both, and I declare 
 to you that this country which you deride and distrust is the 
 California of Great Britain. AYritc to me at your earliest; finish this
 
 T^-ITII HIS LAWYER. 95 
 
 business, if you cau, out of hand, and if you make good terms for mo 
 I'll send you some shares in an enterprise — an Irish enterprise — 
 which will pay you a better dividend than some of your East county 
 raih'oads."' 
 
 "Have you changed the name of your place? Your son, 
 Mr. John Bramleigh, writes 'Bishop's Folly' at the top of his 
 letter." 
 
 " It is called Castello, sir. I am not responsible for the silly 
 caprices of a sailor." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SOME MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 
 
 Lord Culduff and Colonel Bramleigh spoke little to each other as 
 they journeyed back to Ii'eland. Each fell back upon the theme 
 personally interesting to him, and cared not to impart it to his 
 neighbour. They were not like men who had so long travelled the 
 same road in life that by a dropping word a whole train of associations 
 can be conjured up, and familiar scenes and people be passed in 
 review before the mind. 
 
 A few curt sentences uttered by Bramleigh told how matters 
 stood in the City — money was " tight " being the text of all he said ; 
 but of that financial sensitiveness that shrinks timidly from all 
 enterprise after a period of crash and bankruptcy Culduff could make 
 nothing. In his own craft nobody dreaded the fire because his 
 neighbour's child was burned, and he could not see why capitalists 
 should not learn something from diplomacy. 
 
 Nor was Colonel Bramleigh, on his side, much better able to 
 follow the subjects which had interest for his companion. The rise 
 and fall of kingdoms, the varying fortunes of States, impressed 
 themselves upon the City man by the condition of financial credit 
 they implied, and a mere glance at the price of a foreign loan 
 conveyed to his appreciation a more correct notion of a people than 
 all. the blue-books and all the correspondence with plenipotentiaries. 
 
 These were not Culdufi"s views. His code — it is the code of all 
 his calling — was : No country of any pretensions, no more than any 
 gentleman of blood and family, cvor became bankrupt. Pressed, 
 hard-pushed, he would say, Yes ! we all of us have had our difficulties, 
 and to surmount them occasionally we are driven to make unprofitable 
 bargams, but wo " rub through," and so will Greece and Spain and
 
 96 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 those other countries where they are borrowing at twelve or twenty 
 per cent., and raise a loan each year to discharge the dividends. 
 
 Not only, then, were these two men little gifted with qualities to 
 render them companionable to each other, but from the totally different 
 way every event and every circumstance presented itself to their 
 minds, each grew to conceive for the other a sort of depreciatory 
 estimate as of one who only could see a very small part of any 
 subject, and even that coloured and tinted by the hues of his own 
 daily calling. 
 
 " So, then," said Culduflf, after listening to a somewhat lengthy 
 explanation from Bramleigh of why and how it was that there was 
 nothing to be done financially at the moment, " so, then, I am to 
 gather the plan of a company to work the mines is out of the 
 question ? " 
 
 " I would rather call it deferred than abandoned," was the 
 cautious reply. 
 
 '• In my career what we postpone we generally prohibit. And 
 what other course is open to us ? " 
 
 " Wo can wait, my lord, we can wait. Coal is not like indigo or 
 tobacco ; it is not a question of hours — whether the crop be saved or 
 ruined. AVe can wait." 
 
 " Very true, sir ; but I cannot wait. There are some urgent 
 calls upon me just now, the men who are pressing which will not be 
 so complaisant as to wait either." 
 
 " I was always under the impression, my lord, that your position 
 as a peer, and the nature of the services that you were engaged in, 
 were sufficient to relieve you from all the embarrassments that attach 
 to humbler men in difficulties ? " 
 
 " They don't arrest, but they dun us, sir ; and they dun with an 
 insistance and an amount of menace, too, that middle-class people 
 can form no conception of. They besiege the departments we serve 
 under with their vulgar complaints, and if the rumour gets abroad 
 that one of us is about to be advanced to a governorship or an 
 embassy, they assemble in Downing Street like a Eeform demonstra- 
 tion. I declare to you I had to make my way through a lane of 
 creditors from the Privy Council Office to the private entrance to 
 F. 0., my hands full of their confounded accounts, — one fellow, a 
 bootmaker, actually having pinned his bill to the skirt of my coat as 
 I went. And the worst of these impertinences is, that they give a 
 i\Iinister who is indisposed towai'ds you a handle for refusing your 
 just claims. I have just come through such an ordeal : I have 
 been told that my debts are to be a bar to my promotion." 
 
 The almost tremulous horror which he gave to this last expression
 
 SOME MISUXDERSTANDINGS. 97 
 
 — as 01 an outrage unknown to mankind — warned Bramleigh to be 
 silent. 
 
 " I perceive that you do not find it easy to believe this, but I 
 pledge my -word to you it is true. It is not forty-eight hours siuce a 
 Secretary of State assumed to make my personal liabilities — the 
 things which, if any things are a man's own, are certainly so — to 
 make these an objection to my taking a mission of importance. I 
 believe he was sorry for his indiscretion ; I have reason to suppose 
 that it was a blunder he will not readily repeat." 
 
 " And you obtained your appointment ? " asked Bramleigh, 
 
 " Minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the court of 
 Hochmaringen," said Culdutf, with a slow and pompous enunciation. 
 
 Bramleigh, pardonably ignorant of the geograjihy of the important 
 State alluded to, merely bowed in acknowledgment. " Is there much 
 — much to do at one of these courts ? " asked he diffidently, after a 
 pause. 
 
 " la one sense there is a great deal. In Germany the action of 
 the greater cabinets is always to be discovered in the intrigues of 
 the small dukedoms, just as you gather the temper of the huntsman 
 from the way he lashes the hounds. You may, therefore, send a 
 ' cretin,' if you like, to Berlin or Vienna ; you want a man of tact 
 and address at Sigmaringen or Kleinesel-stadt. They begin to see 
 that here at home, but it took them years to arrive at it." 
 
 Whether Bramleigh was confounded by the depth of this remark, 
 or annoyed by the man who made it, he relapsed into a dreamy 
 silence that soon passed into sleep, into which state the illustrious 
 diplomatist followed, and thus was the journey made till the tall 
 towers of Castello came into view, and they found themselves rapidly 
 careering along with four posters towards the grand entrance. The 
 tidings of their coming soon reached the drawing-room, and the hall 
 was filled by the young members of the family to welcome them. 
 "Remember," said Bramleigh, " we have had nothing but a light 
 luncheon since morning. Come and join us, if you like, in the 
 dining-room, but let us have some dinner as soon as may be." 
 
 It is not pleasant, perhaps, to be talked to while eating by 
 persons quite unemployed by the pleasures of the table ; but there is 
 a sort of " free and easy " at such times not wholly unconducive to 
 agreeable intercourse, and many little cares and attentions, impossible 
 or unmeaning in the more formal habits of the table, are now graceful 
 adjuncts to the incident. Thus was it that Marion contrived by 
 some slight service or other to indicate to Lord Culduff that he was 
 an honoured guest ; and when she filled his glass with champagne. 
 and poured a little into ber own to pledge him, the groat man feit a 
 
 7
 
 98 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 sense of triumph that warmed the whole of that region where, 
 anatomically, his heart was situated. "While the others around were 
 engaged in general conversation, she led him to talk of his journey 
 to town, and what he had done there ; and he told her somewhat 
 proudly of the high mission ahout to be intrusted to him, not 
 omitting to speak of the hauglity tone he had used towards the 
 Minister and the spirit he had evinced in asserting his just claims. 
 " We had what threatened at one time to be a stormy interview. 
 When a man like myself has to recall the list of his services, the case 
 may well be considered imminent. He pushed me to this, and I 
 accepted his challenge. I told him, if I am not rich, it is because I 
 have spent my fortune in maintaining the dignity of the high stations 
 I have filled. The breaches in my fortune are all honourable wounds. 
 He next objected to what I could not but admit as a more valid 
 barrier to my claims. Can you guess it ? " 
 
 She shook her head in dissent. It could not be his rank, or any- 
 thing that bore upon his rank. Was it possible that official prudery 
 had been shocked by the noble lord's social derelictions ? Had the 
 scandal of that old elopement survived to tarnish his fame and 
 injure his success ? and she blushed as she thought of the theme to 
 which he invited her approach. 
 
 " I see you do divine it," said he, smiling courteously. 
 
 "I suspect not," said she diffidently, and still blushing deeper. 
 
 "It would be a great boon to me, — a most encouraging assurance," 
 said he in a low and earnest voice, " if I could believe that your 
 interest in me went so far as actually to read the story and anticipate 
 the catastrophe of ray life. Tell me then, I entreat you, that you 
 know what I allude to." 
 
 She hesitated. " Was it possible," thought she, " that he 
 wished me to admit that my opinion of him was not prejudiced by 
 this * escapade ' of thirty years ago ? Is he asking me to own that 
 I am tolerant towards such offences ? " His age, his tone generally, 
 his essentially foreign breeding, made this very possible. Her 
 perplexity was great, and her confusion increased with every minute. 
 
 At this critical moment there was a general move to go into the 
 drawing-room, and as he gave her his arm. Lord Culdutf drew her 
 gently towards him, and said in his most insinuating voice, "Let 
 me hear my fate." 
 
 "I declare, my lord," said she hesitatingly, " I don't know what 
 to say. Moralists and worldly people have two diffc rent measures 
 for these things. I have no pretensions to claim a place with the 
 former, and I rather shrink from accepting all the ideas of the latter. 
 At all events, I would suppose that after a certain lapse of time,
 
 SOME MISUNDERSTANDINGS. Oi'J 
 
 when years have gone over, — profitably, — I woukl hope, — in f.ict, 1 
 mean J — in short I do not know what I mean." 
 
 "You mean, perhaps, that it is not at mj time of Ufe men take 
 s'lch a step with prudence. Is that it ? " asked he, trying in vain to 
 keep down the irritation that moved him. 
 
 " "Well, my lord, I believe about the prudence there can scarcely 
 be two opinions, whether a man be young or old. These things 
 are wrong in themselves, and nothing can make them right." 
 
 " I protest I am unable to follow you," said he, tartly. 
 
 "All the better, my lord, if I be only leading you where yoa 
 liavo no inclination to wander. I see Nelly wants me at the 
 piano." 
 
 " And you prefer accompanying her to me? " said he reproacl;- 
 fully. 
 
 " At least, my lord, we shall be in harmony, which is scarcely 
 our case here." 
 
 He sighed, almost theatrically, as he relinquished her arm, and 
 retiring to a remote part of the room, affected to read a newspaper. 
 Mr. Cutbill, however, soon drew a chair near, and engaged him in 
 conversation. 
 
 " So Bramleigh has done nothing," whispered Cutbill, as he 
 bent forward. " He did not, so far as I gather, even speak of the 
 mine in the City." 
 
 " He said it was of no use ; the time was unfavourable." 
 
 "Did you ever know it otherwise ? Isn't it with that same cant 
 of an unfavourable time these men always add so much to the 
 premium on every undertaking ? " 
 
 " Sir, I am unable to answer your question. It is my first — I 
 would I might be able to say, and my last — occasion to deal v/ith 
 this class of people." 
 
 " They're not a bad set, after all ; only you must take them in 
 the way they're used to — the way they understand." 
 
 " It is a language I have yet to learn, Mr. Cutbill." 
 
 " The sooner your lordship sets to work at it the belter then." 
 
 Lord Culduff wheeled round in his chair, and stared with amaze- 
 ment at the man before him. He saw, however, the unmistakeable 
 signs of his having drunk freely, and his bloodshot eyes declared that 
 the moment was not favourable for calm discussion. 
 
 " It would be as well, perhaps, to adjourn this conversation," 
 said Culdufl'. 
 
 " I'm for business — anywhere and at any moment. I made one 
 of the best hits I ever chanced upon after a smash on tiie Trent 
 Valley line. There was Boulders of the firm of Skale and Bouidera
 
 !!00 THE BRAMLEIGH3 OF BISUOP's FOLLY. 
 
 Brothers, — had his shoulder dislocated and two of his frort teeth 
 knocked out. He was lying with a lot of scantling and barrel-staves 
 ever him, and he cried out, ' Is there any one there ? ' I said, ' Yes ; 
 Cutbill. Toui Cutbill, of Viceregal Terrace, St. John's Wood.' " 
 
 Lord Culduffs patience could stand no more, and he arose with 
 a slight how and moved haughtily away. Cutbill, however, was quickly 
 at his side. "You must hear the rest of this ; it was a matter of 
 close on teu thousand pounds to me, and this is the way it came 
 out " 
 
 " I felicitate you heartily, sir, on your success, but beg I may 
 be spared the story of it." 
 
 " You've heard worse. Egad, I'd not say you haven't told worse. 
 It's not every fellow, I promise you, has his wits about him at a 
 moment when people are shouting for help, and an express train 
 standing on its head in a cutting, and a tender hanging over a 
 viaduct." 
 
 " Sir, there are worse inflictions than even this." 
 
 " Eh, what? " said Cutbill, crossing his arms on his chest, and 
 looking fully in the other's face ; hut Lord Culduff moved quietly on, 
 and approaching a table where Ellen was seated, said, " I'm coming 
 to beg for a cup of tea ; " not a trace of excitement or irritation to be 
 detected in his voice or manner. He loitered for a few moments at 
 the table, talking lightly and pleasantly on iudiflereut subjects, and 
 then moved carelessly away till he found himself near the door, when 
 he made a precipitate escape and hurried up to his room. 
 
 It was his invariable custom to look at himself carefully in the 
 glass whenever he came home at night. As a general might have 
 examined the list of killed and wounded after an action, computing 
 with himself the cost of victory or defeat, so did this veteran warrior 
 of a world's campaign go carefully over all the signs of wear and tear, 
 the hard lines of pain or chequered colouring of agitation, which his 
 last engagement might have inflicted. 
 
 As he sat down before his mirror now, he was actually shocked 
 to see what ravages a single evening had produced. The circles 
 around his eyes wore deeply indented, the corners of his mouth drawn 
 dov;n so fixedly and firmly that all his attempts to conjure up a 
 smile were failures, w^jile a purple tint beneath his rouge totally 
 destroyed that delicate colouring which was wont to impart the 
 youthful look to his features. 
 
 The vulgar impertinence of Cutbill made indeed but little im- 
 pression upon him. An annoyance while it lasted, it still left nothing 
 for memory that could not be dismissed with case. It was Marion. 
 It was rthat she had said that weighed so painfully on his heavt.
 
 SOME MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 101 
 
 wounding where lie was most intensely and delicately sensitive. She 
 had told him — what had she told him ? He tried to recall her exact 
 words, but be could not. They were in reply to remarks of his own, 
 and owed all their significance to the context. One thing she certainly 
 had said, — that there were certain steps in life about which the world 
 held but one opinion, and the allusion was to men marrying late iu 
 life ; and then she added a remark as to the want of " sympathy " — 
 or was it " liarmony " she called it? — between them, IIow strange 
 that he could not remember more exactly all that passed, he, who, 
 after his interviews with Ministers and great men, could go home and 
 send ofl' in an official despatch the whole dialogue of the audience. 
 But why seek fur the precise expressions she employed ? The mean- 
 ing should surely be enough for him, and that was — there was no 
 denying it — that the disparity of their ages was a bar to his preten- 
 sions. " Had our ranks in life been alike, there might have been 
 force in her observation ; but she forgets that a coronet encircles a 
 brow like a wreath of youth ; " and he adjusted the curls of his wig 
 as he spoke, and smiled at himself more successfully than he had 
 done before. 
 
 " On the whole, perhaps it is better," said he, as he arose and 
 walked the room. " A mesalliance can only be justified by great 
 beauty or great wealth. One must do a cousuraedly rash thing, or a 
 wonderfully sharp one, to come out well with the world. Forty 
 thousand, and a good-looking girl — she isn't more, — would not satisfy 
 the just expectations of society, which, with men like myself, are 
 severely exacting." 
 
 He had met a repulse, he could not deny it, and the sense of pain 
 it inflicted galled him to the quick. To be Sc.re, the thing occurred 
 in a remote, out-of-the-way spot, where there were no people to 
 discover or retail the story. It was not as if it chanced iu some 
 cognate land of society, where such incidents get immediate currency 
 and form the gossip of every coterie. AVho was ever to hear of what 
 passed in an Irish country-house '? Marion herself indeed might 
 write it, — she most probably would — but to whom ? To some friend 
 as little in the world as herself, and none knew better than Lord 
 Culdufi' of how few people the " world " was composed. It was a 
 defeat, but a defeat that need never be gazetted. And after all, are 
 not the worst thiugs in all our reverses, the comments that are passed 
 upon them ? Are not the censures of our enemies and the con- 
 dolences of our friends sometimes harder to bear than the misfortunes 
 that have evoked them ? 
 
 What Clarion's manner towards him might be in future, was also 
 a painful rcficction. It would naturally be a triumphant incident in
 
 102 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISnOP's FOLLY. 
 
 bcr life to have rejected such an offer. Woukl she he eager to parade 
 this fact before the -world ? Would she try to let peojile know that 
 she had refused him ? This was possible. He felt that such a 
 slight would tarnish the whole glory of his life, whose boast was to 
 have done many things that were actually wicked, but not one that 
 was merely weak. 
 
 The imminent matter was to get out of his present situation with- 
 out defeat. To quit the field, but not as a beaten army ; and 
 revolving how this was to be done he sunk off to sleep. 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 AT CASTELLO. 
 
 A PRIVATE letter from a friend had told Jack Bramleigh that his 
 father's opposition to the Government had considerably damaged his 
 cliance of being employed, but that he possibly might get a small 
 command on the Airican station. "With what joy then did he receive 
 the " official," marked on H.^I.'s service, informing him that he was 
 appointed to the Sneescr despatch gunboat, to serve in the Mediter- 
 ranean, and enjoining him to repair to town without unnecessary 
 delay, to receive further orders. 
 
 He had forborne, as we have seen, to tell Julia his former tidings. 
 They were not indeed of a nature to rejoice over, but here was great 
 news. He only wanted two more years to be qualified for his 
 *' Post," and once a captain, he would have a position which might 
 warrant his asking Julia to be his wife, and thus was it that the 
 great dream of his whole existence was interwoven into his career, 
 and his advancement as a sailor linked with his hopes as a lover ; 
 and £«irely it is well for us that ambitions in life appeal to us in other 
 aiul humbler ways than by the sense of triumph, and tlmt there are 
 bettor rewards for success than either the favour of princes or the 
 insignia of rank. 
 
 To poor Jack, looking beyond that two years, it was not a three- 
 decker, nor even frigate, it was the paradise of a cottage overgrown 
 with swectbriar and honeysuckle, that presented itself, — and a certain 
 graceful figure, gauzy and lloating, sitting in the porch, while he lay 
 at her feet, lulled by the drowsy ripple of tlie little trout-stream that 
 ran close by. So possessed was he by this vision, so entirely and 
 wholly did it engross him, that it wag with difficulty he gave coherent 
 replies to the questions poured in upon him at the breakfast-table, as
 
 AT CASTELLO. 103 
 
 to the sort of service he was about to bo engaged in, and -whether it 
 was as good or a better thing than ho had been expecting. 
 
 " I wish you joy, Jack," said Augustus. " You're a luchy dog 
 to get afloat again so soon. You haven't been full six mouths on 
 half-pay." 
 
 "I wish you joy too," said Temple, " and am thankful to Fate 
 it is you, and not I, have to take the command of H.M.'s gunboat 
 Sneezer." 
 
 " Perhaps, all things considered, it is as well as it is," said 
 Jack dryly. 
 
 " It is a position of some importance. I mean it is not the mere 
 command of a small vessel," said Marion haughtily ; for she was 
 always eager that every incident that befell the family should 
 redound to their distinction, and subserve their onward march to 
 greatness. 
 
 " Oh, Jack," whispered Nelly, " let us walk over to the cottage, 
 and tell them the news ; " and Jack blushed as he squeezed her hand 
 Id, gratitude for the speech. 
 
 "I almost wonder they gave you this, Jack," said his father, 
 " seeing how active a part I took against them ; but I suppose there 
 is some truth in the saying that Ministers would rather soothe 
 enemies than succour friends." 
 
 " Don't you suspect, papa, that Lord Culduii" may have had some 
 share in this event ? His influence, I know, is very great with his 
 party," said Marion. 
 
 " I hope and trust not," burst out Jack ; " rather than owe my 
 promotion to that bewigged old dandy, I'd go and keep a light- 
 house." 
 
 " A most illiberal speech," said Temple. " I was about to 
 employ a stronger word, but still not stronger than my sense of its 
 necessity." 
 
 " Remember, Temple," replied Jack, " I have no possible objection 
 to his being Ijour patron. I only protest that he shan't be mine. He 
 may make you something ordinary or extraordinary to-morrow, and 
 I'll never quarrel about it." 
 
 " I am grateful for the concession," said the other, bowing. 
 
 " If it was Lord Culduff that got you this step," said Colonel 
 Bramleigh, " I must say nothing could be more delicate than his 
 conduct ; he never so much as hinted to me that he had taken trouble 
 in the matter." 
 
 "He is such a gentleman ! " said Marion, with a very enthusiastic 
 emphasis on the word. 
 
 " Well, perhaps it's a very ignoble confession," said Nelly, " but
 
 104 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 I frankly own I'd rather Jack owed his good fortune to his good fame 
 than to all the peers in the calendar." 
 
 " What pains Ellen takes," said Marion, " to show that her ideas 
 of life and the world are not those of the rest of us." 
 
 " She has me with her whenever she goes into the lohhy," 
 said Jack, " or I'll pair with Temple, who is sure to be on the 
 stronger side." 
 
 " Your censure I accept as a compliment," said Temple. 
 
 "And is this all our good news has done for us, — to set us 
 exchanging tart speeches and shai-p repartees with each other ? " said 
 Colonel Bramleigh. " I declare it is a very ungracious way to treat 
 pleasant tidings. Go out, boyp, and see if you couldn't find some 
 one to dine with us, and wet Jack's commission as they used to call 
 it long ago." 
 
 " We can have the L'Estranges and our amiable neighbour 
 Captain Craufurd," said Marion ; " but I believe our resources end 
 with these." 
 
 " Why not look up the Frenchman you smashed some weeks ago, 
 Jack ? " said Augustus ; "he ought to be about by this time, and it 
 would only be common decency to show him some attention." 
 
 " With all my heart. I'll do anything you like but talk French 
 with him. But where is he to be found ? " 
 
 "He stops with Longworth," said Augustus, "which makes the 
 matter awkward. Can we invite one without the other, and can 
 we open our acquaintance with Longworth by an invitation to 
 dinner ? " 
 
 "Certainly not," chimed in Temple. "First acquaintance 
 admits of no breaches of etiquette. Intimacies may, and rarely 
 too, forgive such." 
 
 " What luck to have such a pilot to steer us through the 
 narrow channel of proprieties," cried Jack, laughing. 
 
 " I think, too, it would be as well to remember," resumed Temple, 
 " that Lord Culduff is our guest, and to whatever accidents of acquain- 
 tanceship we may be ready to expose ourselves, we have no right to 
 extend these casualties to Jn)ii." 
 
 " I suspect we are not likely to sec his lordship to-day, at 
 least ; he has sent down his man to beg he may be excused from 
 making his appearance at dinner : a slight attack of gout couliucs 
 him to his room," said Marion. 
 
 " That's not the worst bit of news I've heard to-day," bi'oke in 
 Jack. " Dining in that old cove's company is the next thing to 
 being tried by a court-martial. I fervently hope he'll bo on the sick 
 list till I take my departure."
 
 AT CASTELLO. 105 
 
 " As to getting these people together to-day, it's out of the 
 question," said Augustus. "Let us say Saturday next, and try 
 what we can do." 
 
 This was agreed upon. Temple being deputed to ride over to 
 Longworth's, leaving to his diplomacy to make what further advances 
 events seemed to warrant, — a trustful confidence in his tact to 
 conduct a nice negotiation being a flattery more than sufficient to 
 recompense his trouble. Jack and Nelly would repair to the 
 cottage to secure the L'Estranges. Craufurd could be apprised 
 by a note. 
 
 "Has Cutbill got the gout, too?" asked Jack. "I have not 
 seen him this morning." 
 
 " No ; that very cool gentleman took out my cob pony, Fritz, 
 this morning at daybreak," said Augustus, " saying he was off to 
 the mines at Lisconuor, and wouldn't be back till evening." 
 
 "And do you mean to let such a liberty pass uiinoticed ? " asked 
 Temple. 
 
 " A good deal will depend upon how Fritz looks after his journey. 
 If I sec that the beast has not suffered, it is just possible I may 
 content myself with a mere intimation that I trust the freedom may 
 not be repeated." 
 
 "You told me Anderson offered you two hundred for that cob," 
 broke in Temple. 
 
 " Yes, and asked how much more would tempt me to sell him." 
 
 " If he were a peer of the realm, and took such a liberty with me, 
 I'd not forgive him," said Temple, as he arose and left the room in 
 a burst of indignation. 
 
 " I may say we are a very high-spirited family," said Jack 
 gravely, " and I'll warn the world not to ti'y any familiarities 
 with us." 
 
 "Come away, naughty boy," whispered Eleanor; "you are 
 always trailing your coat for some one to stand upon." 
 
 " Tell me, Nelly," said he, as they took their way through the 
 pincwood that led to the cottage, " tell me, Nelly, am I right or 
 wrong in my appreciation — for I really want to be just and fair in 
 the matter — are we Bramleighs confounded snobs ? " 
 
 The downright honest earnestness with which he put the question 
 made her laugh heartily, and for some seconds left her unable to 
 answer him. 
 
 " I half suspect that wo may be. Jack," said she, still smiling. 
 
 " I'm certain of one thing," continued he in the same earnest 
 tone, " our distinguished guest deems us such. There is a sort of 
 simpering enjoyment of all that goes on around him, and a con-
 
 108 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 desceucliug aj^proval of us that seems to say, ' Go on, you'll catch 
 the tone yet. You're not doing hadly by any means.' He pushed 
 me to the very limit of my patience the other day with this, and I 
 had to get up from luncheon and leave the house to avoid being 
 openly rude to him. Do you mind ray lighting a cigar, Nelly, for 
 I've got myself so angry that I want a weed to calm me down again ? " 
 
 " Let us talk of something else ; for on this theme I'm not much 
 better tempered than yourself." 
 
 " There's a dear good girl," said he, drawing her towards him, 
 and kissing her cheek. " I'd have sworn you felt as I did about 
 this old fop ; and we must be arrant snobs, Nelly, or else his coming 
 down amongst us here would not have broken us all up, setting us 
 exchanging sneers and scoffs, and criticizing each other's knowledge 
 of life. Confound the old humbug ; let us forget him." 
 
 They walked along without exchanging a word for full ten 
 minutes or more, till they reached the brow of the cliS", from 
 which the pathway led down to the cottage. " I wonder when 
 I shall stand here again?" said he, pausing. "Not that I'm 
 going on any hazardous service, or to meet a more formidable 
 enemy than a tart flag-captain ; but the world has such strange 
 turns and changes, that a couple of years may do anything with a 
 man's destiny." 
 
 " A couple of years may make you a post-captain, Jack ; and 
 that will bo quite enough to change your destiny." 
 
 He looked affectionately towards her for a moment, and then 
 turned away to hide the emotion he could not master. 
 
 " And then. Jack," said she, caressingly, " it will be a very happy 
 day that shall bring us to this spot again." 
 
 " Who knows, Nelly?" said he, with a degree of agitation that 
 surprised her. " I haven't told you that Julia aud I had a quarrel 
 the last time we met." 
 
 " A quarrel ! " 
 
 "Well, it was something very like one. I told her there were 
 things about her manner, — certain ways she had, that I didn't like ; 
 and I spoke very seriously to her on the subject. I didn't go beating 
 about, but said she was too much of a coquette." 
 
 "Oh, Jack ! " 
 
 " It's all very well to be shocked, and cry out, ' Oh, Jack ! ' 
 but isn't it true ? haven't you seen it yourself? hasn't Marion said 
 some very strange things about it ? " 
 
 " My dear Jack, I needn't tell you that we girls arc not always 
 fair in our estimates of each other, even when we think we are, — 
 and it is not always that we want to think so. Julia is not a
 
 Looking Do'.vn i'vtnn the ( llff.
 
 AT CA3TELL0. 107 
 
 coquette in any sense that the word carries censure, and you were 
 exceedingly wrong to tell her she was." 
 
 " That's how it is ! " cried he, pitching his cigar away in 
 impatience. " There's a freemasonry amongst you that calls you 
 all to arms the moment one is attacked. Isn't it open to a man to 
 tell the girl he hopes to make his wife that there are things in her 
 manner he doesn't approve of and would like changed ? " 
 
 " Certainly not ; at least it would require some nicer tact than 
 yours to approach such a theme with safety." 
 
 " Temple, perhaps, could do it," said he, sneeriugly. 
 
 " Temple certainly would not attempt it." 
 
 Jack made a gesture of impatience, and, as if desirous to change 
 the subject, said, ' AVhat's the matter with our distinguished guest ? 
 Is he ill, that he won't dine below-stairs to-day ? " 
 
 " He calls it a slight return of his Greek fever, and begs to be 
 excused from presenting himself at dinner." 
 
 " He and Temple have been writing little three-cornered notes 
 to each other all the morning, I suppose it is diplomatic usage." 
 
 The tone of irritation he spoke in seemed to show that he was 
 actually seeking for something to vent his anger upon, and trying to 
 provoke some word of contradiction or dissent ; but she was silent, 
 and for some seconds they walked on without speaking. 
 
 "Look ! " cried he, suddenly; " there goes Julia. Do you see 
 her yonder on the path up the cliff ; and who is that clambering 
 after her ? I'll be shot if it's not Lord Culduff." 
 
 "Julia has got her drawing-book, I see. They're on some 
 sketching excursion." 
 
 " He wasn't long in throwing off his Greek fever, eh ? " cried 
 Jack, indignantly. "It's cool, isn't it, to tell the people in whose 
 house he is stopping that he is too ill to dine v/ith them, and then 
 set out gallivanting in this fashion ? " 
 
 " Poor old man ! " said she, in a tone of half scornful pity. 
 
 " Was I right about Julia now?" cried ho, angrily. "I told 
 you for whose captivation all her little gracefulnesses were intended. 
 I saw it the first night he stood beside her at the piano. As Marion 
 said, she is determined to bring him down. She saw it as well as 
 I did." 
 
 "What nonsense you are talking, Jack; as if Julia would 
 condescend " 
 
 " There's no condescension; Nelly," he broke in. " The man 
 is a lord, and the woman he marries will be a peeress, and there's 
 not another country in Europe iu which that word means as much. 
 I take it, we needn't go on to the cottage now ? "
 
 108 THE BRAJILEIGIIS OF BISHOp's FOLLY. 
 
 " I suppose we could scarcely overtake them ? " 
 
 " Overtake them ! Why should we try ? Even my tact, Nelly, 
 that you sneered at so contemptuously a while ago, would save me 
 from such a blunder. Come, let's go home and forget, if we Cxin, all 
 that we came about. / at least will try and do so." 
 
 " My dear dear Jack, this is very foolish jealousy." 
 
 "I am not jealous, Nelly. I'm angry; but it is with myself. I 
 ought to have known what humble pretensions mine were, and I ought 
 to have known how certainly a young lady, bred as young ladies are 
 now-a-days, would regard them as less than humble ; but it all 
 comes of this idle shore-going good-for-nothing life. They'll not 
 cateh me at it again, that's all." 
 
 "Just listen to me patiently. Jack. Listen to me for one 
 moment." 
 
 " Not for half a moment. I can guess everything you want to 
 say to me, and I tell you frankly, I don't care to hear it. Tell me 
 whatever you like to-morrow " 
 
 He tried to finish his speech, but his voice grew thick and falter- 
 ing, and he turned away and was silent. 
 
 The}' spoke little to each other as they walked homewards. A 
 chance remark on the weather, or the scenery, was all that passed till 
 they reached the little lawn before the door. 
 
 " You'll not forget your pledge. Jack, for tomorrow ? " said 
 Ellen, as he turned towards her before ascending the ste^^^s. 
 
 " I'll not forget it," said he, coldly, and he moved off as he spoke, 
 and entered an alley of the shrubbery. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ADULLDINNER. 
 
 The family dinner on that day at Castcllo was somewhat dull. The 
 various attempts to secure a party for the ensuing Saturday, which 
 had been fixed on to celebrate Jack's promotion, bad proved failures. 
 "When Temple arrived at Lotigwortirs he learned that the host and 
 his guest were from home and not to return for some days — we have 
 seen how it fared as to the L'Estranges — so that the solitary success 
 was Captain Craufurd, a gentleman who certainly had not won the 
 suH'rages of the Great House. 
 
 There were two vacant places besides at the table ; for butlers 
 are fond of recording, by napkins and covers, how certain of our
 
 A DULL DINNER. 109 
 
 friends assume to treat us, and thus as it were contrast their own 
 formal observances of duty with the laxer notions of their betters. 
 
 *' Lord Culdufl" is not able to dine with us," said Colonel 
 Bramleigh, making the apology as well to himself as to the com- 
 
 " No, papa," said Marion ; "he hopes to appear in the drawiug- 
 room in the evening." 
 
 " If not too much tired by his long walk," broke in Jack. 
 
 " What walk are you dreaming of? " asked Marion. 
 
 "An excursion he made this morning down the coast, sketching 
 or pretending to sketch. Nelly and I saw him clambering up the 
 side of a clill" " 
 
 " Oh, quite impossible ; you must be mistaken." 
 
 " No," said Nelly, " there was no mistake. I saw him as plainly 
 as I see you now ; besides, it is not in these wild regions so dis- 
 tinguished a figure is like to find its counterpart." 
 
 "But why should he not take his walk? why not sketch, or 
 amase himself in any way he pleased ? " asked Temple. 
 
 " Of course it was open to him to do so," said the colonel; 
 " only that to excuse his absence ho ought not to have made a pre- 
 text of being ill." 
 
 " I think men are ' ill ' just as they are ' out,' " said Temple. 
 " I am ill if I am asked to do what is disagreeable to me, as I am 
 out to the visit of a bore." 
 
 " So that to dine with us was disagreeable to Lord CuUluff? " asked 
 Jack. 
 
 " It was evidently either an eflbrt to task his strength, or an 
 occasion which called for more exertion than he felt equal to," said 
 Temple, pompously. 
 
 " By Jove ! " cried Jack, " I hope I'll never be a great man! I 
 trust sincerely I may never arrive at that eminence in which it will 
 task my energies to eat my dinner and chat with the people on either 
 side of me." 
 
 "Lord Culdufl' converses : he does not chat ; please to note the 
 distinction. Jack." 
 
 " That's like telling me he doesn't walk but he swaggers." 
 
 It was fortunate at this moment, critical enough as regarded the 
 temper of all parties, that Mr. Cutbill entered, full of apologies for 
 being late, and bursting to recount the accidents that befell him and 
 all the incidents of his day. A quiclc glance around the table assured 
 him of Lord Culdufl^s absence, and it was evident from the sparkle 
 of his eye that the event was not disagreeable to him. 
 
 " Is our noble friend on the sick list ? " asked he with a smile.
 
 110 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Indisposed," said Temple, with the air of one who kuev/ the value 
 of a word that was douhlc-shotted. 
 
 " I've got uews that will soon rally him," continued Cuthill. 
 " They've struck a magnificent vein this morning, and within eighty 
 yards of the surface. Plramys, the Welsh inspector, pronounced it 
 good Cardiff, and says, from the depth of ' the lode,' that it must go 
 a long way." 
 
 " Harding did not give me as encouraging news yesterday," said 
 Colonel Bramleigh v;ith a dubious smile. 
 
 "My tidings date from this morning, — yesterday Avas the day 
 before the battle ; besides, what does Harding know about coal ? "* 
 
 " He knows a little about everything," said Augustus. 
 
 " That makes all the difference. What people want is not the 
 men who know things currently, but knov/ them well and thoroughly. 
 Eh, captain," said he to Jack, "what would you say to popular 
 notions about the navy ? " 
 
 " Cutty's right," said Jack. " Amateurship is all humbug." 
 
 ." Who is Lougworth ? " asked Cuthill. " Philip Longwoi'th ? " 
 ■ " A neighbour of ours ; wo are not acquainted, but we know that 
 there is such a person," said Colonel Bramleigb. 
 
 " He opines," continued Cutbill, " that this vein of ours runs 
 direct from his land, and I suspect he's not wrong ; and he wants to 
 know what we mean to do — he'll cither sell or buy. He came over 
 this morning to Kilmanuock with a French friend, and we took our 
 breakfast together. Nice fellows both of them, and wide awake, too, 
 especially the Frenchman. He was with Lesseps in Egypt, in what 
 capacity I couldn't find out ; but I see he's a shrewd fellow." 
 
 " With Lesseps ? " said Colonel Bramleigh, showing a quicker 
 and more eager interest than before, for his lawyer had told him that 
 the French claimant to his property had been engaged on the works 
 of the Suez Canal. 
 
 "Yes ; he spoke as if he knew Lesseps well, and talked of the 
 whole undertaking like one who understood it." 
 
 " And what is he doing hei'e ? " 
 
 "Writing a book, I fancy ; an Irish tour — one of those mock- 
 scntimeutalities, with bad politics and false moi'ality, Frenchmen 
 ventilate about England. He goes poking into the cabins and asking 
 the people about their grievances ; and now he says he wants to hear 
 the other side, and learn what the gentlemen say." 
 
 " We'll have to ask him over here," said Colonel Bramleigh 
 coolly, as if the thought had occurred to him then for the first time. 
 
 " He'll amuse you, I promise you," said Cutbill. 
 
 " I'd like to meet him," said Jack. " I had the ill-luck to bowl
 
 A DULL DINNER. Ill 
 
 him over in the hunting-fiekl, and cost him a hroken log. I'd like to 
 make all the excuses in my power to him." 
 
 " He bears no malice about it ; he said it was all his own foult, 
 and that you did your best to pick him up, but your horse bolted 
 with you." 
 
 " Let's have him to dinner by all means," said Augustus; "and 
 now that Temple has made a formal visit, I take it we might invite 
 him by a polite note." 
 
 " You must wait till he returns the call," said Marion, stiffly. 
 
 " Not if we want to show a courteous desire to make his 
 acquaintance," said Temple. "Attentions can be measured as nicely 
 and as minutely as medicaments." 
 
 " All I say," said Jack, " is, have him soon, or I may chance to 
 miss him ; and I'm rather curious to have a look at him." 
 
 Colonel Bramleigh turned a full look at Jack, as though his words 
 bad some hidden meaning in them, but the frank and easy expression 
 of the sailor's face reassured him at once. 
 
 " I hope the fellow won't put us in his book," said Temple. " You 
 are never quite safe with these sort of people." 
 
 "Are we worth recording ? " asked Jack with a laugh. 
 
 Temple was too indignant to make any answer, and Cutbill went 
 on : " The authorship is only a suspicion of mine, remember. It 
 •was from seeing him constantly jotting down little odds and ends in 
 his note-book that I came to that conclusion ; and Frenchmen are 
 not much given to minute inquiries if they have not some definite 
 object in view." 
 
 Again was Bramleigh's attention arrested, but, as before, he saw 
 that the speaker meant no more than the words in their simplest 
 acceptance conveyed. 
 
 A violent ringing of the door-bell startled the company, and after 
 a moment's pause of expectancy, a servant entered to say, that a 
 Government messenger had arrived with some important despatches 
 for Lord Culdulf, which required personal delivery and acceptance. 
 
 " Will you step up, Mr. Cutbill, and see if his lordship is in his 
 room ? " 
 
 " I'll answer for it he's not," said Jack to his father. 
 
 Cutbill rose, however, and went on his mission, but instead of 
 returning to the dining-room it was perceived that he proceeded to 
 find the messenger, and conduct him upstairs. 
 
 "Well, Nelly," said Marion, in a whisper, "what do you say 
 now, is it so certain that it was Lord Culduif you saw this morning ? " 
 
 " I don't know what to make of it. I was fully as sure as 
 Jack was."
 
 112 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF EISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 "I'll wager he's been offered Paris," said Temple, gravely. 
 
 " Offered Paris ? " cried Jack ; " \Yhat do you mean ? '' 
 
 " I mean the embassy, of course," replied he, contemptuously. 
 " Without," added he, " they want him in the Cabinet." 
 
 " And is it really by men like this the country is governed ? " 
 said Nelly, with a boldness that seemed the impulse of indignation. 
 
 " I'm afraid so," said Marion, scornfully. *' Mr. Canning and 
 Lord Palmerston were men very like this, — were they not. Temple ? " 
 
 " Precisely; Lord Culduff is exactly of the same order, however 
 humble the estimate Ellen may form of such people." 
 
 " I'm all impatience for the news," said Augustus. " I wish 
 Cutbill would come down at once." 
 
 " I'll take the odds that he goes to F. 0.," said Temple. 
 
 " What the deuce could he do in China ? " cried Jack, whose ear 
 had led him into a cruel blunder. 
 
 Temple scarcely smiled at what savoured of actual irreverence, and 
 added, " If so, I'll ask to be made private secretary." 
 
 " Mr. Temple, sir, his lordship would be glad to see you upstairs 
 for a moment," said a footman, entering. And Temple arose and 
 left the room, with a pride that might have accompanied him if 
 summoned to a cabinet council. 
 
 "More mysteries of State," cried Jack. " I declare, girls, the 
 atmosphere of political greatness is almost suffocating me. I wonder 
 how Cutty stands it ! " 
 
 A general move into the drawing-room followed this speech, and 
 as Jack sauntered in he slipped his arm within Nelly's and led her 
 towards a window. " I can't bear this any longer, Nelly, — I must 
 trip my anchor and move away. I'd as soon be lieutenant to a port 
 admiral as live here. You're all grown too fine for me." 
 
 "That's not it at all. Jack," said she, smiling. "I see how 
 you've been trying to bully yourself by bullying us this hour back ; 
 but it will be all right to-morrow. We'll go over to the cottage after 
 breakfast." 
 
 " You may ; I'll not, I promise you," said he, blushing deeply. 
 
 "Yes, you will, my dear Jack," said she, coaxingly ; "and 
 you'll be the first to laugh at your own foolish jealousy besides, — if 
 Julia is not too angry with you to make laughing possible." 
 
 " She may be angry or pleased, it's all one to me now," said he, 
 passionately. " When I told her she was a coquette, I didn't 
 believe it ; but, by Jove, she has converted me to the opinion pretty 
 quickly." 
 
 " You're a naughty boy, aud you're in a bad humour, and I'll 
 say no more to you now."
 
 A DULL DIXXER. 113 
 
 " Say it now, I advise you, if you meaa to say it," said ho 
 shortly ; but she laughed at his serious face, aud turned away with- 
 out speaking. 
 
 " Isu't the cabiuet council sitting late ? " asked Augustus of Marion. 
 " They have been nigh two hours in conference." 
 
 " I take it it must be something of importance," replied she. 
 
 " Isn't Cutbill in it ? " asked Augustus, mockingly. 
 
 " I saw Mr. Cutbill go down the avenue, with his cigar in his 
 mouth, just after we came into the drawing-room." 
 
 " I'll go and try to pump him," said Jack. " One might do a 
 gi'and thing on the Stock Exchange if he could get at State secrets 
 like these." Aud as Jack went out a silence fell over the party, only 
 broken by the heavy breathing of Colonel Eramleigh as he slept 
 behind his newspaper. At last the door opened gently, and Temple 
 moved quietly across the room, and tapping his father on the 
 shoulder, whispered something in his ear. " What — eh ? " cried 
 Colonel Bramleigh, waking up. "Did you say 'out' ?" Another 
 whisper ensued, aud the colonel arose aud left the room, followed by 
 Temple. 
 
 " Isn't Temple supi-emely diplomatic to-night ? " said Nelly. 
 
 " I'm certain he is behaving with every becoming reserve and 
 decorum," said Marion, in a tone of severe rebuke. 
 
 When Colonel Bramleigh entered the library. Temple closed aud 
 locked the door, and in a voice of some emotion said, "Poor Lord 
 Culduft'; it's a dreadful blow. I don't know how he'll bear up 
 against it." 
 
 " I don't understand it," said Bramleigh, peevishly. "What's 
 this about a change of Ministry and a dissolution '? Did you tell me 
 the Parliament was dissolved ? " 
 
 " No, sir. I said that a dissolution was probable. The Ministry 
 have been sorely pressed in the Lords about Culduflf's appointment, 
 and a motion to address the Crown to cancel it has only been met by 
 a majority of three. So small a victory amounts to a defeat, and the 
 Premier writes to beg Lord Culdutf will at once send in his resigna- 
 tion, as the only means to save the party." 
 
 " Well, if it's the only thing to do, why not do it ? " 
 
 " Culdutl' takes a quite ditfcrent view of it. He says that to 
 retire is to abdicate his po.-^ition in public life ; that it was Lord 
 Rigglesworth's duty to stand by a colleague to the last ; that every 
 Minister makes it a point of honour to defend a subordinate ; aud 
 that " 
 
 " I only half follow you. What was the ground of the at(ack ? 
 Had he fallen into any blunder — made any serious mistake ? " 
 
 8
 
 114 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 "Nothing of the \dnl, sir; they actually complimented his 
 abilities, and spoke of his rare capacity. It was one of those bursts 
 of hypocrisy we have every now and then in public life, to show the 
 world how virtuous we are. They raked up an old story of thirty 
 years ago of some elopement or other, and affected to see in this 
 escapade a reason against his being employed to represent the 
 Cro\AU." 
 
 "I'm not surprised — not at all surprised. There is a strong 
 moral feeling in the heart of the nation, that no man, however great 
 his abilities, can outrage with impunity." 
 
 " If they dealt with him thus hardly in the Lords, we can fancy 
 how he will be treated in the Lower House, where Righy Norton has 
 given notice of a motion respecting his appointment. As Lord 
 Rigglesworth writes, ' R. N. has got up your whole biography, and 
 is fully bent on making you the theme of one of his amusing 
 scurrilities. Is it wise, is it safe to risk this ? He'll not persevere, 
 — he could not persevere, — in his motion, if you send in your 
 resignation. We could not — at least so Gore, our whip, says — be 
 sure of a majority were we to divide ; and even a majority of, say 
 thirty, to proclaim you moral, would only draw the whole press to 
 open your entire life, and make the world ring with your, I suppose, 
 very common and every-day iniquities.' " 
 
 " I declare I do not sec what can be alleged against this advice. 
 It seems to me most forcible and irrefragable." 
 
 " Vciy forcible, as regards the position of the Cabinet ; but, as 
 Lord Culduff says, ruin, positive ruin to him." 
 
 " Ruin of his own causing." 
 
 Temple shrugged his shoulders in a sort of contemptuous impa- 
 tience ; the sentiment was one not worth a reply. 
 
 " At .all events, has he any other course open to him ? " 
 
 " He thinks he has ; at least, he thinks that, with your help 
 and co-operation, there may be another course. The attack is to 
 come from below the gangway on the Opposition side. It was to sit 
 with these men you contested a county, and spent nigh twenty thou- 
 sand pounds. You have great claims on the party. You know them 
 all personally, and have much influence with them. Why, then, not 
 employ it in his behalf? " 
 
 " To suppress the motion, you mean ? " 
 
 Temple nodded. 
 
 " They'd not listen to it, not endure it for a moment. Norton 
 wouldn't give up an attack for which ho had prepared himself, if he 
 were to iind out in the interval that the object of it was an angel. 
 As I heard him say one day at ' the Reform,' ' Other men have their
 
 A DULL DINNER. 115 
 
 specialities. One fellcw fakes sugar, cue the malt-duties, oue Servia, 
 or may be, Irehiud ; my line is a good smasliiug personality. Show 
 me a fellow — of course I mean a political opponent — who has been 
 giving himself airs as a colonial governor, or " swelling " it as a 
 special envoy at a foreign court, and if I don't find something in his 
 despatches to exhibit him as a false prophet, a dupe, or a blunderer, 
 and if I can't make the House laugh at him, don't call me Rigby 
 Norton.' He knows he does these things better than any man in 
 England, and he does them in a spirit that never makes him an 
 enemy." 
 
 " Culduff says that N. is terribly hard up. He was hit heavily 
 at Goodwood, and asked for time to pay." 
 
 " Just what he has been doing for the last twenty years. There 
 are scores of ships that no underwriters would accept making safe 
 voyages half across the globe. No, no, he'll rub on for many a day 
 in the same fashion. Besides, if he shouldn't, wliat then ? " 
 
 Temple made a significant gesture with his thumb iu the palm of 
 his hand. 
 
 " That's all your noble friend knows about England, then. See 
 what comes of a man passing his life among foreigners. I suppose 
 a Spanish or an Italian deputy mightn't give much trouble, nor 
 oppose any strenuous resistance to such a dealing ; but it won't do 
 here — it will not." 
 
 " Lord Culdufl' knows the world as well as most men, sir." 
 
 "Yes, one world, I'm sure he does ! A world of essenced old 
 dandies and painted dowagers, surrounded by thieving lacqueys and 
 cringing followers ; where everything can be done by bribery, and 
 nothing without it. But that's not England, I'm proud to say ; nor 
 will it be, I hope, for many a day to come." 
 
 " I wish, sir, you could be induced to give your aid to Culduff in 
 this matter. I need not say what an influence it would exert over my 
 own fortunes." 
 
 " You must win your way. Temple, by your own merits," said 
 he, haughtily. " I'd be ashamed to think that a son of mine owed 
 any share of his success in life to ignoble acts or backstairs influence. 
 Go back and tell Lord Culduff from me, that so f\ir as I know it, 
 Lord lligglcsworth's advice is my own. No wise man ever courts a 
 public scandal ; and he would be less than wise to confront one, with 
 the certainty of being overwhelmed by it." 
 
 " "Will you sec him, sir ? Will you speak to him yourself? " 
 
 "I'd rather not. It would be a needless pain to each of us." 
 
 " I suspect ho means to leave this to-night." 
 
 *' Not the worst thing he could do."
 
 IIG THE BIlAML"3ianS OF LISIIOp'o FOLLY. 
 
 " But you'll see him, to say good-by ? " 
 
 "Certainly; and all the more easily if we have no conversatioD 
 in the meanwhile. Who's that knocking ? Is the door locked ? " 
 
 Temple hastened to open the door, and found Mr. Cutbill begging 
 to have five minutes' conversation with Colonel Bramleigh. 
 
 " Leave us together. Temple, and tell Marion to send me in some 
 tea. You'll have tea, too, won't j^ou, Mr. Cutbill ? " 
 
 "No, thank you ; I'll ask for wine and water later. At present 
 I want a little talk with you. Our noble friend has got it hot and 
 heavy," said he, as Temple withdrew, leaving Bramleigh and himself 
 together; "but it's nothing to what will come out when Norton 
 brings it before the House. I suppose there hasn't been such a 
 scandal for years as he'll make of it." 
 
 "I declare, Mr. Cutbill, as long as the gentleman continues my 
 guest, I'd rather avoid than invite any discussion of his antecedents," 
 said Bramleigh, pompously. 
 
 " All very fine, if you could stop the world from talking of 
 them." 
 
 " My son has just been with me, and I have said to him, sir, 
 as I have now repeated to you, that it is a theme I will not enter 
 upon." 
 
 " You won't, won't you ? " 
 
 " No, sir, I will not." 
 
 " The more fool you, then, that's all." 
 
 " What, sir, am I to be told this to my face, under my own roof? 
 Can you presume to address these words to me ? " 
 
 " I meant nothing offensive. You needn't look like a turkey- 
 cock. All the gobble-gobble in the world wouldn't frighten me. I 
 came in here in a friendly spirit. I was handsomely treated in this 
 house, and I'd like to make a return for it : that's why I'm here, 
 Bramleigh," 
 
 " You will p:irdon me if I do not detect the friendliness you speak 
 of in the words you have just uttered." 
 
 "Perhaps I was a little too blunt — a little too — what shall I 
 Q.^W it, '? — abrupt ; but what I wanted to say was this : here's the 
 nicest opportunity in the world, not only to help a lame dog over 
 the stile, but to make a good hound of him afterwards." 
 
 " I protest, sir, I cannot follow you. Your bluntuess, as you call 
 it, was at least intelligible." 
 
 " Don't be in a passion. Keep cool, and listen to me. If this 
 motion is made about Culduff, and comes to a debate, there will be 
 such stories told as would smash forty reputations. I'd like to see 
 •which of us would come well out of a biography, treated as a party
 
 A DULL DINNER. 117 
 
 attack in the House of Commons. At all events ho coulJn't fixco if. 
 Stand by Lini, then, and get bim through it. Have patience ; just 
 bear what I have to say. The thing can be done ; there's eight days 
 to come before it can be brought on. I know the money-lender has 
 three of Norton's acceptances — for heavy sums, two of them. Do you 
 Bee now v.-hat I'm driving at ? " 
 
 " I may i^ossibly see so much, sir, but I am unable to see why I 
 should move in the matter." 
 
 " I'll show )"ou, then. The noble viscount is much smitten by a 
 certain young lady upstairs, and intends to propose for her. Yes, I 
 know it, and I'll vouch for it. Ycur eldest daughter may be a peeress, 
 and though the husband isn't very young, neither is the title. I think 
 he said he was the eighth lord — seventh or eighth, I'm not sure wliich 
 — and taking the rank and the coal-mine together, don't you think 
 she might do worse ? " 
 
 "I will say, sir, that frankness like yours I've never met 
 before." 
 
 " That's the very thing I'd like to hear you say of me. There's 
 no quality I pride myself on so much as my candour." 
 
 " You have ample reason, sir." 
 
 •'I feel it. I know it. Direct lines and a wide gauge — I mean 
 in the way of liberality — that's my motto. I go straight to my tei-minus, 
 wherever it is." 
 
 " It is not every man can make his profession the efficient ally of 
 bis morality." 
 
 " An engineer can, and there's nothing so like life as a new line 
 of railroad. But to come back. Y'ou see now how the matter stands. 
 If the arrangement suits you, the thing can be done." 
 
 " You have a very business-like way of treating these themes." 
 
 " If I hadn't, 1 couldn't treat them at all. What I say to myself 
 is, 'Will it pay ? first of all, and secondly, How much will it pay ? 
 And that's the one test fur everything. Have the divines a more 
 telling argument against a life of worldliuess and self- indulgence 
 than when they ask. Will it pay ? We contract for everything, 
 even for going to heaven." 
 
 "If I could hope to rival your eminently practical spirit, Mr. 
 Cutbill, I'd ask how far — to what extent — has Lord Culduff made 
 you the confidant of his intentions ? " 
 
 " Yuu mtan, has he sent me hero this evening to make a 
 proposal to you ? " 
 
 "No, not exactly that; but has he intimated, has he declared 
 — for intimation wouldn't suffice — has he declared bis vrish to bo 
 allied to my family '? "
 
 118 THE BKAMLEIGIIS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " He didn't say, ' CutLiil, go dcwu and make a teuder in my 
 name for her,' if you mean tliat." 
 
 " I opine not, sir," said Bramleigli, bauglitil/. 
 
 " But when I tell you it's all right," said Cutbill, with cue of 
 his most knowing looks, " I think that ought to do." 
 
 " I take it, sir, that you mean courteously and fairly by me. I 
 feel certain that you have neither the wish nor the intention to pain 
 me, but I am forced to own that you import into questions of a 
 delicate nature a spirit of commercial profit and loss, which makes 
 all discussion of them harsh and disagreeable. This is not, let me 
 observe to you, a matter of coal or a new cutting on a railroad." 
 
 " And are you going to tell Tom Cutbill that out of his own line 
 of business — when he isn't up to his knees in earthworks, and boring 
 a tunnel — that he's a fool and a nincompoop ? " 
 
 " I should be sorry to express such a sentiment." 
 
 " Ay, or feel it ; why don't you say that ? " 
 
 " I will go even so far, sir, and say I should be sorry to feel it." 
 
 " That's enough. No offence meant, none is taken. Here's 
 how it is now. Authorise me to see Joel about those bills of 
 Norton's. Give me what the French call a carte blanche to nego- 
 tiate, and I'll promise you I'll not throw your ten-pound notes away. 
 Not that it need ever come to ten-pound notes, for Rigby does these 
 things for the pure fun of them, and if any good fellow drops in on 
 him of a morning, and says, ' Don't raise a hue and cry about that 
 poor beggar,' or ' Don't push that fellow over the cliff,' he's just the 
 man to say, 'Well, I'll not go on. I'll let it stand over,' or he'll 
 even get up and say, ' When I asked leave to put this question to 
 the right honourable gentleman, I fully believed in the authentic 
 character of the information in my possession. I have, however, 
 since then discovered ' — this, that, and the other. Don't you know 
 how these things always finish ? There's a great row, a great 
 hubbub, and the man that retracts is always cheered by both sides 
 of the House." 
 
 " Suppose, then, he withdraws his motion, — what then ? The 
 discussion in the Lords remains on record, and the mischief, so far 
 as Lord Culduff is concerned, is done." 
 
 " I know that. He'll not have his appointment; he'll take his 
 pension and wait. What he says is this, ' There are only three 
 diplomatists in all England, and short of a capital felony, any of 
 the three may do anything. I have only to stand out and sulk,' 
 says he, * and they'll be on their knees to me yet.' " 
 
 " He yields, then, to a passing hurricane," said Bramleigh, 
 pompously.
 
 A DULL DINNER. 119 
 
 " Just so. He's taking shelter under au archway till he can 
 call a liaiii-om. Now you have the whole case; and as talking is 
 dry work, might I ring for a glass of sherry and seltzer ? " 
 
 " By all means. I am ashamed not to have thought of it hcforc. 
 This is a matter for much thought and deliberation," said Bramleigh, 
 as the servant withdrew after bringing the wine, " It is too eventful 
 a step to be taken suddenly." 
 
 " If not done promptly it can't bo done at all. A week isn't a 
 long time to go up to town and get through- a very knotty negotia- 
 tion. Joel isn't a common money-lender, like Drake or Dowuie. 
 You can't go to his office except on formal business. If you want 
 to do a thing in the way of accommodation with him, you'll have to 
 take him down to the ' Ship,' and give him a nice little fish dinner, 
 with the veiy best Sauterne you can find ; and when you're sitting 
 out on the balcony over the black mud, — the favourite spot men 
 smoke their cheroots in, — then open your business ; and though he 
 knows well it was all * a plant,' he'll not resent it, but take it kiudly 
 and well." 
 
 " I am certain that so nice a negotiation could not be in better 
 hands than yours, Mr. Cutbill." 
 
 " Well, perhaps I might say without vanity, it might be in 
 worse. So much for that part of the matter ; now, as to the noble 
 viscount himself. I am speaking as a man of the world to another 
 man of the world, and speaking in confidence too. You don't join 
 in that hypocritical cant against Culduff, because he had once in his 
 life been what they call a man of gallantry ? I mean, Bramleigh, 
 that you don't go in for that outrageous humbug of spotless virtue, 
 and the rest of it ? " 
 
 Bramleigh smiled, and as he passed his hand over his mouth to 
 hide a laugh, the twinkle of his eyes betrayed him. 
 
 " I believe I am old enough to know that one must take the 
 woi'ld as it is pleased to present itself," said he cautiously. 
 
 " And not want to think it better or worse than it really is ? "' 
 
 Bramleigh nodded assent. 
 
 " Now we understand each other, as I tcid j'ou the other evening 
 we were sure to do when we had seen more of each other. Culdu'f 
 isn't a saint, but he's a Peer of Parliament ; he isn't young, but he 
 has an old title, and if I'm not much mistaken, he'll make a pot of 
 money out of this mine. Such a man has only to go down into the 
 Black Country or amongst the mills, to have his choice of some of 
 the best-looking girls in England, with a quarter of a million of 
 money ; isn't that fact ? " 
 
 " It is pretty Hke it."
 
 120 THE BRAiMLEIGHS OF BISHOp's FOLLY. 
 
 " So that, on the ^Yhole, I'll say this is a good thing, Bramleigb, 
 — a right good thing. As \Yishart said the other night in the House, 
 *A new country,' — speaking of the States, — 'a new country wants 
 alliances with old States ; ' so a new family wants connection with 
 the old historic houses." 
 
 Colonel Bramleigh's face grew crimson, but he coughed to keep 
 down his rising indignation, and slightly bowed his head. 
 
 " Yoit know as well as 1 do, that tlie world has only two sorts of 
 people, nobs and snobs ; one has no choice, — if you're not one, you 
 must be the other." 
 
 '* And yet, sir, men of mind and intellect have written about the 
 untitled nobility of England." 
 
 " Silver without the hall-mark, Bramleigb, won't bring sis 
 shillings an ounce, just because nobody can say how far it's 
 adulterated ; it's the same with people." 
 
 " Your tact, sir, is on a par with ycur wisdom." 
 
 "And perhaps you haven't a high opinion of either," said 
 Cutbill, with a laugh that showed he felt no irritation whatever. 
 " But look here, Bramleigb, this will never do. If there's nothing 
 lut blarney or banter between us we'll never come to business. 
 If you agree to what I've been proposing — you have only vie to 
 deal with, the noble lord isn't in the game at all, — he'll leave this 
 to-night, — it's right and proper he should ; he'll go up to the 
 mines for a few days, and amuse himself with quartz and red 
 sandstone ; and when I write or telegraph, — most likely telegraph, 
 — ' The thing is safe,' he'll come back here and make his proposal 
 in all form." 
 
 "I am most willing to give my assistance to any project that 
 may rescue Lord CuUlufT from this unpleasant predicament. Indeed, 
 having myself experienced some of the persecution which political 
 hatred can carry into private life, I feel a sort of common cause 
 with him ; but I protest at the same time — distinctly protest — 
 against anything like a pledge as regards his lordship's views 
 towards one of my family. I mean I give no promise." 
 
 "I see," said Cutbill, with a look of intense cunning. " You'll 
 do the money part. Providence will take charge of the rest. Isn't 
 that it ? " 
 
 " Mr. Cutbill, you occasionally push my patience pretty hard. 
 What I said, I said seriously and advisedly." 
 
 " Of course. Now then, give me a line to your banker to acknow- 
 ledge my draft up to a certain limit, say five hundred. I think five 
 ought to do it." 
 
 " It's a smart sum, Mr. Cutbill."
 
 A DULL DINNER. 1"21 
 
 " The article's cheap at the money. Well, \yell, I'll not anger 
 you. Write me the order, and let me be off." 
 
 J5ranileigh sat down at his table, and wrote off a short note to his 
 junior partner in the bank, which he sealed and addressed, and handing 
 it to Cutbill said, " This will credit you to the amount you spoke of. 
 It will he advanced to you as a loan without interest, to be repaid 
 within two years." 
 
 " All right ; the thought of repayment will never spoil my niglit's 
 rest. I only wish all my debts would give me as little trouble." 
 
 " You ought to have none, Mr. Cutbill ; a man of your abilities, 
 at the top of a great profession, and with a reputation second to 
 none, should, if he were commonly prudent, have ample means at 
 bis disposal." 
 
 " But that's the thing I am not, Bramleigh. I'm not one of your 
 safe fellows. I drive my engine at speed, even where the line is 
 shaky and the rails ill laid. Good-by ; my respects to the ladies ; tell 
 Jack, if he's in town within a week, to look me up at ' Limmer's.' " 
 He emptied the sherry into a tumbler as he spoke, drank it oil", and 
 left the room. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A D E P A II T U R E. 
 
 Some days had gone over since the scene just recorded in our last 
 chapter, and the house at Castello presented a very different aspect 
 from its late show of movement and pleasure. 
 
 Lord Culduff, en the pretence of his presence being required at 
 the mines, had left on the same night that Cutbill took bis departure 
 for England. On tLie morning after Jack also went away. He had 
 passed the night writing and burning letters to Julia ; for no sooner 
 had he finished an epistle, than he found it too cruel, too unforgiving, 
 too unfeeling, by half ; and when he endeavoured to moderate his 
 just anger, he discovered sigus of tenderness in his reproaches that 
 savoured of submission. It would not be quite fair to bo severe on 
 Jack's failures, trying as he was to do what has puzzled much wiser 
 and craftier heads than his. To convey all the misery he felt at 
 parting from her with a just measure of reproach for her levity 
 towards him, to mete out his love and his anger in due doses, to say 
 enough, but never too much, and finally to let her know that, though 
 he went off in a huff, it was to carry her image in his heart through
 
 122 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 all his wanderings, never forgetting her for a moment, whether he 
 was caiT3'ing despatches to Cadiz or coaling at Corfu — to do all these, 
 I say, becomingly and well, was not an easy task, and especially for 
 one who would rather have been sent to cut out a frigate uuder the 
 guns of a fortress than indite a despatch to " my Lords of the 
 Admiralty." 
 
 From the short sleep which followed all his abortive attempts at 
 a letter he was awakened by his servant telling him it was time to 
 dress and be off. Drearier moments there are not in life than those 
 Avhich herald in a departure of a dark morning in winter, with the 
 rain swooping in vast sheets against the wiudovv'-panes, and the cold 
 blast whistling through the leafless trees. Never do the candles 
 seem to throw so little light as these do now through the dreary 
 room, all littered and disordered by the preparations for the road. 
 What fears and misgivings beset one at such a moment ! What 
 reluctance to go, and what a positive sense of fear one feels, as 
 though the journey were a veritable leap in the dark, and that the 
 whole fortunes of a life were dependent on that instant of resolution. 
 
 Poor Jack tried to battle with such thoughts as these by 
 reminding himself of his duty and the calls of the service ; he asked 
 himself again and again, if it were out of such vacillating, wavering 
 materials, a sailor's heart should bo fashioned ? was this the stuff 
 that made Nelsons or CoUingwoods ? And though there was but 
 little immediate prospect of a career of distinction, his sense of duty 
 taught him to feel that the routine life of peace was a greater trial to 
 a man's patience than all the turmoil and bustle of active service. 
 
 " The more I cling to remain here," muttered he, as ho 
 descended the stairs, " the more certain am I that it's pure weakness 
 and folly." 
 
 "Wliat's that you are muttering about weakness and folly, Jack ?" 
 said Nelly, who had got up to see him off, and give him the last kiss 
 before he departed. 
 
 " How came it you are here, Nelly ? Get back to your bed, girl, 
 or you'll catch a terrible cold." 
 
 " No, no. Jack ; I'm well shawled and muffled. I wanted to say 
 good-by once more. Tell me what it was yen wore saying about weak- 
 ness and folly." 
 
 " I was assuring myself that my reluctance to go away was 
 nothing less than folly. I v,-as trying to persuade myself that the 
 best thing I could do was to be off; but I won't say I have succeeded." 
 
 " But it is. Jack ; rely on it, it is. You arc doing the riglit tiling ; 
 and if I say so, it is with a heavy heart, for I shall be very lonely 
 after you."
 
 A DEPAETURE. 123 
 
 Passing his arm round her waist, he walked witli her up and 
 down the great spacious hall, their slow footsteps echoing in the 
 silent house. 
 
 " If my last meeting with her had not heen such as it was, 
 Nellj'," said he, falteringly ; " if we had not parted iu anger, I think 
 I could go with a lighter heart." 
 
 " But don't you know Julia well enough to know that these little 
 storms of temper pass away so rapidly that they never leave a trace 
 behind them ? She was angry, not because you found fault with her, 
 but because she thought you had suflered yourself to be persuaded 
 she was in the wrong." 
 
 " What do I care for these subtleties '? She ought to have 
 known that when a man loves a girl as I love her, he has a right to 
 tell her frankly if there's anything in her manner he is dissatishecl 
 with." 
 
 " He has no such right ; and if he had, he ought to be very 
 careful how he exercised it." 
 
 " And why so ? " 
 
 " Just because fault-finding is not love-making." 
 
 " So that, no matter what he saw that he disliked or disapproved 
 of, he ought to bear it all rather than risk the chance of his re- 
 monstrance being ill taken ? " 
 
 "Not that, Jack; but he ought to take time and opportunity 
 to make the same remonstrance. You don't go down to the girl you 
 are in love with, and call her to account as you would summon a 
 dockyardman or a I'igger for something that was wrong with your 
 frigate." 
 
 " Take an illustration from something you know better, Nelly, 
 for I'd do nothing of the kind ; but if I saw what, in the conduct or 
 even in the manner of the girl I was in love with, I wouldn't stand 
 if she were my wife, it will be hard to convince me that I oughtn't to 
 tell her of it." 
 
 " As I said before, Jack, the telling is a matter of time and 
 opportunity. Of all the jealousies in the world there is none as 
 inconsiderate as that of lovers towards the outer world. "Whatever 
 change either may wish for in the other must never come suggested 
 from without." 
 
 " And didn't I tell her she was wrong in supposing that it was 
 Marion made me see her coquetry ? " 
 
 " That you thought Marion had no influence over your judgment 
 she might believe readily enough, but girls have a keener insight 
 into each other than }ou are aware of, and she was annoyed — and 
 she was right to be annoyed — that in your estimate of her there
 
 124 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF LlSIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 should enter anything, tlic very smallest, that could hespeak the sort 
 of impression a woman might have conveyed." 
 
 " Nelly, all this is too deep for me. If Julia cared for me as I 
 believe she had, she'd have taken what I said in good part. Didn't 
 I give up smoking of a morning, except one solitary cheroot after 
 breakfast, when she asked me ? Who ever saw me take a nip of 
 brandy of a forenoon since that day she cried out, ' Shame, Jack, 
 don't do that ? And do you think I wasn't as fond of my weed and 
 my glass of schnapps as ever she was of all those little airs and graces 
 she puts on to make fools of men ? " 
 
 " Carriage waiting, sir," said a servant, entering with a mass of 
 cloaks and rugs on his arm. 
 
 " Confound the carriage and the journey too," muttered he below 
 his breath. " Look here, Nelly, if you are right, and I hope with all 
 my heart you are, I'll not go." 
 
 " That would be ruin, Jack ; you must go." 
 
 " What do I cai'c for the service ? A good seaman — a fellow 
 that liuows how to handle a ship — need never want for employment. 
 I'd just as soon bo a skipper as wear a pair of swabs on my shoulders 
 and be sworn at by some crusty old rear-admiral for a stain on my 
 quarter-deck. I'll not go, Nelly ; tell Ned to take off the trunks ; 
 I'll stay where I am." 
 
 " Oh, Jack, I implore you not to wreck your whole fortune in 
 life. It is just because Julia loves you that you are bound to show 
 yourself worthy of her. You know how lucky you were to get this 
 chance. You said only yesterday it was the finest station in the 
 whole world. Don't lose it, like a dear fellow, — -don't do what will 
 be the embitterment of your entire life, the loss of your rank, and — 
 
 the " She stopped as she was about to add something still 
 
 stronger. 
 
 " I'll go then, Nelly ; don't cry about it ; if you sob that way I'll 
 make a fool of myself. Pretty sight for the flunkies, to see a sailor 
 crying, wouldn't it ? all because he had to join his ship. I'll go 
 then at once. I suppose you'll see her to-day, or to-morrow at 
 farthest ? " 
 
 " I'm not sure. Jack. Marion said something about hunting 
 parsons, I believe, v/hich gave George such deep pain that he wouldn't 
 come here on Wednesday. Julia appears to be more annoyed than 
 George, and, in fact, for the moment, we have quarantined each 
 other." 
 
 "Isn't this too bad? " cried he passionately. 
 
 " Of course it is too bad ; but it's only a passing cloud ; and by 
 the time I shall write to you it will have passed away."
 
 A DEPAETUEE. 12,5 
 
 Jack clasped her afl'cctionately in his arms, kissed her twice, and 
 sprang into tho carriage, and di-ove away with a full heart indeed ; 
 hut also with the fost assurance that his dear sister would watch over 
 his interests and not forget him. 
 
 That dark drive went over like a hideous dream. He heard the 
 wind and the rain, the tramp of the horses' feet and the splash of 
 the wheels along the miry road, hut he never fully realized where he 
 was or how he came there. The first hell was ringing as he drove 
 into the station, and there was hut little time to get down his luggage 
 and secure his ticket. He asked for a coupe, that he might be aloue ; 
 and heiug known as one of the great family at Castello, the obsequious 
 station-master hastened to instal him at once. On opening the door, 
 however, it was discovered that another traveller had already deposited 
 a great-coat and a rug in one corner. 
 
 " Give yourself no trouble, Captain Bramleigh," said the official 
 in a low voice. " I'll just say the coupe is reserved, and we'll put 
 him into another compartment. Take these traps, Bob," cried he to 
 a porter, " and put them into a first-class." 
 
 Scarcely was the order given when two figures, moving out of the 
 dark, approached, and one, with a slightly foreign accent, but in 
 admirable English, said, "What are you doing there? I have taken 
 that place." 
 
 " Yes," cried his friend, "this gentleman secured the coupe on 
 the moment of his arrival." 
 
 " Very sorry, six* — extremely sorry : but the coupe was reserved 
 — specially reserved." 
 
 " My friend has paid for that place," said the last speaker ; " and 
 I can only say, if I were he, I'd not relinquish it." 
 
 "Don't bother yourself about it," whispered Jack. "Let him 
 have his place. I'll take the other corner ; and there's an end 
 of it." 
 
 " If 3'on'll allow me. Captain Bramleigh," said the official, who 
 was now touched to the quick on that sore point, a question of his 
 department — " if you'll allow me, I think I can soon settle this 
 matter," 
 
 " But I will not allow you, sir," said Jack, his sense of fairness 
 already outraged by the whole procedure. " He has as good a right 
 to his place as I have to mine. Many thanks for your trouble. Good- 
 by." And so saying he stepped in. 
 
 The foreigner still lingered in earnest converse with his friend, 
 and only mounted the steps as the train began to move. " A bientot, 
 cher Philippe," he cried, as the door was slammed, and the next 
 instant they were gone.
 
 l*2o THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY, 
 
 The little incident which had preceded their departure had certainly 
 not conduced to any amicable disposition between them, and each, 
 after a side-long glance at the other, ensconced himself more com- 
 pletely within his wrappings, and gave himself up to either silence or 
 sleep. 
 
 Some thirty miles of the journey had rolled over, and it was now 
 day, — dark and dreary indeed, — when Jack awoke and found the 
 carriage pretty thick with smoke. There is a sort of freemasonry in 
 the men of tobacco, which never fails them, and they have a kind of 
 instinctive guess of a stranger from the mere character of his weed. 
 On the present occasion Jack recognized a most exquisite Havanna 
 odour, and turned furtively to see the smoker. 
 
 "I ought to have asked," said the stranger, "if this was dis 
 agreeable to you, but you were asleep, and I did not like to disturb 
 you." 
 
 "Not in the least, I am a smoker too," said Jack, as he drew 
 forth his case and proceeded to strike a light. 
 
 " Might I offer you one of mine '? — they are not bad," said the 
 other, proffering his case. 
 
 " Thanks," said Jack ; " my tastes are too vulgar for Cubans. 
 Birdseye, dashed with strong Cavendish, is what I like." 
 
 " I have tried that too, as I have tried everything English, but 
 the same sort of half success follows me through all." 
 
 " If your knowledge of the language be the measure, I'd say 
 you've not much to complain of. I almost doubt whether you are a 
 foreigner." 
 
 " I was born in Italy," said the other cautiously, " and never in 
 England till a few weeks ago." 
 
 " I'm afraid," said Jack, with a smile, " I did not impress you 
 very favourably as regards British politeness, when we met this morn- 
 ing ; but I was a little out of spirits. I was leaving home, not very 
 likely to see it again for some time, and I wanted to be alone." 
 
 " I am greatly grieved not to have known this. I should never 
 have thought of intruding." 
 
 " But there was no question of intruding. It was your right that 
 you asserted, and no more." 
 
 " Half tlie harsh things that we see in life are done merely by 
 asserting a right," said the other, in a deep and serious voice. 
 
 Jack had little taste for what took the form of a reflection ; to 
 his apprehension, it was own brother of a sermon ; and warned 
 by this sample of his companion's humour, he muttered a broken 
 sort of assent and w\is silent. Little passed between them till thej' 
 met at the dinner-table, and then they only iuterchauged a few
 
 A DKrARTURK. 127 
 
 commonplace remarks. On their rcacliing their destination, they 
 took leave of each other courteously, but halt" Ibrmally, and drove off 
 their several ways. 
 
 Almost the first man, however, that Jack met, as he stepped on 
 board the mail-packet for Holyhead, was his fellow-traveller of the 
 rail. Tills time they met cordially, and after a few words of greeting 
 they proceeded to walk the deck together like old acquaintances. 
 
 Though the night was fresh and sharp there was a bright moon, 
 and they both felt reluctant to go below, where a vast crowd of 
 passengers was assouiblod. The brit;k exercise, the invigorating air, 
 and a certain congeniality that each discovered in the other, soon 
 established between them one of those confidences which are only 
 possible in early life. Nor do I know anything better in youth than 
 the frank readiness with which such friendships are made. It is 
 with no spirit of calculation — it is with no counting of the cost, that 
 we sign these contracts. We feel drawn into companionship, half by 
 some void within ourselves, half by some quality that seems t > 
 supply that void. The tones of our own voice in our own en.-. 
 assure us that we have found sympathy ; for we feel that we arc 
 speaking in a way we could not speak to cold or uncongenial 
 listeners. 
 
 When Jack Bramleigh had told that be was going to take 
 command of a small gun-boat in the Mediterranean, he could not 
 help going further, and telling with what a heavy heart he was going 
 to assume his command. " We sailors have a hard lot of it," said 
 he; "we come home after a cruise, — all is new, brilliant, and 
 attractive to us. Our hearts are not steeled, as are landsmen's, by 
 daily habit. We are intoxicated by what calmer heads scarcely feel 
 excited. We fall in love : and then, some fine day, comes au 
 Admiralty despatch ordering us to hunk slavers off Lagos, or fish for 
 a lost cable in Behring's Straits." 
 
 " Never mind," said the other, " so long as there's a goal to 
 reach, so long as there's a prize to win, all can be borne. It's only 
 when life is a shoreless ocean, — when, seek where you will, no land 
 will come in sight, — when, in fact, existence ofiers nothing to 
 speculate on, — then, indeed, the world is a dreary blank." 
 
 " I don't suppose any fellow's lot is as bad as that." 
 
 "Not perhaps completely, thoroughly so ; but that a man's fate 
 can approach such a condition, — that a man can cling to so small a 
 hope that he is obliged to own to himself that it is next to no hope 
 at ail ; — that there could be, and is such a lot in existence, I who 
 speak to you now am able unfortunately to vouch for." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear it," said Jack, feelingly ; " and I am sorry.
 
 128 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 besides, to have obtruded my own small griefs before one who has 
 such a heavy affliction." 
 
 " Remember," said the Frenchman, " I never said it \vas aii up 
 with me. I have a plank still to cling to, though it be only a plank. 
 r\[y case is simply this : I have come over to this country to prefer 
 a claim to a large propertj', and I have nothing to sustain it but 
 my right. I know well you Englishmen have a theory that your 
 laws are so admirably and so purely administered that if a man 
 asks for justice, — be he poor, or unknown, or a foreigner, it matters 
 not, — he is sure to obtain it. I like the theory, and I respect the 
 man who believes in it, but I don't ti'ust it myself. I remember 
 reading in your debates how the House of Lords sat for days over 
 a claim of a French nobleman who had been ruined by the great 
 Revolution in France, and for whose aid, with others, a large sum 
 had once been voted, of which, through a series of misadventures, 
 not a shilling had reached him. That man's claim, upheld and 
 maintained by one of the first men in England, and with an eloquence 
 that thrilled through every heart around, was rejected, ay, rejected, 
 and he was sent out of court a beggar. They couldn't call him 
 impostor, but they left him to starve ! " He paused for a second, 
 and in a slower voice continued, " Now it may be that my case 
 shall one of these days be hoard before that tribunal, and I ask you 
 does it not call for great courage and great trustfulness to have a hope 
 on the issue ? " 
 
 " I'll stake my head on it, they'll deal fairly by you," said Jack, 
 stoutly. 
 
 " The poor baron I spoke of had powerful friends : men who 
 liked him well, and fairly believed in his claim. Now I am utterly 
 unknown, and as devoid of friends as of money. I think nineteen 
 out of twenty Englishmen would call me an adventurer to-morrow ; 
 and there are few titles that convey less respect in this grand country 
 of yours." 
 
 "There you arc right; every one hero must have a place in 
 society, and be in it ." 
 
 " My landlady where I lodged thought me an adventurer; the 
 tailor who measured me whispered adventurer as he went down- 
 stairs ; and when a cabman, in gratitude for an extra sixpence, 
 called me * count,' it was to proclaim me an adventurer to all who 
 heard him." 
 
 " You arc scarcely fair to us," said Jack, laughing. " You have 
 been singularly unlucky in your English acquaintance." 
 
 "No. I have met a great deal of kindness, but always after a 
 certain interval of doubt — almost of mistrust. I tell you frankly,
 
 A DEPARTURE. 129 
 
 you are the very first Euglishman with wliom I li.ivo ventured to talk 
 freely on so slight an acquaintance, and it has heou to me an unspeak- 
 able relief to do it." 
 
 " I am proud to think you had that confidence in me." 
 
 " You yourself suggested it. You began to tell me of your plans 
 and hopes, and I could not resist the temptation to follow you. A 
 French hussar is about as outspoken an animal as an English sailor, 
 so that we were well met." 
 
 " Are you still in the service ? " 
 
 "No; I am in what we call disponibilite. I am free till called 
 on, — and free then if I feel unwilling to go back." 
 
 The Frenchman now passed on to speak of his life as a soldier, 
 — a career so full of strange adventures and curious incidents that 
 Jack was actually grieved when they glided into the hai'bour of Holy- 
 head, and the steamer's bell broke up the narrative. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A MORNING OF PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 Colonel Bramleigh turned over and over, without breaking the 
 seal, a letter which, bearing the postmark of Rome and in a well- 
 known hand, he knew came from Lady Augusta. 
 
 That second marriage of his had been a great mistake. None of 
 the social advantages he had calculated on with such certainty had 
 resulted from it. His wife's distinguished relatives had totally 
 estranged themselves from her, as though she had made an un- 
 becoming and unworthy alliance ; his own sons and daughters had 
 not concealed their animosity to their new stepmother ; and, in fact, 
 the best compromise the blunder admitted of was that they should 
 try to see as little as possible of each other ; aud as they could not 
 obliterate the compact, they should, as far as in them lay, endeavour 
 to ignore it. 
 
 There are no more painful aids to a memory unwilling to be taxed 
 than a banker's half-yearly statement ; and in the long record which 
 Christmas had summoned, and which now lay open before Bram- 
 leigh's eyes, were frequent and weighty reminders of Lady Augusta's 
 expensive ways. 
 
 He had agreed to allow her a thousand napoleons — about eight 
 hundred pounds — quarterly, which was, and which she owned was, 
 a most liberal and sufficient sum to live on alone, and in a city 
 
 9
 
 130 THE BRAMLEIJHS OF BlSHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 comparatively cheap. He hail, however, acklecl, with a courtesy 
 that the moment of parting mi^ht have suggested, " Whenever 
 your tastes or your comforts are found to be hampered in any way 
 by the limits I have set down, you will do me the favour to draw 
 directly on ' the House,' and I will take care that your cheques shall 
 be attended to." 
 
 The smile with which she thanked him was still in his memory. 
 Since the memorable morning in Berkeley S(juai-e when she accepted 
 his offer of marriage, he had seen nothing so fascinating — nor, let 
 us add, so fleeting — as this gleam of enchantment. Very few days 
 had sufficed to show him how much this meteor flash of loveliness 
 had cost him : and now, as he sat conning over a long line of figures, 
 he bethought him that the second moment of witchery was very nearly 
 as expensive as the first. "When he made her that courteous ofi'er of 
 extending the limits of her civil list he had never contemplated how 
 far she could have pushed his generosity, and now, to his amaze- 
 ment, he discovered that in a few months she had already drawn for 
 seven thousand pounds, and had intimated to the House that the first 
 instalment of the purchase-money of a villa would probably be required 
 some time early in May ; the business-like character of this "advice" 
 being, hov/ever, sadly disparaged by her having totally forgotten to 
 say anything as to the amount of the impending demand. 
 
 It was in a very unlucky moment — was there ever a lucky one '? 
 — wlicn these heavy demands presented themselves. Colonel Bram- 
 leigh had latterly taken to what he thought, or at Icix^t meant to bo, 
 retrenchment. He was determined, as he said himself, to "take 
 the bull by the horns : " but the men who perform this feat usually 
 select a very small bull. He had nibbled, as it were, at the hem of 
 the budget; he had cut down "the boys'" allowances. "What 
 could Temple want with five hundred a year ? Her Majesty gave 
 him four, and her Majesty certainly never intended to take his 
 services without fitting remuneration. As to Jack having three 
 hundred, it was downright absurdity : it was extravagances like 
 these destroyed the Navy; besides, Jack had got his promotion, 
 and his pay ought to be something handsome." With regard to 
 Augustus, he only went so I'ar as certain remonstrances about 
 horsekeep and some hints about the iniquities of a German valet 
 who, it was rumoured, had actually bought a house in Duke Street, 
 St. James's, out of his peculations in the family. 
 
 The giris wore not extravagantly provided for, but for examplo.'-; 
 Fake he reduced their allowance by one-third. Ireland was not a 
 country for embroidered silks or Genoa velvet. It would be an 
 admirable lesson to othen if they were to see the young ladies of
 
 A MORNING OF PERPLKXITiKS. 131 
 
 lliG Great House dressed simply and iinpreteutiously. *' These 
 things couhl only be done by people of station. Such examples 
 must proceed from those whose motives could not be questioned." 
 He dismissed the head-gardener, and he was actually contemplating 
 thf discharge of the French cook, though ho well foresaw the storm 
 of opposition so strong a measure was sure to evoke. "When he 
 c:;me to sum up his reforms he was shocked to find that the total 
 only reached a little over twelve hundred pounds, and this in a 
 household of many thousands. 
 
 Was not Castello, too, a mistake ? Was not all this princely 
 s'yle of living, in a county without a neighbourhood, totally uuvisited 
 by strangers, a capital blunder ? He had often heard of the cheap- 
 ness of life in Ireland ; and what a myth it was ! He mi^ht have 
 lived in Norfolk for what he was spending in Downshire, and though 
 he meant to do groat things for the country, a doubt was beginning 
 to steal over him as to how they were to be done. He had often 
 insisted that absenteeism was the bane of Ireland, and yet for tlie 
 life of him he could not see how his residence there was to prove a 
 blessing. 
 
 Lady Augusta, with her separate establishment, was spending 
 above three thousand a year. Poor man, he was grumbling to him- 
 self over this, when that precious document from the bank arrived 
 with the astounding news of her immense extravagance. He laid 
 her letter down again : he had not temper to read it. It was so 
 sure to he one of those frivolous little levities which jar so painfully 
 on serious feelings. He knew so well the half jestf'ul excuses 
 she would make for her wastefulness, the coquettish prettiuesses she 
 would deploy in describing her daily life of mock simplicity, and 
 utter recklessness as to cost, that he muttered " Not now " to him- 
 self as he pushed the letter away. xVs ho did so he discovered a 
 letter in the hand of Mr. Sedley, his law agent. He had hiniscU 
 written a short note to that gentleman, at Jack's request ; for Jack 
 — who, like all sailors, believed in a First Lord and implicitly felt 
 that no promotion ever came rightfully — wanted a special intro- 
 duction to the great men at Somerset House, a service which 
 Sedley, who knew every one, could easily render him. This note 
 of Sedley's then doubtless referred to that matter, and though 
 Bramleigh did not feel any great or warm interest in the question, 
 he broke the envelope to read it rather as a relief than otherwise, 
 twas at least a new topic, and it could not be a very exciting cue. 
 The e^er ran thus : —
 
 13*2 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Tuesday, Januarj 16. 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 " HicKLAY will speak to the First Lord at the earliest 
 convcuicut moment, but as Captain Bramleigh has just got his pro- 
 motion, he does not see what can he done in addition. I do not 
 suppose your son would like a dockyard appointment, hut a tolerahly 
 snug herth will soon he vacant at Malta, and as Captain B. will he 
 in town to-morrow, I shall wait upon him early, and learn his wishes 
 in the matter. There is great talk to-day of changes in the Cabinet, 
 and some rumour of a dissolution. These reports and disquieting 
 news from France have brought the Funds down one-sixth. Burrows 
 and Black have failed — the Calcutta house had made some large tea 
 speculation, it is said, without the knowledge of the partners here. 
 At all events, the liabilities will exceed a million; available assets 
 not a hundred thousand. I hope you will not suffer, or if so, to 
 only a trifling extent, as I know you lately declined the advances 
 Black so pressed upon you." 
 
 "He's right there," muttered Bramleigh. "I wouldn't touch 
 those indigo bonds. When old Grant began to back up the natives, 
 I saw what would become of the planters. All meddling with the 
 labour market in India is mere gambling, and whenever a man makes 
 his coup he ought to go oif with his money. What's all this here," 
 muttered ho, "about Talookdars and Ptyots ? He ought to know 
 this question cannot interest me." 
 
 " I met Kelson yesterday ; he was very close and guarded, but 
 my impression is that they are doing nothing in the affair of the 
 ' Pretender.' T hinted jocularly something about having a few thou- 
 sands by me if he should happen to know of a good investment, and, 
 in the same careless way, he replied, ' I'll drop in some morning at 
 the office, and have a talk with you.' There was a significance in 
 his manner that gave me to believe he meant a ' transaction.' We 
 shall sec. I ^hall add a few lines to this after I have seen Captain B. 
 to-morrow. I must now hurry off to Westminster." 
 
 Bramleigh turned over, and read the following : — 
 
 " Wednesday, ICtli. 
 
 " On going to the ' Drummond ' this morning to breakfast, by 
 
 appointment, with your son, I found him dressing, but tallcing with 
 
 the occupant of a room on the opposite side of the sitting-room, 
 
 ■where breakfast was laid for three. Cai)tain B., who seemed in
 
 A MORNING OF PERPLEXITIES. 133 
 
 excellent health and s[)irits, cntcrcil freely on the subject of the 
 shore appoiutmeut, and when I suggested cautiou in discussing it, 
 told me there was no need of reserve, that he could say what ho 
 pleased before his friend — ' whom, by the way,' said he, ' I am 
 anxious to make known to you. You are the very man to give him 
 first-rate advice, and if you cannot take up his case yourself to 
 recommend him to some one of trust and character.' While we 
 were talking, the stranger entered — a young man, short, good- 
 looking, and of good address. ' I want to present you to Mr. Sedley,' 
 said Captain B., ' and I'll be shot if I don't forget your name.' 
 
 " ' I half doubt if you ever knew it," said the other, laughing ; 
 and, turning to me, added, ' Our friendship is of short date. We 
 met as travellers, but I have seen enough of life to know that the 
 instinct that draws men towards each other is no bad guai'antec for 
 mutual liking.' He said this with a slightly foreign accout, but 
 fluently and easily. 
 
 " We now sat dov,-n to table, and though not being gifted 
 with that cxpausiveness that the stranger spoke of, I soon found 
 myself listening with pleasure to the conversation of a very shrewd 
 and witty man, who had seen a good deal of life. Perhaps I may 
 have exhibited some trait of the pleasure he afibrded mc — perhaps 
 I may have expressed it in words ; at all events your son marked 
 the effect produced upon me, and in a tone of half jocular 
 triumph, cried out, 'Eh, Sedley, you'll stand by him — won't you '? 
 I've told him if there was a man in England to carry him through 
 a stiff campaign you were the fellow.' I replied by some common- 
 place, and I'ose soon after to proceed to Court. As the foreigner 
 had also some business at the Hall, I offered him a seat in my 
 cab. As we went along, he spoke freely of himself and his former 
 life, and gave me his card, with the name ' Anatole Pracontal,' — 
 one of the aliases of our Pretender. So that here I wav> for two 
 hours in close confab with the enemy, to whom I was actually 
 presented by your own son ! So overwhelming was this announce- 
 ment that I really felt unable to take any course, and doubted 
 whether I ought not at once to have told him who his fellow- 
 traveller was. I decide<l at last for the more cautious line, and 
 asked him to come and see me at Fulham. We parted excellent 
 friends. Whether he will keep his appointment or not I am unablo 
 to guess. By a special good fortune — so I certainly must deem 
 it — Captain Branileigh was telegraphed for to Portsmouth, and had 
 to leave town at once. So that any risks from that quarter are 
 avoided. Whether this strange meeting will tu:u out well or ill, 
 whether it will be misinterpreted by Kelson when he comes to hear
 
 134 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 it — for it would be hard to believe it all accident — and induce him 
 to treat us with distrust and suspicion, or whether it may conduce to 
 a speedy settlement of everything, is more than I can yet say. 
 
 " I am so far favourably impressed by M. Pracontal's manner 
 and address that I think he ought not to be one difficult to deal 
 with. What may be his impression, however, when he learns with 
 whom he has been talking so freely, is still doubtful to me. He 
 cannot, it is true, mistrust your son, but he may feel grave doubts 
 about vir. 
 
 " I own I do not expect to see him to-morrow. Kelson will 
 certainly advise him against such a step, nor do I yet perceive 
 what immediate good would result from our meeting, beyond the 
 assuring him — as I certainly should — that all that had occurred was 
 pure chance, and that, tliough perfectly familiar with his name and 
 his pretensions, I had not the vaguest suspicion of his identity till I 
 read his card. It may be that out of this strange blunder good may 
 come. Let us hope it. I will write to-morrow. 
 
 " Truly yours, 
 
 " M. Sedley." 
 
 Colonel Bramleigh re-read every line of the letter carefully ; and 
 as he laid it down with a sigh, said, " What a complication of troubles 
 on my hands. At the very moment that I am making engagements 
 to relieve others, I may not have the means to meet my own difficulties. 
 Sedley was quite wrong to make any advances to this man ; they are 
 sure to be misinterpreted. Kelson will thing we are afraid, and raise 
 liis terms with us accordingly." Again his eyes fell upon Lady 
 Augusta's letter; but he had no temper now to encounter all the 
 l:glit g;.'6sip and frivolity it was sure to contain. He placed it in his 
 pocket, and set out to take a walk. He wanted to think, but he also 
 wanted the spring and energy v/hich come of brisk exercise. He felt 
 his mind would work more freely when he was in motion ; and in the 
 open air, too, he sliould escape from the terrible oppression of being 
 continually confronted by himself, — which ho felt while he was in the 
 solitude of his study. 
 
 " If M. Pracontal measure us by the standard of Master Jack," 
 muttered he, bitterly, " he will opine that the conflict ought not to 
 be a touTh one. What fools these sailors are when you take them 
 off their own element ; and what a little bit of a world is the quarter- 
 deck of a frigate! Providence has not blessed mo with brilliant sons; 
 that is certain. It was through Temple we have cone to know Lord 
 Cnlduff ; and I protest I anticipate little of either profit or pleasure 
 from the acquaintanceship. As for Augustus, he is only so much
 
 A MORNING OF PERPLEXITIES. 135 
 
 Blirewder than Iho others, that he is more cautious ; his selfishness 
 is iinmenscly preservative." This was not, it must he owned, a 
 flattering estimate that he made of his sous ; hut he was a man to 
 tell hard truths to himself ; and to tell them roughly and roundly 
 too, like one who, when he had to meet a difficulty in life, would 
 rather confront it in its holdest shape. 
 
 So essentially realistic was the man's mind that, till he had 
 actually under his eyes these few Hues describing Pracontal's look 
 and manner, he had never been able to convince himself that tins 
 pretender was an actual bond Jltle creature. Up to this, the claim 
 had been a vague menace, and no more ; a tradition that ended in 
 a threat ! There was the whole of it ! Kelson had written to 
 Sodley, and Sedley to Kelson. There had been a half-amicable 
 contest, a sort of round with the gloves, in which these two crafty 
 men appeared rather like great moralists than cunning lawyers. Had 
 they been peace-makers by Act of Parliament, they could not have 
 urged more strenuously the advantages of amity and kindliness ; 
 how severely they censured the contentious spirit which drove men 
 into litigation ! anl how beautifully they showed the Christian 
 benefit of an arbitration " under the court," the costs to be equitably 
 divided ! 
 
 Throughout the whole drama, however, M. Pracontal had never 
 tigured as an active character of the piece; and for all that Bramleigh 
 could see, the machineiy might work to the end, and the catastrophe 
 be announced, not only without even producing him, but actually 
 without his having ever existed. If from time to time he might 
 chance to read in the public papers of a suspicious foreigner, a 
 " Frenchman or Italian of fashionable appearance," having done this, 
 that, or t'other, he would ask himself at once, " I wonder could that 
 be ?«!/ man? Is that the adventurer who wants to replace me here?" 
 As time, however, rolled on, and nothing came of this claim more 
 palpable than a dropping letter from Sedley, to say he had submitted 
 such a point to counsel, or he thought that the enemy seemed 
 disposed to come to terms, Bramleigh actually hegan to regard the 
 whole subject as a man might the danger of a storm, which, breaking 
 afar oil, might probably waste all its fuiy before it reached him. 
 
 Now, however, these feelings of vague, undefined doubt were to 
 give way to a very palpable terror. His oyn\ son had seen Pracontal, 
 and 'jat at table with him. Pracontal was a good-looking, well- 
 mannered fellow, with, doubtless, all the readiness and the aplomb 
 of a clever foreigner ; not a creature of mean ajipaarance and poverty- 
 struck aspect, whose very person would disparage his pretensions, 
 but a man with the bearing of the world and the habits of society.
 
 136 
 
 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 So sudden and so complete was this revulsion, and so positively 
 did it depict before him an actual conflict, that he could only think 
 of how to deal with Pracontal personally, by what steps it might be 
 safest to approach him, and how to treat a man whose changeful 
 fortunes must doubtless have made him expert in difficulties, and at 
 the same time a not unlikely dupe to well-devised and well-applied 
 flatteries. 
 
 To have invited him frankly to Castello, — to have assumed that 
 it was a case in which a generous spirit might deal far more success- 
 fully than all the cavils and cranks of the law, was Bramleigh's first 
 thought ; but to do this with effect, he must confide the whole story 
 of the peril to some at least of the family: and this, for many reasons, 
 he could not stoop to. Bramlcigh certainly attached no actual weight 
 to this man's claim, — he did not in his heart believe that there was 
 any foundation for his pretension ; but Sedley had told him that there 
 was case enough to go to a jury, — and a jury meant exposure, 
 publicity, comment, and very unpleasant comment too, when party 
 hatred should contribute its venom to the discussion. If, then, he 
 shrunk from imparting this story to his sons and daughters, how long 
 could he count on secrecy ? — only till next assizes perhaps. At the 
 first notice of trial the whole mischief would be out, and the matter 
 be a world-wide scandal. Sedley advised a compromise, but the time 
 was very unpropitious for this. It was downright impossible to get 
 money at the moment. Every one was bent on " realizing," in 
 presence of all the crashes and bankruptcies around. None would 
 lend on the best securities, and men were selling out at ruinous loss 
 to meet pressing engagements. For the very first time in his life, 
 Bramleigh felt what it was to want for ready money. He had every 
 imaginable kind of wealth. Houses and lands, stocks, shares, ships, 
 costly deposits and mortgages — everything in short but gold : and 
 yet it was gold alone could meet the emergency. How foolish it was 
 of him to involve himself in Lord Cuklufi's difficulties at such a 
 crisis : had he not troubles enough of his own! Would that esscnced 
 and enamelled old dandy have stained his boots to have served him ? 
 That was a very unpleasant query, which would cross his mind, and 
 never obtain anything like a satisfactory reply. Would not his 
 calculation probably be that Bramlcigh was amply I'ecompcnsed for 
 all he could do, by the honour of being deemed the friend of a noble 
 lord, so highly placed, and so much thought of in the world. 
 
 As for Lady Augusta's extravagance, it was simply insufi'erable. 
 He had been most liberal to her because he would not permit that 
 whatever might be the nature of the differences that separated them, 
 money in any shape should enter. There must be nothing sordid or
 
 A MORNIXG OF PERPLEXITIES. 137 
 
 meau in the lone of any discussion between them. She might prefer 
 Italy to Ireland ; sunshine to rain, a society of idle, leisure-loving, 
 indolent, soft-voiced men, to association with sterner, severer, and 
 more energetic natures. She might afiect to thiuk climate all essential 
 to her ; and the society of her sister a positive necessity. All these 
 he might submit to, but he was neither prepared to be ruined by her 
 wastefulness, nor maintain a controversy as to the sum she should 
 spend. "If we come to figures, it must be a fight," muttered he, 
 " and an ignoble fight too ; and it is to that we are now approaching." 
 " I think I can guess what is before me here," said he with a 
 grim smile, as he tore open the letter and prepared to read it. Now, 
 though on this occasion his guess was not exactly correct, nor did 
 the epistle contain the graceful little nothings by which her ladyship 
 was wont to chronicle her daily life, we forbear to give it in exteuso 
 to our readers ; first of all, because it opened v,'ith a very long and 
 intricate explanation of motives which was no explanation at all, 
 and then proceeded by an equally prolix narrative to announce a 
 determination which was only to be final on approval. In two words, 
 Lady Augusta was desirous of changing her religion ; but befora 
 becoming a Catholic, she wished to know if Colonel Bramleigli would 
 make a full and irrevocable settlement on her of her present allov;- 
 ance, giving her entire power over its ultimate disposal, for she hinted 
 that the sum might be capitalized ; the recompense for such splendid 
 generosity being the noble consciousness of a very grand action, and 
 his own liberty. To the latter she adverted with beconnng delicacv, 
 slyly hinting that in the church to which he belonged there might 
 probabl}- be no very strenuous objections made, should he desire to 
 contract new ties, and once more re-enter the bonds of matrimony. 
 
 The expression which burst aloud from Bramleigh as he finished 
 the letter, conveyed all that he felt on the subject. 
 
 " What outrageous efiVontery ! Tlie first part of this precious 
 document is written by a priest, and the second by an attorney. It 
 begins by informing me that I am a heretic, and politely asks me to 
 add to that distinction the honour of being a beggar. What a woman ! 
 I have done, I suppose, a great many foolish things in life, but I 
 shall not cap them so far, I promise you. Lady Augusta, by an 
 endowment of the Catholic Church. No, my lady, you shall give the 
 new faith you are about to adopt the most signal proof of your 
 sincerity, by renouncing all worldliness at the threshold ; and as the 
 nuns cut otf their silken tresses, you shall rid yourself of that wealth 
 which we arc told is such a barrier against heaven. Far bo it from 
 me," said he with a sardonic bitterness, "who have done so little for 
 your happiness here, to peril your v.elfarc hereafter."
 
 IBS THE BRABILEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I will answer this at once," said lie. " It sliall not remain 
 one post without its reply." 
 
 He arose to return to the house ; but in his pre-occupation he 
 continued to walk till he reached the brow of the cliff from which the 
 roof of the curate's cottage was seen, about a mile off. The peaceful 
 stillness of the scene, where not a leaf moved, and where the sea 
 washed lazily along the low strand with a sweeping motion that gave 
 no sound, calmed and soothed him. "Was it not to taste that sweet 
 sense of repose that he had quitted the busy life of cities and come 
 to this lone sequestered spot ? Was not this very moment, as he 
 now felt it, the realization of a long-cherished desire "? Had the world 
 anything better in all its prizes, he asked himself, than the peaceful 
 enjoyment of an unchequered existence ? Shall I not try to carry 
 out what once I had planned to myself, and live my life as I 
 intended ? " 
 
 He sat down on the brow of the crag and looked out over the sea. 
 A gentle, but not unpleasant sadness was creeping over him. It was 
 one of those moments — every man has had them — in which the vanity 
 of life and the frivolity of all its ambitions present themselves to the 
 mind far more forcibly than ever they appear when urged from 
 the pulpit. There is no pathos, no bad taste, no inflated description 
 in the workings of reflectiveness. "When we come to compute with 
 ourselves M'hat we have gained by our worldly successes, and to make 
 a total of all our triumphs, we arrive at a truer insight into the 
 nothingness of what we are contending for, than we ever attain 
 through the teaching of our professional moralists. 
 
