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 a I B R.AR.Y 
 
 OF THE 
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 V.I
 
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 L16I— O-1096 "*
 
 THE 
 
 ADMIRAL'S WARD 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. ALEXANDER, . 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE WOOING O'T,' 'HER DEAREST FOE,' 'WHICH SHALL IT BE?' 
 
 ETC. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON, 
 
 iptibli slurs in ©rbinars to "^zx ^tijtsi^ th« (Si.txtzn. 
 
 1883. 
 
 [All Rights Reserved.']
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/admiralsward01alex
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IHE morning tide of business some dozen 
 years ago was at its fullest flow in the 
 extensive premises of Messrs. Thurston 
 and Trent, solicitors, Sydenham Cham- 
 bers, E.C. Rows of clerks on the ground-floor offices 
 were rapidly covering sheets of paper with dreary 
 crowds of monotonous words, or, worse, long columns 
 of appalling figures. Others came to and fro, and 
 spoke frequent messages into tubes up and down, 
 for the * well-known firm ' occupied several stories 
 of the building. 
 
 Above, in the first floor, were the private rooms 
 of the partners — solemn chambers, where law 
 assumed its stateliest aspect, and visitors in- 
 stinctively perceived the courtliness of Chancery. 
 In another quarter of an hour luncheon-time 
 VOL. I. I
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 would bring a temporary lull ; meantime, all worked 
 at full steam. 
 
 Upstairs Mr. Trent had been in consultation 
 with Mr. Thurston and one of their chief clerks 
 respecting some difficult points in a heavy Chancery 
 suit. 
 
 Mr. Trent, a slight spare man, with keen dark 
 eyes, hair just touched with grey, and a countenance 
 somewhat worn and watchful, had turned his chair 
 a little from the knee-hole table loaded with papers 
 before which he sat, to look at his partner, who 
 stood in front of the empty grate. 
 
 Mr. Thurston was the type of a high-class man 
 of business. His Oxford-grey morning-coat and 
 nether garments had come from the hands of an 
 artist, his snowy linen was the * outward and visible 
 sign ' of exalted respectability, and his pale cream- 
 coloured summer waistcoat perfection itself in cut 
 and getting up. His neat black tie was surmounted 
 by a face somewhat old-fashioned in aspect (there 
 are old-fashioned faces), but by no means unpleasing. 
 
 A much older man than his partner, his hair was 
 yet quite free from silver threads, and his eyes 
 could look all men clearly in the face, although they 
 needed the help of the small unobtrusive eye-glass 
 with which he habitually played while discussing 
 knotty points. 
 
 The third in the group was a young man of perhaps 
 six-and-twenty; he might be more from his airof cool 
 self-possession. Taller than either of his employers 
 and remarkably well proportioned, he had that in-
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 definable air of distinction which they lacked — 
 abundant wavy hair, called by friends golden, by 
 detractors red, eyes of blue-grey, and lips rather 
 soft and full perhaps, yet which could smile sweetly, 
 frankly, intelligently, even when a glimpse of some- 
 thing hard might be caught in the eyes. His clothes 
 were well cut and carefully put on, and altogether 
 he was a figure which could not be unnoticed, as he 
 stood at the other side of Mr. Trent's table hold- 
 ing the back of a chair with his long shapely 
 hand. 
 
 * Well, then, that is the line we shall adopt,' said 
 Mr. Thurston in conclusion, drawing the fine black 
 cord by which his eye-glass was suspended through 
 his fingers ; ' and now I think I shall take my bis- 
 cuit and sherry.'' 
 
 'It is almost one o'clock,' observed Mr. Trent. 
 ' I have not finished half my letters, and I have an 
 appointment at two about that compromise of 
 Thompson's.' 
 
 * Nevertheless,' said the young clerk, coming a 
 step forward, ' I am going to ask for a few minutes 
 of your time on my own account.' 
 
 * Certainly,' said Mr. Thurston. 
 
 * By all means/ said Mr. Trent. 
 
 * I see in to-day's Times I continued the young 
 man, taking up the paper and turning it rapidly 
 over, ' that a cousin of mine has been killed when 
 hunting. Here is the paragraph;' and doubling 
 down the paper at the passage he had found, he 
 handed it to Mr. Thurston, who, raising his glass, 
 
 I — 2
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 read aloud in a well-trained voice and with correct 
 emphasis as follows : 
 
 ' The accident, reported in our impression of 
 yesterday, to Mr. Hugh Piers, of Pierslynn, while 
 hunting with the Saltshire hounds, has, we regret 
 to say, terminated fatally. The unfortunate gentle- 
 man breathed his last yesterday evening in the 
 cottage where he had been carried from the field. 
 His death will cast a gloom over a large circle with 
 whom he was deservedly popular, both as an excel- 
 lent landlord and a thorough sportsman. Mr. Piers 
 was unmarried, and we understand his estates de- 
 volve on a distant cousin.' 
 
 'Ah — um — I think we have heard of this relative/ 
 said Mr. Thurston. 
 
 * It affects you, Reginald?' asked Mr. Trent. 
 
 ' Considerably,^ he returned with a quick, irre- 
 pressible, exultant laugh ; * inasmuch as I am now 
 Piers of Pierslynn.' 
 
 ' Indeed !' exclaimed Mr. Thurston. 
 
 ' You are sure you can prove your title?' said Mr. 
 Trent. 
 
 ' Certain,' replied Piers. * I am well up in the 
 ramifications of my family ; and though I never 
 dreamed of succeeding to the estate — for this poor 
 fellow was little more than thirty-nine, in rude 
 health, likely to marry and have no end of sons 
 and daughters — I have been always aware I was 
 his next-of-kin. If you will glance at this ' — draw- 
 ing a paper from his pocket — * it will show you 
 how I stand.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 He unfolded the paper as he spoke, and placed it 
 before Mr. Trent. It was inscribed thus : 
 
 Dorothy Piers, of Pierslynn, m. Geoffrey Stapleton, who 
 took her name. 
 
 \ 
 
 I II! 
 
 Gilbert. Hugh. Arthur. John. 
 
 i I I 
 
 I I Geoffrey. Gilbert. 
 
 John. Arthur, I 
 
 I died unmarried. Algernon. 
 
 Hugh. I 
 
 Reginald. Helen. 
 
 * Here you see,' he continued, ' is our common 
 ancestor, Geoffrey Stapleton Piers. He had four 
 sons. The man just killed was the grandson of the 
 eldest. I am the third in descent from Arthur. 
 Mrs. Trent is the great-granddaughter of John.' 
 
 ' That seems quite clear,' said Mr. Thurston, 
 following his young friend's explanation with 
 urbarK attention and observant eye-glass. 
 
 ' Yes,' added Mr. Trent. ' But what about this 
 Geoffrey, son of Hugh ? Had he no family?' 
 
 ' No. Geoffrey died unmarried ; in fact, as is 
 usual, only the pauperized branches of our family 
 increased and multiplied.' 
 
 ' Well, my young friend,' said Mr. Thurston with 
 solemn kindliness, ' accept my best congratulations 
 and good wishes.' 
 
 ' It will be a great change for you, if your claim 
 proves valid,' remarked his partner gravely. 
 
 * Very great,' returned Piers. ' From genteel
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 pauperism to fortune and position ! I never can 
 be grateful enough to that brother-in-law of mine 
 for having let me have the run of his stables occa- 
 sionally, or I should be an unworthy inheritor of 
 Pierslynn, and successor to such a mighty hunter 
 as the late owner.' The young man's face grew 
 radiant, and his eyes evidently saw distant visions, 
 as imagination depicted a fascinating array of plea- 
 sures and privilege awaiting the owner of a fine 
 estate. 
 
 'What is the rent-roll?' asked Mr. Trent, turning 
 to his table and drawing his writing-book to him. 
 
 * I do not exactly know — not under five thousand 
 a year, I fancy,' returned Piers. 
 
 ' I hope it is unencumbered,' said Mr. Thurston, 
 advancing from the hearthrug in the direction of 
 the door ; ' a bachelor of sporting proclivities is 
 only too apt to outrun his means.' 
 
 'Not Hugh Piers!' exclaimed his successor. 'He 
 was a shrewd fellow, by all accounts, who never let 
 pleasure cost him too much.' 
 
 'I rather imagine, my young friend, you have 
 been taking stock of your possible inheritance,' 
 said Mr. Thurston, fingering his eye-glass, with a 
 smile of superiority ; ' although you say you never 
 anticipated this sudden turn of fortune's wheel.' 
 
 ' I assure you I did not ; only rumours zuill get 
 afloat,' replied Piers. 
 
 ' Well, well, you have my best wishes ; and, I 
 may add, the law has lost a smart disciple ;' which 
 poHte and proper sentence brought Mr. Thurston to
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 the door. Before he had touched the handle, how- 
 ever, it was opened rather abruptly — a clerk entered, 
 and, with a deferential ' I beg your pardon ' to the 
 respected principal, went straight to Mr. Trent's 
 table, and laid a card before him, saying, ' Wishes 
 to see you, sir.' 
 
 * Show him up,' returned Mr. Trent ; adding, as 
 the clerk went out, 'it is the Admiral — Admiral 
 Desbarres. I wonder what has brought him up to 
 town again. Reginald ! I have no time now ; but 
 dine with us to-day, and we will talk matters over. 
 Mrs. Trent will be very glad to see you.' 
 
 ' I will just shake hands with the excellent 
 Admiral before I leave you,' said Mr. Thurston, 
 pausing. 
 
 'And I ' began Piers, when he was interrupted 
 
 by the entrance of an old gentleman, above middle 
 height, with slightly stooped shoulders, iron-grey 
 hair, and whiskers nearly white ; a thoughtful, 
 almost sad expression softened his handsome, em- 
 browned face, and full, dark, wistful eyes. 
 
 'Hope I see you well, sir?* said Mr. Thurston, 
 with an air of deference. 
 
 ' This is an unexpected pleasure. Admiral,' said 
 Mr. Trent, rising to receive him. ' I hope all's well 
 with you ?' 
 
 *With me, yes,' returned the Admiral, shaking 
 hands with him; 'but I have come on a sad errand. 
 Is not this gentleman Mr. Piers — Mr.Reginald Piers?' 
 he added, arresting the young man's movement to 
 leave the room.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 ' Yes,' replied Mr. Trent, as Piers paused and 
 bowed. 
 
 * I have had the pleasure of meeting you, some 
 time ago, at Mr. Fielden's? — the Rev. Frederic 
 Fielden's,' continued the Admiral in a pleasant 
 deliberate voice, and with much grave courtesy. 
 
 * I remember perfectly having been presented to 
 you at Cheddington, nearly three years ago; but 
 I hardly thought you would remember me.' 
 
 ' I seldom forget,' said the Admiral. ' I regret I 
 have to tell you that our mutual friend, Mr. Fielden, 
 died about a week ago. It is this that has brought 
 me up to town on my way to Dresden, where he 
 and his family have been residing for some time. 
 You are aware that my ward, Laura Piers, who is 
 some distant relation of yours, I believe, always 
 lived with her Uncle Fielden ? Poor fellow ! His 
 death has been very sudden. He was considered a 
 malade imaginaire, but he has proved the reality of 
 his pretensions. His niece, daughter, and a young 
 son are left sadly desolate.' 
 
 * I am very sorry to hear this,' replied Reginald, 
 with an air of much concern. ' It will be a blow in 
 every' way to Dick, the eldest son, who was my 
 chum in former days.^ 
 
 'He is in a banking house in Calcutta, is he not?' 
 asked the Admiral. 
 
 ' He is, and doing very well, I believe.' 
 ' This is the second sudden death we have heard of 
 this morning,' said Mr. Thurston gravely. ' It is 
 remarkable and startling. I will leave you with
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 my colleague, and wish you good-day, Admiral 
 Desbarres.' He left the room. 
 
 ' Good-morning,' said the Admiral, politely dis- 
 missing Reginald Piers, who bowed himself out, 
 and, drawing forward the skirts of his loose-fitting 
 dark frock-coat, the Admiral sat down opposite his 
 confidential man of business, and then there was a 
 pause. The Admiral was not to be hurried. 
 
 At length Mr. Trent remarked mildly, 'I am 
 quite at your service ; but I have an appointment 
 at two.' 
 
 ' I will not trespass long on your time,' said the 
 Admiral in his gentle voice, which one could hardly 
 fancy shouting orders through a speaking-trumpet ; 
 * but I am somewhat puzzled how to act under the 
 present circumstances.' 
 
 ' How do you mean, my dear sir?' 
 
 * I mean, how shall I best fulfil the serious re- 
 sponsibilities which have devolved upon me through 
 the death of this poor gentleman ?' 
 
 ' Of Mr. Fielden ? I do not see what responsi- 
 bilities have devolved upon you through his 
 death.' 
 
 ' They are very distinct to me. For years Mr. 
 Fielden's kind care of my ward provided her with a 
 happy home, and relieved me of all anxiety on her 
 account. Now, he is summoned by the Great Mas- 
 ter, and the boy and girl who were as brother and 
 sister to Laura are left, I fear, unprovided for. How 
 can I separate them, and leave these helpless young 
 creatures to battle with life as best they can ?'
 
 lo THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 ' Your ward has, I presume, some fortune of her 
 own?' 
 
 * An officer's daughter is seldom well dowered — 
 of course, it is clearly my duty to care for her ; but 
 the others — I must help them, though I can scarce 
 devise the means.' 
 
 ' But, my dear sir, this is benevolence run riot. 
 The children of the late Mr. Fielden have no 
 shadow of claim upon you,' etc., etc. ; and Mr. Trent 
 went on to discourse very logically on this theme. 
 
 The Admiral heard him with an unmoved coun- 
 tenance, while he drew a large note-book from his 
 pocket, and turned over its contents slowly. 'I see,' 
 he resumed, selecting a slip of paper covered with 
 clear, carefully neat writing and figures, * by this 
 memo, of my resources, I see there is a sum of two 
 thousand five hundred pounds which only pays 
 three and a half per cent. I should like to get 
 higher interest, say five or five and a half.' 
 
 ' Certainly you might, Admiral Desbarres ; but if 
 you remember when we invested that amount for 
 you, you said you only cared for a fair and safe 
 income, and that you would run no risk.' 
 
 ' True ; but circumstances have changed. I heard 
 a short time back of an undertaking in Hungary, a 
 scheme to connect some towns — the names of 
 which I cannot recall — by means of a canal, for 
 which the nephew of a friend of mine was organiz- 
 ing a company. He assures me that money invested 
 in this undertaking would yield a return of eight 
 per cent, to the original stockholders.'
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD, ii 
 
 Mr. Trent shook his head with utter, unmistak- 
 able disapprobation. * No, no, my dear sir, you 
 must touch nothing of the kind. They would pro- 
 bably give you eight per cent, for eighteen months 
 or thereabouts — that is, they would give you about 
 two hundred pounds for your two thousand five 
 hundred, and that is all you would ever see of the 
 investment. No ! if you mitst have higher interest, 
 we \Yill look out for you ; but remember there is 
 scarcely anything safe over five per cent' 
 
 'It is a small provision,' said the Admiral thought- 
 fully, ' and it is evident the poor children are almost 
 
 destitute. Laura writes ' He unfolded a letter, 
 
 and read as follows : ' " I wish you could come to us, 
 dearest guardian. I feel quite bewildered, no one 
 knows what to do ; poor Winnie is stupefied with 
 grief. We have only twenty-five marks and a few 
 pfennige in the house, and it seems as if there was no 
 more money anywhere. Where did my dear uncle 
 keep his money ? Winnie thinks you may know. 
 Pray forgive me if I ask too much, but we do not 
 seem to have a friend on earth except yourself" 
 There can be but one answer to that appeal,^ con- 
 tinued the Admiral. * I am now on my way to 
 Dresden ; but before quitting England I wish to 
 leave matters in train to increase my income.' 
 
 * I shall of course do my best to carry out your 
 instructions ; but I must entreat you not to take a 
 load on your back which you may not be able to 
 carry — at least, without due reflection.' 
 
 ' I have reflected,' said the Admiral, * and it is
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 strongly borne in upon me that I ought to be the 
 protector of these poor, helpless orphans, at least 
 till they can help themselves. As I am bound to 
 reside in the home my invalid sister has made for 
 me, I must seek some safe shelter for the bereaved 
 young creatures.' 
 
 'But these young Fieldens have surely some 
 relatives who will befriend them, or some funds of 
 which your correspondent is ignorant V said Mr. 
 Trent. 
 
 ' I shall endeavour to ascertain the first : of the 
 last, from my knowledge of the deceased, I have 
 little hope.' 
 
 ^ How old are these young people .'" 
 
 ' My ward Laura Piers is nineteen or twenty, her , 
 cousin Winifrid must be seventeen or eighteen, and 
 the boy Herbert I should say is thirteen.' 
 
 'A very serious charge to any man — young 
 people at these ages! Pray be cautious, my, dear 
 sir ; be cautious.' 
 
 *I shall be prudent. Believe me, I am no en- 
 thusiast ; but there is a voice within the heart 
 which must not be disobeyed !' 
 
 Mr. Trent shook his head in token of disbelief in 
 any voice which counselled quixotic generosity. 
 
 * Will you allow me to write a letter in your quiet 
 room, as I have a good deal to do before I start 
 this evening?' 
 
 ' With pleasure,' returned the solicitor, placing a 
 chair before a spare writing-table, and opening a 
 blotting-book.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 The Admiral at once sat down, and, taking a 
 silver holder which contained both pen and pencil 
 from his note-book, wrote long and deliberately, 
 with frequent pauses. Mr. Trent had finished five 
 or six brief but important letters before the Admiral 
 had enclosed his in its envelope, and directed it to 
 Mrs. Crewe, 13, Leamington Road, Westbourne 
 Park. 
 
 Meantime Reginald Piers rapidly descended the 
 stairs and entered the inner office occupied by him- 
 self and two other principal clerks, where he found 
 only one of them, his especial friend West, a quiet, 
 shy, gentlemanlike young man, who looked upon 
 Piers as ' no end of a swell,' and was favoured by 
 him in consequence. 
 
 * Well, old fellow, I have great news for you !' 
 cried Piers, slapping him on the shoulder. ' I am 
 about to bid farewell to courts — at least, of law — to 
 suits, six-and-eightpenny letters, and your excellent 
 company. I am going to be a " fine young English 
 gentleman who lives on his estate !" Look here !' — 
 showing him the Times — ' read and wonder !' The 
 astounded listener took the newspaper and skimmed 
 the paragraph pointed out. 
 
 'And do you mean to say you are this man's 
 heir ?' he exclaimed incredulously ; for, to do 
 Reginald justice, he always had too much savoir 
 faire to talk of wealthy or exalted relatives. 
 
 ' Yes, I do ! Look here !' He spread out the 
 genealogical table, and pointed triumphantly to his 
 own position as undoubted heir. ' What do you
 
 14 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 say to that, my boy? — a fine old ancestral place, 
 five thousand a year at the very least, a good round 
 sum of ready money — this cousin of mine was a 
 saving man — a well-filled stable and well-kept pre- 
 serves. Why, it is like a bit of magic! and, between 
 ourselves, I never was so hard up as at the present 
 moment. I protest, the last two nights I have lost 
 no end of sleep, thinking of a bill that will come to 
 maturity next week, and wondering where the 
 deuce I should find funds to meet it. I tell you 
 what it is. West, I should like to dance a hornpipe 
 on your desk, if it were not too undignified 1' 
 
 ' I'm sure I am truly delighted to hear of your 
 good fortune !' exclaimed West cordially. 
 
 ' Thank you. West ; I believe you are ! and I 
 hope to see you at Pierslynn, where I will teach you 
 to '^ cross country," old fellow !' 
 
 ' I am afraid I am too old to learn,' returned 
 West, laughing good-humouredly. 
 
 ' By Jove ! it is a special providence that I know 
 how myself V cried Reginald ; * I never had cash 
 enough to keep even a donkey.' 
 
 ' But, Piers, what will Holden say.?^ — in a tone 
 expressive of exultation and curiosity. 
 
 ' God knows ! Of course he will not believe a 
 word of it.' 
 
 Here there was a whistle from the speaking-tube. 
 West responded. 
 
 ' You are wanted in Mr. Thurston's room. Piers, 
 he said ; and added, as Reginald was about to fold 
 up his memo., ' leave that ; Holden will be here
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 15 
 
 directly, and whatever he says, this will ''^ conioxm^. 
 his politics." ' 
 
 *Pooh, I don't care!' said Reginald with elaborate 
 indifference as he went out ; but he left the paper 
 behind him. 
 
 He was not detained long by the senior partner, 
 who only wanted a little information respecting one 
 of the many cases in progress. When he returned 
 he found the third occupant of the inner office 
 standing beside West's table, and looking at the 
 paper Piers had left there, with an expression of 
 contemptuous scrutiny. 
 
 Holden was considerably older than either of his 
 companions, but, though shrewd and capable, was 
 less trusted by his employers. He was suspected of 
 unsteadiness latterly, and was more than once 
 severely indisposed on the eve of the Derby. He 
 was a thick-set, dark-complexioned man of a lower 
 type than Piers or West, with bushy whiskers, gar- 
 ments of a sporting aspect, and rather shifty black 
 eyes. A covert warfare had always existed between 
 him and Reginald Piers, shown chiefly in a species 
 of shotted chaff, in which the latter had much the 
 best of it, as he was indifferent to his antagonist's 
 enmity, while Holden hated him for his easy 
 superiority and steady, though civil, rejection of all 
 attempts at familiarity, the more bitterly because 
 the hatred was impotent. 
 
 To-day Holden's aspect was forbidding. Gener- 
 ally he was flashily good-looking, but this morning 
 there was a coarseness in his expression, a careless-
 
 1 6 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ness about his dress, that bespoke relaxation of 
 self-respect. 
 
 ' So ! you have come into your kingdom,' he 
 exclaimed, looking up as Reginald opened the 
 door, ' or you think you have ; but there's many a 
 slip between cup and lip ! Are you sure there isn't 
 a nearer of kin than yourself ?' 
 
 ' Certain ! Are you so muddle-headed as not to 
 understand that table of degrees ?' cried Reginald, 
 who was less cool than usual, owing to the excite- 
 ment of the morning. 
 
 ' Are you so muddle-headed as not to perceive 
 that everything depends on the marriage, or no- 
 marriage, of this fellow ?' pointing to the name of 
 Geoffrey. 
 
 ' Of course I do,' replied Reginald scornfully. 
 * But as it is perfectly well known in the family 
 that he died a bachelor, why, there is no more to 
 be said about it' 
 
 * Nevertheless, he may have left descendants who 
 could trouble you. For all you know, you may 
 have to put some of them out of the way yet, and 
 supply a drama in high life to an admiring audience 
 of us poor plebs.' 
 
 ' Bah !' returned Reginald. ' It was well known 
 that he never married.' 
 
 * My dear fellow, don't grow furious at a small 
 contradiction. What a high and mighty lord of the 
 manor you will be ! You know it's all my fun,' 
 said Holden, with irritating good-humour and dis- 
 gusting familiarity. ' I don't doubt your title, and
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 17 
 
 I am as well pleased you are not going to " reign 
 over us" in this humble shrine of the law any 
 longer.' 
 
 Reginald made no reply, but sat down to write, 
 having got somewhat in arrear of his morning's 
 work. 
 
 ' Kingdom or no kingdom, I must obey the behest 
 of our masters while I am in this lower sphere,' 
 said he at length, when he had recovered his 
 momentary irritation enough to speak in his usual 
 tone. 
 
 'How soon do you think you will get possession?' 
 asked West. 
 
 * I haven't an idea. I dine with Trent to-day. 
 We shall settle what is to be done ; but I do not 
 anticipate any difficulty.^ 
 
 ' Had you ever any relations at a little place 
 called Llanogwen ?' asked Holden suddenly. He 
 had been in deep thought for some moments, 
 gazing at Reginald's extract from the family tree 
 which still lay on the table before him. 
 
 * Not that I know of,' said Reginald carelessly. 
 Have you any acquaintance of my name V 
 
 'Acquaintances ? O Lord, no ! you and yours are 
 altogether a touch above me,' returned Holden, 
 with a sneer. 'But I think I have heard the name.' 
 So saying, he threw the paper at which he had been 
 staring in a fixed, abstracted way across the table, 
 and turning to his own desk, began to open it and 
 move his pens and ruler about in a noisy, reckless 
 manner. 
 
 VOL. I. 2
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' I saw Admiral Desbarres going up just now/ 
 said West, after all three men had written for 
 some time in silence. ' You know him, don't you. 
 Piers ?' 
 
 ' I have been introduced to him ; nothing more.' 
 ' Isn't he a little touched on religious matters ?' 
 asked West. ' I remember hearing Mrs. Trent say 
 something to that effect.' 
 
 * I say. Piers, do you still hang out at Palmerston 
 Terrace ?' asked Holden abruptly. ' I am coming 
 to leave my card on you ; for I suppose you intend 
 to give West and myself a spread in honour of 
 your accession. It's clearly your duty.' 
 
 ' Oh yes ! I will bestow a banquet upon you,' 
 said Reginald drily. 
 
 'Well, you may count on me. I'll call round at 
 your place to-morrow evening.' 
 
 * I am afraid I shall not be at home.' 
 
 ' Then I'll try again and again, till I find you,* 
 returned Holden, with a rather peculiar laugh. 
 
 ' You are very good.' 
 
 ' A gentleman wishes to see Mr. Holden,' said 
 one of the clerks from the outer office. 
 
 Holden rose, and went out hastily. 
 
 ' I think Holden is deuced queer to-day,' said 
 West, looking after him. 
 
 ' He is in some scrape, or was drinking hard last 
 night,^ replied Reginald carelessly ; ' but I am not 
 going to finish up by a quarrel with the poor devil. 
 Now I must attend to my work.'
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 ^Ul^^HE day which had wrought so Important 
 a change in the Hfe of Reginald Piers 
 was drawing to a close ; and while, in 
 their handsome dining-room, in one of 
 the new squares which fill up the space, physical 
 and social, between Westbourne Terrace and West- 
 bourne Grove, Mr. and Mrs. Trent sat long over 
 their strawberries and sauterne, discussing with their 
 guest his future plans — the owner of a far humbler 
 dwelling was walking slowly through her neat but 
 rather scantily furnished abode, with a thoughtful 
 and even troubled expression, a tall, very tall, stately 
 woman, perhaps past middle age, though preserving 
 a fine figure, draped in a garment exceedingly 
 ancient as to material, but pieced, and trimmed, and 
 festooned into startling novelty of form. Her still 
 glossy dark hair, streaked slightly with grey, was 
 braided under a contrivance of lace and ribbon, 
 which happily preserved the juste milieu between 
 the coquettlshness of youth and the dignity of age. 
 Her countenance still showed traces of beauty, 
 
 2—2
 
 20 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 though the eyes were faded and the lips had grown 
 thin. She had already perambulated the highest 
 story of the house, and had with much deliberation 
 descended to the next, holding on her left arm a 
 cat — a cat with long fine hair, mixed black and 
 yellowish-grey — like a beautiful miniature tiger. A 
 long, bushy tail hung over the supporting arm, the 
 fore paws and small shapely head resting on her 
 mistress's shoulder, with an air of profound content; 
 while with her right hand the lady occasionally 
 touched the banisters, regarding her fingers sus- 
 piciously, as if on the look-out for dust. Reaching 
 the second floor the lady paused, and called in 
 audible tones, ' Collins !' — a pause — no reply — then 
 to the cat, ' My precious puss ! did I wake you up ? 
 Collins !' still louder — a faint voice came from the 
 depths, ' Coming, mum.' 
 
 ' Collins ! I am surprised you can let me exhaust 
 myself in this manner, calling and calling, when 
 you know I am far from strong. Laziness, Collins, 
 is really a positive sin.' This, while Collins tumbled 
 upstairs at break-neck speed. 
 
 ' I'm sure^ mum, I run the very minit I heard 
 you, and I am sorry ' 
 
 ' There, there, Collins, don't. I must beg you not 
 to talk. I really cannot bear it. You have quite 
 put what I wanted to say out of my head ! Do you 
 know the window in your room is open ? I am 
 sure we shall have a storm ; go and shut it.' 
 
 ' Yes, mum ; but I am going to bed presently, 
 and then I'll be sure '
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 21 
 
 * Now don't answer me, my girl ; go and do what 
 I bid you! One of the first duties of a Christian is 
 to obey your pastors and masters/ continued the 
 speaker, as though she enjoyed the catechetical 
 euphony. 
 
 ' Very well, mum,' proceeding past her mistress 
 at a run. 
 
 ' Collins ! have I not told you that it is not 
 respectful to rush past me in that way } nor is such 
 hurry necessary. And, stay, Collins ' — severely — 
 ' did you dust these banisters to-day ?' 
 
 ' That I did, mum.' 
 
 ' I trust you are telling the truth, Collins ; but' — 
 holding out her hand, and speaking majestically — 
 ' look at that 1' 
 
 * Well, mum, I did so ; but the dust in this house 
 is wusser than ' 
 
 'Now don't tell me, Collins, that my house is 
 
 worse than others There, Collins,' interrupting 
 
 herself, ' there's the front-door bell. Go, my girl, 
 gOj go? §0 ! though,' she went on as the servant 
 hurled herself downstairs, ' it is too late for any 
 useful visit.' And stroking the cat softly, she 
 descended leisurely to the ground-floor, where were 
 the dining and drawing rooms. 
 
 ' A letter for you, mum,' said Collins, meeting 
 her in the hall. 
 
 * Indeed !' as if a letter were not a common 
 occurrence ; and, taking it, she turned it over with 
 much interest, examining the post-mark,and reading 
 the superscription — 'Mrs. Crewe, 13, Leamington
 
 22 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 Road, Westbourne Park.' ' It is from the Admiral!' 
 she exclaimed. ' Here, Collins, take my precious 
 Toppy ; there is a nice drop of milk left in the jug, 
 give it to her before she goes to bed.' And Mrs. 
 Crewe sallied into her rarely used drawing-room, 
 and, sitting down by an open window, proceeded, 
 with a visible clearing of her countenance, to open 
 her letter and read as follows : 
 
 * Dear Mrs. Crewe, 
 
 'It is some time since I heard anything of 
 you. I trust you are well and prospering. Will you 
 be so good as to let me know if you have still 
 room for an inmate? My object in asking is 
 that I shall soon want a home for my ward 
 Laura Piers, of whom you have heard me speak. 
 She has just lost her excellent uncle, the Rev. Mr. 
 Fielden, and with him the fatherly protection she 
 has hitherto enjoyed. Will you, then, take the 
 matter into consideration, and let me know, within 
 the next week, what sum you would require for 
 this young lady's board and residence? She should 
 of course share your sitting-room, if agreeable to 
 you, and have the advantage of your society. 
 
 ' I know how moderate and conscientious you are ; 
 I therefore add that my young friend's means are 
 limited, and she would require nothing beyond your 
 own ordinary style of living. Further, Mr. Fielden 
 has left a son and daughter, in what position I am 
 not as yet aware. Should I find it necessary to return 
 to them something of the benefits bestowed upon
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 23 
 
 my ward by their father, I would be glad to know 
 if you could accommodate Miss Fielden also, and 
 the boy during his holiday. I am now on my way 
 to Dresden, and hope to bring back my ward in 
 about a fortnight. My address will be — Victoria 
 Hotel, Dresden. 
 
 ' I trust you have good accounts from your son. 
 * I am yours very faithfully, 
 
 'George Desbarres.' 
 
 * A ward of the Admiral to reside with me !' 
 ejaculated Mrs. Crewe half aloud. ^ Why, it is the 
 very thing !' — and she began to read the letter over 
 again — ' something always turns up. I was quite 
 cast down when that Mr. Holden left me, though 
 lie was really not a gentleman, and very irregular 
 in his payments. Now, it will be quite different to 
 have a nice girl, a lady of position, with me,' she 
 thought as she folded up the epistle, and locked it 
 away in a shabby little writing-desk with an infirm 
 hinge. Then she looked round rather restlessly, 
 feeling the desperate need of expatiating on her 
 prospects to some one. At that moment, enter 
 Collins with the cat. 
 
 ' She won't drink the milk, mum, anyhow; but she 
 has lapped up nigh half a saucer full of cold water.' 
 
 ' Has she, the dear ? Really, Collins, there is 
 something quite distingiiee about Toppy, quite 
 superior to other cats ; she has scarcely ever touched 
 milk since she was a kitten. Give her to me ! 
 And, Collins, do you think we could put two beds 
 in the large back room on the second floor ?'
 
 24 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 * It would be a tight fit, mum.' 
 
 ' I am afraid it would ; but I might take it 
 myself, and give them the front one.' 
 
 ' Are you expecting new lodgers, mum ?' 
 ' I wish, Collins, you would not express yourself 
 with such vulgarity. I do not keep a lodging- 
 house ; I take a few well-recommended inmates.' 
 
 * Law, mum, I thought "inmates" was only in 
 lunatic asylums and workhouses.' 
 
 ' Never mind, Collins ' — with a superior smile. 
 ' I rather expect a young lady, perhaps two, to- 
 reside with me ; that is, their guardian, Rear- 
 Admiral Desbarres, wishes to place them under my 
 care.' 
 
 ' Well, mum ! I do hope and pray you are not 
 thinking of setting up a boarding-school. You have 
 been a kind missus, and I always wished to stay on 
 with you, but a school I can't abide ! I was eighteen 
 months in one, till my bones were near through my 
 skin with hard work ; and the poor lady as kept it> 
 she was druv nearly out of her mind, what with the 
 young ladies writing notes to the Commercial 
 Academy gentlemen, and sending out for sweets 
 till they were tJiat sick ! Her heart broke over it 
 all, and she died within a year after I left !' This 
 was uttered with immense volubility. 
 
 ' What a dreadful story !' returned Mrs. Crewe ; 
 'but of course these young ladies are quite different, 
 and of a different class.' 
 
 ' Don't you think it, mum ; in or out of class, they 
 are all the same.-*
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 25, 
 
 ' Besides,' continued Mrs. Crewe, 'I do not dream 
 of having a school. There, you may go, Collins ; 
 and as you have cleaned up the morning-room and 
 kitchen, and must be tired, you can take the rest of 
 that bottle of ale with your bread and cheese.' 
 
 * Thank you, mum ' — going. 
 
 'And, Collins, have you heard how Mr. Brown is 
 to-day ?' 
 
 * No, mum ; but I suppose he must be better, for 
 there's Miss Brown a-watering the back-garden.' 
 
 ' Is she ? I will go and speak to her. Collins I 
 be sure you shut your window ; I will put Toppy 
 to bed myself 
 
 So saying, Mrs. Crewe issued forth into the 
 entrance-passage, and proceeded to descend the 
 few steps which led into the garden. The little 
 space in the rear of the house was judiciously laid 
 out, being principally occupied by a large grass- 
 plot, having a group of rose-bushes in the centre, a 
 couple of horse-chestnut trees at the end, and a 
 border of bright flowers and mignonette between 
 the gravel-walk and side walls. It w^as neat and 
 well kept, thanks chiefly to the personal exertions 
 of the owner, who considered gardening a lady-like 
 occupation. 
 
 The next strip of garden was much more elabor- 
 ately ornamented ; it had box-edgings and tiny, 
 many-coloured flower-beds, a spasmodic fountain, 
 and two or three plaster figures. The owners were 
 an elderly brother and sister — the former, managing 
 clerk in a City warehouse — both patronized by Mrs.
 
 26 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Crewe as ' good, well-meaning creatures, though not 
 what you would call genUy /' nevertheless, a source 
 of comfort to the somewhat lonely widow, who 
 found it a relief to talk about herself, her son, her 
 affairs, her trials, and former grandeur, to the 
 shrewd little old maid, who looked somewhat 
 enviously up to her as a brilliant woman of the 
 world. 
 
 * Good-evening, Miss Brown,' said Mrs. Crewe, 
 stepping up, always with stateliness, on a large 
 reversed flower-pot, thus bringing her head well 
 above the wall ; ^ I hope your brother is better.' 
 
 'Yes, thank you,' raising her head from the flowers 
 over which she was stooping, and standing, water- 
 ing pot in hand. ' The attack is passing away ; he 
 hopes to go to business on Monday.' 
 
 ' Colds are much worse in summer,' observed 
 Mrs., Crewe ; ' his attack was pleurisy, was it not ?' 
 
 ' It was, ma'am ; but he is nearly himself again, 
 and sitting in the front parlour. I am sure, if you 
 could spare half an hour just for a little talk, it 
 would cheer him ever so.' 
 
 ' I regret extremely that I cannot this evening ; 
 I have sent the girl to bed. She has to be up for 
 the washing very early, and I do not like to leave 
 the house. To-morrow I shall be most happy to 
 pay Mr. Brown a visit.' 
 
 ^ Thank you, Mrs. Crew^e; you are very good. 
 And pray, ma'am, have you heard of anyone in 
 the place of the young man that's gone ? You 
 know, I have not seen you for a week.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 27 
 
 ' Not exactly,' returned Mrs. Crewe, drawing her- 
 self up with an air of elegant JiaiLteur. 
 
 ' Dear, dear !' exclaimed Miss Brown, ' That's 
 sad ! Take my word for it, ma'am, there is nothing 
 like a card in the window. If you would only put 
 one up, Mrs. Crewe, you would let in twenty-four 
 hours.' 
 
 ' Perhaps so. Miss Brown, but it would not suit 
 me. Mine is not a mere lodging, or even " rooms 
 to let ;" but, having a house too large for my 
 requirements, I am willing to accommodate a 
 gentleman or two, personally recommended. How- 
 ever, it is possible I may change my plans. I have 
 just had a charming letter from an old and valued 
 friend, Rear-Admiral Desbarres, who wishes to 
 place a young lady of good position (his ward), and 
 probably her cousin, under my care. It will be 
 rather a tie, and they may expect me to introduce 
 them into society, — but that I really cannot do ; the 
 effort would be too great."* 
 
 ' Well, I'm sure I am delighted to hear it. It is 
 a great piece of luck for you. I suppose they will 
 pay well ?' 
 
 ' We have not entered into that part of the ques- 
 tion yet,' said Mrs. Crewe loftily. 'With such a man 
 as the Admiral it is not necessary to bargain.' 
 
 * He must be one in a thousand,' remarked Miss 
 Brown simply. 
 
 * He isl returned Mrs. Crewe emphatically. 'Still, 
 it is as well to form some idea of what one ought to 
 ask. Of course I shall require to keep a good table.'
 
 28 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Of course,' said Miss Brown. ' You'll want a 
 joint, vegetables, and sweets every day, with poultry 
 sometimes, and fish now and then ; and that's not 
 to be done for nothing.' 
 
 ' True, Miss Brown ; though I must say that the 
 aristocracy care more' for elegancy in serving than 
 delicacy in eating,' replied Mrs. Crewe, with the 
 idea of saying a good thing. 
 
 * Aristocracy ! Is she a " ladyship^' then ?' cried 
 Miss Brown. 
 
 * No ! She belongs to the untitled aristocracy ; 
 she is of very old family and highly connected.' 
 
 ' I hope she is well off,' observed Miss Brown 
 severely. ' High-born paupers are very expensive 
 customers, I believe.' 
 
 ' " Pauper " is a curious term to apply to the 
 ward of a rear-admiral and the cousin of ' 
 
 ' Dear, dear 1 I never intended to apply nothing ! 
 It is only my interest in you^ ma'am, that made me 
 speak : you are that generous and confiding.' 
 
 * I am much obliged to you,' said Mrs. Crewe 
 stiffly and offended ; ' but I don't think you quite 
 understand my character. I hope I am just, but I 
 am not aware that I am confiding' 
 
 'Ahem!' said Miss Brown. 'At any rate,' she 
 resumed, after a short pause, ' aristocratic or not, 
 you can't board the young lady under thirty shil- 
 lings a week ; then there's the rent of her rooms.' 
 
 'She will use my drawing-room,' interrupted Mrs. 
 Crewe. 
 
 ' With her bedroom, you could not ask less than
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 29 
 
 five guineas a month ; and what with fire, and light, 
 and h'nen, and additional trouble to the " gurl," ' ran 
 on Miss Brown rapidly, ' to say nothing of your 
 own care and company, a hundred-and-fifty a year 
 wouldn't pay you. You ask two hundred, Mrs. 
 Crewe.' 
 
 ' I shall ask what I think fit,' returned that lady 
 sternly. 'There are some subjects on which we by 
 no means think alike.' 
 
 'Very likely, ma'am,' said Miss Brown, suddenly 
 lapsing into humility, * Our up-bringings have 
 been different.' 
 
 ' Perhaps so. Miss Brown ; and now it is getting 
 quite dusk, I will say '' good-evening." My com- 
 pHments to your brother; I am glad he is better. I 
 shall do myself the pleasure of calling on him 
 to-morrow.' And with much dignity Mrs. Crewe 
 stepped down from her flower-pot, and sailed into 
 the house, depositing the cat in her bed, and pro- 
 ceeded to lock the doors and shut up for the night. 
 Then, pen in hand, she sat long, with a pleased 
 countenance, by the light of a single candle, cover- 
 ing scraps of paper with hieroglyphics in writing 
 and figures, which seemed traced with the point of 
 a skewer rather than a pen. At length the sound 
 of a latch-key, gently turned, followed by the 
 striking of a match, told her that her upstairs 
 tenant, a quiet, elderly man who occupied a bed 
 and sitting room on the first floor, was safely 
 housed. Then, after a final and searching look 
 round the premises, she, too, retired.
 
 30 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' There is a tide in the affairs of men ;' and in the 
 inner hfe, too, there is a gathering of the waters at 
 particular periods when events and emotions accu- 
 mulate, and waves of joy or sorrow mount to a 
 certain pitch, ebbing back after a while to the 
 ordinary level of existence. 
 
 Such a pitch had been reached by Laura Piers 
 and Winifrid Fielden when the former wrote her 
 appeal for help to the Admiral. 
 
 Hitherto theirs had been a tranquil, simple life, 
 sheltered in a peaceful home, and looking up to 
 father and uncle as the most charming and accom- 
 plished of men. 
 
 The Reverend Frederic Fielden had held for 
 many years the small living of Cheddington, in one 
 of the southern shires — a beautiful pastoral district, 
 where life was only half-alive, and of which Mr. 
 Fielden, whose nature craved very different sur- 
 roundings^ had soon tired. He was a gentle, 
 sociable, semi-artistic personage, exceedingly self- 
 indulgent in an amiable manner, and afflicted with 
 what his wife termed ' a sensitive soul ;' z.e. utter 
 want of endurance, an irresistible tendency to run 
 away from everything disagreeable, and to shut his 
 eyes to everything unpleasant. Fortunately for 
 him, he had a wife who guided while she adored 
 him ; and it was owing to her influence that he 
 had not, while their children were quite young, 
 given up the modest competence which his sleepy 
 little living afforded, in the vain hope of exist- 
 ing on the pittance he could call his own, by
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 31 
 
 impossible economics, in some congenial foreign 
 town. 
 
 But Mrs. Ficlden was resolute in her determina- 
 tion to hold fast the substance they possessed, at 
 any rate till the children were set forth in life; that 
 is to say, the boys. So she skilfully kept the 
 family together on a wonderfully small amount, and 
 gave her parson rope enough to disport himself 
 mildly in town each year viewing the exhibitions, 
 attending classical concerts, and hearing the most 
 fashionable clerical orators, so rendering life bear- 
 able. But, in addition to her own flock, the parson's 
 good wife took a little stray lamb into her pleasant 
 fold. 
 
 One of Mr. Fielden's sisters had married an 
 officer, a quiet, thoughtful, promising young man. 
 It was a love-match, and against everyone's con- 
 sent. For Captain Piers had little or nothing but 
 his pay. Nevertheless, they married and enjoyed 
 some three or four years of great happiness before 
 fever, during an extra unhealthy season in the 
 West Indies, cut them both off, leaving a baby-girl 
 of about a year old. 
 
 Among the acquaintances formed by Captain 
 Piers during his military career was Admiral 
 Desbarres, and some especial sympathy drew them 
 together. It was the Admiral who saw to the 
 funeral of the young wife (who was the first to suc- 
 cumb), and it was he also who soothed the last 
 moments of the father by a solemn promise to look 
 after the poor bereaved baby, and, if possible, to
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 induce Mrs. Fielden to give the little creature house- 
 room. ' She is a kind, good woman,' gasped the 
 dying man ; ' she always loved my wife, and there 
 isn't another soul on earth I could turn to, nor 
 have I a claim on mortal.' 
 
 The Admiral earnestly promised to do his best, 
 and he did it. 
 
 Mrs. Fielden was too motherly a woman to refuse 
 this last request, so little Laura became as one of the 
 family at the parsonage. The Admiral, thankful to 
 have his helpless ward so well provided for, care- 
 fully nursed the few hundreds which was all the 
 provision left for her, adding interest to capital till, 
 when she was old enough, he was able with a little 
 help from his own purse to share with Mrs. Fielden 
 the cost of a governess for the cousins ; for a little 
 girl had appeared in the clerical nest about a year 
 and a half after Laura had been lodged there. 
 
 Thus Laura Piers and Winifrid Fielden grew up 
 like sisters, the former scarce knowing she was an 
 orphan. She was petted and punished by her 
 aunt ; snubbed, sent on messages, and occasionally 
 told she was a trump by the eldest boy, who was 
 rather a hero to both girls ; and decidedly a 
 favourite with her uncle, as she grew to be useful 
 to him at a wonderfully early age — hunting out 
 passages for quotation, and authorities on theologi- 
 cal or artistic subjects, when he composed his 
 sermons or wrote letters on the proper punctuation 
 of Shakespearian sentences, or articles on the in- 
 fluence of religion on art, or vice versa. For Laura,
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 33 
 
 though not pleasing to the eye, like his own 
 daughter, was a clever, thoughtful little thing, pas- 
 sionately fond of books, and careful and loving in 
 her treatment of them. 
 
 Among the group associated with those happy, 
 tranquil early days the figure of Reginald Piers was 
 prominent. 
 
 He was the favourite chum of Dick Fielden, the 
 eldest son, and frequently a guest at the Rectory 
 during the holidays ; for he was the only son of a 
 widowed mother, whose means of affording plea- 
 sures or advantages to her boy were extremely 
 limited, especially as she had in later years resided 
 with a married daughter, who had made what was 
 considered a ' splendid match.' 
 
 Reginald was a general favourite. He was a 
 good cricketer, a successful angler, a tolerable shot, 
 easy-going, and sufficiently vain to take pleasure in 
 pleasing. As he was a little older than her own 
 son, Mrs. Fielden treated him with an amount of 
 confidence she never bestowed on Dick ; while 
 Laura regarded him as an Admirable Crichton, and 
 gloried in the slender degree of relationship he con- 
 descended to admit. 
 
 The last holidays spent by Reginald at the 
 Rectory had had a peculiar charm for the Rector's 
 orphan niece, as he had especially patronized her, 
 trying his "prentice hand' in the art of delicate 
 attention ; for Reginald showed a decided predilec- 
 tion for young ladies, even at the risk of being con- 
 sidered and called a ' muff' by his companions. 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 34 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 But the Rectory had seen its best days. The 
 winter in which Laura attained her sixteenth and 
 Winifrid her fourteenth year, Mrs. Fielden, never 
 very strong, caught a severe cold, which soon 
 became bronchitis, and finally robbed the family of 
 their best friend and firmest stay. 
 
 To Mr. Fielden the loss was irreparable. Ched- 
 dington became insupportable to his * sensitive 
 soul ;' and fancying he could, with the help of some 
 small savings, painfully scraped together by his 
 provident wife, and the pursuit of literature, eke out 
 existence on his infinitesimal income more agree- 
 ably on the Continent, he gave up his living, sold 
 his superfluous books and belongings, and much 
 against the advice of his eldest son, who had 
 already made his first step in life — a considerable 
 stride, as it carried him to Bombay — removed him- 
 self, his youngest boy, and the ' dear girls ' to 
 Dresden, where they could find educational advan- 
 tages, and himself the repose his broken health 
 and broken heart required. 
 
 Here they spent two very comfortable years : an 
 English clergyman of good private means (so report 
 endowed him), charming manners, artistic tastes, 
 and interesting circumstances, was hailed as an 
 acquisition by the Anglo-American colony in that 
 social city. His occasional sermons, when health 
 enabled him to lighten the labours of the over- 
 worked chaplain, were universally admired, and 
 altogether Mr. Fielden found the change from a
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 35 
 
 rural parish to the Saxon capital answered in every 
 respect remarkably well except financially. 
 
 He was indeed at times painfully surprised to 
 find how rapidly money melted away, though food 
 was moderate, and amusements cheap. To be sure, 
 amusements never entered into the Cheddington 
 budget ; but at Dresden it was quite necessary that 
 the 'dear girls' should attend the theatre to im- 
 prove their knowledge of German, and the concerts 
 to improve their taste for music, while it was im- 
 possible to accept the constant hospitality of com- 
 patriots without making some return ; so the Rev. 
 Mr. Fielden's aesthetic teas became quite the rage, 
 and his opinion on all matters of taste universally 
 deferred to. Meantime his funds dwindled away 
 with alarming rapidity, though he consoled himself 
 by hoping that his book on ' Historic and Artistic 
 Dresden,' for which he hoped to receive a handsome 
 sum from that enterprizing firm, 'James Younger 
 and Co.,' would put him straight, and then he would 
 retire to some quiet nook in Switzerland, and prac- 
 tise strict economy till Herbert was fit to adopt a 
 career. 
 
 The third year of their sojourn, however, was not 
 so pleasant. Laura, who was housekeeper, found it 
 very difficult to get the money requisite for daily 
 needs. Herbert's school accounts remained unpaid. 
 Whispers got about that the family in Christian 
 Strasse were not flourishing so fairly as they did at 
 first Then both Laura and Winifrid perceived a 
 great change in the tenderly cared-for father and 
 
 3—2
 
 36 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 uncle. He could not write, or talk, or amuse him- 
 self, as he used ; then a low fever attacked him, 
 against which he seemed to have no power of resist- 
 ance, and before he was thought in danger, he 
 seemed in some mysterious way to give himself up, 
 and died. 
 
 The suddenness of this event paralyzed Winifrid, 
 who was her father's idol ; she could only think of 
 her bereavement. But Laura, on whom the rougher 
 and commoner cares of their daily life always de- 
 volved, was, while truly and profoundly grieved to 
 lose so dear and kind a protector, puzzled and 
 terrified by the utter emptiness of the exchequer. 
 
 The Fieldens had never kept up much inter- 
 course with their relatives ; and when the half- 
 frightened, sorrowing girls had written to an uncle 
 in India, and an aunt who had married a merchant 
 in Liverpool, they had no more to do but to sit with 
 folded hands and wait what help the Admiral would 
 bring. 
 
 As yet Laura knew him only by frequent gifts 
 and rare visits, but she felt instinctively that he 
 would not fail her. And when he came, what 
 would be their destiny } Should she have to 
 separate from Winnie, who, though little more than 
 two years her junior, was like her child ; and 
 Herbert ! who would look after him, and keep him 
 brushed and mended, and prepared for school ? 
 
 Where were they to go ? What was to become 
 of them ? In the midst of these sad conjectures, 
 before almost they thought the Admiral could have
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. yj 
 
 received her letter, came a telegram to Laura from 
 her guardian. 
 
 * I will be with you the day after to-morrow. 
 Refer all persons to me.' 
 
 Then she breathed more freely, and got a little 
 sleep.
 
 ^^ 
 
 M 
 
 ^K 
 
 w 
 
 ^ 
 
 w 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^^^L 
 
 ^» 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 s 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 iT was a disheartening task which the 
 Admiral set himself, to disentangle the 
 hopeless confusion of Mr. Fielden's 
 affairs. He had left no will. The 
 death of his wife nullified the one he had origin- 
 ally executed, and it had been destroyed ; but he 
 had never brought himself to make another. Little, 
 indeed, was left. He had many years previously in- 
 sured his life,and paid the premiums with regularity; 
 but then it was found that he had borrowed upon 
 it, so that not much was left — barely what sufficed 
 to clear the family credit in Dresden. 
 
 During the fortnight which succeeded Admiral 
 Desbarres' arrival, though gentle and tender to the 
 orphans, he said very little as to his intentions. He 
 was at all times a man of few words, and those 
 few were principally addressed to Laura, with whom 
 he went over the books and accounts. He mean- 
 while cogitated his plans in silence. If he took 
 these young people under his protection, he would
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 39 
 
 arrange all things, and nothing save obedience 
 would remain for them. 
 
 He was by conviction and training a despot — of 
 the kindest and most benevolent description, but 
 still a despot — all law, according to his belief, 
 emanating from a Supreme Ruler. Family and 
 social relations were but inner rings of the great 
 circle, and ought to reproduce in miniature the 
 same system of fatherly protection and childlike 
 submission. This silence was hard to Laura, 
 although by nature patient and reasonable ; but it 
 was intolerable to Winnie, an eager, sanguine, warm- 
 hearted creature — the beauty and pet of the family. 
 
 She was considerably impressed by the Admiral's 
 imposing tranquility and weighty presence. ' What 
 is he going to do with us?' she asked impatiently, 
 one evening, nearly a fortnight after her father's 
 funeral, when the Admiral had taken Herbert to 
 walk, and the two girls were left alone in the once 
 pretty salon^ which now looked so bare and desolate, 
 as all the books and photographs and small orna- 
 ments had been packed up, and everything sold or 
 made ready for their departure. Winnie had thrown 
 herself into the large armchair which had always 
 been Mr. Fielden's. It was drawn up by the open 
 window, commanding a view of some pleasant 
 gardens and the distant dome of the Russian 
 church. Winnie was a tall slender girl, with sloping 
 shoulders and a pliant waist; carelessly graceful in 
 every movement, with a clear though somewhat 
 brown complexion, pale when in repose, but with a
 
 40 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 rich, mantling colour that came and went when she 
 was surprised or pleased or vexed or moved in any- 
 way, and was a means of expression second only to 
 her large liquid eyes, which some thought deepest 
 blue, and others darkest hazel, and which at this 
 period of her life revealed every passing emotion, as 
 if the soul that looked through them was still ' as 
 that of a little child.' ' What is he going to do with 
 us, Laura ? How I wish he would leave us here — 
 we could live more cheaply than in London, and 
 far, far more happily. I suppose we are to go to 
 London ?' 
 
 ' I think so, though the Admiral has not said so 
 positively.' 
 
 ' If I am to do anything,' resumed Winnie, push- 
 ing back her rich wavy dark brown hair — ' to earn 
 money, I mean, I would rather do it here, though I 
 hate the idea of having to do it at all. How it 
 would have broken my poor darling father's heart 
 to think of such a thing! But I suppose I must, 
 Laura ?' 
 
 * We both must, dear Winnie. I do not see how 
 we can live without it. I cannot be dependent on 
 my guardian, though he would not let me broach 
 the subject, and told me to wait till he had laid 
 his plans.' 
 
 ' But / am not his ward. I have a right to 
 choose ; and I don't suppose he thinks of support- 
 ing me. I would not let him, if he did. Oh Laura, 
 if he takes you away, what is to become of Herbert 
 and me ? Dick is not rich enough to have us with
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 41 
 
 him in India. How maddening it is to be such a 
 burden— yet, what can I do ? Oh my father, my 
 father!' and the ready tears began to flow 
 afresh. 
 
 ' Dear, dear Winnie T murmured Laura, holding 
 back her own, though her Hps quivered as she knelt 
 down, and, putting her arms round her cousin's 
 waist, laid her head on her lap. 'Try and have 
 patience ; we are so young and helpless, and the 
 Admiral has always been so good and kind, what can 
 we do but trust him and wait his time ? He told me 
 just as he was going out that we were to start for 
 London on Monday ; and when there, he would be 
 able to tell me his intentions. Do not vex him by 
 seeming restless or dissatisfied. He only tries to 
 do what is best for us.' 
 
 * I dare say ; but it is too bad not to be con- 
 sulted. I declare I will ask him myself this evening 
 — he always answers me.' 
 
