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on that point there are indeed reasons for despatch your title sir william is a new over her heart certainly but there is many a slip and you must not lose her now i don t mean to lose said de she is too good to be lost and yet since she gave her a promise i have felt more than once that i would not engage in such a struggle again it was not a thing of my beginning though i was easily enough to follow but i will not lose her now for god s sake keep that secret you have so foolishly pricked on your breast it fills me with remorse to think what she with her scrupulous notions will feel should she ever know of you and your history and your relation to me dare made no reply till after a silence when he said of course s the word till the wedding is over and afterwards promise that for her sake and probably afterwards sir william de drew a dejected breath at the tone of the answer they conversed but a little while longer the captain to dare that it was time for them to part not however before he had uttered a hope that the young man would turn over a new leaf and engage in some regular pursuit promising to call upon him at his lodgings de went indoors and dare briskly his steps to when his had died away and the door of the house opposite had been closed another man appeared upon the scene he came gently out of the hedge opposite villa which he paused to regard for a moment but instead of going town ward he turned his back upon the distant of lights and did not check his walk till he reached the lodge of castle here he pulled the wooden beside the arch and when the porter appeared his light revealed the de and i s countenance to be as by lightning i beg your pardon mr power said the porter with sudden deference as he opened the but we wasn t expecting anybody to night as there is nobody at home and the servants on board wages and that s why i was so long a coming no matter no matter said power i have returned on sudden business and have not come to stay longer than to night your mistress is not with me i meant to sleep in but have changed my mind mr power had brought no luggage with him beyond a small and as soon as a room could be got ready he retired to bed the next morning he passed in idly walking about the grounds and observing the progress which had been made in the works now temporarily suspended but that inspection was less his object in remaining there than meditation was abundantly evident when the bell began to toll from the neighbouring church to announce the burial of sir william de he passed through the castle and went on foot in the direction indicated by the sound reaching the margin of the churchyard he looked over the wall his presence being by bushes and a group of from who stood in front soon a funeral procession of simple almost meagre and character arrived but power did not join the people who followed the deceased into the church de was the chief and only relative present the other followers of the broken down old man being an ancient lawyer a couple of faithful servants and a bowed who z a x had been page to the late sir william s father the single living person left in the parish who remembered the de as people of wealth and influence and who firmly believed that family would come into its rights ere long and the who had taken possession of the old lands the funeral was over and the rusty carriages had gone together with many of the spectators but power lingered in the churchyard as if he were looking for some one at length he entered the church passing by the with descending steps which stood open outside the wall of the de aisle arrived within he the few of tastes who had remained after the service to inspect the monuments and beside a the in whose features had wiped with her handkerchief when there with he beheld the man it had been his business to find power went up and touched this person who was dare on the shoulder mr power so it is said the youth i have not seen you since we met in you shall see all the more of me now to make up for it shall we walk round the church with all my heart said dare they walked round and power began in a i am a traveller and it takes a good deal to astonish me so i neither nor screamed when i learnt a few hours ago what i had suspected for a week that you are of the house and of jacob he flung a nod towards the as he spoke in other words that you are of the same breed as the de de and dare glanced round nobody was near enough to hear their words the nearest persons being two workmen just outside who were bringing their tools up from the vault to closing it having observed this dare replied i too am a traveller and neither do i nor scream at what you say but i assure you that if you busy yourself about me you may truly be said to busy yourself about nothing well that s a matter of opinion now there s no scarlet left in my face to blush for men s follies but as an alliance is between my niece and the	45
present sir william this must be looked into dare said oh as he observed through the window one of the workmen bring up a candle from the vault and it with his fingers the marriage is desirable and your relationship in itself is of no consequence continued the elder but just look at this you have forced on the marriage by means your object being only too clearly to live out of the proceeds of that marriage mr power you mock me because i labour under the misfortune of having an father to provide for i really deserve you might deserve it if that were all but it looks bad for my niece s happiness as lady de that she and her husband are to be haunted by a young d who can a on occasion and an innocent man by an ingenious device in it looks so bad in short that advantageous as a title and old family name would be to her and her children i won t let my brother s daughter nm the risk of having them at the j j j a expense of being in the grip of a man like you there are other in the world and other titles and she is a beautiful woman who can well afford to be fastidious i shall let her know at once of these things and break off the business unless you do one thing a workman brought up another candle from the vault and prepared to let down the well mr power and what is that one thing said dare go to as my agent in a business i have just undertaken there and settle there of course i am soon going over myself and will bring you anything you require how long will you give me to consider said dare power looked at his watch one two three four hours he said i leave by the seven o clock train this evening and if i meet your proposal with a negative i shall go at once to my niece and tell her the whole circumstances tell her that by marrying sir william she herself with an unhappy gentleman in the power of a criminal son who makes his life a burden to him by perpetual demands upon his purse who will increase those demands with his accession to wealth threaten to her by exposing her husband s if she his and who will make her miserable by letting her know that her old lover was by a youth she is bound to screen out of respect to her husband s feelings now a man does not care to let his own flesh and blood the danger of such anguish as that and i shall do what i say to prevent it knowing de and what a sentiment hers is for sir william at best i shall not have much difficulty well i don t feel inclined to go to neither do i want to break off the match though i am ready to do it but you care about your personal freedom and you might be made to wear the broad arrow for your tricks on mr power i see you are a hard man i am a hard man you will find me one well will you go to or i don t mind or as as long as you choose to remain in either of those wealth producing places so long will haze go mr power i am overcome will you allow me to sit down suppose we go into the it is more comfortable they entered the and seated themselves in two chairs one at each end of the table in the mean time continued dare to lend a little romance to stem realities til tell you a singular dream i had just before you returned to england power looked contemptuous but dare went on i that once upon a time there were two brothers bom of a family one of whom became a railway and the other a mechanical engineer a mechanical engineer good said power beginning to attend when the first went abroad in his profession and became engaged on continental the second a younger man looking round for a start also himself to the continent but though ingenious and scientific he had not the business capacity of the elder a whose led to a sharp quarrel between them and they parted in bitter never to meet again as it turned out owing to the dogged obstinacy and self will of the man he after this seemed to lose his moral altogether and after some eccentric doings he was reduced to a state of poverty and took lodgings in a court in a back street of a town we will call considerably in doubt as to what steps he should take to keep body and soul together power was shooting a narrow ray of at dare from the comer of his nearly closed your dream is so interesting he said with a hard smile that i could listen to it all day excellent said dare and went on now it so happened that the house opposite to the one taken by the was peculiar it was a tall narrow building wholly the walls covered with a of white plaster cracked and soiled by time i seem to see that house now six stone steps led up to the door with a rusty iron railing on each side and under these steps were others which went down to a cellar in my dream of course of course in your dream said power nodding sitting lonely and without a light at his own chamber window at night time our frequently observed dark figures descending these steps and ultimately discovered that the house was the meeting place of a of political philosophers whose object was the of t n and and the overthrow	45
of established the discovery was startling enough but our hero was not de and easily startled he kept their secret and lived on as before at last the and his affairs became known to the society as the affairs of the society had become known to the and instead of shooting him as one who knew too much for their safety they were struck with his faculty for silence and thought they might be able to make use of him to be sure said power next like friend i saw in my dream that was the breath of life to this society at an earlier date in its history objectionable persons in power had been from time to time murdered and curiously enough numbered that is upon the body of each was set a mark or seal announcing that he was one of a series but at this time the question before the society related to the for the dagger which was as of some machine that would be both more effectual and less difficult to manage and in short a large reward was offered to our englishman if he would put their ideas of such a machine into shape power nodded again his complexion being which might partly have been accounted for by the reflection of window light from the green table cloth he agreed though no whatever himself to exercise his wits on their account and brought his machine to such a pitch of perfection that it was the identical one used in the memorable attempt dare whispered the remainder of the sentence in tones so low that hot a mouse in the comer could have heard well the of that has naturally been wanted ever since by all the heads of police ia a europe but the most curious or perhaps the most natural part of my story is that our hero after the catastrophe grew disgusted with himself and his comrades acquired in a fit of quite a taste in politics which was strengthened greatly by the news he indirectly received of the great wealth and respectability of his brother who had had no communion with him for years and supposed him dead he his and resolved to abandon them but before coming to england he decided to destroy all trace of his inventions by dropping them into the neighbouring lake at night from a boat you feel the room close mr power no i suffer from attacks of perspiration whenever i sit in a consecrated edifice that s all pray go on in carrying out this project an explosion occurred just as he was throwing the stock overboard it blew up into his face him severely and nearly him of sight the boat was upset but he swam ashore in the darkness and remained hidden till he recovered though the produced by the had been set on him for ever this accident which was such a misfortune to him as a man was an advantage to him as a engineer retiring from practice and afforded him a disguise both from his own brotherhood and from the police which he has considered impenetrable but which is getting seen through by one or two keen eyes as time goes on instead of coming to england just then he went to connected himself with the trade i believe and after his brother s death england his old life as far as practicable by de and his new principles he is known only as a great traveller to his relatives though he seldom says where he has travelled for himself he is wanted by certain european as badly as ever dare raised his eyes as he concluded his as has been remarked he was sitting at one end of the table power at the other the green cloth stretching between them on the edge of the table adjoining mr power a shining of metal was quietly resting like a dog s nose it was directed point blank at the young man dare started ah a revolver he said mr power nodded placidly his hand still grasping the pistol behind the edge of the table as a traveller i always carry one of em he returned and for the last five minutes i have been closely considering numerous brains are worth blowing out or no the vault yonder has suggested itself as convenient and snug for one of the same family but the mental problem that stays my hand is how am i to despatch and bury you there without the workmen seeing tis a strange problem certainly replied dare and one on which i fear i could not give disinterested advice moreover while you as a traveller always carry a weapon of defence as a traveller so do i and for the last three quarters of an hour i have been thinking concerning you an form of what you have been thinking of me but without any concern as to your see here for a proof of it and a second steel nose rested on the edge of the table opposite to the first by dare s right hand a ii io a they remained for some time motionless the of the tower dock distinctly audible in the silence of this mr power spoke first a well balanced position he said well be a pity to make a mess here under such circumstances mr dare i perceive that a mean vagabond can be as sharp as a political i cry if you care to do the same dare assented and the pistols were put away then we do nothing at all either side but let the course of true love run on to marriage that s the understanding i think said dare as he rose it is said power and turning on his heel he left the dare retired to the church and thence to the outside where he away a few	45
wait for this event when again in motion his eye fell upon the skirt of a lady s dress opposite the owner of which had entered and seated herself so softly as not to attract his attention ah indeed he exclaimed as he looked up to her face i had not a notion that it was you he went over and shook hands with de i am not going far she said only to the next station we often run down in summer time are you going far i am going to by way of to finish out my summer holiday miss de thought that would be very nice well i hope so but i fear it won t after saying that fell into consideration asking himself why he should matters with so genuine and s a girl as de she could tell him particulars which notwithstanding the anguish they would cause him he to know de and moreover he might never again have an opportunity of knowing them since she and he would probably not meet for years to come if at all have the castle works pretty rapidly under the new he accordingly asked yes said in her haste then adding that she was not quite sure if they had so rapidly as before herself at this point and that in the manner of a nervous at where it was not required well i should have liked to carry out the undertaking to its end said but i felt i could not do so miss power here a lump came into s throat so was he yet to her image seemed to have lost confidence in me and it was best that the connection should be severed there was a long pause she was very sorry about it said gently what made her alter so i never can think before replying waited again as if to the necessary force for honest speaking at the expense of it was the that began it of course she answered she looked up at him in quite a frightened way little as there was to be frightened at in a quiet fellow like him in this sad time of his life and said yes s i think when you were in trouble forgive my alluding to it but you a ed me the question began reflecting on what messages he l a an had sent or otherwise all he had sent had been sent from the castle and were as gentle and as sentences well could be which had neither articles nor i don t understand he said will you explain a little more as plainly as you like without my feelings a from nice i think i never sent one oh the one i meant was about money shook his head no he murmured with the composure of a man who knowing he had done nothing of the sort himself was blinded by his own honesty to the possibility that another might have done it for him that must be some other affair with which i had nothing to do oh no it was nothing like that the reason for her change of manner was quite different so timid was in s presence that her timidity at this juncture amounted to the distressing scene which must have followed a clearing up there and then of any possible misunderstanding terrified her imagination and quite confounded by that she could not reconcile she held her tongue and nervously looked out of the window i have heard that miss power is soon to be married continued with a boldness that astonished himself yes murmured it is sooner than it ought to be by rights considering how recently my dear father died but there are reasons in connection with my brother s position putting it off and it is to be absolutely simple and private de and l there was another interval may i ask when it is to be he said almost at once this week started back as if some had hit his face certain as he had been that a marriage between and de was impending he had not anticipated such as this still there was nothing wonderful in it engagements broken in upon by the death of a near relative of one of the parties had been often carried out in a subdued form with no longer delay but he could not easily say much more and s station was now at hand she bade him farewell on the platform and he resumed his seat and rattled on to whence he intended to cross the channel by that night he hardly knew how the evening passed away he had taken up his quarters at an old fashioned inn on the and as the night drew on he stood gazing from the room window at the steamer outside which nearly thrust its through the bedroom and at the goods that were being tumbled on board as only can tumble them all the goods were laden a lamp was put on each side the the engines broke into a roar and people began to enter they were only waiting for the last train then they would be off still did not move he was thinking of that curious story of s about a to for money from nice not once till within the last had it to his mind that he had met dare both at nice and at that at the latter place he had been absolutely out of money and l a wished to borrow showing considerable sinister feeling when declined to lend that on one or two previous occasions he had reasons for doubting dare s and that in spite of the young man s at he had a few da rs later beheld him in shining at though misty in his conjectures was seized with a growing	45
conviction that there was something in miss de r s allusion to the which ought to be explained without considering how he personally would be able to explain it he felt an objection to cross the water that night or till he had been able to see again and learn more of her meaning he the order to put his luggage on board watched the steamer out of the and went to bed he might as well have gone to battle for any rest that he got on rising the next morning and noting how extremely vague was the course to which he had committed himself he felt rather blank though none the less convinced that the matter required investigation he left by a morning train and about eleven o clock foimd himself in the of a practical inquiry took him through that ancient without leaving him much leisure for those which had yesterday lent an unutterable sadness to every object there it was just before noon that he started for the castle intending to arrive at a time of the morning when as he knew from experience he could speak to without difficulty the rising ground soon revealed the old towers to him and out behind them the for the new wing t e and while halting here on the in some doubt about his movements he beheld a man coming along the road and was soon confronted by his former the first instinct of each was to pass with a nod but a second instinct for intercourse was sufficient to bring them to a halt after a few superficial words had been spoken said you have succeeded me i have said but little to my advantage i have just heard that my commission is to extend no further than in the wing that you began and had i known that before i would have seen the castle fall flat as before i would have accepted the but i know who i have to for that de still looked towards the distant on the among the white workmen he could discern one figure in a dark suit you have a clerk of the works i see he observed i have but practically i haven t then why do you keep him i can t help myself he is mr dare and having been recommended by a higher power than i there he must stay in spite of me who recommended him the de it is very odd murmured but that young man is the object of my visit you had better leave him alone said asked why since i call no man master over that way i will a inform you then related in tones to which did not care to listen till the story began to advance itself how he had passed the night with dare at the inn and the incidents of that night relating how he had seen some letters on the young man s breast which long had puzzled him they were an e a t an n and a c i thought over them long till it eventually occurred to me that the word when filled out was de and that explains the offensive and alliance between them but good heavens man said more and more disturbed does she know of it you may depend she does not yet but she will soon enough hark there it is the notes of the castle clock were heard striking noon then it is all over what not their marriage yes didn t you know it was the wedding day they were to be at the church at half past eleven i should have waited to see her go but it was no sight to hinder business for as she was only going to drive over in her with miss de my errand has failed said turning on his heel walk back to the town with you however he did not walk far with society was too much at that moment as soon as r offered he from the road by a path and avoiding the town went by railway to whence he resumed by the night steamer his journey to de and chapter xiii to return to de when the train had borne from her side and she had regained her self possession she became conscious of the true proportions of the fact he had asserted and further if the had not been his why should the be trusted as a phase of his existence but after a while it seemed so improbable to her that god s sun should bear false witness that instead of doubting both evidences she was inclined to the first still upon the whole she could not question for long the honesty of s denial and if that message had indeed been sent by him it must have been done while he was in another such an unhappy state as that by the portrait the supposition reconciled all differences and yet she could not but fight against it with all the strength of a generous affection all the afternoon her poor little head was busy on this question till she inquired of herself whether after all it might not be possible for photographs to represent people as they had never been before the she determined to have the word of a professor on the point which would be better than all her returning to early she told the coachman whom had sent to drive her to the shop of mr ray an obscure artist in that town instead of straight home a an ray s establishment consisted of two divisions the respectable and the shabby if on entering the door the visitor turned to the left he found himself in a magazine of old clothes old furniture china guns fishing rods dirty and split entering the right hand room which had originally been that of an independent house	45
he was in an ordinary s and print s to which a certain artistic was imparted by a few oil paintings in the background made for the latter department and when she was inside mr ray appeared in person from the lumber shop adjoining which despite its contributed by far the greater share to his income put her question simply enough the man did not answer her directly but soon found that she meant no harm to him he told her that such were quite possible and that they embodied a form of humour which was getting more and more into among certain classes of society was coming away when she asked as on second thoughts if he had any specimens of such work to show her none of my own preparation said mr ray with of tone i consider them myself still i have one or two by me which i keep merely as there s one he said throwing out a portrait card from a drawer that represents the german emperor in a violent passion this one shows the prime minister out of his mind this the pope of rome the worse for she inquired if he had any local specimens de and yes he said but i prefer not to exhibit them unless you really ask for a particular one that you mean to buy i don t want any oh i beg pardon miss well i shouldn t myself have known such things were produced if there had not been a young man here at one time who was very ingenious in these matters a mr dare he was quite a and only did it as an amusement and not for the sake of getting a living had no wish to hear more on her way home she burst into tears the was altogether too much for her to tear asunder even had not her own instincts been urging her two ways as they were to immediately right s wrong was her impetuous desire as an honest woman who loved him but such would be the of all else that gratified her the marriage of her brother with her dearest friend now on the very point of accomplishment it was a marriage which seemed to promise happiness or at least comfort if the old flutter that had disturbed s bosom could be kept from to which end it became imperative to hide from her the discovery of injustice to it involved the advantage of leaving and though her own tender interest in him had been too well by habitual self denial to run ahead on vain personal hopes there was nothing more than human in her feeling pleasure in s might even be allowed to discover his wrongs when her had put him out of her power but to let her discover his ill treatment now might upset the impending union of the families and her own heart with the sight of married in her brother s place why dare or any other person should have set himself to advance her brother s cause by such of s character was more than her sagacity could her brother was as far as she could see the only man who could directly profit by the and was therefore the natural one to suspect of having set it going but she would not be so as to entertain the thought long and who or what had dare who was undoubtedly the cause of the mischief remained to her an inscrutable mystery the of interests and desires with honour in her heart shook all that night but good principle prevailed the wedding was to be the very next morning though for before mentioned reasons this was hardly known outside the two houses interested and there were no visible preparations either at villa or castle de and his a brother officer slept at the former residence de was a sorry specimen of a bridegroom when he met his sister in the morning thick coming fancies for which there was more than good reason disturbed him only too successfully and he was as full of apprehension as one who has a league with told him nothing of what made her likewise so wan and anxious but drove off to the castle as had been planned about nine o clock leaving her brother and his friend at the breakfast table that clearing s reputation from the stain which had been thrown on it would cause a sufficient de and reaction in s mind to present arrangements she did not so seriously anticipate now that morning had a little her since the with her former had kept her own counsel but assumed from the ease with which she seemed to do it that her feelings towards him had never been warm and she hoped that would learn of s purity with merely the generous pleasure of a friend coupled with a friend s indignation against his still the possibility existed of stronger emotions and it was only too evident to poor that knowing this she had still less excuse for the intelligence till the strongest emotion would be on approaching the castle the first object that caught her eye was dare standing beside on the of the new wing he was looking down upon the drive and court as if in anticipation of the event his her and instead of going straight to she sought out mrs you are come early that s right said the latter you might as well have slept here last night we have only mr the london lawyer you have heard of in the house your brother s was here yesterday but he returned to for the night we miss mr power so much it is so unfortunate that he should have been obliged to go abroad and leave us women with so much responsibility yes i know said quickly having a	45
shy for the details of what troubled her so much in the gross a lis a has inquired for you what is she doing she is in her room she has not begun to dress yet will you go to her assented i have to tell her something she said which will make no difference but which i should like her to know this morning at once i have discovered that we have been entirely mistaken about mr she herself to relate what had come to her knowledge the day before mrs was much impressed she had never clearly heard before what circumstances had attended the resignation of s we had better not tell her till the wedding is over she presently said it would only disturb her and do no good but will it be right asked miss de yes it will be right if we tell her afterwards oh yes it must be right she repeated in a tone which showed that her opinion was enough to require a little by the voice she loves your brother she must since she is going to many him and it can make little difference whether we the character of a friend now or some few hours hence the author of those wicked tricks on mr ought not to go a moment that s what i think and what right have we to hold our tongues even for a few hours found that by telling mrs she had simply made two people out of one and as was now inquiring for her she went upstairs without having come to any decision de and chapter xiv was in her writing down some notes previous to beginning her wedding toilet which was designed to with the simplicity that the other arrangements she owned that it was the neighbourhood of a which it had a right to expect of her but the circumstances were inexorable mrs entered s room immediately behind perhaps the only difference between the of to day and the of last year was an accession of natural to the circumstances in any case and more particularly when as now the bride s self dependence a necessity she was sitting in a light dressing gown and her face which was rather pale flushed at the entrance of and her aunt i knew you were come she said when stooped and kissed her i heard you i have done nothing this morning and feel dreadfully unsettled is all well the question was put without thought but its seemed almost to imply an knowledge of their previous conversation yes said well now shall dress you and i can do with continued come along well s a aunt what s the matter and you you look harassed i have not slept well said and have not you slept well either aunt you said nothing about it at breakfast oh it is nothing said mrs quickly i have been disturbed by learning of somebody s i am going to tell you all some time to day but it is not important enough to disturb you with now no mystery argued come it is not fair i don t think it is quite fair said miss de looking from one to the other in some distress mrs i must tell her mr he s dead cried sinking into a chair and turning as pale as marble is he dead tell me she whispered no no he s not dead he is very well and gone to for a holiday oh i am glad to hear it answered with a sudden cool he has been said mrs that s all well said with her eyes bent on the floor i have been feeling that i ought to tell you clearly dear declared her friend it is absolutely false about his to you for money it is absolutely false that his character is such as that dreadful picture represented it there that s the substance of it and i can tell you particulars at de an but would not be told at any time a dreadful sorrow sat in her face she insisted upon learning everything about the matter there and then and there was no her when it was all explained she said in a low tone it is that evil man dare yet why is it he what can he have meant by it justice before generosity even on one s wedding day before i become any man s wife this morning i ll see that wretch in jail the affair must be oh it was a wicked thing to serve anybody so i ll send for haze this moment the is even now on the premises i believe acting as clerk of the works i the usually well balanced was excited and scarcely knowing what she did went to the bell pull don t act hastily said her aunt had you not better consult sir william he will act for you in this yes he is coming round in a few minutes said jumping at this happy thought of mrs s he s going to run across to see how you are getting on he will be here by ten yes he promised last night she had scarcely done speaking when the of a horse was heard in the ward below and in a few minutes a servant announced sir william de de entered saying i have ridden across for ten minutes as i said i would do to know if everything is easy and straightforward for you there will be time enough for me to get back and prepare if i start in ten minutes well a i am ruffled said allowing him to take her hand what is it said her as did not immediately answer mrs beckoned to and left the room together	45
a man has to be given in charge or a boy or a demon she replied i was going to do it but you can do it better than i he will run away if we don t mind but my dear who is it what has he done it is dare that young man you see out there against the sky she looked from the window sideways towards the new wing on the roof of which dare was walking about after having assisted two of the workmen in putting a red on the pole you must send instantly for mr haze my dearest repeated de faintly his complexion changing to that of a man who had died please send for mr haze at once returned with graceful firmness i said i would be just to a wronged man before i was generous to you and i will that lad dare to take a practical view of it has attempted to me hundred pounds sterling and he shall suffer i won t tell you what he has done besides for though it is worse it is less when he is and sent off to jail proceed with my dressing will you ring the bell had you not better consider began de consider said not without indignation de and i have considered will you kindly ring sir william and get thomas to ride at once to mr haze or must i rise from this chair and do it myself you are very hasty and abrupt this morning i think he faltered rose from the chair since you won t do it i must she said no dearest let me beg you not to sir william de she moved towards the bell pull but he stepped before and her you must not ring the bell for that purpose he said with looking into the depths of her face it wants two hours to the time when you might have a right to express such a command as that she said i certainly have not the honour to be your husband yet he sadly replied but surely you can listen there exist reasons against giving this boy in charge which i could easily get you to admit by explanation but i would rather without explanation have you take my word when i say that by doing so you are striking a blow against both yourself and me however had rung the bell you are jealous of somebody or something perhaps she said in tones which showed how all this was telling against the intention of that day i will not be a party to if it is to save all my fortune the bell was answered quickly but de though plainly in great misery did not give up his point meeting the servant at the door before he a could enter the room he said it is nothing you can go again looked at the unhappy in amazement then turning to the servant who stood with the door in his hand said tell thomas to saddle the chestnut and it s all a mistake insisted de leave the room james james looked at his mistress yes james leave the room she calmly said sitting down now what have you to say she asked when they were again alone why must i not issue orders in my own house who is this young criminal that you value his interests higher than my honour i have delayed for one moment sending my messenger to the chief to hear your explanation only for that you will still certainly who is he he is my son she remained still as death while one might count ten then turned her back upon him i ink you had better go away she whispered you need not come again he did not move do you indeed mean this he asked i do de walked a few paces then said in a low voice miss power i knew i guessed just now as soon as it began that we were going to split on this rock well let it be it cannot be helped destiny is supreme the boy was to be my ruin he is my ruin and rightly but before i go grant me one de and request do not him believe me i will do everything i can to get him out of your way he shall annoy you no more do you promise i do she said now please leave me once more am i to understand that no marriage is to take place to day between you and me you are sir william de left the room it was noticeable throughout the interview that his manner had not been the manner of a man altogether taken by surprise during the few preceding days his mood had been that of the in ill luck who as a safe background to his most sanguine hopes she remained alone for some time then she rang and requested that mr her father s and friend would come up to her a messenger was despatched not to mr haze but to the parson of the parish who in his turn sent to the clerk and clerk s wife then busy in the church on receipt of the intelligence the two latter proceeded to roll up the carpet which had been laid from the door to the gate put away the kneeling cushions locked the doors and went off to inquire the reason of so strange a it was soon proclaimed in that the marriage had been postponed for a fortnight in consequence of the bride s sudden and less public emotion was felt than the case might have drawn forth from the ignorance of the majority of the that a wedding had been going to take place at all meanwhile miss de had been with for more	45
announced to that lady that it was her great wish to go on and see the beauties of but though her aunt was simple there were bounds to her simplicity she said with an air i don t think you should run after a young man like this suppose he shouldn t care for you by this time it was no occasion for further affectation i am sure he will answered her niece i have not the least fear about it nor would you if you knew how he is he will forgive me anything well pray don t show yourself forward some people are apt to fly into extremes blushed a trifle and reflected and made no answer however her purpose seemed not to be permanently affected for the next morning she was up and preparing to depart and they proceeded almost without stopping to the which had so quickly interested her nevertheless her ardent manner of yesterday a considerable change as if she had a fear that as her aunt suggested in her endeavour to make amends for cruel injustice she was allowing herself to be carried too far on the place she said aunt i think you had better call upon him and you need not tell him we have come on purpose let him think if he will that we heard he was here and would not leave without seeing him you can also tell him that i am anxious to clear up a misunderstanding and ask him to call at our hotel but as she looked over the dreary which lined the road from the railway to the old quarter of the town it occurred to her that would at that time of day be engaged in one or other of the buildings and that it would be lt i thin g to him as if by chance in one of these than to call upon him anywhere instead of putting up at any hotel they left the maids and baggage at the station and a carriage told the coachman to drive them to such likely places as she could think of a ji a he ll never forgive you said her aunt as they into the town won t he said with soft repose ill see about that what are you going to do when you find him tell him point blank that you are in love with him act in such a manner that he may tell me he is in love with me they first visited a large church at the upper end of a square that its surface to the western shine and was pricked out with little avenues of young the church within was one to make any ct take lodgings in its vicinity for a fortnight notwithstanding that it was just now crowded with a forest of by reason of in progress mrs sat down outside and entering took a walk in the form of a h se shoe that is up the south aisle round the and down the north side but no figure of a melancholy young man met her eye anywhere the sun that blazed in at the west doorway smote her face as she emerged fix m beneath it and revealed real sadness there this is not all the old architecture of the town by far she said to her aunt with an air of confidence coachman drive to st he was not at st looking from the west end of that building the girl observed the end of a steep narrow street of antique character which seemed a likely haunt to her aunt to follow in the walked down the street she was transported to the middle ages it contained the shops of hollow and other trades their open to the street beneath stories of timber overhanging so far on each side that a of sky was left at the top for the light to descend and no more a blue misty obscurity pervaded the atmosphere into which the sun thrust of light it was a street for a to in toss up his hat and shout in send for his luggage come and live in die and be buried in she had never supposed such a street to exist outside the of smells direct from the sixteenth century hung in the air in all their original integrity and without a modem taint the faces of the people in the seemed those of individuals who habitually gazed on the great francis and spoke of henry the eighth as the king across the sea she inquired of a if ag english artist had been seen here lately with a suddenness that almost her he announced that such a man had been seen a house just below the de just turning to see that her aunt was following in the fly advanced to the house the wood of the lower story was black and the upper story was brown and not carved figures of and over the front an stealing apples was the subject of this a man of that these figures were with little which waved in the breeze so that each figure seemed alive she examined t he closely he re and there she discerned pencil marks which had no doubt been by as points of a in the way she had seen him mark them at the castle some fragments of paper lay below there were lines on them and they bore a strong resemblance to a spoilt leaf of s glanced up and from a window above an old woman s head which with the exception of the white handkerchief tied round it was so nearly of the colour of the that she might easily have passed as of a piece with them the aged woman continued motionless the remains of her eyes being bent upon who asked her in s french where the had gone without replying the	45
produced a hand and extended finger from her side and pointed towards the lower end of the street went on the carriage following with difficulty on account of the in the at bottom the street on a wide one with customary modern life flowing through it and as she looked crossed her front along this street hurrying as if for a by the time that had reached the bottom was a long way to the left and she recognized to her dismay that the busy street was one which led to the railway she quickened her pace to a run he did not see her he even walked faster she looked behind for the carriage the driver in emerging from the sixteenth century street to the nineteenth had apparently turned to the right instead of to the left as she had done so that her aunt had lost sight of her however she did not mind it if would but look back he partly turned but not far enough and it was only to hail a passing upon which she discerned his luggage jumped in the drove on and diminished up the long road stood hopelessly still and in a few minutes of steam showed her that the train had gone she turned and waited the two or three children who had gathered round her looking up s in her face her aunt having now discovered the direction of her flight drove up and beckoned to her what s the matter asked mrs in alarm why that you should run like that and look so nothing only i have decided not to stay in this town what he is gone i suppose yes exclaimed with tears of vexation in her eyes it isn t every man who gets a woman of my position to run after him on foot and alone and he ought to have looked round drive to the station i want to make an inquiry on reaching the station she asked the some questions and returned to her aunt with a cheerful countenance mr has only gone to she said he is the only englishman who went by this train so there is no mistake there is no other train for two hours we will go on then shall we i am indifferent said mrs but do you think this quite right perhaps he is not so anxious for your forgiveness as you think perhaps he saw you and wouldn t stay a a momentary dismay crossed her face but it passed and she answered aunt that s nonsense i know him well enough and can assure you that if he had only known i was running after him he would have looked round sharply enough and would have j given his little finger rather than have missed me i don t make myself so silly as to run after a gentleman without good grounds for i know well that it is an thing to do indeed i could never have thought of doing it if i had not been so miserably in the wrong chapter ii that evening when the sun was dropping out of sight they started for the city of s pilgrimage seated herself with her face towards the western sky watching from her window the broad red horizon across which moved scattered trees to human shapes like the walking forms in s furnace it was dark when the travellers drove into she still persisted in her wish to casually encounter in some aisle lady chapel or to which he might have himself to copy and learn the secret of the great artists who had erected those mrs was for discovering his inn and calling upon him in a straightforward way but seemed afraid of it and they went out in the morning on foot first they searched the church of st he was not there next the m then the church of st but he did not reveal himself nor had any seen or heard of such a man outside the latter church was a public flower garden and she sat down to consider beside a round pool in which water lilies grew and gold fish swam near beds of fiery and just past their bloom her enterprise had not been justified by its results so far but meditation still urged her to listen to the little voice within and a push on she accordingly rejoined her aunt and they drove up the hill to the the day by this time having grown hot and oppressive the church seemed absolutely empty the void being by its grateful coolness but on going towards the east end they perceived a bald gentleman close to the screen looking to the right and to the left as if much perplexed merely glanced over him his back being towards her and turning to her aunt said softly i wonder how we get into the choir that s just what i am wondering said the old gentleman abruptly facing round and discovered that the countenance was not to her eye since knowing she had added to her gallery of a portrait of his father the and he it was who now her for the moment embarrassment due to complicated feelings brought a slight blush to her cheek but being well aware that he did not know her she answered coolly enough i suppose we must ask some one and we certainly would if there were any one to ask he said still looking eastward and not much at her i have been here a long time but nobody comes not that i want to get in on my own account for though it is thirty years since i last set foot in this place i remember it as if it were but yesterday indeed i have never been here before said naturally but i am looking for a young man who is making sketches in some of these	45
and mr has been kind enough to give us a chance of our knowledge of french early pointed and pays half the expenses said a few other things to the young man walked slowly round the as if she had come to examine it and returned down the staircase on getting back to the hotel she told her aunt who had just been having a nap that next day they would go to for a change why there are no old churches at no but i am sick and tired of holy places and want to go to some wicked spot or other to find that consolation which cannot give for shame now i know what it is you have heard that he s gone there you needn t try to blind me i don t care where he s gone cried in a moment however she smiled at herself and added you must take that for what it is worth i have made up my mind to let him know from my own lips how the misunderstanding arose that done i shall leave him and probably never see him again my conscience will be clear the next day they took the down the intending to reach t by way of just as they were moving off an elderly gentleman under a large white and carrying his hat in his hand was seen leisurely walking down the wharf at some distance but obviously making for the boat a gentleman said the mate who is he said the captain an english said nobody knew more but as leisure was the order of the day the engines were stopped on the chance of his being a passenger and all eyes were bent upon him in conjecture he disappeared and reappeared from behind a pile of and approached the boat at an easy pace whereupon the was replaced and he came on board removing his hat to a quietly thanking the captain for stopping and saying to mrs gk i am nicely in time it was mr the elder who by degrees informed our travellers as sitting on their camp they advanced between the green banks bordered by elms that he was going to that the young man he had spoken of yesterday had gone to that romantic watering place instead of studying art at and that he was going to join him there preserved an entire silence as to her own intentions partly from natural and partly as it appeared from the difficulty of explaining a which was not very clear to herself at they parted from mr and did not see him again till they were driving over the hills towards in a carriage and four when the white umbrella became visible far ahead among the outside passengers of the coach to the same place in a short time they had passed and cut in before this vehicle but soon became aware that their carriage like the coach was one of a straggling procession of some mile and a half in length all bound for the village between the cliffs in descending the long hill shaded by lime trees which sheltered their place of destination this procession closed up and they perceived that all the visitors and native population had turned out to welcome them the daily arrival of new at this hour being the chief excitement of t the coach which had preceded them all the way at more or less was now quite close and in passing along the village street they saw mr wave his hand to somebody in the crowd below a felt hat was waved in the air in response the coach swept into the inn yard followed by the and all disappeared s face was crimson as their own carriage swept round in the opposite direction to the rival inn once in her room she breathed like a person who had finished a long chase they did not go down before dinner but when it was almost dark begged her aunt to wrap herself up and come with her to the shore hard by the beach was deserted everybody being at the the gate stood open and they went in here the brilliantly lit terrace was crowded with and outside the yellow surmounted by its row of lamps rose the voice of the invisible sea groups of people were sitting under the the women mostly in for the air was growing chilly through the windows at their back an animated scene disclosed itself in the shape of a room full of the strains of the band striving in the ear for mastery over the sounds of the sea the dancers came round a couple at a time and were visible to those people without who chose to look that way which was what did come away come away she suddenly said it is not right for us to be here her exclamation had its origin in what she had at that moment seen within the spectacle of mr george whirling round the room with a young lady of uncertain but pleasing figure was not accustomed to show the white feather too clearly but she soon had passed out through those yellow a gates and retreated till the mixed music of sea and band had resolved into that of the sea alone well said her aunt half in do you know who i saw dancing there our mr if i don t make a great mistake it was likely enough that you did replied her niece he left with the intention of seeking of a lighter kind than those furnished by art and he has merely succeeded in finding them but he has made my duty rather a difficult one still it was my duty for i very greatly wronged him perhaps however i have done enough for honour s sake i would have myself by an apology if i had found him in any other	45
situation but of course one can t be expected to take much trouble when he is seen going on like that the coolness with which she began her remarks had developed into something like warmth as she concluded he is only dancing with a lady he probably knows very well he doesn t know her i can see he doesn t know her we will go away to morrow this place has been greatly the place is well enough as far as i can see he is carrying out his programme to the letter he into excitement in the most reckless manner and i tremble for the consequences i can do no more i have myself into following him believing that in giving too ready to appearances i had been narrow and and had caused him much misery but he does not mind and he has no misery he seems just as well as even how much this finding him has cost me after all i did not deceive him he must have acquired a natural aversion for me i have allowed myself to be interested in a man of very common qualities and am now bitterly alive to the shame of having sought him out i heartily him i will go back aunt you are right i had no business to come his light conduct has rendered him uninteresting to me a il a chapter iii when she rose the next morning the bell was for the second breakfast and people were pouring in from the beach in every variety of attire whom a restless night had left with a headache which however she said nothing about was reluctant to from the seclusion of her chamber till her aunt discovering what was the matter with her suggested that a few minutes in the open air would refresh her and they went downstairs into the hotel gardens the clatter of the big breakfast within was audible from this spot and the noise seemed suddenly to who proposed to enter her aunt assented in the under which they passed was a rustic hat stand in the form of a tree upon which hats and other body gear hung like of fruit s eye fell upon a felt hat to which a small block book was attached by a string she knew that hat and block book well and turning to mrs said after all i don t want the breakfast they are having let us order one of our own as usual and we ll have it here she led on to where some little tables were placed under the tall shrubs followed by her aunt who was in turn followed by the of the hotel that lady having discovered from the french maid that there was good reason for pa ring these ladies ample personal attention is the gentleman to whom that sketch book belongs staying here carelessly inquired as she indicated the object on the hat stand ah no the the hotel was full when mr came he stays at a cottage beyond the he only has his meals here had taken her seat under the trees in such a manner that she could observe all the from the d but for the present none of the emerged the only moving objects on the scene being the who hither and thither across the court the cook s with baskets of long bread and the with baskets of sun linen further back towards the were putting in the horses for starting the and to les the nearest suppose the should be going off by one of these said mrs as she her tea well aunt then they must replied the younger lady with composure nevertheless she looked with some at the nearest as he led out four white horses them and leisurely brought a brush with which he began their yellow hoofs all the were ready at the door by the time breakfast was over and the inmates soon turned out some to mount the and carriages some to on the adjacent beach some to climb the slopes o a and some to make for the cliffs that shut in the the trees which sheltered s from the blaze of the sun also it from the eyes of the company aid she sat on with her aunt in perfect comfort till among the last of the stream came and his father at being so near the former at last it was with sensible relief that she observed them turn towards the cliffs and not to the carriages and thus signify that they were not going off that day neither of the two saw the ladies and when the latter had finished their tea and coffee they followed to the shore where they sat for nearly an hour reading and watching the at length footsteps among the pebbles in their vicinity and looking out from her saw the two dose at hand the elder recognised her and the younger observing his father s action of courtesy turned his head it was a revelation to for she was shocked to see that he appeared worn and ill the expression of his face changed at sight of her increasing its shade of but he immediately withdrew his eyes and passed by was as much surprised at her thus as she had been distressed to see him as soon as they were out of hearing he asked his father quietly what strange thing is this that lady de should be here and her husband not with her did she bow to me or to you lady de that young lady asked the puzzled painter he proceeded to explain all he knew that she was a young lady he had met on his journey at two or three different times moreover that if she were his son s the woman who was to have become lady de she was	45
miss power still for he had seen in some newspaper two days before leaving england that the wedding had been postponed on account of her illness was so greatly moved that he could hardly speak to his father as they paced on together but she is not ill as far as i can see he said the wedding postponed you are sure the word was postponed was it broken off no it was postponed i meant to have told you before knowing you would be interested as the castle but it slipped my memory in the bustle of arriving i am not the castle the devil you are not what are you then well i am not that the elder though not of penetrating nature began to see that here lay an of some sort and reserved further inquiry till a more convenient occasion they had reached the end of the level beach where the cliff began to rise and as this naturally stopped their walk they their steps on again the spot where and her aunt were sitting the painter would have to the hotel but as liis son persisted in going straight on in due course they were opposite the ladies again by this time miss power who had appeared anxious during their absence regained her self control going towards her old lover she said with a smile i have been looking for why have you been doing that said a in a voice which he failed to keep as steady as he could wish because i want some to continue the restoration do you withdraw your resignation appeared unable to decide for a few yes he then answered for the moment they had ignored the presence of the painter and mrs but now made them known to one another and there was friendly intercourse all round when will you be able to resume operations at the castle she asked as soon as she could again speak directly to as soon as i can get back of course i only resume it at your special request of course to one who had known all the circumstances it would have seemed a thousand that after again getting face to face with him she did not explain without delay the whole mischief that had separated them but she did not do it perhaps from the inherent awkwardness of such a topic at this idle time she confined herself simply to the business like request and when the party had walked a few steps together they separated with mutual promises to meet again i hope you have explained your mistake to him and how it arose and everything said her aunt when they were alone no i did not what not explain after all said her amazed relative i decided to put it off then i think you decided very poor young man he looked so ill did you too think he looked ill but he danced last night why did he dance she turned and gazed at the comer round which the had disappeared i don t know why he danced but if i had known you were going to be so silent i would have explained the mistake myself i wish you had but no i have said i would and i must s of tables d did not extend to the present one it was quite with alacrity that she went down and with her entry the hotel beauty who had reigned for the last five days at that meal was by the guests mr the elder came in but nobody with him his seat was on s left hand mrs being on s right so that all the conversation was between the and the younger lady when the latter had again retired upstairs with her aunt mrs expressed regret that young mr was absent from the table why has he kept away she asked i don t know i didn t ask said sadly perhaps he doesn t care to meet us again that s because you didn t explain well why didn t the old man give me an opportunity exclaimed the niece with suppressed excitement he would scarcely say an but yes and no and gave me no chance at all of introducing the subject i wanted to explain i came all the way on purpose i would have begged george s pardon on a my knees if there had been any way of beginning but there was not and i could not do it though slept badly that night promptly appeared in the public room to breakfast and that not from motives of vanity for while not unconscious of her accession to the throne of chief beauty in the establishment she seemed too to care for the honour just then and would readily have changed places with her unhappy who lingered on in the background like a candle after sunrise mrs was determined to trust no longer to for putting an end to what made restless and self seeing old mr enter to a little side table behind for lack of room at the crowded centre tables again without his son she turned her head and asked point blank where the young man was mr s face became a shade graver than before my son is he replied so that he has been advised to stay and take perfect rest i do hope it is nothing serious i hope so too the fact is he has himself a little he was not well when he came here and to make himself worse he must needs go dancing at the with a young american lady who is here with her family and whom he met in london last year i advised him against it but he seemed desperately determined to shake off by any rash means and wouldn t listen to me luckily he is	45