 Colonel Bramleigh had made considerable progress along this 
 peaceful track since he sat down there. Could he only be sure to 
 accept the truths he had been repeating to himself without any 
 wavering or uncertainty ; could he have resolution enough to conform 
 his life to these convictions, — throw over all ambitions, and be 
 satisfied with mere happiness, — was this prize not within his reach ? 
 Temple and Marion, perhaps, might resist ; but he was certain the 
 others would agree with him. "While he thus pondered, he heard 
 the low murmur of voices, apparently near him ; he listened, and 
 perceived that some persons were talking as they mounted the zigzag 
 path which led up from the bottom of the gorge, and which had to 
 cross and re-cross continually before it gained the summit. A thick 
 hedge of laurel and arbutus fenced the path on cither side so com- 
 pletely as to shut out all view of those who were walking along it, and 
 who had to pass and repass quite close to where Bramleigh was 
 sitting. 
 
 To his intense astonishment it was in French they spoke : and a
 
 A MORNING OF PERPLEXITIES. 139 
 
 certain sense of terror came over bim as to what this might portend. 
 Were these spies of the enemy, and was the mine about to bo sprung 
 beneath him ? One was a female voice, a clear distinct voice — which 
 be thought he knew well, and oh, what inexpressible relief to his 
 anxiety was it when be recognized it to be Julia L'Estrange's. She 
 spoke volubly, almost flippantly, and, as it seemed to Bramleigh, in 
 a tone of half sarcastic raillery, against which her companion appeared 
 to protest, as he more than once repeated the word " scrieusr," in a 
 tone almost reproachful. 
 
 " If I am to be serious, my lord," said she, in a more collected 
 tone, " I had better get back to English. Let me tell you then, in a 
 language which admits of little misconception, that I have forborne 
 to treat your lordship's proposal with gravity, partly out of respect 
 for myself, partly out of deference to you." 
 
 " Deference to me ? What do you mean ? what can you 
 mean ? " 
 
 " I mean, my lord, that all the flattery of being the object of your 
 lordship's choice could not obliterate my sense of a disparity, just as 
 great between us in years as in condition. I was nineteen my last 
 birthday. Lord Culduff;" and she said this with a pouting air of 
 offended dignity. 
 
 " A peeress of nineteen would be a great success at a drawing- 
 room," said he, with a tone of pompous deliberation. 
 
 *' Pray, my lord, let us quit a theme we cannot agree upon. With 
 all your lordship's delicacy, you have not been able to conceal the 
 vast sacrifices it has cost you to make me your present proposal. I 
 have no such tact. I have not even the shadow of it ; and I could 
 never hope to hide what it would cost mo to become grande 
 dame." 
 
 " A proposal of marriage ; an actual proposal," muttered Bram- 
 leigh, as he arose to move away. " I heard it with my own ears ; 
 and heard her refuse it, besides." 
 
 An hour later, when be mounted the steps of the chief entrance, 
 he met ]\Lxrion, who came towards him with an open letter. " This 
 is from poor Lord Culduff," said she ; " he has been stopping these 
 last three days at the L'Estranges', and what between boredom and 
 bad cookery he couldn't hold out any longer. He begs ho may be 
 permitted to come back here ; he says, ' Put me below the salt, if yo"i 
 like — anywhere, only let it be beneath your roof, and within thi' 
 circle of your fascinating society.' Shall I say Come, papa ? " 
 
 " I suppose we must," muttered Bramleigh, sulkily, and passed 
 on to his room.
 
 140 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 GEORGE AND JULL\. 
 
 It was after a hard clay with the hounds that George L'E strange 
 reached the cottage to a late dinner. The hunting had not been good. 
 They had found three times, but each time lost their fox after a short 
 hurst, and though the morning broke favourably, with a low cloudy 
 sky and all the signs of a good scenting day, towards the afternoon a 
 brisk north-easter had sprung up, making the air sharp and piercing, 
 and rendering the dogs wild and uncertain. In fact, it was one of 
 those days which occasionally irritate men more than actual " blanks ; " 
 there was a constant promise of something, always ending in disap- 
 pointment. The horses, t'^o, were fretful and impatient, as horses 
 are wont to be with frequent checks, and when excited by a cold and 
 cutting wind. 
 
 Even Nora, perfection that she was of temper and training, had 
 not behaved well. She had taken her fences hotly and impatieutlj', 
 and actually chested a s'iff hank, which cost herself and her rider 
 a heavy fall, and a disgrace that the curate felt more acutely than 
 the injury. 
 
 "You don't mean to say you fell, George ?" said Julia, with a 
 look of positive incredulity. 
 
 " Nora did, whicli comes pretty much to the same thing. We 
 were coming out of Gore's Wood, and I was leading. There's a high 
 bank with a drop into Longworth's lawn. It's a place I have taken 
 scores of times. One can't fly it ; you must ' top,' and Nora can do 
 that sort of thing to perfection ; and as I came on I had to swerve a 
 little to avoid some of the dogs that were climbing up the bank. 
 Perhaps it was that irritated her, but she rushed madly on, and came 
 
 full chest against the gripe, and 1 don't remember much more 
 
 till I found myself actually drenched with vinegar that old Catty Lalor 
 was pouring over me, when I got up again, addled and confused 
 enough, but I'm all right now. Do you know, Ju," said he, after a 
 pause, "I was more annoyed by a chance remark I heard as I was 
 lying on the grass than by the whole misadventure ? " 
 
 " AVhat was it, George ? " 
 
 " It was old Curtis was riding by, and he cried out, ' Who's 
 down ? ' and some one said, ' L'Estrange.' ' By Jove,' said he, ' I 
 don't think that fellow was ever on his knees before ; ' and this because 
 I was a parson." 
 
 '■ How unfeeling ; but how like him ! "
 
 GEORGE AXD JULIA. Ill 
 
 *' Wasn't it ? After all, it conies of doing what is not exactly 
 right. I suppose it's not enough that I see nothing wrong in a day 
 with the hounds. I ought to think how others regard it ; whether it 
 shocks them, or exposes my cloth to sarcasm or censure ? Is it not 
 dinner-hour ? " 
 
 " Of course it is, George. It's past eight." 
 
 " And where's our illustrious guest ; has he not appeared ? " 
 
 "Lord Culduff has gone. There came a note to him from 
 Castello in the afternoon, and about five o'clock the phaeton appeared 
 at the door — only with the servants — and his lordship took a most 
 afi'ectionate leave of me, charging me with the very sweetest messages 
 for you, and assurances of eternal memory of the blissful hours he 
 had passed here." 
 
 " Perhaps it's not the right thing to say, but I own to you I'm 
 glad he's gone." 
 
 " But why, George ; was he not amusing ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I suppose he was ; but he was so supremely arrogant, so 
 impressed with his own grandness and our littleness, so persistently 
 eager to show us that we were enjoying an honour in his presence, 
 that nothing in our lives could entitle us to, that I found my patience 
 pushed very hard to endure it." 
 
 "I liked him. I liked his vanity and conceit; and I wouldn't 
 for anything he had been less pretentious." 
 
 "I have none of your humoristic temperament, Julia, and I 
 never could derive amusement from the eccentricities or peculiarities 
 of others." 
 
 "And there's no fun like it, George. Once that you come to 
 look on life as a great drama, and all the men and women as players, 
 it's the best comedy ever one sat at." 
 
 " I'm glad he's gone for another reason, too. I suppose it's 
 shabby to say it, but it's true all the same : he was a very costly 
 fTuest, and I wasn't disposed, like Charles the Bold or that other famous 
 fellow, to sell a province to entertain an emperor." 
 
 " Had we a province to sell, George ? " said she, laughing. 
 
 " No ; but I had a horse, and unfortunately Nora must go to the 
 hammer now." 
 
 " Surely not for this week's extravagance ?" cried she, anxiously. 
 
 " Not exactly for this, but for everything. You know old 
 Curtis's saying, ' It's always the last glass of wine makes a man 
 tipsy.' But here comes the dinner, and let us turn to something 
 pleasanter." 
 
 It was so jolly to be alone again, all restraint removed, all terror 
 of culinary mishaps withdrawn, and all the consciousness of little
 
 142 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 domestic shortcominr;^ obliterated, that L'Estrauge's spirit rose at 
 every moment, and at last lie burst out, " I declare to you, Julia, if 
 that man hadn't gone, I'd have died out of pure inanition. To see 
 him day after day trying to conform to our humble fare, turning 
 over his meat on his plate, and trying to divide with his fork the 
 cutlet that he wouldn't condescend to cut, and barely able to suppi'ess 
 the shudder our little light wine gave him ; to witness all this, and 
 to feel that I mustn't seem to know, while I was fully aware of it, 
 was a downright misery. I'd like to know what brought him here." 
 
 " I fancy he couldn't tell you himself. He paid an interminable 
 visit, and we asked him to stop and dine with us. A wet night 
 detained him, and when his servant came over with his dressing-bag 
 or portmanteau, you said, or I said, — I forget which, that he ought 
 not to leave us without a peep at our coast scenery." 
 
 "I remember all that ; but what I meant was, that his coming 
 here from Castello was no accident. He never left a French cook 
 and Chateau Lafite for cold mutton and sour sherry without some 
 reason for it." 
 
 " You forget, George, he was on his way to Liscounor when he 
 came here. He was going to visit the mines." 
 
 " By the by, that reminds me of a letter I got this evening. I 
 put it in my pocket without reading. Isn't that Vickars' hand '? " 
 
 " Yes ; it is his reply, peihaps, to my letter. He is too correct 
 and too prudent to write to myself, and sends the answer to you." 
 
 " As our distinguished guest is not here to be shocked, Julia, let 
 us hear what Vickars says." 
 
 " ' My dear Mr. L'Estrange, I have before me a letter from your 
 sister, expressing a wish that I should consent to the withdrawal of 
 the sum of two thousand pounds, now vested in consols under my 
 trusteeship, and employ these moneys in a certain enterprise which 
 she designates as the coal-mines of Lisconnor. Before acceding to 
 the grave responsibility which this change of investment would 
 impose upon mo, even supposing that the ' Master,'^ — -who is the 
 Master, George '? " 
 
 " Go on ; read further," said he, curtly. 
 
 " * — that the Master would concur with such a procedure, I am 
 desirous of hearing what you yourself know of the speculation in 
 question. Have you seen and conversed with the engineers v>'ho have 
 made the surveys ? Have you heard from competent and uncon- 
 cerned parties — ? ' Oh, George, it's so like the way he talks. I 
 
 can't road on." 
 
 L'Estrange took the letter from her and glanced rapidly over the 
 lines, and then turning to the last page read aloud : " ' How will
 
 GEORGE AND JULIA. 143 
 
 the recomraeiulation of the Ecclesiastical Cotnniissioners affect j-ou 
 touching the uniou of Portshandon with Kihuullock ? Do they 
 simply extinguish you, or have you a chiim for compensation ? ' " 
 
 " What does he mean, George ? " cried she, as she, gazed at the 
 pale face and agitated expression of her brother as he laid down the 
 letter before her. 
 
 "It is just extinguishment ; tbat's the word for it," muttered he. 
 " When they unite the parishes, they suppress me." 
 
 " Oh, George, don't say that ; it has not surely come to this ? " 
 
 " There's no help for it," said he, putting away his glass and 
 leaning his head on his hand. " I was often told they'd do something 
 like this ; and when Grimsby was here to examine the books and 
 make notes, — you remember it was a wet Sunday, and nobody came 
 but the clerk's mother, — he said, as we left the church, ' The con- 
 gx'egation is orderly and attentive, but not numerous.' " 
 
 " I told you, George, I detested that man. I said at the time 
 he was no friend to you." 
 
 " If he felt it his duty " 
 
 " Duty, indeed ! I never heard of a cruelty yet that hadn't the 
 plea of a duty. I'm sure Captain Craufurd comes to church, and 
 Mrs. Bayley comes, and as to the Great House, there's a family there 
 of not less than thirty persons." 
 
 " When Grimsby was here Castello was not occupied." 
 
 " Well, it is occupied now ; and if Colonel Bramleigh be a person 
 of the influence he assumes to be, and if he cares, — as I take it he 
 must care, — not to live like a heathen, he'll prevent this cruel 
 wrong. I'm not sure that Nelly has much weight, but she would do 
 anything in the world for us, and I think Augustus, too, would befriend 
 us." 
 
 " What can they all do ? It's a question for the Commissioners." 
 
 " So it may ; but I take it the Commissioners are human 
 bemgs." 
 
 He turned again to the letter which lay open on the table, and 
 read aloud, " ' They want a chaplain, I see, at Albano, near Rome. 
 Do you know any one who could assist you to the appointment, 
 always providing that you would like it,' I should think I would 
 like it." 
 
 " You were thinking of the glorioas riding over the Campagua, 
 George, that you told me about long ago ? " 
 
 " I hope not," said he, blushing deeply, and looking overwhelmed 
 with confusion. 
 
 " Well, / was, George. Albano reminded me at once of those 
 long moonlight canters you told me about, with the grand old city in
 
 144 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 the distance. I almost fancy I have seen it all. Let us bethink ns 
 of the great people we know, and who would aid us in the matter." 
 
 " The list begins and ends with the Lord Culdufi", I suspect." 
 
 "Not at all. It is the Bramleighs can be of use here. Lady 
 Augusta lives at Rome; she must be, I'm sure, a person of influence 
 there, and be well knoA-n too, and know all the English of station. 
 It's a downright piece of good fortune for us she should he there. 
 There now, be of good heart, and don't look wretched. We'll drive 
 over to Castello to-morrow." 
 
 " They've been very cool towards us of late." 
 
 " As much our fault as theirs, George ; some, certainly, was my 
 own." 
 
 " Oh, Yickars has heard of her. He says here, 'Is the Lady 
 Augusta Bramleigh, v/ho has a villa at Albano, any relative of your 
 neighbour Colonel Bramleigh ? She is very eccentric, some say 
 mad : but she does what she likes with every one. Try and procurj 
 a letter to her.' " 
 
 " It's all as well as settled, George. We'll be cantering over 
 that swelling prairie before the spring ends," said she. Quietly 
 rising and going over to the piano, she began one of those little 
 popular Italian ballads which they call " Stornelli " — those light 
 effusions of national life which blend up love and flowers and sun- 
 shine together so pleasantly, and seem to emblematize the people who 
 sing them, 
 
 "Thither! oh, thither ! George! as the girl sings in Goethe's 
 ballad. Won't it be delightful ? " 
 
 " First let us Bee if it be possible." 
 
 And then they began one of those discussions of ways and means 
 which, however, as v/e grow old in life, are tinged with all the hard 
 and stern characters of sordid self-interest, are in our younger da}s, 
 blended so thoroughly with hope and trustfulness that they are 
 amongst the most attractive of all the themes we can turn to. There 
 were so many things to be done, and so little to do them with, that 
 it was marvellous to hear of the cunning and ingenious devices by 
 which poverty was to bo cheated out of its meanness and actually 
 imagine itself picturesque. George was not a very imaginative 
 creature, but it was strange to see to what flights he rose as the 
 sportive fancy of the high-spirited girl carried him away to the region 
 of the speculative and the hopeful. 
 
 " It's just as well, after all, perhaps," said he, after sonic moments 
 of thought, " that wc had not invested your money in the mine." 
 
 " Of course, George, we shall want it to buy vinos and orange- 
 trees. Oh, I shall grow mad with impatience if I talk of this much
 
 GEORGE AND JULIA. 145 
 
 longer! Do you know," said she, in a more collected and serious 
 tone, "I have just built a little villa on the lake-side of Alhano ? 
 And I'm doubting whether I'll have my ' pergojato ' of vines next 
 the water or facing the mountain. I incline to the mountain." 
 
 "We mustn't dream of building," said he, gravely. 
 
 " We must dream of everything, George. It is in dreamland I 
 am going to live. Why is this gift of fancy bestowed upon us if not 
 to conjure up allies that will help us to fight the stern evils of life ? 
 Without iiaagiuatiou, Hope is a poor, weary, plodding foot-traveller, 
 painfully lagging behind us. Give him but speculation, and he soars 
 aloft ou wings and rises towards heaven." 
 
 "Do be reasonable, Julia ; and let us decide what steps we shall 
 take." 
 
 " Let me just finish my boat-house : I'm putting an aviary on the 
 top of it. Well, don't look so pitifully ; I am not going mad. Now, 
 then, for the practical. We are to go over to Castello to-morrow 
 early, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I should say in the morning, before Colonel Bramleigh 
 goes into his study. After that he dislikes being disturbed, I mean 
 to speak to him myself. You must address yourself to Marion." 
 
 " The forlorn hope always falls to my share," said she, poutingly. 
 " Why, you were the best friends in the world till a few days back ! 
 You men can understand nothing of these things. You neither 
 know the nice conditions nor the delicate reserves of young lady 
 friendships ; nor have you the slightest conception of how bouuJless 
 we can be in admiration of each other in the imagined consciousness 
 of something very superior in ourselves, and which makes all our love 
 a very generous impulse. There is so much coarseness in male 
 friendships, that you understand none of these subtle distinctions." 
 
 "I was going to say, thank heaven, we don't." 
 
 " You are grateful for very little, George. I assure you there is 
 a great charm in these fine allinities, and remember you men are not 
 necessarily always rivals. Your roads in life arc so numerous and 
 so varied, that you need not jostle. We women have but one path, 
 and one goal at the end of it ; and there is no small generosity in 
 the kindliness we extend to each other." 
 
 They talked away late into the night of the future. Once or 
 twice the thought flashed across Julia whether she ought not to tell 
 of what had passed between Lord Culduft' and herself. She was not 
 quite sure but that George ought to hear it ; but then a sense of 
 delicacy restrained her — a delicacy that extended to that old man 
 who had made her the ofler of his hand, and who would not fu- 
 v.'orlds have it known that his offer had been rejected. " No," thought 
 
 10
 
 143 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 she, " his secret shall he respected. As he deemed me worthy to be 
 his wife, he shall kuow thnt so far as regards respect for his feelings 
 he had not over-estimated me." 
 
 It was all essential, however, that her brother should not think 
 of enlisting Lord Culduff in his cause, or asking his lordship's aid 
 or influence in any way ; and when L'Estrange carelessly said, 
 *' Could not our distinguished friend and guest be of use here ? " 
 she hastened to reply, "Do not think of that, George. These men 
 are so victimized by appeals of this sort that they either flatly refuse 
 their assistance, or give some flippant promise of an aid they never 
 think of according. It would actually fret me, if I thought we were 
 to owe anything to such intervention. In fact," said she, laughingly, 
 "it's quite an honour to be his acquaintance. It would be some- 
 thing veiy like a humiliation to have him for a friend. And now 
 good-night. You won't believe it, perhaps ; but it wants but a few 
 minutes to two o'clock," 
 
 " People, I believe, never go to bed in Italy," said he, yawning ; 
 " or only in the day-time. So that we are in training already, Julia." 
 
 " How I hope the match may come off," said she, as she gave 
 him her hand at parting. " I'll go and dream over it." 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 IN THE LIBRARY AT CASTELLO. 
 
 When L'Estrange and his sister arrived at Castello on the morning 
 after the scene of our last chapter, it was to discover that the family 
 had gone off early to visit the mine of Lisconnor, where they were to 
 dine, and not return till late in the evening. 
 
 Colonel Bramleigh alone remained behind : a number of important 
 letters which had come by that morning's post detained him ; but he 
 had pledged himself to follow the party, and join them at dinner, if 
 he could finish his correspondence in time. 
 
 George and Julia turned away from the door, and were slowly 
 retracing their road homeward, when a servant came running after 
 them to say that Colonel Bramleigh begged Mr. L'Estrange would 
 come back for a moment ; that he had something of consequence to 
 say to ):im. 
 
 " I'll stroll about the shrubberies, George, till you join me," said 
 Julia. " Who knows it may not be a farewell look I may bo taking 
 of these dear old scenes,"
 
 IN THE LIBRARY AT CASTELLO. 147 
 
 George iioddeil, half raourufully, autl followed the servant towards 
 the library. 
 
 In his ordinary and evcry-day look, no man ever seemed a more 
 perfect representative of worldly success and prosperity than Colonel 
 Bramleigh. He was pcrsanally what would be called handsome, had 
 a high bold forehead, and large grey eyes, well set and shaded by 
 strong full eyebrows, so regular in outline and so correctly defined 
 as to give a half suspicion that art had been called to the assist- 
 ance of nature. He was ruddy and fresh-looking, with an erect 
 carriage, and that air of general confidence that seemed to declare 
 he knew himself to be a favourite of fortuna and gloried in the 
 distinction. 
 
 " I can do scores of things others must not venture upon," was 
 a common saying of his. " I can trust to my luck," was almost a 
 maxim with him. And in reality, if the boast was somewhat 
 vainglorious, it was not without foundation ; a marvellous, almost 
 unerring, success attended him through life. Enterprises that were 
 menaced with ruin and bankruptcy would rally from the hour that he 
 joined them, and schemes of fortune that men deemed half desperate 
 would, under his guidance, grow into safe and profitable speculations. 
 Others might equal him in intelligence, in skill, in ready resource, 
 and sudden expedient, but he had not one to rival him in luck. It 
 is strange enough that the hard business mind, the men of realism 
 par exccUcncc, can recognize such a thing as fortune ; but so it is, 
 there are none so prone to believe in this quality as the people of 
 finance. The spirit of the gambler is, in fact, the spirit of commercial 
 enterprise, and the " odds " are as carefully calculated in the counting- 
 house as in the betting-ring. Seen as he came into the breakfast-room 
 of a morning, with the fresh flush of exercise on his cheek, or as he 
 appeared in the drawing-room before dinner, with that air of ease 
 and enjoyment that marked all his courtesy, one would have said, 
 " There is one certainly with whom the world goes well. There were 
 caustic, invidious people, who hinted that Bramleigh deserved but 
 little credit for that happy equanimity and that buoyant spirit which 
 sustained him : they said, " He has never had a reverse, wait till he 
 bo tried : " and the world had waited and waited, and to all seeming 
 the eventful hour had not come, for there he was, a little balder 
 perhaps, a stray gray hair in his whiskers, and somewhat portlier in 
 his presence, but, on the whole, pretty much what men had known 
 him to be for fifteen or twenty years back. 
 
 Upon none did the well-to-do, blooming, and prosperous rich man 
 produce a more powerful impression than on the young curate, who, 
 young, vigorous, handsome as he was, could yet never sufiiciently
 
 148 THE BRAMLEIGHS OP BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 emerge from the res angustae domi to feel the ease aud confidence 
 that come of affluence. 
 
 What a shock was it then to L'E strange, as he entered the 
 library, to see the man whom he had ever beheld as the type of all 
 that was happy and healthful and prosperous, haggard and careworn, 
 his hand tremulous, and his manner abrupt and uncertain, with a 
 certain furtive dread at moments, followed by outbursts of passionate 
 defiance, as though he were addressing himself to others besides him 
 who was then before him. 
 
 Though on terms of cordial intimacy with the curate, and always 
 accustomed to call him by his name, he received him as he entered 
 the room with a cold and formal politeness, apologized for having 
 taken the liberty to send after and recall him, and ceremoniously 
 requested him to be seated. 
 
 " We were sorry you and Miss L'E strange could not join the 
 picnic to-day," said Bramleigh ; "though to be sure it is scarcely 
 the season yet for such diversions." 
 
 L'Estrange felt the awkwardness of saying that they had not been 
 invited, and muttered something not very intelligible about the 
 uncertainty of the weather. 
 
 " I meant to have gone over myself," said Bramleigh, hurriedly; 
 " but all these," and he swept his hand as he spoke through a mass 
 of letters on the table, " all these have come since morning, and I 
 am not half through them yet. What's that the moralist says about 
 calling no man happy till he dies ? I often think one cannot speculate 
 upon a pleasant day till after the post-hour." 
 
 " I know very little of either the pains or pleasures of the letter- 
 bag. I have almost no correspondence." 
 
 " How I envy you ! " cried he, fervently. 
 
 " I don't imagine that mine is a lot many would be found to envy,"* 
 said L'Estrange, with a gentle smile. 
 
 " The old story, of course. ' Qui fit, Maecenas, ut Nemo,' — I 
 forget my Horace, — ' ut Nemo ; ' how does it go ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir. But I never said I was discontented with my lot in 
 life. I only remarked that I didn't tliink that others would 
 envy it." 
 
 " I have it, — I have it," continued Bramleigh, following out his 
 own train of thought ; " I have it. ' Ut Nemo, quam sibi sortem sit 
 contentus.' It's a matter of thirty odd years since I saw that 
 passage, L'Estrange, and I can't imagine what could have brought 
 it so forcibly before me to-day." 
 
 " Certainly it could not have been any application to yourself," 
 said the curate, politely.
 
 IN THE LIBRARY AT CASTELLO. 119 
 
 "How do you mean, sir ? " cried Bramleigli, almost fiercely. 
 *' How do you mean ?" 
 
 " I mean, sir, that few men have less cause for discontent with 
 fortune ? " 
 
 " How can you, — how can any man, presume to say that of 
 another ! " said Bramleigli, in a loud and defiant tone, as he arose 
 and paced the room. " Who can tell what passes in his neighbour's 
 house, still less in his heart or his head ? What do I know, as I 
 listen to your discourse on a Sunday, of the terrible conflict of doubts 
 that have beset you during the week, — heresies that have swarmed 
 around you like the vipers and hideous reptiles that gathered around 
 St. Anthony, and that, banished in one shape, came back in another? 
 How do I know what compromises you may have made with your 
 conscience before you come to utter to me your eternal truths ; and 
 how you may have said, ' If he can believe all this, so much the 
 better for him,' — eh?" 
 
 He turned fiercely round, as if to demand an answer, and the 
 curate modestly said, " I hope it is not so that men preach 
 the gospel." 
 
 "And yet many must preach in that fashion," said Bramleigh, 
 with a deep but subdued earnestness. " I take it that no man's 
 convictions are without a flaw somewhere, and it is not by parading 
 that flaw he will make converts." 
 
 L'Estrange did not feel disposed to follow him into this thesis, 
 and sat silent and motionless. 
 
 " I suppose," muttered Bramleigh, as he folded his arms and 
 walked the room with slow steps, "it's all expediency, — all! We 
 do the best we can, and hope it may be enough. You are a good 
 man, L'Estrange " 
 
 " Far from it, sir. I feel, and feel very bitterly too, my own 
 unworthiness," said the curate, with an intense sincerity of voice. 
 
 " I think you so far good that you are not worldly. You would 
 not do a mean thing, an ignoble, a dishonest thing ; you wouldn't 
 take what was not your own, nor defraud another of what was his, — 
 would you ? " 
 
 " Perhaps not ; I hope not." 
 
 " And yet that is saying a great deal. I may have my doubts 
 whether that penknife be mine or not. Some one may come to-morrow 
 or next day to claim it as his, and describe it, heaven knows how 
 rightly or wrongly. No matter, he'll say he owns it. Would you, 
 sir, — I ask you now simply as a Christian man, I am not speaking to 
 a casuist or a lawyer,-^w.)uld you, sir, at once, just as a measure of 
 [leace to your own conscience, say, ' Let him take it,' rather than
 
 150 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 Tburden your heart with a discussion for which you had no temper noi 
 taste ? That's the question I'd like to ask you. Can you answer 
 it? I see you cannot," cried he, rapidly. " I see at once how you 
 want to go oft' into a thousand subtleties, and instead of resolving my 
 one doubt, surround me with a legion of others." 
 
 " If I know anything about myself I'm not much of a casuist ; I 
 haven't the brains for it," said L'Estrange, with a sad smile. 
 
 " Ay, there it is. That's the humility of Satan's own making; 
 that's the humility that exclaims, ' I'm orily honest. I'm no genius. 
 Heaven has not made me great or gifted. I'm simply a poor creature, 
 right-minded and pure-hearted.' As if there was anything, — as if 
 there could be anything so exalted as this same purity." 
 
 " But I never said that ; I never presumed to say so," said the 
 other, modestly. 
 
 " And if you rail against riches, and tell me that wealth is a 
 snare and a pitfall, what do you mean by telling me that my reverse 
 of fortune is a chastisement ? Why, sir, by your own theory it ought 
 to he a blessing, a positive blessing ; so that if I were turned out of 
 this princely house to-morrow, branded as a pretender and an impostor, 
 I should go forth better, — not only better, but happier. Ay, that's 
 the point ; happier than I ever was as the lord of these broad acres ! " 
 As he spoke he tore his cravat from his throat, as though it were 
 strangling him by its pressure, and now walked the room, carrying 
 the neckcloth in his hand, while the veins in his throat stood out full 
 and swollen like a tangled cordage. 
 
 L'Estrange was so much frightened by the wild voice and wilder 
 gesture of the man, that he could not utter a word in reply. 
 
 Bramleigh now came over, and leaning his hand on the other's 
 shoulder, in a tone of kind and gentle meaning, said, — 
 
 " It is not your fault, my dear friend, that you are illogical and 
 unreasonable. You are obliged to defend a thesis you do not under- 
 stand, by arguments you cannot measure. The armoury of the 
 Church has not a weapon that has not figured in the middle ages ; 
 and what are you to do with halberds and cross-bows in a time of 
 rifles and revolvers ! If a man, like myself, burdened with a heavy 
 weight on his heart, had gone to his confessor in olden times, he 
 would probably have heard, if not words of comfort, something to 
 enlighten, to instruct, and to guide him. Now what can you give 
 me ? tell me that ? I want to hear by what subtleties the Church 
 can reconcile me not to do what I ought to do, and j'ct not quarrel 
 with my own conscience. Can you help me to that ? " 
 
 L'Estrange shook his head in dissent. 
 
 " I suppose it is out of some such troubles as mine that men
 
 IN THE LIBRARY AT CASTELLO. 151 
 
 come to change their religion." Ho paused ; and tlieu bar.-,ting into 
 a laugh, said, — " You hear that the other hank deals more liberally 
 — asks a smaller commission, and gives you a handsomer interest — 
 and you accordir-gly transfer your account. I heheve that's the 
 •whole of it." 
 
 " I will not say you have stated the case fairly," said L'Estrange ; 
 but so faintly as to show that he was far from eager to continue the 
 discussion, and he arose to take his leave. 
 
 " You are going already ? and I have not spoken to you one 
 word about — what was it? Can j'ou remember what it was? 
 Something that related personally to yourself." 
 
 " Perhaps I can guess, sir. It was the mine at Lisconnor, 
 probably? You were kind enough the other day to arrange my 
 securing some shares in the undertaking. Since that, however, I have 
 heard a piece of news which may aflect my whole future career. There 
 has been some report made by the Commissioner about the parish." 
 
 " That's it, that's it. They're going to send j'ou off, L'Estiange. 
 They're going to draft you to a cathedral, and make a prebendary of 
 you. You are to be on the staff of an archbishop : a sort of Christian 
 unattached. Do you like the prospect ? " 
 
 " Not at all, sir. To begin, I am a very poor man, and could ill 
 bear the cost of life this might entail." 
 
 " Your sister would probably be pleased with the change ; a gayer 
 place, more life, more movement." 
 
 " I suspect my sister reconciles herself to duKuess even better 
 than myself." 
 
 " Girls do that occasionally ; patience is a female virtue." 
 
 There was a slight pause ; and now L'Estrange, drawing a long 
 breath, as if preparing himself for a great elibrt, said, — 
 
 " It was to si)eak to you, sir, about that very matter, and to ask 
 your assistance, that I came up here this day." 
 
 "I wish I were a bishop, for your sake, my dear fiieud." 
 
 " I know well, sir, I can count upon your kind interest in me, 
 and I believe that an opportunity now offers " 
 
 •'What is it? where is it?'"' 
 
 "At Rome, sir; or rather near Rome, a place called Albano. 
 They want a chaplain there." 
 
 *' But you're not a Catholic priest, L'Estrange." 
 " No, sir. It is an English community that wants a parson." 
 "I see ; and you think this would suit you ? " 
 "There are some great attractions about it; the country, the 
 climate, and the sort of life, all have a certain fascination for me, 
 and Julia is most eager about it."
 
 152 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " The young lady lias ambition," muttered Bi-amleigh to himself. 
 " But what can I do, L'Estrange ? I don't own a rood of laud at 
 Albano. I haven't a villa — not even a fig-tree there. I could sub- 
 scribe to the church fund, if there be such a thing ; I could qualify 
 for the franchise, and give you a vote, if that would be of service." 
 
 " You could do better, sir. You could give me a letter to Lady 
 Augusta, whose influence, I believe, is all powerful." 
 
 For a moment Bramlcigh stared at him fixedly, and then 
 sinking slowly into a chair, he leaned his head on his hand, and 
 seemed lost in thought. The name of Lady Augusta had brought 
 up before him a long train of events and possible consequences, 
 which soon led him far away from the parson and all his cares. From 
 her debts, her extravagances, her change of religion, and her sug- 
 gestion of separation, he went back to his marriage with her, and 
 even to his first meeting. Strange chain of disasters from beginning 
 to end. A bad investment in every way. It paid nothing. It led tc 
 nothing. 
 
 "I hope, sir," said L'Estrange, as he gazed at the strange 
 expression of preoccupation in the other's face — "I hope, sir, I 
 have not been indiscreet in my request ? " 
 
 "What was your request?" asked Colonel Bramleigh bluntly, 
 and with a look of almost sternness. 
 
 "I had asked you, sir, for a letter to Lady Augusta," said the 
 curate, half ofi'ended at the manner of the last question. 
 
 " A letter to Lady Augusta ? " repeated Bramleigh, dwelling on 
 each word, as though by the effort he could recall to his mind 
 something that had escaped him. 
 
 " I mean, sir, with reference to this appointment — the chaplaincy," 
 interposed L'Estrange, for he was offended at the hesitation, which he 
 thought implied reluctance or disinclination on Colonel Bramleigh's 
 part, and he hastened to show that it was not any claim he was pre- 
 ferring to her ladyship's acquaintance, but simply his desire to obtain 
 her interest in his behalf. 
 
 "Influence! influence!" repeated Bramleigh to himself. "I 
 have no doubt she has influence, such persons generally have. It is 
 one of the baits that catch them ! This little glimpse of power has 
 a marvellous attraction — and these churchmen know so well how to 
 display all their seductive arts before the eager eyes of the newly 
 won convert. Yes, I am sure you are right, sir; Lady Augusta is 
 one most likely to have influence, — you shall have the letter you 
 wish for. I do not say I will write it to-day, for I have a heavy 
 press of correspondence before me, but if you will come up to- 
 morrow, by luncheon time, or to dinner, — why not dine here ? "
 
 IN THE LIBRARY AT CASTELLO. 153 
 
 "I thiuk I'd rather come up early, sir." 
 
 " Well, thou, early be it. I'll have the letter for you. I wish I 
 could remember somethiug I know I had to say to you. What was 
 it ? What was it ? Nothing of much consequence, perhaps, but still 
 I feel as if — eh, — don't you feel so too ? " 
 
 " I have not the slightest clue, sir, to what you mean." 
 
 " It wasn't about the mine — no. I think you see your way there 
 clearly enough. It may be a good thing, or it may not. Cutbill is 
 like the rest of them, not a greater rogue perhaps, nor need ho be. 
 They arc such shrewd fellows, and as the money is your sister's, — 
 trust money, too, — I declare I'd be cautious." 
 
 L'Estrauge mumbled some words of assent ; he saw that Bram- 
 leigh's manner betokened exhaustion and weariness, and he was 
 eager to be gone. " Till to-morrow, then, sir," said he, moving to 
 the door. 
 
 " You'll not dine with us ? I think you might though," muttered 
 Bramleigh, half to himself. " I'm sure Culduff would make no show 
 of awkwardness, nor would your sister either,- — -women never do. 
 But do just what you like ; my head is aching so, I believe I must 
 lie down for an hour or two. Do you pass Beltou's ? " 
 
 " I could without any inconvenience ; do j'ou want him ? " 
 
 " I fancy I'd do well to see him ; he said something of cupping 
 rae the last day he was here, — would you mind telling him to give 
 me a call ? " 
 
 " May I come up in the evening, sir, and see how you are ! " 
 
 " In the evening? this evening? " cried Bramleigh, in a harsh 
 discordant voice. " Why, good heavens, sir! have a little, a very 
 little discretion. You have been here since eleven ; I marked the 
 clock. It was not full five minutes after eleven, when you came in, 
 — it's now past one. Two mortal hours, — and you ask me if you 
 may return this evening ; and I reply, sir, distinctly — No ! Is 
 that intelligible ? I say — No ! " As he spoke he turned away, 
 and the curate, covered with shame and confusion, hastened out of 
 the room, and down the stairs, and out into the open air, dreading 
 lest he should meet any one, and actually terrified at the thought of 
 being seen. He plunged into the thickest of the shrubberies, and 
 it was with a sense of relief he beard from a child that his sister 
 had gone home some time before, and left word for him to follow her.
 
 154 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXm. 
 
 THE CURATE CROSS-EXAMINED. 
 
 When the party returned from the picnic, it was to find Colonel 
 Branileigh very ill. Some sort of fit the doctor called it — not 
 apoplexy nor epilepsy, but something that seemed to combine features 
 of both. It had, he thought, been produced by a shock of some sort, 
 and L'Estrange, who had last been with him before his seizure, was 
 summoned to impart the condition in which he had found him, and 
 whatever might serve to throw light on the attack. 
 
 If the curate was nervous and excited by the tidings that reached 
 him of the Colonel's state, the examination to which he was submitted 
 served little to restore calm to his system. Question after question 
 poured in. Sometimes two or three would speak together, and all — 
 except Ellen — accosted him in a tone that seemed half to make him 
 chargeable with the whole calamity. When asked to tell of what 
 they had been conversing, and that he mentioned how Colonel Bram- 
 leigh had adverted to matters of faith and belief, Marion, in a 
 whisper loud enough to be overheard, exclaimed, " I was sure of it. 
 It was one of those priestly indiscretions ; he would come talking to 
 papa about what he calls his soul's health, and in this way brought 
 on the excitement." 
 
 " Did you not perceive, sir," asked she, fiercely, " that the topic 
 was too much for his nerves ? Did it not occur to you that the 
 moment was inopportune for a very exciting subject ? " 
 
 " Was his manner easy and natural when you saw him first?" 
 asked Augustus. 
 
 " Had he been reading that debate on Servia ? " inquired 
 Temple. 
 
 " Matter enough there, by Jove, to send the blood to a man's 
 head," cried Culduff, warmly. 
 
 " I'm convinced it was all religious," chimed in Marion, who 
 triumphed mercilessly over the poor parson's confusion. "It is 
 what they call ' in season and out of season : ' and they are true to 
 their device, for no men on earth more heartily defy the dictates of 
 tact or delicacy." 
 
 " Oh, Marion, what are you saying ? " whispered Nelly. 
 
 "It's no time for honeyed words, Ellen, in the jiresence of a 
 heavy calamity, but I'd like to ask Mr. L'Estrange why, when he 
 saw the danger of the theme they were discussing he did not try to 
 change the topic."
 
 'i'hf Luiaie (. ros.s-Exiiiuiued.
 
 THE CURATE CROSS-EXAMINED. 155 
 
 " So I tlid. I led him to talk of myself uiul my interests." 
 
 " Au adiiiiraljlo antidote to excileiiieut, ccrtaiuly," muttered 
 Culduff to Tcmplo, who seemed to relish the joke intensely. 
 
 " You s;iy that my father had been reading his letters — did he 
 appear to have received any tidings to call for unusual anxiety ? " 
 asked Augustus. 
 
 "I found him — as I thought — looking very ill, careworn almost, 
 when I entered. He had been writing, and seemed fatigued and 
 exhausted. His first remark to me was, I remember, a mistake." 
 L'E strange here stopped suddenly. He did not desire to repeat the 
 speech about being invited to the picuic. It would have been an 
 awkwardness on all sides. 
 
 " What do you call a mistake, sir ? " asked Marion calmly. 
 
 " I mean he asked me something which a clearer memory would 
 have reminded him not to have inquired after." 
 
 " This grows interesting. Perhaps you will enlighten us a little 
 farther, and say what the blunder was." 
 
 " "Well, he asked me how it happened that Julia and myself were 
 not of the picuic, forgetting of course that wc — we had not heard of 
 it." A deep flush was now spread over his face and forehead, and 
 he looked overwhelmed with shame. 
 
 " I see it all ; I see the whole thing," said Marion, triumphantly. 
 " It was out of the worldlincss of the picnic sprung all the saintly 
 conversation that ensued." 
 
 " No ; the transition was more gradual," said L'Estrange, smiling, 
 for ho was at last amused at the asperity of this cross-examination. 
 " Nor was there what you call any saintly conversation at all. A few 
 remarks Colonel Bramleigh indeed made on the insufficiency of, not 
 the church, but churchmen, to resolve doubts and difficulties." 
 
 •* I heartily agree with him," broke in Lord CuldufF, with a smile 
 of much intended significance. 
 
 " And is it possible ; are we to believe that all papa's attack was 
 brought on by a talk over a picnic ?" asked Marion. 
 
 " I think I told you that he received many letters by the post, 
 and to some of them he adverted as being very important and requiring 
 immediate attention. One that came fi'om Rome appeared to cause 
 hiui much excitement." 
 
 Marion turned away her head with au impatient toss, as though 
 she certainly was not going to accept this explanation as sufficient. 
 
 " I shall want a few minutes with Mr. L'Estrange alone in the 
 library, if I maybe permitted," said the doctor, who had now entered 
 the room after his visit to the sick man. 
 
 " I hope you may be more successful than wo have been,"
 
 156 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 whispered Marion, as she sailed out of the room, followed by Lord 
 Culduif; and after a few words with Augustus, the doctor and 
 L'Estrauge retired to confer in the library. 
 
 " Don't flurry me ; take me quietly, doctor," said the curate with 
 a piteous smile. " They've given me such a burster over the deep 
 ground that I'm completely blown. Do you know," added he, 
 seriously, " they've cross-questioned me in a way that would imply 
 that I am the cause of this sudden seizure ? " 
 
 " No, no ; they couldn't mean that." 
 
 " There's no excuse then for the things Miss Bramleigh said 
 to me." 
 
 " Remember what an anxious moment it is ; people don't measure 
 their expressions when they are frightened. When they left him in 
 the morning he was in his usual health and spirits, and they come 
 back to find him very ill — dangerously ill. That alone would serve 
 to palliate any unusual show of eagerness. Tell me now, was he 
 looking perfectly himself, was he in his ordinary spirits, when you 
 met him ? " 
 
 " No ; I thought him depressed, and at times irritable." 
 
 " I see ; he was hasty and abrupt. He did not brook contradiction 
 perhaps ? " 
 
 " I never went that far. If I dissented once or twice, I did so 
 mildly and even doubtingly." 
 
 " Which made him more exacting and more intolerant, you would 
 say ? " 
 
 " Possibly it did. I remember he rated me rather sharply for 
 not beiug contented with a very humble condition in life, though I 
 assured him I felt no impatience at my lowly state and was quite 
 satisfied to wait till better should befall me. He called me a casuist 
 for saying this, and hinted that all churchmen had the leaven of the 
 Jesuit in them ; but he got out of this after a while, and promised 
 to write a letter in my behalf." 
 
 " And which he told me you would find scaled and addressed on 
 this table here. Here it is." 
 
 " How kind of him to remember me through all his sufi"ering." 
 
 " He said something about it beiug the only reparation he could 
 make you, but his voice was not very clear or distinct, and I couldn't 
 be sure I caught Lis words correctly." 
 
 " Reparation ! he owed me none." 
 
 " Well, well, it is possible I may have mistaken him. One thing 
 is plain enough : you cannot give me any clue to this seizure beyond 
 the guess that it may have been some tidings he received by 
 post."
 
 THE CUKATE CROSS-EXAMINED. 157 
 
 L'Estrange shook his head ia silence, and after a moment said, 
 " Is the attack serious ? " 
 " Highly so." 
 
 " And is his life iu danger ? " 
 
 " A few hours will decide that, but it may be days before we 
 shall know if his mind will recover. Craythorpe has been sent for 
 from Dublin, and we shall have his opinion this evening. I have no 
 hesitation in saying that mine is unfavourable." 
 
 " What a dreadful thing, and how fearfully sudden. I cannot 
 conceive how he could have bethought him of the letter for me at 
 such a moment." 
 
 " He wrote it, he said, as you left Lim ; you had not quitted the 
 house when he began. He said to me, I ' saw I was growing worse, 
 I felt my confusion was gaining on me, and a strange commixture of 
 people and events was occurring iumy head ; so I swept all my letters 
 and papers into a drawer and locked it, wrote the few lines I had 
 promised, and with my almost last effort of consciousness rang the 
 bell for my servant." 
 
 " But he was quite collected when he told you this ? " 
 " Yes, it was in one of those lucid intervals when the mind shines 
 out clear and brilliant ; but the effort cost him dearly : he has not 
 rallied from it since." 
 
 " Has he over- worked himself; is this the effect of an over-exerted 
 brain ? " 
 
 " I'd call it rather the result of some wounded sensibility ; he 
 appears to have suffered some great reverse in ambition or in fortune. 
 His tone, so far as I can fathom it, implies intense depression. 
 After all, we must say he met much coldness here : the people did 
 not visit him, there was no courtesy, no kindliness, shown him ; and 
 though he seemed indifferent to it, who knows how he may have felt 
 it?" 
 
 " I do not suspect he gave any encouragement to intimacy ; he 
 seemed to me as if declining acquaintance with the neighbourhood." 
 " Aye ; but it was in resentment, I opine ; but you ought to know 
 best. You were constantly here ? " 
 
 " Yes, very frequently ; but I am not an observant person ; all 
 the little details which convey a whole narrative to others are utterly 
 lost upon me." 
 
 The doctor smiled. It was an expression that appeared to say 
 ho concurred iu the cui'ate's version of his own nature. 
 
 "It is these small gifts of combining, arranging, sifting, and 
 testing, that we doctors have to cultivate," said he, as he took his 
 hat. " The patient the most eager to be exact and truthful will, iu
 
 158 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 spite of himself, mislead and misguide us. There is a strauge bend 
 sinister in human nature, against sincerity, that will indulge itself 
 even at the cost of life itself. You are the physician of the soul, sir ; 
 but take my word for it, you might get many a shrewd hint and 
 many a useful suggestion from us, the meaner workmen who only 
 deal with nerves and arteries." 
 
 As he wended his solitary road homewards, L'Estrauge pondered 
 thoughtfully over the doctor's words. He had no need, he well knew, 
 to be reminded of his ignorance of mankind ; but here was a new 
 view of it, and it seemed immeasurable. 
 
 On the whole he was a sadder man than usual on that day. 
 The world around him, — that narrow circle whose diameter was 
 perhaps a dozen miles or so, — was very sombre in its colouring. He 
 had left sickness and sorrow in a house where he had hitherto only 
 seen festivity and pleasure ; and worse again, as regarded himself, he 
 had carried away none of those kindlier sympathies and friendly 
 feelings which were wont to greet him at the Great House. Were 
 they really then changed to him ? and if so, why so ? There is a 
 moral chill in the sense of estrangement from those we have lived 
 with on terms of friendship that, like the shudder that precedes ague, 
 seems to threaten that worse will follow. Julia would see where the 
 mischief lay had she been in his place. Julia would have read the 
 mystery, if there were a mystery, from end to end ; but he, he felt it, 
 he had no powers of observation, no quickness, no tact ; he saw 
 nothing that lay beneath the surface, nor, indeed, much that was on 
 the surface. All that he knew was, that at the moment when his 
 future was more uncertain than ever, he found himself more isolated 
 and friendless than ever he remembered to have been. The only 
 set-off against all this sense of desertion was the letter which Colonel 
 Bramleigh had written in his behalf, and which he had remembered 
 to write as he lay suffering on his sick bed. He had told the doctor 
 where to find it, and said it lay sealed and directed. The address 
 was there but no seal. It was placed in an open envelope, on which 
 was written "Favoured by the Rev. G-. L'Estrauge." Was the 
 omission of the seal accident or intention ? Most probably accident, 
 because he spoke of having sealed it. And yet that might have been 
 a mere phrase to imply that the letter was finished. Such letters 
 were probably in most cases either open, or only closed after being 
 read by him who bore them. Julia would know this. Julia would 
 be able to clear up this point, thought he, as he pondered and plodded 
 homeward.
 
 ( 159 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 DOUBTS AND FEARS. 
 
 "And here is the letter, Julia," said L'Estrauge, as they sat at tea 
 together that same evening. "Here is tlie letter; and if I were as 
 clever a casuist as Colonel Bramleigh thought mo, I should perhaps 
 know wlictlier I have the right to read it or not." 
 
 " Once I have begun to discuss such a point, I distrust my 
 judgment ; but when 1 pronounce promptly, suddenly, out of mere 
 woman's instinct, I have great faith in myself." 
 
 "And how docs your woman's instinct incline here ? " 
 
 " Not to read it. It may or may not have been the writer's 
 intention to have sealed it ; the omission was possibly a mere accident. 
 At all events, to have shown you the contents would have been a 
 courtesy at the writer's option. " He was not so inclined — ■ — " 
 
 " Stop a bit, Julia," cried he, laughing. " Here you are arguing 
 the case, after having given me the instinctive impulse that would 
 not wait for logic. Now, I'll not stand ' floggee and preachee ' too." 
 
 " Don't you see, sir," said she, with a mock air of being oflended, 
 " that the very essence of this female instinct is its being the 
 perception of an inspired process of reasoning, an instinctive sense 
 of right, that did not require a mental effort to arrive at ? " 
 
 " And this instinctive sense of right says, Don't read ? " 
 
 " Exactly so." 
 
 "Well, I don't agree with you," said he, witli a sigh, "I don't 
 know, and I want to know, in what light Colonel Bramleigh puts me 
 forward. Am I a friend ? am I a dependent ? am I a man worth 
 taking some trouble about ? or am I merely, as I overheard him 
 saying to Lord Culduff, ' a young fellow my boys are very fond of ? ' " 
 
 " Oh, George. You never told me this." 
 
 " Because it's not safe to tell you anything. You are sure to 
 resent things you ought never to show you have known. I'd lay my 
 life on it that had you heard that speech, you'd have contrived to 
 introduce it into some narrative or some description before a week 
 went over." 
 
 " Well, it's a rule of war, if the enemy fire unfair ammunition, 
 you may send it back to him." 
 
 " And then," said L'Estrango, reverting to his own channel of 
 thought, " and then it's not impossible that it might be such a letter 
 as I would not have stooped to present." 
 
 " If I were a man, nothing would induce me to accept a letter of
 
 16D THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 introduction to any one," said she, boldly. " It puts every one con- 
 cerned in a false position. ' Give the bearer ten pounds ' is intelli- 
 gible ; but when the request is, ' Be polite to the gentleman who 
 shall deliver this ; invite him to dine ; present him to your wife and 
 daughters ; give him currency amongst your friends ; ' all because 
 of certain qualities which have met favour with some one else ; why, 
 this subverts every principle of social intercourse ; this strikes at the 
 root of all that lends a charm t ) intimacy. I want to find out 
 the people avIio suit me in life, just as I want to display the traits 
 that may attract others to me." 
 
 " I'd like to know what's inside this," said L'Estrange, who only 
 half followed what she was saying. 
 
 " Shall I tell you ? " said she, gravely. 
 
 " Do, if you can." 
 
 " Here it is : — ' The bearer of this is a young fellow who has 
 been our parson for some time back, and now wants to be yours at 
 Albano. There's not much harm in him ; he is well-born, well- 
 mannered, preaches but twelve minutes, and rides admirably to hounds. 
 Do what you can for him ; and believe me yours truly." 
 
 "If I thought " 
 
 " Of course you'd put it in the fire," said she, finishing his speech ; 
 " and I'd have put it there though it should contain something exactly 
 the reverse of all this." 
 
 " The doctor told me that Bramleigh said something about a 
 reparation that he owed me ; and although the phrase, coming from 
 a man in his state, might mean nothing, or next to nothing, it still 
 keeps recurring to my mind, and suggesting an eager desire to know 
 what he could point to." 
 
 "Perhaps his conscience pricked him, George, for not having 
 made more of you while here. I'd almost say it might with some 
 justice." 
 
 "I think they have shown us great attention — have been most 
 hospitable and courteous to us." 
 
 " I'm not a fair witness, for I have no sort of gratitude for social 
 civilities. I think it's always the host is the obliged person." 
 
 " I know you do," said he, smiling. 
 
 " Who knows," said she, warmly, "if he has not found out that 
 the ' young fellow the boys were so fond of,' was worthy of favour in 
 higher quarters ? Eh, George, might not this give the clue to the 
 reparation he speaks of?" 
 
 " I can make nothing of it," said he, as he tossed the letter on 
 the table with an impatient movement. " I'll tell you what I'll do, 
 Julia," cried he, alter a pause. " I'll take the letter over to Castello
 
 DOUBTS AND FEARS. 1 ^\1 
 
 to-raorrow, and ask Augustus if he feels at liberty to read it to me ; 
 ii be opine not, I'll get him to seal it then and there." 
 
 " But suppose he consents to read it, and suppose it should contain 
 something, I'll not say oft'ensive, but something disagreeable, something 
 that you certainly would not wish to have said ; will you be satisfied 
 at being the listener while he reads it ? " 
 
 " I think I'd rather risk that than bear my present uncertainty." 
 
 " And if you'll let me, George, I'll go with you. I'll loiter about 
 the grounds, and you can tell Nelly where to find me, if she wishes 
 io see me." 
 
 " By the way, she asked me why you had not been to Castcllo ; 
 but my head being very full of other things, I forgot to tell you ; and 
 then there was something else I was to say." 
 
 " Try and remember it, George," said she, coaxingly. 
 
 "What was it? Was it? — no — it couldn't have been about 
 Lord CuldufT carrying away the doctor to his own room, and having 
 him there full half-an-hour in consultation before he saw Colonel 
 Bramleigh." 
 
 "Did he do that ? " 
 
 " Yes. It was some redness, or some heat, or something or other 
 that he remarked about his ears after eating. No, no ; it wasn't 
 that. I remember all about it now. It was a row that Jack got 
 into with his Admiral; he didn't report himself, or he reported to the 
 wrong man, or he went on board when he oughtn't ; in fact, he did 
 something irregular, and the Admiral used some very hard language, 
 and Jack rejoined, and the upshot is he's to be brought before a court- 
 martial ; at least he fears so." 
 
 " Poor fellow ; what is to become of him ? " 
 
 " Nelly says that there is yet lime to apologize; that the Admiral 
 will permit him to retract or recall what he said, and that his brother 
 otficers say he ought — some of them at least." 
 
 "And it was this vou forgot to tell me?" said she, reproach- 
 fully. 
 
 " No. It was all in my head, but along with so many things ; 
 and then I was so badgered and bullied by the cross-examination they 
 submitted me to ; and so anxious and uneasy, that it escaped me 
 till now." 
 
 " Oh, George, let us do a good-natured thing ; let us go over 
 uud sec Nelly; she'll have so many troubles on her heart, she'll want 
 a word of advice and kindness. Let us walk over there now." 
 
 " It's past ten o'clock, Julia." 
 
 " Yes ; but they're always late at Castello." 
 
 " And raining heavily besides ; — listen to that ! " 
 
 11
 
 IGli THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " What do we care for rain ? did Lad weather ever keep either of 
 us at homo wlien we wished to he ahroad ? " 
 
 " We can go to-morrow. I shall have to go to-morrow about this 
 letter." 
 
 " But if wo wait we shall lose a post. Come, George, get your 
 coat and hat, and I'll he ready in an instant." 
 
 " After all, it will seem so strange in us presenting ourselves at 
 such an hour, and iu such a trim. I don't know how we shall 
 do it." 
 
 " Easily enough. I'll go to Mrs. Eady the housekeeper's room, 
 and you'll say nothing about me, except to Nelly ; and as for 
 yourself, it will be only a very natural anxiety on your part to leam 
 how the Colonel is doing. There, now, don't delay. Let us be ofi" 
 at once." 
 
 " I declare I think it a very mad excursion, and the only thing 
 certain to come of it will be a heavy cold or a fever." 
 
 "And we face the same risks every day for nothing. I'm sure 
 wet weather never kept you from joining the hounds." 
 
 This home-thrust about the very point on which he was then 
 smarting decided the matter, and he arose and left the room without 
 a word. 
 
 "Yes," muttered he, as he mounted the stairs, "there it is! 
 That's the reproach I can never make head against. The moment 
 they say, 'You were out hunting,' I stand convicted at once." 
 
 There was little opportunity for talk as they breasted the beating 
 rain on their way to Castello ; great sheets of water came down with 
 a sweeping wind, which at times compelled them to halt and seek 
 shelter ere they could recover breath to go on. 
 
 " What a night," muttered he. "I don't think I was ever out 
 iu a worse." 
 
 " Isn't it rare fun, George ? " said she, laughingly. " It's as good 
 as swimming in a rough sea." 
 
 " AVhich I always hated." 
 
 " And which I delighted in ! Whatever taxes one's strength to 
 its limits, and exacts all one's courage besides, is the most glorious 
 of excitements. There's a splash ; that was hail, George." 
 
 He muttered something that was lost in the noise of the storm ; 
 anl though from time to time she tried to provoke him to speak, now 
 by some lively taunt, now by some jesting remark on his sullen 
 humour, he maintained his silence till he reached the terrace, when 
 he said, — 
 
 " Here wc axe, and I declare, Julia, I'd rather go back thrn go 
 fovwaid,"
 
 DOUBTS AND FEARS. 163 
 
 '•You shan't have the choice," said she, laughing, as she rang 
 the bell. " How is your master, "William ? " asked she, as the servant 
 admitted them. 
 
 " No better, miss ; the Dublin doctor's ujistairs now in consulta- 
 tion, and I believe there's another to be scut for." 
 
 *' Mind that you don't say I'm here. I'm going to Mrs. Eady's 
 room to dry my cloak, and I don't v,ish the young ladies to be 
 disturbed," said she, passing hastily on to the housekeeper's room, 
 while L'Estrange made his way to the drawing-room. The only 
 person here, however, was Mr. Harding, who, with his hands behind 
 his back and his head bowed forward, was slowly pacing the room in 
 melancholy fashion. 
 
 " Brain fever, sir," muttered he, in reply to the curate's inquiry. 
 " Brain fever, and of a severe kind. Too much application to business 
 — did not give up in time, they say," 
 
 " But he looked so well ; seemed always so hearty and so 
 dicerful." 
 
 " Veiy true, sir, very true; but as you told us on Sunday, in 
 that impressive discourse of yours, we are only whited sepulchres." 
 
 L'Estrange blushed. It was so rare an event for him to be 
 complimented on his talents as a preacher that he half mistrusted 
 the eulogy. 
 
 " And what else, indeed, are we ? " sighed the little man. 
 " Here's our dear friend, with all that the world calls prosperity ; 
 be has fortune, station, a fine family, and " 
 
 The enumeration of the gifts that made up this lucky man's 
 measure of prosperity was here interrupted by the entrance of Ellen 
 Bramleigh, who came in abruptly and eagerly. 
 
 "Where's Julia?" cried she; "my maid told me she was 
 here." 
 
 L'Estrange answered in a low tone. Ellen, in a subdued voice, 
 said, — 
 
 " I'll take her up to my room. I have much to say to her. Will 
 you let her remain here to-night ? — you can't refuse. It is impossible 
 she could go back in such weather." And without waiting for his 
 reply, she hurried away. 
 
 " I suppose they sent for you, sir ? " resumed Harding. " They 
 wished you to see him ? " and he made a slight gesture, to point out 
 that he meant the sick man. 
 
 "No; I came up to see if I could say a few words to Augustus 
 — on a matter purely my own." 
 
 " Ila ! indeed ! I'm afraid you arc not likely to have the oppor- 
 tunity. This is a trying moment, sir. Dr. B., though only a con u try
 
 Xbt THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 practitioner, is a man of much experience, and he opines that thci 
 membranes are afiected." 
 
 '• Indeed ! " 
 
 " Yes ; he thinks it's the membranes ; and he derives his opinion 
 from the nature of the mental disturbance, for there are distinct 
 intervals of perfect sanity — indeed, of great mental power. The 
 Colonel was a remarkable man, Mr. L'Estrange ; a very remarkable 
 man." 
 
 " I've always heard so." 
 
 " Ah, sir, he had great projects — I might call them grand projects, 
 for Ireland, had he been spared to carry them out." 
 
 " Let us still hope that he may." 
 
 "No, no, sir, that is not to be ; and if Belton be correct, it is 
 as well, perhaps, it should not be." Here he touched his forehead 
 with the top of his finger, and gave a glance of most significant 
 meaning. 
 
 " Does he apprehend pei'maneut injury to the brain ? " 
 
 The other pursed his mouth, and shook his head slowly, but did 
 not speak. 
 
 " That's very dreadful," said L'Estrange, sadly. 
 
 " Indeed it is, sir; take this from us," and here he touched his 
 head, "and what are we ? What are we better than the beasts of 
 the field ? But why do I say this to you, sir ? Who knows these 
 things better than yourself? " 
 
 The curate was half inclined to smile at the ambiguity of the 
 speech, but he kept his gravity, and nodded assent. 
 
 " Nobody had the slightest conception of his wealth," said 
 Harding, coming up, and actually whispering the words into the 
 other's ear. "We knew all about the estated property; I did at 
 least, I knew every acre of it, and how it was let ; but of his money 
 in shares, in foreign securities, on mortgages, and in various invest- 
 ments ; what he had out at venture in Assam and Japan, and what 
 he drew twenty-five per cent, from in Peru ; — of these, sir, none of 
 us had any conception ; and would you believe it, Mr. L'Estrange, 
 that he can talk of all these things at some moments as collectedly 
 as if he was in perfect health ? He was giving directions to Bimcox 
 about his will, and he said, ' Half a sheet of note-paper will do it, 
 Simcox. I'll make my intentions very clear, and there will be 
 nobody to dispute them. And as to details of what little ' — ho 
 called it little ! — ' I possess in the world, I want no notes to aid my 
 memory.' The doctor, however, positively prevented anything being 
 done to-day, and strictly interdicted him from hearing any matters 
 of business whatsoever. And it is strange enough, that if not
 
 DOUBTS AND FEAKS. 165 
 
 brought up before him, he will not advert to these topics at all, but 
 continue to wander on about his past life, and whether he had done 
 wisely in this, or that, or the other, mixing very worldly thoughts 
 and motives very oddly at times with those that belong to more 
 serious considerations. Poor Mr. Augustus," continued he, after 
 a short breathing moment. " He does not know what to do ! He 
 was never permitted to take any part in business, and he knows no 
 more of Bramleigh and Underwood than you do. And now he is 
 obliged to open all letters marked immediate or urgent, and to make 
 the best replies he can, to give directions, and to come to decisions, in 
 fact, on things he never so much as heard of. And all this while he is 
 well aware that if his lather should recover, he'll not forgive him the 
 liberty he has taken to open his correspondence. Can you imagine 
 a more difficult or painful situation ? " 
 
 " I think much of the embarrassment might be diminished, 
 Mr. Harding, by his taking you into his counsels." 
 
 "Ah ! and that's the very thing I'll not suffer him to do. No, 
 no, sir, I know the Colonel too well for that. He may, when he is 
 well and about again, ho may forgive his son, his son and heir, for 
 having possessed himself v.ith a knowledge of many important details ; 
 but he'd not forgive the agent, Mr. Harding. I think I can hear the 
 very words he'd use. He said once on a time to me, ' I want no Grand 
 Vizier, Harding ; I'm Sultan and Grand Vizier too.' So I said to 
 Mr. Augustus, * I've no head for business after dinner, and par- 
 ticularly when I have tasted your father's prime Madeira.' And it 
 is true, sir ; true as you stand there. The doctor and I had finished 
 the second decanter before we took our coffee." 
 
 L'Estrange now looked the speaker fully in the face ; and to his 
 astonishment saw that signs of his having drank freely — which, 
 strangely enough, had hitherto escaped his notice — were now plainly 
 to be seen there. 
 
 " No, sir, not a bit tipsy," said Harding, intei-pretiug his glance ; 
 *' not even what IMr. Cutbill calls ' tight ! ' I won't go so far as to 
 say I'd like to make up a complicated account ; but for an off-hand 
 question as to the value of a standing crop, or an allowance for 
 improvements in the case of a tenant-at-will, I'm as good as ever I 
 felt. "What's more, sir, it's seventeen years since I took so much 
 wine before. It was the day I got my appointment to the agency, 
 Mr. Ij'Estrange. I was weak enough to indulge on that occasion, 
 and the Colonel said to me, ' As much wine as you like, Harding — 
 a pipe of it, if you please ; but don't bo garrulous.' The word 
 sobered me, sir, — sobered me at once. I was offended, I'll not 
 ueny it ; but I couldn't afford to show that I felt it. I shut up ; and
 
 IGG THE BRAiMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 from that hour to this I never was ' garrulous ' again. Is it boasting 
 to say, sir, that it's not eveiy man who could do as much ? " 
 
 The curate bowed politely, as if in concurrence. 
 
 "You never thought me garrulous, sir ? " 
 
 "Never, indeed, Mr. Harding." 
 
 " No, sir, it was not the judgment the world passed on me. Men 
 have often said Harding is cautious, Harding is reserved, Harding 
 is guarded in what he says ; but none have presumed to say I was 
 garrulous." 
 
 ' ' I must say I think you dwell too much on a mere passing 
 expression. It was not exactly polite ; but I am sure it was not 
 intended to convey either a grave censure or a fixed opinion." 
 
 " I hope so ; I hope so, with all my heart, sir," said he, pathetically. 
 But his drooping head and depressed look showed how little of 
 encouragement the speech gave him. 
 
 " Mr. Augustus begs you'll come to him in the library, sir," said 
 a footman, entering, and to L'Estraugo's great relief, coming to his 
 rescue from his tiresome companion. 
 
 " I think I'd not mention the matter noiv,'" said Harding, with a 
 sigh. " They've trouble and sickness in the house, and the moment 
 would be unfavourable ; but you'll not forget it, sir, you'll not forget 
 that I want that expression recalled, or at least the admission that it 
 was used inadvertently." 
 
 L'Estrauge nodded assent, and hurried away to the library. 
 
 " The man of all others I wanted to see," said Augustus, meeting 
 him with an outstretched hand. " What on earth has kept you away 
 from us of late ? " 
 
 " I fancied you were all a little cold towards me," said the curate, 
 blushing deeply as he spoke ; " but if I thought you wanted me, I'd 
 not have sufi'ered my suspicion to interfere. I'd have come up at once." 
 
 " You're a good fellow, and I believe you thoroughly. There has 
 been no coldness ; at least, I can swear, none on my part, nor any 
 that I know of elsewhere. We arc in great trouble. You've heard 
 about my poor father's seizure — indeed you saw him when it was 
 impending, and now here am I in a position of no common difficulty. 
 The doctors have declared that they will not answer for his life, or, 
 if he lives, for his reason, if he be disturbed or agitated by questions 
 relating to business. They have, for greater impi'cssiveness, given 
 this opinion in writing, and signed it. I have telegraphed the decision 
 to the Firm, and have received this reply, ' Open all marked urgent, 
 and answer.' Now, you don't know my father very long, or very 
 intimately, but I think you know enough of him to be aware what a 
 dangerous step is this they now press me to take. First of all, I
 
 DOUBTS AND FEARS. 167 
 
 know no more of his affairs than you do. It is not only that he never 
 confided anything to mc, hut he made it a rule never to advert to a 
 matter of business hefore any of us. And to such an extent did he 
 carry his jealousy — if it was jealousy — in this respect, that he would 
 immediately interpose if Underwood or the senior clerk said anything 
 about money matters, and remark, ' These young gentlemen take no 
 interest in such subjects ; let us talk of something they can take 
 their share in.' Nor was this abstention on his part without a touch 
 of sarcasm, for he would occasionally talk a little to my sister Marion 
 on bank matters, and constantly said, ' Why weren't you a boy, 
 Marion ? You could have taken the helm when it was my watch 
 below.' This showed what was the estimate he had formed of myself 
 and my brothers. I mention all these things to you now, that you 
 may see the exact danger of the position I am forced to occupy. If 
 I refuse to act, if I decline to open the letters on pressing topics, and 
 by my refusal lead to all sorts of complication and difficulties, I shall 
 but confirm him, whenever he recovers, in his depreciatory opinion 
 of me ; and if, on the other hand, I engage in the correspondence, 
 who is to say that I may not be possessing myself of knowledge that 
 he never intended I should acquire, and which might produce a fatal 
 estrangement between us in future ? And this is the doubt and 
 difficulty in which you now find me. Here I stand surrounded with 
 these letters — look at that pile yonder — and I have not courage to 
 decide what course to take." 
 
 " And he is too ill to consult with ? " 
 
 " The doctors have distinctly forbidden one syllable on any 
 business matter." 
 
 "It's strange enough that it was a question which bore upon all 
 this brought me up here to-night. Your father had promised me a 
 letter to Lady Augusta at Rome, with reference to a chaplaincy I 
 was looking for, and he told Belton to inform me that he had written 
 the letter and sealed it, and left it on the table in the library. We 
 found it there, as he said, only not sealed ; and though that point 
 was not important, it suggested a discussion between Julia and myself 
 •whether I had or had not the right to read it, being a letter of presenta- 
 tion, and regarding myself alone. We could not agree as .to what 
 ought to be done, and resolved at last to take the letter over to you, 
 and say. If you feel at liberty to let me hear what is in this, read it 
 for me ; if you have any scruples on the score of reading, seal it, and 
 the matter is ended at once. This is the letter." 
 
 Augustus took it, and regarded it leisurely for a moment. 
 
 " I think I need have no hesitation here," said he. " I break no 
 seal, at least."
 
 1C8 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 He withdrew the letter carefully from the envelope, and 
 opened it. 
 
 " ' Dear Sodley,' " read he, and stopped. " Why, this is surely 
 a mistake ; this was not iuteuded for Lady Augusta;" and he turnetl 
 to the address, which ran, " The Lady Augusta Bramleigh, Villa 
 Altieri, Rome." "What can this mean?" 
 
 " He has put it in a wrong envelope." 
 
 " Exactly so, and prohably sealed the other, which led to hia 
 remark to Belton. I suppose it may be read now. ' Dear Sedley — 
 Have no fears about the registry. First of all, I do not believe any 
 exists of the date required ; and secondly, there will be neither 
 church, nor parson, nor register here in three months hence.' " 
 Augustus stopped and looked at L'Estrange. Each face seemed 
 the reflex of the other, and the look of puzzled horror was the same 
 on both. " I must go on, I can't help it," muttered Augustus, and 
 continued : " ' I have spoken to the dean, who agrees with me that 
 Portshandon need not be retained as a parish. Something, of course, 
 must be done for the curate here. You will probably be able to 
 obtain one of the smaller livings for him in the Chancellor's 
 patronage. So much for the registry difficulty, which indeed was 
 never a difficulty at all till it occurred to your legal acuteness to make 
 it such.' 
 
 " There is more here, but I am unwilling to read on," said 
 Augustus, whose face was now crimson, " and yet, L'Estrange,'* 
 added he, " it may be that I shall want your counsel in this very 
 matter. I'll finish it." And he read, " ' The more I reflect on the 
 plan of a compromise the less I like it, and I cannot for the life of 
 me see how it secures finality. If this charge is to be revived in my 
 son's time, it will certainly not bo met with more vigour or more 
 knowledge than I can myself contribute to it. Every impostor gains 
 by the lapse of years — bear that in mind. The difficulties which 
 environ explanations are invariably in favour of the rogue, just 
 because fiction is more plausible often than truth. It is not pleasant 
 to admit, but I am forced to own that there is not one amongst my 
 sons who has either the stamina or tlie energy to confront such a 
 peril ; so that, if the battle be really to be fought, let it come on 
 while I am yet here, and in health and vigour to engage in it. 
 
 " ' There arc abundant reasons why I cannot confide the matter 
 to any of my family — one will suffice : there is not one of them except 
 my eldest daughter who would not be crushed by the tidings, and 
 though she has head enough, she has not the temper for a very 
 exciliug and critical struggle. 
 
 " ' What you tell me of Jack and his indiscretion will serve ta
 
 DOUBTS AND FEARS. 1G9 
 
 show 3'ou how safe I should he in the hands of my sons, and lie 
 is possihly ahout as wise as his hrothers, though less pretentious 
 than the diplomatist ; and as for Augustus, I have great misgivings. 
 If the time !^hould ever come when he should have convinced himself 
 that this claim was good, — and sentimental reasons would always 
 have more weight with him than cither law or logic, — I say, if such 
 a time should arrive, he's just the sort of nature that would prefer 
 the martyrdom of utter hcggary to the assertion of his right, and the 
 vanity of heing equal to the sacrifice would repay him for the ruin. 
 There are fellows of this stamp, and I have terrihle fears that I have 
 one of them for a son.' " 
 
 Augustus laid down the letter and tried to smile, hut his lip 
 tremhled hysterically, and his voice was hroken and uncertain as he 
 said : " This is a hard sentence, George, — I wish I had never read 
 it. What can it all mean ? " cried he, after a minute or more of 
 what seemed cruel suflering. " What is this claim ? Who is this 
 rogue ? and what is this charge that can he revived and pressed in 
 another generation ? Have you ever heard of this hefore ? or can 
 you make anything out of it now ? Tell me, for mercy's sake, and 
 do not keep me longer in this agony of douht and uncertainty." 
 
 " I have not the faintest clue to the meaning of all this. It reads 
 as if some one was ahout to pi'efer a claim to your father's estate, 
 and that your lawyer had heen advising a compromise with him." 
 
 " But a compromise is a sort of admission that the claimant was 
 not an impostor, — that he had his rights ! " 
 
 " There are rights, and rights ! There are demands, too, that 
 it is often hetter to conciliate than to defy, — even though defiance 
 would he successful." 
 
 " And how is it that I never heard of this hefore ? " hurst he out 
 indignantly. " Has a man the right to treat his son in this fashion ? 
 to bring him up in the unbroken security of succeeding to an inherit- 
 ance that the law may decide he has no title to ? " 
 
 " I think that is natural enough. Your father evidently did not 
 recognize this man's right, and felt there was no need to impart the 
 matter to his family." 
 
 " But why should my father be the judge in his own cause ? " 
 
 L'Estrange smiled faintly : the line in the Colonel's letter, in 
 which he spoke of his son's sensitiveness occurred to him at once. 
 
 "I see how you treat my question," said Augustus. " It reminds 
 you of the character my father gave me. What do you say then to 
 that passage about the registry '? Why, if wo be clean-handed iu 
 this business, do wo want to make short work of all records ? " 
 
 " I simply say I can make nothing of it."
 
 170 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Is it possible, think you, that Marion kuows this story ? " 
 
 " I think it l)y no means unlikely." 
 
 " It would account for much that has often puzzled me," said 
 Augustus, musing as he spoke. " A certain self-assertion that she 
 has, and a habit, too, of separating her own interests from those of 
 the rest of us, as though speculating on a time when she should walk 
 alone. Have you remarked that ? " 
 
 "/.' I," said L'Estrange, smiling, "remark nothing! there is 
 not a less observant fellow breathing." 
 
 " If it were not for those words about the parish registry, George," 
 said the other, in a grave tone, " I'd carry a light heart about all this ; 
 I'd take my father's version of this fellow, whoever he is, and believe 
 him to be an impostor ; but I don't like the notion of foul play, and 
 it does mean foul play." 
 
 L'Estrange was silent, and for some minutes neither spoke. 
 
 " When my father," said Augustus — and there was a tone of 
 bitterness now in his voice — " "When my father drew that comparison 
 between himself and his sons, he may have been flattering his superior 
 intellect at the expense of some other quality." 
 
 Another and a longer pause succeeded. 
 
 At last L'Estrange spoke : — 
 
 " I have been running over in my head all that could bear upon 
 this matter, and now I remember a couple of weeks ago that Long- 
 worth, who came with a French friend of his to pass an evening at 
 the cottage, led me to talk of the parish church and its history ; he 
 asked me if it had not been burnt by the rebels in '98, and seemed 
 surprised when I said it was only the vestry-room and the books that 
 had been destroyed. ' AYas not that strange ? ' asked he ; ' did the 
 insurgents usually interest themselves about parochial records ? ' I 
 felt a something like a sneer in the question, and made him no 
 reply." 
 
 *' And who was the Frenchman ? " 
 
 "A certain Count Pracontal, whom Lougworth met in Upper 
 Egypt. By the way, he was the man Jack led over the high bank, 
 where the poor fellow's leg was broken." 
 
 " I remember ; he of course has no part in the story we are now 
 discussing. Longworth may possibly know something. Are you 
 intimate with him ? " 
 
 " No, we are barely acquainted. I believe he was rather flattered 
 by the very slight attention we showed himself and his friend ; but 
 his manner was shy, and he is a diflident, bashful sort of mau, not 
 easy to understand." 
 
 " Look here, L'Estrange," said Augustus, laying his hand on the
 
 DOUBTS AND FEARS. 171 
 
 other's shoulder. " All that has passed between us here to-night is 
 strictly coufidential, to be divulged to no one, not even your sister. 
 As for this letter, I'll forward it to Sedley, for whom it was intended. 
 I'll tell him how it chanced that I read it ; and thou — and then — the 
 rest will take its own course." 
 
 "I wonder if Julia intends to come back with me?" said 
 L'Estrango after a pause. 
 
 " No. Nelly has persuaded her to stay here, and I think there 
 is no reason why you should not also." 
 
 "No. I'm always uncomfortable away from my own den; but 
 I'll be with you early to-morrow; good-night." 
 
 Nelly and Juha did not go to bed till day-break. They passed 
 the night writiug a long letter to Jack — the greater part being dictated 
 by Julia while Nelly wrote. It was an urgent entreaty to him to 
 yield to the advice of his brother officers, and withdraw the offensive 
 words he had used to the Admiral. It was not alone his station, his 
 character, and his future in life were pressed into the service, but 
 the happiness of all who loved him and wished him well, with a 
 touching allusion to his poor father's condition, and the impossibility 
 of asking any aid or counsel from him. Nelly went on — " Remember, 
 dear Jack, how friendless and deserted I shall be if I lose you ; and 
 it would be next to losing you to know you had quitted the service, 
 and gone heaven knows where, to do heaven knows what." She then 
 adverted to home, and said, " You know how happy and united we 
 were all here, once on a time. This has all gone : Marion and Temple 
 hold themselves quite apart, and Augustus, evidently endeavouring 
 to be neutral, is isolated. I only say this to show you how, more 
 than ever, I need your friendship and affection ; nor is it the least 
 sad of all my tidings, the L'Estrangcs are going to leave this. There 
 is to be some new arrangement by which Portshandon is to be united 
 to Kilmulluck, and one church to serve for the two parishes. George 
 and Julia think of going to Italy. I can scarcely tell you how I feel 
 this desertion of me now, dearest Jack. I'd bear up against all these 
 and worse — if worse there be — were I only to feel that you were 
 following out your road to station and success, and that the day was 
 coming when I should be as pi'oud as I am fond of you. You hate 
 writing, I know, but you will, I'm sure, not fail to send me half-a- 
 dozen lines to say that I have not pleaded in vain. I fear I shall not 
 soon be able to send you pleasant news from this, the gloom thickens 
 eveiy day around us, but you shall hear constantly." The letter ende I 
 with a renewed entreaty to him to place himself in the hands and 
 uuder the guidance of such of his brother officers as he could rely on 
 for sound judgment and moderation. " Eemember, Jack, I ask you
 
 172 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 to do nothing that shall peril honour; hut also nothing in auger, 
 nothing out of wounded self-love." 
 
 "Add one line, only one, Julia," said she, handing tlie jDen ta 
 her and pushing the letter before her ; and without a word Julia 
 wrote: — "A certain coquette of your acquaintance — heartless of 
 course as all her tribe — is very sorry for your trouhle, and would do 
 all in her power to lessen it. To this end she begs you to listen 
 patiently to the counsels of the present letter, every line of which 
 she has read, and to believe that in yielding something — if it should 
 be so — to the opinion of those who care for you, you acquire a new 
 right to their afl'ection, and a stronger title to their love." 
 
 Nelly threw her arm around Julia's neck and kissed hor again 
 and again. 
 
 " Yes, darling, these dear words will sink into his heart, and he 
 will not refuse our prayer." 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Marion's ambitions. 
 
 Colonel Beamleigh's malady took a strange form, and one which 
 much puzzled his physicians : his feverish symptoms gradually 
 disappeared, and to his paroxysms of passion and excitement there 
 now succeeded a sort of dreary apathy, in which he scarcely uttered 
 a word, nor was it easy to say whether he heard or heeded the 
 remarks around him. This state was accompanied by a daily 
 increasing debility, as though the powers of life were being gradually 
 exhausted, and that, having no more to strive for or desire, he cared 
 no more to live. 
 
 The whole interest of his existence now seemed to centre around 
 the hour when the post arrived. He had ordered that the letter-bag 
 should be opened in his presence, and as the letters were shown him 
 one by one, he locked them, unopened and unread, in a despatch-box, 
 so far strictly obedient to the dictates of the doctor, who had for- 
 bidden him all species of excitement. His family had been too long 
 accustomed to the reserve and distance he observed towards them to 
 feel surprised that none were in this critical hour admitted to his 
 confidence, and that it was in presence of his valet, Dorose, the 
 letters were sorted and separated, and such as had no bearing on 
 matters of business sent down to be read by the family. 
 
 It was while he continued in this extraordinary state, intermediate
 
 Marion's ambitions. 173 
 
 as it seemed between sleeping and waking, a telegram came from 
 Sedley to Augustus, saying, — "Highly important to see your father. 
 CouUI he confer with me if I go over? Reply at once." The 
 answer was, — " Unlikely that you can see him; but come on the 
 chance," 
 
 Before sending off this reply, Augustus had taken the telegram 
 up to Marion's room, to ask her advice in the matter. " You are 
 quite right. Gusty," said she, " for if Sedley cannot see papa, he can 
 certainly see Lord Culdufl"." 
 
 " Lord Culduff," cried he, in amazement. " Why, what could 
 Lord Culdufl' possibly know about my father's affairs ? How could 
 he be qualitied to give an opinion upon them ? " 
 
 " Simply on the grounds of his great discrimination, his great 
 acuteness, joined to a general knowledge of life, in which he has 
 admittedly few rivals." 
 
 " Grant all that ; but here are special questions, here are 
 matters essentially personal ; and with all his lordship's tact and 
 readiness, yet he is not one of us." 
 
 " He may be, though, and very soon too," replied she promptly. 
 
 " "What do you mean '? " askod he, in a voice of almost dismay. 
 
 " Just what I say, Augustus ; and I am not aware it is a speech 
 that need excite either the amazement or the terror I see in your 
 face at this moment." 
 
 "I am amazed ; and if I understand you aright, I have grounds 
 •to be shocked besides." 
 
 " Upon my word," said she, iu a voice that trembled with 
 passion, " I have reason to congratulate myself on the score of 
 brotherly afi"ection. Almost the last words Jack spoke to me at 
 parting were, ' For God's sake, shake ofi" that old scamp ; and now 
 you — that hold a very diflerent position amongst us — you, who will 
 cue day be the head of the family, deliberately tell me you are shocked 
 at the prospect of my being allied to one of the first names in the 
 peerage." 
 
 " My dear Mai'ion," said he, tenderly, " it is not the name, it is 
 not the rank, I object to." 
 
 " It is his fortune, then ? I'm sure it can't be his abilities." 
 
 " It is neither. It is simply that the man might be your 
 grandfather." 
 
 " Well, sir," said she, drawing herself up, and assuming a 
 manner of intense hauteur, "and if / — I conclude I am the person 
 most to be consulted — if I do not regard this disparity of years as an 
 iuijurmountable obstacle, by what right can one of my family presume 
 to call it such ? "
 
 174 THE ERAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " My dear sister," paid he, " can yoa not imagine the right of a 
 brother to consult for your happiness ? " 
 
 " Happiness is a very large word. If it were for Nelly that you 
 were interesting yourself, I've no doubt your advice and counsel 
 ought to have great weight ; but I am not one of your love-in-a-cottage 
 young ladies, Gusty. I am, I must own it, excessively worldly. 
 Whatever happiness I could propose to myself in life is essentially 
 united to a certain ambition. "We have as many of the advantages 
 of mere wealth as most people : as fine equipage, as many footmen, 
 as good a cook, and as costly silver ; and what do they do for us ? 
 They permit us simply to enter the lists with a set of people who 
 have high-stepping horses and powdered lacqueys like ourselves, but 
 who are no more the world, no more society, than one of papa's India- 
 men is a ship of the Royal Navy. Why do I say this to you, who 
 were at Oxford, who saw it all, — ay, and felt it all, — in those fresh 
 years of youth when these are sharp sufi'erings ? You know well — 
 you told me your griefs at the time — that you were in a set without 
 being 'of it ; ' that the stamp of inequality was as indelibly fixed 
 upon you as though you were a corporal and wore coarse cloth. 
 Now, these things are hard to bear for a man, for a woman they are 
 intolerable. She has not the hundred and one careers in life in 
 which individual distinction can obliterate the claims of station. 
 She has but one stage — the salon ; but, to her, this narrow world, 
 soft-carpeted and damask-curtained, is a very universe, and with- 
 out the recognized stamp of a certain rank in it, she is absolutely 
 nothing." 
 
 " And may not all these things be bought too dearly, Marion ?" 
 *' I dun't know the price I'd call too high for them." 
 " What ! Not your daily haj^piness ? not your self-esteem ! not 
 the want of the love of one who would have your whole heart in his 
 keeping ? " 
 
 " So he may, if he can give me the rank I care for." 
 " Oh, Marion ! I cannot think this of you," cried he, bitterly. 
 "That is to say, that you want me to deceive you with false 
 assurances of unbought aflectiou and the like ; and you are angry 
 because I will not play the hypocrite. Lord Culduff has made me an 
 offer of his hand, and I have accepted it. You are aware that I am 
 my own mistress. AVhatever I possess, it is absolutely my own ; 
 and though I intend to speak with my father, and, if it may be, obtain 
 bis sanction, I will not say that his refusal would induce me to break 
 off my engagement." 
 
 " At all events, you arc not yet this man's wife, Marion," said 
 be, with more determination than he had yet shown ; " and I forbid
 
 SIARIOX'S AMBITIONS. 175 
 
 yoa positively to impart to Lord Culduff anything regarding this 
 telegram." 
 
 " I make no promises." 
 
 " You may have no regard for the interests of your family, hut 
 possibly you will care for some of your own," said he, fiercely. 
 " Now, I tell you distinctly, there are very grave perils hanging over 
 us at this moment — perils of which I cannot measure the amount 
 nor the consequences. I can only dimly perceive the direction from 
 which they come ; and I warn you, for your own sahe, make no con- 
 fidences beyond the bounds of your own family." 
 
 " You are superbly mysterious, Gusty; and if I were impression- 
 able on this kind of matter, I half suspect you might terrify me. 
 Papa ought to have committed a forgery, at least, to justify your 
 dark insinuations." 
 
 " There is no question of a forgery ; but there may be that 
 which, in the end, will lead to a ruin as complete as any forgery." 
 
 " I know what you mean," said she, in a careless, easy tone ; 
 " the bank has made use of private securities and title-deeds, just 
 as those other people did — I forget their names — a couple of 
 years ago." 
 
 " It is not even that; but I repeat the consequences may be to 
 the full as disastrous." 
 
 " You allude to this unhappy scrape of Jack's." 
 
 " I do not. I was not then thinking of it." 
 
 " Because as to that. Lord Culduff said there never yet grew a 
 tree where there wasn't a branch or two might be lopped off with 
 advantage. If Jack doesn't think his station in life worth pre- 
 serving, all the teaching in the world won't persuade him to main- 
 tain it." 
 
 " Poor Jack ! " said he, bitterly. 
 
 " Yes, I say, poor Jack ! too. I think it's exactly the epithet to 
 apply to one whose spirit is so much beneath his condition." 
 
 "You are terribly changed, Marion. I do not know if you are 
 aware of it ? " 
 
 " I hope I am. I trust that I look at the events around me 
 from a higher level than I have been accustomed to hitherto." 
 
 " And is my father in a state to be consulted on a matter of this 
 importance?" asked he, half indignantly. 
 
 " Papa has already been spoken to about it ; and it is by his own 
 desire we are both to see him this evening." 
 
 " Am I the only one here who knew nothing of all this ? " 
 
 "You should have been told formally this morning, Augustus. 
 Lord Culduff only Avaited for a telegram from Mr. Cutbill to annouuce
 
 17G THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 to you Lis intentions and bis — hopes." A slight hesitation delayed 
 the word. 
 
 " These things I can't help," said he bitterly, and as if speaking 
 to himself. " They have been done without my knowledge, and 
 regardless of me in every way ; but I do protest, strongly protest, 
 against Lord Culduff being introduced into matters which are purely 
 our own." 
 
 " I never knew till now that we had family secrets," said she, 
 with an insolent air. 
 
 " You may learn it later on, perhaps, and without pleasure." 
 
 " So, then, these are the grave perils you tried to terrify nie 
 with a while ago. You forget, Augustus, that I have secured my 
 passage in another ship. Personally, at least, I am in no danger." 
 
 " I did forget that. I did indeed forget how completely you 
 could disassociate yourself from the troubles of your family." 
 
 " But what is going to happen to us ? They can't shoot Jack 
 because he called his commanding officer an ugly name. They can't 
 indite papa because he refused to be high-sheriti". And if the world 
 is angry with you. Gusty, it is not certainly because you like the 
 company of men of higher station than your own." 
 
 He flushed at the sarcasm that her speech half revealed, and 
 turned away to hide his irritation. 
 
 " Shall I tell you frankly, Gusty," continued she, " that I believe 
 nothing — absolutely nothing — of these impending calamities ? There 
 is no sword suspended over us ; or if there be, it is by a good strong 
 cord, which will last our time. There are always plenty of dark stories 
 in the City. Shares fall and great houses tumble ; but papa told me 
 scores of times that he never put all his eggs into one basket ; and 
 Bramleigh and Underwood will be good names for many a day to 
 come. Shall I tell you, my dear Augustus, what I suspect to be 
 the greatest danger that now hangs over us ? And I am quite ready 
 to admit it is a heavy one." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 " The peril I mean is, that your sister Nelly will marry the 
 curate. Oh, you may look shocked and incredulous, and cry im- 
 possible, if you like ; but we girls are very shrewd detectives over 
 each other, and what I tell you is only short of certainty." 
 
 " He has not a shilling in the world ; nor has she, independently 
 of my father." 
 
 " That's the reason. That's the reason ! These are the troths 
 that arc never broken. There is nothing aids fidelity like beggary." 
 
 " Ho has neither friends nor patrons ; he told me himself he 
 has not the vaguest hope of advancement."
 
 mapjo.n's ambitions. 177 
 
 " Exactly so : and just for that they will bo married ! Now it 
 reminds me," said she, aloud, " of what papa once said to me. The 
 man who wants to huild up a name and a family, ought to have few 
 children. With a large household, some one or other will make an 
 unhappy alliance, and one deserter disgraces the army." 
 
 "A grave consideration for Lord CuldufT at this moment," said 
 he, with a humorous twinkle of the eye. 
 
 " We have talked it over already," said she. 
 
 " Once for all, Marion, no confidences about what I have been 
 talking of." And so saying he went his way. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 MR. CUTBILL ARRIVES AT CASTELLO. 
 
 On the eve of that day on wliich the conversation in the last chapter 
 occurred, Mr. Cutbill arrived at Castello. He came full of town 
 news : he brought with him tlie latest scandals of society, and the 
 last events in politics ; he could tell of what was doing in Downing 
 Street, and what was about to be done in the City. In fact, he had 
 the sort of budget that was sure to amuse a country audience, and 
 yet, to his astonishment, he found none to question, none even to 
 listen to him. Colonel Bramleigh's illness had thrown a gloom over 
 all. The girls relieved each other in watches beside their father, and 
 Augustus and Temple dined together alone, as Lord Culduffs gout 
 still detained him in his room. It was as the dinner drew to its 
 close that Mr. Cutbill was announced. 
 
 " It ain't serious, I hope ? I mean, they don't think the case 
 dangerous? " said he, as he arranged his napkin on his knee. 
 
 Augustus only shook his head in silence. 
 
 " Why, what age is he ? not sixty ? " 
 
 " Fifty- one — fifty-two in June." 
 
 " That's not old ; that's the prime of life, especially when a man 
 has taken nothing out of himself." 
 
 " He was always temperate ; most temperate." 
 
 " Just so ; even his own choice Mouton didn't tempt him into the 
 second bottle. I remember that well. I said to myself ' Tom Cut- 
 bill, that green seal wouldn't fare so well in j-our keeping.' I had such 
 a bag of news for him ! All the rogueries on 'Change, fresh and 
 fresh. I suppose it is quite hopeless to think of telling him now ? " 
 
 " Not to be thought of." 
 
 12
 
 178 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " How he'd have liked to liave heard about Hewlett aud Bell! 
 They're gone for close on two millions ; they'll not pay over sixpence 
 in the pound, aud Rinkcr, the Bombay fellow that weut in for cottou, 
 has caught it too ! Cotton and indigo have ruined more men than 
 famine aud pestilence. I'd be shot, if I was a Lord of the Council, if 
 I wouldn't have a special prayer for them in the Litany. Well, 
 Temple, and how are you, all this while ? " said he, turning abruptly 
 to the diplomatist, who sat evidently inattentive to the dialogue. 
 
 " What, sir; did you address mc ? " cried he, with a look of 
 astonishment and indignation. 
 
 *' I should think I did ; and I never heard you were Premier Earl, 
 or that ether thing of England, that you need look so shocked at the 
 liberty ! You Foreign Office swells are very grand folk to each other ; 
 but take my word for it, the world, the real world, thinks very little 
 of you." 
 
 Temple arose slowly from his place, threw his napkin on the 
 table, and turning to Augustus, said, " You'll find me in the library," 
 and withdrew. 
 
 "That's dignified, I take it," said Cutbill ; "but to my poor 
 appreciation, it's not the way to treat a guest under his father's 
 roof." 
 
 " A guest has duties, Mr. Cutbill, as well as rights ; my brother 
 is not accustomed to the sort of language you address to him, nor is 
 he at all to blame if he decline to hear more of it." 
 
 " So that I am to gather you think he was right ? " 
 
 Augustus bowed coldly. 
 
 " It just comes to what I said one day to Harding; the sailor is 
 the only fellow iu the house a man can got on with. I'm sorry, 
 heartily sorry for him." The last words were in a tone of sincere feeling, 
 and Augustus asked, — "What do you mean by sorry? what has 
 hai^peued to him ? " 
 
 "Haven't you seen it iu TJie Times — no, you couldn't though — 
 it was only in this morning's edition, and I have it somewhere. 
 There's to be a court-martial on him ; he's to be tried on board the 
 Ramsaij, at Portsmouth, for disobedience and indiscipline, and using 
 to his superior officer — old Colthurst — words unbecoming the dignity 
 of the service and the character of an officer, or the dignity of an 
 officer and the character of the service — it's all the one gauge, but 
 he'll be broke and cashiered all the same." 
 
 " I thought that if he were to recall something, if ho would make 
 romo explanation, which he might without any peril to honour " 
 
 " That's exactly how it was, and when I heard ho was in a scrape 
 I started ofi" to Portsmouth to see him."
 
 MR. CUTBILL ARRIVES AT CASTELLO. 179 
 
 " You did ? " exclaimed Augustus, looking now with a very 
 different expression at the other. 
 
 " To be sure I did ; I went down by the mail-train, and stayed 
 with him till the one-forty express started next day, and I might have 
 saved myself the trouble." 
 
 " You could make no impression upon him ? " 
 
 " Not a bit — as well talk to that oak sideboard there ; he'd sit 
 and smoke and chat very pleasantly too, about anything, I believe ; 
 he'd tell about his life up in town, and what he lost at the races, and 
 how near he was to a good thing on the Riddlesworth ; but not a 
 word, not so much as a syllable would he say about his own hobble. 
 It was growing late ; we had had a regular bang-up breakfast — turtle 
 steaks and a devilled lobster, and plenty of good champagne — not 
 the sweet stuff your fiither gives us down here — but dry 'mum,' that 
 had a flavour oi" Marcobrunner about it. He's a rare fellow to troat a 
 man, is Jack ; and so I said — not going about the bush, but bang into 
 the thicket at once — ' What's this stupid row you've got into with 
 yom" Admiral '? what's it all about ? ' 
 
 " 'It's about a service regulation. Master Cutbill,' said he, with 
 a stiff look on him. ' A service regulation that you wouldn't under- 
 stand if you heard it.' 
 
 " * You think,' said I, ' that out of culverts and cuttings, Tom 
 Cutbill's opinion is not worth much ? ' 
 
 " ' No, no, not that, Cutbill : I never said that,' said he, laughing ; 
 * but you see that we sailors not only have all sorts of technicals for 
 the parts of a ship, but we have technical meanings for even the words 
 of common life, so that though I might call you a consummate hum- 
 bug, I couldn't say as much to a Vice-Admiral without the risk of 
 being judged by professional etiquette.' 
 
 " ' But you didn't call him that, did you ? ' said I. 
 
 " ' I'll call you worse, Cutty,' says he, laughing, ' if you don't 
 take your wine.' 
 
 " ' And now Jack,' said I, ' it's on the stroke of one ; I must start 
 with the express at one-forty, and as I came down here for nothing 
 on earth but to see if I could be of any use to you, don't let me go 
 away only as wise as I came ; be frank and tell me all about this 
 business, and when I go back to town it will push me hard if I can't 
 do something with the Somerset House fellows to pull you through.' 
 
 " ' You are a good-hearted dog, Cutty,' says he, ' and I thought 
 60 the first day I saw you ; but my scrape, as you call it, is just one 
 of those things you'd only blunder in. My fine brother Temple, or 
 that much finer gentleman Lord Culdufl', who can split words into 
 the thinnest of veneers, might possibly make such a confusion that it
 
 180 THE BnAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 would be hard to see who was right or who was wrong in the whole 
 aflfiiir ; but you, Cutty, with your honest intentions and your vulgar 
 good sense, would be sure to offend every one. There, don't lose your 
 train ; don't forget the cheroots and the punch, and some pleasant 
 books, if they be writing any such just now.' 
 
 " ' If you want money,' said I — ' I mean for the defence.' 
 
 " 'Not sixpence for the lawj'ers. Cutty; of that you may take 
 your oath,' said he, as he shook my hand. ' I'd as soon think of 
 sending the wardroom dinner overboard to the sharks.' We parted, 
 and the next thing I saw of him was that paragraph in The 
 Times.'' 
 
 " How misfortunes thicken around us. About a month or six 
 weeks ago when you came down here first, I suppose there wasn't a 
 family in the kingdom could call itself happier." 
 
 "You did look jolly, that I tvill say; but somehow — you'll not 
 take the remark ill — I saw that, as we rail-folk say, it was a capital 
 line for ordinary regular traffic, but would be sure to break down if 
 you had a press of business." 
 
 " I don't understand you." 
 
 " I mean that, so long as it was only a life of daily pleasure and 
 enjoyment was before you — that the gravest question of the day was 
 what horse you'd ride, or whom you'd invite to dinner, — so long as 
 that lasted, the machine would work well, — no jar, no friction any- 
 where ; but if once trouble — and I mean real trouble — was to come 
 down upon you, it would find you all at sixes and sevens, — no order, 
 no discipline anywhere, and, what's worse, no union. But you know 
 it better than I do. You see yourself that no two of you pull together ; 
 ain't that a fact ? " 
 
 Augustus shook his head mournfully, but was silent. 
 
 "I like to see people jolly, because they understand each other 
 and are fond of each other, because they take pleasure in the same 
 things, and feel that the success of one is the success of all. There's 
 no merit in being jolly over ten thousand a year and a house like 
 Windsor Castle. Now, just look at what is going on, I may call it, 
 under our noses here : does your sister Marion care a brass farthing 
 for Jack's misfortunes, or docs he feel a bit elated about her going to 
 marry a viscount ? Are you fretting your heart to ribbons because 
 that fine young gent that left us a while ago is about to be sent 
 envoy to Bogota? And that's fact, though ho don't know it yet," 
 added he, in a chuckling whisper. " It's a regular fairweather family, 
 and if it comes on to blow, you'll see if there's a storm-sail amongst 
 you." 
 
 "Apparently, then, you were aware of what was only divulged to
 
 MK. CUTBILL ARRIVES AT CASTELLO. 181 
 
 me this evening ? " said Augustus. " I mcaa the intended marriage 
 of Lord Culduff to my sister." 
 
 " I should say I was aware of it. I was, so to say, promoter and 
 projector. It was I started the enterprise. It was that took me over 
 to town. I went to square that business of Old Culduff. There was 
 n question to be asked in the House about his ai^poiutment that would 
 have led to a debate, or what they call a conversation — about the 
 freest kind of after-dinner talk imaginable — and they'd have ripped 
 up the old reprobate's whole life — and I assure you there are passages 
 in it wouldn't do for the Methodists' Ma//aziiu' — so I went over to 
 negotiate a little matter with Joel, who had, as I well knew, a small 
 sheaf of Norton's bills. I took Joel down to Greenwich to give him 
 a fish-dinner and talk the thing over, and we were right comfortable 
 and happy over some red Hermitage — thirty shillings a bottle, mind 
 you — when we heard a yell, just a yell, from the next room, and in 
 walks — whom do you think ? — Norton himself, with his napkin in his 
 hand — he was dining with a set of fellows from the Garrick, and he 
 swaggered in and sat down at our table. ' What infernal robbery are 
 you two concocting here ? ' said he. ' When the waiter told me who 
 were the fellows at dinner together, I said, ' These rascals are like 
 the witches in Macbeth, and they never meet without there's mischief 
 in the wind.' " 
 
 " The way he put it was so strong, there was something so home 
 in it, that I burst out and told him the whole story, and that it was 
 exactly himself, and no other, was the man we were discussing. 
 
 " 'And you thought,' said he, 'you thought that, if you had a 
 hold of my acceptances, you'd put the screw on me and squeeze mo 
 as flat as you pleased. Oh, generation of silkworms, ain't you soft ! ' 
 cried he, laughing. ' Order up another bottle of this, for I want to 
 drink your healths. You've actually made my fortune ! The thing 
 will now be first-rate. The Culduff inquiry was a mere matter of 
 public morals, but here, here is a direct attempt to coerce or influence 
 a Member of Parliament. I'll have you both at the Bar of the House 
 as sure as my name is Norton.' 
 
 " He then arose and began to rehearse the speech he'd make 
 when we were arraigned, and a spicier piece of abuse I never listened 
 to. The noise he made brought the other fellows in from the next 
 room, and he ordered them to make a house, and one was named 
 fipeaker and another black rod, and we were taken into custody and 
 duly purged of our contempt by paying for all the wine drank by the 
 entire company, a trifle of five-and-thirty pounds odd. The only 
 piece of comfort I got at all was getting into the rail to go back to 
 iown, when Norton whispered me, ' It's all right about Culduff,
 
 182 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 Parliament is dissolvccl ; the House rises on Tuesday, and he'll not 
 be mentioned.' " 
 
 " But does all this bear on the question of marriage ? " 
 
 " Quite naturally. Your father pulls Culduflf out of the mire, and 
 the viscount proposes for your sister. It's all contract business the 
 ■whole world over. By the way, where is our noble friend ? I suppose, 
 all things considered, I owe him a visit." 
 
 "You'll find him in his room. He usually dines alone, and I 
 believe Temple is the only one admitted." 
 
 " I'll send up my name," said he, rising to ring the bell for the 
 servant ; and I'll call myself lucky if he'll refuse to sec me." 
 
 " His lordship will be glad to see ]\Ir. Cutbill as soon as convenient 
 to him," replied the servant on his return. 
 
 " All my news for him is not so favourable as this," whispered 
 Cutbill, as he moved away. " They won't touch the mine in the 
 City. That last murder, though it was down in Tipperary, a hundred 
 and fifty miles away from this, has frightened them all ; and thej^ 
 say they're quite ready to do something at Lagos, or the Gaboon, but 
 nothing here. ' You see,' say they, ' if they cut one or two of our 
 people's heads off in Africa, we get up a gun-brig, and burn the 
 barracoons and slaughter a whole village for it, and this restores 
 confidence ; but in Ireland it always ends with a debate in the 
 House, that shows the people to have great wrongs and great 
 patience, and that their wild justice, as some one called it, was 
 all right ; and that, sir, that does not restore confidence.' Good- 
 night." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE VILLA ALTIERI. 
 