 *Yes,' returned Laura, with a kindly smile, 'as 
 usual you are a favourite ;' and she rose and leant 
 against the window, gazing sadly out over the garden, 
 and inhaling the perfume of mignonette which was 
 wafted from it. 
 
 Laura was less reluctant to quit Dresden than her 
 cousin. She had been too seriously alarmed by the 
 difficulties with which she had had to contend 
 during the last eight or nine months to permit of 
 forming such pleasant impressions as Winnie, who 
 seldom troubled herself about anything, and in 
 some vague way thought that breakfast, dinner, and
 
 42 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 supper were a spontaneous growth which would 
 always be ready for people in their position. 
 
 Laura did not resemble her cousin. She was 
 not short, but she was not so tall as Winnie, and, 
 though straight and well-made enough, was rather 
 high-shouldered and square-looking. Her features, 
 too, were irregular ; the jaw somewhat large, the 
 mouth somewhat wide, though it could smile 
 honestly, sweetly, and showed fine white teeth* 
 Then her complexion was sallow, and her hair a 
 dull brown ; nor had she fine eyes to redeem other 
 deficiencies — they were well shaped, but of a pale 
 grey, with little brilliancy, though there were topics 
 at which they would light up and change the aspect 
 of her face amazingly. Still, Laura Piers was always 
 considered a ' plain girl ;' but she was possessed of 
 a certain gentle composure of manner, a self-posses- 
 sion that was never cold, which made her presence 
 soothing to irritable people, and acceptable to all. 
 
 Laura v/as by nature an artist — gifted with that 
 marvellous power of sympathy which bestows upon 
 the possessor almost ' second sight ;' and, besides, a 
 love of beauty so deep and keen, that she never 
 looked in the glass without a sigh to see how little 
 she possessed of that most precious dower. 
 
 Yet, though this regret might occasionally sadden, 
 it never embittered — partly perhaps because she had 
 been brought up in an atmosphere of kindliness 
 and genuine affection ; partly because she had an 
 inner consciousness that the joys of intellect could 
 compensate for much.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 43 
 
 'Yes! I will talk to him to-night,' continued 
 Winnie, drying her eyes. ' He is a dear. I am 
 sure I do not know what would have become of us 
 without him ; but I don't like to be driven blindfold 
 about the world, and I cannot part with you, Laura 
 — you know I can't, dear, dear Laura !' kissing 
 her fondly. ' I never knew I loved you so 
 much.' 
 
 A slight glow mounted to Laura's cheek, and 
 her eyes shone through the tears that filled them as 
 she pressed Winnie to her. 
 
 *I don't think the Admiral will do that— not 
 willingly, I am sure ; but we cannot yet know what 
 will become of us.' 
 
 Winnie kept her word. Their usual supper was 
 not quite over, when, with an effort for which she 
 was almost angry with herself, she exclaimed, 
 * Dear Admiral Desbarres, Laura says we are going 
 to leave on Monday. Would you mind telling 
 where we are going — I mean, in London ?' 
 
 The Admiral looked at the speaker at first 
 gravely; then gradually an indulgent smile over- 
 spread his face. 
 
 'I think, Winifrid, you might trust me; neverthe- 
 less, it is time you should be told, dear children, of 
 my plans, so far as I can form them. For the 
 present, I mean to place you with a lady whom I 
 have known for many years, Mrs. Crewe, the widow 
 of an old shipmate of mine, where I hope you 
 can dwell in comfort, until I can ascertain what 
 your aunt and brother can do to assist you.
 
 .44 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 Should they be unable, or unwilling, believe me I 
 will not desert you, Winnie.' 
 
 * You are ever so good and kind,' cried Winnie, 
 flushing with mortification, while her eyes sparkled 
 through her tears, ' but how dreadful it is to be — a 
 beggar !' The word was brought out with a sob — 
 ' I must try and do something — I can teach German 
 and music and ' 
 
 ' For the present, you must be guided by me,' in- 
 terrupted the Admiral, in his slow deliberate tones. 
 ' Hereafter we may arrange some such plan — for the 
 present your youth and helplessness are a claim upon 
 those who have the means to befriend you ; and 
 these necessities, though painful, are but the expres- 
 sion of a law which emanates from One whose 
 supreme will must not be resisted.' 
 
 * And I shall stay with Laura ?' 
 
 * / would never willingly separate you,' returned 
 the Admiral kindly. 
 
 ' Thank God for that !' cried Winnie. ' But I do 
 hope this lady, this Mrs. Crewe, is not severe 
 and ' 
 
 ' I can only repeat that the charge of caring for 
 you seems to have been given into my hands. I 
 must therefore demand from you that submission 
 which alone can enable me to fulfil the responsibili- 
 ties I have undertaken. I will say good-night now, 
 as I must write some letters before I go to bed.' 
 
 It was not much that Winnie had extracted from 
 the arbiter of their fate, but it was satisfactory so 
 far, and she felt less uneasy.
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 45 
 
 The hours slipped quickly by, and soon the last 
 day came. Laura and Winnie escaped in the fresh 
 early morning, when there was small chance of 
 meeting any acquaintance, to look once more on 
 the river with its smiling border of vineyards and 
 trees up to where it makes a wide bend beneath the 
 villa of the Prussian Prince who gave up royalty for 
 love. 
 
 It was a delicious morning ; the river sparkled in 
 the tender early sunshine, the air was crisp with the 
 youthfulness of spring, and both girls exclaimed 
 that never before had the view of Dresden and its 
 old bridge, with the towers of the Hof-Kirch and 
 Schloss, looked so lovely. They had crossed to 
 the gardens of the Japanese Palace, after strolling 
 along the Bruhlsche Terrasse, and looked long in 
 silence on the old town which probably they would 
 never see again ; then, with a mutual sudden im- 
 pulse, a vivid flash of feeling that they had nothing 
 left save each other, they exchanged a hearty kiss 
 which, without uttering a word, each felt as a pledge 
 of loyalty and love. 
 
 And so they looked their last on Dresden. 
 
 The arrival of the Admiral's ward and her cousin 
 was a great event for Mrs. Crewe. In the first 
 place, it set her mind at ease on the momentous ques- 
 tion of rent ; next, it raised her in her own esteem, 
 and Mrs. Crewe's mental spectacles were of high 
 magnifying power; then the presence of two young 
 ladies in the house promised cheerfulness and com-
 
 46 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 pany, which latter was very dear to Mrs. Crewe's 
 heart, in spite of her troubles and disappointments ; 
 finally, it would be very pleasant for ' Denzil ' when 
 he came home. Denzil was her son, the only sur- 
 vivor of several children, who had passed away in 
 those terrible former days when the ' expensive 
 habits' — i.e. furious drinking — of her late dear 
 husband hardly left them food to eat. It need 
 scarcely be said that Denzil was her idol, the one 
 object that filled her life and satisfied her imagina- 
 tion. He was, unlike most idols, a good son, a 
 quiet, steady fellow, who from stress of circum- 
 stances had entered the merchant service instead of 
 the royal navy, much to his mother's mortification ; 
 indeed, she never mentioned the fact without an 
 elaborate explanation. 
 
 ' Collins ' had a hard time of it from the day Mrs. 
 Crewe received the Admiral's reply readily accepting 
 the terms she proposed. Not only the apartments 
 to be occupied by the young ladies, but every 
 portion of the house, 'from turret to foundation- 
 stone,' had to be brushed, scoured, polished, and 
 dusted. The life of the mild upstairs tenant, Mr. 
 Jenkins, was made a burden to him by the dis- 
 arrangement of his belongings in this tremendous 
 cleaning ; and even Collins's powers of endurance 
 would have come to an end, but that in a certain 
 degree she shared her mistress's brilliant anticipa- 
 tions of the indefinite benefits to accrue from such 
 desirable boarders. 
 
 Everything was in order, however, by the time
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 47 
 
 the travellers arrived. Flowers in the vases, and 
 fresh antimacassars bristling with starch from the 
 over-plentifulness of domestic washing, adorned 
 the drawing-room, while an excellent breakfast or 
 luncheon was laid out in the little dining-room 
 behind. 
 
 ' I am sure, my dears, you are welcome to what I 
 trust you will consider as your home,' exclaimed 
 Mrs. Crewe, with a delightful mixture of dignity 
 and cordiality, as she stood at the front door to 
 receive her new inmates, who looked weary enough 
 with their dusty black dresses and white faces. 
 ' Miss Piers, I presume,' smiHng upon Winnie, who 
 happened to come first. 
 
 ' No ! I am Winnie Fielden/ 
 ' Oh ! I am truly glad to see you ; and this is 
 your brother, Miss Fielden, dear fellow ! I love all 
 boys for the sake of my own ! Come in; you must 
 be so dreadfully tired. How many hours have you 
 been en route — thirty-eight ? dreadful ! — had you a 
 tolerable passage ?' 
 
 ' Horrible !' exclaimed Laura, with a shudder, as 
 they followed their hostess upstairs. 
 
 ' Poor Laura was dreadfully ilV said Winnie, with 
 a slight smile, ' but I rather liked crossing ; I stayed 
 very late on deck with the Admiral.' 
 
 ' Well, there is your room — very simple, as you 
 see, but I trust homelike and comfortable. Pray 
 ring for anything you may want, for I must leave 
 you — I have not spoken to the Admiral yet.' 
 
 She swept away to meet the general benefactqr,
 
 48 THE ADMIRALS V/ARD. 
 
 and express to him her gratitude, her satisfaction, 
 her admiration of these ' charming girls,' who, at 
 the first glance,she saw would be an '■ acquisition to 
 any family.' 
 
 But there was in the profound gentle composure 
 of the Admiral an irresistible something that 
 quenched in an indefinable way the fire of Mrs. 
 Crewels eloquence, and she was soon listening to 
 him in silence, as in a few clear sentences he 
 thanked her for the help she had afforded him, by 
 receiving the young people on such moderate terms. 
 
 * I trust my own ward will remain with you per- 
 manently ; as to Miss Fielden, I do not know what 
 her brother or other relations may wish to do for 
 Uer, but at any rate it is a great relief to place both 
 girls, for the present, with you. You know how I 
 am situated. Having made a home with my invalid 
 sister, I can neither leave her nor introduce any 
 disturbing element into our house ; and youth, 
 however amiable, must be disturbing.' 
 
 Then Mrs. Crewe ventured to touch on her own 
 affairs, and tell how her son Denzil had sailed as 
 chief officer in one of Duncan's ships, how he had 
 contrived to save enough to share a venture of 
 merchandise on his own account, besides helping 
 herself to pay the last instalment of her debt to her 
 listener, ' which I have ready for you, my dear sir, 
 in a purse of my own netting,' she concluded ; ' the 
 only sort of fancy-work I could ever accomplish ; 
 and this is all I can pay of the immense obligation 
 I owe you — in fact, my present independence ; for
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 49 
 
 though it was a struggle, I do make both ends meet 
 in this house ; and with your ward -' 
 
 But the entrance of the girls, quickly followed 
 by Herbert, checked her speech, and relieved the 
 Admiral from the necessity of a reply. 
 
 And now Mrs. Crewe was in her element, con- 
 scious of having on her best black silk, which suited 
 her well, her choicest cap, her watch, and her 
 chatelaine^ crowded with charms and trinkets, the 
 crown jewel to which she had tenaciously clung 
 through many a bitter day of despondency and 
 privation. She had a bland delight in patronizing 
 these ' elegant girls,' and the boy who, though ' not 
 good-looking, had a charming countenance.' Good- 
 looking, Herbert certainly was not. He was a very 
 ugly likeness of his handsome sister, with a wide 
 mouth, limp, straight; straw-coloured hair, and a 
 complexion naturally dirty-looking, and little im- 
 proved by any care he bestowed upon it. He was 
 tall of his age, but stooped awkwardly, and with 
 huge hands and feet and ill-cut German clothes, he 
 was anything but attractive. Both Winnie and her 
 brother were honestly hungry ; but Laura could 
 not eat ; she was therefore the object of much per- 
 secution. ' My dear Miss Piers, you take nothing ; 
 let me give you the least bit of this veal and ham 
 pie, with a little jelly and a morsel of Qgg. My cook 
 is rather remarkable for her meat pies — it distresses 
 me to see you unable to eat — would you like my 
 smelling-salts? — let me open the window beside 
 you,' etc. 
 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' The tea is so nice, it will do me good ; I shall be ' 
 better presently,' murmured poor Laura, whose head 
 ached terribly. 
 
 ' How nice it is to see an English breakfast-table, 
 so bright and clean !' cried Winnie. * Though I 
 am very fond of Germany, there is no place like 
 England for niceties.' 
 
 ' I am charmed to hear you say so,' exclaimed 
 Mrs. Crewe radiantly ; ' I feared you would think 
 but little of my humble cottage after foreign 
 grandeur. But this is really a very convenient 
 house and a most improving neighbourhood. The 
 White Hart omnibuses now come to the end of the 
 street, and you see we have a nice garden at the 
 back ! I assure you I never buy a pennyworth of 
 mustard-and-cress, radishes, or parsley,' concluded 
 Mrs. Crewe triumphantly. 
 
 ' It is an exceedingly suitable abode,' remarked 
 the Admiral, ' and does credit to its owner.' 
 
 * You flatter me, my dear sir ! but, indeed, if 
 there is one thing more than another on which I 
 pique myself, it is order — order and cleanliness ! — 
 and no words can tell the difficulties of maintaining 
 either with ignorant, self-willed servants. Really, 
 nowadays, with these new-fangled notions about 
 education, and women's rights, and all that, it is 
 almost impossible to keep house !' 
 
 '• We are terribly in need of that most excellent 
 virtue, obedience, in these latter days,' said the 
 Admiral thoughtfully. ' Few think of the help
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 51 
 
 they can give to government by submission, instead 
 of rebelling and finding fault' 
 
 * Quite true,' replied Mrs. Crewe, with a profound 
 tone ; ' but your young friends must not suppose 
 that I am a dragon of severity ; on the contrary, I 
 like a cheerful home and freedom for everyone : 
 and though I have but few acquaintances (indeed, 
 there are not many of my own rank of life around 
 me), I trust we shall not be dull. By-the-bye, 
 young ladies, I have not introduced you to a very 
 important member of the family ;' and Mrs. Crewe 
 rose, and walking to the little sofa standing at one 
 side of the fireplace, took up the cat, which was 
 sleeping there in profound repose, regardless of the 
 smart red ribbon with which she was decorated in 
 honour of the day. 
 
 ' This is my sweet Toppy, Miss Piers — is she not 
 a beauty, Miss Fielden ? Remember ' (to Herbert), 
 ' whatever pranks you may play, I will never forgive 
 any against Toppy. Is she not beautifully marked ? 
 and such a lovely tail ! Do you know, an old friend 
 of mine. Major St. George, told me that his sister, 
 the Countess of Achill, would give twenty pounds 
 for such a cat (she is a great cat-fancier) ; but no 
 twenty pounds would buy my Toppy !' — kissing the 
 creature, who winked with preternatural gravity. 
 
 ' She is very pretty,' said Laura, stroking it 
 gently. 
 
 ' Very pretty,' echoed Winnie, without, however, 
 touching it. 
 
 ' It is curious to study the nature of animals,' re- 
 
 tlBRARY 4~2 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOiS
 
 52 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 marked the Admiral, patting its head ; but the 
 moment he touched its fur, puss gave a sudden, 
 sharp, vicious mew, and struggled to get away. 
 
 /How very extraordinary!' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Crewe ; ' I never knew Toppy behave so badly ; 
 she is generally the gentlest and most amiable of 
 cats. I wonder,' examining her dress, ' if I have a 
 pin anywhere.' 
 
 Meantime, unseen by anyone, Winnie gave Her- 
 bert a noiseless kick and a warning look, while Mrs. 
 Crewe deposited Toppy on the sofa and returned to 
 the table. A little more conversation, intermittent 
 and slightly forced, ensued, in which the weary, 
 depressed girls took no part, and then the Admiral 
 rose. 
 
 * I shall now leave you,' he said, ' to make each 
 other's acquaintance. To-morrow afternoon I hope 
 to call and to have favourable letters for you, my 
 dear/ to Winnie. ' I shall be as usual at the " Bur- 
 lington," and shall remain about a week in town. 
 Good-morning, Mrs. Crewe ; I feel happy in leaving 
 my young charges under your care. God bless 
 you, dear children, and direct you in this beginning 
 of a new life.^ 
 
 Laura, always self-controlled, only took his hand 
 and pressed it lingeringly in both her own, while 
 she murmured, ' How can we thank you enough !' 
 But Winnie, with a sudden movement, threw her 
 arms round his neck and kissed his cheek. 
 
 ' You will be sure to come to-morrow, will you 
 not ?' she whispered.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 53 
 
 *Yes, Winifrid, without fail,' said the Admiral 
 emphatically, while he tenderly returned her em- 
 brace. The old man was visibly touched, and the 
 moisture shone in his beautiful dark eyes. * Be 
 of good cheer/ he added kindly, as he shook hands 
 with Herbert ; ' for young creatures like you there 
 is many a bright day in store behind the sad pre- 
 sent ; only keep a clear conscience before Heaven, 
 and all things will work together for your good.' 
 And with a courteous wave of the hand he left 
 them. 
 
 ' I am sure,' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe, taking her 
 handkerchief from her eyes (she was easily affected), 
 ' if ever there was a thorough gentleman and a true 
 Christian, it is Admiral Desbarres ! He is a saint 
 upon earth, though one always thinks of a saint in 
 a long woollen gown with a rope round his waist, 
 whereas the Admiral is always so well dressed ' — 
 in a tone of the highest admiration — ' which shows 
 that true religion need not interfere with the ele- 
 gancies of life ! My dear girls, you must cheer up ; 
 I will do my very best to make you happy ! look 
 upon me as a mother. I have lost two dear little 
 girls, and I have a mother's heart.' 
 
 She embraced one after the other, or would have 
 done so, only Herbert dodged and made a snatch 
 at her hand. 
 
 ' Thank you, dear Mrs. Crewe,' said Winnie. 
 
 * You are very good indeed,' added Laura. 
 
 ' And now, would you like to lie down and rest 
 a while ? You must be quite worn out !'
 
 54 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Thank you/ said Laura ; ' I think I should like 
 to put our things a little in order, and then I will 
 try to sleep.' 
 
 ' Do so, dear Laura. I am not going to call you 
 by your surname any more ; we must be at home 
 with each other.' 
 
 ' Certainly, Mrs. Crewe.' 
 
 ' And you, Master Herbert ?' 
 
 ' Well,' replied that young gentleman, * I should 
 like to go out and take a stroll, just to see what the 
 place is like.' 
 
 ' Very well, Herbert ; only do not lose your way, 
 my boy.' 
 
 * If I do, I speak the language, you know.' 
 
 'When we first went to Dresden,' explained 
 Laura, ' and he was quite a little fellow, he 
 wandered out one morning and never came back 
 till night.' 
 
 ' You must have been terrified !' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Crewe. ' Here, dear, here is your travelling-bag ; 
 you left it in the hall' 
 
 And as the cousins ascended the stairs they heard 
 the front-door shut after Herbert, while Mrs. Crewe 
 was calling in audible tones, ' Collins ! Collins ! 
 come and clear away the breakfast-things ! Now 
 don't delay ; there's plenty to do !' 
 
 On reaching their own room, Laura, by an im- 
 pulse unusual with her, locked the door, and sitting 
 down beside the dressing-table, bent her elbows 
 upon it, covered her face with her hands, and burst 
 into tears which she vainly tried to suppress.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 55 
 
 'Dear Laura!' cried Winnie, putting her arms 
 round her and looking dismayed — for she was more 
 accustomed to receive than to administer consola- 
 tion — what is the matter ? Do you feel very ill ?' 
 
 ' What is the matter ?* repeated Laura, with a 
 sob ; ' there is plenty the matter, I think ! I don't 
 know how it is, but it suddenly seems so awful to 
 be here, away from everyone we ever knew. If 
 we had been left at dear Cheddington, the good 
 Squire and his wife, and the Doctor, and everyone 
 would have been old friends and helped us ; and at 
 Dresden there was the Grafin and the Macdonalds, 
 all so kind ; but here ' an expressive pause. 
 
 ' Oh yes, it is dreadful ; but then Mrs. Crewe 
 seems very good and pleasant — much better than I 
 expected.' 
 
 ' Yes, she is nice, and I think I am quite over- 
 tired. I shall just unpack the box, and then I will 
 lie down.' 
 
 ' It is rather bare,' observed Winnie, looking 
 round the room with a dissatisfied expression ; ' yet 
 I do not see how there would be room for anything 
 more. I wish there was one of those delightful 
 bureau-wardrobe contrivances we had in Dresden, 
 with little drawers and pigeon-holes. I don't know 
 how you will contrive to be tidy here, Laura.' 
 
 ' Oh, we must be doubly tidy, or it will be in- 
 tolerable,' said Laura, drying her eyes ; ' and it is 
 the only place we can have to ourselves, for we can 
 scarcely write, or paint, or do anything downstairs, 
 I suppose.'
 
 56 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 So saying, Laura rose, and began rather wearily 
 to open and unpack a large box, which was all they 
 had brought with them. 
 
 * When the rest of our things come, where in the 
 world shall we put them ?' asked Winnie, standing 
 in the middle of the room, her hands folded, and 
 her eyes wide open with a puzzled expression. 
 
 ' Oh, I dare say there is a box-room or some 
 such place. Come and help me, like a dear girl — 
 you look so distracted standing there ! I feel better 
 already from doing something,' returned Laura. 
 
 ' And I feel as if I should never care to do any- 
 thing again,' cried Winnie, suddenly dropping on 
 her knees and beginning to pull out the contents 
 of the box vehemently. 'To think that I shall 
 never, never hear his dear voice, nor see him smile 
 as he used when I had a pretty new hat, or any- 
 thing that suited me ; and my father was not old, 
 Laura — not quite sixty-one. I sometimes feel so 
 angry with myself, because I forget for a few 
 minutes, and am amused. Why, I could have 
 burst out laughing to-day when Mrs. Crewe was 
 praising the cat, and Herbert pinched its tail and 
 made it almost bite that angel of an Admiral — I 
 never felt so fond of him before. But Mrs. Crewe 
 is great fun : she is so elegant and aristocratic ; 
 still, she is quite a lady, and I am a shade less 
 miserable since I saw her. Oh, Laura ! is it not 
 contemptible to change about as I do ?' 
 
 ' I don't know,' said Laura sadly, catching a roll 
 of music which Winnie tossed to her. * You can't
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 57 
 
 help your nature, and anything is better than pre- 
 tending to be what you are not ; besides, if one was 
 always so wretched as one is at moments, you would 
 go mad or die.' 
 
 ' That's true,' ejaculated Winnie. After a short 
 silence^ she rose from her knees and went to one of 
 the windows, peeping through the chink between 
 the edge of the blind and the window- frame. ' It 
 is rather a nice little street; all the houses have 
 gardens in front, and trees, but they are very small 
 and low; and' — turning to the dressing-table, 
 which was rather unsteady, but elegantly draped 
 with white muslin and pink lining — ' what an awful 
 glass ! my face looks absolutely green, and quite 
 stumpy; and did you ever see such a marvel of 
 darns as the piece of carpet !' 
 
 ' I am afraid Mrs. Crewe is not much better off 
 than ourselves,' returned Laura, looking round with 
 a slight, not unkindly smile; 'but everything is 
 very clean, and she has given us a friendly wel- 
 come. Dear Winnie, I have put things a little in 
 their places, and I feel I must lie down. You will 
 find our best dresses in the hanging cupboard by 
 the fireplace ; we cannot wear these till they are 
 well brushed ; they are so full of dust.' 
 
 ' Certainly not,' said Winnie, who was always 
 ready to put on her best on the smallest provoca- 
 tion. ' And as I am not a bit tired, I will write to 
 Elise von Eichwald, while you rest, you dear old 
 thing ; we promised to let her know all about our 
 journey.'
 
 58 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 * And Mrs. Macdonald too — do not forget her/ 
 murmured Laura, laying her weary head on the 
 pillow. 
 
 Soon the swift scratching of Winnie's pen grew 
 fainter and fainter^ and sleep came, bringing a 
 respite from the anxieties and responsibilities it 
 was her destiny to endure.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HE day after Mrs. Crewe's new inmates 
 had arrived, there was an entertainment 
 of some importance (at least, in the 
 host's estimation) at Mr. Trent's hand- 
 some comfortable residence in Cleveland Square. 
 
 It was not a solemn festivity, such as he felt it his 
 duty to hold three or four times in the season, to 
 which were bidden chiefly professional equals and 
 some of his leading counsel. 
 
 This, he was secretly satisfied to think, was more 
 of a family affair. Yet it included a baronet of 
 ancient lineage, a banker of high repute, a distin- 
 guished Indian officer, and a man of good position 
 among the landed gentry, with ladies to match, 
 besides one unmatched, or rather unmated, China 
 merchant with several lacs, and a liver. 
 
 Mr. Trent was, on the whole, a good specimen of 
 a prosperous professional man. He was a gentleman 
 and his father before him had been a professional 
 gentleman. He was an honourable man, with a
 
 6o THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 decently good temper and a circulation not too rapid, 
 who, preserved by circumstances and temperament, 
 had never meddled with things 'common or un- 
 clean.' Yet he had committed the incongruity of 
 making what was considered a love-match — that is, 
 he had married the daughter of a rising barrister 
 into whose company he was thrown a good deal by 
 business ; but the barrister died before he achieved 
 fortune, and the family were scattered. 
 
 Mrs. Trent, 7iee Kate Piers, was a handsome 
 blonde inclined to ' embonpoint,' with a bright face 
 and pleasant manners, frank, laughter-loving, and 
 intelligent. Mr. Trent was quite satisfied with his 
 bargain, but was clearly of opinion that his wife 
 received to the full as much as she bestowed ; he 
 was, therefore, more coolly approving than enthu- 
 siastic, and never hesitated to express, in sharp, 
 decisive sentences, any disapprobation suggested 
 by domestic arrangements or expenses, though far 
 too sensible a man to be a niggard. 
 
 Still, with all his mental breadth, he could not 
 shake off the influence of his training and associa- 
 tions, and it was with a sense of satisfaction, as we 
 have said, that he descended from his dressing- 
 room, on the evening in question, half regretting 
 that he had not an opportunity of reassuring him- 
 self, by a few words with his wife, that the iced cup 
 was abundant, and that the best champagne was in 
 the coolers. He had been detained at the office, 
 and some of his guests had already arrived. 
 
 On opening the drawing-room door, he found
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 6i 
 
 Mrs. Trent showing the last photographs of her 
 two youngest children to her brother and sister-in- 
 law, Major and Mrs. John Piers. 
 
 ' I thought it was to be quite a family party,' 
 said Mrs. Piers, looking with some dismay at her 
 hostess's dress of creamy white muslin and lace, 
 with turquoise and diamonds at her throat, and 
 fastening a coquettish tuft of blue ribbon in her 
 hair, from which floated lace lappets. 
 
 ' So it is, if five of one family can make it so. 
 My principal security against completing the cha- 
 racteristics of such an assembly is, that we are too 
 great strangers to have any casus belli ; a general 
 fight is the usual ending w^hen two or three of the- 
 same blood are gathered together. To be sure, 
 there is a cousin of Mr. Trent's coming, a man of 
 metal, who would help to keep the peace,' returned 
 Mrs. Trent, laughing. 
 
 ' Dear me !' said her sister-in-law with a look of 
 dismay, as if she almost anticipated fisticuffs ; she 
 was a simple little thing, much younger than her 
 husband, and familiar only with the manners and 
 customs of Indian society. Mrs. Trent laughed 
 again, and Mrs. Piers continued : * You see, I 
 thought that we should probably only meet that 
 young something Piers — I forget his name, who 
 dined here last autumn when we first arrived — and 
 your own party ; so I put on my black silk, which 
 is scarcely a dinner dress.' 
 
 ' I am sure it is a very pretty one, and that point 
 d'Alengon is exquisite : it is my favourite lace.'
 
 62 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Yes, it is very nice ; I bought it in Paris when 
 we were there last month. Now tell me, who are 
 coming ?' 
 
 ' Well, first of all there is Reginald Piers, who 
 has become quite something and somebody since 
 you met him — come into a fortune unexpectedly ; 
 his mother, a very charming person, and his sister, 
 Lady Jervois, who was a beauty, but, though 
 young, has gone off terribly; her husband. Sir 
 Gilbert, who is — well, not charming. Then there 
 is the Trent cousin, Mr. Cannon and his wife ; he 
 is really a great gun in the Banking Brigade ; and 
 our respected partner, Mr. Thurston, who is devoted 
 to me, I flatter myself And oh, a Mr. Matthews, a 
 man from China ; I don't know him much, but he 
 does not seem to have acquired many celestial 
 qualities, though I believe he has grubbed up a 
 sufficiency of filthy lucre — that^s all, I think.' 
 
 * And your daughter V looking over to a slight, 
 ladylike, rather pretty girl, well-dressed, coiffee, 
 gantee, and generally well put out of hand, to whom 
 her father and Major Piers were talking affably. 
 
 ' Yes ; Katie dines with us to-day, as it is not a 
 state dinner.' 
 
 * She has grown a good deal since we were here,' 
 began Mrs. Piers. 
 
 Further comments, however, were cut short by 
 the announcement of Mr. and Mrs. Thurston, 
 followed by the remaining guests, ending with Sir 
 Gilbert and Lady Jervois and Mrs. Piers ; where- 
 upon entered a scrubby little man in an evening
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 6^ 
 
 suit of some antiquity both as to cut and aspect. 
 He had an upturned nose, stubbly whiskers, and a 
 slightly bald head, yet his wide and somewhat 
 loose-lipped mouth wore a perpetual grin of con- 
 ceit and satisfaction difficult to account for. On his 
 arm leant an elderly lady with silvery grey hair, 
 too grey for her years, arranged in soft feathery 
 curls on each side of her pale aristocratic face, and 
 crowned by a graceful cap of rare white lace ; a 
 dress of rich black silk, much trimmed with lace, 
 and a large Spanish feather fan completed a figure 
 widely different from her companion. 
 
 Lady Jervois followed : a slight, frail, graceful 
 little woman, with a shy, anxious expression in her 
 large blue eyes, prettily dressed in grey with black 
 lace — a costume which suited her. 
 
 Mrs. Trent met them half-way from the door 
 with a pleasant greeting. 
 
 ' Very happy to see you, Mrs. Piers,' she said ; * I 
 was but a girl when we last met, yet I am sure I 
 should have known you again.' 
 
 * I can scarcely say as much,' returned the lady, 
 smiling ; * but at your age change is for the better.' 
 
 * And you. Sir Gilbert ! you have been a stranger 
 to London for some time.' 
 
 ' You see, I have had no parliamentary humbug 
 to call me from my preserves and farming, so I've 
 been deuced glad to stick to the plough and the 
 gun,' replied Sir Gilbert, with a quick, harsh laugh. 
 
 ' Very likely ; but you had no business to bury 
 Lady Jervois alive.'
 
 64 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Oh, she was welcome to come up to town if she 
 liked.' 
 
 ' I am sure I should have come, in her place ! 
 But, Mrs. Piers, Lady Jervois, let me introduce my 
 brother, a cousin you have never met before,' etc., 
 etc. ; and the necessary presentations ensued ; then 
 glancing round, Mrs. Trent perceived that the tale 
 of her guests was not complete. 
 
 ' Where is Reginald ?' she asked. ' I thought he 
 would come with you,' to Mrs. Piers. 
 
 ' I have not seen him since yesterday. He is 
 staying at the Langham, and we have taken a house 
 in Mount Street, you know ; but he will be here 
 without fail. We were speaking of you yesterday, 
 and ' 
 
 ' Changed times for Master Reggie,' interrupted 
 Sir Gilbert with a chuckle ; ' from a clerk to a 
 county magnate.' 
 
 * Magnate or no, we must not spoil our dinner for 
 him,' said Mrs. Trent * Pray ring, Mr. Thurston ; 
 even in his 'prentice days he was not too punctual.' 
 
 The convives had, however, scarce taken their 
 places when the tardy guest arrived. 
 
 * Ah, Reginald !' said Mrs. Trent, as he came 
 quickly up the room to shake hands with her ; ' you 
 see you have not yet acquired importance enough 
 to be waited for :' and she smiled graciously upon 
 him. 
 
 Mrs. Trent, with her candid manner and pleasant 
 ways, managed to colour the familiarity, which 
 once was slightly patronizing, with a tinge of elder
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 65 
 
 sisterly partiality, that conveyed a degree of subtle 
 flattery, and yet did not suggest, even to self-love 
 as sensitive as Reginald's, a suspicion that she 
 was influenced by his change of fortune. 
 
 * I should think not,' he returned with a good- 
 humoured smile ; ' and I have a thousand apologies 
 to offer, though not one good excuse. I really was 
 engaged, and forgot to look at my watch.* 
 
 ' Never mind — you have lost nothing ; there is 
 your place, between Mrs. John Piers and Katie. 
 I am afraid you have been going to too many 
 festive scenes — you look tired, Reginald.' 
 
 * No ! I assure you I am by no means " a favoured 
 guest ;" my invitations are not too numerous,' said 
 Reginald, going round to his place and shaking 
 hands with his mother and Mr. Trent as he 
 passed. 
 
 ' Oh, they'll come fast enough, as your merits 
 become known,' said Sir Gilbert with a grin. 
 
 ' When did you return to town ?' asked Mr. Trent, 
 
 * About a week ago.' 
 
 And while a dropping fire of question and answer 
 ran round the table, Mrs. Trent thought that Regi- 
 nald looked pale and weary, and altogether less 
 radiant than when he had last dined with them, 
 before going down to Saltshire to go through the 
 pleasant process, * taking possession.' 
 
 * I suppose you don't care to visit the old shop 
 even as our "respected client"?' said Mr. Trent, 
 smiling, as the grave butler and his auxiliary forces 
 were handing round the salmon and cucumber. 
 
 VOL. I. 5
 
 66 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 'No — ^yes/ returned Reginald/hesitating slightly, 
 while his colour deepened. ' That is,' with a smile, 
 ' I have really very pleasant recollections of my 
 office days, but somehow time slips away so fast, 
 and so many fresh engagements turn up, that I 
 seem to have no more time to myself than when I 
 belonged to the famous firm. I dare say,' turning 
 to Miss Trent, 'you too find, now that you are 
 emancipated (you are out of Miss Barton's hands 
 for good, are you not ?) — then, do you not find you 
 have quite as much to do as when you were en- 
 slaved ? — eh, Katie ? — I suppose I may call you 
 Katie, as you are not absolutely out ?' 
 
 ' Oh yes, if you like,' said Miss Trent, blushing. 
 
 * Sherry or 'ock ?' said the butler, in a confidential 
 whisper. 
 
 'Sherry.' Then to his neighbour, 'Are you to 
 burst on a dazzled world next spring ? I think we 
 ought to get up a Christmas party and a ball at 
 Pierslynn this winter.' 
 
 ' That would be very nice,' she said_, colouring 
 with pleasure, though a little confused by his notice ; 
 and Reginald continued to bestow all his talk upon 
 her for a while during which the general conversa- 
 sation was intermittent, the company being well 
 employed discussing the good things provided for 
 them. 
 
 'No, no fowl, but bring me another slice of 
 mutton. You are a sensible woman, Mrs. Trent, to 
 give us mutton ; one loathes lamb at this season of 
 the year/ said Sir Gilbert to his hostess, ^^y
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD, 67 
 
 George ! we have had lamb at every house we have 
 dined at since we came to town. Not that we are 
 overwhelmed with engagements ; it's amazing how 
 soon one drops out of one's set in London ! Because 
 I've not been in town for two or three seasons, not 
 since I gave up Parliament, I believe everyone 
 thought that I was dead and buried. The fellows 
 at the Club who can remember me cry out, " Jervois, 
 where the deuce have you come from !" as if I had 
 no business to be alive — Gad, it is disgusting !* 
 
 ' Yes ! It takes a great deal to make a lasting 
 impression on London society,' returned Mrs. Trent. 
 *I am flattered that you approve of my mutton. 
 Have you any currant jelly. Sir Gilbert ? I feel in- 
 clined to hide your plate from Mr. Trent with my 
 fan ; he considers mutton and jelly dangerously 
 wintry and unorthodox at this season. But of 
 course a lawyer is a good deal ruled by precedent.' 
 
 Sir Gilbert turned his light cunning eyes approv- 
 ingly on his hostess ; he was a hearty admirer of 
 handsome women. 
 
 * Mr. Trent, like most of his trade, knows how to 
 pick out the plums in more ways than one,' he 
 said. 
 
 ' I wish he were a good boy from the Jack Horner 
 point of view,' said Mrs. Trent, laughing. ' But I 
 fear he is not a sharp enough practitioner ; I fancy 
 you have dexterous thumbs yourself. Sir Gilbert !' 
 
 ' Not I, by George ! I don't think I have made 
 many hits in my life. Look at the luck of that 
 young Piers! Why, Hugh Piers might have married 
 
 5-2
 
 68 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 any day for these twenty years past, and yet he 
 kept single ; so my precious brother-in-law steps 
 into five thousand a year ; a deuced nice lot of 
 savings/ he added with indescribable gusto, as 
 though his mental nostrils sniffed them from afar. 
 
 ' What an odious little brute he is !' thought Mrs. 
 Trent, smiling pleasantly on him, while she replied 
 sympathetically : ' There is something very nice 
 about a large lump of money to take slices off when 
 you want them.' 
 
 ' Better slice very thin,' muttered Sir Gilbert, his 
 mouth full of mutton. ' But young Piers will make 
 ducks and drakes of it all: ''Set a beggar on horse- 
 back," hey ?' 
 
 ' I don't think so, Sir Gilbert. He seems steady 
 enough, and I am sure has behaved very sensibly 
 and moderately ever since he came into the estate.' 
 
 ' Ah ! but he comes of a spendthrift lot. I know 
 'em. I've got my lady into pretty good training, 
 but I wish you were to see Madame Piers there^ 
 trotting off to the Bond Street shops to rig herself 
 out as the Dowager of Pierslynn ! However, it's no 
 affair of mine ; Master Reggie will find out that 
 five thousand a year is not Fortunatus's purse by- 
 and-by.' 
 
 Sir Gilbert was a remarkably outspoken man. 
 He was too thick-skinned to feel pricks himself, 
 and consequently never hesitated to inflict them on 
 his neighbours. 
 
 ' Mrs. Piers has been an excellent mother,' said 
 Mrs. Trent gravely, ' and she has had rather a hard
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 69 
 
 life of it. I am glad Reginald appears so con- 
 siderate of her.' 
 
 * A hard life ! Gad, that's good !' cried Sir Gil- 
 bert, helping himself to devilled whitebait. ' Con- 
 sidering she has lived ov). the fat of the land at 
 Ashley Grange for the last seven or eight years, 
 with nothing to do but to bother me for clothes for 
 the poor, and soup-kitchens, and the Lord knows 
 what, pauperizing my people and ' 
 
 ' Is Lord Langford likely to succeed in the 
 representation of your county, Sir Gilbert ?' asked 
 Mr. Thurston, interrupting the Baronet's domestic 
 revelations. 
 
 * I don't know, Mr. Thurston, and I don't care,' 
 he returned. ' I have washed my hands of politics. 
 They don't pay in any sense. It is all very well for 
 adventurers, fellows that have to push their way, to 
 make stepping-stones of the Conservative interest, 
 or Liberal principles ; but I find enough to do to 
 manage matters at home.' 
 
 ' It is well that all country gentlemen are not of 
 your way of thinking,' said Reginald. * I confess I 
 should like a seat in Parliament by-and-by.' 
 
 ' I dare say you would ; and to run a horse at 
 Epsom, and keep a yacht at Cowes, and all the rest 
 of it.' 
 
 * Political influence is a proper object of ambition,' 
 said the Banker, who had scarcely spoken, 'and 
 men of weight and property should not let it slip 
 into the hands of men of straw.' 
 
 ' These things right themselves,' said Sir Gilbert,
 
 70 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 tossing a bumper of champagne ; and a pause 
 ensued, the Baronet's abrupt contemptuous repu- 
 diation of politics and politicians acting as an 
 extinguisher on the subject. 
 
 * Admiral Desbarres called after you left/ resumed 
 Mr. Thurston, addressing his partner. ' I met him 
 on the stairs, and took him into your room. He 
 arrived from Germany yesterday, and has brought 
 back his ward and her cousins.' 
 
 ' I am afraid the Admiral is taking up a burden 
 that will break his back,' returned the host. ' Cham- 
 pagne to Mr. Thurston, Peters. Try that wine, 
 Thurston ; I had it direct from Ai last November. 
 You remember we were obliged to send to Troyes 
 to look up evidence in the Bouverie will case ; I 
 took the opportunity to order some of the best 
 brand in that district.' 
 
 'Who is Admiral Desbarres?' asked Lady Jervois, 
 speaking almost for the first time in a soft timid 
 voice. ' I seem to know the name.' 
 
 'He is one of the famous naval family of Desbarres. 
 He has two brothers in the Navy ; one, his junior, 
 has only just retired, and is also an admiral ; our 
 friend, Admiral George Desbarres, is a man of ex- 
 traordinary benevolence. He is by no means 
 wealthy ; nevertheless, he is always helping some 
 one, and now he is going to adopt his ward, because 
 she has lost her home, and her cousins because — 
 well, I suppose because no one else will' 
 
 ' The other Admiral Desbarres used to command 
 Archie Bertram's ship, when he was with the
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 71 
 
 Channel Fleet — don't you remember?' said Regi- 
 nald, whose attention was by no means absorbed by 
 his conversation with Miss Trent. 
 
 ' Yes, I remember now/ returned Lady Jervois, 
 with a little more animation of tone and look than 
 usual. 
 
 ' Hum ! he will land himself in the workhouse, 
 and I shall be curious to see which of his proteges 
 will take him out!' said Sir Gilbert, his loud grating 
 voice drowning the aside between brother and 
 sister. 
 
 ' He is a fine old fellow,' cried Reginald, ' and 
 desperately religious. I remember Mr. Fielden 
 teUing us at Cheddington that at one time he 
 thought the Church of England too slow, and joined 
 the Ranters, or the " Latter-day Saints," or some 
 very fast sect.' 
 
 * My dear Reginald,' said his mother entreatingly, 
 * pray do not speak so flippantly on such subjects.' 
 
 ' I wish Admiral Desbarres would be advised by 
 us,' said Mr. Trent. ' He really undertakes too much.' 
 
 ' Where has he placed Laura and the children ?' 
 asked Reginald, with some interest. 
 
 * Somewhere in the Westbourne district. I do 
 not know exactly.' 
 
 'This ward of Admiral Desbarres is a sort of 
 distant relation of ours,' continued Reginald, turn- 
 ing to his right-hand neighbour, Mrs. John Piers. 
 *And I used to know her in our boy-and-girl 
 days, for I frequently spent my vacations at her 
 uncle's house.'
 
 72 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Dear me, that was very nice !' returned the lady ; 
 ' is she pretty ?' 
 
 *No, certainly not pretty, but a deuced clever 
 girl; quite a "comrade," you understand, though 
 she was not so plucky as her cousin, little Winnie 
 Fielden.' 
 
 ' I think my father. General Garden, used to know 
 an Admiral Desbarres,' said Mrs. John Piers, blush- 
 ing a little at drawing attention to herself, yet not 
 sorry to parade her father the General. 
 
 * It was Admiral Stephen Desbarres,' remarked 
 her husband. 
 
 'Will Miss ' asked Mrs. John Piers, pausing; 
 
 ' Miss ' 
 
 * Piers,' supplied Reginald. 
 
 ' Piers live with him ? I dare say she will marry 
 a naval officer.' 
 
 'Women's heads are always running on marriage,* 
 said Sir Gilbert to Mrs. Trent, as he helped himself 
 a second time to cheese souffles. 
 
 ' Well, considering the wretched position we hold 
 in society, it is not to be wondered at,' returned 
 Mrs. Trent, laughing : ' of no value without an " O '* 
 in broad-cloth behind us.' 
 
 * Whose cash you fling about till you reduce him 
 to nought,' growled the Baronet. 
 
 ' Is it possible you believe us to be extravagant ?^ 
 exclaimed Mrs. Trent, with innocent wonder. 
 
 * Possible !' shrieked Sir Gilbert. 
 
 Meantime the Banker and Mr. Thurston talked 
 finance, and Major Piers laid down the law on
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 73 
 
 Indian affairs to Reginald, who seemed to listen, 
 but was somewhat preoccupied ; then Mrs. Trent 
 gave the signal for retiring. 
 
 Reginald was the first to join the ladies, who 
 were grouped, some round the best of modern 
 refuges, the photograph album, some looking over 
 Miss Trent's music, while Mrs. Trent and Mrs. 
 Piers were talking together in a friendly way on a 
 remote sofa. Lady Jervois was sitting alone, turn- 
 ing over the pages of a gorgeously got-up book of 
 Tyrolese scenery, with an expectant look on her 
 sad, nervous little face. 
 
 Reginald went straight to her. 
 
 ' I could not manage to call before one, Helen,* 
 he said in a low voice, as he drew a chair beside 
 her, * but I have not forgotten my promise. Have 
 you a pocket under all that lace .-'' 
 
 ' Yes, dear Reggie,' she replied, with a slight 
 quiver in her voice. 
 
 ' Here, then, put this away before he comes up ;' 
 and he took a large thick envelope from his breast 
 and passed it to her. * There ! I think it was a 
 proof of brotherly love to spoil the set of my 
 faultless garment with such a package,' he said, 
 laughing, while he moved his chair between his 
 sister and the rest of the company. 
 
 A quick, partly suppressed sob swelled her 
 throat, as she seized the packet with nervous haste, 
 feeling for her pocket so eagerly that she twice 
 failed to find it. 
 
 ' Keep yourself better in hand, Helen,' he went
 
 74 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 on in a low warning tone. * Will this put you 
 straight?' 
 
 ' Yes, quite ! You have given me life, Reginald !' 
 
 * Then for heaven's sake keep straight ! I can- 
 not do this again ;' and Reginald's good-looking 
 face contracted with an expression which it rarely 
 wore. 
 
 ' Trust me, I can and will keep right. I shall be 
 able to endure now to the end, and if ever in any 
 way I can repay ' 
 
 * I am very sure you will,' interrupted Reginald 
 pleasantly. ' I will give you an opportunity some 
 day, perhaps.' 
 
 There was a pause, and the packet having been 
 successfully hidden away, Reginald pushed back 
 his chair a little, and resumed. 
 
 ' What have you been doing since yesterday ? 
 What has my mother decided ?' 
 
 * Oh, she has nearly made up her mind to take 
 that house at South Kensington. Sir Gilbert is 
 anxious she should. He thinks as it is so near the 
 Museum, it would be very nice for us — Sybil and 
 myself — to come up for a few months every year — 
 for her education, you know.' 
 
 ' I dare say he does,' returned Reginald with a 
 scornful smile, ' even if he shares expenses, which I 
 shall take care he does ; it will be a deuced good 
 arrangement for him.' 
 
 * And what a charming one for us !' returned 
 Lady Jervois, her face brightening up at the pros- 
 pect.
 
 I THE ADMIRALS WARD, 75 
 
 ' Poor little Nellie ! You have had an awful 
 hard time of it,' said Reginald compassionately. 
 * It may be better for you, now that I am able to 
 play the part of your " big brother." But whatever 
 you do, keep free of debt. It would give him 
 such a pull over you, if he found it out ; and re- 
 member, I shall have heaps of claims — claims you 
 know nothing about — on my spare cash ; I cannot 
 help you again/ 
 
 * Believe me, I shall not require help,' said Lady 
 Jervois in a low, earnest voice. ' And oh, if I could 
 convey to you an idea of the relief you have given 
 me ! God bless you, Reggie !' 
 
 ' There ! there !' he returned, pressing her hand 
 hastily. 'Don't lose hold of yourself; perhaps 
 you'll bring me luck. I will come and see you to- 
 morrow.' 
 
 ' Come to luncheon ?' 
 
 ' No, no. The worthy Baronet would expect me 
 to bring my own slice of beef and pint of wine,' 
 said Reginald, ' as he is in London lodgings, and 
 buying his provisions' per ounce. But I will look 
 in after. I want you to come to Pierslynn for a 
 fortnight or three weeks. I hear Sir Gilbert is 
 going to have an economical debauch in Paris 
 among the Palais Royal restaurants — dinners at a 
 franc seventy-five, and fifteen-centime excursions 
 on the imperial of the Passy trams ; so you and 
 my mother had better come and stay with me 
 while he perpetrates these extravagances.' 
 
 * It would be very nice. But, Reggie, you need
 
 'j^i THE ADMIRALS WARD. ' 
 
 not be so witty at Sir Gilbert's expense ; remember, 
 you have spent a good many weeks at Ashley 
 Grange, and had many a day's ride.' 
 
 *" Quite true, Helen. If he hadn't spoilt your life 
 I would spare him ; but ' 
 
 * Reginald,' said Mrs. Trent, interrupting them, 
 ' you are really a good-for-nothing boy, never to 
 have been to see me since you were at Pierslynn. 
 I wanted to hear all about the place.' 
 
 ' I dare say I have seemed negligent, Mrs. Trent, 
 but you don't know what a heap of business I have 
 had to attend to.' 
 
 ' Business ! Why, Mr. Trent says you have not 
 appeared at the office either.' 
 
 ' No ; of course I have had a good deal to 
 do with Fairfield and Thwaites, the Pierslynn 
 solicitors.' 
 
 ' Oh, indeed !' returned Mrs. Trent, making a 
 mental note of his answer ; ' well, tell me all about 
 it — your castle and broad domains.' 
 
 ' You must come and see for yourself, Mrs. Trent. 
 I think you will like the place. There is a rambling 
 old house, not at all grand, but comfortable, and 
 rather picturesque. There is a fine country round : 
 Welsh hills springing up almost from the grounds, 
 and the remnants of an old fortalice, where our 
 excellent ancestors used to store up the spoils they 
 took from their neighbours. There is, they tell me, 
 a good neighbourhood, and I must say the stables 
 filled me with a keen delight. I am quite impatient 
 to return to them.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 77 
 
 'That is all very nice. And tell me, Reginald, 
 is the house in good order? and what are you going 
 to do about an establishment ?* 
 
 * Oh, I found a stately [old dame in black silk 
 with a huge bunch of keys, and an elderly gentle- 
 man of clerical aspect, to whom the place seemed 
 to belong much more than to me, both looking 
 very glum ; so, as everything was in apple-pie 
 order, I made them a speech, requesting they 
 would remain, and serve me as well as they ap- 
 peared to have done my predecessor, since which 
 everything went well.' 
 
 ' How long did you stay there ?' asked Mrs. 
 Trent ; but the rather thin, tremulous tones of Miss 
 Trent's voice, upraised in an air of Schumann's, 
 compelled them to silence. 
 
 Mr. Thurston, Sir Gilbert, Mr. Cannon, and 
 Major Piers sat down to whist, and so postponed 
 the hour of departure considerably beyond the 
 usual time of breaking up ; when Sir Gilbert rose 
 from the card-table joyous and triumphant, the 
 happy winner of four shillings and sixpence. 
 
 Some time previously, however, Reginald had 
 made his excuses and taken leave. 
 
 * We are going to have another and more wel- 
 come change in the office,' said Mr. Trent, ac- 
 companying him to the door. 
 
 ' Indeed ! how so ?' 
 
 ' Holden tendered his resignation to-day. He 
 wants, it seems, to join some relative in New 
 Zealand or Sydney. I can't say I shall regret him ;
 
 78 
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 he was useful in some respects, but latterly he 
 grew very unsteady. I fear we should have had to 
 dismiss him, which would have been unpleasant. 
 It is as well he should take the initiative.' 
 
 ' It is,' returned Reginald ; ' and he will be no 
 great loss. Good-night. I shall call on you the 
 day after to-morrow to discuss one or two matters. 
 Good-night.'
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RS. CREWE'S happy and contented 
 mood suffered no diminution during 
 the first week of her new inmates' 
 residence. The girls were quite punc- 
 tual, and perhaps a little too silent for their 
 hostess's taste. Next to detailing her own affairs, 
 Mrs. Crewe loved to hear the histories of other 
 people. Still, she made large allowance for her 
 young guests* depressing circumstances, and did 
 not doubt that after a while they would, to use 
 her own expression, ' put every confidence in her.' 
 
 Meantime, the complete change from all they 
 had been accustomed to, though far from agree- 
 able, helped both Winnie and Laura to throw off 
 the first numbness of their grief 
 
 After the Rectory, with its roomy old house 
 and numerous outbuildings, and even the Dresden 
 etage — which, if more limited, had exterior com- 
 pensations in the shape of studios, galleries, and 
 museums, where they might ramble together un-
 
 8o THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 questioned and unmolested — life seemed curiously 
 crippled and confined in Mrs. Crewe's suburban 
 semi-detached villa. 
 
 Moreover, the neat, well-kept surroundings, 
 trim gardens, and orderly white-muslin-curtained 
 windows, bright brass handles, and general uni- 
 formity of the neighbourhood, produced a sense of 
 extreme weariness on the cousins, when, after an 
 elaborate toilette, Mrs. Crewe took them for 'a 
 walk abroad.' Herbert amused himself better. 
 He rambled as far as the parks, and spent a few 
 stray pence on omnibuses, from the top of which 
 he enjoyed a bird's view of the streets. 
 
 * I wonder if every day is to be the same, Laura ?' 
 exclaimed Winnie one morning. She had been 
 standing in one of the windows of their room, gazing 
 upon without seeing the street below, and spoke 
 abruptly out of her thoughts. * I feel hopelessly 
 idle, as if I never could take to anything again ! 
 Even if I could bring myself to bear the sound of 
 music, the piano is so awfully out of tune, that it 
 would be impossible to practise. And where in 
 the world could you paint ? — there is no room here ; 
 and Mrs. Crewe is so terribly afraid of things being 
 spoiled downstairs, that I do not see how you are 
 to manage it.' 
 
 *I think I could contrive to paint here,' said 
 Laura, looking round. 
 
 ' Then there are scarcely any books in the house, 
 and the whole thing is so hopelessly commonplace ; 
 one cannot mend clothes every day and all day
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 8i 
 
 long. I do hope the Admiral will call to-day ; 
 perhaps he will take us out. Come in !' exclaimed 
 Winnie, interrupting herself, as a knock at the door 
 made itself heard ; whereupon the door opened, 
 and Mrs. Crewe, in a washed-out but scrupulously- 
 clean dressing-gown, sailed into the room, her 
 favourite cat resting on her shoulder, and a letter 
 in her hand. 
 
 ' Well, my dears ! I hope you are getting your 
 things straight. I am sure there is nothing so 
 wretched as untidiness. Here, Winnie, is a letter 
 from the dear Admiral — no mistaking his remark- 
 able writing — so clear and even.' 
 
 * Oh, thank you, Mrs. Crewe !' cried Winnie, 
 catching and opening it eagerly, while Mrs. Crewe 
 continued to talk. ' I see you are very orderly, 
 Laura. Would you like to have that large box put 
 away } I have a nice box-room upstairs.' 
 
 'Thank you, Mrs. Crewe. It is very useful to 
 keep things in.' 
 
 ' Ah ! I see. But I am going to get you another 
 large chest of drawers and a table. I am only 
 waiting for a sale which will take place in about 
 ten days, at the corner house in this road. The 
 room is bare at present,' looking round with an air 
 of dignity and candour ; ' but the notice was short, 
 and between you and me and my precious Topsy 
 here,' stroking the cat with airy jocularity, ' cash 
 was not plentiful at the moment, or I should have 
 made things nicer and prettier.' 
 
 ' But these are very nice,' said Laura quickly, 
 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 'and we shall be most comfortable with another 
 chest of drawers. Won't you sit down, Mrs. 
 Crewe ?' 
 
