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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 AUG 16 1583
 
 |llnl4»il?.^auluj[

 
 SOCIEIT IN A GAEEISON TOWN. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 BT THE AUTHOE OP 
 
 " MYSELF AND MY RELATIVES," &o. 
 
 ** Tyranny is a great evil, and to give despotic power to any 
 individual, is to encourage sucli an evil." 
 
 VOL. L 
 
 fmiJKm: 
 
 T. CAUTLEY NEWBY, PUBLISHER, 
 
 30, WELBECK STREET, CAVENDISH SQUAEE, 
 
 1869. 
 
 [all bights BXSSBYBI).]
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 MISS M. R. DARBY SMITH, 
 
 THIS WORK IS DEDICATED 
 
 WITH THE AUTHOES BEST REGAKD: 
 
 AS A SLIGHT TESTIMONY OF RESPECT 
 
 to FOR 
 
 CD 
 
 HER SYMPATHY WITH THE SUFFERING AND THE OPPRESSED, 
 
 OF WHATEVER RACE OR COLOUR, 
 
 IN WHICH EXTENDED SYMPATHY SHE RESEMBLES 
 
 HER DISTINGUISHED SCOTTISH ANCESTOR, CHIEF- JUSTICE LOGAN, 
 
 THE FOUNDER OF THE LOGANIAN LIBRARY AT PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE FRIEND, AND IN HIS EARLY YEARS, THE SECRETARY 
 
 OF WILLIAM PENN. 
 
 A 
 
 4- 
 
 4
 
 SOCIETY m A GAERISON TOWN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF NOEHAM AND THE 
 BOUVERIES. 
 
 On the morning of Friday, the 4th of De- 
 <5eniber, 1857, the postman, going on his 
 official rounds in the neighbourhood of Nor- 
 ham, hurried up the avenue to Evergreen 
 Villa, the residence of Captain Bouverie, 
 where he had to deliver two letters. The 
 town of Norham was chiefly remarkable for 
 its antiquity, its narrow streets, and its 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 large garrison. Cavalry, infantry, and artil- 
 lery occupied the grim and massive barracks 
 which formed a principal feature of the place; 
 while the General commanding the district 
 being also stationed there with his staff, 
 added to the importance of this military 
 locale. Close by the back wall of the barracks 
 ran a broad river, rippling brightly in the 
 sun on warm summer days, or rushing along 
 with sullen plash under the dark skies of 
 winter. Its waters were spanned by a hand- 
 some bridge, which formed a pleasant pro- 
 menade for the townspeople on summer 
 evenings, when the military bands played. 
 An old castle with a tall tower frowned from 
 a height over the town and river, and formed 
 a pretty substantial fortification, in addition 
 to various batteries and outworks, heavily 
 mounted with cannon, round other parts of 
 the town. Except in its military capacity, 
 Norham was not a particularly important 
 place. A few coal and timber vessels and 
 fishing-smacks were to be seen in the har-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 3 
 
 bour ; but the trade was not very brisk there, 
 and the shopkeepers chiefly depended for 
 sales and profits on the custom of the military. 
 It was a quaint old town, with many curious 
 traces of ancient architecture to be seen in 
 its buildings. The surrounding country was 
 rather bleak, with bare moorlands stretching 
 northwards, and there were few gentlemen's 
 seats in the vicinity. Beyond its antiquity, 
 indeed, there was not much to interest 
 strangers in Norham ; and as, generally 
 speaking, the officers stationed there cared 
 little for relics of the past, they seldom failed 
 to pronounce it an extremely dull quarter. 
 At certain seasons of the year, such as were 
 sportsmen found occasional amusement in 
 hunting or shooting; ^but there was little 
 society in the neighbourhood, and, compared 
 to the number of the sterner sex, but a scanty 
 supply of ladies. 
 
 Norham was not like some other country 
 •towns, where the belles can be counted by 
 
 B 2
 
 4 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 the dozen and the beaux by twos and threes. 
 There were no festive gatherings there, where 
 the ladies outnumbered the gentlemen, or 
 where the men took airs on themselves, and 
 would only be agreeable as fancy suited 
 them. It was the poor young officers, who 
 had no money besides their pay, and the 
 elderly, ill-favoured bachelor majors and 
 colonels, who were growing bald or stout, 
 who found themselves de trop at a ball in the 
 neighbourhood. More than one unfortunate 
 wight, who had been the pride and support 
 of social gatherings in other regions, found 
 himself, upon his arrival at Norham, dwin- 
 dling down to the most lamentable insignifi- 
 cance, with scarce enough heart or hope left 
 to permit him to place his cap on one side, or 
 tighten his waist, as of yore. The very 
 servant maids hardly deigned to look out of 
 windows when the jaunty troopers clattered 
 through the narrow streets on sparkling 
 chargers; and the blast of bugles, rending 
 the air at morning, noon, and night, was only
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 5 
 
 regarded like the humming of insects, or any 
 other customary sound, scarcely noticeable. 
 
 "When Captain Frederick Bouverie, with his 
 wife and family, came to settle at Norham, his 
 children were very young, and his only son 
 just beginning his career at Eton. The 
 younger son of a man who had considerable 
 landed property. Captain Bouverie was well 
 connected, but not wealthy for his rank of 
 life, and, accustomed as he had always been 
 to associate with men who were much better 
 off in a worldly point of view than himself, 
 he naturally thought his means very limited. 
 
 When only a lieutenant in his regiment, he 
 happened to be quartered at Norham, where 
 he fell in love with the lady who afterwards 
 became Mrs. Bouverie, and who had a very 
 limited fortune, like the generality of pretty 
 women who captivate extremely young men 
 of small incomes. Had she possessed a 
 larger fortune, it is probable she would not 
 have married Frederick Bouverie ; but a 
 stern grandmother, who thought herself pru-
 
 6 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 dent, and a violent-tempered aunt, who had 
 undertaken to guide her in the path of life, 
 as she had lost her parents in childhood, con- 
 sidered that the sooner she was provided for 
 the better ; and thus, when Mr. Bouverie 
 proposed for her, they favoured his suit, and 
 persuaded their young relative to accept him, 
 and become what they called " settled/' 
 
 There is one great advantage in being 
 settled for better or for worse, and that is, 
 that, generally speaking, it puts an end to 
 many vain dreamings and vague hopes. If 
 Mary Tredcroft had been indulging in 
 romantic speculations as to future wealth, 
 they were all put an end to by her marriage 
 with the young officer, who had scarcely any 
 income besides his military pay, although en- 
 cumbered with very extravagant notions as 
 to general expenditure. The world was, 
 happily, at peace in those days, and there 
 was no likelihood of a war that would cut off 
 senior officers, and send surviving juniors to 
 high places in the army list. Promotion was
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 7 
 
 slow, and the sons of Mars grew discontented, 
 and grumbled because there was no chance 
 of excitement. 
 
 After knocking about in military fashion 
 for some years, from one quarter to another — 
 sometimes in England, sometimes in Scot- 
 land 5 now in Malta, and again in England — 
 Frederick Bouverie, having attained the rank 
 of captain, was at length exasperated to sell 
 out of the army ; and he had just completed 
 the sale of his commission when Mrs. Tred- 
 croft, his wife's aunt, died, leaving her niece 
 a funded property of some thousands, and a 
 residence within a mile of Norham. This 
 bequest arrived very opportunely, as other- 
 wise the Bouveries, who had now three 
 children — two daughters and a son — might 
 have found themselves in very straitened cir- 
 cumstances. It was natural that they should 
 decide upon settling at Norham, where a 
 house and furniture were ready prepared for 
 them, and where a few connections and rela- 
 tives of Mrs. Bouverie still remained. Her
 
 8 SOCIEIY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 grandmother had died soon after her mar- 
 riage; but there were cousins of different 
 degrees of affinity sprinkled pretty thickly in 
 the neighbourhood, and people considered that 
 this fact would render a residence at Norham 
 particularly agreeable to her. The house be- 
 queathed to the Bouveries was named "Ever- 
 green Villa" — generally called merely " Ever- 
 green," in familiar conversation. It stood in 
 a small pleasure ground, tastefully planted ; 
 and the interior was furnished comfortably, 
 though in an old-fashioned manner. As soon 
 as Captain Bouverie heard of the will, which 
 put him and his wife in possession of an in- 
 crease of their income, his chief thought was 
 that he would send his son Dawson to Eton. 
 Having nothing else to think of, he now fixed 
 his hopes on this boy, who, "so far, was re- 
 markable for no particular brilliancy of 
 character. Bather selfish, rather idle, accus- 
 tomed to think a good deal of himself, Master 
 Dawson was already conceited, and averse to 
 doing anything that did not amuse or gratify
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. \) 
 
 him. When his father first proposed sending 
 him to Eton, Mrs. Bouverie made a feeble 
 resistance to the plan, considering that it 
 would take more money to keep him at that 
 select place of education than was quite con- 
 sistent with their income ; but her husband, 
 being of a contradictory nature, and having 
 his mind fixed steadily upon giving every ad- 
 vantage to his precious son, only grew more 
 determined to send him to Eton — and to Eton 
 therefore he was dispatched previous to the 
 rest of the family going to Norham. 
 
 " My dear, you do not consider what Daw- 
 son may be to us all yet," said the father, 
 when the boy was finally gone. '' E ecollect 
 that he is our only son, and it would be 
 strange, indeed, if we behaved in a niggardly 
 manner about his education." 
 
 "But I thought there might have been 
 some cheaper school that would do as well," 
 said the mother, in a hesitating manner. 
 " However, it is all done now, and I hope it 
 is for the best." 
 
 B 5
 
 10 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 *' Not a doubt of it/' declared the Captain, 
 holding himself up very straight, and looking 
 as if he knew quite well how matters would 
 tarn out in the future. " Dawson is not a boy 
 that will disappoint us." 
 
 Mrs. Bouverie hoped not, she said. What 
 she really thought it is hard to say — for be it 
 known that this poor woman had rarely ven- 
 tured to express her real opinion upon any 
 subject since she could first speak the English 
 language. A stern grandmother and a violent 
 tempered aunt had early taught her that she 
 was not expected to have decided views upon 
 any point, and she soon learned to keep her 
 thoughts to herself. Indeed, it might have 
 been almost questioned whether this system 
 of teaching had not almost the effect of 
 crushing all thoughts entirely. Her husband 
 not being blessed with the sweetest of tempers, 
 her marriage did not improve matters in this 
 respect. He could not bear contradiction, 
 and he was roused often to a pitch of fury by 
 the smallest opposition ; so that Mrs. Bouverie
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 11 
 
 found it prudent to express few opinions, and 
 to let him do pretty much as he pleased. 
 There were people intimately acquainted with 
 her who considered her a very quiet, namby- 
 pamby sort of woman — one who had milk-and- 
 water opinions upon most things, and a very 
 scanty supply of ideas altogether ; but whether 
 they were correct in their estimate of her 
 character could not be known positively. Mrs. 
 Bouverie's habit of keeping silen cehad the effect 
 of preserving peace at home, when otherwise 
 ttere might have been violent tempests raging 
 in the domestic circle 5 it had the effect of 
 preventing what might have been the result 
 of even one ill-judged speech — a separation 
 between husband and wife, and a home broken 
 up for ever. It takes two angry people to 
 make a quarrel — the bitter sentence that is 
 unanswered — the scorn that is not returned 
 will fall, comparatively powerless, to the 
 ground; and though IVIrs. Bouverie vouch- 
 safed no soft answer to turn away her hus- 
 band's wrath, which was generally most un-
 
 12 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 reasonable, she was yet enabled to live under 
 his roof by saying as little as possible, and 
 rarely venturing to give an opinion. Was 
 she really the meek woman of few ideas that 
 she appeared ? Were there no thoughts hid- 
 den far down in her breast that might one day 
 start up and burst out in a surprising manner? 
 Would she go down to her grave bearing the 
 same character of a stolid immovable sort of 
 being, difficult to interest or rouse; rather 
 stupid ; perhaps a little dogged occasionally, 
 and always walking in the same beaten track 
 — a woman who would never be talked of for 
 good or ill — a woman without enthusiasm or 
 impulsiveness — a thoroughly respectable lady, 
 who was never likely to forfeit the world's 
 esteem or countenance, but who was not 
 gifted with much of softness, or tender fee] ing, 
 or sympathy for the distressed ? Who could 
 presume to say? 
 
 The education of Captain Bouverie's 
 daughters was conducted by their mother, so 
 that they, at least, did not cost their parents
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 13 
 
 much money ; for even the books they learned 
 their lessons out of were cast-off books of 
 their brother's. The elder girl, Ellinor, was 
 inclined to be studious, and fond of retreating 
 to quiet comers, where she could read undis- 
 turbed ; but her sister Dora was less steady, 
 more impulsive, more thoughtless, and of a 
 rather hasty temper. Mrs. Bouverie had not 
 been particularly strict in bringing up her 
 daughters. Any one who had been aware of 
 the treatment she had received in her own 
 childhood would have discovered that the 
 system she adopted towards her children was 
 exactly opposite to that pursued towards her- 
 self by her grandmother and aunt. Without 
 petting them, she permitted her little girls to 
 do a good deal as they chose. In the nursery 
 they could talk as much as they pleased ; they 
 could read what story books they liked, and 
 arrange their toys precisely as appeared to 
 them best. It was only when they began to 
 quariel and talk too loudly that their mother 
 thought it proper to interpose her authority,
 
 14 SOCIETY IN A QAERISON TOWN. 
 
 chiefly because she was afraid their father 
 would hear the noise and grow angry. There 
 was nothing Captain Bouverie disliked more 
 than the sounds of children's cries, and of course 
 he held his wife responsible for every stray 
 scream from the nursery. No wonder, then, the 
 little girls were a good deal indulged to keep 
 them quiet ; but the treatment of the mother 
 was counter- balanced by that of the father, 
 who rarely saw them enter the room where 
 he was without looking at them with a stern 
 determination to find out something wrong 
 in their dress or manners ; and sometimes, if 
 in particularly ill-humour, he would strike 
 terror into their hearts by commencing to 
 ask them questions in geography or history, 
 or by setting them intricate sums to make up 
 on a slate. If they were unlucky enough to 
 make mistakes in answering these questions, 
 woe to both them and their teacher ! 
 
 Well, perhaps, it was for their good that 
 somebody should make them tremble occa- 
 sionally, and let them know that life was not
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 15 
 
 all pleasantness and peace — a pathway with- 
 out thorns. The little girls were of different 
 dispositions, but both felt alike for their 
 mother, when they heard their father sneer- 
 ing at the bad teaching they had received at 
 her hands, and the elder one, in particular, 
 tried to learn studiously, that papa might not 
 say such things again before mamma. 
 
