SCAMP.
 
 SCAMP. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. SALE LLOYD, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 " SHADOWS OF THE PAST," "RUTH EVERINGHAM," 
 
 WE COSTELIONS," "THE SILENT SHADOW," "GOLD AND SILVER, 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 F. V. WHITE & CO., 
 31 SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. 
 
 1887. 
 
 [All Rights reserved.]
 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 COLSTON AND COMPANY 
 
 PRINTERS.
 
 r?r-:4«',^ae^(fe^^ 
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 "■J 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 .IV 
 
 HAP. 
 I. 
 
 "Scamp/' 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 PAOE 
 
 1 
 
 II. 
 
 "Friknds," . 
 
 
 13 
 
 III. 
 
 Lord Carruthers' Offer, . 
 
 
 46 
 
 IV. 
 
 " I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN," . 
 
 
 73 
 
 V. 
 
 A Disappointing Meeting, . 
 
 
 95 
 
 VI. 
 
 In the Gloaming, . 
 
 
 118 
 
 VII. 
 
 "Can You not trust Me i" 
 
 
 149 
 
 an. 
 
 Adela's Request, 
 
 
 170 
 
 IX. 
 
 " What a Peacemaker You are ! '"' 
 
 202 
 
 X. 
 
 In the Lions Den, . 
 
 219 
 
 
 
 ^msm^ 
 
 

 
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 THESE PAGES 
 
 ARE DEDICATED, 
 
 WITH BEST WISHES, 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 SCAMP. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 " SCA MP." 
 
 C A ;M P ! Scamp ! where are 
 you?" cried a pleasant, manly 
 voice ; but there was not the 
 faintest response, for " Scamp," other- 
 wise Adela Thorndyke, was deep in a 
 sensational novel, and had no mind to 
 be disturbed, even by her father. 
 
 *' Thomas, what has become of Miss 
 Adela ? " he asked of the old gardener, 
 who had lived at the Rectory with him 
 before Adela was born. 
 
 VOL. I. A
 
 2 Scamp. 
 
 A white hand parted the leaves of 
 an ancient walnut tree, and a dainty 
 index finger was shaken at the factotum 
 warningly, even menacingly ; but the 
 Rector of Winsthorpe was not a man 
 to be trifled with, except by one person, 
 his daughter Scamp, his one and only, 
 and it must be added, spoilt child ; 
 and although Thomas saw the warning 
 hand, he dared not say he did not 
 know where the young lady was. 
 
 He pushed back his hat, and screwed 
 up his mouth gravely, and raised his 
 honest eyes to his master's face. 
 
 "Miss Ad'la's somewhere about, sir," 
 lie said. " Maybe she won't be long." 
 
 " Come, no prevarication, Thomas ; 
 you know where she is ! " and the keen 
 grey orbs of the clergyman, who had 
 once been an ofiicer, fixed upon him 
 relentlessly. 
 
 ** Maybe, sir," he returned reluctantly ;
 
 '' Scamp y 3 
 
 " but, you see, Miss Ad'la has ears, and 
 if she wanted to come — " 
 
 " I believe you have let her go up 
 that tree again," said the Kector hotly. 
 
 " Me let her I " answered the old man, 
 in helpless bewilderment. " Lor', sir, 
 how could / ever stop Miss x\d'la ? " and 
 he laughed an amused chuckle. 
 
 A middle-aged lady here joined the 
 Kector, walking by the side of a tall, 
 aristocratic-looking man of some five-and- 
 thirty years of age, whose hair was dark 
 and close cropped, his features fine and 
 well-chiselled, while his soft brown 
 moustache could not hide the sweet 
 grave mouth ; his eyes were large and 
 hazel in hue, black-lashed, and earnest 
 in expression. 
 
 " My dear," said the Rector irritably, 
 " I believe Adela to be up in that tree, 
 and I have said I won't have it, over 
 and over again. One of these days
 
 4 Scamp. 
 
 she'll break her neck, and who would 
 have thought it ? It was easier to 
 keep a whole regiment ia order than 
 that slip of a girl. Thomas, is Miss 
 Adela up there or no ? " 
 
 The hand became doubly animated 
 among the green leaves, and a pair of 
 hazel eyes were fixed upon it, while a 
 smile parted the grave lips. 
 
 " Well, she be," replied the old man 
 regretfully. "I can't tell you an un- 
 truth, master." 
 
 " Oh, you sneak ! " cried a bright, 
 mellow, girlish voice, and the yellow 
 paper-covered novel came whirling at the 
 old man's head. 
 
 The gardener ducked, and the book 
 hit Mr Thorndyke upon the shoulder. 
 
 " A novel, too, I vow ! " he exclaimed 
 angrily. " I will not allow Adela to read 
 novels ; she is too young to have her head 
 filled with rubbish. Mamma, it is for you
 
 ''Scamp'' 5 
 
 to see that such books do not get in her 
 way," and he handed it to his wife. 
 
 " But really, Edward, I know nothing 
 about it. This volume is not ours ! " 
 said Mrs Thorndyke, somewhat help- 
 lessly, looking at it the while. 
 
 " Well, give it to me then, and I'll 
 find out to whom it does belong, and 
 they shall have a spice of my mind 
 upon the subject," and he began to turn 
 the leaves over with a quick hand. 
 
 A sudden commotion was heard in 
 the tree, and the leaves commenced 
 to quiver, the boughs to shake, and a 
 bright espiegle face peeped out from the 
 branches. 
 
 *' Let me have it back, dad ! " said 
 Adela coaxingly. '* I know you will, 
 for you are such a dear old pet, and 
 never refuse me anything." 
 
 " Nothing that is for your good, 
 Scamp," ' he replied, the clouds passing
 
 6 Scamp. 
 
 from his brow, and then he turned, 
 with a smile, to his friend. 
 
 *' Did you ever know such a little 
 witch ? " he laughed. " Ah ! Egerton, 
 you're lucky not to have a daughter 
 like Scamp to worry you." 
 
 *' If that is Scamp I don't think I 
 should object," said Captain Egerton, 
 his eyes fixed on the beautiful, animated 
 face framed in the tender green of the 
 walnut leaves. 
 
 A golden brown, curly head, which 
 the sun had caught and turned to 
 burnished gold, a pair of laughing blue 
 eyes, set in dark, curved lashes, with 
 a look of defiance in them. Two 
 coral-red cupidon lips, and a row of 
 pearl-like teeth — a fair, white skin, flecked 
 with a golden freckle, and cheeks which 
 glowed with health and strength. 
 
 " Did you ever see such a witch ? " 
 repeated her father, looking at her with
 
 ''Scamp!' 7 
 
 loving pride. " Adela, whose book is 
 this ? I mean to know ! " 
 
 When Mr Thorndyke called her Adela, 
 she knew he meant to try and be firm 
 with her, and that there would be the 
 semblance of a battle between them, and 
 she made a mutinous moue. 
 
 Then the remembrance came to her 
 that there was a name on one of the 
 first pages of the book, and she de- 
 termined that her father should not 
 see it. 
 
 The lovely vision vanished, and a 
 violent scrambling took place among the 
 verdant leaves, and in a few moments 
 the girl swung herself down with a 
 graceful movement and marvellous agility, 
 and descended upon the Rector with 
 outstretched arms, which she threw 
 around his neck, and kissed him on 
 cheeks and brow ; then, as if purely by 
 accident, she took the book from his
 
 8 Scamp. 
 
 hand, and he never saw that he was 
 vanquished. 
 
 Mrs Thorndyke recognised the fact, and 
 smiled, for thus the battles generally ended 
 between her husband and daughter. 
 
 " Egerton," he said, " let me intro- 
 duce you to my girl," and turning to 
 her, he added, '' you have often heard 
 me speak of Captain Egerton, Scamp, 
 have you not ? " 
 
 "Often," she answered; ''but I ex- 
 pected to see an old fellow like — " and 
 she hesitated and blushed. 
 
 *' Like me, eh ? " laughed Mr Thorn- 
 dyke. " You see she is truthful, if not 
 polite, Egerton.'' 
 
 *' I would rather see it so than the 
 other way. And so, Miss Scamp, you 
 have heard of me ? and I have very, very 
 often heard of you; so we must be friends." 
 
 " Must we ? " she asked, studying his 
 face. " I shall like that.'
 
 '' Scamp y 9 
 
 " Forward young puss," said her father, 
 pulling her hair. 
 
 " Not forward, Thorndyke. honest ; and 
 now, young lady," he added, " are you 
 not oroins: to shake hands ? " 
 
 •' No, I w^asn't, because mine are all 
 dirty from climbing the tree," she laughed. 
 
 " I rather like clean dirt," he said, 
 joining in her merriment. 
 
 " Now, look here, Adela," began her 
 father sternly, "you are too old for 
 tree-climbing, and I w^on't have it ! " 
 
 " Too old to climb trees, and too 
 younor to read books ! " she exclaimed 
 piteously. " Why, dad, where is my 
 fun to come in ? " 
 
 "Bless me, child, are there not plenty 
 of other things to do ? " 
 
 " Nothing but riding Peggy barebacked, 
 and you say I am too old for that ; in 
 fact, I am either too old or too young 
 for everything I care to do ! "
 
 I o Scamp. 
 
 " Why, Dela, there's tennis, and bad- 
 minton, and bowls, and you may ride 
 on Peggy as often as you like, 
 with a saddle, and read the books your 
 father chooses for you, and sit in the 
 tent, or under the verandah. There, are 
 plenty of things to amuse you, dear 
 child ! " said Mrs Thorndyke. 
 
 " Tennis is too tiring, unless you have 
 some one to pick up the balls," she re- 
 turned, shaking her bright head. " There's 
 always too much wind for badminton — the 
 shuttlecocks worry you to death. I don't 
 care for bowls ; it makes your back ache. 
 I hate riding Avith a saddle ; it's too tame, 
 you might as well sit in an arm-chair 
 at home. As for books of dad's choos- 
 ing," she shrugged her well - shaped 
 shoulders with an expressive gesture, 
 **the less we say about them the better. 
 As for the tent, it's stifling, and the 
 verandah is so draughty it gives you
 
 "'Scampr ir 
 
 a stiff neck for a month. Not one of 
 those things will amuse me one little 
 bit, mother mine ; but I do love a nice 
 book in my snug corner in the dear 
 old tree," she added, with a smile. 
 
 "Simply because you are told not to 
 do it," said her father warmly. " Well, 
 I hope you will outgrow your perversity, 
 Adela ; it is the fault you should con- 
 quer. For the rest, I have no complaint 
 agaiust you. You are a dear good girl. 
 Why, where is that book ? " 
 
 But Adela Thorndyke was out of ear- 
 shot, or pretended to be, and was run- 
 ning with fleet steps across the lawu. 
 
 " It is to screen some one else, not 
 herself, she has carried off that volume. 
 I have said I will not have books lent 
 her until I have seen them ; but she gets 
 them, nevertheless, somehow, wheedles 
 them out of some one, I suppose." 
 
 " I am certain she would out of ?ne,"'
 
 1 2 Scamp. 
 
 laughed the Captain, "regardless of what 
 you might say to me on the subject. 
 If I am to stay here, Thorndyke, I 
 warn you that your Scamp will be able 
 to lead me away. I shall find myself 
 sitting up in that tree with her before 
 a week is out." 
 
 They all laughed at the idea ; but it 
 soon came about for all that.
 
 .iKr 
 
 ^^^iW^^l^^M 
 
 lEj^^g 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^3 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 FRIENDS. 
 
 R and Mrs Thornclyke had gone 
 out to pay a round of visits, 
 and the Captain and Adela 
 had watched them drive off in the village 
 cart with Peggy, till they were out of 
 sight. 
 
 Then the girl turned suddenly, and 
 looked at her companion. 
 
 '' What shall we do ? " she asked. 
 " Anything you like," he responded. 
 "I'm at your service." 
 
 '* Really ? or is that politeness ? " 
 
 ** Really ! I'll do whatever you ask me —
 
 1 4 Scamp. 
 
 if it be to turn Catherine wheels like the 
 street Arabs, for your amusement. I learnt 
 the accomplishment when I was a boy." 
 
 She clapped her hands. 
 
 " I should like to see you — but I won't 
 ask that, for you were wounded in the 
 head, were you not ? and it might make 
 you ill." 
 
 " It's more than likely," he laughed. 
 *' I forget I am cracked china sometimes." 
 
 "And, besides, you are too tall and 
 dignified for that sort of thing. I shouldn't 
 like you if you looked ridiculous." 
 
 " Then you do like me, Adela ? " he said 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Of course I do ; you're a dear, and 
 awfully nice." 
 
 They were walking around the garden 
 now, and she stopped before a rose tree 
 and plucked him a lovely bud, and 
 placed it in his button-hole, with the 
 innocent freedom of a child.
 
 ''Friends!' 15 
 
 " There ! now it is your turn to give 
 rae one, Captain," she said merrily. 
 
 He turned to a syringa bush laden 
 with white flowers, filling the air with 
 its sweetness, and picked a spray. 
 
 " Here are orange blossoms for you, 
 Scamp," he said softly. 
 
 ''Papa would call that talking non- 
 sense," she replied, shaking her sunny 
 head, " because they are not, and you 
 know it, Captain Egerton." 
 
 Then they came to the old walnut 
 tree, and stood beneath it. 
 
 " Don't you want to smoke ? " she 
 asked ; " I like the smell of tobacco out- 
 of-doors." 
 
 " I shouldn't mind a weed at all," he 
 admitted. 
 
 "Co up to my parlour," she suggested ; 
 **it's quite a little room — place one foot 
 there, and another there, catch hold of 
 that bough, and you will find it quite easy."
 
 1 6 Scamp. 
 
 He caught her young enthusiasm, and 
 obeyed her to the letter, and was soon 
 looking down. 
 
 " What a delightful place ! " he said, 
 '' Are you not coming up, Scamp ? " 
 
 She ascended wdth far greater ease 
 than he had done, with catlike grace ; 
 and in a few moments they were seated 
 side by side upon the leafy throne 
 which the girl so loved — he contentedly 
 enjoying a cigar, while she sat by, 
 watching the white smoke curl up 
 through the branches. 
 
 He caught sight of the book which 
 had been the subject of dispute between 
 her and her father, stuck in a crevice 
 in the tree, and took it ujd ; and as 
 he did so, the leaves opened, and he 
 read upon the first page the name of 
 Horace Lake, and his eyes rested upon 
 the words. 
 
 " Who is Horace Lake, Adela ? " he
 
 ''Friends!' 17 
 
 asked, a strange shade of disappointmeut 
 crossing his brow, and an equally 
 strange pain contracting his heart. 
 
 '* He's an awfully jolly fellow 1 " she 
 returned, with animation. " And he does 
 no end of things for me. I cannot think 
 what I should do without him." 
 
 "Oh, indeed ! And how old is this 
 paragon ? " 
 
 " He is about twenty." 
 
 "And you?" 
 
 "I'm fifteen. But I thought it 
 wasn't polite to ask ladies their ages ! " 
 
 " Do you wish me to be polite, 
 Adela ? " 
 
 She sat still a moment thinking, 
 her large eyes looking into vacancy — 
 self-absorbed. He laid his hand upon 
 her arm, and she looked up at him. 
 
 " Well ? " he said interrogatively. 
 
 ** I want you to be always just what 
 you are," she answered, with a smile. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 1 8 Scamp. 
 
 " A pretty compliment, Scamp," he 
 said, with a brightened look. " Never 
 more, nor less to you, than I am now ? 
 Is that your wish ? " 
 
 " Certainly never less ? " And then 
 she hesitated, but turned her bright 
 eyes to his frankly. *' I want you to 
 promise that we shall always be friends ! " 
 she went on eagerly. " I know you're 
 a great deal older, and all that, but 
 I like you, and I don't care for 
 many people ! " 
 
 " Of course, we will be friends, 
 Scamp. We are friends, my child, and 
 will remain so, so long as you will 
 let the compact last." 
 
 And he took her hand and held 
 it in a firm clasp. 
 
 Suddenly she broke out into a merry 
 laugh. 
 
 " Do you know you are encouraging 
 me in disobedience ? " she asked.
 
 '' Friends r 19 
 
 "I knew I should, if ever I were 
 put to the test ! " he said, laughing 
 too. *'I told Thorndyke so!" 
 
 " Told father ? And what did he 
 say ? " 
 
 " He didn't say much. He thought 
 it was fun, but I knew it was earnest." 
 
 Again she relapsed into the trans- 
 cendental mood, and as quickly broke 
 it with the bright upturned glance. 
 
 " You won't split upon Horace, will 
 you ? You shouldn't have seen the book, 
 if I had not thought I could trust 
 you ! " 
 
 "You can trust me. The name of 
 Horace shall not pass my lips ! " 
 
 '' You -are a brick ! I felt sure of it, 
 or I shouldn't have asked you to be 
 chums," she replied, with animation. 
 
 " Brick ! chums ! " The terms would 
 have sounded fast and slangy from less 
 beautiful lips than Adela Thorndyke's,
 
 20 Scamp. 
 
 and have disgusted the sensitive ears of 
 Cecil Egerton, but she spoke them with 
 such childlike grace and ease, looking 
 so bright and happy the while, that he 
 could not quarrel with them in her. 
 
 " Who taught you slang, young lady ? " 
 he inquired playfully. 
 
 " Not papa, you may bet ! " she 
 laughed. " He's real riled when he hears 
 me." 
 
 " Nor mamma ! " suggested Cecil. 
 
 " Not exactly ; mother is very patient 
 — but slang does nearly give her a fit." 
 
 " Then why use it, little woman ? It 
 cannot add to your happiness, and from 
 your account it diminishes that of your 
 parents ! " 
 
 " Not a bit of it. I torment them, and 
 they enjoy it ; it is like being tickled 
 with a feather — some people delight 
 in it. Dad and mam do, in my naugh- 
 tiness ; they would be quite lost without
 
 ''Friends" 21 
 
 it. As to slang, I simply love it ; if we 
 are to be friends you must not expect 
 me to be sedate, and sit on my hind legs 
 all day. 1 couldn't do it for any one, 
 not even for you ! " 
 
 " Not for Horace ? " he asked. 
 
 " Horace ! " and she broke out into 
 merriment. " Why, he likes it ; he 
 has taught me all the mischief I 
 know ! " 
 
 " Oh ! has he ? You seem an apt 
 pupil ! " retorted Captain Egerton, amuse- 
 ment and annoyance struggling for the 
 mastery in his mind. 
 
 ** I am," she admitted, "because I en- 
 joy it so much ! " 
 
 ''Enfant terrible!'' he sighed. 
 
 " By-the-by," said Adela reflectively, 
 " you have broken your word." 
 
 " I have ! How ? " 
 
 '*You said the name of Horace should 
 not pass your lips, and it has ' "
 
 2 2 Scamp, 
 
 " Oh ! I didn't mean to you, child ! " 
 " Well, then you're forgiven — but to 
 no one else, mind ! " 
 
 " And what is this paragon of perfec- 
 tion like ? " asked Cecil, somewhat bit- 
 terly. 
 
 " I never said he was perfection ! I 
 said he was awfully jolly ; and so he 
 is!" 
 
 ''Well! what is he like?" 
 '' Like ? Not at all like you ! " 
 " That is only telling me what he is 
 not like ! " 
 
 " Oh ! I see I must mind my P's and 
 Q's with you, Mr Severity ; you're nearly 
 as bad as Mrs Jackson, who comes here 
 sometimes ! " 
 
 " And what does Mrs Jackson do ? " 
 "Do! Why, she's an authoress, and 
 edits me upon every possible occasion. 
 Do you know any authors ? Save me 
 from them ! "
 
 '' Friends r 23 
 
 ''Yes! I know a few!" 
 " What do you think of them ? " 
 " I generally find them inclined to be 
 silent and reserved ; people are too apt 
 to try and draw them out, and make a 
 show of them, I fancy, and they resent 
 it, and keep their ideas for their books ! " 
 " I wish Mrs Jackson would ! " 
 Then she began again, — 
 "Don't they ever try to edit you?'' 
 "No ! I suppose they think I'm past it!" 
 " I shoukl be glad if Mrs Jackson 
 would think that of me," said Adela. 
 
 " Naughty Scamp ! You should wish 
 to be improved." 
 
 " Should I ? " she inquired naively. 
 "Well I dont — I like being naughty 
 best. No one would love me half so w^ell 
 if I were not a Scamp. If I were tract- 
 able and obedient every one would say I 
 was a very good girl, and there the matter 
 would end ; there would be no further
 
 24 Scamp. 
 
 interest in me, you see ; but it's a little 
 excitement for every one to scold me, and 
 forgive me, and all that, both for them 
 and for me. It must be very oppressive 
 to be a saint ! " 
 
 " It never struck me in that light 
 before," laughed Cecil ; " but now you 
 mention it, there is somethincr in the idea. 
 The wild son is always the mother's 
 favourite, I do believe." 
 
 "Of course he is! From the lost 
 sheep in the parable down to me, the 
 naughty one gets all the petting — 
 the bad little animal got carried, and 
 all the rest had to trudge home on 
 foot." 
 
 "So I suppose you never mean to try 
 and become a model young woman ? " 
 
 " Not I. I should bore myself terribly, 
 and how Horace and Lilian would laugh 
 at me!" 
 
 "And who is Lilian?"
 
 '' Friends y 25 
 
 " Oh ! she's a chum of mine, too. 
 Lilian Freemantle her name is, and she's 
 a very pretty girl indeed. It's a pity 
 you can't see her ; but she's at school 
 now. She is the daughter of Sir Eichard 
 Freemantle of Marsden Hall, and he's an 
 old tartar. He would make a nun of 
 Lilian if he dared, and if it were not for 
 me the poor girl would be crushed ; but 
 I am wicked enough for two, and help 
 her when she wants it." 
 
 " I hope you don't lead her into mis- 
 chief. Scamp." 
 
 " Of course I do when I can. Sir 
 Richard won't let her see any one but 
 ourselves, and fondly thinks she cannot 
 take any harm under the Rector's wing, and 
 when he is here I'm as demure as a mouse." 
 
 " I didn't know mice were demure." 
 
 " Now you're editing ! I didn't think 
 you would be so nasty. You're as bad 
 as Mrs Jackson."
 
 26 Scamp. 
 
 '' What ! quite ? " 
 
 "Well, nearly. In fact, Fm not sure 
 you're not worse, because, you know, we're 
 friends." 
 
 '* And do you think friends ought 
 never to correct each other, little one ? " 
 
 "Never. They ought to think what- 
 ever the other does is right, and accept 
 their acts and sayings without ques- 
 tion. That is my idea of friendship," 
 she said warmly, " and so it is Lilian's 
 too." 
 
 " And Horace's ? " 
 
 " Yes, and Horace's." 
 
 " Well, it is not mine, Adela," and he 
 was silent. 
 
 The girl sat still, pondering his words, 
 and he gently blew away his cloudlets 
 of white vapour with an unconcerned look. 
 
 She hoped he would begin to speak 
 again ; but he did not, and she was soon 
 tired of being quiet.
 
 ^' Friends r 27 
 
 " What is yours ? " she inquired at 
 length. 
 
 " My what ? " he answered, with ap- 
 parent indifference. 
 
 She flushed. 
 
 ** Oh, if you have so soon forgotten, it 
 does not matter," she said vexedly. 
 
 " And if I have not forgotten ? " 
 
 " Then you're a horror ! " she retorted, 
 springing up, "and I'm off." 
 
 He stretched out his hand, and stayed 
 her. 
 
 " Where are you going, Scamp ? " 
 
 " Anywhere away from you ; I don't 
 care where." 
 
 " Then you may as well sit down 
 again." 
 
 She hesitated. She didn't really want 
 to go ; she would much prefer to spend 
 the rest of the afternoon by his side, but 
 she was annoyed with him. 
 
 '' Will you stay if I give you my
 
 5 8 Scamp. 
 
 definition of friendship ? " he asked, with 
 a smile, drawing her towards him. 
 
 " Yes, if you will do that," and his 
 smile was reflected upon her face. 
 
 " Well, sit down, little one, and I'll 
 try ; but I'm not good at putting my 
 thoughts upon such subjects into shape." 
 
 He took a long pull at his weed, 
 as if to draw inspiration from it, and 
 began, — 
 
 "I do not consider a friend shuts his 
 eyes to obvious faults." 
 
 " That is telling me what you do not 
 consider friendship, not what you do," she 
 retorted severely, repeating his own words. 
 
 " Mocking bird ! " he laughed, " you've 
 scattered all my ideas, and they were 
 sublime ! You'll never now hear the 
 grand image under which I was about 
 to paint my wingless Cupid." 
 