down walked briskly into the hotel troubled herself nothing about dinner but went upstairs to their sitting room where her aunt presently found her upon the couch looking up at the ceiling through her fingers they talked on different subjects for some time till the old lady said mr s cottage is the one covered with flowers up the lane i hear yes said p how do you know i ve been there we are going to be married i aunt indeed replied mrs well i thought this might be the end of it you were determined on the point and i am not much surprised at your news your father was very wise after all in everything so strictly upon your off spring for if he had not i should have been driven wild with aunt now that the murder is out continued passing over that view of the case i don t mind telling you that somehow or other i have got to like george as desperately as a woman can care for any man i thought i should have died when i saw him dancing and feared i had lost him he seemed ten times than ever then so silly we women are that i wouldn t marry a duke in preference to him there that s my honest feeling and you must make what you can of it my conscience is clear thank heaven have you fixed the day no continued the young lady still watching the sleeping flies on the ceiling it is left unsettled between us while i come and ask you if there would be any harm if it could conveniently be before we return to england this is too on the contrary aunt in matrimony as in some other things you should be slow to decide but quick to execute nothing on earth would make me many another man i know every fibre of his character and he knows a good many of mine so as there is nothing more to be learnt why shouldn t we many at once on one point i am firm i will never return to that castle as miss power a nameless dread comes over me when i think of it a fear that some influence of the dead de would drive me again from him oh if it were to do that she murmured burying her face in her hands i really think it would be more than i bear very well said mrs we will see what can be done i will write to mr a chapter iv on a windy afternoon in november when more than two months had closed over the incidents previously recorded a number of farmers were sitting in a room of the king s arms inn that was used for the weekly ordinary it was a long low apartment formed by the union of two or three smaller rooms with a bow window looking upon the street and at the present moment was pervaded by a blue fog from tobacco pipes and a temperature like that of a the body of farmers who still sat on there was greater than usual owing to the cold air without the tables having been cleared of dinner for some time and their surface stamped with liquid circles by the feet of the numerous glasses besides the farmers there were present several professional men of the town who found it desirable to dine here on market days for the opportunity it afforded them of increasing their practice among the many of whom were men of large even luxurious who drove to market in elegant drawn by horses of supreme blood bone and action in a style never anticipated by their fathers when thither in light carts or with a butter basket on each arm the of conversation was suddenly on by the notes of a peal of bells from the tower hard by almost at the same instant the door of the room opened and there entered the landlord of the little inn at sleeping green drawing his supply of from this superior house to which he was subject he came here at stated times like a to the cathedral of his afterwards to his own audience the sentiments which he had learnt of this but curiosity being awakened by the church bells the usual position was for the moment reversed and one of the farmers him by name asked him the reason of their striking up at that time of day my mis ess out yonder replied the rural landlord nodding sideways is coming home with her fancy man they have been a together this of a while in foreign parts here maid what with the wind and standing about my blood s as low as water bring us a of that that isn t gin and not far from it it is true then that she s become mrs indifferently asked a farmer in tenant of an estate in quite another direction than hers as he contemplated the grain of the table immediately surrounding the foot of his glass true of course it is said who was also present in the tone of one who though sitting in this company was not of it i could have told you the truth of it any day these last five among those who had lent an ear was an old character who wore a white coat and yellow the only man in the room who never dressed up in dark clothes for he now asked married abroad was they and a how long will a wedding abroad stand good for in this country as long as a wedding at home will it faith i didn t know how should i i thought it might be some new plan o folks for women now they be so plentiful so as to get rid o em when the men	45
turning to where the dim i a lines of the castle rose he continued well there it stands and i not in it they are not in it yet either they soon will be well what tune is that you were humming captain a l is lost now replied the captain grimly oh no you have got me and i am a treasure to any man i have another match in my eye for you and shall get you well settled yet if you keep yourself respectable so thank god and take courage ah will you are a young fool wise in your own conceit i say it to my sorrow twas your spoilt all that lady would have been my wife by fair dealing time was all i required but base attacks on a man s character never deserve to win and if i had once been certain that you had made them my course would have been very both towards you and others but why should i talk to you about this if i cared an what becomes of you i would take you in hand severely enough not caring i leave you alone to go to the devil your own way thank you kindly captain well since you have spoken plainly i will do the same we de are a worn out old party that s the long and the short of it we represent conditions of life that have had their day especially me our one remaining chance was an alliance with new and we have failed we are past and done for our line has had five hundred years of glory and we ought to be content les se le speak for yourself young consequence and leave the of old families to respectable philosophers this is the direct result of evil conduct and of nothing else at all i have managed badly i you too far when i saw your tendencies i should have the alliance don t sting me captain what i have told you is true as for my conduct cat will after kind you know you should have held your tongue on the wedding morning and have let me take my chance is that all i get for saving you from jail i alone am the sufferer and feel i am alone the fool come off with you i never want to see you any more part we will then till we meet again it will be a light night i think this evening a very dark one for me nevertheless i think it will be a light night au dare went his way and after a while de went his both were soon lost in the shades a chapter v the castle to night was as gloomy as the as had explained the rooms were just now a and the main blocks of building was empty even of the few servants who had been retained they having for comfort s sake taken up their quarters in the detached rooms adjoining the entrance hence not a single light shone from the lonely windows at which ivy leaves tapped like moved by that were numerous and contrary rather than violent within the all was silence chaos a nd obscurity till t e o the thick immovable cloud the broke into a through which the moon her way as a spot of watery white sending light enough though of a kind into the castle chambers to show the confusion that reigned there at this time an eye might have noticed a figure flitting in and about those apartments and making no more noise in so doing than a puff of wind its motion hither and thither was rapid but its bearing absorbed yet cautious though it ran more or less through all the principal rooms the chief scene of its operations was the long gallery overlooking the which was covered by an ornamental wood and plaster roof and contained a whole throng of family portraits besides heavy old and the like the portraits which were of value as works of art were smaller than these and hung in adjoining rooms the manifest occupation of the figure was that of removing these small and valuable pictures from other chambers to the gallery in which the rest were hung and them in a heap in the midst included in the group were nine by sir peter five by four by one by remarkable as being among the few english portraits ever painted by that master many by and two by apparently by accident the light being insufficient to distinguish them from portraits the figure also brought a child a magnificent a and a on these were laid a large collection of miniature portraits of the same illustrious line afterwards and cushions embroidered with the de s and next the cradle presented by charles the first to the contemporary de mother till at length there arose in the middle of the floor a huge heap containing most of what had been personal and peculiar to members of the de family as distinct from general furniture then the figure went from door to door and threw open each that was it next proceeded to a room on the ground floor at present fitted up as a carpenter s shop and knee deep in an of these was added to the pile of objects in the gallery a window at each end of the gallery was a opened causing a brisk draught along the walls and then the activity of the figure ceased and it was seen no more five minutes afterwards a light shone upon the lawn from the windows of the long gallery which glowed with more brilliancy than it had known in the of its thereupon the framed gentleman in the lace collar seemed to open his eyes more widely he with the flowing locks and	45
system in der text in ist an die des materials und von von in ist information und den material der von ver week dire legal ist fur in den ist in ist ob ist von land land ob ist in es in form und der von die in form at ion en und und die we lt und au und den im books j collection of british authors edition vol a by thomas in two volumes vol i edition by the same author the hand of from the crowd the return of the native vol the trumpet major a or the castle of the de a story of to day by thomas hardy author of far from the crowd etc edition in two volumes vol i p the right is reserved u a or the castle of the de book the first george chapter i the sun blazed down and down till it was within half an hour of its setting but the still lingered at his occupation of measuring and the doorway a bold and quaint example of a style o f architecture which formed the to an english village church the being quite open on its western side the clad figure of the young man and the tall mass of antique which rose above him to a were fired to a great brightness by the rays that crossed the neighbouring like a of gold threads in whose groups of equally danced and incessantly he was so absorbed in his pursuit that he did not mark the brilliant effect of which he composed the central feature till it was brought home to his intelligence by the warmth of the under his touch when measuring which led him at length to turn his head and gaze on its cause there are few in whom the sight of a sunset does not as much meditative melancholy as pleasure the human decline and death that it being too obvious to escape the notice of tt l a the simplest observer the as if he had been brought to this reflection many hundreds of times before by the same spectacle showed that he did not wish to pursue it just now by turning away his face after a few moments to resume his studies he took his carefully and as if he the old workers whose trick he was endeavouring to acquire six hundred year s after the o original performance had ceased and the passed into th e unseen by means of a strip of lead called a leaden which he pressed around and into the and hollows with his finger and thumb he transferred the exact of each to his drawing that lay on a stool a few feet distant where were also a block a small t square a bow pencil and other instruments when he had marked down the line thus fixed he returned to the doorway to copy another as before it being the month of august when the pale face of the and stranger is to be seen among the brown skins of remotest not only in england but throughout the temperate few of the homeward bound paused to notice him further than by a momentary turn of the head they had beheld such gentlemen before not exactly measuring the church so accurately as this one seemed to be doing but painting it from a distance or at least walking round the pile at the same time the present visitor even was not altogether commonplace hi s features were good his eyes of the sort eloquent by the sex that ought george to know and with that ray of light in them which an a heart susceptible to beauty of all kinds in woman in art and in nature though he would have been as a young man his face bore contradictory to his precise age this was owing to a too dominant act iv ity in which while it had preserved the side of his constitution and with it the significant of mouth and chin had played upon his forehead and temples till at weary moments they exhibited some traces of being over exercised a about the features a mature forehead though not exactly what the world has been familiar with in past ages is now growing common and with the advance of it probably must grow still briefly he had more of the beauty if beauty it ought to be called of the e human type than of t he past but not so much as to make him other than a nice young man his build was somewhat slender and tall his complexion though a little by recent exposure was that of a man who spent much of his time indoors of beard he had but small show though he was as innocent as a of the use of the but he possessed a moustache all sufficient to hide the of his mouth which could thus be tremulous at tender moments without provoking inconvenient criticism owing to his situation on high ground open to the west he remained enveloped in the lingering haze till a time when the eastern part of the churchyard was in obscurity and damp with rising dew lo a when it was too dark to sketch further he packed up his drawing and to a lad who had been by the gate directed him to carry the stool and implements to a roadside inn which he named lying a mile or two ahead the leisurely followed the lad out of the churchyard and along a lane in the direction signified the spectacle of a summer traveller from london details in an days when a lull has come over the study c architecture through a re awakening to the art forms of times that more nearly neighbour our own is accounted for by the fact that george son of the of that	45
name was a man of independent tastes and instincts who unconsciously and perhaps unhappily took greater pleasure in floating in currents of thought tha n with the general tide of n when quite a lad in the days of the french which immediately succeeded to the great english pointed revival under scott and other he had crept away from the fashion to admire what was good in and as soon as queen anne and kindred of decayed began to be popular he purchased such old school works as and chambers and the rest and worked diligently at the five orders till quite bewildered on the question of style he concluded that all were extinct and with all architecture as a living art was not old enough at that time to know that in practice art had at all times been as full of and as george u every other thing that ideal perfection was never achieved by greek or hebrew jew and never would be and thus he was thrown into a mood of dis g with lu p on from which mood he was only delivered by these studies and indulging in an old enthusiasm for poetical j ij for two whole years he did avoid his and write verse in every conceivable except an original one and on every conceivable subject from on the singing of his tea kettle to fragments on the fall of his discovery at tiie age of five and twenty that these inspired works were not jumped at by the with all the eagerness they deserved in point of time with a severe hint from his father that unless he went on with his legitimate profession he might have to look elsewhere than at home for an allowance mr junior then awoke to realities became intently practical rushed back to his dusty drawing boards and worked up the anew with a view of regularly starting in practice on the first day of the following january it is an old story and perhaps only deserves the light tone in which the soaring of a young man into the and his descent again is always but as has often been said the light and the truth may be on the side of the a far wider w view than the wise ones have may be his at that time and his to common re be nothing less than a tragic event the operation called in which a a rope attached to its head is made to trot round and round a with the other end of the rope in his hand till it a j makes the dizzy to look at them is a very c unhappy one for the animal concerned during its progress the springs upward across the circle stops still flies over the turf with the of a bird and in all sorts of graceful but he always ends in one way thanks to the knotted in a level trot round the with the regularity of a wheel and in the loss for ever to his character of the bold which the fine hand of nature gave it yet the process is considered to be the making of him whether became permanently made under the action of the inevitable or whether he into mere with the artistic side of his profession only it is premature to say but at any rate it was the of his return to as a calling that sent him on the excursion under notice feeling that something still was wanting to round off his knowledge before he could take his professional line with confidence he was led to remember that his own native was the one form of design that he had neglected from the through its having greeted him with some at the opening of his career now it had again returned to silence indeed such is the surprising of art principles as they are called it was just as likely as not to sink into the neglect and oblivion which had been its lot in times this accident of bein g out of lent j an additional charm to one and away he went to make it the business of a summer circuit in the west the quiet time of evening the secluded neighbour george hood the unusually gorgeous of the clouds lying packed in a pile over that quarter of the heavens in which the sun had disappeared were such as to make a on his walk coming to a mounted himself on the top bar to the spirit of the scene and hour the evening was so still tiiat every trifling sound could be heard for miles there was the rattle of a returning mixed with the of the s whip the team must have been at least three miles off from far over the hill came the faint yell of hounds while from the nearest village the voices of boys at play in the twilight then a powerful the hour it was not from the direction of the church but rather from the wood behind him and he thought it must be the clock of some mansion that way but the mind of man cannot always be forced to take up subjects by the pressure of their material presence and s thoughts were often to his great loss apt to be even more than common from the tones and images that met his outer senses on walks and rides he would sometimes go quietly through the most extraordinary town in europe and let it alone provided it did not with him by its beggars beauties police bad smells and such like this feat of he began performing now sitting on the three inch ash rail that had been and polished like glass by the of all the small clothes in the parish he forgot the time the place forgot that it was august in short everything of the	45
present altogether his mind a flew back to his past life and the waste of time that had resulted from his not having been able to make up his mind which of the many fashions of art that were coming and going in change was the true point of departure for himself he had suffered from the modern malady of unlimited as much as any living man of his own age of his fellows in years and experiences who had never thought specially of the matter but had applied themselves to whatever form of art confronted them at the moment of their making a move were by this time acquiring renown as new lights while he was still unknown he wished that some accident could have hemmed in his eyes between inexorable and sped him on in a channel ever so worn thus balanced between believing and not believing in own future so delicately that a feather of opinion either was to the scene without by hearing the notes of a solemn familiar hymn rising in subdued from an valley below he listened more it was his old friend the new sabbath which he had never once heard since the days of childhood and whose existence much as it had then been to him he had till this moment quite forgotten where the new sabbath had kept itself all these years why that sound and hearty melody had disappeared from all the parish churches and ease that he had been acquainted with during his to life and until his ways had become irregular and he could not at first say but then he that the tune i to the old west gallery period of church music to the great and the rule of that old time when the repetition of a word or of a verse was not considered a disgrace to an choir willing to be interested in anything which would keep him pf doors dismounted from the and descended the hill before him to learn whence the singing proceeded a chapter he found that it had its origin in a building standing alone in a field and though the evening was not yet dark without lights shone from the windows in a few moments stood before the edifice being just then en t with by reason of his recent occupation he could not help murmuring j a perhaps this exclamation being one rather out of date since the discovery that himself often nodded to an amazing extent would not have been indulged in by but for his condition of returned prodigal which caused professional opinions to advance themselves to his lips whenever occasion offered the building was in short a recently erected chapel of red brick with classic and the white regular joints of mortar could be seen its surface in from top to bottom the roof was of blue slate clean as a table and unbroken from to the windows were glazed with sheets of plate glass a temporary iron stove pipe passing out near one of these and running up to the height of the ridge where it was finished by a covering like a walking round to the end he perceived an white stone let into the wall just above the on which was inscribed in block letter george l erected at th sole expense of john power esq m p the new sabbath still proceeded line by line with all the and that had of old the tune and the body of harmony that it implied a large congregation within to whom it was plainly as familiar as it had been to church of a past generation with a sense of at the of his once favourite air moved away and would have quite withdrawn from the field had he not at that moment observed two young men with of water coming up from a stream hard by and hastening with their burdens into the chapel by a side door almost as soon as they had entered they emerged again with empty and proceeded to the stream to fill them as before an operation which they repeated several times went forward to the stream and waited till the young men came out again you are carrying in a great deal of water he said as each dipped his one of the young men modestly replied yes we filled the this morning but it and requires a few more why do you do it there is to be a sir was not moment sufficiently interested to develop a further conversation and observing them in silence till they had again vanished into the building he went on his way reaching the brow of the hill he stopped and looked back the chapel was still in view and the shades of night having deepened the lights shone from the windows yet a i a more brightly than before a few steps further would hide them and the edifice and all that belonged to it from his sight possibly for ever there was something in the thought which led him to linger in a way he had not at all expected the chapel had neither beauty nor to recommend it the between the new of the place and the scenes of venerable which had occupied his daylight hours could not well be exceeded but as has been said was an instrument of no narrow he had a key for other touches tee even on such an excursion as this his mind was arrested by the intense and busy energy which must needs belong to an assembly that required such a glare of light to do its religion by in the heaving of that tune there was an earnestness which made him thoughtful r d the shine of those windows he had ugly reminded him of the shining of the good deed in a naughty world the chapel and its shabby plot of ground from	45
which the was all trodden away by busy feet had a living human interest that the numerous and churches knee deep in fresh green grass visited by him during the foregoing week had moreover there was going to be a tiiat meant the of a grown up person and he had been told that were earnest people and that the scene was most impressive what manner of man would it be who on an ordinary and bustling evening of the nineteenth century could single himself out as one different from the rest of the inhabitants banish all shyness and come forward to undergo such a trying ceremony who george was he that had pondered gone into with himself worked up his courage and said i will do this though few else will for i believe it to be my duty whether on account of these thoughts or from the circumstance that he had been alone amongst the all day without communion with his kind he could not tell in after years when he had good reason to think of the subject but so it was that went back and again stood under the chapel wall instead of entering he passed round to where the stove chimney came through the wall and holding on to the iron stay he stood on the and looked in at the window the building was quite full of people belonging to that vast majority of society w ho are denied the art of their higher emotions and for a dressed working people whose faces and forms were worn and by years of dreary toil on a platform at the end of the chapel a haggard man of more than middle age with grey whiskers cut back from the fore part of his face so far as to be almost banished from the countenance stood reading a chapter between the minister and the congregation was an open space and in the floor of this was sunk a full of water which just made its surface visible above the blackness of its depths by reflecting the lights overhead after glancing at the assemblage for some moments endeavoured to discover which one among them was to be the subject of the ceremony but nobody appeared there who was at all out of the region of commonplace the people were a all quiet and settled yet he could discern on their faces something more than attention though it was less than excitement perhaps it was expectation and as if to bear out his he heard at that moment the noise of wheels behind him which led him to turn his head his gaze into the lighted chapel made what had been an evening scene when he looked away from the landscape night itself on looking back but he could see enough to discover that a had driven up to the side door used by the young water and that a lady in white and black half mourning was in the act of followed by what appeared to be a waiting woman carrying they entered the room of the chapel and the door was shut the service went on as before till at a certain moment the door between and chapel was opened when a woman came out clothed in an ample robe of flowing white which descended to her feet was unfortunate in his position he could not see her face but her gait suggested at once that she was the lady who had entered just before she was rather tall than otherwise and the of her head and shoulders a girl in the of youth and activity his imagination stimulated by this beginning set about filling in the meagre outline with most attractive details she stood upon the brink of the pool and the minister descended the steps at its edge till the of his shoes were with the water he turned to the young candidate but she did not follow him instead of doing so she remained rigid as a stone he stretched out his hand but she still showed george reluctance till with some embarrassment he went back and spoke softly in her ear afterwards saying in a voice audible to all who were near you will descend she approached the edge looked into the water and gently turned away could for the first time see her face though imperfect as is every face we see it was one which made him think that the best in woman kind no less than the best in tunes had gone over to tiie he had certainly seen nobody so interesting in his tour hitherto she was about twenty or twenty one perhaps for years have a way of stealing even upon subtle conjecture the total between the expression of her and that of the countenances around her was not a little surprising and was productive of without measure as to how she came there she was in fact emphatically a modern type of and she looked by reason of her a being among the simple ones not so but one who knew life fairly well for her age her hair of good english brown neither light nor dark was abundant too abundant for convenience in tying as it seemed and it threw off the lamp light in a lustre as before observed it could not be said of her features that this or that was quite the contrary indeed but the nameless charm of them altogether was only another instance of how beautiful a woman can be as a le without in any one detail to the lines marked out as absolutely correct the spirit and the life were there and material shapes could be disregarded a this was all that could be of her whatever moral characteristics it might be the surface of enough was shown to assure that she had had some experience of things lying far outside her present horizon	45
and could live and was even at that moment living a cl stealthy inner life which had very little to do with her present one the of nearly every external sign of that distress under which knew by a sudden sympathy that she was added strength to these convictions and you refuse said the astonished minister as she still stood on the brink of the pool he added to the force of his pleading by taking her sleeve between his finger and thumb as if to draw her but she resented this by a quick movement of displeasure and he released her seeing that he had gone too far but my dear lady he whispered you promised consider your profession and that you stand in the eyes of the whole church as an of your faith i cannot do it but your father s memory miss his last dying request i cannot help it she said trying to get away you came here with the intention to fulfil the word but i was mistaken then why did you come she implied that to be a question she did not care to answer please say no more to me i can wait no longer she murmured and hastened to withdraw george during this unexpected dialogue which had distinctly reached s ears the windows standing open for and his perch being close behind the that young man s feelings had flown hither and thither between minister and lady in a most capricious manner it had seemed at one moment a rather thing of her charming as she was to give the minister and the water so much trouble for nothing the next it seemed like the ancient of the stool to try to force a girl into that dark water if she had not a mind for it but the minister was not without insight and he had seen that it would be useless to say more the old man had to turn round upon the congregation and declare that the was postponed she passed through the door into the during the exciting moments of her there had been a perceptible flutter among the sensitive members of the congregation nervous seeming to be at one with nervous in this at least that they heartily disliked a scene during service calm was restored to their minds by the minister starting a rather long hymn in and during the singing of which he ascended the pulpit his face had a severe and even look as he gave out his text and began to understand that this meant mischief to the person who had caused the in the third chapter of revelation and the and following verses you will find these words know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot i would thou cold or hot so then because a thou art and neither cold nor hot i will thee out of my mouth thou say est i am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked the sermon straightway began and went on and it was soon apparent that the was to be no less forcible than the text it was also apparent that the words were not directed forward in the line in which they were uttered but through the of the door that had stood slightly since the exit of the young lady the listeners appeared to feel this no less than did for their eyes one and all became fixed upon that door as if they would almost push it open by the force of their gazing the preacher s heart was full er no book or note was wanted by him never was more absolute than here his enthusiasm had been suddenly made to take a negative turn by pressure of unexpected circumstances it was no timid reproof of the ornamental kind but a direct all the more vigorous perhaps from the of mind and language under which the speaker yet fool that he had been made by the candidate there was nothing in his attack genuine flashes of fire were occasionally struck by that plain and simple man who knew what straightforward conduct was and who did not know the caprice of a woman s mind at this moment there was not in the whole chapel a person whose imagination was not on what was taking place within the door the thunder of the minister s eloquence echoed of course george through the weak sister s of retreat no less than round the public assembly what she was doing inside there whether listening or hastening to get away from the chapel and all it contained was obviously the thought of each member what changes were tracing themselves upon that lovely face did it rise to phases of resignation or sink so low as to flush and frown was s inquiry and a half explanation occurred when during the discourse the door which had been was gently pushed to looking on as a stranger it seemed to him more than probable that this young woman s power of in her unexpected to the was strengthened by wealth and position of some sort and was not the gift of nature the manner of her arrival and her dignified bearing before the assembly the belief a woman who did not feel something to her mental self to fall back upon would be so far by the people and the crisis as not to retain sufficient resolution for a change of mind the sermon ended the minister wiped his steaming face and turned down his and and sagacious glances went round yet many even of those who had passed the same ordeal with credit exhibited judgment than the preacher s on a of which they had probably recognised some in their own when in the lady s situation for there was but	45
one scene the imagined scene of the girl herself as she sat alone in the the fervent congregation rose to sing again and then a heard a slight noise on his left hand which caused him to turn his head the which had retired into the field to wait was back again at the door the subject of his came out from the chapel not in her mystic robe of white but dressed in ordinary fashionable costume followed as before by the attendant with other articles of clothing on her arm including the white gown fancied that the younger woman was drying her eyes with her handkerchief but there was not much time to see they quickly entered the carriage and it moved on then a cat suddenly and he saw a white standing forlorn where the carriage had been the door was opened the cat taken in and the carriage rolled away the young stranger s form stamped itself deeply on s soul he strolled on his way quite to the fact that the moon had t risen and that the landscape was one for him to linger oyer especially if there were any architecture in the way of the rays the was that though this girl must be of a serious turn of mind caprice was not foreign to her composition and upon the whole it was probable that her daily doings evinced without much the unbroken spirit and pride of life natural to her age the little village inn at which intended to pass the night lay two miles further on and his way up to the he along the lane now beginning to be like a with the shadows of some young trees that edged the road but his attention was attracted to the other side of the way by a hum as of a night bee which arose from george the play of the breezes over a single wire of telegraph running parallel with his track on tall poles that had appeared by the road he hardly knew when from a branch route probably leading from some town in the neighbourhood to the village he was approaching he did not know the population of sleeping green as the village of his search was called but the presence of this mark of seemed to signify that its inhabitants were not quite so far in the rear of their age as might be imagined a glance at the still heap of earth round the foot of each post was however sufficient to show that it was at no very remote period that they had made their advance aided by this friendly wire had no difficulty in keeping his course till he reached a point in the ascent of a hill at which the telegraph off firom the road passing through an opening in the hedge to strike across an down while the road wound round to the left for a few moments doubted and stood still the cut over the down had no mark of a path or drive but on the other hand it might be a shorter though way to the same place the wire sang on overhead with dying falls and melodious rises that invited him to follow while above the wire rode the stars in their courses the low of the former seeming to be the voices of those stars still to the young eyed recalling himself from these reflections decided to follow the lead of the wire it was not the first time during his present tour that he had found his way at night by the help of these musical threads a which the post office authorities had erected all over the country for quite another purpose than to guide travellers plunging with it across the down he soon came to a road that entered a park or chase which flourished in all its original of rushes and of rose from the hollows and the road was in places half overgrown with green as if it had not been tended for many years so much so that where shaded by trees he found some difficulty in keeping it though he had noticed the remains of a deer fence further back no deer were visible and it was scarcely possible that there should be any in the existing state of things but were every being dotted with their seated figures till approached and sent them into their the road next wound round a of beside which lay heaps of for burning and then there appeared against the sky the and towers of a e half ruin half residence standing on an eminence hard by stopped to examine it the castle was not large but it had all the characteristics of its most important fellows irregular and muffled in as a great portion of it was some part a comparatively modem wing as nearly as he could discover at a glance was inhabited for a light or two steadily gleamed from some upper windows in others a reflection of the moon that unbroken glass yet filled their over all rose the keep a square solid tower apparently not much injured by wars or weather and darkened with ivy on one side wherein wings could be heard flapping as if they belonged to a bird george g unable to find a proper perch hissing noises and then a that a brood of young were there in the company of older ones in spite of the and more modem wing neglect and decay had set their mark upon the of the pile them for a more positive light than that of the present hour he walked up to a modem arch the ditch now dry and green over which the once had swung the large door under the porter s was closed and locked while standing here the singing of the wire which for the last few minutes he	45
had quite forgotten again upon his ear and retreating to a convenient place he observed its final course from the poles amid the trees it leaped across the moat over the wall and thence by a tremendous stretch towards the keep where to judge by sound it vanished through an into the interior this of m then was the s end oi the wire and not the there was a certain in the fact that the memorial of a stolid to the of ideas the monument of hard distinctions in blood and race of deadly of one s neighbour in spite of the church s teaching and of a sublime of any other force than a one should be the goal of a machine which beyond everything may be said to views and the intellectual and moral of all mankind in that light the little wire had a far finer significance to th e student than the vast walls which it but on j a the other hand the modern mental fever and fret which people i e ore they can grow old was also signified by tjie wire and this aspect of to day did not contrast well at least in his moonlight meditations with the fairer side of leisure light hearted generosity intense hounds healthy freedom from care and such a living power in art as the world may never again see having at present a stronger attachment to and plaster than to walls of a thickness sufficient for the of grand ideas withdrew till neither the singing of the wire nor the of the irritable could be heard any more a clock in the castle struck ten and he recognised the strokes as those he had heard when sitting on the it was indispensable that he should his steps and push on to sleeping green if he wished that night to reach his lodgings which had been secured by letter at a little inn in the straggling line of roadside houses called by the above name where his luggage had by that time probably arrived in a quarter of an hour he was again at the point where the wire left the road and following the highway over a hill he saw the hamlet at his feet george chapter iii by half past ten the next morning was once more approaching the of the building which had interested him the night before referring to his map he had learnt that it bore the name of castle or castle de and he had been at once struck with its familiarity though he had never understood its position in the county believing it further to the west if report spoke truly there was o some excellent in the interior and a change f of study from to was not j unwelcome for a while the entrance gate was open now and under the the outer ward was visible a great part of it being laid out as a flower garden this was in process of clearing from weeds and rubbish by a set of and the soil was so that in out the weeds such few hardy flowers as still remained in the beds were mostly brought up with them the grove wherein the had run was as fresh as if only cut yesterday the very of the stone being visible close to this hung a formed of a large wooden attached to a rod s application brought a woman from the porter s door who informed him that the day before having been the weekly show day for visitors it was doubtful if he could be admitted now a is at home said only miss de the replied to him miss de seemed a great deal and his dread of being considered an intruder was such that he thought at first there was no help for it but to wait till the next week but before retreating many steps he changed his mind he had already through his want of lost a sight of many whose exhibition would have been rather a satisfaction to the inmates than a trouble it was inconvenient to wait he knew nobody in the neighbourhood from whom he could get an letter he turned and passed the woman crossed the ward where the were at work over a second and smaller bridge and up a flight of stone stairs open to the sky along whose steps soldiers and other y renowned dead men had doubtless many times walked it led to the principal door on this side thence he could observe the walls of the lower court in detail and the old with which they were that from time had been burnt brown every summer and every winter had grown green again the and the electric wire that entered it like a worm uneasy at being were distinctly o also was the clock not as he had supposed a the fortress itself but new and shining and bearing the name of a recent maker the door was opened by a bland intensely shaven man out of livery who took s name and politely request to be allowed to inspect the architecture of the more public portions of the castle he pronounced the word architecture in the tone of george a man who knew and practised that art for he said to himself if she thinks i am a mere idle it will not be so well no such uncomfortable consequences ensued miss de had great pleasure in giving mr full permission to walk through whatever parts of the building he chose it was as if he had come from winter to summer at this intelligence he followed the butler into the inner buildings of the fortress the ponderous t s of wh walls made a physical pressure an stone staircase range round of a square was next revealed leading at the top of one flight into a spacious hall which	45
seemed to occupy the whole area of the keep from this apartment a corridor with black oak led to the more modem wing where light and air were treated in a less fashion here the passages were broader than in the oldest portion and in the service of the fine arts hid to a great extent the coldness of the walls was now left to himself and from room to room he found time to inspect the different objects of interest that there not all the chambers even of the division were in use as dwelling rooms though these were still numerous enough for the wants of an ordinary country family in a long gallery with a covered ceiling of which had once been gilded hung a series of paintings representing the past personages of the de it was a remarkable array even more so on a a account of the neglected condition of the than for the artistic peculiarities they exhibited many of the frames were dropping apart at their angles and some of the canvas was so dingy that the face of the person depicted was only as the moon through mist for the colour they had now they might have been painted during an while to judge by the tying them to the wall the that ran up and down their backs were such as to make the fair shudder in their graves he wondered how many of the lofty and smiling lips of this could be as true reflections of their some were false no doubt many more so by accident and want of skill felt that it required a mind than his to from the lumber of the that really sat in the painter s presence and to discover their history behind the curtain o f mere tr perhaps a true account of the sweetest and among these who looked so at him over their pearl was a story which related in its would be hardly to the more self r na of the present day the painters of this long collection were those who usually appear in such places and sir peter sir sir and sir thomas their too had mostly been sir william sir john or sir george de some undoubtedly having a nobility stamped upon them beyond that conferred by their robes and orders and george not so fortunate their respective ladies hung by their sides feeble and or fat and comfortable as the case might be also their fathers and mothers in law their brothers and relatives their contemporary princes and their intimate friends of the de pure there ran through the collection a mark by which they might surely have been recognised as members of one family this feature being the upper part of the nose every one even if lacking other points in common had the special at this point in the face sometimes moderate in degree sometimes excessive while looking at the pictures which not in his regular line of study interested more than the architecture because of their singular it occurred to his mind that he had in his youth been for a very short time with a pleasant boy bearing a attached to one of the paintings the name of the boy had vanished he knew not how he thought he had been removed from school suddenly on account of ill health but the recollection was vague and moved on to the rooms above and below in addition to the details of which he had as yet obtained but glimpses there was a great collection of old and other domestic art work all more than a century old and mostly lying as lumber there were of and fine green and scarlet leather work on which the was still but little injured venerable curtains silk table covers worked satin carved and embroidered bed a furniture which had apparently no for these many years downstairs there was also an interesting collection of together with several huge trunks and a great many of them had been recently taken out and cleaned as if a long interest in them were suddenly revived doubtless they were those which had been used by the living of the that looked down from the frames this excellent of suggestive designs for metal work and work of other sorts induced to divert his studies from the direction in which they had flowed too ex of late to acquire some new ideas from the objects here for domestic application yet for the present he was to keep his sketch book closed and his ivory rule folded and devote himself to a general survey emerging from the ground floor by a small doorway he found himself on a terrace to the north east and on the other side than that by which he had entered it was bounded by a breast high over which a view of the distant country met the eye stretching from the foot of the slope to a distance of many miles went and leaned over and looked down upon the tops of the bushes beneath the prospect included the village through which he had passed on the previous day and amidst the green lights and shades of the meadows he could discern the red brick chapel whose had so engrossed him before his attention had long stayed over the incident which that structure george he became aware that he was not the only person who was looking from the terrace towards that point of the compass at the right hand corner in a of the curtain wall a girlish shape and asleep on the bench over which she leaned was a white cat the identical as it seemed that had been taken into the carriage at the chapel door by a natural train of thought began to muse on the probability or otherwise of the and this young lady in one and	45
the same person and almost without knowing it he found himself deeply hoping for such a charming unity it was hoping quite out of bounds yet at the present moment it was impossible to say they were not the object of his inspection was idly leaning and this somewhat disguised her figure it might have been tall or short or she carried a light which she until thrusting it back over her shoulder her head was revealed sufficiently to show that she wore no hat or bonnet this token of her being an of the castle and not a visitor as had rather his expectations but so unreasonable is hope particularly when allied with a young man s fancy that he persisted in believing her look towards the chapel must have a meaning in it till she suddenly stood erect and revealed herself as short in stature almost at the same time giving him a distinct view of her she was not at all like the heroine of the chapel he saw the nose of the de distinctly with against the blue green of the distant j a wood but it was not the de face with all its original it was so to speak a of that face for the nose tried hard to turn up and deal utter confusion to the family shape as for the rest of the countenance was obliged to own that it was not beautiful nature had done there many things that she ought not to have done and left undone much that she should have executed it would have been decidedly plain but for a precious quality which no perfection of can give when the temperament it and which no can take away a tender which might almost be called yearning such as is often seen in all its intensity in the women of when they are painted in and which a slight elevation of the lower part of her face helped to perhaps the plain features of miss de who she undoubtedly was were rather severely handled by s judgment owing to his impression of the previous night and indeed a beauty of a sort would have been lent by the of the parts but for that unfortunate condition the poor girl was with of having to hand on a feature with which she did not find herself otherwise in harmony she glanced at him for a moment in turning and presently showed by an movement that he had made his presence felt not to her if it were true as it seemed that she was not much accustomed to strangers instantly hastened to withdraw at the same time that she passed round to the other part of the terrace followed by the cat george in whom could imagine a certain cast of countenance notwithstanding her company but as white cats are much like each other at a distance it was reasonable to suppose this creature not the same one as that possessed by the beauty a chapter iv he descended the stone stairs to a lower of the castle in which was a like hall covered by of exceptional and massive ingenuity built ere the art was known by pointed aisle and stalk the of an walk to in stone it happened that the central pillar whereon the rested to exhibit some of the most hideous in england upon its capital had been enclosed with a modern cutting off a portion of the large area for domestic purposes a locked door barred s and he was tempted to ask a servant for permission to open it till he heard that the inner room was temporarily used for plate the key being kept by miss de at which said no more but afterwards he heard the active the stone steps she entered the with a bunch of keys in one hand and in the other a candle followed by the young lady whom had seen on the terrace the servant advanced with the key but the young lady stood back he saw that something hung upon her lips to say to him which she could not get off he slightly bowed to encourage her george i shall be very glad to anything you may want to see she now found tongue to say so few people take any real interest in what is here that miss power does not leave it open expressed his thanks miss de a little to his surprise had a touch of in her manner and that forced absence of reserve which from society to young women more frequently than not she seemed glad to have something to do the arrival of was plainly an event sufficient to set some little mark upon her day deception had been written on the faces of those frowning walls in their the significance of when he found them only by this little woman whose life was than his own we have not been here long continued miss de and that s why everything is in such a and confused condition entered the dark store closet thinking less of the ancient pillar revealed by the light of the candle than what a singular remark the latter was to come from a member of the family which appeared to have been there five centuries he held the candle above his head and walked round and presently miss de came back there is another vault below she said with the severe face of a young woman who speaks only because it is absolutely necessary perhaps you are not aware of it it was the if you wish to go down there too the servant will show you the way it is not at all ornamental rough arches and clumsy a thanked her and would perhaps take advantage of her kind offer when he had examined the spot where he was if it were not causing inconvenience no i	45
am sure miss power will be glad to know that anybody thinks it interesting to go down there which is more than she does herself some obvious inquiries were suggested by this but said i have seen the pictures and have been much struck by them partly he added with some hesitation because one or two of them reminded me of a i think his name was john yes she said almost eagerly he was my cousin so that we are not quite strangers but he is dead now he was unfortunate he was mostly spoken of as that unlucky boy you know i suppose mr why the paintings are in such a state it is owing to the peculiar treatment of the castle during mr s time he was blind so one can imagine he did not appreciate such things as there are here the castle has been shut up you mean oh yes for many years but it will not be so again miss power is going to have the pictures cleaned and the frames mended and the old pieces of furniture put in their proper places it will be very nice then did you see those in the east closet i have only seen those in the gallery i will just show you the way to the others if you would like to see them george they ascended to the room the east closet the paintings here mostly of smaller size were in a better condition owing partly to the fact that they were hung on an inner wall and had hence been kept comparatively free from damp inquired the names and histories of one or two i really don t quite know miss de replied after some thought but miss power knows i am sure i don t study them much i don t see the use of it she swung her so that it fell open and turned it up till it fell shut i have never been able to give much attention to ancestors she added with her eyes on the these are your ancestors he asked for her position and tone were matters which perplexed him in spite of the family likeness and other details he could scarcely believe this frank and country maiden to be the modem representative of the de oh yes they certainly are she said laughing people say i am like them i don t know if i am well yes i know i am i can see that of course any day but they have gone from my family and per it is just as well that they should have gone they are useless she added with serene c ness ah they have gone have they yes castle and furniture went together it was long ago long before i was born it doesn t seem to me as if the place ever belonged to a relative of mine corrected his smiling manner to one of solicitude a but you live here miss de yes a great deal now though sometimes i go home to sleep this is home to you and not home i live here with miss power i have not been here long neither has she for the first six months after her father s death she did not come here at all they walked on gazing at the walls till the young man said as if he were rather speaking of the portrait over which his eyes were playing than of her previous statement i fear i may be making some mistake but i am sure you will pardon my this once who is miss power ah you don t know of course you don t local changes don t get talked of far away she is the owner of this castle and estate my father sold it when he was quite a young man my eldest brother now dead being only three weeks old at the time it was purchased by a man named a rich man who became ind soon r he had bought it and never lived here so it was left for she went out upon the terrace and without exactly knowing why followed miss power has only come here quite recently she is away from home to day it was very sad murmured the young girl thoughtfully no sooner had her father bought it of the representatives of mr almost immediately indeed he died from a chill caught after a warm bath on account of that she did not take possession for several months and even now she has only had a few rooms prepared as a temporary residence george till she can think what to do poor thing it is sad to be left alone remarked that he thought he recognised that name power as one he had seen lately somewhere or other perhaps you have been hearing of her father do you know what he was did not she looked across the distant country where of dark green foliage formed a prospect extending for miles and as she watched and s eyes led by hers watched also a white streak of steam thin as a cotton thread could be discerned that green expanse her father made that miss de said directing her finger towards the object that what that railway he was mr john power the great railway and it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle the railway was diverted a little on its account a clash between ancient and modern w yes but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate and he built the people a chapel on a bit of he bought for them he was a up to the day of his death a much one she said significantly than his daughter is ah yes so i should conclude you have heard	45