 There is a short season in which a villa within the walls of old 
 Rome realizes all that is positive ecstasy in the life of Italy. This 
 season begins usually towards the end of February and continues- 
 through the month of March. This interval — which in less favoured 
 lands is dedicated to storms of rain and sleet, cast winds and 
 equinoctial gales, tumbling chimney-pots and bronchitis — is here 
 signalized by all that Spring, in its most voluptuous abundance, can 
 pour forth : vegetation comes out, not with the laggard step of 
 northern climes — slow, cautious, and distrustful — but bursting at once 
 from bud to blossom as though impatient for the fresh air of life and 
 the warm rays of the sun. The very atmosphere laughs and trembles
 
 THE VILLA ALTIERI. 183 
 
 with vitalit)' : from the pantiug lizard ou the uru to the lu^yriad of 
 iusccts on the grass, it is hfe everywhere ; and over a)l sweeps the 
 dehcious odour of the verbena and the violet, almost overpowering 
 with perfume, so that one feels, in such a land, the highest ecstasy 
 of existence is that same dreamy state begotten of impressions derived 
 from blended sense, where tone and tint and odour mingle almost 
 into one. 
 
 Perhaps the loveliest spot of Rome in this loveliest of seasons was 
 the Villa Altieri. It stood ou a slope of the Pinciau, defended from 
 north and east, and looking eastward over the Campagna towards the 
 hills of Alhano. A thick ilex grove, too thick and dark for Italian, 
 though perfect to English taste, surrounded the house, oHeriug alleys 
 of shade that even the noonday's sun found impenetrable ; while 
 beneath the slope, and under shelter of the hill, lay a delicious 
 garden, memorable by a fountain designed by Thorwaldsen, where 
 four Naiades splash the water at each other under the fall of a 
 cataract ; this being the costly caprice of the Cardinal Altieri, to 
 complete which he had to conduct the water from the Lake of Albano. 
 Unlike most Italian gardens the plants and shrubs were not merely 
 those of the south, but all that the culture of Holland and England 
 could contribute to fragrance and colour were also there, and the 
 gorgeous tulips of the Hague, the golden ranunculus and crimson 
 carnation, which attain their highest beauty in moiiter climates, here 
 were varied with chrysanthemums and camelias. Gorgeous creepers 
 trailed from tree to tree or gracefully trained themselves around the 
 marble gi-oups, and clusters of orange -trees, glittering with golden 
 fruit, relieved in their darker green the almost too glaring brilliancy 
 of colour. 
 
 At a window which opened to the ground — and from which a 
 view of the garden, and beyond the garden the rich woods of the 
 Borghese Villa, and beyond these again, the massive Dome of 
 St. Peter's, extended — sat two ladies, so wonderfully alike that a 
 mere glance would have proclaimed them to bo sisters. It is true 
 the Countess Baldcroni was several years older than Lady Augusta 
 Bramleigh, hut whether from temperament or the easier llow of an 
 Italian life in comparison with the more wearing excitement of an 
 English existence, she certainly looked little, if anything, lier senior. 
 
 They were both handsome, — at least they had that character of 
 good looks which in Italy is deemed beauty, — they were singularly 
 lair, ^>•ith large deep-set blue-grey eyes, and light brown hair of a 
 marvellous abundance and silkiest fibre. They were alike soft-voiced 
 and gentle-mannered, and alike strong-willed and obstinate, of an 
 intense selfishness, and very capricious.
 
 184 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 "His eminence is late this evening," said Lady Augusta, looking 
 t\i hei watch. " It is nigh eight o'clock." 
 
 " I fancy, Gusta, he was not quite pleased with you last night. 
 On going away he said something, I didn't exactly catch it, but it 
 sounded like ' leggierezza ; ' he thought you had not treated his 
 legends of St. Francis with becoming seriousness." 
 
 "If he wanted me to be grave he oughtn't to tell me funny 
 stories." 
 
 " The lives of the saints, Gusta ! " 
 
 " Well, dearest, that scene in the forest where St. Francis asked 
 the devil to flog him, and not to desist even though he should be 
 weak enough to implore it — wasn't that dialogue as droll as anything 
 in Boccaccio ? " 
 
 " It's not decent, it's not decorous, to laugh at any incident in 
 the lives of holy men." 
 
 " Holy men then should never be funny, at least when they are 
 presented to me, for it's always the absurd side of everything has the 
 greatest attraction for me." 
 
 " This is certainly not the spirit which will lead you to the 
 Church ! " 
 
 " But I thought I told you already, dearest, that it's the road I 
 like, not the end of the journey. Courtship is confessedly better 
 than marriage, and the being converted is infinitely nicer than the 
 state of conviction." 
 
 " Oh, Gusta, what are you saying ? " 
 
 " Saying what I most fervently feel to be true. Don't you know 
 better even than myself, that it is the zeal to rescue me from the fold 
 of the heretics, surrounds me every evening with monsignori and 
 vescovi, and attracts to the sofa where I happen to sit, purple 
 stockings, and red, a class of adorers, I am free to own, there is 
 nothing in the lay world to compare with ; and don't you know too, 
 that the work of conversion accomplished, these seductive saints will 
 be on the look-out for a new sinner ? " 
 
 " And is this the sincerity in which you profess your new faith ? 
 is it thus that you mean to endow a new edifice to the honour of the 
 Holy Religion ? " 
 
 " Cara mia ! I want worship, homage, and adoration myself, and 
 it is as absolute a necessity of my being, as if I had been born up 
 there, and knew nothing of this base earth and its belongings. Bi 
 just, my dearest sister, and see for once the diflcreuce between us. 
 You have a charming husband, who never plagues, never bores you, 
 whom you see when it is pleasant to see, and dismiss when you an 
 wcaiy of him. He never worries vou about monev, ho has m
 
 THE VILLA. ALTIERI. 185 
 
 especial cxtravagauce, and does not much trouble himself about any- 
 thing, — I have none of these. I am married to a man almost double 
 my age, taken from another class, and imbued with a whole set of 
 notions dillerent from my own. I can't live with Ids people ; my own 
 won't have me. "What then is left but the refuge of that emotional 
 existence which the Church offers, — a sort of pious flirtation with a 
 runaway match in the distance, only it is to be Heaven, not Gretna 
 Green." 
 
 " So that all this while you have never been serious, Gusta ? " 
 
 " Most serious ! I have actually written to my husband — you 
 road the letter — acquainting him with my intended change of I'eligion, 
 and my desire to mark the sincerity of my profession by that most 
 signal of all proofs — a moneyed one. As I told the Cardinal last 
 night. Heaven is never so sure of us as when we draw on our banker 
 to go there !" 
 
 "How you must shock his eminence when you speak in 
 this way." 
 
 " So he told me, but I must own he looked very tenderly into my 
 fyes as he said so. Isn't it provoking ? " said she, as she arose and 
 moved out into the garden. " No post yet ! It is always so, when 
 one is on thorns for a letter. Now when one thinks that the mail 
 arrives at daybreak, what can they possibly mean by not distributing 
 the letters till evening ? Did I tell you what I said to Monsiguore 
 Kicci, who has some function at the Post Office ? " 
 
 " No, but I trust it was not a rude speech ; ho is always 
 so polite." 
 
 " I said that as I was ever very impatient for my letters I had 
 requested all my correspondents to write in a great round legible 
 hand, which M'ould give the authorities no pretext for delay, while 
 deciphering their contents." 
 
 " I declare, Gusta, I am amazed at you. I cannot imagine how 
 you can venture to say such things to persons in office." 
 
 " My dear sister, it is the only way they could ever hear them. 
 There is no freedom of the press here ; in society nobody speaks out. 
 What would become of those people if they only heard the sort of 
 stories they tell each other ; besides, I'm going to be one of them. 
 Thoy must bear with a little indiscipline. The sergeant always 
 pardons the recruit for being disorderly on the day of enlistment." 
 
 The countess shook her head disapprovingly and was silent. 
 
 " Oh, dear! oh, dear! " sighed Lady Augusta. "I wonder what 
 tidings the post will bring me. Will my aifectionate and afflicted 
 husband comply with my prayer, and be willing to endow the Church, 
 and secure his own freedom ; or, will he be sordid, and declare that
 
 186 THE BrwiMLEIGHS OF LISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 he can't live without me ? I know you'd laugh, dear, or I'd tell you 
 that the man is actually violeutly in love with me. You've no notion 
 of the difficulty I have to prevent him writing tender letters to me." 
 
 "You are too, too had, I declare," said the other, smothering a 
 rising laugh. 
 
 " Of course I'd not permit such a thing. I stand on my dignity, 
 and say, ' Have a care, sir.' Oh, here it comes ! here's the poit \ 
 "What ! only two letters after all ? She's a dun ! Madame La 
 Ruelle, Place Vendome — the cruellest creature that ever made a 
 ball-dress. It is to tell me she can't wait ; and I'm so sick of saying 
 she must, that I'll not write any more. And who is this ? The post- 
 mark is ' Portshandon.' Oh ! I see ; here's the name in the corner. 
 This is from our eldest son, the future head of the house. 
 Mr. Augustus Bramleigh is a bashful creature of about my own age, 
 who was full of going to New Zealand and turning sheep-farmer. 
 True, I assure you ; he is an enthusiast about iudependence ; v/hich 
 means he has a grand vocation for the workhouse." 
 
 "By what strange turn of events has he become your corres- 
 pondent ? " 
 
 " I should say, Dora, it looks ill as regards the money. I'm 
 afraid that this bodes a refusal." 
 
 " Would not the shorter way be to read it ? " said the 
 other simply. 
 
 " Yes, the shorter but perhaps not the sweeter. There are little 
 events in life which arc worse than even uncertainties ; but here 
 goes : — 
 
 " ' Castello. 
 " ' My dear Lady Augusta, — 
 
 ("A very pretty beginning from my son — I mean my husband's 
 son ; and yet he could not have commenced ' Dearest Mamma.' ") 
 
 " ' I WRITE my first letter to you at a very painful moment. My 
 poor father was seized on Tuesday last with a most serious and sudden 
 illness, to which the physician as yet hesitates to give a name. It 
 is, however, on the brain or the membranes, and deprives him of all 
 inclination, though not entirely of all power, to use his faculties. He 
 is, moreover, enjoined to avoid every source of excitement, and even 
 forbidden to converse. Of course, under these afflicting circum- 
 stances, everything vrhich relates to business in any way is impera- 
 tively excluded from his knowledge ; and must continue to be so till 
 some change occurs.
 
 TOE VILLA ALTIEKI. 187 
 
 " ' It is not at such a moment you ^vould expect to boar of a 
 marriage in the family, and yet yesterday my sister Marion was 
 married to Lord Viscount Culdufl'.' " 
 
 Here she laid down the letter, and stared with an expression of 
 almost overwhelmed amazement at her sister. "Lord Culduff! 
 Where's the Peerage, Dora ? Surely it must ho the same who was 
 at Dresden when we were children ; he wasn't married — there can he 
 no son. Oh, here he is : ' Henry Plantagenet de Lacey, fourteenth 
 Viscount Culduff; horn 9th February, 17 — .' Last century. V^Tiy, 
 he's the patriarch of the peers, and she's twenty-four ! "VMiat cau 
 the girl mean ? " 
 
 " Do read on ; I'm impatient for more." 
 
 " ' The imperative necessity for Lord Culduff to hold himself in 
 readiness for whatever post in the diplomatic service the Minister 
 might desire him to occupy, was the chief reason for the marriage 
 taking place at this conjuncture. My father, however, himself was 
 very anxious on the subject ; and, indeed, insisted strongly on being 
 present. The ceremony was accordingly performed in his ov>'n room, 
 and I rejoice to say that, though naturally much excited, he does not 
 appear to have sustained any increase of malady from this tr3-ing 
 event. I need not tell you the great disparity of age between my 
 sister and her husband : a disparity which I ovm enlisted mo amongst 
 those who opposed the match. Marion, however, so firmly insisted 
 on her right to choose for herself, and her fortune being completely' 
 at her own disposal, that all continued opposition would have been 
 not alone unavailing for the present, but a source of coldness and 
 estrangement for the future. 
 
 "'The Culdufls'— (how sweetly familiar) — ' the CuldufTs left 
 this for Paris this day, where I believe they intend to remain till the 
 question of Lord Culduff's post is determined on. My sister ardently 
 hopes it may be in Italy, as she is most desirous to be near you.' " 
 
 " Can you imagine such a hoiror as this woman playing daughter 
 to me and yet going into dinner before me, and making me feel her 
 rank on every possible occasion ! All this here I see is business,, 
 nothing but business. The Colonel, it would seem, must have been 
 breaking before they suspected, for all his late speculations have 
 turned out ill. Penstyddin Copper Mine is an utter failure ; the 
 New Caledonian Packet Line a smash ! and there's a whole list of 
 crippled enterprises. It's very nice of Augustus, however, to say- 
 that though he mentions these circumstances, which might possibly
 
 188 THE ERAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 reach me tlirougli other channels, no event that he could contem- 
 plate should in any way afiect my income, or any increase of it that 
 I deem essential to my comfort or convenience ; and although in 
 total ignorance as he is of all transactions of the house, he begs me 
 to write to himself directly when any question of increased expense 
 should arise — which I certainly will. He's a hiionjifjliuolo, BoWy 
 — that must be said — and it would be shameful not to develop such 
 generous instincts." 
 
 " ' If my father's illness should be unhappily protracted, means 
 must be taken, I believe, to devolve his share in business matters 
 upon some other. I regret that it cannot possibly be upon myself ; 
 but I am totally unequal to the charge, and have not, besides, 
 courage for the heavy responsibility.' " 
 
 " That's the whole of it," said she, with a sigh ; " and all things 
 considered, it might have been v.'orse." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 CASTZLLO. 
 
 Castello had now become a very dreary abode. Lord and Lady 
 Culduff had taken their departure for Paris. Temple had gone up 
 to town to try and manage an exchange, if by good luck any one 
 could be found to believe that Bogota was a desirable residence, and 
 a fine field for budding diplomacies ; and none remained but Nelly 
 and Augustus to relieve each other in watches beside their father's 
 sick-bed. 
 
 Young and little experienced in life as she was, Nelly proved a 
 great comfort and support to her brother in these trying hours. At 
 first he told her nothing of the doubts and fears that beset him. In 
 fact they had assumed no shape sufficiently palpable to convey. 
 
 It was his daily custom to go over the letters that each morning 
 brought, and in a few words — the very fewest he could employ — 
 acquaint Mr. Underwood, the junior partner, of his father's pre- 
 carious state, and protest against being able, in the slightest degree, 
 to ofl'or any views or guidance as to the conduct of matters of business. 
 These would now and then bring replies in a tone that showed how 
 little Underwood himself was acquainted with many of the trans-
 
 CASTELLO. 183 
 
 actions of the House, and liow completely he was accustomed to 
 submit himself to Colonel Bramleigh's guidance. Even in his 
 affected retirement from business Bramleigh had not withdrawn 
 from the direction of the weightiest of the matters which ragarded 
 the firm, and jealously refused any — the slightest — attempt or' his 
 partner to influence his judgment. 
 
 One of Underwood's letters completely puzzled Augustus : not 
 only by the obscurity of its wording, but by the evident trace in it 
 of the writer's own inability to explain his meaning. There was a 
 passage which ran thus : — " Mr. Sedley was down again, and this 
 time the amount is two thousand five hundred, and though I begged 
 he would give me time to communicate with you before honouring so 
 weighty a draft, he replied — I take pains to record his exact words : 
 — ' There is no time for this ; I shall think myself very fortunate, 
 and deem Colonel Bramleigh more fortunate still, if I am not forced 
 to call upon you for four times as much within a fortnight.' " After 
 referring to other matters, there was this at the end of the letter, — 
 
 " S has just repaid the amount he so lately drew from the bank ; 
 
 — he appeared chagrined and out of spirits, merely saying, ' Tell the 
 Colonel the negotiation has broke down, and that I will write to- 
 morrow.' " 
 
 The promised letter from Sedley had not come, but in its place 
 was a telegram from him saying, " I find I must see and speak with 
 you ; I shall go over by Saturday, and be with you on Sunday 
 morning." 
 
 " Of course he cannot see papa," said Nelly ; " the doctor more 
 strongly than ever insists on perfect repose." 
 
 " And it's little worth his while to make the journey to sec »/<'," 
 said he dispiritedly. 
 
 "Perhaps he only wants your sanction, yjur concurrence, to 
 something he thinks it wise to do, — who knows ? " 
 
 "Just so, Nelly ; who knows? All these weighty speculations 
 entered upon to convert thousands into tens of thousands have no 
 sympathy of mine. I see no object in such wealth. The accumula- 
 tion of what never spares one a moment for its enjoyment, seems to 
 me as foolish as the act of a man who would pass his life scaling a 
 mountain to obtain a view, and drop down of fatigue before he had 
 once enjoyed it. You and I, I take it, would be satisfied with far 
 humbler fortune ? " 
 
 " You and I, Gusty," said she, laughingly, " are the ignoble 
 members of this family." 
 
 " Then there comes another difficulty ; Sedley will at once see 
 that I have not shared my fiither's confidence, and he will be very
 
 190 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 cautious about telling me of matters which have not been entrusted 
 to me already." 
 
 " Perhaps we are only worrying ourselves for nothing, Gusty. 
 Perhaps there are no secrets after all ; or at worst, only those trade 
 secrets which are great mysteries in the counting-house, but have no 
 interest for any not deep in speculation." 
 
 " If I only thought so ! " 
 
 " Have you sufficient confidence in Mr. Cutbill to take him into 
 your counsel? he will be back here to-morrow." 
 
 " Scarcely, Nelly. I do not exactly distrust, but I can't say that 
 I like him." 
 
 " I hated him at first, but either I have got used to his vulgarity, 
 or I fancy that he is really good-natured, or, from whatever the cause, 
 I incline to like him better than when he eame, and certainly he be- 
 haved well to poor Jack." 
 
 " Ah, there's another trouble that I have not thought of. Jack, 
 who does not appear to know how ill my poor father is, asks if he 
 could not be induced to write to — somebody, — I forget whom, in his 
 behalf. In fact, Nelly, there is not a corner without its special difii- 
 culty, and I verily believe there never was a man less made to meet 
 them than myself." 
 
 "I'll take as much of the load as I have strength for," said she, 
 quietly. 
 
 " I know that; I know it well, Nelly. I can scarcely say what 
 I'd do without you now. Here comes the doctor. I'm very anxious 
 to hear what he'll say this evening." 
 
 Belton had made a long visit to the sick-room, and his look 
 was graver than usual as he came down the stairs. " His head is 
 full of business ; he will give his brain no respite," said he ; " but for 
 that, I'd not call his case hopeless. Would it not be possible to let 
 him suppose that all the important matters which weigh upon him 
 were in safe hands and in good guidance ? " 
 
 Augustus shook his head doubtingly. 
 
 " At least could he not be pursuaded to sufi'er some one — yourself, 
 for example — to take the control of such aflairs as require prompt 
 action till such time as he may bo able to resume their management 
 himself ? " 
 
 " I doubt it, doctor ; I doubt it much. Men who, like my fither, 
 have had to deal with vast and weighty interests, grow to feel that 
 inexperienced people — of my own stamp, for instance — are but sorry 
 substitutes in time of difficulty ; and I have more than once heard 
 him say, ' I'd rather lash the tiller and go below, than give over the 
 helm to a bad steersman.' "
 
 CISTELLO. 191 
 
 " I v;oulf.l bogiu," contiaued tlio doctor, " by forbidding him all 
 access to his letters. You must have sceu how nervous und excited 
 he becomes as the hour of the post draws nigh. I think I shall take 
 this responsibility on myself." 
 
 " I wish you would." 
 
 "He has given me in some degree the opportunity, for he has 
 already asked when he might have strcugth enough to dictate a 
 letter, and I have replied that I would be guided by the state in 
 which I may find him to-morrow for the answer. My impression is 
 that what he calls a letter is in reality a will. Are you aware whether 
 he has yet made one ? " 
 
 "I know nothing, absolutely nothing, of my father's affairs." 
 
 " The next twelve hours will decide much," said the doctor, as 
 ho moved away, and Augustus sat pondering alone over what he had 
 said, and trying to work out in his mind whether his father's secrets 
 involved anything deeper and more serious than the complications of 
 business and the knotty combinations of weighty affairs. 
 
 Wearied out — for he had been up the greater part of the night — 
 and fatigued, he fell off' at last into a heavy sleep, from which l:c 
 was awoke by Nelly, who gently leaning on his shoulder, whispered, 
 " Mr. Sedley has come, Gusty ; he is at supper in the oak parlour. I 
 told him I thought you had gone to lie down for an hour, for I knew 
 you were tired," 
 
 " No, not tired, Nelly," said he, arousing himself, haif-ashanicd 
 of being caught asleep. "I came in here to think, and I believe I 
 dropped into a doze. What is ho like, this Mr. Sedley ? What 
 manner of man is he ? " 
 
 "He is small and grey, with a slight stoop, and a formal sort of 
 manner. I don't like him. I mean his manner checked and repelled 
 me, and I was glad to get away from him." 
 
 " My father thinks highly of his integrity, I know." 
 
 " Yes, I am aware of that. He is an excellent person, I believe ; 
 rather non-attractive." 
 
 " Well," said he, with a half-sigh, " I'll go and see whether my 
 impression of him be the same as yours. Will you come in, Nelly ? " 
 
 " Not unless j'ou particularly wish it," said she, gravely. 
 
 " No ; I make no point of it, Nelly. I'll see you again by-aud- 
 
 Augustus found Mr. Sedley over his wine. He had dispatched a 
 hasty meal, and was engaged looking over a mass of papers and 
 letters with which a black leather-bag at his side seemed to be filled. 
 A/ter a few words of greeting, received by the visitor with a formal 
 politeness, Augustus proceeded to explain how his father's state pre-
 
 102 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOp's FOLLY. 
 
 eluded all questions of business, and that the injunctions of the doctor 
 were positive on this head. 
 
 *' His mind is clear, however, isn't it ? " asked Sedley. 
 
 " Perfectly. He has never wandered, except in the few moments 
 after sleep." 
 
 "I take it, I shall be permitted to see him ?" 
 
 " Certainly ; if the doctor makes no objection, you shall." 
 
 " And possibly, too, I may be allowed to ask him a question or 
 two ? Matters which I know he will be well prepared to answer me." 
 
 " I am not so confident about that. Within the last hour 
 Doctor Belton has declared perfect quiet, perfect repose, to be of the 
 utmost importance to my father." 
 
 " Is it not possible, Mr. Bramleigh, that I may be able to con- 
 tribute to this state by setting your father's mind at rest, with reference 
 to what may press very heavily on him ? " 
 
 " That is more than I can answer," said Augustus, cautiousl}'. 
 
 " Well," said Sedley, pushing back his chair from the table, " if I 
 am not permitted to see Colonel Bramleigh, I shall have made 
 this journey for nothing — without, sir, that you will consent to 
 occupy your father's position, and give your sanction to a line of 
 action ? " 
 
 " You know my father, Mr. Sedley, and I need not tell you how 
 so presumptuous a step on my part might be resented by him." 
 
 " Under ordinary circumstances I am sure he would resent such 
 interference, but here, in the present critical emergency, he might 
 feel — and not without reason, perhaps — more displeased at your want 
 of decision." 
 
 " But when I tell you, Mr. Sedley, that I know nothing of 
 business, that I know no more of the share list than I do of Sanscrit, 
 that I never followed the rise and fall of the funds, and am as ignorant 
 of what influences the exchanges as I am of what aliects the tides ; 
 when I have told you all this, you will, I am sure, see that any 
 opinion of mine must be utterly valueless." 
 
 " I don't exactly know, Mr. Bramleigh, that I'd have selected 
 you if I wanted a guide to a great speculation or a large investment ; 
 but the business which has brought me down here is not of this 
 nature. It is besides a question as to which, in the common course 
 of events, you might bo obliged to determine what line you would 
 adopt. After your father, you are the head of this family, and I think 
 it is time you should learn that you may be called upon to-morrow or 
 next day to defend your right, not only to j'our property, but to your 
 name." 
 
 "For heaven's sake, what do you mean ? "
 
 CASTELLO. 1 93 
 
 " Be calm, sir, aud grant me a patient hearing, and jou shall 
 !ioar the subject on which I have come to obtain yourfathcrs opinion, 
 and failing that, yours — for, as I have said, Mr. Bramleigh, a day or 
 two more may make the case one for your own decision. And now, 
 without entering into the history of the affair, I will simply say that 
 an old claim against your father's entailed estates has been recently 
 revived, and under circumstances of increased importance ; that I 
 have been for some time back in negotiation to arrange this matter 
 by a compromise, and with every hope of success ; but that the nego- 
 tiations have been unexpectedly broken off by the demands of the 
 claimant — demands so far above all calculation, and indeed I may say 
 above all fairness — that I have come over to ask whether your father 
 will accede to them or accept the issue of the law as to his right." 
 
 Augustus sat like one stunned by a heavy blow, not utterly uncon- 
 scious, but so much overcome and so confused that lie could not venture 
 to utter a word. 
 
 " I see I have shocked you by my news, !Mr. Bramleigh, but these 
 are things not to bo told by halves." 
 
 "I know nothing of all this; I never so much as heard of it," 
 gasped out Augustus. " Tell me all that you know about it." 
 
 " That would be a somewhat long story," said the other, smiling, 
 " but I can, in a short space, tell you enough to put the main facts 
 before you, and enable you to see that the case is, with all its diffi- 
 culties of proof, a very weighty and serious one, and not to be 
 dismissed, as your father once opined, as the mere menace of a needy 
 adventurer." 
 
 With as much brevity as the narrative permitted, Sedley told the 
 story of Pracoutal's claim. It was, he said, an old demand revived ; 
 but under circumstances that showed that the claimant had won over 
 adherents to his cause, and that some men with means to bring the 
 case to trial had espoused his side. Pracontal's father, added he, 
 was easily dealt with ; he was a vulgar fellow, of dissipated habits 
 and wasteful ways ; but his taste for plot and intrigue — very serious 
 conspiracies, too, at times — had so much involved him that he was 
 seldom able to show himself, and could only resort to letter-writing 
 to press his demands. In fact, it was always his lot to be in hiding 
 on this charge or that, and the police of half Europe were eager in 
 pursuit of him. With a man so deeply compromised, almost outlawed 
 over the whole Continent, it was notdilHcult to treat, and it happened 
 more than once that he was for years without anything being heard 
 of him ; and, in fact, it was clear that he only preferred his claim as 
 a means of raising a little money, when all other moans of obtaining 
 supplies had failed him. At last, news of his death arrived — he died 
 
 13
 
 19-1 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY, 
 
 at Monte Video — aiul it was at first believed that he had never 
 married, and consequently that his claim, if it deserved such a name, 
 died with him. It was only three years ago, that the demand was 
 revived, and this man, M. Anatole Pracontal as he called himself, 
 using his maternal name, appeared in the field as the rightful owner 
 of the Bramleigh estates. 
 
 " Now this man is a very difi'erent sort of person from his father. 
 He has been well educated, mixed much with the world, and has the 
 manners and bearing of a gentleman. I have not been able to learn 
 much of his career ; but I know that he served as a lieutenant in a 
 French hussar regiment, and subsequently held some sort of employ- 
 ment in Egypt. He has never stooped to employ threat or menace, 
 bat frankly appealed to the law to establish his claim, and his solicitor, 
 Kelson, of Furnival's Inn, is one of the most respectable men in the 
 profession." 
 
 " You have seen this Monsieur Pracontal yourself ? " 
 
 " Yes. By a strange accident, I met him at your brother's, Captain 
 Braraleigh's, breakfast-table. They had been fellow-travellers, with- 
 out the slightest suspicion on either side how eventful such a meeting 
 might be. Your brother, of course, could know nothing of Pracontal's 
 pretensions ; but Pracontal, when he came to know with whom he 
 had been travelling, must have questioned himself closely as to what 
 might have dropped from him inadvertently." 
 
 Augustus leaned his head on his hand in deep thought, and for 
 geveral minutes was silent. At last he said, — " Give me your own 
 opinion, Mr. Sedley — I don't mean your opinion as a lawyer, relying 
 on nice technical questions or minute points of law, but simply your 
 judgment as a man of sound sense, and, above all, of such integrity 
 as I know you to possess — and tell me what do you think of this 
 claim ? Is it — in one word, is it founded on right ? " 
 
 " You are asking too much of me, Mr. Bramleigh. First of all, 
 you ask me to disassociate myself from all the habits and instincts of 
 my daily life, and give you an opinion on a matter of law, based on 
 other rules of evidence than those which alone I suffer myself to be 
 guided by. I only recognize one kind of right, that which the law 
 declares and decrees." 
 
 " Is there not such a thing as a moral right ? "' 
 
 " There may be ; but we are disputatious enough in this world, 
 with all our artificial aids to some fixity of judgment, and for heaven's 
 Bake let us not soar up to the realms of morality for our decisions, or 
 we shall bid adieu to guidance for over." 
 
 " I'm not of your mind there, sir. I think it is quite possible to 
 nouccive a case in which there could be no doubt on v/hich sido lay
 
 CASTELLO. 193 
 
 tlio right, and not difficult to believe that there are men who woull 
 act, on conviction, to their own certain detriment." 
 
 " It's a very hopeful view of humanitj-, Mr. Bramleigh," said the 
 lawyer, and he took a pinch of snuff. 
 
 " I am certain it is a just one. At least, I will go this far to 
 sustain my opinion. I will declare to you here, that if the time should 
 ever come that it may depend upon me to decide this matter, if I 
 satisfy my mind that M. Pracontal's claim bo just and equitable — 
 that, in fact, he is simply asking for his own — I'll not screen myself 
 behind the law's delays or its niceties : I'll not make it a question 
 of the longest purse or the ablest advocate, but frankly admit that 
 the property is his, and cede it to him." 
 
 " I have only one remark to make, Mr. Bramleigh, which is, 
 Keep this determination strictly to j'ourself, and above all things, do 
 not acquaint Colonel Bramleigh with these opinions." 
 
 *' I suspect that my father is not a stranger to them," said 
 Augustus, reddening with shame and irritation together. 
 
 " It is therefore as well, sir, that there is no question of a com- 
 promise to lay before you. You are for strict justice and no favour." 
 
 " I repeat, Mr. Sedley, I am for him who has the right." 
 
 "So am I," quickly responded Sedley; " and we alone differ 
 about the meaning of that word ; but let me ask another question. 
 Are you aware that this claim extends to nearly everything you havo 
 in the Avorld : that the interest alone on the debt would certainly 
 swallow up all your funded property, and make a great inroad besides 
 on your securities and foreign bonds ? " 
 
 "I can well believe it," said the other, mournfully. 
 
 "I must saj', sir,'' said Sedley, as he rose and proceeded to 
 thrust the papers hurriedly into his bag, " that though I am highly 
 impressed — very highly impressed, indeed, with the noble sentiments 
 you have delivered on this occasion — sentiments, I am bound to 
 admit, that a long professional career has never made me acquainted 
 with till this day — yet, on the whole, Mr. Bramleigh, looking at tbe 
 question with a view to its remote consequences, and speculating on 
 what would result if such opinions as yours were to meet a general 
 acceptance, I am bound to say I prefer the verdict of twelve men in 
 a jury-box to the most impartial judgment of any individual breathing ; 
 and I wish you a very good-night." 
 
 What Mr. Sedley muttered to himself as he ascended the stairs, 
 in what spirit be canvassed the character of Mr. Augustus Bramleigh, 
 the reader need not know ; and it is fully as well that our story does 
 not require it should be recorded. One only remark, however, may 
 bo preserved : it was said as he reached the door of his room and
 
 l;)o THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 iippnreutly in a sort of summing up of all that had occurred to liim— 
 ** These creatures, with their cant about conscience, don't seem to» 
 know that this mischievous folly would unsettle half the estates iu 
 the kingdom ; and there's not a man in England would know what 
 he was born to, till he had got his father in a madhouse." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE HOTEL BRISTOL. 
 
 In a handsome apartment of the Hotel Bristol at Paris sat Lord and 
 Lady Culduff, at tea. They were in deep mourning ; and though 
 they were perfectly alone, the room was splendidly lighted, — branches 
 of candles figuring on every console, and the glass lustre that hung 
 fiom the ceiling a blaze of waxlights. 
 
 If Lord Culduff looked older and more careworn than we have 
 lately seen him, Marion seemed in higher bloom and beauty, and the 
 haughty, half-defiant air which had, in a measure, spoiled the charm 
 of her girlhood, sat with a sort of dignity on her features as a woman. 
 
 Not a word was spoken on either side ; and from her look of 
 intense preoccupation, as she swt gazing on the broad hem of her 
 liaudkerchief, it was evident that her thoughts were wandering far 
 away from the place she was in. As they sat thus, the door was 
 noiselessly opened by a servant in deep black, who, in a very sub- 
 dued voice, said, " The Duke de Castro, your Excellency." 
 
 " I don't receive," was the cold reply, and the man withdrew. 
 In about a quarter of an hour after he reappeared, and in the same 
 stealthy tone said, "Madame la Comtesse de Renneville begs she 
 may have the honour " 
 
 " Lady Culdufi' does not receive," said his lordship, sternly. 
 
 " The countess has been very kind ; she has been here to inquire 
 after me several times." 
 
 " She is a woman of intense curiosity," said he slowly. 
 
 "I'd have said of great good nature." 
 
 "And you'd have said perfectly wrong, madam. The woman is 
 a political ' intriguante,' who only lives to unravel mysteries ; and 
 the one that is now puzzling her is too much for her good manners." 
 
 " I declare, my lord, that I do not follow you." 
 
 " I'm quite sure of that, madam. The sort of address Madame 
 de Renneville boasts was not a quality that your life in Ireland was 
 likely to make you familiar with."
 
 THE HOTEL BRISTOL. 197 
 
 "I'd beg you to remember, my lord," said sbe, angrily, "that 
 all my experiences of the world have not been derived from that side 
 of the Channel." 
 
 " I'm cruel enough to say, madam, that I wish they had ! There 
 is nothing so difficult as unlearning." 
 
 " I wish, my lord — I heartily wish — that you had made t'lis 
 discovery earlier." 
 
 " Madam," said he, slowly, and with much solemnity of manner, 
 " I owe it to each of us to own that I had made what you are pleased 
 to call this ' discovery ' while there was yet time to obviate its con- 
 sequences. My very great admiration had not blinded me as to 
 certain peculiarities, let me call them, of manner ; and if my vanity 
 induced me to believe that I should be able to correct them, it is 
 my only error." 
 
 "I protest, my lord, if my temper sustain me under such insult 
 as this, I think I might be acquitted of ill breeding," 
 
 " I live in the hope, madam, that such a charge would be 
 impossible." 
 
 "I suppose you mean," said she, with a sneering smile, " when 
 I have taken more lessons, — when I have completed the course of 
 instruction you so courteously began with me yesterday ? " 
 
 "Precisely, madam, precisely. There are no heaven - boru 
 courtiers. The graces of manner are as much matter of acquire- 
 ment as are the notes in music. A delicate organization has the 
 same disadvantage in the one case that a fine ear has in the other. 
 It substitutes an aptitude for what ought to be pure acquirement. 
 The people who are naturally well mannered are like the people who 
 sing by ear ; and I need not say what inflictions are both." 
 
 "And you really think, my lord, that I may yet be able to cuter 
 a room and leave it with becoming grace and dignity ? " 
 
 "You enter a room well, madam," said he, with a judicial 
 slowness. "Now that you have subdued the triumphant air I 
 objected to, and assumed more quietness, — the blended softness 
 with reserve, — your approach is good, I should say, extremely good. 
 To withdraw is, however, far more difficult. To throw into the 
 deference of leave-taking, — for it is always a permission you seem 
 to ask, — the tempered sorrow of departure with the sense of tasted 
 enjoyment, to do this with ease and elegance, and not a touch of 
 the dramatic about it, is a very high success ; and I grieve to say, 
 madam," added he, seriously, " it is a success not yet accorded you. 
 Would you do me the great favour to repeat our lesson of this 
 morning — I mean the curtsey with the two steps retiring, and thou 
 the slide ? "
 
 1L8 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " If jou do not think me well mauneretl, my lord, you must at 
 least believe me very good-tempered," said she, flushing. 
 
 " Let me assure you, my lady, that to the latter quality I attach 
 DO importance whatever. Persons who respect themselves never 
 visit peculiarities of temperament ou others. We have our infirmi- 
 ties of nature, as we have our maladies ; but we keep them for 
 ourselves, or for our doctor. It is the triumph of the well-bred world 
 to need nothing but good manners." 
 
 " What charming people. I lake it that heaven must be peopled 
 ■with lords-in-waiting." 
 
 *' Let me observe to your ladyship that there is no greater 
 enormity in manners than an epigram. Keep this smartness for 
 correspondence exclusively, abstain from it strictly in conversation." 
 
 "I protest, my lord, your lessons come so thick that I despair of 
 being able to profit by half of them. Meanwhile, if I am not com- 
 mitting another solecism against good manners, I should like to say 
 good night." 
 
 Lord Culduff arose and walked to the door, to be ready to open 
 it as she approached. Meanwhile, she busied herself collecting her 
 fan and her scent-bottle and her handkerchief, and a book she had 
 been reading. 
 
 "Hadn't Yirginie better come for these things?" said he 
 quietly. 
 
 " Oh, certainly," replied she, dropping them hurriedly on the 
 table ; " I'm always transgressing ; but I do hope, my lord, with 
 time, and with that sincere desire to learn that animates me, I may 
 yet attain to at least so many of the habits of your lordship's order as 
 may enable me to escape censure." 
 
 He smiled and bowed a courteous concurrence with the wish, but 
 did not speak. Though her lip now trembled with indignation, and 
 her cheek was flushed, she controlled her temper, and as she drew 
 nigh the door dropped a low and most respectful curtsey. 
 
 " Very nice, very nice, indeed; a thought perhaps, too formal, — 
 I mean for the occasion, — but in admirable taste. Your ladyship is 
 grace itself." 
 
 " My lord, you arc a model of courtesy." 
 
 "I cannot even attempt to convey what pleasure your words give 
 me," s.^id he, pressing her hand to his heart and bowing low. Mean- 
 while, with a darkening brow and a look of hanghty defiance, she 
 swept past him and left the room. 
 
 " Isn't Marion well ? " said Temple Bramlcigh, as he entered a 
 few minutes later; " her maid told me she had gone to her room." 
 "Quite well: a little fagged, perhaps, by a day of visiting;
 
 " i\ly Lend, you arc a Model of Courtesy '
 
 THE HOTEL LKISTOL. 190 
 
 nothing bcyoiul that. You have been diuiug at the embassy ? Whom 
 had you there ? " 
 
 " A family party aud a few of the smaller diplomacies." 
 
 " To be sure. It was Friday. Any uews stirring ? " 
 
 " Nothing whatever." 
 
 *' Does Bartleton talk of retiriug still ? " 
 
 " Yes. He says he is sick of sending in his demand for retire- 
 ment. That they always say, * We can't spare you ; you must hold 
 on a little longer. If you go out now, there's Bailey and Hammer- 
 smith, and half-a-dozen others will come insisting on advance- 
 ment.' " 
 
 " Didn't he say Culduff too ? eh, didn't he ? " said the old lord, 
 with a wicked twinkle of the eye. 
 
 " I'm not sure he didn't," said Temple, blushing. 
 
 " He did, sir, aud he said more — he said, Rather than see Culduff 
 here, I'd stay on and serve these twenty^ years." 
 
 " I didn't hear him say that, certainly." 
 
 " No, sir, perhaps not, but he said it to himself, as sure as I 
 stand here, Thei'e isn't a country in Europe — I say it advisedly — 
 where intellect — I mean superior intellect — is so persistentW perse- 
 cuted as in England. I don't want my enemy to have any heavier 
 misfortune than to be born a man of brains and a Briton ! Once that 
 it's known that you stand above your fellow-men, the whole world is 
 arrayed against you. Who knows that better than he who now 
 speaks to you ? Have I ever been forgiven the Erzeroum convention ? 
 Even George Canning — from whom one might have expected better 
 — even he used to say, * How well Culduff managed that commercial 
 treaty with the Hause Towns : ' he never got over it, sir, never ! You 
 are a young fellow entering upon life — let me give you a word of 
 counsel. Always be inferior to the man you are, for the time being, 
 in contact with. Outbid him, outjocky him, overreach him, but 
 never forget to make him believe he knows more of the game than 
 you do. If you have any success over him, ascribe it to ' luck,' mere 
 ' luck.' The most envious of men will forgive ' luck,' all the more if 
 th^y despise the fellow who has profited by it. Therefore, I say, if 
 the intellectual standard of your rival is only four feet, take care that 
 with your tallest heels on, you don't stand above three feet eleven ! 
 No harm if only three ten and a half." 
 
 The little applauding ha ! ha ! ha ! with which his lordship ended, 
 ^Yas faintly chorussed by the secretary. 
 
 " And what is your news from home ; vou've had letters, haven't 
 you?" 
 
 *' Yes. Augustus writes mc in great confusion. They have not
 
 200 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 found the will, and they begin to fear that the very informal scrap of 
 paper I already mentioned is all that represents one." 
 
 '* What ! do you mean that memorandum stating that your father 
 bequeathed all he had to Augustus, and trusted he would make a 
 suitable provision for his brothers and sisters'? " 
 
 " Yes ; that is all that has been found. Augustus says in his last 
 letter, my poor father would seem to have been most painfully aflfected 
 for some time back by a claim put forward to the title of all his 
 landed property, by a person assuming to be the heir of my grand- 
 father, and this claim is actually about to be asserted at law. The 
 weight of this charge and all its consequent publicity and exposure 
 appear to have crushed him for some months before his death, and he 
 had made great efforts to effect a compromise." 
 
 A long, low, plaintive whistle from Lord Culduff arrested Temple's 
 speech, and for a few seconds there was a dead silence in the room. 
 
 "This, then, would have left you all ruined — eh?" asked 
 Culduff, after a pause. 
 
 " I don't exactly see to what extent we should have been liable. 
 — whether only the estated property, or also all funded moneys." 
 
 " Everything ; every stick and btone ; every scrip and debenture, 
 you may swear. The rental of the estates for years back would have 
 to be accounted for — with interest." 
 
 " Sedley does not say so," said Temple, in a tone of considerable 
 ii-ritation. 
 
 " These fellows never do ; they always imply there is a game 
 to be played, and issue to be waited for, else their occupation 
 were gone. How much of all this story was known to your sister 
 Marion ? " 
 
 " Nothing. Neither she nor any of us ever suspected it." 
 
 " It's always the same thing," said the viscount, as he arose 
 and settled his wig before the glass. " The same episode goes 
 on repeating itself for ever. These trade fortunes are just card- 
 houses ; they are raised in a night, and blown away in the 
 morning." 
 
 "You forget, my lord, that my father inherited an entailed 
 estate." 
 
 " Which turns out not to have been his," replied he, with a 
 grin. 
 
 " You arc going too fast, my lord, faster than judge and jury. 
 Sedley never took a very serious view of this claim, and he only con- 
 curred in the attempt to compromise it out of deference to my father's 
 dislike to public scandal." 
 
 " And a very wise antipathy it was, I must say. No gentleman
 
 THE IIOT^L BRISTOL. 201 
 
 ever consulted his self-respect by inviting the world to criticize his 
 private affairs. And how does this pleasing incident stand now ? In 
 which act of the drama are we at this moment ? Is there an action 
 at law or are we in the stage of compromise ? " 
 
 " This is what Augustus says," said Temple, taking the letter 
 from his pocket and reading : " ' Sedky thinks that a handsome 
 offer of a sum down, — say twenty thousand pounds, — might possibly 
 be accepted ; but to meet this would require a united efl'ort by all of 
 us. Would Lord Culduff be disposed to accept his share in this 
 liability ? Would he, I mean, be willing to devote a portion of 
 Marion's fortune to this object, seeing that he is now one of us ? I 
 have engaged Cutbill to go over to Paris and confer with him, and 
 lie will probably arrive there by Tuesday. Nelly has placed at my 
 disposal the only sum over which she has exclusive control, — 
 it is but two thousand pounds. As for Jack, matters have gone 
 very ill with him, and rather than accept a court-martial, he has 
 thrown up his commission and left the service. We are expecting 
 him here to-night, but only to say good by, as he sails for China on 
 Thursday.' " 
 
 Lord Culduff walked quietly towards the chimney-piece as Temple 
 concluded, and took up a small tobacco-box of chased silver, from 
 which he proceeded to manufacture a cigarette — a process on which 
 he displayed considerable skill and patience ; having lighted which, 
 and taken a couple of puffs, he said, " You'll have to go to Bogota, 
 Temple, that's clear." 
 
 " Go to Bogota ! I declare I don't see why." 
 " Yes, you'll have to go ; every man has to take his turn of some 
 objectionable post, his Gaboon and yellow fever-days. I mysell 
 passed a 3ear at Stuttgard. The Bramleighs are now events of the 
 past. There's no use in fighting against these things. They were, 
 and they are not : that's the whole story. It's very hard on every 
 one, especially hard upon me. Reverses in life sit easily enough on 
 the class that furnishes adventurers, but in })uj condition there are no 
 adventurers. You and others like you descend to the ranks, and 
 nobody thinks the worse of you. We, — we cannot ! that's the pull 
 you have. We are born with our epaulettes, and we must wear them 
 till we die." 
 
 " It does not seem a very logical consequence, notwithstanding, 
 to me, that because my brother may have to defend his title to his 
 estate, that I must accept a post tliat is highly distasteful to me." 
 
 " And yet it is the direct consequence. Will you do me the 
 favour to touch that bell. I should like some claret-cup. The fact 
 is, we all of us take too little out of our prosperity ! Where we err
 
 £02 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 is, we experiment on good fortune : now we shouldn't do that, we 
 shoukl realize. You, for instance, ought to have made your 'running ' 
 while your father was entertaining all the world in Belgravia. The 
 people couldn't have ignored you, and dined with him ; at least, you 
 need not have let them." 
 
 " So that your lordship already looks upon us as bygones, as 
 things of the past ? " 
 
 " I am forced to take this very disagreeable view. Will you try 
 ihat cup ? it is scarcely iced enough for my liking. Have you 
 remarked that they never make cup properly in an hotel ? The clubs 
 alone have the secret." 
 
 "I suppose you will confer with Cutbill before you return an 
 answer to Augustus ? " said Temple, stiffly. 
 
 " I may — that is, I may listen to what that very plausible but 
 not very polished individual has to say, before I frame the exact 
 terms of my reply. We are all of us, so to say, dans des mauvais 
 drops. You are going where you hate to go, and I, who really 
 should have had no share in this general disaster, have taken my 
 ticket in the lotteiy when the last prize has just been paid over the 
 counter." 
 
 "It is very hard on you indeed," said the other, scornfully. 
 
 " Nothing less than your sympathy would make it' endurable ; " 
 a)id as he spoke he lighted a bed-room candle and moved towards the 
 door. " Don't tell them at F. 0. that you are going out unwillingly, 
 or they'll keep you there. Trust to some irregularity when you are 
 there, to get recalled, and be injured. If a man can only be injured 
 and brought before the House, it's worth ten j-ears' active service to 
 him. The first time I was injured I was made secretary of embassy. 
 The second gave me my K. C. B., and I look to my next misfortune 
 for the Grand Cross. Good-by. Don't take the yellow fever, don't 
 marry a squaw." 
 
 And with a graceful move of the hand he motioucJ an adieu, and 
 disappeared. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ON THE ROAD. 
 
 L'EsTEANGE and his sister were on their way to Italy. The curate 
 Lad been appointed to the church at Albano, and he was proceeding 
 to his destination with as much happiness as is permitted to a man
 
 ox THE ROAD. 203 
 
 who, ■with a very liumLIe opiuiou of himself, feels called ou to assume 
 ft position of some importauce. 
 
 ^Vislliug, partly from motives of enjoyment, partly from economy, 
 to avoid the route most frequented hy travellers, they had taken the 
 road tlirough Zurich and the valley of the upper Pihiue, and had now 
 reached the little village of Dornbiru in the Yorarlberg — a spot of 
 singular beauty, in the midst of a completely pastoral country. High 
 mountains, snow-capped above, pine- clad lower down, descended by 
 grassy slopes into rich pasture-lands, traversed by innumerable 
 btreams, and dotted over with those cottages of framed wood, which, 
 with their ornamented gables and quaint galleries, are the most 
 picturesque peasant-houses in existence. Beautiful cattle covered the 
 hills, their tinkling bells ringing out in the clear air, and blending 
 their tones with the ceaseless flow of falling water, imparting just that 
 amount of sound that relieved the solemn character of the scene, and 
 gave it vitality. 
 
 Day after day found our two travellers still lingering here. There 
 was a charm in the spot, which each felt, without confessing it to the 
 other, and it was already the fourth evening of their sojourn as they 
 were sitting by the side of a little rivulet, watching the dipping flies 
 along the stream, that Julia said, suddenly, — 
 
 " You'd like to live your life here, George ; isn't that so ? " 
 
 " AVhat makes you think so, Julia ? " said he, colouring slightly 
 as he spoke. 
 
 " First tell me if I have not read you aright? You like this 
 quiet dreamy landscape. You want no other changes than in the 
 varying eflects of cloud, and shadow, and mist ; and you'd like 
 to think this a little haven against the storms and shipwrecks of 
 life ? " 
 
 " And if I really did think all this, would my choice of an existence 
 bo a very bad one, Julia ? " 
 
 " No. Not if one could ensure the same frame of mind in 
 which first ho tasted the enjoyment. I, for instance, like what is 
 called the world very much. I like society, life, and gaiety. I 
 like the attentions, I like the flatteries one meets with, but if I 
 could bo always as happy, always as tranquil as we have felt since 
 Txe came here, I'd be quite willing to sign a bond to live and die here." 
 
 " So that you mean our present enjoyment of the place could not 
 last." 
 
 "I am sure it could not. I am sure a great deal of the pleasure 
 we now feci is in the relief of escaping from the turmoil and bustle of 
 a world that we don't belong to. The first sense of this relief is repose, 
 the next would be ennui."
 
 204 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I dou't agree with you, Julia. There is a calm acceptance of a 
 humble lot in life, quite apart from ennui." 
 
 " Don't believe it. There is no such philosophy. A great part 
 of your happiness hei'e is in fact that you can afford to live here. 
 Oh, hold up your hands, and be horrified. It is very shocking 
 to have a sister who will say such vulgar things, but I watched you, 
 George, after you paid the bill this morning, and I marked the 
 delighted smile in which you pointed out some effect of light on the 
 * Sentis,' and I said to myself, ' It is the landlord has touched up 
 the landscape.' " 
 
 " I declare, Julia, you make me angry. Why will you say such 
 things ? " 
 
 " Why are we so poor, George ? Tell me that, brother mine. 
 Why are we so poor ? " 
 
 " There are hundreds as poor ; thousands poorer." 
 
 "Perhaps they don't care, dou't fret about it, don't dwell on all 
 the things they are debarred from, don't want this or that appliance 
 to make life easier. Now look there, what a difference in one's 
 existence to travel that way." 
 
 As she spoke, she pointed to a travelling- carriage which swept 
 over the bridge, with all the speed of four posters, and, with all the 
 clatter of cracking whips and sounding horns, made for the inn of 
 the village. 
 
 " How few travel with post now, in these days of railroad," said 
 he, not sorry to turn the conversation into another channel. 
 
 " I hope they are going on. I trust they'll not stop here. We 
 have been the great folk of the place up to this, but you'll see how 
 completely the courier or the femme-de-chambre will eclipse us 
 now," said she, rising. "Let us go back, or perhaps they'll give 
 our very rooms away." 
 
 "How can you be so silly, Julia?" 
 
 " All because we are poor, George. Let me be rich, and you'll 
 be surprised, not only how generous I shall be, but how disposed to 
 think well of every one. Poverty is the very mother of distrust." 
 
 "I never heard you rail at our narrow fortune like this before." 
 
 " Don't be angry with me, dear George, and I'll make a con- 
 fession to you, I was not thinking of ourselves, nor of our humble 
 lot all this while ; it was a letter I got this morning from Nelly 
 Bramleigh was running in my mind. It has never been out of my 
 thoughts since I received it." 
 
 " You never told me of this." 
 
 " No. She begged of me not to speak of it ; and I meant to 
 have obeyed her, but my temper has betrayed me. What Nelly said
 
 ON THE ROAD. 205 
 
 was, ' Don't tell your brother about these things till he can hear the 
 whole story, which Augustus will write to him as soon as he is 
 able.' " 
 
 " What does she allude to ? " 
 
 " They are ruined — actually ruined." 
 
 " The Bramleighs— the rich Bramleighs ? " 
 
 " Just so. They were worth millions — at least they thought so 
 — a few weeks back, and now they have next to nothing." 
 
 "This has come of over-speculation." 
 
 " No. Nothing of the kind. It is a claimant to the estate has 
 arisen, an heir whose rights take precedence of their father's ; in 
 fact, the grandfiither had been privately married early in life, and had 
 a son of whom nothing was heard for years, but who married and 
 left a boy, who, on attaining manhood, preferred his claim to the 
 property. All this mysterious claim was well known to Colonel 
 Bramleigh ; indeed, it would appear that for years he was engaged 
 in negotiations with this man's lawyers, sometimes defiantly 
 challenging an appeal to the law, and sometimes entertaining 
 projects of compromise. The correspondence was very lengthy, and, 
 from its nature, must have weighed heavily on the Colonel's mind 
 and spirits, and ended, as Nel^y suspects, by breaking up his 
 health. 
 
 "It was almost the very first news that met Augustus on his 
 accession to his fortune, and so stunned was he that he wrote to Mr. 
 Sedley to say, — ' I have such perfect reliance on both your integrity 
 and ability, that if you assure me this claim is well founded and this 
 demand a just one, I will not contest it.' He added — ' I am not 
 afraid of poverty, but a public shame and a scandal would be my 
 death.' " 
 
 " Just what I should expect from him. "What did Sedley 
 say ? " 
 
 " He didn't say he was exactly a fool, but something veiy like 
 it ; and lie told him, too, that though he might make very light of 
 his own rights, he could not presume to barter away those of others ; 
 and, last of all, he added, what he knew would have its weight with 
 Augustus, that, had his father lived, he meant to have compromised 
 this claim. Not that he regarded it either as well founded or for- 
 midable, but simply as a means of avoiding a very unpleasant publicity. 
 Tills last intimation had its ell'oct, and Augustus permitted Sedley to 
 treat. Sedley at once addressed himself to Temple — Jack was not 
 to be found — and to Lord Culdutf, to learn what share they were 
 disposed to take in such an arrangement. As Augustus offered to 
 bind himself never to marry, and to make a will dividing the estate
 
 206 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 equally amongst his brothers aud sisters, Lord Culduff and Temple 
 quite approved of this determination, but held that they were not 
 called upon to take any portion of the burden of the compromise. 
 
 " Augustus ■would seem to have been so indignant at this conduct, 
 that he wrote to Sedley to put him at once in direct communication 
 with the claimant. Sedley saw by the terms of the letter how much of 
 it was dictated by passion and offended pride, evaded the demand, and 
 pretended that an arrangement was actually pending, and, if uninter- 
 fered with, sure to be completed. To this Augustus replied — for 
 Nelly has sent me a copy of his very words — ' Be it so. Make such 
 a settlement as you, in your capacity of my lawyer, deem best for my 
 interests. For my own part, I will not live in a house, nor receive 
 the rents of an estate, my rights to which the law may possibly decide 
 against me. Till, then, the matter be determined either way, I and 
 my sister Eleanor, who is like-minded with me in this affair, will go 
 where we can live at least cost, decided, as soon as may be, to have 
 this issue determined, and Castello become the possession of him who 
 rightfully owns it.' 
 
 " On the evening of the day he wrote this they left Castello. 
 They only stopped a night in Dublin, and left next morning for the 
 Continent. Nelly's letter is dated from Ostcud. She says she does 
 not know where they are going, and is averse to anything like im- 
 portuning her brother by even a question. She promises to write 
 soon again, however, and tell me all about their plans. They are 
 travelling without a servant, and, so far as she knows, with very little 
 money. Poor Nelly ! she bears up nobly, but the terrible reverse of 
 condition, and the privations she is hourly confronted with, are clearly 
 preying upon her." 
 
 " What a change ! Just to think of them a few months back. It 
 was a princely household." 
 
 "Just what Nelly says. ' It is complete overthrow ; and if I am 
 not stunned by the reverse, it is because all my sympathies are engaged 
 for poor Gusty, who is doing his best to bear up well. As for myself, 
 I never knew how helpless I was till I tried to pack my trunk. I 
 suppose time will soften down many things that are now somewhat 
 hard to bear ; but for the moment I am impatient and irritable ; and 
 it is only the sight of my dear brother— so calm, so manly, and so 
 dignified in his sorrow — that obliges me to forget my selfish grief and 
 compose myself as I ought.' " 
 
 As they thus talked, they arrived at the door of the inn, where 
 the landlord met them, with the request that the two gentlemen, who 
 had arrived by extra-post, and who could not find horses to proceed 
 on their journey, might be permitted to share the one sitting-room
 
 ON THE ROAD. 207 
 
 the house contained, and which was at present occupied by the 
 L'Estrangcs. 
 
 " Let us sup in your room, George," whispered Julia, and passed 
 on into the house. L'Estrangc gave orders to send the supper to 
 his room, and told the landlord that the salon was at his guests' 
 disposal. 
 
 About two hours later, as the curate and his sister sat at the open 
 window, silently enjoying the delicious softness of a starry night, they 
 were startled by the loud talking of persons so near as to seem almost 
 in the room with them. 
 
 *' English — I'll be sworn they are ! " said one. " That instinctive 
 dread of a stranger pertains only to our people. How could it have 
 interfered with their comfort, that we sate and ate our meal in this 
 corner ? " 
 
 " The landlord says they are young, and the woman pretty. They 
 may explain something. Your countrymen, Philip, are the most 
 jealous race in Er.rope." 
 
 L'Estrange coughed here three or four times, to apprise his neigh- 
 bours that tliey were within earshot of others. 
 
 " Listen to that cough," cried the first speaker. " That was 
 palpably feigned. It was meant to say, ' Don't talk so loud.' " 
 
 " I always grow more indiscreet under such provocation," said 
 the other, whose words were slightly tinged with a foreign accent. 
 
 A merry laugh burst from Julia at this speech, which the others 
 joined in by very impulse. 
 
 "I suspect," said the first speaker, "we might as well have 
 occupied the same room, seeing in what close proximity we stand to 
 each other." 
 
 " I think it would be as well to go to your room, Julia," said 
 George, in a low voice. " It is getting late, besides." 
 
 " I believe you are right, George. I will say good-night." 
 
 The last words appeared to have caught the ears of the strangers, 
 who exclaimed together, " Good-night, good-night; " and he with 
 the foreign accent began to hum, in a very sweet tenor voice, 
 " Buona sera, buona notte, buona sera;" which Julia would fain 
 have listened to, but George hurried her away, and closed the door. 
 
 " There is the end of that episode," said the foreign voice. " Le 
 Mari Jaloux has had enough of us. Your women in England arc 
 taught never to play with fire." 
 
 " I might reply that yours are all pyrotechnists," said the other, 
 with a laugh. 
 
 The clatter of plates and the jingle of glasses, as the waiter laid 
 the table for supper, drowned their voices, and L'Estrange dropped
 
 208 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 off asleep soon after. A hearty burst of laughter at last aroused him. 
 It came from the adjoining room, \Yliere the strangers were still at 
 table, though it was now nigh daybreak. 
 
 " Yes," said he of the foreign accent, " I must confess it. I 
 never made a lucky hit in my life without the ungrateful thought of 
 how much luckier it might have been." 
 
 "It is your Italian blood has given you that temperament." 
 
 " I knew j-ou'd say so, Philip ; before my speech was well out, I 
 felt the reply you'd make me. But let me tell you that you English 
 aro not a whit more thankful to fortune than we are ; but in your 
 matter-of-fact way you accept a benefit as your just due, while we, 
 more conscious of our deservings, always feel that no recompence 
 fully equalled what we merited. And so it is that ever since that 
 morning at Furnival's Inn, I keep on asking myself. Why twenty 
 thousand ? Why not forty — why not twice forty ? " 
 
 " I was quite prepared for all this. I think I saw the reaction 
 beginning as you signed the paper." 
 
 " No, there you wrong me, Philip. I wrote boldly, like a man 
 who felt that he was making a great resolve, and could stand by it. 
 You'd never guess when what you have called ' the reaction ' set in." 
 
 " I am curious to know when that was." 
 
 " I'll tell you. You remember our visit to Castello. You 
 thought it a strange caprice of mine to ask the lawyer whether, now 
 that all was finally settled between us, I might be permitted to see 
 the house — which, as the family had left, could be done without any 
 unpleasantness. I believe my request amused him as much as it did 
 you ; he thought it a strange caprice, but he saw no reason to refuse 
 it, and I saw smiled as ho sat down to write the note to the house- 
 keeper. I have no doubt that he thought, ' It is a gambler's whim ; 
 he wants to see the stake he played for, and what he might perhaps 
 have won had he had courage to play out the game.' You certainly 
 took that view of it." 
 
 The other muttered something like a half assent, and the former 
 speaker continued : " And you were both of you wrong. I wanted to 
 see the finished picture of which I possessed the sketch — the beautiful 
 Flora — whose original was my grandmother. I cannot tell you the 
 intense longing I had to see the features that pertained to one who 
 belonged to me ; a man must be as utterly desolate as I am, to com- 
 prehend the craving I fAi to have something — anything that might 
 stand to me in place of family. It was this led me to Castello, and 
 it was this that made me, when I crossed the threshold, indifferent 
 to all the splendours of the place, and only occupied with one thought, 
 one wish — to see the fresco in the Octagon Tower, — ^poor old
 
 ON THE ROAD. 209 
 
 Giacomo's great work, — the picture of his beautiful daughter. And 
 was she not beautiful ? I ask you, Philip, had llaphael himself ever 
 such a model for sweetness of expression ? Come, come. You wera 
 just as wild as myself in your enthusiasm as you stood befoi'e her ; 
 and it was only by a silly jest that you could repress the agitation you 
 were so ashamed of," 
 
 " I remember I told you that the family had terribly degonsrated 
 since her day." 
 
 " And yet you tried to trace a likeness between us." 
 
 " You won't say that I succeeded," said he, with a laugh. 
 
 " It was then as I stood there gazing on her, thiakiug of her sad 
 story, that I bethought me what an ignoble part it was I played to 
 compromise the rights that she had won, and how unworthy I was to 
 be the descendant of the beautiful Enrichetta." 
 
 " You are about the only man I ever met who was in love with 
 his grandmother." 
 
 " Call it how you like, her lovely face has never left me since I 
 saw it there." 
 
 " And yet your regret implies that you are only sorry not to have 
 made a better bargain." 
 
 " No, Philip : my regret is not to have stood out for terms that 
 must have been refused me ; I wish I had asked for the ' impossible.' 
 I tried to make a laughing matter of it when I began, but I cannot 
 — I cannot. I have got the feeling that I have been selling my 
 birthright." 
 
 " And you regret that the mess of pottage has not been bigger." 
 
 " There's the impossibility in making a friend of an Englishman ! 
 It is the sordid side of everything he will insist on turning upper- 
 most. Had I told a Frenchman what I have told you, he would have 
 lent me his whole heart in sympathy." 
 
 " To be sure he would. He would have accepted all that stupid 
 sentimentality about your grandmother as refined feeling, and you'd 
 have been blubbering over each other this half hour." 
 
 " If you only knew the sublime project I had. I dare not tell 
 you of it in your miserable spirit of depreciating all that is high in 
 feeling and noble in aspiration. You would ridicule it. Yes, mon 
 cher, you would have seen nothing in my plan, save what you could 
 turn into absurdity." 
 
 " Let me hear it. I promise you to receive the information with 
 the most distinguished consideration." 
 
 " You could not. You could not elevate your mind even to 
 comprehend my motives. What would you have said, if I had gone 
 
 to this Mr. Bramleigh, and said, Cousin " 
 
 14
 
 210 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BTSHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " He is not your cousin, to begin with." 
 
 " No matter ; one calls every undefined relation cousin. Cousin, 
 I would have said, this house that you live in, these horses that you 
 drive, this plate that you dine off, these spreading lawns and shady 
 woods that lie around, are mine ; I am their lawful owner ; I am the 
 true heir to them ; and you are nothing— nobody — the son of an 
 illegitimate " 
 
 " I'd say he'd have pitched you out of the window." 
 
 " Wait a Avhile ; not so fast. Nevertheless, I would have said, 
 Yours is the prescription and the habit. These things have pertained 
 to you since your birth : they are part of you, and you of them. 
 You cannot live without them, because you know no other life than 
 where they enter and mingle ; while I, poor and an adventurer, have 
 never tasted luxury, nor had any experiences but of trouble and 
 difficulty. Let us each keep the station to which habit and time 
 have accustomed him. Do you live, as you have ever lived, grand 
 seigneur as you are — rich, honoured, and regai'ded. I will never 
 dispute your possession nor assail your right. I only ask that j'ou 
 accept me as your relation, — a cousin, who has been long absent in 
 remote lauds ; a traveller, an ' eccentric,' who likes a life of savagery 
 and adventure, and who has come back, after years of exile, to see 
 his family and be with his own. Imagine yourself for an instant to 
 be Branileigh, and what would you have said to this ? Had I 
 simply asked to be one of them, to call them by their Christian 
 names, to be presented to their friends as Cousin Anatole — I ask 
 you now — seriously, what you would have replied to such a noble 
 appeal ? " 
 
 " I don't know exactly what I should have said, but I think I 
 can tell you what I would have done." 
 
 " Well, out with it." 
 
 " I'd have sent for the police, and handed you over to the 
 authorities for either a rogue or a madman." 
 
 " Bon soir. I wish you a good-night — pleasant dreams, too, if 
 that be possible." 
 
 "Don't go. Sit down. The dawn is just breaking, and you 
 know I ordered the horses for the first light." 
 
 " I must go into the air then. I must go where I can 
 breathe." 
 
 *' Take a cigar, and let us talk of something else." 
 
 " That is easy enough for ynu ; you who treat everything as a 
 mere passing incident, and would make life a series of unconnected 
 episodes. You turn from this to that, just as you taste of this dish 
 and that at dinner : but I who want to live a \ik —nitoids-Ui 1 — to
 
 ON Till'; ROAD. 211 
 
 live a life : to be to-morrow the successor of myself to-day, to carry 
 with me an identity — how am / to practise your philosophy ? " 
 
 " Here come the horses ; and I must say, I am for once grateful 
 to their jingling bells, helping as they do to drown more nonsense 
 than even you usually give way to." 
 
 "How did we ever become friends? Can you explain that- 
 to me ? " 
 
 "I suppose it must have been in one of your lucid moments, 
 Anatole — for you have them at times." 
 
 " Ah, I have ! But if you're getting complimentary, I'd better 
 be off. Will you look to the bill ? and I'll take charge of tho 
 baggage." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 ON THE EOAD TO ITALY. 
 
 " You'd not guess who our neighbours of last night were, Julia," said 
 L'Estrange as they sat at breakflxst the next morning. 
 
 **I need not guess, for I know," said she, laughing. "The 
 fact is, George, my curiosity was so excited to see them that I 
 got up as they were about to start, and though the gray morning 
 was only breaking at the time, there was light enough for mo 
 to recognize Mr. Lougworth and his French friend, Coiiut 
 Pracontal." 
 
 " I know that ; but I know more than that, Julia. What do you 
 think of my discovery, when I tell you that this same Count Pracontal 
 is the claimant of the Bramleigh estate ? " 
 
 " Is it possible ? " 
 
 "It is beyond a question or a doubt. I w^.s awakened from my 
 sleep last uiglit by their loud talking, and unwittingly made a listener 
 to all they said. I heard the Frenchman deplore how ho had ever 
 consented to a compromise of his claim, and then Longworth quizzed 
 him a good deal, and attributed the regret to his not liaving made a 
 harder bargain. My own conviction is that the man really felt it as 
 a point of honour, and was ashamed at having stooped to accept less 
 tiian his right." 
 
 " So then they have made a compromise, and tho Bramleighs aro 
 safe ? " cried she, eagerly. 
 
 " That much seems certain. Tho count even spoke of the sum 
 he had received. I did not pay much attention to the amount, but
 
 •212 THE BEAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 I remember it struck me as being considerable ; and he also referred 
 to bis having signed some document debarring him, as it seemed, from 
 all renewal of his demand. In a word, as you said just now, the 
 BramleiLibs .no safe, and the storm that threatened their fate has 
 passed otf harmlessly." 
 
 " Oh, you have made me so happy, George. I cannot tell 
 you what joy this news is to me. Poor Nelly in all her sorrow 
 and privation has never been out of my thoughts since I read her 
 letter." 
 
 *' I have not told you the strangest part of all ; — at least, so it 
 certainly seemed to me. This Count Pracontal actually regretted 
 the compromise, as depriving him of a noble opportunity of self- 
 sacrifice. He wished, he said, he could have gone to Augustus 
 Bramleigh, and declared, ' I want none of this wealth. These 
 luxuries and this station are all essential to you, who have been 
 born to them, and regard them as part of your very existence. To 
 me they are no wants — I never knew them. Keep them, therefore, 
 as your oivu. All I ask is, that you regard me as one of your 
 kindred and your faniil}'. Call me cousin — let me be one of you — to 
 come here, under your roof, when fortune goes ill with me.' When 
 he was saying this, LougworLh burst out into a coarse laugh, and told 
 him, that if he talked such rotten sentimentality to any sane English- 
 man, the only impression it would have left would be that he was a 
 consummate knave or an idiot." 
 
 " Well, George," asked she, seriously, "that was not the conviction 
 it conveyed to your mind ? " 
 
 " No, Julia ; certainly not ; but somehow — perhaps it is my 
 colder northern blood, perhaps it is the cautious reserve of one who 
 has not had enough experience of life — but I own to you I distrust 
 very high-flown declarations, and as a rule I like the men who do 
 generous things, and don't think themselves heroes for doing 
 them." 
 
 " Remember, George, it was a Frenchman who spoke thus ; and 
 from what I have seen of his nation, I would say that lie meant all 
 that he said. These people do the very finest things out of an 
 exalted self-esteem. They carry the point of honour so high that 
 there is no sacrifice they are not capable of making, if it only serve 
 to elevate their opinion of themselves. Their theory is, they belong 
 to the ' great nation,' and the motives that would do well enough 
 for you or me, would be very ignoble springs of action to him whom 
 Providence had blessed with the higher destiny of being born a 
 Frenchman." 
 
 " You disparage while you praise them, Julia."
 
 ON THK IIOAD TO ITALY. 213 
 
 " I do not mean it then. I would sinn^ly say, I believe in all 
 Count Pracontal said, and I give you my reason for the helief." 
 
 " How happy it would have made poor Augustus to have been met 
 in this spirit. Why don't these two men know each other ? " 
 
 " My dear George, the story of life could no more go on than 
 the story of a novel if there was no imbroglio. Take away from the 
 daily course of events all misunderstandings, all sorrows, and all 
 misconceptions, and there would be no call on humanity for acts of 
 energy, or trustfulness, or devotion. We want all these things jast 
 that we may surmount them." 
 
 Whether ho did not fully concur with the theory, or that it 
 puzzled him, L'Estrange made no reply, and soon after left the room 
 to prepare for their departure. And now they went the road up the 
 valley of the Upper Rliine, — that wild and beautiful tract, so grand 
 in outline and so rich in colour, that other landscapes seem cold 
 after it. They wound along the Via Mala, and crossed over the 
 Splugen, most picturesque of Alpine passes, and at last reached 
 Chiavenna. 
 
 "All this is very eujoyable, George," said Julia, as they 
 strolled carelessly in a trellised vine-walk ; "but as I am the courier, 
 and carry the money-sack, it is my painful duty to say, we can't 
 do it much longer. Do you know how much remains in that 
 little bag ? " 
 
 " A couple of hundred francs perhaps," said he, listlessly. 
 
 "Not half that — how could there, you careless creature ? You 
 forget all the extravagances we have been committing, and this entire 
 week of unheard-of indulgence." 
 
 " I was always ' had up ' for my arithmetic at school. Old Hoskius 
 used to say my figures would be the ruin of me." 
 
 The tone of honest sorrow in which he said this threw Julia into 
 a lit of laughing. 
 
 " Here is the total of our worldly wealth," said she, emptying on 
 a rustic table the leather bag, and running her fingers through a mass 
 of silver in which a few gold coins glittered. 
 
 "It seems very little, Julia," said he, dospondingly. 
 
 " Worse than that. It is less than it looks, George ; those 
 tarnished pieces, with a mock air of silver, are of most ignoble origin ; 
 they were born copper, and are only silver by courtesy. Let me see 
 what it all makes." 
 
 While she was arranging the money in little piles on the 
 table L'Estrange lighted a cigarette, and puffed it in leisurely 
 fashion. 
 
 " Julia," said he at last, " I hope I haven't committed a dreadful
 
 214 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 follj in that investment of your two thousand. You know I took the 
 shares I told you of ? " 
 
 " I remember, George, you said so ; but has anything occurred 
 to make you augur ill of the enterprise ? " 
 
 " No ; I know no more of it now than on the first day I heard of 
 it. I was dazzled by the splendid promise of twenty per cent, instead 
 of three that you had received heretofore. It seemed to me to be 
 such a paltry fear to hesitate about doing what scores of others 
 Avere venturing. I felt as if I were turning away from a big fence 
 •while half the field were ready to ride at it. In fact, I made it a 
 question of courage, Julia, which was all the more inexcusable as the 
 money I was risking was not my own." 
 
 " Oh, George, you must not say that to me." 
 
 " "Well, well, I know what I think of myself, and I promise you 
 it is not the more favourable because of your genei'osity." 
 
 " My dear George, that is a word that ought never to occur 
 between us. Our interests are inseparable. "When you have done 
 what you believed was the best for me there is no question of anything 
 more. There now, don't worry yourself further about it. Attend to 
 ■what I have to say to you here. "We have just one hundred and 
 twelve francs to carry us to Milan, where our letter of credit will 
 meet us ; so that thero must be no more boat-excursions ; no little 
 picnics, with a dainty basket sent up the mountain at sunrise ; none 
 of that chai'ming liberality which lights up the road with pleasant 
 faces, and sets one a-thiukiug how happy Dives might have been if 
 he had given something better than crumbs to Lazarus. No, this 
 must be what you used to call a week of cold-mutton days, mind that, 
 and resist all temptation to money-spending." 
 
 L'Estrange bowed his head in quiet acquiescence ; his was the 
 sad thought that so many of us have felt : how much of enjoyment 
 life shows us, just one hair's-breadth beyond our pov/er to grasp ; 
 vistas of lovely scenery that we are never to visit ; glimpses of bliss 
 closed to us even as we catch them ; strains of delicious music of 
 which a)l our efibrts can but retain the dying cadences. Not that he 
 felt all these in any bitterness of spirit ; even in narrowed fortune life 
 was very pleasant to him, and he was thoroughly, heartily grateful 
 for the path fate has assigned him to walk in. 
 
 How would they have liked to have lingered in the Lrianza, that 
 one lovely bit of thoroughly rural Italy, with the green of the west 
 blending through all the gorgeous glow of tropical vegetation ; how 
 gladly they would have loitered on the Lake at Corao — the brightest 
 spot of landscape in Europe ; with what enjoyment had they halted 
 at Milan, and still more in Florence ! Steru necessity, however.
 
 ox THE nOAD TO ITALY. 215 
 
 whispered ever ouwarJs ; and all the seductions of Eaflaels and 
 Titians yielded hefore the hard demands of that fate that draws the 
 purse-strings. Even at Rome they did not venture to delay, consol- 
 ing themselves with the thought that they were to dwell so near, 
 they could visit it at will. At last they reached Albano, and as they 
 drove into the viliiage caught sight of a most picturesque little cot- 
 tage, enshrined in a copse of vines. It was apparently untenanted, 
 aud they eagerly asked if it were to be let. The answer was, No, it 
 was waiting for the " Prete Inglese " who was daily expected to 
 arrive. 
 
 " Oh, George, it is ours," cried Julia in ecstasy, and hid her head 
 on his shoulder, and actually cried with excess of delight. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXn. 
 
 THE CHURCH PATRONS AT ALBANO. 
 
 The patrons of the English chapel at Albano were the three great 
 leaders of society in Rome in winter and at Albano during the 
 summer. Of these the first was Lady Augusta Bramleigh ; next 
 came Sir Marcus Cluft"; and last — not, indeed, either in activity or 
 zeal — was Mrs. Trumplcr, a widow-lady of considerable fortune, 
 and no small share of energy in her nature. 
 
 To these George L'Estrange had brought formal letters of intro- 
 duction, which he was cautiously enjoined should be presented in the 
 order of their respective ranks, — making his first approaches to the 
 Lady Augusta. To his request to know at what hour he might have 
 the honour to wait on her ladyship, came a few lines on the back 
 of his own card, saying, — '• Two o'clock, and be punctual." There 
 did not seem to be any unnecessary courtesy in this curt intimation ; 
 but he dressed himself carefully for the interview, and with his cravat 
 properly arranged by Julia, who passed his whole appearance in 
 review, he set out for the pretty Villa of the Chestnuts where her 
 ladyship lived. 
 
 " I don't suppose that I'm about to do anything very unworthy, 
 Julia," said he, as ho bade her good-by ; " but I assure you I feel 
 lower in my own esteem this morning than I have known myself since 
 • — since " 
 
 " Since you tumbled over the sunk fence, perhaps," said she, 
 laughing, aud turned back into the house. 
 
 L'Estrange soon found himself at the gate of the villa, and was
 
 216 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 conducted by a servant in deep mourning through a veiy beautiful 
 garden to a small kiosk, or eummer-hcuso, where a breakfast-table 
 was spread. He was punctual to the moment ; but as her ladyship 
 had not )'et appeared he had ample lime to admire the beauty of the 
 Sevres cups of a pale blue, and the rich carving of the silver service^ 
 — evidently of antique mould, and by a master hand. The rare 
 exotics which were disposed on every side, amongst which some birds 
 of bright plumage w^re encaged, seemed to fill up the measure of this 
 luxurious spot, and impressed him with — he knew not what exalted 
 idea of her who should be its mistress. 
 
 He waited, at first patiently enough — there was much to interest 
 and amuse him ; but at last, as nigh an hour had elapsed, and she 
 had not appeared, a feeling, half of irritation at the thought of 
 neglect, and half doubt lest he should have mistaken what the servant 
 said, began to worry and distress him. A little pendule on a bracket 
 played a few bars of a waltz, and struck three. Should he wait any 
 longer ? was the question he put to himself. His sense of shame on 
 leaving home at the thought of presenting himself before a patron 
 came back upon him now with redoubled force. He had often felt 
 that the ministers who preached for a call were submitting themselves 
 to a very unworthy ordeal. The being judged by those they were 
 appointed to teach seemed in itself little short of an outrage ; but 
 the part he was now playing was infinitely worse ; — he had actually 
 come to show himself, to see if, when looked at and talked to, her 
 ladyship would condescend to be his patron, and as it were to impress 
 the indignity more strongly upon hira he was kept waiting like a 
 lacquey ! 
 
 " I don't think I ought to stoop to this," muttered he bitterly to 
 himself ; and taking a card and a pencil from his pocket, he wrote : 
 — "The Rev. George L'Estrange has waited from two to three 
 o'clock in the hope of seeing Lady Augusta Bramleigh ; he regrets 
 the disappointment, as well as his inability to prolong his attendance." 
 " There," cried he aloud, " I hope that will do ! " and ho placed tho 
 card conspicuously on the table. 
 
 " Do what, pray ? " said a very soft voice, as a slight figure in 
 deep mourning swept noiselessly into the kiosk, and taking the card 
 up sat down without reading it. 
 
 One glance showed that the handsome woman before him was 
 Lady Augusta, and the bashful curate blushed deeply at the awkward- 
 ness of his position. 
 
 "Mr. L'Estrange, I presume ? " said she, waving her hand to 
 him to bo seated. " And what is your card to do; not represent 
 you, I hope, for I'd rather see you in person ? "
 
 THE CIIURCU PA'lTvOXS AT ALBANO. 217 
 
 " In my despair of seeing your ladyship I wrote a Hue to say — 
 to Bay " — and he hluudered and stopped short. 
 
 "To say you'd wait no longer," said she, smiling; "but how 
 touchy you must he. Don't you know that women have the privilege 
 of unpunctuality ? don't you know it is one of the few prerogatives 
 you men have spared them ? Have you breakfasted ? " 
 
 " Yes — some hours ago." 
 
 " I forget whether I have not also. I rather think I did take 
 some coflee. I have been very impatient for your coming. Sit here, 
 please," said she, pointing to an arm-chair beside her own sofa. " I 
 have been very impatient indeed to see you. I want to hear all about 
 these poor Bramlcighs ; — you lived beside them, didn't you and knew 
 them all intimately ? What is tliis teiriblc story of their ruin ? this 
 claim to their property ? What does it mean ? is there really any- 
 thing in it ? " 
 
 "It is somewhat of a long stoiy," began L'Estrange. 
 
 "Then don't tell it, 1 entreat you. Are you married Mr. 
 L'Estrange ? " 
 
 " No, madam, I have not that happiness," said he, smiling at 
 the strange abruptness of her manner. 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad," she cried ; " so glad ! I'm not afraid of a 
 parson, but I positively dread a parson's wife. The parson has 
 occasionally a little tolerance for a number of things he doesn't 
 exactly like ; his wife never forgives them ; and then a woman takes 
 such exact measure of another woman's meanings, and a man knows 
 nothing about them at all : that on the whole I'm delighted you are 
 single, and I fervently trust you will remain so. Will you promise 
 me as much ? will you give me your word not to marry till I leave 
 this ? " 
 
 "I need scarcely pledge myself, madam, to that; my narrow 
 fortune binds me whether I would or not." 
 
 " And you have your mother with you, haven't you ? " 
 
 " No, madam ; my sister has accompanied me." 
 
 " I wish it had been your mother. I do so like the maternal pride 
 of a dear old lady in her fine handsome son. Isn't she vain of you ? 
 By the way, how did your choice fall upon the Church ? You look 
 more like a cavalry oiliccr. I'm certain you ride well." 
 
 " It is, perhaps, the only accomplishment I possess in the world," 
 said ha, with some waiTiith of manner. 
 
 " I'm delighted to hear that you're a horseman. There's a mare 
 of mine become perfectly impossible. A stupid creature I took as 
 groom hurt her mouth with a severe bit, and she rears now at the 
 slightest touch. Couldn't you do something with her ? Pray do ;
 
 218 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 ami iu return I'll take you some charming rides over the Campagna. 
 There's a litile valley — ahuost a glen — near this, which I may say 
 I discovered myself. You mustn't be afraid of bad tongues because 
 you ride out with me. Mrs. Trumpler will of course take it up. 
 She's odious — perfectly odious. You haven't seen her yet, but 
 you'll have to call on her ; she contributes a thousand francs a year 
 to the Church, and must not be neglected. And then there's old 
 Sir Marcus Cluff — don't forget him ; and take care to remember 
 that his mother was Lady Marion Otley, and don't remember that 
 his fixther was Cluff and Gosler, the fiimous fishmonger. I protest 
 I'm becoming as scandalous as Mrs. Trumpler herself. And mind 
 that you come back and tell when you've seen these people what 
 they said to you, and what you said to them, and whether they 
 abused me. Come to tea, or, if you like better, come and dine to- 
 morrow at six, and I'll call on your mother iu the meanwhile and 
 ask her — though I'd rather you'd come alone." 
 
 " It is my sister, madam, that is with me," said he, with great 
 difficulty refraining from a burst of laughter. 
 
 "Well, and I've said I'd visit her, though I'm not fond of 
 women, and I believe they never like me." 
 
 L'Estrange blundered out some stupid compliment about her 
 having in recompence abundant admiration from tlie other sex, and 
 she laughed, and said, " Perhaps so. Indeed, I believe I am rather 
 a favourite ; but with clever men — not with the fools. You'll see 
 that they avoid me. And so," said she, drawing a deep sigh, " you 
 really can tell me nothing about these Bramleighs ? And all this 
 time I have been reckoning on your coming to hear everything, and 
 to know about the will. Up to this hour, I am totally ignorant as 
 to how I am left. Isn't that very dreadful ? " 
 
 " It is very distressing indeed, madam." 
 
 " The Colonel always said he'd insert a clause or a something 
 or other against my marrying again. Can you imagine anything so 
 ungenerous ? It's unchristian, actually unchristian — isn't it ? " 
 
 A slight gesture seemed to say that he agreed with her ; but she 
 was for once determined to be answered more definitely, and she 
 said, " I'm sure, as a clergyman, you can say if there's anything in 
 the Bible against my having another husband ? " 
 
 " I'm certain there is not, madam." 
 
 "How nice it is in the Church of Rome that when there's any- 
 thing you want to do, and it's not quite right to do it, you can have 
 a dispensation — that is, the Pope can make it perfectly moral and 
 proper, and legal besides. Protestantism is so narrow — terribly 
 narrow. As the dear Monsignore Balbi said to me the other night,
 
 TIIK CHURCH PATRONS AT ALBAXO. 219 
 
 it is a long ' Act of Pavliiimcnt against slu.' Wasn't that neat ? 
 They are so clever ! " 
 
 " I am so new to Italy, madam, that I Lave no acquaintance with 
 these gentlemen." 
 
 " I know you'll like them when you do know them ; they avQ so 
 gentle and so persuasive — I might say so fascinating. I assure you, 
 Mr. L'Estrange, I ran a very great risk of going over, as it is called. 
 Indeed, the OsHervatore Bomano said I had gone over ; but that was 
 at least premature. These are things one cannot do without long 
 and deep reOection, and intense self-examination — don't you think 
 so ? And the dear old Cardinal Bottesini, who used to come to us 
 every Friday evening, warned me himself against my impulsiveness ; 
 and then poor Colonel Bramleigh " — here she raised her handkerchief 
 to her eyes, — "be wouldn't bear of it at all ; be was so devotedly 
 attached to me — it was positive love in a man of his mould^tbat 
 the thought of my being lost to him, as be called it, was maddening ; 
 and in fact be — be made it downright impossible — impossible!" 
 And at last she paused, and a very painful expression in her face 
 showed that her thoughts at the moment were far from pleasurable. 
 " "Where was I? what was it I was going to say?" resumed she, 
 hurriedly. " Oh, I remember, I was going to tell you that you must 
 on no account ' go over,' and therefore, avoid of all things what they 
 call the ' controversy ' here ; don't read their little books, anJ never 
 make close friendships with the Mousignori. You're a young man, 
 and naturally enough would feel flattered at their attentions, and all 
 the social attractions they'd surround you with. Of course you 
 know nothing of life, and that is the very thing they do understand ; 
 and perhaps it's not right of mc to say it — it's like a treason — but 
 the women, the great leaders of society, aid them powerfully. They'd 
 like to bring you over," said she, raising ber glass and looking at 
 biui. " You'd really look remarkably well in a chasuble and a cope. 
 They'd positively fight for you as a domestic chaplain "■ — and the 
 thought so amused ber that she laughed outright, and L'Estrange 
 himself joined ber. "I hope I have not wearied you with my 
 cautions and my warnings ; but really, when I thought bow utterly 
 alone and friendless you must be here, nobody to consult with, none 
 to advise you — for, after all, your mother could scarcely bo an 
 <fficient guide in such diificulties — I felt it would be cruel not to 
 come to your aid. Have you got a watch ? I don't trust that little 
 peudule, though it plays a delicious ' Ave Maria ' of Ko&siui's. What 
 hour is it ? " 
 
 " Half-past four, madam. I am really shocked at the length of 
 my visit."
 
 220 THE BRA:\ILEIGnS OF EISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " Well, I must go away. Perhaps you'll come and see my sister 
 — she's charming, I assure you, and she'd like to know you ? " 
 
 " If you will vouchsafe to i)resent me on any other day, I shall 
 be but too grateful ; but Sir Marcus Cluff gave me a rendezvous for 
 four o'clock." 
 
 " And 5'ou'll be with him at five," cried she, laughing. " Don't 
 say it was I that made you break your appointment, for he hates me, 
 and would never forgive you. By-by. Tell your mother I'll call on 
 her to-morrow, and hope you'll both dine with me." And without 
 waiting for a word in reply, she tripped out of the summer-house, and 
 hastened away to the villa. 
 
 L'Estrauge had little time to think over this somewhat strange 
 interview when he reached the entrance-gate to the grounds of Sir 
 Marcus Cluff, and was scarcely admitted within the precincts when 
 a phaeton and a pair of very diminutive ponies drove up, and a thin, 
 emaciated man, carefully swathed in shawls and wrajjpers, who held 
 the reins, called out, " Is that Mr. L'Estrange ? " 
 
 The young parson came forward with his excuses for being late, 
 and begged that be might not interrupt Sir Marcus in his intended 
 drive. 
 
 " Will you take a turn with me ? " said Sir Marcus, in a whining 
 voice, that sounded like habitual complaint. " I'm obliged to do 
 this every day ; it's the doctor's order. He says, ' Take the air and 
 distract yourself; ' and I do so." L'Estrange had now seated him- 
 self, and they drove away. 
 
 " I'm glad you've come," said Sir Marcus. " It will stop all 
 this plotting and intriguing. If you had delaj'ed much longer, I 
 think they'd have had a dozen here — one of them a converted Jew, 
 a very dirty fellow. dear, how f^xtiguing it is ! that little crop- 
 cared pony pulls so he can't be held, and we call him John Bright ; 
 but don't mention it. I hope you have no family, sir ? " 
 
 " I have my sister only." 
 
 *' A sister isn't so bad. A sister may marry, or she may " 
 
 What was the other alternative did not appear, for John Bright 
 bolted at this moment, and it was full five minutes ere he could be 
 pulled up again. " This is the distraction I'm promised," said the 
 sick man. If it wasn't for Mr. Needham — I call the ncar-sider 
 Jlr. Needham, as I bought him of that gentleman — I'd have too 
 much distraction ; but Needham never runs away — he falls ; he 
 comes dowTi as if he was shot ! " cried he, with a joyous twinkle of 
 the eye, " and I bought him for that. There's no drag ever was 
 invented like a horse on his belly — the most inveterate runaway 
 can't escape against that." If the little cackle that followed this
 
 THE CHURCH PATRONS AT ALBANO. 221 
 
 speech iliJ not sound exactly like a laugh, it ^Yas all of that emotion 
 that Sir Marcus ever permitted himself. 
 
 " I can't ask you if you like this place. You're too newly come 
 to answer that question," resumed he ; " but I may ask \Yhat is the 
 sort of society you prefer ? " 
 
 " I've seen next to nothing of the world since I left the University. 
 I have been living these last four or five years in one of the least 
 visited spots in Great Britain, and only since the arrival of the 
 Bramleigh family had a neighbour to speak to." 
 
 " Ah, then, you know these Bramleighs ? " said the other with 
 more animation than he had yet displayed, " Overbearing people, 
 I've heard they were — very rich, and insolent to a degree." 
 
 " I must say I have found them everything that was kind and 
 considerate, hospitable neighbours, and very warm-hearted friends." 
 
 " That's not the world's judgment on them, my dear sir — far 
 from it. They are a proverb for pretension and impertinence. As 
 for Lady Augusta here^ — to be sure she's only one of them by 
 marriage — but there's not a soul in the place she has not outraged. 
 She goes nowhere — of course, that she has a right to do — but she 
 never returns a call, never even sends a card. She went so far as to 
 teil Mr. Pemberton, your predecessor here, that she liked Albano for 
 its savagery ; that there -was no one to know, was its chief charm 
 for her." 
 
 " I saw her for the first time this morning," said L'Estrange, not 
 liking to involve himself in this censure. 
 
 "And she fascinated you of course ? I'm told she does that with 
 every good-looking young fellow that comes in her -n-ay. She's a 
 finished coquette, they say. I don't know what that means, nor do 
 I believe it would have much success with me if I did know. All 
 the coquetry she bestows upon me is to set my ponies ofi" in full 
 gallop whenever she overtakes me driving. She starts away in a 
 sharp canter just behind mo, and John Bright fancies it a race, and 
 away ho goes too, and if ]\Ir. Needham was of the same mettle I 
 don't know what would become of us. I'm afraid, besides, she's a 
 connection of mine. My mother, Lady Marion, was cousin to one 
 of the Delahunts of Kings Cromer. Would you mind taking the 
 reins for awhile, John is fearfully rash to-day ? Just sit where you 
 are, the near-side gives you the whip-hand for Needham. Ah ! 
 that's a relief! Turn down the next road on your left. And so 
 she never asked you about your tenets — never inquired whether you 
 were High Church or Low Church or no church at all ? " 
 
 " Pardon me, Sir Marcus ; she was particularly anxious that I 
 should guard myself against Romish fascinations and advances."
 
 '^•^•J THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 "Ah, she knows them all! They thought they had secnrecl 
 her — indeed they were full sure of it ; bat as she said to poor Mr. 
 Pemberton, they found they had hatched a duck. She was only 
 flirting with Rome. The woman would flirt with the Holy Father, 
 sir, if she had a chance. There's nothing serious, nothing real, 
 nothing honest about her ; but she charmed you, for all that — I see 
 it. I see it all; and you're to take moonlight rides with her over 
 the Campagna. Ha-ha-ha ! Haven't I hit it ? Poor old Pemberton 
 — fifty-eight if he was an hour — got a bad bronchitis with these 
 same night excursions. Worse than that, he made the place too 
 hot for him. Mrs. Trumpler — an active woman Mrs. T., and the 
 eye of a hawk — wouldn't stand the ' few sweet moments,' as poor 
 Pemberton in his simplicity called them. She threatened him with 
 a general meeting, and a vote of censure, and a letter to the Bishop 
 of Gibraltar ; and she frightened him so that he resigned. I was 
 away at the time at the baths at Ischia, or I'd have tried to patch up 
 matters. Indeed, as I told Mrs. T., I'd have tried to get rid of my 
 Lady, instead of banishing poor Pemberton, as kind-hearted a creature 
 as ever I met, and a capital v/hist-player. Not one of your new- 
 fangled fellows, with the ' call for trumps ' and all the last devices 
 of the Portland, but a steady player, who never varied — didn't go 
 chopping about, changing his suits, and making false leads, but went 
 manfully through his hearts before he opened his spades. "We were 
 at Christ Church together. I knew him for a matter of six-and- thirty 
 years, Mr. L'Estrange, and I pledge you my word of honour " — here 
 his voice grew tremulous with agitation — " and in all that time I 
 never knew him revoke ! " He drew his hat over his eyes as ho 
 spoke, and leaning back iu the seat seemed almost overcome by his 
 emotions. 
 
 " Will you turn in there at the small gate ? It is a private 
 entrance to my grounds. I'll not ask you to come in to-day, sir. 
 I'm a little flurried and nervous ; but if you'll join a sick man's 
 dinner at two o'clock to-morrow — some rice and a chicken and a bit of 
 fish — nothing more, I promise you. Well, well, I see it does not tempt 
 you. My best thanks for your pleasant company. Let me see you soon. 
 Take care of yourself, beware of my Lady, and avoid the moonlight ! " 
 
 Apparently this little sally seemed to revive the invalid, for he 
 stopped up the approach to his house with a lively air and waved his 
 hand pleasantly as he said adieu. 
 
 " There's another still ! " muttered L'Estrange as he inquired 
 the way to Mrs. Trumpler's ; " and I wish with all my heart it was 
 over." 
 
 L'Estrange found Mrs. Trumpler at tea. She was an early
 
 THE CHURCH PATRONS AT ALBANO. 2'23 
 
 diner, and took tea about six o'clock, after which she went out for an 
 evening drive over the Canipagna. In aspect, the lady was not pre- 
 possessing. She was very red -faced, with large griiszly curls arranged 
 in a straight lino across her forehead, and she wore spectacles of 
 Buch a size as to give her somewhat Iho look of an owl. In figui'e, 
 she was portly and stout, and had a stand-up sort of air, that to a timid 
 or bashful man, like tlie curate, was the reverse of reassuring. 
 
 "I perceive, sir, I am the last on your list," said she, looking 
 at her watch as he entered. "It is past six." 
 
 " I regret, madam, if I have come at an inconvenient hour. Will 
 you allow me to wait on you to-morrow ? " 
 
 " No, sir. AVe will, w'ith your permission, avail ourselves of (lie 
 present to make acquaintance with each other." She rang tlie bell 
 after this speech, and ordered that the carriage should be sent away. 
 "I shall not drive, Giacomo," said she; " and I do not receive if 
 any one calls." 
 
 " You brought me a letter, sir, from the Reverend Silas Small- 
 wood," said she, very much in the tone of a barrister cross-examin- 
 ing a troublesome witness. 
 
 "Yes, madam ; that gentleman kindly offered a friend of mine 
 to be the means of presenting me to you." 
 
 " So that you are not personally acquainted, sir ? " 
 " We have never, so far as I know, even seen each other." 
 " It is as well, sir, fully as well. Mr. Smallwood is a person for 
 whose judgment or discrimination I would have the very humblest 
 opinion, and I have therefore, from what you tell me, the hope that 
 you are not of his party in the Church." 
 
 " I am unable to answer you, madam, knowing nothing whatever 
 of Mr. Smallwood's peculiar views." 
 
 "This is fencing, sir ; and I don't admire fencing. Let us under- 
 stand each other. What have you come here to preach ? I hope 
 my question is a direct one ? " 
 
 " I am an ordained minister of the Church of England, madam ; 
 and when I have said so, I have answered you." 
 
 " What, sir ? do you imagine your reply is sufficient in an ago 
 when not alone every doctrine is embraced within the Church, but 
 that there is a very large and increasing party who are prepared to 
 have no doctrine at all ? I perceive, sir, I must make my approaches 
 to you in a different fashion. Arc you a man of vestments, gesticula- 
 tions, and glass windows ? Do you dramatize your Christianity ? " 
 " I believe I can say no, madam, to all these." 
 "Are you a Literalist, then ? What about Noah, sir? Let me 
 hear what you have to say about the Flood, Have you ever calculated
 
 224 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 what forty days' rainfall would amount to ? Do you know that in 
 Assam, where the rains are the heaviest in that jxxrt of the world, 
 and in Colon, in Central America, no twelve hours' rain ever passed 
 five inches and three-quarters ? You are, I am sure, acquainted 
 with Eschschormes' hook on the Nile deposits ? If not, sir, it is 
 yonder — at your service. Now, sir, we shall devote this evening to 
 the Deluge, and, so far as time permits, the age of the earth. To- 
 morrow evening we'll take Moses, on Stauh's suggestion that many 
 persons were included under that name. We'll keep the Pentateuch 
 for Friday, for I expect the Rahbi Bensi will be here by that time." 
 
 " Will you pardon me, madam," said L'Estrange, rising, " if I 
 decline entering upon all discussion of these momentous questions 
 with you ? I have no such scholarship as would enable me to prove 
 instructive, and I have conviction sufficiently strong, in my faith in 
 other men's learning, to enable me to reject quibbles and be unmoved 
 by subtleties. Besides," added he, in a sharper tone, " I have come 
 here to have the honour of making your acquaintance, and not to 
 submit myself to an examination. May I wish you a good-evening ? " 
 
 How he took his leave, how he descended the stairs, and rushed 
 into the street, and found his way to the little inn where his sister 
 v/earily was waiting dinner for him, the poor curate never knew to 
 the last day of his life. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 A SMALL LODGING AT LOUVAIN. 
 
 In a very humble quarter of the old town of Louvain, at the corner 
 of La Rue des Moines, Augustus Bramleigh and his sister had taken 
 up their lodgings. Madame Jervasse, the proprietress of the house, 
 had in her youth been the femme-de-chambre of some high-born 
 dame of Brussels, and offered her services in the same capacity to 
 Ellen, while, with the aid of her own servant, she prepared their 
 meals, thus at once supplying the modest requirements they needed. 
 Augustus Bramleigh was not a very resolute or determined man, but 
 his was one of those natures that acquire solidity from pressure. 
 When once he found himself on the road of sacrifices, his self- 
 esteem imparted vigour and energy to his character. In the 
 ordinary course of events he was accustomed to hold himself — 
 his abilities and his temperament — cheaply enough. No man was 
 ever less self-opinionated or self-confident. If referred to for advice,
 
 A SMAT.L LODGING AT LOUVATX. 225 
 
 or eveu for opinion, ho would modestly decline the last, and say, 
 ■*' Million or Temple perhaps could help you here." He shrank 
 from all self-assertion whatever, and it was ever a most painful 
 moment to him when he was presented to any one as the future 
 head of the house and the heir to the Bramleigh estates. To Ellen, 
 from whom he had no secrets, he had often confessed how he wished 
 he had heen a younger son. All his tastes and all his likings were 
 those to he enjoyed hy a man of moderate fortune, and an ambition 
 even smaller than that fortune. He would say, too, half-jcstingly, 
 '• With such aspiring spirits amongst us as Marion and Temple, I 
 can aftbrd myself the luxury of obscurity. They are suro to carry 
 our banner loftily, and / may with safety go on my humble path 
 unnoticed." 
 
 Jack had always been his favourite brother : his joyous nature, 
 his sailor-like frankness, his spirit, and his willingness to oblige, 
 contrasted very favourably with Temple's sedate, cautious manner, 
 and the traces of a selfishness that never forgot itself. Had Jack 
 been the second son instead of the youngest, Augustus would have 
 abdicated in his favour at once, but he could not make such a 
 sacrifice for Temple. All the less that the very astute diplomatist 
 continually harped on the sort of qualities which were required to 
 dispense an ample fortune, and more than insinuated how much 
 such a position would become himself, while another might only 
 regard it as a burden and a worry. It was certainly a great shock 
 to him to learn that there was a claimant to his family fortune and 
 estate : the terrible feeling that they were to appear before the world 
 as impostors, — holding a station and dispensing a wealth to which 
 they had no right, — almost overcame him. The disgrace of a public 
 exposure, the notoriety it would evoke, were about the most poignant 
 sufferings such a man could be brought to endure. He to whom a 
 newspaper comment, a mere passing notice of his name, was a source 
 of pain and annoyance ; that he should figure in a great trial and his 
 downfall be made the theme of moral reflections in a leading article ! 
 How was this to be borne ? What could break the fall from a 
 position of affluence and power to a condition of penury and insigni- 
 ficance ? Nothing — if not the spirit which by meeting disaster half- 
 way, seemed at least to accept the inevitable with courage, and so 
 carry a high heart in the last moments of defeat. 
 
 Augustus well knew what a mistaken estimate the world had 
 ever formed of his timid, bashful nature, and this had given his 
 manner a semblance of pride and hauteur which made the keynote 
 of his character. It was all in vain that he tried to persuade people 
 that he had not an immeasurable self-conceit. They saw it in his 
 
 15
 
 223 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 every word and gesture, in his coolness wlien they approached him, 
 in his almost ungraciousness when they were courteous to him. 
 " Many will doubtless declare," said he, " that this reverse of fortune 
 is hut a natural justice on one who plumed himself too much on his 
 prosperity, and who arrogated too far on the accident of his wealth. 
 If so I can hut say they will not judge me fairly. They will know 
 nothing of where my real suffering lies. It is less the loss of fortune 
 I deplore, than the world's judgment on having so long usurped that 
 we had no right to." 
 
 From the day he read Sedley's letter and held that conversation 
 with the lawj-er, in which he heard that the claimant's case seemed 
 a very strong one, and that perhaps the Bramleighs had nothing to 
 oppose to it of so much weight as the great fact of possession — from 
 that hour he took a despairing view of the case. There are men 
 who at the first reverse of fortune throw down their cards and 
 confess themselves beaten. There are men who can accept defeat 
 itself better than meet the vacillating events of a changeful destiny ; 
 who have no persistence in their courage, nor any resources to meet 
 the coming incidents of life. Augustus Bramleigh possessed a great 
 share of this temperament. It is true that Sedley after much per- 
 suasion induced him to entertain the idea of a compromise, carefully 
 avoiding the use of that unhappy word, and sitbstitutiug for it the 
 less obnoxious expression " arrangement." Now this same arrange- 
 ment, as Mr. Sedley put it, was a matter which concerned the 
 Bramleighs collectively : — seeing that if the fiimily estates were 
 to be taken away, nothing would remain to furnish a provision for 
 younger children. " You must ascertain what your brothers will 
 do," wrote Sedley; "you must inquire how far Lord CuldufT — who 
 through his marriage has a rent-charge on the estate — will be willing 
 to contribute to an ' arrangement.' " 
 
 Nothing could be less encouraging than the answer this appeal 
 called forth. Lord Culdufl' wrote back in the tone of an injured 
 man, all but declaring that he had been regularly taken in ; indeed, 
 he did not scruple to aver that it had never been his intention to 
 embark in a ship that was sure to founder, and he threw out some- 
 thing like a rebuke on the indelicacy of asking him to add to the 
 sacrifice he had already made for the honour of being allied to them. 
 
