LI B RAFIY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 .A
 
 BETWIXT TWO LOVERS, 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 BETWIXT TWO LOVERS. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BY 
 
 COLONEL ROWAN HAMILTON, 
 
 author of 
 "the last of the cornets." 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 F. V. WHITE & CO., 
 
 31 SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. 
 
 189 1. 
 [All Rights reserved.]
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 COLSTON AND COMPANY, 
 
 PRINTERS.
 
 V, 1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 -0- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 CARRICKMANON CASTLE, 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A MOONLIGHT DRIVE, 9 
 
 "^ CHAPTER III. 
 
 ^ LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, 23 
 
 ^^ CHAPTER lY. 
 
 A-CHASING OF THE DEER, 34 
 
 ^ CHAPTER V. 
 
 ^ IN THE GLOAMING, 47 
 
 5^ CHAPTER VI. 
 
 <;b THE RIVALS, 63 
 
 ^ CHAPTER VII. 
 
 vy^v NED HAS HIS ANSWER, 76
 
 vi Contents. 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 HARRY'S FAREWELL, 92 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 NOT FORGOTTEN, 104 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 MRS FALKNER, . . 123 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BALLTH ALBERT HOUSE, 137 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IT CUTS ME TO THE HEART, 150 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DOCTOR KENNEDY SOLVES IT, 161 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 effie's letter, 175
 
 BETWIXT TWO LOVERS.
 
 NEW NOVELS 
 
 AT ALL LIBRARIES. 
 
 THE OTHER MAN'S WIFE. By John Strange Winter. 2 vols. 
 
 THE LAIRD 0' COCKPEN. By " Rita." 3 vols. 
 
 THE PLUNGER. By Hawley Smart. 2 vols. 
 
 JACK'S SECRET. By Mrs Lovett Cameron. 3 vols. 
 
 CRISS CROSS LOVERS. By the Honble. Mrs H. W. Chetwvnd. 
 
 3 vols. 
 THE WAY SHE WON HIM. By Mrs Houstoun. 2 vols. 
 APRIL'S LADY. By Mrs Hungerford, Author of ' Molly Bawn.' 
 
 3 vols. 
 MY FACE IS MY FORTUNE. By F. C. Philips and Percy 
 
 Fendall. 2 vols. 
 WHOM GOD HATH JOINED. By Fergus Hume. 3 vols. 
 
 F. y. white: & co., 
 
 31 Southampton Street, Strand, W.C.
 
 BETWIXT TWO LOYERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 CAEEICKMANON CASTLE. 
 
 The little tea-table in the drawing-room of 
 
 Carrickmanon Castle, that carries the tea, 
 the honey, and the whole-meal bread, has 
 been, as usual, laid in the window that 
 looks down upon the garden terraces. 
 Broad and fair are the terrace walks, and 
 the landscape gardener's hand has so carved 
 out the hill upon which the castle stands 
 that, one above the other, separate gardens 
 have been walled in and hang upon its 
 side after the fashion of those in ancient 
 Babylon. In one of these two stately 
 and gigantic yews, offspring of centuries 
 unknown, have grown up, and fill the level 
 VOL. I. A
 
 2 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 space about them with the shade of their 
 summer foliage, and in the winter solstice 
 render the barren landscape joyous with 
 the perennial verdure of their clothing. 
 
 But it is not for the view of leafy tree, 
 or sloping meadows with their coronets of 
 larch and fir, or of hill succeeding hill, 
 until the distinctive features of field and 
 farm are lost in the blue of the distant 
 mountains which bound the horizon, that 
 the aforesaid table is placed every evening 
 in the drawing-room window ; it is that 
 Effie MacDonald may catch sight of the 
 red sun sinking in the far-off west, while 
 the fires of day die down in scarlet or gold, 
 and dark-blue clouds with purple linings. 
 
 These were the sights that Efiie never 
 would forego in the winter months; and the 
 question which she asked herself, as the tea- 
 table appeared, w^as always, "Will there be 
 a good sunset this evening ? " 
 
 With the weather, and the prognostica- 
 tions thereof, she took little heed ; not so 
 her brother Dick, whom we had best at 
 once introduce to the reader. Dick Mac- 
 Donald, of Carrickmanon Castle, looks a 
 sportsman, with a dash of the soldier still
 
 Carrickmanon Castle. 3 
 
 clinging to him. His carriage and manner, 
 and a certain degree of smartness, might 
 have revealed the latter, did he not betray 
 the fact by occasional allusions to the 
 service in his conversation. He is always 
 well, I should say appropriately dressed, 
 whether in town or in the country, or 
 painting abroad in Florence or Venice, 
 where he assumes a semi-artistic garb ; and 
 there, with his stalwart form and beaming 
 countenance, redolent of English country 
 life, and smiling like the sun through one 
 of her April showers, he walks forth, the 
 wonder and the admiration of an Italian 
 crowd. Or again, at a meet of the county 
 pack of staghounds, the best-made London 
 kit, from the white starched neckerchief to 
 the snowy buckskins above his light-brown 
 ''tops,'' proclaim him a man of taste, and 
 a Corinthian in the more classic meaning of 
 the term. Dress, nevertheless, and the con- 
 comitant vagaries of fashion you never hear 
 him mention, nor would you deem it likely 
 he gave them a second thought, he both 
 seems and is so manly and unaflfected. 
 
 Watch him enter the breakfast-room of 
 any country house — he brings life and
 
 4 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 cheeriness with him, like the gust of a north- 
 west wind after days of rain and torpor, and 
 the vitality of his presence seems to com- 
 municate itself to those around. He 
 inquires heartily after yourself, and makes 
 you believe that, for the moment at any- 
 rate, this is a very good world to live in, 
 and while he utters something that will 
 make you smile, he is chuckling to himself, 
 and the great brown eyes, that are so 
 destructive to the peace of the fairer sex, 
 glow with suppressed amusement and in 
 sympathy with those around him. 
 
 You wonder if the square-set chin, and 
 large firm mouth, which is scarcely shaded 
 by the brown moustache above it, is ever 
 contracted in wTath, and the white and 
 handsome teeth are ever set in passion, and 
 if so be, you think that in the day of battle 
 you would rather be allied with the owner 
 of that magnificent frame, with its length 
 and breadth of bone, and thews, and muscle, 
 where elasticity and strength are apparently 
 combined in due proportion. 
 
 And this particular January evening on 
 which our story opens, the blood-red aspect 
 of the sinking monarch, and the clouds of
 
 Ca7^rickmanon Castle, 5 
 
 glory about his fall, indicate to Dick Mac- 
 Donald a frost, a keen white frost on the 
 morrow, and turning to his sister, he 
 remarks, — 
 
 " I would not be a bit surprised if it froze 
 pretty hard and smart to-night, but I have 
 wired already to Newcastle for Borthwick 
 and Kingscote to be sure and come over 
 here. All the same, I am afraid they can't 
 well arrive before midnight. You've never 
 met Kingscote, have you ? Good chap^ — 
 good looking too." 
 
 "No," answered Effie, "but as he is a 
 friend of Ned's, he is sure to be rather nice 
 — Ned, you know, is so awfully par- 
 ticular about whom he knows or is seen 
 with." 
 
 "A great deal too particular," growled 
 Dick ; " he does not make himself half 
 agreeable enough to a lot of my hunting 
 friends here. I can't stand that sort of 
 thing myself." 
 
 " Les absents out toujours tort,'' muttered 
 Effie half aloud. 
 
 " Well now, sister mine," said Dick, " that 
 you are doing the honours, and have become 
 chatelaine, order supper for them, and look
 
 6 Betwixt Tzvo Lovers. 
 
 forward to to-morrow. When did you see 
 Ned last ? " 
 
 "Oh, more than three years ago, and 
 then I was only just fifteen. I shall feel so 
 awkward with him now, and, indeed, we 
 never seemed to get beyond a certain point 
 with each other. My governess used to say 
 we were like the waters of the Ehone and 
 the Arve, Dick, which never fairly mingled, 
 and as they ran together, preserved their 
 colouring and their individual qualities to the 
 end. I am afraid there is something in what 
 she said. I do not believe I was shy with 
 him, and I know^ I liked him, and felt I could 
 always look up to him. But we walked up 
 and down the terraces, and we danced to- 
 gether with our own individual step some- 
 how ; and when we rode out tete-a-tete, I felt 
 that it was Ned and the iron-grey, and I and 
 my chesnut, all the time ; indeed, very often 
 we left the hall very much more in sympathy 
 with each other than we reached it return- 
 ing, and I galloped up the village and into 
 the courtyard, and dismounted with a 
 genuine sense of relief. I know these are 
 very wrong feelings for me to entertain, after 
 the promise I gave my father, and all I have
 
 Carrickmanon Castle. 7 
 
 said or allowed Ned Borthwick to say to me. 
 Heigho ! when the time comes, I shall 
 burn my boats, as you call it, give myself 
 away, cut myself off, devote myself to him, 
 and when I say 'yes' at the altar, and 
 promise to be his, I shall speak the truth, 
 the whole truth, and nothing hut the truth, 
 like the men you are always administering 
 oaths to in the hall." And as she uttered this 
 prophecy of herself it was with a graver 
 and more earnest face that Effie MacDonald 
 arose from the little table. 
 
 Silent she stood by the great wide 
 windows, and stretching out both her arms, 
 she clasped her hands together, palms up- 
 wards, above her head, and turned towards 
 the fading sunlight and the dying splen- 
 dours in the western heavens, and there 
 came into her eyes a far-off look, as though 
 she would read therein her future, and all 
 that it meant of weal and woe to her. But 
 at a question from Dick she turned and 
 looked at him, with an expression which, 
 like sunlight, seemed to sweep across her 
 face, and vanish again, yet render all the 
 charm and beauty of her girlhood. And if 
 the face was thoughtful, it was also sweet
 
 8 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 and gentle, and the eyes, of a shade you 
 might call either grey or blue, were wistful, 
 earnest. The brows were straight, and 
 something darker than the luxuriant light- 
 brown hair, shot here and there with streaks 
 of gold, which seemed to glisten in the 
 loosened knots and strands into which she 
 was wont to coil it. The nose was small, 
 while the sweet wide mouth and perfect lips 
 recalled to you her brother Dick. Her chin 
 was like his too, and it was of character and 
 consistency, not obstinacy or aggressive 
 firmness, it spoke. She was of a fair and 
 goodly height, and her well-formed figure, 
 with its undulating curves of bust and 
 waist, that followed and did not contravene 
 the line of beauty, betokened elasticity and 
 strength, and when you saw her walk or 
 ride, you felt instinctively that such was 
 Diana whom the Ephesians worshipped.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 A MOONLIGHT DRIVE. 
 
 Ned Boethwick of the Artillery, and Harry 
 Kingscote of the Hussars, the friends re- 
 ferred to in the previous chapter, received 
 the telegram from Dick MacDonald just as 
 they were sitting down to a cosy dinner, at 
 the Abercorn Arms, of fresh caught whiting 
 and mountain mutton, to be washed down 
 by the wine and water of the country. 
 
 It was voted that the telegram should be 
 acted on, but that the dinner should not be 
 interrupted by its behest, and that the 
 sixteen miles which lay between them and 
 Carrickmanon Castle should not be ventured 
 on until a good cigar apiece had been 
 smoked, and a tumbler of steaming punch
 
 lo Betwixt Tzuo Lovers, 
 
 (nothing better before a long night journey) 
 been imbibed. 
 
 The road appeared dark and gloomy at 
 the start. The flickering lamps of the car 
 revealed on the one hand the close proximity 
 of a narrow sea wall, that just forefended 
 them from sheer descent over rocks and 
 precipice into the dark abysses of the sea, 
 while on the other hand, standing up straight 
 for maybe sixty feet, the clear cut surface 
 of gigantic rock reflected back the lamp- 
 light, and showed what the skill of man had 
 had to encounter in forming the roadway 
 on that bleak mountain side, and betwixt it 
 and the tossing billows of St George's 
 Channel. Here and there, as they advanced, 
 a little group of firs upon some vantage 
 point or hillock overhung the road ; and 
 now that the stars had come out, and the 
 pale moon arisen, the dark-green fronds and 
 spaces that divided them were splintered by 
 clearer shafts of light. While further on, 
 its outline stark against the sky, there stood 
 in silent majesty a single fir, as stands a 
 sentinel to guard the outpost. 
 
 Here beneath the shadows of the gigantic 
 mountains on their left the sea lay dark
 
 A MooriligJit Drive. 1 1 
 
 and gloomy, but they heard the splashing 
 of its waters, as it heaved in vast expanse 
 against the cragbound bases of the hills, 
 and then fell back again with " slow, full 
 plunge "; but yonder, underneath the riven 
 clouds, the waters seemed to sleep, and lie 
 white mirrored in the glances of the moon. 
 
 Wonder at the beauty of the scene, and 
 reverie profound, had held our travellers 
 silent till, with a further turn, they rounded 
 the spurs of Slieve-na-croob, and lost by an 
 inland course the view of firclad hill and 
 northern sea. 
 
 Harry Kingscote w^as the first to speak, 
 and as he stretched himself, and devoting 
 his attention to more material pursuits, 
 pulled out and lit up a huge cigar, he 
 delivered himself as follows : — 
 
 " I would not have missed this drive for 
 worlds ; it is quite like fairyland, but it makes 
 one feel a little triste, perhaps because one 
 realises the illusion overmuch, or that one 
 misses the life, the j oy, the radiance of the sun. " 
 
 Answered Ned, "You are always poetic, 
 Harry. I am thinking more of whether it 
 is really freezing as hard as I suspect or 
 not ; and, by the way, would it not be a
 
 12 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 nuisance if we were unable to hunt to- 
 morrow after this long night journey ? 
 Kecollect we are only half way." 
 
 Edward Borthwick was a soldier, of 
 Scottish descent, of a cast of mind that 
 was unimaginative and sombre. He had 
 a strong and half-religious sense of duty, 
 at least let us say he fancied that he al- 
 ways acted from a sense of duty. But 
 how often regarding this very word "duty" 
 do we not misinterpret the mainspring of 
 our actions, and, if closely analysed, would 
 we not find that selfishness, or a slavish sub- 
 serviency to conventionality, the standard, 
 the opinion of others, was the key to our 
 chief characteristic ? Ned Borthwick was 
 a Presbyterian, and in historic times his 
 ancestors had been fanatics. Covenanters, 
 and fought with the Bible in the left hand, 
 while they wielded the sword with their 
 strong right arm ; and had he been born 
 in those stirring days, 1 can imagine him 
 brandishing his claymore the while he 
 snuffled out a text; but times are changed, 
 and now he professes a decent Presbyteri- 
 anism, and his duty to his God is largely 
 leavened by his duty to public opinion,
 
 A Moonlight Drive. 13 
 
 and himself. His Scotch descent showed 
 traces of his origin in his wiry brown hair, 
 with here and there the coarse red threads, 
 which were more apparent in the short- 
 clipped whiskers that ended below his ears; 
 his eyes were grey, and distinctly Scotch 
 in their appearance, while his face was 
 rather long and stern, the cheek bones 
 high, and the moustache of a deep-red 
 brown ; his throat was long and sinuous, 
 his figure, perhaps, too stiff and angular, 
 and the shoulders, you might say, hardly 
 broad enough for six feet one. Neverthe- 
 less, there seemed a reserve of power about 
 the face and form, with its rather square- 
 set look. At Winchester he had been a 
 prefect not altogether unpopular, albeit his 
 " tundings " with the ashplant had been 
 more severely inflicted, and perhaps more 
 unnecessary than those of others. Such 
 was the man. You felt that on service no 
 one would do his duty by his Queen and 
 country with more unswerving fidelity ; 
 had he been at the bar or on the stock 
 exchange, into the hands of no other 
 would you have committed with less 
 misgiving your lawsuit or your scrip,
 
 14 Belivixt Two Lovers. 
 
 but you gathered, when you really came 
 to know him, that there was nothinu" 
 quixotic, nothing blindly chivalrous about 
 him, and that the view he would take in 
 any dilemma would be (unconsciously per- 
 haps) that most in harmony with the chord 
 of self. 
 
 With Harry it was otherwise ; he might 
 commit many sins and follies which the 
 other would not ; he might be rash, extra- 
 vagant, or throw away a career he might 
 have distinguished himself in ; he might 
 sacrifice himself to the un scrupulousness of 
 others, but there was something that you 
 instinctively felt to be noble, something 
 very generous about him. 
 
 "And now, inform me," said Harry, 
 " about these people. Are they correct and 
 grand, or very Irish and ' through other ' ? 
 and what sort of a menage is there carried 
 on at Castle Carrickmanon — have I got it 
 right ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, your vocabulary is all right ! 
 They are, I may say, neither very grand nor 
 very Irish. Just enough feudalism, both 
 about them and the place, to please you ; 
 you will find nothing fast or rowdy there
 
 A Moonlight Drive. 15 
 
 on the one hand, while the starchiness of 
 propriety is a long way removed from both 
 our host and his sister." 
 
 " Anyone else there, Grunner \ " 
 
 *'0h, yes, an old lady, an aunt, on a 
 visit, who combines as much of the grand 
 dame, and the pride associated therewith, 
 as could be conceived possible from her 
 manner and get-up." 
 
 *' A character, I expect ? " 
 
 *' Well, she is, in a way." 
 
 "Then, like a good fellow, give me the 
 outline, so that I shall know how to con- 
 duct my conversation and mind my 
 manners in her presence." 
 
 " I will try. In appearance, she is tall 
 and striking, and must have been rather 
 handsome, with straight and very marked 
 features. I should like to have seen her 
 before she had grown grey, and the colour 
 deserted her cheeks. It occurs to me she 
 most undeservedly missed her sex at her 
 birth." 
 
 **Is she very masculine and hard, then, 
 Ned?" 
 
 **No; that's the curious part of it. 
 Though she is so very strong and self-
 
 1 6 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 opinionated in her way, she always talks 
 to you as if she was only a woman. See 
 her stumping about, for she always pounds 
 her feet down straight from her knees, and, 
 though she's sixty, wall row in a boat or 
 walk any distance, you would think she 
 was very hard and perhaps crossed-grained, 
 but there is no one in reality kinder, even 
 more thoughtful ; and when she takes off 
 her tortoise-rimmed spectacles, and her 
 dark-grey eyes glisten, and her voice be- 
 comes soft and low, you will think she 
 must have been a most taking young 
 w^oman at twenty." 
 
 " And does she harass Dick much ? " 
 " Oh, sometimes awfully; indeed, she is 
 generally in opposition to everything that is 
 proposed. She begins by arguing against 
 it, then, after a time, she gives in, not that 
 she admits she has done so ; far from it, she 
 retires as though with the honours of war 
 from the controversy, at say the breakfast- 
 table, but returns at luncheon time with 
 the announcement that, for her own good 
 reasons, and not at all owing to the argu- 
 ments you have adduced, she has changed 
 or modified her plan of campaign."
 
 A Moonlight DjHve. 1 7 
 
 ** Well, I suppose I shall see and hear 
 her," remarked the hussar. 
 
 "Possibly not," answered Ned. "For 
 by fits and starts, for a week at a time, 
 she leads a semi-detached existence, break- 
 fasts anyhow or anywhere, in her own 
 room or in the little tower room by her- 
 self, even when the others are hard at 
 work on that repast in the dining-room. 
 As for luncheon, she is more likely to buy 
 a penny bap and a lump of cheese, or a 
 glass of milk and a biscuit in the village, 
 than come in for it. However, you can't 
 mistake her if you meet her in the ground^ 
 in her long black clothes of the year one, 
 with her reticule on her arm, and the 
 shapeless black bonnet that just displays 
 the borders of the cap she wears in the 
 house, and which, rather like a widow's, 
 is fastened underneath her chin, but far 
 enough back to reveal a couple of dark- 
 grey curls on both sides of her cheeks ; 
 and these she further secures with tortoise- 
 shell combs." 
 
 "All right, Ned, you can trust me to 
 make no mistake after this description — and 
 Dick ? I have met him sometimes at the 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 1 8 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 clubs and race meetings ; but of the sister, 
 what of her ? Are you not engaged to 
 her, or something of that sort ? " 
 
 "Oh, not engaged; not exactly betrothed 
 to her. There is nothins: definite between 
 us ; but our parents talked it over in the 
 old days, when country fathers thought 
 they had a rfght to dispose of, or object 
 to the disposal of the hands of their sons 
 and daughters ; and when she was ten, and 
 I was thirteen, we alluded to it freely, but 
 the last time we spent together, more than 
 three years ago, w^e did not, for we circled 
 round and round the subject like carrier 
 pigeons before they make their point ; and 
 though, to tell you the truth, I rather acted 
 the part oi fiance, I consider myself to be 
 free, and I conclude that she does also. 
 Anyhow, she is a charming girl — all that 
 the heart of man could desire." 
 
 "" And now about the hunting. What 
 sort of country is it really ? " asked Harry. 
 **How good of you to mount me from 
 your stable to-morrow. The horses were 
 to go on to-day, weren't they ? " 
 
 " Yes, Harry ; but I'm afraid you'll find 
 it an awfully close one after Leicestershire."
 
 A Moonlight Drive, 19 
 
 " Any big doubles or timber, Ned ? " 
 " No ; but the fields are small, the fences 
 trappy, and you are always jumping, though 
 seldom anything very big. They call the 
 ditches gripes here, and the hedge is mostly 
 built, or I should say made to grow in the 
 stone-faced side of a bank. There are stone 
 walls, too, in particular districts ; water you 
 seldom come across ; but take it all round, 
 you will have everything a glutton could 
 desire in the way of obstacles, barring gates. 
 I don't mean a pun. But look, we are 
 just arriving at the end of our journey." 
 And with this the jarvey gave his steed 
 the usual encouraging crack with the whip 
 (and without it the longest jaunt is seldom 
 completed in any part of Ireland). Even 
 now they had approached to the outskirts 
 of the village, over which, throned high 
 upon a slope of rising ground, the Castle 
 of Carrickmanon seemed to dominate, and 
 the white-washed cottages nestled still 
 about its feet in these degenerate days, as 
 did their predecessors in brick and mortar 
 for protection in the days of yore, when 
 the dark, gaunt towers were fortified with 
 brazen cannon against the troops of Crom-
 
 20^ Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 well, or yet in the more prehistoric days, 
 when the battlements were lined with 
 archers bold, wielders of the sling, and 
 dispensers of hot lead. 
 
 Nay, at this very hour you can see the 
 path, constructed along the walls, which 
 connected the . gatehouse with the castle, 
 and from which, breast high, the arrows 
 could be shot. 
 
 But it was not until they had actually 
 entered the main street of the village that 
 the frowning towers, seen high above the 
 bulwarks of the gatehouse, fully confronted 
 their gaze ; for, because of the lie of the 
 surrounding hills, and the woods that 
 had clustered about it so closely that 
 you thought they must sweep the stately 
 windows with the fringes of their branches, 
 you might approach it from three sides 
 unconscious of its very existence until 
 you were the shortest of distances from 
 it. 
 
