ike an idle boy with his holiday imposition, Edward shelved it among the nightmares, saying, "How ca

evil, and fights with gradually stifling shadows. When the last convulsions come they are not terrific; the frame has been weakened for dissolution; love dies like natural decay. I

to conduct a correspondence.

so I pass by your reproaches. My father has gone at last. He has manifested an extraordinary liking for my society, and I am to join him elsewhere -perhaps run over to Paris (y

know I am never unwell. And as to your nursi

he house! Such ghosts as you meet with strange treatment when they go about unprotected, let me give you warning. You

you, as you say, you are very well aware it is not because you are becoming plain. You do not mean it, I know; but there is a disingenuousness in remarks of

ached to a female cousin of ours, a very handsome person, witty, and highly sensible, who dresses as well as the lady you talk about

r-of-fact for you. By looking eternally inward, you teach yourself to fret, and the consequence is, or will be, that you wither. No constitution can stand it. All the ladies here take an interest in Parliamentary affairs. The

n, and provide the beer and the bribes, I have no objection. In that case my Law goes to the winds. I'm bound to make a show of o

sists upon my not offending him. When will old men understand young ones? I burn your letters, and beg you to follow the example. Old letter

ribands, was very suitable. Or did you write 'bl

ember, that no woman who knows at all how to cond

that should make you helpless when you consider that you are insult

the gentlemen here:-Lo

w), Sir John Capes,

:-Mrs. Gosling, Miss

ody-to an

ght. I see them out, and make my bow to the next b

heatre now and then, and take your landlady with you. If she's a cat, fit one of your dresses on the servant-girl, a

ne in pints and half-pints; if not, return them instantly. I know how Economy, sittin

ient girl a

stern

d the

tretch of imagination, he could feel that it represented him to her as in a higher atmosphere, considerate for her, and not so i

only a little. She walked; she read poetry; she begged him to pardon her for not drinking wine. She was glad that he burnt her letters, which were so foolish that

ture who had already accepted her distinctive residence in another sphere than his. From such a perception of her huma

when two are at this game, the question arises-"Which can live without the other?" and horrid pangs smote him to hear her telling musically o

engaged to her," he said. Mrs

a half-

ed away

tage-hero in stagey heroics. "You think to hound me into this brutal stupidity of fightin

till then could he placably confront the look. He tried a course of reading. Every morning he

The book seemed hollow; sounded hollow as he shut it. This woman breathed of active striving life. She was a spur to black en

er after-thoughts were lost. What sort of man had Harry been, her first husband? A dashing soldier, a q

t rare union of brains and bravery in a man, and would never surrender till she had discovered it. Perhaps she fancied it did not exist. It might b

only strengthened the idea she entertained of his

n. And how to prove it false? How to prove it false in a civilized age, among sober- living men and women, with whom the violent

ance. "Milk and capsicums," he called her, and compared her to bloody mustard-haired Saxon Queens of h

ng for an anomal

ism, he finished his re

heir turn when there is no way

er, one must not begin

commandingly. So the lordly mind takes her in a hard grasp, cracks th

racter when it was under her eyes; but its yesterday and to-morrow were a blank. She had no imaginative

; she was not greedy of money, or reckless in using it; but a difference of opinion arising, her instinct forcibly prompted her to back her own. If the stake was the risk of a lover's life, she was ready to put down t

ex: I may say, profoundly practical. So much so, that she systematically reserved the after-years for enlig

alled her, in one

ountry in opposition to them), she liked their splendid boyishness, their unequalled devotion, their mer

lishmen suppose it to have nowhere any depth; as if the outer coating must necessarily e

e cloud-rents and lightning in the chasms:- which image may be accounted for by the fact that when

s nation. Indeed, he flushed. He remembered articles girding at the policy of peace at any price, and half felt that Mrs. Lovell had meant to crown him with a Quaker's hat. His title

tion. She stabbed him with so straightforward an

been married

passion for her girlhood. He begged for portraits of her as a girl. She showed him the portrait of Harry Lovell in a locket.

f?" he groaned, in the midst of

oon to be disturbed. A l

ed it a

you decline I will make you publicly acknowledge what you have done. If you answer, that I am not a gentleman and you are one, I say that you have attacked me in the dark, when I was on horseback, and you are now my equal, if I like to think so. You will not talk about the law after that night. The man you employed I may punish or I may lea

am,

rs t

rt Ec

e. The letter had been brought in to him at the breakfast table. "Read it, read it

from Dahlia's family he was now on the right scent, and appeared to know that he was. How was a scandal to be avoided? By leaving Fairly instantly for any place on earth, he could not avoid leaving the man behind; and if the man saw Mrs. Lovell again, her instincts as a woman of her class were not to be trusted. As likely as not she would side with the ruffian; that is, she would think he had been wronged-perh

ed. At least, he knew she would despise him if he avo

as no help for it. In vain Edward asked himself why he had been such an idiot as to stain his hands with the affair at all. He attributed it to his regard for Algernon. Having commonly the sway of his passions,

s you drag a ma

ted, in sickly wonderment; and snapped sharp, "drag you into the mess? Upon my h

him, for they were only

upstairs, and Algernon

he repeated; "by Jove!

u attacked him in

ard. "He behaved like a ruffian to you,

he subject "did you really go out with that man Sedgett, and stop this fellow on horseback? He s

ng with her, he could bring her to apprehend the common sense of the position, and be so far responsible for what he might do, that she would not dare to let her heart be rebellious toward

ed to Al

interrogating me. I give you my positive assura

eing his commission. Really, Ned, I can't advise. I'll stand by you, that you may be sure of-stand by you; but what the deuce to say to help you! Go before the magistrate.... Get Lord Elling to issue a warrant to prevent a breach of the peace. No; that won't do. This quack of a major in the army's to call to-morrow. I don't mind, if he shows his credentials all cle

ly. "In some cases thei

to drag her into

don't think she's so inn

clever," s

non. He paused to give room for mor

onsult her, if positively you don't mind. Trust her for keeping it

r, more than min

lting her, just to see how neatly she'll take it. Bless your heart, she won't know a

o conciliate her approbation of his conduct in this dilemma, by submitting to the decided unpleasantness of talking with her on a subject that fevered him, and of allowing her to suppose he required the help of her sagacity. Such was the humiliation imposed upon him. Further than this he had nothing to fear, for no woman could fail to be overborne by the masculine force of his brain in an argument. The humiliation was bad enough, and half tempted him to t

anctuary. Mrs. Lovell was perdition and its scorchi

iting music. His ideas turned to subterfuge. His aim was to keep the good opinion of Mrs. Lovell while he quieted Robert; and he ente