a 
 
WOLFENBEEG 
 
WOLFENBEEG 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM BLACK 
 
 NEW AND REVISED EDITION 
 
 LONDON 
 SAMPSON LOW, MAKSTON & COMPANY 
 
 LIMITED 
 
 $t. ffiutritan'l 
 
LONDON : 
 
 FEINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 
 

 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAOE 
 
 I. FORTUITOUS ATOMS 1 
 
 II. Two DISCOVERIES 12 
 
 III. A DEVIATION .22 
 
 IV. AN INTRODUCTION 33 
 
 V. A HOROSCOPE 43 
 
 VI. "VlX E OONSPECTU SlCUL^ TELLURIS " 54 
 
 VII. THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS . . .66 
 
 VIIT. To ATHENS SHALL THE LOVERS WEND ... 77 
 
 IX. FACING CONTINGENCIES 89 
 
 X. A DlP IN THE BOSPHORUS . 102 
 
 XL " OATS-PEASE-BEANS " 114 
 
 XII. UNWELCOME GUESTS 128 
 
 XIII." GOD SAVE THE CZAR 1 " 144 
 
 XIV. L'ENTENTE CORDIALE 158 
 
 XV. A SIGNATURE 172 
 
 XVI. " HOME, DEARIE, HOME ! " 186 
 
 XVII. A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 199 
 
 XVIII. IN A BAZAAR . 212 
 
 XIX. OVER A VOLCANO 225 
 
 XX. UNDER-OUBRENTS 238 
 
 XXL "DA SVIDANIA!" 251 
 
 XXII. UNDER THE KOCK 263 
 
 XXIII. BRAVING OUT ... ^ ... 274 
 
 XXIV. COMINGS AND GOINGS , 287 
 
 XXV. THE "DOOMED LOOK" 298 
 
 XXVI. THE YOUNG BRIDE . 308 
 
 253233 
 
WOLFENBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FORTUITOUS ATOMS. 
 
 WHAT is the space, then, that lies between comedy and 
 tragedy ? In this instance, it was merely the breadth of a 
 table in the saloon of the Orient s.s. Orotania. For here 
 were we, the most careless and irresponsible set of creatures 
 that ever were shaken into seats by the dice-box of Fate 
 
 (the Purser) ; and there were they But let us begin at 
 
 the beginning. 
 
 We first noticed them as they were crossing the pier at 
 Tilbury, on their way to the tender. There was an elderly 
 lady, sallow of face, with silver-white hair beautifully 
 braided. There was her daughter, a young woman of 
 about five-and-twenty, of a pale and clear complexion, with 
 dark and lustrous eyes, highly-arched black eyebrows, and 
 magnificently-massed black hair. Then there was a man 
 apparently about forty-five, of middle height or something 
 thereunder, with a long brown moustache, a clipped brown 
 beard, and a firm and decided mouth that seemed somehow 
 out of keeping with his large, grey, dreamy eyes. Indeed, 
 he wore something of an absent look ; it was his two 
 companions who were most alert and interested, especially 
 the younger lady, who was talking and laughing with a gay 
 vivacity. 
 
 " Peggy," observed a certain small creature who keeps 
 her own and certain other households in meek subjection 
 
 ry B 
 
though now she spoke with bated breath " those two are 
 countrywomen of yours." 
 
 " I think you forget which is my country," replied Lady 
 Cameron of Inverfask, a little proudly. "But they are 
 Americans, if that is what you mean." 
 
 The next moment the new arrivals were now coming 
 along the gangway a startling thing occurred. The man's 
 face appeared to undergo a gradual and yet swift trans- 
 formation. Or was it not rather that this definite and 
 actual, this living and breathing, physiognomy summoned 
 up all sorts of ghosts outlined portraits in the illustrated 
 papers perhaps, even, some likeness in oil in this or that 
 exhibition ? One had certainly seen those features before 
 in books, or magazines, or weekly journals. Then a 
 hasty and furtive appeal to the printed list of passengers, 
 and the mystery was solved at once : this was no other than 
 Wolfenberg, the great American artist the most imagina- 
 tive painter that America has yet produced the painter 
 of dreams and visions, of phantasms and mysteries the 
 painter of " The Eeturn of Undine," of " Two Lovers in a 
 Yailey in the Moon," of " The Goddess Athene Entering 
 the Chamber of Nausicaa." Our souls rejoiced over the 
 discovery ; it was something even to be sailing in the same 
 vessel with this master of the magic wand, this compeller of 
 clouds and tempests, this traveller who had been through 
 the spirit-worlds, whose eyes had beheld strange things. 
 
 And when our good fortune (or the Purser) so arranged 
 affairs that we found ourselves seated opposite these three 
 in the saloon of the great steamer, an acquaintanceship was 
 struck up at once ; that is easily managed on board ship ; 
 the passing of a salt-cellar will suffice. Of course it was 
 the young lady who at the outset demanded most attention, 
 and seemed to expect it, and got it. For one thing, there 
 was no unnecessary shyness about her ; she was eagerly 
 interested in everything around her ; she chatted freely, 
 smiling and showing pretty teeth, sometimes laughing 
 merrily with her lustrous black eyes. Moreover, she was 
 pleasant to look at. If she was not strictly beautiful, there 
 was at least something curiously seductive in her appearance 
 something striking, too, in the contrast between the 
 magnificent black hair and the pale skin and red lips. 
 
FORTUITOUS A TOMS 3 
 
 Perhaps that unusually bright crimson owed a little to 
 artifice, or was it merely accentuated by the prevailing 
 pallor of her complexion ? At all events, her pallor was 
 not the pallor of an invalid. There was not much of the 
 invalid about Ame'lie Dumaresq, as we subsequently dis- 
 covered her name to be. To us, who were no further 
 away from her than the breadth of the table, she seemed 
 literally to thrill to the finger-tips with life, and with the 
 delight of life. It would have been an almost aggressive 
 vitality had it not been modified by the young lady's 
 evident and placid expectation that she should be listened 
 to, and petted, and made much of. And how patiently her 
 two companions bore with her wilfulness, and her blunt, 
 frank speeches, and her petulant paradoxes. Sometimes, it 
 is true, a cloud came over Wolfenberg's thoughtful and 
 rather tired-looking face : it was as if he would have said, 
 ' Amelie, have a little moderation, before strangers.' But 
 ever and always he skilfully interposed, apologising for her, 
 defending her, explaining that, after all, there was some- 
 thing in what she maintained. His devotion to her, his 
 gentle government of her, his pride in her even when she 
 was most audacious, were all beautiful to witness. So that 
 we congratulated ourselves on this our setting out. There 
 was one table, at least, in the big saloon that promised to 
 be anything but dull. 
 
 We lost sight of them after luncheon, for each and all of 
 us went our several ways to arrange cabins, and open 
 trunks, and make preparations for the long seven weeks' 
 voyage. "When we saw them again on deck, the day was 
 dying out in crimson flame, with Dover Castle looming 
 large and high and dark against the west ; while along the 
 south-eastern horizon lay one massive cloud, vast, por- 
 tentous, suffused with a sultry light, and dwarfing into 
 insignificance the pale golden- white line of the French coast 
 immediately underneath it. Then by and by the tinkle of 
 the steward's bell was heard all over the ship ; and presently 
 we were once more seated opposite our newly-found 
 acquaintances down here in the saloon, that was now all 
 bravely aglow with the electric lamps. 
 
 She took away the breath from us in about the very first 
 second, 
 
 B 2 
 
4 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " I have got one detestable duty done with this after- 
 noon," said she, addressing herself mostly to the two ladies 
 opposite her. " I thought, as we were going to Greece, I 
 ought to read the Iliad ; and I've been stuggling with it 
 for days ; and, thank goodness, I've finished it at last ! " 
 
 " Yes ? " said our Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with kind inquiry. 
 
 " You want to know what I think of it ? " said this 
 young person, the contour of whose satin-soft cheek and 
 the liquid splendour of whose dark eyes would not have led 
 one to anticipate the ruthless iconoc'lasm of her mind. " I 
 think it is absolute trash. I always suspected that Homer 
 was rubbish, and now I know it. And I'll tell you how I 
 suspected it : it was because whenever you found any one 
 writing about Homer and his knowledge of human nature, 
 the one thing that was always dragged in was the parting 
 of Hector and Andromache ; and I formed a kind of notion 
 that it was the only bit of human nature in the whole book 
 the only sample they could show. The Iliad ? it seems 
 to me nothing but the doings and sayings of a lot of great, 
 brawling, boasting prizefighters. The only human beings 
 in it are the immortals and they are a parcel of big 
 babies." 
 
 And so she went on ; but one of us seemed to hear no 
 more seemed rather to be recalling a picture that appeared 
 in the Salon some ten or a dozen years ago. The title of it 
 was, ' Achilles invoking the aid of Thetis ; ' the subject 
 was the grief -laden hero down by the seashore, stretching 
 out his hands, and imploring his goddess-mother beneath 
 the waves to hear him. This is the passage, according to a 
 recent version : ' So spake he weeping, and his lady mother 
 heard him as she sate in the sea-depths beside her aged sire. 
 With speed arose she from the grey sea, like a mist, and 
 sate her before the face of her weeping son, and stroked 
 him with her hand, and spake and called on his name.' 
 Now that picture was signed ' Ernest Wolf enberg ; ' and 
 all the artistic circles of Europe were talking of the young 
 American painter who had so boldly carried modern 
 methods, and the dreams of his own high-strung imagina- 
 tion, into the region of classic myth. And did this girl 
 whom he seemed absolutely to worship did she alone 
 forget ? Or did she consider (which is a more charitable 
 
FORTUITOUS A TOMS 5 
 
 view) that his position as a painter was so assured, and his 
 choice of subject so unerring and indisputable, that any- 
 thing she might say about either Art or Literature was not 
 of much consequence, so far as their personal relations 
 were concerned ? None the less did he now come to her 
 aid ; tried to show that there was something to be said for 
 her opinion ; and urged the unavoidable poverty of trans- 
 lations. It was pathetic in its way. One wondered if it 
 were possible that she had never even heard of ' Achilles 
 invoking the aid of Thetis.' 
 
 That night we went placidly down Channel, trying at 
 times to identify the distant streaks of dull yellow fire 
 with one or other of the Sussex watering-places. It was a 
 moonlight night, calm and still ; a broad band of silver 
 quivered on the smoothly-undulating sea ; the throbbing 
 of the engines became a pleasant, monotonous, drowsy 
 murmur in the silence. At intervals, it is true, we had 
 music on deck ; but some of us may have preferred the 
 spaces of quiet ; at all events, Peggy that is to say, Lady 
 Cameron of Inverfask and her two friends had sought out 
 for themselves a secluded corner aft of the wheel-box ; and 
 there whosoever chose could discourse of their shipmates 
 freely. It was of the painter Wolfenberg and of Arnelie 
 Dumaresq that one had now to hear. 
 
 "Why," said Peggy, after some random observations, 
 " she cannot be more than four or five-and-twenty ; and he 
 is getting quite grey ! " 
 
 " These," responded Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with decision, 
 "are the matches that turn out best if it is lasting 
 kindness and care that the girl wants." 
 
 " She does not seem as devoted to him as he is devoted 
 to her," Peggy went on, in the absent way that is induced 
 when one has a great waste of moonlit water to rest one's 
 eyes on. " But of course she could not show it, especially 
 before strangers. She calls him Ernest, however, and he 
 calls her Amelie, so that is no ordinary friendship. I 
 wonder, now, if she will marry him for his reputation, his 
 position ? Mind you, she has a pretty fair notion of her 
 own importance ; don't you think so ? She has her own 
 individuality. I doubt whether she would easily take a 
 subordinate place. . . . What exquisite hands she has ! " 
 
6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " And she is aware of it," answered the other, calmly. 
 
 " And a very pretty smile very winning, I think. And 
 a merry laugh, too. Why, she laughs with the laugh of a 
 child ! " 
 
 " And yet she is an absolute virago in her opinions ! " 
 exclaimed the smaller woman, with a touch of amazement. 
 " She is a regular down-with-everythingist, wherever tra- 
 dition, or custom, or conventionality is concerned," 
 
 " At all events," Peggy put in, " she respects convention 
 quite sufficiently in her costume. Both she and her mother 
 are perfectly dressed." 
 
 " Peggy, rny dear child, anarchical women are never 
 anarchical in their dress unless through lack of means. 
 And Miss Dumaresq and her mother have just come over 
 from Paris. Didn't you hear ? She has been studying in 
 the Atelier Didron, so Mr. "Wolfenberg says." 
 
 " The girl, you mean ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and she has brought a lot of unfinished work 
 with her. Perhaps, when we become better friends, she 
 may let us have a peep. I confess I am curious for more 
 than one reason." 
 
 And so they talked, and further talked, and speculated, 
 over a subject that seemed to have some mysterious attrac- 
 tion for them ; until it was time for us to say good-night 
 and go away to our respective cabins, with one final glance 
 round at the magic world of dark blue-grey and silver- 
 shimmering sea. 
 
 Next morning we had a look in at Plymouth ; and, just 
 before starting again, Peggy happened to be leaning idly 
 with her arms, on the rail, gazing across the green waters of 
 the harbour towards the fair-shining town and its heights 
 r,,nd fortifications, when our miniature Admiral-in-Chief 
 came up, her air and manner betokening serious matters. 
 
 " Peggy," said she, " in a few minutes we shall be off for 
 Morocco." 
 
 " I hope we shan't be bound there," says the young lady, 
 under her breath, to her other companion. 
 
 " You are bound there," is the natural reply. 
 
 "What are you two whispering about? But I wish to 
 say something to you, and you must pay attention, you 
 American girl," that small mite goes on, undaunted. " I 
 
FORTUITOUS ATOMS 7 
 
 wish to say this. We are now leaving England on a long 
 voyage. You must not pretend to forget that your husband 
 distinctly placed you under my charge when he went to 
 India, and gave me authority over you. And it is my duty 
 to see that you behave yourself, and show yourself worthy 
 of the name you bear and of the country you have adopted. 
 And, mind you, I know what a grass-widow is. I know 
 why she is called a grass-widow : it is because she is a 
 creature that goes about igobbling up all green things 
 especially young men. Now, there is to be nothing of the 
 kind on this ship. I will not have it. I am responsible 
 for you. And look at the risk I run. Listen to this 
 notice." She opened a paper she held in her hand, and 
 proceeded : " ' Any passenger who may take on board any 
 article of explosive, inflammable, dangerous, or damaging 
 nature, is liable to prosecution and to the penalties imposed 
 by Statute, and also for all damages resulting from the 
 shipment of such articles.' Clearly that clause refers to 
 you ; and yet here are we rendering ourselves liable unless 
 you will pledge yourself to good behaviour." 
 
 " Aren't you going to say something for me ? " murmurs 
 Peggy, aside. " I always stick up for you when I get a 
 chance." 
 
 To which this is the answer : 
 
 " I have already and frequently pointed out to you that 
 there are only two absolutely perfect human beings in the 
 world. Now, perfection provokes envy. And envy is the 
 mother of suspicion and malice. But when these two 
 beings, mutually rejoicing in the consciousness of their 
 exalted innocence, and strong in the bonds of an under- 
 standing and a sympathy that time, and fate, and traitorous 
 tongues seem unable to destroy " 
 
 "And particularly in this case," says Peggy, with a 
 deeply-injured air, " when my sister Emily is going to join 
 u at Palermo ! Oh, much fun I shall have after Emily has 
 come on board ! You have never seen my sister ; you 
 don't know. I tell you we shall all have to live up to very 
 solemn and lofty ideals when she conies along. You needn't 
 be afraid, Missis. There won't be any skylarking, either 
 with young men or old. Why, I used to be mortally afraid 
 of her when she came home from school, I knew I was a 
 
8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 frivolous person; but I did what I could to earn her 
 approval at least, by concealing things a little hypocrisy 
 oh, Emily believes in me " 
 
 " Very well, then," says Mrs. ^Threepenny-bit, apparently 
 only half convinced by these protestations. " We shall see. 
 I will keep an eye on you, nay super-innocent young friend. 
 I've seen grass-widows before, and their ways, especially 
 on moonlight nights in the Mediterranean " 
 
 But here the Microscopic Calumniator had to cease, for 
 the men were about to haul up the accommodation-ladder, 
 and she found it necessary to move further affc. 
 
 This was a Sunday ; so that our amusements and occupa- 
 tions were of a subdued and sober character. It was not 
 until the following day, when we were well into the Bay of 
 Biscay, that we all of us seemed to settle down into the 
 ordinary swing of life on board ship. And it must be said 
 that the dreaded Bay treated our apprehensive women-folk 
 in the civillest fashion. All day long there were only these 
 familiar features : a cloudless sky, a horizon of milky white, 
 a circle of lapping, dark-blue water, with a blinding, 
 bewildering shiver of diamonds towards the sun. In the 
 afternoon, amid the other games going forward, cricket was 
 proposed ; and when the netting had been fixed up all 
 round, and sides chosen, there 'speedily came together a 
 little crowd of fair spectators, who, perched high on one of 
 the after skylights, and forming a gallery, as it were, could 
 award applause or laughter as the case demanded. You 
 may be sure that Peggy was in that group, a conspicuous 
 figure. And one marked and beautiful thing was this : 
 under the widespread awning she was of course in shadow, 
 so that all the light that shone on her features was reflected 
 upward from the flashing and glancing sea, and that made 
 a sort of glory of her face. When one looked at her at 
 the braided golden-brown hair, the wholesome, countrified 
 complexion, the shining eyes, the smiling mouth, the bland 
 and yet quick interest of her expression what did one care 
 about this mad game except to see whether she laughed or 
 clapped her hands in approval ? These poor flannelled 
 wretches toiling in the hot afternoon sun with their 
 'Played, sir!' 'Well caught!' 'How's that ? 'they 
 were doing their best, no doubt ; and the scrimmage had 
 
FORTUITOUS ATOMS 9 
 
 its varying fortunes ; but here, overlooking all, was this 
 radiant creature, complaisant, serene, beatific, the Queen of 
 the Tournament. And already she seemed to have made 
 friends with everybody round about her. 
 
 After dinner that night an impromptu dance was got np, 
 when the deck-chairs had been cleared away. It was some- 
 how a strange kind of spectacle ; and yet picturesque in its 
 bizarre fashion : the dull glow of the lamps around the red- 
 jacketed bandsmen the electric globes further aft revealing 
 the awning overhead the swift-revolving figures, the young 
 women in light silks and cashmeres, here and there an officer 
 in uniform and then beyond all that the great world of 
 waves, blue-black, smooth-heaving, with the broad pathway 
 of the moon trembling in vivid silver. This also was 
 curious : in an ordinary ball-room, when there is a pause in 
 the music a dotted note, for example, in a waltz that 
 momentary space of quiet is filled with the rustle of silk and 
 muslin and slippers ; but here, in these slight intervals, one 
 caught another sound the continuous swish of the water 
 along the side of the ship. Wolfenberg was standing with us, 
 looking on in his usual preoccupied, contemplative fashion. 
 
 " Isn't it very monstrous and abominable," said Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit to him, " that those people should destroy 
 such a beautiful night with their scamperings ? But, afk-r 
 all, there were wild revels in ' a wood near Athens.' And 
 it is rather pretty, don't you think so ? the different lights 
 the figures the sea : what do you say, Mr. Wolfenberg, 
 could an Impressionist make something out of it ? " 
 
 " Oh, there is a subject in it," he answered her, " for any 
 one audacious enough. I could not manage it. But Miss 
 Durnaresq might." 
 
 She was startled, and no wonder, to hear this master of 
 his art talk so much about a girl who had just been a pupil 
 in the Atelier Didron. But he proceeded for whenever 
 he spoke of Amelie Dumarosq he seemed to rouse himself 
 from his reveries : ;< You must see her work. You will be 
 surprised, I think. She has the courage of a man, and the 
 strength of a man. It is the truth she aims at, the truth 
 without compromise. You cannot understand her until you 
 have seen her work. You have met her only in frivolous 
 moments and no doubt she likes to be petted." 
 
io WOLFENBERG 
 
 At this moment the music ceased, and the dance came to 
 an end. 
 
 "Miss Dumaresq is in the saloon at present, writing 
 letters," said he, with a sudden inspiration. " Suppose we 
 go down now, and I will ask her to bring you some of her 
 things ? " 
 
 Well, we were nothing loth ; for by and by the music 
 would be resumed ; and there seemed something a little too 
 incongruous between the silences of the great deep all around 
 us and these strains of cornet and violin and violoncello. 
 Besides, one naturally wished to see studies that had won 
 commendation from so high an authority. So the four of 
 us went along and passed down the companion-way : 
 Miss Dumaresq we found at one of the tables, while her 
 mother was seated at no great distance, reading. 
 
 " Amelie," said he, very gently, " may I disturb you ? " 
 
 " I am delighted," said she ; and at once she shut her 
 writing-desk. 
 
 " Will you do me a favour ? " he asked and the soft 
 black eyes answered him with a glance of obvious pleasure. 
 " I have been talking about your work, and I want to 
 justify myself. I want you to go and bring some of your 
 drawings to show to our friends here." 
 
 But at this she drew back, in affected alarm. 
 
 " Oh ! no, no, no ! " she exclaimed. " No, I cannot, 
 Ernest some other time, perhaps in daylight." 
 
 " I mean only the black and white," he pleaded. 
 
 " Oh no," said she. " No I could not you have taken 
 me by surprise I am frightened." 
 
 " Come, be yourself, Amelie ? " he said, with a touch of 
 reproach in his tone, for clearly her dismay was in a large 
 measure simulated. 
 
 But she would not yield. She obstinately maintained 
 that she was terrified out of her wits ; she wanted time to 
 prepare herself for such an ordeal ; perhaps next day she 
 would have mustered up courage. And of course Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit not minding whether this excessive shyness 
 were genuine or not took the girl's part, and declared that 
 she must be left free to choose her own time, and apologised 
 for the suggestion having been made. But Amelie 
 Dumaresq's eyes were fixed on Wolfenberg. 
 
FORTUITOUS A TOMS \ i 
 
 "Ah, I see I have offended you, Ernest," she said. 
 " Oh yes, yes, I can see you need not protest. What can 
 I do? I know." 
 
 She went quickly to the piano, sat down, and let her 
 fingers run through a little prelude. She turned and looked 
 at him, and smiled. Then she began to sing well, it could 
 hardly be called singing, for she had next to nothing of a 
 voice ; but she had a pretty and coquettish grace of expres- 
 sion. The air was unknown to us ; the words, as we after- 
 wards learned, were a translation from the Spanish. 
 
 ' Cupid, drop, oli drop that dart I 
 Do not aim it at my heart; 
 For Tm but a little maid, 
 And of you Tm so afraid 1 ' 
 
 Yes, it was pretty and fascinating enough, if it was no 
 great vocal triumph ; and at least we could hear distinctly 
 what she had to say. So she went on 
 
 * I've heard how your pranks of yore 
 Kept Olympus in uproar; 
 And Iwio all the goddesses 
 Yielded to your sweet decrees; 
 Since celestials thus you sway, 
 Is it any wonder, pray, 
 Tliat of you Tm so afraid, 
 I, a little mortal maid? 
 
 Tm too young, of that Tm sure, 
 And too simple, to endure 
 Your enchantments and your errors, 
 Your deceptions and your terrors, 
 Your soft languishing desires, 
 Your consuming passion fires. 
 Out of reach and sight of man 
 I will keep me (if I can /) 
 For Tm "but a little maid, 
 And of love Tm so afraid!' 
 
 She came away from the piano with a laugh. 
 "Well, Mr. Gloomy-Brows, am I forgiven ?" 
 " Amelie," said he, quite goodnaturedly, " how long are 
 
 you going to remain a child ? You forget that you are a 
 
 great artist." 
 
is WOLFENBERG 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TWO DISCOVERIES. 
 
 AGAIN has the mother of dawn, rosy-fingered morning, 
 aroused the sleeping world ; and over there are the phantom 
 hills of Spain mere films along the eastern horizon. Yet 
 of all the passengers on board this big steamer only two have 
 so far appeared on deck ; and these have perched themselves 
 high on the wheel-box, to be out of the way of the hose. 
 One of these is a tall American young lady ; and her eyes, 
 which at all times are eloquent and expressive enough, are 
 at this moment full of an eager interest. 
 
 " I am so glad of the chance," she says, " for I have a 
 tremendous secret to tell you. Oh, you would never guess 
 not if you were [to work at it for a month. Do you 
 know who is on board this ship ? Why, the great, the 
 immortal ' Sappho ! ' ' 
 
 " Oh, stuff and nonsense ! " 
 
 " I tell you she is," Peggy insists. " She herself revealed 
 to me the awful mystery last night. After you left I went 
 back to the saloon to get a book ; and she came up and 
 introduced herself she's only Miss Penguin in the list of 
 passengers, you know ; but we sat down and had a nice 
 long talk, and then she told me. Believe it or not as you 
 like, ' Sappho ' is on board this steamer." 
 
 It was a startling announcement nay, it was almost 
 incredible. Talk of the responsibility of the ship that bore 
 Virgil away to Athens ! Here we were carrying with us 
 the perfervid poetess, the ^fflolia puella, the modern and 
 much-wailing Sappho, with her distractions and agonies and 
 cries. But in the midst of one's astonishment Peggy begins 
 to giggle. 
 
 "I think she is horribly disappointed that no one on 
 board has found out who she is. But how could we ? I 
 never saw a single photograph of her in any shop. And 
 she says her incognito is necessary because her sympathies 
 with the Armenians are well known, and she is afraid the 
 Turkish authorities might make trouble " 
 
 " But which is she ? which one of them is it ? " 
 
TWO DISCOVERIES 13 
 
 " Why, you must have noticed her the lady who goes 
 about leading a dog." 
 
 " What ! the dowdily-dressed woman who spends the 
 whole of the day nursing that hideous little beast ? " 
 
 " Oh, for shame ! Why, that is Phaon. And isn't it too 
 cruel, too ignominious, that Phaon has to be handed over 
 every night to the charge of the butcher ? Nobody but 
 that unfeeling, hard-hearted Purser could have made such a 
 stipulation." 
 
 At this point Peggy suddenly alters her tone, and becomes 
 very confidential. 
 
 " I say, do you think I might show you a little poem ? 
 It was entrusted to me last night, in great secrecy ; but I 
 rather think she would like it to be discreetly shown about. 
 You see, it is her idea of the kind of thing that poetry 
 should aim at. The poets of the present day, she says, 
 have no passion " 
 
 " What does an elderly spinster know about passion ? " 
 
 " I'm not good at conundrums ; I merely tell you what 
 she says. And here are the verses I'll chance it ; read 
 them and give them back to me before any one comes up." 
 
 There was no difficulty about reading them : the hand- 
 writing was punctiliously neat. 
 
 He plucked the last long golden Mir 
 
 From off his velvet coat: 
 * Adieu, my Ever-fairest Fair I ' 
 
 My lean hands seized his throat! 
 
 He groaned and gurgled to the ground, 
 
 His white lips moaned 'Farewell!' 
 High Heaven heard the awful sound 
 
 A shudder ran through Hell ! 
 
 The whinnering whirlwind flared and fleered; 
 
 The oalt trees coiled and curled; 
 The gasping earth-fires glimmered weird; 
 
 Slue lightnings shook the world. 
 
 His arms were round me in a mist; 
 
 A simoon was his breath: 
 A crimson stain ah, God, I kissed 
 
 The Panther-Kiss of Death ! 
 
 "Well? "says Peggy. 
 
 " Why, it is just splendid 1 " 
 
I 4 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Oh, that doesn't mean anything," she retorts, with 
 impatience. " Invent a good lie for me do ! I must say 
 something to her." 
 
 " Tell her that it is simply impossible for you to express 
 your admiration." 
 
 " Hm yes that might answer," says Peggy doubtfully 
 but at this juncture our morning conference is broken in 
 upon, for there appears on the scene a certain Mrs. Spiteful, 
 whose small jibes and sarcasms and enigmatic references to 
 Magna Charta Island it is unnecessay to set down here. 
 
 A shining blue day followed a day without incident. 
 Next morning found us opposite the cliffs of Cape Eoca, 
 with the ghostly hills of Cintra rising pale and cloud-like 
 beyond that silver blaze of sea. And again a perfect day ; 
 indeed, we seemed to have got all the winds of 2Eolus tied 
 up and packed securely away in the Purser's office. But all 
 this time we were getting tb know more and more about our 
 companions, and also on occasion making one or two new 
 acquaintances. Amongst 'the latter was a delightful old 
 gentleman, generally spoken of as * the Major ' a short, 
 plump, roseate, cheerful, smartly-dressed person of sixty-five 
 or so, who, from an early part of the voyage, had clearly 
 marked out our Peggy for his own. But the Major had 
 one unfortunate failing. Ordinarily the very soul of good 
 nature, he nevertheless was easily put out, just for a 
 moment, by small trifles ; and on these occasions, and no 
 matter who his companion might be, he was in the habit of 
 using very strong language, which he fondly imagined he 
 uttered under his breath. Now, the Major detested Phaon, 
 and for some reason or another detested Phaon's mistress as 
 well; and whenever the Passionate Spinster approached 
 Peggy, while the latter and the testy old warrior were 
 talking together, he would mutter the most frightful 
 anathemas, and forthwith betake himself to some other 
 part of the ship. Indeed Peggy was forced to complain. 
 
 "You really must speak to the Major," said she. "I 
 never heard such profanity. Tell him he may think it, 
 but he mustn't say it. And it's all about nothing. What 
 has poor Phaon ever done to him? Sometimes Phaon 
 gets his leading-string round your ankles, and trips you up ; 
 but it isn't intentional. You must tell the Major he ia 
 
TWO DISCOVERIES 15 
 
 mistaken in supposing that people cannot overhear him. 
 Words like ' nurse ' and ' jam ' are perfectly innocent, of 
 course ; but I object to the words that rhyme to them. 
 And what harm has Sappho done to him ? She never 
 showed Mm any poetry. Once, indeed, she was repeating to 
 us some verses from ' The Isles of Greece,' and when she 
 came to * Place me on Sunium's marble steep,' he said, quite 
 aloud, ' I wish to heavens I could and leave you there ! ' 
 So that if anybody has the right to be offended it is she 
 if she heard him and not he." 
 
 But we did not feel called upon to remonstrate with the 
 Major. Human beings have their ways ; and we were well 
 content to take him as he was. 
 
 It was on this afternoon that Ernest Wolfenberg came to 
 us and said if we would walk along to the fore saloon we 
 should have an opportunity of looking at some of Miss 
 Dumaresq's work. It was an ordeal that at least one of us 
 would rather not have faced. For this was not a question 
 of a vain and half -cracked creature submitting her spas- 
 modic verses for private scrutiny. Here was a man, himself 
 a great artist, who believed in the woman who was his 
 constant companion and friend ; he seemed to think far 
 more of her fame and future position than of anything 
 pertaining to himself ; and there had even been some 
 serious discussion about the best method of placing a 
 number of her water-colour drawings before the British 
 public. Well, as it turned out, there was no call for any 
 alarm. The very first glimpse we had of the contents of 
 the great portfolio showed that here was virile stuff. Blunt 
 it might be, and uncompromising, even brutal, in its direct- 
 ness ; but about its strength, its vividness, its originality 
 there could be no doubt whatever. And Amelie Durnaresq 
 was no longer the petted child ; she had thrown aside that 
 affection ; she stood before these things silent, not breath- 
 lessly concerned about any judgment, nor professing to be 
 so. And we, ignorant as we were, surely we knew that 
 work of this kind, however incomplete and immature it 
 might be in certain ways, had not been produced without 
 pain and struggle and searching of heart ? There was no 
 fear of any critic or any school of critics visible here. She 
 had seen certain things with the vision of an artist ; she 
 
1 6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 had aimed at them by such methods as were known to her ; 
 and even where a false note seemed to have been struck, 
 that doubtless was also intentional. For example, there 
 was one drawing that represented a number of fashionable 
 people promenading on a lawn some sea-side Sunday- 
 morning ceremony most likely : the women in summer 
 costumes, white, pink, mauve, jet-black sunshades cream- 
 coloured, crimson, pure scarlet everything clear, literal, 
 and distinct ; but not only that ; where she had come to a 
 gown of false green against the true green of the grass, 
 there it was likewise. French, no doubt, all this was ; but 
 it had precision and individuality ; and it was an in- 
 dividuality without impertinence. 
 
 No, it was not she, it was he, who seemed a trifle nervous 
 and anxious ; and when she had gone away with the big 
 portfolio, and when he returned with us to the after-part of 
 the deck, his eager talk was still about her and her pictures, 
 defending, explaining, belauding, and all the while assum- 
 ing, or appearing to assume (this was the most curious 
 part of it) that he, the master, the assured and accomplished 
 artist, and she, the audacious amateur, were on one and the 
 same plane. 
 
 " What, now, do you think your Academicians would 
 say ? " he went on. " Are there very bigoted cliques 
 among them ? "Would they denounce her for realism ? 
 And yet it seems to me that whoever sees nothing but 
 realism in Miss Dumaresq's work sees nothing. There is 
 Art Art speaking in one of its many tongues, and perhaps 
 not easily to be understood by the multitude. You are not 
 likely to find one gifted with her perceptions aiming at 
 mere fidelity, or carried away by any bald theory about 
 truth. She understands as well as any one that Art is 
 conventional, and must be conventional. 'Art is Art 
 because it is not Nature.' Whoever talked as Shakespeare's 
 characters talk ? What girl ever spoke of cutting her lover 
 into little stars so as to make the heavens shine ? These 
 men and women in Shakespeare's plays speak as no men or 
 women ever spoke ; and yet they are more human than any 
 men or women whom we know or are ever likely to know. 
 It is simply Art talking in one of its conventional lan- 
 guages ; you value it because of what it brings. Look at 
 
TWO DISCOVERIES 17 
 
 our dialect stories, as they are called," he continued, leaning 
 back in his deck-chair with his hands behind his head. 
 " No doubt certain peculiarities of diction are faithfully 
 reproduced. But what is the value of that ? If the 
 human nature it reveals is poor and mean and contemptible, 
 what is gained by this affectation of truth ? For it is not 
 the truth. If you were to report a man's conversation as 
 he speaks it, you would have a story a life-time long. It is 
 the business of Art to select and condense, to pick out the- 
 salient points of character, and speech, and circumstance ; 
 and I don't care how conventional the language may be so 
 long as the human beings live and interest me. Accuracy 
 is the aim of pedants and fools. When I see Eosalind 
 come down the stage, resplendent in her white satin and 
 lace veil, I don't stop to ask where she got her wedding- 
 dress in the middle of the Forest of Arden. And so I hope 
 you have not formed any prejudice against Miss Dumaresq's 
 work because at first sight it appears .a literal transcript. I 
 think the more you study it you will perceive that it is 
 more than that that it is true Art Art making use of a 
 series of symbols aiming at just and necessary compromise 
 
 and also expressing the individuality of the artist " 
 
 Well, it was not for us to protest or assent ; it was for 
 him to lay down the law, and welcome. But there was 
 something almost pathetic in the whole situation. It was 
 as clear as daylight that he had thought out all these things 
 to form a defence of Amelie Dumaresq, in case any one 
 should object to the "realism" of her work. We had 
 made no such objection ; nay, in the case of outsiders like 
 ourselves, what was demanded of us, and freely accorded, 
 was appreciation, not criticism ; but all the same he 
 appeared anxious to guard against what might be the 
 conclusions of unspoken prejudice. It was a strange kind 
 of undertaking for one in his position. For we could not 
 but remember what his own work was. And although 
 scarlet sunshades against a green lawn might command 
 one's admiration for the moment, there was something 
 other and finer than that dwelling in our memory there 
 was the mystic figure of the goddess, clad in vaporous veils 
 of rain, dim, awful, and yet benignant as u pitying mother 
 come up from the green deeps to comfort her son weeping 
 
 c 
 
1 8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 apart from his comrades by the shores of the grey sea. 
 And we wondered whether Amelie Dumaresq quite knew 
 what manner of man this was who thus stooped from his 
 high estate to plead for her and defend her, even to the 
 belittling of his own achievements. 
 
 But in the midst of this talk, which was sufficiently 
 interesting to us for several reasons, there was a sudden and 
 fierce ringing of the bell the fire-alarm ! In an instant 
 the whole ship was in commotion. Fore and aft there was 
 swift but ordered movement ; certain hands sprang to the 
 davits to stand by the boats others came hurrying along 
 with bundles of blankets others ran to the hydrants. In 
 an incredibly short space of time every man was at his 
 post ; then there was a pause of inspection ; and then, this 
 rapid and unforeseen piece of drill being over, the men 
 gradually returned to their ordinary duties. It was al- 
 together admirably done ; and we saw no reason to doubt 
 that in actual case of fire this complicated manoeuvre would 
 be gone through with equal promptitude and accuracy. 
 
 That evening found us off Cape St. Vincent. There was 
 a certain solemnity of appearance about those high and 
 solitary cliffs that were sombrely lit up by the after-glow 
 streaming over from the west ; and then from time to time 
 the tall lighthouse would send forth its silent signal a 
 shaft of golden flame coming out of the mystic grey of the 
 eastern sky. But at dinner there was not much solemnity. 
 For Amelie Dumaresq had ceased to be the artist who stood 
 serene, and simple, and self-possessed while we looked at 
 the contents of the big portfolio ; she was again the spoiled 
 and petted child ; she was teasing this one and laughing 
 towards that ; an atmosphere of enjoyment, of merriment, 
 of delight in the mere fact of living, seemed to surround 
 her ; while one could hardly avoid the suspicion that she 
 was well aware of the notice she was attracting of the 
 covert glances that admired, or envied her, the soft clear 
 pallor of her complexion, her long-lashed dark eyes, her 
 cherry-red mouth, her heavily-massed black hair, with its 
 solitary diamond star. Poor "Wolfenberg was entirely 
 neglected. It was the women she was determined to 
 fascinate. And so, while she bedazzled them with her 
 laughing black eyes, or charmed them with her pretty and 
 
TWO DISCOVERIES 19 
 
 wilful ways, or shocked them with her iconoclastic paradoxes, 
 he was fain to turn to the only other serious person at 
 table, and to beg for some information about the accord 
 granted to strangers by the Koyal Academy. For even 
 while she ignored him, he remained solicitous about her 
 interests. It was with regard to the water-colour room at 
 Burlington House he now wanted to know. 
 
 But, as it chanced, we were on this evening to learn 
 something more, and something surprising enough, concern- 
 ing these two. For a considerable time we had lost sight 
 of Lady Cameron, and vaguely supposed she was writing 
 letters in the saloon, hoping to post them at Tangier. 
 But when she did rejoin us, she had a very different tale to 
 tell. She crept down into our snug little corner aft of the 
 wheel-box, and began to speak in a hushed and rather eager 
 voice ; and it soon became apparent that this was no mere 
 discovery of a sham Sappho that she had now to com- 
 municate. 
 
 " I have had a long talk with Miss Dumaresq," she said, 
 "and I cannot tell you how she startled me. It is the 
 saddest story one part of it ; and then the other part of it 
 very beautiful, I think. And I was quite surprised by her 
 manner while she was telling it. There wasn't a trace of 
 those airs and graces ; she spoke with great feeling ; I could 
 hardly have imagined her showing such sympathy " 
 
 " Yes, but what is it all about, Peggy ? " put in Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit, to check this incoherent utterance. 
 
 " You will be quite as much astonished as I was," was the 
 rejoinder, in those low and hurried tones. "And yet there 
 is no secret about it. It is simply that Mr. Wolf enberg is 
 already married " 
 
 " Married ! " said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, in dismay ; but 
 it was only her imaginings that had been at fault. 
 
 " Oh, and to a dreadful woman ! " Peggy went on. " It 
 is the most terrible story, that side of it. A man of his 
 refined and imaginative temperament tied to a horrid 
 creature, a coarse, vulgar, shameless " 
 
 " Peggy," interposed her friend, with a little coldness, 
 " when a young lady takes a marked and exceptional interest 
 in a married man, I wouldn't altogether trust what that 
 young lady might say about the married man's wife." 
 
 2 
 
20 WOLFENBERG 
 
 "But listen to this listen to facts," Peggy persisted. 
 " Fancy a woman who doesn't drink, but who used to 
 pretend to drink in order to shame him before his friends ! 
 Fancy a woman who, knowing he has a particularly sensitive 
 ear, used to take pathetic airs and bang them out on the 
 piano as waltzes and polkas, simply to drive him from his 
 work ! Fancy a woman whose extravagance is not due to 
 any liking for luxury, but merely because she knows it is 
 his money she is throwing away right and left ! That is 
 a nice kind of creature for a man like Wolfenberg to be 
 tied to ! " 
 
 " Well, if it be so, it is all very sad and wretched," said 
 the smaller woman, absently. " But it is a good thing for 
 him he has a dream-world to take refuge in." 
 
 " Wait a moment," said Peggy. " That is only half the 
 story. Now I come to the part of it that seems to me 
 beautiful. Only I wish I could tell it to you as Miss 
 Dumaresq told it to me. She spoke in quite a proud way ; 
 and then again the startling things she says don't sound so 
 startling as coming from her, for you get used to her habit 
 of knocking over accepted beliefs and traditions as if they 
 were ninepins. What she practically said was this : ' The 
 wrong that one woman has done him another woman must 
 atone for ; and I mean to try. He shall not be left quite 
 alone. I cannot marry him, it is true ; but if he were free 
 to-morrow morning, I would not marry him. For one 
 thing, marriage is the great disillusioniser. If a man and a 
 woman have a perfect regard and esteem and affection for 
 each other, and if they wish to preserve these, then let them 
 remain friends, firm and fast friends, and nothing more. 
 An exalted and devoted friendship between two people of 
 kindred tastes and sympathies, who thoroughly understand 
 each other, who have absolute confidence in each other, and 
 who have a constant delight in each other's society, is a far 
 more durable and desirable thing than marriage with its 
 hot-headed jealousies and wrangles and, after a little while, 
 its waning fires, followed by cold indifference.' Oh, I tell 
 you," Peggy went on, " there is no beating about the bush 
 with Am61ie Dumaresq. She says the conjugal bond is the 
 destroyer of all true comrades-hip between a man and a 
 woman. For her own part, and quite outside these present 
 
T\VO DISCOVERIES 2i 
 
 circumstances, she says she wants to remain independent, 
 and to have her companionship sought for as a favour and 
 yielded voluntarily, not demanded as a right. She wants 
 to follow out her own career, and has no mind to sink into 
 the position of a housekeeper for any one else looking 
 after the dinner and the nursery. She says that if you wish 
 the desire to meet each other, the delight fn each other's 
 society, as between a man and a woman, to be prolonged 
 indefinitely, then do not barter away freedom and bring in 
 the marriage pledge. "Well, that is merely as regards her 
 own position. But, really, when she began to describe 
 Wolfenberg's broken life, his banishment from his own 
 country, his loneliness, the very piteousness of the gratitude 
 he shows her for her romantic association with him, she 
 gave evidence of a sympathy I should not have expected of 
 her. To tell you the truth, I thought she was nothing but 
 a pert, conceited, little chatterbox, fond of saying alarming 
 things simply to attract attention. But she is more than 
 that, Missis. I wish you heard her talk of Wolfenberg of 
 his simplicity of character, his unselfishness, his sensitive 
 honour, his noble humility, his freedom from anything in 
 the shape of envy, his generous recognition of work far 
 inferior to his own, and I don't know what besides. Yes, I 
 think there is something fine in her determination to stand 
 by this man, who otherwise seems so solitary. I did not 
 think the little Georgian, or Virginian, or whatever she is, 
 was capable of rising to such a situation." 
 
 It was getting late ; the two women had to go. But 
 already it had become abundantly clear that they regarded 
 this discovery from very different points of view. 
 
 "It seems to me quite a beautiful relationship," said 
 Peggy, with a touch of enthusiasm, as they were bidding 
 each other good-night. 
 
 But the elder woman shook her head, rather sadly. 
 
 " Do you think so ? " she said. " Well, I hope it may 
 prove to be so. But I am afraid. And wouldn't it be a 
 terrible thing, Peggy, if the second part of your story were 
 to turn out even more tragic than the first ? " 
 
22 WOLFENBERG 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A DEVIATION. 
 
 AND again comes another resplendent morning ; but now 
 we find that a brisk breeze has sprung up ; the rolling and 
 heaving blue-black waves are flashing silver crests to the 
 sun ; and far away beyond the restless plain rise the pale 
 hills of Africa, terminating in the lofty and precipitous 
 Cape Spartel. The two early risers are on deck, and alone. 
 
 " Listen to me," says Peggy, perching herself high and 
 comfortably on the wheel-box so high indeed that the 
 light reflected upward from the sea removes the ordinary 
 shadows from her face, and you would think there was a 
 supernatural radiance shining there. " Do you know what 
 the man said after he had read aloud the Ten Command- 
 ments ? " 
 
 " There never was any such man ! " one answers her, 
 impatiently ; for Peggy's ways are known. 
 
 " He said : ' And now to turn to something really 
 serious.' And so I want you to tell me honestly as 
 honestly as you can whether it is true we are not going 
 in to Tangier after all ? " 
 
 "Well, the officers seem to say this is a bad wind for 
 landing ; there will be a heavy surf." 
 
 " Where are we going, then ? " 
 
 " Who knows ? We may turn in to Grib. Or make for 
 Algiers ; or Tunis. We have no cargo to deliver or take 
 up, so we have all the world to choose from." 
 
 " And you consider that amusing ? I do not in the 
 least. For look here." She produces the table of con- 
 ditions under which we took our berths. " Did you notice 
 this clause ? ' The ship may deviate for any purpose and to 
 any extent? What do you think of that ? What does that 
 mean ? Perhaps you rather like a deviating ship. I don't, 
 I can tell you. Suppose it should deviate us against an 
 unknown island ? " 
 
 " It would please me to see you and the Major ship- 
 wrecked on a desert coast. You would make a romantic 
 couple. At present it must be painful for you to know 
 
A DEVIATION 23 
 
 that there are about fifteen cameras on board, and that 
 at any moment one of them may be snapping you from 
 behind your back. Why, the universal amateur photo- 
 grapher must have as wholesome a constraint over you as 
 your sister Emily." 
 
 "At all events,'* she retorts, "it is a good thing there 
 is one person on board who treats me with respect. He 
 wouldn't say spiteful things. He wouldn't be rude to a 
 poor lone widow. He is always gallant, and courteous, and 
 anxious to please. He fetches my chair for me ; and sees 
 that the cushion is right ; and gives me a castle when I 
 play chess with him he would give me a queen if I'd take 
 it, and be delighted to be beaten every time. And just 
 wait until we get into port : you'll see who will have the 
 prettiest bouquets of all the women on this ship and I know 
 who will bring them to her." Then of a sudden she changes 
 her tone. " I say about Emily. I suppose there's no doubt 
 about our deviating towards Palermo ? A fine thing it would 
 be if the Baby were left stranded all by herself in a hotel ! " 
 
 "Oh, we shall get to Palermo all right. But why do 
 ou still call her the Baby ? She must be nearly eighteen 
 >y now." 
 
 " She is eighteen ; and she is as tall as I am ; and weighs 
 five pounds more." 
 
 " A very promising Baby, indeed ! " 
 
 And so as the morning went by we bored our way into 
 the Straits, against a hot east wind and a heavily-running 
 sea ; and passed the yellow and grey scarred rock of Grib., 
 with Ceuta over there in the south ; and ploughed on- 
 wards and onwards into the ever-widening Mediterranean. 
 Algiers, it was now known, was our destination, and there 
 was no murmur ; some of us, indeed, would have been 
 content to leave land untouched for the next three months 
 if only the provisions were likely to last. For the more 
 we got to know of these excellent Orotanians, the more 
 we esteemed them and their prevailing good humour and 
 kindness and courtesy ; and there were plenty of amuse- 
 ments and occupations to pass those long sunlit hours 
 withal, even if we had not had enough of other interests 
 both within and without our own small circle. For 
 personal relationships develop rapidly at sea ; and in these 
 
wmbinations it seemed to us as though every side of human 
 mature was being displayed to us. 
 
 That evening Wolfenberg brought Amelie Dumaresq 
 along to our accustomed retreat, with some little apology 
 for the very welcome intrusion. It was a beautiful night ; 
 the sea had gone down considerably ; there was a cloudless 
 sky ; a few pale stars were visible, with one golden planet 
 shining full and clear in the deep violet vault. 
 
 " I want Miss Dumaresq to hear for herself," said he, 
 as we made room for them, "what you think about her 
 first coming before the British public the best way, I 
 mean. You say the water-colour room at the Academy is 
 not much frequented ? " 
 
 " On the contrary, it is exceedingly popular as a rendez- 
 vous for people going to lunch." 
 
 " You would prefer a room in Bond Street a little exhibi- 
 tion all to herself ? " he continued. " I was only a short time 
 in London, and got to know very few people I was too busy 
 with the picture-galleries ; but if this project came off, I 
 could have plenty of introductions from the other side, and 
 we might secure two or three influential people who would 
 get the little collection talked of. The Academicians wouldn't 
 frown, would they, at this apparent independence ? " 
 
 " Of course not. They would be more likely to come to 
 the Private View, if you asked them." 
 
 " Not that I would have her neglect the Academy not 
 at all," said he, with some solicitude. "The fact is, 
 although she has been working in oils, she is not quite 
 so familiar with that medium yet ; but later on I would 
 have her send in a picture in oils to the Academy." 
 
 "Lady Cameron," said Miss Dumaresq, with a rueful 
 little smile, " how would you like to be in my position ? 
 How would you like to know yourself a very small person, 
 and find an artist like Mr. Wolfenberg bothering about you, 
 and treating you as if you were of importance ? Talk of 
 my appealing to the British public ! " she went on in 
 another strain. " I know who ought to appeal, and who 
 would appeal with some effect, and that is Mr. Wolfenberg 
 himself. I think it is a shame he should be known in 
 England only by his reputation. But buyers are so selfish. 
 If they weren't so selfish I tell you what I should like. 
 
A DEVIATION 25 
 
 I should like a loan exhibition in our own country of all 
 Mr. Wolfenberg's paintings a complete collection. For 
 people are so apt to forget what a range of subjects a 
 painter may have covered, and they judge him by the 
 picture of the moment 
 
 " There I don't agree with you, Ainelie," he said, with 
 gentleness. " The critics may. But the public are more 
 generous. The public judge of a man by his best work, 
 and give him his reputation from his best work. 
 When an artist has painted a great picture, the public 
 give him his position ; they put him on a pedestal ; and 
 they don't call on him to come down if his subsequent 
 work, however sincere, should be unequal. The world does 
 not bother about striking averages ; that is left to the critic. 
 The world marks the highest rung of the ladder a man has 
 reached, and writes his name on the wall there, to remain." 
 
 " Well, Ernest, you, at least, have no right to complain 
 of the critics ; they have always been most kind to you," 
 Miss Dumaresq interposed, pleasantly. 
 
 "The critic," he said, in an absent kind of way, "so 
 seldom remembers that it may be himself his own capa- 
 city or incapacity he is revealing to the public. When 
 Carlyle wrote his article on Scott, he was not giving us 
 the measure of Walter Scott, he was giving us the measure 
 of Thomas Carlyle. 
 
 But there was no indifferentism, either of manner or 
 speech, about him when Mrs. Dumaresq having come to 
 call her daughter away for some purpose or another he 
 was left free to speak on a subject that more nearly con- 
 cerned him. 
 
 " I confess," he said, " I am looking forward with a 
 little disquiet to this visit of Miss Dumaresq's to the 
 East. It was I who urged her mother and herself to go. 
 I thought it would be a kind of education for Amelie ; 
 and with the future she has before her, all the best possible 
 influences should be brought to bear on her. And yet I 
 don't quite know that she will understand the 'brooding 
 East ' the Mother of Dreams and Mysteries. Ame"lie 
 comes of the ' impious younger world.' You must have 
 noticed what.:' a terribly candid mind she has," he said, 
 rather addressing himself to Mi's. Threepenny-bit. 
 
26 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Yes, indeed," said that person, frankly. 
 
 "But not hard and literal not unreceptive," he inter- 
 posed, hastily. She has really a fine sympathy for fine 
 things ; only, as I say, the things must be fine. And she 
 has the most profound contempt for the ordinary funny 
 American ; you need fear nothing on that score. I think 
 you said you would allow her to go about with you a little 
 when you went ashore anywhere ? you see, her mother is 
 something of an invalid, and is not likely to leave the ship 
 much. And you need not be afraid of any of that affected 
 irreverence any of that continuous and feeble flippancy 
 that becomes so distressing." 
 
 " Oh no, no, no, Mr. Wolfenberg ! " the small woman 
 says. " We shall be delighted to have Miss Dumaresq with 
 us. If we have to fear any irreverence or mischief -making, 
 it is from this American-Highlander here." 
 
 " Oh, listen to her ! " exclaims Peggy, with awe-stricken 
 eyes. " Me ? You accuse me of such a thing ! And you," 
 she goes on, turning to her other neighbour, " what have 
 you to say to such a charge ? Have you not a word in my 
 defence ? " 
 
 " ' The noblest answer unto such Is perfect stillness when 
 they brawl.' " 
 
 But yet again Peggy speaks up on her own behalf and 
 speaks up boldly too. 
 
 " Why, as for that," she says, " don't you imagine you 
 are going to turn me into a regulation tourist. I will not 
 be instructed on any pretence whatever. I will not follow 
 a guide about. I will not read up history." 
 
 " Not a little English history ? " puts in the small woman, 
 with her usual ignoble sarcasm. 
 
 " And I like the notion," continues Peggy, " of you two 
 talking to me about my serious duties ! you two, who are 
 the most obstinately indolent, the very worst sight-seers 
 I ever beheld ! But do as you please. Swallow all the 
 churches and mosques if you like. But not for me, thank 
 you. Why, the only idea of an Englishman that exists in 
 the French imagination is that he is a tall man with a red 
 book. Well, I don't wish to be ticketed off in that way. 
 I am a free-born American, I am. Sacramento was my 
 dwelling-place, and Scotland is my nation " 
 
A DEVIATION 27 
 
 "What your salvation is likely to be," says Mrs. Three- 
 penny-bit (for she, too, has heard of the old rhyme), "it 
 would be hard to say unless you keep a more civil tongue 
 in your head." 
 
 Next morning we were nearing the end of the first stage 
 of our voyage. And yet it cannot be said that these 
 familiar features around us had grown in any way monoto- 
 nous ; nay, they had been constantly beautiful the long 
 decks ablaze in the sunshine ; the gently-moving shadows 
 of the ropes and spars ; the soft twilight under the 
 awnings ; outside the great circle of blue sea that deep, 
 opaque, fierce Mediterranean blue that is like nothing else 
 in heaven or earth ; and overhead the pale sky of the 
 south a faint rose-purple, fading to white at the horizon. 
 But all the same, as we slowly steamed into the vivid green 
 waters of the harbour of Algiers, there was something in 
 change; and the eye rather welcomed those brilliantly- 
 coloured boats, with their swarthy boatmen. And then, 
 instead of sea and sky meeting featureless all around the 
 horizon, here was a great shining city a perfect blaze of 
 yellow-white buildings on the face of a long ridge of hill 
 that was crowned by far-extending masses of olive-green 
 foliage. Picturesque enough in its way : the shimmering, 
 translucent water, with its parti-coloured craft ; then the 
 long extent of arched stores and wharves ; then the tall, 
 French-looking terraces ; then the mass of flat-roofed 
 Moorish houses, with here and there the rounded dome 
 of a mosque. Not so impressive, naturally, as a wholly 
 Eastern city ; but nevertheless something novel to look 
 upon after those long days of blue-and-silver glancing 
 seas. 
 
 Of course there was some little excitement about going 
 ashore : parties being hastily formed, and the eager ones 
 getting early away in the ship's boats. Our own little 
 group, including Wolfenberg and Miss Dumaresq, lingered 
 for long irresolute, hardly knowing whether it was worth 
 while in view of our leaving again in the afternoon ; but 
 finally we decided upon going in the very last boat, which 
 happened to be the steam-launch. And yet it was not we 
 who were responsible for any delay ; it was the Passionate 
 Poetess ; for just as we had all got comfortably settled in 
 
1% WOLFENBE&G 
 
 the launch, and the engineer was about to get the screw 
 revolving, she appealed to the Purser. 
 
 " One moment, Mr. Purser, please. I really cannot leave 
 my little dog ! I am so afraid of those men I I will not 
 detain you a minute." 
 
 Black grew the Purser's brows ; but he did not utter a 
 word ; while Sappho hurriedly got out, and began to ascend 
 the accommodation-ladder with such speed as was possible 
 in the circumstances. To us it mattered little, but she 
 certainly was a long time away ; then we beheld her coming 
 down again, her precious charge borne in one arm. Would 
 that that had been all ! But at the foot of the ladder a 
 dreadful accident occurred. Her foot slipped somehow ; 
 she clung to the iron stanchion with one hand ; inevitably 
 she swung round ; and alas ! in saving herself from being 
 pitched headforemost into the sea, she was forced for a 
 moment to abandon Phaon, who incontinently tumbled 
 down on to the grating and next into the water. Imme- 
 diately there was a mighty commotion : ifc was as if a baby 
 had to be saved. Arms were stretched out and stretched 
 out in vain ; Sappho, who had sprung on board the launch, 
 called frantically on Phaon ; while the fat little grey pug, 
 with his black snout and wrinkled forehead well out of 
 water, was splashing away with his fore-paws, and swim- 
 ming, as much as he could swim, in the wrong direction. 
 And then the man at the bow, seizing a boat-hook, made a 
 dash at him. Sappho shrieked. 
 
 "Don't! -don't! -you'll kill him!" she called, piteously ; 
 for she evidently thought the man wanted to gaff the 
 animal, as one would gaff a salmon. 
 
 But what he really meant to do was to hook up the 
 silken string attached to Phaon's collar ; and in this he 
 succeeded ; the dog was led down aft, and hauled on board, 
 and delivered to his mistress ; and she, exhausted by these 
 wild emotions, and overjoyed to get her beloved into the 
 very midst of us, made him finally secure by depositing 
 him, streaming, and shaking himself, and winking his beady 
 eyes, right on to the Major's polished boots. 
 
 What our respected friend said upon this occasion can 
 never now be known ; for there was a sudden rattle of the 
 engine, and a whirr of the screw ; but, as he tried to with- 
 
A DEVIATION 29 
 
 draw his feet from under this sprawling encumbrance, there 
 was a look on his face that was too awful to contemplate 
 without apprehension. And what must she do but heap 
 insult upon injury ? 
 
 " Major, would you mind holding this for a moment ? " 
 she said, handing him the blue silken string. " Phaon is 
 so impulsive so impetuous 
 
 " Nurse and jam the confounded little beast ! " said the 
 Major or rather it was something resembling these sounds 
 that escaped from between his set teeth ; but probably she 
 did not hear, for there was such a spluttering noise from 
 the engine. At all events, he was forced to hold the string 
 for her ; while she proceeded to open her hand-bag, and 
 from thence she took a small brush, and with that she 
 began to smooth down Phaon's dripping coat, while in vain 
 did the Major try to get his feet away from the prancing 
 and dancing of those four restless legs. We began to fear 
 that Phaon would not see the end of this voyage. 
 
 Meanwhile we got ashore, and climbed the stifling hot 
 steps, and crossed the blinding white Boulevard, and were 
 glad to escape from the glare of the sunlight into the cool 
 shadows of the Jardin Marengo, with its branching palms, 
 and bamboos, and tall tamarinds. But Mrs. Threepenny- 
 bit, mindful of former days on the Nile, and anxious to 
 renew her acquaintance with those Arabs whose dignity of 
 deportment she had always so much admired, was soon 
 ready to be off again. Had she not under her wing this 
 young American, whose nascent artist-mind was hungering 1 
 after new impressions ? 
 
 And as we went wandering idly through the town, 
 choosing the more shaded thoroughfares, one could not but 
 admire the delicate way in which Wolfenberg recognized 
 that Amelie Duinaresq had been confided to the elder 
 lady's charge. He claimed no right of association ; he was 
 just as the others ; nay, he rather kept away from her. 
 But at times, of course, he had to call her attention to this 
 thing or that ; and then he would do so in a curiously 
 respectful way. For example, in the Rou Bab Azoun we 
 came upon an oddly incongruous sight a shabby-looking 
 little French omnibus filled with grave and stately and 
 silent Arabs, in their turbans and flowing white robes. 
 
30 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Am61ie," he said, stepping up to her, " there is a subject 
 for you." 
 
 She glanced in the direction indicated. 
 
 " It is too bizarre," she answered him. 
 
 " It is Algiers," he said, and then he fell back again into 
 the order of our procession. 
 
 For we were going two and two, and even then we did 
 not escape remark. The Major and Lady Cameron led the 
 way ; and no doubt they were conspicuously foreigners ; 
 the Major being plump, and fresh-coloured, and cheerful- 
 looking, while Peggy was tall, and fair-complexioned, and 
 handsome. And now it was that Mrs. Threepenny-bit grew 
 wroth. For while the Arabs, calm, serious, impassive of 
 demeanour, went by without appearing to take the slightest 
 notice of us, the low-class French population turned to stare 
 at the strangers, grinning, chattering, and nudging each 
 other. Nay, one yellow-skinned little wretch of a boy had 
 the audacity to look up at our Peggy, and say " Ole raight ! " 
 This it was that set the smaller woman's soul ablaze. 
 
 " Miss Dumaresq," said she, " has it ever occurred to you 
 that it is only the northern nations of Europe that have 
 the faculty of laughing ? The French never laugh. They 
 haven't the physique. They can only snigger." Here, 
 indeed, was a stupendous generalization ; and all because 
 an impudent little Algerian gamin had mocked at our tall 
 young friend from Inverfask. 
 
 There was, of course, nothing of this kind, when we had 
 got away up into the Arab quarter of the city. As we 
 were slowly perambulating the steep and narrow thorough- 
 fares, and admiring the endless variety and picturesqueness 
 of costume and colour, Miss Dumaresq turned to her tem- 
 porary guardian. 
 
 " When we came ashore at first," said she, " I thought 
 we had made a mistake. I thought we had got into 
 nothing but a second-rate French town. But now I should 
 like to spend six months in Algiers or three or four times 
 that." 
 
 " You are beginning too soon," said her companion, with 
 a smile. " At least, if you go on in tlie same way, by the 
 time we have finished this voyage you will have formed 
 plans for two lifetimes." 
 
A DEVIATION 31 
 
 When at last we made away back again for the Boule- 
 vard, and came in sight of the Hotel de 1'Europe, we descried 
 various groups of our fellow-Orotanians, just as you are 
 sure to find English people hanging about Shepheard's 
 Hotel in Cairo. The first person we encountered inside 
 was the Passionate Spinster, who was in dire distress, for 
 she could get nobody to attend to her. So she threw her- 
 self upon us. She besought the Major to find a safe corner 
 in the saloon, where Phaon might be tied up. She asked 
 if she might have a seat at our table. And when, after 
 lunch, it was suggested that, instead of sending for two 
 carriages, we ought simply to charter one of those small 
 omnibuses with the open windows and curtains, which 
 would be so much cooler, and would accommodate the 
 whole of us, she eagerly embraced that proposition, counting 
 herself in. And thus it was that she who claimed kinship 
 with ' the Lesbian woman of immortal fame ' bestowed her 
 society on us during our drive out to Mustafa Inferieur. 
 Why not ? After all, human beings are of different kinds, 
 and the world is wide. 
 
 "Yes, but an Algerian omnibus is narrow," said the 
 Major, subsequently ; and the mere recollection of his 
 sufferings once more aroused in him a furious wrath. 
 "By heavens, I will strangle that little beast if it ever 
 comes near my legs or feet again ! " 
 
 Before we got under weigh that afternoon an apparently 
 trifling incident occurred which we had occasion afterwards 
 to recall. A French Colonel and his wife, with their little 
 girl, had come out to look over the ship ;. and while the 
 former were talking to the captain, the latter was being 
 made much of by a number of the young ladies on board. 
 But this small creature of seven or eight remained proof 
 against all their blandishments. She was absolutely im- 
 perturbable, regarding them, it is true, but not responding in 
 any way whatever. They tried her with various kinds of 
 French, including that of Ollendorff and that of Stratford- 
 atte-Bowe Aimez-vous VAfrique? . . . Vas-tu promener 
 partout a voir le vaisseau ? . . . Allans, descendons au salon 
 etje te donnerai des sucres. . . . Petite, serrez les mains chez 
 mot. . . . Travaillez-vous a vos le$ons, mademoiselle? . . . 
 vous pas une seule parole pour nous ? . . . As-tu 
 
3 2 WOLFENBERG 
 
 regarde le capitaine de la sJiippe ? . . . Such were the rags 
 and tags of this ingenuous and one-sided conversation that 
 came floating towards us. But no ; they could win no 
 response. She remained quite impassive and silent. 
 
 Now it was at this moment that a young Eussian who 
 had not gone ashore indeed, he had hitherto mixed but 
 little with his fellow-passengers came along, took up the 
 book he had left in his deck-chair, and, sitting down, began 
 to read. He was quite near to this small child, but he did 
 not pay any attention to her , she, on the contrary, regarded 
 him attentively for a moment or two, and then, as if drawn 
 by curiosity or by some more occult attraction, went close 
 up to his chair. He became aware of her approach, and 
 raised his eyes from his book. Very beautiful eyes they 
 were, if it is not absurd to call a man's eyes beautiful blue- 
 grey, dark-lashed, and full of light ; and when they were 
 bent on this small, inquisitive stranger, she, who had 
 hitherto seemed so entirely abstracted and indifferent, 
 smiled in response. Nay, she held out her tiny hand. 
 " Bonjour, monsieur ! " she said. And of course he accepted 
 that timid proffer of comradeship at once ; he spoke to her ; 
 she replied to him, in her pretty and childish way ; and so, 
 in the most simple and easy fashion in the world, these two 
 had become friends. 
 
 " Did you notice that ? isn't that remarkable ? " said 
 Amelie Dumaresq, in a quick undertone to Wolfenberg. 
 " Tell me, Ernest, who is he ? he hardly ever speaks to any 
 one." 
 
 "He is a Russian Hitrovo Paul Hitrovo," was tha 
 answer, also uttered guardedly. 
 
 " Do you know him ? Have you talked with him ? " 
 
 "A little." 
 
 " Will you introduce him to me some other time ? " 
 
 Wolfenberg looked surprised, almost startled. 
 
 " Oh yes, if you wish it oh yes, certainly," he said 
 while the fascinated small French girl was still standing by 
 Paul Hitrovo's chair, listening to him, and looking up into 
 his smiling eyes. 
 
AN INTRODUCTION 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION". 
 
 AND again the gods having given us a gracious morning ; 
 the heavens cloudless and serene ; the far-stretching circle 
 of the sea rolling its blue-black waves and lapping and 
 flashing in the sun ; an unstable world save for the long 
 and mountainous rampart down there in the south the 
 grey-scarred and sterile-looking cliffs of the African coast. 
 And here, under the welcome shade of the awning, one 
 comes upon two of the passengers who appear to be in close 
 and earnest confabulation. It is of Wolfenberg and Ame"lie 
 Dumaresq they are talking. 
 
 " Well, Missis," says the Lady of Inverfask, addressing 
 her friend by the last invented of all her innumerable 
 sobriquets, "I cannot understand why you should be so 
 apprehensive. You yourself admit that such a relationship 
 would be beautiful, if only it could be made permanent. 
 What is to hinder its being permanent ? Miss Dumaresq 
 would tell you that it is all the more likely to last because 
 there is no bond, because it is voluntary, because each knows 
 that the other could break away. What she says is simply 
 this : * Husbands and wives lead a far happier life, a far 
 more equable and contented life, when they have ceased to 
 be lovers, and have become good friends. Why, then, 
 should not Mr. Wolfenberg and I take up the latter half of 
 this relationship, since the former is impossible ? ' You 
 know her frank way of speaking. And her ideas are as 
 clear as her speech. She is no school-girl, with her head 
 full of sentiment and dreams. She has seen the world. 
 She has had experience of men and not a very fortunate 
 one, I imagine : you see the family are rich ; and I rather 
 fancy, from one or two things she said, that she has 
 made unpleasant discoveries or, at least, had unpleasant 
 suspicions with regard to certain of the young men who 
 came about her. But here is a man whom she can 
 absolutely trust ; whom she admires and respects beyond 
 measure ; with whom she is in sympathy on every point ; 
 and why should not their close and constant association 
 
 D 
 
34. WOLFENBERG 
 
 together be as permanent as any marriage-bond ? Accord- 
 ing to her, it is the conjugal relationship that disenchants ; 
 here there can be no disenchantment ; they remain to each 
 other just as they are. And look at their comradeship in 
 art : another tie. She must perceive that he has all the 
 qualities that she lacks : another reason for sympathy. 
 And then his solitary position ; she pities him ; she is 
 resolved to stand by him oh, I don't see that you should 
 be so apprehensive ! " 
 
 For a second or two the smaller woman was silent- 
 looking absently across the flashing waters to the pale line 
 of mountainous coast. At last she said 
 
 "Well, Peggy, if I were Mr. Wolfenberg, I would go 
 ashore at the very first port we come to, and I would 
 make my way back to America." 
 
 " To be met at New York by that woman, with a troop 
 of her drunken companions ? " 
 
 The conversation could not be continued further ; for at 
 this moment Miss Dumaresq herself appeared, coming 
 quickly along the deck, her head raised and careless, her 
 arms swinging a little with the mere exuberance of life. 
 The small and graceful figure looked neat in its Sunday- 
 morning costume of black silk and white frills ; and when 
 she came up it was apparent that she had paid particular 
 heed to her toilet the high-arched, dark eyebrows had been 
 touched, perhaps also the pretty mouth. But it was not of 
 that she was thinking. 
 
 " I have some news for you," she said, with great anima- 
 tion, and her brilliant black eyes were full of pleasure and 
 eagerness, " but it must not be spoken of ; you must not 
 mention it to any one ; and especially not to Mr. Wolfenberg. 
 He has .just^been telling me ; and what a surprise it is ! 
 For we quite understood that he was going to take the full 
 seven weeks' holiday ; but with an artist like him a sudden 
 inspiration takes possession ; and it is no use his trying to 
 put it aside and turn to it later on. What do you think, 
 then, of the subject Mr. Wolfenberg is considering ? the 
 Fountain of Callirrhoe ! " She was quite breathless with 
 the joy of this discovery ; but she had to speak in tones of 
 subdued excitement, for there were other people now coming 
 along. " Can you not imagine what he will make of it 
 
AN INTRODUCTION 35 
 
 the deserted Greek girl killing herself by the side of the 
 water or, perhaps, the dead girl disappearing I don't 
 know, but this I do know, that it will be something to 
 make one's fingers tremble and make one's eyes fill. It will 
 be splendid splendid ! And no one must speak to him 
 about it, or he will be anxious and discontented, and 
 perhaps throw the subject aside altogether ; no, it must be 
 allowed to grow up of itself in his mind, quite in silence, 
 and then then some day you will see ! And just think of 
 this : he has asked my advice ! my advice ! as if I and 
 my wooden dolls could be of any use to him ! Prospero, 
 the master of spirits, come to ask the advice of Caliban 
 carving sticks ! " 
 
 " At least, it was a great honour," said Peggy. 
 
 " And now he will dream about that all the way until we 
 get to Athens," she went on and really this exhilaration of 
 interest added quite a new charm to the pretty face and the 
 lustrous dark eyes : " and it does not matter whether the 
 real fountain, if there is one, lends itself well or not : the 
 picture will be already complete in his mind. I am 
 delighted ! You know I was rather afraid that mother and 
 I had forced this idleness on him he is so ready to sacrifice 
 himself ; and I feared, too, he might be bored by the society 
 of two women. But now I am quite at ease. Now he will 
 never want for companionship and for occupation so long as 
 he has his picture to think about ; and when you notice 
 him walking up and down by himself, and not speaking to 
 any one, you need not imagine he is idle. Ah, I tell you, 
 you will see something when you see the Fountain of 
 Callirrhoe I " 
 
 Welcome news ; but perhaps we were even better pleased, 
 and more interested, in observing the genuine enthusiasm 
 with which this girl spoke of Wolfenberg's work. That was 
 at least one bond the more between these two oddly situated 
 persons. 
 
 This was a Sunday morning ; there was service on deck, 
 under the awning ; the young women's voices sounded 
 sweet and clear above the monotonous swish of the waves 
 along the vessel's side. 
 
 In the afternoon the Passionate Spinster bore down upon 
 us, bringing with her a whole armful of translations and 
 
 1) 2 
 
36 
 
 Lempriere. There was no escape : she had skilfully cut off 
 retreat ; and soon the tale of her unnumbered woes was 
 unfolded. It turned out that she had heard from one of 
 the officers that on the following morning we should be 
 within sight of the shores of Sicily, the song-haunted 
 island ; and with a generous ardour she had set to work to 
 prepare herself, first of all by tracing out the wanderings of 
 Ulysses. But there were riddles and disappointments in the 
 way ; and now, as she spoke, the sandy-haired woman with 
 the cold grey eyes seemed to be in a bit of a temper. 
 
 " It really is too bad ! " she said, fretfully. " You can't 
 trust one of these books. You would think that since they 
 have been labouring away at their mechanical tasks through 
 so many generations, there might be a little agreement 
 among them. But why does one say ' mother of dawn, the 
 rosy-fingered morning,' while another says, 'daughter of 
 dawn, the rosy-fingered morning ; ' and why do they write 
 Aias when they mean Ajax ; and what on earth is the use 
 of saying Peleides instead of Achilles, and Atreides instead 
 of Agamemnon ? " 
 
 Now these were amazing questions to come from the per- 
 fervid Sappho, who continually adorns her pages with 
 copious quotations from the Greek and Latin inaccurate 
 for the most part, no doubt, but of excellent intention. 
 
 " However, it is the geography that is most irritating," 
 she continues, with more than a " snap " of anger in her 
 voice. " Look at the confusion caused by having Phaeacia, 
 Scheria, Corcyra, Corfu four names all for the same 
 place ! And one writer tells you that Calypso's island is 
 Gozo, which is close by Malta, and another declares that it 
 is Ogygia, supposed to be opposite Lacinium ! " 
 
 At this point, unhappily, the volume of Lempriere fell 
 upon Phaon ; and the lamentable howl that the poor little 
 beast set up awoke the Major, who was asleep in a neigh- 
 bouring chair. The Major turned round, glared, muttered 
 something, doubtless of an unholy character, to himself 
 and then, struggling to his feet, made his way to the grating 
 surrounding the wheel-box, where he again sought soft 
 slumber, though in a far more uncomfortable position. 
 
 " You see they will notcsill anything by a simple name ! " 
 exclaimed our poetess, with a savage wrath which we were 
 
AN INTRODUCTION 37 
 
 sorry to see agitating so celestial a mind. " When Ulysses, 
 after leaving ^Eolia, is ship-wrecked, he is thrown upon the 
 coasts of the Laestrygones ; but the coasts of the Lsestry- 
 gones are simply Sicily ! and it is Sicily that he has quite 
 recently left, after having escaped from the giant Poly- 
 phemus " 
 
 "Miss Penguin, why should you bother with boys 1 
 stories ? " interposed Amelie Dumaresq, with a touch of 
 disdain. " Sicily for me will be the land of Hermione, and 
 Perdita, and the good Camillo, and the statue that becomes 
 a woman before the eyes of the King. That is something 
 worth thinking about ! " 
 
 " And I," puts in our Peggy, " am going to find out from 
 which port Antigonus and Hermione's child could have 
 sailed when they were blown on the shores of Bohemia." 
 
 " The shores of Bohemia ? " is the incredulous cry. 
 
 " Yes," she says, calmly. " Didn't you know that the 
 dukes of Bohemia had possessions and seaports on the 
 Adriatic coast ? " For Peggy is always flourishing this 
 profound piece of erudition before us though some of us 
 may have dark doubts as to its authenticity. 
 
 Meanwhile, what had become of the young Eussian whose 
 beautiful eyes had thawed the frigidity of the little French 
 girl ; and what had become of the introduction 'that Amelie 
 Dumaresq had asked for ? Well, for one thing, M. Paul 
 Hitrovo was rather a mysterious and enigmatical young 
 man. Beyond the fact that he generally passed the 
 morning in the deck smoking-room, whiling away the time 
 with cigarettes, no one could say precisely how or where he 
 spent the remainder of the day. He rarely mixed with his 
 fellow-passengers ; he never joined in any of the games 
 going forward ; he came late to meals, and remained after 
 the others had left. Then, again, a formal introduction is 
 an unusual, and a marked thing on board ship : we could 
 understand Wolfenberg's embarrassment over her blunt 
 request. On board ship people make each other's acquaint- 
 ance through a variety of little accidents, or through some 
 chance talking to a common friend. But as for going to a 
 young man and saying that a certain young lady wished 
 that he should be introduced to her how was such a thing 
 to be done, especially when, the go-between was so proud 
 
33 WOLFENBERG 
 
 and sensitive a person as Ernest Wolfenberg ? He of all 
 men would be the first to shrink from anything that seemed 
 to compromise, in the remotest degree, this young lady who 
 had made so unexpected a demand. 
 
 And, indeed, it was in an entirely haphazard fashion 
 that their coming together was accomplished, on this, same 
 Sunday afternoon. The Durnaresqs and several others had 
 gone below to have tea, and they had just taken their places 
 when Hitrovo came into the saloon, looking around him in 
 his customary indolent, good-natured way. 
 
 " Won't you come to our table ? " said Wolfenberg. 
 
 " If I may," he answered, smiling ; and forthwith he 
 installed himself in one of the chairs, opposite Miss 
 Dumaresq and her mother. 
 
 There was no set introduction. After a second or two 
 he quite naturally and simply joined in the general talk, 
 speaking excellent English, with hardly a trace of accent. 
 He was singularly good-looking ; he had pleasant manners ; 
 so far from trying to impress or shine, he seemed in a 
 measure indifferent ; and those clear blue-grey eyes of his, 
 when they lighted on a woman, bespoke favour for him. 
 But the curious thing was that his coming to this table 
 appeared to have frozen up Amelie Dumaresq. Ordinarily 
 eager and animated, thrilling with life and loquacious, she 
 was now constrained and embarrassed ; she did not glance 
 his way at all ; she kept her eyes downcast or averted ; she 
 was silent. Her mother might join in this random conver- 
 sation about the ship and our prospects : she had not one 
 word. For the first time since we had made her acquaint- 
 ance she seemed to have lost her self-possession ; and on 
 that account ifc was all the more marked. But Hitrovo did 
 not appear to notice ; he had enough to do in talking to 
 these other ladies, who were all more or less strangers to 
 him. And when at length he went away, it was clear that 
 he had impressed them most favourably. 
 
 " Well, Amelie, I brought him to you," Wolfenberg said, 
 with a smile. 
 
 " Yes, Ernest," she answered, with some touch of con- 
 fusion. " I I did want to find out something about him 
 after the incident with the little French girl. That struck 
 me. But I hardly wonder at it. He has extraordinary eyes. 
 
AN INTRODUCTION 39 
 
 So she had glanced at him, after all ? 
 
 " That French child," said Mrs. Dumaresq, " has began 
 early to find out that gentlemen's eyes may be attractive." 
 
 " There was more than that, mamma. She went up to 
 him while he was still reading," the daughter made reply ; 
 but she was clearly not inclined to enter into any discussion 
 about this young man, or his looks, or ways, or manners. 
 Presently she rose and left the table, and went up on deck, 
 taking her book with her, and choosing a chair where she 
 could be by herself. 
 
 Towards evening we could make out the sharp peaks of 
 Galita island, far away ahead of us in the mystic grey of 
 the east ; and as night closed round us there was the golden 
 ray of the lighthouse streaming out from time to time. 
 
 The morning found us among the 2Egadean Isles, off the 
 west coast of Sicily those lonely and voiceless rocks, lofty, 
 and arid, and scarred their ruddy cliffs set in a perfect 
 calm of blue sea. Sappho was running all about the ship 
 imploring people to tell her whether it was on the mainland 
 or on one of those islands that Ulysses encountered the 
 Cyclops ; Peggy was delighted to discover that we should 
 reach Palermo early in the afternoon, for she wanted to 
 snatch away the Baby from all possibility of brigands ; 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit was expecting letters, to learn how 
 many more teeth her precious boys had had knocked out at 
 football ; and the Major was secretly disclosing to one or 
 two friends a plan he had formed for enticing Phaon away 
 from his mistress in the streets of Palermo, and introducing 
 him to a sausage-maker. In short, there was quite a stir 
 with the beginning of the new week and our nearing another 
 halting-place. Even Paul Hitrovo came on deck, and talked 
 a little with Mrs. Dumaresq, her daughter standing by, 
 looking on and listening. 
 
 But it was with Wolfenberg that Amelie Dumaresq spent 
 most of the morning and noon, for no doubt the two artists 
 had much to observe and talk of in common, as we steamed 
 on by Cape St. Vito, and across the Gulf of Castellamare, 
 and past the evil-named Punta dell' Uomo Morto, making 
 onwards for Cape Gallo. This noithern coast of Sicily is 
 magnificently picturesque : vast and precipitous cliffs of a 
 soinbre red, here and there rising into darker peaks, about 
 
40 WOLFENBERG 
 
 as sharp as the Aiguilles overlooking the Mer de Glace, here 
 and there dipping down into a spacious valley, with groves 
 of orange and citron sweltering in the heat. A lonely coast 
 it seemed, too : it was at long intervals that a little grey 
 powder, as it were a thin, insignificant line at the foot of 
 those giant cliffs revealed a village down by the shore. 
 In times of storm and louring skies, these bold headlands, 
 and the long spurs terminating in a solitary lighthouse, 
 must look grand indeed ; but now, as we saw them across 
 the trembling and shimmering blue sea, they had grown 
 visionary and spectral in the haze of settled fine weather. 
 The intervening air seemed to be dense with sunlight. 
 