 Dawson's career at Eton was chiefly re- 
 markable for all the money it cost. He 
 learned there to become skilled in cricket and 
 the art of expenditure. Never was there a 
 greater little dandy than he appeared when he 
 came home at vacation time to astonish his 
 mother and sisters with newly-acquired airs 
 and graces. His regular pocket money 
 exceeded what was spent upon each of the 
 girls for clothes — not to mention sundry 
 private sovereigns slipped into his hand by 
 his father when he was going back to Eton, 
 and often in the middle of the holidays. It 
 would have been decidedly shabby and repre- 
 hensible to stint the lad in money, or grudge
 
 16 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Hm what his companions all possessed^ 
 thought Captain Bouverie, and so far he was 
 probably right ; but then, what was the neces- 
 sity of placing hina among such companions ? 
 The interest of the few thousands left 
 by Mrs. Bouverie's aunt could not enable 
 Captain Bouverie to do all he wished; and 
 occasionally it was necessary to take up five 
 hundred pounds or so of capital to meet 
 expenses, till the capital began to diminish 
 considerably. There was no disagreeable 
 embarrassing clause in the aunt's will tying 
 up the money or leaving it for Mrs. Bouve- 
 rie' s " sole and separate use," or to the 
 children after her death. It had been simply 
 bequeathed to Mrs. Bouverie, and therefore it 
 was her husband's to do what he chose with. 
 As time progressed she found him just as 
 little inclined to pay her milliners' and dress- 
 makers' accounts as in the days previous to 
 getting this legacy — indeed there seemed to 
 be a perpetual scarcity of money at Ever- 
 green Yilla, insomuch that the little girls
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 17 
 
 Ellinor and Dora soon began to wonder how 
 it was that gold and silver coins were of so 
 much impoitance. The younger one ia par- 
 ticular, very early grew to think that there 
 was something very magical in the name of 
 money. Had she not but too frequently seen 
 her mother's blank face when a servant had 
 said, " Please, ma'am, So-and-so wants the 
 payment of his bill," and had she not likewise 
 observed ber father's terrific frown, and heard 
 his still more terrific words, when anyone 
 asked bim to settle an account? Indeed, so 
 firmly did she connect pounds, shillings, and 
 pence with vexation of spirit, that whenever 
 she saw her father looking unusually severe 
 or angry, she would steal softly from the room 
 and inform her nurse that " papa was cross 
 to-day about his money ;" and upon one 
 occasion she demanded of the said nurse how 
 people ever got to have money enough, or 
 grew rich after being once poor. 
 
 " Oh ! difierent wajs. Miss," said the
 
 18 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOW». 
 
 nurse; "some are bom rich, and some get 
 rich by working hard and saving up their 
 earnings ; but those are only the lower sorts 
 of folk, not fit company for the grand people 
 that never worked or earned anything.'' 
 
 ^ And if 1 wanted to grow rich and have 
 money of my own, how could I get it ?'' 
 
 " By marrying a rich husband, Miss Dora. 
 Some great fine officer will come to Norham 
 when you are a grown-up lady, and you'll be 
 so beautiful, he'll come to your papa and say 
 he must have you for his wife, and your papa 
 will agree; and so you'll be as rich as a 
 fairy queen, quite easy like.'*' 
 
 *' But, suppose I am not beautiful ?'' 
 
 *' There is no use in supposing that, for 
 you're beautiful already.'' 
 . "Ah! but Mrs. Sharpoint said the other 
 day that she hoped I was good, though I was 
 so ugly." 
 
 '' She only wanted to keep you from being 
 vain or growing conceited. Can't you look
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 19 
 
 in the glass and see what rosy cheeks and 
 pretty little features you have, and all that 
 lovely hair, like gold." 
 
 " And if I mary a rich officer, shall I have 
 silk frocks, like the General's daughters?" 
 
 " Oh ! ay ; and grander than them, for you 
 know they are ugly young ladies, and they 
 won't get rich husbands." 
 
 " Then I should be finer than them, and I 
 should make papa richer than the General." 
 
 " To be sure you would." 
 
 ** Was mamma pretty, Jane ?" 
 
 *'0h! dear, yes; the prettiest lady ever 
 was seen." 
 
 *' And why did not she marry some great, 
 rich officer ?" 
 
 "Because she liked your papa best; and 
 he was rich enough, too, for the matter of that." 
 
 " But he has no carriage and horses, and he 
 isn't as fine as the General ?" 
 
 '* Well, if he hasn't horses, he's better than 
 those that have them, and he is just as grand 
 as the General."
 
 20 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 At this point of the conversation our am- 
 bitions little friend began to think her nurse 
 was departing considerably from the truth in 
 her efforts to please, and, looking solemnly 
 into her face, she said, 
 
 "Jane, I am afraid you are wicked, and 
 telling me what is false. Papa is not as fine 
 as the General, and you know it." 
 
 And, perhaps, there came simultaneous 
 doubts as to her own extreme loveliness and 
 the likelihood of any rich officer coming to 
 marry her in future years. Yet her nurse's 
 words were not without effect. Long before 
 any one knew she had any idea beyond her 
 broken nosed doll and her tin cups and 
 saucers, she was dreaming of days to come, when 
 she would be able to despise the silk dresses 
 of the GeneraVs daughters — nay, the very 
 carriage in which the General and his family 
 so often drove by. Unhappily, little children 
 can be often very envious and very spiteful. 
 People are prone to think that envy and spite 
 only come with wrinkles, grey hairs, and
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 21 
 
 other deformities of advancing age ; but an 
 attentive observer of the human race will 
 soon discover that they exist in a strong de- 
 gree among the tiny occupants of nurseries, 
 among rosy-cheeked boys and girls learning 
 their lessons of life at school, and among 
 young men and women in the bloom of youth. 
 It would, of course, be pleasanter to think 
 otherwise ; but as long as we see little Johnny 
 of five and a half stamping with fury because 
 Tommy of four has got the largest piece of 
 bread and jam, or the newest hat, or hear 
 shrieks of agony rending the air because Lucy 
 of six has got red shoes, and her sister of 
 five has only black ones, we must admit the 
 miserable truth. Praise one young man to 
 another with whom he is acquainted, and 
 note if he will relish such praise. Speak of 
 the great talent and beauty of one young girl 
 to another who resides in the same town or 
 county, and observe if no shadow will cross 
 her face as she hears you. 
 
 Dear reader, I am afraid people do not wait
 
 22 SOCIETY IN A aAREISON TOWN. 
 
 to become old bachelors or old maids to grow 
 jealous and malignant. When you see a par- 
 ticularly spiteful elderly man or woman, you 
 will make a pretty correct surmise if you con- 
 sider he or she was, without doubt, spiteful 
 all through childhood and youth. If a young 
 lady begins to think of her own advantage at 
 eight or nine, she will probably be a good 
 deal more shrewd at eighteen or twenty. 
 Think what a long time ten or twelve years 
 is, and do not be surprised if the charming 
 girl who at seven years old used to tyrannise 
 over her younger sisters in the nursery — tak- 
 ing the largest apples and pears for herself— 
 will be a little anxious to help herself to the 
 good things of this life when she reaches tbe 
 age of seventeen. 
 
 With all her early dreaming, Dora Bouverie 
 was by no means a strange or eccentric little 
 girl. Fair, smiling, and bright-eyed, she 
 played with toys just like other children, 
 planted flower roots in her little garden, and 
 then soon picked them up again to see how
 
 SOCIETT IN A GARRISON TOWN, 23 
 
 they were progressing as to growth ; trundled 
 hoops, loved her mother, sister, and nurse, 
 and was both fond and afraid of her father. 
 EUinor was a much quieter girl, with many 
 dreams also, but of a different kind from those 
 of her sister. Hers was a most unselfish nature 
 and when she thought, it was nearly always 
 about others — seldom of herself. No tjrrant 
 of the nursery had she ever been, nor had she 
 €ver taken unfair advantage of her sister's 
 inferior size or strength to secure the best 
 things for herself. She was one of those 
 people who, without doing anything very 
 reprehensible themselves, are yet made to 
 suffer so often and so bitterly through the 
 follies and faults of others. 
 
 Dawson Bouverie's education was at length 
 supposed to be completed — the number of his 
 years, rather than the extent of his informa- 
 tion leading his father and himself to that 
 conclusion — and he entered the army as 
 ensign in an infantry regiment. He passed 
 his examination, before receiving his commis-
 
 24 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 sion, creditably enough. A friend of his 
 father's happening to be among those 
 appointed to put him and a few other 
 trembling youths through the terrible ordeal 
 of examination, the questions asked him 
 were, fortunately, not very puzzling, and 
 Captain Bouverie had tears in his eyes when 
 he beheld his son's name in the " Military 
 Gazette/' As for the youth himself, he was 
 disappointed that he could not have gone into 
 the Dragoons, and that the allowance from 
 his father was so small an addition to his 
 Ensign's pay. Mrs. Bouverie never knew 
 precisely how much her husband gave Daw- 
 son to assist his military income, but the 
 amount was such that the family circumstan- 
 ces were nearly as much straitened as 
 before the young gentleman had got a pro- 
 fession. Although she never made open 
 murmurings against the extravagant sums 
 lavished upon Dawson, Captain Bouverie had 
 an instinctive feeling that his wife was very 
 much averse to such lavish expenditure, and*
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 25 
 
 the time arrived when he felt ashamed to 
 confess the extent of the money he was 
 obliged to give his son. 
 
 Meanwhile the sisters grew up as well 
 as the brother, and at length their father 
 became rather proud of them. People whose 
 judgment he valued, complimented him on 
 the beauty of his daughters, and he felt gra- 
 tified ; but he was determined never to debase 
 himself by such a mean pursuit as husband 
 hunting on their behalf. Eather might they 
 marry the poorest men in Norham, or be re- 
 duced to beggary in a single state, than 
 that he should ever be accused, by grinning 
 men round mess tables, of trying to get his 
 daughters provided for. Had he not sat at 
 mess tables and grinned in like manner him- 
 self many a time, at the thoughts of poor 
 fathers striving to catch unwary men of for- 
 tune for their girls ? Yes, he knew all about 
 the inglorious business and the just odium it 
 incurred ; and he would never move an inch 
 to further the interests of either EUinor or 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 26 fiOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Dora in that respect. For this* reason the 
 door of Evergreen Villa was nearly always 
 closed against members of the military pro- 
 fession, and, indeed, against the male sex 
 generally. Captain Bouverie would encou- 
 rage no flirtations in his house, and he made 
 a point of only calling upon such officers as 
 he had been acquainted with previous to their 
 arrival at Norham — men who were usually of 
 sober age, and not likely to be very attrac- 
 tive to young ladies of eighteen or twenty. 
 
 Now and then the girls went out to parties 
 at the houses of other people • but there were 
 no entertainments given at Evergreen, and 
 even the invitations received were not always 
 accepted, as whenever Captain Bouverie 
 happened to be in ill-humour or low spirits, 
 he always objected to his daughters enjoying 
 themselves, and insisted on refusals being 
 sent to all notes of invitation arriving at such 
 periods. 
 
 Having thus presented to the reader a slight 
 sketch of the Bouveries, I shall now proceed
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 27 
 
 with an account of what occurred upon the 
 day on which this story opens, and which had 
 a remarkable efifect upon that family, and 
 also upon some other people at Norham. 
 
 As I have already stated, the postman 
 might have been seen hurrying at his usual 
 rapid pace up the avenue to Evergreen Villa. 
 The rain of the previous night was still 
 glittering on the bright leaves of laurels and 
 magnolias ; the gravelled walk was soaked 
 with wet ; but for the last hour the sun had 
 shone out cheerfully, and its wintry rays were 
 lighting up the damp prospect. There was 
 nothing particularly portentious in the aspect 
 of the sky, or in the whisper of the wind that 
 gently stirred the trees and bushes. It was a 
 mild, still winter day — so still that you could 
 hear the rush and roar of the swollen river 
 at Norham as it hurried along, seething under 
 the arches of the bridge, and tumbling in 
 noisy rapids farther off. 
 
 c 2
 
 28 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE TWO LETTERS OPENED AND READ. 
 
 Captain Bouverie always liked to rise early 
 in the morning, so that the breakfast hour at 
 Evergreen was seldom later than nine in 
 winter. Upon this particular day the family 
 at the villa had assembled at the usual time 
 in the breakfast room, and some of the party 
 had already concluded the morning repast. 
 The fire was beginning to fade even in the 
 pale light of the wintry sun ; a large grey cat 
 was sitting on the once handsome, but now
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 29 
 
 rather shabby beartb-mg, sbutting its eyes 
 occasionally with an air of sleepy satisfaction. 
 The heavy curtains that in bygone days had 
 cost so much money, hung round the win- 
 dows as thick and ponderous as of old, but 
 less bright in colour than when they first 
 came into possession of their present owners. 
 In like manner, the Brussels carpet on the 
 floor had become a wreck of its former bril- 
 liancy, and, though as soft to the foot as in 
 days of yore, was less pleasant to the eye than 
 when Mrs. Tredcroft purchased it from a 
 worthy tradesman of Norham, whose son now 
 reigned in his stead — ^buyer and seller of the 
 carpet being alike gathered to their fathers. 
 
 Captain Bouverie had just finished his first 
 egg, and taken possession of a second, when 
 the postman's knock sounded at the outer 
 door. It seemed a particularly loud, sharp 
 rat-tat, and Mrs. Bouverie winced a little as it 
 struck upon her ear. Some people can never 
 hear the postman's knock without a nervous 
 sinking of the heart. Happy are they who
 
 ^ 
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 have their letters and papers brought to fhein 
 in peacefiil country regions by the private and 
 unofficial messenger despatched each morning 
 to the neighbouring village, and who returns 
 quietly with the letter-bag, startling nobody 
 on his arrival. 
 
 " What can be coming to us to-day ?'' said 
 Dora Bouverie, with a faint flush of expect- 
 ancy on her fair cheek. She had risen from 
 the table, and was now standing in one of the 
 windows that looked into the garden, the sun- 
 light falling on her golden hair, which was 
 drawn off her face, and falling in short curls 
 at the back of her head. In her simple morn- 
 ing costume she looked very beautiful, the 
 delicate colour on her cheek being almost 
 a match for the pale pink of the China rose 
 she had fastened in the front of her dress. " I 
 wish it may be something pleasant/' she 
 added. 
 
 Captain Bouverie kept looking at the door 
 in vague expectancy also, and a frown of 
 impatience gathered on his brow as a delay
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 31 
 
 of some moments ensued before his curiosity 
 was gratified. 
 
 " How is it,'^ lie asked, turning to his wife, 
 " that the letters are not brought in instantly 
 on arriving ? What does it mean ? I insist 
 upon this system being altered, and — " 
 
 '' Miss Ellinor, two letters,'' whispered the 
 voice of Patty, the maid of all work, at the 
 door, interrupting the harangue of the gallant 
 captain. " My hands are dirty Miss, or I'd 
 go in with them myself." 
 
 Ellinor hastened to the door, and took the 
 itwo letters from the servant, who held them 
 daintily between her finger and thumb, look- 
 ing as though she had just emerged from the 
 dust-pit. It was only of late that the estab- 
 lishment at Evergreen had been reduced to 
 one servant. 
 
 On first coming to Norham, the Bouveries 
 rejoiced in five domestics, who gradually dwin- 
 dled down to smaller numbers, till the kitchen 
 was left to the .sple charge of one solitary 
 rfemale, who might have found black beetles
 
 32 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 and mice, with an occasional cricket chirping 
 in the oven — rather dreary company in the 
 long winter evenings, if there had not been a 
 good deal of work to do, and if the master did 
 not " put the life across her with a frown like 
 a thunder-cloud," if she did not send up 
 spoons, and urn, and knives and forks, and 
 boots all aglow with polishing; to say 
 nothing of linen to be made up in the neatest 
 manner, and unexpected orders to run to 
 Norham and back in twenty minutes to 
 execute some message, whether the rain was 
 pouring heavily or the wind blowing a hur- 
 ricane. 
 
 The occasional presence of Miss Ellinor in 
 the kitchen was a relief also to the unhappy 
 denizen of that lower region, for she was 
 never afraid of receiving a harsh word 
 from that young lady, who could only bring 
 herself with an effort to find fault, even when 
 fault-finding was necessary. So now, with a 
 wild look of embarrasment, in consequence of 
 her untidy appearance, Patty appealed to Miss
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 33 
 
 EUinor in the matter of the letters, and was 
 glad to escape to her work below without 
 being obliged to '^ face into the parlour/' as 
 Bbe expressed it. 
 
 "Disgusting!" ejaculated the Captain, as 
 Ellinor gave him one of the letters without 
 looking at the handwriting that directed it. 
 The other epistle was on delicate note paper, 
 and contained an invitation to a party that 
 evening. 
 
 " An invitation from Miss Barnard, 
 mamma,'' said Dora. " The General is to 
 have a party this evening, and we are 
 asked." 
 
 " Odd to give such short notice," observed 
 Mrs. Bouverie, without betraying much, in- 
 terest in the matter. 
 