 " Oh ! a sort of lost chord, eh ? Well, 
 if this is the way you keep your
 
 promises I won't trust you again," and 
 once more she arose, then as sud- 
 denly stopped. " What do you mean 
 by a wingless Cupid, Captain Egerton ? " 
 " Do you not know the lines, — 
 
 ' Friendship is love without wings ? ' 
 
 That wdll do for my definition, Scamp. 
 Love may be blind to faults, friend- 
 ship is not ; love may make difficul- 
 ties fly, for friendship they will only 
 walk." 
 
 " How do you know ? Have you 
 ever been in love ? " she asked, turning 
 her great eyes upon him. 
 
 " Never ! Have you ? " 
 
 " No, but I should like to be ; it 
 must be such fun." 
 
 " Fun ? " 
 
 " Awful fun. Do you know, I am sure 
 I should torment my lover dreadfully." 
 
 " 1 can quite believe it," he said,
 
 30 Scamp, 
 
 breaking out into a hearty laugh. 
 
 ** You're a perfect little Phyllis ; your 
 
 father should have named you so." 
 
 •'And what did she do? something 
 
 nice ? " she asked archly. 
 
 " Naughty, and nice," he returned. 
 
 '* Don't you know the song ? " 
 
 "No; do you sing it ? I have heard 
 
 papa say you have a beautiful voice." 
 "That is very kind of him, I'm sure." 
 "Will you sing me Phyllis?" 
 "Well, I'm afraid I can't after that." 
 •' Do, please. I want so much to hear 
 
 the words," and she laid her hand upon 
 
 his arm in a manner not to be resisted. 
 He took his cigar from his lips and 
 
 laid it aside, and turning to her with 
 
 a smile, sang a snatch of the old 
 
 ballad, — 
 
 " Phyllis is my only joy, 
 
 Faithless as the wind or seas, 
 
 Sometimes forward, sometimes coy. 
 
 Yet she never fails to please."
 
 ''Friends'' 31 
 
 " It is very pretty," she said ; " but, 
 Captain Egerton, do you think I am 
 faithless ? " 
 
 " I hope not, child ; but who can tell ? 
 Even gold must be tried by fire. Of 
 one thing I am certain, you will be the 
 joy and torment of some poor fellow's 
 life one of these days." 
 
 " Would you be sorry for him ? " 
 
 "I hardly know\ If you loved him a 
 little — yes ! " 
 
 "x\nd if I were very fond of him?" 
 
 " You would make him wildly happy, 
 or intensely miserable," he said gravely, 
 even sadly. 
 
 " How old are you ? " she asked ir- 
 relevantly. 
 
 '' I am thirty-five. Why ? " 
 
 "Because you were looking a hundred 
 just now, and as though you had 
 been a judge on the bench all your 
 life."
 
 32 Scamp. 
 
 " Was I of so very severe an aspect ? " 
 
 ** Very. Vinegar cruets were nothing 
 to you." 
 
 " You're a polite young lady." 
 
 *'Ani I? It's to take the edore off the 
 compliment about your voice. Go on with 
 the song, please." 
 
 " No, thanks ! " 
 
 *' You're sulky!" she asserted, looking 
 at him fully. '' Well, you are. touchy ! 
 I often say much worse things than 
 that to Horace, and he doesn't mind a 
 bit." 
 
 "Oh, bother Horace ! " he said irritably. 
 
 " AVhy, certainly ! " she replied, like a 
 veritable Yankee, with an exasperating 
 laugh. 
 
 " I'm tired of him. Who is the fellow ? 
 Does he live here ? " 
 
 " If you're tired of him why do you 
 ask ? " 
 
 " Because I want to know, to be sure."
 
 ''Frie7ids!' 33 
 
 " AYell, then, he is the son of Mr Lake, 
 the solicitor, and he'll be a lawyer him- 
 self some clay, I suppose — although he 
 doesn't want to be." 
 
 *' And what does he desire to be ? " 
 
 ''Dear me, your interest is growing 
 in the young man," she remarked mock- 
 ingly. 
 
 " Not at all ; but as you are my friend, 
 and he is yours, I ought to know all about 
 him." 
 
 ** Ah ! that's a sort of logic, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Don't tease, child ; you're too young 
 to know anything about logic." 
 
 '' No, I'm not. I can prove to you by 
 logic that it's rainino; now. Horace taught 
 me how to do it." 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 ** It either rains, or it doesn't rain. It 
 doesn't rain, therefore it rains. Do you 
 see ? " 
 
 " Not clearly." 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 34 Scamp. 
 
 " Ah ! evidently the rain is a Scotch 
 mist in this instance ! " 
 
 '' You're a sharp young puss." 
 
 " Have you only just found it out ? " 
 she laughed. ''Horace says Fm as sharp 
 as a blunt needle ! " 
 
 " What a clever simile, and so new ! " 
 he retorted mockingly. "Well, and what 
 does this clear-sighted young man aspire 
 to?" 
 
 " Well, you see," said Adela gravely, '' I 
 don't quite like to tell you." 
 
 '' Why ? " 
 
 " You might think me rude ; Mr Lake 
 is rather a wag, you see." 
 
 ** Do you mean Horace by Mr Lake ? " 
 
 " No, his father, who is blessed with 
 three sons, and he has made up his mind 
 what to do with each of them." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! " 
 
 "I heard him tell papa that his three 
 boys were totally different, and that he
 
 ''Friendsr 35 
 
 should place them out in life according 
 to their abilities." 
 
 ** Wise man," remarked the Captain. 
 
 " ' Horace wishes to enter the army,' he 
 said to papa ; ' but that will never do, 
 he has too many brains for an officer — 
 he must go into my office. Tom's a rake, 
 he will make a good soldier. Bob's a fool, 
 and he will do for a parson ; and Horace 
 is a rogue, he's just fitted for a lawyer.' " 
 
 Captain Egerton broke out into a merry 
 peal of laughter. 
 
 " The old fellow is honest, at any rate, 
 and I'm blessed if there is not a certain 
 amount of truth in what he says." 
 
 " Papa thinks there's a great deal." 
 
 " What ! when he's a parson himself?" 
 
 "He is one from conviction, not for 
 the sake of a living, as so many are. A 
 young man has an uncle a bishop, and 
 from his cradle it is settled he is to be 
 a clergyman, no matter what his predilec-
 
 36 Scamp. 
 
 tions are ; and, besides, you're a soldier, 
 and you acknowledge that there is a point 
 in the remark." 
 
 "That's true. And so your friend is 
 the rogue of the family ? Does your 
 father like him, Adela ?" 
 
 ''Yes, just as Mr Lake likes me. He 
 thinks him a pickle ; but he can't help 
 liking him." 
 
 " Shall I see him ? " 
 
 '' See him, no ! He's at college." 
 
 Captain Egerton breathed more freely. 
 
 " He would want you to tell him all 
 about the campaigns you have been 
 through if you and he were to meet. 
 He is always drawing dad out, and some- 
 times we have such interesting anecdotes, 
 until he finds out the fact, and then he 
 collapses like a telescope." 
 
 " That's very natural." 
 
 " But w^hy don't soldiers like to talk of 
 what they have gone through ? "
 
 ''Friends!'' 2>7 
 
 " Have you ever heard of bragga- 
 docio ? " 
 
 '• Rather ! " 
 
 *' Well, soldiers see such strange sights, 
 and go through such marvellous experi- 
 ences, that if we were to tell half we 
 have seen, we should get the credit of 
 o-oingr in for it." 
 
 " In other words, it is not churlishness, 
 but modesty ? " 
 
 " In most men, I think." 
 
 " I wish you would go on with that 
 song," said Adela, suddenly dashing from 
 one subject to another. 
 
 " Will you be very nice if I do ? " 
 
 " Very, very, most particularly nice ! " 
 
 "How will you do it, Scamp?" he 
 asked softly. 
 
 " Like this," she replied, slipping her 
 hand into his. " Won't that suit ? " 
 
 " Excellently ! " he laughed, as he clasped 
 it in both his own. " But first, child,
 
 2,S Scamp. 
 
 do you know I am going away to-morrow ? 
 Will you be sorry ? " 
 
 ''Must you go?" she asked, her eyes 
 upraised to his. 
 
 '' Duty calls." 
 
 " I wish it didn't." 
 
 ''Then you like me to be with you ? " 
 
 " Awfully, and especially up here in 
 my own green den." 
 
 "I shall remember this afternoon, 
 Scamp, as long as I live." 
 
 '* I expect 1 shall, too." 
 
 " You are not sure, then ? " 
 
 "Yes, I am," she acknowledged, a 
 dimple deepening in her chin ; " only I 
 thought I'd tease you." 
 
 " Phyllis again ! Child, I wonder how 
 you and I will meet in the future ! " 
 
 She looked at him in surprise. 
 
 " Why, are you not coming back to 
 Winsthorpe now you have found your 
 way here once ? "
 
 '' Friends y 39 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " Ours is the first regiment for foreign 
 service. We may be abroad for years, 
 and 'by the time 1 return, I shall find 
 you flown from Winsthorpe, perhaps." 
 
 " Flown from Winsthorpe ! " 
 
 "Yes. Married, very likely — torment- 
 ing some fool of a parson, or rake of a 
 soldier, or rogue of a lawyer," he said, 
 with the ghost of a smile. 
 
 *' I don't think I shall be married," 
 she answered gravely. " I might be 
 engaged." 
 
 "Well, well, the one is a prelude to 
 the other, is it not ? " 
 
 "Not necessarily," she returned. "I 
 doubt if it w^ould ever come to that with 
 me. It would be orreat fun all the love- 
 
 o 
 
 making, and that ; but when it was all 
 made, wouldn't it be dreadfully tame 
 work ? Fancy being expected to do echo 
 to any man's opinions ! Why I should
 
 40 Scamp. 
 
 hate him in a week, and make myself 
 disagreeable, and then he would hate 
 me, and that would be the end of the 
 matter." 
 
 " Until you found another lover to 
 amuse yourself with, eh ? " 
 
 " I suppose so," she replied dubiously. 
 
 " What a child you are ! " he said, a 
 sudden light breaking out in his face. 
 " Keep so, Scamp — keep so till I come 
 back. I should like to find you un- 
 changed," he ended, with feeling. 
 
 *' Should you ? I thought you wanted 
 me to be an angel instead of a — " 
 
 '' Scamp ! " he interrupted, with a smile. 
 " No, child, an angel would be too fluffy 
 for my taste. Do not change till I 
 come back, and then — " 
 
 " Then ? " she repeated, questioning. 
 
 " How can I tell, child — how can I 
 tell ? Scamp, Scamp, will you promise 
 to keep our compact of friendship ? Will
 
 ''Friends!' 41 
 
 you never forget me ? Child, you have 
 grown strangely dear to me ! " 
 
 ''Never," she answered, a flush rising 
 to her fair young cheek, and an unwonted 
 softness to her eyes. " Cecil, you will 
 always be one apart from the rest of the 
 world to me." 
 
 And for the first time Adela Thorn- 
 dyke peeped through the door of child- 
 hood into the golden fields beyond. 
 
 A sweet chord Avas touched in her 
 young heart, and vibrated with tender, 
 scarcely understood happiness. 
 
 " Wait, child, wait ! " he said ear- 
 nestly ; "wait till I come back." 
 
 She no longer questioned what was 
 then to happen — a quivering hope was 
 turning the child into a woman. 
 
 " Yes ! I wall wait," she said softly. 
 
 Then he caught her in his arms, and 
 pressed his lips to her pure white brow. 
 
 " My little Phyllis, my little Scamp !
 
 42 Scamp. 
 
 will you make me happy or miserable ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Hallo ! who's up there ? " cried the 
 Eector's voice from below. 
 
 For the afternoon had passed, and the 
 long hours had seemed short to the 
 friends in the leafy parlour. The visits 
 w^ere paid, and Mr Thorndyke and his 
 wife having returned, were puzzled to 
 know what had become of Captain 
 Egerton and Scamp ; and so intent were 
 these two upon their conversation, that 
 they failed to hear the Eector's footstep 
 as he came down the garden path in 
 search of them. 
 
 '' Who's up there ? " he repeated 
 angrily, as there was no response. " I'll 
 have that tree cut down." 
 
 "Don't do that," said Cecil, "it would 
 be a thousand pities — it is simply delight- 
 ful up here, Thorndyke. Do join 
 us !
 
 '' Friends r 43 
 
 '* Join you ? " he echoed. '' Has Adela 
 dared, after all I said to her ? " 
 
 " Don't repeat it, dad. I know it so 
 well by heart ; but you see I couldn't 
 help it this once, for I was obliged to 
 show my favourite place to Captain 
 Egerton, because 3^011 know, after all you 
 said about it, he would have gone away 
 thinking T had done something dreadful, 
 if I had not proved to him that it was 
 entirely prejudice on your part, dad." 
 
 " Entirely prejudice ! Adela, I forbid — " 
 
 " Yes, entirely prejudice," repeated 
 Cecil, cutting him short. '' It is quite 
 a pleasant, natural arbour. Do come up, 
 Kector." 
 
 " Well, Egerton, if you're going to 
 encourage Adela in tricks like this, it is 
 a good thing you're off to-morrow." 
 
 " Ah ! perhaps it is, and now I am 
 going to ask a parting favour — will you 
 grant it for auld lang syne ? "
 
 44 Scamp. 
 
 *' For auld lang syne I can refuse you 
 nothing, Cecil. I have not forgotten 
 how, when a boy of seventeen, you 
 •carried me off the field of battle under 
 the enemy's fire," he said, softening. 
 
 " Did he ? did he ? Oh ! I am proud 
 of him ! " cried the girl brightly. 
 
 " You I " said her father, in surprise. 
 
 " Well, my request is," said Egerton, 
 *' that you will join us here for this 
 once .' " 
 
 The Rector of Winsthorpe hesitated. 
 
 " Oh ! do ; please do ! " cried Scamp. 
 *' Place one foot there, and the other 
 there, catch hold of that bough, and I'll 
 give you a hand." And she bent down 
 such a brilliant face. *' Do, you dear 
 old dad ; it will be such awful fun ! " 
 
 A spirit of frolic seemed to come over 
 the staid man, and in another moment 
 he was scrambling up the tree in obedi- 
 ence to orders.
 
 ''Friends!' 45 
 
 '' For aulcl laDg syne ! " he said, as he 
 came panting to the top. " I wouldn't 
 have done it for any other man in the 
 world." 
 
 ** Edward," said Mrs Thorndyke's quiet 
 voice, " where on earth are you ? " 
 
 " You may well ask," he replied. 
 " Where, indeed ? Scamp has me and 
 Egerton up here as visitors. Perhaps- 
 you will join us, my dear ? Nothing will 
 surprise me after this." 
 
 ** Nor me, nor me ! " chuckled the old 
 gardener, as he bent over his spade to 
 hide his merriment. 
 
 " Oh ! Miss Ad'la ! She makes every- 
 one do as she wants." 
 
 Mrs Thorndyke, however, declined her 
 husband's friendly invitation !
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 LOED CARRUTHERS OFFER. 
 
 
 jHREE years passed rapidly by, 
 leaving no especial landmarks 
 behind, but bringing with their 
 fliojht the natural chang;es which needs 
 must be, in this impossible-to-stand-still 
 world. 
 
 Adela Thorndyke had grown more 
 beautiful ; the child was exchanged for 
 the woman, and yet there were glimpses 
 of Scamp still discernible in the out- 
 breaks of wilfulness and sudden perver- 
 .sities — in the old mischievous, half-
 
 Lord Carrtithers Offer. 47 
 
 naughty, wholly winning ways, in which 
 she had won hearts to her. 
 
 And she went on winning them. She 
 had more lovers at her feet than any girl 
 in the county, and one of them was now 
 a subject of contest between her and her 
 father. Lord Carruthers was all which a 
 girl's fancy might picture — tall, well- 
 made, and handsome ; rich, pleasant, and 
 honourable ; and yet Adela would not 
 accept him. 
 
 He had been that very morning to the 
 Rectory, and had enlisted Mr and Mrs 
 Thorndyke's sympathies in his suit. 
 
 They were both exceedingly pleased at 
 the prospect of having so charming a 
 man for a son-in-law, and gave him 
 a warm and hearty permission to ask 
 their daughter for her love, with but 
 little doubt as to the result, as they 
 looked upon the man's animated face. 
 
 Adela was reading in the self-same tent
 
 48 Scamp, 
 
 which she had three years before pro- 
 nounced stifling, and there his lordship 
 found her, having left the Eector and 
 his wife with glad hearts in the study of 
 the former. 
 
 " Adela is a very lucky girl ! " said 
 Mrs Thorndyke, when the door closed 
 upon their visitor; '*we could never have 
 hoped for a better match." 
 
 " No, indeed, it will relieve my mind 
 of a great weight. I am not a rich man, 
 as you know, and I feel my health to 
 be failing ; it will be a real happiness to 
 me to see our child well settled in life." 
 
 " And to me also ; but, Edward, you 
 must not talk of failing health at your 
 age. Why you are not fifty yet, and I 
 could not spare you, my dear ! " and she 
 laid a gentle hand upon his arm. 
 
 *' You would not be asked. You see, 
 wife, when a man's time comes, whether 
 he be old or young, rich or poor, — has
 
 Lord Carriithers Offer. 49 
 
 dear ones who would fain keep him, or 
 none to mourn his loss — he must obey 
 when he is called from hence." 
 
 "May you not be called then, Ed- 
 ward ! " she said, with a sad smile, and 
 he had stooped and kissed her. 
 
 " If I were not here, dear, Adela would 
 ask you to make your home with her, I 
 am sure," he continued ; " and I should 
 die content to know that you were both 
 provided for." 
 
 " But, Edward, you are surely not 
 ill?" replied his wife, tears welling to 
 her eyes. 
 
 " Perhaps not," he returned, with a 
 strange smile. " I hope I may be 
 spared ; I am not tired of my life, 
 Mary, dear." 
 
 She slipped her fingers into his, and 
 they stood by the window, hand in hand, 
 watching the tent upon the lawn. 
 
 " Adela has rejected many good ofi'ers, 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 Scamp. 
 
 but she can expect nothing better than 
 to become Lady Carruthers," said the 
 Eector, abruptly leaving the former sub- 
 ject. " I suppose she will come in and 
 tell us her good news, dear little Scamp ! 
 I am thankful she is to have a happy 
 lot. With a disposition like hers she will 
 feel both the joys and the troubles of 
 life acutely. As Carruthers' wife, few of 
 the latter will, I hope, come in her way. 
 And now I must see to my sermons. 
 This is Saturday, and I am seldom so 
 late with them ; but I have felt disin- 
 clined to buckle to, to write or think, 
 all the week, and now Scamp's lucky for- 
 tune has unsettled me. But I must use 
 my will, and put thoughts aside — that is, 
 secular ones," he added, with a smile, 
 turning to his table, and sitting down 
 before a quire of half foolscap. 
 
 *' May I stay with you, Edward ? " asked 
 his wife. '* I won't talk to disturb you,
 
 Lord Carruthers Offer, 5 1 
 
 and perhaps Lord Carruthers will come 
 back himself to tell us. I should like to 
 be here if he does." 
 
 ''Very well, Mary," said Mr Thorn- 
 dyke. " I don't feel inspired to begin 
 yet," he ended, with a smile, " so you 
 will not hinder me, I daresay." 
 
 But Lord Carruthers did not return. 
 He found Adela sitting alone in the tent, 
 leaning back in a lounoje chair, with a 
 neat little shoe and highbred instep peep- 
 ing from the folds of her cream-coloured 
 dress. 
 
 She was looking sweetly pretty, her 
 fair skin catching a tinge from the ruby 
 velvet with which her costume was 
 trimmed, and her well-turned wrists and 
 white hands fully shown beneath her 
 half-cut sleeves, trimmed with falling 
 lace. 
 
 Her azure eyes wore a far - off look, 
 and she started when Lord Carruthers
 
 52 Scamp. 
 
 stood before her, and a slight expression 
 of vexation crossed her speaking face ; 
 but the next moment she had risen, and 
 received him, if not with warmth, yet 
 with politeness. 
 
 " Did you not find my parents in ? " 
 she asked, as she indicated a chair. 
 
 " Yes, I have seen both Mr and Mrs 
 Thorndyke," he replied, " and have had 
 a pleasant interview with them, and now 
 I have come to torment you, Miss Adela. 
 I am a humble petitioner." 
 
 She looked up inquiringly, no shadow 
 of his meaning falling across her mind. 
 She wanted to be alone — to think — so 
 his visit was unacceptable, that was all. 
 
 " A petitioner ! " she repeated, smiling. 
 " Well, Lord Carruthers, you may be 
 that, but don't ask me to picture you a 
 humble one, at any rate, for I could not 
 do it." 
 
 " Could you not ? And yet a man
 
 Lord Carruthers Offer. 53 
 
 must needs plead humbly when he is 
 asking for his life's happiness," returned 
 his lordship gravely. 
 
 She did not answer him, and a flush 
 rose to her cheek as he continued, — 
 
 " Adela, you surely cannot be taken 
 by surprise at this avowal. You must 
 have seen that ever since I came from 
 abroad last year I have loved you." 
 
 " I have not seen it," she returned 
 hastily. " Had I done so — " 
 
 He interrupted her. 
 
 ** Hear me out, dear girl. Your parents 
 have given me permission to speak freely 
 to you, and have desired me to tell you 
 that they wish nothing better than to 
 see you my wife." 
 
 She turned very pale, but did not 
 again attempt to check his words, and 
 he drew his chair close to her side. 
 
 "Adela, you are the love of my life," 
 he continued earnestly. "Will you come
 
 54 Scamp. 
 
 and be its brightness ? My dear old 
 place will be no home to me without 
 the woman of my heart to share it with 
 me ; to joy with me in my joy, and to 
 sorrow with me in my sorrows. Adela, 
 you will not refuse me this happiness. 
 You will be my wife," and he took the 
 soft white hand into his own. 
 
 " I cannot," she said gently. " Forget 
 that you have asked what I must refuse." 
 
 " And why ? " he queried, with emotion. 
 
 " Because, Lord Carruthers, I do not 
 love you. We have been good friends ; 
 let us remain so, please." 
 
 "Adela, do you love any one else?" 
 he asked, with sudden pain. 
 
 " I do not know that I do," she re- 
 turned thoughtfully. "A preoccupied 
 heart is not the only reason for not 
 caring for a man in that way." 
 
 " Then you do not forbid me to hope ? " 
 
 **Yes, I do. It is of no use for you
 
 Lord Carruthers Offer. 55 
 
 to let hope tell you a flattering tale, Lord 
 Carruthers. I like you too well ever to 
 love you," she added quaintly. *' And 
 now think of it no more." 
 
 And she looked honestly in his face, 
 pressed the hand which held hers, and 
 quietly withdrew it from his clasp. 
 
 " Not think of it ! " he echoed. " Adela, 
 you can never have loved, to speak thus 
 lightly." 
 
 *' Perhaps not," she answered. " But 
 I think I should have the strength of 
 will to forget, if I tried." 
 
 " No, no, not if your love were as deep 
 as mine for you, dear girl ! I have so 
 hoped ; my every thought of the future 
 has been filled with pictures of our joint 
 happiness, our mutual joys ; and now 
 you say forget, as though the word held 
 no pain for me." 
 
 "" I am sorry to put you to pain," she 
 replied, laying her hand upon his coat-
 
 56 Scamp. 
 
 sleeve ; " but it is kinder to tell you the 
 truth at once, than to let you dream of 
 a future which can never be realised. 
 Son:ie other girl, more worthy of your 
 love than I am, will brighten your home 
 and cheer your heart with a fuller affec- 
 tion than I could give you, and make 
 you a better and more yielding wife. I 
 should have to love very deeply to make 
 a man even fairly happy. I am wilful 
 and exacting by nature, and intolerant 
 of control. It is all right here at home ; 
 they do not discover my faults, because 
 I always have my own way. With a 
 husband it would be different." 
 
 " Adela, if that be all, let us try. You 
 shall have your own way, my darling. 
 Heaven knows that I should wish it ! " 
 
 " No ! it would not do. I should 
 despise you if you were weak ; and yet 
 I feel that you could never be my 
 master ! "
 
 Lord Carruthers Offer, 57 
 
 " You would resent it if a man 
 attempted to become that, surely?" 
 
 " Certainly, if I knew it — I should 
 kick over the traces at once," she said, 
 with a laugh. " Lord Carruthers, if 
 ever my love is won, and kept, the 
 gainer will be a very clever man. His 
 reins must be of the finest silk, and 
 strong as iron. If once I see them, 
 good-bye to his influence ! Don't you 
 think you are well out of it, my 
 friend ? " and she srave him a brio-ht 
 heartwhole look. 
 