hopes to imitate the old work in time especially the greek of the best period four hundred years after christ or before christ i forget which it was said oh no she is not practical in the sense you mean at all a mixed young lady rather miss de appeared unable to settle whether this new definition of her dear friend should be accepted as kindly or as decidedly sarcastic you would like her if you knew her she insisted in half tones of after which she walked on a few steps i think very highly of her said and i and yet at one time i could never have believed that i should have been her friend one is prejudiced at first against people who are reported to have such differences in feeling associations and a habit as she seemed to have from mine but it has not stood in the least in the way of our liking each other i believe the difference makes us the more united it says a great deal for the liberality of both answered warmly heaven send us more of the same sort of people they are not too numerous at present as this remark called for no reply from miss de she took advantage of an opportunity to him alone first repeating her permission to him to wander where he would he walked about for some time sketch book in hand but was conscious that his interest did not lie much in the architecture in passing along tiie corridor of an upper floor he observed an open door through which was visible a room containing one of the finest he had ever seen it was impossible on dose examination to do justice to it in a hasty sketch it would be necessary to measure every line and get impressions of every surface if he would bring away anything of practical utility to him as a deciding to reserve this for another opportunity he cast his eyes round the room and blushed a little without knowing it he had into the absent miss s own particular set of chambers including a and sleeping apartment on the tables of the sitting room were most of the popular papers and that he knew not only english but from paris italy and america prints though they did not were not wanting besides these there were books from a london library paper covered light literature in french george and choice italian and the latest monthly while between the two windows stood the telegraph apparatus whose wire had been the means of bringing him hither these things amid so much of the old and were as if a stray hour from the nineteenth century had wandered like a butterfly into the and lost itself there the door between this chamber and the sleeping room stood open without venturing to cross the threshold for he felt that he would be hospitality to go so far looked in for a moment it was a pretty place and seemed to have been hastily fitted up in a comer by a blue and white of silk was a little cot hardly large enough to impress the character of bedroom upon the old place upon a lay a and a silk on the other side of the room was a tall mirror of startling draped like the in blue and white thrown at random upon the floor was a pair of satin slippers that would have fitted a dressing gown lay across a and opposite upon a small easy chair in the same blue and white livery were a bible the magazine y on infant s county families and the court journal on and over the were of various descriptions and portraits of the artistic scientific and literary of the day a dressing room lay beyond but becoming conscious that his study of ancient architecture would hardly bear stretching further in that direction without injury to his morals mr retreated to the out a side passing by without notice the of that had led him in she affects blue he was thinking then she is fair on looking up some time later at the new clock that told the seconds he found that the time at his disposal for work had flown without his having transferred a single feature of the building or furniture to his sketch book he remained but a little longer that day before leaving he sent in for permission to come again and then walked across the fields to the inn at sleeping green reflecting less upon miss de so little force of presence had she possessed than upon the n flower in a flower pot whom y miss de s information had so vividly brought before him and upon the that were daily themselves in the world under the great modem of classes and was still full of the subject when he arrived at the end of his walk and he fancied that some at the bar of the inn were discussing the heroine of the chapel scene just at the moment of his entry on this account when the landlord came to clear away the dinner was led to inquire of him by way of opening a conversation if there were many in the neighbourhood the landlord who was a serious man on the surface though he occasionally smiled beneath replied that there were a great many far more than the average in country even here in my house now he added when folks get a drop of drink into em and their feelings rise to a song some man will strike up a hymn by preference though i find no george fault with that for though tis hardly human nature to be so calculating in yer cups a may as well sing to gain something as sing to waste how do you account for there being so many well you see sir some says	45
one thing and some another i think they does it to save the expense of a christian burial for their children now there s a poor family out in long lane the husband used to for more the blacksmith till a hurt his arm they d have no less than eleven children if they d not been lucky t other way and buried five when they were three or four months old now every one of them children was given to the in a little box that any could nail together in a quarter of an hour and he buried em at night for a shilling a head whereas have cost a couple of pounds each if they d been at church of course there s the new lady at the castle she s a chapel member and that may make a little difference but she s not been here long enough to show whether be worth while to join em for the profit o t or whether not no doubt if it turns out that she s of a sort to relieve folks in trouble more will join her set than belongs to it already any port in a storm of course as the saying is as for yourself you are a at present i presume yes sir but i was a once ay for a length of time twas owing to my taking a house next door to a chapel so that what with hearing the organ like a bee through the wall and what with finding it saved on wet sundays i went over to that faith for two years though i believe i i a dropped money by it i wouldn t be the man to say so if i hadn t when i moved into this house i turned back again to my old religion faith i don t see much difference be you one or be you t other you ve got to get your living the de of course have not much influence here now for that or any other thing oh no no not any at all they be very low upon ground and always will be now i suppose it was worthy of being recorded in history you ve read it sir no doubt not a word oh then you shall i ve got the history somewhere twas gay manners that did it the only bit of luck they have had of late years is miss power s taking to little miss de and making her her company keeper i hope continue that the two daughters of these families should be such intimate friends was a situation which pleased as much as it did the landlord it was an engaging instance of that human progress on which he had expended many charming dreams in the years when poetry and the of society had seemed matters of more importance to him than a profession which should help him to a big house and income a fair and a lovely when he was alone he poured out a glass of wine and silently drank the of the two young women who in this lonely country district had found sweet communion a necessity of life and by pure and instinctive good sense had broken down a barrier which men thrice their age and george would probably have felt it imperative to maintain but perhaps this was premature the miss power s character practical or ideal or impulsive he as yet knew nothing of and giving over reasoning from insufficient he into mere conjecture a chapter v the next morning was again at the castle he passed some considerable interval on the walls before miss de whom at last he observed going towards a pony carriage that waited near the door a smile gained strength upon her face at his approach and she was the first to speak i am sorry miss power has not returned she said to him and proceeded to account for that lady s absence by her distress at the event of two evenings earlier but i have driven over to my father s sir william de s house this morning she went on and on mentioning your name to him i found he knew it quite well you will will you not forgive my ignorance in having no better knowledge of the elder mr s works than a dim sense of his fame as a painter but i was going to say that my father would much like to include you in his personal acquaintance and wishes me to ask if you will give him the pleasure of with him to day my cousin john whom you once knew was a great favourite of his and used to speak of you sometimes it will be so kind if you can come my father is an old man out of society and he would be glad to hear the news of town said he was glad to find himself among friends where he had only expected strangers and george promised to come that day if she would tell him the way that she could easily do the short way was across that he saw there then over the into the wood following the path till it came out upon the road he would then be almost close to the house the distance was about two miles and a half but if he thought it too far for a walk she would drive on to the town where she had been going when he came and instead of returning straight to her father s would come back and pick him up it was not at all necessary he thought he was a and could find the path at this moment a servant came to tell miss de that the telegraph was calling her ah it is lucky that i was	45
not gone again she exclaimed john seldom reads it right if i am away it now seemed quite in the ordinary course that as a friend of her father s he should accompany her to the instrument so up they went together and immediately on reaching it she applied her ear to the instrument and began to gather the message fancied himself like a person over looking another s letter and moved aside it is no secret she said smiling to it begins that s very pretty oh and it is about you murmured miss de me the blushed a little she made no answer and the machine went on with its story there was something curious in watching this utterance about himself under his very nose a in language unintelligible to him he whether it were inquiry praise or blame with a sense that it might reasonably be the latter as the result of his look into that blue bedroom possibly observed and reported by some servant of the house direct that every facility he given to mr to visit any part of the castle he may wish to see on my return i shall be glad to welcome him as the acquaintance of your relatives i have two of his father s pictures j dear me the plot he said with surprise as miss de announced the words how could she know about me i sent a message to her this morning when i saw you crossing the park on your way here telling her that mr son of the was making sketches of the castle and that my father knew something of you that s her answer where are the pictures by my father that she has purchased oh not here at least not miss de then left him to proceed on her journey to so the nearest little town was called informing him that she would be at her father s house to receive him at two o clock just about one he closed his sketch l and set out in the direction she had indicated at the entrance to the wood a man was at work pulling down a rotten gate that bore on its battered lock the w de s and a new one whose exhibited the letters p p the warmth of the summer noon did not penetrate the dense masses of which j george now began to the path except in spots where a timber had taken place the previous winter for the purpose of sale it was that particular half hour of the day in which the birds of the forest prefer walking to flying and there being no wind the of the smallest over the dead leaves reached his ear from behind the the tract had originally been a well kept winding drive but a deep carpet of moss and leaves it now though the general outline still remained to show that its curves had been set out with as much care as those of a lawn walk and the made easy for carriages where the natural slopes were great trunks occasionally lay across it and alongside were the hollow and of trees down in long past years after a walk of three quarters of an hour he came to another gate where the letters p p again the historical w de s climbing over this he found himself on a highway which presently dipped down towards the town of a place he had never yet seen it appeared m the distance as a quiet little of six or eight thousand inhabitants and without the town boundary on the side he was approaching stood half a dozen genteel and modern houses of the detached kind usually found in such on inquiry sir william de s residence was indicated as one of these it was almost new of brick having a central door and a small bay window on each side to light the two front a little lawn spread its green surface in front divided from the road by iron the low line of shrubs immediately within them i a being with pallid dust from the highway on the neat of the neat entrance gate were the words villa genuine roadside respectability sat smiling on every brick of the eligible dwelling how are the mighty fallen murmured as he pulled the bell perhaps that which impressed him more than the and of sir william de s house was the air of cheerfulness which pervaded it was shown in by a neat in black gown and white apron a singing a welcome from a cage in the shadow of the window the voices of coming over the chimneys from somewhere behind and sun and air the house everywhere being a dwelling of those well known and popular dimensions which allow the proceedings in the kitchen to be distinctly heard in the it was so planned that a view might be obtained through it from the front door to the end of the back garden the drawing room furniture was comfortable in the green style of some years ago had expected to find his friends living in an old house with of their own antique furniture and he hardly knew whether he ought to meet them with a smile or a gaze of his doubt was terminated however by the cheerful and entry of miss de who had returned from her drive to and in a few more moments sir william came in from the garden he was an old man of tall and spare build with a considerable stoop his glasses dangling against his waistcoat buttons and the front comers of his coat tails hang george ing lower than the so that they swayed right and left as he walked he nervously to his visitor for having kept him waiting i am so glad to see you he said with a mild benevolence of tone as he	45
de took it up and read mr william dare it is not miss power who has come then asked with a disappointed face no ma am she looked again at the card this is some man of business i suppose does he want to see me yes miss he would be glad to see you if miss power is not at home miss de left the room and soon returned saying mr can you give me your counsel in this matter this mr dare says he is a amateur and it seems that he wrote some time ago to miss power who gave him permission t take views of the castle and promised to show hie the best points but i have heard nothing of it scarcely know whether i ought to take his word in her absence mrs miss power s relative who usually to these things is away i dare say it is right said would you mind seeing him if you think i quite in order perhaps you will instruct him where the best views are to be obtained thereupon at once went down to mr dare his coming as a sort of of miss power disposed to judge him with as much severity as justice would allow and his manner for the moment was not of a kind calculated to george instincts mr dare was standing before the fireplace with his feet wide apart and his hands in the pockets of his coat tails looking at a carving over the he turned quickly at the sound of s footsteps and revealed himself as a person quite out of the common his age it was impossible to say there was not a hair upon his face which could serve to hang a guess upon in repose he appeared a boy but his were so completely those of a man that the s first estimate of sixteen as his age was hastily corrected to six and twenty and afterwards shifted hither and thither along intervening years as the tenor of his sentences sent him up or down he had a broad forehead as the face of a and his hair which was parted in the middle hung as a fringe or above in the fashion sometimes affected by the other sex he wore a heavy ring of which the gold seemed good the diamond questionable and the taste indifferent there were the remains of a in his body and limbs as he came forward regarding with a confident smile as if the wonder were not why mr dare should be present but why should be present likewise and the first tone that came from dare s lips wound up his listener s opinion that he did not like him a latent power in the man or boy was revealed by the circumstance that did not feel as he would ordinarily have done that it was a matter of profound indifference to him whether this were a person or no i have called by appointment or rather i left a card stating that to day would suit me and no ob a was made recognised the voice it was that of the invisible stranger who had talked with the landlord about the de mr dare then proceeded to explain his business found from his inquiries that the man had unquestionably been instructed by somebody to take the views he spoke of and concluded that dare s curiosity at the inn was after all naturally explained by his errand to this place himself for a too hasty condemnation of the stranger who though a little too assured was civil enough proceeded with the young to sundry comers of the outer ward and thence across the moat to the field suggesting advantageous points of view the office being a shadow of his own pursuits was not to and he forgot other things in attending to it now in our country we should stand further back than this and so get a more comprehensive d il said dare as selected a good situation you are not an englishman then said i have lived mostly in india the islands and canada i there invented a new process which i am bent upon making famous yet i am but an amateur and do not follow this art at the base of that which men call necessity oh indeed replied as soon as this business was disposed of and mr dare had brought up his van and assistant to begin operations returned to the castle entrance while under the a man with a professional george look drove up in a dog cart and inquired if miss power were at home to day she has not yet returned mr was the reply who heard it thought that miss power was bent on him in the flesh notwithstanding the interest she expressed in him by telegraph and as it was now drawing towards the end of the afternoon he walked off in the direction of his inn there were two or three ways to that spot but the was by passing through a rambling between whose bushes a broad shallow brook occasionally in its course by a chain of old stones evidently from the castle walls which formed a miniature the walk lay along the river brink soon saw before him a circular summer house formed of short sticks nailed to ornamental patterns outside the structure and immediately in the path stood a man with a book in his hand and it was presently apparent that this gentleman was holding a conversation with some person inside the but the back of the building being towards the second individual could not be seen the speaker at one moment glanced into the interior and at another at the advancing form of the whom though distinctly enough beheld the other scarcely appeared to heed in the absorbing interest of his own discourse became aware that it was the	45
minister whose he had heard in the chapel yonder now continued the minister will you a express to me any reason or objection whatever you to withdraw from our communion it wai that of your father and of his father before him ad difficulty you may have met with i will honestly try to remove for i need hardly say that in losing yo we lose one of the most valued members of the church in this district i speak with all the due to your position when i ask you to how is the injury you inflict upon the cause here by this i don t withdraw said a woman s gentle voice within what do you do i decline to attend for the present and you can give no reason for this there was no reply or for your refusal to proceed with the i have been my dear young lady it is well known that your was the work of your aunt who did it unknown to your parents when she had you in her power out of pure obstinacy to a church with which she was not in sympathy taking you and to the of the establishment so that the meant and could mean nothing at all but i fear that your new position has brought you into contact with the that they have disturbed your old principles and so induced you to be in the of that ceremony it seems sufficient i will the basis of that seeming in three minutes give me but that time as a listener i have no objection george very well first then i will assume that those who have influenced you in the matter have not been able to make any impression upon one so well as yourself in our doctrine by the stale old argument drawn from you may assume it good that the ground and we now come to the new testament the minister began to turn over the leaves of his little bible which it impressed to observe was bound with a like a pocket book the black surface of the leather being worn brown at the corners by long usage he turned on till he came to the beginning of the new testament and then commenced his discourse after explaining his position the old man ran very through the arguments writers on the point in dispute when he required more finished sentences than his own the minister s earnestness and interest in his own case led him unconsciously to include in his audience as the young man drew nearer till instead of fixing his eyes exclusively on the person within the summer house the preacher began to direct a good proportion of his discourse upon his new turning from one listener to the other attentively without seeming to feel s presence as superfluous and now he said in conclusion i put it to you sir as to her do you find any flaw in my argument is there madam a single text which honestly interpreted affords the least for the in other words for your opinion on the of the administered to you in your unconscious infancy a i put in to you both as honest and responsible beings he turned again to the young man it happened that had been over thi ground long ago bom so to speak a high infant in his youth he had been of a thoughtful till at one time an idea of his entering the had been entertained by his parents he had acquaintances with men of almost every variety c practice in this country and as the pleading of each assailed him before he had arrived at an of sufficient mental to resist new impression however badly h inclined to each de as it presented itself was everything by starts and nothing long till he had travelled through a great many doctrines without feeling himself much better tha when he set out fully conscious of the of oi minor differences he yet felt a sudden impulse towards a mild intellectual with the old man to do now as an exercise of his wit in the defence of a fair girl what he had once done with the earnestness of a lad fighting for vital and not quite able to maintain them sir i accept your challenge to us said advancing to the minister s side george chapter vii t at the sound of a new voice the lady in the bower started as he could see by her outline through the of the and the minister looked surprised you will lend me your bible sir to assist my memory he continued the minister held out the bible with some reluctance but he allowed to take it from his hand the latter stepping upon a large moss covered stone which stood near and laying his hat on a flat bough that rose and fell behind him pointed to the minister to seat himself on the grass the minister looked at the grass and looked up again at but did not move for the moment was not observing him his new position had turned out to be exactly opposite the open side of the bower and now for the first time he beheld the interior on the seat was the woman who had stood beneath his eyes in the chapel the of miss de s enthusiastic she wore a summer hat beneath which her fair curly hair formed a thicket round her forehead it would be impossible to describe her as she then appeared not enough for an and too sub for a she would yet with the of or have stood sufficiently well for either o a of those personages if presented in pink morning light and with of attire half in surprise she glanced up at him and lowering her eyes again as if no surprise had power to influence her actions for more	45
than a moment she sa on as before looking past s position at the view down the river visible for a long distance before her till it was lost under the bending trees turned over the leaves of the minister s bible and began the words of my text are taken from the to the the seventh chapter and the verse here the young lady raised her eyes in spite of her reserve but as though it were too much labour to keep them raised allowed her glance to upon her jet extending it with the thumb of her left hand sir said the excitedly i know that passage well it is the last refuge of the i foresee your argument i have met it ci times and it is not worth that snap of the fingers i is worth no more than the argument from or the suffer little children argument then turn to the sixteenth chapter of the acts and the thirty third that too cried the minister is answered by what i said before i perceive sir that you adopt the method of a special and not that of an is it or is it not an answer to my proofs from the eighth chapter of the acts the thirty sixth and thirty seventh verses the sixteenth of mark sixteenth verse second of acts forty first verse the tenth george and the forty seventh verse or the and eighth verse very well then i will not stick to my text since you axe not to be convinced by my sermon let me prove the point by other reasoning by the argument from tradition he threw the minister s book upon the grass and proceeded with his at length which first a discourse on the earliest practice of the church secondly from the same to wit that the inquiry being about a fact which could not but be publicly and perfectly known in the ages immediately succeeding that of the the sense of those ages concerning this fact must needs be nearly when he reached this point an interest in his ingenious argument was in spite of herself by the bosom of miss power though otherwise she still occupied herself by drawing out the testimony firom as to persons who were or made from their infancy from in the expression per qui per in et et et at the sound of so much learning turned her eyes upon the speaker with attention proof of the of in the writings of the fathers as reasoned by wall a i a argument from s advice to the from c and a up of the whole matter looked round for the minister as he concluded the address which had occupied about fifteen minutes in delivery the old man had after standing face to face with the speaker gradually turned his back upon him and during the latter portions of the discourse had moved slowly away he now looked back his countenance was full of reproach as he lifted his hand twice shook his head and said in the to the first chapter and sixteenth verse it is written that there are some who preach in and not sincerely and in the second to fourth chapter and fourth verse attention is drawn to those whose ears refuse the truth and are turned unto i wish you good afternoon sir and that gift the minister vanished behind the trees and miss power being left each other alone stepped down from the stone hat in hand at the same moment in which miss power rose from her seat she hesitated for an instant and said with a pretty girlish dignity sweeping back the skirt of her dress to free her toes in turning although you are personally unknown to me i cannot leave you without expressing my deep sense of your profound and my admiration for the of your studies in divinity george your opinion gives me great pleasure said bowing and fairly blushing but believe ne i am no scholar and no my knowledge f the subject arises simply from the accident that few years ago i looked into the question on my account and some of the arguments i then learnt ip still remain with me if your sermons at the church only match your to day i shall not wonder at hearing that the are at last willing to attend it flashed upon s mind that she supposed to be the new of whose arrival he had casually heard during his at the inn before he could bring himself to correct an error to which perhaps more than to anything else was owing the friendliness of her manner she went on as if to escape the embarrassment of silence i need hardly say that i at least do not doubt the sincerity of your arguments nevertheless i was not altogether sincere he answered she was silent then why should you have delivered such a defence of me she asked with simple curiosity involuntarily looked in her face for his answer again the would you have spoken so on the other side if i if occasion had served she inquired perhaps i would another pause till she said i too was you i was a in what way in letting him and you think i had been at al influenced by authority or may i ask why then did you decline the the other evening ah you too have heard of it she said no what then i saw it she blushed and looked past him down the i cannot give my reasons she said of course not said respectfully i would give a great deal to possess real logic so would i there was a moment of embarrassment she to get away but did not precisely know how h would have withdrawn had she not said as if oppressed by her conscience and evidently still think	45
ing him the i cannot but feel that mr well s heart has been wounded the minister s yes he is single itself he give away nearly all he has to the poor he works the sick carrying them necessaries with his own hand he teaches the ignorant men and lads of the when he ought to be resting at home till he is a prostrate from exhaustion and then he sits u at night writing encouraging letters to those poor who formerly belonged to his congregation in t village and have now gone away he always ladies because he can t help speaking the truth as b believes it but he hasn t me george her feelings had risen towards the end so that she finished quite warmly and turned aside i was not in the least aware that he was such a man murmured looking wistfully after the minister whatever you may have done i fear that have wounded a worthy man s heart from an idle wish to engage in a useless dull last argument not dull she murmured for it interested me accepted her with a look it was ill considered of me however he said and in his distress he has forgotten his bible he went and picked up the worn volume from where it lay on the grass you can easily win him to forgive you by just following and returning the book to him she observed i will said the young man and bowing to her he hastened along the river brink after the minister he walked some distance and at length saw his friend before him leaning over the gate which led from the private path into a lane his cheek resting on the palm of his hand with every outward sign of abstraction he was not conscious of s presence till the latter touched him on the shoulder never was a reconciliation effected more readily when said that fearing his motives might be he had followed to assure the minister of his good will and esteem mr held out his hand and proved his friendliness in return by preparing to have the on their religious differences over again from the beginning in an spirit and with detail a this with alacrity and once having won his to other subjects he found that the austere man h a smile as pleasant as an infant s on the rare when he indulged in it moreover that he was w attached to miss power though she gives me more trouble than all t rest of the church in this district he said love her as my own daughter but i am sadly ex to know what she is at heart heaven me with to contest her wild opinions and but she has sweet virtues and her conduct at times can be most i believe it said with more than mere politeness required sometimes i think those towers and lands will be a curse to her the spirit of old times still in the of those silent walls like a bad in a still atmosphere the emotions of the true it would be a pity indeed if she were to be by the veiy situation that her father s energy created for her do not be concerned about her said gently for the minister was evidently in trouble she s not a at heart although she seems so mr placed his finger on s arm saying if she s not a or if she is not to the influences of her mansion lands and new acquaintance it is because she s been to what is worse to beside which the errors of roman are but as air how you astonish me george have you heard in your of a curious body of as they think themselves the minister whispered a name to his as if he were fearful of being overheard oh no said shaking his head and smiling at the minister s horror s not that at least i think not she s a woman nothing more don t fear for her all will be well the poor old man sighed i love her as my own i will say no more was now in haste to get back to the lady to ease her apparent anxiety as to the result of his mission and also because time seemed heavy in the loss of her tender voice and soft thoughtful look every moment of delay began to be as two but the minister was too earnest in his converse to see his companion s haste and it was not till perception of the same was forced upon him by the actual retreat of that he remembered time to be a limited he then expressed his wish to see at his house to tea any afternoon he could spare and receiving the other s promise to call as soon as he could allowed the younger man to set out for the summer house which he did at a smart pace when he reached it he looked around and found she was gone was immediately struck by his own lack of so why did he readily on the suggestion of another person and follow the minister when he might have said that he would call on mr to morrow and making himself known to miss power as the visiting of whom she had heard from miss de have had the pleasure a of attending her to the castle that s what any other man would have had wit enough to do he said there then arose the question whether her him after the minister was such an admirable act of good nature to a good man as it had at first seemed to be perhaps it was simply a for getting rid of himself and he remembered his doubt whether a certain light in her eyes when she inquired concerning his sincerity were innocent earnestness or	45
the reverse as the possibility of levity crossed his brain his face warmed it pained him to think that a woman so beautiful could condescend to a trick of even so mild a complexion as that he wanted to think her the soul of all that was tender and noble and kind the pleasure of setting himself to win a minister s was a little now george chapter viii that evening was so with these things that he left all his implements out of doors in the castle grounds he went somewhat earlier the next morning to secure them from being stolen or spoiled meanwhile he was hoping to have an opportunity of in the mind of the mistake about his personality which having served a very good purpose in introducing them to a mutual conversation might possibly be made just agreeable as a thing to be explained away he fetched his drawing instruments ro blocks and other articles from the field where they had lain and was passing under the walls with them in his hands when there emerged from the outer an open drawn by a pair of black horses of fine action and obviously strong in which was seated under the shade of a white with black and ribbons fluttering on the summit the morning sun sparkled on the its being made all the more noticeable by tiie ragged old arch behind she bowed to in a way which might have been meant to express that she had discovered her mistake but there was no embarrassment in her manner and the carriage bore her away without her making any sign for checking it he had not been a walking towards the castle entrance and she could not be supposed to know that it was his intention to enter that day she had looked such a bud of youth and promise that his disappointment at her departure might have shown itself in his face as he observed her however he went on his way entered a ascended to the leads of the great tower and stepped out from this elevated position he could still see the carriage and the white surface of s k the glowing sun while he watched these objects the stopped and in a few moments the horses were turned the wheels and the flashed and the carriage came along towards the castle again descended the stone stairs before he had quite got to the bottom he saw miss de standing in the outer hall when did you come mr she gaily said looking up surprised how industrious you are to be at work so regularly every day we didn t think you would be here to day has gone to a vegetable show at and i am going to join her there soon oh gone to a vegetable show but i think she has altered her at this moment the noise of the carriage was heard in the ward the door was thrown open and after the lapse of a few seconds miss power came in being invisible from the door where she stood oh what has brought you back said miss de i have forgotten something george mr is here will you not speak to him being by this time in sight came forward and miss de presented him to her friend mr acknowledged the pleasure by a respectful inclination of his person and said some words about the meeting yesterday yes said miss power with a serene quite in a girl of her age i have seen it all since i was mistaken about you was i not mr i am glad to welcome you here both as a friend of miss de s family and as the son of your father which is indeed quite a sufficient introduction an you have two pictures painted by mr s father have you not i have already told him about them said miss de perhaps mr would like to see them if they are as had from his infancy suffered from a of those productions excellent as they were he did not reply quite so eagerly as miss de seemed to expect to her kind suggestion and remarked to him you will stay to lunch do order it at your own time if our hour should not be convenient her voice was a voice of low note in quality that of a at the grave end of its if she sang j she was a pure i am making use of the privilege you have been good enough to accord me of what is valuable within these walls yes of course i am willing for anybody to come people hold these places in trust for the nation in one a sense you lift your hands i see i have not you on that point yet miss de laughed and said something to no purpose somehow miss power seemed not only more woman than miss de but more woman than was man and yet in years she was inferior to both though girlish and modest she appeared to possess a good deal of composure which was well expressed by the shaded light of her eyes you have then met mr before said he was kind enough to deliver an address in my defence yesterday i suppose i seemed quite unable to defend myself when a few more words had passed she turned to miss de and spoke of some domestic matter upon which withdrew ring his exit with a remark that she hoped to see him again a little later in the day retired to the chambers of antique lumber keeping an eye upon the windows to see if she the carriage and resumed her journey to but when the horses had been standing a long time the carriage was driven round to the stables then she was not going to the vegetable show that was rather curious seeing that she had	45
only come back for something forgotten these and thoughts occupied the mind of until the bell was rung for luncheon owing to the very dusty condition in which he found himself after his morning s labours among the old he was rather late in getting down stairs and seeing that george y the rest had gone in he went straight to the the population of the castle had increased in his absence there were assembled and her friend a bearded man some years older than himself with a cold grey eye who was introduced to him in sitting down as mr an of also an elderly lady of dignified aspect in a black satin dress of which she apparently had a very high opinion this lady who seemed to be a mere in the establishment was as he now learnt mrs by name a widow of a recently deceased gentleman and aunt to the identical aunt who had into a church in her helpless infancy and had her without her parents knowledge been left in narrow circumstances by her husband she was at present with miss power as and adviser on practical matters in a word s to the management beyond her discerned his new acquaintance mr who on sight of was for hastening up to him and performing a shaking of hands in earnest recognition had just come in from the garden and was carelessly laying down her large shady hat as he entered her dress a figured material in black and white was short allowing her feet to appear there was something in her look and in the style of her which reminded him of several of the beauties in the gallery the thought for a moment crossed his mind that she might have been one of them but it was scarcely likely fine old screen sir said mr in a long a drawn voice across the table when they were seated pointing in the direction of the oak division between the dining hall and a at the end as good a piece of century work as you shall see in this part of the county you mean century of course said was silent you are one of the profession perhaps asked the latter after a while you mean that i am an said yes ah one of my own honoured face had been not unpleasant until this moment when he smiled whereupon there instantly gleamed over him a phase of meanness remaining until the smile died away it might have been a physical accident it might have been otherwise continued with slow what enormous are committed by the every day i observe i was driving yesterday to where i am putting up a town hall and passing through a village on my way i saw the workmen pulling down a wall in which they found an unique specimen of perpendicular work a capital from some old the wonderfully they were it up as in for the new wall it must have been unique said in the too readily tone of the educated young man who has yet to learn i have never seen much in perpendicular stone work nor anybody else i think oh yes lots of it said mr his george glance at as he answered had a peculiar shade in it suggesting that he was readily into an enemy looked from one to the other which am i to take as guide she asked are perpendicular as you call it mr or no it depends upon circumstances said mr but had answered at the same time there is seldom or never any marked in work later than the middle of the century looked keenly at for a time then he turned to as regards that fine saxon you did me the honour to consult me about the other day i should advise taking out some of the old stones and new ones exactly like them but the new ones won t be saxon said and then in time to come when i have passed away and those stones have become stained like the rest people will be deceived i should prefer an honest patch to any such make believe of saxon relics as she concluded she let her eyes rest on for a moment as if to ask him to side with her much as he liked talking to he would have preferred not to enter into this discussion with another professional man even though that man were a article but he was led on to enthusiasm by a sudden pang of regret at finding that the in this fine castle was likely to be and spoilt by such a man as you will deceive nobody into believing that anything is saxon here he said warmly there is not a a square inch of saxon work as it is called in the whole castle in doubt looked to mr oh yes sir you are quite mistaken said that gentleman slowly every stone of those lower was reared in saxon times i can assure you said but firmly that there is not an arch or wall in this castle of a date to the year no one whose attention has ever been given to the study of details of that age can be of a different opinion i have studied architecture and i am of a different opinion i have the best reason in the world for the difference for i have history herself on my side what will you say when i tell you that it is a recorded fact that king great uncle of edward the gave this castle to a certain and that in addition the castle is mentioned in as a building of long standing i shall say that has nothing to do with it replied the young man i don t deny that there may have been a castle here in the time of edward	45
what i say is that none of the architecture we now see was standing at that date there was a silence of a minute disturbed only by a murmured dialogue between mrs and the minister during which was looking thoughtfully on the table as if a question can it be she said to that such certainty has been reached in the study of dates now would you really risk an on your belief would you agree to be shut up in the george and fed upon bread and water for a week if i could prove you wrong willingly said the date of those is matter of absolute certainty the details are notorious as being what are called transition or semi their growth can be traced out of earlier forms ever is known about them from repeated observations made all over england and the continent more than that i have found an arch ornament here which is exactly copied from a similar one i in the of the at last year that it should have been built before the conquest is as unlikely as say that the old gun with a lock should be older than the date of how i wish i knew something precise of an art which makes one so independent of written history mr had into a silence that was only disguised turned her conversation to miss de who had simply looked from one to the other during the discussion never venturing to put in a word though she might have been supposed to have a right to a few remarks on the matter a commonplace talk ensued till who had not joined in it privately began at again with a mixed manner of cordiality contempt and you have a practice i suppose sir i am not in practice just yet just beginning i am about to begin in london or near here in london probably a t a h m i am in indeed have you been at it long not particularly i designed the chapel built by this lady s late father it was my first undertaking i owe my start in fact to mr power ever built a chapel never i have a good many churches ah there we differ i didn t do much in my youth nor have i time for it now and building are two different things to my mind i was not brought up to the profession got into it through sheer love of it i began as a landscape gardener then i became a then i was a every might do worse than have some such experience but nowadays tis the men who can draw pretty pictures who get recommended not the practical men young win for a pretty design or two which if anybody tried to build them would fall down like a house of cards then they get travelling and what not and then they start as of some new school or other and think they are the masters of us experienced ones while was reflecting on this statement he heard the voice of inquiring who can he be her eyes were bent on the window looking out saw in the beyond the dry ditch dare with his apparatus he is the young gentleman who called about taking views of the castle said oh yes i remember it is quite right he met george me in the village and asked me to suggest him some views i thought him a respectable young fellow i think he is a said no said he is an east indian at least he implied that he was so to me there is italian blood in him said brightly for he spoke to me with an italian accent but i can t think whether he is a boy or a man it is to be earnestly hoped that the gentleman does not said the minister for the first time attracted by the subject i accidentally met him in the lane and he said something to me about having lived in i think it was or even if he did not say that he was bom there his manners are no credit to his observed mrs also speaking publicly for the first time he asked me this morning to send him out a of water for his process and before i had turned away he began whistling i don t like then it appears said that he is a being of no age no and no behaviour a complete negative added brightening into a civil sneer that is he would be if he were not a maker of well known in not well known mr answered mrs firmly for i lived in for thirty years ending three months ago and he was never heard of in my time he is something like you said smiling on her companion all the men looked at on whose face loo a a delicate nervous blush thereupon made its appearance ton my word there is a likeness now i think of it said bent down to and whispered forgive my dear he is not a nice enough person to be like you he is really more like one or other of the old pictures about the house i forget which and really it does not matter people s features fall naturally into groups and classes remarked to an observant person they often repeat themselves though to a careless eye they seem infinite in their differences the conversation and they idly observed the figure of the dare as he walked round his instrument in the and busied himself with an arrangement of curtains and occasionally withdrawing a few steps and looking at the towers and walls george loi chapter ix returned to the top of the great tower with a vague consciousness that he was going to do something up there perhaps sketch a general	45
library in the wing of the house adjoining that in which the telegraph stood and arranged for her temporary use till things were more in order she was alone sitting behind a table with letters and sketches and looking fresh from her drive perhaps it was because he had been shut up in that dismal all the afternoon that he felt something in her presence which at the same time charmed and refreshed him she signified that he was to sit down but finding io that he was going to place himself on a chair some distance off she said will you sit nearer to me and then as if rather oppressed by her dignity she left her own chair of business and seated herself at ease on an which was among the of the apartment i want to consult you she went on i have been much impressed by your great knowledge of architecture will you sit in that leather chair at the table as you may have to take notes the young man assented expressed his gratification and went to the chair she but mr she continued from the the width of the table only dividing them i first should just like to know and i trust you will excuse my inquiry if you are an in practice or only as yet studying for the profession i am just going to practise i open my office on the first of january next he answered you would not mind having me as a your first she was and looked curiously from her face across the table as she said this can you ask it said warmly what are you going to build i am going to restore the castle what all of it said astonished at the audacity of such an undertaking not the parts that are absolutely the walls battered by the parliament had better remain as they are i suppose but we have begun wrong it is i who should ask you not you me i i a fear she went on in that low note which was somewhat difficult to catch at a distance but which he did not wish her to raise to a louder tone i fear what the will say if i am not very careful they come here a great deal in summer and if i were to do the work wrong they would put my name in the papers as a dreadful person destroying what is by rights the property of all but i must live here as i have no other house except the one in london and hence i must make the place which it hardly is at present i do hope i can trust to your judgment i hope so he said with for far from having much professional confidence he often himself i am a fellow of the society of and a member of the of british not a fellow of that body yet though i soon shall be then i am sure you must be she said with some enthusiasm well what am i to do how do we begin began to feel more professional what with the business chair and the table and the notwithstanding that these articles and the room they were were hers instead of his and an of manner which he had lost returned to him the very first step he said is to decide upon the what is it to cost he faltered a little for it seemed to disturb the softness of their relationship to talk thus of hard cash but her sympathy with his feeling was apparently not great and she said the expenditure shall be what you advise george lo what a heavenly he thought but you must just give some idea he said gently for the fact is any sum almost may be spent on such a building five thousand ten thousand twenty thousand fifty thousand a hundred thousand i want it done well so suppose we say a hundred thousand my father s my now says i may go to a hundred thousand without extravagance if the expenditure is scattered over two or three years looked round for a pen with her habitual quickness of insight she knew what he wanted and signified where one could be found he wrote down in large figures it was more than he had expected and for a young man just beginning practice and wishing to make his name known the opportunity of playing with another person s money to that extent would afford an handsome opening not so much fi om the commission it represented as from the attention that would be bestowed by the art world on such an undertaking had sunk into a reverie i was intending to the work to mr a local she said but i gathered from his conversation with you to day that his ignorance of might compromise me very seriously in short my father employed him in one or two little matters it would not be right even a morally thing to place such an valuable building in his hands i a has mr ever been led to expect the commission he asked he may have guessed that he would have it i have spoken of my intention to him more than once thought over his conversation with well he did not like personally and he had strong reasons for suspecting that in the matter of architecture was a but was it quite generous to step in thus and take away what would be a golden opportunity to such a man of making both ends meet comfortably for some years to come without giving him at least one chance he reflected a little longer and then spoke out his feeling i venture to propose a slightly modified arrangement he said instead of committing the whole undertaking to my hands without better	45
proof of my ability to carry it out than you have at present let there be a competition between mr and m let our rival plans for the restoration and be submitted to a committee of the royal of british and let the choice rest with them subject of course to your approval it is indeed generous of you to suggest it she looked thoughtfully at him he appeared to strike her in a new light you really recommend it she asked as if the which had prompted his words inclined her still more than before to resign herself entirely to him in the matter i do said deliberately i will think of it since you wish it she replied and now what general idea have you of the plan to adopt i do not positively agree to your suggestion george as yet she added so i may perhaps ask the question being by this time familiar with the general plan of the castle took out his pencil and made a rough sketch while he was doing it she rose and coming slowly to the back of his chair bent over him in silence ah i begin to see your conception she murmured and the breath of her words his ear he finished the sketch and held it up to her saying i would suggest that you walk over the building with mr and myself and detail your ideas to us on each portion is it necessary mostly do it i will then but it is too late for me this evening please meet me to morrow at ten no a chapter x at ten o clock they met in the same appearing in a straw hat having a bent up brim lined with silk so that it surrounded her forehead like a and armed with sketch book measuring rod ivory rule and other apparatus of his craft and mr said the young man i have not decided to employ him if i do he shall go round with me of you she replied rather was by no means sorry to hear this his duty to was done and now she said as they walked on together through the passages i must tell you that i am not a myself and perhaps that s a pity what are you i am greek that s why i don t wish to influence your design as they proceeded pointed out where roofs had been and should be again where had been pulled down and where floors had vanished showing her how to their details from marks in the walls much as a comparative an from bones and teeth she appeared to be interested listened attentively but said little in reply they were george ill in a long narrow passage indifferently lighted when treading on a loose stone felt a of weakness in one knee and knew in a moment that it was the result of the twist given by his yesterday s fall he paused leaning against the wall what is it said with a sudden timidity in her voice i slipped down yesterday he said it will be right in a moment i can i help you said but she did not come near him indeed she withdrew a e she looked up the passage and down the passage and became conscious that it was long and gloomy and that nobody was near a curious uneasiness seemed to take possession of her whether she thought for the first time that she had made a mistake that to wander about the castle alone with him was or whether it was the mere shy instinct of nobody knows but she said suddenly i will get something for you and return in a few minutes pray don t it has quite passed he said stepping out again but had vanished when she came back it was in the rear of de miss de had a in one hand half full of wine which she offered him remaining in the background he took the glass and to satisfy his companions drank a or two though there was really nothing whatever the matter with him beyond the slight ache above mentioned was going to retire but said quite anxiously you will stay with a me won t you surely you are interested in what i am doing what is it said miss de planning how to mend and the castle tell mr what i want done in the you know quite well and i will walk on she walked on but instead of talking on the subject as directed and followed on indifferent matters they came to an inner court not unlike a and found standing there she met miss de with a smile did you explain she asked i have not explained yet seated herself on a stone bench and went on miss power thought of making a greek court of this but she will not tell you so herself because it seems such dreadful a m i said would not tell any myself interposed i did not then know that he would be mr it is rather startling said a greek all round you said continued her less companion a you called it you saw it in a book don t you remember and then you were going to have a fountain in the middle and statues like those in the british museum i did say so remarked pulling the leaves from a young tree that had sprung up between the joints of the from spot where they sat they could see over the roofs the upper part of the great tower wherein george ii had met with his the tower stood boldly up in the sun and from one of the in the comer white waved in the breeze what can that be said is it the of or a handkerchief it	45
is my handkerchief answered carelessly i fixed it there with a stone to attract attention and forgot to take it away all three looked up at the handkerchief with interest why did you want to attract attention asked in a low voice oh i fell into the but i got out very easily oh said turning to her friend that must be the place where the man fell in years ago and was starved to death starved to death said they say so oh mr what an escape and de walked away to a point from which she could get a better view of the treacherous whom did you think to attract asked after a pause i thought you might see it me personally and blushing faintly her eyes rested upon him i hoped for anybody i thought of you said she did not continue in a moment she arose and went across to miss de don t m go falling down and becoming a skeleton she said overheard the words though was unaware of it after which she clasped her fingers behind s neck and smiled tenderly in her a o a it seemed to be quite unconsciously done and thought it a very beautiful action presently returned to him and said m r i think we have had enough architecture for to day the two women then wished him good morning and went away feeling that he had now every reason for about the castle remained near the spot endeavouring to some plan of for the project entertained by the beautiful owner of those weather walls but for a long time the mental perspective of his new position so excited the side of his nature that he could not on feet and inches as s supposing not to be admitted as a he must of necessity be in constant communication with her for a space of two or three years to come and particularly during the next few months she doubtless cherished far too ambitious views of her career to feel any personal interest in this enforced relationship with him but he would be at liberty to feel what he chose and to be the victim of an passion while it afforded such splendid opportunities of communion with the one beloved deprived that passion of its most deplorable features is a great point in matters of love and perhaps of the two there is less misery in loving without return a goddess who is to be seen and spoken to every day than in having an affection tenderly by one always hopelessly removed with this view of having to spend a time in the neighbourhood shifted his quarters that afternoon from the little inn at sleeping green to the king s arms hotel at he required more george rooms in which to carry out s instructions than the former place afforded and a more central position having reached and dined at the king s arms he found the evening tedious and again strolled out in the direction of the castle when he reached it the light was declining and a solemn stillness the pile the great tower was in full view that spot of white which looked like a pigeon fluttering from the was his handkerchief still hanging in the place where he had left it his eyes yet lingered on the walls when he noticed with surprise that the handkerchief suddenly vanished believing that the breezes though weak below might have been strong enough at that height to blow it into the and in no hurry to get off the premises he leisurely climbed up to find it ascending by the second staircase crossing the and going to the top of the treacherous the ladder by which he had escaped still stood within it and beside the ladder he beheld the dim outline of a woman in a meditative attitude holding his handkerchief in her hand felt himself an intruder and softly withdrew when he had reached the ground he looked up a girlish form was standing at the top of the tower looking over the upon him possibly not seeing him for it was dark on the lawn it was either miss de or one of them had gone there alone for his handkerchief and had remained awhile pondering on his escape but which if i were not a faint heart i should run all risk and wave my hat or kiss my hand to her whoever she is il a he thought but he was faint hearted in the circumstances and did not do either feeling that if it were miss power her acquaintance was too desirable a thing to be with even by an act which would easily have borne the interpretation of gallantry so he lingered about silently in the shades and then thought of strolling to his rooms at just at leaving as he passed under the inhabited wing whence one or two lights now he heard a piano and a voice singing the bough the song had probably been suggested to the romantic fancy of the singer by her visit to the scene of his george ii chapter xi the identity of the lady whom he had seen on the tower and afterwards heard singing was established the next day i have been thinking said miss power on meeting him that you may require a on the premises if so the one i showed you yesterday as suitable for such a purpose is at your service if i employ mr to with you i will offer him a similar one did not decline and when they had discussed further arrangements she added in the same room you will find the handkerchief that was left on the tower ah i saw that it was gone somebody brought it down i did she quietly remarked looking up for a second under her shady hat brim i am much obliged	45