 Temple's note ran thus : — 
 
 Dear Gusty, — If your annoyances have not affected your brain, 
 I am at a loss for an explanation of your last letter. How, I would 
 ask you, is a poor secretary of legation to subsist on the beggarly 
 pitiancc F. 0. affords him ? Four hundred and fifty per annum in
 
 A SilALL LODGING AT LOUVATN. 227 
 
 to supply rent, clothe?, club expenses, a. stall at the opera, and one's 
 little charities in perhaps one of the dearest capitals in Europe. So 
 far from expecting the demand you have made upon me, I actually, at 
 the moment of receiving yours, had a half-finished note on my writing- 
 table asking you to increase my poor allowance. When I left Castello, 
 I think you had sixteen horses. Can you possibly want more than 
 two for the carriage and one for your own riding ? As to your 
 garden and greenhouse expenses, I'll lay ten to one your first peas 
 cost you a guinea a quart, and you never saw a pine at your table 
 under five-and- twenty pounds ; and now that I am on the theme of 
 reduction, I would ask what do you want with a chef at two hundred 
 and fifty a year? Do you, or does Ellen, ever eat of anything but 
 the simplest diet at table ? Don't you send away the entrees every 
 day, wait for the roast gigot, or the turkey or the woodcocks, and iu 
 consequence, does not M. Gregoire leave the cookery to be done by 
 one of his ' aides,' and betake himself to the healthful pursuit of 
 snipe-shooting, and the evening delight of Mrs. Somebody's tea at Port- 
 shannon ? Why not add this useless extravagance to the condemned 
 list of the vineries, the stables, and the score of other extraordiuaries, 
 which an energetic hand would reduce in half-an-hour ? 
 
 " I'm sure you'll not take it in ill part that I bring these things 
 under your notice. Whether out of the balance iu hand you will 
 give me five hundred a year, or only three, I shall ever remain 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 '• Temple Edgerton Bramleigh." 
 
 "Read that, Nelly," said Augustus, as he throw it across tho 
 table. " I'm almost afraid to say what I think of it." 
 
 This was said as they sat iu their little lodgings in the Rue de 
 Moines : for the letter had been sent through an embassy-bag, and 
 consequently had been weeks on the road, besides lying a month on 
 a tray in the Foreign Office till some idle lounger had taken the 
 caprice to forward it. 
 
 " Her Majesty's Legation at Naples. Lord Culduff is there 
 special, and Temple is acting as secretaiy to him." 
 
 " And docs Marion send no message ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes. She wants all the trunks and carriage-boxes which 
 she left at Castello to be forwarded to town for transmission abroad. 
 I don't think she remembers us much further. She hopes I will not 
 have her old mare sold, but make arrangements for her having a free 
 paddock for the rest of her life, and she adds that you ought to take 
 the pattern of the slipper on her side-saddle, for if it should happen 
 that you ever ride again, you'll find it better than any thej make now."
 
 '2-2.8 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 "Considerate at all evcuts. Tliey tell us that love, alone -e- 
 members trifles. Isn't this a proof of it, Gusty ? " 
 
 " Eead Temple now, and try to put me in better temper with 
 him than I feel at this moment." 
 
 " I couldn't feel angry with Temple," said she, quietly. " All 
 he does and all he says so palpably springs from consideration of 
 self, that it would be unjust to resent iu him what one would not 
 endure from another. In fact, he means no harm to any one, and 
 a great deal of good to Temple Eramleigh." 
 
 " And you think that commendable ? " 
 
 *' I have not said so ; but it certainly would not irritate me." 
 
 She opened the letter after this and read it over leisurely. 
 
 " "Well, and what do you say now, Nelly ? " asked he. 
 
 " That it's Temple all over ; he does not know why in this ship- 
 wreck every one is not helping to make a lifeboat for him. It seems 
 such an obvious and natural thing to do that he regards the omission 
 as scarcely credible." 
 
 " Does he not see — does he not care for the ruin that has over- 
 taken us ? " 
 
 " Yes, he sees it, and is very sorry for it, but he opines, at the 
 same time, that the smallest amount of the disaster should fall to 
 his share. Here's something very different," said she, taking a 
 letter from her pocket. "This is from Julia. She writes from 
 her little villa at Albano, and asks us to come and stay with them." 
 
 " How thoroughly kind and good-natured." 
 
 " Was it not. Gusty ? She goes over how we are to be lodged, 
 and is full of little plans of pleasure and enjoyment ; she adds too, 
 what a benefit you would be to poor George, who is driven half 
 wild with the meddlesome interference of the Church magnates. They 
 dictate to him iu everything, and a Mrs. Trumpler actually scuds 
 him the texts on which she desires him to hold forth, — while Lady 
 Augusta persecutes him with projects in which theological discussion, 
 as she understands it, is to be carriud on iu rides over the Campagna, 
 and picnics to the hills behind Albano. Julia says that he will not 
 be able to bear it, without the comfort and companionship of some 
 kind fiiend, to whom he can have recourse in his moments of 
 difTiculty." 
 
 " It would be delightful to go there, Nelly, but it is im- 
 possible." 
 
 " I know it is," said she, gravely. 
 
 " We could not remove so far from England "svhilc this affair is 
 yot undetermined. We must remain where we can communicate casilv 
 with Sedley."
 
 ISn
 
 A SMALL LODGING AT LOUVALV. 229 
 
 " There are scores of reasons against the project," said she, in the 
 same grave tone. " Let us not speak of it more." 
 
 Augustus looked at her, but she turned away her face and he 
 could only mai'k that her cheeks and throat were covered with a deep 
 blush. 
 
 " This part of Julia's letter is very curious," said she, turning to 
 the last page. " They were stopping at a little inn one night where 
 Pracontal and Longworth arrived, and George by a mere accident 
 heard Pracontal declare that he would have given anything to have 
 known you personally, that he desired above everything to be received 
 by you on terms of friendship, and even of kindred ; that the whole 
 of this unhappy business could have been settled amicably, and in 
 fact, he never ceased to blame himself for the line into which his 
 lawyer's advice had led him, while all his wishes tended to an opposite 
 direction." 
 
 " But Sedley says he has accepted the arrangement, and abandoned 
 all claim in future." 
 
 "So he has, and it is for that he blames himself. He says it debars 
 him fi'om the noble part he desired to take." 
 
 " I was no part to this compromise, Nelly, remember that. I 
 yielded to reiterated entreaty a most unwilling assent, declaring always 
 that the law must decide the case between us, and the rightful owner 
 have his own. Let not Mr. Pracontal imagine that all the high- 
 principled action is on his side : from the very first I declared that I 
 would not enjoy for an hour what I did not regard undisputably as my 
 own. You can bear witness to this, Nelly. I simply assented to the 
 arrangement, as they called it, to avoid unnecessary scandal. What 
 the law shall decide between us, need call forth no evil passions or 
 ill-will. If the fortune we had believed our own belongs to another, 
 let him have it." 
 
 The tone of high excitement in which he spoke plainly revealed 
 how far a nervous temperament and a susceptible nature had to do 
 with his present resolve. Nelly had seen this before, but never so 
 fully revealed as now. She knew well the springs which could move 
 him to acts of self-sacrifice and devotion, but she had not thoroughly 
 realized to herself that it was in a paroxysm of honourable emotion 
 he had determined to accept the reverse of fortune, which would leave 
 him penniless in the world. 
 
 " No, Nelly ! " said he, as he arose and walked the room, with 
 head erect, and a firm step. " We shall not sutler these people who 
 talk slightingly of the newdy risen gentry to have their scoif un- 
 challenged ! It is the cant of the day to talk of mercantile honour 
 and City notions of what is highmindcd and right, and I shall show
 
 230 THE BRAMLEICnS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 them that ire — 'Lombard Street people,' as some newspaper scribe 
 called us the other day — that we can do things the proudest earl in 
 the Peerage would shrink back from as from a sacrifice he could not 
 dare to face. There can be no sneer at a class that can produce men 
 who accept beggary rather than dishonour. As that Frenchman said, 
 these habits of luxury and splendour were things he had never known, 
 — the want of them v/ould leave no blank in It is existence. Whereas 
 to us they were the daily accidents of life — they entered into our 
 ways and habits, and made part of our very natures ; giving them up 
 was like giving up ourselves, surrendering an actual identity ! You 
 saw our distinguished connection, Lord Culduff, how he replied to my 
 letter — a letter, by the way, I should never have stooped to write — 
 but Sedley had my ear at the time and influenced me against my own 
 convictions. The noble viscount, however, was free from all extraneous 
 pressure, and he told us as plainly as words could tell it, that he had 
 paid heavily enough already for the honour of beiug connected vdth 
 us, and had no intention to contribute another sacrifice. As for Temple 
 — I won't speak of him : poor Jack, how differently he would have 
 behaved in such a crisis." 
 
 Happy at the opportunity to draw her brother away, even passingly, 
 from a theme that seemed to press upon him unceasingly, she drew 
 from the drawer of a little work-table a small photograph, aud handed 
 it to him, saying, "Is it not like ? " 
 
 " Jack ! " cried he. " In a sailor's jacket too ! what is this ? " 
 
 " He goes out as a mate to China," said she, calmly. " He wrote 
 me but half a dozen lines, but they v/ere fall of hope and cheerful- 
 ness ; he said that he had every prospect of getting a ship, when ho 
 was once out ; that an old messmate had written to his father — a 
 great merchant at Shanghai — about him, and that he had not the 
 slightest fears for his future." 
 
 " Would any one believe in a reverse so complete as this '? " cried 
 Augustus, as he clasped his hands before him. " Who ever heard 
 of such ruin in so short a time ? " 
 
 " Jack certainly takes no despairing view of life," said she, 
 quietly. 
 
 " What ! does he pretend to say it is nothing to descend from his 
 rank as an officer of the navy, with a brilliant prospect before him, 
 and an affluent connection at his back, to be a common sailor, or at 
 best one grade removed from a common sailor, and his whoie family 
 beggared ? Is this the picture he can alTord to look on with pleasure 
 or with hope ! The man who sees in his downfall, no sacrifice, or 
 no degradation, has no sympathy of mine. To tell me that he is 
 stout-hearted is absurd, he is simply unfeeling."
 
 A SMALL LODGING AT LOUVAIN. 231 
 
 Nelly's face aucl even lier neck became crimson, and her ej-es 
 flashed indignantly ; hut she repressed the passionate words that were 
 almost on her lips, and taking the photograph from him replaced it in 
 the drawer and turned tlie key. 
 
 " Has Marion written to you ? " asked he, after a pause. 
 
 " Only a few lines. I'm afraid she's not very happy in her 
 exalted condition after all, for she concluded with these words : ' It 
 is a cruel blow that has befallen you, but don't fancy that there are 
 not miseries as hard to bear in life as those which display themselves 
 in public and flaunt their suflerings before the world.' " 
 
 " That old fop's temper perhaps is hard to bear with," said he, 
 carelessly. 
 
 " You must write to George L'Estrange, Gusty," said she, 
 coaxing ly. " There are no letters he likes so much as yours. He 
 says you are the only one who ever knew how to advise without 
 taking that tone of superiority that is so offensive, and he needs 
 advice just now — he is driven half wild with dictation and inter- 
 ference." 
 
 She talked on in this strain for some time, till he grew 
 gradually calmer, and his features, losing their look of intensity 
 and eagerness, regained their ordinary expression of gentleness and 
 quiet. 
 
 " Do you know what was passing through my mind just now ? " 
 said he, smiling half sadly. " I was v^'ishiug it was George had 
 been Marion's husband instead of Lord Culdufi". "We'd have been 
 so united, the very narrowness of our fortunes would have banded us 
 more closely together, and I believe, firmly believe, we might have 
 been happier in these days of humble condition, than ever we were in 
 our palmy ones : do you agree with me, Nelly ? " 
 
 Her face was now crimson, and if Augustus had not been the 
 least observant of men, he must have seen how his words had agitated 
 her. She merely said, with affected indifference, " Who can tell how 
 these things would turn out ? There's a nice gleam of sunlight. Gusty. 
 Let us have a walk. I'll go for my hat." 
 
 She fled from the room before he had time to reply, and the heavy 
 clap of a door soon told that she had reached her chamber.
 
 232 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 AT LOU VAIN. 
 
 There are few delusions more common with well-to-do people than 
 the belief that if " put to it " they could earn their own livelihood in 
 a variety of ways. Almost every man has some two or three or more 
 accomplishments which he fancies would be quite adequate to his 
 support, and remembering with what success the exercise of these 
 gifts has ever been hailed in the societ}^ of his friends, he has a sort 
 of generous dislike to be obliged to eclipse some poor drudge of a 
 professional, who, of course, will be consigned to utter oblivion, after 
 his own performance. 
 
 Augustus Bramleigh was certainly not a conceited, or a vain man, 
 and yet he had often in his palmy days imagined how easy it would 
 be for him to provide for his own support : he was something of a 
 musician, he sang pleasingly, he drew a little, he knew something of 
 three or four modern languages, he had that sort of smattering 
 acquaintance with questions of religion, politics, and literature, 
 which the world calls being " well-informed ; " and yet nothing 
 short of grave Necessity revealed to him that, towards the object of 
 securing a livelihood, a cobbler in his bulk was out and out his 
 master. 
 
 The world has no need of the man of small acquirements, and 
 would rather have its shoes mended by the veriest botch of a pro- 
 fessional than by the cleverest amateur that ever studied a Greek 
 sandal. 
 
 " Is it not strange, Nelly, that Brydges and Bowes won't take 
 those songs of mine," said he one morning as the post brought him 
 several letters. " They say they are very pretty, and the accompani- 
 ments full of taste, but so evidently wanting in originality — such 
 palpable imitations of Gordigiani and Mariani — they would meet no 
 success. I ask you, Nelly, am I the man to pilfer from any one. 
 Is it likely I would trade on another man's intellect ? " 
 
 " That you certainly are not. Gusty ! but remember who it is that 
 utters this criticism. The man who has no other test of goodness 
 but a ready sale, and he sees in this case little hope of such." 
 
 " Rankin too refuses my ' Ghost Story ; ' he calls it too German, 
 whatever that may mean." 
 
 "It means simply that he wants to say sometliing and is not 
 very clear what it ought to be. And your water-colour sketch — the 
 Street iu Bruges ? "
 
 AT LOUVAI>f. 233 
 
 " Worst of all," cried he, interrupting. " Dinetti, with whom I 
 have squandered hundreds for prints and drawings, sends it back 
 with these words in red chalk on the back: — "No distance; no 
 transparency ; general muddiness — a bad imitation of Prout's worst 
 manner." r- jA 
 
 " How unmannerly ; how course ! " ' • /' 
 
 " Yes ; these purveyors to the world's taste don't mince matters 
 with their journeymen. They remind them pretty plainly of their 
 shortcomings ; but considering how much of pure opinion must enter 
 into these things, they might liave uttered their judgments with more 
 diffidence." 
 
 " They may not always know what is best. Gusty ; but I take it, 
 they can guess very correctly as to what the public will think best." 
 
 " How humiliating it makes labour when one has to work to 
 please a popular taste. I always had fancied that the author, or the 
 painter, or the musician, stood on a sort of pedestal, to the foot of 
 which came the j)ublisher, entreating that he might be permitted to 
 catch the utteriugs of genius, and become the channel through which 
 they should flow into an expectant w'oild ; and now I see it is the 
 music-seller, or the print-seller is on the pedestal, and the man of 
 genius kneels at his feet and prays to bo patronized." 
 
 "I am sure, Gusty," said she, drawing her arm within his, as 
 he stood at the window, "I am sure we must have friends who 
 would find you some employment in the public service that you 
 would not dislike, and you would even take interest in. Let us see 
 first what we could ask for." 
 
 " No ; first let us think of whom we could ask for it." 
 
 " Well, be it so. There is Sir Francis Deighton ; isn't he a 
 Cabinet Minister? " 
 
 "Yes. My fiither gave him his first rise ic life; but I'm not 
 sure they kept up much intimacy later on." 
 
 " I'll write to him. Gusty ; he has all the Colonial patronage and 
 could easily make 3-ou governor of something to-morrow. Say ' yes ; * 
 tell me I may write to him." 
 
 " It's not a pleasant task to assign you, dear Nelly," said he, with 
 a sad smile ; " and yet I feel you will do it better than I should." 
 
 " I shall write," said she, boldly, " with the full assurance that 
 Sir Francis will bo well pleased to have an opportunity to serve the 
 son of an old friend and benefactor." 
 
 " Perhaps it is that my late defeats have made me cowardly — 
 but I own, Nelly, I am less than hopeful of success." 
 
 " And I am full of confidence. Shall I show you my letter when 
 I have written it ? "
 
 23-1 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF EISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Better uot, Nelly. I might begin to question the prudence of 
 this, or the taste of that, and end by asking you to suppress it all. 
 Do what you like then, and in your own way." 
 
 Nelly was not sorry to obtain permission to act free of all trammels, 
 and went off to her room to write her letter. It was not till after 
 many attempts that she succeeded in framing an epistle to her satis- 
 faction. She did not wish — while reminding Sir Francis of whom it 
 w^as she was speaking- — to recall to him any unpleasant sentiment of 
 an old obligation : she simply adverted to her father's long friend- 
 ship for him, but dropped no hint of his once patronage. She 
 spoke of their reverse in fortune with dignity, and in the spirit of 
 one who could declare proudly that their decline in station involved 
 no loss of honour, and she asked that some employment might be 
 l)estowed on her brother, as upon one well deserving of such a 
 charge. 
 
 "I hope there is nothing of the suppliant in all this ? I hope 
 it is such a note as Gusty would have approved of, and that my 
 eagerness to succeed has involved me in no undue humility." Again 
 ijnd again she read it over; revising this, and changing that, till at 
 length grown impatient, she folded it up and addressed it, saying 
 aloud : " There ! it is in the chance humour of him who reads, not 
 iu the skill of the writer, lies the luck of such epistles." 
 
 " You forgot to call him Right Honourable, Nelly," said Augustus, 
 as he looked at the superscription. 
 
 "I'm afraid I've forgotten more than that. Gusty; but let us 
 hope for the best." 
 
 " What did you ask for ? " 
 
 " Anything, — whatever he can give you, and is disposed to give, 
 I've said. We are in that category where the proverb says — there 
 is no choice." 
 
 " I'd not have said that, Nelly." 
 
 " I know that, and it is precisely on that account that I said it 
 for you. ricmember. Gusty, you changed our last fifty pounds in 
 the world yesterday." 
 
 " That's true," said ho, sitting down near the table, and covering 
 his face with both hands. 
 
 " There's a gentleman bolowstairs, madam, wishes to know if he 
 could see Mr. Bramleigh," said the landlady entering the room. 
 
 " Do you know his name ? " said Nelly, seeing that as her 
 brother paid no attention to the annoucement, it might be as well 
 not to admit a visitor. 
 
 " This is his card, madam," 
 
 " Mr. Cutbill ! " said Nelly, reading aloud. " Gusty," added she,
 
 AT LOUVAIX. 235 
 
 bendiu!,' over him, auci whispering in his ear, " would you see 
 Mr. Cutbill ? " 
 
 "I don't care to see him," muttered he, and then rising he 
 added : " Well, let him come up ; but mind, Nelly, we must on no. 
 account ask him to stay and dine with us." 
 
 She nodded assent, and the landlady retired to introduce the 
 stranfrer. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 MR. CUTBILL'S visit. 
 
 " If you knew the work I had to find you," said Mr. Cutbill, entering 
 the room and throwing his hat carelessly on a table. " I had the 
 whole police at work to look you up, and only succeeded at last by the 
 half-hint that you were a great political oflender, and Lord Palmerston 
 would never forgive the authorities if they concealed you." 
 
 " I declare," said Augustus, gravely, " I am much fluttered by 
 all the trouble you have taken to blacken my character." 
 
 " Character! bless you heart, so long as you ain't a Frenchman, 
 these people don't care about your character. An English con- 
 spirator is the most harmless of all creatures. Had you been a Pole 
 or an Italian, the Prrfet told me, he'd have known every act of your 
 daily life." 
 
 " And so we shall have to leave this, now ? " said Ellen, with 
 some vexation in her tone. 
 
 " Not a bit of it, if you don't dislike the surveillance they'll 
 bestow on you ; and it'll bo the very best protection against rogues 
 and pickpockets ; and I'll go and say that you're not the man I 
 suspected at all." 
 
 "Pray take no further trouble on our behalf, sir," said Bram- 
 leigh, stiffly and haughtily. 
 
 ""Which being interpreted means, — make your visit as short as 
 may be, and go your way, Tom Cutbill — don't it ? " 
 
 "I am not prepared to say, sir, that I have yet guessed the 
 object of your coming." 
 
 " If you go to that, I suspect I'll be as much puzzled as yourself. 
 I came to see you because I heard you were in my neighbourhood. 
 I don't think I had any other very pressing reason. I had to decamp 
 from England somewhat hurriedly, and I came over here to bo, as 
 they call it, ' out of the way,' till this storm blows over."
 
 236 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " What storm ? I've heard nothing of a storm." 
 
 " You've not heard that the Liscounor scheme has hlown up ? — 
 the great Cukluff Mining Company has exploded, and blown all the 
 shareholders shyhigh ? " 
 
 " Not a word of it." 
 
 " Why, there's more writs after the promoters (.his morning than 
 ever there was scrip for paid-up capital. We're all in for it — every 
 man of us." 
 
 " Was it a mere bubble then — a fraud ? " 
 
 " I don't know what you call a bubble, or what you mean by a 
 fraud. We had all that constitutes a company : we had a scheme and 
 we had a lord. If an over-greedy public wants grandeur and gain 
 besides, it must be disappointed ; as I told the general meeting, ' You 
 don't expect profit as well as the peerage, do you ? ' " 
 
 " You yourself told me there was coal." 
 
 " So there was. I am ready to maiutaia it still. Isn't that 
 money, Bramleigh ? " said he, taking a handful of silver from his 
 pocket ; " good coin of the realm, with her Majesty's image ? But 
 if you asked me if there was much more where it came from — 
 why, the witness might, as the newspapers say, hesitate and show 
 confusion." 
 
 "You mean then, in short, there was only coal enough to form a 
 pretext for a company ? " 
 
 " I tell you what I mean," said Cutbill sturdily. " I bolted 
 from London rather than be stuck in a witness-box and badgered by 
 a cross-examining barrister, and I'm not going to expose myself to 
 the same sort of diversion here from you." 
 
 " I assure you, sir, the matter had no interest for me, beyond 
 the opportunity it afforded you of exculpation." 
 
 " For the exculpatory part, I can take it easy," said Cutbill, with 
 a dry laugh. " I wish I had nothing heavier on my heart than the 
 load of my conscience ; but I've been signing my name to deeds, and 
 writing Tom Cutbill across acceptances, in a sort of indiscriminate 
 way, that in the calmer hours before a Commissioner in Bankruptcy 
 ain't so pleasant. I must say, Bramleigh, your distinguished relative, 
 Culduff, doesn't cut up well." 
 
 " I think, Mr. Cutbill, if you have any complaint to make of 
 Lord Culduff, you might have chosen a more fitting auditor than his 
 brother-in-law." 
 
 " I thought the world had outgrown the cant of connection. I 
 thought that we had got to be so widely-minded that you might talk 
 to a man about his sister as freely as if she were the Queen of 
 Slab..."
 
 JIR. CUTBILL'rB VISIT. 237 
 
 " Pray do me the favour to believe me still a bigot, sir." 
 
 "How far is Lord Culduff involved in the mishap you speak of, 
 Mr. Culbill ? " said Nelly, with a courteousuess of tone she hoped 
 might restore their guest to a better humour. 
 
 "I thiuk he'll net some live-aud-twenty thousand out of the 
 transaction ; and from what I know of the distinguished viscount, 
 he'll not lie awake at night fretting over the misfortunes of Tom 
 Cutbill and fellows.'' 
 
 " Will this — this misadventure," stammered out Augustus, "pre- 
 vent your return to England '? " 
 
 " Only for a season. A man lies by for these things, just as he 
 does for a thunderstorm ; a little patience and the sun shines out, 
 and he walks about freely as ever. If it were not, besides, for this 
 sort of thing, we City men would never have a day's recreation in 
 life ; nothing but work, work, from morning till night. How many 
 of us would see Switzerland, I ask you, if we didn't smash ? The 
 Insolvent Court is the way to the Khiue, Briimleigh, take my word 
 for it, though it ain"t set down in John Murray." 
 
 "If a light heart could help to a light conscience, I must say, 
 Mr. Cutbill, 3'ou would appear to possess that enviable lot." 
 
 " There's such a thing as a very small conscience," said Cutbill, 
 closing one eye, and looking intensely roguish. " A conscience so 
 unobtrusive that one can treat it like a poor relation, and put it 
 anywhere." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Cutbill, j-ou shock me," said Ellen, trying to look 
 reproachful and gi'ave. 
 
 "I'm sorry for it, Miss Bramleigh," said he, with mock sorrow 
 in his manner. 
 
 " Had not our friend L'Estrango an interest in this unfortunate 
 speculation ? " asked Bramleigh. 
 
 "A trifle ; a mere trifle. Two thousand I think it was. Two, 
 or two-five-hundred. I forgot exactly which." 
 
 " And is this entirely lost ? " 
 
 " "Well, pretty much the same ; they talk of sevenpence dividend, 
 but I suspect they're over-sanguine. I'd say five was nearer the 
 mark." 
 
 " Do they know the extent of their misfortune ? " asked Ellen, 
 eagerly. 
 
 "If they read The Times they're sure to see it. The money 
 article is awfully candid, and never attempts any delicate conceal- 
 ment like the reports in a police-court. The fact is. Miss Bram- 
 leigh, the financial people always end like Cremorne, with a ' gran I 
 transparency' that displays the whole company ! "
 
 238 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I'm SO Sony for the L'Estranges," said Ellen, feelingly. 
 
 "And why not sorry for Tom Cutbill, miss? Why have no 
 compassion for that gifted creature, and generous mortal, whose worst 
 fault was that he believed in a lord ? " 
 
 *' Mr. Cutbill is so sure to sympathize with himself and his own 
 griefs that he has no need of me ; and then he looks so like one 
 that would have recuperative powers." 
 
 " There you've hit it," cried he, enthusiastically. " That's it ! 
 that's what makes Tom Cutbill the man he is — flectes non fraugis. 
 I hope I have it right ; but I mean you may smooth him down but 
 you can't smash him ; and it's to tell the noble viscount as much I'm 
 now on my way to Italy. I'll say to the distinguished peer, ' I'm 
 only a -pavm on the chess-board ; but look to it, my lord, or I'll 
 give check to the king ! ' Won't he understand me ? ay, in a 
 second too ! " 
 
 " I trust something can be done for poor L'Estrange," said 
 Augustus. " It was his sister's fortune ; and the whole of it, too." 
 
 "Leave that to me, then. I'll make better terms for him than 
 he'll get by the assignee under the court. Bless your heart, 
 Bramleigh, if it wasn't for a little ' extramural equity,' as one might 
 call it, it would go very hard with the widow and the orphan in this 
 world ; but we, coarse-minded fellows, as I've no doubt you'd call 
 us, we do kinder things in our own way than Commissioners under 
 the Act." 
 
 " Can you recover the money for them 7 " asked Augustus, 
 earnestly; "can you do that?" 
 
 " Not legally — not a chance of it ; but I think I'll make a noble 
 lord of our acquaintance disgorge something handsome. I don't 
 mean to press any claim of my own. If he behaves politely, and 
 asks me to dine, and treats me like a gentleman, I'll not be over hard 
 with him. I like the — not the conveniences — that's not the word, 
 but the " 
 
 " ' Convenances,' perhaps," interposed Ellen. 
 
 " That's it, — the convenances. I like the attentions that seem 
 to say, ' T. C. isn't to be kept in a tunnel or a cutting ; but is good 
 company at table, with long-necked bottles beside him. T. C. can 
 be talked to about the world : about pale sherry, and pretty women, 
 and the delights of Homburg, and the odds on the Derby ; he's as 
 much at home at Bclgravia as on an embankment." 
 
 " I suspect there will be few to dispute that," said Augustus, 
 solemnly. 
 
 " Not when they knows it, Bramleigh; ' not when they knows 
 it,' as the cabbies say. The thing is to make them know it, to make
 
 MR. cutbill's visit. 23i? 
 
 tliem feel it. There's a rouga-ancl-ready way of putting all men like 
 myself, who take liberties with the letter H, down as snobs ; bat you 
 see, there's snobs and snobs. There's snobs that are only snobs ; 
 there's snobs that have nothing distinctive about them but their 
 snobbery, and there's snobs so well up in life, so shrewd, such down- 
 right keen men of the world, that their snobbery is only an accident, 
 like a splash from a passing 'bus, and, in fact, their snobbery puts a 
 sort of accent on their acuteuess, just like a trade-mark, and tells you 
 it was town-made ; — no bad thing, Bramleigh, when that town calls 
 itself London ! " 
 
 If Augustus vouchsafed little approval of this speech, Ellen smiled 
 an apparent concurrence, while in reality it was the man's pretension 
 and assurance that amused her. 
 
 "You ain't as jolly as you used to be; how is that?" said 
 Cutbill, shaking Bramleigh jocosely by the arm. " I suspect you are 
 disposed, like Jeremiah, to a melancholy line of life ? " 
 
 " I was not aware, sir, that my spirits could be matter of remark," 
 said Augustus, haughtily. 
 
 " And why not ? You're no highness, royal or serene, that one 
 is obliged to accept any humour you may be in, as the right thing. 
 You are one of us, I take it." 
 
 " A very proud distinction," said he gravely. 
 
 " Well, if it's nothing to crow, it's nothing to cry for ! If the 
 world had nothing but top-sawyers, Bramleigh, there would be 
 precious little work done. Is that clock of yours, yonder, right — is 
 it so late as that ? " 
 
 "I believe so," said Augustus, looking at his watch. '• I want 
 exactly ten minutes to four." 
 
 " And the train starts at four precisely. That's so like me. I've 
 lost my train, all for the sake of paying a visit to people who wished 
 mc at the North Pole' for my politeness." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Cutbill," said Ellen, deprecatingly. 
 
 "I hope, Mr. Cutbill, wc arc fully sensible of the courtesy that 
 suggested your call." 
 
 "And I'm fully sensible that you and Miss Ellen have been on 
 thorns for the last half-hour, each muttering to himself, 'what will he 
 say next ? ' or worse than that, * When will he go ? ' " 
 
 " I protest, sir, you are alike unjust to yourself and to us. We 
 are so thoroughly satisfied that you never intended to hurt us, that 
 if incidently touched, we take it as a mere accident." 
 
 " That is quite the case, Mr. Cutbill," broke in Nelly ; " and we 
 know besides, that, if you had anything harsh or severe to say to us, 
 it is not likely you'd take such a time as this to say it."
 
 210 THE BBAMLEIGHS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " You do me proud, ma'am," said Cutbill, who was not quite sure 
 wbether lie was complimented or reprimanded. 
 
 " Do, please, Augustus ; I beg of you do," whispered Nelly in 
 her brother's ear. 
 
 "You've already missed your train for us, Mr. Cutbill," said 
 Augustus ; •' will you add another sacrifice and come and cat a very 
 humble dinner with us at six o'clock ? " 
 
 " Will I? I rayther think I will," cried he joyfully. "Now 
 that the crisis is over, I may as well tell you I've been angling for 
 that invitation for the last half-hour, saying every minute to myself, 
 ' Now it's coming,' or ' No, it ain't.' Twice you were on the brink 
 of it, Bramleigh, and you drifted away again, and at last I began to 
 think I'd be driven to my lonely cutlet at the ' Leopold's Arms. You 
 said six ; so I'll just finish a couple of letters for the post, and be 
 here sharp. Good-by. Many thanks for the invite, though it was 
 pretty long a-coming." And with this he waved an adieu and 
 departed. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 AN EVENING WITH CUTBILL. 
 
 When Nelly retired after dinner on that day, leaving Mr. Cutbill to 
 the enjoyment of his wine — an indulgence she well knew he would 
 not willingly forego — that worthy individual drew one chair to his 
 side to support his arm, and resting his legs on another exclaimed, 
 " Now, this is what I call cosy. There's a pleasant light, a nice 
 bit of view out of that window, and as good a bottle of St. Julicn as 
 a man may desire." 
 
 " I wish I could ofl'er you something better," began Augustus, 
 but Cutbill stopped him at once, saying, — 
 
 " Taking the time of the j'ear into account, there's nothing better ! 
 It's not the season for a Burgundy or even a full-bodied claret. Shall 
 I tell you, Bramleigh, that you gave me a better dinner to-day than 
 I got at your great house, the Bishop's Folly." 
 
 " We were very vain of our cook, notwithstanding, in those days," 
 said Augustus, smiling. 
 
 " So you might. I suppose he was as good as money could buy 
 — and you had plenty of money. But your dinners were grand, 
 cumbrous, never-ending feeds, that with all the care a man might 
 bestow on the bill-o'-fare, he was sure to eat too much of venison 
 cuiry after he had taken mutton twice, and pheasant following after
 
 AN EVENING WITH CUTBILL. 241 
 
 fat chickens. I always thought your big dinners were upside down ; 
 if one could have had the tail-end first they'd have been excellent. 
 Somehow, I fancy it was only youv brother Temple took an interest 
 in these things at your house. Where is he now ? " 
 
 " He's at Rome with my brother-in-law." 
 
 " That's exactly the company he ought to keep. A lord purifies 
 the air for him, and I don't think his constitution could stand with- 
 out one." 
 
 " My brother has seen a good deal of the world; and, I think, 
 understands it tolerably well," said Bramleigh, meaning so much of 
 rebuke to the other's impertinence as he could force himself to bestow 
 on a guest. 
 
 " He knows as much about life as a dog knows about decimals. 
 He knows the cad's life of fetch and carry ; how to bow himself into 
 a room and out again ; when to smile, and when to snigger ; how to 
 look profound when a great man talks, and a mild despair when he 
 is silent ; but that ain't life, Bramleigh, any more than these straw- 
 berries are grapes from Foutaiuebleau ! " 
 
 "You occasionally forget, Mr. Cutbill, that a man's brother is 
 not exactly the public." 
 
 " Perhaps I do. I only had one brother, and a greater black- 
 guard never existed ; and Tlie Times took care to remind me of the 
 fact every year till he was transported ; but no one ever saw me lose 
 temper about it." 
 
 " I can admire if I cannot envy your philosophy." 
 
 "It's not philosophy at all ; it's just common sense, learned in 
 the only school for that commodity in Eui-ope — the City of London. 
 We don't make Latin verses as well as you at Eton or Rugby, but wo 
 begin life somewhat 'cuter than you, notwithstanding. If we speculate 
 on events, it is not like theoretical politicians, but like practical 
 people, who know that Cabinet Councils decide the funds, and the 
 funds make fortunes. You and the men like you advocated a free 
 Greece and a united Italy for the sake of fine traditions. We don't 
 care a rush about Homer or Dante, but we want to sell pig-iron and 
 printed calicos. Do you see the diflerence now ? " 
 
 " If I do, it's with no shame for the part you assign us." 
 
 " That's as it may be. There may be up there amongst the 
 stars a planet where your ideas would be the right thing. IMaybe 
 Doctor Cumming knows of such a place. I can only say Tom Cutbill 
 doesn't, nor don't want to." 
 
 For a while neither spoke a word ; the conversation had taken 
 a half irritable tone, and it was not easy to say how it was to be 
 turned into a pleasanter channel. 
 
 16
 
 242 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Any news of Jack ? " asked Cutbill, suddenly. 
 
 ■' Nothing since lie sailed." 
 
 Another and a longer pause ensued, and it was evident neither 
 knew how to break the silence. 
 
 " These ain't bad cigars," said Cutbill, knocking the ash off his 
 cheroot with his finger. " You get them here ? " 
 
 " Yes ; they are very cheaj?." 
 
 " Thirty, or thirty-five centimes ? " 
 
 "Ten! " 
 
 " Well, it ain't dear! Ten centimes is a penny, — a trifle less 
 than a penny. And now, Bramleigh, will you think it a great liberty 
 of me, if I ask you a question, — a sort of personal question ? " 
 
 " That will pretty much depend upon the question, Mr. Cutbill. 
 There are matters, I must confess, I would rather not be questioned 
 on." 
 
 " Well, I suppose I must take my chance for that ! If you are 
 disposed to bristle up, and play porcupine because I want to approach 
 you, it can't be helped, — better men than Tom Cutbill have paid for 
 looking into a wasp's nest. It's no idle curiosity prompts my inquiry, 
 though I won't deny there is a spice of curiosity urging me on at this 
 moment. Am I free to go on, eh ? " 
 
 *' I must leave you to your own discretion, sir." 
 
 " The devil a worse guide ever you'd leave me to. It is about 
 as bumble a member of the Cutbill family as I'm acquainted with. So 
 that without any reference to my discretion at all, here's what I want. 
 I want to know how it is that you've left a princely house, with plenty 
 of servants and all the luxuries of life, to come and live in a shabby 
 corner of an obscure town and smoke penny cigars ? There's the 
 riddle I want you to solve for me." 
 
 For some seconds Bramleigh's confusion and displeasure seemed 
 to master him completely, making all reply impossible ; but at last 
 he regained a degree of calm, and with a voice slightly agitated, said : 
 "I am sorry to baulk your very natural curiosity, Mr. Cutbill, but 
 the matter on which you seek to be informed is one strictly personal 
 and private." 
 
 " That's exactly why I'm pushing for the explanation," resumed 
 the other, with the coolest imaginable manner, " If it was a public 
 event I'd have no need to ask to be enlightened." 
 
 Bramleigh winced under this rejoinder, and a slight contortion of 
 the face showed what his self-control was costing him. 
 
 Cutbill, however, went on : " When they told me, at the Gresham, 
 that there was a man setting up a claim to your property, and that 
 you declared you'd not live in the house, nor draw a shilling from
 
 AN EVENING WITH CUTBILL. 243 
 
 the estate, till you were well assured it was your own beyond dispute 
 my answer was, ' No son of old Montagu Bramleigh ever said that. 
 Whatever you may say of that family, they're no fools.' " 
 
 "And is it with fools you Avould class the man who reasoned in 
 this fashion?" said Augustus, who tried to smile and seem indilferent 
 as he spoke. 
 
 " First of all, it's not reasoning at all ; the man who began to 
 doubt whether he had a valid right to what he possessed might doubt 
 whether he had a right to his own name, — whether his wife was his 
 own, and what not. Don't you see where all this would lead to ? If 
 I have to report whether a new line is safe and fit to be opened for 
 public traffic, I don't sink shafts down to see if some hundred 
 fathoms below there might be an extinct volcano, or a stratum of 
 imsouud pudding-stone, I only want to know that the rails will 
 carry so many tons of merchandise. Do you see my point ? — do you 
 take me, Bramleigh ? " 
 
 " Mr. Cutbill," said Augustus, slowly, " on matters such as these 
 you have just alluded to, there is no man's opinion I should prefer 
 to yours, but there are other questions on which I would rather rely 
 upon my own judgment. May I beg, therefore, that we should turn 
 to some other topic." 
 
 " It's true then, — the report was well-founded? " cried Cutbill, 
 staring in wild astonishment at the other's face. 
 
 "And if it were, sir," said Bramleigh, haughtily, "what 
 then?" 
 
 " What then ? Simply that you'd be the — ^no matter what. 
 Your father was very angry with me one night, because I said some- 
 thing of the same kind to him." 
 
 And as he spoke he pushed his glass impatiently from him, and 
 looked ineifably annoyed and disgusted. 
 
 " Wiil you not take more wine, Mr. Cutbill ? " said Augustus, 
 blandly, and without the faintest sign of irritation. 
 
 " No ; not a drop. I'm sorry I've taken so much. I began by 
 filling my glass whenever I saw the decanter near me, — thinking, 
 like a confounded fool as I was, we were in for a quiet confidential 
 talk, and knowing that I was just the sort of fellow a man of your 
 own stamp needs and requires ; a fellow who does nothing from the 
 claims of a class — do you understand ? — nothing because he mixes 
 with a certain set and diues at a certain club ; but acts independent 
 of all extraneous pressure, — a bit of masonry, Bramleigh, that wants 
 no buttress. Can you follow me, eh ? " 
 
 "I believe I can appreciate the strength of such a character as 
 you describe."
 
 244 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " No, you can't, not a bit of it. Some flighty fool that woul5 
 tell you what a fine creature you were, how great-hearted — that's the 
 cant, great-hearted ! — would have far more of your esteem and 
 admiration than Tom Cuthill, with his keen knowledge of life and his 
 thorough insight into men and manners." 
 
 " You are unjust to each of us," said Bramleigh, quietly. 
 
 " Well, let us have done with it. I'll go and ask Miss Ellen for 
 a cup of tea, and then I'll take my leave. I'm sure I wish I'd never 
 have come here. It's enough to provoke a better temper than mine. 
 And now let me just ask you, out of mere curiosity, — for of course I 
 mustn't presume to feel more, — but just out of curiosity let me ask 
 you, do you know an art or an industry, a trade or a calling, that 
 would bring you in fifty pounds a year ? Do you see your way to 
 earning the rent of a lodging even as modest as this ? " 
 
 " That is exactly one of the points on which your advice would 
 be very valuable to me, Mr. Cutbill." 
 
 " Nothing of the kind. I could no more tell a man of your 
 stamp how to gain his livelihood than I could make a tunnel with a 
 corkscrew. I know your theory well enough. I've heai'd it announced 
 a thousand times and more. Every fellow with a silk lining to his 
 coat and a taste for fancy jewellery imagines he has only to go to 
 Australia to make a fortune ; that when he has done with Bond 
 Street he can take to the bush. Isn't that it, Bramleigh — eh ? 
 You fancy you're up to roughing it and hard work because you have 
 walked four hours through the stubble after the partridges, or sat a 
 ' sharp thing ' across country in a red coat ! Heaven help you ! It 
 isn't with five courses and finger-glasses a man finishes his day at 
 Warra-Wan-a." 
 
 "I assure you, Mr. Cutbill, as regards my own case, I neither 
 take a high estimate of my own capacity nor a low one of the difficulty 
 of earning a living." 
 
 " Humility never paid a butcher's bill, any more than conceit ! " 
 retorted the inexorable Cutbill, who seemed bent on opposing 
 everything. " Have you thought of nothing you could do ? for, 
 if you're utterly incapable, there's nothing for you but the public 
 service." 
 
 " Perhaps that is the career would best suit me," said Bramleigh, 
 smiling ; " and I have already written to bespeak the kind influence 
 of an old friend of my father's on my behalf." 
 
 "Who is he?" 
 
 " Sir Francis Deighton." 
 
 " The greatest humbug in the Government ! He trades on being 
 the most popular man of his day, because he never refused anything
 
 AN EVENING WITH CUTBILL. 245 
 
 to anybody' — so far as a promise went ; but it's well known tbat he 
 never gave anything out of his own connections. Don't depend on 
 Sir Francis, Bramleigh, whatever you do." 
 
 " That is sorry comfort you give me." 
 
 " Don't you know any women ? " 
 
 " AVomen — women ? I know several." 
 
 " I mean women of fashion. Those meddlesome women that are 
 always dabbling in politics and the Stock Exchange, — very deep 
 where you think they know nothing, and perfectly ignorant about 
 what they pretend to know best. They've two-thirds of the 
 patronage of every Government in England. You may laugh ; but 
 it's true." 
 
 " Come, Mr. Cutbill, if you'll not take more wine we'll join my 
 sister," said Bramleigh, with a faint smile. 
 
 " Get them to make you a Commissioner — it doesn't matter of 
 what — Woods and Forests — Bankruptcy — Lunacy — anything ; it's 
 always two thousand a year, and little to do for it. And if you can't 
 be a Commissioner be an Inspector, and then you have your travelling 
 expenses ; " and Cutbill winked knowingly as he spoke, and sauntered 
 away to the drawing-room. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 THE APPOINTMENT. 
 
 " What will Mr. Cutbill say now ? " cried Ellen, as she stood 
 leaning on her brother's shoulder while he read a letter marked " On 
 her Majesty's Service," and sealed with a prodigious extravagance of 
 wax. It ran thus : — 
 
 " Downing Street, Sept. 10th. 
 "Sir, 
 
 " I HA^'E received instructions from Sir Francis Deighton, 
 her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, to acknow- 
 ledge your letter of the 9th instant ; and while expressing his regret 
 that ho has not at this moment any post in his department which he 
 could ofi'er for your acceptance, to state tbat her Majesty's Secretary 
 for Foreign Afiairs will consent to appoint you consul at Cattaro, full 
 details of which post, duties, salary, &c., will be communicated to you 
 in the official despatch from the Foreign Office.
 
 246 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Sir Francis Deiglitoa is most liappy to have been the means 
 tlirough which the sou of an old friend has been introduced into the 
 service of the Crown. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 " Your obedient Servant, 
 
 " Grey Egerton D'Eyncourt, 
 " Private Secretary." 
 
 " What will he saj now, Gusty ? " said she, triumphantly. 
 
 " He will probably say, ' What's it worth ? ' Nelly. ' How much 
 is the income ? ' " 
 
 " 1 suppose he will. I take it he will measure a friend's good 
 feeling towards us by the scale of an official salary, as if two or three 
 hundred a year more or less could affect the gratitude we must feel 
 towards a real patron." 
 
 A slight twinge of pain seemed to move Bramleigh's mouth ; but 
 he grew calm in a moment, and merely said, " We must wait till we 
 hear more." 
 
 " But your mind is at ease. Gusty ? Tell me that your anxieties 
 are all allayed? " cried she, eagerly. 
 
 " Yes ; in so far that I have got something — that I have not met 
 a cold refusal." 
 
 " Oh, don't take it that way," broke she in, looking at him with 
 a half-rcproachfiil expression. " Do not, I beseech you, let 
 Mr. Cutbill's spirit influence you. Be hopeful and trustful, as you 
 always were." 
 
 " I'll try," said he, passing his arm round her and smiling 
 affectionately at her. 
 
 " I hope he has gone, Gusty. I do hope we shall not see him 
 again. He is so terribly hard in his judgments, so merciless in the 
 way he sentences people who merely think diftercntly from himself. 
 After hearing him talk for an hour or so, I always go away with the 
 thought that if the world be only half as bad as he says it is, it's little 
 worth living in." 
 
 " Well, he will go to-morrow, or Thursday at farthest ; and I 
 won't pretend I shall regret him. He is occasionally too candid." 
 
 " His candour is simply rudeness ; frankness is very well for a 
 friend, but he was never in the position to use this freedom. Only 
 think of what he said to me yesterday : he said that as it was not 
 unlikely I should have to turn governess or companion, the first 
 thing I should do would be to change my name. ' They,' he 
 remarked — but I don't well know whom he exactly meant — ' they 
 dou"t like broken-down gentlefolk. They suspect them of this, that.
 
 THE ArroiNT:\iEXT. 247 
 
 and the other ; ' and he suggested I should call myself Miss Cutbill. 
 Did you ever hear impertinence equal to that ? " 
 
 "But it may have beeu kindly intenlioned, Nelly. I have no 
 doubt he meant to do a good-natured thing." 
 
 *' Save me from good-nature that is not allied with good manners, 
 then," said she, growing crimson as she spoke. 
 
 •' I have not escaped scot-free, I assure you," said he, smiling ; 
 " but it seems to me a man really never knows what the world thinks 
 of him till he has gone through the ordeal of broken fortune. By the 
 way, where is Cattaro ? the name sounds Italian." 
 
 " I assumed it to be in Italy somewhere, but I can't tell 
 you why." 
 
 Bramleigh took down his atlas, and pored patiently over Italy 
 and her outking islands for a long time, but in vain. Nelly, too, 
 aided him in his search, but to no purpose. While they were still 
 bending over the map, Cutbill entered with a large despatch-shaped 
 letter in his hand. 
 
 " The Queen's messenger has just handed me that for you, 
 Bramleigh. I hope it's good news." 
 
 Bramleigh opened and read : — 
 
 "Foreign Office, 
 "SlE, 
 
 " I HAVE had much pleasure in submitting your name to her 
 Majesty for the appointment of consul at Cattaro, where your salary 
 "wiU be two hundred pounds a year, and twenty pounds for office 
 expenses. You will repair to your post without unnecessary delay, 
 and report your arrival to this department. 
 
 " I am, &c. &c. 
 
 " BiDDLESWORTH." 
 
 "Two hundred a year! Fifty less than we gave our cook!" 
 said Bramleigh, with a faint smile. 
 
 "It is an insult, an outrage," said Nelly, whose face and neck 
 glowed till they appeared crimson. " I hope, Gusty, you'll have the 
 firmness to reject such an offer." 
 
 " What does Mr. Cutbill say '? " asked he, turning towards 
 him. 
 
 ' • Mr. Cutbill says that if you're bent on playing Don Quixote, 
 and won't go back and enjoy what's your own, like a sensible man, 
 this pittance — it ain't more — is better than trying to eke out life by 
 your little talents." 
 
 Nelly turned her large eyes, open to the widest, upon him, as he
 
 248 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 spoke, with au expression so palpably that of rebuke for his freedom, 
 that he replied to her stare by saying, — 
 
 " Of course I am very free and easy. More than that, I'm down- 
 right rude. That's what you mean — a vulgar dog ! but don't you 
 see that's what diminished fortune must bring you to ? You'll have 
 to live with vulgar dogs. It's not only coarse cookery, but coarse 
 company a man comes to. Ay, and there are people will tell you 
 that both are useful — as alteratives, as the doctors call them." 
 
 It was a happy accident that made him lengthen out the third 
 syllable of the word, which amused Nelly so much that she laughed 
 outright. 
 
 "Can you tell us where is Cattaro, Mr. Cutbill ? " asked 
 Bramleigh, eager that the other should not notice his sister's 
 laughter. 
 
 "I haven't the faintest notion; but Bollard, the messenger, is 
 eating his luncheon at the station : I'll run down and ask him." 
 And without waiting for a reply, he seized his hat and hurried away. 
 
 " One must own he is good-natured," said Nelly, " but he does 
 make us pay somewhat smartly for it. His wholesome truths are 
 occasionally hard to swallow." 
 
 "As he told us, Nelly, we must accept these things as part of 
 our changed condition. Poverty wouldn't be such a hard thing to 
 bear if it only meant common food and coarse clothing ; but it implies 
 scores of things that arc far less endurable." 
 
 "While they thus talked, Cutbill had hurried down to the station, 
 and just caught the messenger as he was taking his seat in the train. 
 Two others — one bound for Russia and one for Greece — were already 
 seated in the compartment, smoking their cigars with an air of quiet 
 indolence, like men making a trip by a river steamer. 
 
 "I say, Bollard," cried Cutbill, "where is Cattaro ? " 
 
 " Don't know ; is he a tenor ? " 
 
 " It's a place ; a consulate somewhere or other." 
 
 " Never heard of it. Have you, Digby ? " 
 
 " It sounds like Calabria, or farther south." 
 
 " I know it," said the third man. " It's a vile hole ; it's on the 
 eastern shore of the Adriatic. I was wrecked there once in an 
 Austrian Lloyd's steamer, and caught a tertian fever before I could 
 get away. There was a fellow there, a vice-consul they called him : 
 he was dressed in sheepskins, and, I believe, lived by wrecking. He 
 stole my watch, and would have carried away my portmanteau, but I 
 was waiting for him with my revolver, and winged him." 
 
 " Did nothing come of it ? " asked another. 
 
 " They pensioned him, I think. I'm not sure ; but I think they
 
 THE APPOINTJVrENT. 249 
 
 gave him twenty pounds a year. I know old Kepsley stopped eight 
 pounds out of my salaiy for a wooden leg for the rascal. There's the 
 •whistle ; take care, sir, you'll come to grief if you hang on." 
 
 Cutbill attended to the admonition, and bidding the travellers 
 good-by, returned slowly to the Bramleighs' lodgings, pondering over 
 all he had heard, and canvassing with himself how much of his 
 unpleasant tidings ho would venture to relate. 
 
 " Where's your map," said he, entering. " I suspect I can 
 make out the place now. Show me the Adriatic. Zara — Lissa, — 
 •what a number of islands. — Here you are, here's Bocca di Cattaro — - 
 next door to the Turks, by Jove." 
 
 " My dear Gusty, don't think of this, I beseech you," said Nelly, 
 •whispering. " It is enough to see where it is, to know it must be 
 utter barbarism." 
 
 " I won't say it looks inviting," said Cutbill, as he bent over the 
 map, " and the messenger hadn't much to say in its praise either." 
 
 "Probably not; but remember what you told me a while ago, 
 Mr. Cutbill, that even this was better than depending on my little 
 talents." 
 
 " He holds little talents in light esteem then ? " said Ellen, 
 tartly. 
 
 "That's exactly what I do," rejoined Cutbill, quickly. "As 
 long as you are rich enough to be courted for your wealth, your little 
 talents will find plenty of admu'ers ; but as to earning your bread by 
 them, you might as well try to go round the Cape in an outrigger. 
 Take it by all means, — take it, if it is only to teach you what it is 
 to earn your own dinner." 
 
 " And is my sister to face such a life as this ? 
 
 "Your sister has courage for everything — but leaving you," said 
 she, throwing her arm on his shoulder. 
 
 " I must be off. I have only half-an-hour left to pack my 
 portmanteau and be at the station. One word with you alone, 
 Bramleigh," said he in a low tone, and Augustus walked at once into 
 the adjoining room. 
 
 " You want some of these, I'm certain," said Cutbill, as he drew 
 forth a roll of cmshed and crumpled bank-notes, and pressed them 
 into Bramleigh's hand. " You'll pay them back at your own time ; 
 don't look so stiff, man ; it's only a loan." 
 
 " I assure you, if I look stiff, it's not •n'hat I feel. I'm over- 
 •whelmed by your good-nature ; but, believe me, I'm in no want of 
 money." 
 
 " Nobody ever is ; but it's useful all the same. Take them to 
 oblige me ; take them just to show you're not such a swell as won't
 
 250 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 accept ev 5n the smallest service from a fellow like me — do now, do ! " 
 and he looked so pleadingly that it v/as not easy to refuse him. 
 
 " I'm very proud to think I have won such friendship ; hut I give 
 you my word, I have ample means for all that I shall need to do ; 
 and if I should not, I'll ask you to help me." 
 
 " Good-by, then. Good-by, Miss Ellen," cried he aloud. " It's 
 not 77iy fault that I'm not a favourite with you ; " and thus saying, 
 he snatched his hat, and was down the stairs and out of the house 
 before Bramleigh could utter a word. 
 
 " What a kind-hearted fellow it is," said he, as he joined his 
 sister. " I must tell you what he called me aside for." 
 
 She listened quietly while he recounted what had just occurred, 
 and then said, 
 
 " The Gospel tells us it's hard for rich men to get to heaven ; 
 but it's scarcely less hard for them to see what there is good here 
 below ! So long as we were well off I could see nothing to like in 
 that man." 
 
 " That was my own thought a few minutes back; so you see, 
 Nelly, we are not only travelling the same road, but gaining the same 
 experiences." 
 
 " Sedleysays in this letter here," said Augustus the next morning 
 as he entered the breakfast-room, " that Pracontal's lav\'yer is perfectly 
 satisfied with the honesty of our intentions, and we shall go to trial 
 in the November term on the ejectment case. It will raise the whole 
 question, and the law shall decide between us." 
 
 "And what becomes of that — that arrangement," said she, 
 hesitatingly, " by which M. Pracontal consented to withdraw his 
 claim ? " 
 
 "It was made against my consent, and I have refused to adhere 
 to it. I have told Sedley so, and told him that I shall hold him 
 responsible to the amount disbursed." 
 
 "But, dear Gusty, remember how much to jonv advantage that 
 settlement would have been." 
 
 "I only remember the shame I felt on hearing of it, and my 
 sorrow that Sedley should have thought my acceptance of it possible." 
 
 "But how has M. Pi-acontal taken this money and gone on with 
 his suit ? — sui-ely both courses are not open to him ? " 
 
 " I can tell you nothing about M. Pracontal. I only know that 
 he, as well as myself, would seem to be strangely served by our 
 respective lawyers, who assume to deal for us, whether we will or not." 
 
 " I still cling to the wish that the matter had been left to 
 Mr. Sedley." 
 
 " You must not say so, Nelly; you must never tell me you would
 
 THE APPOINTMENT. 251 
 
 wish I had been a party to my owti dishonour. Either Pracontal or 
 I own this estate : no compromise coukl be possible without a stain 
 to each of us, and for my own part I will neither resist a just claim 
 nor give way to an unfair demand. Let us talk of this no more." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYIII. 
 
 WITH LORD CULDUFF. 
 
 In a room of a Roman palace large enough to be a church, but 
 furnished with all the luxury of an Euglish drawing-room, stood 
 Lord Culduff, with his back to an ample fire, smoking a cigarette ; 
 a small table beside him supported a very diminutive coffee- service 
 of chased silver, and in a deep- cushioned chair at the opposite side 
 of the fireplace lay a toy terrier, asleep. 
 
 There were two fireplaces in the spacious chamber, and at a 
 writing-table drawn close to the second of these sat Temple Bram- 
 leigh writing. His pen as it ran rapidly along was the only sound 
 in the perfect stillness, till Lord Culduff, throwing the end of his 
 cigarette away, said, "It is not easy to imagine so great an idiot as 
 your worthy brother Augustus." 
 
 "A little selfishness w'ould certainly not disimprove him," said 
 Temple, coldly. 
 
 " Say sense, common sense, sir ; a very little of that humble 
 ingredient that keeps a man from walking into a well." 
 
 " I think you judge him hardly." 
 
 "Judge him hardly! Why, sir, what judgment can equal the 
 man's own condemnation of himself? He has some doubts — some 
 very grave doubts — about his right to his estate, and straightway he 
 goes and throws it into a law-court. He prefers, in fact, that his 
 inheritance should be eaten up by lawyers than quietly enjoyed by his 
 own family. Such men are usually provided with lodgings at Han- 
 well ; their friends hide their razors, and don't trust them with tooth- 
 picks." 
 
 " Oh, this is too much : he may take an extreme view of what 
 his duty is in this matter, but he's certainly no more mad than I am." 
 
 "I repeat, sir, that the man who takes conscience for his guide 
 in the very complicated concerns of life is unfit to manage his affairs. 
 Conscience is a constitutional peculiarity, nothing more. To attempt 
 to subject the business of life to conscience would be about as absurd 
 as to regulate the funds by the state of the barometer."
 
 252 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I'll not defend what he is doing — I'm as sorry for it as any 
 one ; I only protest agaiust his being thought a fool." 
 
 " What do you say then to this last step of his, if it be indeed 
 true that he has accepted this post ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid it is ; my sister Ellen says they are on their way to 
 Cattaro." 
 
 " I declare that I regard it as an outrage. I can give it no other 
 name. It is an outrage. What, sir, am I, who have reached the 
 highest rank of my career, or something very close to it ; who have 
 obtained my Grand Cross ; who stand, as I feel I do, second to none 
 in the public service ; — am I to have my brother-in-law, my wife's 
 brother, gazetted to a post I might have flung to my valet ! " 
 
 " There I admit he was wrong." 
 
 " That is to say, sir, that you feel the personal injury his in- 
 discreet conduct has inflicted. You see your own ruin in his 
 rashness." 
 
 " I can't suppose it will go that far." 
 
 *' And why not, pray ? When a Minister or Secretary of State 
 dares to offend me — for it is levelled at tnc — by appointing my brother 
 to such an oftice, he says as plainly as words can speak, ' Your sun 
 is set ; your influence is gone. We place you below the salt to-day, 
 that to-morrow we may pxit you outside the door.' You cannot be 
 supposed to know these things, but / know them. Shall I give you 
 a counsel, sir ? " 
 
 " Any advice from you, my lord, is always acceptable." 
 
 " Give up the line. Retire ; — be a gamekeeper, a billiard-marker ; 
 turn steward of a steamer, or correspond for one of the penny papers, 
 but don't attempt to serve a country that pays its gentlemen like 
 toll-keepers." 
 
 Temple seemed to regard this little outburst as such an ordinary 
 event that he dipped his pen into the ink-bottle, and was about to 
 resume writing, when Lord Culduff said, in a sharp, peevish, tone, — 
 
 " I trust your brother and sister do not mean to come to 
 Rome ? " 
 
 " I believe they do, my lord. I think they have promised to pay 
 the L'Estranges a visit at Albano." 
 
 " My lady must write at once and prevent it. This cannot possibly 
 be permitted. Where are they now ? " 
 
 " At Como. This last letter was dated from the inn at that place." 
 
 Lord Culdufl" rang the bell, and directed the servant to ask if her 
 ladyship had gone out. 
 
 The servant returned to say that her ladyship was going to dress, 
 I)ut Avould see his lordship on her way downstairs.
 
 "WITH LORD CULDUFF. 253 
 
 " Whose card is this ? "Where did this come from ? " ashed Lord 
 Cukluff, as he petulantly turned it round and round, trying to read the 
 name. 
 
 " Oh, that's Mr. Cutbill. He called twice yesterday, I can't 
 imagine what has brought him to Kome." 
 
 " Perhaps I might hazard a guess," said Lord Culduff, with a 
 grim smile. " But I'll not see him. You'll say, Bramleigh, that I 
 am very much engaged ; that I have a press of most important 
 business ; that the Cardinal Secretary is always here. Say anything, 
 in short, that will mean No, Cutbill ! " 
 
 " He's below at this moment." 
 
 " Then get rid of him ! My dear fellow, the A B C of your craft 
 is to dismiss the importunate. Go, and send him off! " 
 
 Lord Culduff turned to caress his whiskers as the other left the 
 room ; and having gracefully disposed a very youthful curl of his 
 wig upon his forehead, was smiling a pleasant recognition of himself 
 in the glass, when voices in a louder tone than were wont to be 
 heard in such sacred precincts startled him. He listened, and 
 suddenly the door was opened rudely, and Mr. Cutbill entered, Temple 
 Bramleigh falling back as the other came forward, and closing the door 
 behind. 
 
 " So, my lord, I was to be told you'd not see me, eh ? " said Cutbill, 
 his face slightly flushed by a late altercation. 
 
 " I trusted, sir, when my private secretary had told you I 
 was engaged, that I might have counted upon not being broken in 
 upon." 
 
 " There you were wrong, then," said Cutbill, who divested 
 himself of an overcoat, threw it on the back of a chair, and came 
 forward towards the fire. " Quite WTong. A man doesn't come a 
 thousand and odd miles to be ' not-at-homed ' at the end of it." 
 
 " "Which means, sir, that I am positively reduced to the necessity 
 of receiving you, whether I will or not ? " 
 
 " Something near that, but not exactly. You see, my lord, that 
 when to my application to your lawyer in town I received for answer 
 the invariable rejoinder, ' It is only my lord himself can reply to 
 this ; his lordship alone knows what this, that, or t'other refers to,' 
 I knew pretty well the intention was to choke me off. It was saying 
 to me, Is it worth a journey to Rome to ask this question ? and my 
 reply to myself was, ' Yes, Tom Cutbill, go to Rome by all means.' 
 And here I am." 
 
 " So I perceive, sir," said the other dryly and gravely. 
 
 " Now, my lord, there are two ways of transacting business. 
 One may do the thing pleasantly, with a disposition to make
 
 254 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOp's FOLLY. 
 
 matters easy and comfortaLle ; or one may approach everything with 
 a determination to screw one's last farthing out of it ; to squeeze 
 the lemon to the last drop. Which of these is it your pleasure v,'e 
 should choose ? " 
 
 " I must endeavour to imitate, though I cannot rival your frank- 
 ness, sir ; and therefore I would say, let us have that mode in which 
 we shall see least of each other." 
 
 " All right. I am completely in your lordship's hands. You 
 had your choice, and I don't dispute it. There, then, is my account. 
 It's a trifle under fourteen hundred pounds. Your lordship's generosity 
 will make it the fourteen, I've no doubt. All the secret-service part 
 — that trip to town and the dinner at Greenwich — I've left blank. 
 Fill it up as your conscience suggests. The Irish expenses are also 
 low, as I lived a good deal at Bishop's Folly. I also make no charge 
 for keeping you out of Punch. It wasn't easy, all the same, for the 
 fellows had you, wig, waistcoat and all. In fact, my lord, it's a 
 friendly document, though your jn'esent disposition doesn't exactly 
 seem to respond to that line of action ; but Tom Cutbill is a forgiving 
 soul. Your lordship will look over this paper, then ; and in a couple 
 of days — no hurry, you know, for I have lots to see here — in a 
 couple of days I'll drop in, and talk the thing over with you ; for 
 you see there are two or three points, — about the way you behaved 
 to your brother-in-law, and such like, — that I'd like to chat a little 
 with you about." 
 
 As Lord Culduff listened his face grew redder and redder, and his 
 fingers played with the back of the chair on which he leaned with a 
 quick, convulsive motion ; and as the other went on he drew from 
 time to time long, deep inspirations, as if invoking patience to carry 
 him through the infliction. At last he said, in a half-faint voice, 
 " Have you done, sir, — is it over ? " 
 
 " Well, pretty nigh. I'd like to have asked you about my lady. 
 I know she had a temper of her own before you married her, and I'm 
 rather curious to hear how you hit it off together. Docs she give in 
 — eh ? Has the high and mighty dodge subdued her ? I thought 
 it would." 
 
 " Do me the great favour, sir, to ring that bell and to leave mc. 
 I am not very well," said Culdufl', gasping for breath. 
 
 "I see that. I see you've got the blood to your head. When 
 a man comes to your time of life, he must mind what he eats, 
 and stick to pint bottles too. That's true as the Bible — pint bottles 
 and plenty of Seltzer when you're amongst the seventies." 
 
 And with this aphorism he drew on his coat, buttoned it leisurely 
 to the collar, and with a familiar nod left the room.
 
 V/ITH LORD CULDUFF. 255 
 
 " Giacomo," said Lord Culdutf, " that man is not to be admitted 
 again on any pretext. Tell the porter his place shall pay for it, if he 
 passes the grille." 
 
 Giacomo bowed silent acquiescence, and Lord Culduft' lay back 
 on a sofa and said, " Tell Doctor Pritchard to come here, tell my 
 lady, tell Mr. Temple, I feel very ill," and so saying he closed bis 
 eyes and seemed overcome. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 AT ALBAXO. 
 
 " Who do you think asks himself to dine with us to-day, Julia ? " said 
 L'Estrangc to his sister on the day of the scene recorded in our last 
 chapter. 
 
 " I cannot guess; but I am prepared to say I'll be glad to see 
 any one." 
 
 " It is very dull for you, indeed," said he, compassionately. 
 
 "No, George, not that. Not half so bad iov me, as for you ; 
 but somehow I felt it would be a relief to have a guest, who 
 would oblige us to drop our grumblings and exert ourselves to 
 talk of something besides our own personal worries. Now, who 
 is it ? " 
 
 " What would you say to Mr. Cutbill ? " 
 
 " Do you mean the engineering man we saw at Castello ? " 
 
 " The same." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! I retract. I recall my last speech, and avow, in 
 all humility, I was wrong. All I remember of that man — not much 
 certainly — but all I do remember of him was that he was odious." 
 
 " He was amusing, in his way." 
 
 " Probably — but I detested ' his way.' " 
 
 *' The Bramleighs said he was good-natured." 
 
 " With all my heart. Give him all the excellent qualities you 
 like ; but he will still remain insufferably ill-bred and coarse-minded. 
 Why did you ask him, George ? " 
 
 " I didn't ; ho asked himself. Here's his note : ' Dear L'Estrange ' 
 — familiar enough — ' Dear L'Estrange, — I have just arrived here, 
 and want to have some talk with you. I mean, therefore, to ask you 
 to let me take a bit of dinner with you to-day. I shall be out by five 
 or half-past. Don't make a stranger of me, but give me the cold 
 mutton or whatever it is. — Yours, Ton Cutbill.' "
 
 256 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " What a type of the writer ! " 
 
 " Well ; hut what can we get for dinner, Ju ? " 
 
 " The cold mutton, I think. I'm sure the gentleman's estimate 
 of his value as a guest cannot he too low." 
 
 " No, Julia, let us treat him to our best. He means kindly by 
 coming out here to see us." 
 
 " I'd have taken the will for the deed with more of gratitude. 
 Oh, George," cried she with fervour, " why will you be always so 
 much obliged to the man who condescends to eat your salt ? This 
 Mr. Cutbill will be your patron for the next twenty-four hours." 
 
 " Certainly the man who dines with us cannot come for the 
 excellence of our fare." 
 
 " That is a very ingenious bit of self-flattery ; but don't tru^ 
 it, George. Men eat bad dinners continually ; and there is a sort of 
 condescension in eating them at a friend's house, which is often 
 mistaken for good-nature ; and the fun of it is that the men who do 
 these things are very vain of the act." 
 
 L'Estrange gave a little shrug of his shoulders. It was his 
 usual reply to those subtleties which his sister was so fond of, and 
 that he was never very sure whether they were meant to puzzle or to 
 persuade him. 
 
 " So then he is to be an honoured guest, George, eh ? " 
 
 He smiled a gentle assent, and she went on : "And we are to 
 treat him to that wonderful Rhine wine Sir Marcus sent you to cure 
 your ague. And the very thought of drinking anything so costly 
 actually brought on a shivering attack." 
 
 " Have we any of it left ? " 
 
 " Two bottles, if those uncouth little flattened flasks can be 
 called bottles. And since 3'ou are resolved he is to be entertained 
 like a ' Prince Russe,' I'll actually treat him to a dish of maccaroni 
 of my own invention. You remember, George, Mrs. Moukton was 
 going to withdraw her subscription from the Church when she ate of 
 it, and remained a firm Protestant." 
 
 " Julia, Julia ! " said he, in a half-reproving tone. 
 
 •'' I am simply citing an historical fact, but you'll provoke me to 
 say much worse if you stand there with that censorial face. As if I 
 didn't know how wrong it was to speak lightly of a lady who sub- 
 scribes two hundred francs a year." 
 
 " There are very few who do so," said he, with a sigh. 
 
 " My poor brother," said she, caressingly, "it is a very hard 
 case to be so poor, and we with such refined tastes and such really 
 nice instincts ; we, who would like a pretty house, and a pretty 
 garden, and a pretty little equipage, and who would give pretty little
 
 AT ALBANO. 257 
 
 dinners, with the vory ueiitest cat ghiss and china, and be, all the 
 time, so cultivated and so simple, so elevated in tone and so humble 
 in spirit. There, go away, and look after some fruit — do something, 
 and don't stand there provoking me to talk nonsense. That solemn 
 look made me ten times more silly than I ever intended to be." 
 
 " I'm sure," said L'Estrauge, thoughtfully, " he has something 
 to tell me of the coal-mine." 
 
 " Ah, if I thought that, George ? If I thought he brought us 
 tidings of a great ' dividend ' — isn't that the name for the thing the 
 people always share amongst themselves, out of somebody else's 
 money ? So I have shocked you, at last, into running away ; and 
 now for the cares of the household." 
 
 Now though she liked to quiz her brother about his love of 
 hospitality and the almost reckless way in which he would spend 
 money to entertain a guest, it was one of her especial delights to 
 play hostess, and receive guests with whatever display their narrow 
 fortune permitted. Nor did she spare any pains she could bestow 
 in preparing to welcome Mr. Cutbill, and her day was busily passed 
 between the kitchen, the garden, and the drawing-room, ordering, 
 aiding, and devising with a zeal and activity that one might have 
 supposed could only have been evoked in the service of a much 
 honoured guest.. 
 
 " Look at my table, George," said she, " before you go to 
 dress for dinner, and say if you ever saw anything more tasteful. 
 There's a bouquet for you ; and see how gi-acefully I have twined 
 the grape-leaves round those flasks. You'll fancy j-ourself Horace 
 entertaining Maecenas. Mr. Cutbill is certainly not very like him, — 
 but no matter. Nor is our little Monte Oliveto exactly Falerniau." 
 
 " It is quite beautiful, Ju, all of it," said he, drawing her 
 towards him and kissing her ; but there was a touch of sadness iu 
 his voice, as in his look, to which she replied with a merry laugh, 
 and said, — 
 
 " Say it out boldly, George, do ; say frankly what a sin and a 
 shame it is, that such a dear good girl should have to strain her 
 wits iu this hand-to-hand fight with Poverty, and not be embellishing 
 some splendid station with her charming talents, and such like." 
 
 " I was thinking something not very far from it," said he, 
 smiling. 
 
 " Of course you were ; but you never thought, perhaps, how 
 soon ennui and lassitude might have taken the place of all my 
 present energy. I want to please you now, George, since without 
 me you would be desolate ; but if we were rich, you'd not depend on 
 me, and I'd have been verv dispirited and very sad. There now, 
 
 17
 
 258 THE URAMLEIGIIS OF LISIIOP's TOLLY. 
 
 that's quite enough of seutimentalizing for once. I'm ofi' to dress. 
 Do you know," said she, as she mounted the stairs, " I have sei'ious 
 thoughts of captivating Mr. Cutbill ? " 
 
 " Oh, Julia, I entreat — " hut she was gone ere he couki finish, 
 and her merry laughter was heard till her door closed. 
 
 Poor girl, her light-hearteduess died out as she felt herself 
 alone, and turning towards a little photograph of a man in a naval 
 uniform, that hung over the chimney, her eyes grew dim with tears 
 as she gazed on it. 
 
 " Ay," said she, bitterly, " and this same humour it was that 
 lost me the truest heart that ever heat ! What would I not give 
 now to know that he still remembered me — remembered me with 
 kindness ! " 
 
 She sat down, with her face buried in her hands, nor stirred till 
 the sound of voices beneath apprised her that their guest had arrived. 
 While she was yet standing before her glass, and trying to efl'ace 
 the traces of sorrow on her features, George tapped softly at her 
 door. " May I come in ? " ciied he. " Oh, Julia," said he, as he 
 drew nigh, " it is worse than I had even suspected. Cutbill tells 
 
 me that " 
 
 He could not go on, but bending his head on her shoulder, 
 sobbed hysterically. 
 
 " George, George, do not give way thus," said she calmly. 
 " What is it has happened '? What has he told you ? " 
 " The mine — the Lisconuor scheme — is bankrupt." 
 " Is that all?" 
 
 " All ! W^hy it is ruin — utter ruin ! Every shilling that you 
 had in the world is gone, and I have done it all." And once more 
 his feelings overcame him, and he sobbed convulsivel3\ 
 
 " But, my dear, dear brother," said she, fondly, " if it's lost it's 
 lost, and there's no help for it ; and let us never fret over what 
 binds us only the closer together. You can't get rid of me, nov/, 
 for I declare, George, no earthly consideration will make me accept 
 Mr. Cutbill." 
 
 " Oh, how can you jest this way, Julia, at such a moment ! " 
 " I assure you I am most serious. I know that man intends to 
 propose to me, and you arc just in the humour to mix up our present 
 misfortunes and his pretensions, and actually espouse his cause ; but 
 it's no use, George, no use whatever. I'll not consent. Go down- 
 stairs, now. Stay, let me wipe those red eyes. Don't let that man 
 see any trace of this sorrow about you; bear up quietly and well. 
 You shall see that I do not give counsel witliout being able to show 
 example. Go down now, and I'll follow you."
 
 " George, George, do not give way thus.'
 
 AT ALBANO. 259 
 
 As lio left the room slio sat clown, and accidcutally so as tj sae 
 her face in the gLass. The forced smile which she had put on was 
 only slowly vanishing from her features, and she was shocked at the 
 pallor that now succeeded, 
 
 " I am looking very ill," muttered she. " There's no denying 
 it. That man will certainly see how this news has struck me do'.vn, 
 and I would not that he should witness my want of courage. I 
 wish I had — no, I don't. I'd not put on rouge if I had it ; but I 
 wish we were alone to-day, and could talk over our fortune together. 
 Perhaps it's as well as it is." And now she arose and descended the 
 stairs hastily, as though not to give herself time for further thought. 
 
 Cutbill was in the act of cautioning L'Estrange against speaking 
 of the Lisconnor misfortune to his sister when she entered the room. 
 " Do you forgot me, Miss L'Estrange," said he, coming forwarJ, 
 " or am I to remind you that we met in Ireland ? " 
 
 " Forget y(Hi, Mr. Cutbill," replied she, laughingly; " how can 
 I forget the charming tenor who sang second to me, or the gallant 
 cavalier who rode out with me ? " 
 
 " Ay, but I got a roll in a duck-pond that day," said he, grimly. 
 " You persuaded me to let the beast drink, and he lay down in the 
 water and nearly squashed me." 
 
 " Oh, )'ou almost killed me with laughter. I had to hold on by 
 the crutch of my saddle to save myself from falling into the pond." 
 
 " And I hear you made a sketch of me." 
 
 " Have you not seen it ? I declare I thought I had shown it to 
 you ; but I will after dinner, if I can find it." 
 
 The dinner was announced at this moment, and they proceeded 
 to the dining-room. 
 
 " Taste is everything," said Cutbill, as he unfolded his napkin, 
 and surveyed the table, decked out with fruit and flowers with a 
 degree of artistic elegance that appealed even to Iiiiii. " Taste is 
 everything. I declare to you that Howell and James would pay fifty 
 pounds down just for that urn as it stands there. How you twined 
 those lilies around it in that way is quite beyond mc." 
 
 As the dinner went on he was in ecstacy with everything. 
 
 " Don't part with your cook, even after they make a bishop of 
 you," said he. " I don't know the French name of that dish, but I 
 believe it's a stewed hare. Might I send my plate twice ? " 
 
 " Mr. Cutbill sawthcBramleighs at Como, Julia," said L'Estrange, 
 to take him, if possible, off the subject of the entertainment. 
 
 " I did, indeed. I met them at that very hotel that was once 
 Queen Caroline's house. There they were diverting themselves, — 
 boating and going about just as if the vrorld had gone all right with
 
 2G3 THK BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 them ; and Bramleigli told me one morning that lie had cashed the 
 last cheque for fifty pounds." 
 
 " And is he really determined to touch nothing of his property 
 till the law assures him that his right is undeniable ? " 
 
 " Worse than that, far worse; he has quarrelled with old Sedley, 
 Lis father's law-agent for forty years, and threatened him with an 
 action for having entered into a compromise without instructions or 
 permission ; and he is wrong, clearly wrong, for I saw the corre- 
 spondence, and if it goes before a jury, they'll say at once that there 
 v/as consent." 
 
 " Had he then forgotten it ? " asked Julia. 
 
 " No, he neither forgets nor remembers; but he has a sort of 
 flighty way of getting himself into a white heat of enthusiasm ; and 
 though he cools down occasionally into a little common sense, it 
 doesn't last ; he rushes hack into his heroics, and raves about saving 
 him from himself, rescuing him from the ignoble temptation of self- 
 interest, and such like balderdash." 
 
 " There must be a great deal of true nobility in such a nature," 
 said Julia. 
 
 " I'll tell you what there is ; and it runs through them all except 
 the eldest daughter, and that puppy the diplomatist, — there's 
 madness ! " 
 
 " Madness ? " 
 
 " Well, I call it madness. Suppose now I was to decline taking 
 another glass of that wine — Steinheimer, I think it's called — till I 
 saw your brother's receipt for the payment of it, wouldn't you say 
 I was either mad or something very near it ? " 
 
 " I don't see the parity between the two cases," said Julia. 
 
 " Ah, you're too sharp for me. Miss Julia, too sharp; but I'm 
 right all the tame. Isn't Jack Bramleigh mad ? Is it anything but 
 madness for a man to throw up his commission and go and serve as 
 a sailor, — before the mast or behind it, I don't care which ; hut isn't 
 tliat madness ? " 
 
 Julia felt a sense of sickness almost to fiiiuting, but she never 
 spoke nor stirred, while George, quickly noticing her state, turned 
 towards Cutbill and said, — 
 
 " What news have you of him ? he was a great favourite of 
 mine." 
 
 " Of yours and of everybody's," said Cutbill. And now the 
 colour rushed back to Julia's cheek, and had Cutbill but looked to- 
 wards her, it is very probable he would greatly have misconstrued 
 the smile she gave him. " I wish I had news of him : but for these 
 last few months I have none. When he got out to China ho found
 
 AT ALBANO. 261 
 
 that great house, Alcock and Baines, smashed — all the tea-merchants 
 were smashed — and they tell me that ho shipped with a Yankee for 
 Constantinople." 
 
 " You hoard from him, then ? " 
 
 " No ; he never writes to any one. He may send ycu a news- 
 paper, or a piece of one, to show where he is ; but he says he never 
 was able to say what was in his head, and he always found he was 
 writing things out of the ' Complete Correspondent.' " 
 
 "Poor Jack! " 
 
 '' Shall I go and look after your coflee, George ? You say you 
 like me to make it myself," said Julia; and she arose and left the 
 room almost before he could repl}'. 
 
 "You'll never marry while she's your housekeeper, I see that," 
 said Cutbill, as the door closed after her. 
 
 " She is my greatest comfort in life," said the other warmly. 
 
 " I see it all ; and the whole time of dinner I was thinking what 
 
 a pity it was No matter, I'll not say what I was going to say. 
 
 I'm glad you haven't told her of the smash till I see what I can do 
 with the old viscount." 
 
 " But I have told her; she knows it all." 
 
 "And do you tell me she had that heavy load on her heart all 
 the time she was talking and laughing there ? " 
 
 Tj' Estrange nodded. 
 
 " It's only women bear up that way. Take my word for it, if it 
 had been one of us, he'd not have come down to dinner, he'd not 
 have had pluck to show himself. There's where they beat us, sir, — 
 that's real courage." 
 
 " You are not taking your wine," said L'Estrange, seeing him 
 pass the bottle. 
 
 " No ; I want my head clear this evening, I want to be cool and 
 collected. I'll not drink any more. Tell me about yourself a little ; 
 how do you get on here '? do you like the place '? do you like the 
 people ? " 
 
 " The place is charming ; we like it better every day we live in it." 
 
 " And the people — the English I mean ; what of them ? " 
 
 " They mean kindly enough, indeed they are often very kind ; 
 but thev do not live in much harmony, and they only agree iu one 
 thing^— " 
 
 "I know what that is. They all join to worry the parson — of 
 course they do. Did you ever live in a lodging-house, L'Estrange ? 
 If you did, you must have seen how the whole population cealesced 
 to torment the maid-of-all-work. She belonged to them all, col'ectively 
 and individually. And so it is with you. You are the maid-of all
 
 2'!2 THE BR.UILEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 ■\Toik. You have to make Brown's bed, auci black Robinson's boots 
 — spiritually I mean — and none recognizes the claim of his neighbour, 
 each believes you belong to himself. That's the voluntary system, 
 as they call it ; and a quicker way to drive a man mad was never 
 invented." 
 
 "Perhaps you take an extreme view of it " began 
 
 L'Estrange. 
 
 "No, I don't," interrujited the other. "I've only to look at 
 your face, and instead of the fresh cheeks and the clear bright eyes 
 I remember when I saw you first, I see you now anxious and pale 
 and nervous. Where's the pluck that enabled you to ride at a five- 
 foot wall ? Do you think you could do it now ? " 
 
 " Very likely not. Very likely it is all the better I should not." 
 
 " You'll not get me to believe that. No man's nature was ever 
 bettered for being bullied." 
 
 L'Estrange laughed heartily, not in the least degree angered by 
 the other's somewhat coarse candour. 
 
 "It's a queer world altogether; but maybe if each of us was 
 doing the exact thing he was fit for, life ■^"ouldn't be half as good a 
 thing as it is. The whole thing W'ould be like a piece of machinery, 
 and instead of the hitches and makeshifts that wc sec now% and 
 that bring out men's qualities and test their natures, weW have 
 nothing but a big workshop, where each did his own share of the 
 ■work, and neither asked aid nor gave it. Do you permit a 
 cigar ? " 
 
 " Of course ; but I've nothing worth ofltiing you." 
 
 " I have though," said he, producing his case and drawing forth 
 a cheroot, and examining it with that keen scrutiny and that seeming 
 foretaste of enjoyment peculiar to smokers. " Try that, and tell me 
 when you tasted the equal of it. Ah, L'Estrange, we must see and 
 get you out of this. It's not a place for you. A nice little 
 vicarage in Hants or Herts, a sunny glebe, with a comfortable house 
 and a wife ; later on, a wife of course, for your sister won't stay with 
 you always." 
 
 " You've drawn a pleasant picture— only to rub it out again." 
 
 " Miss Julia has got a bad headache, sir," said the maid, entering 
 at this moment, " and begs you will excuse her. Will you please to 
 have coffee here or in the drawing room ? "" 
 
 "Ay, here," said Cutbill, answering the look with which the 
 other seemed to interrogate him. " She couldn't stand it any longer, 
 and no wonder ; but I'll not keep you away from her now. Go up 
 and say, I'll see Lord Culduff in the morning, and if I have any news 
 worth reporting, I'll come out hero in the afternoon."
 
 263 ) 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 " A RECEPTION " AT ROME. 
 
 It was tbe niglit of the Countess Balderoni's weekly reception, and 
 the servants had just lighted up the handsome suite of rooms and 
 disposed the furniture in fitting order, when the Countess and Lady 
 Augusta Bramleigh entered to take a passing look at tlie apartment 
 before the arrival of the guests. 
 
 " It is so nice," said Lady Augusta, in her peculiar languid way, 
 " to live in a country where the people arc civilized enough to meet 
 for intercourse without being fed, or danced, or fiddled for. Now, I 
 tried this in London ; but it was a complete failure. If you tell 
 English people you are ' at home ' every Tuesday or every Thursday 
 evening, they will make a party some particular night and storm your 
 salons in hundreds, and you'll be left with three or four visitors for 
 the remainder of the season. Isn't that so ? " 
 
 " I suspect it is. But you see how they fall into our ways here ; 
 and if they do not adopt them at home, there may be something in 
 the climate or the hours which forbids it." 
 
 " No, cara ; it is simply their dogged material spirit, which says, 
 ^ We go out for a dejeune, or a dinner, or a ball.' There must be a 
 substantial programme of a something to be eaten or to be done. I 
 tieclare I believe I detest our people." 
 
 " How are you, then, to live amongst them ? " 
 
 " I don't mean it. I shall not go back. If I grow weary of 
 Europe, I'll try Egyj^t, or I'll go live at Lebanon. Do you know, since 
 I saw Lear's picture of the cedars, I have been dying to live there. 
 It would be so delightful to lie under the great shade of those glorious 
 trees, with one's ' barb ' standing saddled near, and groups of Arabs 
 in their white burnouses scattered about. What's this ? Here's a 
 note for you." 
 
 The Countess took the note from the servant, and ran her eyes 
 hurriedly over it. 
 
 " This is impossible," murmured she, "quite impossible. Only 
 think, Gusta, here is the French (Secretary of legation. Baron de 
 Limayrac, asking my permission to present to me no less a person 
 than Monsieur de Pracontal." 
 
 " Do you mean the Pracontal— the Pretender himself? " 
 
 " Of course. It can be no other. Can you imagine anything 
 so outrageously in bad taste. Limayrac must know who this man 
 is, what claims he is putting forward, who he assumes to be ; and
 
 2G4 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 yet he proposes to present Lim here. Of course I shall refuse 
 him." 
 
 " No, cara, nothing of the kind. Receive him by all means. 
 You or I have nothing to do with law or lawyers — he does not come 
 here to prosecute his suit. On the contrary, I accept his wish to 
 make our acquaintance as an evidence of a true gentlemanlike instinct ; 
 and, besides, I am most eager to see him." 
 
 " Remember, Gusta, the Culduffs are coming here, and they will 
 regard this as a studied insult. I think I should feel it such myself 
 in their place." 
 
 " I don't think they could. I am certain they ought not. Does 
 any one believe that every person in a room with four or five hundred 
 is his dear friend, devoted to him, and dying to serve him ? If yon 
 do not actually throw these people together, how are they more in 
 contact in your salon than in the Piazza del Popolo '? " 
 
 " This note is in pencil, too," went she on. " I sujjpose it was 
 written here. Where is the Baron de Liraayrac ? " 
 
 " In his carriage, my lady, at the door." 
 
 "You see, dearest, you canuot help admitting him." 
 
 The Countess had but time to say a few humed words to the 
 servant, when the doors were thrown open, and the company began 
 to pour in. Arrivals followed each other in rapid succession, and 
 names of every country in Europe were announced, as their titled 
 owners — soldiers, statesmen, cardinals, or ministers — passed on, and 
 " grandes dames," in all the plenitude of splendid toilette, sailed 
 proudly by, glittering with jewels and fihny in costly lace. 
 
 While the Countess Bakleroni was exchanging salutations with a 
 distinguished guest, the Baron de Limayrac stood respectfully waiting 
 bis time to be recognized. 
 
 " My friend. Count Pracontal, madame," said he, presenting the 
 stranger, and, though a most frigid bow from the hostess acknowledged 
 the presentation, Pracontal's easy assurance remained unabashed, and, 
 with the coolest imaginable air, he begged he might have the great 
 honour of being presented to Lady Augusta Bramleigh. 
 
 Lady Augusta, not waiting for her sister's intervention, r,t once 
 accepted the speech as addressed to herself, and spoke to him with 
 much courtesy. 
 
 " You are new to Rome, I believe ? " said she. 
 
 "Years ago I was here ; but not in the society. I knew only 
 the artists, and that Bohemian class who live with artists," said he, 
 quite easily. " Perhaps I might have the same difficulty still, but 
 Baron de Limayrac and I served together in Africa, and he has been 
 kind enough to present me to some of his friends."
 
 "a KECEPTION " AT ROME. 265 
 
 The unaffected tone and the air of good-breeding with which these 
 few words were uttered, went far to conciliate Lady Augusta in his 
 favour; and after some further talk together she left hiru, promising, 
 at some later period of the evening, to rejoin him and tell him some- 
 thing of the people v.ho were there. 
 
 '* Do you know, cara, that he is downright charming ? " whispered 
 she to her sister as they walked together through the rooms. " Of 
 course I mean Pracontal. He is very witty, and not in the least 
 ill-natured. I'm so soriy the Culduffs have not come. I'd have 
 given anything to present Pracontal to his cousin — if she be his 
 cousin. Oh, here they are ; and isn't she splendid in pearls ? " 
 
 Lord and Lady Culduff moved up the salon as might a prince and 
 princess royal, acknowledging blandly, but condescendingly, the 
 salutations that met them. Knowing and known to every one, they 
 distributed the little graceful greetings with that graduated benignity 
 great people, or would-be great people — for they are more alike than 
 is generally believed, — so well understand. 
 
 Although Lady Augusta and Lady Culduff had exchanged cards, 
 they had not yet met at Rome, and now, as the proud peer moved 
 along triumphant in the homage rendered to his own claims and to 
 his wife's beauty, Lady Augusta stepped quietly forward, and in a 
 tone fiimiliarly easy said, " Oh, we've met at last, Marion. Pray 
 make me known to Lord Culduff." In the little act of recognition 
 which now passed between these two people, an acute observer might 
 have detected something almost bordering on freemasonry. They 
 were of the same " order," and, though the circumstances under 
 which they met left much to explain, tliere was that between them 
 which plainly said, " We at least play on 'the square with each 
 other. We are within the pale, and scores of little misunder- 
 standings that might serve to separate or estrange meaner folk, with 
 us can wait for their explanations." They chatted away pleasantly 
 for some minutes over the Lord Georges and Lady Georginas of their 
 acquaintance, and reminded each other of little traits of this one's 
 health or that one's temper, as though of these was that world they 
 belonged to made up and fashioned. And all this while Marion stood 
 by mute and pale with anger, for she knew well how Lady Augusta 
 was intentionally dwelling on a theme she could have no part in. It 
 was with a marked change of manner, so marked as to imply a sudden 
 rush of consciousness, that Lady Augusta, turning to her, said, — 
 
 " And how do you like Home ? " 
 
 A faint motion of the eyeliils, and a half-gesture with the 
 shoulders, seeming to express something like indifference, was 
 the reply.
 
 266 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I believe all English begin in tbat way. It is a place to grow 
 into — its ways, its hours, its topics are all its own.' 
 
 " I call it charming," said Lord Cukluff, who fe t appealed to. 
 
 " If you stand long ou the brink here," resumed she, " like a 
 timid bather, you'll not have courage to plunge in. You must go at 
 it at once, for there are scores of things will scare you, if you only 
 let them." 
 
 Marion stood impassive and fixed, as though she heard but did 
 not heed what was said, while Lord Culduff smiled his approval and 
 nodded his assent in most urbane fashion. 
 
 " What if you came and dined here to-morrow, Marion ? My 
 sister is wonderfully ' well up ' in the place. I warn you as to her 
 execrable dinner ; for her cook is Italian, pur sang, and will poison 
 you with his national dishes : but we'll be en petit comite." 
 
 " I think we have something for to-morrow," said Marion, coldly, 
 and looking to Lord Culduff. 
 
 •' To-morrow — Thursday, Thursday ? " said he, hesitating. " I 
 can't remember any engagement for Thursday." 
 
 " There is something, I'm sure," said Marion, in the same 
 cold tone. 
 
 " Then let it be for Friday, and you'll meet my brother-in-law ; 
 it's the only day he ever dines at home in the week." 
 
 Lord Culduff bowed an assent, and Marion muttered something 
 that possibly meant acquiescence. 
 
 "I've made a little dinner for you for Friday," said Lady 
 Augusta to her sister. " The Culduffs and Monsignore Katti — that, 
 with Tonino and ourselves, will be six ; and I'll think of another : 
 we can't be an even number. Marion is heart-broken about coming ; 
 indeed, I'm not sure wo shall see her, after all." 
 
 " Are we so very terrible then ? " asked the Countess. 
 
 " Not you, dearest ; it is I am the dreadful one. I took that old 
 fop a canter into the Peerage, and he was so delighted to escape from 
 Jjramleighia, that he looked softly into my eyes, and held my Imnd 
 so unnecessarily long, tliat she became actually sick with anger. Now 
 I'm resolved that the old lord ehall be one of mv adorers." 
 
 " Oh, Gusta ! " 
 
 "Yes. I say it calmly and advisedly; that young woman must 
 be taught better manners than to pat the ground impatiently with her 
 foot and to toss her head away when one is talking to her husband. 
 Oh, there's that poor Count Pracontal waiting for me, and looking so 
 piteously at me ; I forgot I promised to take him a tour through the 
 rooms, and tell him who everybody is." 
 
 The cun)ia:;y began to th n off soon after midnight, and by one
 
 " A ilKCKPTIO:; ■' AT IliJMK. 207 
 
 o'clock the Countess and her sister found themselves standing hy a 
 fireplace in a deserted salon, while the servants passed to and fro 
 extinguishing the lights. 
 
 " Wlio was that you took leave of with such emphatic courtesy a 
 few minutes ago?" asked Lady Augusta, as slie leaned on the 
 chimney-piece. 
 
 " Don't you know ; don't you remember him ? " 
 
 "Not in the least." 
 
 *' It was Mr. Temple Bramleigh." 
 
 " What, mon fils Temple ! ~\Vliy didn't he co]uc and speak 
 to mo ?" 
 
 " He said he had been in search of you all the evening, and even 
 asked me to find you out." 
 
 " These Sevigue curls do that ; no one knows me. Mousignorc 
 said he thought I was a younger si.stcr just come out, and was going 
 to warn me of the dangerous rivalry. And that was Temple ? His 
 little bit of mous'achc improves him. I suppose they call him good- 
 looking ? " 
 
 " Very handsome — actually handsome." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " sighed the other, wearily ; " one likes tliese 
 gatherings, but it's always pleasant when they're over ; don't you 
 find that ? " And not meeting a reply, she went on : " That tire- 
 some man, Sir Marcus Clutf, made a descent upon mc, to talk of — 
 what do you think ? — the church at Albano. It seems our parson 
 there has nothing to live on during tl;e winter months, and he is 
 expected to be alive and cheery when spring comes round ; and Sir 
 Marcus says, that though seals do this, it's not so easy for a curate ; 
 and so I said, ' Why doesn't he join the other army ? There's a 
 cardinal yonder will take him into his regiment ; ' and Sir Marcus 
 couldn't stand this, and left nie." She paused, and seemed lost in a 
 deep reverie, and then half murmured rather than said, " W^hat a 
 nice touch he has on the piano ; so light and so liquid withal." 
 
 " Sir Marcus, do you mean '? " 
 
 "Of course I don't," said she, pettishly. "I'm talking of 
 Pracontal. I'm sure he sings — he says not, or only for himself; 
 and so I told him he must sing for vie, and he replied, ' Willingly, 
 for I shall tlien be beside myself with happiness.' Just fancy a 
 Frenchman trying to say a smart thing in English. I wonder wluxt 
 the Culdufls will think of him ? " 
 
 '' Are they likely to have an opportunity for an opinion ? " 
 
 " Most certainly they are. I have asked him lor Friday. Ho 
 will be the seventh at our little dinner." 
 
 "Not possible, Gusta ! You couldn't have done this 1 "
 
 268 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I have, I give you my worJ. Is there any reason why I 
 shouldn't ? " 
 
 " All the reason in the world. You ask your relatives to a little 
 dinner , which implies extreme intimacy and familiarity ; and you 
 invite to meet them a man, whom by every sentiment of self-interest, 
 they must abhor." 
 
 " Cara mia, I can't listen to such a vulgar argument. M. de 
 Praoontal has charming personal qualities. I chatted about an hour 
 with him, and he is delightfully amusing ; he'll no more obtrude his 
 claims or his pretensions than Lord Culduff will speak of his fifty 
 years of diplomatic service. There is no more perfect triumph of 
 good-breeding than when it enables us to enjoy each other's society 
 irrespective of scores of little personal accidents, political estrange- 
 ments, and the like; and to show you that I have not been the 
 inconsiderate creature you think me, I actually did ask Pi'acontal if 
 he thought that meeting the Culduffs would be awkward or unpleasant 
 for him, and he said he was overjoyed at the thought; that I could 
 not have done him a favour he would prize more highly." 
 
 " //(', of course, is very vain of the distinction. It is an honour 
 ho never could have so much as dreamed of." 
 
 " I don't know that. I half suspect he is a gentleman who docs 
 not take a depreciatory estimate of cither himself or his prospects." 
 
 "At all events, Gusta, there shall be no ambuscade in the 
 matter, that I'm determined on. The Culdulis shall know whom they 
 are to meet. I'll write a note to them before I sleep." 
 
 *' How angry you are for a mere nothing. Do you imagine that 
 the people who sit round a dinner-table have sworn vows of eternal 
 friendship before the soup ? " 
 
 "You are too pi'ovoking, too thoughtless," said the other, with 
 much asperity of voice, and taking up her gloves and her fau from 
 the chimney-piece, she moved rapidly away and left the room. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 SOME " SALON DIPLOMACIES." 
 
 Lord Culduff, attired in a very gorgeous dressing-gown and a cap 
 whose gold tassel hung down below his ear, was seated at a writing- 
 table, every detail of whose appliances was an object of art. From 
 a little golden censer at his side a light blue smoke curled, that 
 diifuscd a delicious perfume through the room, for the noble lord
 
 SOME " SALON DIPLOMACIES." 2G9 
 
 held it, tlmt tlicso adventitious aids invariably penetrated through 
 the sterner material of tliought, and relieved by their gi-accful in- 
 fluence the more laboured eil'orts of the intellect. 
 
 He had that morning been preparing a very careful confidential 
 despatch ; he meant it to be a state paper. It was a fiivourite theory 
 of his, that the Pope might be " exploite," — and his own jjhrase must 
 be employed to express his meaning, — that is, that for certain 
 advantages, not very easily defined, nor intelligible at first blush, the 
 Holy Father might be most profitably employed in governing Ireland. 
 The Pope, in fact, in return for certain things which he did not 
 want, and which we could not give him if ho did, was to do for us a 
 number of things perfectly impossible, and just as valueless had they 
 been possible. The whole was a grand dissolving view of millennial 
 Ireland, with all the inhabitants dressed in green broadcloth, singing 
 " God save the Queen ; " while the Pope and the Sacred College were 
 to be in ecstasy over some imaginary concessions of the British 
 (lovernment, and as happy over these supposed benefits as an Indian 
 liibe over a present of glass beads from Birmingham. 
 
 The noble diplomatist had just turned a very pretty phrase on 
 the peculiar nature of the priest ; — his one-sided view of life, his 
 natural credulity, nurtured by church observances, his easily satisfied 
 greed, arising from the limited nature of his ambitions, and, lastly 
 the simplicity of character engendered by the want of those relations 
 of the family which suggest acute study of moral traits, strongly 
 tinctured with worldliness. Rising above the dialectics of the 
 " Office," ho liad soared into the style of the essayist. It was to be 
 one of those dispatches which F. 0. prints in blue-books, and 
 proudly points to, to show that her sons are as distinguished in 
 letters as they are dexterous in the conduct of negotiations. He 
 had just read aloud a very high-sounding sentence, when Mr. 
 Temple Bramleigh entered, and in that nicely subdued voice which 
 private-secretaryship teaches, said, " Mr. Cutbill is below, my lord ; 
 will you see him ? " 
 
 " On no account ! The porter has been warned not to admit 
 him, on pain of dismissal. See to it, that I am not intruded on by 
 this man." 
 
 " He has managed to get in somehow — he is in my room this 
 moment." 
 
 " Get rid of him, then, as best you can. I can only repeat that 
 here he shall not come." 
 
 " I think, on the whole, it might be as well to see him ; a few 
 minutes would suffice," said Temple timidly. 
 
 " And, why, sir, may I ask, am I to be outi'aged by this man's
 
 270 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 vulgar presence, even for a few minutes ? A few minutes of nuniiti- 
 gated rudeness is an eternity of endurance ! " 
 
 "He threatens a statement in print ; he has a letter ready for 
 The Ti)iies," muttered Temple. 
 
 '■ This is what we have come to in England. In our stupid 
 worship of -what we call puhlic opinion, we have raised up the most 
 despotic trihunal that ever decided a human destiny. I declare 
 solemnly, I'd almost as soon be an American. I vow to heaven that, 
 with the threat of Printiug-House Square over me, I don't see hov/ 
 much worse I had been if born in Kansas or Ohio ! " 
 
 " It is a regular state;nent of the Lisconnor Mine, drawn up for 
 the money article, and if only a tithe of it be true " 
 
 "Why should it be true, sir?" cried the noble lord, in a tone 
 that was almost a scream. " The public does not want truth, — what 
 they want is a scandal — a libellous slander on men of rank ; men of 
 note like myself. The vulgar world is never so happy as when it 
 assumes to cancel great public services by some contemptible private 
 scandal. Lord Culduff has checkmated the Kussian Ambassador. 
 I know that, but Moses has three acceptances of his protested for 
 non-payment. Lord Culduff has outwitted the Tuileries. — Why 
 doesn't he pay his bootmaker? That's their chanson, sir, — that's 
 the burden of their low vulgar song. As if I, and men of viy stamp, 
 were amenable to every petty rule and miserable criticism that applies 
 to a clerk in Somerset House. They exact from us the services of 
 a giant, and then would reduce us to their own dwarfish standard 
 v.henevcr there is question of a moral estimate." 
 
 He walked to and fi'o as he spoke, his excitement increasing at 
 every word, the veins in his forehead swelling and the angles of his 
 mouth twitching with a spasmodic motion. " There, sir," cried he, 
 with a wave of his hand ; "let there be no more mention of this man. 
 I shall want to see a draft of the educational project, as soon as it 
 is completed. That will do," and with this he dismissed him. 
 
 No sooner was the door closed on his departure, than Lord Cul- 
 duff poured some scented water into a small silver ewer, and proceeded 
 to bathe his eyes and temples, and then, sitting down before a little 
 mirror, he smoothed his eyebrows, and patiently disposed the 
 straggling hairs into line. " Who's there ? come in," cried he, 
 impatiently, as a tap was heard at the door, and Mr. Cutbill entered, 
 with the bold and assured look of a man determined on an insolence. 
 
 " So, my lord, your servants have got orders not to admit me — 
 the door is to be shut against me ! " said he, walking boldly forward 
 and staring fiercely at the other's face. 
 