 " No, I do not. I believe you to be 
 high-spirited, but as true as steel ; you 
 will not scare me with your sketches 
 of character. I shall watch, and wait, 
 and hope still." 
 
 " Do not," she entreated ; "it will 
 only end in disappointment ! " 
 
 ''Adela, I value the prize too much 
 to give it up without a struggle," he
 
 58 Scamp, 
 
 said earnestly. " I can never turn 
 aside from seeking you while you are 
 free." 
 
 Then he held out his hand to her, 
 and as she laid hers upon it, he stooped 
 impulsively, and touched it with his lips. 
 
 The action had been as quick as it 
 was decided, and the girl had no time 
 to show annoyance, for no sooner did 
 she recognise the fact that he had kissed 
 her hand, than she knew that he was 
 gone. 
 
 " Edward," said Mrs Thorndyke sud- 
 denly, " Lord Carruthers is going away. 
 See, he is making for the gate, and he 
 looks upset ; I do hope Adela has not 
 refused him." 
 
 " Eefused him ! impossible, my dear ! " 
 but he pushed his virgin paper aside, 
 and did not appear so assured as his 
 words seemed to imply.
 
 Lord Carruthers Offer. 59 
 
 *' But he is gone ! " continued the 
 Rector's wife, in agitation. 
 
 Mr Thornclyke joined her at the window. 
 
 Yes ! his lordship was gone ! There 
 was no sign of him anywhere, and the 
 gate was swinging to and fro, as if it 
 had been opened and shut with haste 
 and impatience. 
 
 " I wish I knew what she has said 
 to him," went on Mrs Thorndyke un- 
 easily. 
 
 "Very well, my dear, let us go and 
 find out. It is impossible for me to 
 write with my mind in this state of un- 
 certainty and chaos — I shall have no 
 sermon ready for to-morrow." 
 
 " Never mind, preach an old one," re- 
 turned his wife, with a smile. 
 
 *' Turn over the tub, eh ? Well, I 
 believe many men do so once a year ; 
 one old clergyman with whom I was 
 acquainted told me honestly that was his
 
 6o Scamp, 
 
 system, and his parishioners knew his 
 sermons by heart, and would tell you 
 what was coming each Sunday." 
 
 He was putting his papers together as 
 he spoke, then opened the French 
 window, and slipping his hand through 
 his wife's arm, proceeded with her to 
 the tent. 
 
 They spoke as they walked along, and 
 their voices reached Adela. 
 
 She sat up with an eveilU look, scent- 
 ing opposition. 
 
 '''When Greek meets Greek — '" she 
 murmured. "They will seek to persuade 
 me that it would be for my good — and 
 they may be right — but Adela Thorn- 
 dyke never breaks her word. I pro- 
 mised to ivait ! I can hold my own 
 against papa." 
 
 By that time the Eector stood in the 
 entrance of the tent, and was looking at 
 her gravely.
 
 Lord Camtthers Offer. 6i 
 
 " Adela ! why did you not keep Lord 
 Carruthers to luncheon?" he asked. 
 
 " I ? I don't usually issue invitations 
 without knowing your views, papa," she 
 said carelessly. " Had you wanted him 
 to remain I suppose you would have 
 asked him yourself!" 
 
 " We expected to meet him again, 
 dear," began Mrs Thorndyke ; '*w^e were 
 greatly astonished to see him going out 
 at the gate ! " 
 
 " I don't know why you should be ! He 
 does not often stay to meals — he is not 
 a tame cat, like Horace ! " 
 
 "Like Horace! certainly not," retorted 
 the Kector. *' Carruthers is a very dif- 
 ferent class of man." 
 
 " I have nothing whatever to say 
 against him," replied the girl coldly. 
 
 " Against him ! I should think not ; 
 there is nothing but good to be said of 
 him ! "
 
 6 2 Scamp. 
 
 " I did not know he was such a prime 
 favourite," she returned, with a smile. 
 '' Now Horace — " 
 
 " We do not want to talk of young 
 Lake," said Mr Thorndyke irritably. 
 "He is a very good sort of young fellow, 
 but if he were to a,sk for your hand to- 
 morrow I should say ' No,' to him." 
 
 " Without reference to my views f " 
 and she let her eyes meet his. 
 
 '' I should think such reference un- 
 necessary. You could not consider 
 Horace a suitable husband ? " 
 
 " How do you know, papa ? Did you 
 ask any one's opinion when you chose 
 mamma ? " 
 
 "No I did not, but the cases are dif- 
 ferent." 
 
 " Different ? What ! because you are 
 a man and I a woman ? I cannot see it 
 ill that light. We have as much to lose 
 or win in choosing husbands as you can
 
 Lord CarnUhers Offer. 6 
 
 o 
 
 possibly have in selecting wives ; but it 
 is just like you lords of the creation, to 
 think we should be bought and sold like 
 slaves." 
 
 " Adela ! if I really thought you loved 
 Horace Lake, if I considered him neces- 
 sary to your happiness," began her father, 
 in agitation, " I would put my own wishes 
 aside." 
 
 " And let me have him ? " 
 " I could not cloud your life." 
 " You old dear ! " she cried, startinor 
 to her feet. " I only wanted to make 
 you say something sweet and nice. 1 
 knew you would if I ran you in a 
 corner," and she threw her arms about 
 him in her old impulsive way. 
 
 "And do you care for him, my 
 child ? " 
 
 "Care for him, you wise old thing, of 
 course not," she cried, again smotherino- 
 him with kisses. " I only care for you,
 
 64 Scamp, 
 
 and you ought to know it, and you will 
 find it very difficult to get rid of me, I 
 can assure you." 
 
 A look of pleasure rested for a moment 
 upon his face, but he quickly dismissed it. 
 
 *'My dear, you are fencing," he said. 
 ' You led me cleverly off the track with 
 your will-o'-the-wisp Horace, but it won't 
 do. You know as well as I do that your 
 mother and I did not come here to talk 
 to you of /w'm." 
 
 •* No ? " she answered, with well af- 
 fected surprise. "Well, if you are going 
 to remain for a chat you must have this 
 cosy chair," and she pressed her father 
 into it with gentle strength, while she 
 drew her mother to the only other seat 
 the tent contained ; and having made 
 her sit down, flung herself at their feet 
 with a graceful movement, rested her 
 head against her mother's knee, and 
 slipped her hand into her father's.
 
 Lord Car rut hers Offer. 65 
 
 "Now," she asserted, *'if I'm to be 
 talked to, I'm ready ! " 
 
 '' ^Vhy did Lord Carruthers go away, 
 Adela?" questioned her mother, smooth- 
 ing the girl's bright hair. 
 
 " That is best known to himself," she 
 returned, a flush creeping to her fair 
 cheeks. " One does not usually ask a 
 gentleman why he comes, or for what 
 reason he leaves, when he pays a morn- 
 ing visit." 
 
 "Adela," said her father, ''your badin- 
 age is irritating. We came to ask you 
 a simple question, and we want a sen- 
 sible answer." 
 
 "Oh! like that, dad, are you!" she 
 said, smiling up at him. " I'm so sorry, 
 for I know by myself one feels bad in 
 that condition, and I'm quite sure Lord 
 Carruthers is not worth one unpleasant 
 word between us." 
 
 " I am grieved to hear you say so ; 
 VOL. I. E
 
 66 Scamp. 
 
 he is a very fine fellow, and I like 
 hira immensely." 
 
 " So do I, for the matter of that ; 
 he is nice enough, take him all round." 
 
 " My dear child," struck in Mrs 
 Thorndyke, in a deprecating voice, " do 
 be serious ! " 
 
 " Never was more so in my life, even 
 during one of dad's best sermons. I'm 
 deeply interested — deeply ! " 
 
 ''Adela! you're enough to provoke a 
 saint ! " exclaimed the Eector hotly. 
 
 " Meaning you, dear dad ? " she laughed 
 brightly. 
 
 " I really shall be very angry with 
 you," he began, with veritable annoy- 
 ance ; but Adela was now on her knees 
 before him, her golden head upon his 
 shoulder, her soft white hand smoothing 
 out his care marks. 
 
 " No ! you never were that in your 
 life, darling ! " she said softly. " I'm
 
 Lord Car rut hers Offer. 6 J 
 
 still your own little Scamp, and I ever 
 shall be. It is too late to change now, 
 dad," and she raised her saucy eyes 
 to his, full of love and confidence. 
 
 " Small witch ! " he muttered ; *' it must 
 have been just such a girl as you who 
 made poor St Anthony look up from 
 his good books. Scamp, Scamp ! wil 
 you ever be a woman, and face the stern 
 realities of life ? " 
 
 '' Soon enough," she returned sadly. 
 " I don't want to begin before I can 
 help it." 
 
 " But Lord Carruthers ? " reminded Mrs 
 Thorndyke, breaking in. 
 
 *' Off the line again ! Adela, what a 
 tactician you are ! Yes, Lord Carruthers. 
 Why do you lead me from the sub- 
 ject ? " 
 
 " Simply because I do not wish to 
 broach it. His lordship is nothing to 
 us ; why should we talk of him ? People
 
 68 Scamp. 
 
 are not pleasant themes of conversation 
 — it is too personal ! " 
 
 " Of course it is personal," said her 
 mother. " Adela, Lord Carruthers asked 
 our consent to his proposing to you." 
 
 " That was very straightforward of him," 
 she returned approvingly. 
 
 " Of course it was." 
 
 Then there was silence. 
 
 " Well ? " resumed Mrs Thorndyke in- 
 terrogatively. 
 
 Adela looked at her. 
 
 "And did hef" continued her mother. 
 
 "It is rather a mean advantasje to 
 take of a man to tell of an offer, 
 is it not ? " she returned, with hesita- 
 tion. 
 
 " Certainly not, in this case," replied 
 her father. " He proposed, of course ! 
 And you ? " 
 
 " I was highly flattered, equally of 
 course. Now don't you think I should
 
 Lord Carruthers Offer. 69 
 
 jump at the chance of becoming a 
 countess ? " she asked wickedly. 
 
 " I should hope you were not mad 
 enough to refuse such a man, with 
 such a position," returned her father 
 with warmth. 
 
 ** Is there any insanity in our family ? " 
 she asked quaintly. 
 
 " Insanity ! Why ? " 
 
 ** Because I did refuse Lord Carruthers, 
 papa — refused him absolutely and irre- 
 vocably. I did not say ' No ' in a manner 
 which meant ' ask me again,' but I told 
 him plainly it could never be." 
 
 " Adela, it is too bad of you," said 
 Mrs Thorndyke, veritable tears starting to 
 her eyes. 
 
 '* You will never get such a chance 
 again, and we wished it so very much." 
 
 " Do you really want to get rid of 
 me, mamma ? " asked the girl, her smile 
 dying out.
 
 yo Scamp. 
 
 " No, child, not to get rid of you," 
 replied her father, not unkindly ; " but 
 to throw away such an opportunity really 
 does seem a pity, and Carruthers is such 
 a good fellow. I'm sure he expected 
 his dismissal as little as I did. What 
 reason did you give him for your re- 
 fusal ? " 
 
 " I do not love him, father, and I told 
 him honestly that I never should do 
 
 so. 
 
 " How can you tell that ? " said Mrs 
 Thorndyke eagerly. " Love grows, and 
 yours may do so." 
 
 " No. Love is an inspiration, not a 
 growth," she replied, in a low voice. 
 " It comes without your will or know- 
 ledge. It cannot be cultivated, believe 
 me." 
 
 "And pray what do you know about 
 it ? " asked the Eector, regarding his 
 daughter in surprise. '' I'm aware you
 
 Lord Carritthers Offer. 7 1 
 
 have had lots of fellows after you, but 
 you have assured me you do not care 
 for any of them." 
 
 '' Nor do I." 
 
 " Yet you have your definition of the 
 article by heart ! " 
 
 She had flushed beneath his scrutiny, 
 but she was not beaten. 
 
 " You forget the yellow-covered novels," 
 she laughed ; " it is easy to borrow 
 sentiment." 
 
 " Very easy," he answered tartly. 
 *' Adela, some day I hope you will be- 
 come more sensible. Carruthers wall not 
 give you up lightly. I know the 
 man, and I yet hope to see you his 
 wife ! " 
 
 "Yes!" chimed in her mother, "it 
 would make us very happy, dear. Try 
 and like him, there's a good girl ! " 
 
 " Fancy trying to like one's future 
 husband," she laughed. '' No, no ; it
 
 72 
 
 Scamp. 
 
 really would be that, mamma. Put the 
 idea from your heads, you two old dears 
 — I shall never become Lady Car- 
 ruthers ! "
 
 H 
 
 pi 
 
 f^^^^i^M 
 
 \f^^ 
 
 *»■*« 
 
 a^^^^^^Qs^ifej! 
 
 C H A ? T E E IV. 
 
 I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN. 
 
 DELA THORNDYKE had heard 
 but little of the man she loved 
 during the past three years, 
 but she knew she was not forgotten by 
 him, for in every letter he wrote to her 
 father, he sent her a kindly message, 
 not warm enough to raise a suspicion 
 of the truth in the Rector's mind, but 
 sufficient to let the girl know that she 
 was remembered. 
 
 Not once had he penned a line to her 
 direct, and yet Adela felt he would come 
 back, if she kept her word and waited.
 
 74 Scamp, 
 
 As if to reward her for her faith in him, 
 scarcely had her parents left her, than 
 a servant came and placed a missive in 
 her hands, and her heart leaped, for she 
 knew the writing. 
 
 It was from Cecil Egerton, now pro- 
 moted to the rank of Major ! It was not 
 a foreign letter, as those to her father 
 had hitherto been, but written upon 
 ordinary paper, and stamped with a 
 penny stamp ; moreover, it bore the post- 
 mark of London. 
 
 Long the girl gazed at it in a tremor 
 of happy doubt. Was Cecil really in 
 England when she had believed him far 
 away in the sunny East ? 
 
 After awhile she broke the seal with 
 eager fingers and read the following 
 lines : — 
 
 "My Dear Miss Thorndyke, — " I have 
 been very ill, and have been sent home to
 
 "/ have not forgotten / " 75 
 
 England on sick leave. Will there be 
 a welcome for me at Winstborpe if I come 
 down ? 1 do not mean from my old friend 
 tbe Kector, but from the bright-eyed child 
 with whom I smoked the calumet of 
 peace in the ancient walnut-tree. Scamp, 
 have you kept your promise ? If not, 
 never again could I bear to visit the old 
 place, haunted b}'' memories of your win- 
 some ways ! Send me one line to the 
 Army and Navy Club, Piccadilly, and 
 by it I will be guided whether I in- 
 form the Rector of my return or no. — 
 Yours ever, Cecil Egerton." 
 
 Adela sat gazino^ at the lines be- 
 fore her, her heart filled with a deep joy, 
 when a merry laugh sounded close at 
 hand, and Lilian Freemantle stood before 
 her. 
 
 " I have been watching you," she 
 said.
 
 76 Scamp, 
 
 " Spy ! " retorted Adela, with a bright 
 look. ''Were you repaid for your 
 trouble ? " 
 
 " Amply ; I've learnt a secret, Scamp ! 
 How sly you have been ! " 
 
 " I ? I do not understand you ! " 
 
 '* Don't you ? Dela, who is that letter 
 from ? " 
 
 A deep flush sufl'used the fair girl's 
 face as the dark eyes of the other were 
 fixed upon her, and Adela did not 
 reply. 
 
 ''It is short for a love letter," con- 
 tinued the young lady, with an air of 
 authority ; " but it is one for all that." 
 
 ** Oh ! you know that, from the van- 
 tage ground of your superior knowledge." 
 
 " Of course I do. Have you any news 
 for me, dear ? " 
 
 "Regarding yourself? No, not to- 
 day, Lilian. You must not be greedy, 
 and he must not be imprudent. If I
 
 ' '/ have not fo7'gotten / " "jj 
 
 received too many letters, it might be 
 commented upon ; there are disadvantages 
 in growing up ! " 
 
 Lilian sighed. 
 
 "If it were not for you, dear old 
 girl, I should be utterly miserable. He 
 is coming home, but I shall not be al- 
 lowed to see him, unless you can manage 
 it for me ! " 
 
 "I'll do my best." 
 
 "You always do, you dear old pet; 
 and now about yourself. Why were 
 you looking so strangely happy when 
 I caught you, Dela ? " 
 
 " Because I felt so," she returned 
 shyly. 
 
 **Is that all I am to hear?" 
 
 ''Yes, that is all to-day." 
 
 " Shall I know more soon ? " 
 
 " I hope so." 
 
 Then the two girls waited, each for 
 the other to speak.
 
 78 Scamp. 
 
 " Adela," said Lilian, after a pause, 
 *' do you know people are saying you 
 will be Lady Oarruthers some day. 
 What a lovely little countess you would 
 make ! " 
 
 **Do they? Well they are mistaken, 
 Lil," she answered quietly ; " the posi- 
 tion wouldn't suit me at all, and Lord 
 Carruthers knows it as well as I do ! " 
 
 "I am so sorry. Then you don't 
 think he will ask you ? " 
 
 " I am sure he won't," she returned, 
 with a smile. 
 
 "Then I can't think who it can be 
 with, Dela, but there's no doubt he's in 
 love ; he's so absent, you can t keep his 
 attention fixed ! " 
 
 " Perhaps it's with you, Lil ! " 
 
 *' With me ? No, ^^ny affections are 
 settled ! " 
 
 " But he is not to know that." 
 
 '* I'm sure he might, by my manner."
 
 "/ have not forgotten / " 79 
 
 " Your manner ! Why, you're the 
 veriest little flirt I ever saw!" 
 
 " You're a nice sort of friend, Dela," 
 she laugrhed. " If I'm a flirt, what are 
 you? 
 
 " I'm not sure. Do I flirt ? " 
 
 "Rather! why, how you make Horace 
 bow down to you." 
 
 *•' Oh ! yes of course ; he knows which 
 side his bread is buttered." 
 
 " So do most people, but it is not 
 that. Horace loves you for yourself ! " 
 
 Then the girl suddenly looked up. 
 
 " AYhat has become of the handsome 
 captain who was here three years ago ? 
 You never mention him, Adela, and I 
 have meant to ask over and over 
 again ! " 
 
 " Oh ! he's a Major now ! " she returned, 
 with burning cheeks. 
 
 Lilian looked at her keenly, then broke 
 into a silvery laugh.
 
 8o Scmnp. 
 
 " Lies the wind that way ? — in the 
 East, eh ? He went to India, did he 
 not ? If you won't give me full infor- 
 mation concerning him, I shall ask the 
 Eector, and tell him the reason for my 
 interest in him." 
 
 '* And what is your reason ? " 
 
 ** Your blushes, Adela. Shall I consult 
 your father as to their origin ? " 
 
 " Don't, Lilian. I'll tell you all I know 
 — Major Egerton has returned to Eng- 
 land." 
 
 '* And is coming down ? " cried the 
 other eagerly. 
 
 " I never said so." 
 
 " No, your tongue did not, but your 
 cheeks did. Adela, I've known you too 
 long — you can't deceive me. I daresay 
 that letter was from him 1 Was it ? " 
 
 "Perhaps." 
 
 *' And was it that made you happy ? " 
 
 " I won't be confessed," she cried, start-
 
 ''I have not forgotten / " 8i 
 
 ing to her feet, and placing the letter 
 in her pocket. " Come in and have 
 lunch with us, and I will walk home 
 with you afterwards." 
 
 " Will you ? You are nice. I should 
 like both, of all things." 
 
 " Well, then, that is settled. To tell 
 you the truth, I am rather in disgrace 
 to-day, and I shall hail your presence 
 at luncheon as a godsend." 
 
 " Bad Scamp ! What have you done 
 now ? Your parents are such old dears. 
 I cannot take your part if you have 
 vexed them. You should live with my 
 father for a week ; he would make you 
 jump." 
 
 " No, he wouldn't ; I should manage 
 him," she laughed. 
 
 *' Well, confess ; what have you done ? 
 If you don't, I'll ask Mrs Thorndyke." 
 
 " She would not tell you if you did ; 
 and now, dear, come in." 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 82 Scamp. 
 
 The two girls went into the house, 
 and Lilian Freemantle took off her hat 
 and jacket. She was decidedly a hand- 
 some brunette, and made a striking con- 
 trast to Adela's fair beauty. 
 
 Her eyes were dark and sparkling, 
 fringed with long black lashes ; her 
 complexion olive - hued, warmly tinted 
 with carmine ; her face oval, her teeth 
 dazzlingly white and somewhat large. 
 
 In fact, she was altogether an attractive, 
 dashing-looking girl, and one not to be 
 passed by without notice. 
 
 As soon as luncheon was over, which 
 somehow lacked the ease which pervaded 
 the household generally, Mr Thorndyke 
 retired to his study, and after a few 
 minutes, Adela crept away to write to 
 Major Egerton. 
 
 She only sent him one line ; but it 
 took her a long time to make up her 
 mind what to say, and longer still to
 
 *'/ have not forgotten / " 83 
 
 decide that what she had written would 
 do. 
 
 She merely wrote : — 
 
 " I have not forgrotten," and sio^ned it 
 " Scamp." 
 
 Lilian Freemantle was the best-hearted 
 girl alive ; but she was decidedly inquisi- 
 tive, and Adela had scarcely left the 
 room when she really did ask Mrs 
 Thorndyke what was the matter. And 
 she, poor woman ! was but too ready 
 to get a listener to her troubles, to 
 withhold her confidence ; and before Adela 
 returned, Lilian had heard the whole 
 story of Lord Carruthers' offer, and 
 her rejection of him. 
 
 Wlien the two girls went upstairs to 
 put on their hats, Lilian took her friend 
 by both hands, and looked her full in 
 the face. 
 
 '•' Oh ! you sly young puss ! " she said, 
 her dark eyes dancing. " I know how
 
 84 Scamp. 
 
 you vexed your parents this morning ! 
 How could you refuse such a man as 
 Lord Carruthers ? " 
 
 " Who says I ever had the chance % " 
 
 " Come, my dear, give up trying to 
 deceive me ! I have heard the whole 
 story from Mrs Thorndyke ! It is 
 useless ! " 
 
 " It was not fair of mother at all ! " 
 returned Adela warmly. ** If I were a 
 man, I should deeply resent a girl's 
 telling I had proposed to her ! " 
 
 ** So should I ! But you have not 
 done so ! " 
 
 " No ; but mamma has ! " 
 
 "It is safe with me, Dela. You 
 might have trusted me." 
 
 " No, Lilian, not with other people's 
 secrets ! " 
 
 "But you were so sly about it!" 
 
 " Was I ? Then it was not for my 
 own sake ! "
 
 *'/ have not forgotten ! " 85 
 
 " Why, you made out he did not 
 care for you 1 " 
 
 " No, not quite that ! I said he 
 would not ask me to be his countess ! " 
 
 " Because you had already refused." 
 
 "Just so!" 
 
 *' Deceitful — decidedly ! " said Lilian, 
 with mock gravity. " And oh ! Adela, 
 how could you % It would have been 
 such a splendid match ! " 
 
 ** Yes ! of course it would ! I 
 appreciate its advantages ; but I can- 
 not avail myself of them ! " 
 
 ** Ah ! I see ! You are too romantic 
 to desire baronial halls, and all that 
 sort of thing ! You w^ant love in a 
 cottage, and Cupid as cook and house- 
 maid. Usual food, which mounts up 
 butcher's and baker's bills, will not be re- 
 quired. You will live on the sweets of life, 
 and thrive on them, pronouncing yourself 
 intensely happy in your lovers' elysium."
 
 86 Scamp. 
 
 " Lovers' fiddlesticks ! Don't talk such 
 nonsense, Lil, or I shall think you 
 moonstruck ! " said Adela, laughing. 
 *' No, I am afraid I too well appre- 
 ciate the good things of this life ; but 
 they may be too dearly bought ! 
 Lilian, it makes me tremble to think 
 what I should do if I were married 
 to a man and found I did not love 
 him. I verily believe I should do 
 something dreadful — cut my throat, 
 perhaps ! " 
 
 ** Or his ? " coolly suggested the other. 
 
 " That would be more satisfactory 
 by far!" 
 
 Then the two pairs of eyes met. 
 
 ** Lil, what nonsense you talk ! " 
 said Adela, with a smile. 
 
 " My dear, the same thought was 
 passing through my brain concerning 
 you ! " replied Lilian Freemantle, smiling 
 too. *^ And ^ now if you have finished
 
 "/ have 7iot forgotten / " 87 
 
 titivating, we had better start. My ! 
 you are a time dressing ; and I have 
 a stern jparieiit at home, remember ! " 
 
 "I like you, Lil." 
 