to you oh no that s not necessary i went up last night to see where the accident happened and there i found it when you came up were you in search of it or did you want me then she saw me he thought i went for the handkerchief only i was not aware that you were there he answered simply it could hardly be assumed that she was conscious of any sentimental me u n a ing which might have been attached to her words did you want me and he involuntarily sighed it was very soft but she might have heard him for there was interest in her voice as she continued did you see me before you went back i did not know it was you i saw that some lady was there and i would not disturb her i wondered all the evening if it were you hastened to explain we understood that you would stay to dinner and as you did not come in we wondered where you were that made me think of your accident and after dinner i went up to the place where it happened almost wished she had not explained so and now followed the days to which his position as her or at as one of her two naturally led his were for once surpassed by the reality perhaps s inherent for a professional life under ordinary circumstances was only proved by his great zest for it now had he been in regular practice with numerous other instead of having merely made a start with this one he would have totally neglected their business in his exclusive attention to s the idea of a competition between and had been highly approved by s but she would not assent to it as yet seeming quite vexed that should not have taken the good the gods provided without questioning her justice to the room she had him was prepared as a drawing boards and s paper were sent for and in a few days began serious george q labour his first was a or two to do the of measuring and but for the present he preferred to sketch alone sometimes in measuring the of the castle he ran against strolling about with no apparent object who bestowed on him an envious nod and passed by i hope you will not roughly make your sketches she said looking in upon him one day with as he sat in the room which had been lent him and then go away to your in london and think of your other buildings and forget mine i am in haste to begin and wish you not to neglect me i have no other building to think of said rising and placing a chair for her i had not begun practice as you may know i have nothing else in hand but your castle i suppose i ought not to say i am glad of it but it is an advantage to have an all to one s self the whom i at fir thought of told me before i knew you that if i placed the castle in his hands he would undertake no other commission till its completion i agree to the same said i don t wish to bind you she returned but i hinder you now do pray go on without reference to me when will there be some drawing for me to see i will take care that it shall be soon he had a in his hand and went out of the room to take some in the corridor as the assistant for whom he had advertised had not arrived he attempted to fix the end of the by i a sticking his through the ring into the wall looked on at a distance i will hold it she said after watching in silence for some time and seeing his difficulty she went to the required corner and held the end in its place she had taken it the wrong way and went over and placed it properly in her fingers carefully avoiding to touch them he did this without speaking she raised her hand to the comer again and stood till he had finished when she asked is that all that is all said thank you without further speech she looked at his sketch book while he marked down the lines just acquired you said the other day she observed that early work might be known by the under cutting or something to that effect i have looked in and the oxford but i cannot quite understand what you meant it was only too evident to her lover from the way in which she turned to him that she aa looked in and the and was thinking of nothing in the world but of the subject of her inquiry i can show you by actual example if you will come to the chapel he returned hesitatingly don t go on purpose to show me when you are there on your own account i will come in i shall be there in half an hour very well said she looked out of a window and seeing miss de on the terrace left him stood thinking of what he had said he had no occasion whatever to go into the chapel of the george castle that day he had been tempted by her words to say he would be there and half an hour had come to his lips almost without his knowledge this community of interest if it were not anything more tender was growing serious what had passed between them amounted to an appointment they were going to meet in the most solitary chamber of the whole solitary pile could it be that had well this in replying with her passive very well probably not she might think of it between now and then	45
and might not come proceeded to the chapel and waited with the progress of the seconds towards the half hour he began to discover that a dangerous admiration for this girl had risen within him yet so imaginative was his passion that he hardly knew a single feature of her countenance well enough to remember it in her absence the meditative judgment of things and men bad been his habit up to the moment of seeing her in the chapel seemed to have left him nothing remained but a wish to be always near her and it was quite with dismay that he recognised what immense importance he was to the question whether she would keep the trifling engagement or not the chapel of castle was a silent place heaped up in comers with a lumber of old and broken coloured glass here no clock could be heard beating out the hours of the day here no voice of priest or had for generations uttered the daily service how the year rolls on the of the spot was sufficient to draw s mind for a moment from the subject which a absorbed it and he thought so too will time triumph over all this within me the sombre mood quite vanished when lifting his eyes from the floor on which his foot had been he saw standing at the other end it was not so pleasant when he also saw that mrs accompanied her the latter lady however remained where she was resting while came forward and as usual paused on a half smile without speaking it is in this little that the example occurs said oh yes she answered turning to look at it early and generally alternate with deep hollows so as to form strong shadows now look under the of this capital you will find the stone out wonderfully and also in this arch mould it is often difficult to understand how it could be done without off the stone the difference between this and late work can be felt by the hand even better than it can be seen he suited the action to the word and placed his hand in the hollow she attentively then stretched up her own hand to test the cutting as he had she was not quite enough she would step upon this piece of wood having done so she tried again and succeeded in putting her finger on the spot no she could not understand it through her glove even now she pulled off her glove and her hand resting in the stone channel her eyes became abstracted in the effort of the ideas derived through her hand passing into her face r george no i am not sure now she said placed his own hand in the now their two hands were close together again they had been close together half an hour earlier and he had avoided touching hers he dared not let such aa accident happen now and yet surely she saw the situation was the inscrutable seriousness with which he applied herself to his lesson a mockery there was such a depth in her eyes that it was impossible to guess truly let it be that destiny alone had ruled that their hands should be together a second time all was cut short by an impulse he seized her forefinger between his own finger and thumb and drew it along the hollow saying that is the curve i mean s hand was hot and trembling s on the contrary was cool and soft as an infant s now the arch mould continued he there the depth of that is tremendous and it is not as in later work he drew her fingers from the capital to the arch and laid them in the little as before she allowed them to rest quietly there till he them thank you she then said withdrawing her hand brushing the dust from her and putting on her glove her of his feeling was the of maiden innocence if it were real if well the was no great sin but he would not think of it as pretence or the pleasure of this day would be by such commonplace a mr will you allow me to have the greek court i mentioned she asked after a long break in their discourse as she the green stones along the base of the with a countenance as to his reply will your own feeling for the genius of the place allow you j i am not a i am an you don t dislike your own house on that account i did at first i don t so much now i should love it and every stone and think the only true romance of life if what f if i were a de and the castle the long x home of my forefathers was a little surprised at the the minister s words on the effects of her new to his mind miss de doesn t think so he said she cares nothing about those things turned to him hitherto her remarks had been spoken her eyes being directed elsewhere yes that is very strange is it not she said but it is owing to the joyous freshness of her nature which her from dwelling on the past indeed the past is no more to her than it is to a or robin she is scarcely an instance of the wearing out of old families for a younger mental constitution than hers i never knew unless that very simplicity represents the second childhood of her line rather than her own exclusive character george shook her head in spite of the greek court she is more greek than l you represent science rather than art perhaps how she asked quickly glancing from under her hat i mean he answered quietly that you represent v the march of mind	45
the white silk puffing of her black hat and the speaking power of her eyes at the moment of danger the breadth of that clear forehead almost concealed by the masses of brown hair up around it signified that if her disposition were and enough for trifling or in any way making a fool of him she had the intellect to do it cruelly well but it was to so suspiciously a girl not an by profession could hardly turn pale as she had done though perhaps mere fright meant nothing and would have arisen in her just as readily had he been one of the on her estate upon the whole it was a perplexity the reflection that such feeling as she had exhibited could have no tender meaning returned upon him with force when he thought of her wealth and the social position into which she had drifted being of a solitary and nature was not quite i competent to estimate precisely the effect i y a if any of her non her of blood and other things among the old county families established round her but the prejudices he thought were not likely to be long to such cheerful beauty and brightness of intellect as s when she emerged as she was plainly about to do from the comparative seclusion in which she had been living since her father s death she would inevitably win her way among her neighbours she would become the local topic fortune hunters would learn of her existence and draw near in what chance would there then be for him the points in his fa were ed few but they were just enough to keep a hope alive modestly leaving out of count his personal and intellectual he thought of his family it was an old stock enough though not a rich one his great uncle had been the well known vice admiral sir who served his country well in the the indies china and the sea his grandfather had been a notable his father the royal was popular but perhaps this was not the sort of reasoning likely to occupy the mind of a young woman the personal aspect of the situation was in such circumstances of far more import he had come as a wandering stranger that possibly lent some interest to him in her eyes he was in an office which would free communion with her for some time to come that was another advantage and would be a still greater one if she showed as seemed disposed to do such sympathy with his work as to follow up with interest the details progress the carriage did not and he went on towards to return again that day to the which had been prepared for him at the castle he heard feet brushing the grass behind him and looking round saw the minister i have just come from the village said mr who looked worn and weary his boots being covered with dust and i have learnt that which my fears for her for miss power most assuredly what danger is there said the temptations of her position have become too much for her she is going out of mourning next week and will give a large on the occasion for though the invitations are partly in the name of her relative mrs they must come from her the guests are to include people of old families who would have treated her grandfather sir and even her father with scorn for their religion and connections also the parson and yes actually people who believe in the succession and what s more the r re coming my opinion is that it has all arisen from her friendship with miss de well cried warmly this only shows liberality of feeling on both sides i suppose she has invited you as she has not invited me mr notwithstanding your opinions on important matters i speak to you as a friend and i tell you that she has never in her secret heart forgiven that sermon of mine in which i her to the church a at i admit the words were harsh but i was doing my duty and if the case arose to morrow i would do it again her displeasure is a deep grief to me but i serve one greater than she you of course are invited to this dinner i have heard nothing of it murmured the young man their paths and when reached the king s arms hotel he was informed that somebody was waiting to see him man or woman he asked the landlady who always liked to reply in person to s inquiries apparently thinking him by virtue of his drawing implements and liberality of payment a possible lord of came forward and said it was certainly not a woman but whether man or boy she could not say his name is mr dare she added that youth he said went upstairs along the passage down two steps round the angle and so on to the rooms reserved for him in this rambling edifice of stage coach memories where he found dare waiting dare came forward pulling out the cutting of an advertisement mr this is yours i believe from the world said that he had inserted it i think i should suit your purpose as assistant very well are you an s not specially i have some knowledge of the same and want to increase it i thought you were a george i also of said dare with a bow though but an amateur in that art i can challenge comparison with street or looked upon his table two letters only addressed in were l ring there as answers to his advertisement he asked dare to wait and looked them over neither was satisfactory on this account he overcame his slight feeling against mr dare and put a question to	45
test that gentleman s how would you measure the front of a building including windows doors and every other feature for a ground plan so as to combine the greatest accuracy with the greatest despatch in running dimensions said as this was the particular kind of work he wanted done thought the answer promising coming to terms with dare he requested the would be student of architecture to wait at the castle the next day and dismissed him a quarter of an hour later when dare was taking a walk in the country he drew from his pocket eight j other letters addressed to in which to judge by their style and were from men i far superior to those two whose communications alone had seen dare looked them over for a few j seconds as he strolled on then tore them into minute fragments and burying them under the leaves in the ditch went on his way again j a chapter xiii though exhibiting indifference had felt a pang of disappointment when he heard the news of s approaching dinner party it seemed a little unkind of her to pass him over seeing how much they were thrown together just now that dinner meant more than it sounded notwithstanding the of her castle she was at present living somewhat owing partly to the caused by her recent and partly to the necessity for the de lumber piled in those vast and gloomy chambers before they could be made tolerable to nineteenth century to give dinners on any large scale before had at least set a few of these rooms in order for her showed to his thinking an overpowering desire for society during the week he saw less of her than usual her time being to all appearance much taken up with driving out to make calls on her neighbours and receiving return visits all this he observed from the windows of his overlooking the castle ward in which room he now spent a great deal of his time bending over drawing boards and dare who worked as well as could be expected of a youth of such varied nearer came the wednesday of the party and no george t hint of that event reached but such as had been communicated by the minister at last on the very afternoon an invitation was handed into his not a kind note in s handwriting but a formal printed card in the joint names of mrs and miss power it reached him just four hours before the dinner time he was to be used as a stop gap at the last moment because somebody could not come having previously arranged to pass a quiet evening in his rooms at the king s arms in reading up of the castle from the county with the view of gathering some ideas as to the distribution of rooms therein before the of a portion of the structure he decided off hand that s dinner was not of sufficient importance to him as a professional man and student of art to justify a waste of the evening by going he accordingly declined mrs s and miss power s invitation and at five o clock left the castle and walked across the fields to the little town he dined early and clearing away with a cup of coffee applied himself to that volume of the county history which contained the record of castle here he read that when this picturesque and ancient structure was founded or by whom is extremely uncertain but that a castle stood on the site in very early times appears from many old books of in its prime it was such a of as to be the wonder of the world and it was thought before the invention of that it never could be taken by any force less than divine a he read on to the times when it first passed into the hands of de and received the family name and so on from de to de till he was lost in the reflection whether would or would not have thought more highly of him if he had accepted the invitation to dinner himself again to the he learnt that in the year the carpenter was paid eleven pence for and william the eight shillings for of the kitchen and the to do it with including a new rope for the bell also the sundry charges for a of pot a pane a a and bang went eight strokes of the clock it was the dinner hour there now i can t go anyhow he said bitterly jumping up and her receiving her company how would she look what would she wear profoundly indifferent tp the early history of the noble fabric he felt a violent reaction towards new everything in short that represented he even gave himself up to consider the greek court that she had wished for and passed the remainder of the evening in making a perspective view of the same the next morning he awoke early and to be at work started promptly it was a fine calm hour of day the grass slopes were silvery with excess of dew and the blue mists hung in the depths of each tree for want of wind to blow them out entered the drive on foot and when near the castle he observed in the gravel the wheel marks of the car george i i that had conveyed the guests thither the night before there seemed to have been a large number for the road where newly repaired was quite cut up before going indoors he was tempted to walk round to the wing in which i slept were were chattering there but the blind of her window was as closely drawn as if it were midnight probably she was sound asleep dreaming of the compliments which had been paid her by her guests and of	45
a long time musing he thought but that he did not say am very sorry he murmured will you make amends by coming to our i ask you the very first will replied to add that it would give him great pleasure etc seemed an weak way of expressing his feelings and he said no more it is on the nineteenth don t forget the day he met her eyes in such a way that if she were woman she must have seen the meaning as plainly as words do i look as if i could forget anything you say she must indeed have understood much more by this time the whole of his open secret but he did not understand her history has revealed that a lover or two is rarely considered a disadvantage by a woman from queen to cottage girl and the thought made him pause a i a an chapter xiv when she was gone he went on with the drawing not calling in dare who remained in the room adjoining presently a servant came and laid a paper on his table which miss power had sent it was one of the morning newspapers and was folded so that his eye fell immediately on a letter headed restoration or the letter was written by a person solely in the interests of art it drew attention to the circumstance that the ancient and interesting castle of the de had unhappily passed the hands of an by blood who without respect for the tradition of the county or any feeling whatever for history in stone was about to much if not all that was interesting in that ancient pile and in its midst a monstrous of some greek temple in the name of all lovers of art the simple minded writer let something be done to save a building which injured and battered in the civil wars was now to be made a complete ruin by the of an owner her sending him the paper seemed to imply that she required his opinion on the case and in the afternoon leaving dare to measure up a wing according to directions he went out in the hope of meeting george her having learnt that she had gone to the village on reaching the church he saw her crossing the churchyard path with her aunt and miss de entered the and as soon as she saw him she came across what is to be done she asked you need not be concerned about such a letter as that i am concerned i think it dreadful impertinence spoke up who had joined them can you think who wrote iv mr could not well what am i to do repeated just as you would have done before that s what say observed mrs emphatically but i have already altered i have given up the greek court oh you had seen the paper this morning before you looked at my drawing i had she answered thought it a forcible illustration of her natural that she should have abandoned the design without telling him the reason but he was glad she had not done it from mere caprice she turned to him and said quietly i wish you would answer that letter it would be ill advised said still if after consideration you wish it much i will meanwhile let me impress upon you again the of calling in mr to whom as your father s expecting this commission something a perhaps is owed and getting him to furnish an alternative plan to mine and the choice of designs to some members of the royal of british this letter makes it still more advisable than before very well said reluctantly let him have all the particulars you have been good enough to explain to me so that we start fair in the competition she looked on the grass i will tell the building steward to write them out for him she said the party separated and entered the church by different doors went to a nook of the building that he had often intended to visit it was called the aisle and in it stood the of that family examined them they were unusually rich and numerous beginning with cross legged knights in of chain mail their ladies beside them in and cover chief all more or less with the green mould and dirt of ages and continuing with others of later date in fine gilded and coloured some of them wearing round their necks the collar of and roses the livery of edward the fourth in the over these he beheld behind it as if in contemplation of the same objects you came to the church to sketch these monuments i suppose mr she asked as soon as she saw him no i came to speak to you about the letter she sighed yes that letter she said i am persecuted if i had been one of these it would never george have been written she tapped the of a lady with her v they are interesting are they not he said she is beautifully preserved the is nearly gone but beyond that she is perfect she is like said and what was much like another sigh escaped her lips admitted that there was a resemblance while drew her forefinger across the marble face of the and at length took out her handkerchief and began wiping the dust from the hollows of the features he looked on wondering what her sigh had meant but that it had been somehow caused by the sight of these in connection with the newspaper writer s of her as an the secret was out when in answer to his question idly put if she wished she were like one of these she said with exceptional vehemence for one of her i don t wish i was like one of them	45
i wish i was one of them what you wish you were a de yes it is very dreadful to be as a i want to be romantic and historical miss de seems not to value the privilege he said looking round at another part of the church where was innocently to mrs quite heedless of the of her forefathers if i were one she continued i should come here when i feel alone in the world as i do to day and i would defy people and say you cannot spoil what has been a they walked on till they reached the old black attached to the castle a vast square of oak occupying half the aisle and surmounted with a little above the within the that had once been green now faded to the colour of a common in august was torn kicked and scraped to rags by the feet and hands of the who had appropriated the as their own special place of worship since it had ceased to be used by any resident at the castle because its height afforded convenient shelter for playing at and with pins and mrs had by this tin ie left the building and could be seen looking at the outside if you were a de said who had pondered more deeply upon that new wish of hers than he had seemed to do you would be a and sit here and i should have the done up she said readily as she rested her pretty chin on the top rail and looked at the interior her cheeks pressed into deep her quick reply told him that the idea was no new one with her and he thought of poor mr s shrewd prophecy as he perceived that her days as a were numbered well why can t you have it done up and sit here he said shook her head you are not at enmity with i am sure i want not to be i want to be what what the de were and are he said george i i and her silenced bearing told him that he had hit the nail it was a strange idea to get possession of such a nature as hers and for a minute he felt himself on the side of the minister so strong was s feeling of wishing her to show the quality of fidelity to paternal and party that he could not help adding but have you forgotten that other nobility the nobility of talent and enterprise no but i wish i had a well known line of ancestors you have those are your father s direct ancestors have you forgotten them have you forgotten your father and the he made over half europe and his great energy and skill and all connected with him as if he had never lived she did not for some time no i not forgotten it she said still looking into the but i have a d for ancestors of the other sort like de her hand was resting on the low next the high one of the de looked at the hand or rather at the glove which covered it then at her averted cheek then beyond it into the then at her hand again until by an indescribable consciousness that he was not going too far he laid his own upon it no no said quickly withdrawing her hand but there was nothing or haughty in her tone nothing in short which makes a man in such circumstances feel that he has done a particularly foolish action a the flower on her bosom rose and fell somewhat more than usual as she added i am going away now i will leave you here without waiting for a reply she swept back her skirts to free her feet and went out of the church blushing took her hint and did not follow and when he knew that she had rejoined her friends and heard the carriage roll away he made towards the opposite door pausing to glance once more at the before leaving them to their silence and neglect he beheld dare bending over them to all appearance intently occupied he must have been in the church some time certainly during the episode between and and could not have failed to perceive it blushed it was unpleasant that dare should have seen the interior of his heart so plainly he went across and said i think i left you to finish the drawing of the north wing mr dare three hours ago sir said dare having finished that i came to look at the church fine building fine monuments two interesting people looking at them what i stand corrected par la as the have it well now mr dare suppose you get back to the castle a history castle certainly how do you get on with the measuring dare sighed badly in the morning when i have been tempted to indulge and george worse in the afternoon when i have been tempted in the morning looked at the youth and said i fear i shall have to dispense with your services dare for i think you have been tempted to day on my honour no my manner is a little against me mr but you need not fear for my ability to do your work i am a young man wasted and am thought of slight account it is the true men who get while are allowed to hang sentiment dare and off with you a little ruffled had turned his back upon the interesting speaker so that he did not observe the sly twist dare threw into his right eye as he spoke the latter went off in one direction and in the other pursuing his pensive way towards with thoughts not difficult to divine from one point in her nature he	45
went to another till he again to her romantic interest in the de family to wish she was one of them how very inconsistent of her that she really did wish it was for the feeling had been so strong as to break through her natural a chapter xv it was the day of the garden party the weather was too cloudy to be called perfect but it was as as the most clad young lady could desire great trouble had been taken by to bring the lawn to a fit condition after the neglect of recent years and had suggested the design for the tents as he approached the of the castle he discerned a flag of fabric floating over the keep and soon his fell in with the stream of carriages that were passing over the bridge into the outer ward and were receiving the people in the drawing room came forward in his turn but as he was immediately followed by others there was not much opportunity even had she felt the wish for any special mark of feeling in the younger lady s greeting of him he went on through a canvas passage lined on each side with plants till he reached the tents thence after nodding to one or two guests slightly known to him he proceeded to the grounds with a sense of being rather lonely few visitors had as yet got so far in and as he walked up and down a shady alley his mind dwelt upon the new aspect under which had greeted his eyes that afternoon her white costume had finally disappeared and in its place she had adopted a picturesque dress of george white with satin of the same hue while upon her bosom she wore a blue flower her days of were plainly ended and her days of gladness were to begin his reverie was interrupted by the sound of his name and looking round he beheld who appeared to be as much alone as himself already knew that had been appointed to with him according to his recommendation in measuring a dark corner a day or two before he had stumbled upon engaged in the same pursuit with a view to the rival design afterwards he had seen him receiving s instructions precisely as he had done himself it was as he had wished for sake and yet he felt a regret for he was less s own now well mr said since we first met an unexpected has arisen between us but i dare say we shall survive the contest as it is not one arising out of love ha ha ha he spoke in a level voice of and uncovered his regular white teeth supposed him to allude to the castle competition yes said her proposed undertaking brought out some adverse criticism till it was known that she intended to have more than one of an excellent stroke of hers to criticism you saw the second letter in the morning papers no said tlie other the writer states that he has discovered that the competent advice of two is to be taken and his a said nothing for a minute have you been supplied with the necessary for your drawings he asked showing by the question the track his thoughts had taken said that he had but possibly not so completely as you have he added again smiling fiercely did not quite like the and the two parted the younger going towards the who had now begun to fill the air with their strains from the of a drooping ash when he got back to the they were quite crowded and the guests began to pour out upon the grass the of the ladies presenting a brilliant spectacle here being coloured dresses with white devices there white dresses with coloured devices and yonder transparent dresses with no device at all a haze hung in the air the trees were as still as those of a forest while the sun in colour like a brass had a hairy outline in the livid sky after watching awhile some young people who were so madly devoted to lawn that they had set about it like day at the moment of their arrival he turned and saw approaching a graceful figure in cream coloured hues whose gloves lost themselves beneath her lace even when she lifted her hand to make firm the blue flower at her breast and whose hair hung under her in great knots so well that the sun gilded the of each knot like a ball you seem to be alone said who had at last escaped from the duty of receiving guests i don t know many people yes i thought of that while i was in the drawing george room but i could not get out before i am now no longer a responsible being mrs is mistress for the remainder of the day will you be introduced to anybody whom would you like to know am not particularly unhappy in my solitude but you must be made to know a few very well i submit readily she looked away from him and while he was observing upon her cheek the moving shadow of leaves cast by the declining sun she said oh there is my aunt and beckoned with her to that lady who approached in the comparatively youthful guise of a grey silk dress that whistled at every touch left them together and mrs then made him acquainted with a few of the best people describing what they were in a whisper before they came up among them being the radical member for who had succeeded to the seat rendered vacant by the death of s father while talking to this gentleman on the proposed of the castle raised his eyes and hand towards the walls the better to point out his meaning in so doing he saw a face	45
in the square of darkness formed by one of the open windows the effect being that of a portrait by or it was his assistant dare leaning on the of the as he smoked his and surveyed the gay groups beneath after holding a chattering conversation with some ladies from a neighbouring country seat who had known his father in years and handing them and till they were satisfied he found an opportunity of leaving the grounds wishing to learn a what progress dare had made in the survey of the castle dare was still in the when he entered informed the youth that there was no necessity for his working later that day unless to please himself and proceeded to inspect dare s achievements thus far to his vexation dare had not three dimensions during the previous two days this was not the first time that dare either from or had shown his as a house and mr dare said i fear you don t suit me well enough to make it necessary that you should stay after this week dare removed the from his lips and bowed if i don t suit the sooner i go the better why wait the week he said well that s as you like drew the towards him wrote out a for dare s services and handed it across the table i ll not trouble you to morrow said dare seeing that the pa included the week in advance very well replied please lock the door when you leave shaking hands with dare and wishing him well he left the room and descended to the lawn below there he contrived to get near miss power again and inquired of her for miss de oh did you not know said her father is and she preferred with him this afternoon i hoped he might have been here george oh no he never comes out of his house to any party of this sort it him and he must not be excited poor sir william murmured no said he is grand and historical that is hardly an notion for a said i am not a insisted ib q i t o t r r going in to the dining hall when had taken in two or three ladies to whom he had been presented and attended to their wants which occupied him three quarters of an hour he returned again to the large tent with a view to finding and taking his leave it was now brilliantly lighted up and the who during daylight had been invisible behind the ash tree were at one end with their and it reminded him that there was to be dancing the tent had in the mean time half filled with a new set of young people who had come expressly for that behind the girls gathered numbers of newly arrived young men with low shoulders and who were evidently prepared for once to sacrifice themselves as partners felt something of a thrill at the sight he was an and particularly unprepared for dancing at present but to dance once with power he would give a year of his life he looked round but she was nowhere to be seen the first set began old and middle aged people gathered from the different rooms to look on at the of their children but did not appear when o a other dance or two had and an increase in th average age of the dancers was making itself perceptible especially on the masculine side was aroused by a whisper at his elbow you dance i think miss is disengaged she has not been asked once this evening the speaker was looked at miss a sallow lady with black twinkling eyes yellow costume and gay laugh who had been there all the afternoon and said something about having thought of going home is that because i asked you to dance she murmured there she is appropriated a young gentleman had at that moment approached the miss claimed her hand and led her off that s right said i ought to leave room for younger men you need not say so that bald headed gentleman is forty five he does not think of younger men have w a dance to spare for me her face grew stealthily in the candle light oh i have no engagement at all i have refused i hardly feel at liberty to dance it would be as well to leave that to my visitors why my father though he allowed me to be taught never liked the idea of my dancing did he make you promise anything on the point he said he was not in favour of such amusements no more i think you are not bound by that on an occasion like the present she was silent george l l you will just once said he another silence if you like she answered at last closed the hand which was hanging by his side and somehow hers was in it the dance was nearly formed and he led her forward several persons looked at them significantly but he did not notice it then and plunged into the never had mr passed through such an experience before had he not felt her actual weight and warmth he might have fancied the whole episode a of the imagination it seemed as if those had thrown a double sweetness into their notes on seeing the mistress of the castle in the dance that a southern atmosphere had begun to the and that human beings were shaking themselves free of all inconvenient s feelings burst from his lips this is the happiest moment i have ever known he said do you know why i think i saw a flash of lightning through the opening of the tent said with he did not press for an answer within a few minutes a long	45
growl of thunder was heard it was as if jove could not refrain from his jealousy of for taking this woman so in his arms the dance was over and he had retired with to the back of the tent when another faint flash of lightning was visible through an opening she lifted the canvas and looked out looking out behind her another dance was begun and being on a h a this account left out of notice did not hasten to leave s side i think they begin to feel the heat she said a little would do no harm he flung back the tent door where he stood and the light shone out upon the grass i must go to the drawing room soon she added they will begin to leave shortly it is not late the thunder cloud has made it seem dark see there a line of pale yellow stretches along the horizon from west to north that s evening not gone yet shall we go into the fresh air for a minute she seemed to signify assent and he stepped off the tent floor upon the ground she stepped off also the air out of doors had not cooled and without definitely choosing a direction they found themselves approaching a little wooden tea house that stood on the lawn a few yards off arrived here they turned and regarded the tent they had just left and listened to the strains that came from within it i feel more at ease now said so do i said i mean she added in an tone because i saw mrs enter the tent again just as we came out here so i have no further responsibility i meant something quite different try to guess what she finally breaking the silence by saying the rain is come at last as great drops began to fall upon the ground with a like of clay in a moment the storm poured down with sudden j george and they drew further back into the the side of the tent from which they had emerged still remained open the rain streaming down between their eyes and the lighted interior of the like a of glass threads the brilliant forms of the dancers passing and behind the watery screen as if they were people in an enchanted palace how happy they are said they don t even know that it is i am so glad that my aunt had the tent lined otherwise such a would have gone clean through it the thunder storm showed no symptoms of and the music and dancing went on more merrily than ever we cannot go in said and we cannot shout for we will stay here till it is over will we not yes she said if you care to ah what is it only a big drop came upon my head let us stand further in her hand was hanging by her side and s was close by he took it and she did not draw it away thus they stood a long while the rain hissing down upon the grass plot and not a soul being visible outside the dancing tent save themselves may i call you asked he yes occasionally she murmured dear may i call you that oh not yet but you know i love you he insisted i can give a shrewd guess she said a and shall i love you always if you wish to and will you love me did not reply will you he repeated you may love me but don t you love me in return i love you to love me von t you say anything more explicit not a single word half a sigh he wished she had been more yet felt that this passive way of was as much as he could hope for had there been anything cold in her he might have felt repressed but her stillness suggested the stillness of motion from its intensity we must go in said she the rain is almost over and there is no longer any excuse for this bent his lips toward hers no said the fair why not he asked nobody ever has but to everything there is a season and the season for this is not just now she answered walking away they crossed the wet and glistening lawn stepped under the tent and parted she vanished he did not know whither and standing with his gaze fixed on the dancers the young man waited till being in no mood to join them he went slowly through the artificial passage lined with flowers and entered the drawing rooms mrs was there bidding good night to the early and was just behind her apparently george in her usual mood his parting with her was quite formal but that he did not mind for her colour rose decidedly higher as he approached and the light in her eyes was like the ray of a diamond when he reached the door he found that his from king s arms which had been waiting more than an hour could not be heard of that of spirit which love would not permit him to wait and leaving word that the man was to follow him when he returned he went past the glare of carriage lamps in the ward and under the outer arch the night was now clear and beautiful and he strolled along his way full of mysterious till the vehicle overtook him and he got in up to this point s progress in his suit had been though so that he almost feared the good chance he enjoyed how should it be in a mortal of his to command success with such a sweet woman for long he might indeed turn out to be one of the singular exceptions which are said to prove rules but when fortune means to men most	45
and trembled i can explain he began it is not necessary we are friends said dare looked as if he would like to snatch the leaf away but his mind he said grimly well i take you at your word we are friends that letter was before i knew of the competition it was during my first disgust when i believed myself entirely i am not in the least surprised but if she knew you to be the writer i should be ruined as far as this competition is concerned said carelessly had i known i was to be invited to i should not have written it of course to be is hard and thereby hangs a tale another tale you astonish me then you have not heard the scandal though everybody is talking about it a scandal well tis her partiality for him is patent to the eyes of a child a man she has only known a few weeks and one who obtained admission to her house in the most irregular manner had she a watchful friend beside her instead of that mrs she would be against her on the first adventurer who appears at her door it is a pity a great pity oh there is love making in the wind said dare slowly that the case for me but it is not proved it can easily be proved a i wish it were or you have only to come this way to clear up all doubts took the lad towards the tent from which the strains of a now proceeded and on whose sides flitting shadows told of the progress of the dance the companions looked in the rosy silk of the and the numerous of wax lights formed a to a radiant scene which to two at least of those who composed it was an one and were dancing together that proves nothing said dare look at their faces and say if it does not sneered dare objected to a judgment based on looks alone very well time will show said the dropping the tent curtain good god a girl worth fifty thousand and more a year to throw herself away upon a fellow like that she ought to be whipped time must not show said dare you speak with emphasis have reason i would give something to be sure on this point one way or the other let us wait till the dance is over and observe them more carefully ist is half lies sheet increased in the northern sky followed by thunder like the indistinct noise of a battle and dare retired to the trees when the dance ended and his partner emerged from the tent and slowly moved towards the tea house their goal dare seized s arm and the two entered the building unseen by first dare and passing round behind it they seated themselves in the back part of the interior where darkness prevailed as before related and came and stood within the door when the rain increased they drew themselves further inward their forms being distinctly to the gaze of those lurking behind by the light from the tent beyond but the hiss of the falling rain and the of their tones prevented their words from being heard i wish myself out of this breathed to dare as he his coat over his white waistcoat i told you it was true but you wouldn t believe i wouldn t she should catch me here for the world courage man friday said his cooler comrade and her lover backed yet further till the hem of her skirt touched s feet their attitudes were sufficient to prove their relations to the most obstinate who should have witnessed them tender emotions seemed to the summer house like an the calm ecstasy of the condition of at least one of them was not without a effect upon the two spectators so that they must need have remained passive had they come there to disturb or annoy the serenity of was even more impressive than the hushed of she did not satisfy curiosity as satisfied it she it poor had reached a perfectly intelligible depth one which had a single way out of it and nine ones but remained an all through the scene a the rain ceased and the pair moved away the enchantment worked by their presence vanished the details of the meeting settled down in the minds and their tongues were loosened dare turning to said thank you you have done me a turn to day what had you hopes that way asked i the woman that interests my heart has yet to j bom said dare with a coldness strange in such a and yet almost convincing but though i have not personal hopes i have an objection to this courtship now i think we may as well the situation being what it is what is the situation he is in your way as her he is in my way as her lover we don t want to hurt him but we wish him clean out of the neighbourhood i ll go as far as that said i have come here at some trouble to myself merely to observe i find i ought to stay to act if you were myself a married man with people dependent on him who has had a professional certainty turned to a miserably remote by these events you might say you ought to act but what conceivable it can make to you who it is the young lady takes to her heart and home i fail to understand well i ll tell you thus much at least i want to keep the place vacant for another man the place the place of husband to miss power and proprietor of that castle and domain dare that s a scheme with a vengeance who is the man it is my secret	45
and when do you begin to build mr he inquired in tones in three months i think said dare looking to assented five thousand pounds commission murmured the paid down i suppose nodded and the works will not linger for lack of money to carry them out i imagine said dare two hundred thousand will probably be spent before the work is finished there is not much doubt of it said you said nothing to me about this whispered the to taking him aside with a look of regret you would not listen it the case greatly the retired with to the door and after a subdued in the passage he went away returning to the office a what the devil do you mean by him like this when the job is no more mine than jones s don t be too curious said dare laughing rather thank me for getting rid of him but it is all a vision said regarding the towers of castle if the competition were really the commission that you have represented it to be there might be something to laugh at it must be made a commission somehow returned dare carelessly i am come to lend you a little assistance i must stay in the neighbourhood and i have nothing else to do a carriage slowly passed the window and recognised tiie power she s coming here he said under his breath as the carriage stopped by the what does she want i wonder dare does she know you i would just as soon be out of the way then go into the garden dare went out through the back office as was shown in at the front she wore a grey travelling costume and seemed to be in some haste i am on my way to the railway station she said to i shall be absent from home for several weeks and since you requested it i have called to inquire how you are getting on with the design please look it over said placing a seat for her no said i think it would be unfair i have not looked at mr the other s plans since he has begun to design seriously and i dare and will not look at yours are you getting on quite well and do you want to know anything more if so go to the castle and get anybody to assist you why would you not make use of the room at your disposal in the castle as the other has done in asking the question her face was towards the window and suddenly her cheeks became a rosy red she instantly looked another way having my own office so near it was not necessary thank you replied as noting her countenance he allowed his glance to stray into the street was walking past on the opposite side the time is the time fixed for sending in the drawings is the first of november i believe she said and the decision will be come to by three gentlemen who are prominent members of the of then accompanied her to the carriage and she drove away went to the back window to tell dare that he need not stay in the garden but the garden was empty the remained alone in his office for some time at the end of a quarter of an hour when the scream of a railway whistle had echoed down the stiu street he beheld the window in a direction m the railway with somewhat of a sad gait in another minute dare entered humming the latest air from tis a mere piece of said what is her pretending indifference as to which of us comes out successful in the competition when she a colours the moment passes by he described s visit and the incident it may not mean entire xxx after all said dare the mere suspicion that a certain man loves her would make a girl blush at his unexpected appearance well she s gone from him for a time the better for you he has been privileged to see her off at any rate not privileged how do you know that i went out of your garden by the back gate and followed her carriage to the railway he simply went to the first bridge outside the station and waited when she was in the train it moved forward he was all expectation and drew out his handkerchief ready to wave while she looked out of the window towards the bridge the train backed before it reached the bridge to attach the box containing her horses and the carriage then it started for good and when it reached the bridge she looked out again he waving his handkerchief to her and she waving hers back no she didn t ah she looked at him nothing more i wouldn t give much for his chance after a while dare added you are a did you ever investigate the doctrine of expectations never dare drew from his pocket his book of chances a volume as well as the minister s bible dare and this is a on the subject he said i will teach it to you some day the same evening asked dare to dine with him he was just at this time living en his wife and children being away on a visit after dinner they sat on till their faces were rather flushed the talk turned as before on the castle competition to know his design is to win said dare and to win is to send him back to london where he came from inquired if dare had seen any sketch of the design while with not a line i was concerned only with the old building not to know it is to lose undoubtedly murmured suppose we go for a walk that way instead of consulting here they went down the town	45
and along the highway when they reached the entrance to the park a man driving a basket carriage came out from the gate and passed them by in the gloom that was he said dare he sometimes drives over from the hotel and sometimes walks he has been working late this evening strolling on under the trees they met three figures laughing and talking loudly those are the three first class london and whom he has engaged to assist him regardless of expense continued dare o lord groaned there s no chance for me l a the castle now arose before them endowed hy the shade with a more massive majesty than either sunlight or moonlight could impart and sighed again as he thought of what he was losing by s well what was the use of coming here he asked i thought it might suggest something some way of seeing the design the servants would let us into his room i dare say i don t care to ask let us walk through the wards and then homeward they sauntered on smoking dare leading the way through the gate house into a corridor which was not a lamp hanging at the further end we are getting into the inhabited part i think said dare however had gone on and knowing the passages from his few days experience in measuring them with he came to the dare knocked and nobody answering he entered took down a key which hung the door and rejoined it is all right he said the cat s away and the are at play in consequence proceeding up a stone staircase he unlocked the door of a room in the dark struck a light inside and returning to the door called in a whisper to who had remained behind this is mr s he said how did you get permission inquired not knowing that dare had seen no one anyhow said dare carelessly we can examine the plans at leisure for if the placid mrs dare and who is the only one at home sees the light she will only think it is still at work dare uncovered the drawings and young s brain work for the last six weeks lay under their eyes to dare who was too to trouble himself by entering into such details it had very little meaning but the design shone into s head like a light into a dark place it was original and it was fascinating its originality lay partly in the circumstance that had not attempted to an old building to the wants of the new he had placed his new beside it as a slightly attached structure with the and rather than it his work formed a palace with a castle as a curiosity to the conception had more charm than it could have to the most for when a and jealous mind that has been itself over a problem capable of many lights on the solution of a rival all possibilities in that kind seem to in the one beheld dare was struck by the arrested expression of the s face is it rather good he asked yes rather said himself more than rather yes the clever devil exclaimed unable to longer how the that has worried me three weeks he has solved in a way which is simplicity itself he has got it and i am undone nonsense don t give way let s make a tracing the ground plan will be sufficient said a his courage the idea is so simple that if once seen it is not easily forgotten a rough tracing of s design was quickly made and blowing out the candle with a wave of his hand the younger gentleman locked the door and they went downstairs again i should never have thought of it said as they walked homeward one man has need of another every ten years died un ha as they say in italy you ll help me for this turn if i have need of you i shall never have the power oh yes you will a man who can contrive to get admitted to a competition by writing a letter another man has any amount of power the stroke was a good one was silent till he said i think these mean that we are to have a storm of rain dare looked up the sky was the trees shivered and a drop or two began to strike into the coats from the east they were not far from the inn at sleeping green where dare had lodgings occupying the rooms which had been used by till he gave them up for more chambers at and they decided to turn in there till the rain should be over having possessed himself of s brains was inclined to be jovial and ordered the best in that the house afforded before starting from home they had drunk as much as was good for them so that their here soon began to have a marked effect upon their tongues the rain beat upon dare and the windows with a dull dogged which seemed to signify boundless of the same and long continuance the wind rose the sign and the candles waved the weather had in truth broken up for the season and this was the first night of the change well here we are said as he poured out another glass of the liquor called old port at sleeping green and it seems that here we are to remain for the present i am at home anywhere cried the lad whose brow was hot and eye wild who had not drunk enough to affect his reasoning held up his glass to the light and said x never can quite make out what you are or what your age is are you sixteen one and twenty or and are you an englishman if indian american or what you seem	45