 The hoofs of their smoking steed struck 
 the causeway with a hollow sound as they 
 drove through the low gloomy archway of 
 the gatehouse, and Harry expected to pass 
 over a narrow drawbridge that spanned a
 
 A MoonligrJit Drive. 21 
 
 v> 
 
 moat, and involuntarily looked for a sight 
 of the portcullis. 
 
 Gravelled was the courtyard of the castle, 
 and of some ninety yards by sixty in ex- 
 tent, and bore upon its walls the traces of 
 the stabling and outbuildings which till a 
 recent date had been still left standing, to 
 be succeeded by the pear and cherry tree, 
 whose snowy blossoms in the spring-time 
 nowadays contrast with the yellow or the 
 darker wallflowers that peep confidingly 
 from between the embrasures. 
 
 The freestone of the mullioned windows 
 appeared very white, cut square in the 
 darker stone of the central block, but the 
 two flanking towers, with smaller windows 
 of more ancient build, looked even more 
 massive in their hitherto impenetrable thick- 
 ness, while their tall pointed pinnacles were 
 silhouetted against the spangled canopy of 
 the immeasurable heavens. It was too dark 
 inside the hall to note the pannelled oak, 
 the target, and crossed claymores, relics of 
 CuUoden ; the French cuirass and helmet, 
 picked from the field of Waterloo, with 
 many an ancient pistol and more modern 
 sword or weapon. But both our soldier-
 
 22 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 officers were not a little hungry, and not a 
 little ready for their rest ; so after slight 
 refreshment, and a good warm-up at the 
 enormous fire, and just half a pipe apiece 
 in the dining-room, candles were lit, and 
 a dreamless sleep forthwith enjoyed.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. 
 
 The wintry sunshine, not yet disentangled 
 from tlie misty web of cloud that enfolded 
 it, had not more than made itself visibly 
 when Harry Kingscote came downstairs ; 
 and it was the warmth of the room, and the 
 fire that was burning brightly in the big old- 
 fashioned fireplace inside, which made the 
 great windows look so wet, as the vapours 
 that had been congealed upon them melted 
 and disappeared. But not this morning had 
 the maojic fino;ers of the frost drawn in an 
 enchanted picture of trees, with delicate 
 tracery of fern and frondage about their feet, 
 as seen in their fictitious landscape. There- 
 fore it was with satisfactory anticipations of 
 the coming day that Harry reviewed the
 
 24 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 situation, and as he gazed at the ancient 
 portraits that hung in various guise upon 
 the walls, wondered in which of them lay- 
 prophetic likeness of his host or hostess. 
 Could it lie in that stately dame, whose 
 carriage was so upright, and who sat so 
 straight in her high-backed chair, w^hile the 
 blue brocade of her robe seemed even now to 
 be stifl* and hard, albeit the hand of the 
 painter had left a sheen of light upon its 
 folds ? Had his hostess, he wondered, in- 
 herited a ne retrousse, and the large brown 
 almond-shaped eyes, and the wide full mouth, 
 with its parted lips, from that other one in 
 white ? or had that warrior over there in the 
 scarlet coat, and wearing upon his breast the 
 numerous medals which betokened the din of 
 battle in many fights in many lands, given 
 his straight and handsome features as their 
 predominating type of countenance to his 
 descendants ? 
 
 There were other portraits, too, to choose 
 from, possibly representing collateral branches 
 of the house, — a squire in blue, with a grey 
 pig-tail, and an astute and lawyer-looking 
 face ; another, a little girl in pink, with the 
 smallest of waists, and the prettiest of hats,
 
 Love at First Sight. 25 
 
 the flowers of which only seemed to be 
 newly gathered, and spoke to you of Flora 
 and the country green. In paint and powder, 
 in armour too, and in court dress, they hung 
 upon the w^alls ; but youth is not over given 
 to speculations on heredity and the survival 
 of the prevailing type, and yesterday's Times, 
 and the Local Advertiser, with the latest 
 telegrams, seemed more attractive to the 
 young hussar than further reverie on the 
 subject. Nor had he been long immersed 
 in the Athenian-like search for some new 
 thing, when the door, almost noiselessly 
 opened, revealed to him Miss MacDonald in 
 her warm and neat-fitting homespun dress 
 of some dark-brown material. 
 
 And she, as she hesitated that half 
 second we have all so often experienced, 
 and in which the manner of greeting or self- 
 introduction takes form and colour accord- 
 ing as the object strikes us with interest, or 
 pleasure, or the reverse, saw before her 
 a man whom she unconsciously recognised 
 as filling her eyes, her mind, her heart. 
 
 Is it from some blind inspiration that 
 love at first sight predominates over us, 
 and binds us captives at his chariot wheels ?
 
 26 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 Does heart speak to heart by some unknown 
 magnetic process which they who have 
 weighed the stars, nay, even prophesied the 
 advents of unknown comets, and mapped 
 their movements across the far-oflf spaces 
 of the heavens, have failed hitherto to 
 discover? It is not surely with the quick 
 flash of reason that love first enters, touches 
 first the mainspring of our being, and 
 sends the current of our blood vibrating 
 throughout us ? 
 
 Be this as it may, love at first sight, for 
 weal or woe, the sudden shaft shot by the 
 blind god, the wound of which we may and 
 do recover from, has been the theme of the 
 poet and the novelist, even unto these 
 latter days, and is still an acknowledged 
 fact ; not that the marriages, I am told, 
 eventuating therefrom are more happy and 
 blessed than those which have been estab- 
 lished upon a more commercial footing of 
 exchange, but forfend us from an essay on 
 the subject. 
 
 Effie MacDonald we have endeavoured, 
 however unworthily, and with whatever 
 indifferent colours, to paint the portrait of ; 
 but it was not to be wondered at if she felt
 
 Love at First Sight. 27 
 
 herself drawn sympathetically towards the 
 young hussar who stood before her. Yet 
 had his aspect been more commonplace or 
 ordinary, the greeting of Effie MacDonald 
 would have been more effusive and hospit- 
 able towards her guest ; but the very 
 appearance which captivated her senses 
 exercised a constraining influence upon her 
 manner, and the innate conservatism of her 
 sex repressed any outward show of other 
 than ordinary interest in the man who stood 
 before her, a veritable embodiment of youth, 
 and health, and strength, and the charm of 
 physical beauty, which so rarely accompanies 
 it. What if his cheeks were somewhat 
 swarthy, and the short crisp wavy hair of 
 a darker hue than we are accustomed to in 
 England ; the bright l.)rown eyes were full 
 of intelligence and humour, and, in con- 
 junction with the mouth, denoted a capacity 
 for loving and gaining the love of others ; 
 while the slightly aquiline nose, and the 
 bolder outlines of the chin, proclaimed the 
 manliness of his temperament, and you 
 almost hoped as you look at him that the 
 slight dark moustache might never hide the 
 smile that played upon his lips.
 
 28 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 Harry Kingscote was a bit of a dandy, 
 wliy not ? The bird's-eye fogle was folded 
 twice about his high wliite collar ; his waist- 
 coat, at least as much of it as you could see, 
 was of a dark - blue colour, whilst his 
 "pink" was of double-breasted swallow- 
 tail pattern, and, buttoned up, revealed his 
 tall, athletic form. Needless to say, his 
 buckskins were exquisitely cleaned, and 
 his *'tops" of the most delicate shade in 
 fashion, with the bows above them duly and 
 neatly tied. 
 
 Graceful and easy in carriage and manner, 
 he was ever deferential where requisite, and 
 few knew how to treat a lady with greater 
 courtesy. 
 
 The others were not long assembling, and 
 this morning the company was honoured by 
 the presence of Aunt Bess ; but owing to 
 i)er having been awakened by the arrivals 
 the previous night, and having failed to 
 obtain her quantum of refreshing sleep, her 
 strictures on things in general were some- 
 what severer even than usual. 
 
 This morning, after (for her) a friendly 
 greeting with Harry Kingscote, for old 
 ladies can still be charmed by handsome
 
 Love at First Sight, 29 
 
 young hussars, she lamented how her 
 brother William always appeared in his 
 hunting kit at the breakfast-table, or with 
 his long grey homespun stockings on, while 
 for valid reasons she took exception to the 
 black velvet smoking-jacket that Dick Mac- 
 Donald wore upon his upper man ; the 
 pros and cons, also, of the ladies riding or 
 not riding to hounds, attending race meet- 
 ings, and otherwise, were duly discussed 
 and commented on by her during breakfast 
 time, the manners of the present being un- 
 favourably contrasted with those of the 
 previous generation. 
 
 But let us imagine that their pleasant 
 little meal has been discussed, the delicate 
 fragrance of the cigarette inhaled, or the 
 coarser tobaccos of pipe and cigars reduced 
 to ashes, and the papers read. After a 
 stroll on the terraces, a visit to the stables 
 is inaugurated, which, from the matter of 
 there being too much time on hand, is spun 
 out as long as any reasonable excuse can be 
 alleged for further insight into the merits of 
 the hunters. 
 
 Dick has by this time settled finally upon 
 which shall be his first and which his second
 
 2,0 B.etzvixt Two Lovers. 
 
 mount; all those questions possible regarding 
 the state of the one he rode last day have 
 been duly answered ; the legs which belong 
 to the horses of his guests have been felt, 
 and approval given, if qualified only by the 
 tone of voice in which it has been uttered. 
 His own special stud of brood mares and 
 yearlings, belonging to the past, present, 
 and future tenses as regards their hunting 
 capacities, has been inspected, and their 
 pedigrees discussed, when a return to the 
 house, a further study of the papers, and a 
 readjustment of kits where necessary, is 
 mooted as the best way of putting in the 
 time before the arrival of the members of 
 the hunt. 
 
 It is not long before Dick reappears, fully 
 equipped in all that appertains to the sport 
 of kings, while Harry Kingscote and Ned 
 Borthwick gaze out with curiosity into 
 the old courtyard, and mark the groups of 
 horsemen as they arrive in twos and threes, 
 for, until there is a goodly gathering, men 
 are a little shy of marching up the steps, 
 through the open door, and after depositing 
 their hats and whips, making for the 
 hospitable breakfast-table, albeit the wel-
 
 Love at First Sight, 31 
 
 come is a foregone conclusion. Therefore, 
 those who are first to come from the railway 
 station have ridden together in little parties, 
 as it seemed good to them to hurry or 
 delay the paces of their horses, and those 
 who have traversed the winding routes and 
 hilly roads that lead from further distances 
 have convoyed each other. 
 
 To Harry Kingscote the meet in tlie 
 gravelled square of the old courtyard pre- 
 sents a different scene from those he has 
 been accustomed to in the wooded parks 
 and lawns of old England. 
 
 There, perhaps beneath the oaks that from 
 generation to generation have flourished 
 around the spacious mansions dating from 
 the great Elizabeth, or at the old manor 
 house, is wont to be assembled the moving 
 crowd of men, and horses, and hounds. 
 But while the park is dotted here and 
 there with thicker clumps of trees, the un- 
 dulating turf is stretched for perhaps a mile 
 or two far away in one direction, and the 
 dim white mist, which the climbing sun is 
 already dissipating, just blurs and softens 
 the harder outlines of man and horse, and 
 contrasts their varied colouring against the
 
 32 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 sombre hues of their surroundings. You 
 ruminate on the fact with pride that in no 
 other country in the world are there such 
 sylvan scenes as these, and while you ride 
 to and fro beneath the beeches you discuss 
 the merits of horse and hound, and the 
 earliest covert to be drawn, with peer, or 
 squire, or peasant follower of the chase, 
 while the rating voices of the whips, and 
 the pistol-like reports from their hunting 
 crops, break loudly on your ear. 
 
 But here it is otherwise ; nor is it want- 
 ing in animation and a picturesqueness of its 
 own. Here, too, there is plenty of life and 
 movement, and sound of hoof and horse, 
 and flitting colour, to contrast with the 
 dead grey walls and darker towers ; nor 
 does the gathering seem incongruous with 
 its surroundings. 
 
 Doubtless from yonder window in the 
 tower of King John, and through its then 
 barred lattices, did the budding damsels of 
 the house follow the fortunes of their mail- 
 clad warriors, and view with beating hearts 
 the prowess which their chosen knights 
 could display in the tourney that went on 
 beneath them.
 
 Love at First Sight. 33 
 
 Hence, doubtless, in the later days of 
 the James's, had the chatelaine mounted 
 on her palfrey, and in the company of her 
 esquires, clad in all their bravery, or in the 
 more sombre hues of Lincoln green, ridden 
 forth with hooded hawk or hound to see 
 the chase of winged or swiftly-footed prey. 
 
 But now that our gallants of the nine- 
 teenth century have, with what appetites 
 they may, refreshed themselves, drunk 
 much good luck to their host and hostess, 
 and mounted their impatient steeds, let us, 
 as they are starting, get forward with them 
 too and view the chase. » 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 A-CHASING OF THE DEER. 
 
 It was about a mile from the house that 
 the actual proceedings of the chase were 
 to be inaugurated, and to this point those 
 on foot, a motley crowd of small shop- 
 keepers, work-people, schoolboys, and fac- 
 tory hands, out for a holiday, had already 
 converged. There, in a partially walled-in 
 demesne of some hundred-and-fifty acres, fur- 
 nished nevertheless with several unlocked 
 gates where it abutted on the different roads, 
 the stag was to be uncarted by previous 
 arrangement. And, indeed, no better place 
 for the first mad burst, where hounds just 
 fling their notes in wild exultation to each 
 other and go off at score, could have been 
 selected, for here was a galloping ground 
 over springy turf, whose trefoils and daisies
 
 A - Chasing of the Deer, 3 5 
 
 had not been uprooted for years and years 
 by the invading iron of the ploughshare, 
 and such as could not be surpassed in 
 Leicestershire ; yet at one extremity a 
 shadowy wood of thirty acres, itself inter- 
 sected by a formidable stream, offered an 
 inviting shelter should the game be shifty 
 and shy of starting into the open country. 
 This, too, was what actually happened, for 
 no sooner was she uncarted, than that fine 
 old hind " Montalto," seeing on the various 
 hillocks the knots of people assembled, and 
 hearing their shout at her appearance, just 
 trotted here and there in an aimless manijer 
 till she approached a stiff built post and 
 rails, or rather paling (for it was a com- 
 bination of both), nailed up with boards, 
 or an old fir tree laid on the top, as his 
 laziness or his convenience had dictated to 
 the hand of the land steward. This for- 
 midable obstacle she bounded over without 
 an effort, and at a good hand-canter sought 
 the shelter of the wood, and crossed the 
 shallow and stony-bedded waters of the 
 Kilmore river. 
 
 Ten minutes here is only allowed as 
 the extremity of law to the pursued, and
 
 2,6 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 with hounds laid on (indeed they took up 
 the running from the gate, and hunted the 
 cart, as our master remarked), the gallop 
 on the turf just warms the blood and whets 
 the appetite for the fencing that must 
 come. 
 
 But the horsemen press upon the hounds, 
 the foremost riders are well alongside the 
 slowest of the pack as they descend the 
 sloping ground and approach the formid- 
 able post and rails. Kingscote is mounted 
 on Ned Borthwick's mare " Forlorn Hope." 
 He has obeyed the behests of his hostess 
 and left Miss MacDonald's side, but not 
 without some pangs of conscience ; and 
 now, as he sits down to ride, and en- 
 deavours to take the lead, he knows that, 
 by all accounts, no timber which other 
 men could negotiate has ever stopped the 
 gallant mare he is bestriding. Neverthe- 
 less, he pulls her together into a canter, 
 the more discreetly to take the timber ; 
 but he is not permitted to have "first 
 blood," for charging it at steeplechase pace, 
 the Nimrod of the hunt gets over without 
 a fall, but he hits the top rail hard and 
 smashes it, while his horse pecks badly
 
 A'Chasing of the Deer, 3 7 
 
 as he lands. The hounds flash over the 
 scent, giving those who are making, one 
 and all, for the place with the broken rail 
 time to get on terms again with them, as 
 they recover the scent and bend away to 
 the right, making music as they start 
 afresh. In another two hundred yards 
 they are crashing into the wood, and 
 Kingscote catches the flash of the water 
 through the trees as the hounds splash 
 it up. 
 
 The aforesaid smasher of timber has 
 pride of place, but the master and Harry 
 are not far behind in his wake ; a narrow 
 footpath turning to the right leads them 
 through a hazelwood copse, and, shouting 
 to him to beware of rabbit holes, Dick 
 MacDonald goes on in front. 
 
 Here the Kilmore stream confronts them, 
 as it winds its tortuous way, not a dozen 
 feet from the wall. "Follow me," calls 
 Dick ; " I am sure she has had this breach 
 in the wall," and Dick and Harry and 
 Davidson, and one or two others, splash 
 through, and walking their horses with 
 short paces up to, just pop them over the 
 loose-stoned breach. " Forward, forward,"
 
 38 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 shouts Dick as he caps on the hounds 
 along the outer side of the wall, but almost 
 immediately reasons, with that rapid in- 
 stinct or pow^r of observation that marks 
 the true-born huntsman, that all is not 
 right — perhaps he marked hesitation in the 
 leading hounds, or the questioning note of 
 others — then quick as thought he whips 
 out his horn, and halloos to Kingscote, 
 whom he has taken under his special 
 patronage. " She must have run the 
 inside, but we're all right yet ; I can 
 lay them on again whichever way she 
 breaks." Clapping spurs to his horse, Dick 
 gallops ahead, and as they spurt along 
 they view inside the demesne (for they are 
 now upon rising ground) the remnant of 
 the pack, and the greater body of horse- 
 men. These are to their left, and about 
 three hundred yards in front of them, 
 and by the way the leaders are settling 
 themselves in their saddles for the hedge 
 and ditch, which on this side bars their 
 progress, and by the determined way they 
 are riding, they look as if they knew they 
 were in for a real good thing. The angle 
 of the wall is no sooner turned by our
 
 A -Chasing of the Deer. 39 
 
 friends than the hounds stream away to 
 their comrades, and they find themselves 
 about a field behind ; but the pace, and the 
 fences, though somewhat easy within the 
 next mile, tend to bring the head and tail 
 of the hunt together ; and as they swing 
 into the little lane, and crash through the 
 thin and withered hedge that divides them 
 from the orchard at the back of Ardbannon, 
 all are upon equal terms again. Here a 
 short and provoking check occurs, for our 
 quarry has been chased by the farmyard 
 dog, and has been in and out, and up and 
 down, first the sheepyard, and then the 
 cattleyard, and finally taken refuge in an 
 open loose-box. Twice has it been dis- 
 lodged therefrom, and driven as far as 
 the lower farmyard gate, but twice has it 
 turned again at the sight of the roadway, 
 now crowded with carriages, men on foot, 
 and men on horse ; and the knowledge that 
 it has previously sustained both warmth and 
 shelter in outhouse or stable encourages it 
 to run the circuit of the yard once more. 
 But at length shut doors, and the adminis- 
 tered lashes of the whips, induce it to make 
 a bolder effort for freedom, and leaping
 
 40 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 the low cattle wall with a bound, and clear- 
 ing the hedge on the opposite side, it 
 stretches forward free and far over fine 
 old pasture lands. Here, about a hundred- 
 and-fifty yards ahead, in the flat meadow 
 ground, and so concealed by its steep and 
 level banks that you would hardly notice 
 it, flows our old friend the Kilmore river, 
 running in these places with scarcely four- 
 teen feet of water ; but what a little width 
 of water it takes in the hunting field to 
 stop or divert all those who either are not 
 really keen or are not mounted upon good 
 performers, as they aflirm ! Mr Grisborne 
 and Mr Lyndsay, however, take it together 
 on the left ; Mr Davidson flies it from field 
 to field in Aintree form ; and, on his right, 
 our master just lands with enough to spare ! 
 Harry Kingscote has not got his hunter 
 going in the stride that water demands, 
 for he lies a bit further to the right, and 
 the river is nearer to him, and he now 
 wakes up to the fact that there is some- 
 thing before him to jump. The good 
 animal under him has been more observ- 
 ant than her rider, and has cocked her 
 ears, and quickened her paces, but just
 
 A - Chasing of the Deer. 4 1 
 
 a little too late. Harry has not held her 
 enough together, she jumps all abroad, and 
 falls on the landing side, kicking a yard of 
 turf into the water, and leaving her hind 
 legs over the brink. Johnny O'Neill is 
 almost on top of him, as he lands just clear, 
 and indents the turf pretty close to the 
 old mare's saddle. " Not hurt ? " cries 
 Borthwick, as he skims it close to the left, 
 and seeing that Harry can catch the bridle, 
 and is commencing to lather the mare with 
 his hunting crop, for the plunge and the 
 scramble with, which she may kick herself 
 up, he spurs to the front on his own ac- 
 count. Mounted as quickly as may be, 
 Harry realises that he himself is some way 
 behind ; but there are plenty more, half a 
 field to the left, in much the same plight, 
 and these have been crowding through the 
 cattle ford three or four at a time. The 
 hounds are running hard for Ballywoolen 
 now, and bending^ to the right for its farms 
 and lakes. The going is not so good in 
 those town lands, but the fencing fair 
 enough, and as the old mare recovers her 
 wind, Harry thinks he will be even with 
 them yet.
 
 42 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 The first of the lakes, of which there 
 are three or four, is bounded by a deal 
 of morass and boggy land, and already lie 
 can descry the bunted deer and swimming 
 bounds; and wbile some of the pursuers leap 
 on to the road on the left hand that leads to 
 the farm, others are taking a devious course 
 to the right, and with tbe latter Kings- 
 cote throws in bis lot. Nor is he wrong, 
 for freshened by her bath, " Montalto " 
 emerges to the right, and at a quickened 
 pace sets straight for Derryboye. A field 
 or two just brings them to the boundary 
 fence, a large ragged bank overgrown with 
 whins ; tlie grip in front is small, but on 
 the landing side there is a yawning ditch, 
 a grave ready made for man and horse. 
 Though fairly high, the bank itself is narrow, 
 rather too narrow, perhaps, for the confiding 
 sportsman, and Harry thinks he can fly the 
 lot, and land himself safely in the plough. 
 So he sends the mare at a low and clear- 
 looking place, but she has an opinion of her 
 own, and it is that she will not be done 
 a second time that day, so she drops her 
 head in the bit, and slowing to nothing as 
 she rises, stops a second on the top as she
 
 A - Chasing of the Deer. 4 3 
 
 gets her fore feet well planted in the de- 
 scending side of the bank, and then securely 
 springs the intervening gulf. Alexander 
 and Lyndsay, of the hard-riding lot, are 
 with their horses in the ditch, and a third 
 encounters a nasty fall on landing, but the 
 pace is too good to inquire who it may be. 
 
 A succession of light but new-ploughed 
 fields now intervene ; they are bordered by 
 average stone walls, over which the horses 
 and hounds can fly with undiminished 
 speed. And now, on the left, the Killinchy 
 woods are reached — a lucus a non lucendo — 
 for here there is both rocky ground and 
 boggy ground, and but the remains of 
 stumps of trees, and hence you must pick 
 your way with caution for at least half- 
 a-mile. 
 