 And what did those two think of Palermo Palermo the 
 Superb as we slowly steamed into the pellucid green 
 water ? To the non-professional eye the more striking 
 features were obvious enough : a noble bay, far extending, 
 with long moles and promenades ; white terraces just above 
 the sea ; public gardens, with foliage of freshest verdure ; 
 then the gradually-ascending town, with its countless domes 
 and spires ; and behind all that a mighty semicircle of 
 mountains, twisted and torn and thrown about as if by the 
 hand of some scene-painter gone out of his senses. Indeed, 
 one began to ask one's-self if all this were quite real if it 
 were solid, in fact. Was there not some strange suggestion 
 of a huge wooden frame, with a breadth of shivering canvas 
 stretched over it ? Those white terraces, and green gardens, 
 and domes and spires, and wildly-twisted mountain-peaks : 
 were they permeable to a draught of air coming from over 
 the stalls ? And if one were to whistle suddenly, would 
 not a number of dusky and shabby men immediately rush 
 out and run the whole panoramic thing away on wheels ? 
 
 If this was what Amelie Dumaresq was thinking of the 
 imposing city before her, she was speedily startled out of 
 her reverie. All at once, and just as we were about getting 
 to our anchorage, but while there was still considerable way 
 on the vessel, it was discovered that the steam steering-gear 
 had got out of order. The swiftness with which this 
 mishap was rectified was admirable. Before any of the 
 passengers quite understood what had. happened, the first 
 officer and four or five of the hands had hurried aft to the 
 wheel, unshipped the case, got the mechanism into working* 
 
AN INTRODUCTION 41 
 
 trim, and the next minute the ship was answering her helm 
 just as if nothing had occurred. And presently we heard 
 the sonorous call, " Let go the anchor ! " followed by a 
 roar and a pluuge that must have made that canvas city 
 quake. 
 
 Then the various boats that had come out from the 
 harbour heavily-built craft, most of them, and gay of 
 colour began to make for the steamer ; while on board 
 there was a good deal of bustle among those preparing to 
 go ashore. But we were never among the first of these ; 
 and so it chanced that Mrs. Threepenny-bit was idly gazing 
 over the side, when her eye caught sight of something. 
 
 " Peggy," she called, " here are some visitors in one of 
 the boats is this your sister ? " 
 
 Peggy came running. 
 
 " Oh, good gracious, it's the Baby ! " she cried, in wild 
 delight. "And these are the Vincents with her how 
 kind of them ! they have brought her over from Naples." 
 And with that she waved her handkerchief frantically, and 
 succeeded in arresting their attention, for there was an 
 answering signal ; and then she went quickly to the top of 
 the accommodation-ladder ; and probably she would even 
 have descended the steps to meet them disarranging all 
 the traffic but that the third officer, who was busily 
 engaged in getting his boat-loads away, sternly refused to 
 allow her. Well, not very sternly, perhaps. The fact is, 
 it seemed to us that this young man never missed an 
 opportunity of conversing with Peggy ; and even now, 
 while he was occupied in packing off the passengers, he 
 found quite enough time to chat with her. No, not at all 
 sternly ; for more than one waltz had she given him on 
 those marvellous moonlit nights off the coast of Portugal, 
 and many another he might reasonably hope to secure 
 before we saw English land again. In truth it was simply 
 to talk to her that he detained her at the top of the 
 ladder. 
 
 At last the way was clear ; and here was the Baby 
 blushing furiously at the amount of attention bestowed 
 on her ascending the steps. And it was not until the two 
 sisters had got through a considerable amount of hugging, 
 and pissing, and laughing, and questioning, that we ha.d "a 
 
42 WOLFENBERG 
 
 chance of seeing what " my sister Emily " was like. She 
 was brought forward to us and her friends accompanied 
 her. Well, she was no rival to our peerless and incom- 
 parable Peggy ; that was not to be expected ; but she was 
 a good-looking lass none the less ingenuous of aspect, and 
 grave timid also, though that may have been because of 
 her suddenly finding herself among strangers. She was 
 not so fair as Peggy ; nor so slender either ; she promised 
 to be of the Amazon type ; but yet there was something 
 very winning about her shy ways, and her self -conscious- 
 ness, and her modest desire to please. As for Peggy, she 
 made no concealment as to the alteration in her own life 
 likely to be caused by the arrival of this serious-eyed young 
 maid ; with a sigh of regret she relinquished her past 
 privileges and freedom from restraint ; there would be no 
 more fun for her now, she said, since the Baby had come 
 on board. 
 
 Well, we lazy folk did not care to go ashore this after- 
 noon ; Amelie Dumaresq had for once persuaded her 
 mother to bestir herself ; and those two and Wolfenberg 
 the faithful Wolfenberg went away by themselves. The 
 good friends with whom the Baby had been travelling were 
 much interested in the ship ; they spent a considerable 
 time in exploring it ; and in the end they were easily 
 persuaded to stay to dinner. And on this evening it must 
 be admitted that Palermo retrieved itself ; it cast aside 
 that look of a sad and bad and mad chromo-lithograph ; it 
 assumed dignity when the arid hills grew dark and solemn 
 against the westering glow, and the lighthouses began to 
 send their steady rays through the gathering dusk. 
 Mystery sentiment the subtle, elusive, imaginative quality 
 in landscape that is unapproachable by inferior or mechani- 
 cal art -was now in the air, as " the sun sank, and all the 
 ways were overshadowed." Then minute points of fire 
 began to appear here and there in the town like golden 
 glowworms. And these again, as the night fell, were 
 outshone by others of a very different colour, the blue 
 white radiant stars of the electric lamps along the esplanade, 
 that sent long, quivering reflections down on the smooth- 
 heaving black water between us and the shore. Palermo 
 was now brilliantly illuminated a blaz.e of splendour ; for 
 
A HOROSCOPE 43 
 
 there was a public festa in the gardens of the Villa Giulia, 
 and that also helped. The whole dark surface of the sea 
 was dancing and glittering with those will-o'-the-wisps of 
 imaged lights. 
 
 Our new friends stayed late, chatting on deck ; but when 
 at length they decided to go, we took them along to the 
 top of the accommodation-ladder, so that they should have 
 the first chance of a boat returning to the shore. And just 
 as we reached the gangway, who should appear but the 
 Dumaresqs, mother and daughter, Amelie Dumaresq being 
 in a very gay and laughing and vivacious mood. But it 
 was not Wolfenberg alone who was their escort : the dull, 
 orange-hued glow of the lamp showed us that there were 
 two gentlemen following them upwards from that black 
 gulf of water. And the fourth member of the party 
 turned out to be Paul Hitrovo : we learned that he had 
 been so kind as to accompany the two ladies, along with 
 Wolfenberg, to the festival in the gardens of the Villa 
 Giulia. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A HOROSCOPE. 
 
 As we make for the shore on this fair-shining morning 
 there is a heavy ground-swell running in : long, smooth, 
 unbroken, oily-green waves that lift the steam-launch high 
 in air and seem to leave it suspended for a time, until it 
 glides down again, spluttering and snorting and rolling, 
 into the next great ocean-valley. The boat is filled with 
 our good Orotanians ; and there is quite a blaze of white 
 costumes ; for the sun promises to be fierce. Some, whom 
 we hardly envy, are about to ride away up to the top of 
 Monte Pellegrino the vast brown slope beyond the bay is 
 already shimmering in the heat ; others, of more modest 
 ambition, mean simply to wander about the shady thorough- 
 fares of the city, studying the remains of Moorish archi- 
 tecture ; as for our small party, we are bent on a pious 
 pilgrimage to the distant Monreale among the hills. And 
 who so proud as the Major on this auspicious morning 
 the Major, to whom we have handed over Lady Cameron 
 
44 WOLFENBERG 
 
 and her sister ? For what with the advent of the Baby, 
 and what with Mrs. Dumaresq having again consigned her 
 daughter to our care, it is obvious that we shall have to 
 separate into two carriages as soon we reach the shore ; 
 and who so competent to take command of one of these as 
 our gallant if elderly soldier ? Joyful, indeed, is the 
 Major, and assiduous ; Peggy looks demure, taking care 
 not to meet the grave glances of her friends ; while the 
 Baby, serious, unconscious, regards in an impressed kind of 
 way the great panoramic town and its background of 
 mountains. Mrs. Threepenny-bit has declared herself quite 
 charmed with the Baby. Her ingenuousness, she affirms, 
 is as sweet and fresh and wholesome as the flowers in a 
 cottage garden. There are no underhand ways about her. 
 Her eyes never say two things at once. She wouldn't sit 
 in corners, and speak low, and ignore a whole room-full of 
 people for the sake of one. And so forth. It is curious 
 to notice how envy crops up on the most unexpected 
 occasions. 
 
 But, as it chanced, a sad fate bsfell the Major after all. 
 On landing at the mole, we found ourselves surrounded by 
 a wildly-gesticulatory crowd of drivers and would-be guides ; 
 there was nothing for it but to push through these, un- 
 heeding, and take forcible possession of the nearest vehicle, 
 Miss Dumaresq being pulled in by Mrs. Threepenny-bit 
 with much adroitness. Then we turned to see how the 
 Major and his charges were getting on. Well, he had 
 secured a carriage ; and he had got the two ladies safely 
 deposited therein ; and doubtless he was about to join 
 them, when at this very moment the Passionate Poetess 
 came up, carrying Phaon in her arms. The clamour of this 
 crowd of unwashed Sicilians prevented our hearing what 
 she said ; but what took place was clear enough. Sappho 
 was appealing to Lady Cameron to let her have the vacant 
 seat in the carriage ; and at once Peggy who is the soul 
 of good nature smilingly assented ; while the Baby politely 
 changed, over to the other side. Then we saw the Major 
 compelled to assist his deadly enemy to her place, and not 
 only that, but he had to shove Phaon along before he could 
 himself follow. Avanti ! And when Ainelie Dumaresq's 
 face appeared again from behind her sunshade, she wa,s 
 
A HOROSCOPE 45 
 
 Wiping away the tears from her eyes. She had been 
 outrageously, and wickedly, and cruelly laughing. 
 
 And very merry and light-hearted was she as we drove 
 away through the town and out into the open and ever- 
 ascending country. Wolfenberg smiled in a calmly tolerant 
 fashion. It was no business of his to play the part of 
 tutor ; nay, he was always glad when he saw her amused or 
 amusing others. And yet it must be said for this young 
 lady that, however careless she might seem of her surround- 
 ings, there was very little escaped her sharp and observant 
 eyes. She might be laughing and telling stories of her 
 fellow-students at the Atelier Didron ; but her glance took 
 note of one object after another a Moorish-looking build- 
 ing, a gaily-decorated cart, a horse staggering along under 
 an enormous load, and suffering from hideous sores (though 
 nobody is likely to miss that familiar feature of a Sicilian 
 highway). And at last she said : 
 
 "Ernest, when my little exhibition is opened in London, 
 I must send an invitation to Papa Didron. Do you think 
 he will come over ? Well, I fear not ; he is too busy. 
 But he must know of my great importance." 
 
 " I will take care of that, Amelie," said Wolfenberg, who 
 not only invariably talked as though this constant com- 
 panionship between herself and him was to last through all 
 the years of their life, but also, in this particular instance, 
 as though he were going to act the part of showman for 
 her. " I will make sure of that. For one thing, I must 
 get to know the London correspondents of the Paris papers ; 
 they may be interested ; they ought to notice the pictures. 
 Why, it is a piece of news. And then you are a daughter 
 of France as far as art is concerned." 
 
 " Oh, listen to him ! " she said to Mrs. Threepenny-bit, 
 in simulated horror. 
 
 "I don't mean as regards landscape," he interposed, 
 good-naturedly. " I know your heretical opinion of French 
 landscape 
 
 " French landscape ! " she said, in open disdain. " French 
 landscape is landscape seen by limelight ; all very effective, 
 no doubt, in spinach green, and cold grey, and black ; but 
 where is the luminosity, where is the sunlight, where is the 
 throbbing air ? And yet how can you wonder ? " she went 
 
46 WOLFENBERG 
 
 on, apparently for the mere amusement of the thing for 
 her vehemence seemed a little bit assumed. " What are the 
 poor men to do ? God made the world out of nothing ; 
 but French artists are not quite so clever they can't make 
 landscapes out of those monotonous and treeless wastes ; 
 and so they construct effective studies of light and shade 
 limelight and false shade. And England is just as bad in 
 the opposite direction. England is too conventionally 
 picturesque. The mist gives you the atmospheric values all 
 ready-made to hand. The clouds are low down, and come 
 easily into the picture ; distances are arranged for you ; 
 and then the country is all broken up with hedges and 
 coppices, and small fields, and farms everything you could 
 wish. Now, at home in America, I mean you have to 
 wrestle with your subject you have got to face it the 
 light is clear and hard there is no compromise." 
 
 " There never is any compromise about you, Amelie," 
 Wolfenberg said, laughing. " But if you wish to see 
 throbbing air and luminosity, just you get up in the 
 carriage and look back." 
 
 For by this time the patient horses had dragged us away 
 up towards La Eocca ; and when we rose to regard the 
 landscape that now stretched out far below us, we beheld 
 the famous Conca d'Oro, that immense and fertile valley 
 filled with the fresh deep green of orange groves and lemon 
 groves, with the dusty heights of Monte Grifone rising on 
 the right, while in front, and away beyond the partly-hidden 
 city, the vast breadth of pale blue sea trembled through the 
 heat. 
 
 " I must get down," she said ; " there is more freedom 
 to look about when you are walking." 
 
 And indeed our slim-built and energetic Peggy had 
 already descended from the other vehicle ; and so had the 
 Baby ; and so had their gallant escort ; Sappho and the 
 pug remaining in sole possession of the carriage. And thus 
 the re-united party went forward together, leisurely climbing 
 the white and dusty road ; our goal, the Fiesole-like Mon- 
 reale, perched high on a hill, being now within view. Hot 
 it was. The Major began to murmur hints about a traitor e, 
 and about a bottle of something combined with seltzer. 
 The arid rock by the wayside had been hewn into small 
 
A HOROSCOPE 47 
 
 terraces by the cactus-growers ; and the prickly pears had 
 borrowed a charming tinge of colour from the sun ; but 
 the one or two we tried afforded us no kind of satisfaction. 
 The only cool thing visible was the fresh green of the great 
 valley : it was pleasant to let the eyes wander down towards 
 those far-stretching, dense, luxuriant orange groves. 
 
 When at length we had toiled up to the queer, deserted- 
 looking little town, we made straight for the Duomo, which, 
 in truth, was the only thing we had come to see. But on 
 entering the square, we perceived that we were not the first 
 of the Orotanians : Paul Hitrovo and a companion, whose 
 acquaintance he had made on board, were standing on the 
 pavement just outside the Cathedral, the former smoking a 
 cigarette. 
 
 " Well, that is a surprise ! I wonder if he has sat up all 
 night ? " said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, who had never been too 
 favourably disposed towards this young man, despite his 
 achievement of fascinating the small Algerian. " Major," 
 she continued in an undertone, "everybody gets to hear 
 everything about everybody else on board ship. Who is 
 that Mr. Hitrovo ? " 
 
 " Gad, I don't know," said the Major, contentedly. 
 " You'd better ask the young ladies ; they seem mostly 
 interested in him." 
 
 " The common gossip," put in Wolfenberg, with a certain 
 quiet indifference, " is that he is of a very good Kussian 
 family. Lives in Vienna, mostly ; and belongs to the 
 sporting circles there. He told me himself that he had won 
 the Prix de Consolation at Monte Carlo last year pigeon- 
 shooting." 
 
 " But what could have induced him to take a voyage like 
 this without knowing a single soul on board, apparently ? " 
 she demanded again. 
 
 " That I cannot say," he made answer. " Sheer idleness 
 comes as a relief sometimes but not often to one of his 
 age." 
 
 As they spoke, Amelie Dumaresq had glanced from the 
 one to the other, quickly and furtively ; but she said no 
 word ; indeed she could not ; for now we were approaching 
 the great doors of the Cathedral, and here were Hitrovo 
 and his fellow Orotauian raising their hats as the ladies 
 
48 WOLFENBERG 
 
 went by. The next moment we were in a still and hushed 
 twilight, with a soft sound of shuffling footsteps audible in 
 the motionless air. 
 
 And presently we also were prowling about in this 
 stealthy and silent fashion, regarding the massive columns 
 and porphyry pillars, the bronze doors, the arabesques, the 
 Biblical stories writ large in mosaic, the dull golden glow of 
 the roof. But in walking about in this fashion, little 
 groups get separated, commingle, separate again, so that 
 the presence or absence of any one person is hardly noticed. 
 Thus it was that when we came to leave the building, we 
 discovered that Amelie Dumaresq was not with us : even 
 Wolfenberg had not observed her withdrawal he had been 
 so much interested in this architectural treasure-house. 
 
 But almost directly we discovered whither she had gone. 
 She was standing just outside the door of the Cathedral, 
 sketch-book in hand, making a study, or pretending to do 
 so, of a withered little old man who was sweeping the 
 pavement. She was nob alone. Paul Hitrovo was standing 
 by her, not overlooking her work, but talking to her, while 
 there was some amusement visible in her face. They 
 formed quite a charming group, those two young people : 
 he, slender and elegant, with a certain careless grace of 
 attitude and manner, perhaps a little conscious of his good 
 looks of his soft and silken brown hair, his small and 
 neatly-waxed moustache, and his extraordinary blue-grey 
 eyes ; she, of a more southern type, the long black lashes 
 downcast as her glance came back from her model to her 
 book, her manner almost shy, the exquisitely-formed lips 
 smiling a little, her ungloved hands, small and plump and 
 warm and white, looking somehow as if, were you to touch 
 them, there would be a sudden shock, so full of vitality they 
 seem ed. She was not working very industriously ; she was 
 listening rather ; and she was pleased and amused. A very 
 pretty group indeed they formed in the cool shadow of 
 the Cathedral, with the sunlit square beyond. 
 
 Wolfenberg hung back, as though he would rather not 
 interrupt her ; but the rattling forward of our carriage 
 attracted her attention, and at the same time she became 
 aware that we were awaiting her good pleasure. She 
 snapped the book to at once. 
 
A HOROSCOPE 49 
 
 "Well," said she, brightly, as she took her place in the 
 carriage, " have you all of you worshipped sufficiently at 
 the shrine of St. Gew-Gaw ? " 
 
 " I feared you would not be impressed, Amelie," Wolfen- 
 berg said, as we drove away : the young Russian stood 
 looking after us for a moment or two, then he turned to his 
 companion : they seemed in no hurry to leave this little 
 town on the top of the hill. 
 
 " Impressed ? " Miss Dumaresq said, almost petulantly. 
 " I was glad to get out into the honest daylight. I cannot 
 understand making a place of worship a show-house, and 
 imposing on you with sham decoration. Now when you go 
 into a Gothic cathedral like Strassburg or Cologne, you feel 
 at once that there is something about it noble, and simple, 
 and solemn, and reticent ; but all that rococo Byzantine 
 splendour and the tawdry magnificence of the Renaissance 
 churches is to me insufferably sickening. Then if you 
 come to those crude, stupid pictures in mosaic : I dare say 
 they may be historically interesting ; but you know very 
 well, Ernest, that as Art they are mere monstrosities. But, 
 above all, I hate to be treated like a child I hate to be 
 cheated " 
 
 Wolfenberg (who seemed to have been a little serious as 
 we came away from the Cathedral) now turned to the small 
 woman who was in charge of us all ; and there was a grave 
 and good-humoured smile on his face. 
 
 " Won't you interpose ? " he said. " There is one point 
 on which Amelie and I never agree ; and I can see she is 
 coming to it. I think St. Mark's at Venice the most 
 beautiful thing in the world. She thinks what do you 
 think, Amelie ? " 
 
 Well, Miss Iconoclast had the courage of her convictions. 
 
 " St. Mark's in Venice," said she, calmly. " Mr. Wolfen- 
 berg knows what I think of it. It seems to me nothing 
 but an enormous sham a pretence pretty enough no 
 doubt, but a gigantic mass of deception. There is not an 
 ounce of solid reverent work in the whole place ; it is all 
 veneer ; it pretends to be a marble building, whereas it is 
 in reality a brick building faced with marble ; and now 
 that the thin slices are beginning to crack and fall off, the 
 truth is being revealed. Trickery," she went on, more 
 
 E 
 
$0 WOLFENBERG 
 
 vehemently, " is bad enough anywhere ; but in a tern- 
 pie it is particularly out of place. I don't wonder there 
 are winking Virgins when the church is turned into a 
 theatre to deceive people." But here she suddenly stopped, 
 with a very pretty, and childish, and shamefaced little 
 laugh. " Ernest," she said, affecting to be angry, " why 
 did you lead me on to speak of St. Mark's at Venice ? " 
 
 " Why ? " he answered her, with his usual gentleness and 
 indulgence. " Because our friends here must have learned 
 by this time that ordinarily and almost always yen: have a 
 singularly accurate and unbiassed mind, with clear percep- 
 tion, and frank judgment ; and I wished them to see that 
 all the same you could be as wildly unreasonable and 
 prejudiced as any woman that ever breathed. I wanted to 
 show that you were human, Amelie." 
 
 " Ah, you say that because you cannot defend veneer," 
 she retorted, but she was laughing now, and in a fine good 
 humour, and happy with herself and her surroundings. 
 " That is your only answer. Well, we must agree to differ. 
 And as St. Mark's is all tumbling into the mud, it's of very 
 little consequence." 
 
 Then we drove away down into the valley, and through 
 abundant orange groves, until we reached the gates leading 
 to the Villa Tasca ; and there, leaving both carriages 
 without, we entered the spacious grounds that, in the 
 absence of the beneficent proprietor, are thrown open to the 
 public. And here, amid all the luxuriance of tropical 
 foliage, amid the bewildering masses of colour, and the 
 statues, and miniature lakes and fountains, it was quite 
 delightful to see how the nature of this child of the south 
 seemed to expand, as she drank in the hot, spice-perfumed 
 air. She was talking to every one at once ; she was trying 
 to catch the swift-darting lizards ; she uttered little ex- 
 clamations of joyous surprise when opening vistas revealed 
 still further splendours of deep rose-red or flaming scarlet. 
 Peggy, on the other hand, walked sedate and observant, 
 listening civilly and sweetly to the ever-attentive Major. 
 The tall, Juno-eyed Baby looked so grave and majestic that 
 we were almost ashamed of ourselves for heeding these idle 
 things of the hour. There appeared to be no other visitors 
 in these beautiful gardens. Sappho and her pug had stayed 
 
A HOROSCOPE 51 
 
 in the carriage ; she preferred to await us there ; and we 
 had only to recall the derivation of the word cynosure 
 to determine what occupied her undivided and admiring 
 regard. 
 
 When w r e got back to the town, it seemed to be the 
 universal wish of the women-folk to remain loitering about 
 the sultry streets, for the reason that it would be some time 
 before they got another opportunity of shopping ; so being 
 of no manner of use to them, but rather in the way, indeed 
 we left them, under charge of the Major ; and returned to 
 the ship, and to the welcome shade of the awning. And 
 thus it was that one happened to obtain a fuller knowledge 
 of the peculiar relations that existed between Wolfenberg 
 and Amelie Dumaresq ; for here, on the deck of the 
 deserted vessel, there w r as silence and privacy ; and then, 
 so careful was he of the smallest things that might affect 
 her in the estimation of others, he seemed to fancy that 
 some kind of apology was needful for her harsh treatment 
 of St. Mark's. 
 
 " Downright honesty is her constant aim," he said, in his 
 absent way, as if he were contemplating some creature of his 
 imagination, before actually fixing it down with strokes of 
 carbon. " She scorns pretence of any kind ; and she has 
 the courage to say what she thinks. ... I suppose some 
 people might find her character repellent. To me it is most 
 attractive. But even if they found her repellent, they could 
 not say she was uninteresting. She is too much of a living 
 and breathing human being for that ; she shows you too 
 much of her personality ; she may startle you and offend 
 you, but at least you must be interested in her. ... . ." 
 
 There was no response. Perhaps he did not expect any. 
 At all events, he continued in the same preoccupied way, 
 almost as if he were talking to himself : 
 
 " Her mind is downright, accurate, uncompromising ; she 
 cannot tolerate illusions. And that is why I sometimes 
 think it is impossible she can ever become possessed by the 
 greatest and most terrible of all illusions the idealism of 
 love. I do not think that will ever happen to her. She 
 sees too clearly. . . . She would probably despise that 
 idealisation and treat it as mere sentiment. . . . And there 
 again she would be wrong. It is a tremendous force : the 
 
 E -2 
 
52 WOLFENBERG 
 
 most powerful thing in the world and the most destruc- 
 tive. The delirium of love : it is as intangible as frost ; but 
 it can do more than merely split up rocks and cliffs : it has 
 split up empires and ruined millions of men's lives. . . . 
 Some people seem even to doubt its existence. . . . Exists ? 
 You may be sure that Mother Nature takes care that it 
 exists. She is cunning enough for that. Why does she 
 give a crimson tinge to the rose-petal ? Why does she fill 
 a young man's head with ideals of maidenly beauty and 
 perfection, and persuade him that a rather commonplace 
 young woman entirely corresponds to these, or even exceeds 
 them ?. . . Of course he finds out in time. The wonderful 
 angel is revealed to him as an ordinary creature of clay. 
 But meanwhile Mother Nature has got her part done ; she 
 has succeeded in her aim : the race is perpetuated. What- 
 ever tragedy of disenchantment or repulsion may follow is no 
 business of hers." 
 
 And here again one could say nothing, knowing the dark 
 background there was to this man's life. 
 
 " No," he continued, " I do not think that Amelie 
 Bumaresq could ever become the slave of a great passion. 
 Her intelligence is too penetrating. Her mind is acute, 
 accurate, observant 
 
 " She is a woman." 
 
 " She is an artist. That way lies her ambition. Her 
 interests are centred there. Her plans of life have already 
 been formed, and not without sufficient and earnest study. 
 . . . Sometimes, indeed, I think you do not understand her 
 yet. Probably you do not ; it is hardly to be expected. 
 You see her merry , laughing, childish, pleased with trifles. 
 And that is all honest, mind you, absolutely honest : it is 
 simply that she so completely and wholly enjoys every 
 moment of living : to breathe the air to look at a flower 
 fco listen to a waltz everything has a fascination for her. 
 But that is only on the surface. Her nature is deeper and 
 stronger that that. She is an artist ; she has serious aims ; 
 this butterfly existence is pretty enough and I for one am 
 delighted to look on when she is in her gayest and most 
 frivolous moods ; but that is not Amelie Dumaresq. Her 
 mother could tell you differently. Her mother could tell you 
 of this girl sitting up till four in the morning, in the dead 
 
A HOROSCOPE 53 
 
 of winter, in front of a fire that had gone out dreaming and 
 thinking of her work, her fingers almost frozen to the crayon, 
 and yet hardly more than a suggestion or two put down on 
 paper. For you must understand this : she is capable of 
 idealisation ; only it is not the idealisation that would 
 bewilder her senses and blind her in her choice of a 
 husband, should such a thing ever happen, as I think it will 
 not ; it is the idealisation that lends charm to the com- 
 monest objects she finds suited to her art. And it comes 
 back to that : she has chosen her path in life, and nature has 
 given her the means to follow it. Amelie Dumaresq is an 
 artist au lout des angles" 
 
 This he said, and a great deal more to the same effect, as 
 he paced up and down the deck, sometimes looking across 
 the water to the great bulk of Monte Pellegrino, that was 
 now growing sombre in the warm evening light. And one 
 could not avoid the suspicion that in these disjointed 
 sentences more disjointed than they are set down here 
 he was covertly seeking to persuade himself. His study of 
 this girl's nature and character was, no doubt, the result of 
 long observation ; and he had got the outlines firm enough ; 
 only he seemed anxious to convince you or to convince 
 himself that there could be nothing beyond and behind, 
 that there were no other contingencies to be reckoned with. 
 She was heart and soul an artist. She had with deliberation 
 and foresight chosen her way of life. Her clear intellect, 
 her uncompromising quest of truth, her scorn of unreality, 
 were all safeguards against the illusions which might come 
 in to disturb or destroy a woman's existence. He had forced 
 himself to mention the possibility of her marriage, but only 
 to dismiss it as unworthy of consideration. Amefie Dumaresq's 
 position was defined ; he knew her, and could answer for 
 her inmost thoughts ; her future he and she had planned 
 together. 
 
 The evening waned, and still these women did not return. 
 The vast amphitheatre of hills grew to be of a soft, deep 
 rose-purple under the pale lemon-hued sky ; and in the cool, 
 grey twilight of the town one or two golden points had 
 appeared just above the darkening sea. What had come 
 over them ? Mrs. Dumaresq was restless, and perturbed, 
 and fretful, Not that sjie \\^ apprehensive nboiit her 
 
54 WOLFENBERG 
 
 daughter's safety, but that is was close on the dinner-hour, 
 and Amelie would not have time to change her dress. 
 
 " Come, let us go ashore and discover what has happened," 
 Wolfenberg said. 
 
 But even as he spoke the steam-launch was seen to come 
 round the point of the distant breakwater ; and presently 
 we could make out, even in this gathering dusk, that there 
 were light-hued costumes on board. Nay, before the boat 
 came alongside, it looked as though these people had armed 
 themselves for some Bataille des Fleurs on the morrow, such 
 a profusion of bouquets and baskets of flowers had they 
 amongst them. JSTor were they without abundant escort ; 
 for, besides the Major, they appeared to have picked up Paul 
 Hitrovo and his companion ; and the three gentlemen were 
 all equally zealous in handing and carrying parcels and 
 packages, while the women-folk managed their enormous 
 bouquets as best they could. 
 
 Amelie Dumaresq was the first to arrive at the top of the 
 gangway breathless, laughing, her lips parted, her black 
 eyes bright with excitement and pleasure. 
 
 " Oh, Ernest, how lazy of you ! " she exclaimed. 
 " Why, we have been everywhere, and seen everything ! " 
 Then she turned to her neighbour, who was the young 
 Russian. " Here, Mr. Hitrovo, will you please take these 
 flowers down to the saloon, and ask a steward to get some 
 water for them, and put them on our table ? Oh, thank 
 you ! " 
 
 She took from him the parcels he had been holding for 
 her ; and the dinner bell had already begun to tinkle in the 
 forward part of the ship when she hurried away to make 
 some hasty alterations in her attire. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 "VIX E CONSPECTU SICUL^J TELLURIS," 
 
 THE new day has not yet coine ; nevertheless we seem to 
 have emerged from the night it lies behind us low and 
 sullen along the west ; while the great ship labouring 
 onwards through this mysterious twilight has over its f ortop- 
 raast the silver cresent of tlie moon, as if we were bearing 
 
" VIX E CONS PEC TU SICUL& TELLUR1S" 55 
 
 with us, into the East, the symbol of the East. In the 
 north are the .^Eolian islands, Volcano, Lipari, and their 
 lonely neighbours ; but they also are dark and over- 
 shadowed ; Vulcan and his Cyclopes have not yet lit their 
 forges ; from those distant conical peaks arises no wavering 
 tongue of pink, no column of lurid smoke. But all the 
 same light is coming : the never-failing, never-familiar 
 wonders of the dawn are near. As one regards this livid 
 and slaty-black sea, here and there a liquid crest is touched 
 with a dull saffron ; ahead of us the dim coast-line a 
 mere film of land along the horizon gradually becomes of 
 a transparent olive-green ; and above that again the sky is 
 a glow of ruddy gold that is rendered all the more intense 
 by one long, far-stretching cloud of the deepest and softest 
 violet, its warm, rich tones of an indescribable beauty. 
 The over-arching heavens are now of a lambent, tremulous 
 silver-grey : the sickle of the moon still reigns placidly 
 there. Swiftly and silently the morning splendour spreads 
 and grows ; the great violet cloud has turned to an exquisite 
 rose-purple, with fringes of crimson fire ; then, of a sudden, 
 over the rim of the land, appears the blinding edge of 
 the sun ; a shiver of light seems to spring through the 
 sleeping world ; and as one turns to see what bewildering 
 miracle has been wrought, behold ! far away over there in 
 the south the pale snows of Etna have already answered to 
 the flame. 
 
 And here, up at the bow of the vessel, a group of early 
 risers have clustered together, some idly chattering, others 
 gazing abroad on the new world of sea and sky and ever- 
 approaching land. Wolfenberg stands somewhat apart. 
 silent and alone, apparently plunged in a profound reverie, 
 Amelie Duinaresq, with her laughing and lustrous black 
 eyes full of interest, is listening to the tall young Eussian, 
 who, in his turn, seems trying, lazily and smilingly, to 
 amuse her. The rotund and roseate Major has got hold of 
 a plateful of biscuits, and is bustling about with these, 
 perhaps unconsciously selecting the prettiest of the young 
 women for his favours. But who is it who forms the 
 principal, the most attractive feature of this miscellaneous 
 throng who but our shining-eyed, and peerless, and radiant 
 Peggy ? As usual, Peggy has climbed to a commanding 
 
56 WOLFENBERG 
 
 post ; her outstretched right arm, holding on to the fore- 
 topmast-stay, reveals to fine advantage her slender and 
 elegant figure ; the simple, tight-fitting grey dress looks 
 well against the pale blue of the sky ; she has no covering 
 on her head, so that the sunlight makes a wonder of her 
 neatly-plaited, light-brown hair. And as for her face ? 
 well, she appears to be entirely happy and content with 
 herself, as if she were ready to smile if her regard met any 
 one ; but she is not heeding those around her ; she is 
 looking away across the flashing and surging waves to the 
 transparent line of coast. Many and many a ship, in all 
 ages of the world, has sailed these well-known waters, but 
 never one of them with such a glorified figure at the prow. 
 
 And was not) this a grand and notable day for the 
 Passionate Poetess ? She was so breathlessly excited, so 
 busy with her dog's-eared translations and her Lempriere, 
 that she had not yet found time to pay her morning call on 
 the butcher, to fetch her beloved Phaon. For were not 
 these now receding peaks the mysterious abode of the Ruler 
 of the winds ? She had got hold of the Me vasto rex 
 JEolus antro passage ; and as she marched up and down 
 the deck, we could hear her repeating to herself some high- 
 sounding line 
 
 Luctantes ventos, tempestatesque sonoras, 
 or 
 
 Till indignantes magno cum murmure montis, 
 
 or the like. And was she not following in the wake of 
 her favourite Ulysses ? Ahead of us were Scylla and 
 Charybdis and Cape Pelorurn, and the famous Straits along 
 which every hamlet and town and river recalls some old- 
 world legend or some tragic historical event. At the 
 same time it was not all joy for Sappho. The discrepancies 
 she found in those various authors, even in such minor 
 matters as spelling, chafed her spirit ; and her indignant 
 protests, accompanied even by a little show of ill-temper, 
 were addressed indiscriminately to any one who would listen 
 even to the Major, poor man, who solemnly assured 
 her that he had not construed a single verse of Greek or 
 Latin since he left school. 
 
 " It's their horrible inconsistencies ! " she exclaimed ; 
 
' VIX E CONSPECTU SICUL^E TELLURIS" 57 
 
 and at times she appeared almost ready to take refuge in 
 tears. " One book tells you that the Cyclopes lived on the 
 coast of Libya, and another says the west of Sicily, and 
 another under Mount Etna. As for the island of the 
 Sirens, they seem to put it just wherever they like ; but I 
 suppose it really must have been over by Cape Pelorus, since 
 Ulysses, after getting past it, came immediately on Scylla and 
 Charubdis. Scylla and Charybdis ! " she went on, bitterly, 
 for here was another grievance. " Oh, no, not at all not 
 at all ! Skulle and Charubdis ! Skulle ! what is the use 
 of such tomfoolery ! And Kirke, and Kalupso, and the 
 Kuklopes ! And I'd like to know how they ever got 
 Odysseus changed into Ulysses ; and more than that, when 
 they had gob it changed, and accepted by all the world, 
 what good is there in going back, not to Odysseus, but to 
 Odusseus ? It is such preposterous folly ! " 
 
 Yet worse, far worse, remained behind : something 
 calculated to strike dismay into the stoutest heart. For at 
 this moment the Baby came up, carrying a binocular glass 
 in her hand ; and, with shy good-nature, she said 
 
 " Would you like my glass, Miss Penguin ? They say 
 that rock over there is Scylla." 
 
 " Scylla ? " said Sappho, with something of a start for 
 indeed the tall grey rock was visible to the naked eye. 
 " That Scylla ? There must, be some mistake ! For in 
 the Odyssey it says that the rock reaches to the heavens, 
 and has perpetual clouds on the top of it. And and 
 Charybdis ? " 
 
 Instinctively she turned to look at the other shore 
 perhaps with a dreadful doubt possessing her. Well, what 
 she saw was simply this : a breadth of calm blue sea, 
 shimmering in the sunlight, with the slightest of ripples ; 
 and beyond that a very pleasant and smiling coast-line, 
 with strips of yellow-grey villages, and over these a series 
 of vineyard-terraced hills. But as for Scylla the awful 
 monster ? and divine Charybdis sucking in black water 
 thrice a day, and sending it out again, and defying even 
 the dread might of Poseidon ? Sappho was silent : she 
 would not confess to the terrible fear that she had been 
 beguiled. And when one pointed out to her that in stormy 
 weather tlje narrow entrance into these Straits of Molina 
 
58 WOLFENBERG 
 
 might be quite dangerous enough for any small sailing 
 vessel, she still remained silent. And then she went away 
 to ask for Phaon. 
 
 However, any doubts about the literal trustworthiness of 
 Homer that might have clouded her mind for a moment 
 would seem to have been soon forgotten ; for some little 
 time thereafter Peggy came along in a very secret and 
 solemn manner, and intimated that she had a matter of 
 importance to communicate. 
 
 " It's a poem," said Peggy. 
 
 " What about ? " 
 
 " Ulysses passing the island of the Sirens. Oh, I assure 
 you it is tremendous. Do you know what Sappho herself 
 says ? she says ' Fling a few burning words into the air : 
 they are more than all the philosophies : they will sound in 
 the hearts of men through the ages.' " 
 
 " Has she flung them ? " 
 
 " I have them in my pocket." 
 
 " Let me see them ! " 
 
 But here Peggy hesitates, and looks round. 
 
 "The Baby is over there," she says, with an uneasy 
 glance, " and she always insists that it is very wrong to 
 have secrets. It is undignified. If she saw me handing 
 you this paper, and waiting for you to read it, she would be 
 shocked. That's what it is to have a severe and superior 
 being for a sister -.even though she's not long out of 
 school " 
 
 " Oh, nonsense " 
 
 " I'll tell you what I will do ; I will get *an envelope, 
 and enclose the poem, and leave it for you in the Purser's 
 office : then you can go for it and read the verses at your 
 leisure." 
 
 " Sweet simplicity that would be a pretty stratagem for 
 the Baby to discover ! What ? is your guilty soul so 
 sensitive that you cannot take a bit of poetry out of your 
 pocket and show it in open daylight ! What have you 
 been doing ? Have you been bewildering the Major ? " 
 
 " Oh, let the Major alone as I do ! " she says. " Suppose 
 we go and sit down by the wheel-box : then you need not 
 be interrupted." 
 
 And thus it is that one becomes possessed, temporarily, 
 
" VIX E CONSPECTU SICUL& TELLURIS" 59 
 
 of the following burning words which are hereby flung 
 into the air. Whether they will sound through the ages it 
 is obviously not for the present transitory race of men to 
 determine 
 
 Brothers, I hear the Siren sing. 
 
 Where by Pelorus the white waves spring: 
 
 My pulses raven, my senses swirl 
 
 could I clutch thee, goddess or girl I 
 
 Unbind me, ye fools, that made me fast, 
 Ere with my sinews I break the mast! 
 Astarte, Astartc, grant me breath I 
 Astarte, Astarte, help or deatlt I 
 
 Slaves and dotards, why stand ye there? 
 The music swims through the shivering air: 
 Curses upon ye, unbind these arms! 
 What know ye of love's fierce hurts and harms I 
 
 Pale Penelope, fare you well 
 
 We meet no more upon this side Hell: 
 
 Farewell to the shining Cyclades 
 
 1 end my life in the Sirens 1 seas. 
 
 Nay, loose me, ye fools, that bound me fast, 
 Ere with my sinews I break the mast ! 
 Astarte, Astarte, grant me breath! 
 Astarte, Astarte, love or death I 
 
 " Well ? " says Peggy. 
 
 " Her geography seems a little shaky : does she imagine 
 that Ithaca is among the shining Cyclades ? " 
 
 " Oh, how mean ! Now that is just like a critic ! You 
 take exception to a quite unimportant detail, and miss all 
 the fiery spirit of the piece itself ! " 
 
 " There is plenty of fiery spirit, no doubt : double-distilled 
 fusel-oil is a fool to it. What are you going to do with the 
 trash ? " 
 
 " Yes, I always did think men were more envious than 
 women," Peggy says, rather sadly, as she takes the shred 
 of MS., and folds it up, and returns it to her pocket. 
 " Because you can't do a certain thing yourself you needn't 
 belittle it when it is done by some one else. And, after all, 
 she is only acting up to her own contention that there 
 should be more passion in modern poetry, . t . Well, now, 
 
60 WOLFENBERG 
 
 I can get away without ithe Baby suspecting any secret 
 confabulation. Good-bye for the present." 
 
 This was a pleasant morning we had for our leisurely sail 
 along the eastern coast of Sicily : a Ehine-looking country, 
 with ruddy-grey hills sprinkled with green ; here and there 
 a yellow- white village extending along the shore ; an 
 occasional ruined tower perched high on a pinnacle of rock, 
 overlooking the glassy water. Then as we got further to 
 the south the vast domain of Etna began to declare itself ; 
 the great mountain visible from sea-base to summit ; on 
 the lower slopes innumerable houses like grains of sands 
 shining among the dark foliage of the orange groves ; the 
 higher slopes ruddy and scarred ; the far-receding cone 
 sprinkled with snow. Almost too majestic a background, 
 perhaps, for the trivial human interests that were being 
 interwoven on board this ship ? Yet these had to be 
 considered ; in fact, they were thrust upon us. 
 
 For, first of all, Mrs. Dumaresq, seizing a favourable 
 opportunity, came and sat down by the side of our 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit ; and after a little anxious beating 
 about the bush, began to speak about M. Paul Hitrovo, and 
 to ask us what we knew of him. Well, we knew nothing of 
 him, or next to nothing. But this elderly woman, with the 
 sallow face, sad eyes, and braided silver-white hair, seemed 
 concerned and perturbed ; she said that every one must have 
 observed the marked attention the young Eussian was now 
 paying to her daughter ; and she lamented that Amelie was 
 so wilful and self-confident that it was of no use to speak 
 to her or to caution her. 
 
 " The only one she might heed would be Mr. Wolfenberg," 
 said the distressed mother. "But how is it possible to 
 speak to him about so delicate a matter ? Of course he 
 has noticed. I have seen him look at them. But then he 
 is very proud ; he would not claim anything on account of 
 the great friendship that has existed for so long between 
 Amelie and himself ; he would rather stand aside, and leave 
 her to do as she pleases. Of course I say nothing against 
 Mr. Hitrovo, for I know nothing ; and and they say he is 
 very well connected; but it would be dreadful if Amelie 
 were to get herself seriously entangled, and then we were to 
 find out something agc^inst him. J don't know what to do, 
 
" VIX CONSPECTU StCULsE TELLURtS* 61 
 
 Ernest "Wolfenbcrg has always advised us ; but in this 
 matter, somehow, I cannot go to him I cannot. And I 
 dare not warn AmeTic ; she would demand to know what 
 ground I have for any suspicions. And I have none." 
 
 " Supposing," one ventures to suggest to her, " that 
 when we get to Constantinople some one could be found 
 who might good-naturedly make inquiries at the Russian 
 Embassy, would you consider that indiscreet ? " 
 
 " But I am an American ; and I do net know that there 
 is an American Minister at Constantinople," she said. 
 
 " In any case it might be managed through the British 
 Embassy, with a little diplomacy." 
 
 " I am so unwilling to do anything without consulting 
 Mr. "Wolfenberg," said this poor mother, who seemed to 
 feel her own helplessness acutely. " And yet, as I say, it is 
 impossible to speak to him. And if Amelie knew that I 
 have even mentioned such a matter to any one, she would 
 be most indignant and angry. She would say I was 
 compromising her insulting her. Then she is so head- 
 strong. Most likely any interference would only drive her 
 in the opposite direction. Yet who can avoid remarking 
 it ? There is not a word now about her painting. She 
 seems to have forgotten entirely what she came away for. 
 Formerly, Mr. Wolfenberg and she had subjects to speak of 
 all day long ; he was always showing her something, teach- 
 ing her something ; and her great ambition when she came 
 away on this vessel was to get on with oil-colours as a 
 change from the water. But now there is not a syllable 
 about that. The Russian follows her like her shadow ; 
 and I think at the same time he tantalises her with a kind 
 of indifference that she is not used to. He rather patron- 
 ises her in that smiling way of his, and almost expects her 
 to amuse him. Amelie does not understand it ; it piques 
 her and pleases her ; it is a new sensation. So you think 
 you may find out something about him at Constantinople ? " 
 
 " It is at least possible." 
 
 " Oh, thank you, thank you ! " she said, very gratefully 
 and she rose to go away, as if fearing that the subject of 
 this conversation might be guessed at by some passer-by. 
 
 " And not a word to Mr. Wolfenberg, please ! " she 
 added, in an earnest undertone. " It would only pain him 
 
62 WOLFENBERG 
 
 unnecessarily, and he is so sensitive, especially where Amelie 
 is concerned. Well, I had hoped for other things from this 
 voyage." And the poor woman left with a sigh stealing 
 away guiltily, as it were ; though it was only a nervous 
 apprehension and anxiety about her daughter's happiness 
 that had driven her to this timid confession and appeal. 
 
 Our next experience on this eventful morning was of a 
 more cheerful cast. We discovered that we had got a 
 stranger on board. Now, when we left Tilbury the great 
 majority of the Orotanians were entirely unacquainted with 
 each other ; but this constant association, day after day, 
 had so familiarised us with each other's appearance that 
 the sudden advent of an unknown person seemed a startling 
 thing. Not that there was anything alarming or forbidding 
 about the newcomer ; on the contrary, his air and manner were 
 most prepossessing ; and if his costume struck us as strange 
 it was clearly a land-travelling costume perhaps that was 
 merely because he had not yet had time to open his sea-kit. 
 He was a young fellow of about two-and-twenty, quite boyish 
 in look, fresh-complexioned, with hardly the semblance of a 
 moustache, and with such an expression of modest in- 
 genuousness as at once bespoke favour. We first noticed 
 him at breakfast-time. Now on board the Orotania it was 
 only at dinner that fixed places were kept ; at breakfast 
 and lunch any one coming into the saloon took any seat 
 that happened to be vacant, just as is done at a club. 
 When this English-looking lad appeared at the door of the 
 saloon, he glanced round with quite a pretty shyness. 
 There did chance to be one vacant chair at our table ; and 
 it was near him ; he made a faltering step towards it - 
 hesitated seemed to be overcome with diffidence and em- 
 barrassment and then went on in vague quest of an 
 empty corner. The odd thing was that this momentary 
 hesitation on his part seemed to have had an instant and 
 curious effect on the Baby our serious and solemn-eyed 
 and self-possessed Baby who was now blushing furiously ; 
 she even looked frightened. But supposing he had actually 
 sat down at the table, what cataclysm could possibly have 
 ensued ? On board our excellent Orotania ham and eggs 
 are free to all : to each man his share, no one grudging. 
 Nor could the Baby have complained of being taken un- 
 
VI X E CONSPECTU SICUL& TELLURIS" 63 
 
 awarcs by a stranger : for as to the smallest details of her 
 toilet she was always and invariably diligent and scrupulous 
 at the earliest hour ; on this particular morning, long 
 before we had come to terrible Scylla and the divine 
 Charybdis, she had come up on deck dressed as if for an 
 afternoon drive. 
 
 Thereafter, as we sailed along the Sicilian shores, the 
 modest youth rather kept himself out of the way, though 
 his ' landward ' costume made him more or less conspicuous. 
 He did not venture to speak to any of the passengers. 
 Nor did he seem to care much about the coast we were 
 passing ; though surely such names as Taorrnina, Aci 
 Reale, Catania, Mount Hybla, and Megara were calculated 
 to awaken visions and dreams. And at length one or two 
 of our more curious brethren made bold to go to the 
 Purser, to demand information about the mysterious new- 
 comer. His name ? That, at least, could be ascertained 
 Julian Verrinder. What ? of the Verrinders of Devon ? 
 Mr. Purser was unable to say : all he knew was that the 
 young man had telegraphed from Naples to the London 
 Office of the Company to see if he could have a cabin, and 
 that he came on board the previous evening, at Palermo. 
 What further ? Why, nothing. Moreover, the young 
 man, in holding aloof, kept away forward by the engines, 
 walking up and down there, and seemingly not disposed to 
 enter into conversation with any one. It is true that once 
 or twice, when our attention happened to be withdrawn 
 from that absorbingly interesting coast-line, it seemed to 
 one of us that the young stranger sometimes threw a 
 furtive and timid glance in our direction ; but that may 
 have been mere fancy ; anyway, there was enough now 
 ahead of us to occupy our eyes. 
 
 For here was a long spur of land coming out into the 
 blue sea, covered with a white, flat-roofed, Eastern-looking 
 town, and ending in a battlemented forfc. This was Syracuse ; 
 rather, this was Ortygia ; and the sheet of smooth green 
 water opening out before us was the Great Harbour in 
 which Athens met her doom. Now, callous as any one 
 may be about the woes of Hecuba, it is surely impossible to 
 sail into the bay of Syracuse without recalling, with actual 
 and vivid compassion and pity, the tremendous tragedy 
 
64 WOLFENBERG 
 
 that was here enacted. Ordinary battlefields are rarely 
 impressive are rarely intelligible. Their distinctive fea- 
 tures are soon obliterated. The present writer, at all 
 events, has never been able to make even a guess at what 
 has happened on such and such a modern battlefield, unless, 
 indeed, it chanced that certain heaps of dead bodies lying 
 about, of men and horses, appeared to show where a stand 
 had baen made against a charge of cavalry. But in the 
 case of Syracuse and its wide harbour, all the necessary 
 points are easy of identification : nay, it seems as if it 
 might have been only the other day that Etna, looking 
 down from the north, beheld the overwhelming rout and 
 slaughter of the environed Greeks, and heard the wild 
 weeping and piteous exclamations of their companions 
 along the shore, who knew that for them also remained 
 nothing but the agony of a hopeless flight, and capture, 
 and death. Yonder, at the other extremity of the horse- 
 shoe bay, Cape Plemmyrium ; here, at this nearer point, 
 Ortygia ; stretching away upward, the heights of Epipoiae, 
 where, on that ghostly moonlight night, Demosthenes had 
 almost recovered the desperate fortunes of his countrymen, 
 when the very Gods seemed to intervene to drive them 
 back to destruction ; and finally, in front of us, between 
 us and the shore, the placid sheet of shining green water 
 the scene of a still more awful fight the last effort of the 
 Athenian ships to break out of the chained and stockaded 
 bay the death-struggle that ended in the most tragic 
 defeat, and the most cruel tale of prolonged and merciless 
 suffering, known to history. The tears of Hecuba were 
 shed long ago, and do not much concern us now ; but not 
 even the most trivial and careless of travellers can sail into 
 the harbour of Syracuse without being in a measure over- 
 awed by the recollection of the stupendous overthrow of 
 the great Athenian armaments. That which broke the 
 power of Athens and ultimately wrought her ruin cannot 
 easily be forgotten by the civilised world. 
 
 But all the same we were glad to find our good, dear, 
 impetuous Sappho in a most eager and buoyant humour. 
 She had got upon the track of Ulysses at last ; indeed, she 
 had pinned him into a corner ; there was no further escape 
 for him now. Hitherto the wanderings of the much-en- 
 
" VIX E CONSPECTU SICUL& TELLURlS" 65 
 
 during hero Lad caused her infinite perplexity, nay, had 
 even ruffled her temper in a way we were pained to witness ; 
 while the glosses and guesses of translators had only driven 
 her to still direr distraction. But now she had narrowed the 
 issues to a point ; she had Ulysses by the throat, as it were. 
 
 " Look at this," said she, triumphantly, as she produced 
 one of those volumes of Bohn that get so rapidly shabby on 
 board ship. "When Ulysses escapes from Scylla and 
 Charybdis, he sails along the coast of the island until his 
 companions persuade him to land ; and then he says, ' We 
 stationed the well-made ship in the hollow port, near the 
 sweet water.' Now that must have been Syracuse this 
 very bay ; and as for the sweet water, obviously it is the 
 Fountain of Arethusa, over there behind the trees. Could 
 anything Be more accurate, more interesting ? Isn't it 
 strange that Homer should have known about that fountain 
 of sweet water ? " Indeed, she was overjoyed by this 
 discovery ; and went about proclaiming it ; and we were 
 quite pleased to see the venerable goddess so delighted. 
 
 But the mention of a fountain had fallen on Amelie 
 Dumaresq's ear. She, like the rest of us, was in the 
 forward part of the vessel, looking at those yellow houses 
 and the green palms and oleanders, and waiting for the 
 roar of the anchor. And she had been talking to Paul 
 Hitrovo. But on hearing something said about a fountain, 
 she turned suddenly to Wolfenberg, who was standing by, 
 a little way apart. 
 
 "Ernest," said she, in accents of gay reproach, as she 
 went over to him, " it has just occurred to me : why have 
 you told me nothing further about your picture ? Have 
 you forgotten it ? Have you abandoned it ? All these 
 days, and not a word ! You do not mean to say that we 
 are to have no Fountain of Callirrhoe ? " 
 
 The man with the pale, worn face, and the pensive and 
 absent eyes, flushed a little : perhaps he did not care to 
 have his work spoken of before strangers. 
 
 " These last few days ? I have not been thinking of it," 
 he made answer, in the gentle tone he invariably adopted 
 towards her ; but at the same time he seemed rather to 
 move away somewhat ; and she, after a moment's surprise, 
 returned to her Russian friend. 
 
66 WOLFENBERG 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 
 
 OF a sudden all this was changed. Just as we were about 
 to set out for the shore, Amelie Dumaresq was again con- 
 signed to our care ; and as that necessitated the choice of a 
 fourth to make up our driving-party, Mrs. Threepenny-bit 
 promptly invited Wolfenberg to accompany us : she would 
 have no Russian hanging about, with dangerous complica- 
 tions in the background. And so far from Amelie Dumaresq 
 resenting this arrangement, she seemed to welcome it ; and 
 no sooner had we landed from the steam-launch, and got 
 ourselves into the ramshackle vehicle that was to drive us 
 round the environs of Syracuse, than it became obvious she 
 was bent on pleasing and captivating all her companions, 
 but especially Ernest Wolfenberg. Perhaps she was secretly 
 conscious that she had of late neglected him ; perhaps she had 
 noticed him standing about the deck very much by himself ; 
 perhaps she had remarked that his stern, grave face appeared 
 to be graver, his dreamy eyes more absent and wistful than 
 was their wont. At all events, it looked as though she was 
 now determined to make ample atonement. As we drove 
 away from this sweltering harbour she was in the gayest 
 and friendliest of good-humours. Her own content and 
 gladness seemed to radiate from her ; the clear Sicilian 
 atmosphere lent animation to the pale olive hue of her 
 satin-soft cheek ; her liquid black eyes (as black as her 
 magnificent blue-black hair) danced in audacious merri- 
 ment ; when that rosebud of a mouth smiled, even in 
 wicked satire, it was difficult to deny sympathetic acqui- 
 escence. Moreover, she was merciful to us on this occasion. 
 She did not frighten us out of our wits with startling 
 paradoxes or ruthless iconoclasrn. For her, she was quite 
 moderately wilful, and petulant, and self-assertive. And 
 when she spoke to Wolfenberg it was with a gentleness, and 
 consideration, and even a subtle and insidious flattery that 
 entirely merited approval. 
 
 And as for him ? Well, it was in its way pathetic to see 
 this man so immeasurably her superior in intellectual and 
 
TH EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 67 
 
 artistic endowments ; so immeasurably her superior, also, 
 in qualities of character it was almost pathetic to see how 
 grateful he was to her for this kindness and attention to 
 him. Not that he betrayed his gratitude in any senti- 
 mental fashion ; on the contrary, he kept laughing at her 
 perversities and vagaries, and kept interposing here and 
 there to make little explanations or apologies for her. 
 Sometimes, indeed, a certain callousness on her part 
 appeared to grate against his finer sense ; but all the same 
 he would defend her, or perhaps remonstrate with her in 
 the most delicate fashion. For example, she was making 
 merry, making rather maliciously merry, over our good, 
 dear Sappho over her appearance, her dress, her pug, her 
 passionate poetry, her Lernpriere erudition, and what not ; 
 and she went on to declare that on this very morning she 
 had heard Miss Penguin express the wish that she might 
 get back from the fort of Eury'alus in time to take a boat 
 and go up the An'apus in order to get some leaves of 
 the pap'yrus. All through this Wolfenberg had looked 
 rather uncomfortable. For if a woman has sandy hair, 
 how can she help it ? And a heavy and lethargic face 
 may accompany a brilliant and penetrative mind. A 
 dowdy dress does not necessarily indicate a cruel or envious 
 disposition. As for errors in accentuation 
 
 "Don't you think, Arnelie," said Wolfenberg in his 
 timidly suggestive way, " that where there is no pretence, 
 the blunders of ignorance are very venial things ? don't 
 you think they rather call for sympathy and silence. 
 Eury'alus is a quite natural mistake." 
 
 "Look here, Ernest," said she, abruptly breaking away 
 from the subject, for she did not like being reproved, even 
 by him, " why don't you paint a porU'ait of Lady Cameron ? 
 she is the beauty of the ship." 
 
 "Why don't you do it yourself, Arnelie ?" he suggested. 
 
 "Oh, I ?" she said with a frank laugh. "I brutalise 
 everything I touch. You would make a dream of it. This 
 morning, at sunrise, when we were coming near to the 
 Straits of Messina, -did you notice her up at the bow 
 perched away above the rest of us as usual ; and when the 
 light came over from the east, her face seemed to me quite 
 mystically beautiful. It was a vision ; it was something 
 
 F 2 
 
68 WOLFENBERG 
 
 for you, Ernest, I tell you. Of course that is a trick of 
 hers, getting up high : she knows she has a fine figure. 
 And swinging her Tarn o' Shanter in her hand is another ; 
 she likes to be bare-headed, because her hair shows well in 
 the sunlight. But I am not jealous ; I don't bear malice ; 
 I love beautiful things, whether they are alive or merely 
 marble* Only, what I say is, you ought not to lose the 
 opportunity. If you don't wish to paint her portrait, at 
 least make studies of her head : you will rarely meet with 
 such a model. Why, you have not done a stroke of work 
 since you left England !" 
 
 " Have you ?" said he, with a smile. 
 
 " You must not talk like that," said she, a little proucfly. 
 " Your work and mine are not quite on the same plane no, 
 not quite ! My manufacture I can turn out at any moment ; 
 and if I have been idle, it has been because there was too 
 much to look at, too much to interest. But I should not 
 have expostulated with you, Ernest. I know how your 
 work comes to you better than you do yourself. It is 
 exactly what Shelley says about poetry : ' Poetry is the record 
 of the best and happiest moments of the best and happiest 
 minds ' . . . ' evanescent visitations of thought and feeling ' 
 . . . * arising unforeseen and departing unbidden.' Your 
 work is inspiration ; my daubs are mechanical " 
 
 " Arnelie ! " said he but whether he was protesting 
 against her skilful flattery or against her self-depreciation 
 we could not quite make out. 
 
 " Oh, do you think I don't know ? " she exclaimed. 
 " I teil you I understand how your work comes to you ; it 
 is a sudden fancy, and if you do not seize it and hold it, it 
 is off again, and you care no more about it. Ernest, have 
 you let the Fountain of Callirrhoe slip away like that ? " 
 
 " I hardly know," he said, rather uneasily. " How can 
 one tell ? It was, as you say, a passing fancy ; and when 
 one is thinking of other things one forgets." He shifted 
 the subject ; he turned to our Mrs. Threepenny-bit (who 
 would have been quite content to hear those two go on 
 talking, with her own speculations making an inward com- 
 mentary). "Do you notice how delicious a colour green is, 
 after we have come through long days of blinding blue and 
 silver ? " (For this dusty roadway we were driving along 
 
THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 69 
 
 was bordered by an abundance of fresh vegetation bananas, 
 lemons, pomegranates, the last showing their waxen fruit 
 taking a tinge of crimson on their sunward side). " It is a 
 kind of feast for the eyes : I did not know one's sight had 
 grown so hungry. Yet blue and silver Mediterranean blue 
 and brilliant sunlight are welcome enough at the time." 
 
 She did not answer him ; for at this moment the driver 
 drew up in front of a gate ; and we were expected to 
 descend. We discovered that this was the entrance to the 
 waste land surrounding the ruins of the Koman Amphi- 
 theatre ; and here we found one or two of our excellent 
 Orotanians wandering about, picking up flowers, or gazing 
 down at the remains of the ancient building and its adjuncts 
 the terraced stone seats, the alligator tanks, the massive 
 cages for the wild beasts, all of which seemed as though 
 they had been used but yesterday, so perfect were they. 
 And this was not a gloomy spectacle like the Coliseum at 
 Kome ; this was set amid fair lemon groves and verdant 
 vineyards, all smiling in the warm afternoon sun. 
 
 Paul Hitrovo was here, along with his Monreale friend. 
 He observed Miss Dumaresq come into these grounds, but 
 made no motion of approach : she also threw a glance 
 one might almost say a furtive glance in his direction, but 
 affected to be entirely absorbed in conversation with her 
 companion. Indeed, she was arm-in-arm with Mrs. Three- 
 penny-bit ; and was very affectionate ; and was apologising 
 for having taken the place of Lady Cameron on these our 
 landward excursions. And when we came away again she 
 still clung in this familiar fashion to her chaperon, and had 
 no eyes for any one else, save when she turned to address a 
 friendly word to Wolfenberg from time to time ; and in 
 this manner, having ordered the carriage to follow, we went 
 forward on foot towards our next objective point the so- 
 called Ear of Dionysius. 
 
 We left the road, and went along a deep-descending 
 wooded dell ; we found in front of us a lofty mass of rock, 
 thick-hanging with ivy ; we entered by a wooden door in 
 a low stone wall ; and then the mysterious twilight told us 
 we were in a vast cave, the further recesses of which, as 
 well as the vault overhead, were invisible in the impene- 
 trable gloom. And what was this strange " swish ! 
 
70 WOLFENBERG 
 
 swish ! " we heard all around, and above, and far beyond ? 
 what but our own footsteps ! We discovered that the 
 faintest sound we could make the light snapping of one's 
 fingers, the rustling of a piece of paper was carried away 
 from us, and repeated again and again in the distant and 
 obscure unknown ; while the door behind us, when it was 
 slammed to by the military custodian, sent thundering 
 reverberations that seemed to plunge howling and rolling 
 into the very bowels of the earth. And who were these 
 who now approached us, coming out of the opaque darkness 
 into the trembling, uncertain light ? The roseate and 
 beaming Major our gracious and smiling Lady of Invcrfask 
 the tall, grave, goddess-eyed Baby : it was a welcome 
 meeting. 
 
 " This place seems full of ghosts," said Peggy, in an awe- 
 stricken way. " If you speak to any one, they whisper all 
 round you." 
 
 " Gad," said the Major, " I should not like to have been 
 one of the prisoners shut up here by that old tyrant. 
 Precious little sleep for them, I should think. Now let us 
 go outside and get away up to the gallery where he used to 
 sit and listen and discover their secrets." 
 
 But we late-comers did not mean to lose so invaluable a 
 guide ; for the Major had been in Sicily and in Syracuse 
 oftentimes before ; so we attached our party to .his, and 
 together we passed out into the warmer air. On our way 
 up to the road again, Wolfenberg gathered a few fronds of 
 maiden-hair fern, and offered them to Amelie Dmnaresq. 
 She accepted them, and looked pleased. The old comrade- 
 ship seemed to be re-established between those two. 
 
 Now, to reach the little gallery and chamber which 
 legend maintains Dionysius had constructed so that, by the 
 curious acoustic properties of this immense cavern, he might 
 overhear his prisoners talking, you have to climb away up 
 to the top of the Greek Theatre an imposing ruin, of far 
 greater extent than the Roman Amphitheatre. And when 
 we came in sight of that far-stretching, far-rising, yellow- 
 grey pile of horse-shoe terraced stone seats, about the first 
 thing we noticed was two figures making for the summit. 
 Very small they looked in that great space ; but by their 
 white costumes and puggarees we knew them to be Oro- 
 
THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 7 1 
 
 anians ; and the next moment we had recognised them 
 they were the young Russian and his companion. Well, 
 why not ? Had they not as much right to go sight-seeing 
 as anybody ? Nay, had they not even seemed to avoid us, 
 by coming pist the cave without seeking to enter ? 
 
 But when we had clambered up these century-worn tiers, 
 and crossed a space of gritty ground and spiky weeds, and 
 come to an opening cut into the rock leading to the higher 
 end of the cavern, we found that M. Hitrovo had not the 
 least wish to avoid us. On the contrary, he rather left his 
 companion, and came forward, and spoke pleasantly and 
 carelessly to this one and that, eventually, however, address- 
 ing himself exclusively to Amelie Dumaresq. And, oddly 
 enough, he invariably seemed to have the power of drawing 
 her away from her friends if only for a yard or so so 
 that he and she could speak together. Yet there was no 
 affectation of sec rosy ; not at all. She appeared to find 
 him amusing. She would look at him with her eyes full 
 of smiles. As for him, he did not seem to take too much 
 trouble about her. He rather patronised her. But he had 
 a pretty laugh ; and his eyes yes, it could not be denied 
 that those blue-grey eyes were singularly clear, that they 
 were full of light, and that they might possibly have a 
 bewildering effect on a young woman become curious and 
 interested. 
 
 At this moment Peggy came back from the opening into 
 the rock. 
 
 " What we should have done," said she, " was for one of 
 us to have remained in the cavern. Here we can talk into 
 the roof of the place, but there is no one to answer us from 
 below." 
 
 " Oh, I will go down if you like," said Paul Hitrovo at 
 once. " What do you say, Miss Dumaresq ? Shall we go 
 down and listen to them and answer them ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, yes, by all means," said she, cheerfully ; and 
 the next moment those two were making their way down 
 the successive stone ridges of this great theatre, in the 
 direction of the distant road, and the aqueduct, and chasm 
 leading to the echoing cave. It was all the work of an 
 instant. How was any one to interfere ? Or was Ainulie 
 Dumaresq the kind of person to brook interference ? 
 
72 WOLFENBERG 
 
 But Mrs. Threepenny-bib, whose attention had been drawn 
 away at the moment, was most angry and indignant when 
 she discovered what had happened. Those two retreating 
 figures had now reached the aqueduct ; another second, and 
 they had disappeared from sight. 
 
 " It is really too bad," she said, with frowning brows. 
 " She is under my charge. She has no right to make off 
 like that. If she has had her head turned " 
 
 She stopped. Wolfenberg was standing by. But indeed 
 he was not listening. There was a strange look on his 
 features. His eyes were pre-occupied and thoughtful, but 
 the eyebrows were drawn down somewhat ; and the firm 
 mouth that gave character to an otherwise wistful and pen- 
 sive countenance betokened determination. Was he nerving 
 himself to face something he had not hitherto contem- 
 plated ? Or was he merely resolved to pay no heed to this 
 little incident that had just occurred ? Apparently, he 
 was not looking after the fugitives though he must have 
 seen them disappear ; his gaze, at once absent and inscru- 
 table, was fixed on that fertile champaign country with its 
 luxuriant lemon groves, and on the yellow-grey city perched 
 on the point, with the fair blue-belt of sea beyond. He did 
 not seem to wish to speak to any one. He was alone with 
 himself and we left him so. 
 
 What echo-borne conversation ensued between the little 
 group in this small and lofty gallery and the two unseen 
 people in the profound abyss below, we did not care to hear : 
 for one thing, there was a cold wind coming whistling 
 through that aperture sufficiently dangerous for folk who 
 had been all day baked and boiled and blistered under a 
 Sicilian sun. The remarkable circumstance was that Hitrovo 
 and Amelie Dumaresq did not reappear even after this 
 experiment was long over. The carriages were in sight 
 down by the aqueduct ; but those two made no sign. 
 
 " We'd better go down," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, con- 
 cealing her vexation very well indeed. u Most likely they 
 are waiting for us, or perhaps they may have set out on 
 foot for Syracuse without saying anything young people 
 are so inconsiderate." 
 
 However, when we had descended those massive steps, 
 and when we had got into the road, and round by the 
 
THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 73 
 
 aqueduct, we thought we might as well have a look at the 
 winding chasm leading to the cave ; and here, indeed, \ve 
 found the two truants, strolling about, and apparently quite 
 unconcerned. Amelia Dumaresq was carrying a nosegay of 
 various wild flowers. No doubt they had been gathered 
 for her by her companion. And the modest little tribute 
 of maiden-hair fern that Wolfenberg had presented her 
 with ? That was gone. Well, ferns wither soon ; perhaps 
 she had thrown them away. But an odd thing happened 
 with regard to this new and more florid bouquet. The 
 soldier in charge of the Orecchio di Dionisio had come 
 along to bid us good-bye (perhaps with some ulterior views) 
 and the moment he caught sight of the nosegay he said to 
 her in his mangled and guttural French : 
 
 " Mademoiselle, you have there some poisonous flowers ; 
 they will do injury to your hands. See, I will show you 
 the bad ones." 
 
 For a second she did not quite catch his meaning ; but 
 when she did she saved him all the trouble of separation ; 
 she instantly flung the whole lot away with a gesture as if 
 she had already been stung. For Miss Dumaresq, as we 
 had noticed before now, had a pretty good idea of taking 
 care of herself. As we drove away back to Syracuse, she 
 repeatedly looked at the palm and fingers of her little 
 plump white hand. And she had abundant opportunities 
 of doing so ; for Wolfenberg was unusually silent ; when 
 he spoke, it was mostly to Mrs. Threepenny-bit, as we 
 sometimes call her. 
 
 That night, after dinner, Amelie Dumaresq was entirely 
 in her element. There was music on the Marina ; the 
 town was all illuminated ; from the deck of the ship you 
 could see the electric light shining on the tall white houses ; 
 there were the black masses of the acacia-trees along the 
 promenade ; then there were the long lines of silver reflections 
 quivering on the glassy water. The music was gay waltz- 
 music ; it was all pretty, modern, French, light-hearted ; 
 she, lying back in her chair, and looking towards the shore, 
 might have fancied herself at Biarritz, at Nice, at Monte 
 Carlo. She was chattering away vivaciously. Would it 
 not make an excellent Impressionist subject the spectral 
 houses, the dark masses of the trees, the blue-white globes, 
 
74 WOLFENBERG 
 
 the quivering of the reflected lights down through the black 
 deeps ? She would like to try it herself in oils, when she 
 had grown more familiar with that medium. 
 
 " What do you say Ernest ? " she asked, looking round, 
 for Wolfenberg was standing by. 
 
 " Whatever you see your way to doing, Amelie," he made 
 answer, " will have character and quality in it and life." 
 
 Only one other occurrence remains to be chronicled of 
 this evening ; but that was of a wholly cataclysmic nature. 
 The humble reporter of these various doings and pro- 
 ceedings, having been sent down to the saloon to order 
 some " cold sodas " for the women-folk, was returning to 
 his place, when he chanced to run against a young lady who 
 was standing in the dusky shadow outside the top of the 
 companion-way. And with every wish to be discreet, and 
 blind, and non-existent, he could not but perceive that the 
 young lady had just received, and was now quickly thrusting 
 into her pocket, some scrap of paper that had been handed 
 her by a young gentleman who was making off in another 
 direction. The young man, clearly enough, was Julian 
 Yerrinder, who had come on board at Palermo in that 
 curiously unaccountable fashion, apparently without any 
 pre-arranged purpose, and professing to know no human 
 creature in the ship. The young woman oh, Baby, 
 
 Baby ! 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Next morning was devoted to busy idleness. Some went 
 off on an exploration of the older portions of Ortygia 
 though that was rather a difficult undertaking, many of the 
 thoroughfares being so narrow that when you met a drove 
 of donkeys they had to be turned into the houses and the 
 cellar-like wineshops to let you go by ; others got a boat 
 and made away for the Eiver Anapus ; while one or two of 
 us thought we would stroll along to the Fountain of 
 Arethusa chiefly to fall in with the burning impetuosity 
 and entreaties of our good Sappho. And as Lady Cameron 
 went with us, so, you may be sure, did the ever-faithful 
 Major. And here, too, was the Baby the serious, the 
 reserved, Juno-eyed maiden, whose very manner was a 
 standing reproach to her more sprightly sister. As for the 
 young man who had mysteriously sprung himself upon us 
 
THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 75 
 
 after leaving Palermo But he was nowhere to be 
 
 seen. 
 
 And it must be owned that on this occasion the Major 
 behaved himself in a most shocking fashion ; for irreverence 
 is not becoming to advanced years. He seemed to resent 
 the quifce genuine enthusiasm of our tumultuous poetess. 
 
 " Arcihusa arose, from her couch of snows, 
 In the Acroceraunian mountains,' 1 
 
 she was repeating to herself in a proud way, as she regarded 
 the confined little lake, and the tall reeds, and the over- 
 hanging acacias. 
 
 " I don't see any mountains," he observed, pettishly. 
 
 " Of course not," she made answer, staring at him. 
 " Acroceraunia is away over in Greece in Epirus. Don't 
 you know the story ? " 
 
 His silence confessed his ignorance ; and right eagerly 
 for it was a tale after her own heart did she pour into his 
 unwilling ear the legend of the passionate river-god and the 
 flying maiden. But the Major was lying in wait for his 
 revenge. 
 
 " She came all the way under the sea, and made her 
 appearance here ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," said the delighted Sappho. " They say 
 that if you throw anything into the Kiver Alpheus " 
 
 " She was a goddess, I presume ? " he asked again. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; Arethusa was a daughter of Oceanus." 
 
 " I thought as much : if she came all the way under the 
 Ionian Sea, she must have been an excellent Diva." And 
 the wicked old man giggled and gurgled with laughter until 
 he was purple in the face ; and not only that, but he treasured 
 up his wretched schoolboy witticism, so that every one on 
 board the ship had heard of it before the evening. As for 
 Sappho, she would pay no heed to such, ribaldry. She gave 
 Phaon's leading-string a twitch, and turned haughtily aside. 
 
 We weighed anchor about mid-day, and steamed slowly 
 out of the harbour ; and in due course of time we had lost 
 sight of land again nothing visible anywhere save that 
 wide circle of trembling and shining blue, with a few 
 motionless yellow- white clouds along the southern horizon. 
 But although there was an abundance of leisure for every- 
 
7 (5 WOLFENBERG 
 
 body all the afternoon, it was not until the evening, in fact 
 it was not until night fell, that Mrs. Threepenny-bit and 
 her friend Peggy found an opportunity of talking over what 
 had taken place on shore at Syracuse. They came right aft, 
 to their accustomed corner behind the wheel-box, where 
 there was little danger of their being overheard. And it 
 soon became apparent that the elder woman had been much 
 impressed by one or two circumstances that had come under 
 her observation during the last day or two. 
 
 " I don't know what is going to happen," said she, rather 
 sadly. " I have such a respect and liking for Mr. Wolfenberg 
 such an admiration for the simplicity and refinement of 
 his character yes, and such a sympathy for his lonely 
 position " 
 
 " And so have I," says Peggy, breaking in. " But when 
 a married man allows himself to fall in love with an un- 
 married young woman he must take the consequences." 
 
 " Peggy ! " the elder woman exclaims, indignantly. 
 " That is not the situation at all. He is not in love with 
 her, as a younger man might be. He has a great affection 
 for her, no doubt, a most unselfish affection and care for 
 her, every one can see that ; and a deep interest in her and 
 her future. I have told you all along that I considered the 
 relationship existing between those two as a most beautiful 
 thing and I take her own description of it ; but the 
 difficulty is as to how any such relationship can be made 
 permanent. That is where the danger comes in. He 
 thinks, or he tries to persuade himself, that her mind is too 
 downright, her brain too clear, for her to give way to the 
 illusions of love ; she will never marry ; her career is art ; 
 she is an artist through and through. So he seems to 
 think. But if she is an artist, she is also a woman." 
 
 " And very much of a woman," puts in Peggy. 
 
 " Have you noticed how thoughtful and careworn he has 
 looked during the last day or two ? " her companion goes 
 on. " Do you think he is beginning to see there is a 
 possibility of Am&ie Dumaresq falling away from that 
 compact a possibility of his being left alone ? Did you 
 notice the expression of his face yesterday, when he was 
 standing by himself away up there on the Greek Theatre, 
 and when she and the Eussian had disappeared below ? " 
 
i: TO ATHENS SHALL THE LOVERS WEND" 77 
 
 " A man cannot suffer the tortures of jealousy unless he 
 is in love," says Peggy, in her frank way. 
 
 " It was something far wider and deeper than that," says 
 the other, absently. "It appeared to me as if he were 
 contemplating the possible ruin the second and final ruin 
 of his life. All the schemes and hopes he had been 
 counting on for the future all the companionship and 
 compensation he had been promised tumbling away from 
 beneath his feet : himself left betrayed by the very one who 
 had made a show of coming to his rescue." 
 
 " Oh, no, no, Missis," says Peggy, with some effort at 
 cheerfulness ; "it isn't so tragic as all that not yet, at all 
 events. She has been flirting with he Russian, no doubt ; 
 and she may have had her head a little bit turned. But you 
 know the remarkably blunt and plain thing she says about 
 marriage : she is not likely to be entrapped. All this will 
 blow over ; the Russian and his beautiful eyes will disappear 
 at the end of the voyage ; and she will return to her loyal 
 allegiance to her art and her friend. Why, she is bound 
 in honour ! How often has she declared her determination 
 to make up to him for what that other woman has done ? " 
 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit was silent for a long time. 
 
 " It seems such a piteous thing," she said at length, with 
 a bit of a sigh, "that a man of his fine and sensitive 
 character should be at the mercy of the caprice of any 
 woman. But perhaps you are right, Peggy. Perhaps, after 
 all, Amelie Dumaresq will recover her senses, and will 
 remember what she undertook. We shall see and that very 
 soon, if I am not mistaken." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WE are somewhere in the Ionian Sea. It is early morning, 
 shining and calm. One happens to be alone on deck when 
 a young man makes his appearance, and approaches. He is 
 a youth of a diffident and ingenuous aspect English-looking' 
 with just enough of a moustache to lend excuse for a touch 
 of pomatum. But when, after a great deal of apology, and 
 blushing, and shy appealing of eyes, he blurts out what he 
 
7 8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 wants, one finds his demand is not nearly so modest as his 
 manner : he would like an introduction to Lady Cameron 
 of Inverfask ! 
 
 " The fact is," he goes on, in this nervous, embarrassed 
 fashion, " I I made the acquaintance of her sister Emily 
 in Milan and I don't want to have anything underhand 
 about it " 
 
 " Of course not ; quite right. Why don't you go straight 
 to Lady Cameron, and tell her you got to know her sister in 
 Milan ? " 
 
 " It isn't as easy as all that," he answers, rather ruefully. 
 " She might begin to question Emily Miss Rosslyn, I mean, 
 And and there was a kind of informality, don't you 
 know. I suppose you heard of the lady Miss Eosslyn was 
 travelling with being taken so seriously ill ; and her 
 husband, Mr. Vincent, would not leave her for a moment 
 almost ; and so so, you see Emily was pretty well alone. 
 And I was staying in the same hotel. And and she used 
 to go every morning to the Cathedral and then I used to 
 meet her and and the Public Gardens are not far off. 
 Well, perhaps I'd better tell you the downright truth at 
 once. We are engaged to be married." 
 
 " The mischief you are ! " 
 
 " At least, there is an understanding that is quite as good," 
 he says ; and then he goes on, with a little becoming 
 hesitation : "And I don't see how any one can object. I 
 am my own master now. I can make a settlement on 
 Emily that I think will satisfy her family, however rich they 
 may be " 
 
 " They are not rich ; they are poor for Americans. 
 But why on earth didn't you go to Lady Cameron the very 
 moment you came on board at Palermo, and tell her the 
 whole story ? " 
 
 " It isn't as easy as you seem to think," he makes answer, 
 almost in tones of reproach. " I'm in a kind of way under 
 orders from her. I've got to do as I'm bid. But she 
 couldn't object to my writing home to my mother and sister : 
 they are not in a position to ask questions. And, you see, 
 if you would be so awfully kind as to introduce me to Lady 
 Cameron, then through her I could make Emily's acquaint- 
 ance all fair and square and above-board, in a proper and 
 
"TO ATHENS SHALL THE LOVERS WEND" 79 
 
 regular manner. That's how I am instructed, as the lawyers 
 say," adds this poor young man, with a dolorous attempt at 
 a smile. 
 
 " Very well ; come down early to lunch ; blunder into a 
 seat at our table ; and then we'll see." 
 
 That, to our small circle, was the event of the day. 
 Sharp at one the young man appeared at the door of the 
 saloon ; he looked round with a pretty humility ; and at 
 length came and gently subsided into the vacant seat opposite 
 the Baby. A word or two introduced him to Lady 
 Cameron, who was also on the other side of the table. And 
 that was all he had bargained for ; indeed, formal intro- 
 ductions are rarely needed on board ship ; but how could 
 one resist the temptation of confronting those two young- 
 wretches now that they were brought face to face ? 
 
