Edmund Yates

“ Not that I'm sure you're not rightly served, Barbara. It's just the sort of thing you've been doing all your life, you know; but, still, one doesn't expect it in a man, does one, dear? I wonder--"
"I wonder when you'll have common sense, Alice. It's time, if what you told me this morning be true."
"O Barbara darling! O Barbara! don't remind me of it. Oh, how miserable you've made me! And you--you don't care one pin, when you know I'm so wretched." And putting her handkerchief to her eyes, little Miss Townshend hurried out of the room. ”

“ O good Lord, good Lord!" and she burst into tears and buried her face in her handkerchief. Then suddenly rousing, she exclaimed: "What do you come and tell me this for, Simnel? What business is it of yours? What's your motive in coming and smashing me up like this?"
"One, and one only," said Simnel in a low voice. "I wanted to prevent your demeaning yourself by ever showing favour to a man who has treated you so basely. I wanted you to show your own pride and spirit by blotting this Beresford from your thoughts. I wanted you to do this--whatever may be the result--because--I love you, Kate!" ”

“ Churchill.
"Ay!" said the honest old boy; "and what did you make of her, Sophy? I'd trust your judgment in a thousand; and Frank has a high opinion of it, I know. Is she pretty, and clever, and managing, and all the rest of it?"
"Well, as to prettiness, George, she's not one of my style of beauties," said Mrs. Harding. "She's a tall slip of a woman, with straight features, such as you see on the old coins; and she's very stand-offish in her manners; and, as to managing--well, she's too fine a lady to know her tradespeople's names, or what she pays them." ”

“ Next to Captain Lyster sits Miss Lexden, Barbara's aunt; a fat, placid-looking old lady, in a flaxen front, which, with a cap covered with ribbons and flowers, seemed skewered on to her skull by a couple of large pins, the knobs of which presented themselves like bosses on her temples. She was a cousin of Sir Marmaduke's, and the elder sister of the old man's one love, so that there was a great link of confidence between them; and she liked coming to Bissett, where the living was always so good, and where she met people who amused her. ”

“ He thought of her as he had never thought of woman before, and he gloried in the thought: he was no love-sick boy, to waste in fond despair, and sicken in his longing; he was a strong, healthy man, with a faultless digestion, an earnest will, a clear conscience, and a heart thinking no guile. There was the difference in the rank, certainly--and in connexion with this reflection a grim smile crossed his face as he remembered Harding, and his caution about "swells"--but what of that? Did not good education, and a life that would bear scrutiny, lift a man to any rank? ”

“ Lord, Lord what happy times those were! happier than I shall ever see again, I know."
"Nonsense, Kate. Your life is just now at its turn. All those horrid days of grinding labour in the circus, all the hard work you've done here, shall be to you like a dream. You shall be a swell, and hold your own with the best of them. Ay, and not merely in money,--I offered you that long since,--but I wanted to prove a position for you, and I have proved it, Kitty, my darling!" and Mr. Simnel's usually pale cheeks glowed, and his eyes glistened, and he squeezed Kate's hand in the excitement of his feelings. ”

“ Mr. Simnel sat calmly over his breakfast in his rooms in Piccadilly, little dreaming of all that had occurred on the previous day in Saxe-Coburg Square. He skimmed the newspaper; he dallied with his toast; he laid down his knife and fork and paused in his meal, smiling to himself with the air of a man who had reason for self-gratulation. Such reason had Mr. Simnel. He had fought a very long and arduous and up-hill fight--a fight in which the odds were all against him, and which he had won entirely by patience and excellent generalship. ”

“ The fair hair, which he recollected tightly knotted under the comely hat, lay floating over the pillow dank with death-dew; the strong white hands, against the retaining grasp of which the fieriest horses had pulled and plunged in vain, lay helpless on the coverlet, cut and scored by the gravel, and without an infant's power in them. A fresh burst of tears clouded Robert Simnel's eyes as he looked on this sad sight; and his heart sunk within him as he felt that his one chance in life, his one chance of love and peace and happiness, was rapidly vanishing before him. ”