 " Of course you do, but what called 
 forth the sentiment on this especial 
 occasion ? " 
 
 " Why, you have been standing before 
 the glass ever since you came upstairs, 
 gazing at yourself from time to time 
 like a female Narcissus ! and I verily 
 believe, like him, enraptured with your 
 charms ; while poor little I have had 
 to dress in the corner, regardless of my 
 hat being all on one side ! " 
 
 " With your brain to match, Dela ? " 
 
 " You're complimentary ! " 
 
 " Not at all. I asked for information. 
 Have you answered that letter ? I 
 suppose you stole away for that 
 purpose after lunch ? " 
 
 " And thinking me safely out of the
 
 88 Scamp, 
 
 way, you treacherously pumped my 
 dear, weak-minded mother, and made 
 her commit a breach of confidence ? " 
 
 "Not a bit of it. I was doing you 
 a friendly action ! " 
 
 "Me! How?" 
 
 "Why, if I had not kept Mrs 
 Thorndyke amused, she would soon have 
 wanted to know what had become of 
 her ewe lamb ; and would probably 
 have sought you, and found you 
 writing love-letters." 
 
 " I have not been writing love- 
 letters, and mamma is in better 
 training than that ! " 
 
 "Oh, is she ? I wish my father was ! " 
 
 " You give way to him too much, 
 Lil," decided Adela, buttoning up her 
 glove. 
 
 " I'm obliged to clo so. He scares 
 me. He makes such a noise if I 
 don't obey him at once."
 
 "/ have not forgotten I " 89 
 
 •' Why don't you make a noise too ? 
 He would soon get tired of it." 
 
 Lilian looked at her with open-eyed 
 wonder. 
 
 "My dear, the place would be like a 
 bear-garden. I couldnt ! " 
 
 " It would be an unpleasant sort of 
 remedy for you both, perhaps, but it 
 would cure him. You allow him to be 
 quite a tyrant to you." 
 
 ''That is really substantially true, with 
 the exception of my allowing him to do 
 it. I'm awfully afraid of father." 
 
 " I'm not a bit." 
 
 "It is well that you are not. Dela, 
 would you beard the lion in his den ? 
 Would you come to my rescue, if ever 
 he found out ? " she said earnestly, laying 
 her hand on her friend's shoulder. 
 
 " Of course I would. I will go and ask 
 his consent now if you like." 
 
 " No, that would never do. My boy
 
 90 Scamp, 
 
 must get on first. He must have enough 
 to keep the wolf from the door without 
 help from papa. I'm not sentimental, 
 Dela, but the cottage would content me 
 very well with liimr 
 
 **0h! And Cupid as clief de cuisine,^' 
 laughed Adela. 
 
 " My dear, I really must go," announced 
 Lilian decidedly. 
 
 "In other words, you prefer to change 
 the subject," suggested Adela. *' Well ! 
 I'm a generous enemy ; I'll let you off. 
 I've been ready this half-hour — but you 
 are such a girl to talk." 
 
 ** Talk ! Why, I can't get in a word 
 edgeways if you're within a mile, and 
 you know it." 
 
 " I know you're a horrid little wretch ! " 
 cried Adela, catching her, and giving her 
 what she called a bear's Img. **And I 
 cannot imagine what he or any one else 
 can see in you."
 
 "/ have not forgotten / " 91 
 
 "My dear Dela," retorted Lilian, "it is 
 a mystery to me why Major Egerton — " 
 
 But Lilian Freemantle's speech ended 
 suddenly, for her friend had made a rush 
 for the door, and had flown downstairs 
 like a lapwing, to avoid the retaliation 
 she knew she deserved, and Lilian had 
 to follow her without finishing her broken 
 sentence. 
 
 Mrs Thorndyke was in the passage. 
 
 "What! are you going, girls?" she 
 asked, as she saw their out-door gar- 
 ments. 
 
 "Yes, indeed; I expect I shall be scolded 
 as it is. I didn't know I should stay here 
 to lunch." 
 
 "Tell Sir Richard to scold me instead," 
 said Adela. " I should rather like it for 
 a change." 
 
 "That's a challenge, Mrs Thorndyke," 
 remarked Lilian. "You spoil Dela." 
 
 " I don't feel sure you are not
 
 92 Scamp. 
 
 right," returned the Rector's wife half 
 sadly. 
 
 '*Send her to the Hall for a month. 
 Papa will get her into fine order for 
 you. 
 
 ''Would hef' replied Adela, with dilated 
 nostrils, and a defiant look. '* I'm not so 
 easily kept in order, I assure you." Then 
 she turned, and laid her cheek against her 
 mother's with a loving gesture. " We 
 never try that sort of thing on, mumsy 
 dear, do we ? " she said. 
 
 ** I don't think it would be of much 
 use, my child," replied Mrs Thorndyke, 
 kissing her. 
 
 "And we quite understand each other, 
 don't we ? " continued the girl coax- 
 ingly. 
 
 " Yes, generally, dear ; and now good- 
 bye." 
 
 "Good-bye, Mrs Thorndyke. May I 
 come again soon ? " asked Lilian.
 
 "/ have not forgotten ! " 93 
 
 " Certainly, my dear ; we are always 
 pleased to see you." 
 
 And after a friendly kiss the Rector's 
 wife watched them down the drive and 
 out of the gate. 
 
 " Your mother's a dear old thing!" said 
 Lilian warmly. 
 
 ''' That she is, especially when she lets 
 out my secrets," said Adela wickedly. 
 " And now, Lil, do you know how far I 
 am going with you ? " 
 
 '' I know how far I should like you to 
 
 go." 
 
 "And how far is that?" 
 
 " Why, all the way, of course, but I 
 know as well as possible where you will 
 stop." 
 
 "Where?" demanded the other. 
 
 " At the post-office, of course." 
 
 " Why should I ? There's a letter-bag 
 at home." 
 
 *'A letter-bag at home ! " echoed Lilian,
 
 94 Scamp. 
 
 '' Of course there is ; so there is at the 
 Hall, but those are only for ordinary 
 letters, my clear child." 
 
 " Oh ! that is how you manage, is it ? " 
 
 " You know how / manage everything. 
 I'm not so close as you are, Dela.*' 
 
 "I'll go right home with you, if you 
 like, Lil. So much for your suspicions." 
 
 Lilian looked at her watch. 
 
 "All right, you will still be in time 
 for the post on your way back," she 
 laughed. 
 
 "The 'post I You're post mad," said 
 Adela. " I've a good mind not to go 
 another step with you," but she went on 
 for all that, as far as the massive gateS 
 of Marsden Hall, and as she returned, 
 she walked close by the wall of the post- 
 office, and dropped a letter into the 
 box. 
 
 \^mm,
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A DISAPPOINTING MEETING. 
 
 LESS me!" cried Mr Thorn- 
 dyke, a few raornings after, 
 as he sat at the breakfast- 
 table with an open letter in his hand. 
 " Why, Cecil Egerton is in England, and 
 is coming to look us up ! He says he 
 will be here to-day, knowing that he 
 will always find a welcome in the house 
 of his old friend. My dear, you must 
 order a room to be prepared for him. 
 Of course we shall be glad to see him, 
 and I am sorry he has been so ill. 
 Scamp, here's a chance for you to show
 
 96 Scamp. 
 
 your powers of nursing. You will like 
 a visit from the Major, will you 
 not?" 
 
 Adela did her best to look uncon- 
 scious, but a tell-tale colour dyed her 
 cheeks. 
 
 '' I am sorry Major Egerton has been 
 ill," she said gently. "Does he tell you 
 at what time he will arrive ? " 
 
 *' No ; I wish he did, for your mother 
 and I are going into the town shopping 
 after lunch, and we should like to be at 
 home to greet Cecil. You may be tak- 
 ing him up into the tree again — who 
 knows ? " 
 
 The girl shook her bright head. 
 
 "Have no fear," she returned, with a 
 smile. " I have not been there since 
 that day." 
 
 " I remember ; it was a sudden con- 
 version. But I never understood why 
 you gave it up all at once."
 
 A Disappointing Meethig. 97 
 
 " Did you not wish me to do so, 
 dad ? " 
 
 ''Undoubtedly, my dear ; hut you don't 
 alivays follow out my wishes." 
 
 " Don't I ? " she returned thought- 
 
 fully. 
 
 " No, or you would now be engaged 
 to Carruthers." 
 
 "I am weary of the man's name," she 
 cried petulantly. " Papa, w^hy do you 
 want me to be engaged ? I would rather 
 stay at home with you and mamma." 
 
 " That is all very well, Adela, so long 
 as we are spared to you ; but if we had 
 gone over to the great majority, what 
 would you do then ? " 
 
 " I should wish to die, too," she an- 
 swered, tears starting to her soft eyes. 
 
 " But we cannot always do what we 
 wish ; and when Carruthers told me he 
 wanted you for his wife, a weight seemed 
 lifted from my mind." 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 98 Scamp. 
 
 " Dad, I am sorry to disappoint you ; 
 but it can never be," she said earnestly, 
 and, rising, she went to his side and 
 kissed him. 
 
 " "Well, well, when the time comes, 
 choose wisely, my child — a man who is 
 able to support you. It is a sorry thing 
 for a woman to have perpetually to solve 
 the question of how ends are to be made 
 to meet, and requires a deep and un- 
 usual love to bear the strain without 
 being weakened by it." 
 
 " If love deserves the name, father, 
 trouble must draw those who share it 
 closer." 
 
 "It is possible, my dear ; but it is not 
 the usual result." 
 
 "It would be a happier world if it 
 were," said Mrs Thorndyke. "There is 
 nothing sadder than for two human be- 
 ings to wreck their lives by the fatal mis- 
 take of marrying without deep affection."
 
 A Disappointing Meeting. 99 
 
 " And yet you would have me accept 
 Lord Carruthers ! " replied her daughter 
 hotly. 
 
 For a moment the Eector's wife was 
 silenced — she felt she had played a wrong 
 card ; the next, she answered gently, — 
 
 " Lord Carruthers is a man we could 
 entrust with your happiness, my dar- 
 ling ; few real troubles could reach you 
 as his wife." 
 
 "Not so, mother; the greatest of all 
 sorrows w^ould be mine, to be daily and 
 hourly with him, maddened by the 
 knowledge that I was bound to a man 
 I could not love. I should soon liate 
 him ! " replied Adela, with brightly flash- 
 ing eyes. 
 
 " Hush ! my dear, do not say such 
 things. I hope you could hate no 
 one." 
 
 "Could I not? Mother, I could be a 
 good hater ! "
 
 lOO Scamp. 
 
 " I do not like to hear you say so," 
 said Mrs Thorndyke sadly. 
 
 " Poor old mother ! I am not like 
 you ; you have a far gentler nature 
 than mine. I am sorry to horrify 
 you ; but you cannot quite realise 
 how keenly I feel things," and Adela 
 kissed her affectionately, and left the 
 room. 
 
 '' She is right," said the Eector, after 
 a pause. " Scamp is strong for good or 
 evil. May Heaven grant that the 
 strength of her nature may be turned 
 into a right channel ! She will love with 
 all her heart and soul, and that very 
 love will wreck her if mismanaged," and 
 he sighed deeply. 
 
 " I cannot think her strong for evil, 
 Edward ! " said Mrs Thorndyke warmly. 
 " Adela has a most generous nature ; 
 she has never harboured a mean thought, 
 or done a shabby action, and she has a
 
 A Disappointing Meeting. loi 
 
 strong sense of religion, although she is 
 not fond of talking of it." 
 
 " She has a grand character, Mary," 
 returned Mr Thorndyke, "in which there 
 is room for large faults, but no petty 
 ones. Believe me, she is just the woman 
 to suffer keenly." 
 
 "Poor Dela ! " sighed Mrs Thorndyke. 
 " I hope her life will be a happy 
 one. 
 
 " Amen I " responded her husband, and 
 silence fell between them. 
 
 At lunch the Eector talked of little 
 else but the anticipated arrival of his 
 friend Major Egerton, and Adela listened, 
 but took small part in the conversation. 
 A sudden coyness and reserve seemed to 
 have come over her. 
 
 " Papa," she said, " you will be back 
 to receive him, will you not ? " 
 
 "Yes, undoubtedly, if I can^' he had
 
 I02 Scamp. 
 
 replied. "Your mother says he did not 
 arrive till nearly six last time, and we 
 will call at the station to meet the 
 down-train from London at half-past five, 
 and bring him home with us in triumph. 
 Will that do ? " 
 
 " Very nicely indeed ! " she returned, 
 with a smile. "You don't think he will 
 come earlier ? " 
 
 " I can't see why he should ; he never 
 has done so before, and he would have 
 to leave town very early to save the 
 previous train. If he should arrive, how- 
 ever, you will be here to receive 
 him 1 " 
 
 " I don't know," she responded shyly. 
 " I might not be in, either." 
 
 "You had better not go out, Dela," 
 said her mother. " You and Major 
 Egerton used to be great friends — surely 
 you will be pleased to see him ? " 
 
 She flushed hotly.
 
 A Disappointing Meeti7ig. 1 03 
 
 " It is so long ago ! " she replied. 
 *' He may be changed since then, or may- 
 think me so." 
 
 " Egerton is not the man to change ; 
 all the years I have known him he has 
 been the same," asserted Mr Thorndyke 
 stoutly. 
 
 " That is a character worth havinor," 
 said Adela, and then she turned to her 
 mother. 
 
 " When do you start, dear ? " 
 
 '* At once, I must put on my bonnet. 
 Peggy was ordered before lunch ; dinner 
 punctually at seven. Adela, look after 
 the cook a little, will you, my child \ " 
 
 " Shall I prepare the pastry for you, 
 mother ? You always say it is nicer when 
 I do." 
 
 " Yes, you make it so light ; do it, 
 there's a pet." 
 
 "That I will, with pleasure." 
 
 " Can I get anything for you in the
 
 I04 Scamp. 
 
 town, Adela ? " asked Mr Thorndyke, 
 rising from the table, and waiting in the 
 doorway to put the query. 
 
 " No thank you, papa. I have every- 
 thing in the world that I want ! " 
 
 " What ! everything ? " he replied, some- 
 what quizzically ; but Adela pretended 
 not to hear, for she was speaking to her 
 mother, but the clear skin showed a 
 passing flush. 
 
 An hour later she was in the kitchen, 
 wrapped in a large holland apron, em- 
 broidered in fern leaves, with her sleeves 
 well turned back, her rounded arms 
 whiter than even nature had made them, 
 powdered with flour, keeping her pro- 
 mise to her mother of makino; the 
 pastry, while the cook had betaken 
 herself to the scullery to attend to other 
 matters. 
 
 Adela, much as she longed to see Cecil 
 Egerton again, shrank shyly from meet-
 
 A Disappointing Meeting. 105 
 
 ing him, especially in the absence of her 
 parents. 
 
 She had thought of paying Marsden 
 Hall a visit, on purpose to be out of the 
 way when he arrived ; but her mother's 
 wishes had prevented her doing so. She 
 felt that her own invitation had brought 
 him down. 
 
 He had sought it, to be sure, but she 
 would have preferred that he had come 
 without question, and a strange mingling 
 of feelings jostled each other in her mind. 
 She had admitted " that she had not 
 forgotten," was not that as good as ask- 
 inor him to come forward ? 
 
 The colour leapt to her face as the 
 thought came to her, and caused a 
 sudden mental rebellion — her very finger- 
 tips tingled with pride-born shame. 
 
 '' No man should gain her unsought," 
 she told herself, and there was a bright 
 defiant look in the blue eves, such as
 
 io6 Scamp. 
 
 they had often worn in childhood, but 
 which had not been seen so frequently 
 of late. 
 
 There was a slight sound in the door- 
 way, and Adela looked up to meet the 
 loving gaze of Cecil Egerton. 
 
 For one moment she turned pale with 
 suppressed emotion — the next she was 
 holding up two flour-covered hands. 
 
 " Wretch ! " she laughed, " how dare 
 3^ou come here ? I'll call cook to pin a 
 dish-cloth to your coat, as a punishment 
 for invading her dominions. Where have 
 you sprung from ? We did not expect 
 you here till six o'clock. Papa is going 
 to meet you at the station, with Peggy 
 and the trap." 
 
 " Have I come too soon, Adela ? " he 
 asked, with a slight intonation of re- 
 proach in his voice. 
 
 " Why ! don't you see you have ? I'm 
 making tarts ! "
 
 A Disappointing Meeting. 107 
 
 " Cannot I help you ? " 
 
 *' You ! I cannot imagine Major Egerton 
 up to his elbows in flour at all ! " and 
 she broke into a merry laugh. 
 
 " Let me try," he said softly, coming 
 close to her side. 
 
 " No, no, avaunt ! Who ever heard of 
 a soldier in the kitchen ? " 
 
 " A good many people, if they live in 
 a garrison town ; it is difficult to find 
 one where there is not a soldier." 
 
 •* Are they indeed so invincible ? " 
 
 " ..4re you not going to shake hands, 
 Adela ? " 
 
 *' Certainly not, in my present capa- 
 city ; there's time enough for that." 
 
 A look of disappointment settled upon 
 his eyes. 
 
 " ril dip mine in the flour too, then 
 we shall not be able to laugh at each 
 other," and he moved towards the jar ; but 
 she snatched it up with sudden perversity.
 
 1 08 Scamp, 
 
 " No, no, you would spoil it ; and 
 now, tell me how did you know where to 
 find me \ " 
 
 '' I walked from the station, saw your 
 parlour-maid in the hall, and learnt from 
 her where you were. She was with you 
 when last I was at Winsthorpe, and 
 knew I was to be trusted." 
 
 '' Then she is better acquainted with 
 you than I am, Major Egerton." 
 
 Her words pained him, and he was 
 silent. He had expected a different 
 welcome, and yet Adela's heart was full 
 of love for him, full enough even to 
 satisfy his craving for it, had he been 
 able to gaze into its hidden depths! 
 
 " Suppose you go into the dining-room, 
 and ask Sarah to give you some lunch ? " 
 she suggested. 
 
 " No, thanks ; I don't want any," he 
 answered, with a shade of annoyance. 
 
 "Have you had it?"
 
 A Disappointing Meeting. 109 
 
 "Often," he replied. 
 
 "But to-day?" 
 
 "No; not to-day." 
 
 She walked to the door and called to 
 the parlour-maid, and gave some orders, 
 and after a while the woman appeared and 
 said all was ready. 
 
 By that time the cooking arrangements 
 were over, and Adela shook her fingers 
 clear of the flour. 
 
 "Now," she said imperiously, ** come 
 and have something to eat." 
 
 " Are you oroinix with me ? " 
 
 "You see I am." 
 
 " Very well," and he followed her 
 meekly. 
 
 When they reached the dining-room he 
 made a capture of her white hand. 
 
 " Adela," he said simply, "I re- 
 ceived your letter. It made me very 
 glad ! " 
 
 " Did it \ " she answ^ered, with crimson
 
 I lo Scamp. 
 
 cheeks. "Will you take chicken or 
 beef?" 
 
 " Neither, thank you," he replied, loos- 
 ening her from his clasp. 
 
 ''What then?" 
 
 ''Oh 1 a glass of wine and a biscuit, 
 please." 
 
 She pushed a chair out from the table, 
 poured the sherry from the decanter, and 
 placed a silver biscuit-box before him. 
 
 " I wish I could persuade you to take a 
 proper meal," she said ; " and now. Major, 
 you will excuse me while I go upstairs 
 and take off my apron, I know. When 
 you have finished, you will like a cigar 
 in the tent, and I will join you by- 
 and-by." 
 
 Saying which, Adela Thorndyke left the 
 room. 
 
 Cecil Egerton looked after her. 
 
 " Scamp ! Scamp ! " he murmured, " and 
 you said you had not forgotten me. Would
 
 A Disappointmg Meeting. 1 1 1 
 
 that 1 could forget, if this is my recep- 
 tion," and he rested his head wearily 
 upon his hands. 
 
 Then he raised himself, and sipped his 
 wine. 
 
 " She is more beautiful, more bewitching 
 than ever. I cannot give her up ! " 
 
 The entrance-gate swung upon its 
 hinges, and he looked out in time to 
 see a tall and handsome young fellow 
 walk in, as though he were quite at 
 home. 
 
 He gave a very peculiar whistle, and 
 to Egerton's surprise it was answered 
 from the window of the room overhead, 
 and Adela's voice came to him distinctly. 
 
 '• Go iuto the drawing-room ; I'll be 
 there directly." 
 
 The other gave her a bright look, and 
 obeyed, and Cecil sat still, a great pain 
 creeping about his heart. 
 
 " Why did I come here ? " he asked
 
 112 Scamp. 
 
 himself passionately. " Why did she tell 
 me she had not forgotten, if remember- 
 ing meant this ! " and he waved his hand 
 impatiently in the direction of the draw- 
 
 mg-room. 
 
 He listened to every sound, jealousy, 
 octopus-like, throwing its cruel feelers 
 about his heart's peace, and holding it 
 bound. 
 
 He heard her light footstej)s run down 
 the stairs, and the door close upon her, 
 and let his mind picture the meeting in 
 the adjoining apartment. 
 
 " Have you anything for me to-day, 
 Adela '{ " said the tall youth, with an 
 eager look. 
 
 " Will you be very grateful if I say 
 yes ? " she asked. 
 
 "Have I ever been otherwise to you?" 
 he replied, toying with the hanging rib- 
 bon on her sleeve. '* You have been my 
 friend for so long that I don't think I
 
 A Disappointing Meeting. 113 
 
 could do without you if the trial of 
 separation came." 
 
 ** AVell you will have to this afternoon, 
 for I have a visitor." 
 
 " A visitor — you f " 
 
 She nodded her bright head. 
 
 " Is it Carruthers ? " he inquired, 
 *' Adela, that man loves you dearly." 
 
 " Lord Carruthers — nonsense ! Why 
 should he be here ? " she answered 
 sharply. 
 
 " To see you, of course, and he might 
 do worse." 
 
 **Well, it is not his lordship, but an 
 old friend of papa's, and I must go to 
 him." 
 
 "Old! How old?" he said, with 
 interest. 
 
 " Oh, as old as the hills ! " 
 
 '* I daresay ; but there are mole-hills 
 and mountains, you know. Which is 
 he?" 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 Scamp, 
 
 " The happy medium, of course ; and 
 now here is your share of the spoil," 
 and she drew from her pocket a small 
 packet. 
 
 " You are good to me, Adela," he said, 
 clutching it eagerly. ''When may I 
 bring my answer?" 
 
 She pondered a moment. 
 
 '* To-morrow evening it will be safe, 
 I think. Suppose you come here at eight 
 o'clock ; I will leave the dining-table. 
 They will be over their wine then, and 
 I will meet you in the tent for a min- 
 ute ; but you must not stay — it would 
 never do for my parents to suspect." 
 
 " Of course it would not at the present 
 time. What a hornet's nest we should 
 raise if the truth were known now." 
 
 '* Well, realising that, my dear boy, 
 you had better go at once." 
 
 " I daresay ; but, x4dela, we used to 
 be such friends ; I scarcely had a thought
 
 A Disappointing Meeti7ig. i t 5 
 
 I did not bring to you in the dear old 
 days. I wish they had never passed. 
 We were so jolly together then ; no re- 
 strictions, no proprieties. I verily believe 
 it is these difficulties which get people 
 into scrapes, instead of keeping them 
 out of them, as they are intended to 
 do." 
 
 ** There is no incentive like opposi- 
 tion, certainly," she replied, wdth a smile; 
 '' but, after all, I don't thiuk you have a 
 very bad sort of life." 
 
 "No, thanks to you." 
 
 " Well, you really must go now, or 
 I shall be obliged to discontinue my 
 countenance." 
 
 " Discontinue it, Adela ! You don't 
 mean that — I could not get on without 
 your help at all. Look here, little 
 woman, no one can ever be such friends 
 as we have been ; promise me that 
 nothing shall ever make a split be-
 
 1 1 6 Scamp. 
 
 tween us — ^no one could do so on my 
 part," and he leant over her eagerly. 
 
 " Am I the sort of girl to be dictated 
 to ? " she asked. 
 
 " I should like to see the fellow who 
 attempted it," he laughed. 
 
 " So should I ! " and she joined in his 
 merriment. 
 
 " I think he would have a bad time 
 of it. No ! No one shall ever part 
 Adela Thorndyke from her chosen friends 
 — do not fear." 
 
 And she held out her hand to him. 
 