 ^' This note was written early yesterday, 
 and should have come last night. However, 
 Miss Barnard says they are only to have a few 
 friends," continued Dora. 
 
 " "Which generally means that the rooms 
 will be crammed full," said Mrs. Bouverie. 
 
 c 2
 
 34 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Oh, I think not. Sir Ealph never gives 
 very large parties ; but it is provoking that 
 the invitation did not come before, as I want 
 my blue tarletan altered, and I would never 
 be able to do it now." 
 
 ''Perhaps I might do it in time," said 
 Ellinor. 
 
 " I don't know. Tf you began it and I did 
 hot finish the work, it would be worse 
 than ever, as I could not wear it at all." 
 
 " I think I could have it done in time." 
 
 '* But there is ribbon wanting, and lace for 
 the trircming, and I hate going out to shop 
 on the day of a party ; one gets so fatigued 
 and dull all the evening after. That stupid 
 Patty might go for the ribbon, only she 
 would be sure to bring green if I said blue." 
 
 " Can't Ellinor go ?" asked Mrs. Bouverie, 
 quietly. 
 
 " Ob, how could she go and alter my gown 
 too." 
 
 " I think I could manage both undertak- 
 ings," said Miss Bouverie.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 35 
 
 "■Then, if you go out, you might bring me 
 a little of that pretty lace I saw in Miss 
 Gruraberry's window — or, perhaps it was at 
 Benson's— I really am not sure ; but it was 
 somewhere in Church Street— a very pretty 
 pattern, which they said the empress of the 
 French had some just like on her last ball 
 dress ; and then, if you go as far as that, you 
 could call in at Hodson's about artificial 
 flowers and white shoes.'' 
 
 " You surely do not want new white shoes 
 yet?" said Mrs. Bouverie. 
 
 " Oh, the last I got are quite shabby, and 
 look like boats. I could not wear them any 
 more. Ellinor, do you think the new aide- 
 de-camp came yesterday? Major Tattler said 
 he was to come, when we were speaking to 
 him on the bridge on Tuesday." 
 
 " 1 suppose he did.'' 
 
 " I wonder what he is like. I must look 
 out for him in the Peerage." 
 
 " Why the Peerage ? Would not the Army 
 List do ?" asked Mrs. Bouverie, who rarely
 
 36 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 looked anywhere but straight before her, and 
 seldom raised her eyes in speaking. 
 
 "He is a nephew of Lord Killeevan^s 
 mamma, — that is the reason we must find out 
 about his family in the Peerage." 
 
 " Not the heir to the title, you may be 
 sure," said the mother. 
 
 " But we can see how far from it he is. 
 EUinor, hand out the Peerage/' 
 
 The Peerage in question happened to be 
 sixteen years old, and not altogether satisfac- 
 tory. Dora handled it dexterously, and soon 
 turned to the required place. 
 
 " Here he is — I mean his uncle, or grand- 
 father — ' Eodney St George, Viscount Killee- 
 van, county of Donegal — in the Peerage of 
 Ireland — born 1776, succeeded on the death 
 of his father, 1805— married 20th April, 1800, 
 Hon. Charlotte de Poyntz, third daughter of 
 Charles, ninth Earl of Baldbeek, &c., &c., 
 &c.' Oh, I suppose the new aide-de-camp is 
 one of the grandsons of this old gentleman," 
 said Dora ; " but how provoking that we
 
 SOCIETY IN A GABRISON TOWN. 37 
 
 cannot know whicli ; I am afraid, however, 
 he has no chance of the title at all events. 
 We should positively get a new Peerage." 
 
 *' Take care of the leaves dropping out of 
 the book, Dora," observed Mrs Bouverie, 
 waminglj, as her daughter still held the vol- 
 ume, which had already undergone a good 
 deal of wear and tear, and was now consider- 
 ably dilapidated. 
 
 " I should like to have my name here,'* 
 said Dora, tapping the book with her delicate 
 forefinger. " I wish I was Lady Something 
 or other, or even an Honourable/* 
 
 " Put up the sugar, EUinor," observed IVIrs. 
 Bouverie, looking straight before her ; '' and 
 see that the fire is not going out." 
 
 " Ellinor, put down a list of the things I 
 want, so that you may remember them when 
 you are going out," said Dora. And Ellinor 
 immediately took out her pencil and pocket- 
 book, and wrote the required list, without 
 asking her sister to repeat the items before- 
 mentioned.
 
 38 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 So far no one had noticed Captain Bouverie's 
 aspect as lie perused the letter that the post 
 had brought for him that morning. With his 
 back turned to the breakfast table, so that 
 his face was not seen as he bent over the fire- 
 place, he had opened the envelope and read 
 its contents, growing paler and paler as he 
 went through them. 
 
 A dreadful threat was shadowed forth in 
 that letter — a threat that made the blood of 
 the reader freeze ; and yet no coward was 
 he. Frederick Bouverie would not have 
 shrunk from the deadliest strife of battle that 
 soldier was ever summoned to; he would 
 have braved any danger almost ; yet his heart 
 sank, and his head became giddy, till a feel- 
 ing of actual faintness oppressed him as he 
 put that letter back into its envelope with 
 fingers that trembled. No more breakfast 
 was needed for him that morning.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 39 
 
 CHAPTEE III, 
 
 MR. AND MRS. BARR, 
 
 On that same day, at a rather late hour, 
 Abraham Barr, upholsterer and cabinet 
 maker, stood at the door of his house in 
 Church Street, Norham. He was a man of 
 about forty-seven, decidedly plain in appear- 
 ance, with something sinister in his cast of 
 countenance ; his figure was slight and of the 
 middle height, the neck being rather long and 
 the shoulders somewhat narrow, though the 
 man was muscular and very strong ; his face
 
 40 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 was remarkable from the fact that one eye 
 was darker in colour than the other ; the 
 nose was long and curiously shaped, the chin 
 short and slightly prominent; his hair was 
 thick, dark, and curling, witli scarcely a white 
 streak running through it. He was clothed 
 respectably for his class of life — shabby enough 
 for a tradesman who did nearly all his own 
 work, and sufficiently well dressed for a man 
 who was comparatively independent. Abra- 
 ham Barr had always been regarded as an 
 honest individual, and was well spoken of by all 
 who had dealings with him,cxcept, perhaps, the 
 officers at Norham, to whom he hired out easy 
 chairs, screens, carpets, &c., with which to 
 deck their dingy barrack-rooms, and who did 
 not scruple to call him sundry unflattering 
 names when his bills for the hiring of the said 
 furniture became due ; but, as such epithets 
 are not unfrequently applied by gentlemen 
 without discrimination to tradesmen who dare 
 to demand payment lawfully due, it cannot be 
 inferred from this that the upholsterer was
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARKISON TOWN. 41 
 
 either an extortioner or one who over-reached 
 his customers. His father had been a 
 Methodist, and Abraham was rather given to 
 singing hymns in his workshop while varnish- 
 ing up old sofas and chairs, or executing de- 
 signs in mosaic. In other respects he did not 
 seem particularly pious. He was of a sarcas- 
 tic turn of mind, and did not think well of the 
 world in general. Of the inhabitants of Nor- 
 ham his opinion was remarkably low. There 
 was not a confectioner, grocer, saddler, baker, 
 butcher, or haberdasher in the town that he 
 considered worthy of confidence; and there 
 were individuals in higher spheres of life 
 whom he regarded as scarcely less objection- 
 able. Yet this man of suspicious and dis- 
 trustful nature was a most excellent domestic 
 character — one who, so far, had proved him- 
 self a good husband and father ; and, perhaps, 
 one of the few persons whom he looked upon 
 as perfectly worthy of trust in the world was 
 his wife — though, according to his own ac- 
 count, he had not married for love, but rather
 
 42 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 out of pique, to show his indifference to a 
 young woman who had jilted him. Mrs. Barr 
 was not a pretty woman, nor had she ever 
 been even passably good-looking ; neither 
 was she a person of very demonstrative affec- 
 tion or tenderness ; but she was a woman of 
 extremely strict principle. What she con- 
 sidered right that she did, and nothing would 
 persuade her to act contrary to whatever 
 moral code she supposed correct. Brought 
 up by a Quaker mother — though not a Quaker 
 herself — she was imbued by some of the ideas 
 that particularly distinguish the Society of 
 Friends ; but, though she differed consider- 
 ably from her husband in opinion on various 
 subjects, they were still much attached to each 
 other, never having so far disagreed materially 
 upon any matter of serious importance. Like 
 most wives in her rank of life, Mrs. Barr was 
 the treasurer of the family finances, and such 
 money as was not deposited in the bank was 
 always handed over by Abraham to her as 
 soon as it come into his possession, as he well
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 4^ 
 
 knew that it was safer with her than with 
 himself. So the upholsterer stood this day at 
 the door of his house — not a shop, reader, but 
 a private house, of which the upper rooms 
 were let in lodgings — and, looking up and 
 down the street, he beheld a man, bearing the 
 aspect of an officer's servant, coming towards 
 him. 
 
 " Good morning. Smith,'' said he, as the 
 man stopped near him ; " does your master 
 want anything else, to-day ? I've just got an 
 uncommon nice easy chair, covered in the 
 same sort of damask that he got for the win- 
 dow curtains." 
 
 " rU look at it," replied Smith; '' but at 
 present it's the picture-frame he wants, that 
 he sent here a month ago.'' 
 
 " Ay, so he did. That was a great mis- 
 take of mine ; I forgot it altogether." 
 
 "Just the same way always, Barr," ob- 
 served !Mrs. Barr, who was passing by, wish- 
 ing her husband would not waste his time
 
 44 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 standing at the open door and letting in tlie 
 chilly winter air. 
 
 " Come to the workshop, and look at the 
 chair any way, '* said Abraham, leading the 
 way through the somewhat narrow hall to the 
 yard at the back of the house, where stood 
 the upholsterer's workshop. 
 
 *' You shouldnH have that way of leaving 
 one bit of work to go to another," said 
 Mrs. Barr, who happened to be going also 
 to the workshop ; "it disappoints custo- 
 mers." 
 
 " Oh, no matter," said the obliging Smith, 
 " ni not mention anything about it to the 
 captain, and he'll be likely to forget it for 
 another while ; he isn't over-particular that 
 way. How cold the day is, Mr. Barr ; I 
 thought the wind would cut through me when 
 I was coming over the bridge." 
 
 " Has the General's edge-a-cong come 
 yet ?" asked Barr, trying to turn the conver- 
 sation.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 45 
 
 " Yes, came yesterday." 
 
 " Did he so ? Eichard, get your cap, and 
 take one of those cards of mine up to the 
 edge-a-cong's quarters, and leave it for Mr. 
 St. George ; that's his name. Do you hear ? 
 and stop that nonsense. '' 
 
 This mandate was addressed to a youth of 
 fifteen or so, who was in the vicinity, occu- 
 pied in teaching a dog to stand on his hind 
 legs. Kichard continued to instruct the dog. 
 
 " Will you get your cap, I say, and take 
 my card up to the new edge-a-cong's quar- 
 ters ?" repeated the father, sternly. 
 
 "Eichard!" said the mother, warningly. 
 But it was not till Abraham had made a con- 
 vulsive rush towards the immovable youth 
 that he chose to abandon his pursuit, and go 
 in search of one of the cards alluded to. 
 
 Abraham Barr's cards set forth the infor- 
 mation that he was able to supply every 
 description of military furniture, for sale or 
 hire, on the lowest possible terms ; that he 
 now returned his warmest thanks for the past
 
 46 SQGIETT IN A OARBISON TOWN. 
 
 custom of officers at Norham, and solicited a 
 continuance of such unbounded patronage, 
 &c., &c. Whenever a fresh regiment or bat- 
 tery of artillery arrived at Norham, it was the 
 upholsterer^ s first care to distribute a number 
 of his cards at the barracks, and thus apprise 
 the newly-arrived officers of his calling and 
 capabilities. Even the fact of a single aide- 
 de-camp coming to the town was not to bQ 
 overlooked. A card must surely be sent to 
 him ; for, being merely human, it was to be 
 expected he would require a sofa, or carpet, 
 or some such article of adornment or comfort 
 for his quarters. 
 
 "Mr. St. George is Irish," said the ser- 
 vant, as Richard started off on his mission. 
 
 " So much the better,'' remarked Barr; "I 
 like the Irish officers; they are never nig- 
 gardly or penurious in their orders." 
 
 " But do they pay well ?" asked Smith, 
 looking knowing, and, perhaps, sceptical. 
 
 "Well, as to the payment, English and 
 Irish are pretty much alike," said the cabinet
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 47 
 
 maker, putting his liead on one side, reflect- 
 ingly. " There^s none of them to say over 
 glad to get their bills. You see it ain't the 
 fashion to like to pay off-hand. However, it 
 all comes generally right in the end, somehow 
 or other." 
 
 Smith ventured another observation on the 
 severity of the weather. 
 
 " It's nearly as cold as when we were in 
 Canada in '48. The men's feet used to be 
 frost-bitten, and our only remedy was brandy 
 and rum." 
 
 "That will be a remarkably handsome 
 chair," said the upholsterer, viewing the easy 
 chair which stood before him with admiring 
 eyes, as if suddenly struck with its beauty. 
 
 "Oh! pretty fair," said Smith, carelessly. 
 " For my part, I never thought a great deal 
 about that coloured damask ; it ain t what you 
 may call brilliant enough." 
 
 " I think it remarkably brilliant," said Mrs. 
 Barr, positively, "it*s what may be called 
 dashing."
 
 48 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 *' Not to mj taste/' said Smith, shortly. 
 
 "That's where we differ, Smith," replied 
 the upholsterer, as the slightest shade passed 
 over his face. 
 
 "There's no two tastes alike,'' gaid Mrs. 
 Barr, philosophically. 
 
 " That's nonsense," argued Smith ; " for you 
 see how when a thing's really pretty, every- 
 body agrees to call it pretty; and when a 
 thing's ugly, they call it ugly." 
 
 There was a pause, during which Abraham 
 twirled round the chair in dispute, and pre- 
 tended to be occupied in examining one of its 
 castors. 
 
 " Well, I suppose I may tell the Captain 
 that you won't have the picture-frame ready 
 for another fortnight or so ?" said Smith, after 
 a silence of some minutes. " As to the chair, 
 I don't believe I need mention it ; for I don't 
 think he'd like it at all." 
 
 "For why?" asked Barr. 
 
 " The colour is against it in the first place, 
 and it don't appear to slope back enough.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 49 
 
 My master Kkes a good, easy, lounging 
 chair." 
 
 " There never was a more comfortable 
 lounging chair than that," persisted Barr, 
 putting his hand on the back of the chair, and 
 moving it backwards and forwards slowly, 
 with a firm grip of his strong hand, while a 
 rather brighter light than usual sparkled in 
 his eyes, of different colour. " A fine, steady, 
 sensible, easy chair for any officer, let him 
 be captain or general, I don't care which." 
 
 " I might, perhaps, tell the master you've 
 got such a thing," said Smith, condescend- 
 ingly. " The frost is really cutting to-day. 
 There is nothing like a glass of good, strong 
 rum on a day like this." 
 
 Barr went on examining portions of the 
 chair attentively. 
 
 "I suppose I had best go," said Smith, 
 rising from the wooden box, on which he had 
 seated himself. " And I can tell you you had 
 better begin that frame without delay, as the 
 Captain was in a fury concerning it this very 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 5p SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 morning, swearing about such carelessnes3. 
 and neglect; but unless you have another 
 arm-chair more suitable than that, I needn't 
 speak of it, I know. It's more likely he'll 
 look in at Wright's ware rooms, down tow;n. 
 They get the newest fashions from London, 
 very often," 
 
 Saying this, Smith lingered for a few 
 seconds in the yard, and finding Abraham 
 still disposed to keep silence, he walked 
 towards the door. 
 
 '' Good morning," Mr. Barr. 
 