 " Miss Emily, may I introduce to you Mr. Julian 
 Verrinder ? " 
 
 The two abandoned hypocrites bowed gravely : he, with 
 downcast eyes, showing some little confusion ; she, with her 
 statuesque face grown pseony-like, not daring to look up. 
 Yet perhaps their embarrassment remained unnoticed ; for 
 just at that moment Peggy, as a young house-mistress, was 
 giving us her experiences of Highland servants as contrasted 
 with the American (or sub-Irish) variety ; and of course 
 that was a most interesting topic for the other manager who 
 rules over us all. But it seemed to one of us sitting there 
 that a great and glorious nation like the Americans a 
 progressive nation a nation clamorously calling attention 
 to its gigantic strides it seemed to one of us that such a 
 nation should not stop short at the abolition of slavery ; it 
 should go a step further, and abolish domestic service 
 altogether as degrading and inhuman. 
 
 " And who is to find work for all those people, then ? " 
 said Mrs. Threepenny-bit. " Who is to support them ? " 
 
 " The State, of course ; State compensation." 
 
 " They are to be brought up in pampered idleness ? " 
 
 "Why, certainly !" 
 
 " Then shall the valets rejoice and the maidservants skip 
 like the young rams," observed Peggy, demurely and 
 fortunately she was but half heard. 
 
 This was a hot and sultry and languorous afternoon. 
 
8o WOLFENBERG 
 
 Peggy said she wished she had brought a few begging- 
 letters with her, to hang up in her cabin ; their coolness, 
 she imagined, would turn any place into a refrigerator. 
 Laziness was the order of the day on deck ; books, chess, 
 dominoes, draughts, surreptitious snoring. But of a sudden, 
 just after sunset, a rumour ran like wild-fire through the 
 ship that the coast of Greece was in sight ; there was a 
 quick abandonment of these various occupations, and a rush 
 to the rail ; and there, sure enough, far away in the north- 
 east, beyond the dark indigo sea, and half-hidden in a 
 crimson-tinted mist that caught its colour from the fading 
 western skies, rose one or two mountainous peaks, pale and 
 shadowy, in the neighbourhood of Cape Matapan. At once 
 our enthusiastic Sappho was in a state of tremulous excite- 
 ment. What was the ancient name of the Cape ? What ? 
 Taenarium, where Hercules slew the serpent ? And Cap*. 
 Malea was the next point ? And Cerigo Cythera was 
 right ahead of us ? These other women poor, vain, 
 Foulless creatures were now all going away to their state- 
 rooms to dress for dinner ; but not so Sappho ; was it likely, 
 when we should soon be approaching the island where Aphro- 
 dite sprang glorious from the white sea-foam ? The dusk fell. 
 The sultry day had been storing up electricity ; blue 
 lightning-flashes began to play along the northern horizon. 
 But at length we also were forced to leave our good Sappho, 
 her arms pensive on the rail ; we guessed we should find some 
 fruits of this rapt contemplation later on. 
 
 Now what vengeful god or goddess, what unholy witch or 
 wizard, threw a spell of incantation over our ship on this 
 succeeding night, so that during the dark hours we were 
 whisked away some thousands of miles from our proper 
 whereabouts ! The next morning found us in the Sound of 
 Sleat ! There could be no doubt about it. A single glance 
 out of the port-hole revealed the strangely familiar features 
 the calm, glassy blue sea ; the bare, and lonely, and 
 apparently tenantless islands ; the first rays of the sun, 
 streaming over from the east, lighting up those solitary 
 shores. "But but if this is the coast of Skye, where are 
 the mighty Coolins with their -black and jagged peaks piercing 
 the heavens ? And those islands, in their soft and beautiful 
 rose-grey : are they not something warmer in tone than the 
 
"TO ATHENS SHALL THE LOVERS WEND" 81 
 
 wind-swept Hebrides ? And then again, when one collects 
 one's scattered senses, ought we not by rights to be some- 
 where in the neighbourhood of Argolis, with Hydra on the 
 one hand, and Agio Giorgio on the other, and before us the 
 spacious Gulf of ^jgina ? It is time to get on deck, to clear 
 up these bewildering doubts. 
 
 And here is Peggy, luckily all by herself. 
 
 "Do you know," she says, with something of a rueful 
 smile, " that when I got up this morning and looked out, I 
 thought I was at home again ! " and when this tall young 
 lady talks about home, it is not Kentucky she has in her 
 mind, though 'twas there she was born. 
 
 Suddenly she alters her tone. 
 
 " Now that we have a minute together," says she, rather 
 indignantly, " perhaps you will tell me when I am to get back 
 to my own friends. I came away with you. I did not 
 bargain to go about with an inspired maniac of a poetess 
 and a swearing old Major making bad jokes 
 
 " Oh, oh ! For you to say anything against the Major 
 considering his devotion to you and the way you have been 
 openly carrying on with him " 
 
 " Carrying on ! " she says. " Much chance of carrying on 
 with anybody while the Baby's great eyes are staring at 
 you all the time ! " 
 
 " Perhaps the Baby might as well look to herself," one 
 ventures to say. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing. But here is some information for you. 
 You know it was merely because we had Amelie Dumaresq 
 thrown on our hands that you and we got separated when we 
 went on shore. But this time, while we are at Athens, the 
 Dumaresqs are going to stay at an hotel, to save the trouble 
 of coming back each night to the steamer. And you may 
 be sure that the Major will dine at an hotel, for the sake of 
 variety yes, and Sappho, too, if anybody will ask her 
 
 " And we shall be together again and by ourselves ! " 
 says Peggy, with a quick delight shining in her eyes. 
 " That will be something to make up ! And I'll tell you 
 what we must do. After dinner the Missis and you must 
 come into my cabin ; and I'll get out my banjo ; and we'll 
 have one of the real old evenings ! I think we'll give old 
 
 G 
 
82 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Father Time what for ; we'll make things hum a little ! " 
 Bub here her face falls. " There's the Baby I forgot 
 her." 
 
 " Is she so very austere ? " 
 
 " Oh, she is too solemn for anything ! " says Peggy, with a 
 certain impatience, though she is fond enough of the serious- 
 minded Emily all the same. " She ought to go into some 
 religious retreat some sisterhood ; that will be the end of 
 it all, I know. And here she is coming now. Didn't I tell 
 you ? I never can get a word with anybody, without finding 
 her big eyes staring at me ? " 
 
 And so we steamed on through the luminous and glancing 
 azure, on the one hand the ruddy island of ^Egina, on the 
 other the mountainous coast that leads away down to 
 " Suniuin's marbled steep." It was a delightful, idle, dreamy 
 kind of morning not the kind of morning on which one 
 wanted to be startled or even surprised ; so that when a very 
 gentle-voiced and gentle-eyed lady came up to our Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit, and held out her binocular glass, and said 
 quietly 
 
 " Wouldn't you like to look at the Acropolis ? " the 
 smaller woman could only stammer out, in a frightened sort 
 of way : 
 
 " The the Acropolis of Athens ? " 
 
 The next instant she was on her feet, staring eagerly and 
 goggle-eyed. For yonder, unmistakably, were the distant 
 and lofty heights, with a glimmer of grey columns, and with 
 a strip of grey town far below ; and yonder, too, were the 
 scarred and shaggy slopes of Mount Hymettus ; while down 
 by the blue sea was the bold scimitar-sweep of the shores of 
 Salamis. The first impression we received was one of 
 extreme loneliness and lifelessness, despite the presence of 
 that powdered grey city. There was not a boat moving any- 
 where on these shining clear waters ; the coast-line seemed 
 strangely uninhabited. For one thing, we were not going 
 round into the Peirseus, on account of certain rumours of 
 fever that had reached us at Syracuse ; we were making in 
 for the solitary little Bay of Phalerum ; and that we took 
 possession of, and had all to ourselves. 
 
 "Peggy," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, some little time 
 thereafter, when we had got ready to go ashore for a pre- 
 
"TO ATHENS SHALL THE LOVERS WEND* 83 
 
 liniinary look round and she spoke in a low voice " have 
 you heard ? Mr. Hitrovo is going to stay at the same hotel 
 with the Dumaresqs." 
 
 Peggy said nothing, but looked much. 
 
 " And they have asked us to lunch with them to-morrow," 
 her friend continued ; " and I have accepted, for all of us." 
 
 " Will the Eussian be there ? " asked Peggy. 
 
 " That depends, on whether Amelie Dumaresq wants him 
 to be there. It is all her arrangement. If she wishes him 
 to be there he will be there. She has a way of getting 
 everything she wants even if it were the moon, I should 
 think." 
 
 " And Wolfenberg ? " 
 
 " Peggy," said the smaller woman, " Mr. Wolfenberg is in 
 charge of them ! Do you mean to say there might be a 
 possibility of the Eussian being present as their guest- 
 making up a family party, almost, and Wolfenberg absent ? 
 that would be too too much ! " 
 
 " Yet such things have happened," observed Peggy, calmly, 
 as she watched the men bringing the boats round to take us 
 in to the land. 
 
 Truly it is an ignominious thing that you have to approach 
 Athens by either rail or tramway ; but travellers must be 
 content ; and when we got ashore we took our tickets in the 
 empty little station of Phalerum, just as if we had been going 
 to Greenwich. And when the train came in, our party of four 
 got possession of a compartment in the most ordinary way : 
 there positively would have been no enthusiasm, no excite- 
 ment, no recalling of ancient deeds and ancient glories, had 
 not our dear Sappho skipped in also, followed by the Major 
 in pursuit of Peggy. And in vain did Sappho try to conceal 
 her exaltation. As we moved out into the arid and dusty 
 plain, she was all eagerness to catch a glimpse of the Eiver 
 Cephissus the Cephissus in which .the youthful Theseus 
 had bathed before going to the palace of King ^Egeus to 
 claim his rights. Alas ! there was no Cephissus. It had 
 all gone away. We saw one or two channels in the limy soil 
 that might at one time or another have been a river-bed ; but 
 were now more likely to be frequented by lizards than by 
 fish. And there would be no Ilissus either, then ? she 
 demanded. And no Fountain of Callirrhoe ? 
 
 a 2 
 
84 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " The whole place is burned up," said the Major, who 
 seemed secretly to rejoice in her disappointment. " And 
 shan't we be roasted alive in this blessed town ! I tell you, 
 about the only cool thing we are likely to find in Athens 
 is the frieze of the Parthenon." 
 
 He giggled ; but no one else did. This brutality seemed 
 to set the seal on our degradation. It was only fit that we 
 should arrive in Athens carrying railway-tickets in our 
 hands. 
 
 But on reaching the terminus we managed to throw off 
 those two : our party of four just filled a carriage ; and, as 
 we drove away, we caught sight of the Major having per- 
 force, and probably with a very ill grace, to offer a seat in 
 his vehicle to his forlorn companion. We saw no more of 
 Sappho for a long time thereafter not, indeed, until we 
 found her in front of the little Temple of Nike Anteros, 
 absorbed and awe-stricken, and no doubt dreaming of the 
 black-sailed ships coming back from Crete, far out on 
 yonder blue plain of sea. 
 
 We made direct away for the Acropolis, of course ; our 
 first stage in the ever-ascending route being the Temple of 
 Theseus, where we found the Dumaresqs and Wolfenberg 
 the Eussian being unexpectedly absent. Amelie Dumaresq 
 who was somehow always the central figure of any such 
 chance-formed group, and whose opinions seemed to demand 
 attention did not appear to have been impressed by the 
 Theseum. It was smaller than she had anticipated. It 
 had been copied so often that itself looked like a copy. 
 Koofed over, it had the appearance of a museum. It was 
 too complete. There was not enough ruin about it. If the 
 Venetians, in besieging the Acropolis, had thrown a few 
 bombs into this building, and knocked it about a bit, it 
 would have been infinitely improved. It wanted the letting 
 in of daylight and a background of blue sky for the 
 pillars. And so forth. Wolfenberg listened. 
 
 " Amelie," said he, with a smile, " come with me. I will 
 show you something that will interest you." 
 
 He took her to the end of the building where, out of 
 range of the sunlight, there were several swarthy-com- 
 plexioned figures lying in various attitudes prone on the 
 steps, either asleep or merely basking in luxurious idleness. 
 
"TO ATHENS SHALL THE LOVERS WEND" 85 
 
 It was all very picturesque and fine in colour : the diverse 
 costumes, the warm tones of the shadowed marble, the 
 palpitating hot air beyond, the aerial tints of the distant 
 hills. And here, also, walking about in very brave array, 
 were a couple of Cretans a couple of unmistakable cut- 
 throats, if physiognomy ever spoke a word of truth. They 
 stared at her ; she stared at them ; it was not her eyes 
 those bold, lustrous black eyes that were first abashed. 
 
 But then again, when our panting horses had dragged us 
 away up the stony hill, and when on foot we had ascended 
 the worn and steep steps of the Propylaea, and when at 
 length, after toiling across a wilderness of broken pillars, 
 pedestals, architraves, cornices, and the like, the marble 
 fragments lying tumbled about among parched weeds and 
 thistles when at length we came in front of the Parthenon, 
 there was no disposition to criticise, nor even to speak, 
 manifested by this young woman. Such artist-soul as she 
 possessed seemed entirely entranced by the simplicity and 
 grandeur of this spectacle ; and not only that, but by the 
 actual beauty of the colour those lonely and lofty columns, 
 golden-white and saffron-stained, shining calm and fair 
 against the dark, deep, pellucid-blue of a perfectly cloudless 
 sky. No picture or any other representation of the Par- 
 thenon, can give any one the faintest idea of this rich and 
 vivid and exquisite colour ; nor can all the photographs 
 that ever were manufactured convey the least impression of 
 the vastness of the ruin, or of its height, and remoteness 
 from the rest of the surrounding world. You forget that 
 there is a populous city with its swarms of houses lying 
 scattered about somewhere down in the valley. You forget 
 the long centuries of wrong and rapine and outrage that 
 have swept by like so many tempests, destroying much, but 
 not destroying all. These columns, broken and defaced 
 as they are, seem to rise above such transitory things to 
 be somehow dissociated from the earth ; voiceless, they 
 appear to be holding communion with the still heavens ; 
 and to have become immortal through their imperishable 
 beauty. For already we had begun to yield to the strange 
 fascination that, while you are in Athens, seems to draw you 
 involuntarily away up to this grand, lonely, beautiful thing, 
 and to leave you pretty well indifferent to aught else. 
 
86 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Not but that there were plenty of other objects of in- 
 tensest interest, up here on the Acropolis. Each one of our 
 scattered party seemed to go his own way, wandering about, 
 finding out for himself or herself, and not anxious for any 
 companionship. Groups formed by accident; then separated 
 again ; one amateur explorer would be chiefly interested in 
 the traces left by Turk and Christian on the Greek walls ; 
 another would go about examining the ornamentation of 
 fallen pediments and capitals ; a third might have his eyes 
 attracted by the great panorama of sea, and plain, and 
 mountain, with the marble quarries of Pentelicus gleaming 
 white on the far hill-side. And so it was without any 
 surprise that one came across Ernest Wolfenberg, standing 
 quite by himself, in front of the little Temple of the 
 Caryatides. 
 
 " Isn't it strange," he began to say, in his thoughtful and 
 dispassionate manner, " how difficult it is for the official 
 mind and for some other minds as well to draw the line 
 between preservation and restoration ? They cannot for 
 the life of them leave things alone ; they must of necessity 
 bring in the modern mechanic to tinker and beautify. And 
 there's another thing they can't resist doing : when they 
 find anything detachable they can't help rushing off with it 
 at once to a museum, and putting it in a glass case if that 
 is possible. And yet half the value of memorials of ancient 
 life and art lies in their being allowed to remain in situ. 
 Just imagine how immeasurably interesting it would be if 
 the excavators would leave a house in Pompeii precisely as 
 they found it : every object every knitting-needle, and 
 lamp, and dish, and wine-glass in its place, just as it was 
 when the ashes began to fall. But they couldn't bring 
 themselves to do that. They must snatch up every article, 
 and away with it to the Naples Museum, where there are 
 dozens and hundreds of them already. And the restorers 
 are infinitely worse. Look at this beautiful little building 
 that has been talked about for ages and ages. I suppose 
 putting in that wedge of entablature may be forgiven 
 perhaps it was necessary ; but, you see, they couldn't stop 
 there ; they had to add a brand new Caryatid. The Temple 
 of the Six Virgins ought to have six figures ; they couldn't 
 leave it with five ; so they added a new one. And then, 
 
"TO ATHENS SHALL TftE LOVERS WEND" 87 
 
 naturally, you begin to consider everything suspect. These 
 bits of egg-and-dart decoration lying about : how do you 
 know that the modern mechanic's chisel has not been 
 tinkering at them ? And yet," he went on presently, " I 
 must try to believe that the scroll-work inside the Erectheum 
 has been left untouched : it is so indescribably beautiful. 
 Did you notice it particularly in the inner temple and over 
 the doorway ? It is well sheltered there ; perhaps that 
 accounts for its perfect state. Come, shall we go round 
 and have another look ? " 
 
 Well, a second visit, although the afternoon was drawing 
 on, was no great hardship ; for the Erectheum is far and 
 away the most graceful of all the Acropolis monuments. 
 Moreover, the entrance was only a few yards distant. But 
 we were suddenly to be recalled from these architectural 
 questions to more living interests. We were just about to 
 pass round by the steps leading up to the tall and elegant 
 Ionic pillars, when we perceived two figures there, at the base 
 of the columns, and perhaps half a yard or so within. They 
 were Paul Hitrovo and Amelie Dumaresq. It could not be 
 said that there was any effort at concealment on their part ; 
 still, their appearance here was in a measure startling ; for 
 the Russian had not hitherto been visible during the day. 
 Another thing : ordinarily, in talking to Hitrovo, Arne'lie 
 regarded him with frank and upturned and smiling eyes ; 
 but now her head was downcast ; her face was concerned 
 and grave ; she was vaguely scoring the dust with the point 
 of her sunshade. He, on the other hand, had his eyes 
 intently fixed on her so that neither noticed the approach 
 of strangers. 
 
 Wolfenberg turned quickly aside perhaps pretending to 
 have seen nothing. 
 
 " Some other time any time " he said, hurriedly, and 
 yet with some affectation of calm indifference. " The fact 
 is, a preliminary glance round is quite enough for to-day ; 
 now we know where to come for closer study. And and 
 we must not let the women-folk get tired, especially 
 Mrs. Dumaresq, who. is not very strong. Have you seen 
 her of late ? I suppose she is sitting down somewhere, 
 talking to some one. I must go and try to find her any- 
 way. There are your people coming round yonder by the 
 
88 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Partheoii." And so he went away ; and those two, what- 
 ever they were talking about, were left undisturbed. 
 
 It was drawing towards dusk when we got back to the 
 little wooden jetty at Phalerum ; and twilight had fallen 
 by the time the ship's boat had carried us out to the 
 Orotania. This evening, at dinner, we had a new ex- 
 perience : the vacant spaces at our table were conspicuous. 
 And we should hardly have imagined that we should so 
 have felt the absence of three people who, not so very long 
 ago, had been entirely strangers to us. But there was this 
 about Amelie Dumaresq in particular that whether sho 
 attracted or repelled you, you could not but be impressed by 
 her presence. She was there, very much in evidence ; of 
 strong and assertive vitality ; full-pulsating, as it were, 
 with gaiety and the enjoyment of life ; and perfectly well 
 aware of all her wilfulness, her charm, her intrepid opinions, 
 and (not least) the power of the laughing blaze of her black 
 ayes. Wolfenberg, too, in his more retiring way, had grown 
 to interest us deeply ; we seemed to miss the fine, thought- 
 ful, ascetic face, the sympathetic grey eyes, even the quietly 
 humorous fashion in which he was wont to apologise for the 
 young lady's audacities. As for the sad-faced mother 
 But she was content to remain mostly in the background, a 
 not unconcerned spectator of what was going on. 
 
 However, we were not wholly deserted ; for Julian 
 Verrinder, seeing these unoccupied places, made bold to 
 come and take one of them, with many and modest excuses. 
 And nothing could exceed the courteous and pleasant 
 manner in which he tried to ingratiate himself with Lady 
 Cameron and with our Mrs. Threepenny-bit, offering them 
 all kinds of things they didn't want, asking them shy 
 questions about their day's doings, and meekly listening, 
 and never obtruding a word about himself. And he agreed 
 with all their opinions, before they had got them half 
 uttered ; until they could not but have been convinced that 
 he was a most intelligent young man. On the surface he 
 did not pay much attention to Emily Rosslyn ; but he had 
 the ineffable pleasure of tendering her the cruet-stand, in 
 the temporary absence of the steward, or he would venture 
 to recommend the fresh salad, or the olives, or the caviare. 
 As for her, the young wretch affected to treat Mm as almost 
 
FACING CONTINGENCIES 89 
 
 an absolute stranger ; she would hardly even vouchsafe 
 him a timid " No, thank you ! " Perhaps she was in 
 trembling terror lest some incautious word or sign might 
 betray the amazing truth. 
 
 It was a beautiful night on deck, the stars and planets 
 lambent in the deep violet vault. There was a perfect 
 silence : the famous city was far enough away to send us no 
 sound, while we guessed that now there would not be much 
 of tumult up there on the solitary heights of the Acropolis, 
 near to the throbbing and yet benign and tranquil skies. 
 If there could be anything anywhere out of consonance with 
 the prevailing calm in which the world was shrouded, it 
 could only be, perhaps, in some solitary and aching heart, 
 questioning itself, or nerving itself for the future ; and such 
 things are kept hidden away and unrevealed. 
 
 " Did you speak to Mr. Wolfenberg to-day ? " asked 
 Peggy of her friend, as they were leaning on the rail, and 
 looking across the black water to the dim, uncertain lights. 
 
 " Oh yes." 
 
 " And he is to be of the party at the hotel to-morrow ? " 
 
 " I understand so." 
 
 " I am glad of that," she says ; and then she adds, 
 slowly : " Because because otherwise, I don't think I 
 should have gone." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FACING CONTINGENCIES. 
 
 THE gods were good to Sappho on the following day ; they 
 called the lost Ilissus back to life again : Cephissus, also, 
 they summoned from his subterranean lair. We had been 
 driving about hither and thither during the morning to a 
 number of places it is needless to enumerate here ; and all 
 the while we had been conscious of an ever-increasing dark- 
 ness overhead. Indeed it was welcome ; for we had become 
 tired of that long period of blue skies, blue seas, and glaring 
 sunlight ; and were quite glad to think of the coolness of a 
 shower of rain. But there was more coming than we 
 bargained for. The surrounding mountains had grown 
 more and more sombre ; they seemed to draw strangely 
 
9 o WOLFENBERG 
 
 near, as if they would hem in the doomed town ; the air 
 was stifling ; the impending darkness deepened, and still 
 further deepened ; what wan light there was came in 
 horizontally, and touched the fronts of the houses in a 
 spectral fashion. Then, as we watched and waited in this 
 ominous silence, of a sudden, out of the black bosom of the 
 hills, there leapt a red flash of flame ; it struck down ; it 
 appeared to splinter itself on the ground, and to spread 
 itself out again in swift and trembling filaments of fire. 
 There was a low premonitory growl answered somewhere 
 else. Another blaze of flame leapt out of the black : this 
 time there was a sharper rattle, that echoed all around. And 
 now the fun grew fast and furious ; the other portions of 
 the heavens joined in ; sometimes there was a continuous 
 and blinding dazzle of crimson a chain of fire, as it were ; 
 while the noise grew deafening Corydallas, Pentelicus, 
 Hymettus calling to each other across the awe-stricken 
 valleys. Then the accumulated black masses immediately 
 over us must needs take part ; there were one or two knife- 
 like gleams of pink ; and at the same moment an ear- 
 splitting roar and clamour that seemed to say that all the 
 buildings of the Acropolis the Parthenon, the Propylsea, 
 the Erectheum were coming hurling headlong down on the 
 top of the devoted city. And meanwhile the rain had been 
 descending in sheets a deluge that appeared to consist of 
 ten thousand waterspouts ; insomuch that in an incredibly 
 short space of time Athens had become completely trans- 
 figured, her dry and dusty thoroughfares changed into 
 tawny canals, with a flood in them so deep and opaque that 
 the unaccustomed horses refused to forward. As for 
 ourselves, we fled for refuge into the nearest public building, 
 which chanced to be the museum in which the Schliemann 
 relics (from Mycenae) are treasured ; but even here we had 
 to face cascades of water that came surging along the open 
 stone galleries and down the wide staircases. But what did 
 we care for all this terrific commotion and also for having 
 to wade a foot deep in passing from one room to the other 
 when we could calculate on this amazing storm having 
 roused the two slumbering rivers, and, when we thought of 
 the joy and rapture of our beloved Sappho ? For we knew 
 that, as we went back to Phalerurn in the afternoon, we 
 
FACING CONTINGENCIES 91 
 
 should find the Cephissus a whirling and riotous torrent, 
 sweeping before it mud, and gravel, and branches onwards 
 to the sea, and also that the wide plain which had always 
 seemed to us so parched and burnt-up would now show 
 silver-glancing pools and lakes, between the rows of olive 
 and vine. Perhaps, moreover, in some happy moment, we 
 might discover the elusive Fountain of Caliirrhoc, that 
 hitherto had been for us invisible. 
 
 But in the meantime we had to keep our appointment 
 with the Duinaresqs ; and when, at length, after about two 
 hours' imprisonment in this building, a pale, tremulous, 
 lemon-hued light told us that the storm-clouds were lifting 
 themselves away from the deluged city, we ventured out, 
 and drove away down through those yellow canals to the 
 hotel. And here, in the long, bare, shaded, foreign-looking 
 apartment, it was from the outset obvious that it was 
 Ainelie Dumaresq, not her mother, who was our hostess. 
 She managed everything arranged everything consulted 
 with the landlord directed the waiters. She was in high 
 spirits ; this little diversion from the routine life on board 
 ship seemed to please her. She was looking her best, too ; 
 and was very prettily and neatly attired, with but little 
 ornament ; a dagger of rose-red coral was effective in the 
 splendid masses of her black hair. 
 
 She took the head of the table as a matter of course to 
 save her mother trouble. Wolfenberg she asked to preside 
 at the other end. To Paul Hitrovo she did not give the 
 place of honour on her right ; his presence there was signi- 
 ficant enough without that ; and, in truth, she affected to 
 take but scant notice of him. As for him, he remained 
 carelessly quiet throughout the little banquet ; he did not 
 seek to interfere in the conversation ; when he did speak at 
 all, it was generally some mere bit of comment of a half- 
 cynical and not unamusing kind. He was next to the 
 Baby. " The two young people must sit together," Ainelie 
 Dumaresq had said, benignly playing the part of matron 
 and house-mistress. 
 
 And now that everything was set going, the young 
 hostess proceeded with right good will to entertain her 
 guests, which for her was easy enough. Laughing, 
 chattering, appealing to this one and that, revealing the 
 
92 WOLFENBERG 
 
 results of a rather malicious observation of her fellow* 
 passengers, she kept the ball of conversation rolling briskly 
 enough and without effort, so alert, independent, many- 
 sided did she show herself. And again on this occasion she 
 was merciful to us. She did not hack and hew at the pedestals 
 of accepted tradition ; she did not tear down veils to exhibit 
 shattered idols ; she even let Homer alone and was entirely 
 good-natured. If there was any one whose speeches did not 
 seem to meet with the full approval of our miniature Censor 
 of Morals it was M. Paul Hitrovo ; and yet such chance 
 things as we heard were surely harmless enough. 
 
 " Isn't it sad," he said, in a kind of undertone, to the 
 Baby, apropos of something or another, " isn't it very sad to 
 think of the vast number of people who are slaves to duty ? 
 It seems such a strange superstition." 
 
 "Well, that was nothing. But on one occasion he did 
 manage to provoke our Mrs. Threepenny-bit into a little 
 mild interference. 
 
 " After all," he happened to say to that ingenuous young 
 neighbour of his, " human nature is a good deal stronger 
 than the Ten Commandments." 
 
 " You mean that sometimes the Ten Commandments get 
 broken ? " the small woman opposite him put in. 
 
 " Why not say frequently ? " he suggested, with a smile. 
 
 " Perhaps," she answered him. " But at the same time, 
 if there never had been any Mount Sinai at all, human 
 nature would have had to invent the Ten Commandments 
 for its own preservation." 
 
 It was hardly a rebuke ; yet Amelie Dumaresq looked 
 quickly from the one to the other ; perhaps she was anxious to 
 see what impression this young man, in these more intimate 
 circumstances, produced on her friends. 
 
 To outward appearance she was far more attentive to 
 Wolfenberg. She paid him all kinds of little flatteries 
 sometimes disguised as reproach. 
 
 " Ernest," she called to him, " don't you see that the 
 very heavens are interposing to befriend you ? This 
 miracle of a flood has all come about to show you the 
 Fountain of Callirrhoe. You can have no further excuse 
 for neglecting your picture. Why, I want those people on 
 board the ship who have never seen any of your work just 
 
FACING CONTINGENCIES 93 
 
 to understand a little who it is to whom they say ' Good 
 morning ! ' when they come up on deck." 
 
 " I'm afraid, Amelie," he said, in his quiet way, " the 
 Fountain of Callirrhoe has all gone away: vanished as far 
 as I am concerned. I have not thought of it of late. It 
 was only a passing suggestion." 
 
 "Well, if you have lost interest in it, why not begin 
 something else ? " she demanded, in her downright fashion. 
 " Why not the Dance of the Cobras ? Do you know," she 
 said, turning to her other guests, " that cobras have the 
 strangest habit, on moonlight nights, of keeping their head 
 erect, and swaying themselves from side to side, and 
 watchingtheir shadows on the ground ? They seem to enjoy 
 it ; the sinuous movement pleases them. Don't you think 
 that Mr. Wolfenberg could make something very mysterious 
 and imaginative out of such a subject ? And they are said 
 to be curiously susceptible to musical sound, too. Couldn't 
 that be brought in ? a verandah some one playing inside 
 the beasts charmed out from their hiding-places into the 
 moonlight " 
 
 " It makes one's flesh creep to think of it ! " said Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit, with an involuntary shudder. 
 
 " Oh, I like looking into the snake-cases in the Zoological 
 Gardens," said Amelie Dumaresq, cheerfully enough. "But 
 what I confess I cannot do is to look into the monkey- 
 house. That is quite different. Any other beast I can 
 stare in the face but a monkey no I somehow feel 
 ashamed. It seems as if I were guilty of impertinence as 
 if I had shut up a poor relation in there and might at 
 least pass on and pretend not to see. Don't his eyes re- 
 proach you ? He appears to ask why he should be so treated 
 why he should be put behind bars, just like an ordinary 
 wild beast ; while you are walking about at liberty, in 
 splendid silks and satins. But Ernest come now what 
 about the cobras in moonlight ? I really cannot have those 
 people talking to you as if you were one of themselves ; 
 they must know who you are ; I must have something to 
 show them " 
 
 " My dear Amelie," he said quite good-naturedly, " what 
 is the use of painting nowadays ? Picture buying is a 
 lost art " 
 
94 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Oh, for you to say that 1 "she exclaimed in reproachful 
 tones. 
 
 " The fact is," he said, " I am going to take to another 
 way of earning my living altogether. Shall I tell you ? 
 Very well. I don't know whether you are aware that only 
 sixty-seven eggs of the great auk are known to exist. Of 
 course they are extremely valuable. One of them was 
 recently sold for three hundred pounds. Now I propose to 
 introduce on the scene an ancient and simple sea-captain 
 a whaler or sealer from Baffin's Bay, or some such remote 
 place : and he must have a circumstantial story of a dis- 
 covered island, where he found a heap of big eggs, which 
 he brought home out of mere curiosity. He doesn't know 
 that they are the great auk's eggs ; of course not ; but still, 
 the simple mariner won't accept the first bid for them - 
 
 " But where can he have got them, if they are so rare ? " 
 she interposed. 
 
 " I am going to make them for him," he replied, calmly. 
 "An imitation that will defy detection far more easy 
 than you think. Besides, the honest tar's story would ward 
 off suspicion. No doubt the price of auk's eggs will come 
 down somewhat ; but even at 150?. a piece, or even at 1007. 
 a piece, a good steady supply from the inexhaustible stores 
 of the sealer's cabin ought to make one's fortune." 
 
 " Well, well, Ernest ! " she said. " And you are not 
 ashamed to sit there and confess, before English people, 
 that the tradition of wooden nutmegs still lingers in the 
 American national character ? " 
 
 But all the same his fantastic fancy of the moment had 
 served its end : it had drawn away the talk from the 
 question of his painting ; and we had noticed ere now that 
 he was curiously shy about having his work spoken of before 
 strangers. Amelie Dumaresq did not seem to understand, 
 or at least to pay much heed to, this sensitiveness ; and in 
 the present case it was of slight consequence ; for directly 
 she was off and away to some other topic, with her usual 
 happy-go-lucky impetuosity. It was a merry little occasion, 
 free and unrestrained, as one might have thought, with 
 nothing serious at all about it. But women's eyes are 
 always observant. 
 
 That same night, when Peggy and her friend had secured 
 
FACING CONTINGENCIES 95 
 
 a snug corner for themselves on deck the heavens were all 
 clear again, and the stars were throbbing luminously over 
 the dark spaces of the sea you may be sure it was to that 
 midday festivity that their conversation turned. 
 
 " I tell you Missis, I am convinced of it," says Peggy, 
 with as much decision as she dare put into her necessarily 
 low tones. " I tell you that man is in love with her, wholly, 
 entirely, desperately in love with her whether he himself 
 knows it or not." 
 
 " What, the Russian ? " 
 
 " Not at all ! The Russian is only playing with her. 
 He is too much in love with himself to be in love with 
 anybody else. He thinks he has only got to look at you 
 with his beautiful eyes, and you must succumb. He does 
 not take the trouble to make himself agreeable ; he expects 
 you to amuse him ; and then he smiles and you are 
 rewarded ! No it is Wolfenberg " 
 
 " You are speaking of a married man, Peggy," the other 
 observes, severely. 
 
 " Worse luck," says Peggy, with a bit of a sigh. " Bub 
 whether he himself knows it or not, that man is in love 
 with Amelie Dumaresq ; and this understanding of theirs 
 this compact this exalted friendship is with him only 
 some desperate clinging on to what he feels must one day 
 slip away from him. In love with her ? Didn't you see 
 how his eyes followed her wherever she went as if it was a 
 constant delight to him to let them rest even on the folds 
 of her dress, or the coils of her hair, or the outline of her 
 neck and arms. He speaks to her as he speaks to no one 
 else. His voice changes when he turns to her it is so 
 gentle, so intimate, so suggestive of an understanding that is 
 nidden from outsiders. Perhaps she doesn't quite perceive 
 it either. She is a little blunt don't you think ? not 
 exactly thick-skinned but but pretty well wrapped up in 
 herself, and her own enjoyment of minute to minute ? Of 
 course, she has an immense admiration for him ; but it 
 seems to me as if it were more the artist she admired ; she 
 is proud of his position, and his advice, and his care of her, 
 as well she might be." 
 
 " But what is to come of it all ! " the elder woman 
 exclaims and this is no new cry of hers. " Oh, I cannot 
 
96 WOLFENBERG 
 
 believe it ! The position those two hold to each other is 
 far too clearly defined for any such possibility ; in her mind, 
 at all events, it is defined clearly and absolutely ; hasn't she 
 talked about it with sufficient frankness ? No ; really I 
 thought there was something almost noble about her when 
 she first spoke to me about it ; she seemed to see what was 
 demanded of her ; she seemed te rise to something finer 
 than the gratification of her own immediate whims, and 
 the flattery of every one who comes near her. And why 
 shouldn't he take her at her word ? He declares that her 
 intellect is downright and uncompromising ; she scorns 
 illusions ; this exalted companionship of theirs, when she 
 grants it to him, is granted with full and accurate know- 
 ledge ; there are no hazy possibilities of perilous sentiment 
 hanging about in the background. Do you think he does 
 not understand all that ? " 
 
 " I can see what his eyes say," Peggy makes answer, 
 stubbornly. " Until to-day I might have doubted now I 
 cannot." 
 
 But the elder woman shakes her head. 
 
 " No, no ; the whole situation is dangerous enough 
 without that. And it is about Wolfenberg that I ani 
 concerned : I think the young woman can take care of 
 herself. And yet again if it should turn out that we have 
 been speculating, and alarming ourselves without cause 
 or if something were to happen- " 
 
 " I know what would happen in a book or a play," says 
 Peggy. "That dreadful woman over there in America 
 would die. But in actual life the objectionable people are 
 a long time in dying ; and in the meanwhile the other 
 people, who may have been waiting, have grown old." 
 
 " You have no right to look forward and count on any- 
 one's death ! " says Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with a touch of 
 asperity. "It is inhuman unnatural no matter what 
 has happened." And then, after a bit, she adds ; " Don'b 
 you think, Peggy, that it would be a litle more just to both 
 Wolfenberg and Amelie Dumaresq if we accepted their 
 own account of the relationship that exists between them 
 which is the only relationship that can exist between them ? " 
 
 " But even then ? " says Peggy. " Again and again you 
 yourself have put the question : what guarantee is there 
 
FACING CONTINGENCIES 97 
 
 that such a relationship should last ? What is the bond 
 between them ? It is an ideal situation, no doubt ; de- 
 manding self-sacrifice and constancy; and it may look 
 beautiful at the moment ; but what safeguard is there 
 against all the temptations and incomprehensible vagaries 
 of human nature ? " 
 
 " Poor Wolfenberg ! " said the elder woman, absently ; 
 the future seemed dark and enigmatical enough to her, so 
 far as those two were concerned. 
 
 Now the morning of our last day at Athens was par- 
 ticularly bright, and busy, and cheerful. " Phaleron's 
 wave " is clear ; looking over the side into those green 
 deeps, we could vaguely make out objects at the bottom, 
 though we were anchored in six fathoms of water ; while 
 farther off the glassy surface, in the full glare of the sun, 
 reflected the long lateen sails and the white-painted feluccas 
 with a vividness bewildering to the eyes. And here was 
 our indefatigable Sappho, bustling about with a great sheet 
 of paper in her hand, and eagerly begging for signatures. 
 It appeared that her soul had been fairly riven within her 
 by the thought that English hands had harried the shrines 
 of ancient Greece ; and nothing would do but a passionate 
 appeal, on the part of us Orotanians, to the British 
 Government, praying that the Elgin Marbles should forth- 
 with be restored. It was an eloquent and tempestuously- 
 worded document, with plenty of incoherent indignation 
 surging through it ; and at the head of the sheet was the 
 following quotation : 
 
 * Cold is the heart, fair Greece ! that looks on tliee, 
 Nor feels as lovers o'er the dust they loved; 
 Dull is the eye that will not weep to see 
 Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed 
 By British hands which it had best behoved 
 To guard those relics ne'er to be restored. 
 Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved, 
 And once again thy hapless bosom gored, 
 And snatch'd thy shrinking Gods to northern climes abhorrMI* 
 
 " Somethinged sentimental rubbish ! " growled the angry 
 Major, when she had gone and we hardly knew whether he 
 was audaciously referring to the passage from Childe Harold 
 or merely expressing his opinion of Miss Penguin's proposal. 
 
 H 
 
9 3 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Do you think the English Government would listen to a 
 handful of irresponsible and impertinent busybodies ? And 
 if these mongrel modern Greeks got back the Elgin Marbles, 
 what would they do with 'em ? Why, sell 'em to some 
 Yankee hotel proprietor, to stick about his staircases, 
 alongside the cuspidors ! " 
 
 By the way, we never learned what number of signatures 
 Sappho obtained for her petition ; nor did we ever sub- 
 sequently hear of its having appeared in the newspapers. 
 Perhaps, indeed, at some odd moment, Phaon may have 
 eaten it, so inscrutable are the decrees of fate and the 
 moods of a dog's appetite. 
 
 Our last day at Athens. Of course, we made our way 
 back again to the Acropolis. And as we were toiling up 
 the steep hill we chanced to notice the solitary figure of a 
 man who was coming down from the scarred and bouldered 
 heights of Areopagus. No doubt he had wandered up 
 thither to have a look at the wide-scattered city lying far 
 below, with its red-tiled roofs and cypress-gardens. 
 
 " It is Wolfenberg ! " said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with 
 some surprise. " And alone ! Why surely, the others 
 cannot have gone anywhere without him." And when 
 she spoke of " the others " we knew she was thinking of 
 three. 
 
 " Oh, no, impossible ! " said Peggy, in an undertone, for 
 now he was drawing near. 
 
 But when he came up, we found he had no tragic tale of 
 desertion to tell. He seemed in fairly good spirits. Mrs. 
 Dumaresq had preferred to remain indoors this morning ; 
 she feared the heat ; and she wanted a little rest. Nor did 
 Amelie care to stir out. She had been making some 
 purchases of millinery ; and wished to get her things put 
 in order before returning to the boat. So he had come 
 wandering away by himself, counting on finding us some- 
 where about the Acropolis. Accordingly, we went on 
 together. 
 
 But when we had got up to that lofty and spacious 
 plateau, to have a farewell look at the hills and the vales, 
 the distant sea grown pale in the sunlight, and here, close at 
 hand, the splendour of the tall pillars against the luminous 
 blue of the sky, it very soon became obvious that Wolf enberg 
 
FACING CONTINGENCIES 99 
 
 wished to take this opportunity to say something in con- 
 fidence to the elder woman of our little group. They 
 strolled away by themselves, and Peggy instinctively hung 
 back. We saw them go slowly and still more slowly, 
 apparently engaged in earnest conversation, until they 
 stopped together the two small figures out yonder on the 
 plain of tumbled fragments and dusty weeds. Peggy was 
 silent for a second or two ; then she said 
 
 " I think he means to speak to her about the Russian, 
 And I am glad of it. He ought to have some confidante. 
 Don't you think he is in the strangest and saddest position ? 
 Mrs. Durnaresq is frightened to say anything to him about 
 what has happened recently : no wonder. She ia quite 
 useless and helpless with an absolute and self-willed girl 
 like that ; and she is mortally afraid of doing or saying 
 anything that may offend either Wolfenberg or her 
 daughter." She glanced around her musingly. " Isn't it 
 curious to think what various things have happened to 
 individual human beings, up here on this hill, through all 
 the centuries since those stones were carved ? And now 
 we have come to the very latest the two people over 
 yonder, in modern European dress, standing talking to 
 each other. It seems commonplace, doesn't it ; and yet it 
 
 might turn out to be something tragic enough " She 
 
 suddenly broke off, and changed her tone. " No, no, I'm 
 going to shut my eyes, and become optimist. I'm going to 
 look forward to Amelie Dumaresq herself dispersing away 
 all these doubts and fears. That is what she is going 
 to do. The opportunity is before her. She is going to 
 astonish us, and charm us, and make us all ashamed of 
 ourselves by showing herself nothing less than a thorough 
 heroine ! " 
 
 Meanwhile, whatever problem of human destiny or 
 human character those two were discussing together, they 
 were a long time engaged in it ; so that the rest of us 
 including the Baby and Julian Verrinder, whose acquaint- 
 ance with each other seemed to have developed with some 
 rapidity had abundant leisure for our final look round ; 
 and at length, when we all of us prepared to leave, Peggy's 
 last word as she glanced back to the beautiful temples all 
 shattered and ruined was this 
 
 H 2 
 
ioo WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Well, Athens did much for the Gods ; but the Gods 
 never seem to have done much for Athens." 
 
 Now hardly had the Orotania got under weigh again 
 when two of us received a summons to go to Mrs. Three- 
 penny-bib's cabin. The little woman appeared to be rather 
 nervous and excited : it was clear she had something of 
 importance to communicate. 
 
 " We had a long talk up there," she said (and well we 
 knew of whom she was speaking), " and never shall I forget 
 it as long as I live. I had some admiration for that man 
 before ; but now now that he has quite revealed himself 
 I dare hardly say what I think of him. And there is no 
 secret about it ; he spoke quite frankly ; he told me, in his 
 simple and direct way, that we must all of us have seen the 
 favour that Amelie was showing to this young Eussian ; 
 and he hoped it would turn out for the best. It was but 
 natural, he said. She was a young woman, with a fresh 
 and eager and impulsive enjoyment of the world and all its 
 interests : who could wonder if the passion of love came in 
 to play its part, and lead on to marriage, and a happy 
 settlement of her life ? And when I interposed, and spoke 
 of himself, I wish you could have heard what he answered. 
 Not that I forget a single word ; but that there was 
 something so noble, so simple, so unreserved in the very 
 manner in which he put himself out of the question 
 altogether. He was not to be thought of. His was a 
 broken life altogether, he said. If this new interest that 
 appeared to have come into her existence was likely to 
 secure her happiness, that was everything." 
 
 The person who was telling us these things is not of a 
 very emotional nature ; but, all the same, her lashes grew 
 moist ; and she furtively drew a finger-tip across her eyes. 
 
 " I thought his careworn face looked really beautiful as 
 he was speaking," she went on, with an intensity of 
 sympathy that caused her own voice to vibrate at times. 
 " There seemed to me a kind of sanctity of renunciation in 
 it ; and a calmness, too, as though he had been contem- 
 plating this possibility not for the first time. He would 
 hardly refer to himself at all. I had to do that. I confess 
 I am a good deal more concerned about him than about her. 
 But what he said was this : ' I put myself aside altogether. 
 
FACING 
 
 I had indulged a foolish dream : it must go, if there is need 
 for it to go. Why not ? What man has borne, man can 
 bear ; a sharp pang or two, and life grown a little greyer ; 
 but the years will go by all the same.' And again he said 
 but I wish you could have seen the strange expression of 
 his face, in its calm heroism of resignation : he said 
 * AYhat right had I to think that a beautiful young creature 
 like that, full of life and the enjoyment of life, should check 
 the natural current of her existence even for the sake of 
 her art ? I was wrong even there. If she must give up 
 her work ; if marriage is the one thing to secure her 
 happiness so be it. But at all events do not think that 
 she has broken any understanding, or betrayed anybody, or 
 done anything but what is perfectly right and straight- 
 forward and honest. She knows what I care most for it 
 is to see her perfectly happy : that being secured, my small 
 affairs can shift for themselves.' " 
 
 " And about Hitrovo ? " Peggy asked. 
 
 " Yes, that was his chief anxiety, his sole anxiety," her 
 friend continued. "And I told him frankly that Mrs. 
 Dumaresq had spoken to us ; and that she was very much 
 concerned ; and that we had promised to make inquiries at 
 Constantinople. But do not imagine it was to provoke 
 suspicion, or to ask me to caution Amelie, that Wolfenberg 
 came to me. Quite the reverse. He had nothing but 
 commendation for the young Kussian. He said it was so 
 natural that Amelie should be attracted by him his singularly 
 good looks his pleasant manner his desire to please " 
 
 " Oh, if he takes it in that way, I am so glad," Peggy 
 exclaimed, quite effusively. "I had been fearing such 
 terrible things. I pitied him so ! " 
 
 " Peggy," said the smaller woman, " Ernest Wolfenberg 
 has not got that firm mouth for nothing. Do you think he 
 cannot bring himself to face the inevitable if it should 
 turn out to be the inevitable ? And of one thing you may 
 be sure : Amelie Dumaresq will never know, she will never 
 be allowed to know, what is going on in that man's heart, 
 so long as he sees her happy, and beloved, and content." 
 She paused for a moment or two ; then she said " Well, 
 that poor woman, Mrs. Dumaresq, has made a direct appeal 
 to us. Perhaps we may hear something in Constantinople." 
 
io2 WO-LFE&BERG 
 
 And so, as the evening came along, we made our way 
 down towards Cape Colonna ; and then the dusk fell ; and 
 the dark ; and thereafter we went thundering onwards 
 through the night. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A DIP IN THE BOSPHORUS. 
 
 " THERE was once a man," says Peggy here on deck in 
 the early morning and she is looking across the dark blue 
 ^Egean, towards the mountainous coast-line of Mitylene 
 looming out from amongst sunlit and silver showers 
 " there was once a man who owned a great many houses in 
 the sea-side town where he lived ; and so extremely careful 
 of his property was he that when he found himself about to 
 die, he insisted upon being taken somewhere else, so that 
 the death-rate of the watering-place shouldn't be increased. 
 Very thoughtful and prudent, wasn't he ? " 
 
 Now when you have got hold of a good, capable l**r, yon 
 should never interrupt. Silence is the surest encouragement. 
 So Peggy proceeds : 
 
 " Yes ; you think of such odd people when you lie awake 
 in the morning. Did you ever hear of the hotel-keeper 
 where there was only the one show-place in the neighbour- 
 hood the cemetery ; and his wife was buried there ; and 
 he had put up the most elaborate monument to her carved 
 marble, and cherubs, and gold letters, and all that ; but as 
 soon as the season was over, and his visitors all gone away, 
 he used to bring that monument in-doors and keep it under 
 cover, leaving a plain block of stone in its place. He was 
 another economical man." 
 
 "Very." 
 
 " But the cruellest thing I ever heard of," she continues, 
 in a grave and absent kind of way, " was the man who was 
 so anxious about his bric-a-brac. He was so afraid of 
 having any of it destroyed that he spent years and years in 
 forming a collection in duplicate ; and when he had got 
 that completed, he couldn't find a duplicate of himself to 
 look after this second collection, and so he slowly pined 
 away and died." 
 
A DIP IN THE BOSPHORUS 103 
 
 " Keally 1 " 
 
 " Did I tell you that all those people were Scotch ? Yes, 
 they were ; but I was almost afraid to mention it ; for the 
 fact is, the Scotch are so desperately penurious that they 
 won't even let you have a little joke at their expense. 
 But never mind," says Peggy, cheerfully, " I can forgive 
 them everything, because they don't drop their 7^'s : that 
 covers a multitude of sins." 
 
 "Did you never hear of a Scotchman having dropped 
 an li ? " 
 
 " Never ! " 
 
 " There was one. Ben Jonson. But perhaps his family 
 did it for him : most likely the Johnsons changed their 
 name when they left Annandale." 
 
 " So Ben Jonson was a Scotchman ? Shakespeare too, of 
 course. I say," she goes on, in her irrelevant fashion, 
 " have you been paying any attention of late to that young 
 Mr. Verrinder ? Keally really he seems to me to presume 
 just a little too much on his slight acquaintance with us ; 
 why, the w r ay he seeks out my sister Emily and keeps 
 hanging about her all day long if it were anybody but the 
 Baby, one might almost imagine " 
 
 "Don't you think it is a charming sight to see the two 
 pretty dears together ? " 
 
 At this Peggy looks up, startled. 
 
 " Oh, good gracious ! you don't mean ? No, no. 
 
 That is quite too impossible ! I know the Baby too well 
 for that. The very last thing she would dream of ! But, 
 really, that young man is a little too forward a little too 
 persistent ; and she is so solemn and meditative so much 
 absorbed in her dreams of the saints that she does not 
 understand how there may be occasion for people to observe, 
 and comment. Poor Baby ! And yet it must be rather 
 
 fine to live in a perpetual dreamland Oh, bother the 
 
 child ! here she conies again looking more awful and 
 more majestic than any twenty dozen of Pallas Athenes 1 " 
 
 However, this was our good Sappho's morning : indeed, 
 so excited was she by the near proximity of those Lesbian 
 shores that she had forgot to go along and release Phaon 
 from his durance vile. She kept mostly to the forward 
 part of the vessel, walking about by herself, furtively 
 
104 WOLFENBERG 
 
 writing on scraps of paper, and gazing across the blue 
 waters to the low-lying hills under long levels of cumulus 
 cloud and to the successive dark promontories appearing 
 through white mists of rain. Nor was her enthusiasm 
 likely to abate when, after having passed Cape Baba, we 
 drew gradually nearer to the yellow strip of Tenedos and to 
 the "ringing plains of windy Troy." Fertile plains they 
 seemed to us, with no very distinguishing feature beyond 
 the odd little windmills of the wine-presses ; but we knew 
 that we had at leust one person on board who could people 
 those vague and vast sunlit distances with all kinds of 
 shapes and phantoms. We surmised that the little black 
 pencil was being kept busy. It is true that it was not until 
 some time afterwards that we heard something of what had 
 been vouchsafed to our perf ervid one ; and even then we 
 could only guess at it from certain incoherent scraps that 
 Peggy flung at us in a taunting and tantalising fashion. 
 
 'For the splendour of Helen still shines upon Troy!'* 
 
 she would say proudly in passing. And then again in 
 returning she would murmur under her breath 
 
 'My spirit exults in delirious joy, 
 For the splendour of Helen still shines upon Troy I f 
 
 At last, seeing that these spurs and whets were of no 
 avail, she came and said : 
 
 " I can easily understand why it is that literary people 
 will not, or dare not, confide in each other. They know 
 what they have to expect nothing but jealousy, and dis- 
 paragement, and envy. And yet if you only saw what I 
 have here in my hand I can tell you it is something. Just 
 listen to this : 
 
 * Blow, beautiful land, in a Uazon of flowers! 
 Burn, basilisk sun, through the sweltering hours ! 
 My spirit exults in delirious joy, 
 For the splendour of Helen still shines upon Troy ! ' n 
 
 "Oh, go and pitch that trash overboard ! " 
 " I knew it, I knew ifc," Peggy made answer, with much 
 resignation. " In any other profession there is something 
 like esprit de corps, and encouragement, and sympathy ; 
 
A DIP IN THE BOSPHORUS 105 
 
 but amongst literary folk there is nothing but backbiting 
 nnd hatred. It is really extraordinary. I do believe the 
 only man of letters I ever heard of who had a grain of 
 magnanimity in his nature was Sir Walter Scott the only 
 one. It's very sad." And thereupon, with something 
 of a sigh, she left us ; and that was all we ever got to 
 know about Sappho's emotions on beholding the Plain of 
 Troy. 
 
 Ly-and-by we entered the many-fortressed Dardanelles, 
 and steamed along until we got as far as Chanak-Kalesi, 
 where we slowed to let the Purser and the Doctor go ashore 
 for pratique. During this interval a rowing-boat came out 
 from the brilliant little town of red and white and yellow 
 houses ; and presently some of our indefatigable Orotanians 
 were chaffering over the side of the vessel for specimens of 
 that bizarre green-and-gold and black-and-gold pottery that 
 has given Chanak a certain name amongst collectors. But 
 either the manufacture has greatly fallen off of late years, 
 or the sailor-salesman had made a bad selection. We saw 
 nothing to desire. On the other hand, Amelie Dumaresq 
 was an eager, almost a furious, purchaser. She bought right 
 and left ; she seemed delighted with these barbaric extrava- 
 gances of colour ; she laughed at the grotesque water- jugs 
 at the open-jawed lions and tigers, tawny-hued, with slashes 
 of gold and scarlet. Wolfenberg looked on, amused. Her 
 mother feebly protested. In the end she carried away to her 
 cabin a whole armful of monstrosities. 
 
 And that was about the last we saw of Ame'lie Dumaresq 
 for the remainder of this afternoon as we went on by Cape 
 Abydos, and past Gallipoli, towards the wider waters of the 
 Sea of Marmora. For the whole situation of affairs was 
 about to reach a new development. It appeared that certain 
 amiable lunatics on board had conceived the project of 
 getting up an amateur concert ; and, in seeking about for 
 performers, they had come, amongst others, to M. Paul 
 Hitrovo. The young Russian admitted that he could fiddle 
 a little ; but said he had not brought his violin with him. 
 They answered that there was no difficulty as to that ; two 
 or three of the musical Orotanians were possessed of violins ; 
 he could easily procure the loan of one. Still he hesitated 
 for he was lazily disposed ; but presently he turned, with 
 
106 WOLFENBERG 
 
 some little accession of interest, to Miss Dumaresq, who was 
 standing by, and asked her whether she would play some 
 concerted piece with him some arrangement for violin and 
 piano. She said at once that she would if the piece could 
 be found, and time given them for practising together. 
 Then there was an instant call for music Dv6rak, Svendsen, 
 Saint-Saens being mostly in demand ; but at last the young- 
 lady decided that she would try an arrangement of Liszt's 
 Rhapsodic Hongroise, with which Hitrovo professed himself 
 familiar. And forthwith they set to work. They were seen 
 no more on deck that afternoon. If you happened to be 
 going by an open skylight, and paused to listen, you could 
 hear sounds from below the staccato notes of the piano, the 
 long-drawn sweep of the violin ; while some of those who 
 went down for tea remained to listen to this rehearsal. If 
 Ain61ie Dumaresq was not much of a singer, she was at least 
 an accomplished pianist. And as for the young Kussian ? 
 Well, the report that came up of his violin performance was 
 quite enthusiastic. At all events, those two had now found 
 a congenial occupation for themselves, which enabled them 
 to have as much of each other's society as they could possibly 
 desire. Nor was it imperative that they should confine 
 themselves to practising for the forthcoming concert. One 
 of our musical young ladies (the one who had lent her 
 violin) came up with the announcement that Mr. Hitrovo 
 had just been playing the air of a Eussian love song so 
 quaint, so simple, so melodious as to be altogether en- 
 trancing. And why should we be satisfied with that 
 Rhapsodic Hongroise ? Would not somebody make bold to 
 ask him to play some of the Eussian VoUcslieder ? 
 
 Now,- if any of us had grown weary of perpetual sunlight 
 and luminous blue seas, a change was at hand a change 
 sharp and decisive. Next morning, when we went on deck, 
 we found the vessel being swept from stem to stern by 
 torrents of rain ; the crests of the waves torn into spindrift 
 by blowing gusts of wind ; seagulls dipping and soaring and 
 gleaming white against the sombre and stormy sky. And it 
 was with these unfamiliar accompaniments that we glided 
 past the Seven Towers, past the domes and minarets of 
 Stamboul, past the mosques of Sultan Achmet and Santa 
 Sofia, past the long white buildings and the gardens of 
 
A DIP IN THE 6&SPHORUS 107 
 
 Seraglio Point ; finally, as we opened up the Golden Horn, 
 with its bridges, its shipping, its terraced hills, and its great 
 Suleiman ieh of Suleiman the Magnilicent, we gradually 
 ceased from further motion, and cast anchor in the green 
 waters of the Bosphorus. It was all a bewilderment. 
 Whence and whither had fled the City of many Dreams 
 rose-tinted, fair-shining, set in silent and ineffable beauty 
 betwixt earth and heaven ? There certainly was some kind 
 of city dark, spectral, phantasmal, behind these veils of 
 flying mists and rain; for we could make out domes and 
 spires and far-reaching panoramic heights reaching into the 
 louring sky ; but they were only vaguely visible ; while 
 around us there was nothing but a maddening confusion of 
 hurry and clamour and squalor puffing steam-tenders, 
 grimy tugs, pertinacious police-boats, swarming caiques, 
 with steam-whistles shrieking, funnels pouring forth volumes 
 of smoke, and officials in streaming black waterproofs 
 shouting and gesticulating through the prevailing din. And 
 here were we, a poor huddled group of creatures seeking 
 shelter under the boat-platform abaft the bridge, while 
 Peggy was asking ruefully if this was Grecnock that we Imd 
 reached at last. But Amelie Dumaresq, on the other 
 li;ind, was wholly and entirely delighted ; her eloquent black 
 eyes were full of an eager interest ; she shook the dripping 
 rain from her hair paying no heed. 
 
 "Isn't it splendid!" she cried, looking out on tluii. 
 ceaselessly moving phantasmagoria of whirling clouds and 
 Binoke, and swift-hurrying black funnels, and lapping green 
 water. " Not a trace of the chromo-lithograph ! Not the 
 least suggestion of the traditional old pictures. This is the 
 real Constantinople. This is as real as Fulton Ferry. 
 Isn't it a stroke of luck, Ernest ! " 
 
 " It is a special interposition of providence, Ame'lie," said 
 he, "to meet your frank down-rightness of mind, your love 
 of what is unconventional, and unexpected, and literally 
 true. And yet, you know, the Constantinople of the 
 chromo-lithographer must exist somewhere." 
 
 "In his own imagination," she replied, promptly. "In 
 his own depraved imagination. It is his idea of what is 
 bejuil iful. It is not what he sees, or has ever seen : it is 
 whut he thinks ought to be. And he goes about scattering 
 
io8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 his poison where it works most mischief in the homes of 
 the untravelled and uneducated." 
 
 " Why should not the poor man have his ideal of earthly 
 beauty, like any one else ? " said Paul Hitrovo, calmly 
 smiling. 
 
 " I would set him to sweep the streets ! " she cried, 
 savagely. But the next instant she had grown conscious of 
 her vehemence ; she laughed a little as her eyes met those of 
 the young Eussian ; and she said, with some faint touch of 
 colour in the pale, satin-smooth cheek : " Yes, let him have 
 his ideal. I suppose a good many of us worship some kind 
 or another of false idol, without knowing it." 
 
 However, this thunder-squall soon blew over ; the morn- 
 ing cleared up ; and by-and-by the Orotanians had all gone 
 ashore and dispersed their several ways some to walk with 
 slippered feet across the loose mattings of Sta. Sofia, others 
 to purchase embroideries and Ehodian plates in the bazaars, 
 others to call on friends away up in the fashionable quarters 
 of Pera. And if two of us had a less simple duty to under- 
 take that, namely, of getting some information which 
 might remove certain misgivings from the mind of an 
 anxious mother it needs only to be stated here that on this 
 first day we were entirely unsuccessful. Of course it was a 
 task that demanded a good deal of tact and delicacy : there 
 could be no direct questioning, no bawling aloud in the 
 market-place. And after all as Wolfenberg was eager to 
 point out there was a kind of negative satisfaction to be 
 drawn from the fact that, so far, nothing had been alleged 
 in the remotest way against the young Russian. His family 
 were of good repute ; if this particular member of it had 
 made himself unhappily conspicuous, the fact was likely to 
 have been remembered. 
 
 " I should almost be inclined to give Mrs. Dumaresq the 
 assurances she wants," said he, towards the end of the day. 
 " I don't think she can have anything to fear. The family 
 seem to be well known. And and there is certainly 
 nothing about the young man himself that would awake 
 suspicion. Certainly not. His manner his appearance 
 everything is in his favour. Besides that, Amelie herself is 
 just about as good a judge of character as most. She is 
 shrewd clear-headed observant : other women might get 
 
A DIP IN THE BOSPHORUS 109 
 
 bewildered, and drawn into a perilous position: I don't 
 think she would. So far, no one has had anything to say 
 against him. Why should Mrs. Dumaresq fear ? He seems 
 to me to have everything that can make a young man 
 attractive, good looks good manners and now there is 
 this musical bond between the two of them " 
 
 Not a word about himself : not a word about what he was 
 freely ready to surrender if she so wished it. We were on 
 the landing-stage at Galata, waiting for the tender to come 
 back from the ship. And perhaps he did not observe much 
 of what was now around and before him ? the approach of 
 evening Constantinople become more like the Constan- 
 tinople of pictures the rounded domes and slender 
 minarets of Stamboul growing dark against the splendour 
 of the west while away over in Scutari, from amidst the 
 black cypress-groves, a high window here and there shot 
 back a shaft of blinding flame. He may have seen, or may 
 not. His eyes were absent : perhaps he was looking at 
 other places and at other and future years. In any case, 
 an incident now occurred that broke in upon his reverie in a 
 sufficiently startling' manner. 
 
 For in the morning the Dumaresqs had declared their 
 intention of remaining on board during the first day ; and 
 Hitrovo had also decided to stay with them. But here, as 
 we were loitering about this stone quay, there drove up a 
 carriage into the open space behind us ; and, turning, we 
 found that it was the Dumaresqs and their Eussian friend 
 who had just arrived. What had induced them to change 
 their mind ? They did not carry parcels, like the Orotanians 
 who had been to the bazaars ; though Amelie Dumaresq had 
 some flowers in her hand. Well, it was of little moment : 
 only that this was the first time they had gone on shore 
 without Wolfenberg's escort. And that of itself might have 
 seemed significant, but what now happened drove speculation 
 and reflection out of every one's head. 
 
 " You here, Ernest ? " said the young lady, coming 
 forward in her frank and free fashion. "Have you had 
 enough of Constantinople for one day ? aren't those mangy 
 dogs too awful for anything and the odours of the streets ! 
 But at least the Turks are a handsomer race than the Greeks 
 did you ever see a more despicable-looking lot than the 
 
i TO WOLFENBERG 
 
 Greeks of Athens ? about as bad as the French of Algiers. 
 Don't you think so ? But but when are they going to send 
 ashore for us ? " she added impatiently. 
 
 "The tender will be back directly we just missed it," 
 said he. 
 
 " Oh, never mind the tender ! " she exclaimed. " We 
 shall be late for dinner here let us go out in this boat." 
 
 There was a caique within a couple of yards of her : the 
 swarthy boatman slowly backing down the stern, and mutely 
 appealing to be hired. Now the ordinary light caique is the 
 most unstable boat in existence ; unless you step at once 
 right down into the middle of the frail craft, over you 
 go. And this girl, in her light-hearted ignorance, and 
 before anyone could warn her, must needs go forward, and 
 proceed to jump into the boat by placing one foot on the 
 gunwale. 
 
 " Come along, mamma ! " she cried at the same moment, 
 counting on all being well. 
 
 But the gunwale simply went away from her. She threw 
 up her arms to save her balance scattering her buoquet ; 
 then somehow she seemed to fall backwards ; there was a 
 piercing shriek from her mother ; and in a second every one 
 was at the edge of the water and Hitrovo in it ! He had 
 slipped over, and got hold of her almost before she had time 
 to sink. With one hand he made a grasp at the side of the 
 caique ; but that was of no use though the boatman sprang 
 aft to help ; then he turned to the stone ledge of the quay, 
 where there was abundant aid to haul him out along with his 
 limp charge ; and the next moment they were standing 
 there, dripping, breathless, and laughing, in a most sorry and 
 ludicrous plight, and yet with one of them perhaps secretly 
 exultant that a heroic rescue had been effected on such easy 
 terms. The mamma alone was excited near to hysterics : 
 Amelie, on the other hand, as she shook her wet sleeves and 
 skirts, was obviously and horribly ashamed. 
 
 " I will not wait for the steam-launch ! " she exclaimed, 
 half laughing, and half in a temper. " Some one must hold 
 this wretched boat until we all get in, and then we will sneak 
 out to the ship, and steal up on board when nobody is 
 looking. Call that a boat ! It's all very fine to write verses 
 about the caique and Leila's cheek Leila had plenty of 
 
A DIP IN THE BOSPHORUS in 
 
 cheek if she wanted any one to go with her in a boat like 
 that " 
 
 " My precious darling ! " cried the poor mother, pathetic- 
 ally busy with a feeble and ineffectual handkerchief. " You 
 will get your death and and you must not try that boat 
 again the steam-launch or the tender must be here directly." 
 
 " I will not wait for either tender or steam-launch," she 
 said, imperiously, and yet with a profession of good-humour. 
 " Come, Ernest ; come, Mr. Hitrovo ; you must hold the 
 boat steady until mamma and I get in ; and then we will go 
 out and hang about the foot of the accommodation-ladder 
 until we can sneak on board without being seen. A bath in 
 the Bosphorus whew, but it begins to be cold it's perfectly 
 dreadful down my back." 
 
 So that was the end of this adventure, for the time being. 
 But although such secresy as was possible was practised on 
 getting on board (most of the people, indeed, were now below 
 preparing for dinner), the story soon made its way through 
 the ship ; and so far from there being any laughter over a 
 ludicrous incident, it seemed to lend a new and quite senti- 
 mental interest to the two figures that later on in the 
 evening might have been seen at the piano, the one seated, 
 the other standing with his violin at his shoulder, while 
 together they played a Fantasia on 'Carmen,' which they 
 had found in some amiable person's portfolio. 
 
 Next morning found our impetuous Sappho in a whirlwind 
 of eager anticipation ; for there were to be great festivities 
 in the town a procession of the Sultan to the Mosque a 
 grand review of troops and what not. ' Tambourgi ! 
 Tambourgi ! ' we heard her exclaiming ; and that sounded 
 alarmingly like an echo of the Major's muttered ejaculations ; 
 but we discovered it was only a quotation from her favourite 
 Byron, for she went on with 
 
 'Chimariot, Illyrian, and dark Suliote!' 
 
 The Major, by the way, came presently to us in a state of 
 furious indignation. 
 
 " Of all the impudent creatures that ever breathed ! " he 
 said, in incoherent wrath, and with his turkey-cock face 
 ablaze. " Absolutely shameless ! Won't take the plainest 
 hint ! " 
 
H2 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " But who ? who ? " one has to ask of him. 
 
 "Why, that madwoman that poetess that idiot that 
 frowsy, ugly, ill-dressed, elderly frump ! She comes and 
 tacks herself on to Lady Cameron must join our party 
 the dear Major's military knowledge quite playful and 
 flattering, the antiquated old giggler ! And her pug ; oh, 
 yes, she must bring that blessed beast too she'll carry it 
 all the time not in anybody's way. Gad, I wish that 
 growling little brute would bite me ! I do honestly 
 actually and fairly bite me ; for I'd snatch it out of her 
 very arms, if she was shrieking like the Witch of Endor, 
 and overboard the hideous little wretch would go the very 
 next second " 
 
 " Poor Phaon ! But if she leads him by a string 
 through the streets of Constantinople those other dogs 
 lying about the pavements mightn't there be a chance of 
 a scrimmage ? " 
 
 A new light seemed to dawn on the Major ; he laughed 
 a ferocious, an unholy laugh. 
 
 " He'd get chawed up in an instant ! eh, eh ! By Jove, 
 that'll be worth seeing I I'll go and tell the madwoman we 
 particularly want her to bring the little beast with her, and 
 she needn't take the trouble to carry him oh, no ! 
 leading him by a string will be quite sufficient. What a 
 grand idea ! " And forthwith he turned away, with these 
 base and treacherous designs in his brain. 
 
 Then we saw them leave for the shore, the Major wearing 
 an air of importance, being in charge of all those women- 
 folk. The Dumaresqs were also going to see the Imperial 
 procession, the young Russian accompanying them. Mrs. 
 Dumaresq, it is true, seemed a little concerned that 
 Wolfenberg was remaining behind, and expressed some 
 timid remonstrance ; but he made sufficient excuse ; and, 
 indeed, the poor lady was in the habit of leaving all 
 arrangements in her daughter's hands. 
 
 " You may be sure of this, mamma," Amelie Dumaresq 
 remarked, as she shook loose her dust-cloak and fastened 
 her gloves, " that Ernest has something better to do than 
 stare at squadrons of Turkish cavalry. Leave him to 
 himself : the world will be the gainer. Come along : the 
 tender is waiting." And thereupon she led the way down 
 
A DIP IN THE BOSPHORUS 113 
 
 the accommodation-ladder, and stepped on board, and took 
 lidr place among the other Orotanians. She looked up, and 
 waved a little good-bye to AVolfenberg : he raised his cap, 
 and then turned away. Perhaps he was growing accus- 
 tomed to seeing his guardianship of those two being 
 gradually transferred into other hands. 
 
 On this second mission of inquiry we were more fortunate 
 singularly fortunate, indeed, inasmuch as the information 
 we sought was volunteered to us, and that in a curiously 
 accidental way. It should be said, however, that a list of 
 the passengers by the Orotania had appeared in the Levant 
 Herald of that morning ; so that any one whom we might 
 chance to meet, either at the Embassy or elsewhere, was 
 sure to know who our companions were. 
 
 " Hitrovo ? Paul Hitrovo ? Yes, it must be the same. 
 Lying quiet for a time. Best thing he could do." 
 
 This was the first hint ; and a mere expression of 
 ignorance on our part was all the further question that was 
 needed, 
 
 " Don 't you know the story ? Oh, well, it was hushed 
 up in a way ; an awkward scandal ; but when once names 
 are mentioned, it is difficult to get them withdrawn or 
 forgotten." 
 
 " A scandal ? " said Wolfenberg, quickly. " But but 
 perhaps it was not very serious." 
 
 " Not as regards your shipmate ; oh, no," was the light- 
 hearted answer. " All that could be said against him was 
 that he seems to have got into a very fast set a sporting 
 set in Vienna rather going the pace, I imagine. But 
 the particular scandal was bad enough ; very awkward 
 incident ; cheating at cards ; a quarrel ; a duel there and 
 then, ending in nothing ; and a suicide the next morning. 
 A very ugly story altogether; but they tried to get it 
 
 hushed up, because a nephew of the Grand Duke was 
 
 of the party." 
 
 "But it was not Hitrovo who was caught cheating?" 
 Wolfenberg interposed again. 
 
 "No, no; but he was there; and altogether I am not 
 surprised he considered it prudent to slip away for awhile 
 and let things rest." 
 
 Wolfenberg looked immensely relieved. 
 
 I 
 
ii 4 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " And that is all ? " he demanded. 
 
 "It is all I ever heard of him. But you ought to 
 have got to know him pretty well by this time on board 
 ship ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, yes," Wolfenberg said, affecting a certain 
 indifference. " Oh, yes, naturally.. We get to know a little 
 about every one on board ship sailing together constant 
 association naturally, naturally." And he put aside the 
 Levant Herald and its list of passengers with a kind of 
 careless air, as if the story that had been thus accidentally 
 revealed was of little importance to him. But his eyes 
 thereafter were thoughtful ; and for some time he was 
 silent seated here at an open window, in the cool shade of 
 an awning, high on the heights of Pera. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 " OATS-PEASE-BEANS." 
 
 NIGHT had fallen ; but Constantinople was all a blaze and 
 glory of illumination ; and over the black waters of the 
 harbour burned the riding-lights of the ships and steamers 
 innumerable golden points of fire in the dark. Here on 
 deck there were but a few dusky figures, hardly distinguish- 
 able save when they chanced to pass the open skylight of 
 the saloon. And if any one of them had had the curiosity 
 to peer over and look below ? Well, there was rather a 
 pretty sight visible there : the slim young Russian seated at 
 the piano, and Amelie Dumaresq standing by him, pleased, 
 interested, and listening with all her ears, as he began to 
 play, in a slow and graceful fashion, Tscha'ikowsky's Nur 
 iver die Sehnsmlit kennt. The odd thing was that the 
 moment Mrs. Threepenny-bit, standing by the skylight, 
 recognised the air of the Russian love-song, she looked 
 startled for a moment, and then she said, somewhat 
 hurriedly, to Wolfenberg, who was talking to her 
 
 " Shall we go a little way along towards the wheel ? 
 There will be less chance of interruption." And he 
 followed her obediently, probably little guessing at the real 
 reason for her sudden retreat. 
 
 Ho had come to ask her advice. Ought Mrs. Dumaresq 
 
OA TS-PEASE-BEANS 1 1 5 
 
 to be informed of what we had heard about Paul Hitrovo ? 
 His own opinion was that she should not. 
 
 " There is nothing so very terrible about it," he said 
 and he seemed anxious that we should all of us think 
 of this young man whom Amelie Dumaresq had so well 
 markedly taken into her favour "An unfortunate escapade 
 somothing to be soon forgotten and even if a young 
 fellow has got into a fast set, well, it is easy for him to get 
 out of it again. What is that ? no ; I think the negative 
 evidence is all to his advantage ; and besides, haven't we 
 plenty of opportunities of judging of himself from day to 
 day ? I don't see any definite reason why Mrs. Dumaresq 
 should be anxious should be at all anxious. Then, again, 
 Amelie is one not easily blinded ; she has clear perceptions ; 
 if she has been drawn to this young Russian, it must be 
 on account of certain qualities that she recognises and 
 appreciates " 
 
 " Do you think so ? " said the small woman, gently 
 indeed, she had never overcome her half -declared and 
 probably quite unreasonable prejudice against M. Paul 
 Hitrovo. "I have seen some strange instances of infatua- 
 tion some that did not last long either. And in this 
 present case I would wait. I would not make matters too 
 serious. Perhaps she is merely amusing herself : girls often 
 do on board ship " 
 
 " No, no," said he, distinctly. " That is nob her character 
 at all. She is too thorough for that. It is real whatever 
 it is and however it may end." He was silent for a little 
 while. Then he said : " I may have been wrong all the way 
 through. There are mysteries in human nature that are 
 difficult to read. Haven't I told you that with all her 
 splendid vitality and enjoyment of life, her eager spirits, 
 her resolute self-confidence, she has at times moods of 
 profound despondency and almost despair ? Have I never 
 told you about her often sitting up till three and four in the 
 morning, alone, and thinking ? Well, I put that all down 
 to the divine discontent of the artist a constant seeking 
 for that which cannot be found a perpetual longing and 
 restlessness the creative faculty ever striving after some 
 new thing. But I may have been mistaken. Perhaps it 
 was that she felt her artist life to be only a part of her 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 woman's life ; and not enough. Perhaps it was some sense 
 of incompleteness some unsatisfied yearnings and instincts 
 not understood by herself the woman stronger than the 
 artist, and demanding emotions, and sympathies, and 
 associations which art cannot give. I may not explain 
 clearly : these are only vague speculations of mine. Perhaps 
 I expected too much counted on too much abnegation. 
 After all, she is a woman ; and ' contentment, like the 
 speedwell, blows along the common beaten way.' Very well. 
 So be it. Whatever promises to secure her happiness, that 
 is the one thing ; and my theories, and wishes, and hopes, 
 connected with the artistic side of her life, must simply go 
 to the wall and welcome ! " 
 
 He spoke so equably and firmly and dispassionately: it 
 was as if he would have us believe that the possible change 
 in Amelie Dumaresq's whole programme of existence could 
 not affect him in any way whatsoever. But perhaps the 
 woman to whom he was now talking could form her own 
 guesses as to the slow agony of sleepless hours through which 
 he had won to this forced and outward calm of renunciation. 
 And she may have suspected that those tragic hours 
 solitary, dreaded, full of unspoken farewells to the cherished 
 dreams and plans of years were not yet done with, or likely 
 t o ba done with. His tone was firm and strong and resolute ; 
 there was nothing but kindliness and thoughtfulness with 
 regard to the girl herself ; there was no mention of any 
 interests or projects of his own : but he could not altogether 
 deceive. This present companion and confidante of his had 
 at times caught a look in his face, in his eyes, when he 
 happened to glance towards Amelie Dumaresq and her new 
 friend, that spoke of many things. 
 
 And on the very next morning she showed in a practical 
 manner her understanding of the situation and her sincere 
 and active sympathy. This, by the way, was an extremely 
 brisk and lively morning ; the ship in general commotion ; 
 and Miss Penguin, our fiery poetess, the heroine of the 
 hour. For it appeared that, on the previous day, when 
 she and the other Orotanians were witnessing the proces- 
 sion of the Sultan on his way to the mosque, she had 
 become enthusiastic over the splendid military spectacle, and 
 had even developed some sudden impulse of loyalty towards 
 
OA TS-PEASE-BEA NS 117 
 
 the Commander of the Faithful himself ; insomuch that 
 when he drew near, greeted by the mournful howls of the 
 soldiers, she called aloud to her companions : 
 
 "Three cheers from the Orotaniaris for his Imperial 
 Majesty the Sultan ! " 
 
 It was Peggy who told us this story. She said that the 
 instant His Majesty heard the unusual sound the ringing 
 English cheer he at once turned and looked, and smiled, 
 and made the little dabs that form the Turkish salute. 
 Nor was that all that came from Sappho's impulsive inter- 
 vention. The Sultan, as it turned out, proceeded to make 
 inquiries as to who the strangers were ; and in the evening 
 he was graciously pleased to send one of his aides-de-camp to 
 invite them to inspect on the following day the treasures 
 of the Seraglio, and also to visit the twin Palaces on the 
 Bosphorous, the Asiatic Beyler Bey and the European Dolma 
 Baghcha. And thus it was that on this busy morning we 
 found a whole procession of the Imperial caiques coining out 
 to the Orotania to carry away these favoured folk. Very 
 picturesque looked the long and slender and graceful boats : 
 eight or ten rowers in each, with sun-tanned faces, snow- 
 white costumes, and red fez ; the oars, between the gunwale 
 and the hand, puffed out for balance, like the cork butt of 
 a fishing-rod indefinitely magnified. And, of course, the 
 women were all eagerness to get away ; there were wonderful 
 tales of the bejewelled cups and vessels out of which they 
 would take their coffee and sip jelly compounded of rose- 
 leaves ; there were still more marvellous stories of collections 
 of precious stones that would cause all eyes to wonder. 
 Sappho was particularly energetic ; nay, had she not earned 
 the right to exercise a little authority, seeing that all this 
 had come about through her means ? She entertained the 
 handsome aide-de-camp with much sprightly conversation, in 
 quite sufficiently fluent French. She hinted to the Captain 
 that he might ask that most courteous emissary and officer 
 to dinner. She went to the Purser, and begged him to get 
 the bandmaster to play the Turkish national air on the 
 arrival of our guest or guests. And when she went down the 
 
 accommodation-ladder, it was Bey himself who handed 
 
 her into the first of the caiques ; and we felt that Sappho 
 had merited the honour, in spite of her pernicious rhymes. 
 
uS WOLFENBERG 
 
 Meanwhile, what of the others ? Well, on this occasion 
 there was no need to make up very definite parties ; for this 
 was to be & water-excursion, first to the Serai over in 
 Stainboul, and then along to the Bosphorus ; it was only 
 when the hiring of the carriages had to be contemplated 
 that we arranged who was to go ashore with whom. The 
 Major, of course, was in dutiful attendance on Lady 
 Cameron ; and young Julian Verrinder, more modestly and 
 shyly, hovered about the Juno-eyed maiden, who seemed 
 afraid almost to look at him, such being her guilty con- 
 ciousness of mind. Mrs. Dumaresq, at the last moment, 
 seemed inclined to draw back ; but she was instantly over- 
 ruled by her daughter. 
 
 " Why, mamma, you know there is nothing in the world 
 interests you so much as jewels ! " she exclaimed. " And 
 just listen to what Mr. Hitrovo says about the pearls and 
 emeralds two soldiers guarding a single stone ! And who 
 knows but that I might get some new idea, some Eastern 
 idea, for the setting of my diamonds ? I must have them 
 re-set. I am quite dissatisfied." 
 