 " Quite true, however you came to know it," said Culdufl", with a
 
 SOME '' SALON DirLOMAClES." 271 
 
 pmile of the easiest, pleasantest expression imagiuaLle. " I told 
 Temple Braiiiloigh this morning to give the orders you speak of. I 
 said it in these words : Mr. Cutbill got in here a couple of days ago, 
 when I was in the middle of a despatch, and we got talking of this 
 that, and t'other, and the end was, I never could take up the clue of 
 what I had been writing. A bore interrupts but does not distract 
 you : a clever man is sure, by his suggestiveness, to lead you away 
 to other realms of thought : and so I said, a strict quarantine against 
 two people — I'll neither see Autonclli nor Cutbill." 
 
 It was a bold shot, and few men would have had courage for such 
 efirontery ; but Lord Culdufi' could do these things with an air of such 
 seeming candour and naturalness, nothing less than a police-agent 
 could have questioned its sincerity. Had a man of his own rank in 
 life " tried it on " in this fashion, Cutbill would have detected the 
 impudent fraud at once. It was the superb dignity, the consummate 
 courtesy of this noble viscount, aided by every appliance of taste and 
 luxury around him, that assured success here. 
 
 " Take that chair, Cutbill, and try a cheroot — I know you like 
 a cheroot. And now for a pleasant gossip ; for I ivill give myself a 
 holiday this morning." 
 
 " I am really afraid I interrupt you," began Cutbill. 
 
 "You do ; I won't aflect to deny it. You squash that despatch 
 yonder, as effuctually as if you threw the ink-bottle over it. When once 
 I get to talk with a man like you, I can't go back to the desk again. 
 Don't you know it yourself ? Haven't you felt it scores of times "? 
 The stupid man is got rid of just as readily as you throw a pebble out 
 of your shoe ; it is your clever fellow that pricks you like a nail." 
 
 *' I'm sorry, my lord, you should feel me so painfully," said 
 Cutbill, laughing, but with an expression that showed how the flattery 
 had touched him, 
 
 " You don't know what a scrape I've got into about you." 
 
 '' About ine ? " 
 
 " Yes. My lady heard you were here the other morning, and 
 gave me a regular scolding for not having sent to tell her. You 
 know you were old friends in Ireland." 
 
 " I scarcely ventured to hope her ladyship would remember mo." 
 
 " What! Not remember your admirable imitation of the speakers 
 in the House ? — your charming songs that you struck olf with such 
 facility — the very best impromptus I ever heard. And, mark you, 
 Cutbill, I knew Theodore Hook intimately, — I mean, difftu-ence of 
 age and such-like considered, for I was a boy at the time, — and I 
 say it advisedly, you are better than Hook." 
 
 *' Oh, my lord, this is great flattery ! "
 
 li( li THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOPS FOLLV. 
 
 " Hook was uncertain, too. He was what the French call 
 joiaiialier. Now, that, you are not." 
 
 Cutbill smiled, for, though he did not in the least know the 
 quality ascribed to him, he was sure it was complimentary, and 
 was satisfied. 
 
 " Than there was another point of difference between you. 
 Hook was a snob. He had the uneasy consciousness of social 
 inferioi-ity, which continually drove him to undue familiarities. 
 Now, I will say, I never met a man so free from this as yourself. 
 I have made a positive study of you, Cutbill, and I protest I think, 
 as regai'ds tact, you are unrivalled." 
 
 " I can only say, my lord, that I never knew it." 
 
 "After all," said Lord Culduff, rising and standing with his 
 back to the fire, while, dropping his eyelids he seemed to fall into 
 a reflective vein — " After all, this, as regards worldly success, is 
 the master quality. You may have every gift, and every talent, 
 and every grace, and, wanting ' tact,' they are all but valueless." 
 
 Cutbill was silent. He was too much afraid to risk his newly 
 acquired reputation by the utterance of even a word. 
 
 " How do you like Home ? " asked his lordship, abruptly. 
 
 " I can scarcely say ; I've seen very little of it. I know no- 
 body ; and, on the whole, I find time hang heavily enough 
 an me." 
 
 " But you must know people, Cutbill ; you must go out. The 
 place has its amusing side ; it's not like what we have at home. 
 There's another tone, another style ; there is less concentration, so 
 to say, but there's more ' finesse.' " 
 
 Cutbill nodded, as though he followed and assented to this. 
 
 " Where the priest enters, as such a considerable element of 
 society, there is always a keener study of character than elsewhere. 
 In other places you ask, What a man does ? here you inquire, Why 
 he does it ? " 
 
 Cutbill nodded again. 
 
 " The women, too, catch up the light delicate touch which the 
 churchmen are such adepts in ; and conversation is generally 
 neater than elsewhere. In a fortnight or ten days hence, you'll see 
 this all yourself. How are you for Italian. Do you speak it well? " 
 
 " Not a word, my lord." 
 
 " Never mind. French will do perfectly. I declare I think 
 wc all owe a debt of gratitude to the First Empire for having given 
 us a language common to all Europe. Neither cooking nor good 
 manners could go on without it, and apropos of cooking, when 
 will you dine ? They are good enough to say hei*e that my cook
 
 SOJIE " SALON DIPLOMACIES. " 273 
 
 is the best iu Rome. Whcu will you let me liavo your venlict 
 on him ? " 
 
 Cutbill felt all the awkwardness that is commonly experienced 
 when a man is asked to be his own inviter. 
 
 "To-day," continued Lord Culduft", "we dine at the Dae de 
 llignano's ; we have promised Lady Augusta for Friday : but 
 S;iturday, I believe Saturday is free. Shall we say Saturday, Cutbill — 
 eight for half-past '? Now, don't fail us. We shall have a few 
 people in the evening, so make no other engagement. By-by." 
 
 Cutbill nmttered out his acceptance, and retired, half delighted 
 with his success, and half distrustful as to whether he had done 
 what he had come to do, or whether, in not approaching the 
 subject, he had not earned a stronger claim to the possession of 
 that " tact " which his lordship had so much admired iu him. 
 
 "I'm sure he's an old fox; but he's wouderfullj' agreeable," 
 muttered he, as he descended the stairs. It was only as he turned 
 into the Piazza di Spagna, and saw L'Estrange standing looking 
 in at a print-shop, that he remembered how he had loft the curate 
 to wait for him, while he made his visit. 
 
 " I'm afraid, from your look," said L'Estrange, "that you have 
 no very good news for me. Am I right '? " 
 
 " Well," said the other, in some confusion, " I won't say that 
 I have anything one could call exactly reassuring to tell." 
 
 " Did he suffer you to go into the question fully ? Did he 
 show a disposition to treat the matter with any consideration?" 
 
 Cutbill shook his head. The consciousness that he had done 
 imthing, had not even broached the subject for which his visit was 
 ostensibly made, overwhelmed him with shame ; and he had not 
 the courage to avow how he had neglected the trust committed 
 to him. 
 
 " Don't mince matters with me, for the sake of sparing me,"' 
 continued L'Estrange. " I never closed my eyes last night, thinking 
 over it all ; and you can't lower me iu my own esteem below what 
 I now feel. Out with it, then, and let me hear the worst, if I 
 must hear it." 
 
 " You must have a little patience. Things aro not always so 
 bad as they look. I'm to have another interview ; and though I 
 won't go 60 far as to bid you hope, I'd be sorry to say despair. 
 I'm to see him again on Saturday." 
 
 " Two more days and nights of anxiety and waiting ! But I 
 suppose I deserve it all, and worse. It was in a spirit of greed — 
 ay, of gambling — that I made this venture ; and if the punish- 
 ment could fall on myself alone, I deserve it all." 
 
 18
 
 274 THE ERAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY 
 
 '• Come, come, clou"t take ou in that fashion ; never say die. 
 T/hen do the Bramlcighs arrive ? — don't you expect them this 
 week ? " 
 
 "They promised to cat their Christmas dinner with us; but 
 shall v/e have one to give them ? You knov/, I suppose, how matters 
 have gone at Albano ? The church patrons have quarrelled, and 
 each has withdrawn his name. No : Mrs. Trumpler remains, and she 
 has drawn out a new code of her own — a thirty-nine articles of her 
 own devising, which I must subscribe, or forfeit her support. The 
 great feature of it all is, that the Bible is never to be quoted except 
 to disprove it ; so that what a man lacks in scholarship, he may make 
 up in scepticism." 
 
 " And do you take to that ? " 
 
 " Not exactly ; and in consequence I have resigned my chap- 
 laincy, and this morning I received a notice to vacate my house by 
 the last day of the year, and go — I don"t think it was suggested where 
 to in particular — but here comes my sister — let us talk of something 
 else." 
 
 " Oh, George," cried she, "I have got you such a nice warm 
 coat for your visiting iu the cold weather. Will you promise me 
 to wear it, though you will look like a bear. How d'ye-do, Mr. 
 Cutbill?" 
 
 " I'm bobbish, miss, thank you. And you ? " 
 
 " I don't exactly know if I'm bobbish, but I'm certainly in good 
 spirits, for I have heard from some very dear friends, wdio are ou 
 their way to see, and spend the Christmas with us." 
 
 L'Estrange turned a sudden glance on Cutbill. It was a mere 
 glance, but it said more than words, and was so inexpressibly sad 
 besides, that the other muttered a hurried good-by and left them. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 A LO^sG t£tE-A-t£TE. 
 
 Pkacontal and Longworth sat at breakfast at Freytag's Hotel at 
 Home. They were splendidly lodged, and the table was spread with 
 uU the luxury and abundance which are usually displayed where well- 
 paying guests are treated by wise innkeepers. Fruit and flowers 
 decorated the board, arranged as a painter's eye might have suggested, 
 and nothing was wanting that could gratify the souse of sight or tempt 
 the palate.
 
 A LONG t£;te-a-t£te. 275 
 
 " After all," said Longwovth, " your song-writer bluuderecl when 
 ho wrote ' I'amour.' It is Targent ' that 'makes the world go 
 round.' Look at that table, and say what sunshine the morning 
 breaks with, when one doesn't fret about the bill." 
 
 "You are right, Philip," said the other. "Lot people say 
 what they may, men love those who spend money. See what a 
 popularity follows the Empire in France, and v/hat is its chief claim ? 
 Just what you said a moment back. It never frets about the bill, 
 (jontrast the splendour of such a Government with the mean mercantile 
 spirit of your British Parliament, higgling over contracts and cutting 
 <lowu clerks' salaries, as though the nation were glorified v/hcn its 
 servants wore broken boots and patched pantaloons." 
 
 "The world needs spendthrifts as it needs tornadoes. The whirl- 
 wind purifies even as it devastates." 
 
 "How grand you arc at an aphorism, Philip. You have all the 
 pomp of the pulpit when you deliver a mere platitude." 
 
 "To a Frenchman, everything is a platitude that is not a 
 paradox." 
 
 " Go on, your vein is wonderful this morning." 
 
 " A Frenchman is the travestie of human nature ; every sentiment 
 of his is the parody of what it ought to be. He is grave over trifles 
 and evokes mirth out of the deepest melancholy ; he takes sweet 
 wine with his oysters, and when the post has brought hiai letters that 
 may actually decide his destiny, he throws tliem aside to read a 
 critique on the last ballet, or revive his recollections of its delight by 
 gazing on a coloured print of the ballerina." 
 
 " I'm getting tired of the Gitana," said Pracoutal, throwing the 
 j^icture from him ; " hand me the chocolate. As to the letters, I 
 have kept them for you to read, for, although I know your spluttering, 
 splashing, hissing language for all purposes of talk, its law jargon is 
 quite beyond me." 
 
 " Your lawyer — so far as I have seen — is most careful in his 
 avoidance of technicals with you ; he writes clearly and succinctly." 
 
 " Break open that great packet, and tell me about its clear and 
 distinct contents." 
 
 " I said succinct, not distinct, man of many mistakes. This 
 is from Kelson himself, and contains an euclosui'c." He broke the 
 seal as he spoke, and read, — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I am exceedingly distressed to be obliged to inform you 
 that the arrangement which, in my last letter, I had understood to 
 be finally and satisfactorily concluded between myself, on your part 
 and Mr. Scdley of Furuival's Inn, on the part of Mr. Bramleigh, is
 
 276 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 now rescinded and broken, Mr. Bramleigli having entered a formal 
 protest, denying all concurrence or approval, and in evidence of his 
 dissent has actually given notice of action against his solicitor, for 
 unauthorized procedure. The bills therefore drawn by you I here- 
 with return as no longer negociable. I am forced to express not 
 only my surprise, but my indignation, at the mode in which we have 
 been treated in this transaction. Awaiting your instructions as to 
 what step you will deem it advisable to take next, 
 
 " I am, dear sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 " J. Kelson." 
 
 " This is a bad affair," said Lougworth. " That twenty thousand 
 that you thought to have lived on for two years, astonishing the 
 vulgar world, like some Count of Monte Christo, has proved a 
 dissolving view, and there you sit a candidate for one of the Pope's 
 prisons, which, if accounts speak truly, are about the vilest dens of 
 squalor and misery in Europe." 
 
 " Put a lump of ice in my glass, and fill it up with champagne. 
 It was only yesterday I was thinking whether I'd not have myself 
 christened Esau, and it is such a relief to me now to feel that I need 
 not. Monsieur Le Comte Pracontal de Bramleigh, I have the honour 
 to drink your health." As he spoke he drained his glass, and held 
 it out to be refilled. 
 
 " No ; I'll give you no more wine. You'll need all the calm and 
 consideration you can command to answer this letter, which requires 
 prompt reply. And as to Esau, my friend, the parallel scarcely holds, 
 for when he negotiated the sale of his reversion he was next of kin 
 beyond dispute." 
 
 " I wonder what would become of you if you could not cavil, I 
 never knew any man so fond of a contradiction." 
 
 " Be just, and admit that you give me some splendid opportu- 
 nities. No, I'll not let you have more wine. Kelson's letter must 
 be answered, and we must think seriously over what is to be done." 
 
 " Ma foi ! there is nothing to be done. Mr. Bramleigh 
 challenges me to a duel, because he knows I have no arms. He 
 appeals to the law, which is the very costliest of all the costly things 
 in your dear country. If you could persuade him to believe that 
 this is not fair — not even generous — perhaps he would have the good 
 manners to quit the premises and send me the key. Short of that, I 
 see nothing to be done." 
 
 " I have told you already, and I tell you once more, if Kelson is 
 of opinion that your case is good enoiigh to go to trial, you shall not 
 want funds to meet law expenses."
 
 A LONG t£te-a-t£te. 277 
 
 " He has told me so, over and over. Ho lias said ho shall try 
 the case by — what is it you call it ? " 
 
 "I know what you mean; ho will proceed by ejectment to 
 try title." 
 
 " This need not cost veiy heavily, and will serve to open the 
 campaign. He will put me on ' the table,' as he calls it, and I shall 
 be interrogated, and worried, and tormented, — perhaps, too, insulted, 
 at times ; and I am to keep my temper, resent nothing — not even 
 when they impugn my honour or my truthfulness — for that there are 
 two grand principles of British law : one is, no man need say 
 any ill of himself, nor is he ever to mind what ill another may say 
 of him." 
 
 " Did he tell you that "? " said Longworth, laughing. 
 
 " Not exactly in these words, but it amounted to the same. Do 
 give me a little wine ; I am hoarse with talking." 
 
 " Not a drop. Tell me now, where are these letters, and that 
 journal of your grandfather's that you showed me ? " 
 
 " Kelson has them all. Kelson has everything. When I 
 believed the afi'air to be ended, I told him he might do what he 
 pleased with them, if he only restored to me that coloured sketch of 
 my beautiful grandmother." 
 
 " There, there ! don't get emotional, or I have done with you. 
 I will write to Kelson to-day. Leave all to us and don't meddle in 
 any way." 
 
 "That you may rely upon with confidence. No one ever yet 
 accused me of occupying himself with anything I could possibly 
 avoid. Do you want me any more ? " 
 
 "I don't think so; but why do you ask? "Where are you 
 going?" 
 
 *' I have a rendezvous this morning. I am to be three miles from 
 this at one o'clock. I am to be at the tomb of Cecilia Metella, to 
 meet the Lady Augusta Bramleigh, with a large party, on horseback, 
 and we are to go somewhere and see something, and to dine, ma foi 
 — I forget where." 
 
 "1 think, all things considered," said Longworth, gravely, "I 
 would advise some reserve as to intimacy with that family." 
 
 " You distru.-t my discretion. You imagine that in my unguarded 
 freedom of talking I shall say many things which had been better 
 unsaid ; isn't that so ? " 
 
 "Perhaps I do ; at all events, I know the situation is one that 
 would be intolerable to myself." 
 
 " Not to 7)ie though, not to vie. It is the very difficulty, the 
 tension, so to say, that makes it enticing. I have I cannot tell you
 
 278 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 what enjoyment in a position where, by the slightest movement to 
 this side or that, you lose your balance and fall. I like- — ] delight 
 in the narrow path with the precipice at each hand, where a false step 
 is destruction. The wish to live is never so strong as when life is 
 in danger." 
 
 " You are a heart and soul gambler." 
 
 " Confess, however, I am ' beau joueur.' I know how to lose." 
 And muttering something over the lateness of the hour, he snatched 
 up his hat and hurried away. 
 
 As Pracontal was hurrying to the place of meeting with all the 
 speed of his horse, a servant met him with a note from Lady 
 Augusta. " She did not feel well enough," she said, " for a ride ; 
 she had a headache, and begged he would come and pay her a visit, 
 and dine too, if he was not afraid of a dinner en tete-a-tete." 
 
 Overjoyed with the familiar tone of this note, he hurried back to 
 Rome, and soon found himself in the little drawing-room which 
 looked out upon the Borghese garden, and where a servant told him 
 her ladyship would soon appear. 
 
 " This is \erj kind of you and very nice," said she, entering and 
 giving him her hand in a languid sort of manner, " to come here and 
 give up the delights of the picnic, with its pretty women and 
 champagne, and pates-aux-trufies. No ; you are to sit yonder. I 
 don't know you long enough to advance you to the privilege of that 
 low chair next my sofa." 
 
 " I am your slave, even to martyrdom," said he, bowing, and 
 Eitting down where she had bid him. 
 
 "You are aware, I hope," said she, in the same wearied tone, 
 *' that it is very wrong of us to become acquainted. That, connected 
 as I am with the Bramleighs, I ought not to have permitted you to 
 be presented to me. My sister is shocked at the impropriety, and as 
 for Lord and Lady Culdufl", rather than meet you at dinner on Friday 
 they have left Rome." 
 ■"Lett Rome?" 
 
 " Yes, gone to Naples. To be sure, he ought to have been there 
 a month ago ; he was accredited to that Court, and he had nothing 
 to do here, which was, however to hi)ii an excellent reason for being 
 here. Why do you make me talk so much ? it sets my head 
 splitting, and I sent for you to listen to you, and not to have any 
 worry of talking myself — there, begin." 
 
 " What shall I talk about ? " 
 
 " Anything you like, only not politics, or religion, or literature, 
 or fine arts — people are so unnatural when they discuss these ; nor 
 — not society and gossip, for then they grow spiteful and ill-natured ;
 
 A LONG TKTE-xV-TKTE. 279 
 
 nor about myself, for then you'd fancy you were in love with mo, and 
 I'd have to shut the door against you. Oh, how my head aches ! 
 Give me that flacon, pray ; thauks, now go back to your 2)hxce." 
 
 " Shall I read to you ? " 
 
 " No : there's nothing I detest so much as beiug read to. One 
 never follows the book ; it is the tone and accent of the reader, some- 
 thing in his voice, something one fancies an aifectatiou attracts 
 attention, and you remark how his hair is parted, or how his boots 
 .arc made. Oh, why will you torment me this way — I don't want tj 
 talk and you persist in asking me questions." 
 
 " If j-ou had not a headache I'd sing for you." 
 
 " No, I'll not let you sing to me alone ; that would be quite 
 wrong. Remember, monsieur, and when I say remember, I mean 
 never forget, I am excessively prude ; not of that school of prudery 
 that repels, but of that higher tone which declares a freedom impos- 
 sible. Do you comprehend ? " 
 
 "Perfectly, madume," said he, bowiug with an air of an ideal 
 reverence. 
 
 " Now, then, that we have settled the preliminaries of our — oh, 
 dear! " burst she out, " see what it is to be speaking French ! I 
 had almost said of ' our friendship.' " 
 
 " And why not, madame ? Can you possibly entertain a doubt 
 of that sentiment, at once devoted and respectful, which has brought 
 me to your feet ? " 
 
 " I never do doubt about anything that I want to believe ; at 
 least till I change my mind on it, for I am — yes, I am very capricious. 
 I am charmed with you to-day ; bat do not be surprised if my servant 
 shuts the door against you-to morrow." 
 
 " Madame, you drive me to the brink of despair." 
 
 " I'm sure of .that," said she, laughing. " I have driven several 
 that far; but, strange to say, I never knew one who went over." 
 
 " Do not push torture to insuflerance, madame," cried he, 
 theatrically ; but, instead of laughing at him, she looked really 
 alarmed at his words. 
 
 " Oh, Monsieur Praeontal," cried she, suddenly, " was that little 
 song you sung last night your own ? I mean words and music 
 both •? " 
 
 lie bowed with an air of modesty. 
 
 " What a nice talent, to be able to compose and write verses too ! 
 But they tell me you arc horribly satirical ; that you make rhymes 
 on people impromptu, and sin:,' them in the very room with them." 
 
 " Only, madame, when they are, what you call in English, 
 bores."
 
 280 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISIIOp's FOLLY, 
 
 " But I like bores, they are so nice and dull. Do you know, 
 MoDsieur Pracontal, if it were not for bores, we English would have 
 no distinctive nationality ? Our bores are essentially our own, and 
 unlike all the other species of the creature elsewhere." 
 
 " I respect them, and I bow to their superiority." 
 
 " It was very kind, very nice of you, to give up your ride over 
 the Campagna, and come here to sit with me in one of my dull 
 moods, for to-day I am very dull and dispirited. I have an odious 
 headache, and my sister has been scolding me, and I have had sucli 
 unpleasant letters. Altogether, it is a dark day with me." 
 
 " I am inexpressibly grieved." 
 
 " Of course you are ; and so I told my sister you would be, 
 when she said it ■nas a great imprudence on my part to admit you. 
 Not that I don't agree with her in great part, but I do detest being 
 dictated to ; isn't it insupportable ? " 
 
 " Quite so ; the very worst form of slavery." 
 
 " It's true you want to take away the Bramleigh estates ; but, as 
 I said to my sister, does not every one wish to win when he plays a 
 game, and do you detest your adversary for so natural a desire ? I 
 suppose if you have a trump more than the Bramleighs you'll carry 
 off the stakes." 
 
 " Ah, madame, how glad would I be to lay my cards on the table, 
 if I could be sure of such an opponent as yourself." 
 
 " Yes, I (ID) generous. It's the one thing I can say for myself, 
 I'm all for fighting the battle of life honourably and courteously, 
 though I must say one is sure to lose where the others are not 
 equally high-minded. Now I put it to yourself, M, Pracontal, and I 
 ask. Was it fair, was it honest, was it decent of Colonel Bramleigh, 
 knowing the insecure title by which he held bis estate, to make me 
 his wife ? You know, of course, the difference of rank that sepa- 
 rated us ; you know who I was- — I can't say am, because my family 
 have never forgiven me the mesalliance ; therefore, I say, was it 
 not atrocious in him to make a settlement which he felt must be a 
 mockery ? " 
 
 " Perhaps, madame, he may have regarded our pretensions as of 
 little moment ; indeed, I believe, he treated my father's demands 
 with much hauteur," 
 
 " Still, he knew there was a claim, and a claimant, when he 
 married 7)ic; and this can neither be denied nor defended," 
 
 " Ah, madame ! " sighed he, " who would be stopped by scruj^lcs 
 iu such a cause ? " 
 
 " No, there was nothing of love in it ; he wanted rank, he 
 wanted high connections. He was fond of me, after his fashion,
 
 A LOXG TKTE-A-TIOTE. 281 
 
 I've no doubt, but ho was far more proud tlian fond. I often fancied 
 he must have liad something on his mind, he would be so abstracted at 
 times, and so depressed, and then ho would seem as if he wanted to 
 tell me a secret but had not the courage for it, and I set it down to 
 something quite diflerent. I thought — no matter what I thought — 
 but it gave me no uneasiness, for, of course, I never dreamed of 
 being jealous ; but that it should be so bad as this never occurred to 
 me — never ! " 
 
 " I am only surprised that Colonel Bramleigh never thought it 
 worth his while to treat with my father, who, all things considered, 
 Avould have been easily dealt with ; he was always a pauvre diable, 
 out of one scrape to fall into another ; so reckless that the very 
 smallest help ever seemed to him quite sufficient to bravo life with." 
 
 " I know nothing of the story, tell it to me." 
 
 " It is very long, very tiresome, and encumbered with details of 
 dates and eras. I doubt you'd have patience for it, but if you think 
 you would, I'm ready." 
 
 " Begin, then, only don't make it more confused or more tangled 
 than you can helj) ; and give me no dates — I hate dates." 
 
 Pracontal was silent for a moment or two as if reflecting, and 
 then, drawing bis chair a little nearer to her sofa, he leaned his 
 forehead on his hand, and in a low, but distinct voice, began : — 
 
 " When Colonel Bramleigh's father was yet a young man, a 
 matter of business required his presence in Ireland ; he came to see 
 a very splendid mansion then being built by a rich nobleman, on 
 which his house had advanced a large sum by way of mortgage." 
 
 " Mon clier M. Pracontal, must we begin so far back? It is 
 like the Pladieur in Molicre who commences, ' Quand je vols le 
 soleil, quand jo vols la lune— ' 
 
 " Very true, but I must begin at the beginning of all things, 
 and, with a little patience, I'll soon get further. ]\Ir. Montague 
 Bramleigh made acquaintance in Ireland with a certain Italian 
 painter called Giacomo Lami, who had been brought over from 
 Rome to paint the frescoes of this gi-eat house. This Lami — very 
 poor and very humble, ignoble, if you like to say so — had a daughter 
 of surpassing beauty. She was so very lovely that Giacomo was 
 accustomed to introduce her into almost all his frescoes, for she had 
 such variety of expression, so many ' reflets,' as one may say, of 
 character in her look, that she was a Madonna here, a Flora there, 
 now a Magdalene, now a Dido ; but you need not take my word for 
 it, here she is as a Danai^." And he opened his watch-case as be 
 spoke, and displayed a small miniature in enamel of marvellous 
 beauty and captivation.
 
 282 THE BRAMLEIJIIS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Ob, "was she really like tliis ? " 
 
 " That was copied from a picture of her at St. Scrvain, when 
 she was eighteen, immeduxtely before she accompanied her father to 
 Ireland ; and in Giacomo's sketcli-book, which I hope one of these 
 days to have the honour of showing to you, there is a memorandum 
 saying that this portrait of Enrichetta was the best likeness of her 
 he had ever made. He had a younger daughter called Carlotta, 
 also handsom^e, but vastly inferior in beauty to my grandmother." 
 
 " Your grandmother ? " 
 
 " Forgive me, madame, if I have anticipated ; but Enrichetta 
 Lami became the wife of Montague Bramleigh. The young man, 
 captivated by her niarvellous beauty, and enchanted by a winning 
 grace of manner, in which it appears she excelled, made his court to 
 her and married her. The ceremony of marriage presented no 
 difficulty, as Lami was a member of some sect of Waldensean 
 Protestants, who claim a sort of affinity with the Anglican Church, 
 and they were married in the parish church by the minister, and 
 duly registered in the registry-book of the parish. All these matters 
 are detailed in this book of Giacomo Lami's, which was at onco 
 account-book and sketch-book and journal, and, indeed, family 
 history. It is a volume will, I am sure, amuse you, for, amongst 
 sketches and studies for pictures, there are the drollest little details 
 of domestic events, with passing notices of the political circum- 
 stances of the time — for old Giacomo was a conspirator and a 
 Carbouaro, and heaven knows what else. He even involved himself 
 in the Irish troubles, and was so far compromised that he was 
 obliged to fly the country and get over to Holland, which he did, 
 taking his two daughters with him. It has never been clearly 
 ascertained whether Montague Bramleigh had quarrelled with his 
 wife or consented to her accompanying her father, for, while there 
 Y.ere letters from him to her full of afl'ection and regard, there are 
 some strange passages in Giacomo's diary that seem to hint at 
 estrangement and coldness. When her child, my father, was born, 
 she pressed Bramleigh strongly to come over to the christening ; 
 but, though he promised at first, and appeared overjoyed at the 
 birth of his heir, he made repeated pretexts of this or that engage- 
 ment, and ended by not coming. Old Lami must have given way to 
 some outburst of auger at this neglect and desertion, for he sent 
 back Bramleigh's letters unopened ; and the poor Enrichetta, after 
 struggling bravely for several months under this heartless and cruel 
 treatment, sunk and died. The old man wandered away towards the 
 south of Europe after this, taking with him his grandchild and his 
 remaining daiaghler ; and the first entry \\c find in his diary is about
 
 A LCNG T£TE-A-i£TE. 283 
 
 three years later, where we read, ' Chamhery, — Must leave this, 
 where I thoufijht I had at last found a home. Niecolo Baldassaro is 
 bent on gaining Carlotta's allections. AVere they to marry it would 
 be the ruin of both. Each has the same faults as the other.' 
 
 " And later on, — 
 
 " ' Had an explanation with N. B., who declares that, with or 
 without my consent, he will make C. his wife. I have threatened to 
 bring him before the Council ; but he defies me, and says he is 
 ready to abandon the society rather than give her up. I must quit 
 this scci-ctly and promptly.' 
 
 " We next find him at Treviso, where he was painting the 
 Basilica of St. Gucdolfo, and here he speaks of himself as a lonely 
 old man, deserted and forsaken, showing that his daughter had Itft 
 him some time before. He alludes to offers that had been made 
 him to go to England ; but declares that nothing would induce him 
 to set foot in that country more. One passage would imply that 
 Carlotta, on leaving home, took her sister's boy with her, for in the 
 old man's writing there are these words, — 
 
 " ' I do not want to hear more of them ; but I would \Yish tidings 
 of the boy. I have dreamed of him twice.' 
 
 " From that time forth the journal merely records the places 
 lie stopped at, the works he was engaged in, and the sums ho 
 received in payment. For the most part, his last labours Avere iu 
 out-of-the-way, obscure spots, where he worked for mere subsist- 
 ence ; and of how long he lived there, and where he died, there is 
 no trace. 
 
 " Do I weary you, my dear lady, with these small details of 
 very humble people, or do you really bestow any interest on my 
 story ? " 
 
 " I like it of all things. I only want to f jIIow Carlotta's history 
 uow, and learn what became other." 
 
 " Of her fate and fortune I know nothing. Indeed, all that I 
 have been telling you heretofore I have gleaned from that book and 
 some old letters of my great-grandfather's. My own history I will 
 not inflict upon you — at least not now. I was a student of the 
 Naval College of Genoa till I was fourteen, and called Anatolo 
 Pracontal, ' dit ' Lami ; but who had entered me on the books 
 of the college, who paid for me or interested himself about me, I 
 never knew. 
 
 " A boyish scrape I fell into induced me to run away from tlie 
 college. I took refuge in a small felucca, which landed mo at 
 Algiers, where I entered the French service, and made two campaigns 
 with Telissier ; and only quitted the army on learning that my father
 
 284 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 had been lost at sea, and had bequeathed me some small property, 
 then in the hands of a banker at Naples. 
 
 " The property was next to nothing, but by the papers and letters 
 that I found, I learned who I was, and to what station and fortune I 
 had legitimate claim. It seems a small foundation, perhaps, to 
 build upon ; but remember how few the steps are in reality, and how 
 direct besides. My grandmother, Enrichetta, was the married wife 
 of Montagu Bramlcigh ; her son — Godfrey Lami at his birth, but 
 afterwards known by many aliases — married my mother, Marie de 
 Pracontal, a native of Savoy, where I was born, the name Pracontal 
 being given me. My father's correspondence with the Bramleighs 
 was kept up at intervals during his life, and frequent mention is 
 made in diaries, as well as the banker's books, of sums of money 
 received by him from them. In Bolton's hands, also, was deposited 
 my father's will, where he speaks of me and the claim which I should 
 inherit on the Bramleigh estates ; and he earnestly entreats Bolton, 
 who had so often befriended him, to succour his poor boy, and 
 not leave him without help and counsel in the difficulties that were 
 before him. 
 
 " Have you followed, or can you follow, the tangled sciieme '.* " 
 cried ho, after a pause ; " for you are either very patieut or com- 
 pletely exhausted — which is it ? " 
 
 " But why have you taken the name of Pracontal, and not your 
 real name, Bramleigh ? " asked she, eagerly. 
 
 " By Bolton's advice, in the first instance, he wisely taking into 
 account how rich the family were whose right I was about to question, 
 and how poor I was. Bolton inclined to a compromise, and, indeed, 
 he never ceased to press upon me that it would be the fairest and 
 most generous of all arrangements ; but that to effect this, I must 
 not shock the sensibilities of the Bramleighs by assuming their name 
 — that to do so was to declare war at once." 
 
 " And yet had you called yourself Bramleigh, you would have 
 warned others that the right of the Bramleighs to this estate was at 
 least disputed." 
 
 Pracontal could scarcely repress a smile at a declaration so 
 manifestly prompted by selfish considerations ; but he made 
 no reply. 
 
 "Well, and this compromise, do they agree to it?" asked 
 she, hastily. 
 
 " Some weeks ago, I believed it was all concluded ; but this very 
 morning my lawyer's letter tells me that Augustus Bramleigh will not 
 hear of it, that he is indignant at the very idea, and that the law 
 alone must decide between us."
 
 A LONG t£tk-a-t£te. 285 
 
 " What a scandal ! " 
 
 " So I thought. Worse, of course, for them, who ai-e in the 
 world and well known. I am a nobody." 
 
 " A nobody, who might be somebody to-morrow," said she, slowly 
 and deliberately. 
 
 " After all, the stage of pretension is anything but pleasant, 
 and I cannot but regret that we have not come to some 
 arrangement." 
 
 " Can I be of use ? Could my services be employed to any 
 advantage ? " 
 
 "At a moment, I cannot answer ; but I am very grateful for even 
 the thought." 
 
 " I cannot pretend to any influence with the family. Indeed, 
 none of them ever liked me ; but they miglit listen to me, and they 
 might also believe that nvj interest went with their own. Would you 
 like to meet Augustus Bramleigh ? " 
 
 " There is nothing I desire so much." 
 
 " I'll not promise he'll come ; but if he should consent, will you 
 come here on Tuesday morning — say, at eleven o'clock — and meet 
 him ? I know he's expected at Albauo by Sunday, and I'll have a 
 letter to propose the meeting, in his hands, on his arrival." 
 
 " I have no words to speak my gratitude to you." 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 A SPECIAL MISSION. 
 
 When a very polite note from Lord CuldufT to Mr. Cutbill expressed 
 Ihe deep regret he felt at not being able to receive that gentleman at 
 dinner, as an affair of much moment required his immediate presence 
 at Naples, the noble lord was more correct than it was his usual fate 
 to be in matters of apology. The fact was, that his lordship had left 
 England several weeks before, charged with a most knotty and 
 difficult mission to the Neapolitan court ; and though the question 
 involved the misery of imprisonment to some of the persons con- 
 cerned, and had called forth more than one indignant appeal for 
 information in the House, the great diplomatist sauntered leisurely 
 over the Continent, stopping to chat with a Minister here, or dine 
 with a reigning Prince there, not suffering himself to be hurried by 
 the business before him, or in any way influenced by the petulant 
 despatches and telegrams which F. 0. persistently sent after him.
 
 28G THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 One 01 his theories was, that in diplomacy everything should bs 
 done in a sort of dignified languor that excluded all thought of haste 
 or of emergency. "Haste implies pressure," he would say, " and 
 pressure means weakness : therefore, always seem slow, occasionally 
 even to indolence." 
 
 There was no denying it, he Vi'as a great master in that school of 
 his art which professed to baffle every effort at inquiry. No man 
 ever wormed a secret from him that he desired to retain, or succeeded 
 in entrapping him into any accidental admission. He could talk for 
 hours with a frankness that was positively charming. He could 
 display a candour that seemed only short of indiscretion ; and yet, 
 when you left him, you found you had carried away nothing beyond 
 some neatly turned aphorisms, and a few very harmless imitations of 
 Machiaveliau subtlety. Like certain men who are fond of showing 
 how they can snuff a candle with a bullet, he was continually 
 exhibiting his skill at fence, with the added assurance that nothing 
 would grieve him so ineffably as any display of his ability at your 
 expense. 
 
 He knew well that these subtleties were no longer the mode ; 
 that men no longer tried to outwit each other in official intercourse ; 
 that the time for such feats of smartness had as much gone by as the 
 age of high neckcloths and tight coats ; but yet, as he adhered to 
 the old dandyism of the Regency in his dress, he maintained the old 
 traditions of finesse in his diplomacy, and could no more have been 
 betrayed into a Truth than he could have worn a Jim Crow. For 
 that mere plodding, commonplace race of men that now filled " the 
 line " he had the most supreme contempt ; men who had never 
 uttered a smart thing, or written a clever one. Diplomacy without 
 epigram was like a dinner without truffles. It was really pleasant 
 to hear him speak of the great days of Metternich and Nesselrode 
 and Talleyrand, when a frontier was settled by a bou mot, and a 
 dynasty decided by a doggerel. The hoarse roar of the multitude 
 had not in those times disturbed the polished solemnity of the council- 
 chamber, and the high-priests of statecraft celebrated thoir mysteries 
 unmolested. 
 
 " The ninth telegram, my lord," said Temple, as he stood witli 
 a cipher dispatch in his hand, just as Lord Culduff had reached his 
 hotel at Naples. 
 
 " Transcribe it, my dear boy, and let us hear it." 
 
 " I have, my lord. It runs, ' Where is the special envoy ? Let 
 him report himself by telegraph.' " 
 
 " lleply, 'At dinner, at the Hotel Victoria; in passably good 
 health, and indifferent spirits.' "
 
 A SPECIAL BIIS310X. 287 
 
 But, my lord- 
 
 " There, you'd better dress. You are always late. And tell the 
 people here to serve oysters every day till I couuterinand the;n ; and 
 taste the Capri, please ; I prefer it to Sauterue, if it be good. The 
 telegram can wait." 
 
 "I was going to mention, my lord, that Prince Castelmuro has 
 called twice to-day, and begged ho might be informed of your arrival. 
 Shall I write him a line ? " 
 
 "No. The request must be replied to by him to whom it was 
 addressed, — the landlord, perhaps, or the laquais-de-place." 
 
 " The King is most anxious to learn if you have come." 
 
 " His Majesty shall be rewarded for his courteous impatience. I 
 shall ask an audience to-morrow." 
 
 " They told me dinner was served," said Lady CulduQ", angrily, 
 as she entered the room, dressed as if for a court entertainment ; 
 " and I hurried down without putting on my gloves." 
 
 " Let me kiss your ladyship's hand so temptingly displayed," 
 said he, stooping and pressing it to his lips. 
 
 An impatient gesture of the shoulder, and a saucy curl of the lip 
 were the only response to this gallantry. 
 
 A full half-hour before Lord Culduff aj^peared Temple Bramlcigh 
 re-entered, dressed for dinner. 
 
 " Giacomo is at his old tricks. Temple," said she, as she v.alked 
 the room impatiently. " His theory is that every one is to be in 
 waiting on my lord ; and I have been here now close on three-quarters 
 of an hour, expecting dinner to bo announced. Will you please to 
 take some trouble about the household, or let us have au attache 
 who will ? " 
 
 " Giacomo is impossible — that's the fact; but it's no use saying 
 so." 
 
 " I know that," said she, with a malicious twinkle of the eye. 
 " The man who is so dexterous with rouge and pomatum cannot be 
 spared. But can you tell me. Temple, v>'hy we came here ? There 
 was no earthly reason to quit a place that suited us perfectly because 
 Lady Augusta Bramleigh wished to do us an impertinence." 
 
 " Oh, but wo ought to have been hero six weeks ago. They are 
 frantic at ' the OlHce ' at our delay, and there will be a precious to-do 
 about it in the House." 
 
 " CuldulT likes that. If he has moments that resemble happiness 
 they are those when he is so palpably in the wrong that they would 
 ruin any other man than himself." 
 
 " Well, he has got one of them now, I can tell you." 
 
 " Oh, I am aware of what you diplomatic people call great
 
 283 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 emergencies, critical conjunctures, and the like ; but as Lord Water- 
 more said the other evening, ' all your falls are like those in the 
 circus — you always come down upon saw- dust.' " 
 
 " There's pi-ecious little saw-dust here. It's a case will make 
 a tremendous noise in England. When a British subject has been 
 ironed and " 
 
 " Am I late ? I shall be in despair, my lady, if I have kept you 
 waiting," said Lord Culduft', entering in all the glory of red ribbon 
 and Guelph, and with an unusually brilliant glow of youth and 
 health in his features. 
 
 It was with a finished gallantry that he ofiered his arm ; and his 
 smile, as he led her to the dinner- room, was triumph itself. What 
 a contrast to the moody discontent on her face ; for she did not even 
 affect to listen to his excuses, or bestow the slightest attention on his 
 little flatteries and compliments. During the dinner Lord Culduff 
 alone spoke. He was agreeable after his manner, which was certainly 
 a very finished manner; and he gave little reminiscences of the last 
 time he had been at Naples, and the people he had met, sketching 
 their eccentricities and oddities most amusingly, for he was a master 
 in those light touches of satire which deal with the ways of society, 
 ant], perhaps, to anyone but his wife he would have leen most enter- 
 taining and pleasant. She never deigned the very faintest recognition 
 of what he said. She neither smiled when he was witty, nor looked 
 shocked at his levities. Only once, when, by a direct appeal to her, 
 silence was impossible, she said, with a marked spitefulness, " You 
 are talking of something very long ago. I think I heard of that 
 when I was a child." There was a glow under his lordship's rouge 
 as he raised his glass to his lips, and an almost tremor in his voice 
 when he spoke again. 
 
 " I'm afraid you don't like Naples, my lady ? " 
 
 " I detest it." 
 
 " The word is strong ; let it be my care to try and induce you to 
 recall it." 
 
 " It will be lost time, my lord. I always hated the place and the 
 people too." 
 
 " You were pleased with Eome, I think ? " 
 
 " And that possibly was the reason we left it. I mean," said 
 slio, blushing with shame at the rudeness that had escaped her, " I 
 moan that one is always torn away from the place they are content 
 (o live in. It is the inevitable destiny." 
 
 " Very pleasant claret that for hotel wine," said Lord Culduff, 
 passing the bottle to Temple. " The small race of travellers who 
 frequent the Continent now rarely call for the better wines, and the
 
 A SPECIAL MISSION. 289 
 
 consequence is that Margaux and Marcobrunuer get that time to 
 mature in the cellars, which was denied to them in former times." 
 
 A complete silence now ensued. At last Lord Culduff said " Shall 
 wc have coffee?" and offering his arm with the same courteous gallantry 
 as before, he led Lady Culduff into the drawing-room, bowing as he 
 relinquished her hand, as though he stood in presence of a queen. 
 "I know you are very tolerant," said he, with a bewitching smile, 
 " and as we shall have no visitors this evening, may I ask the favour 
 of being permitted a cigai'ette — only one ? " 
 
 " As many as you like. I am going to my room, my lord." And 
 ere he could hasten to open the door, she swept haughtily out of the 
 room and disappeared. 
 
 " We must try and make Naples pleasant for my lady," said 
 Lord Culduff as he drew his chair to the fire ; but there was, somehow, 
 a malicious twinkle in his eye and a peculiar curl of the lip as he 
 spoke that scarcely vouched for the loyalty of his words ; and that 
 Temple heard him with distrust seemed evident by his silence. 
 " You'd better go over to the Legation and say we have arrived. If 
 Blagden asks ^\-hen he may call, tell him at two to-morrow. Let 
 them send over all the correspondence ; and I think we shall want 
 some one out of the chancellerie. Whom have they got ? Throw 
 your eye over the list." 
 
 Opening a small volume bound in red morocco, Temple read 
 out, " Minister and envoy. Sir Geoffrey Blagden, K.C.B. ; first 
 eecretaiy, Mr. Tottenham ; second secretaries, Ralph Howard, the 
 Hon. Edward Eccles, and W. Thornton ; third secretary, George 
 Hilliard ; attache Christopher Stepney." 
 
 " I only know one of these men ; indeed, I can scarcely say I 
 hnow him. I knew his father, or his grandfather perhaps. At all 
 events, take some one who writes a full hand, with the letters very 
 npright, and who seldom speaks, and never has a cold in his head." 
 
 "You don't care for any one in particular?" asked Temple, 
 meekly. 
 
 " Of course not; no more than for the colour of the horse in a 
 hansom. If Blagden hints anything about dining with him, say I 
 don't dine out ; though I serve her Majesty, I do not mean to destroy 
 my constitution ; and I know what a Legation dinner means, with 
 a Scotchman for the chief of the mission. I'm so thankful he's not 
 married, or we should have his wife calling on my lady. You can 
 dine there if you like ; indeed, perhaps, you ought. If Blagden 
 has an opera-box, say ray lady likes the theatre. I think that's 
 all. Stay, don't let him pump you about my going to Vienna ; and 
 drop in on me when you come back." 
 
 19
 
 290 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 Lord Culduff was fast asleep in a deep arm-chair before hia 
 dressing-room fire when Temple returned. The young man looked 
 wearied and worn out, as well he might ; for the Minister had 
 insisted on going over the whole " question " to him, far less, indeed, 
 for his information or instruction, than to justify every step the 
 Legation had taken, and to show the utter unfairness and ungenerosity 
 of the Foreign Office in sending out a special mission to treat a 
 matter which the accredited envoy was already bringing to a satis- 
 factory conclusion. 
 
 " No, no, my dear boy, no blue-books, no correspondence. I 
 shook my religious principles in early life by reading Gibbon, and I 
 never was quite sure of my grammar since I studied diplomatic 
 despatches. Just tell me the matter as you'd tell a scandal or a 
 railway accident." 
 
 " Where shall I begin then '? " 
 
 " Begin where rre come in." 
 
 "Ah, but I can't tell where that is. You know, of course, that 
 there was a fillibustering expedition which landed on the coast, and 
 encountered the revenue guard, and overpowered them, and were in 
 turn attacked, routed, and captured by the Royal troops." 
 
 " Ta, ta, ta ! I don't want all that. Come down to the events 
 of June— June 27 they call it." 
 
 "Well, it was on that day when the ErcoJe was about to get 
 under weigh, with two hundred of these fellows sentenced to the 
 galleys for life, that a tremendous storm broke over the Bay of 
 Naples. Since the memorable hurricane of '92 there had been 
 nothing like it. The sea-wall of the Chiaja was washed away, and a 
 frigate was cast on shore at Caserta with her bowsprit in the palace 
 windows ; all the lower town was under water, and many lives lost. 
 But the damage at sea was greatest of all : eight fine ships were lost, 
 the crews having, with some few exceptions, perished with them." 
 
 " Can't we imagine a great disaster — a very great disaster? I'll 
 paint my own storm, so pray go on." 
 
 " Amongst the merchant shipping was a large American barque 
 v.hich rode out the gale, at anchor, for several hours ; but, as the 
 storm increased, her captain, who was on shore, made signal to the 
 mate to slip his cable and run for safety to Castellamare. The mate, 
 a young Englishman, named Rogers " 
 
 " Samuel Rogers ? " 
 
 " The same, my lord, though it is said not to be his real name. 
 Ho, either misunderstanding tlio signal — or, as some say, wilfully 
 mstaking its meaning — took to his launch, with the eight men ho 
 had with him, and rowed over to a small despatch-boat of the Royal
 
 A SPECIAL MISSION. 291 
 
 Nav}', wliicli was to have acted as convoy to the ErcuL', bat wliose 
 ofKcers were unable to get on board of her, so that she was actually 
 under the command of a petty officer. Rogers boarded her, and 
 proposed to the man in command to get up the steam, and try to save 
 the lives of the people who were pcrisliing ou every hand. He 
 refused : an altercation ensued, and the English — for they were all 
 English — overpowered them and sent them below " 
 
 " Don't say under hatclies, my dear boy, or I shall expect to see 
 you hitching your trousers next." 
 
 Temple reddened, but went on: "They got up steam in all 
 haste, and raised their anchor, but only at the instant that the Ercole 
 foundered, quite close to them, and the wliole sea was covered with 
 the soldiers and the galley-slaves, who had jumped overboard, and the 
 ship went down. Rogers made for them at once and rescued above 
 a hundred — chiefly of the prisoners — but he saved also many of the 
 crew, and the soldiers. From four o'clock till nigh seven, he con- 
 tinued to cruise back and forward through the bay, assisting every 
 one who needed help, and saving life on every side. As the gale 
 abated, yielding to the piteous entreaties of the prisoners, whom ho 
 well knew were political offenders, he lauded them all near Baia, and 
 was quietly returning to the mooring-ground whence he had taken the 
 despatch-boat, when he was boarded by two armed boats' crews of 
 the Royal Navy, ironed and carried oil' to prison." 
 
 " That will do, I know the rest. Blagden asked to have them 
 tried in open court, and was told that the trial was over, and that 
 they had been condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted 
 by royal mercy to hard labour at the galleys. I knew your long 
 story before you told it, but listened to hear what new element you 
 might have interpolated since you saw the people at the Legation. I 
 find you, on the whole, very correct. How the Neapolitan Govern- 
 ment and H. M.'s Ministers have mistaken, mystified, and slanged 
 each other ; how they have misinterpi'ctcd law and confounded 
 national right ; how they have danced a reel through all justice, and 
 changed places with each other some half-dozen times, so that an 
 arbiter — if there were one — would put them both out of court — I 
 have read already in the private correspondence. Even the people 
 in Parliament, patent bunglers as they are in foreign customs, began 
 to ask themselves, Is Filangieri in the pay of her Majesty ? and how 
 comes it that Blagden is in the service of Naples ? " 
 "Oh, it's not so bad as that ! " 
 
 " Yes, it's fully as bad as that. Such a muddled correspondence 
 was probably never committed to print. They thought it a contro- 
 versy, but the combatants never confronted each other. One appealed
 
 292 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 to humauity, the other referred to the hiw ; one went off iu heroiL'3 
 about gallantry, and the other answered by the galleys. People 
 ought to be taught that diplomatists do not argue, or if they do, they 
 are mere tyros at their trade. Diplomatists insinuate, suppose, 
 suggest, hope, fear, and occasionally threaten ; and with these they 
 take iu a tolerably wide sweep of human motives. There, go to bed 
 now, my dear boy ; you have had enough of precepts for one evening ; 
 tell Giacomo not to disturb me before noon, — I shall probably write 
 late into the night." 
 
 Temple bowed and took his leave, but scarcely had he reached 
 the stairs than Lord Culduff laid himself in his bed and went off 
 into a souud sleep. Whether his rest was disturbed by dreams ; 
 whether his mind went over the crushing things he had in store for 
 the Neapolitan Minister, or the artful excuses he intended to write 
 home ; whether he composed sonorous sentences for a blue-book, or 
 invented witty epigrams for a " private and confidential ; " or whether 
 lie only dreamed of a new preparation of glycerine and otto of roses, 
 which he had seen advertised as an " invaluable accessory to the 
 toilet," this history does not, perhaps need not, record. 
 
 As, however, we are not about to follow the course of his 
 diplomatic efforts in our next chapter, it is pleasant to take leave of 
 him iu his repose. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 THE CHURCH PATRONS. 
 
 As the season drew to its close at Albano, and the period of 
 returning to Rome approached, the church committee, following the 
 precedent of all previous years, fell out, and held a succession of 
 vestry-meetings for mutual abuse and recrimination. Partisanship 
 is the badge of church patrons, and while the parson had his 
 adherents, and the organist his supporters, there were half a dozen 
 very warm friends who advocated the cause of the bell-ringer — a 
 drunken little heathen, who, because ho had never crossed the 
 threshold of a Catholic church for years, was given brevet rank as a 
 member of the Reformed religion. 
 
 The time of auditing the church accounts is usually a sort of day 
 of judgment on the clergyman. All the complaints that can be 
 preferred against him are kept for that occasion. A laudable senti- 
 ment possibly prompts men to ascertain what they have got for their
 
 THE CHUKCH PATRONS. 293 
 
 money : at all events, people in nowise remarkable for personal thrift 
 show at such times a most searching spirit of inquiry, and eagerly 
 investigate the cost of sweeping out the vestry and clear-starching 
 the chaplain's bands. 
 
 As to the doctrine of the parson, and the value of his ministra- 
 tion, there were a variety of opinions. He was too high for this ouc, 
 too dry for that ; he was not impressive, not solemn nor dignified 
 with some, while others deemed him deficient in that winning 
 fi^miliarity which is so soothing to certain sinners. Some thought 
 bis sermons too high-flown and too leai'ned, others asked why he 
 only preached to the children in the gallery. On one only point was 
 there anything like unanimity : each man who withdrew his sub- 
 scription did so on principle. None, not one, referred his determi- 
 nation to contribute no longer to any motive of economy. All 
 declared that it was something in the celebration of the service — a 
 doctrine inculcated in the pulpit — something the parson had said or 
 something he had worn — obliged them, " with infinite regret,"' to 
 withdraw what they invariably called " their mite." In fact, ono 
 thing was clear : a more high-minded, right-judging, scrupulous 
 body of people could not be found than the congregation, whatever 
 might be said or thought of him whose duty it was to guide them. 
 
 Lady Augusta Bramleigh had gone oti" to Rome, and a small 
 three-cornered note, highly perfumed, and most nervously written, 
 informed the committee that she was quite ready to continue her 
 former subscription, or more, if required ; that she was charmed 
 with the chaplain, pleased with the choir, and generally delighted 
 with every one — a testimony more delicately valuable from the fact 
 that she had been but once to the church during the entire season. 
 
 Sir Marcus Cluft", after reading out the letter, took occasion to 
 observe on the ventilation of the church, which was defective in 
 many respects. There was a man in King Street — he thought bis 
 name was Harmond or something like Ilarmond, but it might bo 
 Fox — who had invented a self-revolving pane for church windows ; 
 it was perfectly noiseless, and the cost a mere trifle, though it 
 required to be adjusted by one of the patentee's own people ; some 
 mistakes having occurred by blundering adaptation, by which two 
 persons had been asphyxiated at Kedhill. 
 
 The orator was here interrupted by ]\Irs. Trumpler, who stoutly 
 affirmed that she had come there that day at great inconvenience, 
 and was in nowise prepared to listen to a discourse upon draughts, 
 or the rival merits of certain plumbers. There were higher con- 
 siderations than these that might occupy them, and she wished to 
 know if ^I. L'Estrangc was prepared to maintain the harsh, and
 
 •2D1 THE BEAMLEICcHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 she must say the ungenerous and unscliolarlike vie\Y he had taken 
 of the character of Judas. If so, she withdrew her suhscription, 
 hut added that she wouki also in a pamphlet explain to the world 
 the reasons of her retirement, as well as the other grounds of 
 complaint she had against the chaplain. 
 
 One humble contributor of fifteen francs alleged that, though 
 nutcrackers were a useful domestic implement, they formed an 
 unpleasant accompaniment to the hj-mns, and occasionally startled 
 devotionally minded persons during the service ; and he added his 
 profound regret at the seeming apathy of the clergyman to the 
 indecent interruption ; indeed, he had seen the parson sitting in 
 the reading-desk, while these disturbances continued, to all appear- 
 ance unmoved and indifferent. 
 
 A retired victualler, Mr. Mowser, protested that to see the walk 
 of the clergyman, as he came up the aisle, " was enough for him ; " 
 and he had only come to the meeting to declare that he himself had 
 gone over to the sect of the Nuremberg Christians, who, at least, 
 were humble-minded and lowly, and who thought their pastor hand- 
 somely provided for with a thousand francs a year and a suit of 
 black clothes at Christmas. 
 
 In a word, there was much discontent abroad, and a very general 
 opinion seemed to prevail that, what with the increasing dearness of 
 butchers' meat, and an extra penny lately added to the income-tax, 
 it behoved every one to see what wise and safe economy could be 
 introduced into their affairs. It is needless to say how naturally it 
 suggested itself to each that the church subsciiption was a retrench- 
 mcub at once practicable and endurable. 
 
 Any one who wishes to convince himself how dear to the Pro- 
 testant heart is the right of private judgment, has only to attend a 
 vestry meeting of a church supported on the voluntary system. It 
 is the very grandest assertion of that great principle. There is not 
 a man there represented by ten francs' annual subscription who has 
 not very decided opinions of the doctrine he requires for his money ; 
 and thus, while no one agreed with his neighbour, all concurred in 
 voting tliat they deemed the chaplain had not fulfilled their expecta- 
 tions, and that they reserved their right to contribute or not for the 
 ensuing year, as future thought and consideration should determine. 
 
 L'Estrange had gone in to Rome to meet Augustus Bramleigh 
 and Ellen, who were coming to pass the Christmas with him, when 
 Sir Marcus Cluff called to announce this unpleasant resolution of 
 the churcli patrons. 
 
 " Perhaps I could see Miss L'Estrange ? " said lie to the servant, 
 who had said lur master was from home.
 
 THE CHUKCII TATRONS. 295 
 
 Julia was seated workiug at tLe wiudow as Bir Marcus entered 
 the room. 
 
 " I hope I do not come at an unseemly hour ; I scarcely know 
 the time one ought to visit here," ho began, as he fumbled to untie 
 the strings of his respii'ator. "How nice and warm your room is ; 
 and a soulh aspect, too. Ah ! that's what my house fails in." 
 
 " I'm so sorry my brother is not at home, Sir Marcus. He will 
 regret not meeting you." 
 
 "And I'm sorry, too. I could have broken the bad news to 
 him, perhaps, better than — I mean — oh, dear ! if I begin coughing. 
 I shall never cease. Would you mind my taking my di'ops ? They 
 are only aconite and lettuce ; and if I might ask for a little fresh 
 water. I'm so sorry to be troublesome." 
 
 Though all anxiety to know to what bad news he referred, she 
 hastened to order the glass of water he desired, and calmly resumed 
 her seat. 
 
 " It's spasmodic, this cough. I don't know if that be any 
 advantage, or the reverse ; but the doctor says ' only spasmodic,' 
 v.hich would lead one to suppose it might be worse. Would you do 
 me the great favour to drop thirty-five, be sure only thirty-five, of 
 these ? I hope your hand does not shake ? " 
 
 "No, Sir Marcus. It is very steady." 
 
 " What a pretty hand it is. How taper your fingers are, but you 
 have these dimples at the knuckles they say are such signs of cruelty." 
 
 " Oh, Sir Marcus ! " 
 
 " Yes, they say so. Nana Sahib had them, and that woman — 
 thei'e, there, you have given me thirty-seven." 
 
 " No, I assure you. Sir Marcus ; only thirty-five. I'm a practised 
 hand at dropping medicine. My brother used to have violent head- 
 aches." 
 
 " And you always measured his drops, did you ? " 
 
 " Always. I'm quite a clever nurse, I assure you." 
 
 " Oh, dear! do you say so? " And as he laid down his glass 
 he looked at her with an expression of interest and admiration, 
 which pushed her gravity to its last limit. 
 
 " 1 don't believe a word about the cruelty they ascribe to those 
 dimples. I pledge you my word of honour I do not," said he, 
 seriously. 
 
 " I'm sincerely glad to hear you say so," said she, trying to 
 seem grave. 
 
 " And is your brother much of an invalid ? " 
 
 " Not now. The damp climate of Ireland gave him headaches, 
 but he rarely has them here."
 
 296 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 "Ah, and you have such a quiet way of moving about; that 
 gentle gliding step, so soothing to the sick. Oh, you don't know 
 what a boon it is ; and the common people never have it, nor can 
 they acquire it. When you went to ring the bell, I said to myself, 
 ' That's it : that's what all the teaching in the world cannot 
 impart.' " 
 
 "You will make me very vain, Sir Marcus. AH the more that 
 you give me credit for merits I never suspected." 
 
 " Have you a cold hand ? " asked he, with a look of eagerness. 
 
 " I really don't know. Perhaps I have." 
 
 "K I might dare. Ah," said he, with much feeling, as he 
 touched her hand in the most gentle manner — " Ah ! that is the 
 greatest gift of nature. A small hand, perfect in form, beautiful in 
 colour, and cold as marble." 
 
 Julia could resist no longer, but laughed out one of those pleasant 
 merry laughs whose music make an echo in the heart. 
 
 " I know well enough what you are saying to yourself. I think 
 I hear you muttering, ' What an original, what a strange creature it 
 is ; ' and so I am, I won't deny it. One who has been an invalid 
 for eighteen years ; eighteen years passed in the hard struggle with 
 an indolent alimentary system, for they say it's no more. There's 
 nothing organic ; nothing whatever. Structurally, said Dr. Boreas 
 of Leamington, structurally you are as sound as a roach. I don't 
 fully appreciate the comparison, but I take it the roach must be a 
 very healthy fish. Oh, here's your brother coming across the 
 garden. I wish he had not come just yet ; I had a — no matter, 
 perhaps you'd permit me to have a few words with you to-morrow ? " 
 
 " To-morrow, or whenever you like, Sir Marcus, but pray for- 
 give me if I run away now to ask my brother if our visitors have 
 come." 
 
 " They'll be here to-morrow evening, Ju," said George, as she 
 rushed to meet him. " Is that Clufi's phaeton I see at the gate ? " 
 
 "Yes; the tiresome creature has been here the last hour. I'll 
 not go back to him. You must take your share now." 
 
 By the time L'Estrange entered the room. Sir Marcus had 
 replaced his respirator, and enveloped himself in two of his over- 
 coats and a fur boa. " Oh, here you are," said he, speaking with 
 nmch difficulty. " I can't talk now ; it brings on the cough. Come 
 over in the evening, and I'll tell you about it." 
 
 " About what pray ? " asked the other curtly. 
 
 " There's no use being angry. It only hurries the respiration, 
 and chokes the pulmonary vessels. They won't give a sixpence — 
 not one of them. They say that you don't preach St. Paul — that
 
 THE CnURC'II PATRONS. 
 
 you think too much about works. I don't know what they don't 
 say ; but come over about seven." 
 
 "Do you mean that the subscribers have withdrawn from the 
 church ? " 
 
 Sir Marcus had not breath for further discussion, but made a 
 gesture of assent with his head. 
 
 L'E strange sank down on a chair overpowered, nor did he speak 
 to, or notice, the other as he withdrew. 
 
 "Are you ill, dearest George?" said Julia, as she saw her 
 brother pale and motionless on the chair. "Are you ill?" 
 
 " They've all withdrawn from the church, Julia. Cluff says they 
 are dissatisfied with me, and will contribute no longer." 
 
 " I don't believe it's so bad as he says. I'm sure it's not. 
 They cannot be displeased with you, George. It's some mere 
 passing misconception. You know how they're given to these little 
 bickerings and squabbles ; but they have ever been kind and friendly 
 to you." 
 
 " You always give me courage, Ju ; and even when I have little 
 heart for it, I like it." 
 
 "Come in to dinner now, George; and if I don't make you 
 laugh, it's a wonder to me. I have had such a scene with Sir 
 Marcus as might have graced a comedy." 
 
 It was not an easy task to rally her brother back to good spirits, 
 but she did succeed at last. " And now," said she, as she saw him 
 looking once more at ease and cheerful, " what news of the Bram- 
 leighs — are they ever to come ? " 
 
 " They'll be here to-morrow evening, Ju. Unless they were 
 quite sure the Culduffs had left for Naples, they would not venture 
 here ; and perhaps they were so far in the right." 
 
 " I don't think so ; at least, if I had been Nelly, I'd have given 
 anything for such an opportunity of presenting myself to my dis- 
 tinguished relations and terrifying them by the thought of those 
 attentions that they can neither give me nor deny me." 
 
 " No, no, Julia, nothing of the kind ; thei'e would be malice in 
 that." 
 
 " Do I deny it ? A great deal of malice in it, and there's no 
 good comedy in life without a slight flavour of spitefulncss. Oh, my 
 poor dear George, what a deep sigh that was ! How sad it is to 
 think that all your example and all your precept do so little, and 
 that your sister acquires nothing by your companionship except the 
 skill to torment you." 
 
 " But why will you say those things that you don't mean — that 
 you couldu't feel ? "'
 
 298 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'ri FOLLY. 
 
 " I believe I do it, George, just tlie way a horse bounds and 
 rears and buck-leaps. - It does not help hhn ou his road, but it 
 lightens the journey ; and then it offers such happy occasion for the 
 exercise of that nice light hand of my brother to check these aberra- 
 tions. You ought to be eternally grateful for the way I develop 
 your talents as a moralist — I was going to say a horse-breaker." 
 
 " I suppose," said he, after a moment's silence, " I ought to go 
 over to Sir Marcus and learn from him exactly how matters stand here." 
 
 "No, no; never mind him — at least, not this evening. Bores 
 are bad enough in the morning, but after dinner, when one really 
 wants to think well of their species, they are just intolerable ; 
 besides, I composed a little song while you were away, and I want 
 you to hear it, and then you know we must have some serious 
 conversation about Sir Marcus ; he is to be here to-morrow." 
 
 " I declare, Ju " 
 
 " There, don't declare, but open the pianoforte, and light the 
 candles ; and as I mean to sing for an hour at least, you may have 
 that cigar that you looked so lovingly at, and put back into the 
 case. Ain't I good for you, as the French say ? " 
 
 " Very good, too good for me," said he, kissing her, and now 
 eveiy trace of his sorrow was gone, and he looked as happy as 
 mi':?ht be. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 A PLEASANT DINNER. 
 
 Peudtsxt people will knit their brows and wise people shake their 
 heads at the bare mention of it, but I cannot help saying that there 
 is a wonderful fascination in those little gatherings which bring a few 
 old friends around the same board, who, forgetting all the little 
 pinchings and straits of narrow fortune, give themselves up for once 
 to enjoyment without a thought for the cost or a care for the morrow. 
 I do not want this to pass for sound morality, nor for a discreet line 
 of conduct : I only say that in the spirit that can subdue every 
 sentiment that would jar on the happiness of the hour there is a 
 strength and vitality that shows this feeling is not born of mere con- 
 viviality, but of something deeper, and truer, and heartier. 
 
 " If we only had poor Jack here," whispered Augustus Bramleigh 
 to Ij'Estrauge, as they drew around the Christmas fire, " I'd say this 
 was the luippif st hearth I know of."
 
 A TLEASANT DINKEK. 299 
 
 " Alul Lave you no tidings of him?" said L'Esliange, iu the 
 same low tone ; for, although the girls were in eager talk together, 
 he was afraid Julia might overhear what was said. 
 
 " None, except that he sailed from China on hoard an American 
 clij^per for Smyrna, and I am now waiting for news from the Consul 
 there, to whom I have written, enclosing a letter for him." 
 
 " And he is serving as a sailor ? " 
 
 Bramloigh nodded. 
 
 " What is the mysterious conversation going on there ?" said 
 Julia. " How grave George looks, and Mr. Bramleigh seems over- 
 whelmed with a secret of importance." 
 
 " I guess it," said Nelly, laughing. " Your brother is relating 
 your interview with Sir Marcus Ciufl", and they are speculating on 
 what is to come of it." 
 
 " Oh, that reminds me," cried L'Estrange, suddenly, " Sir 
 Marcus's servant brought me a letter just as I was dressing for 
 dinner. Here it is. AVhat a splendid seal — supporters too ! Ilave 
 I pel-mission to read ? " 
 
 " Read, read by all means," cried Julia. 
 
 " 'Dear Sik, — If I could have sufficiently conquered my bronchitis 
 as to have ventured out this morning, I would have made you my 
 personal apologies for not having received you last night when you 
 did me the honour to call, as well as opened to you by word of mouth 
 what I am now reduced to convey by pen.' " 
 
 " He is just as prolix as when he talks," said Julia. 
 
 " It's a large hand, however, and easy to read. ' My old enemy 
 the larynx — more iu fault than even the bronchial tubes — is again iu 
 arms ' " 
 
 " Oh, do spare us his anatomical disquisition, George. Skip him 
 down to where he proposes for me." 
 
 " But it is what he docs not. You are not mentioned iu the 
 whole of it. It is all about Church nmtters. It is an explanation 
 of why every one has withdrawn his subscription and left the establish- 
 ment, and why he alone is faithful and willing to contribute, even to 
 the extent of live pounds additional " 
 
 " This is too heartless by half ; the man has treated me 
 shamefully." 
 
 " I protest I think so too," said Nelly, with a mock seriousness ; 
 *' he relies upon your brother's gown ibr his protection." 
 
 " Shall I have him out ? But, by the way, why do you call mo 
 Mr. Bramleigh ? Wasn't I Augustus — or rather Gusty — when we 
 met last ? " 
 
 " I don't think so ; so well as I remember, I treated you with
 
 300 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 great respect, dashed with a little bit of awe. You and your elder 
 sister were always ' personages ' to me." 
 
 " I cannot understand that. I can easily imagine Temple 
 inspiring that deference you speak of." 
 
 " You were the true Prince, however, and I had all Falstaffs 
 reverence for the true Prince." 
 
 " And yet you see after all I am like to turn out only a 
 Pretender." 
 
 " By the way, the pretender is here ; I mean — if it be not a bull 
 to say it — the real pretender. Count Pracontal." 
 
 •' Count Pracontal de Bramleigh, George," said Julia, correcting 
 him. " It is the drollest mode of assuming a family name I ever 
 heard of." 
 
 " What is he like ? " asked Ellen. 
 
 " Like a very well-bred Frenchman of the worst school of French 
 manners : he has none of that graceful ease and that placid courtesy 
 of the past period, but he has abundance of the volatile readiness and 
 showy smartness of the present day. They are a wonderful race, 
 however, and their smattering is better than other men's learning." 
 
 " I want to see him," said Augustus. 
 
 " Well," broke in L'Estrange, " Lady Augusta writes to me to 
 say he wants to see youy 
 
 " What does Lady Augusta know of him ? " 
 
 " Heaven knows," cried Julia ; " but they are always together ; 
 their rides over the Campagna furnish just now the chief scandal of 
 Rome. George, you may see, looks very serious and rebukeful about 
 it ; but, if the truth were told, there's a little jealousy at the root of 
 his morality." 
 
 " I declare, Julia, this is too bad." 
 
 " Too true, also, my dear George. Will you deny that 3'ou used 
 to ride out with her nearlj' every evening in the summer, rides that 
 began at sunset and ended — I was always asleep when you came 
 homo, and so I never knew when they ended." 
 
 " Was she very agreeable ? " asked Nelly, with the faintest tinge 
 of sharpness in her manner. 
 
 " The most — what shall I call it ? — inconsequent woman I ever 
 met, mixing up things the most dissimilar together, and never dwell- 
 ing for an instant on anything." 
 
 " How base men are," said Julia, with mock reproach in her 
 voice. " This is the way he talks of a woman he absolutely per- 
 secuted with attentions the whole season. Would you believe it, 
 Nelly, we cut up our nice little garden to make a school to train her 
 horse in ? "
 
 A PLEASANT DINNER. 301 
 
 "Whether it was that some secret intelligence was rapidly convoyed 
 from Julia as she spoke to Nelly, or that the latter of herself caught 
 up the quizzing spirit of her attack, hut the two girls burst out 
 laughing, and George blushed deeply, in shame and irritation. 
 
 " First of all," said he, stammesing with confusion, " she had a 
 little Arab, the wickedest animal I ever saw. It wasn't safe to 
 ai^proach him; he struck out with his forelegs " 
 
 " Come, Nelly," said Julia, rising, " we'll go into the drawing- 
 room, and leave George to explain how he tamed the Arab and 
 captivated the Arab's mistress, for your brother might like to learn 
 the secret. You'll join us, gentlemen, when you wish for coffee." 
 
 " That was scarcely fair, Julia dear," said Nelly, when they were 
 alone. " Your banter is sometimes too sharp for him." 
 
 " I can't help it, dearest — it is a part of my nature. When I 
 was a child, they could not take me to a wild-beast show, for I would 
 insist on poking straws at the tiger — not that poor dear George has 
 much * tiger ' in him. But do you know, Nelly," said she, in a 
 graver tone, " that when people are very poor, when their daily 
 lives are beset by the small accidents of narrow fortune, there is a 
 great philosophy in a little banter ? You brush away many an 
 annoyance by seeming to feel it matter for drollery, which, if taken 
 seriously, might have made you fretful and peevish." 
 
 " I never suspected there was method in your madness, Ju," 
 said Nelly, smiling. 
 
 " Nor was there, dearest ; the explanation was almost an after- 
 thought. But come now and tell me about yourselves." 
 
 " There is really little to tell. Augustus never speaks to me now 
 of business matters. I think I can see that he is not fully satisfied 
 with himself ; but, rather than show weakness or hesitation, he is 
 determined to go on as he began." 
 
 " And you are really going to this dreary place ? " 
 
 " He says so." 
 
 " Would any good come, I wonder, of bringing your brother and 
 Pracontal together '? They arc both men of high and generous 
 feelings. Each seems to think that there ought to be some other 
 settlement than a recourse to lawyers. Do you think he would 
 refuse to meet Pracontal?" 
 
 " That is a mere chance. There are days ho would not listen to 
 such a proposal, and there are times he would accept it heartily ; but 
 the suggestion must not come from me. With all his love for me, 
 he rather thinks that I secretly disapprove of what he has done, and 
 would reverse it if I knew how." 
 
 " What if I were to hint at it ? He already said he wished to
 
 302 THE BRAMLEIGHS OP BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 see him. This might bo mere curiosity, however. What if I were 
 to say, ' Why not meet Pracontal ? Why not see what mauuer of 
 man he is ? There is nothing more true than the saying that half 
 the dislikes people conceive against each other would give way if they 
 would condescend to become acquainted.' " 
 
 " As I have just said, it is a mere chance whether he would 
 consent, and. then " 
 
 ** Oh, I know ! It would be also a chance what might come 
 of it." 
 
 Just as she said this, the young men entered the room, with 
 smiling faces, and apparently in high goodhumour. 
 
 " Do you know the plan we've just struck out?" cried Bram- 
 leigh. " George is to come and live at Cattaro. I'm to make him 
 consular chaplain." 
 
 " But is there such an appointment ? " asked Julia, eagerly. 
 
 " Heaven knows ; but if there is not, there ought to be." 
 
 " And the salary, Mr. Bramleigh. Who pays it ? What is it ? " 
 
 " There again I am at fault ; but her Majesty could never intend 
 we should live like heathens," said Augustus, " and we shall arrange 
 it somehow." 
 
 " Oh, if it were not for ' somehow,' " said Julia, " we poor people 
 ■would be worse off in life than we are ; but there are so many what 
 the watchmakers call escapements in existence, the machinery 
 manages to survive scores of accidents." 
 
 *' At all events we shall be all together," said Augustus, " and 
 we shall show a stouter front to fortune than if we were to confront 
 her singly." 
 
 " I think it a delightful plan," said Julia. " What says 
 Nelly ? " . _ _ 
 
 "I think," said Nelly, gravely, "that it is more than kind in 
 you to follow us into our banishment." 
 
 " Then let us set off at once," said Augustus, " for I own to you 
 I wish to be out of men's sight, out of ear-shot of their comments, 
 while this suit is going on. It is the publicity that I dread fiir more 
 than even the issue. Once that we reach this wild barbarism we 
 are going to, you will see I will bear myself with better spirits -and 
 better temper." 
 
 " And will you not see M. Pracontal before you go ? " asked 
 Julia. 
 
 " Not if I can avoid it ; unless, indeed, you all think I ought." 
 
 Julia looked at Nelly, and then at her brother. She looked as 
 if she wanted them to say something — anything ; but neither spoke, 
 and then, with a courage that never failed her, she said —
 
 A PLEASANT DINNER. 303 
 
 " Of course we think that a meeting hctween two people who 
 have no personal reasons for dislike, hut have a great question to be 
 decided in fiivour of one of them, cannot hut he useful. If it will 
 not lead to a friendship, it may at least disarm a prejudice." 
 
 " I wish I had you for my counsel, Julia," said Bramleigh, 
 smiling. "Is it yet too late to send you a brief? " 
 
 " Perhaps I am engaged for the other side." 
 
 "At all events," said he, more seriously, " if it be a blunder to 
 meet the man, it cannot much matter. The question between us 
 must be decided elsewhere, and we need not add the prejudices of 
 ignorance to the rancour of self-interest. I'll see him." 
 
 " That's right ; I'm sure that's right," said L'Estrange. " I'll 
 despatch a note to Lady Augusta, who is eager for your answer." 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 A STROLL AND A GOSSIP. 
 
 As well to have a long talk together as to enjoy the glorious beauty 
 and freshness of the Campagua, the two j'oung men set out the next 
 morning for a walk to Home. It was one of those still cold days of 
 winter, with a deep blue sky above, and an atmosphere clear as 
 crystal as they stai'ted. 
 
 There was not in the fortunes of either of them much to cheer 
 the spirits or encourage hope, and yet they felt — they knew not why 
 — a sense of buoyancy and light-heartedness they had not known for 
 many a day back. 
 
 " How is it, George," asked Augustus, " can you explain it, 
 that when the world went well with me, when I could stroll out into 
 my own woods, and v,'alk for hours over my own broad acres, I never 
 felt so cheeiy as I do to-day ? " 
 
 " It was the same spirit made you yesterday declare you enjoyed 
 our humble dinner with a heartier zest than those grand banquets 
 that were daily served up at Castello." 
 
 " Just so. But that does not solve the riddle for mc. I want to 
 know the why of all this. It is no high sustaining consciousness of 
 doing the right thing ; no grand sense of self- approval : for, in the 
 first place, I never had a doubt that we were not the rightful owners 
 of the estate, nor am I now supported by the idea that I am certainly 
 and indubitably on the right road, because nearly all my friends think 
 the very reverse." L'Estrange made no answer. Bramleigh went
 
 304 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 on : *' You yourself are so minded, George. Out with it, man ; say 
 at once you think me wrong." 
 
 " I have too little faith in my own judgment to go that far." 
 
 " Well, will you say that you would have acted differently your- 
 self ? Come, I think you can answer that question." 
 
 " No, I cannot." 
 
 " You can't say whether you would have done as I have, or some- 
 thiag quite different ? " 
 
 "No; there is only one thing I know I should have done — I'd 
 have consulted Julia." 
 
 If Bramleigh laughed at this avowal the other joined him, and for 
 a while nothing was said on either side. At last Bramleigh said, 
 " I, too, have a confession to make. I thought that if I were to 
 resist this man's claim by the power of superior wealth I should be 
 acting as dishonourably as though I had fought an unarmed man 
 with a revolver. I told Sedley my scruples, but though he treated 
 tliem with little deference, there they were, and I could not dismiss 
 them. It was this weakness — Sedley would give it no other name 
 than weakness — of mine that made him incline to settle the matter 
 by a compromise. For a while I yielded to the notion ; I'm afraid 
 that I yielded even too far — at least Cutbill opines that one of my 
 letters actually gives a distinct consent, but I don't think so. I 
 know that my meaning was to say to my lawyer, ' This man's claim 
 may push me to publicity and much unpleasantness, without any 
 benefit to him. He may make me a nine-days' wonder in the news- 
 papers and a town talk, and never reap the least advantage from it. 
 To avoid such exposure I would pay, and pay handsomely ; but if 
 you really opined that I was merely stifling a just demand, such a 
 compromise would only bnng me lasting misery.' Perhaps I could 
 not exactly define what I meant ; perhaps I expressed myself imper- 
 fectly and ill ; but Sedley always replied to me by something that 
 seemed to refute my reasonings. At the same time Lord Culdufl' 
 and Temple treated my scruples with an open contempt. I grew 
 irritable, and possibly less reasonable, and I wrote long letters to 
 Sedley to justify myself and sustain the position I had taken. Of 
 these, indeed of none of my letters, have I copies ; and I am told 
 now that they contain admissions which will show that I yielded to 
 the plan of a compromise. Knowing, however, what I felt — what I 
 still feel on the matter — I will not believe this. At all events the 
 world shall sec now that I leave the law to take its course. If 
 Pracontal can establish his right, let him take what he owns. I only 
 bargain for one thing, which is, not to be expelled ignominiously 
 from the house in which I was never the rightful owner. It is tho
 
 A STROLL AND A (lOSSIP. 335 
 
 act of abdication, George — the moment of dethroucmeut, that I could 
 not face. It is an avowal of great weakness, I know ; but I strugglo 
 against it in vain. Every morning when I awoke the same thought 
 met me, am I a mere pretender here '? and by some horrible per- 
 versity, which I cannot explain, the place, the house, the grounds, 
 the gardens, the shrubberies, the deer-park, grew inexpressibly more 
 dear to me than ever I had felt them. There was not an old ash on 
 the lawn thut I did not love ; the shady walks through which I had 
 often passed without a thought upon them grew now to have a hold 
 upon and attraction for me that I cannot describe. What shall I bo 
 without these dear familiar spots ; what will become of me when I 
 shall no longer have these deep glades, these silent woods, to wander 
 in ? This became at last so strong upon mc that I felt there was but 
 one course to take — I must leave the place at once, and never return 
 to it till I knew that it was my own beyond dispute. I coald do that 
 now, while the issue was still undetermined, which would have broken 
 my heart if driven to do on compulsion. Of course this was a matter 
 between me and my own conscience ; I had not courage to speak of 
 it to a lawyer, nor did I. Sedlcy, however, was vexed that I should 
 take any steps without consulting him. He wrote mc a letter — 
 almost an angry letter — and he threatened — for it really amounted 
 to a threat, to say that, to a client so decidedly bent on guiding his 
 own case, he certainly felt his services could scarcely be advan- 
 tageously contributed. I rejoined, perhaps not without irritation ; 
 and I am now expecting by each post either his submission to 
 my views, or to hear that he has thrown up the direction of 
 my cause." 
 
 " And he was your father's adviser for years I " said L'Estrango, 
 with a tone almost despondent. 
 
 " But for which he never would havo assumed the tone of 
 dictation he has used towards mc. Lord Culdutf, I remember, said, 
 ' The first duty of a man on coming to his property is to change his 
 agent, and his next to get rid of the old servants.' I do not like 
 the theory, George ; but from a certain point of view it is not with- 
 out reason." 
 
 " I suspect that neither you nor I wnat to look at life from that 
 point of view," said L'Estrauge, with some emotion. 
 
 " Not till we can't help it, I'm sure ; but these crafty men of the 
 world say that we all arrive at their niodiis o/icidndi in the cud ; that 
 however generously, however trustfully and romantically, wc start oa 
 the morning of life, before evening wo come to see that in this gamo 
 we call the world it is only the clever player that escapes ruin." 
 
 "I don't — that is, I won't believe that." 
 
 20
 
 306 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Quite riglit, George. The theory would tell terribly against 
 fellows like us ; for, let us do our very best, we must be bunglers at 
 the game. What a clever pair of hacks are those yonder ! that grey 
 the lady is on has very showy action." 
 
 "Look at the liver chestnut the groom is riding, — -there's the 
 horse for my money, — so long and so low, — a regular turnspit, and 
 equal to any weight. I declare, that's Lady Augusta, and that's 
 Pracontal with her. See how the Frenchman charges the ox-fences ; 
 he'll come to grief if he rides at speed against timber." 
 
 The party on horseback passed in a Jittle dip of the ground near 
 them at a smart canter, and soon were out of sight again. 
 
 " Vrhat a strange intimacy for her, is it not? " 
 
 " Julia says, the dash of indiscretion in it was the temptation she 
 couldn't resist, and I suspect she's I'ight. She said to me herself one 
 day, ' I love skating, but I never care for it except the ice is so thin 
 that I hear it giving way on every side as I go.' " 
 
 " She gave you her whole character in that one trait. The 
 pleasure that wasn't linked to a peril had no charm for her. She 
 ought, however, to see that the world will regard this intimacy as a 
 breach of decency." 
 
 " So she does ; she's dying to be attacked about it ; at least, so 
 Julia says." 
 
 " The man too, if he be an artful fellow, will learn many family 
 details about us, that may disserve us. If it went no further than to 
 know in what spirit we treat his claim, — whether we attach importance 
 to his pretensions or not, — these are all things he need not, should 
 not be informed upon." 
 
 " Cutbill, who somehow hears everything, told us t'other morning, 
 that Pracontal is 'posted up,' — that was his phrase — as to the temper 
 and nature of every member of your family, and knows to a nicety how 
 to deal with each." 
 
 " Then I don't see why we should meet." 
 
 " Julia says it is precisely for that veiy reason ; people are 
 alwa-ys disparaged by these biographical notices, their caprices are 
 assumed to be tastes, and their mere humours are taken for traits 
 of character ; and she declares that it will be a good service to the 
 trutli that bringing you together. Don't take my version, however, 
 of her reasons, but ask her to give them to you herself." 
 
 "Isn't that the wall of the City? I declare we are quite close 
 to Rome already. Now then, first to leave my name for Lady 
 Augusta — not sorry to know I shall not find her at home, for I never 
 understood her, George. I never do understand certain peoi^le, 
 whether their levity means that it is the real nature, or simply a
 
 A STROLL AND A GOSSlP. oVi7 
 
 humour put on to got rid of you ; as though to say, rather than let 
 you impose any solemnity upon mc, or talk seriously, I'll have a game 
 at shuttlecock ! " 
 
 "She always puzzled me," said L'Estraugo, "but that wasn't 
 hard to do." 
 
 " I suspect, George, that neither you nor I know much about 
 women." 
 
 " For nuj part, I know nothing at all about them." 
 " And I not much." 
 
 After this frank confession on either side, they walked along, each 
 seemingly deep in his own thought, and said little till they reached 
 the City. Leaving them, then, on their way to Lady Augusta's house, 
 where I3ramlcigh desired to drop his card, we turn for a moment to 
 the little villa at Albano, in front of which a smart groom was leading 
 a lady's horse, while in the distance a solitary rider was slowly walk- 
 ing his horse, and frequently turning his looks towards the gate of 
 the villa. 
 
 The explanation of all this was, that Lady Augusta had taken 
 the opportunity of being near the L'Estranges to pay a visit to the 
 Bramleighs, leaving Pracontal to wait for her till she came out. 
 
 " This visit is for you, Nelly," said Julia, as she road the card ; 
 " and I'll make my escape." 
 
 She had but time to get out of the room when Lady Augusta 
 entered. 
 
 " My dear child," said she, rushing into Nelly's arras, and kissing 
 her with rapturous aifection. " My dear child, what a happiness to 
 Bee you again, and how well you are looking ; you're handsomer, I 
 declare, than Marion. Yes, darling, — don't blush ; it's perfectly true. 
 "Where's Augustus ? has he come with you ? " 
 
 " He has gone in to Rome to see you," said Nelly, whose face was 
 still crimson, and who felt flurried and agitated by the flighty impetu- 
 osity of the other. 
 
 " I hope it was to say that you are both coming to me ? Yes, 
 dearest, I'll take no excuse. It would be a town-talk if you stopped 
 anywhere else ; and I have such a nice little villa — a mere baby- 
 house ; but quite large enough to hold you ; and my brother-in-law 
 will take Augustus about, and show him Rome, and I shall have you 
 all to myself. We have much to talk of, haven't we ? " 
 Kelly munnured an assent, and the other continued : 
 " It's all so suddcu, and so dreadful, — one doesn't realize it ; at 
 least, I don't. And it usually takes me an hour or two of a morning 
 to convince me that we are all ruined ; and then I sot to work think- 
 ing how I'm to live on — I forgot exactly what — how much is it,
 
 308 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 darling ? Shall I be able to keep my dear horses ? I'd rather die 
 tliau part with Ben Azir ; one of the Sultan's own breeding ; an Arab 
 of blue blood, Nelly, — think of that ! I've refused fabulous sums for 
 him ; but he is such a love, and follows me everywhere, and rears up 
 when I scold him, — and all to be swept away as if it was a dream. 
 AVhat do you mean to do, dearest ? Marry, of course. I know that, 
 — but in the meanwhile ? " 
 
 " We are going to Cattaro. Augustus has been named consul 
 there." 
 
 " Darling child, you don't know what you are saying. Isn't a consul 
 a horrid creature that lives in a seaport, and worries merchant seamen, 
 and imprisons people who have no passports ? " 
 
 "I declare I haven't a notion of his duties," said Nelly, laughing. 
 
 " Oh, I know them perfectly. Papa always wrote to the consul 
 about getting heavy baggage through the custom-house; and when 
 our servants quarrelled with the porters, or the hotel people, it was 
 the consul sent some of them to jail ; but you are aware, darling, 
 he isn't a creature one knows. They are simply impossible, dear, 
 impossible." And as she spoke she lay back in her chair, and 
 fanned herself as though actually overcome by the violence of her 
 emotion. 
 
 "I must hope Augustus will not be impossible ; " and Nelly said 
 this with a dry mixture of humour and vexation. 
 
 " He can't help it, dearest. It will be from no fault of his own. 
 Let a man be what he may, once he derogates there's an end of him. 
 It sounds beautifully, I know, to say that he will remain gentleman 
 and man of station through all the accidents of life ; so he might, 
 darling, so long as he did nothing — absolutely nothing. The moment, 
 however, he touches an " eraploi " it's all over; from that hour he 
 becomes the custom's creature, or the consul, or the factor, or what- 
 ever it be irrevocably. Do you know that is the only way to keep men 
 of family out of small official life ? We should see them keeping light- 
 houses if it were not for the obloquy." 
 
 " And it would be still better than dependence." 
 
 " Yes, dearest, in a novel — in a three-volume thing fi'om Mudie 
 — so it would ; but real life is not half so accommodating. I'll talk to 
 Gusty about this myself. And now, do tell me about yourself. Is 
 there no engagement ? no fatal attachment that all this change of 
 fortune has blighted ? Who is he, dearest ? tell me all ! You don't 
 know what a wonderful creature I am for expedients. There never 
 was the like of me for resources. I could always pull any one through 
 a difficulty but myself." 
 
 " I am Borry I have no web to offer you for disentanglement."
 
 A STROLL AND A GOSSIP. 309 
 
 " So then he has behaved well ; he has not deserted you iu your 
 change of fortune ? " 
 
 " There is really no one in the case," said Nelly, laughing. 
 " No one to be either faithful or unworthy." 
 
 " "Worse again, dearest. There is nothing so good at your age 
 ns an unhappy attachment. A girl without a grievance always 
 mopes ; and," added she, with a marked acuteness of look, 
 " moping ages one quicker than downright grief. The eyes get a 
 heavy expression, and the mouth drags at the corners, and the chin — 
 isn't it funny, now, such a stolid feature as the chin should take on 
 to worry us ? — but the chin widens and becomes square, like those 
 Egyptian horrors in the Museum." 
 
 " I must look to that," said Nelly, gravely. " I'd be shocked 
 to find my chin betraying me." 
 
 " And men are such wretches. There is no amount of fretting 
 they don't exact from us; but if we show any signs of it after- 
 wards, — any hard lines about the eyes, or any patchiness of colour 
 in the cheek, — they cry out, 'Isn't she gone oft'?' That's their 
 phrase. ' Isn't she gone off '? ' " 
 
 " How well you understand ; how well you read them ! " 
 
 " I should think I do ; but after all, dearest, they have very few 
 devices : if it wasn't that they can get away, run oft' to the clubs and 
 their other haunts, they would have no chance with us. See how 
 they fare iu country-houses, for instance. How many escape tliere ! 
 "What a nice stufi" your dress is made of! " 
 
 " It was very cheap." 
 
 " No matter ; it's English. That's the great thing here. Any 
 one can buy a ' gros.' What one really wants is a nameless texture 
 and a neutral tint. You must positively walk with me on the 
 Pincian in that dress. Eoman men remark everything. You'll not 
 be ten minutes on the promenade till every cue will know whether 
 you wear two buttons on your gloves or three." 
 
 " How odious ! " 
 
 " How delightful ! "Why, my dear child, for whom do we 
 dress ? Not for each other : no more than the artists of a theatre 
 act or sing for the rest of the company. Our audience is before us ; 
 not always a very enlightened or cultivated one, but always critical. 
 There, do look at that stupid groom ; see how lie suft'ers my horse 
 to lag behind : the certain way to have him kicked by the other ; 
 and I should die, I mean really die if anything happened to Ben 
 Azir. By the way how well our parson rides. I declare I like him 
 better in the saddle than in the pulpit. They rave here about the 
 way he jumps the ox-fences. You must say ' taut des choses ' for
 
 310 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 me, to him and his sister, whom I fear I have treated shamofull^y. 
 I was to have had her to dinner one day, and I forgot all about it; 
 but she didn't miud, and wrote me the prettiest note in the world. 
 But I always say, it is so easy for peojjle of small means to be good- 
 tempered. They have no jealousies about going here or there ; no 
 heart-bumiugs that such a one's lace is Brussels point, and much 
 finer than their own. Don't you agree with me ? There, I knew 
 it would come to that. He's got the snaffle out of Ben Azir's 
 mouth, and he's sure to break away." 
 
 " That gentleman apparently has come to the rescue. See, he 
 has dismounted to set all to rights." 
 
 " How polite of him. Do you know him, dear ? " 
 
 "No. I may have seen him before. I'm so terribly short- 
 sighted, and this glass does not suit me ; but I must be going. I 
 suppose I had better thank that strange man, hadn't I ? Oh, of 
 course, dearest, you would be too bashful ; but I'm not. My old 
 governness, Madame de Forgeon, used to say that English people 
 never knew how to be bashful ; they only looked culpable. And I 
 protest she was right." 
 
 " The gentleman is evidently waiting for your gratitude ; he is 
 standing there still." 
 
 " What an observant puss it is," said Lady Augusta, kissing' 
 her. " Tell Gusty to come and see me. Settle some day to come 
 in and dine, and bring the parson : he's a great favourite of mine. 
 AVhere have I dropped my gauntlet ? Oh, here it is. Pretty whip, 
 isn't it ? A present, a sort of a love-gift from an old llussian 
 prince, who wanted me to marry him : and I said I was afraid ; that 
 I heard Kussians knouted their wives. And so he assured me I 
 should have the only whip he ever used, and sent me this. It was- 
 neat, or rather, as Dumas says, ' La plaisanterie u'etait pas mal 
 pour un Cossaque.' Good-by, dearest, good-by." 
 
 So actually exhausted was poor Nelly by the rattling impe- 
 tuosity of Lady Augusta's manner, her sudden transitions, and 
 abrupt questionings, that, when Julia entered the room, and saw 
 her lying back in a chair, wearied looking and pale, she asked — 
 
 " Are you ill, dear ? " 
 
 " No; but I am actually tired. Lady Augusta has been an 
 hour here, and she has talked till my head turned." 
 
 " I feel for you sincerely. She gave me one of the worst head- 
 aches I ever had, and then made my illness a reason for staying all 
 the evening here to bathe my temples." 
 
 " Tliat was good-natured, however." 
 
 " So I'd have thought, too, but that she made George attend
 
 A STROLL AND A GOSSIP. 3ll 
 
 lier with the ice and the Oixu-de-colognc, and thus maintained a 
 little ambulant flirtation with him, that, sick as I was, almost drove 
 me mad." 
 
 " She means nothing, I am certain, by all these levities, or, 
 rather, she does not care what they mean; but hero come our 
 brothers, and I am eager for news, if they have any." 
 
 " Where's George ? " asked Julia, as Augustus entered alone. 
 
 " Sir Marcus something caught him at the gate, and asked to 
 have five minutes with him." 
 
 " That means putting otf dinner for an hour at least," said she, 
 half pettishly. " I must go and warn the cook." 
 
 CHAPTER XLYII. 
 
 A 1' II O P O S A L IN F O Pv M. 
 
 "When Sir Marcus Cluff was introduced into L'Estrange's study, his 
 first care was to divest himself of his various " wraps," a process not 
 very unlike that of the Hainlet gravedigger. At length, he arrived 
 at a suit of entire chamois-leather, in which he stood forth like an 
 enormous frog, and sorely pushed the parson's gravity in consequence. 
 
 " This is what Hazeldean calls the ' chest- suHerer's true cuticle.' 
 Nothing like leather, my dear sir, in pulmonic affections. If I'd 
 have known it earlier in life, I'd have saved half of my left lung, 
 which is now hopelessly hepatized." 
 
 L'Estrange looked compassionate, though not very well knowing 
 what it was he had pity for. 
 
 " Not," added the invalid hastily, " that even this constitutes a 
 grave constitutional defect. Davies says, in his second volume, that 
 among the robust men of England you would not find one in twenty 
 without some lungular derangement. He percussed me all over, and 
 was some time before he found out the blot." The air of triumph 
 in which this was said showed L'Estrange that he too might afford 
 to look joyful. 
 
 " So that, witli this reservation, sir, I do consider I have a right 
 to regard myself, as Boreas pronounced me, sound as a roach." 
 
 " I sincerely hope so." 
 
 "You see, sir, I mean to be frank with you. I descend to no 
 concealments." 
 
 It was not very easy for L'Estrange to understand this speech, 
 or divine what especial necessity there was for his own satisfactioa 
 as to the condition of Sir Marcus ClulTs viscera ; he, however,
 
 812 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 assented in general terms to the high esteem he felt for candour and 
 ojieuness. 
 
 " No, my dear Mr. L'Estrange," resumed he, " without this firm 
 conviction — a sentiment based on faith and the stethoscope together 
 — you had not seen me here this day." 
 
 " The weather is certainly trying," said L'Estrange. 
 
 "I do not allude to the weather, sir; the weather is, for the 
 season, remarkably fine weather ; there was a mean temperature of 
 68° Fahrenheit during the last twenty-four hours. I spoke of my 
 pulmonary condition, because I am aware people are in the habit of call- 
 ing me consumptive. It is the indiscriminating way iguorance treats 
 a very complex question ; and when I assured you that without an 
 honest conviction that organic mischief had not proceeded far, I really 
 meant what I said when I told you you would not have seen me here 
 this day." 
 
 Again was the parson mystified, but he only bowed. 
 
 "Ah, sir," sighed the other, " why will not people be always 
 candid and sincere ? And when shall we arrive at the practice of 
 what will compel — actually compel sincerity ? I tell you, fin- instance, 
 I have an estate worth so much — house property here, and shares in 
 this or that company- — but there are mortgages, I don't say how much 
 against me ; I have no need to say it. You drive down to the 
 llegistration Office and you learn to a shilling to what extent I am 
 liable. Why not hare the same system for physical condition, sir? 
 Why can't you call on the College of Physicians, or whatever the body 
 be, and say, ' How is Sir Marcus Clufl"'? I'd like to know about that 
 riglit auricle of his heart. What about his pancreas ? ' Don't you 
 perceive the inestimable advantage of what I advise '? " 
 
 " I protest, sir, I scarcely follow you. I do not exactly see 
 how I have the right, or to what extent I am interested, to make 
 this iuquiry." 
 
 " Ycu amaze — you actually amaze me ! " and Sir Marcus sat 
 for some seconds contemplating the object of his astonishment. " I 
 come here, sir, to make an ofi'er for your sister's hand " 
 
 " Pardon my interrupting, but I learn this intention only now." 
 
 " Then you didn't read my note. You didn't read the ' turn 
 over.' " 
 
 "I'm afraid not. I only saw what referi'cd to the church." 
 
 " Then, sir, you missed the most important ; had you taken the 
 trouble to turn the page, you would have seen that I ask your per- 
 mission to pay my formal attentions to Miss L'Estrange. It was 
 with intention I first discussed and dismissed a matter of business ; 
 I then proceeded to a question of sentiment, premising that I held
 
 A PROPOSAL IN FORM. 313 
 
 myself bound to satisfy you regarding my property, and my pulmo- 
 nary condition. Mind, body, and estati', sir, are not coupled together 
 ignorantly, nor iuharmoniously ; as you know far better than me, — 
 mind, body, and estate," repeated he slowly. " I am here to satisfy 
 you on each of them." 
 
 " Don't you think, Sir Marcus, that there are questions which 
 should possibly precede these ? " 
 
 "Do you mean I\Iiss L'Estrange's sentiments, sir ? " George 
 bowed, and Sir Marcus continued : "I am \ain enough to suppose I 
 can-make out a good case for myself. I look more, but I'm only 
 forty-eight, forty-eight on the twelfth September. I have twenty- 
 seven thousand pounds in bank stock — stock, mind you, — and three 
 thousand four hundred a year in land, Norfolk property. I have a 
 share — we'll not speak of it now — in a city house ; and what's better 
 than all, sir, not sixpence of debt in the world. I am aware your 
 sister can have no fortune, but I cau aflbrd myself, what the French 
 call a caprice, though this ain't a caprice, for I have thought well 
 over the matter, and I see she would suit me perfectly. She has 
 nice gentle ways, she can be soothing without depression, and calm 
 without discouragement. Ah, that is the secret of secrets ! She gave 
 me my drops last evening with a tenderness, a graceful sympathy, that 
 went to my heart. I want that, sir — I need it, I yearn for it. 
 Simpson said to me years ago, ' Marry, Sir Marcus, man-y ! yours 
 is a temperament that requires study and intelligent care. A really 
 clever woman gets to know a pulse to perfection ; they have a finer 
 sensibility, a higher organization, too, in the touch.' Simpson laid 
 great stress on that ; but I have looked out in vain, sir. I emj^loyed 
 agents : I sent people abroad ; I advertised in The Times — M. C. 
 was in the second column — for above two years ; and with a corre- 
 spondence that took two clerks to read through and minute. All to 
 no end ! All in vain ! They tell me that the really competent people 
 never do reply to an advertisement ; that one must look out for them 
 oneself, make private personal inquiry. Well, sir, I did that, and I 
 got into some unpleasant scrapes with it, and two actions for breach 
 of promise ; two thousand pounds the last cost me, though I got my 
 verdict, sir ; the Chief Baron very needlessly recommending me, for 
 the future, to be cautious in forming the acquaintance of ladies, and 
 to avoid widows as a general rule. These are the pleasantries of the 
 Bench, and doubtless they amuse the junior bar. I declare to you, 
 sir, in all seriousness, I'd rather that a man should give me a fillip 
 on the nose than take the liberty of a joke with me. It is the one 
 insufl'erable thing in life." This sally had so far excited him that it 
 was some minutes ere he recovered his self-possession. " Now, Mr.
 
 \ 
 
 314 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 L'Estrange," said he, at last, "I Lind you iu no degree — I pledge 
 you to nothing ; I simply ask leave to address myself to your sister. 
 It is what lawyers call a ' motion to show cause why.' " 
 
 " I perceive that," broke in L'Estrange ; "but even that much 
 I ought not to concede without consulting my sister and obtaining her 
 consent. You will allow me therefore time." 
 
 " Time, sir! My nerves must not be agitated. There can be 
 no delays. It was not without a great demand on my courage, and a 
 strong dose of chlorodine — Japps's preparation — that I made this 
 effort now. Don't imagine I can sustain it much longer. No, sir, 
 I cannot give time." 
 
 "After all, Sir Marcus, you can scarcely suppose that my sister 
 is prepared for such a proposition." 
 
 " Sir, they are always prepared for it. It never takes them 
 unawares. I have made them my study for years, and I do think I 
 have some knowledge of their way of thinking and acting. I'll lay 
 my life on it, if you will go and say, ' Maria ' " 
 
 " l\Iy sister's name is Julia," said the other, dryly. 
 
 " It may be, sir — I said 'Maria' generically, and I repeat it — 
 * Maria, there is in my study at this moment a gentleman, of irre- 
 proachable morals and unblemished constitution, whose fortune is 
 sufficiently ample to secure many comforts and all absolute necessaries, 
 who desires to make you his wife ; ' her first exclamation will be, ' It 
 is Sir Marcus ClutlV " 
 
 "It is not impossible," said L'Estrange, gravely. 
 
 " The rest, sir, is not with you, nor even with me. Do me, then, 
 the great favour to bear my message." 
 
 Although seeing the absurdity of the situation, and vaguely 
 forecasting the way Julia might possibly hear the proposition, 
 L'Estrange was always so much disposed to yield to the earnestness 
 of any one who persisted in a demand, that he bowed and left the 
 room. 
 
 " Well, George, he has proposed ? " cried Julia, as her brother 
 entered the room, where she sat with Nelly Bramleigh. 
 
 He nodded only, and the two girls burst out into a merry laugh. 
 
 " Come, come, Julia," said he, reprovingly. " Absurd as it may 
 seem, the man is in earnest, and must be treated with consideration." 
 
 " But tell us the whole scene. Let us have it all as it 
 occurred." 
 