not to have taken your degrees in these parts that s a secret my friend said dare i am a citizen of the world i owe no country patriotism and no king or queen obedience a man whose country has no boundary is your only true gentleman well where were you bom somewhere i suppose it would be a fact worth the telling the secret of my birth lies here and dare his breast with his right hand literally just under your shirt front or in your heart asked literally there it is necessary that it should be recorded for one s own memory is a treacherous book i go a of reference should be required at a time of delirium disease or death asked no further what he meant and went to the door finding that the rain still continued he returned to dare who was by this time sinking down in a one sided attitude as if hung up by the shoulder informing his companion that he was but little inclined to move far in such a night he decided to remain in the inn till next morning on calling in the landlord however they learnt that the house was full of farmers on their way home from a large sheep fair in the neighbourhood and that several of these having decided to stay on account of the same weather had already engaged the spare beds if mr dare would give up his room and share a double room with mr the thing could be done but not otherwise to this the two companions agreed and presently went upstairs with as gentlemanly a walk and a candle as they could exhibit under the circumstances the other of the inn soon retired to rest and the storm raged on by all local humanity dare and chapter iii at two o clock the rain lessened its fury at two the obscured moon shone forth and at three awoke the blind had not been pulled down and the moonlight streamed into the room across the bed whereon dare was sleeping he lay on his back his arms thrown out and his well curved youthful form looked like an in the rays sleep had cleared s mind from the effects of the last night s sitting and he thought of dare s mysterious manner in speaking of himself this lad resembled the youth in one respect that of being a boy with seemingly the wisdom of a sage and the effect of his presence was now heightened by all those sinister and mystic attributes which are lent by he who in broad daylight might be but a young iti was now an unlimited in social phenomena remembered how the lad had pointed to his breast and said that his secret was literally kept there the was too much of a provincial to have the common curiosity that was part of his nature by the acquired indifference to other people s lives which in essence more unworthy even than the former causes less practical inconvenience in its exercise ig i a dare was breathing profoundly as above mentioned got out of bed and stood beside the after a moment s pause he back the collar of dare s and saw a word in distinct characters on his breast before there was time for to it dare moved slightly as if conscious of disturbance and hastened back to bed dare himself yet more whereupon breathed heavily though keeping an intent glance on the lad through his half closed eyes to learn if he had been aware of the investigation dare was certainly conscious of something for he sat up rubbed his eyes and gazed around the room then after a few moments of reflection he drew some article from beneath his pillow a blue gleam shone from the object as dare held it in the moonlight and perceived that it was a small revolver a dew broke out upon the face and body of the when stepping out of bed with the weapon in his hand dare looked under the bed behind the curtains out of the window and into a closet as if convinced that something had occurred but in doubt as to what it was he then came across to where was lying and still keeping up the appearance of sleep watching him awhile and the reality of this semblance dare brought it to the test by holding the revolver within a few inches of s forehead could stand no more with terror he said without however moving more than his lips in dread of hasty action on the part of dare oh good lord dare dare i have done nothing dare and the youth smiled and lowered the pistol i was only finding out whether it was you or some who had been playing tricks upon me i find it was you do put away that thing it is too ghastly to produce in a respectable bedroom why do you carry it always do now answer my questions what were you up to and dare as he spoke played with the pistol again had recovered some coolness you could not use it upon me he said watching dare it would be your neck for too little an object i did not think you were shrewd enough to see that replied dare carelessly as he returned the revolver to its place well whether you have me or no you will keep the secret as long as i choose why said because i keep your secret of the letter miss p and of the tracing you carry in your pocket it is quite true said they went to bed again dare was soon asleep but did not attempt to disturb him again the elder man slept but he was aroused in the morning by a heavy and along the highway overlooked by the window the front wall of the e being shaken	45
and and prepared for the journey it was afternoon walked from the castle in the direction of the wood to reach by a he had not proceeded far when there approached his path a man riding a bay horse with a square cut tail the wore a beard and looked at with a piercing eye as he noiselessly nearer over the soft sod of the park he proved to be mr haze chief dare and of the district who had become slightly known to during his here one word mr said the after they had exchanged of recognition his horse as he spoke stopped you have a at the castle in which you are preparing drawings i have have you a clerk i had three till yesterday when i paid them off would they have any right to enter the late at night there would have been nothing wrong in their doing so either of them might have gone back at any time for something forgotten they lived quite near the castle ah then all is explained i was riding past over the grass on the night of last thursday and i saw two persons in your with a light it must have been about half past nine o clock one of them came forward and pulled down the blind so that the light fell upon his face but i only saw it for a short time if it were or he would have had a beard he had no beard then it must have been a young man quite young his companion in the background seemed older they are all about the same age really by the way it couldn t have been dare and surely would you recognise them again a the young one possibly the other not at all for he remained in the shade endeavoured to discern in a description by the chief the features of mr but it seemed to more closely to dare in spite of himself i ll make a sketch of the only one who had no business there and show it to you he presently said i should like this cleared up mr haze said he was going to that afternoon but would return in the evening before s departure with this they parted a possible motive for dare s presence in the rooms had instantly presented itself to s mind for he had seen dare enter s office more than once as if he were at work there he accordingly sat on the next and taking out his pocket book began a pencil sketch of dare s head to show to mr haze in the evening for if dare had indeed found admission with or as his agent the design was lost but he could not make a drawing that was a satisfactory likeness then he luckily remembered that dare in the intense warmth of admiration he had affected for on the first day or two of their acquaintance had begged for his photograph and in return for it had left one of himself on the taken as he said by his own process to show this production to mr haze as being more to the purpose than a sketch and instead of finishing the latter proceeded on his way he entered the old overgrown drive which wound indirectly through the wood to the road having been laid out for rather than for pro dare and bent sharply hither and thither among the trunks and of leaves which lay there all the year round with cushions of vivid green moss that formed in the red expanse reaching a point where the road made one of its between two large a man and woman revealed themselves at a few yards distance walking slowly towards him in the short and quaint lady he recognised de whom he remembered not to have seen for several days she slightly blushed and said oh this is pleasant mr let me present my brother to you captain de of the royal horse her brother came forward and shook hands heartily with and they all three on together talking of the season the place the fishing the shooting and whatever else came uppermost in their minds captain de was a personage who would have been called interesting by women well out of their he was ripe without having declined a towards he was sufficiently old and experienced to suggest a goodly of touching in the chambers of his memory and not too old for the possibility of increasing the store he was apparently about eight and thirty less tall than his father had been but admirably made and his every movement exhibited a fine combination of strength and of limb his face was somewhat thin and thoughtful its complexion being naturally pale though darkened by exposure to a warmer sun than ours his features were somewhat striking his moustache and hair black and his eyes denied the a of military by reason of the and darkness of their aspect acquired thereby a softness of expression that was in part womanly his mouth as far as it could be seen this characteristic which might have been called weakness or goodness according to the mental attitude of the observer it was large but well formed and showed an line of teeth within his dress at present was a coloured rural suit cut dose to his figure you knew my cousin jack he said to as they went on poor jack he was a good fellow he was a very good fellow he would have been made a parson if he had lived it was his great wish i as his senior and a man of the world as i thought myself used to him about it when he was a boy and tell him not to be a but to enter the army but i think jack was right the have the best of it	45
what i can again thanks captain but i am afraid it will not be much at present you know i am as poor as a mouse but such as it is could you write a for it now i will send it to you from the i have a better plan by getting over this we could go round at the back of the to sleeping green church there is always a pen and ink in the and we can have a nice talk on the way dare and h it would be unwise for me to appear at the just now that s true de sighed and they were about to walk across the fields together no said dare suddenly stopping my plans make it imperative that we should not run the risk of being seen in each other s company for long walk on and i will follow you can stroll into the churchyard and move about as if you were on lie there are some with excellent morals i ll enter by the other gate and we can meet easily in the room de looked gloomy and was on the point of when he turned back and said why should your photograph be shown to the chief by whom the he your having broken into his office or something of the sort de briefly related what had explained to him at the dinner table it was merely diamond cut diamond between us on an matter murmured dare ho and he and that s his remedy i must be on my guard i hope this is nothing serious asked de gravely i peeped at his drawing that s all but since he chooses to make that use of my photograph which i gave him in i ll use of his in a way he little dreams of well now let s on a quarter of an hour later they met in the of the church at sleeping green a i have only just transferred my account to the bank here said de as he took out his book and it will be more convenient to me at present to draw but a small sum i will make up the balance afterwards when he had written it dare glanced over the paper and said it is small well there is all the more reason why i should my scheme with a view to making such documents larger in the future i shall be glad to hear of any such scheme answered de with a languid attempt at then here it the plan i have arranged for you is of the nature of a marriage you are very kind said de the lady s name is miss power who as you may have heard since your arrival is in absolute possession of her father s property and estates including castle as soon as i heard of her i saw what a marvellous match it would be for you and your family it would make a man of you in short and i have set my mind upon your putting no objection in the way of its accomplishment but it seems to me that of us two it is you who exercise paternal authority true it is for your good let me do it well one must be indulgent under the circumstances i suppose but added de simply i don t want to marry you know i have lately thought that some day we may be able to live together you and i go off to america or new where we are not known and there lead a quiet dare and i pastoral life social rules and troublesome i can t hear of it captain replied dare i am what events have made me and having fixed my mind upon getting you settled in life by this marriage i have put things in train for it at an immense trouble to f if you had thought over it o nights as much as i have you would not say nay but i ought to have married your mother if anybody and as i have not married her the least i can do in respect to her is to marry no other woman you have some sort of duty to me have you not captain de yes i admit that i have the elder replied and i don t think i have failed in it thus far this will be the crowning proof paternal affection family pride the noble instinct to re yourself in the castle of your ancestors all demand the step and when you have seen the lady she has the figure and motions of a the face of an angel the eye of love itself what a sight she is crossing the lawn on a sunny afternoon or gliding along the of the old place the de knew so well her lips are the most things you ever saw her hair is as soft as silk and of the tenderest brown the captain moved uneasily don t take the trouble to say more he observed you know how i am my cursed to these matters has already wasted years of my life and i don t want to make myself a fool about her too you must see her no don t let me see her de if she is only half so good looking as you say she will drag me at her heels like a blind you are a mere youth as yet but i may tell you that the misfortune of never having been my own master where a beautiful face was concerned me to be cautious if i would preserve my peace of mind well to my mind captain de your objections seem trivial are those all they are all i care to mention just now to you captain can there be secrets between us de paused and looked at the lad as	45
if his heart wished to confess what his judgment feared to tell should not be on this point he then tell me why do you so much object to her i once vowed a vow a vow said dare rather disconcerted a vow of infinite solemnity i must tell you from the beginning perhaps you are old enough to hear it now though you have been too young before your mother s life ended in much sorrow and it was occasioned entirely by me in my regret for the wrong done her i swore to her that though she had not been my wife no other woman should stand in that relationship to me and this to her was a sort of comfort when she was dead my knowledge of my own which seemed to be as it seems still led me to think what i could set over myself with a view to keeping my promise to live a life of and among other things i determined to the dare and society and if possible the sight of women young and attractive as far as i had the power to do it is not so easy to avoid the sight of a beautiful woman if she crosses your path i should think it is not easy but it is possible how by directing your attention another way but do you mean to say captain that you can be in a room with a pretty woman who speaks to you and not look at her i do though mere looking has less to do with it than mental allowing your thoughts to flow out in her direction to comprehend her image but it would be considered very not to look at the woman or comprehend her image it would and is i am considered the most officer in the service i have been the man with the averted eyes the man with the detestable habit the man who you with his shoulder and so on ninety and nine fair women at the present moment hate me like poison and death for having persistently refused to the depths of their offered eyes how can you do it who are by nature courteous i cannot always i break down sometimes but upon the whole recollection holds me to it dread of a lapse nothing is so potent as fear well maintained de these details in a grave meditative tone with his eyes on the wall as if he were scarcely conscious of a listener but haven t you reckless moments captain when you have taken a little more wine than usual for instance x a i don t take wine oh you are a not a pledged one but i don t touch unless i get wet or anything of that sort don t you sometimes forget this vow of yours to my mother no i wear a what is that like de held up his left hand on the third finger of which appeared an iron ring dare surveyed it saying yes i have seen that before though i never knew why you wore it well i wear a also but of a different sort he threw open his shirt front and revealed on his breast the letters de the same marks which had seen in the bedroom by the light of the moon the captain rather at the sight well well he said hastily that s enough now at any rate you understand my objection to know miss power but captain said the lad as he fastened his shirt you forget me and the good you may do me by marrying surely that s a sufficient reason for a change of sentiment this inexperienced sweet creature owns the castle and estate which bears your name even to the furniture and pictures she is the possessor of at least forty thousand a year how much more i cannot say while she lives at the rate of twelve hundred in her simplicity it is very good of you to set this before me but i prefer to go on as i am going well i won t bore you any more with her to day dare and l a in tis strange dare arose and was about to open the door when looking through the window captain de said stop he had perceived his father sir william de walking among the without yes indeed said dare turning the key in the door it would look strange if he were to find us here as the old man seemed to leave the churchyard just yet they sat down again what a capital card table this green cloth would make said dare as they waited you play captain i suppose very seldom the same with me but as i enjoy a hand of cards with a friend i don t go saying which dare drew a pack from the tail of his coat shall we while away this leisure with the things really i d rather not but the young man i am in the humour for it so don t be unkind but why do you care for these things cards are harmless enough in their way but i don t like to see you carrying them in your pocket it isn t good for you it was by the merest chance i had them now come just one hand since we are prisoners i want to show you how nicely i can play i won t corrupt you of course riot said de as if ashamed of what his objection had implied you are not corrupt enough yourself to do that i should hope l a the cards were dealt and they began to play captain de and with his eyes mostly out of the window upon the large whose boughs as they moved were distorted by the	45
old green window panes it is better than doing nothing said dare cheerfully as the game went on i hope you don t dislike it not if it pleases you said de and the of this place does not extend further than the aisle wall doesn t it said de as he mechanically played out his cards what became of that box of books i sent you with my last well as i hadn t time to read them and as i knew you would not like them to be wasted i sold them to a who them from morning till night ah now you have lost a pony altogether how queer we ll double the so as i was saying just at the time the books came i got an of this important business and literature went to the wall important business what the capture of this lady to be sure de sighed impatiently i wish you were less calculating and had more of the impulse natural to your years game by jove you have lost again captain that makes let me see nine pounds fifteen to square us i owe you that said de startled it is more than i have in cash i must write another dare and never mind make it to yourself and our connection will be quite captain de did as requested and rose from his seat sir william though further off was still in the churchyard how can you hesitate for a moment about this girl said dare pointing to the bent figure of the old man think of the satisfaction it would be to him to see his son within the family walls again it should be a religion with you to compass such a legitimate end as this well well ru think of it said the captain with an impatient laugh you are quite a will i say it to my sorrow would that i were in your place would that you were fifteen years ago i might have called the chance a magnificent one but you are a young man still and you look younger than you are nobody knows our relationship and i am not such a fool as to it of course if through me you this splendid possession i should leave it to your feelings what you would do for me sir william had by this time cleared out of the churchyard and the pair emerged from the and departed proceeding towards by the same bye path they presently came to an eminence covered with bushes of and of from this point a good view of the woods and about castle could be obtained dare stood still on the top and stretched out his finger the captain s eye followed the direction and he saw above a the many foliage in the middle distance the towering keep of s castle that s the goal of your ambition captain ambition do i say most righteous and dutiful endeavour how the shape catches the sunlight it is the d of the landscape and its possession is by a thousand hearts surely it is an hereditary desire of yours you must make a point of returning to it and appearing in the map of the future as in that of the past i delight in this work of encouraging you and pushing you forward towards your own you are really very clever you know but i say it with respect how comes it that you want so much waking up because i know the day is not so bright as it seems my boy however you make a little mistake if i care for anything on earth i do care for that old fortress of my forefathers i respect so little among the living that all my reverence is for my own dead but even for my own as you call it is not in my line it is distasteful it is positively hateful to me well well let it stand thus for the present but will you refuse me one little request merely to see her i ll contrive it so that she may not see you don t refuse me it is the one thing i ask and i shall think it hard if you deny me oh will said the captain wearily why will you plead so no even though your mind is particularly set upon it i cannot see her or bestow a thought upon her much as i should like to gratify you dare and chapter vi when they had parted dare walked along towards with resolve on his mouth and an light in his prominent black eye could any person who had heard the previous conversation have seen him now he would have found little difficulty in that notwithstanding de s the of captain de in the castle and the possible and of himself was still the dream of his brain even should any legal settlement or offspring to the extreme development of his projects there was abundant opportunity for his two conditions were imperative de must see before s return and it was necessary to have help from even if it involved letting him know all whether already knew all was a nice question for mr dare s luminous mind had had opportunities of reading his secret particularly on the night they occupied the same room if so by revealing it to might utterly blast his project for the marriage then was at all risks to be retained as an ally yet dare would have preferred a stronger check upon his than was afforded by his own knowledge of that letter and the competition trick for were the competition lost to him a would have no further interest in miss power would as soon as not let her know the secret of de s relation to him dare in	45
her head besides i don t always go there with her oh no i couldn t remained so firm at this point that dare said no more when he had left her he returned to the castle grounds and though there was not much light he had no difficulty in discovering the the outside of which he had observed before without thinking to inquire its purpose like the in other parts of the it was constructed of wood the between the being filled up with short of fir nailed dare even when without a settled plan in his head could arrange for and out one of the he looked inside it seemed to be a simple apartment fitted up with ropes with a little dressing closet at one end and lighted by a or lantern in the roof dare replaced the wood and went on his way was smoking on his when dare passed up the street he held up his hand since you have been gone said the hit upon something that may help you in exhibiting your lady to your gentleman in the summer i had orders to design a for her which i did and they say she is very clever on the ropes and bars now i ve discovered it i shall contrive for him to see her there on the first wet morning which is when she what made her think of it as you may have heard she holds advanced views on social and other matters and in those on the higher dare and education of women she is very strong talking a good deal about the physical training of the whom she or did every philosopher and man of science who his theories in the monthly has a devout listener in her and this subject of the physical development of her sex has had its turn with other things in her mind so she had the place built on her very first arrival according to the latest lights on and in imitation of those at the new for women how clever of the girl she means to live to be a hundred a chapter vii the wet day arrived with all the that might have been expected of it in this land of rains and mists the bushes behind the leaf upon leaf added to this being the of the shallow stream a little way off producing a sense of in watery sound though there was in the open the rain here in the thicket was comparatively slight and two men with fishing tackle who stood beneath one of the larger bushes found its boughs a sufficient shelter we may as well walk home again as study nature here said the taller and elder of the twain i feared it would continue when we started the magnificent sport you speak of must rest for to day the other looked at his watch but made no particular reply come let us move on i don t like into other people s grounds like this de continued we are not anybody walks outside this fence he indicated an iron railing newly dividing the amid which they stood from the inner and well kept parts of the and against which the back of the was built light footsteps upon a gravel walk could be heard on the other side of the fence and a of and and umbrella figures were for a moment they vanished behind the and again nothing but the river murmurs and the clock like of the hush said dare no my boy said de suspiciously you should be above them and you should trust to my good sense captain dare remonstrated i have not indulged in a since the sixth year of my pilgrimage i have found them too to my interests well it is not too dry here and damp health you say have a pull for safety s sake he presented a to de the officer looked down at his garments i don t break my rule without good reason he observed i am afraid that reason exists at present i am afraid it does what have you got only a little wine what wine do try it i call it the that the poet describes as of and the country green dance and al song and sun burnt mirth de took the and drank a little it does it not too much said de with i have been taken unawares why it is three parts brandy to my taste you dare put away the wine now you are to see something he said a something what is it captain de regarded him with a puzzled look it is quite a curiosity and really worth seeing now just look in here the speaker advanced to the back of the building nd withdrew the wood from the wall will i believe you are up to some trick said de not however suspecting the actual truth in these circumstances and with a comfortable resignation produced by the potent liquor which would have been to an but which to one who had the history and relationship of the two would have worn a significance i am too big a fool about you to keep you down as i ought that s the fault of me worse luck he pressed the youth s hand with a smile went forward and looked through the hole into the interior of the dare withdrew to some little distance and watched captain de s face which presently began to change what was the captain seeing a sort of poem in a pink flannel costume was bending and in the air like a gold fish in its globe sometimes ascending by her arms nearly to the lantern then lowering herself till she swung level with the floor her aunt mrs and de were sitting on camp at one end watching her occasionally addressing them with such	45
an expression as now aunt look at me and you is not that shocking to your weak nerves when some feat would be repeated which however seemed to give much more dare and pleasure to herself in performing it than to mrs in looking on the latter sometimes saying oh it is terrific do not run such a risk again it would have demanded the poetic passion of some joyous l like lodge or to phrase s of herself at this moment of absolute to every muscular whim that could take possession of such a form the white ropes clung about the like as she took her exercise and the colour in her face deepened as she went on captain de felt that much as he had seen in early life of beauty in woman he had never seen beauty of such a real and living sort as this a bitter recollection of his vow together with a sense that to gaze on the festival of this was though so pretty a sight hardly fair or gentlemanly would have compelled him to withdraw his eyes had not the fascination of her appearance them there in spite of all and as if to complete the picture of grace and add the one thing wanting to the charm which bound him the clouds till that time thick in the sky broke away from the upper heaven and allowed the sun to pour down through the lantern upon her her with a warm light that was by her pink and and reflected in upon her face she only required a cloud to rest on instead of the green silk net which actually supported her figure for the moment to be quite save indeed that in place of haughty there sat on her countenance only the of an english girl dare had withdrawn to a point at which another je a path crossed the path occupied by de ing in a side direction he saw slowly up to him over the silent grass s knowledge of the appointment had brought him oat to see what would come of it when he dare bat was still partially hidden by the boughs horn the third of the party the former simply pointed to de upon which stood still and peeped at him is she within there he inquired dare nodded and whispered you need not have asked if you had examined his face s true a is beginning in him said dare half a purely process and when it is complete he will probably be dear and fiery and sparkling and quite another man than the good weak easy fellow that he was to precisely describe captain de r s look was impossible a sun rising in his face such was somewhat the effect by watching him they could almost see the aspect of her within the wall so accurately were her changing phases reflected in he seemed to forget that he was not alone and is this he murmured in the manner of one only half himself and is this the end of my vow was saying at this moment sleeps in this posture does he not the action to the word she flung out her arms behind her head as she lay in the green silk idly closed her pink and swung herself to and fro book the third de chapter i captain de was a changed man a hitherto well repressed energy was giving him motion towards long consequences his features were indeed to observation much the same as before though had a chosen to study them with the of an the universe he would doubtless have discerned abundant novelty in recent years de had been an easy melancholy officer and depressed by a parental affection quite beyond his control for the lad dare the of a shadowy period in de s youth who threatened to be the curse of his old age throughout a long space he had in his system of rigidly within himself all instincts towards the opposite sex with a resolution that would not have disgraced a much stronger man by this habit maintained with fair success a chamber of his nature had been preserved during many later years like the one solitary sealed up cell occasionally retained by bees in a of drained honey comb and thus though he had exhausted the relish of society of ambition of action and of his profession a the love force that he had kept alive was still a thing the sight of in the which the judicious dare had so carefully planned led up to and heightened by subtle on de s surprised soul with a almost on the evening of the self same day having dined as usual he retired to his rooms where he found a of wine awaiting him it had been sent and the account was paid he smiled grimly but no longer with in this he instantly recognised the of dare who having at last broken down the barrier which de had erected round his heart for so many years acted like a skilled and took swift measures to follow up the advantage so gained captain de knew himself conquered he knew he should yield to had indeed yielded but there was now in his solitude an hour or two of re action he did not drink from the bottles sent he went early to bed and lay tossing till far into the night thinking over the his had with the lapse of years unconsciously become the outward and visible sign to himself of his secret vows and a return to its opposite however mildly done signified with distinctness the formal acceptance of long but the exceeding freshness of his feeling for which by reason of its long arrest was that of a man far under thirty and was a wonder to himself every instant would not long brook	45
weighing in he wished suddenly to commit himself to de remove the question of retreat out of the region of debate the clock struck two and the wish became determination he arose and himself in his dressing gown went to the next room where he took from a shelf in the several large bottles which he carried to the window till they stood on the sill a goodly row there had been sufficient light in the room for him to do this without a candle now he softly opened the and the radiance of a moon riding in the opposite sky the apartment it fell on the of the captain s bottles revealing their contents to be simple waters for drinking de looked out and listened the guns that stood drawn up within the yard in the moonlight reaching them from over the wall there was an occasional stamp of horses in the stables also a measured tread of one or more at the gates one at the hospital one between the wings two at the magazine and others further off to his intention he drew the of the waters and each bottle one by one over the window sill heard its contents in a small stream on to the gravel below he then opened the which dare had sent one of the bottles he murmured to and drank a glass of the liquor a man again after eighteen years he said shutting the and returning to his bedroom the first result of his kindled interest in miss power was his saying to his sister the day after a the sight of i am for a word or two i said the other day weu i was rather to your friend miss power i don t think so were you yes when we were walking in the wood i made a stupid joke about her what does she know about me do you ever speak of me to her only in general terms what general terms you know well enough william of your and so on that you are a bit of a or at least a confirmed bachelor and have but little respect for your own family i wish you had not told her that with dissatisfaction but i thought you always liked women to know your principles said in injured tones and would particularly like her to know them living so near yes yes replied her brother hastily well i ought to see her just to show her that i am not quite a brute that would be very nice she answered putting her hands together in agreeable astonishment it is just what i have wished though i did not dream of suggesting it after what i have heard you say i am going to stay with her again to morrow and i will let her know about this don t tell her anything plainly for heaven s sake i really want to see the interior of the castle i have never entered its walls since my he raised de his eyes as he spoke to where the walls in question showed their faces over the trees you might have gone over it at any time h yes it is only recently that i have thought much of the place i feel now that i should like to examine the old building thoroughly since it w s for so many generations associated with our fortunes especially as most of the old furniture is still there my hitherto of all relating to our family has been i own stupid conduct for an intelligent being but impossible grapes are always sour and i have unconsciously adopted radical notions to disappointed hereditary instincts but these have a trick of re establishing themselves as one gets older and the castle and what it contains have a keen interest for me now it contains de s pulse which had been beating languidly for the last many years beat double at the sound of that name i meant furniture and pictures for the moment he said but i don t mind extending the meaning to her if you wish it she is the thing there so you have said before he might have added but never with the present effect upon me the castle and our family history have as much romantic interest for her as they have for you went on she delights in visiting our and and over them for hours indeed said de allowing his surprise to hide the satisfaction which accompanied it that should make us friendly does she see many people a not many as yet and she cannot have many staying there during the alterations ah yes the alterations didn t you say that she has had a london stopping there on that account what was he old or young he is a young man he has been to our house don t you remember you met him there what was his name mr oh that man yes yes i remember what your face is as red as a now i know a secret vainly endeavoured to hide her confusion very well not a word i won t say more continued de good except that he seems to be a very nice fellow de had turned the dialogue on to this little well preserved secret of his sister s with sufficient outward lightness but it had been done in instinctive concealment of the start with which he had recognised that dare s enemy whom he had in placing dare s portrait into the hands of the chief was a man beloved by his sister this novel circumstance might lead to a curious but he was to hear more he may be very nice replied with an effort after this silence but he is nothing to me more than a very good friend there s no engagement or thought of one between	45
you certainly there s not said with brave t e emphasis it is more likely to be between and him than me and him de s bare military ears and closely flushed hot miss power and him i don t mean to say there is because it but i mean that he loves that i do know de was dumb this item of news which dare had kept from him not knowing how far de s sense of honour might extend was decidedly grave indeed he was so greatly impressed with the fact that he could not help saying as much aloud this is very serious why she murmured for the first out of her tender and sworn secret had her quite because i love too what do you say william you a woman you have never seen i have seen her by accident and now my dear little you will be my close ally won t you as i will be yours as brother and sister should be he placed his arm round s shoulder oh william how can i at last she stammered why how can t you i should say we are both in the same ship i love you love mr it both of us to see that this of theirs ends in nothing i don t like you to put it like that that i love him it me murmured the girl visibly agitated i don t want to divide him from i couldn t i wouldn t do anything to separate them believe me will i could not i am sorry you love there a a also though i should be glad if it happened in the natural order of events that she should come round to you but i cannot do anything to part them and make mr suffer it would be too wrong and now you silly that s just how you women fly off at a i mean nothing in the least have i ever prompted you to do anything fair fighting was all i thought of miss de breathed more freely yes we will be that of course we are always that william but i hope i can be your ally and be quite i would so much rather well i suppose it will not be a breach of your precious if you get me invited to see the castle oh no she said brightly i don t mind doing such a thing as that why not come with me tomorrow i will say i am going to bring you there will be no trouble at all de readily agreed the instant effect upon him of the information now acquired was to his the was no doubt partly due to a perception that with a little more knowledge would have in his hands a card which could be played with disastrous effect against himself were his relationship to dare once discovered by in the latter s already manifested doubt of dare s personal character he would without question be stimulated by the heat of to disclose that relationship instantly nay and it added yet more excitement to de this game to know it though the pang was so much the greater dare s character was of a kind to justify such an exposure by any man of common without the of and to a lady of such as s this would probably mean her immediate from himself as an thing is miss power a severe or or is she a lady he asked abruptly she is severe and if you mean in her judgments on morals said not quite hearing the remark was peculiarly and de was silent he spent some following hours in a close study ot the castle history which till now had bored him more particularly did he dwell over documents and notes which referred to the of his own family he wrote out the names of all and they were many who had been bom within those walls since their first of those among them who had been brought thither by marriage with the owner and of stranger knights and gentlemen fewer yet more interesting in present circumstances who had entered the castle by marriage with its mistress he refreshed his memory on the strange loves and hates that had arisen in the course of the family history on memorable attacks and the dates of the same the most memorable among them being the occasion on which the party represented by battered down the castle walls that she was now about to mend and as he hoped return in their original shape to the family by marriage with himself its living representative i a in sir william s villa were small after many of the portraits in the castle galleries some of them hanging in the dining room in plain and others preserved in de spent much of his time over these and in getting up the of their lives from and other records all which stories were as great to him as they could possibly be to any stranger most interesting to him was the life of an edward de who had lived just before the civil wars and to whom captain de bore a very likeness this had a on his cheek black and distinct as a fly in cream and as in the case of the first lord s and earl of s nose the painter had faithfully the defect on canvas it so happened that the captain had a though not exactly on the same spot of his face and this made the resemblance still greater he took infinite trouble with his dress that day showing an amount of anxiety on the matter which for him was quite at last when fully equipped he set out with his sister to make the call proposed was rather unhappy at sight of her brother	45
s earnest attempt to make an impression on but she could say nothing against it and they proceeded on their way it was the darkest of november weather when the days are so short that morning seems to join with evening without the of noon the sky was lined with low cloud within whose dense substance were slowly for the coming days even now a windy troubled the de half naked boughs and a lonely leaf would occasionally spin downwards to on the grass the multitude of its comrades which had preceded it in its fall the river by the in the summer so clear and now slid brown and thick and silent and enlarged to double size a chapter ii meanwhile was alone of any one else it would have been said that she was finding the afternoon rather dreary in the vast halls not of her forefathers but of miss power it was to so surely she walked from room to room in a black velvet dress which gave decision to her outline without it of softness she occasionally clasped her hands behind her head and looked out of a window but she more particularly bent her footsteps up and down the long gallery where she had caused a large fire of logs to be kindled in her endeavour to extend cheerfulness somewhat beyond the of the sitting rooms tlie fire glanced up on and glanced down at the fire and at the fuel and at the wood which ran out from beneath the bark to the extremity of the logs as the heat approached them the low down ruddy light spread over the dark floor like the setting sun over a fluttering on the grotesque countenances of the bright and touching all the furniture on the she now and then crossed to one of the deep of the windows to some sentence from a letter she held in her hand the daylight would have been more than sufficient for any to discern that the in that letter were of the de peculiar semi type affected at the time by and other young of his school in their correspondence she was very possibly thinking of him even when not reading his letter for the expression of softness with which she the page was more or less with her when she appeared to examine other things she walked about for a little time longer then put away the letter looked at the clock and thence returned to the windows straining her eyes over the landscape without as she murmured i wish was not so long coming as continued to keep away became less reasonable in her desires and proceeded to wish that would arrive then that anybody would come then walking towards the portraits on the wall she asked one of those to oblige her fancy for company by stepping down from his frame the of the request led her to withdraw it almost as soon as conceived old paintings had been said to play queer tricks in extreme cases and the shadows this afternoon were enough for anything in the shape of revenge on an intruder who embodied modem spirit to such an extent as she however still stood before the picture which had attracted her and this by a coincidence common enough in fact though scarcely in happened to be that one of the century portraits of which de had studied the engraved copy at villa the same morning whilst she remained before the picture wondering her favourite wonder how would she feel if this and a y its accompanying were pictures of her own ancestors she was surprised by a light footstep upon the carpet which covered part of the room and turning quickly she beheld the smiling little figure of de what has made you so late said you are come to stay of course said she had come to stay but i have brought somebody with me whom my brother happened to be at home and i have brought him miss de s brother had been so absent from home in india or elsewhere so little spoken of and when spoken of so truly though unconsciously represented as one whose interests lay wholly outside this neighbourhood that to he had been a mere whom she had never distinctly to have him thus into substance at a moment s notice lent him the novelty of a new creation is he in the drawing room said in a low voice no he is here he would follow me i hope you will forgive him and then saw into the red beams of the dancing fire from behind a half drawn hanging which the door the military gentleman whose acquaintance the reader has already made you know the house doubtless captain de said somewhat when he had been presented to her i have never seen the inside since i was three de weeks old replied the officer gracefully and hence my recollections of it are not remarkably distinct a year or two before i was born the was cut off by my father and grandfather so that i saw the venerable place only to lose it at least i believe that s the truth of the case but my knowledge of the transaction is not profound and it is a delicate point on which to question one s father assented and looked at the interesting and noble figure of the man whose parents had seemingly themselves at the expense of him the pictures and furniture were sold about the same time i think said yes murmured de they went in a mad bargain of my father with his visitor as they sat over their wine my father sat down as host on that occasion and arose as guest he seemed to speak with such a courteous absence of regret for the that who was always fearing that the recollection would rise as a painful shadow between herself	45
and the de felt reassured by his de looked with interest round the gallery seeing which said she would have lights brought in a moment no please not said de the room and ourselves are of so much more interesting a colour by this light as they moved hither and thither the various expressions of de s face made themselves visible in the unsteady shine of the blaze in a short time he had drawn near to the painting oi the whom he so greatly resembled when a her quick eye noted the speck on the face of inherited traits strong pronounced a new and romantic feeling that the de had stretched out a from their tree to seize her by the hand and draw her in to their mass took possession of as has been said the de were a family on whom the hall mark of was deeply stamped and by the present light the representative under the portrait and the representative in the portrait seemed beings not far removed was continually starting from a reverie and speaking as if such reflections as those seized hold of her in spite of her natural when candles were brought in captain de contrived to make the pictures the theme of conversation from the nearest they went to the next whereupon as hostess took up one of the and held it aloft to light up the painting the being tall and heavy de relieved her of it and taking another candle in the other hand he slid into the position of rather than spectator thus he walked in advance holding the two candles on high his shadow forming a gigantic figure on the neighbouring wall while he the particulars of family history to each portrait that he had learnt up with such eager during the previous four and twenty i have often wondered what could have been the history of this lady but nobody has ever been able to tell me observed pointing to a which represented a beautiful woman wearing curls across her forehead a square cut and a heavy pearl upon the smooth expanse of her neck de i don t think anybody knows said oh yes replied her brother promptly seeing with enthusiasm that it was yet another opportunity for making capital of his acquired knowledge with which he felt himself as crammed as a candidate for a government examination that lady has been largely celebrated under a fancy name though she is comparatively little known by her own her parents were the chief ornaments of the almost court of charles the first and were not more distinguished by their politeness and honour than by the affections and virtues which constitute the great charm of private life the stock of the family was somewhat apparent in this but it much impressed his listeners and he went on to point out that from the lady s was suspended a portrait that of the man who broke his heart by her persistent refusal to encourage his suit de then led them a little further where hung a portrait of the lover one of his own family who appeared in full of plate mail the of his sword standing up under his elbow the gallant captain then related how this personage of his line the lady how after her marriage with another she and her husband visited the parents of the disappointed lover the then of the castle how in a fit of desperation at the sight of her he retired to his room where he composed some passionate verses which he wrote with his blood and after directing them to her ran himself through the body with his sword too late the lady s heart was touched by his devotion she was ever after a me a woman and wore his portrait despite her husband s this continued de leading them through the doorway into the hall where the coats of mail were arranged along the wall and stopping opposite a suit which bore some resemblance to that of the portrait this is his as you will perceive by comparing it with the picture and this is the sword with which he did the rash deed what unreasonable devotion said practically it was too romantic of she was not worthy of such a sacrifice he also is one whom they say you resemble a little in feature i think said do they replied de i wonder if it s true he set down the candles and asking the girls to withdraw for a moment was inside the upper part of the suit of in quick time going then and placing himself in front of a low hanging painting near the original so as to be enclosed by the frame while covering the figure arranging the sword as in the one above and setting the light tiiat it might fall in the right direction he recalled them when he put the question is the resemblance strong he looked so much like a man of times that neither of them replied but remained curiously gazing at him his modem and comparatively sallow complexion as seen through the open lent an ethereal to his appearance which the countenance of the original warrior totally lacked at last spoke so that she seemed a statue are the verses known that he wrote with his blood de oh yes they have been carefully preserved captain de with true s instinct had committed some of them to memory that morning from the printed copy i fear i don t remember them all he said but they begin in this way from one that in his discontent dear receive this greeting to thee sent and still as oft as it is read by thee then with some deep sad sigh remember o twas my fortune s error to vow to one that bears defiance in her i precious such is a that is and how well	45
time with the proceeding further than to bestow a now and then to give a colour to his regular presence in the fortress the actual work of taking copies being carried on by the younger man the weather was frequently wet during these operations and miss de and her brother were often in the house whole mornings together by constant urging and the latter would induce his gentle sister much against her conscience to leave him opportunities for speaking to alone it was mostly before some print or painting that these conversations occurred while de was occupied with its merits or in giving directions to his how to proceed as soon as the dialogue began the latter would withdraw out of leaving to imagine him the most young artist in the world you will soon possess of the whole gallery she said on one of these occasions examining some curled sheets which dare had printed off from the a i if a no said the soldier i shall not have patience to go on i get ill humoured and indifferent and then leave off why ill humoured i scarcely know more than that i acquire a general sense of my own family s want of merit through seeing how the people are around me i see them happy and without any necessity for me at all and then i regard these canvas and and ask why was a line so and out of date prolonged till now she him good for such views they will do you an injury she declared do spare yourself captain de de shook his head as he turned the painting before him a little further to the light but do you know said that notion of yours of being a family out of date is delightful to some people i talk to about it often i am never weary of examining those in the church and almost wish they were those of my relations i will try to see things in the same light for your sake said de fervently not for my sake for your own was what i meant of course she replied a air captain de bowed what are you going to do with your photographs when you have them she asked as if still anxious to the previous sentimental lapse i shall put them into a large and carry them with me in my and may i ask now i have an opportunity that you would extend your de permission to copy a little further and let me photograph one other painting that hangs in the castle to complete my set which that of a lady which hangs in the morning room i remember seeing it in the academy last year involuntarily closed herself up the picture was her own portrait it does not belong to your series she said somewhat coldly de s secret thought was i hope from my soul it will belong some day he answered with there is a sort of connection you are my sister s friend assented and hence might not your friend s brother photograph your picture a gentle sigh rose from the bosom of de what is to become of me he said with a light distressed laugh i am always and inclined to ask too much forgive me what was in my mind when i asked i dare not say i quite understand your interest in your family pictures and all of it she remarked more gently willing not to hurt the sensitive feelings of a man so full of romance and in that one he said looking at her if i had only been fortunate enough to include it with the rest my would indeed have been a treasure to pore over by the fire oh captain de this is provoking perseverance cried laughing half i ex a that after expressing my decision so plainly the first time i should not have been further urged upon the subject saying which she turned and moved away it had not been a productive meeting thus far one word said de following and almost dropping on one knee i have given offence i know but do let it all fall on my own head don t tell my sister of my she loves you deeply and it would wound her to the heart you deserve to be told upon said as she withdrew with just enough to show that her anger was not too serious looked at uneasily when the latter joined her in the drawing room she wanted to say what is the matter but that her brother had something to do with it to speak at first but she could not contain her anxiety long were you talking with my brother she said yes returned with however she soon added he not only wants to photograph his ancestors but my portrait too they are a dreadfully sex and perhaps being in the army makes them worse i ll give him a hint and tell him to be careful don t say i have definitely complained of him it is not worth while to do that the matter is too trifling for repetition upon the whole i would rather you said nothing at all de s of his ancestors seemed to become a perfect with him almost every morning discovered him in the larger apartments of the castle taking down and the i e pictures with the assistance of the indispensable dare his fingers stained black with dust and his face expressing a busy attention to the work in hand though always a look for the presence of thus much must be said for captain de that though there was something of there was no double in all this it is true that he took no particular interest in his portraits but he was of to weakness perhaps the composition of his love would hardly bear looking into but	45
captain de for showing me such an expedient do i really deserve thanks asked de with a meditative smile upon her i wish i deserved a reward but i must bear in mind the fable of the priest and the i never heard it the implored the priest for but the smallest sum was refused though the holy man readily agreed to give him his blessing its value how does it apply you give me unlimited thanks but deny me the substantial trifle i desire what exclaimed colouring very well if you will photograph my picture you must it is really not worthy further pleading take it when you like when was alone she seemed vexed with herself for having given way and rising from her seat she went quietly to the door of the room containing the picture intending to lock it up till further consideration whatever he might think of her but on casting her eyes round the apartment the painting was a gone the captain wisely taking the current when it served had it in the gallery where he was to be seen bending attentively over it arranging the lights and directing dare with the instruments on leaving he thanked her and said that he had obtained a splendid copy would she look at it was severe and icy thank you i don t wish to see it she said de bowed with civil reserve and departed in a glow of triumph satisfied notwithstanding her that he had his immediate aim which was that she might not be able to dismiss from her thoughts him and his desire for the shadow of her face during the next four and twenty hours and his confidence was well founded she could not i fear this divine comedy will be a slow business for us captain said dare who had heard her cold words oh no said de flushing a little he had not been perceiving that the lad had the measure of his mind so entirely as to his position at any moment but he would show no even if it is my boy he answered there s plenty of time before the other can come at that hour and minute of de s remark the other to look at him seemed indeed securely he was sitting lonely in his chambers far away wondering why she did not write and yet hoping to hear wondering if it had all been but a short lived strain of tenderness he knew as well as if it had been stated in words that her serious acceptance of de him as a would be her acceptance of him as an that her in love would be expressed in terms of art and that her refusal of him as a lover would be neatly effected by her choosing s plans for the castle conveying to him the news that his design was deemed less suitable than the other and returned with thanks the position was so clear he was so well walled in by the shape of circumstances that he was absolutely helpless to wait for the line that would not come the letter saying that as she had desired his was the de sign that pleased her was still the only thing to do the to surprising accident that the committee of should have pronounced the designs absolutely equal in point of merit and thus have caused the final choice to after all to had been a joyous thing to him when he first heard of it full of confidence in her favour but the fact of her having again become the though it had made acceptance of his plans all the more probable made re of them should it happen all the more crushing he could have conceived himself favoured by as her lover even had the committee decided in favour of as her but not to be chosen as now was to be rejected in both kinds a chapter iv it was the sunday following the funeral of mrs news of whose death had been so unexpectedly brought to her husband at the moment of his exit from castle the minister as was his custom improved uie occasion by a couple of sermons on the uncertainty of life one was preached in the morning in the old chapel of the second at evening service in the little rural chapel near castle built by s father which bore to the first somewhat the of an chapel of ease to the mother church the lights blazed through the windows of the smaller building and the stars of the early night just as they had done when was attracted by their glare four months before the minister s equalled its force on that more romantic occasion but was not there she was not a attendant now at her father s building the mysterious with its dark waters that had so her at the last moment was over a table stood on its centre with an open bible upon it behind which in a new suit of black sat in a large chair held the office of and he had mechanically taken the s seat as usual to night in the face of the congregation and under the nose of mr de mr was always glad of an opportunity he was gifted with a burning natural eloquence which though perhaps a little too freely employed in exciting the of the had in it genuine power he was a master of that which no of knowledge can repress and which no training can impart the neighbouring could and the at the comer shop in could his logic but the could do in five minutes what neither of these had done in a lifetime he could move some of the hardest of men to tears thus it happened that when the sermon was fairly under way began to feel himself in a	45