 ' Thank you, dear/ settling herself for a gossip. 
 ' I have never brought Topsy to see you since you 
 came,' placing the cat in her lap. ' Look, my 
 sweet ! look at Laura's room ! look at yourself in 
 the glass.' The creature deliberately jumped down 
 and began to inspect the apartment. ' It is the 
 dearest, most companionable puss in the world. 
 You will grow quite fond of her by-and-by. And 
 now, dear,' continued Mrs. Crewe, ' let me see some 
 of your German fashions. I confess I am always 
 interested in dress, especially for nice young girls 
 like yourselves.' 
 
 ' But we have brought very little with us,' returned 
 Laura. 'Winnie and I had only one mourning 
 costume each. We made up these,^ touching her 
 skirt, ' out of some black dresses we had ; German 
 fashions are only French ones grown old.' 
 
 ' Did you make those yourselves ?' asked Mrs. 
 Crewe, eyeing them critically. ' Very nicely made 
 indeed ; but, as you say, a little old-fashioned. 
 Why do you wear that black frill round your 
 throat, my dear ? How much better Miss Fielden 
 looks with a white one.' Mrs. Crewe, considering 
 Winnie a possible bird of passage, treated her with 
 a little more ceremony than Laura. 
 
 ' Oh ! because it lasts longer,' said Laura good- 
 humouredly, ' and there is no use taking too much 
 trouble about my looks.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 83 
 
 ' Not at all ; care improves everyone/ returned 
 Mrs. Crewe impressively, ' and you do not do your- 
 self justice ; you must let me ' 
 
 ' The Admiral desires his compliments to you, 
 Mrs. Crewe,' interrupted Winnie, who had come to 
 the end of her letters, for there was one enclosed. 
 ' He hopes you will allow him to come to tea, as 
 he is engaged all to-day. I have a letter, too, 
 from my aunt in Liverpool, Mrs. Morgan — and, 
 Laura, she asks me to go and stay with her ! It is 
 very kind, and — oh, I do hope I may not be 
 obliged to go ! She is quite a stranger, and then I 
 shall want heaps of things. I could not go as I 
 am!' 
 
 ' Of course, I shall be charmed to see my 
 esteemed friend. Admiral Desbarres,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe in her best tone. Then, with a little more 
 eagerness, ' Your aunt in Liverpool — who is she ?' 
 
 * Mamma's sister. I have only seen her once or 
 twice, and did not like her much ; but I dare say 
 she is very good, and I believe her husband is very 
 rich.' 
 
 ' Well, she is decidedly friendly,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe, with an air of dispassionate consideration, 
 * and you should not be too ready to reject what 
 may prove an advantageous offer, my love ! You 
 will excuse my speaking; but I can truly say I 
 feel a mother's interest in you both, not only for 
 the Admiral's sake, but for your own. And Liver- 
 pool, if inelegant, is substantial. There is no 
 knowing,' with a significant nod, ' what good luck 
 
 6—2
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 you might find there. I would not refuse if I were 
 you ; but of course you will be guided by what the 
 Admiral says. Just look at that dear Topsy ; she 
 has settled herself to sleep in the crown of your 
 hat ! she will not do it any harm, she is so gentle.* 
 
 ' Oh, never mind,' said Winnie, making a slight 
 grimace at Laura, behind the speaker. 
 
 * And now let us consult,' resumed Mrs. Crewe, 
 returning to her seat, after having stroked and 
 fondled Topsy ; ' I am, though I say it myself, an 
 excellent manager. Let us see, what would you 
 require to make a good appearance at the table 
 of these wealthy relatives ? Another dress, more 
 fashionably made and trimmed with crape. I see 
 you have none on the dresses you brought with 
 you, and crape — you^ll excuse my saying it — crape 
 is indispensable.' 
 
 ' They do not wear it in Germany, and it is so 
 dear there.' 
 
 ' Yes, yes ; but here you must have it. I dare 
 say I could manage to get you a very pretty 
 costume for four pounds.' 
 
 ' Four pounds !' echoed Winnie, in despairing 
 accents. 
 
 'And then,' continued Mrs. Crewe, evidently 
 enjoying the prospect of buying and bargaining, 
 •you might do without another hat, though you 
 ought to have one ; and — you'll not mind my 
 mentioning it ? — but you must have a pair of boots. 
 Those you brought with you are really a disgrace 
 to your feet. I never saw such things ; why, they
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 85 
 
 are half a yard square at the toes. Then, a mantle 
 and a dinner-dress — in such a house as your aunt's 
 — you must have a dinner-dress ; fortunately, in 
 mourning one does not want a variety.' 
 
 ' Oh, there is nothing fortunate about mourning,' 
 said Winnie, shaking her head. 
 
 * Then, there are gloves and ribbons and things. 
 I am sure for twelve pounds I could supply you 
 well with all necessaries,' continued Mrs. Crewe, 
 not heeding the interruption. ' Just let me see 
 what you have already : you needn't mind me, my 
 dears ; my interest in you is sincere, and God 
 knows I have seen ups and downs enough, and 
 known what it is to be almost without a gown to 
 my back' Nothing short of her intense itching 
 to handle the belongings of her young friends and 
 dive into the recesses of the big box would have 
 drawn this confession from Mrs. Crewe, who 
 piqued herself on ' keeping up appearances,' but 
 who on emergencies like the present was apt to 
 reveal the secrets of the past in bursts of over- 
 flowing confidence. A little unwillingly, yet reluc- 
 tant to seem unfriendly, Laura and Winnie sub- 
 mitted to a rigorous search — nothing escaped ; and 
 amid admiring ejaculations and high-pitched 
 queries, she managed to extract the price, history, 
 transformations, and migrations of every article 
 they possessed. ' That is a beautiful portrait of 
 your father, Laura,' she said, looking at a clever 
 sketch in water-colour of an officer. ' In his 
 uniform, too ! It would look very nice in the
 
 86 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 drawing-room, and might be a comfort to you, my 
 dear, to look at. It is a pretty frame, too.' 
 
 * Yes, it is very nice,' said Laura, quietly taking 
 it out of her hands and wrapping it up again in its 
 paper. ' Uncle Fielden said it was very like. / 
 cannot remember : Uncle and Aunt Fielden were 
 my real father and mother.' 
 
 ' And I am sure they loved you as if they were,' 
 cried Winnie, with a sudden increase of colour, 
 as if called upon to back up Laura in some way. 
 
 ' Well, dears, it is nearly one o'clock,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe, who had passed the morning entirely to her 
 satisfaction. ' I must change my dress before 
 dinner, so I shall leave you. Trust me, I shall 
 represent what you require in a proper manner to 
 the Admiral, and he will act — as he always does — 
 handsomely.' She picked up Topsy, who settled 
 on her shoulder. 
 
 * Indeed, indeed, you must do no such thing !' 
 exclaimed Winnie. ' I have no claim whatever on 
 him, I am not even his ward ; and I should never 
 dream of asking him for anything.' . 
 
 'Well, we'll see,' returned Mrs. Crewe, smiling 
 superior as she opened the door. ' Laura, my dear, 
 what does the Admiral like with his tea } I did 
 think of pressed beef, but it is scarcely enough ; a 
 little pickled salmon would be just the thing, only 
 there is no time. I am giving you a fore-quarter 
 of lamb and peas for dinner to-day, to be cold to- 
 morrow, as it is the girl's Sunday out. Some of 
 that with the beef, etc., etc'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 87 
 
 * I am sure I do not know what the Admiral 
 likes, Mrs. Crewe. I do not think he cares for 
 anything.' 
 
 ' Oh, everyone has his likings, only it takes some 
 time to find them out. Dinner will be ready in 
 about twenty minutes ;' and with a kindly patroniz- 
 ing nod, Mrs. Crewe went out and shut the door. 
 
 * I am so glad she is gone !' cried Winnie, seizing 
 Laura somewhat violently by the shoulders and 
 forcing her into a chair. ' I have been just dying 
 to show you this letter. I don't like it ; and there 
 is one part,' pressing it open against her bosom, 
 ' that might offend you as it has offended me ; it is 
 so mean. But I must talk to you about it, and you 
 will not mind — will you, my own dear old Laura ?' 
 
 ' No ; why should I mind what a stranger says ?' 
 cried Laura, a little wondering. 
 
 Kneeling at her cousin's feet and spreading the 
 letter on her lap while she took one of her hands 
 in hers, Winnie read as follows : 
 
 ' My dear Winifrid, 
 
 ' I should have written to you on your 
 father's death had you announced it your- 
 self, but it seemed to me rather negligent of 
 you to employ your cousin to convey the sad 
 intelligence. I was of course greatly shocked and 
 surprised, for though he often talked of his health, 
 we none of us believed there was much the matter 
 with him. However, you are, I am sure, too well 
 trained to repine at the Divine will ; and, knowing
 
 88 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 that your dear father has made a good exchange, 
 you must not give way to grief, which will only 
 unfit you for your work here below. Both Mr. 
 Morgan and myself are deeply grieved to hear, 
 through your good friend Admiral Desbarres, that 
 there seems to be no provision for you. It is 
 really too dreadful. If all the money your father 
 expended on your cousin had been invested, you 
 might now have a nice little sum to fall back upon. 
 I never could understand how your mother per- 
 mitted him to adopt a niece — the child, too, of a 
 marriage to which he must have been opposed for 
 every reason. However, that cannot be helped 
 now, and I am sure you^ must acknowledge that 
 you really have no claim on Mr. Morgan. As to 
 myself, I had no fortune of my own, and of course 
 I cannot take my husband's money to give to my 
 relatives ; but while you are looking about you, I 
 shall be very happy to have you with us for a few 
 months, and I dare say you will get on very \^ell 
 with my girls. I write also to Admiral Desbarres 
 enclosing this, and you will of course be guided by 
 his advice. If you accept my invitation, let me 
 know at once when we shall see you. I shall be 
 happy to pay your fare, second class, and will send 
 some one to meet you at the station. Meantime, 
 with all good wishes and kind regards, in which 
 Mr. Morgan joins, I am, 
 
 ' Your affectionate aunt, 
 
 'E. Morgan.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Winnie ceased, and a pause ensued. 
 
 ' Isn't it hateful ?' said she at last, looking a little 
 anxiously into Laura's face ; 'but you don't mind ?' 
 
 ' No,' returned Laura slowly. ' I don't mind, but 
 it is a sort of revelation to me of my uncle's great 
 goodness. He was so much like a father that I 
 scarcely thought of him as a benefactor. Oh no^ 
 Winnie, what Mrs. Morgan says does not hurt me, 
 for we have all been like real brothers and sisters ; 
 but if I ever can pay back to you and Herbert 
 what ' 
 
 She stopped, for her voice broke. 
 
 *Yes, of course. It seems quite extraordinary 
 that anyone should think of us as anything but 
 sisters. You see, I did not want to give you the 
 horrid thing to read while Mrs. Crewe was here. 
 She is awfully curious, Laura, and I really believe 
 can read what you are thinking, through the back 
 of your head, especially if it is about money or dress 
 or anything like that.' 
 
 * Still, we ought to be very thankful to be with 
 such a good-natured, kind-hearted person.' 
 
 ' Yes, I know ; and she is such fun, too. Oh, 
 Laura, I long to sail across the room and imitate 
 her with her "precious puss," only it is too unfeel- 
 ing of me to think of such things. But this letter, 
 Laura : do you think I ought to go ? Oh, I hope 
 and pray not ! Fancy staying with such a woman 
 as Mrs. Morgan must be !' 
 
 ' It would be dreadful. We will hear what the 
 Admiral says to-night. And, Winnie, what are we
 
 90 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 to do ? We cannot go on living like this ; we must 
 try and help ourselves. Might we not teach ? / 
 can paint, and you can play. If we could only live 
 here together and work, it would not be so bad.' 
 
 * Ah, yes ! Yet, how cruel it is to think that the 
 dear father is lying in Dresden alone ; he that we 
 used to take such care of! It seems as if we had 
 nothing to do now.' 
 
 Laura did not speak, but two big tears welled 
 over, and slowly coursed down her cheeks. ' What 
 is to become of Herbert, too ?' she resumed. *I know 
 the Admiral is trying to get him into some school, 
 but how can we get him clothes, and railway fares, 
 and oh, all sorts of things ? I almost wish the dear 
 Admiral would tell us a little what he intends to do. 
 But I don't like even to think so.' 
 
 ' Why not ?' said Winnie, a little rebelliously; and 
 rising from her lowly position, she walked to the 
 looking-glass. ' I know he is an angel of a man, and 
 I love him. What beautiful eyes he has, Laura ! 
 still, he is not us ; he can't know exactly what we 
 want.' 
 
 * He thinks he knows what is good for us a great 
 deal better than we do, but somehow there is some- 
 thing slavish in folding one's hands and letting 
 one's life glide into another's grasp.' 
 
 ^ That's just what I think, Laura, only I cannot 
 say it like you. However, we are bound to do what 
 the Admiral desires, at any rate for the present- 
 How much money have you, dear ?' 
 
 ' Four marks eighty-five pfennige. I suppose we
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 91 
 
 can get them changed into English money ; then, 
 Winnie, my quarter will be due in about a fortnight; 
 that will be nine pounds and some shillings.' 
 
 ' And we shall have no one to spend it on but our- 
 selves now !' sighed Winnie, with unhesitating ap- 
 propriation — a retrospective acknowledgment which 
 spoke volumes. 
 
 ' No one, indeed !' echoed Laura. 
 
 A heavy thump at the door. ' Please come down 
 to dinner,' said Collins outside. It was the voice of 
 one weeping, and Winnie, who had been gazing at 
 herself in the glass, and carefully arranging a bow 
 of black ribbon and an old-fashioned jet brooch 
 which fastened the white frill Mrs. Crewe approved 
 of, turned half around. ' Thank you,' she said, ' we 
 will come directly ;' adding in a subdued tone, with 
 a low sweet laugh, 'Collins has been coming through 
 the fire of tribulation, I imagine ; I don't think she 
 has a very easy time of it. Are you ready, Laura ?' 
 
 ' In a moment, Winnie ; and do shut up your 
 writing-things and those letters. You never put 
 anything back in its place/ 
 
 ' Ah ! I fear you will never get me into training ; 
 but then, Laura, I can put on my clothes and do 
 my hair better than you do.' 
 
 ' I know that,' returned Laura, with a slight in- 
 voluntary sigh ; ' but come, we must not keep Mrs. 
 Crewe waiting.' 
 
 It was a genuine delight to that lady to place the 
 best of everything within her means before her young 
 guests, to load their plates, to press them to eat
 
 92 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 and it was a real disappointment when they failed 
 to consume what she provided. 
 
 Her enthusiastic appreciation of Winnie's good 
 looks and pleasant manners knew no bounds. 
 Laura she summed up as a nice good girl, ' a little 
 cold and reserved perhaps, but will no doubt im- 
 prove on acquaintance.' Such, at least, was her 
 description of that young lady in a short confiden- 
 tial interview with her next-door neighbour. Miss 
 Brown ; for Mrs. Crewe found her time fully occu- 
 pied, while the speed at which Collins galloped up 
 and down and to and fro, under the energetic spur 
 of her mistress's exhortations, was almost alarming. 
 * How the poor creature escapes a broken neck is a 
 miracle,' was Winnie's comment. 
 
 'Your brother has not come in yet,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe, as the two girls entered the little dining-room. 
 ' It is really too bad. He will not get his dinner 
 comfortably. A fore-quarter of lamb cannot be 
 played tricks with ; it must be done to a turn and 
 served at the right moment. I will cut off his 
 dinner. Collins will keep it hot for him ; and, 
 Collins, bring me my precious Topsy's plate. 
 Collins !' in a tone of righteous wrath, ' how dare 
 you appear to wait at table in such an apron ! It 
 would be intolerable even were I alone, but before 
 these young ladies it is positively insulting! Go, my 
 girl — go, go, go ! There, I will pass the plates ; but 
 put on a clean apron before you appear in my 
 sight.' 
 
 ' Please 'm/ sobbed Collins, retiring overwhelmed,
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 93 
 
 ' the laundress she have lost two of my best, and I 
 hain't got another.' 
 
 * Now, don't answer me, Collins ; it is a thing I 
 cannot and will not endure. I shall speak to you 
 afterwards. Ridiculous creature ! she begins to 
 cry if I look at her. Laura, my love, let me send 
 you this nice little rib. We will keep the shoulder 
 for this evening. Dear, dear ! that girl has never 
 left a dish for it ! Would you mind passing me 
 that hand-bell, the regular bell is always break- 
 ing.' 
 
 ' Let me go and tell her what you want,' said 
 Laura good-naturedly, and rising from her seat ; *it 
 will save her a journey upstairs.' 
 
 * No, no ! pray do not trouble yourself, my dear ; 
 you really will spoil her, and I am sure I do not 
 know what you will think of my menage P 
 
 ' You need not trouble about that,' said Winnie, 
 smiling, as Laura left the room. * The kitchen and 
 the dining-room doors were exactly opposite each 
 other in Dresden, and we often helped to bring in 
 the dinner.' 
 
 ' Dear me ! is it possible ?' said Mrs. Crewe, who 
 was anxiously struggling to separate the short bones 
 without splashing gravy on the cloth ; then, after 
 success had attended her efforts, sitting down with 
 a slight sigh, ' How many servants did you keep, 
 my love ? Thank you, Laura ; do sit down and eat 
 something. Is that girl coming? Oh, here, Collins!' 
 as the afflicted slavey, still drowned in tears, her 
 offending apron turned back in three-cornered
 
 94 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 fashion, appeared ; ' come, come, hold the dish 
 nearer ! There, put that in the larder directly, 
 Collins ! on the left-hand shelf, mind. Take some 
 mint sauce, Winnie — I really cannot call you Miss 
 Fielden.' 
 
 ' Pray do not,' returned the young lady. 
 
 'But you did not tell me,' persisted Mrs. Crewe, 
 when the next break in her hospitable cares per- 
 mitted — ' you did not tell me how many servants 
 you kept' 
 
 ' Only one,' said Winnie. 
 
 ' And you were four in family, and saw company, 
 you say ? It must have been a tight fit ! But 
 then, no doubt, German servants are very different 
 from the conceited young ladies zve have to contend 
 with ; who think themselves as fine as their mis- 
 tresses, and do not like to soil their hands !' 
 
 'They are troublesome in Germany too,"* said 
 Laura; 'they can work very hard, and would just as 
 soon scrub the floors at seven o'clock in the evening 
 as at any time, but they have no notion of method ; 
 you have to direct them perpetually.' 
 
 ' Still, to live in the style you did with only one 
 servant was wonderful management !' 
 
 'We did not live in any style,' cried Winnie, 
 laughing, and then added with a sigh : ' But we 
 were very, very happy !' and for a few minutes 
 silence ensued. Then Mrs. Crewe observed : 
 
 ' Ah ! yes, young people like variety. There!' in- 
 terrupting herself, as the sound of the door-bell 
 reached them — * there is Herbert !'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 95 
 
 'I will let him in,' said Winnie, jumping up and 
 hurrying away. 
 
 * I declare you are the most obliging young crea- 
 ture I ever met,' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe, while she 
 rang the hand-bell vehemently, thereby evoking 
 the presence of Collins, who came in nearly head- 
 foremost. * There, there, Collins, bring a hot plate 
 for Master Herbert ; I will cut his dinner for him, 
 then you can take away the lamb, and bring the 
 tart. — Well, Mr. Herbert, where have you been ?' 
 
 ' I am very sorry to be so late, Mrs. Crewe, but I 
 strolled away as far as St. James's, and saw the 
 guard mounted ; then I fell in with a German 
 nurse, as I came back through Kensington Gar- 
 dens ; she was looking for one of the children who 
 had strayed away, and she could not speak a word 
 of English ; so I stopped and helped her. Thanks, 
 Mrs. Crewe, that's a tremendous plateful, but I am 
 awfully hungry.' 
 
 Then Mrs. Crewe attacked the tart, a delicious 
 lightly browned flaky-looking tart, and distributed 
 large helpings, finally exclaiming in a severe tone, 
 ' Collins ! bring me a plate, Collins ! There,' she 
 continued, heaping up a liberal supply — ' there, eat 
 that yourself, and never let me see such an apron 
 again !' Exit Collins, overpowered, but con- 
 soled. 
 
 ' They never can say that they are not well fed 
 here,' added Mrs. Crewe defiantly : 'they ^ meaning 
 generally the succession of domestics who had 
 toiled in her service. ' And now, my dears, what
 
 96 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 are you going to do this afternoon ? Would you 
 like to go out ?' 
 
 ' I do not want to go out,' said Winnie sadly. 
 
 *Nor I,' added Laura. 
 
 ' And it is broiling hot !' said Herbert. 
 
 * Then,' said Mrs. Crewe cheerfully, ' let us have 
 a nice quiet afternoon, working and talking. I 
 suppose you young ladies have some elegant fancy- 
 work on hand ; / am reduced to darn my stock- 
 ings — a work I detest.' 
 
 ' If I might bring down my paint-box and 
 things,' said Laura with hesitation, ' I could finish 
 a note-book I have been doing for my guardian.' 
 
 ' Certainly !^ cried Mrs. Crewe with great readi- 
 ness. ' I adore everything artistic' 
 
 ' And if you like^ I will help you to darn your 
 stockings,' said Winnie, leaning a little towards her 
 hostess in the half-caressing manner peculiar to 
 her ; ' for I have no work of my own.' 
 
 ' You are really a darling !' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Crewe. *We will have dinner cleared away as 
 soon as Herbert has finished, and settle ourselves 
 here, because (I did not mean to tell you, but I 
 cannot keep it) I expect the tuner this afternoon ; 
 the instrument is a good one, but terribly 
 neglected.' 
 
 ' Oh, that will be delightful !' cried Winnie. ' I 
 long to play, and yet I dread to hear the sound of 
 the airs — the music my father used to love !' 
 
 ' Very natural indeed,' said Mrs. Crewe. * But 
 you must endeavour, my love, to conquer these
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 97 
 
 vain regrets. — Collins ! Come and take away ! 
 Collins ! She does not hear me ' — an hysterical 
 fantasia on the bell. 
 
 ' I do not think I have shown you my son's 
 photograph/ said Mrs. Crewe, after Laura had 
 settled her painting materials and recommenced 
 the half-finished group of wild-flowers on pale 
 grey Russia leather which she designed for her 
 guardian, and Winnie, with a basketful of stock- 
 ings, had established herself on the sofa. Mrs. 
 Crewe had drawn a stocking on one hand, and then 
 permitted it to repose on her lap. ' I do not think 
 I have shown you my son's photograph.' 
 
 ' Yes. Do you not remember the day before 
 yesterday, when you took us into our room ?' said 
 Laura. 
 
 ' Oh, that one !' in a disparaging tone. ' I mean 
 the last, a coloured one, cabinet size. He gave it 
 to me just before he went away. I will bring it ;' 
 and she left the room for a minute, returning with 
 a morocco case in her hand, which she opened and 
 handed to Winnie. 
 
 ' Is he not a handsome fellow ? He has such fine 
 eyes ; and see, what a broad intellectual brow ! He 
 is, though / say it, wonderfully clever, and so 
 naturally refined ; while his devotion to me is some- 
 thing too sweet ! Is it not a charming face ?' 
 
 * Very nice indeed,' said Winnie kindly, looking 
 at it for a moment and passing it on to Laura, 
 while Mrs. Crewe took up her stocking again and 
 stuck her needle into it. 
 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 98 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Laura took the portrait and gazed at it with 
 some interest. It represented a man of perhaps 
 thirty, with certainly a broad forehead, which 
 seemed low from the mass of black hair that fell 
 over it ; dark, well-assured, somewhat wistful eyes ; 
 and the rest of the features large and strong rather 
 than refined ; the embrowned countenance grave, 
 almost stern. ' It is a resolute face, yet I should 
 not be afraid of it,' said Laura thoughtfully, as she 
 continued to look at the picture. 
 
 ' Afraid !' echoed Mrs. Crewe. ' I should think 
 not ! He is the gentlest, quietest creature in a 
 house.' 
 
 ' Let me see,' asked Herbert, who was looking 
 for a book among a few volumes of novels, travels, 
 and essays which filled a bookcase between the 
 windows. ' I would not like to vex him/ was the 
 boy's comment. ' He looks like a fellow that could 
 give you a thrashing if you deserved it. Is he in 
 the Navy, Mrs. Crewe ?'" for something like a button 
 and gold braid adorned his collar. 
 
 ' No, I am sorry to say he is not,' sighed Mrs. 
 Crewe, taking the photograph and looking long 
 and earnestly at it. ' It has always been a 
 mortification to me that he could not follow his 
 father's profession. Captain Crewe was in the 
 Royal Navy, you know. But he died when my 
 dear boy was just old enough to want a great deal 
 more in the way of education than / could %\v^ 
 him ; and then a kind friend got him a berth on 
 board one of Duncan and Gibbs' ships — which it
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 99 
 
 would have been a clear tempting of Providence to 
 refuse — and so he went into the Mercantile Marine ; 
 but it was a bitter trial : though what the Mercan- 
 tile Marine is to the country no words of mine can 
 express, yet the officers do not take the position 
 they ought. — Don't take so much trouble over that 
 stocking, dear ; it really is not worth it. The way 
 they destroy things in the wash is abominable. 
 But as I was saying, I could not give Denzil — his 
 name is Arthur Charles Francis Denzil, after my 
 mother's grandfather, Lord Denzil of Coomb ; and 
 that is a thing that annoys me — the other officers 
 in Duncan and Gibbs' service are not well bred. 
 When they come up here to see my son, it is 
 Denny here and Denny there, as if he was any low 
 Irishman. Dennis is quite a common name among 
 the Irish.' 
 
 ' Indeed !^ said Winnie, examining another stock- 
 ing. 
 
 Herbert took ' Ivanhoe ' from its place, and went 
 away to read in the garden. There was a pause, 
 during which CoUins put in her head. 
 
 ' Please, 'm,' she said, ' there's a gentleman called 
 as wants to repair the piano.' 
 
 ' A gentleman !' repeated Mrs. Crewe with strong 
 emphasis, as she rose with dignity, clearing her lap 
 of cotton, scissors, etc., etc. * When will you learn 
 to speak correctly ? Gentlemen don't go about 
 with bags to tune pianos.' 
 
 ' Anyways, 'm, he has a tail-coat and a top-hat.' 
 
 ' That does not constitute a gentleman,' said Mrs. 
 
 7—2
 
 loo THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Crewe, sailing out of the room. ' There, Collins, 
 do not answer, but go fetch a duster and a damp 
 rag. Make haste, Collins ! make haste !' 
 
 * Oh, Laura, is she not fun ?' whispered Winnie. 
 * We are in for a chapter of Denny. He is very 
 good, I dare say, but he looks like a smuggler — a 
 sort of amiable Dirk Hatteraick.' 
 
 * I like his face,' said Laura thoughtfully, leaning 
 back to look sideways at her last touches, * and he 
 must be a good son to be so loved.' 
 
 Winnie made no reply^ and darned in silence 
 for some minutes. 
 
 ' I do wonder what my fate will be,' she said at 
 length. * I long, yet dread, to hear what Admiral 
 Desbarres will say.' 
 
 ^ I do not think he will want you to go to Liver- 
 pool,' returned Laura. 
 
 ' I am afraid to hope so.' 
 
 Re-enter Mrs. Crewe. Discordant sounds from 
 the next room. 
 
 ' Now, my dears, we shall have a little music of 
 an evening,' said Mrs. Crewe, resuming her seat. 
 *I delight in music. I used to play myself, but 
 my dear father, who commanded the 5th Native 
 Regiment for many years, and was a very distin- 
 guished officer, always said my ear was too correct ; 
 I had not patience to practise. However, I am 
 longing to hear you play, Winnie ! What were we 
 talking of? — oh, Denzil. Yes, as I was saying, it 
 was not in my power to give him those advantages 
 which he deserved ; but he is quite a book-worm.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, loi 
 
 Those are all his books there. He was always 
 fond of improving himself I remember when he 
 had the measles — he had measles very severely 
 when he was about six years old. My sister and I 
 — she came to help me nurse him, like a kind, good 
 creature as she^was, and married a naval chaplain 
 afterwards, who turned missionary, and after preach- 
 ing the Gospel in many climes he was killed (and 
 they say eaten) in the interior of Africa or some 
 such place. Well, I assure^you that dear boy made 
 us read " Little Arthur's History of England " 
 quite through five times.J^ I have never forgotten 
 it. I have had a good idea of English history 
 ever since : Alfred burning the cakes, you know ; 
 and Canute with the waves ; and the citizens of 
 Calais — though that is not English history exactly 
 — and Richard the Third, and those poor little 
 princes — horrid greedy wretch ! — and Ratimer and 
 Lidley — I mean Latimer and Ridley — and all the 
 rest of it. Oh, he was most persevering !' 
 
 ' He must have been rather cruel to put you five 
 times through that horrid little book/ said Winnie, 
 smiling ; ' I should never have had patience to read 
 it over and over.' 
 
 ' Oh yes, you would,' said Mrs. Crewe with un- 
 conscious pathos, ' if you had such a dear, brave, 
 patient boy, and as little to do with and amuse him 
 as I had. Those were trying times, my loves ! 
 such as I trust you will never know ; but I hope I 
 never forgot, all through the worst of them, that I 
 was the daughter and the wife of British officers,
 
 I02 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 and tried to keep up the appearance of a gentle- 
 woman.' 
 
 ' I am sure you did,' said Laura kindly ; ' and I 
 know how hard it is to keep up appearances. I 
 am afraid it is rather waste of energy to do so.' 
 
 * No, that it is not,' returned Mrs. Crewe warmly. 
 
 ' It just gives strength and courage to feel that 
 you are holding your place where God put you, in 
 spite of difficulties. I am conservative and aristo- 
 cratic in my principles, and I have always managed 
 with these principles to keep out of debt.' 
 
 ' I am sure some of the most charming aristo- 
 cratic English people we met in Germany were so 
 deeply in debt that they could not return to 
 England,' said Winnie, laughing. 
 
 ' Theirs was not true aristocracy,' returned Mrs. 
 Crewe loftily. 'But with these views you can 
 imagine how bitterly I felt putting a son of mine 
 into the Merchant Service ; but he seems very 
 happy, and is getting on very well. He was pro- 
 moted to be chief officer the voyage before this 
 one, and I hope he will soon be captain. I rather 
 expect him home in a month or six weeks. He 
 has not had a very long voyage this time, only to 
 the Cape with cargo and passengers. Ah ! he will 
 be pleased to find I have two charming girls to 
 keep me company, for he was not at all satisfied 
 when he left because I had taken a young man to 
 board — a very respectable young man, who is one 
 of Thurston and Trent's clerks — the Admiral's 
 solicitors, you know; but he grew unsteady and
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 103 
 
 irregular in his payments ; then he wanted to bring 
 in friends to supper ! He even took liberties, and 
 tried to call my son " Denny," which of course was 
 out of the question — Denzil soon settled that. At 
 last he borrowed small sums, and gave notice ; but 
 I have never seen him or any money since.' 
 
 ' That is too bad,' remarked Laura sympathetic- 
 ally. 
 
 ' Oh, I fancy he will pay me yet ; I do not think 
 he was bad-hearted — only thoughtless and — not a 
 gentleman,' etc., etc. ; and for a whole afternoon 
 Mrs. Crewe talked and questioned and exclaimed in 
 the largest capitals. She would not have had the 
 talk all to herself, however, had not Winnie been a 
 good deal occupied by conjectures as to what the 
 Admiral would say on the momentous question of 
 accepting her aunt's unattractive invitation. What- 
 ever his decision, she felt she must be guided by it. 
 His benevolence, her own helplessness, forbade her 
 liberty of action ; yet she shrank from the plunge 
 into strange waters, and prayed to be delivered 
 from coming in contact with her unknown relatives. 
 * -x- * * * 
 
 ' I wish, dear,' said Mrs. Crewe to Laura a few 
 hours later, ' that you would just look at the table, 
 and tell me if it is all right. I never attempted to 
 entertain the Admiral before, and I do not know his 
 tastes.' 
 
 ' Nor do I,' returned Laura, ' I have never seen 
 much of him till lately, since my dear uncle's death, 
 and then he generally dined at the hotel. I think
 
 104 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 his tastes are very simple, and everything is very 
 nice, Mrs. Crewe. Admiral Desbarres is a man for 
 whom one would never put on fine things, or make 
 a display: but indeed I hardly know him ; he came 
 but rarely to the Rectory, and I wrote to him about 
 three times a year. I do not know how it is, though 
 I love and revere him, I am not quite at ease in his 
 presence.' 
 
 ' I know/ said Mrs. Crewe, nodding her head 
 sagaciously; ' I feel the same as if I were in church, 
 and had my best bonnet on, and must not think 
 profane thoughts. But how kind and generous 
 he is !^ 
 
 ' Still, Laura, though he is so superior,' put in 
 Winnie, ' I fancy he likes people to look nice ; and 
 I wish you would wear one of my white frills — it 
 would be such an improvement.' 
 
 'Very well, Winnie,^ replied Laura carelessly. 
 The result of which assent was that Winnie took 
 charge of her cousin^s toilette, much to the improve- 
 ment of her personal appearance. 
 
 The Admiral was a little late, for which he made 
 a careful and distinct apology. He had been issuing 
 from his hotel, when a young man — ' your relative, 
 Laura, Mr. Reginald Piers — came in, and I could do 
 no more than turn back with him, as his visit was 
 an entirely gratuitous act of civility. I trust there- 
 fore, Mrs. Crewe, you will see that my want of 
 punctuality was unavoidable. I told Mr. Piers after 
 a few minutes that I was due here at seven-thirty, 
 and he at once released me.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 105 
 
 *Pray do not mention it, Admiral; tea is not like 
 dinner, and we are all well pleased to wait for 
 you' 
 
 But the Admiral's presence acted in a marvellous 
 way upon the bubbling flow of Mrs. Crewe's talk, 
 and the evening meal was more silent and quickly 
 despatched than usual. 
 
 After the third cup had been universally de- 
 clined, though the hostess assured them that there 
 was still excellent tea in the teapot, Admiral 
 Desbarres said very deliberately, ' Will you permit 
 me to go into the next room with Laura and 
 Winnie ? I have some matters to speak about, the 
 result of which I shall communicate to you after- 
 wards.' 
 
 * Certainly, my dear sir ! certainly !' replied Mrs. 
 Crewe blandly, although disappointed at not being 
 included in the privy council. ' I shall be waiting 
 here whenever you want me.' 
 
 So Laura rose, and led the way into the drawing- 
 room, which was Mrs. Crewe's most sacred shrine, 
 and, though not too abundantly furnished, was 
 cheerful and pretty, and sweet with mignonette 
 and wallflowers. 
 
 The Admiral sat down on the sofa, Laura on a 
 low chair opposite, and Winnie, after a moment's 
 hesitation, said with a smile and a blush, ' May I 
 sit by you?' The Admiral immediately held out 
 his hand, and Winnie nestled to his side with her 
 naturally caressing manner. 'We have several 
 matters to discuss,' said the Admiral, after a pause;
 
 io6 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 'your affairs, my dear Winifrid, are the most press- 
 ing. You have had a letter from your aunt ? and 
 as I have for the present taken the place of your 
 guardian and nearest friend, I feel justified in asking 
 to see it.' 
 
 ' Yes, of course,' cried Winnie, rising to go 
 and find it. ' I intended to show it to you ; I am 
 sure you will think it anything but kind ;' and she 
 went quickly away. 
 
 ' She is a loving gentle child,' said the Admiral, 
 looking after her kindly, ' but has all the hasty pre- 
 judice natural to youth. You, Laura, seem gifted 
 with better and calmer judgment ; you must assist 
 me in guiding this impatient spirit' 
 
 ' Winnie is very bright,' said Laura in her usual 
 low but clear refined voice, 'and has a good deal of 
 natural insight ; the letter is rather harsh.' 
 
 ' I must read it myself and judge,' he replied, and 
 kept silent till Winnie returned and placed it in his 
 hands, watching him with undisguised anxiety 
 while he slowly perused it. 
 
 The Admiral still kept silence, even after he had 
 finished and returned the epistle to its envelope. 
 ' It is deficient in kindliness of tone,' he said at 
 length ; ' nevertheless, it is kind in reality. Your 
 mother's sister offers you the shelter of her home, 
 and for every reason it would be well to accept it !' 
 
 Winnie's eyes filled up, and she shook her head. 
 
 ' Reflect,' resumed the Admiral, ' she is your 
 nearest of kin ; you have a certain claim on her, 
 and she on you ; she is disposed to befriend you.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 107 
 
 If you reject her advance, you perhaps deprive 
 yourself of a natural ally ; if you go to her, you are 
 very likely to touch her heart and convert her into 
 a valuable friend. It is worth while to try your 
 chance with these unknown relatives.' 
 
 Another pause, during which two big tears rolled 
 down Winnie's cheeks. 
 
 'It may be painful/ continued the general 
 benefactor, *but I am sure you must agree with 
 me. I too have had a letter from Mrs. Morgan, 
 somewhat in the same strain : she suggests what 
 you have yourself thought of — that your education, 
 your familiarity with foreign tongues, ought to be a 
 means of support. She is probably right ; but, my 
 child, you are so young, so inexperienced, that I 
 rather shrink from the idea of your going among 
 strangers.' 
 
 ' I am sure I would prefer real strangers 1' ejacu- 
 lated Winnie. 
 
 ' Besides,' continued the Admiral, not heeding 
 the interruption, ' I have a strong prejudice — I 
 should rather say conviction — against women going 
 forth to battle with the world ; it is opposed to the 
 Divine will, so far as we can trace it in natural 
 laws. They have plenty of work, most useful 
 work, placed before them ; but let it be in private, 
 and under the shelter of sufficient protection.' 
 
 * Yet it is disgraceful to women, as v/ell as to 
 men, to live on the bounty of others,' said Laura. 
 
 ' Not so much,' he returned. ' You have rights, 
 which no man of proper feeling can deny.'
 
 io8 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 ' At all events, you think I ought to go to Liver- 
 pool?' said Winnie ruefully. *I hoped I might 
 stay here, and perhaps Laura and I could get 
 pupils ; or she might sell her pictures or copies, and 
 I might translate things : for Mrs. Crewe is so kind, 
 we feel quite at home with her, and both Laura 
 and I are ' — hesitation and blushes — ' are ashamed 
 of costing you so much.' 
 
 A tender smile spread over the Admiral's 
 thoughtful face. ' You need not think of that ; you 
 are two fledgelings God has given me to shelter. 
 Laura is really and legally my charge ; while you, 
 Winifrid, are just as welcome to my care and 
 help ; but I do not feel justified in withdrawing 
 you from your relatives and natural protectors ; 
 they may be able to do more for you than I can. 
 Therefore, while we try to ascertain if anything 
 can be secured for you from the wreck of your 
 poor father^s property, or otherwise arrange your 
 future, you had better accept your aunt's invita- 
 tion.' 
 
 * It will be terrible to part,' urged Laura. 
 
 ' But we must,' added Winnie despairingly. 
 
 * It is not for ever,' said the Admiral with his 
 kindest smile. ' I would not be harsh with you, 
 Winifrid. If upon trial you find yourself unkindly 
 treated, or that you fail in creating the tender 
 motherly interest which blesses both giver and 
 receiver, tell me frankly, and I will remove you ; 
 but you must give your aunt and her family a fair 
 trial.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 109 
 
 ' Oh, thank you, dear, dear Admiral !' cried 
 Winnie, fairly bursting into tears ; ' that is a gleam 
 of hope, and I will do whatever you wish — what- 
 ever you wish !' 
 
 * All will be well if you are patient and faithful/ 
 said the Admiral, taking her hand in both of his, 
 which was his nearest approach to a caress. He 
 was a self-sacrificing, self-controlled man, who 
 scarce allowed himself to taste the honey of his 
 own beneficence. ' And now that we have dis- 
 cussed these letters, which it would have been 
 unfair to display to strange eyes, suppose you ask 
 Mrs. Crewe to join us ; I want to ask her if she 
 can keep Herbert for the present. The holidays 
 are at hand, and as his English is somewhat 
 deficient, it would be well if some private lessons 
 could be obtained for him.' 
 
 Need it be said with what grace and dignity 
 Mrs. Crewe added herself to the 'friends in 
 council ' ? but she was penetrated with regret at 
 the idea of losing Miss Fielden ; she had already 
 begun to feel a mother's interest in her charming 
 young friend. As to Herbert, the dear boy should 
 be well looked after, and she thought her friend 
 next door, Miss Brown, knew one of the masters of 
 a large school close by, who often remained during 
 the holidays, and might be glad to give English 
 lessons. Really, Miss Fielden's departure would be 
 quite a blow. When must she leave them ? Next 
 week ! was not that rather quick ? She (Mrs. 
 Crewe) believed there were certain indispensable
 
 no THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 additions to dear Winifrid's toilette that must be 
 provided. 
 
 ' Indeed !' said the Admiral with sudden atten- 
 tion. * Be so good as to let me know what money 
 is requisite, and I will endeavour to supply it' 
 
 ' You know, my dear guardian, that there will be 
 a little money of mine coming soon,' murmured 
 Laura. * I shall stay here ; I shall not want any- 
 thing.' 
 
 ' My dear, I require that you leave your affairs 
 in my hands for the present,' said the Admiral with 
 authority. 
 
 And then Mrs. Crewe launched forth in voluble 
 particulars as to what was necessary for her 
 charming young friend, till the worthy gentleman, 
 bewildered by a torrent of terms he could not 
 understand, mildly demanded a sum-total. This, 
 after some contention, between the excess of Mrs. 
 Crewe's computation and the more modest estimate 
 of the young ladies, was finally adjusted : and then 
 the Admiral was pressed to partake of wine and 
 biscuit, and even a glass of ' grog ;' Mrs. Crewe 
 blandly observing that she understood a sailor's 
 tastes, while Laura and Winnie stood aghast at the 
 sacrilege of offering such a beverage to their exalted 
 'guardian angel.' 
 
 ' Thank you, no,' said the Admiral, smiling. ' In 
 early days I enjoyed my glass as heartily as most 
 men, but this quiet sheltered life does not entitle 
 me to such strong stimulants. I rarely taste spirits, 
 and never touch anything after my evening meal.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 I had almost forgotten to mention, Mrs. Crewe, 
 that my young acquaintance, Mr. Reginald Piers, 
 requests permission to call upon you and his 
 relative Laura, whom he used to know before she 
 went to Germany.' 
 
 'Oh ! of course, Admiral; any friend of yours will 
 be most welcome.' 
 
 ' Reginald Piers !' repeated Laura, the colour 
 slowly, faintly coming to her cheek. 
 
 ' Reginald Piers !' cried Winnie. ' I remember he 
 used to be such a tease. Oh, I shall be so glad to 
 see him !' 
 
 A few words of leave-taking, and the Admiral 
 was gone. 
 
 * There was never such a charming, well-bred, 
 true Christian,' said Mrs. Crewe, as she replaced the 
 bottles she had hospitably set forth on the side- 
 board. ' But I wish you were not to go away, 
 Winnie ; you must try and come back as soon as 
 you can. And who is Mr. Reginald Piers, my 
 dears ? Is he a first cousin, Laura ?' 
 
 * Oh no ! third or fourth — I do not know exactly. 
 He was at school with Dick — Winnie's eldest 
 brother — and used often to spend the holidays 
 with us.' 
 
 ' He is very nice — or he used to be very nice,' 
 added Winnie. ' He is older than Dick, and very 
 clever, I believe. The last time he was at Ched- 
 dington he had just gone into some business or 
 office in London. I wonder how the Admiral met 
 him } But if you do not mind, Mrs. Crewe, I will go
 
 112 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 to bed ; I feel quite lieart-broken at the idea of 
 going to this strange aunt. I cannot tell you how 
 I dread it' 
 
 ' Well, we must only hope it will turn out for the 
 best,' said Mrs. Crewe kindly, as she bid her young 
 guests good-night ; and as t-hey ascended to their 
 chan:iber, they heard her calling sonorously, 'Collins 
 — Collins ! where is Topsy } I have not seen her 
 the whole evening. I cannot go to bed unless that 
 precious cat is safe.' 
 
 Arrived in their own quarters, poor Winnie quite 
 broke down; she hung round Laura ; she conjured 
 up the most painful pictures of her own desolation 
 Vv^hen banished far from all she loved ; she refused 
 to be comforted, and when at last Laura persuaded 
 her to go to bed, sobbed herself to sleep like a 
 weary, disappointed child. 
 
 Then Laura drew forth her writing-case, and sat 
 down to make a few entries in her journal, which 
 was a kind of confidant and companion to her, and 
 though very still and quiet, large tears welled up 
 and dropped upon the page ; while she looked long 
 and tenderly at the flushed cheek and parted lips of 
 the sleeper, whose breath even yet quivered with 
 the violence of her past emotion ; and then from 
 out of her few treasures she took a case of photo- 
 graphs, and gazed at the well-known, well-loved 
 faces of the aunt and uncle who had been as 
 parents to her. Finally, she dwelt long upon the 
 portrait of a young man — a bright bold face with 
 the suspicion of a mischievous smile — a face that
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 113 
 
 satisfied her ideal of manliness, intelligence, refine- 
 ment; and while she gazed, she lived over again 
 many a ramble through wood and field, many a 
 joyous game of noisy play, many an eager argu- 
 ment, many a quieter talk when the boy's dawn- 
 ing ambition suggested air castles, to which she 
 listened with delighted interest; and nearer memo- 
 ries still recalled the last weeks they had spent 
 together, which from some hidden cause had been 
 imbued with such strange sweetness — sweetness her 
 heart ached to remember ; and then all was dark 
 and dreary. Reginald Piers passed out of her life 
 into the world of reality beyond her ken ; change, 
 and sorrow, and separation came, and she saw him 
 no more. But he was coming! — coming of his own 
 free will and unconstrained kindness ! What joy 
 to listen to that pleasant voice, to see those bright 
 laughing eyes once more ; if only — ^only she were 
 not so plain and colourless, so little gifted with 
 grace or loveliness ! Oh for even a shadow of 
 Winnie's beauty ! — that beauty which her artistic 
 soul loved and admired with a generous appreciative 
 love. 
 
 ' How weak, and foolish, and contemptible I am,' 
 she murmured at last, hastily closing up the case, 
 ' to waste my heart in such fruitless longings ! Let 
 me grasp what gifts I have, and make the most of 
 them. Friendship is worth something ; and at 
 least it rests with myself to be like the king's 
 daughter, " all glorious within." ' 
 
 VOL. I. 8"
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 m UNCHEON was over in the temporary 
 dwelling of Sir Gilbert Jervois, one 
 warm rainy afternoon at the end of 
 May, more than a month after the 
 death of Mr. Fielden and the accession of Reginald 
 Piers to the family estate. 
 
 ' Is Sir Gilbert at home ?' asked that gentleman, 
 as the only man-servant the Baronet deemed 
 necessary to his town establishment opened the 
 door. 
 
 ' No, sir ; Sir Gilbert started this morning for 
 Paris, but my lady is in the drawing-room.' 
 
 She was not there, however, when Reginald was 
 shown in, nor did she join him for some minutes. 
 These he employed, first in staring out of the 
 window, evidently not seeing what he was looking 
 at, and then in turning over some books which lay 
 upon the table, till his attention was arrested by a 
 volume of Byron, in faded but once gorgeous bind- 
 ing ; when the sombre, almost savage expression of
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 115 
 
 his countenance gave place to a half-mocking, half- 
 kindly smile, as he opened it and read on the fly- 
 leaf, ' To H. G. R, from her attached A. P.' 
 
 That book ! he had known it all his life ; it had 
 always been one of the ornaments on his mother's 
 table in the dimly remembered time when he could 
 just recall his father, a querulous troublesome in- 
 valid, the family Juggernaut, beneath the castors of 
 whose chair were prostrated metaphorically wife 
 and children, but to chance visitors a charming 
 high-bred man of the world, such a delightful com- 
 panion. 
 
 Algernon Piers had been for a good many years 
 attache to a small legation at a small German 
 Court, and even in this simple society of homely 
 highnesses he contrived to amass a tolerable amount 
 of debt. These encumbrances had reached incon- 
 venient dimensions when a family of wandering 
 English visited the picturesque little town of Stolz- 
 stadt. The agreeable attache soon became indis- 
 pensable to the visitors, and ended by fascinating 
 the wealthy orphan niece of the leader of the expe- 
 dition, a good-natured inert ex-militaire, who, as 
 the young lady was of age, wisely offered no 
 opposition, and the course of true love in this 
 instance ran exceedingly smooth. 
 
 But the smoothness of Mr. and Mrs. Algernon 
 Piers's after-life was of a fatal slippery kind. In- 
 dolent, self-indulgent, unsuspecting, ignorant of the 
 value of money, whenever any unpleasant pressure 
 pinched them, money was raised, or stock sold, till, 
 
 8—2
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 when her husband was overtaken by his last illness, 
 Mrs. Piers awoke to find herself almost reduced to 
 poverty. 
 
 Plow well Reginald could remember the narrow 
 limits of his early home-life ; the stocking-darning 
 and boot-mending ; the long consideration of — 'to 
 be, or not to be,' as regarded new clothes; the enor- 
 mous importance attached to his sister's dress ; the 
 steadiness with which his mother closed up her 
 ranks and presented an unbroken front to that 
 inquisitive foe, ' Mrs. Grundy ;' and then his school- 
 days, the rather intermittent education which his 
 military great-uncle assisted to pay, with their 
 many small mortifications, the severe training which 
 taught him to cover up his natural pride and dis- 
 dain, wounded feeling, and vain ambition, with a 
 mantle of good-humoured careless indifference and 
 readiness to oblige. 
 
 Then came the great event from which dated the 
 years of his later boyhood and maturer days. Sir 
 Gilbert Jervois met Reginald's sister (who was 
 several years her brother's senior) at the house of a 
 mutual relation, was captivated, and, after a short 
 struggle between parsimony and passion, proposed 
 for the pretty, penniless daughter of the ex-diplo- 
 mate. 
 
 Great changes ensued. Mrs. Piers fondly be- 
 lieved she had come to the end of all her troubles, 
 having a sort of notion that a rich son-in-law ought 
 to support her. This was not quite Sir Gilbert^s 
 view of the subject ; but whether he thought it
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 117 
 
 better to keep his wife quiet in tlieir remote home, 
 by letting her have her mother's company, or con- 
 sidered it a cheap piece of generosity to let her 
 have the run of the house, expecting her to be a 
 sort of unpaid head nurse, it is impossible to say, 
 but after about a year Mrs. Piers went to reside at 
 Ashley Grange, and there it was that Reginald 
 gladly accepted Mr. Fielden's invitation to pass the 
 holidays at the Rectory, for Sir Gilbert's hospitality 
 was spasmodic, though at the Grange a month or 
 two more made small difference. Finally came his 
 own launch into life, when his cousin, Kate Piers, 
 now become Mrs. Trent, mindful of pleasant days 
 spent in his father's house, persuaded her husband 
 to take the young relative at a reduced premium 
 into his flourishing office. 
 
 How vividly all these events came back to him 
 as he stood musing with ' Childe Harold ' open in 
 his hands, and now ' the winter of his discontent 
 was made glorious summer by the sun' of unex- 
 pected prosperity. No more need to wear a mask, 
 to follow uncongenial drudgery with a smiling face, 
 to clothe himself in a panoply of careless good- 
 humour, from which the shafts of insolence or the 
 rebuffs of authority glanced off harmless ; yes, it 
 was glorious ! yet the words ' Too bad !' dropped 
 from his lips, and his next thought was, ' The poor 
 mother ! she has had hard times of it. It is some- 
 thing to get her out of Jervois's clutches. I am 
 glad I am not a woman ; they get the worst of it, 
 as the weak always must. — Ah! Nellie, so Sir
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Gilbert is off!' turning as Lady Jervois entered the 
 room. 
 
 ' Yes, he was obliged to put off his departure, but 
 he is gone !' and though not by any means inclined 
 to shake her chains, Lady Jervois could not sup- 
 press a certain tone of relief in the last words. 
 
 ' Well, I shall be able to see you with some com- 
 fort now. Did you say anything to him about 
 coming down to Pierslynn ?' 
 
 ' No ; it was not necessary. We have this house 
 for a fortnight longer, and then, if he is not back, 
 we may do what we please.' 
 
 ' Yes ; but, Helen, I do not want to go to Piers- 
 lynn so soon ; I have business that may detain me ; 
 still, if you and my mother and Sybil like to go, the 
 place is at your service. Where are you going T 
 
 For Lady Jervois was in her outdoor attire. 
 
 'lam going to the Scholastic Agency Office in 
 Piccadilly to see about a German governess for 
 Sybil ; she is really too backward for a girl nearly 
 ten years old. Indeed, I fear I have neglected her 
 — I have been so absorbed in my own troubles ; 
 but you, dear Reggie, have set me free, and I can 
 never thank you enough.' 
 
 ' It ought to bring me luck,' he muttered, evidently 
 lost in thought. 
 
 ' Luck ! I think you have had luck ; and you 
 deserve it,' returned his sister. 
 
 Reginald did not seem to hear her. ' Where is 
 my mother?' he asked abruptly, after a short 
 pause.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 119 
 
 * She went up to put on her bonnet — she is 
 coming with me.' 
 
 ' I want to speak to her,' said Reginald. 
 
 ' I never saw such a change as in her/ said Lady 
 Jervois. ' She is ten years younger since you suc- 
 ceeded to Pierslynn ; indeed, I am ahnost as much 
 revived. I really think my mother and myself are 
 more elated than you are.' 
 
 ' Ah ! you do not know what this succession is to 
 me. I ' 
 
 The entrance of Mrs. Piers prevented his finish- 
 ing his sentence. 
 
 ' Reginald,' said his mother, kissing him warmly, 
 * I did not know you were here. I wish you could 
 come with me to see the landlord of my house, and 
 get him to finish the alterations we want. I should 
 like to get settled by the middle of August. I do 
 not want to go back to the Grange, and it will be so 
 lonely to stay here after Helen goes.' 
 
 'Very well,' returned Reginald. 'And now, 
 mother, I want Nellie and you to do something for 
 me.' 
 
 ' What is it, Reggie ?' said both ladies together. 
 
 ' You remember I told you that poor Fielden was 
 dead ? Well, Admiral Desbarres has brought over 
 the daughter and youngest boy as well as his ward, 
 Laura Piers, who is a distant cousin of ours, and 
 placed them with some lady, the widow of an old 
 brother-officer, I think. Now, I want you both to 
 call on these girls — you especially, mother. It 
 would be only right, considering all the hospitality
 
 I20 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 I received from the Fieldens, and — you'll come 
 with me, will you not ?' breaking off abruptly. 
 
 '■ What sort of girls are these wards of Admiral 
 Desbarres?' asked Mrs. Piers in an unfriendly 
 tone. 
 
 ' Laura only is his ward,' returned Reginald. 
 ' Oh ! they are nice and ladylike — at least, Laura 
 was — the other was quite a schoolgirl when I saw 
 her last. I do not know how she has turned out ; 
 but Laura was a very pleasant girl with lots to 
 say.' 
 
 ' Is she pretty ?' said- Mrs. Piers in a frigid tone. 
 
 ' No ! not a' bit,' replied Reginald, laughing. 
 * Why, are you already scenting matrimonial rocks 
 ahead, mother .'*' 
 
 ' Indeed, Reginald, you may laugh,' she returned, 
 herself relaxing into a smile ; * but it is well for a 
 young man in your position to be cautious. With- 
 out any thought on your part, your attentions may 
 give rise to hopes which it would be painful to 
 crush ; these boy-and-girl friendships are apt to 
 become entanglements it would be well to avoid.' 
 
 'A pleasant look-out for me,' said Reginald, 
 still laughing, 'if I am to weigh every word I 
 speak to a pretty girl ! Why_, downright matrimony 
 would be freedom compared to such a state of 
 things.' 
 
