Beresford

“ Beresford, after leaving Bissett, went for a short visit to a bachelor friend with a shooting-box in Norfolk; and after enjoying some excellent sport, and nearly boring himself to death, in the company of his host and a few hard-drinking sporting squires of the neighbourhood, returned to town--to his lodgings in South Audley Street, and to his daily routine of life. He did not at all dislike London in the autumn, when he had no calls to make; when he could wear out his old clothes; could smoke in the streets at any hour without loss of dignity ”

“ Forrester spared Beresford as much as possible, and often undertook the double work, alternately lifting the slab to release the rays, and, when it was lowered, climbing to remove the dust. Each knew he carried his life in his hands, for the ladder could not be entirely hidden. ”

“ It was an effort now to Beresford to talk. The sickly hue induced by the greenish light had become on his countenance a ghastly pallor. His limbs shook, his gait was slow and stumbling, his once upright frame was beginning to stoop like that of an old man. On his days off duty he lay like a log, sleeping, or simply existing in apathy and listlessness. Was he to drift thus on a slow tide towards death?
One night, Forrester was wearily laying the pole in its resting-place, when he heard a sudden click near by, such as might be caused by the fall of some hard substance on the floor. ”

“ As Beresford walked along Curzon Street he saw the Edward Seymours approaching; their mission was too obvious to require explanation. They were calling on Lady Drewitt to hear the result of the interview with her prodigal nephew.
"Well," sneered Edward Seymour in the tone he invariably adopted to Beresford, "have you enjoyed yourself?"
"Immensely, thank you, Edward," was the smiling reply. "It always does me good to hear Aunt Caroline talk of you." ”

“ Even the peasant women who knew nothing about racing but something about men, bet on their fancy, some for the one with the curly hair, others for the brave blue eyes, and so on.
Each of the brothers had to ride 12 stone and be on his own horse. The Beresford Blue was worn by them all. Lord Charles, being the eldest, donned the black cap, which sounds rather as if he were condemning someone to death; the others wore white and blue caps respectively to distinguish between them.
THE FAMOUS BERESFORD BROTHERS’ RACE
(1) LORD WILLIAM; (2) LORD MARCUS ”

“ But Beresford, riding away behind his retreating party, looked back at this latter man, and saw him move up into a sitting posture.
He who would succour in such a crisis must not only be a brave man, but also a prompt man, quick to decide and as quick to act. The issue of life or death hangs at such a time on the gain or waste of a moment. The Zulus, darting out from the water-course, were perilously close to the poor fellow; but Beresford, used on the racecourse to measuring distance with the eye, thought he might just do it, if he were smart and lucky. ”

“ Being at the Calcutta meeting for the first time in the early part of ’91, and knowing that the Beresford-Durbangah arrangement was at an end, he approached Lord William with a view to being taught the ropes and joining company. He was already a good horseman and loved the sport. His lordship agreed, and so for the future it was to be that very powerful stable the Patiala-Beresford, the strongest in India. ”

“ What were you crying for?”
“I don’t want you to go away,” said Lion, in a trembling voice. “Why must you go, daddy, and leave me alone with——”
The loyal little fellow caught himself up without finishing the sentence, but Mr. Beresford knew only too well what the concluding word would have been, and he sighed heavily.
A wealthy man, with congenial work to occupy him, with a lovely wife and a sweet little son, there were plenty of people who envied him with all their hearts; but Paul Beresford, like many of those who seem the most prosperous, had a secret sorrow that embittered his whole life. ”

“ Presently he raised his eyes and looked enquiringly at Beresford over the flame.
"You impute everything to a wrong motive——" began Beresford.
"A woman is not a motive, my dear Richard," interrupted Drewitt; "she's an imaginative extravagance of Nature, like a mushroom, or the aurora borealis."
"You expect," continued Beresford, ignoring the interruption, "that every man is capable of making an ass of himself about some woman and, naturally, you are never surprised when he does."
"The surprise generally comes when I meet the woman," was the dry retort. "What does the Aunt say?" ”