 The roads that run parallel on each side 
 of it are adopted by not a few, while the 
 hounds are feathering through the gorse, 
 and while, with occasional notes of con- 
 fidence, they pick out the scent that lies so 
 coldly over the boggy land. There are few 
 pursuers along the bridle path, but they 
 are rewarded by getting first to the Florida 
 road, and viewing the hounds in front of
 
 44 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 them as they stream in a body up the 
 opposite hillside ; here are stifFer fences and 
 more treacherous gripes, and horses which 
 are out of condition, or bad performers, 
 cause frequent grief to their riders. Kill- 
 inchy windmill is behind them now, and 
 the hounds, running hard, are getting away 
 from horse and man as they enter Ball- 
 macarron farm, and we view them from 
 the top of one of the circular hills so 
 common in those parts. 
 
 " She's for Donan Isle, and will swim 
 across," says Dick MacDonald. 
 
 '^No," says another, "she's for Island 
 Taggart," mentioning another one where 
 she had formerly found haven, and as they 
 canter down the last of the hills, their 
 horses somewhat blown, they find an im- 
 passable hedge and a doubly locked gate 
 in front of them — but what of that ? It 
 must be hoisted off its hinges, or the lock 
 broken, so that the first flight men may 
 not forego their advantage. See, Davidson 
 has jumped off, while his horse stands loose, 
 and with three or four blows from his metal 
 hammered hunting crop shatters the lock, 
 and the first flight men nip quickly over
 
 A - Chasing of the Deer. 4 5 
 
 tlie EingdufFerin road, and across the few 
 fields that intervene, and then up the 
 avenue to the liouse, to find that the stag 
 has " taken soil " in the cool salt waters of 
 the lough. Not a long run, you would say, 
 but nine Irish miles (twelve English ones at 
 least), across such a varied country, and 
 with so much " lepping " to be done, is 
 about good enough for most of them, and 
 many retire perforce to catch their trains 
 or ride long distances home. 
 
 Not so, however, a dozen or more of 
 thrusting sportsmen, who opine that their 
 horses as well as they themselves are equal 
 to a second venture, and that with the off 
 chance thrown in of the hunt conforming 
 to their homeward route. These already 
 cast wistful glances at the deer cart, which, 
 with its miraculous punctuality, has, no 
 one knows how, already cast up, and Paddy 
 M'Grath, with his imperturbable counten- 
 ance, solemn as when upon the off day she 
 drives the hearse that belongs to the little inn 
 at Bally-a-hinch, is upon the box. He brings 
 in his wake a fair contingent of followers, 
 viz., half-a-dozen sportsmen who have 
 been hopelessly thrown out ; three or four
 
 46 Betwixt Tzuo Lovers. 
 
 ladies who have persevered to the end, 
 through lanes and by-ways, and with occa- 
 sional cuts across country, and amongst 
 them Effie MacDonald, on her little ches- 
 nut. These have had more than passing 
 glimpses of the hunt as, leaving Derryboye, 
 it swept through Killinchy woods, the 
 great enclosures of Florida, and from Kil- 
 mood, until at the finish the Eingdufferin 
 grazing lands were reached.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN THE GLOAMING. 
 
 Though a genuine sportsman, Harry Kings- 
 cote thought he had had about enough of it 
 in a strange country, and that at all events 
 he would make one of the returning party— 
 be there a second deer uncarted or no — and 
 return with Miss MacDonald he would. So, 
 placing his mare alongside the little ches- 
 nut, he was nothing loth when she suggested 
 that if he was not going after the second 
 deer, which was then about to be enlarged, 
 he should accompany her, and commence 
 the journey that lay betwixt them and 
 Carrickmanon Castle. 
 
 The chance situation, the surrounding cir- 
 cumstances often facilitate the offering of 
 homage, if they do not engender the deeper
 
 48 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 and more lasting feelings of the heart. 
 In the ball-room, on the one hand, where all 
 the accessories of lights and flowers, and 
 music, and the overwhelming presence of 
 many and beautiful women combine to in- 
 toxicate the senses with an effect that is 
 contagious, the errant knight is easily led 
 away captive for the evening ; if for the 
 evening only. Since not unfrequently, at 
 further fugitive meetings, kettledrums, 
 dances, or what not, different surroundings 
 and divergent manners combine to dispel the 
 sweet illusion on one side or the other, and 
 make the well-worn proverb " autres temps 
 autres mceurs " be once more aptiy quoted. 
 Far more fatal to your peace of mind has it 
 been found to ride alongside your sweet 
 companion of the other sex when your 
 pulses have been stirred by an arduous 
 and successful day in the open. 
 
 Mayhap the wintry sun is falling lower in 
 the sky, and the shades of the evening have 
 permitted you to rein up close, and allowed 
 you to gaze more fully on her face, that you 
 may catch her answering expression, and 
 the softened tones of her voice, addressed to 
 you, and you alone. With what a charming
 
 In the Gloaming. 49 
 
 trustfulness does she seem to look upon you 
 as her cavalier, and as you scan the graceful 
 outline of her form, with all its swelling 
 curves of beauty and of womanhood, at no 
 other time are you more susceptible of her 
 influence, though the judgment of your head 
 is not here put ruthlessly out of court as in 
 the aforesaid ball-room. 
 
 "They do go a cracker here. Miss 
 MacDonald," remarked the hussar, when 
 they were fairly in the lane leading home- 
 wards ; " they seem to me about as straight 
 and hard a lot as I have ever come across. 
 What a pity the fields are not larger." 
 
 " Oh, yes," answered Effie ; " but as far as 
 I am concerned, I like fox-hunting the 
 best. Even in what is termed an indifl'erent 
 country, you have many more little excite- 
 ments, though shorter gallops, of course, as a 
 rule ; still, I generally manage to see most of 
 the run, what with gates and being well 
 piloted, etc." 
 
 " You don't ride hard, then, not even 
 against your own womankind ? " questioned 
 Kingscote. 
 
 " No ; indeed I am not advanced enough 
 for that, and my people one and all dis~ 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 courage the attempt ; but I see you have 
 been down — not hurt I hope % " she added, 
 with just a shade of anxiety in her voice. 
 
 "Not I," he answered laughing. '' I did 
 not think I was even stained, but I see I 
 bear the scars of war on a shoulder and 
 knee ; indeed, I hardly know when I have 
 enjoyed a good run so much, I mean such a 
 really good hunt from first to last, for I call 
 it that ; and riding home with you is not 
 the least enjoyment of the day. But do not 
 think — at anyrate, I do not mean to talk 
 nonsense — " For he was feeling himself 
 drawn more and more insensibly towards 
 this girl, and had no wish to utter the 
 common platitudes or unmeaning chaff of 
 society towards her. 
 
 And as the short winter afternoon began 
 to draw towards its close, and the glow that 
 had been in the sky to gradually fade out, 
 they chatted on in a desultory way, as they 
 w^alked their horses close together, heedless 
 of all around them. 
 
 "How dark it's getting," suddenly ex- 
 claimed Kingscote as his mare shied 
 violently at a plough left at the side 
 of the road, and which she had nearlv
 
 In the Gloaming, 51 
 
 stumbled over ; "I do believe my mare 
 saw a ghost. I suppose you have plenty 
 of wraiths and spirits about here, combin- 
 ing as you must some Scotch uncanniness 
 and Irish superstition ? You don't believe 
 in them, do you ? " 
 
 " Why not ? But I would rather not see 
 one near Carrickmanon," answered Effie, 
 "for I should think they were only com- 
 pelled to wander about the castle, and the 
 neighbourhood, to make atonement for the 
 sins and follies they had committed in this 
 life ; but even if they were allowed to revisit 
 this earth, under the notion of watching 
 their loved ones, surely it would be far more 
 pain and sorrow to them than we can conceive." 
 
 " Eetribution, you mean, for all their mis- 
 doings, false ambitions, and selfish lives." 
 
 *' Oh, yes," she answered ; " retribution, 
 we must all sufi*er that, in this world or the 
 next, and I think, myself, in both, for all the 
 wrong we do. But, come, we are getting 
 much too deep, and you will think me a 
 terrible philosopher. We have still another 
 mile or two to go, so shall we jog on ? " And 
 with this they started at a smartish trot, 
 the little chesnut occasionally cantering to 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 ILLINOIS LIBRARt
 
 52 Betwixt Tzvo Lovers. 
 
 keep up, and it was not long before the 
 stableyard was reached, where Effie insisted 
 on dismounting, and leapt down lightly to 
 the ground before that Harry could assist 
 her ; and turning her head towards him as 
 she led the way, she thanked him with 
 something just a shade more distant in her 
 manner, as though with the dismounting 
 there that pleasant episode were ended. 
 
 The pathway to the stables had been laid 
 through darksome clumps of hollies and 
 laurel bushes ever green, shadowing it with 
 their overgrowth in hot mid June, on the 
 one side, while, on the other, coniferi were 
 choking out the old garden apple trees that 
 Effie remembered to have plucked the fruit 
 from as a girl. The path itself was very 
 ]iarrow, scarcely yielding room there for 
 more than one, and Harry instinctively felt 
 that he was not expected to "rein up" 
 alongside his hostess. They walked ap- 
 parently, both of them, lost in a silent 
 reverie, when Effie suggested it would be a 
 good thing to order tea in the hall before 
 she changed, and some stronger drinks for 
 any other sportsmen who might turn up. 
 "For," said she, "it is quite an under-
 
 In the Gloaming, 53 
 
 stood thing that no one passes the house 
 after hunting without a call, if it is only to 
 recapitulate the run, and add fresh items to 
 the quota of intelligence ; and in the hall 
 everyone can smoke and lounge to his 
 heart's content. And, do you know, if 
 anyone was reported upon by one of his 
 friends to Dick as having passed through 
 the village without a halt, the delinquent 
 would certainly hear of it again ? " 
 
 The tea aforesaid having been com- 
 manded, Efiie disappeared, and Harry 
 Kingscote, with his back against the fire- 
 place in the hall, thoroughly enjoyed his 
 first cigarette, and looked on at the laying 
 of a set of numerous cups, the large silver 
 teapot, and the quantity of hot and home- 
 baked cakes, that were flanked by the two 
 square glass decanters of Scotch and Irish 
 whisky placed upon the table. But he was 
 somewhat disconcerted by the arrival of 
 Aunt Bess, just as he had chucked the re- 
 mains of cigarette number one into the hot 
 wood ashes, and was feeling in the various 
 pockets of his hunting coat — and they 
 were many, both inside and outside — for 
 the one into which he had unconsciously
 
 54 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 slidden the little silver cigarette case upon 
 which he set such store, for it was just 
 big enough to hold half-a-dozen, and fitted, 
 with its rounded edges, into almost any of 
 the numerous pockets with equal comfort 
 to the wearer. The said chucking away of 
 the cigarette had not escaped Aunt Bess, 
 but by a side issue she almost compli- 
 mented him in that he had desisted from 
 smoking, averring that in her young days 
 no gentleman even ventured to smoke in 
 the presence of ladies, while in her father's 
 and brother William's days smoking was 
 not tolerated inside the house. With this 
 she proceeded to state her case against the 
 custom, argue in her usual fashion round 
 about it, finally admit that extenuating cir- 
 cumstances might arise, nay, even wound 
 up by granting a sort of licence to Harry for 
 smoke to be consumed upon the premises, 
 and this in a patronising motherly way, 
 as if he had been a child to be gratified 
 and indulged. 
 
 Now the tea had by this time drawn, 
 and Effie reappeared, but not in a delicately 
 shaded, loosely flowing tea-gown, built, so to 
 speak, to combine the ease and comfort of a
 
 In the Gloaming, 55 
 
 dressing-gown with the beauty and effect 
 of a dinner dress. Tea-gowns Aunt Bess 
 could not and would not abide, inveighing 
 against them, as if through some evil con- 
 tagion they succeeded in corrupting the 
 mind and manners of the wearer. Tea- 
 drinking, however, on this occasion she 
 did not impeach, admitting the necessity 
 thereof, albeit she withdrew her chair in 
 a pointed manner to a considerable distance 
 from the table, as though protesting mutely 
 she cared for none of these things, and 
 drew forth from her pocket the for- 
 midable instruments w^ith which she was 
 wont to do the knitting of hose for *the 
 family in general, while the clicking of her 
 needles made a running accompaniment to 
 the tea and talk of the little party ; nor had 
 they long been seated when the shuffling 
 of feet and the noise of voices in the passage 
 betokened further arrivals. 
 
 Through the opened door entered Dick 
 MacDonald, follow^ed by half-a-dozen sports- 
 men, bearing more or less the marks of the 
 chase upon their coats and cords or buck- 
 skins, and as he came in he exclaimed to 
 Kingscote, with his hearty chuckle, —
 
 56 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 '* Harry Kingscote, my boy, you ought 
 to have been with us, quite thirty minutes 
 over a very good bit of country, and finished 
 with half-a-mile of grass and three sets of 
 post and rails in Ballygoskin meadows — ^just 
 have suited you, and brought you well on 
 your way home too." 
 
 In the general hum of question, and 
 reply, and greetings, or fresh introductions 
 to himself, Harry forebore to express any 
 loud disappointment at having missed the 
 very good thing ; indeed, he opined he had 
 been pretty evenly compensated by his 
 ride home. Nevertheless, with sporting 
 instinct, he listened to Dick MacDonald's 
 graphic description as he sketched, in a 
 sentence or two, one of the quickest things 
 of the season — "just long enough, and not 
 too long with a second deer," and how it 
 had brought them half way home, and 
 added that they almost expected to over- 
 take him and his sister. The contingent 
 of hunting men soon set to work on the 
 tea and cakes, while some of them, a little 
 apologetically in Miss MacDonald's presence, 
 announced a preference for the square-faced 
 glass decanters.
 
 In the Gloaming. 57 
 
 Said Dick to his sister, after tie had 
 gulped down half a cup of tea, and with his 
 mouth full of hot potato cake, the streaming 
 butter of which he was just removing with 
 a large silk handkerchief from the corners 
 of his mouth, — 
 
 "You should have seen Ned Borth- 
 wick ride to-day ; he had everyone of us 
 pounded once or twice. It was only more 
 by good luck than good management that 
 we kept in the run. This was evidently 
 Ned's day out. Every dog has his day, 
 hasn't he, Harry ? " 
 
 " Bay, you mean bay." 
 
 " No ; day, day," responded one and 
 another. 
 
 *' Bet you a shilling it's day," said Dick. 
 
 " Bay, bay," again insisted Harry. 
 
 '' Well, then, I'll back the hussar," said 
 Ned, "for I am certain it's bay." 
 
 The controversy spread, and bets were 
 made on the result, or would have been, but 
 Ned and Harry averred that from Irving 
 and Irving only would they take their final 
 decision, and not from the antiquated 
 Shakespeare upstairs, which was quite on 
 a par with the Family Bible ; and this Miss
 
 58 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 Efiie had volunteered to fetch, having taken 
 sides with the " day " division. Even Aunt 
 Bess herself had been appealed to during 
 the debate, and had given her opinion, inter- 
 larded with many reminiscences of the 
 Keans and Macklin, in Dublin and else- 
 where ; but the pace of the discussion was 
 a little too quick for her to be listened 
 to long. 
 
 " So," said Effie, as she rose to accom- 
 pany her aunt upstairs, " if you will appeal 
 to Irving, and he is your Csesar, all I can 
 say is, in a matter of text, he is not mine ; 
 however, we will leave you all to fight it 
 out, or smoke the pipe of peace together." 
 
 But she was hardly on the staircase when 
 Dick called out, — 
 
 " 1 have persuaded several of the hunt to 
 stay and dine as they are, and I've pro- 
 mised not to dress, or only partly so, to 
 keep them in countenance." 
 
 Cigars and pipes were now universally set 
 going, and a four game of billiards started 
 in the inner room to the left, which itself 
 formed part of the hall, and was only 
 divided from it by heavy, and partly drawn, 
 velvet curtains. The game or games and
 
 In the Gloaming, 59 
 
 the smoking went on with more or less 
 intensity till near upon seven o'clock, when 
 Dick suggested that all of them should go 
 upstairs and dress, and that he should rig 
 out as far as he could the errant sportsmen. 
 One only, however, of nearly equal propor- 
 tions to himself, accepted a smoking suit, 
 so that at the dinner-table there were Ned 
 and Harry in the swallow-tailed pinks de- 
 voted to dance or dinner, Lyndsay in the 
 smoking suit aforesaid, and a guest in con- 
 ventional black, while Wallace, Alexander, 
 and Gisborne, the feet of their hunting boots 
 well cleaned, and the sparks of mud brushed 
 off their coats, contributed to brighten the 
 dinner - table. And what more pleasant 
 dinner can there be imagined than was 
 this one of eight or ten people, where the 
 footing between them was almost more than 
 friendly, and where the circumstances under 
 which they were gathered together debarred 
 all stiffness, and caused everyone to con- 
 tribute, without an effort, to the general 
 enjoyment ; where stories were related of 
 this or that sportsman, and one allusion to 
 a mishap or accident only brought on 
 another, possibly a more absurd incident of
 
 6o Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 this, or last, or many seasons past. Dick, 
 always the soul of a party of this sort, and 
 with his never - failing laugh, kept things 
 agoing with unflagging humour, and the 
 only one at table who felt himself the least 
 bit out of it was Harry Kingscote, for he 
 had neither taken Effie into dinner, nor, by 
 some bungling on his part, had he contrived 
 to sit next her. She had fallen to the lot of 
 Ned Borthwick, or rather he had exercised 
 liis prerogative at once, and given no one 
 else a chance, while Alexander took in Aunt 
 Bess ; and it was next her that Harry 
 found himself seated, and discomfited. 
 
 Nothing but one or two semi-conscious 
 glances from Miss MacDonald, as her eyes 
 were rested on him and quickly withdrawn, 
 compensated him for his unmerited banish- 
 ment. But the talk and chaff were amus- 
 ing enough to listen to, even if he did not 
 join in it much ; and by occasionally mak- 
 ing conversation with Aunt Bess, he unde- 
 signedly gained for himself her good opinion, 
 so much so, that afterwards, upstairs, as she 
 commented unfavourably upon the young 
 man of the day in general, she singled him 
 out as rather the exception to the general
 
 In the Gloamiito', 6\ 
 
 ^> 
 
 rule. Effie did not either acquiesce in or 
 contravene the statements advanced, till her 
 aunt, who loved to be always in conflict, 
 almost withdrew the approval, and was 
 commencing with her usual "Well, indeed, 
 I don't know," which preceded a contraven- 
 tion of former opinions expressed, when 
 Dick reappeared with a posse comitatus of 
 the party. These, for their horse's sake, 
 had thought it advisable to make a further 
 start homewards, and not remain all night, 
 as had been over and over again suggested to 
 them by the host, who was truly Irish in 
 his hospitality, and, as he would not have 
 minded himself to makeshift, naturally 
 imagined that no one else should ; even if 
 the morrow had been a Sunday, he would 
 have seen no valid reason why they should 
 not, by making an early start, ride home in 
 their pinks. But some of the guests wxre 
 steady married men, and the family tradi- 
 tions Dick related of enormous parties 
 suddenly convened, when most of the 
 servants' bedrooms were allotted to the 
 guests, and the maids had to sleep on sofas 
 in the passages, and the footmen in the hay- 
 lofts, did not sufiice to tempt anyone of
 
 62 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 them to adopt a faint imitation of this 
 "through-other" sort of existence or ex- 
 perience. The leave-taking having been 
 somewhat prolonged, and Dick MacDonald 
 not returning to the dining-room, our soldier 
 friends thought proper to join the assembly 
 upstairs ; and shortly after the departure of 
 their belated guests into the night, for their 
 shorter or longer rides home, the drawing- 
 room party broke up ; nor did the men feel 
 inclined to renew their symposium down- 
 stairs, after their long and arduous day in 
 the open, so the proposal for further pipes 
 and whisky and soda downstairs was 
 negatived nem, con.
 
 CHAP TEE VI. 
 
 THE RIVALS. 
 
 Our party woke up the following morning 
 to perceive that the prophecies of frost 
 which the weatherwise had uttered, and 
 the colours about the setting sun rendered 
 credible, had found their fulfilment in the 
 night. But, as in general occurs in those 
 regions, it was of short duration, and the 
 third day brought with it a change to 
 milder weather and misty rain, which en- 
 abled the Carrickmanon party to enjoy 
 another good gallop with the stag, and 
 Harry a drive in the four-horse brake, 
 with Effie sitting opposite to him, as far 
 as the meet ; but there was no ride home 
 with her that evening. Every day, every 
 hour he was becoming more strongly
 
 64 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 attracted to this girl, so that he could 
 hardly bear to be absent from her side, and 
 the worship of her sank deep and ever 
 in his heart. 
 
 He could not quite understand Ned 
 Borthwick's attitude ; at one time it did 
 not seem to trouble him in the least that 
 he and Effie should be out walking to- 
 gether, or enjoying themselves tete-a-tete 
 in the library window ; at another, Ned 
 carried her off in a rather peremptory way, 
 as if he exacted her compliance as a right, 
 and as though by the fit of devotedness he 
 would make up for previous remissness ; 
 and it was on these occasions that Ned let 
 him see pretty plainly the way he regarded 
 his attentions to their hostess. Hitherto, 
 however, he had not again broached the 
 subject, or made a remark to Harry that 
 indicated any displeasure at his conduct. 
 
 But it happened by chance, at the end of 
 the week, that there was a kind of servants' 
 and labourers' ball in the spacious lofts at 
 the old farmyard. Dick was much given 
 to entertainments of this sort. Dressed in 
 the homespun suit, knee breeches, and blue 
 worsted stockings, he danced unceasingly
 
 The Rivals. 65 
 
 reels and jigs and schottisches with the 
 wives and lasses, nor could anyone enter 
 into the fun of the fair, the mirth and 
 the jollity thereof, or twirl their partners 
 more quickly and lightly than did Dick 
 MacDonald. 
 
 After opening the ball, in a quadrille 
 with the land steward, Effie refrained from 
 dancing in excess, but Harry was able to 
 obtain her hand once or twice for a waltz. 
 
 Disengaged, he lingered about her, only 
 too happy to be in her immediate pre- 
 sence, and when she danced with others 
 he watched her movements with hungry 
 eyes. • 
 
 Before the end of the evening, and after 
 the trays of lemonade and sherry wine and 
 cakes had been handed round, and the 
 smartest performers in the Irish jigs had 
 " taken the floor," and endeavoured to 
 dance each other down, Harry had asked 
 for and been promised the country dance 
 by Effie MacDonald. 
 
 But before the itinerant fiddlers, who sat 
 on a table at the end of the room, had 
 struck it up, Ned came to him and 
 said, — 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 66 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 " You are making yourself and Miss 
 MacDonald conspicuous — not that I care 
 about you, but here, and with her, it is 
 different. The people will think — why, man, 
 they can already see that you are thrust- 
 ing your attentions on her, and you know 
 you have no right." 
 
 "No right ! " exclaimed Harry. 
 
 '* Oh, you know very well," answered the 
 other, " I won't put up with it any longer, 
 and I intend to dance this dance with Miss 
 MacDonald" (laying a stress on the Miss) 
 "myself," and with that he turned on his 
 heel and earnestly addressed the lady in 
 question. 
 