 * Ah, my dear boy, would to heaven I could find 
 a suitable wife for you !' said Mrs. Piers piously. 
 ' For you are not only entitled to, but deserve, all 
 that is best.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 121 
 
 'Youth, beauty, rank, accomplishments, and 
 riches. Eh, mother ?' 
 
 ' However, as Miss Piers has none of these 
 qualifications, there can be small danger. Let us 
 go and leave our cards upon her,' said Lady 
 Jervois. ' How is she related to us, Reginald ?' 
 she added. 
 
 ' I scarcely know. Her father was a Captain 
 Edward Piers, and I think he knew my father. 
 Do you remember anything of him?' to Mrs. 
 Piers. 
 
 ' Oh ! she is Edward Piers's daughter ? Yes, I 
 remember his staying with us at a pretty little place 
 we had near Goodwood. He came for the races. 
 He was certainly a cousin, and he and your father 
 used to be together a good deal as boys, I believe ; 
 but there was a something about his family not 
 quite comnie il faiit. I don't know what. Oh, it 
 was ages ago. He was very nice. I remember his 
 strolling in the garden with me by moonlight, and 
 telling me how desperately in love he. was with the 
 sister of a clergyman, somewhere in Devonshire, 
 I think ; but her people opposed the marriage — 
 then I lost sight of him / and Mrs. Piers heaved a 
 sigh at the backward glimpse of happy days thus 
 recalled. 
 
 'I am not at all up in genealogy,' remarked 
 Reginald ; ' all I know is that the P^ieldens were 
 very kind to me, and we ought to show these girls 
 some attention.' 
 
 ' Very well, Reginald. Where do they live ? If
 
 122 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 not very far, you might come with us to call there 
 first' 
 
 ' There is the address,' taking Admiral 
 Desbarres' card, on the back of which he had 
 written it from his note-book — * 13, Leamington 
 Road, Westbourne Park' 
 
 ' That is rather out of the way — beyond the 
 parks,' said Lady Jervois. 
 
 ' I know it was too expensive a neighbourhood 
 for me to lodge in, six weeks ago,' returned 
 Reginald, laughing, ' and I used to envy a fellow- 
 clerk of mine having such nice quarters. I believe 
 he lived in this very house ; to be sure, money was 
 no object to him, as he did not pay unless con- 
 venient.' 
 
 ' Let us go, then,' said Mrs. Piers ; adding in a 
 rather dissatisfied tone, ' They will certainly be at 
 home such a day as this/ 
 
 Reginald threw a curious glance, half laughing, 
 yet resolute, at his mother ; and then, with extreme 
 politeness, offered his arm to lead her to the 
 carriage. 
 
 ■X- -JC- * * 
 
 But in spite of rain and mud, Collins, somewhat 
 excited by the unusual appearance of 'carriage 
 company ' in Leamington Road, reported ' Missus 
 and the young ladies ' as gone out, whereupon a 
 small pack of cards were deposited in her grimy 
 hands, for Collins had embraced the opportunity 
 of having the house to herself, to enjoy a good
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 123 
 
 cleaning of the bedrooms while safe from being 
 * worrited.' 
 
 Each of the ladies left two cards, and Reginald 
 three, while he drew anxious looks from his mother 
 by writing the name of ' Miss Piers ^ on one, adding 
 at the back, ' Sorry not to find you — will call again 
 soon.' 
 
 * I do not think that necessary, Reginald,' she 
 said. 
 
 'Never mind, mother,' he replied, as he drew up 
 the windows of the carriage. ' Laura is a sensible 
 girl, and will not order her troiissemi on the 
 strength of my message. Set me down at the 
 corner of Bond Street, Helen.' 
 
 Mrs. Crewe's regret at missing these distinguished 
 visitors was both loud and deep. ' I am sure it 
 was very kind and friendly to call, and such a bad 
 day ! They evidently intended to find us at home. 
 I see Mr. Piers has left three cards ! I suppose one 
 is for me. I am rather surprised the ladies did not 
 do the same.' 
 
 ' Oh ! I dare say one card was meant for Laura 
 and me together, you know, as we are like sisters,' 
 cried Winnie, with ready tact and half believing 
 what she said. 
 
 ' Reginald says he will come again ; how glad I 
 shall be to see him !' cried Laura, studying his 
 card. ' I hope you will not be gone when he 
 comes, Winnie. How surprised he will be to see 
 you !* 
 
 To this Winnie made no answer : she could not
 
 .124 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 command her voice to speak of her fast-approach- 
 ing departure ; for neither the pleasant operation 
 of renewing her rather exhausted wardrobe, nor a 
 fairly polite letter from her unknown aunt, had 
 reconciled her to the prospect of this plunge into 
 life on her own account. 
 
 She had submitted to the Admiral's decision, 
 but with utter hopelessness as to the result ; only, 
 she had made up her mind to accept the dictum of 
 her benefactor without murmuring, and even got 
 up some interest in the purchases declared indis- 
 pensable by Mrs. Crewe. To that lady the interval 
 of preparation was decidedly enjoyable ; to get a 
 large amount of value for money actually ex- 
 pended, by ransacking Marshall and Snelgrove's, 
 and examining the innermost recesses of Whiteley 's ; 
 to pick up unheard-of bargains in frilling, fans, and 
 jet pins ; to beat the dressmaker down to the 
 lowest margin of profit ; to devise amazing trans- 
 formations of old materials, and expend much 
 eloquence in the effort to bring her young friends 
 round to her special views touching ' flounces, 
 fringes, plisses^ and princess robes,' kept her con- 
 stantly and agreeably excited. As she remarked 
 during a flying visit she paid to her friendly next- 
 door neighbour, ' I have of course a good deal on 
 my hands just now ; these poor dear girls do not 
 like to do anything without me, and it is both a 
 duty and a pleasure to assist them ; they are so 
 grateful for my help, so lady-like and refined, 
 quite what I have been accustomed to,' etc., etc.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 125 
 
 To which Miss Brown rephed, ' I dare say they 
 are ; but a young woman of twenty or twenty-one 
 — did you say Miss Piers was? — ought to be able 
 to take care of herself and save you trouble.' 
 
 ' Oh, I am quite ready to be of use to them, 
 poor young creatures ! You can't think how 
 accomplished they are. Miss Piers paints and 
 draws like an artist; she is making a beautiful 
 picture of my precious Topsy — quite life-like ! 
 Winnie Fielden, too, she plays most beautifully. 
 Come in and have a cup of tea with us this even- 
 ing, just to hear her — you understand these things 
 and have had more to do with them than I have — 
 and I am sure you will be charmed.' 
 
 ' You are very good, Mrs. Crewe. I shall be 
 very glad to have an opportunity of seeing your 
 young friends after hearing so much about them.' 
 
 ' She is a good soul,' thought Mrs. Crewe, as she 
 bid her a smiling good-day ; ''but a little envious 
 of my superior advantages.' 
 
 ' She is a kind neighbour,' reflected Miss Brown, 
 as she attended her deferentially to the door ; * but 
 all her geese are swans.' 
 
 Meantime, the dreaded day of parting drew near 
 with appalling rapidity. Laura was more affected 
 by Winnie's sudden determination to endure and 
 to submit than she would have been by the loudest 
 lamentations. She would have given anything to 
 go in her place, for though not three years Winnie's 
 senior, she had a wonderfully maternal feeling for 
 her cousin, a longing to spare her in all possible
 
 126 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ways ; partly, perhaps, from the tender, grateful 
 regard she had had for the aunt, to whom this only 
 daughter had been so inexpressibly dear, partly 
 from the pleasure she always took in Winnie's 
 beauty and grace. Moreover, the child was both 
 winsome and winning, one of those fortune's 
 favourites who, without effort on their own part, 
 seem to attract to themselves the best of every- 
 thing. 
 
 Laura exhausted all the topics of consolation 
 in her power ; but chiefly she dwelt on the Admiral's 
 permission to return should Winifrid find life in 
 Liverpool unendurable. 
 
 ' Yes ; but that depends on what constitutes 
 being unendurable,' said poor Winnie despairingly. 
 ' To live there at all seems to me unendurable ; but 
 Admiral Desbarres does not think so. Oh ! dearest 
 Laura, strive to get leave for us to work together 
 while I am away. We surely have a right to inde- 
 pendence if we can earn it.' 
 
 * Trust me, I will, and I shall succeed ; for you 
 know, Winnie, I think there is a limit to obedience. 
 Only, I cannot bear to vex the Admiral' 
 
 ' And you will write often, dear, dear Laura ? 
 Answer all my letters, and tell me all about 
 Reginald Piers.' 
 
 ' Yes, dear, I will.' 
 
 ' Let me sleep with you, Laura, to-night. I feel 
 as if I could not let you go. How desolate I shall 
 be to-morrow ! There ! I will not talk any more ; 
 I must make up my mind and be brave.'
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 127 
 
 Yet, it was Winnie who slept, and Laura who 
 watched and prayed. So the night passed. 
 
 The next morning, with many a tearful embrace 
 and reiterated promises to write, with a motherly 
 blessing, a huge packet of sandwiches, and a flask 
 of sherry-and-water from Mrs. Crewe, an illustrated 
 paper and the Leisure Hour from the Admiral, 
 Winnie, trying to smile through her tears, was set 
 forward on her first step alone in the journey of 
 life.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HE days which followed Winnie's depar- 
 ture were like a strange bad dream. 
 They had never been separated before, 
 and Laura was like a creature that had 
 lost her other self To wake in the morning-, and 
 see Winnie's little white bed smooth and empty; to 
 sit down to work or paint, and find herself on the 
 point of uttering some thought as it stirred the 
 convolutions of her brain, and suddenly remember 
 that there was no other self to receive the utterance ; 
 to go to rest at night uncompanioned, alone — how 
 painful it all was ! What a sense of being lost 
 weighed down every minute of those first days ! 
 Then, though heartily grateful to Mrs. Crewe for 
 her warm hospitality, it was not diverting to listen 
 to an unceasing flow of anecdotes respecting per- 
 sons she had never known, histories of complicated 
 transactions rendered incomprehensible by endless 
 parentheses, or a course of searching interrogations 
 as to her own life and adventures, her uncle's
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 129 
 
 income, and why he had not saved money, the pro- 
 bability of the Admiral leaving his fortune to her, 
 etc., etc. Above all, there was the perpetual work- 
 ing of her imagination : ceaselessly did it present 
 pictures of what Winnie was doing or suffering ; of 
 how Winnie would conduct herself, and manage her 
 clothes ; and how miserable she would be by her- 
 self, even if her stranger relatives were nice and 
 kind. Mrs. Crewe was most sympathetic : ' I am 
 sure I don't wonder at your feeling your cousin's 
 loss !' she would say ; ' a sweeter girl I never saw, 
 and so pretty ! You'll see she will pick up a rich 
 husband in Liverpool, so it may be all for the best' 
 
 ' I do not know that,^ said Laura, smiling ; ' I 
 should lose her then altogether !' 
 
 ' Oh, in a good cause you would not mind! Now, 
 don't stay moping in your own room ; bring your 
 painting-things, or whatever you have to do, here, 
 and we will be company to each other. I like to 
 see you painting, it is quite wonderful ; and I had 
 such a charming letter from my dear boy : I will 
 read it to you.' 
 
 And she proceeded to do so, with telling emphasis, 
 running every now and then into passages not in- 
 tended for public perusal, and then pulling herself 
 up short. * You see what a dear considerate fellow 
 he is,' she concluded ; ' how pleased he will be to 
 find I have a nice girl like you with me ! And 
 now, dear, if you are not going to paint, and have 
 nothing particular to do, would you mind altering 
 the neck of my black grenadine for me ? it is too 
 
 VOL. I. 9
 
 I30 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 low at the left side. I cannot manage these sort 
 of things, and you are so handy ; meanwhile, I will 
 just look at the paper and read anything interesting.' 
 
 * Very well, Mrs. Crewe,' said Laura resignedly ; 
 and Mrs. Crewe had just left the room to seek 
 the garment in question, when the second post 
 brought the eagerly anticipated first letter from 
 Winnie. 
 
 Four days had passed since they parted, and, as 
 agreed upon, after despatching a post-card to 
 announce her safe arrival, Winnie waited to gain 
 some idea of her surroundings before writing. 
 
 With almost trembling 
 open the envelope and read 
 
 With almost trembling eagerness Laura tore 
 
 ' My own dear Laura, 
 
 ' I feel as if I had such a volume to tell you, 
 I do not know where to begin. First of all, I cried 
 half the way here ; I felt nearly as miserable as 
 that terrible evening when the dear father was 
 taken from us ! An old gentleman who sat 
 opposite to me was so good, and wanted to get me 
 some refreshments when we stopped somewhere ; so 
 I showed him my packet of sandwiches, and then 
 he ate a good many of them : tell Mrs. Crewe they 
 were so nice ! 
 
 ' When we arrived at Liverpool, I felt half 
 frightened, to be quite alone among such a crowd 
 of strangers ; but my kind old gentleman stayed 
 with me, and presently a rather rough-looking man, 
 like a bad style of groom, came along the platform,
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 131 
 
 saying, " Any lady here for Mr. Morgan's, Prince's 
 Park ?" so I stepped forward, and he asked my 
 name ; then he said it was all right, he had been 
 sent to fetch me, and had a cab waiting. We had 
 quite a long drive — oh, such a wretched drive ! 
 This is a fine large house, splendidly furnished, 
 quite stiff with grandeur ; but when I got in, there 
 was only a parlour-maid to receive me, a nice smart 
 girl. My aunt was out in the carriage, with my 
 eldest cousin, and the little ones were away with 
 their maid. The servants offered me refreshments, 
 but I preferred waiting for dinner. Then I went 
 to my room — a pretty little room, very tiny — and 
 made myself presentable; by that time the servant 
 knocked at the door and said Mrs. Morgan was 
 waiting for me in the drawing-room. 
 
 ' I felt nervous, you may be sure ; however, I 
 went down. My aunt is an immensely stout 
 woman, and was gorgeously arrayed, but is rather 
 good-looking, and greeted me pleasantly. " I 
 thought you wouldn't be here before six," she said. 
 '' Here, Amelia, here is your cousin Winifrid !" 
 and then my cousin Amelia came forward. Oh, 
 such a slim, elegant, laced-up young lady ! she 
 gave me a hand which was merely what Herbert 
 would call a " bunch of fives," such cold loose 
 fingers ! 
 
 ' At dinner I was introduced to Mr. Morgan ; he 
 is tall and thin and yellow, and very well dressed, 
 but he does not seem quite like a gentleman ; he 
 hardly took any notice of me, and seemed rather 
 
 9—2
 
 132 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 cross. He found fault with everything at table, 
 though all was excellent ; when he had finished 
 eating, he suddenly asked what this Admiral friend 
 of mine intended to do with me : '' Is he going to 
 adopt you, or support you ?" I said I should 
 think not ; that I hoped to support myself; then 
 he gave a sort of a sneering laugh, and said that 
 was easier said than done ; so my aunt cried out, 
 " Nonsense, Tom ! the girl shows a right spirit ; 
 don't you discourage her." 
 
 ' After dinner we went into the drawing-room. 
 Mr. Morgan settled himself to sleep in the biggest 
 armchair, and Mrs. Morgan sat down and fanned 
 herself in another, while Amelia asked me if I 
 could play. Presently her mother asked her to 
 open the piano ; she did so, and played a valse of 
 Chopin's — one poor dear Fraulein Becker used to 
 play so deliciously. It did not sound a bit like the 
 same thing — she seemed to stutter over the music. 
 Then my aunt asked me to play ; so I sat down, 
 and quite enjoyed the piano ; it is very good. I 
 played that lovely spinning song from the " Flie- 
 gender Hollander ;" and just as I was swelling up 
 the wonderful chorus part, Mr. Morgan suddenly 
 woke and shouted, " Hold that row, will you ! I 
 call that music gone mad." I was startled, but 
 could not help laughing : it was just the sort of 
 scene a German would consider characteristic of 
 England. My aunt exclaimed, " Law, Mr. Morgan, 
 you are enough to frighten the girl out of her wits ! 
 I am sure you must have practised a great deal,
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 133 
 
 Winifrid ; but Mr. Morgan is tired : so, Amelia, 
 you had better shut up the piano." 
 
 ' Soon after this the children came in. They 
 had been spending the evening somewhere; they 
 were wonderfully dressed, and their hair was plaited 
 and frizzed and tied up with ribbons ; they took 
 very little notice of me, but seemed great pets with 
 their father. There are two little girls, ten and 
 twelve, and a boy of eight — the eldest boy, about 
 fourteen, is away at Rugby. These children are 
 quite odious ; they seem to be guessing the money- 
 value of every new thing they see ; I am really 
 quite sorry for them, they are so unnatural ! 
 
 * Yesterday my aunt and Amelia went to an 
 " afternoon " at some lady's house, so I was put in 
 charge of the second girl Sarah, and the nurse- 
 maid or bonne, to walk about the leading streets. 
 It is a fine city, full of life ; but I do not think I 
 shall like it. Now. do not imagine I am going to 
 be fanciful and easily offended. I shall be patient 
 and reasonable. I really do not dislike my aunt, 
 she seems kind and good-humoured ; but I never 
 felt so small in my life before — so poor and insig- 
 nificant. Still, things may get better ; but oh, 
 Laura — dear, dear Laura, if I could only throw my 
 arms round you and hear your voice and have a 
 good cry, I should feel quite strong ! Write to me 
 soon — very, very soon — ask Herbert to write ! I 
 never thought I loved him so much ; I hope he is 
 not troublesome ! My kind love and thanks to dear 
 Mrs. Crewe. Oh that I were sitting down to tea
 
 134 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 with you to-night! but I am determined to be brave 
 and cheerful. I write to the Admiral by this day's 
 post. Now I must go down to dinner. I have put 
 on my new dress with the train, and the jet pins in 
 my hair, and I think I look rather nice ! God bless 
 you, dearest Laura; I pray for you every night. 
 Ever your loving cousin and sister, 
 
 'WiNIFRID FlELDEN.' 
 
 Laura devoured with fond greediness the epistle 
 she had so anxiously anticipated. These Liver- 
 pool relations seemed anything but congenial. 
 Winnie, though putting a good face on it, was 
 evidently miserable, and deep in her inmost heart 
 Laura vowed that she would deliver here ere long 
 from the thraldom of aunt and uncle. ' But she 
 is good and brave,' thought Laura, with almost 
 maternal pride. ' I hardly hoped she would be so 
 strong.' While she thought thus, turning over the 
 pages of the letter to re-read it, Mrs. Crewe came 
 back with Topsy on her shoulder. 
 
 * The utter carelessness of Collins/ she said, * is 
 most disgraceful. Not one morsel of breakfast has 
 this precious puss had to-day ! and when I went to 
 look for her, she was crouched in the garden with all 
 her dear little toes tucked under her, absolutely weak 
 for want of food ! so I stopped to give her some 
 cold mutton. You have had a letter, dear ?' inter- 
 rupting herself ' From our sweet Winnie ? Tell 
 me all about it,' sitting down and arranging the 
 cat in 'her lap, prepared for a feast of news.
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 135 
 
 Laura read her some small extracts, atid told 
 her the rest, being resolved against too unlimited a 
 degree of confidence. Mrs. Crewe was by no 
 means satisfied. 
 
 ' Does she not mention her uncle, dear ? I 
 imagine she will be a favourite v/ith him ! Men, 
 young or old, are always mollified by good looks, 
 and of course it is most important to stand well 
 with him ! Is there an elder son, my dear ? 
 That might be fortunate or unfortunate — a daughter 
 about the same age is unlucky. Does she say 
 if they keep a butler ? Oh ! you need not be 
 afraid to trust me; I never gossip. Dear crea- 
 ture ! I wish she were back here, with all my 
 heart ! Now, don't make yourself unhappy,' for a 
 tear had fallen upon the paper. ' So far as yoiL 
 have allowed me to tuiderstand, I think everything 
 is very satisfactory.' 
 
 There was a certain amount of rebuke in Mrs. 
 Crewe's emphasis, but before Laura could reply, 
 a sudden sharp ring diverted her interlocutor's 
 attention. 
 
 'That is the front-door bell, and it is rather 
 early for visitors.' 
 
 A moment's pause, when the much-enduring 
 Collins put in her head cautiously sideways, so as 
 to keep one eye on the umbrella-stand. 
 
 ' There's a gentleman wants to see you, mum,' 
 holding forth a card at the same time. 
 
 * Is it the beer-man ?' asked Mrs. Crewe, without 
 moving.
 
 .136 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Laura rose and took the card, turning strangely 
 Jiot and cold as she read aloud, * Mr. Reginald 
 Piers.' 
 
 * Goodness gracious !^ cried Mrs. Crewe, ' put 
 him in the drawing-room, my girl, and pull up the 
 Venetians — the sun is nearly off now. Would 
 you mind going in, dear Laura, while I put on 
 another cap ?' 
 
 ' No, Mrs. Crewe,' said Laura, trembling a little, 
 and glancing at a small mirror that hung between 
 the windows, as Mrs. Crewe hurried out of the 
 room. It gave back the reflection of a pale face 
 and eyes never very bright, but now dimmed and 
 slightly red ; lips that closed perhaps too firmly, 
 yet could smile pleasantly ; and a figure, as has 
 been said before, straight enough, but somewhat 
 square. Her hair was neatly braided, and her 
 dress was carefully put on, but the absence of the 
 slightest coquetry of toilette, the sombre unrelieved 
 black of her garments, bespoke an almost pathetic 
 renunciation of woman's first, most natural ambi- 
 tion — the power to charm ; nevertheless, her move- 
 ments as she walked towards the drawing-room 
 were easy and not undignified, and the somewhat 
 unsteady hand she laid upon the door was small 
 and well-shaped. 
 
 Surely it was a glorified likeness of her cousin 
 Reggie, rather than the well-remembered original, 
 which met her eyes as she entered the apartment 
 sacred to Mrs. Crewels cult of the ' genteel.' 
 Taller than she expected, straight, ' svelte,' attired
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 137 
 
 in faultless garments, the subtle elegance of which 
 informed her hitherto blank intelligence — blank in 
 the matter of masculine costume — a gardenia and 
 morsel of heliotrope in his button-hole, a riding- 
 whip and his hat in one hand, the other extended 
 to take hers — Reginald Piers was as pleasing a 
 specimen of ' the upper ten ' as could be met with 
 in a day's march. 
 
 ' Laura, I am delighted to see you again ! I was 
 determined to find you this time, so I came at an 
 outrageous hour ; but you and I. need not stand on 
 ceremony, eh ?' 
 
 ' Oh, Reginald, I am so glad to see you ; and yet, 
 how you bring everything back to me !' 
 
 Her voice broke, and she stood still and silent, 
 struggling hard for self-control. Reginald laid 
 down both hat and whip, and put his other hand 
 over the one he held, 
 
 ' Come,' he said, 'you must not let me think the 
 sight of me is painful. My dear girl I I am afraid 
 you have had hard times of it since we met. Come, 
 sit down, and let us have a long talk.' 
 
 He drew her to the sofa, placing himself beside 
 her, and relinquishing her hand. 
 
 ' Ah !' exclaimed Laura, smiling frankly as she 
 looked at him, ' the sight of you is very pleasant to 
 me, dear Reggie ; it is so long since I have seen 
 anything or anyone familiar, and you are very 
 good to come and see me.' 
 
 ' Good !' repeated Reginald, with a slight smile ; 
 * good to myself ! You cannot know how vividly
 
 138 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 I remember our old friendship,' he continued, after 
 a scarcely perceptible pause ; ' how often I recall 
 our rambles and adventures by flood and field. I 
 only feared to find you more cut up and altered, 
 
 instead of looking ' What, he did not say, but 
 
 he gazed into Laura's eyes with an expression that 
 puzzled but did not embarrass her. 
 
 ' The Admiral has told me something of how 
 matters are, but no particulars/ he resumed, after a 
 pause ; ' and you must grant me a kinsman's right 
 to inquire into your affairs. How long are you 
 going to stay here ? What are you going to do ? 
 What is to become of the Fielden children ?' 
 
 * As to me, I hope to stay on here. Mrs. Crewe 
 is very kind, and I hope to get some pupils for 
 German and drawing, and perhaps to sell some of 
 my paintings. Do not laugh, Reginald, but I have 
 improved, and learned a great deal since we met, 
 and I quite long to be self-supporting.' 
 
 ' Laugh V he replied kindly. ' I shall do no such 
 thing. You were always what Dick Fielden would 
 call a " dab " at drawing. Don't you remember a 
 sketch of the east end of Cheddington Church and 
 the big oak-tree you did for me when I was last at 
 the Rectory ? I have it still, Laura, among my 
 treasures.' 
 
 ' Have you really T a faint colour stealing into 
 her cheeks, and something of brilliancy lighting her 
 eyes at the low tone in which he uttered these last 
 words. 
 
 ' I am glad you kept it ; you see, I am so alone
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 139 
 
 that any bit of kindliness is precious,' she added 
 candidly. 
 
 'Tell me about poor Mr. Fielden's death,' he 
 asked ; and Laura, with unconscious force and 
 pathos, described the last scene in Dresden — big 
 tears slowly coursing down her cheek unheeded as 
 she spoke. 'Awfully trying for you,' said Regi- 
 nald, taking her hand tenderly in the attempt to 
 console her. ' How the deuce our friend the Rector 
 could have let himself drift into such a mess I can- 
 not conceive ! and Herbert and little Winnie, what 
 are they doing ?' 
 
 ' Oh, Winnie is taller than I am, and has grown 
 so pretty — more than pretty — poor dear Winnie 1 
 Her aunt in Liverpool invited her to stay there, 
 and the Admiral thought she ought to go ; but I 
 am afraid she is as wretched there as I am without 
 her; and Herbert is here for the holidays. But 
 oh, Reginald, I have just had a letter from Winnie, 
 and I am sure she cannot stay there ; yet what can 
 I do ?' 
 
 ' We must try to put matters in better train ; we 
 will consult together. Times have changed with 
 me ' 
 
 Here the door opened suddenly, and Mrs. Crewe 
 entered majestically. She had not only changed 
 her cap, but put on her best black silk dress and 
 Honiton lace cravat ; indeed, she might have been 
 a dowager countess, from her aspect and carriage. 
 A quick glance and instantly suppressed smile as 
 she came in showed Laura she had noticed that
 
 I40 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 their distinguished-looking visitor was holding her 
 hand affectionately. 
 
 Both Laura and Reginald rose, and the former 
 performed the usual ceremony of introduction. 
 
 ' I am very happy to have the pleasure of making 
 your acquaintance/ said Mrs. Crewe graciously ; 
 * any friend of the Admiral and of my dear Laura 
 is welcome to me.' 
 
 Reginald bowed politely. 
 
 * I am very glad to find Laura so happily placed,' 
 he said, obeying the graceful gesture with which 
 Mrs. Crewe waved him to a seat. 
 
 ' You are very good, Mr. Piers, and I assure you 
 I am most happy to have such a charming com- 
 panion. I was very sorry to have missed Mrs. Piers 
 and Lady Jervois when they called the other day.' 
 
 * Oh yes, they were , very sorry too,' returned 
 Reginald, catching a glimpse of Mrs. Crewe's idea, 
 and feeling the necessity of adopting it. ' I hope 
 you will soon be able to return the visit. My 
 mother is quite anxious to make your acquaint- 
 ance, Laura ; she has heard so much about you.' 
 
 ' Has she ?' said Laura, opening her eyes. 
 
 * And,' continued Reginald, ' if she can be of any 
 use to the young Fieldens, she would be most 
 happy. I assure you we neither of us forget poor 
 Mrs. Fielden's kindness and hospitality to me when 
 I was a raw youngster.' 
 
 ' Oh, Reginald, you are as kind as ever !' 
 Laura's lips quivered, and her eyes lit up with 
 pleasure and gratitude as she spoke.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 141 
 
 ' It is not every day such noble sentiments are to 
 be met with,' said Mrs. Crewe softly; and then, 
 quickly descending to her usual level of curiosity, 
 she added, ' I see you have ridden out here this 
 morning, Mr. Piers. It is a delightful exercise, 
 and most healthful.' 
 
 ' Ridden out !' repeated Laura, in some surprise, 
 for she had no idea that her old companion's for- 
 tunes had changed so much for the better. ' Have 
 you a horse, Reginald ?' 
 
 * I have,' he said, smiling. ' I was going to tell 
 you, when Mrs. Crewe came in, that I have suc- 
 ceeded to the Pierslynn property. Hugh Piers — a 
 cousin, you know — was killed out hunting about 
 six weeks ago, and I am his next-of-kin.' 
 
 * Really ! this is quite a romance,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe, her head inclined gracefully to one side, her 
 eyes glistening with delight at the vision of a dis- 
 tinguished circle of acquaintances which dawned 
 upon her. 
 
 ' I never heard of him before,' replied Laura ; 
 ' and are you rich now, Reginald ?' 
 
 'Yes — that is, fairly well off; and, what is better 
 still, I have a nice old place in the country, where 
 I hope we shall enjoy some rambles together as in 
 old times — eh, Laura?' leaning forward and glancing 
 up at her with a look half tender, half playful. 
 
 A blissful smile spread itself over Mrs. Crewe's 
 face, as with pride in her own penetration she 
 thought she saw how the land lay. 
 
 ' I can hardly believe it,' returned Laura, feeling
 
 142 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 strangely, delightfully disturbed, a glow as of 
 softest springtide warmth diffusing itself through 
 her veins, and sending unwonted colour to her 
 cheeks. ' I thought we were all poor together ! 
 Do you know, I feel half sorry. Your riches seem 
 to put you away at a distance.' 
 
 ' Why, you do not think I am such a cad as to 
 fancy myself in any way different from the Reggie 
 Piers you used to quarrel and make up with, in our 
 school-days, because I have had the luck to inherit 
 the family estate ?' 
 
 ' No, indeed !' ejaculated Mrs. Crewe, with 
 warmest approbation ; ' anyone might see, Laura, 
 that your cousin's nature is far too noble to forget 
 those he once — a — let us say preferred !' 
 
 ' Thank you for your good opinion,' said Regi- 
 nald, laughing. 
 
 ' But,' resumed Laura, scarcely able to take in 
 the idea that her former playfellow, who was often 
 out at elbows, had really developed into a man of 
 fortune, ' are you able to keep horses and carriages ? 
 and do you still go to that office in the City — 
 Thurston and Trent — was that the name ?' 
 
 ' Oh ! I have left the shop, of course, but I see 
 Trent very often ; his wife was a Piers, you know.' 
 
 ' Dear, dear ! how curiously things come about !' 
 cried Mrs. Crewe, on the stretch to understand all 
 the ins and outs of the story; 'I suppose you 
 mean Messrs. Thurston and Trent of Sydenham 
 Chambers.' 
 
 ' Yes,' returned Reginald.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 143 
 
 'Then you probably knew a Mr. Holden, who 
 was a clerk in their establishment ? He was for 
 some time an inmate of mine — for I do not mind 
 confessing to a man of your exalted turn of mind 
 that I am obliged to seek occupants for a portion 
 of my house, which is really larger than I require. 
 A sailor, my dear Mr. Piers, no matter how well 
 he may serve his country, seldom leaves a wealthy 
 widow. But Mr. Holden mistook the character of 
 the house, and became very irregular in his hours, 
 and when I remonstrated he showed temper and 
 gave me warning : I by no means regretted him.' 
 
 '■ So Holden was here, was he?' ejaculated Regi- 
 nald, with evident interest ; ' he certainly was no 
 fit inmate for you. He is not a gentleman ; of 
 course I knew him, being in the same office, but 
 that was all : I am afraid he is not very steady. 
 Well, Laura, when will you and Mrs. Crewe come 
 and call on my mother and sister ? I should like 
 to meet you there — will Tuesday next suit you ?' 
 
 * All days suit me,' said Laura, ' if it will suit 
 Mrs. Crewe.' 
 
 'May I suggest Wednesday?' said that lady 
 sweetly ; ' I have an engagement on Tuesday.' 
 
 ' Oh ! certainly,' he returned, rising. ' I have 
 paid you a visitation, but you must let me come 
 again soon. I should like to see Herbert — he was 
 quite a small boy when I was last at the Rectory ; 
 and then we are to make some plans for Winnie's 
 deliverance ! I shall look in on Monday or Tues- 
 day, if you will let me, Mrs. Crewe.'
 
 144 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' You may come when you like and as often as 
 you like,' said she, smiling unbounded approbation 
 upon him. 
 
 ' Many thanks ; good-morning,' returned Regi- 
 nald, bowing low. ' Good-bye for the present, 
 Laura : you must cheer up ; I trust there are 
 pleasant days in store for you ! The sight of you 
 has recalled some of my happiest hours,' he added 
 in a low tone, pressing her hand with kindly, 
 cousinly warmth. 
 
 ' And you ! oh, how you recall mine ! I feel as 
 if all the past had not quite gone from me when I 
 hear you speak, Reggie !' she returned : her voice, 
 always musical and expressive, was instinct with 
 warm sympathy. 
 
 "■ Ail revoir, then,' and with a parting bow he 
 left them. 
 
 At the sound of the front door closing, Mrs. 
 Crewe moved quickly to a vantage-post, where, 
 from behind the shelter of the muslin curtain, she 
 could see without being seen. ' What a nice young 
 man ! Such distinguished manners, and a beauti- 
 ful figure ; he is standing at the gate putting on 
 his gloves in a brown study, waiting for the horses. 
 Here they are ; such beautiful horses and a most 
 stylish groom ! Laura, my dear, you ought to 
 come to the window and kiss your hand to him 
 before he rides away. There, he is off! Why did 
 you not tell me what a charming cousin you had ! 
 Why, my dear Laura, what is the matter .? — sitting 
 there crying ! when you ought to be so pleased to
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 145 
 
 have a young man of fortune and distinction and 
 high family so much attached to you ! Now, do 
 not contradict me, dear. I know the world ; I have 
 had great experience, and I say that elegant young 
 fellow is sincerely attached to you.' 
 
 ' Yes, as a friend, a sister, I think he always did 
 like me,' cried Laura, with a sort of nervous fear at 
 Mrs. Crewe's words, a dread lest the possibilities of 
 a delicate hidden preference might wither and die 
 under the glare of her reckless observation ; * but, 
 believe me, anything else is out of the question. 
 Indeed, considering it is more than three years 
 since we heard anything of him — never since Dick 
 went to India has he written or inquired about us 
 — I am quite astonished that he has taken the 
 trouble to come here and see me. He was always 
 nice and good-natured, but I scarcely expected 
 this! 
 
 ' My dear, he was probably not in a position to 
 marry, and so was prudent. Now it is quite dif- 
 ferent ' 
 
 ' Dear Mrs. Crewe,' earnestly, with clasped hands, 
 * pray do not destroy the great pleasure I have in 
 seeing Reggie by suggesting such ideas ! I have 
 had so much sorrow ; let me have a little comfort 
 now.' 
 
 ' Well, well ! if you take it in that light, I will 
 not say another word ; only, dear, I have ray 
 own opinion, and one day you will confess I am 
 right.' 
 
 Laura smiled good-humouredly. * You do not 
 
 VOL. I. 10
 
 146 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 know how ridiculously impossible such a thing 
 seems to me,' she said. ' Now, Mrs. Crewe, you 
 have some needlework for me, have you not ?^ 
 
 'You can settle down to needlework?' asked 
 Mrs. Crewe. 'Well, that is being quite philo- 
 sophic ; but as you are so good, I will just show 
 you what I want. Come, let us go into the dining- 
 room '' where, after an elaborate explanation 
 touching the depth and length of the ill-fitting 
 collar, Mrs. Crewe settled herself in an armchair 
 and took up the paper ; she could not, however, 
 long attend to abstract matters. ' I think, my dear 
 Laura, this dress and my black lace mantilla will 
 do very well for our visit on Wednesday T 
 
 ' I am sure you will look very nice,' said Laura. 
 
 ' But, Laura,' in a serious and impressive tone, 
 ' I am really anxious about you ! You will forgive 
 my motherly anxiety. You ought to have a new 
 dress — a black Barege, if I might suggest — with a 
 crossover pelerine to go out in, and a new hat : 
 appearance is of the last importance — especially 
 sometimes. Now, I think it very necessary that 
 you should make a good first impression on Mrs. 
 Piers ; and though I am the last person to counsel 
 extravagance, I think, dear, you ought to treat 
 yourself to a new dress and hat. Come, make up 
 ■your mind : I know the Admiral brought you your 
 allowance or dividends, or whatever it is, the other 
 day ; so let us put on our bonnets directly dinner 
 is over — there are charming things at Whiteley's, 
 and we can get the dressmaker to take your
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 147 
 
 measure this evening. Eh ! my love, I consider 
 these purchases absolutely essential.' 
 
 'No, Mrs. Crewe, I cannot indulge myself in 
 anything of the kind this quarter ; I have all I 
 absolutely require, and it would be a little extrava- 
 gant to buy fine things for the sake of one visit, 
 for I have an idea that we shall not see much more 
 of Mrs. Piers. I know at the Rectory we all 
 imagined her to be a proud cold woman, from little 
 things. I remember she wrote a letter to my aunt 
 once, thanking her for her kindness to Reggie, and 
 my aunt laughed about it, and said it was rather 
 stiff and condescending. Indeed, I wish I had not 
 to go and see her.' 
 
 ' Well, Laura, I wish you would be guided by 
 me. I believe it is a duty you owe to yourself to 
 make this little outlay. Believe me, you could im- 
 prove yourself immensely by careful dressing ; you 
 do not give sufficient thought to appearance.'' 
 
 ' I give as much thought and more than it 
 deserves to my own appearance,' returned Laura, 
 laughing. ' But tJiis sacrifice to the beautiful I do 
 not feel called upon to make.' 
 
 Whereupon Mrs. Crewe resumed the thread of 
 her discourse, and argued with some force and 
 great good sense in favour of the purchases she 
 considered so requisite ; finally, finding she failed 
 to persuade her listener, she was not a little 
 offended. 
 
 ' Oh, very well,' she said ; ' we will say no more 
 about it ; I should not have intruded my advice 
 
 10 — 2
 
 148 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 were I not actuated by the sincerest interest in 
 your welfare, and a knowledge of the world- which 
 at your age you cannot possibly possess. You may 
 regret not having attended to my advice, for I am 
 quite sure much may arise from our visit on 
 Wednesday/ 
 
 ' I am sure you are both wise and kind,^ cried 
 Laura, anxious to mollify her, ' but I want to save 
 my money for ' 
 
 ' Pray, my dear, do not allow yourself to grow 
 penurious; it is not amiable in a young person ;' 
 and Mrs. Crewe took refuge in the broad sheet of 
 the Standard ; for it need scarcely be said that 
 she was aristocratic by taste and Conservative by 
 conviction. 
 
 The rest of the day passed tranquilly. Some 
 delicate attentions to Topsy at dinner completely 
 reconciled Mrs. Crewe to her young friend, and 
 Laura occupied the afternoon in writing a volumi- 
 nous letter to Winnie, largely made up of details 
 of Reginald's visit, and then in arranging the 
 materials for a picture she was attempting partly 
 from memory, partly from an old very sketchy 
 sketch of a glade in the woods behind the Rectory, 
 with a number of curious lichen-covered stones, 
 the remains of some shrine or altar, the memory of 
 which had passed away, and a sleepy little shadowy 
 pool bordered with moss and rushes. The visit of 
 that morning had brought the scene back to her 
 more vividly than ever, for it was a favourite spot
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 149 
 
 with both herself and Reginald ; many an after- 
 noon gotiter of bread and fruit, many a long hour's 
 perusal of some favourite book, had they enjoyed 
 there, with and without Dick, who was of a prosaic 
 disposition. The attempt to reproduce this well- 
 remembered spot was, in any case, a delicious 
 employment ; but to-day her thoughts and fancies 
 were like sweetest chimes * ringing peals of merry 
 music from the belfry of her heart/ Yet she had 
 been quite sincere in assuring Mrs. Crewe that the 
 idea of anything lover-like in Reginald Piers seemed 
 impossible to her. He was too much an ideal hero 
 for her to think it possible that she could ever be 
 anything but his • friend, his somewhat humble 
 friend, in spite of a certain intellectual equality. 
 But to find him so true, so kind, so considerate, 
 was a heavenly surprise ; for, perhaps unconsciously, 
 under all her liking and admiration for her bright 
 good-looking playfellow, lay a scarce -defined 
 feeling that exalted loyalty, or warm remembrance, 
 was somehow not' too certainly to be expected from 
 Reggie. She had never done him quite justice; 
 and now, to be able to let the full flow of her liking 
 and admiration rise unchecked, heightened by 
 hearty gratitude for the frank completeness with 
 which he took up the well-nigh broken thread of 
 their friendship and knotted it together more firmly 
 — it was too delicious 1 The sense of loneliness, 
 the weight of responsibility as elder sister, which 
 used to press her down, seemed suddenly dispersed, 
 or to be as nothing to the strength given her to
 
 ISO 
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 support it. With Reginald's sympathy, she could 
 remove mountains. He would help her with her 
 dear good beneficent guardian, and aid her in her 
 attempt to get Winnie back. For to be happy 
 while Winnie was miserable was something im- 
 possible, sacrilegious ; and so Laura traced the out- 
 lines of her picture, being at that blest stage of 
 gratified affection when nerves, fancy, imagination, 
 boldness, are at their fullest and firmest, when faith 
 in another radiates faith in one's self, before the glow 
 and warmth that vivifies has passed into the flame 
 that consumes.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 i^JgDMIRAL DESBARRES' stay in town 
 had extended itself into the third week, 
 and he was beginning to be weary, to 
 long for the quiet and sweetness of the 
 simple home of which he was so fond. But he was 
 not a man to leave his work undone, and he waited 
 bravely on until he saw Herbert fairly at work 
 with the tutor he had found for the holidays, and 
 until the investment was arranged for which 
 Messrs. Thurston and Trent had promised to look 
 out. The office was as full and busy as it had 
 been the morning Reginald Piers had stood smiling 
 in Mr. Trent's room to announce the mighty 
 change in his fortunes ; but on this occasion it was 
 Mr. West who held council with the second partner 
 — Mr. West, the only one remaining of the two 
 who had formerly occupied the inner office on the 
 ground-floor. They had been in earnest talk, and 
 Mr. Trent's countenance looked more than usually 
 dark and keen, when, as before, their conversation
 
 152 777^ ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 was interrupted by a clerk who presented the 
 Admiral's card. 
 
 ' Ah, my dear sir,' said the solicitor, after they 
 had exchanged greetings, and West had bowed 
 himself out, ' I suppose you have come to reproach 
 our tardiness for not getting that little affair of 
 yours settled. But, do you know, it is not so easy 
 to find an investment in every way suitable, such 
 as I should like to recommend to you.' 
 
 *I have not come to reproach you/ interrupted 
 the Admiral, with his grave, sweet smile. * I am, 
 on the contrary, well pleased that matters have not 
 gone farther. I had long interviews yesterday and 
 the day before with Mr. Atkins, nephew of my 
 old friend Lord Trevallan ; he has thoroughly ex- 
 plained his scheme of the Szolnok and Ofen Canal. 
 He is himself a very honourable man, and an 
 engineer of some experience. It is not, you know, 
 a project in embryo. The company is formed, and 
 they expect to hear daily that the Hungarian 
 Chamber has granted their charter. Shares are 
 rising, and it is by special favour that he is dis- 
 posed to give me a sufficient number for the 
 amount of capital I have to invest. Lord Tre- 
 vallan is in it, and Mr. Grey, of Grey, Hughes, and 
 Co.,' continued the Admiral, taking a paper from 
 his breast-pocket. 'Also Mr. Simon Pounce, Q.C. 
 These are good names, and I see no reason for 
 losing such an excellent investment from mere dis- 
 trust of a scheme which has received the sanction 
 of shrewd and honourable men. I have therefore
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 153 
 
 resolved to invest in this company, especially as it 
 is highly probable no further call will be made 
 than fifty pounds per share, which at present pay 
 six per cent.' 
 
 * My dear Admiral, I but repeat what I said 
 before, that you are running a great risk. I cer- 
 tainly see with no small surprise the names you 
 mention in connection with this company, and I 
 by no means intend to insinuate that the gentle- 
 men who promoted it are not sincere and well- 
 intentioned ; btit I would not risk my own money 
 in it, and am most reluctant to let you risk yours.' 
 
 'Your profession inclines you to be distrustful; 
 but I am, I assure you, by no means disposed to 
 believe too readily,' replied the Admiral, with an 
 air of knowing what he was about ; at which Mr. 
 Trent was secretly amused. ' And having, as I 
 said, informed myself thoroughly in the matter, I 
 have made up my mind to put the whole of the 
 money at my disposal in this undertaking.' 
 
 Mr. Trent shook his head. 
 
 ' Well, Admiral Desbarres, I can say no more. 
 You are of course free to do what you like with 
 your own, but I most emphatically protest that 
 you are acting entirely against my advice.' 
 
 * Yes. I absolve you from all responsibility,' he 
 returned, smiling ; ' yoiir strength lies in unbelief, 
 mine in faith : time only can show which will be 
 justified.' 
 
 There was a short pause. Mr. Trent was truly 
 interested in his client, and much annoyed at not
 
 154 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 being able to dissuade him from what he considered 
 a more than doubtful investment. 
 
 ' I think of leaving town the day after to- 
 morrow,' resumed the Admiral. 'You will be glad 
 to hear that the aunt of one of my young charges 
 — I mean Miss Fielden — has offered a temporary 
 home to her niece.^ 
 
 ' Yes, it is a little lightening of the load,' said 
 Mr. Trent. *" What are you going to do with your 
 ward ?' 
 
 * Nothing at all at present ; she is happily placed, 
 as I think I told you. I see she has some exalted 
 idea of maintaining herself by teaching or paint- 
 ing ; however, the question of self-support is a very 
 delicate one where a young girl is concerned. I 
 insist upon her waiting until we see what the elder 
 brother of the Fieldens can and will do for them ; 
 then we can arrange some plan of life.' 
 
 ' Can she paint ? your ward, I mean ?' 
 
 ' I am no judge, but I think she can ; her trees 
 look like trees, and her figures like men and 
 women ; but who would buy such unknown 
 work ?' 
 
 ' It is hard to say. Everyone must have a be- 
 ginning ; at any rate, encourage the spirit of inde- 
 pendence. There is nothing dangerous or un- 
 feminine in painting a picture and selling it. I 
 am sure Mrs. Trent would be very happy to be of 
 any use to her and you. If you like, she will call 
 on your ward. Mrs. Trent is fond of dabbling in 
 artistic matters, and is somehow distantly related
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. i55 
 
 to Miss Piers. I never understand relationships, 
 but there is some connection between them.' 
 
 ' You are very good,' said the Admiral, rising. 
 'Mrs. Trent's acquaintance would be a great 
 acquisition to Laura in any case. I hope she and 
 all your family are well.' 
 
 ' Quite well, thank you. I wish you could give 
 us a day before you leave town, my dear sir ? 
 Mrs. Trent would be charmed to see you.' 
 
 * I thank you, but I rarely dine out. This even- 
 ing I give to my ward ; to-morrow I dine with an 
 old friend who is trying to assist me in obtaining 
 admittance for Herbert Fielden into the School for 
 Sons of the Clergy.' 
 
 ' Well, when you come up again, you must posi- 
 tively dine with us. You are quite a good Sama- 
 ritan ; you seem to have no object but to help 
 others.' 
 
 ' In my case, I fear it is but enlarged selfishness,' 
 returned the Admiral, with a smile. ' I must wish 
 you good-morning.' 
 
 ' Good-morning, Admiral ; I wish you would be 
 guided by me in this Hungarian Canal concern.-' 
 
 ' On my head be it,' said the Admiral ; shaking 
 hands cordially with his legal adviser, he left the 
 office, and walked deliberately towards the Mansion 
 House by the shady sides of the streets, apparently 
 in deep thought. The warning of his solicitor 
 caused him little or no apprehension. Having 
 satisfied the requirements of his own simple un- 
 suspicious mind, he troubled himself no further,
 
 156 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 and was only too glad to find he could increase his 
 means of helping others. 
 
 The evening before the momentous visit to Mrs. 
 Piers and Lady Jervois had found Mrs. Crewe in 
 a state of advanced preparation for that event. 
 Laura had been occupied the greater part of the 
 afternoon in the composition of a lace collarette. 
 Real lace was an article of almost religious faith 
 with Mrs. Crewe. Real lace, real jewellery, and real 
 Indian shawls were with her the outward and 
 visible signs of inward and unmistakable gentility. 
 They covered a large amount of shortcomings in 
 other ways, and she cherished a certain card-board 
 box, containing a moderate quantity of point 
 d'Alengon, point de Bruxelles, and Honiton, with 
 almost reverent care, as a kind of patent of nobility. 
 And in this Laura was not unsympathetic. Lace 
 is always attractive to the artist. There is so 
 much high-bred beauty in the delicate filmy tex- 
 ture. It is the poetry of decoration, compared 
 with which, jewels, however magnificent, are vul- 
 garly material. 
 
 ' I am sure, my dear, you have done that most 
 beautifully, quite like a first-rate milliner,' said 
 Mrs. Crewe, sailing into Laura's room, where she 
 sat at work, with the famous box under her arm. 
 ' It is absolutely perfect !' holding it to her throat ; 
 ' and now, my dear, what are you going to wear 
 yourself ?' 
 
 ' I have but one dress and one hat I can wear/
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 157 
 
 said Laura, smiling ; ' but I defer to your better 
 judgment, Mrs. Crewe ; I bought some white frill- 
 ing when I went out with Herbert this morning, 
 and I am going to wear it.' 
 
 ' I am very glad to hear it, dear,' returned Mrs. 
 Crewe solemnly. ' It will be an immense improve- 
 ment. I wish you had followed my advice in 
 other respects ; but the young always think them- 
 selves wisest. Would you mind my suggesting a 
 drooping feather in your hat ? A black feather is 
 quite admissible in mourning, you know; and I 
 would be most happy to lend you mine which I 
 had in my, winter bonnet. It is r^^/ ostrich ; I am 
 sure you will appreciate my motives in offering it, 
 and not feel offended.' 
 
 ' Offended ! no, indeed, you are very kind ; but I 
 think, dear Mrs. Crewe, a feather would scarcely be 
 suitable to so plain and quiet a personage as I am. 
 Do not try to lift me out of my natural insignifi- 
 cance,' said Laura, laughing. 
 
 * Insignificant or not ' began Mrs. Crewe with 
 
 a knowing nod of the head, when a knock inter- 
 rupted her. 
 
 A quick * Come in !' was followed by the appear- 
 ance of Herbert, looking rather red and dusty, with 
 a large bouquet of exquisite fragrant flowers in one 
 hand, and a note in the other. 
 
 * Here, Laura !' he exclaimed, * just see if there is 
 any answer ; there is a smart little chap in cords 
 and tops waiting downstairs, and the Admiral was 
 coming into the garden as I was in the hall.'
 
 158 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Gracious goodness !' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe, in a 
 fever of excitement ; ' and I have only eggs and 
 bacon for tea ! Is it not unlucky ? But what 
 lovely flowers ! Do look at the note, Laura dear ; 
 of course it is from Mr. Piers. Is it to put us off 
 to-morrow ?' 
 
 ' No !' opening the note quickly and glancing 
 through it. 'It is only to say he has had these 
 flowers from Pierslynn, and sends them on ; he 
 begs me not to forget our appointment for to- 
 morrow.' 
 
 ' That's right, my dear ! I will go down to the 
 Admiral at once. Pray come as quickly as you 
 can ; I don't know how it is, I never can keep 
 up a conversation long with that dear kind 
 Admiral.' 
 
 But Laura waited to write a line of acknowledg- 
 ment for the following note : 
 
 * My dear Laura, 
 
 ' I send you a bouquet which has just come 
 from Pierslynn, remembering your old love of 
 flowers, and am very sorry a troublesome engage- 
 ment prevents my bringing them myself Re- 
 member we are to meet at my sister's to-morrow 
 at 2.30, when I hope to settle with you to visit 
 some of the galleries and exhibitions now open, 
 where no chaperonage is requisite beyond that of 
 your affectionate friend and kinsman, 
 
 ' Reginald Piers.' 
 
 This pleasant token of consideration, and the
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 159 
 
 vista of joy it opened out, sent Laura down to 
 meet her guardian with an amount of Hght and 
 colour in cheek and eyes that almost transformed 
 her usually pale plain face. 
 
 Of course the Admiral was established in state 
 in the drawing-room ; while Mrs. Crewe, posed 
 elegantly in an easy-chair, diligently engaged in 
 the task of entertaining her honoured guest, 
 watched with some eagerness for the entrance of 
 her charming young friend to relieve guard, and 
 set her free to inspect the preparation of the even- 
 ing meal. 
 
 The Admiral, cool, well-dressed, with the slight 
 languor which always gave such repose to his 
 bearing and manner, was listening with the honest 
 attention he invariably gave to everyone and 
 everything, while Mrs. Crewe, thinking she had 
 hit on a congenial subject, was describing the 
 clergyman whose church she attended. 
 
 ' For I never like to neglect church, although as 
 yet my means will not permit me to take a sitting ; 
 and I assure you Mr. Middleton is most eloquent. 
 Last Sunday he enlarged upon the Ninth Article 
 — you know it is all about Original Sin, and that 
 sort of thing — and he was so convincing. I am 
 sure I don't know how anyone can help being sin- 
 ful and going wrong.' 
 
 * Is that not a dangerous doctrine,' said the 
 Admiral thoughtfully, ' and one of the most diffi- 
 cult a preacher can attempt to handle ? If we 
 admit the taint of birth-sin to its full extent, it is
 
 i6o THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 difficult to maintain the responsibility of free will ; 
 and without free will ' 
 
 He paused, and seemed lost in profound and 
 painful thought. 
 
 * Exactly so/ returned Mrs. Crewe blandly ; 
 * that is just what I said to dear Laura as we came 
 out of church. How is one to do right and be 
 spiritually minded when one is wrong from the 
 beginning ? I am sure the thoughts that come in 
 one's head, even when the organ is playing in 
 church, are most extraordinary. But here is Laura 
 herself,' in a tone of relief. ' What lovely flowers ! 
 Look, my dear Admiral — are they not ? Young 
 Mr. Piers has just sent them ; very pretty of him, 
 is it not ? He is such a charming young man. 
 Are you going to put them in the drawing-room ? 
 Thank you, dear. You are very generous to share 
 such a precious gift ; is she not, Admiral ?' con- 
 cluded Mrs. Crewe airily, as she swept away. 
 
 Laura advanced with outstretched hand to her 
 guardian. 
 
 ' It seems so long since I have seen you,' she 
 said, with the soft earnestness which was one of 
 her few attractions. 
 
 ^ I have been much occupied, chiefly on your 
 account and your young cousins',' returned the 
 Admiral, smiling kindly upon her, and pressing 
 her hand warmly. ' I am glad to see that youth is 
 asserting itself,' he continued, gazing with interest 
 at her. ' You are looking wonderfully revived and 
 better — better than I ever saw you before ; and 
 
 i
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. i6i 
 
 young Piers sent you these flowers ? It was a kind 
 and kinsmanly civility. You were friends in your 
 boy-and-girl days ?' 
 
 ' Yes, great friends/ replied Laura frankly, while 
 she looked for a suitable vase to hold her precious 
 flowers. 
 
 A long pause ensued. The Admiral drew from 
 his breast-pocket a letter (in Winnie's writing, 
 Laura could see), and began to read it. 
 
 The Admiral's deliberation was sometimes a 
 little exasperating to persons of slighter, quicker 
 natures, and not even the happy mental effer- 
 vescence induced by Reginald's present could 
 make Laura indifferent to the anxious question 
 which suggested itself, * I wonder how Winnie 
 wrote, and how the Admiral will take her view of 
 her new relatives ?' 
 