 " I'll do nothing of the kind. It's quite enough to say that he 
 declares he has a good fortune, and wishes to share it with you, and 
 I think the expression of that wish should secure him a certain defer- 
 ence and respect."
 
 A PROPOSAL IX FORM. 3 L5 
 
 " But who refuses, -who thinks of refusing him all the deference 
 and respect he could ask for '? Not I, certainly. Come now, like a 
 dear good boy, let us hear all he said, and what you rej^lied. I suspect 
 there never was a better bit of real-life comedy. I only wish I could 
 have had a part in it." 
 
 " Not too late yet, perhaps," said Nelly, with a dry humour. 
 " The fifth act is only beginning." 
 
 " That is precisely w^hat I am meditating. George will not tell 
 me accurately what took place in his interview, and I think I could 
 not do better than go and learn Sir Marcus' sentiments for 
 myself." 
 
 She arose and appeared about to leave the room when L'Estraago 
 sprang towards the door, and stood with his back against it. 
 
 " You're not serious, Ju ? " cried he, in amazement. 
 
 '' I should say very serious. If Sir Marcus only makes out his 
 case, as favourably as you, with all your bungling, can't help repre- 
 senting it, why — all things considered, eh, Xelly "? ijou, I know, agree 
 with me — I rather suspect the proposition might be entertained." 
 
 " Oh, this is too monstrous. It is beyond all belief," cried 
 L'E strange. 
 
 And he rushed from the room in a torrent of passion, while Julia 
 sank back in a chair, and laughed till her eyes ran over with tears of 
 merriment. 
 
 "How could you, Julia ! Oh, how could you! " said Nelly, as 
 she leaned over her and tried to look reproachful. 
 
 " If you mean, how could I help quizzing him ? I can understand 
 you ; but I could not — no, Nelly, I could not help it ! It is my 
 habit to seize on the absurd side of any emban-assment ; and you may 
 be sure there is always one if you only look for it ; and you've no 
 idea how much pleasanter — ay, and easier too — it is to laugh oneself 
 out of difficulties than to grieve over them. You'll see George, now, 
 will be spirited up, out of pure fright, to do what he ought : to tell 
 this man that his proposal is an absurdity, and that young women, 
 even as destitute of fortune as myself, do not marry as nursetenders. 
 There ! I declare that is Sir Marcus diiving away already. Only 
 think with what equanimity I can see wealth and title taking leave of 
 me. Never say after that that I have not courage."
 
 316 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 " A TELEGRAM." 
 
 " This is a very eventful day for me, George," said Augustus, as 
 tliey strolled through the garden after breakfast. " The trial was fixed 
 for the 13th, and to-day is the 14th ; I suppose the verdict will be 
 given to-day." 
 
 " But you have really no doubt of the result ? I mean, no more 
 than anxiety on so momentous a matter must suggest ? " 
 
 " Pardon me. I have grave doubts. There was such a marriage, 
 as is alleged, formed by my grandfather ; a marriage in every respect 
 legal. They may not have the same means of proving that which we 
 have ; but we know it. There was a son born to that marriage. We 
 have the letter of old Lami, asking my grandfather to come over to 
 Bruges for the christening, and we have the receipt of Hodges and 
 Smart, the jewellers, for a silver gilt ewer and cup which were 
 engraved with the Bramleigh crest and cypher, and despatched to 
 Belgium as a pi'esent ; for my grandfather did not go himself, pre- 
 texting something or other, which evidently gave offence ; for Lami's 
 next letter declares that the present has been returned, and expresses 
 a haughty indignation at my grandfather's conduct. I can vouch for 
 all this. It was a sad morning when I first saw those papers ; but I 
 did see them, George, and they exist still. That son of my grand- 
 father's they declare to have married, and his son is this Pracontal. 
 There is the whole story, and if the latter part of the narrative be only 
 as truthful as I believe the first to be, he, and not I, is the rightful 
 owner of Castello." 
 
 L'Estrange made no reply ; he was slowly going over in his mind 
 the chain of connection, and examining, link by link, how it held 
 together. 
 
 " But why," asked he at length, " was not this claim preferred 
 before ? Why did a whole generation suffer it to lie dormant ? " 
 
 " That is easil}' — too easily explained. Lami was compromised 
 in almost every country in Europe ; and his son succeeded him in 
 his love of plot and conspiracy. Letters occasionally reached my 
 father from this latter ; some of them demanding money in a tone of 
 actual menace. A coniidential clerk, who knew all my father's 
 secrets, and whom he trusted most implicitly, became one day a 
 defaulter and absconded, carrying with him a quantity of private 
 papers, some of which were letters written by my father, and con- 
 taining remittances which Montagu Lami — or Louis Langrange, or
 
 "a telegram." 317 
 
 •whatever other name lie bore — of course, never received, and 
 iudiguautly dechired he believed had never been despatched. This 
 clerk, whose name was Hesketh, made Lami's acquaintance in South 
 America, and evidently encouraged him to prefer his claim with 
 greater assurance, and led him to suppose that any terms he pre- 
 fcrreil must certainly be complied with ! But I cannot go on, 
 George ; the thought of my poor father struggling through life in 
 this dark conflict rises up before me, and now I estimate the terrible 
 alternation of hope and fear in which he must have lived, and how 
 despairingly he must have thought of a future, when this deep game 
 should bo left to such weak hands as mine. I thought they were 
 cruel words once in which he spoke of my unfitness to meet a great 
 emergency, — but now I read them very differently." 
 
 " Then do you really think he regarded this claim as rightful 
 and just ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell that ; at moments I have leaned to this impres- 
 sion ; but many things dispose me to believe that he saw or suspected 
 some flaw that invalidated the claim, but still induced him to silence 
 the pretension by hush money." 
 
 " And 3'ou yourself " 
 
 " Dou't ask mc, my dear friend ; — do not ask me the question I 
 see is ou your lips. I have no courage to confess, even to you, 
 through how many moods I pass every day I live. At moments T. 
 h(;pe and firmly believe I rise above every low and interested senti- 
 ment, and determine I will do as I would be done by ; — I will go 
 through this trial as though it were a matter apart from mo, and in 
 which truth and justice were my only objects. There are hoars in 
 which I feel equal to any sacrifice, and could say to this man : — 
 ' There ! take it ; take all we have in the world. We have no riglit 
 to be here ; wo are beggars and outcasts. And then — I can't tcU 
 how or why — it actually seems as if there was a real Tempter in 
 one's nature, lying in wait for the moment of doubt and hesitation ; 
 but suddenly, quick as a flash of lightning, a thought would d.ut 
 across my mind, and I would begin to canvass this and question 
 that ; not fairly, not honestly, mark you, but casuistically and 
 cunningly ; and worse, far worse than all this, — actually hoping, no 
 matter on which side lay the right, that ivc should come out 
 victorious." 
 
 " But have you not prejudiced your case by precipitancy ? They 
 tell me that you have given the others immense advantage by your 
 openly declared doubts as to your title." 
 
 " That is possible. I will not deny that I may hive acted 
 imprudently. The comproruise to which I at first agreed struck me,
 
 318 THE BKAMLF.IGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 ou reflection, as so ignoble and dishonourable, that I rushed just as 
 rashly into the opposite extreme. I felt, in fact, George, as though 
 I owed this man a reparation for having ever thought of stifling his 
 claim ; and I carried this sentiment so far that Sedley asked me one 
 day, in a scornful tone, what ill my family had done me I was so 
 bent on ruining them ? Oh, my dear friend, if it be a great relief 
 to me to open my heart to you, it is with shame I confess that I 
 cannot tell you truthfully how weak and unable I often feel to keep 
 straight in the path I have assigned myself. How, when some doubt 
 of this man's right shoots across me, I hail the hesitation like a 
 blessing from heaven. What I would do ; what I would endure that 
 he could not show his claim to be true, I dare not own. I have tried 
 to reverse our positions in my own mind, and imagine I was he ; but 
 I cannot pursue the thought, for whenever the dread final rises 
 before me, and I picture to myself our ruin and destitution, I can but 
 think of him as a deadly implacable enemy. This sacrifice, then, 
 that I purpose to make with a pure spirit and a high honour, is too 
 much for me. I have not courage for that I am doing ; — but I'll do 
 it still ! " 
 
 L'Estrange did his utmost to rally him out of his depression, 
 assuring him that, as the world went, few men would have attempted 
 to do what he had determined on, and frankly owning, that in talking 
 ever the matter with Julia they Avere both disposed to regard his con- 
 duct as verging on Quixotism. 
 
 " And that is exactly the best thing people will say of it. I am 
 lucky if they will even speak so favourably." 
 
 " What's this — a telegram?" cried L'Estrange, as the servant 
 handed him one of those square-shaped missives, so charged with 
 destiny that one really does not knovr whether to bless or curse the 
 invention, which, annihilating space, brings us so quickly face to face 
 with fortune. 
 
 " Read it, George ; I cannot," muttered Bramleigh, as he stood 
 against a tree for support. 
 
 " Ten o'clock. Court-house, Navan. Jury just come out — can- 
 not agree to verdict — discharged. New trial. I write post. 
 
 " Sedley." 
 
 "Thank heaven, there is at least a respite," said Bramleigh; 
 and he fell on the other's shoulder, and hid his face. 
 
 " Bear up, my poor fellow. You see that, at all events, nothing 
 has happened up to this. Here are the girls coming. Let them not 
 see you in such emotion."
 
 " A TELEGRAM.'" 319 
 
 " Come away, then ; come away. I cau't meet them now ; or do 
 you go and tell Nelly what this news is — she has seen the messenger, 
 I'm sure." 
 
 L'Estrange met Nelly and Julia in the walk, while Augustus 
 hastened away in another direction. " There has heen no verdict. 
 Sedley sends his message from the court-house this morning, and 
 says the jury cannot agree, and there will ho another trial." 
 
 " Is that had or good news ? " asked Nelly, eagerly. 
 
 " I'd say good," replied he ; " at least, when I compare it with 
 your brother's desponding tone this morning. I never saw him 
 so low." 
 
 " Oh, he is almost always so of late. The coming here and the 
 pleasure of meeting you rallied him for a moment, but I foresaw his 
 depression would return. I believe it is the uncertainty, the never- 
 ceasing terror of what next, is breaking him down ; and if the blow 
 fell at once, you would see him behave courageously and nobly." 
 
 " He ought to get away from this as soon as possible," said 
 L'Estrange. "He met several acquaintances yesterday in Rome, 
 and they teased him to come to them, and worried him to tell where 
 he was stopping. In his present humour h6 could not go into society, 
 but he is ashamed to his own heart to admit it." 
 
 " Then why don't we go at once ? " cried Julia. 
 
 " There's nothing to detain us here," said L'Estrange, snTow- 
 fully. 
 
 " Unless you mean to wait for my marriage," said Julia, 
 laughing, " though, possibly. Sir Marcus may not give me another 
 chance." 
 
 "Oh, Julia!" 
 
 " Oh, Julia ! "Well, dearest, I do say shocking things, there's 
 no doubt of it ; but when I've said them, I feel the subject off my 
 conscience, and revert to it no more." 
 
 " At all events," said L'Estrange, after a moment of thought, 
 " let us behave when we meet him as though this news was not bad. 
 I know he will try to read in our faces what we think of it, and on 
 every account it is better not to let him sink into depression." 
 
 The day passed over in that discomfort which a false position so 
 inevitably imposes. The apparent calm was a torture, and the efforts 
 at gaiety were but moments of actual pain. The sense of something 
 impending was so poignant that at every stir — the opening of a door 
 or the sound of a bell — there came over each a look of anxiety the 
 most intense and eager. All their attempts at conversation were 
 attended with a fear lest some unhappy expression, some ill-timed 
 allusion might suggest the very thought they were struggling to
 
 820 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 suppress ; and it was with a feeling of relief they parted and 
 said good-night, where, at other times, there had been only regret 
 at separating. 
 
 Day after day passed in the same forced and false tranquillity, 
 the preparations for the approaching journey being the only relief 
 to the intense anxiety that weighed like a load on each. At length, 
 on the tifth morning, there came a letter to Augustus in the well- 
 known hand of Sedley, and he hastened to his room to read it. 
 Some sharp passages there had been between them of late on the 
 subject of the compromise, and Bramleigh, in a moment of forgetful- 
 ness and anger, even went so far as to threaten that he would have 
 recourse to the law to determine whether his agent had or had not 
 overstepped the bounds of his authority, and engaged in arrange- 
 ments at total variance to all his wishes and instructions. A calm 
 but somewhat indignant reply from Sedley, however, recalled Bram- 
 leigh to reconsider his words, and even ask pardon from them, and 
 since that day their intercourse had been more cordial and frank than 
 ever. The present letter was very long, and quite plainly written, 
 with a strong sense of the nature of him it was addressed to. For 
 Sedley well knew the temper of the man — his moods of high resolve 
 and his moments of discouragement — his desire to be equal to a 
 great effort, and his terrible conciousness that his courage could not 
 be lelied on. The letter began thus : — 
 
 " My dear Sir, — 
 
 " If I cannot, as I hoped, announce a victory, I am able at 
 least to say that we have not been defeated. The case was fairly 
 and dispassionately stated, and probably an issue of like importance 
 was never discussed with less of acrimony, or less of that captious 
 and overreaching spirit which is too common in legal contests. This 
 was so remarkable as to induce the Judge to comment on it in his 
 charge, and declare that in all his experience on the bench, he had 
 never before witnessed anything so gratifying or so creditable alike 
 to plaintiff and defendant. 
 
 " Lawson led for the other side, and, I will own, made one of 
 the best openings I ever listened to, disclaiming at once any wish to 
 appeal to sympathies or excite feeling of pity for misfortunes carried 
 on through three generations of blameless suflerers ; he simply 
 directed the jury to follow him in the details of a brief and not vei"y 
 complicated story, every step of which he would confirm and establish 
 by evidence. 
 
 " The studious simplicity of his narrative was immense art, and 
 though he carefully avoided even a word that could be called high-
 
 "a telegram." 32r 
 
 flown, he mado the story of Montagu Branileigli's courtsliip of the 
 beautiful Italian girl one of the most touching episodes I ever 
 listened to. 
 
 " The marriage was, of course, the foundation of the whole 
 claim, and he arrayed all his proofs of it with great skill. The 
 recognition in your grandfather's letters, and the tone of affection iu 
 which they were written, his continual reference to her in his life, 
 left little if any doubt on the minds of the jury, even though there 
 was nothing formal or official to show that the ceremony of marriage 
 had passed ; he reminded the jury that the defence would rely greatly 
 on this fact, but the fact of a missing registry-book was neither so 
 new nor so rare in this country as to create any astonishment, and 
 when he ofiered proof that the church and the vcsti-y-room had been 
 sacked by the rebels in '98, the evidence seemed almost superfluous. 
 The birth and baptism of the child he established thoroughly ; and 
 here he stood on strong grounds, for the infant was christened at 
 Brussels by the Protestant Cliaplain of the Legation at the Hague, 
 and he produced a copy of the act of registry, stating the child to be 
 son of Montagu Bramleigh, of Cossenden Manor, and Grosvenor 
 Square, London, and of Enrichetta his wife. Indeed, as Lawson 
 declared, if these unhappy foreigners had ever even a glimmering 
 suspicion that the just rights of this poor child were to be assailed 
 and his inheritance denied him, they could not have taken more 
 careful and cautious steps to secure his succession than the simple 
 but excellent precautions they had adopted. 
 
 " The indignation of Lami at what he deemed the unfeeling and 
 heartless conduct of Montagu Bramleigh — his cold reception of the 
 news of his son's birth, and the careless tone in which he excused 
 himself from going over to the christening — rose to such a pitch that 
 he swore the boy should never bear his father's name, nor ever in 
 any way be beholden to him, and ' this rash oath it was that has 
 carried misery down to another generation, and involved in mis- 
 fortune others not more blameless nor more truly to be pitied than he 
 who now seeks redress at your hands.' This was the last sentence 
 he uttered after speaking three hours, and obtaining a slight pause 
 to recruit his strength. 
 
 " Issue of Montagu Bramleigh being proved, issue of that issue 
 was also established, and your father's letters were given in evidence 
 to show how he had treated with these claimants and given largely 
 iu money to suppress or silence their demands. Thos. Bolton, of 
 the house of Parker and Bolton, bankers, Naples, proved the receipt 
 of various sums from Montiigu Bramleigh in favour of A. B. C, for 
 BO the claimant was designate J, private contidcutial letters to Bolton 
 
 21
 
 322 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 Bhowing that these initials were used to indicate one who went under 
 man}^ aliases, and needed every precaution to escape the police. 
 Bolton proved the journal of Giacomo Lami, which he had often had 
 in his own possession. In fact, this witness damaged us more than 
 all the rest ; his station and position in life, and the mode in which 
 he behaved under examination, having great effect on the jury, and 
 affording Lawson a favourable opportunity of showing what confidence 
 was felt in the claimant's pretentions by a man of wealth and character, 
 even when the complications of political conspiracy had served to 
 exhibit him as a dangerous adventurer. 
 
 " Waller's reply was able, but not equal to his best eflbrts. It 
 is but fair to him, however, to state that he complained of our 
 instructions, and declared that your determination not to urge any- 
 thing on a point of law, nor tender opposition on grounds merely 
 technical, left him almost powerless in the case. He devoted his 
 attention almost entirely to disprove the first marriage, that of 
 Mr. B. with Enrichetta Lami ; he declared that the relative rank of 
 the parties considered, the situation in which they were placed 
 towards each other, and all the probabilities of the case duly 
 weighed, there was every reason to believe the connection was illicit. 
 This'view was greatly strengthened by Mr. B.'s subsequent conduct : 
 his refusal to go over to the christening, and the utter indifference 
 he displayed to the almost menacing tone of old Lami's letters ; and 
 when he indignantly asked the jury ' if a man were likely to treat in 
 this manner his wife and the mother of his first-born, the heir to his 
 vast fortune and estates ? ' there was a subdued murmur in the 
 court that showed how strongly this point had told. 
 
 "He argued that when a case broke down at its very outset, it 
 would be a mere trifling with the time of the court to go further 
 to disprove circumstances based on a fallacy. As to the christening 
 and the registration of baptism, what easier than for a woman to 
 declare whatever she pleased as to the paternity of her child ? It 
 was true he was written son of Montagu Bramleigh : but when we 
 once agree that there was no marriage, this declaration has no value. 
 He barely touched on the correspondence and the transmission of 
 money abroad, which he explained as the natural effort of a man 
 of high station and character to suppress the notoriety of a youthful 
 indiscretion. Political animosity had, at that period, taken a most 
 injurious turn, and scandal was ransacked to afl'ord means of attack 
 on the reputations of public men. 
 
 " I barely give you the outline of his argument, but I will send 
 you the printed account of the trial as soon as the shorthand writer 
 shall have completed it for press. Baron Jocelyn's charge Avas, I
 
 " A TELEGEAM." 323 
 
 must say, less in our favour than I had expected ; aud when he tokl 
 the jury that the expressions of attachment and atfection in Mr. ii.'s 
 letters, and the reiterated use of the phrase ' my dear, dear wife ' 
 demanded their serious consideration as to whether such words 
 wouhl have fallen from a man hampered by an illicit connection, 
 and already speculating how to be free of it ; — all this put with 
 great force and clearness, and a certain appeal to their sense of 
 humanity, did us much disservice. The length of time he dwelt on 
 this part of the case W'as so remarkable that I overheard a Q.C. say 
 he had not known till then that his lordship was retained for the 
 plaintitf. 
 
 " When he came to that part where allusion was made to the 
 fact of the claimant being a foreigner, he made an eloquent and 
 eflective appeal to the character of English justice, which elicited a 
 burst of applause in the court that took some seconds to repress ; 
 but this, I am told, was more owing to the popular sympathy with 
 the politics of old Lami, and his connection with the rebellion of "98, 
 than with any enthusiasm for his lordship's oratory. 
 
 " The jury were three hours in deliberation. I am confidentially 
 informed that we had but five with, and seven against us ; the verdict, 
 as you know, was not agreed on. We shall go to trial in spring, I 
 hope with Holmes to lead for us, for I am fully persuaded the flaw 
 lies in the history subsequent to the marriage of Mr. B., and that it 
 was a mistake to let the issue turn on the event which had already 
 enlisted the sympathies of the jury in its favour. 
 
 " In conclusion, I ought to say, that the plaintiff's friends regard 
 the result as a victory, and the National press is strong in asserting 
 that, if the Orange element had been eliminated from the jury-box, 
 there is little doubt that Count Bramleigh — as they call him — would 
 at that hour be dispensing the splendid hospitalities of a princely 
 house to his county neighbours, and the still more gratifying benefits 
 of a wide charity to the poor around him. Writing rapidly, as I do, 
 I make no pretension to anything like an accurate history of the case. 
 There are a vast variety of things to which I mean to direct your 
 attention when a more favourable moment will permit. I will only 
 now add, that your presence in England is urgently required, and that 
 your return to Castello, to resume there the style of living that alike 
 becomes the proprietor aud the place, is, in the opinion of all your 
 friends, much to be desired. 
 
 " Mr. Waller does not hesitate to say that your absence decided 
 the case against you, and was heard to declare openly that ' he for one 
 had no fancy to defend a cause for a man who voluntarily gave himself 
 up as beaten.'
 
 324 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 *' May I entreat, then, you will make it your convenience to return 
 here ? I cannot exaggerate the ill effects of your absence, nor to what 
 extent your enemies are enabled to use the circumstance to your 
 discredit. Jurors are, after all, but men, taken from the common mass 
 of those who read and talk over the public scandals of the hour, and 
 all the cautions of the Bench never yet succeeded in making men 
 forget, within the court-house, what they had for weeks before been 
 discussing outside of it. 
 
 " At all events, do not dismiss my suggestion without some thought 
 over it, or better still, without consulting some friends in whose sense 
 and intelligence you have confidence. I am, with many apologies for 
 the liberty I have thus taken, 
 
 " Most faithfully, your servant, 
 
 "T. Sedley." 
 
 When Bramleigh had read this letter carefully over, he proceeded 
 to Nelly's room, to let her hear its contents. 
 
 " It's not very cheery news," said he, " but it might be worse. 
 Shall I read it for you, or will you read it yourself? " 
 
 " Read it, Gusty ; I would rather hear it from you," said she, as 
 she sat down with her face to the window, and partially averted from 
 him as he sat. 
 
 Not a word dropped from her while he read, and though once 
 or twice he paused as if to invite a remark or a question, she 
 never spoke, nor by a look or a gesture denoted how the tidings 
 affected her. 
 
 " Well," asked he at last, " what do you say to it all ? " 
 
 "It's worse — I mean worse for us — than I had ever suspected ! 
 Surely, Gusty, you had no conception that their case had such apparent 
 strength and solidity ? " 
 
 " I have thought so for many a day," said he, gloomily. 
 
 " Thought that they, and not we " she could not go on. 
 
 "Just so, dearest," said he, drawing his chair to her side, and 
 laying his hand affectionately on her shoulder. 
 
 " And do you believe that poor papa thought so ? " said she, and 
 her eyes now swam in tears. 
 
 A scarcely perceptible nod was all his answer. 
 
 " Oh, Gusty, this is more misery than I was prepared for ! " cried 
 she, throwing herself on his shoulder. " To think that all the time 
 we were — what many called — outraging the world with display ; 
 cxhibitiu" our wealth in every ostentatious way ; to think that it was 
 not ours, that we were mere pretenders, with a mock rank, a mock 
 station."
 
 " A TKLEGRAM." 325 
 
 " My father did not go thus far, Nelly," said he, gravely. " That 
 he did not despise these pretensions I firmly believe, but that they 
 ever gave him serious reason to suppose his right could be success- 
 fully disputed, this I do not believe. His fear was, that when the 
 claim came to be resisted by one like myself, the battle would be ill 
 fought. It was in this spirit he said, * Would that Marion had been 
 a boy ! ' " 
 
 " And what will yoa do, Gusty ? " 
 
 " I'll tell you what I will not do, Nelly," said he, firmly : " I 
 will not, as this letter counsels me, go back to live where it is 
 possible I have no right to live, nor spend money to which the law 
 may to-morrow declare I have no claim. I will abide by what that 
 law shall declare, without one efi'ort to bias it in my favour. I have 
 a higher pride in submitting myself to tliis trial than ever I had in 
 being the owner of Castello. It may be that I shall not prove equal 
 to what I propose to myself. I have no over-confidence in my own 
 strength, but I like to think, that if I come well through the ordeal, 
 I shall have done what will dignity a life, humble even as mine, and 
 give me a self-respect, without which existence is valueless to me. 
 Will you stand by me, Nelly, in this struggle — I shall need you 
 much ? " 
 
 " To the last," said she, giving him both her hands, which he 
 grasped within his, and pressed afiectiouately. 
 
 " Write, then, one line from me to Sedley, to say that I entrust 
 the case entirely to his guidance ; that I will not mix myself with it 
 in any way, nor will I return to England till it be decided ; and say, 
 if you can, that you agree with me in this determination. And then, 
 if the L'Estranges are ready, let us start at once." 
 
 " They only wait for us ; Julia said so this morning." 
 
 " Then we shall set out to-morrow." 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 A LONG TETE-A-T£tE. 
 
 " Scant courtesy, I must say," exclaimed Lady Augusta, as, after 
 rapidly ruiming her eyes over a note, she flung it across the table 
 towards Pracontal. 
 
 They were seated tcte-a-lete in that small drawing-room which 
 looked out upon the garden and the grounds of the Borghesc 
 Palace.
 
 C2G ins ER.AMLEIGHS OP BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Am I to read it ? " asked he. 
 
 " Yes, if you like. It is from Augustus Bramleigh, a person you 
 feci some interest iu." 
 
 Pracoutal took up the note, and seemed to go very carefully over 
 its contents. 
 
 " So then," said he, as he finished,, "ho thinks it better not to 
 meet — not to know me." 
 
 " Which is no reason on earth for being wanting in a proper 
 attention to ine," said she, angrily. " To leave Rome without calling 
 here, without consulting my wishes, and learning my intentions for 
 the future, is a gross forgetfulness of proper respect." 
 
 " I take it, the news of the trial was too much for him. Longworth 
 said it Vi-ould, and that the comments of the press would be insupport- 
 able besides." 
 
 "But what have I to do with that, sir? Mr. Bramleigh's 
 first duty was to come here. / should have been thought of. I was 
 tiie first person this family should have remembered in their hour of 
 diiiiculty." 
 
 " There was no intentional want of respect iu it, I'll be bound," 
 cried Praeontal. " It was just a bashful man's dread of an awkward 
 moment— that English terror of what you call a ' scene '—that sent 
 him off." 
 
 " It is generous of you, sir, to become his apologist. I only 
 wonder " — here she stopped and seemed confused. 
 
 " Go on, my lady. Pray finish M-hat you began." 
 
 " No, sir. It is as well unsaid." 
 
 " But it was understood, my lady, just as well as if it had been 
 uttered. Your ladyship wondered who was to apologize for me.'" 
 
 She grew crimson as he spoke ; but a faint smile seemed to say 
 how thoroughly she relished that southern keenness that could divine 
 a half- uttered thought. 
 
 " How quick you arc," said she, without a trace of irritation. 
 
 " Say, rather, how quick he ought to be who attempts to parry 
 you at fence. And, after all," said he, in a lighter tone, " is it not 
 as well that he has spared us all an embarrassment ? I could not 
 surely liavc been able to condole with him. and how could he have 
 congratulated )iic 1 " 
 
 "Pardon, me. Count, but the matter, so far as I learn, is pre- 
 cisely as it was before. There is neither subject for condolence uor 
 gnitul'ition." 
 
 " So far as the verdict of the jury went, my lady, you are quite 
 right ; but what do you say to that larger, v.'ider verdict pronounced 
 by the press, and repeated in a thousand forms by the public?
 
 A LONG TKTE-A-TETE. 327 
 
 May I read you one passage, ouly one, from my lawyer Mr. Kelson's 
 letter ? " ^ 
 
 "Is it short? " 
 '• Very short." 
 "Ami intelligible? " 
 " Most intelligible." 
 " Read it then." 
 
 " Here it is," said he, opening a letter, and turning to the last 
 page. " ' Were I to sum up what is the popular opinion of the 
 result, I could not do it better than repeat what a City capitalist 
 said to me this morning, "I'd rather lend Count Pracontal twenty 
 thousand pounds to-day, than take Mr. Bramleigh's mortgage for 
 ten." ' " 
 
 " Let me read that. I shall comprehend his meaning better 
 than by hearing it. This means evidently," said she, after reading 
 the passage, " that your chances are better than his." 
 " Kelson tells me success is certain." 
 
 " And your cautious friend, Mr. ; I always forget that man's 
 
 name ? " 
 
 " Longworth ? " 
 
 " Yes, Longworth. What does he say ? " 
 
 " He is already in treaty with me to let him have a small farm 
 which adjoins his grounds, and which ho would like to throw into 
 his lawn." 
 
 " Seriously? " 
 
 " No, not a bit seriously ; but we pass the whole morning building 
 these sort of castles in Spain, and the grave way that he entertains 
 such projects ends by making me believe I am actually the owner of 
 Castello and all its belongings." 
 
 " Tell me some of your plans," said she, with a livelier interest 
 than she had yet shown. 
 
 " First of all, reconciliation, if that be its proper name, with all 
 that calls itself Bramleigh. I don't want to be deemed a usui-per but 
 a legitimate monarch. It is to be a restoration." 
 
 " Then you ought to marry Nelly. I declare that never struck 
 me before." 
 
 " Nor has it yet occurred to me, my lady," said he, with a faint 
 show of irritation. 
 
 " And why not, sir ? Is it that you look higher ? " 
 " I look higher," said he ; and there was a solemn intensity in 
 his air and manner as he spoke. 
 
 " I declare. Monsieur de Pracontal, it is scarcely delicate to say 
 this to me."
 
 328 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Your ladyship insists on my being candid, even at the hazard 
 of my courtesy." 
 
 "I do not complain of your candour, sir. It is your — 
 your " 
 
 " My pretension ? " 
 
 " Well, yes, pretension will do." 
 
 " Well, my lady, I will not quarrel with the phrase. I do 
 * pretend,' as we say in French. In fact, I have been little other 
 than a pretender these last few years." 
 
 " And what is it you pretend to ? May I ask the question ? " 
 
 " I do not know if I may dare to answer it," said he, slowly. . . . 
 "I will explain what I mean," added he, after a brief silence, and 
 drawing his chair somewhat nearer to where she sat. " I will 
 explain. If, in one of my imaginative gossipries with a friend, I 
 were to put forward some claim — some ambition — which would sound 
 absurd coming from me jww, but which, were I the owner of a great 
 estate, would neither be extravagant nor ridiculous, the memory of 
 that unlucky pretension would live against me ever after, and the 
 laugh that my vanity excited would ring in my ears long after I 
 had ceased to regard the sentiment as vanity at all. Do you 
 follow me ? " 
 
 " Yes, I believe I do. I would only have you remember that I 
 am not Mr. Longworth." 
 
 " A reason the more for my caution." 
 
 " Couldn't we converse without riddles, Count Pracontal ? " 
 
 " I protest I should like to do so." 
 
 " And as I make no objection " 
 
 " Then to begin. You asked me what I should do if I were to 
 gain my suit ; and my answer is, if I were not morally certain to gain 
 it, I'd never exhibit myself in the absurd position of planning a life 
 I was never to arrive at." 
 
 " You are too much a Frenchman for that." 
 
 " Precisely, madam. I am too much a Frenchman for that. 
 The exquisite sensibility to ridicule puts a very fine edge on national 
 character, though your countrymen will not admit it." 
 
 "It makes very tetchy acquaintances," said she, with a malicious 
 laugh. 
 
 " And develops charming generosity in those who forgive 
 us ! " 
 
 "I cry off. I can't keep up this game of give and take flatteries. 
 Let us come back to what we were talking of, that is, if either of us 
 can remember it. yes, I know it now. Y'^ou were going to tell 
 me the splendid establishment you'd keep at Castello. I'm sure the
 
 A LONG t£te-a-t£;tk. 329 
 
 cook will leave nothing to desire — but, how about the stable ? That 
 ' steppere ' will not exactly be in his place in an Irish county." 
 
 " Madame, you forget I was a lieutenant of hussars," 
 
 " My dear Count, that does not mean riding." 
 
 " Madame ! " 
 
 " I should now rise and say ' Monsieur ! ' and it would be very 
 good comedy after the French pattern ; but I prefer the sofa and my 
 ease, and will simply beg you to remember the contract we made the 
 other day — that each was to be at liberty to say any impertinence to 
 the other, without otfence being taken.'' 
 
 Pracontal laid his hand on his heart, and bowed low^ and 
 deep. 
 
 " There are some half a dozen people in that garden yonder, who 
 have passed and repassed — I can't tell how many times — just to 
 observe us. You'll see them again in a few minutes, and we shall 
 be town-talk to-morrow, I'm certain. There are no tete-a-tetes ever 
 permitted in Rome if a cardinal or a monsignore be not one of the 
 performers." 
 
 " Are those they ? " cried he, suddenly. 
 
 " Yes, and there's not the least occasion for that flash of the eye 
 and that hot glow of indignation on the cheek. I assure you, 
 Monsieur, there is nobody there to 'conper la gorge ' with you, or 
 share in any of those social pleasantries which make the ' Bois ' 
 famous. The curiously minded individual is a lady — a Mrs. Trurapler 
 — and her attendants are a few freshly arrived curates. There, now, 
 sit down again and look less like a wounded tiger, for all this sort 
 of thing fusses and fevers me. Yes, you may fan me, though if the 
 detectives return it will make the report more highly coloured." 
 
 Pracontal was now seated on a low stool beside her sofa, and 
 fanning her assiduously. 
 
 " Not but these people are all right," continued she. " It is 
 quite wrong in me to admit you to my intimacy — wrong to admit 
 you at all. My sister is so angry about it, she won't come here — 
 fact, I assure you. Now don't look so delighted and so triumphant, 
 and the rest of it. As your nice little phrase has it, you ' arc for 
 nothing ' in the matter at all. It is all myself, my own whim, my 
 fancy, my caprice. / saw that the step was just as unadvisable as 
 they said it was. I saw that any commonly discreet person would 
 not have even made your acquaintance, standing as I did ; but 
 unfortunately for me, like poor Eve, the only tree whose fruit I 
 covet is the one I'm told isn't good for me. There go our friends 
 once more. I wish I could tell her who you are, and not keep her 
 in this state of torturing anxiety."
 
 330 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " Might I ask, my lady," said lie, gravely, " if you have heard 
 anything to my discredit or disparagement, as a reason for the severe 
 sentence you have just spoken ? " 
 
 " No, unfortunately not, for in that case my relatives would 
 have forgiven me. They know the wonderful infatuation that attracts 
 me to damaged reputations, and as they have not yet found out any 
 considerahle flaw in yours, they are puzzled, out of all measure, to 
 know what it is I see in you." 
 
 " I am overwhelmed by your flattery, madam," said he, trying 
 to seem amused, but, in spite of himself, showing some irritation. 
 
 " Not that," resumed she, in that quiet manner which showed 
 that her mind had gone ofi" suddenly in another direction, " not 
 that I owe much deference to the Bramleighs, who, one and all, 
 have treated me with little courtesy. Marion behaved shamefully — 
 that, of course, was to be expected. To marry that odious old 
 creature for a position, implied how she would abuse the position 
 •when she got it. As I said to Gusty, when a young Oxford man 
 gives five guineas for a mount, he doesn't think he has the worth of 
 his money if he doesn't smash his collar-bone. There, put down 
 that fan, you are making me feverish. Then the absurdity of 
 playing Peeress to me ! How ashamed the poor old man was ; ho 
 reddened through all his rouge. Do you know," added she, in an 
 excited manner, " that she had the impertinence to compare her 
 marriage with mine, and say, that at least rank and title were some- 
 Avhat nobler ambitions than a mere subsistence and a settlement. 
 But I answered her. I told her, ' You have forgotten one material 
 circumstance. I did not live with your father ! ' yes ! we 
 exchanged a number of little courtesies of this kind, and I was so 
 sorry when I heai'd she had gone to Naples. I v.-as only getting 
 into stride when the race was over. As to my settlement, I have 
 not the very vaguest notion who'll pay it ; perhaps it may be yon. 
 Oh, of course, I know the unutteiable bliss, but you must really ask 
 your lawyer, how is my lien to be disposed of. Some one said to 
 me the other day that, besides the estate, you would have a claim 
 for about eighty thousand jiounds." 
 
 " It was Longworth said so." 
 
 " I don't like your friend Longworth. Is he a gentleman ? " 
 
 " Most unquestionably." 
 
 " Well, but I mean a born gentleman ? I detest and I distrust 
 your nature-made gentlemen, who, having money enough to ' get up' 
 the part, deem that quite suflicient. I want the people whoso 
 families have given guarantees for character during some generations. 
 Six o'clock! Only think, you are here three mortal hours! I
 
 A LOXG t£te-a-t£te. 331 
 
 declare, sir, this must not occur again ; and I have to dress now. 
 1 dine at the Prince Cornarini's. Do you go there ? " 
 
 " I go nowhere, my lady. I know no one." 
 
 " ^Yell, I can't present you. It would be too compromising. 
 And yet they want men like you very much here. The liomaus are 
 60 dull and stately, and the English, who frequent the best houses, 
 are so dreary. There, go away now. You want leave to como 
 to-morrow, but I'll not grant it. I must hear what Mrs. Trumpler 
 says before I admit you again." 
 
 " When then may I '? " 
 
 " I don't know ; I have not thought of it. Let it be — let it be 
 when you have gained your lawsuit," cried she, in a burst of 
 laughter, and hurried out of the room. 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 CATTARO. 
 
 Ii'- Cattaro was more picturesque and strange-looking than the 
 Bramlcighs had expected, it was also far more poverty-stricken and 
 desolate. The little town, escarped out of a lofty mountain, with 
 the sea in front, consisted of little more than one straggling street, 
 which followed every bcud and iuJeutatiou of the shore. It is true, 
 wherever a little "plateau" offered on the mountain, a house v.as 
 built ; and to these small winding paths led up, through rocks 
 bristling with the cactus, or shaded by oleanders large as olive-trees. 
 Beautiful little bits of old Venetian architecture, in balconies or 
 porticoes, peeped out here and there through the dark foliage of 
 oranges and figs ; and richly ornamented gates, whose arabesques 
 yet glistened with tarnished gilding, were festooned with many a 
 llowery creeper, and that small banksia-rose, so tasteful in its 
 luxuriance. From the sea it would be impossible to imagine any- 
 thing more beautiful or more romantic. As you lauded, however, 
 the illusion faded, and dirt, miserj', and want stared at you at every 
 step. Decay and ruin were on all sides. Palaces, whose marble 
 mouldings and architraves were in t!;e richest style of Byzantine 
 art, were propped up by rude beams of timber that obstructed 
 the footway, while from their windows and balconies hung rags and 
 tattered draperies, the signs of a poverty within great as the ruin 
 without. The streets were lined with a famished, half-clothed 
 population, sitting idly or sleeping. A few here and there affected
 
 332 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 to be vendors of fruit and vegetables, but the mass were simply 
 loungers reduced to the miserable condition of an apathy which 
 saw nothing better to be done with life than dream it away. 
 While Branileigh and L'Estrange were full of horror at the wretched- 
 ness of the place, their sisters were almost wild with delight at its 
 barbaric beauty, its grand savagery, and its brilliantly picturesque 
 character. The little inn, which probably for years had dispensed 
 no other hospitalities than those of the caf^, that extended from the 
 darkly columned portico to half across the piazza, certainly con- 
 tributed slightly to allay the grumblings of the travellers. The 
 poorly furnished rooms were ill kept and dirty, the servants lazy, 
 and tlie fare itself the very humblest imaginable. 
 
 Nothing short of tlie unfailing good temper and good spirits of 
 Julia and Nelly could have rallied the men out of their sulky discon- 
 tent ; that spii'it to make the best of everything, to catch at every 
 passing gleam of sunlight on the landscape, and even in moments of 
 discouragement to rally at the first chance of what may cheer and 
 gladden, — this is womanly, essentially womanly. It belongs not to 
 the man's nature ; and even if he should have it, he has it in a less 
 discriminative shape and in a coarser foshion. 
 
 While Augustus and L'Estrange then sat sulkily smoking their 
 cigars on the sea- wall, contemptuously turning their backs on the 
 mountain variegated with every hue of foliage, and broken in every 
 picturesque form, the girls had found out a beautiful old villa, almost 
 buried in orange-trees in a small cleft of the mountain, through 
 which a small cascade descended and fed a fountain that played in 
 the hall ; the perfect stillness, only broken by the splash of the 
 falling water, and the sense of delicious freshness imparted by the 
 crystal circles eddying across the marble fount, so delighted them 
 that they were in ecstasies when they found that the place was to be 
 let, and might be their own for a sum less than a very modest 
 " entresol " would cost in a cognate city. 
 
 " Just imagine. Gusty, he will let it to us for three hundred 
 florins a year ; and for eighteei> hundred we may buy it out and out, 
 for ever." This was Nelly's salutation as she came back full of all 
 she had seen, and glowing with enthusiasm over the splendid 
 luxuriance of the vegetation and the beauty of the view. 
 
 " It is really princely inside, although in terrible dilapidation and 
 ruin. There are over two of the fireplaces the Doge's arms, which 
 shows that a Venetian magnate once lived there." 
 
 '' What do you say, George ? " cried Bramlcigh. " Don't you 
 think you'd rather invest some hundred florins in a boat to escape 
 from this dreary hole than purchase a prison to live in ? "
 
 CATTARO. 333 
 
 " You must come and see the ' Fontanella ' — so they call it — 
 before you decide," said Julia. " Meauwhile here is a rough sketch 
 I made from tlie garden side." 
 
 "Come, that looks very i)retty, indeed," cried George. "Do 
 you mean to say it is like that ? " 
 
 " That's downright beautiful ! " said Bramleigh. " Surely these 
 are not marble — these columns ? " 
 
 " It is all marble — the terrace, the balconies, the staii-s, the door- 
 frames; and as to the floors, they are laid down in variegated slabs, 
 with a marvellous instinct as to colour and eftect. I declare I think 
 it handsomer than Castello," cried Nelly. 
 
 " Haven't I often said," exclaimed Bramleigh, " there was 
 nothing like being ruined to impart a fresh zest to existence ? You 
 seem to start anew in the race, and unweighted too." 
 
 "As George and I have always been in the condition you speak 
 of," said Julia, " this charm of novelty is lost to us." 
 
 "Let us put it to the vote," said Nelly, cagerlv. " Shall we 
 buy it?" 
 
 "First of all let us see it," interposed Bramleigh. " To-day I 
 have to make my visit to the authorities. I have to present myself 
 before the great officials, and announce that I have come to be the 
 representative of the last joint of the British lion's tail ; but that he 
 being a great beast of wonderful strength and terrific courage, to 
 touch a hair of him is temerity itself." 
 
 " And they will believe you ? " asked Julia. 
 
 " Of course they will. It would be very hard that we should not 
 survive iu the memories of people who live in lonely spots and read 
 no newspapers." 
 
 " Such a place for vegetation I never saw," cried Nelly. " There 
 are no glass windows in the hall, but through the ornamental iron- 
 work the oranges and limes pierce through and hang iu great 
 clusters ; the whole covered with the crimson acanthus and the blue 
 japonica, till the very brilliancy of colour actually dazzles you." 
 
 " We'll write a great book up there, George, — ' Cattaro under 
 the Doges : ' or shall it be a romance ? " said Bramleigh. 
 
 " I'm for a diary," said Julia, " where each of us shall contribute 
 his share of life among the wild-olives." 
 
 " Ju's right," cried Nelly ; " and as I have no gift of authorship, 
 I'll be the public." 
 
 "No, you shall bo the editor, deai'est," said Julia; "he is 
 always liUe the Speaker in the House, — the person who does the 
 least and endures the most." 
 
 " x\.ll this does not lead us to any decision," said L'Estrange.
 
 334- THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " Shall I go up there all aloue, and report to you this eveuiug what 
 I see and what I think of the place ? " 
 
 This proposal was at once acceded to ; and now they went their 
 several ways, not to meet again till a late dinner. 
 
 " How nobly and manfully your brother bears up," said Julia, as 
 she walked back to the inn with Nelly. 
 
 " And there is no display in it," said Nelly, warmly. " Now that 
 he is beyond the reach of condolence and compassion, he fears 
 nothing. And you will see that when the blow falls, as he says it 
 must, he will not wince nor shrink." 
 
 " If I had been a man, I should like to have been of that 
 mould." 
 
 " And it is exactly what you would have been, dear Julia. Gusty 
 said, only yesterday, that you had more courage than us all." 
 
 When L'Estrange returned, he came accompanied by an old man 
 in very tattered clothes, and the worst possible hat, whose linen was 
 far from spotless, as were his hands innocent of soap. He was, how- 
 ever, the owner of the villa, and a Count of the great family of 
 Kreptowicz. If his appearance was not much in his favour, his 
 manners were' those of a well-bred person, and his language that of 
 education. He was eager to part with this villa, as he desired to go 
 and live with a married daughter at liagusa ; and he protested that, 
 at the price he asked, it was not a sale, but a present ; that to any 
 other than Englishmen he never would part with a property that had 
 been six hundred years in the family, and which contained the bones 
 of his distinguished ancestors, of which, incidentally, he threw in 
 small historic details ; and, last of all, he avowed that h^; desired to 
 confide the small chapel where these precious remains were deposited 
 to the care of men of station and character. This chapel was only 
 used once a year, when a mass for the dead was celebrated, so that 
 the Count insisted no inconvenience could be incurred by the tenant. 
 Indeed, he half hinted that, if that one annual celebration were 
 objected to, his ancestors might be prayed for elsewhere, or even rest 
 satisfied with the long course of devotion to their interests which had 
 been maintained up to the present time. As for the chapel itself, he 
 described it as a gem that even Venice could not rival. There were 
 frescoes of marvellous beauty, and some carvings in wood and ivory 
 that were priceless. Some j'ears back, he had employed a great 
 artist to restore some of the paintings, and supply the place of others 
 that were beyond restoration, and now it was in a state of perfect 
 condition, as he would be proud to show them. 
 
 " You are aware that we arc heretics. Monsieur? " said Julia. 
 
 " We arc all sons of Adam, Mademoiselle," said he, with a polite
 
 CATTAKO. 335 
 
 bow ; and it was clear that he eoulcl postpone spiritual questions to 
 such time as temporal matters might be fully completed. 
 
 As the chapel was fully twenty minutes' walk from the villa, and 
 much higher on the mountain side, had it even been frequented by 
 the country people it could not have been any cause of inconvenience 
 to the occupants of the villa ; and this matter being settled, and some 
 small conditions as to surrender being agreed to, Bramleigh engaged 
 to take it for three years, with a power to purchase if he desired it. 
 
 Long after the contract was signed and completed, the old Count 
 continued, in a half-complaining tone, to dwell on the great sacrifice 
 he had made, what sums of money were to be made of the lemons and 
 oranges, how the figs were celebrated even at Ragusa, and Fontanclla 
 melons had actually brought ten krcutzers — tlnee-halfpeuce — apiece 
 in the market at Zara. 
 
 " "Who is it," cried Julia, as the old man took his leave, " who 
 said that the old mercantile spirit never died out in the great Venetian 
 families, and that the descendants of the doges, with all their pride 
 of blood and race, were dealers and traders whenever an occasion of 
 gain presented itself? " 
 
 " Our old friend there has not belied the theory," said Bramleigh ; 
 " but I am right glad that we have secured La Fontanella." 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 SOME NEWS FROM WITHOUT. 
 
 Theke is a sad significance in the fact that the happiest days of our 
 lives are those most difficulu to chronicle ; it is as though the very 
 essence of enjoyment was its uneventful nature. Thus was it that the 
 little household at the Fontanella felt their present existence. Its 
 simple pleasures, its peacefulness never palled upon them. There was 
 that amount of general similarity in tastes amongst them that secures 
 concord, and that variety of disposition and temperament which 
 promotes and sustains interest. 
 
 Jnlia was the life of all ; for though seeming to devote herself to 
 the cares of housethrift and management, and in reality carrying on 
 all the details of management, it was she who gave to their daily life 
 its colour and flavour ; she who suggested occupations and interest 
 to each ; and while Augustus was charged to devote his gun and his 
 rod to the replenishment of the larder, George was converted into a
 
 336 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 gardener ; all the decorative department of the household being con- 
 fided to Nelly, who made the bouquets for the breakfast and dinner- 
 tables, arranged the fruit in artistic fashion, and was supreme in 
 exacting dinner-dress and the due observance of all proper etiquette. 
 Julia was inflexible on this point ; for, as she said, " though people 
 laugh at deposed princes for their persistence in maintaining a certain 
 state and a certain pageantry in their exile, without these, what 
 becomes of their prestige, and what becomes of themselves ? they 
 merge into a new existence, and lose their very identity. We, too, 
 may be ' restored ' one of these days, and let it be our care not to 
 have forgotten the habits of our station." There was in this, as in 
 most she said, a semi- seriousness that made one doubt when she was 
 in earnest ; and this half-quizzing manner enabled her to carry out 
 her will and bear down opposition in many cases where a sterner logic 
 would have failed her. 
 
 Her greatest art of all, however, was to induce the others to 
 believe that the chief charm of their present existence was its isola- 
 tion. She well knew that while she herself and Nelly would never 
 complain of the loneliness of their lives, their estrangement from the 
 world and all its pursuits, its pleasures and its interests, the young 
 men would soon discover what monotony marked their days, how 
 uneventful they were, and how uniform. To convert all these into 
 merits, to make tliem believe that this immunity from the passing 
 accidents of life was the greatest of blessings, to induce them to 
 regard the peace in which they lived as the highest charm that could 
 adorn existence, and at the same time not suffer them to lapse into 
 dreamy inactivity or lethargic indifference, was a great trial of skill, 
 and it was hers to achieve it. As she said, not without a touch of 
 vain-glory, one day to Nelly, "How intensely eager I have made 
 them about small things. Your brother was up at daylight to finish 
 his rock-work for the creepers, and George felled that tree for the 
 keel of his new boat before breakfast. Think of that, Nelly ; and 
 neither of them as much as asked if the post had brought them 
 letters and newspapers. Don't laugh, dearest. When men forget 
 the post-hour, there is something wonderfully good or bad has befallen 
 them." 
 
 " But it is strange, after all, Ju, how little we have come to care 
 for the outer world. I protest I am glad to think that there are only 
 two mails a week — a thing that when wc came here, I would have 
 pronounced unendurable." 
 
 " To George and myself it matters little," said Julia, and her 
 tone had a touch of sadness in it, in spite of her attempt to smile. 
 ** It would not be easy to find two people whom the world can live
 
 SOME NEWS FROM WITHOUT. 337 
 
 ■without at so little cost. There is something in that, Nelly ; though 
 I'm not sure that it is all gaiu." 
 
 " Well, you have your recompense, Julia," said the other, 
 atVectionately, "for there is a little 'world' here could not exist 
 without you." 
 
 " Two hares, and something like a black cock, they call it a caper, 
 here," cried Augustus from beueath the window. " Come down, and 
 let us have breakfast on the terrace. By the way, I have just got a 
 letter in Cutbill's hand. It has been a fortnight in coming, but I only 
 glanced at the date of it." 
 
 As they gathered around the breakfast -table they were far more 
 eager to learn what had been done in the garden and what progress 
 was being made with the fish-pond, than to hear Mr. Cutbill's news, 
 and his letter lay open, till nigh the end of the meal, on the table 
 before any one thought of it. 
 
 " Who wants to read Cutbill ? " said Augustus, indolently. 
 
 " Not I, Gusty, if he write as he talks." 
 
 " Do you know, I thought him very pleasant? " said L'Estrange, 
 " He told me so much that I had never heard of, and made such acute 
 remarks on life and people." 
 
 "Poor dear George was so flattered by Mr. Cutbill's praise of 
 his boiled mutton, that he took quite a liking to the man ; and 
 when he declared that some poor little wine we gave him had a 
 flavour of ' muscat ' about it, like old Moselle, I really believe he might 
 have borrowed money of us if he had wanted, and if we had had any." 
 
 " I wish you would read him aloud, Julia," said Augustus. 
 
 " With all my heart," said she, turning over the letter to see its 
 length. " It does seem a long document, but it is a marvel of clear 
 writing. Now for it : — ' Naples, Hotel Victoria. My dear Bramleigh.' 
 Of course you are his dear Bramleigh ? Lucky, after all, that it's not 
 dear Gusty." 
 
 " That's exactly what makes everything about that man intolerable 
 to »/('," said Nelly. " The degree of intimacy between people is not 
 to be measured by the inferior." 
 
 " I will have no discussions, no interruptions," said Julia. " If 
 there are to be comments, they must be made by me.'" 
 
 " That's tyranny, I think," cried Nelly. 
 
 " I call it more than arrogance," said Augustus. 
 
 " My dear Bramleigh," continued Julia, reading aloud — " I 
 followed the old viscount down here, not in the best of tempers, I 
 assure you ; and though not easily outwitted or baftled in such 
 matters, it was not till after a week that I succeeded in getting an 
 audience. There's no denving it, he's the best actor on or off the 
 
 22
 
 338 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 boarcls in Europe. He met me coldly, haugbtih'. I bad treated him 
 badly, forsooth, shamefully ; I had uot deigned a reply to auy of his 
 letters. He had written me three — he wasn't sure there were not 
 four letters — to Rome. He had sent me cards for the Pope's chapel 
 — cards for Cardinal Somebody's receptions — cards for a concert at 
 St. Paul's, outside the walls. I don't know what attentions he had 
 not showered on me, nor how many of his high and titled friends had 
 not called at a hotel where I never stopped, or left their names with 
 a porter I never saw. I had to wait till he poured forth all this Avith 
 a grand eloquence, at once disdainful and damaging ; the peroration 
 being in this wise — that such lapses as mine were things unknown in 
 the latitudes inhabited by well-bred people. ' These things are not 
 done, Mr. Cutbill,' said he arrogantly ; ' these things are not 
 done ! You may call them trivial omissions, mere trifles, casual 
 forgetfulnesses, and such like ; but even men who have achieved 
 distinction, who have won fame and honours and reputation, as I am 
 well uAvare is your case, would do well to observe the small obligations 
 which the discipline of society enforces, and condescend to exchange 
 that small coin of civilities which form the circulating medium of 
 good manners.' When he had delivered himself of this he sat down 
 overpowered, and though I, in very plain language, told him that I 
 did not believe a syllabic about the letters, nor accept one word of 
 the lesson, he only fanned himself and bathed his temples with rose- 
 water, no more heeding me or my indignation than if I had been one 
 of the figures on his Japanese screen. 
 
 "'You certainly said you were stopping at the "Minerva,"' 
 said he. 
 
 " ' I certainly told your lordship I was at Spilmans. ' 
 
 " He wanted to show me why this could not possibly be the case 
 — how men like himself never made mistakes, and men like me con- 
 tinually did so — that the very essence of great men's lives was to 
 attach importance to those smaller circumstances that inferior people 
 (ii;-regarded, and so on ; but I simply said, ' Let us leave that 
 question where it is, and go on to a more important one. Have you 
 had time to look over my account ? ' 
 
 "'If you had received the second of those letters you have 
 with such unfeigned candour assured me were never written, you'd 
 have seen that I only desire to know the name of your banker in town, 
 that I may order my agent to remit the money.' 
 
 " ' Let us make no more mistakes about an address, my 
 lord,' said I. 'I'll take a cheque for the amount now,' and he 
 pave it. He sat down and wrote me an order on Hedges and Holt, 
 Pall Mall, for fifteen hundred pounds.
 
 SOME NEWS FilOM WITHOUT. 839 
 
 " I was so overcome by the promptitutlo and by tbe granJ 
 manner he haudecl it to me, that I am free to confess I was heartily 
 ashamed of my previous rudeness, and woukl have given a handsome 
 discount off my cheque to have been able to obliterate all memory of 
 my insolence. 
 
 " ' Is there anything more between us, Mr. Cutbill ? ' said he, 
 politely, ' for I think it would be a mutual benefit if we could settle 
 all our outlying transactions at the present interview.' 
 
 '•'"Well,' said I, 'there's that two thousand of the parson's, 
 paid iu, if you remember, after Porllav.-'s report to your lordship that 
 the whole scheme must founder.' 
 
 '■ He tried to browbeat at this. It was a matter in which I had 
 no concern ; it was a question which Mr. L'Estrange was at full 
 liberty to bring before the courts of law ; my statement about Portlaw 
 was incorrect ; dates were against me, law was against me, custom 
 was against me, and at last it was nigh dinner-hour, and time was 
 against me ; ' unless,' said he, with a change of voice I never 
 heard equalled olT the stage, ' you will stay and eat a very humble 
 dinner with Temple and myself, for my lady is indisposed.' 
 
 " To be almost on fighting terms with a man ten minutes ago, 
 and to accept his invitation to dinner now, seemed to me one of those 
 things perfectly beyond human accomplishment ; but the way in which 
 he tendered the invitation, and the altered tone he imparted to his 
 manner, made me feel that not to imitate him was to stamp myself 
 for ever as one of those vulgar dogs whom he had just been ridiculing, 
 and I assented. 
 
 " I have a perfect recollection of a superb dinner, but beyond 
 that, and that the champagne was decanted, and that there was a 
 large cheese stufled with truffles, and that there were ortolans in ice, 
 I know nothing. It was one of the pleasantest evenings I ever 
 passed in my life. I sang several songs, and might have sung more 
 it" a message had not come from my lady to beg that the piano might 
 be stopped, an intimation which closed the seance, and I said good- 
 night. The next morning Temple called to say my lord was too 
 much engaged to be able to receive me again, and as to that little 
 matter I had mentioned, he had an arrangement to propose which 
 might be satisfactory ; and whether it was that my faculties were not 
 the clciU'er for my previous night's convivialities, or that Temple's 
 explanations were of the most muddled description, or that the noble 
 lord had purposely given him a tangled skein to unravel, I don't 
 kn:)^-, but all I could make out of the proposed arrangement was that 
 he wouldn't give any money back — no, not on any terms : to do so 
 would be something so derogatory to himself, to his rank, to his
 
 340 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 position in diplomacy, it would amount to a self-accusation of fraud ; 
 what would be thought of him by his brother peer:?, by society, by the 
 world, and by The Office ? 
 
 " He had, however, the alternate presentation to the living of 
 Oxington in Herts. It was two hundred and forty pounds per annum 
 and a house — in fact ' a provision more than ample,' he said, 
 ' for any man not utterly a worldling.' He was not sure whether 
 the next appointment lay with himself or a certain Sir Marcus Cluff 
 — a retired fishmonger, he thought, — then living at Rome; but so 
 well as I could make out, if it was Lord Culduff's turn he would 
 appoint L'Estrange, and if it was Cluff's, we were to cajole, or to 
 bully, or to persuade him out of it ; and L'Estrange was to be 
 inducted as soon as the present incumbent, who only wanted a few 
 months of ninety, was promoted to a better place. This may all 
 seem very confused, dim, and unintelligible, but it is a plain 
 uugarbled statement in comparison with what I received from Temple 
 — who, to do him justice, felt all the awkwardness of being sent out 
 to do something he didn't understand by means that he never 
 possessed. He handed me, however, a letter for Clufi" from the 
 noble viscount, which I was to deliver at once ; and, in fact, this 
 much was intelligible, that the sooner I took myself away from 
 Naples, in any direction I liked best, the better. There are times 
 when it is as well not to show that you see the enemy is cheating 
 you, when the shrewdest policy is to let him deem you a dupe and 
 wait patiently till he has compromised himself beyond recall. In this 
 sense I agreed to be the bearer of the letter, and started the same 
 night for Rome. 
 
 " Cluff was installed at the same hotel where I was stopping, 
 and I saw him the next morning. He was a poor broken-down 
 creature, sitting in a room saturated with some peculiar vapour which 
 seemed to agree with him, but half suftbcated me. The viscount's 
 letter, however, very nearly put us on a level, for it took his breath 
 away, and all but finished him. 
 
 " ' Do you know, sir,' said he, ' that Lord Culduff" talks 
 here of a title to a presentation that I bought M'ith the estate thirty 
 years ago, and that he has no more right in the matter than ho has 
 to the manor-house. The vicarage is in my sole gift, and though the 
 present incumbent is but two-and-thirty, he means to resign and go 
 out to New Zealand.' He maundered on about Lord Culdufi''s 
 inexplicable blunder ; what course he ought to adopt towards him ; 
 if it were actionable, or if a simple apology would be the best 
 solution, and at last said, * There was no one for whom he had a 
 higher esteem than Mr. L'Estrange, and that if I would give him
 
 SOilK NEWS FHOM -WITHOUT. 341 
 
 his address he would like to communicate with him pcrsoually iu tlie 
 mattei-.' This looked at least favourable, and I gave it with great 
 willingness ; but I am free to own I have become now so accustomed 
 to be jockeyed at every step I go, that I wouldn't trust the Pope him- 
 self, if he promised me anything beyond his blessing. 
 
 " I saw Cluff again to-day, and he said he had half written his 
 letter to L'Estrange ; but being his postfumigation day, when his 
 doctor enjoined complete repose, he could not complete or post the 
 document till Saturday. I have thought it best, however, to apprise 
 you, and L'Estrange througli you, that such a letter is on its way to 
 Cattaro, and I trust with satisfactory intelligence. And now that I 
 must bring this long narrative to an end, I scarcely know whether 
 I shall repeat a scandal you may have heard already, or, more 
 probably still, not like to hear now, but it is the town-talk here ; that 
 Pracontal, or Count Bramleigh, — I don't know which name he is 
 best known by — is to many Lady Augusta. Some say that the 
 marriage will depend on the verdict of the trial being in his fovour ; 
 others declare that she has accepted him unconditionally. I was not 
 disposed to believe the story, but Clufl' assures me that it is 
 unquestionable, and that he knows a lady to whom Lady Augusta 
 confided this determination. And, as Clufi' says, such an opportunity 
 of shocking the world will not occur every day, and it cannot be 
 expected she could resist the temptation. 
 
 " I am going back to England at once, and I enclose you my 
 town address in case you want me : ' 4, Joy Court, Cannon Street.' 
 The Culduff mining scliome is now wound up, and the shareholders 
 have signed a consent. Their first dividend of fourpence will be paid 
 in January, future payment will be announced by notice. Tell 
 L'Estrange, however, not to ' come in,' but to wait. 
 
 " If I can be of service in any way, make use of me, and if I 
 cannot, don't forget me, but think of me as, what I once overheard 
 L'Estrange's sister call me, — a well-meaning snob, and very iaith- 
 fully yours, 
 
 " T. CUTBILL."
 
 342 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER LIT. 
 
 ISCHLi. 
 
 The sun had just sunk below the liorizon, and a, blaze of blended 
 crimson and gold spread over the Bay of Naples colouring the rocky 
 island of Ischia till it glowed like a carbuncle. Gradually, however, 
 the rich warm tints began to fade away from the base of the mountains, 
 and a cold blue colour stole slowly up their sides, peak after peak 
 surrendering their gorgeous panoply, till at length the whole island 
 assumed a tinge blue as the sea it stood in. 
 
 But for the memory of the former glory it would have been 
 difficult to imagine a more beautiful picture. Every cliff and jutting 
 promontory tufted with wild olives and myrtle was reflected in the 
 "waveless sea below ; and feathery palm-trees and broad-leaved figs 
 trembled in the water, as that gentle wash eddied softly round tlae 
 rocks, or played on the golden shore. 
 
 It was essentially the hour of peace and repose. Along the 
 shores of the bay, in every little village, the angelus was ringing, 
 and kneeling groups were bowed in prayer ; and even here, on this 
 rocky islet, where crime and wretchedness were sent to expiate by 
 years of misery their sins against their fellow-men, the poor galley- 
 slaves caught one instant of kindred with the world, and were suffered 
 to taste in peace the beauty of the hour. There they were in little 
 knots and groups — some lying listlessly in the deep grass ; some 
 gathered on a little rocky point, watching the fish as they darted to 
 and fro in the limpid water, and doubtless envying their glorious 
 freedom : and others, again, seated under some spreading tree, and 
 seeming at least, to feel the calm influence of the hour. 
 
 The soldiers who formed their guard had piled their arms, leaving 
 here and there merely a sentinel, and had gone down amongst the 
 rocks, to search for limpets, or those rugged " ricci di mare " which 
 humble palates accept as delicacies. A few, too, dashed in for a 
 swim, and their joyous voices and merry laughter were heard amid 
 the plash of the water they disported in. 
 
 In a small cleft of a rock overshadowed by an old ilex-tree two 
 men sat moodily gazing on the sea. In dress they were indeed alike, 
 for both wore that terrible red and yellow livery that marks a life- 
 long condemnation, and each carried the heavy chain of the same 
 terrible sentence. They were linked together at the ankle, and thus, 
 for convenience sake, they sat shoulder to shoulder. One was a thin, 
 spare, but still wiry-looking man, evidently far advanced in life, but
 
 ISCKIA. 3-13 
 
 with a vigour in his look ami a quick iutelligcncc in his eye tliat 
 showed what energy he must have possessed in youth. He had 
 spent years at the galleys, hut neither time nor the degradation of 
 his associations had completely eradicated the traces of something 
 above the common in his appearance ; for No. 97 — he had no other 
 name as a prisoner — had been condemned for his share in a plot 
 against the life of the king ; three of his associates having been 
 beheaded for their greater criminality. What station he might 
 originally have belonged to was no longer easy to determine ; but 
 there wore yet some signs that indicated that he had been at least in 
 the middle rank of life. His companion v/as unlike him in every 
 way. He was a young man with fresh complexion and large blue 
 eyes, the very type of frankness and good-nature. Not even prison 
 diet and discipline had yet hollowed his cheek, though it was easy to 
 see that unaccustomed labour and distasteful food were beginning 
 to tell upon his strength, and the bitter smile with which he was 
 gazing on his lank figure and wasted hands showed the wearing miseiy 
 that was consuming him. 
 
 " Well, old Nick," said the j'oung man at length, " this is to bo 
 our last evening together ; and if I ever should touch land again, is 
 there any way I could help you — is there anything I could do for 
 
 you '? " 
 
 " So then you're determined to try it ? " said the other, in a low 
 growling tone. 
 
 "That I am. I have not spent weeks filing through that 
 confounded chain for nothing : one wrench now and it's smashed." 
 
 " And then ? " asked the old man with a grin. 
 
 " And then I'll have a swim for it. I know all that — I know it 
 all," said he, answering a gesture of the other's hand ; " but do you 
 think I care to drag out such a life as this ? " 
 
 " I do," was the quiet reply. 
 
 " Then why you do is clear and clean beyovid me. To me it is 
 worse than fifty deaths." 
 
 " Look here, lad," said the old man, with a degree of animation 
 he had not shown before. " There are four hundred and eighty 
 of us here : some for ten, some for twenty years, some for life ; 
 except yourself alone there is not one has the faintest chance of a 
 pardon. You are English, and your nation takes trouble about its 
 people, and, right or wrong, in the end gets them favourable treat- 
 ment, and yet you are the only man here would put his life in jeopardy 
 on so poor a chance." 
 
 "I'll try it, for all that." 
 
 " Did you ever hear of a man that escaped by swimming? "
 
 344 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " If tliey didn't it was tliere own fault — at least they gave them- 
 selves no fair chance : they always made for the shore, and generally 
 the nearest shore, and of course they were followed and taken. I'll 
 strike out for the open sea, and when I have cut the cork floats off 
 a fishing-net, I'll be able to float for hours, if I should tire swimming. 
 Once in the open, it will be hard luck if some coasting vessel, some 
 steamer to Palermo or Messina, should not pick me up. Besides, 
 there are numbers of fishing-boats " 
 
 " Any one of which would be right glad to make five ducats by 
 bringing you safe back to the police." 
 
 " I don't believe it — I don't believe there is that much baseness 
 in a human heart." 
 
 " Take my word for it, there are depths a good deal below even 
 that," said the old man, with a harsh grating laugh. 
 
 " No matter, come what will of it, I'll make the venture; and 
 now, as our time is growing short, tell me if there is anything I can 
 do for you, if I live to get free again. Have you any friends who 
 could help you ? or is there any one to whom you would wish me to 
 go on your behalf ? " 
 
 " None — none," said he, slowly but calmly. 
 
 " As yours was a political crime- ^" 
 
 " I have done all of them, and if my life were to be drawn out 
 for eighty years longer it would not suffice for all the sentences 
 against me." 
 
 " Still I'd not despair of doing something " 
 
 " Look here, lad," said the other, sharply ; " it is my will that all 
 who belong to me should believe me dead. I was shipwrecked twelve 
 years ago, and reported to have gone down with all the crew. My 
 son " 
 
 " Have you a son, then ? " 
 
 " My son inherits rights that, stained as I am by crime and con- 
 demnation, I never could have maintained. Whether he shall make them 
 good or not will depend on whether he has more or less of mij blood 
 in his veins. It may be, however, ho will want money to prosecute 
 his claim. I have none to send him, but I could tell him where he 
 is almost certain to find not only money, but what will serve him 
 more than money, if you could make him out. 1 have written some 
 of the names he is known by on this paper, and he can be traced 
 through Bolton the banker at Najflcs. Tell him to seek out all the 
 places old Giacomo Lami worked at. Ho never painted his daughter 
 Eurichctta in a fresco, that he didn't hide gold, or jewels, or papers 
 of value somewhere near. Tell him, above all, to find out where 
 Giacomo's last work was executed. You can say that you got this
 
 iscHiA. 345 
 
 commission from me years ago in Monte Video ; and when you tell 
 him it ■was Niccolo Baldassare gave it, he'll believe you. There. I 
 have ■written Giacomo Lami on that paper, so that you need not 
 trust to 3'our memory. But ■why do I ■waste time with these things ? 
 You'll never set foot on shore, lad — never." 
 
 "I am just as certain that I shall. If that son of yours was 
 only as certain of winning his estate, I'd call him a lucky fellow. 
 But see, they are almost dressed. They'll he soon ready to march 
 us home. Best your foot next this rock till I smash the link, and 
 when you see them coming roll this heavy stone down into the sea. 
 I'll make for the south side of the island, and, once night falls, take 
 to the water. Good-by, old fellow. I'll not forget you — never, 
 never," and he wrung the old man's hand in a strong grasp. The 
 chain gave way at the second blow, and he was gone. 
 
 Just as the last flickering light was fading from the sky, three 
 cannon shots, in quick succession, announced that a prisoner had 
 made his escape, and patrols issued forth in every direction to scour 
 the island, while boats were manned to search the caves and crevasses 
 along the shore. 
 
 The morning's telegram to the Minister of Police ran thus : — 
 " No. 11 made his escape last evening, tiling his ankle-iron. The 
 prisoner 97, to whom he was linked, declares that he saw him leap 
 into the sea and sink. This statement is not believed ; but up to 
 this, no trace of the missing man has been discovered." 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day. Temple Bramleigh learned the 
 news, and hastened home to the hotel to inform his chief. Lord 
 Culdufl" was not in the best of tempers. Some independent member 
 below the gangway had given notice of a question he intended to 
 ask the Secretaiy for Foreign Afl'airs, and the leader of a Radical 
 morning paper had thus paraphrased the inquiry : — " What Mr. 
 Bechell wishes to ascertain, in fact, amounts to this, — ' Could not 
 the case of Samuel Rogers have been treated by our resident envoy 
 at Naples, or was it necessary that the dignity and honour of 
 England should be maintained by an essenced old fop, whose social 
 successes — and we never heard that he had any other — date from 
 the early days of the Regency ? ' " 
 
 Lord Culduff was pacing his room angrily when Temple entered, 
 and, although nothing would have induced him to show the insolent 
 paragraph of the paper, he burst out into a violent abuse of those 
 meddlesome Radicals, whose whole mission in life was to assail men 
 of family and station. 
 
 " In the famous revolution of Franco, sir," cried ho, " they did 
 their work with the guillotine ; but our cowardly canaille never rise
 
 346 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 above defamation. You must write to the papers about this, Temple. 
 You must expose this system of social assassination, or the day vvill 
 come, if it has not already come, when gentlemen of birth and blood 
 v,i!l refuse to serve the Crovm." 
 
 " I came back to tell 3'ou that our man has made his escape," 
 said Temple, half trembling at daring to interrupt this flow of 
 indignation. 
 
 " And whom do you call our man, sir? " 
 
 " I mean Kogers — the fellow we have been writing about." 
 
 " How and when has this happened ? " 
 
 Temple proceeded to repeat what he had learned at the pre- 
 fecture of the police, and read out the words of the telegram. 
 
 •' Let us see," said Lord Culduff, seating himself in a well- 
 cushioned chair. " Let us see what new turn this will give the 
 affair. He may be recaptured, or he may be, most probably is, 
 drowned. We then come in for compensation. They must indem- 
 nify. There are few claims so thoroughly chronic in their character 
 as those for an indemnity. Y''ou first discuss the right, and you then 
 higgle over the arithmetic. I don't want to go back to town this 
 season. See to it then, Temple, that we reserve this question 
 entirely to ourselves. Let Blagden refer everything to us." 
 
 " They have sent the news home already." 
 
 " Oh ! they have. Very sharp practice. Not peculiar for any- 
 extreme delicacy either. But I cannot dine with Blagden, for all 
 that. This escape gives a curious turn to the whole afiair. Let us 
 look into it a little. I take it the fellow must have gone down — eh ? " 
 
 " Most probably." 
 
 " Or he might have been picked up by some passing steamer or 
 by a fishing-boat. Suppose him to have got free, he'll get back to 
 England, and make capital out of the adventure. These fellows 
 understand all that nowadays." 
 
 Temple, seeing a reply was expected, assented. 
 
 " So that we must not be precipitate, Temple," said Lord 
 Culduff, slowly. " It's a case for caution." 
 
 These words, and the keen look that accompanied them, were 
 perfect puzzles to Temple, and he did not dare to speak. 
 
 " The thing must be done this wise," said Lord Culduff. " It 
 must be a ' private and confidential ' to the office, and a ' sly and 
 anibiguous ' to the public prints. I'll charge myself with the former ; 
 tlie latter shall bo your care, Temple. You are intimate with Flosser, 
 the correspondent of the lull-Wcatlwr. Have him to dinner and be 
 indiscreet. This old Maderia here will explain any amount of ex- 
 pansivcGcss. Get him to talk of this escape, and let out the secret
 
 iscniA. 347 
 
 that it was we who managed it all. Miiul, however, that you swear 
 him not to reveal anything. It would he your ruin, you must say, 
 if the affair got Mind ; hut the fact was Lord Culduff saw the 
 Xeapolitans were determined not to surrender him, and, knowing 
 what an insult it would he to the public feeling of England that an 
 Englishman was held as a prisoner at the galleys, for an act of 
 heroism and gallantry, the only course was to liberate him at any 
 cost and in any way. Flosser will swear secrecy, hut hints at this 
 solution as the on dit in certain keen coteries. Such a mode of 
 treating the matter can-ies more real weight than a sworn affidavit. 
 Men like the problem that they fancy they have unravelled by their 
 ©"UTi acuteness. And then it muzzles discussion in the House, since 
 even the most blatant Radical sees that it cannot be debated openly ; 
 for all Englishmen, as a rule, love compensation, and we can only 
 claim indemnification here on the assumption that we were no parties 
 to the escape. Do you follow me, Temple ? " 
 
 " I believe I do. I. see the drift of it at least." 
 
 " There's no drift, sir. It is a full, palpable, well-delivered blow. 
 "We saved Rogers ; but we refuse to explain bovv-." 
 
 " And if he turns up one of these days, and refuse to confirm us ? " 
 
 " Then we denounce him as an impostor ; but always, mark yoa, 
 in the same shadowy way that we allude to our share in his evasion. 
 It must be a sketch in water-colours throughout, Temple : very faint 
 and very ti'anspareut. When I have rough-drafted my despatch you 
 shall see it. Once the original melody is before you, you will see 
 thei'e is nothing to do but invent the variations."' 
 
 " My lady wishes to know, ray lord, if your loi'dship will step 
 upstairs to speak to her ? " said a servant at this conjuncture. 
 
 " Go up, Temple, and see what it is," whispered Lord Culduff". 
 " If it he about that box at the St. Carlos, you can say our stay here 
 is now most uncertain. If it be a budget question, she must wait till 
 quarter-day." He smiled maliciously as he spoke, and waved his 
 hand to dismiss him. AVithin a minute,- — it seemed scarcely half that 
 time, — Lady Culduff entered the room, with an open letter in her 
 hand ; her colour was high, and her eyes flashing, as she said : — 
 
 " Make your mind at ease, my lord. It is no question of au 
 opera-box, or a milliner's bill, but it is a matter of much importance 
 that I desire to speak about. Will you do me the favour to read 
 that, and say what answer I shall return to it." 
 
 Lord Culduff" took the letter and read it over leisurely, and then, 
 laying it down, said, "Lady Augusta is not a very perspicuous 
 letter-writer, or else she feels her present task too much for her 
 tact, but what she means here is, that you should give M. Pracoutal
 
 348 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 permission to rausack your brother's house for clocnments, which, if 
 discovered, taight deprive him of the title to his estate. The request, 
 at least, has modesty to recommend it." 
 
 " The absurdity is, to my thinking, greater than even the imper- 
 tinence," cried Lady Cukluff. " She says, that on separating two 
 pages, which, by some accident had adhered, of Giacomo Lami's 
 journal, — whoever Giacomo Lami maybe, — ive, — ice being Pracontal 
 and herself — have discovered that it was Giacomo's habit to conceal 
 important papers in the walls where he painted, and in all cases 
 where he introduced his daughter's portrait ; and that as in the 
 octagon room at Castello, there is a picture of her as Flora, it is 
 believed — confidently believed — such documents will be found there 
 as will throw great light on the present claim " 
 
 "First of all," said he, interrupting, "is there such a 
 portrait ? " 
 
 " There is a Flora ; I never heard it was a portrait. Who could 
 tell after what the artist copied it ? " 
 
 " Lady Augusta assumes to believe this story." 
 
 " Lady Augusta is only too glad to believe what everybody else 
 would pronounce incredible ; but this is not all, she has the incon- 
 ceivable impertinence to prefer this request to us, to make us a party 
 to our own detriment, — as if it were matter of perfect iuditference who 
 possessed these estates, and who owned Castello." 
 
 " I declare I have heard sentiments from your brother Augustus 
 that would fully warrant this impression. I have a letter of his in 
 my desk wherein he distinctly says, thai once satisfied in his own 
 mind, — not to the conviction of his lawyer, mark you, nor to the 
 conviction of men well versed in evidence, and accustomed to sift 
 testimony, but simply to his own not very capacious intellect, — that 
 the estate belongs to Pracontal, he'll yield him up the possession 
 M'ithout dispute or delay." 
 
 " He's a fool, there is no other name for him," said she, passion- 
 ately. 
 
 " Yes, and his folly is very mischievous folly, for he is abrogating 
 rights he has no pretension to deal with. It is just as well, at all 
 events, that this demand was addressed to us and not to your brother, 
 for I'm certain he'd not have refused his permission." 
 
 " I know it," said she, fiercely ; " and if Lady Augusta only 
 knew his address and how a letter might reach him, she would never 
 have written to us. Time pressed however ; see what she says here. 
 ' The case will come on for trial in November, and if the papers have 
 the value and significance Count Pracontal's lawyers suspect, there 
 will yet be time to make some arrangement, — the Count would be
 
 ISCHIA. 349 
 
 disposed for a generous one, — which might lessen the hlow, and 
 diminish the evil consequences of a verdict certain to be adverse to 
 the present possessor.' " 
 
 " She dissevers her interests from those of her late husband's 
 family with great magnanimity, I must say." 
 
 " The horrid woman is going to marry Pracontal." 
 
 " They say so, but I doubt it, at least, till he comes out a victor." 
 
 " How she could have dared to write this, how she could have had 
 the shamelessness to ask iiw, — h/c whom she certainly ought to know, 
 — to aid and abet a plot directed against the estates, — the very legiti- 
 macy of my family — is more than I can conceive." 
 
 " She's an implicit believer one must admit, for she says, ' if on 
 examining the part of the wall behind the pedestal of the figure 
 nothing shall be found, she desires no further search.' The spot is 
 indicated with such exactness in the journal, that she limits her 
 request distinctly to this." 
 
 "Probably she thought the destruction of a costly fresco might 
 Avell have been demurred to," said Lady Culduft', angrily. " Not but 
 for my part, I'd equally refuse her leave to touch the moulding in the 
 surbase. I am glad, however, she has addressed this demand to us, 
 for I know well Augustus is weak enough to comply with it, and 
 fancy himself a hero in consequence. There is something piquant 
 in the way she hints that she is asking as a favour what, for all she 
 knows, might be claimed as a right. Imagine the woman saying 
 this ! " 
 
 "It is like asking me for the key of my writing-desk to see if I 
 have not some paper or letter there, that might, if published, give me 
 grave inconvenience." 
 
 "I have often heard of her eccentricities and absurdities, but on 
 this occasion I believe she has actually outdone herself. I suppose, 
 though this appeal is made to us conjointly, as it is addressed to me, 
 I am the proper person to reply to it." 
 
 " Certainly, my lady." 
 
 " And I may say, — Lord Culduff feels shocked equally with myself 
 at the indelicacy of the step you have just taken ; failing to respect 
 the tie which connects you with our family, you might, he opines, 
 have had some regards for the decencies which regulate social inter- 
 course, and while bearing our name, not have ranked yourself with 
 those who declare themselves our enemies. I may say this, I may 
 tell her that her conduct is shameless, an outrage on all feeling, and 
 not only derogatory to her station, but unwomanly ? " 
 
 "I don't think I'd say that," said he, with a faint simper, while 
 he patted his hand with a gold paper-knife. " I opine the better way
 
 350 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 would be to accept lier ladysliqj's letter as the most natural thiug in 
 life from her ; that she had preferred a ref[uest, which coraiug from 
 her, was all that was right and reasonable. That there was some- 
 thing very noble and very elevated in the way she could rise superior 
 to personal interests, and the ties of kindred, and actually assert the 
 claims of mere justice ; but I'd add that the decision could not lie 
 with us, — that your brother being the head of the family, was the 
 person to whom the request must be addressed, and that we would, 
 with her permission, charge ourselves with the task. Pray hear me 
 out — lirst of all, we have a delay while she replies to this, with 
 or without the permission we ask for; in that interval you can inform 
 your brother that a very serious plot is being concerted against him ; 
 that your neit letter will fully inform him as to the details of the con- 
 spiracy, — your present advice being simply for warning, and then, 
 when, if she still persist, the matter must be heard, it will be 
 strange if Augustus shall not have come to the conclusion that the 
 part intended for him is a very contemptible one — that of a dupe." 
 
 "Your lordship's mode may be more diplomatic; mine would bo 
 more direct." 
 
 " Which is exactly its demerit, my lady," said he, with one of his 
 blandest smiles. " In my craft the great secret is never to give a flat 
 refusal to anything. If the French were to ask us for the Isle of 
 Wight, the proper reply would be a polite demand for the reasons that 
 prompted the request, — whether ' Osborne ' might be reserved, — and 
 a courteous assurance that the claim should meet with every considera- 
 tion and a cordial disposition to make every possible concession that 
 might lead to a closer union with a nation it was our pride and happi- 
 ness to reckon on as an ally." 
 
 " These fallacies never deceive anyone." 
 
 " Nor are they meant to do so, any more than the words ' your 
 most obedient and humble servant ' at the foot of a letter ; but they 
 serve to keep correspondence within polite limits." 
 
 " And they consume time," broke she in, impatiently. 
 
 "And, as you observe so aptly, they consume time." 
 
 " Let us have done with trifling, my lord. I mean to answer tliis 
 letter in my own way." 
 
 " I can have no other objection to make to that, save the unneces- 
 sary loss of time I have incurred in listening to the matter." 
 
 " That time so precious to the nation you serve ! " said she, 
 sneeringly. 
 
 " Your ladyship admirably expresses my meaning." 
 
 " Then, my lord, I make you the only amends in my power ; I 
 take my leave of you."
 
 iscniA. 351 
 
 " Your ladyship's politeness is never at fault," said ho, rising to 
 open the door for her. 
 
 " Has Temple told you that the box on the lower tier is uov; free 
 — the box I spoke of ? " 
 
 " He has ; but our stay here is now uncertain. It may be days ; 
 it may be hours " 
 
 " And why was I not told '? I have been giving orders to trades- 
 people — accepting invitations — making engagements, and Vt'hat not. 
 Am I to be treated like the wife of a subaltern in a marching regiment 
 — to hold myself ready to start when the route conies ? " 
 
 " How I could envy that subalteini," said ho, with an inimitable 
 mixture of raillery and deference. 
 
 She darted on him a look of indignant anger, and swept out of 
 the room. 
 
 Lord Culdulf rang his bell, and told the servant to beg Mr. Temple 
 Bramleigh would have the kindness to step down to him. 
 
 " Write to Filangieri, Temple," said he, " and say that 1 desire 
 to have access to the prisoner Rogers. "We know nothing of his escape, 
 and the demand will embarrass — There, don't start objection:?, my dear 
 boy ; I never play a card without thinking what the enemy will do 
 after he scores the trick." 
 
 And with this profound encomium on himself he dismissed the 
 secretary, and proceeded to read the morning papers. 
 
 CHAPTER LHI. 
 
 A RAINY NIGHT AT REA. 
 
 The absurd demand preferred by Lady Augusta in her letter to 
 Marion was a step taken without any authority from Pracontal, and 
 actually without his knowledge. On the discovery of the adhering 
 pages of the journal, and their long consideration of the singular 
 memorandum that they found within, Pracontal carried away the 
 book to Longworth to show him the passage and ask what import- 
 ance he might attach to its contents. 
 
 Longworth was certainly struck by the minute particularity with 
 which an exact place was indicated. There was a rough pen sketch 
 of the Flora, and a spot marked by a cross at the base of the 
 pedestal, with the words, *' Hero will be found the books." Lower 
 down on the same page was written, " These volumes, which I did 
 not obtain without dilhculty, and which were too cumbrous to carry
 
 352 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 away, I have deposited in this safe place, and the time may come 
 when they will be of value. — G. L." 
 
 " Now," said Longworth, after some minutes of deep thought, 
 " Lami was a man engaged in every imaginable conspiracy. There 
 was not a State in Europe, apparently, where he was not, to some 
 extent, compromised. These books he refers to may be the records of 
 some secret society, and he may have stored them there as a security 
 against the lukewarmness or the treachery of men whose fate might 
 be imperilled by certain documents. Looking to the character of 
 Lami, his intense devotion to these schemes, and his crafty nature 
 and the Italian forethought which seems always to have marked 
 whatever he did, I half incline to this impression. Then, on the 
 other hand, you remember, Pracontal, when we went over to Port- 
 shandon to inquire about the registry books, we heard that they had 
 all been stolen or destroyed by the rebels in '98 ? " 
 
 " Yes. I remember that well. 1 had not attached any 
 importance to the fact ; but I remember how much Kelson was 
 disconcerted and put out by the intelligence, and how he continually 
 repeated, ' This is no accident; this is no accident.' " 
 
 " It would be a rare piece of fortune if they were the church 
 books, and that they contained a formal registry of the marriage." 
 
 " But who doubts it ? " 
 
 " Say rather, my dear friend, why should any one believe it? 
 Just think for one moment who Montague Bramleigh was, what was 
 his station and his fortune, and then remember the interval that 
 separated him from the Italian painter — a man of a certain ability, 
 doubtless. Is it the most likely thing in the world that if the 
 young Englishman fell in love with the beautiful Italian, that he 
 would have sacrificed his whole ambition in life to his passion ? Is 
 it not far more probable, in fact, that no marriage whatever united 
 them ? Come, come, Pracontal, this is not, now at least, a matter 
 to grow sulky over ; you cannot be angry or indignant at my frank- 
 ness, and you'll not shoot me for this slur on your grandmother's 
 fair reputation." 
 
 " I certainly think that with nothing better than a theory 
 to support it, you might have spared her memory this aspersion." 
 
 " If I had imagined you could not talk of it as unconcernedly 
 as myself, I assure you I would never have spoken about it." 
 
 " You see now, however, that you have mistaken me — that you 
 have read me rather as one of your own people than as a French- 
 man," said the other, warmly. 
 
 " I certainly sec that I must not speak to you with frankness, 
 and I shall use caution not to ofi'end you by candour."
 
 A RAINY MGHT AT SEA. 353 
 
 " This is not cuougb, sir," said the Frenchman, rising ami 
 staring angrily at him. 
 
 " What is not enough ? " said Longworth, with a perfect com- 
 posure. 
 
 " Not enough for apology, sir ; not enough as ' amende ' for an 
 umvarrantable and insolent calumny." 
 
 *' You are getting angry at the sound of your own voice, 
 Pracontal. I now tell you that I never meant — never could have 
 meant — to oflend you. You came to me for a counsel which I could 
 only give by speaking freely what was in my mind. This is surely 
 enough for explanation." • 
 
 " Then let it all be forgotten at once," cried the other, warmly. 
 
 " I'll not go that far," said Longworth, in the same calm tone 
 as before. '• You have accepted my explanation ; you have recog- 
 nised what one moment of justice must have convinced you of — 
 that I had no intention to wound your feelings. There is certainly, 
 however, no reason in the world why I should expose my own to 
 any unnecessary injury. I have escaped a peril ; I have no wish to 
 incur another of the same sort." 
 
 " I don't think I understand you," said Pracontal, quickly. 
 " Do you mean we should quarrel ? " 
 
 " By no means." 
 
 " That we should separate, then ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 The Frenchman became pale, and suddenly his face flushed till 
 it was deep crimson, and his eyes flashed with fire. The efibrt to 
 be calm was almost a strain beyond his strength ; but he succeeded, 
 and in a voice scarcely above a whisper, he said, " I am deeply in 
 your debt. I cannot say how deeply. My lawyer, however, does 
 know, and I will confer with him." 
 
 " This is a matter of small consequence, and does not press : 
 besides, I beg you will not let it trouble you." 
 
 The measured coldness with which these words were spoken 
 seemed to jar painfully on Pracontal's temper, for he snatched his 
 hat from the table, and with a hurried, " Adieu — adieu, then," left 
 the room. The carriages of the hotel were waiting iu the courtyard 
 to convey the travellers to the station. 
 
 " Where is the train starting for ? " asked he of a waiter. 
 
 " For Civita, sir." 
 
 " Step up to my room, then, and throw my clothes into a port- 
 manteau — enough for a few days. I shall have time to write a 
 note, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Ample, sir. You have forty minutes yet." 
 
 23
 
 354 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLT. 
 
 Pracoutal opened his writing-Jesk and wrote a few lines to Lady- 
 Augusta, to tell how a telegram had just called him away, — it might 
 be to Paris, perhajDS London. He would be Lack within ten days, 
 and explain all. He wished he might have her leave to write, but 
 he had not a moment left him to ask the permission. Should he 
 risk the liberty ? What if it might displease her ? He was eveiy 
 way unfortunate ; nor, in all the days of a life of changes and 
 vicissitudes, did he remember a sadder moment than this in which 
 he wrote himself her devoted servant, A. Pracontal de Bramleigh. 
 This done, he jumped into a carriage, and just reached the train in 
 time to start for Civita. 
 
 There was little of exaggeration when he said he had never known 
 greater misery and depression than he now felt. The thought of that 
 last meeting with Longworth overwhelmed him with sorrow. When 
 we bear in mind how slowly and gradually the edifice of friendship is 
 built up ; how many of our prejudices have often to be overcome ; 
 how much of self- education is effected in the process ; the thought 
 that all this labour of time and feeling should be cast to the winds at 
 once for a word of passion or a hasty expression, is humiliating to a 
 degree. Pracontal had set great store by Longworth's friendship for 
 him. He had accepted great favours at his hand ; but so kindly and 
 so gracefully conferred as to double the obligations by the delicacy 
 with which they were bestowed. And this was the man whose good 
 feeling for him he had outraged and insulted beyond recall. "If it 
 had been an open quarrel between us, I could have stood his fire and 
 shown him how thoroughly I knew myself in the wrong ; but his 
 cold disdain is more than I can bear. And what was it all about ? 
 How my old comrades would laugh if they heard that I had quarrelled 
 with my best friend. Ah, my grandmother's reputation ! Ma foi, 
 how much more importance one often attaches to a word than to what 
 it represents ! " Thus angry with himself, mocking the very pre- 
 tensions on which he had assumed to reprehend his friend, and 
 actually ridiculing his own conduct, he embarked from Marseilles to 
 hasten over to England, and entreat Kelson to discharge the money 
 obligation which yet bound him to Longworth. 
 
 It was a rough night at sea, and the packet so crowded by- 
 passengers that Pracontal was driven to pass the night on deck. la 
 tbe haste of departure he had not provided himself with overcoats or 
 rugs, and was but ill suited to stand the severity of a night of cold 
 cutting wind and occasional drifts of hail. To keep himself warm ho 
 walked the deck for hours, pacing rapidly to and fro : perhaps not 
 sorry at heart that physical discomfort compelled him to dwell less 
 on the internal griefs that preyed upon him. One solitary passenger
 
 A RAINY NIGHT AT SEA. 6i)0 
 
 besides himself had sought the deck, and he had rolled himself in a 
 multiplicity of Avarm wrappers, and lay snugly under the shelter of 
 the binnacle — a capacious tarpaulin cloak surmounting all his other 
 integuments. 
 
 Pracontal's campaigning experiences had taught him that tho 
 next best thing to being well cloaked oneself is to lie near the man 
 that is so ; and thus, seeing that the traveller was fast asleep, he 
 stretched himself under his lee, and even made free to draw a corner 
 of the heavy tarpaulin over him, 
 
 " I say," cried the stranger, on discovering a neighbour ; "I 
 say, old fellow, you are coming it a bit too free and easy. You've 
 stripped the covering oif my legs." 
 
 " A thousand pardons," rejoined Pracontal. "I forgot to take 
 my rugs and wraps with me ; and I am shivering with cold. I have 
 not even an overcoat." 
 
 The tone — so evidently that of a gentleman, and the slight touch 
 of a foreign accent — apparently at once conciliated the stranger, for 
 he said, " I have enough and to spare ; spread this blanket over you ; 
 and here's a cushion for a pillow." 
 
 These courtesies, accepted frankly as offered, soon led them to 
 talk together ; and the two men speedily found themselves chatting 
 away like old acquaintances. 
 
 "I am puzzling myself," said the stranger at last, " to find out 
 are you an Englishman, who has lived long abroad, or are jovl a 
 foreigner ? " 
 
 " Is my English so good as that ? " asked Pracontal, laughing. 
 " The very best I ever heard from any not a born Briton." 
 " Well, I'm a Frenchman — or a half Frenchman — with soma 
 Italian and some English blood, too, in me." 
 
 " Ah ! I knew you must have had a dash of John Bull in you. 
 Xo man ever spoke such English as yours without it." 
 
 " Well, but my English temperament goes two generations back. 
 I don't believe my father was ever in England." 
 
 With this opening they talked away about national traits and 
 peculiarities : the Frenchman with all the tact and acuteness travel 
 and much intercourse with life conferred ; and the other with the 
 especial shrewdness that marks a Londoner. " How did you guess 
 I was a Cockney ? " asked ho, laughingly. " I don't take liberties 
 with my II's." 
 
 " Kyou had, it's not likely I'd have known it," said Pracontal. 
 " But your reference to town, the fidelity with which you clun" to 
 what London would think of this, or say to that, made me suspect 
 you to be a Londoner ; and I see I was right."
 
 856 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " After all, you Frenchmen are just as full of Paris." 
 
 " Because Paris epitomises France, aud France is the greatest of 
 all countries." 
 
 " I'll not stand that. I deny it in toto." 
 
 " Well, I'll not open the question now, or mayhe, you'd make me 
 give up this blanket." 
 
 " No. I'll have the matter out on fair grounds. Keep the 
 blanket, but just let me hear on what grounds you claim precedence 
 for France before England." 
 
 " I'm too unlucky in matters of dispute to-day," said Pracontal, 
 sadly, " to open a new discussion. I quarrelled with, perhaps, the 
 best friend I had in the world this morning for a mere nothing ; and 
 though there is little fear that anything we could say to each other 
 now would provoke ill feeling between us, I'll run no risks." 
 
 " By Jove ; it must be Scotch blood is in you. I never heard of 
 such caution ! " 
 
 " No, I believe my English connection is regular Saxon. When 
 a man has been in the newspapers in England, he need not affect 
 secrecy or caution in talking of himself. I figured in a ti-ial lately ; 
 I don't know if you read the cause. It was tried in Ireland — Count 
 Bramleigh de Pracontal against Bramleigh." 
 
 " What, are you Pracontal ? " cried the stranger, starting to a 
 sitting posture. 
 
 " Yes. Why are you so much interested ? " 
 
 " Because I have seen the place. I have been over the property 
 in dispute, and the question naturally interests me." 
 
 " Ha ! you know Castello, then ? " 
 
 " Castello, or Bishop's Folly. I know it best by the latter 
 -name." 
 
 " And whom am I speaking to ? " said Pracontal ; " for as you 
 know me perhaps I have some right to ask this." 
 
 "My name is Cutbill ; and now that you've heard it, you're 
 nothing the wiser." 
 
 " You probably know the Bramleighs ? " 
 
 " Every one of them ; Augustus, the eldest, I am intimate with." 
 
 " It's not my fault that I have no acquaintance with him. I 
 .desired it much ; and Lady Augusta conveyed my wish to Mr. 
 Bramleigh, but he declined. I don't know on what grounds ; but he 
 refused to meet me, and we have never seen each other." 
 
 " If I don't gi'eatly mistake, you ought to have met. I hope it 
 anay not be yet too late." 
 
 " Ah, but it is ! Wo are * en pleine guerre ' now, and the battle 
 must bo fought out. It is he, and not I, would leave the matter to 
 
 J
 
 A RAINY NIGHT AT SEA. 357 
 
 this issue. I was for a compromise ; I would have accepted an 
 arrangement ; I was unwilling to overthrow a whole family and 
 consign them to ruin. They might have made their own terms with 
 me ; hut no, they preferred to defy me. They determined I should 
 he a mere pretender. They gave me no alternative ; and I fight 
 because there is no retreat open to me." 
 
 " And yet if you knew Bramleigh " 
 
 " Mon cher ; he would not give me the chance ; he repulsed the 
 ofler I made ; he would not touch the hand I held out to him." 
 
 "I am told that the judge declared that he never tried a 
 cause where the defendant displayed a more honourable line of 
 conduct." 
 
 " That is all true. Kelson, my lawyer, said that everything they 
 did was straightforward and creditable ; but he said, too, don't go 
 near them, don't encourage any acquaintance with them, or some 
 sort of arrangement will be patched up which will leave everything 
 unsettled to another generation ; — when all may become once more 
 litigated with less light to guide a decision and far less chance of 
 obtaining evidence." 
 
 " Never mind the lawyers, Count, never mind the lawyers. Use 
 your own good sense, and your own generous instincts ; place youi*- 
 self — in idea — in Bramlcigh's position, and ask yourself could you 
 act more handsomely than he has done ? and then bethink you, what 
 is the proper way to meet such conduct." 
 
 "It's all too late for this now; don't ask me why, but take my 
 word for it, it is too late." 
 
 " It's never too late to do the right thing, though it may cost a 
 man some pain to own he is changing his mind." 
 
 " It's not that ; it's not that," said the other, peevishly, " though 
 I cannot explain to you why or how." 
 
 " I don't want to hear secrets," said Cutbill, bluntly ; "all the 
 more that you and I are strangers to each other. I don't think either 
 of us has had a good look at the other's face yet." 
 
 " I've seen yours, and I don't distrust it," said the Frenchman. 
 
 " Good night, then, there's a civil speech to go to sleep over," 
 and so saying, he rolled over to the other side, and drew his blanket 
 over his head. 
 
 Pracontal lay a long time awake, thinking of the strange com- 
 panion he had chanced upon, and that still stranger amount of 
 intimacy that had grown up between them. " I suppose," muttered he 
 to himself, " I must be the most indiscreet fellow in the world; but 
 after all, what have I said that he has not read in tlic newspapers, or 
 may not read next week or the week after ? I know how Kelson
 
 853 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 %roaIcl condemn me for this careless habit of talking of myself and 
 mj affairs to tlie first man I meet on a railroad or a steamer ; but I 
 rnr.st be what nature made me, and after all, if I show too 
 much of my hand, I gain something by learning what the bystanders 
 say of it." 
 
 It was not till nigh daybreak that he dropped off to sleep ; and 
 Tvhen he awoke it was to see Mr. Cutbill with a large bowl of hot 
 coffee in one hand, and a roll in the other, making an early break- 
 fast; a very rueful figure, too, was he — as, black with smoke and 
 coal-dust, he propped himself against the binnacle, and gazed out 
 over the waste of waters. 
 
 " You are a good sailor, I sec, and don't fear sea-sickness," said 
 Pracontal. 
 
 "Don't I? that's all you know of it; but I take eveiything 
 ihey bring me. There's a rasher on its way to me now, if I 
 surTiTe this." 
 
 "I'm for a basin of cold water and coarse towels," said the 
 other, rising. 
 
 " That's two points in your favour towards having English blood 
 in you," said Cutbill, gravely, for already his qualms were returning; 
 " ^hen a fellow tells you he cares for soap, he can't be out and out a 
 Frenchman." This speech was delivered with great difficulty, and 
 Tfhen it was done he rolled over and covered himself up, over face 
 and head, and spoke no more. 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 THE LETTER BAG. 
 
 " What a mail-bag ! " cried Nelly, as she threw several letters on 
 the breakfast-table ; the same breakfast-table being laid under a 
 spreading vine, all draped and festooned with a gorgeous clematis. 
 
 "I declare," said Augustus, "I'd rather look out j-ouder, over 
 the blue "ulf of Cattaro, than see all the post could bring me." 
 
 " This is for you," said Nelly, handing a letter to L'Estrange. 
 
 He reddened as he took it ; not that he knew either the writing 
 or the seal, but that terrible consciousness which besets the poor 
 man in life leads him always to regard the unknown as pregnant with 
 misfortune ; and so he pocketed his letter, to read it when alone and 
 Duobserved. 
 
 •' Here's Cutbill again. I don't think I care for more Cutbill,"

 
 THE LETTER LAG. 359 
 
 said Braailelgh ; " auel here's Secllcy ; Sedloy will keep. This is 
 from Marion." 
 
 " Oh, let us hear Marion by all means," said Nelly. "May I 
 read her. Gusty ? " He nodded, and she broke the envelope. " Ten 
 lines and a postsei'ipt. She's positively expansive this time : — 
 
 " ' Victoria, Naples. 
 
 " ' My de.vr Gusty, — Our discreet and delicate stepmother has 
 written to ask me to intercede with you to permit M. Pracontal to 
 pull down part of the house at Castello, to search for some family 
 papers. I have replied that her demand is both impracticable and 
 indecent. Be sure that you make a like answer if she addresses you 
 personally. "We mean to leave this soon ; but are not yet certain in 
 what direction. "We have been shamefully treated, after having 
 brought this troublesome and difficult negotiation to a successful end. 
 "We shall withdraw our proxy, 
 
 " ' Yours ever, in much aflcction, 
 
 ' ' ' Marion Culduff. 
 
 " ' P.S. — You have heard, I suppose, that Culduff has presented 
 L'Estrange to a living. It's not in a hunting county, so that he will 
 not be exposed to temptation ; nor are there any idle young men, and 
 Julia may also enjoy security. Do you know where they are ? ' " 
 
 They laughed long and heartily over this postscript. Indeed, it 
 amused them to such a degree that they forgot all the preceding part 
 of the letter. As to the fact of the presentation, none believed it. 
 liead by the light of Cutbill's former letter, it was plain enough that 
 it was only one of those pious frauds which diplomacy deals in as 
 largely as Popeiy. Marion, they were sure, supposed she was 
 recording a fact ; but her comments on the fact were what amused 
 them most. 
 
 " I wonder am I a flirt ? " said Julia, gravely. 
 
 "I wonder am I a vicar?" said George; and once more the 
 laughter broke out fresh and hearty. 
 
 " Let us have Cutbill now, Nelly. It will be in a different strain. 
 He's lengthy, too. He not only writes on four, but six sides of note 
 paper this time." 
 