trying position it was not that he had bestowed much affection upon his deceased wife woman as she had been but the suddenness of her death had shaken his nerves and mr s address on the uncertainty of life involved considerations of conduct on earth that bore with singular upon s for victory in the castle competition he wished he had not been so as to take his customary chair in the chapel people who saw s agitation did not know that it was most largely owing to his sense of the fraud which had been practised on the and when unable longer to endure the torture of s words he rose from his place and went into the chapel the preacher little thought that remorse for a unfair act rather than grief for a dead wife was the cause of the s when got into the open air his morbid excitement down but a sickening self a for the proceeding by dare did not to appropriate another man s design was no more nor less than to his money or steal his goods the intense reaction from his conduct of the past two or three months did not leave him when he reached his own house and observed where the of the sale had been torn down as the result of the pa n made in advance by of money which should really have been s the mood went on when he was in bed he lay awake till the clock reached those still small ghastly hours when the vital fires bum at their lowest in the human frame and death more of his victims than in any other of the twenty four could bear it no longer he got a light went down into his office and wrote the note madam the recent death of my wife a considerable change in my professional arrangements and plans with regard to the future one of the chief results of the change is i regret to state that i no longer find myself in a position to carry out the of the castle which you had so generously to my hands i beg leave therefore to resign all further connection with the same and to express if you will allow me a hope that the commission may be placed in the hands of the other is returned a for one half of the sum so kindly advanced in anticipation of the commission i should receive the other half with which i had cleared off my immediate before perceiving the necessity for this de jl course shall be returned to you as soon as some from other drop in i beg to remain madam your obedient servant james would not trust himself till the morning to post this letter he sealed it up went out with it into the street and walked through the sleeping town to the post office at the mouth of the box he held the letter long by dropping it he was dropping at least two thousand five hundred pounds which however obtained were now securely his it was a great deal to let and there he stood till another wave of conscience bore in upon his soul the absolute nature of the and made him shudder the footsteps of a solitary policeman could be heard him along the deserted street hesitation ended and he let the letter go when he awoke in the morning he thought over the circumstances by the cheerful light of a low eastern sun the horrors of the situation seemed much less formidable yet it cannot be said that he actually regretted his act later on he walked out with the strange sense of being a man who from one having a large professional undertaking in hand had by his own act suddenly reduced himself to an from the upper end of the town he saw in the distance the grand grey towers of castle over the trees he felt at what he had done and said to himself with bitter discontent well well what is more contemptible than a half hearted rogue that morning the post bag had been brought to a and mrs in the usual way and miss power read the letter his resignation was a surprise the question whether he would or would not repay the money was passed over the necessity of after all as sole was an agitation or emotion the precise nature of which it is impossible to accurately define however she went about the house after breakfast with very much the manner of one who had had a weight removed either from her heart or from her conscience moreover her face was a little flushed when in passing by s late she saw the plans bearing his motto and knew that his and not s would be the presence in the coming turmoil she went on further and called to who was now regularly sleeping in the castle to accompany her and together they ascended to the telegraph room in the tower whom are you going to telegraph to said miss de when they stood by the instrument my mr mr miss de had her emotions on that side cruelly well and she asked calmly what have you chosen him after all there is no choice in it read that said handing letter as if she felt that providence had stepped in to shape ends that she was too or to shape for herself it is very strange murmured while applied herself to the machine and despatched the words de miss power castle to g esq jf s a fm j b a queen ann s chambers st s four design ts accepted in its it will he necessary to begin soon i shall wish to see and consult you on the matter about the loth instant when the message was fairly gone out of the window seemed still further to the strange	45
spell cast over her by something or other probably the presence of de and the weird of his manner towards her which was as if the historic past had touched her with a yet living hand in a great measure became dissipated leaving her the arch and serene maiden that she was before about this time captain de and his were approaching the castle and had arrived about fifty paces from tiie spot at which it was dare s custom to drop behind his companion in order that their appearance at the lodge should be that of master and man dare was saying as he had said before i can t help captain that your approach to this castle and its mistress is by a very tedious system your and may be all very well and a very sure system of attack in the long run but upon my soul they are almost as slow in as those of uncle himself for my part i should be inclined to try an assault don t pretend to give advice on matters beyond your years i only meant it for your good and your proper advancement in the world said dare in wounded tones a i lo a different characters different systems returned the captain this lady is of a independent complicated disposition and any sudden proceeding would put her on her you don t dream what my impatience is my boy it is a thing your utmost but i proceed slowly i know better than to do otherwise thank god there is plenty of time as long as there is no risk of s return my situation is sure and professional etiquette will prevent him coming yet and he will be like the men in the weather house when walks out he ll walk in and not a moment before that will not be till eighteen months have passed and as the said time and i against any two now drop to the rear added captain de and they passed under the walls of the castle the grave fronts and were wrapped in silence so much so that standing awhile in the inner ward they could hear through an open window a faintly sound from within she s at the telegraph said dare throwing forward his voice softly to lie captain what can that be for so early that wire is a nuisance to mind such constant intercourse with the outer world is bad for our romance the speaker entered to arrange his apparatus of which in truth he was getting and de smoked on the terrace till bare should be ready while he waited his sister looked out upon him from an upper having caught sight of him as she came from in the telegraph room de well what news this morning he said gaily nothing of importance we are quite well she added with hesitation there is one piece of news mr but perhaps you have heard it in nothing mr has resigned his appointment as to the castle what who has it then mr she faltered appointed yes by telegraph when is he coming said de in consternation about the tenth we think was concerned to see her brother s face and withdrew from the window that he might not question her further de went into the hall and on to the gallery where dare was standing as still as a i have heard every word said dare well what does it mean has that fool done it on purpose to annoy me what conceivable reason can the man have for throwing up an appointment he has worked so hard for at the moment he has got it and in the time of his greatest need dare guessed for he had seen a little way into soul during the brief period of their but he was veiy far from saying what he guessed yet he unconsciously revealed by other words the shades in his character which had made that possible i ij a coming after all he replied by god that little six friend of mine and a good resolution and he would never arrive what said captain de with horror as he looked at the other and gathered his sinister meaning dare instantly recollected himself one is tempted to say anything at such a moment he replied hastily since he is to come let him come for me continued de with distinctness and still gazing gravely into the young man s face the battle shall be fairly fought out fair play even to a rival remember that my boy why are you here concerning yourself with the passions of a man of my age as if you were the parent and i the son would to heaven you had done as i wished you to do and led the life of a steady thoughtful young man instead of here you should now have been in some college or professional man s chambers engaged in a useful pursuit which might have made one proud to own you but you were so and and this is what you have come to you promise to be worthless i think i shall go to my lodgings to day instead of staying here over these pictures said dare after a silence during which captain de endeavoured to calm himself i was going to tell you that my dinner to day will unfortunately be one of for want of the needful i have come to my last you dine at the mess i suppose captain de had walked away but dare knew that he played a pretty card in that speech de de s heart could not withstand the suggested contrast between a lonely meal of bread and cheese and a well ordered dinner amid cheerful companions here he said his pocket and returning to the lad s side take this and order	45
yourself a good meal you keep me as poor as a crow there shall be more to morrow the peculiarly nature of captain de a as shown in his conduct at different times was some thing rare in life and perhaps happily so that i mechanical of black and white qualities without on which the theory of men s characters was based by moral before the rise of modem schools as it was in general application would have almost hit off the truth as regards captain de removed to some half known century his deeds would have won a of light and shade that might made him a fascinating subject for some gallery of illustrious historical personages it was this tendency j to moral work which accounted for his varied bearings towards dare dare withdrew to take his departure when he had gone a few steps he suddenly turned and ran back with some excitement captain he s coming on the tenth don t they say well four days before the tenth comes the sixth have you forgotten what s fixed for the sixth i had quite forgotten that day will be worth three months of quiet attentions with luck skill and a bold heart what t you do a captain de s face softened with satisfaction there is something in that the game is not up after all the sixth it had gone clean out of my head by de chapter v the cheering message from to sped through the of castle keep over the trees along the railway under bridges across three from extreme antiquity of to sheer and finally landed itself on a table in s chambers in the midst of a cloud of fog he read it and in the moment of reaction from the depression of his past days clapped his hands like a child then he considered the date at which she wanted to see him had she so her despatch he would have gone that very day but there was nothing to complain of in her giving him a week s notice pure maiden modesty might have checked her indulging in a too ardent recall time however dragged somewhat heavily along in the and on the second day he thought he would call on his father and tell him of his success in obtaining the appointment the elder mr lived in a detached house in the north west part of fashionable london and ascending the chief staircase the young man off from the first landing and entered his father s painting room it was an hour when he was pretty sure of finding the well known painter at work and on lifting the he was not disappointed mr a being busily engaged with his back towards the door art and nature were struggling like in that apartment and art was getting the worst of it the overpowering gloom the air rendered still more intense by the height of the window from the floor reduced all the pictures that were standing around to the of on end the shadowy parts of the room behind the different were veiled in a brown all estimate of the extent of the and only subdued in the by the ruddy glare from an open stove of dutch s footsteps had been so noiseless over the of the stairs and landing that his father was unaware of his presence he continued at his work as before which he performed by the help of a complicated apparatus of lamps candles and so arranged as to out the miserable daylight to a power apparently sufficient for the touches on which he was at that moment engaged the first thought of an stranger on entering that room could only be the amazed inquiry why a professor of the art of colour which beyond all other arts requires pure daylight for its exercise should fix himself on the single square league in europe to which light is denied at for weeks in succession oh it s you george is it said the turning from the lamps which shone over his bald crown at such a as to reveal every how are you this morning still a dead silence about your grand castle competition r de told the news his father duly congratulated him and added it is well to be you george one large commission to attend to and nothing to you from it i am by having a dozen irons in the fire at once and people are so unreasonable only this morning among other things when you got your order to go on with your single study i received a letter from a woman an old friend whom i can scarcely refuse begging me as a great favour to design her a set of theatrical in which she and her can perform for some charity it would occupy me a good week to go into the subject and do the thing properly such are the sort of letters i get i wish george you could knock out something for her before you leave town it is positively impossible for me to do it with all this work in hand and these eternal to contend against i fear are rather out of my line said his son however fu do what i can what period and country are they to represent s father did not know he had never looked at the play of late years it is love s labour s lost he said you had better read it for yourself and do the best you can during the morning junior found time to refresh his memory of the play and afterwards went and hunted up materials for designs to suit the same which occupied his spare hours for the next three days as these occupations made no great demands upon his reasoning faculties he mostly found his mind wandering off to imaginary scenes at castle	45
ng of the that overlook our beautiful or on the particular occasion of which i have to speak this building stood as it had often stood before in the perfect silence of a calm clear night lighted only by the cold shine of the stars the season was winter in days long ago the last century having run but little more than a third of its length north south and west not a was not a curtain eastward one window on the upper floor was open and a girl of twelve or thirteen was leaning over the sill that she had not taken up the position for purposes of observation was apparent at a glance for she kept her eyes covered with her hands the room occupied by the girl was an inner one of a to be reached only by passing through a large bed chamber adjoining from this apartment voices in were audible everything else in the a group of noble ing being so still it was to avoid listening to these voices that the girl had left her little cot thrown a cloak round her head and shoulders and stretched into the night air but she could not escape the conversation try as she would the words reached her in all their one sentence in masculine tones those of her father being repeated many times i tell ee there shall be no such i tell ee there sha n t a child like her she knew the subject of dispute to be herself a cool feminine voice her mother s have done with you and be wise he is willing to wait a good five or six years before the marriage takes place and there s not a man in the county to compare with him it shall not be he is over thirty it is wickedness he is just thirty and the best and finest man alive a perfect match for her he is poor but his father and elder brothers are made much of at court none so constantly at the palace as they and with her fortune who knows he may be able to get a i believe you are in love with en yourself how can you insult me so thomas and is it not monstrous for you to talk of my wickedness when you have a uke scheme in your own head you know you have some of your own choosing some petty gentleman who lives down at that place of yours falls park one of your pot companions sons a group of noble i there was an outburst of on the part of her husband in of further argument as soon as he could utter a connected sentence he said you crow and you mistress because you are general here you are in your own house you are on your own land but let me tell ee that if i did come here to you instead of taking you to me it was done at the of convenience merely h i m no beggar i a place of my own ha n t i an avenue as long as thine ha n t i that will more than match thy oaks i should have lived in my own quiet and land contented if you had not called me off with your airs and graces faith go back there fu not stay with thee longer if it had not been for our i should have gone long ago after this there were no more words but presently hearing the sound of a door opening and shutting below the girl again looked from the window footsteps on the gravel walk and a shape in a easily as her father withdrew from the house he moved to the left and she watched him down the long east front till he had turned the comer and vanished he must have gone round to the stables she closed the window and shrank into bed where she cried herself to sleep this child their only one beloved by her mother and with by her father was frequently made wretched by such as this though she was too young to care very deeply for her own sake whether her mother her to the gentleman discussed or not a group of noble the squire had often gone out of the house in this manner declaring that he would never return but he had always reappeared in the morning the present occasion however was different in the issue next was told that her father had ridden to his estate at falls park early in the morning on business with his agent and might not come back for some days falls park was over twenty miles from king s court and was altogether a more modest to a more modest possession than the latter but as squire came in view of it that february morning he thought that he had been a fool ever to leave it though it was for the sake of the greatest in its classic front of the period of the second charles derived from its regular features a dignity which the great mansion of his wife could not altogether he was sick at heart and the gloom which the park threw over the scene did not tend to remove the depression of this man of forty who sat so heavily upon his the child his darling there lay the root of his trouble he was unhappy when near his wife he was unhappy when away from his little girl and from this there was no practicable escape as a consequence he indulged rather freely in the pleasures of the table became what was called a three bottle man and in his wife s estimation less and less to her polite friends from town he was received by the two or three old servants who were in charge of the lonely place	45
at home when the cat s away said the squire they arrived and there were indications in their manner that they meant to make a night of it of castle was late and they waited a quarter of an hour for him he being one of the pf friends without whose presence no such dinner as this would be considered complete and it may be added with whose presence no dinner which ed both sexes could be conducted with strict propriety he had just returned from london and the squire was anxious to talk to him for no definite reason but he had lately breathed the atmosphere in which was at length they heard driving up to the door whereupon the host and the rest of his guests crossed over to the dining room in a moment came hastily in at their heels for his i only came back last night you know he said a group f and the truth b i i i i had as as i carry he turned to the squire well so cunning has stolen your little lamb ha ha what said squire across the dining table round which they were all standing the cold march sunlight in his full face surely th st know what all the town knows had a letter by this time tha t has married your yes as fm a living man it was a arranged thing they parted at once and are not to meet for five or six years but i you must know a on the floor was the only reply of the squire they quickly turned he had fallen down like a log behind the table and lay motionless on the oak boards those at hand hastily bent over him and the whole group were in confusion they found him to be quite unconscious though puffing and panting like a blacksmith s his face was livid his veins swollen and beads of perspiration stood upon his brow happened to him said several an fit said the doctor from gravely he was only called in at the court for small as a rule and felt the importance of the situation he lifted the squire s head loosened his ci and clothing and rang for the servants who took the squire upstairs there he lay as if in a sleep the surgeon drew a basin of blood from him but it was nearly six o clock before he came to himself the dinner was a of noble z a group of noble completely and some had gone home long ago but two or three remained bless my soul kept repeating i didn t know things had come to this pass between and his lady i thought the feast he was spreading to day was in honour of the event though privately kept for the present his little maid married without his knowledge as soon as the squire recovered consciousness he gasped tis tis a capital he can be hung where is i am very well now what have ye heard the bearer of the news was unwilling to further and would say little more at first but an hour after when the squire had partially recovered and was sitting up told as much as he knew the most important particular being that s mother was present at the marriage and showed every mark of approval everything appeared to have been done so regularly that i of course thought you knew all about it he said i knew no more than the dead that such a step was in the wind a child not yet thirteen how sue hath me did go up to london with em d ye know i can t say all i know is that your lady and daughter were walking along the street with the footman behind em that they entered a s shop where re was standing and that there in the presence o the and your man who was called in on purpose your said to so the goes my soul i don t for the truth a group of noble of it she said will you many me or i want to many you will you have me now or never she said what she said means nothing murmured the squire with wet eyes her mother put the words into her mouth to avoid the serious consequences that would attach to any suspicion of force the words be not the child s she didn t dream of marriage how should she poor little maid go on well be that as it will they were all agreed apparently they bought the ring on the spot and the marriage took place at the nearest church within hour a day or two later there came a letter from mrs to her husband written before she knew of his stroke she related the circumstances of the marriage in the manner and gave reasons and excuses for to the premature union which was now an accomplished fact indeed she had no idea till sudden pressure was put upon her that the contract was expected to be carried out so soon but being taken half unawares she had consented learned that now their son in law was becoming a great favourite at court and that he would in all have a title granted him before long no harm could come to their dear daughter by this early marriage contract seeing that her life would be continued under their own eyes exactly as before for some years in fine she had felt that no other such fair opportunity for a good marriage with a shrewd and wise man of the world who was at the sam time noted for his excellent personal qualities a group of was within the range of probability owing to the lives they led at king s hence she had yielded to s	45
and hoped her husband would forgive her she wrote in short like a woman who having had her way as to the deed is prepared to make any concession as to words and subsequent behaviour all this took at its true value or rather perhaps at less than its true value as his life depended upon his not getting into a passion he controlled his emotions as well as he was able going about the house sadly and utterly unlike his former self he took every precaution to prevent his wife knowing of the incidents of his sudden illness from a sense of shame at having a heart so tender a ridiculous quality no doubt in her eyes now that she had become so with town ideas but of his somehow reached her and she let him know that she was about to return to nurse him he thereupon packed up and went off to his own place at falls park here he lived the life of a for some time he was still too to entertain company or to ride to hounds or but more than this his aversion to the faces of strangers and acquaintances who knew by that time of the trick his wife had played him to hold him aloof nothing could influence him to censure for her share in the he never once believed that she had acted voluntarily anxious to know how she was getting on he despatched the servant to close to king s a group of noble his journey so that he should reach the place under cover of dark the arrived without notice being out of livery and took a seat in the chimney comer of the sow and the conversation of the in was always of the nine days wonder the recent marriage the smoking listener learnt that mrs and the girl had returned to king s for a day or two that had set out for the continent and that had since been packed to school she did not her position as s child wife so the story went and though somewhat awe stricken at first by the ceremony she had soon recovered her spirits on finding that her fi was in no way to be interfered with after that formal messages began to pass between and his wife the latter being now as as she was formerly but her rustic simple husband still held personally aloof her wish to be reconciled to win his forgiveness for her moreover a genuine tenderness and desire to soothe his sorrow which up in her at times brought her at last to his door at falls park one day they had not met since that night of before her departure for london and his subsequent illness she was shocked at the change in him his face had become as blank as that of a and what troubled her still more was that she found him living in one room and indulging freely in in absolute to the physician s order hie fact was obvious that he could no longer be allowed to live thus a group of noble so she and begged his pardon and but though after this date there was no longer such a complete as before they only occasionally saw each other for the most part making falls his still three or four years passed thus then she came one day with more animation in her manner and at once moved him by th simple statement that s had ended she had returned and was grieved because he was away she had sent a message to him in these words ask father to come home to his dear ah then she is very unhappy said squire his wife was silent tis that accursed marriage continued the squire still his wife would not dispute with him she is outside in the carriage said mrs gently yes why didn t you tell me out and there was the girl awaiting his forgiveness for she supposed herself no less than her to be imder his displeasure yes had left school and had returned to king s she was nearly seventeen and had developed to quite a young woman she looked not less a member of the household for her early which she seemed indeed to have almost forgotten it was like a dream to her that clear cold march day the london church with its gorgeous and green and the great organ in the west a group of noble gallery so different from their own little church in the of king s court the man of thirty to whose face she had looked up with so much awe and with a sense that he was rather ugly and formidable the man whom though they politely she had never seen since one to whose existence she was now so indifferent that if informed of his death and that she would never see him more she would merely have replied indeed s passions as yet still slept hast heard from thy husband lately said squire when they were indoors with an laugh of fondness which demanded no answer the girl and he noticed that his wife looked at him as the conversation went on and there were signs that would express sentiments that might do harm to a position which they could not alter mrs suggested that should leave the room till her father and herself had finished their private conversation and this did renewed his freely did you see how the sound of his name frightened her he presently added if you didn t i did what a future is in store for that poor little unfortunate o mine i tell ee sue twas not a marriage at all in morality and if i were a woman in such a position i shouldn t feel it as one she might without a sign of sin love	45
time now drawing nigh at which was expected to come and claim her he would have done so already but he had been put off by the earnest request of the young woman herself which accorded with that of her parents on the score of her youth had to their wishes in this respect the understanding between them having been that he would not visit her before she was eighteen except by the mutual consent of all parties but this could not go on much longer and there was no doubt from the tenor of his last letter that he would soon take possession of her whether or no to be out of the sound of this delicate discussion was accordingly sent downstairs and they soon saw her walking away into the looking very a group of noble pretty in her sweeping green gown and flapping hat with a feather on returning to the subject mrs found her husband s reluctance to reply in the affirmative to re s letter to be as great as ever she is three months short of eighteen he exclaimed tis too soon i won t hear of it if i have to keep him off sword in hand he shall not have her yet but my dear thomas she consider if anything should happen to you or to me how much better it would be that she should be settled in her home with him i say it is too soon he argued the veins of his forehead beginning to swell if he gets her this side o til challenge en take my oath on t i ll be back to king s in two or three days and not lose sight of her day or night she feared to him further and gave way assuring him in obedience to his demand that if should write again before he got back to fix a time for joining she would put the letter in her husband s hands and he should do as he chose this was all that required discussion privately and mrs went to call in hoping that she had not heard her father s loud tones she had certainly not done so this time mrs followed the path along which she had seen wandering but went a considerable distance without perceiving anything of her the squire s wife then turned round to proceed to the other side of the house by a short cut across the grass when to her surprise a group of noble q and consternation she beheld the object of her search sitting on the bough of a beside her being a young man whose arm was round her waist he moved a little and she recognized him as young alas then she was right the so called love was real what mrs called her husband at that moment for his folly in originally throwing the young people together it is not necessary to mention she decided in a moment not to let the lovers know that she had seen them she accordingly retreated reached the front of the house by another route and called at the top of her voice from a window for the first time since her marriage of the child doubted the wisdom of that step her husband had as it were been assisted by destiny to make his objection originally trivial a one she saw the outlines of trouble in the future why had interfered why had he insisted upon producing his man this then accounted for s pleading for whenever the subject of her husband s return was this accounted for her attachment to falls park possibly this very meeting that she had witnessed had been arranged by letter perhaps the girl s thoughts would never have strayed for a moment if her father had not filled her head with ideas of to her early union on the ground that she had been into it before she knew her own mind and she might have to meet her husband with open arms on the appointed day at length appeared in the distance in answer to the and came up pale but looking innocent a group of i of having seen a living soul mrs groaned in spirit at such in the child of her bosom this was the simple creature for whose development into womanhood they had all been so tenderly waiting a forward old enough not only to have a lover but to conceal his existence as as any woman of the world bitterly did the squire s lady regret that had not been allowed to come to claim her at the time he first proposed the two sat beside each other almost in silence on their journey back to king s such words as were spoken came mainly from and their formality indicated how much her mind and heart were occupied with other things mrs was far too a mother to openly on the matter that would be only flame the indispensable seemed to her to be that of keeping the treacherous girl under lock and key till her husband came to take her off her mother s hands that he would disregard opposition and come soon was her devout wish it seemed therefore a fortunate coincidence that on her arrival at king s a letter from was put into mrs s hands it was addressed to both her and her husband and courteously informed them that the writer had landed at and proposed to come on to king s in a few days at last to meet and off his darling if she and her parents saw no objection had also received a letter of the same tenor her mother had only to look at her face to see how the girl received the information she was as pale as a sheet a group of noble you must do your best to welcome him this time my dear	45
her mother said gently i you are a woman now added her mother severely and these must come to an end but my father oh i am sure he will not allow this i am not ready if he could only wait a year longer if he could only wait a few months longer oh i wish i wish my dear father were here i will send to him instantly she broke off abruptly and falling upon her mother s neck burst into tears saying o my mother have mercy upon me i do not love this man my husband the appeal went too straight to mrs heart for her to hear it unmoved yet things having come to this pass what could she do she was distracted and for a moment was on s side her original thought had been to write an affirmative reply to allow him to come on to king s and keep her husband in ignorance of the whole proceeding till he should arrive from falls on some fine day after his recovery and find everything settled and and living together in harmony but the events of the day and her daughter s sudden outburst of feeling had this intention was sure to do as she had threatened and communicate instantly with her father possibly attempt to fly to him moreover s letter was addressed to a and herself and she could not in conscience keep it from her husband i will send the letter on to your father instantly she replied soothingly he shall act entirely as he a or noble chooses and you know that will not be in opposition to your wishes he would ruin you rather you i only hope he may be well enough to bear the agitation of this news do you agree to this poor agreed on condition that she should actually witness the despatch of the letter her mother had no objection to offer to this but as soon as the had down the drive toward the highway mrs with s began to die out the girl s secret affection for young could not possibly be might communicate with him might even try to reach him ruin lay that way must be speedily in his proper place by s side she sat down and a private letter to which threw light upon her plan it is necessary that i should now tell you she said what i have never mentioned before indeed i may have signified the contrary that her father s objection to your joining her has not as yet been overcome as i personally wish to delay you no longer am indeed as anxious for your arrival as you can be yourself having the good of my daughter at heart no course is left open to me but to assist your cause without my husband s knowledge he i am sorry to say is at present ill at falls park but i felt it my duty to forward him your letter he will therefore be like to reply with a command to you to go back again for some months whence you came till the time he originally has d my advice is if you get such a letter to take no notice of it but to come a group of noble on hither as you had proposed letting me know the day and hour after dark if possible at which we may expect you dear is with me and i warrant ye that she shall be in the house when you mrs having sent away this of anybody next took steps to prevent her daughter leaving the court avoiding if possible to excite the girl s suspicions that she was under restraint but as if by had seemed to read the husband s approach in the aspect of her mother s face he is coming exclaimed the maiden not for a week her mother assured her he is then for certain well yes hastily retired to her room and would not be seen to lock her up and hand over the key to when he should appear in the hall was a plan charming in its simplicity till her mother found on trying the door of the girl s chamber softly that had already locked and bolted it on the inside and had given directions to have her meals served where she was by leaving them on a dumb waiter outside the door thereupon mrs noiselessly sat down in her which as well as her bed chamber was a passage room to the girl s apartment and she resolved not to her post night or day till her daughter s husband should appear which end she too arranged to breakfast dine and sup on the spot it was impossible now that should escape without her knowledge even if she had wished there being no other door to a group of noble a group of noble the chamber except one admitting to a small inner dressing room inaccessible by any second way but it was plain that the young girl had no thought of escape her ideas ran rather in the direction of she was prepared to stand a siege but scorned flight this at any rate rendered her secure as to how would contrive a meeting with her daughter while in such a humour that thought her mother must be left to his own ingenuity to discover had looked so wild and pale at the announcement of her husband s approaching visit that mrs somewhat uneasy could not leave her to herself she peeped through the an hour later lay on the sofa staring at the ceiling you are looking ill child cried her mother you ve not taken the air lately come with me for a drive made no objection soon they drove through the park towards the village the daughter still in the	45
strained strung up silence that had fallen upon her they left the park to return by another route and on the open road passed a cottage s eye fell upon the cottage window within it she saw a young girl about her own age whom she knew by sight sitting in a chair and propped by a pillow the girl s face was covered with scales which in the sun she was a from a disease whose at that period was a terror of which we at present can hardly form a conception an idea suddenly s a group of noble she glanced at her mother mrs had been looking in the opposite direction said that she wished to go back to the cottage for a moment to speak to a girl in whom she took an interest mrs appeared suspicious but observing that the cottage had no back door and that could not escape without being seen she allowed the carriage to be stopped ran back and entered the cottage emerging again in about a minute and her seat in the carriage as they drove on she fixed her eyes upon her mother and said there i have done it now her pale face was stormy and her eyes full of waiting tears what have you done said mrs is sick of the and i saw her at the window and i went in and kissed her so that i might take it and now i shall have it and he won t he able to come near me wicked girl cries her mother oh what am i to do what bring a on yourself and the sacred of god because you can t the man you ve wedded the alarmed woman gave orders to drive home as rapidly as possible and on arriving who was by this time also somewhat frightened at her own was put into a bath and and treated in every way that could be thought of to ward off the dreadful malady that in a rash moment she had tried to acquire there was now a double reason for the rebellious daughter and wife in her own chamber and there she accordingly remained for the rest of the day a group of noble and the days that followed till no ill results seemed likely to arise from her meanwhile the first letter from announcing to mrs and her husband that he was coming in a few days had sped on its ay to falls park it was directed under cover to the confidential servant with instructions not to put it into his master s hands till he had been refreshed by a good long sleep much regretted his commission letters sent in this way always disturbing the squire but that it would be infinitely worse in the end to withhold the news than to reveal it he chose his time which was early the next morning and delivered the the utmost effect that mrs had anticipated from the message was a order from her husband to to hold aloof a few months longer what the squire really did was to declare that he would go himself and at and have it out with him there by word of mouth but master said you can t you cannot get out of bed you leave the room and don t say can t before me have in an hour the long tried thought his employer so utterly helpless was his appearance just then and he went out reluctantly no sooner was he gone than the squire with great difficulty stretched himself over to a cabinet by the bedside unlocked it and took out a small bottle it contained a specific against whose use he had been repeatedly warned by his re a u of noble physician but whose warning he now cast to the winds he took a double dose and waited half an hour it seemed to produce no effect he then poured out a dose swallowed it back upon his pillow and waited the miracle he anticipated had been worked at last it seemed as though the second draught had not only with its own strength but had kindled into power the latent forces of the first he put away the bottle and rang up less than an hour later one of the who of course was quite aware that the squire s illness was serious was surprised to hear a bold and decided step descending the stairs from the direction of mr room accompanied by the of a tune she knew that the doctor had not paid a visit that morning and that it was too heavy to be the or any other man servant looking up she saw squire fully dressed descending toward her in his and boots with the swinging easy movement of his prime her face expressed her amazement what the devil looking at said the squire did you never see a man walk out of his house before his humming which was of a defiant sort he proceeded to the library rang the bell asked if the horses were ready and directed them to be brought round ten minutes later he rode away in the direction of behind him trembling at what these movements might they rode on through the pleasant and the monotonous straight lanes at an equal pace the a group of noble distance traversed might have been about fifteen miles when could perceive that the squire was getting tired as weary as he would have been after riding three times the distance ten years before however they reached without any and put up at the squire s accustomed inn almost immediately proceeded on foot to the inn which had given as his address it being now about four o clock had already dined for people dined early then and he was staying indoors he had already received mrs reply	45
to his letter but before acting upon her advice and starting for king s he made up his mind to wait another day that s father might at least have time to write to him if so minded the returned traveller much desired to obtain the squire s assent as well as his wife s to the proposed visit to his bride that nothing might seem harsh or forced in his method of taking his position as one of the family but though he anticipated some sort of objection from his father in law in consequence of mrs s warning he was surprised at the announcement of the squire in person formed the of possible to as they stood each other in the best parlour of the tavern the squire hot tempered impulsive generous reckless the younger man pale tall self possessed a man of the world fully bearing out at least one in his still in king s church which places in the of his good qualities engaging manners cultivated mind d by letters and in courts d a group of noble ft he was at this time about five and thirty though careful living and an even temperament caused him to look much younger than his years squire plunged into his errand without much ceremony or preface i am your humble servant sir he said i have read your letter writ to my wife and myself and considered that the best way to answer it would be to do so in person i am vastly honoured by your visit sir said mr bowing well what s done can t be undone said though it was mighty early and was no doing of mine she s your wife and there s an end on t but in brief sir she s too young for you to claim yet we mustn t reckon by years we must reckon by nature she s still a girl tis of ee to come yet next year will be full soon enough for you to take her to you now courteous as could be he was a little obstinate when his resolution had once been formed she had been promised him by her birthday at latest sooner if she were in robust health her mother had fixed the time on her own judgment without a word of interference on his part he had been hanging about foreign courts till he was weary was now a woman if she would ever be one and there was not in his mind the shadow of an excuse for putting him off longer therefore fortified as he was by the support of her mother he but firmly told the squire that he had been willing to his rights out of deference to her parents to any reasonable extent but must now in justice to himself and her insist a group of noble on maintaining them he therefore since she had not come to meet him should proceed to king s in a few days to fetch her this announcement in spite of the with which it was delivered set in a passion oh sir you talk about rights you do after stealing her away a mere child against my will and knowledge if we d begged and prayed ee to take her you could say no more upon my honour your charge is quite sir said his son in law you must know by this time or if you do not it has been a monstrous cruel injustice to me that i should have been allowed to remain in your mind with such a stain upon my character you must know that i used no or temptation of any kind her mother assented she assented took them at their word that you was really opposed to the marriage was not known to me till afterwards professed to believe not a word of it you have her till she s full no maid ought to be married till she s and my daughter sha n t be treated out of so he on till who had been listening in the next room entered suddenly declaring to that his master s life was in danger if the interview were prolonged he being subject to strokes at these immediately said that he would be the last to wish to injure squire and left the room and as soon as the squire had recovered breath and he went out of the inn leaning on the arm f a group of noble v was for sleeping in that night but whose energy seemed as invincible as it was sudden insisted upon mounting and getting back as far as falls park to continue the journey to king s on the following day at five they started and took the southern road toward the hills the evening was dry and windy and excepting that the sun did not shine strongly reminded of the evening of that march month nearly five years earlier when news had been brought to king s court of the child s marriage in london news which had produced upon such a marked effect for the worse ever since and indirectly upon the household of which he was the head before that time the were lively at falls park as well as at king s although the squire had ceased to make it his regular residence hunting guests and shooting guests came and went and open house was kept the clever who had put a stop to this by taking away from the squire the only treasure he valued it grew darker with their progress along the lanes and discovered from mr manner of riding that his strength was giving way and his own horse close alongside he asked him how he felt oh bad damn bad i can hardly keep my seat i shall never be any better i fear have we passed three	45
man yet not yet by a long ways sir i wish we had i can hardly hold on the squire could not repress a groan now and then and knew he was in great pain i wish i was that s the place for such fools as i td gladly be a group of noble there if it were not for mistress he s coming on to king s to morrow he won t put it off any longer he ll set out and reach there to morrow night without stopping at falls and he ll take her unawares and i want to be there before him i hope you may be well enough to do it sir but really i must you don t know what my trouble is it is not so much that she is married to this man without my agreeing for after all there s nothing to say against him so far as i know but that she don t take to him at all seems to him in fact cares nothing about him and if he comes forcing himself into the house upon her why be rank cruelty would to the lord something would happen to prevent him how they reached home that night hardly knew the squire was in such pain that he was to upon his horse and was afraid every moment lest he would fall into the road but they did reach home at last and mr was instantly assisted to bed next morning it was obvious that he could not possibly go to king s for several days at least and there on the bed he lay cursing his inability to proceed on an errand so personal and so delicate that no could perform it what he wished to do was to ascertain from s own lips if her aversion to re was so strong that his presence would be positively distasteful to her were that the case he would have borne her away bodily on the saddle behind him a group of noble but all that was now and he repeated a hundred times in s hearing and in that of the nurse and other servants i wish to god something would happen to him this sentiment by the squire as he tossed in the agony induced by the powerful of the day before entered sharply into the soul of and of all who were attached to the house of as distinct from the house of his wife at king s who was an man was hardly less by the thought of s return than the squire himself was as the week drew on and the afternoon advanced at which would in all probability be passing near falls on his way to the court the squire s became and the could hardly bear to come near him having left him in the hands of the doctor the former went out upon the lawn for he could hardly breathe in the of excitement caught from the employer who had made him his he had lived with the from his boyhood had been bom under the shadow of their walls his whole life was and to the life of the family in a degree which has no in these latter days he was summoned indoors and learnt that it had been decided to send for mrs her husband was in great danger there were two or three who could have acted as messenger but wished to go the reason showing itself when being ready to start squire summoned him to his chamber and leaned down so that he could whisper in his ear a group of noble put along smart and get there before him you know before him this is the day he fixed he has not passed falls cross roads yet if you can do that you will be able to get to come d ye see after her mother has started she ll have a reason for not waiting for him bring her by the lower road he ll go by the upper your business is to make em miss each other d ye see but that s a thing i couldn t write down five minutes after was the horse and on his way the way he had followed so many times since his master a young had first gone to king s court as soon as he had crossed the hills in the immediate neighbourhood of the the road lay over a plain where it ran in long straight stretches for several miles in the best of times when all had been gay in the united houses that part of the road had seemed tedious it was gloomy in the extreme now that he pursued it at night and alone on such an errand he rode and if the squire were to die he would be alone in the world and for he was no favourite with mrs and to find himself baffled after all in what he had set his mind on would probably kill the squire thinking thus stopped his horse every now and then and listened for the coming husband the time was drawing on to the moment when might be expected to pass along this very route he had watched the road well during the afternoon and had inquired of the tavern as he came up to each and he was convinced that the premature descent of the stranger a group of noble husband upon his young mistress had not been made by this highway as yet besides the girl s mother was the only member of the household who suspected s tender feelings towards young so unhappily on her return from school and he could therefore imagine even better than her fond father what would be her emotions on the sudden announcement of s advent that evening at king s	45
court so he rode and rode and hopeful by turns he felt assured that unless in the unfortunate event of the almost immediate arrival of her son in law at his own heels mrs would not be able tp hinder s departure for her father s bedside it was about nine o clock that having put twenty miles of country behind him he turned in at the gate nearest to and king s village and pursued the long north drive itself much like a road which led thence through the park to the court though there were so many trees in king s park few bordered the carriage he could see it stretching ahead in tlie pale night light like an deal presently the irregular of the house came in view of great extent but low except where it rose into the outlines of a broad square tower as approached he rode aside upon the grass to make sure if possible that he was the first comer before letting his presence be known the court was dark and sleepy in no respect as if a bridegroom were about to arrive while pausing he distinctly heard the tread of a a group of noble horse upon the track behind him and for a moment of arriving in time here surely was pulling up closer to the tree at hand he waited and found he had retreated nothing too soon for the second rider avoided the gravel also and passed quite close to him in the he recognized young before could think what to do had gone on but not to the door of the house to the left he passed round to the east angle where as knew were situated s apartments he left the horse to a hanging bough and walked on to the house suddenly his eye caught sight of an object which explained the position immediately it was a ladder stretching from beneath the trees which there came pretty close to the house up to a first floor window one which lighted miss s rooms yes it was s chamber he knew every room in the house well the young who had passed him having evidently left his somewhere under the trees also was perceptible at the top of the ladder immediately outside s window while watched a female figure stepped timidly over the sill and the two cautiously descended one before the other the young man s arms the young woman between his grasp of the ladder so that she could not fall as soon as they reached the bottom young quickly removed the ladder and hid it under the bushes the pair disappeared till in a few minutes could discern a horse emerging from a part of a group of noble the the horse carried double the girl being on a behind her lover hardly knew what to do or think yet though this was not exactly the kind of flight that had been intended she had certainly escaped he went back to his own animal and rode round to the servants door where he delivered the letter for mrs to leave a verbal message for was now impossible the court servants desired him to stay over the night but he would not do so desiring to get back to the squire as soon as possible and tell what he had seen whether he ought not to have the young people and carried off himself to her father he did not know however it was too late to think of that now and without his lips or a turned his back upon king s court it was not till he had advanced a considerable dis on his way homeward that halting under the lantern of a roadside inn while the horse was watered there came a traveller from the opposite direction in a hired coach the lantern lit the stranger s face as he passed along and dropped into the shade for the moment though he could hardly have justified his exultation the traveller was and another had stepped in before him you may now be willing to know of the fortunes of miss left much to herself through the intervening days she had ample time to brood over her desperate attempt at the of apparently by her mother s in what other way to gain time she could not think thus a group of noble drew on the day and the hour of the evening on which her husband was expected to announce himself at some period after dark when she could not tell a tap at the window twice and thrice repeated became audible it caused her to start up for the only in her mind was the one whose advances she had so feared as to risk health and life to them she crept to the window and heard a whisper without it is i said the voice s face fired with excitement she had begun to doubt her admirer s his love to be going off in mere attentions wliich neither committed him nor herself very deeply she opened the window sa in a joyous whisper oh i thought you had deserted me quite he assured her he had not done that and that he had a horse in waiting if she would ride off with him you must come quickly he said for s on the way to throw a cloak round herself was the work of a moment and assuring herself that her door was locked against a surprise she over the window sill and descended with him as we have seen her mother meanwhile having received s note found the news of her husband s illness so serious as to her thoughts of the coming son in law and she hastened to tell her daughter of the squire s dangerous condition thinking it might be desirable to take her to her father s bedside	45