 But before he could speak Herbert made his ap- 
 pearance, hastily brushed and washed, and made 
 fit to be seen. Then he had to undergo a cross- 
 examination as to his work with, his new tutor. 
 The Admiral was sterner and colder with boys 
 than girls, and Herbert was mortally afraid of him ; 
 consequently never appeared to advantage under 
 the raking fire of his benefactor's questions. How- 
 ever, deliverance came quickly in the shape of 
 Collins, who with tearful eyes and a fiery face, 
 keeping herself well behind the half-opened door, 
 asked, ' Will you be pleased to come in to tea T 
 
 The Admiral, with old-fashioned politeness, 
 offered his arm to his ward, and, followed by 
 VOL. I. 1 1
 
 i62 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 Herbert, went into the dining-room, where Mrs. 
 Crewe awaited them beside a well-covered table. 
 
 Mrs. Crewe was great in emergencies, and on the 
 present occasion the commonplace — not to say 
 vulgarity — of bacon and eggs was almost hidden 
 by the refinement of a large dish of strawberries 
 plentifully garnished by leaves ; while a home- 
 made cake tastefully ornamented with cut paper, 
 and a basket of mignonette and pinks, partially 
 concealed a tin kettle and spirit-lamp — tin, but 
 polished to silvery brightness — which blazed and 
 hissed behind them. 
 
 ' I never apologize for humble fare which is 
 heartily offered,' said Mrs. Crewe, with a distin- 
 guished air. ' Mine is a very modest household, 
 as no one has a better right to know than yourself, 
 Admiral Desbarres, and such as it is, you are 
 always a favoured guest. Bacon and eggs may 
 not be fashionable, but it is a most nourishing and 
 — pray sit on my right. Admiral ; Laura, go next 
 your guardian ; Herbert, like a dear boy, blow out 
 the .spirit-lamp for me. Collins T ring, ring, ring, 
 ring. ' Oh, Collins, do not rush in head foremost ; 
 it is quite bad style ! Collins, do bring my precious 
 Topsy ; put her chair by me. I trust, my dear 
 Admiral, you do not mind my little favourite 
 coming to table. You know, until you sent me 
 that dear girl there, she was my only com- 
 panion,' etc., etc. 
 
 ' These dumb creatures are a curious study,' said 
 the Admiral, after he had partaken moderately of
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 163 
 
 the good things set before him. ' They seem to 
 have the germ of much that characterizes human 
 beings. I remember a pet monkey we had on 
 board the Revenge when I was a youngster. He 
 used to sleep in a different berth every night, some- 
 times in the first lieutenant's cabin, sometimes at 
 one of the mates' doors ; but he never went so low 
 as to associate with the midshipmen, except in 
 broad daylight.' 
 
 ' How extraordinary !' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe. 
 
 ' How do you account for that, sir ?' asked 
 Herbert, curiosity loosening his tongue. ' Did he 
 ever sleep with the captain ?' 
 
 ' The captain would not have him.' 
 
 ' He could not have known the difference of 
 rank,' said Herbert. 
 
 ' Perhaps the midshipmen teased him more than 
 the others,' said Laura. 
 
 ' Perhaps so, but he never seemed to dislike the 
 teasing,' concluded the Admiral. ' I only know 
 the facts. In small as well as great things our 
 understanding is very limited ;' and he remained 
 silent until Mrs. Crewe suggested that the Admiral 
 would probably like to go into the drawing-room 
 with Laura, where she would join them presently. 
 
 ' Let me see you before I go,' said the general 
 benefactor to Herbert, and he followed his ward 
 into the next room. * I am going to leave you, my 
 dear Laura,' said he, when he had taken his seat in 
 an armchair and watched his ward knitting for an 
 instant. ' 1 return home on Thursday. My sister 
 
 II— 2
 
 i64 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 is not well ; I think I have mentioned that she is 
 highly nervous, and I have been away from her for 
 a long time.' 
 
 ' You have indeed !' exclaimed Laura, ' and for 
 our sakes. You have been so good that I feel it 
 is beyond our thanks. How lonely I shall feel 
 when you are gone ; and yet I should feel much 
 worse if Mrs. Crewe were not so kind ; that is 
 another debt to you, this quiet home.' 
 
 ' I am convinced of your gratitude,' said the 
 Admiral calmly. * You are my particular charge, 
 and I think you are a girl of principle ; but I much 
 incline to believe that you have a ground-tier of 
 self-will. Not that you have ever opposed me, but 
 I have observed you closely, and I counsel you ta 
 subdue any tendency to wilfulness when you per- 
 ceive it arise, my dear Laura.' 
 
 Laura listened in no small surprise. 
 
 ' I am not aware of it,' she said ; ' but I will 
 watch myself.' 
 
 ' Submission is a rare and noble virtue in the 
 young,' continued the Admiral ; * strive to attain to 
 it :' and he held out his hand for hers, which he 
 pressed kindly. 
 
 ' Your cousin has of course written to you,' he 
 resumed. ' I have had a letter from her, from 
 which I can see she is not pleased with her relations 
 or her reception ; does she write in the same strain 
 to you ?' 
 
 'Just the sam.e,' returned Laura, earnestly hoping 
 he would not ask to see the letter.
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 165 
 
 ' The beginning is painful in most things, and 
 strange places and people are often unattractive at 
 first ; but Winnie may grow to like her aunt and 
 cousins, and find a happy home with them. She is 
 herself so lovable that she will no doubt make 
 friends wherever she goes.' 
 
 ' She is indeed ; and oh, what a loss to me 1' 
 
 'That I can understand,' replied the Admiral 
 kindly. * However, it would be well if she should 
 continue under the care of such natural protectors 
 as she has found. I am a little afraid of her 
 making vain and imprudent efforts at self-support ; 
 if she can make herself useful and acceptable to her 
 aunt, it would be better than to run any risk among 
 strangers.-* 
 
 ' But, dear guardian, do you not think that even 
 young girls have a right to try and earn their own 
 living ?' 
 
 ' With certain restrictions, yes.' 
 
 ' I am deeply interested in your opinion/ cried 
 Laura, ' because I want to sell my pictures if I can. 
 It is a- tremendous if, I fear, and I can do nothing 
 without your consent.' 
 
 The Admiral smiled indulgently, with a soft, far- 
 away look in his dark eyes. 
 
 * Yes, yes, I know you young creatures are led 
 away with a dream of independence ; you think if 
 you can but fill your purse you can be free : you 
 forget that time alone can set you free from your 
 apprenticeship — from the duty of obedience to 
 those whom nature or circumstances, which are
 
 t66 the admirals WARD. 
 
 God's by-laws, have set over you. Nevertheless, 
 I do not say that the ambition is altogether wrong. 
 Paint your pictures, Laura, but do not go abroad to 
 sell them. Let me know when you have some- 
 thing to dispose of, and we will see what can be 
 done.' 
 
 ' But I have some ready/ cried Laura, her heart 
 palpitating with eagerness ; ' one or two copies of 
 pictures in the gallery, the Dresden Gallery_, and 
 two scenes in Saxon Switzerland. They are here 
 now — they came in our heavy boxes ; may I show 
 them to you ?' and she rose up. 
 
 ' It would be useless, Laura ; I have no know- 
 ledge of such things, and little taste for them ; at 
 best they are a poor travestie of the beauty of 
 nature. I prefer to talk with you.' He paused. 
 ' Mr. Trent, my solicitor, has proposed that his 
 wife, who is some relation of yours, should call 
 upon you,' resumed the Admiral. ' If she asks to 
 see your paintings, let her see them ; she is perhaps 
 able and willing to help you.' 
 
 ' Did she say she would come and see me ? how 
 very kind !' cried Laura ; ' why, I am gathering 
 quite a circle of acquaintance. I forgot to tell you 
 that Reginald's mother and sister called a day or 
 two before Winnie left, but we were out.' 
 
 ' Indeed !' said the Admiral, visibly gratified. 
 * They are no doubt cognizant of the kindness 
 shown to young Piers in the Rectory days.' 
 
 'But tell me, dearest guardian, should Winnie 
 find these Liverpool people unendurable, you will
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 167 
 
 let her come back here ? Oh, how happy we might 
 be living together, if I could sell my pictures and 
 she could get music-pupils !' 
 
 ' Do not allow yourself to speak with that dis- 
 respectful tone, my dear child, of persons who may 
 be ^worthy of all esteem : these careless modes of 
 speech deteriorate thought. Yes, should Winnie 
 really be unhappy, I will deliver her out of their 
 hands,' said the Admiral kindly. 'But we must 
 give them a fair trial : we must not judge prema- 
 turely. Trust me, however, Laura ; I do not wish 
 Winnie to be crushed, and should her aunt and 
 uncle prove harsh or unfriendly, she shall leave 
 them. Now tell me, Laura, how are you off for 
 money? I know you are prudent, but I do not 
 wish you to be penniless.' 
 
 ^ Oh, thank you !' exclaimed Laura, colouring, 
 * I have the money you brought me almost un- 
 touched. I only wish I had not to live upon your 
 bounty.' 
 
 ' There is the pride and self-will of which I 
 spoke,' said the Admiral, not unkindly; 'you know 
 I have gladly charged myself with the care of your 
 future. I only hesitate to undertake that of your 
 cousin, because I do not yet see clearly that it is 
 given to me.' 
 
 ' No pride could be hurt by an obligation to 
 you,' replied Laura warmly ; while she thought, 
 ' By what instinct does he divine my rebellion 
 against authority — even his kind authority t for I 
 have never disobeyed him ; yet how essential free-
 
 i68 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 dom is to my very existence ! Why is it that I 
 must walk in paths of my own making if I am to 
 move at all ?' 
 
 But this conversation comforted Laura. The 
 Admiral was so absolutely true and sincere, that 
 the lightest word with him was binding as the 
 solemnest vow, and she firmly believed that poor 
 Winnie's evil days would not last long.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HE important Wednesday broke mistily, 
 with gusts of rain and wind. Mrs. 
 Crewe was loud in her lamentations at 
 the untoward change of weather. 
 ' It makes such a mess of one's clothes,' she said, 
 as she endeavoured to discover a morsel of blue 
 sky in the square portion visible over the back 
 garden. ' And there is that dear Topsy washing 
 her face as hard as she can, which is a sure sign of 
 a wet day ! Don't you think, Laura dear, we might 
 share a cab from the Marble Arch — it would be 
 money well spent — and then we would go in at 
 Lady Jervois's nice and fresh, instead of being 
 draggled and splashed and untidy ? I don't want 
 
 you to look like a poor relation ' 
 
 ' Well, nor do I, though I am one,' returned 
 Laura, laughing; Met us have the cab, by all 
 means.' 
 
 ' It will be just tenpence each, omnibus included,' 
 said Mrs. Crewe, making a rapid calculation ; * and
 
 ft 
 
 170 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 if you do not mind a cold luncheon at half-past 
 twelve, it will give us time to dress and get to 
 Mount Street by two o'clock.' 
 
 The moment of giving their names to the serious- 
 looking man out of livery who opened the door was 
 one of no small trial. Laura could not reason her- 
 self out of the mingled apprehension and excitement 
 with which she looked forward to the ordeal of 
 introduction to Reginald's mother and sister. 
 
 Why should she dread meeting people who had 
 gone out of their way to show her civility ? But 
 though there was no satisfactory answer to this 
 question, she could not quiet the rapid throbbing 
 of her pulses, nor attend to the whispered observa- 
 tions of Mrs. Crewe, who, with an air of haughty 
 self-possession, uttered sharp comments under her 
 breath : ' The stair-carpets are shockingly shabby,' 
 and, ' What a dusty landing !' ' The paint does not 
 look very fresh,' etc. The next moment the door 
 was flung open, and their names called out in loud 
 tones : 
 
 ' Mrs. Crewe and Miss Piers.' 
 
 But there, just within the threshold, stood 
 Reginald, erect, fresh, smiling, with flowers in his 
 button-hole, and his usual w^ell-cared-for aspect. 
 At sight of him, new courage sprang up in Laura's 
 heart. 
 
 In an easy-chair near the w^indow, with a small 
 work-table beside her, sat a refined-looking elderly 
 lady, whose quietly rich morning dress was well-
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 171 
 
 suited to a dowager of distinction; and in the 
 middle distance a small, delicate, pretty woman, in 
 a simple cent costume, with pale blue ribbons and 
 a ' Corday ' cap of muslin and Valenciennes lace, 
 was looking at an illustrated paper. 
 
 The whole scene stamped itself on Laura's 
 memory once and for ever : the somewhat dingy 
 ready furnished look of the room, the perfume of 
 the heliotrope and roses which were its best orna- 
 ments, the pose of its occupants, the indefinable 
 air of assured position stamped upon them. Finally, 
 the image of herself reflected in a long glass 
 between the windows facing her as she came in, 
 so black, so insignificant, in her scarf and large hat. 
 She did not observe, what Reginald did, that there 
 w^as something dignified in her composure, some- 
 thing pleasant in the honest steadiness of her eyes, 
 which, to those who took the trouble of noticing 
 them, saved her from being commonplace. The 
 reflection of Mrs. Crewe was also a little incongruous; 
 her height was overpowering, and though slight 
 rather than stout, she had large ways ; her dress, 
 too, though in passing good taste, had evidently 
 not come from the same class of laboratory as 
 Mrs. Piers's. While these thoughts were flashing 
 through her mind, Reginald was greeting them 
 cordially. 
 
 * Very good of you to come out in such horrid 
 weather, Mrs. Crewe. Let me introduce you to 
 my mother. My sister Lady Jervois, Mrs. Crewe. 
 Mother, let me present my old playfellow, Laura
 
 172 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 Piers, to you ; you have often heard me talk of her 
 and of the Fieldens.' 
 
 Mrs. Piers rose, and, stepping a few inches 
 forward, made a shght stiff courtesy, first to Mrs. 
 Crewe, then to Laura, and after a scarce perceptible 
 hesitation held out her hand to the latter. 
 
 ' Very happy to see you — won't you sit 
 down ?' 
 
 Lady Jervois was much more cordial ; she came 
 forward smilingly, and said she was very pleased 
 to make their acquaintance, but she too only 
 offered her hand to Laura. Mrs. Crewe was an 
 outsider, a dweller on the threshold, an unknown 
 quantity, who must be, as it were, kept beyond the 
 barriers, and though good-breeding insisted on 
 padding those barriers, they must, nevertheless, be 
 impassable ; all of which was perfectly perceptible 
 to Mrs. Crewe, who by nature and grace was 
 peculiarly qualified to penetrate and appreciate 
 the mystic cabala of good society. She showed no 
 sign, however, only from the reserved force of 
 family connections evoked the shade of her noble 
 great-grandfather, and held him in readiness for a 
 decisive moment to turn the tide of opinion in her 
 favour. 
 
 After the first greetings had been exchanged, 
 they sat down — Laura near Mrs. Piers, Mrs. Crewe 
 near Lady Jervois, and Reginald between them, 
 ready to lend his aid to either party. 
 
 ' I was very sorry to hear of Mr. Fielden's death,* 
 said Mrs. Piers, looking earnestly at Laura, her
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 173 
 
 countenance relaxing as she looked. * It has been 
 a sad loss to his family.' 
 
 'A terrible loss, one we feel more and more 
 each day/ returned Laura; and Reginald thought 
 that a voice so sweet and clear and delicately 
 refined was in itself a beauty, a recommendation 
 with which his mother must be pleased. 
 
 ' No doubt. You were brought up with the 
 family, my son tells me,' said Mrs. Piers, whose 
 manner was coldly polite. 
 
 ' I never knew any father or mother except my 
 uncle and aunt Fielden,' replied Laura, with a little 
 quiver in her voice. 
 
 ' Yes ! Laura was poor Mr. Fielden^s special 
 favourite,' put in Reginald ; ' she was his secretary 
 and right hand. He kept you pretty close, too, 
 Laura ! Do you remember the day we were going 
 to see the sheep-shearing at Oatlands, and you 
 could not come because your uncle had to finish 
 something by post-time, and you were obliged to 
 copy, or look up authorities, or some such thing ? 
 It was awfully hard lines ! I remember you tried 
 to hide the tears, but / saw them, eh, Laura ?' 
 
 ' Yes, it was a fearful disappointment,' said Laura, 
 with a sad little smile at the memory. 
 
 * So it was to me — by Jove ! I did not enjoy 
 the expedition a bit without you.' 
 
 Mrs. Piers looked curiously at her son. 
 Meantime Lady Jervois, with some difficulty, 
 started a conversation with Mrs. Crewe. 
 
 * Sorry not to find you at home the other day !
 
 174 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 I had no idea Westbourne Park was such a nice 
 neighbourhood. Have you been residing there 
 long ?' 
 
 ' Nearly two years — yes, it is pretty well for a 
 suburb,' said Mrs. Crewe magnificently ; * but if I 
 had more of this world's goods, it is not the situation 
 I should choose. However, I need not say that a 
 sailor's widow has not much power of choice, and 
 I was a good deal influenced by the advice of my 
 dear friend Rear- Admiral Desbarres (an old mess- 
 mate of my late husband's) in the choice of resi- 
 dence,' returned Mrs. Crewe blandly. 
 
 ' Oh ! indeed,' said Lady Jervois. ' It's rather a 
 long w^ay out.' 
 
 ' The omnibuses are very convenient,' rejoined 
 Mrs. Crewe, who disdained concealing her mode 
 of locomotion. 'They are not elegant, but most 
 commodious,' etc., etc. 
 
 ' Are you going to make any stay in town ?' asked 
 Mrs. Piers. 
 
 ' Yes,' said Laura ; ' I think my home in future 
 will be with Mrs. Crewe.' 
 
 'Ah !' ejaculated Mrs. Piers softly. 
 
 * Have you seen the Academy exhibition V asked 
 Lady Jervois. 
 
 ' Not yet,' said Laura ; ' it is almost the only 
 thing I care to see ' 
 
 ' Very well,' remarked Reginald. ' We must go, 
 and I shall listen with deference to your criticisms ! 
 Miss Piers is an artist herself, Helen.' 
 
 ' I am very fond of painting, but I fear I have
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 175 
 
 small claim to the title of artist/ returned Laura, 
 colouring faintly. 
 
 * Indeed you will allow me to say, though per- 
 haps I am no great judge, that you have a decided 
 genius,' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe. * I assure you,' 
 addressing Mrs. Piers, ' there are some heads (one 
 especially of an old man in a turban) which my 
 friend Miss Piers did in Germany, that look abso- 
 lutely alive, perfectly wonderful ! Then she is 
 making a charming picture of my favourite cat — a 
 great pet — such an intelligent darling ! — and she is 
 also painting a sweet landscape — that pretty thing 
 with trees and a pool of water, Laura — it reminds 
 me of a part of my great-grandfather's woods at 
 Coomb, Lord Denzil of Coomb — perhaps you 
 know the family ?' 
 
 ' I know whom you mean, but am not acquainted 
 with any of them,' said Mrs. Piers icily. 
 
 * It must be very nice to paint,' said Lady 
 Jervois. ' Used you to copy in the Dresden 
 Gallery ?' 
 
 * Yes, occasionally.' 
 
 ' You must let me see your pictures, Laura,' said 
 Reginald. ' I will come to-morrow about two, if 
 you will let me, and turn over the contents of your 
 studio ; of course you have a studio ?' 
 
 ' No, I regret to say not as yet,' said Mrs. Crewe 
 loftily ; ' we have scarcely settled down, but I hope 
 to keep my young friend with me for a long time, 
 and I have a very nice breakfast-room opening to 
 the garden, which I shall certainly give her for an
 
 176 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 atelier ! The exercise of talent such as hers should 
 not be impeded.' 
 
 ' Certainly not. And Laura, you must come 
 down to Pierslynn and immortalize some of our 
 "banks and braes." I fancy, from the glance I 
 had (it was little more), that there are many pretty 
 bits about the place. Eh, mother, we must get 
 Laura down there, and let her paint to her heart's 
 content !' 
 
 Mrs. Piers smiled — not a cordial smile. ' You 
 are the master Reginald,' she said ; ' it is for you to 
 invite the guests.' Then, turning to Laura, ' I was 
 sorry not to see Miss Fielden when I called. 
 Reginald owes many pleasant days to her father's 
 hospitality.' 
 
 ' Oh yes ! Reginald was quite one of us at the 
 Rectory ; we always enjoyed his visits,' returned 
 Laura, with unconscious familiarity; and she looked 
 kindly and frankly at him. 
 
 Mrs. Piers's delicate cheek flushed slightly, and In 
 spite of a lifetime of social training her brow con- 
 tracted with a momentary expression of annoyance 
 at this indication of intimacy, of perfect equality, 
 with that important potentate her son, the lord of 
 Pierslynn — the future spouse of some noble damsel. 
 She familiar ! a mere waif and stray — a remote 
 offshoot of the family ! 
 
 But Laura did not notice it — for Reginald, bend- 
 ing a little towards her, with a look that sent a 
 strange shiver through her veins, said very dis- 
 tinctly, ' They were my happiest days.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 177 
 
 And Lady Jervois followed up the speech 
 quickly by saying, 'Miss Fielden has left town, 
 has she not ?' 
 
 ' She has gone to stay with her aunt in Liver- 
 pool,' replied Laura. 
 
 Then a somewhat languid conversation dragged 
 on — something was said about regret at leaving 
 town so soon, and not being able to see Miss Piers 
 again ; and Lady Jervois explained that they were 
 going to her brother's place in a few days, to await 
 Sir Gilbert's return ; and then, to Laura's relief, 
 Mrs. Crewe rose to take leave. 
 
 ' I will come too/ said Reginald, with the same 
 easy cordiality he had shown all through the visit, 
 and followed them downstairs. ' How are you 
 going back?' he asked, as they issued from the 
 house. 
 
 ' It is not raining now,' said Mrs. Crewe, raising 
 her dress dexterously in graceful folds, ' and we 
 have a little shopping to do before our return, so 
 we will make our way to Regent Street.' 
 
 * Very well. Where to 1 — Howell and James's ?' 
 ' No, to Jay's.' 
 
 * But you have not told me if I may come to- 
 morrow and see the paintings. Eh, Mrs. Crewe ?' 
 
 ' Oh ! my dear Mr. Piers, you are most wel- 
 come as far as I am concerned/ said that lady 
 graciously. 
 
 ' If you really care, Reginald, I shall be very 
 pleased to show you my work ; but I did not think 
 you would be troubled with such things.' 
 
 VOL. I. 12
 
 178 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 * I am more artistic in my tastes than you 
 fancy !' 
 
 They talked pleasantly until they reached the 
 well-known emporium, where Reginald left them, 
 with a parting pressure of the hand, and the 
 words, * At two, then, to-morrow.' 
 
 ' Well, my dear ! and what did you think of our 
 visit ?' said Mrs. Crewe, as she settled herself in her 
 favourite chair, her feet on a footstool, and Topsy 
 curled up luxuriously in her lap. 
 
 They had done a good deal of miscellaneous 
 buying at a small outlay since they parted with 
 Reginald. They had had a severe struggle for 
 places in a ' White Hart ' omnibus, and reached 
 home late, where Mrs. Crewe found a short but 
 satisfactory letter from her son awaiting her ; thus 
 tea was delayed, and this was the first moment free 
 for discussion. 
 
 ' There is not much to think about,' said Laura, 
 who was sitting by the open window in unusual 
 idleness. ' It was all very commonplace. Mrs. 
 Piers is very different from Reginald ! I do not 
 think she was particularly glad to see us.' 
 
 'And I think,' said Mrs. Crewe, with candour 
 and decision, ' that she is a most forbidding, con- 
 temptuous person ! Why, she hardly took any 
 notice of me ; no more than if I was — nobody at 
 all. Who is Mrs. Piers, I should like to know? 
 Nothing very particular, I believe ! Lady Jervois 
 is much nicer, much better bred ! How that ele-
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 179 
 
 gant, charming, delightful young man can be her 
 son (I mean Mrs. Piers's) I cannot imagine ! But, 
 Laura, my dear, I understand it all — to me it is as 
 plain as A B C. That woman (excuse my call- 
 ing her so, but I can't help it) — that woman is 
 afraid of yon ; she sees that nice son of hers Is 
 devotedly attached to you, and she Is enraged at 
 his constancy ! Now do not Interrupt me, Laura ; 
 pray do not be foolish at such an Important crisis 
 of your life. I. am sure you are superior to mock 
 modesty, and I am also sure you cannot be In- 
 different to your cousin ; it would not be human 
 nature.' 
 
 * Mrs. Crewe, I beg of you ' began poor 
 
 Laura, trying to stem the torrent of her elo- 
 quence. 
 
 ' Do hear me out,' cried Mrs. Crewe persistently. 
 ' Don't let any ridiculous false pride come between 
 you and fortune, happiness, and your bounden 
 duty. Be advised by me, I implore and beseech ! 
 You know I only speak for your own good. Why 
 you should be blind, or pretend to be blind, to Mr. 
 Piers's Intentions, I cannot understand !' 
 
 ' You would understand, Mrs. Crewe,' said Laura, 
 seriously distressed, and eager to disabuse her 
 hostess's mind of the unfortunate impression she 
 had so readily adopted — ' you would understand if 
 you knew the terms we were on at Cheddington. 
 Why, he used to tell me his love affairs, and I used 
 to darn his socks — for he was a good deal neg- 
 lected — and he used to talk to me as if I were sure 
 
 12 2
 
 i8o THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 to be an old maid — that is, till the last time, when 
 I suppose he was old enough to think it uncivil. 
 He was always fond of me in a way, I think, 
 because I understood him. But to fall in love with 
 me ! dear Mrs. Crewe, you don't know how he 
 adores beauty, or you would never dream of such 
 a thing.' 
 
 'There is no accounting for such feelings,' re- 
 turned that lady, with more candour than courtesy. 
 
 ' It is just the old kindly brotherly feeling that 
 brings him here. .If you talk in this way, you will 
 destroy my comfort in seeing him — I shall feel and 
 seem awkward, and he will perceive it, and fancy 
 heaven knows what ! perhaps not care to come 
 near me any more ! I could ill spare so good a 
 friend. If you will only leave him alone — well — I 
 will readily promise to accept him if he proposes 
 for me, but only on condition that you never say 
 anything more about the possibility of such an 
 event ;' and with a pleasant caressing smile, Laura 
 took Mrs. Crewe's hand. 
 
 ' Very good,' returned that lady, who was easily 
 mollified. ' I agree ; but I must just once more 
 say, that I firmly believe I shall see you mistress 
 oi Pierslynn before many months are over.' 
 
 'Then remember our bargain,' said Laura, 
 laughing. 
 
 ' Yes, I will ; but you cannot prevent me from 
 forming my own opinion ;' and Mrs.. Crewe nodded 
 sagely. 
 
 However, she evidently considered the compact
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. i8i 
 
 binding, for she at once changed the subject, and 
 did not openly allude to it for a considerable time 
 — covert hints and knowing glances she never 
 could resist — but for the present she began to talk 
 of turning the breakfast-room into a ' studio,' as 
 she liked to call it. 
 
 ' It is really a nice little room in summer, and 
 opens on the garden. I don't think you could use 
 it in winter — it never has any sun — but that is of 
 no consequence. You will probably not require — 
 ahem ! I beg your pardon.' 
 
 ' It has a north light, perhaps,' returned Laura, 
 disregarding this lapse ; 'and that is just the thing 
 for a painting-room.' 
 
 After some further explanation touching her in- 
 tentions of placing sundry articles of furniture, 
 culled from the not too-abundant 'plenishing of 
 the other apartments, in the studio, ending with^ 
 * Your cousin must have a chair to sit down upon, my 
 dear,' to which Laura returned good-humouredly, 
 ' And so must you, when you come to see me,' Mrs. 
 Crewe produced her son's letter. 
 
 ' Dear boy,' she said, ' he was just going to leave 
 the Cape — for a place called Rio — and hoped to 
 see me before three months were over. I think 
 you will be very pleased with Denzil, Laura ; he is 
 so intellectual and refined. He is as much a gentle- 
 man as if he were on board a flagship ! Ah ! what 
 a pity it is -that adverse circumstances did not 
 permit of his going into the Royal Navy,' etc., etc., 
 etc.
 
 i82 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 When Laura was at last alone in her own room, 
 she could not regulate the thronging crowd of 
 thoughts that passed wave after wave through her 
 brain, and stood long, her hand resting on the 
 dressing-table, just as she put down the candle, 
 seeing visions of the old time and the new. 
 
 Poor Mrs. Crewe's imaginings were simply the 
 dream of a kind, commonplace person — whose 
 idea of feminine good fortune could reach no 
 further than a rich marriage, and was quite in- 
 capable of conceiving friendship between man and 
 woman — still, strive for mastery as she would over 
 the suggestions of fancy, Laura could not quite 
 turn from the glories suggested by her good- 
 natured friend's conjectures ; it was sweet and 
 delightful enough to find Keginald so true and 
 frank and kindly, but if it were possible that he 
 should love her! surely the confines of mortal 
 mould would be too narrow to hold her enraptured 
 spirit ! 
 
 She knew how fondly she had cherished the 
 memory of her gay, gallant, good-looking play- 
 fellow down in the innermost depths of her soul, 
 where none could see her weakness, not even 
 Winnie, her dearest confidante. And in this 
 secrecy was her strength. Never had she de- 
 ceived herself as to the quality of Reginald's feel- 
 ings, and the discovery of her own warmer affection, 
 which dawned upon her with the growing wisdom 
 of womanhood, had brought with it the bitterest 
 mortification. To love, when that love was un-
 
 ' THE ADMIRALS WARD. 183 
 
 sought, was degradation ; and to hide and conquer 
 the intense longing for a return of what she gave 
 became the supreme effort of her Hfe. Nor was it 
 unsuccessful. ♦ 
 
 Round Reginald still centred her tenderest in- 
 terest, her most artistic imaginings, that purple and 
 golden haze of loveliest illusion, fairest, sweetest 
 attribute of youth and genius ; but his love she 
 had ceased to long for, or regret, or regard as in 
 any way possible. She had never hoped for it. 
 Now she could hold his hand with unquickened 
 pulse. She could look into his eyes with the 
 calmest, most sisterly glance. Yet the love was 
 not dead, but slept, ready to spring into vivid 
 burning life at the touch of the master's hand. 
 
 And Laura coitld love.' Within that plain un- 
 attractive exterior was enshrined a soul of rare 
 and subtle power, keen to perceive and drink in 
 beauty, to recognise all that was noble and true, 
 unstinted in its generous self-devotion to those she 
 loved, quick to resent injustice, and glowing with 
 the healthy circulation of a pure rich nature ! Ah ! 
 could she have moulded the prison-house of such 
 an inmate in harmony with its fair proportions, 
 no lovelier form had ever inspired painter or poet. 
 As it was, ' she was just a good sensible girl, but 
 decidedly plain,' in the sight of her kinsfolk and 
 acquaintance, except in Winnie's, who firmly be- 
 lieved in Laura's genius and knowledge and uni- 
 versal ability. 
 
 'Oh, I do hope ]\Irs. Crewe will leave me in
 
 1 84 
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 peace ! her words rouse up old follies. I shall lose 
 all, if I lose my precious calm friendship with 
 
 Reginald— I want nothing more — yet ' and even 
 
 her thoughts became indistinct at the recollection 
 of his last look and hand-pressure. 
 
 At last, with a supreme effort, she roused herself 
 and undressed, taking a tough German book to 
 bed with her, read resolutely until she had brought 
 her imagination within bounds, and at last dropped 
 asleep.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 "^"^gHE little downstairs parlour was a tower 
 '^^ of refuge to Laura, and a source of 
 
 great enjoyment. There she could 
 spread out the implements of her art, 
 and leave them undisturbed, to return to when she 
 could. There Mrs. Crewe occasionally descended 
 with Topsy on her shoulder, and gave utterance 
 to her admiration and approbation in the largest 
 capitals. There, too, were Miss Brown and Mr. 
 Brown solemnly introduced to view the progress of 
 the fine arts as exemplified by Miss Piers's brush 
 and pencil. There Herbert tried chemical experi- 
 ments, creating horrible odours, and also en- 
 deavoured to draw, under his cousin's direction. 
 Above all, there Reginald lounged in the early 
 afternoon or evening, criticizing, praising, disputing, 
 talking of himself and his plans, his hopes, his 
 ambitions, very much as in the Cheddington days^ 
 only there was something of a foundation in his 
 present castles.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 He had taken Laura to several of the Exhi- 
 bitions and Galleries ; he had presented Mrs. 
 Crewe with a box at one or other of the best 
 theatres on several occasions, much to that lady's 
 gratification, for she dearly loved sight-seeing and 
 junketing ; and above all, he had more than once 
 partaken of tea-dinner, with great apparent con- 
 tent, praised the veal-and-ham pie, and declared 
 the pressed beef worthy of all commendation. 
 
 Meantime Laura was half frightened at the dim, 
 delightful haze of happiness that seemed to fold 
 her in its vague, soothing sweetness — could it last ? 
 Could it be possible that she was growing dear to 
 Reginald } Meantime, it was almost faithless to 
 be so happy when dear Winnie was sad and 
 alone. 
 
 Winnie's letters had not increased in cheerful- 
 ness. For the first couple of weeks Aunt Morgan 
 had been very pleasant, and ' uncle ' less morose ; 
 then the former had suggested that while Winnie 
 was looking about, and she herself not suited with 
 a governess, her niece might as well hear Fanny 
 practise, and give both younger girls lessons in 
 German, with occasional instructions in ' conversa- 
 tion' to Amelia, 'who has had very expensive 
 lessons indeed.'' So Winnie found herself an un- 
 paid governess, with an infinitely more difficult 
 task as regards discipine than a stranger would 
 have had, owing to the familiarity of her cousins ; 
 while their parents evidently considered themselves 
 as infinitely benevolent in permitting her ' to try
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 187 
 
 her 'prentice hand at teaching,' as Mrs. Morgan 
 expressed it. 
 
 Still poor Winnie wrote bravely, though here and 
 there touching little phrases expressive of helpless 
 despondency escaped her pen. Yet she forbade 
 Laura communicating the true condition of things 
 to the Admiral. 
 
 ' I write to him every week,' she said, ' as truly 
 but as cheerfully as I can, and it is evidently his 
 intention that I should endure until it is unen- 
 durable.' 
 
 Laura understood the spirit that upheld Winnie 
 in her courageous obedience. Moreover, though 
 Dick wrote kindly and sympathetically, it was 
 evidently out of his power for the present to give 
 the family any substantial aid. 
 
 ' If I could but have her with me !' was Laura's 
 cry ; and then Reginald would whisper mysterious 
 consolation. 
 
 ' Don't make yourself miserable, Laura. Let 
 me go and see the Admiral ; I will go as soon as 
 ever I settle my mother at Pierslynn, and then — 
 we shall see.' 
 
 One of the pleasantest episodes of this pleasant 
 time was a visit from Mrs. Trent. 
 
 Laura and Mrs. Crewe were upstairs preparing 
 for an expedition to some elysium of cheapness in 
 Tottenham Court Road, where Mrs. Crewe proposed 
 to make various purchases of beauty and utility for 
 her house, which was to her a shrine on which she 
 lavished time, toil, and money.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 * Please come down, ma'am ; there is a lady in the 
 drawing-room/ said Collins, as Mrs. Crewe opened 
 her door to the knock. 
 
 ' Dear, dear ! I should not wonder if it were Mrs. 
 Piers. Laura ! I believe Mrs. Piers is in the 
 drawing-room, but that stupid girl forgot to bring 
 up her card.' 
 
 ' Mrs. Piers !' repeated Laura, turning a little cold 
 and pale with an unaccountable degree of appre- 
 hension, ' I do not fancy it is Mrs. Piers.' 
 
 On entering the carefully darkened drawing- 
 room, a tall handsome woman, richly and tastefully 
 dressed, came forward smiling and civil. 
 
 * Miss Piers, I presume ! I must present myself 
 I am a sort of far-away cousin. Perhaps Mr. Piers 
 of Pierslynn may have mentioned me to you — 
 Mrs. Trent, nee Piers.' 
 
 ' Oh yes/ said Laura shyly, ' I am very happy to 
 see you /and then the usual introduction to 'Mrs. 
 Crewe followed. 
 
 Mrs. Trent was abundantly civil — quite sunny — 
 ready to agree with anything and everything : she 
 had been away, she said, to Southsea with the 
 youngest little girl, who had lately recovered from 
 whooping-cough and required change, or she would 
 have sooner done herself the pleasure of calling on 
 Miss Piers aiid Mrs. Crewe. Had they seen the 
 Admiral lately ? What a charming ideal kind of 
 man he was, a sort of knightly Christian ! Miss 
 Piers was fortunate to have such a guardian. Mr. 
 Trent — though, like most men of business, exceed-
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 189 
 
 ingly unimpressionable — was quite impressed by 
 Admiral Desbarres. Had Miss Piers been lone in 
 Germany ? ' Three years ! How nice ! / have 
 only paid flying visits to the'principal towns during 
 our legal holidays, and always longed to make my- 
 self better acquainted with the country. I am told 
 you are an artist, Miss Piers. May I see some of 
 your pictures ? I am a humble lover of art my- 
 self ' 
 
 ' Indeed, I have nothing worth looking at !' said 
 Laura. 
 
 ' Nonsense, my dear,' put in ]\Irs. Crewe loftily. 
 ' Pray show Mrs. Trent the studio_, as she is so good 
 as to take an interest in your work. I assure you 
 my young friend has decided talent, not to say 
 genius. Do take Mrs. Trent downstairs, Laura. 
 Mine is but a tiny mansion,' continued Mrs. Crewe 
 elegantly, 'but we can contrive a home for art 
 within its limits, humble as they are.' 
 
 ' But I am sure it is charmingly pretty and sweet,' 
 returned Mrs. Trent amiably, while she listened to 
 Laura's aside : 
 
 * The place is all in disorder, and Reggie has 
 been smoking there this morning.' 
 
 ' Never mind, dear, a studio never is orderly ; and 
 I am sure I don't know the morning that Mr. Piers 
 has not been smoking there,' with a significant look 
 at Mrs. Trent which fortunately escaped Laura. 
 
 * If you really care to see any of my attempts,' 
 said Laura, ' I will bring one or two for you to look 
 at,' and she left the room.
 
 igo THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' You see a good deal of Mr. Piers, I suppose ?' 
 observed Mrs. Trent. 
 
 ' A great deal,' returned Mrs. Crewe ; * and a 
 very charming young man he is, so unaffected and 
 unspoiled with all this wonderful change of fortune.' 
 
 * Quite so/ acquiesced Mrs. Trent. * We were 
 always fond of Reginald, and saw a good deal of 
 him formerly. I believe the Pierslynn property is 
 a very fine one, and besides there was a large sum 
 of ready money, investments, and I know not what. 
 Do you know Mrs. Piers and Lady Jervois?' 
 
 ' Slightly ; we have exchanged visits,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe, with supreme elegant nonchalance. 'But 
 Mr. Piers is naturally a good deal here, his old 
 friendship with ' 
 
 It is impossible to say of what imprudence Mrs. 
 Crewe might not have been guilty, when Laura's 
 return interrupted her speech and Mrs. Trent's 
 somewhat eager attention. 
 
 ' This is rather a large picture, but as it was a 
 favourite of my uncle's, I copied it in the same 
 size as the original. It is in the Dresden Gallery, 
 and is by a pupil of Rembrandt.' 
 
 ' It is evidently an excellent copy,' said Mrs. 
 Trent, stepping backwards till she got it into a 
 proper light. ' Your flesh-tint is very good, and 
 that white turban must have been difficult ; really, 
 Miss Piers, you have a great deal of talent ; and 
 these smaller pictures ?' 
 
 ' These I painted from nature ; that is a little 
 study of rocks and trees near Konigstein ; and this
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 191 
 
 is a bit of the Elbe in Saxon Switzerland, a 
 sunset/ 
 
 'Very charmln<^, very sweet,' remarked Mrs. 
 Trent, evidently a little surprised. ' I am no judge, 
 yet they seem to me very good. I hope you will 
 not be displeased if I ask you to let me carry these 
 pictures away with me : Mr. Trent understood from 
 Admiral Desbarres that you would not object to 
 sell some of your paintings.' 
 
 ' Object!' exclaimed Laura, flushing with pleasure 
 at this opening, ' I should only be too glad to sell 
 any of them, or to get an order — as artists say — 
 but I fear the head is too large for your carriage to 
 hold conveniently.'' 
 
 ' Oh, I shall manage it,' said Mrs. Trent compla- 
 cently. ' I am not able, you understand, to be my- 
 self a patron of art, but I have a friend who is a 
 great picture-fancier, and he might possibly fancy 
 one of these ; I should like this Elbe picture my- 
 self — pray, what do you expect for it ?' 
 
 ' Oh ! I have no idea what to ask,' cried Laura, 
 smiling ; ' I should be quite satisfied with whatever 
 you would like to give ;' on which Mrs. Crewe, 
 behind the visitor's back, frowned with a warning 
 shake of the head. 
 
 ' Indeed,' she said, stepping forward, * I often tell 
 my dear young friend that genius like hers, if known, 
 would command a high price, and I want her very 
 much to try what a real judge of painting would 
 offer for her charming pictures. We have a very 
 artistic neighbour, who is of opinion that j\Iiss
 
 192 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 Piers ought to exhibit in oh, I forget the 
 
 name of the gallery, and then she would ascertain 
 her true value — it is not well to under-rate one's 
 self.' 
 
 ' Exactly so,' said Mrs. Trent blandly, ' and that 
 is just what those horrid picture-dealers who 
 frequent the galleries would do ; they would 
 persuade Miss Piers that her work was mere 
 daubing. We must do better. You are content, 
 then, to leave the affair in my hands ? Trust me, 
 I shall do the best I can for you.' 
 
 ' I am most grateful to you for this help,' said 
 Laura warmly. 
 
 ' Ahem ! Miss Piers is quite enthusiastic in her 
 artistic ardour,' said Mrs. Crewe, a little disdain- 
 fully ; she was always averse to Laura's project of 
 selling her pictures. ' But don't you think, my 
 dear,' turning to her, ' it would be as well to consult 
 your cousin before you part with them ? He takes 
 such a deep interest in all that concerns you, I 
 think it would be only right ' 
 
 ' Oh ! I do not see any necessity,^ interrupted 
 Laura, a little surprised ; * Reginald will be very 
 pleased to know that I have a chance of selling any- 
 thing ' 
 
 * Very well, Miss Piers, I hope I may bring you 
 good fortune. And tell me what you are going to 
 do this summer : I suppose you would like to see 
 something of English scenery, after your long 
 residence on the Continent ?' 
 
 ' I do not suppose I shall see anything of English
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 193 
 
 scenery beyond Kensington Gardens or Hamp- 
 stead,' said Laura, smiling. 
 
 ' Ah ! you think of staying in town all the 
 summer ? Well, it may do for once, as you have 
 been so much away ; but in general one requires a 
 little toning up for the winter after the season, and 
 the unavoidable excitement,^ etc., etc., and the 
 conversation rippled languidly along conventional 
 channels for a few minutes ; then Mrs. Trent rose^ 
 and Collins was summoned to assist the refined 
 footman to carry the pictures to the handsome 
 double brougham in waiting, while Mrs. Trent took 
 a gracious farewell of her young relative and Mrs. 
 Crewe. 
 
 ' I hope to see more of you,' she said, smiling ; 
 ' and as soon as I can fix a day I trust Mrs. Crewe 
 and yourself will come and dine with us sans cerc- 
 ino7iie! 
 
 * Thank you,^ said Laura simply. 
 ' It will give me great pleasure,' said Mrs. Crewe 
 formally ; and with a final ' Good-morning ' Mrs. 
 Trent departed. 
 
 ' How very nice and kind she is !' cried Laura 
 impulsively, as Mrs. Crewe hastily moved to her 
 usual post of observation behind the muslin 
 curtains. 
 
 ' Ye — es — a very neat turn-out indeed,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe ; ' a pair of dark chestnuts, coachman and 
 footman — well, well, it has taken a great many 
 six-and-eightpences to pay for all that, and I must 
 say she is a stylish well-mannered woman. Did 
 VOL. I. . 13
 
 194 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 you observe, Laura, she had a " Marie Stuart " 
 bonnet and a fringe ! and real Spanish lace on her 
 mantle ; but — I don't know how it is — I feel a sort 
 of distrust ! It is really almost a misfortune to have 
 the keen insight / have ! I do not like her carry- 
 ing off your pictures in that way ; depend upon it, 
 she will not get half their value for you ; there is 
 something under it all I cannot understand. Eh, 
 Laura, does it strike you ?' 
 
 * No, not at all, Mrs. Crewe ; I see nothing 
 whatever but simple good-nature, suggested, no 
 doubt, by the Admiral. Why should we suspect 
 evil ?' 
 
 ' Ah ! my dear, when you have seen as much of 
 life as I have, you will be as distrustful of appear- 
 ances ! If there is one thing on which I specially 
 
 pique myself, it is insight into character ; and ' 
 
 A pause. ' Should Mrs. Trent invite us to dinner 
 (which is far from certain), what shall I wear ? and 
 what have you in the way of toilette ?' etc., etc., etc. 
 
 In the lazy after-dinner time of the same day, 
 when the children had had their share of dessert, 
 and, having fulfilled their unconscious task of 
 amusing ' Papa,' had gone to bed, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Trent were left alone, as their eldest daughter was 
 staying with some friends in the Isle of Wight. 
 * Monsieur ' was half asleep in his chair, the even- 
 ing paper he had been endeavouring to decipher 
 slipping from his hand, and ' Madame/ in her cool, 
 careful demi-toilette of grey silk and white lace,
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 195 
 
 had put down the morsel of fancy work with which 
 she had been playing. 
 
 The room was deliciously dusk and fresh, the 
 odour of cut grass and flowers stealing in from the 
 gardens on which the windows opened, the small 
 Sutherland tea-table, with its burden of delicate 
 china and graceful silver, still standing where it 
 had been placed an hour ago against a background 
 of leaves and blossoms, which filled up and hid the 
 fireplace, the whole apartment expressive of the 
 well-ordered luxury which distinguishes a wealthy 
 English middle-class home, where every means 
 and appliance that can make the chariot-wheels of 
 life turn noiselessly and roll smoothly is used un- 
 sparingly, yet without relaxing that constant self- 
 restraint, that steady regard for appearances, which, 
 let Bohemians sneer as they will, give Philistines 
 the whip-hand of society. 
 
 * I called on that Miss Piers to-day,' said Mrs. 
 Trent, after a silence of some minutes. No answer. 
 * Are you asleep, John ?' 
 
 ' No — not at all ; what is it ? what do you 
 say V 
 
 ' I called on the Admiral's ward to-day,' re- 
 sumed his wife. 
 
 ' Well, you ought to have gone long ago ! why, it 
 is more than ten days since he left town,' said Mr. 
 Trent rather gruffly. 
 
 'And only three since I returned to it,' replied 
 Mrs. Trent, with unruffled composure. * Do you 
 know, John, I really believe Reginald is smitten 
 
 13—2
 
 196 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 with that very plain friend of his youth — Laura 
 Piers. It is evident he goes to see her every day.' 
 
 * Hum ! what is she Hke ?' 
 
 * She is a bundle of negatives — neither tall nor 
 short, nor dark nor fair, nor absolutely ugly nor 
 decidedly ungraceful : just the sort of girl men 
 would pass over without seeing ; and yet Reginald 
 goes every morning and smokes in some den of a 
 painting-room she has underground somewhere.' 
 
 * Oh ! He will take care of himself — he is am- 
 bitious, I can tell you ! He is not at all the kind 
 of fellow to make a foolish marriage.' 
 
 *I don't know — I think beauty goes a long 
 way with him ; but this Miss Piers is decidedly 
 plain.' 
 
 ' I thought she was not " decidedly " any- 
 thing.' 
 
 * Don't be contradictory, John ! — I admit there 
 is something pleasing and ladylike in her manners, 
 and her voice is peculiarly sweet — otherwise she is 
 supremely commonplace; but what impresses me 
 with the idea that Reginald is more closely /// with 
 his cousin than we think, is that he came here 
 yesterday quite late in the afternoon, and begged 
 me to go see the young artist and her works ; 
 moreover, he requested me to expend twenty 
 pounds for him in the purchase of some of her 
 pictures, as he knew she wanted money, and did 
 not know how to help her. He is of course to be 
 kept out of sight' 
 
 ' A very pretty bit of romance,^ said Mr. Trent,
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 197 
 
 with a quick, mocking smile. ' Could he not hand 
 twenty pounds to the Admiral for her use ?' 
 
 ' Perhaps the Admiral would not take it ; at any 
 rate, I performed the commission, and brought 
 away three pictures. She paints very well ; I 
 should rather like to take one myself — I think it 
 would look well.' 
 
 * What would you do with it ?' 
 
 'I do not know — I am going to ask Katie's 
 drawing-master to look at them ' 
 
 ' Oh, as to value, that's " nil," I fancy — but buy 
 one if you like, only do not be too romantically 
 generous as to price ; I think you give your imagi- 
 nation too much play about young Piers — he is a 
 very cool hand. Why did you not keep him to 
 dinner yesterday ?' 
 
 ' He was engaged to a county neighbour, Lord 
 Midhurst, who seems very civil to him ; I fancy 
 there is some political basis to their friendship. 
 The present member for North Saltshire is very old 
 and in bad health.' 
 
 There was a long pause. Had Mr. Trent been 
 a smoker, a few meditative puffs might have filled 
 up the interval appropriately, but he was superior 
 to such commonplace indulgence, so he sat quite 
 still until the fall of the newspaper roused him. 
 
 'When does Katie come back?' he asked 
 suddenly. 
 
 Mrs. Trent, who had been watching him, smiled 
 slightly, and replied : 
 
 ' On Wednesday or Thursday next, and then I
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 was going to propose asking Miss Laura Piers and 
 Reginald to dinner.' 
 
 ' I don't see the necessity — but I dare say you 
 have some object in it I don't understand !' 
 
 * Really, John ! you credit me with more depth 
 than I possess. My object is simply to show 
 civility to the Admiral's p7'otegee and Reginald's 
 cousin,' returned Mrs. Trent, with a good-humoured 
 laugh ; 'your legal habits incline you to fish for 
 whales in any milk-jug that comes in your way !' 
 
 ' Well, do as you like/ said her husband. 
 
 Mrs. Trent rose and rang the bell for the servant 
 to remove the tea-things ; then, resuming her seat, 
 she asked : 
 
 * Does Reginald never go to the office now ?' 
 
 * Never,' returned Mr. Trent sharply. * He in- 
 tends leaving his affairs in the hands of Fanshawe 
 and Green, the late man's advisers.' 
 
 'Well — I think it is rather ungrateful of him, 
 considering your kindness in taking him into the 
 office on the terms you did.' 
 
 * Nonsense !' said Mr. Trent tartly ; * it is nothing 
 of the kind. It is quite natural he should employ 
 the men who have always managed the property ; 
 and we — we can do without his business.' 
 
 ' Oh, no doubt !' returned Mrs. Trent soothingly, 
 while she thought to herself, ' He does not like it, 
 though.' 
 
 * Reginald is wonderfully quiet and unassuming,' 
 she resumed aloud, ' considering it is really a case 
 of a beggar set on horseback.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 199 
 
 ' Wait ' said Mr. Trent cynically ; ' he has not 
 
 been in the saddle quite three months ; I believe 
 there is not a prouder, more ambitious young 
 fellow in England than Reggie Piers ! You'll see 
 he will slowly turn his back on everyone, but he is 
 far too knowing to do it suddenly.' 
 
 ' Come, come ! you are a little unjust ; I have a 
 great regard for Reginald ! Would you like the 
 lamp, or candles t I am going to see the children in 
 bed.' 
 
 * Well, ring, and I will tell Thomas to bring the 
 lamp.' 
 
 The possibility of selling her pictures, of earning 
 enough for herself, suggested by Mrs. Trent's visit, 
 was the crowning item of joy in the ingredients of 
 this summer-time of happiness which had suddenly 
 shone out from among the quiet, grey clouds which 
 formed the ordinary background of Laura's neutral- 
 tinted existence. Of course the Admiral and 
 Winnie were duly informed of the great fact. The 
 former wrote a grave but not too cordial approval. 
 He earnestly warned his dear ward not to expect 
 too high a remuneration. He himself sincerely 
 admired her work, but large allowance must be 
 made for the partiality he felt for his ward, who 
 had always been a source of satisfaction to him. 
 She must therefore not be too much disappointed 
 if her well-meant efforts proved fruitless. He him- 
 self cared little or nothing as regarded the question 
 of her independence. He was, or would be, better
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 off than hitherto, and looked on her as a sacred 
 charge, whose well-being should ever be his first 
 consideration. * I had a letter from Winnie yester- 
 day/ he continued ; ' she is evidently progressing in 
 the estimation of her relatives, and able to be of 
 use, I am glad to perceive, pending Mrs. Morgan's 
 search for a governess ; yet, though she does not 
 complain, I see she is not content ; nevertheless, it 
 will be a satisfaction hereafter to her to think that 
 she has availed herself of her aunt's invitation in 
 the same spirit in which we have a right to suppose 
 it was offered. 
 
 ' My dear sister is, I am happy to say, better and 
 more cheerful. I do not despair of her making 
 your acquaintance at some future period.' 
 
 'Well! he really is a <3^^r//7^^.^' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Crewe, after she had perused this letter which Laura 
 handed to her. ' I wonder if he has come into 
 money ? Do you think he has ? If so, it will be 
 the better for you, my dear ! Do you know any- 
 thing about it ?' 
 
 ' Indeed I do not, Mrs. Crewe. Why do you 
 think so ?' 
 
 ' Why, he says here — where is it ?' turning back 
 the page — ' oh, here — " I am, or will be, better off 
 than hitherto." Now, that must mean money. I 
 protest, Laura, you are a lucky girl.' 
 
 ' Yes ! I think I am,' she returned, smiling a 
 smile that camd from a grateful, sunny spirit. 
 ' Whether anyone leaves me money or not, the best 
 of all would be to sell my pictures.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 201 
 
 _ f 
 
 * Pooh, nonsense ! Yoit will never need to sell 
 them, or anything else. Eh, Mr. Piers ?' 
 
 For while she spoke the door had opened to 
 admit Reginald. 
 
 * What is the question ?' he asked, as he shook 
 hands with both ladies. 
 
 * I tell our dear Laura that there will be no 
 necessity for her to sell her pictures.' 
 
 * The fact of their being saleable is a sort of hall- 
 mark, however/ returned Reginald ; ' what has 
 brought the matter on the tapis ?' 
 
 ' Because,' exclaimed Laura eagerly, ' your 
 charming friend Mrs. Trent was here the day 
 before yesterday, and took away three of my 
 pictures, hoping to dispose of them ; was it not 
 kind of her ?' 
 
 * To take away your pictures — I am not sure. I 
 hope she will get a good price for them. You must 
 let 7/2^ have your present work, " A Glade near Ched- 
 dington ;" will you not, Laura ?' 
 
 ' If you will give it room in your grand house, you 
 are heartily welcome to it.' 
 
 ' Ah ! I don't mean that. But come along to the 
 studio ; I want to see what you have been doing 
 during those long days I have been away. Do you 
 know, I have been cultivating my Saltshire neigh- 
 bours who happen to be in town, which I hope 
 accounts ' 
 
 * I, for one, feel sure that you did not absent 
 yourself without cause, or willingly,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe airily, as she picked up Topsy and cradled
 
 202 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 • 
 
 her in her arms. ' Get away to the studio, then, 
 you artistic people ; I am going to look in the 
 " Shipping News " for my son's movements.' 
 
 ' Collins has not opened the window this morning,' 
 said Laura, going to it with an odd unusual sensa- 
 tion of embarrassment, for there was something 
 grave and unlike himself in the way that Reginald 
 watched her movements. 'I am afraid you find the 
 smell of paint very strong.' 
 
 ' And what did Mrs. Trent carry away T asked 
 Reginald, looking round. * Oh ! the Dresden head, 
 and those two Saxon landscapes. How have you 
 been getting on with the water ? — very good — it 
 seems to my untrained eye very like water indeed ; 
 you have done a good deal.' 
 