 '* You are a dear old girl ! " he re- 
 turned enthusiastically. *'The best friend 
 I have in all the world." 
 
 '' Of course I am ! " she said gently, 
 touching the packet. " And now^ do 
 
 go." 
 
 Very reluctantly he bade her adieu, 
 and she stood by the window to watch 
 him depart, then passed into the dining-
 
 A Disappointing Meeting. 1 1 7 
 
 room. Cecil was apparently busy with 
 the newspaper, and did not look up. 
 
 '' Are you ready for your cigar ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 '* Thank you," he replied coldly. 
 " I am not oroino; to smoke," and went 
 on reading. 
 
 She waited for some time, but he 
 never raised his eyes. 
 
 After a while she took up her work- 
 basket, and wordlessly left the room by 
 the French window, and entered the 
 tent. 
 
 The meetinor between Cecil Esrerton 
 and iVdela Thorndyke had not been at 
 all what they had pictured it.
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 IN THE GLOAMING. 
 
 HEN the Rector and his wife 
 clrove in through the garden, 
 Adela ran to met them. 
 ''Has Egerton arrived?" asked the 
 former ; " he was not at the station." 
 
 " He is in the dining-room," she re- 
 plied ; *' at least I left him there reading." 
 Hearing voices, the Major came out, 
 and a hearty greeting took place between 
 the friends. 
 
 "You're not looking the thing at all," 
 said Mr Thorndyke decidedly ; "but I
 
 In the Gloarning. 119 
 
 hope Winsthorpe air will soon set you 
 up again — it is counted good." 
 
 ** Adela and I must take care of you," 
 added Mrs Thorndyke, and turned to 
 her daughter, who was aimlessly pluck- 
 ing the leaves from a rose, for a cor- 
 roboration of her offer. 
 
 ''I beg your pardon, mamma, what 
 did you say ? " she returned, to avoid 
 replying to the question, which she had 
 heard distinctly. 
 
 Cecil looked at her with grave reproach. 
 
 " 1 do not think I shall be here 
 long enough to benefit by your good 
 offices," he said sadly. 
 
 " Is your furlough such a short one ? " 
 inquired the Kector. "You don't look 
 much up to duty." 
 
 " It is long enough," he answered, 
 almost wearily ; "I came home for one 
 purpose, and in that I have been griev- 
 ously disappointed. Had it been my
 
 1 20 Scamp. 
 
 health only, it would have been better 
 for me to have gone to the hills." 
 
 " And cheaper ? " 
 
 " Decidedly cheaper, and that for a 
 poor man is a thing to be considered." 
 
 '' How is that old uncle of yours ? I 
 suppose he is alive still. It seems a 
 shame he should live so long, and keep 
 you out of so good a property, wdien he 
 has no one to live for but himself" 
 
 " What ! did I not tell you ? I cer- 
 tainly thought I had written you my 
 ' wail ! ' " 
 
 "Your wail! then the letter never 
 reached me. What is the matter ? " 
 
 '* I am no longer his heir." 
 
 The Rector stopped short, and gazed 
 at him with blank astonishment. 
 
 " My uncle has married." 
 
 "That old fossil married?" 
 
 *' Yes ! a young and pretty wife, and 
 they have a little boy."
 
 In the Gloaming. 1 2 i 
 
 '' Don't, don't ! " cried the Rector ; 
 ** this is too much ! Why, Lord Lyne- 
 stone must be eighty ! " 
 
 '*Not quite so old as that, but he is 
 seventy- seven, and I certainly never 
 expected him to marry after his long 
 life of bachelorhood and misogamy." 
 
 "And you are reduced to your pay, 
 minus expectations % " 
 
 " I have only my pay, and no ex- 
 pectations." 
 
 " A poor prospect, in these fast-going 
 expensive days ? " 
 
 '' I have managed so far, and conclude 
 I shall be able to continue to the 
 end." 
 
 " It shuts out all possibility of mar- 
 riage," continued the Rector, " which 
 is hard on a man." 
 
 '* You think so ? " returned the other. 
 
 " Do not you ? " 
 
 *' I have not looked at it in that light.
 
 1 2 2 Scamp. 
 
 There are happy poor couples as well 
 as rich ones, I suppose ; but perhaps 
 you are right." 
 
 " I am sure I am. I would never ask 
 a girl to carry the knapsack, for my 
 sake. It would be a hard life ; don't 
 you think so, Adela ? " 
 
 *' I cannot agree with you, papa," 
 she said decidedly. "If a girl's love 
 were worth having, she would doubly 
 cling to a man if he were in trouble, 
 and be but too glad to share his life ; 
 — in the lack of other happiness the 
 more ready to make it for him her- 
 self." 
 
 Cecil Egerton's heart gave a great 
 bound as he looked at the animated 
 face, sweet with gentle emotion, the 
 earnest eyes, the quivering nostrils, and 
 trembling lips. Oh ! if he might trans- 
 plant her into his bare life. He was 
 a favourite in his regiment, but there
 
 In the Gloamins^. 12 
 
 <b 
 
 was a depth in the man's nature which 
 could not be touched by external pleas- 
 ures : a lono;ino; in his mind for a soul 
 
 ' CO 
 
 to reflect his own, a heart which should 
 beat only for him, a life utterly inter- 
 mingled with his ; a want, a need, 
 which could only be satisfied by one 
 — the woman of his love. 
 
 For one brief moment the eyes of 
 these two met, the next he was walking 
 along by the Rector's side, but it had 
 relieved two hearts of a dead weig;ht. 
 
 Adela knew that he loved her, and 
 once more hope revived in his breast. 
 
 She was thinkinor no longer that her 
 words had brought him to her side ; 
 she was grieving for his disappoint- 
 ment, and longing to make up to him 
 for it. 
 
 Mrs Thorn dyke went indoors to take 
 off her bonnet ; some one came to speak 
 to the Rector, and Cecil and Adela
 
 124 Scamp. 
 
 found themselves alone, under the old 
 walnut tree. 
 
 "Do you remember our afternoon up 
 there ? " he asked softly. 
 
 "I do not forget easily," she re- 
 plied. 
 
 " Nor I, Scamp ! Do you recollect 
 how you promised always to be my 
 friend ? " lie continued earnestly. 
 
 " More ; I renew the compact," she 
 answered, with an eloquent upward 
 glance. '* Major Egerton, I am so sorry 
 you have been ill, — so sorry you have 
 met with disappointment. It was in- 
 considerate of your uncle, very." 
 
 "I do not know that ; if I could 
 but believe that he and Lady Lynestone 
 really care for each other. I should not 
 grudge either of them their happiness. 
 My motto is — ' Love before all else ! ' 
 Adela, is yours the same ? " 
 
 She looked down nervously upon the
 
 In the Gloaming. 125 
 
 ground, and traced a pattern with her 
 dainty shoe. 
 
 " I am afraid to boast," she acknow- 
 ledged quaintly ; "I cannot sometimes 
 understand myself, my own wilfulness 
 overcomes my best intentions. I mean 
 to be very nice, for instance, and a 
 breath will change my mood, and make 
 me utterly perverse. Did I seem glad 
 to see you to-day ? " 
 
 " No, Adela, you did not. You pained 
 me by your cold and almost mocking 
 reception." 
 
 " I am sorry," she said humbly, " for 
 I ivas glad ! " 
 
 A great light beamed in the man's 
 face. 
 
 **My darling!" he murmured passion- 
 ately, ''if I dared believe that — if I dared 
 believe that the love which fills my whole 
 being is worthy of a moment's thought 
 to you, that you could be satisfied with
 
 126 Scamp. 
 
 the lot of the wife of a soldier of fortune ! 
 — Scamp, no words of mine could ever 
 tell you what my devotion has been to 
 you. Your image has filled my mind 
 day and night since we parted ; my one 
 hope and longing has been to return, and 
 ask you to be my wife, and to-day when 
 I came, I thought that hope was over." 
 
 '' Do you love me so dearly ? " she asked, 
 with shy tenderness. 
 
 '• So dearly ! " he echoed. " Ten times 
 more dearly than my words can paint, or 
 your mind picture, my darling. By day 
 your dear image has filled my thoughts, 
 all my hopes and aspirations have been 
 for you, and in my dreams my arms have 
 clasped you with fond possession." 
 
 " I am very glad," she said softly. 
 
 " My own, are you really ? Is it 
 possible ? " 
 
 " Well, very nearly," she replied, a 
 dash of mischief rising in her eyes.
 
 In the Gloaming. 127 
 
 ♦'My Phyllis!" he cried, "did I not 
 tell you you would always be some one's 
 love and torment ? " 
 
 " Yes, something like that," she an- 
 swered, with a happy smile. "And now 
 am I to torment you, Cecil ? " 
 
 "Will you, sweet one?" he asked 
 earnestly. " Have you really waited for 
 me?" 
 
 " I have not waited for any one else, 
 certainly ; I felt that you would come 
 back, Cecil." 
 
 "Dearest of girls, what a brute I have 
 been to you. I must have wasted two 
 hours away from you, and only because 
 I mistrusted you. Adela, can you for- 
 give me ? " 
 
 " Yes, if you will trust me always in 
 the future. In this case 1 was as much, 
 or more, to blame than you were ; but, 
 Cecil, there is one thing I must exact 
 from the man I love — perfect trust ! If
 
 12 8 Scamp. 
 
 that were wanting, he could be nothing 
 to me : want of faith I could never 
 forgive." 
 
 " Adela," he said, in a low voice, " for 
 the love of Heaven never let anything 
 come between us — you are my very 
 life ! " 
 
 " Heaven grant that nothing ever 
 may ; but we have both such strong 
 wills, Cecil. Of one thing, however, be 
 assured — I love you, love you with all 
 my heart ! " 
 
 And her hand crept into his. 
 
 There was no one there to see them, 
 and the leafy boughs of the walnut tree 
 sheltered them from notice, and closed 
 them in. 
 
 He drew her to him nearer and nearer, 
 his eyes fixed upon hers in a transport of 
 ecstatic feeling. His arms found their 
 way about her slender, sylph-like waist, 
 and she felt her very being merge into
 
 In the Gloaming, 129 
 
 his, with a strange, deep, delicious 
 meaning. 
 
 She neither moved nor spoke, but just 
 yielded herself to his embrace, unutter- 
 ably happy. 
 
 From that moment she knew she Avas 
 his very own, that the shadow of 
 no other could ever enter her heart, 
 that she was Cecil Egerton's, and his 
 only. 
 
 He lifted the loving face to his, and 
 kissed her upon cheek, and brow, and 
 lips, his own lingering unchidden in sup- 
 pressed, passionate bliss too deep for 
 words. 
 
 And she quivered in his arms like a 
 frightened bird — yet had no fear, but a 
 deep, tremulous joy ; if fear she felt, it 
 was at the greatness of her owm happi- 
 ness. 
 
 The first dinner-bell broke in roughly 
 upon their love-dream. 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 1 30 Scamp. 
 
 " It was too bright to last," he 
 said, with a sigh, as he released her 
 from his arms ; " but, Scamp, my dar- 
 ling, you have promised to be my 
 wife." 
 
 " Yes, Cecil, I have promised." 
 
 " Sweetheart, when shall I tell your 
 father ? " 
 
 She started. 
 
 " Not yet. He will oppose our wishes. 
 You heard yourself what he said about 
 marriage," she replied, with agitation. 
 "Let us be happy while we can. You 
 must tell him before you leave, I 
 suppose ? " 
 
 ** Certainly, dear one ; it w^ould be 
 wrong not to do so. I should rather 
 tell him of my happiness to-night." 
 
 "No," she said sadly; "let us have a 
 few days in peace." 
 
 " Adela," he answered earnestly, " your 
 father loves you too well to cross your
 
 In the Gloaining. 1 3 i 
 
 wishes, and has too much regard for me 
 to blight my life." 
 
 " My father is as good as gold ! " she 
 went on excitedly; "but he is strong in 
 his opinions as to what would be for ray 
 happiness, and what would not; and your 
 avowal of your poverty is still fresh in his 
 mind." 
 
 " Adela, you w^ill not give me up, even 
 should your father say * nay ' ? " 
 
 " No ; in that case, I should merely 
 wait until I am of age. My opinions are 
 as strong as my father's," she answered, 
 with a glorious look. 
 
 '* My brave, noble-hearted darling ! " he 
 cried, looking at her with tender admira- 
 tion. 
 
 And the second dinner-bell rang out. 
 
 " Do you hear?" she asked, with a glance 
 of comic dismay. 
 
 " Indeed I do, and I must put on a black 
 coat."
 
 T32 Scamp. 
 
 *' Papa will prefer your appearing in 
 your grey one to being kept waiting ; 
 nothing offends him like want of 
 punctuality." 
 
 " I'm really ashamed." 
 
 " So am I. I have my morning-dress 
 on still ; but never mind, if we don't tell 
 upon ourselves, perhaps no one will find 
 it out." 
 
 " I really must apologise." 
 
 " Eemember, qui s excuse, s accuse," 
 she laughed, as they hurried along side 
 by side. 
 
 " Adela ! Egerton ! " resounded from 
 the stentorian lungs of the Eector. 
 
 '* We are coming," replied his daughter, 
 who entered the dining - room with a 
 beaming face. 
 
 "So is Christmas, my dear ; it is five 
 minutes past seven." 
 
 He was standing with his watch in 
 his hand in a perfect fidget.
 
 In the Gloaminor. 
 
 00 
 
 " Will you excuse my coat ? " asked 
 Egerton. " I'm afraid we are rather 
 late." 
 
 ** I'll excuse anything, if you will only 
 come at once, the fish will be completely 
 spoilt. Like Wellington, I like more 
 than punctuality ; you know the story 
 of him, of course ? " 
 
 " No, I am not sure that I do," re- 
 plied the Major, anxious to let him 
 talk. 
 
 " Thank God ! " said the Rector ear- 
 nestly, suddenly remembering his grace, 
 which, in his excitement, he had well- 
 nio'h forojotten, g;ood man thouoh he 
 was. 
 
 It came in so strangely, that Arlela 
 had difficulty in keeping her counten- 
 ance. Every one seemed in good 
 spirits, the non - punctuality ruffle soon 
 wore off the Eector's mental feathers, 
 and he was pleased to see his friend,
 
 134 Scamp. 
 
 to talk of old times, to hear about the 
 i-enriment to which he had once be- 
 
 o 
 
 longed, and to learn of his old com- 
 rades, many of whose fortunes had 
 changed with the wheel of time, as a 
 turned kaleidoscope, making various strange 
 devices. 
 
 Some were married, some dead, some 
 gone along the road of ruin too far to 
 be recalled, some still upon the brink, 
 a few had climbed the cliff of life man- 
 fully, and were at the top of the pro- 
 fessional tree, a few more had prospered 
 in other paths. 
 
 Mrs Thorndyke and her daughter re- 
 tired early, and left the two men to 
 enjoy their conversation, and their wine. 
 
 It was not wonderful therefore, that, 
 the past revisited in thought, the Kector 
 should open his mind to his friend, and 
 tell him about his daughter's unlooked- 
 for rejection of so eligible a match as
 
 In the Gloaming. 135 
 
 Lord Carruthers, and his own deep de- 
 sire for his acceptance. 
 
 " Goodness knows w^hat the girl wants," 
 he said irritably. " Carruthers is as 
 nice and as handsome a young fellow 
 as you could meet with, besides all the 
 worldly advantages which he has at his 
 back." 
 
 "Is he tall and Mr ?" asked Cecil 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " Yes ! you don't know him, do 
 you ? " 
 
 " I fancy I have seen him," he answered 
 sadly, w^ith the remembrance springing 
 into his mind of Adela's visitor of the 
 afternoon, w^iom he had in his happiness 
 forgotten, then he continued, — " Are you 
 sure Miss Thorndyke does not really care 
 for him ? Sometimes people have some 
 slight tiff, w^hich spoils their whole lives, 
 the mischief even going so far as the heart 
 beino; caught at the rebound. There can
 
 136 Scamp. 
 
 be but little prospect of happiness in such 
 
 a case." 
 
 " She says she does noil' replied the 
 Eector, " but even the most truthful girls 
 ivill tell tarradiddles about their love affairs. 
 I still live in hope of seeing them united 
 some day." 
 
 Cecil Egerton sighed ; his pleasure in the 
 conversation was over. 
 
 A brio;ht, handsome face obtruded itself 
 between him and his peace. 
 
 It was doubtless Lord Carruthers whom 
 he had seen, and he was of course still 
 trying to gain her, and, moreover, they 
 appeared to be on the best of terms. 
 
 Should he ask Adela to explain the 
 young man's visit ? or would she consider 
 that mistrust ? 
 
 Major Egerton was of a jealous nature, 
 and jealous people seldom use sound judg- 
 ment in reflection. 
 
 Thus it was that he simply tortured him-
 
 In the Gloaming. 137 
 
 self about Adela's visitor, and let his sus- 
 picion rankle. 
 
 And the girl, all unknowing, joined him 
 in the garden in the gloaming, where the 
 scent of the old-world flowers was all about 
 and around them, filling the sweet night air. 
 
 Her father bore them company for 
 a while, but soon went in to sit w^ith his 
 wife, and the two paced the lawn side by 
 side, with the veil of silence between them. 
 
 Adela felt too happy to talk. In the 
 man's mind was a drop of bitterness, 
 which kept him tongue-tied. 
 
 But the quietude became oppressive after 
 a time, and the girl touched her lover's arm, 
 with a smile upon her red lips. 
 
 " Cecil, have you taken the vow of 
 silence ? " 
 
 He started. 
 
 "No; I was thinking, Adela." 
 
 " Of me ? " 
 
 "Yes, of you, and of other things."
 
 1 38 Scamp. 
 
 " I object to the other things," she 
 said playfully. 
 
 " So do I, my darling," he answered, 
 with more gravity than the occasion war- 
 ranted. " Adela, I would leave you if 
 I knew it to be for your happiness ; but — ' 
 
 ** That is what I call considerate," she 
 interrupted merrily. 
 
 " But," he continued, " I could never 
 be satisfied with half a heart." 
 
 '• I don't suppose you are singular in 
 that sentiment," she laughed. '' Even the 
 ingenuous young man in the song of 
 Kitty Tyrrell, although he sagely re- 
 marked that one heart was enough for 
 a body, distinctly asks for one — a whole 
 one — in return for his." 
 
 ** Adela, are you quite sure that my love 
 will make you happy ? " he said earnestly. 
 
 *' No one can be quite sure about any- 
 thing. You can make certain of two 
 things only — taxes and death."
 
 In the Gloaming. 139 
 
 " Scamp, you pain me." 
 
 She turned to him with the brightness 
 suddenly dying out of her speaking 
 face. 
 
 " Cecil, what is the matter ? " she 
 asked. " Surely you have not been 
 speaking to papa about me ? " 
 
 ** On the contrary, he has been telling 
 me of the love of another for you." 
 
 " Then it was very wrong of him ! " ex- 
 claimed she indignantly. '"' No one has 
 a riorht to mention such a thincr." 
 
 o o 
 
 '* And do you mind my hearing, Adela ? " 
 
 "Yes, I do." 
 
 " Is that trusting me ? " 
 
 "It has nothing to do with you at all, 
 Cecil." 
 
 " Nothing to do with me, and yet you 
 have promised to be my w^ife ! " 
 
 " My dear boy, what is the matter 
 with you ? One w^ould think I had ac- 
 cepted Lord Carruthers and you too."
 
 1 40 Scamp. 
 
 *' Adela, are you sure you care no- 
 thing for him." 
 
 ''Cecil!" 
 
 " My darling, at any sacrifice of self, 
 I would make you happy." 
 
 " You seem very willing to resign me ! " 
 she exclaimed, in a tone of pique. " It 
 would be pleasanter to me to hear that 
 you would ' hold me against the world.' " 
 
 " AVould it, Adela ? Do you really 
 mean it ? " 
 
 *' I always mean everything I say." 
 
 " Even when you are cross ? " 
 
 " Then you think I can be cross ? " 
 
 " Who can't ? Only an idiot can be 
 always the same." 
 
 " Well, allowing that I can be cross — 
 and often am so — I do mean what I say 
 then, at the time, at any rate." 
 
 " And, dear girl, you mean that you 
 love me I know now, now that you are 
 saying it ; but, oh ! Scamp, will it last ? "
 
 hi the Gloaming. 141 
 
 " If you have not confidence in me, 
 Cecil, it is not too late to confess you 
 cannot trust your happiness to me," she 
 answered gravely. 
 
 " And I am to give you up to marry 
 Lord Carruthers ! " he said hotly. 
 
 *' If you give me up, Cecil, it will not 
 be for you to dictate who I shall marry, 
 or the reverse," she replied, with dig- 
 nity. 
 
 '' Why did you not tell me you loved 
 him, child ? Heaven knows I would have 
 helped you had it been in my power — 
 helped you to be happy," he said, in a 
 low, passionate voice. 
 
 " I could not tell you what is not 
 true. I do not love Lord Carruthers ! " 
 
 " I should not have wondered if you 
 had ; he is a good-looking fellow ! " 
 
 " Have you seen him ? " she asked 
 suddenly. 
 
 ** Yes : this afternoon."
 
 142 Scamp. 
 
 A smile flitted over her face. She 
 knew quite well that his lordship had 
 not been near the place ; but she let 
 the mistake pass, to avoid explana.tions 
 such as she had no mind to enter 
 upon. 
 
 " Cecil," she said, " I was so happy 
 before dinner, and now a few foolish 
 words of my silly old father's have 
 clouded our sky. Am I not as dear to 
 you now as then ? There is no difference 
 in me, remember." 
 
 They had passed away into a sequestered 
 part of the garden, and were out of sight 
 of the house. 
 
 He caught her to his breast with hungry 
 love. 
 
 " You can never be less, dear Adela ; 
 I would gladly die for you." 
 
 '* Live for me instead, Cecil," she 
 whispered ; " it would make me happier 
 by far."
 
 In the Gloaming. 143 
 
 " Would it ? Scamp ! my life is yours 
 to do what you will with — only love 
 me, my darling. I cannot do without 
 your dear affection. You can never 
 know what the past three years have 
 been to me ; I was in constant dread 
 of some other carrying off my little 
 love." 
 
 " I was a child," she began, but stopped, 
 for she felt that childhood had vanished 
 with his first kiss ; and whatever else the 
 girl was, she was truthful. 
 
 " Yes ! in years ; but Adela, you were 
 daily getting older, and 1 knew that 
 lovers would be wooing you, and the 
 thouo;ht well-niorh maddened me." 
 
 '' Why did you not write if you felt 
 all that ? " 
 
 " Simply from a dread lest your childish 
 promise, and not love, should make you 
 accept me — that I could not bear." 
 
 The darkness had closed them in, but
 
 1 44 Scamp. 
 
 the stars twinkled overhead, and the 
 moon shone out with a soft light. 
 
 She raised her face to his, and let 
 him look into the depth of her eyes ; 
 then she placed her arms about his neck. 
 
 ''Cecil! cannot you believe in me 
 fully ? " she asked. " Can you not triLst 
 me ? Without such confidence we shall 
 be better apart." 
 
 "I can! I do!" he cried, holding her 
 to his breast. '' Scamp ! I am mad when 
 I think any man had dared speak words 
 of love to you — forgive me." 
 
 " That is nonsense ; all girls have offers 
 some time." 
 
 '' Do they ? Then men must be very 
 persevering, for there are six women to 
 every man." 
 
 " Dear me ! the statistics upon the 
 subject must be quite interestiug ! Then 
 a man must be refused five times to let 
 every girl have one offer!''
 
 In the Gloaming. 145 
 
 " What au outlook for the men I " he 
 laughed. 
 
 " For the women, you mean, Cecil ; 
 it does not hurt a man to be refused." 
 
 " Does it not ? I cannot agree with 
 
 you." 
 
 "Come, tell me how many offers you 
 have made in your thirty-eight years of 
 life ? " she said merrily. 
 
 " None, Scamp ! I have been waiting 
 to find my queen, and I have found her 
 at last ! And now one confidence deserves 
 another. How many men have dared 
 speak to you of love, my sweet one ? " 
 
 " I'm not going to confession, Cecil." 
 
 For a moment his arms unclasped from 
 about her. 
 
 " Cecil," she said, very gravely, " do 
 you know that I have a great fear in 
 my heart to-night ? " 
 
 Once more he clasped her tightly to 
 him. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 146 Scamp. 
 
 " Have you, little love ? Cannot I 
 shield you from it ? " 
 
 " You would have to shield me from 
 yourself," she returned, with a sad smile. 
 *^ Do not misjudge me, dear. I love 
 you with all my heart, but I could 
 never brook mistrust. Cecil, with all 
 your devotion, I fear you wdll yet let 
 your foolish fancies wreck both our 
 lives." 
 