 Harry could not help seeing she avoided 
 his gaze as Ned took her off to the further 
 end of the room to lead the country dance, 
 while he was obliged to console himself with 
 one of the village belles. This dance con- 
 cluded, the ladies, and most of the castle 
 party, returned to the house, leaving Dick 
 and Harry and one or two others to dance 
 with less decorum, wilder spirits, and faster 
 feet, into the Sunday morning. 
 
 To their mutual chagrin, no Effie ap- 
 peared at the breakfast-table next morning
 
 The Rivals, 67 
 
 to gladden the eyes of either of her swains, 
 and in sombre hues Aunt Bess presided. 
 Her orthodox black cloth cloak, and bonnet 
 with the widow's fringe of white just show- 
 ing, denoted departure somewhere. 
 
 The absence of the hostess was accounted 
 for in that she had to teach the Sunday 
 school children, w^hich required her to leave 
 the house at half-past nine. On these 
 occasions she was wont to breakfast leisurely 
 alone, and with letters duly read, and church- 
 going bonnet deftly fixed and pinned, 
 to depart without the rush and hurry en- 
 tailed by leaving the family circle at the 
 table. 
 
 The '' scholars" who owned Aunt Bess as 
 mistress (for she always taught when on 
 a visit, as she had done in her early years) 
 belonged to a different sect of worshippers, 
 and her duties were commenced at a later 
 hour. This she explained to Harry Kings- 
 cote, whom she now called "my dear." 
 She did not altogether approve of young 
 ladies teaching ; she regarded it as rather 
 a modern fad. With the parsons' wives or 
 old ladies it was different, and she deemed 
 all the extra freedom accorded to young
 
 68 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 ladies, and their consequent self-assertion, 
 as dangerous innovations. 
 
 Ned Borthwick was something late, and, 
 as he opened the blue official letter which 
 lay upon his plate, exclaimed, — 
 
 " By Jove ! only fancy, I am ordered off 
 to the battery at the Cape. This is a go ! " 
 
 And, for him, he became quite excited, 
 talking volubly, neglected his breakfast, got 
 up, went to the windows as though to think 
 it out, came back again, tackled his plate of 
 fish, but very soon left it again to consult 
 the Times, while a running fire of question 
 and answer was kept up between him and 
 Dick and Harry, Dick being particularly 
 hot in his congratulations, and deploring 
 the fate that had given him no chance of 
 seeing active service, as he surmised the 
 artilleryman would. 
 
 "Oh, yes," said he, "you'll be fighting 
 the Hottentots, or Caffirs, or Zulus, or dusky 
 warriors of some sort, my boy." 
 
 Ned took a more practical view himself, 
 regarding it as banishment for at least four 
 years, with the off chances only of some 
 irregular bush warfare, which could bring 
 in no distinction whatever, while it cut
 
 The Rivals, 69 
 
 oiF his prospects of staff appointments at 
 home, and upset his formulated plans for 
 the rest of the hunting season, of which 
 he had already made a very pretty mental 
 photograph. 
 
 So the order came with just a little shock 
 upon him. Besides, there was this dilemma, 
 this problem that shadowed the prospect 
 that lay before him. What of Effie ? 
 What of his en^a^ement, if there was one ? 
 
 '&^& 
 
 Call it betrothal, engagement, or what you 
 will, something there was, and had been ; 
 nay more, they had kissed as boy and girl 
 little better than three years ago — only 
 perhaps as boy and girl — and talked of tfieir 
 future too, but in an indefinite, unrealistic 
 manner, he nineteen and she fifteen. Even 
 the kissing had gone by favour, and he had 
 been made aware that it was by favour, and 
 not by settled prerogative, and that she was 
 to be free till a certain indefinite time 
 arrived, the coming of which she did not 
 seem particularly desirous to hasten. 
 
 Did she consider herself really bound to 
 him? These were the questions which 
 agitated Ned Borthwick, and he felt that 
 they must be solved. And if the answers
 
 70 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 went against him, would lie be heart-broken, 
 miserable, even bitterly disappointed ? To 
 himself even he hardly dared to confess 
 that he would not be. If, however, her 
 answer was **yes," if she had only evaded 
 giving herself up to him because that 
 answer carried with it the loss of freedom 
 and liberty in her young life, and tied her 
 for a year or two to a lover whom she knew 
 would be her director in things spiritual as 
 well as temporal ; if this were the case, 
 and if during all this passage of time she 
 had grown to regard him with a love which, 
 from maidenly reserve, she had kept down 
 and pruned, instead of fostering till it 
 spread out and reached him, then he, too, 
 he would be all that was true and noble, 
 and would return her love with his. And 
 who, he thought, could help returning such 
 love as she would give him ? Even now he 
 was ardently devoted to her, he had so far 
 convinced himself of that. But he must 
 settle this uncertainty at once, after church 
 or after lunch, or in the evening, anyway 
 that day, and then he would know the best 
 or the worst that could happen, once for all. 
 And whilst he debated these things our
 
 The Rivals. 71 
 
 gallant sat by the fire in the hall, or paced 
 it smoking, with the short, quick puffs we 
 smokers are well acquainted with when all 
 has not gone right with us ; when the crack 
 we have backed at twenties, for more than 
 we can afford, has gone to forties, no takers ; 
 when the foolish letter we have written has 
 been published in the papers, and in antici- 
 pation of angry rejoinders we are plotting 
 how much of it we can get decently out of, 
 and how much we can vehemently stick to ; 
 when the son we fondly imagined was going 
 to do so well at the 'Varsity writes vaguely 
 from Balliol that the career we have marked 
 out for him must be abandoned, as well as 
 the honours we prophesied he would take, 
 and we ponder what else there is behind 
 the unpaid ticks which we know he will 
 bring home with him, — at moments like 
 these, whatever inspiration may linger in 
 the burning ashes of cigars or pipes (and 
 here we bid the cigarette to " pale its in- 
 effectual fires"), is it treating them fairly, 
 my friend, to use them in this fashion ? 
 
 Harry Kingscote was in no such quan- 
 dary, and reading the Sporting Times, 
 gazed listlessly out of the windows over-
 
 72 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 looking the terraces below ; but the swing 
 (jf the courtyard gate, as it banged upon its 
 creaking hinges, caught his ear, and the 
 dress and figure of Miss MacDonald his eye, 
 as she stepped into the garden from it. 
 Turning quickly away, he hurried downstairs, 
 and out of the little postern door, and, cigar 
 in hand, down the terrace steps, as though 
 to smoke before the church bells sounded ; 
 but his heart beat quickly like a boy's, and 
 he muttered some excuse for his presence as 
 he joined her. 
 
 This she accepted with a quiet smile, 
 for she had noticed the colour of his coat 
 as he left the window ; and so, while they 
 wandered on through the garden walks, the 
 very ferment of his feelings prompted him 
 to say much and many things more than 
 his short acquaintance with the family and 
 his footing with Miss MacDonald warranted. 
 But he resolutely repressed the flow of 
 speech that rose to his lips, and lapsed into 
 some of the usual generalities regarding her 
 school, the church, the day, etc., etc., but 
 unfortunately hazarded the query, "Does 
 it not bore you rather so much church 
 going ? "
 
 The Rivals. "j^y 
 
 " Bore me ! " she answered, and her sweet 
 face, the while she grew graver, looked to 
 Harry sweeter, more enraptured than that 
 of any saint he had hitherto seen pictured, 
 bright and holy, on cathedral window. 
 " Bore me, Mr Kingscote ? Are you like all 
 other men, and most of the women you 
 meet in society ? Have you no creed, no 
 belief in the God who is above us, and the 
 vast eternity which is behind and before 
 us ? Do you think you will have no 
 account to render for the life that you are 
 spending ? I hoped, I thought that some- 
 how you were not of the school who say 
 let us eat and drink, to-morrow we die ; 
 and they mean annihilation. Do you feel 
 nothing," she went on, " absolutely no ven- 
 eration, even when the congregation kneels 
 avowedly in the presence of our God ? 
 Do holy thoughts and high desires for the 
 better life, and fulfilment of your duty here, 
 not enter into your soul as you sit and the 
 sacred music rolls ' its waves of sound on 
 roof and floor,' as our poet of religion 
 terms it ? " 
 
 " No, no, Miss MacDonald, I am not stock 
 and stone, but somehow, indeed I trust not
 
 74 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 altogether bad ; and if you — if only you — 
 Miss MacDonald, if you were — " 
 
 But she stopped him, saying, 
 
 " Forgive me, I did not mean to lecture 
 you. I had no right whatever. What will 
 you think of me ? It is not my way." 
 
 " No, go on ; do talk to me like that," he 
 prayed of her. " Yes, if you could only be 
 my guide." 
 
 But she was determined not to continue 
 in that vein, and so he bethought himself 
 of some other topic, and after a minute's 
 silence, — 
 
 " Oh, by the way, you have not heard 
 that Ned is ordered off at once to the Cape, 
 on active service — well, not quite, but there 
 is always a little war of some kind there." 
 
 " At once ! Do you mean now, to- 
 morrow, Mr Kingscote ? " asked Effie, as she 
 caught her breath, and spoke in a startled 
 and hurried way. " Tell me, what does he 
 say, what does he think ? " 
 
 And she seemed strangely stirred by this 
 intelligence, for indeed it meant a good 
 deal to her, and she felt the import thereof, 
 but braced herself at once, and, hardly 
 listening to Kingscote's not very lucid
 
 The Rivals, 75 
 
 replies, asked him if he would like to be 
 going too. 
 
 " Like to go ! I should think I would ! 
 And if I could wear your colours, like they 
 did in the days of chivalry, oh, Miss 
 MacDonald, imagine how I would fight, and 
 think of you all the time. What are they?" 
 
 " I have none to give you," she answered; 
 "but here are the others," and she joined 
 her brother and Borthwick, while Harry 
 went round by the hall for his church-going 
 hat and stick.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NED HAS HIS ANSWER. 
 
 DuEiNG the hour and a half at church, I 
 must admit, Harry's thoughts were given to 
 Miss MacDonald, for she sat betwixt him 
 and Borthwick : indeed he noted that she 
 seemed somewhat distrait at times, not 
 following the service with that rapt atten- 
 tion which he would have expected from 
 their little conversation that morning. 
 Could it be anything he had said ? had he 
 been just too impulsive ? was it on account 
 of Ned, and the order that had suddenly 
 arrived ? Vainly did he endeavour to 
 catch her eyes, between times as it were, 
 but there was no responsive look ; he could 
 only feed upon his own imaginings, and 
 hopes, and fears, relieved by sundry excur-
 
 Ned has His Answe7\ yj 
 
 sions into the domains of history, and glori- 
 ous deeds by land and sea, as chronicled 
 in black and white on the tablets that 
 almost covered the walls. Follow the 
 service consecutively he could not, though 
 he endeavoured to do this for Efiie's sake — 
 he had already begun to think of her as 
 Effie — and the sermon found him restless, 
 impatient. He even took unlawful umbrage 
 at the long delay after church, when the 
 country families got together, and the 
 squires and their wives and daughters 
 crowded round Effie and Ned with greet- 
 ings and questionings ; for the fact of 
 Borth wick's having been ordered off had 
 transpired the way that these things do, 
 and been bandied about in whispers from 
 pew to pew ere that the service had com- 
 menced. 
 
 But at length the quartette got under 
 weigh for the castle and lunch, and this 
 being fairly and squarely got through, as 
 Sunday lunches are, the usual Sabbath day 
 walk was proposed by Dick MacDonald, and 
 the postponement of doing the stables till 
 after tea carried nem. con., the morninor 
 report of the hunters having been a favour-
 
 yS Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 able one. But before they actually left the 
 house for their " constitutional," let us see 
 what happened. Harry was apparently in- 
 different, but was watching the movements 
 of Borthwick in the unconcerned manner in 
 which the game-cock observes his foe while 
 he pecks, or pretends to peck, the scattered 
 grain thrown into the ring, but is in reality 
 plotting all the time how he can make the 
 first fly, and drive the steel spurs deep into 
 his adversary, caught unawares by the tenth 
 of a second only. 
 
 Ned, also, himself was upon the^'m mve, 
 and Miss MacDonald, with the intuition of 
 her sex, took in the situation thoroughly. 
 With a would-be unconscious manner, 
 therefore, first she looked for that and 
 then for the other wrap, and tried on 
 that and discarded the other — little hypo- 
 crite ! — only to gain time, and see which of 
 the gallants would be most adroit or bold ; 
 however, taking post by the stalwart form 
 of her brother, she solved the question for 
 them, and they all started off together. 
 
 Nevertheless, Harry realised soon that 
 he was getting much the worst of it on 
 this tack, as Borthwick managed to get
 
 Ned has His Answer, 79 
 
 ahead with Miss MacDonald, and take the 
 wind clean out of his sails. To him this 
 was quite bad enough ; but what seemed 
 far worse was that Dick was evidently 
 aiding and abetting his adversary ; for, 
 pausing in his walk, he called his attention 
 to a particular view, and contrived that 
 the pair in front should get well ahead 
 before he allowed himself and his com- 
 panion to proceed. 
 
 What were they conversing so deeply 
 about, wondered Harry ; was it about the 
 Cape affair, or other and even more 
 momentous questions % And he answered 
 Dick in rather a random fashion, perpetu- 
 ally trying to " force the running," and 
 join the pair in front. But to this 
 manoeuvre Dick would be no party. For- 
 tune, however, was not persistently unkind; 
 for when the journey was half completed, 
 and opposite the waters of a lake, over- 
 shadowed by darksome woods upon its 
 further side, a little avenue between beech 
 trees led up to the pretty dwelling-house 
 of a tenant farmer ; and here either busi- 
 ness, or the pleasure he felt in paying the 
 visit, induced the squire to call a halt, and
 
 8o Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 suggest that they should all go up and pay 
 their respects to one of his most prosperous 
 tenants. Borthwick was no stranofer there 
 either, and after the usual compliments had 
 been given and received at the door, he and 
 his host were specially invited to inspect 
 the latest triumph in shorthorns. This 
 was Harry's opportunity, nor was he slow 
 to avail himself of it ; for beginning wdth 
 the suggestion that neither she nor he were 
 very much concerned in the rearing and 
 manifestation of fat cattle, he proposed that 
 they should saunter slowly on till the 
 others overtook them, "just down to the 
 lake," he said ; but when there, the water- 
 lilies seemed to have no attraction for him, 
 and step by step, walking as quickly as for 
 decency sake he could, he led his companion 
 on the homeward route. Once ahead, the 
 shortness of his acquaintance, the absence 
 of direct encouragement — there is no rule 
 or chart to steer by in these matters — did 
 not deter him from manifesting to her 
 somehow the feeling he entertained towards 
 her, albeit his sense of the fitness of time, 
 his reverence for her, and the fear that his 
 own precipitancy might ruin him altogether
 
 Ned has His Answei-. 8 1 
 
 placed a curb upon his tongue, and pre- 
 vented him from asking that one question 
 the answer to which was so vital to him. 
 
 Yet the torrent of his love, which had 
 been seething within him, and gathering 
 strength and volume every moment of 
 the day, would not be altogether pent 
 
 Abandoning himself with free and fervid 
 utterance, he lifted the veil, as it were, that 
 hid his thoughts, the aspirations of his soul ; 
 he laid bare the life that was behind him, 
 and depicted the life that he hoped to 
 lead, the achievements of glory he wished 
 to share in. He required no answer, he 
 asked no comment on the almost wild out- 
 pourings of the spirit which dictated his 
 confessions ; for, in some particulars, he 
 unmasked the past, with its faults, its 
 follies, and its failures. There was ardour, 
 temerity, impassioned feeling in his voice, 
 the desire of conquest. The tones of ten- 
 derness would come hereafter — now the 
 wooing must be impetuous, bold. She 
 listened, " not wisely but too well." The 
 storm of his passion took hold upon her, 
 bore her down in overwhelming volume ; it 
 VOL. I. p
 
 82 Betzvixt Two Lovers. 
 
 was his look, the tones of his voice, his im- 
 petuous bearing that mastered her, and 
 made her thrill with sympathy, and in part 
 reciprocate the love with which she had 
 inspired him. 
 
 *'And now," said Harry, **you will 
 think me vain, egotistical, foolish, talking 
 like this and about myself, and all that 
 concerns me," and his voice sank lower, 
 became more tender, as he begged her to 
 tell him something of her life, her past, her 
 schemes for the future, that he might carry 
 them away with him on the morrow ; but 
 she just looked quietly, and, for her, timidly 
 at him, and said with an air that had some- 
 thing triste in it, — 
 
 " I can tell you nothing, nothing that 
 should interest you ; and do not ask me, 
 yjlease do not ask me to look into the 
 future yet. Believe me, it is happiest not 
 to scan futurity too deeply." 
 
 "Oh, no," answered Harry ; "I like to 
 be well informed of what it may bring 
 forth, for then you may get even with 
 it. I've tried all sorts of ways, but not 
 been very successful yet," and he looked 
 at her little hand lying in its soft brow^n
 
 Ned has His Answer, 83 
 
 glove, and longed to clasp it in his own, 
 and read, had he been endowed with power 
 of foresight, the destiny that lay concealed 
 for her and him, or both, within its fibrous 
 lines. Harry knew nothing of the art, 
 merely the professional jargon, but he seized 
 upon the chance, and looking wistfully at 
 Miss MacDonald the while he held out his 
 hand, just asked if she would give him 
 hers. " For only one little minute, Miss 
 MacDonald ; you must be happy, surely 
 you must be happy, in your fate, and let 
 me be the one to tell you so ; let me speak 
 to you of a happy future, and perhaps • I, 
 perhaps, in some way, I may have some- 
 thing to do with it," and he still held 
 out his hand. 
 
 But the crisis that was threatened had 
 the effect of callins^ Effie back again to 
 the realities of the present, and while, with 
 a heightened colour, she retained posses- 
 sion of her hand, she exclaimed, — 
 
 " Not now, not to-day," and added, 
 *' we are close to the village, and must join 
 forces. See, they are coming up behind us," 
 and with that she turned and called out 
 to her brother Dick, " Why, how slowly
 
 84 'Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 you two must have walked ; you have hardly 
 caught us up at all." 
 
 "Nonsense, nonsense," replied her brother, 
 as he took off his hat and wiped his fore- 
 head with his great red silk pocket-hand- 
 kerchief. "Why, you just slipped us nicely. 
 Ned has hustled me all the way back, 
 faster than I like, I can tell you." 
 
 Ned Borthwick appeared to be some- 
 thing disconcerted, but made no further 
 remark, and the quartette entered the vil- 
 lage and the courtyard together. 
 
 Kingscote had hardly retired to dress for 
 dinner when Ned Borthwick entered his 
 room, and at once began by saying, — 
 
 "You are not treating me fairly, Harry, 
 not as the friend I supposed you to be ; 
 here you come, brought into this house 
 as my especial friend, and you have hardly 
 been introduced to Miss MacDonald before 
 you begin to make love to her, though 
 you knew, you could see, you must have 
 known, that you had no right. It is simply 
 dishonourable of you." 
 
 " No right ! What do you mean ? " said 
 Harry, rising from the sofa upon which he 
 had been sitting, and facing his questioner.
 
 Ned has His Answer, 85 
 
 '* No right ! Why, do you know you told 
 me there was nothing between you, nothing 
 definite — that you were both free," and here 
 he quoted Borth wick's phraseology. 
 
 "Well, if I did say that, I also said," 
 answered Borth wick, "that there had been 
 something, an understanding, between us. 
 1 said that, up till the time we last parted, 
 we were on terms — on terms — I cannot 
 speak of love and mutual affection, and 
 of Miss MacDonald, as I might have done, 
 if you had not behaved so — so disgrace- 
 fully." 
 
 "You told me you were free, you can't 
 deny it," put in Kingscote. 
 
 " But surely that is a very different thing 
 from saying there was no attachment be- 
 tween us, and that, whilst we had grown up 
 together, we had come to look upon our 
 future as in all probability one, as belonging 
 to us both," responded Borthwick, " free to 
 go our own ways, perhaps," he went on. 
 "But do you think that to my dearest 
 friend I was going to lay bare my most 
 secret thoughts, or to tell to you all I felt, 
 or minutely discuss the aspect in which, I 
 believe, she has always and still regards
 
 86 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 me ? Do you think I was going to com- 
 promise her to you ? " 
 
 " Oh, come, don't talk to me like that 
 now. You just told me every bit you knew, 
 and you left yourself safe. You took good 
 enough care of that. You were free — you 
 implied it, anyhow — and if so, what have I 
 done? I am open and candid, anyway, in my 
 conduct, and won't disown or deny any of my 
 actions here ; and if you are left the wrong 
 side of the post, it's all your own fault for 
 being so close, so cursedl}^ un confiding to 
 me ; and I won't discuss it any more, for 
 I don't want to quarrel with you." 
 
 " Well, you are going the right way 
 about it, Harry, you are," said Ned, and 
 with that he flung out of the room. 
 
 Dinner was not quite so lively as usual 
 that evening ; coming events were casting 
 their shadows over the table, and even the 
 absence of Aunt Bess was a distinctive 
 loss. On Sundays she never dined, nor 
 could her supper of biscuits and negus 
 make atonement for that lost repast in the 
 eyes of Dick MacDonald, who remarked 
 that you might lose your money or your 
 friends and make them again ; that your
 
 Ned has His Answer, ^j 
 
 wife or your horse you might replace with 
 greater advantage to yourself sometimes 
 but a dinner that was lost was gone for 
 ever ; and that the man who was capable 
 of dining twice upon the selfsame day, as 
 dinner is understanded of the people, was on 
 a par with the winged creation of Sir Boyle 
 Eoche. Dick MacDonald, however, like 
 the " man in possession," alive to the stress 
 of circumstances, and the " distress " legal 
 and otherwise, regarded the predicament 
 not too seriously, and with appetite un- 
 diminished, nay, rather whetted by his 
 walk, plied knife and fork, and with»jest 
 and sally sought to raise the tone of the 
 repast, and bring the guests into harmony 
 with each other. And as the dinner pro- 
 gressed, and the wine circulated, its cheer- 
 ing influence was felt, and the immediate 
 future did not loom so ominous as when 
 they all sat down. But at length the 
 moment for Miss MacDonald to retire 
 arrived, and scarcely had the claret been 
 once round than Ned retired also, albeit 
 by a difl'erent door, for the look of things. 
 And Dick, by the way he passed the bottle 
 to Harry, and drew himself nearer towards
 
 SS Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 him and said, " We'll finish this bottle first, 
 and have a cigar apiece after," evidently 
 implied that the symposium was not to be 
 ended then and there. 
 
 So Harry conformed to his host's behests, 
 and made the best of circumstances, the 
 claret, the cofi"ee, and one of Dick's best 
 imported cigars. 
 