 ' I worked a long while yesterday,' said Laura, 
 arranging her materials and taking up her palette. 
 * I have had a long letter from Winnie, and I am 
 afraid she is getting quite worn out with those 
 dreadful cousins of hers ; they plaj^ all manner of 
 pranks, and are so common and vulgar. I don't 
 imagine Mrs. Morgan is at all nice. I think 
 seriously of trying to find music lessons for her 
 here. I intend writing to the Admiral about it, 
 and ' 
 
 ' Wait,' interrupted Reginald with some eager- 
 ness ; * promise me to do nothing till I return.' 
 
 ' Return — where are you going, Reggie ?' 
 
 ' To Pierslynn, with my mother and sister — only 
 for a few days. When I see them settled, I will come 
 back. You will miss me a little — eh, Laura ?'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 203 
 
 looking steadily at her, for she had grown rather 
 
 pale. 
 
 ' Oh ! I shall miss you very much ; but of course 
 I must get accustomed to that. I cannot suppose 
 I shall always see as much of you as I do now.' 
 
 'Why not, Laura?' then, after a short pause, ' I 
 have made a sort of plan of life-I will tell you all 
 about it when I come back-will you help me to 
 carry it out ?' 
 
 ' Yes, if I can ; but how can I do anythmg for 
 
 yoiL ?' 
 
 ' I will tell you by-and-by, and then we can see 
 what can be done for Winnie.' 
 
 A pause, during which Reginald looked at the 
 picture as if absorbed in thought ; then, rousmg 
 himself with an effort, he began to talk of Herbert 
 and the Admiral and Mrs. Crewe, but his manner 
 was not easy and unembarrassed as usual. At last 
 he exclaimed : 
 
 ' I must go, Laura ; I only came to tell you that 
 I shall not see you for a week ; and here— if you 
 and Mrs. Crewe would care to hear " Rigoletto " 
 to-morrow night— I have got a box for you on the 
 second tier.^ 
 
 ' Thanks, dear Reggie ; you are really very good. 
 We shall be quite delighted. When do you go to 
 Pierslynn?' 
 
 ' To-morrow. My mother is very sorry she could 
 not see you before she left town, but she has been 
 busy about her new house. When she is settled I 
 hope you will see a great deal of her.'
 
 204 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 To which Laura rephed : ' I hope so.' 
 
 Then there was another pause, which Reginald 
 broke abruptly by saying : 
 
 ' Good-bye, then, Laura — or rather au revoir — 
 for I shall not be many days away ; and you are to 
 pray for me night and morning, remember,' he said, 
 with a pleasant laugh. ' And here is a new photo- 
 graph I have had taken of my noble self; you see, I 
 do not trust to your unassisted memory.' 
 
 ' But I think you may, Reginald. I have not so 
 many friends that I should forget one so kind and 
 true as yourself^ 
 
 Reginald's answer was to catch her hand and kiss 
 it twice very warmly. ' Say good-bye for me to 
 Mrs. Crewe,' he said, and turning away rapidly, he 
 left the room. 
 
 Laura looked after him puzzled, agitated, almost 
 terrified at the possibilities suggested by his mode 
 of taking leave. What interpretation could she put 
 on his evident reluctance to part from her even 
 for a few days, save that he loved her with love 
 passing that of a brother ? The idea made her 
 tremble, she dared not use her brush, the tears came 
 to her eyes with a sob, and laying aside her palette, 
 she began mechanically to arrange and dust the 
 rather miscellaneous furniture of her little room as 
 the sound of a foot on the stairs warned her of Mrs. 
 Crewe's approach. 
 
 ' Well !' cried that lady, bursting in, evidently 
 much disturbed, Topsy sitting upon one arm, with 
 head erect and disapprobation glittering in each
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 1Q\ 
 
 wide-opened eye. ' Well ! so he is gone ! is he ? 
 I do hope and trust you have not done anything 
 foolish !* 
 
 * Reginald desired me to say good-bye to you, 
 Mrs. Crewe. He had very little time to-day, for he 
 goes out of town with his mother and Lady Jervois 
 to-morrow.' 
 
 ' Out of town with those women !' cried Mrs. 
 Crewe. ' How unfortunate ! how ill-advised !' 
 
 She sat down hastily, and let Topsy jump to the 
 ground unnoticed. 
 
 ' Why did you let him go ?' 
 
 * How could I possibly prevent it ? He is not 
 gone for ever, Mrs. Crewe,' returned Laura, restored 
 to herself, and smiling at her friend's discomfiture ; 
 * he is coming back at the end of the week.' 
 
 ' Ah ! he thinks so, and you think so, but don't 
 expect it ! I know what men are — the last woman 
 that talks to them has the greatest influence ! 
 Mark my words, that mother of his will not let 
 him come back. She knows what his intentions 
 are towards you, Laura, and now they have got 
 him down there, we will not see him back in a 
 hurry ! Oh, Laura ! why did you not send for me 
 before you let him go, you foolish, foolish girl !'
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ;S Mr. Thurston in his room ?' asked Mr. 
 Trent one morning some days after 
 this blow had fallen on Mrs. Crewe, as 
 he finished dictating a letter to a clerk, 
 who took down his words in shorthand. 
 ' He is, sir.' 
 ' And alone ?' 
 
 * Yes, sir.' 
 
 ' I want to speak to him.' 
 
 And Mr. Trent rose and walked across the 
 landing to his partner's room, which was the best 
 and most luxuriously furnished in the establish- 
 ment. Mr. Thurston was enthroned in state in a 
 mighty chair of oak and leather, surrounded by 
 papers, law-books, and all the insignia of hard 
 work, but his absolute employment was reading 
 the Times. 
 
 * I have had a letter from Admiral Desbarres this 
 morning : he wants a codicil added to his will, 
 bequeathing two thousand five hundred pounds
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 207 
 
 (which he has persisted in putting into this canal 
 concern) to his ward, with another thousand should 
 she survive his sister. Here is his letter. I wish 
 you would see to it, Thurston, for I have arranged 
 to run down to the Isle of Wight for a sniff of the 
 briny this evening, and to escort my daughter 
 home on Wednesday.' 
 
 'Very well/ replied Mr. Thurston, taking the 
 letter and reading it. 
 
 ' You see, he wants it to be got ready at once, 
 as he does not know what day he can come up to 
 town, and he v/ishes it to be ready for his sig- 
 nature.' 
 
 ' I will attend to it. It is a simple affair,' said 
 Mr. Thurston. ' How thorough the Admiral is in 
 all things ! This young lady is very fortunate to 
 have such a guardian.' 
 
 'Very. I hope there will be some of the two 
 thousand forthcoming when the will is proved ! I 
 don't believe Admiral Desbarres will ever get back 
 a sixpence of it.' 
 
 ' I am not so sure,' returned Mr. Thurston, 
 looking at the Times again. ' I see the shares 
 are going up ; there was a rise of a sixteenth to an 
 eighth yesterday.' 
 
 ' The Admirals purchase has given them a fillip,' 
 said Mr. Trent grimly. 
 
 ' Well, well ! we must hope for the best,' replied 
 the elder partner, who represented the heavy metal 
 rather than the motive-power of the firm, and was 
 indolently good-natured. ' Get him to sell out
 
 2o8 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 as soon as you can ; you have a good deal of 
 influence ' 
 
 ' Not I !' interrupted the other, ' nor anyone else. 
 Admiral Desbarres' lines of action are determined 
 on principles which actuate few, and moulded on 
 types to be found in dreams and moral essays ! 
 his gold is too pure for general circulation — and 
 so well-nigh useless.' 
 
 ' Perhaps so.' 
 
 * Mr. Rogers wishes to speak to you, sir,' said a 
 clerk, coming in with a card. 
 
 ' Oh, show him up ! I will attend to this at 
 once, Trent, though I see Admiral Desbarres does 
 not think of being in town before next week.' 
 
 Mr. Trent returned to his room and his writing, 
 while many thoughts passed through his brain. 
 Though it was no breach of professional etiquette 
 that Reginald Piers should have left the business 
 of his estate in the hands of the firm who had 
 always managed it, yet he was displeased. He 
 had the instinctive longing to gather up and hold 
 fast documents, deeds, and papers inherent in the 
 legal mind. The desire of having the basis on 
 which suits, and leases, and covenants, and under- 
 takings might be built up within his grasp, safely 
 stowed away in tin boxes, calculated to defy moth 
 and rust and thieves, was but natural to a man 
 whose training had been exclusively legal. There 
 was something beyond this, however. Reginald 
 Piers, his wife's struggling young relative — his 
 own protege and favourite — had escaped away out
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 209 
 
 of his hands. He could not accuse him of neglect 
 or ungraciousness, or any uppish airs, or failure on 
 any point of good-breeding, but, with all his frank 
 friendliness of manner, Reginald was all at once 
 Piers of Pierslynn, about whose affairs he did not 
 presume to ask a question, or offer a word of 
 advice. 
 
 While Mr. Trent finished his day's work, and 
 hastened home to be carefully packed up and fed, 
 comforted with cool drinks and sent on his way 
 with every possible provision for his needs, while 
 his wife, having kissed her hand to him at the hall- 
 door, stepped into her neat brougham and drove 
 away to pick up a congenial friend on her way to 
 the opera, Laura Piers sat at work in Mrs. Crewe's 
 dining-room by the open window, feeling un- 
 reasonably depressed and sad. Mrs. Crewe, with 
 Topsy on her lap, was nodding over yesterday's 
 Times, and Herbert was composing with pain and 
 grief an epistle to the Admiral at a rather unsteady 
 writing-table beside the fireplace, his fingers dyed 
 an inch high in ink, one cheek almost touching his 
 left hand, as if his nose was ambitious of assisting 
 to guide the pen. 
 
 ' I have put that, Laura,' he said, after an interval 
 of silence and scratching over the paper, and he 
 read aloud : ' " I am getting on pretty well with Mr. 
 Walker, and hope he is satisfied with me." I am 
 nearly down to the bottom of the second page,' he 
 added. ' Don't you think I might end up now ?' 
 
 * No, Herbert— try and think of something else.' 
 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 2IO THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 'But how is a fellow to fill a letter every 
 week ! and not a thing to write about, no cricket or 
 rowing — no nothing ! Why, it is beyond reason/ 
 
 ' Well, really, Herbert, you ought to put some- 
 thing of your own in ! However, I will tell you this 
 time. Say — oh ! say that you will be glad when the 
 holidays are over, as you shall like school-work' 
 again.' 
 
 ' Ay — by Jove, so I shall ! I never had such 
 stupid, horrid holidays ! I declare I am quite glad 
 to go to old Walker of a morning for something to 
 do. There, I can't say more.' 
 
 ' It is dull for you, poor boy ! but it cannot be 
 helped,' said Laura, with a sigh. ' Next year things 
 may be better.' 
 
 To this there was no reply, as Herbert was 
 now scratching on to the ' finish.' ' That's done 1' 
 he said at last. ' I've put my name and all, for it is 
 quite a long letter ! Just look over it, like a good 
 girl, will you ;' and he began to put away his writing 
 materials. * I say,' he resumed, after a pause, ' I 
 would much rather go to sea than stew over Latin 
 and Greek ! I ain't one bit the sort of fellow for the 
 Church ! I tell you what, when Mrs. Crewe's son 
 comes home, I'll talk to him about it. / have no 
 objection to the mercantile marine.' 
 
 ' What is that about ?' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe, 
 
 rousing up at the sound of the detested appellation. 
 
 ' Who did you say was in the mercantile marine?' 
 
 ' No one. But I should like well enough to be 
 
 in it,' returned Herbert.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 211 
 
 ' Don't think of such a thing, my dear boy. 
 Would you mind opening the door? that precious 
 puss wants to go out — she did ask prettily, she did. 
 No, no ; how much nicer it would be to go into the 
 Church, as the dear Admiral wishes ; so much more 
 dignified and gentleman-like ; perhaps getting to 
 be a bishop with those elegant lawn sleeves and a 
 seat in the House of Lords — think of that ! instead 
 of knocking about on a horrid dirty ship with all 
 sorts of second-rate people; obliged to dip your 
 hands in a tar-bucket to fit yourself for the service 
 — so a very nice young man Denzil brought up here 
 one day told me — though Denzil had suppressed 
 the fact in consideration for my feelings.' 
 
 ' Oh, I should like sailing about and seeing all 
 sorts of places well enough, and I would not mind 
 the tar-bucket/ said Herbert. ' You must ask your 
 son to take me with him when he goes to sea 
 again,' and he left the room with a good-humoured 
 nod. 
 
 ' I am sure the Admiral would be 'greatly dis- 
 pleased if such an idea took hold of Herbert/ said 
 Mrs. Crewe, looking after him. 'You must do your 
 best to put it out of his head, Laura.' 
 
 ' The best plan is to do nothing,' replied Laura 
 languidly. ' He merely talks, he has no strong 
 likings — as to a profession, I mean. Do you 
 not think it is very oppressive this evening, 
 Mrs. Crewe, as if we were going to have a thunder- 
 storm ?' 
 
 She dropped her work as she spoke, with an 
 
 14—2
 
 212 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 unconscious desponding gesture, and leaning back 
 in her chair, passed her hand over her brow. 
 
 ' No ! I do not find it oppressive, Laura Piers ; 
 but I do see that you are depressed, and I am not 
 surprised at it,^ Mrs. Crewe was beginning, when a 
 low melancholy mew proclaimed that Topsy was 
 waiting for admission outside. ' Oh ! you dear, 
 dear thing!' cried Mrs. Crewe, rising quickly, though 
 a little stiffly, from her chair. ' How soon you have 
 come back !' and she hastened to open the door, 
 whereupon entered Topsy with much dignity, her 
 tail erect and her eyes fixed on an especial chair 
 where she loved to sit. ' Do you know, Laura,' 
 continued Mrs. Crewe, still pausing at the door, 
 suspicion and displeasure strongly expressed in her 
 face^ ' I should not be one bit surprised if that good- 
 for-nothing girl has slipped out and taken the key I 
 I know that precious puss can't bear being alone, 
 and not finding anyone below she has come back to 
 us. Collins !' advancing towards the kitchen stair, 
 ' Collins !' — no answer. * Collins !' in tragic and 
 awful tones — still no answer. 
 
 * Well !' sailing back to the dining-room, ' I call 
 that disgracefid ! and I had put a sponge-cake in the 
 oven and told her on no account to leave it. There 
 is no depending on one of them ! I must see to it 
 myself;' and with a swift but not ungraceful step she 
 disappeared. Almost immediately there was a sharp 
 ring at the front-door bell. It was the postman, 
 who delivered to Laura a perfumed cream-coloured 
 note, with a dainty blue monogram, directed to
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 213 
 
 herself in small beautifully formed firm charac- 
 ters. 
 
 Laura opened it eagerly, glanced at the contents, 
 uttered a little scream of delight, and flew down- 
 stairs, where Mrs. Crewe, with mingled wrath and 
 dignity, was removing a delicately-browned cake 
 from the oven. 
 
 ' Dear, dearest Mrs. Crewe — what do you 
 think ' 
 
 ' Has he written to say he is coming, then ?' 
 interrupted Mrs. Crewe eagerly, while she continued 
 to lift her cake on to the table. 
 
 ' No, no — not at all ! Listen to this : 
 
 *''My dear Miss Piers, 
 
 ' " My friend — the connoisseur of whom I 
 spoke to you — has, I am happy to say, taken two 
 -of your pictures, the copy of a head from the 
 Dresden Gallery, and the '■ On the Elbe,' for which 
 he has given twenty pounds. And if you will 
 allow me to keep the view near some fortress — I 
 forget the name — I beg your acceptance of four 
 guineas for it. I therefore enclose a cheque for 
 twenty-four pounds four shillings — and congratu- 
 late you sincerely on your success. I think it not 
 improbable my friend may like to have some other 
 productions of your brush. I am not at all aware 
 what price your work would be likely to command 
 among regular dealers, and Mr. Trent thinks it 
 would be well if you could ascertain this, with a 
 view to fixing your own prices. Perhaps my
 
 214 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 daughter's drawing-master might be able to assist 
 you ; I should be happy to give you an "ntroduc- 
 tion to him if you wish it : he does not live far 
 from you. Of course, the present little transaction 
 is exceptional. 
 
 * " With compliments to Mrs. Crewe, 
 
 ' " I am, dear Miss Piers, 
 
 ' " Very truly yours, 
 '"Kate Trent." 
 
 ' And there — there is the cheque for twenty-four 
 pounds four shillings !' cried Laura excitedly, 
 holding up a long slip of pale lavender paper 
 bearing the magic numerals. ' I can scarcely 
 believe it ! Isn't she kind — is it not marvellous ?' 
 
 And she sat down on the nearest kitchen chair, 
 her heart beating with pleasure at this gleam of hope. 
 
 ' Twenty-four pounds four,' repeated Mrs. Crewe 
 in doubtful tones, stepping back the better to con- 
 template her cake. ' Well, it is a nice little sum, 
 but nothing very generous. I suppose this con- 
 noisseur she talks about is rich — and my opinion is 
 that he has got a bargain ! Let me look at the 
 note, my dear : I am not so overjoyed as you are. 
 I did think it was from Mr. Piers, by the fuss you 
 made !' 
 
 ' Well, Mrs. Crewe, so I ought ! I mean, I ought 
 to make more fuss about it than about one from 
 Reginald — fond as I am of him. This ' (handing 
 it to her friend) *may be the beginning of in- 
 dependence.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 215 
 
 ' I declare, Laura — for a sweet girl, which you 
 are, you can be rather provoking ; but I will say 
 no more now. Look here, my love — I call the end 
 of this note nasty — decidedly nasty ! Does she 
 mean that you have got too much for your beauti- 
 ful pictures — or what does she mean by calling it 
 an exceptional transaction ? I am sure when I went 
 to see the Royal Academy with Miss Brown, I saw 
 nothing better than your pictures — nothing — I give 
 you my word.' 
 
 ' Then I am very sorry for English art,' returned 
 Laura, laughing good-humouredly. *I am sure 
 Miss Brown would not agree with you.' 
 
 ' Oh ! I am quite aware I am ignorant on many 
 subjects, art included.' 
 
 * You are too good to those you like,' said Laura 
 apologetically. 'But what shall I do with this 
 money ? I want to make some very good use of 
 it.' 
 
 ' Buy yourself a new dress and hat, and put what 
 is left away in the Post-office savings-bank. You 
 may want it, or you may not/ nodding her head 
 sagely. ' We shall see what we shall see !' 
 
 Laura made no answer. She had for some time 
 resolutely refused to notice, or reply to, any of Mrs. 
 Crewe's insinuations or suggestions, hoping they 
 might cease for want of opposition. She was 
 provoked, nevertheless, to find that, however 
 successfully she preserved an unmoved appearance, 
 she was inwardly vexed and disturbed by these 
 gadflies of words. She sat silently gazing at the
 
 2i6 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 slip of paper which she held, and which she felt 
 ought to be a talisman to her and strengthen her 
 in the daily conflict. 
 
 ' I must write to the Admiral and Winnie,' she 
 exclaimed, at last rousing from her thoughts. 
 * Perhaps we may both be with you, dear Mrs. 
 Crewe. Suppose I could sell six or seven pictures 
 in a year at ten pounds apiece, with my own little 
 money and some drawing lessons I could do quite 
 well ; and they might lead to pupils for Winnie — 
 you do not know how clever she is in music and 
 languages.' 
 
 * I do not doubt it, my dear : but teaching and 
 all that sort of thing is miserable work. Winnie 
 Fielden is so handsome, that if she could just be 
 dressed up and set out in society, she would marry 
 well ; mark my words.' 
 
 ' I dare say she would, for she is a dear ! and so 
 bright and pleasant ! But though it must be very 
 delightful to have a nice, kind husband, don't you 
 think it is better and more honest to try and get 
 one's own living than to buy fine clothes on the 
 chance of winning a good marriage ? It is like 
 gambling on the Stock Exchange 1' 
 
 ' Yes, yes, I know. That is all very fine, no doubt, 
 just like the sentences they put in copy-books ; but 
 no one cares to act upon them. It is how can you 
 get on best and fastest, people think about ; but as 
 for women, they have so few ways of getting on.' 
 
 ' But, Mrs. Crewe, you have always been honest 
 and self-sustaining, and you have got on.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 217 
 
 * After a fashion. Ah ! dear Laura, I wish 
 every girl a better lot than I had. There ! there 
 is no use talking.' 
 
 * No, indeed,' echoed Laura ; ' so I will go away 
 and write my letters. Oh, how thankful I am to 
 have such news to tell !' 
 
 Laura's letter to the Admiral was tempered by 
 the same sort of instinct which makes impression- 
 able people speak low when they inspect a church, 
 and which generally affected those who held inter- 
 course with the rare old man ; but to Winnie she 
 wrote with all the exuberance of a joyous heart, 
 gratified beyond the money's value by the recogni- 
 tion of her own capability which a price paid stamps 
 upon artistic work. 
 
 ' I know she is wretched,' thought Laura, as her 
 pen raced rapidly over the paper. * The very lifting 
 of the mist for a moment will do her good — to think 
 there is a chance of our helping ourselves may 
 give her courage ; for though she says so little, I 
 know what a horrible life she must be leading, 
 especially since that nephew came ;' and laying 
 down the pen, she opened Winnie's last epistle, 
 turning to a part she had already read more than 
 once. After describing her difficulties with her 
 small cousins and pupils, Winnie continued : 'Don't 
 think I am selfish in pouring out my grievances — 
 it helps me to bear them when I can relieve my 
 mind, and I am by no means so doleful as I seem 
 by this letter ; but I have a fresh worry. As if 
 Fanny and Jack were not bad enough, a nephew
 
 2i8 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 of Mr. Morgan's has lately come here from some 
 place beyond the seas. He is a stout, \ 'ack-eyed, 
 dreadful young man ; rich I believe, lor his fat, 
 stumpy fingers are adorned with rings, and, besides, 
 he is treated with much consideration. Well, this 
 unpleasant personage seems to have taken a fancy 
 to me. He is always running against us out 
 walking, and stares at me until I am inclined to 
 throw " the thing that lieth nearest " in his face. 
 Moreover, he manages to show his preference in a 
 queer stealthy way, as if it were not degradation 
 enough that such a creature dared to look at me as 
 he does ! 
 
 * I rather imagine they all (himself included) want 
 my eldest cousin to marry him. Mrs. Morgan has 
 been so disagreeable since, and I am sorry for it, for 
 she is much the best of them, and inclined to be 
 kind to me — but for all that, I will put down Mr. 
 Price ! Oh that I could talk to you once more, 
 dearest and best ! No poverty can compare with 
 the mental starvation I suffer here V 
 
 ' This is not to be endured,' thought Laura, as she 
 put the letter again into its envelope. * The Admiral 
 ought to know, but how can I tell him? I will 
 consult Reginald when he comes, tf he comes, for 
 Mrs. Crewe may be right,' — and she sighed. He 
 had been so much with her lately, that it seemed 
 almost impossible to endure life without him. But 
 this would not do ; she had to think of work, of 
 real practical existence ; she must write a politely 
 grateful little note to Mrs. Trent, she must try and
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 219 
 
 finish that picture of a glade in Cheddington 
 Woods, she must throw herself into art more than 
 she had hitherto done. In occupation, in real work, 
 she would find strength and consolation. And 
 Time, the mighty healer, would bring about new 
 combinations and display fresh aspects, till only the 
 tender grace of the present would be remembered, 
 and its pain and suffering be overshadowed by the 
 ' raven down ' of merciful oblivion. 
 
 So Laura closed up her letters and took them 
 herself to a neighbouring post-pillar. On her return 
 she found Mrs. Crewe, with Topsy in her arms, 
 holding forth to the delinquent Collins in the hall. 
 
 ' Don't tell me you were dressing, Collins ! don't 
 do it ! I know better. I would have called you up 
 at once when you came in (for you zvere out), only 
 Miss Brown was with me ; but now I tell you it will 
 not do ! Well, suppose you were dressing, what 
 business had you to leave my cake to burn ? Do 
 you know what judgment awaits the untruthful ? 
 Oh, you may cry, Collins, but it is most dis- 
 graceful ! and if you cannot behave better, you 
 must leave my house this day month. There, now 
 it is time for prayers ! Go — fetch me the large Bible 
 and my glasses; they are on the drawers in my 
 room. Go, go, go, my girl ! do not dawdle ! Oh ! 
 Laura, my dear, I am quite exhausted trying to 
 impress Collins with the iniquity of her conduct ; 
 would you mind reading prayers to-night ? Read 
 that chapter in the Acts about Ananias and Sap- 
 phira. Dear, dear ! I am so tired — Collins, do you 
 intend coming down to-night or not ?'
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HE morning after the receipt of Mrs. 
 Trent's note, Mrs. Crewe, having had 
 an early dinner, started to make some 
 important purchases at Shoolbred's — 
 taking advantage of Miss Brown^s company, as she 
 was bound on a similar errand. 
 
 Laura rejoiced in a long afternoon all to herself ; 
 she had spent the morning in adding touches to 
 her now finished picture of the Cheddington Glade. 
 It was a labour of love, and it was with reluctance 
 she removed it from the easel, lest further efforts to 
 improve it might have the opposite effect. She had 
 sought among her sketches for another subject, and 
 fixed upon a view of Meissen — the old cradle of the 
 House of Wettine. It was a water-colour drawing, 
 and therefore a better basis for a picture ; but she 
 feared the subject was difficult and required a more 
 practised hand than hers. While she looked and 
 thought, she was dimly conscious that the door-bell 
 had rung loudly, and that Collins had clattered up- 
 stairs in obedience to its summons.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 221 
 
 Suddenly the door of her little studio opened, 
 and Reginald stood before her. She was too 
 startled for an instant even to be delighted, and 
 felt that she grew pale. 
 
 ' Why, Laura, you look as if you had seen a 
 ghost !' he cried, coming quickly to her and taking 
 her hand in both of his. ' I have frightened you ? 
 Are you not glad to see me ?' 
 
 ' Yes, I am indeed ! and I have good news for 
 you.' 
 
 * Well, you do not look as if you had been having 
 a good time, as the Americans say. Dear Laura, 
 have you been well ?' still holding her hand. 
 
 ' Quite well — quite comfortable — and ' 
 
 * All the better for not being troubled by my 
 visits, eh ?' he interrupted. 
 
 ' Yes, of course,' returned Laura, smiling in spite 
 of herself ; ' but sit down, if you can find a chair.' 
 
 ' I don't want to sit down. I want you to put 
 on your hat and come out with me. It is a heavenly 
 day, and I have a trap and pair of horses I have 
 been trying, at the door. It will do you a world of 
 good ! It is a capital chance, as Mrs. Crewe is out, 
 and I can have you all to myself.' 
 
 ' That will be delightful!' cried Laura frankly, 
 beginning to put away her paints and turning her 
 picture to the wall ; ' but let me tell you of my 
 good fortune,' and she proceeded to recount her 
 success in selling her pictures. Reginald listened 
 with an expression half pleased, half amused. 
 
 ' Well done, Laura ! we will see your pictures on
 
 222 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 the line one of these days — but go, hke a good girl, 
 put on your things, and let us be off.' 
 
 Laura gladly ran upstairs, and attired herself 
 quickly, yet with unusual care, and descended look- 
 ing a new creature. 
 
 ' Good ! you do not spend too much time on 
 your toilette !' cried Reginald, who was putting on 
 his gloves at the open door as she came down. 
 * You are always the right thing,' he added, turning 
 to look at her ; 'how do you manage it, Laura ?' 
 
 ' That is a compliment,' she replied, smiling. ' I 
 am afraid I must not accept it. I used to be all 
 wrong occasionally in old times !' 
 
 ' Perhaps so, but not now. Come along ! Tell 
 Mrs. Crewe,' he went on, addressing Collins, who 
 was at the door, ' that she may expect us when she 
 sees us. I will bring Miss Piers home all right 
 some time this evening.' 
 
 Collins grinned delight and approbation. 
 
 'Is it not a neat turn-out?' asked Reginald, as 
 they walked down the little garden. Laura ex- 
 pressed her admiration. 
 
 It was a mail phaeton, dark blue picked out with 
 a lighter shade, drawn by a fine pair of brown bays; 
 a smart groom in snowy buckskins and a leather 
 belt stood at their heads. 
 
 ' You are my first fare,' said the owner, smiling 
 as he handed her in. ' And I have made up my 
 mind to put the charge at a high figure.' 
 
 ' You may do that if you like ; it is of no conse- 
 quence to me, seeing I cannot pay.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 223 
 
 ' I am not so sure of that/ replied Reginald, as 
 he took his seat beside her and gathered the reins 
 in his hand. The groom sprang up behind, the 
 bays arched their necks, and the equipage dashed 
 off at a good pace, while the inhabitants of Leam- 
 ington Villas flattened their noses against the 
 window-panes to watch its progress. ' Where to, 
 Laura ?' asked her charioteer ; ^ shall we go to the 
 Park, or get away from town ?' 
 
 ' Yes — by all means — away from the town ; do 
 you mind going to Hampstead ? I am so fond of 
 the view from the Heath.' 
 
 ' You have never seen Richmond, I think ? you 
 will like it better than Hampstead ; we can put up 
 the horses and take a stroll in the park.' 
 
 ' It will be perfectly delightful, Reginald ! What 
 a good boy you are to give me such a treat !' 
 
 ' Boy, indeed !' he returned, laughing. ' Pray re- 
 member I am five or six years your senior, to say 
 nothing of being ages older in experience.' 
 
 ' Yet I have had my experience too,' said Laura, 
 who was quivering with the intense enjoyment of 
 this unexpected reunion. * I feel quite old from 
 having had the care of my uncle and Winnie for 
 nearly four years. By-the-bye, Reginald, I had a 
 dreadful letter from Winnie a few days ago,' and 
 she proceeded to detail its contents. Reginald 
 listened not too attentively, being a good deal occu- 
 pied with the eccentricities of one of his horses ; at 
 the conclusion Laura exclaimed : ' Is it not all very 
 disagreeable ?'
 
 224 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 * Very ! But if this fellow is not too bad style, 
 and has lots of money, why can't Winnie make up 
 her mind to marry him ? It is such awful hard lines 
 for a woman to be poor !' 
 
 ' But, Reginald,' cried Laura, pained and wounded 
 by his words — ' don't you see how horrible and 
 shocking it would be to marry such a man as she 
 describes 1 Better for her to work all her life for 
 
 bare necessities than Oh ! if you could see 
 
 Winnie ! Do you remember her ?' 
 
 ' Yes, of course ; and I suppose this is an atrocious 
 cad. However, if your little cousin is as pretty as 
 you say, she will have lots of chances. Do you 
 think me a brute for suggesting such a termination 
 of her troubles ?' 
 
 ' Such a beginning of them, you mean ! No — 
 you were not thinking of what you said.' 
 
 ' That is the truth, I am afraid. Never mind, 
 Laura ; I am going to pay the Admiral a visit in a 
 day or two, and I will do my best to induce him to 
 restore Winnie to you ! I don't like to see that 
 fretted look in your eyes when you speak of her ; 
 do you know that you have very expressive eyes, 
 Laura ? Did anyone ever tell you so ?' 
 
 ' No, indeed,' returned Laura^ laughing. ' I don't 
 think anyone ever looked twice at them except 
 Winnie, and that only when she wanted to see if I 
 were vexed with her or not.^ 
 
 ' Ay ! they speak truth — they are eyes one can 
 trust, as you trust heaven,^ cried Reginald, turning 
 to look at her earnestly ; ' and that is more than
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 225 
 
 can be said of most eyes, however beautiful they 
 may be !' 
 
 * I hope I am true. I try to be true,' said Laura 
 softly, much moved by Reginald's words and tone. 
 
 He drove on for some time In silence, apparently 
 lost In thought ; while Laura, though a little won- 
 dering what train of Ideas could be working in his 
 brain, yet felt exquisitely happy with the sense of 
 sympathy which existed between them. 
 
 At last the pause became oppressive, and Laura 
 broke it to Inquire for Mrs. Piers and Lady Jervols; 
 after which the conversation, though intermittent, 
 ■flowed with tolerable ease on ordinary topics, 
 Reginald pointing out anything that was worth 
 notice as they drove by Mortlake and Sheen, and 
 so into the remoter side of the park. 
 
 On reaching a beautiful point of view over the 
 river, Reginald proposed to alight. 
 
 ' It is dellciously cool and shady here,' he said. 
 ' Let us stroll about for a while and walk back to 
 the Star and Garter — while you,' to the groom, ' can 
 drive there at once, and put up the horses.' 
 
 The man touched his hat, and when Laura had 
 descended drove slowly away. 
 
 ' Come, this is like old times, to be once more 
 alone together under the greenwood tree. Is it 
 better than Hampstead ?' 
 
 * Yes,' returned Laura ; * I did not think Rich- 
 mond was so beautiful ; but I do not give up my 
 Hampstead view — the view behind "Jack Straw's 
 Castle." ' 
 
 VOL. I. 15
 
 226 THE ADMIRALS V/ARD. 
 
 ' I know it/ said Reginald ; and they walked 
 slowly on. * You would like Pierslynn/ he resumed. 
 * I saw more of it during this last visit. It is really 
 a nice old place — my mother is charm-ed with it and 
 all its belongings.' 
 
 * No doubt/ returned Laura. 
 
 * Here is a seat and a capital view — shall we sit 
 down ?' 
 
 ' I think you would like Pierslynn/ repeated 
 Reginald, more to himself than to his companion ; 
 ' and you could help me to make it a charming 
 home.' 
 
 ' / could !' exclaimed Laura, greatly wondering. 
 ' Oh, of course I should be ever so happy to help 
 you in any way, but it would be the lion and the 
 mouse over again/ 
 
 * Laura/ said Reginald, turning to her with his 
 sweet, pleasant smile, and taking her hand, ^ is it 
 possible you don't yet understand my hopes and 
 wishes ?' 
 
 ' How — what hopes }' she returned in a low 
 voice, while a strange tremor ran through her 
 frame. 
 
 ' Don't you know, dearest old friend, that I have 
 always loved you ? that this sudden change in my 
 fortunes would be valueless to me if you will not 
 consent to share them ! Will you be my wife, 
 Laura ?' 
 
 She could not reply ; for a moment, astonish- 
 ment overpowered every other feeling. 
 
 'You love me, Reginald! you wish me to be
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 227 
 
 your wife !' she said at last brokenly. ' I do not 
 seem able to believe it.' 
 
 * Why not ?' exclaimed Reginald eagerly. ' We 
 were always dear friends — when we were too young 
 to think seriously : what more natural than be- 
 coming lovers now ? You always had a charm for 
 me ! and, Laura — I think I have always been — 
 well, a favoured cousin ?' 
 
 Laura was silent — too bewildered to think or 
 speak distinctly. 
 
 ' Believe me,' resumed Reginald earnestly after 
 a moment's pause, during which he looked at her 
 anxiously — ' Believe me, almost my first thought 
 on succeeding to Pierslynn was to try and win 
 you ! and I repeat, that everything will be value- 
 less to me if I cannot succeed. Answer, Laura ! 
 don't, for God's sake, tell me you are entangled with 
 anyone in Germany 1' 
 
 He spoke in a tone of sharp apprehension so 
 unmistakably real, that Laura was deeply moved. 
 
 * Ah ! Reginald,^ she said almost in a whisper, 
 with scarce-veiled tenderness, ' I have always loved 
 you as a brother — because you seemed so like 
 one ; even now, I cannot help fearing that you 
 mistake your own feelings. It seems quite out of 
 character that you should really love me. Oh ! do 
 look well into your heart, lest you make a mistake 
 that might destroy us both ! Be sure before you 
 do what cannot be undone — now I can be happy 
 in your friendship, your quiet regard ; but if in 
 truth you wish for more — if you really want me to 
 
 15—2
 
 228 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 be your wife Ah, Reginald ! I could love you 
 
 well ! too well !' 
 
 She covered her face with her hands, turning 
 slightly from him, while her throat swelled with 
 quick sobs^ for her habitual self-control was not 
 equal to so great a strain. A look of relief relaxed 
 Reginald's countenance as he gently strove to 
 remove her hands. 
 
 ' Dearest,' he exclaimed, when he had possessed 
 himself of one, ' trust me ! I understand what I 
 want and wish perfectly well ! I want your love 
 and companionship all my life. I know I shall 
 have in you the best of wives, the truest of friends. 
 When I first met you after you came back from 
 Germany, I resolved to ask you to be mine, and I 
 have delayed doing so, only because I feared you 
 might think me too precipitate ! Now give me 
 your promise — your solemn promise — to be my 
 wife, and that soon, in spite of any difficulties which 
 may arise. I can never settle to my new life, I 
 can never feel secure, until I have you by my side.' 
 
 He kissed the hand he held as he spoke. 
 
 ' You promise me then, dear Laura ?' 
 
 ' If indeed I be necessary to you,' returned 
 Laura, the strange delicious certainty that she was 
 truly loved and warmly sought creeping through 
 her veins like some divine and potent elixir. ' I 
 will be your true wife — but oh ! Reginald, the 
 difficulties will be great ! I foresee your mother's 
 disappointment — how could it be otherwise ! I 
 am frightened to think of her opposition.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 229 
 
 * You must not be/ he returned firmly. ' I have 
 always done my best for my mother, but in the 
 choice of a wife I have a right to please myself, 
 and I will. When she knows you, my mother will 
 learn to value you ; and after a decent time given 
 to persuasion, I am determined to do as I choose 
 in this most important act of my life.' 
 
 ' Ah ! you expect a formidable resistance, I see,* 
 cried Laura, pressing the hand that held hers 
 nervously — ' is it wise to call it forth ?' 
 
 ' That question is settled,' he returned ; ' I have 
 your promise, and I will hold you to it ; in fact, the 
 sooner we are married, the sooner everyone will 
 come round to Mrs. Piers of Pierslynn, and find 
 her the most charming, spiritiielle^ artistic lady of 
 the manor imaginable.' 
 
 He slid his arm round her as he spoke and drew 
 her to him, while he laughed a happy boyish laugh 
 that completed the measure of Laura's content — of 
 her boundless joy. 
 
 ' Good heavens !' exclaimed Reginald the next 
 instant, * how your heart beats ! my dearest, I think 
 you love me ! I believe I can make you happy !' 
 and then followed a long delightful rambling talk 
 — reminiscences of the past, and plans for the 
 future ; Laura somewhat shy and embarrassed by 
 the sudden change in their relations, until drawn 
 into confidence and comparative ease by Reginald's 
 charming lover-like tenderness and cousinly frank- 
 ness. 
 
 How unspeakably sweet, how intoxicating it all
 
 230 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 was ! The shadows lengthened as they conversed 
 — and so long as she lived, Laura never forgot the 
 outlook on which she gazed : the rich woods, the 
 fair flowing river winding below the hill whereon 
 they sat, the perfume of some pine-trees near them, 
 the wealth of many-tinted leafage, mingling with 
 the short sweet grass, the thin golden haze hanging 
 over the dim distance, while the soft ' coo, coo ' of 
 the wood-pigeon, that most loving of all inarticulate 
 sounds, came from the recesses of the wood. 
 Never did she hear it again without hearing too 
 the echo of Reginald's voice as he painted their 
 future in glowing hues to his happy listener. 
 
 ' But, Reginald, it must be dreadfully late !' ex- 
 claimed Laura at last, struck by the changing 
 light. * Do see what o'clock it is !' 
 
 ' Oh, never mind ; Mrs. Crewe will forgive us our 
 sins — but, by Jove ! it is half-past six. I believe 
 we had better be going, and you are looking pale 
 and done-up. Ah, Laura, I intend to take good 
 care of you. Now, before we return to the haunts 
 of men, give me a kiss, to seal our compact — for, 
 remember, it is a very serious one.' 
 
 Laura silently complied. To her it was a solemn, 
 sacred rite — a betrothal as binding as a marriage — 
 and she grew pale instead of blushing when her 
 lips first met her cousin's. 
 
 * Laura,' said Reginald, as they approached 
 Leamington Road, ' I think we had better tell Mrs. 
 Crewe at once.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 231 
 
 They had driven rapidly and rather silently back : 
 a few queries respecting Mrs. Piers and Lady Jervois 
 from Laura ; a few kindly questions as to whether 
 she was too hot, too cold, or would like a wrap, etc., 
 from Reginald — was all that passed between 
 them. 
 
 ' Oh no, not just yet !' exclaimed Laura, shrinking 
 from the vision evoked by his words. ' You might 
 as well announce everything in large capitals on 
 every dead wall — she cannot keep silence.' 
 
 ' Well, in this case she need not. I do not want 
 to make a secret of our engagement, Laura. Do 
 you ? Why should it not be made known at once .? 
 I intend going down to see the Admiral to-morrow, 
 and on my return, darling, let us arrange some day 
 early next month for the marriage ; we shall then 
 have time enough for a peep at the North of Italy 
 before we settle down at Pierslynn, at home for the 
 winter. Eh, Laura, does it not sound oddly familiar, 
 being at home together ?' 
 
 ' Reginald, it seems still impossible that such 
 things can be ; and, remember, nothing can be 
 settled until your mother is brought round.' 
 
 * Nonsense, Laura ! / ought to be your first con- 
 sideration, and, j/^?/ must remember, that you have 
 solemnly promised to be my wife, irrespective of 
 anyone's consent or approbation.' 
 
 ' Well — we must be guided by what the Admiral 
 says.' 
 
 ' To a certain extent — yes,' returned Reginald. 
 *At any rate, it is quite necessary Mrs. Crewe
 
 232 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 should be duly informed. Heavens, how she will 
 hold forth !' 
 
 A few minutes more brought them to the door. 
 It was opened directly by Collins, grinning more 
 broadly than before ; while farther back Mrs. Crewe 
 might be descried, attired in her favourite grena- 
 dine, her face wreathed in smiles, nodding and 
 waving her head gracefully to her 'young friends.' 
 
 * I really believed you had eloped !' she exclaimed, 
 as she advanced to meet them ; ' pray, have you 
 any idea what o'clock it is ? Never mind ! young 
 people will be young people. Come, your tea is 
 quite ready — a beautiful pigeon-pie, and some 
 peaches — make haste and get off your hat, Laura.' 
 
 ' Sorry I cannot stay — Mrs. Crewe, may I speak 
 to you for a moment ?^ 
 
 While Laura ran hastily upstairs out of the way, 
 Reginald followed Mrs. Crewe into the drawing- 
 room, and soon explained how matters stood to his 
 delighted auditor. 
 
 Meantime Laura hastily locked her door, threw 
 herself on her knees beside her bed, and strove to 
 think clearly of the mighty, glorious change the 
 last few hours had wrought in her destiny. 
 
 To be Reginald's especial choice ! to have always 
 been loved by him so truly that his new-found for- 
 tune was valueless if not shared by her ! It was 
 incredible — incomprehensible ; pray God he did 
 not deceive himself, for somehow, though so true 
 and affectionate, he still seemed more a brother 
 than a lover.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 23'^ 
 
 But why attend to the scarce perceptible shadows 
 on the glowing field of vision opened out to her ? 
 She knew she could indeed be Reginald's true 
 friend and helpmate. The consciousness of being 
 beloved by him clothed her with beauty, and 
 strength, and wisdom in her own eyes, and gave 
 her power and capacity, by bestowing the self-con- 
 fidence she had hitherto needed. She would help 
 him to guide his life worthily, even while she ruled 
 herself by his will and knowledge. Reginald, her 
 bright, brave, clever kinsman, loved her, and all 
 things had become possible. Then thoughts a step 
 or two lower down the ladder of cogitation sug- 
 gested themselves — What would the Admiral say ? 
 And Winnie ! how delighted she would be ! and 
 surely Reginald and herself, between them, would 
 work deliverance for Winnie — even ' 
 
 Here a sharp knock at the door, accompanied by 
 the words, ' You must let me in, my dear,' inter- 
 rupted her and announced Mrs. Crewe. Laura 
 hastily dried the tears, of which she was till that 
 moment unconscious, and turned the key. 
 
 ' Ah, my dearest Laura !' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe, 
 entering with a radiant face. ' Didn't I always 
 tell you so ? Confess that my experience guided 
 me unerringly. I congratulate you from the depths 
 of my heart !' and she folded her in a huge em- 
 brace. ' Nothing has given me greater pleasure for 
 many a year. You ^;r a lucky girl, Laura ! A 
 more charming, delightful, agreeable, handsome 
 young man never existed ; and so desperately in
 
 234 THE ADMIRAVS WARD. 
 
 love, dear ; quite a romance, I declare ! We'll have 
 the wedding here, of course. By removing the 
 sideboard and bureau, and using a horse-shoe table, 
 we can accommodate thirty people quite well at 
 the breakfast, and ' 
 
 *Dear Mrs. Crewe, you are indeed going far 
 ahead,' cried Laura. ' There is much to be done 
 and arranged first.' 
 
 ' My dear child ! delays are dangerous,' returned 
 Mrs. Crewe significantly. ' Don't you oppose your 
 cousin's wish to be married immediately — it is very 
 natural and quite right ; but come down, he is just 
 waiting to bid you good-bye — for he cannot stay 
 to tea, I am sorry to say — but he wants a word 
 with you. Dear me, how pale you look ! and I 
 declare you have been crying ! Here — ' rapidly 
 pouring out some water into the basin, ' bathe your 
 eyes, do, dear ! I am sure it must be tears of joy 
 you have shed ! and then brush over your hair a 
 little. I will go down and say you are coming : 
 God bless you, my dear child ! you have my 
 warmest good wishes.' And having bestowed a 
 second hug on her young friend, she left the 
 room. 
 
 Laura hastily removed what traces of emotion 
 she could, and descended to speak with Reginald. 
 How strange yet delicious was the feeling of shy 
 hesitation which made her pause with her hand on 
 the dining-room door, before she opened it, and 
 met Reginald face to face, transformed from a 
 relative into a fiance.
 
 •^ 
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 235 
 
 'You are quite right, Mr. Piers/ Mrs. Crewe 
 was saying, as she came in ; ' there is nothing like 
 prompt action.' 
 
 ' Ah, Laura !' he exclaimed, rising to meet her, 
 * forgive me for teasing you to come down : but 
 I did not like to leave without seeing you, and I 
 have letters to write, and twenty things to do this 
 evening, so must be off.' 
 
 ' I will wish you good-bye, then, as I must speak 
 to Collins,' said Mrs. Crewe, and she discreetly left 
 the room. 
 
 ' I intend going down to see the Admiral to- 
 morrow,' said Reginald somewhat abruptly as she 
 left the room ; * and though it is not much more 
 than two hours' journey, the return train is a late 
 one, and I do not think I can manage to see you 
 till the day after. I suppose the good old man will 
 have no objection to me?' and he smiled a pleasant 
 smile of easy assurance. 
 
 * I imagine you are a favourite with him already,' 
 returned Laura, glancing shyly but brightly up 
 at him. ' And I am sure he will be pleased to 
 hear ' she stopped. 
 
 ' That we are going to take each other for better, 
 for worse ? Well, I think so too ; I shall also write 
 to my mother to-night.' 
 
 ' Yes, Reginald,' she said, with an unconscious 
 shiver. ' I dread her reply.' 
 
 ' Nonsense !' he replied, taking her hand in both 
 his. ' We have only to be steady to our own inten- 
 tions and to each other to conquer all opposition.
 
 236 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 Good-night, dearest ; do not fret or worry about 
 anything ; we are going to be the happiest couple 
 to be found anywhere. So good-night' 
 
 He drew her to him, kissed her warmly, and was 
 gone. 
 
 Laura was not sorry to be alone ; she was so con- 
 fused by this sudden blaze of happiness, so blinded 
 by excess of light, that she wanted the rest of 
 silence and darkness. 
 
 She was not long left in peace, however. Mrs. 
 Crewe, with Topsy, soon reappeared, and then she 
 was tormented to eat and to drink, and tortured 
 with conjectures as to what Mrs. Piers would say, 
 and how soon they might begin to prepare the 
 wedding garments, and by short calculations as to 
 the cost of ' a neat little trousseau, my dear, which 
 would carry you on until you received your pin- 
 money ; of course, as the wife of a gentleman of 
 fortune, you would have a handsome allowance,' 
 etc., etc. 
 
 Meantime Reginald, having partaken of dinner 
 at his hotel (he was not yet in any club), sipped a 
 glass of very passable claret as he reviewed the 
 events of the day, thinking also of how he should 
 frame the letter announcing his engagement to his 
 mother, which he was determined to write before 
 he slept. Then he thought of Laura herself, and 
 that consideration brought content. ' She has 
 capital sense, and perfect tact ; she will suit me 
 down to the ground ; by George, I am a lucky 
 fellow !'
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HE morning after this auspicious day- 
 brought the following letter to Laura : 
 
 ' My own dear, 
 
 ' I told you how worried and 
 annoyed I have been of late, and yesterday put a 
 climax to it all. 
 
 ' That horrid little wretch Jack must have been 
 telling my aunt some stories more or less false about 
 our meeting Mr. Price out walking, for she asked 
 me to come up to her room before dinner, and 
 made a long speech about the impropriety of trying 
 to attract her husband's nephew, because a marriage 
 with me would be so very disadvantageous to him 
 and displeasing to his people (who are, I believe, 
 small farmers in Caernarvonshire). Well, you may 
 fancy how I answered ; indeed, the whole thing 
 was so ridiculous that I could not help laughing, 
 which seemed to surprise her. Then she said that 
 both Mr. Morgan and herself were anxious to help 
 me on ; so, if I would undertake to be very circum- 
 spect in my conduct, I might remain with them as
 
 238 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 governess at ;^20 a year ! provided always that I 
 accepted the position and kept with my pupils, 
 etc. etc. 
 
 ' Darling Laura, I-could have jumped for joy as 
 she spoke, because I know the dear Admiral will 
 see the abominable injustice of her proposal — and 
 this will deliver me out of their hands-! 
 
 ' So I know I looked quite pleasant as I replied 
 that I must ask Admiral Desbarres before I made 
 any decision. " By all means," she said ; " and 
 you will see how glad he will be to get rid of you." 
 I do not believe that ! At any rate, I wTote to him 
 last night. Now, Laura, I think it would be a great 
 help if Mrs. Crewe would put in an advertisement 
 for me in some paper for a daily engagement — ■ 
 German, and French, and music, and all that — so 
 as to have things in train when the Admiral gives 
 his consent. Oh ! if you can sell your pictures, 
 and I can find pupils, we shall get on splendidly !' 
 
 ' She is right,' thought Laura, as she finished 
 reading this letter ; ' the Admiral will never consent 
 to such a proposition ; but I must wait to see 
 Reginald before I reply — yet she will think me 
 negligent if I do not write at once. I will send a 
 few lines to cheer her up, and say I hope to send her 
 good news to-morrow. Ah ! what wonderful news !* 
 
 So Laura opened her little writing-case, set out 
 pen, ink, and paper, and forthwith fell into a delicious 
 reverie. Indeed, her whole day passed in this way : 
 an attempt at her usual occupations, a lapse into
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 239 
 
 rainbow-hued day-dreams, a struggle to shake them 
 off, to be up and doing, and then another excursion 
 into cloud-land. Thus the day wore through ; 
 Laura was too startled by her own high-fortune to 
 think clearly, or enjoy to the utmost the bright 
 dawn of bliss tinging her near horizon with ' celes- 
 tial rosy red.' Meanwhile Mrs. Crewe pervaded 
 the house with triumphant activity, having insti- 
 tuted a searching and complete cleaning of the 
 dining- and drawing-rooms in anticipation of a visit 
 from Reginald, in the character of an accepted 
 lover, on the following day. She occasionally pene- 
 trated to Laura's room, and sat for a few minutes 
 with Topsy in her arms, pouring forth suggestions 
 touching Laura's trousseau, the persons to be in- 
 vited to the wedding, and the amount of wages to 
 be given to a competent lady's-maid. 
 
 A loud imperative ring of the front-door bell 
 disturbed her during one of these visits. 'Who 
 can that be? It is too early for visitors. How 
 annoying ! — and I have not changed my dress ! 
 Who is it, Collins ?' as that functionary entered 
 with a smutty face and a dirty apron, but a look of 
 some exultation. 
 
 ' Mr. Holden, 'm, as would like to speak to you if 
 convenient.' 
 
 'Mr. Holden !' in a scream of surprise. 'Well, 
 wonders will never cease ! I trust and hope he is 
 going to pay me my money at last' 
 
 ' I think he is, 'm,' said Collins cheerfully. ' He's 
 just give me half-a-crown, and he is dressed elegant*
 
 240 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Dear me !' returned her mistress, rising quickly. 
 ' This is extraordinary. I shall not mind seeing 
 Mr. Holden in my dressing-gown,' and she went 
 away rapidly. 
 
 In the entrance the chairs and tables from the 
 drawing-room were piled up, and in the midst of 
 the chaos stood the ex-clerk of Messrs. Thurston 
 and Trent, looking more complacent and self- 
 satisfied than ever. 
 
 ' Good-morning, Mr. Holden ; this is quite an 
 unexpected pleasure/ said Mrs. Crewe, with stately 
 civility. 
 
 ' Happy to see you, ma'am. I suppose you had 
 given me up as a bad job/ he returned facetiously. 
 
 ' I had indeed ceased to anticipate a visit from 
 you/ she rejoined; 'pray walk in. You find me 
 rather in confusion ; but never mind.' And she 
 opened the dining-room door, discovering that 
 apartment advanced to the stage of having the 
 furniture restored, but not yet put in order, ' Here/ 
 continued Mrs. Crewe, hastily removing a pile of 
 books and old music from the sofa — 'here is a 
 seat / and clearing a chair of some small china 
 ornaments, she placed herself opposite, dignified 
 displeasure contending with a certain degree of 
 satisfaction in her expression. 
 
 'Well, Mrs. Crewe, I must compliment you on 
 your looks. By George ! you are as blooming as 
 the flowers in May! The world has been going 
 well with you, to judge by appearances/ 
 
 ' The world is as hard as ever, Mr. Holden,
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 241 
 
 though, thank God, I have not suffered so much as 
 I might have done through irregularities — and — but 
 I will not dwell upon the subject.' 
 
 ' Come now, don't be down upon a fellow ! I 
 know you have just cause of complaint. I know I 
 have not behaved well, but the fact' is I got into a 
 mess, and now I have got out of it ; so my business 
 here is to make all square, and pay up like a 
 gentleman. I think you have a bit of paper of 
 mine ?' 
 
 ' Yes, Mr. Holden,' emphatically, ' I had so much 
 faith in you that I have not yet thrown it into the 
 waste-paper basket.^ 
 
 Mrs. Crewe rose, and, going to the table, extri- 
 cated the little writing-desk with the broken hinge 
 from under some cushions, a card-plate, and the 
 freshly shaken and folded table-cover. ' Here,' she 
 continued, turning over its crumpled heterogeneous 
 contents and selecting an exceedingly creased 
 morsel of paper — 'here is your I O U — fifteen 
 pounds ten shillings and sevenpence.' 
 
 ' Fifteen ten, is it ? I thought it was only 
 fifteen V 
 
 ' Look for yourself, sir,^ returned Mrs. Crewe, 
 with dignity. 
 
 ' Oh, never mind ! it^s all right, and that's all 
 right,' slapping down a ten-pound note, five sove- 
 reigns, and the rest in silver, rather noisily on the 
 corner of the table. ' There's fifteen eleven ; trouble 
 you for fippence.' 
 
 * I regret I have no copper,' said Mrs. Crewe 
 
 VOL. I. 16
 
 242 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 elegantly, 'but pray take sixpence and I will 
 consider the affair settled,' handing him the I O U. 
 
 * Stop a bit ; I have a brown somewhere about,' 
 rummaging his pockets. ' Here you are,' and 
 Holden added a penny to the little pile of money. 
 'Now, ma'am, we are quits, ain't we V tearing up his 
 lOU. 
 
 ' We are, Mr. Holden,' she returned, satisfaction 
 surmounting the graver expression of her face as 
 she gazed with delight at the money she had 
 despaired of receiving, feeling that its unexpected 
 restoration had doubled its value. * And I always 
 did think you intended to pay me one day ; I 
 think your heart was right, but difficulties, and 
 circumstances over which you probably had no 
 control, prevented that punctuality more congenial 
 to your better nature.' 
 