 Suddenly she kissed him and clung to 
 him, as though the fear was a reality. 
 
 " Oh ! Cecil, my love, do not ; I can- 
 not be answerable for myself if you 
 do." 
 
 " My dear love," he returned, holding 
 her passionately to his breast — " how could 
 I ? If I could not believe in you, my 
 faith in all would be ended. Darling, let 
 this be our last misunderstanding." 
 
 She nestled in his breast then, and 
 a bird, which should have been asleep,
 
 In the Gloaming. 147 
 
 twittered to his mate to listen, too, to 
 these words of human love ; knowing, 
 wise bird, that both dwellers in houses 
 and nests, quarrel and make it up many 
 times before they settle down to life's 
 duties. 
 
 " What a peaceful night ! " she said 
 softly ; " Cecil, I wish time would stand 
 still." 
 
 " I want you for my wife first, love ; 
 then let the grim scythe-bearer become 
 a pillar of salt or a Cleopatra's needle," 
 he returned joyously. 
 
 " We shall never be happier than we 
 are to-night, love," she said, half sadly. 
 
 " Winter follows summer, we cannot 
 always have it bright like this. See, 
 already there is a black cloud rising in 
 the sky ! " 
 
 " There is none in our horizon, dar- 
 ling." 
 
 Are you sure ? "
 
 148 Scamp, 
 
 He caught her to him. 
 
 " Hush ! love ! do not prophesy evil, 
 my darling ! I swear here, under the 
 arch of heaven, no other woman shall 
 ever be aught to me, save my one love, 
 my little Scamp." 
 
 She did not answer him in words, but 
 even in the dim light shed by the night 
 queen, he saw her face, and was satis- 
 fied.
 
 CHAPTER VI I. 
 
 CAN YOU NOT TRUST ME ? " 
 
 HE following; dav was imevent- 
 ful, and happy enough. 
 
 Cecil and Adela had many 
 quiet chats together, hand clasped in 
 hand, and all uneasiness seemed to have 
 left the mind of both. 
 
 There was a walk and a drive, a 
 breakfast and a luncheon, and once 
 more the dinner-bell sounded at the 
 Rectory. 
 
 On this occasion both Adela and 
 Major Egerton w^ere dressed, and ready
 
 1 50 Scamp. 
 
 to cheer Mr Tiiorndyke's heart by their 
 punctuality. 
 
 When the Major entered the drawing- 
 room he found an addition to the circle 
 in Lilian Freemantle. 
 
 *' I'll slip out at eight o'clock," 
 whispered Adela. " and just say he's 
 to meet you in the lane when the clock 
 strikes nine, and come in again as fast 
 as I can. Keep my tame lion amused if 
 possible." 
 
 They were all laughing and talking, 
 and it was only when the bell of tlie 
 church tower chimed out eight, that 
 Adela Thorndyke remembered her pro- 
 mise, and without a word she quietly 
 glided from the room. 
 
 Her mother looked up, but seeing her 
 smile, she let her go without comment, 
 fully satisfied that nothing was the matter. 
 
 But Adela's friend was late, and very 
 impatiently she waited.
 
 " Can you not trtist me P " 151 
 
 Some minutes elapsed, and Mrs Thorn- 
 dyke signed to Lilian to accompany her 
 into the drawinsf-room. 
 
 The girl longed to fly off to the 
 garden to Adela, but her hostess was 
 in the middle of a long story about the 
 troubles of a family in the village, who 
 were in great distress, and could not 
 possibly be interrupted in her voluble 
 narration. 
 
 Not a word of it did poor Lilian hear, 
 but she managed to reply yes or no 
 occasionally, as though the subject were 
 full of interest to her, and all the time 
 her ears were stretched, listening intently 
 to every sound outside. 
 
 The "tame lion," left alone with the 
 Rector, asked him kindly to excuse him 
 for a minute. Jealousy was at that 
 moment far from his heart. 
 
 A fear possessed his mind that Adela 
 was ill, and he w^as oroing; to seek her. In
 
 1 5 2 Scamp. 
 
 the hall he saw the parlour-maid, and in- 
 quired where her young mistress w^as to 
 be found, and learnt that she had gone 
 out into the garden. 
 
 Without hesitation he followed her, and 
 walking across the lawn in the direction 
 of the tent, his footsteps gave back no 
 sound. 
 
 *' Don't go yet, Dela," said the voice of 
 a man, as he approached it. 
 
 " I must, you are so rash. Suppose any 
 of them knew I had come out to meet 
 you ? Don't spoil all, and, above every- 
 thing, another time do not keep me 
 waiting." 
 
 " I'm awfully sorry ; it was the fault 
 of my wretched watch, and I ran all 
 the way when I heard the church clock 
 strike." 
 
 " Well, you must go out the back way ; 
 no one must see you here to-night. I 
 have left the gate of the kitchen garden
 
 " Can you not trust me P " 153 
 
 open, and I will lock the one between, so 
 you can wait in the lane till nine, then 
 sit in the old summer-house for half-an- 
 hour. I shall not be far off." 
 
 **How^ good you are!" he said; 
 "■ what should I do without you ? I 
 didn't know I should have such luck 
 to-night, so I wrote. Perhaps you had 
 better take the letter now." 
 
 He drew a handful of papers from 
 his breast-pocket, and slipped his letter 
 into its envelope, then started ; for in 
 the weaning light Cecil Egerton was 
 standing: at the entrance of the tent, 
 looking in, his face dark and lowering. 
 
 " An angry flush rose to Adela's cheeks, 
 but her words w^ere firm and quiet. 
 
 " Good-bye till nine o'clock, then," 
 she said ; " please go." 
 
 Her visitor obeyed her without ques- 
 tion, and she and her lover were alone. 
 
 " Adela," he said, in a voice of sup-
 
 154 Scamp. 
 
 pressed passion. '' I must ask you to 
 explain what I have seen and heard." 
 
 She paused a moment. 
 
 *' 1 have no explanation to give," she 
 returned. 
 
 " You came here by appointment to 
 receive a letter from that young man's 
 hands ? " 
 
 " I did." 
 
 " And you have promised to meet 
 him again at nine o'clock ? " 
 
 *' I have." 
 
 '' And you refuse to satisfy me as to 
 what it all means ? " 
 
 " Cecil, I cannot ; the happiness of 
 another depends on my silence." 
 
 "Then I shall inform Mr Thorndyke 
 of what is going on." 
 
 " Cecil, you would not, you could not, 
 be so — so unmanly ! You creep here, 
 and listen to words, and see things 
 never intended for your ears and eyes ;
 
 " Can you not trust me P " 155 
 
 and then you threaten to go and make 
 mischief ! I cannot believe it of you ! " 
 she cried excitedly. 
 
 "Lord Carruthers has no right to 
 sneak into your father's premises by 
 back ways, and it is as well he should 
 know the sort of man he is, w4iom he 
 so greatly desires for a son-in-law\" 
 
 A weight seemed lifted from Adela's 
 mind. 
 
 "All right!" she repKed. "Go and 
 tell my father, if you like, that Lord 
 Carruthers has been talking to me in 
 the tent. I do not think he will mind 
 much," and she gazed at him defiantly ; 
 " and you may add, if you please, that I 
 am oroinoj to meet him asain, at nine, at 
 the gate in the lane. He will not inter- 
 rupt us, I'll warrant," she added bitterly. 
 
 "And this is your answer?" 
 
 " I can give you no other." 
 
 A merry voice sounded in the garden.
 
 156 Scamp. 
 
 " Dela, Dela ! here's your hat, your 
 mother says you will catch cold ; " and 
 Lilian bounded into the tent. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Major Egerton, 
 I thought you were in the dining-room ? " 
 .she said apologetically. 
 
 " I am going, thank you ! " he replied, 
 and turning upon his heel, walked away, 
 while burning tears fell slowly and silently 
 down Adela's cheeks. 
 
 " Have you two quarrelled ? " asked 
 Lilian, in surprise. 
 
 "Quarrelled! No! Do not think 
 about me, Lil ; I'm all right. We will 
 go into the other garden and lock the 
 gate." 
 
 " What ! now ? Some of them may be 
 about, and look for us." 
 
 " Never mind ; I cannot go in just 
 yet. Horace will be somewhere near. 
 He will hear us if I whistle. He ought 
 to know the call, for lie tauirht it to me
 
 ''Can you not trust rne P " 157 
 
 so many years ago," she said, with a sad 
 smile. 
 
 And she was right. 
 
 Horace Lake emerged from the little 
 summer-house, and in another moment 
 Lilian was in his arms. 
 
 " This is an unlooked-for pleasure my 
 pet!" he cried; '* I am so — so glad to see 
 
 you!" 
 
 " It is all dear old Dela's doing," she 
 answered. " Horace, 1 should have given 
 you up in despair long ago but for her. 
 She is always ready to help us, and cheers 
 me by the assurance that it will all come 
 right. It is doubly good of her, when 
 the Eector has forbidden her to do any- 
 thing contrary to my father's wishes." 
 
 " The roof would go off if poor old 
 pater were to guess that you two were 
 here ! " struck in Adela, with a spice of 
 her old fun. 
 
 "What about that very savage-looking
 
 158 ^ Scamp. 
 
 old, young man ? " asked Horace ; " he 
 won't go in and split upon us, will 
 he ? " 
 
 '• He may inform my father that Lord 
 Carruthers is out here making love to 
 me," she said, with a sad smile, "but that 
 w^ould do you no harm." 
 
 '' Thought I was his lordship, eh ? 
 Well, I should not mind if I w^ere. There 
 would be no difficulties with Sir Richard 
 then, would there, darling ? " and his 
 arm crept round Lilian's waist. 
 
 "Did you not undeceive him, Dela ? " 
 asked she. 
 
 " No, dear, it is safer as it is, and now 
 be happy you two ; but don't stay too 
 long, for papa might not approve of a 
 lengthy interview with his lordship even, 
 when the darkness deepens," and she 
 hastily withdrew, seating herself upon a 
 bench to think. 
 
 Once she heard a footstep upon the
 
 " Ca7i yo2c not trust me ? " 159 
 
 gravel in the flower-garden, and knew 
 that it was Cecil Egerton's, and she 
 longed — longed wildly to rush to him, 
 and tell him the simple truth, tell him 
 that Horace was the lover of another, 
 and not herself at all, that every beat of 
 her fond heart was for him, and for him 
 alone ; and he then would have taken her 
 to his arms, but for a very small incident. 
 
 She heard him try the gate. 
 
 A wave of ano^er and indio-nation 
 surged through her mind, driving back 
 the love. He was spying upon her 
 actions. It was a thing she would stand 
 from no man, she told herself, in the 
 strength of her pride. 
 
 So she sat still, and he passed on ; and 
 thus their lives w^ere chano^ed. Such a 
 very little thing will do it. A straw 
 upon the surface of the stream of 
 existence. 
 
 Horace and Lilian were very comfort-
 
 1 60 Scamp. 
 
 able lovers. They thoroughly understood 
 each other, having been like brother and 
 sister in childhood, before the heads of the 
 families thought it necessary to make 
 them conscious of sex by irksome re- 
 strictions. 
 
 Up to then they had been friends ; 
 after that they became lovers. No 
 sooner did they become aware that their 
 lives ivere to lie apart, than they de- 
 termined to live them together ; and 
 having so determined, strengthened in 
 their resolve by their friend Adela, they 
 never wavered in their allegiance to each 
 other. 
 
 Adela sat quite still — her mind in a 
 state of chaos. 
 
 Love, anger, resentment, gentleness, 
 and defiance, holding a battle royal. 
 
 The lovers had had their half-hour, 
 and considerably more, had kissed and 
 parted, and Lilian had locked the gate,
 
 " Caji yo2t not trust me P " 1 6 r 
 
 and was standing by her friend's side 
 with the key. 
 
 " Where is Horace ? " she asked, coming 
 back to the present with an effort. 
 
 •''Gone, dear ! Thank you a thousand 
 times, my darling old girl ; we have 
 had such a happy time ! " 
 
 " Horace is a good fellow ; you and 
 he will get on splendidly, Lil ! " 
 
 '•' I am sure we shall ; he is not like 
 the young men of the present day ! " 
 
 " No ! there is nothing of the ' masher ' 
 about Horace," returned Adela, with a 
 smile which was sadder than tears. 
 
 " Dela, darling, what has happened ? 
 Do tell me ; you look miserable ! " 
 
 " I look what I am, Lilian, but do 
 not question me ! " 
 
 " Can I help in no way ? You do 
 so much for me ! " 
 
 " No ! no one can change things ; it 
 is fate, I suppose ! " 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 1 62 Scamp. 
 
 " I never knew you fatalistic, Dela ! " 
 
 " Perhaps not, but in some moods we 
 cannot shake it off, and can only account 
 for the course events have taken in one 
 word ! " 
 
 " And that is ? " 
 
 " Kismet." 
 
 " Poor old girl," said Lilian softly ; 
 "it is of no use to talk to you to-night. 
 Sometimes one does not feel open to 
 argument ! " 
 
 " You are right, and now let us go in. 
 How dark it has grown, and you will be 
 sent for before long ! It will be better 
 that your servant should find you in the 
 sheepfold, for one cannot tell a friend from 
 a foe in these degenerate days." 
 
 " Yes one can, Dela ! Could I ever 
 mistake you for an enemy ? " 
 
 " I ! Oh ! count for nothing ; it is 
 a part of my religion to be staunch to 
 you and Horace ! "
 
 ■' Can you not trtist me ? " 1 6 
 
 o 
 
 "At any cost?" 
 
 " Yes ; at any cost." 
 
 " Dela ! " returned Lilian earnestly, 
 ^* promise me that if ever you find help- 
 ing or shielding us may get you into 
 trouble, that you will turn us adrift. 
 I can trust Horace, even thous^h I misiht 
 be parted from him for a time ! " 
 
 " Never ! " replied Adela decidedly ; 
 " I will never give up the friends who 
 have been my companions from child- 
 hood, for any one's caprice ! " 
 
 " You faithful old dear ! No one ever 
 had such a chum as you, Dela ! " 
 
 Adela gave her a warm hand- clasp, 
 and the darkness hid the fact that her 
 red lips were quivering painfully. 
 
 " Come, Lilian, we must go in," she 
 said, and the two girls sauntered along 
 side by side, arm linked in arm. They 
 stopped before the French window of 
 the drawing-room and looked in.
 
 1 64 Scamp. 
 
 A moderator iarap was casting its soft 
 light in the room, and it all looked 
 very home-like. 
 
 Mr Thorndyke had fallen asleep in his 
 chair. His wife was busy at work over a 
 small garment for one of the infantine poor. 
 
 Cecil Egerton had a book in his hand, 
 but his eyes were not upon its pages ; 
 they wore a sad, far-off look, which 
 could only have been born of pain, and 
 it went to Adela's heart. 
 
 He started as the girls stood before 
 the open window, but it was Mrs Thorn- 
 dyke who spoke. 
 
 " My dears, it is very damp for you 
 two to be out in the garden ! " 
 
 The Eector woke with a start, — 
 
 " Eh — oh — ah — yes ! What is the mat- 
 ter, Mary ? " 
 
 " Nothing, I hope, Edward. I was 
 sorry Adela and Lilian had remained 
 out so late — that was all."
 
 " Can you not trust me ?" 165 
 
 '' Late ! Why, bless me, it is quite 
 dark ! " 
 
 " The carriage has come for Miss Free- 
 mantle," announced the parlour-maid. 
 
 " Oh, you are going home in state, 
 are you ? " laughed Adela. 
 
 *' I would rather walk by far," asserted 
 the Baronet's daughter. " But papa some- 
 times takes freaks into his head, and will 
 not allow me to do so." 
 
 Then she bade them good-bye, and Adela 
 went with her to the carriage door, and 
 watched her start, returning to family 
 prayer in the dining-room. 
 
 Adieux were spoken, and Mrs Thorn- 
 dyke and Adela went upstairs, and 
 after assisting; her mother, the orirl 
 kissed her fondly, and left for her own 
 room. 
 
 In the passage she met Cecil, and 
 stood aside to let him pass, and in so 
 doing she had a full view of his face.
 
 1 66 Scamp. 
 
 and the misery depicted in it went to 
 her heart. 
 
 She laid her hand upon his arm, and 
 he stopped and looked at her with silent 
 reproach. 
 
 " Cecil," she said earnestly, " can you 
 not trust me ? " 
 
 A great wave of feeling passed over 
 his face, and he stretched out his hand 
 to her. 
 
 "If I dared, Adela — if I dared," he 
 replied, in an agitated voice. 
 
 " You may do so, believe me," she re- 
 turned. " The gentleman you saw is a 
 dear friend — nothing more ! " 
 
 He gave a deep sigh of relief, and 
 stood looking into the blue eyes which 
 met his own so honestly. 
 
 Then he stooped and kissed her, as a 
 father might do an erring child ; not as 
 though he thought her blameless, but as 
 though her sin against him was forgiven.
 
 " Can you not trttst me ? " 167 
 
 " Did you tell papa ? " she asked. 
 
 " No, Adela, I did not," he answered 
 gravely. " Although my first impulse 
 was to do so ! " 
 
 " Second thoughts are often best," she 
 said approvingly. " I am glad you said 
 nothinor to father." 
 
 Then she looked up at him in her 
 half-saucy way. 
 
 " Are we friends again, Cecil ? " 
 
 " Friends always, Adela ! " 
 
 A rosy flush sufi'used her fair cheeks. 
 
 " I — I — did not quite mean that ! " she 
 said truthfully. 
 
 " I understand you," he replied, with 
 gentle gravity. " And I must think it 
 out, — think whether it is for your happi- 
 ness. You have asked me to trust you, 
 and my own heart pleads for you, dear girl, 
 while my reason emphatically says ' no .' ' " 
 
 " Do not listen to it, Cecil. Men 
 reason till they lose all faith 1 "
 
 1 68 Scmnp. 
 
 " Yet reason was given us as a safe- 
 guard ! " 
 
 " Cecil," she said gently, " you must 
 think me very wilful not to give you 
 the explanation you desire ! " 
 
 " Yes, I do think you very wilful — 
 nay, more, very wrong ! " 
 
 " I am sorry," she returned humbly. 
 " Yet I cannot with truth and sincerity 
 do so." 
 
 " Then it is best to be silent ! " 
 
 *' So I think. And now, Cecil, how 
 shall we meet to-morrow ? " and she 
 raised her beautiful eyes to his, full of 
 love. 
 
 " Little siren," he murmured, drawing 
 her to him. " You would cajole a man's 
 soul out of his body ! " and again she 
 was nestling in his arms, free from 
 care. 
 
 " Am I forgiven, Cecil ? " 
 
 " Darling, will you assure me that no
 
 " Can you not trust me?^' 169 
 
 words of love have passed between you 
 and that fellow ? " 
 
 '' Solemnly, I do ! " 
 
 " And even though appearances are 
 against you, you are still my own ? " 
 
 " Your very own ! " 
 
 He gathered her to him then, and 
 kissed her again and again. 
 
 The Rector's footsteps sounded in the 
 hall, and Adela fled from her lover's arms 
 with a liofht heart.
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 ADELAS REQUEST. 
 
 DELA'S unhappiness and fears 
 had passed from her mind. 
 Her lover had made no mis- 
 chief. 
 
 She had kept the secret of her friend, 
 and she had obtained her forgiveness, and 
 was once more in favour. 
 
 She slept the sound sleep of youth, 
 and a clear conscience, and did not 
 awake till the sun was high in the 
 heavens. Her first thought was of 
 Cecil. 
 
 She sang for joy as she dressed, be-
 
 Adelas Request, 1 7 1 
 
 cause he had chosen her, and because he 
 loved her ; and when she was ready she 
 ran downstairs with light footsteps, and 
 was soon among the flowers, enjoying 
 their sweetness. 
 
 She believed her lover to be still in 
 his room ; but as she passed the tent she 
 saw that he was there, and she went to 
 him at once, then stopped, for the face 
 which met her gaze was Cecil Egerton's 
 certainly, but how changed. 
 
 White to the lips, and stern beyond 
 description, the ghost of the man who 
 had pressed her to his breast only a 
 few hours before. 
 
 *' Cecil, in Heaven's name, what is 
 wrong ? " she asked, with a sudden 
 fear. 
 
 " What is wrong ! " he repeated, almost 
 mechanically. " Surely it is not for you 
 to ask that ? You have deceived 
 me!"
 
 172 Scamp. 
 
 She stood before him pale and still, a 
 deep passion seething in her heart. 
 
 '' How dare you make such an as- 
 sertion ? " she said, in a suppressed 
 voice. 
 
 '' Because I can prove its truth," he 
 continued sternly. " Last night I allowed 
 your caressing ways and your bright eyes 
 to befool my reason. You asked me to 
 trust you, and I put aside all suspicions 
 from my mind, and lived only in your 
 smiles — so lived, and was happy. To- 
 day, I know you for what you are. 
 Adela, you perjured yourself when you 
 assured me w^ords of love were not pass- 
 ing between you and your friend." 
 
 " Major Egerton," she said, with pride, 
 although her heart was well-nio^h break- 
 ing, "I do not know upon what you 
 found your accusation, but you have said 
 enough to prove to me that I have 
 chosen wrongly. You are free."
 
 A de Id s Request, 173 
 
 She turned from him with the air of 
 a wounded queen, and walked away. 
 
 " Stay ! " said Egerton, following her. 
 " You shall see that my accusation is not 
 unjust," and he held out to her the con- 
 clusion of a very loving love - letter. 
 " Was that written by your friend ? " 
 he asked cynically. 
 
 " It w\as, without doubt." 
 
 " To whom was it addressed ? " 
 
 " I cannot say." 
 
 " Of course not," he returned bitterly. 
 " Yet he was giving this very letter to 
 vou when I came in sig^ht last night, 
 and he little dreamt that he had dropped 
 a piece of it." 
 
 " Have you anything more to say ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 " Nothing whatever. Have you ? " 
 
 " Yes ; one thing. I am innocent." 
 
 And before he could reply to her, 
 Adela was across the lawn, in the house,
 
 1 74 Scamp. 
 
 and upstairs in her own room, with the 
 door locked. 
 
 She declined to appear at breakfast, 
 pleading a headache, and when Mrs 
 Thorndyke came and made her admit 
 her, the pale face and heavy eyes amply 
 convinced her of the truth of the state- 
 ment. 
 
 After breakfast, she went into the 
 village to visit some poor folks ; and the 
 Eector being bound upon the same 
 errand, Adela did not go down at all, 
 until the maid came up to tell her Mr 
 Horace Lake was waiting to see her. 
 
 She went to him at once, for he had 
 said his business w^as urgent. 
 
 " Have you not heard ? " he asked 
 excitedly. 
 
 ** Heard what?" she queried. 
 
 "About Lilian. There was an acci- 
 dent going home last night, and my dear 
 girl was hurt. It is all over the place.
 
 Adelas Request. 175 
 
 and, Dela, I am almost wild. I dare not 
 go to the house to ask, and I cannot get 
 at the truth of it. The horses ran away, 
 and the carriage was all smashed up — of 
 that there is small doubt. Some people 
 say my dear girl is seriously injured — 
 others that she is only slightly hurt. Oh, 
 if I might see her ! " 
 
 " I am afraid that is not possible, 
 Horace ; but I will go at once to Marsden 
 Hall, and obtain full information about 
 dear Lilian. If you \y\\\ hide yourself in 
 the little spinney at the corner of the 
 road, I will manage to get out, and tell 
 you the truth." 
 
 " God bless you, Adela ! " he cried, 
 holding her hand unforbidden ; " you are 
 indeed good to me, as I have said before, 
 very often ; what could I do without you ? " 
 
 Neither of them had heard the door 
 open, but now a cold voice struck upon 
 their ears.
 
 1 76 Scamp. 
 
 " I beg your pardon. I was unaware 
 that the room was occupied. Mrs Thorn- 
 dyke informed me that you were un- 
 well, and were not coming down ; " and 
 without waiting for a reply, Major 
 Egerton closed the door again, and was 
 gone. 
 
 " What a prig ! " said Horace. "One 
 would think he was posing for the ghost 
 in Hamlet." 
 
 " I will dress if you will wait," she re- 
 turned ; "we may as well walk together, 
 and oh ! how I hope we may find our 
 dear Lilian better." 
 
 She left the apartment as she spoke, 
 going wearily up the stairs. 
 
 " The last straw," she moaned. " Cir- 
 cumstantial evidence — link upon link. It 
 is all over now." 
 