on trying the door of the girl s room she found it still locked mrs called but there was no answer full of she privately fetched the old house steward and bade a of noble him burst open the door an order by no means easy to execute the of the court being constructed however the lock sprang open at last and she entered s chamber only to find the window and the bird flown for a moment mrs was staggered then it occurred to her that might have privately obtained from the news of her father s serious illness and fearing she might be kept back to meet her husband have gone off with that obstinate and to falls park the more she thought it over the more probable did the supposition appear and binding her own head man to secrecy as to s movements whether as she or otherwise mrs herself prepared to set out she had no suspicion how seriously her husband s malady had been by his ride to and thought more of s affairs than of her own that s husband should arrive by some other road tonight and find neither wife nor mother in law to receive him and no explanation of their absence was possible but never forgetting chances mrs as she kept her eyes fixed upon the highway on the off side where before she had reached the town of the hired coach containing flashed into the of her own carriage mrs s coachman pulled up in obedience to a direction she had given him at starting the other coach was hailed a few words passed and alighted and came to mrs s carriage window come inside says she i want to speak privately to you why are you so late i group of noble a group of noble one and another says he i meant to be at the court by eight at latest my gratitude for your letter i hope you must not try to see yet said she there be far other and reasons against your seeing her now than there were when i wrote the circumstances were such that mrs could not possibly conceal them entirely nothing short of knowing some of the facts would prevent his blindly acting in a manner which might be fatal to the future moreover there are times when deeper than mrs feel that they must let out a few truths if only in self indulgence so she told so much of recent surprises as that s heart had been attracted by another image than his and that his on visiting her now might drive the girl to desperation has in fact rushed off to her father to avoid you she said but if you wait she will soon forget this young man and you will have nothing to fear as a woman and a mother she could go no further and s desperate attempt to herself the week before as a means of him together with the alarming possibility that after all she had not gone to her father but to her lover was not revealed well sighed the in a tone unexpectedly quiet such things have been known before after all she may prefer me to him some day when she how very differently i might have acted than i am going to act towards her but i ll say no more about that now i can have a bed at your house for tonight a group of noble i to night certainly and you leave to morrow morning early she spoke anxiously for on no account did she wish him to make further discoveries my husband is so seriously ill she continued that my absence and s on your arrival is naturally accounted for he promised to leave early and to write to her soon and when i think the time is ripe he said i ll write to her i may have something to tell her that will bring her to it was about one o clock in the morning when mrs reached falls park a double blow awaited her there had not arrived her flight had been and her stricken mother divined with whom she ascended to the bedside of her husband where to her concern she found that the physician had given up all hope the squire was sinking and his extreme weakness had almost changed his character except in the particular that his old obstinacy sustained him in a refusal to see a clergyman he shed tears at the least word and sobbed at the sight of his wife he asked for and it was with a heavy heart that mrs told him that the girl had not accompanied her he is not keeping her away no no he is going back he is not coming to her for some time then what is her cruel maid no no thomas she is she could not come how s that somehow the solemnity of these last moments of his gave him power and the too cold a group of noble could not conceal from him the flight which had taken place from king s that night to her amazement the effect upon him was what a after all she s her father s own maid she s game she knew he was her father s own choice she vowed that my man should win well done bet he had raised himself in bed by starts as he spoke and now fell back exhausted he never uttered another word and died before the dawn people said there had not been such an death in a good county family for years now i will go back to the time of s riding off on the behind her lover they left the park by an obscure gate to the east and presently found themselves in the lonely and solitary length of the old	45
roman road now called long ash lane by this time they were rather alarmed at their own performance for they were both young and inexperienced hence they proceeded almost in silence till they came to a mean roadside inn which was not yet closed when who had held on to him with much all this while felt dreadfully and said she thought she would like to get down they accordingly dismounted from the animal that had brought them and were shown into a small dark parlour where they stood side by side awkwardly like the they were a light was brought and when they were left alone threw off the cloak which had enveloped her no sooner did young a group of noble see her face than he uttered an alarmed exclamation why lord lord you are sickening for the he cried oh i forgot faltered and then she informed him that on hearing of her husband s approach the week before in a desperate attempt to keep him from her side she had tried to the an act which till this moment she had supposed to have been ineffectual imagining her to be the result of her excitement the effect of this discovery upon young was overwhelming better men than he would not have been proof against it and he was only a little over her own age and youve been holding on to me he said and suppose you get worse and we both have it what shall we do won t you be a fright in a month or two poor poor in his horror he attempted to laugh but the laugh ended in a weakly she was more woman than girl by this time and realized his feeling what in trying to keep off him i keep off you she said miserably do you hate me because i am going to be ugly and ill oh no no he said soothingly but i i am thinking if it is quite right for us to do this you see dear if you was not married it would be different you are not in honour married to him said still you are his by law and you can t be mine whilst he s alive and with this terrible sickness coming on perhaps you had better let me take you back and climb in at the window again a group of noble is this your love said reproachfully oh if you was sickening for the plague itself and going to be as ugly as the in the church i wouldn t no no you mistake upon my but with a swollen heart had herself and gone out of the door the horse was still standing there she mounted by the help of the and when he had followed her she said do not come near me but please lead the horse so that if youve not caught j y already you ll not catch it going back after all what keeps off you may keep off him now onward he did not resist her command and back they went by the way they had come shedding bitter tears at the she had already brought upon herself for though she had reproached she was enough not to blame him in her secret heart for showing that his love was only skin deep the horse was stopped in the plantation and they walked silently to the lawn reaching the bushes wherein the ladder still lay will you put it up for me she asked mournfully he re erected the ladder without a word but when she approached to ascend he said good bye good bye said she and involuntarily turned her face towards his he hung back from the expected kiss at which started as if she had received a wound she moved away so suddenly that he hardly had time to follow her up the ladder to prevent her falling a group of noble tell your mother td get the doctor at once he said anxiously she stepped in without looking behind he descended withdrew the ladder and went away alone in her chamber flung herself upon her face on the bed and burst into shaking sobs yet she would not admit to herself that her lover s conduct was unreasonable only that her rash act of the previous week had been wrong no one had heard her enter and she was too worn out in body and mind to think or care about medical aid in an hour or so she felt yet more positively ill and nobody coming to her at the usual she looked towards the door marks of the lock having been forced were visible and this made her of a servant she opened the door cautiously and forth downstairs in the dining parlour as it was called the now sick and sorry was startled to see at that late hour not her mother but a man sitting calmly finishing his supper there was no servant in the room he turned and she recognized her husband where s my mamma she demanded without preface gone to your father s is that he stopped aghast yes sir this spotted object is your wife done it because i don t want you to come near me he was sixteen years her senior old enough to be compassionate my poor child you must get to bed directly don t be afraid of me i ll carry you upstairs and send for a doctor instantly ah you don t know what i am she cried i a group of noble had a lover once but now he s gone t who deserted him he has deserted me because i am ill he wouldn t kiss me though i wanted him to wouldn t he then he was a very poor sort of fellow never kissed you since you stood beside me as	45
my little wife twelve years and a half old may i kiss you now though by no means desired his kisses she had enough of the spirit of in s ballad to test his daring if you have courage to venture yes sir said she but you may die for it mind he came up to her and a deliberate kiss full upon her mouth saying may many others follow she shook her head and hastily withdrew though secretly pleased at his the excitement had supported her for the few minutes she had passed in his presence and she could hardly drag herself back to her room her husband summoned the servants and sending them to her assistance went off himself for a doctor the next morning waited at the court till he had learnt from the medical man that s attack promised to be a very light one or as it was expressed very fine and in taking his leave sent up a note to her now i must be gone i promised your mother i would not see you yet and she may be anger d if she finds me here promise to see me as soon as you are well he was of all men then living one of the best able to cope with such an situation as this a sagacious gentle man a philosopher a group of noble who saw that the only constant attribute of life is change he held that as long as she lives there is nothing in the most impassioned attitude a woman may take up in twelve months his girl wife s recent might be as distasteful to her mind as it was now to his own in a few years her very flesh would change so said the scientific her spirit so much more was capable of changing in one was his and it became a mere question of means how to that change during the day mrs having closed her husband s eyes returned to the court she was truly relieved to find there even though on a bed of sickness the disease ran its course and in due time became without having suffered deeply for her one little speck beneath her ear and one beneath her chin being all the marks she retained the squire s body was not brought back to king s where he was bom and where he had lived before wedding his sue there he had wished to be buried no sooner had she lost him than mrs like certain other wives though she had never shown any great affection for him while he lived awoke suddenly to his many virtues and embraced his opinion about s union with her husband which she had formerly poor man how right he was and how wrong was eighteen was certainly the lowest age at which mr should claim her child nay it was too low far too low so desirous was she of her lamented husband s sentiments in this respect that she wrote to her a group of noble son in law suggesting that partly on account of s sorrow for her father s loss and out of consideration for his known wishes for delay should not be taken from her till her nineteenth birthday however much or little might have been to blame in his marriage the patient man now almost deserved to be pitied first s now her mother s face it was enough to anybody and he wrote to the widow in a tone which led to a little coolness between those hitherto firm friends however knowing that he had a wife not to claim but to win and that young had been packed off to sea by his parents was to a degree returning to london and holding quite aloof from and her mother who remained for the present in the country in town he had a mild of the he had taken from and in writing to her he took care not to dwell upon its it was now that began to pity him for what she had inflicted upon him by the kiss and her correspondence acquired a distinct of kindness owing to his had grown to be truly in love with in his mild placid way in that way which perhaps upon the whole most generally to the woman s comfort under the institution of marriage if not particularly to her ecstasy mrs s exaggeration of her husband s wish for delay in their living together was inconvenient but he would not openly it he wrote tenderly to and soon announced that he had a little surprise in store for her the secret was that the king had been graciously a op noble pleased to inform him privately through a relation that his majesty was about to offer him a would she like the title to be moreover he had reason for knowing that in a few years the dignity would be raised to that of an earl for which creation he thought the title of would be eminently suitable considering the position of much of their property as lady therefore and future of he should beg leave to offer her his heart a third time he did not add as he might have added how greatly the consideration of the enormous estates at king s and elsewhere which would inherit and her children after her had to this desirable honour whether the impending titles had really any effect upon s regard for him i cannot state for she was one of those close characters who never let their minds be known upon anything that such honour was absolutely unexpected by her from such a quarter is however certain and she could not deny that had shown her kindness forbearance even had forgiven her for an passion which he might with some reason have notwithstanding her cruel position as a child into	45
usually occupied the more serious attention of the members this club was of an and character to a degree indeed remarkable for the part of england in which it had its being dear delightful whose are even now only just beginning to feel the shaking of the new and strange spirit without like that which entered the lonely valley of vision and made the dry bones move where the honest clerks and people still praise the lord with one voice for his best of all possible worlds a group of noble the present meeting which was to extend over two days had opened its proceedings at the museum of the town whose buildings and were to be visited by the members lunch had ended and the afternoon excursion had been about to be undertaken when the rain came down in an obstinate which revealed no sign of as the members waited they grew chilly although it was only autumn and a fire was lighted which threw a cheerful shine upon the coats of mail weapons and animated the and while the dead eyes of the stuffed birds those never absent in such though murdered to out of doors flashed as they had flashed to the rising sun above the neighbouring on the fatal morning when the was pulled which ended their little flight it was then that the historian produced his manuscript which he had prepared he said with a view to publication his delivery of the story having concluded as the speaker expressed his hope that the of the weather and the of more scientific papers would excuse any in his subject several members observed that a storm bound club could not presume to be and they were all very much obliged to him for such a curious chapter from the domestic histories of the county the president looked gloomily from the window at the descending rain and broke a short silence by saying that though the club had met there seemed httle probability of its being able to visit the objects of interest set down among th a group of the observed that they had at least a roof over their heads and they had also a second day before them a sentimental member leaning back in his chair declared that he was in no hurry to go out and that nothing would please him so much as another county story with or without manuscript the colonel added that the subject should be a lady uke the former to which a gentleman known as the spark said hear hear though these had spoken in jest a rural dean who was present observed that there was no lack of materials many indeed were the legends and tions of gentle and noble renowned in times past in that part of england whose actions and passions were now but for men s memories buried under the brief inscription on a tomb or an entry of dates in a dry another member an old surgeon a somewhat grim though personage was quite of the speaker s opinion and felt quite sure that the memory of the reverend gentleman must abound with such curious tales of fair of their loves and hates their joys and their misfortunes their beauty and their fate the parson a trifle confused retorted that their friend the surgeon the son of a surgeon seemed to him as a man who had seen much and heard more during the long course of his own and his father s practice the member of all others most likely to be acquainted with such lore the the colonel the historian the the the two the i of noble a group of noble gentleman the sentimental member the crimson the quiet gentleman the man of family the spark and several others quite agreed and begged that he would recall something of the kind the old surgeon said that though a meeting of the mid field and club was the last place at which he should have expected to be called upon in this way he had no objection and the parson said he would come next tlie surgeon then reflected and decided to relate the history of a lady named who lived towards the end of the last century for his tale as being perhaps a little too professional the crimson winked to the spark at hearing the nature of the apology and the surgeon began dame the second of the house of by the old surgeon dame the second of the house of by the old surgeon it was apparently an idea rather than a passion that inspired lord resolve to win her nobody ever knew when he formed it or whence he got his assurance of success in the face of her manifest dislike of him possibly not until after that first important act of her life which i shall presently mention his and cynical at the age of nineteen when impulse mostly rules calculation was remarkable and might have owed its existence as much to his succession to the and its local honours in childhood as to the family character an elevation which jerked him into maturity so to speak without his having known he had only reached his twelfth year when his father the fourth earl died after a course of the bath waters nevertheless the family character had a great deal to do with it determination was hereditary in the of that sometimes for good sometimes for evil a group of noble the seats of the two families were about ten miles apart the way between them lying along the now old then new road connecting and with the of a road which though only a branch from what was known as the great western highway is probably even at present as it has been for the last hundred years one of the finest examples of a track that can be found in england the	45
mansion of the earl as well as that of his neighbour s father stood back about a mile from the highway with which each was connected by an ordinary drive and lodge it was along this particular highway that the young earl drove on a certain evening at some twenty years before the end of the last century to attend a ball at the home of and her parents sir john and lady sir john s was a created a few years before the breaking out of the civil war and his lands were even more extensive than those of lord himself this of another on the coast near half the hundred of and well enclosed lands in several other and those at tliis time was barely seventeen and the ball is the first occasion on which we have any tradition of lord attempting tender relations with her it was early enough god knows an intimate friend one of the is said to have dined with him that day and lord had for a wonder communicated to his guest the secret design of his heart a group of noble you ll never get her sure you ll never get her this friend had said at parting she s drawn to your by love and as for thought of a good match why there s no more calculation in her than in a bird we ll see said lord he no doubt thought of his friend s as he travelled along the highway in his chariot but the repose of his against the vanishing daylight on his right hand would have shown his friend that the earl s was undisturbed he reached the solitary tavern called inn the of many a daring for operations in the adjoining forest and he might have observed if he had taken the trouble a strange post chaise standing in the halting space before the inn he duly sped past it and half an hour after through the little town of onward a mile farther was the house of his at this date it was an imposing edifice or rather of as extensive as the residence of the earl himself though far less regular one wing showed extreme antiquity having huge chimneys whose projected from the external walls like towers and a kitchen of vast dimensions in which it was said had been cooked for john of gaunt whilst he was yet in the he could hear the of french horns and the favourite instruments of those days at such entering the long parlour in which the dance had just been opened by lady with a it being now seven o clock according to the tradition he a group of noble was received with a his rank and looked round for she was not dancing and seemed to be almost indeed as though she had been waiting for him at this time was a good and pretty girl who never spoke ill of any one and hated other pretty women the very least possible she did not refuse him for the country dance which followed and soon after was his partner in a second the evening wore on and the horns and merrily evinced towards her lover neither distinct preference nor aversion but old eyes would have seen that she pondered something however after supper she pleaded a headache and disappeared to pass the time of her absence lord went into a little room adjoining the long gallery where some elderly ones were sitting by the fire for he had a dislike of dancing for its own sake and lifting the window curtains he looked op of the window into the park and wood dark now as a some of the guests appeared to be leaving even so soon as this two lights showing themselves as turning away firom the door and sinking to nothing in the distance his hostess put her head into the room to look for partners for the ladies and lord came out lady informed him that had not returned to the ball room she had gone to bed in sheer necessity she has been so excited over the ball all day her mother continued that i feared she would be worn out a of noble early but sure lord you won t be leaving yet he said that it was near twelve o clock and that some had already left i protest nobody has gone yet said lady to humour her he stayed till midnight and then set out he had made no progress in his suit but he had assured himself that gave no other guest the preference and nearly everybody in the neighbourhood was there tis only a matter of time said the calm young philosopher the next morning he lay till near ten o clock and he had only just come out upon the head of the staircase when he heard hoofs upon the gravel without in a few moments the door had been opened and sir john met him in the hall as he set foot on the lowest stair my lord where s my daughter even the earl of could not s amazement what s the matter my dear sir john says he the news was startling indeed from the s explanation lord gathered th t after his own and the other guests departure sir john and lady had gone to rest without seeing any more of it being understood by them that she had retired to bed when she sent word to say that she could not join the dancers again before then she had told her maid that she would dispense with her services for this night and there was evidence to show that the young lady had never lain down at all the bed remain a group of noble ing circumstances seemed to prove that the girl had feigned to	45
get an excuse for leaving the ball room and that she had left the house within ten minutes during the first dance after supper i saw her go said lord the devil you did says sir john yes and he mentioned the retreating and how he was assured by lady that no guest had departed surely tiiat was it said the father but she s not gone alone d ye know ah who is the young man i can on y guess my worst fear is my most likely guess fu say no more i thought yet i would not believe it possible that you was the sinner would that you had been but tis t other tis t other by g i must e en up and after em whom do you suspect sir john would not give a name and rather than agitated lord accompanied him back to he again asked upon whom were the s suspicions directed and the impulsive sir john was no match for the of he said at length i fear tis who s he a young fellow of a s son the other told him and explained that s father or grandfather was the last of the old glass painters in that place where as you may know the art lingered on when it had died out in every other part of england a group of noble by g that s mighty bad said lord throwing himself back in the chaise in despair they despatched in all directions one by the road another by another but the lovers had a ten hours start and it was apparent that sound judgment had been exercised in choosing as their time of flight the particular night when the movements of a strange carriage would not be noticed either in the park or on the neighbouring highway owing to the general press of the chaise which had been seen waiting at inn was no doubt the one they had escaped in and the pair of heads which had planned so cleverly thus far had probably contrived marriage ere now the fears of her parents were realized a letter sent h special messenger from on the evening of that day briefly informed them that her lover and herself were on the way to london and before this communication reached her home they would be united as husband and wife she had taken this extreme step because she loved her dear as she could love no other man and because she had seen closing round her the doom of marriage with lord unless she put that threatened fate out of possibility by doing as she had done she had well considered the step beforehand and was prepared to live uke any other country s wife if her father her for her action d her said lord as he drove a group of noble homeward that night d her for a fool which shows the kind of love he bore her well sir john had already started in pursuit of them as a matter of duty driving like a wild man to and thence by the direct highway to the capital but he soon saw that he was acting to no purpose and by and by discovering that the marriage had actually taken place he all attempts to them in the city and returned and sat down with his lady to the event as best they could to proceed against this for the of our was possibly in their power yet when they considered the now facts they refrained from violent some six weeks passed during which time s parents though they keenly felt her loss held no communication with the either for reproach or they continued to think of the disgrace she had brought upon herself for though the young man was an honest fellow and the son of an honest father the latter had died so early and his widow had had such struggles to maintain herself that the son was very imperfectly educated moreover his blood was as far as they knew of no distinction whatever whilst hers through her mother was of the best of ancient containing of and and and and and and and york and and god knows what besides which it was a thousand to throw away the father and mother sat by the fireplace that was by the four arch bearing the family a group of noble on its and groaned aloud the lady more than sir john to think this should have come upon us in our old age said he speak for yourself she snapped through her sobs i am only one and forty why didn t ye ride faster and overtake em in the meantime the young married lovers caring no more about their blood than about ditch water were intensely happy happy that is in the descending scale which as we all know heaven in its wisdom has ordained for such rash cases that is to say the first week they were in the seventh heaven the second in the sixth the third week temperate the fourth and so on a lover s heart after possession being to the earth in its stages as described to us sometimes by our worthy president first a hot coal then a warm one then a then chilly the shall be pursued no further the long and the short of it was that one day a letter sealed with their daughter s own little seal came into sir john and lady s hands and on opening it they found it to contain an appeal from the young couple to sir john to forgive them for what they had done and they would fall on their naked knees and be most dutiful children for then sir john and his lady sat down again by the fireplace with the four arch and consulted and re read	45
in their manner as though they should say ah my happy s wife you re caught s letters were as affectionate as ever even more affectionate after a while than hers were to him observed this growing coolness in herself and like a good and honest lady was and grieved since her only wish was to act faithfully and it troubled her so much that she prayed for a warmer heart and at last wrote to her husband to beg him now that he was in the land of art to send her his portrait ever so small that she might look at it all day and every day and never for a moment forget his features was nothing loth and that he would do more than she wished he had made friends with a in who was much interested in him and his history and he had this artist to a of mess a group of noble make a bust of himself in marble which when finished he would send her what had wanted was something immediate but she expressed no objection to the delay and in his next communication told her that the of his own choice had decided to increase the bust to a full length statue so anxious was he to get a specimen of his skill introduced to the notice of the english aristocracy it was well and rapidly meanwhile s attention began to be occupied at home with lodge the house that her father was preparing for her residence when her husband returned it was a small place on the plan of a large one a cottage built in the form of a mansion having a central hall with a wooden gallery running round it and rooms no bigger than to follow this introduction it stood on a slope so solitary and surrounded by trees so dense that the birds who inhabited the boughs sang at strange hours as if they hardly could distinguish night firom day during the progress of at this bower frequently visited it though so secluded by the dense growth it was near the high road and one day while looking over the fence she saw lord riding past he saluted her courteously yet with mechanical and did not halt went home and continued to pray that she might never cease to love her husband after that she and did not come out of doors again for a long time the year of education had extended to fourteen months and the house was in order for s return to take up his abode there with when a group of noble instead of the accustomed letter for her came one to sir john in the handwriting of the said informing him of a terrible catastrophe that had occurred to them at mr and himself had attended the theatre one night during the of the preceding week to witness the italian comedy when owing to the carelessness of one of the candle the theatre had caught fire and been burnt to the ground few persons had lost their lives owing to the exertions of some of the audience in getting out the senseless and among them all he who had risked his own life the most was mr in re entering for the fifth time to save his fellow creatures some fiery beams had fallen upon him and he had been given up for lost he was however by the blessing of providence recovered with the life still in him though he was fearfully burnt and by almost a miracle he seemed likely to survive his constitution being sound he was of unable to write but he was receiving the attention of several skilful further report would be made by the next mail or by private hand the said nothing in detail of poor s sufferings but as soon as the news was broken to she realized how intense they must have been and her immediate instinct was to rush to his side though on consideration the journey seemed impossible to her her health was by no means what it had been and to post across europe at that season of the year or to the bay of in a sailing craft was an undertaking that would hardly be justified by the result but she was anxious to go till on reading to the end a group of noble of the letter her husband s was found to hint very strongly against such a step if it should be contemplated this being also the opinion of the and though s comrade refrained from giving his reasons they disclosed themselves plainly enough in the the truth was that the worst of the wounds from the fire had occurred to his head and face that handsome face which had won her heart from her and both the and the knew that for a sensitive young woman to see him before his wounds had healed would cause more misery to her by the shock than happiness to him by her lady out what sir john and had thought but had had too much delicacy to express sure tis mighty hard for you poor that the one little gift he had to justify your rash choice of him his wonderful good looks ould be taken away like this to leave ee no excuse at all for your conduct in the world s eyes well i wish you d married t other that do i and the lady sighed hell soon get right again said her father soothingly such remarks as the above were not often made but they were frequent enough to cause an uneasy sense of self she determined to hear them no longer and the house at being ready and furnished she withdrew thither with her maids where for the first time she could feel mistress of a home that would be hers and her husband s exclusively	45
when he came after long weeks had recovered sufficiently a group of noble to be able to write himself and slowly and tenderly he enlightened her upon the full extent of his injuries it was a mercy he said that he had not lost his sight entirely but he was thankful to say that he still retained full vision in one eye though the other was dark for ever the manner in which he out particulars of his condition told how appalling had been his experience he was grateful for her assurance that nothing could change her but feared she did not fully realize that he was so sadly as to make it doubtful if she would recognize him however in spite of all his heart was as true to her as it ever had been saw from his anxiety how much lay behind she replied that she submitted to the of fate and would welcome him in any shape as soon as he could come she told him of the pretty retreat in which she had taken up her abode their joint occupation of it and did not reveal how much she had sighed over the information that all his good looks were gone still less did she say that she felt a certain strangeness in awaiting him the weeks they had lived together having been so short by comparison with the length of his absence slowly drew on the time when found himself well enough to come home he landed at and posted thence towards arranged to go out to meet him as far as inn the spot between the forest and the chase at which he had waited for night on the evening of their thither she drove at the appointed hour in a little pony chaise presented her by her father on her birthday for her a group of noble especial use in her new house which vehicle she sent back on arriving at the inn the plan agreed upon being that she should perform the return journey with her husband in his hired coach there was not much accommodation for a lady at this tavern but as it was a fine evening in early summer she did not mind walking about outside and straining her eyes along the highway for the expected one but each of dust that enlarged in the distance and drew near was found to disclose a conveyance other than his post chaise remained till the appointment was two hours passed and then began to fear that owing to some adverse wind in the channel he was not coming that night while waiting she was conscious of a curious that was not entirely solicitude and did not amount to dread her tense state of bordered both on disappointment and on relief she had lived six or seven weeks with an imperfectly educated yet handsome husband whom now she had not seen for seventeen months and who was so changed physically by an accident that she was assured she would hardly know him can we wonder at her compound state of mind but her immediate difficulty was to get away fi om inn for her situation was becoming embarrassing like too many of s actions this drive had been undertaken without much reflection expecting to wait no more than a few minutes for her husband in his post chaise and to enter it with him she had not hesitated to herself by sending back her own little vehicle she now found that being so well known in a group of noble this neighbourhood her excursion to meet her husband was exciting great interest she was conscious that more eyes were watching her from the inn windows than met her own gaze had decided to get home by whatever kind of conveyance the tavern afforded when straining her eyes for the last time over the now darkening highway she perceived yet another dust cloud drawing near she paused a chariot ascended to the inn and would have passed had not its caught sight of her standing the horses were checked on the instant you here and alone my dear mrs said lord whose carriage it was she explained what had brought her into this lonely situation and as he was going in the direction of her own home she accepted his offer of a seat beside him their conversation was embarrassed and at first but when they had driven a mile or two she was surprised to find herself talking earnestly and warmly to him her was in truth but the natural consequence of her late existence a somewhat desolate one by reason of the strange marriage she had made and there is no more mood than that of a woman surprised into talk who has long been imposing upon herself a policy of reserve therefore her heart rose with a bound into her throat when in response to his leading questions or rather hints she allowed her troubles to out of her lord took her quite to her own door although he had driven three miles out of his way to do so and in handing her down she heard from a whisper of stem reproach it need not have been thus if you had listened to me a group of noble she made no reply and went indoors there as the evening wore away she regretted more and more that she had been so friendly with lord but he had launched himself upon her so unexpectedly if she had only foreseen the meeting with him what a careful line of conduct she would have marked out broke into a perspiration of when she thought of her and in self resolved to sit up till midnight on the bare chance of s return directing that supper should be laid for him improbable as his arrival till the morrow was the hours went past and there was dead silence in	45
and round about lodge except for the of the trees till when it was near upon midnight she heard the noise of hoofs and wheels approaching the door knowing that it could only be her husband instantly went into the hall to meet him yet she stood there not without a sensation of so many were the changes since their parting and owing to her casual encounter with lord his voice and image still remained with her her husband from the inner circle of her impressions but she went to the door and the next moment a figure stepped inside of which she knew the outline but little besides her husband was attired in a flapping black cloak and hat appearing altogether as a foreigner and not as the young english who had left her side when he came forward into the light of the lamp she perceived with surprise and almost with fright that he wore a mask at first she had not noticed this there being nothing in its colour which would lead a group of noble a casual observer to think he was looking on anything but a real countenance he must have seen her start of dismay at the of his appearance for he said hastily i did not mean to come in to you like this i thought you would have been in bed how good you are dear he put his arm round her but he did not attempt to kiss her o it ts you it must be she said with clasped hands for though his figure and movement were almost enough to prove it and the tones were not unlike the old tones the was so altered as to seem that of a stranger i am covered like this to hide myself from the curious eyes of the inn servants and others he said in a low voice i will send back the carriage and join you in a moment you are quite alone quite my companion stopped at the wheels of the post chaise rolled away as she entered the dining room where the supper was spread and presently he rejoined her there he had removed his cloak and hat but the mask was still retained and she could now see that it was of special make of some material like silk coloured so as to represent flesh it joined naturally to the hair and was otherwise cleverly executed you look ill he said removing his glove and taking her hand yes i have been ill said she is this pretty little house ours o yes she was hardly conscious of her words go a group op noble for the hand he had in order to take hers was and had one or two of its fingers missing while through the mask she discerned the twinkle of one eye only i would give anything to kiss you dearest now at this moment he continued with mournful but i cannot in this guise the servants are i suppose yes said she but i can call them you will have some supper he said he would have some but that it was not necessary to call anybody at that hour thereupon they approached the table and sat down facing each other despite s scared state of mind it was forced upon her notice that her husband trembled as if he feared the impression he was producing or was about to produce as much as or more than she he drew nearer and took her hand again i had this mask made at he began in evident embarrassment my darling my dearest wife do you think you will mind when i take it off you will not dislike me will you o of course i shall not mind said she what has happened to you is our misfortune but i am prepared for it are you sure you are prepared o yes you are my husband you really feel quite confident that nothing external can affect you he said again in a voice rendered uncertain by his agitation i think i am quite she answered faintly a group of noble he bent his head i hope i hope you are he whispered in the pause which followed the of the clock in the hall seemed to grow loud and he turned a little aside to remove the mask she awaited the operation which was one of some watching him one moment her face the next and when it was done she shut her eyes at the hideous spectacle that was revealed a quick of horror had passed through her but though she she forced herself to regard him anew the cry that would naturally have escaped from her lips unable to look at him longer sank down on the floor beside her chair covering her eyes you cannot look at me he groaned in a hopeless way i am too terrible an object even for you to bear i knew it yet i hoped against it oh this is a bitter fate curse the skill of those who saved me alive look up he continued view me completely say you me if you do me and settle the case between us for ever his unhappy wife pulled herself together for a desperate strain he was her he had done her no wrong he had suffered a momentary devotion to him helped her and lifting her eyes as she regarded this human remnant this a second time but the sight was too much she again involuntarily looked aside and shuddered do you think you can get used to this he said yes or no can you bear such a thing of the a group of noble house near you judge for yourself your your man has come to this the poor lady stood beside him motionless save for the restlessness of	45
her eyes all her natural sentiments of affection and pity were driven clean out of her by a sort of panic she had just the same sense of dismay and that she would have had in the presence of an apparition she could fancy this to be her chosen one the man she had loved he was to a specimen of another species i do not you she said with trembling but i am so so overcome let me recover myself will you sup now and while you do so may i go to my room to regain my old feeling for you i will try if i may leave you awhile yes i will try without waiting for an answer from him and keeping her gaze carefully averted the woman crept to the door and out of the room she heard him sit down to the table as if to begin supper though heaven knows his appetite was slight enough after a reception which had confirmed his worst when had ascended the stairs and in her chamber she sank down and buried her face in the of the bed thus she remained for some time the was over the dining room and as she knelt heard thrust back his chair and rise to go into the hall in five minutes that figure would probably come up the stairs and her again it this new and terrible form that was not her husband s in the loneliness of this night with neither maid nor beside her she lost all self control and a group of noble at the first sound of his footstep on the stairs without so much as flinging a cloak round her she flew from the room ran along the gallery to the back staircase which she descended and the back door let herself out she scarcely was aware what she had done till she found herself in the crouching on a flower stand here she remained her great timid eyes strained through the glass upon the garden without and her skirts gathered up in fear of the field which sometimes came there every moment she dreaded to hear footsteps which she ought by law to have longed for and a voice that should have been as music to her soul but came not that way the nights were getting short at this season and soon the da fm appeared and the first rays of the sun by daylight she had less fear than in the dark she thought she could meet him and herself to the spectacle so the much tried young woman the door of the hot house and went back by the way she had emerged a few hours ago her poor husband was probably in bed and asleep his journey having been long and she made as little noise as possible in her entry the house was just as she had left it and she looked about in the hall for his cloak and hat but she could not see them nor did she perceive the small trunk which had been all that he brought with him his heavier baggage having been left at for the road she summoned courage to mount the stairs the bedroom door was open as she had left it she fearfully peeped round the bed had not been pressed perhaps he had lain down on the dining room a group of noble sofa she descended and entered he was not there on the table beside his plate lay a note hastily written on the leaf of a pocket book it was something like this my ever beloved wife the effect that my forbidding appearance has produced upon you was one which i foresaw as quite possible i hoped against it but foolishly so i was aware that no human love could survive such a catastrophe i confess i thought yours divine but after so long an absence there could not be left sufficient warmth to overcome the too natural first aversion it was an experiment and it has failed i do not blame you perhaps even it is better so good bye i leave england for one year you will see me again at the of that time if i live then i will ascertain your true feeling and if it be against me go away for ever e w on recovering from her surprise s remorse was such that she felt herself absolutely she should have regarded him as an afflicted being and not have been this slave to mere like a child to follow him and entreat him to return was her first thought but on making inquiries she found that nobody had seen him he had silently disappeared more than this to undo the scene of last night was her terror had been too plain and he was a man unlikely to be back by her efforts to do her duty she went and confessed to her parents all that had occurred which indeed soon became known to more persons than those of her own family a group of noble the year passed and he did not return and it was doubted if he were alive s for her was now such that she longed to build a church aisle or erect a monument and devote herself to deeds of charity for the remainder of her days to that end she made inquiry of the excellent parson under whom she sat on sundays at a distance of twenty feet but he could only his wig and tap his snuff box for such was the state of religion in those days that not an aisle porch east window ten board lion and or brass was required an at all in the neighbourhood as a offering from a distracted soul the last century greatly in this respect with the happy times in which we live when urgent appeals for to such	45
objects pour in by every morning s post and nearly all churches have been made to look like new as the poor lady could not ease her conscience this way she determined at least to be charitable and soon had the satisfaction of finding her porch thronged every morning by the most drunken and worthless in but human hearts are as prone to change as the leaves of the on the wall and in the course of time hearing nothing of her husband could sit unmoved whilst her mother and friends said in her hearing well what has happened is for the best she began to think so herself for even now she could not summon up that and form without a shiver though whenever her mind flew back to her early wedded days and the man who had stood beside a group of noble her then a thrill of tenderness moved her which if quickened by his living presence might have become strong she was young and inexperienced and had hardly on his late return grown out of the capricious fancies of but he did not come again and when she thought of his word that he would return once more if living and how unlikely he was to break his word she gave him up for dead so did her parents so also did another person that man of silence of irresistible of still countenance who was as awake as seven when he seemed to be as sound asleep as the figures on his family monument lord though not yet thirty had chuckled like a of when he heard of s terror and flight at her husband s return and of the latter s prompt departure he felt pretty sure however that despite his hurt feelings would have reappeared to claim his bright eyed property if he had been at the end of the twelve months as there was no husband to with her had the house prepared for them by her father and taken up her abode anew at as in the days of her by degrees the episode with seemed but a dream and as the months grew to years lord friendship with the people at which had somewhat cooled after s revived considerably and he again became a frequent visitor there he could not make the most trivial alteration or improvement at hall where he lived without riding off to consult with his friend sir john at a group of noble and thus putting himself frequently under her eyes grew accustomed to him and talked to him as freely as to a brother she even began to look up to him as a person of authority judgment and prudence and though his severity on the bench towards and was matter of common she trusted that much of what was said might be thus they lived on till her husband s absence had stretched to years and there could be no longer any doubt of his death a manner of his addresses seemed no longer out of place in lord did not love him but hers was essentially one of those sweet or with wind natures which require a of fibre than its own to hang upon and bloom now too she was older and admitted to herself that a man whose had run scores of through and through in fighting for the site of the holy was a more desirable husband considered than one who could only claim with certainty to know that his father and grandfather were respectable sir john took occasion to inform her that she might consider herself a widow and in brief lord carried his point with her and she married him though he could never get her to own that she loved him as she had loved in my childhood i knew an old lady whose mother saw the wedding and she said that when lord and lady drove away from her father s house in the evening it was in a coach and four and that my lady was dressed in green and silver and wore the hat a group of noble x s a group of noble and feather that ever were seen though whether it was that the green did not suit her complexion or otherwise the looked pale and the reverse of blooming after their marriage her husband took her to london and she saw the of a season there then they returned to hall and thus a year passed away before their marriage her husband had seemed to care but little about her inability to love him passionately only let me win you he had said and i will submit to all that but now her lack of warmth seemed to him and he conducted himself towards her with a which led to her passing many hours with him in painful silence the heir to the title was a remote relative whom lord did not from the dislike he entertained towards many persons and things besides and he had set his mind upon a successor he blamed her much that there was no promise of this and asked her what she was good for on a particular day in her gloomy life a letter addressed to her as mrs reached lady from an unexpected quarter a in knowing nothing of her second marriage informed her that the long delayed life size statue of mr which when her husband left that city he had been directed to retain till it was sent for was still in his as his had not wholly been paid and the statue was taking up room he could ill spare he should be glad to have the debt cleared off and directions where to forward the figure arriving at a time when the was beginning to have a group of noble da secrets of a harmless kind it is true from her husband by reason of their growing	45
she was in the habit of leaving the chamber in this queer way more frequently than he had observed and he determined to watch the next midnight he feigned deep sleep and shortly after perceived her stealthily rise and a group of noble let herself out of the room in the dark he slipped on some clothing and followed at the farther of the corridor where the clash of flint and steel would be out of the hearing of one in the bed chamber she struck a light he stepped aside into an empty room till she had ht a and had passed on to her in a minute or two he followed arrived at the door of the he beheld the door of the private recess open and within it standing with her arms clasped tightly round the neck of her and her mouth on his the shawl which she had thrown round her had slipped from her shoulders and her long white robe and pale face lent her the appearance of a second statue embracing the first between her kisses she it in a low murmur of tenderness my only love how could i be so cruel to you my perfect one so good and true i am ever faithful to you despite my seeming i always think of you dream of you during the long hours of the day and in the night watches o i am always yours such words as these with sobs and streaming tears and hair to an intensity of feeling in his wife which lord had not dreamed of her possessing ha ha says he to himself this is where we this is where my hopes of a successor in the title ha ha this must be seen to verily lord was a subtle man when once he set himself to though in the present instance he never thought of the simple of constant a group of noble tenderness nor did he enter the room and surprise his wife as a would have done but went back to his chamber as silently as he had left it when the returned thither shaken by spent sobs and sighs he appeared to be soundly sleeping as usual the next day he began his by making inquiries as to the whereabouts of the who had travelled with his wife s first husband this gentleman he found was now master of a grammar school at no great distance from at the first convenient moment lord went thither and obtained an interview with the said gentleman the was much gratified by a visit from such an influential neighbour and was ready to communicate anything that his desired to know after some general conversation on the school and its progress the visitor observed that he believed the had once travelled a good deal with the unfortunate mr and had been with him on the occasion of his accident he lord was interested in knowing what had really happened at that time and had often thought of inquiring and then the earl not only heard by word of mouth as much as he wished to know but their chat becoming more intimate the drew upon paper a sketch of the head explaining with breath various details in the representation it was very strange and terrible said lord taking the sketch in his hand neither nose nor ears a poor man in the town nearest to hall who combined the art of sign painting with in a group of noble mechanical occupations was sent for by lord to come to the hall on a day in that week when the had gone on a short visit to her parents his employer made the man understand that the business in which his assistance was demanded was to be considered private and money the of this request the lock of the cupboard was picked and the ingenious and painter assisted by the s sketch which ix rd had put in his pocket set to work upon the god like countenance of the statue under my lord s direction what the fire had in the original the in the copy it was a carried out and was rendered still more shocking by being tinted to the hues of life as hfe had been after the wreck six hours after when the workman was gone lord looked upon the result and smiled grimly and said a statue should represent a man as he appeared in life and that s as he appeared ha ha but tis done to good purpose and not idly he locked the door of the closet with a skeleton key and went his way to fetch the home that night she slept but he kept awake according to the tale she murmured soft words in her dream and he knew that the tender converse of her was held with one whom he had but in name at the end of her dream the of awoke and arose and then the of former nights was repeated her husband remained still and listened two strokes sounded from the dock in i a group of noble the without when leaving the chamber door she passed along the corridor to the other end where as usual she obtained a light so deep was the silence that he could even from his bed hear her softly blowing the to a glow after striking the steel she moved on into the and he heard or fancied he heard the turning of the key in the closet door the next moment there came from that direction a loud and prolonged which to the farthest comers of the house it was repeated and there was the noise of a heavy fall lord sprang out of bed he hastened along the dark corridor to the door of the which stood and by the light of the candle within saw his poor young	45
scene before you ll take it away dearest you will she begged if you love me i oh i do and hate him and his memory yes thoroughly i cannot endure recollection of him cried the poor it fills me with shame how could i ever be so never behave badly again and you will never put the hated statue again before my eyes he felt that he could promise with perfect safety never said he and then tu love you she returned eagerly as if lest the should be applied anew and never never dream of thinking a single thought that seems like to my marriage vow the strange thing now was that this love wrung from her by terror took on through mere habit of a certain quality of reality a mood of attachment to the earl became distinctly visible in her with an actual for her late husband s memory the mood of attachment grew and continued when the statue was removed a permanent was in her which int as time wore on how flight could have effected such a change of learned can say but i believe such cases of instinct are not unknown a of noble ill the was that the cure became so permanent as to be itself a new disease she clung to him so tightly that she would not willingly be out of his sight for a moment she would have no sitting room apart from his though she could not help starting when he entered suddenly to her her eyes were well nigh always fixed upon him if he drove out she wished to go with him his to other women made her jealous till at length her very fidelity became a burden to him absorbing his time and his liberty and causing him to curse and swear if he ever spoke sharply to her now she did not revenge herself by flying off to a mental world of her own all that affection for another which had provided her with a resource was now a cold black from that time the life of this scared and lady whose existence might have been developed to so much higher purpose but for the ambition of her parents and the of the time was one of towards a perverse and cruel man little personal events came to her in quick succession half a dozen eight nine ten such events in brief she bore him no less than eleven children in the eight following years but half of them came into the world or died a few days old only one a girl attained to maturity she in after years became the wife of the honourable mr who was created lord d as may be remembered there was no living son and heir at length completely worn out in mind and body lady was taken abroad by her husband to try the effect of a more genial climate upon her wasted frame but no a group op noble thing availed to strengthen her and she died at a few months after her arrival in italy contrary to expectation the earl of did not marry again such affection as existed in him strange hard brutal as it was seemed and the title as is known passed at his death to his nephew perhaps it may not be so generally known that during the of the hall for the sixth earl while digging in the grounds for the new foundations the broken fragments of a marble statue were they were submitted to various who said that so far as the pieces would allow them to form an opinion the statue seemed to be that of a roman sat n or if not an figure of death only one or two old inhabitants guessed whose statue those fragments had composed i should have added that shortly after the death of the an excellent sermon was preached by the dean of the subject of which though names were not mentioned was unquestionably suggested by the events he dwelt upon the folly of indulgence in love for a handsome form merely and showed that the only rational and virtuous of that affection were those based upon worth in the case of the tender but somewhat shallow lady whose life i have related there is no doubt that an for the person of young was the chief feeling that induced her to marry him which was the more deplorable in that his beauty by all tradition was the least of his every report bearing out the that he must have been a man of steadfast nature bright intelligence and promising life a group of noble the company thanked the old surgeon for his story which the rural dean declared to be a far more striking one than he could hope to tell an elderly member of the club who was mostly called the said that a woman s natural instinct of fidelity would indeed send back her heart to a man after his death in a truly wonderful manner sometimes if anything occurred to put before her forcibly the original affection between them and his original aspect in her eyes whatever his inferiority may have been social or otherwise and then a general conversation ensued upon the power that a woman has of seeing the actual in the representation the reality in the dream a power which according to the sentimental member men have no faculty of the rural dean thought that such cases as that related by the surgeon were rather an illustration of passion back to life than of a latent true affection the story had suggested that he should try to to them one which he had used to hear in his youth and which afforded an instance of the latter and better kind of feeling his heroine being also a lady who had married beneath	45