 But what had occurred in the drawing- 
 room meantime ? Our heroine had hardly 
 nerved herself to do and say what she 
 had for years past contemplated doing and 
 saying, reasoning with herself that, after 
 all, it was nothing to take alarm at ; that 
 she had known and liked Ned Borthwick 
 all her life ; that with a little will on he 
 part, or even without it, love would come ; 
 and that then, with all her heart and all 
 the best of her feelings bound up in his, 
 happiness would follow of a certainty. 
 
 Then she tried to think of her mother, 
 whom she could hardlv remember, and 
 whether she would have urged her to it, 
 and she felt that, even with her surround- 
 ings and her brother Dick, she stood some- 
 what alone, and that more than ever now 
 she required the advice, the support of a
 
 Ned has His Answer. 89 
 
 mother's love. Then her father came 
 before her. He was one of those who, by 
 their temperament and character, exercise 
 an influence over others. Over her it was 
 paramount ; her very thoughts he almost 
 moulded. Strong in will and intellect, 
 he was religious without being austere, 
 courteous without servility. He exercised 
 the fullest force of parental love and ten- 
 derness, nor marred it by the display of 
 weakness, and the hurtful indulgence to its 
 recipients, that often accompanies it. The 
 beauty and unselfishness of his conduct 
 inspired his children with afiection ^nd 
 esteem. The rules of conduct, which he 
 laid down with marvellous common sense, 
 were given and received by a love that 
 was reciprocal. Like others, he may, 
 must have had his faults — one, that he 
 thought he could never be wrong in any- 
 thing he planned and arranged. Starting 
 on the best of principles, he failed to con- 
 sider the foibles, the weaknesses of others, 
 or calculate sufficiently for the shift of 
 circumstances when he prospected the 
 future. 
 
 His generous mien and noble presence
 
 90 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 were vividly before her now ; his quiet talks 
 of duty, and the happiness that followed in 
 its wake, were with her. His deep anxiety 
 for the future, and the hopes and wislies he 
 had expressed w^hen on his deathbed, took 
 hold upon her. 
 
 She recalled the scene ; the little old- 
 fashioned bedstead, with its green and 
 white curtains ; the waning light of a cohi 
 March day ; the flickering fire in the grate ; 
 the earnest brown eyes, looming larger by 
 reason of his wasted features. She re- 
 membered how her heart had responded to 
 him, as he uttered with failing breath that 
 he would have died with less anxiety if only 
 she had been happily settled, and if it had 
 been in accordance with the wishes she 
 knew so well, for that then, in any case 
 (not that he harboured the slightest mis- 
 trust of Ned Borthwick), she would have 
 her brother Dick at hand, to be with her 
 and watch over her. She knew she had 
 taken the cold, damp hand in hers and 
 said, " Father, I will indeed ; I promise, if 
 it makes you any happier now." She saw 
 once more the faint, contented smile that 
 stole across his face in answer as he said.
 
 Ned has His Answer, g i 
 
 " God bless you, good girl, God bless you ! " 
 and how she gave him a parting kiss, and 
 left him. 
 
 And in this mood her wooer found her, 
 and with these thoughts upon her ; and as 
 she heard him coming in, and just about to 
 pass behind the sofa upon which she sat, 
 she put out her hand in a way that might 
 betoken anything, or nothing. He took it 
 fervently between his own, he leant over 
 and whispered, — 
 
 "Effie, my own Effie, I left you a boy, 
 I come to you a man, to ask you some- 
 thing ; look up at me, darling," and. she 
 looked up at him, and in a whisper 
 answered, — 
 
 " Yes, Ned, I will; I felt you were coming 
 to ask me this to-night."
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 Harry's farewell. 
 
 After what seemed to Harry an inter- 
 minable hour, Ned re-entered, and helping 
 himself to a liberal allowance of sherry, sat 
 down and commenced to smoke in silence, 
 not without an exchange of looks with 
 Dick MacDonald, the purport of which 
 Harry Kingscote was unable to decipher. 
 After a time, in answer to Dick, he said he 
 believed Miss MacDonald had retired to 
 her room, and that there was no one at all 
 in the drawing-room. 
 
 " Oh, then," said Dick, ''we may as well 
 finish the evening here," and accordiugly 
 they did so. But on entering his bedroom 
 Harry found that his friend had followed 
 him thither a second time, and the latter
 
 Harry s Farewell. 93 
 
 commenced to converse with him at once 
 as follows : — 
 
 "I say, Harry, I don't know whether I 
 launched out overmuch to you this even- 
 ing — perhaps I did — one does when one is 
 heated ; but you won't think anything more 
 about it, old man ? You know I am going 
 oflf at cock-crow to-morrow, and we may 
 not meet again for ages, so don't let us 
 part with bitter feelings towards each other, 
 eh?" 
 
 ''Oh, no," said Harry; ** we've been 
 friends too long for that." 
 
 ''Just so," rejoined the other; '>nd 
 when you quite understand, when you 
 know all, you will acquit me." 
 
 Harry made no response ; he thought to 
 himself, "Those laugh that win," and that 
 it was all very well for Ned to come in 
 now, be magnanimous, when he had really 
 nothing to forgive, for Harry either could 
 not, or would not blame himself. And 
 Borthwick went on, — 
 
 " Well, I suppose you won't stay here 
 any longer now ; there's no one at Bally hal- 
 bert" (mentioning his father's place), "and 
 hardly even a servant there, or else I'd ask
 
 94 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 you to picnic in the house for a day or two." 
 (Harry recollected that the camping in 
 Ballyhalbert had been almost one of the 
 original ideas.) *'I must go there myself; 
 I shall be busy getting things together, 
 and making some final arrangements." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Harry, "I shall be off 
 soon after breakfast. I realise the visit is 
 quite broken up here now, and I would 
 not dream of staying." 
 
 " But you will go on to Fermanagh for 
 the week's shooting, Harry ? " 
 
 '• Oh, certainly ; I don't see why I should 
 chuck that up, Ned, do you ? — because I go 
 on my own invitation there, and I have 
 the fortnight to put in somewhere, don't 
 you know ? And you ? " 
 
 " Oh, well, I must be three or four days 
 at Woolwich. I have to sell my horses and 
 traps, and see about the draft that goes out 
 with me, and so on. Then I expect to 
 meet my people in town, go about with 
 them, and do a theatre or tw^o before I 
 leave for foreign climes." 
 
 " All right," said Harry, " and I wish 
 you the best of luck in Africa. I wish I 
 could get away myself now. If I was not
 
 Harry s Farewell. 95 
 
 so high up ill the list of lieutenants 
 I'd exchano^e to a reg;iment in India at 
 once." 
 
 *' Oh, stuff and nonsense ! " answered 
 Borthwick ; " you are all right here, much 
 better soldier at home when you can ; and, 
 by the way, please don't let anything here — 
 anything, I mean, that has occurred betwixt 
 you and me — prevent your paying my 
 people a visit whenever they ask you. 
 You know they are quite attached to you, 
 and you must forget our little quarrel, and 
 all that led to it. I recollect you of old, 
 always in and out of love. Besides that, 
 you needn't take the eight miles' drive over 
 here unless you like." A hint, thought 
 Harry, but he replied, — 
 
 " Oh, well, I don't think I shall come at 
 all." 
 
 " Well, I advise you to go there when- 
 ever you get the chance. You will find 
 the governor's shooting second to none. 
 They have always a lot of good fellows 
 to stay, and a houseful of matrons and 
 maids you can dance with and make love 
 to, and in fact you can count on a real 
 good time if you accept their invitations.
 
 96 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 However, I must go and pack ; I never let 
 anyone pack for me. I shall start for my 
 drive to-morrow at nine, and have a good 
 long day there." 
 
 "Well, good-night, old chap," answered 
 Harry, "but I shall see you in the 
 
 morning % 
 
 " Oh, yes, I shall visit you dressing." 
 " Very well, then, it is only good-night, 
 Ned," and the latter left him fairly glad to 
 be alone. 
 
 " Confound him," thought Harry, " he 
 might as well have told me, as an old 
 friend. Surely if he trusted me at all, he 
 mio-ht have opened out the situation more 
 fully to me. I am to come over here 
 on sufferance. I am to regard her as 
 forbidden fruit, and it is left to my 
 supposition, or guess work, whether the 
 understanding, betrothal, arrangement, or 
 whatever it is, halts still upon the ancient 
 footing of mutual freedom, at least on his 
 part, or whether there is some new engage- 
 ment or treaty of the affections entered 
 into. I am not full of envy, hatred, and 
 malice, God forbid, but really I could not, 
 I felt too proud to ask the truth of him as
 
 Harry s Farewell. 97 
 
 lie talked in his superior way, and yet I 
 would give anything to know how the 
 laud lies now. Can I find out from her, 
 or will Dick be more confiding ? This 
 suspense and waiting about uninformed is 
 just a bit too much for me. I will find 
 out, by George, I will I " 
 
 His resolution to find out was formed, 
 and if there was still really freedom upon 
 both sides, why should he wait till it suited 
 Ned to pluck the rose which was blossom- 
 ing so fair that everyone must wish to 
 gather it? And surely, from all he had 
 felt and seen, she had looked upon him 
 kindly, nay even sweetly, with more than 
 common interest. He was certain he was 
 not flattering himself, and with the thoughts 
 of the rose ungathered yet, and Effie, and 
 what he would do, and speculations regard- 
 ing the future, he turned into bed, and, 
 let us hope, was visited by no disturbing 
 visions. 
 
 The adieu between Harry and Ned was 
 marked by no further episode, or any 
 allusion to their overnight's talk, but was 
 just the sort of quick good-bye one gets in 
 the morning from the departing traveller, 
 VOL. I. G
 
 98 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 who has just rushed up from the breakfast- 
 table, who is sure he has forgotten to 
 put away half-a-dozen things in the port- 
 manteau the servant is about to strap 
 up, who is anxious to know if the clock 
 in the dining-room is really right, if the 
 trap has come round yet, if he has left 
 his cigar case in the smoking-room, and 
 if there are any lights in his greatcoat 
 pocket. 
 
 Dick and Harry breakfasted tete-a-Ute, 
 the former informing him that Effie had 
 been about early, and breakfasted with 
 Ned. Aunt Bess's absence or presence 
 was rarely commented on, and Harry felt 
 that another nail had been driven into 
 his coflSn. 
 
 Effie MacDonald was no casuist, nor did 
 she ever stop to analyse the motives on 
 which she acted, or attempt to disentangle 
 from the woof the various threads of volition 
 which influenced her. She was a girl who 
 endeavoured, as far as possible, to do what 
 seemed to her to be right. If she failed in 
 her duty, as sometimes she must, she strove 
 far harder to accomplish it than others. 
 But there had come upon Effie this mo-
 
 Harry s Farewell, 99 
 
 mentous crisis, and she was almost com- 
 pelled to weigh her motives, and view the 
 circumstances of the case in side lights as 
 well as directly. So she wondered to her- 
 self, was it from incapacity on her part, or 
 fault in her nature, that she was filled this 
 morning with none of these feelings of 
 tumultuous joy so graphically depicted by 
 the novelist and the poet ? Or was the love 
 and happiness in being loved they wrote of 
 ideal, or so very rare that it belonged but 
 to the highest type of man and woman ? 
 She deemed it she ought to be then and 
 there very happy. She had secured ^the 
 love of an honest, honourable man, with no 
 counterbalancing drawbacks in his character, 
 and she tried to call to mind his protesta- 
 tions of love, and the much-d welt-on fact 
 that he had always adored her as a boy, and 
 looked forward to the hour which would 
 crown his adoration with triumphant happi- 
 ness. And she ? Had she given him her 
 whole heart, the supremest gift she had 
 wherewith to bless him ? She had tried to 
 do so, but if not, if — and she paused in her 
 thinking — even if she had not, and had kept 
 one poor little corner, just one little vine-
 
 loo Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 yard for herself, surely, she thought, she 
 was not called upon to merge her identity, 
 give up her being to him yet. No, not just 
 yet. 
 
 But had she, fair readers, you are her 
 judges, a right to keep back part of the 
 price, that little vineyard we spoke of, for 
 herself? She thought she was happy in 
 having done her duty, and hereafter, when 
 she was really Ned's, every bit of her life 
 would be centred in him, and that deep- 
 seated happiness the poets wrote of would 
 be hers. And in the meantime, yes, in the 
 meantime ? Well, the one or two years 
 that must elapse would soon pass away, 
 and find her, more than ever, ready in mind 
 and heart for that, yes, that marriage with 
 Ned. 
 
 And now she must go away and say 
 good-bye to Mr Kingscote ; better that 
 than let him come and find her on the 
 terraces or in the garden. Why should she 
 be shy of meeting him ? Surely it must be 
 a very simple matter just to shake hands 
 and say those two little words ? And truly 
 she had neither acted nor spoken in a w^ay 
 that should make this difficult. Yet, some-
 
 Harry' s Farewell. loi 
 
 how or other, she felt instinctively that he 
 did not quite regard it in that light, and 
 she knew that she must just look him in the 
 face. There could be no harm in that, as 
 it was to be good-bye — good-bye for ever — 
 and from this time forth he would be little 
 more than others to her. Yes, she would 
 say that good-bye in the hall, when her 
 brother, and probably Aunt Bess, inveighing 
 against the railways and the servants, were 
 present, and then he could not say anything 
 that she would have to reproach herself for 
 listening to. 
 
 Fate willed it otherwise. Entering by 
 the front hall door, she intended to lino^er 
 there a little, when the quick, springy step 
 of Harry on the stairs, and the light re- 
 frain of a military song he was humming, 
 struck her ear. Was there time to retreat ? 
 Impossible ; she would pass him as he 
 came by the staircase door. Too late ; it 
 swings behind him, and he confronts her. 
 Why would her heart beat so ? Why 
 should she tremble at all ? Let her be 
 cold and careless of his feelings, what 
 did it matter if he thought her a heartless 
 flirt ?
 
 I02 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 But he came and caught her by the 
 hands. 
 
 *'Miss MacDonald, Effie — I have no right 
 to call you Effie — but you know I love 
 you," and he gave utterance to his words 
 with passionate earnestness. "Ever since 
 first I saw you that morning, I loved you — 
 you only. Am I too late ? Can you give me 
 no hope, Effie \ " 
 
 " I can give you none," endeavour- 
 ing to release herself; "1 must go," and 
 trembling, for she was mastered by the 
 vehemence of his love, she looked up at 
 him. Was it the tremor in her voice, or 
 the look that was in her eyes, which 
 prompted him? But, answering that last 
 "good-bye," he drew her quickly to him, 
 and pressed his lips to hers, then released 
 her, saying, — 
 
 *' May your life be blessed ! But I will 
 not give you up yet. I cannot, Effie, I can- 
 not. Good-bye." 
 
 Did he see her, she wondered, as she 
 stood far back, at the little window in 
 the tower, while he passed by underneath. 
 And after he had passed, coming closer to 
 the window, she waved and waved her
 
 Harry s Farewell, 103 
 
 tiny blue handkerchief again and again, 
 as though to wish him God-speed, then 
 turned towards the inner room, and mur- 
 mured to herself, *' It's all over, it's all over 
 now ; he's gone ! "
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 NOT FORGOTTEN. 
 
 It is the Saturday evening after the Derby 
 lias been lost and won, the Derby in which 
 George Fordham, thanks to " Sir Bevys," 
 secured his first and only victory. Harry 
 Kingscote sits alone, ensconced in the depths 
 of a long and low arm-chair, in the ante-room 
 of the barracks at Norwich. He has smoked 
 his first and second cberoot ; the Sunday, or 
 rather the Saturday, sporting literature has 
 been read, conned over, and commented 
 upon by himself and the four or five officers 
 whom duty or want of cash has kept in 
 quarters during what has been appropriately 
 termed the carnival week of England ; and 
 had it not been for incessant occupation,
 
 Not Forgotten. 105 
 
 that same week would have been a very 
 dull one for Harry Kingscote. But having 
 taken upon himself the duties of adjutant 
 fro tern., he feels and is obliged to stick 
 to the role he has adopted. Nor has 
 he hitherto regretted the fact. But to- 
 night it is rather dreary ; even the orderly 
 officer has deserted him, and has gone off 
 to pay the earliest possible visit to the 
 sentries, so that, with his conscience clear, 
 he may turn into his iron bedstead, after 
 an early and long if not particularly 
 fatiguing day. 
 
 He had some time ago scanned the wooden 
 letter-rack, and, with the exclusion of family 
 correspondence, tabulated its contents — the 
 tradesmen's circulars, the money-lender's 
 touting letters, more thickly scattered 
 abroad about that period than at any 
 other time of the year ; the cleaner look- 
 ing envelopes containing invitations from 
 the neighbouring squires, whose notes 
 he had often deciphered ere this, besides 
 here and there the usual official de- 
 spatches in blue, from the Brigade Office 
 or War Office, addressed to individual 
 officers.
 
 io6 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 " Eleven-fifteen by the ante-room clock ; 
 there will be an irruption of the sportsmen 
 soon," thought Harry. Nor had he long to 
 wait before six or seven of the corps trooped 
 in. And amidst the babel of words, requests 
 for a grill, or a brandy and soda, and ques- 
 tions as to what the orders for the morrow 
 were, and accounts more or less historic 
 of the Derby, the Oaks, and the regimental 
 dinner, Harry Kingscote was soon made 
 conversant with the principal doings of his 
 brother officers, and the fabulous amounts 
 which had been nearly landed by some of 
 them. (They were much more reticent about 
 their losses, he noticed.) 
 
 The thirst for knowledge, however, if 
 not for more material joys, having been 
 ministered to by the contents of the letter- 
 rack and bountiful cellar of the Hussars, 
 said Fitzsymons, a gay-hearted, curly- 
 headed, leave-loving youth, and one of 
 Harry's especial friends, " How is it you 
 did not get away, Hal ? Could not you 
 manage it at all ? You Ve hardly been up 
 to town this season." 
 
 '' Well," answered Harry, " I am quite as 
 fond of London as any of you, but I pro-
 
 Not Fo7^gotten, 107 
 
 mised the chief when I stept into the gap, 
 and took up the duties of adjutant, that 
 I would stick to them, and ask for no spell 
 of leave till after Ascot ; besides, between 
 ourselves, the season is far more enjoyable 
 when the rush of the Derby and Ascot 
 weeks is over. You can possibly go down 
 to Hurlingham then without a greatcoat 
 on, and lie on the grass at Lord's and 
 see the best of the annual matches there. 
 I like all those outdoor functions the 
 best, and the clubs and parks are not 
 so crowded with, saving your presence, 
 * Spring Captains ' and country cousins ; 
 and the Chief has promised me a fortnight 
 if I want it then." 
 
 "And when wdll our puckah adjutant be 
 appointed ? " asked Fitzsymons. 
 
 " Oh, you may expect to see him in the 
 Gazette at any time ; but he can't get away 
 from Hythe till July. He must get a 
 musketry certificate, you know." 
 
 " Well, I wish you were coming up with 
 me, anyhow, on Friday evening next," pro- 
 ceeded Fitzsymons ; *' there's a very good 
 day at Hurlingham on Saturday — the 1st 
 Life Guards against the Blues. I can dine
 
 io8 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 you, and take you to the opera, too, in the 
 evening ; both tlie dinner and the seat in 
 the box are at my disposal. Won't that 
 tempt you \ " 
 
 "Hardly worth while going up for just 
 two clays, is it, Fitz, and spending a fiver ? 
 Think of that." 
 
 "Oh, I don't know ; you see all the 
 world. Great show at Tattersall's on Sun- 
 day ; very good sale on the Monday. Dick 
 MacDonald's got some wonderful weight 
 carriers up." 
 
 " No, really, has he ? " broke in Harry, 
 and the value of the fiver underwent an 
 immediate change. He imagined, or had 
 heard, the MacDonalds did not come up till 
 after Ascot, and although he felt he must 
 be to Miss MacDonald as an ordinary 
 acquaintance, yet the irresistible desire to 
 see her again, to sun himself in the light of 
 her eyes, if only as such, was a temptation 
 he could not put aside. 
 
 They would meet in the Park, or at 
 Hurlingham, or even in the streets, upon 
 neutral ground ; yet, even so, was there 
 not in the campaigns of war and love the 
 proverbial element of chance, the some-
 
 Not Forgotten. 109 
 
 thing unforeseen, that 80 often turns the 
 scale in favour of the hitherto discomfited 
 one ? 
 
 *' Oh, yes, here it is," said the other, who 
 had meantime got hold of and run his eye 
 down the advertising columns of the Field, 
 " 'No. 1, hack hunter, goes in harness, etc., 
 etc. No. 2, " Bally dugan," five years old, 
 up to fifteen stone,' " and he was proceeding 
 to read through the catalogue, when Harry 
 stopped him, saying, 
 
 " Oh, never mind the list ; I'll try and 
 come up anyway. I don't think the Colonel 
 would refuse me that little outing. But 
 may I leave the entertainment open ? " 
 
 "Why, certainly; there is no dinner 
 party. The box is rather small, and they 
 won't ask anyone else. Just turn up if it 
 suits you." 
 
 "Well, then," said Harry, "let me see, 
 the Chief has a field day to-morrow, and 
 another say Thursday ; there'll be an 
 officers' ride on Wednesday, and I must 
 get in a couple of adjutant's drills besides. 
 What do you say ? Will the fellows swear 
 very much if I arrange for the second 
 officers' ride on Friday afternoon, and then
 
 I lo Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 I could run up with you to the little 
 village till the Sunday evening ? " 
 
 *' Oh, no, they won't mind a bit, if you 
 make it all right with the C. 0. for their 
 Ascot leave." 
 
 *' Well, be it so. I'll book the engage- 
 ment, Fitz. You see, we must work double 
 tides this week ; the inspection comes off at 
 the end of the month." 
 
 " Yes, of course. Well, ta-ta, Harry, I'm 
 off. It's early to rise if not early to bed," 
 and with this they left the now deserted 
 ante-room. 
 
 Harry found the Chief entertained no 
 scruples about letting him get away, and he 
 obtained his " exeat," as he termed it, from 
 the Friday afternoon till the Sunday inclu- 
 sive. So on the evening of the fore-named 
 day he journeyed up to town with Fitz- 
 S3^mons and several other horse - soldiers, 
 who would, luckily for them, not return 
 till the Ascot festivities had become but 
 pleasant reminiscences. 
 
 He had no idea to what hotel or house 
 of lodging the MacDonalds usually repaired, 
 but it struck him if he, to use the current 
 slang of the day, ''drew" the Borth wicks
 
 Not Foi'gotten. in 
 
 for lunch, he would be sure to hear some- 
 thing of them and their whereabouts. 
 Thither, therefore, he betook himself at the 
 orthodox hour, and was, needless to relate, 
 received with welcome, his intention to 
 partake of the family luncheon being 
 assumed as a matter of course. But an 
 apology was added by his hosts for their 
 having to meet him, no one more interest- 
 ing than themselves, and a younger son 
 just up from Aldershot. 
 
 Old Borthwick and his wife brimmed 
 over with their wonted hospitality and 
 kindness, and would have made many plans 
 for Harry's delectation had he been in* a 
 position to avail himself of them. 
 