 "Good morning," replied the upholsterer, 
 and then Smith stepped through the yard- 
 door. He had nearly vanished when Abra- 
 ham thought better of it. His bad temper 
 had been getting the upper-hand of him ; but 
 he reflected upon his own interests, the wel- 
 fare of his family, the prosperity of his trade, 
 and with an effort tried to gulp down rising 
 anger. 
 
 " Stay a minute, Smith," he cried out, as if 
 seized with quite a new idea ; " perhaps, as.
 
 SOCIETY IN A OARRISON TOWN. 51 
 
 the day is so cold, you'll take a glass of some- 
 tMng warm ?" 
 
 ''Eh? Oh! ao, thank you." 
 
 "Yes, I say, it's ^the very thing for the 
 damp. Agnes, bring out some of that rum 
 we got last, in the large bottle, for Smith.'* 
 
 Mrs. Barr coughed, and went reluctantly 
 to do as requested. Smith said, " Not at all,'' 
 but came back from the door towards the 
 workshop, and again seated himself on the 
 wooden box, in a state of apparent indiffer- 
 ence. Mrs. Barr did not condescend to bring 
 the required rum herself, but deputed her 
 small servant-maid to do so — the said damsel 
 being an extremely sulky-looking child of 
 fourteen, who seemed always impelled by an 
 inscrutable power to do wrong, and then to 
 regard herself as very ill-used when corrected 
 for her errors. 
 
 " See what you are about, Alice, and don't 
 hold that bottle crooked," urged Mr. Barr, as 
 the handmaid approached with bottle and 
 
 D 2
 
 52 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 glasses in a hazardous position. " I'll bet 
 any money you haven't the corkscrew." 
 
 The girl did not vouchsafe to make any 
 reply, but Smith pulled out a small corkscrew 
 from his pocket, remarking that it was never 
 amiss to be provided with a useful article in 
 case of emergency. 
 
 " That's a nice little table, Mr. Barr," he 
 observed, as preparations were going forward 
 for the approaching potation. 
 
 " Ay, the mosaic one ; that's for sale. I 
 never hire out those real valuable articles." 
 
 "Isn't that a comfortable-looking couch 
 over there, covered in red?" asked Smith, 
 who began to view surrounding things in a 
 more favourable light. 
 
 " Not near so much so as the easy chair we 
 were speaking of; and then, as I remarked 
 before, the damask of the chair would match 
 your master's curtains. They are of all the 
 same piece." 
 
 " So they are, and that's a good considera-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 5S 
 
 tion, too; thank yoa, not quite so much. 
 Very fine rum, certainly !" 
 
 " That chair ought to be worth six guineas, 
 if I was selling it." 
 
 " I don't doubt it. Hiring furniture is 
 different from buying it. You're not so 
 bound to it ; and, maybe, it might suit the 
 Captain, after all. It can do no harm to tell 
 him of it, and you may depend FU say 
 everything in its favour. He always minds 
 what I say. There's not such another officer 
 in the 11th as my master. Just the smallest 
 drop, please — there. I'll probably come down 
 about the chair in the course of the day." 
 
 " Perhaps your master would like to see 
 the chair himself before deciding on it ?" 
 
 ''I think not. He leaves everything of 
 that sort to me," said Smith. 
 
 '' And the more fool he," thought Barr. 
 
 '• There's to be a dinner party and a ball 
 this evening at the General's," observed 
 Smith, who, having taken as much rum as he 
 considered consistent with his views of good
 
 54 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 manners and a steady walk home, now began 
 to enter into a little refreshing gossip. 
 
 " So I heard/' replied Barr, who generally 
 knew everything that was going on in the 
 military line at Norham. " And Lord Halesby 
 and his son are to be there— that is, at the 
 dinner party." 
 
 " And of course the Miss Bouveries will go 
 to the ball T said Mrs. Barr. 
 
 " I don't know, indeed," said Smith. 
 
 " There will be nobody there to compare to 
 them, anyway," added Mrs. Barr, in her posi- 
 tive way. " I'd defy anyone to get a prettier 
 lady in the county than Miss Ellinor. I've 
 just seen her passing now, picking her steps 
 so quietly through the muddy streets. It's a 
 pity she often looks so grave and sad-like. I 
 often wonder she ain't lighter-hearted, and 
 she so young." 
 
 ^' She ain't nothing to her sister," said Barr. 
 " Miss Dora is the belle of these parts." 
 
 " She may be the most dashing-looking, but 
 she isn't, to my taste, as handsome as Miss
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 55 
 
 JEUinor. There's a look in Miss EUinor's 
 eyes that you wouldn't get out of your mind 
 for a week, it's so beautiful and saintlike," 
 said Mrs. Barr ; " and I know somebody that 
 thinks the same, if he'd only speak out and 
 tell itj but he won't, and if he did I'm afraid 
 it wouldn't be any use." 
 
 " Who's that?" asked Smith, instantly filled 
 with curiosity. " Is it any of our officers?" 
 
 " Oh ! I'm not going to say who it is; but 
 it ain't any military gentleman at Norham — 
 that's one thing; so you may make your mind 
 easy." 
 
 And Mrs. Barr laughed a merry little 
 laugh, and her small brown eyes twinkled at 
 the thoughts of the mysterious personage, 
 who was, in fact, at that moment upstairs in 
 her drawing-room, looking out upon the 
 rauddy street through which Miss Bouverie 
 had just passed, and wondering, perhaps, 
 where she was going on such a damp day, 
 with pools of water lying among the mud in 
 the middle of the street.
 
 56 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWK. 
 
 EUinor had very little idea that any oae 
 was watching her as she passed on her way, 
 filled with some very anxious thoughts in her 
 own mind — thoughts that took away all con- 
 sciousness of self for the present.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MR. TRYDELL. 
 
 The lodger who occupied the upholsterer's 
 principal rooms was Mr. Try dell, the assist- 
 ant chaplain to the forces at Norham, a hard- 
 working man of three-and- thirty, who had a 
 very small salary, and but little spare time to 
 call his own — a man of slender form and 
 thoughtful cast of face, not handsome, not 
 remarkable-looking in any way, with dark 
 eyes, rather deep set, and often looking as 
 though he did not get as much sleep as nature 
 
 D 5
 
 68 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 required ; dark hair, growing thin on the 
 temples, with a white streak here and there 
 glistening among it, scarcely perceptible as 
 yet to the casual observer, but well known to 
 the owner, who felt already that youth, and 
 hope, and energy were beginning to fade and 
 wax faint, and might possibly soon die out 
 altogether. 
 
 Ten years ago he had probably considered 
 that his learning and his preaching might 
 have brought him into special notice long 
 before this, and that it was an easy matter to 
 become an archdeacon, a dean, or perhaps 
 even a bishop. During his first cure at 
 three-and-twenty, he had rushed enthusiasti- 
 cally to his work, had done five times as much 
 as human health or strength could stand, and 
 at the end of two years had retired to take 
 rest and save his life. Sometimes doing duty 
 in country parishes far from the hum and 
 tumult of cities — sometimes in country towns 
 — without gaining much but experience of 
 life and a good deal of sobering down, future
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 59 
 
 years found him beginning to take less buoy- 
 ant views of things in general. So far from 
 thinking that he should ever become an arch- 
 deacon or a dean, he had given up ideas of 
 feeing even a rector ; and we find him now at 
 Norham, doing his duty faithfully, and to the 
 best of his ability, in that sphere of life to 
 which Providence had called him — looking 
 only to his own conscience for reward of 
 things done that might have been left undone, 
 for aught that earthly authorities could have 
 known of the matter. 
 
 It is strange how insignificant and fleeting 
 the vanities of the world seem to the disap- 
 pointed, sobered man or woman, and how 
 absurd and childish ambition concerning 
 worldly distinction appears to them after a 
 time — not altogether on the principle of the 
 fox and grapes story, but because, when the 
 passions are deadened, and the spirit sub- 
 dued, thought and reason often increase in 
 pbwer. 
 
 Eobert Trydell had at length learned to
 
 60 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 form a pretty correct estimate of his own capa- 
 bilities, mental and physical. He knew that 
 his sermons were somewhat dull, because he 
 saw that many of his hearers fell asleep while 
 he preached ; and so far from expecting to 
 attain distinction by his pulpit oratory, he 
 would have been thankful if one person 
 among his congregation went away edified or 
 impressed by his words — if one soul had been 
 advanced nearer the end to which all sermons 
 and all spiritual work on earth should alone 
 tend. Sweet, indeed, are the uses of adver- 
 sity if they teach us humility, for therein is 
 wisdom. 
 
 Mr. Trydell was comfortable enough in his 
 lodgings at the upholsterer^s — for Mrs. Barr 
 attended to his wants herself— and it was 
 only upon rare occasions that the dull hand- 
 maid Alice was permitted opportunities of 
 breaking the glass or crockery devoted to his 
 use. 
 
 A careful, thrifty woman was Mrs. Barr ; 
 gentle and swift of hand, as she could be
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 61 
 
 smart of tongue when occasion required, it 
 was cheery to see her pile up the winter fire, 
 and lay the snowy cloth for breakfast, with 
 cups, spoons, and plates all shining with the 
 polishing of her own hands. None knew 
 better how to naake the chaplain's tea and 
 toast than she ; indeed, it might almost have 
 been imagined that the tea, sugar, and bread 
 rather increased than diminished daily under 
 her management, so long did each last. No 
 morsel of the lodger's eatables ever found its 
 way to the table of the landlady, who was as 
 particular in making good bargains when pur- 
 chasing articles for his consumption as if any 
 extra money saved could benefit herself. In 
 any rank of life there could not have been a 
 more honest person than Mrs. Barr ; yet she 
 was not without her failings, and often when 
 Mr. Trydell was occupied in writing his ser- 
 mon after tea, in the quiet of the evening, she 
 would burst into his sitting room to ask his 
 opinion with reference to the punishment due 
 to one or other of her boys, for, perhaps, wil*
 
 62 SOClfelY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 fully breaking a pane of glass, or refusing to 
 wear a jacket, framed by her own hands, out 
 of a cast-off coat of the upholsterer. She was 
 likewise inquisitive upon matters of theology 
 and morality, and occasionally puzzled the 
 chaplain with startling questions. 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting individual in 
 thfe family of the cabinet maker was the eldest 
 daughter, Lucy, a pretty girl of seventeen, 
 fr^sh as a rose, with bright eyes and dimpled 
 cheeks ; a trim-figured damsel, always neatly 
 dressed, and as coquettish in her attire as her 
 mother would permit, for Mrs. Barr was severe 
 in her views respecting the behaviour of young 
 women, and rather considered such things as 
 flowers in bonnets, flounces on gowns, or curls 
 of hair as tending to the destruction of the 
 female character. No doubt she would have 
 extinguished the roses on her daughter's 
 cheeks, and the bright light in her eyes, had 
 she been able to do so. As it was, slie 
 wfks obliged to be satisfied with ordering 
 the glossy brown hair to be kept tightly out
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 63 
 
 of the way as much as possible, and insisting 
 upon sober-coloured garments to clothe the 
 pretty figure ; but Lucy knew how to make 
 her own dresses, so that no beauty of waist or 
 shoulders could be concealed; and, in her 
 brown cashmere gown, white apron, and 
 snowy white collar, she looked quite as 
 charming as if in more brilliant costume. 
 Besides making all her own clothes, and 
 those of her mother and sisters, Lucy, though 
 not exactly a professional dressmaker, now 
 and then earned a few shillings by her needle, 
 and she assisted her father in various ways at 
 the upholsteriDg business. Although very 
 much inclined to make imaginary matrimonial 
 matches for any single people in whom she 
 was interested, Mrs. Barr had not, as yet, 
 thought of courtship or marriage for her 
 daughter ; indeed, both father and mother 
 seemed to look upon Lucy still as a child ; 
 but whether the young lady herself enter- 
 tained the same ideas was by no means cer- 
 tain.
 
 64 SOCIETY IN A aARRISON TOWN. 
 
 A certain corporal of Lancers lately arrived 
 at Norliam, might have been seen walking up 
 Church Street very often — a young man of 
 respectable appearance and good conduct, as 
 the stripes on his arm could testify, but 
 nothing but a corporal of Lancers for all that, 
 and therefore by no means of high enough 
 rank for Miss Barr ; so it was not likely he 
 should gain much, as far as she was con- 
 cerned, by frequenting the neighbourhood of 
 the upholsterer's house. 
 
 Both Abraham Barr and his wife were 
 proud, and determined to rise in the world. 
 Already they had begun to put money in th ^ 
 bank, and probably Abraham was loeking 
 forward to a time when he might retire from 
 business, and see his sons and daughters pros- 
 perously settled in life. 
 
 " I don't care for riches so much as res- 
 pectability/' said Mrs. Barr, when expressing 
 her views with regard to her children's future 
 career. "All I want is for them to be 
 honest, and esteemed as good men and
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 65 
 
 women ; but I would have a poor opinion of 
 any of them that lowered themselves, or sunk 
 down to a sphere inferior to their own. Let 
 them go higher if they can, but never lower. 
 Also, I'd wish it to be known, that if any of 
 them became disgraced by act of their own, 
 they would lose my favour and countenance 
 for ever. Never more inside my door should 
 son or daughter stand who brought the name 
 of Barr to shame !" 
 
 And the determined expression of the 
 woman^s face, as she uttered the words, might 
 have done honour to a Spartan mother of old. 
 
 " Hard woids, Agnes,'' said Abraham, 
 after a pause ; " I'll bet ten pounds that you 
 wouldn't keep to that resolution with one of 
 your own children." 
 
 " God grant the time may never come 
 when the wager could be deci(Jed, Abraham," 
 said Mrs. Barr, solemnly ; " but as I stand 
 here this day, I'd be as hard on one of my 
 own flesh and blood as I would be on anyone 
 else."
 
 66 SOCIETY IN A Harrison town. 
 
 "And I suppose ybii would make no 
 difference in favour of me, either?'' said 
 Bairr. 
 
 " None at all,'' declared his wife, looking 
 Ml at him with unflinching eye. "If I 
 wouldn't favour my own children, I wouldn't 
 favour my own husband. You're old enough 
 now, Abraham, to know right from wrong, 
 and if you came to disgrace by any act of your 
 own, you'd come to it wilfully ; so, you see, 
 you would lose my respect for ever by a 
 dishonest or wicked act." 
 
 Now, Abraham Barr did not quite relish 
 this conversation of his wife. Without know- 
 ing precisely wherefore, it jarred upon him, 
 and he understood enough of her disposition 
 to be aware that she never uttered such 
 speeches at random . At a time not very far 
 distant he had reason to know how unswerv- 
 ingly this woman of steadfast purpose could 
 keep her resolution in this respect ; but as 
 yet no foreshadowing of coming troubles had 
 appeared ; no cloud, even the size of a man's
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 67 
 
 tand, had begun to steal over the horizon ; 
 and the upholsterer dreamed of no approach- 
 ing gloom to darken his home and happi^ 
 ness.
 