“ Beresford's mind was a chaos of absurdities. He had flown from the commonplace, and landed in a veritable Gehenna of interest. Within thirty hours of setting out, a modern Don Quixote, plus a temperament, he had encountered more incidents, pleasant and unpleasant, than most men have any right to expect in a decade. It was absurd, ridiculous, insane to overload a man's stomach with adventure in this way. It was like giving beef-steak pudding to some poor devil with gastritis. ”

“ And they had scarcely sat down when Frank King, who was most assiduous in his attentions to Lady Beresford, and scarcely saw Nan at all, discovered that the mamma knew certain relatives of his, and knew all about his own family, and had even on one occasion visited Kingscourt a good many years ago. Lady Beresford was very kind to him. He was a pleasant-mannered, clever-looking young man, and he had a distinguished air that lent value to the little courtesies he paid. ”

“ Maybelle came down the graveled walk to them, beautiful in a dainty white gown with purple lilacs at her slender waist.
But St. George Beresford did not turn to meet her gaze, and Otho said, sneeringly:
“Beresford has been struck dumb by the sight of a beauty on a bicycle.”
“A beauty?” frowningly.
“Yes. Little Fly-away Floy.”
“Nonsense, she is no beauty, only a mischievous little hoiden! Don’t let her turn your head, Mr. Beresford; she isn’t in our set at all. Her father is a mechanic, and her mother a seamstress.” ”

“ Beresford had already told Tallis of what had led up to his adventure. "I take it that your means, like other things, have their limitations. What'll you do when the money's gone?"
"Oh, anything, everything. If fate sends me pneumonia on the first day of my adventure, on the last she'll probably send me——"
"A great desire for life," interrupted the doctor calmly.
Beresford sat up suddenly. "Good Lord!" he burst out. "How horrible! What a fiendish idea."
"Nature has an odd way of paying off old scores. She's a mistress of irony." ”

“ Before he vanished the Ghost told Lady Beresford that her son should marry his brother’s daughter and heiress; and that she herself should die at the birth of a child after a second marriage, in her forty-second year. All these prophecies, of course, came to pass. From the marriage of Sir Marcus Beresford with the ghost’s niece, Catharine, Baroness Le Poer of Curraghmore, has descended the whole clan of Irish Beresfords. He was created Earl of Tyrone; his eldest son was the first Marquis of Waterford ”

“ For a few moments there was silence, during which Payne and Rogers withdrew. "No sugar, please," said Beresford, as Lady Drewitt poised a lump over his cup.
"If you would go to the colonies, Richard, I might be prepared to——"
"Give me your blessing, exactly, Aunt Caroline," interrupted Beresford suavely. "I have, however, made it a rule ever since we have been acquainted to value your good opinion more than your largesse."
"What do you mean?"
"You are too shrewd not to appreciate that wealth has strange and devious influences. ”

“ There isn’t a man between the four seas to-day that can compare with him, either for a fight or a frolic. Bill Beresford overtopped them all. He did more to improve and encourage horse racing in Ireland than any man that ever lived except it was his father, Lord Henry Beresford, the third Marquis of Waterford. They called him the Nestor of the Irish turf, and he did deeds of daring and devilment in every corner of the world. His lordship was killed in the saddle, the place where he would prefer to die, for he loved horses as much as men, and there was mourning in all Ireland. ”

“ Some day he would fall heir to a great estate in England, an old baronetcy which carried with it manors and deer parks and shaven lawns that had taken a hundred years to grow. Meanwhile he lived on pemmican and sour bannocks. Sometimes he grumbled, but his grumbling was a fraud. He was here of choice, because he was a wild ass of the desert and his ears heard only the call of adventure. Of such was the North-West Mounted.
Presently, when the stream of his curiosity as to the outside began to dry, Beresford put a few questions of his own. Manders could give him no information. ”