 "'Dear Brajileigh, — You will be astonished to hear that I 
 travelled back to England Avith Count Pracontal, or Pracontal de 
 Bramleigh, or whatever his name be — a right good fellow, frank, 
 straightforward, and, so far as I see, honest. "We hit it olY wonder- 
 fully together, and became such good friends that I took him down
 
 360 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 to my little crib at Bayswater, — an attention, I suspect, not ill timed, 
 as he does not seem flush of money. He told me the whole story of 
 his claim, and the way he came first to know that he had a claim. 
 It was all discovered by a book, a sort of manuscript journal of his 
 great grandfather's, every entry of which he, Pracontal, believes to 
 be time as the Bible. He does not remember ever to have seen his 
 father, though he may have done so before he was put to the Naval 
 School at Genoa. Of his mother, he knows nothing. From all I 
 have seen of him, I'd say that you and he have only to meet to 
 become warm and attached friends ; and it's a thousand pities you 
 should leave to law and lawyers what a little forbearance, and a little 
 patience, and a disposition to behave generously on each side might 
 have settled at once and for ever. 
 
 " ' In this journal that I mentioned there were two pages 
 gummed together, by accident or design, and on one of these was a 
 sketch of a female figure in a great wreath of flowers, standing on a 
 sort of pedestal, on which w^as written, — " Behind this stone I have 
 deposited books or documents." I'm not sure of the exact words, 
 for they were in Italian, and it was all I could do to master the 
 meaning of the inscription. Now, Pracontal was so convinced that 
 these papers have some great bearing on his claim, that he asked me 
 to write to you to beg permission to make a search for them under 
 the painting at Castello, of which this rough sketch is evidently a 
 study. I own to you I feel little of that confidence that he reposes 
 in this matter. I do not believe in the existence of the papers, nor 
 see how, if there were any, that they could be of consequence. But 
 his mind was so full of it, and he was so persistent in saying, *' If I 
 thought this old journal could mislead me, I'd cease to believe my 
 right to be as good as I now regard it," that I thought I could not 
 do better, in your interest, than to take him with me to Sedley's, to 
 see what that shrewd old fox would say to him. P. agreed at once 
 to go ; and, what pleased me much, never thought of communicating 
 with his lawyer nor asking his advice on the step. 
 
 " ' Though I took the precaution to call on Sedley, and tell him 
 what sort of man P. was, and how prudent it would be to hear him 
 with a show of frankness and cordiality, that hard old dog was as stern 
 and as unbending as if he was dealing with a housebreaker. He said he 
 had no instructions from you to make this concession ; that, though 
 he himself attached not the slightest importance to any paper that 
 might be found, were he to be consulted, he would unquestionably 
 refuse this permission ; that Mr. Bramleigh knew his rights too well 
 to be disposed to encourage persons in frivolous litigation ; and that 
 the coming trial would scatter these absurd pretensions to the winds>
 
 THE LETTEK BAG. 361 
 
 and convince M. Pracontal and his friends that it would be better to 
 address himself seriously to the business of life than pass his existence 
 in prosecuting a hopeless and impossible claim. 
 
 " ' I was much provoked at the sort of lecturing tone the old man 
 assumed, and struck with astonishment at the good-temper and good- 
 breeding with which the other took it. Only once he showed a slight 
 touch of resentment, when he said, " Have a care, sir, that, while 
 disparaging my pretensions, you sufler nothing to escape you that 
 shall reflect on the honour of those who belong to me. I will overlook 
 everything that relates to vw. I will pardon nothing that insults their 
 memory." This finished the interview, and we took our leave. "We 
 have not gained much by this step," said Pracontal, laughing, as we 
 left the house. " "Will you now consent to write to Mr. Bramleigh, 
 for I don't believe he would refuse my request ? " I told him I would 
 take a night to think over it, and on the same evening came a tele- 
 gram from Ireland to say that some strange discoveries were just 
 being made in the Lisconnor mine ; that a most valuable "lode" had 
 been artificially closed up, and that a great fraud had been practised 
 to depi'cciate the value of the mine, and throw it into the market as 
 a damaged concern, while its real worth was considerable. They 
 desired me to go over at once and report, and Pracontal, knowing 
 that I should be only a few miles from Bishop's Folly, to which 
 ho clings with an attachment almost incredible, determined to 
 accompany me. 
 
 " ' I have no means of even guessing bow long I may be detained 
 in L-eland — possibly some weeks ; at all events let me have a line to 
 say you will give me this permission. I say "give ?«t' " because I 
 shall strictly confine the investigation to the limits I myself think 
 requisite, and in reality use the search as one means of testing what 
 importance may attach to this journal, on which Pracontal relies so 
 implicitly ; and in the event of the failure — that I foresee and would 
 risk a bet upon — I would employ the disappointment as a useful agent 
 in dissuading Pracontal from farther pursuit. 
 
 " ' I strongly urge you, therefore, not to withhold this permission. 
 It seems rash to say that a man ought to furnish his antagonist with 
 a weapon to fight him ; but you have always declared you want 
 nothing but an honest, fair contest, wherein the best man should win. 
 You have also said to me that you often doubted your own actual 
 sincerity. You can test it now, and by a touchstone that cannot 
 deceive. If you say to Pracontal, " There's the key, go in freely; 
 there is nothing to hide — nothing to fear," you will do more to 
 strengthen the ground you stand on than by all the eloquence of 
 your lawyer ; and if I know anything of this Frenchman, he is not
 
 3G2 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 the man to make an ill requital to such a generous confidence. 
 Whatever you decide on, reply at once. I have no time for 
 more, but will take my letter with me and add a lino when I reach 
 Ireland. 
 
 " ' Lisconnor, Friday Night. 
 " ' They were quite right ; there was a most audacious fraud con- 
 cocted, and a few days will enable me to expose it thoroughly. I'm 
 glad Lord Culduff had nothing to say to it, but more for your sake 
 than his. The L'Estranges are safe ; they'll have every shilling of 
 their money, and with a premium, too.' " 
 
 Nelly laid down the letter and looked over to where George and 
 his sister sat, still and motionless. It was a moment of deep 
 fueling and intense relief, but none could utter a word. At last Julia 
 said, — 
 
 " What a deal of kindness there is in that man, and how hard 
 we felt it to believe it, just because he was vulgar. I declare I 
 believe we must be more vulgar still to attach so much to form and 
 so little to fact." 
 
 " There is but one line more," said Nelly, turning over the page. 
 
 " ' Pracontal has lost all his spirits. He has been over to see a 
 place belonging to a Mr. Longworth here, and has come back so sad 
 and depressed as though the visit had renewed some great sorrow. 
 We have not gone to 13ishop's Folly yet, but mean to drive over there 
 to-morrow. Once more, write to me. 
 
 " ' Yours ever, 
 
 " ' T. CUTBILL.' " 
 
 "I shall not give this permission," said Bramleigh, thought- 
 fully. " Sedley's opinion is decidedly adverse, and I shall abide 
 by it." 
 
 Now, though he said these words with an air of apparent 
 determination, he spoke in reality to provoke discussion and hear 
 what others might say. None, however, spoke, and he waited some 
 minutes. 
 
 " I wish you would say if you agree with me," cried he at last. 
 
 " I suspect very few would give the permission," said Julia, " bat 
 that you are one of that few I believe also." 
 
 " Yes, Gusty," said Nelly. " Refuse it, and what becomes of 
 that fair spirit in which you have so often said you desired to meet 
 this issue ? "
 
 THE LETTER BAG. 363 
 
 " AYhat docs George say ? " asked Bramleigli. *' Let's hear the 
 Church." 
 
 " Well," said L'Estrange, iu that hesitating, uncertain ^vay he 
 usually spoke in, " if a man were to say t) me, * I think I gave you a 
 sovereign too much in change just now. Will you search your purse, 
 and see if I'm not right ? ' I suppose I'd do so." 
 
 " And of course you mean that if the restitution rose to giving 
 back some thousands a year, it vrould be all the same ? " said 
 Julia. 
 
 " It would be harder to do, perhaps — of course ; I mean — but I 
 hope I could do it." 
 
 " And J," said Bramleigh, in a tone that vibrated with feeling, 
 " I hoped a few days back that no test to my honesty or my sincerity 
 would have been too much for me — that all I asked or cared for was 
 that the truth should prevail — I find myself now prevaricating with 
 myself, hair-splitting, and asking have I a right to do this, that, or 
 t'other ? I declare to heaven, when a man takes refuge in that self- 
 put question, ' Have I the right to do something that inclination tells 
 me not to do ? ' he is nearer a contemptible action than ho knows of. 
 And is there not one here will say that I ought, or ought not, to refuse 
 this request ? " 
 
 " I do not suppose such a request was ever made before," said 
 L'Estrange. " There lies the real difliculty of deciding what cue 
 should do." 
 
 " Here's a note from ]\Ir. Sedley," cried Nelly. " Is it not possible 
 that it may contain something that will guide us ? " 
 
 " By all means read Sedley," said Bramleigh. And she opened 
 and read : — 
 
 ^' ' Dear Sie,— 
 
 "*A Mr. Cutbill presented himself to me here last week, 
 alleging he was an old and intimate friend of yours, and showing 
 unquestionable signs of being well acquainted with your affairs. He 
 was accompanied b}' M. Pracontal, and came to request permission 
 to make searches at Castello for certain documents which he declared 
 to be of great importance to the establishment of his claim. I will 
 not stop to say what I thought, or indeed said, of such a proposal, 
 exceeding in effrontery anytliiug I had ever listened to. 
 
 " ' Of course I not only refused this permission, but declared I 
 would immediately write to you, imploring you, on no account or 
 through any persuasion, to yield to it. 
 
 " ' They left me, and apparently so disconcerted and dissuaded by 
 my reception that I did not believe it necessary to address you on
 
 364 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 the subject. To my amazement, however, I learn from Kelson this 
 morning that they actually did gain entrance to the house, and, by 
 means which I have not yet ascertained, prosecuted the search they 
 desired, and actually discovered the church registers of Portshannon, 
 in one page of which is the entry of the marriage of Montague Bram- 
 leigh and Enrichetta Lami, with the name of the officiating clergyman 
 and the attendant witnesses. Kelson forwards me a copy of this, 
 while inviting me to inspect the original. My first step, however, has 
 been to take measures to proceed against these persons for robbery ; 
 and I have sent over one of my clerks to Ireland to obtain due infor- 
 mation as to the events that occurred, and to institute proceedings 
 immediately. I do not believe that they committed a burglary, but it 
 was a felonious entry all the same. 
 
 " * The important fact, however, lies in this act of registra- 
 tion, which, however fraudulently obtained, will be formidable 
 evidence on a trial. You are certainly not happy in your choice of 
 friends, if this Mr. Cutbill be one of them ; but I hope no false 
 sentiment will induce you to step between this man and his just 
 punishment. He has done you an irreparable mischief, and by 
 means the most shameful and inexcusable. I call the mischief 
 irreparable, since, looking to the line of argument adopted by our 
 leading counsel on the last trial, the case chiefly turned on the 
 discredit that attached to this act of marriage. I cannot therefore 
 exaggerate the mischief this discovery has brought us. You must 
 come over at once. The delay incurred by letter writing, and the 
 impossibility of profiting by any new turn events may take, renders 
 your presence here essential, and without it I declare I cannot 
 acceiDt any further responsibility in this case. 
 
 " ' A very flippant note from Mr. Cutbill has just reached me. 
 He narrates the fact of the discovered books, and says, " It is not 
 too late for B. to make terms. Send for him at once, and say that 
 Count P. has no desire to push him to the wall." It is very hard 
 to stomach this man's impertinence, but I hesitate now as to what 
 course to take regarding him. Let me hear by telegraph that you 
 are coming over : for I repeat that I will not engage myself to 
 assume the full responsibility of the case, or take any decisive step 
 without your sanction.' " 
 
 " What could Cutbill mean by such conduct?" cried Nelly. 
 " Do you understand it at all. Gusty ? " Bramleigh merely shook 
 his head in token of negative. 
 
 " It all came of the man's meddlesome disposition," said Julia. 
 " The mischievous people of the world are not the malevolent —
 
 THE LETTER LAG. 365 
 
 they only do harm with au object : but the mecldling creatures 
 are at it day and night, scattering seeds of trouble out of very 
 idleness." 
 
 " Ju's right," said George; but in such a tone of habitual 
 approval that set all the rest laughing. 
 
 " I need not discuss the question of permitting the search," 
 said Bramleigh ; " these gentlemen have saved me that. The only 
 point now open is, shall I go over to England or not? " 
 
 " Go by all means," said Julia, eagerly. " Mr. Sedley's advice 
 cannot be gainsayed." 
 
 " But it seems to me our case is lost," said he, as his eyes 
 turned to Nelly, whose face expressed deep sorrow. 
 
 " I fear so," said she, in a faint whisper. 
 
 " Then why ask me to lefave this, and throw myself into a 
 hopeless contest ? Why am I to quit this spot, where I have 
 found peace and contentment, to encounter the struggle that, even 
 with all my conviction of failure, will still move me to hope and 
 expectancy ? " 
 
 " Ju-st because a brave soldier fights even after defeat seems 
 certain," said Julia. " More than one battle has been won from 
 those who had already despatched news of their victory." 
 
 " You may laugh at me, if you like," said L'Estrange, " but 
 Julia is right there." And they did laugh, and the laughter was so 
 far good that it relieved the terrible tension of their nerves, and 
 rallied them back to ease and quietude. 
 
 " I see," said Bramleigh, " that you all think I ought to go over 
 to England ; and though none of you can know what it will cost me 
 in feeling, I will go." 
 
 " There's a messenger from the Podestu of Cattaro waiting all 
 this time, Gusty, to know about this English sailor they have 
 arrested. The authorities desire to learn if you will take him off 
 their hands." 
 
 " George is my vice-consul. He shall deal with him," said 
 Bramleigh, laughing, " for as the steamer touches at two o'clock, I 
 shall be run sharp to catch her. If any one will help me to pack, 
 I'll be more than grateful." 
 
 " We'll do it in a committee of the whole house," said Julia, 
 " for when a man's trunk is once corded he never goes back of his 
 journey."
 
 366 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 THE PRISONER AT CATTARO. 
 
 So mucli occnpied and interested were the little liouseliold of the 
 villa in Bramleigli's departure — there were so many things to be 
 done, so many things to be remembered — that L'Estrange never 
 once thought of the messenger from the Podesta, who still waited 
 patiently for bis answer. 
 
 " I declare," said Julia, " that poor man is still standing in the 
 ball. For pity's sake, George, give him some answer, and send him 
 away." 
 
 " But what is the ansv/er to be, Ju ? I have not the faintest 
 notion of how these cases are dealt with." 
 
 " Let us look over what that great book of instructions says. I 
 used to read a little of it every day when we came first, and I 
 worried Mr. Bramleigh so completely with my superior knowledge 
 that he carried it off and hid it." 
 
 " Oh, I remember now. He told me he had left it at the consulate, 
 for that you were positively driving him distracted with oliicial 
 details." 
 
 "How ungrateful men are! They never know what good 
 * nagging ' does them. It is the stimulant that converts half the 
 sluggish people in the v/orld into reasonably active individuals." 
 
 " Perhaps we are occasionally over-stimulated," said George, drily. 
 
 "If so, it is by your own vanity. Men are spoiled by their 
 fellowmen, and not by women. There now, you look very much 
 puzzled at that paradox — as you'd like to call it — but go away and 
 think over it, and say this evening if I'm not right." 
 
 "Very likely you are," said he, in his indolent way; "but 
 whether or not, you always beat me in a discussion." 
 
 " And this letter from the Podesta ; who is to reply, or what is 
 the reply to be ? " 
 
 " Well," said he, after a pause, "I think of the two I'd rather 
 speak bad Italian than write it. I'll go down and see the Podesta." 
 
 "There's zeal and activity," said Julia, laughing. "Never 
 disparage the system of nagging after that. Poor George," said she 
 as she looked after him while he sat out for Cattaro, " he'd have a 
 stouter heart to ride at a six-foot wall than for the interview that is 
 now before him." 
 
 "And yet," said Nelly, " it was only a moment ago you were 
 talking to him about his vanity."
 
 THE PRISONER AT CATTARO. oG7 
 
 " And I might as ^-ell have talked about bis wealth. But 3-ou'd 
 spoil him, Nelly, if I Avasu't here to prevent it. These indolent men 
 get into the way of believing that languor and laziness arc good 
 temper, and as George is really a fine-hearted fellow, I'm angry 
 when he falls back upon his lethargy for his character, instead of 
 trusting, as he could and as he ought, to his good qualities." 
 
 Nelly blushed, but it was with pleasure. This praise of cue she 
 liked — liked even better than she herself knew — vras iutcnso enjoy- 
 ment to her. 
 
 Let us now turn to L'Estrauge, who strolled along towards 
 Cattaro — now stopping to gather the wild ancmonies which, in eveiy 
 splendid variety of colour, decked the sward — now loitering to gaze 
 at the blue sea, which lay still and motionless at his feet. There was 
 that voluptuous sense of languor in the silence — the loaded perfume 
 of the air — the drowsy hum of insect life — the faint plash with which 
 the sea, unstirred by wind, washed the shore — that harmonized to 
 perfection with his owti nature ; and could he but have had Nelly at 
 his side to taste the happiness with him, he would have deemed it 
 exquisite, for, poor fellow, he was in love after his fashion. It was 
 not an ardent impulsive passion, but it consumed him slowlv and 
 certainly, all the same. He knew well that his present life of 
 indolence and inactivity could not, ought not, to continue — that with- 
 out some prompt effort on his part his means of subsistence would be 
 soon exhausted ; but as the sleeper begs that he may be left to 
 slumber on, and catch up, if he may, the dream that has just been 
 broken, he seemed to entreat of Fate a little longer of the delicious 
 trance in which he now was living. His failures in life had deepened 
 in him that sense of humility which in coarse natures turns to mis- 
 anthropy, but in men of finer mould makes them gentle, and sub- 
 missive, and impressionable. His own humble opinion of himself 
 deprived him of all hope of winning Nelly's affection, but he saw — 
 or he thought he saw — in her that love of simple pleasures and of a 
 life removed from all ambitions, that led him to believe she would not 
 regard his pretensions with disdain. And then he felt that, thrown to- 
 gether into that closer intimacy their poverty had brought about, he had 
 maintained towards her a studious deference and respect wliich had 
 amounted almost to coldness, for he dreaded that she should think 
 he would have adventured, in their fallen fortunes, on what he would 
 never have dared in their high and palmy days. 
 
 " Well," said he, aloud, as he looked at the small fragment of 
 an almost finished cigar, " I suppose it is nigh over now ! I shall 
 have to go and seek my fortune in Queensland, or Now Zealand, or 
 some far-away country, and all I shall carry with me will be the
 
 368 THE BRAMLEIGIIS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 memory of this dream — for it is a dream — of our life here. I wonder 
 shall I over, as I have seea other men, throw myself into my work, 
 and efflice the thought of myself, and of my own poor weak nature, 
 in the higher interests that will press on me for action." 
 
 What should he do if men came to him for guidance, or counsel, 
 or consolation. Could he play the hypocrite, and pretend to give 
 what he had not got ? or tell them to trust to what he bitterly knew 
 was not the sustaining principle of his own life ? " This shall be so 
 no longer," cried he ; " if I cannot go heart and soul into my work, 
 I'll turn farmer or fisherman. I'll be what I can be without shame 
 and self-reproach. One week more of this happiness — one week — 
 and I vow to tear myself from it for ever." 
 
 As he thus muttered, he found himself in the narrow street that 
 led into the centre of the little town, which, blocked up by fruit-stalls 
 and fish-baskets, required all his address to navigate. The whole 
 population, too, were screaming out their wares in the shrill cries of 
 the South, and invitations to buy were blended with droll sarcasms 
 on rival productions and jeering comments on the neighbours. 
 Though full of deference for the unmistakable signs of gentleman in 
 his appearance, they did not the less direct their appeals to him as 
 he passed, and the flatteries on his handsome face and graceful figure 
 mingled with the praises of whatever they had to sell. 
 
 Half amused, but not a little flurried by all the noise and tumult 
 around him, L'Estrange made his way through the crowd till he 
 reached the dingy entrance which led to the still dingier stair of the 
 Podestk's residence. 
 
 L'Estrange had scarcely prepared the speech in which he should 
 announce himself as charged with consular functions, when he found 
 himself in presence of a very dirty little man, with spectacles and a 
 skull cap, whose profuse civilities and ceremonious courtesies actually 
 overwhelmed him. He assured L'Estrange that there were no words 
 in Italian — nor even in German, for he spoke in both — which could 
 express a fractional part of the affliction he experienced in enforcing 
 measures that savoured of severity on a subject of that great nation 
 which had so long been the faithful friend and ally of the imperial 
 house. On this happy pohtical union it was clear he had prepared 
 himself historically, for he gave a rapid sketch of the first empire, 
 and briefly threw off" a spirited description of the disastrous con- 
 sequences of the connection with France, and the passing estrange- 
 ment from Great Britain. By this time, what between the difficulties 
 of a foreign tongue, and a period with which the poor parson was 
 not, historically, over conversant, he was completely mystified and 
 bewildered. At last the great functionary condescended to become
 
 THE PRISONER AT CATTARO. 3GS 
 
 practical. Ho proceeded to narrate that an Euglisli sailor, who haci 
 been landed at Ragusa by somo Greek coasting-vessel, had conio 
 over on foot to Cattaro to find his consul as a means of obtaining 
 assistance to reach England. There were, however, suspicious 
 circuui stances about the man that warranted the police in arresting 
 him and carrying him otf to prison. First of all, he was very poor, 
 almost in rags, and emaciated to a degree little short of starvation. 
 These were signs that vouched little for a man's character ; indeed, 
 the Podesta thought them damaging in the last degree ; but there 
 were others still worse. There were marks on his wrists and ankles 
 which showed he had lately worn manacles and fetters — unmistakable 
 marks ; marks which the practised eye of gendarmes had declare i 
 must have been produced by the heavy chains worn by galley-slaves 
 so that the man was, without doubt, an escaped convict, and might 
 be, in consequence, a very dangerous individual. 
 
 As the prisoner spoke neither Italian nor German there was no 
 means of interrogating him. They had therefore limited themselves 
 to taking him into custody, and now held him at the disposal of the 
 consular authority, to deal with him as it might please. 
 
 " ]\[ay I see him ? " asked L'Estrange. 
 
 *']>yall means; he is here. We have had him brought from 
 the prison awaiting your excellency's arrival. Perhaps you would 
 like to have him handcuffed before he is introduced. The brigadier 
 recommends it." 
 
 " No, no. If the poor creature be in the condition you tell me,, 
 he cannot be dangerous." And the stalwart curate threw a down- 
 ward look at his own brawny proportions with a satisfied smile that 
 did not show much fear. 
 
 The brigadier whispered something in the Podcsta's ear in a low 
 tone, and the great man then said aloud, — " He tells me that he 
 could slip the handcufts on him now quite easily, for the prisoner is 
 sound asleep, and so overcome by fatigue that he hears nothing." 
 
 " Xo, no," reiterated L'Estrange. " Let us have no handcuffs ; 
 and with your good permission, too, I would ask another favour : let 
 the poor fellow take his sleep oiit. It will be quite time enough foi' 
 me to see him when he awakes." 
 
 The Podesta turned a look of mingled wonder and pity on the 
 man who could show such palpable weakness in official life ; but he 
 evidently felt he could not risk his dignity by concurrence in such a 
 line of conduct. 
 
 "If your Excellency," said ho, "'tells me it is in this wise- 
 prisoners arc treated in your country I have no more to say." 
 
 "Well, well; let him bo brought up," said L'Estrange, 
 
 24
 
 870 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 hastily, and more thaa ever anxious to get free of this Austrian 
 Dogberry. 
 
 Nothing more was said on either side while the brigadier went 
 down to bring up the prisoner. The half-darkened room, the still- 
 ness, the mournful ticking of a clock that made the silence more 
 significant, all impressed L'E strange with a mingled feeling of 
 ■weariness and depression ; and that strange melancholy that steals 
 over men at times, when all the events of human life seem sad- 
 coloured and dreary, now crept over him, when the shuffling sounds 
 of feet, and the clanging of a heavy sabre, apprised him that the 
 escort was approaching. 
 
 " We have no treaty with any of the Italian Governments," said 
 the Podesta, " for extradition; and if the man be a galley-slave, as 
 we suspect, we throw all the responsibility of his case on you." As he 
 spoke, the door opened, and a young man with a blue flannel shirt and 
 linen trousers entered, freeing himself from the hands of the gendarmes 
 with a loose shake, as though to say, " In presence of my country- 
 men in authority, I owe no submission to these." He leaned on the 
 massive rail that formed a sort of barrier in the room, and with one 
 hand pushed back the long hair that fell heavily over his face. 
 
 " "What account do you give of yourself, my man ? " said 
 L'Estiange, in a tone half-commanding, half- encouraging. 
 
 " I have come here to ask my consul to send me on to England, 
 or to some seaport where I may find a British vessel," said the man, 
 and his voice was husky and weak, like that of one just cut of 
 illness. 
 
 " How did you come to these parts ? " asked L'Estrange. 
 " I was picked up at sea by a Greek trabaccolo, and landed at 
 Antivari ; the rest of the way I came on foot." 
 
 " Were you cast away ? or how came' it that you were picked up ? " 
 " I made my escape from the Bagui at Ischia. I had been a 
 galley-slave there." The bold effrontery of the declaration was made 
 still more startling by a sort of low laugh which followed his words. 
 
 " You seem to think it a light matter to have been at the galleys, 
 my friend," said L'Estrange, half reprovingly. " How did it happen 
 that an Englishman should be in such a discreditable position ? " 
 
 " It's a long story — too long for a hungry man to tell," said the 
 sailor ; " perhaps too long for your own patience to listen to. At 
 ftll events, it has no bearing on my present condition." 
 
 " I'm not so sure of that, my good fellow. Men are seldom 
 sentenced to the galleys for light offences ; and I'd like to know 
 something of the man I'm called on to befriend." 
 
 "I make you the same answer I gave btforc, — the story would
 
 THE rniSONER AT CATTARO. 371 
 
 take more time than I have well strength for. Do you know," said 
 ho, earnestly, and in a voice of touching significance, "it is twenty- 
 eight hours since I have tasted food ? " 
 
 L'Estrange leaned forward in his chair, like one expecting to 
 hear more, and eager to catch the words aright ; and then rising, 
 walked over to the rail where the prisoner stood. " You have not 
 told me your name," said he, in a voice of kindly meaning. 
 
 " I have been called Sam Rogers for some time back; audi 
 mean to be Sam Rogers a little longer." 
 
 " But it is not your real name ? " asked L'Estrange, eagerly. 
 
 The other made no reply for some seconds ; and then moving his 
 hand carelessly through his hair, said, in a half-reckless way, "I 
 declare, sir, I can't see what you have to do with my name, whether 
 I be Sam Rogers, or — or — anything else I choose to call myself. To 
 you — I behove, at least — to yoa I am simply a distressad British 
 sailor." 
 
 " And you are Jack Bramleigh ? " said L'Estrange, in a low 
 tone, scarcely above a whisper, while he grasped the sailor's hands, 
 and shook them warmly. 
 
 " And who are you '? " said Jack, in a voice shaken and faltering. 
 
 " Don't you know me, my poor dear fellow ? Don't you remember 
 George L'Estrange ? " 
 
 "What between emotion and debility, this speech unmanned him 
 so that he staggered back a couple of paces, and sank down heavily, 
 not fainting, but too weak to stand, too much overcome to utter. 
 
 CHAPIER LYI. 
 
 AT LADY AUGUST a's. 
 
 "The Count Pracontal, my lady," said a very grave-looking groom 
 of the chambers, as Lady Augusta sat watching a small golden 
 squirrel swinging by his tail from the branch of a cameiia tree. 
 
 " Say I am engaged, Ilislop — particularly engaged. I do not 
 receive — or, wait ; tell him I am much occupied, but if he is quite 
 sure his visit shall not exceed live minutes, he may come in." 
 
 Count Pracontal seemed as though the permission had reached 
 his own cars, for he entered almost immediately, and, bowing deeply 
 and deferentially, appeared to wait leave to advance further into the 
 room. 
 
 " Let me have my chocolate, Hislop ; " and, as the man with-
 
 372 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BlSHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 drew, she pointed to a chair, and said, " There. AVheu did you 
 came back ? " 
 
 Pracontal, however, had dropped on his knee before her, and 
 pressed her hand to his lips with a fervid devotion, saying, " How I 
 have longed and waited for this moment." 
 
 " I shall ring the bell, sir, if you do not be seated immediately. 
 I asked when you returned ? " 
 
 " An hour ago, my lady — less than an hour ago. I did not dare 
 to -write ; and then I wished to be myself the bearer of my own good 
 news." 
 
 " What good news are these ? " 
 
 " That I have, if not won my suit, secured the victory. The 
 registries have been discovered — found in the very spot indicated in 
 the journal. The entries are complete ; and nothing is wanting to 
 establish the legality of the marriage. Oh, I entreat you, do not listen 
 to me so coldly. You know well for what reason I prize this success. 
 You know well what gives its brightest lustre in my eyes." 
 
 " Pray be narrative now — the emotional can be kept for some other 
 time. Who says that this means success ? " 
 
 " My lawyer, Mr. Kelson. He calls the suit won. He proves his 
 belief, for he has advanced me money to pay off my debt to Long- 
 worth, and to place me in a position of ease and comfort." 
 
 " And what is Kelson ; is he one of the judges ? " 
 
 " Of course not. He is one of the leading solicitors of London ; a 
 very grave, thoughtful, cautious man. I have shown you many of his 
 letters. You must remember him." 
 
 "No; I never remember people; that is, if they have not 
 personally interested me. I think you have grown thin. You look 
 as if you had been ill." 
 
 " I have fretted a good deal — worried myself; and my anxiety about 
 you has made me sleepless and feverish." 
 
 " About me! Why, I was never better in my life." 
 
 "Your looks say as much ; but I meant my anxiety to lay my 
 tidings at your feet, and with them myself and my whole future." 
 
 " You may leave the chocolate there, Hislop," as the man entered 
 with a tray ; " unless Count Pracontal would like some." 
 
 " Thanks, my lady," said he, bowing his refusal. 
 
 " You are v/rong then," said she, as the servant withdi-ew. " Hislop 
 makes it with the slightest imaginable flavour of the cherry laurel ; 
 and it is most soothing. Isn't he a love '? " 
 
 "Hislop?" 
 
 " No, my darling squirrel yonder. The poor dear has been ill 
 these two days. He bit Sir Marcus Clufl', and that horrid creature
 
 AT LADY Augusta's. 373 
 
 seems to have disagreed with the darling, for he has pined ever since. 
 Don't caress him — he hates men, except Mousignore Alberti, whom, 
 probably he mistakes for an old lady. And what becomes of all the 
 Bramleighs — are they left penniless ? " 
 
 " By no means. I do not intend to press my claim farther than 
 the right to the estates. I am not going to proceed for — I forget the 
 legal word — the accumulated profits. Indeed, if Mr. Bramleigh be 
 only animated by the spirit I have heard attributed to him, there is 
 DO concession that I am not disposed to make him." 
 
 " What droll people Frenchmen are ! They dash their morality, 
 like their cookery, with something discrepant. They foucy it means 
 ' piquancy.' What, in the name of all romance, have you to do with 
 the Bramleighs ? Why all this magnanimity for people who certainly 
 have been keeping you out of what was your own, and treating your 
 claim to it as a knavery ? " 
 
 *' You might please to remember that we are related." 
 " Of course you are nothing of the kind. If you be the true 
 prince, the others must be all illegitimate a couple of generations 
 back. Perhaps I am embittered against them by that cruel fraud 
 practised on myself. I cannot bring myself to forgive it. Now, if 
 you really were that fine generous creature you want me to believe, 
 it is of me, of me, Lady Augusta Bramleigh, you would be thinking 
 all this while : how to secure me that miserable pittance they called 
 my settlement ; how to recompense me for the fatal mistake I made 
 in my marriage ; how to distinguish between the persons who fraudu- 
 lently took possession of your property, and the poor harmless victim 
 of their false pretensions." 
 
 " And is not this what I am here for ? Is it not to lay my whole 
 fortune at your feet ? " 
 
 "A very pretty phrase, that doesn't mean anything like what it 
 pretends ; a phrase borrowed from a vaudeville, and that ought to be 
 I'estored to where it came from." 
 
 " Lord and Lady Culduff, my lady, wish to pay their respects." 
 " They arc passing through," said Lady Augusta, reading the 
 words written in pencil on the card presented by the servant. " Of 
 course I must see them. You needn't go away. Count ; but I shall 
 not present you. Yes, Hislop, tell her ladyship I am at home. I 
 declare you are always compromising me. Sit over yonder, and read 
 your newspaper, or play with Felice." 
 
 She had barely finished these instructions when the doulde door 
 was flung wide, and Marion swept proudly in. Her air and toilette 
 were both quecnlike, and, indeed, her beauty was not less striking than 
 cither. Lord Culduft" followed, a soft pleasant smile on his face. It
 
 374 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 might do service in many ways, for it was equally ready to mean 
 sweetness or sarcasm, as occasion called for. 
 
 When the ladies had kissed twice, and liis lordship had saluted 
 Lady Augusta with a profound respect, dashed with a sort of devotion, 
 Marion's eyes glanced at the stranger, who, though he arose, and only 
 reseated himself as they sat down, neither lifted his glance nor seemed 
 to notice them further. 
 
 " We are only going through ; we start at two o'clock," said she, 
 hurriedly. 
 
 " At one-forty, my lady," said Lord CuldufF, with a faint smile, 
 as though shocked at heing ohliged to correct her. 
 
 " It was so kind of you to come," said Lady Augusta ; " and you 
 only arrived this morning ? " 
 
 " We only arrived ha!f-an-hour ago." 
 
 " I must order you some lunch ; I'm sure you can eat 
 something." 
 
 " My lady is hungi-y ; she said so as we came along," said Lord 
 Culdufif', " allow me to ring for you. As for myself, I take 
 Liebig's lozenges and a spoonful of Curagoa — nothing else — before 
 dinner." 
 
 "It's so pleasant to live with people who arc ' dieted,' " said Marion, 
 with a sneering emphasis on the word. 
 
 " So, I hear from Bramleigh," interposed Lord Culduff, " that 
 this man — I forget his name — actually broke into the house at Castello, 
 and carried away a quantity of papers." 
 
 " My lord, as your lordship is so palpably referring to me, and as 
 I am quite sure you are not aware of my identity, may I hasten to 
 say I am Count Pracontal de Bramleigh ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! have I forgotten to present 3'ou ? " said Lady Augusta, 
 with a perfect simplicity of manner. 
 
 Marion acknowledged the introduction by the slightest imaginable 
 bow and a look of cold defiance ; while Lord Culduti" smiled blandly, 
 and professed his regret if he had uttered a word that could occasiou 
 pain. 
 
 " Love and war are chartered libertines, and why not law ? " said 
 the Viscount. " I take it that all stratagems are available ; the great 
 thing is, they should be successful." 
 
 " Count Pracontal declares that he can pledge himself to the 
 result," said Lady Augusta. " The case, in fact, as he represents it, 
 is as good as determined." 
 
 " Has a jury decided, then ? " asked CuldufF. 
 
 " No, my lord ; the trial comes on next term. I only repeat the 
 assurance given me by my lawyer ; and so fur confirmed by him that
 
 AT LADY AUGUSTA S. 375 
 
 he has made mo large advance?, which he well kno'n-s I could not 
 repay if I shouhl not gain my cause." 
 
 " These are usually cautious people," said the Viscount, 
 gravely. 
 
 " It strikes me," said Marion, rising, " that this sort of desultory 
 conversation on a matter of such importance is, to say the least, in- 
 convenient. Even the presence of this gentleman is not suiBcient to 
 make rae forget that my family have always regarded his pretension 
 as something not very far from a fraud." 
 
 " I regret infinitely, madam," said Pi'acontal, howiug low, " that 
 it is not a man has uttered the words just spoken." 
 
 " Lady Culduff's words, sir, are all mine," said Lord Culdufi'. 
 
 " I thank your lordship from my heart for the relief you have 
 afforded me." 
 
 " There must he nothing of this kind," said Lady Augusta, warmly. 
 " If I have been remiss in not making Count Pracontal known to you 
 before, let me repair my error by presenting him now as a gentleman 
 who makes me the offer of his hand." 
 
 " I wish you good morning," said Marion. " No, thank you ; no 
 luncheon. Your ladyship has given me fully as much for digestion as 
 I care for. Good-hy." 
 
 " If my congratulations could only shadow forth a vision of all the 
 happiness I wish j'our ladyship," began Lord Culduli". 
 
 " I think I know, my lord, what you would say," broke she in, 
 laughingly. " You would like to have uttered something veiy neat 
 on well-assorted unions. There could be no better authority on such 
 a subject ; but Count Pracontal is toleration itself: he lets me tell 
 my friends that I am about to marry him for money, just as I marrlc 1 
 poor Colonel Bramlcigh for love." 
 
 "I am waiting for you, my lord. We have already trespassed 
 too far on her ladyship's time and occupations." The sneering 
 emphasis on the last word was most distinct. Lord Culduff kissed 
 Lady Augusta's hand with a most devoted show of respect, and 
 slowly retired. 
 
 As the door closed after them, Pracontal fell at her feet, and 
 covered her hand with kisses. 
 
 " There, there, count ; I have paid a high price for that piece of 
 impertinence I have just uttered ; but when I said it, I thought it 
 would have given her an apoplexy." 
 
 " But you are mine — you are my own ! " 
 
 " Nous en parlerons. The papers arc full of breaches of promise ; 
 and if you want me to keep mine, you'll not make it odious to me Ly 
 tormenting me about it."
 
 37G THE BRAMLEIGHS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " But, my lady, I liave a lieart ; a heart that woulil be broken 
 by a betrayal." 
 
 " What a strange heart for a Frenchman ! About as suitable to 
 the Boulevards Italiens as snow shoes to the tropics. Monsieur de 
 Pracontal," said she, in a much graver tone, "please to bear 
 in mind that I am a very considerable item in such an arrange- 
 ment as we spoke of. The ivltole question is not what would make 
 you happy." 
 
 Pracontal bowed low in silence ; his gesture seemed to accept 
 her words as a command to be obeyed, and he did not utter a 
 syllable. 
 
 " Isn't she handsome ? " cried she, at length. " I declare, count, 
 if one of your countrywomen had a single one of the charms of that 
 beautiful face she'd be turning half the heads in Europe ; and 
 Marion can do nothing with them all, except drive other women wild 
 with euvv." 
 
 CHAPTER LYII. 
 
 AT THE INX AT CATTARO. 
 
 When L'Estrange had carried off Jack Bramleigh to the iun, and 
 had seen him engaged with an excellent breakfast, he despatched a 
 messenger to the villa to say that he was not to be expected home by 
 dinner-time, but would be back to tea "with a friend," for whom he 
 begged Gusty Bramleigh's room might be prepared. 
 
 I shall not delay to chronicle all the doubt, the discussion, and 
 the guessing that the note occasioned ; the mere fact that George had 
 ventured to issue an order of this kind without first consulting Julia, 
 investing the step with a degree of mysteriousness perfectly inscru- 
 table. I turn, however, to Cattaro, where L'Estrange and Jack sat 
 together, each so eager to hear the other's tidings as to bo almost 
 too impatient to dwell upon himself. 
 
 To account for their presence in this remote spot, George, as 
 briefly as he could, sketched the course of events at Castello, not 
 failing to lay due stress on the noble and courageous spirit with which 
 Augustus and Nelly had met misfortune. " All is not lost yet," said 
 L'Estrange ; " far from it ; but even if the worst should come, I do 
 not know of two people in the world who will show a stouter front to 
 adversity." 
 
 " And your sister, where is she ? " said Jack, in a voice scarce 
 above a whisper.
 
 AT THE INN AT CATTARO. 377 
 
 ** Here — at the villa." 
 
 "Not marriecl ? " 
 
 "No. I believe slie has changed less than any of us. She is 
 just what j-ou remember her." 
 
 It was not often that L'Estraugc attempted anything like adroit- 
 ness in expression, but ho did so here, and saw, in the heightened 
 colour and sparkling eye of the other, how thoroughly his speech had 
 succeeded. 
 
 " I wonder will she know me," said Jack, after a pause. " You 
 certainly did not at first." 
 
 " Nor, for that matter, did you recognize vie." 
 
 "Ah, but I did though," said Jack, passing his hand over his 
 brow, "but I had gone through so much, and my head was so 
 knocked about, I couldn't trust that my senses were not deceiving 
 me, and I thought if I make any egregious blunder now, these people 
 will set me down for mad. That was the state I was in the whole 
 time you were questioning me. I promise you it was no small 
 suffering while it lasted." 
 
 " My poor fellow, what trials you must have gone through to come 
 to this. Tell me by what mischance you were at Ischia." 
 
 With all a sailor's frankness, and with a modesty in speaking of 
 his own achievements just as sailor-like. Jack told the story of the 
 storm at Naples. 
 
 "I had no thought of breaking the laws," said he, bluntly. " I 
 saw ships foundering, and small craft turning keel uppermost ; on 
 every side of me there was disaster and confusion everywhei'e. I had 
 no time to inquire about the morals of the men I saw clinging to 
 hencoops or holding on by stretchers. I saved as many as 1 could, 
 and sorry enough I was to have seen many go down before I could 
 get near them ; and I was fairly beat when it was all over, or perhaps 
 they'd not have captured me so easily. At all events," said he, 
 after a minute's silence, " they might have let me off with a lighter 
 sentence, but my temper got the better of me in court, and when 
 they asked me if it was not true that I had made greater efforts to 
 save the galley-slaves than the soldiery, I told them it might have 
 been so, for the prisoners, chained and handcull'ed as they were, went 
 down like brave men, while the royal troops yelled and screamed like 
 a set of arrant cowards, and that whenever I pulled one of the 
 wretches out of the water I was half ashamed of my own humanity. 
 That speech settled me, at least the lawyer said so, and declared he 
 was afraid to say a word more in defence of a man that insulted the 
 tribunal and the nation together." 
 " And what was your sentence '? "
 
 878 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " Death, commuted to the galleys for life ; worse than any death ! 
 It's not the hardship or the labour, I mean. A sailor gncs through 
 more downright hard work on a blowy night than these fellows do in 
 a year. It is the way a man hrutaliscs when vice and crime make up 
 the whole atmosphere of his life. The devil has a man's heart all 
 his own, whenever hope deserts it, and you want to do wickedness 
 just because it is wickedness. For three weeks before I made my 
 escape it was all I could do not to dash the turnkey's brains out 
 when he made his night round. I told my comrade — the man I was 
 chained to — what I felt, and he said, ' We all go through that at 
 first, but when you're some years here you'll not cai-e for that or any- 
 thing.' I believe it was the terror of coming to that condition made 
 me try to escape. I don't know that I ever felt the same ecstacy of 
 delight that I felt as I found myself swimming in that fresh cold sea 
 in the silence of a calm starry night. I'm sure it will be a memory 
 that will last my lifetime. I thought of you all — I thought of long 
 ago, of our happy evenings, and I pictured to my mind the way we 
 used to sit around the fire, and I wondered what had become of my 
 place : was I ever remembered, was I spoken of; could it be that at 
 that very moment some one was asking, where was poor Jack ? And 
 how I wished you might all know that my last thoughts were upon 
 j-ou, that it was the dear old long ago was before me to the last. I 
 was seventeen hours in the watei". "When they picked me up I was 
 eenseless from a sun-stroke, for the corks floated me long after I gave 
 up swimming. I was so ill when I landed that I went to hospital ; 
 but there was little care given to the sick, and I left it when I was 
 able to walk, and came on here. Talk of luck, but I ask you was 
 there ever such a piece of fortune befell a man ? " 
 
 L'Estrange could not speak as he gazed on the poor fellow, over 
 whose worn and wasted features joy had lighted up a look of delight 
 that imparted an almost angelic elevation to his face. 
 
 " But can I go back like this ? " asked he, sorrowfully, as he 
 looked down at his ragged clothes and broken shoes. 
 
 " I have thought of all that. There is nothing to be had here 
 ready but IMontenegrin costume, so the landlord tells me, and you v>ill 
 have to figure in something very picturesque." 
 
 " Cannot I get a sailor's jacket and trousers ? " 
 
 " Aye, of Dalmatian cut and colour, but they'll not become you 
 as well as that green velvet attila and the loose hose of tho 
 mountaineer. Try if you can't take a sleep now, and when you awake 
 you'll find your new rig in that room yonder, where there's a bath 
 ready for you. I'll go down the town meanwhile, and do a few com- 
 missions, and we will set out homewards when you're rested."
 
 AT THE INN AT CATTARO. 379 
 
 " I -nisli it was over," said Jack, with a sigh. 
 
 " Wish what was over '? " 
 
 " I mean I wish the shock was over. The shock of seeing me 
 such an object as I am ! Sickness changes a man quite enough, 
 hut there's worse than tliat, George. I know what this rough life of 
 mine must have made of me. You won't say it, okl fellow, but I seo 
 it in your sad face all the same. I am — say it out, man — I am a 
 most disreputable-looking blackguard ! " 
 
 "I declare, on my honour, that, except the ravages of illness, I 
 SCO no change in you whatever." 
 
 " Look here," said Jack, as his voice trembled with a peculiar 
 agitation, " I'll see Xclly first. A man's sister can never be ashamed 
 of him, come what will. If Nelly shows — and she's not one to hide 
 it — that — no matter, I'll not say more about it. I see you're not 
 pleased with me laying stress on such a matter." 
 
 " Xo, no, you wrong me, Jack ; you wrong me altogether. My 
 poor fellow, we never were — we never had such good reason to be 
 proud of you as now. You arc a hero. Jack. You've done what all 
 Europe will ring with." 
 
 " Don't talk balderdash ; my head is weak enough already. If 
 you're not ashamed of the tatterdemalion that comes back to you, 
 it's more than I deserve. There now, go oft', and do your business, 
 and don't be long, for I'm growing very impatient to see them. Give 
 me something to smoke till 5'ou come back, and I'll try and be calm 
 and reasonable by that time." 
 
 If L'Estrange had really anything to do in the town he forgot all 
 about it, and trotted about from street to street, so fall of Jack aud 
 his adventures that he walked into apple- stalls and kicked over egg- 
 baskets amid the laughter and amusement of the people. 
 
 If he had told no more than the truth in saying that Jack was 
 still like what he had been, there were about him signs of sufl'ering 
 and hardship that gave a most painful significance to his look, aud 
 more painful than even these v/as the poor fellow's consciousness of 
 his fallen condition. The sudden pauses in speaking, the deep sigh 
 that would escape him, the almost bitter raillery he used when 
 speaking of himself, all showed how acutely he felt his altered 
 state. 
 
 L'Estrange was in no wise prepared for the change half an hour 
 had made in Jack's humour. The handsome dress of Montenegro 
 became him admirably, and the sailor-like freedom of his move- 
 ments went well with the easy costume. " Isn't this a most 
 appropriate transformation, George?" he cried out. "I came 
 iu here looking like a pickpocket, and I go out like a stage bandit I "
 
 380 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I declare it becomes you wonderfully. I'll wager the girls will 
 not let you wear any other dress." 
 
 " Ay, but my toilet is not yet completed. See what a gorgeous 
 scarf I have got here — green and gold, and with a gold fringe that 
 will reach to my boots, and the landlord insists on lending me his 
 own silver-mounted sabre. I say, old fellow, have you courage to 
 go through the town with me ? " 
 
 "You forget you are in the last fashion of the place; if they 
 stare at you now, it will be approvingly." 
 
 " What's the distance ? Are we to walk ? " 
 
 " Walk or drive, as you like best. On foot we can do it in an hour." 
 
 " On foot be it then ; for though I am very impatient to see 
 them, I have much to ask you about." 
 
 As they issued from the inn, it was, as L'Estrange surmised, to 
 meet a most respectful reception from the townsfolk, who regarded 
 Jack as a mountaineer chief of rank and station. They uncovered 
 and made way for him as he passed, and from the women especially 
 came words of flattering admiration at his handsome looks and 
 gallant bearing. 
 
 " Are they commenting on the ass in the lion's skin ? " said 
 Jack, in a sly whisper ; " is that what they are muttering to each 
 other ? " 
 
 " Quite the reverse. It is all in extravagant praise of you. 
 The police are on the alert, to : they think there must be mischief 
 brewing in the mountains, that has brought a great chief down to 
 Cattaro." 
 
 Thus chatting and laughing they gained the outskirts of the 
 town, and soon found themselves on one of the rural paths which 
 led up the mountain. 
 
 " Don't think me very stupid, George, or very tiresome," said 
 Jack, " if I ask you to go over again what you told me this morning. 
 Such strange things have befallen me of late that I can scarcely 
 distinguish between fact and fency. Now, first of all, have we lost 
 Castello — and who owns it ? " 
 
 "No. The question is yet to be decided; the trial will take 
 place in about two months." 
 
 " And if wc are beaten, does it moan that we are ruined ? Does 
 it sweep away Marion and Nelly's fortunes, too ? " 
 
 "I fear so. I know little accurately, but I believe the whole 
 estate is involved in the claim." 
 
 " Gusty bears it well, you say ! " 
 
 " Admirably. I never saw a man behave with such splendid 
 courage."
 
 AT THE IXN AT CATTARO. 381 
 
 " I'll not ask aLout Nelly, for I could swear for her pluck. She 
 was always the best of us." 
 
 If L'Estrauge drank in this praise with ecstacy, ho had to turn 
 away his head, lest the sudden flush that covered his face should 
 be observed. 
 
 "I have no wish to hear the story of this claim now ; you shall 
 tell it to me some other time. But just tell me, was it ever heard of 
 in my father's time ? " 
 
 "I believe so. Your father knew of it, but did not deem it 
 serious." 
 
 " Marion, of course, despises it still ; and what docs Temple 
 say?" 
 
 " One scarcely knows. I don't think they have had a letter from 
 him since they lei't Ireland." 
 
 " Sec what a wise fellow I was ! " cried he, laughing. " I sank 
 so low in life, that any change must be elevation. You are all 
 great folks to mcf' 
 
 There was a long and painful pause after this — each deep in his 
 own thoughts. At last Jack asked suddenly, " How is Marion ? Is 
 she happy in her marriage '? " 
 
 " We hear next to nothing of her ; the newspapers tell us of her 
 being at great houses and in fine company, but we know no more." 
 
 " Of course she's happy then. When she was a child, she would 
 only play with us if we made her a queen ; and though we often tried 
 to rebel, — we were great levellers in our way, — she always kept us 
 down, and whether we liked it or not, we had to admit the sovereignty." 
 
 " Your younger sister " — he did not call her Nelly — " was not of 
 this mould ? " 
 
 " Not a bit of it ; she was the peace -maker, always on the side 
 of the weak, and though she was a delicate child, she'd fight against 
 oppression with the passion of a tigress. Wasn't it strange ? " said- 
 he after a pause. " There we were, five of us, treated and reared 
 exactly alike ; in early life certainly there were no distinctions made, 
 nor any favouritism practised. We were of the same race and blood, 
 and yet no two of us were alike. Temple had perhaps some sort of 
 resemblance to Marion, but he had not her bold daring spirit. Where 
 she was courageous, hed have been crafty. Whatever good there 
 was amongst us, Nelly had it." 
 
 Another and longer pause now succeeded. " I say, George," 
 cried Jack at last, " how do you mean to break it to the girls that 
 I'm here ? I take it, poor Nelly's nerves must have suffered sorely 
 of late. Is she likely to stand a shock without injury ? " 
 
 " It is exactly what I'm trying to resolve this moment. Flushed
 
 382 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 with the walk, and cheered by the fresh air, you don't look sickly 
 uow." 
 
 " Ah, my dear fellow, that's not the worst of it. It is the sight 
 of me as recalling my fallen fortune, — that's what I fear for her ; her 
 last good-by to me was blended with joy at my promotion — I was 
 going to take up my command ! She has never seen me since my 
 disgrace." 
 
 " Don't call it that, Jack ; we all know there is no other blame 
 attaches to you than rashness." 
 
 " When rashness can make a man forget his condition, it's bad 
 enough ; but I'll not go back to these things. Tell me how I am to 
 meet her." 
 
 " Perhaps it would be best I should first see Julia, and tell her 
 you are here. I always like to ask her advice." 
 
 " I know that of old," said Jack v.ith a faint smile. 
 
 *' I'll leave you in the summer-house at the end of the garden 
 there, till I speak vrilh Julia." 
 
 " Not very long I hope." 
 
 " Not an instant ; she never requires a minute to decide on what 
 to do : follow me now along this path, and I'll place you in your 
 ambush. You'll not leave it till I come." 
 
 " What a lovely spot this seems, it beats Castello hollow ! " 
 
 " So we say every day. We all declare we'd like to pass our 
 lives here." 
 
 " Let me be one of the party, and I'll say nothing against the 
 project," said Jack, as he brushed through a hedge of sweet briar, 
 and descended a little slope, at the foot of which a shady summer- 
 house stood guardian over a well. "Remember now," cried he, 
 " not to tax my patience too far. I'll give you ten minutes, but I 
 won't v,"ait twenty." 
 
 L'Estrange lost no time in hastening back to the house. Julia, 
 he heard, was giving orders about the room for the stranger, and he 
 found her actively engaged in the preparation. " For whom am I 
 taking all this trouble, George ? " said she, as he entered. 
 
 " Guess, Julia, guess ! Whom would you say was best worth 
 it?" 
 
 " Not Mr. Cutbill, — whom Nelly fixed on, — not Sir Marcus 
 Clufi", whose name occurred to myself, nor oven the Pretender 
 Count Prucontal ; and nov/ 1 believe I have exhausted the category 
 of possible guests." 
 
 *' Not any of these," said he, dvawing her to his side. " Where 
 is Nelly?" 
 
 " She went down to "ather some roses."
 
 AT TIIK INX AT CATTAKO. 333 
 
 " Not iu tbe lower garJeu, I hojie," cried be, cagerl}'. 
 
 " Wherever she couhl liutl the best — but why not there ? and 
 •what do you mean by all this mystery ? " 
 
 " Go and fetch her here at once," cried he. " If she should 
 see him suddenly, the shock might do her great harm." 
 
 " See whom? see whom?" exclaimed she wildly. " Don't 
 torture me this way ! " 
 
 " Jack, her brother, Jack Bramleigh," and he proceeded to tell 
 how he had found him, and in what condition : but she heard nothing 
 of it all, for she had sunk down on a seat and sat sobbing with her 
 hands over her face, then suddenly wiping the tears away, she rose 
 up, and, while her voice trembled with each word, she said — " Is he 
 changed, George ? is he greatly changed ? " 
 
 '■ Changed ! yes, for he has been ill, and gone through all 
 manner of hardships, and now he is dressed like a Montenegro 
 chief, for we could get no other clothes, so that you'll scarcely know 
 him." 
 
 " Let us find Nelly at once," said she, moving towards the 
 door. " Come George, — come," and she was down the stairs, and 
 across the hall, and out at the door, before ho could follow her. 
 In her agitated manner, and rapid expression, it was evident she 
 was endeavouring to subdue the deep emotion of her heart, and, by 
 seeming to be occupied, to suppress the signs of that blendad joy 
 and sorrow which rack the nature more fatally than downright 
 misery. 
 
 " See, George, look there!" cried she wildly, as she pointed 
 down a straight alley, at the top of which they were standing. 
 " There they are. Nelly has her arm round him. They have 
 met, and it is all over;" and so saying, she hid her face on her 
 brother's shoulder and sobbed heavily ; meanwhile the two came 
 slowly forward, too much engaged with each other to notice those in 
 front of them. 
 
 CHAPTER LYIII. 
 
 THE VILLA LIFE. 
 
 It is not, at this the eleventh hour of my story, I can stop to dwell 
 on the life of the villa at Cattaro, though I am ii-ee to own it waS' 
 about the sunniest bit of landscape our long journey has offered us. 
 Seated or lying on the grass, under the shade of a broad- leaved
 
 384 TUE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 fig-tree, they listened to Jack's adventures, told with a quaint 
 humour, of which they who knew him well could appreciate every 
 shade and tint. In his days of prosperous fortune it was rare to 
 hear him speak of himself: the routine life he led seemed to develop 
 little or nothing of his real nature, hut now, dependent as he was 
 altogether on intrinsic qualities, for whatever estimation he might 
 ohtain, owing nothing to station, it was remarkable how his character 
 had widened and expanded, how his sympathies with his fellow-men 
 had increased. Though nothing could he farther from his nature 
 than any mawkish sentimentality, there was that show of trustfulness, 
 that degree of hopeful belief in the world at large, which occasionally 
 led Julia to banter him on his optimism, and this, be it said 
 passingly, was the only show of freedom between them ; their 
 manner to each other from the moment they met being marked by 
 a studied reserve on each side. 
 
 " And surely. Prince," said she, calling him by the title which, 
 in honour of his dress, they had given him, " surely you must have 
 met some charming creatures at the galleys. All the good qualities 
 of human nature were not reserved for the cockpit or the steerage, 
 or whatever it is." 
 
 " Aye, even at the galleys they weren't all bad, though it's not 
 exactly the sort of place men grow better in. I had a capital old 
 fellow as comrade, and, I take shame to say, I ought to have thought 
 of him before this. I say, George, have you any friends of influence 
 at Naples ? I wish I could get my old companion his liberty." 
 
 " George has gone in to write to Augustus," said Nelly ; " but 
 if Lord Culduff could answer your purpose, I'd ask Marion to interest 
 him in the matter." 
 
 " There's a dear gool girl, do write a lino to Marion ; tell her 
 it's the greatest favour she could bestow on me. The poor fellow is 
 a political criminal ; he only shot at the king I believe, and where 
 they do that every week or so it's hard to make it a capital 
 oifence. I'll give you his name and his number when I go into 
 the house." 
 
 " The post leaves early," said she, rising. " I must do this at 
 once." 
 
 " Wait till I have finished this corner of my netting and I'll 
 go with you," said Julia. 
 
 "I say No to that," cried Jack. "I'm not going to bo left 
 alone here. If that's the way you treat a distinguished guest, the 
 sooner he takes his leave the better. Stay where you arc. Miss Julia." 
 
 " But I shall have no work, Master Jack. My net mil be 
 finished in a few minutes."
 
 THE VILLA LIFE. 385 
 
 " Make cigarettes for me then. There's tlic bag," said be, 
 lazily. 
 
 " I declare our Bobemianism progresses famously," said she, 
 half tartly. " What do you think of this proposal, Nelly ? " The 
 question came late, however, for Nelly was already on ber way to 
 the bouse. 
 
 "Don't go, that's a good girl; don't leave me hero to my 
 own thoughts — they're not over jolly, I promise you, when I'm all 
 alone." 
 
 " Why, it's your good spirits that amaze me," replied she. " I 
 don't remember seeing you so cheerful or so merry long ago, as you 
 are now." 
 
 " You mean that I wasn't so happy when I bad more reason to 
 be so ? but what if I were to tell you out of what a sad heart this joy 
 comes ; how eveiy day I say to myself, ' This is to be the last of it.' 
 Not," said he, in a bolder voice, " that I want to think about myself; 
 this terrible disaster that has befallen my family is infinitely worse 
 than anything that can attach to vie. Even yet I cannot bring myself 
 to believe this great smash." She made no answer ; and he went 
 on : "I can't make out if Nelly herself believes it. You all wear 
 such cheerful faces, it's not easy to understand in what spirit you 
 take this reverse." 
 
 " I think that your return has recompensed Nelly for everything." 
 
 *' She was always the best of us ; it's no great praise that same ; 
 but I mean — but it's no matter what I mean, for you are laughing at 
 me already." 
 
 " No indeed, I was not. If I smiled it was in thinking how little 
 all your casualties have changed you." 
 
 " For that matter I suspect we may compliment or condemn each 
 other, whichever it be, on equal terms." 
 
 " So at last I have got you to say a civil thing to me : you tell 
 me I am the same delightful fascinating creature you knew me 
 long ago." 
 
 " I said nothing about fascination," said be, sternly. 
 
 "Not directly, of course. Your tact and delicacy were proof against 
 such indiscretion, but you know you meant it." 
 
 "Ill tell you what I know: I know that I never saw a girl 
 except yourself who liked to pain — aye, to torture— those who cared 
 for her ; who would infinitely rather indulge her mood of mockery 
 than — than ' ' 
 
 " Pray finish. It's not every day I have the fortune to bear 
 such candour. Tell me what it is that I postpone to my love of 
 sarcasm ? " .
 
 SSG THE EKA3ILEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " I've clone. I've been very rude to you, and I ask your pardon. 
 I -vvas not very polished in my best of days, and I take it my late 
 schooling has not done much to improve me. "When I was coming 
 here I swore an oath to myself that, no matter what you'd say to me, 
 I'd not lose temper, nor make a resentful answer to anything ; and 
 now I see I've forgotten all my good intentions, and the best thing 
 I can do is to ask you to forgive me, and go my ways." 
 
 "I'm not offended," said she, calmly, without raising her eyes. 
 ■" I suppose if the balance were struck between us, I did more to 
 provoke you than you did to wound ?»<'." 
 
 " What is this I hear about being provoked and wounded ? " 
 cried Nelly coming up to where they sat. 
 
 " Your brother and I have been quarrelling, that's all. We 
 thought it the pleasantest way to pass the time till you came back ; 
 ;md we have succeeded to perfection." 
 
 " I declare, Julia, this is too bad," cried Nelly. 
 
 " But why Julia ? Why am I singled out as the culprit ? Is 
 he so above reproach that he could not be in the wrong ? " 
 
 "I know I was in the wrong, and I've said so, but now let Nelly 
 be judge between us. Here is the way it began " 
 
 " The way what began, pray ? " asked JuHa. 
 
 " There now, that's the way she pushes me to lose my temper, 
 aiul when she sees I'm angiy she gi'ows all the calmer." 
 
 " She's downright disagreeable," said Julia; " and I don't knov/ 
 v.hy a frank, outspoken sailor condescends to speak to her." 
 
 " Well, he's pretty sure to get the worst of it," muttered he. 
 
 "Poor Jack," said Nelly, caressingly. "And for all that he 
 likes the ill treatment better than all the flatteries he meets 
 elsewhere." 
 
 " That shrug of his shoulders does not say so," said Julia, 
 laughing. "Come," cried she, with a merry voice, "let us do 
 something more worthy of this delicious morning ; let us have a 
 v;alk up the mountain ; we can have shade all the way." 
 
 " What's that little dome ; — there above the trees ? " asked 
 Jack. 
 
 " That's the campanile of our little chapel. I'll fetch the key, 
 and we'll go and visit it. We've not been to see it yet." 
 
 " But George would like to come with us ; " and so saying, Julia 
 hastened away to find him. 
 
 " Oh, Nelly, I love her better than ever, and she scorns me even 
 more," said he, as he hid his head on his sister's shoulder. 
 
 " My poor dear Jack ; how little you know her ! You never 
 sorrowed over your last parting as she did. We have had all of U3
 
 Till: VILLA LIFE. 387 
 
 great reverses. They, as well as ourselves ; aud that spirit of 
 Julia's — there is another uame for it thau mockery — has carried her 
 through her trouhles better thau a more pretentious philosophy." 
 
 " But she is not even friendly with me, Nelly. None of you make 
 me feel what I have sunk to as she does." 
 
 " There again you are unjust " 
 
 " Right or wrong, I'll bear it no longer. I only wait now till 
 Gusty comes back. I want to shake his hand once more, and then, 
 girl, you have seen the last of me." 
 
 Before Nelly could reply, Julia and her brother had joined 
 them. 
 
 "Here's news," said George, showing a letter, " Augustus will 
 be with us to-morrow ; he only writes a few lines to say, — ' I have 
 nothing particularly cheering to report, and it will all bear keeping. 
 I mean to be at home on Wednesday next. I am all impatience to 
 see Jack ; the thought of meeting him more than repays me my 
 reverses here. Give him my love. — A. Bramleigh.' " 
 
 " We shall have plenty to do to prepare for his arrival," said 
 Julia : " we must postpone our visit to the chapel. Would this 
 illustrious prince condescend to help us to move tables and chests of 
 drawers ? " 
 
 Jack threw a very significant glance towards Nelly, as though to 
 say, " She is at the old game." 
 
 '•■ Well, sir ? I wait your answer," said Julia. 
 
 " For twenty-four hours I am at your orders," said Jack. 
 
 " And then under what commander do you serve ? " 
 
 " Captain Fortune, I suspect," said he, gravely. " A gentle- 
 ;aau, or lady, perhaps, that has shown me no especial fondness up 
 to this." 
 
 " Jack says he is going to leave us," said Nelly, as her eyes 
 filled up. 
 
 " But why '? " cried George. 
 
 " But why ? " echoed Julia. 
 
 " Haven't I given proof enough," said Jack, with a faint laugh, 
 ' ' that I'm not what Miss Julia there calls a very logical animal : that 
 when I get a wayward fancy in my head I follow it faithfully as if it 
 was a strong conviction. Well, now, one of these moments has come 
 to me ; and thinking, besides, that this pleasant sort of life here is 
 not exactly the best preparation for a rougher kind of existence, I 
 iiave made up my mind to slip my cable after I've seen Gusty." 
 
 " Well, then, let us profit by the short time left us," said Julia, 
 quietly. " Come and help me in the house. I shall want you, too, 
 George."
 
 388 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " You must do ^vithout me, Julia : I have only just discovered a 
 letter iu my pocket, with the seal unbroken, that I ought to have 
 answered at least a fortnight ago. It is from Sir Marcus Cluff,'' 
 said he, iu a whisper, " makiug me an oiler of the vicarage at 
 Hoxton." 
 
 " AVhat a kind fellow." 
 
 " Who's a kind fellow ? " asked Jack. 
 
 "A certain gentleman, who made me the flattering proposal to 
 become his wife and nurse, and who now ofl'ers to make George 
 his cliaplain." 
 
 " It rains good luck here," said Jack, with a half bitter smile ; 
 " why won't it drift a little in viy direction ? By the way, Nelly, what 
 about the letter I asked you to write to Marion ? " 
 
 " It is written. I only want to fill in the name of the person; 
 you told me to keep a blank for it." 
 
 " I'll go and fetch my pocket-book," said he, and broke away at 
 once, and hastened towards the house. 
 
 " I'm delighted at your good news, Julia," said Nelly : " though 
 it almost breaks my heart to think how desolate we shall soon be 
 here." 
 
 " Never anticipate evil fortune. We are still together, and let 
 us not mar the present by glancing at a possible future." 
 
 " And poor Jack," began Nelly ; but unable to finish, she turned 
 away her head to hide the emotion she felt. 
 
 " He shall, — he must stay," cried Julia. 
 
 "You know the price, dearest," said Nelly, throwing herself into 
 her arms. 
 
 " Well, who says I am not ready to pay it? There, that's 
 enough of folly. Let us now think of something useful." 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 A VERY BRIEF DREAM. 
 
 Julia was seldom happier than when engaged iu preparing for a 
 ^oming guest. There was a blended romance and fuss about it all 
 tliat she liked. She liked to employ her fancy in devising innumerable 
 little details, she liked the active occupation itself, and she liked 
 best of all that storied web of thought iu which she connected the 
 expected one with all that was to greet him. How he would be 
 pleased with this, what he would think of that ? Would he leave
 
 " Have you a Sweetheart, Gretcheu? "
 
 A VERY liraKF r.rvKA:\r. 389 
 
 that chair or that tabic where she had placed it ? Would he like 
 that seat iu the window, and the view down the glen, as she hoped 
 he might ? Would the uew-comer, in fact, fall into the same train 
 of thought and mind as she had who herself planned and executed all 
 around him. 
 
 Thus thinking was it that, with the aid of a stout Dalmatian 
 peasant-girl, she busied herself with preparations for Augustus 
 Bramleigh's arrival. She knew all his caprices about the room ho 
 liked to occupy. How he hated much furniture, and loved space 
 and freedom ; how ho liked a soft and tempered light, and that the 
 view from his window should range over some quiet secluded bit of 
 landscape, rather than take iu what recalled life and movement and 
 the haunts of men. 
 
 She was almost proud of the way she saw into people's natures 
 by the small dropping preferences they evinced for this or that, and 
 had an intense pleasure in meeting the coming fancy. At the present 
 moment, too, she was glad to busy herself in any mode rather than 
 dwell on the thoughts that the hrst interval of rest would be sure to 
 bring before her. She saw that Jack Bramleigh was displeased with 
 her, and, though not without some misgivings, she was vexed that 
 he alone of all should resent the capricious moods of a temper 
 resolutely determined to take the sunniest path in existence, and 
 make the smaller worries of life but matter for banter. 
 
 " He mistakes me altogether," said she aloud, but speaking to 
 herself, " if he imagines that I'm in love with poverty and all its 
 straits ; but I'm not going to cry over them for all that. They may 
 change me in many ways. I can't help that. W'ant is an ugly old 
 hag, and one cannot sit opposite her without catching a look of her 
 features ; but she'll not subdue my courage, nor make me afraid to 
 meet her eye. Here, Gretchen, help me with this great chest of 
 drawers. We must get rid of it out of this, wherever it goes." It 
 was a long and weary task, and tried their strength to the last limit ; 
 and Julia threw herself into a deep- cushioned chair when it was 
 over, and sighed heavily. " Have you a sweetheart, Gretchen ? " 
 she asked, just to lead the girl to talk, and relieve the oppression 
 that she felt would steal over her. Yes, Gretchen had a sweetheart, 
 and he was a fisherman, and he had a fourth share iu a " bragotza ; " 
 and when he had saved enough to buy out two of his comrades ho 
 was to marry her ; and Gretchen was very fond, and very hopeful, 
 and very proud of her lover, and altogether took a very pleasant view 
 of life, though it w.is all of it in expectancy. Then Gretchen asked 
 if the signorina had u.>t a sweetheart, and Julia, after a pause, and 
 it was a pause in which her colour came and went, said, " Xo 1 "
 
 890 THE BE.UILEIGHS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 Aud Gretchen drew nigh, and stared fit her with her great hazel 
 eyes, and read in her now pale face that the " No " she had uttered 
 had its own deep meaning ; for Gretchen, though a mere peasant, 
 humble and illiterate, was a Avoman, aud had a woman's sensibility 
 under all that outward ruggedness. 
 
 " Why do you look at me so, Gretchen ? " asked Julia. 
 
 " Ah, signorina," sighed she, " I am sorry — I am very sorry ! 
 It is a sad thing not to be loved." 
 
 " So it is, Gretty ; but every day is not as nice and balmy aud 
 fresh as this, and yet we live on, and, taking one with the other, 
 find life pretty enjoyable, after all ! " The casuistry of her speech 
 made no convert. How could it ? — it had not any weight with 
 herself. 
 
 The girl shook her head mournfully and gazed at her with sad 
 eyes, but not speaking a word. "I thought, signorina," said she, 
 at last, " that the handsome prince " 
 
 " Go to 3'our dinner, Gretchen. You are lato already," said 
 Julia, sharply, and the girl withdrew, abashed and dowoicast. When 
 thus alone, Julia sat still, wearied by her late exertions. She leaned 
 her head on the arm of the chair, aud fell fast asleep. The soft 
 summer wind that came tempered through the wiudow-blinds played 
 with her hair and fanned her to heavy slumber — at first, dreamless 
 slumber, the price of actual fatigue. 
 
 Jack Bramleigh, who had been wandering about alouc, doing his 
 best to think over himself and his future, but not making any 
 remarkable progress in the act, had at length turned into the house, 
 strolling from room to room, half unconsciously, half struck by the 
 vastness and extent of the building. Chance at last led him along 
 the corridor which ended in this chamber, and he entered, gazing 
 carelessly around him, till suddenly he thought he heard the deep- 
 drawn breathing of one in heavy sleep. He drew nigh, and saw it 
 was Julia. The arm on which her head lay hung listlessly down, 
 and her hand was half hid in the masses of her luxuriant hair. 
 Noiselessly, stealthily, Jack crept to her feet, and crouched down 
 upon the floor, seeming to drink in her long breathiugs with an 
 ecstasy of delight. Oh, what a moment was that ! Through how 
 many years of life was it to pass ; the one bright thread of gold in 
 the dark tissue of existence. As such he knew it ; so he felt it ; 
 and to this end he treasured up every trait and every feature of the 
 scene. " It is all that I shall soon have to look back upon," thought 
 he ; aud yet to be thus near her seemed a bliss of perfect ecstasy. 
 
 More than a hour passed over, and he was still there, not daring 
 to move lest ho should awake her. At last he thougiit hv lips
 
 A VERY BRIEF DEEAM. 391 
 
 seemed to murmur something. He bent clown, close — so close that 
 he felt her breath on his face. Yes, she was cli'caming — dreaming, 
 too, of long ago : for he heard her mutter the names of places near 
 where they had lived in Ireland. It was of some party of pleasure 
 she was di-eaming — her dropping words indicated so much ; and at 
 last she said, " No, no ; not Lisconnor. Jack doesn't like 
 Liscounor." Oh, how he blessed her for the words ; and bending 
 over, he touched the heavy curl of her hair with his lips. Some 
 passing shock startled her, and she awoke with a start and a faint 
 cry. "Where am I?" she cried; "what is this?" and she 
 stared at him with her wide full glance, while her features expressed 
 terror and bewilderment. 
 
 "Don't be frightened, dearest. You are safe, and at home with 
 those who love you." 
 
 "And how are you here? how came you here?" asked she, 
 still terrified. 
 
 " I was strolling listlessly about, and chance led me here. I 
 saw you asleep in that chair, and I lay down at your feet till you 
 should awake." 
 
 " I know nothing of it all," muttered she. " I suppose I was 
 dreaming. I fancied I was in Ireland, and we wei'C about to go on 
 some excursion, and I thought Marion was not pleased with rue ; — 
 how stupid it is to try and disentangle a dream. You shouldn't have 
 been here. Master Jack. Except in fairy tales, young princes never 
 take such liberties as this, and even then the princesses are under 
 enchantment." 
 
 "It is I that am under the spell, not ymi, Julia," said he, 
 fondly. 
 
 '■ Then you are come to ask pardon fcr all your crossness, your 
 savagery of this morning ? " 
 
 " Yes, if you desire it." 
 
 " No, sir ; I desire nothing of the kind ; it must be spontaneous 
 humility. You must feel you have behaved very ill, and be very, 
 very sorry for it." 
 
 " I have behaved very ill, and am very, very sorry for it," repeated 
 he softly after her. 
 
 " And this is said seriously ? " 
 
 " Seriously." 
 
 "And on honour ? " 
 
 " On honour ! " 
 
 " And why is it said, — is it because I have asked you to say it ? " 
 
 " Partly ; that is^you have in asking given me courage to say it.''" 
 
 " Courage to ask pardon ! what do you mean by that ? "
 
 392 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " No ; but courage to make me hope j-ou care to hear it. Oh, 
 Julia, for once listen to me seriously aud let me tell you how I love 
 you ; how I have always loved you ; how you are to me all that is 
 worth living for." 
 
 " It would be very nice to be told such pretty things, all the 
 more being bound to believe them." 
 
 " And do you doubt ? " 
 
 " I'll tell you what there is not, nor can be any doubt about, Jack ; 
 that we are both xevy poor, and though I, woman-like, may feel it a 
 very comforting and sustaining thought, through my poverty, that 
 one honest heart beats affectionately for me, yet I'm far from sure 
 that it would be the same good influence over your life ; in fact, our 
 bargain would be unequal, and I should have all the best of it." 
 
 " Oh, Julia, could you love me " 
 
 "I think I've done things fully as hard," said she with affected 
 thoughtfulness. 
 
 " Do you think me then so hopeless of advancement in life that 
 I shall live and die the humble creature you now see me ? " 
 
 " No, I don't think that. I think if fate is not very dead against 
 you, you are likely, whatever you turn to, or wherever you go, to 
 make your way, but to do this, you must be heart-whole ; the selfish- 
 ness that men call ambition cannot afford to be weighted with thought 
 of another and another's welf;\re. Have a little patience with me — 
 hear me out, for I am saying what I have thought over many and 
 many an hour — what I have already told Nelly. There's an old 
 Persian fable that says, the people who love on through life, are like 
 two lovers who walk on opposite banks of a river and never meet till 
 the river mingles with the ocean which is eternity, and then they are 
 parted no more. Are you satisfied with this ? I thought not. 
 Well, what arc your plans for the future ? " 
 
 "I have scores of them. If I would take service with any of 
 those South American republics, there is not one would not give me 
 rank and station to-morrow. Brazil would take me. If I offered 
 myself to the Sultan's Government, where I am known, I could have 
 a command at once." 
 
 " I don't know that I like Turkish ideas on the marriage state," 
 said she gravely. 
 
 " Julia, Julia ! do not torture me," cried be anxiously. " It is 
 my very life is at stake, — be serious for once ; " he took her hand 
 tenderly as he spoke, and was bending down to kiss it, when a heavy 
 foot was heard approaching, and suddenly L'Estrangc burst into the 
 room with an open newspaper in his hand. 
 
 " I have got something here will surprise you. Jack," he cried.
 
 A VEr.Y BRIEF DREAM. 393 
 
 *' You will be astouished to learu that you owe your escape from 
 Iscliia to no intrepidity of your own, that you had neither act nor 
 part in the matter, hut that it was all due to the consummate skill of 
 a great diplomatist, who represented England at Naples. Listen to 
 this — it is ' our own special correspondent ' who writes : — ' I have 
 naturally been curious to ascertain the exact history of Rogers' escape, 
 the journals of this country having invested that event with most 
 melodramatic, I might go further, and say incredible details. My own 
 knowledge of the precautions adopted against evasion, and the jealous 
 care bestowed by the Neapolitan Government towards political 
 prisoners, rendered me slow to believe that an unaided convict would 
 have the slightest chance of eflecting his liberation, and as for as I 
 can learn, late events have not diminished in any degree my faith in 
 this opinion. 
 
 '• ' If the stories which circulate in diplomatic circles are to be 
 credited, it was H. B. M.'s special envoy at this Court who planned 
 the whole achievement. He, seeing the fatal obduracy of the King's 
 Ministers, and the utter impracticability of all proceedings to instil into 
 them notions of right or honour, determined, while prosecuting the 
 cause with unusual ardour, to remove the basis of the litigation. By 
 what bribery he atiected his object, or of whom, I do not profess to 
 know, though very high names are mentioned with unsparing freedom 
 here, but the fact remains, that when the last despatch of the Foreign 
 Secretary was on its way to our envoy, Rogers was careering over 
 the glad waters in one of H. M.'s steam-launches — thus relieving the 
 ■controversy of a very material and interesting item in the negotiation. 
 Of course, this has no other foundation than mere rumour, but it is 
 u rumour that no one assumes to discredit, nor, indeed, any to deny, 
 except the very discreet officials of our mission here, who naturally 
 protest that it is a fabrication of the French press. The envoy is 
 still here, and actively proceeding against the Government for an 
 indemnity for unjust imprisonment.' And now, Jack, here is the 
 best of all. Listen to this : ' So sensible are our ministers at home 
 of the great service rendered by this adroit measure, the relief 
 •experienced by the removal of what at any moment might have 
 become the very gravest of all questions — that of peace or war — that 
 no reward is deemed too high for its distinguished author, and his 
 Excellency Lord Viscount Culduff ' — Culdufl' " 
 
 " Lord Culduff! " cried Jack and Julia, in amazement. 
 
 " ' Viscount Culduff has been offered the post of ambassador at 
 Constantinople ! ' " 
 
 Jack snatched the paper from his hands, and stared in mute 
 amazement at the lines.
 
 394 THE LEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " And is this the ■U'ay fortunes are made in the world ? " cried 
 he at last. 
 
 " Only in the great walks of life, Jack," said Julia. " Small 
 I^eople talk and lahour, take service in Argentine repuhlics, or fight 
 for Mussulman ; distinguished i^eople fire but one shot, but it ahvavs 
 explodes in the enemy's magazine." 
 
 " I wonder what he would have thought if he had known for 
 whom he was negotiating," said Jack, drily. " I half suspect my 
 distinguished brother-in-law would have left me in chains far rather 
 than drive down the Corso with me." 
 
 "I declare — no, I won't say the spiteful thing that crossed my 
 mind — but I icill say, I'd like to have seen a meeting between you 
 and your brother Temple." 
 
 " You think he'd have been so ashamed of me," said Jack with 
 a laugh. 
 
 " Not a bit of it. You might possibly have been ashamed of the 
 situation — shocked with being such an unworthy member of a great 
 house — but he, Temple, would have accepted you like a fever or an 
 ague — a great calamity sent from above — but he would not have felt 
 shame, any more than if you had been the scarlatina. Look at poor 
 George," cried she, with a merry laugh. " He thinks I've said 
 something very wicked, and he feels he ought to deplore it, and 
 possibly rebuke me." 
 
 Jack could not help Lxughiug at the rueful expression of 
 L'Estrange's face, and his emotion was catching, for the others 
 joined in the laugh, and in this merry mood returned to the 
 £;arden. 
 
 CBA.PTER LX. 
 
 A RETURN HOME. 
 
 The morning that followed this scene broke very happily on the villa, 
 for Augustus was to arrive by the afternoon packet, and all were 
 eager to meet him. His telegram said, " Cutbill is with me ; but I do 
 not know if he will stop." And this announcement, indeed, more than 
 tempered the pleasure they felt at the thought of meeting Augustus. 
 Jack, whose sailor's eye had detected a thin streak of smoke in 
 the sky long ere the others had scon it, and knew by what time the 
 steamer might arrive, hastened down to the shore to meet his brother 
 alone, not wishing that the fir«t meeting should be observed by
 
 A RETURN' HO-^IE. 395 
 
 others. And lie was so far right. Men as they wei'e, — tried and 
 liardeued by the -world's conflict, — they could not speak as they 
 elapsed each other in their aims ; and when they separated to gaze 
 at each other's faces, their eyes swam in heavy tears. " My poor 
 fellow ! " was all that Augustus could say for several minutes, till, 
 struck by the manly vigour and dignified bearing of the other, he 
 cried out, " What a great powerful fellow you have grown, Jack. 
 You are twice as strong as you used to be." 
 
 " Strong enough. Gusty ; but I suppose I shall need it all. But 
 how comes it that you have grey hair here ? " 
 
 " You find me terribly changed, Jack. I have aged greatly since 
 we met," 
 
 " You are tired now, old fellow, A little rest and the pleasant 
 care of the villa will soon set you up again." 
 
 '• Perhaps so. At all events I have strength enough for what I 
 am called on to bear. How are they all ? " 
 
 " Well and hearty. I'd say jollier than I ever saw them before." 
 
 " What a noble girl is Xelly," 
 
 " Ay, and her companion, too. I tell you, Gusty, there's the 
 same comrade spirit amongst girls that there is in a ship's company ; 
 and where good ones come together, they make each other betti.r. 
 But tell me now of yourself. What's your news ? " 
 
 " Xot good ; far from it. I believe, indeed, our cause is ' up.' 
 He — Pracontal I mean — intends to behave handsomely by us. There 
 will be no severity used. Indeed, he means to go further ; but I'll 
 have time enough for all this later on. I'm so glad to see you 
 again, my poor dear fellow, that I have no mind to think of anything 
 else." 
 
 " How did j-ou g«t rid of Cutbill "? " 
 
 " I haven't got rid of him ; he is on board there. I don't think 
 he means to land. I suspect he'll go on with the steamer to-night : 
 and he is so ashamed to show, that he is snug in his berth all 
 this time." 
 
 '• But what does he mean by that '? " 
 
 " He's in a scrape. Jack, and had to get away from England to 
 save himself from a gaol ; but I'll tell you the story this evening, — 
 or better still, I'll make him tell you, if you can manage to persuade 
 him to come on shore." 
 
 " That he shall do," said Jack. " He' behaved like a trump to 
 me once when I was in trouble ; and I don't forget it." And so say- 
 ing, he hastened on board the packet, and hurried below, to re-appear 
 in a few minutes, holding Cutbill by the collar, as though he were 
 Ills prisoner.
 
 396 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOPS FOLLY. 
 
 "Here's the culprit," crietl Jack; "and if he won't land his 
 luggage, he must take to a Montenegro rig like mine ; and he'll 
 become it well." 
 
 " There, don't collar me that fashion. See how the fellows are 
 all staring at us. Have you no decency ? " 
 
 " Will 3'ou come quietly, then ? " 
 
 " Yes ; let them hand up my two trunks and my yiolin case. 
 What a di-oll place this is." 
 
 " There's many a worse, I can tell you, than our villa yonder. 
 If it were my own, I'd never ask to leave it." 
 
 "Nor need you, Jack," whispered Augustus. "I've brought 
 back money to buy it ; and I hope it will be our home this many 
 a day." 
 
 " What's this scrape of yours, Cutty ? " said Jack, as they made 
 their way homewards. " Whom have you been robbing this time, or 
 was it forgery ? " 
 
 " Let him tell you," said Cutbill doggedly, as he motioned with 
 his hand towards Gusty. 
 
 "It's a mixed case of robbery with housebreaking," said Augustus. 
 " Pracontal had taken it into his head that certain papers of great 
 value to himself were concealed in some secret press in our house at 
 Castello ; and Cutbill was just as convinced that there were no papers 
 and no press, and that the whole was a dream or a delusion. They 
 argued the case so often that they got to quarrel about it." 
 
 "No, we didn't quarrel," broke in Cutbill, sulkily; "we 
 betted." 
 
 " Yes, that is more correct. Pracontal was so firmly persuaded 
 that the papers existed that he offered three to one on it, and Cutbill, 
 who likes a good thing, took it in hundreds." 
 
 " No. I wish I had. It was in fifties." 
 
 " As they had no permission to make the search, which required 
 to break down the wall, and damage a valuable fresco " 
 
 " No. It was under the fresco, in a pedestal. I'd engage to 
 make it good for thirty shillings," broke in Cutbill. 
 
 " Well, we'll not dispute that. The essential point is, that 
 Pracontal' s scruples would not permit him to proceed to an act of 
 depredation, but that Cutbill had more resolution. lie wanted to 
 determine the fact." 
 
 " Say that he wanted to win his money, and you'll be nearer the 
 mark," interposed Cutbill. 
 
 " Whichever way wc take it, it amounts to this, Pracontal would 
 not be a housebreaker, and Cutbill had no objection to become one, 
 I cannot give you the details of the infraction — p(,rhaps lie will."
 
 A BETURX HOME. 397 
 
 Cutbill only gruuted, and the other went on, — " However ho 
 obtained entrance, he made his way to the place indicated, smashed 
 the wall, and dragged forth a box with four or five thick volumes, 
 which turned out to be the parish registries of Portshanuon for a 
 very eventful period, at least a very critical one for us, for, if the 
 discovery loses Mr. Cutbill his fifty pounds, it places the whole estate 
 in jeopardy." 
 
 " That's the worst of it," cried Cutbill. " My confounded meddling 
 has done it all." 
 
 " "When my law}-cr came to hear what had occurred, and how, 
 he lost no time in taking measures to proceed against Cutbill for a 
 felony ; but Master C. had got away, and was already hiding in 
 Germany, and our meeting on the steamboat here was a mere hazard. 
 He was bound for — where was it Cutbill ? " 
 
 " Albania. I want to see the salt mines. There's something to 
 be done there now that the Turks are not sure they'll own the country 
 this time twelvemonth." 
 
 " At all events, it's better air than Newgate," said Jack. 
 
 " As you politely observe, sir, it's better air than Newgate. By 
 the way, you've been doing a little stroke of work as a gaolbird latterly 
 —is it jolly?" 
 
 " No ; it ain't exactly jolly ; it's too monotonous for that. And 
 then the diet." 
 
 " Ah, there's the rub ! It's the skilly, it's the four-ounce system, 
 I'm afraid of. Make it a good daily regimen, and I'll not quarrel 
 with the mere confinement, nor ask for any extension of the time 
 allotted to exercise." 
 
 " I must say," said Jack, " that, for a very acute and ingenious 
 gentleman, this same piece of burglary was about one of the stupidest 
 performances I ever heard of." 
 
 " Not so fast, admiral, not so fast. I stood on a double event. 
 I had lent Pracontal a few hundreds, to be repaid by as many 
 thousands if he established his claim. I began to repent of my 
 investment, and my bet was a hedge. Do you see, old fellow, if there 
 were no books, I pocketed a hundred and fifty. If the books turned 
 up, I stood to win on the trial. You may perceive that Tom Cutbill 
 sleeps like a weazel, and has always one eye open." 
 
 " Was it a veiy friendly part, then, to lend a man money to 
 prosecute a claim against your own friend ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Lord love ye, I'd do that against my brother. The man of 
 Dusiness and the desk is one thing, the man of human feelings and 
 affections is another. If a man follows any pursuit worth the name 
 of a pursuit, the ardour to succeed in it will soon swamp his scruples ;
 
 oDS THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 aye, and not leave him one jot the worse for it. Listen to me a 
 minute. Did you ever practise fly-lishing '? Well, can you deny it 
 is in principle as ignoble a thing as ever was called sport ? It begins 
 in a fraud, and it finishes with a cruelty ; and will you tell me that 
 your moral nature, or any grand thing that you fancy dignifies you, 
 was impaired or stained when you landed that eight-pound trout on 
 the grass ? " 
 
 " You forget that men are not trout, Master Cutbill." 
 
 " There are a good number of them gudgeons, I am happy to say," 
 cried he. " Give me a light for my cigar, for I am sick of discussion. 
 Strange old tumble-down place this — might all be got for a song, I'd 
 swear. What a grand spec it would be to start a company to ma1:e 
 a watering place of it : ' The Baths of Cattaro, celebrated in the tiuio 
 of Dioclesian '■ — eh ? Jack, doesn't your mouth water at the thouglii 
 of ' preliminary expenses ? ' " 
 
 " I can't say it does. I've been living among robbers lately, and 
 I found them very dull company." 
 
 " The sailor is rude ; his manners smack of the cockpit," said 
 Cutbill, nudging Augustus in the side. " Oh, dear, how I'd like a 
 commission to knock this old town into a bathing machine." 
 
 " You'll have ample time to mature your project up at the villa. 
 There, yon see it yonder." 
 
 " And is that the British flag I see waving there ? Wait a 
 moment till I ma&ter my emotion, and subdue the swelling feelings of 
 my breast." 
 
 " I'll tell you what, Master Cutbill," said Jack, sternly, " if you 
 utter any stupid rubbish against the Union Jack, I'll be shot if I 
 don't drop you over the sea-wall for a ducking ; and, what's more, 
 I'll not apologize to you when you come out." 
 
 " Outrage the second. The naval service is not what I 
 remember it." 
 
 " Here come the girls," said Augustus. '' I hear Julia's meny 
 laugh in the wood." 
 
 " The L'E strange girl isn't it ? " asked Cutbill ; and though 
 Jack started and turned almost as if to seize him, ho never noticed 
 the movement. 
 
 " ^liss L'Estrange," said Augustus Bramleigh. 
 
 " Why didn't you say she was here, and I'd not have made any 
 ♦ bones ' about stopping ? I don't know I was ever as spooney as I 
 v.-as about that girl up at Albano. And didn't I work like a negro to 
 get back her two thousand pounds out of that precious coal mine ? 
 Aye, and succeeded too. I hope she knows it was Tom Cutbill saved 
 tlie ship. Maybe she'll think I'vo come to claim salvage."
 
 A KETURN HO:\IE. 399 
 
 " She has heard of all your good-nature, and is veiy gi'ateful to 
 you," said Gusty. 
 
 " That's rigiit ; that's as it ought to be. Doing good by stealth 
 always strikes me as savoming of a secret society. It's Thuggee, or 
 Feeuian, or any other dark association you like." 
 
 " I'll go forward and meet them, if you'll permit me," said 
 Augustus, and, not waiting a reply, hurried on towards the wood. 
 
 " Look here, Master Jack," said Cutbill, stopping short and 
 facing round in front of him. " If you mean as a practice to sit 
 upon me on every occasion that arises, just please to say so." 
 
 " Nothing of the kind, man ; if I did, I promise you once would 
 Le quite enough." 
 
 '• Oh, that's it, is it?" 
 
 " Yes, that's it." 
 
 " Shake hands, then, and let us have no more squabbling. If 
 vou ever find me getting into shoal-water, and likely to touch a 
 sandbank, just call out ' stop her ! ' and you'll see how I'll reverse 
 lay engine at once. It's not in my line, the locomotives, but I 
 could drive if I was put to it, and I know well every good lesson a 
 laan acquires from the practice." 
 
 " "What do you think of this cause of ours. Cutty ; how does it 
 look to your eyes ? " 
 
 " Just as dark as thunder ! Why you go to trial at all next term 
 I can't make out. Pracontal's case is clear as noonday. There's the 
 proof of the marriage, — as legal a marriage as if an archbishop cele- 
 brated it, and there's the registry of birth, and there is, to confinii 
 all, old Bramleigh's letters. If you push on after such a show of 
 danger signals as these, it is because you must like a smash." 
 
 " You'd strike, then, without firing a shot ? " 
 
 " To bo sure I would, if it was only to save the expense of 
 the powder ; besides, Pracontal has already declared, that if met 
 by an amicable spirit on your brother's part, there are no terms he 
 ^vould not accede to, to secure recognition by your family, and 
 ;;cccptance as one of you." 
 
 " I'm sure I don't see why he should care for it." 
 
 " Nor I, for the matter of that. If there's a lot in life I'd call 
 enviable, it would be to be bom in a foundling hospital, and inherit 
 ten thousand a year. A landed estate, and no relations, comes 
 nearer to my ideas of Paradise than anything in Milton's poems." 
 
 " Here they come," cried Jack, as a merry group issued from 
 the road, and came joyously forward to meet them. 
 
 " Here's this good fellow Tom Catbill come to spend some days 
 v.ith us," said Jack, as the girls advanced to greet him.
 
 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF LISHOP S FOLLY. 
 
 " Isn't it kind of him ? " said Ciitbill, " isn't it like thtJi, 
 disinterested good-nature that always marks him ? Of course I'm 
 heartily Avelcome ! how could it be othenvise. Miss Bramleigh, 
 you do me proud. Miss Julia, your slave. Ah, your reverence ! 
 let's have a shake of your devout paw. Now I call this as pleasant 
 a place for a man to go through his sentence of transportation as 
 need be. Do the ladies know what I'm charged with ? " 
 
 " They know nothing, they desire to know nothing," said 
 Augustus. " When we have dined and had our coffee, you shall 
 make your own confession ; and that only if you like it, and wish to 
 disburden your conscience." 
 
 " My conscience is pretty much like my balance at my banker's, 
 — it's a mighty small matter, but somehow it never troubles me ; 
 and you'll see by-and-by that it doesn't interfere with my appetite." 
 
 " You saw my sister at Naples, Mr. Cutbill," said Nelly, " how 
 was she looking ? " 
 
 " Decidedly handsome ; and as haughty as handsome ; as an 
 Irish friend who was walking with me one day her carriage passed, 
 observed, ' A bow from her was the next thing to a black-eye.' " 
 
 " Marion's pride always became her," said Nelly coldly. 
 
 " It must be a comfort to her to feel she has a great stock of 
 what suits her constitution." 
 
 " And the noble A^iscount," asked Jack, " how was he looking ? '" 
 
 " As fresh as paint. The waxworks in the museum seemed 
 faded and worn after him. He was in an acute attack of youth, 
 the day I dined with him last, and I hope his system has not 
 suffered for it." 
 
 " Stop her," muttered Jack, with a sly look at Cutbill; and 
 to the surprise of the others, that astute individual rejoined, " Stop 
 her, it is." 
 
 " We dine at four, I think," said Bramleigh, " and there's just 
 time to dress. Jack, take charge of Cutbill, and show him where 
 he is to lodge." 
 
 " And is it white choker and a fiddle coat ? Do you tell me 
 you dress for dinner '? " asked Cutbill. 
 
 " Mr. Cutbill shall do exactly as he pleases," said Julia; "wo 
 only claim a like privilege for ourselves." 
 
 " You've got it now, Tom Cutbill," said he, sorrowfully, " and I 
 hope you like it." 
 
 And with this they went their several ways ; Jack alone linger- 
 ing in the garden in the hope to have one word with Julia, but she 
 did not return, and his "watch on deck," as he called it, was not 
 relieved.
 
 ( 401 ) 
 
 CHAPTER LXr. 
 
 LADY culduff'-:: letter. 
 
 A LONG letter, a letter of several pages, from Marion, reached the 
 villa; and though it is not my iutcutiou to ask the reader to hstea 
 to it textually or throughout, I crave permission to give certain parts 
 of its conteuts. 
 
 As Lady Culdufl' prospered in the world, she became what sho 
 thought " devout," and perpetually reminded all arouud her that 
 she was well aware she was living in a very sinful world, and 
 keeping daily company with transgressors ; and she actually brought 
 herself to believe that by a repeated reference to the wickedness 
 of this life, she was entering a formal protest against sin, and 
 qualifying herself, at this very cheap price, for something much 
 better hereafter. 
 
 She was — and it was a pet phrase with her — " resigned " to 
 everything : resigned to Lord Culduff's being made a grand ci'oss 
 and an ambassador, with the reasonable prospect of an earldom ; 
 resigned to her own great part — and was it not a great part '? — in 
 this advancement ; resigned to be an ambassadress ! That she was 
 resigned to the ruin and downfall of her family, especially if they 
 should have the delicacy and good taste to hide themselves some- 
 where, and not obtrude that ruin and downfall on the world, was 
 plainly manifest ; and when she averred that, come what might, we 
 ought to be ever assured that all things were for the best, she meant 
 in reality to say it was a wise dispensation that sent herself to 
 live in a palace at Pera, and loft her brothers and sisters to shiver 
 out existence in barbarism. 
 
 There was not a shadow of hypocrisy in all this. She believed 
 every word she said upon it. She accepted the downfall of her 
 family as her share of those ills which are the connnon lot of 
 humanity ; and she was very proud of the fortitude that sustained 
 her under this heavy trial, and of that resignation that enabled 
 her not to grieve over these tilings in an unseemly fashion, or in 
 any way that might tell on her complexion. 
 
 " After that splendid success of Culdutfs at Naples," wrote she, 
 " of which the newspapers are full, I need not remind you that wo 
 ought to have had Paris, and, indeed, must have had it, but the 
 Ministry made it a direct and personal lavour of Culduif that he 
 would go and set that troublesome Eastern question to rights. As 
 you know nothing of politics, dear Nelly, and, indeed, are far 
 
 20
 
 402 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 happier in that ignorance, I shall not enter upon what, even with the 
 fullest explanation, would only bewilder you. Enough if you know 
 that we have to out-manceuvre the Russians, baffle the French, and 
 bully the Greeks ; and that there is not for the task Culduff's equal 
 in England. I think I see your astonishment that I should talk of 
 such themes : they were not certainly the sort of subjects which 
 once occupied our thoughts : but, my dear Nelly, in linking your 
 fate to that of a man of high ambition, you accept the companion- 
 ship of his intellect, instead of a share in his heart. And, as you 
 well know I always repudiated the curate and cottage theory, 1 
 accept the alternative without repining. Can I teach you any of 
 this philosophy, Nelly, and will it lighten the load of your own 
 sorrows to learn how I have come to bear mine ? It is in the 
 worldliness of people generally lies their chief unhappiness. They 
 will not, as Culduff says, ' accept the situation.' Now we have 
 accepted it, we submit to it, and, in consequence, suffer fewer heart- 
 burnings and repinings than our neighbours. Dear Augustus never 
 had any costly tastes ; and as for yourself, simplicity was your badge 
 in everything. Temple is indeed to be pitied, for Temple, with 
 money to back him, might have made a respectable figure in the 
 world and married well ; but Temple a poor man, must fall down to 
 a second-class legation, and look over the Minister's larder. Culdutl" 
 tried, but failed to make something of him. As C. told him one 
 day, you have only to see Charles Mathews act, to be convinced 
 that to be a coxcomb a man must be consummately clever ; and yet 
 it is exactly the ' role ' every empty fellow fancies would suit him. 
 T. resented this, well meant as it was, and resigned his secretary- 
 ship. He has gone over to England, but 1 do not imagine with 
 much prospect of re-employment. 
 
 " Do not think, my dear Nelly, of quitting your present refuge. 
 You are safe now, and in harbour, and be slow to adventure on that 
 wide ocean of life where shipwrecks are occurring on every hand. 
 So long as one is obscure, poverty has no terrors. As Culduff says, 
 you may always wear a ragged coat in the dark. It is we, who 
 unfortunately must walk in the noonday, cannot be seen unless in 
 fine raiment. Do not mistake me, however. I say this without 
 complaint ; I repine at nothing. 
 
 " I had written so much of my letter, dear Ntlly, intending to 
 finish it at Rome ; but Culduif is obliged to hurry on to Ischl, wherr 
 some great diplomatic gathering is now assembled, and I nmst omit 
 a number of things I desire to say to you. 
 
 " Culdutf thinks wo must call on Lady Augusta as wo go through. 
 I own I have done my best to avoid this, and if I must go, it will
 
 LADY CL'LDUFF's LETTER. 403 
 
 not be in the best of tempers. The oddest thing of all is, C. dislikes 
 her fully as much as I do ; but there is some •wonderful freemasonry 
 among these people that obliges them, like the members of a secret 
 society, to certain ' egards ' towards each other ; and I am satisfied 
 he would rather do a positive wrong to some one in middle-class life 
 than be wanting in some punctilio or attention to a person of her 
 condition. I have often been much provoked by displays of this 
 sentiment, needlessly paraded to oflfend my own sense of propriety. 
 I shall add a line after my visit. 
 
 « Rome. 
 
 " I have news for you. M. Praeontal — if this be his name — - 
 not only takes your estates, but your stepmother. The odious 
 woman had the ettVontery to tell us so to our faces. How I bore it, 
 what I said, or felt or suli'ered, I know not. Some sort of fit, I 
 believe, seized me, for Culduff sent for a physician when I got back 
 to the hotel, and our departure was deferred. 
 
 " The outrage of this conduct has so shaken my nerves that I 
 can scarcely WTite, nor is my sense of indignation lessened by the 
 levity with which it pleases Culduff to treat the whole matter. * It 
 is a bold coup — a loss courageous woman would have recoiled from 
 it — she is very daring.' This is what he says of her. She has the 
 courage that says to the world, ' I am ready to meet all your 
 censures and your reproaches ; ' but I never heard this called 
 heroism before. Must I o^\ti to you, Nelly, that what overwhelms 
 me most in this disgraceful event is the confidence it evinces in this 
 man's cause. ' You may swear,' said Culduff, ' that she is backing 
 the winner. "Women are timid gamblers, and never risk their money 
 without almost every chance in their favour.' I know that my lord 
 plumes himself on knowing a great deal about us, prompting him at 
 times to utter much that is less than complimentary ; but I give you 
 this opinion of his here for what it is worth, frankly owning that my 
 dislike to the woman is such I can be no fair.judge of any case iuto 
 which she enters. 
 
 " Praeontal — I only saw him for an instant — struck me as a third- 
 class Frenchmau, something between a ' sous-officier ' of cavalry and 
 a coramis-voyagcur ; not ill-looking, and set up with that air of the 
 soldier that in France does duty for dignity. He had a few hasty 
 words with Culduff, but did not persist nor show any desire to 
 make a.row in presence of ladies. So far, his instincts as a corporal 
 guided him safely. Had he been led by the commis-voyageur side 
 of his character, we should have had a most disgraceful scene, endiu,"' 
 by a hostile meeting between a British peer and a bagman.
 
 404 THE ERAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " My nerves have Lceu so shaken by this incident, and my 
 recollection is still so charged with this odious woman's look, voice, 
 and manner, that I cannot trust myself to say more. Be assured, 
 dear Nelly, that in all the miserable details of this great calamity to 
 our family, no one event has occurred equal in poignant sutfering to 
 the insult I have thus been subjected to. 
 
 " CuldufT will not agree to it, but I declare to you she was 
 positively vulgar in the smirking complacence in which she pre- 
 sented the man as her future husband. She was already passee 
 when she married my father, and the exuberant joy at this proposal 
 revealed the old maid's nature. C, of course, calls her charming, 
 a woman of very attractive qualities, and such like ; but men of a 
 certain age have ideas of their own on these subjects, and, like their 
 notions on cookery, make no converts among people under forty. 
 I believe I told him so, and, in consequence the whole theme has 
 been strictly avoided by each of us ever since." 
 
 The remainder of the letter was devoted to details as to her 
 future life at Constantinople, and the onerous duties that would 
 devolve on her as ambassadress. She hinted also to a time when 
 she would ask dear Nelly to come and visit her ; but, of course, 
 until matters were fully settled and concluded, she could not expect 
 her to leave dear Gusty. 
 