her though he feared his narrative would be of a much kind than the surgeon s the club begged him to proceed and the parson began a group of noble o dame the third the of by the rural dean dame the third the of by the rural dean t i would have you know then that a great many years ago there lived in a classical mansion with which i used to be familiar standing not a hundred miles from the city of a lady whose personal charms were so rare and that she was flattered and spoilt by almost all the young and gentlemen in that part of for a time these attentions pleased her well but as in the words of good robert south whose sermons might be read much more than they are the most passionate of sport if tied to follow his and hounds every day of his life would find the pursuit the greatest torment and calamity and would fly to the mines and for his so did this lofty and beautiful lady after a while become the constant of what she had in its novelty enjoyed and by an almost natural turned her regards absolutely speaking she and passionately her affection on quite a plain looking young man of humble birth and no position at all though it is true that he was gentle and delicate in i l a of noble nature of good address and heart in short he was the parish clerk s son acting as assistant to the land steward of her father the earl of with the hope of becoming some day a land steward himself it should be said that perhaps the lady as she was called was a little stimulated in this passion by the discovery that a young girl of the village already loved the young man fondly and that he had paid some attentions to her though merely of a casual and good natured kind since his occupation brought him frequently to the house and its lady could make ample opportunities of seeing and speaking to him she had in s phrase all the craft of fine loving at her fingers ends and the young man being of a readily heart was quick to notice the tenderness in her eyes and voice he could not at first be in his good fortune having no understanding of her weariness of more artificial men but a time comes when the sees in an eye the glance of his other half and it came to him who was quite the reverse of dull as he gained confidence accidental led to by design till at length when they were alone together there was no reserve on the matter they whispered tender words as other lovers do and were as devoted a pair as ever was seen but not a ray or symptom of this attachment was allowed to show itself to the outer world now as she became less and less scrupulous towards him under the influence of her affection and he became more and more under the influence of his and they looked the situation in the face to a group of noble i iq their condition seemed intolerable in its that she could ever ask to be allowed to marry him or could hold her tongue and quietly him was equally beyond conception they resolved upon a third course possessing neither of the of these two to wed secretly and live on in outward appearance the same as before in this they differed from the lovers of my friend s story not a soul in the parental mansion guessed when lady came coolly into the hall one day after a visit to her aunt that during that visit her lover and herself had found an opportunity of till death should part them yet such was the fact the young woman who rode fine horses and drove in pony and was saluted by every one and the young man who about and directed the tree and the laying out of in the park were husband and wife as they had planned so they acted to the letter for the space of a month and more meeting when and where they best could do so both being happy and content to be sure towards the latter part of that month when the first wild warmth of her love had gone off the lady sometimes wondered within herself how she who might have chosen a peer of the realm knight or if serious minded a bishop or judge of the more gallant sort who prefer young wives could have brought herself to do a thing so rash as to make this marriage particularly when in their private meetings she perceived that though her young husband was full of ideas and fairly well read they had not a single social ex i a group of noble in common it was his custom to visit her after nightfall in her own house when he could find no opportunity for an interview elsewhere and to further this course she would contrive to leave a window on the ground floor overlooking the lawn by entering which a back stair case was accessible so that he could climb up to her apartments and gain audience of his lady when the house was still one dark midnight when he had not been able to see her during tjie day he made use of this secret method as he had done many times before and when they had remained in company about an hour he declared that it was time for him to descend he would have stayed longer but that the interview had been a somewhat painful one what she had said to him that night had much excited and him for it had revealed a change in her cold reason had come to his lofty wife she was beginning to have more anxiety about	45
her own position and prospects than for him whether firom the agitation of this perception or not he was seized with a he gasped rose and in moving towards the window for air he uttered in a short thick whisper oh my heart with his hand upon his chest he sank down to the floor before he had gone step by the time that she had the candle which had been extinguished in case any eye in the opposite grounds should witness his she found that his poor heart had ceased to beat and there rushed upon her mind what his cottage friends had once told her that he was liable to attacks of heart disease one of which the doctor had informed them might some day carry him off a group of noble accustomed as she was to the other nothing that she could effect upon him in that kind made any difference whatever and his stillness and the increasing coldness of his feet and hands disclosed too surely to the young woman that her husband was dead indeed for more than an hour however she did not abandon her efforts to restore him when she fully realized the fact that he was a corpse she bent over his body distracted and bewildered as to what step she next should take her first feelings had undoubtedly been those of passionate grief at the loss of him her second thoughts were concern at her own position as the daughter of an earl oh why why my unfortunate husband did you die in my chamber at this hour she said to the corpse why not have died in your own cottage if you would die then nobody would ever have known of our union and no syllable would have been breathed of how i myself for love of you the clock in the striking the hour of one aroused lady from the stupor into which she had fallen and she stood up and went towards the door to awaken and tell her mother seemed her only way out of this terrible situation yet when she put her hand on the key to it she withdrew herself again it would be impossible to call even her mother s assistance without a revelation to all the world through the servants while if she could remove the body to a distance she might suspicion of their union even now this thought of from the social consequences of her rash act of renewed a group of noble freedom was a relief to her for as has been said the and of her position had begun to tell upon the lady s nerves she herself for the effort and hastily dressed herself and then dressed him tying his dead hands together with a handkerchief she laid his arms round her shoulders and bore him to the landing and down the narrow stairs reaching the bottom by the window she let his body slide slowly over the sill till it lay on the ground without she then climbed over the herself and leaving the open dragged him on to the lawn with a rustle not louder than the rustle of a there she took a hold and plunged with him under the trees away from the of the house she could apply herself more vigorously to her task which was a heavy one enough for her robust as she was and the exertion and fright she had already undergone began to tell upon her by the time she reached the corner of a plantation which between the house and the village here she was so nearly exhausted that she feared she might have to leave him on the spot but she on after a while and keeping upon the grass at every she stood at last opposite the poor young man s garden gate where he lived with his father the parish clerk how she accomplished the end of her task lady never quite knew but to avoid leaving traces in the road she carried him bodily across the gravel and laid him down at the door perfectly aware of his ways of coming and going she searched behind the for the cottage door key which she placed in his cold hand a group of noble then she kissed his face for the last time and with silent little sobs bade him farewell lady her steps and reached the mansion without and to her great relief found the window open just as she had left it when she had climbed in she listened attentively fastened the window behind her and ascending the stairs noiselessly to her room set everything in order and returned to bed the next morning it was speedily echoed around that the amiable and gentle young had been found dead outside his father s door which he had apparently been in the act of when he fell the circumstances were sufficiently exceptional to justify an at which from heart disease was ascertained to be beyond doubt the explanation of his death and no more was said about the matter then but after the it was that some man who had been returning late from a distant horse fair had seen in the gloom of night a person apparently a woman dragging a heavy body of some sort towards the cottage gate which by the light of after events would seem to have been the corpse of the young fellow his clothes were thereupon examined more particularly than at first with the result that marks of were visible upon them here and there precisely resembling such as would be left by dragging on the ground our aud ingenious lady was now in great consternation and began to think that after all it might have been better to honestly confess the truth but having reached this stage without discovery a group of noble or suspicion she determined to make another effort towards concealment and a bright	45
idea struck her as a means of securing it i think i mentioned that before she cast eyes on the unfortunate steward s clerk he had been the beloved of a certain village the s daughter his neighbour to whom he had paid some attentions and possibly he was beloved of her still at any rate the lady s influence on the estates of her father being considerable she resolved to seek an interview with the young girl in of her plan to save her reputation about which she was now exceedingly anxious for by this time the fit being over she began to be ashamed of her mad passion for her late husband and almost wished she had never seen him in the course of her parish visiting she lighted on the young girl without much difficulty and found her looking pale and sad and wearing a simple black gown which she had put on out of respect for the young man s memory whom she had tenderly loved though he had not loved her ah you have lost your lover said lady the young woman could not repress her tears my lady he was not quite my lover she said but i was his and now he is dead i don t care to live any more can you keep a secret about him asks the lady one in which his honour is involved which is known to me alone but should be known to you the girl readily promised and indeed could be a group of noble safely on such a subject so deep was her affection for the youth she mourned then meet me at his grave to night half an hour after and i will tell it to you says the other in the dusk of that spring evening the two shadowy figures of the young women upon the assistant steward s newly mound and at that solemn place and hour the one of birth and beauty her tale how she had loved him and married him secretly how he had died in her chamber and how to keep her secret she had dragged him to his own door married him my lady said the rustic maiden starting back i have said so replied lady but it was a mad thing and a mistaken course he ought to have married you you were peculiarly his but you lost him yes said the poor girl and for that they laughed at me ha ha you mid love him they said but he will not love you victory over unkind would be sweet said lady you lost him in life but you may have him in death as you had had him in life and so turn the tables upon them how said the breathless girl the young lady then unfolded her plan which was that should go forward and declare that the young man had contracted a secret marriage as he truly had done that it was with her his sweetheart that he had been visiting her in her cottage on the evening of his death when on finding he was a corpse she had carried him to his house to prevent discovery by a group of noble her parents and that she had meant to keep the whole matter a secret till the afloat had forced it from her and how shall i prove this said the s daughter amazed at the boldness of the proposal quite sufficiently you can say if necessary that you were married to him at the church of st in bath city in my name as the first that occurred to you to escape detection that was where he married me i will support you in this i don t quite like if you will do so said the lady i will always be your father s friend and yours if not it will be otherwise and i will give you my which you shall wear as yours have you worn it my lady only at night there was not much choice in the matter and consented then this noble lady took firom her bosom the ring she had never been able openly to exhibit and grasping the young girl s hand slipped it upon her finger as she stood upon her lover s grave shivered and bowed her head saying i feel as if i had become a corpse s bride but firom that moment the maiden was heart and soul in the a repose came over her spirit it seemed to her that she had secured in death him whom in life she had vainly and she was almost content after that the lady handed over to the young man s new wife all the little and he had given herself even to a containing his hair a group of noble the next day the girl made her so called confession which the simple mourning she had already worn without stating for whom seemed to bear out and soon the story of the little romance spread through the village and country side almost as far as it was a curious fact that having once made the seemed possessed with a spirit of ecstasy at her position with the sum of money supplied to her by lady she now purchased the garb of a widow and duly appeared at church in her weeds her simple face looking so sweet against its margin of that she was almost envied her state by the other village girls of her age and when a woman s sorrow for her beloved can her young life so obviously as it had done mill s there was in truth little in the case her explanation so well with the details of her lover s latter movements those strange and sudden which had occasionally puzzled his friends that nobody supposed for a moment that the second actor in these secret was	45
that went home as usual and lady also the latter that very night to the her mother of the marriage and to nobody else in the world and some time after lady and her mother went away to london where a little while later still they were joined by who was supposed to have left the village to proceed to a watering place in the north for the benefit of her health at the expense of the ladies of the who had been much interested in her state of lonely and early the next year the widow came home with an infant in her arms the family at the house having meanwhile gone abroad they did not return from their tour till the by which time and the child had again departed from the cottage of her father the having attained to the dignity of in a cottage of her own many miles to the eastward of her native village a comfortable little allowance had moreover been settled on her and the child for hfe through the of lady and her mother two or three years passed away and the married a nobleman the of considerably her senior who had her long and he was not rich but she led a placid life with him for many years though there was no child of the marriage meanwhile mill s boy as the was called and as herself considered him grew up and wonderfully and loved a group of noble her as she deserved to be loved for her devotion to him in whom she every day traced more distinctly the of the man who had won her girlish heart and kept it even in the tomb she educated him as well as she could with the limited means at her disposal for the allowance had never been increased lady or the of as she now was seeming by degrees to care what had become of them became extremely ambitious on the boy s account she pinched herself almost of necessaries to send him to the grammar school in the town to which they retired and at twenty he in a cavalry regiment joining it with a deliberate intent of making the army his profession and not in a of idleness his exceptional his manly bearing his steady conduct speedily won him promotion which was by the serious war in which this country was at that time engaged on his return to england after the peace he had risen to the rank of riding master and was soon after advanced another stage and made though still a young man his mother his mother that is the of heard tidings of this progress it her maternal instincts and filled her with pride she became keenly interested in her successful soldier son and as she grew older much wished to see him again particularly when the dying she was left a solitary and widow whether or not she would have gone to him of her own impulse i cannot say but one day when she was driving in an open carriage in the outskirts of a neighbouring a group of noble town the troops lying at the hard by passed her in marching order she eyed them narrowly and in the finest of the recognized her son from his to her first husband this sight of him doubly the emotions which had lain in her for so many years and she wildly asked herself how she could so have neglected him had she possessed the true courage of affection she would have owned to her first marriage and have reared him as her son what would it have mattered if she had never obtained this precious of pearls and gold leaves by comparison with the gain of having the love and protection of such a noble and worthy son these and other sad reflections cut the gloomy and solitary lady to the heart and she repented of her pride in her first husband more bitterly than she had ever repented of her in marrying her yearning was so strong that at length it seemed to her that she could not live without announcing herself to him as his mother come what might she would do it late as it was she would have him away from that woman whom she began to hate with the of a deserted heart for having taken her place as the mother of her only child she felt confidently enough that her son would only too gladly exchange a cottage mother for one who was a of the being now in her to come and go as she chose without question horn anybody lady started next day for the little town where yet lived still in her robes of for the lost lover of her youth v group of noble he is my son said the as soon as she was alone in the cottage with you must give him back to me now that i am in a position in which i can defy the world s opinion i suppose he comes to see you continually every month since he returned from the war my lady and sometimes he stays two or three days and takes me about seeing sights ever she spoke with quiet triumph well you will have to give him up said the calmly it shall not be the worse for you you may see him when you choose i am going to my first marriage and have him with me you forget that there are two to be reckoned with my lady not only me but himself that can be arranged you don t suppose that he wouldn t but not wishing to insult by comparing their positions she said he is my own flesh and blood not yours flesh and blood s nothing said flashing with as much scorn as a could show to a which in	45
this case was not so little as may be supposed but i will agree to put it to him and let him settle it for himself that s all i require said lady you must ask him to come and i will meet him here the soldier was written to and the meeting took place he was not so much astonished at the disclosure of his as lady had been led to expect having known for years that there was a little mystery about his birth his manner towards the though respectful was less warm than she a group of noble could have hoped the as to his choice of a mother were put before him his answer amazed and her no my lady he said thank you much but i prefer to let things be as they have been my father s name is mine in any case you see my lady you cared little for me when i was weak and helpless why should i come to you now i am strong she dear devoted soul pointing to tended me from my birth watched over me nursed me when i was ill and deprived herself of many a httle comfort to push me on i cannot love another mother as i love her she is my mother and i will always be her son as he spoke he put his manly arm round mill s neck and kissed her with the tenderest affection the agony of the poor was pitiable you kill me she said between her shaking sobs cannot you love me too no my lady if i must say it you were ashamed of my poor father who was a sincere and honest man therefore i am ashamed of you nothing would move him and the suffering woman at last gasped cannot oh cannot you give one kiss to me as you did to her it is not much it is all i all certainly he replied he kissed her coldly and the painful scene came to an end that day was the beginning of death to the unfortunate of it was in the of her human heart that his denial of her should add fuel to the fire of her craving for his love how long afterwards she lived i do not know a group of noble with any but it was no great length of time that anguish that is than a serpent s tooth wore her out soon utterly reckless of the world its ways and its opinions she allowed her story to become known and when the welcome end which i grieve to say she refused to by the of religion a broken heart was the truest phrase in which to sum up its cause the rural dean having concluded some observations upon his tale were made in due course the sentimental member said that lady s history afforded a sad instance of how an honest human affection will become and mean under the of and social prejudices she probably deserved some pity though her offspring before he grew up to man s estate had deserved more there was no pathos like the pathos of childhood when a child found itself in a world where it was not wanted and could not understand the reason why a tale by the speaker further the same subject though with different results from the last naturally followed dame the fourth lady by the sentimental member dame the fourth lady by the sentimental member of all the romantic towns in is probably the most convenient for meditative people to live in since there you have a cathedral with a so long that it affords space in which to walk and summon your moods without continually turning on your heel or seeming to do more than take an afternoon stroll under cover from the rain or sim in an course of nearly three hundred steps eastward and again nearly three hundred steps westward amid those magnificent you can for instance compare in the most leisurely way the dry which ultimately the persons of kings and with the that is usually the final shape of and others who take their last rest out of doors then if you are in love you can by in the and behind the with the bright eyed one so steep and mellow your ecstasy in the around that it will assume a and finer even more grateful to the understanding if not to the senses than that form of the a of noble emotion which arises from such companionship in spots where all is life and growth and it was in this solemn place whither they had withdrawn from the sight of relatives on one cold day in march that sir asked in marriage as his second wife the gentle daughter of plain squire her life had been an obscure one thus far while sir though not a rich man had a certain distinction about him so that everybody thought what a convenient and in a word blessed match it would be for such a as she nobody thought so more than the amiable girl herself she had been smitten with such affection for him that when she walked the cathedral at his side on the before mentioned day she did not know that her feet touched hard pavement it seemed to her rather that she was floating in space was an heart maiden and could not understand how she had deserved to have sent to her such an illustrious lover such a travelled personage such a handsome man when he put the question it was in no clumsy language such as the ordinary county were wont to use on like quivering occasions but as as if he had been taught it in s speaker yet he hesitated a little for he had something to add my pretty he said she was not very pretty	45
by the way i have you must know a little girl dependent upon me a little i found one day in a patch of wild such was this worthy s humour when i was riding home a little nameless a group of noble i i creature whom i wish to take care of till she is old enough to take care of herself and to in a plain way she is only fifteen months old and is at present in the hands of a kind s wife in my parish will you object to give some attention to the little thing in her helplessness it need hardly be said that our innocent young lady loving him so deeply and joyfully as she did replied that she would do all she could for the nameless child and shortly afterwards the pair were married in the same cathedral that had echoed the whispers of his declaration the minister being the bishop himself a venerable and experienced man so well accomplished in people who had a mind for that sort of experiment that the couple with some sense of surprise found themselves one while they were still vaguely gazing at each other as two independent beings after this operation they went home to park and made a beginning of living happily ever lady true to her promise was always running down to the village during the following weeks to see the baby whom her husband had so mysteriously lighted on during his ride home concerning which interesting discovery she had her own opinion but being so extremely amiable and affectionate that she could have loved stocks and stones if there had been no living creatures to love she uttered none of her thoughts the little thing who had been took to lady as if the s young wife had been her mother and at length grew so fond of the child that she ventured to ask her husband if she might have in her own home and bring her up care a group of noble fully just as if she were her own to this he answered that though remarks might be made he had no objection a fact which was obvious sir seeming rather pleased than otherwise with the proposal after this they lived quietly and for two or three years at sir s residence in that part of england with as near an approach to bliss as the climate of this country allows the child had been a to for there seemed no great probability of her having one of her own and she wisely regarded the possession of as a special kindness of providence and did not worry her mind at all as to s possible origin being a tender and impulsive creature she loved her husband without criticism and and the child not much otherwise she watched the little as if she had been her own by nature and became a great solace to her when her husband was absent on pleasure or business and when he came home he looked pleased to see how the two had won each other s hearts sir would kiss his wife and his wife would kiss little and little would kiss sir and after this burst of affection lady would say dear me i forget she is not mine what does it matter her husband would reply providence is fore knowing he has sent us this one because he is not intending to send us one by any other channel their life was of the simplest since his travels the had taken to sporting and farming while was a pattern of their pleasures a group of noble were all local they retired early to rest and rose with the cart horses and whistling they knew the names of every bird and tree not uncommon and could the weather almost as well as anxious farmers and old people with one day sir received a letter which he read and laid down on the table without remark what is it dearest asked his wife glancing at the sheet oh it is from an old lawyer at bath whom i used to know he reminds me of something i said to him four or five years ago some little time before we were married about what about her it was a casual remark i made to him when i thought you might not take kindly to her that if he knew a lady who was anxious to adopt a child and could a good home to he was to let me know but that was when you had nobody to take care of her she said quickly how absurd of him to write now does he know you are married he must surely oh yes he handed her the letter the stated that a widow lady of position who did not at present wish her name to be disclosed had lately become a of his while taking the waters and had mentioned to him that she would like a little girl to bring up as her own if she could be certain of finding one of good and pleasing disposition and the better to this she a group of noble would not wish the child to be too young for judging her qualities he had remembered sir s observation to him a long while ago and therefore brought the matter before him it would be an excellent home for the little girl of that he was positive if she had not already found such a home but it is absurd of the man to write so long after said lady with a about the back of her throat as she thought how much had become to her i suppose it was when you first found her that you told him this exactly it was then he fell into thought and neither sir nor lady took the	45
trouble to answer the lawyer s letter and so the matter ended for the time one day at dinner on their return from a short absence in town whither they had gone to see what the world was doing hear what it was saying and to make themselves generally fashionable after for so long on this occasion i say they learnt from some friend who had joined them at dinner that hall the house of the estate next their own which had been offered on lease by reason of the of its owner had been taken for a term by a widow lady an italian whose name i will not mention for certain reasons which may by and by appear lady expressed her surprise and interest at the probability of having such a neighbour though if i had been bom in italy i think i should have to remain there she said she is not italian though her husband was said sir a group of noble i oh you have heard about her before now yes they were talking of her at grey s the other evening she is english and then as her husband said no more about the lady the friend who was dining with them told i that the s father had largely in east india stock in which immense fortunes were being made at that time through this his daughter had found herself wealthy at his death which had occurred only a few weeks after the death of her husband it was supposed that the marriage of an english s daughter to a poor foreign nobleman had been matter of arrangement merely as soon as the s was a little further advanced she would no doubt be the mark of all the who came near her for she was still quite young but at present she seemed to desire quiet and avoided society and town some weeks after this time sir sat looking at his lady for many moments he said it might have been better for if the had taken her she is so wealthy in comparison with ourselves and could have ushered the girl into the great world more effectually than we ever shall be able to do the take said lady with a start what was she the lady who wished to her tes she was staying at bath when lawyer wrote to me but how do you know all this he showed a uttle hesitation oh i ve seen her i of noble a group of noble he says you know she drives to the meet sometimes though she does not ride and she has informed me that she was the lady who inquired of you have talked to her as well as seen her then oh yes several times everybody has why didn t you tell me says his lady i had quite forgotten to call upon her fu go to morrow or soon but i can t think how you can say that it might have been better for to have gone to her she is so much our own now that i cannot admit any such conjectures as those even in jest her eyes reproached him so that sir did not answer lady did not hunt any more than the italian did indeed she had become so absorbed in household matters and in s that she had no mind to waste a minute on mere as she had said to talk coolly of what might have been the best destination in days past for a child to whom they had become so attached seemed quite barbarous and she could not understand how her husband should consider the point so for as will probably have been guessed lady long before this time if she had not done so at the very beginning divined sir s true relation to but the s wife was so meek and mild that she never told him of her and took what heaven had sent her without her generosity in this respect having been rewarded by the new life she found in her love for the little girl her husband to the same uncomfortable subject when a few days later they were speaking of a group of noble travelling abroad he said that it was almost a pity if they thought of going that they had not fallen in with the s wish that lady had told him that she had met walking with her nurse and that she had never seen a child she liked so well what she her stiu how impertinent of the woman said lady she seems to do so you see dearest the advantage to would have been that tiie would have adopted her and have made her as her own daughter while we have not done that we are only bringing up and a poor child in charity but adopt her fully make her mine cried his wife in an anxious voice how is it to be done h m he did not inform her but fell into thought and for reasons of her own his lady was restless and uneasy tlie very next day lady drove to hall to pay the neglected call upon her neighbour the was at home and received her graciously but poor lady s heart died within her as soon as she set eyes on her new acquaintance such wonderful beauty of the fully developed kind had never confronted her before inside the lines of a human face she seemed to shine with every light and grace that woman can possess her finished continental manners her expanded mind her ready wit composed a study that made the other poor lady sick for she and sir himself were rather rural in manners and she felt abashed by new sounds and ideas from without a group of noble she hardly knew three words in any language but her own	45
while this divine creature though truly english had apparently whatever she wanted in the italian and french tongues to suit every impression which was considered a great improvement to speech in those days and indeed is by many considered as such in these how very strange it was about the little girl the said to lady in her gay tones i mean that the child the lawyer recommended should just before then have been adopted by you who are now my neighbour how is she getting on i must come and see her do you still want her asks lady suspiciously oh i should like to have her but you can t she s mine said the other a drooping manner appeared in the from that moment lady too was in a wretched mood all the way home that day the was so charming in every way that she had charmed her gentle how should it be possible that she had failed to charm sir moreover she had awakened a strange thought in s mind as soon as she reached home she rushed to the nursery and there seizing kissed her then holding her at arm s length she gazed with a piercing into the girl s she sighed deeply abandoned the wondering and hastened away she had seen there not only her husband s traits a group of noble which she had often beheld before but others of the shade shape and expression which those of her new neighbour then this poor lady perceived the whole of things and asked herself how she could have been such a walking piece of simplicity as not to have thought of this before but she did not stay long herself for her so overwhelmed was she with misery at the spectacle of herself as an intruder between these to be sure she could not have foreseen such a but that did not lessen her grief the woman who had been both her husband s bliss and his had reappeared free when he was no longer so and she evidently was dying to claim her own in the person of who had meanwhile grown to be to lady almost the only source of each day s happiness supplying her with something to watch over inspiring her with the sense of and so largely reflecting her husband s nature as almost to deceive her into the pleasant belief that she reflected her own also if there was a single direction in which this devoted and virtuous lady it was in the direction of when all is said and done and the truth told men seldom show much self sacrifice in their conduct as lords and masters to helpless women bound to them for ufe and perhaps though i say it with all uncertainty if she had blazed up in his face hke a directly he came home she might have helped herself a little but god knows whether this is a true supposition at any rate she did no such thing and waited and prayed that she might never do despite a group of noble to him who she was bound to admit had always been tender and courteous towards her and hoped that httle might never be taken away by degrees the two became friendly and very seldom did a week pass without their seeing something of each other try as she might and dangerous as she assumed the to be lady could detect no fault or flaw in her new friend it was obvious that had been the which had drawn the hither and not sir such beauty united with such understanding and brightness had never before known in one of her own sex and she tried to think whether she succeeded i do not know that she did not mind the since a woman so rich so fair and with such a command of could not desire to wreck the happiness of so a person as herself the season drew on when it was the custom for families of distinction to go off to the bath and sir persuaded his wife to accompany him thither with everybody of any note was there this year from their own part of england came many that they knew among the rest lord and lady the earl and of sir john the lady the old duke of the bishop of the dean of and other lesser lights of court pulpit and field thither also came the fair whom as soon as saw how much she was sought by younger men she could not suspect of renewed designs upon sir but the had finer opportunities than ever a group of noble i i with for lady was often and even at other times could not honestly hinder an intercourse which gave bright ideas to the child welcomed her new acquaintance with a strange and instinctive readiness that intimated the wonderful of the threads which bind flesh and flesh together at last the crisis came it was by an accident and her nurse had gone out one day for an leaving lady alone indoors while she sat gloomily thinking that in all the would contrive to meet the child somewhere and exchange a few tender words with her sir rushed in and informed her that had just had the possible escape from death some workmen were a house to pull it down for when without warning the front wall slowly for its fall the nurse and child passing beneath it at the same moment the fall was temporarily arrested by the while in the meantime the had witnessed their imminent danger from the other side of the street springing across she snatched from under the wall and pulled the nurse after her the middle of the way being barely reached before they were enveloped in the dense dust of the descending mass though not a stone touched them where is says the excited lady she has her	45
she won t let her go for a time has her but she s mine she s mine cries lady then her quick and tender eyes perceived that her a group of noble husband had almost forgotten her existence in contemplating the of s the s and his own he was in a dream of exaltation which recognized nothing necessary to his well being outside circle of three lives was at length brought home she was much fascinated by the and saw nothing tragic but rather all that was truly delightful in what had happened in the evening when the excitement was over and was put to bed sir said she has saved and i have been asking myself what i can do for her as a slight acknowledgment of her heroism surely we ought to let her have to bring up since she still desires to do it it would be so much to s advantage we ought to look at it in that light and not seized his hand you don t mean it that i must lose my pretty darling the only one i have she met his gaze with her piteous mouth and wet eyes so painfully strained that he turned away his face the next morning before was awake lady stole to the girl s bedside and sat regarding her when opened her eyes she fixed them for a long time upon s features mamma you are not so pretty as the are you she said at length i am not why are you not mamma where would you rather live always with me or with her the little girl looked troubled i am sorry t a group of noble mamma i don t mean to be unkind but i would rather live with her i mean if i might without trouble and you did not mind and it could be just the same to us all you know has she ever asked you the same question never mamma there lay the sting of it the seemed the soul of honour and in this matter test her as she might that afternoon lady went to her husband with singular firmness upon her gentle face we have been married nearly five years and i have never you with what i know perfectly well the of never have you dear though i have seen that you knew from the first from the first as to her father not as to her mother her i did not know for some time but i know now ah you have discovered that too says he without much surprise could i help it very well that being so i have thought it over and i have spoken to i agree to her going i can do no less than grant to the her wish after her kindness to my your child then this self sacrificing woman went hastily away that he might not see that her heart was bursting and thereupon before they left the city changed her mother and her home after this the went away to london for a while taking with her and the and his wife returned to their lonely place at park without her a group of noble to in the bustle of bath was a different thing from living without her in this quiet home one evening sir missed his wife fix m the supper table her manner had been so pensive and of late that he immediately became alarmed he said nothing but looked about outside the house narrowly and discerned her form in the park where recently she had been accustomed to walk alone in its lower there was a pool fed by a brook and he reached this spot in time to hear a splash running forward he dimly perceived her light gown floating in the water to pull her out was the work of a few and bearing her indoors to her room he her nobody in the house knowing of the incident but himself she had not been long enough to lose her senses and soon recovered she owned that she had done it because the had taken away her child as she persisted in calling her husband spoke sternly to her and impressed upon her the weakness of giving way thus when all that had happened was for the best she took his reproof meekly and admitted her fault after that she became more resigned but he often caught her in tears over some doll shoe or ribbon of s and decided to take her to the north of england for change of air and scene this was not without its effect no less than mentally as later events showed but she still evinced a of ear at the most casual mention of the child when they reached home the and were still absent from the neighbouring hall but in a month or two they re a group of noble i turned and a little later sir came into his wife s room full of news well would you think it after being so desperate too about getting to be with her what our neighbour the is going to be married again it is to somebody she has met in london lady was much surprised she had never of such an event the conflict for the possession of s person had obscured the possibility of it yet what more likely the being still under thirty and so good looking what is of still more interest to us or to you continued her husband is a kind offer she has made she is willing that you should have back again seeing what a grief the loss of her has been to you she will try to do without her it is not for that it is not to oblige me said lady quickly one can see well enough what it	45
is for well never mind beggars mustn t be the reason or motive is nothing to us so that you obtain your desire i am not a beggar any longer said lady with proud mystery what do you mean by that lady hesitated however it was only too plain that she did not now jump at a of one for whom some months before she had been breaking her heart a group of noble the explanation of this change of mood became apparent some little time farther on lady after five years of wedded life was expecting to become a mother and the aspect of many things was greatly altered in her view among the more important changes was that of no longer feeling to be absolutely indispensable to her existence meanwhile in view of her coming marriage the decided to abandon the remainder of her term at hall and return to her pretty little house in town but she could not do this quite so quickly as she had expected and half a year or more elapsed before she finally quitted the neighbourhood the interval being passed in between the country and london prior to her last departure she had an interview with sir and it occurred three days after his wife had presented him with a son and heir i wanted to speak to you said the looking him in the face about the dear i have adopted temporarily and thought to have adopted permanently but my marriage makes it too i thought it might be that he answered regarding her back again and observing two tears come slowly into her eyes as she heard her own voice describe in those words don t me she said hastily and recovering herself went on if lady could take her back again as i suggested it would be better for me and certainly no worse for to every one a group of noble but ourselves she is but a child i have taken a fancy to and lady her so much and was very reluctant to let her go i am sure she will adopt her again she added anxiously i will sound her afresh said the you leave behind for the present yes although i go away i do not give up the house for another month he did not speak to his wife about the proposal till some few days after when lady had nearly recovered and news of the s marriage in london had just reached them he had no sooner mentioned s name than lady showed symptoms of i have not acquired any dislike of she said but i feel that there is one nearer to me now chose the alternative of going to the you must remember when i put it to her as between the and myself but my dear how can you argue thus about a child and that child our not ours said his wife pointing to the cot ours is here what then he said surprised you won t have her back after nearly dying of grief at the loss of her i cannot argue dear i should prefer not to have the responsibility of again her place is filled now her husband sighed and went out of the chamber there had been a previous arrangement that a group of noble should be brought to the house on a visit that day but instead of taking her up to his wife he did not lady of the child s presence he entertained her himself as well as he could and accompanied her into the park where they had a together presently he sat down on the root of an elm and took her upon his knee between this husband and this baby little you who had two homes are left out in the cold he said can t i go to london with my pretty mamma said perceiving fix m his manner that there was a somewhere i am afraid not my child she only took you to live with her because she was lonely you know then can t i stay at park with my other mamma and you i am afraid that cannot be done either said he sadly we have a baby in the house now he the reply by stooping down and kissing her there being a tear in his eye then nobody wants me said oh yes somebody wants you he assured her where would you like to live besides s experiences being rather limited she mentioned the only other place in the world that she was acquainted with the cottage of the who had taken care of her before lady had removed her to the house yes that s where you ll be best off and most independent he answered and i ll come to see you a group of noble my dear girl and bring you pretty things and perhaps you ll be just as happy there nevertheless when the change came and was handed over to the kind cottage woman the poor child missed the luxurious of hall and and for a long time her little feet which had been accustomed to carpets and oak floors suffered from the cold of the stone flags on which it was now her lot to live and to play while came upon her fingers with washing at the pump but thicker shoes with nails in them somewhat the cold feet and her complaints and tears on this and other scores diminished to silence as she became anew to the hardships of the farm cottage and she grew up robust if not handsome she was never altogether lost sight of by sir though she was deprived of the education which had been devised and begun for her by lady as well as by her other mamma the enthusiastic the latter soon had other to think of who occupied her time and affection as fully as lady s	45
were occupied by her precious boy in the course of time the and doubly rejected married i a respectable road the same if i mistake not who repaired and improved the old highway running from south through the new forest in the heart of this worthy man of business the poor girl found the nest which had been denied her by her own flesh and blood of higher degree v l o a of noble several of the listeners wished to hear another story from the sentimental member after this but he said that he could recall nothing else at the moment and that it seemed to him as if his friend on the other side of the fireplace had something to say from the look of his face the member alluded to was a respectable with a sly to one possibly the result of an accident and a regular attendant at the club meetings he replied that his looks had been mainly caused by his interest in the two ladies of the last story apparently women of strong instincts even though they were not in their tenderness the tale had brought to his mind an instance of a firmer affection of that sort on the paternal side in a nature otherwise as for telling the story his manner was much against him he feared but he would do his best if they wished here the president interposed with a suggestion that as it was getting late in the afternoon it would be as well to to their respective and lodgings for dinner after which those who cared to do so could return and resume these curious domestic traditions for the remainder of the evening which might otherwise prove irksome enough the had told him that the room was at their service the who was beginning to feel hungry himself readily and the club separated for an hour and a half then the faithful ones began to drop in again among whom were not the president neither came the rural dean nor the two though the colonel and the man a of l l of family cigars in mouth were good enough to return having found their hotel dreary the museum had no regular means of illumination and a solitary candle less powerful than the rays of the fire was placed on the table also bottles and glasses provided by some thoughtful member the eyed now thoroughly proceeded to relate in his own terms what was in substance as follows while many of his listeners smoked a of dame the fifth the lady by the dame the fifth the lady by the in the reign of his most excellent majesty king george the third of the faith and of the american colonies there lived in a place so called it in his day as i have been told in one o the bits of between and the city of a young lady who resembled some ones in having many talents and exceeding great beauty with these gifts she combined a somewhat imperious temper and arbitrary mind though her experience of the world was not actually so large as her manner would have led the stranger to suppose being an orphan she resided with her uncle who though he was fairly considerate as to her welfare left her pretty much to herself now it that when this lovely young lady was about nineteen she being a fearless was riding with only a young lad as an attendant in one o the woods near her uncle s house and in trotting along her horse stumbled over the root of a tree she slipped to the ground not seriously hurt and was assisted home by a gentleman who came in view at the a of noble moment of her it turned out that this gentleman a total stranger to her was on a visit at the house of a neighbouring he was of dutch and occasionally came to england on business or pleasure from his in on the north coast of south america where he usually resided on this account he was naturally but little known in and was but a slight acquaintance of the gentleman at whose mansion he was a guest however the friendship between him and the as the uncle and niece were named warmed and warmed by degrees there being but few folk o note in the vicinity at that time which made a if he were at all and of good credit always sure of a welcome a tender feeling as it is called by the romantic sprang up between the two young people which into intimacy the foreign gentleman was of an temperament and though he endeavoured to conceal his feeling it could be seen that miss maria had impressed him rather more deeply than would be represented by a scratch upon a stone he seemed absolutely unable to free himself from her fascination and his inability to do so much as he tried evidently thinking he had not the ghost of a chance with her gave her the pleasure of power though she more than when she overheard him heaving his deep drawn sighs privately to himself as he supposed after his visit by every conceivable excuse in his power he summoned courage and offered her his hand and his heart being in no way to him though not so as he and her a group of noble uncle making no objection to the match she consented to share his fate for better or otherwise in the distant colony where as he assured her his rice and coffee and and timber produced him ample means a statement which was borne out by his friend her uncle s neighbour in short a day for their marriage was fixed earlier in the engagement than is usual or desirable between comparative strangers by reason of the necessity he	45
was under of returning to look after his properties the wedding took place and maria left her uncle s mansion with her husband going in the first place to london and about a fortnight after sailing with him across the ocean for their distant home which however he assured her should not be her home for long it being his intention to dispose of his interests in this part of the world as soon as the war was over and he could do so when they could come to europe and reside in some favourite capital as they advanced on the voyage she observed that he grew more and more constrained and by the time they had crossed the line he was quite depressed just as he had been before proposing to her a day or two before landing at he embraced her in a very tearful and passionate manner and said he wished to make a confession it had been his misfortune he said to marry at in early life a woman whose reputation proved to be in every way bad and scandalous the discovery had nearly killed him but he had ultimately separated from her and had never seen her since he had hoped and prayed she might be dead but recently in london when they were starting on this journey he had discovered that she was still alive at a group of noble first he had decided to keep this dark intelligence from her beloved ears but he had felt that he could not do it all he hoped was that such a condition of things would make no difference in her feelings for him as it need make no difference in the course of their lives thereupon the spirit of this proud and lady showed itself in violent turmoil like the raging of a nor west as well it might god knows but she was of too stout a nature to be broken down by his revelation as many ladies of my acquaintance would have been so far from home and right under the line in the blaze o the sun of the two indeed he was the more wretched and shattered in spirit for he loved her deeply and there being a foreign twist in his make had been tempted to this crime by her exceeding beauty against which he had struggled day and night till he had no further resistance left in him it was she who came first to a decision as to what should be done whether a wise one i do not attempt to judge i put it to you says she when many useless and on his part had been uttered i put it to you whether if any is left in you you ought not to do exactly what i consider the best thing for me in this strait to which you have reduced me he promised to do anything in the whole world she then requested him to allow her to return and announce him as having died of malignant immediately on their arrival at that she should consequently appear in weeds as his widow in her native place and that he would never her or come a group of noble i again to that part of the world during the whole course of his life a good reason for which would be that the legal consequences might be serious he readily in this as he would have in anything for the of one he adored so deeply even to the yielding of life itself to put her in an immediate state of independence he gave her in bonds and jewels a considerable sum for his worldly means had been in no way exaggerated and by the next ship she sailed again for england having travelled no farther than to at parting he declared it to be his intention to turn all his landed possessions into personal property and to be a wanderer on the face of the earth in remorse for his conduct towards her maria duly arrived in england and immediately on landing her uncle of her return duly appearing at his house in the garb of a widow she was by all the neighbours as soon as her story was told but only to her uncle did she reveal the real state of affairs and her reason for concealing it for though she had been innocent of wrong maria s pride was of that grain which could not brook the least appearance of having been or or in her worldly aims for some time she led a quiet life with her relative and in due course a son was bom to her she was much respected for her dignity and reserve and the wealth which her temporary husband had made over to her enabled her to live in comfort in a wing of the mansion without assistance from her uncle at all but knowing that she was not what she seemed to be a group of noble her life was an uneasy one and she often said to herself suppose his continued existence should become known here and people should discern the pride of my motive in hiding my humiliation it would be worse than if i had been frank at first which i should have been but for the credit of this child such grave reflections as these occupied her with increasing force and during their continuance she encountered a worthy man of noble birth and title lord his name whose seat was beyond quite at t other end of he being anxious to pay his addresses to her maria willingly accepted them though he was a plain man older than herself for she discerned in a re marriage a method of her position against discoveries in a few months their union took place and maria lifted her head as lady and left with her	45

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