 The arrival in the Cape, the doings and 
 the letters of Ned were much discussed, and 
 formed the principal theme of conversation 
 during their meal ;* but Harry was unable to 
 gather that there seemed any need or pro- 
 spect of his early return. The event which 
 occupied his thoughts, which he presumed 
 was a matter of consideration for his host 
 and hostess, was never alluded to ; more 
 than that, they were vague about the move- 
 ments and plans of the MacDonalds, nor did
 
 112 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 they speak of her as if the ties between 
 them had been in anyway drawn closer. 
 It was only by the most direct inquiry that 
 he elicited the information that Dick and 
 his sister were staying in Park Street, and 
 that the last time they saw them, several 
 days ago, they talked of going to the 
 opera that very night, but whether to 
 stalls or a box they were uncertain — most 
 likely stalls. 
 
 This item of news at once confirmed 
 Harry in his attention of availing himself 
 of the place at table, and in the box at the 
 opera, offered him by his friend Fitz- 
 symons, which engagement, however, he 
 had not committed himself to, for obvious 
 reasons, ere this. 
 
 Unsuccessful as he had hitherto been, 
 Harry was not less so in the more direct 
 inquiries he addressed to the younger son 
 up from Aldershot, when they were left 
 together over their coffee and cigarettes, 
 preparatory to making a start for Hurling- 
 ham. The net result of their conversation 
 was this, that Ned was ''' rather close, even 
 with the members of his own household," 
 and that he had no notion of his plans.
 
 Not Forgotten, 1 1 3 
 
 and had heard nothing whatever about his 
 getting married. 
 
 The " polo " that afternoon was watched 
 with the excitement, real or feigned, which 
 usually attends the contests of the House- 
 hold troops ; but it was not to see the 
 "Blues" or the "Reds," to listen to the 
 band of the Coldstream Guards discoursing 
 melody, or to gratify his senses with the 
 sight of the beauty and fashion which 
 London had poured into one of her most 
 favourite gardens, that Harry Kingscote 
 had been drawn thither. 
 
 So while he took cognisance of all that 
 was beautiful and attractive in the vast 
 assembly that thronged the lawns, or 
 walked up and down in front of the arena 
 where the prowess of the contending teams 
 was being displayed ; whether his eyes were 
 riveted on the arrival of some smartly 
 turned out coach, with its bevy of fair 
 damsels on the roof ; or whether he cast 
 them over the groups that sat around 
 the tables which had been spread in the 
 further garden for tea, his only object was 
 to discover if Effie MacDonald was there 
 or no. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 Though he had nothing to guide him in 
 the way of her apparel, he, nevertheless, 
 felt sure he could recognise her at any dis- 
 tance off by her stately and graceful move- 
 ment. Yet fate seemed against him, and 
 nowhere could he descry amongst the 
 visitors any who bore resemblance to the 
 lady of his search. Dick MacDonald he 
 w^as sure he once caught sight of, and, 
 filled with hope, hurried after him, but 
 whether he had turned into the ring de- 
 voted to the slaughter of Barber's owls, or, 
 going through the club house, had started 
 homewards, he failed to come up with him. 
 
 At the theatre, however, he was sure that 
 his expectations would be answered, and 
 was hardly seated with his friends ere he 
 ranged the stalls, the balconies and boxes, 
 with his glasses to find the MacDonald 
 party. 
 
 But even here he seemed doomed to 
 meet with fresh disappointment. Nowhere 
 amongst the crowd that filled the opera 
 house from pit to tier could he discover 
 either Dick, or the magaet of his attraction ; 
 and vainly did he keep his eye on the few 
 empty seats, and watch the entrance of the
 
 Not Forgotten, 1 1 5 
 
 late arrivals. But, struck at length by a 
 happy thought, he vacated his seat during 
 an interval between the acts, and going 
 down, and round to the side of the house 
 that faced his own, he swept the boxes with 
 his lorgnette in the immediate vicinity of 
 his own, and to his delight, in the next 
 but one to it sat Effie MacDonald. He 
 needed no second look. Closing his glasses 
 with a snap, he hurried up and round, and, 
 with a dry sensation in his throat, knocked 
 and was admitted into the presence of her 
 he loved. 
 
 As he entered, Effie flushed up with sur- 
 prise and pleasure, and Harry saw that he 
 was welcome — not altogether forgotten. 
 But well aware that outwardly at least he 
 must be nothing more than " friend,'' 
 with an ordinary bow and conventional 
 hand-shake, he took the vacant seat (fate 
 favoured him here) close by the side of 
 Miss MacDonald. 
 
 Sitting there, with his back turned from 
 the other occupant of the box, he was in 
 the crowded theatre almost as much alone 
 with Effie as pacing the terrace walks with 
 her, or sitting in some bay window at
 
 Ii6 Betwixt Two L over's. 
 
 Carrickmanon Castle. It was nearly enough 
 compensation for liim to feast his eyes upon 
 her face and form, to look at her and hear 
 her answers in those low, sweet tones. Why 
 should he break the barriers yet that had 
 been set up between them, and by a second 
 repulse render his ultimate success the more 
 unlikely ? Therefore he felt constrained to 
 take refuge in the generalities permitted to 
 ordinary conversation, yet showed, by his 
 voice and manner, the keenness of the 
 interest he took in all that concerned her. 
 So after question and answer about herself 
 and Dick, the quality of the piece being 
 played, the country visits they had paid 
 in England before they came up to London, 
 he went on, — 
 
 " 1 did not know you were in town, or 
 I would have come up long ago ; and now, 
 it is so unfortunate, I must return to- 
 morrow." 
 
 " Perhaps it is best," she said, looking 
 down at her play-bill, " I mean, for you," 
 and as she hesitated, Harry interrupted 
 her. 
 
 " Best, Miss MacDonald ; no, oh no. If 
 I could be near you, see you, feel your
 
 Not Forgotten. 117 
 
 influence on me for good, just meet you 
 sometimes, even as a stranger, tliat is what 
 would be really best." 
 
 "Oh, Mr Kingscote," she replied, "you 
 must not talk in this strain ; I must be 
 nothing to you ; we must be as though we 
 had never been such friends. We both 
 have other duties — you yours, and I mine. 
 And I — it was a very happy fortnight we 
 had together — I must try and forget it, too," 
 and she looked rather sadly but sweetly at 
 him as she spoke. 
 
 " I never can ; and may I not think of 
 you at a distance, even ? " he replied, 
 
 " No, no," she answered (but it was a 
 kind, sweet "No"); and added, "let me 
 imagine you are nobly battling with and 
 overcoming this — this — " 
 
 ** Love," whispered Harry, 
 
 She turned away from him, and looked 
 down into the stalls in silence, and he could 
 not see her face ; but he went on, — 
 
 "Am I never to see you again? May 
 I not come over from Ballyhalbert later ? " 
 
 " I cannot prevent you ; but, Harry " (the 
 name escaped her lips), "you had better not. 
 I had rather not."
 
 Ii8 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 Then, finding he was required to give up 
 his seat, Harry rose to depart, and as their 
 eyes met, there was something of tenderness 
 both there and in her voice ; but she said 
 her good-bye bravely, and Harry passed 
 out. 
 
 And he said to himself, "It is all that ill- 
 starred betrothal to Ned, and her unaccount- 
 able sense of duty. Yet if there is no 
 genuine engagement, I still have a chance. 
 I will not give her up yet. I think, I am 
 sure, she loves me," and he treasured in his 
 heart her kind, sweet '' No," and expression 
 as she uttered the words, " I must try and 
 forget it too." 
 
 Next day, as in duty bound, Fitzsymons 
 and Harry repaired to Tattersall's in 
 the afternoon, to see Lord Tavistock's 
 yearlings, Dick's show of weight-carrying 
 hunters, and the sale of the Quorn stud. 
 Fashion, the desire to be credited with 
 a connoisseurship in horseflesh, to be seen 
 about with the noted cross-country men of 
 the day, to let it be understood or implied 
 that you have graduated at Melton or 
 Harborough, and must be reckoned amongst 
 the cognoscenti, brings together a very fair
 
 Not Forgotten, 119 
 
 sprinkling of onlookers there. And so 
 highly prized is the hall-mark of sportsman 
 ship that anything and everything which 
 may aid in conferring it is eagerly sought 
 after ; and how simple, after hearing the 
 remarks of noted judges, to palm them off 
 on Smith or Jones as the genuine results 
 of your own discernment, and what if 
 you have not hunted last season, ''there 
 is every probability of your doing so 
 next." 
 
 'Tis true, there are many who have never 
 bought or sold there, yet rarely omit to 
 lounge into " Tatts," and have a look round 
 on the Sunday afternoon ; no matter, they 
 have seen, and been seen there, and can 
 retail their experiences over the dinner-table 
 that evening. 
 
 Fitzsymons and Harry passed through 
 the group of old men outside the gates. 
 There they were, as of yore, in various 
 stages of decadence, physical and social — 
 horse copers, sellers of race cards, servers 
 in the lowest depths of stabledom, whose 
 delinquencies were writ up large in 
 their countenances, whose moral worth 
 might mostly be gauged by the sound-
 
 I20 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 ness or raggeclness of the clothes they 
 wore. 
 
 Further on, as they made their way to 
 the eleven-stall stable, and encountered 
 many friends, they took stock of the un- 
 known faces and figures of the dealers and 
 country squires combining a little business 
 with the Ascot week. The stable in question 
 was crowded, yet many were passing through 
 it, in the kind of way our American cousins 
 do Westminster Abbey or Warwick Castle, 
 and Harry was bending over his catalogue, 
 when, with a hearty slap on the shoulder 
 from behind, Dick MacDonald exclaimed, 
 " How are you my boy, I heard of you 
 last night. So sorry I could not be there. 
 How long do you stay ? " 
 
 " I must return this evening, Dick, cer- 
 tainly by the six ten train." 
 
 " No Ascot ! That is hard on you. You 
 can't come back with me for tea, either ? " 
 
 " No ; I am afraid not, Dick." 
 
 *' I would have brought Effie here to see 
 the show, but our Aunt Bess was outraged 
 at the bare idea, and went on, you know 
 her, Harry, about the desecration of the 
 Sabbath, and the sinfulness of fashionable
 
 Not Forgotten. 121 
 
 people on the Lord's day, so that I had to 
 abandon the idea. Her puritan blood is 
 strong in her yet. But I think I must be 
 going now. These people ask me too many 
 questions, and the replies are, well, some- 
 times difficult." 
 
 " Yes, I know you are much too outspoken, 
 Dick, and I must be off as well to catch my 
 train. But what are your plans. How long 
 do you stay in town ? " 
 
 "Oh, I have not got any," answered 
 Dick. 
 
 *'And Ned, have you heard from him 
 lately?" asked Harry, with an air of assumed 
 indifference. 
 
 " Oh, I see what you are driving at. You 
 want to know too much," responded Dick, 
 with his genial chuckle. "However, he 
 never writes to me. 1 really know nothing 
 of his plans, and I don't think Effie 
 does either. He keeps them to himself 
 pretty well." 
 
 This was all that Harry got out of Dick 
 MacDonald in the way of further informa- 
 tion or comfort, and with mutual good-byes, 
 Dick sought the comparative privacy of the 
 club, and Harry and Fitz that of a first-
 
 122 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 class carriage upon the Great Eastern line^ 
 the former smoking and pondering much 
 upon the way down to Norwich, at which 
 cathedral city we may bid adieu to him for 
 some time.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MRS FALKNER. 
 
 London had already began to suffer from 
 the annual visitation of November fogs and 
 preliminary chills of winter, when a party*of 
 four were gathered round the dinner-table of 
 a smart little house in Park Street, Mayfair, 
 which the auctioneers would have described 
 as a hijou residence. Here, though the 
 viands were not so plentiful or substantial 
 as those provided at Dick MacDonald's, 
 where hunting men are able to tackle their 
 Dublin Bay haddocks and Meath mutton 
 with good country appetites, yet there was 
 something very attractive about the menu, 
 as well as the little round table on which 
 the repast was served. Conceive an apart-
 
 1 24 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 meiit, an octagon, if you choose to call it so, 
 but whose sides are of an irreo^ular width. 
 Two are formed by the windows looking 
 into the street; they are curtained with blue 
 flowered silk, and the space between them, 
 equal in width, is filled by the neatest of 
 writing-tables, concealing in its drawers the 
 correspondence, the pipes and cigars of the 
 host, Mr Eobert Falkner. On your left, as 
 you face the windows, and stand with your 
 back to the dark mahogany sideboard, the 
 wall of the room is again sub-divided thrice, 
 by the doors which give respectively into 
 the outer and inner halls, and the space 
 between them ; and in this there hang 
 gloomy paintings by great Dutch masters, 
 while above the aforesaid sideboard is dis- 
 played, in its ponderous gilt frame, an un- 
 doubted Wilson, the dark green foliage of 
 the trees hardly now discernible from the 
 lighter coloured verdure of the meadows, 
 A fire of wood burns brightly on the re- 
 maining side of the room. Here the 
 chimney piece has not been altered so as 
 to meet the requirements of modern taste. 
 No spurious introduction of shelves and 
 drawers and niches display the pottery
 
 Mrs Falkner. 125 
 
 ware, the delf, and china of great or very 
 little value ; but above it there is suspended 
 a picture, finely painted, of our hostess, while 
 silken bannerets of blue, and curtains 
 capable of being drawn across the blaze, 
 hang down on either side. 
 
 From a freak of fancy, the table that they 
 use is an octagon also, but it scarcely looks 
 adapted for a further number than that 
 already seated. Little branches of azaleas, 
 sprays of gardenia, and other hot-house 
 flowers, lie here and there with purposed 
 negligence upon the snowy damask. Pale 
 blue violets muffle about the feet of the 
 silver eagles that support the waxen candles 
 of a fainter and more delicate shade of 
 blue ; the candlesticks are grouped together 
 in the centre of the table, and rose-coloured 
 fans, in silver stands, soften and subdue the 
 light. Everywhere the senses are impressed 
 by the wealth and luxury of the surround- 
 ings. As you enter, your feet seem to sink 
 in the pile of the thick turkey carpet, the 
 rich, heavy scent of exotics loads the air, 
 and the sheen of glass and silver and 
 flowers enchants your eyes. 
 
 It is in the company we are interested
 
 126 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 even more than in the deftly printed "menu 
 in its china frame, and it does not belie 
 the skill of the clief, and the viands which 
 he provides. Let us therefore make ac- 
 quaintance with the host. He is sombre, and 
 stolid, and silent, and though every type is 
 represented in London town, yet you would 
 rather have expected to meet him in thick 
 boots, yellow gaiters and a Norfolk jacket, 
 shooting over dogs and through wet turnips. 
 In the country, and dressed in his roomy, 
 nondescript clothes, his old and black straw 
 hat on, you would have taken him for a 
 farmer, and his girth of waist and stoutness 
 of build would have favoured the idea. His 
 forehead is undoubtedly large and heavy, 
 while his flaxen curly hair and light blue 
 eyes denote his Saxon origin ; the nose is 
 straight enough, but void of character ; and 
 though the mouth ought to be good, it is 
 marred by the sullen and almost obstinate 
 expression which it gathers from the chin. 
 On the whole, a decidedly uninteresting 
 face, but behind it all there lies a fair 
 amount of shrewdness, and deep down in 
 his heart there is plenty of British pluck, 
 and plenty of honest, faithful love, did
 
 Mrs Falkner. 127 
 
 his partner, Mrs Falkner, choose to call it 
 forth. 
 
 With Mr Falkner's neighbour on his left 
 we have little or nothing to do in this story, 
 and his character and description may be 
 dismissed in a few words. We know the 
 type on whom the discipline and tyranny 
 of a public school, for a couple of years or so, 
 have had little or no effect, but on whom 
 the laxer morality and comparative freedom 
 of a crammer's have had the very worst. 
 Dissipation and later hours have not im- 
 proved his physique, and as he sits there 
 before you, with his lank yellow hair divided 
 down the middle, with his stiff white collar, 
 and the eyeglass that never leaves his eye, 
 while, with hands enfolded over the table, he 
 gives vent to the morality of Sir Mulberry 
 Hawk, you reckon to yourself what a lot of 
 good a real campaign, such as was endured 
 by the Welsh Fusiliers, under Lacy Yea, 
 would have done him, if indeed he could 
 have survived the hardships of the trenches. 
 Purveyor of gossip and news to our hostess, 
 he is seated on her right. 
 
 Mrs Falkner would not nowadays be 
 considered tall, nor did she apply any ad-
 
 128 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 ventitious aids to increase, in appearance 
 at least, her height ; yet it would have been 
 well-nigh impossible to have enhanced by 
 dress the glorious outlines of her figure, as 
 nature herself had formed it. Viewing her 
 in repose, or as she stands portrayed in the 
 picture above the chimney piece, you would 
 describe her as stately ; or again, as she 
 waits upon the ball-room floor for the danc- 
 ing to commence ; but when with wave-like 
 motion she crosses the parqued floor and 
 gives herself away to the inspiring music, 
 that imperious mien you noticed, has left 
 her. 
 
 Her head was classic, and the short 
 crisp curls which adorned it aided the 
 illusion, and if there was something grand 
 about the brow, and that spoke of talent 
 and capacity for high and noble reso- 
 lution, the violet (or were they steel 
 blue ?) eyes, beneath their darker lashes, 
 looked cognisant of the more sensual fires 
 of earthly love — and they were wonderful 
 eyes ! It was difficult to %.-k. their colour ; 
 it depended on her surroundings, the glow 
 of health upon her cheeks, her very dress, 
 the mood she was in, most certainly the
 
 Mrs Falkner, i 29 
 
 way she looked at you. Had the red, ripe 
 lips been tightened, the straight, dark brows 
 contracted, and the clear olive face become 
 hard, on some provocation or another, you 
 would say they were of cold and steely blue. 
 But if, with a lingering smile, and a laugh 
 that showed her white and well-formed 
 teeth, she let them dwell upon you, appar- 
 ently unconscious that they were doing so, 
 then you would assert that they were of 
 sweetest violet. Her nose was short and 
 delicately chiselled, and her chin, though 
 a thought too square and firm, was never- 
 theless in harmony with the classic head. 
 
 Pallid she was not, though there Was 
 glow and colour wanting in the face. In 
 the full noonday you missed it, but again 
 in the softer lights you caught the flush 
 that faintly mantled on the ivory cheeks, 
 like those first roseate hues at dawn on 
 snowclad mountain tops. 
 
 And with all this, from an expression that 
 you could never decipher, or from an im- 
 pression that you could not define, you 
 judged her capable of cruelty, as well as of 
 love and passion. In summing her up, you 
 would have said that, good qualities apart, 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 130 Betzvixt Two Lovers. 
 
 she was wilful, unscrupulous, remorseless. 
 Of the Professor, on her left, for he was 
 always dubbed Professor, we may gather 
 something from his conversation before we 
 paint his portrait. With him the occult 
 had been a fetish ; and now that the 
 entrees and the frivolit}^ that accompanied 
 the first exhilaration of the dinner had 
 departed, the deeper subjects of tele- 
 pathy, clairvoyance, and psychometry, gave 
 a more serious tone to the conversation, 
 hitherto "Material" to the last degree, as 
 the disciples of the occult term it. Mrs 
 Falkner having expressed a most sceptical 
 opinion regarding the assertions of the 
 savants, added, — 
 
 " Eeally we might just as well go back 
 to the belief in witchcraft, magicians, and 
 the philosopher's stone." 
 
 " But," said the Professor, " do you 
 mean to say that you must touch, see, 
 feel, hear everything, to be sure of its 
 existence ? that effects are not produced 
 both without and beyond our knowledge ? 
 Why, we will have you doubting the 
 telephone and telegraph next, even the 
 character of handwriting."
 
 Mrs Falkner. i ^ i 
 
 o 
 
 " Handwriting is a side issue, surely," 
 put in Mr Falkner. 
 
 " Yes ; why, of course it is," answered 
 Doctor Kennedy. "But with a letter in 
 your hand you can be put into rapport 
 and mental touch with the writers, know in 
 a vague, indefinite manner what sort of per- 
 sons they are who write, their tempera- 
 ment, attitude of mind, and general health, 
 without even reading or having their letters 
 read to you." 
 
 " Find out State secrets, intrigues, and 
 how to lay the odds, eh, Doctor ? " remarked 
 the young man about town. "What will 
 you take to instruct me in the black 
 art ? I'll pay you a goodish price, you 
 bet." 
 
 " Well, laugh as you may, I have seen 
 it done by clairvoyants in trance," rejoined 
 the Professor. " Even now I am intensely 
 interested in a case of the sort. A psycho- 
 meter, sensitive, clairvoyant, or whatever 
 you may choose to call her, has been giv- 
 ing me the benefit of her skill, in accounting 
 for the changes I observe, as a specialist, in 
 the handwriting of a lady," and he proceeded 
 to narrate how the clairvoyant, with the
 
 132 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 letter in her hand, had indicated the sex 
 and age of the writer, faintly described her 
 personal appearance, the salient features of 
 her character, and had, morever, even given 
 him some sort of clue to her mental un- 
 easiness. 
 
 "A love affair, of course," asserted Mrs 
 Falkner, " and two, I should say three, 
 in the plot, eh ? You are dreadfully close 
 about your young lady, and a great deal 
 too interested ; but you must tell me more 
 about her, and your horrid magic, upstairs. 
 You know a hundred years ago you would 
 have been burnt." 
 
 " And ' 'fessing,' like Topsey, to all your 
 iniquities would have done you no good 
 either," remarked Mr Falkner. "But come 
 and have a glass of port," he added, as 
 he rose in duty bound while his wife was 
 leaving the room. 
 
 And so the conversation drifted back 
 again to other channels, and the disciple 
 of Sir Mulberry Hawk, as he cracked his 
 walnuts and sipped his port, laid down 
 the law in matters of taste, and in things 
 theatrical, racing, and otherwise — nothing 
 came amiss to him.
 
 Mrs Falkner, 
 
 00 
 
 They had not been long upstairs ere the 
 Professor, standing with his back to the 
 fire, was again in colloquy with Mrs 
 Falkner regarding his "subject," and as 
 you took a full view of him, you would, 
 comparing him to others, not be slow to 
 admit that he was probably possessed of 
 mesmeric, upnotic, or other powers. What 
 struck you first w^ere his keen grey piercing 
 eyes, which seemed as though they searched 
 you through and through while they held 
 you in their gaze. Now they were large 
 and steady as he looked up reflectingly, but 
 anon they seemed to scintillate and sparkle, 
 as they darted a bright keen shaft of light 
 beneath the shaggy penthouse of his brows, 
 which consciously or unconsciously he seemed 
 to move at any fresh expression in the 
 pauses of his speech. His forehead was 
 lofty enough, but when his hair was thick 
 in front, you would have called it low. 
 The bones of his cheeks were high and 
 broad, but his nose wanted breadth ; it was 
 thin, and weak, and mean. The lines of the 
 mouth and chin you could not easily dis- 
 cern, or trace the teachings that lay hidden 
 there, for they w^ere covered more or less by
 
 1 34 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 the growth of beard and whisker and 
 moustache he wore in a ragged professorial 
 style ; but from the glimpses that you 
 caught of his nether lip, you concluded 
 that he could not only appreciate, but 
 was addicted to the gratification of his 
 fleshly appetites. 
 