 Scalding tears rose to her eyes, but she 
 fought against them ; choking sobs to her 
 throat, but she drove them back.
 
 Adelas Request, 177 
 
 She looked so faint and weak when she 
 returned that Horace noticed it. 
 
 " What's up w^ith you, Adela ? " he said. 
 " You look quite ill ! " 
 
 " I have had no breakfast," she confessed. 
 " I could not even look at it." 
 
 He w^ent up to the sideboard, and poured 
 out a glass of wine for her. 
 
 " Anxious as I am to go, I will not 
 start until you have taken this, and 
 eaten a biscuit. You will be ill if you 
 go on like this," he said kindly, but 
 firmly. 
 
 " It would not matter much if I were," 
 she asserted, with dim eyes. " There are 
 few w^ho w^ould miss me if I were 
 dead ! " 
 
 " Poor old girl ! now" I know you are 
 out of sorts," he said decidedly. " It 
 was never our dear old Scamp who said 
 that." 
 
 And he laid his hand upon her shoulder. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 178 Scamp. 
 
 She swallowed the wine to please him 
 as quickly as she could, and left the 
 house by his side, Cecil Egerton watch- 
 ing her till she was out of sight, from 
 the window of his bedroom. 
 
 Then he turned, and very slowly col- 
 lected the things which belonged to him, 
 and packed his portmanteau, strapping and 
 locking it. 
 
 Lunch time came, but Adela did not 
 return. 
 
 Mrs Thorndyke went to her room, but 
 found the bird had flown. 
 
 Both she and the Eector had heard 
 rumours of Lilian Freemantle's accident, 
 and she rightly divined the cause of her 
 daughter's disappearance. 
 
 " I fancy Adela must have heard that 
 Lilian is hurt," she said, as she joined the 
 others at the luncheon-table ; " she must 
 have gone in haste to have left no message 
 — it is unlike her ! "
 
 Adelds Request. 179 
 
 A bitter smile curled the lip of Major 
 Egerton. He made no remark, but he 
 had seen Adela depart with Lord Car- 
 ruthers (as he supposed), and had no 
 faith whatever in Mrs Thorndyke's 
 theory. 
 
 xlfter the subject had been discussed as 
 far as it could be, a pause followed, which 
 he broke. 
 
 " I received some news to-day, Thorn- 
 dyke, which calls me to town, and I 
 must ask you to let me take an old 
 friend's privilege, and run away. You 
 and Mrs Thorndyke must not think me 
 churlish for making such an abrupt de- 
 parture." 
 
 "We will let you go on one condition," 
 said the Eector heartily. 
 
 " And that is ? " 
 
 " That you come back as soon as possible. 
 What will x\dela say to find you flown 
 without even a word of farewell ? "
 
 1 80 Scamp. 
 
 " I cannot flatter myself that Miss Thorn- 
 dyke will regret the fact." 
 
 " Why not ? " asked the Rector, looking 
 up. "Are not you and she good friends 
 now ? " 
 
 " Certainly we are," returned the Major. 
 
 " Well ! I am sorry you are going, 
 Egerton, very ; but it is no kindness to 
 press a man to remain when it has be- 
 come inconvenient to him. Eemember 
 there is always a vacant chair and a wel- 
 come for you while I have a roof to 
 cover me. What time do you want to 
 go to the station ? " 
 
 "To catch the four up." 
 
 " Oh ! there is plenty of time then, and 
 Adela may be back to say good-bye." 
 
 But she did not return, and Cecil Eger- 
 ton was carried by the four o'clock train 
 to London, with a strange feeling of un- 
 certainty as to whether he was glad to 
 be spared the parting, or sorry not to
 
 Adelds Request. i8i 
 
 take one last look at the face he loved 
 so well — the sweet face which had fol- 
 lowed him, sleeping and waking, for three 
 long years, and which would haunt him 
 still for many a weary day. 
 
 Lilian Freemantle was really ill ; so ill 
 that she could not bear Adela out of her 
 sight, although when she heard who was 
 waiting in the plantation, she but too 
 willingly spared her to carry a message 
 from her. 
 
 Sir Richard loved his daug-hter, in 
 spite of all his strictness with her, and 
 he begged Adela to let him drive over to 
 the Eectory for the permission of her 
 parents, to remain at the Hall all night, 
 and fetch her things — a request to which 
 the girl gladly consented ; and the little 
 pony-trap, with the Eector and Major 
 Egerton, was scarcely out of sight of the 
 Rectory gate when the Baronet drove in.
 
 1 82 Scamp. 
 
 Mrs Thorndyke was glad to know for 
 certain where Adela had gone, willingly- 
 put together what she would require, and 
 told Sir Richard to '' keep her until Lilian 
 was content to part with her." 
 
 " That would be never ! " laughed the 
 Baronet. " I have heard of hero worship 
 with a girl often, but this is heroine wor- 
 ship, and no mistake. Lilian cannot bear 
 Adela out of her sight. 
 
 " I think they are very fond of each 
 other," remarked Mrs Thorndyke, " and 
 Adela is very staunch in her friendships." 
 
 " So I should think," replied Sir Richard. 
 " She is the only girl I have ever liked in 
 my life, besides Lilian and her mother ; 
 there is something so open about her." 
 
 " She is open as the day." 
 
 '' Well ! I had better get back," returned 
 the Baronet, " and make Lilian's mind easy 
 as to her friend's not being taken away 
 from her."
 
 A delci s Request. 183 
 
 "Tell her with my fond love that I 
 hope she will very soon be quite well 
 again, and I am glad no bones were 
 broken." 
 
 " No, no ! she was frightened and 
 shaken, poor child, and has a sprained 
 ankle — nothing worse, I am thankful to 
 say, but she is restless and feverish." 
 
 " Will you kindly tell Adela that Major 
 Egerton has been called unexpectedly to 
 town, but we hope to see him back soon." 
 
 Sir Richard delivered Mrs Thorndyke's 
 message to her daughter, and was struck 
 by the girl's unusual pallor ; but after a 
 minute she went on talking about other 
 subjects, and he thought no more of it. 
 Not so Lilian. 
 
 "Dela," she said, "why has the Major 
 left Winsthorpe so suddenly." 
 
 " I will tell you some day, Lil, not now. 
 You must keep quiet, my dear old girl ; 
 I want to see you better."
 
 1 84 Scamp. 
 
 " When you say ' not now ' in that 
 decided way I know there is no appeal," 
 said the girl, with a smile. " What time 
 are you going out to meet my Horace 
 to-morrow ? " 
 
 "At twelve — now go to sleep." 
 "I will, if you will hold my hand, or 
 I will try." 
 
 Days had run into weeks before Adela 
 Thorndyke went back to the Kectory. 
 
 Lilian was more hurt than her father 
 supposed, and her friend scarcely left her 
 side, save to deliver those tender messages 
 in the spinney at the corner of the road. 
 
 Peggy took Mr and Mrs Thorndyke 
 over daily to see their daughter, and in- 
 quire for the invalid. 
 
 They had received a short note from 
 Major Egerton, telling them he was start- 
 ing for the Continent to travel, in order 
 to recruit his health before the expiration
 
 Adelas Request, 185 
 
 of his leave ; and this was all the news 
 of him they had to give her, and she 
 heard it without a sign. 
 
 Summer passed, and winter set in. 
 Spring, and another summer came round, 
 and again sped away. 
 
 A line had informed Mr Thorndyke that 
 Cecil had reached India, and rejoined his 
 regiment, and that was all. 
 
 In the damps of autumn. Sir Eichard 
 Freemantle had contracted a severe attack 
 of bronchitis, and he had asked as a favour 
 that Adela might come to Marsden Hall, 
 and help Lilian to nurse him ; for he had 
 noticed her soothing ways, her brightness 
 in the sick-room, and her gentle touch, 
 and longed for such a nurse himself 
 
 She went without hesitation, and did 
 more than a daughter's part by him. The 
 door of death had stood ajar, and he had 
 looked in, and the sight had made him a 
 more orentle and a better man.
 
 1 86 Scamp, 
 
 One day when he was convalescent, he 
 called Adela to his side. 
 
 " Adela, my dear, come here," he said 
 kindly. ** I shall pull through now, I 
 think, and, under Providence, I consider 
 it due to your constant care." 
 
 " And Lilian's." 
 
 " Lilian is a good girl, but she is no 
 nurse : she has lacked experience. Adela, 
 I owe you a debt of gratitude — is there 
 any way in which I can pay it ? Any- 
 thing I can do to show you that I 
 appreciate all your kindness ? " 
 
 She opened her lips to say no, when a 
 sudden thought occurred to her, and he 
 caught the changed expression of her 
 face. 
 
 '* I see there is," he said. " Do not be 
 afraid to speak, my dear ; I will grant 
 whatever you may ask." 
 
 "Will you — will you really?" she 
 queried, her eyes beaming.
 
 Adelas Request. 187 
 
 " I have already promised," he said. 
 
 But Adela remained silent. 
 
 " Why do you not speak, my dear ? '^ 
 he asked. 
 
 " Simply because I am afraid," she 
 laughed, " afraid of my own impudence. 
 Sir Eichard, you know how dear Lilian is 
 to me ? I want to see her happy, and 
 there is only one thing which can make 
 her so. She has from childhood loved one 
 lad, and now that she is a woman she 
 loves him still. He is an open, manly 
 fellow, and she has his honest devotion ; 
 but she cannot be contented without the 
 consent of her father to her union w-ith 
 the man she loves." 
 
 " And if I do not consent ? " 
 
 " I cannot say w^hat Lilian would do, 
 but I can answer for myself that in such a 
 position — I should marry my lover the 
 day after I came of age," she answered, 
 with a flash of defiance from her bright eyes.
 
 1 88 Scamp. 
 
 The corners of the Baronet's mouth srave 
 a twitch of suppressed amusement ; but 
 he looked at her gravely. 
 
 "It is fortunate you are not my 
 daughter, young lady," he said, at length. 
 
 " I am not so sure of that," she laus^hed. 
 '' I think we should have got on better 
 than you and Lilian do." 
 
 " Oh ! you think that ? " 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " And how w^ould you set about it ? " 
 
 " I should have told you what I thought 
 upon all occasions." 
 
 '^ Indeed ! " 
 
 " Lilian is afraid of you — I should not 
 be." 
 
 '* Oh, you would not ! " and again the 
 mouth was wrinkled up, and the keen 
 eyes shot out a spark of merriment. 
 
 " No ; I am not at all in awe of you, 
 Sir Richard. I think you are a dear old 
 man, and I am sure your heart is very
 
 Adelas Request. 189 
 
 kind, and soft too, if you can just peel off 
 the outer crust. It is that only which 
 is hard." 
 
 "It is strange you should have come 
 to that conclusion, when I have so often 
 been cross to you, Adela, during my ill- 
 ness. Child, you have been very kind and 
 patient with me, and I thank you." 
 
 He stretched out his wrinkled hand to 
 her, and clasped her slender fingers w^armly^ 
 and she, moved by a sudden impulse, 
 stooped and kissed his brow. A flush of 
 pleasure spread over his pale face. 
 
 " You are a good girl, my dear ! " he 
 said kindly. '' The Rector has a prize in 
 his daughter." 
 
 " A torment, you mean ; and, Sir Richard, 
 I am not good ! " she answered, tears rush- 
 ing to her then soft eyes. " I am wilful 
 and proud — oh, so proud ! " she continued 
 sadly. 
 
 "You are good in my eyes," he returned,.
 
 1 90 Scamp. 
 
 with the old-world air of a courtier; "and 
 if you are proud, I admire it. I wish 
 Lilian were like you." 
 
 " Don't ! She will make a better wife 
 as she is." 
 
 " Perhaps ; but not a better daughter. 
 And now, Adela, your request ? I would 
 that it were a favour to yourself." 
 
 " It is a favour to myself, dear Sir 
 Richard." 
 
 " Then for yourself, is there nothing I 
 can do to render you brighter? The old 
 man has not been blind, young lady ; he 
 has learnt one secret." 
 
 '' And that is ? " 
 
 " That his gentle nurse has some con- 
 cealed sorrow." 
 
 " If it be so," she answered, with feeling, 
 " all your nurse asks is, that you will 
 keep your belief concerning her locked 
 in your own breast. It is the only help 
 you can give her."
 
 Adelas Request. 191 
 
 " Is your trouble past the reach of aid, 
 my dear ? " he asked. 
 
 " Utterly ! think no more of it, my 
 friend." 
 
 " I wish I could ensure your following 
 the injunctions you are laying on me." 
 
 She smiled at him sadly. 
 
 " Let us talk of Lilian," she suggested. 
 
 "It is strange, my dear, that you 
 should understand me so much better 
 than my own child," he said. "You have 
 done me good, Adela. No one has com- 
 prehended me since I lost the wife I loved. 
 Why is it ? 
 
 " Shall I tell you my opinion ? " 
 
 "Do." 
 
 " Your pain was great, and to hide it 
 from the eyes of the world you enshrouded 
 yourself beneath a coldness which was not 
 natural to you. It saved you from the 
 suffering of having your wound probed 
 by kindly words, but it would have been
 
 192 Scamp, 
 
 better had you let it bleed freely. The 
 wall which you built up to exclude the 
 sympathy which you felt you could not 
 bear, became your prison, almost a part 
 of yourself; an armour which hid your 
 real self from men, until the coat of mail 
 became known as you ; affecting even 
 yourself, for in life's mirror you, too, saw 
 the cold, hard reflection, and the thought 
 became fixed, ' To this I have come.' It 
 is the only light in which your child has 
 beheld you since she was old enough to 
 think, and the coldness has repelled her. 
 Put up the vizor, dear friend, and let her 
 see her father's love in her father's face. 
 Take off the iron gauntlet, and let her 
 feel the clasp of his warm hand. Throw 
 aside the breastplate, and take her to 
 your heart. Strip off all the cold exterior, 
 and let her know you for what you still 
 are, although you hide the fact from all 
 — a kind, good man."
 
 Adelas Request. 193 
 
 A score of expressions passed over the 
 Baronet's face while she spoke. 
 
 ''So there is one who believes in me 
 in the world," he said softly. " Adela, 
 have you always had these thoughts con- 
 cerning me ? " 
 
 " No, not always. I never thought 
 you so hard as other people did, but still 
 1 did think you so. It has only been 
 since I have been so much with you that 
 I have found you out, you dear old 
 man ! " she said, and passed a loving 
 hand over his silver hair. 
 
 " Adela ! " he said wdth emotion, '*/ 
 loved her so passionately ! Life seemed 
 a livino^ death when she was gone. 
 You cannot understand my feelings. 
 May you never have cause to realise 
 them." 
 
 " Yes, I can," she answered softly ; and 
 their eyes met. 
 
 " Poor girl ! poor girl ! then you, too, 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 1 94 Scamp. 
 
 have loved and lost. Are you sure it is 
 past recall ? " 
 
 "Perfectly sure." 
 
 " Well ! I am indeed sorry — more than 
 sorry — for I owe you another debt of 
 gratitude. Adela ; I hope never to put 
 on that armour again. Sympathy, your 
 sympathy, has done me more good, given 
 me more happiness, than my years of self- 
 elected mental solitude. My dear, I 
 must live for my fellow-men once more. 
 T see slie would have wished it." 
 
 '* Of that I am sure, and I am very, 
 very glad. I am no longer afraid to ask 
 my favour. Do you remember the 
 halcyon days when your own love was 
 new, dear friend — when all nature spoke 
 lier name to you ? " 
 
 " Ay ! well, well. I told her I loved 
 her under the scented lime trees in her 
 father's old Rectory grounds, and I can 
 still see the soft, shy, tender light in her
 
 Adelds Request. 195 
 
 €yes, as they were lifted to mine full of 
 joy and happiness," he answered, in 
 agitation. 
 
 '' And I," continued Adela, " saw a lad 
 and a lass under an ancient walnut tree 
 in my father's grounds, and the two had 
 been told they were no longer children, 
 and that they must 'part. Perhaps this 
 very command taught them a fact which, 
 till then, they had scarcely realised, that 
 childhood was over. I left them there 
 to bear their trouble as best they could." 
 
 When I returned liis face w^as trans- 
 formed, and the lig^ht of love beamed in 
 her eyes. 
 
 " Scamp ! " he said, " Lilian has promised 
 to be my wife ; no one can part us ; they 
 may divide us now, but her life is mine 
 — mine hers." 
 
 And Lilian clung to me and wept. 
 
 " Oh ! Dela ! " she whispered, " I am 
 so afraid papa may some day find out."
 
 1 96 Scamp. 
 
 " And if he does ? " I asked. 
 
 She shuddered. 
 
 " I can't bear to think what he would 
 say ; he has told me that Horace and 1 
 must cease to be friends." 
 
 "Lilian," I replied, " tell him that 
 you love Horace ! " but she could not be 
 persuaded. 
 
 Then a bright, resolute look came into 
 the lad's eyes. 
 
 " I will write and tell him myself," 
 said Horace, " and I admired his courage. 
 He did write — you know what fol- 
 lowed ? " 
 
 " I do. I took his letter to his father 
 and told him what I thought of his son's 
 impudence ! " 
 
 " You forgot that day under the lime 
 trees, my friend." 
 
 Sir Eichard shaded his eyes with his 
 hand, and was very still. 
 
 " I did, I did ! " he said at length, as
 
 Adelds Request. 197 
 
 lie looked up at his companion, and his 
 eyes had an unusual moisture in them. 
 " Mr Lake and I had very high words, 
 and we have been enemies since that 
 day!" 
 
 " Horace was sent off to college at once," 
 continued Adela, " but not till he had 
 met Lilian again under the walnut tree, 
 and there we three made a compact 
 of friendship which only death can 
 break." 
 
 " And you have helped them 1 " 
 
 " I have, by every means in my power ! " 
 
 " Adela ! you are a noble girl, noble 
 
 to stand by them in their trouble, and 
 
 still more noble to tell me the truth thus, 
 
 without reservation ! " 
 
 " And now," she said, earnestly, ignoring 
 his compliment, " you will make both my 
 friends happy ? " 
 
 " I should not wish Lilian to marry 
 until she has jyroved this young gentle-
 
 198 Scamp. 
 
 man's affection, " he said thoughtfully. 
 '' You see I have no other heir or heiress. 
 Lilian will be a wealthy woman at my 
 death." 
 
 " Horace's love will not change. Tell 
 him that you will consent to Lilian's 
 marrying him, but that his bride will be 
 portionless ! " 
 
 " And you think that he would still 
 desire the marriage ? " 
 
 " Nay, I am sure he would doubly desire 
 it. Every true man loves to have his 
 wife dependent upon him ; to know that 
 she trusts to his manhood for all her 
 small needs ! " 
 
 " And Lilian ? " 
 
 " Would gladly give up riches for 
 Horace's sake ! " 
 
 " Enough ! enough ! And now, Adela, 
 what price are you willing to pay for the 
 happiness of your friends ? " he asked, with 
 a smile.
 
 Adelas Request. 1 99 
 
 " What price ? " she repeated with a 
 puzzled look in her eyes. 
 
 " Yes ! my doctor has ordered me to 
 winter abroad in future. If I consent to 
 this engagement will you accompany me 
 and Lilian ? " 
 
 " Do you think papa would let me ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 " 1 am sure of it," he returned ; " he 
 does not like to see you look so pale, 
 and he will believe that the milder climate 
 of Mentone will cure your cough ! " 
 
 " I have not much cough," she asserted, 
 with a smile. 
 
 " You have quite enough. Adela, if 
 you consent, Horace shall come also. 
 There ! " 
 
 " Do you really mean it ? " she asked, 
 a great gladness shining in her speaking- 
 face. 
 
 " Yes, really. What is the use of do- 
 ing things by halves ? But, Adela, all
 
 200 Scamp, 
 
 this must be a secret between us. Will 
 you promise ? " 
 
 '' Certainly." 
 
 "You will not tell either of them a 
 word ? " 
 
 " I would not deprive you of the 
 pleasure." 
 
 " Thank you ; and now write to Horace 
 Lake, and tell him to call here to-morrow, 
 and leave the rest to me. Will that 
 do?" 
 
 " Excellently ! I will write at once." 
 
 " Are you afraid I may change my 
 mind ? " he laughed. 
 
 " Not much ; but it seems too good to 
 be true ; a sort of fairy godmother busi- 
 ness," she answered. 
 
 "So it is," he said softly. " Adela, it 
 is you who have been the good fairy ; but 
 for you, I fear Lilian would have con- 
 tinued in her lack of happiness. Are you 
 glad, my dear ? "
 
 Adelas Request, 
 
 20I 
 
 " Very, very glad," she replied l)rightly, 
 and once more kissed his sorrow - lined 
 brow with a gentle caress more elocj[uent 
 of her gratitude than any words.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHAT A PEACEMAKER YOU ARE ! 
 
 jS|HEN Horace Lake received the 
 strange and unlooked-for invi- 
 tation from Sir Richard Free- 
 mantle, sent by the pen of his staunch 
 friend Adela Thorndyke, his bewilder- 
 ment knew no bounds. 
 
 For one moment a rush of wild hope 
 raised a tumult in his breast. Was it 
 possible that Adela had really softened 
 the old man's heart towards him ? 
 
 The next, he was looking at the matter 
 critically, with a lawyer s mental eye.
 
 " What a Peacemaker you are ! " 203 
 
 Lilian's father had been more than de- 
 cided in his opinions against him ; he 
 had, in fact, been insulting. His pride of 
 race had risen up in arms against the 
 liberty of any young fellow iu the middle 
 class of society presuming to ask for his 
 daughter's hand. His worth mattered 
 little to him, his deep love still less. 
 
 Lilian was his only child, the representa- 
 tive of his ancient family, and she was his 
 heiress ; and Horace's attentions were a 
 gross impertinence in his blue-blooded 
 mind. 
 
 No, he argued ; Adela was a wonderful 
 girl, with her winsome ways, half -queenly, 
 half-coaxing, but even she could not work 
 such a miracle as that. 
 
 Then it came to him that it was a piece 
 of fun on his friend's part. Probably the 
 Baronet was going away from home for a 
 short time, and she had thought that 
 Horace mio-ht venture to Marsden Hall to
 
 204 Scamp. 
 
 see his sweetheart, and she had chosen 
 to word the invitation in this quaint way. 
 Adehi often was quaint. 
 
 There could be little doubt that this 
 was the explanation of the mystery. He 
 €Ould even fancy Scamp stumping into 
 the room with Sir Eichard's massive gold- 
 headed stick, and could hear Lilian's 
 silvery laughter at her impersonation of 
 him, addressins: him as " Youno; man ! " 
 And he smiled as he conjured up the 
 picture. 
 
 Well, he should see his darling, at any 
 rate. Adela was not the girl to prepare 
 XI disappointment for him, and he began 
 to count the hours which must elapse be- 
 fore he should have Lilian in his arms. 
 But first he must scribble off a line of 
 thanks in reply to her letter. 
 
 " My dear kind Adela, — I will be 
 there without fail, and sure I am that I
 
 " What a Peacejjiaker yoit are ! " 205. 
 
 shall get on excellently with Sir Richard 
 upon this occasion. It is quite refresh- 
 to see you Scamp still, in this work- 
 a-day life of toil and trouble. I shall ap- 
 preciate the fun, and even more the sight 
 of my dear girl. — Yours ever gratefully, 
 
 " Horace." 
 
 This epistle was brought to Adela as 
 she sat by the Baronet's side reading to 
 him the following morning, as it was 
 obliged (so Horace thought) to pass 
 through the post, little dreaming it was 
 a sanctioned communication. A bright 
 glance of merriment overspread her face 
 as she perused it, and Sir Eichard watched 
 her expressive features. 
 
 " Well, young lady," he said with a. 
 smile, " aie you going to share your fun 
 with me?" 
 
 "It is from Horace Lake," she an- 
 swered readily ; " and there is but little
 
 2o6 Scamp. 
 
 doubt he thinks the invitation a joke on 
 my part." 
 
 " A joke ! Eh ! How so ? " he replied 
 sharply. 
 
 " Doubtless he imagines it is merely a 
 hint that the coast is clear, and that he 
 may come here and see Lilian." 
 
 " So, lassie, you would invite a pro- 
 hibited young man here without my con- 
 sent ? " he asked, with a strange mixture 
 of amusement and vexation upon his face. 
 ^' You would just wait till my back was 
 turned, and then outwit me ? " 
 
 " Horace fancies so, I am sure ; but he 
 is wrong. I would help both him and 
 Lilian upon neutral ground, but I should 
 never dream of asking any one within 
 your walls whom you had forbidden to 
 enter there. That is my idea of loyalty 
 to you all." 
 