 ' You have just hit it, Mrs. Crewe,^ replied 
 Holden, with an indescribable mixture of a nod and 
 a shake of the head. ' Now tell me how you have 
 been getting on, and what you have been doing ;' 
 and, with his usual ease, Holden settled himself 
 down for a gossip, his bold beady black eyes 
 twinkling with an expression of curiosity and 
 exultation. 
 
 ' First let me offer you a glass of wine,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe, her hospitable instincts strongly roused by 
 the agreeable nature of the visit. * It is quite a 
 journey from the City out here :' and making a 
 place on the crowded table, she produced a bottle 
 of sherry and a seed-cake of her own composition.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 243 
 
 ' By George, I'll not say nay !' exclaimed Holden, 
 with much cordiality. * I know your cakes of 
 old.' 
 
 ' And so you have left Thurston and Trent, I 
 hear ?' said Mrs. Crewe, filling him a bumper and 
 cutting a thick slice of cake. 
 
 ' Who told you ? Young Piers ? I thought so ! 
 Yes, I have cut the shop. It was so deuced slow, 
 nothing to be done there ; and such a set of psalm- 
 singing cads, I couldn't put up with them any 
 longer.' 
 
 * Ah, indeed ! I am afraid you are not as steady 
 as you might be, Mr. Holden, and you will be sorry 
 for it yet ! What are you going to do with your- 
 self now ?* 
 
 ' Oh ! I am safe enough. I have come into a 
 little money, and I am going to join a cousin of 
 mine out in Australia. He is a horse-dealer on a 
 large scale, and it is a sort of trade that will suit 
 me a deuced deal better than quill-driving.' 
 
 * No doubt,' returned Mrs. Crewe, with some 
 emphasis ; ' and so you have come into some 
 money } I am truly glad to hear it. Pray, was it 
 by bequest or inheritance ? Have you lost your 
 father or any near relative ? — you will excuse my 
 asking, but I am really interested.' 
 
 ' Much obliged to you. No, I have not lost any 
 relation lately. Oh ! it is only a trifle that's come 
 to me through my mother.* 
 
 ' Now, do take care of it, Mr. Holden ! Invest it 
 prudently, and don't squander it on folly.' 
 
 16 — 2
 
 244 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Thanks for your good opinion,' said Holden, 
 with a slightly insolent laugh. ' And now tell me 
 about Denzil ? Where is he cruising about ?' 
 
 ' My son, Mr. Denzil Crewe, is I hope on his way 
 home. He has been last at the Cape and Algoa 
 Bay.' 
 
 'That's all right. And is old what's-his-name 
 upstairs still ?' 
 
 ' If you mean Mr. Jenkins,' with some stateliness, 
 '■ he still occupies my first floor, and is a pattern of 
 punctuality in every respect !' 
 
 ' Very different from your humble servant ! eh, 
 Mrs. Cuewe?' 
 
 ' Oh I you have acted as you ought, and I meant 
 no allusion ; but I don't think you seem to know 
 that Admiral Desbarres has placed his ward Miss 
 Piers under my care, and also Miss Fielden, her 
 cousin, who is just now on a visit to her aunt. 
 You know, of course, who Admiral Desbarres is ?' 
 
 ' I should think I did,' said Holden, rather 
 irreverently. ' So the ward is with you ? I did 
 hear something to that effect at the office. It's 
 rather a good thing, I suppose ?' 
 
 ' Most agreeable and satisfactory, though less 
 remunerative than gratifying. Not that I have 
 anything to complain of 
 
 *Then I suppose you see my old office-mate, 
 Reginald Piers sometimes? He is somehow re- 
 lated to the Admiral's ward, isn't he ?' 
 
 ' Very closely connected,^ said Mrs. Crewe, with 
 a superior smile.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 245 
 
 ' Ah, indeed !' returned Holden, watching her. 
 * Well, he is a deuced stuck-up fellow — always was 
 — even when he hadn't a rap in his pocket ; and 
 now there's no holding him. Gad, it's disgusting 
 to speak to him !' 
 
 '■ I don't at all agree with you,' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Crewe sharply. ' He is as nice and simple and 
 unaffected as can be ; he is in and out with his 
 cousin every day in the week. I am sure we quite 
 miss him when he does not come ! I consider him 
 a charming young man.' 
 
 ' So do other people ! I am told Trent counts on 
 him for a son-in-law,' looking keenly at her. ' His 
 daughter is about nineteen, and swell enough, I 
 believe, even for Piers of Pierslynn.' 
 
 ' There is not a word of truth in the report. 
 Don^t you believe it, Mr. Holden,' said Mrs. Crewe 
 loftily. 
 
 ' Well, I don't know ; I had it from pretty good 
 authority,' returned Holden, with a provoking air 
 of superior information which was almost too 
 much for Mrs. Crewe to bear. 
 
 ' Pray, who was your authority ?* in a tone of 
 scorn. 
 
 ' A young fellow who used to be a good deal 
 with Piers and me. He is a bit of a favourite with 
 Mrs. Trent, and dines there ; so he knows what he 
 is talking about.' 
 
 * And I am very sure he does not,' said Mrs. 
 Crewe emphatically, ' as I could prove were I at 
 liberty to speak.'
 
 246 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' Oh ! that's all very fine. But you don't mean to 
 say Piers makes a confidante of yoiL T asked Hol- 
 den, with a sneer. 
 
 * He might do worse/ returned Mrs. Crewe, 
 driven to the end of her endurance. ' But I am 
 not going to talk of his affairs to you, even to 
 show you you are wrong.' 
 
 ' I understand,' cried Holden, with an insulting 
 laugh. ' It's a sort of secret not difficult to keep 
 — a mare's nest, in short.' 
 
 ' I must say, Mr. Holden, you are neither well- 
 bred nor polite,' said Mrs, Crewe, irritated beyond 
 her prudence. ^So, as there is really no necessity 
 for secrecy, I do not mind telling you that Mr. 
 Piers is engaged to my charming young friend 
 Miss Laura Piers, and the wedding is to take place 
 here in about six weeks — there now !' 
 
 Holden gave a long loud whistle, while an in- 
 definable change passed over his countenance. 
 
 'Oh! that's it, is it?' he said. *Well, Mrs. 
 Crewe, you have the pull of me, I admit ! But it 
 seems sharp work. However, I suppose it's a case 
 of boy-and-girl attachment — extra constancy, devo- 
 tion, and disinterestedness. I presume the young 
 lady is a beauty ?' 
 
 *No, Mr. Holden, she is not what is called a 
 beauty; but she is most interesting, and has charm- 
 ing manners.' 
 
 'Just so ; and has the sainted Admiral given his 
 consent ?' 
 
 ' Oh, of course he will ! The marriage is un- 
 exceptionable.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 247 
 
 * Quite so ; in fact, it's a wonderful hit for any 
 girl to make, and rather mufifish of a young fellow 
 just come into freedom and fortune to run his 
 head into the noose. I must say it's not what 
 one would have expected from Reginald Piers !' 
 
 ^ Our ideas on such subjects are not at all alike/ 
 said Mrs. Crewe stiffly. 
 
 * I suppose not,' returned Holden, by no means 
 cast down by the sense of difference between them. 
 * I say, Mrs. Crewe, could you manage to let a 
 fellow have a peep at the young lady ? I'd give a 
 good deal to see her 1' 
 
 * I do not think I can ask her to come down. 
 She is writing letters — business letters of import- 
 ance — in her own room, and ought not to be dis- 
 turbed.' 
 
 * You tell her her young man's special friend is 
 below, and most anxious to make her acquaint- 
 ance ; she will come fast enough.' 
 
 * It is quite impossible, Mr. Holden ; she ' 
 
 What Mrs. Crewe was about to add was never 
 
 known, for at that moment the door opened to 
 admit the young lady in question, in her walking- 
 dress and with a letter in her hand. 
 
 Laura, having written a short reply to Winnie, 
 and knowing that Collins was in the throes of an 
 extensive cleaning, put on her hat to go to the post 
 herself Absorbed in her own thoughts, she forgot 
 Mrs. Crewels visitor, or vaguely supposed he must 
 have left, so came into the dining-room to ask 
 Mrs. Crewe if she had any commission to be 
 executed.
 
 248 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Laura stood still and Holden stood up, while 
 Mrs. Crewe, rather annoyed at the unexpected 
 meeting, pronounced a hasty introduction. 
 
 ' I'm sure, Miss Piers, I consider myself very 
 fortunate to have the honour of making your ac- 
 quaintance,' said Holden, with elaborate polite- 
 ness. 
 
 Laura bowed, and advancing into the room found 
 a seat for herself. 
 
 ' He will be congratulating her in a minute,* 
 thought Mrs. Crewe uneasily, * the great stupid !' 
 
 ' I have often heard your cousin, Mr. Reginald 
 Piers, talk of you,' resumed Holden, forcing him- 
 self to speak with his usual assurance, for some- 
 thing in the restful quiet of Laura's manner and 
 bearing oppressed and disconcerted him. ' We 
 were great allies, you know, at Thurston and 
 Trent's ; so I don't feel as if you were a stranger.' 
 
 ' Indeed !' returned Laura, looking straight at 
 him with some surprise. 
 
 ' Yes,' continued Holden, ' he was always a 
 steadier fellow than myself; still, we were pretty 
 well out at elbows when luck turned up for us both 
 — an odd sort of coincidence.' 
 
 ' Very odd !' returned Laura, seeing that he paused 
 for a reply. 
 
 ' Fine place, Pierslynn,' resumed Holden. ' Have 
 you been there ?' 
 
 ^ Never,' said Laura. 
 Have 7^?/ ?' asked Mrs. Crewe aggressively. 
 
 ' Yes,' said Holden ; * I was down in that part of
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 249 
 
 the world last week, taking a look at my own native 
 place, which is a couple of hours farther on, over the 
 Welsh border, and I stopped to say " how d'ye do ?" 
 to my old pal. It's a deuced fine place, and a nice 
 old house — regular English — not grand, but com- 
 fortable, and well-kept and fit for a gentleman. I 
 don't think Piers was particularly glad to see me/ 
 with a harsh laugh. 'But I say, Madame Piers 
 won't like to make way when Master Reggie gives 
 -Pierslynn a mistress t Don't you think so, ma'am?* 
 to Mrs. Crewe. 
 
 * No doubt she will rejoice to see her son happy,' 
 said that lady, feeling very uncomfortable. 
 
 * And happy he will be if there's truth in the report 
 I hear and the appearances I see,' returned Holden, 
 with terrible significance. 
 
 Laura looked at him much puzzled, the colour 
 rising in her cheek. 
 
 * You'll excuse me,' he said in answer to the look, 
 with his head a little to one side, and a curious, 
 half-mocking, half-inquisitive expression in his face. 
 ' But I hope Mrs. Piers is not your aunt, or I would 
 not have spoken so free.' 
 
 * No ; she is not my aunt,' said Laura softly, still 
 puzzled. 
 
 * No ? Then I may ask the degree of relation- 
 ship?' asked Holden. 
 
 ' I cannot say — I never knew,' returned Laura. 
 ' Our relationship is distant, I imagine. It was 
 the accident of early association that made us 
 friends.'
 
 2SO THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 *And something more/ said Holden, rising to 
 take leave with a coarse laugh. ' Well, good-bye, 
 Mrs. Crewe : we are quits now, and we are not 
 likely to meet again ; but I can tell you, I never 
 was so comfortable as in your house, and I consider 
 you no end of a trump, if you'll forgive the expres- 
 sion. Good-bye, Miss Piers, and permit me to offer 
 my sincere congratulations on your approaching 
 union with Mr. Piers of Pierslynn. Pray tell that 
 gentleman I had the honour of being presented to 
 you, and I think he is the luckiest dog going ! My 
 best wishes for your long life and happiness.' 
 
 So saying, he picked up his hat, made an abrupt 
 bow, and left the room, the sound of the front door 
 closing reaching the ears of his auditors before they 
 had recovered power of speech. Then Laura ex- 
 claimed reproachfully : 
 
 ' Oh, Mrs. Crewe ! how could you tell everything 
 to that dreadful vulgar common man !' 
 
 ' My dear child ! I never was so vexed with 
 myself! but he dragged it out of me. You know 
 the almost diabolical skill of these legal people, and 
 I defy anyone to have resisted his cross-examina- 
 tion. I don't know why he should want to know ! 
 only that he may be an emissary of those Trents^ 
 who have set their hearts on catching Mr. Piers, 
 and are ready to snap your nose off for coming 
 between them !' 
 
 * I don't like to say much about it, Mrs. Crewe, 
 but I am awfully vexed that you should have 
 spoken of Reginald and myself to such a man.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 251 
 
 ' Do, dear, forgive me ! though I am quite sure 
 in a few days your approaching marriage will be 
 openly announced, and then it is no matter who 
 knows.' 
 
 * I am not so sure. Remember, we have got to 
 hear what the Admiral will say, and, above all, what 
 Mrs. Piers will say — and oh ! Mrs. Crewe, let us not 
 be too sure of anything.' 
 
 'Pooh! nonsense, my dear! there are many bright 
 happy days before you ! You have brought me 
 luck — Here ! look at these crisp notes, and the gold, 
 such nice, new-looking gold ! That dreadful low- 
 bred creature has paid me after all, and now I will 
 put on my bonnet and go out with you. There's a 
 pretty square of carpet at Johnson's in the Edgware 
 Road, that I have been dying to buy for this month 
 past for your room ! We will fetch it home in a cab, 
 and I will lay it down to-night.'
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 UT Laura's displeasure was quickly dis- 
 pelled by the sunshine of Reginald's 
 presence, when, true to his tryst, he 
 arrived early the day after his visit to 
 the Admiral, bright, debonair, and complaisant, as 
 became a successful wooer. 
 
 Laura had so far caught the prevailing epidemic 
 that she rose at an unusually early hour, and regu- 
 lated her little painting-room, decking it with 
 flowers, and arranging it with a degree of pleasant 
 picturesque confusion suitable to an artistic abode. 
 No longer dared she turn a glance of stoic disregard 
 on such small vanities as lace frills and cambric 
 tuckers; on the contrary, she was careful to put 
 the softest and snowiest tulle round her neck and 
 wrists, and found herself gazing with almost painful 
 anxiety in the glass to see if any amount of brushing 
 could convey to her dull hair the satiny sheen which 
 was the characteristic of Winnie's. She desisted 
 with a slight sigh, resolving to leave herself alone. 
 
 He loves 
 
 me 
 
 for 
 
 something 
 
 better than 
 
 my
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 253 
 
 looks/ she thought, * or he would never have sought 
 me.' 
 
 Mrs. Crewe was discreetly engaged when Regi- 
 nald rattled up in a hansom, having dispensed with 
 ' pomp and state ' in the shape of servants and 
 horses. 
 
 It was a moment of almost painfully nervous 
 pleasure till the first greeting was over and they 
 had settled down into the charming frank cousinly 
 intercourse dashed with lover-like warmth which 
 Reginald always maintained. 
 
 * Well, Laura,' he began, after they had settled 
 themselves in the drawing-room for a good talk, 
 ' my interview with the Admiral was very satisfac- 
 tory on the whole. He seems favourably disposed 
 towards me, but he did not commit himself. He is 
 coming up to town to-morrow to talk with you, 
 dear. It is evidently a tremendous affair with him ! 
 Whereas to you and me, who have known each 
 other for the first half of our lives, it seems quite 
 natural to spend the rest of it together. Eh 
 Laura ?' 
 
 ' No, Reggie — not yet ; to me at least it seems 
 very strange ; and the Admiral is coming ! Don't 
 think me foolish and weak — but I quite dread the 
 idea of talking to him. What an awful array of 
 responsibilities he will set before me !' 
 
 Reginald laughed. ' 
 
 * Let him talk, Laura — why should you mind ? 
 / am the principal personage, and you don't think 
 I am going to be a hard taskmaster ?'
 
 254 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 * What did he say about your mother, Reginald ?' 
 
 ' About my mother ? Oh ! nothing — nothing 
 particular.' 
 
 ' Of course you spoke of her. What did he say ? 
 Does he think it will be very difficult to get her 
 consent ?' 
 
 ' Oh no. He thinks it is quite right and natural 
 — the correct thing, in short — that we should marry. 
 He was good enough, too, to express high approba- 
 tion of my unworthy self* 
 
 ' I knew he always liked you, Reggie. Have you 
 written to your mother ?' 
 
 ' I have. She is frightfully slow about answering 
 letters, so I shan't expect a reply much before the 
 day after to-morrow.' 
 
 ' Surely she will reply quickly to such a letter as 
 yours !' cried Laura, surprised. 
 
 ' We will see,' returned Reginald evasively. ^ By 
 the way, I did not forget about your cousin Winnie. 
 The Admiral had had a letter from her, and was 
 rather indignant with her aunt. He is going to 
 send for her forthwith, so she will be a nice little 
 bridesmaid for you.' 
 
 ' And he is really going to send for her ? Oh, 
 that is too delightful ! What have I done to 
 deserve all this happiness ?' and the quick tears of 
 joy sprang to her eyes. 
 
 ' Dear Laura !' cried Reginald, looking keenly at 
 her. ' You are happy, then, to be my wife ! You 
 do love me ?' etc., etc. 
 
 •^ ^ * -Jf- *
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 255 
 
 It was a day long to be remembered — everything 
 was couleur de rose. Reginald was not so absorbed 
 in his role of lover that he could not do the agree- 
 able to Mrs. Crewe, and solace her soul with little 
 anecdotes of the Saltshire magnates, etc. 
 
 The afternoon was spent strolling through the 
 galleries of South Kensington, and art never 
 seemed so charming before to Laura, for her appre- 
 ciation was keen and deep, and Reginald was not 
 without taste and culture, while the morsels of 
 tender personality niched in among more general 
 topics lit up their intercourse like jewelled points. 
 
 But evening drew in, and Reginald was obliged 
 to leave early, as he had an appointment at eight 
 which he had postponed to give the day to Laura. 
 
 * Oh, Reggie,' she exclaimed as he was going, ' I 
 forgot to tell you that an acquaintance of yours was 
 here yesterday — a Mr. Holden.' 
 
 ' Who !' asked Reginald, as if astonished. 
 ' Holden ? What brought him here ?' 
 
 * He came to pay Mrs. Crewe some money.* 
 
 * She should not parade you for all the raff of 
 clerks that have lodged in her house !' 
 
 * She did not ; I came in accidentally.' 
 
 ' Well, I don't want you to know such fellows. 
 He was the plague of my life at Trent's office. He 
 does not know his place.' 
 
 * Well, Mrs. Crewe says he is going to Australia.' 
 ' He is right to export himself before it is done 
 
 for him.' Reginald spoke hastily — harshly ; then, 
 with a sudden change of tone, he bid Laura an
 
 256 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 affectionate good-night, and left her sh'ghtly won- 
 dering at his impatience. 
 
 * * * -jf * 
 
 But despite her sense of happiness^ her faith in 
 Reginald's loyalty and love, the morrow which suc- 
 ceeded this blissful day was one of trial to Laura ; 
 though Mrs. Crewe, with all her warm-hearted 
 sympathy, was not aware that she suffered, yet 
 there is real suffering in the ' fearful looking for of 
 judgment ' from one who, however loved and re- 
 spected, is actuated by motives and ideas somewhat 
 beyond one^s ken. 
 
 But the Admiral tarried, and poor Laura had 
 even gone through the semblance of eating her 
 early dinner, when the sound of a cab stopping at 
 the gate and the ensuing peal of the bell told her 
 the supreme mom.ent was at hand. 
 
 * Go, dear,' exclaimed Mrs. Crewe. * I will see 
 him afterwards. Stop — let me put in this hair-pin 
 and put your sash straight — there ! you look very 
 nice.' 
 
 Laura's heart sank within her as she opened the 
 drawing-room door and found herself face to face 
 with the Admiral. He was standing beside a 
 small cabinet looking at a photograph of Winnie 
 which stood upon it, and turned to meet her with 
 a kind, grave smile. 
 
 * My dear Laura,' taking her hand in one of his 
 and then laying the other over it, ' I have been 
 detained, and fear I have caused you some un- 
 easiness.'
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. lyj 
 
 ' I have been very, very anxious to see you/ said 
 Laura, in a low, unsteady voice. 
 
 ' Naturally/ said the Admiral, ' naturally / and 
 he led her to a chair — drawing one beside it for 
 himself. Then there was a terrible pause. ' It is 
 a very solemn matter I have come to discuss with 
 you, my dear ward,' he began ; * but you have my 
 sincere sympathy, my entire approval.' 
 
 As no suitable words would present themselves, 
 Laura took her guardian's hand gently and kissed it. 
 
 ' It is a sacred and mysterious relationship that 
 you and your cousin propose to enter into,' he con- 
 tinued. * I hope, I believe, you would not enter 
 lightly upon it. It is a solemn undertaking, Laura, 
 to accept a man's life ! A wife's responsibility is 
 great. God has given a mighty and a glorious task 
 into the hands of the woman, even to be as the 
 hidden leaven — working unseen till the whole ex- 
 istence she shares is leavened.' The Admiral 
 paused with the usual wistful, far-away outlook in 
 his soft, grave, dark eyes. ' The husband has his 
 part/ he resumed ; 'and though just now Reginald 
 is in the flush of youth, prosperity, and first affec- 
 tion, there is that in him which will develop into 
 the true Christian man — strong and faithful. His 
 constancy to the love he so early conceived for 
 yourself is in my opinion an evidence of his high 
 character.' 
 
 ' I am myself amazed at it,' said Laura softly. 
 
 * Nay, / am not/ replied the Admiral, with a 
 kind smile ; ' I admire and approve his choice. I 
 
 VOL. I. 1/
 
 258 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 believe my ward will make a true good wife. But 
 Reginald tells me that he has persuaded you to an 
 almost immediate marriage. I do not think this 
 desirable or possible.' 
 
 ' He spoke to me of it,' said Laura, blushing 
 vividly. ' But I neither agreed nor refused — I 
 could say nothing till I had seen you !' 
 
 ' Quite right — quite right,' returned her guardian, 
 with an air of entire approval. * It is natural that 
 the young man should be anxious to make you his 
 wife — especially as you are an orphan and without 
 a real home ; but there is an obstacle — I greatly 
 regret it — an obstacle which must be, and no doubt 
 will be, overcome. I find it rather an ungracious 
 task to explain.' 
 
 ' I can save you,' interrupted Laura, her colour 
 receding even quicker than it came. ' His mother, 
 Mrs. Piers, refuses her consent.' 
 
 ' She does,' said the Admiral. ' Why, how did 
 you know ?' 
 
 ' Because it is only natural that she should,' re- 
 turned Laura sadly. ' I have little to recommend 
 me as a daughter-in-law to a proud woman — and 
 Mrs. Piers is proud ; I have met her, my dear 
 guardian ! and if I am really a fit helpmate for her 
 son, I do not think she could perceive it. This is 
 a terrible, almost insurmountable obstacle.' She 
 stopped short, her heart beating painfully. 
 
 ' Serious — but not insurmountable,' said the 
 Admiral soothingly. ' Mrs. Piers, like most loving 
 mothers, estimates her son too highly, but in this
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 259 
 
 love is our best ally ; she cannot long refuse her 
 consent to what is important — nay, essential — to 
 her son's happiness.' 
 
 ' Alas !' replied Laura, ' I fear it will be difficult 
 to remove her objections.' 
 
 ' I scarcely understand them,' said the Admiral 
 thoughtfully. * You are a well-educated gentle- 
 woman of his own blood, not too nearly related, 
 well known to him in every particular of your life, 
 in every respect an unusually prudent choice. I 
 only fear it is greed which actuates her, and a some- 
 what vain ambition ; but, my dear Laura, I propose 
 to visit her myself. I go to Pierslynn the day after 
 to-morrow, and hope to bring her to reason and 
 common sense.' 
 
 'What, you undertake this journey for my sake ! 
 for my interest !' cried Laura. ' You are indeed a 
 father to me ! But, dear, dear Admiral Desbarres, 
 spare me the humiliation of being forced on Regi- 
 nald's mother! at least, leave the attempt to him. He 
 can do more to reconcile her than anyone else. I 
 would not for worlds cause any dissension between 
 them, or enter a family averse to receive me.* 
 
 *That sounds finer than it really is,' said the 
 Admiral gravely. ' You have promised to be 
 Reginald's wife — your first duty is to think of his 
 happiness, not your own pride ; and though you 
 are both bound by every means to seek his mother's 
 assent to your union, if she is obstinate in her ob- 
 jection to the marriage, I — I scarce know what to 
 advise,' his eyes assuming a troubled expression. 
 
 17 — 2
 
 26o THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 * The duty and obedience due to a mother is almost 
 limitless,' he resumed, after a moment's pause, in a 
 slow, hesitating manner. ' Yet the obligation on 
 her to promote her son's welfare is equally impera- 
 tive. I feel it right that I should see Mrs. Piers, 
 Laura ; and do not doubt I shall be directed aright. 
 There is no use in urging any objections ' — for 
 Laura made as if to speak — ' I have resolved upon 
 this visit; I shall then go on to Liverpool and 
 bring Winnie back with me.' 
 
 ' Bring Winnie back !' cried Laura, her face 
 brightening. ' Oh ! dearest guardian, how grateful 
 I am to you ! It will be so delightful to have dear 
 Winnie back again !' 
 
 The Admiral smiled. 
 
 ' She has been unjustly treated, poor child, and it 
 is my intention from henceforth to take charge of 
 her fortunes. I think I have mentioned that I am, 
 or shall be, a richer man than I was, so that neither 
 of you dear children need hesitate to accept the 
 help I have pleasure in giving. It is business con- 
 nected with my money-matters that prevents my 
 going to Pierslynn to-morrow, as my young friend 
 Reginald requested me. The feeling and tenacity 
 he displays have, I assure you, touched my heart 
 and enlisted my sympathy. He was on the point 
 of accompanying me here, when some person called 
 and detained him. He will soon be here. I de- 
 pend, Laura^ on your good sense and high principle 
 resisting any entreaties of your fiance to take a 
 rash step. Remember, it is an evil beginning to
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 261 
 
 outrage the first earthly duties. In time all will 
 come right.' 
 
 * You may indeed trust me ! I will not encourage 
 Reginald to disobey his mother. I would rather 
 forego ' 
 
 'Beware of pride,' said the Admiral gently. 
 * For the present, then, it is merely an engagement 
 subject to the consent of Mrs. Piers. Meantime, 
 you will learn to know each other in your new 
 relationship ; but I warn you, you will find Regi- 
 nald rather unreasonable ; and now we can say no 
 more : the future is in God's hands. Tell me, what 
 arrangements can Mrs. Crewe make to receive 
 Winnie ?' 
 
 Laura gladly pursued the fresh and welcome 
 topic, while her veins thrilled with mingled pain 
 and pleasure — pain at the evidently determined 
 opposition of Mrs. Piers, and pleasure at the eager- 
 ness to call her his displayed by Reginald. She 
 knew of old how tenacious a will he possessed, and 
 never doubted that in the end he would overrule all 
 opposition ; in the meantime, there was an evil 
 quarter of an hour to be endured with what forti- 
 tude and cheerfulness she could. 
 
 While she listened and replied to her guardian, a 
 quick firm foot sprang up the front door-steps, and 
 a loud decisive ring made her heart leap for 
 joy. 
 
 The next moment Reginald entered with head 
 erect, a smile on his lips, and an indescribable look 
 of triumphant satisfaction in his eyes. He walked
 
 262 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 straight up to Laura, and taking the hand she held 
 out, pressed closer to her and kissed her cheek with 
 an unmistakable air of proprietorship that drew a 
 kindly smile from the Admiral. 
 
 ' Well, Laura,' he said, still holding her hand 
 while he bowed to her guardian, * has the Admiral 
 told you of my mother's letter ? but I see he has. 
 Come, my darling, you must not let that worry 
 you. My poor mother has the sort of estimate of 
 my value usually formed by widows of their only 
 sons ; and were you a princess with half your 
 father's dominions for a dowry, I doubt if she would 
 think you worthy of my noble self 
 
 ' Oh no, dear Reginald,' said Laura, with a depre- 
 cating shake of the head. ' She would welcome a 
 princess fast enough ; but I do not wonder at her 
 being a little surprised at the choice her prince has 
 made. We must have patience, and try to bring 
 her round ; for indeed, indeed, I could not marry 
 you save with her consent.' 
 
 ' Nonsense, Laura ! with or without it, we will be 
 man and wife before six months are over. What 
 do you say. Admiral ?' 
 
 ' That in all probability you will be man and wife 
 with your mother's consent,' he returned. 
 
 'When did you hear from your mother, Regi- 
 nald ?' asked Laura. 
 
 * I found a letter waiting me when I returned 
 last night.' 
 
 ' May I see it V she said timidly. 
 
 ' No, no, there would be no use. Eh, Admiral
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 263 
 
 Desbarres ? Besides, it would be a breach of con- 
 fidence to show it.' 
 
 ' That is enough,' returned Laura resignedly ; 
 but she looked very downcast and sad. 
 
 ' I want to make some arrangement with Mrs. 
 Crewe about Winnie,' said the Admiral, breaking 
 the short silence which had fallen upon them. 
 *Will you ask if she would kindly receive me, 
 Laura ?' 
 
 Laura rose to seek her, and Reginald, who for all 
 his bright looks seemed restless and ill-at-ease, 
 followed \i\?> fiancee as she left the room. 
 
 ' You will find me in the studio,' he said. ' I 
 have not inspected your work since I came back. 
 And the Admiral will like a tete-d-tete with Mrs. 
 Crewe.' 
 
 Laura smiled and nodded as she ran upstairs to 
 summon Mrs. Crewe. 
 
 Whether Mrs. Piers gave her consent or not, she 
 could not deprive her of the delight of. being 
 watched and waited for by her hero, her king, her 
 reve de qiiinze a7is. 
 
 So while Mrs. Crewe, decked in her very best 
 black silk, her most carefully preserved fichu of 
 real lace, her most gracious smiles, went to discuss 
 finance with the general benefactor, Laura de- 
 scended to the painting-room, where she found 
 Reginald seated smoking a cigar with cousinly 
 familiarity. 
 
 ' You don't mind a little smoke, Laura ?' he said, 
 rising to put a chair for her near his own. ' It is
 
 264 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 the right thing for a studio, you know. I always 
 think, to be an artist, you must smoke, were it only 
 cigarettes. But I want a talk all by ourselves. 
 We know what we want as no third person can.' 
 And throwing the remainder of his cigar out of 
 the window, he began to exclaim against his 
 mother's unreasonableness, her want of considera- 
 tion for him, not harshly, and partly in jest, but 
 winding up by a strong appeal to Laura's love and 
 faith in him, not to allow anyone's opinions or 
 whims to separate them ; urging her with vehe- 
 mence that half-frightened her, while she could not 
 quite keep possession of her cool reason before the 
 unexpected force and fire of his arguments and 
 entreaties. He knew his mother, he said ; no 
 amount of persuasion would avail ; he was, indeed, 
 averse to the Admiral's plan of an interview, which 
 was not consistent with what was due to Laura, his 
 beloved and respected future wife. Nothing but 
 decided action would produce any effect on his 
 mother ; once they were absolutely married, and 
 Mrs. Piers saw the fruitlessness of opposition, she 
 would come round and become reconciled. Would 
 Laura have the courage to be his, in spite of all 
 opposition ? Mrs. Crewe would certainly befriend 
 them. Once the marriage ceremony had been 
 performed and they had been away on their wedding 
 trip, no one would attempt to take Laura from him, 
 though she was still under age. 
 
 * Reginald, Reginald !' cried Laura, startled into 
 her senses again by the wild plan he was suggest-
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 265 
 
 ing, and withdrawing the hand he had held tightly 
 in both of his, ' what are you thinking of ? You 
 cannot wish to marry in the face of everyone's dis- 
 approbation, to make a runaway marriage, before 
 trying what reason and persuasion will do ! It 
 would be disgraceful folly. It is not like you to be 
 so — foolish.' 
 
 A cloud gathered on Reginald's brow. * I 
 thought you had warmer sympathy with me,' he 
 said gloomily. 
 
 Before Laura could utter the earnest denial of 
 this charge which rose to her lips, Mrs. Crewe was 
 heard calling discreetly before opening the door : 
 
 ' Laura, my dear Laura !' and then presenting 
 herself ' The Admiral wants to see you both 
 before he goes/ said she ; ' and he cannot stay any 
 longer, I regret to say.' 
 
 Laura rose immediately, and Reginald with 
 evident reluctance. 
 
 ' Think of what I have said,' he whispered as they 
 left the room and followed Mrs. Crewe to the 
 Admiral's presence, ' and do not let an overstrained 
 idea of duty or propriety make you indifferent to 
 my happiness.' 
 
 The Admiral took leave with his usual kindly yet 
 formal politeness, apologizing for taking Mr. Piers 
 away from more attractive society, but saying that 
 they had still some important matters to see to and 
 arrange. 
 
 Mrs. Crewe, with impressive observance, followed 
 them to the door, from which she observed a some-
 
 266 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 what dilapidated four-wheeler approaching, and 
 displacing the smart hansom which awaited the 
 Admiral and Reginald. 
 
 ' Who in the world can it be ?' said Mrs. Crewe. 
 
 * Please, 'm, Mr. Piers has forgotten his gloves,' 
 cried Collins eagerly. 
 
 ' Run, then, my girl,' Mrs. Crewe, said turning and 
 standing back to let her pass, so that she missed 
 seeing a gentleman get out of the cab — a man of 
 middle height, but exceedingly broad-shouldered 
 and square, with loose-looking dark clothes and 
 a cloth cap. There was a short stoppage while 
 the departing 'guest received his gloves ; then the 
 hansom drove off, and the new-comer, shouldering 
 a large portmanteau, entered the garden. 
 
 Mrs. Crewe gave a sudden joyful shriek. 
 
 * It is Denzil !' she cried. * Denzil himself !' 
 
 She flew down the steps and endeavoured to 
 embrace him, portmanteau and all. 
 
 ' My dear, dear boy ! my blessed son ! Here, 
 Collins, take this great horrid portmanteau. Come 
 in, my dearest son. You must be so tired and 
 hungry. Do give that thing to Collins.' 
 
 ' No, mother, it is too heavy for the girl ; I will 
 put it down indoors. Why, you are looking uncom- 
 monly well, mother ! — ever so much better than 
 when I left you.' 
 
 He quickly ascended the steps, and Laura, not 
 liking to intrude on the joyful meeting of mother 
 and son, ran away upstairs to her own room.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HE light of a glowing July day was 
 changing to evening's hue when Mrs. 
 Crewe tapped at Laura's door : she 
 entered with radiant looks and eyes 
 still moist with tears of joy. 
 
 ' You must not think I have forgotten you,' she 
 said ; ' but my dear boy and I have had so much 
 to talk over. And, God be thanked ! I had so 
 much good news to tell, the minutes, and indeed 
 the hours, have flown by. Ah, Laura ! we have 
 seen such rough times together, that we have each 
 grown to feel every throb of the other's heart.' 
 
 ' I am sure it is quite natural you should forget 
 everything except each other,' said Laura kindly. 
 ' Is not his return a great surprise ?^ 
 
 ' It is. He had written to me from Pernambuco 
 more than a month ago, saying that he was on the 
 point of sailing for England, but I have never had 
 the letter. And now he is come to make some 
 little stay, for the firm will not send him out again 
 except in command ; and one of their captains.
 
 268 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 who is expected home from Calcutta, is going to 
 resign, so Denzil is to wait for his ship. Come 
 down, dear ; tea is quite ready, and Denzil is pre- 
 pared to meet his mother's dear friend in you.' 
 
 She led the way, and Laura followed. 
 
 In the dining-room the lamp was lit and the 
 table was set. Flowers in the centre, and even the 
 candles in the ornamental lustres on the mantel- 
 shelf lit up — a most unheard-of piece of extrava- 
 gance. 
 
 Standing on the hearth-rug was the man of whom 
 Laura had caught a glimpse when he descended 
 from the cab that afternoon : a strong, sailor-like 
 figure^ with large dark eyes and a quantity of 
 black curly hair ; a very brown, steady, even stern 
 face, with a square jaw, broad brow, and a mouth 
 concealed by thick moustaches. He was looking 
 towards the door as Laura entered, and holding 
 Topsy on his shoulder after his mother's fashion. 
 
 ' This is my dear young friend, Laura Piers,' said 
 Mrs. Crewe, laying her hand on Laura's arm ; * and, 
 Laura, let me present my dearest son to you.' 
 
 Denzil Crewe made a low bow and put down 
 Topsy, while a frank kindly smile lit up his bronzed 
 countenance and showed a set of strong white 
 teeth. 
 
 * I am very happy to know you/ he said in a 
 deep but not unpleasant voice, ' and thank you 
 heartily for the comfort and companionship you 
 have afforded my mother.' 
 
 He came forward as he spoke, and with simple
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 269 
 
 cordiality and a slight but not undignified hesita- 
 tion held out his hand. Laura readily placed hers 
 in it, expressing her hearty sympathy in the 
 pleasure his return gave to his mother. 
 
 And then a very happy trio sat down to their 
 evening meal. To them Herbert soon added him- 
 self. Denzil Crewe, in his eyes a sort of nine- 
 teenth-century Sindbad, who had been in the 
 Valley of Diamonds, if not in the grasp of the Old 
 Man of the Sea, was an object of intense interest. 
 He measured him with his eye ; he stole searching 
 though furtive glances at him in the intervals of 
 his cold beef, bread and butter, and tea ; and^ as 
 the new guest bestowed more attention on him than 
 anyone else, he gradually warmed up to the pitch 
 of putting a series of questions, nautical, geo- 
 graphical, and commercial, all of which Denzil 
 Crewe answered, clearly, kindly, shortly, without 
 the slightest reference to himself, even resisting his 
 mother's efforts to draw him into personal narrative 
 by her persuasive exclamations of ''Do, dear 
 Denzil, tell us about the narrow escape you had on 
 your second voyage, when the ship was wrecked in 
 the Pacific ;' or, ' I am sure, dear, Miss Piers would 
 be so interested to hear of how you saved that 
 poor man's life in the Bay of Bengal. He ought 
 to have had the Humane Society's medal for it, 
 Laura, but then he does not care for such things ;' 
 all of which attempts Denzil turned aside with 
 solid good-humoured immovability that amused
 
 270 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Laura, but gave her an impression of his superiority 
 to petty vanities. 
 
 ' He is a silent man, who nevertheless can talk,' 
 was her mental summing-up. 
 
 Tea over, Denzil proposed to take a turn in the 
 garden and have a smoke, inviting the delighted 
 Herbert to accompany him. 
 
 * I am afraid I have taken your smoking-room, 
 Mr. Crewe,' said Laura, with a sudden sense of the 
 fitness of her atelier for such a purpose. ' Your 
 mother has kindly given me the breakfast parlour 
 downstairs to paint in. I imagine you must have 
 had it before.' 
 
 ' Not at all ; I never smoke in the house. 
 Indeed, I am not often indoors; do not trouble 
 about that.' 
 
 ' I am sure, Denzil, you will be charmed with 
 Miss Piers's painting. He has quite a taste that 
 way himself, Laura. Have you brought home any 
 sketches this time, dear ?' 
 
 ' Very few — mere scratches ; but I shall like to 
 see your pictures. Miss Piers. I have never known 
 any lady artist — scarce any artists, male or female. 
 " A Hfe on the ocean wave " is not favourable for 
 cultivating the fine arts. Come along,' to Herbert 
 — ' let us have a stroll in the garden ;' and Herbert 
 gladly followed him. 
 
 'Well, dear,' cried Mrs. Crewe, directly the door 
 was shut, while she piled up the plates and cups 
 on the tray, ready for Collins ; ' well, dear, what 
 do you think of him? Isn't he a darling? Ah,
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 271 
 
 if you only knew his goodness and patience and 
 self-denial in the old times ! but he will have his 
 reward. You cannot think how well he stands 
 with the firm ; they have the highest opinion of 
 him : and between you and me, from what he tells 
 me, I think there is every probability that they will 
 take him into partnership, and then I consider that 
 his fortune will be made, and he need not go to 
 sea again. Oh, how I pray for that day ! Is he 
 like what you expected ?' 
 
 * Not exactly ; people never are,' returned Laura, 
 with hearty sympathy. ' But I think he is better- 
 looking than his portrait, and seems very nice and 
 sensible.' 
 
 * Sensible ! my dear, he is immensely clever ! 
 There is nothing he does not know and under- 
 stand ; the worst is, he makes so little of himself ; 
 another man would put himself forward twice as 
 much. Do not mind what he says about his 
 sketches — he draws beautifully, Laura, beaittifully. 
 Do ring that bell ; twice, dear — once more, please ; 
 Collins is so slow, and there is a good deal to do. 
 Yes, Laura, you must see Denzil's drawings, and 
 judge for yourself. Oh, Collins ! Come, my girl ! 
 Come, come, come ! Here, take away the tray ; 
 and then make haste and put your master's room 
 right. He always likes to go to bed early. Be 
 sure you wash up everything to-night. He must 
 have his breakfast at half-past seven to-morrow, 
 and, indeed, every day ; he has to go down to the 
 docks and to the office, so be sure you have plenty
 
 272 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 of boiling water at seven or a quarter to ; and, 
 Collins, pray don't forget to set the alarm at five, 
 Collins; and, stop, my girl, don't you think you 
 might put a nail a little lower down and hang the 
 clock just near your ear ? It is so hard to wake 
 you, Collins. There ! Go, go, go ! Do not waste 
 time looking at me with your mouth open,' etc. 
 
 •5f -K- * jK 
 
 Denzil Crewe's presence made very little 
 difference in the quiet household of Leamington 
 Road. He had his breakfast early, and departed 
 quietly about his business, returning to the usual 
 high tea at half-past seven, after which he often went 
 out with Herbert, on whom he bestowed most of 
 his attention and conversation. Indeed, it was not 
 for some time that he found an hour of daylight 
 free to look at Laura's paintings, or exhibit his own 
 sketches 
 
 Meantime, events ran on their course — ^just now 
 slow and halting. Reginald came according to his 
 promise, and took Laura for a long delightful drive 
 to Harrow, and round the pleasant lanes in that 
 direction. 
 
 He was quieter and more gently agreeable than 
 on the day of the Admiral's visit, but was evidently 
 displeased to hear of Denzil Crewe's arrival, 
 although he congratulated Mrs. Crewe on her son's 
 return with cheerful cordiality. 
 
 ' What sort of a fellow is this sailor } is he a 
 gentleman ?' he asked with a frown. ' I never 
 dreamt he would come home.'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 273 
 
 ' Yes, he is certainly a gentleman/ returned 
 Laura thoughtfully ; ' not in a conventional way, 
 but there is something I like very much — some- 
 thing one can trust — in his simplicity and quiet. 
 Yes, he has all the best essentials of a gentle- 
 man.' 
 
 ' That's a high eulogium, Laura,* cried Reginald, 
 partly amused, partly offended, as he touched up 
 his horses. ' I begin to feel that this mariner of 
 England is dangerous. I must keep a sharp look- 
 out.' 
 
 ' Reginald !' she exclaimed, a ring of reproachful 
 surprise in her sweet tones, ' I will not let you talk 
 nonsense, even in jest. Imagine your being jealous 
 of anyone P 
 
 ' Laura,' said he, turning to look long and earnestly 
 into her eyes, ' I believe you are faithful and true, 
 if ever woman was. But,' he added, after a short 
 pause, * I do not like to think that unsuitable 
 society has been forced upon you — society "unsuit- 
 able to my future wife.' 
 
 ' Set your mind at rest, Reginald. Mr. Crewe is 
 quite fit to associate even with greater ladies than 
 your future wife.'' 
 
 * I wish the future were nearer, Laura,' said Regi- 
 nald tenderly. ' Do you know, that dear old boy 
 the Admiral was not to be put off seeing my 
 mother ! He sticks to his own ideas with mar- 
 vellous tenacity — nails every colour he adopts to 
 the mast, in short.' 
 
 ' I am very vexed he is so determined on seeing 
 
 VOL. I. ^^ 18
 
 274 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Mrs. Piers/ said Laura, her eyes filling with tears ; 
 * it is humiliating to me.' 
 
 * No, do not think so/ returned Reginald sooth- 
 ingly. ' I have been thinking and hoping he may 
 produce some effect on my mother. At any rate, 
 he will have done what is possible by fair means. 
 If that fails, I don't think even the Admiral will 
 be against our taking the law into our own hands. 
 And I have your promise (have I not, dearest?) — 
 your promise to be mine, with or without the 
 maternal consent, when we have exhausted all 
 means of persuasion ?' 
 
 'Ah, Reginald !' cried Laura, quivering with the 
 effort to deny the voice and words so dear to her, 
 ' we must wait awhile, and see what time will bring 
 forth.' 
 
 *I consider you have promised/ said Reginald, 
 and at once turned the conversation, as he knew 
 well how to do, drawing his fiancee into delightful 
 absorbing talk of the fair future that lay before 
 them, putting the finishing touch to her satisfaction 
 by proposing that they should offer a home to 
 Winnie at Pierslynn. She would be a nice useful 
 companion, Reginald suggested, for Laura, and 
 probably find a happy and suitable marriage among 
 their country neighbours. 
 
 Was there ever so thoughtful and generous a 
 lover ? 
 
 The day but one after this conversation the 
 Admiral was expected to arrive, * bearing,' not his 
 sheaves, but Winnie with him.
 
 THE ADMIRADS WARD. 275 
 
 A few hast}^, enraptured lines from the latter had 
 told Laura to expect them about six. 
 
 The day seemed unaccountably long, especially 
 the minutes from five o'clock on. And Reginald 
 was particularly engaged, could not by any possi- 
 bility come out to see Laura, though next day he 
 hoped to spend with her, and make Miss Fielden's 
 acquaintance. 
 
 Mrs. Crewe had been exceedingly busy arranging 
 a chamber for Winnie, as Laura was now far too 
 important a personage to be in any way incom- 
 moded. 
 
 Then that unreasonable old Jenkins had taken 
 offence, partly on account of the copper kettle 
 having been denied to him, and partly because he 
 had received notice to quit. 
 
 ' Though, believe me,' said Mrs. Crewe, when 
 detailing the particulars of their last interview, ' I 
 expressed myself in the most lady-like manner, 
 with the greatest consideration, so I cannot help 
 it. He is determined to be off on Wednesday 
 next. He must just please himself I am not 
 sorry he is going. I want all my rooms now that 
 Denzil is here and dear Miss Fielden coming.' 
 
 Laura's heart throbbed painfully fast with joy 
 and expectation, when, a few minutes after the ap- 
 pointed time, a cab stopped at the door, and the 
 next moment Winnie was in her arms. 
 
 What a wonderful delight it is to hear again, 
 after long absence, the voice for which one has 
 longed, to look into the dear familiar face, and 
 
 18—2
 
 276 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 read again sympathy and affection in well-known 
 eyes; to recognise the little gestures, the peculiar 
 turns of expression, so associated with happy 
 days of perfect unrestricted intercourse ! and two 
 months was a long separation for the cousins 
 who had never before been parted ^ven for a 
 day. 
 
 Laura was too deeply moved even to speak ; but 
 Winnie, whose tendency it was to express every 
 feeling, rushed into rapid words. 
 
 ' Oh, dear, dear Laura ! I can hardly believe 
 that I am safe with you again ! It has been so 
 dreadful ! And how well you are looking, dearest ! 
 quite charming. Ah ! Mrs. Crewe, I am so pleased 
 to come back — so thankful you can take me in ! 
 And how is Topsy ? Collins, are you quite well ? 
 How nice and home-like everything seems ! Your 
 house is so delightful after the stiff gilding of 
 Liverpool !' etc., etc. 
 
 And everyone crowded round her, feeling pleased 
 and elated by her uncontrolled joy at finding her- 
 self amongst them once more. 
 
 A little graciousness on the part of youth and 
 beauty goes so far ! and Winnie was always frankly 
 cordial. 
 
 Mrs. Crewe embraced her with effusion ; Collins 
 courtesied with a grateful, well-pleased grin ; Topsy 
 purred loudly on being stroked by her, and Her- 
 bert greeted her with a sonorous hearty kiss. 
 
 ' Let me look at you quietly,' said Laura, when 
 they were safe in the privacy of Winnie's chamber.
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 277 
 
 * You are not looking like yourself, dearest ; what 
 ails you ?' 
 
 In truth, she looked pale and thin. Her deep 
 blue eyes were bright with the joy of their meet- 
 ing, but a dark shade beneath them suggested 
 suffering of some kind. 
 
 ' Yes, I am sure I look old and worn,' returned 
 Winnie, glancing at the glass ; ' but I shall soon be 
 myself again now I am with you. Oh ! I have 
 been quite miserable. Do you know, I don't think 
 my aunt meant to make me unhappy, and Fanny 
 and Jack only followed their natural instinct to 
 trample on, or try to trample on, what they thought 
 weaker than themselves. It was Mr. Morgan who 
 hated me, as something he could not conquer ; per- 
 haps he was unconscious of it himself. But oh ! 
 that is all past and gone now ; and you, you dear 
 old thing, are really going to be married to Reggie 
 Piers ! Is it not funny that you should be married 
 before me ! I do not know how it is (I am sure he 
 is in the greatest luck to get such a dear good wife 
 as you will be !), but somehow I never thought you 
 would marry !' 
 
 ' Nor did I either,' said Laura, laughing. ' I 
 hardly believe it now.' 
 
 ' But I do,' cried Winnie, ' I quite believe it now, 
 you are looking so bright and well and — no, not 
 pretty — better than pretty — as if a soft, bright flame 
 had sparkled up from your heart. And when is it 
 to be .'" continued Winnie, who was brushing her 
 hair and making a hasty toilette.
 
 278 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 * Not yet awhile,' said Laura, with a sigh. * I 
 will tell you all after dinner; but pray make 
 haste.' 
 
 * Then pray take out my black dinner dress — 
 do you remember Mrs. Crewe's anxiety to get it 
 for me ? — I have only worn it twice. It is in the 
 tray of my box ; there, thank you, dear ! Is my hair 
 straight ?* 
 
 * Not quite, a little more to the right ; and 
 Winnie, did the Admiral mention having seen Mrs. 
 Piers ?' asked Laura anxiously, as she tied a jet 
 locket round her cousin's neck. 
 
 ' No, not a word. Why ? is there any difficulty 
 there ?' 
 
 * Yes, great difficulty, I fear. Mrs. Piers naturally 
 expects her son to make a brilliant match, and ' 
 
 * She must be a horrid old cat, then ! and cannot 
 knowj/^2//' cried Winnie, with much frankness and 
 decision. 
 
 A heavy thump on the door startled them. * I 
 say, are you two not ready yet ?' said Herbert out- 
 side. ' Mrs. Crewe says dinner is on the table, and 
 the fish will be quite cold.' 
 
 ' We are coming directly,' said Laura. 
 
 * How much Herbert has grown ! He seems to 
 have his wits more about him, too !' exclaimed 
 Winnie. A last touch to her hair, a last look in 
 the glass, and she declared herself ready. 
 
 Mrs. Crewe meantime had awaited the appear- 
 ance of her two young friends with much impatience. 
 She had on this festive occasion put no small strain
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD, 279 
 
 on the resources of her modest establishment by- 
 resolving — now that her son was at home to take 
 the foot of the table — to give the Admiral a proper 
 seven-o'clock dinner. 
 
 Over the consequent sufferings of Collins wc 
 draw a veil. In an evil hour, and under the 
 generous promptings of her uplifted heart, Mrs. 
 Crewe proposed to engage auxiliary force in the 
 shape of an elderly charwoman of high character 
 and undoubted ability ; who, from the heights of 
 her own respectability and knowledge, so looked 
 down upon oppressed and insulted Collins, that 
 that much-enduring young person absolutely turned 
 upon her, and the success of the entertainment was 
 seriously imperilled by a tremendous explosion of 
 wrath in the kitchen. 
 
 However, matters had settled down to working 
 order again. Laura had decorated the table with 
 flowers, and Mrs. Crewe had polished the glasses 
 and folded the napkins after the distinguished style 
 of the butler at her late grandmamma's. 
 
 ' A most wonderful woman my dear grand- 
 mamma, Laura. I remember her when I was quite 
 a little girl. She was a daughter of Lord Denzil's, 
 you know, and always walked with a silver-headed 
 cane. She died at the advanced age of eighty-nine, 
 and had thirty-two teeth in her head the day of 
 her death !' so explained Mrs. Crewe as Laura and 
 herself assisted to set forth the table. 
 
 Many and complicated were the instructions 
 bestowed on the tearful Collins as to changing of
 
 28o THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 plates and handing of dishes ; nor would she have 
 escaped the agonies of passing round the wine, and 
 the misery of spilling the same on the best cloth, 
 but for the interference of Laura, who gently urged 
 that in a quiet, almost family party the guests 
 might help themselves and each other, to which 
 suggestion Mrs. Crewe assented. 
 
 Mrs. Crewe, the Admiral, Herbert, and Denzil 
 were assembled when the two girls entered, and, 
 after a hasty introduction of her son to Miss 
 Fielden, Mrs. Crewe took the Admiral's arm and led 
 the way into the dining-room. Mr. Crewe naturally 
 gave his arm to Winnie, and Herbert brought up 
 the rear with Laura. 
 
 It was a pleasant sight to see Mrs. Crewe beam- 
 ing on her guests from behind a dish of pictur- 
 esquely brown fried soles on a snowy napkin, to 
 observe the warm hospitality with which she pressed 
 her friends to eat, and popped unexpected tit-bits 
 and sudden spoonfuls of gravy on the Admiral's 
 plate. It was a real joy to her, first to provide 
 good things, and then to see them appreciated. 
 Her heart swelled within her, as her eye roved from 
 the daintily roasted leg of mutton, plump, brown, 
 and juicy, across the intervening tomatoes and 
 salad, to the veal-and-ham pie, on the composition 
 of which she prided herself; whilst Collins, in a new 
 dress and painfully starched collar, flitted round the 
 table with a dish full of floury potatoes, dropping 
 the spoon occasionally with a mighty clang, and 
 hitting the head that ' came nearest ^ hard with her
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 281 
 
 right elbow as she handed them over the shoulders 
 of the guests. The tide had indeed turned for Mrs. 
 Crewe, and despite the privations and struggles 
 long drawn out and the hope long deferred of the 
 hard old times, the indestructible buoyancy of her 
 nature sprang up to meet fortune's favouring gale 
 with sympathetic gaiety. 
 
 Then a moment of triumph awaited her, when 
 the dessert, which she wisely substituted for second 
 course, was placed on the table, and everyone 
 ' came twice/ to use her own phrase, for the cream, 
 on which she had expended much care. 
 
 The little dinner was very successful, and Laura 
 observed that Denzil Crewe was a capital support 
 to his mother, and played the part of host well and 
 easily. He and the Admiral had much to say to 
 each other, about shipping, and the many changes 
 introduced into the means and appliances of vessels, 
 on the new developments of the carrying trade 
 brought about by the opening of the Suez Canal, 
 etc. ; while he by no means neglected the young 
 ladies right and left of him. Winnie, still excited 
 by the joy of being once more free and safe with 
 Laura, talked frankly, with much animation. Laura 
 noticed that Denzil looked often long and thought- 
 fully at her when she turned partly from him to 
 speak to his mother or the Admiral, a wistful, half- 
 wondering look, but grave and respectful. Laura 
 herself was silent ; she had as yet had no oppor- 
 tunity for speaking with her guardian. She was 
 not, however, eager for the report of his interview
 
 282 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 with Mrs. Piers. She felt quite sure he had met 
 with no success, and she rather feared to hear par- 
 ticulars. Herbert meantime was reaping the reward 
 of having earned Mrs. Crewe's regard. What pri- 
 vate slices of rare quality were slipped on to his 
 plate ; what surreptitious spoonfuls of goody were 
 dropped upon it ; what huge, mellow, juicy pears 
 were picked out for him, and 'just a drop more' of 
 rarely tasted sherry frequently added to his glass, 
 it boots not to tell. 
 