 The postscript ran thus: — " Culduff meant to have given some 
 small Church promotion to young L'Estrauge, and, indeed, believed 
 he had done so ; but some difficulty has arisen. It is either not his 
 turn, or the Bishop is troublesome, or the Ecclesiastical Com- 
 missioners — if there be such people — are making objections. If 
 he — I mean L'Estrauge — be still disengaged, would it be wise to 
 offer him the chaplaincy to the embassy ? I mean wise as regards 
 ourselves ; but I take it the sister may be still unmarried, and if she 
 be like what I remember her, a person not easily suppressed, nor at 
 all indisposed to assume airs of perfect equality, even with those 
 separated from her by a whole hemisphere of station. Give me 
 your candid advice on this point, not thinking of them, but of mc, 
 for, though I feci Julia — is not that her name ? — would be insup- 
 portable, the parson himself would be very useful, and I think a 
 comfort to me. 
 
 " Of course you will not consult any one upon this matter. It 
 is your own personal opinion I want, and you will give it to me, 
 knowing me and my prejudices — I suppose I had better call them — 
 and not thinking of your own leanings and likings for the girl. 
 She may, for aught I know, have changed. Culduff has some wise 
 Eaw about acid wines growing dry by age ; I don't know whether
 
 LADY CULDUFF's LETTER. 405 
 
 young ladies mellow in this fashion, but Julia was certainly tart 
 enough once to have tested the theory, and might be the * Amon- 
 tillado ' of old maids by this time." 
 
 It may be imagined that after a sally of this kind it was not 
 easy for the writer to recover that semi-moralizing vein in which the 
 letter ojoened. Nor did she. The conclusion was abrupt, and 
 merely directed Nelly to address her next to the Summer Palace 
 at Therapia ; " for those horrid people, our predecessors, have left 
 the embassy-house in such a condition it will take weeks and 
 several thousand pounds to make it habitable. There must be a 
 vote taken * in supply ' on this. I am writing Greek to you, poor 
 child ; but I mean they must give us money, and, of course, the 
 discussion will expose us to many impertinences. One writer 
 declared that ho never knew of a debate on the estimates without an 
 allusion to Lord Culduff's wig. Wo shall endure this — if not with 
 patience, without resentment. Love to dear Gusty, and believe me 
 your affectionate sister, 
 
 " Marion Culduff." 
 
 Such were the most striking passages of a long letter which, 
 fortunately for Nelly, Mr. Cutbill's presence at the breakfast-table 
 rescued her from the indiscretion of reading aloud. One or two 
 extracts she did give, but soon saw that the document was one 
 which could not be laid on the table, nor given without prejudice 
 to the public service. Her confusion, as she crumpled up the 
 paper, and thrust it back into its envelope, was quickly remarked, 
 and Mr. Cutbill, with his accustomed tact, observed, "I'd lay a 
 ' fiver ' we've all of us been led out for a canter in that epistle. 
 It's enough to see Miss Ellen's face to know that she wouldn't 
 read it out for fifty pounds. Eh, what ! " cried he, stooping 
 and rubbing his leg; "I told you to say, 'Stop her. Master 
 Jack, when you wanted to take weigh off, but I never said. Kick 
 my shins." 
 
 This absurd exclamation, and the laugh it provoked, was a lucky 
 diversion, and they arose from table without another thought on 
 Marion's epistle. 
 
 "Has Nelly shown you Marion's note?" asked Jack, as he 
 strolled with Julia through the garden. 
 
 " No, and it is perhaps the only letter I ever know her to get 
 without handing me to read." 
 
 " I suspect, with Cutbill, that wo all of us catch it in that 
 pleasant document." 
 
 " You. perhaps are the only one who has escaped."
 
 406 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " As for me, I am not even remembereJ. Well, I'll bear even 
 that, if I can be sure of'a little sympathy in another quarter." 
 
 " Master Jack, you ask for too many professions. I have told 
 you already to-day, and I don't mean to repeat it for a week, that 
 you are not odious to me." 
 
 " But will you not remember, Julia, the long months of banish- 
 ment I have suflered ? Will you not bear in mind that if I have 
 lived longingly for this moment, it is cruel now to dash it with a 
 doubt." 
 
 "But it is exactly what I am not doing! I have given you 
 fully as much encouragement as is good for you. I have owned — 
 and it is a rash confession for a girl to make at any time — that I 
 care for you more than any part of our prospects for the future could 
 warrant, and if I go one step further there will be nothing for it but 
 for you to buy a hragotza and turn fisherman, and for me to get a 
 basket and sell pilchards in the piazza." 
 
 " You needn't taunt me with my poverty, I feel it bitterly enough 
 already. Nor have you any right to think me unable to win a living." 
 
 " There, again, you wrong me. I only said, Do not, in your 
 (npatience to reach your goal, make it not worth the winning. 
 Don't forget what I told you about long engagements. A man's 
 share of them is the worst." 
 
 " But you love me, Julia ? " said he, drawing her close to him. 
 
 " How tiresome you are ! " said she, trying to free herself from 
 his arm. 
 
 " Let me once — only once — hear you say this, and I swear to 
 you, Julia, I'll never tease you more." 
 
 " Well, then if I must-^^ — " 
 
 More was not spoken, for the lips were pressed by a rapturous 
 kiss, as he clasped her to his heart, muttering, " My own, my own ! " 
 
 "I declare there is Nelly," cried Julia, v/resting herself from 
 his embrace, and starting off; not, however, towards Ellen, but in 
 the direction of the house. 
 
 " Oh, Nelly," said Jack, rushing towards his sister, " she loves 
 me — she has said so — she is all my own." 
 
 " Of course she is. Jack. I never doubted it, though I own I 
 scarcely thought she'd Iiave told it." 
 
 And the brother and sister walked along hand in hand without 
 speaking, a closer pressure of the lingers at intervals alone revealing 
 how they followed the same thoughts and lived in the same joys.
 
 407 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 DEALING WITH CUTBILL. 
 
 ''What's to be clone with Cutbill ? — will anyone tell me this?" 
 was the anxious question Augustus asked as he stood in a group 
 composed of Jack, Nelly, aud the L'Estrangcs. " As to Scdiey 
 meeting him at all, I know that is out of the question ; but the 
 mere fact of finding the man here will so discredit us in Sedley's 
 eyes that it is more than likely he will pitch up the whole case and 
 say good-by to us for ever." 
 
 "But can he do that?" asked Juha. "Can he, I mean, 
 permit a matter of temper or personal feeling to interfere in a dry 
 affair of duty ? " 
 
 " Of course he can ; where his counsels are disregarded and 
 even counteracted he need not continue his guidance. He is a hot- 
 tempered man besides, and has more than once shown me that he 
 will not bear provocation beyond certain limits." 
 
 " I think," began L'Estrauge, " if I were in ijonr place, I'd tell 
 Cutbill. I'd explain to him how matters stood ; and " 
 
 " No, no," broke in Jack; "that won't do at all. The poor 
 dog is too hard up for that." 
 
 " Jack is right," said Nelly, warmly. 
 
 " Of course he is, so far as Mr. Cutbill goes," broke in Julia ; 
 " but we want to do right to every one. Now, how about your brother 
 and his suit ? " 
 
 " What if I were to show him this letter," said Augustus, " to 
 let him see that Sedlcy means to be here to-morrow, to remain at 
 farthest three days ; is it not likely Cutbill would himself desire to 
 avoid mecthig him ? " 
 
 "Not a bit of it," cried Jack. "It's the thing of all others 
 he'd glory in ; he'd be full of all the lively impertinences that he 
 could play oft" on the lawyer; and he'd write a comic song on him, 
 — ay, and sing it in his own presence." 
 
 " Nothing more likely," said Julia, gravely. 
 
 " Then what is to be done ? Is there no escape out of the 
 difiiculty ? " asked Augustus. 
 
 "Yes," said Nelly, "I think there is. The way I should 
 advise would be this : I'd show Mr. Cutbill Sedley's letter, and 
 taking him into counsel, as it were, on the embarrassment of his 
 own position, I'd say, ' W^c must hide you somewhere for these 
 three days.' "
 
 408 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " But lie wouldn't see it, Nelly. He'd laugh at your delicate 
 scruples ; he'd say, ' That's the cue man in all Europe I'm dying to 
 meet.' " 
 
 *' Nelly is quite right, notwithstanding," said Julia. " There is 
 more than one side to Mr. Cutbill's nature. He'd like to be thought 
 a very punctilious gentleman fully as much as a very jocose com- 
 panion. Make him believe that in keeping out of sight here at thii^ 
 moment he will be exercising a most refined delicacy, — doing what 
 nothing short of a high-bred sensibility would ever have dreamed of. 
 and you'll see he'll be as delighted with his part as ever he was 
 with his course drolleiy. And here he comes to test my theory 
 about him." 
 
 As she spoke Cutbill came lounging up the garden walk, too 
 busily engaged in making a paper cigarette to see those in front 
 of him. 
 
 " I'm sure Mr. Cutbill that cigarette must be intended for me," 
 cried Julia, " seeing all the pains you are bestowing on its manu- 
 facture." 
 
 "Ah, Miss Julia, if I could only believe that you'd let me 
 corrupt your morals to the extent of a pinch of Latakia " 
 
 " Give me Sedley's letter. Gusty," said Nelly, " and leave the 
 whole arrangement to me. Mr. Cutbill, will you kindly let me have 
 three minutes of your company. I want a bit of advice from you." 
 And she took his arm as she spoke and led him down the garden. She 
 wasted no time in preliminaries, but at once came to the point, saying, 
 " We're in what you would call ' a fix ' this morning, Mr. Cutbill : 
 my brother's lawyer, Mr. Sedley, is coming here most unex- 
 pectedly. We know that some unpleasant passages have occurred 
 between you and that gentleman, making a meeting between you 
 quite impossible ; and in the great difficulty of the moment I have 
 charged myself with the solution of the embarrassment, and now 
 begin to see that without your aid I am powerless. Will you help 
 me ; that is, will you advise with or for me ? " 
 
 "Of course I will ; but, first of all, where's the difficulty you 
 speak of? I'd no more mind meeting this man, — sitting next him 
 at dinner, if you like, than I would an old creditor — and I have a 
 good many of them — tbat I never mean to pay." 
 
 " We never doubted i/our tact, Mr. Cutbill," said she, with a strong 
 emphasis on the pronoun. 
 
 " If so, then the matter is easy enough. Tact always serves for 
 two. If I be the man you take me for, that crabbed old fellow will 
 love me like a brother before the first day is over." 
 
 '• That's not the quc^tioa, Mr. Cutbill. Your personal powers
 
 DEALING -SVITII CUTBILL. 409 
 
 of captivation no one disputes, if only they get a fair field for their 
 exercise ; but what we fear is that Mr. Sedley, being the hot-tempered, 
 hasty man he is, will not give you this chance. My brother has twice 
 already been on the verge of a rupture with him for having acted oa 
 his own independent judgment. I believe nothing but his regard for 
 poor dear papa would have made him forgive Augustus ; and when I 
 tell you that in the present critical state of our cause his desertion of 
 us would bo fatal, I am sure you will do anything to avert such a 
 calamity." 
 
 "Let us meet, Miss Ellen; let us dine togetlier once — I Only 
 ask once — and if I don't borrow money from him before he takes 
 his bedroom candle, you may scratch Tom Cutbill, and put him off 
 ' the course ' for ever. "What does that impatient shrug of the 
 shoulders mean '? Is it as much as to say, ' What a conceited snob 
 it is ! ' eh ? " 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Cutbill, you couldn't possibly " 
 
 " Couldn't I though ? And don't I know well that I am just as 
 vain of my little talents, — as your friend, Miss Julia, called them, — 
 as you and others are ready to ridicule them ; but the real ditfereuce 
 between us after all is this : You think the world at large is a 
 monstrous clever creature, with great acuteness, great discrimination 
 and great delicacy ; and I Intow it to be a great overgrown bully, 
 mistaking half it hears, and blundering all it says, so that any one, 
 I don't care who he is, that will stand out from the crowd in life, 
 think his own thoughts and guide his own actions, may just do what 
 he pleases with that unwieldy old monster, making it believe it's the 
 master, all the while it is a mere slave and a drudge. There's another 
 shrug of the shoulders. Why not say it out — you're a puppy, Tom 
 Cutbill ? " 
 
 " First of all it wouldn't be polite, and secondly " 
 
 "Never mind the secondly. It's quite enough for me to see 
 that I have not convinced you, nor am I half as clever a fellow as I 
 think myself ; and do you know, you're the first I ever knew dispute 
 the position." 
 
 " But I do not. I subscribe to it implicitly ; my presence here, 
 at this moment, attests how I believe it. It is exactly because I 
 regard Mr. Cutbill as the cleverest person I know — the very ablest to 
 extricate one from a difficulty — that I have come to him this morning." 
 
 " My honour is satisfied ! " said he, laying his hand on his heart, 
 and bowing with a grand seriousness. 
 
 " And now," said Nelly, hurriedly, for her patience had well nigh 
 given in, "what's to be done. I have a project of my own, but I don't 
 know whether vou would agree to it."
 
 410 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Not agree to a project of yours! What do you take me for, 
 Miss Ellen ? " 
 
 " My clear Mr. Cutbill, I have exhausted all my compliments. 
 I can only say 1 endorse all the preceding with compound interest.' 
 
 Slightly piqued by the half sarcasm of her manner, he simply said — 
 " And your project ; what is it ? " 
 
 " That you should be a close prisoner for the short time 
 Mr. Sedley stays here ; sufficiently near to be able to communicate 
 and advise with you — for we count much on your counsel — and yet 
 totally safe from even the chance of meeting him. There is a 
 small chapel about a mile off, where the family confessor used to 
 live, in two neat little rooms adjoining the building. These shall be 
 made comfortable for you. We will take care — I will — that you are 
 not starved ; and some of us will be sure to go and see you every day, 
 and report all that goes on. I foresee a number of details, but I have 
 no time now to discuss them ; the great point is, do you agree ? " 
 
 " This is Miss Julia's scheme, is it not " 
 
 " No, I assure you ; on my word it is mine." 
 
 " But you have concerted it with her ? " 
 
 " Not even that ; she knows nothing of it." 
 
 " With whom, then, have you talked it over ? " 
 
 " With none, save Mr. Cutbill." 
 
 "In that case, Mr. Cutbill comjjlies," said he, with a theatrical 
 air of condescension. 
 
 " You will go there ? " 
 
 " Yes, I promise it." 
 
 •' And remain close prisoner till I liberate you '? " 
 
 ''Everythiug you command." 
 
 "I thank you much, and I am very proud of my success," said 
 she, offering her hand. " Shall I own to you," said she, after a 
 pause, " that my brother's nerves have been so shaken by the 
 agitation he has passed through, and by the continual pressure of 
 thinking that it is his own personal fault that this battle has been so 
 ill contested, that the faintest show of censure on him now would be 
 more than he could bear. I have little doubt that the cause is lost, 
 and I am only eager that poor Augustus should not feel it was lost 
 through /(//.'(." 
 
 She was greatly agitated as she spoke, and, with a hurried fare- 
 well, she turned and left him.
 
 ( ill ) 
 
 CtlAPTER LXni. 
 
 THE CLIENT AND HIS LAWYER. 
 
 When tlie rest of the party had left the diuner-room, and Augustus 
 ."Dramleigh and Mr. Sedley found themselves alone, a silence of several 
 minutes ensued ; a very solemn pause each felt it, well knowing that 
 at such a moment the slightest word maybe the signal for disclosures 
 Avhich involve a destiny. Up to this, nothing had been said on 
 either side of " the cause ; " and though Sedley had travelled across 
 Europe to speak of it, he waited with decorous reserve till his host 
 should invite him to the topic. 
 
 liramleigh, an awkward and timid man at the best of times, was 
 still more so when he found himself in a situation in which he should 
 give the initiative. As the entertainer of a guest, too, he fancied 
 that to introduce his personal interests as matter of conversation 
 would be in bad taste, and so he lidgcted, and passed the decanters 
 across the table with a nervous impatience, trying to seem at his ease, 
 and stammering out at last some unmeaning question about the otlicr's 
 journey. 
 
 Sedley replied to the inquiry with a cold and measured politeness, 
 as a man might to a matter purely irrelevant. 
 
 " The Continent is comparatively new ground to you, 3Ir. 
 Sedley ? " 
 
 " Entirely so. I have never been beyond Brussels before this." 
 
 " Late years have nearly effaced national peculiarities. One 
 ^•rosses frontiers now, and never remembers a change of country." 
 
 " Quite so." 
 
 "The money, the coinage, perhaps, is the great reminder 
 iiftcr all." 
 
 " Money is the great reminder of almost everything everywhere, 
 sir," said Sedley, with a stern and decisive tone. 
 
 " I am afraid you are right," said Bramleigh, with a faint sigh, 
 and now they seemed to stand on the brink of a pi'ecipicc, and look 
 over. 
 
 " AVhat news have you for me '? " said he at last, gulping as he 
 spoke. 
 
 " None to cheer, nothing to give encouragement. The discovery 
 at Castello will ensure them a verdict. We cannot dispute the marriage, 
 it was solemnized in all form and duly witnessed. The birth of the 
 child was also carefully authenticated — there isn't a flaw in the 
 registry, and they'll take care to remind us on the second trial of
 
 412 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 how freely we scattered our contemptuous sarcasms on the illegitimacy 
 of this connexion on the first record." 
 
 " Is the case hopeless then ? " 
 
 " Nothing is hopeless where a jury enters, but it is only short of 
 hopeless. Kelson of course says he is sure, and perhaps so should 
 I, in his place. Still they might disagree again : there's a strong 
 repugnance felt by juries against dispossessing an old occupant. All 
 can feel the hardship of his case, and the sympathy for him goes a 
 great way." 
 
 " Still this would only serve to protract matters, — they'd bring 
 another action." 
 
 " Of course they would, and Kelson has money ! " 
 
 " I declare I see no benefit in continuing a hopeless contest." 
 
 " Don't be hopeless then, that's the remedy." 
 
 Bramleigh made a slight gesture of impatience, and slight as it 
 was, Sedley observed it. 
 
 " You have never treated this case as your father would have 
 done, Mr. Bramleigh. He had a rare spirit to face a contest. I 
 remember one day hinting to him that if this claim could be backed 
 by money it would be a very formidable suit, and his answer was : 
 • — ' When I strike my flag, Sedley, the enemy will find the prize was 
 scarcely worth fighting for.' I knew what he meant was, he'd have 
 mortgaged the estate to every shilling of its value, before there arose 
 a question of his title." 
 
 " I don't believe it, sir; I tell you to your face I don't believe 
 it," cried Bramleigh, passionately. " My father was a man of 
 honour, and never would have descended to such duplicity." 
 
 " My dear sir, I have not come twelve hundred miles to discuss 
 a question in ethics, nor will I risk myself in a discussion with you. 
 I repeat, sir, that had your father lived to meet this contention, we 
 should not have found ourselves where we are to-day. Your father 
 was a man of considerable capacity, Mr. Bramleigh. He conducted 
 a large and important house with consummate skill ; brought up his 
 i'amily handsomely ; and had he been spared, would have seen every 
 one of them in positions of honour and consequence." 
 
 "To every word in his praise I subscribe heartily and gratefully ; " 
 and there was a tremor in his voice as Bramleigh spoke. 
 
 " He has been spared a sad spectacle, I must say," continued 
 Sedley. " With the exception of your sister who married that 
 viscount, ruin — there's only one word for it — ruin has fallen upon 
 you all." 
 
 " Will you forgive me if I remind you that you are my lawyer, 
 Mr. Sedley, not my chaplain nor my confessor."
 
 THE CLIENT AND HIS LA^^'YER. 413 
 
 " Lawyer without a suit ! "Why, my clear sir, there will be soou 
 nothing to litigate. You and all belonging to you were an imposition 
 and a i'raud. There, there ! It's nothing to grow angry over ; how 
 could you or any of you suspect your lather's legitimacy ? You 
 accepted the situation as you found it, as all of us do. That }'ou 
 regarded Pracoutal as a cheat was no fault of yours, — he says so 
 himself. I have seen him and talked with him ; he was at Kelson's 
 when I called last week, and old Kelson said, — ' My client is 
 in the next room : he says you treated him rudely one day he went to 
 your office. I wish you'd step in and say a civil word or two. It 
 would do good, Sedley. I tell you it would do good ! ' and he laid 
 such a signiticant stress on the word, that I walked straight in and 
 said how very sorry I felt for having expressed myself in a way that 
 could ofl'end him. ' At all events, sir,' said I, * if you will not accept 
 my apology for myself, let me beseech you lo separate the interest of 
 my cHent from my rudeness, and let not Mr. Bramleigh be pre- 
 judiced because his la\\7er was ill manner d.' 'It's all forgotten, 
 never to be recalled,' said he, shaking my hand. ' Has Kelson told 
 you my intentions towards Bramleigh ? ' 
 
 " * He has told me nothing,' said I. 
 
 " ' Tell him. Kelson. I can't make the matter plain as you can. 
 Tell Mr. Sedley what we were thinking of.' 
 
 " In one word, sir, his plan was a partition of the property. He 
 would neither disturb your title nor dispute your name. You should 
 be the Bramleighs of Castello, merely paying him a rentcharge of 
 four thousand a year. Kelson suggested more, but he said a 
 hundred thousand francs was ample, and he made no scruple of add- 
 ing that he never was master of as many sous in his life. 
 
 " 'And what does Kelson say to this '? ' asked I. 
 
 " ' Kelson says what Sedley would say — that it is a piece of 
 Quixotism worthy of Hanwell.' 
 
 " ' Ma foi,' said Pracontal, ' it is not the first time I have fired 
 in the air.' 
 
 " We talked for two hours over the matter. Part of what 
 Pracontal said was good sound sense, well reasoned and acutely 
 expressed ; part was sentimental rubbish, not fit to listen to. At 
 last I obtained leave to submit the whole affair to you, not by letter — 
 that they wouldu't have — but personally, and there, in one word, is 
 the reason of my journey. 
 
 "Before I left town, however, I saw the Attorney-General, whose 
 opinion I had already taken on certain points of the case. He was 
 a personal friend of your father, and willingly entered upon it. 
 When I toll him Pracontal's proposal, ho smiled dubiously, and
 
 414 THE BRAJILEIGHS OF BISHOP's I''OLLY. 
 
 said, ' Why, it's a confession of defeat ; the man must know his 
 case will break down, or he never would offer such conditions.' 
 
 " I tried to persuade him that without knowing, seeing, hearing 
 this Frenchman, it would not be easy to imagine such an action 
 proceeding from a sane man, but that his exalted style of talk and his 
 inflated sentimentality made the thing credible. He wants to belong 
 to a family, to be owned and accepted as some one's relative. The 
 man is dying of the shame of his isolation. 
 
 " ' Let him marry.' 
 
 " ' So he means, and I hear to Bramleigh's widow, Lady Augusta.' 
 
 "He laughed heartily at this and said, 'It's the only encum- 
 brance on the property.' And now, Mr. Bramleigh, you are to judge, 
 if you can ; is this the offer of generosity, or is it the crafty proposal 
 of a beaten adversary ? I don't mean to say it is an easy point to 
 decide on, or that a man can hit it off at once. Consult those about 
 vou ; take into consideration the situation you stand in and all its 
 dangers ; bethink you what an adverse verdict may bring if we push 
 them to a trial ; and even if the proposal be, as Mr. Attorney thinks, 
 the cry of weakness, is it wise to disregard it ? " 
 
 " Would you have laid such a proposal before my father, Sedley ? " 
 said Bramleigh, with a scarcely perceptible smile. 
 
 " Not for five hundred pounds, sir." 
 
 ''I thought not." 
 
 '' Ay, but remember your father would never have landed us 
 where we stand now, Mr. Bramleigh." 
 
 Augustus winced under this remark, but said nothing. 
 
 " If the case be what you think it, Sedley," said he at last, 
 " this is a noble offer." 
 
 "So say I." 
 
 " There is much to think over in it. If I stood alone here, and if 
 my own were the only interests involved, I think — that is I hope — I 
 laiow what answer I should give ; but there are others. You have 
 seen my sister : you thought she looked thin and delicate — and she 
 may well do so, her cares overtax her strength ; and my poor brother, 
 too, that fine-hearted fellow, what is to become of him I And yet, 
 Sedley," cried he suddenly, " if either of them were to suspect that 
 
 this this — what shall I call it ? — this arrangement — stood on no 
 
 basis of right, but was simply an act of generous forbearance, I'd stake 
 my life on it, they'd refuse it." 
 
 " You must not consult them then, that's clear." 
 
 " But I will not decide till I do so." 
 
 "Oh, for five minutes — only five minutes — of your poor 
 father's strong sense and sound intellect, and I might send off
 
 THE CLIENT AND HIS LAWYER. 415 
 
 my telegram to-night." And with this speech, delivered slowly 
 and determinately, the old man arose, took his bed-room candle, 
 and walked awav. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 A FIRST GLEAM OF LIGHT. 
 
 After a sleepless, anxious night, in which he canvassed all that 
 Sedley had told him, Bramleigh presented himself at Jack's bedside 
 as the day vras breaking. Though the sailor was not worldly wise, 
 nor endowed with much knowledge of life, he had, as Augustus 
 knew, a rough and ready judgment which, allied to a spirit of high 
 honour, rarely failed in detecting that course which in the long run 
 proved best. Jack, too, was no casuist, no hair-splitter ; he took 
 wide, commonplace views, and in this way was sure to do what nine 
 out of ten ordinary men would approve of, and this was the sort of 
 caunsel that Bramleigh now desired to set side by side with his own 
 deeply considered opinion. 
 
 Jack listened attentively to his brother's explanation, not once 
 interrupting him by a word or a question till he had finished, and 
 then, laying his hand gently on the other's, said, " You know well. 
 Gusty, that you couldn't do this." 
 
 " I thought you would say so, Jack." 
 
 " You'd be a fool to part with what you owned, or a knave to 
 sell what did not belong to you." 
 
 " My own judgment precisely." 
 
 " I'd not bother myself then Avith Sedley's pros and cons, nor 
 entertain the question about saving what one could out of the 
 wreck. If you haven't a right to a plank in the ship, you have no 
 right to her because she is on the rocks. Say 'No,' Gusty: say 
 ' No ' at once." 
 
 " It would be at best a compromise on the life of one man, 
 for Pracontal's son, if he should leave one, could revive the claim." 
 
 '* Don't let us go so far, Gusty. Let us deal with the case 
 as it stands before us. Say ' No,' and have done with the matter 
 at once." 
 
 Augustus leaned his head between his hands, and fell into a 
 deep vein of thought. 
 
 " You've had your trial of humble fortune now. Gusty," con- 
 tinued Jack, " and I don't see that it has soured you; I see no
 
 416 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLT. 
 
 signs of fretting or irritability about you, old fellow; I'll even say 
 that I never remember you jollier or heartier. Isn't it true, this 
 sort of life has no terror for 3"ou ? " 
 
 " Think of Nelly, Jack." 
 
 " Nelly is better able to brave hard fortune than either of us. 
 She never was spoiled when we were rich, and she had no pretensions 
 to lay down when we became poor." 
 
 " And yourself, my poor fellow ? I've had many a plan of what 
 I meant by you." 
 
 " Never waste a thought about me. I'll buy a trabaccolo. 
 They're the handiest coasting craft that ever sailed ; and I'll see if 
 the fruit-trade in the Levant won't feed me, and we'll live here, 
 Gusty, all together. Come now, tell me frankly, would you 
 exchange that for Castello, if you had to go back there and live 
 alone — eh ? " 
 
 " I'll not say I would ; but " 
 
 "There's no 'but;' the thing is clear and plain enough. 
 This place wouldn't suit Marion or Temple ; but they'll not try it. 
 Take my word for it, of all our fine acquaintances, not one will ever 
 come down here to see how we bear our reduced lot in life. AVe'll 
 start fresh in the race, and we'll talk of long ago and our grand 
 times without a touch of repining." 
 
 " I'm quite ready to try it. Jack." 
 
 " That's well said," said he, grasping his hand, and pressing it 
 affectionately. " And you'll say 'No' to this offer '? I knew you 
 would. Not but the Frenchman is a fine fellow. Gusty. I didn't 
 believe it was in his nation to behave as nobly; for, mark you, I 
 have no doubts, no misgivings about his motives. I'd say all was 
 honest and above board in his offer." 
 
 " I join you in that opinion. Jack ; and one of these days I hope 
 to tell him so." 
 
 " That's the way to fight the battle of life," cried the sailor, 
 enthusiastically. " Stand by your guns manfully, and, if you're 
 beaten, haul down your flag in all honour to the fellow who has 
 been able to thrash you. The more you respect kin}, the higher 
 you esteem yourself. Get rid of that old lawyer as soon as you can, 
 Gusty; he's not a pleasant fellow, and we all want Cutty back again." 
 " Sedley will only be too glad to escape ; he's not in love with our 
 barbarism." 
 
 " I'm to breakfast with Cutty this morning. I was nigh for- 
 getting it. I hope I may tell him that his term of banishment is 
 nearly over." 
 
 *' I imagine Sedley will not remain beyond to-morrow."
 
 A FIRST GLEAM OF LIGHT. 417 
 
 " That will be grand news for Cutty, for lie can't bear solitude. 
 He says bimself he'd rather be in the Marshalsca with plenty of 
 companions, than be a king and have no associates. By the way, 
 am I at liberty to tell him about this oflcr of Pracontal's '? He 
 knows the whole history, and the man too." 
 
 " Tell him if you like. The Frenchman is a favourite with 
 him, and this wull be another reason for thinking well of him." 
 
 " That's the way to live. Gusty. Keep the ship's company in 
 good humour, and the voyage will be all the happier." 
 
 After a few words they parted, Augustus to prepare a formal 
 reply to his lawyer, and Jack to keep his engagement with Cuibill. 
 Though it was something of a long walk, Jack never felt it so ; his 
 mind was full of pleasant thoughts of the future. To feel that 
 Julia loved him, and to know that a life of personal effort and 
 enterprise was before him, were thoughts of overwhelming delight. 
 He was now to show himself worthy of her love, and he would do 
 this. With what resolution he would address himself to the stern 
 Avork of life ! It w\as not enough to say affluence had not spoiled 
 him, he ought to be able to prove that the gentleman element was a 
 source of energy and perseverance which no reverses could discourage. 
 Julia was a girl to value this. She herself had learned how to meet 
 a fallen condition, and had sacrificed nothing that graced or adorned 
 her nature in the struggle. Nay, she was more loveable now than 
 he had ever known her. Was it not downright luck that had taught 
 thom both to bear an altered lot before the trial of their married life 
 began ? It was thus he reasoned as he went, canvassing his con- 
 dition in every way, and contented with it in all. 
 
 " What good news have you got this morning '? " cried Cutbill, 
 as be entered. " I never saw you look so jolly iu my life." 
 
 " Well, I did find half-a-crown in the pocket of an old letter- 
 case this morning ; but it's the only piece of unexpected luck that 
 has befallen me." 
 
 " Is the lawj'er gone ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Nor thinking of going ? " 
 
 " I won't say that. I suspect he'll not make a long halt after 
 he has a talk with Gusty to-day." 
 
 And now Jack told iu a few words the object of Sedley's coming, 
 what Pracontal had oll'ered, and what Augustus had resolved to send 
 lor answer. 
 
 " I'd have said the Frenchman was the biggest fool iu Europe 
 if I hadn't heard of your brother," said Cutbill, putting out a long 
 column of smoke, and giving a deep sigh. 
 
 27
 
 418 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 " That's not exactly how I read each of them," said Jack, 
 sternly. 
 
 " Possibly ; but it's the true rendering after all. Consider for 
 one moment ■" 
 
 " Not for half a moment, Master Cutbill. That my brother 
 might make a very good bargain, by simply bartering such an 
 insignificant thing as his honour as a gentleman, is easy to see ; and 
 that scores of people wouldn't understand that such a compromise 
 was in question, or was of much consequence if it were, is also easy 
 to see ; and we need waste no time in discussing this. I say 
 Gusty's right, and I maintain it ; and if you like to hold a different 
 opinion, do so in heaven's name, but don't disparage motives simply 
 because you can't feel them." 
 
 " Are you better after all that ? " said Cutbill, drily, as he filled 
 Jack's glass with water, and pushed it towards him. " Do you feel 
 refreshed ? " 
 
 " Much better — considerably relieved." 
 
 " Could I offer you anything cooling or calming? " 
 
 " Nothing half as cool as yourself. Cutty. And now let's change 
 the subject, for it's one I'll not stand any chaff about." 
 
 " Am I safe in recommending j'ou that grilled chicken, or is it 
 indiscreet in me to say you'll find those sardines good ? " 
 
 Jack helped himself, and ate on without a word. At last, he 
 lifted his head, and, looking around him, said, " You've very nice 
 quarters here, Cutbill." 
 
 " As neat as paint. I v,-as thinking this morning whether I'd 
 not ask your brother to rent me this little place. . I feel quite 
 romantic since I've come up here, with the nightingales, and the 
 cicalas, and the rest of them." 
 
 " If there were only a few more rooms like this, I'd dispute the 
 tenancy with you." 
 
 " There's a sea-view for you," said he, throwing Vi^ido the 
 ialousies. " The whole Bocca di Cattaro and the islands in the 
 distance. Naples is nothing to it ! And when you have feasted 
 your eye with worldly beauty, and want a touch of celestial beatitude, 
 you've only to do this." And he arose, and walking over to one 
 side of the room, drcv/ back a small curtain of green silk, disclosing 
 behind it an ornamental screen or " grille" of iron-work. 
 
 " What does that mean? " asked Jack. 
 
 " That means that the occupant of this room, when devoutly 
 disposed, could be able to hear mass without the trouble of going 
 for it. This little grating here looks into the chapel : and there 
 are evidences about that members of the family who lived at the
 
 A FIRST GLEAM OF LIGHT. 419 
 
 villa were accustomed to come up here at times to pass cla3's of 
 solitude, and perhaps penance, which, after all, judging from the 
 indulgent character of this little provision here, were prohahly not 
 over severe." 
 
 " Nelly has told me of this chapel. Can we see it ? " 
 
 " No; it's locked and barred like a gaol. I've tried to peep in 
 through this grating ; but it's too dark to see anything." 
 
 " But this grating is on a hinge," said Jack. "Don't you see, 
 it was meant to open, though it appears not to have done so for 
 some years back ? Here's the secret of it." And pressing a small 
 knob in the wall, the framework became at once moveable, and 
 opened like a window. 
 
 " I hope it's not sacrilege, but I mean to go in," said Jack, 
 who, mounting on a chair, with a sailor's agility insinuated himself 
 through the aperture, and invited Cutbill to follow. 
 
 " No, no ; I wasn't brought up a rope-dancer," said he, gruffly^ 
 " If you can't manage to open the door for me " 
 
 " But it's what I can. I can push back eveiy bolt. Come- 
 round now, and I'll admit you." 
 
 By the time Cutbill had reached the entrance, Jack had succeeded 
 in opening the massive doors ; and as he flung them wide, a flood of 
 light poured into the little crypt, with its splendid altar and its silver 
 lamps ; its floor of tesselated marble, and its ceiling a mass of 
 gilded tracery almost too bright to look on : but it was not at the 
 glittering splendour of gold or gems that they now stood enrap- 
 tured. It was in speechless wonderment of the picture that formed 
 the altar-piece, which was a Madonna, — a perfect copy, in every 
 lineament and line, of the Flora at Castello. Save that an expression 
 of ecstatic rapture had replaced the look of joj'ous delight, they 
 were the same, and unquestionably were derived from tha- same-, 
 original. 
 
 " Do you know that ? " cried Cutbill. 
 
 " Kuow it ! Why, it's our own fresco at Castelb." 
 
 " And by the same hand too," cried Cutbill. " Here are the- 
 initials in the corner — G. L. ! Of all the strange things that I have 
 ever met in life, this is the strangest ! " And he leaned on the 
 railing of the altar, and gazed on the picture with intense interest. 
 
 " I can make nothing of it," muttered Jack. 
 
 " And yet there's a great story in it," said Cutbill, in a low, 
 serious tone. ' ' That picture was a portrait — a portrait ofthc painter's 
 daughter ; and that painter's daughter was the wife of your grand- 
 father, Montagu Bramleigh ; and it is her grandchild now, the maa 
 called Pracoutal, who claims your estates."
 
 420 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " How clo you pretend to know all this ? " 
 
 " I know it chapter and verse. I have gone over the whole 
 history with that old painter's journal hefore me. I have seen 
 several studies of that girl's face — ' Enrichetta Lami,' she was 
 called — and I have read the entry of her marriage with your grand- 
 &ther in the parish register. A terrible fact for your poor brother, 
 for it clenches his ruin. Was there ever as singular a chance in 
 life as the re-appearance of this face here ? " 
 
 "Coming as though to taunt us with our downfall; though 
 certainly that lovely brow and those tearful eyes have no scorn in 
 them. She must have been a great beauty." 
 
 " Pracontal raves of her beauty, and says that none of these 
 pictures do her justice, except one at Urbino. At least he gathers 
 this from the journal, which he swears by as if it were gospel." 
 
 " I'd call her handsomer in that picture than in our fresco. I 
 wonder if this were painted earlier or later ? " 
 
 " I can answer that question, for the old sacristan who came up 
 here yesterday, and fell to talking about the chapel, mentioned how 
 the painter — a gran' maestro he called him — bargained to be buried 
 at the foot of the altar, and the Marchese had not kept his word, 
 not liking to break up the marble pavement, and had him interred 
 outside the walls, with the prior's grave and a monk at cither side 
 of him. His brushes and colours, and his tools for fresco-work, 
 were all buried in the chapel, for they had been blessed by the 
 Pope's Nuncio, after the completion of the basihca at Udine. 
 Haven't I remembered my story well, and the old fellow didn't 
 tell it above nine times over ? This was old Lami's last work, 
 and here his last resting-place." 
 
 " What is it seems so familiar to me in that name ? Every 
 time you have uttered it I am ready to say I have heard it before." 
 
 " What so likely, from Augustus or your sister." 
 
 "No. I can answer for it that neither of them ever spoke of 
 him to me. I know it was not from them I heard it." 
 
 " But how tell the story of this suit without naming him ? " 
 
 " They never did tell me the story of the suit, beyond the foct 
 that my grandfather had been married privately in early life, and 
 left a son whom he had not seen nor recognized, but took every 
 means to disavow and disown. Wait now, a moment ; my mind is 
 coming to it. I think I have the clue to this old fellow's name. I 
 must go back to the villa, however, to be certain." 
 
 " Not a word of our discovery here to any one," cried Cutbill. 
 " We must arrange to bring them all here, and let them be surprised 
 as we were."
 
 A FIRST GLEAM OF LIGHT. 4^ 
 
 " I'll be back with you within an hour," said Jack. " My hea>? 
 is full of this, and I'll tell you why when I I'eturn." 
 
 And they parted. 
 
 Before Cutbill could believe it possible. Jack, flushed and heated, 
 re-entered the room. He had run at top speed, found what he 
 sought for, and came back in intense eagerness to declare the result. 
 
 "You've lost no time, Jack ; nor have I either. I took up the 
 flags under the altai'-steps, and came upon this oak box. I suppose 
 it was sacrilege, but I cai-ried it olf here to examine at our leisure." 
 
 " Look here," cried Jack, " look at this scrap of paper. It was 
 given to me at the galleys at Ischia by the fellow I was chained to. 
 Read these names, Giacomo Lami — whose daughter was Enrichetta 
 — I was to trace him out, and comnmuicatc, if I could with this 
 other man, Touino Baldassare or Pracoutal — he was called by both 
 names. Bolton of Naples could trace him." 
 
 A long low whistle was Cutbill's only reply as he took the 
 paper and studied it long and attentively. 
 
 " Why, this is the whole story," cried he at last. " This old galley- 
 slave is the real claimant, and Pracoutal has no right, while Niccolo, 
 or whatever his name be, lives. This may turn out glorious news for 
 your brother, but I'm not lawyer enough to say whether it may not be 
 the Crown that will benefit, if his estates be confiscated for felony." 
 
 " I don't think that this was the sort of service Old Nick asked 
 me to render him when we parted," said Jack, drily. 
 
 "Probably not. He only asked you to help his son to take 
 away your brother's estate." 
 
 " Old Nick knew nothing about whose brother I was. He 
 trusted me to do him a service, and I told him I would." 
 
 Though Cutbill paid but little attention to him, Jack talked on 
 for some time of his old comrade, recounting the strange traits of 
 his nature, and remembering with gratitude such little kindness as 
 it was in his power to show. 
 
 " I'd have gone clean out of my mind but for him," said he at last. 
 
 " And we have all believed that this fellow was lost at sea," 
 muttered Cutbill. " Bolton gave up all his papers and the remnant 
 of his property to his son in that belief." 
 
 " Nor does he wish to be thought living now. He charged me 
 to give no clue to him. He even said I was to speak of him as one 
 I had met at Monte Video years ago." 
 
 " These arc things for a 'cuter head than yours or mine, Jack," said 
 Cutbill, with a cunning look. " We're not the men to see our way 
 through this tangle. Go and show that scrap of paper to Sedloy, 
 and take this box with you. Tell him how you came by each.
 
 422 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 That old fox will soou see wliether they coufirm the case against 
 your brother or disclose a flaw in it." 
 
 " And is that the way I'm to keep my word to Old Nick '? " said 
 Jack, doggedly. 
 
 " I don't suppose you ever bound yourself to injure your own 
 flesh and blood by a blank promise. I don't believe there's a 
 family in Europe with as many scruples, and as little sense how 
 to deal with them." 
 
 " Civil that, certainly." 
 
 " Not a bit civil, only true ; but let us not squabble. Go and 
 tell Sedley what we have chanced upon. These men have a way of 
 looking at the commonest events — and this is no common event — 
 that you nor I have never dreamed of. If Pracoiital's father be 
 iilive, Pracontal cannot be the claimant to your estates ; that much, 
 I take it, is certain. At all events Sedley's the man to answer this." 
 
 Half pushing Jack out of the room while he deposited the bos 
 in bis bauds, Cutbill at last sent him off, not very willingly indeed, 
 or concurringly, but like one who, in spite of himself, sav/ he was 
 obliged to take a particular course, and travel a road without the 
 slightest suspicion of where it led to. 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 THE LIGHT STROXGEK. 
 
 *' Sedley asks for the best Italian scholar amongst us," said 
 Augustus the next morning at breakfast, " and the voice of public 
 opinion calls upon you, Julia." 
 
 " You know what Figaro said of ' common report.' I'll not 
 repeat it," said she, laughing, "and I'll even behave as if I didn't 
 believe it. And now what is wanted of me, or my Italian scholar- 
 ship ? " 
 
 " The matter is thus : Sedley has received some papers " — here 
 a look of intelligence passed between Augustus and Jack — " which 
 he imagines may be of consequence, but being in Italian, he can't 
 read them. He needs a translator " 
 
 ." I am equal to that," broke she in, " but why don't we do it in 
 committee, as you political people call it? Five heads are better 
 than one." 
 
 *' Mr. Sedley is absolute, and will have but one." 
 
 *' And am I to be closeted for a whole morning with Mr. Sedley ?
 
 THE LIGHT STRONGER. 423 
 
 I declare it seems compromising. Jack frowns at mc. There is 
 nothing so prudish as a sailor. I wish any one would tell me why 
 it is so." 
 
 " "Well, the matter is as you have stated it," said Augustus. 
 " Mr. Sedley says, ' Let me have the aid of some one who will not 
 grudge me two hours, mayhap three.' " 
 
 " What if the documents should turn out love-letters ? " 
 
 "Julia! Julia!" cried Jack, reprovingly; for in reality her 
 sallies kept him in constant anxiety. -r 
 
 "I can't help it, Jack; I must be prudent, even if I shock you 
 by my precautions. I repeat, if these be love-letters ? " 
 
 " Well, I can answer so far," said Augustus. " They are not — 
 at least I can almost assert they arc not." 
 
 " I wish Kelly would go," said Julia, with mock seriousness. 
 " I see Jack is wretched about it, and after all Mr. Sedley, though 
 not exactly a young man " 
 
 "I declare this is too bad," said Jack, rising angrily from the 
 table, and then throwing himself back in his chair, as if iu ccuflict 
 with his ov.-n temper. 
 
 " She is provoking, there is no doubt of it, and on board ship 
 we'd not stand that sort of thing five minutes," said Julia, with a 
 demure air ; " but on land, and amongst terrestrial creatures, Master 
 Jack, I know nothing for it but patience." 
 
 " Patience !" muttered he, with an expression that made them 
 all burst out laughing. 
 
 " So I may tell Sedley you will aid him ? " asked Bramlcigh. 
 
 " I'm ready now. Indeed, the sooner begun the better, for we 
 have a long walk project — haven't we, Jack ? — for this afternoon." 
 
 " Yes, if we have patience for it," said he. And once more the 
 laugh broke forth as they arose from table and separated into little 
 knots and groups through the room. 
 
 " I may tell you, Julia," said Augustus, in a half whisper, " that 
 though I have given up hoping this many a day, it is just possible 
 there may be something in these papers of moment to nie, and I 
 know I have only to say as much to secure your interest in 
 them." 
 
 "I believe you can rely upon that," said she; and within less 
 than five minutes afterwards she was seated at the table with Mr. 
 Sedley in the study, an oblong box of oak clasped with brass in 
 front of them, and a variety of pai)ers lying scattered about. 
 
 " Have you got good eyes. Miss L'Estrange ? " said Sedley, 
 as he raised his spectacles, and turned a peering glance towards 
 her.
 
 424 THE bra:mleighs of bishop's folly. 
 
 "Good ej'cs ? " repeated she, in some astouisliment. 
 
 " Yes ; I don't mean pretty eyes, or expressive eyes. I mean, 
 Lave you keen sight?" 
 
 "i think I have." 
 
 " That's what I need from you at this moment ; here are some 
 papers with erasures and re-writings, and corrections in many places, 
 and it will take all your acuteness to distinguish between the several 
 contexts. Aided by a little knowledge of Latin, I have myself 
 discovered some passages of considerable interest. I was half the 
 night over them ; but with your help, I count on accomplishing more 
 in half an hour." 
 
 While he spoke, he continued to arrange papers in little packets 
 before him, and, last of all, took from the box a painter's pallet and 
 several brushes, along with two or three of those quaintly shaped 
 knives men use in fresco-painting. 
 
 " Have you ever heard of the painter Giacomo Lami ? " 
 asked he. 
 
 " Of course I have. I know the whole story in which he figures. 
 Mr. Bramleigh has told it to me." 
 
 "These are his tools. With these he accomplished those great 
 works which have made him famous among modern artists, and by 
 his will — at least I have spelled out so much — they were buried 
 along with him." 
 
 " And where was he buried ? " 
 
 " Here ! here in Cattaro ; his last work was tlio altar-piece of 
 the little chapel of the villa." 
 
 " Was there ever so strange a coincidence ! " 
 
 " The world is full of them, for it is a very small world after all. 
 This old man, driven from place to place by police persecutions — for 
 he had been a great conspirator in early life, and never got rid of 
 the taste for it — came here as a sort of refuge, and painted the 
 frescoes of the chapel at the price of being buried at the foot of the 
 altar, which was denied him afterwards ; for they^ only buried there 
 this box, with his painting utensils and his few papers. It is to 
 these papers I wish now to direct your attention, if good luck will 
 have it that some of them may be of use. As for me I can do little 
 more than guess at the contents of most of them. 
 
 " Now these," continued he, " seem to me bills and accounts ; are 
 they such ? " 
 
 " Yes, these are notes of expenses incurred in travelling ; and 
 he would seem to have been always on the road. Here is a curious 
 note : * Nuremberg : I like this old town much ; its staid propriety 
 and quietness suit me. I feel that I could work hero ; work at
 
 THE LIGHT STRONGER. 425 
 
 something greater and Letter than these daily efforts for mere bread ; 
 but why after all should I do more '? I have none now to live for 
 — none to work for! Enrichctta, and her boy, gone! and 
 Carlotta ' " 
 
 "Wait a moment," said the lawyer, laying his hand on hers. 
 " Enrichctta was the wife of Montagu Bramleigh, and this boy 
 their son." 
 
 "Yes, and subsequently the father of Pracoutal." 
 
 " And how so, if he died in boyhood ? " muttered he ; " read on." 
 
 " • Now, Carlotta has deserted me ! and for whom ? For the 
 man who betrayed mo ! for that Niccolo Baldassare who denounced 
 live of us at Yerona, and whose fault it is not that I have not died 
 by the hangman.' " 
 
 " This is very important ; a light is breaking on me through this- 
 cloud, too, that gives me hope." 
 
 " I see what you mean. You think that probably " 
 
 " No matter what I think, search on through the papers ; what: 
 is this ? here is a drawing. Is it a mausoleum '? " 
 
 " Yes ; and the memorandum says : ' If I ever be rich enough, 
 I shall place this over Enrichetta's remains at Louvain, and have 
 her boy's body laid beside her. Poor child, that if spared, might 
 have inherited a princely state and fortune, he lies now in the pauper 
 burial-ground at St. Michel. They let me, in consideration of what 
 I had done in repairing their frescoes, place a wooden cross over 
 him. I cut the inscription with my own hands — G. L. B., aged four 
 years ; the last hope of a shattered heart.' " 
 
 " Does not this strengthen your impression ? " asked Julia, turn- 
 ing and confronting him. 
 
 " Aged four years ; he was born, I think, in '99 — the year after 
 the rebellion in Ireland ; this brings us nigh the date of his death. 
 One moment. Let mo note this." He hurriedly scratched off a few 
 lines. " St. Michel ; where is St. Michel ? It may be a church iu 
 some town." 
 
 " Or it may be that village in Savoy, at the foot of the Alps." 
 
 " True ! We shall try there." 
 
 " These are without interest ; they are notes of sums paid on the 
 road, or received for his labour. All were evidently leaves of a book 
 and torn out." 
 
 " What is this about Carlotta here '? " 
 
 " Ah, yes. ' With this I send her all I had saved and put by. 
 I knew he would ilUtreat her : but to take her boy from her — her 
 one joy and comfort iu life — and to send him away she knows not 
 whither, his very name changed, is more than I believed possible^
 
 ■426 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 She says that Niccolo has been to England, and found means to 
 obtain money from M. B.' " 
 
 "Montagu Bramleigh," muttered Sedley ; but she read on: — 
 " ' This is too base; but it expU\ins why he stole all the letters in 
 poor Enrichetta's box, and the papers that told of her marriage.' " 
 
 " Are we on the track now ? " cried the old lawyer triumphantly. 
 "This Baldassare was the father of the claimant, clearly enough. 
 Enrichetta's child died, and the sister's husband substituted himself 
 in his place." 
 
 " But this Niccolo who married Carlotta," said Julia, " must 
 have been many years older than Enrichetta's son would have been 
 had he lived." 
 
 " Who was to detect that? Don't you see that he never made 
 personal application to the Bramleighs. He only addressed them by 
 letter, which, knowing all Enrichetta's story, he could do without 
 risk or danger. Kelson couldn't have been aware of this," muttered 
 he ; " but he had some misgivings — what were they ? " 
 
 While the lawyer sat in deep thought, his face buried in his 
 hands, Julia hurriedly turned over the papers. There were constant 
 references to Carlotta's boy, whom the old man seemed to have loved 
 tenderly ; and different jottings showed how he had kept his birth- 
 day, which fell on the 4th of August. He was born at Zurich, 
 where Baldassare worked as a watchmaker, his trade being, 
 however, a mere mask to conceal his real occupation, that of 
 conspirator, 
 
 " No," said Sedley, raising his head at last, " Kelson knew 
 nothing of it. I'm certain he did not. It was a cleverly planned 
 scheme throughout ; and all the more so by suffering a whole 
 generation to lapse before litigating the claim." 
 
 " But what is this here ? " cried Julia, eagerly. "It is only a 
 fragment, but listen to it : — ' There is no longer a doubt about it. 
 Baldassare's first wife — a certain Marie de Pracontal — is alive, and 
 living with her parents at Aix, in Savoy. Four of the committee 
 have denounced him, and his fate is certain. 
 
 " 'I had begun a letter to Bramleigh, to expose the fraud this 
 Bcoundrel would pass upon him ; but why should I spare him who 
 killed my child ? ' " 
 
 "First of all," said Sedley, reading from his notes, "we have 
 the place and date of Enrichetta's death ! secondly, the burial-place 
 of Godfrey Lami Bramleigh set down as St. IMichel, perhaps in 
 Savoy. We have then the fact of the stolen papers, the copies of 
 registries, and other documents. The marriage of Carlotta is not 
 specified, but it is clearly evident, and we can even fix the time ;
 
 THE LIGHT STKOXGER. 427 
 
 nnd, last of all, we have this second wife, whose name, Pracontal, 
 was always borne by the present claimant." 
 
 " And arc you of opinion that this same Pracontal was a party to 
 the fraud ? " asked Julia. 
 
 " I am not certain," muttered he. "It is not too clear; the 
 point is doubtful." 
 
 " But what have we here ? It is a letter, with a post-mark on 
 it." She read, "Leghorn, February 8, 1812." It was addressed 
 to the Illustrissimo Maestro Lami, Porta Kossa, Florence, and signed 
 N. Baldassare. It was but a few' lines, and ran thus : — 
 
 " Seeing that Carlotta and her child now sleep at Pisa, why deny 
 me your interest for my boy Anatole ? You know well to what he 
 might succeed, and how. Be unforgiving to me if you will. I have 
 borne as hard things even as your hatred, but the child that has 
 never wronged you deserves no part of this hate. I want but little 
 from you ; some dates, a few names — that I know you remember, — • 
 . and last of all, my miud refreshed on a few events which I have 
 heard you talk of again and again. Nor is it for me that you will do 
 this, for I leave Europe within a week, — I shall return to it no more. 
 Ausvrer this Yes or No at once, as I am about to quit this place. 
 You know me well enough to know that I never threaten though I 
 sometimes counsel, and my counsel now is, consent to the demand 
 of — N. Baldassaee." 
 
 Underneath was written in Lami's hand, — "I will carry this to 
 my grave, that I may curse him who wrote it here and hereafter." 
 
 " Now the story stands out complete," said Julia, " and this 
 Pracontal belonged to neither Bramleigh nor Lami." 
 
 " Make me a literal translation of that letter," said Sedley. " It 
 is of more moment than almost all we have yet read. I do not 
 mean now. Miss Julia," said he, seeing she had already commenced 
 to write ; for we have these fragments still to look over." 
 
 While the lawyer occupied himself with drawing up a memorandum 
 for his own guidance, Julia, by his dii'cctions, went carefully over 
 the remaining papers : few were of any interest, but these she 
 docketed accurately, and with such brevity and clearness combined, 
 that Sedley, little given to compliments, could not but praise Jier 
 skill. It was not till the day began to decline that their labours 
 drew to a close. It was a day of intense attention and great work, 
 but only when it was over did she feel the exhaustion of overwrought 
 powers. 
 
 " You are very, very tired," said Sedley. " It was too thought- 
 less of me ; I ought to have remembered how unused you must be 
 to fatigue like this."
 
 428 THE BKAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 *' But I couldn't have left it, the interest was intense, and nolning 
 would have persuaded me to leave the case without seeing how it 
 ended." 
 
 "It will he necessary to authenticate these," said he, laying- 
 his hand on the papers, " and then we must show how we came 
 by them." 
 
 " Jack can tell you this," said she ; and now her strength failed 
 her outright, and she lay back, overcome, and almost fainting. 
 Sedley hurriedly rang for help, but before any one arrived Julia 
 rallied, and with a faint smile said, " Don't make a fuss about me.. 
 You have what is really important to occupy you. I will go and lie 
 down till evening ; " and so she left him. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 sedley's notes. 
 
 Julia found herself unable to come down to dinner, and Mr. Sedley 
 had to confess that he had overtaxed her strength and imposed too 
 far upon her zeal. "To tell truth," added he, "I forgot she was 
 not a colleague. So shrewd and purpose-like were all her remarks, 
 such aptitude she displayed in rejecting what was valueless, and such 
 acuteness in retaining all that was really important, it went clean out 
 of my head that I was not dealing with a brother of the craft, instead 
 of a very charming and beautiful young lady." 
 
 "And you really have fallen upon papers of importance?" 
 asked Nelly, eagerly ; for Julia had already, in answer to the same 
 question, said, " Mr. Sedley has pledged me to silence." 
 
 " Of the last importance, Miss Bramleigh." He paused, for an 
 instant, and then added, "I am well aware that I see nothing but 
 friends, almost members of one family, around this table, but the 
 habits of my calling impose reserve ; and, besides, I am unwilling to 
 make revelations until, by certain inquiries, I can affirm that they 
 may be relied on." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Sedley, if you have a gleam, even a gleam of hope, do 
 give it us. Don't you think our long-suffering and patience have 
 made us worthy of it ? " 
 
 " Stop, Nelly," cried Augustus, " I will have no appeals of this 
 kind. Mr, Sedley knows our anxieties, and if ho does not yield to 
 them he has his own good reasons." 
 
 " I don't see that," broke iu Jack. " We are not asking to
 
 sedley's notes. 429 
 
 hear our neighbour's secrets, aud I take it we are of au age to be 
 entrusted with our own." 
 
 " You speak sharply, sir," said Sedley, " but you speak well. 
 I would only observe that the most careful and cautious people have 
 been known to write letters, very confidential letters, which some- 
 how get bruited about, so that clues are discovered and inferences 
 traced which not uufrequently have given the most serious diJficulties 
 to those engaged in inquiry." 
 
 " Have no fears on tliat score, Mr. Sedley," said Jack; " there 
 are not four people in Europe at this moment with fewer corre- 
 spondents. I believe I might say that the roof of this house covers 
 our whole world." 
 
 " Jack is right there," added Augustus. " If we don't write to 
 TJie Times or the Post, I don't see to whom we are to tell our news." 
 
 " George hasn't even a pulpit here to expound us from," cried 
 Jack, laughingly. 
 
 " You have au undoubted right to know what is strictly your 
 own concern. The only question is, shall I be best consulting your 
 interests by telling it ? " 
 
 " Out with it, by all means," said Jack. " The servants have 
 left the room now, and here we are in close committee." 
 
 Sedley looked towards Augustus, who replied by a gesture of 
 assent ; and the lawyer, taking his spectacles from his pocket, said, 
 " I shall simply read you the entry of my note-book. Much of it 
 will surprise aud nmch more gratify you ; but let me entreat that if 
 j-ou have any doubts to resolve, or questions to put, you will reserve 
 them till I have finished. I will only say that for everything I shall 
 state as fact there appears to me to be abundant proofs, aud where 
 I mention what is simply conjecture I will say so. You remember 
 my condition, theu '? I am not to be interrupted." 
 
 "Agreed," cried Jack, as though replying for the most probable 
 defaulter. " I'll not utter a word, and the others are all discretion." 
 
 " The case is this," said Sedley. " Montagu Bramlcigh, of 
 Cossenden Manor, married Enrichetta, daughter of Giacomo Lami, 
 the painter. The marriage was celebrated at the village church of 
 Portshannon, and duly registered. They separated soon after — she 
 retiring to Holland with her father, who had compromised himself 
 in the Irish rebellion of '98. A son was bom to this marriage, 
 christened and registered in the Protestant church at Louvain as 
 Godfrey Lami Bramlcigh. To his christening Bramleigh was 
 entreated to come, but under various pretexts he excused himself, 
 and sent a costly present for the occasion ; his letters, however, 
 breathed nothing but afiection, and fully recognized the boy as his
 
 430 THE ERA::\iLEiCTns of bishop's folly. 
 
 son aucl his lieir. Captain Bramleigh is, I kuov.-, impatient at the' 
 length of ihese ietails, but I can't help it. Indignant at the treat- 
 ment of his daughter, Lami sent back the gilt with a letter of 
 • insulting meaning. Several letters were interchanged of anger 
 and recrimination ; and Enrichetta, whose health had long been 
 failing, sunk under the suflering of her desertion and died. Lami 
 left Holland, and repaired to Germany, cariying the child with him. 
 He was also accompanied by a younger daughter, Carlotta, v/ho, 
 at the time I refer to, might have been sixteen or seventeen years 
 of age. Lami held no intercourse with Bramleigh from this date, 
 nor, so far as we know, did Bramleigh take measures to learn about 
 the child — how he grew up, or where he was. Amongst the intimates 
 of Lami's family was a man whose name is not unfamiliar to news- 
 paper readers of some thirty or forty years back — a man who had 
 figured in various conspiracies, and contrived to escape scatheless, 
 where his associates had paid the last penalty of their crimes. This 
 man became the suitor of Carlotta, and won her aflections, although 
 Giacomo neither liked nor trusted Niccolo Baldassare " 
 
 " Stop there," cried Jack, rising, and leaning eagerly across the 
 table ; " say that name again." 
 
 " Niccolo Baldassare." 
 
 "My old companion — my comrade at the galleys," exclaimed 
 Jack; "we were locked to each other, wrist and ankle, for eight 
 months." 
 
 " He lives then ? " 
 
 " I should think he does ; the old beggar is as stout and hale as 
 any one here. I can't guess his age, but I'll answer for his vigour." 
 
 " This will be all important hereafter," said Sedley, making a 
 note. " Now to my narrative. From Lami, Baldassare learned 
 the story of Enriehetta's unhappy marriage and death, and heard 
 how the child, then a playful little boy of three years or so, was the 
 rightful heir of a vast fortune, — a claim the grandfather firmly 
 resolved to prosecute at some future day. The hope was, however, 
 not destined to sustain him, for the boy caught a fever and died. 
 His burial-place is mentioned, and his age, four years." 
 
 " So that," cried Augustus, " the claim became extinct with 
 him ? " 
 
 " Of course ; for though Montagu Bramleigh re-married, it was 
 not till six years after his first wife's death." 
 
 " And our rights are unassailable ? " cried Nelly, wildly. 
 
 " Your estates are safe; at least they will be safe." 
 
 " And who is Pracontal de Bramleigh ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I will tell vou. Baldassare succeeded in winning Carlotta 's
 
 sedley's notes. 431 
 
 heart, and pcrsuacleil her to elope ■with liim. She did so, carrying 
 with her all the presents Bramleigh had formerly given to her sister 
 — some rings of great price, and an old watch with the Bramleigh 
 arms in hrilliants, among the number. But these were not all ; 
 she also took the letters and documents that established her 
 man-iage, and a copy of the registration. I must hasten on, 
 for I see impatience on every side. He broke the heart of this 
 poor girl, who died, and was buried with her little boy in the same 
 grave, leaving old Lami desolate and childless. By another mar- 
 riage, and by a wife still living, Marie Pracontal, Baldassare had a 
 sou ; and he bethought him, armed as he was with papers and 
 documents, to prefer the claim to the Bramleigh estates for this 
 youth ; and had even the audacity to ask Lami's assistance to the 
 fraud, and to threaten him with his vengeance if he betrayed him. 
 
 " So perfectly jn'opped was the pretension by circumstances of 
 actual events — Niccolo knew everything — that Bramleigh not only 
 sent several sums of money to stifle the demand, but actually 
 despatched a confidential person abroad to see the claimant, and 
 make some compromise with him ; for it is abundantly evident that 
 Montagu Bramleigh only dreaded the scandal and the eclat such a 
 story would create, and had no fears for the title to his estates, he 
 all along believing that there were circumstances in the marriage 
 with Enrichetta which would show it to be illegal, and the issue 
 consequently illegitimate." 
 
 " I must say, I think our respected grandfather," said Augustus, 
 gravely, " docs not figure handsomely in this story." 
 
 "With the single exception of old Lami," cried Jack, "they 
 were a set of rascals — every man of them." 
 
 "And is this the way you speak of your dear friend Niccolo' 
 Baldassare ? " asked Nelly. 
 
 " He was a capital fellow at the galleys ; but I suspect he'd 
 prove a very shady acquaintance in more correct company." 
 
 " And, Mr. Sedley, do you really say that all this can be 
 proven ? " cried Nelly. " Do you believe it all yourself? " 
 
 " Every word of it. I shall test most of it within a few days. 
 I have already telegraphed to London for one of the clever investi- 
 gators of registries and records. I have ample means of tracing, 
 most of the events I need. These papers of old Lami's are full of 
 small details ; they form a closer biogi'aphy than most men leave 
 behind them." 
 
 " There was, liowever, a marriage of my grandfather with 
 Enrichetta Lami?" asked Augustus. 
 
 " We give them that," cried the lawyer, who fancied himself
 
 432 THE BEAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. 
 
 already instructing counsel. " We contest nothing — notice, registry, 
 witnesses, all are as legal as they could wish. The girl was Mrs. 
 Bramleigh, and her son Montagu Bramleigh's heir ; death, however, 
 carried away both, and the claim fell with them. That these people 
 will risk a trial now is more than I can believe ; but if they should, 
 we will be prepared for them. They shall be indicted before they 
 leave the court, and Count Pracontal de Bramleigh be put in the 
 dock for forgery." 
 
 " No such thing, Sedley," broke in Bramleigh, with an energy 
 very rare with him. " I am well inclined to believe that this j'oung 
 man was no party to the fraud — he has been duped throughout ; nor 
 can I forget the handsome terms he extended to us when our fortune 
 looked darkest." 
 
 " A generosity on which late events have thrown a very ugly 
 light," muttered Sedley. 
 
 " My brother is right. I'll be sworn he is," cried Jack. " We 
 should be utterly unworthy of the good luck that has befallen us, if 
 the first use we made of it was to crush another." 
 
 " If your doctrines were to prevail, sir, it would be a very 
 puzzling world to live in," said Sedley, sharply. 
 
 " We'd manage to get on with fewer lawyers, anyway." 
 
 " Mr. Sedley," said Nelly, mildly, " we are all too happy and 
 too gratified for this unlooked-for deliverance to have a thought for 
 what is to cause sufTeriug anywhere. Let us, I entreat you, have 
 the full enjoyment of this great happiness." 
 
 " Then wc are jwobably to include the notable Mr. Cutbill in 
 this act of indemnity ? " said Sedley, sueeringly. 
 
 " I should think we would, sir," replied Jack. " Without the 
 notable Mr. Cutbill's aid we should never have chanced on those 
 papers you have just quoted to us." 
 
 " Has he been housebreaking again ? " asked Sedley, with a 
 grin. 
 
 " I protest," interposed Bramleigh, " if the good fairy who has 
 been so beneficent to us were only to see us sparring and wrangling 
 in this fashion, she might well think fit to withdraw her gift." 
 
 " Oh, here's Julia," cried Nelly ; " and all will go right now." 
 
 " Well," said Julia, has any one moved the thanks of the house 
 to Mr. Sedley, for if not, I'm quite ready to do it. I have my 
 speech prepared." 
 
 " Move ! move ! " cried several together. 
 
 " I first intend to have a little dinner," said she ; " but I have 
 ordered it in the small dining-room; and you are perfectly welcome, 
 any or all of you, to keep me company, if you like."
 
 sedley's notes. 43'S; 
 
 To follow the conversiition that ensueil woulil be little more than 
 again to go over a story, which we feci has been already impressed with 
 tiresome reiteration on the reader. Whatever had failed in Sedley's 
 narrative, Julia's ready wit and quick intelligence had supplied by 
 conjecture, and they talked on till late into the night, bright gleams 
 of future projects shooting like meteors across the placid heaven of 
 their enjoyment, and making all bright around them. 
 
 Before they parted it was arranged that each should take his 
 separate share of the inquiry, for there were registries to be searched, 
 dates conlirmed in several places ; and while L'Estrange was to set 
 out for Louvain, and Jack for Savoy, Sedley himself took charge of 
 the weightier question to discover St. Michel, and prove the burial 
 of Godfrey Bramleigh. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII. 
 
 A WAYFARER. 
 
 "WuEN the time came for the several members of the family at the 
 villa to set out on the search after evidence. Jack, whose reluctance 
 to leave home — he called it "home" — increased with every day, 
 induced Cutbill to go in his stead, a change which even Mr. Sedley 
 himself was forced to admit was not detrimental to the public service. 
 Cutbill's mission was to Aix, in Savoy, to see and confer with 
 Marie Pracontal, the first wife of Baldassare. He arrived in the 
 nick of time, for only on that same morning had Baldassare himself 
 entered the town, in his galley-slave uniform, to claim his wife and 
 ask recognition amongst his fellow-townsmen. The house where she 
 lived was besieged by a crowd, all more or less eager in asserting 
 the woman's cause, and dcuouuciug the pretensions of a fellow 
 covered with crimes, and pronounced dead to all civil rights. Amid 
 execrations and insults, with threats of even worse, Baldassare stood 
 on a chair in the street, in the act of addressing the multitude, as 
 Cutbill drew nigh. The imperturbable self-possession, the cool 
 courage of the man — who dared to brave public opinion in this 
 fashion, and demand a hearing for what in reality was nothing but a 
 deliberate insult to the people around him whose lives he knew, and 
 whoso various social derelictions he was all familiar with, — was 
 positively astounding. '* I have often thought of you, good people," 
 said he, " while at the galleys ; and I made a vow to myself that 
 the first act of mv escape, if ever I should escape, should be to 
 
 28
 
 434 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 visit this place and tliauk you for eveiy great lesson I have learned 
 in life. It was here, in this place, I committed my first theft ; it 
 was yonder in that church I first essayed sacrilege. It was you, 
 amiahle and gentle people, who gave me four associates who betrayed 
 each other, and who died on the drop or by the guillotine, with a 
 courage worthy of Aix ; and it was from you I received that pearl of 
 W'ives who is now married to a third husband, and denies the decent 
 rights of hospitality to her first." 
 
 This outrage was now unbearable ; a rush was made at him, and 
 he fell amongst the crowd, who had torn him limb from limb but for 
 the intervention of the police, who were driven to defend him with 
 fixed bayonets. " A warm reception, I must say," cried the fellow, 
 as they led him away, bleeding and bruised, to the gaol. 
 
 It was not a difficult task for Cutbill to obtain from Marie 
 Pracontal the details he sought for. Smarting under the insults and 
 scandal she had been exposed to on the day before, she revealed every- 
 thing, and signed in due form a proces verbal drawn up by a notary 
 of the place, of her marriage with Baldassare, the birth of her 
 son Anatole, with the dates of his birth and baptism, and gave up 
 besides some letters which he had written while at the naval school 
 of Genoa. What became of him afterwards she knew not, nor indeed 
 seemed to care. The cruelties of the father had poisoned her mind 
 against the son, and she showed no interest in his fate, and wished 
 not to heai; of him. 
 
 Cutbill left Aix on the third day, and was slowly strolling up the 
 Mont Cenis pass in front of his horses, when he overtook the very 
 galley-slave he had seen addressing the crowd at Aix. " I thought 
 they had sent you over the frontier into France, my friend," said 
 Cutbill, accosting him like an old acquaintance. 
 
 " So they did, but I gave them the slip at Culoz, and doubled 
 back. I have business at Rome, and coulJu't endure that round- 
 about way by Marseilles." 
 
 " Will you smoke ? may I offer you a cigar ? " 
 
 "My best thanks," said he, touching his cap politely. " They 
 smashed my pipe, those good people down there ; like all villagers 
 they resent free speech, but they'd have learned something had they 
 listened to me." 
 
 " Perhaps your frankness was excessive." 
 
 " Ha ! you were there, then? Well, it was what Diderot calls 
 self-sacrificing sincerity ; but all men who travel much and mix with 
 varied classes of mankind, fall into this habit. In becoming cosmo- 
 .politan you lose in politeness." 
 
 " Signer Baldassare, your conversation interests mo much. Will
 
 A AYAYFAEER. 435 
 
 you accept a seat in my carriage over the mountain, and give me the 
 benefit of your society ? " 
 
 "It is I that am honoured, sir," said he, removing his cap, and 
 bowing low. " There is nothing so distinctively well bred as the 
 courtesy of a man in your condition to one in mine." 
 
 " But you are no stranger to me." 
 
 " Indeed ! I remarked you called mo by my name ; but I'm not 
 aware that you know more of me." 
 
 "I can afford to rival your own candour, and confess I know a 
 gi'eat deal about you." 
 
 " Then you have read a very chequered page, sir. What an 
 admirable cigar. You import these, I'd wager ? " 
 
 " No ; but it comes to the same. I buy them in bond and pay 
 the duty." 
 
 " Yours is the only country to live in, su*. It has been the dream 
 of my life to pass my last days in England." 
 
 " Why not do so ? I can't imagine that Aix will prefer any strong 
 claims in preference." 
 
 " No, I don't care for Ais, though it is pretty, and I have passed 
 some days of happy tranquillity on that little Lac de Bourges ; but to 
 return : to what fortunate circumstance am I indebted for the know- 
 ledge you possess of my biography ? " 
 
 " You have been a very interesting subject to me for some time 
 back. First of all, I ought to say that I enjoy the pleasure of your 
 son's acquaintanae." 
 
 "A charming young man, I am told," said he, puffing out a long 
 column of smoke. 
 
 " And without flattery, I repeat it — a charming young man, good- 
 looking, accomplished, high-spirited and brave." 
 
 " You delight me, sir. What a misfortune for the poor fellow 
 that his antecedents have not been more favourable ; but you see, 
 Mr. " 
 
 " Cutbill is my name." 
 
 " Ml'. Cutbill, you see that I have not only had a great many irons 
 in the fire through life, but occasionally it has happened to me that 
 I took hold of them by the hot ends." 
 
 " And burned your fingers ? " 
 
 " And burned my fingers." 
 
 They walked on some steps in silence, when Baldassare said, — 
 
 " Where, may I ask, did you last see my son ? " 
 
 " I saw him last in Ireland about four monkhs ago. We travelled 
 over together from England, and I visited a place called Castello in 
 his company, the seat of the Bramleigh family."
 
 43G THE LRAMLEIGIIS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Then you know his object in having gone there ? You know 
 who be is, what he represents, what he claims ? " 
 " I know the whole story by heart." 
 " Will you favour me with your version of it ? " 
 " "With pleasure ; but here is the carriage, let us get in, for the 
 narrative is somewhat long and complicated." 
 
 " Before you begin, sir, one question : where is my son now ? is 
 he at Rome ? " 
 
 " He is ; he arrived there on Tuesday last." 
 "That is enough — excuse my interrupting — I am now at 
 your orders." 
 
 The reader will readily excuse me if I do not follow Mr. Cutbill 
 in his story, which he told at full length, and with what showed a 
 perfect knowledge of all the circumstances. It is true he was so far 
 disingenuous that he did not confess the claim had ever created alarm 
 to the minds of the Bramleighs. There were certain difficulties he 
 admitted, and no small expense incurred in obtaining information 
 abroad, and proving, as it was distinctly proved, that no issue of 
 Montagu Bramleigli had survived, and that the pretensions of 
 Pracontal were totally groundless. 
 
 " And your visit to Savoy was on this very business ? " asked 
 Baldassare. 
 
 "You are right; a small detail was wanting which I was able 
 to supply." 
 
 " And how docs Anatole bear the discovery ? " 
 " He has not heard of it ; he is at Rome, paying court to an 
 English lady of rank to whom he hopes to be married." 
 
 "And how will he bear it; in what spirit will he meet 
 the .-blow?" 
 
 " From what I have seen of him, I'd say he'd stand up nobly 
 under misfortune, and not less so here, that I know he firmly 
 believed in his right; he was.no party to the fraud." 
 
 " These frauds, as you call them, succeed every day, and when 
 they occur in high places we have more courteous names to call them 
 by. What say you to the empire in France ? " 
 
 "I'll not discuss that question with you; it takes too wide 
 a range." 
 
 " Anatole must bethink him of some other livcliliood now, that's 
 clear. I mean to tell him so." 
 
 " You intend to see him — to speak with him ? " 
 " "What, sir, do you doubt it ? Is it because my wife rejects me 
 that I am to be lost to the tics of parental afi'cction ? " He said this 
 with a coarse and undisguised mockery, and then, suddenly changing
 
 A WAYFAKER. 437 
 
 fo a tone of earnestness, added, — " "Wc shall have to link our fortunes 
 now, and there are not many men who can give an adventurer such 
 counsels as I can." 
 
 "From what I know of the Branileighs, they would willingly 
 befriend him if they knew how, or in what way to do it." 
 
 " Nothing easier. All men's professions can be brought to an 
 easy test — so long as money exists." 
 
 " Let me know where to write to you, and I will sec what can 
 be done." 
 
 '•' Or, rather, let vw have your address, for my whereabouts is 
 somewhat uncertain." 
 
 Cutbill wrote his name and Cattaro on a slip of paper, and the 
 old fellow smiled grimly, and said, — " Ah ! that was your clue then 
 to this discovery. I knew Giacomo died there, but it was a most 
 uulikely spot to track him to. Nothing but chance, the merest 
 chance, could have led to it ? " 
 
 This he said interrogatively ; but Cutbill made no reply. 
 
 "You don't care to imitate vii/ frankness, sir; and I am not 
 surprised at it. It is only a fellow who has worn rags for years 
 that doesn't fear nakedness. Is my sou travelling alone, or has he 
 a companion ? " 
 
 " He had a companion some short time back ; but I do not know 
 if they are together now." 
 
 " I shall learn all that at Rome." 
 
 " And have you no fears to be seen there ? AVill the authorities 
 not meddle with you ? " 
 
 " Far from it. It is the one state in Europe where men like 
 myself enjoy liberty. They often need us — they fear us always." 
 
 Cutbill was silent for some time. He seemed like one revolving 
 some project in his mind, but unable to decide on what he should do. 
 At last he said, — 
 
 " You remember a young Englishman who made his escape from 
 Ischia last June ? " 
 
 " To be sure I do — my comrade." 
 
 " You will bo astonished to know he was a Bramleigh, a brother 
 of the owner of the estate." 
 
 " It was so like my luck to have trusted him," said the other, 
 bitterly. 
 
 " You are wrong there. He was always you friend — he is so at 
 this moment. I have heard him talk of you with great kindliness." 
 
 A careless shrug of the shoulders was the reply. 
 
 " Tell him from me," said he, with a savage grin, " that Ouofrio 
 — don't forget the name — Onofrio is dead. We threw him over the
 
 438 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 cliff the night •we broke the gaol. There, let me write it for you," 
 said he, taking the pencil from Cutbill's hand, and writing the word 
 Onofrio in a large bold character. 
 
 " Keep that pencil-case, will you, as a souvenir ? " said Cutbill. 
 
 " Give me ten francs instead, and I'll remember you when I pay 
 for my dinner," said he with a grating laugh; and he took the 
 handful of loose silver Cutbill offered him, and thrust it into his 
 pocket. "Isn't that Souza we see in the valley there '? Yes; I 
 remember it well. I'll go no further with you — there's a police- 
 station where I had trouble once. I'll take the cross-path here that 
 leads down to the Pinarola road. I thank you heartily. I wanted a 
 little good-nature much when you overtook me. Good-by." 
 
 He leaped from the carriage as he spoke, and crossing the little 
 embankment of the road, descended a steep slope, and was out of sight 
 almost in an instant. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVIII. 
 
 A MEETING AND A PARTING. 
 
 In the same room where Pracontal and Longworth had parted in 
 anger, the two men, reconciled and once more friends, sat over their 
 dessert and a cigar. The handsome reparation Pracontal had offered 
 in a letter had been frankly and generously met, and it is probable 
 that their friendship was only the more strongly ratified by the 
 incident. 
 
 They were both dressed with unusual care, for Lady Augusta 
 "received" a few intimate friends on that evening, and Pracontal 
 was to be presented to them in his quality of accepted suitor. 
 
 " I think," said Longworth, laughingly, " it is the sort of ordeal 
 most Englishmen would feel very awkward in. You are trotted out 
 for the inspection of a critical public, who are to declare what the}' 
 think of your eyes and your whiskers, if they augur well of your 
 temper, and whether, on the whole, you are the sort of person to 
 whom a woman might confide her fate and future." 
 
 "You talk as if I were to be sent before a jury and risk a 
 sentence," said Pracontal, with a slight irritation in his tone. 
 
 " It is something very like it." 
 
 "And I say, there is no resemblance whatever." 
 
 " Don't you remember what Lord Byron in one of his letters says 
 of a memorable drive through Ravenna one evening, where he was
 
 A MEETING AND A PARTING. 439 
 
 presented as the accepted ? There's that hang- dog rascal that 
 followed us through the gardens of the Vatican this morning, there 
 he is again, sitting directly in front of our window, and staring at us." 
 
 " Well, I take it, those henches were placed there for fellows to 
 rest on who had few arm-chairs at home." 
 
 " I don't think, in all my experience of humanity, I ever saw a 
 face that revolted mo more. He isn't ugly, but there is something in 
 the expression so intensely wicked, that mockery of all goodness, that 
 Eetsch puts into Mephistopheles ; it actually thrills me." 
 
 "I don't see that, — there is even drollery in the mouth." 
 
 " Yes, diabolic humour, certainly. Did you see that ? " 
 
 ''See what?" 
 
 " Didn't you see that when I lifted my glass to my lips, he made 
 a pantomime of drinking too, and bowed to me, as though in 
 salutation "? ' ' 
 
 " I knew there was fun in the fellow. Let us call him over and 
 speak to him." 
 
 " No, no, Pracontal ; do not, I beseech you. I feel an aversion 
 towards him that I cannot explain. The rascal poisons the very claret 
 I'm drinking just by glancing at me." 
 
 " You are seldom so whimsical." 
 
 *' Wouldn't you say the fellow knew we were talking of him ? See, 
 he is smiling now ; if that infernal grin can be called a smile." 
 
 "I declare, I will have him over here; now don't go, sit down 
 like a good fellow ; there's no man understands character better than 
 yourself, and I am positively curious to see how you will read this 
 man on a closer inspection." 
 
 " He does not interest, he merely disgusts me." 
 
 Pracontal arose, drew nigh the window, and waved his napkin in 
 sign to the man, who at once got up from his seat, and slowly, and 
 half indolently, came over to the window. He was dressed in a sort 
 of grey uniform of jacket and trousers, and wore a kerchief on his 
 head for a cap, a costume which certainly in no degree contributed to 
 lessen the unfavourable impression his face imparted, for there was in 
 his look a mixture of furtiveness and ferocity positively appalling. 
 
 " Do you like him better now ? " asked Longworth, in English. 
 
 And the fellow grinned at the words. 
 
 "■ You understand English, eh ? " asked Pracontal. 
 
 " Ay, I know most modern languages." 
 
 " What nation are you ? " 
 
 " A Savoyard." 
 
 " Whence do you come now ? " 
 
 " From the galleys at Ischia."
 
 440 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISIIOP's FOLLY. 
 
 " Frank that, anyhow," cried Longworth. " Were you under 
 sentence there '? '" 
 
 " Yes, for life." 
 
 " For what ofieuce ? " 
 
 " For a score that I committed, and twice as many that I failed in." 
 
 " Murder, assassination ? " 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 '• Let us hear about some of them," said Pracontal, with interest. 
 
 " I don't talk of these things, they are bygones, and I'd as soon 
 forget them." 
 
 "And do you fancy they'll be forgotten up there," said Pracontal, 
 pointing upwards as he spoke. 
 
 " What do you know about ' up there,' " said he sternly, " more 
 than myself? Are not your vague words ' up there,' the proof that 
 it's as much a mystery to you a? to mc? " 
 
 " Don't get into theology with him, or you'll have to listen to 
 more blasphemy than you bargain for," whispered Longworth ; and 
 whether the fellow overheard or merely guessed the meaning of the 
 words, he grinned diabolically, and said, — 
 
 " Yes, leave that question there." 
 
 "Are you not afraid of the police, my friend ? " asked Long- 
 worth. " Is it not in their power to send you back to those you have 
 escaped from ? " 
 
 " Thoy might with another, but the Cardinal Secretary knows vie. 
 I have told him I have some business to do at Rome, and want only 
 a day or two to do it, and he knows I will keep my word." 
 
 " My faith, j^ou Fa'e a very conscientious galley-slave ! " cried 
 Pracontal. " Are you hungry ? " and he took a large piece of bread 
 from the sideboard and handed it to him. The man bowed, took the 
 bread, aud laid it beside him on the window-board. 
 
 " And so you and Antonelli are good friends ? " said Longworth 
 sneeringly. 
 
 '• I did not say so. I only said he knew me, and knew mc to be 
 a man of my word." 
 
 " And how could a Cardinal know ? " when he got thus far 
 
 he felt the unfairness of saying what he was about to utter, and 
 stopped, but the man took up the words with perfect cahnncss, 
 and said : — 
 
 " The best and the purest people in this world will now and then 
 have to deal with the lowest and the worst, just as men will drink 
 dirty water when they are parched with thirst." 
 
 "Is it some outlying debt of vengeance, an old vendetta, detains 
 you here ? " asked Longworth.
 
 A MEETING AND A PARTING. '141 
 
 "I woulJu't call it that," replied ho slo\ylj', "but I'd not be 
 surprised if it took something of that shape, after all." 
 
 " And do you know any other great folk ? " asked Pracontal, with 
 a laugh. " Arc you acquainted with the Pope ? " 
 
 "No, I have never spoken to him. I know the French envoy 
 here, the Marquis de Caderousse. I know Field-Marshal Kleiukoff. I 
 know Brassier! — the Italian spy — they call him the Duke of Brassieri." 
 
 " That is to say, you have seen them as they drove by on the 
 Corse, or walked on the Pincian '? " said Lougworth. 
 
 " No, that would not be acquaintance. When I said ' know ' I 
 meant it." 
 
 "Just as you know my friend here, and know me perhaps ? " said 
 Pracontal. 
 
 " Not only him, but ii<>u,'" said the fellow with a fierce deter- 
 mination. 
 
 " Mc, know me ? what do you know about me ? " 
 
 " Everything," and now he drew himself up, and stared at him 
 defiantly. 
 
 "I declare I wonder at you, Anatole," whispered Longworth. 
 *' Don't you know the game of menace and insolence these rascals play 
 at ? ' ' And again the fellow seemed to divine what passed, for he said : — 
 
 " Your friend is wrong this time. I am not the cheat he thinks me." 
 
 " Tell me something you know about me," said Pracontal, 
 smiling ; and he filled a goblet with wine, and handed it to him. 
 
 The other, however, made a gesture of refusal, and coldly said, 
 — " What shall it be about ? I'll answer any question you put to me." 
 
 " What is he about to do ? " cried Longworth. " What great 
 step in life is he on the eve of taking ? " 
 
 " Oh, I'm not a fortune-teller," said the man, roughly ; " though 
 I could tell you that he's not to be married to this rich English- 
 woman. That fine bubble is burst already." 
 
 Pracontal tried to laugh, but he could not ; and it was with difti- 
 culty he could thunder out, — " Servants' stories and lacqueys' talk ! " 
 
 " No such thing, sir. I deal as little with these people as your- 
 self. You seem to think me an impostor ; but I tell you I am less 
 of a cheat than either of you. Ay, sir, than you, who play fine 
 gentlemen, mi lordo, here in Italy, but whose father was a land- 
 steward ; or than you " 
 
 " What of me — what of mc '? " cried Pracontal, whoso intense 
 eagerness now mastered every other emotion. 
 
 " You! who cannot tell who or what you arc, who have a dozen 
 names, and no right to any of them ; and who, though you have 
 your initials burned in gunpowder in the bend of your arm, have no
 
 442 THE BEAMLEIGH3 OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 other baptismal registry. Ah ! do I know you now ? " cried he, a& 
 Pracontal sank upon a seat, covered with a cold sweat and fainting. 
 
 " This is some rascally trick. It is some private act of hate. 
 Keep him in talk till I fetch a gendarme." Longworth whispered 
 this, and left the room. 
 
 " Bad counsel that he has given you," said the man. " Mij 
 advice is better. Get away from this at once— get away before he 
 returns. There's only shame and disgrace before you now." 
 
 He moved over to where Pracontal was seated, and placing his 
 mouth close to his ear, whispered some words slowly and deliberately. 
 
 " And are you Niccolo Baklassare ? " muttered Pracontal. 
 
 " Come with me, and learn all," said the man, moving to the 
 door; " for I will not wait to be arrested and made a town talk." 
 
 Pracontal arose and followed him. 
 
 The old man walked with a firm and rapid step. He descended 
 the stairs that led to the Piazza del Popolo, crossed the wide piazza, 
 and issued from the gate out upon the Campagua, and skirting the 
 ancient wall, Avas soon lost to view among the straggling hovels 
 ■which cluster at intervals beneath the ramparts. Pracontal con- 
 tinued to walk behind him, his head sunk on his bosom, and his 
 steps listless and uncertain, like one walking in sleep. Neither were 
 seen more after that night. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIX. 
 
 THE LAST OF ALL. 
 
 All the emissaries had returned to the villa except Sedley, who' 
 found himself obliged to revisit England suddenly, but from whom 
 came a few lines of telegram, stating that the " case of Pracontal de 
 Bramleigh v. Bramleigh had been struck out of the cause list ; Kelson 
 a heavy loser, having made large advances to plaintiff." 
 
 " Wasn't it like the old fox to add this about his colleague ? As 
 if any of us cared about Kelson, or thought of him ! " 
 
 " Good fortune is very selfish, I really believe," said Nelly. 
 " We have done nothing but talk of ourselves, our interests, and our 
 intentions for the last four days, and the worst of it is we don't 
 seem tired of doing so yet." 
 
 " It would be a niggardly thing to deny us that pleasure, seeing 
 what we have passed through to reach it," cried Jack. 
 
 " Who'll write to Marion with the news ? " said Augustus.
 
 THE LAST OF ALL. 4-13 
 
 " Not I," said Jack ; " or if I do it will bo to sigu mj-self ' late 
 Sam Kogers.' " 
 
 "If George accepts the embassy cbaplaiuc}'," said Julia, " lie 
 can convey the tidings by word of moutb." 
 
 " To guess by his dreary face," said Jack, " one would say he 
 had really closed with that proposal. "What's the matter, old fellow ; 
 has the general joy here not warmed your heart ? " 
 
 L'Estrange, pale and red alternately, blundered out a few scarcely 
 coherent words ; and Julia, who well knew what feelings were agitating 
 him, and how the hopes that adversity had favoured might be dashed, 
 iiow^ that a brighter fortune had dawned, came quickly to his rescue, 
 and said, " I see what George is thinking of. George is wondering 
 when we shall all be as happy and as united again, as we have been 
 h'^'e, under this dear old roof." 
 
 "But why should we not?" broke in Augustus. " I mean to 
 keep the anniversary of our meeting here, and assemble you all 
 every year at this place. Perhaps I have forgotten to tell you that 
 T am the owner of the villa. I have signed the contract this morning." 
 
 A cry of joy — almost a cheer — greeted this announcement, and 
 Augustus went on. 
 
 " My ferns, and my green beetles, and my sea anemonies, as 
 Kelly enumerates them, can all be prosecuted here, and I purpose to 
 remain and live here." 
 
 " And Castello '? " 
 
 " Jack will go and live at Castello," continued he. "I have 
 interceded with a lady of my acquaintance " — he did not glance at 
 Julia, but she blushed as he spoke — " to keep a certain green room, 
 with a little stair out of it down to the garden, for me when I go 
 there. Beyond that I reserve nothing." 
 
 " "We'll only half value the gift without you, old fellow," said Jack, 
 as he passed his arm around her, and drew her fondly towards him. 
 
 " As one of the uninstructed public," interposed Cutbill, " I 
 desire to ask, who are meant by ' "We ? ' " 
 
 A half insolent toss of the head from Julia, meant specially for 
 the speaker, was, however, seen by the others, who could not help 
 laughing at it heartily. 
 
 " I think the uninstructed public should have a little deference 
 for those who know more," broke in Jack, tartly, for he resented 
 hotly whatever seemed to annoy Julia. 
 
 " Tom Cutbill is shunted off the line, I see," said Cutbill, mournfully. 
 
 " If he were," cried Augustus, "we should be about the most worth- 
 less set of people living. ^Ve owe him much, and like him even more." 
 
 "Now, that's what I call handsome," resumed Cutbill, " and if
 
 444 THE ERAMLEIGHS OF BISHOp's FOLLY. 
 
 it wasn't a moment -when you are all thinking of tilings a precious 
 sight more interesting than T. C, I'd ask permission to return my 
 acknowledgments in a speech." 
 
 " Oh, don't make a speech, Mr. Cuthill," said Julia. 
 
 " No, ma'am. I'll reserve myself till I return thanks for the 
 bridesmaids." 
 
 " Will no one suppress him ? " said Julia, in a whisper. 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad you are to live at Castello, dearest," said 
 Nelly, as she drew Julia to her, and kissed her. •' You arc just the 
 chatelaine to become it." 
 
 " There is such a thing as losing one's head, Nelly, out of sheer 
 delight, and when I think I shall soon be one of you I run this risk ; 
 but tell me, dearest " — -and here she whispered her lowest — "why 
 is not our joy perfect ? Why is poor George to be left out of all 
 this happiness '? " 
 
 " You must ask h'uii that," muttered she, hiding her head on 
 the other's shoulder. 
 
 " And may I, dearest ? " cried Julia, rapturously. " Oh, Nelly, 
 if there be one joy in the world I would prize above all it would 
 be to know you were doubly my sister — doubly bound to me in 
 alfection. See, darling, see — even as we are speaking — George 
 and your brother have walked away together. Oh, can it be — can 
 it be ? Yes, dearest," cried she, throwing her arms around her ; 
 " 3'our brother is holding liim by the hand, and the tears are falling 
 along George's cheek ; his happiness is assured, and you are his own." 
 
 Nelly's chest heaved violently, and two low deep sobs burst from 
 her, but her face was buried in Julia's bosom, and she never uttered 
 a word. And thus Julia led her gently away down one of the lonely 
 alleys of the garden, till they were lost to sight. 
 
 Lovers are proverbially the very worst of company for the outer 
 world, nor is it easy to say which is more intolerable — their rapture 
 or their reserve. The overweening selfishness of the tender passion 
 conciliates no sympathy ; very fortunately, it is quite indifferent to it. 
 If it were not all- sufficing, it would not be that glorious delirium that 
 believes the present to be eternal, and sees a world peopled only by two. 
 
 What should we gain therefore, if we loitered in such company ? 
 They would not tell us tluir secrets — they would not care to hear ours. 
 Let it be enough to say that, after some dark and anxious days in 
 life, fortune once more shone out on those whom we saw so pros- 
 perous when first we met them. If they were not very brilliant nor very 
 good, they were probably — with defects of temper and shortcomings 
 in high resolve — -pretty much like the best of those we know in life. 
 Augustus with a certain small vanity that tormented him into think-
 
 THE LAST OF ALL. 445 
 
 ing that he bad a lessou to read to the world, and that he v,-a.s a 
 much finer creature than he seemed or looked, was really a generously 
 minded and wariu-hearted fellow, who loved his neighbour — meaning 
 his brother or his sister — a great deal better than himself. 
 
 Nelly was about as good as — I don't thiuk better than — nineteen 
 out of every twenty honestly brought-up girls, who, not seduced by the 
 luxuries of a very prosperous condition, come early to feel and to 
 know what money can and what it cannot do. 
 
 Jack had many defects of hot temper and hastiness, but on the 
 whole was a fine sailor-like fellow, carrying with him through life 
 the dashing hardihood that he would have displayed in a breach or 
 on a boarding, and thus occasionally exuberant, where smaller and 
 weaker traits would have sufficed. Such men, from time to time, 
 make troublesome first lieutenants, but women do not dislike them, 
 and there is an impression abroad that they make good husbands, 
 and that all the bluster they employ towards the world subsides into 
 the mildest possible murmur beside the domestic hearth-rug. 
 
 Marion was not much more or much less than w^. have seen her ; 
 and though she became, by the great and distingw'shed services of 
 her husband, a countess, she was not without a strange sentiment 
 of envy for a certain small vicarage in Herts, where rosy children 
 romped before the latticed porch, beneath which sat a very blooming 
 and beautiful mother, and worked as her husband read for her. A 
 very simple little home sketch ; but it was the page of a life where 
 all harmonized and all went smoothly on : one of those lives of small 
 ambitions and humble pleasures which are nearer Paradise than any 
 thing this world gives us. 
 
 Temple Bramleigh was a secretary of legation, and lived to see 
 himself — in the unifoi'mity of his manuscript, the precision of his 
 docketing, and the exactness of his sealing-wax, — the pet of " the 
 Office." Acolytes, who swung incense before permanent secretaries, 
 or held up the vestments of chief clerks, and who heard the words 
 which drop from the high priests of foolscap, declared Temple was a 
 rising man ; and with a brother-in-law in the Lords, and a brother 
 rich enough to contest a seat in the Lower House, one whose future 
 pointed to a high post and no small distinction : for, happily for us, 
 we live in an age where self-assertion is as insufficient in public life 
 as self-righteousness in religion, and our merits are always best cared 
 for by imputed holiness. 
 
 The stoiy of this volume is of the Bramleighs, and I must not 
 presume to suppose that my reader interests himself in the fate of 
 those secondary personages who figure in the picture. Lady 
 Augusta, however, deserves a passing mention, but perhaps her own
 
 
 446 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 words will be more descriptive than any of mine : and I cannot better 
 conclude than with the letter she wrote to Nel)}' and which ran thus : — 
 
 " Villa Altieri, Rome. 
 "Dearest Child, — 
 
 " How shall I ever convey to you one-half the transport, the joy, 
 the ecstasy I am filled with by this glorious news ! There is no 
 longer a question of law or scandal or exposure. Your estates r.re 
 your own, and your dear name stands forth untarnished and splendid 
 as it has ever done. It is only as I bethink me of what you and 
 dearest Augustus and darling Jack must have gone through that I 
 spare you the narrative of my own sufferings, my days of sorrow, my 
 nights of crying. It was indeed a terrific trial to us all, and those 
 horrid stories of hair turning white from grief made me rush to the 
 glass every morning at daybreak with a degree of terror that I kuov/ 
 well I shall never be able to throw off for many a year ; for I can 
 assure you, dearest, that the washes are a mistake, and most 
 pernicious ! They are made of what chemists call Ethiops mineral, 
 which is as explosive as nitro-glycerine ; and once penetrating the 
 pores, the head becomes, as Doctor Robertson says, a ' charged 
 shell.' Can you fancy anything as horrible ? Incipient grejTiess is 
 best treated with silver powder, which, when the eyelashes are properly 
 darkened at the base, gives a very charming lustre to the expi-essiou. 
 On no account use gold powder. 
 
 " It was a Mr. Longworth, a neighbour of yours, whom you 
 don't know, brought me the first news ; but it was soon all over 
 Rome, for his father — I mean Pracontal's — was formerly much 
 employed by Antonelli, and came here with the tidings that the 
 mine had exploded, and blown up only themselves. A very dreadful 
 man his father, with a sabre-scar down the cheek, and deep marks 
 of manacles on his wrists and ankles ; but wouldn't take money 
 fi-om the Cardinal, nor anything but a passport. And they went 
 away, so the police say, on foot, P. dressed in some horrid coarse 
 clothes like his father ; and oh, darling, how handsome he was, and 
 how distinguished-looking ! It was young France, if you like ; 
 but, after all, don't we all like the Boulevard de Ghent better than 
 the Faubourg St. Germain ? He was veiy witty, too ; that is, he 
 was a master of a language where wit comes easy, and could season 
 talk with those nice little flatteries which, like fioriture in singing, 
 heighten the charm, but never impair the force of the melody. And 
 then, hov/ he sang ! Imagine Mario in a boudoir with a cottage 
 piano accompaniment, and then you have it. It is very hard to 
 know anything about men, but, so far as I can see, he was not a
 
 THE LAST OF ALL. 447 
 
 cheat ; he believed the whole stupid ston', and fancied that there 
 had been a painter called Lami, and a beautiful creature who 
 married somebody and was the mother of somebody else. He 
 almost made me believe it, too ; that is, it bored mc ineffixbly, and 
 I used to doze over it, and when I awoke I wasn't quite sure 
 whether I dreamed he was a man of fortune or that such was a 
 fact. Do you think he'll shoot himself? I hope he'll not shoot 
 himself. It would throw such a lasting gloom over the whole inci- 
 dent that one could never fall back upon it in memory without deep 
 sorrow ; but men are so essentially selfish I don't think that this 
 consideration would w'eigh with him. 
 
 " Some malicious people here circulated a story that he had 
 made me an offer of marriage, and that I had accepted it. Just as 
 they said some months ago that I had gone over to Rome, and here 
 I am still, as the police-sheet calls me, a ' Widow and a Protestant.' 
 My character for eccentricity exposes me naturally to these kinds of 
 scandal ; but on the other hand it saves me from the trouble of 
 refuting or denyitig them. So that I shall take no notice whatever 
 either of my conversion or my marriage, and the dear world — never 
 ill-natured when it is useless — will at last accept the fact, small and 
 insignificant though it be, just as creditors take half-a-crown in the 
 pound after a bankrui^tcy. 
 
 " And now, dearest, is it too soon, is it too importunate, or is it 
 too indelicate to tell your brother that, though I'm the most ethereal 
 of creatures, I require to eat occasionally, and that, though I am 
 continually reproved for the lowness of mj' dresses, I still do wear 
 some clothes. In a word, dearest, I am in dire poverty, and to give 
 me simply a thousand a year is to say, be a casual pauper. No one 
 — my worst enemy — and I suppose I have a few who hate and would 
 despitefully use me — can say I am extravagant. The necessaries of 
 life, as they are called, are the costly things, and these are what I 
 can perfectly well dispense with. I want its elegancies, its refine- 
 ments, and these one has so cheaply. What, for instance, is the cost 
 of the bouquet on your dinner-table ? Certainly not more than one 
 of your entrees ; and it is iniinitely more charming and more pleasure- 
 giving. My coffee costs me no more out of Sevres than out of a 
 white mug with a lip like a milk-pail ; and will you tell mc that the 
 Mocha is the same in the one as the other ? What I want is that 
 life should be picturesque, that its elegances should so surround one 
 that its coarser, grosser elements be kept out of sight ; and this is a 
 cheap philosophy. My little villa here — and nothing can be smaller 
 — affords it ; but come and see, dearest — that is the true way — come 
 and see how I live. If ever there was an existence of simple
 
 448 THE BRAMLEIGHS OF EISHOP's FOLLY. 
 
 pleasures it is mine. I nc^r I'lli-T'^ in the morning — I study. I 
 either read improving books — I'll show /ou some of them — or I con- 
 verse with Monsignore Galloni. We talk theology and mundane 
 things at times, and we play besique. and we flirt a little ; but not as 
 )'ou would understand flirtation. It is as though a light zephyr 
 stirred the leaves of the aflections and shook out the perfume, but 
 never detached a blossom nor injured a bud. Monsignore is an adept 
 at this game ; so serious, and yet so tender, so spiritual, and at the 
 same time, so compassionate to poor weak human nature — which, by 
 the way, he understands iu its conflicts with itself, its motives, and 
 its struggles as none of your laymen do. Not but poor Pracontal 
 had a very ingenious turn, and could reconcile much that coarser 
 minds would have called discrepant and contradictory. 
 
 " So that, dearest, with less than three thousand, or two five 
 hundred, I must positively go to gaol. It has occurred to me that, 
 if none care to go over to that house in Ireland, I might as well live 
 there, at least for the two or three months in the year that the odious 
 climate permits. As to the people, I know they would doat on me. 
 I feel for them very much, and I have learned out here the true 
 chords their natures respond to. What do you say to this plan ? 
 Would it not be ecstasy if you agreed to share it ? The cheapness 
 of Ireland is a proverb. I had a grand-uncle who once .vas Viceroy 
 there, and his letters show that he only spent a third of his ofiicial 
 income. 
 
 " I'd like to do this, too, if I only knew what my oflicial income 
 was. Ask Gusty this question, and kiss every one that ought to be 
 kissed, and give them loves innumerable, and believe me ever your 
 
 " Doating mamma (or mamina, that's prettier), 
 
 " Augusta Bramleigh. 
 
 " I shall write to Marion to-morrow. It will not be as easy a 
 task as this letter ; but I have done even more diflicult ones. So 
 they are saying now that Culduft"s promotion was a mere mistake ; 
 that there never was such a man as Sam Ilogers at all — no case — no 
 indemnity — no escape — no anything. dear me, as Monsignore 
 says, what rest have our feet once we leave total incredulity ? " 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PEIXTED Br W. a. SMITn and SOH, 186, STEiND, LONDOX. 
 30-0-72.
 
 PR 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
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