 He stretched out his hand to her. 
 
 " I might have known you better, my
 
 " W/iat a Peacemaker you are ! " 207 
 
 "dear," he said gently. " And now let 
 me see this young limb of the law's 
 letter. It may guide me in forming a 
 more favourable opinion of him, unless 
 there are secrets in it." 
 
 ''There are no secrets now from yoii^' 
 she replied, with a bright, ingenuous 
 look. 
 
 " That is right, my dear. In future 
 remember I am a friend to be trusted, 
 not an enemy to be defeated," he said 
 with feeling ; and putting on his glasses 
 he read Horace Lake's little note. " It 
 is open enough," he remarked, when he 
 came to the end of it. " One day I may 
 like him perhaps ! " 
 
 " Of that I am certain," she returned 
 warmly. "Horace is a thoroughly straight- 
 forward fellow." 
 
 " Then he is too good for a lawyer," 
 said the Baronet in a dry tone, and re- 
 mained in thought. After a pause he
 
 2o8 Scamp. 
 
 looked up. " Aclela, if I ever like young 
 Lake for his own sake he must win the 
 liking ; all my instincts are against him. 
 It is for your sake alone that I now re- 
 ceive him." 
 
 " And for Lilian's ! " 
 
 " That, of course ; but she would not 
 have w^on my consent for herself, of that 
 I feel sure, much less my co-operation. 
 She has not your ways, my dear ; I wish 
 she had ! " 
 
 " It is pleasant to hear one's self praised, 
 but Lilian is very^ sweet and gentle." 
 
 "Too much so; a lamb to the slaughter! 
 No man likes to feel himself a brute, and 
 Lilian has made me hold that opinion of 
 myself many a time and oft. It irritates 
 a man of my temperament; I prefer a pat 
 on the face with your velvet paws, Miss 
 Pussy ! " 
 
 "Even velvet paws have concealed 
 natural pins," she laughed.
 
 **What a Peace7}iaker yo2c are ! " 209 
 
 " All the better ! You may scratch me 
 now and then, because then I should see 
 you sorry, and that wonderful light in 
 those sweet blue eyes ! Sunshine and 
 showers make April a bright month ; you 
 remind me of April. Lilian's sullen obedi- 
 ence irritates me ; she says nothing, but 
 she looks a martyr ! " 
 
 " And you don't admire martyrs ? " 
 
 "Not at all. I prefer live and let live 
 people ; martyrs are too good for an old 
 sinner like me ; make me feel my inferi- 
 ority, I suppose. Lilian does that ; you 
 do not. I feel that you are as open to 
 faults as 1 am. Are you afironted at my 
 rudeness, Adela ? " 
 
 *' Not at all ! What you say is quite 
 true. And now shall I go on reading ? " 
 
 " No ! I am in a talking mood ; you 
 have said nothing to Lilian ? " 
 
 "Not a word." 
 
 " That is right ; don't, my dear ! Do 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 2 1 o Scamp. 
 
 you remember that to-morrow is her birth- 
 day ? She is a little younger than you 
 a,re, Adela, but not much." 
 
 " Six months." 
 
 " She looks older ; fair girls have 
 the advantag:e over dark ones in that 
 respect ! " 
 
 "All that is just a matter of opinion, 
 according to people's taste ; there are few 
 handsomer faces than Lilian's ! " 
 
 " She is a regular Freemantle," he 
 said proudly, and then his face soft- 
 ened ; " but her mother was fair, very 
 fair 1 " 
 
 " Have you no picture of her ? " 
 
 " Yes, and some day I will show it to 
 you, Adela. I have thought it too sacred 
 for strange eyes to rest on ; but you 
 understand me, child, and so did she. 
 No one who does not can enter with me 
 into my sanctum sanctorum — not even 
 Lilian."
 
 " What a Peacemaker you are ! '' 211 
 
 " Has she not seen her mother's pic- 
 ture ? " asked Adela, in surprise. 
 
 " No," he answered briefly ; " I could 
 not bear it. Lilian has no real love for 
 either of us. Fear and duty have been 
 her bonds to me, and her creed. She was 
 too young to remember her mother with 
 afi*ection." 
 
 " Do you think so ? " 
 
 " Do not you ? " 
 
 " No, there is a deep yearning in her 
 heart for the love she has never known." 
 
 Tears started to his eyes and dimmed 
 them. 
 
 " Is that the truth % " 
 
 " Yes," Adela continued softly. " Lilian 
 is not afraid to open her heart to me ; 
 and oh ! my dear friend, I Jcnow how she 
 longs after, and pines, for her mother's 
 love." 
 
 Again he shaded his eyes from her view, 
 and was silent.
 
 2 1 2 Scamp, 
 
 Then he lifted up a changed and soft- 
 ened face. 
 
 " Adela ! what a peacemaker you are 1 
 I have thought my child cold and un- 
 natural." 
 
 " Lilian has the warmest of hearts." 
 
 " I am glad. She shall be happy if it 
 be in my power to make her so ; but I 
 shall try both her and her lover, to find 
 out what metal they are made of." 
 
 " Gold will stand the test of fire," she 
 returned, " and so will their love." 
 
 *' My child, I begin to see things 
 through your spectacles," he said, with 
 a happy look. " I hope they are not 
 too rosy in their tint ? " 
 
 " Not so," she laughed ; " they are 
 the coolest pebbles, and as clear as sound 
 judgment can make them." 
 
 " That is a good hearing for me," he 
 said, joining in her merriment. 
 
 '* A sound pleasant to hear," cried
 
 " What a Peacemaker you are !'' 213 
 
 Lilian, entering the room. " It makes 
 life in the old house, Dela, to listen 
 to your laughter." 
 
 " And to see me join in it. Eh, my 
 dear ? " 
 
 "It is so ; indeed, papa, I meant 
 that." 
 
 " Then don't hesitate to say so. Ex- 
 press your opinions freely, my dear, as 
 Adela does." 
 
 " Do you mean that ? " she asked, 
 with an air of bewilderment. " Dela 
 can say anything, and no one minds ; 
 it is her way, which carries off her 
 words. You would not like it in me^ 
 papa." 
 
 " Suppose we try, Lilian ? I have 
 no wish to oppress you. I would 
 rather see you bright and happy, my 
 dear ! " 
 
 Tears started to her eyes, and a look 
 of deep wonder filled her face ; her lips
 
 2 1 4 Scamp, 
 
 trembled, but no words issued from 
 them. 
 
 Adela gave her a little pinch. 
 
 *' Lilian," she whispered, " speak to 
 him ; encourage him to be kind." 
 
 But the girl only stammered out some- 
 thing inarticulate ; she was afraid of taking 
 him at his word, afraid of saying the 
 wrong thing. They had so long been 
 two, that she could not comprehend his 
 desire for union. 
 
 A shade of disappointment crossed his 
 face, but Adela smiled at him. 
 
 " Rome was not built in a day," she 
 said ; '* but what a success it was when 
 it was finished ! " 
 
 He pressed her hand. 
 
 " Lilian," he continued, " I do not 
 think you and I have quite understood 
 each other, and the fault has been mine ; 
 I should have made you my study." 
 
 " Oh, papa ! " f^iltered the girl ; *' do
 
 '* What a Peacemaka^ you are / " 215 
 
 not speak so, or I shall think I have 
 done something to displease you ! " 
 
 " On the contrary, you silly girl ! " broke 
 in Adela. " You must think that you have 
 a dear, generous old father, who is ready 
 to take the first step to draw you nearer 
 to him, Lilian, and is even willing to 
 acknowledge that he has been in fault." 
 
 " No, no ; it is I ! I cannot bear that 
 he should fancy that ! " 
 
 " Well, let us see if we cannot do better 
 in the future, my dear ! You and Adela 
 have both been good, kind nurses, and I 
 am going to tell you each to ask me a 
 favour, and I will grant it if I can. Adela 
 has already made her request. Now let 
 me hear yours ! " 
 
 " Have you, Dela ? What have you 
 asked ? " 
 
 " That's tellinors," lauo^hed the Rector's 
 daughter ; " and it is not the first time I 
 have had to give you that answer. From
 
 2 1 6 Scamp, 
 
 our childhood you ever were inquisitive, 
 Lilian. It is like telling your wish — it 
 would never come true if repeated." 
 
 ''Adela is right, and you may make 
 your request in private too, my dear, if 
 you like." 
 
 "Very well, I'll be off!" cried Adela. 
 '' A third element is a restraint ; you will 
 o-et on better without me ! " 
 
 It hardly seemed so, however, in this 
 case. Adela was the oiled feather between 
 these two ; and when she was gone they 
 came to a standstill. She found them 
 much where she had left them upon her 
 return. 
 
 The Baronet gave her such a comic 
 glance of despair that she knew he was 
 disappointed, and settled herself down with 
 her work by his side, with an encouraging 
 smile. 
 
 She had fixed four o'clock for Horace 
 Lake's call, and had promised Sir Eichard
 
 '' What a Peacemaker you are / " 217 
 
 that Lilian should be out at that hour ; 
 and now she must persuade her friend 
 to go. 
 
 " Lil,'* she half whispered ; " do you feel 
 very amiable to-day ? " 
 
 *'I have no sensation whicli tells me 
 that I am the reverse," she admitted, 
 laughingly ; "so perhaps I may truly 
 answer yes." 
 
 "That is all ri^ht. I thouo^ht the 
 dimples looked deep this morning. When 
 you are out of sorts they are nowhere. 
 They are regular barometers." 
 
 " Then you always know when it will 
 be fair weather ? " 
 
 " I flatter myself I do." 
 
 " Well, what do you want me to do, 
 Dela ? " 
 
 " To walk over to the Eectory instead 
 of me this afternoon. I promised to be 
 home to four o'clock tea, and mother will 
 be disappointed not to see me. So will
 
 2 1 8 Scamp, 
 
 you go, dear old girl, as Sir Eichard wants 
 me to continue a subject we have begun 
 together ? " 
 
 ** Couldn't I help papa if you want to 
 go home, Dela ? " 
 
 " Not to-day, old lady, you couldn't 
 take it up in the middle ; could she. Sir 
 Eichard ? " she continued, with a smile. 
 
 "You shall read to me another time, 
 my dear," replied her father, kindly ; "but 
 I must have Adela this afternoon." 
 
 Lilian looked disappointed, but she 
 agreed at once to go out in Adela's 
 stead. 
 
 m^mm^
 
 
 mmmi 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 IN THE LIONS DEN. 
 
 UNCTUALLY at four o'clock 
 Horace Lake rang the heavy 
 bell at Marsden Hall. He had 
 expected to see two merry faces peeping 
 at him from behind the window-curtains ; 
 but all was quiet and still as a city of 
 the dead. 
 
 His heart beat strongly with a strange 
 inter mino-lincr of feelino;. 
 
 He did not altogether like coming to 
 Sir Kichard's house, when the old man had 
 forbidden his entrance there.
 
 2 20 Scamp. 
 
 But Adela had bidden him come, and 
 he had perfect confidence in her wisdom, 
 so he thrust the thought aside. Still as 
 he stood at the door waiting, it w^ould 
 •obtrude itself. 
 
 He was, moreover, in a difficulty as to 
 whether he was to ask for Lilian or Adela, 
 or to pretend he wanted to see the 
 Baronet. He decided against the latter 
 plan, considering it a needless deception. 
 
 The butler having opened the door, he 
 inquired whether Miss Thorndyke was 
 wdthin. 
 
 The old servant had received his orders 
 from Sir Kichard when Adela was in the 
 room, to admit Mr Horace Lake at once 
 when he called, and to usher him straight- 
 way into his presence. 
 
 He answered, therefore, merely with a 
 bow, and led the way without hesitation 
 into the library, where no bright faces 
 awaited him. There was no Adela leaning
 
 In the Liojis Den, 221 
 
 upon a massive gold-headed cane, as he had 
 pictured ; no quaint mimicry of the Bar- 
 onet's pompous and angry manner; no merry 
 laughter from Lilian, in which to join. 
 
 No Lilian at all, and no Adela ; but 
 there in state sat the Baronet himself, in 
 the depths of a large morocco-covered 
 easy-chair, his feet upon a stool, his knees 
 protected with a soft fur rug ; his elbows 
 resting upon the arms of his chair, and 
 his fingers tapping together with a some- 
 what nervous and agitated movement. 
 
 Had Horace seen a ghost he could not 
 have looked more confused, as his eyes 
 met those of Sir Richard Freemantle. 
 
 He stopped short, and stood still, not 
 knowing whether to advance or retire ; 
 fearing to speak, yet feeling it impossible 
 to be silent. 
 
 He had been forbidden the house, and 
 to account for his presence there, if he 
 attempted explanation, he must bring
 
 2 22 Scamp. 
 
 blame upon Adela, and that he would not 
 do. 
 
 Worse still, he must get Lilian into 
 trouble. And so he stood silent, his eyes 
 ■fixed upon those of the Baronet, who 
 thoroughly understood his dilemma, and 
 chuckled visibly. 
 
 " Well, young gentleman," he said, 
 *' what are you doing in my library ? " 
 
 " I beg your pardon ! " stammered 
 Horace, making for the door. "I have 
 made some mistake, I fear." 
 
 " Stop ! " said the other. " Since you 
 are here, you are not going to get oflf so 
 easily as that. Come here ! " 
 
 Horace returned immediately. 
 
 " Sit down," continued Sir Richard. 
 
 The young man obeyed him, feeling very 
 much like a schoolboy awaiting puuishment. 
 
 " And now," said the Baronet, " explain 
 your presence here. Have you come by 
 any one's invitation ? "
 
 In the Lions Den. 223 
 
 A flush rose to Horace's face. He 
 determined to speak the truth as far as it 
 lay in his power. 
 
 Perhaps, after all, Sir Eichard had sent 
 for him. Perhaps he had found out his 
 correspondence with Lilian. 
 
 " By yours, sir, I conclude," he replied, 
 boldly. 
 
 " Then why did you try to bolt when 
 you beheld me — eh, young man ? " 
 
 " I really cannot explain." 
 
 Again the Baronet chuckled. 
 
 '' Caught in a trap, eh ? " and he 
 laughed until Horace's fears partially 
 melted, and he found himself joining in 
 his host's merriment. 
 
 " Show me my invitation," insisted the 
 old man. 
 
 " I really cannot." 
 
 " You can ; it is in your pocket ! " 
 
 Horace Lake was silent. 
 
 " Can you deny it ?' '
 
 2 24 Scamp. 
 
 " I must decline either to admit or 
 deny," he replied. 
 
 '' Staunch ! staunch ! " murmured the 
 Baronet approvingly to himself; then he 
 turned almost fiercely on Horace, — " Have 
 you obeyed my prohibitions ? " he queried. 
 
 " I have never entered your house, 
 sir, since you forbade me to do so." 
 
 "Nor seen my daughter % Nor addressed 
 her by letter ? " 
 
 " This is a free country. Sir Eichard, 
 and I have done both ! " he answered 
 boldly. 
 
 " Oh ! you Ifiave ; and she has consented 
 to meet you clandestinely, and to reply 
 to your letters ? " 
 
 " I have not said so. I have a right to 
 speak of my own actions, but none to 
 canvas those of a lady." 
 
 " Not with her father ? " 
 
 " Not even with her own father." 
 
 " Humph ! Well, I suppose you have
 
 In the Lions Den. 225 
 
 got over that childish nonsense, which I 
 had to prohibit ? " 
 
 "No, sir, I have not got over my love 
 for your daughter, and never shall do 
 so while life lasts," replied Horace gravely, 
 a deep look of earnestness about his 
 bright blue eyes. 
 
 " That is unfortunate for you — very 
 unfortunate — for you can never hope to 
 gain such a prize as the heiress of Mars- 
 den Hall." 
 
 *' I care nothing for the heiress of Mars- 
 den Hall," returned Horace proudly. 
 ** If Lilian were a cottager s daughter, 
 she would be equally dear to me ; and 
 I tell you plainly, sir, that I will yet 
 win her if it be in my power." 
 
 " In fact, you mean to defy me ? " 
 
 " Something very like that, although 1 
 say it from no lack of respect for you." 
 
 "And when, may I ask, do you intend 
 to begin the siege upon my daughter ? " 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 226 Scamp. 
 
 " When she is of age, and legally entitled 
 to guide her own actions." 
 
 " Oh ! then you will allow me undis- 
 puted possession of my own child for 
 two years more ! " he said mockingly. 
 " What if I marry her to someone else 
 before that time elapses ? " 
 
 " Lilian would never consent. She will 
 be true to the man who loves her, to 
 whom she has given her heart's affec- 
 tion." 
 
 " You speak confidently, young man." 
 
 '' I speak as I feel. I could no more 
 mistrust her than I would myself." 
 
 " Very well ! Then I am to understand 
 that if I withhold my consent, you and my 
 daughter mean to marry without it. May 
 I ask what you are going to live on ? " 
 
 *' In two years time my share of my 
 father's business will be five hundred 
 per annum ; I can keep a wife upon 
 that."
 
 hi the Lions Den, 227 
 
 " But not as Lilian has been accustomed 
 to live." 
 
 " She will not object to the change, 
 believe me. She will be contented as the 
 wife of a comparatively poor man." 
 
 "You think so?" 
 
 " I am sure of it ; moreover, my means 
 will increase ! " 
 
 " Then you do not desire any allowance 
 from me for my daughters mainten- 
 ance \ " and Sir Eichard looked at him 
 keenly. 
 
 "No, sir, I shall prefer to maintain my 
 own ivife ; to ivork for her will make 
 labour sweet ! " and Horace Lake held up 
 his head proudly, and looked the Baronet 
 full in the face. 
 
 " You are a bold young fellow ! " 
 chuckled Sir Eichard ; " and you are a 
 friend of Miss Thorndyke's, are you 
 not?" 
 
 " She is the best friend I ever had ;
 
 2 28 Scamp. 
 
 there is no other girl in the world to be 
 compared with her, except Lilian," returned 
 Horace warmly. 
 
 "And is not Lilian jealous of this 
 wonderful admiration of yours for 
 another % " 
 
 Horace Lake laughed. 
 
 " You do not know Adela Thorndyke 
 as I do, or Lilian either, or you would not 
 ask the question ! " 
 
 "Evidently the young lady has helped 
 you in your love affairs ! " said the Baronet 
 cunningly. 
 
 "Miss Thorndyke has helped me in 
 all things since childhood," he replied, 
 evasively. 
 
 " Very well turned ! Very well turned, 
 young gentleman ! " 
 
 ** I am glad you think so. Sir Richard ! " 
 
 ''I think you're honest," continued the 
 old man slowly, " too honest by half for 
 a lawyer ! "
 
 hi the Lio7i s Den. 229 
 
 " I accept your compliment as a man, 
 and resent it as a solicitor," returned 
 Horace, with an amused smile. 
 
 *' It seems to me to make very little 
 dijBference to you and Lilian whether I 
 oppose her marrying you or not, since 
 you are both resolved to have your 
 own way, whether I will or no," said 
 the Baronet, comically. 
 
 " It makes all the difference, sir." 
 
 " Yes, if I were not only to consent, 
 but to help her in a pecuniary point of 
 view." 
 
 ** That is not my meaning. Sir Kichard. 
 Neither my dear girl nor I desire your 
 money ; it would not add to our happi- 
 ness — but your consent would do so. Let 
 Lilian have your blessing upon her wed- 
 ding-day, and I shall have no fear for my 
 darling's future." 
 
 " My empty blessing ! That will con- 
 tent you, eh ? "
 
 230 Scamp. 
 
 " Your earnest blessing will more than 
 satisfy us both." 
 
 " With no hope of future favours ? " 
 
 " I desire none whatever." 
 
 " Adela is right," murmured the old 
 man, in an agitated voice. *' Horace Lake, 
 you are a better sort of fellow than I 
 took you for. I wish you well. I regret 
 my harsh words concerning you. You 
 understand fully that if Lilian becomes 
 your wife, I must seek another to in- 
 herit my property ? Suppose I were 
 to marry again, eh, sir ? Many a 
 man has done it at a more advanced 
 age than mine." 
 
 "Many, and it would be a wise thing 
 for you to do, rather than be left alone," 
 replied the other, approvingly. 
 
 Sir Eichard Freemantle sat up and 
 stretched out his hand. 
 
 " I won't offer to rise ; I'm an invalid, 
 and I'm comfortable — the ladies spoil me ;
 
 In the Lions Den. 231 
 
 Mr Lake, we are friends — you comprehend 
 me ? " 
 
 He clasped the old man's hand eagerly. 
 
 " Not quite," he replied. " Am I to un- 
 derstand that you withdraw your opposi- 
 tion to my suit ? If so, I need hardly tell 
 you that I am indeed your debtor." 
 
 " You owe me nothing yet, young gentle- 
 man, and I make no promises ; neverthe- 
 less, I require one from you." 
 
 "Name it, sir." 
 
 " Should you meet Lilian when you leave 
 here, I do not wish you to mention that 
 you have been at Marsden Hall." 
 
 " Is she not aware of it then ? " 
 
 " No, she has no idea of it ; Adela and 
 I arranged it between us." 
 
 A gleam of light shot from Horace's 
 eyes. 
 
 " If Adela has had anything to do with 
 it, I thank her from my heart. Did she 
 gain me this interview ? "
 
 232 Scamp. 
 
 '' You know she did, you sly fox. Did 
 she not write to you herself ? " 
 
 " Since you are aware of the fact, I con- 
 fess it," laughed Horace. 
 
 " But for Adela Thorndyke you would 
 never have entered my doors, young man, 
 so you know whom you have to thank 
 for it." 
 
 " I am deeply grateful to her." 
 
 " And if you meet Lilian ? " 
 
 ** I will obey your wishes, and be 
 silent." 
 
 *' That is well ; and now do you know^ 
 what to-morrow is ? " 
 
 " Yes, — my dear girl's birthday." 
 
 '* Have you brought her a present ? " 
 asked Sir Eichard keenly. 
 
 " Well, sir, I have." 
 
 " Then you expected to see her to- 
 day ? " 
 
 " I confess I ho'ped to do so." 
 
 " And now if you meet Lilian, you will
 
 In the Lion s Den. 233 
 
 want to be giving her this love-gift of 
 yours to-night ? " 
 
 " With your permission." 
 
 " Then you won't get it. I wish my 
 own present to be the first she receives 
 to-morrow." 
 
 Horace's face fell. 
 
 " May I be permitted to send it, or 
 may I call and see her ? " 
 
 * You can scarcely expect that, young 
 gentleman. I shall only have her for two 
 years, you for the rest of your life, and 
 yet you want to poach upon my pre- 
 serves ! " answered the Baronet, but there 
 was a smile lurking upon his lips. " It 
 is time for you to go," he resumed sud- 
 denly. " Lilian will be back, and I won't 
 have you meet her here." 
 
 "May I call to-morrow, sir?" 
 
 " Yes, you persevering rascal, call ; but 
 it must be at half-past eight in the morn- 
 ing, and I mean to be up myself, and 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 2 34 Scamp, 
 
 present at the interview," and Sir Richard 
 laughed till he nearly choked himself. 
 
 Horace looked blank, and so discon- 
 certed, that the other laughed more and 
 more. 
 
 " Won't that satisfy you ? " he asked. 
 ''Then don't enter my doors again !" 
 
 " It must be as you wish, sir, but you 
 w^ill not object to my giving her a letter ? " 
 
 " You may give her what you please 
 when my own offering is made," he an- 
 swered ; " but I shall expect you to keep 
 your word on all points, and, remember, 
 I am a ticklish old fellow to deal with." 
 
 " If I give my word. Sir Richard, I 
 shall keep it," replied Horace proudly. 
 
 " Well, you had better give it ! " 
 
 *' I will, sir, and trust to your kindness 
 to make things easier for me than they 
 now appear." 
 
 ** Kindness ! who ever heard of kind- 
 ness from Sir Richard FreemantJe?"
 
 In the Lions Den. 235 
 
 Horace did not answer him, for he had 
 never heard even a rumour of it. 
 
 " Not one polite speech, Mr Lake ? " 
 " They are not in my line, sir." 
 *' Ah ! I see you think, like all the 
 rest, I'm a hard-hearted old man. Well, 
 well, of course I am, and I pride myself 
 on the fact, and enjoy the reputation, 
 and have done so these many years. 
 Now go, you young dog ; I'm tired of 
 you. To-morrow morning, at eight-thirty 
 punctually." 
 
 '' I'll knock as your great clock chimes." 
 
 " Do so, and now good day. We have 
 
 shaken hands once, we need not troublf 
 
 to do it again. Eing that bell, Mr Lake. 
 
 and my servant will show you out." 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.