 * Do take a little more claret, Laura dear,' cried 
 Mrs. Crewe. ' I only wish Mr. Piers were here. 
 He is such a charming companion altogether, quite 
 a model young man. He was particularly engaged, 
 I am sorry to say.' 
 
 * Of necessity he has much to look to on succeed- 
 ing to his inheritance/ said the Admiral, ' and he 
 has an eager nature — even somewhat impatient, I 
 fear.' He smiled a kindly smile to Laura as he 
 spoke, which called the colour to her cheek. 
 
 * Has Mr. Piers reddish-auburn hair, and blue 
 eyes?' asked Denzil Crewe, helping himself to a 
 peach. 
 
 ' He has,' returned Laura, looking at him with 
 some curiosity. 
 
 ' I fancy I met him at the Docks this afternoon, 
 coming off a vessel outward bound for Melbourne 
 — I think ' added Denzil. 
 
 ' You must be mistaken,' cried Laura, much sur- 
 prised. 'You have never seen him. How 'could 
 you know him, Mr. Crewe ?'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 283 
 
 ^ My mother has shown me his photograph — and 
 I cannot help thinking it was the original I met. 
 One of those odd recognitions that seize a man 
 sometimes flashed across me. I feel sure I saw 
 Mr. Piers to-day.' 
 
 ' I should have thought you too calm and philo- 
 sophic to entertain such presentiments,' said Winnie, 
 smiling on him. * Do you believe, then, in second 
 sight ?' 
 
 * No ; but there are strange moods that come 
 upon one, and I am not philosophic. Miss Fielden. 
 Sailors are generally considered superstitious, you 
 know.' 
 
 * I do not object to superstition,' said the Admiral 
 thoughtfully. * Superstition is but the ill-directed 
 craving of the soul for something beyond the meat 
 which perisheth, an unconscious confession of the 
 need for faith ' 
 
 * It is certainly a confession that we are working 
 in the dark, under laws of which we have but a 
 very vague idea/ said Denzil Crewe. 
 
 ' Still, I cannot believe you saw Reginald,' ob- 
 served Laura, returning to the point from which 
 they had started. * Did you know,' addressing the 
 Admiral, * if Reginald had any business at the 
 Docks ?' 
 
 ' No — I should think he had not, and I imagine 
 Mr. Crewe must be mistaken.' 
 
 ' Well, perhaps so,' said Denzil carelessly. 
 
 ' I shall certainly ask him if he was there,' re- 
 turned Laura — and the subject dropped.
 
 284 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Soon after, they rose from table, and the Admiral, 
 at his own request, went to hold a private con- 
 ference with Laura in her little studio. 
 
 ' I have had a long conversation with Mrs. Piers,' 
 he began. 
 
 ' And the result is not satisfactory,' said Laura, 
 turning rather white, while her heart sank within 
 her. 
 
 ' Mrs. Piers is more prejudiced than I anticipated,' 
 returned the Admiral gravely ; ' more than is jus- 
 tifiable — although she commands my sympathy on 
 one point. Still, I do not despair of her coming 
 round — but you must both give her time.' 
 
 ' What is the point on which you sympathize 
 with her, dear sir .?' asked Laura anxiously. 
 
 ' I will tell you hereafter, Laura — nothing in 
 which you are to blame. Indeed — as I told Mrs. 
 Piers — you are a daughter-in-law whom any 
 mother might be anxious to secure, although you 
 have none of this world's goods — but there is no 
 need of dwelling on anything unpleasant. If you 
 and Reginald have patience, all will come right; and 
 I rejoice to think how true and affectionate a lover 
 you have, my dear Laura ! this gift of love is the 
 crowning jewel that God has set as the seal and 
 sign of his delegated Majesty. It is a very sacred 
 thing, and not to be lightly entertained. I once 
 knew something — a foretaste — of its strength and 
 sweetness — but to me it brought a long martyrdom.' 
 
 Laura felt, she knew not why, strangely cast 
 down by the Admirals speech, and the evident
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 285 
 
 suppression of something, which suggested the 
 existence of an obstacle more tangible than a 
 mother's natural ambition. 
 
 * But, dear guardian, is there not some grave 
 objection which you conceal from me — something 
 you fear would wound me ?' 
 
 ' No,-' he returned, and paused long in deep 
 thought. ' No/ he repeated, with a tinge more of 
 cheerfulness. * Nothing that need cause you 
 uneasiness or self-reproach. Hereafter, when all 
 is well — when you are a happy wife — I will explain 
 my slight hesitation. For the present, be strong 
 and of a good courage — be strong, I mean, against 
 the persuasions with which I feel sure Reginald 
 will tempt you. This impetuosity is perhaps but 
 natural in a young man. I will, however, speak 
 seriously with him myself 
 
 The Admiral ceased, and Laura did not care to 
 break the silence. On the whole, she thought 
 matters were not so bad. That they — Reginald 
 and herself — should have to wait, she always 
 expected ; but it was evident that, for whatever 
 reason, the Admiral was more warmly on their 
 side than before, and there was no great hard- 
 ship in delay, while she could see Reginald daily 
 with all the freedom of an acknowledged engage- 
 ment. 
 
 ' I thought Winnie looking very ill and worn,' 
 said the Admiral, breaking silence at last. * I 
 must say, my heart smote me for having prolonged 
 her trial beyond what was needful. I fear her aunt
 
 286 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 was neither just nor judicious. I wish I had sooner 
 removed her.' 
 
 ' Oh, she will soon revive with me — with us,' cried 
 Laura, hastening to reassure him. 
 
 ' I think I see an improvement already,' he ob- 
 served. * Now, my dear Laura, send Herbert to 
 me. I wish to prepare him for going to school 
 after the holidays, and to speak on other topics.' 
 
 When Laura reached the drawing-room, she 
 found Herbert and Denzil Crewe deep in a game 
 of draughts ; Winnie playing a soft, dreamy 
 ' Schlummer Lied,' and Mrs. Crewe, with an ex- 
 pression of supreme content, nodding gracefully in 
 her armchair beside the piano, while Topsy was 
 curled-up on a footstool near her. 
 
 ' The Admiral wants to speak to you, Herbert.' 
 
 ' Can't I stop to finish the game ?' 
 
 ' Oh no — not now ; I will take his place, Mr. 
 Crewe, if you will let me, but Herbert must go.' 
 
 ' Ay, you must — be off with you, youngster,' said 
 Denzil good-humouredly.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 'UT the next day did not bring Reginald 
 Piers, nor the next. Pleasant little 
 notes of excuse came, however, a tempt- 
 ing basket of fruit and flowers, a civil 
 message to Winnie, who expressed her impatience 
 at this delay much more energetically and openly 
 than Laura. Both girls, indeed, were exceedingly 
 busy preparing Herbert's wardrobe for school, 
 whither he was to go the following week, and very 
 delightful it was to both of them to work together 
 once more ; while Winnie's lively pictures of life 
 in Liverpool made Laura and Mrs. Crewe merry, 
 as their nimble fingers sped through their self-im- 
 posed task. 
 
 For it was quite self-imposed. Mrs. Crewe, who 
 had received most liberal instructions from the 
 Admiral, was by no means satisfied Jn her own 
 mind that it was right to permit the future Mrs. 
 Piers of Pierslynn to wear out her eyes mending 
 her cousin's old socks and running the heels of his 
 new ones.
 
 288 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 Winnie indeed, being of a careless, pleasure- 
 loving nature, was greatly disposed to limit her 
 exertions to the choice of new garments and the 
 giving of orders. 
 
 'That dear old angel seems to have loads of 
 money, and wishes to get rid of it ; why need we 
 work our fingers to the bone, Laura ?' 
 
 * Oh ! Winnie dear, just think! he is giving 
 Herbert everytJiing, We are bound in duty and 
 honour to make his money last as long and go as 
 far as possible.' 
 
 To which Winnie, vibrating instantly to the touch 
 of truth, replied : 
 
 ' Yes ! of course, of course ! What a heedless 
 unprincipled thing I am, not to think all that for 
 myself!' 
 
 ' Certainly we must not waste the Admiral's 
 money,' said Mrs. Crewe gravely. ' But really, 
 Laura, I think you might go and paint a little, 
 dear ; Winifrid and myself can get on very well, 
 and I do not know what Mr. Piers would say if he 
 came in and saw you stitching away as if for dear 
 life,' etc. 
 
 ' I suppose Reggie does not want his own socks 
 mended now,' remarked Winnie, with a laugh. 
 ' How nice to marry a man who need never trouble 
 you to mend or make for him ! Is he as conceited 
 as ever, Mrs. Crewe ? Of course he has no human 
 frailties in Laura's eyes.' 
 
 ' Conceited !' cried Mrs. Crewe. ' He is nothing 
 of the kind !, He is the kindest, best bred, simplest,
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 most straightforward young man I ever met, except 
 my own dear boy.* 
 
 ' Ah ! so you are bewitched too,' exclaimed 
 Winnie. ' I foresee that I shall be the only one 
 capable of holding the scales of justice among you 
 all!' 
 
 This conversation took place in the drawing- 
 room, which was littered with garments new and 
 old, the third afternoon after Winnie Fielden's 
 arrival at Leamington Road — she was still bubbling 
 over with joyous excitement at having escaped 
 from her nondescript position in her aunt's house. 
 She was more like her old self of the Cheddington 
 days than Laura had seen her since they left 
 Dresden, and she felt her own happiness doubled 
 by this congenial change. If Winnie was thus 
 bright and sympathetic with Reginald, he would 
 be all the more disposed to offer her a home with 
 them, ' a consummation ' she devoutly desired ; 
 for Laura was too young, too unsuspicious, to fore- 
 see the many-sided peril to which such an arrange- 
 ment might lead. 
 
 Her guardian had bid them an affectionate and 
 cheerful good-bye the evening before. He was 
 always in a hurry to get back to his invalid sister, 
 over whom hung a thin veil of mystery most at- 
 tractive to Winnie, who had built up many theories 
 to account for the retired separated life of their 
 benefactor. 
 
 The afternoon had slipped rapidly away, and 
 Winnie was beginning to think that she had sat a 
 
 VOL. I. • 19
 
 290 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 long time at work, when Herbert put his head into 
 the room, and asked her to come out with him. 
 
 ' It is not at all hot, and, Winnie, there is such a 
 beautiful knife at a cutler's in Westbourne Grove. 
 I want you to look at it and see if we cannot get it 
 a bit cheaper ; the fellow wants five shillings for it.' 
 
 ' Oh, that is a great deal too much ! But I will 
 come with you, Herbert. Will you come, Laura ?' 
 
 * No, thank you.' 
 
 * Why, that would be losing her chance of a 
 visitor,' said Mrs. Crewe. 
 
 'Ah! yes, I forgot that! Well, if Reginald 
 comes, be sure you keep him till I come back.' 
 
 'Ah! I can tell you, once he comes, he is in no 
 hurry to go,' cried Mrs. Crewe with a knowing nod, 
 as Winnie disappeared to put on her hat. 
 
 ' She is really a dear, sweet, elegant creature,' said 
 Mrs. Crewe, looking after her. ' She will not be 
 long " on hands." I would not blame any man for 
 making a fool of himself about her.' 
 
 ' No, nor I ; though she was such a child in 
 Dresden, the people used to stare at her quite un- 
 pleasantly. What a charm there is in beauty !' 
 added Laura, with an unconscious sigh. 
 
 ' Yes, to be sure,' returned Mrs. Crewe quickly ; 
 ' but, after all, it is only skin-deep, and it is well that 
 men are to be found with taste and judgment to 
 choose women of intellect and — and excellence — 
 and ' 
 
 Mrs. Crewe ran aground In her not very judicious 
 but Laura did not heed her; she was
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 291 
 
 thinking how precious beauty had ever been to 
 her, but that now she would give ten even of the 
 sunny years which she had every reason to think 
 lay before her could she thereby purchase that most 
 rare gift. To be a beauteous woman for her love, 
 a graceful, gracious chatelaine of whom he might be 
 proud ; to have some treasure of comeliness, some 
 natural wealth of fair seeming to give in return for 
 all that he had laid at her feet — ah ! what price 
 would be too high to pay for such a possession ? 
 And though she felt so sure of Reginald's loyalty 
 and true affection, proved by his free unhesitating 
 choice of herself — his ardent desire to carry out 
 their engagement in spite of all opposition — a 
 strange chill grey cloud stole over her heart, weigh- 
 ing it down for a few instants with a dim shadowy 
 fear, shapeless, undefined ! 
 
 It was but for a moment : her strong calm sense 
 told her the folly of such sentimental delusions, 
 and a better charm came to break the spell. A 
 peal of the door-bell, a rapid shuffling upstairs of 
 Collins, and the longed-for announcement : 
 
 * Mr. Piers is in the drawing-room, 'm !' 
 
 Laura rose with unusual precipitancy. 
 
 ' Good gracious, my dear Laura ! do shake the 
 threads off your dress, at least/ cried Mrs. Crewe, 
 shocked by her young friend^s reckless disregard of 
 appearance. Laura complied hastily, and the next 
 moment her dread, and doubts, and self-distrust had 
 all gone, as she stood face to face with Reginald, 
 and felt his smile and heard his voice. 
 
 19 — 2
 
 292 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 He looked very bright and affectionate, and 
 greeted her with a joyous warmth that made her 
 heart glow. 
 
 ' And how are you, my wise sedate monitress, 
 after these long days ?' he cried. ' It seems such 
 ages since we met. But I have got rid of a heap 
 of business, and shall not lose sight of you for such 
 a long time again. Tell me how you got on with 
 the Admiral, and if you have missed me much ? 
 and if Winnie is all right ?' He drew her to the 
 sofa, and sat down beside her, gently kissing her 
 hand, keeping it in his ; they talked long of their 
 plans and hopes, and Reginald was more than 
 usually delightful ; he even managed to communi- 
 cate the unfavourable intelligence that Mrs. Piers 
 had left Pierslynn and was on her way to Vichy, 
 without startling his hearer ; it was merely to ward 
 off a threatened touch of gout, and to indulge a 
 long-cherished desire to renew her acquaintance 
 with Continental life, that his mother undertook the 
 journey, he said. 'She will return in her right 
 mind, dearest, I trust,' he concluded ; ' and the only 
 obstacle to my happiness will be removed,' he 
 added, with a quick genuine sigh. ' For after all, I 
 would rather marry with, than without, her con- 
 sent.' 
 
 ' I am so glad you are reasonable, dear, dear 
 Reginald,' cried Laura. * Yes ; that would indeed 
 be a happy solution of all difficulties. How long 
 will your mother be away ?' 
 
 ' Oh, a month or six weeks at the outside — she
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD, 293 
 
 wanted me to go with her — but that was not Hkely 
 — eh, Laura ?' 
 
 * If she really wanted you ' 
 
 ' But she did not ; she only wanted to take me 
 away, as if that would be any avail after the test of 
 nearly four years' separation ! Ah ! Laura, my love 
 is like Conrad's, 
 
 ' " Which nought removed nor threatened to remove." ' 
 
 Laura was listening intently, when the door was 
 suddenly opened, and Winnie stood before them — 
 tall, lithe, delicately round, with the graceful poise 
 of head that gives so much dignity to the figure — 
 her ordinary black dress borrowing distinction from 
 the wearer — a large hat with crape band and rosette 
 slightly to one side giving a picturesque Gains- 
 borough look to her head, the delicate oval face 
 slightly tinged with rose, the somewhat full yet 
 refined red lips parted in a surprised smile, the big 
 dark blue eyes gazing frankly, earnestly at the pair 
 she had disturbed, and the masses of her wavy, 
 satiny, nut-brown hair fastened loosely, but not 
 carelessly, back from brow and eyes into a knot, 
 low down upon her neck, contrary to the prevailing 
 fashion. 
 
 A fairer picture_, Laura thought, never presented 
 itself, but she looked on her cousin fearless and un- 
 moved. In the love she had won was no variable- 
 ness or shadow of turning. 
 
 ' Ah, Winnie, I am so glad you have come in !' 
 cried Laura.
 
 294 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 Reginald immediately rose from his seat and 
 stood an instant in silent surprise ; then springing 
 forward to meet her : 
 
 ' Is it possible this is little Winnie ?' he exclaimed, 
 shaking hands with her warmly. * Why, I should 
 never have known you — you are so tall, so altered, 
 such a young lady.' He stopped and gazed at her 
 with an eager searching look for an instant. 
 
 ' But I told you, Reginald,' said Laura, beckon- 
 ing her cousin to sit down by her — ' you know I 
 told you.' 
 
 ' Did you ?^ returned Reginald, stepping back to 
 let Winnie pass. 
 
 ' Ah ! yes — I dare say you did, Laura ; and I 
 dare say Reggie (I suppose I may call him Reggie) 
 never heard you. You have something else to 
 think about. But,' leaning her elbow on the back 
 of Laura^s chair, ' / should have known you ! You 
 certainly look years older, yet you are just the same 
 as you used to be at Cheddington, the same sharp, 
 merry, impatient look, the same conceited air, a 
 little more conceited — eh, Laura ?^ 
 
 * Conceited !' cried Reginald, laughing good- 
 humouredly as he returned to his place. ' I am not 
 conceited, am I, Laura?' 
 
 ' I am not sure ; you know your own value.' 
 
 ' By Jove ! I have fallen into the hands of relent- 
 less judges ' 
 
 ' Ah — you are pretty well spoilt, / suspect,' said 
 Winnie, taking off her hat and laying it on the 
 carpet. * But what a charming idea of yours and
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 295 
 
 Laura's to marry ; you were always such friends ; 
 you will get on beautifully 1' 
 
 ' Your consent is of the last importance, and we 
 are most grateful for your approbation/ returned 
 Reginald. 
 
 A lively conversation followed, the only draw- 
 back to which, in Laura's estimation, was that the 
 word-play between Reginald Piers and Winifrid 
 sounded rather too sharp — a trifle too stinging to 
 her sensitive ear. 
 
 Upon this congenial talk Mrs. Crewe obtruded 
 herself, and was, as usual, received with much em- 
 pressement by Mr. Piers. 
 
 ' I had no idea you had come in, my dear,' she 
 said to Winnie. ' What have you done with Her- 
 bert ?' 
 
 * He went to say good-bye to some boy who is 
 going away.' 
 
 ' Well, Mr. Piers, you will stay to tea — will you 
 not? It is nearly seven o'clock, and I want so 
 much to introduce my son to you — you have never 
 met him ?' 
 
 Reginald professed his desire to make his ac- 
 quaintance, and graciously consented to remain. 
 
 * I am so glad !' said Mrs. Crewe. ' Oh, Winnie, 
 my dear, would you mind coming with me? you 
 did say you would like to know how to make horse- 
 radish sauce. I am just going to make some.' 
 
 ' Indeed, I should very much like to know !' cried 
 Winnie, starting up and following Mrs. Crewe to 
 the kitchen.
 
 296 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 ' You know,' resumed that lady, when they had 
 reached a safe depth — 'you know we must leave 
 the affianced pair to have their talk out ; they must 
 have much to talk about, as j<97/ will no doubt dis- 
 cover one of these days, my dear ; and I am always 
 very careful not to intrude upon them.' 
 
 ' I see,' cried Winnie, feeling a little vexed ; ' but, 
 dear Mrs. Crewe, /could not be an intruder; they 
 are both so familiar with me — that ' 
 
 ' Ah, my dear,' interrupted Mrs. Crewe, ' a third 
 party in such affairs always spoils sport. Now, just 
 hand me that little jug of cream,' etc. 
 
 * -Jf >Jc >K * 
 
 Reginald was always a pleasant addition to the 
 party, and though to Laura and Winnie it seemed 
 quite natural that their old familiar friend Reggie 
 Piers should share this essentially bourgeois meal 
 ' — should pass round the cheering cups, distribute 
 the bread-and-butter, cut the cold ham or beef, and 
 plunge the shining spoon far down into the rosy 
 depths of the strawberry jam — Mrs. Crewe never 
 forgot, or let anyone else forget, that Mr. Piers of 
 Pierslynn, but for the love, loyalty, and general 
 nobility of his character, might at that moment be 
 seated at late dinner^ and waited on by obsequious 
 but gorgeous menials ; might have claret-cup on 
 his right hand and champagne upon his left, while 
 archdiaconal servitors of the first rank, with dis- 
 tinguished manners and unexceptionable broad- 
 cloth, might be whispering tender inquiries as to 
 his predilection for ' hock or sherry ;' and all this
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 297 
 
 under the cool heights of his ancestral hall, or amid 
 the refined luxury of some Pall Mall club ! 
 
 The second cup had been served, and Laura was 
 in the act of handing the horseradish sauce to 
 Reginald, when Denzil Crewe came in. 
 
 ' Very pleased to make your acquaintance,' said 
 Reginald Piers, rising and coming forward to greet 
 him with well-bred cordiality, as Mrs. Crewe pro- 
 nounced the formula of introduction. ' I am quite 
 familiar with your name.' 
 
 'You are very good,' was Mr. Crewe's only answer, 
 as he accepted Reginald's offered hand, and the two 
 men stood looking at each other for a moment — 
 looking into each other's eyes with a sudden darken- 
 ing and dim distrust, as if recognising in that instant 
 contact of spirit a vague but perceptible antagonism 
 — a something neither would acknowledge or could 
 put into words, yet which would govern their 
 mutual action and reaction ; Denzil Crewe standing 
 square, steady, profoundly composed ; Reginald 
 alert, gracious, his light eyes keen but courteous, a 
 tinge of condescension in his suavity — not inapt 
 representatives of a battle-axe and a rapier. 
 
 Laura watched both with interest and odd, 
 uneasy feeling at which she was herself surprised. 
 Naturally she compared the well-bred grace of her 
 betrothed with the solid, nay, somewhat heavy, 
 strength of Denzil Crewe, to the advantage of the 
 former, yet she felt a sincere liking for her kind 
 hostess's son ; there was a strong degree of sym- 
 pathy between them, and she welcomed him with a
 
 298 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 pleasant smile as he took his place between Winnie 
 and his mother. 
 
 ' I saw the Admiral this morning/ said Denzil, 
 ' as I was coming from Mr. Duncan's, in Gloucester 
 Square.' 
 
 ' Is it possible ?' cried Winnie. ' I thought he 
 had gone away yesterday.' 
 
 ' It was the Admiral, however,' returned Denzil, 
 looking at her, a peculiar soft, pleasant smile over- 
 spreading his face. ' Admiral Desbarres is not to 
 be mistaken, and I have known him all my life as 
 my patron saint' 
 
 ' The Admiral has evidently been amusing him- 
 self,' said Reginald, with a smile, ' and outstaying 
 his leave. I, too, thought our tutelar deity had 
 gone back to his rustic retreat yesterday, and I saw 
 nothing of him last night' 
 
 ' The dear, good Admiral !' cried Winnie. ' Do 
 you think, Mr. Crewe, he could ever have smoked, 
 and sworn, and drunk grog, and chewed tobacco, 
 like other sailors ? They all chew tobacco In 
 Marryat's novels, you know.' 
 
 *I don't think he ever could. But, Miss Fielden, 
 all sailors don't smoke and drink and chew tobacco, 
 though there is still room for Improvement, and we 
 are rather a rough lot,' observed Denzil. 
 
 ' I assure you there is much that is reprehensible 
 going on in the Royal Navy,' said Mrs. Crewe, 
 shaking her head sagely, as she poured out the 
 eleventh cup of tea unflinchingly. 
 
 ' There Is plenty that Is reprehensible in every
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 299 
 
 profession/ said Reginald amiably, ' and plenty of 
 good fellows to be found in all/ 
 
 * I fancy schoolmasters are the worst lot going/ 
 put in Herbert. 
 
 ' I remember you used to be very fond of Pro- 
 fessor Schroeder/ said Winnie. 
 
 ' Well, he was a proper sort of a chap, full of life 
 and spirit' 
 
 * Which is remarkable in a German philosopher/ 
 said Laura. 
 
 ' Did not somebody tell us that he had gone 
 to Africa or Australia with some exploring expe- 
 dition V asked Winnie. 
 
 '■ Yes. I did hear something of the sort/ returned 
 Herbert. 
 
 * Oh, Reginald !' exclaimed Laura, her memory 
 stimulated by this remark, ' have you any friends 
 about to emigrate ? for Mr. Crewe fancied he saw 
 you coming away from a ship in the West India 
 Dock, three or four days ago — the day Winnie 
 came back to us. I do not fancy it could have 
 been you !' 
 
 While Laura spoke, a sudden gleam of surprise 
 and displeasure flashed from Reginald's eyes in the 
 direction of Denzil Crewe, who was not looking at 
 him ; it was but instantaneous, and his face imme- 
 diately settled into somewhat hard composure. 
 
 ' Yes/ he said, rather slowly, * I was at the Docks 
 that day ; and/ he added, with a smile, *you may 
 probably see the result of my visit hereafter at 
 Pierslynn.'
 
 300 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 'Ah,' cried Herbert, 'I know! Kangaroos, or 
 something queer for the park.' 
 
 ' Or black swans for the lake. Have you a lake, 
 Reggie ?' said Winnie. 
 
 ' No,' he returned, laughing good-humouredly ; 
 ' and if I had, I should be satisfied with the I'ara 
 avis I have already caught !' 
 
 At which pleasant conceit everyone smiled ap- 
 provingly, and Laura blushed and shrank into her- 
 self; compliments, especially public compliments, 
 distressed her infinitely ; anything that drew atten- 
 tion to her was an annoyance ; and, probably per- 
 ceiving this, Reginald changed the subject cleverly 
 by proposing to give a whitebait dinner at Green- 
 wich to the party there assembled, adding, to 
 Laura's intense surprise, ' I expect my sister, Lady 
 Jervois, in town to-morrow, and she will no doubt 
 postpone her departure for the North to preside.' 
 
 Mrs. Crewe at these words stopped in the act of 
 ' pouring out,' teapot in hand, too astonished and 
 delighted to continue. 
 
 ' I am sure that is quite charming ; only, I 
 thought she wouldn't — that is, I did not know — 
 dear me, it will be very nice !' she exclaimed, 
 breaking off her sentences rather unconnectedly. 
 
 Reginald smiled pleasantly at Laura, and then 
 Mrs. Crewe said : 
 
 ' If you do not want any more tea, we will leave 
 Herbert to finish his, and go into the drawing- 
 room. It will be much cooler there.' 
 
 Whereupon Laura rose, knowing that Mrs. Crewe
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 301 
 
 wished to be left behind to cram Herbert, and 
 direct the removal of the tea-things. The rest went 
 into the drawing-room, which was cool and sweet, 
 with open windows and Reginald's flowers, while 
 the light of one lamp was sufficient, though very 
 soft. 
 
 * Will you not play to us ?' asked Denzil of 
 Winnie, opening the piano, ' if it is not unreason- 
 able to ask you every night. But I don't suppose 
 you can imagine the enjoyment it is to me to sit 
 in the half-light and listen to you.-* 
 
 ' Yes, I can, Mr. Crewe. I enjoy the same thing 
 immensely, but I also enjoy playing; so, what shall 
 I play ?' 
 
 ' Anything you like — anything soft and dreamy.' 
 And he sat down in a dusky corner, from whence 
 he could see the player ; while Winnie's fluent 
 fingers wandered over the keys, seemingly without 
 an effort, discoursing excellent music — endless 
 'Volks Lieder,' bits of operas, Hungarian dances, 
 and Polish waltzes, v/hich are more laments than 
 incentives to merry movement. 
 
 Meantime Reginald followed Laurato the window, 
 where she went to let down the Venetian blind. 
 
 ' This little room is really sweet and pleasant,' he 
 said, throwing himself into an armchair. 
 
 'It is,' said Laura, looking 'round, a delicious 
 sensation of content and hope and security stealing 
 over her heart, like the soft ripple of a rising tide of 
 happiness. 'Ah, Reginald, what pleasure wealth 
 enables the owner to bestow ! The charm of the
 
 302 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 room is due to your thoughtful and delightful gift 
 of flowers. You are really very good and generous, 
 Reginald, though I am not going to praise and 
 spoil you.' 
 
 ' I am far from good,' he returned softly and 
 slowly, ' but I intend to be desperately good. By- 
 the-bye, Laura, I have something for you here. I 
 forgot the last time I saw you. I was vexed about 
 my mother, and it went out of my head.' He drew 
 from his breast-pocket as he spoke a small leather 
 case, opening which, he took out a brilliant ring of 
 sapphire and diamonds. ' There,' he said, slipping 
 it on her finger — ' there, the diamonds for you ! the 
 sapphire for my hopes !' And he sighed — a quick 
 sigh, which touched Laura deeply. Was it possible 
 that the delay of their marriage troubled him so 
 much, and sent that cloud sweeping over his brow 
 at intervals — often-recurring intervals ? ' 
 
 ' It is very beautiful,' she said, looking down at 
 the ring through the tears that stood in her eyes. 
 ' I never possessed anything so beautiful. Ah, dear 
 Reginald, if your hopes depended on me, none 
 would be unfulfilled.' 
 
 ' But they do — utterly depend on you.' 
 
 * Really, Laura, this Reginald of yours is very 
 nice,' said Winnie that night, as she brushed her 
 long hair. ' He used not to be so good-looking, 
 and his manners are quite distinguces. I fancy he 
 is a little quick-tempered, but very nice, all the 
 same. You know, I think he will have his own
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 303 
 
 way ; he is a bit of a flirt, and he is scarce good 
 enough for you, you dear, steady, sensible old 
 thing ! Though he is true, at any rate he found 
 fault with my singing of " Aennchen von Tharau," 
 when Denzil Crewe thought it perfect.'
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 LTHOUGH the announcement of Lady 
 Jervois's intended call had for the 
 moment gratified Laura, the anticipa- 
 tion of it was far from pleasurable. 
 In fact, she had worked herself into a condition of 
 nervous dread before that lady arrived, which she 
 was ashamed to confess, and which Winnie only 
 half perceived. The result was, that she had rarely 
 appeared to such disadvantage as during the visit 
 of her fiance's sister. She was oppressed with the 
 consciousness that she was the disturbing element 
 in what would otherwise be the sunny tranquillity 
 of good fortune and content, and the anxiety to 
 choose her words with wisdom and prudence 
 paralyzed her powers of conversation, naturally of 
 no mean order. 
 
 On her side,, Lady Jervois was timid, and, even 
 to the least observant, evidently acting under pres- 
 sure ; while Reginald^ though composed and fluent, 
 was a little too perceptibly doing the agreeable. 
 Mrs. Crewe, with much discretion and self-denial,
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 305 
 
 decided not to appear ; nor did Winnie, until 
 Reginald, probably finding the restraint of every- 
 one's consciousness intolerable, asked for her ; and 
 when she came, she quickly dispersed the dim mist 
 of hesitation and difficulty which had settled down 
 upon the unfortunate three, who had been groping 
 about in a quagmire of make-believe talk upon 
 every subject except that uppermost in their 
 minds. 
 
 Bright, friendly, fearless, disposed to like Lady 
 Jervois for what she considered her generous es- 
 pousal of Laura's cause, she chatted away about 
 the weather and the climate of Germany, the pic- 
 nics they used to have there, and the nutting ex- 
 cursions Reginald used to share at Cheddington, of 
 her pleasure at being with dear Laura again, and 
 her delight at meeting Reginald, etc., till Lady 
 Jervois quite cheered up under the refreshing 
 shower of commonplace sentences, which led 
 naturally and easily away from predominant and 
 oppressive ideas. She was evidently ' taken ' with 
 Winnie, and at the end of a comparison between 
 English and German scenery, she said, with timid 
 civility : 
 
 ' I should like to show you some bolder views 
 than you meet in the south, Miss Fielden, when I 
 shall, I hope, have the pleasure of seeing you at the 
 Grange.' 
 
 * Yes,' added Reginald, looking pleasantly at his 
 sister, * Ashley Grange is well worth a visit ; it is 
 within an easy drive of Coniston. We will all 
 
 VOL. I. 20
 
 3o6 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 come and look you up, Helen, one of these days ; 
 and now, don't you think we had better be moving, 
 if you intend to get through that formidable 
 list of commissions you showed me this morn- 
 
 ing?' 
 
 Lady Jervois rose with alacrity, receiving a warn- 
 ing look from her brother as she did so, which 
 brought the colour to her pale delicate cheek. 
 
 * Good-morning, Miss Fielden,' she said ; ' I hope 
 to have the pleasure of meeting you again ! I am 
 sorry, Miss Piers, that I am obliged to leave town 
 the day after to-morrow, as Sir Gilbert returns 
 from the Continent to accompany me, otherwise I 
 should be most happy to be of my brother's party 
 to Greenwich. I trust that we shall be very good 
 friends,' she added rather nervously, ^and I hope 
 that my mother will soon recognise how essential 
 370U are to my brother's happiness, and withdraw 
 her opposition, which I regret extremely.' 
 
 * You are very good ; I am greatly grieved to be 
 the cause of any unpleasantness, of any differ- 
 ence ' 
 
 Laura stopped abruptly, borne down by an over- 
 whelming sense of humiliation. 
 
 ' You are very considerate,'' murmured Lady 
 Jervois, offering her hand for a chilly touch ; and 
 with a sweet but rather conventional smile, her 
 ladyship passed out. 
 
 Reginald lingered an instant. 
 
 ' What the deuce Is the matter with you, Laura ?' 
 he said In a low quick tone. * Why were you so
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 307 
 
 cold and stiff with her ? You ought to have chatted 
 away Hke Winnie.' 
 
 * Ah, Reginald T returned Laura in the same 
 tone, ' Winnie has nothing at stake ;' but he was 
 gone almost before she had finished speaking. 
 
 Laura looked after him for a moment, and then 
 threw herself into a corner of the sofa, and covered 
 her face with one hand, while the other dropped at 
 her side in expressive listlessness. Winnie stood 
 exactly where she had said good-bye to Reginald, 
 gazing puzzled and silent at her cousin, watching 
 the rise and fall of her bosom as her breath came 
 quick and irregularly, feeling a dawning compre- 
 hension that all was not as it ought to be. 
 
 ' Dear, dearest Laura,' she exclaimed, suddenly 
 approaching her and taking the hand which hung 
 down, ' what is it that distresses you ? tell all to 
 me ; sometimes one's worries shrink into a very 
 small compass if we take them out and look at 
 them. What is it, Laura i*' 
 
 * I cannot tell ; I do not know,' returned Laura, 
 lifting her head and showing a very pale face, Vv'ith 
 lips that quivered, though her eyes were steady. 
 ' I have suddenly grown unreasonable and supersti- 
 tious ; but something I cannot define, even to my- 
 self, in Lady Jervois, the sort of forced civility she 
 showed me, the kind of veiled aversion I fancied I 
 perceived under her politeness, struck me as an 
 evil omen. The corner of some curtain seemed 
 lifted to give a glimpse of trouble and disappoint- 
 ment and suffering. Oh ! I fear Reginald is not 
 
 20—2
 
 3o8 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 
 
 wise in choosinp; me : and then, his words were so 
 sharp and cold ! I am overwhelmed with a sense 
 of dread/ 
 
 She pressed Winnie's hand tightly as she spoke, 
 and looked eagerly into her eyes, as if she sought 
 comfort there. Winnie was more touched than 
 she liked to show. 
 
 ' What !' she exclaimed, ' is this my Mentor, 
 my wise clear-sighted Laura, to be so affected 
 by the awkwardness of a nice little woman in 
 an awkward position ? Of course Lady Jervois 
 feels with her mother as well as her brother, and 
 no doubt will get a scolding from Madame. But 
 her coming at all was a great advance — why should 
 you mind aiiyone except Reginald ? — and you are 
 sure of him. I tell you what it is, Laura — if Mrs. 
 Piers does not give in soon, and Reggie gets out of 
 patience and urges you to marry in spite of them, 
 do it — he is quite right, and when the irretrievable 
 step is taken, everyone will come round.' 
 
 ' And the Admiral V said Laura reproachfully. 
 
 ' Well, he is the real difficulty,* began Winnie, 
 when Mrs. Crewe came suddenly into the room, a 
 serene smile on her lips and Topsy nodding on her 
 shoulder. 
 
 ' Why, goodness gracious ! what is the matter ?' 
 she exclaimed, as her eyes fell upon the pair so un- 
 mistakably giving and receiving consolation. * You 
 surely have not quarrelled with Mr. Piers, even if 
 his sister was nasty V 
 
 Winnie hastened to explain and laugh at Laura's
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. yj^ 
 
 unreasonable presentiment ; and Mrs. Crewe uttered 
 
 quite a small volume of strong common-sense on 
 
 the same text ; and so, between them, Laura was 
 
 coaxed into laughing at her own forebodings. 
 * * * * 
 
 The ensuing weeks were very happy to Winifrid 
 Fielden. The hearty sympathy with which she 
 rejoiced in Laura's happy prospects, the conscious- 
 ness of being a pet with Mrs. Crewe, and perhaps 
 an acknowledged enjoyment of Denzil's partly dis- 
 guised admiration, which she was far too true a 
 woman not to recognise — all were agreeable in- 
 gredients in a pleasant whole. But the brightest 
 jewel of all was the delightful brotherly com- 
 panionship of Reginald Piers. Scarce a day 
 passed that he was not with them walking in 
 Kensington Gardens, chatting and smoking in the 
 studio, driving the two girls far into the beautiful 
 environs of London, and accompanying them to 
 such galleries and sight-seeing as were available at 
 the close of the season. In these latter expeditions 
 Mrs. Crewe often joined ; and as she generally 
 wished for the fullest information on all subjects, 
 she was frequently handed over to Laura. 
 
 Winifrid's nature was essentially pleasure- 
 loving, but in no selfish sense. Full to the lips 
 with healthy joyous life, she yet vibrated to the 
 smallest discord in the rhythm of another's 
 existence, if that other were in any way linked with 
 her: perfectly aware that she could charm, she 
 liked to cast her spell on all who came near,
 
 3io THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 scarcely in a spirit of coquetry, rather from the 
 loving necessity of drawing all to herself. Such 
 was the sunny surface of her disposition in this her 
 first springtime ; but beneath it warmer, stronger 
 qualities slumbered in the unstirred, unsuspected 
 depths of her being. 
 
 The quiet happiness of these pleasant days was, 
 then, for a while unbroken. The Admiral's veto 
 and Reginald's earnest request put a stop to her 
 humble projects for winning independence ; so she 
 practised and read and was unusually diligent with 
 her needle, and, seeing her cousin so patient and 
 content, was, like her, satisfied to wait till a better 
 spirit entered into Mrs. Piers and wrought relenting 
 in that lady's heart. 
 
 The prevailing subject of interest about this 
 time to the whole party was a plan of Reginald's 
 to which he attached some importance. Among 
 his miscellaneous belongings were a couple of very 
 tumble-down tenements in the market-town of 
 Midhurst, which was within half an hour's drive of 
 the Pierslynn park gates. The leases of these 
 houses had just expired, and Reginald proposed to 
 pull them down, and on their site to erect a work- 
 men's reading and lecture room with a library, if 
 the mayor and corporation would aid him in 
 supplying books. These potentates graciously 
 promised to assist, and Reginald, with his usual 
 eagerness, set architect and contractor to work, and 
 generally made his appearance in Leamington 
 Road with a roll of plans or a memorandum of
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 311 
 
 estimates. The project necessarily caused nume- 
 rous visits to Pierslynn, and afforded Mrs. Crewe 
 material for much mental calculation of the amount 
 spent by her delightful friend Mr. Piers on rail- 
 way fares. 
 
 In this scheme Laura took the warmest interest, 
 and under Reginald's direction made various 
 designs of possible facades, which were of course 
 pooh-poohed by the architect with professional 
 contempt. 
 
 Yet, in spite of this congenial occupation, of the 
 frequent presence of her fiance, the sympathetic 
 companionship of her cousin, the grey cloud which 
 had fallen on Laura's spirit the dayof Ladyjervois's 
 visit never wholly left her: rifts often came, it is 
 true, through which the sunshine poured warm and 
 cheering, and bits of promising blue sky appeared ; 
 but the mist still hung round the near and distant 
 horizon, ready to close again. Besides, though no 
 eye could perceive the smallest change, Laura felt 
 there ivas a subtle difference, not so much in Regi- 
 nald, who was frank and kind and always ready to 
 talk about his own affairs, as in herself; she in- 
 voluntarily tJioicgJU of what she was going to say 
 before she said it, and felt, in a way she could not 
 define even to herself, that an impalpable 'some- 
 thing' had arisen between them. 
 
 Meantime Mrs. Piers still lingered in France, and 
 seemed well pleased with her travels. Reginald 
 from time to time mentioned having had letters 
 from his mother, but the question of her consent
 
 312 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 to her son's marriage was allowed to rest by tacit 
 agreement 
 
 Denzil, though obliged to pay daily visits to the 
 City, was less busy than during the first six weeks 
 after his return home, and was a great addition, 
 both in Winnie's and Laura's estimation, to the 
 home circle during Reginald's occasional absences. 
 When that more ornamental gentleman was present, 
 Denzil Crewe was remarkably silent, and often 
 went out to smoke his cigar, though Winnie^ 
 in her pleasant, outspoken way, would sometimes 
 ask him to stay. 
 
 One morning, about a month or six weeks after 
 Lady Jervois had left town, Mrs. Crewe had 
 asked Laura to accompany her to make some im- 
 portant purchase for which she had been saving up 
 shillings and sixpences pared from the 'house- 
 money ' and stored in a little paper trunk which 
 had once contained bonbons, and had been pre- 
 sented to her by Herbert in an unusual fit of polite- 
 ness. As it was a matter of taste, Mrs. Crewe was 
 anxious to have her dear Laura's assistance. 
 
 Winnie had a slight cold, and so stayed at home, 
 settling herself to write to Herbert, who seemed to 
 be getting on at school to his own satisfaction, and 
 also to her brother in Bombay. 
 
 All was very still, the windows of the dining- 
 room were open, and through them the odour of the 
 flowers came softly on the warm air, while Winnie, 
 in a black-and-white morning-gown drawn in at her 
 waist by a black band, the open sleeves showing
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 313 
 
 something of her creamy white arms, looked 
 charmingly graceful, and felt delightfully at ease 
 and safe from interruption ; for Denzil had gone to- 
 town, and Reginald was to start that morning at 
 some early hour for Pierslynn, where he was ta 
 receive a shooting-party in the afternoon and 
 remain for a few days. 
 
 Winnie, therefore, wrote with fluency and content,, 
 pleased to describe everything to her absent 
 brother, and grateful for the good news of herself 
 and Herbert she was enabled to give. She had 
 quite finished her Indian letter, and had com- 
 menced the other, when the door opened very un- 
 expectedly and Reginald Piers walked in. 
 
 * Reginald !' cried Winnie, greatly astonished. 
 * I imagined you nearly at Pierslynn by this time.* 
 
 ' And I should have been,' returned Reginald^ 
 throwing himself into an armchair, 'but for that 
 stupid fellow of mine, who was so confoundedly 
 slow about everything this morning that I just 
 missed the morning train ; so I came up here to- 
 have a look at you all before I go.' 
 
 * But how about your friends ? Who will receive 
 them ?' 
 
 ' Oh ! I shall go down by the same train, and do 
 the honours quite as effectively.' 
 
 * Laura and Mrs. Crewe are out,' said Winnie^ 
 feeling an odd unusual sensation of embarrassment,, 
 for there was a something curiously sombre and 
 intense in Reginald's eyes that made her fear she 
 knew not what.
 
 314 THE ADMIRAVS WARD. 
 
 * Are they ?' returned Reginald, and relapsed into 
 silence. 
 
 ' Reggie,' cried Winifrid, *is anything the matter? 
 — anything wrong? You look — I do not know how 
 — but not like yourself!' 
 
 Reginald laughed, not quite a pleasant laugh. 
 
 * You are easily frightened,' he said, ' for a 
 plucky girl, as I have sometimes thought you. 
 No, sweet cousin ! — you are nearly my cousin, 
 you know ! — I have no fatal intelligence to com- 
 municate.' 
 
 ' That is all right/ returned Winnie, and stopped, 
 not knowing what next to say. 
 
 Reginald did not speak either, so after a few 
 minutes' silence Winnie exclaimed, holding up the 
 sheets she had covered : 
 
 * Look ! Have I not written Dick a long letter ? 
 "Do^s, yoitr sister treat you as well ?' 
 
 ' She treats me better — she writes briefly.' 
 
 ' Very well ! If I ever have to write to you, I will 
 remember your taste.' 
 
 ' I do not suppose, Winnie, we shall have to 
 write to each other often. You know, Laura and I 
 intend you to be our sister, and favoured — not 
 guest, but home-bird — eh, Winnie ?' 
 
 ' You are really too kind and good, dear Regi- 
 nald,' she replied, the moisture springing to her 
 eyes as she raised them to his for an instant, and 
 then looked away. ' I do not know what I have 
 done to deserve such friendship.* 
 
 ' Don't call me "dear Reginald," ' said he ; 'you
 
 THE ADMIRAL'S WARD. 315 
 
 know you do not care a rap about me — except so 
 far as I am of importance to I.aura.' 
 
 ' Indeed, indeed I do,' exclaimed Winifrid earn- 
 estly. ' I like you for your own sake ; you are true 
 and kind, and wonderfully good to me. I should 
 be ungrateful if I did not like you.' 
 
 ' Ungrateful !' he repeated, gazing at her with the 
 same sombre intense expression which had dis- 
 turbed her when he first came in. ' I do not want 
 
 gratitude ; I want your ' he paused — ' sisterly 
 
 regard,' and he laughed again. 
 
 ' Well, I am sure you have it,' replied Winnie 
 shortly. 
 
 There was another pause. 
 
 ' As we are alone,' recommenced Reginald, rousing 
 himself with a sort of effort, and rising to put a 
 little water-colour drawing, on the opposite wall, 
 straight — ' we are alone, are we not, Winnie ? — not 
 a soul in the house except ourselves ?' 
 
 ' Except Collins,' she replied, smiling uneasily. 
 
 ' She does not count. However, as we are actually 
 alone, I want to secure your help. I have not often 
 such a chance. Winnie 1 will you help me to per- 
 suade Laura that it is unjust and unwise to post- 
 pone our marriage on account of my mother's 
 opposition ? She considers her pride more than my 
 happiness. You would not act in the same way.' 
 
 *Yes, I should, Reggie; though I do think Mrs. 
 Piers is rather unreasonable. Wait till she comes 
 back — she may be in a better humour. Believe 
 me, the real obstacle is the Admiral ; if he thought
 
 3i6 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 you might marry without your mother's consent, I 
 do not think Laura would long hesitate ; but ' 
 
 ' Ah, Winnie/ interrupted Reginald, ' you have 
 warmer, quicker blood in your veins ; you would 
 not wait for two or three consents to make the man 
 you loved happy ! You do not know how this in- 
 definite postponement of our marriage unsettles 
 me ; my future depends upon it ; and Laura will 
 bitterly regret hereafter if, owing to her cold-hearted 
 delay, unforeseen hindrances arise/ 
 
 ' What is the matter with you to-day ?' inter- 
 rupted Winnie, in her turn. ' You are talking rank 
 treason ! Laura cold-hearted ! You must not say 
 such things to me.' 
 
 ' No, I ought not ; nor will I, if you promise to 
 do all you can to induce her to let our marriage 
 take place, say, before Christmas.' 
 
 ' I will try and persuade the Admiral, or rather I 
 would, if I had a chance of seeing him. He is the 
 most important person to win over.' 
 
 * Thank you, sweet friend,' said Reginald softly, 
 as he sat down beside her and took her hand, hold- 
 ing it with a gentle, lingering pressure. ' You will 
 always be my friend, dear Winnie ? I want your 
 sympathy and friendship more than I can express ; 
 there are difficulties before me which I cannot 
 explain now, but in which your help might be all- 
 important. And then, we both love Laura so truly 
 and deeply that we may well share the task of 
 shielding her from the ruggedness of life. You 
 will always let me confide in you ?'
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 317 
 
 * Yes, of course/ said Winnie, feeling half fright- 
 ened at the idea of mysterious difficulties and 
 dangers thus suggested, yet finding something 
 wondrously sweet and attractive in Reginald's un- 
 usual softness and earnestness. ' I would do any- 
 thing in the world for Laura, and, indeed, for you 
 too, Reginald ; but I think Laura is too wise and 
 strong to want anyone as a shield.' 
 
 She tried to draw away her hand as she spoke, 
 and he slowly relaxed his hold, almost imprisoning 
 it again just as she had extricated it. 
 
 'We all want help one from another,' he said, 
 half to himself ' I want you to remember, Winnie, 
 that I count on you as a real friend. I want to have 
 some silent sympathy. Ah, I do not know what I 
 am talking about ! At any rate. Winnie, my dear 
 little playfellow, you will give me some of the affec- 
 tion you lavish on Laura ?' 
 
 *Yes, of course,' returned Winifrid, her heart 
 beating with curious uneasy pleasure. ' But before 
 long you will be united — indeed, you are now, if 
 there is true love between you — so what I give to 
 one belongs to both.' 
 
 ' I suppose so,' said Reginald, with a low sigh ; 
 and he sat for some time silently watching Winnie's 
 fingers folding her letter and placing it in its en- 
 velope. 
 
 ' Do you expect them back soon ?' he asked at 
 last. 
 
 * Yes ; they started quite early. They wanted to 
 be in Tottenham Court Road at eleven, and now it 
 is one o'clock. We are to dine at three.*
 
 3i8 THE ADMIRAUS WARD. 
 
 There was another pause ; then Reginald began 
 abruptly : 
 
 ' There are two pretty rooms above the library at 
 Pierslynn, looking out over the woods to the Welsh 
 hills. They shall be yours, Winnie, and you shall 
 have your piano there, and no one shall cross the 
 threshold without your permission. You will make 
 
 a home with us until But I will not look too 
 
 far forward. There, is that bribe enough to make 
 you plead my cause with Laura ?^ 
 
 ' Indeed, I want no bribe, Reggie ; nor do you 
 need any advocate with Laura. I hope when Mrs. 
 Piers comes back all will go well ; till then, you 
 must be patient' 
 
 ' Patient ! Great heavens ! and am I ;^6'^' patient ? 
 Can you not imagine what it is to come out to this 
 cursed hole day after day (great as the attraction 
 undoubtedly is), feeling that all my plans are hin- 
 dered, my projects kept in abeyance, my future 
 success endangered — for I have lots of leeway, 
 remiember, to pull up — all on account of the petty 
 sentimental scruples: of the girl who is to share my 
 life, my fortune, my all, and to whom you will 
 grant I have shown myself tolerably constant ?" 
 
 He again started up and paced the room impa- 
 tiently as he spoke. 
 
 ' It is true,' said Winifrid soothingly. ' Yet grant, 
 Reginald, it would be strange and unseemly to 
 hurry on your marriage without attempting to win 
 your mother's consent' 
 
 ' Perhaps so ; but we have been nearly three
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 319 
 
 months at this game of winning, and are no further 
 than when we started. By Jove ! it is very hard on 
 me. If it were any other girl in the world, I would 
 break with her. And then, there are temptations 
 which I dare not name, that nearly drive me mad. 
 Don't look so startled out of those big beautiful 
 eyes of yours, Winnie,^ checking himself and forcing 
 a laugh ; ' but I am the safer for relieving my mind, 
 and you will do infinite good to Laura and to me 
 by letting me confide in you. Do not think I 
 undervalue Laura — she is golden ! Would she had 
 a little more alloy ; there are times when it is 
 heavenly to sit and talk calmly and reasonably with 
 her, and hear the ring of the true metal ! Gad \ 
 how much better I feel after one of those quiet 
 hours ! But, Winnie, there are other moods, when 
 I am driven by intense passion — by desperate temp- 
 tation — to my own ruin ! Can you wonder, there- 
 fore, that I long for the rest and security of marriage 
 with my gentle Mentor ?' 
 
 * No, indeed,' cried Winlfrid, much moved. ' You 
 would be infinitely happier If dear Laura were 
 really your wife, always by your side ; and I will 
 tell her so, and beg her to marry you in spite of 
 everyone. But, Reginald, it astonishes me to hear 
 you talk In this wild way. Surely you are strong 
 enough to be a law to yourself! I always believed 
 you to be cool-headed and worldly-wise, and so 
 fortunate. What can have happened to upset 
 you?' 
 
 Reginald, who had stopped by the window, mut-
 
 320 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 
 
 tered something about a ' confounded idiot ;' and 
 then, turning to face the speaker, he said with a 
 constrained smile : ' I suppose you think I have 
 been rehearsing for private theatricals ? I am a 
 little ashamed of the exhibition I have made of 
 myself Pray forget it, and let me sometimes 
 relieve my mind or heart, or whatever the thinking, 
 feeling power within us may be, by displaying the 
 weakness and passion Laura would despise, to 
 you.' 
 
 ' Ah, Reginald ! Laura would never despise you : 
 she is your truest friend. Nevertheless, you may 
 trust me too, if I can be of any use to you I And 
 now, Reggie,' for he stood silent, half turned away 
 from her, ' when does your train go ?' 
 
 *At 3.50. Are you anxious to get rid of me? 
 There's lots of time ! Yet perhaps I had better go. 
 You must tell Laura I was sorry not to see her ; tell 
 her how anxious I am for our marriage. And now, 
 Winnie, give me that rose you have in your dress. Is 
 it not late for roses ? Did it come from Pierslynn ?' 
 
 * No ; and I cannot give it to you. Mr. Crewe 
 was out early, and brought it in to me at breakfast- 
 time.' 
 
 * Crewe brought it to you ?' repeated Reginald, 
 his face changing, his brow contracting, and his 
 light grey eyes blazing with sudden anger. ' Wini- 
 frid ! do you know where your coquetry towards 
 that fellow is leading you ? I have often suspected 
 you have been playing a game, but I know it now.' 
 
 ' I really think you must be out of your mind,
 
 THE ADMIRALS WARD. 321 
 
 Reginald, to talk like that !' cried Winifrid, sur- 
 prised and indignant. ' Can I not talk pleasantly 
 to an acquaintance without incurring your anger ? 
 I am utterly unconscious of deserving your accu- 
 sation/ 
 
 ' Have I not heard you asking about his favourite 
 songs, and turning up your eyes to his, till I could 
 have — till I wonder he did not propose to you on 
 the spot ! How could you lay yourself open to the 
 degradation of addresses from a fellow like that, 
 scarcely above a common sailor ?' 
 
 ' Reginald, how can yoii be so unjust, so absurd ? 
 Denzil Crewe is a true gentleman, and, what is 
 more, a dear, good fellow ; so kind and gentle and 
 considerate. If I carediox him, I would marry him 
 readily enough ; but I do not' 
 
 ' If such is your opinion, no doubt love will 
 come !' He spoke with a sneer. 
 
 ' Perhaps it will,' returned Winnie defiantly, and 
 she burst into tears. * You are unkind and cruel/ 
 she faltered, struggling to regain self-control. 
 
 Reginald looked at her steadily, the anger and 
 suspicion of his look dying out as he gazed. 
 
 ' I am an unreasonable brute,' he said, ' and will 
 not trouble you longer, at preseiit ; but, Winnie, if 
 you will be to me the friend I hoped for, if you 
 would soothe an irritation you cannot understand, 
 do so much for me — give me that rose.' 
 
 Winifrid hesitated, trembled, raised her eyes to 
 his, and then, as by a sudden impulse, caught the 
 flower from her waistband and held it out to him. 
 
 VOL. I. 21
 
 322 THE ADMIRALS WARD, 
 
 With a gleam of triumph in his eyes, Reginald 
 seized it, and, first pressing it to his lips, tore it 
 savagely in pieces, and strewing the fragments on 
 the floor, exclaimed, ' I wish I could do the same to 
 the giver !' and then he hastily left the room. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 //, 
 
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