“ He liked to be with Sir Marmaduke; for the old gentleman's brusque manners and general intolerance afforded him real amusement, and he laid himself open to attack by always being more than ever drawling and inane when in his company. The baronet, who had a quick perception of character, knew Lyster's real worth, and often talked to him seriously about having some purpose in life; and when he only got vague and dreamy replies, he would burst out into a torrent of invective, in the middle of which Lyster would run, shrieking with laughter, from the room. ”

“ Then comes a shout, a clanging of the garden-gate, an irruption of children, wild cries of "Granny!" and the old lady is hustled away to find fruit or play at games. This is old Mrs. Churchill, who has never been so happy in her life.
And Barbara and Frank? They live close by in a charming house, with a lawn sloping to the Thames. Barbara has her brougham again; and all her old acquaintance have called on her, and expressed their delight at her husband's good fortune with great enthusiasm. ”

“ Alan Prescott did very well indeed. Situate in the heart of Kent, no prettier spot than Havering can be found; and Brooklands, the squire's place, is the gem of the county. In the bay-window of the old dining-room, overhanging the fertile valley through which the Medway lies like a thread of silver, the two men would sit drinking their claret, discussing old university chums or topics of the day, and pausing occasionally to look at the gambols of the Vicar's son, Jim, and the Squire's only daughter, Emily, who were the merriest of little lovers. ”

“ The Row was very empty, and Simnel paid but little attention to its occupants: now and then he occasionally raised his whip mechanically in acknowledgment of some passing salute, but it is to be doubted whether he knew to whom he was telegraphing, as his thoughts were entirely fixed on his mission. However, he wore a pleasant smile on his face, and that was quite enough: grinning, like charity, covers a multitude of sins; and if you only smile and hold your tongue, you can pass through life with an éclat which excellent eloquence, combined with a serious face, would fail to give. ”

“ But since you've broached the topic, hear me: I shall leave Bissett at once; and once gone, I shall never see Barbara again. I shall not give her one sixpence for her trousseau, or make one addition to her wardrobe. I will not allow her a penny, and I will strive to forget that I ever knew there was such a person on earth. She has grievously disappointed me, and been selfish and ungrateful; but I shall not cast her off, or do any thing melodramatic or nonsensical; I shall simply ignore her existence, and live on as though she had never been."
Sir Marmaduke retired, boiling over with rage. ”

“ I flatter myself I can hold my own with the old crows," said Barbara; "however, this is mere nonsense. No more croquet, thank you, Captain Lyster. I must go in and reflect on your words of wisdom."
And dropping him a little curtsey of mock humility, she moved off towards the house.
"I'd lay long odds she follows up the idea," said Lyster to himself, as he sat down on the twisted roots of an old elm and lit a cheroot. "She's a fine creature," he added, looking after her; "something in the Cheetah line,--fine and swervy and supple, and as clever as--as old boots. How awfully old I'm growing! ”

“ Dunster, a merry little old gentleman with light-blue eyes, who could take the skin off your back and plant daggers in your heart, smiling all the time in the pleasantest manner. "Chester's next door to an idiot; lives close by you, by the way, Bloss, doesn't he?"
All the men laughed; and even Barbara, after a look of amazement, could not help smiling.
"He's dreadfully frightened of the critics," said another man sitting by. "You must notice him in the Statesman yourself, Churchill, eh?"
"Or I'll speak to Harding. Poor Chester! he mustn't be allowed to come to grief. ”

“ I'm a woman and you hit so hard! Oh, Robert," she exclaimed, vainly endeavouring to drag herself towards Simnel, "you'll keep him off! you'll defend me!"
"There's no one there, Kate," said Simnel, dropping on his knees by the bedside, and taking her hand; "there's no one to hurt you, my child."
"I was dreaming then," said Kate; "oh, such a horrid dream! I thought I---- Who are these?" she exclaimed, looking at Barbara and Frank. "I'm scarcely awake yet, I think. Why, it's Guardy, of course! and you, dear, who were so kind to me. But how are you here together? ”