 68 SOCIETY IN A GARBISON TOWN. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AGREEABLE RELATIONS. 
 
 On through the muddy streets, trying to 
 get over the business of shopping, entrusted 
 to her by her sister, as speedily as possible, 
 EUinor Bouverie made as much haste a? she 
 could in buying all that she was commissioned 
 to buy that day. It is generally considered 
 that ladies like shopping, especially when 
 purchasing articles of dress ; but whether such 
 a supposition be correct, or the reverse, it is 
 certain the pastime afforded little pleasure or
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 69 
 
 amusement to Miss Bouverie on this particular 
 day. To matcli a ribbon or piece of silk was 
 no easy matter at Norbam, where the shops, 
 though numerous enough, were not stocked 
 with an exceeding abundance of goods; so 
 Ellinor had to go from one shop to another, 
 and to undergo persuasions that col ours by no 
 means alike were an exact match — the only 
 match that could possibly be got in any estab- 
 lishment in Europe — till her head was be- 
 wildered and her eyes weary. The principal 
 thoughts occupying her mind all the time were 
 some concerning her father and his haggard, 
 ghastly face, as he stood up that morning and 
 left the breakfast-room after reading the letter 
 he had received by the post ; not the wrathful 
 fierce visage with which he often read dis- 
 agreeable letters, but a careworn, subdued ex- 
 pression — a look almost helpless in its utter 
 dejection and horror. The idea of his face 
 was haunting her all the day ; and the fact 
 that he had not made any objection to Dora 
 and her going that evening to the party at
 
 %<i SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Geueral Barnard's only puzzled her more. 
 Before he quitted the breakfast-room Ellinor 
 had asked him if she should write an accept- 
 ajice of the invitation, and he had said, " Just 
 as you like," in a low, unsteady voice, and- 
 then hurried away, leaving his tea unfinished, 
 his egg unbroken. Mrs. Bouverie regarded 
 the circumstance of her husband having only 
 taken half his usual quantity of breakfast with 
 the greatest composure. Patiently could she 
 bear his cutting sneers, his unreasonable fits 
 of anger ; patiently could she bear his loss of 
 appetite, or any other indication of illness and 
 discomfort. 
 
 ''Papa looks very pale," said Dora, looking 
 a little uneasy, when her father left the room. 
 
 " I hope he is not ill/' said Ellinor, who 
 grew pale herself. 
 
 "Put up that egg^'' said Mrs. Bouverie^ 
 " and it will do to heat to-morrow. Perhaps 
 Pa,tty would warm that cup of tea for herself; 
 it is a pity to let it be wasted," So spoke the 
 wife.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 71 
 
 Ellinor wrote a note to Miss Barnard, say- 
 ing she and her sister would accept her invi- 
 tation for that evening ; and then with an 
 uneasy feeling weighing on her, she got ready 
 to go out. " I wonder why papa never con- 
 fides in any of us,'* she thought, while going 
 mechanically about her shopping. " How 
 much happier it would be for us all if he would 
 tell us what frets and worries him ; and we 
 might help him too, and make his burthen 
 lighter for himself to bear." When Dora's 
 commissions were executed, Miss Bouverie 
 proceeded to transact some housekeeping 
 business for her mother, and then felt a good 
 deal jaded. But there was yet another duty 
 to perform. Two elderly relatives — widows 
 with severe tongues — who lived about a mile 
 from Norham had to be visited, and informed 
 of the approaching party at the General's, 
 otherwise the Bouveries would run a fearful 
 risk of standing in their black books for the 
 next six months. Terrible relatives were 
 these, who considered themselves entitled to
 
 72 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 all the privileges [of relationsliip, yet who be- 
 stowed but little affection on their kinsfolk. 
 So terrible was it to Ellin or to pay a visit to 
 these amiable ladies when they were labouring 
 under any imaginary slight or offence, that 
 she now determined to go to them in order 
 to avoid such a disagreeable ordeal at some 
 future time. For herself and her sister to go to 
 a party of which these relatives had never heard 
 beforehand would be quite enough to offend 
 them for weeks, and therefore it was neces- 
 sary to walk even in all the mud and dirt of 
 the wintry afternoon to gratify them on this 
 point. It is wonderful how influential and 
 important a bitter tongue can sometimes 
 l-ender a person. Woe to the misguided in- 
 dividual who happened to vex or offend the 
 good Mrs. Dart or Mrs. Sharpoint ! All the 
 folly and harm that had been committed by 
 the said individual himself, or any of his 
 ancestors, was sure to be brought forward 
 and talked of venomously to all their ac- 
 quaintances, till somebody else annoyed
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 73 
 
 them, and so turned the current of their 
 revenge. Having been long resident at Nor- 
 ham — in fact bom and reared there — they 
 knew all the gossip and scandal of the past 
 and present ; all the pedigrees of the county- 
 families; all about who were upstarts and 
 made their money in a reprehensible manner; 
 whose grandfather cheated another man's 
 grandfather, not to mention sundry other 
 surprising pieces of information, not always 
 quite authentic. Mrs. Bouverie and her 
 elder daughter stood in awe of these ladies, 
 but neither Captain Bouveri e nor the younger 
 girl cared particularly for their favour or 
 displeasure. They were not wealthy, and 
 they gave no entertainments themselves. 
 They had retired from the gaieties of this 
 life, for the good reason that nobody invited 
 them anywhere except perhaps by a printed 
 circular to a religious meeting or bazaar in 
 aid of some charity, and even these last 
 attentions gratified them. To be remembered 
 even for the purpose of getting a shilling or 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 74 SOCIETY IN A GABRISON TOWN. 
 
 a, half-crown from them was soothing ; ajxd 
 they were flattered when a grocer, newly- 
 arrived at Norham, or an apothecary lately 
 set up in the town, sent them notices of their 
 arrival. 
 
 Passing out of the town, Ellinor came upon 
 a quiet country road which led her to the 
 Copse, where Mrs* Dart and Mrs. Sharpoint 
 lived— a pretty cottage, surrounded by shrubs 
 and garden plots, all neatly kept, with 
 nothing out of place or in disorder. Mrs. 
 Dart was standing at the door when Miss 
 Bouverie approached the house ; a pleasant 
 looking, rather handsome woman, fair, tall, 
 and stout, and of a good humoured cast of 
 countenance when not under the direct in- 
 fluence of vexation, or spite, or envy. She 
 kissed the young lady affectionately, and 
 thanked her for coming to see her so warmly 
 that Ellinor began to think herself a great 
 hypocrite, and to feel abashed at her own 
 duplicity. 
 
 " What a bright, fine day, ' my dear, after
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 75 
 
 the dreadful rain last night," she said. " Bat 
 you must have had a most unpleasant walk, 
 and indeed, nobody could have looked for 
 your coming out such weather without a 
 carriage ; and why you haven't a carriage I 
 can't understand, for I'm sure Mrs. Tredcroft 
 left your mother enough to let you have every 
 comfort. But I always said your mother was 
 the worst manager I ever saw — an indolent 
 sort of woman, you know — lets everything 
 go at sixes and sevens, and looks after nothing 
 except what she can't help." 
 
 Being accustomed to hear Mrs. Dart pro- 
 nounce very unflattering opinions of her 
 mother's character and capabilities, Ellinor 
 did not grow as indignant and fire up as 
 quickly and as fiercely as, perhaps, the joung 
 ladies in the generality of novels • do, when- 
 ever anyone dares to disparage their parents 
 in their hearing. In the first place, she knew 
 Mrs. Dart would not mind a word she said 
 in defence of her mother ; and in the next, 
 phe laid so little value upon that worthy 
 
 E 2
 
 76 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 kinswoman's estimate of anything or anyone 
 tliat she would not take the trouble of con- 
 tradicting her ; she could only thereby rouse 
 her anger, et voila tout. Perhaps Ellinor was 
 a coward and very reprehensible, but she 
 acted as she thought best, reader, and so said 
 nothing when her mother was disparaged in 
 her presence by a ponderous elderly relative 
 three times her own age. 
 
 "How fortunate it was I took up the 
 gladiolus roots before that heavy rain, yester- 
 day," said Mrs. Dart. "Do you see that 
 polyanthus narcissus ? Is it not very for- 
 ward ? I always have them in flower before 
 anyone else. I'll engage you haven't one up 
 yet!" 
 
 " No, not one yet," replied Ellinor, who 
 
 was glad to be able to say so with truth. 
 Mrs. Dart looked triumphantly pleased. 
 "And how is Miss Dora? Too grand, I 
 
 suppose, to walk so far, to see two old ladies. 
 
 Ah! she is a sad, conceited girl. Well, 
 
 Nelly, though people do make such an out-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 77 
 
 cry about her beauty, I don^t tbink sbe is so 
 much better looking than you after all. J 
 always say I like your face best ; and as for 
 beauty, it is all a worthless attraction." 
 
 Miss Bouverie laughed good-humouredly. 
 Perhaps she had a dim suspicion that she was 
 quite as pretty as her sister in her own style. 
 
 " Well, have you any news for me ? Has 
 any good luck come yet to Evergreen — any- 
 thing in the way of a proposal ?" 
 
 " Nothing more than an invitation, which 
 came this morning, to a party at Sir Ralph 
 Barnard's to-night,'* said Ellinor. 
 
 " Dear me ! and did they give such short 
 notice? Just like as if they had asked other 
 people who refused to go, making kind of 
 stop-gaps of you." 
 
 '' Oh, no ! the invitation was delayed in 
 some way ; it was dated yesterday morning." 
 
 '' Ah ! that might have been a trick to let 
 you think it was written then. Depend upon 
 it, some other people sent apologies, and then 
 they thought of you and Dora."
 
 78 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 
 
 " Indeed, I do not think any such things 
 Mrs. Dart. You know we are always invited 
 to the General's, and that is the reason they 
 are not so ceremonious as other people with 
 us." 
 
 " Perhaps so. It looks odd, though, as if 
 the Barnards thought you would jump at any 
 invitation, no matter how short. But are you 
 going?" 
 
 '' Yes, I believe so." 
 
 *' And is your mother?" 
 
 " I think not. You know papa generally 
 escorts us to parties." 
 
 "It would be better for your mother to 
 go. People think it odd for young girls to 
 go about to balls and parties without a 
 matron." 
 
 "Oh, papa does very well for a chaperon." 
 
 *' I wonder he can take the trouble of 
 escorting a couple 'of chits of girls every- 
 where." 
 
 " "When he thinks it a trouble he does not 
 go out."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 79 
 
 *'And when did you hear from my pet, 
 Dawson ?' 
 
 ^ Not very lately 5 he has not written for 
 some time to us," 
 
 '^Oh! I suppose too much occupied with 
 his duties. T hope you write often to him." 
 
 " Yes, pretty often. Whenever he sends 
 me a letter I write one in return very soon." 
 
 " You should send him two or three letters 
 for every one of his." 
 
 " Perhaps he would not care about getting 
 so many," replied EUinor, unable to conceal 
 a slight smile, as she remembered her brother 
 telling her once that he hardly ever read 
 either her or Dora's letters through — just 
 skimmed them over, and then lit his cigars or 
 pipe with them. 
 
 ** Young men look for a good deal of atten- 
 tion from their sisters at home," observed 
 Mrs. Dart, who was now leading the way into 
 the house, having finished nailing up a rose- 
 bush against a wall outside ; " and if they 
 don't get it, they soon grow careless about
 
 80 SOCIETY IN A GAEKISON TOWN. 
 
 them. 'When Dawson comes home you must 
 be very affectionate, and, in fact, ohsequicms 
 to him, or he will soon cease to find pleasure 
 in the home circle. You recollect what that 
 sensible woman, Mrs. Babbleton, wrote in her 
 * Advice to British Females ? " 
 *'No; I do not just now recal it." 
 " You should read that excellent work till 
 you know it by heart. As to Dawson, you 
 ought to consider him very precious ; it is 
 such an advantage to girls to have a brother. 
 I often think if my poor dear brother Bob was 
 alive it would make a great difference to my 
 sister and me. Even when he was quite pal- 
 sied and wandering in his mind, so that you 
 could not understand what he said, I felt that 
 there was a protection in his very name. He 
 was a great expense to us, poor fellow, to be 
 sure, and had spent every halfpenny of his 
 own ; but there never was a greater calumny 
 than to say his illness and paralysis was 
 brought on by brandy — never a greater 
 calumny I The doctors said it because they
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAPwRISON TOWN. 81 
 
 couldnH cure him, and they wanted to excuse 
 their own ignorance and stupidity." 
 
 Miss Bouverie was now in the parlour of 
 the Copse, where was seated Mrs. Sharpoint, 
 who suffered considerably from neuralgia, 
 which did not improve her temper. A tall, 
 angular woman, very thin, with hair nearly 
 quite white, and a very sour expression of 
 visage. She did not talk so much as Mrs. 
 Dart, nor was she, on the whole, as agreeable 
 as her sister, being more stingy and less hos- 
 pitable, with a tendency to remember slights 
 and injuries, either real or imaginary, for a 
 much longer period than Mrs. Dart remem- 
 bered them. Therefore, perhaps, she was the 
 more terrible of the two. She did not give 
 Miss Bouverie as cordial a welcome as her 
 sister had done, and she seemed occupied im- 
 mediately in examining her dress from head 
 to foot. 
 
 " Are those ugly little hats the fashion now, 
 Ellinor ?" she asked, in allusion to the young 
 lady's headgear. 
 
 E 5
 
 82 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Why, I believe so, I got this hat quite 
 lately, at Miss Grumberry's." 
 
 " Not at all becoming, then, I can tell you. 
 Does not suit your style of face. It requires 
 perfect features to look well in such a hat as 
 that.'' 
 
 " Then I had better sell it at half price, 
 Mrs. Sharpoint," said Ellinor, laughing, and 
 looking remarkably pretty as she did so. 
 
 " If I had been your mother I would not 
 have let you buy it — all money thrown away." 
 
 ^' I wonder, my dear, your father can stand 
 the expense you and Dora must be for dress; 
 always getting new fashions for balls and 
 everything,'' said Mrs. Dart. " I hope you 
 or Dora will make a conquest to-night. You 
 ought to go off first, you know/' 
 
 " I am not at all in a hurry, Mrs. Dart.'' 
 
 "Oh, that is what all girls say; but they 
 like to be settled for all that. You should 
 think of your father, and how hard it is for 
 him to support and clothe you. If you were 
 boys he would have got rid of you long before 
 this. Isn't Dora nearly twenty ?"
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 83 
 
 " No ; not quite nineteen. I am t wenty.*' 
 
 "You look more; no one would believe 
 that you were not two-aud-twenty." 
 
 " Well, there is not much difference. I 
 hope I shall not look very old two years 
 hence.'^ 
 
 " I hope you will be married, at all events. 
 You and Dora must make good matches, for 
 the sake of your family ; and in such a place 
 as Norham, where there are so many men of 
 fortune coming and going you ought to get off 
 splendidly.'' 
 
 " But I do not care for military men, Mrs. 
 Dart," said Ellinor. 
 
 " And who in the world do you care for ?'* 
 asked the lady, in snrprise. " Who are there 
 but military men about Norham that have 
 got any money worth mentioning? To be 
 sure there's that odious son of Lord Halesby. 
 And, by-the-bye, a little bird told me he was 
 very attentive to either you or Dora at the 
 archery ball last month. But you wouldn't 
 be so foolish as to think of him, though he is
 
 84 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 a distant relative of your mother's — and mucli 
 good did her connections on that side of the 
 family ever do her ! The Halesbys were all 
 a wretched, mean-spirited pack. I could 
 never bear them. Dear me, how you blush ! 
 I suppose, then, you were the one honoured 
 by the attentions of young Lyon ? But let 
 me warn you not to mind mere unmeaning 
 flirtation, child. That young man would no 
 more think of marrying without fortune or 
 high birth than he would dream of flying." 
 
 " I assure you I have not yet thought any- 
 thing about Mr. Lyon's views,'' said Miss 
 Bouverie, who did colour as she spoke, 
 *' You know he is a cousin of ours, and we 
 cannot help being acquainted." 
 
 *' Ah, a very distant cousin, my dear; if he 
 wasn't a lord's son you could soon drop the 
 acquaintance without seeming odd. Depend 
 upon it, he thinks very little about the re- 
 lationship himself — perhaps never heard of 
 
 it." 
 
 " Oh, yes. Lord Halesby always speaks of
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAKRISON TOWN. 85 
 
 US as relations. When we were down at 
 Halesby, last Easter, he said we were all a 
 family party.'' 
 
 " What a condescension from his lordship ! 
 I wonder if he remembers how his grand- 
 mother, by his mother's side, stood behind 
 the counter of a shop in London, and sold 
 soap and candles? That was before her 
 father made his fortune by the great tallow 
 speculation; so that, after all, young Lyon 
 hasn*t very grand blood in his veins, and if 
 he did take a fancy to you or Dora you would 
 be nearly good enough for him. I suppose if 
 one or other of you got to be ' my lady' you 
 would turn your noses up at us here, like 
 that ridiculous Julia Pincher when she mar- 
 ried Sir Philip Gilsmore; she grew so con- 
 ceited, she would hardly speak to me when 
 we met in the street, and never by any chance 
 visits here now." 
 