 " My dear child ! " the mother said, in a frightened 
 whisper. " How can you be so indiscreet ! It was mad 
 enough of you to bring them with you, but to talk of them, 
 with all these strangers hanging around " 
 
 " At all events you're going ashore with us," the 
 imperious young lady said, paying little heed to this 
 admonition. " I would not miss seeing the Dolma Baghcha 
 for worlds it must be a perfect dream of Eastern luxury. 
 Mr. Hitrovo, will you give mamma your hand ? " 
 
 We were the last little group at the top of the accommo- 
 dation-ladder ; certain of us looking forward not so much 
 to palaces and gems and rose-leaf jelly as to the novel 
 experience of gliding along in those graceful caiques. But 
 at this moment Miss Dumaresq stopped. 
 
 " Where is Ernest ? " said she to her mother. " I don't 
 see him in any of the boats. Isn't he going with us ? " 
 
 Well, we had not missed him either ; but on turning 
 towards the deserted ship, there was no difficutly in making 
 him out ; his was the solitary figure slowly pacing up and 
 down by the wheel-box, and directing an occasional glance 
 towards the now departing caiques, Ame'lie Dumaresq 
 
OA TS-PEASE-BEANS 1 1 9 
 
 hesitated for a second. It would take some time to go and 
 remonstrate with him, and persuade him ; whereas those 
 people below were waiting for her. She seemed annoyed 
 and impatient ; but at last she said 
 
 " Oh, I suppose he wants to remain on board ! " And 
 therewith she went on down the accommodation-ladder. 
 
 Not so the small woman in whose ear Ernest Wolfenberg 
 had been pouring his confidences on the previous evening. 
 
 " I will not leave him alone like that it is too shame- 
 ful ! " she said, under her breath. And she turned to the 
 third officer : " No, thank you, I don't think I shall go 
 ashore tell them not to wait." 
 
 There was another person adjacent who was only too 
 glad to escape a dose of sightseeing, and who welcomed the 
 prospect of a quiet day on board with an exceeding joy. 
 We should have the whole ship to ourselves ; we should 
 lunch with the officers ; we should hear of many experiences 
 in far lands some of them, perhaps, approximating to the 
 truth. And if the solitary man down there by the wheel 
 chose to remain all day by himself, that also was at his 
 goodwill and pleasure. But our Mrs. Threepenny-bit had 
 imagined aright ; hardly had the last caique left the 
 vessel's side when he came along and joined us. 
 
 "Not going ashore?" he said lightly. "Not at the 
 invitation of the Sultan ? Oh, you really ought to have 
 gone : it isn't every one who is shown the treasures of the 
 Seraglio Palace ; a great honour, as I understand." Then 
 he seemed to think that some explanation was necessary of 
 his own conduct in separating himself from his friends. 
 "As for me well you see, the Dumaresqs and I have 
 travelled a good deal together and naturally they are 
 glad to have fresher and livelier society something new 
 the companionship of an old fogey like myself cannot be 
 very entertaining." 
 
 " Ah, but you must not talk like that 1 " said she, warmly. 
 " I know how Mrs. Dumaresq speaks of your constant 
 kindness and your care of them ; she is most grateful to 
 you, and no wonder ; and Amelie " 
 
 There was the slightest quiver of his eyelids ; but he did 
 not raise his eyes. 
 
 " Ame'lie also," continues this small woman ; " do you 
 
I2D WOLFENBERG 
 
 think she does not understand what she owes to yo.rr 
 friendship? As for going ashore why, she was looking 
 everywhere for you she was asking for you the very last 
 thing before she left the ship." 
 
 " Well," said he, " since we are together again, and by 
 ourselves, shall we return to those dark mysteries of 
 existence that we left unexplored last night ? " 
 
 He spoke smilingly ; but that smile soon died away from 
 his face ; and his eyes looked rather tired and worn and 
 hopeless. Perhaps he fancied we might notice something 
 of this in his appareance. 
 
 " I could not sleep well last night," he said ; " and so I 
 got up and walked about the deck. And I did not go back 
 to my cabin. The sunrise was wonderful the pale light 
 behind the domes and spires it was like a dream some- 
 thing distant something centuries remote, and unreal, like 
 an Eastern story. And I had plenty of time for going over 
 that problem again. Those quiet hours bring counsel. 
 And it seemed to me that Amelie Dumaresq might fairly 
 say to any onlooker to any one a little bit concerned about 
 her future she might fairly say, 'The world has many 
 artists ; while I have but the one world and the one life to 
 live in it.' " 
 
 We could surmise what had brought him up on deck for 
 that lonely pacing to and fro, even before the blue-grey 
 dawn had risen clear and trembling behind the tall 
 minarets. 
 
 "If you have an artistic gift," he went on, in a kind of 
 absent way but we knew how nearly these apparently 
 abstract speculations touched the one person in whom he 
 was so deeply interested " even a great artistic gift what 
 is the obligation under which you lie of exercising it ? 
 Why should you be bound to exercise it ? Take the case 
 of a woman : which is her higher duty the living fully 
 and completely her own life, or the cultivation of what 
 artistic faculty she happens to possess ? " 
 
 " Could not both go together ? " was tho timid suggestion. 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " ' The reed that grows never more again, As a reed with 
 the reeds in the river.' Art is inexorably exacting. Aud 1 
 don't myself see where the duty or obligation lies, If a 
 
OA TS-PEASE-BEANS 1 2 1 
 
 woman perceives that the complete fulfilment of her life 
 involves love and marriage and maternity, is not that the 
 higher duty that she owes to herself, and owes to the world, 
 as one might say, as well as to herself ? " 
 
 " Mr. Wolfenberg," said this confidante of his, who has 
 a rare courage when it is demanded of her, "may I speak 
 frankly ? You are simply inventing a lot of desperate 
 excuses for what you fear Am61ie Dumaresq is going to do ; 
 you want that to appear natural and inevitable and right ; 
 and you won't have it that she has caused you or any 
 one disappointment by throwing over her ambition as an 
 artist. You are bent on defending her whatever she 
 does. But some one might reply to you : "The world has 
 plenty of wives and mothers : it is Amelie Dumaresq's 
 duty to cultivate the exceptional gift she possesses ' and 
 it is you yourself who have told us how exceptional that 
 gift is." 
 
 His pale and thoughtful face flushed a little though the 
 home-thrust was not meant in any unkindly , way. And 
 indeed she went on to give him such comfort as her 
 sufficiently nimble brain could evolve from the situation. 
 
 " I want you to remember this," she said, " that she has 
 not yet definitely abandoned her artistic career, or taken up 
 with any other. You are simply so devoted to her that you 
 want to justify her beforehand, in view of any possibility, 
 But is it likely she should all at once resolve to give up her 
 painting, merely because of her making a new friend ? Oh, 
 no ; surely not ; but then, on the other hand, she is very 
 much attracted by whatever interests her at the moment ; 
 and this new acquaintance amuses her, makes her curious, 
 perhaps even tantalises her through his indifference of 
 manner : she is like a child with a new toy, incapable of 
 thinking of anything else " 
 
 But again he shook his head. 
 
 " Her nature is stronger and deeper than all that," said 
 he. " She is at once tenacious and firm ; no fear of con- 
 sequences will deter her." 
 
 " A breath of cold wind sometimes awakens people who 
 have been only partially mesmerised." 
 
 For a second he looked at her. But he had not the 
 courage to ask her whence might come any such revivifying 
 
122 WOLFENBERG 
 
 draught. Was she hinting at that most perilous of all 
 things -intervention and remonstrance and warning ? 
 
 Yet who could have imagined there were any haunting 
 problems of existence, or cruel searchings of heart, or indeed 
 anything of care, or trouble, or perplexity, in any way 
 connected with this radiant young creature when she came 
 back in the afternoon, arriving at the head of the companion- 
 ladder breathless, laughing, excited, pleased with herself 
 and pleased with everybody, and altogether charmed and 
 delighted with her experiences of the day ? Nay, in her 
 waywardness and gaiety she chose to be petulant with her 
 Eussian friend ; told him that she had heard from one of 
 the Turkish officers the true story about Plevna ; and 
 declared her intention of standing up when the band should 
 play the Turkish national air in honour of our guests. 
 And when at length she went away to dress for dinner we 
 conjectured that from her abundant store of diamonds of 
 which we had vaguely heard it was the crescent ornament 
 she would choose on this particular evening to shine in her 
 raven-black hair. 
 
 This was our last night in Constantinople ; and there 
 was a little stir of expectation throughout the ship, for 
 there were certain shore-acquaintances who were coming to 
 dine with us and say good-bye. Those who were on deck 
 beheld the lofty domes and speared minarets grow gradually 
 darker and darker against the splendour of the dying day ; 
 a crescent moon of clearest silver hung high in the violet 
 heavens ; and as the twilight fell the twin red rays of the 
 lighthouse that is known as Leander's Tower, over yonder 
 at Scutari, burned strong through the dusk. It was 
 during this interval of waiting (while the musicians, grouped 
 round the newly-lit lamp, were playing a slow and sinuous- 
 moving waltz) that our Peggy appeared, queen-like as of 
 old. Yet she did not have her customary air of high and 
 confident good-humour. 
 
 " Missis," said she, in an undertone, " I am glad Mr. 
 Wolfenberg did not go with us to the Palaces to-day." 
 
 " What now, then ? " said her friend. 
 
 " Well, I think that girl shows her partiality for her 
 Russian acquaintance just a little too openly. She has eyes 
 and ears for no one else." 
 
OA TS-PEASE-BEANS 1 23 
 
 " Peggy," said the other, rather sadly, " can't you under- 
 stand why Wolfenberg remained on board this ship to-day ? 
 He has nerved himself to face what he fears is inevitable in 
 the future : what he cannot bring himself to face is the 
 intermediate steps the gradual process going on meanwhile. 
 It is too much to ask of him. She is being taken away 
 from him, and from all that they have planned together ; 
 you cannot expect him to look on as an unconcerned 
 spectator. It must be torture to him : why should he not 
 avoid it ? I have been trying to reassure him as well as I 
 could ; and of course it is quite possible she may get cured 
 of this infatuation ; but in the meantime I can believe 
 that, however he may conceal it, it is just tearing his heart 
 in two to see her devoting herself to this man " 
 
 " And yet you say "Wolfenberg is not in love with her ! " 
 Peggy exclaimed. " Why, what is that but the maddened 
 jealousy of a lover, a hopeless lover what else is it ? " 
 
 " I do not know the whole thing is too terrible," replied 
 her friend, with a sigh. And that was all she could say 
 just then ; for here were our guests arriving at the gangway, 
 while at the same moment the tinkle of the steward's belt 
 began to sound through the ship : so curiously are tragic 
 things and trivial commingled in this bewildering phantas- 
 magoria of a world. 
 
 Next morning found us entering the Black Sea ; and for 
 a while it seemed as if we were about to get a bit of a 
 dusting before it was done with us. There was a stiff 
 breeze blowing, with heavy squalls of rain ; the long roll of 
 the lurid waves was -broken everywhere into whirling crests 
 of white ; the wind kept freshening up ; and the Orotania 
 plunged and swung and laboured in a most unaccustomed 
 fashion. To our modern Argonauts adventuring into the 
 mysterious Euxine, it might have appeared that these 
 unknown waters, dreaded of old, meant to keep up their 
 ancient and evil reputation for cold and mists and storms. 
 But the good fortune that had befriended us so far followed 
 us hither also ; as the day wore on, the bursts of sunlight 
 became more frequent ; the leaden-grey sea changed to a 
 vivid blue-black, opaque and heavy with colour ; while the 
 sky over-arching that breadth of deepest indigo was clearing 
 to a summer like fineness, with flying shreds of cloud, palely 
 
1 24 WOLFENBERG 
 
 opalescent, that the fierce sunlight seemed to be gradually 
 eating up. It was quite a joyous thing this buffeting about, 
 after the protracted spells of calm, so long as the inevitable 
 promenade on deck did not precipitate you into somebody's 
 lap. And the swift-rushing, dead-blue waves, with their 
 tossing crests torn into spindrift, were a welcome sight, and 
 might have been even a noble and inspiring sight, but that 
 our image-destroyer was again to the fore, apparently deter- 
 mined we should not have a single illusion left. 
 
 " Why, what rubbish it is," exclaimed Miss Dumaresq, in 
 her cruelly downright fashion, " for people to talk about 
 the great spaces of the sea the immensity of the view 
 and poetical exaggerations of that kind ! There is no 
 immensity of view at all. On land there is, especially in a 
 hilly country : at sea there is nothing of the kind. How 
 far is it over to the horizon there ? Not more than ten or 
 a dozen miles, I suppose ! But you can see fifty or sixty 
 miles on land, when the hills are high enough 
 
 " Amelie," said Wolfenberg, " I fancy I have heard that 
 you can see the Peak of Teneriffe, from the deck of a vessel, 
 some hundred or hundred and twenty miles away " 
 
 " Yes, because that is the land ! " she insisted. " Of the 
 ocean itself you can never see but a little bit a little circle 
 a mere round gridiron." 
 
 She had her contention, of course. For one thing, 
 Wolfenberg never contradicted her, or argued with her ; he 
 would merely throw out a little tentative suggestion now 
 and again, to see if it appealed to her. But what especially 
 struck us all through this brilliant, tumbling, and tossing 
 day and while the west flamed dusky red in the evening, 
 with the promenaders on deck grown almost black and as 
 the night) came suddenly upon us, with the young moon 
 sailing through the violet heavens and sending golden- white 
 reflections splintering across the waves what especially 
 struck us was that this resumed life on board ship seemed 
 bo have brought back Amelie Dumaresq to her old 
 allegiance. Perhaps she had become conscious that during 
 those days in Constantinople she had too obviously for- 
 saken and neglected old friends for new ; perhaps she had 
 had time to reflect on Wolfenberg's being left alone, and 
 had grown a little remorseful. At all events, she appeared 
 
OA TS-PEASE-8EANS i 25 
 
 determined there should be no more of those isolated 
 reveries now ; she entirely devoted herself to him ; she was 
 most affectionate. And it must be said that the Eussian 
 did not seek to interfere ; nay, she was not one to brook 
 interference ; she was imperious in her ways ; if she wished 
 to have such and such arrangements made, they had to be 
 made. And how easy it was for her to show her old 
 companion favour ! She called him " Ernest : " there was 
 no other man on board this ship whom she named by his 
 Christian name. Wolfenberg seemed inclined to laugh a 
 little at her, so serious was she, and assiduous ; and yet 
 perhaps it was pleasant to be petted and made much of by 
 this charming and winning and brilliant creature, whose 
 long-lashed, lustrous dark eyes beamed, whose red lips 
 smiled to show pearly teeth, whose finger-tips had a touch 
 that thrilled. It was like old times for all of us : it was 
 like the beginning of the voyage ; we remembered the 
 foreign-looking fascinating girl with the pale olive face 
 and the magnificent black hair who had attracted every 
 one's notice on the very first evening, and who had there- 
 after puzzled us not a little with her alternations of wilful 
 self-assertion and childish playfulness. How long was it 
 since she had taunted Ernest Wolfenberg with being Mr. 
 Gloomy-Brows ? How long was it since she had sat down 
 to the piano laughing to tease him with her Spanish 
 song : 
 
 * Out of reach and sight of man 
 1 will keep me (if I can /), 
 For Pm but a little maid, 
 And of love Tm so afraid! 9 
 
 But this was not her mood to-night, when we were once 
 more assembled in the saloon for dinner. Oh, no ; now 
 she was all anticipation about once more getting to work ; 
 she had found her subject if he approved ; she hoped she 
 might be able to make of it something that would win 
 from him at least a glance of commendation. As for the 
 exhibitions ? she cared nothing for the exhibitions. As 
 for the critics or the public ? she cared for neither the 
 critics nor the public. It was for one whom she knew to 
 be a true artist to say whether she had done well or ill : if 
 
126 WOLFENBERG 
 
 ill, then there would be the fire handy and oblivion and 
 a resolve to try for something better. 
 
 " And the subject, Amelie ? " he said. 
 
 " ' Oats-pease-beans ,' " she answered. 
 
 " I beg your pardon ? " interposed Mrs. Threepenny-bit, 
 doubtfully she being not very learned in folk-lore. 
 
 " Ah, perhaps that is not the English name ; that is our 
 American name," she explained. " It is a children's game 
 a kind of dance a number of little girls joining hands 
 in a ring and they have a rhyme that they sing as they go 
 round 
 
 * You and I and nobody Jcnoivs 
 Where oats-pease-beans and barley grows.''" 
 
 " Oh, how very quaint ! " exclaimed the elder woman, 
 with evident interest. " And of course you will put them 
 in a pretty meadow, in the spring-time, and they will be 
 wearing chains of daisies and buttercups." 
 
 Now was there ever in the world a worse shot made ! 
 That any one who had seen any of Amelie Duinaresq'fi 
 work, or even known herself and heard her talk, should 
 have formed such a futile forecast seemed incredible ; bat 
 we are not all of us wise at all moments. 
 
 " Oh, no, I mean to put them in Greenwich Street," the 
 young lady replied promptly ; and then, seeing that this 
 did not much enlighten us, she proceeded to explain still 
 further. " Perhaps you are not very familiar with the 
 business part of New York city ? Well, neither am I ; but 
 I know enough of it for my present purpose. For I should 
 take this little group of children squalid little brats that 
 had wandered out of the slums and I should make them 
 play ' Oats-pease-beans ' on the side-walk in Greenwich 
 Street at the very busiest hour of the day ; and the subject 
 of the picture would really be the different expressions of 
 the various business men coming on this interruption of the 
 traffic with the absolute unconsciousness of the children, 
 of course. Then look at the studies of character that 
 might be brought in. There would be the hurrying man, 
 impatient and angry, scowling and almost ready to box 
 their ears ; there would be the more human creature, 
 stopping for a moment to look, and smiling perhaps 
 
OA TS-PEASE-BEANS 1 27 
 
 slipping his hand into his pocket for a stray quarter, though 
 I don't know how I could paint that ; there might be the 
 entirely engrossed man, not seeing anything, but only 
 vaguely aware of some obstruction and trying to avoid it ; 
 oh, there would be no end to the studies in human nature 
 that you could bring in ! And then, in the middle of all 
 tliis commercial whirl and tumult, and in the middle of all 
 those grown-up tempers and scowls, the small wretches, 
 quite oblivious, prancing around with their 
 
 * You and I and nobody knows 
 Where oats -pease-beans and barley grows? 
 
 I think that will be quite as idyllic as putting them in a 
 meadow with young lambs and buttercups." 
 
 " And I think so too," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with 
 decision : she might have known that Ame'lie Dumaresq 
 was not likely to paint any pretty, conventional landscape. 
 
 " "Well, Ernest," said the young lady, cheerfully, " what 
 do you think will it do ? " 
 
 " If you see your subject in it, that is enough," he made 
 answer. And then he said, with a smile : " It will be a 
 test of your experience of human life, Amelie, quite ap.irt 
 from its pictorial qualities. What proportion of the grown- 
 ups are you going to make ill-tempered and scowling ? " 
 
 " Oh, I can't have it sentimental," she exclaimed at once. 
 " No, I must have it true. And I won't go much by my 
 own experience ; only I imagine that nine men out of ten 
 or shall we say nineteen out of twenty ? if they were 
 suddenly brought up by such an obstruction, would say 
 something very like what the Major sometimes says when 
 he fancies no one can hear. What do you think ? do I 
 judge too ill of my fellow-creatures ? Well, I don't care, 
 if it will make my picture the stronger. In fact, I think I 
 will have the whole of those men angry and scowling and 
 impatient the whole lot of them all of them, except one ; 
 and that solitary bystander must come in to strike the note 
 of kindliness and human sympathy." She hesitated ; looked 
 at him with laughing and yet timid eyes ; and then said, 
 with a pretty confusion : " Ernest, you must be my model 
 for that single bystander." 
 
 So that was all that we heard at this time about the 
 
123 WOLFENDRRG 
 
 Oats-pease-leans project ; but naturally, taken in con- 
 junction with her marked change of manner towards her 
 old friend, it was not likely to be forgotten. On this very 
 evening, when our women-folk had got into their snug 
 retreat aft of the wheel-box (the wonder-world of the stars 
 was all brilliant now, and there were glow-worm lights 
 twinkling for a moment hither and thither on the tumul- 
 tuous blue-black waves) Peggy at once said : 
 
 " Well, now, Missis, what do you say to that ? If she 
 talks about returning to America, and getting on with her 
 work, she can have no thought of marrying and settling 
 down in Europe ? " 
 
 " I rather distrust such very sudden conversions," was 
 the answer. " And yet who knows ? she may be fighting 
 against what she feels to be before her trying to cling to 
 old companions and old ways. It is all a mystery to me. 
 Only I wish Wolfenberg were out of it : I wish he had 
 never come on board this ship." 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 UNWELCOME GUESTS. 
 
 EARLY morning. A young man appears on deck a young 
 man of modest and prepossessing mien, with the least little 
 bit of a light yellow moustache, just sufficient for finger 
 and thumb in moments of nervousness. He comes forward 
 shyly and timidly. 
 
 " Would you like to to look at some verses ? " he says. 
 " Emily thought perhaps they might amuse you. She's 
 awfully obliged to you, you know, for having made things 
 easy for both of us ; and Lady Cameron. has "been so kind, 
 owing to your intervention. These are mere nonsense- 
 verses, of course ; but still well, there is no harm in them ; 
 but Miss Penguin is rather trying at times, you know." 
 
 And so this bashful youth produces a half-sheet of paper 
 with the following lines scrawled on it in a girlish hand- 
 \vriting : 
 
 I'm sick of Eomans, Greeks, and Turks; 
 
 Tm side of Homer and all his works; 
 
 I'm sicker still, I do declare, 
 
 Of Sappho and lier Lempriere. 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS 129 
 
 Pursue me over land and sea; 
 Embalm me in Arsino'e ; 
 So I escape the awful scare 
 Of Sappho and her Lempriere. 
 
 I'd dwell in Zante's stifling heat; 
 Pd even drink the wines of Crete; 
 So I got safely anywhere 
 From Sappho and from Lempriere. 
 
 Drown me by Chios' sounding shore t 
 Or where Corcyra's surges roar; 
 Sweet Death release me from despair 
 Of Sappho and her Lempriere. 
 
 Blow, Moling your fiercest blast! 
 Jove, send your red bolts hurtling fast I 
 Neptune^ down to your oozy lair 
 Drag Sappho and drag Lempriere I 
 
 "Well, this is a sufficiently astonishing document. What 
 has our cataclysmal and beloved Sappho done that she 
 should be attacked in this gratuitous fashion ? 
 
 " Most disgraceful I Who is the author of these scan- 
 dalous verses ? " 
 
 " I think one of the Smeeton girls or both of them ; 
 but they're keeping it a profound secret," he says. 
 
 " No wonder. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. 
 Have they no respect for age, and for the fire of genius, 
 and the whirlwind force of tempestuous passion ? Here, 
 take the rubbish away. But wait a moment. You spoke 
 of Lady Cameron. Would you like to find an easy way 
 of propitiating her this morning ? " 
 
 " Certainly certainly," he says, with unmistakable 
 eagerness. 
 
 " Do you know where we are, then ? " 
 
 " I heard somebody say something about Cape 
 Chersonese." 
 
 " That land over there is the coast of the Crimea. We 
 are going on towards Kalamita Bay ; and by-and-by we 
 shall be opposite the heights of Alma. Now are you aware 
 that the Battle of the Alma was won by the 79th Kegiment, 
 the Cameron Highlanders ? " 
 
 " Oh, was it ? " he asks, suspiciously. 
 
 " You can say so. Indeed, you'd better whip down now 
 into the saloon, before anybody is about, and secure King- 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 WOLFENBERG 
 
 lake's 'Crimea' out of the library, and read up all about 
 Colin Campbell and his Highland Brigade but especially 
 about the 79th Eegiment. You will see how the Russians 
 must have thought the earth was bearing giants when they 
 beheld the Cameron Highlanders appear on the top of the 
 hill, with their tall plumes waving ; and you will see how 
 the 79th advanced against the Sousdal Column, and ' caught 
 the mass in its sin caught iiTdaring to march across the 
 face of a Highland battalion ' " 
 
 " Yes, yes," he says, quickly and gratefully ; and he is 
 just about to depart on this quest for invaluable information 
 when, lo and behold ! here comes Lady Cameron herself ; 
 she is always one of the early ones. 
 
 " Good morning ! " she says, pleasantly, to the young 
 man. 
 
 " Good morning ! " he answers, with a certain hesitation, 
 for apparently he is undecided as to whether even now he 
 should seek safety and knowledge in the saloon. But then 
 he might miss his opportunity altogether ? " This must 
 be a most interesting country for you to visit, Lady 
 Cameron," he ventures to say. " I I suppose you would 
 like to land at the Alma, and inspect the battlefield the 
 battlefield where the Cameronians appeared on the top of 
 the hill" 
 
 " The Cameronians were a religious sect, Mr. Yerrinder," 
 she says, with a gentle smile. 
 
 " Oh, yes, of course," he says, hastily. " I mean the 
 Cameron Highlanders the famous 79th, of course when 
 they when they rushed forward to support Soulsby's 
 column and swept the Eussians from the field. It must 
 have been a proud day for your husband, Lady Cameron 
 to be at the head of such a fine body of men " 
 
 At this she stares curiously. 
 
 " Mr. Verrinder," she says, " do you think my husband 
 is old enough to have commanded a regiment at the Battle 
 of the Alma ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, no ! " he exclaims, in dire confusion. " I 
 meant that is every one knows the history of the battle 
 and the splendid part played by the Cameronian High- 
 landers " 
 
 " But if I had been there on that day," she says, turning 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS 131 
 
 to another bystander, and good-naturedly pretending not 
 to notice the young man's desperate blushing and em- 
 barrassment, " I think I could have helped. Yes, indeed. 
 Do you remember that after the battle Sir Colin Campbell 
 announced to the Highland Brigade that he meant to ask 
 the Commander-in-Chief for permission to wear the High- 
 land bonnet during the rest of the campaign ? and they 
 could get nobody to make up the heckle of the bonnet 
 until a young lieutenant of the Black Watch undertook it ? 
 I should like to have put a stitch or two in that bonnet ; I 
 just hate to think it was a man who had the making up of 
 the red and white heckle that was to represent the whole 
 brigade. Of course you know what happened two days 
 after, when the parade took place, and when Sir Colin rode 
 up, wearing the Highland plumes ? there was such a 
 cheering that both the French and English ' armies were 
 startled. It was a handsome compliment he paid to those 
 three regiments ; but they had well deserved it. You 
 remember what he said to them before they went into 
 action ? ' Now, men, the army will watch us. Make me 
 proud of my Highland Brigade.' And I think they 
 did so." 
 
 And thus it was, in this easy and unconcerned fashion, 
 she continued chatting, in order to cover the hapless 
 youth's confused retreat into silence. It was considerate 
 of her ; but Peggy always is considerate, and generous, and 
 kind : at this moment one thought it wiser to conceal from 
 her those ribald verses about our dear Sappho the pro- 
 bability is that she would have been hotly indignant. 
 
 Indeed, some little consideration and tact was demanded 
 all round on this particular morning ; for we had to 
 remember that one of our fellow-passengers was a Eussian. 
 When Paul Hitrovo came on deck, we affected to regard 
 those Crimean shores with indifference ; and in point of 
 fact the pale yellow coast-line we beheld beyond the heavily 
 blue-black and swift-glancing sea was not very impressive. 
 We steamed on until we were opposite the heights of Alma ; 
 but no one volunteered to give us information regarding 
 the whereabouts of the battle. There seemed to be a 
 disposition abroad to say, " Well, it happened so long ago, 
 let's hope it isn't true." Ame"lie Dumaresq was the only 
 
 -rr ft 
 
1 32 WOLFENBERG 
 
 one who would not join in this conspiracy of silence ; not 
 at all ; compromise was not in her nature ; she was openly 
 denouncing the Crimean campaign as the most outrageously 
 uncalled-for war that even a British Government had ever 
 blundered or slumbered into ; and she went on to say to 
 her companion, who was no other than Hitrovo himself 
 
 " I shouldn't at all wonder if the authorities at Sebastopol 
 objected to our landing. How can they like it ? It seems 
 almost impertinent. The war is too recent ; it isn't like 
 the Battle of Hastings. And we shall be driving about 
 looking at the ruined fortifications " 
 
 " Oh, no, do not think that," said he, with a smile. 
 " They cannot be so sensitive. And the fortifications are 
 all rebuilt. Besides, this is not an English party ex- 
 clusively : you, for example, you cannot have come to 
 triumph. JSTo ; but what is more likely is this : my 
 country is much given over to officialism, I admit it. You 
 may have difficulty in getting ashore at Sevastopol " 
 
 " Sevastopol ? " she interrupted. " Is that how you 
 pronounce it ? " 
 
 "Have I been so fortunate as to convey a little in- 
 formation?" he said. "Yes, there is a good deal of 
 officialism ; each man wishes to make himself secure to 
 have authority for what he does : most likely they will 
 telegraph to St. Petersburg for instructions. Sevastopol 
 has always been jealously guarded difficult for a stranger 
 to get into ; it was always so ; and recently there has been 
 a proposal to shut out all foreign vessels, keeping the great 
 arsenal a great arsenal and nothing more. Well, perhaps 
 we shall be allowed to land, perhaps not " 
 
 "But you," said she, boldly, "why shouldn't you go 
 ashore with the Purser, and make explanations, when he 
 goes for pratique ? " 
 
 " I ? " said he, laughing. " I am nobody. The smallest 
 official in such a place is a more important personage 
 than I. It is true, I speak the language ; and when the 
 soldiers come on board when the sentries are posted I 
 can give them a hint not to be too inquisitive about the 
 ladies' cabins " 
 
 " Soldiers ? " said she. " Is the ship to be put under a 
 guard of soldiers ? ' 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS 133 
 
 " I think it is most likely," said he. " And then still 
 further well, you must not be too incensed, Miss Dumaresq; 
 you -come from a country where there is much personal 
 liberty little interference ; but different nations have 
 different customs " 
 
 " What is it now ? " she demanded, in her blunt way. 
 
 "Perhaps they will not insist," he said, regarding her 
 with a little caution ; " but if there should have to be a 
 parade on deck " 
 
 " Of the passengers ? " 
 
 " Yes it is the health regulations " 
 
 " I will not be paraded I " she said, angrily. " Inspected 
 like a lot of pauper immigrants ? I will not ! There must 
 be an American Consul here I will appeal to him " 
 
 " If it is only a formality ! " he said. " And a littlu 
 good temper makes things go so easily." 
 
 "I will not be paraded on deck and inspected, as if I 
 had just landed at Castle Garden," said she, very distinctly. 
 "And they cannot compel me if I refuse." Then she 
 suddenly changed her tone. " Well, I have no quarrel with 
 Kussia," she said. " If they want to make vexatious 
 regulations because this is an English ship, it is hardly to 
 be wondered at ; only I will tell them that we Americans 
 should be exempt. And, Mr. Hitrovo, we are going to 
 rely on you. You must be our interpreter. It is your 
 country ; you are receiving us ; you must give us a cour- 
 teous welcome." 
 
 " If I had the government of your reception, there would 
 be- little doubt about that," said he ; and by this time we 
 had turned round, and were steaming south again, towards 
 Sebastopol and the far-receding and lofty and precipitous 
 cliffs of the Chersonese. 
 
 Now, our preconceived idea of Sebastopol was of some- 
 thing large, and frowning, and lonely : towers and walls 
 and batteries more or less in ruins, and all of a sombre 
 hue dark and half-forsaken in spite of recent reconstruc- 
 tion. But as we slowly steamed round the out-jutting 
 bulk of Fort Konstantine (and surely we had some memory 
 of the gallant Dacres, and his brave Samparcil, and his 
 three hours' defiance of yonder yawning casemates), and as 
 we gradually opened out the inlet and spacious harbour of 
 
134 WOLFEN&ERG 
 
 Sebastopol a great breadth of bright blue water skimmer- 
 ing in the sun we found before us a most pleasant and 
 cheerful-looking town, mostly of a brilliant cream-colour, 
 terraced along the southern shores ; the houses of a French 
 appearance, with green and grey verandahs and sun-blinds ; 
 plenty of gardens and lawns attached to the hotels and 
 bathing establishments ; the overlooking heights surmounted 
 by domed white churches ; and beyond and behind, stretch- 
 ing away inland, lofty slopes of a softly ruddy hue, with 
 from time to time a yellow cloud of dusb being blown across 
 the face of the Malakhoff Hill. No doubt there was every- 
 where around a sufficiency of armament. Over there was 
 Fort Alexander, beyond Artillery Bay ; behind us Fort 
 Konstantine ; in the north the huge mass of the Sivernaia ; 
 but Sebastopol itself appeared quite a gay, lively, attractive- 
 looking place, with no gloom about it whatsoever. And 
 this great harbour, too, was full of animation ; signallings 
 from ship to ship ; drill going on on the decks of the 
 portentous men-of-war ; small despatch-boats hurrying 
 hither and thither ; torpedo-boats steaming out to open sea 
 for practice. There were but few pleasure craft, it is true : 
 Sebastopol seemed busy and determined. Nevertheless, 
 this blaze of colour, both ashore and afloat, was grateful to 
 the eye, and very different from what we had anticipated. 
 
 But as we lay here at anchor, during this long day, it 
 gradually dawned upon us that we had adventured into a 
 place where we were distinctly not wanted, and it appeared 
 most likely that every kind of obstacle would be thrown in 
 the way of our landing, if we were permitted to land at all. 
 To begin with, we were taken possession of by a number of 
 soldiers, sentries being placed here and there about the deck 
 and at the top of the accommodation-ladder. They were 
 rather good-looking fellows, those bronzed men in their 
 unfamiliar uniform of dark green and flat white cap ; but 
 what struck us as chiefly peculiar was the strangely un- 
 intelligent look with which they stared at us strangers. 
 Clear eyes they had, clear, light-coloured eyes ; but they 
 regarded us with a blank, animal-like observation that was 
 almost pathetic. Or was it that we felt there was between 
 us the impalpable barrier of an unknown tongue? A 
 French, or German, or Italian sentry would have been an 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS i 3 j 
 
 ordinary human being : one might have offered him a 
 cigarette when his superiors had gone ashore ; but these 
 poor creatures seemed of an alien race altogether ; they did 
 not appear even to understand what their eyes told them. 
 As for the officials who came to inspect the crew (for which 
 purpose there was a general muster on deck) they were 
 grave and courteous to a degree. And at last it turned out 
 that there was to be no parade of the passengers : we were 
 to be spared that dread and ignominious ordeal. 
 
 " We are all passed as sound,*' said the Major, buoyantly, 
 coming up to Lady Cameron with the welcome news. 
 
 " Then they don't recognise incurable idiotcy as a 
 disease ? " said Peggy, looking him sweetly in the face. 
 But we none of us knew what she meant. 
 
 Meanwhile, what was Hitrovo doing ? Here was his 
 chance. Here was his opportunity of distinguishing him- 
 self, of being able to do all of us a good turn in especial, 
 of showing himself sensible of the marked favour that 
 Amelie Dumaresq had bestowed on him. "We were 
 strangers ; this was his country ; and, as the day wore on, 
 it became more and more evident that we were in urgent 
 need of some kind of intercession. The people ashore could 
 not understand who we were, or what we had come for. 
 A yacht ? a yacht of nearly four thousand tons ? And 
 what was any sort or size of yacht doing with such an 
 enormous crew ? No cargo ? -but that would have to be 
 proved : there would have to be an examination. From 
 what we could learn, the authorities in Sebastopol appeared 
 to be telegraphing to higher authorities elsewhere, asking 
 how they were to deal with this incomprehensible visitor. 
 The Purser and Doctor had gone ashore for pratique, 
 certainly ; but nothing seemed to come of it ; and in the 
 meantime we were prisoners, with those strange-looking 
 sentries calmly and stolidly regarding us. Was it not for 
 our Eussian fellow-passenger and fellow-prisoner to come 
 forward, and explain, and demand our release ? We had 
 no wish to wave the British flag over the battlefields of 
 the Crimea ; we had no wish to make speeches, and form 
 processions, and fire pistols, as they do on the other side of 
 the Atlantic. We were a peaceful and harmless folk ; we 
 did not desire to look at a single gun or earthwork we 
 
136 WOLFENBERG 
 
 were ready to sign an undertaking that every Kodak camera 
 on board should remain locked up in the cabins until our 
 return, if we were allowed to land. There was not a single 
 one of us who bore any grudge about the tearing up of the 
 Treaty of Paris ; probably not half-a-dozen of us could have 
 recalled its provisions. 
 
 Well, our Kussian acquaintance simply did nothing at all. 
 He never did seem inclined to do anything, so long as he 
 could lounge, and roll a cigarette, and have a charming 
 young woman to talk to him and amuse him. Amid all this 
 confusion and delay and doubt, he was down in. the saloon, 
 along with Am61ie Dumaresq ; and they were practising for 
 the concert of the following evening. You could hear 
 them as you passed the open skylight. Now it would be 
 Wieniawski's ' Legende,' with piano and violin ; or again 
 he would be playing the accompaniment, while she sang 
 with such little voice as she had ' The Talisman ' or ' The 
 Cossack's Lullaby.' And so she was going to show her 
 Eussian proclivities by singing one of these Eussian songs 
 before our assembled Orotaniafis ? But indeed that was 
 not necessary. After her sudden, repentant making-up 
 towards Wolfenberg, she had resumed her companionship 
 with the young Eussian in an almost too open manner. 
 There was nothing more about ' Oats-pease-beans ' and her 
 return to America ; it was ' Ah, those blue eyes, those eyes 
 of blue,' or ' Loose and fickle was the band, Soon the ring 
 fell from my hand' and a constant occupation of the 
 piano that the other amateur performers, anxious for 
 rehearsals, grumblingly resented. And as for Ernest 
 "Wolfenberg ? well, he said it was but natural that Am&ie 
 should be interested in Eussian music and in Eussian songs, 
 since here we were within sight of Eussian shores. 
 
 But if peace and harmony and a happy forgetfulness of 
 outward troubles prevailed in that hushed saloon, far other- 
 wise was it in the smoking-room on deck, where two or three 
 of our Orotanians were congregated together, sullenly or 
 loquaciously indignant according to their various moods and 
 temperaments. For the rumour had come along that our 
 cabins were to be searched and all luggage to" be over- 
 hauled ; and this gratuitous insult to the English flag as 
 some of the wilder spirits made bold to term it provoked 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS 137 
 
 a little heat. The Major, in particular, was furious. He 
 kept marching up and down this confined space, making 
 angry little ejaculations from time to time ; and now there 
 were no womenfolk present to impose some trifling restraint 
 on his language. 
 
 "I'm as peaceable a man as ever wore Her Majesty's 
 uniform," he asserted; "but I'm somethinged if I allow 
 any somethinged Russian to come into my cabin and pull 
 my things about. What excuse can they have for such a 
 monstrous impertinence ? I'm not a somethinged bagman ! 
 I do not carry goods for sale. I don't wan6 to take 
 anything ashore. Something them, I don't want to go 
 ashore at all 1 Why should any one go ashore ? We 
 knocked the somethinged sawdust out of the somethinged 
 place five-and-thirty years ago ; what on earth is the use of 
 going to look at a lot of tinkered-up rains ? Shoving their 
 ugly heads into a private cabin, when you don't want to 
 take anything ashore ? God bless my soul, it is an unheard- 
 of outrage a monstrous outrage that could only have 
 occurred to a pack of half-civilised savages and Calmuck 
 Tartars ! They might as well rifle our pockets, and read 
 our memorandum-books and diaries. I tell you if I find a 
 somethinged scoundrel prying into my portmanteau or 
 fingering my dressing-case, out he'll go neck and crop and 
 in double quick time too ! " 
 
 Evening fell. The outermost fort Fort Konstantine 
 loomed massive and sombre against the ruddy after-glow ; 
 in the southern heavens the moon shone clear, and there 
 was a long and trembling lane of silver across the now 
 darkening bay ; inland the twin lighthouses of East 
 Inkerman and West Inkerman, one beyond the other, showed 
 each a steady golden star. 
 
 Then came dinner ; and in the brilliantly-lit saloon we 
 forgot all about the adjacent land and our imprisonment. 
 The ship had become our home ; it had its own circle of 
 interests ; some of us, indeed, would have been content 
 never to have gone ashore anywhere. And on this occasion 
 Amelie Dumaresq, who was in very vivacious spirits, was 
 telling us all about the forthcoming concert who were to 
 do what the difficulties of the organisers the shyness of 
 those who could sing, and the embarrassing offers of those 
 
1 3 8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 who could not and so forth. But the astonishing part of 
 it was that our gentle, retiring, modest-eyed Baby had 
 actually been persuaded into giving a recitation. 
 
 " Emily ! " cried Lady Cameron, in remonstrance. 
 " What do you know about reciting ? You'll break down 
 before all those people." 
 
 " They came and told me that every one was refusing," 
 replied the Juno-eyed maiden, blushing very prettily and 
 ingenuously, " and and so I said I would do my best " 
 
 " You ? " said Peggy, again. " You stand up before a 
 lot of people ? What next ? " 
 
 "If it is no secret," one interposed, "will you tell us 
 what piece you have chosen ? " 
 
 The Baby looked up rather timidly. 
 
 " < The Charge of the Light Brigade,' " said she. " I 
 I thought it would be appropriate " 
 
 " My dear child ! " said the elder sister, glancing quickly 
 across the table to Amelie Dumaresq. "You forget. 
 Suppose Mr. Hitrovo were to be present " 
 
 It was curious to notice how instantly and naturally Miss 
 Damaresq undertook to answer for the young Eussian 
 who was at another table. 
 
 " Oh," said she, with confidence, " you need have no fear 
 on that score. Mr. Hitrovo is far too much a man of the 
 world, too much of a cosmopolitan, to be very sensitive 
 about such things. And besides you must remember that 
 the ' Charge of the Light Brigade ' was hardly what you 
 would call a victory. Eather the reverse. A splendid 
 blunder, no doubt, that the Eussian s admired as much as 
 anybody ; but it just about meant the destruction of the 
 Light Brigade, so that it couldn't be quite a victory. I 
 will answer for Mr. Hitrovo, Miss Eosslyn : if he hears you 
 recite to-morrow evening, he will be the first to clap his 
 hands." 
 
 After dinner, again, when one or two of us had repaired 
 to our accustomed retreat aft of the wheel-box, we were to 
 hear something more of that medley of an entertainment ; 
 for it appeared that our burning Sappho had agreed to take 
 part in it, so that the event was assuming importance. 
 
 "I should not at all wonder if she wrote something 
 specially for the occasion," Lady Cameron said, as she wag 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS 139 
 
 idly looking across the black waters to the lights of Sebas- 
 topol. " I really do think that if you knew how hard she 
 works, how desperately in earnest she is, you would have far 
 more sympathy with her. She seems to consume herself in 
 her eagerness to express powerful emotion. Why, I have 
 seen her walking up and down in a kind of trance ; and 
 every time she passed me I could hear her saying to herself : 
 ' Strong strong keep it strong passion fire no slack 
 moments onwards onivards a white heat no food for 
 infants the soul in revolt flame -pressure whirl strong 
 strong ! ' And do you think that was not consuming 
 herself ? Think what she herself must be going through all 
 the time. Think of the cost of such a constant strain the 
 sword wearing out the sheath " 
 
 " A substantial sheath I She weighs twelve stone if she 
 weighs a pound.*' 
 
 " Keally, I did not think envy could make you so mean ! 
 Why, you ought to admire and sympathise with her noble 
 aspirations, even if you don't honestly like everything she 
 produces. But wait till you see her novel 1 " 
 
 " Her novel ? " And at this Mrs. Threepenny-bit also 
 pricks up her ears. 
 
 " She has confided to me something about it," Peggy 
 says, with an air of quiet dignity. " She has shown me the 
 outlines. And I can tell you that English society will long 
 remember the appearance of that book. The highest circles, 
 the most exclusive circles, are to be exposed and denounced : 
 their vices lashed and scourged ; a mirror held up for those 
 gorgeous, depraved, and ruined and conscienceless creatures 
 to see themselves in and shudder. And then, by contrast, 
 the hero : a godlike Greek, seven feet high ; owner of three 
 Khanates, six hundred Ukraine thoroughbreds, and twelve 
 chests of rubies and emeralds, each as big as a hen's egg ; 
 knowing all knowledge that has ever been known ; capable 
 of speaking thirty- three languages all at once, and strong 
 enough to bite a horse-shoe in two with his front teeth " 
 
 " Peggy," said her nearest companion, in a low voice, 
 " take care. Isn't that Miss Penguin along there by the 
 skylight ? " 
 
 "Ah," she continues, though in a more cautious key, 
 "that will be a revelation indeed, when the glitter and 
 
j 4 o WOLFENBERG 
 
 tinsel of English society are torn off, and the fearful de- 
 cadence and rottenness laid bare to the world. Wait till 
 you see how English club-life has the truth told about it at 
 last its luxury, and selfishness, and heartlessness " 
 
 ' Basta, lasta ! It has all been done." 
 
 1 Done ? By whom ? " 
 
 ' By a countryman of yours." 
 
 6 Which countryman of mine ? " 
 
 ' Mr. Maunder Bathos." 
 
 * I never heard of him." 
 
 ' That also is possible." 
 
 4 Who is he, and what is he, anyway ? " she demands. 
 
 4 He would probably call himself a man of letters. He 
 writes for American newspapers and magazines. He is 
 unhappily afflicted with a profound sense of his own pro- 
 vincialism ; and finds relief, from time to time, in little 
 outbursts of Anglophobia. Then he came over to England 
 for a while and that was his chance. He wrote a series 
 of articles for a New York weekly journal, in which he 
 described what he called the British Aristocracy, their 
 haunts and ways, their appearance, their morals and 
 manners, their cookery, their clubs, their wines. He drew 
 a sad picture. The women were all outrageously plain. 
 The men were supercilious, ignorant, and without an h. Go 
 where you might amongst the gilded saloons of Mayf air and 
 Belgravia, you could not see a single well-dressed man or 
 woman. The cooking was awful : the food not fit to be 
 thrown to pigs. The wines worse ; the American connois- 
 seur could not get a glass of Chateau Pomrnery or Veuve 
 Lafite that he could put to his lips. The treatment of 
 servants was inhuman and cruel beyond credence : a Duke 
 would get up at his own dinner-table and cuff the ears of 
 the unfortunate ' slavey ' until his guests had to interfere. 
 The high-class clubs were nothing but haunts of frantic 
 gambling ; the outer doors were shut for hypocrisy's sake at 
 midnight ; but after that any one behind the scenes knew 
 what was going on. Yes, the ' hig life ' in England caught 
 it that time ! and yet the curious thing was that while Mr. 
 Maunder Bathos was describing the gilded saloons of 
 Mayfair, and the evil looks and habits of the English upper 
 classes and their infamous cookery, he was himself all the 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS 141 
 
 while living in lodgings in the Strand, taking his meals at a 
 Fleet Street restaurant, and picking up such casual ac- 
 quaintances as he could at this or that American bar the 
 only people he met in England." 
 
 " Oh, well," says Peggy, doubtfully, " he was a stranger ; 
 and he had to do the best he could for the paper that 
 commissioned him to write those articles. But Miss Pen- 
 guin is an Englishwoman ; she must know something of 
 English life" 
 
 "And English clubs. Did she call on her friend the 
 housekeeper, and get shown through the empty rooms 
 before any of the members came in for breakfast ? And 
 what can she know of the splendid profligacy of the English 
 nobility that dowdy old spinster going about nursing her 
 hideous pug ? " 
 
 Peggy rises to her feet with a kind of a sigh. 
 
 " I cannot stay here any longer," she observes. " I think 
 the earth ought to open or the sea or something. I'm 
 going away down to the saloon, to listen to the rehearsals 
 for to-morrow evening's concert." 
 
 And yet we were not long left alone here in this spacious 
 darkness throbbing with near and distant lights. It was 
 Wolfenberg who presently came and took the place she had 
 vacated. He was a solitary man ; he had made few friends 
 on board ; perhaps his thoughtful eyes and his habit of 
 absent contemplation were not conducive to the formation 
 of chance acquaintanceships. But on this occasion at least 
 he was sufficiently cheerful and communicative. 
 
 " I have just had a most pleasant experience," he said, in 
 his quiet and gentle way. " And I must tell you. For it is 
 something to be in touch with two young lives that have 
 everything clear and auspicious before them ; it is some- 
 thing to be able to look on ; it is a beautiful thing ; it is 
 like the world grown young again. Of course, it is only a 
 guess of mine ; but, at all events, I am revealing no secret ; 
 for no secret has been confided to me ; and my guessing 
 can't hurt any one, whether it is right or wrong. Didn't 
 you tell me that young Julian Verrinder " 
 
 There ! we knew it would be out sooner or later. We 
 knew some one would suspect would make inquiries 
 would perhaps even question Lady Cameron herself ; while 
 
142 
 
 WOLFENBERG 
 
 those two young idiots, in their shyness, or fright of possible 
 consequences, or in their guilty remembrance of past mis- 
 deeds, were fondly and insanely hoping that their secret 
 might remain a secret for a quite indefinite time. But what 
 was it that had aroused this dreamer from his reveries, 
 and brought back his attention to what was happening 
 immediately around him ? 
 
 "Didn't you tell me," he asked, "that young Julian 
 Verrinder was very well off ? " 
 
 " So it is said. He has recently succeeded to the family 
 estates, and they have been nursed for a good many years by 
 his mother, who has the reputation of being a shrewd-headed 
 woman. So the story goes. And his uncle, who has no 
 family, is one of the richest men in the House of 
 Commons." 
 
 He considered for a moment or two. 
 
 "That make me less certain," he said. "For a young 
 fellow just come into a large property might be careless 
 ready to indulge in any kind of whim, however costly, 
 especially where a pretty girl is concerned. But still still 
 three-hundred pounds cannot be quite a trifle to any- 
 body; and three hundred pounds for a sketch in 
 crayon " 
 
 " A sketch of a young lady's head,'perhaps ? " suggests 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with downcast eyes. 
 
 " Yes ; with some little bit of a background the rigging, 
 or what not as a souvenir of the voyage " 
 
 " And the young lady ? " inquires this miniature Mephis- 
 topheles, with the most innocent air. 
 
 " Why, Lady Cameron's sister Miss Rosslyn." 
 
 " Oh, really. Oh, indeed, Well, I am sure you will make 
 a charming study of her, if you accept the commission," 
 she says for she is as silent and discreet as the grave when 
 any of her young friends have confided their trumpery little 
 secrets to her. 
 
 He shook his head and smiled. 
 
 " No, I cannot do that. I cannot encourage the boy to 
 fling away his newly-found money. But I will try about a 
 little, and see if I can find some suggestion : I had a look at 
 her now and again this evening : once, towards sunset, when 
 her face was in shadow, I thought there was something 
 
UNWELCOME GUESTS 143 
 
 rather striking ; there is a curious combination of youthful 
 gravity and timidity with a certain largeness of manner and 
 repose something almost sibylline in the set of her shoulders 
 and her face and her great eyes : well, I will try about a 
 little it will be something to do if those Eussians confine 
 us to the ship. And if I can make anything of the sketch, 
 then it will not be a commission : I will keep it by me and 
 give it to them as a wedding-present." 
 
 He was silent for a second or two. Then he said 
 
 " And if my guess is right, isn't it a beautiful thing to 
 think of : those two young lives, with their way clear before 
 them, no entanglements or burdens, the fates all propitious, 
 youth and hope holding out both hands to them. And 
 a beautiful thing for others to look on at, even if they have 
 their hidden little mysteries and shyness ; it will lend quite 
 a new interest to our wanderings in this ship. That is, if I 
 have guessed aright. Do you remember the first bird's-nest 
 you ever discovered ? the startled eyes of the bird and 
 you just about as startled, and rather wishing to withdraw : 
 well, multiply that a million times, and that is how you 
 came upon a human secret, the secret of two young lovers, 
 that they have been keeping concealed to themselves. And 
 you would rather go away ; yet you cannot choose but look 
 from a little distance and surely with well-wishing eyes." 
 
 So he rambled on, in a curiously sympathetic and wistful 
 kind of fashion ; little suggestions here and there ; fancies 
 as they occurred to him ; but nothing very consecutive 
 And more and more of late he had got into the habit of 
 talking as though all the interests of life were over for him ; 
 as if the future held nothing for him ; as if he were a mere 
 onlooker, apart and isolated. Not angry, nor resentful, nor 
 disappointed ; only standing by himself, alone. And this 
 man, so solitary, so unselfish, so uncomplaining, seemed also 
 so grateful for any little friendliness for even this oppor- 
 tunity of aimless confidential chatting that the person 
 whom he chiefly addressed had not the heart to tear herself 
 away. She lingered long ; she said such pretty and kindly 
 things as she could ; she tried to convey to him that he must 
 have many friends. But when at length she went below, to 
 the privacy of her own cabin, her mood changed. 
 
 "Yes," said she and there were proud and indignant 
 
144 WOLFENBERG 
 
 tears in her eyes " it is all very well for him to put so 
 brave a face on it ; and to keep silent ; and to pretend that 
 he is well satisfied to play the part of a 'dispassionate and 
 unconcerned bystander. To listen to him, you would think 
 he had no sense of having been forsaken, or put aside for new 
 friends, or anything of the sort ; he has had his day ; the 
 world is for young people ; and he is glad it should be so. 
 Very well ; he has plenty of courage for anything ; he is 
 not one likely to pity himself or to ask for pity. And yet, 
 all the time he was talking how could I help thinking of 
 that woman down there in the saloon that laughing and 
 heartless creature, with her Eussian and her sentimental 
 love-songs ? " 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 " GOD SAVE THE CZAR ! " 
 
 SUDDENLY the silence of the dawn is broken by a shriek a 
 shriek so shrill and piercing, so terrible in its import, that 
 we can associate it with but one tragic deed: surely the 
 Major has borrowed a sabre from one of the sentries and 
 slashed off Phaon's head ? But when one hurriedly and 
 discreetly peeps forth, it is another warrior who is seen 
 to be disappearing round a corner a military gentleman 
 in a green uniform, with a broad, flat, white cap ; while 
 over there at the door of her cabin stands Sappho, in a 
 hastily-donned dressing-gown, her hair untidy, her cheeks 
 aflame. 
 
 " Who is that man ? " she exclaims, in tones of vibrant 
 indignation. " I want to know which one of them it is : 
 I will appeal to the Captain : it is monstrous that English- 
 women should be insulted by these savages " 
 
 But, behold ! even as she speaks, her enemy returns : and 
 he is accompanied by other two of his kind all bronzed, 
 bearded, serious-eyed, silent, and observant. At the sight 
 of this overwhelming force, Sappho hesitates f or a second ; 
 probably thinks it useless to put her wrongs into words ; 
 then with a withering look of scorn directed upon all the 
 three culprits, she retires into her room, slamming the door 
 $fter her, 
 
"GOD SAVE THE CZAR!" 145 
 
 Hers is not a solitary experience. For the fact is, that 
 the whole blessed ship is simply swarming with Russian 
 officials on this bewildering morning : officers and soldiers 
 in every sorb and colour of uniform, prying, searching, 
 secretly confabulating, poring over lengthened documents, 
 or standing sentrywise and solemn, with a dull and hopeless 
 stare ; while, as the ladies appear at breakfast, one after 
 another has the same angry tale to tell of a bearded and 
 white-capped head having been thrust into her cabin while 
 she was dressing, or even before. An9. as the morning 
 passes, matters do not mend one whit. Those grave persons 
 in uniform, some with spectacles and some without, seem 
 unwilling to do anything. They may be too polite to say 
 so, but it is easy to guess that they would be very mucli 
 pleased to see us weigh anchor and get clear out of the place. 
 AYe are strangers, and, therefore, to be dreaded. Indeed, it 
 is odd to think that the disposition towards a mysterious 
 secrecy, and the suspicion and distrust of visitors, which 
 Laurence Oliphant described years and years ago before 
 the Crimean campaign, in fact as pervading the officialism 
 of Sebastopol should still prevail there. More than that, as 
 the time goes by, rumours reach us that our mere presence 
 in the harbour is provoking some ill-feeling ashore among 
 gentle and simple alike. 
 
 " And what could be more natural ? " demands Amelie 
 Dumaresq, who has blossomed out into a full-blown Russo- 
 maniac. "I can quite understand how they should be resent- 
 ful. What have we come for but to look at battlefields ? " 
 
 " There are one or two of us who have coine to visit the 
 English graves," says Mrs. Threepenny-bit, in her gentle 
 fashion. " There can be no objection to that, surely." 
 
 But the young lady is not to be persuaded out of her 
 partisanship. 
 
 " Even if that is so, how are those people ashore to under- 
 stand ? They must consider us merely a crowd of English 
 come to gloat and triumph. It is not at all surprising that 
 they should be indignant. And it seems to me the Russian 
 officials have treated us with the greatest consideration 
 
 " In keeping us prisoners ? " Wolfenberg interposes, 
 laughing. 
 
 " No, but in excusing us the muster on deck," she says. 
 
i46 \VOLFENBERC- 
 
 " This is 6ne of theft chief naval stations, and of course 
 they are afraid Of infection being brought in by strange 
 ships. I should not at all wonder if they imposed a fort- 
 night's quarantine on us " 
 
 " Oh, good gracious ! " exclaims Mrs. Threepenny-bit, 
 with alarmed eyes. " I'm for running away, as fast as ever 
 we can go ! " 
 
 " And supposing you have caught a Tartar, who won't 
 let you ? " one asks of her and a kind of awful gloom 
 settles down on the group. 
 
 Meanwhile, if we were condemned to an enforced idleness, 
 the scene around us, outside the Orotania, was busy enough. 
 A constant activity prevailed in the spacious harbour ; pon- 
 derous men-of-war and agile torpedo-boats were steaming 
 hither and thither the officers scanning us curiously as 
 they went by ; while ever and anon a ship's cutter, with reefed 
 sails for there was a stiffish breeze blowing would slash 
 along under our stern, the sun-tanned clear-eyed occupants 
 gazing up to see what they could see of the English captives. 
 But our durance was not to last for ever. In spite of all 
 delays and obstacles and hesitations, our indefatigable 
 Purser still persisted ; and eventually, as the day wore on, 
 he triumphed. What means he employed to smooth away 
 opposition can only be conjectured ; but a casual observer 
 might have noted that a good many of those Eussian 
 officials were conducted into the saloon, while the steward 
 in attendance was kept coming and going. Whether any 
 more substantial form of persuasion was resorted to it is 
 useless to inquire ; all ended in amity ; the announcement 
 was bruited abroad that we were free to land when we 
 chose ; and not only that, but a far more astounding piece 
 of intelligence made its way through the ship we were to 
 give a ball on the very next evening, to which the Eussian 
 officers and their wives were to be invited ! Here indeed 
 was a triumph of patience and good-nature. All of a 
 sudden we had become friends. There were no more angry 
 protests against cabin-doors being opened by too-inquisitive 
 officials. The only question that now remained was whether 
 we had any champagne sweet enough to offer our guests 
 when, on the following night, they went down into the 
 saloon for supper. 
 
"GOD SAVE TftE CZART 147 
 
 And instantly the torpor that had so long prevailed on 
 board the Orotania was changed into an alert despatch ; 
 parties being hastily formed ; the women rushing off to get 
 ready ; the steam-launch being brought round ; one of the 
 ship's boats hoisting sail for a water-excursion to Inkerman 
 Bay and the mouth of the Tchernaia. Amid all this bustle 
 and confusion, Paul Hitrovo remained indifferent ; and 
 when Ame'lie Dumaresq and her mother appeared, it 
 turned out that he hardly thought it worth while to go 
 ashore. 
 
 " What is there to see in Sebastopol ? " he said, with a 
 careless smile. 
 
 " There is Eussia to see ! " the young lady said, with 
 indignant eyes. " Not go ashore ? But I insist. It is 
 your native country you must be there to receive us " 
 
 " Oh, if I can be of any service," said he, with great 
 politeness, " then it is different." And therewith he took 
 the two ladies' sunshades from them, that they might get 
 down the accommodation-ladder unimpeded. 
 
 And Wolfenberg ? Well, he lingered behind a little, 
 hesitatingly, looking after them. To be sure, he might 
 have gone with them : there was plenty of room in the 
 steam-launch waiting below. And if they did not specially 
 and pointedly ask him, was any invitation necessary ? But 
 just at this moment Mrs. Threepenny-bit came adroitly 
 forward : her quick eye had noticed his uncertainty 
 perhaps, also, something else in his look. 
 
 " Mr. Wplfenberg," said the little woman, in her kindest 
 and most insinuating fashion, "don't you think it is too 
 late in the day to do anything ? The ship will be so plea- 
 sant and still when all those people have gone." 
 
 He turned to her with obvious gratitude ; this offer of 
 companionship was friendly and sympathetic. He said that 
 a quiet afternoon on the deck of the empty ship would 
 please him better than anything. But might it not be put 
 to some use, too ? Over there was Miss Emily Kosslyn, 
 standing talking to the third officer : could she not be 
 induced to remain on board, and he would fetch up materials 
 and begin the sketch that young Verrinder had set his heart 
 on? Now nothing could have given our Arch-schemer 
 greater delight than to be entrusted with this mediation a 
 
 L 2 
 
i 4 8 WOLFEN&E&G 
 
 mediation in favour of two faithful lovers ! and so it came 
 about, in a very short space of time, that while Lady 
 Cameron, and the Major, and Sappho, and the pug (with 
 its head not yet shorn off) had all departed for Inkerman 
 Bay, the Baby the solemn-eyed Baby timid, fearful, and 
 conscious of the desperate perils environing her was here 
 with us on the quarter-deck ; and young Julian Verrinder, 
 under some pretence or another, had also stayed behind. 
 
 It was a pretty spectacle that those two young folks 
 offered ; and, was, perhaps, as interesting to some of us as 
 the ruins of Inkerman or the streets of Sebastopol. For 
 while Miss Emily seemed embarrassed and a little bit 
 frightened being, no doubt, well aware that, if the 
 ultimate destination of this picture were to become known, 
 her dreadful secret would at once be suspected Julian 
 Verrinder, quite careless as to that, could not conceal his 
 joy that the priceless sketch had at last been begun. He 
 waited humbly and assiduously on Wolfenberg, lest the 
 easel should want shifting, or some little service of that 
 kind be required ; and he was most solicitous that not a 
 sound should distract the artist's attention. 
 
 " For goodness' sake, quartermaster, don't make such a 
 noise with those chairs ! Can't you leave them where they 
 are ? " 
 
 Then one of the younger officers, rinding himself in 
 idleness, opened the deck-piano, and began to play " Home, 
 Sweet Home." It is a plaintive air ; but it loses some of 
 its effect when performed slowly and hesitatingly with one 
 ringer. Yerrinder went to him 
 
 " I say, Kingston, I wish you'd stop. You don't mind, 
 do you ? The fact is, Mr. "Wolfenberg is engaged in a 
 rather important piece of work." And then he returned 
 to the neighbourhood of the easel, where those beloved 
 outlines were gradually being transferred. 
 
 Meanwhile the artist was good-humouredly trying to 
 convey some confidence to his sitter. Guessing at the 
 origin of her embarrassment, he was pretending that this 
 was not a portrait at all. 
 
 " It is very kind of you to become my model," said he, 
 " though I don't know whether there may be any result. I 
 must wait for some suggestion. Perhaps a head of Bellona 
 
"GOD SAVE THE CZAR'" 149 
 
 would be the most appropriate among all these forts and 
 guns." 
 
 But this proposal entirely alarmed the younger man. It 
 was a portrait he wanted and he was willing to pay 300/. 
 for the same. What to him was Bellona, or any other 
 goddess, save this present and all-incomparable one ? 
 
 " Bellona ? " said he, anxiously. " But but a likeness ? 
 an absolute likeness at the same time ? Oh, yes, any 
 imaginative subject you like, Mr. "Wolfenberg only an 
 actual likeness, that any one could recognise ? The fact 
 is, I want to have it photographed and and enlarged 
 copies made : there are several people in England to whom 
 I should like to give one. And do you think Bellona is a 
 good idea ? Of course, if you see it that way, it is sure to 
 be splendid but but I should have thought something 
 more gentle something more gentle and winning would 
 be more characteristic. Of course you could make Miss 
 Eosslyn look very noble and fine of course you could do 
 that but I should almost prefer a likeness that I could 
 show to a stranger " 
 
 "I am not a portrait painter," Wolfenberg said, 
 pleasantly. "I'm only a kind of experimentalist, and I. 
 must wait to see what Miss Eosslyn herself may grow into. 
 In the meantime I must ask you not to make personal 
 remarks about my model ; for that brings unnecessary 
 colour into her face." 
 
 " Oh, I beg your pardon I beg your pardon ! " said he, 
 abjectly; and he withdrew a foot or two so that the 
 precious work should not be interfered with. 
 
 It was a tranquil afternoon. For while we did not seek 
 to know how the portrait was progressing (and it would 
 have been impertinent to look), it was enough for us to sit 
 under this awning and listen to Wolfenberg's curiously 
 interesting talk : talk that consisted of disjointed sentences, 
 with no kind of effort or display about it, but that 
 nevertheless was singularly attractive through the trans- 
 parent sincerity of the speaker. These random observations 
 about what he had seen in the world were so obviously 
 honest ; sometimes, too, they had a certain quaintness and 
 originality ; certainly they were unpremeditated, suggested 
 by anything of the moment. A gull chanced to fly past. 
 
1 50 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Didn't it seem a simple thing that an animal should sustain 
 itself in the air, and choose its way of flight ? Yet, who 
 could have imagined such a thing beforehand ? Wasn't 
 Mother Nature an extraordinary inventress, constructing 
 creatures to live in the most impossible conditions ? If 
 the human intellect had been asked to devise animals that 
 could exist under the ground, or in the sea, or suspended 
 over our heads, wouldn't the answer have been a smile at 
 such an absurdity? And so forth. His talking was 
 merely an accompaniment to his work ; but it was sufficient 
 for his companions. And he spoke cheerfully, too. Had 
 he forgotten those who had gone away ashore? At all 
 events, if Mrs. Threepenny-bit had offered him her society 
 out of some occult compassion, he seemed to be sensible of 
 her kindness. Ship-acquaintanceships are mostly superficial ; 
 but in this case there was something more ; and she, on her 
 part, made no secret of the great liking and esteem and 
 sympathy she had for this man. If only she could have 
 seen forward through the next few months. 
 
 With the approach of dusk the wanderers returned ; and 
 so quickly thereafter came the night that the usual before- 
 dinner tramp on deck took place in moonlight the women, 
 in their summer-hued costumes, passing up and down like 
 mysterious ghosts under the shadow of the awning. But a 
 stranger spectacle than that was unexpectedly revealed to 
 us. We had been looking across the dark water to the still 
 darker town, where, on a height, there was a domed church 
 that was almost black against the violet-blue of the moonlit 
 skies, when all of a sudden that sombre building sprang 
 into a silvery whiteness, and shone spectral there above the 
 surrounding gloom. It was a marvellous sort of thing, this 
 strangely brilliant dome hung high up in the heavens ; but, 
 of course, we soon divined the origin of this phantasmal 
 illumination the search-light of the Admiral's ship had 
 struck that lofty church. And then again, and quite as 
 suddenly, the dome was black ; while the long shaft of 
 radiance ran out in another direction, lighting up with 
 startling distinctness the hull and rigging of a large 
 steamer. No doubt it was all quite serious probably part 
 of the drill that seemed to be continually going on ; 
 Chough perhaps it looked a little like playing practicaj 
 
GOD SA VE THE CZAR!* 151 
 
 jokes. In any case, we were now summoned down to 
 dinner. 
 
 And here again the search-light played its part, and that 
 in an almost miraculous manner. For we had hardly got 
 into our places when it became clear that Ame'lie Dumaresq 
 had returned from her little trip ashore in a perfect 
 madness of enthusiasm about Kussia and everything 
 Eussian ; and as she was a very assertive and impetuous 
 young person, and would insist on all of us agreeing with 
 her, it was perhaps just as well to " jouk and let the jaw go 
 by." How she could have learned anything about Russia 
 by looking into a few Sebastopol shop-windows was not 
 easily discoverable ; and, indeed, was not of much con- 
 sequence ; it was the length to which she carried her 
 prepossessions and opinions that appalled us. 
 
 " For my part," she said, with rather a proud air, " I 
 admire a country that has got a distinct nationality, and a 
 definite place in history, and a definite aim before it a 
 country of a unanimous people, with a single and all- 
 powerful head, whom they are ready and willing to obey 
 without a question. That is a country that obtains 
 respect ; it may be unfortunate or mistaken, but it has 
 done its best ; you cannot but admire its singleness of 
 purpose, its patriotism, its community of sentiment. Why, 
 they talk about our freedom at home but what does it 
 amount to ? " (And it was here that blank dismay began 
 to fall upon us.) " The United States are not a country at 
 all ; they are not a nation ; they are only a collection of 
 big parishes, all hating each other, and jealous of each 
 other, and having separate interests. It was the North and 
 South, last time, that were at each other's throats ; next 
 time it will be the West and East. As I say, we are not a 
 nation at all ; we have no national interests, no national 
 purpose, no national speech for the Germans, and Italians, 
 and Irish won't let us have such a thing ; and all that we 
 can do is to sit on our parochial fences and spite each other 
 at a game of brag. That is not to belong to a country- 
 Here she stopped. For of a sudden there was a most 
 unearthly glare ; and instantly all eyes were turned to the 
 starboard ports which, hitherto black, were now gleaming 
 with a strange phosphorescent blue. The next moment 
 
I S 2 WOLFENBERG 
 
 those round holes were black again : the Admiral's search- 
 light had been withdrawn. 
 
 " Yes, no wonder yon were frightened," Lady Cameron 
 said, with a demure smile, to the young lady opposite her. 
 "Weren't yon expecting the heavens to open, when you 
 were saying those dreadful things ? It should be a 
 warning to you. I am not a very enthusiastic American 
 myself, since the West Highlands became my second home ; 
 but really, Miss Dumaresq, to compare the United States 
 with a semi-barbarous country like Eussia " 
 
 " No, I will not have a word said against the Kussians," 
 interposed the domineering small woman who is our final 
 arbiter in all matters, and who, by good luck, generally 
 makes for peace. " We are going to receive them as our 
 guests to-morrow night, and everything is to be as pleasant 
 as pleasant can be. There is to be universal consideration. 
 They are not to put in a word of objection when we drive 
 to-morrow to Lord Eaglan's headquarters, and to the 
 English Cemetery, and to Balaclava ; and in the evening, 
 when they come to the ball, we are all to be the best of 
 friends. The little unpleasantnesses of these last two days 
 are to be entirely forgotten." 
 
 " That's all very well now," says Peggy ; " but at one 
 time, Missis, things looked rather serious. I thought the 
 English gentlemen on board were going to call a meeting 
 and pass a resolution. That would have been serious, 
 wouldn't it ? For an Englishman doesn't call a meeting to 
 pass a resolution unless he's driven to it ; but when he 
 
 does ! I've a kind of idea that if Adam had been an 
 
 Englishman, the moment he was turned out of Paradise he 
 would have called a meeting he would have called a 
 meeting of Eve and then passed a resolution declaring the 
 recent proceedings to be quite unjustifiable." 
 
 " Peggy, do you want to be sent to bed ? " says Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit, severely. 
 
 " No," she makes answer, with much meekness. " I 
 would rather sit up for the concert, please." 
 
 Now, amateur entertainments on board ships are pretty 
 much alike ; but on this occasion there were certain 
 exceptional features that more particularly appealed to, and 
 unmistakably interested, our small circle, One of these was 
 
"GOD SAVE THE CZAR'* 153 
 
 the still further development of Russomania on the part of 
 Amelie Dumaresq. She made no concealment about it 
 whatsoever. Did she imagine that the mere neighbourhood 
 of Eussian shores would be a sufficient excuse for her 
 choice of Russian songs and music ; or was she grown 
 blind and reckless in her infatuation ? At all events, the 
 poor distressed mother, who had but little control over this 
 perverse daughter of hers, came to us when we had all gone 
 on deck to let the stewards clear the tables in the saloon ; 
 and there was nob a little piteous anxiety and even alarm in 
 the sallow-complexioned and yet rather attractive face and 
 in the sad and troubled eyes. It seems that she had got 
 one of the written-out programmes ; and here was Miss 
 Dumaresq in open and constant association with M. Paul 
 Hitrovo almost in defiance, as it were, of what our small 
 public might choose to think. 
 
 " What am I to do ? " said the poor woman. " She is so 
 wilful. She will not pay heed to any remonstrance from 
 me. I am afraid it would only make her go and do 
 something worse. But look at this Russian songs 
 Russian instrumental pieces and always with those two 
 together. Don't you don't you think it is very indiscreet ? 
 And if I were to say so to her, she is so proud, she would 
 oh, I don't know what she wouldn't do ! She would 
 consider it a challenge. She would wear Russian colours 
 at the ball to-morrow night I am so afraid of what she 
 might do ! But couldn't you interfere ? " And here she 
 turned to Wolfenberg, who happened to be standing with 
 us. "She always listens to you. She would take your 
 advice before the advice of any one ; she values your good 
 opinion so highly. And there are still a few minutes ; you 
 might tell her how it will make people talk to see her given 
 over to Russian music, and playing in those concerted 
 pieces with Hitrovo : there are not many programmes 
 written out they could be altered even yet " 
 
 " But why but why ? " said he, gently. " Don't you 
 think Amelie has quite good reason for what she has done ? 
 She and Hitrovo are far and away the best executants on 
 board this ship; it is but natural they should perform 
 together. And as for a Russian song or two, why, we are 
 in Russia, you know. And if she has been a good deal in 
 
154 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Hitrovo's society, isn't that natural, too ? They are both 
 fond of music ; both young ; seeing much of each other, 
 day after day ; and these companionships are the commonest 
 feature of a voyage " 
 
 " But the people generally what will they think ? 
 what will they say ? They may even consider it indelicate 
 this open parade ! " said she her trembling apprehension 
 breaking in upon his good-natured assurances. " I never 
 thought that Amelie would make herself the talk of any 
 ship- 
 
 "She will not do so," said he, with some air of quiet 
 authority. "What she has done is perfectly within her 
 right. If there were to be any remonstrance, well, she is 
 independent, and proud, as you say, and then she might do 
 something unwise. At present no one would be justified in 
 saying a single word against her not any one." 
 
 At this very moment Amelie came quickly along from 
 the companion-way, and put her arm within her mother's 
 arm in the most affectionate fashion. 
 
 "Come along, Mimsey," said she, drawing her mother 
 towards her. " Everything is ready ; and you must be 
 there to support me, and secure a good audience for me. I 
 will say to myself ' Courage courage Mimsey must not be 
 made ashamed.' " 
 
 And therewith all of us filed below and took our seats in 
 the saloon, which we had come to regard as a very snug and 
 cheerful and comfortable place. One could gather, if 
 expression means anything, that this audience was willing 
 to be pleased. 
 
 And indeed the various items in the programme were got 
 through most creditably, the instrumental music being 
 especially good ; and if Hitrovo and Amelie Dumaresq led 
 off with Liszt's "Rhapsodic Hongroise," and if she sang 
 "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt" to his accompaniment, 
 and if again they played together Wieniawski's " Legende," 
 well, this public association was only what might have been 
 expected from their previous and constant companionship. 
 The mother looked perturbed and distressed ; perhaps the 
 warm applause that followed these performances was some 
 slight consolation. But in this matter of general and 
 hearty approbation, who could have foreseen that it was th<) 
 
"GOD SAVE THE CZAR'" 155 
 
 shy, Juno-eyed maiden who was to bear away the bell ? 
 The poor Baby ! she was all trembling when it came to 
 her turn. 
 
 "Will you go up to the head of the saloon," young 
 Verrinder asked of her, in an undertone, " or stay where 
 you are ? " 
 
 "Where I am," she answered, almost inaudibly, and 
 therewith she rose, for the master of the ceremonies had 
 announced the recitation. 
 
 She was terribly nervous ; but there was something in 
 this trepidation that seemed to catch the sympathies of her 
 audience. It was in an uncertain voice that she began 
 
 'Half a league, half a league, 
 
 Half a league onward, 
 
 All in the valley of Death 
 
 Kode the six hundred/ 
 
 and no doubt it was the wish to give the timorous 
 young thing every possible help that caused the intensest 
 silence to prevail. As for Julian Verrinder, who had taken 
 the seat next her, his anxiety was something dire to look 
 upon. He dared not lift his eyes. He kept twisting his 
 programmelinto all kinds of knots, his fingers shaking the 
 while. And meantime the poor Baby, the burning flush in 
 her cheek still visible, was struggling bravely with her task, 
 and doing none so ill. She was rather breathless, it is true ; 
 and she had no elocutionary gifts whatsoever ; but she was 
 young, she looked winning in her very shyness and timidity, 
 and she was certainly among well-wishers. Only once did 
 she falter. She had began the fourth stanza 
 
 'Flashed all their sabres bare,' 
 
 when there was a brief and desperate moment of hesitation ; 
 and we thought all was lost. But at the very same instant 
 young Verrinder, still with eyes downcast, prompted her with 
 the next line ; and from thence she got safely on to the end. 
 Nay, was there not some mild little effort at emphasis when 
 she exclaimed, 
 
 'O the wild charge they made!' 
 
 At all events, this simple, school-girlish recitation had 
 
1 5 6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 entirely won the hearts of the friendly audience ; and when 
 she modestly sat down again, there was enthusiastic applause : 
 while Peggy, though not ordinarily a very emotional person, 
 could not conceal from us that she was wiping away tears 
 from her lashes. For the Baby had come to be a kind of 
 pet of this ship ; and there was something that appealed to 
 popular sympathy in her standing alone and struggling 
 with her evident nervousness ; and we were all of us 
 immensely relieved and delighted when she got successfully 
 through the ordeal. 
 
 There was a very different story to tell when Sappho 
 (after an interval of music) rose to bestow on us another 
 recitation. Small need was there for concern or disquietude 
 on the part of anybody. Miss Penguin left her seat, marched 
 up to the piano, and turned and faced the assemblage. 
 Eesolution was in her air ; and an attitude of defiance in 
 the somewhat dumpy figure. She meant to show us that 
 she knew how to deal with us. It is true that a divine 
 poetess should have been dressed in a simpler manner in a 
 costume of white and flowing robes, or something of that 
 kind ; whereas Sappho's gown was almost gorgeous both in 
 design and colour ; but after all genius must be allowed its 
 little eccentricities. And w r e had no time to think about 
 plaits and furbelows when her commanding and scornful 
 voice thundered out the opening lines of " Old Morgan at 
 Panama " 
 
 'In the hostel-room we were seated in gloom, old Morgan's 
 
 trustiest crew; 
 No mirthful sound, no jest went round, as it erst was wont 
 
 to do. 
 Wine we had none, and our girls were gone, for the last of our 
 
 gold was spent; 
 And some swore an oath, and all were wroth, and stern o'er the 
 
 table bent ; 
 Till our chief on the board huii'd down his sword, and spake 
 
 witli his stormy shout, 
 
 "Hell and the devil! an this be revel, we had better arm and 
 out. 
 
 Let us go and pillage old Panama, 
 
 We, the mighty Buccaneers 1 "' 
 
 This was something ! There was no pretty shyness here j 
 no mild appealing of maiden eyes ; no young man twisting 
 
"GOD SAVE THE CZAR!" 157 
 
 Iris programme into nervous knots. We were on linn 
 ground ; Sappho had planted herself four-square, as it were ; 
 she was going to have it out with us. And she did to the 
 bitter end : though, to be sure, when the aggressive voice at 
 length ceased, there was no such tumultuous acclamation as 
 had greeted the Baby's bashful effort. Nevertheless she had 
 done her part ; she had given us of her best : and, when she 
 returned to her seat, we bore her no ill-will. 
 
 Such were one or two features of this uneventful evening 
 that were of more immediate interest to us ; but the most 
 striking incident of all occurred right at the close. Origin- 
 ally, when the programmes were drawn out, it had been 
 arranged that the performances should wind-up with the 
 singing of " Auld Lang Syne." But a patriotic English lady 
 declared that neither she nor her daughters would have 
 anything to do with these proceedings unless they were to 
 terminate, as was fitting in an English ship, with " God Save 
 the Queen ; " and as this objection seemed reasonable to the 
 framers of the entertainment, " God Save the Queen" was 
 added. Accordingly, at the end of the evening, we all of us, 
 Americans included, stood up, while that rather lugubrious 
 air was being played. And thereafter ? Well, naturally 
 there was nothing now save a decorous withdrawal. But 
 there is a sort of solemnity about " God Save the 
 Queen ; " people do not hurry away the moment it has been 
 played, any more than they hurry out of church the instant 
 the service is over. And it was during this brief pause, 
 while all of us were standing, and only one or two had 
 turned to the door, that Amelie Dumaresq, with something 
 of a firm and proud expression about her mouth, went 
 quickly along to the piano, and sat down, and struck the 
 keys with the full weight of her hands. There was instant 
 attention. One recognized these powerful chords : here was 
 something finer than " God Save the Queen." For who can 
 deny that the Eussian Anthem is by far and away the most 
 majestic and impressive of all these national airs ? In dead 
 silence she played played with a massive grandeur of 
 expression worthy of her theme. Nor was that all ; for 
 presently we could hear in the hush of listening that she 
 was singing the hymn. She had not much of a voice, 
 certainly ; but she had courage ; and her resolute intention 
 
i 5 8 WOLPENBERG 
 
 counted for something. We could make out well enough 
 what she had to say to us: 
 
 Lord God, protect the Czar! 
 
 Powerful and mighty 
 May he in glory, in glory reign I 
 He is pur guiding-star, 
 Sovereign in peace and war, 
 Our faith's high Protector, 
 God saye the Czar I* 
 
 There was no laughing bravado this time when she rose and 
 came away from the piano. The natural pallor of her face 
 was increased almost to ghastliness ; her lips, too, were pale ; 
 her eyes had a strange look in them. And she seemed to 
 hang back a little from mixing with the crowd. But 
 Hitrovo went forward to her, and extended his hand. 
 "I thank you," he said. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 L'ENTENTE CORDIALS. 
 