“ What an old dear you are, Dunster!" said a gentleman sitting in a corner of the fireplace exactly opposite Barbara, with his legs stretched out on a stool, and his body reclining on an easy-chair. This was Mr. Lacy, an artist, who, as it was, made a very good income, but who might have taken the highest rank had his perseverance been on a par with his talent; a sleepy, dreamy man, with an intense appreciation of and regard for himself.
"What do you think of all this, Mrs. Churchill?" asked Bloss; "they are any thing but compassionate in their remarks." ”

“ Miss Lexden's face fell; the gold teeth-settings disappeared from view entirely; and she shrugged her shoulders as she said, "Very well, my dear; I feared something of the sort. If you like to settle on three thousand a year, and to take a man whose constitution is ruined by the Indian climate, I can only say--it is your affair."
Barbara bit her lips to avoid betraying a smile as she replied, "You are wrong again, aunt. Captain Lyster has never done me the honour of an offer." Then seriously, "I am going to be married to Mr. Churchill." ”

“ She thought of her devotion to Beresford; how the passion had first grown when he first knew her; how she had given way to it; and how the nourishment of it was one of the brightest phases in her strange odd life. She remembered the first time she saw him, the first compliment he paid her; the way in which his easy jolly behaviour struck her as compared with the dreary vapidity, or, what was worse, the slangy fastness of the other men of her acquaintance. ”

“ There must be something the matter when a young fellow like you, instead of joining in the nonsense downstairs, comes to hunt out an old fogey like me. What is it?"
"Business, Sir Marmaduke," commenced Churchill; "I want five minutes' business talk with you."
"God bless my soul!" growled Sir Marmaduke; "business at this time of night, and with me! You can't talk without something to drink, you know. Here, Gumble; another tumbler and the brandy for Mr. Churchill. Why don't you talk to Stone, my dear fellow? he manages all my business, you know." ”

“ Ah, Tom and Dick and Harry, our old friends, boon-companions, trusted intimates, they surely would have the heart to look after the children? And the wife, dearest helpmate, true in all her wifely duties, but ah how unfitted to combat with the world, to have the responsibilities of the household to bear alone? And then the end itself!--the Shadow-cloaked from head to foot! the great hereafter! "Behold, we know not any thing!" Happy are we to arouse from that dismal reverie at the sound of the wheels of the doctor's carriage, and gaze into his eyes, trusting there to read a growing hope. ”

“ And now Kate's colour came again, and her heart leapt within her as she felt once more the ecstasy of tearing speed. Away he goes, easy as a chair when once he has settled into his stride, and with more real go in him than she has felt in any horse she has ridden for months. Bravo, Balthazar! Whoop, boy! get along! and the blue habit floats behind, and the gravel flies round her, and she is going the real pace now, and no mistake! Who is this rider creeping out across her path from beneath the trees? Steady, boy, steady! by Jove, he's got the bit between his teeth, and there's no stopping him! ”

“ I'm a singular person; not clever, you know, but always saying what I think, and that sort of thing; and you're dying for a flirtation."
"Surely you have no cause to complain. I've never tried to make you my 'Hercules, my Roman Antony,' Captain Lyster."
"No; you've been good enough to spare me. You've known me too long, and think of me, rightly enough perhaps, as the 'dull, cold-blooded Cæsar;' and there's no one here that's at all available except Stone, and his berth with Sir Marmaduke is like a college-fellowship--he'd have to resign all income if he married. It's an awful position for you! ”

“ Then, as they walked, Fred Lyster talked long and earnestly. He told Barbara that he addressed her as one who, he knew, took the deepest interest in Alice Schröder's welfare; indeed, as one who had been as her sister in times past. He touched lightly on the disparity in age between Alice and her husband, and upon the difference in all their habits, tastes, and opinions; he said that she was thus doubtless driven to her own resources for amusement, and that her utter simplicity and childishness made her the easy prey of designing people. ”

“ She was no vain-glorious Pharisee, to tell of the tithes she had given, the good she had done; no humbler-minded sinner poured out a nightly tale of shortcomings and omissions to the Great Father: but when she thought of her own married life, when she recollected all Vance Churchill's frailties, all his drinking bouts and intrigues, all his carelessness and idleness, his neglect of his wife his pettish waywardness, and constant self-indulgence ”