 Of medium height, he had an especially 
 square broad chest, which looked the more 
 so from his white expanse of shirt. His 
 hands were strong and lean and sinuous, 
 the backs looking dark, and in patches 
 black with hair. His voice was deep and 
 honest, and his bearing good. There was 
 nothing to inspire you with doubt or want 
 of confidence ; you might not perhaps have 
 taken to him, but, on the other hand, you 
 would have regarded him as a clever, im- 
 penetrable man. 
 
 " Well, then," said he, continuing, in 
 answer to his hostess, ''if you insist upon 
 knowing everything, and if you are so 
 wilful and spoiled, Mrs Falkner, I may tell 
 you that the lady's name is Miss MacDonald; 
 she belongs to the north of Ireland, and 
 came to know of me through her maid, a 
 former patient of mine. We have been
 
 Mrs Falkner, 135 
 
 corresponding for nearly a year, in a de- 
 sultory way, regarding a cottage hospital, 
 and occasionally its patients, and she built 
 it after the model of the one I established 
 at Eichmond.'* 
 
 "Oh, Miss MacDonald," replied Mrs 
 Falkner. *' One of the Carrickmanon Mac- 
 Donalds, I suppose. I shall probably meet 
 her when we go to stay with the Borth- 
 wicks. We go there in December, and I'll 
 tell you all about her on our return, though, 
 if you spoke the truth, you have already 
 seen or tried to see her in a chrystal, 
 have not you, now ? Shall I take over 
 a charm that will work a spell, and afl&x it 
 secretly to her dress ? " 
 
 ** No, thanks," said Doctor Kennedy ; "we 
 are sure to meet, sooner or later." 
 
 " How do you know that ? " queried his 
 hostess. 
 
 "Oh, I do; never mind," muttered the 
 Doctor, seeing that the others were about 
 to cut into the conversation, and saying he 
 intended going down to the Savage Club, 
 left the room to join in the revelry of song 
 and smoke and recitation at that nocturnal 
 haunt of the savants.
 
 136 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 And on the way thither he smiled to 
 himself as he thought that, having a general 
 invitation to the Borth wicks', who were old 
 friends of his, he intended to avail himself 
 of it that winter.
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 BALLYHALBEE.T HOUSE. 
 
 The latter days of November had been 
 black with storm and bleak with wind 
 and rain, and to these had succeeded a 
 spell of frosts and snows, but to-day, in mid 
 December, the air is dry and crisp, and 
 the slanting beams of sunshine give a fore- 
 taste of the spring that will surely come 
 again. 
 
 To shooting men the weather had seldom 
 entailed a forced duress. I allude to the 
 class w^ho are wholly given up to that 
 sport, whose weeks are chronicled from 
 day to day by what and where they shoot, 
 and the consequent journey in gs to and 
 fro. Why not ? To carry it out sue-
 
 138 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 cessfully, the votaries of all forms of sport, 
 cricket or hunting, fishing or golf, must 
 pursue it with zeal, regard it with an 
 ardour worthy of the highest forms of 
 enterprise. 
 
 With weather, therefore, such as was 
 now vouchsafed them, with covers as 
 yet untouched, and plenty of birds for- 
 sooth, the party assembling at Bally- 
 halbert, the country residence of John 
 Montgomery Borthwick, Esquire, looked 
 forward somewhat keenly to days of 
 slaughter, little luncheons graced by the 
 presence of the ladies, and evenings 
 where all that could minister to and 
 charm the mind, or refresh the exhausted 
 frame, were to be found, enjoyed, and 
 revelled in. 
 
 Ballyhalbert House was of the Georgian 
 era, added to and generally disimproved in 
 appearance by the said additions, but in 
 appearance only ; for within its capacities 
 had been vastly increased, so as to afford 
 house room to the numerous guests who 
 from time to time went to fill its hospitable 
 halls. 
 
 As the house was typical of the times
 
 B ally halbert House. 139 
 
 and mode of life of the wealthier inhabit- 
 ants of north-east Ireland, so the host 
 himself was a type of those Scotch invaders, 
 settlers, call them what you will, whose 
 descendants have converted what was then 
 a fish in o^ village into a thrivino; town, and 
 by their energy and perseverance created 
 industries, built ships, widened a harbour, 
 and undoubtedly raised Belfast into quite 
 one of the first commercial cities of the 
 empire. 
 
 Cosmopolitan in his tastes, but with a 
 thoroughness which invariably insured suc- 
 cess in all that he undertook, John Mont- 
 gomery Borthwick, at various times of 
 his life, had devoted himself to politics, 
 sport, and travel. 
 
 Let us observe him first to-day. It is 
 late in the afternoon, and the sun is 
 setting behind the leafless woods ; there, 
 through the trees, you can just descry the 
 gorgeous colouring, and here and there, 
 between the dusky branches of the firs, 
 the deep red bars that line the blacker 
 clouds. He is waiting for the brake and 
 cars which will bring the remainder of his 
 guests. A few have arrived already, but
 
 140 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 the next is the largest consignment of the 
 day. Shading his eyes with his hands as 
 he hears the approach of wheels, he meets 
 them on the steps, and invites them with 
 words of genuine welcome inside. Should 
 you fortunately be of the party, you enter 
 the inner hall, the while peradventure 
 you take his hint and tread with care its 
 slippery surfaces. For a second you are 
 dazzled by the glare of light, but you soon 
 perceive that already a goodly company 
 is assembled, and that two young ladies 
 are practising the entrancing waltzes of 
 Strauss you will be called upon to dance 
 hereafter. 
 
 You have time to look round you now, 
 and note the travellers as they sip their tea, 
 more than ever refreshino; after their eis^ht 
 miles drive, and Irish at that, from the 
 long white streets of Newtownbrady — miles 
 which the famous fast trotting horses have 
 failed to shorten. 
 
 Doctor Kennedy and the Falkners are 
 there ; they have met, the latter with genuine, 
 the former with feigned surprise, upon the 
 journey. Harry Kingscote is also con- 
 spicuous, talking to a group of young men
 
 Ballyhalbert House. 141 
 
 in the background, oliicers, and country 
 squires. He had renewed his slight ac- 
 quaintance with the Falkners at Euston, 
 and the hazarded guess of a mutual des 
 tination was there made a veritable cer- 
 tainty. 
 
 Near the fire a mother and a couple 
 of her daughters are sitting. You will 
 meet them at most country houses in 
 the district ; if so, their presence is com- 
 pensated for by their cheery ways, and 
 the assistance they give their hostess in 
 the devising and keeping up the distrac- 
 tions offered to the guests. Eound them 
 are gathered the well-known faces of fhe 
 county magnates, who assemble in due 
 rotation in each other's houses, when the 
 shoot 'par excellence of the season is 
 about to take place. 
 
 But tea is hardly over, and the warm 
 glow of the winter fire has hardly yet 
 thawed the cold numbed fingers, and 
 loosened into flow the conversation of the 
 guests, when a message arrives for Mrs 
 Falkner and Harry Kingscote to betake 
 themselves to the boudoir of their hostess, 
 who was wishful of avoiding; the fatiofue
 
 142 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 which would ensue from entertaining so 
 many fresh friends downstairs, and was 
 anxious to recruit her strength for the 
 evening. Hannah Borthwick was some- 
 what an invalid, and of the picturesque 
 order ; but albeit she breakfasted upstairs, 
 and rarely appeared before lunch, yet she 
 did not by any means forego her duties 
 as chatelaine. Her husband consulted her 
 daily with regard to the morning orders, 
 and the programme he thought most 
 desirable to be carried out, had she not 
 some niece or her married daughter stay- 
 ing with her to partially relieve her of 
 the cares of state. But she duly de- 
 scended at a later hour, fresh, and dressed 
 for the drive she was wont to take 
 in the afternoon ; and though her health 
 and age did not permit her to participate 
 fully in the festivities, no guest ever 
 stayed at Ballyhalbert without feeling that 
 his welfare and his gratification were a 
 source of personal interest to Mrs Borth- 
 wick. 
 
 They found her sitting in a low arm-chair 
 by the small wood fire, and enveloped in a 
 pale pink tea-gown, which harmonised well
 
 Bally halbert House. 143 
 
 with her faded cheeks, on which there 
 lingered yet the faintest flush of youthful 
 colouring. With her soft white abundant 
 hair, which was scarcely covered by the tiny 
 cap, trimmed with ribands that matched 
 the tea-gown, she still retained much that 
 was sweet and attractive ; and as she rose 
 to welcome her guests, she motioned them 
 into the little semi-circular sofa that was 
 opposite her. 
 
 Most becomingly dressed in dark-brown 
 velveteen, trimmed with costly fur, the 
 length of her journey had left a trace of 
 languor upon Mrs Falkner's countenance ; 
 and while she leant back to rest in an 
 attitude of voluptuous ease, the flicker- 
 ing fire, as it rose and fell, revealed her 
 features in their beauty, or left them in- 
 scrutable in shade. The conversation was 
 general, still from the depths of her glori- 
 ous eyes she looked out at Harry Kings- 
 cote, and they seemed to dwell upon 
 him, as he answered her lightly in the 
 shibboleth befitting the occasion. But as 
 yet he was impervious to all her powers 
 of attraction ; his heart and his thoughts 
 were elsewhere. Nevertheless, the subtle
 
 144 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 incense of her flattery was agreeable to him, 
 and pleasant she was to look upon and 
 converse with. And thus, sitting side by 
 side, they rehearsed to one another and 
 to Mrs Borthwick the incidents of the 
 journey, the discomforts of the voyage, 
 and confessed to the dreariness of the 
 drive from Newtownbrady. Thus passed 
 the period after first arrival, which is 
 in some houses hard to get through, till 
 the Burmese gong announced that it was 
 time to prepare for one of the chief events 
 of the day. 
 
 Descended to the drawing-room, it was 
 Kingscote's fate to have Violet Falkner 
 awarded to him for his partner at the 
 dinner-table. 
 
 As they entered the room they could not 
 but note the massive silver cups that 
 gleamed upon the sideboard, while here and 
 there upon the table trophies won by the 
 yacht of their host, the Egeria, displayed 
 themselves. The tall silver lamps, the 
 handsome epergne, the chaste candelabra, 
 and many another unsuspected prize, were 
 there before them. Ingenuity, indeed, 
 had nearly failed in converting specie and
 
 Ballyhalbert House. 145 
 
 nominal plate into the more useful adorn- 
 ments of house and boudoir. Once seated, 
 they found themselves in close proximity 
 to their host at the bottom of the table, 
 and vis-a-vis to them sat Doctor Kennedy. 
 Resplendent in the latest fashion, Mrs 
 Falkner was armed for conquest, and her 
 pale satin dress, trimmed with roses of 
 the deepest crimson, became her vastly. 
 Her necklace of large white pearls vied 
 with the whiteness of the throat it 
 encircled, and called attention to the 
 beauty of its symmetry, and, while her 
 hair was gathered off her face, the flash 
 of diamonds betrayed their presence a*s 
 she turned her head. Harry Kingscote 
 was, for him, rather absent. He was 
 ruminating on the morrow, and whether 
 he should pay or leave unpaid that visit 
 we wot of Therefore were his answers 
 rather short and inconclusive to his neigh- 
 bours, and while his attention wandered, 
 he caught the hum of conversation as it 
 rose and fell around him. Doctor Kennedy, 
 opposite him, however, was as usual mak- 
 ing a psychological study of those within 
 his immediate range, when fortune, ever 
 VOL. I. K
 
 146 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 beneficent to him who waits and watches, 
 gave Kingscote a new and unexpected 
 interest in the eyes of the soul-searching 
 Doctor. For, questioned as to the truth 
 or falsehood of rumours and reports 
 which had been circulated anent his son 
 and Effie MacDonald, Mr Borthwick re- 
 plied that, if ever, at anyrate now there 
 was no need of further concealment, and 
 that his son and Miss MacDonald were in 
 reality engaged to be married. 
 
 Harry Kingscote put down his glass 
 untasted. Silent, he listened with set ex- 
 pression to the congratulations that went 
 round, nor from Doctor Kennedy could 
 he conceal the blow under which he was 
 staggering. Then, suddenly conscious that 
 he was isolating himself, and becoming con- 
 spicuous by his silence, with a great effort 
 he struck out the past and the future, and 
 turning to his neighbour, devoted himself 
 unreservedly to Violet Falkner, in the 
 endeavour to forget himself and all the 
 false hopes with which he had nurtured 
 his love hitherto. 
 
 The excitement of his feelings, the 
 wine he had drunk, the contagious
 
 Ballyhalbert House, 147 
 
 gaiety of the party, reacted on him, 
 and nothing loth, nay, even in a spirit 
 of devilry he could hardly account for 
 to himself, he more than met Mrs 
 Falkner half way. It was with her that 
 he chiefly danced. 
 
 See them together, as in unison and in 
 perfect time, her figure lightly resting upon 
 his, as he clasped her to him, they spin 
 with the rapid motion of the whirlwind 
 down the room, when the space is long 
 and clear before them ; or anon, when 
 greater caution is required, with what a 
 voluptuous motion they seem to glide 
 smoothly in and out of the conflicting 
 circles taken by the other dancers. You 
 might describe Harry Kingscote as fluent, 
 eflervescent of speech, but here to-night 
 he is brilliant, vehement, and that without 
 any definite or ulterior object. 
 
 So while the lights burned brightly, and 
 the dance music sounded in his ears, he 
 devoted himself heart and soul to his 
 partner, and yielding to the glamour she 
 was exercising over him, he steeped, or 
 thought he had steeped, his senses in for- 
 getfulness.
 
 148 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 But his sleep that night was feverish and 
 broken, and waking in the dim grey dawn, 
 he felt himself conscious of something un- 
 done, of something done amiss, of failure 
 in his duty to himself and his high ideals, 
 and that, like the knight of old, his shield 
 was dimmed. 
 
 There are those who assert that one is 
 ever readier to face the difficulties and 
 troubles of life in the morning and after 
 an hour or two of maybe broken rest. 
 They aver that the vexations of the even- 
 ing before, which looked so large and 
 ominous, shrink to their due proportions, 
 or vanish with approaching daylight. 
 Harry Kingscote was not one of those 
 subscribing to this theory, and as he 
 waited for the moment that would give 
 him liberty to arise and go out in the open 
 air, the loss he had sustained seemed more 
 vividly presented to his waking senses. 
 Much he debated with himself as to which 
 was the wisest course to pursue, whether 
 he should abstain altogether from seeing or 
 voluntarily meeting Miss MacDonald, or 
 whether — The alternative seemed to him 
 in any case hopeless. On the whole, and
 
 Ballyhalbert House, 149 
 
 as he wandered through the wet plantations 
 during that morning hour, he resolved he 
 would just keep out of Miss MacDonald's 
 way.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IT CUTS ME TO THE HEART. 
 
 At Ballyhalbert House the breakfast was 
 conducted somewhat on the lines of a 
 club or mess, and you took it when 
 you chose. Here and there in the great 
 dining-room little tables were invitingly 
 arranged, and made to look pretty with 
 fruit and flowers. Their occupants varied 
 in numbers as chance or design made ad- 
 visable, and came and went, and were 
 sociable or gloomy as their humour, their 
 letters, or their prospects of sport dic- 
 tated. Mr Borthwick was generally of 
 those coming first downstairs, and this 
 morning he was joined by Harry at 
 one of the smaller tables, on whom the
 
 It cuts Me to the Heart. 151 
 
 walk and invigorating air had bestowed 
 an appetite for the fish and salmi which 
 he chose from half-a-dozen other dishes, 
 kept hot and renewed by the butler from 
 time to time as the entrance of guests 
 required. In twos and threes they came 
 down, but before that half the household 
 had assembled Harry Kingscote accepted 
 the invitation of his host to smoke 
 the matutinal cigar in his sanctum. And 
 as he sat after breakfast ^' fully manned," 
 and inhaled the priceless aroma of one 
 of Mr Borthwick's best cigars, he began 
 to feel more like himself, and take 
 interest complacently in the affairs of 
 other people. With unfeigned pleasure, 
 therefore, did he give his attention to 
 his host (always earnest whether he con- 
 versed on society, sport, or politics). There 
 upon the walls of the little study hung 
 the maps and charts of the different locks 
 and inland seas over which the Egeria 
 had been wont to sail, and Mr Borth- 
 wick pointed with becoming pride to the 
 courses in which she had proved herself 
 the fastest, explaining, with deference to 
 the powers of his rivals, the why and
 
 M2 
 
 Betwixt Two Lovei^s. 
 
 the wherefore she had been beaten upon 
 particular tacks. And here, between the 
 windows, on its wooden tressels, was the 
 original model of the yacht. Standing 
 affectionately over it, and touching it 
 with care and reverence, Mr Borthwick 
 explained to Harry the various altera- 
 tions which had been suggested or carried 
 out upon it, and dilated significantly on 
 what might yet be done in the way of 
 further improvement and future prizes to 
 be won. 
 
 The members of the stas^ - hunt had 
 been bidden to assemble that day at 
 the doors of Ballyhalbert House, but 
 it was Mr Borthwick's morning for what 
 he was pleased to call his weekly in- 
 spection of his farm, and it occurred to 
 him to ask his guest for the pleasure of 
 his company thither. So with him Harry 
 Kingscote went the rounds, from post 
 to paddock as it were, from sheep pen 
 to byre, from poultry house to stable- 
 yard, nothing was omitted, nothing slurred 
 over, so that by the time they set their 
 faces homewards he was far more anxious 
 to accoutre himself for horse and hound
 
 It cuts Me to the Heart. 1 5 3 
 
 than admire the views which their devious 
 return gave them the opportunity of des- 
 crying. Far off, as they advanced, the 
 deer park betrayed itself to them by 
 its coped stone wall, and perhaps by the 
 antlered monarchs of the waste in its 
 enclosure ; but they could not fail to 
 catch a glimpse of the cold .. grey waters 
 of the Belfast Lough, the morning sun 
 just quivering upon it. Yet, as he tra- 
 versed the winding path, he noticed how 
 the clumps of rhododendrons and little 
 spinnies had been arranged far more for 
 the purpose of affording convenient shots 
 at the rabbits, as they rushed from one 
 hiding-place to the other, or shelters and 
 nesting ground for the pheasants, than 
 for the beauty with which they might 
 enhance the scenery. 
 
 Though an old friend, Harry felt more 
 than ever interested in his host this 
 morning, his knowledge of human nature, 
 his deeper insight into men and things, 
 and his power to give an opinion (albeit 
 he quoted largely from others) upon 
 almost any subject that was put for- 
 ward ; but he realised that day for the
 
 154 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 first time what was the guiding motive 
 of his life — the happiness and the wel- 
 fare of his family ; and he observed how 
 this characteristic gave the clue to much 
 that he had hitherto done or left un- 
 done, even to the very effacement of 
 himself in politics, in favour of one 
 of his sons, now member for a northern 
 constituency. And as the father talked 
 of him and the others, he noted the 
 kindly light that came in the reflective 
 eyes, and over a face that showed traces 
 of thought and work, though the tall, 
 loose figure hardly seemed to have lost 
 its activity. But the grey hairs thickly 
 sprinkled in the once brown beard, 
 and the habit he had of stopping and 
 shading his eyes with his hands, as 
 though his sight had become defective, 
 undermined to some extent your first 
 impression of his age and strength. 
 
 As they got within view of the 
 house, Harry Kingscote perceived the 
 symptoms that denote a meet in the 
 immediate neighbourhood. One or two 
 led horses, come from a distance, pass 
 them on their way to the hospitable
 
 // cuts Me to the Heart, 155 
 
 stables, there to be dry wisped, and 
 receive the friendly attentions that befit 
 their rank, or maybe that of their 
 masters ; nearer to the mansion, and half- 
 distrustful of the welcome they may re- 
 ceive, are the tatterdemalions and boys 
 from the neighbouring village. Conspicu- 
 ous amongst them, clad in drab velveteen, 
 is the itinerant one-eyed poacher, Mac- 
 Sweeney, with his black, matted beard, 
 his red and white neckerchief, and the 
 fawn-coloured lurcher, that looks out from 
 between his old leather gaiters, and is 
 kept behind him by admonishing t^ps 
 from his ashplant. 
 
 Time to dress, reasoned Harry, nor 
 was he long in regaining his little bed- 
 room, which overlooked the stableyard, 
 and from it he could descry the ar- 
 rivals of the hunting men. Some of 
 these he recognised at once, having met 
 them on his former visit. His heart 
 beat quicker as he came down the stair- 
 case and scrutinised the faces in the 
 hall from over the banisters. One good 
 look was enough ; the owner of the little 
 chesnut was not there, but perhaps out-
 
 156 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 side, perhaps on the lawn, in the lane, 
 or gone on to where they would enlarge 
 the deer. Therefore, almost impatiently, 
 he greeted Mrs Falkner, and only 
 outwardly surrendered himself to her 
 service. 
 
 On foot, and dressed in their riding 
 gear, few women look comparatively 
 well, nor was Mrs Falkner an excep- 
 tion to this rule ; but mounted on her 
 thorough-bred mare, and wearing the tall 
 silk hat, which, in my opinion, gives style 
 a ad finish to the fair equestrian, it would 
 have been hard to excel her as a 
 model of grace and excellence in a lady 
 rider. 
 
 Though not intending to compete for 
 the honours of the chase, Mrs Falkner 
 was nevertheless anxious to see the 
 hounds laid on in that sporting country, 
 and keeping Kingscote by her side, rode 
 forward in the throng of horsemen to- 
 wards the field, whither the deer cart 
 had preceded them by some fifteen 
 minutes. Dick MacDonald, the master, 
 had already given Harry a cheery greet- 
 ing as he passed him at a trot, with
 
 It cuts Me to the Heart. 157 
 
 the hounds at his heals, and he was 
 now more than ever sure that his sister 
 Effie was not to be out that day. He 
 was wrong, for just as they were about 
 to enter the enclosure, and when, with a 
 prescience somewhat limited, Harry had 
 begun to speculate upon the chances 
 of the chase, and, in this or that con- 
 tingency, the line it would be wisest for 
 Mrs Falkner to adopt, there drove up 
 rapidly behind them a little phaeton. In 
 it were ensconced two ladies, Miss Mac- 
 Donald and a friend who was staying 
 with her. 
 
 That Miss MacDonald saw Harry Kings- 
 cote and the lady he rode with first, was 
 a matter of course, but that she suddenly 
 grew pale, and, as she passed the paiu 
 on the left, turned her head directly 
 away from them, escaped the observation 
 of her companion in the carriage. But 
 this movement, and all it meant, was 
 not lost upon Harry Kingscote, as he 
 bowed and sought, however vainly, for 
 a look of recognition in return. His first 
 idea was to ride after and up to them 
 at once, and have his presence acknow-
 
 158 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 ledged, but just for the moment he 
 became entangled in the crowd, as the 
 horsemen crushed through the gate, he 
 with Mrs Falkner on his right hand, 
 and the hounds just swinging to the 
 left, and racing to the spot where the 
 deer cart stood. For a moment he hesi- 
 tated, torn with the love, and pride, 
 and the bitter disappointment in his 
 breast. Then muttering to himself, vae 
 victis, with the hounds breaking into 
 chorus, and the rush of horsemen on all 
 sides, he spurred to the front. Daring 
 horseman as he was, he had never hitherto 
 ridden with the reckless temerity he dis- 
 played that day. 
 