 Mrs. Dart was here interrupted by a sharp 
 fit of coughing, but she was soon able to con-
 
 86 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 tinue speaking of the late Miss Pincher's short- 
 comings. 
 
 " She forgets the time that her great grand- 
 mother kept the little crockery shop in Fusty 
 Lane, where I often bought a cup or saucer, 
 and was once cheated out of four pence-half- 
 penny change. It is a sad world, my 
 dear, and so fleeting. Here to-day and away 
 to-morrow, and nothing but back biting and 
 envy going on all round us. What are you 
 doing for the poor this week? If you are not 
 busy you might take home that piece of calico 
 and cut it up into children's pinafores. Mrs. 
 Sharpoint and I did an immensity of charity 
 work last week." 
 
 And so these ladies had really done much 
 good for the poor, all through many winters. 
 Envious, spiteful, filled with human weak- 
 nesses, they were yet kind to the suffering and 
 the distressed. The tongues that were so 
 sharp to the wealthy or the fortunate were 
 softened when speaking to the poverty-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 87 
 
 stricken ; and jou could have seen them often 
 hurrying hither and thither through the back 
 lanes and the courts of Norham, where the 
 footsteps of gentle folk seldom trod, bearing 
 alms for the sick, or consolation for the 
 afflicted ; and this without any ostentation or 
 hypocrisy. 
 
 Miss Bouverie was obliged to take wine and 
 cake, and dry her wet boots at the fire before 
 she could think of getting away from the 
 Copse ; and it was with a feeling of dismay 
 that she saw the shadow of approaching even- 
 ing steal over outward objects, as Mrs. Dart 
 kept talking to her of the delinquencies of her 
 acquaintances and neighbours. 
 
 "And so, dear, Dawson hasn't written 
 lately ?" said Mrs. Dart. " Give him my 
 love when you send him your next letter." 
 
 " And mine also," added Mrs. 'Sharpoint, 
 who had not spoken much during EUinor's 
 visit, owing to neuralgia. " I always thought 
 Dawson was more affectionate than any of 
 
 you."
 
 88 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Oh ! a fine spirited fellow !" declared Mrs. 
 Dart. " How sweetly he used to come up 
 here at vacation time when he returned from 
 Eton, and what delight he took eating the 
 early pears off the trees against the south 
 wall of the garden. I used to think it was 
 so pretty of him to walk over to the Copse 
 and make himself quite at home with us — so 
 much less formal than you or Dora, who 
 would only take what you were given, and 
 drop in to tea or dinner when you were 
 asked. Oh ! yes, Dawson had far more heart 
 than the rest of you, and I will always say 
 you are not half proud enough of him." 
 
 EUinor could not repress a sigh, and a 
 shadow crossed her face, not of vexation or 
 envy, because her brother was praised, or of 
 annoyance because Mrs. Dart was rude. A 
 presentiment that had gathered greater 
 strength each hour since the morning was 
 weighing on her spirits, and each time Daw- 
 son's name was mentioned always brought it 
 more vividly before her mind. She got up at
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 89 
 
 last to go away, feeling inexpressibly weary 
 and dejected. The shadow of the winter 
 evening creeping over outward things seemed 
 to be stealing over her heart also. 
 
 " Good-bye, my dear,'' said Mrs. Dart, give 
 ing her a hearty kiss at the gate of the tiny 
 lawn. '' And remember to come and tell me 
 all about the party, and who you dance with.'* 
 
 Ellinor said, " Yes," rather faintly, and then 
 passed out of the gate to the high road. 
 
 " She's a very nice girl," said Mrs. Dart to 
 herself, as she watched her going along. " A 
 very nice, pretty girl, only I would not like 
 her to know I thought so ; it spoils young 
 people so much to think well of themselves 
 — makes them upsetting. I have no doubt 
 she will be greatly admired to-night. Who is 
 that stopping to speak to her ? Mr. Try dell, 
 I declare ! and he's turning to walk back with 
 her." 
 
 " How short the days are growing. Miss 
 Bouverie," was the commonplace remark of 
 Mr, Try dell when he met the young lady.
 
 90 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " And how cold I*' said Ellinor, which ob- 
 servation was not at all more brilliant or 
 original, though perfectly correct. 
 
 And then the chaplain, in his ministerial 
 capacity, asked for Miss Bonverie's. parents 
 and sister, and, being informed that they 
 were very well, thought proper to turn and 
 escort the young lady home, perhaps because 
 the day was so short, and the dusk of even- 
 ing coming on, but he made no excuse for 
 doing so. Possibly he did not know that the 
 eyes of the excellent Mrs. Dart were upon 
 him, peering at him through the advancing 
 darkness as he moved along beside Ellinor. 
 
 " I was out all the morning shopping," she 
 said, '' and my sister requested me to return 
 home as soon as possible. We are going to 
 a party this evening/' 
 
 A party ? The chaplain did not like to 
 hear that — not upon religious grounds, for he 
 had not arrived at such a point of strictness 
 as to condemn all social gatherings of a fes- 
 tive character as sinful ; but it jarred upon
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 91 
 
 him somewhat. He was not going to any 
 party that evening ; he had not been asked 
 to one, and most certainly he would have 
 refused an invitation of the kind, if sent to 
 him. He did not dance, and he did not flirt, 
 and he knew he should make but a poor 
 figure in a ball-room, even did he consider 
 such a scene a fitting one for a man of his 
 calling to mingle in, which he did not. The 
 time and the energy that many evening par- 
 ties would expend could not be spared from 
 more serious occupation ; and, except to. 
 attend an occasional dinner at the Rector's or 
 the General's, Mr. Try dell seldom went from 
 home to enjoy the hospitality of others ; yet 
 still this allusion of Miss Bouverie to a party 
 where he was not to be, made an unpleasant 
 feeling steal over him — a dreary, strange sen- 
 sation scarcely to be defined. 
 
 ''Do you enjoy evening parties, Miss 
 Bouverie?" 
 
 " Yes, very much — when I know the people 
 well. At Sir Ealph Barnard's we nearly
 
 92 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 always meet several persons whom we are 
 intimate with/' 
 
 " And you are going to Sir Ralph Barnard's 
 to-night?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 And Ellinor walked on a little quicker 
 than before ; for she was afraid Dora would 
 be impatient at her staying out so long. Mr. 
 Trydell walked on quicker also, and sighed 
 in spite of himself. Ellinor, being preoccu- 
 pied with her t) wn thou ghts, was not disposed 
 to speak much. She was wondering how her 
 father was now — where he had gone to when 
 he left the house after breakfast in the morn- 
 ing, and if he should confide to her mother 
 or herself anything concerning the unpleasant 
 news he had received by the post. People 
 must often try to speak cheerfully when their 
 hearts are very heavy, and it so happened 
 that Miss Bouverie and her companion were 
 low-spirited this evening, though endeavour- 
 ing to talk agreeably, and say little common- 
 place things with a light, indifferent air.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 93 
 
 *' Is not that Captain Bouverie at the other 
 side of the street, walking with Mr. Clarke, 
 the barrack-master ?^' asked Mr. Try dell, as 
 they got into the town, where the lamps were 
 already lit. 
 
 Ellinor looked anxiously across the street, 
 and saw that her father was indeed in com- 
 pany with the person mentioned, and appa- 
 rently absorbed in earnest conversation. As 
 well as she could judge, he seemed dejected 
 still, with his head drooping and his shoulders 
 more stooped than usual. Captain Bouverie 
 was a well preserved man for his age. His 
 hair was as dark and nearly as luxuriant as 
 in days of youth ; and the lines in his face 
 were caused rather by anxiety and frequent 
 ill-humours than by the advance of time alone. 
 
 " Are you very intimate with Mr. Clarke?'* 
 asked Mr. Trydell. 
 
 " We know him pretty well. He is re- 
 lated to the colonel of my brother's regiment, 
 and papa knew him some years before he 
 came to Norham."
 
 94 SOCIETY IN A GABEISON TOWN. 
 
 " He never goes to any place of worship," 
 said Mr. Trydell, after a pause. " I have 
 ttever yet seen him at church." 
 
 " And yet he seems a steady person.*' 
 
 " So much the worse. Were he very 
 young or thoughtless one might have hopes 
 of a reformation ; but he is not young, and 
 his opinions are very decided — a peculiar 
 person altogether/' 
 
 ElHnor would have liked to steal a look 
 back at her father and his companion, but 
 dared not do so, with Mr. Trydell beside her. 
 On arriving at Church Street the chaplain 
 did not stop at his lodgings. He wished to 
 see Miss Bouverie safe home, and so on he 
 went to Evergreen with her, to the great 
 delight and amusement of Mrs. Barr, who 
 was standing at the door of her house as they 
 passed by. 
 
 ''I do think Mr. Trydell admires Miss 
 Bouverie," she said to her husband, who had 
 just returned from seeing the memorable easy 
 chair, about which so much had been said
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 95 
 
 that day, conveyed in. safety to the quarters 
 of Captain Cornish, under the superintendence 
 of the disinterested Smith. 
 
 "Pooh!" exclaimed Abraham, scornfully; 
 *' why do you say that?'' 
 
 " Why shouldn't I ? Don't you think she 
 is worthy to be admired?'' 
 
 " Ay ! but do you think she would fancy 
 him?" he demanded; for being better 
 acquainted with the chaplain than he was 
 with Miss Bouverie, he was naturally disposed 
 to think less of him than he did of her, be- 
 sides entertaining a man's undervaluing 
 opinion of another man's claims to attractive- 
 ness. " I wouldn't believe that either of the 
 Miss Bouveries would fall so low in the world 
 as to think of a man with scarcely a hundred 
 a year, I suppose, in the world." 
 
 " Ah ! Abraham, isn't goodness better than 
 riches ?" asked- Mrs. Barr, who, I fear, would 
 not have thought of Ler own daughter's mar- 
 riage in such a disinterested spirit as she could 
 contemplate tLe matrimonial engagements of 
 other people.
 
 96 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " But how do you know so much about the 
 goodness?" inquired Barr, whose unfavour- 
 able estimate of human nature in general 
 was, now and then, of late beginning to ex- 
 tend itself even to the chaplain ; for had he 
 not been already seven months lodging in his 
 upper rooms, coming in and out of the house 
 several times a day, often under the criticising 
 eye and differently-coloured eyes of the up- 
 holsterer, who, in his own estimation, could 
 detect wrong where no other mortal would 
 suspect it, and discover evil where none else 
 might dream of looking for it. Perhaps, 
 also, Abraham was of a contradictory spirit, 
 and wished to quench his wife's enthusiasm 
 in favour of certain people ; but nothing could 
 shake Mrs. Barr's respect for, and good will 
 towards Mr. Try dell. He had won her con- 
 fidence since the day he patted her little 
 daughter Linny on the head and gave her 
 sixpence to buy cakes ; and by the care he 
 took to clean his boots on the door-mat before 
 walking on her new stair carpets.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 97 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 MRS. BARR ASKS ADVICE, 
 
 Quite unconscious, so far, of the good 
 woman's speculations concerning the state of 
 his heart, Mr. Trydell walked on all the way 
 to Evergreen with Miss Bouverie, and on 
 arriving at the gate of the villa it was neces- 
 sary for them to part. Ellinor did not ask 
 him up to the house even for the sake of 
 politeness. She never forgot that her father's 
 house was not her own, and that a guest of 
 hers might prove unwelcome to Captain 
 
 VOL. I, p
 
 98 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 
 
 Bouverie. The young girl might have 
 thought that she should be better off in this 
 respect if married and settled in a home of 
 her own, had she not reflection enough to 
 look beyond her own interests and observe 
 the sad example of her mother, which warned 
 her not to be rash in jumping from the frying- 
 pan into the fire. Did not Mrs. Bouverie 
 stand in a more unpleasant position in that 
 house than she did herself? Was she not 
 more a slave— more hopelessly dreary in her 
 daily routine of life? Alas! yes. With 
 every wish to think the best she could of her 
 father and to excuse all his short comings, 
 EUinor could not help considering that a 
 woman ought to study well the character of 
 any man before entrusting the happiness of 
 her life to his keeping. 
 
 So Miss Bouverie had to say " Good-bye, 
 Mr. Try dell," with the sweetest of smiles, 
 which were not very visible in the fading 
 light, and to seem very grateful for his escort, 
 ^nd, on the whole, to be far more agreeable
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 99 
 
 than she might have thought it necessary to 
 be had she been able to ask him in to see her 
 mother and sister. Mr. Trydell took the 
 hand she gave him and held it in his own, 
 perhaps a second or two longer than was quite 
 requisite for a mere conventional " shake 
 hands *' at parting with an ordinary acquain- 
 tance ; but I do not think Ellinor remarked 
 it, and if she did she would probably have 
 only considered it arose from the kind, 
 paternal interest that a good minister of the 
 Gospel should feel for every member of his 
 flock. Besides being the assistant military 
 chaplain, Mr. Trydell was also curate of 
 Norham, and numbered the Bouveries among 
 his congregation at church on Sundays, when 
 he officiated at eleven o^clock service for the 
 benefit of civilians— two hours later than 
 when he was called upon to do duty for the 
 red and blue-coated heroes who were marched 
 jfrom the barracks at nine o'clock in martial 
 array, and came clattering into the sacred 
 
 E 2
 
 100 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 edifice with much noise of warlike accoutre- 
 ments. 
 
 And thus parting at the gate of Evergreen, 
 Mr. Trydell went his solitary way back to 
 the town, a little thoughtful and dreamy. 
 Was he thinking how hard it was that he 
 had so small an income and no church in- 
 terest? Perhaps he was ; for the most 
 worthy of clerical men must of necessity 
 think now and then of temporal concerns 
 and wish for worldly promotion. 
 
 A vision of increased salary and a quiet 
 parsonage in the country, far remote from 
 the bustle and noise of town life, might pos- 
 sibly have risen before the chaplain's mental 
 view during that walk to Norham, when the 
 sky was growing duskier, and the roar of the 
 rushing river was becoming more distinctly 
 heard, as the bustle of the day declined. A 
 chilly evening it was, and the bright fire 
 which Mrs. Barr had prepared for him cast 
 a comfortable glow on the handsome furni- 
 ture of his lodging sitting-room ; for though
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 101 
 
 he did not pay more than a very moderate 
 rent, the upholsterer did not grudge good 
 furniture for his rooms, and if the chaplain 
 had a taste for variety it would have been 
 amply gratified in the arrangements of his 
 present abode, for the sofas, couches, and 
 tables of his apartments underwent a per- 
 petual change. Sometimes, on entering the 
 sitting-room in the morning, he would find 
 the greea lounger of the previous day van- 
 ished, and replaced by one of crimson 
 damask ; or the round ottoman, with which 
 his eye had grown familiar during the past 
 week, deposed in favour of a square one. 
 Never, however, were these alterations in 
 the furniture made for the worse. No shabby 
 chair or sofa found its way to the chaplain's 
 room, and Mr. Try dell was not ill-tempered 
 enough to consider his dignity compromised 
 by this shifting of the upholsterer's chattels, 
 which seemed to afford pleasure to the owners. 
 It amused him — that was all. 
 
 Sitting down before the fire which was
 
 102 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 blazing and crackling up the chimney, the 
 curate warmed himself, and then began to 
 renew the visionary musings which had oc- 
 cupied his mind during the walk from Ever- 
 green, when Mrs. Barr eame in to see if 
 everything was right, and to impart the in- 
 formation that her heart was broken by her 
 son Eichard, who would talk of nothing else 
 but enlisting and becoming a soldier. 
 