 THE poor mother was well-nigh out of her mind. 
 
 " What will they think of herwhat must they think of 
 her ! " she exclaimed, when next morning she found an 
 opportunity of confiding to us her dire distress. " And she 
 is so wilfully blind ; she has such a disdain of public 
 opinion ; she will not see that she has openly compromised 
 herself " 
 
 " She has not compromised herself," said Ernest Wolf en- 
 berg, gravely. "That is not a word you ought to use, 
 Mrs. Dumaresq, when you are speaking of Amelie." And 
 then he went on in a lighter tone : " Why, the singing of 
 the Eussian National Anthem was only a compliment to the 
 country we happen to be in. From the first it ought to 
 have been included in the programme ; it was very good- 
 natured of Amelie to step in and repair the blunder. No 
 one else had the courage ; but she always has courage 
 enough for anything." 
 
 " But what will they think ; what will the people think ? " 
 Was still the piteous cry. 
 
 "They must be left to think what they like," he made 
 
CORD I ALE 15$ 
 
 answer. " How can they be eipected to understand a girl 
 like Amelie ? They do not know her. They have not seen 
 her work. They do not recognise in her an artist of original 
 and distinctive gifts ; a girl of great force of character, too ; 
 who has ways and opinions of her own, and is entitled to 
 have them ; and if they mis-interpret any little eccentricity, 
 or bit of unconventionally or defiance or anything of that 
 kind, then that is their look out : she is not likely to heed." 
 
 It was a skilful and ingenious defence. But was it the 
 poor mother he was trying to persuade or himself ? 
 
 She turned to our Mrs. Threepenny-bit. 
 
 "I hear you are going to drive to Balaclava to-day. 
 Would you be so kind as to take Amelie with you ? The 
 fact is I got so tired yesterday walking about the Malakoff 
 hill, and dragging myself up to the Redan 
 
 The pale and sallow face was suffused with consciousness ; 
 she knew that we knew why she was making this proposal. 
 And although out miniature Major-domo was not unwilling 
 to come to the relief of this alarmed and distressed mother, 
 and to take over for a space the charge of her rebellious 
 child, she had her own precise and definite ideas as to the 
 conditions. There was to be no kind of collusion or 
 connivance with Paul Hitrovo where she was concerned. 
 
 " Yes, we are off for shore as soon as the steam-launch 
 returns. And we shall be very glad if Amelie will join our 
 party : Mr. Wolfenberg is going with us ; and that would 
 just fill the carriage." 
 
 She spoke distinctly ; and again the poor woman, even in 
 expressing her gratitude, flushed a little. She seemed to 
 divine the disfavour with which this small person had come 
 to regard the Eussian. And, perhaps, at the same time she 
 was secretly glad of it : at all even^ she appeared to be very 
 much relieved on finding that her daughter, who was bent 
 on revisiting Eussian soil, would do se under safe escort. 
 
 Miss Dumaresq, also, when she was made aware of this 
 arrangement, was pleased to express her approval and thanks, 
 though there was a touch of coldness in her manner, one 
 fancied. Anyhow, she professed to be very friendly with 
 Wolfenberg as we were going ashore ; and if she looked 
 round about before leaving the ship, as if seeking for some 
 one, we had no right to assume that it was Paul Hitrove 
 
160 V/OLFENBERG 
 
 she had in her mind. Lady Cameron and the shy Baby 
 were also in the steam-launch ; and the former had on this 
 occasion donned a very pretty costume a blue serge jacket 
 and skirt, the former open in front ; a white woollen vest ; 
 a smart little silken necktie in the tartan of the Clan 
 Cameron ; while round her white straw hat there was a 
 narrow band which bore a similar proud message to any 
 one who chanced to know : she was not ashamed to wear the 
 colours of Lochiel. Moreover, the novelty of this expedition 
 seemed to have excited her somewhat ; the wild-rose 
 complexion was freshened up ; her clear eyes were full of 
 light, and interest, and animation ; she was talkative more 
 than her wont. 
 
 " I must find out the precise place at Balaclava where the 
 Highlanders were drawn up in line," she was saying, amongst 
 other matters. " I want to see where they gave that answer 
 to Sir Colin Campbell when he told them they must be 
 prepared to die where they stood : ' Ay, ay, Sir Colin ; an' 
 need be, we'll do that,' I'm very fond of that answer. 
 Yes, and I like the angry remonstrance that Sir Colin called 
 out to the 93rd: 'Ninety-third, ninety-third, damn all 
 that eagerness ! " Phrases like that seem to show you 
 things- " 
 
 " Peggy," interposed Mrs. Threepenny-bit, " you can be 
 a soldier's wife without using soldier's language." 
 
 " Why, these sayings are classical ! " she retorted, not 
 unnaturally. " Only was it at Balaclava or the Alma 
 that Sir Colin had to check the 93rd ? I am not quite 
 certain " But here we were at the landing-stage, so that 
 these historical investigations had to be dropped. 
 
 And here also were the carriages that had been engaged 
 for us two-horsed open vehicles, the drivers thick-set, long- 
 haired, sun-tanned men, wearing an outer garment not 
 unlike that of a bathing-machine woman, but heavily padded 
 and quilted, with a flat blue cap on their head, and an 
 elaborate silver belt round their capacious waist. We rather 
 wondered at the mass of clothing, here in the broiling 
 sunlight ; but no sooner had we driven away from the 
 harbour and through the town, and up towards the heights 
 behind, than we found there was a keen breeze blowing 
 across those lonely and arid and far-extending plains. 
 
L? ENTENTE CORDIALE 161 
 
 And with what a fury went those horses along the rutted 
 roads I and how we were thrown about and pitched from 
 side to side, clinging on with desperation ! and in what 
 rolling clouds the dense dust rose around us, to be swept away 
 by that cold cutting wind ! We had no idea of our where- 
 abouts, or of what had aforetime happened on these desolate 
 wastes ; for our driver stared blankly when addressed in 
 French or German ; and, indeed, we were not over-anxious 
 to distract his attention during this wild chariot-race. But 
 it was now that Ame'lie Dumaresq revealed the real mood in 
 which she had set out with us ; her feigned and cold 
 complacency was abandoned ; she was openly petulant and 
 angry and discontented. 
 
 " This is perfectly absurd," she said, " driving through a 
 country in absolute ignorance ! "We ought to have had some 
 one with us who knew Russian. Yesterday everything was 
 explained everything was made clear because Mr. Hitrovo 
 was with us and mamma was as interested as any one ! " 
 
 It was hardly a civil speech. We had not sought her 
 society ; nor were we bound to crowd the carriage to 
 accommodate her Russian friend. 
 
 "Why, Amelie," said Wolfenberg, in his good-natured 
 way, " I thought you were learning Russian now is your 
 time to practise." 
 
 There was no answer. But in truth it presently appeared 
 as though she had some ground for grumbling ; for the 
 vehicles ahead of us were now seen to be coming back ra 
 sudden change of route we could not in the least understand. 
 And a prodigious spectacle they presented, too : the furious- 
 galloping horses, the bearded drivers, the carriages visible 
 now and again amid the rolling volumes of dust looked more 
 like a battery of artillery in mad retreat. As they thundered 
 by us, they called out what we could not hear. We could 
 only turn and follow them, clinging on for dear life to 
 leather or metal as we swayed and bumped and swept along, 
 especially after we had left the main highway and were 
 careering over tracks that were plentifully supplied with 
 lumps of solid rock. The heavily-swathed, long-haired 
 driver paid no attention to these obstacles, paid no attention 
 to the turnings, paid no attention to anything, in fact, 
 except to urge on his horses at full speed, so as to overtake 
 
1 62 WOLFENBERG 
 
 the other carriages. And thus it was that at last we reached 
 the farm-house which was Lord Eaglan's headquarters, 
 and in which he died ; we entered and walked through the 
 gaunt and empty rooms, on the doors of which are still 
 the names of certain of the English Generals ; then we passed 
 down through the garden, which was most pleasantly bright 
 and green amid the wide wastes of sand ; and then we got 
 into the carriage again, and surrendered ourselves to the 
 mercy of those two intemperate beasts, to say nothing of the 
 scorching sunlight, and the cutting wind, and the stifling 
 clouds of dust. 
 
 Yes, we ought certainly to have studied strategic maps 
 and plans before leaving the ship, and not to have trusted 
 to obtaining information by the way. For what could the 
 unassisted imagination make out of these desert altitudes, 
 with their occasional patch of cultivation, and their flocks 
 of cattle, sheep, and goats wandering about the stony 
 ground or edging down towards the muddy and betrampled 
 watering-places ? We needed the divine rage of Ajax to 
 transform these peaceful creatures into solid masses of 
 Russian cavalry. And yet they were about all that we saw 
 as we drove across the sterile plains on and on and ever 
 and ever south and east until we began to descend to the 
 coastline again ; then some trees and a house or two 
 appeared ; we swept through the small hamlet of Kadikoi ; 
 and at last came in sight of a little land-locked bay of 
 brilliant blue-green water steep heights surrounding it a 
 line of cheerful-looking houses along the shore the pic- 
 turesque ruins of an ancient fort up against the sky^- 
 with, finally, a twisting channel that obviously led to the 
 outer sea. This was Balaclava ; but if anybody had de- 
 clared it to be Boscastle, in Cornwall, we should hardly 
 have been bold enough to contradict him : the resemblance, 
 in situation especially, is remarkable. 
 
 Several of our Orotanians had arrived before us ; and we 
 could see that Amelie Dumaresq was anxiously, if furtively, 
 scanning those groups as we drove up. But there was no 
 Hitrovo there, nor any sign of him in the one or two 
 carriages that presently followed : it was clear that he had 
 remained on board ship. Now this was really a shameful 
 piece of inattention on his part, after the marked favour 
 
^ENTENTE CORDIALE 163 
 
 she had shown him on the previous evening ; for, although 
 it is true she had been confided to our charge, he ought 
 to have joined the general party on the chance of being 
 of service to her at some time or other during the day. 
 Nor did she scruple to exhibit her disappointment and 
 dissatisfaction with everything around her. Wounded 
 pride, one would have thought, might have prompted her 
 to conceal her chagrin ; but she was too much of a spoilt 
 child to care for any such considerations ; indeed, instead 
 of looking on Paul Hitrovo's absence as an open slight, she 
 appeared to regard it as part and parcel of our defective 
 arrangements for the day. . 
 
 " Nothing seems to have been provided for no one seems 
 to know anything," she said, sulkily. 
 
 And this again was most unfair ; for here were we a 
 swarm of hungy folk descending upon this little out-of-the- 
 world place ; and what had we a right to expect ? As a 
 matter of fact we were exceedingly well treated. Down by 
 the shore, and connected with the land by a little gangway, 
 there was a sort of floating annexe to the hotel ; and here, 
 in the open air, in the cool shade of a canopy, and at white- 
 covered tables, a quite sumptuous feast was served. It was 
 a little irregular, it is true ; for as the hotel seemed lacking 
 in domestics, certain of our younger Orotanians volunteered 
 to act as waiters ; and their method of procedure was to go 
 into the hotel-kitchen and boldly seize on anything they 
 could find, bringing the steaming and uncovered dishes 
 across the intervening promenade. Indeed, the rough-and- 
 ready banquet was far too profuse for luncheon ; there was 
 nothing to grumble at ; on the other hand, there was much 
 to interest the curious. And Wolfenberg well-a-day ! 
 was trying to please this young lady, and to coax her into 
 a better humour, by praising those Bussian plats. Then he 
 got a bottle of wine, and opened it, and poured out some 
 for her. She hardly tasted it and pushed the glass coldly 
 away. But, happening to notice that the label on the bottle 
 was printed in Russian characters, she changed her mind, 
 raised the glass again, and took another sip. 
 
 "This is no petit vin lieu" said she and we were quite 
 glad to find there was something that met her approval, in 
 this untoward mood of hers. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 WOLFENBERG 
 
 After luncheon we got a rowing-boat manned by two 
 ( \ rocks, and pulled away across the bay, and under the ruins 
 of the Genoese fort, and along the twisting channel that 
 leads to the open sea. It was curious to think that through 
 this narrow little strait all the vast stores and ammunitions 
 for the great army encamped inland had to pass ; this was 
 the only highway of communication with the outer world 
 that the English possessed. Still and peaceful enough it 
 was now ; the only signs of human life or occupation we 
 saw were the stake-nets of the sardine-fishers. 
 
 The outer sea and the magnificent headlands did not 
 detain us long ; for we knew we should be going by the 
 same coast on the resumption of our voyage ; soon we were 
 on our way back again ; and in due course of time reached 
 the landing-stage at Halaelava, and wore ready to continue 
 our route. But at this point something occurred that 
 eventually led to most sad and sorrowful consequences. 
 The carriages we had brought with us were pretty much 
 eoi union property, our good Orotanians, knowing that 
 all were provided for, simply taking any one that was 
 handy, and in some cases making an exchange of com- 
 panions, for the sake of variety. Thus it came about that 
 i he writer of these lines, perceiving a smart little victoria-- 
 looking vehicle, sealed for two, suggested to Lady Cameron 
 thai, she and he might t'ike possession, conveying Miss 
 Kmily over to Mrs. Threepenny-bit ; and as this arrange- 
 ment, seemed to suit everybody concerned, it was agreed to 
 and aeted upon at once ; and presently we were all of us 
 upon the ro! id again, driving, as was understood, to the 
 battlefield of Balaclava. 
 
 " This is very excellent," contentedly observed the young 
 lady who was \\eaiing the Clan Cameron colours. 
 
 " I think so." 
 
 "Oh, mind you, I understand. I am not flattered," 
 continued IVggv, making herself comfortable in her corner. 
 
 "Every one can see that Miss Dumaresq is in a frightful 
 temper I suppose because her Russian has not shown up ; 
 and so, having had enough of her little ways all the 
 morning, you take the first chance of escape." 
 
 " There may be something in that too." 
 
 " I say : have you considered this ? " she went on and 
 
i: ENTENTE CORD I ALE 165 
 
 for a few seconds she, spoke. raih< r moro seriously. " If 
 (hat young man should prove. indifferent, after she has so 
 openly Hung Hie handkerchief l,o liini, do you know what 
 she will do? She will kill him." 
 
 " But why should he prove indifferent ? She is extremely 
 pretty ; she can be inosfc fascinating when she pleases ; she 
 hits admirable accomplishments if her painting is to he 
 brought down to thai, level; and slic is wealthy. What 
 more ? " 
 
 <k Why did he not come over here to-day ? " 
 
 " Well, then; might be some, excuse lor a, Russian not 
 earing to visit Balaclava." 
 
 Peggy was silent and thoughtful for a little while. 
 
 "A woman scorned," she said, presently, "is a dangerous 
 kind of creature, wherever and whoever she is ; hut when 
 she is such a woman as Am61ie Dumaresq, with her proud 
 and passionate nature well, if I were a friend of M. Paul 
 Ilitrovo, I would warn him not to play tricks with fire and 
 lightning." 
 
 At this moment, as we were passing through a, village, 
 our driver saw fit to draw up in order to water his horses ; 
 and as he alone did so, the other carriages continued on 
 their way and very soon disappeared. Tin; village was the 
 little, hamlet of Kadikoi or Kailikovka,, in front of which 
 Sir Colin Campbell, previous to the battle, of Balaclava, had 
 posted the l):;rd Highlanders; and by rights our eon- 
 versation should have; been about military matters. .Hut it 
 wasn't. It was about all kinds of things, that need not be 
 set down here ; for the man was a long time in tending his 
 beasts ; and we were in no hurry. When again we set out 
 we. had the, whole, wide, world before US ; the others had 
 long ago vanished out of sight. 
 
 And so we drove on, and drove on, very well content. 
 The landscape did not much concern us ; and, after the 
 warning she had uttered about Paul Ilitrovo, P'ggy did not 
 ran; to return to that dark and problematical subject. We 
 drove on and drove on ; the world forgetting, by the world 
 loi'-ot. Some mountains appeared in the north; but we 
 did not know their name ; and did not care. It was not 
 until we, had got up into the higher plains, commanding an 
 extensive view, that one thought of looking out for tho 
 
!66 WOLFENBERG 
 
 other carriages : there was not a trace of them anywhere in 
 all that wide and lonely landscape. And then the awful 
 thought occurred that our driver had missed his way or 
 mistaken his orders ; while there was no means of com- 
 municating with him, as he spoke nothing but his own 
 tongue. The suspicion in course of time became a certainty. 
 We were now well on our way towards Sebastopol, and were 
 being carried thither against our will, without having had 
 even a glimpse of the battlefield of Balaclava, or the 
 Causeway Heights, or the Valley of Death ! This was a 
 pretty position for the wife of Colonel Cameron of 
 Inverfask : to have been in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of the valley where the Light Brigade delivered their 
 famous charge, and not to have even looked at it. More- 
 over, we were going away in the morning ; the blunder was 
 irretrievable ; while questions, and appeals, and remon- 
 strances were all thrown away on our puzzled and patient 
 coachman. Peggy was distracted ; it was not of her 
 husband she was thinking ; it was the base imaginings 
 and sarcasm of a certain small fiend of a woman that she 
 feared. 
 
 " What will she say now 1 " she exclaimed her eyes full 
 of laughter and confusion, her face flushed a rose-red. 
 " She will declare we took the wrong road on purpose ! " 
 
 " Lofty souls, conscious of their own rectitude, can afford 
 to despise the insinuations of the vulgar throng. But I 
 wish I knew where the mischief this man is carrying us." 
 
 For apparently our good friend on the box, in answer to 
 our prayers, had altered his route ; but we. were getting 
 nowhither not even to Sebastopol I On and on we drove, 
 over those illimitable sandy plains, the only living creatures 
 visible being a large number of hawks that kept hovering 
 high in air and swooping down from time to time. The 
 desert, furthermore, seemed to be everywhere strewn, and 
 thickly strewn, with small white flowers ; but these we 
 subsequently found to be tiny snails in narrow and spiral 
 white shells. For the rest, scant brushwood, long yellow 
 roads, here and there the voiceless solitudes rising into a 
 rounded hill : this was the land we found ourselves in. 
 
 "Well," said Peggy at last, "there is no chance now of 
 discovering where those people have gone : we must be 
 
^ENTENTE CORDIALE 167 
 
 miles and miles away from the battlefield of Balaclava. 
 And we shall have to bear jeers and contumely as best we 
 may. But there is one thing I must insist on : I cannot 
 go back to England without having paid a visit to the 
 English Cemetery. Good gracious ! what would Ewen 
 think what would all our soldier-friends think if I con- 
 fessed that I was in the Crimea, and had landed at 
 Sebastopol, and yet didn't go to see if the English tomb- 
 stones were being looked after ? They would think I was 
 demented ! Now where is the English Cemetery ? This 
 man must know ; can't you get him to tell you ? Try 
 him ! There must be some kind of language he can 
 understand." 
 
 It was a maddening situation. 
 
 " Hier, Schwager ! Kutscher ! Isvosehick ! Yamschik ! 
 sagen Sie 'mal in Gottes Namen ! wo ist der englische 
 Kirchhof der Gottesacker man alive, the English Ceme- 
 tery ! the Cemetery Cathcart's Hill le ciinetiere le 
 cimetiere anglais il cimeterio " 
 
 The patient, clear, questioning eyes remained blank and 
 vague. But there was still another kind of language* 
 One had perforce to get down from the carriage, and with a 
 walking-stick go through an elaborate pantomime of 
 digging a grave. Then he seemed to comprehend. ITo 
 pointed to a distant height, where there appeared to be a 
 kind of wall, with some little touch of verdure surmounting 
 it here and there. We eagerly assented. And again we 
 were rolling along those arid plains, and down into a deep 
 valley, and up a steep incline, until we stood in front of a 
 small building forming part of a large, oblong, and walled 
 enclosure ; and here our troubles were at an end ; for the 
 stalwart person who appeared at the door, and who fortu- 
 nately spoke French, told us we had found what we were in 
 search of, explained that he was the custodian, and invited 
 us to pass through the corridor to the Cemetery behind. 
 
 " After all," said Peggy, under her breath, " I shall not 
 be entirely disgraced when I go back to England." Indeed 
 she seemed very much relieved, as we stepped down into 
 those little alleys that ran between the clustered shrubs and 
 the many memorial stones. 
 
 On the whole, we found the place fairly well looked after. 
 
1 68 WOLFENBERG 
 
 though naturally, after these long years, a number of the 
 tombstones and monuments show signs of decay. We 
 wandered about for some time, recognising here and there a 
 well-known name, and struck rather by the remoteness and 
 solitariness of this enclosure than by any sadder associations. 
 In truth, the general aspect of the English Cemetery is one 
 of quiet and peaceful cheerfulness ; to the eye it looks 
 pleasantly green after you have driven over those sterile 
 brown plains. Then we returned to the carriage and 
 blindly surrendered ourselves to fate and the Eussian driver. 
 We had not the least idea whither he was now taking us. 
 Nothing visible anywhere but long undulations, intersecting 
 roads, withered herbage, and a universal powdering of 
 white shells : were we to find these around us for ever and 
 evermore ? But of a sudden the world opened before us, 
 and we looked down into it looked down and beheld a 
 shining white town and a blue bay ; beyond these the 
 wider inlet, the shores of Sivernaia, and the out-standing 
 mass of Fort Konstantine ; and high above all these again 
 the open sea and the far horizon-fine. And right in the 
 centre of this spacious picture was our beloved Orotania 
 looking small because of the distance, but welcome as the 
 sight of home. 
 
 When we arrived on board, we found Mrs. Threepenny- 
 bit awaiting us at the gangway amazement in her eyes, 
 and in the rapid questions she addressed to Peggy. What 
 had become of us ? Why did not the man follow the other 
 carriages ? Why was he not remonstrated with ? And so 
 forth. But, at all events, she had no present opportunity 
 of sharpening her sarcasms ; for most of the women-folk 
 had resolved upon dressing before dinner, it being under- 
 stood that in all probability our Eussian guests would arrive 
 early. The consequence was, when our Orotanians, in 
 obedience to the steward's bell, assembled in the saloon and 
 took their places at table, they presented quite a gay 
 appearance the women in their smartest costumes, the 
 men in evening dress ; jewels flashed and sparkled ; there 
 was quite an unusual stir and animation. In the matter of 
 diamonds, indeed, Amelie Dumaresq outshone all the others 
 in splendour : she had a comb of diamonds and stars of 
 diamonds in her raven-black hair, a necklace of diamonds 
 
DENTENTE CORDIALE 169 
 
 round her neck, a buckle of diamonds at her belt, and a 
 profusion of diamond rings on her fingers. * Far too much 
 display for a young unmarried woman ' was no doubt the 
 inward pronouncement of our diminutive but ruthless 
 Censor-in-chief : on the other hand, it was well known that 
 the Russian ladies who were coming were given to similar 
 ostentation, and why should their English or American 
 sisters be eclipsed ? Lady Cameron had brought hardly any 
 of such adornments with her ; and the poor Baby, simplex 
 munditiis, had none at all ; so that at our table the only 
 gorgeous creature was the Spanish-looking young lady, whose 
 liquid dark eyes laughed, and whose red lips showed a gleam 
 of pearly teeth, as she chatted away in the highest of spirits. 
 For she had entirely banished her untoward temper of the 
 morning. Perhaps she had had from Hitrovo some 
 explanation of his absence ? At all events, she was now full 
 of a vivacious and communicative gaiety, so that even her 
 mother forgot her anxiety for the moment, and looked 
 pleased and proud. And Wolfenberg ? he seemed pleased 
 and proud too. He regarded her admiringly perhaps 
 conscious all the same of the little touch of make-up that 
 accentuated the black and high-arched eyebrows, and 
 heightened the cherry-red of her smiling lips. And if he 
 would rather have had her command attention and 
 admiration in far other spheres and by far other means, 
 well, that was a question for severer moments : why should 
 she not, on such an exceptional evening as this, elate her 
 heart with social triumphs, and, in mere matters of 
 appearance and style and effect, carry off the honours of this 
 improvised ball ? 
 
 The scene on deck was exceedingly pretty. The whole 
 of the after part of the ship had been covered in by canvas 
 as a protection from the wind ; and this impromptu ball- 
 room was lit up by red and yellow swinging lamps, while 
 there was an additional glow from the raised skylights. 
 Soon our guests began to arrive boat after boat coming 
 across the smooth, moonlit water ; there was a clanking of 
 scabbards on the accommodation-ladder ; there was a 
 grouping of white figures around the gangway. And 
 presently a fine commotion prevailed on board ; for our 
 visitors had no thought of attending there and then to the 
 
1 7 o WOLFENBERG 
 
 strains of the band ; they wanted to inspect this strange 
 ship that had wandered into these unfamiliar waters ; 
 and, besides, the ladies had to leave their wraps and 
 coverings below. There was everywhere an eager curiosity 
 and astonishment, expressed mostly in French ; not content 
 with examining the saloon, they wandered hither and 
 thither ; you encountered fairy visions in the dark corridors 
 leading to the lower deck ; the occupants of the smoking- 
 room the old fogeys who did not wish to be disturbed by 
 these frivolities were startled by the apparition of a whole 
 bevy of creatures in silk and muslin and satin, all with fans, 
 some with bouquets, here and there one staring through a 
 pince-nez. And when the dancing did begin it proved to 
 be animated enough. In particular our visitors entertained 
 us with a peculiar dance some kind of Eussian mazurka - 
 which was remarkably picturesque ; the chief feature being 
 that the gentleman (in this case an officer), before leading 
 two ladies, one on each hand, down the whole length of the 
 deck to turn them over to the opposite cavalier, made a 
 little preliminary spring into the air, and clapped his spurs 
 together. It was rather like the action of a gamecock ; 
 and one or two of our young men tried it ; but leather does 
 not make so effective a snap as steel. For the rest, the 
 Russian ladies, with much laughter and good-humour, put 
 their English partners through the features of the dance, 
 and all went off very well. 
 
 Meanwhile, what of our small section of this assemblage ? 
 Well, we were mostly spectators ; yet not uninterested 
 spectators. What chiefly struck us was the open and 
 unconcealed fashion in which Amelie Dumaresq devoted 
 herself to her Eussian friend. He seemed to own her. If 
 there had been any quarrel between them about his un-lover- 
 like inattention of the morning, they had certainly made it 
 up. It was waltzes they chiefly danced, and she engaged her- 
 self to no one else ; when she was not dancing, they sate out, 
 or she brought him along to talk to her mother ; then, by- 
 and-by the low-breathing, seductive music would begin again, 
 Hitrovo would claim her, and away they would go, her 
 head bent a little down, her hand on his shoulder, gliding 
 with swift and noiseless steps through the mysterious semi- 
 twilight. Wolfenberg w^s standing with us, and looking on, 
 
D ENTENTE CORD I ALE 171 
 
 in an absent kind of way. It is a pretty kind of thing, the 
 waltzing of two lovers together, lost in the consciousness of 
 their own happiness, lost in the consciousness of their pos- 
 session of each other. But sometimes, elsewhere, it stabs deep. 
 
 As for Mrs. Dumaresq, she would probably have been 
 still further distressed by this too pronounced self-surrender 
 on the part of her daughter, only that she had developed a 
 new anxiety : it was about Ainelie's diamonds that she was 
 now concerned. 
 
 "She is so headstrong and careless," she said, in an 
 undertone, to Mrs. Threepenny-bit. Then she continued, 
 with a fond mother's pride : " There is no one here to-night 
 who has anything like Amelie's diamonds except, perhaps, 
 that Russian girl who is going to be married, and these are 
 really her wedding presents that she is showing off. And 
 Amelie could have outdone her if she had known. Oh, yes, 
 she could. What she is wearing isn't half what she has got 
 with her on this very ship ; it is a fancy of hers to take them 
 with her wherever she goes ; and there is no reasoning with 
 her about the danger of ifc." 
 
 " She seems to be enjoying herself very much." 
 
 " Yes," said the white-haired dame, with a bit of a sigh. 
 " For the moment. And of course I am glad glad to see 
 her happy. But but I don't know how it will all turn out ; 
 she won't tell me anything." 
 
 If she would not tell, other people could surmise. When 
 withdrawing from the music and the soft winnowing of 
 dresses on deck and from the busy merriment of the supper- 
 tables in the saloon two of our Orotanians, a tall young 
 lady and her smaller and more elderly friend, were bidding 
 each other an affectionate good-night outside the door of 
 their cabins, the one of them said, almost in a whispor 
 
 "Peggy, I tell you I am convinced. Mrs. Dumaresq 
 only suspects. But I am as sure as sure can be that there 
 is at last some understanding, if not an actual engagement, 
 between those two. And what is more, Wolfenberg has also 
 guessed it." 
 
 " Have you spoken to him ? " Peggy asked quickly. 
 
 " How could I 1 " said the smaller woman. " I dared 
 not ! But I know that he has guessed : I saw it in his 
 foce when he was looking on at the dancing." 
 
1 72 WOLFENBERG 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 A SIGNATURE. 
 
 AND yet, while this dark problem of life and fate was being 
 worked out under our very eyes, it was an excellent thing 
 that we could turn aside from time to time and forget it, 
 and be well content with Peggy's cheerfulness, and good- 
 humoured ways, and happy enjoyment of the passing hour. 
 She was not a person of mature years, it is true ; but she 
 had a sharp observation and a good memory ; and she had 
 seen something of the world and of human nature. The 
 worst of it was that you could never tell whether she was 
 truthfully relating her own experiences, or whether she 
 was, out of pure devilment, romancing in other words, 
 manufacturing l**s. Who could believe, for example, that 
 she ever saw, in the streets of Boston, Mass., U.S.A., a man 
 stop at a shop-window and seriously proceed to set his watch 
 by an aneroid barometer ? 
 
 " You are so horribly incredulous," she exclaimed, as she 
 was briskly walking up and down the quarter-deck before 
 breakfast, with an occasional glance towards the white 
 barracks and the domed churches of Sebastopol. " I 
 suppose, now, if I were to tell you of the man " 
 
 " What, another one ? " 
 
 " Do not interrupt," she observes, placidly. " This man 
 was also absent-minded ; for, being driven distracted by 
 the irregularities of the various clocks in his native town, 
 he sat down and wrote a letter to Greenwich Observatory, 
 begging the people there for goodness' sake to write back 
 and let him have the exact time. So I have been informed, 
 at least. Bat I suppose you wouldn't believe that either ? " 
 
 " When you lie awake in the morning, you seem to think 
 of a good many queer people." 
 
 " Oh, that's nothing to what I could tell you," she 
 remarks, with cheerful composure. " But it's little use 
 talking to you : you are so suspicious. I dare say, now, 
 you wouldn't believe me if I were to confide to you the 
 great project that Sappho has in her mind ? " 
 
 "What project?" 
 
A SIGNATURE 173 
 
 " Well, she is most furiously indignant and I think 
 naturally indignant about the inhuman way in which 
 bacilli are treated ; and she is determined to get up a 
 National Society for their protection. She says they have 
 as much right to live in the world as we have ; and yet they 
 are subjected to the most merciless persecution everything 
 done to destroy them and savagely cruel experiments made 
 on their living bodies, without, in any recorded case, the 
 use of anaesthetics. She is going to rouse the humaner 
 instincts of the people of England ; she will appeal to 
 Parliament " 
 
 " She may spare herself the trouble. Next session of 
 Parliament is to be devoted to a Bill enabling the British 
 Working Man to cremate his Deceased Wife's Sister." 
 
 " Will you listen ? " she says, imperiously. " I can tell 
 you, England will speak with no uncertain voice about this 
 bacillus question. There is to be a procession of the women 
 of London, headed by the Bishops, and they will march to 
 the Koyal College of Surgeons, and make a demonstration 
 there. Exeter Hall is to be hired for a month. There 
 will be a Children's Protest against the destruction of their 
 little playfellows 
 
 " Oh, get away I Do you see who has just come on deck ? 
 Now be prepared to withstand a charge of cavalry, if ever 
 you were in your life ! " 
 
 Yet the approaching enemy has no great ferocity of 
 outward aspect. She is a small and slender person, of 
 elegant figure, with the gentlest of eyes, and the most 
 winning of voices. And it is with an air of truly angelic 
 innocence and sweetness that she says 
 
 " Why, Peggy, you've never had a chance of telling me 
 what you thought when you were standing on the battle- 
 field of Balaclava. It will be of the greatest interest to Sir 
 Ewen to have you describe the appearance of the place, 
 looking down from the Third Eedoubt, you know, into the 
 famous valley. You see, so few English visit the Crimea ; 
 and every one wants to know whatever can be learnt about 
 the charge of the Light Brigade ; and you had such an 
 excellent view of the Causeway Heights, and the Fiorkina 
 Hills " 
 
 Then Peggy, tall, proud, indignant, thus answers 
 
174 WOLFENBERG 
 
 "I will no longer be insulted. I am going to seek out 
 Miss Penguin. She, at least, treats me with a little 
 humanity. And I am her confidante. Ah, if you only 
 knew what you lose by being so cynical and hard-hearted ! 
 Why, at this very moment she is engaged on a poem ; and 
 do you know what the refrain is ? After the first line of 
 each verse 
 
 (Pile high tlie blazing fire t) 
 
 and at the end of each verse 
 
 (White heats of wild desire I) 
 
 What do you think of that ? But you won't see it. Not a 
 bit. Such things are shown only to people who have a 
 
 little human sympathy about them " Here the bell 
 
 rang ; and for a moment Peggy stood confounded and 
 uncertain. Then, without more ado, she put her arm 
 within the arm of that diminutive fiend, and we all went 
 down to breakfast together. 
 
 Now whether it was that the Russian officials had 
 revived their suspicions of us, or whether it was they had 
 grown so fond of us that they were loth to let us go, certain 
 it is that there was a good deal of trouble about our getting 
 away. Indeed, it was not until close on noon that the 
 welcome vibration of the screw told us we had started on 
 our travels again welcome, because we had become accus- 
 tomed to the continuous sound and motion, and were 
 impatient of lying idly in harbour. Of course all were on 
 deck now to witness our departure, as we slowly steamed 
 out between Fort Konstantine and Quarantine Bay. And 
 the centre and soul of our particular group seemed to be 
 Amelie Dumaresq, who appeared to have wholly thrown 
 aside her temper of the previous day, and was now abound- 
 ing in complaisance. Perhaps it was to obliterate recollec- 
 tion of those intractable moods, or perhaps she had some 
 ulterior motive : at all events she was most affectionate 
 towards our women-folk, and was trying to win their 
 favour by all the arts at her command. Naturally the talk 
 was of the incidents of the previous night's ball ; and she 
 was most enthusiastic about our Russian guests and all 
 their manners and ways and customs. 
 
A SIGNATURE i;5 
 
 " Do you know that that particular dance is only danced 
 on very special occasions ? " she went on. " Didn't you 
 think it very quaint and picturesque the little spring in 
 the air " 
 
 /'The Eussian steppes have always been famous," mur- 
 mured Peggy, under her breath. 
 
 "And don't you think it was most considerate of our 
 third officer to take the silver coin that was given to 
 him ? " she proceeded. " Oh, didn't you hear ? Well, he 
 was at the top of the accommodation-ladder, looking after 
 the people getting away in the boats ; and I dare say the 
 lamp did not show his uniform very clearly ; and when the 
 Eussian officer, on leaving, handed him a franc, or the 
 
 equivalent of a franc, I think Mr. showed great good 
 
 sense and good taste in taking it and saying nothing about 
 it. It was a harmless mistake and perhaps the Eussian 
 
 officer did not notice Mr. s' uniform ; and, surely, it 
 
 was better to be considerate, and not to offend any one by a 
 refusal when they were our guests ? " 
 
 Then, as she was chiefly addressing her women-friends, 
 her talk drifted on to costumes and diamonds ; and nothing 
 would do for the young lady but that she must go away and 
 fetch her own jewels, for the inspection of the curious. She 
 was absent only a few moments ; when she returned she 
 brought with her a rosewood casket mounted in silver, and, 
 sitting down, proceeded to take out tray after tray. Cer- 
 tainly the encrusted masses of diamonds she now produced 
 more than confirmed what her mother had confided to our 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit on the previous evening ; here indeed 
 was a shining and superb display, even in cold daylight ; 
 her companions, eagerly interested, looked on as she revealed 
 with a little affectation of indifference, perhaps these 
 successive treasures. 
 
 " No, I am not satisfied with them," she said her eye- 
 brows carelessly raising themselves. " There are plenty of 
 them ; and most of the stones are of good quality ; but the 
 different pieces are too scattered, too dissimilar. I must 
 have some more comprehensive design. Some day or other 
 I will have them taken to a first-class jeweller in Paris or 
 Vienna, and get him to draw out sketches for a general and 
 uniform re-setting : don't you think that would be advis* 
 
1 7 6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 able ? " Then she fitted in the trays again, and carried 
 away the valuable box to her cabin. 
 
 Now when women show their jewellery to each other, it 
 is a confidential kind of thing ; it implies intimacy ; it is 
 as if they were talking over secrets. And so, when Miss 
 Dumaresq returned on deck, she came back to this little 
 circle, and resumed these friendly and familiar relations. 
 It was quite clear that she determined to captivate everybody ; 
 and undoubtedly ^she could make herself most fascinating 
 when she chose ; there was a musical quality in her laugh 
 that it was difficult to resist. Even her mother came in for 
 a share of her blandishments ; and we could see that the 
 poor woman, though affecting to repel all this coaxing and 
 flattery, was immensely pleased none the less. And Wolf en- 
 berg ? 
 
 " Ernest," said the young lady (as if by way of com- 
 plaining), " why is it you are able to look at the beautiful 
 side of things, and forget that anything else exists ? For 
 example, when you see a ship in full sail in sunlight on 
 a blue sea and surely there are few things more beautiful 
 than that well, that is all you look at, that is all you think 
 of ; whereas other people have to go further they know 
 that inside that beautiful appearance there is a hideous mass 
 of ugliness and meanness foul language, rum-drinking, 
 tobacco-chewing, anger, jealousy, greed of wages, everything 
 mercenary and vile. You go through life with a series of 
 exquisite visions always around you ; you live in a succession 
 of fairy palaces. It isn't fair. Why should you have such 
 a faculty ? Why should you enjoy such immunity ? " 
 
 " Immunity from what ? " said he, in his tolerant way. 
 For he never argued with her : he only offered suggestions 
 timidly watching her eyes the while for consent. "I'm 
 afraid, Amelie, I cannot live in a fairy palace any more than 
 any one else. To do that you would have to be a ghost. 
 So long as you are a human being, you have to take the 
 very substantial knocks and buffets that human life ad- 
 ministers and make the best of it." 
 
 " My dear Lady Cameron," she went on, turning to her 
 next victim, " what a charming picture that will be of your 
 sister when Mr. Wolfenberg has thought out some idea for 
 it ! It is precisely the face that will lend itself to hia 
 
A SIGNATURE 177 
 
 imagination calm, mysterious, and thoughtful. And what 
 beautiful eyes she has and a dignity and repose of ex- 
 pression, too : singular in one so young. Mr. Verrinder is 
 a fortunate young man to be able to give such a commission, 
 and to find an artist able to undertake it." 
 
 Peggy looked startled, as well she might, for this was the 
 first she had heard of the projected sketch ; while for a 
 second a shade of annoyance over this premature disclosure 
 passed across Wolfenberg's grave and pensive face. But 
 Miss Dumaresq took no heed ; she was off and away again 
 in her airy endeavours to captivate the hearts of our small 
 set ; but more especially, as it seemed to us, was she deter- 
 mined to win over the stern and uncompromising miniature 
 despot who holds us in her iron rule. 
 
 Soon we were to discover the meaning of it all. For 
 some little time after leaving Sebastopol the lonely and 
 desolate shores of the Chersonese are flat and uninteresting, 
 and we had hardly looked at them ; but when you have 
 passed the Cape and Monastery of St. Georgia, they gain in 
 height and dignity ; and again, when you have gone by the 
 narrow strait leading into Balaclava harbour, the Crimean 
 coast rises into a series of precipitous cliffs that are lofty 
 and picturesque enough, with their bare and splintered 
 summits and their lower slopes powdered green with trees. 
 Cold in colour was this coast, even while the sun shone 
 along the ruddy-grey crags ; and cold in colour was the sea, 
 because of certain thin and wandering clouds ; but, never- 
 theless, Miss Dumaresq must needs begin to talk of the 
 beauty of the Russian Riviera which we were now approach- 
 ing, and of its magnificent mountains, its perfect climate, 
 and its princely estates and residences. 
 
 " So I have heard," said she ; " for, of course, I have 
 never been here myself. But don't you think," she con- 
 tinued, addressing herself insidiously to Mrs. Threepenny- 
 bit , " that we ought to have the assistance of Mr. Hitrovo ? 
 As we sail along, he could tell us the names of the people 
 who own the palaces. I have been looking at a rather 
 antiquated map, and I see Prince Woronzov, and General 
 Narishkin, and Count Potocki, and the Prince of Ligne, 
 and a great number of others ; only we ought to know if 
 the same people are there now. And Mr. Hitrovo should 
 
I 7 8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 be able to tell us, naturally ; and I am sure he would be so 
 glad if he could be of any service. May I go and fetch 
 him ? " 
 
 So this was the origin and object of all her skilful flattery 
 and fascination to procure for him a friendly reception in 
 that little corner of the quarter-deck usually occupied by 
 our small circle ? Well, we could not easily decline, whether 
 we were interested in Prince Galitzin and Count Potocki or 
 whether we were not. And to tell the truth, when the 
 young Eussian did come along, he seemed to be conscious 
 of the humour of the situation ; for, as a matter of fact, he, 
 never having been in this part of the world before, had 
 literally nothing to tell us ; while Amelie Dumaresq, anxious 
 to retain him, and anxious also that he should produce a 
 favourable impression, kept plying him with questions, which 
 he vaguely answered with a certain smiling indifference. 
 It was Mrs. Threepenny-bit whom mostly she strove to get 
 interested in the young man ; and her ingenious and subtle 
 endeavours to do so were almost pathetic to witness. But 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit, as some of us have discovered, is a 
 person whom it is rather difficult to cajole. 
 
 " He seems to think," she had said on more than one occa- 
 sion, " that he has only to look at you with his wonderful 
 eyes, and that that is enough. And I suppose it is enough 
 for a girl ; but for older people no. M. Paul Hitrovo 
 is altogether too lazy, too nonchalant, too well-satisfied with 
 himself. But as for his good looks, there's no denying 
 them ; and perhaps it is chiefly as an artist that Amelie 
 Dumaresq worships such a beautiful young man ; for, in 
 truth, he does not appear to take much trouble about 
 paying court to her." 
 
 However, the present circumstances were quite excep- 
 tional. The small woman had but recently arrived at the 
 conviction that there was some kind of understanding, if 
 not an actual engagement, between these two ; and did not 
 this transparent stratagem on the part of the young lady 
 afford some confirmation ? Accordingly, she talked to Paul 
 Hitrovo, studying him the while ; and Amelie stood by, listen- 
 ing intently, and putting in clever little suggestions here and 
 there to help him. Wolf enberg, some way apart, did not join 
 in. the conversation ; he was regarding" those two younger 
 
A SIGNATURE 179 
 
 people, and seemed plunged in a profound reverie. Miss 
 Dumaresq did not chance to look in his direction ; she was 
 altogether engrossed in having this deck-alliance cemented. 
 Might not the young Russian hereafter be assumed to have 
 become " one of us " ? Peggy, like Wolfenberg, was silent ; 
 she did not approve of the intrusion of strangers. 
 
 But Peggy was not silent when, a short time thereafter, 
 she found an opportunity of separating herself from this 
 little group. Another member of the charmed circle got up 
 and followed her followed her across to the rail, on which 
 she leant with both arms folded, pretending to examine 
 the features of the mountainous coast we were passing. 
 
 " Tell me," she said, in an undertone and yet rapidly, 
 " what did Miss Dumaresq mean by talking of a portrait 
 of Emily ? Is Mr. Wolfenberg going to paint her portrait ? 
 And what has Mr. Verrinder to do with it ? Eeally, I think 
 I ought to have been consulted in this matter. What is it 
 all about ? " 
 
 " It isn't exactly a portrait," one tries to explain to her ; 
 " and there has hardly been anything done with it yet, until 
 Wolfenberg finds a subject. It is a sketch, on the deck of 
 the ship, and your sister has kindly consented to act as 
 model." 
 
 " But what has Mr. Verrinder to do with it ? " she 
 demands. " Why should his name be introduced ? " 
 
 " Well, the sketch is a commission. Don't you think a 
 young man of property is very much to be commended who 
 spends his money in buying pictures ? It is not a common 
 form of extravagance nowadays." 
 
 " I know this," she says, with a certain severity, " that 
 Mr. Yerrinder is going about a great deal too much with 
 Emily. And it isn't fair on his part. I won't have it. 
 What does she know about such things ? She is too 
 amiable to repel his attentions, even if she understood 
 them ; but she doesn't understand them ; she is too young ; 
 she is a mere child." 
 
 " Children of eighteen, especially when they are of the 
 female kind, sometimes understand more than you might 
 imagine." 
 
 " But Emily ! " she says. " Who could associate her 
 with secret interviews and stolen glances ? " 
 
 tf 2 
 
i So WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Or missing the battlefield of Balaclava ? " 
 
 "It's all very well," she goes on, unheeding, "but I 
 will not have the Baby's innocence imposed upon. Years 
 and years hence she may begin to think of such things ; 
 and even then I don't believe she will ; she is much too 
 serious-minded to encourage any young man. If you had 
 studied her character as thoroughly as I have, you would 
 know how entirely different she is from other girls of her 
 age ; and no one would be more shocked and indignant 
 than herself at the idea that she was likely to fall into any 
 such entanglement. And so Mr. Verrinder will have to 
 learn to efface himself a little, and retire into the back- 
 ground." 
 
 She would probably have continued this subject, about 
 which it was clear her mind was considerably concerned, 
 but that those other people now left their places, and also 
 came over to the rail. For we were approaching that part 
 of the coast, from Aliipka onwards, where the Eussian 
 nobility have their seaside residences ; and some of these 
 looked very imposing, amid hanging gardens and abundant 
 foliage, with the vast limestone cliffs towering behind. 
 Amelie Dumaresq, no longer doubtful of the success of her 
 scheme, was in the very gayest of spirits, chattering to 
 everybody at once, and making cruel sport of Hitrovo's 
 indifference and his ignorance of his native land. 
 
 " Why, you knew you were coming to the Crimea, did 
 you not ? " she went on to say. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I suppose so," he answered her. " I had no 
 special wish, however." 
 
 "You simply came on board, and let them take you 
 wherever they please ? " said she. 
 
 " That is about it," he responded, inattentively, looking 
 towards the shore. 
 
 " Well, you are the most extraordinary person ! " she 
 exclaimed, with a familiarity of tone and address of which 
 she was herself perhaps unconscious. " Will you allow me 
 to inform you that over there, amongst those trees, is the 
 Palace of your Emperor ? " 
 
 " Oh, really ! " he said, without much concern. " That 
 is Livadia, then ? " 
 
 " And you not to know ! " she cried ? with her merry 
 
A SIGNATURE 181 
 
 black eyes laughing at him. " At all events, when we get 
 into Yalta, you must come ashore with us and show us that 
 at least you can speak a little of your own language." She 
 turned to Mrs. Threepenny-bit, and said to her, with a 
 pretty expression of innocence " I had always understood 
 that French would serve you everywhere in Russia ; but it 
 didn't do so in Sebastopol, did it ? However, it will be all 
 right if Mr. Hitrovo goes ashore with us at Yalta, won't it ? 
 and it will be so much more convenient if we make one 
 party : don't you think so ? " 
 
 The smaller woman did not answer. She had been 
 trapped and tricked into this arrangement, she hardly knew 
 how. But there still remained to her the alternative of 
 politely declining to go ashore at all. 
 
 Yalta now lay right ahead of us ; we were slowly steaming 
 into the spacious bay. And if the cold colour! of the 
 Russian Eiviera had somewhat disappointed us, we had at 
 least to confess that the situation and aspect of this remote 
 little watering-place were very beautiful indeed. The back- 
 ground a range of mighty mountains, grey and ruddy-grey 
 in their sterile altitudes, but darker where the far-extending 
 forests hung along their precipitous slopes ; atHheir base a 
 series of lower hills smothered in deep green vegetation ; 
 here and there, among the vines, and figs, and cypress, a 
 red-tiled Swiss-looking chalet, with projecting roofs and 
 verandahs ; perched on one of these wooded heights, a 
 pretty little white-domed church, with its gold crosses 
 glittering in the sun ; then down by the beach a long 
 straggling settlement of houses and bathing-establishments, 
 many of the former surrounded with gardens. Altogether 
 a fresh, bright, cheerful-looking place, snugly nestled under 
 that mountainous rampart, and rejoicing in a luxuriance of 
 verdure that was doubly welcome to the eye after the arid 
 wastes and plains of the Chersonese. 
 
 But as for going ashore ? Hardly had the sullen thunder 
 of the anchor-chain echoed through the silence of this open 
 bay when Amelie Dumaresq, all eagerness and joyousness, 
 came hurrying along, bringing with her her mother and also 
 her captured Russian ; and it was clear she meant to carry 
 us off with her in the very first boat. But Mrs. Threepenny- 
 bit hung back a little. She glanced towards Wolfenberg. 
 
1 82 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Do you think it is worth while," she said to him, " so 
 late in the afternoon ? We shall have the whole of to- 
 morrow to wander about. And a place like this always 
 looks best from the ship : you spoil it by landing." She 
 turned to the young lady. " No, thank you ; I think we 
 will wait till to-morrow." 
 
 " You are the laziest people 1 " Miss Dumaresq cried, 
 laughing. " Come along, Mimsey I " And therewith she 
 got her mother safely down the accommodation-ladder and 
 into the boat ; and presently they were on their way to the 
 distant landing-place, across the slow-heaving and pellucid 
 green water. 
 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit again turned to "Wolfenberg he 
 had been leaning on the rail, absently watching the 
 embarkation. 
 
 " It is- a wonderful thing to have youth," he said, " and a 
 quick and warm pulse, and a vivid and eager enjoyment of 
 even the veriest trifles. But in her case it may deceive you. 
 She has the faculty of being so entirely absorbed in what is 
 immediately around her, her wayward moods and impulses 
 are so real to her at the time, that you might think she 
 had abandoned other and far more important ideas or 
 interests which, as a matter of fact, she had not abandoned 
 at all." 
 
 " ' Oats-pease-beans,' for example ? " she said, with a 
 smile. "Miss Dumaresq was extraordinarily enthusiastic 
 about that subject for the space of half-an-hour or so ! " 
 
 " I should not at all be surprised," said he, gravely, " if 
 she were suddenly to take that up, when there was a proper 
 opportunity, of course, and so concentrate herself upon it 
 that she would put aside this voyage and all its circum- 
 stances as a matter hardly even to be remembered. Her 
 mind is curiously tenacious of certain things : you never 
 can tell when she may dismiss her present interests as 
 insignificant, and revert to deeply-cherished purposes and 
 ambitions. At any instant she might brush aside these 
 temporary pre-occupations and show you her true self." 
 
 Was he still, then (the small woman might have asked 
 herself), fondly hoping for a resumption of his old relation- 
 ship with Amelie in spite of all that had happened during 
 these last two or three days ? But at this moment an 
 
A SIGNATURE 183 
 
 apparently trivial incident occurred that entirely changed 
 the current of her speculations. We were idly walking up 
 and down the after part of the deck, past the now vacated 
 chairs. On one of these, which had " A. D." stamped on 
 the back, a paper-covered volume had been left ; and 
 Wolfenberg, pausing for a second, took it up in his hands. 
 The title outside was "M&noires du General Baron de 
 Marbot. I. Genes Austerlitz Eylau." 
 
 " An odd kind of book for a young lady to be reading," 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit observed. 
 
 " She is masculine in her literary tastes," he said, simply. 
 "And I hear from her that the author describes certain 
 episodes in his military career with extraordinary force and 
 vividness ; and also that he does not scruple about revealing 
 the hideous horrors and sufferings of a campaign. That is 
 no doubt what recommended the book to Amelie she likes 
 the downright truth " 
 
 He was thoughtlessly turning over the pages. But of a 
 sudden he stopped stared blankly for a second then 
 abruptly he closed the volume again and put it down as 
 though he had found some poisonous thing there. His lips 
 had quickly grown colourless ; he seemed bewildered ; for 
 an instant or two he appeared hardly to know where he was. 
 This emotion, which was only too evident, his immediate 
 companion affected not to perceive ; without attempting to 
 disturb or distract him by talking, she merely resumed that 
 negligent stroll up and down which had been thus casually 
 interrupted. "We were to hear more of this occurrence 
 later on. 
 
 As the dusk fell, the people came back to the ship ; while 
 ashore, the lofty mountains were gradually deepening in 
 gloom ; and in the town small dots of yellow fire had 
 already* become visible. Out to sea, on the other hand, 
 masses of louring purple cloud had gathered along the 
 southern horizon ; and from time to time there flashed 
 across them quivering glares of lightning. We began to 
 wonder what we should do in this open roadstead, that has 
 no sort of protection whatever from the south, if a gale 
 were to spring up in the night. Already there was a slow, 
 heavy, oily swell coming in that might have been taken to 
 presage a storm. How about our holding-ground ? Or 
 
1 84 WOLFENBERG 
 
 should we have to get up steam, and clear out, and face 
 whatever might be approaching ? 
 
 But all these vague and unprofessional alarms eventually 
 resolved themselves. With the dark came peace, and 
 silence, and the calm of moonlight. By slow degrees the 
 scene before us assumed a strangely fantastic and unreal 
 appearance ; for while the vast spaces of forest that covered 
 the slopes of the mountains were obscure and undecipher- 
 able, far above these the precipitous limestone peaks and 
 crags, rising into the serene heavens, shone a spectral grey. 
 The little white town, too, with its innumerable points of 
 golden fire, seemed to come out of that mysterious back- 
 ground of sombre foliage ; it looked as though it hung 
 in air, over the black and unseen sea. Nevertheless the 
 silence was not absolute ; across the intervening space of 
 water we could hear some faint sound of music so faint, 
 indeed, as at times to be almost inaudible. 
 
 We had sought out our accustomed nook along by the 
 wheel-box ; and on this evening it chanced (for a while at 
 least) that we three were alone. 
 
 " Peggy," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, almost whispering, 
 " I have something so singular to tell you. Did you notice, 
 when we were walking up and down this afternoon, that 
 Mr. Wolfenberg stopped at Amelie Dumaresq's chair, and 
 took up a book she had left behind her ? " 
 
 " I saw you looking at a book, certainly," Peggy responded, 
 " but I paid no particular attention." 
 
 " And neither did I at the moment. But all of a sudden, 
 as Wolfenberg was carelessly turning over the leaves, and 
 talking of Amelie's love of literal ness and vividness, he 
 came to a sheet of note-paper that had most likely 
 been used as a mark ; and then something very strange 
 appeared in his face, and he hastily put the book down 
 again. Whatever it was, he was much moved ; I could 
 see that ; but, of course, I did not speak ; and he said 
 nothing." 
 
 The small woman hesitated, and seemed a little 
 embarrassed. 
 
 " Yes, I will confess," she said, in the same low voice, 
 " I was curious more than curious ; I was anxious ; my 
 sympathies are so entirely with him I am so sorry for him 
 
A SIGNATURE 185 
 
 in his solitary position that I could not but want to know 
 what now had happened to him. You see, only a moment 
 or two before he had been speaking of Amelie, and he 
 appeared to think there was still a chance of her all at 
 once throwing aside these present entanglements, and going 
 back to the old relationship that used to exist between him 
 and her the relationship she was so proud of when she 
 first explained it to me. And this thing whatever it was 
 seemed to startle him out of these dreams, for there was 
 never a word more about them : you would have fancied he 
 had received some sudden blow. Well, as soon as I was 
 left alone, and saw my chance, I went round to Miss 
 Dumaresq's chair and took up the book. I had no right to 
 look, of course but but I did. And almost directly I 
 discovered what had affected him so deeply. The sheet of 
 note-paper may or may not have been a mark for her place 
 in reading ; but, at all events, she had been amusing herself 
 by scribbling things on it ; and there, as you could see at 
 a glance, was Paul Hitrovo's name treated in different ways. 
 But that was not all. She had gone on with such musings 
 in her brain as it is easy to guess at to write, in a smaller 
 hand, the words ' Amelie cTHitrovo ' obviously an experi- 
 ment to see how the signature would look 
 
 " But what madness to leave such a thing lying about on 
 deck ! " Peggy exclaimed. 
 
 " She must have been interrupted, have quickly shut up 
 the volume, and then have forgotten all about it," the 
 smaller woman said. "And these pencilled words were 
 what Wolf enberg must have seen. That was the answer to 
 his vague forecasts, his last despairing hopes about what 
 the future might even yet have in store for him." 
 
 " Surely it is better he should know the worst at once," 
 her companion said. 
 
 " Peggy, there is no ' better ' in such a case," the other 
 responded, sadly enough. " There can be nothing but 
 tragic misery for him, at least ; what else can there be ? " 
 
 Peggy hesitated. 
 
 " Something quite unexpected, perhaps. She is so wilful 
 and head-strong : with a character so impetuous as hers is, 
 it is impossible to say what might not happen- 
 But here she found her arm furtively grasped by her 
 
1 86 
 
 friend, as a warning. It was "Wolfenberg himself who was 
 approaching them. 
 
 " Why do you sit in the dark ? * he said, in his grave, 
 and placid, and kindly fashion. " Why do you not come 
 and look at the moonlight and the hills ? I little imagined 
 that it was the shores of southern Russia that were going to 
 give us a glimpse of the celestial mysteries." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 * HOME, DEARIE, HOME ! " 
 
 THE morning sun shone on the vivid green water, on the 
 little white town, and on the abundant gardens and vine- 
 yards ; and the air, cooled by the neighbourhood of the 
 great encircling mountains, was pleasant and soft and sweet, 
 when Peggy appeared at the top of the companion, herself 
 fresher and fairer and more smiling than the dawn. 
 
 " Where is the Major ? " she demanded, blithely enough. 
 " I saw him a few minutes ago, and he said he would fetch 
 some sago or rice, or something of that kind for the ring- 
 dove. Well, never mind ; let's go and see if that wicked 
 little hawk is any tamer yet." 
 
 For it must be explained that during the voyage the 
 sailors had managed to capture several birds tired creatures 
 that had taken refuge in the rigging ; and these had been 
 confined in rudely-constructed cages, to be taken home to 
 England as pets. Moreover, as the big wicker-work crate 
 in which Phaon was ignominiously shut up each night stood 
 in a corner just aft of the butcher's den, there was here a 
 convenient space for the stowage of these cages ; so that 
 our Orotanians had a kind of small aviary on board ; and 
 could when they chose amuse themselves by carrying food 
 or drink to the feathered prisoners. On this occasion, 
 however, the fact that Sappho's pet and the caged birds 
 were in close proximity was destined to lead to lamentable 
 results ; for when the Major came along with a paper bag 
 of grain in his hand, Phaon, recognising his deadly foe, 
 began to growl and snarl. 
 
 " Oh, be quiet, you brute ! " said the Major, and he 
 made a kick at the crate. 
 
"HOME, DEARIE, HOME!" 18? 
 
 This only provoked the irate little animal within to 
 fiercer barking. The Major pretended to take no notice, 
 lie handed the bag to Lady Cameron, who proceeded to 
 shake out the grain into the cages. Then the Major, being 
 unoccupied, turned his attention to the yelping cur. 
 
 " Will you be quiet, you little beast ! " he muttered, 
 angrily, and another kick shook the frail crate. 
 
 Alas ! it shook it all too effectually. The catch sprung 
 or fell out ; the door came ajar ; the next instant the 
 furious Phaon had bounded forth and gripped his enemy 
 by the foot of the trousers, worrying and tearing and 
 hauling. At the same moment the Major, trying to kick 
 him off, staggered back, and subsided on to the bench 
 behind ; the fabric of slight summer garment at once gave 
 way ; but Phaon, not satisfied with this amount of damage, 
 renewed his attack, and seemed bent on getting hold of 
 something more substantial than a bit of cloth. How the 
 onslaught might otherwise have ended it is impossible to 
 determine ; what happened was that one of the quarter- 
 masters, chancing to come by with a long iron rod in his 
 hand, promptly applied that instrument to an inferior part 
 of Phaon's person ; a sudden howl, and a swift and growling 
 retreat into the empty crate immediately followed ; while 
 the Major got on to his feet again, his face purple with 
 passion, rage almost depriving him of the power of 
 utterance. 
 
 " Here," said he to the quartermaster, in gasping tones, 
 " g gi ye me that thing I I will prod the little devil's 
 eyes out ! " 
 
 " Oh, for shame ! " said Lady Cameron, interposing, 
 and sending the man away. " Why, you irritated the 
 poor beast I " she said to the Major* " What could you 
 expect ? " 
 
 Now the Major had been neither frightened nor hurt, 
 but he was simply insensate with rage at having been made 
 ridiculous in the eyes of this young lady. 
 
 " What could I expect ? " he repeated, with a terrible 
 effort at self-control that boded but ill for Phaon's future 
 happiness. " Oh, perhaps so. Perhaps so. Very very 
 likely. But I have a long-standing account to settle with 
 that disgusting little animal. Perhaps I provoked him. 
 
1 83 VVOLFENBERG 
 
 He has provoked me once or twice. We will see who has 
 the final word." 
 
 " Now, Major, what do you mean ? " said Peggy, seriously, 
 and with hardly a glimmer of laughter in her eyes. " You 
 would not harbour thoughts of revenge ? It was a fair 
 fight until the quartermaster came in with an attack from 
 the rear. You're not going to bear ill-will ? " 
 
 " Ill-will ? Oh, no," said he, darkly and gloomily. 
 " What is the use of ill-will ? But but I mean to have it 
 out with that infernal little beast. A public nuisance ! a 
 nuisance to the whole ship ! But but I will have some 
 small kind of settling before long / think. And in the 
 meantime I suppose I shall have to go and get a change of 
 clothes." And therewith he departed ; and that was all we 
 heard of this encounter for the time being. 
 
 Now although we had many leagues of voyaging still 
 before us, and many (to us) strange and unfamiliar places 
 to visit, this remote little Eussian town was the most 
 easterly point of our travels ; leaving Yalta, in short, we 
 were leaving for home ; and it was but natural that the 
 least curious or enterprising among us should wish to go 
 ashore for a brief space, and look round, and say good-bye. 
 But while we were considering this matter, Am61ie Dumaresq 
 came up, and put her hand within Wolfenberg's arm in the 
 most affectionate way, and said to him, reproachfully 
 
 " Ernest, why are you always ready to go ashore with 
 anybody except me ? It is not like you to forsake old 
 friends. And I've just told mother I will not leave the 
 ship at all this morning unless you come with us ; and 
 when I say ' come with us,' I mean with me with me 
 you and I together companions just as we have been many 
 and many a time, through a good many years." 
 
 This was an extraordinary outburst, however obscure its 
 origin. Wolfenberg's grave face flushed somewhat ; but he 
 laughed ; and seemed inclined to treat her with a little 
 gentle ridicule. 
 
 " There cannot be much forsaking, Am61ie, on board ship, 
 where we are thrown together the whole day long. All the 
 same, I will go with you, and very gladly." 
 
 He was about to turn to Mrs. Threepenny-bit ; but the 
 young lady anticipated him ; she would have his usual 
 
"HOME, DEARIE, HOME'" 189 
 
 companions come with her also ; nay, she insisted on it, 
 for she would not be guilty of dragging him away. Indeed, 
 she was most kind and considerate all the way round ; and 
 was most solicitous about the comfort of her mother (whose 
 eyes were even more than ordinarily anxious and troubled, 
 one of us thought) ; and appeared rather to guard against 
 looking Hitrovo's way. Then, again, when we had got 
 into the stern of the steam-launch and were making for the 
 shore, she said 
 
 "Ernest, don't you think there should be a complete 
 frankness between intimate friends when it comes to the 
 giving of a little present ? Why should there be shyness 
 and secrecy, when you would like to know what would be 
 most appreciated ? And so I tell you now that I want to 
 get a little present for you here in Yalta ; and. you must be 
 honest with me and let me know what would most please 
 you. You see, this is the farthest point of this voyage ; 
 and I should like you to have some souvenir of it perhaps 
 engraved with Eussian characters, if there is time a little 
 message from me to you, that would recall a good many 
 things whenever you saw it. What do you think, now ? 
 something you could attach to your watch-chain ; and you 
 would be continually seeing it, wherever you might be 
 for for who knows what may happen in the world ? 
 but always, wherever you might be, you would have this 
 little token with you, and you could say 'Well, Amelie 
 gave me that, the day we were at Yalta. This is the 
 message it carries that she did not want to be forgotten, 
 ever.' " 
 
 She seemed a little nervous and hysterical this morning ; 
 for a second there was a suspicion of moisture about the 
 long black lashes ; but she hastily brushed the half -formed 
 tears away. 
 
 " You and I," she continued, " have known each oflier 
 long enough, and intimately enough, to be quite frank ; 
 and you must come into a jeweller's shop with me, if there 
 is such a thing in Yalta, and you must tell me what is 
 best ; you see, it is important at least, I consider it 
 important ; it may have to speak to you, for me, through 
 many, many years ; and every time you look at it, you will 
 say to yourself, ' That was when Amelia and I were sailing 
 

 190 
 
 WOLFENBERG 
 
 together, long and long ago ; and she did not want to be 
 forgotten.' " 
 
 He regarded her in a kindly fashion. 
 
 "A Saint-Blaise, a la Zuecca . . . nous etions heureux 
 la?" 
 
 She looked startled and confused for a second, and 
 glanced quickly and stealthily towards Paul Hitrovo. 
 
 " I remember the lines," she said, " but I was never quite 
 
 sure what de Musset meant perhaps only a happy 
 
 recollection -' ' 
 
 She could say no more, for at this moment the launch 
 slowed in to the landing-stage, and we had to get out and 
 ascend the wide stone steps. 
 
 This straggling contingent of foreigners, boldly headed 
 by Amelie Dumaresq and her less self-assertive companion, 
 now encountered a motley crowd, who stared with obvious 
 curiosity ; and little wonder, seeing that the Orotania, as 
 we afterwards learned, was the third English steamer that 
 had ever appeared in these waters. And perhaps we also 
 stared curiously at this miscellaneous assemblage Greeks, 
 Arabs, Jews, and here and there a typical Eussian peasant, 
 thick-set, long-haired, sun-tanned, with a strangely patient, 
 apathetic, submissive look in his eyes. Moreover, our 
 arrival was opportune ; this was some kind of public 
 holiday the little white-doomed church perched high on 
 the deep-green hill kept tolling from time to time, in soft 
 and musical tones ; and these idlers had come out to see 
 what was to be seen. The most adventurous among them 
 were already negotiating for the hire of boats, that they 
 might go out and beg to be allowed to inspect the non- 
 descript vessel that had come from far climes. 
 
 When we got away from the crowded quay we found the 
 little white town quiet enough in the blaze of the noonday 
 heat. And what may have mostly struck this little group 
 of strangers, now wandering along, was the absence (in a 
 watering-place) of big and prominent hotels, and the pre- 
 valence of neat and trim two-storeyed residences surrounded 
 by well-kept gardens. But what Yalta was like, or was not 
 like, was speedily driven from our minds by something of 
 greater moment. Amelie had at length found the jeweller's 
 shop she sought, It was not a very pretentious establish- 
 
" HOME, DEARIE, HOME > 191 
 
 ment, the chief feature in the window being a series of 
 heads of the Madonna, enamelled in colours, with rays of 
 brass emanating all round ; likewise there was some 
 damaskeened silver and also a few things studded with 
 uncut turquoises and amethysts that perhaps had a certain 
 novelty about them. However, she would have "Wolfenberg 
 go into this place, to see if she could discover what she 
 wanted ; and at the same moment she turned to Hitrovo, 
 who was standing by. 
 
 " Won't you come," said she, without addressing him 
 either by Christian name or surname, " and help us ? 
 Perhaps they speak only Kussian." 
 
 So he followed also ; and the very instant he had dis- 
 appeared, Mrs. Dumaresq turned quickly to the elder 
 woman of our party. 
 
 " Has Ame'lie said anything to you ? " she asked, in 
 an eager and anxious undertone. "It was only this 
 morning she told me. It is quite settled between her 
 and Hitrovo." 
 
 " I have suspected as much during the last day or two," 
 said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, calmly. " And I made sure of 
 it just now, as we were coming ashore in the launch." 
 
 " But what am I to do ? " said the mother, who seemed 
 in a most distracted and bewildered and helpless state. 
 " I have no one to consult. I am quite unable to do any- 
 thing, for Amelie would pay no heed to whatever I might 
 say. And yet her uncle down in Florida will hold me 
 responsible ; and I ought to write to him ; I must write to 
 him ; and at the same time I know what his first questions 
 will be. He will want to be told all about the young man, 
 about his character, his position, his prospects, and his 
 family. But what am I to answer him ? " she went on in 
 a piteous fashion. " What can I say ? I am in absolute 
 ignorance. And it is useless to remonstrate with Amelie 
 useless to ask her to postpone any definite arrangement 
 until her Uncle Charles could come over. Of course, if 
 this marriage is persisted in, he must come over in any 
 case : there will be all the settlements to be seen to. If 
 she were not so self-willed ! if she would only wait ! You 
 cannot tell these last few days how frightened I have been 
 to see her open preference ; I saw what it would come to ; 
 
1 92 WOLFENBERG 
 
 and yet I knew it was no use interfering. And what am 1 
 to do now ? what can I do ? " 
 
 Now it was not of Paul Hitrovo that the smaller woman 
 was thinking, nor yet of Uncle Charles, nor even of Amelie 
 Dumaresq herself : it was of another person altogether it 
 was of Wolfenberg. Nevertheless she had to respond to 
 this tremulous and despairing appeal with such ordinary 
 assurances as she could devise. 
 
 " I am certain," she said, " that any one who knows 
 Amelie will not hold you responsible for any decision she 
 may have come to ; and surely a young woman should be 
 allowed to choose for herself whom she will marry. And 
 don't you think she has had plenty of opportunities of 
 studying his character during this voyage ? But but 
 Mrs. Dumaresq, about Mr. Wolfenberg : have you told 
 him ? " 
 
 " That is another thing," the poor lady said quickly. 
 " "Would you be so very, very kind as to do that for me 
 some time or other ? He sits and talks with you in the 
 evening ; you could find some chance when there was no 
 one to overhear ; because, of course, it must be kept an 
 absolute secret from the people on the ship. Your party 
 were to know, she said, because you and Wolfenberg had 
 become such intimate friends ; and I was to tell Wolfenberg. 
 But but somehow I shrink from it and it is so difficult 
 to find an opportunity and if you now would be so very, 
 very kind " At this moment the three who had gone 
 into the shop reappeared ; and she instantly added, with a 
 studied indifference of voice and manner : " As I was 
 saying, Amelie is well advised in giving her diamond case 
 to the Purser, to be locked up in his strong box, whenever 
 we come into a harbour. It would never do to have such 
 things lying about in her cabin, and strangers coming on 
 board." 
 
 That afternoon, on our return to the Orotania, Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit's state-room seemed the safest retreat, to be 
 out of the way of our Russian visitors who were now 
 swarming all over the vessel. And of course and at once 
 the talk turned upon the announcement of the morning. 
 It was a climax, to be sure, that all of us had foreseen ; 
 yet the certainty of it, thus suddenly declared, produced 
 
, DEARIE, HOME'* 193 
 
 something almost like dismay when we thought of that 
 other. 
 
 " So this is the end," said the smaller of the two women. 
 " This is the end of her romantic devotion and attachment. 
 This is the end of her convictions about marriage being 
 the great disillusioniser ; about an exalted friendship and 
 affection being the most perfect and most lasting relationship 
 between a man and a woman of thoroughly sympathetic 
 minds and tastes. This is the end of the atonement she 
 proposed to make for what he had suffered elsewhere ; the 
 end of her courageous determination to stand by him, 
 scorning the ordinary ways of life. And it is as I had 
 feared all along," she continued, in a pensive way. " When 
 you came to me, at first, Peggy, and described that ideal 
 companionship, I confess it looked very beautiful and 
 noble ; but I asked you how any kind of permanence was 
 to be secured for it. Human nature is strong ; and the 
 ordinary ways of life draw your feet into them whether you 
 will or not." 
 
 " I don't believe it," said Peggy, bluntly. " That re- 
 lationship between him and her might have continued to 
 exist securely enough if only she had had a firmer and finer 
 character, a more tenacious resolution, and a little less of 
 the selfishness of a spoilt child. Did you never hear of a 
 woman giving up thoughts of marriage because of what she 
 considered a higher duty ? I have, then, more than once, in 
 my own small experience. But the simple fact is that Amelie 
 Dumaresq is all-important to herself. Her strength of 
 character doesn't lie in the way of sacrifice at all, but in a 
 kind of impetuous belief that the whole of the surrounding 
 world should be subservient to her, and should rejoice and 
 acquiesce in whatever tends to her happiness. It is won- 
 derful to look at it is so childlike, so unconscious. You 
 can hardly be angry with her, it is all so natural. And 
 yet, Missis, when you think what it is you have to tell 
 Wolfenberg when you think what it means to him " 
 
 She paused, and regarded her friend. 
 
 " I wish I had not undertaken any such task," the other 
 said, slowly. " And yet I remember his face as he talked 
 to me on the Acropolis at Athens. He has the most heroic 
 unselfishness and an inflexible fortitude. It is not of his 
 
194 
 
 WOLFENBERG 
 
 own share in this thing that he will speak, whatever he 
 may suffer. I could almost tell you what he will say. It 
 is her happiness, and that alone, that he will take into 
 consideration." 
 
 " I think the best thing he can do," the younger woman 
 said, absently, " is to leave this ship as soon as ever we get 
 back to Constantinople." 
 
 " Don't you remember, then, Peggy, that I thought he 
 ought to have gone away long before we ever got there ? " 
 
 " I suppose it is an inevitable consequence," her com- 
 panion continued, almost unheeding. "When a married 
 man falls in love with an unmarried young woman, misery 
 is sure to come of it, for one or other of them, or for both. 
 I know you don't think he is in love with her, at least 
 consciously : you think the situation is entirely as she 
 described it a romantic companionship of two twin-souls ; 
 but his obedience to her slightest wish, his constant defence 
 of her, his extraordinary admiration of whatever she does 
 or says, his eager gratitude to you for any commendation of 
 her, and the way his eyes soften with kindliness whenever 
 he looks at her well, if all that isn't love, I don't know 
 the symptoms. At the same time, I quite agree with you 
 that when you make this communication to him he will be 
 quite reticent, and simple, and self -controlled ; he will 
 probably express pleasure, and ask when he may be allowed 
 to take his congratulations to her ; but don't you be 
 deceived by that, Missis : there are deeps in that man's 
 nature that he does not choose to reveal. I have not 
 watched him so long and so closely for nothing." 
 
 And perhaps the elder woman would have been glad to 
 have had her painful mission accomplished and off her 
 mind, but that no chance offered itself during this evening. 
 Hardly had the last of our Russian visitors left the ship 
 than the dinner-hour was upon us ; and, naturally, the big 
 saloon was no place for private confidences. On the other 
 hand, Amelie, on this occasion, claimed Wolfenberg as her 
 own, and was kindness itself to him. She seemed a little 
 excited and happy. She was immensely pleased with 
 everything she had seen in Yalta, and especially with the 
 serious bearing of the Russian country folk. 
 
 "I thought they had a most vacant, unintelligent 
 
"HOME, DEARIE, HOME!" 195 
 
 expression," put in Mrs. Dumaresq, rather peevishly : per- 
 haps she had grown tired of praises of things Eussiun. 
 
 " Oh, matushka," cried the young lady this being her 
 newly-invented name for her mother "how can you say 
 so ! I'm sure I preferred their dignified unconcern to the 
 observant quickness and inquisitiveness of the Greeks and 
 Jews. But then I don't like self-conscious smartness and 
 spryness, and shallow cleverness ; we get a good deal too 
 much of that at home. I've often heard it said that the 
 American eye is more alert than the European eye " 
 
 " Do you know why that is so, Amelie ? " Wolfenberg 
 said, with a smile. " It is because the early settlers were 
 trained to keep a sharp look-out if they meant to preserve 
 their scalps." 
 
 "There is nothing to me more contemptible," she 
 continued, pursuing her remorseless way, "than the funny 
 young man in our country, his eyelids all quivering with 
 his anxiety to say something humorous. And he need not 
 be so concerned ; it is so easily done. When one of our 
 funny young men wants to make himself amusing, either in 
 print or in talking, he has only to represent himself as the 
 victim of all kinds of discomforts and humiliating expe- 
 riences. It is an easy trick to raise a laugh. But I prefer 
 a little dignity a little self-respect. Why should people 
 be so anxious to display their cleverness, their knowingness ? 
 Why should they want to show off, unless through some 
 distressing consciousness of inferiority ? For my part, I 
 would rather have the insolent indifference of the English- 
 man than the eager self-assertion of the American. And I 
 tell you I have a greater admiration for the grave and 
 reserved manner and bearing of those Eussian peasants 
 than I have for all the nonchalance and nirnble-wittedness 
 of the very smartest of our hotel-clerks at home " 
 
 " Amelie," the poor mother complained, "it is very 
 strange that you should so have taken to running down 
 your own country. You would be very angry if you heard 
 any one else say such things." 
 
 She burst out laughing, quite good-naturedly. 
 
 " Why, then, do you drive me into argument, matushka ? 
 Why will you be so contentious ? Why will you quarrel ? 
 I declare, when I looked at those Russian country people 
 
 2 
 
196 
 
 there were some of them at the quay when we came aWay 
 I was very nearly going up to them, and saying to them, 
 da svidania ! " 
 
 " And what is that ? " Wolf enberg said. 
 
 "'Da svidania?' Oh, that is au revoir" she made 
 answer, with much cheerfulness. 
 
 Nor, again, after dinner, was there any opportunity of 
 conveying this fateful piece of news to him, for Arnelie 
 herself detained him in the saloon. Was she going to play 
 to him certain of those plantation melodies for which he 
 had a boyish fondness ; or did she wish to show him her 
 first groupings for the ' Oats-pease-beans ' subject ; or had 
 she it in her mind to get the Eussian, who also remained 
 below, and him better acquainted ? At all events, they 
 did not for a long time make their appearance on deck, 
 though the beauty of the night might well have tempted 
 them : there was a full moon, and a perfectly glassy sea 
 the long and trembling lane of silver ran away out to the 
 horizon line, where it widened, sharp and clear against the 
 receding softness of the sky. 
 
 "I suppose I must wait until to-morrow," said one of 
 two women who were slowly walking up and down, arm-in- 
 arm, " though I would rather have it done with at once. 
 To tell you the truth, Peggy, I am a little afraid. What 
 you say about the way he will probably take the news is, no 
 doubt, quite right ; but still, when you imagine that a man 
 is inwardly suffering, and outwardly steeling himself, it 
 seems cruel to look on. And then I am an intruder. Why 
 should I be asked to interfere- " 
 
 " Because that distressed creature of a mother is about 
 out of her mind," said Peggy at once. " I should not be 
 surprised if she telegraphed to the uncle in Florida to come 
 over without delay. Let me see : what is the next port we 
 call at Moudanieh ? And, of course, one can telegraph 
 from Asia Minor to the United States. But, even then, 
 what would be the use ? The thing is done. Amelie 
 Dumaresq is not the sort of girl to be reasoned or threatened 
 out of any resolve she has arrived at." 
 
 "I wish my message was delivered," her companion 
 rejoined : clearly it was of Wolfenberg she was thinking 
 not of those others at all. 
 
" HOME, DEARIE, HOME > >' 1 97 
 
 The Major came along. 
 
 " Splendid night, eh ? beautiful picture, ain't it ? " said 
 he in his buoyant fashion. "Are you ladies going to wait 
 up to sec the start ? eleven-thirty prompt. Lights out at 
 eleven, as usual ; but there is little need for lights on a 
 night like this." 
 
 " Eleven-thirty, did you say ? " Lady Cameron asked. 
 
 " Eleven-thirty," he repeated. " And then we arc off 
 for home. And if we were to leave one of our passengers 
 behind at this turning-point, he would find some difficulty 
 in getting back to England, eh, wouldn't he ? " 
 
 He grinned in a carious manner ; but his meaning 
 remained dark and impenetrable. 
 
 " Why should we leave any one behind ? " asked Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit. "Surely, every one knows that we sail 
 to-night ? " 
 
 Again he grinned to himself, but he did not reply, for he 
 had stepped into the moonlight to pick a cigar from his 
 case ; then, when he came back under the awning, he found 
 that these two were talking of something else ; and 
 presently he had taken his departure, doubtless making 
 away for those spacious and comfortable lower regions 
 devoted to smoke, and cards, and cooling drinks. 
 
 They were now standing by the rail, looking wistfully at 
 the wonderful scenic display before them : the white town 
 asleep in the calm, wan radiance ; the darkly-wooded lower 
 hills, with here and there a chalet brought into sharp 
 relief ; then the mighty range of mountains, with mysterious 
 breadths of forest ; and far above these, towering into the 
 serene and cloudless heavens, the precipitous crags and 
 summits grown grey and spectral in the moonlight. 
 
 " Yes," said Peggy, " I seem to have drank in happiness 
 and enjoyment every moment since I came on board this 
 ship ; and yet there is something in the word ' home.' I 
 dare say when we get to Greenock and I do hope Ewen 
 will manage to meet me at Malta, so that we may go home 
 together I dare say Greenock will be as rainy, and dirty, 
 and grimy as usual ; and it may be wet and windy going 
 down the Firth ; and perhaps freshening up to gales and 
 storms as we get out west and make away for the north ; 
 but I don't care ; I think, after these long weeks of blue 
 
I 9 8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 seas and constant sunlight, I should like to watch Ardna- 
 murchan headland growing black and terrible in the face of 
 an Atlantic squall " 
 
 "You like weather as is weather," her friend said. 
 "They have taught you that at least in the West 
 Highlands." 
 