“ Phil was interested in the girl at once, but Mr. Beresford, who was several years older, was more interested in the numerous arrangements he was to make for her reception. They had reached the Knoll by this time, and were met in the hall by the colonel, who did not manifest the least annoyance because of Mr. Beresford’s presence, but on the contrary seemed glad to have him there, as it relieved him from any prolonged stay with his son.
“Eh, Phil, glad to see you,” he said. “Hope you had a pleasant time;” then, in an absent kind of way, with a wave of his hand, “make yourself at home. ”

“ Beresford are spoken of respectfully as "unfaltering disciples of truth," or as "incapable of childish self-delusion," or as "looking with clear eyes into life's bitter mysteries;" whereas in reality they are merely dwelling on the obvious, and the obvious is the one thing not worth consideration. We are all painfully aware of the seamy side, because we are scratched by the seams. What we want to contemplate is the beauty and the smoothness of that well-ordered plan which it is so difficult for us to discern. ”

“ CHAPTER III. A FIRST BALL. Nevertheless, Lieutenant King was quite as well acquainted with Nan Beresford as he was with the other members of the family—and this was how he came to know her. The Beresfords had for many years been the intimate friends of the Strathernes; and though they saw less of each other since Lady Beresford, on becoming a widow, had gone to live permanently in Brighton, still the London season brought them in a measure together again. Lady Beresford took rooms in Bruton Street during the fashionable months of the year for herself and her grown-up daughters ”

“ Mr Beresford has exploited himself with some eloquence; he has the sense of selection, he is not crabbed, and he informs with fine passion those early years through which fleets a fine woman figure. In these books, as also in Housemates, Mr Beresford shows that he knows love, and isolation, and pain: those other young men with whom we are concerned feel these things, too, but hardly one so passionately. Mr Beresford's merit is that he is more ordinary, thus that he is less unreal than the passionate persons his rivals are or would be. ”

“ He had just been struck with the idea of sending Lola a parting gift.
"For Miss Craven, I suppose," sneered Edward Seymour.
Beresford smiled. "Good-bye," he said, and lifting his hat he entered the florist's shop.
The flowers ordered and paid for, Beresford continued his stroll, choosing thoroughfares where he was least likely to encounter friends or acquaintance. Finding himself at Baker Street he decided to spend an hour with the squirrels in Regent's Park. It was very difficult, he decided, for a man to know how to occupy his last day in England. ”

“ And he stepped aside for an instant, helped himself to a pinch of snuff from a box on a neighbouring table, and returned to his companions, gazing up at them with a solemn steady stare that made him look more like an owl than ever.
"His health!" exclaimed Beresford, "why there's surely nothing the matter with that! He has the chest of a horse and the digestion of an ostrich. I don't know a man of his age to whom, to look at, you'd give a longer life."
"Right, my dear sir," replied the doctor, "right enough from a non-professional view. ”

“ Even at that early age his passion for racing betrayed itself and led to trouble, for on one occasion the attractions of Ascot became too much for him. Knowing that if he asked for leave to go it would be denied him, he took French leave, and received a whacking on his return, which reminds me that before Lord William’s time a certain flogging block belonging to the College disappeared one day, having been kidnapped by one of the Beresfords, the third Marquess, I think, when he was at Eton, and is now in evidence at Curraghmore, or was a few years ago. ”

“ He was glad when he heard Beresford say that business would require him to ride into Brighton before luncheon, and that he must afterwards go round to the stables and see whether his hack was all right after her journey down. His joy toned down a little when Miss Townshend asked if said hack had ever carried a lady, but rose again when Beresford declared that he should be sorry to see any female friend of his on Gulnare's back.
"It isn't that she's vicious," he explained; "there's not an ounce of vice in her. ”

“ Yet even when they had reached the summit of the hill that marked the limit of their journey, Eleanor still hesitated.
She was sitting on the grass, leaning a little backward and supporting herself on the out-thrown struts of her arms and hands. Arthur lay on the ground a few feet away from her. Both of them were looking out across the weald to the broad, blue contours of the South Downs that determined their horizon, and hid the foundations of the massed and shining range of cumulus, slowly setting beyond. ”