George Tomkyns Chesney

“ Then he said gravely, but with a kind smile —
"Your cousin has been very careless, no doubt, and there have been irregularities in this business which ought not to have occurred, and which no doubt bear a very unfavourable appearance; but I should think much worse of human nature than I do if I could believe that so gallant a soldier as Rupert Kirke were guilty of anything positively dishonourable."
"Oh, thank you for saying that!" cried Olivia, with fervour. "But why is it that he cannot get justice, poor fellow? Is there no way in which he can set himself right with the world?" ”

“ Cunningham set off on his long journey, the nawab's camel-carriage being again put in requisition for the first part of it; while Falkland and his bride drove home to the residency.
Thus was our sweet Olivia mated, and all her friends and acquaintances pronounced it a happy marriage on both sides. And indeed with a husband gallant, clever, and unselfish, gentle and kind in his ways, and whose devotion and solicitude were evinced in every word and action, how could the young wife help being happy? ”

“ I wish I knew when there would be a chance of my being able to renew our acquaintance; but I have been in some trouble lately, and want to put myself right first with the world, especially with those whose good opinion I value most. It is a slanderous world, and I hope my cousin will not listen to the evil tales she may hear of one whose fault it has been to make enemies of those who can't bear that a younger man should understand his profession better than they do, and who values her good opinion before everything else. I hope you will meet our mutual friend Colonel Falkland before long. ”

“ So, then, even the last despairing hope must be surrendered which had found a place in his foolish heart during these solitary days, that the whole story of the engagement might prove to be a horrid dream, or that something might happen at the last moment to break off the marriage. Life must now be faced under its new conditions, and it would be mere cowardice to shirk it any longer. ”

“ My own opinion would have been for letting time have its effect, now that it is too late to demand a court-martial; but I did not say anything to dissuade him from making this personal appeal at once."
"Oh, Colonel Falkland," broke in Olivia, eagerly, "do say that you do not think so hardly of my cousin as papa does. He values your good opinion above everything, I know. It does seem a dreadful thing for the poor fellow to be cast off even by his friends in his troubles." ”

“ His society made everything seem bright; whatever he said and did seemed best and wisest; with him she felt always more at ease than even with her father. Withal she could not but be affected by the unconscious flattery implied in the footing of equality on which so distinguished a man placed her. Yet all this was not love; and up to the time when Olivia and her father paid their visit to Falkland, shortly after his return to his own station, she had at most but dimly discerned the coming prospect ”

“ The love was at first all on his side, and for some time he battled with the feeling, asking himself now and again if a weather-beaten old bachelor such as he, was fitted to make this beautiful and brilliant young creature happy; whether he would not be acting a wiser and less selfish part to withdraw from all competition for her hand, and leave her to find a mate among younger men. ”

“ Cunningham and his daughter returned forthwith to Mustaphabad to make the needful arrangements for their respective changes in life — arrangements easily accomplished, for Falkland took over the residency furniture, carriage, and horses in block, and Miss Cunningham's ample outfit, still in its first freshness, rendered the need but small for a special bridal trousseau. The hot winds were now setting in apace, and it behoved Cunningham to start as soon as possible for Calcutta, if he would escape ill consequences from the journey. ”

“ The first meeting between two persons who, though nearly related, are yet virtually strangers, ignorant of each other's thoughts, feelings, and tastes, even of each other's past life — whose intercourse has consisted in the exchange of brief and formal letters, and who have had, so far, nothing in common but the interest and the affection born of a sense of duty — must needs be attended with more or less of restraint and embarrassment ”

“ But although the young man had strength of will to hide his grief, and unselfishness enough to feel no anger with the woman who had made such wild work with his heart, life for the time seemed utterly intolerable, especially while the coming wedding was the universal topic of conversation throughout the station. To listen to this was more than he could bear; and obtaining a month's leave, Yorke set out with his tent to pass the time in wandering about the district. ”

“ I certainly did not think he would venture to write to you after what has happened. But it is just like him."
"What has happened, papa? Poor fellow! he speaks of being in trouble, but does not say what is the cause of it." ”

“ A silent man him self, and restrained from expressing much interest in her former life by a sense of indignation at what he considered his sister's misalliance, his shyness was soon dissipated by his daughter's sympathetic ways as she thus rapidly identified herself with his interests and her new home. The commissioner soon found that the cheerful breakfast-table with his daughter opposite to him was a great improvement on the solitary meal, dawdled over with a book, to which he had been accustomed ”