 " Soldiers are all very well in their way, 
 Mr. Trydell," she said, " and no doubt we 
 couldn^t do without them till all the other 
 countries of the world go by the Bible and 
 return good for evil, and don't come into 
 other people's kingdoms to take what they 
 can plunder. I have nothing to say against 
 them in their rank of life as privates of in- 
 fantry or cavalry, and as to the sergeants, 
 many of them are downright respectable and 
 worthy of our company down in the back 
 parlour of an evening when Abraham isn't 
 busy ; but, taking them as a body, soldiers 
 must be regarded as the scum of the earth,
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 103 
 
 and you must know what a parent should 
 feel if Richard would mix himself with such 
 scum, and be lost to his family, with every 
 advantage of getting into his father's busi- 
 ness, with such interest at the barracks, only 
 he never will take to cabinet making, even 
 so much as to do a bit of mosaic. There's 
 Lucy, she can plane and put a chair together 
 and varnish up any bit of furniture nearly as 
 well as Barr himself, but where' s the use of a 
 girl knowing such things ? It isn't fitting 
 that a young woman should be an upholsterer, 
 and earn her living like a man ; and when 
 she was trying to make a lounger the other 
 day I said to * her, ' Lucy, stop that work ; 
 it's not woman's work, nor a woman's place 
 to earn her living by anything but her 
 needle.' It's contrary to nature to see her 
 handling a chisel or a gimlet, and might lead 
 to her thinking herself equal to a man ; for 
 how could a female that earned thirty shil- 
 lings or two pounds a week help growing 
 masculine and? dreadful ? I appeal to you,
 
 104 SOCIEIY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 as a ID mister of the church, Mr. Tiydell, to 
 know if I'm not right." 
 
 " Indeed I don't know, Mrs. Barr. It cer- 
 tainly would be unusual for a young woman 
 to be a cabinet-maker." 
 
 *' Never was such a thing heard of, sir; 
 and therefore I'd rather to see my daughter 
 begging than the best upholsterer in Eng- 
 land. But that's the way I'm tried. None 
 of the boys care a straw for sofas and loungers, 
 and Lucy must have that unnatural taste. 
 It's dreadful to think that girls will take after 
 their fathers mostly. And now, Mr. Try dell, 
 you being such a learned gentleman— attend- 
 ing so many services on Sunday, not to 
 speak of week-day funerals and sick calls 
 often in the dead of the night — ought to be 
 able to tell me if it is likely any young man 
 would think of my daugliter as a wife if she 
 was capable of earning her bread as a cabinet 
 maker and upholsterer." 
 
 Mr. Trydell reflected for a few minutes be- 
 fore answering this earnest appeal. In his
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 105 
 
 own rank of life he had rather a prejudice 
 against women working independently for 
 their own benefit. He had been brought up 
 with such a prejudice, and he had never tried 
 to get rid of it, never having thought deeply, 
 if at all, on the subject. Whatever was cus- 
 tomary for women to do towards earning a 
 livelihood, he had no objection to — such as 
 going about, on wet days or dry days, to give 
 music lessons at different houses, or letting 
 lodgings, or being milliners, or in fact, doing 
 anything in a small way that would never 
 bring them into particularly brilliant notice, 
 or interfere with the pursuits of his own sex. 
 Perhaps he thought it was safer, on the whole, 
 for women to be mildly despised than un- 
 pleasantly envied. He had no fixed ideas on 
 the subject — only a shadowy prejudice, caught 
 from the customary views of other men. Yet 
 a good man he was, kind-hearted and charit- 
 able, if not a very original thinker. Lucy 
 Barr, not being of his own rank of life, he 
 could not see any reason why she should not 
 
 F 5
 
 106 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 follow any respectable trade that suited her. 
 Upholstering was not in his line, and seemed 
 a sufficiently humble calling for man or 
 woman ; and it did not strike him that the 
 young men of Lucy's position might possibly 
 object to, and be a little jealous of the girl 
 being able to earn a provision upon such a 
 grand scale. So he gave it as his candid 
 opinion that Miss Barr might become an up- 
 holsterer, if it so pleased her, and if she were 
 fitted for the business ; and that, so far from 
 frightening away would-be husbands, such a 
 capability of earning money ought rather to 
 make her a prize in the matrimonial market. 
 
 Mrs. Barr did not at all like this view of 
 the question. Indeed, it must be confessed 
 that though she so frequently demanded 
 advice from the chaplain she rarely took 
 what he offered, unless it precisely coincided 
 with her own opinions. 
 
 "You see, sir," she said, after giving a 
 little cough, "it's very responsible to be the 
 mother of boys that won't take to upholster-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 107 
 
 ing and will want to enlist, and girls that 
 will insist on knowing all about canary- wood 
 and birds-eye maple, and such, like unnatural 
 things. Of course it comes from circum- 
 stances and surroundings ; and being in a 
 garrison town where every second man you 
 meet is in a red or blue coat, looking so 
 jaunty with their caps on one side that they 
 take the boys' fancy ; and from Lucy being 
 always in and out of her father's workshop, 
 and seeing cabinet-making since she was the 
 height of the table/' 
 
 " But do you not find a great deal of com- 
 f6rt in having your eldest daughter with you, 
 to assist you, since she has grown up and 
 learned to make herself useful ?" 
 
 "All the fault is, sir, that she wants to be 
 too useful — quite too useful, as you may say, 
 for a woman. She ain't dependent or humble 
 enough. She grieves me talking in that 
 dreadful woman' s-rights way, which most of 
 the newspapers laugh at so, and thinking she 
 ought to set up for herself, and make money
 
 108 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 more quickly than by her needle. All Fm 
 sorry for is that it's likely 'needles may soon 
 go out of the world with these sewing ma- 
 chines, and then those people that consider it 
 so beautiful to see a needle in a woman's 
 hand (provided, of course, that she's going to 
 make a proper use of it) won't know what to 
 do. It will be just as it is with the spinning- 
 wheels, they say, which gave their names, I 
 believe, to unmarried females, which lasts 
 still, though I don't think some of them now- 
 a-days as much as saw a spinning wheel, let 
 alone spinning on it; but it shows how 
 ancient and beautiful the law is, and how 
 it scarcely ever alters from the old times. 
 With regard to women, when m.y sister 
 Sally, who is only twenty-one, was left 
 a trifle of money by her aunt, she was 
 called a 'spinster' by the lawyer in the 
 papers that she used to have to sign her name 
 to, and so we used to laugh at the word, when 
 lie told us what it meant, for Sally never as 
 much as knew what spinning was. If they had
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 109 
 
 called ber a milliner it would have seemed 
 quite more natural ; but, of course, ' spinster' 
 was the right name for her, since it was law. 
 The law is a very beautiful thing, no doubt, 
 sir, when you ain't obliged to have a great 
 deal to do with it, for it's awful expensive, 
 and it puts one at their wits' end to know the 
 exact meaning of things." 
 
 On going downstairs a short time after, 
 Mrs. Barr found her husband in the hall 
 talking to a gentleman, whose sharp, de- 
 cisive accents made her know he was 
 Mr. Clarke, the barrackmaster of Nor- 
 ham, a very influential person as regarded 
 the upholsterer, and one whom it behoved 
 Barr to treat with deference. Standing in 
 the doorway, while Captain Bouverie waited 
 for him on the pavement outside, Mr. Clarke 
 was giving orders about some article of fur- 
 niture which he required, and speaking in the 
 tone of authority that always marked his con- 
 versation with inferiors — a tone that was 
 particularly distasteful to the cabinet-maker.
 
 110 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 who, unhappily, possessed a spirit of inde- 
 pendence and a temper easily roused, that was 
 not advantageous to one of his position. Up 
 to the present he had endeavoured to main- 
 tain a respectful demeanour in presence of the 
 barrackm aster ; but it was often hard for him 
 to restrain an open display of vexation as Mr. 
 Clarke issued mandates in a haughty, impe- 
 rious way ; and Mrs. Barr always had an 
 uneasy feeling whenever he came to give 
 orders for furniture, fearing that her husband 
 might lose control over his temper. So now 
 ftbe stood listening in the dark hall to the 
 sharp accents which fell upon her ear un- 
 pleasantly, though they were scarcely so 
 uncourteous as usual. The barrackmaster 
 was evidently in good humour, and not dis- 
 posed to find fault. Yet, for all that, Mrs. 
 Barr could not shake off a certain presenti- 
 ment that Abraham would say something that 
 might lead him into trouble with that man. 
 It was with a long breath of relief that she 
 saw his figure retreating in the dim light froqi
 
 SOCIETY IN A GVRRISON TOWN. Ill 
 
 tke doorway, and heard the door shut upon 
 him. 
 
 " He isn't'a gentleman one bit !" exclaimed 
 Barr, when he was gone. 
 
 " Never mind, Abraham. He may be good 
 enough, though his manner is not in his 
 favour/' 
 
 '' But he ain't a gentleman !*' repeated the 
 upholsterer, whose darkest suspicions of 
 human nature were beginning to fix them- 
 selves on the barrackmaster. 
 
 And then Mrs. Barr thought it would not 
 be prudent to say any more in defence of a 
 person whose favour was of the utmost con- 
 sequence to her husband's interests. It would 
 be better to let the subject rest quietly. 
 
 Mr. Clarke, who is destined to play a 
 remarkable part in this narrative, joined 
 Captain Bouverie as soon as he quitted the 
 upholsterer's house; and the latter put his 
 arm through that of the barrackmaster, as 
 they walked on together through the town, in 
 the direction of the railway station*
 
 112 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Thanks, Clarke, again !" said Captain 
 Bouverie, when they were about to part. " I 
 cannot forget your kindness to-day. God knows 
 what a weight has been taken off my mind.'* 
 
 " What I have done was with my whole 
 heart, Bouverie," replied Clarke, earnestly, 
 and speaking with perfect truth. " To serve 
 you, or any of your family, I would do far 
 more than that.'' 
 
 " A brother could not have acted better 
 for me than you this day," said the Captain, 
 giving his friend a most cordial shake of the 
 hand. " And now good-bye for the present. 
 I suppose we will meet you to-night at the 
 General's?'' 
 
 " I hope so. Make my compliments to 
 Mrs. Bouverie and the young ladies. Au 
 revoir /" And the barrack master went gaily 
 on his way, filled with some of the pleasantest 
 thoughts he had experienced for a long time. 
 In having put Captain Bouverie under an 
 obligation of a weighty kind that day, he felt 
 that he himself had gained much.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 113 
 
 Captain Bouverie mounted the steps to the 
 railway station, and proceeded to send a tele- 
 gram to London, the words of which ran 
 thus : — 
 
 " All will he right. I have done everything 
 you requested,''^
 
 114 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DORA BOUVERIE EXPRESSES SOME PECULIAR 
 OPINIONS. 
 
 When Miss Bouverie met her sister after that 
 weary day's shopping, it turned out that 
 nothing she had bought happened to be 
 exactly what was wanted, and Dora was 
 consequently a little out of humour, declar- 
 ing she had a great mind not to go to the party 
 that evening at all, which declaration grieved 
 both her mother and EUinor, neither of whom 
 had yet discovered that Dora was spoiled by
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 115 
 
 their indulgence, and only required to be 
 treated with indifference, when she was in 
 what is called a pet, to restore her to a com- 
 posed frame of mind. 
 
 " Did ever any one see such a match as 
 those two ribbons?'* she exclaimed, as her 
 sister drew forth sundry small parcels in 
 silver paper from her heavily laden pocket ; 
 " and then it is so late there will be no time 
 to alter my gown, and it will look such a 
 fright ! I wish I had gone out myself.'' 
 
 Ellinor could only stand and deliver her 
 parcels, looking quite humble and guilty, as 
 if it were her fault that the shops at Nor- 
 ham were badly supplied with ribbons and 
 laces. 
 
 "Oh! if we were not so dreadfully — so 
 hatefully poor, I would not have to worry 
 myself before every party, thinking how 
 shabby I may look ; or else fatigue myself to 
 death working at my own dresses !" exclaimed 
 the younger Miss Bouverie, in bitter accents. 
 " It may be all very well for you, Ellinor,
 
 116 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWl^. 
 
 who find it amusing to save and pinch, and 
 do your own needlework ; but it is not so for 
 me. I cannot bear this everlasting poverty. 
 Since I was a child I positively detested it !'* 
 and Dora's face grew quite flushed as she 
 spoke. 
 
 " Ellinor will do what she can for you," 
 said the poor mother, trying to conciliate her 
 daughter. " You know she does everything 
 quickly and neatly." 
 
 " Ah ! but she cannot perform miracles. 
 What on earth kept you out so long, Elli- 
 nor ?'' 
 
 " After shopping I went to see Mrs. Dart 
 and Mrs. Sharpoint, lest they might be 
 offended if they did not hear of our going to 
 the party to-night." 
 
 " What bores those two relations are ! al- 
 ways offended at something, and even at the 
 best of times scarcely endurable. How I 
 wish I was out of this horrible hum-drum 
 life, and able to cut Mrs. Dart and Mrs. 
 Sharpoint, and all our disagreeable relatives !''
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 117 
 
 Ellinor said nothing to this, but her sister 
 saw that she was pained by such an ebulli- 
 tion of ill temper; and consec[uently the ill 
 temper continued to rage for a considerable 
 length of time, during which Dora said many 
 unkind things, for which she was sorry after- 
 wards, though she did not condescend to say 
 so just at present. Nevertheless, when her 
 excitement subsided, she acknowledged to 
 her own heart what a self-denying, superior 
 minded person Ellinor was — so forgiving and 
 magnanimous and patient. 
 
 Like a great many good women, Ellinor 
 worked with her needle a great deal, in spite 
 of her dislike to the occupation, because she 
 could thereby save a few shillings occasionally; 
 for even the economising of a few shillings is 
 often of consequence to ladies who move in a 
 highly respectable class of life. So now Miss 
 Bouverie went about the alteration of her 
 sister's gown with as much alacrity as she 
 could command in her present weary state of 
 mind and body, and while Dora was engaged
 
 118 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 in trying how her hair wonld look in two or 
 three different styles, she was patiently 
 ripping up seams, and remodelling the shape 
 of sleeves. 
 
 "You had better go down to dinner, 
 EUinor," said Dora at last, as she observed 
 her sister working on, without thinking of 
 going down to the dining parlour, though 
 their father had returned home, and was al- 
 ready at dinner. 
 
 " I shall finish this work first," said 
 Ellinor. 
 
 " Well, perhaps you had better do so, for 
 then my mind would be more at ease. You 
 know^ of course, what you are going to wear 
 yourself." 
 
 " Oh ! yes ; my white silk." 
 " I hope people will not begin to wonder 
 how often you have worn it; but it looks as 
 fresh as ever. Mine would be as good only 
 for that detestable Mr. Clarke having spilt 
 coffee over it. I hope he may not be at the 
 party to-night, he is always hovering about
 
 SOCIETT IN A GARPISON TOWN. 119 
 
 US, and I «disUke so mucli the expression of 
 his queer-looking eyes. Fortunately he 
 hardly ever looks a person straight in the face, 
 but when he does his expression is absolutely 
 frightful.'^ 
 
 " He is not a pleasant-looking person 
 certainly," said Ellinor, '' but I thought you 
 did not dislike him so much?'' 
 
 " Because I talk to him, I suppose ? Oh ! 
 I talk to several people that I dislike," 
 observed Dora, coolly. " There is nothing I 
 like better than pretending to be pleased with 
 the attention of men that I either dislike or 
 care nothing at all about. I would not for 
 the world let them find out how little I think 
 of them, for then, of course, they would go 
 off affronted to somebody else." 
 
 "But you should not deceive people, 
 Dora. You may, of course, be polite, but not 
 insincere." 
 