 'I like a touch of wildness, anyway," she confessed, 
 "something to come along and shake the chromo-litho- 
 graphic element out of the world around you. Give me an 
 ulster, a Tam-o'-Shanter, and a pair of thick boots, and I 
 don't want anything better than fighting my way down to 
 the seashore in the teeth of a westerly gale, with the spin- 
 drift tasting salt. No, Missis, you won't catch me grumbling 
 about Greenock and the rain and the mud when I find 
 myself on the quay, waiting for the big steamer with the 
 two red funnels." She put her hand on the hand of her 
 friend as they were both of them leaning with pensive 
 elbows on the rail ; and now she spoke in a lower voice 
 for there were people about : " Missis, do you remember the 
 old rhyme ? it does for Greenock as well as any other 
 seaport 
 
 'O Grecnock is a fine town, with ships in the bay, 
 And I wish from my heart it's there I was to-day; 
 I wish from my heart I was far away from here, 
 Sitting in my parlour and talking to my dear. 
 For it's home, dearie, home it's home I want to be; 
 Our topsails are hoisted, and we'll away to sea: 
 O the oak, and the ash, and the bonnie birken tree, 
 They grow so green in the North Countrie!'" 
 
 " And a very pretty specimen of an American you are ! " 
 her companion exclaimed : after which indisputable state- 
 ment of fact nothing more was said on the subject. It is 
 a far cry to Greenock from Yalta beyond the Chersonese. 
 
 At eleven all lights except the necessary ship's lights 
 were extinguished ; but that, as the Major had observed, 
 was of little consequence ; the whole of the world around 
 us was illuminated by this mild white splendour that 
 seemed to fill the slumbering air. Many had gone below 
 for good ; but a few had come up from the saloon to 
 witness the start among these being Amelie Dumaresq, 
 her Russian lover, and Wolf enberg. Here, too, was Sappho, 
 
A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 199 
 
 ecstatic about the spectral mountains ; the Baby had 
 joined her sister and Julian Verrinder was in meek 
 attendance ; the Major alone was unaccountably absent. 
 We waited, mostly in silence, counting the minutes ; and, 
 indeed, so perfect was the quietude astern that, just before 
 seven bells struck, we heard a sudden splash some way 
 further forward. 
 
 " What can that be ? " said Mrs. Threepenny-bit. 
 
 " Perhaps the stokers throwing cinders overboard," Peggy 
 suggested. 
 
 " Oh, nonsense ! They never do that at this time of 
 night," was the reply. 
 
 But there was no further thought of this thing, for at 
 the same moment a vibration underneath us told us that 
 the screw had begun to revolve. Peggy rose, and put her 
 arm affectionately round her friend's waist. 
 
 " ' It's home, dearie, home.' " 
 
 "Yes and it's time to go below, too," responded her 
 companion, as together they set out for their cabins. 
 
 Just then a figure was seen to emerge from the dark 
 shadow underneath the boat-deck, to pass rapidly across by 
 the engine-hatches, and to disappear in the direction of 
 the stairs leading down to the fore saloon. 
 
 "Wasn't that the Major ? " said Mrs. Threepenny-bit. 
 
 " I think so," answered Peggy, looking puzzled. 
 
 " Why should he steal away from us like that ? " she 
 demanded, " without saying good-night ? And what did 
 he mean by his mysterious talk about a passenger being left 
 behind ? " 
 
 But it was no time for the asking or answering of idle 
 conundrums it was time, rather, to get to bed. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 THERE is a story told of a Scotch minister who had married 
 a remarkably ill-favoured wife, and who (perhaps to excuse" 
 himself before the people) was much given to vaunting her 
 spiritual graces and excellences. "She is all glorious 
 within." he remarked on one occasion to a neighbour. 
 
200 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Man, Jamie," replied the too-familiar friend, * it's a sair 
 pcety ye canna flipe her " ioflipe, in Scotland, meaning to 
 turn a stocking inside out. And, if at times we were 
 tempted to say something of the same sort of our perfervid 
 poetess, our peerless Sappho the splendour of whose soul 
 found no fit exponent in her rather dowdy figure and 
 lethargic features there were other times in which she did 
 her very best to appear cheerful, and sympathetic, and 
 kind ; and then we forgave her everything. On this 
 particular morning, as we were labouring onwards through 
 the brilliant and swift-glancing waters of the Black Sea, 
 Sappho seemed pre-eminently amiable of mood. 
 
 " How good-natured those sailors are ! " she said, as she 
 came up to Lady Cameron and the Major. " I suppose it 
 is the monotony of their lives makes them so fond of pets. 
 Fancy their being before me even at this early hour ; they 
 have taken Phaon out of his crate ; and I have no doubt 
 they have carried him off to give him a share of their 
 breakfast." 
 
 "It is a good thing Phaon is not a parrot," observed 
 Lady Cameron, demurely, "if they have taken him away 
 into the forecastle." 
 
 At this, Sappho looked a little alarmed. 
 
 "Yes," said she, "I had not thought of that. Their 
 manners may be rather rough." She turned to the 
 quartermaster, who was arranging the deck-chairs. 
 " Quartermaster," she said, " would you be so kind as to go 
 and fetch me my little dog ? The men must have taken 
 him below." 
 
 " Very well, madam," was the civil reply ; and away 
 the quartermaster went. 
 
 He was gone for a considerable time. When he returned, 
 the news he brought with him was sufficient to paralyse the 
 boldest : nothing could be seen or heard anywhere of the 
 missing Phaon, while it was absolutely certain he had not 
 been taken below by the sailors. Sappho did not appear to 
 comprehend. She stared at the man in a stunned, be- 
 wildered fashion. 
 
 " Not in the ship ? What do you mean ? " she cried, in 
 a gasping sort of way. " I don't understand you. He 
 must be in the ship ! I saw him myself last njght as late 
 
A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 201 
 
 as eleven o'clock I know he was not left ashore, for I 
 brought him on board myself he was safe in that crate 
 I saw him I saw him myself 
 
 "It seems incredible that he should have jumped over 
 the side during the night," observed the Major, regarding 
 her calmly ; " and yet how otherwise can one account for 
 his disappearance ? No one could be so inhuman as to 
 pitch him overboard. It is true he has been rather snappy 
 with some of the passengers ; and I may say he bit myself 
 yesterday morning ; but that is nothing nothing at all a 
 mere trifle " 
 
 She turned from him impatiently, and addressed herself 
 again to the quartermaster. 
 
 " Come and show me where you have looked an instant 
 search must be made where is the butcher ? you must 
 bring him before the Purser before the Captain there 
 must not be a moment's delay " 
 
 And therewith she dragged the man away with her to 
 arouse and scour the startled ship. 
 
 When we next saw Sappho, a marvellous change had 
 come over her. There was nothing left of the amiability of 
 the morning ; she had also passed out of that mood of 
 blank consternation with which she had at first heard the 
 news ; she had become a tempestuous fury, with malig- 
 nant hatred sparkling in her eyes, and vibrating in her 
 voice. 
 
 "Now I see now I understand," she said to Lady 
 Cameron and, fortunately, the Major had gone away " it 
 is that fiend, that incarnate fiend, who has done it ; I know 
 it ; I am convinced of it ; and yet he had the hardihood to 
 stare me in the face and say that no one could be so 
 inhuman as to throw my poor little Phaon overboard ! 
 And I suppose he thinks the same monstrous effrontery will 
 carry him through now ? The darkness of the night 
 covered the scoundrelly and treacherous and murderous 
 deed ; and, therefore, he is to escape ? But he shall not ! " 
 Miss Penguin went on, with a vehemence of passion that 
 was terrible to see. " He shall not escape ! He may try to 
 brazen it out with denials ; he may call for proofs, for 
 witnesses ; and, of course, I have no proofs, and no wit- 
 pesses. But what will he say when he receives a slap in the 
 
202 WOLFENBERG 
 
 face ? A slap in the face ; yes, and from a man who can 
 fight, too from Anton Euhe I will appeal to my friend 
 Anton Ruhe " 
 
 " Oh, Miss Penguin ! " Peggy exclaimed, in gentle 
 deprecation. This Anton Ruhe we all of us knew as a fire- 
 eating revolutionary (in the monthly magazines, chiefly), 
 and what might he not do if called upon to avenge a 
 wronged and insulted damsel ? " Do you think it is fair to 
 accuse any one without evidence ? And is it so very 
 serious, after all ? Supposing just supposing " she went 
 on (for she had a distinct recollection of seeing a suspicious 
 figure skulk across the moonlit deck on the preceding night) 
 " supposing some one had been bitten by the dog, or had 
 a dislike to it, and supposing that person, whoever he is, 
 really did throw Phaon overboard, just as the ship was 
 starting last night, it was hard-hearted enough, no doubt ; 
 but all the same not much harm could have been done, for 
 Phaon would simply swim ashore ; and he may live many, 
 many years in Russia, in perfect happiness 
 
 " No," said Sappho, with a certain dignity ; " I cannot 
 cheat my mind by considering impossibilities. Phaon was 
 was rather stout ; he could never reach the shore. He 
 has been cruelly murdered, and I know by whom. And 
 knowing who the coward is, do you think I will let him 
 escape ? I tell you my vengeance will reach him, in spite 
 of all the oaths and perjuries he may bring to blacken his 
 face with. A slap on the cheek ! He wears Her Majesty's 
 uniform : how will he take a slap on the cheek ? Anton 
 Ruhe will come when I call him ; and then we will see how 
 denials and subterfuges will serve that base and brutal 
 murderer. My poor Phaon ! my poor Phaon ! " And 
 here she turned aside, furtively pulling out her handkerchief ; 
 and we also withdrew, for sorrow is sacred ; but it was 
 Lady Cameron who went and sought out the Major, and 
 told him that, if he really had been guilty of this atrocious 
 and abominable crime, he would hear more about it as soon 
 as he reached England. The Major looked at her looked 
 steadfastly at her eyes, but did not commit himself to 
 speech. 
 
 There were no land-features to attract attention during 
 this blazing and basking day ; we had nothing around ug 
 
A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 203 
 
 save the tumultuous tossing and heaving of the blue-black 
 waves, with a blinding shimmer of diamonds away towards 
 the sun. Accordingly, our good Orotanians settled them- 
 selves down to their usual occupations chess, cribbage, 
 letter-writing, reading, and conversation in quiet corners : 
 and the time went by pleasantly enough until Peggy 
 appeared once more upon the scene. 
 
 " What has become of Emily ? " she demanded. " I 
 haven't caught a glimpse of her all the morning. Surely, 
 he can't have thrown her overboard ? " 
 
 Well, when one came to think of it, the Baby had not 
 been visible since breakfast. 
 
 "She may have been invited into the chart-room," one 
 ventured to suggest. "We shall be going through the 
 Bosphorus again to-morrow, and the younger officers are 
 always very civil." 
 
 " Where is Mr. Verrinder ? " she said, looking round 
 sharply. 
 
 There was no Mr. Verrinder. No, nor was Ernest 
 Wolfenberg anywhere to be seen. Had this diabolical 
 Major been dealing death and destruction all the way 
 round ? At all events, we formed a search-party it was 
 something to pass the time withal and proceeded to explore 
 the ship. When we came upon the truants, they formed a 
 very engaging group. We found them in the fore-saloon 
 a section of the vessel rarely occupied during the day, 
 except, perhaps, by a chance lady's-maid engaged in needle- 
 work ; and they were up at the further end, under the 
 broad glare of the skylights. Wolfenberg was at work on 
 the portrait-picture ; his model sat some little distance off ; 
 and close to her, and face to face with her, was young 
 Yerrinder. So far as we could make out, Wolfenberg was 
 not listening ; his absent eyes were fixed on the upright 
 board before him, as though he were intent on reading 
 suggestions into the outlines there ; so that the young folk 
 were left to entertain each other, and were apparently doing 
 so, very much to their mutual satisfaction. And the 
 subject ? Eound the Baby's head, and falling upon her 
 shoulders, were some folds of silken gauze black, with here 
 and there a white star. Was she personating the Dawn, 
 then the shadows of night still hanging over her yet, with 
 
204 WOLFENBERG 
 
 the smile of the new day lighting up her face ? For clearly 
 this was no sombre theme. "We could imagine Julian 
 Verrinder's having "begged and prayed that the picture 
 should be as much a portrait as possible ; perhaps he had 
 humbly entreated for some little cheerfulness also ; perhaps 
 the artist had good-naturedly assented ; perhaps he had 
 even said to the young man, " Very well, you sit and talk 
 to her ; amuse her ; the more animation in her face the 
 better." 
 
 So here were Ferdinand and Miranda, entirely wrapped 
 up in themselves, eyes answering eyes, smiles answering 
 smiles ; while the solitary magician, busy with his spells 
 and dreams, was as good as a thousand miles away. 
 
 It was a very charming group, viewed from the dim 
 twilight of this corridor ; but it did not at all seem to 
 please Lady Cameron. 
 
 "Keally," said she, "it is most inconsiderate of Mr. 
 Verrinder to interfere. How can Mr. Wolfenberg get on 
 with his work if she is kept laughing and chattering ? 
 Her face is naturally calm and serious. And she is too 
 amiable to resent his intrusion." 
 
 " She certainly does not seem to resent it," observed Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit, gravely. 
 
 " Besides, I don't like the notion of his becoming possessed 
 of that picture," she proceeded, with unwonted displeasure 
 marking her tone. " It is not right. His having it might 
 lead to quite ridiculous conjectures on the part of a 
 stranger ; and Emily does not understand such things ; she 
 is easily led ; she will do anything to be obliging ; and it 
 does not occur to her that it is an impertinence on Mr. 
 Verrinder's part to ask her for her portrait, for that is what 
 it comes to. I don't like it at all " 
 
 At this moment "Wolfenberg rose and stepped back a 
 yard or two to regard his work ; then he returned to the 
 table, and laid down his palette the model was to have a 
 few seconds' rest. And, thereupon, Lady Cameron and her 
 companions made bold to enter the saloon. 
 
 " I hope we have not interrupted you," said she, going 
 forward to Wolfenberg but taking scrupulous care not to 
 overlook the sketch. " Did you hear us talking in the 
 corridor ? No ? I'm afraid you'JJ find Emily a bad sitter ; 
 
A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 205 
 
 rilie ought not to be laughing and chatting when you are 
 studying her face " 
 
 " Oh, but I am responsible for that, Lady Cameron," 
 said young Verrinder, blushing furiously. " And and it 
 was with Mr. Wolfenberg's permission. You don't suppose 
 I would do anything to endanger the likeness ; it is a 
 matter of too great moment of course I don't mean the 
 likeness," he went on, stammering and blundering, " but 
 the picture Mr. Wolfenberg said I might come and sit and 
 talk he rather wished her to have a cheerful expression 
 he said I might come and talk to her " 
 
 " The fact is," Wolfenberg interposed, in his equable and 
 kindly fashion, " it was a pure piece of laziness on my part. 
 I wanted your sister to look interested ; and I ought myself 
 to have tried to talk to her ; but I thought a simpler way 
 would be to get Mr. Yerrinder to come and chat with her. 
 It is so easy for two young people to amuse each other ; 
 while an old fogey has to labour at it until his model is 
 like to fall asleep." He took up his palette again. " No, 
 you need not go if you care to stay," he said. " I want to 
 have Miss Emily forget that I am looking at her : it does 
 not matter how many are talking to her." 
 
 But it was clear that our presence was embarrassing to 
 those two young people who had been thus unexpectedly 
 caught. The poor Baby was no longer smiling with the 
 smile of the dawn, under the soft folds of the departing 
 night ; self-conscious colour was in her face ; her great 
 eyes were timid and confused. Julian Verrinder, too, had 
 been struck dumb ; his anxious schemes for the success of 
 this treasure of a picture had been set at naught ; it was 
 we who were the intruders. And so we came away again 
 leaving Ferdinand and Miranda to entertain each other in 
 their sea-bound cave, while the arch-magician (who had 
 perhaps planned this little arrangement out of mere 
 sympathy and kindness of heart) would no doubt return to 
 his incantations and spells, and that so as not to interfere 
 too much with their pretty occupation. 
 
 Now this withdrawal of Wolfenberg from his customary 
 haunts afforded Mrs. Threepenny-bit some measure of 
 unlooked-for relief ; it was an excuse for her postponing 
 the fulfilment of the onerous task that had been placed 
 
2 o6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 upon her. And there is no doubt the small woman shrank 
 from that with an ever-increasing apprehension, despite 
 her professions of confidence in Wolfenberg's firmness and 
 fortitude and unselfish courage. 
 
 " After all, Peggy," she said, " however he may take it, 
 it is something to have the plans for one's lifetime suddenly 
 shattered, and just as he seemed to be looking forward to 
 long years of sympathy and affection and close companion- 
 ship. And if it was a delusion to think that such a bond 
 could be made secure and permanent, it was she who led 
 him into the delusion ; who could have spoken about it 
 with greater enthusiasm than herself ? And why should I 
 have to go and tell him that all these dreams were a mockery 
 that she has thrown him over, abandoned her career, 
 forgotten all her fine ambitions, simply because of the 
 mysterious charm of a young Russian's blue-grey eyes ? I 
 suppose what she has done is only natural it is like a 
 woman " 
 
 " It is not like a woman at all! " said Peggy, with some 
 warmth. " It is the action of a spoilt, heartless, thought- 
 less coquette. The only fine thing about it is the very 
 magnificence of her selfishness and unconcern ; I dare 
 say she will take it quite as a matter of course that he 
 should congratulate her, that he should be well content, 
 and even delighted at being allowed to look on at her 
 happiness " 
 
 She stopped. By this time the evening had drawn on ; 
 there was a full moon, of a dull saffron hue, in the south- 
 east ; and across the lapping waters shone a curious golden- 
 green radiance, broken everywhere by the sharp shadows of 
 the waves. The two women were standing by the rail, 
 talking in an undertone. But there now approached them 
 a creature all in white, or parhaps in pale yellow and white ; 
 she was dressed for dinner and bare-headed ; she swung her 
 handkerchief to and fro ; she was singing to herself, and 
 that in a careless fashion 
 
 *Afar from her his heart is breaking* 
 
 and we recognised the familiar * Troika ' air. But when 
 she came up she said, cheerfully enough 
 
A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 207 
 
 " Has any one seen anything of Mr. Wolfenberg ? I 
 bear he has been at work all day ; but he can't be painting 
 now. Ah, well, he will turn up at dinner-time, anyway." 
 And off she went again, through the mysterious twilight, 
 like some large phantasmal white moth. 
 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit looked after her. 
 
 " I wish she would go and find him," she said, bitterly, 
 " and take him the story of her broken faith herself ! " 
 
 " Oh, Missis, she could hardly do that I " Peggy ex- 
 claimed. "A girl is always shy about her engagement 
 about the first one, any way ; and however case-hardened 
 and confident Amelie Dumaresq may be still the relations 
 between her and Wolfenberg have been peculiar 
 
 " But why should I be dragged in ? " the elder woman 
 again protested, almost with indignation. " I am an out- 
 sider. Why should I be asked to undertake a duty that may 
 be painful beyond words ? It isn't fair 
 
 " You are Wolfenberg's friend," Peggy said, persuasively. 
 " The mother, who ought to tell him, is nervous and afraid ; 
 she has appealed to you ; and I don't see anybody who 
 could break the news to him with equal tact and delicacy. 
 So you've got to do it, Missis ; and Wolfenberg himself will 
 be grateful to you, I am certain." 
 
 But still she hesitated, dreading she hardly knew what. 
 After dinner that evening, these two were again on deck 
 The moon was higher and clearer now ; and the light on 
 the water was of a brilliant silver, splintering itself on the 
 jagged edges of the waves. Of course on such an exquisite 
 evening no human creature could think of remaining in the 
 saloon ; so that there were more people walking about than 
 usual ; nevertheless there still remained a corner where one 
 could talk in quiet. 
 
 "Did you hear what the Dumaresqs propose to do ? " 
 said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, eagerly, to her friend. " They 
 mean to go with the indefatigables this time that is, to- 
 morrow afternoon, as soon as we reach Moudanieh : there is 
 to be a general stampede ashore, and hiring of carriages, 
 and driving away inland to Broussa, to pass the night there, 
 and have the whole of the next day for the bazaars. At 
 least, I gather that is what the Dumaresqs have in view ; I 
 should not wonder if Ame"lie wanted a lot of silks and stuffs 
 
2o8 - WOLFENBERG 
 
 from Asia Minor to form part of her trousseau. Now, do 
 you see this, Peggy : if we decide to remain on board to- 
 morrow afternoon driving out to Broussa the next morning 
 I am quite certain that Mr. Wolfenberg will prefer to 
 stay with us ; and then, the ship being practically empty, 
 ourselves all by ourselves, wouldn't that be a safe oppor- 
 tunity to convey that message to him, without fear of 
 interruption ? Don't you think, Peggy, I ought to wait till 
 to-morrow evening ? Mrs. Dumaresq has left it to my own 
 discretion ; and, of course, I want to make sure that there 
 will be no onlooker no stranger coming about." 
 
 "Well, Peggy agreed ; she had not the heart to grudge 
 this respite to her friend, who seemed singularly anxious ; 
 so that the evil hour was again put off, until the following 
 evening, when we should find ourselves in solitary occupa- 
 tion of the ship. 
 
 Early next morning we encountered a bit of a rough-and- 
 tumble down towards the south-western limits of the Black 
 Sea ; but by-and-by a change to smoother water told us we 
 had entered the Bosphorus ; and eventually all motion 
 ceased the screw no longer throbbed we were in a strange 
 and unaccountable stillness. Dressing was hurried over ; 
 we got up on deck ; and then the explanation was obvious 
 we were waiting for permission to pass, in other words, 
 the Doctor and Purser had gone ashore for pratique. 
 Opposite us were the frowning batteries of Kavak massive 
 forts and bastions bristling with cannon ; while through 
 the silence of the morning rang the shrill and melancholy 
 bugle call of the Turkish soldiers. And, after all, our 
 period of detention was not unreasonably long ; the Purser 
 and Doctor returned to the ship ; and presently we had 
 resumed our route making away down the narrow Straits 
 that separate the European and Asian worlds. 
 
 And here was the timid and blushing Baby coming up tc> 
 Wolfenberg with a startling proposal. 
 
 "Mr. Wolfenberg," said she, and there was a kind of 
 abashed appeal and hesitation in the large and soft and 
 winning eyes, " if you would rather go on with the picture, 
 you must tell me frankly. I I hope you will study your 
 own convenience that is, any time you wish I will go along 
 to the fore-saloon now, if you like " 
 
A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 209 
 
 He looked at her in no unkindly fashion. Well he knew 
 who had put this suggestion into her young mind. 
 
 " No, no," said he, " I could not accept such a piece of 
 self-sacrifice. Don't you know that the shores of the Bos- 
 phorus are extraordinarily beautiful, and as interesting as 
 they are beautiful ; and yet you would go away down below, 
 and sit constrained, and see nothing of what was going by ? 
 Tell Mr. Yerrinder not to be so impatient so impetuous." 
 
 It was a random shaft, and not meant to wound ; but it 
 struck home all the same, and the Baby retired in sad 
 confusion. Her sister, on the other hand, seemed a littlo 
 incensed by this proposal. 
 
 " Mr. Yerrinder ? " she said to Wolfenberg. " Do you 
 think it was he who prompted Emily to come to you just 
 now and make that offer ? Keally, I think he is going too 
 far ! What right has he to interfere at all ? " 
 
 " Young men are naturally impatient," Wolfenberg said. 
 
 " Young men are naturally impertinent ! " she made 
 answer. " But I will warn Emily. She must keep him at 
 a proper distance. The idea of his going secretly to her 
 and suggesting that you should be asked to shut yourself 
 up at one of the most interesting parts of the voyage ! You 
 see, Emily is so simple a kind of creature, so innocent of 
 anything like concealment or secrecy, she does not under- 
 stand that these confidences are really compromising. Why 
 should he go to her instead of coming straight to you ? I 
 like the young fellow very well ; he is frank and modest, 
 good-looking and well-mannered, pleasant enough in every 
 way ; but I must see he does not presume on Emily's 
 ignorance of the world. She must keep hint in his place. 
 And I hope, Mr. Wolfenberg, that if he does become pos- 
 sessed of that picture, it will be so clearly an allegorical 
 subject that no one could possibly mistake it for a portrait 
 of Emily it would be too absurd for him to have that" 
 
 And so, after all, the ingenuous mind of the Baby 
 was not deprived of its series of brilliant object-lessons. 
 The varied and beautiful panorama passed gradually 
 before her eyes wood-crowned heights, ruddy of soil, 
 with dark green foliage ; then white and pink villages 
 stretching along the shore and scattered here and there on 
 the hill-sides ; deeply-indented bays, with English yachts 
 
 P 
 
210 WOLFENBERG 
 
 and every kind of foreign craft lying at anchor ; ancient 
 walls and fortifications, with tall Genoese towers ; and 
 now and again a spacious palace, a lordly pleasure-house, 
 shining in white splendour amidst overhanging and luxurious 
 gardens. As we steamed slowly by the quays of Tophane 
 and came once more in sight of the Golden Horn, a slight 
 morning haze still hung over the great city, over the crowded 
 domes and minarets, and over the grey mosques and black 
 cypresses of Starnboul. The sun was hot ; the still water 
 shimmered in the light ; this was altogether more like the 
 Constantinople of pictorial tradition; and this was the 
 vision, vast and imposing, that stealthily and imperceptibly 
 receded from us as we again got under weigh, making for 
 the wider spaces of the Sea of Marmora, and the distant 
 shores of Asia Minor. 
 
 It was a dream-like kind of day. Now and again we 
 passed a motionless ship, its yellow sails reflected vividly on 
 the glassy plain ; but for the most part we seemed to be 
 gliding into a voiceless and mysterious ocean, with nothing 
 but a film of land along the southern horizon visible through 
 the haze of heat. And, then, towards the afternoon, as we 
 were crossing the Gulf of Moudanieh, the ghost of a moun- 
 tain appeared, far away inland and towering above the hills 
 nearer the coast : this vague phantom of a thing was the 
 Bithynian Mount Olympus. The land drew nearer ; we 
 began to make out colours. Then more particular features : 
 green slopes of olive and mulberry coming down to the 
 shore ; a scattered little red-roofed village, with two or three 
 white minarets ; a rude wooden pier jutting out from the 
 line of breaking surf. Finally came the sudden roar of the 
 anchor-chain ; and we were now lying off Moudanieh, the 
 Greek village which serves as port to the once-famous 
 Broussa. 
 
 It all fell out as Mrs. Threepenny-bit had predicted. The 
 Durnaresqs and their Russian friend went away with the 
 busy folk who had resolved on at once setting out for 
 Broussa ; and Wolfenberg, who had not been consulted 
 about this arrangement, nor even pressed to join, seemed to 
 prefer remaining on board, especially when he found he was 
 to have some small measure of company. Practically, , we 
 l.a 1 the whole ship to ourselves ; and again and again on 
 
A MISSION A CCOMPLISHED 2 1 1 
 
 this still and beautiful evening a full moon was shining 
 over the distant village and over the olive-crowned slopes, 
 while not a sound broke the slumbering silence again and 
 again the unwilling and anxious intermediary had an oppor- 
 tunity of fulfilling her mission ; and just as often her 
 courage failed her. Nay, it was not until we were assembled 
 in the saloon at dinner the two or three of us that she 
 found sufficient nerve ; she seemed to want help ; she would 
 treat this thing as an ordinary piece of news though under 
 a pledge of secresy. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Wolfenberg," said she, with a smile a ghastly 
 smile, when one knew that her heart was throbbing like to 
 suffocate her, " I have something to tell you and yet I 
 suppose you may have guessed but a girl does not like to 
 speak of such things and and so I have been asked to let 
 you know : it is about Amelie." He said nothing : he only- 
 regarded her. Then she hurried on breathlessly : " It is 
 quite settled between her and Mr. Hitrovo : she has accepted 
 him." 
 
 No one dared to look his way. If there was any quick 
 quiver of the eyes, any sudden paleness of the lips at this 
 abrupt confirmation of what he must have for some time back 
 suspected, it was unseen. And when he spoke, after a second 
 of constrained silence, it was with a studied and perfect 
 calmness that showed an admirable fortitude and self- 
 command. 
 
 " It is quite settled, then ? " he asked, in rather a low 
 voice. 
 
 " Yes," she answered ; but then she was driven to add in 
 a desperate kind of way : " Of course, who. can tell what 
 may happen ? who can tell ? It is settled, I understand 
 yes, at present but she might see fit to change her mind ; 
 and she has strength of character enough to carry out any 
 decision " 
 
 "If Ame'lie Dumaresq marries," he said, slowly, "the 
 world will have lost a great artist." 
 
 Not a word about himself, nor about the wreckage of all 
 the fine and wistful schemes he and she had planned to- 
 gether. Perhaps he had not time to realise that as yet. It 
 was of her alone he was thinking, 
 
 " And it may be she is right; it may be that is the true 
 
 p 2 
 
212 WOLFENBERG 
 
 way," he said, absently. " But what a responsibility the 
 man undertakes. In her case disappointment would mean 
 destruction ; and to destroy a life like hers, so full of splen- 
 did capacities, so passionately eager, so hopeful, and ardent, 
 and overbrimming with the joy of existence No, it is not 
 to be thought of, or spoken of," he said again. " Amelie 
 was born to be happy. Happiness appears to surround her ; 
 she seems to breathe it as the very atmosphere in which she 
 lives. Well, well : good-bye to the famous artist now we 
 have to look forward to the happy wife." 
 
 All this was very brave and reassuring, indeed ; there 
 was not a trace or symptom of any inward anguish ; his idle 
 schemes and dreams might go what were they as compared 
 with the pulsating hopes and desires of a rich young life ? 
 Only we noticed that he did not come up on deck after 
 dinner, as was his wont. He remained below in the saloon, 
 his face in shadow, aa Unopened book in his hand, his 
 lingers clenched round it. And it is to be imagined that 
 none of us were anxious to break in upon this dark hour of 
 retrospect, and renunciation, and forecast. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 IN A BAZAAR. 
 
 Now it is impossible that sunrise on the coast of Asia 
 Minor can be very different from sunrise anywhere else ; 
 yet nevertheless this is what we beheld, looking shorewards 
 about six in the morning : a sky of pale, translucent silver- 
 grey, a sea almost as pale, but faintly touched with azure, 
 and then, between' those two worlds of wan and ethereal 
 hue, the land beach, houses, hills, and woods all of a 
 solid, deep, rich bronze-red. It was a marvel, a bewilder- 
 ment of colour. But here was Peggy coming briskly along 
 the deck. 
 
 " Quick ! " said she. " You can read it before any one 
 turns up and of course it is a secret. She finished it only 
 yesterday she has not been writing much of late she has 
 been so upset over the loss of Phaon. But this is some- 
 thing, I can tell you " 
 
 A piece of paper changed hands ; it was a document the 
 
IN A BAZAAR 213 
 
 handwriting of which was easily recognizable, even if there 
 could be any doubt about the authorship of these savage 
 stanzas 
 
 Black ravens croak above the wood: 
 
 (Pile high the blazing fire !) 
 Sir Hugh lies weltering in his blood. 
 ( White heats of wild desire I) 
 
 Loud laughs his daine: her fierce eyes shine; 
 
 (Pile high the Hazing fire !) 
 Her leman laps the luscious wine. 
 
 (White heats of wild desire!) 
 
 'Demon and lover, tell me true 
 
 (Pile high the Mazing fire !) 
 Where met ye, then, the red Sir Hugh?' 
 
 (White heats of wild desire!) 
 
 * Down by the bitter banks of Cart : 
 
 (Pile high the Hazing fire !) 
 Three daggers quiver in his heart.' 
 
 ( White heats of wild desire !) 
 
 'For this one night, I trow it well, 
 
 (Pile high the blazing fire!) 
 Our souls will shriek in deepest hell.' 
 
 ( White heats of wild desire !) 
 
 " Yes ? " said Peggy, with professed anxiety. 
 
 " Did you ever hear of < The Twa Corbies ' ? " 
 
 " Oh, how atrociously mean ! " she cried. " This is the 
 critic all over ! You can't deny that the thing is just 
 splendid ; and so you must suggest that she borrowed the 
 idea from somewhere. I never heard of ' The Twa ' * The 
 Twa' what ? and I am certain Miss Penguin never 
 heard of it either. Why will literary people be so 
 spiteful?" 
 
 At this point she was interrupted and had to thrust the 
 paper dexterously into her pocket. It was Mrs. Threepenny- 
 bit who appeared at the head of the companion, and with 
 her was Ernest Wolfenberg. These two were talking 
 together as they came along : it was only the last fragment 
 or two of their conversation that reached us. 
 
 " Did you hear whether Am61ie proposed going back to 
 America ? " he asked, with his eyes bent on the deck. 
 "Or or are they going to settle in Europe after the 
 marriage ? " 
 
2i 4 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Oh, I don't in the least know," she answered him. " I 
 should very much doubt whether anything of the kind has 
 been arranged as yet. But you will hear from herself. 
 Now that the ice has been broken, there is no cause for any 
 shyness on her part. And of course you will give her your 
 congratulations " 
 
 " Oh, yes, of course I must do that," he said, rather 
 absently. "Of course naturally the first opportunity 
 perhaps when I see her to-day." After that, silence. 
 
 But indeed there was nothing of the kill-joy about this 
 man as we proceeded to get ashore, on our way to Broussa. 
 Grave and reserved he was, but not beyond his wont ; in 
 fact, at times there was even a sort of assumed and resolute 
 cheerfulness in his manner. In the squalid main thorough- 
 fare of the little village he stood apart somewhat, regarding 
 with interest the costumes of the inhabitants and the droves 
 of small donkeys bearing panniers filled with vintage- 
 grapes ; he listened to the bargainings for a carriage ; he 
 was even amused by the unexpected" apparition of Julian 
 Verrinder, mounted on a somewhat sorry steed, and yet 
 valiantly offering to be our escort. Did not we know that 
 this part of the coast swarmed with brigands ? Had we 
 not heard of the two merchants of Broussa who had recently 
 been carried off and held to ransom ? The Baby, who had 
 considerately insisted on getting up beside the driver of the 
 carriage, so that we should have "Wolfenberg along with us, 
 overheard all this, and looked admiring and grateful thanks 
 with her big, gentle eyes. It was a pity that Eosinante 
 had not a more gallant look : the young man was well 
 enough. 
 
 Our route at first lay through interminable groves of 
 mulberry, olive, and cypress ; but by-and-by we had to face 
 a long and gradual ascent that in course of time brought 
 us spacious views both by land and sea. Of course this was 
 all collar-work for the hapless horses ; so the driver, having 
 fastened the reins, amused himself by making a series of 
 incursions into the neighbouring thickets and vineyards, 
 returning with armfuls of quinces and grapes (the former 
 with branch and leaf), which he politely presented to the 
 three ladies. It was a friendly little act ; and no doubt 
 they would have liked to enter into conversation with him 
 
IN A BAZAAR 215 
 
 in return, but that they had already discovered it w;is of no 
 use trying anything of the kind. We observed that he was 
 particularly careful in selecting uninjured bunches of grapes 
 to offer to his gentle neighbour on the box-seat ; it was the 
 old story ; innocent and amiable eyes can work wonders 
 anywhere even when no speech is possible. 
 
 We ascended to a great height, and eventually - looked 
 abroad over an immense and fertile plain, with, far beyond 
 it, the vast and shadowy bulk of Mount Olympus rising 
 into the pale summer sky. Then, after a considerable 
 on the summit, we began the descent a process that 
 speedily became a headlong downward rush, the horses u( 
 full gallop, the carriage pitching and swaying and swinging, 
 the dust rolling away in volumes. Indeed, we had grown so 
 little familiar with such pranks and antics on board the 
 staid and demure Orotania that now, in solely devoting 
 ourselves to clinging on to this vehicle gone daft, we some- 
 how lost sight of Julian Verrinder altogether. Had our 
 cavalier been spirited away by the very brigands with 
 whom he had threatened us ; or was it those envious clouds 
 of dust that hid him from the Baby's wistful eyes ? For 
 our own part we could only clutch on to the sides of this 
 unholy craft, that rolled and flung and swung us about, in 
 a sea far rougher than any we had encountered since leaving 
 England ; until, at long and length, we began to draw near 
 the plain ; then a grey horseman became occasionally visible 
 through the clouds ; finally a halt was called in the welcome 
 shade of a grove of tall chestnuts, where there was a small 
 wayside caravanserai and water for the animals ; and here 
 the Baby was at last assured that her lover had not been 
 carried off by any ruthless Turks. 
 
 From this resting-place onwards to Broussa it seemed to 
 us that we were driving through a perpetual and magnificent 
 garden, the rich green vegetation of which was especially 
 grateful to eyes long accustomed to the colours of the sea. 
 A most fertile and busy land ; luxuriant maize, figs, mul- 
 berries, tobacco, and olives ; groups of brightly-dressed 
 peasants at work in the fields as if they had just stepped 
 out of an opera ; oxen and buffaloes toiling along the dusty 
 road with waggons of merchandise ; droves of camels at 
 their midday encampment : it was altogether a varied and 
 
216 WOLFENBERG 
 
 interesting scene, and a sufficient distraction foi* any of us 
 who may have been looking forward, with some little 
 apprehension, to a certain meeting. Then Broussa itself : 
 domes, minarets, villas perched high on the terraced slopes 
 of Olympus, among abundant verdure : this also seemed a 
 place of cheerful aspect. We drove up to the hotel ; there 
 were one or two Orotanians loitering about the steps, and 
 from them we learned that there was some kind of luncheon 
 going forward ; we should find our friends upstairs. We 
 entered ; ascended the wide staircase to the first floor ; and 
 here a din of voices immediately told us where our shipmates 
 were assembled. 
 
 It was a long and lofty apartment, with a table coming 
 right down the centre ; and this table, at a first glance, 
 seemed to be quite sufficiently occupied. Wolfenberg 
 shrank back a little. 
 
 " No," he said, " I don't like going in amongst so many 
 we should only inconvenience them cannot we get a 
 room to ourselves ? " 
 
 But during that second of hesitation the small group at 
 the door had been observed ; and the next instant there 
 came quickly along the chamber, from the very furthest 
 end of it, a young lady of impetuous mien and carriage, 
 with delight and welcome and reproach all shining and 
 smiling in her lustrous black eyes. She carried us away in 
 a whirlwind of words. We were the most mysterious 
 people ! Why had we not driven out the previous after- 
 noon, like everybody else ? But now there were some 
 places, up by herself and her mamma ; she would secure 
 them for us ; she would make way. Then she turned to 
 Wolfenberg who had been rather in the background, 
 regarding her. 
 
 " Ernest," said she, holding out her hand (and there was 
 something of a shy flush on her cheek), " I have not said 
 good-morning to you yet. It was too bad of you not to 
 come along yesterday " 
 
 He took her hand, and held it for a brief moment. 
 
 " I was told something last night, Ain&ie," he said, in 
 his grave and simple way. " My congratulations my best 
 wishes." 
 
 There was a quick look of pleasure and pride in her eyes. 
 
ttf A BAZAAR 217 
 
 " Oh, if you only iknew ! But another time, Ernest." 
 And therewithal she swept the little party of new-comers 
 with her into the room ; and inarched at the head of them, 
 with unusual colour and animation in her face ; and in a 
 tempestuous sort of way she would make room for them. 
 Even when we had all got places with sufficient ease, she 
 seemed excitedly anxious to talk, and entertain, and amuse. 
 Then she would have Paul Hitrovo do this and do that ; 
 until he, with great good-nature, seeing that the ft -w 
 waiters were not capable of coping with this influx of 
 strangers, got up from his chair and formally constituted 
 himself the squire of these dames. But it was Wolfenberg's 
 glass that Amelie Dumaresq filled first she poured the 
 wine out with her own hands. 
 
 Then, again, directly after luncheon, she would have us 
 go to look at the mosques and the bazaars, firing the 
 imagination of our womankind with wonderful tales of the 
 startling colours of the Broussa silks. Yet somehow or 
 other, as soon as we were outside, it was to Wolf enberg she 
 chiefly addressed herself. It was to him she pointed out 
 the Elizabethan-looking houses of beams and plaster, with 
 their red-tiled roofs, and their projecting upper storey, 
 supported by carved woodwork. It was his attention sho 
 drew to the strange green twilight formed at the entrance 
 to the bazaars by the over-arching trellises hanging with 
 vines. And when she had conducted her friends to certain 
 stalls, and set them on to inspect the rich stores of wares 
 and fabrics, then she seemed to think she had done her 
 part ; she turned to "Wolf enberg, and claimed him 
 altogether ; she and he stood a little way out of the stream 
 of traffic, by themselves. 
 
 These Broussa labyrinths have not the mysterious 
 austerity of many Eastern bazaars ; they are more modern, 
 and brisk, and busy ; and the noise and clatter, especially 
 in the neighbourhood of the iron-workers' shops, are 
 indescribable. In this turmoil and confusion there was 
 better opportunity for confidences between those two than 
 in the silence of mid-ocean ; and although no word could 
 be overheard by any one but themselves, it was easy to see 
 what an eager story she had to tell. Eager and yet shy 
 a broken story sometimes her face was timidly downcast. 
 
2i$ WOLFENBERG 
 
 We noticed, too, another onlooker the anxious mother. 
 She did not dare to intervene. She pretended to be 
 interested in those gauzy silken neckerchiefs and Turkish 
 dressing-gowns. But we could guess that she was secretly 
 and wholly rejoiced to see in what a kindly and encouraging 
 way Wolfenberg appeared to receive those confessions ; he 
 would still be the friend and confidant of both mother and 
 daughter ; either could go to him in time of need. Ding- 
 ding I tacJc, tacJc, tack ! went the hammers of the iron- 
 workers ; swarthy merchants, perched high on their stalls, 
 shook out their gay stuffs, and vociferously called for 
 custom ; beggars, old and young, extended skinny palms, 
 and whined ; the drivers of the heavily-laden pack-mules 
 urged forward the slow-swaying beasts through the un- 
 willing throng. And amid these surroundings as we 
 conjectured a love-tale was told. 
 
 But they could not remain thus dissociated for ever ; 
 and, indeed, an incident now. occurred that not only restored 
 Ainelie Durnaresq to her companions, but was like to have 
 had evil consequences for all of us. There came along, 
 accompanied by a soldier armed with musket and bayonet, 
 an official of some sort, who carried in his hand a formidable- 
 looking whip of several tails ; and with this weapon he 
 served out rough-and-ready punishment as the occasion 
 required. To us he seemed somewhat indiscriminate in his 
 procedure ; it may be that he recognised old offenders ; or 
 perhaps he merely hit out here and there at random to keep 
 things going, for there were many loiterers and beggars, 
 and the ways were narrow. There was not much brutality ; 
 we observed that when he struck at a woman it was generally 
 about the skirts ; only it is not pleasant to see a man flogging 
 a woman, in whatever fashion. But, as bad luck would have 
 it, just as he came by our group of folk, he caught sight of 
 a little old creature who had doubtless been guilty of some 
 delinquency ; he brought the lash smartly across her 
 shoulders ; and the poor old woman, with a whimpering 
 cry, fled hurriedly away. Now it was no business of ours 
 to interfere ; each country has its own laws and customs ; 
 besides we were in Asia Minor. But Amelie Dumaresq 
 was far too impulsive and firm-nerved to take any such 
 considerations into account ; she stepped straight up to the 
 
IN A BAZAAR 219 
 
 man the blood all gone from her face ; she snatched the 
 whip out of his hand, and dashed it on the ground ; while 
 she gave him of her mind freely, in voluble and indignant 
 French. The tall and grave official probably did nob 
 understand one of these scathing and scornful words. He 
 appeared to be neither astonished nor angry. He looked at 
 heiy with his dark lack-lustre eyes. Then he looked at us 
 one by one. And at the same moment indeed, it all 
 happened in a moment -Paul Hitrovo had stepped forward 
 to intervene and apologise ; he lifted and restored the whip, 
 with further apologies and explanations all in French ; 
 while it is highly probable that he may have employed 
 another and more intelligible language (for the medjidwh is 
 persuasive, and half-a-dozen of them carry weight) ; at all 
 events, the awarder of stripes, having again regarded us 
 with his cold and sullen eye, went on his way. 
 
 " Arnelie, how could you be so mad ! " the frightened 
 mother exclaimed. But the daughter was not frightened : 
 her pale lips were still proud and indignant. 
 
 " I think," said Paul Hitrovo, grimly, as he regarded the 
 retreating officer, " we might as well clear out of this place 
 before he has had time to change his mind. If you ladies 
 have completed your purchases well, you might come and 
 see the tiles in the Green Mosque." 
 
 It was not until the afternoon of the following day, as 
 we were driving back to Moudanieh, that we learned 
 something of what Amelie Dumaresq had confided to 
 Wolfenberg in the bazaars of Broussa. 
 
 " She is simply over-brimming with happiness," he said. 
 
 " Did she tell you whether she had entirely given up her 
 art schemes ? " asked Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with a certain 
 chilliness of manner. "Did she say anything about a 
 studio in London in conjunction with you ? Or is that 
 all abandoned ? " 
 
 "She seems to have no projects," he answered her, 
 simply enough. "She is overwhelmed by this new and 
 wonderful thing ; she can think of nothing else. For hers 
 is a strong nature ; whatever interests her interests her 
 wholly." 
 
 " Yet she seems to be able to change her views of life 
 and her own plans without much trouble," observed his 
 
220 WOLF&NBERG 
 
 friend who Was thinking of him far more than he Was 
 thinking of himself, we made sure. 
 
 " It is her intense absorption in the present moment that 
 enables her to do that," said this unshaken champion. " It 
 has always been like that with Amelie. What immediately 
 surrounds her is of the first and last importance ; she 
 becomes wholly preoccupied and engrossed. Then every- 
 thing is so real to her ; she grasps it ; she has no doubt or 
 hesitation " 
 
 " What about marriage being the great disillusioniser ? " 
 said the other, vindictively. " I thought that was one of 
 her theories." 
 
 " Yes," said he in reply, but rather wincing. " One of 
 her theories yes. But when the great facts and ex- 
 periences of life come along, then theories have to be put 
 aside ; it is the way of the world." 
 
 He spoke without bitterness ; nay, with a certain 
 serenity that might have led one to suppose he had heard 
 nothing but the best of news; and despite the small 
 sub-acid remarks of the woman opposite him, he would have 
 nothing but commendation of Amelie's conduct and her 
 choice. Sometimes his defence of her grew almost warm ; 
 he seemed to forget that it was solely on his own account 
 that this not unsympathetic acquaintance of his was 
 inclined to be resentful far more deeply resentful and 
 indignant, indeed, than she chose to reveal in words. 
 
 " And Mr. Hitrovo what about him ? " she proceeded, 
 in the remorseless way of women who have formed an 
 unreasoning antipathy against any one. "What is the 
 extraordinary attraction that has so captivated her ? What 
 is his character his disposition his particular quality of 
 mind? I suppose you know Feuerbach's saying, that a 
 being without attributes is non-existent : well, to me 
 Mr. Hitrovo seems to be non-existent, except for a pair of 
 clear eyes. Yes, he has those. And are they enough ? I 
 should have thought a girl of Am61ie's strong judgment 
 and literal intellect would have seen further than that 
 would have wanted something more than that " 
 
 The grey, tired, pensive face coloured a little; he 
 appeared embarrassed. 
 
 "You don't understand," he said. "You don't under- 
 
IN A BAZAAR 221 
 
 stand. He has been a stranger to us. He is naturally 
 reticent and perhaps a little indifferent about people with 
 whom he is not on familiar terms and it has happened, 
 somehow, that we have not seen much of him hitherto, or 
 had much intercourse with him. But that must be no 
 longer. Amelie spoke to me about it. She is especially 
 anxious you should get to know him. And for me well, I 
 begin from to-morrow, if he will allow me. He is Amelie's 
 choice : that is enough for me. And surely there is 
 nothing against him from an outward point of view. His 
 manners are most refined " 
 
 " Oh, yes, refined : it may turn out that there is nothing 
 gross about him except his liabilities," interposed Peggy, 
 spitefully. Indeed it was a most ungracious thing to say, 
 and not very witty either ; but those two women seemed 
 bent on bolstering each other up in their incurable dislike 
 of this young Eussian. 
 
 "Oh, as to that," said Wolfenberg, after a moment's 
 hesitation, " I dare say that will turn out all right if you 
 mean money matters. He comes of a well-known family ; 
 he is in a good position. And and if he should have no 
 fortune well, happily, Amelie can dispense with that. 
 The Dumaresqs are rich enough." 
 
 " And about the story you heard at Constantinople ? " 
 she said, coldly. 
 
 "Why," he retorted, "if there had been anything 
 seriously against him, do you think I should have been 
 justified in concealing it from Amelie's mother who had 
 asked us to find out ? There was nothing. An escapade 
 an accident. No, no," he went on (and to one of us he 
 appeared to be labouring to convince himself) " I don't see 
 why there should be any apprehension. All looks well. 
 Amelie herself says you have only got to know him 
 thoroughly. You can't expect a young man to produce 
 vouchers for his character, or his disposition, or his 
 circumstances, or anything of the kind. No doubt his 
 family will come forward, on their side, when they hear of 
 this engagement " 
 
 " And in the meantime," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with 
 a certain air of relief, " it will be a great comfort to Mrs. 
 Dumaresq that she can come and consult you about it. 
 
222 WOLFENBERG 
 
 She has been very miserable fearing the responsibility, 
 and finding herself so much alone. She was thinking of 
 telegraphing over to the girl's uncle, in Georgia, or Florida, 
 or somewhere. But if you approve " 
 
 " If I approve ? " he repeated, and a curious half- star tied 
 expression crossed his face. Then he went on, in his usual 
 calm and grave way : " It is not for me to approve. But I 
 know something of Amelie ; I have studied her a little ; I 
 have confidence in her keen perceptions and in her fearless 
 judgment. She is not one likely to be blinded easily. 
 And so far I approve so far I am entirely hopeful so far 
 I think all is well." 
 
 This, and much more to the same effect, he said as we 
 were slowly climbing the long mountain-side and then . 
 swinging down the rough descent to Moudanieh. It was 
 of her always he spoke ; there had not been one word of 
 reference to himself or his own poor affairs. 
 
 On arriving at the village we ran against the Major, who 
 seemed to be in a sad predicament. He was on foot and 
 surrounded by a small circle of tobacco-complexioned 
 Greeks, while one tall fellow, who appeared to be a driver, 
 was pressing forward upon him with three ringers uplifted. 
 But it turned out that this was no threatening gesture ; it 
 was only his method of emphasising the only French phrase 
 he seemed to have at his command. 
 
 " Trois napoleons trois napoleons ! " he kept repeating 
 with the three fingers in staring evidence. 
 
 On the other hand, the Major, whose thick-set frame 
 and roseate face made him look singularly English amongst 
 this sallow crowd, was bursting over with rage and broken 
 French. 
 
 " Trois napoleons ? allez au diable avec votre trois 
 napoleons ! je n'ai jamais dit rien de trois napoleons ! 
 huit medjidiehs, cornme les autres Trois napoleons ? vous 
 etes menteur : comprenez vous cela ? vous m'avez dit 
 4 Combien de piastres?'; j'ai vous dit 'Pas de piastres: 
 huit medjidiehS) comme les autres.' Et pas un autre 
 farthing d n your eyes, you impudent scoundrel ! " 
 
 When our women-folk alighted, the Major was kind 
 enough to moderate his language ; though he continued 
 to protest that not one farthing more would he give than 
 
IN A BAZAAR 223 
 
 the sum agreed upon by the dragoman who had engaged all 
 the carriages. 
 
 " Lure that man out with us to the ship," one managed 
 to say to him, privately. " Wait till Sadoolah, or Yadoolah, 
 or whatever his name is, comes on board. Confront them 
 with each other in the awful presence of the Purser. Then 
 there will be an end." 
 
 There was, as it turned : an end short and summary ; 
 but Sappho, who later on came to hear of the incident, 
 went about the ship lamenting that the Turks had not shut 
 up a certain 'brute' and 'fiend' in one of their most 
 loathsome prisons, and whipped him with knotted whips. 
 
 We sailed about six o'clock, steaming out into the Sea of 
 Marmora as the dusk fell. When we came on deck after 
 dinner, the moon was shining full and clear, and a broad 
 lane of silver trembled on the placid waters. And perhaps 
 the calm beauty of the night had something to do in 
 assuaging the nervous fears of this anxious mother, who 
 now came along to our favourite corner, bringing with her 
 Wolfenberg. She was more cheerful in tone and manner ; 
 and she seemed greatly pleased to find that she could now 
 talk to him freely and openly, and that he had nothing 
 for her but the most confident of assurances and forecasts. 
 
 " I can hardly believe you are Amelie's mother," said he, 
 with some pretence of laughing at her lingering doubts. 
 "Where did she get all her courage, her splendid 
 audacity ? " 
 
 " She is young," said the poor mother, wistfully ; " and I 
 am alone. If she were to take it into her head to live in 
 Russia, what would become of me ? " 
 
 " She won't live in Russia," said he, bluntly. 
 
 " She is mad about everything Russian." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " You would think there was- nothing like Russian music, 
 Russian literature, Russian character ; and what if she 
 were suddenly to determine to go and live in the country ? " 
 
 There were two women listening in silence to all this ; 
 and one of them was saying to herself ' Oh, yes, you are 
 her mother ; there is not the least doubt about the 
 relationship. Here you are talking to your best and 
 nearest friend about a great change in all your circum- 
 
224 WOLFENBERG 
 
 stances, affecting him quite as much as it affects you ; bub 
 there is not a word about his plans, his future ; it is only 
 about your daughter you are concerned, and about yourself. 
 There is a strong family likeness between two women who 
 could throw over a man in that fashion, without a thought 
 that was not centred on themselves. And why is he not 
 shocked by such a display of ingratitude? What is it 
 blinds him? What infatuation possesses him that at one 
 time his sole and absorbing interest in the world seems to 
 bo that girl's career as an artist; and then, when she 
 abruptly abandons it, he defends her, he welcomes the 
 change welcomes anything that approves itself to her. 
 And yet they say that unselfish devotion is no longer 
 known in these days ! " 
 
 It was at this juncture that Amelie herself chose to pay 
 us a brief visit : she came swiftly and lightly along the 
 deck ; and there was a happy and affectionate radiance in 
 her eyes as she slipped down beside her mother and put her 
 arm round her waist. 
 
 " Matushka," she said, complainingly, " it is very hard : 
 every one seems willing to hear me sing except the little 
 mother. Won't you come down into the saloon, for five 
 minutes ? I am going to try the * Cossack's Lullaby ' ; and 
 it sounds so pretty in the Eussian ; and Paul says I 
 pronounce very well " 
 
 " Amelie ! " Mrs. Dumaresq protested, with some petu- 
 lance. " Why should any one sit in the saloon on a night 
 like this ? " 
 
 The girl laid her head against her mother's cheek and 
 fondled the other cheek with her disengaged hand. 
 
 " Now don't be angry don't be angry," she said, in 
 coaxing tones. " So you would rather have the moonlight ? 
 Very well very well who can wonder ? Matushka, was 
 there ever such a marvellous voyage ? There never was 
 such a voyage before ; there never will be such another ; 
 all the beautiful things in Europe crowded into it ; and 
 continuous splendid summer days and magical nights. 
 Well, there," she said, as she released her arm and sprang 
 gaily to her feet, " I will leave you to your silver seas. But 
 mind you, matushka, don't you sit up late and mind you 
 don't catch cold." 
 
OVER A VOLCANO 225 
 
 And away she went again, with light and joyous steps, 
 along the intervening space of moonlit deck. Wolfenberg's 
 eyes followed her. 
 
 " She seems simply palpitating with happiness," he said. 
 u And that is as it should be." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX, 
 
 OVER A VOLCANO. 
 
 NEXT morning found us opposite the yellow-brown plains 
 of Troy and the odd little windmills ; on our right was 
 Tenedos, with its small red town and more windmills ; 
 around us, the blue ^Egean. It was a day that opened 
 under fair auspices ; it ended in sadder fashion. 
 
 What struck us most, as we were sailing away down to 
 Cape Baba and the shores of Mitylene, was the undaunted 
 cheerfulness maintained by Wolfenberg, in view of all these 
 recent disclosures. You would have thought that every- 
 thing had turned out just as he had planned and desired. 
 He made open profession of acquaintanceship with Hitrovo, 
 walking up and down with him, chatting and laughing ; 
 and Amelie Dumaresq seemed pleased to see those two 
 together. When he talked to Mrs. Dumaresq, he had 
 nothing but the most confident assurances about the young 
 Russian, and praise of his appearance, his manner, his 
 serenity of temper, his air of good breeding. All was 
 going well and as it should be because of Amclie's 
 obvious happiness. 
 
 "And never a thought about himself T" said Lady 
 Cameron, almost bitterly, to her usual confidante. Then 
 she went on : " But I have been thinking about him. 
 And I am quite of your opinion : we ought not to let a 
 man like that, simply through his own unselfishness, be 
 thrown aside in any such cold-blooded fashion. What does 
 he mean to do when he returns to London ? Do you 
 think he would care to pay a visit to Inverfask ? Ewen is 
 almost sure to meet us at Malta ; and he would be 
 delighted with such a companion ; Mr. Wolfenberg could 
 go right on with us. And fancy what a revelation the 
 West Highlands would be to him the mysterious loneliness 
 
 Q 
 
226 WOLFENBERG 
 
 of them, the remoteness, and wildness. You know, Missis, 
 I've had some little experience of the West Highlands now ; 
 and in settled fine weather, when we do happen to get such 
 a thing, they come away down and down, and down and 
 down, until they might be Lake George, or Windermere, or 
 Killarney, or anything; then of a sudden the raging 
 Atlantic gales are upon us, and the whole place is whirled 
 clean away out of the reach of the ordinary landscape- 
 painter. But if a man like Wolfenberg were to see the 
 mists, and the fearful gloom, and the blazes of light and 
 colour *' 
 
 " Well, here he is coming along, Peggy," observed her 
 companion. " Why don't you ask him at once ? " 
 
 Amelie Dumaresq was with him : she had intercepted him, 
 for some reason or another. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Wolfenberg," said Lady Cameron, a little 
 timidly, as those two drew nigh, " we have just been talking 
 about the West Highlands and and artists all say that 
 October is the finest month for colour, and I was wondering 
 whether you could be persuaded to come and stay with us 
 at Inverfask for a while just as long as you found the 
 neighbourhood interesting. I expect my husband to join 
 the ship at Malta ; and we might all go on together, when 
 we reach England, if that suited your arrangements. I 
 don't know whether you have anything to detain you in 
 London- " 
 
 Here she stopped. She could see that he was looking 
 embarrassed ; and indeed there was some touch of colour 
 in the pale and refined face as he answered her implied 
 question. 
 
 "No, I have made no very definite plans," he said, 
 evasively. Then he turned to his companion: "There 
 are your drawings, Amelie the exhibition : we must not 
 abandon that. At least," he continued, with a certain 
 diffidence : " I assume that you still mean to carry out that 
 idea. It would be a pity to abandon it. I should like you 
 to come before the English public I know how you would 
 be received I feel sure of it." 
 
 Curiously enough, before replying she glanced quickly 
 across the ship's deck towards Paul Hitrovo, who was at th^ 
 opposite rail, rolling a cigarette, 
 
OVER A VOLCANO 227 
 
 " I I am nob sure," she said, with downcast eyes. " I 
 think I had forgotten about it. And perhaps perhaps, 
 after all, it would be better to leave that aside. I am not 
 so anxious for the opinion of the public. It was your 
 opinion, Ernest, and your constant backing me up, that made 
 me dream about being an artist. And now well there 
 
 are other things " But here she broke away from all 
 
 this pretty confusion, and proceeded to speak in the frank, 
 downright impetuous fashion that was a good deal more 
 natural to her. " Ernest, what is the use. of your talking 
 about my wretched trash ! If there is to be an exhibition 
 at all, let it be, as I have insisted again and again, an 
 exhibition of your collected works. That would be some- 
 thing something noble and fine ! and whether you held 
 it in London or New York, I think I should be there to see, 
 no matter where I might have to come from ! When you 
 can bring together a series of great imaginative works like 
 those that have won you your fame, what is the use of 
 coming to me for my wretched little scraps and sketches 
 from the Atelier Didron ? No, no, Ernest ; put that 
 aside, at least in the meantime ; and think of something 
 more important that is, if you are capable of thinking 
 about anything connected with yourself for a single 
 moment." 
 
 And with that she went away, for her mother had twice 
 called her. Wolfenberg followed her with his large, grey, 
 thoughtful eyes. 
 
 " I wonder if she means wholly to abandon her art to 
 put it altogether aside and for ever ? " he said, in profound 
 meditation. u Perhaps she does not know the sacrifice she 
 is making. Yet to have advanced so far to have shown 
 such power " 
 
 He was silent. And for a second or two the friends who 
 were with him rather held back from intrusion, knowing in 
 what direction his thoughts were bent ; but, presently, to 
 divert his mind from that too sombre prospect, Peggy returned 
 to her proposal that he should, on reaching England, go on 
 with herself and her husband to Inverfask. It was a 
 kindly and considerate suggestion on her part ; but then we 
 knew from of old that she was capable of such things. 
 
 " Why," she said to him, u you, of all people in the world, 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 WOLFENBERG 
 
 are just the one to understand thoroughly the mysterious 
 charm and fascination of those remote islands. Shall I tell 
 you how I got some small inkling of it myself though I 
 went there as a stranger ? We have a choir at Inverfask ; 
 and they practise in the Volunteers' Drill-Hall a big, 
 empty, wooden place ; and one night my husband and I 
 walked along to hear them. It was very dark ; and we 
 were cautious about the steps ; and just as we got to the 
 door, which was a little bit open, Ewen said to me, ' Stop ! 
 listen ! they are going to sing the Lament of Mac 
 Crimmon.' So we stood there in the dusk ; and the first 
 thing we heard was the strangest sound the voices of all 
 the choir in a low, modulated murmur it was like the 
 wailing of wind round the shore you seemed to be looking 
 at a desolate island with a grey sea all around it and 
 driving clouds and rain. I cannot tell you how inexpressibly 
 sad and mournful it was ; but all at once there was a 
 woman's voice high and clear it was like some piteous 
 cry of anguish but softened by its being distant away 
 above the moaning of the wind and the sea. Indeed, the 
 others had stopped now there was but the one voice in 
 the silence you could hear distinctly : 
 
 The mists are dark on Coolins hill; 
 
 The banshee's cry is far and shrill ; 
 
 Blue eyes may weep, fond hearts may yearn 
 
 Mac Crimmon shall no more return. 
 
 And thdn all the other voices the men's voices a deep bass 
 rose in refrain so plaintive and sad and yet so lofty 
 and solemn well, I know .1 was trembling from head to 
 foot 
 
 No more, no more, no more, Mac Crimmon! 
 No more, no more, no more, Mac Crimmon! 
 
 that was the refrain and it is impossible to describe the 
 solemnity of it, and the mournfulness, and the way it 
 sounded remote, as if it was all taking place among mists, 
 and grey seas, and by lonely shores. Ewen wanted me to 
 go in. I could not. I stood at the partly-opened door. 
 And then they sang ' The Braes of Glen Braon.' Oh, that 
 was worse ! " said Peggy, with something between a sob 
 
OVER A VOLCANO 129 
 
 and a laugh. " That was worse. If you want to have your 
 heart broken right away, get a Highland choir to sing 
 ' The Braes of Glen Braon ' ! " 
 
 He had been following every word with rapt attention : 
 we could see by his eyes how his imagination had been 
 aroused. 
 
 " Yes," he said, " I should like to visit those islands and 
 I can imagine the music being a true key-note." Then his 
 interest seemed to fall away. " But I hardly know yet what 
 I may do. I have been absent a long time from my own 
 country. Perhaps I should go back there one owes a 
 little gratitude to one's native soil." 
 
 " Amelie will be disappointed," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, 
 regarding him, " if you do not have that exhibition of your 
 pictures in England." 
 
 " Amelie ? " said he. But he would speak no word that 
 could be construed into any reflection upon her. " Oh, 
 Amelie will have plenty of interests," he said ; " why should 
 she remember or care about a trifle like that ? " 
 
 And at lunch-time, again, he maintained that attitude of 
 resolute optimum to cheer and reassure those very friends 
 of his who were forsaking him ; and now he no longer 
 showed any hesitation about referring to Paul Hitrovo in 
 their common talk. 
 
 " What do you say, Amelie," he asked, with grave irony, 
 "of a young man whose chief ambition is to become a 
 member of the Austro-Hungarian Jockey Club ? " 
 
 She laughed. 
 
 " What do I say ? Well, I say why not ? Has he not 
 got as good a name as any of them ? Very fine names, no 
 doubt grand names Festetics Esterhazy Auersberg 
 Montenuovo Batthyani : but which of them is a better 
 name than his own ? " she demanded, proudly. 
 
 "To my mind," Wolfenberg said, turning to another 
 subject that seemed to suggest itself naturally enough, 
 " Vienna is by far and away the most delightful city in 
 Europe I mean, to live in. Its appearance is so bright 
 and cheerful the streets spacious the foliage in the public 
 parks beautiful the people gay, light-spirited, handsome 
 it is always Carnival-time in Vienna. It is true it has not 
 got the art-treasures of Florence : but then it has not got 
 
230 WOLFENBERG 
 
 the poisonous drainage of Florence. It has not got the sea- 
 view of Naples ; but then it has not got the squalor and 
 beggary of Naples. It has not got the mysterious en- 
 chantment of Venice ; but then it has not got the smells of 
 Venice. No : to live in for pleasant cheerfulness for the 
 enjoyment of life for plenty of amusement, among well- 
 bred, and handsome, and light-hearted people I pronounce 
 for Vienna ! " 
 
 The mother had overheard all this with ever-increasing 
 alarm. 
 
 "Amelie," said she, "do you think of living in 
 Vienna ? " 
 
 The girl laughed again, and seemed to throw away the 
 future from her by a little gesture of her finger-tips. 
 
 " Who knows, matushka ? " she said, lightly. " These 
 may be all chateaux en Espagne. But I wish you would 
 make this wicked Ernest think more seriously about his 
 exhibition in London : that is of much more importance." 
 
 After luncheon he disappeared, as also did young 
 Verrinder and the timid and Juno-eyed damsel ; so that we 
 guessed the three of them were away after that mystic 
 picture of the dawn that was partly to hide and partly to 
 reveal a portrait. When Wolfenberg came on deck again, 
 some two hours thereafter, it chanced that Lady Cameron 
 was playing cribbage with the Major ; and he seized this 
 opportune moment to approach Mrs. Threepenny-bit. 
 
 " You can keep a secret well," he said, in a guarded voice, 
 and with smiling eyes. 
 
 " In what way ? " responded Mrs. Innocence. 
 
 " I have had a little confession made to me this after- 
 noon," he went on. " Well, of course I had guessed more 
 than guessed. If I had not been pretty sure, do you think 
 I should have undertaken this sketch for them " 
 
 " Oh, the sketch ? has Julian Verrinder said anything 
 to you ? " the small woman asked, in a vague kind of way. 
 
 "You need not be afraid: he told me you knew," 
 Wolfenberg answered, with some little amusement over her 
 hesitation. And then he proceeded with a kind of grave 
 sympathy : " Indeed it has been very attractive to me the 
 occasional hour along there in the fore-saloon, with this 
 pretty spectacle before my eyes all the time. Of course I 
 
OVER A VOLCANO 231 
 
 knew : it was easy to guess : and there were no onlookers 
 down there to disturb them. It was the world all grown 
 young again his care of her and constant solicitude ; her 
 timid deference towards him ; and both of them thinking 
 they were most cleverly concealing their tremendous secret. 
 "Well, it was gratitude opened the young man's lips ; it 
 appears he thinks there is some kind of likeness ; and he 
 confided in me " 
 
 " But why should the tremendous secret be confided first 
 to one and then to another, and not to the very person who 
 has most right to know ? " demanded this small creature, 
 more in amazement than in anger. " Why does not that 
 silly child go at once and tell her sister ? " 
 
 " Well, there is some reason, too," he said, " as I gather 
 from certain hints. She is very much afraid of being cross- 
 examined as to how they met, and as to her position 
 generally she not yet knowing any one of his relatives, 
 and so forth indeed, I don't quite understand all their 
 distresses and fears and complications ; but I am informed 
 that everything is to be put right at Malta." 
 
 " Oh, everything is to be put straight at Malta ? " the 
 other said, graciously. " And how is Malta going to make 
 the difference ? " 
 
 " Must I reveal all their plans and schemes ? " he said, his 
 raised eyebrows smiling an enquiry. But he continued, 
 with much good-nature : he himself seemed interested in 
 this screened and veiled little idyll. " Perhaps I cannot be 
 quite positive about all the details of the plotting and 
 contriving for there was a good deal -of shyness and 
 embarrassment but at least I know certain features of it. 
 For example, when we were first at Constantinople, Miss 
 Emily managed to get her photograph taken " 
 
 " When she was ashore with Miss Penguin I " 
 
 " She managed it, anyhow ; it was at Verriuder's urgent 
 entreaty. Then when we came back from the Crimea, they 
 found copies ready ; and these were at once dispatched to 
 Verrinder's mother, and his sister, and his uncle. Now do 
 you see where Malta comes in ? " 
 
 " No, I don't," she answered, honestly. 
 
 " Why, by the time we get to Malta, letters from England 
 will have arrived there, in answer to those sent from 
 
232 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Constantinople ; and the uncle, and the mother, and the 
 sister have all been implored to write prettily to the young 
 lady who is about to enter their family. The photographs 
 will have propitiated them the big, soft eyes, the winning 
 mouth, the ingenuous and innocent and appealing ex- 
 pression. No doubt his relatives over there know well 
 enough that the young man is his own master, and that they 
 may just as well approve his choice ; still, the photographs 
 are to bespeak favour ; and very nice letters are sure to 
 come to Malta ; then Miss Emily, when she goes to tell her 
 sister, will have documents in her hand to show that this is 
 no hole-and-corner engagement, that everything is openly 
 arranged and approved of, and that the Yerrinder family are 
 ready to receive her with open arms. What do you think ? 
 a skilful little design, is it not ? " 
 
 "It is a piece of childish absurdity ! " she said sharply. 
 " The girl ought to have gone straight to her sister,? and 
 told her, the moment she came on board." 
 
 But he, in his large toleration, took a more lenient view. 
 The sight of those two young lovers together had pleased 
 and interested him ; their confiding to him their dark plans 
 and stratagems was a still further claim ; indeed, so charmed 
 was he with the society of these two young romancists that 
 what was originally meant to be a sketch promised to become 
 a much more elaborate affair before he had finished with it 
 and them. Moreover he had his own secret ; for neither of 
 them knew that this drawing was to be a wedding-present. 
 
 But that night something happened that drove all those 
 pretty trifles out of his head. After dinner he did not come 
 on deck with us as was his wont ; nor did he remain in the 
 saloon with the Dumaresqs (there was to be some music) ; 
 instead, he disappeared in the direction of the smoking- 
 room, along with Paul Hitrovo. We thought little of it at 
 the time ; for he had begun to make open show of his 
 amicable relations with the young Kussian ; he seemed to 
 wish everybody to understand that Amelie's fiance must 
 needs be his friend. We went on deck, well content, to 
 seek out our accustomed haunt. It was a beautiful night 
 a clear moon shining on a quiet sea ; an admirable night 
 for getting away down through the sprinkled islands of the 
 Archipelago 
 
OVER A VOLCANO 233 
 
 It was late when he joined us ; and instantly we saw that 
 something had occurred ; his face was curiously disturbed 
 and anxious. 
 
 " I am glad you have not gone below," he said and he 
 spoke in a low voice, though there was no one near. " I 
 must have counsel I don't know what to do. And 
 perhaps I exaggerate : wherever Amelie is concerned, I 
 may be stupidly nervous ; and a little common-sense may 
 put everything right." He paused for a second. "Yes, it 
 may be merely some morbid fancy but it seems as if I had 
 just stepped into a new-made grave." 
 
 His face looked strange in the moonlight. Then he 
 appeared to make an effort to throw aside some feeling that 
 was oppressing him. 
 
 " No, I must not, and will not believe it," he said, with 
 his naturally firm lips tightening somewhat. " I am easily 
 disquieted where Amelie is concerned ; and that is a 
 weakness that must be put aside ; one might take example 
 from herself her splendid nerve and audacious courage. 
 The fact is, I have just been having a long chat with 
 Hitrovo the first intimate conversation we have had ; and 
 he has been very frank. There it is, you see his frankness 
 disturbing at the moment, but really hopeful ; for if 
 there were anything really evil about him there would be 
 no concealment ; he would be more specious : don't you 
 think so ? " 
 
 He was addressing himself more particularly to the elder 
 of the two women ; but what could she say in answer to 
 this incoherent appeal ? It was clear enough that this man 
 was being torn in two different directions : he had made 
 some discovery that had alarmed him and yet he was deter- 
 mined to see nothing of any moment in it. 
 
 "At the same time," he continued, as if in partial 
 justification of himself, " it is a little startling when a young 
 man begins to tell you, quite calmly and coolly, what he 
 means to do with the fortune he counts on coming to him 
 with his marriage. And that is what Hitrovo did oh, yes 
 quite coolly and frankly I no beating about the bush 
 whatever. Race-horses he seems to have set his mind on 
 chiefly owning the horses keeping up some kind of 
 racing establishment, I suppose. He confessed to me that 
 
234 WOLFENBERG 
 
 he had no money of his own had run through it; and 
 that it was absolutely necessary, if he married at all, that he 
 should marry a woman with plenty of money. Then he 
 began to ask me the extent of Am61ie's fortune ; he appeared 
 to assume that he would have entire control of it ; indeed, 
 he even suggested Ithat he might have to impose conditions 
 as if he were being bought, and wanted the highest 
 possible price for himself." 
 
 But here he stopped : for his voice was beginning to 
 vibrate with indignation. When he resumed, it was in quite 
 a different key. 
 
 " After all," he said, " it may be only natural. I think 
 the English and Americans look on marriage differen&y 
 from the nations of continental Europe. On the Continent 
 marriage is a provision and a settlement ; and why should 
 not a young man frankly tell you he has no money of his 
 own ; and why should not he look forward to an abundance 
 of wealth that will benefit his wife as well as himself ? As I 
 say, it was merely that at first his honesty was a little 
 startling ; yet there is little need to protest against honesty- 
 it is too uncommon. You see," he proceeded, with a sort of 
 affectation of careless equanimity, " if I did really think he 
 was nothing but a fortune-hunter, I should be bound to go 
 and warn Mrs. Dumaresq, and Amelie too. Don't you agree 
 with me ? I am their friend. They are women, alone, with 
 no adviser to guide them. Wouldn't you say, now, that if 
 I thought there was serious danger if I thought Hitrovo's 
 only notion in marrying Amelie was to get hold of her 
 money to squander it on the Turf I ought to go and warn 
 her mother and herself ? " 
 
 This was the counsel he had come for, evidently ; but 
 the wise, small creature whom he addressed knew better than 
 to intervene at such a moment. The ways were all dark as 
 yet. She was silent. 
 
 " Yes, if it were really so," he said, presently, with some- 
 thing more of sincerity, and even with some trace of 
 agitation in his voice, u it would be terrible. If it were so, 
 and if Amelie were to make the discovery, it would kill her. 
 She is so passionately proud. And her heart is just filled 
 with this new happiness ; she says she knows what it is to 
 live now ; she says she is ready to part with all other 
 
OVER A VOLCANO 235 
 
 illusions but not with this one. And that also is to be 
 considered : why should I seek to rob her of this great and 
 absorbing happiness, even if I knew, or suspected, him to be 
 unworthy of her ? " 
 
 She dared not answer. These questions that he asked her, 
 with their infinite and unsearchable possibilities, appalled 
 her. And as for him, he seemed distracted fighting 
 against himself, and determined to destroy his own sombre 
 imaginings and fears. 
 
 " There is nothing so despicable as an intermeddler and 
 busybody," he said, with a sudden vehemence of angry self- 
 contempt. " And he is almost certainly misinformed 
 necessarily so he is an outsider. And he almost in- 
 variably works mischief. How is it possible that I should 
 know more about Hitrovo than Amelie does she who has 
 been studying him closely all this time ? The idea of my 
 taking information about Hitrovo to her! And the 
 information would be wrong ; it would be founded on a 
 personal misapprehension of my own ; it would be the 
 result of misunderstanding, of false judgment. Why 
 should he not ask about the extent of her fortune ? It is 
 but natural he should want to know. And why should I 
 take it for granted that he would squander the money on 
 the Turf ? Ah, I see you understand how these fears of 
 mine arise. I know why you are silent. You are saying to 
 yourself that I am jealous ; that I hate him for taking her 
 away from association with me ; that I attribute motives 
 that are ungenerous ; that I am prophesying evil because I 
 feel injured. Well, perhaps it is so I hope it is so." 
 
 He was standing opposite her his earnest eyes and 
 questioning face bent down upon her. Somehow, with a 
 kind of instinct, she reached up her hand to his hand, and 
 took it, and pressed it for a moment : it was a trivial little 
 action more significant than any words. 
 
 "No," she said, "that is not to be thought of. Not 
 any one could think that. The affection you have shown 
 towards her so constant so unselfish I have never seen 
 the like of. And now you are thinking of nothing but her. 
 It is her welfare her happiness always. But, my dear 
 friend, how can I answer you ? You are hoping for the 
 best : perhaps the best may come. Will you tell me this ? 
 
236 WOLFENBERG 
 
 did he speak, apart from these mere money-matters, as if he 
 really cared for her ? " 
 
 " He spoke as if his sole concern was the amount of her 
 fortune and what he was going to do with it ! " Wolfenberg 
 exclaimed, with an involuntary return to that tone of 
 indignation ; but the next moment he had become dread- 
 fully confused, and humble, and apologetic. " Naturally, 
 naturally," he said. " Men don't talk of sacred and secret 
 things in a corner of a smoking-room. Of course he cares 
 for her, or why should he wish to marry her ? He could 
 marry well elsewhere ; he has high connections ; he coukl 
 probably marry a bigger fortune than hers, if that were all 
 he was seeking. No, no ; why should we suppose anything 
 of the kind ? In a smoking-room talking to one who was 
 almost a stranger to him of course he spoke merely of 
 ordinary and practical things. He knew that I was more 
 or less acquainted with their affairs ; and he wanted 
 information what could be more reasonable ? He was 
 not going to talk about love-passages to wear his heart on 
 his sleeve in a ship's smoking-room ! And when he spoke 
 of the cost of living in Vienna, and the expense of giving 
 entertainments, and keeping a few race-horses, why, that 
 was only telling me something in return for what I had 
 told him. Yes, I see I must have exaggerated it all to niy 
 own mind," he went on, with a kind of pathetic insistence. 
 " I must have jumped to unwarranted conclusions, merely 
 because he was so outspoken and straightforward. And 
 then, if I were to go and alarm Mrs. Dumaresq unnecessarily, 
 would not that be a monstrous piece of stupidity ? As I 
 say, I am foolishly nervous and apprehensive about Amelie 
 and anything that might affect her ; and I must exercise a 
 little self-control ; I must bring some common sense to bear ; 
 I must wait for to-morrow's clear daylight to dispel all these 
 black dreams." 
 
 " That at least can do no harm," she said as she rose 
 and indeed it was time for all of us to get away below, to 
 seek out our several berths. 
 
 As the two women paused for a second at the door of 
 Peggy's cabin, there were but few words spoken between them. 
 
 "Well, Missis, what do you think of that ? " 
 
 " I know one thing, Peggy," said her friend, sadly enough. 
 
OVER A VOLCANO 237 
 
 " In spite of all his brave optimism, there is a sick heart on 
 board this ship this night." 
 
 Next morning we were amongst the most southerly of the 
 shining Cyclades. A glance out of the port-hole told us \v; 
 were nearing certain ruddy islands of a curious burnt and 
 arid aspect : lofty cliffs and peaks of slag and tufa, with 
 here and there shelves and crests of marble and here ;m<l 
 there masses of tumbled cinders. Not a blade of vegetation 
 anywhere visible ; while the only symptom of human life 
 or occupation was a solitary fishing-boat, the orange-gold 
 hull and sails of which, catching the early sunlight, sent 
 glaring reflections down on the glassy blue mirror of the 
 sea. Then the gradual lessening of the OrotanicCs speed was 
 of itself a sufficient summons : we were in a manner called 
 on deck, to see what was abroad. 
 
 "We discovered that we were quietly stealing into the 
 Gulf of Santorin a circular, or almost circular, basin, 
 formed by the enclosing crescent of Thera and the shorter 
 coast line of Therasia. But the strange thing to think of 
 was that we were now steaming slowly across the crater of a 
 volcano a volcano not at all extinct, but capable, in its 
 livelier moods, of throwing up an island or two from its 
 unknown ocean depths. At the present moment there 
 was little sign of disturbance either by water or land ; the 
 ruddy cliffs were still and silent ; the azure plain around us 
 showed hardly a ripple. 
 
 It was a striking scene, and beautiful in its way, but in 
 no wise terrific or awe-inspiring ; and when our friends 
 began to appear, in little detached groups, a general air of 
 animation and cheerfulness prevailed. Amelie Dumaresq, 
 in especial, seemed to be very merry and light-hearted on 
 this pleasant morning ; she had put her arm round her 
 mother's waist ; she was laughing and talking and. looking 
 up to Paul Hitrovo : "Wolfenberg more thoughtful of face 
 was also with them. 
 
 " Why doesn't the kettle boil ? " we could hear her say, 
 as she was regarding the still blue circumference of sea. 
 " Or has the water put out the fires ? " 
 
 There were other two women separated from that little 
 knot of companions by but a few yards. 
 
238 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Missis," said Peggy, in an undertone, " have you been 
 considering what you were told last evening ? " 
 
 "I lay awake a good part of the night," was the simple 
 answer. 
 