 Effie MacDonald had realised she would 
 be called upon to meet Harry Kingscote, 
 and she had by this time fully reckoned up 
 what the consequences would be, both to 
 herself and presumedly to him, if by some 
 word or deed she gave any semblance of 
 encouragement to the hopes he might still 
 be harbouring of her. She had persuaded 
 herself ; she had imagined before that night 
 at the opera, that she had managed to 
 stifle her feelings towards him, and that she
 
 It cuts Me to the Heart, 159 
 
 had achieved a complete control over her 
 heart and its vain desires, but that night 
 at the opera had undeceived her. At his 
 presence her heart had beat how wildly 
 against her breast. She had felt the mag- 
 netic influence of his love, and how difiicult 
 a task it was to school her voice and looks 
 as he made that love so manifest towards 
 her. And she felt, if she were indeed 
 resolved to be true to the promise to her 
 father, and faithful to Ned, and crush the 
 image of Harry Kingscote out of her heart, 
 she must place a guard upon her ever}' 
 thought and word and deed. She had 
 arrived at this conclusion not without a 
 bitter struggle, not without much sorrow 
 of spirit, knowing her own weakness to 
 do battle against the forces of love which 
 would spring up and gain the mastery over 
 her unawares. 
 
 Therefore, when the phaeton drove up, 
 and a mutual recognition was imminent, 
 Eflie could not, would not, hurt Harry 
 Kingscote with a bow that was repellent, 
 cruel, cold, nor would she trust herself to 
 give or return the looks or speech that 
 might be interpreted falsely. One other
 
 1 60 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 course was open, and she adopted it hur- 
 riedly, preferring rather the chances of 
 fate, and whatever might be imputed to 
 her.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DOCTOR KENNEDY SOLVES IT. 
 
 Harey Kingscote had more than held 
 his own in an exciting gallop, and over 
 a difficult country, so, exhilarated \>y 
 the exercise and his success, he was in- 
 clined to take a less desperate view of 
 his fortunes, and philosophically make 
 the best of circumstances. That he should 
 become morose or ascetic, and forego the 
 pleasures of life, here especially so abun- 
 dantly proferred him, was not at all ac- 
 cording to his creed. And though there 
 seemed to him something forced and 
 unreal in his gaiety, yet whether riding 
 recklessly, or prolonging the revelries of 
 dance and song and supper into the 
 VOL. L L
 
 1 62 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 smaller hours of the morning, his energy 
 was the greatest, his voice the cheeriest, 
 his spirits apparently the most unflagging. 
 If he had, however, schooled himself into 
 the belief he had forgotten Effie Mac- 
 Donald, and was preparing to pursue a 
 course unworthy of the homage and wor- 
 ship he had given her, his Nemesis was 
 not far off. For he was gradually yield- 
 ing himself to the fascinations of Mrs 
 Falkner, and forging for himself fetters 
 he would find it very difficult to break. 
 As we indicated before, she might have 
 been loved and lovable. Her attractive- 
 ness and influence over young men was 
 paramount ; a woman of the world, she 
 yielded to nobody, considered no one, 
 when bent upon the subjugation of one 
 of the other sex. But, nevertheless, 
 Harry Kingscote appeared to her some- 
 what hard of capture, moody, and way- 
 ward, albeit he answered her smile with 
 smile, and with bantering jest her sallies 
 of wit. She had, however, campaigned 
 too long, crossed swords with the chosen 
 too often, to be thus easily deceived. 
 She read in his eyes, she felt in the
 
 Doctor Kennedy solves It. 1 6^^ 
 
 tones of his voice, and perceived from his 
 manner that, with whatever love he looked 
 upon her, she was not, as yet, sole 
 empress of his heart, or even acquainted 
 with its story. She suspected there was 
 something behind all this, some mystery 
 it behoved her to solve, some secret it 
 was necessary to probe, the discovery of 
 which would arm her for the future, 
 deliver him into her hands, or — but she 
 had not failed as yet. Accident gave her 
 the desired clue. 
 
 A decision to visit the MacDonalds 
 had been come to, at least by some ^of 
 the ladies of the house ; therefore, early 
 in the following week, on a day when 
 the shooting men were engaged at distant 
 coverts, and walking, or taking luncheon 
 with them, an affair of doubt and diffi- 
 culty, a party of four or five was organised, 
 and started for the walls of Carrickmanon 
 Castle. 
 
 Be it borne in mind Mrs Falkner and 
 Effie had not as yet ever formally made 
 each other's acquaintanceship, and that 
 although the latter had seen Mrs Falk- 
 ner at the meet, and recognised Harry
 
 164 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 who rode by her side, she had remained 
 herself unnoticed in the crowd of horse- 
 men and carriages that blocked up the 
 road. 
 
 Therefore, the stately grace and beauty, 
 the frank open countenance, and the charm 
 of manner of Miss MacDonald, came upon 
 her as a revelation. She had hardly ex- 
 pected, as she expressed herself, to see such 
 tone and style in a girl brought up in a 
 small country village. But her attention 
 for the most part was absorbed in Dick 
 MacDonald, and though she required no 
 lure, his handsome features and smiling 
 mouth were a fair excuse for incipient 
 flirtation. So on him she turned her lus- 
 trous eyes, and with him she discoursed of 
 horses and hounds and countries, in all the 
 jargon that is so familiar and easily adopted 
 by ladies who think to make themselves 
 agreeable with hunting men. While he, 
 though he smiled with his eyes and mouth, 
 nor challenged the correctness of her 
 notions, said next morning, at a meet, 
 with his great chuckling laugh, to Bob 
 Alexander, — 
 
 " I tell you what it is, I would not be
 
 Doctor Kennedy solves It. 165 
 
 that woman's husband for sixty town 
 lands. What a life he must have of it ! 
 And I hear that she's got Harry Kings- 
 cote in tow ; lie's quite gone on her, they 
 say. What a silly boy ! He'll live to 
 repent it, unless he cuts himself clear 
 pretty soon." 
 
 But our visitors to the castle had by 
 this time admired the views, inspected 
 tlie corners that were quaint in tower 
 and bastion, looked at the family pictures, 
 and appraised the tapestry and china, 
 when tea, and its concomitants of cake 
 and bannock, brought them all together 
 round the little table, and discussion ahent 
 the festivities at Ballyhalbert House took 
 place. There was talk of feather and 
 fur, and the bag that was made the 
 previous week, of the dancing by night, 
 and whether charades could not be in- 
 augurated, or a small impromptu play 
 or tableaux. Mrs Falkner was all for 
 something of the sort. From this to the 
 names and the characters of those who 
 were left behind was an easy transition, 
 and of course Harry Kingscote's name 
 came up.
 
 1 66 Betwixt Two Lovei^s. 
 
 And here remarked Dick MacDonald, — 
 
 " What a splendid fellow he is — good 
 soldier, good sportsman. I hear all you 
 ladies are fighting and pulling your caps 
 about him finely." 
 
 " Oh no, not at all ; he's long past pray- 
 ing for now — gone under, a captive to 
 our friend Mrs Falkner's bow and spear," 
 broke in Doctor Kennedy. But, bear- 
 ing in mind the incident at dinner the 
 niffht of their arrival, he turned towards 
 Effie MacDonald (who, during the whole 
 of this discussion upon Kingscote's merits, 
 had spoken no word whatever) and 
 said, *'And surely you will give us your 
 opinion, too. You must have formulated 
 one when he stayed with you here ; you 
 must have arrived at knowing him pretty 
 well." 
 
 " Oh, pretty well," answered Effie ; *' I 
 think he seemed a gentleman, and " — with 
 a pause (she felt her tell-tale colour was 
 rising, and imagined that all of them 
 were looking at her) — "and I thought he 
 was nice." 
 
 But no one had taken notice of it, with 
 the exception of the Professor ; indeed
 
 Doctor Kennedy solves It, 167 
 
 she had hardly finished her sentence before 
 Mrs Falkner joined in with the observa- 
 tion, — 
 
 " Well, surely if you are engaged, it 
 does not prevent you speaking your mind 
 about someone else. You and Mr Kings- 
 cote must have hit it off badly together. 
 He must have been moody, as he is 
 at times ; but you will find that his 
 manners have been vastly improved 
 under my tuition. So, come, you must 
 send him a message of peace, or shall 
 I spare him to ride over here one 
 day?" 
 
 Effie hated the woman already, but asked 
 so pointedly, and perplexed what to say, 
 she began, — 
 
 " Oh, yes, send him over." Then there 
 flashed upon her the peril she was in- 
 viting to herself, and speaking with more 
 earnestness of manner than the occasion 
 warranted, went on, " Oh, no, Mrs Falk- 
 ner, don't ; please don't send him over." 
 And by this she gave herself away to the 
 enemy. 
 
 Doctor Kennedy now felt assured he 
 had fathomed the secret treasured so closely
 
 1 68 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 in her heart by Effie MacDonald. There- 
 fore, being consulted or referred to by 
 Mrs Falkner, who treated him after the 
 manner of a father confessor, he at once 
 gave it out as his firm conviction, that 
 there was something far deeper than 
 mere regard or platonic friendship be- 
 tween the young lady whom they had 
 seen that afternoon, and. the young 
 hussar whom they would meet again at 
 dinner. 
 
 Before he left, however, Doctor Kennedy 
 had had long and serious conversation 
 with Effie regarding her cottage hospital, 
 and the treatment of her patients, in- 
 doors and out, and, indeed, he promised 
 to come over within the next few days, 
 and did so. 
 
 During this visit he went more fully 
 into the " ways and means," and dis- 
 cussed all matters connected with the 
 maintenance of the little hospital Effie 
 had built. Also, he stayed to tea, and 
 was more than astonished at himself be- 
 cause of the admiration with which she 
 inspired him. 
 
 But from his youth upwards, whether at
 
 Doctor Kennedy solves It. 1 69 
 
 home as a medical student at St Bar- 
 tholomew's, or abroad, in the German uni- 
 versities, he had ever been ardently devoted 
 to the other sex, and whatever failings or 
 vices had dominated his otherwise strong 
 personality had had their origin here. If it 
 had been possible for him to have wrecked 
 his career, woman or women would have 
 been the cause. His record, as it was, had 
 been smirched and blotted by intrigue, 
 liaisons unworthy of so profound a scholar, 
 and of one whose insight into the deeper 
 truths of existence might at least have 
 preserved him from the grosser forms of 
 dissipation. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all this, his higher 
 nature had once or twice been awakened 
 to the purer forms of worship, and before 
 thirty years of age he had become the 
 loved and the loving husband of an ideal 
 woman, whose decease he mourned with 
 genuine sorrow. But, released from the 
 trammels of domestic life, the spirit of 
 the wanderer took hold upon him, and he 
 was not untrue to human nature, in that 
 after many years the haunts he had de- 
 serted were frequented by him once again.
 
 1 70 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 And now that his blood was running more 
 sluggishly in his veins, the fast society, the 
 companionship of men his juniors, and with 
 not half his brains, had grown distasteful 
 to him, and once more cutting his cable, 
 he had for several years devoted himself 
 with frantic earnestness to the study of 
 clairvoyance, hypnotism, and the occult in 
 general. 
 
 On the shady side of forty, and as 
 he approached the half-century, he felt 
 ready to divide his remaining years 
 between his mysterious studies and the 
 love he still felt capable of offering 
 to some cultivated and sympathetic 
 woman. 
 
 Determined and unscrupulous, former 
 successes had made him confident of 
 winning where his affections and his will 
 inclined him. Money, however, was re- 
 quisite ; this granted, he was ready to 
 throw^ his glove into the arena, and take 
 his chance against all comers, for the 
 prize on which he had set his heart or 
 his judgment. 
 
 No idea of Miss MacDonald had 
 taken as yet possession of his mind, but
 
 Doctor Kennedy solves It. 171 
 
 it was prepared to receive the impres- 
 sion. 
 
 After her visit to Carrickmanon Castle, 
 Violet Falkner made little or no mention 
 of Effie MacDonald to Harry Kingscote, 
 except by way of alluding to her engage- 
 ment with Borthwick, and of the worldly 
 wealth and social position which would 
 attend the alliance. 
 
 Yet was she very careful to keep him 
 ever by her side, to invent the excuses 
 w^hich should detain him, and prevent 
 a ride over to Carrickmanon Castle, 
 and mayhap a tete-a-tete there, saying, 
 " You could never dream, surely, of mark- 
 ing that weary journey to talk to an 
 engaged young lady who can't care a row 
 of pins to see you ; " and once when he 
 touched on the subject later, and ex- 
 pressed his intention of riding over and 
 staying for luncheon there, she gave 
 him to understand pretty plainly that 
 Effie had commissioned her to say she 
 hoped he would not consider it neces- 
 sary to do so, or that she expected it 
 of him. 
 
 Taking the grounds of truth and ex-
 
 172 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 pediency, no doubt Mrs Falkner was right, 
 and justified herself therewith. 
 
 But with all her selfishness, and despite 
 her inveterate habit of appropriating to 
 herself, if possible, all that was attractive 
 or desirable in life, there had come 
 to her, commingled, a dangerous hap- 
 piness in the society of Harry Kings- 
 cote, a feeling that she could not exist 
 without his companionship and his adora- 
 tion. 
 
 The work of subjugation which, from 
 her natural tendency, and in a spirit 
 of diablerie^ she had commenced, had de- 
 veloped into a passion she was losing all 
 control of 
 
 What of Mr Falkner ? Accustomed too 
 long to his partner's frequent and un- 
 concealed flirtations or love affairs — call 
 them which you will — and to the 
 homage she received and exacted from 
 all men, he regarded with indiffer- 
 ence the appearance or disappearance of 
 ephemeral suitors, believing his wife heart 
 whole and impervious to deeper and more 
 dangerous feelings. So much the case 
 was this that he often was twitted by
 
 Doctor Kennedy solves It. 173 
 
 those most intimate with him on Mrs 
 Falkner's "last young man," and asked 
 if so and so was going to be "put on 
 the strength. ' 
 
 Contented, therefore (very), with the 
 shooting, the wines, and the cuisine, 
 Eobert Falkner ascended to his "perch" 
 after his four- year- old mutton and Lafitte, 
 many pipes, and some odd whiskies in 
 the billiard-room, with no greater mental 
 anxiety than w^h ether the prickings he 
 felt in his fingers and toes would develop 
 into the gout he dreaded, and incapaci- 
 tate him from further physical enjoyment, 
 or not. 
 
 Yet live through the visit, without 
 being placed liors de combat, he did, 
 and was nothing loth of a change when 
 the day for departure arrived. But Mrs 
 Falkner failed in her attempt to bring 
 Harry Kingscote with them. On one 
 excuse and another he lingered behind. 
 He said he had promised a neighbouring- 
 squire to shoot a particular beat next 
 day, and the day after that, there was 
 such a good meet, he really must attend 
 it ; and thus chiming in with the hos-
 
 174 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 pitable entreaty of his host, Harry found 
 himself free to follow his own devices 
 without let or hindrance from man or 
 womankind.
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 effie's lettee. 
 
 After that beat we wot of had been shot, 
 and the run with the staghounds ridden, 
 Harry's thoughts reverted to Carrickmanon 
 Castle. In spite of all other attractions 
 and malignant influence, and his endeavour 
 to uproot her memory, Efiie MacDonald was 
 still the polestar of his existence. 
 
 Should he go over ? and if he did, what 
 hope was there left him of conquering the 
 decrees of a bitter fate ? If, on the con- 
 trary, he remained at home, Mrs Falkner s 
 message was an all-sufficient excuse, putting 
 any other evidence out of court. Yet, 
 despite the engagement, and despite the 
 inference he might have drawn from Miss 
 MacDonald's conduct at the meet, he con-
 
 176 Betwixt Tivo Lovers. 
 
 tinued to discount that message, and mis- 
 trust its bearer. 
 
 Again and again he went through the pros 
 and cons, and debated with himself the 
 advantages and disadvantages of the pro- 
 jected visit, but, as is ever the case, the 
 stronger motive prevailed — to see her face 
 to face, and, if for a second only, to hold 
 her hand in his. Yet he started with this 
 resolve half formed, and with the alter- 
 native of retreating before he reached the 
 castle. But the further he progressed, the 
 more confirmed it became within him. 
 Onwards he rode, a little uneasy in his 
 mind, and a little conscience troubled in 
 that he had been not altogether blameless 
 in his lovemaking with Mrs Falkner ; but, 
 when the gateway was reached, his one and 
 only thought was Effie Macdonald, the girl 
 he was being so cruelly deprived of Surely 
 that was her in the dark-grey dress, with 
 the blue neckerchief round her throat, her 
 form, her figure, it could be no other ? And 
 the light-brown hair, with the golden sheen 
 upon it, he saw as she turned her head 
 from the window was hers. With feverish 
 anxiety he jumped down and rang the bell.
 
 Effies Letter. 1 77 
 
 a peal that resounded throughout the entire 
 house. Effie had seen, but she was not the 
 only one who had descried the approach of 
 the cavalier, for, standing with his hands 
 in his pockets, the while he hummed a tune 
 and anathematised the accounts which had 
 kept him in the most of the afternoon, her 
 brother Dick also recognised the young 
 hussar, and turning to his sister, he laid 
 his hand upon her, and speaking in a kindly 
 voice, said to her, — 
 
 " Will you see him, Effie ? It can do no 
 good — better not." (Ned Borthwick had 
 told him something, and he had divined the 
 rest.) Then, seeing she appeared irresolute, 
 he added, " But do as you like ; don't mind 
 me. However, I'll ring up Johnson any- 
 way. Shall I say * Not at home ' ? " 
 
 To his question Effie made no reply, but 
 turned herself away towards the other 
 window, and there, in the attitude we have 
 seen her in before, with her arms stretched 
 out above her head, and the palms of her 
 hands clasped upwards, just gazed into the 
 dying sunlight, and the darker clouds that 
 were ribbed with bars of fire. And there 
 came once more into her eyes that inquir- 
 VOL. I. M
 
 178 Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 ing look, as though she would read in the 
 fading splendours of light and dark the 
 future, and all that it held for her of weal 
 and woe. As in a dream, she heard the 
 order given, while conflicting feelings of 
 the love she would not yet acknowledge, 
 the duty she owed to her betrothed, and 
 something of resentment at Harry's attach- 
 ment to Mrs Falkner, though she could lay 
 claim to no allegiance over him, swept 
 through her. Yet as she gazed at the 
 darkening clouds her features straightened 
 with resolve, a newborn purpose in her 
 mind, and turning from the window as she 
 dropt her arms, she said within herself, " I 
 will." 
 
 Harry Kingscote had been given the con- 
 ventional . phrase, by the butler, which may 
 mean so little or so much, and stared at 
 him with astonishment and incredulity ; but 
 he read in the stolid countenance of that 
 worthy and inscrutable servant that he 
 was receiving his conge, and that the de- 
 cree for his banishment from the home of 
 Effie MacDonald had already gone forth. 
 
 In the topmost story of King John's 
 Tower was Effie's chamber, commonly called
 
 Effies Letter. if^g 
 
 the eyrie. There in the morning were the 
 brightest views, for, looking north and east, 
 it took the rising sunlight, and you saw 
 how the waters of the lough first glowed 
 and sparkled as it kissed them with its 
 earliest beams. But it was also more ex^ 
 posed to the storms of wind and rain, that 
 were wont to beat so vehemently at night 
 against its solid masonry, while the tempest 
 roared and whistled through the pointed 
 gables of the roof, and the very tower 
 seemed to shake on its strong foundations, 
 in the conflict of the elements. 
 
 The room itself was small and homely ; 
 the deep embrasures of the windows 
 afforded nooks for seats and shelves for the 
 books which Eflie loved, and tasteful fittings 
 such as a girl takes pleasure in. Water- 
 colour sketches on the walls, Algerian hang- 
 ings, and soft white muslin curtains, picked 
 out with cherry bows, gave cheeriness and 
 light. But upstairs that night Effie paced 
 the limits of her little chamber to and fro, 
 and the tempest that beat so wildly outside 
 the walls seemed in harmony with the 
 storm of conflicting emotions by which she 
 was rent and harassed. Here, on one side.
 
 i8o Betwixt Two Lovers. 
 
 lay her engagement, her duty to her 
 afHanced lover, and what swayed her still 
 more strongly, her promise, her solemn 
 obligation as she regarded it, to her dying 
 father, and she looked forward with dismay 
 to her non-fulfilment of it. Then there 
 was the love she felt for Harry Kingscote. 
 She could no longer pretend to herself that 
 she did not love him, or stifle those feel- 
 ings any further ; they had mastered her, 
 they filled up her life and its horizon. 
 
 Every moment that she lived she re- 
 garded with greater aversion the carrying 
 out of that contract from which all the 
 spirit of love had fled, and left it void and 
 barren. Even if Harry Kingscote never 
 came again to woo and win her, she could 
 not truthfully give herself to Edward 
 Borthwick ; and in this frame of mind 
 she paused, and looked up reverently at 
 her father's portrait. 
 
 " Father," she almost cried, " I cannot 
 ^o this. You would not have me false, 
 perjure myself, if I professed a love I did 
 not feel. So true yourself, you would have 
 me true, or I could not be worthy of you, 
 9,nd the love you gave me. Look down on
 
 Effies Letter. i8i 
 
 me with pity, father. I feel you would not 
 contemn, but release me from my promise, 
 if you were here." 
 
 Then she sat herself wearily clown beside 
 the blazing logs, and with feet upon the 
 fender, gave herself up to thought, till the 
 fire burnt low, and out ; then, shivering at 
 the chill of dawn, she started up, and hastily 
 providing herself with pens and paper, 
 wrote an epistle, of which the following is 
 an extract : — 
 
 " I know I must give you some pain by 
 writing this letter, that is, if you have 
 really and truly loved me, and looked for- 
 ward to that home coming we talked of, 
 for then you will have a bitter disappoint- 
 ment to bear. And I, you have thought me 
 incapable of breaking my promise to you, 
 but I am proving myself less true than 
 others. Oh, Ned, I cannot, I cannot in- 
 deed, continue to be your promised wife. 
 Ever since we parted, the conviction has 
 grown upon me more and more that I can 
 never love you as you deserve. I have 
 fought against this feeling, and tried so 
 hard to look forward to a time when I could
 
 1 82 Betwixt Two Lovers, 
 
 give you my whole heart. Believe me I 
 have, Ned, and that 1 would be doing you 
 a far greater wrong by marrying you with 
 these feelings than by breaking our en- 
 gagement. And I know you will be 
 generous, and forgive me, Ned. You will 
 find someone more worthy of your love 
 than I am, and that your life may be a 
 happy one, is my most earnest wish." . . . 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
 
 X