 " And don't you think," continued Peggy, with signifi- 
 cant eyes, " that there are certain people not very far 
 away from us who are just over a volcano in more senses 
 than one ? " 
 
 " Poor Wolfenberg ! " said her friend, absently : she did 
 not seem to heed about the others. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 UKDER-CURRENTS. 
 
 AND so once again we were on the wide waste of waters, 
 yet not altogether out of sight of land, for in the north a 
 few rocky islands, of a faint rose-grey, were visible, while in 
 the south a pale film along the horizon spoke of the distant 
 coast-line of Crete. But the fact is that we had for long- 
 grown so accustomed to the ever-constant features of that 
 outer world the cloudless skies, the spacious circle of blue- 
 black, silver-flashing waves, and the blaze of white light 
 away towards the sun that it was only by accident one's 
 attention strayed beyond the rail of the ship ; in this 
 floating home of ours there were sufficient interests to 
 occupy us ; and more especially at this moment were these 
 interests become of serious, not to say tragic, import. 
 
 For to Wolfenberg the long hours of the night had 
 brought no reassurance. As soon as our Orotanians had 
 settled down to their ordinary duties or amusements, he 
 took the first convenient opportunity of seeking out the 
 small woman whose tact, and shrewdness, and unfailing 
 sympathy and kindliness he had learned to understand. 
 And we could see by something in his face that he had no 
 good news to report. 
 
 " Perhaps you think I was exaggerating when I spoke to 
 you last evening," he said to her. " But it isn't so. There 
 was even some concealment: I thought you might be 
 induced to take a hopeful view. And now you ought to 
 
UNDER-CURRENTS 239 
 
 know the truth : for something terrible may be looming 
 ahead that even yet might be averted; and it is yn in- 
 experience, and judgment, and knowledge of a woman's 
 nature that a man finds need of in such a crisis." 
 
 Her eyes were fixed on him ; and as plainly as possible 
 they said : ' Well, tell me the story. But it is about you 
 it is about you yourself that I am really concerned.' 
 
 " I have been thinking it over during the night," he went 
 on. "And the truth is I did not half describe to you the 
 coolness with which Hitrovo talked. He quite seemed to 
 take it for granted that it was to be made well worth 
 his while to marry. And his ideas about the extent of 
 Amelie's fortune were absolutely preposterous. No doubt 
 the Dumaresqs are very well off ; and Amelie is an only 
 child ; but he appeared to regard her as a great heiress ; 
 and his schemes about the administration of her property, 
 when it came under his control, were grand indeed. Did I 
 tell you about the race-horses ? I know little about race- 
 horses myself ; but I should imagine that keeping up such 
 an establishment as he spoke of would be a most expensive 
 affair, to say nothing of the gambling and betting. The 
 fact is, in estimating Amelie's probable fortune, he has been 
 led astray by her diamonds. I can see that. He assumes 
 that her money will he in proportion to her jewellery ; and 
 there he is entirely mistaken ; for the bulk of those diamonds 
 came to her as a special legacy from an aunt who died some 
 years ago " 
 
 " It is very extraordinary that a girl should carry about 
 with her 4000 or 5000 worth of diamonds," said Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit, in a casual way. 
 
 "They are a plaything for her," said he, briefly for 
 when would he allow that Ame'lie Dumaresq was acting with 
 any lack of discretion ? " And they are safe enough while 
 we are at sea ; and then again, when we get into port, she 
 hands them over to the Purser and his strong-box. But 
 you can easily understand how Hitrovo, seeing such a quan- 
 tity of jewellery in the possession of a young unmarried 
 girl, would naturally imagine that her property was in pro- 
 portion : hence the talk about race-horses about the fine 
 house in Vienna and balls, and musical evenings, and 
 private theatricals. If he is selling himself," added Wolfen- 
 
240 WOLFENBERG 
 
 berg, with unusual bitterness " as he almost leaves you to 
 infer he is demanding a large price ! " 
 
 Mrs. Threepenny-frit was silent and thoughtful for a 
 moment or two. 
 
 "Young men sometimes talk with affected cynicism in 
 such cases," she said. " But there are means by which you 
 could find out whether he was making honest confession or 
 not. For instance, you could tell him how mistaken he 
 was about the amount of Amclie's fortune. You would be 
 justified in doing so ; that would not be the interference of 
 a busybody which you seem to dread ; for he himself has 
 applied to you for information. That is one point. 
 Another is, you can hint pretty plainly to him that her 
 money will be strictly tied up and settled upon herself. 
 Then hear what he has to say." 
 
 A quick flush sprang to his face ; and he seemed to 
 shrink back from that proposal, almost in alarm. 
 
 " Oh, I could not do that ! " he said, hurriedly. " Why- 
 why that would look as if I wanted the engagement broken 
 off ! whereas, it is quite the other way : there is nothing I 
 would not do to have the marriage come about happily, 
 when I see how her whole life seems bound up in it. No, 
 no ; no, no ; I am all anxiety that everything should go on 
 well, and safely, and happily ; and surely it is wiser to have 
 a little confidence surely one ought to be on the sanguine 
 side to hope for the best 
 
 It was clear that this man knew not what to think that 
 his mind was racked and torn asunder by the conflict 
 between his desperate misgivings and his dogged optimism. 
 
 " Would it not be more reasonable," he continued, " to 
 take up your other conjecture, so that I could go to him 
 and say ' Come, now, admit that there was a good deal of 
 affectation in your manner of speaking last night. You are 
 not really going to marry in order to have plenty of money 
 to squander in Vienna. You cannot be quite so calmly in- 
 different to Amelie herself to her personal grace and 
 charm, her striking and attractive individuality, her intel- 
 lectual gifts. You don't honestly consider that you are 
 selling yourself for a mess of pottage. That is all lilague 
 or rather the talk of the young man of the present day, who 
 above all things detests and dreads being thought senti- 
 
VtiDER-CURRENTS 241 
 
 tiiental.'* Wouldn't that be better? wouldn't that be 
 the more generous interpretation ? and mightn't it lead him 
 to speak in a less openly cynical fashion ? " 
 
 " Perhaps," she said, evasively. 
 
 " And you may be sure of this," he went on, " that he 
 does not talk in that way to Am61ie. She must see and 
 know the other side. Look at her over there now : did you 
 ever behold such a perfect embodiment of high spirits and 
 radiant happiness ? What is she after now ? " 
 
 "Worrying people into giving promises for to-morrow 
 night's concert," answered Mrs. Threepenny-bit, coldly. 
 Indeed, she had of late shown herself somewhat im- 
 pervious to Ame'lie Dumaresq's many fascinations 
 though ordinarily she was not hard of heart towards 
 young women. 
 
 " I shall hope to see her as careless and merry as that 
 always," said he, with a certain wistfulness. And then he 
 came back to this subject that had caused him so much of 
 perplexity and pain. 
 
 " There is one thing I must ask you," he said. " Sup- 
 posing that you, or I, or anybody were to be personally 
 convinced that Hitrovo was marrying Amelie wholly from 
 mercenary motives, then would you consider it a point of 
 honour that she should be told ? Or don't you think, if 
 you saw how all her hopes were centred upon this union, 
 that you would rather be silent, and trust to everything 
 coming right, and try to work to that end ? You see, you 
 might be altogether mistaken in your suspicions. It is easy 
 to misjudge people : it is difficult to get at motives. But. 
 above all, if you saw that her chances of happiness in life 
 were irrevocably pledged, would you not rather rely upon 
 things coming out right somehow, instead of going to her 
 with the cruel truth ? Kemember what she is " 
 
 " Yes, I know what you mean," responded his friend. 
 " And I remember what you said last night about her 
 passionate pride that it would kill her if she were to dis- 
 cover that she had been deceived by an adventurer, that she 
 had been sought after merely for her money. Well, I am 
 not so sure that such a discovery would kill her. I think 
 her pride would work another way. It would make her 
 furious ; it would make her a good deal more anxious to kill 
 
 B 
 
24 2 WOLFENBERG 
 
 him that is, if she found out in time. And supposing he 
 is the despicable creature you suggest 
 
 " Oh, but I did not suggest that ! " he said, anxiously 
 and one almost seemed to fancy that his face grew a trifle 
 pale. " No ; I say it is impossible he can be blind to what 
 Amelie is in herself ; it is impossible he can be thinking 
 only of her money. And your surmise is so much more 
 reasonable that he may be merely talking for effect. He 
 would not confess it if it were really true ! he would 
 conceal it ' 
 
 " Anyhow," said she, " let us imagine for a moment that 
 it is really true. And if Amelie were to make the discovery 
 in time before marriage, I mean would not the very pride 
 you speak of enable her to throw him off without an 
 apparent pang ? It isn't as if she would be left desolate, 
 and objectless, and friendless. Could she not resume that 
 relationship with you that she used to be so enthusiastic 
 about ? and take up her painting ? and become .a great 
 artist ? and do all the fine things she was set upon ? " 
 
 He appeared for a moment bewildered. 
 
 " Resume all that ? " he said, with the strangest look in 
 his eyes. Then he seemed to put away from him that 
 possibility as something too hopeless, as something for ever 
 done with. " No, no ; it cannot be. The current of her 
 life has set in another direction ; and it cannot be stemmed 
 or diverted now, without a catastrophe too frightful to 
 contemplate. No, no ; we have to make the best ; we have 
 to hope for the best 
 
 And at this very moment, when he was driven nigh to 
 distraction by anxiety on her account, Amelie herself came 
 over to us, gay, audacious, scornfully-mocking, and light- 
 hearted as a linnet. She certainly looked charming. The 
 slight make-up she was in the habit of adding to her com- 
 plexion for evening wear was now absent ; there was a 
 youthful freshness in the pale olive hue of her cheek ; her 
 lips were healthily red without any salve at all ; and a 
 perfectly reckless and childish merriment laughed in the 
 dark, soft, audacious eyes. 
 
 " Why, you are the most persistently idle people ! " she 
 exclaimed. " I can bear down anybody's opposition except 
 yours ; you are too dreadfully stubborn. Why won't you 
 
UNDERCURRENTS , 243 
 
 help us ? We have all sorts of offers that we want to 
 refuse ; and yet you won't enable us ; you are mute, and 
 obstinate, and clannish, and unsocial. And, mind you, I 
 have heard oh, yes, I have heard of ongoings elsewhere 
 plantation choruses banjoes and pretty late hours, too 
 or early, whichever you like to call them ; but here you are 
 all as mum as mice. Why, even that dear creature, Sappho, 
 has come down from her lofty heights to assist us and 
 this time it is not a recitation merely but a song : isn't it 
 good of her ? " 
 
 " To sing for you ? " Lady Cameron interposed. " It is 
 impossible ! She told me she was struggling day and night 
 with a Requiem for the ocean-grave of Phaon ; and that she 
 could get no peace, it was so difficult. You see, she wants 
 to bring in something pointing to the murderer the sup- 
 posed murderer ; and that may not be so easy. She was in 
 great gloom about it : it is impossible she can have under- 
 taken to sing ! " 
 
 " She is going to sing nevertheless," said the young lady, 
 confidently. " And she has given us the name of her song. 
 She means to appeal to popular sentiment she is resolved 
 to captivate the crowd with simple and honest pathos she 
 is going to sing ' When other lips.' " 
 
 No one was inhuman enough to laugh ; nay, a perfect 
 and subdued gravity was maintained by every pair of eyes. 
 But how could we help figuring in imagination the rather 
 dowdy figure, and the dishevelled sandy hair, and the wail 
 of hopeless passion telling of Sappho's own tragic past ? 
 And how could we help recalling young Alec Burke, who 
 was erewhile in the Foreign Office, but whom the Foreign 
 Office will see no more ? Cha till, cha till, cha till e tuille! 
 Maddened by merciless persecution, he took a consulship 
 .and fled to the Gold Coast : he knew she dared not follow 
 him thither or, at least, he would have long notice of her 
 coming, and would have time to escape. Then he was heard 
 of at Costa Rica at San Salvador at Bogota at Nica- 
 ragua. Poor Alec ! a wanderer on the face of the earth 
 looking back towards England from time to time, but always 
 with a shuddering fear. An cofjadh na sith cha till e tuille ! 
 
 During the better part of this day the ship was as full of 
 strange noises as was Caliban's island ' Sounds, and sweet 
 
 u '2 
 
244 WOLFENBERG 
 
 airs, that give delight, and hurt not ' in preparation for the 
 following night. And as we happened to be in the neigh- 
 bourhood, we thought we might as well look in and see how 
 Ferdinand and Miranda were getting on, in the company of 
 the arch-magician weaving his spells. Yes, we found all 
 three in the fore-saloon ; our entrance did not seem to make 
 any difference ; the artist proceeded with his work, talking 
 the while ; and if he had two more auditors, what then ? 
 He did not seem to heed. 
 
 And yet no one could have understood Wolfenberg's 
 present mood and attitude his apparent equanimity who 
 had not observed the rare combination of faculties that his 
 features expressed : the imagination and pensive wistfulness 
 of his forehead and eyes along with the determined will and 
 strength of the lower part of his face. No doubt he had 
 made an appointment with these young folks ; and here he 
 was keeping it ; and he was resolutely and definitely thrust- 
 ing away from him his own pressing anxieties in order to 
 entertain his sitter and hold her interested. His talk was 
 chiefly a kind of monologue sometimes whimsical, some- 
 times serious that was interrupted now and again when he 
 stepped back to judge of the progress of his work. 
 
 " I was just saying to these young people," he remarked 
 to Mrs. Threepenny-bit, as she took a seat not far from him, 
 " that the confidence of youth, the splendid audacity of 
 youth, was a very fine kind of thing, but that occasionally it 
 became almost shocking especially in the way of rash state- 
 ments. Take the young man who was in love with the lass 
 of Eichmond Hill. His assertion ' I'd crowns resign to 
 call her mine ' was much too absolute and unqualified. If 
 he had said * I think, in certain circumstances, I might per- 
 haps resign a crown or several crowns in order to call her 
 mine,' that would have been more prudent. I am afraid, if 
 he had been taken at his word, and if he had had the crown 
 or crowns to resign, he might have been tempted to think 
 twice " 
 
 " It was only a figure of speech ! " young Verrinder said, 
 naturally defending his kith and kind. 
 
 "Yes," said Wolfenberg still working away at the 
 splendid throat and the dark hair under the mysterious 
 veil. " Yes, a figure of speech. In fact, hyperbole. And 
 
UNDERCURRENTS 245 
 
 hyberbole is the natural language of a young man, if only ho 
 would talk naturally. But he is afraid. He prefers shelter- 
 ing himself behind an affectation of indifference or, worse 
 still, cynicism. Now cynicism is the most useless kind of a 
 thing in the whole wide world. Cynicism never does any- 
 thing. 'Ice makes no conflagration.' Fanaticism may 
 work miracles ; cynicism produces nothing. And the reason 
 why the human race gives so eager a welcome to any new 
 prophet, or new faith, or new enthusiasm, is that through 
 thousands and thousands of years men and women have 
 grown so tired and disappointed with the commonplace 
 routine of life, with its narrow interests, its monotonous ex- 
 periences, its miserable perishing into nothingness, that when 
 any one puts something higher and nobler before them, and 
 calls on them to attain to it, then hope stirs in them again, 
 their imagination is fired, another millennium appears in the 
 future. The millennium never comes ; but they have the 
 joy of striving forward towards it ; and I suppose something 
 is added to human consciousness by each wave of human 
 faith. And if you wish to make your mark on your own 
 time and age But perhaps, Mr. Julian, the rearing of phea- 
 sants is what you're looking forward to ? " he said, with a 
 laugh, as he turned aside to pick up his penknife. 
 
 " And why not the rearing of pheasants ? " said the Baby 
 (blushing furiously). " We *can't all be prophets ? you 
 wouldn't have a whole nation of prophets ? " 
 
 " Quite right I quite agree with you," he answered her, 
 good-naturedly indeed, he seemed rather pleased by this 
 spirited little bit of protest. " I was only going to say that 
 if you wish to impress yourself on your own time you must 
 teach people that there is something finer, and more won- 
 derful, and more desirable than the ordinary everyday exis- 
 tence they see around them ; and you may do that if you 
 have the heart and brain of a poet, or a painter, or a musi- 
 cian, for each has his own revelation to make. But if you 
 will allow me to have my sermon out " he continued, look- 
 ing over in a very kindly fashion towards this young lady, 
 " there is another way, in a smaller sphere. We cannot all 
 be authors and artists and musicians, any more than we 
 could have the country filled with prophets and priests. But 
 I will take a single human being, who is none of these 
 
246 WOLFENBERG 
 
 things, but who has certain qualities of honour, and modesty 
 and unselfishness, and sweetness, and gentleness ; and if 
 through the constant exercise of all these gifts and graces 
 she can show to those around her what it is to possess a 
 beautiful human soul, do you think she has exercised no in- 
 fluence on her day and generation ? Surely she has ; and 
 perhaps with wider results than she knows." 
 
 It was Julian Verrinder's face [that burned now with 
 pride and gratitude, The meaning of these few words was 
 clear enough ; and they were spoken with such a simplicity 
 and sincerity that (as Mrs. Threepenny-bit said thereafter, 
 with tears in her eyes) they sounded to her like a 
 benediction. 
 
 But "Wolfenberg was in a very different frame of mind 
 that evening all this placid and kindly serenity gone from 
 him, and himself become a prey to the most torturing of 
 self -questionings and dark conjectures. As he did not 
 keep the usual rendezvous after dinner, one of us was by 
 and by despatched to find him, and eventually he was 
 discovered right away forward, quite by himself, pacing up 
 and down the moonlit deck, his hands clasped behind him, 
 the fingers clenched. 
 
 "No, no," he said, in answer to a suggestion that he 
 might come away aft to our accustomed retreat ; " why 
 should I inflict my troubles upon you and your com- 
 panions ? You are away on a voyage of amusement and 
 rest ; why should you have other people's cares thrust on 
 you?" 
 
 He hesitated for a moment : it was evident that all the 
 same he wanted to speak that he had something to 
 communicate. Then he said, almost hurriedly 
 
 " I am afraid I have wrought mischief and irreparable 
 mischief and I don't know what to think of it yet. And 
 it was none of my seeking either. I did not wish to 
 interfere ; I wanted rather to shut my eyes a little, and 
 trust that everything would go on well. But he came to 
 me Hitrovo came to me and re-opened that subject 
 pressing for information, and yet with a carelessness that 
 seemed to say ' Oh, don't imagine I am a fortune-hunter ; 
 I am not a fortune-hunter at all ; only, before I marry, I 
 mup.t know that it is going to be worth my while/ And 
 
UNDER-CURRENTS 247 
 
 I confess I grew indignant. I am afraid I lost my temper. 
 Why, the shamelessness of it all seemed an insult to 
 Amelie. It is quite true that nearly everybody had gone 
 below to get ready for dinner, and there were few people 
 on deck ; but the Captain had just come out of his cabin, 
 and he was talking to Lady Cameron I believe they could 
 have overheard Hitrovo, if they had chosen to listen. Or 
 perhaps I was nervously anxious that he should not be 
 overheard ; at all events, I had to ask him to come aside ; 
 and he appeared to take the whole situation so coolly 
 Well, I'm afraid I lost my temper, and said things I ought 
 not to have said. I said that if this mercenary talk of his 
 was all a pretence, it was a poor kind of affectation. Then 
 I told him plainly that he seemed entirely to over-estimate 
 the amount of Amelie's fortune ; and not only so, but that 
 it was perfectly certain her uncle, the chief trustee, would 
 take care it was kept entirely within her own control. 
 There I was wrong. I had no right to say that. When he 
 asked me to give him some idea as to what property there 
 would be, perhaps I was entitled to tell him that it w >:ild 
 certainly be a great deal smaller than he seemed to expect ; 
 for that I knew ; that was within my own knowledge. But 
 I had no right to speak of the disposal of her fortune 
 
 " Surely you said nothing that was not perfectly obvious 
 to anybody possessed of common-sense ! He must have 
 known that the money would be settled on herself ! Well, 
 how did he take the information if it was information ? " 
 
 "Oh, he hum'd and ha'd and twisted a deck-chair 
 about rather like a spoilt child. And then he said a few 
 words coolly and carelessly as if the whple affair were of 
 very little moment to him ; and then he went away. I 
 cannot make him out at all." 
 
 " But don't you think that plain speaking of yours may 
 have wrought some good may have made him a little bit 
 ashamed ? " 
 
 " I should not have done it I should not have done it," 
 he said, almost to himself and his face seemed careworn 
 in this wan light. "The risks are too serious. The 
 consequences of a false step now of mistaken interference 
 might be too dreadful to think of. What I know is," 
 he continued, presently, "that the little I have made by my 
 
24 8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 painting is not much of a fortune, but if it were ten times 
 as great, I would gladly take it to him, every cent, and 
 say, "Let this go towards your fine entertainments in 
 Vienna ; but don't touch Amelie's money ; and don't let 
 her think that money had anything to do with her 
 marriage.' " 
 
 " It isn't the first time a woman has thrown over a good 
 friend for a bad husband." 
 
 " You must not think of such a thing ! " he exclaimed, 
 in great agitation. "There cannot be anything of the 
 kind in this case not at all ! I tell you I exaggerate 
 trifles where she is concerned ; you must not mind half 
 what I say ; rather look at her look at her splendid 
 courage and nerve do you think she is not capable of 
 seeing clearly enough ? Oh, you will find that everything 
 will go right ! " he continued, with a sort of doggedness. 
 u Why, if you only think of it that very frankness of his, 
 though it may startle you at the time, is a good deal 
 wholesomer than concealment. If he were marrying merely 
 for money, he would conceal it of course he would ! And 
 do you think Amelie does not know and understand what 
 he is ? and she has faith in him, or she would not 
 entrust her life to him." 
 
 He had forced himself into something of cheerfulness ; 
 the haunted look had in a measure left his face ; and in 
 the end he was persuaded to come aft to those friends who 
 were awaiting him. But the two women scrupulously 
 forbore from making any reference to Amelie Dumaresq ; 
 and he also maintained silence. The talk was about quite 
 indifferent matters ; sometimes there was a promenading 
 of the deck, with a glance outward on the waves lapping in 
 the moonlight ; and sometimes there was a pause at the top 
 of the companion-way, to listen to the rehearsal going on 
 in the saloon. 
 
 That night a puff of wind came blowing down from the 
 Adriatic, and the Orotania rolled a good bit ; nothing to 
 speak of, and yet almost a novel experience. Next morning, 
 again, brought us something still more unexpected. A 
 dark cloud crept stealthily into the brilliancy of the day ; 
 it increased in gloom ; there were a few splinterings of pink 
 ancl then the wonder of it ! actually rain ! % 
 
UNDERCURRENTS 249 
 
 min that came down in silver-grey sheets, hammering on 
 the awnings, and hissing and seething on the decks ; the 
 strangest sound it was ; it seemed to bring back far other 
 times and places. And then it gradually ceased ; the day 
 widened and cleared ; and around us once more we had the 
 familiar features as of old a sky of pale ethereal purple, a 
 sea of blue almost aggressive in its strength, with diamond- 
 gleams of sunlight from every crest and angle of the 
 restless waves. Very lonely these waters seemed to be 
 yet not uncheerful. 
 
 During the afternoon we discovered that Mrs. Duraaresq 
 had grown somewhat concerned about the part her daughter 
 might possibly take in the proceedings of the evening. 
 
 " Has she told you ? " the mother asked covertly of 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit. " She is so headstrong and daring ; 
 you never can guess what she is going to do ; and indeed 
 if it is something bizarre something calculated to shock 
 people, she likes that all the better " 
 
 " But you don't expect her to unfurl the Kussian flag or 
 do anything of that kind ? " the other said, smiling. " We 
 are no longer in a Kussian port. No, no, Mrs. Uumaresq, 
 do not be afraid ; Amelie says she has performed her share 
 in beating up recruits ; she means to remain with us among 
 the audience ; she has no mischief in her mind, you may 
 depend on it." 
 
 "But she does things so unexpectedly," the mother 
 rejoined, with doubt lingering in her voice. " And she is 
 so absolutely defiant of public opinion. . . . She is going 
 to sit with us at our usual table ? " 
 
 " So she says. It seems the chief difficulty has been that 
 there were really too many volunteers. Apparently shyness 
 has worn off. All kinds of undiscovered musicians have 
 been coming forward to get a place in the programme. 
 And I doubt whether Amelie will be called upon to do 
 anything at all." 
 
 " I am glad of that I am glad of that ! " she murmured, 
 with a sigh of relief. " It is so dreadful to have a young 
 girl talked about and Amelie is so ungovernable." 
 
 A little later on, as certain of us were standing talking 
 together, Amelie Dumaresq came along, and said in be.r 
 frank, impetuous way 
 
250 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " I wish one of you would do me a favour." 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 " That is a very pretty custom they have at some of the 
 t:ibles of asking a friend from another table to dine with 
 them. We never have any visitors at our table except at 
 lunch-time. Now will you ask Mr. Hitrovo to dine with 
 us to-night ? Mamma is so timid about upsetting arrange- 
 ments ; but how can there be any difficulty ? " 
 
 Well, there was no difficulty ; for we got the Baby to go 
 and sit next Miss Penguin ; and as Julian Verrinder had 
 his place at that table, she was very well content ; while 
 the young Eussian came and took her vacant seat. We 
 noticed nothing particular about his manner ; in truth he 
 was not in the habit of asserting himself much in any way. 
 For one thing he certainly paid no special attention to the 
 young lady to whom we understood he was engaged ; he 
 talked mostly, and in an indolent kind of fashion, to Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit about driving and what not. But at a 
 certain point during the dinner, Amelie, with her fingers 
 on the stem of her wine-glass, said 
 
 "Ernest, don't you think we ought to wish our guest 
 ' bon voyage ' ? " 
 
 Wolfenberg looked startled. 
 
 " Oh, don't you know ?" she continued, lightly. "He 
 thinks it very probable he may have news to-morrow at 
 Malta that may call him away from the ship there is a 
 line of steamers from Malta to Marseilles and that is how 
 he thinks of going. Well, if it must be, it must." 
 
 She turned to Hitrovo, and regarded him with smiling 
 eyes. 
 
 " Au revoir, then, if it must be and Ion voyage!" 
 and therewith she raised her glass, and sipped a little of the 
 wine, still with her eyes fixed pleasantly on his. 
 
 But Wolfenberg sate silent and quite pale, not daring to 
 speak. He even forgot the formal raising of his glass. lie 
 seemed at once astounded and dismayed and yet fearful 
 of betraying himself by > T 0rd or sigu. 
 
"DA SVIDANIA'* 251 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 " DA SVIDANIA I " 
 
 EARLY morning ; and a glance through one of the ports 
 reveals an old familiar picture the great yellow bulk of 
 Fort St. Elmo towering high into the blue. Then on deck ; 
 and we find ourselves slowly steaming into Malta harbour. 
 Throughout one small circle of our shipmates it is to be 
 suspected that some little excitement prevails subdued and 
 reticent : it is felt that this may be a day of change and 
 circumstance for more than one of our companions. 
 
 And hardly has the roar of anchor and anchor-chain 
 died away when the Orotania mail-bag arrives ; and 
 instantly a nebulous crowd, good-humoured, talkative, 
 obliging, has clustered round the third officer, who gene- 
 rally presides at the distribution. But Lady Cameron is 
 not among these idly-gossiping folk. What interest has 
 she in any correspondence ? She is standing by the rail, 
 quite alone ; while her eyes are intently scanning the 
 various gaily-coloured craft that are now making swiftly 
 out from the mole, across the clear-shining water. For 
 now the young grass- widow is about to be transformed into 
 a lawful wife ; she will take her proper place on board ; 
 perhaps she is even looking forward to giving herself airs 
 when Cameron of Inverfask comes among us. As for 
 Inverfask, there are no airs about him; but it is the 
 business of a wife to magnify her husband's exploits and 
 commanding qualities. 
 
 Meanwhile, as this deciphering and calling out of name 
 after name was going on, one ventured to steal a look at 
 the Baby. She had not joined that small crowd ; she was 
 modestly remaining a little way apart ; yet it was easy to 
 see that she was listening with all her ears. 
 
 " Do you expect any letters ? " Mrs. Threepenny-bit said 
 to her, in her kindly fashion. 
 
 " Oh, no," the Juno-eyed damsel made answer, hurriedly 
 and self-conscious colour sprang to her face. " I don't 
 expect any letter no not for myself." And then in her 
 embarrassment she seemed to consider it necessary to 
 
252 WOLFENBERG 
 
 apologise for her being there. " But but there might be 
 one for my sister, you know." 
 
 Suddenly those large, gentle, shy eyes looked startled. 
 
 " Mr. Julian Yerrinder I " the third officer had sung 
 out. 
 
 Then we discovered that Julian Verrinder was right in 
 the middle of that loosely-scattered assemblage. 
 
 " Oh, here's another for you, Mr. Verrinder," the third 
 officer went on. " And still another." 
 
 The Baby's face was a study as far as one dared to 
 observe. The intense listening the absorbed suspense- 
 had fled ; relief, gladness, gratitude shone there, despite all 
 her efforts to maintain an outward show of impassivity ; 
 and presently we saw her quietly withdraw from the 
 outskirts of the crowd and wander along to the wheel-box, 
 which was as much as to say to any one concerned ; ' When 
 you have read those letters, you will find me here. And if 
 you want me to look at them, could not I smuggle them 
 into my pocket and carry them downstairs to my cabin ? ' 
 As a matter of fact, Julian Yerrinder, after a discreet 
 second or two, did sneak off in the direction of that quiet 
 corner. On his way he affected to show a profound 
 interest in the brightly-painted boats that were now 
 swarming along the vessel's side. 
 
 " Lady Cameron ! " the third officer called out. 
 
 Then he looked round : there was no Lady Cameron. 
 
 " I will take it to her ! " said the Major, delighted to 
 have the chance of doing her this service ; and away he 
 went with the letter. 
 
 Almost immediately thereafter Peggy came over to us 
 vexation and disappointment only too visible in her face. 
 
 " Isn't it provoking ! " she exclaimed. " This is from 
 Ewen. He is detained in Rangoon another fortnight per- 
 haps three weeks. Did you ever know anything more 
 vexatious ? Missis, I want to swear. How much will you 
 allow me ? Or shall I get the Major to do it for me ? " 
 
 "The Major covers quite enough ground on his own 
 account," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, severely. 
 
 " And I shall have to go by myself all the way home to 
 Inverfask ! " continued our injured Peggy. Then sudden 
 revolt appeared. " No, I will not, then ! I will remain in 
 
"DA SVIDANIA1" 253 
 
 London. I ain coming to you, if you will have me ; and I 
 think we will just about make things hum I It's too bad ! 
 Why, I looked forward to his taking us ashore both here 
 
 and at Gibraltar, and getting us all kinds of privileges 
 
 Then she quite altered her tone and grew grave. " Missis," 
 said she in an undertone, " I had forgotten about Wolfen- 
 berg. You know the invitation. And I had hoped he 
 would ^o right on with us to Inverfask. What am I to 
 do?" 1 
 
 " You can easily explain to him," said her friend. " And 
 if Wolfenberg does not go to Inverfask tilL ^ater on, then I 
 must take care that we see as much as possible of him while 
 he remains in London. Ship-acquaintances are easily 
 allowed to drift ; but there are some that are too valuable ; 
 and besides there may be circumstances that call upon 
 
 you " She did not complete the sentence ; for at this 
 
 point the Major returned with another letter which also 
 was from Ewen Cameron for his wife. 
 
 But the strangest circumstance connected with this dis- 
 tribution of the mail was that Paul Hitrovo, whose leaving 
 the ship, or not leaving the ship, was understood to depend 
 on the news he should receive at Malta, did not put in an 
 appearance until the last of the letters and newspapers had 
 been delivered. It was then that he chanced to come along, 
 accompanied by Mrs. Dumaresq and her daughter ; and all 
 three of them seemed to be in a highly cheerful mood. 
 Perhaps he had heard through some other source that his 
 departure had been rendered unnecessary ? 
 
 " Just think of this man," cried Am61ie, coming forward 
 to us in her gay fashion, " who has never heard of his great 
 namesake the Chevalier Paul who was born in the road- 
 stead of Marseilles and fought his way to be vice-admiral 
 and all sorts of things. Why, it was in this very place that 
 his adventures began : don't you know the ballad ? 
 
 *A Malte, sur un brigantin, 
 II met son sac un beau matin 
 Et rondement fait son c1n-inin, 
 
 A Vdbordage. 
 Le capitaine ay ant p&ri, 
 Paul cut nommtf chef tout iVun cri 
 
 Par Vtqiiipage. 
 
254 WOLFENBERG 
 
 A-i-on jamais vu plus charmant 
 
 Avancement ? 
 JEcoutez son histoire, 
 Mes meuXj elle est a noire gloire I 
 Mes vieux, elle est a noire gloire 1 9 " 
 
 She waved her arm triumphantly her eyes laughing the 
 while. 
 
 " Amclie," said the ever-anxious mother, in an undertone, 
 " not so loud ! " 
 
 And it was at this moment, when Hitrovo happened to 
 have turned aside to speak to some one, that Wolfenberg 
 drew near. He had been amongst those people who were 
 surrounding the third officer ; or at least he had been 
 looking on. And now, as he approached Amelie Durnaresq, 
 there was something curiously furtive, timid, apprehensive 
 in his expression. 
 
 " Amelie," he said, with a kind of nervous watching of 
 her face, " you told me last night that Mr. Hitrovo might 
 have to leave for Marseilles to-day if he got certain news, 
 that is. Well, I suppose that is all abandoned now ; for 
 there was no letter for him ; he cannot have got any 
 news " 
 
 " Oh, but he was not expecting any letter 1 " she said, 
 interrupting him blithely. " Not at all. He may telegraph 
 when we get ashore ; but in any case he thinks it will be 
 necessary for him to leave the ship here, and take the first 
 steamer for Marseilles " 
 
 " He is really going ? " said Wolfenberg, quickly. 
 
 " Oh, yes," she made answer, in the same light-hearted 
 fashion. " But it will be a race between us. He ought to 
 reach England just about as soon as we shall, or even 
 sooner " 
 
 " He is coming on to England at once, then ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, yes ! " she said. " He does not expect there 
 will be much to detain him ; and overland travelling is so 
 expeditious ; I should not be at all surprised if he won in 
 the neck-and-neck race to London. By the way, we shall 
 have him again to dinner to-night ; at least, I hope so we 
 shall see as soon as we land ; and in that case, Ernest, if you 
 want to make a pretty little speech about our departing 
 guest ? " 
 
"DA SVIDANIA!" 255 
 
 He did not respond to that suggestion ; but he seemed 
 greatly relieved." 
 
 " Oh, he is coming on to London at once ? " he repeated. 
 
 " Ernest," said she, laughing, " is it gloves or money you 
 are after ? Is it a bet ? Very well. I will bet you ten 
 pairs of gloves, twenty pairs, thirty pairs, if you like, that 
 when we arrive at Tilbury, Monsieur Paul d'Hitrovo will be 
 standing on the pier there to receive us. That is my offer. 
 I am not greedy. I do not wish for odds. And yet as I 
 know I am going to win, the odds are of importance, are 
 they not ? What do you say ? It is a long journey 
 Marseilles Vienna Paris London " 
 
 " Oh, that is the arrangement, then, that he is to meet 
 you at Tilbury ? " he said, with something of a brighter 
 look. 
 
 "If he gets to England in time, of course," she put in. 
 
 " Naturally, naturally. It will be quite pleasant to have 
 some one waiting to welcome you." 
 
 " But I am not to have the gloves ! " she exclaimed, 
 petulantly. 
 
 " When we all get to London together, Amelie," said he, 
 in his grave and gentle way, " you shall have gloves, and 
 gloves, and gloves or anything else that you wish. But 
 you must not expect me to back the ship in the great match 
 of Orotania v. Hitrovo because I should not wish to win." 
 
 She bestowed a glance of gratitude upon him. 
 
 " That is like you, Ernest. You always have something 
 kind to say when one least deserves it." 
 
 So far the day had opened well. The tenour of the com- 
 munications that Julian Verrinder had received from his 
 relations in England must have been wholly satisfactory ; 
 the shy, happy, self-conscious face of the Baby was sufficient 
 evidence ; while Wolfenberg in a much more serious 
 matter seemed to have been half -convinced by Amelie 
 Dumaresq's audacious confidence that there was not much 
 occasion for alarm as regarded Hitrovo's sudden departure. 
 Perhaps it was this fortunate state of affairs that sent Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit away ashore in very good spirits ; at all 
 events as soon as we had taken our places in the stern of the 
 rowing-boat, she said, with an air of great satisfaction 
 
 " Do you know, Peggy, I never land at Malta, I never 
 
2$6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 come into this bay, and go up the; winding streets yonder with- 
 out the most curious sensation that I have got home again. 
 I cannot understand it at all. Perhaps it is the English 
 money in the shops perhaps it is the English flag over the 
 Governor's Palace perhaps it is the English sentry outside 
 his wooden box : any how I have the strangest feeling that 
 I am amongst my own people, and safe, and at home " 
 
 "You cannot say it is a very English-looking p>lace," 
 observed Peggy, regarding the blue-green water, the brilliant 
 boats, the yellow quays, the terraced houses built on the 
 face of the steep cliffs, the arid walls, with here and there a 
 scrap of cactus or cypress, and, high above all, the great 
 forts, massive and golden, against the deep azure of a cloud- 
 less sky. 
 
 " And I declare I just love Tommy Atkins," continued 
 the smaller woman, in her enthusiasm of the moment, 
 " when I meet the impudent wretch come swaggering along 
 with his cap cocked on one side and his cane in his hand. 
 Then the sentries up at the bastions they are a little 
 different because of their pith helmet and yet it is so com- 
 forting to know that they are English or Scotch, or Irish, 
 as it may be ; and you are horribly tempted to go and say, 
 * Look here, my lad, can't I take a message to Mary Ann, or 
 Susan, or Jane ? I should like to tell her that I've seen 
 you and that you're doing your small part in keeping the 
 British Empire together ? ' Peggy, what's the punishment 
 for talking to a sentry ? " 
 
 " Decapitation," says Peggy, promptly. 
 
 "Oh, what do you know about anything ! " her friend 
 retorts, with impatience. " A pretty officer's wife you are 
 never to have landed at Malta I " 
 
 " And I expected to land at Malta in a very different 
 way," says Peggy, with a proud and injured look. " I made 
 sure that Ewen would take us about. And at Gibraltar, 
 too. Why, he coolly writes and says that the Black Watch, 
 the 42nd Highlanders, are stationed at Gibraltar just now, 
 and I am to call on So-and-so, and we are to be shown the 
 galleries, and I don't know what else. But I sha'n't ! I 
 will not go ashore at Gibraltar not for one single quarter 
 of an hour." 
 
 none of your little tempers ! " her companion 
 
"DA SVIDAN1A!" 257 
 
 said, reprovingly. "Do you suppose Colonel Cameron is 
 remaining in Kangoon of his own free will ? And of course 
 you must go ashore at Gib., for it is even more extraordinary 
 than Malta, in the sense of home it produces. Why, you 
 seem to be conscious all the time that you are just round the 
 corner from England although about five days' sailing 
 intervenes. Not land at Gib. ? " But here we were at the 
 worn yellow steps of the quay, so the discussion ceased. 
 
 Now during the long and blazing and sweltering hours we 
 were compelled to remain ashore (for the Orotania was 
 coaling) we were continually running against one or other 
 of our shipmates mostly in the Strada Keale, where the 
 women folk were industriously idle in purchasing lace, and 
 silver, and trinkets for friends at home. In this manner we 
 encountered all the current gossip how the Dumaresqs had 
 driven away out to the Catacombs how the Major was 
 going to give a luncheon-party at the Union Club and the 
 like ; but the oddest thing was that everybody seemed 
 already to have become aware of Hitrovo's approaching 
 departure, while many and contradictory were the reasons 
 assigned for that unexpected step. The Major's solution of 
 the problem was brief and to the point. 
 
 " Plain as a pikestaff ! " he said to Lady Cameron, when 
 we chanced to meet him. " Vienna ? Bosh ! Who wants 
 to land at MarseiUes in ordtr to get to Vienna ? If he had 
 wanted to go to Vienna, he would have left the ship at 
 Constantinople. But Marseilles I know what Marseilles 
 means Marseilles Nice Monte Carlo : that's the line 
 he'll take. Our sixpenny points in the afternoon were not 
 good enough for him though he would watch the cards 
 with the eye of a gambler r 
 
 " Oh, nonsense, nonsense, Major ! " Lady Cameron pro- 
 tested. " You are all prejudiced against him I mean, all 
 you gentlemen because of his good looks. There's nothing 
 of the gambler in his appearance. And if he refused to join 
 in your game, isn't that all the more to his credit ? " 
 
 " You mark my words," insisted the Major. " I know 
 the line of travel he'll take : a bee-line : straight for rouge- 
 et-noir. Sixpenny whist is not good enough ; we must have 
 the grand game ; therefore Marseilles Nice Monte Carlo. 
 Plain as a pikestaflf ! " 
 
 8 
 
258 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Now, Major, answer me this," said Lady Cameron, with 
 the greatest good-humour. " Have you seen him touch a 
 single card all through this voyage ? " 
 
 u No, I have not I should have thought none the worse 
 of him if he had " 
 
 " Have you seen him gamble to the extent of a single 
 franc ? " she said. 
 
 " No, I have not " 
 
 "And don't you perceive," she went on, relentlessly, 
 " that what you say against him can only be the wildest 
 surmise ? It is the kind of story that springs up on board 
 ship without any foundation whatever. You have abso- 
 lutely nothing to bring against him : so you must needs 
 suspect him of being a gambler ! Is it fair ? " 
 
 " Marseilles Nice Monte Carlo," said the Major, dog- 
 gedly, as he shifted half an inch higher the box of cigars 
 he was carrying under his arm. Nor, while he remained 
 with us, could he be argued out of that conviction. He 
 knew whither that young man was bound. 
 
 "We lunched at an hotel in a large, cool-shadowed apart- 
 ment with green casements at the windows ; and it was only 
 now we remembered that one familiar face was missing from 
 those casual encounters in the Valetta streets. 
 
 " Has no one seen Sappho ? "it was Mrs. Threepenny- 
 bit who asked the question. 
 
 " She is remaining on board," answered Peggy. 
 
 " "With the ship coaling ! " 
 
 " She means to shut herself up in her cabin." 
 
 " She will be suffocated I " 
 
 " I don't suppose she'd mind," continued the sympathetic 
 Peggy. " She has been quite heart-broken ever since the 
 disappeararance of Phaon ; and nothing will set her right 
 now until she has had it out with the Major in scathing 
 verse. Yes, there is something preparing for him that he 
 little dreams of ! And I must say I consider you people 
 have been very cruel about Sappho. You never did like 
 Phaon, to begin with " 
 
 " I thought he was a disgusting little beast," observed 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit, calmly. "I would have given the 
 butcher half-a-crown any day to chop his head off." 
 
 " Oh, just listen to her ! " said Peggy, in awe-stricken 
 
" DA SVIDANIA ! 259 
 
 tones. " No wonder the philosophers say that the British 
 have inherited the bloodthirstiness of the Romans, and that 
 it breaks out from time to time, both in individuals and in 
 masses. Well, Sappho has one friend on board ; one who 
 tries to understand her and sympathise with her. And you 
 need not imagine she is always in a sombre and tragic 
 mood ; not even in her writing ; she can be quite light- 
 hearted and playful 
 
 " Sappho gloomy is bad enough ; but Sappho gay must 
 be overwhelming. A coy mastodon an arch hippopo- 
 tamus " 
 
 " That's all you know," this intrepid American creature 
 went on. " Yesterday afternoon I was in her cabin. She 
 was showing me a number of pieces, I fancy to prove to me 
 that she was not always grand and fierce ; and I came upon 
 a little drinking-song that was so quaint and charming I 
 could not help copying it out " 
 
 " A drinking-song by Sappho ? " 
 
 " Oh, I could show it to you, if I chose," she proceeded, 
 with the greatest coolness imaginable ; " but I will do 
 nothing of the kind. I know the prejudice with which it 
 would be received. But it's good enough for me. I am 
 not a slave to literary superstitious. I think this little piece 
 of Sappho's is as fine as any of the Elizabethan lyrics ; it is 
 certainly more musical than any of Shakespeare's, and far 
 more natural than any of Ben Johnson's. You needn't stare 
 the truth is the truth whether you like it or not " 
 
 " But if it is so wonderful as you say, you might let us 
 see it," Mrs. Threepenny-bit suggested. 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Come, now, Peggy I " 
 
 "No." 
 
 She was resolute. But so was her friend, and pertina- 
 cious ; and at length, after a great deal of coaxing, 
 Sappho's drinking song was produced. Here it is Sappho 
 in her lighter vein 
 
 What is an air but you must sing to'tt 
 What is this life that you should ding to'tl, 
 
 Life is a day, 
 
 Life is a play. 
 Your heavy heart is folly. 
 
260 WOLFENBERG 
 
 What is this love but to make madness? 
 What is this love but to malte sadness f 
 
 Love is a day 
 
 Love is a play, 
 But drinking is most jolly. 
 
 The paper was handed round. And then a kind of 
 dejection fell upon us and the waiter was asked to bring 
 the bill. 
 
 When we eventually returned to the Orotania, we found 
 that the Major had preceded us. 
 
 " Ah," said he to Lady Cameron, " you did not think we 
 had been engaged in a noble kind of sport, coming through 
 these Mediterranean seas ? But we have, though nothing 
 less than spinning for shark ! It never occurred to me 
 that the odometer "* must look remarkably like a phantom- 
 minnow ; that is what I call fishing a rope a hundred 
 yards long, and a phantom minnow as thick as your 
 wrist " 
 
 " But did we get a bite ? " said Peggy, eagerly here 
 was a tale to be told at Inverfask. 
 
 " You come and judge for yourself," said the Major. 
 
 So he got hold of a quartermaster to conduct us, and we 
 all went along to a kind of storehouse for ships' gear, in 
 which we found the odometer and its long coil of line. 
 
 " What do you call those ? " he said, holding up the 
 instrument, and showing us two white ivory-like objects 
 sticking in the wood. " A bite ? These are two of the 
 beast's teeth ! I wonder what he thought he had struck 
 when his jaws snapped together on this unholy fish." 
 
 " Oh, really ! " said she, examining the embedded fangs 
 with a good deal of curiosity. " Well, one is not expected 
 to weep tears of sentiment over a disappointed shark, even 
 if it goes away with a bad toothache. And what are you 
 going to do with these things ? " 
 
 The Major extricated them from the wood. 
 
 " I am commissioned by the second officer," he said, with 
 
 * The odometer is a piece of wood over a foot in length, tapered, 
 and grooved with metal so that it revolves in the water according to 
 the vessel's rate of speed. It is let put astern at the end of a long 
 line ; and the number of revolutions is recorded on a dial fixed on the 
 taffrail. 
 
DA SVIDANIA!" 261 
 
 a most polite bow, "to present them to you. You can 
 have them made into a brooch, as a souvenir of the voyage ; 
 and there will always be the story to tell." 
 
 The young grass-widow was very much pleased, and, to 
 tell the truth, she blushed just as the Baby might have 
 done. For why had she, from amongst all the ladies on 
 board, been singled out to receive this ingenuous compli- 
 ment ? But we had noticed all along that Peggy was a 
 great favourite of those sailor-boys. 
 
 Altogether this had been a busily-occupied and not 
 uninteresting day ; but as evening drew near it was 
 apparent that a vague feeling of apprehension was again 
 asserting itself in our small circle, as if this one or that 
 were beginning anew to ask questions of the future. At 
 dinner Hitrovo came to our table taking the place good- 
 naturedly vacated by Emily Rosslyn. He seemed neither 
 up nor down about his going away. Probably he would 
 not even have referred to it, if it had not been mentioned ; 
 he appeared to regard it as a matter of no moment, as a 
 quite casual thing that might have happened to any one. 
 On the other hand, there was no such indifference about 
 Wolfenberg. He was for the most part silent ; and grave 
 and reserved beyond his wont ; and again and again he 
 regarded the younger man with an earnest contemplation, 
 as if he were trying to read his true character behind his 
 features and manner and talk. Mrs. Dumaresq, also, was 
 silent ; and kept glancing from one to the other as if she 
 were dimly afraid of some impending catastrophe ; that, 
 however, was nothing new. 
 
 But it was Amelie herself, as usual, who was the 
 dominating presence. And she seemed determined to show 
 that for her this was no sentimental occasion ; that she 
 was not inclined to play a part in the familiar comedy of 
 two languishing lovers about to be separated. Self- 
 assertive, merry, wayward, downright of speech, she 
 laughed, and talked, and challenged contradiction ; striking 
 here and there with her ruthless iconoclasm ; pronouncing 
 on all kinds of subjects, from the Conversion of the Jews 
 ' the only conversion a Jew cares a cent about,' she said, 
 ' is the conversion of Government Bonds ' to the National 
 Debt : * isn't it an extraordinary thing,' she said, ' that a 
 
262 WOLFENBERG 
 
 man is not ashamed to let his country be in a condition 
 that he himself, if he were in that condition, would regard 
 as simply disgraceful ? Why, you English are at this 
 moment hopelessly bankrupt, the whole lot of you, and yet 
 each one of you walks about quite proudly as if you did not 
 owe any man a farthing.' We observed she did not say 
 anything about the Russian National Debt : perhaps that 
 was an oversight. 
 
 Of course she had sooner or later to make some reference 
 to Hitrovo's leaving. 
 
 " Paul," she said (for now she addressed him by his 
 Christian name quite openly) " do you know what is 
 proposed ? a race between you and us as to which shall 
 get first to Tilbury." 
 
 He looked at her as if for information ; and then 
 withdrew his eyes : he did not seem to be interested. 
 
 " When does this ship sail ? " she demanded of the table 
 generally. 
 
 "Midnight." 
 
 " Why so late ? " 
 
 " Because it is so nominated in the bond." 
 
 " It is absurd ! " she exclaimed, impatiently. " Why not 
 set out now ? or at nine, or ten ? " She turned to 
 Hitrovo. " It is no matter. We shall have a good start ; 
 so you must make haste with your railway-journeys if you 
 wish to win. What do you think ? Shall you be there 
 before us ? " 
 
 " Quite possible," he said. 
 
 " Your steamer sails for Marseilles to-morrow morning ? 
 and then ? " 
 
 " Then I have to go to Nice," he made answer, simply 
 enough. 
 
 "But you will be at Marseilles before we reach 
 Gibraltar," she said. " You must send me a telegram to 
 Gibraltar." 
 
 "If you like it, yes," he responded he seemed to be 
 indifferent, yet willing to please her in a way. 
 
 Later on that night a small group of people had 
 collected at the top of the accommodation-ladder. There 
 was quite a picturesque scene around ; for all the great 
 world of darkness was alive with points of fire. High up 
 
UNDER THE ROCK 263 
 
 on the unseen rock the terraced houses were illuminated ; 
 the heavens overhead were clear, and besides the palely 
 trembling stars there were one or two lambent planets ; far 
 away at the mouth of the harbour, twin crimson rays 
 streamed through the dusk ; and in the wide harbour 
 itself the various golden points told of the riding-lights of 
 invisible ships. At the foot of the ladder there was a 
 rowing boat a lamp hung astern. Then 1 litrovo appeared ; 
 and Amelie, and Mrs. Dumaresq. He had no luggage with 
 him : that had been sent ashore during the day. 
 
 There was some hand-shaking and bidding of good-bye ; 
 but everybody seemed to understand that it was Amelie 
 Dumaresq who was really to wish him farewell. And in 
 her way of doing it there certainly was no kind of agonised 
 tenderness whatever may ht^ve been the nature of their 
 adieux elsewhere. She was at the gangway. As he went 
 down the steps, she called out quite gaily, " Take care you 
 don't fall in ! " And again, when he had taken his place 
 when the two oars had struck deep flashes of phosphor- 
 escent silver into the water and as the boat glided away, 
 with the yellow lamp sending quivering reflections down on 
 the oily black surface again she called to him 'Da 
 svidania ! ' An answer came out of the dark ; the 
 wavering golden star disappeared in towards the shore ; 
 and the little knot of people began to disperse. 
 
 Amelie (brushing away a tear from her eyelashes) turned 
 to Wolf enberg, and said cheerfully 
 
 " The race has begun then, Ernest. And we shall have 
 a good start, after all, if we sail at midnight." 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 UNDER THE ROCK. 
 
 AT sea. Latitude ? Longitude ? And is it the 
 
 rosy flush of the dawn that still lingers in the Baby's 
 peachen cheeks ? 
 
 She comes quickly forward ; and at once it is evident 
 that the tall and Junoesque maiden has allowed her 
 ordinary calm of demeanour to be entirely lost and 
 
264 WOLFENBERG 
 
 swallowed up in a pretty confusion of shyness, and embar- 
 rassment, and urgent and humble entreaty. 
 
 " I am so glad to find you alone ! " she says. " For I 
 want to ask a great favour of you a very, very great 
 favour and I do hope you will say yes and you have 
 been so kind all the way through so kind and discreet 
 Julian was saying so only last night 
 
 "Yes, but " 
 
 "The letters have come," she goes on, rather breath- 
 lessly, " the letters from Julian's relatives in London 
 and you cannot tell how pleased I am they are all so 
 considerate Julian's sister in particular I'm sure you 
 could not have expected her to write to me quite 
 affectionately n 
 
 " T should certainly have expected it, if she knew you." 
 
 " But she doesn't ! and isn't it so good of her ! " says 
 this young creature, who seems to be of a warmly grateful 
 disposition. "Well, I want you to take these letters I 
 know what a favour it is I am asking please don't think 
 I don't know and if you would be so very, very kind as 
 to show them to my sister and and tell her the whole 
 story " 
 
 " Goodness gracious, why don't you go straight to her 
 and tell her yourself ? " 
 
 " Because because I am afraid,'* she says and the 
 great, soft, timid eyes plead more effectually than any 
 words. " She might begin to ask questions she might be 
 angry. But she couldn't be angry with you. And I know 
 she will do what you tell her ; she will take your advice ; 
 she will be good-natured if you ask her to be good-natured. 
 Then if you show her the letters, she will see that Julian's 
 relatives are quite content " 
 
 " And well they might be content ! " 
 
 " Oh, there is my sister just come up. Now will you be 
 so kind ! -will you tell her the whole story and ask her 
 to be good-natured " 
 
 " Very well. Give me the precious letters. The prayera 
 of this congregation are requested for a young damsel in 
 deep dismay." 
 
 Yet it was not till much later on till nearly noon, in 
 fact that one had an opportunity of engaging Lady 
 
UNDER THE ROCK 265 
 
 Cameron in a little private confabulation. And when 
 this subject was cautiously approached, Peggy abruptly 
 broke in 
 
 " Yes, I know. My eyes have not been shut. I have 
 noticed Julian Verrinder hanging around. But all the 
 same I have been loth to warn Emily ; I don't like to put 
 such ideas into her head ; and she is so inexperienced so 
 unlike other girls her mind is set on such very different 
 things that I don't think it would ever occur to her that 
 a young man meant flirtation, or love-making, or any 
 nonsense of that kind. And then it will be all over very 
 soon. In little more than a week we shall be in England ; 
 after that it is highly improbable that Mr. Verrinder will 
 ever set eyes on her again." 
 
 " On the contrary, it is highly probable. These two are 
 engaged to be married." 
 
 " What do you say ! Engaged ? Since when ! " 
 
 " For some considerable time back." 
 
 "Some considerable time? it is impossible! it is 
 impossible ! " she exclaimed, with staring eyes. 
 
 'If you must know the whole story, then, they have 
 been engaged all the way through this voyage. They were 
 practically so when they joined the ship at Palermo ; of 
 course that was why Julian Verrinder made his appearance 
 at the same moment " 
 
 " And Emily all this time oh, the wretch ! oh, the 
 wicked young wretch ! " cried Peggy, with eyes still 
 further aghast. "Playing the meek saint, and carrying 
 on these underhand pranks all the same ! And what has 
 been the meaning of this secrecy ? Have these two been 
 deliberately making a fool of us " 
 
 " No, no. They are only timid young things at least, 
 your sister has been rather afraid of what you might say ; 
 and they thought you wouldn't mind so much if they could 
 show you that this step had the approval of Julian 
 Verrinder's family. To be such guileless innocents, they 
 seem to have had a little touch of contrivance too. The 
 Baby's photograph was taken in Constantinople ; copies 
 sent home no doubt Verrinder knew that her soft eyes 
 would plead for her ; and now here are the letters in 
 answer received at Malta yesterday " 
 
266 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " And all this has been going on," said Peggy, apparently 
 going back and back over those long weeks, "and that 
 deceitful young wretch of a girl imposing on us all the 
 solemn eyes the maiden bashfulness and stolen inter- 
 views, I'll be bound, whenever our back was turned ! It 
 is the most shameful thing I ever heard of ! " 
 
 " But look how excellently it has all turned out. What 
 objection can you have ? He is of good family ; he has a 
 fair fortune ; he is his own master ; he is clever enough, as 
 young men go ; he is modest ; he is over head and ears in 
 love and I rather suspect the Baby is so too ; his friends 
 are ready to welcome her. What more ? How can there 
 be any objection ? " 
 
 " We can't have everybody," said Peggy, rather snappishly. 
 " coming over from the United States and marrying and 
 settling in England." 
 
 " Everybody ? Now consider this, and learn wisdom. 
 When you get to London, and begin to overhaul your 
 trunks, you will no doubt come upon the dust-cloak you 
 wore on driving from Moudanieh to Broussa. If you shake 
 it out, most likely a few particles will fall to the ground ; 
 so that a portion of the soil of Asia Minor will have been 
 transferred to Great Britain. But that won't alter the 
 earth's axis." 
 
 " Where is that young impostor and hypocrite ? " said 
 Peggy, abruptly rising. "I will go to her at once. She 
 ought to be smacked ! " 
 
 And away she went. But the interview, wheresoever it 
 took place, could not have been a wrathful one ; for when 
 we all assembled at lunch, the Baby though she was mostly 
 silent looked so happily and humbly and hopelessly grate- 
 ful that her companions no doubt began to consider them- 
 selves quite superior persons in that they allowed her to exist. 
 
 A little after mid-day we passed the solitary island of 
 Pantellaria ; and perhaps we envied the criminals permitted 
 to pass year after year in that perfect climate, amid these 
 shining blue seas. On the other hand, those volcanic 
 islands occasionally perform the vanishing trick dis- 
 appearing whence they came : perhaps, indeed, that was 
 the fond hope in the paternal mind of the Italian 
 Government when Pantellaria was chosen to form a convict 
 
UNDER THE ROCK 267 
 
 settlement. Then, towards evening, we drew near the 
 African coast ; and there was a dusky flare of sunset over 
 the Gulf of Tunis. Twilight fell ; and the steady red ray 
 of Cape Bon shone remotely through the dusk. 
 
 At dinner this evening we had a startling piece of 
 intelligence conveyed to us that is to say, a piece of 
 intelligence that might have been regarded as startling in 
 the light of certain wild conjectures and suspicions. All 
 day long Amelie Dumaresq had kept pretty much to herself ; 
 reading in odd corners, or standing idly by the rail, and 
 apparently disinclined for society or talk ; it was a new 
 thing to see her thus bereft of her usual whirlwindish 
 activity and gay self-assertion. And perhaps it was to 
 cheer her up a little that, as she took her place at table, 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit said to her, in a kindly fashion 
 
 " Mr. Hitrovo must be well on his way to Marseilles now." 
 
 " I presume so," answered the young lady, with something 
 of affected composure. 
 
 " It is strange how quickly one is missed," the elder 
 woman proceeded, trying to say something that would 
 please. " And in the case of Mr. Hitrovo, you might have 
 thought his absence would not have been noticed par- 
 ticularly : for he kept very much in the background ; he 
 did not put himself forward in any way. Yet there has 
 been a distinct difference all day to day ; the ship has not 
 been quite itself." 
 
 U I suppose they are wretched boats that run between 
 Malta and Marseilles I think I heard somebody say so," 
 she remarked as if the fact of Hitrovo's absence from the 
 Orotania was a matter of very little import. 
 
 But it was at this point that Mrs. Dumaresq startled us 
 though no one dared to say a word. 
 
 " What was that, Amelie ? " said the mother. " Do you 
 mean the kind of people who travel by those boats ? I'm 
 sure I shall be glad to hear that Mr. Hitrovo has arrived 
 safely in Vienna. It is such a risk it is so imprudent to 
 be travelling about with all those diamonds in one's 
 possession 
 
 " Diamonds ? " said Mrs. Threepenny-bit enquiringly. 
 
 " Yes ; Amelie's diamonds. He is taking them to Vienna 
 to get them re-set for her." 
 
2 6S WOLFENBERG 
 
 For a second or so a most unaccountable silence pre- 
 vailed ; and somehow we knew that this poor woman was 
 anxiously scanning our faces, looking from one to the other, 
 eager to catch the least little bit of tell-tale expression. 
 The death-like stillness, brief as it was, proved most em- 
 barrassing : it was Mrs. Threepenny-bit who boldly threw 
 herself into the breach. 
 
 " Oh, yes," she said, desperately. " I remember Amelie 
 telling me that she was dissatisfied with the setting. For 
 my own part I rather like the old-fashioned settings ; but 
 when you have so many diamonds, perhaps it is better to 
 have some uniform design. And of course Mr. Hitrovo is 
 interested he has a personal interest in having them as 
 handsome as possible : I dare say Amelie will wear them 
 quite as much to please him as to please herself " 
 
 And so she blundered on. But the anxious mother 
 seemed somewhat relieved ; it had in a way been demon- 
 strated that the only imprudence that could occur to any 
 one, or be mentioned, was the imprudence of carrying 
 valuable jewellery about the country in any circumstances 
 whatever. And meanwhile Mrs. Threepenny-bit continued 
 her incoherent talk, to cover the general constraint. She 
 pointed out that, once the diamonds were in the artist's 
 hand, there would be no further peril. Was he likely to 
 send a sketch of the design to be approved ? Perhaps Mr. 
 Hitrovo would bring that on with him from Vienna ? And 
 so forth. During all this, Amelie had sate proud and cold 
 and seemingly indifferent. She had not spoken a word. 
 
 Nor, indeed, when our small coterie subsequently with- 
 drew to their accustomed after-dinner retreat, did any one 
 seem inclined to re-open that subject. It was too dangerous. 
 No one would confess to the sudden and hidden alarm that 
 had followed Mrs. Dumaresq's announcement. Because, 
 after all, was it not too absurd to suppose that Hitrovo 
 whatever else might be thought of him could be guilty of 
 the base and brutal act of absconding with a packet of 
 jewels ? To take human motives at their lowest, was he 
 likely to throw away his chance of winning a rich and 
 beautiful and fascinating heiress for the sake of the imme- 
 diate gain of a handful of crescents and pendants ? And 
 what had the young man done, or said, or shown himself, 
 
UNDER THE ROCK 269 
 
 that we should gratuitously assume him to be a common 
 thief ? 
 
 But there were other aspects of this peculiar situation. 
 
 " Missis," said Peggy, at last " she has given him those 
 diamonds out of bravado. It is a piece of defiance on her 
 part." 
 
 " Why should you think so ? " said the other averting 
 her eyes. 
 
 "It seems clear enough. She may have guessed or 
 suspected that Hitrovo had not made himself much of a 
 favourite in certain quarters had not established friendly 
 and intimate relations, as Mr. Wolfenberg has done, for 
 example ; and it is not unlikely, too, that she had grown 
 impatient of her mother's nervous timidity. Then here is 
 her answer. This is a proof of her trust. She says : ' You 
 may suspect or dislike, if you choose : but I know this man ; 
 and this is how I show it.' Indeed, my idea of her is that 
 she is so proud as to be capable of flinging her diamonds into 
 the sea rather than confessing she had the least shadow of 
 a doubt." 
 
 " Yes, but after all, Peggy," said her companion (fishing 
 for frankness, but exhibiting none), " I do not understand 
 why you should regard such a thing as a test of her faith 
 in him. It probably never occurred to her. She is severely 
 logical. She knows that when a woman has entrusted her 
 whole life's happiness to a man, the question of the safety 
 or non-safety of a case of jewellery is a very trivial matter. 
 Where is there any bravado in that ; where is there any 
 challenge ? It was quite natural she should give the 
 diamonds into his care, if he said he knew a jeweller in 
 Vienna who could properly re-set them. That is a small 
 thing when a woman has once given herself to a man. 
 Trusting herself to him, she might very well trust the 
 custody of her jewel-case. I dare say it never occurred to 
 her that there could be any risk. Indeed it is impossible to 
 think there could be any risk 1 " 
 
 Then Peggy spOKe up. 
 
 " And if it is impossible to think it, why did you seem so 
 startled when Mrs. Dumaresq told you ; and why were you 
 so breathless in continuing the conversation, so as to hide 
 your alarm ? Come, now, Missis ! I don't say you were 
 
2/o WOLFENBERG 
 
 alone in what you thought or feared. And perhaps it was 
 very mad and wicked of us and very unreasoning that 
 any such suggestion should have flashed into our minds ; 
 but still still it was an unexpected announcement ; and 
 Hitrovo was always more or less of a stranger and an 
 enigma to us : and and all jthat Amelie Dumaresq can 
 know of him she must have learnt within the last month 
 and a half : and it does seem rather bold that she should 
 entrust him with 4,000 or 5,000 worth of jewellery 
 so bold that, as I say, it looks like defiance." 
 
 "She has entrusted him with more than that, Peggy, 
 whatever comes of it," said the other woman, gravely. " She 
 has entrusted him with her life. And after all," she 
 continued, with something more of cheerfulness, " you have 
 got to consider that you can learn a good deal about any 
 human being in a month and a half on board ship. That is 
 what Wolfenberg always says. He relies on Amelie's acute 
 intelligence, her strong judgment, her determination to 
 know the truth of things. She is not likely to be blinded 
 by sentiment or romance. And if a little bit of bravado 
 dfd enter into her handing over those diamonds to Hitrovo, 
 well, you know there is pretty often a touch of the poseuse 
 about her ; she likes doing things for effect ; and Mrs. 
 Dumaresq had clearly been commissioned to make that 
 announcement at the dinner-table." 
 
 When Wolfenberg turned up, a little later on, he was 
 enthusiastic about the singular brilliancy of the night 
 the great over-arching vault, throbbing with its millions 
 and millions of stars, seeming all the more vast and 
 luminous because of the black solidity of the sea. But 
 it soon appeared 'that he, also, had been thinking over 
 the incident of the diamonds ; for he said, in a casual kind 
 of. way 
 
 " I wonder if Amelie really imagines that the Viennese 
 jewellers are the best in Europe ? But she never stops to 
 ask advice ; she is so impetuous and wilful'; the whim of 
 the moment is enough. I doubt if she would take the trouble 
 to. give Hitrovo any instructions ; though it is a serious 
 matter the formation of a family heirloom, as it were ; 
 and of course she ought to have had designs submitted to 
 her. He is going to te]egraph to Gibraltar ; if he sends his 
 
UNDER THE ROCK 271 
 
 address she might telegraph back, and suggest to him to 
 have some drawings made don't you think so ? " 
 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit did not seem inclined to interfere : 
 it was all very well for him, as an artist, to advise. Then 
 he said 
 
 " I should not myself like to be tumbling about from 
 steamer-wharves to railway-stations with 5,000 worth of 
 jewellery under my care. Too much responsibility. I 
 should like to have it deposited with my bankers as soon as 
 possible, or handed over to the jewellers which would be the 
 same thing, of course. Amelie has always been foolhardy 
 about those diamonds of hers. They are too valuable to 
 be carried about and used as a toy. And yet she has shown 
 some philosophy about it too. Life has always been the 
 great thing with her the actual enjoyment of living ; and 
 its accessories, big or little, she has regarded as being of 
 very minor importance. Let her bask in sunlight, and 
 breathe sweet air, and rejoice in the animation and gaiety 
 of the society of friends around her that is enough : the 
 loss of money or diamonds could never affect her. Once, 
 indeed," he went on, more absently, " one object did enter 
 into her life that for a while seemed almost as important as 
 life itself. Her devotion to art her resolute ambition 
 had complete possession of her. And yet that all seems 
 to have vanished. No doubt there is something else, of 
 equal value and importance, perhaps of greater value and 
 importance, in its place." 
 
 He spoke a good deal about Amelie this evening ; but 
 with no kind of confession that the disappearance of Hitrovo 
 with her case of jewels had caused him the least disquietude. 
 Nor did the two women-folk reveal what was in their minds 
 until they were bidding each other good-night. Then said 
 the elder of them 
 
 " "Well, Peggy, if what we wickedly, and I hope absurdly 
 thought, the [moment Mrs. Dumaresq told us, should come 
 true, there is one fortunate thing about it : the loss of her 
 diamonds will not be too long a price for Amelie Dumaresq 
 to have paid for finding out in time." 
 
 "jThat is so, Missis," responded Peggy; "but let us 
 hope it is only we who have been frightened by the sudden 
 announcement and the peculiar circumstances. And if we 
 
2 7 2 WOLFENBERG 
 
 should ever see Mrs. Paul Hibrovo at some grand festivity 
 in London, we sha'n't be able to look at those diamond's 
 without remembering and being a little bit ashamed of our 
 suspicions. Good-night ! " 
 
 " Good-night, dear ! and a more charitable mind to all 
 of us ! " 
 
 The next two or three days were devoid of incident, 
 except that we ran into successive shoals of flying-fish ; and 
 it was quite a welcome novelty to watch the long, wavering, 
 uncertain flight of those silvery creatures, with here and 
 there one of them striking the crest of a wave and making 
 a further shoot before final submergence. And then, in 
 due course of time, we came in sight of the dappled hills of 
 Spain the brown and yellow slopes of the Sierra Nevada ; 
 with, nearer at hand, the green vineyards of Almeria. And 
 yet again, and early one morning, we slowed round the 
 great grey Eock, and entered the well-known harbour ; and 
 there before us were the old familiar landmarks the 
 Alameda Gardens. Jumper's Bastion, the Kagged-Staff stairs 
 all quite home-like, as Mrs. Threepenny-bit declared, with 
 her eyes grown affectionate and kind. 
 
 And here were the letters, newspapers, and what not. 
 Wolfenberg seemed a little concerned in a furtive kind of 
 way as these were being sorted out. 
 
 " If there is a telegram for Miss Dumaresq," he said to 
 the third officer, " I will take it to her." 
 
 But apparently there was no telegram for Miss Dumaresq. 
 
 " Are you quite sure ? " he asked : and then when the un- 
 claimed portion of the mail had been placed conspicuously 
 on the top of the saloon skylight he went carefully over 
 every envelope. Just at this point Amelie Dumaresq came 
 along. 
 
 "I am afraid there is no telegram for you, Amelie," said he. 
 
 Now she had been going straight up to that displayed 
 correspondence ; but the instant she heard those words she 
 turned aside, with a fine air of carelessness. 
 
 " I knew it ! isn't he a lazy wretch ! " she said to Mrs. 
 Threepenny-bit ; and she was laughing, or affecting to 
 laugh. " Unless you are at his elbow, prompting him, he 
 will do nothing : of course he forgot all about the telegram 
 the moment he left the ship ?l 
 
UNDER THE ROCK 273 
 
 u But, Amelie," said Wolfcnberg, " you must remember 
 he may have had no chance of sending you a telegram. 
 From Malta to Marseilles is a long voyage ; and I dare 
 say the steamers are small and of no great speed ; and then 
 I doubt whether there is any direct cable 
 
 She waved aside all this humble solicitude. 
 
 " It is not of the least consequence," she said. And then 
 she went on, with her usual gay audacity : " I suppose you 
 English people are tremendously proud of this lump of a 
 rock, and the secret galleries, and hidden cannon. But 
 what I am anxious to discover is the hour at which the 
 regimental band plays in the gardens. My ears seem to be 
 hungering for something new ; and your military bands are 
 rather good, aren't they ? " 
 
 "Missis, will the Black Watch have their pipers with 
 them ? " demanded Peggy, suddenly forgetting she had 
 vowed she would not land at Gib. 
 
 " I don't know," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, answering 
 
 them both at once. " But we will call on the s, and 
 
 they will tell us everything ; and then, Peggy, you will 
 see what kind of quarters the officers' wives and families 
 have." 
 
 " And will you take me with you ? " continued Miss 
 Duinaresq, with a quite charming frankness. "Should I 
 be intruding ? Mother would rather remain on board. If 
 you don't mind " 
 
 " Oh, by all means you must come with us," the elder 
 woman responded, promptly. " And then we will bring 
 
 back the s with us to lunch : the Scorpions are always 
 
 glad to get off their Eock for an hour or two, to look at 
 some fresh English faces." 
 
 Thus it was that Amelie Duinaresq went ashore with us, 
 making all the time a very brave show of being entirely 
 unchagrined and unconcerned. Nay, she flatly refused to 
 walk as far as the telegraph-office, where we might have 
 asked whether all the telegrams for the Orotania had been 
 forwarded. Apparently she was not thinking of her own 
 affairs at all : she professed, on the other hand, the most 
 lively and sympathetic interest in the spectacle presented by 
 our two young lovers, who could now, without fear of 
 animadversion, consort together a little more openly. And 
 
 T 
 
274 WOLFEN&EHG 
 
 a very pretty spectacle it was as we paid our early calls % 
 and thereafter drove away round to the small village of 
 Catalan, at the back of the Rock ; for the Baby was shy 
 and proud, and would have no stranger surmise; while 
 Julian Verrinder, naturally enough, rather wanted to assert 
 his right of possession. Peggy had grown quite placable 
 over this affair ; and seemed to regard them with an amused 
 forbearance, as a couple of irresponsible children. 
 
 We had to sail at two ; so there was no more than time 
 to pick up our friends and carry them on board for lunch. 
 And here also Amelie Dumaresq was at her best and 
 brightest ; quite fascinating these new acquaintances with 
 her wit and wilfulness, her malicious pleasantries, her gay 
 good-humour. Other people were despatching messages 
 ashore ; one or two had actually received telegrams ; but 
 she had no thought for any such things. Then we had to 
 go on deck to bid our guests adieu ; and here she was also, 
 smiling, observant, interested as the great long boat, with 
 its six rowers, made away in for the land. 
 
 "No," said Peggy, some little time thereafter, "she 
 wouldn't acknowledge she cared one farthing whether there 
 was or was not a telegram for her at Gibraltar. She lias a 
 splendid courage." 
 
 "Peggy," said the smaller woman, "it was very well 
 done. And do you know why it was done with such spirit 
 and effect ? She is nerving herself for Tilbury for what- 
 ever may happen." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 BRAVING OUT. 
 
 " POOR Sappho ! " says our well-beloved Peggy, as we are 
 walking up and down the deck early next morning. " She 
 is in agony. All the peace, and rest, and charm of the 
 voyage have fled, so far as she is concerned. To begin 
 with, she has had to abandon the Eequiem for Phaon's 
 ocean-grave ; she was so distracted by various emotions 
 that she could not get on ; and she tells me she cannot 
 write unless she is possessed by one all-devouring whirlwind 
 of flame. Very well ; she has put the Eequiem and every- 
 
CRAVING OUT 275 
 
 thing else aside now ; and has given herself up entirelyto 
 Revenge ! " 
 "Yes?" 
 
 " The Major," continues Peggy looking discreetly 
 around ; but there is no one within hail " the Major will 
 be a poor, and sick, and sorry man when he finds a portrait 
 of himself in Sappho's novel. Yes, indeed ! And that is 
 what is driving her about mad just now the terrible 
 business of pulling the book to pieces, in order to introduce 
 this new character. Fortunately, it so happens that among 
 all the types of your English fashionable life that she has 
 been lashing and scourging with whips, she had omitted the 
 military type ; and so now comes in the Major, the hired 
 mercenary, the brainless elderly fop, the butcher of his 
 kind, the paid assassin. I suppose, in saying all these 
 pretty things, she forgot that my husband was a soldier ; 
 but she was in such a rage I did not dare to remind her : 
 one did not know what might happen. In fact, the only 
 question she would consider calmly was whether she could 
 properly place a simple Major a poor, common, plebeian 
 Major in the noble and splendid circles she describes. 
 Oh, I assure you," Peggy goes on, with garrulous good- 
 nature, "you will find a gorgeous set of creatures in 
 Sappho's book : at the same time I wish she wouldn't so 
 frequently use the word ' vulgar ' it's a little kitchen- 
 ruaidish." 
 
 Here Peggy's hand steals furtively into her pocket. 
 
 " Say, now," proceeds this young American person, whose 
 face is all glorified by the light reflected upwards from the 
 sea, under the shadow of the stretched canvas overhead 
 " are you in a good humour this morning ? No envy no 
 spite no uncharitableness ? You would give fair con- 
 sideration ; You would honestly admit merit ? No mean 
 jealousy no impossible standards " 
 
 " What is it you have filched away from her this time ? 
 Produce it ! " 
 
 " To tell you the truth," says Peggy, as she unfolds a 
 small sheet of paper, " when Sappho lends me these things, 
 I don't think it is merely that I should study them in my 
 own cabin. I fancy she is not wholly averse to their being 
 shown to one or two favoured persons." 
 
 T 2 
 
276 WOLFENBERG 
 
 "Well, here is the latest fragment of the -ZEolian muse : 
 
 Blood, blood, blood, and blood, 
 
 That the waters will not drown! 
 
 Wild arms stretched upward from the flood 
 
 He shrieked as he went down. 
 
 White, white, white, and white 
 
 A wan soul wings the shy: 
 
 The crawling sea is black with night 
 
 Ah, God! that lonesome cry! 
 
 Lost, lost, lost, and lost! 
 The earth is damp and cold : 
 Two hands upon a bosom crossed: 
 (The were-wolf stalks the wold). 
 
 " But what did he do ? " one naturally asks. 
 
 " He ? . Who ? Can't you understand ? " says Peggy, 
 impatiently. " It is a picture. It is a tragedy revealed as 
 if by a flash of lightning. The woman drowns her lover in 
 the flood : and then, overcome by remorse, she sinks to the 
 ground, and dies " 
 
 " Yes, yes ; but the were-wolf : what did he do ? Did 
 he bite ? " 
 
 " You don't seem to understand ! " says Peggy, angrily. 
 " This is not a story. Have you no imagination ? Cannot 
 you realise the scene the terrible thing that has happened 
 without asking for more incident ? " 
 
 " But the were-wolf : he is the gentleman whose presence 
 is unexplained. What did he do when he came along and 
 found her lying on the ground ? Did he bite her ? " 
 
 Peggy snatched away the fragment. 
 
 " They talk about the humane influence of letters ! " she 
 said. " I believe literature breeds nothing but hatred and 
 malice and detraction. Never mind : I mean to tell her 
 that there is a distinct vein of originality in her poems such 
 as is not to be met with in any other poet, living or dead." 
 And therewith she returned the folded sheet of paper to 
 her pocket ; and that opportunely ; for now our Orotanians 
 began to appear to get a draught of sea-air and sunlight 
 before going down to breakfast. 
 
 We were now making steadily home for England, follow- 
 ing almost the same line by which we had come south about 
 six weeks before. And what strange things had happened 
 
BRAVING OUT 277 
 
 to one or two of us in that brief space of time had 
 happened so gradually and imperceptibly that it was only 
 now we were beginning to realise their full import. For 
 these altered circumstances, with all their change of plan 
 and project, seemed to be impressed on us the more vividly 
 by the fact that in but a few days we should be within sight 
 of English shores. 
 
 Wolfenberg came along to us. 
 
 " I suppose it must have been about here," he said, " on 
 the outward voyage, that you went below to look at Amelie's 
 drawings. I think you were rather impressed. You spoke 
 of the reception she would get in London, if she exhibited. 
 And now she is going back to London but not for that." 
 He was ordinarily so careful in guarding against any ex- 
 pression of regret over recent events that we hardly knew 
 how to take this speech. 
 
 "Yes, I think the world has lost a great artist," he 
 continued. " Whatever else may happen, that is about one 
 thing sure. Did I ever tell you of a subject I had thought 
 out for Amelie ? a subject better worthy of her powers 
 than the children dancing in New York streets, though she 
 would have made that fine too. But this was more im- 
 portant ; it would have taxed her strength ; and she would 
 have been equal to it. The incident occurred in the reign 
 of Domitian. Two peasants, who claimed to be of royal 
 origin, were brought before the Emperor, or his representa- 
 tive in Judaea ; they were the grandsons of Judc, the brother 
 of Jesus. But it directly appeared that it was no earthly 
 crown they had in their mind ; they were looking forward 
 to the immediate coming of the Kingdom pf Heaven ; and 
 in the meantime they only wished to be allowed to return 
 to their small farms, to till their fields. Can you see what 
 she would have made of such a group ? the bullet-headed 
 Roman, callous and contemptuous ; the bystanders inclined 
 to laugh ; the two peasants in their common garb 
 
 Yes, we could see easily enough ; and could imagine that 
 in Amelie Dumaresq's treatment of such a subject there 
 would be a harsh, unsparing truth that would be sufficiently 
 strong and effective. But, if it came to that, was there not 
 an artist nearer at hand more capable of dealing with such 
 a theme more capable of lifting it out of the atmosphere 
 
27 8 WOLFENBERG 
 
 of mere verisimilitude? The curious, and perhaps even 
 compassionate, Koman, she could have tackled well enough ; 
 and also she might have brought her brutality of touch to 
 bear on the peoplelgrinning at these poor harmless maniacs ; 
 but who could have painted for us, with understanding and 
 sympathy and revelation, the two swarthy and mystic-eyed 
 Syrians, silent, oblivious of both curiosity and ribaldry, and, 
 in spite of their rude goat-skins and battered sandals, 
 ' trailing clouds of glory ' wifch them, the glory of their 
 inheritance, and their faith, and their dreams ? That was 
 not for Amelie Dumaresq : that was for another. But this 
 man, now as ever forgetful of himself, was trying to look 
 only with her eyes. 
 
 Of a sudden he appeared to recall himself. 
 
 "Ah, well, well," he said, "one must not complain. 
 Everything is for the best, if she is going forward to that 
 settlement of her life, that security of happiness, on which 
 she seems to have fixed her whole desire. For that is 
 always the way with Amelie. Intensity, concentration : 
 one object only must occupy her whole existence, to the 
 exclusion of everything else. And as I have said before, 
 4 The world has many artists ; she has but the one world.' " 
 
 "You put her welfare, her contentment, before every- 
 thing : you think of nothing but her," said the small 
 creature who was receiving these confidences ; but it was in 
 no tone of reproach ; rather she was regarding him with 
 evident favour and perhaps even with some touch of 
 admiration. 
 
 "There is nothing I would not do for her," he said, 
 simply. " There is no sacrifice I would not make for her. 
 And all the reward I should ask for, and hope for, would be 
 just this : if I were dying I should like her to come and see 
 me for a minute ; I should like her to come to the bedside, 
 and take my hand, and say ; Ernest, you tried to be a good 
 friend to me always.' But that, of course, is a mere piece 
 of sentiment. I dare say Amelie would laugh at it " 
 
 " She would be a most unnatural and ungrateful woman 
 if she did," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, warmly ; but at this 
 point the conversation was interrupted ; for there was a 
 sudden ringing of a bell ; and presently the whole vessel 
 was in commotion with fire-alarm drill. By the time the 
 
BRAVING OUT 279 
 
 clamour had ceased, Wolfenberg had been carried off by the 
 Dumaresqs, on some behest or other. 
 
 But all this while not one word had been uttered about 
 certain dark fears and suspicions. Nay, it was quite the 
 other way. When we came together again at lunch, it was 
 almost pathetic to observe the cheerful and hopeful fashion 
 in which Wolfenberg, talking to Amelie Dnmaresq, would 
 cunningly insinuate that the future had nothing but smiles 
 and certainties for her. Had he forgotten the absence of 
 any telegram at Gibraltar ; or did he assume that such a 
 trifle was of no importance ? At all events, whatever 
 anxiety there may have been in his mind, he betrayed none ; 
 on the contrary, he was now chatting to her, or addressing 
 the table generally, with an air of studied equanimity. 
 
 " Plymouth," he said, as he consulted a certain ' Table of 
 Probable Times of Arrival and Departure.' ' Plymouth, 
 1 p.m., on the 13th. And we have been punctual to the 
 hour all the way through : why not also at Plymouth ? So, 
 you see, Amelie, if Mr. Hitrovo chanced to get to London a 
 day or two before us, there is no reason why he should not 
 run down and meet us at Plymouth, and sail up the Channel 
 with us. Wouldn't that be a pleasant surprise for you ? " 
 
 She glanced towards him with a curious, quick look of 
 watchfulness and inquiry : then her eyes became inscrutable 
 again. 
 
 "It is hardly probable," she said, with something of 
 carelessness. " He would most likely be a couple of days 
 in Nice. Then it is a long railway journey from Vienna to 
 Calais. I should think there wasn't much chance of his 
 appearing at Plymouth." 
 
 " Ah, I don't know I don't know," he said, en- 
 couragingly. " When trains have once started, they soon 
 beat steam-ships 
 
 " Besides," she added, with a smile, " even if he were in 
 London, I doubt whether he _ would come away down to 
 Plymouth : he is too lazy. It would not occur to him. He 
 might do it if some one were at his elbow to prompt him ; 
 otherwise he would simply wait." 
 
 " You will see you will see," Wolfenberg said to her, in 
 kindly fashion. " I would advise you to borrow a telescope 
 from one of the officers as we are going into Plymouth Sound." 
 
2 8o WOLFENBERG 
 
 At this she raised her head, and regarded him with wide- 
 staring eyes. 
 
 " Oh, do you think I am so anxious, then ? " she 
 demanded. 
 
 But here the mother interposed. 
 
 " Amelie," said she, " you don't give Mr. Hitrovo a very 
 good character for thoughtfulness and promptitude " 
 
 " He has plenty of other good qualities plenty " 
 
 " At all events, I hope he will hand over those diamonds 
 to the jeweller the moment he reaches Vienna," the nervous, 
 white-haired woman went on. "I cannot bear the idea of 
 a young man travelling about with such a valuable casket 
 under his care. Why, it is not safe for himself ! " 
 
 Amelie laughed in rather a forced way. 
 
 " I know what will happen," she said. " As likely as not 
 you will find him turning up in London with the diamonds 
 in precisely the same condition as when he took them away, 
 and with not even a design made. He will have forgotten 
 all about them." 
 
 Then there was silence : no one seemed anxious to pursue 
 the subject. 
 
 But it was about this time that we more particularly re- 
 marked the singular change that had come over Amelie 
 Dumaresq's manner towards us. In which connection it 
 ought to be said that whatever relationship existed between 
 her and our women-folk had been solely and wholly based on 
 advances made by herself. Though she might have been to 
 them a curious study in human nature, they had not sought 
 to cultivate any obtrusive intimacy ; it was rather she who 
 had, in her frank, offhand, downright way, appropriated 
 them, and extorted interest in herself and her doings and 
 her bizarre opinions. But now she seemed to regard them 
 with a certain coldness, not to say defiance unconscious as 
 they were of having given her any cause of offence. She 
 was no longer bubbling over with happiness, and eager to 
 sweep all her immediate neighbours into the full-flowing 
 current of her present delight and anticipation of the future. 
 We could see the change most easily in her eyes. Those 
 beautiful, lustrous, dark orbs had always given us the im- 
 pression that behind them was an abundant and joyous life 
 that seemed to challenge and demand sympathy, approval, 
 
BRAVING OUT 281 
 
 and co-operation : now there was a certain distance, a kind 
 of scanning, in their look. We had done nothing. We had 
 breathed no word, outside our own small circle, in connection 
 with the disappearance of the diamonds ; we had uttered no 
 comment on the absence of any telegram at Gib. But she 
 seemed to suspect us somehow. And especially before the 
 women-folk she was inordinately and effusively affectionate 
 towards her mother. It was ' Mimsey ' this, and ' Matushka ' 
 that, every other sentence, if Mrs. Threepenny-bit and Lady 
 Cameron happened to be looking on. It was altogether an 
 enigmatical situation of affairs; and meanwhile we were 
 slowly steaming northwards towards England at an equable 
 rate of about ten or a dozen knots an hour. 
 
 We could not forget, however, that, slow or fast as our 
 progress might be, we had two young folk with us who did 
 not seem to care. At first sight a steamship might appear 
 to be a poor substitute for Lovers'-land. Lovers'-land ought 
 to be Herrick's land with primrose glades and cowslip 
 meadows, rustic stiles and apple-orchards, posies, kirtles, 
 shepherds' crooks, and lads and lassies gone a-Maying. 
 Nevertheless, when all is said and done, a ship will serve. 
 There are many nooks and corners about it, furnishing what 
 may be discreetly called 'occasions.' These two young 
 creatures, for example : what hindered them from being up 
 in the early morning, with the quarter-deck all to themselves, 
 the shining blue sea all around them, the long pathway of 
 seething foam away astern ? Then, during the day, there 
 were all kinds of occupations and expeditions together to 
 feed the captured birds ; to play chess in the empty fore- 
 saloon ; or, in the chief saloon with the wind-sails in the 
 ports blowing in cool draughts of air to sit and listen to 
 the musical maidens who, standing by the piano, were busy 
 with ' Here's a health unto her,' or ' Down, down, hey, derry 
 down,' or ' Though seas between us roll, love.' But it was 
 at night they had their chief chance ; for the ship's lamps 
 were far apart ; there were long spaces of dusk ; and you 
 could not make out which were the figures standing by the 
 rail, with the great black sea beyond, and the dome of palpi- 
 tating stars overhead. Murmured talk a glance a touch 
 of the hand this was sufficient to have ' the golden age 
 the golden age come back ' ; and they could do very well 
 
282 WOLFENBERG 
 
 without daisied meads, and frisking lambs, and Corinna's 
 ribbons. And it is possible that there may have been a sort 
 of unrecognised conspiracy to leave those two alone. Peggy, 
 it is true, was still a little nettled about having been tricked ; 
 but everybody else was benignant. Wolfenburg had worked 
 at his wedding-present until it was worth a good deal more 
 than the 300?. which young Verrinder understood and 
 hoped he would have to pay for the coveted sketch. 
 
 In crossing the Bay of Biscay we ran into a series of hot 
 and enervating mists ; and these, as we drew near the mouth 
 of the English Channel, gave way to a dense fog ; so that 
 on the first occasion during this long voyage it seemed 
 probable we should fall away from our fixed time. 
 
 " You must not be disappointed, Amelie," said Wolfen- 
 berg, at dinner, "if Mr. Hitrovo does not meet you at 
 Plymouth. For if he hears that there has been fog in the 
 Bay of Biscay, he must know that the steamer would be in- 
 definitely delayed, and most likely he would not care to go 
 down and wait on chance." 
 
 She did not answer. 
 
 " It is different as regards Tilbury," he said, with much 
 cheerfulness. " Quite different. For, you see, they will 
 know in London when we reach Plymouth : and Tilbury is 
 twenty-four hours after ; I don't suppose the fog in the 
 Channel, assuming that there is r.ny, will hinder us so very 
 much. There is a hotel at Tilbury, I think ? You must 
 remember, Amelie, he never undertook to meet you at Ply- 
 mouth : that was only a fancy of mine. The race was for 
 Tilbury. But what were the stakes ? what was the bet ? " 
 
 " I don't know I don't remember," she said, calmly. 
 
 She either was indifferent, or successfully affected indiffer- 
 ence ; but her mother, each time that Hitrovo's name was 
 mentioned, looked quickly up, and glanced from one to the 
 other, in a nervous and apprehensive fashion. And she 
 seemed anxious that we should not be delayed on our way to 
 London, 
 
 " I hear that quite a number mean to land at Plymouth 
 to-morrow, and go on to London by rail," said Lady 
 Cameron to our Mrs. Threepenny-bit. " Why is that, now ? 
 The saving in time can be very little as compared with the 
 length of the voyage. Or is it the fogs they are afraid of ? 
 
BRAVING OUT 283 
 
 It can't be sea-sickness, in a big boat like this ; besides, we 
 have all become hardened sailors. And yet I don't know : 
 you English people appear to have a perfectly overwhelming 
 and inexplicable dread of the Channel 
 
 " Not so inexplicable, Peggy, if you only knew," her friend 
 made answer, with serious eyes. " You don't understand 
 how largely the Channel enters into English life. Consider 
 this, for example. The young Briton, the moment he 
 marries, must needs drag his bride away abroad ; and the 
 very first thing they encounter is the Channel. All during 
 the courting-time," continues this profound philosopher, 
 these two have been showing off the best side of their 
 character to each other : she is ignorant of him ; he is 
 ignorant of her. What opens their eyes ? The Channel. 
 They get down to Dover ; they go on board a small steamer : 
 the jabbling water flings about the cockle-shell anyhow ; and 
 of course they become ill " 
 
 " Nos et mulamur in illness." 
 
 " What's that ? And then their true dispositions leak 
 out. If he is selfish, he appears a downright brute ; if she 
 is petulant and ill-tempered, she becomes unbearable. If 
 you only knew how many married lives have been ruined by 
 those choppy seas, perhaps you would have a dread of the 
 English Channel too. And Emily there if she is wise 
 when the happy time comes she will know what to 
 avoid " 
 
 The poor Baby ! She had been listening, with her great, 
 soft, pathetic eyes deeply interested ; and this sudden calling 
 attention to her startled her into self -consciousness, and 
 summoned swift colour to her face. 
 
 " That is a long way off yet," she said, with a pretty 
 innocence and not pretending to misunderstand. " And I 
 know Julian will go wherever I ask him to go, so that there 
 need not be any crossing of the Channel." 
 
 " That is right," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with kindly 
 approval. " Young people cannot be too careful especially 
 at first." 
 
 In consequence of these fogs we did not reach Plymouth 
 till the following evening ; and the tender that came out to 
 take off the shore-going folk, with its yellow lamps glimmer- 
 ing through this vague, dark world of mist, was a spectral 
 
284 WOLFENBERG 
 
 kind of thing. Hitrovo was not on board ; nor had he sent 
 any letter or telegram. 
 
 " Of course not," said Amelie Dumaresq, with a careless 
 bit of a laugh. " He's too lazy for anything." 
 
 " Oh, but you must not take it for granted he has had 
 time to reach England," Wolfenberg said to her at once. 
 " Not at all. How can you tell ? We may have won in the 
 race from Malta. Why, Amelie," he went on but with- 
 some little hesitation and he regarded her the while 
 " even if you should not find him. at Tilbury to-morrow or 
 next day well you ought not to be disappointed " 
 
 " Disappointed ? " she said with a kind of merriment. 
 " Do you imagine I do not understand Monsieur Paul by 
 this time ? " ' 
 
 Then the people who had been our shipmates for so long 
 began to go down the gangway to the tender shadowy 
 phantoms they seemed descending into that grey gulf ; and 
 presently there were farewell messages being called back- 
 wards and forwards. It was a ghostly leave-taking in this 
 encircling gloom. Finally the smaller vessel, with its dim 
 lights growing dimmer, crept away into the fog and dis- 
 appeared ; and many and strange (as we afterwards heard) 
 were the adventures it encountered before it carried its living 
 freight securely to land ; but these do not concern us here. 
 
 We lay anchored in Plymouth harbour that night on 
 account of the fog ; had a pleasant run up Channel next 
 day ; and on the following morning found ourselves ap- 
 proaching the estuary of the Thames. And it needed but a 
 single glance out of a port to convince us that we had in deed 
 reached old England ; for here were wild squalls of rain 
 flying hither and thither ; and gusts of wind that hurried 
 onwards the lowering clouds ; and a wide expanse of lapping, 
 muddy-yellow water ; and far-extending flat shores stretch- 
 ing away beneath grey, and cold, and cheerless skies. The 
 poor Orotanians began to get out their ulsters ; and sought 
 refuge from the wet under the awnings that hitherto had 
 sheltered them from the blaze of the sun. And so we crept 
 slowly along the channels, gradually leaving behind us the 
 Girdler, and the Mouse, and the Nore ; until, about mid-day, 
 we came in sight of Tilbury Docks and the small pier 
 fronting the river. 
 
BRAVING OUT 28$ 
 
 It Was "Wolfenberg who betrayed most concern, despite 
 his strenuous efforts to appear quite calm and confident and 
 assured. He would continue talking about indifferent mat- 
 ters ; but ever and anon his eyes would be stealthily and 
 earnestly directed towards that distant platform and the 
 tender lying alongside. And even we bystanders began to 
 be in sympathy with his eager desire. "We hoped that 
 Hitrovo would be there ; and that all would go well and 
 happily. For we had not spent this long time in close con- 
 junction with such a nature as that of Amelie Dumaresq 
 without having become profoundly interested ; and we could 
 not but conjecture how her proud and passionate spirit would 
 brook an open mark of neglect. "We, also, strained our eyes 
 towards the pier and the small steamer ; and even employed 
 field-glasseswhen no one was looking ; until, indeed, the 
 loud command issued from the bridge, 'LET GO THE 
 ANCHOR ! ' and a roar of iron chain forward told us that 
 the good ship Orotania had brought us all safely home again. 
 
 The tender came out. There were two or three gentlemen 
 on board no doubt friends of the passengers. But by this 
 time suspicion had deepened into certainty : Paul Hitrovo 
 was neither on the pier nor yet on the small steamer now 
 approaching. Whatever might be the reason, he had failed 
 to keep his appointment. 
 
 " The fogs have made everything so uncertain," "Wolfen- 
 berg said to her, with anxious solicitude. He may not have 
 heard of our arrival at Plymouth. Or he may be waiting 
 for you at Fenchurch Street 
 
 " Oh, don't bother about it, Ernest," she said, briefly. 
 " No doubt there will be a letter or telegram waiting for us 
 at Glimmer's." 
 
 She was pale, but perhaps not much more so than usual : 
 it was her lips, usually so rich of hue, that showed a lack of 
 colour they seemed a little dry and contracted. She was 
 proud, and calm, and self-possessed ; she maintained an 
 absolute silence ; and she regarded, in a cold, impassive, 
 mechanical way, the various preparations for our getting 
 ashore. 
 
 Thereafter we had our own immediate affairs to attend to, 
 so we lost sight of those three ; nor did we even go up to 
 town with them in the same railway-carriage. But at Fen- 
 
286 WOLFEN8ERG 
 
 church Street we ran against them once more \ and Wolfen- 
 berg promised to come round and see us in the evening ; 
 there was a silent understanding that he might have news. 
 
 It was about nine o'clock when he called. He appeared 
 to be in a jaunty and offhand mood different from his 
 ordinarily grave and simple ways. 
 
 " So you are getting settled down ? " he said to our 
 women-folk. " The roar of London sounds strange after the 
 quiet and solitude of those blue seas, does it not ? And yet 
 1 must be off again on my travels to-morrow ; at least, I 
 fear so ; to Paris, that is yes, to Paris ; to finish up some 
 business matters. I hope you will all go round to Glimmer's 
 and see Amelie and her mother ; they are not very familiar 
 with London. And if you will be so exceedingly kind, I am 
 sure you won't find it difficult to interest and amuse them : 
 pictures and music are what they care for most." 
 
 Nothing was said about what was present to all minds ; 
 but as he was going away -and when one of us had gone 
 down into the hall with him his manner entirely changed. 
 
 " What was the name of the hotel in Vienna," he asked 
 hurriedly, and in a low voice so that those others should 
 not hear, " that Hitrovo said he had rooms in overlooking 
 the river he spoke of the view " 
 
 " The TIoLel Metropole." 
 
 " I am off for Vienna to-morrow," he said, " if there is 
 neither letter nor telegram in the morning. There has been 
 no message from him of any sort. Only, the Duinaresqs 
 must not suspect whete I have gone. Say that it is Paris 
 I have a lot of pictures there I must bring over. And 
 will you go and see Arnelie as often as you can ? if your 
 ladies will be so kind, I am sure she would be most grateful 
 she will be lonely at first in this great city." 
 
 Her her, ever and always. He seemed to have no other 
 thought. 
 
COMINGS AND GOINGS 287 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 COMINGS AND GOINGS. 
 
 THE next few days were quite uneventful ; that was the 
 tragic part of it. Every hour that went by seemed to 
 increase Mrs. Dumaresq's alarm and terror ; and all the 
 more so that she durst not speak. Then came a morning 
 on which Amelie, taking her maid with her, had gone out 
 on some errand ; and the poor mother, seizing her 
 opportunity, stole hurriedly along to us. 
 
 " What can it mean what can it mean ! " she cried in 
 piteous accents ; and the tired, pathetic eyes were full of 
 trouble. " Not a word or a sign from him ! He must 
 know that we are in England that we are in London ; he 
 must have seen the arrival of the Orotania announced in 
 the newspapers. What can be the reason of it ! He 
 cannot have been murdered we should have teard 
 of it " 
 
 " Surely," said our Mrs. Threepenny-bit, " Amelie herself 
 could find out. Why does she not telegraph to him ? no 
 doubt she has his address " 
 
 " Amelie ? " repeated the other, shaking her head sadly : 
 it was clear she had already contemplated this course. 
 " You do not know her ! Where her pride is concerned, 
 she is like a rock. You might go down on your knees to 
 her, and she would not move. She pretends that nothing 
 has happened. She goes about her daily life as if nothing 
 had happened, This morning she is away to her dentist. 
 This afternoon her dressmaker is coming. She would kill 
 herself, or let herself be killed, twenty times over, rather 
 than have her pride humbled ; it is a passion with her ; 
 she has been like that since her childhood. Any other girl, 
 apparently forsaken in this way, would throw herself on her 
 bed and cry for hours ; but Amelie Amelie is like stone." 
 
 Then she broke into another strain : 
 
 "And to think of Wolfenberg's deserting us at such a 
 time ! " she said, bitterly. " He has always professed to be 
 Amelie's most intimate friend ; and she has just idolized 
 him ; and declared to every one that he was the best, the 
 
288 WOLFENB&RG 
 
 most gcneroUs, the most thoughtful, the kindest-hearted of 
 men. Yes ; and he goes away over to Paris, to look after 
 pictures, when he must have known that this silence on the 
 part of Hitrovo meant something dreadful " 
 
 " I am certain of this," said Mrs. Threepenny-bit, with 
 unusual fervour, " that if Mr. "Wolfenberg thought he could 
 be of service to either you or Amelie, by being here at this 
 moment, well then, it is here at this moment he would be. 
 That I am certain of ! " 
 
 She took no heed of this indignant defence. 
 
 " Those diamonds those diamonds ! " she went on, 
 driven at last to confession by despair. " That is the 
 terrible thing : you can't help remembering that he took 
 the diamonds with him that we have heard nothing about 
 either them or him. Not that I value the diamonds a pin- 
 point no you won't suspect me of that when it is 
 Amelia's happiness I am thinking of : it is not the 
 diamonds but the man's character that is at stake the 
 character of the man she loves, the man she has given her 
 life to. And you," she said, lifting her troubled eyes with 
 a glance half of anxious scrutiny and half of appeal, 
 "whatever appearances may say, don't you think it is 
 perfectly impossible and incredible that he could have taken 
 those diamonds don't you think it is a perfectly monstrous 
 suggestion though it may come back and back into your 
 mind ? " 
 
 The small woman thus addressed was a trifle disconcerted. 
 
 " Well," she said, " we had hardly the opportunities of 
 judging of Mr. Hitrovo that you had ; but still we saw him 
 from day to day, and we talked with him occasionally, and 
 so on ; and certainly he was about the last man in the world 
 whom you would have suspected of being a common 
 swindler." 
 
 " Besides," observed a bystander, who had gone to the 
 fire for warmth, " if he had been a common swindler, he 
 would have played his cards to better purpose. If he had 
 been a swindler, it was not the diamonds alone that would 
 have satisfied him." 
 
 " You both think so ? Oh, I am so glad ! " she 
 exclaimed. And then she instantly checked herself 
 though she was not much of an actress. " Of course," she 
 
COMINGS AND GOINGS 289 
 
 said, with some affectation of unconcern, " I was merely 
 considering the idea that might occur to an outsider. To 
 us who knew Mr. Hitrovo, and were with him all that time, 
 such an idea is, as you say, perfectly incredible. Perfectly 
 absurd, indeed." She hesitated for a moment. " And yet 
 his silence is strange." 
 
 She rose to go. 
 
 " Amelie will be writing to you this afternoon ; she has 
 some proposal to make," she said ; and then she added 
 timidly : " And you need not tell her I called this morning," 
 Therewith she left perhaps cheered up a little by this 
 avowal of her hidden and recurrent fears. 
 
 But among all the visitors we had at this time who 
 were increased in number by the fact that Peggy and her 
 sister were staying with us for a while, before going home 
 to Inverfask none were more welcome than Julian 
 Yerrinder's relatives. They came curious to see what 
 Pearl, what Eose, what Treasure the boy had brought home 
 with him from the far East (to be strictly accurate, the 
 Baby was born in Kentucky, which is somewhat westerly) 
 and they remained to be charmed. Our women-folk could 
 show them other souvenirs of our voyage Bithynian silks, 
 Turkish embroideries, Ehodian plates, and what not, until 
 it looked as if a sale of bric-a-brac were going forward ; 
 but it was the Juno-eyed young maid, with her modest, 
 and grateful, and shyly affectionate ways, that entirely 
 engrossed their attention. And now we discovered why it 
 was that Miss Emily, out of her slender store of pocket- 
 money, had been purchasing various things in the different 
 bazaars and shops a silver-figured bath-room dress at 
 Broussa, a brass coffee-service at Constantinople, a number 
 of lace handkerchiefs at Malta, and the like. These were 
 no personal acquisitions, to be selfishly hoarded. Not at 
 all. This was for Julian's sister ; that was for Julian's 
 mother ; we perceived that the Baby had her wits about 
 her, under her prevailing mask of gentleness. And of 
 course there was an immense amount of chatter, at lunch 
 or dinner, about the Orotania, and her excellent qualities ; 
 until there seemed to spring up a universal desire to go and 
 repeat this voyage, with perhaps some deviation in the 
 direction of Mycenae, or Damascus, or Smyrna, or Tunis. 
 
 u 
 
2 9 o WOLFEN&ERG 
 
 "It was simply delightful all the way through,*' said 
 Peggy, at one of these small gatherings. " And the 
 wonderful thing was that the people turned out to be so 
 nice ! Who minded the dear old Major's growlings 
 though they did sound rather awful at times or grudged 
 Sappho her fondling of the pug, that so mysteriously 
 disappeared ? Why, out of all those strangers, there were 
 only one or two whom we disliked ; and of course they did 
 not know they were disliked. Isn't that a merciful and 
 beautiful provision of nature ? I suppose there is no man 
 or woman born who can imagine the reason why he or 
 she should be disliked : they may discover that they are 
 disliked, but they themselves cannot understand why it 
 should l3e so therefore the other people are in the wrong. 
 There was only one thing wanting," she continued. " And 
 that will never be found on a ship until one of our 
 American millionaires starts it on his yacht. There ought 
 to have been stables and horses on board, and a tanned ride 
 made somewhere under cover, so that in wet weather we 
 could have had a gallop round and round " 
 
 " But we never had any wet weather ! " the Baby 
 protested ; and this simple statement of fact dismissed the 
 wild scheme. 
 
 There was an engagement-ring bought about this time : 
 rubies and diamonds : very pretty it was. Then the 
 blushing wearer of that pledge and symbol must needs come 
 secretly to the humble chronicler of these occurrences. 
 
 "I wish you would tell me what I ought to get for 
 Julian," she said, shyly. 
 
 " Why not ask himself what he would like ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, no ! I could not do that ! It must be a 
 surprise. And I mean something similar to this ring " 
 
 " Something to secure him to you for ever and ever ? " 
 
 The tell-tale eyes could look grateful enough when they 
 chose. 
 
 " There are two ways of doing that. The one way is to 
 get a thick band of gold clasped on to the arm above the 
 elbow ; and there it is locked, and you keep the key ; he 
 becomes your bondsman and slave for evermore. But that 
 is not a good way. For one thing, it would make him too 
 conspicuous in a Turkish bath. Besides, he could go to a 
 
COMINGS AND GOtNGS 291 
 
 goldsmith's and get the loan of a file. There is a far safer 
 and surer way 
 
 " Yes ? " she says, eagerly. 
 
 "It is to determine, resolutely to determine, that you 
 will never, never sulk. Sulking is the fatal thing in 
 married life : the wounds it inflicts never heal" 
 
 She seems a little disappointed. 
 
 " I meant something more tangible something he could 
 wear something quiet and neat, that he would not be 
 ashamed of," she goes on, with a pretty hesitation. " And 
 yet not quite so expensive as this ring I could not afford 
 that though Peggy has been so good to me " 
 
 " And what you are thinking of is a plain, simple, flat 
 gold hoop for the finger, with Aei or Mizpah on it, in blue 
 enamel : very well ; and when you have that already fixed 
 in your mind why don't you say so at once ? " 
 
 " Will you come with me to help me to choose it ? " 
 
 ""When you have got the size." 
 
 " Oh, of course." Then a pause of reflection. " And 
 there will be no secret and no surprise, after all ! if I have 
 to ask him to let me measure his finger. In that case, 
 perhaps perhaps it would be just as well if Julian went 
 with me to the shop." 
 
 " It would be the very best arrangement possible." And 
 therewithal the Baby, looking immensely pleased, stole away 
 to her own room no doubt to hold serious consultation 
 with the contents of her money-bag. 
 
 The letter we had been promised from Ame'lie Dumaresq 
 did not arrive ; she herself came in its stead, about one 
 o'clock on the following day. And whatever may have 
 been the true object of this visit, outwardly she was in 
 quite a merry mood the merriment being of a rather hard 
 and forced cast. Moreover she was as impetuous and 
 obstinate and wilful as ever : nothing would do but that 
 we should come away, there and then, to have luncheon 
 with her mother and herself at Glimmer's hotel. 
 
 " You say you never go out to lunch : therefore you can 
 have no engagement," she went on, in her blunt and 
 downright fashion. " Then Lady Cameron and her sister 
 having gone to the Crystal Palace why, it is an oppor- 
 tunity : I really must insist on your taking a little 
 
 2 u 
 
tgz WOLFENBER& 
 
 holiday. You have no idea how dull it is for poor Mimsey, 
 and me, with that wicked Ernest hiding himself in Paris, 
 and not even sending us a line. Come, now ! I told 
 Mimsey I should fetch you both : I cannot go back without 
 you. It is quite a gay morning for London ; the walk 
 will do you good." 
 
 Now in the case of busy people, going out to lunch 
 simply means the destruction of the day ; nevertheless, 
 certain promises had been made to Wolfenberg ; so at 
 length we yielded, and went. And as we walked along to 
 Glimmer's hotel, this young lady seemed determined to 
 convince us that she was in excellent spirits, light of heart, 
 and careless in mind. It is true that when we reached the 
 hotel, and when she had in a way handed us over to her 
 mother, she subsided somewhat ; and a worn and absent 
 look came into her face that we had not noticed there 
 before. At times she would sink into periods of sombre 
 silence ; and then again, abruptly recalling herself, would 
 break in upon the conversation with some petulant and 
 laughing remark. Of course no word was said of Paul 
 Hitrovo ; there was even a careful, not to say painful, 
 avoidance of all topics that might lead in that direction. 
 But these were two American ladies, not very familiar with 
 London and London sights : so there was plenty to talk 
 about apart from dangerous things. 
 
 Of a sudden Amelie said 
 
 " Now do you perfectly understand that I cannot allow 
 you to go back home ? Oh, no, not at all I Your day is 
 lost. Besides, I can guess what would happen to you. 
 You would be inundated with Orotanians all the afternoon. 
 Instead of that we must go somewhere we four by 
 
 ourselves " She rose from the table, and went and got 
 
 a newspaper. After the briefest survey, she continued : 
 " Here is the very thing : a concert at St. James's Hall at 
 three, and , the wonderful violinist. That will just do." 
 
 The next time the waiter came into the room, she had a 
 memorandum ready ; and a commissionaire was despatched 
 to secure stalls. What did it matter ? the day was lost. 
 But if we had known what was going to happen at St. 
 James's Hall that afternoon, not all the violin-playing in 
 the world would have dragged us thither. 
 
COMINGS AND GOINGS 293 
 
 "We were in good time ; the house was not overcrowded ; 
 we found our seats easily. And then Am&ie, having thus 
 as it were provided for the entertainment of her mother 
 and her guests, appeared to withdraw within herself, re- 
 lapsing into a profound reverie. She listened to the music, 
 it is true, in a mechanical kind of way ; but she hardly 
 seemed to hear. And naturally there was no need for con- 
 versation now nor, indeed, any tolerance of it. 
 
 Then, in the most startling way, her attention was 
 aroused ; it was as if some sudden blow had awakened her ; 
 she raised her head quickly ; there was a bewilderment of 
 pain in her eyes. Yet what was this ? Merely that a lady 
 had come forward to the front of the platform, with a sheet 
 of music in her hand ; while the bushy-haired gentleman at 
 the piano had begun the prelude to her song. But these 
 notes ? surely we had heard them elsewhere, in far other 
 circumstances ? We glanced at the programme which 
 none of us had thought of examining beforehand : then we 
 knew : it was Tschaikowsky's 6 Nur wer die Sehnsucht Icennt' 
 
 " Mother let me get past ! I must go out ! I cannot 
 remain here," said this girl with the pallid face and the wild 
 eyes : she seemed to be trembling with a kind of terror. 
 
 " Amelie ! " and there was a hand put on her arm. 
 " You must not ! Sit still ! " 
 
 For indeed this Eussian love-song had begun ; and she 
 dared not challenge the attention of the audience. Appar- 
 ently she was trying hard not to listen ; she held on through 
 the cruel ordeal, panting breathlessly ; she twisted her 
 programme as if it were a rope of steel. But the instant 
 that the long thundering applause announced that the song 
 was over, she rose ; we made way for her, and went out 
 into the corridor ; and thither she came pale, and 
 quivering like a leaf ; and yet, with a wonderful bravery, 
 striving to be firm. 
 
 " I am not very well," she said, in choking accents. " I 
 must go back to the hotel " 
 
 " Amelie, the carriage won't be here for an hour ! " cried 
 the frightened mother. 
 
 " But a cab cannot we get a cab ! " she said, in a sort of 
 despair as if she were wholly overcome and ready to sink 
 to the ground. 
 
294 WOLFENBERG 
 
 There was no difficulty about that ; and presently we 
 were in a four-wheeled vehicle, returning to Glimmer's 
 hotel. But hardly had we set out than the girl seemed to 
 give way altogether. The unnatural proud calm of these 
 last few days, and the forced gaiety of the morning, had 
 alike fled from her : the sound of the Kussian song had 
 recalled the magic nights on the Mediterranean and 
 revealed her worse than widowed state ; and now, careless 
 of who might see or hear, she abandoned herself to a very 
 passion and prostration of grief, and covered her face with 
 her hands, and rocked her body and wept aloud. 
 
 " Amelie ! my darling ! " the distracted mother cried 
 and she tried to seize her hands. 
 
 But she took no heed of her or of any one : the tempest 
 had broken. 
 
 " Oh, I know I know," she exclaimed incoherently and 
 recklessly through her sobs. "Do you think I do not 
 understand why he remains away ! It it is a fine 
 training we American girls get freedom and indepen- 
 dence but but it is not valued on this side. Here here 
 it is rudeness insolence : why should he not go away from 
 it ! He he expected to find the Parisian demoiselle the 
 ballroom debutante -who hardly lifts her eyes and hardly 
 dares to speak and is taken back to her governess after the 
 dance and and instead of that he found presumption 
 boldness impudence. And how could he regard it but 
 with contempt and scorn and what could he do but go 
 away ? Go away yes when you scorn any one that is 
 the natural thing to do " 
 
 " Amelie," said the third of the three women, seeing that 
 the mother was too panic-stricken to be of any use. " I am 
 sure you are entirely mistaken. No one could be so foolish 
 as to think that ordinary frankness was rudeness." 
 
 The girl seemed to try to pull herself together. After a 
 minute or two of inarticulate sobbing, she said while her 
 hands fell wearily to her side " I am so sorry you came 
 away from the concert. Will you not go back ? Mother 
 and I can walk on to Glimmer's 
 
 " Certainly not," was the prompt answer. 
 
 " I have not been very well," she pleaded. " We have 
 been seeing too many sights and the fatigue -" ; 
 
COMINGS AND GOINGS 295 
 
 " That is it," said Mrs. Dumaresq, eagerly. " I was sure 
 she was doing too much ; and when she breaks down, when 
 she has one of these hysterical attacks, you must not heed a 
 single word she says not a single word. And there's no 
 one can quiet Amelie, and make her mistress of herself, like 
 Ernest Wolfenberg : I do so wish he would come back from 
 Paris ! " 
 
 With this we arrived at Glimmer's ; and when the 
 wan-faced and haggard-eyed creature had been seen to 
 her own room, we returned to the cab and drove home 
 pondering. 
 
 But there were still further and rapid surprises in store 
 for us. Next morning, at the unusual hour of noon, a 
 visitor was announced ; and when one went down, it was to 
 discover that Mrs. Threepenny-bit had already received and 
 was now talking with Ernest Wolfenberg. 
 
 " Here is news indeed ! " she said, most blithely and 
 cheerfully. " Mr. Hitrovo is in London ; came over with 
 Mr. Wolfenberg last night or rather this morning ; they 
 are at the same hotel ; and in the afternoon they are going 
 round to call on the Dumaresqs. I am so glad ! poor 
 Amelie could not understand his silence at all ; and now 
 everything will be explained ; and she will be as happy as 
 the day is long." 
 
 Somehow Wolfenberg did not seem to share these radiant 
 anticipations ; his thoughtful face appeared a little con- 
 cerned and anxious ; and yet he laughed as he said 
 
 " How well Amelie understands him ! She declared that 
 he would bring back those diamonds in precisely the same 
 condition as when he took them away ; and that is just how 
 she will find them this afternoon." 
 
 " Oh, he has brought them back untouched ? " said the 
 small woman, quickly. 
 
 " Quite," he answered her. And then he added, with a 
 certain carelessness : " I really think she might as well have 
 them re-set in London. She would have better opportuni- 
 ties of overlooking and altering the designs." 
 
 Presently Mrs. Threepenny-bit rose and left the room, to 
 carry these cheerful tidings to Peggy ; and hardly had the 
 door been shut when Wolfenberg's expression of face under- 
 went a sudden and even startling change. 
 
296 WOLFENBERG 
 
 " Hitrovo had pawned those diamonds ! " he said, in a 
 low voice. 
 
 " What ? Why did you not have him arrested, then ? " 
 " No, no ; it was nothing like that," he said, earnestly 
 and hurriedly. "You don't understand. That is the 
 wrong view. There is no criminality or vice about the 
 young man, I am certain ; nothing but carelessness and 
 selfishness and these are not uncommon. Eemember his 
 surroundings ; the world of sport is his world ; debts of 
 honour the first debts to be paid. That's what he went to 
 Nice for ; and these diamonds they were the property of 
 his future wife they offered him a ready way of settling 
 up ; he borrowed a certain sum on them ; and then went 
 on to Vienna, to see about redeeming them. Why, if he 
 had meant stealing the diamonds, he would have taken 
 them on to Vienna with him, and got ever so much more 
 for them ! It was an indiscreet transaction, no doubh ; 
 still still I daresay he imagined that Amelie would not 
 have disapproved ; probably he took it for granted that, if 
 he had asked her, she would have lent him the diamonds. 
 It was only a temporary expedient ; and then he went on to 
 Vienna to see about the means of redeeming them " 
 
 " Had he- redeemed them when you found him ? " one 
 ventured to ask. 
 
 Wolfenberg looked uneasy. 
 
 ' Well, no," he said, after a moment's hesitation. And 
 then he added: "To tell you the truth, I had to do 
 that." 
 
 " How much ? " 
 
 " 2,200. But I had some money in Paris ; and I 
 managed to get the rest. Oh, that is nothing that is 
 nothing. That will be all right as soon as I hear from New 
 York : I have written." 
 
 " And how much of all this story are you going to tell 
 Amelie ? " 
 
 " Ah," said he, with traces of strong emotion in his voice, 
 " there is the terrible part of it the dreadful responsibility. 
 How can I dare to tell her anything, lest she might take 
 the wrong view ? If she were to jump to the conclusion 
 that this man had deliberately deceived her had made 
 away with her diamonds bad cast her off why, it would 
 
COMINGS AND GOINGS 297 
 
 kill her : the destruction of her hopes the outrage to her 
 pride. Do you not see that she cannot be allowed to run 
 the risk of making such a frightful mistake ? Yes, for it 
 would be a mistake altogether ! He meant none of these 
 things not deliberately not deliberately, But he is easily 
 led away ; the present moment is everything to him 
 
 He rose and began to pace up and down the room ; he 
 was much agitated. 
 
 " I suppose," he said, " there is in every one of us a sneak 
 and coward, if you only yield. One night I was lying awake 
 in Vienna. I seemed to hear a voice ; and it said 'Why 
 try to get this money to redeem the diamonds ? Why 
 persuade Hitrovo to go back with you to London ? Go 
 yourself to London. Tell Ainelie that this man has be- 
 fooled her pawned her diamonds forsaken her. Then she 
 will cast away from her all this entanglement ; you will take 
 your old place by her side ; your art-companionship will be 
 resumed ; she and you will be together, with all your 
 projects to discuss, and the old and affectionate and happy 
 days will return again the old and fast and frank comrade- 
 ship that this Kussian came in to destroy.' It was a 
 temptation a temptation that seemed to tear one in pieces. 
 But, you see you see I might be a sneak and a coward to 
 any one else: I could not be a sneak and a coward to 
 Amelie." 
 
 Tears in his voice ? yes, and perhaps in his eyes, for 
 aught one knew. Then he said with that firmness that he 
 could assume at times that was, in fact, never far absent 
 from him, even in his most meditative and absent moods 
 
 " Well, I must take the risk. I must accept the responsi- 
 bility. I will not tell Amelie nor yet her mother of these 
 transactions in Nice and Vienna : the danger of miscon- 
 struction, of misapprehension, is too desperate. They are 
 women ; they might take an exaggerated view altogether ; 
 whereas a man can make allowances for Hitrovo's bringing- 
 up, and his occupations, and perhaps a little tendency to 
 self-indulgence and the ease of the present moment. And 
 now that he has shown himself amenable, and capable of 
 listening to reason and remonstrance I mean as regards 
 his coming over here, and doing what an honourable man 
 should do it is fair to imagine that when everything hax been 
 
298 WOLFENBERG 
 
 satisfactorily settled about the marriage and so forth, all 
 will eventually go well. That will be my justification as 
 it will be my happiness. But indeed I do not see that I 
 could have acted otherwise. I have tried for the best. 
 And as it was for Amelie's sake, you may suppose I did not 
 
 spare long and anxious consideration " 
 
 Here the door opened ; and he was struck silent. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 THE "DOOMED LOOK." 
 
 ON one of these afternoons quite a number of our good 
 Orotanians had by chance come together in a certain 
 drawing-room ; and their talk was, as usual on such 
 occasions, eagerly reminiscient : a gay babbling that seemed 
 to recall widely diverse scenes swift glancing blue-black 
 seas and far rose-grey islands mysterious nights on deck, 
 with planets burning in the south spacious harbours, 
 sweltering sunshine, and encircling hills the palms and 
 pomegranates, the lizard-haunted ruins, the domes and 
 minarets of the East. In the midst of all this a momentary 
 pause occurred ; perhaps it was a mere accident, or perhaps 
 the opening of the door drew attention ; at all events the 
 next instant we knew that Mrs. Dumaresq and her daughter 
 were there, followed into the room by Paul Hitrovo, while 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit was quickly and gladly advancing to 
 bid them welcome. The young lady was no longer broken 
 down, hysterical, trembling-limbed. She came forward with 
 a sort of royal and confident air, as of old ; and after a rapid 
 glance of scrutiny directed towards these people she said 
 
 " Why this is like getting home to the ship again ! One 
 might almost expect to hear the throbbing of the screw and 
 the plash of the waves," 
 
 She was looking very well indeed ; and she was exquisitely 
 dressed. Her mother, too, seemed pleased and content. 
 Hitrovo remained modestly in the background, until the 
 two ladies had recognised their friends and acquaintances ; 
 and then he, also, in his indolent good-natured way, singled 
 out this one or that for a nod or a more respectful " How 
 do you do ? " The entrance of those three had caused a 
 
THE DOOMED LOOK 299 
 
 certain undefined constraint it was difficult to say why. 
 But our beloved Sappho came to our aid. 
 
 Sappho, when she was interrupted, had been about to tell 
 us of a remarkable scheme of hers ; and now she resumed. 
 It was a project that could only have occurred to a person 
 of powerful imagination and daring genius. She began by 
 telling us of the marvellous, the incredible wealth of Home 
 at the beginning of the fifth century the chariots made of 
 solid silver, the innumerable statues faced with plates of 
 gold, and the like. All this incalculable plunder (she said) 
 fell into the hands of Alaric and his Goths when the Sacred 
 City was sacked ; and was borne away by them when Alaric, 
 intent on the conquest of Sicily, carried his victorious arms 
 to the South. But Alaric did not conquer Sicily. Scylla 
 and Charybdis played tricks with the van of the expedition : 
 and Alaric himself died prematurely at the little town of 
 Consentia, or Cosenza, under the Calabrian hills. What 
 happened then ? His barbarian followers resolved he 
 should have a tomb that the stranger should never rifle ; 
 they turned aside the course of the stream that runs by 
 Cosenza ; in the empty channel they dug a mighty sepulchre 
 for him, which was made sumptuous by the splendour and 
 riches that Eome had yielded ; then they turned the waters 
 back into their ordinary bed; and the grave of Alaric, 
 packed with the spoils of Eome, has remained hidden until 
 this day. 
 
 And now we began to perceive what the divine one 
 meant. There was fire, inspiration, enthusiasm in her eye : 
 only a great mind could have conceived such a heroic 
 undertaking. For what those savage hordes from Scythia 
 could accomplish by means of their rude implements was 
 surely easily possible to the skill of the modern engineer ; 
 and what more simple than to divert the current of this 
 small river, to explore its bed in the neighbourhood of 
 Cosenza, to discover the secret sepulchre, and bring its 
 invaluable treasures to the light ? No mere lust of gold, 
 but the generous ardour of antiquarian research, would 
 govern and stimulate the new Argonauts. We should 
 behold the gems and jewels with which the Mistress of the 
 World adorned herself, at the time when her unbounded 
 luxury and magnificence and display brought down upon 
 
300 
 
 WOLFENBERG 
 
 her the swarming multitudes from the Elbe and the 
 Danube. And the means ? as clear as daylight ! A 
 promise of 50 per cent, of the treasure-trove a concession 
 from the Italian Government something to secure the 
 good- will of the Corporation of Cosenza and there 
 remained but to decide which Museums should chiefly 
 benefit, and which publisher should have the issuing of the 
 two large octavo volumes. 
 
 Now all this was very well ; and we were so led away by 
 Sappho's zeal and eloquence that some of us may have 
 been seriously thinking about taking shares in the 
 Neo-Argonautic Company (Limited) when unfortunately 
 an interruption occurred. There arrived another visitor ; 
 and it was the Major. The moment that Sappho caught 
 sight of her enemy, she ceased her harangue ; she rose to 
 her feet ; caught her muff to her ; briefly said good-bye to 
 one or two near her ; and then crossed the room to bid 
 farewell to her hostess, who had gone to receive the 
 newcomer. The Major was as debonair as ever. He 
 advanced smiling, bland, rubicund ; he shook hands with 
 Mrs. Threepenny-bit ; and when Sappho cut him dead 
 passing him by with an angry majesty, not to say with a 
 half audible snort of rage and contempt he only stared at 
 her, and observed : 
 
 " Dotty old thing ! " 
 
 What the phrase meant was a puzzle to most of us ; but 
 it was an inadvertent remark : it was quite certain he did 
 not mean Sappho to overhear ; and probably she did not 
 overhear. 
 
 Wolfenberg was not present on this occasion ; but he 
 came to dinner in the evening ; and listened with a grave 
 attention to what Mrs. Threepenny-bit had to tell him of 
 her visitors of the afternoon. 
 
 "Oh, yes, indeed," she went on (knowing what would 
 please him best of all), " I have never seen Amelie look 
 better, or appear to be in livelier spirits. It was quite like 
 old times when she used to be the life and soul of our 
 corner of the saloon : do you remember that dear, snug, 
 cosy table with the brilliant lights and Amelie's eyes 
 flashing with laughter and merriment ? You should have 
 seen how proud and glad her mother was to-day : for once 
 
THE "DOOMED LOOK" 301 
 
 that worn and anxious look seemed to have left her face. 
 Even the Kussian," continued this small woman, in her 
 determination to paint a roseate picture, " bestirred himself 
 a little, and was actually complaisant. You know what I 
 have always thought of him, and of his indolent air as if 
 he expected you to go up to him and entertain him. But 
 this time he really condescended to be amiable ; I heard 
 him talking to the Major about the Nice steeplechases ; 
 and he gave us a most interesting description of the 
 etiquette of a Court Ball at Vienna the Archduchess 
 Maria Theresa and the Emperor the diplomatic corps 
 the presentations all very grand. Oh, yes, it was quite 
 cheerful to see Amelie looking so well, and among such 
 happy surroundings." 
 
 He did not answer at the moment. But later on in the 
 evening, when the women-folk had gone upstairs to the 
 drawing-room, he said, in a somewhat sombre fashion 
 
 " I wish I could trust all that about Amelie. But I am 
 not sure. She has been so altered of late and so strange. 
 I am beginning to think that she suspects there was 
 something wrong about those diamonds." 
 
 He was staring into the fire his eyes full of a deep 
 concern. 
 
 "You never can tell," he said, presently. "There is 
 nothing she is not capable of, if she is spurred on to it by 
 her pride. Her high spirits of this afternoon : all that may 
 have been bravado, display ; she may have been watching 
 each one of you, to discover what you knew, or surmised. 
 I may be mistaken, of course. I hope I am. The whole 
 situation is so critical that one becomes apprehensive 
 perhaps unduly alarmed " 
 
 And then again he continued, after some seconds of silence : 
 
 " I did not tell you of a most unfortunate accident that 
 happened, when Hitrovo and I went round to Glimmer's on 
 the day of his arrival. I took the diamonds with me. 
 Naturally : they had been in my possession all the way 
 from Nice ; it never occurred to me to hand them over to 
 him. Nor would it have mattered, either, but for this 
 unlucky accident : as he and I were going upstairs to the 
 sitting-room, Amelie chanced to be coming down : and we 
 met on the landing. I shall never forget the curious, 
 
302 WOLFEN&ERG 
 
 startled look that came into her eyes when she noticed that 
 I was carrying the casket. You see, it ought to have been 
 in Hitrovo's charge ; I had forgotten that. But she said 
 nothing ; and in an instant her face was inscrutable ; she 
 has a wonderful gift that way, when there is need. And 
 yet, if she suspects that there may have been something 
 wrong something she dare not ask about something, too, 
 that she may connect with the absence of any message from 
 Hitrovo when she arrived in London consider what a 
 terrible position for a girl to be in. If she has even the 
 remotest doubt about the character of the man she has 
 pledged her life to, think what that must be to her in an 
 enforced silence ; she durst not confide in any one ; her 
 pride would not allow her to ask " 
 
 Then he seemed to try to shake off these gloomy 
 forebodings. 
 
 " No, no," he said, " I exaggerate. Mere morbid alarm. 
 Everything must come out all right because because 
 well, if she did suspect that there was something wrong 
 about the diamonds, and if she guessed that I brought them 
 back from Nice, she would naturally come to me ; and I 
 should tell her the whole story ; and show her there was 
 nothing in it nothing, that is, beyond a certain careless- 
 ness and indiscretion. That is the worst that could 
 happen ; and what is that but a trifle ? Only only, I 
 wish Colonel Dumaresq were here." 
 
 " Colonel Dumaresq ? " 
 
 ' Arnelie's uncle," he said, with some returning confi- 
 dence. " Mrs. Dumaresq telegraphed to him to come over 
 when she thought I was in Paris ; and they appear to be 
 expecting him almost hourly. Yes, that will be a great 
 relief. That will be infinitely better. For, of course, I 
 cannot advise about monetary matters ; and Hitrovo is 
 inclined to be a little urgent wanting a definite under- 
 standing at once. That is clearly a family affair; an 
 outsider like myself could hardly accept the responsibility 
 of advising Mrs. Dumaresq ; my share has been limited to 
 bringing Hitrovo along from Vienna " 
 
 "And in saving him from having a very ugly charge 
 preferred against him " 
 
 " Oh, no ; no, no," he interposed, with some anxiety. 
 
THE " DOOMED LOOK" 303 
 
 " As I say, that was a mere piece of thoughtlessness. The 
 careless fellow that he is ! But on the other hand, if he 
 shows himself sensible of the value of the prize he has won 
 if he does his best to make Amelie's life happy we may 
 well overlook small points." 
 
 On this same evening a very pretty ceremony took place. 
 When Wolfenberg went upstairs to the drawing-room he 
 carried with him a parcel he had left in the hall ; and, 
 sitting down by a small table on which was a lamp, he 
 proceeded to undo the wrapper. 
 
 " This is my sketch of you, Miss Emily ; and I want you 
 to tell me how you like the frame," he said. 
 
 But it was in the finished drawing, not in the frame, 
 that we all of us were interested ; and when the full light 
 of the lamp fell on this portrait of the Baby, it seemed to 
 us that Julian Verrinder was a very fortunate young man 
 indeed. A portrait, yes ; but something other and stranger ; 
 it was as if, in some inexplicable fashion, one had en- 
 countered this beautiful young creature in the dim and 
 vague regions of the dawn, with some mysterious message 
 in the large soft eyes, with the solitude of the cliffs around 
 her, and a murmur of lonely seas. It was a phantom, a 
 vision, full of elusive suggestion ; and yet an admirable 
 likeness as well ; it was as though our actual, substantial, 
 flesh-and-blood young damsel had come breathless and 
 wondering out of the realms of sleep dreams still hanging 
 about her the world still unfamiliar. And then, amid the 
 universal praise, Wolfenberg said 
 
 "But I have altered the destination of this bit of a 
 sketch. Mr. Julian expects to have it indeed, he com- 
 missioned it ; but I have altered all that ; I have brought 
 it along for you, Miss Emily, if you will be so kind as to 
 accept it ; it is my little wedding present for you." 
 
 The Baby's big eyes were filled with dismay. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Wolfenberg, I cannot it is too valuable 
 
 " If you think it has any value at all," said he, cheerfully, 
 " so much the better. For then you must take it and let it 
 become part of your dowry." 
 
 She hesitated, in great embarrassment. 
 
 " Em, can't you say ' Thank you ' ? " Lady Cameron put 
 in, with some touch of reproach. 
 
304 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Thereupon the tall young maiden, grateful, timid, and 
 shy beyond measure, rose and crossed the room. She held 
 out her hand. ' Thank you, Mr. Wolfenberg I ' she said. 
 And therewith, still retaining his hand for a second, she 
 stooped down and touched his cheek with her lips. It was 
 all done so naturally, spontaneously, and gracefully, that 
 there was no room for laughter or derisive comment. Not 
 in the least. The Baby had proved herself the mistress of 
 the situation. We felt that she had done the right thing, 
 at the right moment, and in the right way. Perhaps 
 Wolfenberg was a little bit abashed. But the Baby 
 modestly and quietly returned to her seat ; and we were 
 proud of her ; in a trying position she had acquitted herself 
 successfully and that without art or guile. 
 
 However, if this somewhat lonely man seemed to take a 
 curious and sympathetic interest in the fortunes of young 
 Julian Verrinder and his sweetheart (before whom the 
 world lay smiling all so pleasantly) he was at this time 
 abruptly summoned back from that kindly contemplation to 
 face the sterner aspects of life. Colonel Dumaresq came 
 over from Florida. He was a tall, meagre, larged-boned 
 man, with a retreating forehead, a heavy jaw, and cold, 
 clear scrutinising eyes. Moreover, as we speedily learned, 
 he had a short and summary way of dealing with* things ; 
 and his opinions were definite. It was after the briefest 
 inquiry, and after an equally brief interview with Paul 
 Hitrovo, that he formulated his conclusions ; and although 
 we had nothing to do with these having no wish to inter- 
 meddle in a family imbroglio he announced them to us all 
 the same. The first was to the effect that his sister-in-law 
 was a fool : in fact, when there were no women present, 
 he qualified the noun with an adjective. Hitrovo he declared 
 to be an idle, impudent, worthless fortune-hunter. And he 
 maintained that the only way to cure Amelie Dumaresq 
 of her mad infatuation was to expose ruthlessly before 
 her eyes the true character of the man she had chosen for 
 her husband. There was no kind of doubt or hesitation in 
 the mind of this tall ex-soldier. He was for prompt measures. 
 He said he had come over just in time. 
 
 Wolfenberg listened to all this with an ever-increasing 
 alarm. He begged and implored that nothing rash should 
 
THE "DOOMED LOOK* 305 
 
 be done ; urged palliations and excuses for Hitrovo 
 described his position his upbringing the necessity of an 
 establishment ; and insisted on the improbability of Amelie 
 having been so entirely deceived. 
 
 " He may be selfish and idle and inconsiderate yes ; 
 but men are not perfect," he went on. " And Amelie has 
 toleration. She is not a romantic schoolgirl. She may 
 perceive certain defects without believing him to be 
 nothing but a mere mercenary adventurer. And how can 
 you tell ? How can you judge of his character ? 
 
 " How can I tell ? " the other repeated. " Well, I go 
 by what a man says to me about himself when there's no 
 better authority. And if a young fellow who is none so 
 young either if he coolly informs you of the price he puts 
 on himself as consideration for marrying a girl you can 
 size him up pretty straight. It is frankness on his part, 
 that is ; it is a kind of frankness that seems to suggest 
 some one's being kicked out of the house. That is how it 
 presents itself to my mind." 
 
 " Colonel Dumaresq, for Amelie's sake, be careful what 
 you do ! " Wolfenberg pleaded again earnestly. " It is the 
 great crisis of her life. You may do irreparable harm. If 
 you quarrel with this young man, he may go away and leave 
 her altogether " 
 
 " Which I think is about the best thing he could do," 
 observed the soldier, calmly. 
 
 " What ! " Wolfenberg exclaimed. " Have you con- 
 sidered what that would mean to a proud and sensitive girl 
 like Amelie ? " 
 
 " Mr. Wolfenberg," said Colonel Dumaresq, with an odd 
 sort of smile, "you seem very anxious to see Amelie 
 married." 
 
 Wolfenberg looked startled and there was some flush of 
 colour in his pale and thoughtful face. 
 
 " And yet she used to write to me a great deal about you 
 and her chivalrous scheme of a life-companionship 
 working together and scorning matrimonial ties. I hope 
 it is not because you have abandoned these fine schemes 
 that she has been left to take up with this worthless 
 scamp " 
 
 " Oh, no ; oh, I think not," Wolfenberg said, hurriedly. 
 
 x 
 
3 o6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 And then he added : " Amelie knows that I myself, and my 
 ways of life, and anything and everything I can command- 
 all are at her service, always." 
 
 " Yes, I honestly believe that," was the response uttered 
 in no unkindly fashion. "And I am afraid you have been 
 only too good to her. A little firmer treatment may be 
 needed to bring her to her senses." 
 
 " Take care take care," was "Wolfenberg's final word of 
 warning on this occasion. "It is a beautiful rich life you 
 have to deal with a life with splendid possibilities and 
 surely happiness in marriage should be one of these ; but a 
 single false step might be fatal. If you were to bring 
 calamity instead of succour, if you were to give sorrow 
 instead of joy, could you ever forgive yourself ? " 
 
 This was the last we saw of Colonel Dumaresq for a day 
 or two ; but through Wolfenburg we heard what was going 
 on. Negotiations for a marriage settlement were supposed 
 to be proceeding ; but they were strange negotiations with 
 Hitrovo, on the one side, remaining obdurate and coldly 
 indifferent, and with Colonel Dumaresq, on the other side, 
 mainly concerned in procuring evidence to convince Amelie 
 of the utterly selfish and venal nature of the man to whom 
 she had linked herself. 
 
 " And he is succeeding," Wolfenberg said to us one night. 
 " Do you remember the look on her face when she arrived 
 at Tilbury and found that Hitrovo had failed to keep his 
 appointment ? It was a doomed look, as I thought ; and 
 she has worn it, more or less, ever since though she 
 imagines her mask is impenetrable. I am certain that she 
 suspects there was something wrong about the diamonds ; 
 perhaps she may even guess that I had some difficulty in 
 persuading Hitrovo to come to London. And yet none the 
 less her courage remains wonderful. Every day the perfectly 
 callous and despicable character of this man is becoming 
 clearer and clearer yes, I will confess it it is no use 
 blinding one's-self to facts I defend him no more I make 
 no more excuses I have given up all desire to smooth 
 things over ; and yet even now she laughs, and talks of a 
 conspiracy on the part of her relatives to drive away her 
 lover because he has the misfortune to be poor. But she 
 sees what he is and there is despair at her heart." 
 
THE "DOOMED LOOK" 307 
 
 He sate for a minute or two in profound reverie : then he 
 said 
 
 " And to think that this should have come to Amelie of 
 all the people in the world. Do you remember her as you 
 first saw her ? " 
 
 Indeed we did : we could recall the gay and imperious 
 creature, splendidly gifted, brimful of laughter, vitality, 
 happiness the kind of creature to bid the Fates stand aside 
 from her path of enjoyment and triumph. And had we not 
 noticed, also, the successive steps, subtle and stealthy, by 
 which she had been overtaken ? until this was the end : a, 
 woman haggard-eyed, with a ' doomed look ' on her face 
 her lover false her friends not daring to offer sympathy, 
 because of her fierce pride. 
 
 And yet we were not prepared for the news that reached 
 us a couple of days thereafter. Our women-folk, happening 
 to be in the neighbourhood of Glimmer's hotel, called on the 
 Dumaresqs ; and were shown upstairs. Buti t was Wolf en- 
 berg who came down to the sitting-room ; and he seemed 
 agitated. 
 
 "There has been an accident," he said, quickly, " to 
 Amelie ; and Mrs. Dumaresq wishes me to explain. Oh, 
 nothing very serious we hope not the doctors say it rarely 
 happens that any ill effects remain, if remedies have been 
 applied promptly and in Amelie's case they were im- 
 mediately after the accident 
 
 He paused for a second, to collect himself. 
 
 " You see, Hitrovo left England for good the day before 
 yesterday ; and no doubt Amelie was a little upset ; and 
 and she may have thought a little opium would procure 
 sleep for her : then it is so easy to take an over-dose so 
 simple and ordinary a mistake. But she is all right now 
 though it was serious at first they sent for me at three 
 o'clock this morning, at the same time that they sent for 
 the doctor ; and for several hours one hardly knew what to 
 fear. But now oh, yes, she is steadily improving and 
 there won't be any after-effects, the doctors think except 
 that she will be a little more careful in the future to guard 
 against such an accident. Mrs. Dumaresq asks if you would 
 care to go up and say a word to Amelie and cheer 
 
 her " 
 
 X 2 
 
308 WOLFENBERG 
 
 But the two callers naturally and properly excused them- 
 selves ; left many messages ; and came away. For a space 
 as one afterwards heard they walked in silence. Then 
 said Mrs. Threepenny-bit to her companion : 
 
 " Poor Amelie ! You can guess what has happened, 
 Peggy and the tragic pity of it. For with all her gifts and 
 graces, and her audacity, and nerve, and courage, it has 
 always seemed to me that she was at bottom little else than 
 an impetuous and ungovernable spoilt child ; and now, I 
 suppose, the moment she found that life was not altogether 
 what she hoped and wished, she spurned it, and would have 
 thrown it away. And "Wolfenberg : he must understand : 
 think what his position must be ! I am glad the room 
 was in twilight I should not have cared to meet his 
 eyes." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE YOUNG BRIDE. 
 
 MIDNIGHT : the house asleep and still : only one room 
 downstairs remaining occupied. There comes a knocking at 
 the outer door no ringing of the bell, nor yet any loud 
 alarum, but a gentle tapping with the back of the hand. - 
 And when one goes along to discover what this can mean, it 
 is Wolfenberg who is found to be without, 
 
 " I saw the light ; and guessed you were not in bed. May 
 I come in. for a few minutes ? " 
 
 There was something strange about his manner ; his face 
 was drawn and pale ; his eyes had a sort of blind look in 
 them. And when he entered the room, and sate down, he 
 seemed to be hardly aware of his surroundings. 
 
 " I hope you won't mind," he said, in a low voice a voice 
 that was also curiously impassive. " I have been walking 
 about the streets until I saw your windows and then I 
 thought I should like to speak to you." 
 
 " Yes : and how is Amelie ? " 
 
 " Amelie ? " he repeated, as if thinking of some one 
 remote. " Amelie is well. She is dead." 
 
 He spoke coldly and collectedly. One could only stare at 
 this man who appeared to be labouring under some kind of 
 
THE VOUNG BRIDE 309 
 
 paralysis as though he had been deprived of perception 
 and feeling by some overwhelming blow. 
 
 " Two hours ago," he said. " Two hours ago she went 
 away : leaving the world what it has become. What it has 
 become what it holds now with her gone out of it : I 
 
 cannot face that yet. For two hours " He shivered 
 
 slightly as he spoke ; though the night was not cold " For 
 these two hours I have been trying to understand ; but the 
 difference will come to us gradually, day by day, I suppose. 
 At first at first there is only darkness and bewilderment. 
 For a while I stayed with her mother but since then I 
 have been going through the streets until I saw the light 
 in your windows I thought you would not mind if I came 
 in for a few moments." 
 
 He spoke quite humbly. He seemed somehow dazed. 
 One could only ask him questions to keep him talking : 
 that promised most relief. 
 
 " A little more than two hours ago," he said and then he 
 paused as if to recall the scene "she was laughing and 
 chatting or trying to laugh and chat. That was her won- 
 derful courage to the very end. She was determined to 
 hide from her mother and her uncle what she had suffered 
 over Hitrovo's going ; she would have them believe that the 
 over-dose of opium had been a pure accident ; so she went on 
 talking in this way pretending she was anxious to take up 
 her painting again speaking, as well as she could speak, of 
 going back to the Atelier Didron. Her fortitude, her pluck, 
 was wonderful when you knew how she was situated what 
 she had endured what she was enduring. There never was 
 a girl as brave as that girl with a dagger in her heart all 
 the time. Do you know this," said he, looking up with the 
 strangest pitifulness in his eyes, " that she asked for Kubin- 
 stein's song, ' Gelb rollt mir zu Fiissen ' I knew why it 
 was to show she could mention Hitrovo's name without a 
 trace of emotion. And I began to think that such courage, 
 such inflexible courage, might even yet carry her through 
 the years of her life, and sustain her, and patch up some 
 kind of a future for her. But the Fates are merciless 
 merciless." 
 
 He hung his head again. 
 
 " Two hours ago," he went on, in slow and sombre tones, 
 
3IO WOLFENBERG 
 
 as if he were thinking aloud, "and there was still that 
 possibility. Amelie was alive and with us there was a 
 future perhaps some little making up for what she had 
 suffered in the past. And then she was lying propped up 
 and warm in bed and we had no thought of any danger 
 it was about the Atelier Didron she was talking from 
 time to time and then then, of a sudden, there was a 
 look of fright in her eyes she gasped out ' Ernest ! 
 Ernest ! ' she put her hand quickly to her heart and 
 sank back on the pillow : it was all over even before her 
 mother could catch her in her arms. I hardly know what 
 happened after. But by and by I got away. The mother 
 was frantic I could do nothing. I left the uncle with 
 her. I have been wandering through the empty streets 
 anywhere. I do not understand it yet Amelie away 
 from us. It is to-morrow to-morrow that I fear. But 
 Amelie has nothing more to fear now. She never did fear 
 anything." 
 
 There was in this stunned and almost apathetic im- 
 passivity something more terrible than any outcry of sharp 
 anguish. Then he rose to go with further and humble 
 apologies for intrusion, as if these were needed. But he 
 was easily persuaded to remain : he appeared to have no 
 volition to have become a mere wreck of himself, drifting 
 he knew not, and cared not, whither. Presently he took 
 an envelope from his pocket. 
 
 " I do not know what your English law demands," he 
 said, in a hopeless kind of way. "This was her last 
 message to me not to-night she must have written it last 
 night before before what her mother still thinks was an 
 accident. I found it waiting on the hall-table when they 
 sent for me at three o'clock this morning, though I did not 
 open it for hours after : we were too much alarmed about 
 Amelie's condition. Perhaps you ought to read it. There 
 are no secrets in it other than what you know or must 
 have guessed." 
 
 In ajnechanical sort of fashion he handed over the sheets 
 of paper ; and then returned to his seat, allowing his head 
 to sink between his shoulders, his eyes staring blankly 
 before him, apparently without observation. He seemed 
 hardly to know where he was, indeed. The appalling 
 
THE YOUNG BRIDE 311 
 
 suddenness of the blow had entirely crushed and prostrated 
 him ; he had had no time as yet to collect his faculties ; so 
 far as he could think, he was thinking back the visions of 
 many years before his gaze, ending with that tragic scene 
 he had but so lately quitted. And further than that, on- 
 ward, he appeared unable to go ; he had turned shudder- 
 ingly from a contemplation of the coming day, and all it 
 might mean. 
 
 This was a long letter, written hastily, but not (judging 
 by the ink) consecutively. Perhaps she had been inter- 
 rupted : perhaps new ideas had occurred to her that she 
 was forced to add. Thus it ran : 
 
 " My best, and dearest, and truest of friends, I am now 
 bidding you farewell : this is my last message to you. 
 Whether it a farewell for ever, or only ' until the dawn 
 comes,' who can say ? You never seemed to care to speak 
 of such matters : I suppose you considered them too high 
 and terrible to be talked about ; I could see that you let 
 the conventionalities of ordinary speech go by unquestioned. 
 And perhaps that was the wiser way ; if people could 
 realise the mysteries surrounding life, life itself would be- 
 come impossible ; an unimaginative world has got to work. 
 But now that I am face to face with these problems, I have 
 no fear : instead of looking forward, and questioning, I am 
 looking back to you, Ernest. And if you were here now, 
 I would go down on my knees before you, and stretch up 
 my hands to you, and beg for your forgiveness. Oh, I 
 know what you would say out of your boundless generosity 
 and self-forgetfulness ; but I know also what I have done 
 I see it more and more clearly, now that I am leaving 
 you. I can see how miserably I have failed what a traitor 
 I have been how easily I was led away. A traitor yes ! 
 for the pledges were given, though they were not always 
 declared. There was to be consolation and companionship ; 
 you were to be my more than brother my twin soul ; and 
 long years were to prove that our alliance, in affection, in 
 pursuits, in living our lives together, had only grown more 
 
 simply natural and more assured. And then But I 
 
 cannot write down my own shame. It has brought its own 
 punishment with it a punishment far more bitter than 
 any one has been allowed to know. Can you believe it, 
 
312 
 
 WOLFENBERG 
 
 Ernest, that in talking to my uncle he dared to use the 
 word compromised about me / was compromised and 
 therefore they were bound to accede to his demands. Oh, 
 the shame of it ! the shame of it ! Well, it is of little 
 consequence now ; pride must go now ; and vanity ; and 
 all the old desire of figuring in exhibitions ; and every 
 other desire save that of making some reparation to you : 
 that must remain with me to the end, however hopeless it 
 may be. Too late too late. 
 
 " And yet, if there is consciousness after death, I should 
 like to know that you had forgiven me. Some night, if 
 you were to say aloud ' Poor Amelie ! her life went all 
 wrong somehow ; but she tried to be my friend before the 
 wreck and ruin came ' then perhaps I should hear. And 
 if there is this possibility, I shall not have long to wait ; I 
 know that ; you never did refuse me anything. Now when 
 it is too late my eyes are opened. Good friend, true friend: 
 I wonder if there ever was in the world a man so self- 
 sacrificing as you, so self -forgetful as you, so unswerving in 
 affection, through many changes. Do you think I have 
 not understood all you have done and were trying to do for 
 me in this later time about the diamonds and your 
 bringing him back from Vienna refusing to believe what 
 you would rather not believe hoping against hope work- 
 ing, contriving, making excuses, as long as there remained 
 a single chance. And so it was from the very beginning of 
 our friendship. For me everything ; for you nothing ; 
 every thought for me not one turned towards yourself. 
 And what a requital ! more shame and shame heaped 
 upon my head But it is not you, Ernest, who will point 
 the finger of reproach ah, not you ! not you ! I cannot 
 write more. My uncle will look after mother. If they 
 only knew the agony I have suffered in pretending not to 
 suffer the agony of this affectation of indifference or 
 cheerfulness, when there was nothing but despair in my 
 heart they would not ask me to endure it longer they 
 could not be so inhuman as to ask me to endure it longer. 
 So farewell, Ernest. Good friend, dear friend, good-bye ! 
 My last thought is of you. 
 
 " Your repentant and heart-broken Amelie." 
 
 Just as mechanically as he had handed over these two 
 
THE YOUNG BRIDE 313 
 
 sheets he received them back again ; and then he went to 
 the fire, and put them on the coals, and watched them 
 burn. 
 
 "I do not know what jour English law demands," he 
 repeated ; " but I think I am doing right. I do not 
 suppose there will be any inquhy : the doctor says her 
 death was due to sudden failure of the action of the heart. 
 It is a good phrase. The heart may well cease to act 
 when it is broken." 
 
 And then he came back ; and in a more excited, and 
 even half -demented way, he said 
 
 " Can you imagine it can you imagine it ! to happen 
 to Amelie ! You remember her. You saw her for a while. 
 You saw how brilliant she was how active and eager and 
 resolute how full of a gay enjoyment of life. You 
 remember how her presence her strong vitality was felt, 
 without an atom of assertion on her part : it was the 
 fascination of one who was so abounding in gifts, whose 
 future interested and attracted, because of its splendid 
 possibilities. And now think of her : in that room. 
 But it is the old, old story. This one and that, here and 
 there, seems marked out. The Fates are remorseless- 
 remorseless. The overtaking steps may be slow or swift, 
 but they are sure. Yet why should she have been singled 
 out ? why not some castaway like myself ? if there were 
 such a thing as substitution, that would have been a joy to 
 me the welcomest fate that ever man met. If only 
 Amelie could have been left, with something like happiness. 
 But it was too late for that, I suppose. Her life was all 
 broken. There was an end to the possibilities of the 
 future. And now now she is at peace." 
 
 And then again he returned to his seat ; and went on 
 talking of bygone days seeing in pictures, as it were, and 
 always with her as the central figure. The half-hours 
 passed. He did not notice that in the thinner portions of 
 the festooned blinds the yellow glow of the lamps was 
 being encountered and checked by the grey light without. 
 
 " Why do you ask of my plans ? " he said, incidentally, 
 amid this rambling and half -distracted monologue. " AY hat 
 do I care ? But forgetfulness is a desirable thing. 
 Perhaps it is of all things the most desirable. What 
 
3 i4 WOLFENBERG 
 
 greater good is there than health ? and that means 
 forgetfulness. When your body is in perfect working 
 order, you forget that you have a body ; when your brain 
 is sound and well, you are not conscious of any process of 
 thinking. It is only pain that attracts attention to this or 
 that limb, to this or that function. And were I to aim at 
 forgetfulness at forgetfulness of bygone grief I know 
 where I should seek it : I should seek it in looking at the 
 big, wide things of the world the ocean, the sky, the 
 distant coast-lines. These are the soothing things ; they 
 seem to say that forgetfulness will come soon enough to 
 all of us." 
 
 The light in the windows grew so that the lamps were 
 paler. But he did not heed. Presently he said 
 
 " I have heard you speak of your greater project. And 
 there is a kind of fascination in the idea of sailing round 
 the world, with glimpses of the land only at long intervals. 
 Lady Cameron said she was sure she could induce her 
 husband to go. And that beautiful young creature, her 
 sister she will be a bride then : to see her and her young 
 husband together -to be merely a spectator of the 
 happiness shining in those soft eyes of hers that ought to 
 be something. You will have a pleasant party light- 
 hearted merry : you would not care of course you 
 would not care to have tacked on to you a kill- joy a 
 castaway one of fortune's unfavourites " 
 
 Was it necessary to assure him how he would be 
 welcomed and with what discretion of silence by that 
 small company of intending voyagers ? 
 
 " The big elemental things of the world," he continued, 
 in an absent way, " bring peace : the sea the sky the 
 distant shores. And I do not think you need fear much ; 
 I should try not to be a kill-joy ; one would not bring 
 sorrows and griefs to scatter in the pathway of a young 
 bride. Oh, no, no, no ; Mrs. Julian she will be Mrs. 
 Julian then need not be afraid. It is laughter and 
 smiles that should accompany a young bride ; and I should 
 I should try to remember that if I were allowed to go 
 with you " 
 
 Of a sudden his eyes were attracted to the windows : 
 they were white now : the new day was here. And for a 
 
THE YOUNG BRIDE 315 
 
 second he seemed to shrink away in dread as if the world 
 outside were filled with terrible things, that had once again 
 to be encountered. But this man had courage, too. His 
 eyes might be wistful and given to dreams ; the lines of 
 his mouth told of a sufficient firmness should the occasion 
 demand. He rose ; made some needless and needlessly 
 humble apologies ; and proceeded to take his leave. When 
 the door was opened the empty world without was filled 
 with light a light not more wan and pallid than the face 
 that now confronted it. Then he disappeared ; and the 
 grey pavements were silent once more. 
 
 And thus it was (so strangely intertwisted are the strands 
 of human existence the shimmering gold of anticipation 
 and desire ; the blackness of bereavement and despair ; the 
 tragic loneliness and sorrows of age ; youth's rose-hued 
 hopes and eager ambitions so strangely complex is the 
 warp and woof of that surrounding mystery to which men 
 have given the name of life, but of which they know so 
 little) thus it was that a few months thereafter a sufficiently 
 vivacious and light-hearted set of folk once again stood 
 upon the decks of a great steamer, as she was about to set 
 out, by long ocean-stages, to girdle the world. Here was 
 our beloved Peggy, serene, radiant, good-humoured ; 
 rather regretting that she had not the Major to fetch and 
 carry for her ; but perhaps content to do without Sappho 
 and her unnumbered agonies and woes. Here, also, was 
 Cameron of Inverfask, grumbling a little that he should be 
 dragged away to hot climates again, when he had been 
 looking forward to throwing a " Childers " or a " Thunder- 
 and-lightning " over the dark, oily, tea-brown pools, amicl 
 the silver gleams and purple glooms of the wild March 
 weather, under the hanging birch-woods, where the black- 
 cock sends forth his challenge from among the withered 
 and russet bracken, and the thrush, in the quiet of the 
 evening, sings loud and clear from his solitary bough. 
 Here, also, was Julian Verrinder, out of his mind with 
 pride over his most recent and most rare and precious 
 acquisition ; but nevertheless professing the habits and 
 customs of an experienced husband by keeping away from 
 
3 i6 WOLFENBERG 
 
 his wife and almost ostentatiously leaving her to other 
 people. And here was the tall, shy young thing herself 
 none the less bashful because of all her blushing honours 
 so grateful for any notice taken of her so desperately 
 anxious to make a friendly impression with her large, 
 pleading eyes. Then there was our Mrs. Threepenny-bit 
 alert animated ubiquitous swift of direction petulant 
 domineering and just daft with delight over this 
 setting forth. She was quite impatient to have the last of 
 the strangers sent away ashore. 
 
 There was another figure here, distinct, though not 
 apart. It was Wolfenberg. His hair had become quite 
 white during these intervening months. But there was 
 nothing of the whiner nothing of the self-pityer that 
 most contemptible of all God's creatures about this man. 
 He could still hold a resolute front ; fearing no dint or 
 fortune that might befall ; ready to ' take the world for 
 his pillow,' like another. Nay, at this moment, when our 
 women-folk were naturally a little nervous and excited over 
 the setting out on so long a voyage, he was endeavouring 
 to calm them, to distract their attention, by talking- 
 deliberate nonsense to them. Absolute nonsense grave 
 absurdities apropos of nothing in the whole wide universe ; 
 but Peggy had to listen ; and so much was gained. She 
 was being assured that of all existing professions, trades, 
 and employments, that of the tailor was the noblest ; 
 " because," said he, " man is the only animal born into the 
 world without a proper protection against the climate ; and 
 the tailor steps in to provide what Providence forgot." 
 Again she was being reminded how curiously habits survive 
 how paupers in a workhouse, when they become perfectly 
 desperate, rend their garments just as the Jews of old used 
 to do. And then again 
 
 " Clear away that gangway ! " was called from above. 
 
 "Whereupon Wolfenberg turned to the Baby, who had 
 been listening in her quiet, respectful, modest way ; and he 
 made bold to place his hand within her arm. 
 
 " Mrs. Julian," he said, " I have a great favour to ask 
 of you. We shall be going down directly to have our 
 places at table arranged. Now will you let me sit next 
 you ? You see, your husband cannot be allowed to 
 
THE YOUNG BRIDE 317 
 
 monopolise you altogether ; he must sit opposite you, 
 where he can look at you as much as he pleases ; but if 
 you would let me have the seat next yours 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Wolfenberg." said the poor Baby, " you 
 wouldn't care to talk to me ! " 
 
 " What's that what's that ? " he said, good-naturedly. 
 " Why, you don't seem to have any idea of your own 
 importance I Don't you know that you are the most 
 important personage on board this ship ? Don't you know 
 that a young bride brings luck ? And what is more, Mrs. 
 Julian, I'm going to ask you, not only to ' lend me your 
 ears,' but also to lend me your eyes all through this 
 voyage." 
 
 She glanced at him inquiringly. 
 
 " Yes, I am going to try to see things as you must see 
 them," he went on ; " and then everything will be new and 
 fresh and wonderful. Youth and Happiness ought to make 
 a fine pair of rose-coloured spectacles ; and you must lend 
 me a little of the magic " 
 
 The screw began to revolve ; it was a sound that sent a 
 thrill of anticipation through many a heart. He turned 
 again to the beautiful and gentle young creature who stood 
 by his side and who had made no kind of effort to remove 
 his hand from her arm. 
 
 "We are off now," he said to her, cheerfully enough. 
 And then he added, in his grave and kindly fashion : 
 " And where do you think a young bride should be bound 
 for if not for the Cape of Good Hope ? " 
 
 THE END. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
The following is a complete list of the new Half-Croivn Edition 
 of MR. BLACK'S Novels. 
 
 A Daughter of Heth. 
 
 The Strange Adventures of a 
 
 Phaeton. 
 
 A Princess of Thule. 
 In Silk Attire. 
 Kilmeny. 
 Madcap Violet. 
 Three Feathers. 
 The Maid of Killeena. 
 Green Pastures and Piccadilly 
 Macleod of Dare. 
 Lady Silverdale's Sweetheart. 
 White Wings. 
 Sunrise. 
 
 The Beautiful Wretch. 
 Shandon Bells. 
 Adventures in Thule. 
 
 Yolande. 
 
 Judith Shakespeare. 
 
 The Wise Women of Inverness. 
 
 White Heather. 
 
 Sabina Zembra. 
 
 The Strange Adventures of a 
 
 House Boat. 
 In Far Lochaber. 
 The Penance of John Logan. 
 Prince Fortunatus. 
 Stand Fast, Craig Royston ! 
 Donald Ross of Heimra. 
 Handsome Humes. 
 Magic Ink. 
 Wolfenberg. 
 Highland Cousins. 
 Briseis. 
 
 LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, LIMITED, 
 ST. DUNSTAN'S HOUSE, FETTER LANE. 
 
U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 25,3233