 "Oh! I never say anything positively 
 deceitful, I only smile, and let the un- 
 fortunate wretches talk to me, and bring me
 
 120 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 my cloak, or hold my fan or bouquet ; and I 
 look, you know, as if I were delighted with 
 them, and they, ^of course, fancy they are 
 dreadfully killing. Why, Ellinor, if I gave 
 up that sort of thing I would have no amuse- 
 ment at parties at all, for there is not a single 
 creature at Norham that I care three straws 
 for." 
 
 " But you might find such coquetry rather 
 dangerous some time or other," said Ellinor, 
 who was still altering the wonderful blue 
 tarletan. " Even setting aside the want of 
 principle of such behaviour, it might lead to 
 unpleasant consequences .'' 
 
 " Want of principle !" repeated Dora laugh- 
 ing, "as if there was any principle about 
 flirting ! Do you know, Ellinor, I am rather 
 doubtful whether there is any such thing as 
 real falling in love in the world. It is all 
 romance and nonsense, like spirit-rapping or 
 mesmerism. People write such absurd things 
 ^bout women thinking so much of love, as if 
 mamma ever thought about it from one year's
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 121 
 
 end to the other — or Mrs. Dart, or Mrs. 
 Shar point, or anj of the women who keep 
 shops at Norham, and stand behind the 
 counters looking so dreadfully cross and 
 knowing. I read some poetry the other day 
 saying that love formed the very essence of a 
 woman's whole life, and I must say I thought 
 the author a great simpleton," 
 
 " Poets generally exaggerate a good deal.'' 
 
 '' They ought not to write about what they 
 know nothing of." 
 
 '' When authors write about women they 
 generally mean very young girls — not steady 
 women past twenty-five or thirty ; but when 
 they write of men they mean men of any age, 
 up to sixty or seventy. That is the mistake 
 they make. They will take the character and 
 frivolous behaviour of a girl of eighteen as a 
 type of what women are, and, perhaps, com- 
 pare this unformed character with that of 
 some learned, steady man twice her age. A 
 girl of eighteen and a youth of the same age 
 will be pretty much alike as to frivolity." 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 122 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOW». 
 
 " I feel as if I were as old as the hills," said 
 Dora, tossing her golden hair over her 
 shoulders, "Eighteen years is a very long 
 time. It seems such an age since I 
 was eight or nine^ and I do not think 
 the last ten years were very happy. Life seems 
 a dreary sort of business. When one is a child 
 there are lessons to be learned, and games to 
 play, and amusement to be found in running 
 about up trees, and sich like, as Patty says; 
 but someway when you grow up the case is 
 different. You find no pleasure in trundling 
 hoops, even if it were comme il faut to con- 
 tinue such pastime after twelve years old^ and 
 there is nothing to supply the place of the old 
 childish amusements — nothing for a woman, 
 Ellinor, but flirting and trying to break hearts, 
 and pretending to be in love with people you 
 do not care a farthing about, with an occasional 
 gleam of hope that you may yet make up 
 your mind to marry some rich man, and sub- 
 side into a comfortable, luxurious, humdrum 
 matron, with lots of money and a fine house,
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 123 
 
 and plenty of people to toady you, and pre- 
 tend to respect you greatly, while they back- 
 bite you dreadfully all the time. I should 
 like to be envied very much. People must 
 all like it, or they would not be so anxious 
 to get better off than their acquaintances. Only 
 for envy and jealousy good luck would lose 
 half its zest." 
 
 Miss Bouverie was obliged to continue 
 working at her sister s gown till the hour for 
 dressing for the party had nearly arrived. 
 She got no dinner, but that did not concern 
 her, for the day's fatigue had taken away her 
 appetite. Her father had dined alone, as he 
 often did, the ladies of the family being ac- 
 customed, from motives of economy, and 
 perhaps of peace, to take early dinners of 
 toast and tea, or scraps left from the captain's 
 dinner of the day before, while the head of 
 the house was at the news-room, or gossiping 
 in the town with old officers. Although not 
 quite at ease, Captain Bouverie was much less 
 perturbed than in the morning : he had done 
 
 G 2
 
 124 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 what he could to lessen his own anxiety that 
 day, and he felt that he must now be resigned. 
 EUinor felt almost afraid to meet her father 
 that evening, lest he might still be suffering 
 from the effects of the news he had received 
 in the morning ; but, though not in his usual 
 frame of mind. Captain Bouverie was not dis- 
 posed to be in ill-humour. He seemed sub- 
 dued and calm — a state that did not altogether 
 satisfy his elder daughter, for it was new to 
 her, and puzzling. It was late when the girls 
 were ready to set out for the General's, but 
 their father did not scold or say cutting things, 
 as he used to do upon such occasions. He 
 was walking up and down the parlour, and 
 sometimes standing out upon the lawn in 
 front of the house, looking at the winter 
 skj and its innumerable stars — bearing the 
 delay his daughters were occasioning with the 
 utmost patience. Trifles could not vex him 
 now : a great blow had fallen on him, and the 
 means he had taken to ward off a still heavier 
 blow were of a stupendous and desperate
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 125 
 
 character. It is strange how humble an 
 habitually tyrannical, overbearing man some- 
 times becomes when stricken severely, either 
 mentally or bodily — how patient and cast 
 down he seems, as if such sore trial were 
 needed to take down his stubborn pride and 
 dependence upon self. 
 
 Standing out among the laurels and mag- 
 nolias, looking at the wintry sky and the stars 
 brightening and fading, Captain Bouverie may 
 have thought of the Great Euler of the 
 universe more than he had done for years be- 
 fore, because a mighty dread was over him, 
 and he felt what a helpless being he was. For 
 the first time in his life he entertained a hope 
 connected with his daughters. Like a light- 
 ning flash it had struck him that one or the other 
 of them might possibly help him in the strait 
 in which he was placed — one or the other ot 
 those girls who had been so neglected and un- 
 cared for, so little thought of in childhood and 
 youth, so little prized that, when the younger 
 one was born, and someone told him that the
 
 126 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN, 
 
 infant was one of the feminine gender, he had 
 looked disappointed, and said, " Pshaw ! an- 
 other girl !" as if it were a most contemptible 
 piece of information. The least possible 
 money had been spent upon the education of 
 those two daughters; it was even hard for 
 their mother to obtain funds to clothe them 
 respectably ; and now, when they were grown 
 up, and at an age when people would naturally 
 expect to find them mixing in the world, and 
 dressed as well as other young women 
 in their rank of life, the difficulties of their 
 position seemed to increase. Captain Bou- 
 verie appeared to think that his wife 
 and daughters should have no milliner's 
 or dressmaker's bills. Although possessed 
 of a belief in the general extravagance 
 and love of dress of the female sex, it yet 
 seemed to surprise him greatly when he was 
 called upon to pay for new clothes for the 
 ladies of his family, while the amount of his 
 own and his son's tailor's accounts were ex- 
 tremely high *, for neither of them liked to be
 
 SOCIEIY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 127 
 
 shabby or out of the fashion, and the fashion 
 of men's clothes is not always the same, any 
 more than women's garments. How couW 
 tailors thrive, and accumulate large fortunes, 
 if there were no gentlemen who had a han- 
 kering after well-cut coats and elegant waist- 
 coats ? 
 
 And now, as he looked up at the deep blue 
 sky, the father for the first time in his life 
 began to think that his daughters might be 
 useful to him. One or other might step in 
 and stand between him and ruin. The 
 thought gathered strength each moment as 
 he waited for them, while they were dress- 
 ing and hurrying to join him, fearful of his 
 displeasure, and expecting many hard 
 speeches. 
 
 Nobody spoke much as the trio left the 
 house, having at last set out for the General's. 
 No easy carriage, nor yet fly nor cab, con- 
 veyed them on their way. With a proper 
 amount of muffling, and hats deftly poised 
 on their heads, and gowns tucked up from
 
 128 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 all possible contact with mud, the young 
 ladies, under their papa's escort, walked to 
 Sir Ealph Barnard's house, Dora taking par- 
 ticular care to keep her thick veil down, and 
 a handkerchief held to her face, to prevent 
 the sharp frosty air from spoiling her com- 
 plexion, which, being more than ordinarily 
 fine, required, of course, more than ordinary 
 care. 
 
 " I hope you intend to look your best to- 
 night, girls," said Captain Bouverie, in a 
 tone of either real or affected pleasantry that 
 rather surprised his daughters. 
 
 " I don't know indeed, papa," replied 
 Dora; "this frosty air is very unbecoming. 
 And as^to Ellinor, she has had no dinner, 
 and looks like a ghost ; but we shall be as 
 good looking as anyone else in the room, I 
 am sure.'* 
 
 *'Yes, I am sure you will; you always 
 look very well at parties," said her father. 
 
 Miss Bouverie felt surprised. How curi- 
 ous that her father, who had hardly ever
 
 SOCIETY IX A GARRISON TOWN. 129 
 
 praised them in his life, should begin to be 
 complimentary now ! Could he be in earn- 
 est, or only sneering at Dora in a quiet 
 way ? 
 
 " Have you seen Mr. St. George, the new 
 aide-de-camp ?'' asked Dora, emboldened by 
 her father's previous answer. 
 
 " No, but I hear he is not anything very 
 remarkable.'* 
 
 " Who told you so ?" 
 
 '^ Mr. Clarke.'' 
 
 " Oh, you need not mind a word he says ; 
 he never thinks well of anyone, and he is 
 always trying to take everyone down. I 
 never saw such a jealous person ; he looks 
 quite out of temper when you say any other 
 man is good-looking or agreeable. It is quite 
 amusing to see the thundercloud gathering 
 on his face when you begin to praise some 
 younger and better looking man that hap- 
 pens to be in company with him. In fact, I 
 make a point of praising up several people, 
 whenever I am dancing with him, just to see 
 
 G 5
 
 130 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 how angry it makes him. Surely, lie ought 
 to think it time to give up balls and parties 
 at his age." 
 
 Captain Bouverie made no remark to that 
 speech, but, nevertheless, he heard it, and 
 did not like it, while Dora continued rattling 
 on in her random way. 
 
 " If Mr, Clarke says any harm of Mr. St. 
 George, I shall take a fancy to him immedi- 
 ately, and I shall make a point of saying how 
 delightful he is, whenever I meet the unfor- 
 tunate barrackmaster, for I am sure he is 
 jealous of him already.'' 
 
 "But you do not imagine Mr. Clarke 
 would care what a silly young girl like you 
 thought of him or anyone else," said Captain 
 Bouverie, after a pause. 
 
 *' Well, it sometimes strikes me that he 
 does — just a little bit ; very foolish of him, 
 of course." 
 
 "Aud does he not care what EUinor 
 thinks ?" asked the father. 
 
 "Oh, yes; he is very attentive to her al- 
 ways."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRIS3N TOWN. 131 
 
 " She would suit him better than you, Dora/' 
 
 '' I, papa?" asked Ellinor, in surprise. 
 
 '' Yes, you are steadier than Dora, and look 
 better suited to the taste of a man of his age.'' 
 
 "I hope he does not think so," replied 
 Miss Bouverie, laughing. " 1 am not 
 coquette enough to wish the poor man to 
 begia thinking whether I am suitable or the 
 reverse.'' 
 
 " I should like to break his heart, if he 
 has one, which I am rather doubtful of," said 
 Dora. "Just fancy such a man as Mr. 
 Clarke in love, and taking one's hand, and 
 dropping on his knees ! How ridiculous !'' 
 
 " Men do not drop on their knees now-a- 
 days," said Captain Bouverie. 
 
 " And I doubt much whether they ever 
 did," returned Dora. '' At all events, I do 
 not think the poor barrackmaster will take it 
 into his head to fall desperately in love with 
 either Ellinor or me ; he is too old for any- 
 such delusion." 
 
 " My dear, he is not so old,'' said Captaiu
 
 182 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Bouverie. '* If he is thirty-eight it is the 
 utmost of his years. I remember him a 
 very young man, quite a lad, twenty years 
 ago." 
 
 Dora's merry laugh rang out upon the 
 night air. 
 
 " Dear papa, you might better set up for a 
 romantic lover yourself, for you are a much 
 better looting person than he is. Thirty- 
 eight ! Just twenty years older than I am." 
 
 "A good, steady, sensible age — a man 
 who knows his own mind, too," said the 
 Captain. 
 
 " And I hope he may set his affections 
 upon somebody near his own years," said 
 Dora; ''one of the Miss Skinners would suit 
 him nicely, both as to age, appearance, and 
 temper; I shall recommend them to his notice 
 to-night if we meet him." 
 
 " My dear, you must not be silly or flip- 
 pant. As to Clarke taking a fancy to either 
 of you, I think you need not be at all 
 alarmed ; he is not a marrying man.''
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 13^^ 
 
 '' ?o much the better. When he did not 
 
 marry before this, he would be unwise to 
 
 think of changing his condition now," said 
 
 Dora, picking her steps carefully over a 
 
 gutter. 
 
 Captain Bouverie did not speak for some 
 minutes, and the party walked on in silence; 
 for Dora began to entertain misgivings that 
 she had forgotten her gloves and fan, and 
 EJlinor felt too tired and too much out of 
 spirits to start any new topic of conversa- 
 tion. At length her father broke silence 
 again. 
 
 " I suppose you know that this going out 
 to balls and parties in winter is not very 
 pleasant to me," he said, *' and the sooner it 
 is put a stop to the better. At my age walk- 
 ing out at night in such weather cannot be 
 very prudent ; besides, parties are not very 
 interesting to me." 
 
 *' Of course not, papa," said Ellinor, won- 
 dering every moment more and more at her 
 father's manner rather than at his words.
 
 134 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN, 
 
 " And so, then, you see it would be well 
 for you both to try what can be done about 
 getting somebody to take you off my hands,'' 
 continued the father. 
 
 Dora laughed another silvery, merry laugh. 
 
 " Why, papa, you are turning as bad as 
 Mrs. Dart, who is always impressing upon us 
 the necessity of being settled, as she calls it. 
 Oh, how detestable she is after every party, 
 tormenting us with questions as to proposals, 
 and if any one has made an offer or said any- 
 thing very particular !" 
 
 " But you see, my dear, such matters must 
 be thought of; it will not do to go on always 
 as if you were children, with no considera- 
 tion for the future. Men and women must 
 be provided for, and marriage is the provi- 
 sion for women. You know very well I can 
 give you no fortunes ; indeed, if I were to be 
 taken from you I fear you would be very 
 badly off, for I suppose you know a consider- 
 able part of my present income is derived 
 from an annuity on my life."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 135 
 
 " But you are not going to die, papa,'^ said 
 Dora, putting her hand through her father^ s 
 arm. " We should not have such dismal con- 
 versation just as we are approaching a scene 
 of festivity, where I intend to be most killing. 
 You must know, papa, I have every intention 
 of captivating the new aide-de-camp, Mr. St. 
 George, and of becoming, finally, Viscountess 
 Killeevan in the peerage of Ireland, as his 
 uncle will die off in due course of time. Did 
 you not hear me reading about the family in 
 our old Peerage this morning, while you were 
 absorbed in that wonderful letter you got?" 
 
 " Hush, Dora," whispered Ellinor, who 
 felt an additional weight of anxiety pressing 
 upon her, owing to her father's unaccustomed 
 way of speaking. 
 
 " My dear, you must be serious," said 
 Captain Bouverie *, " this light way of talking 
 won't do. Young fellows may like silly, 
 flirting speeches, but steady men will not; 
 and if you were as beautiful as an angel you 
 will fail in making any serious impression if
 
 136 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 you do not behave with prudence and dig- 
 nity/' 
 
 *' But you see, papa, I should he sorry to 
 make any serious impression just at present/' 
 said Dora. ''If somebody took it into his 
 head to fall very seriously in love with me, it 
 would be a very useless piece of business un- 
 less I chose to fall in love too.'' 
 
 " Young ladies are not expected to have 
 any particular choice in such matters,'* said 
 Captain Bouverie. " They generally abide 
 by the council of their eldei;^. A pretty- 
 mess women would make of their affairs if 
 they acted always as they chose !" 
 
 " T am sure, papa, you would never wish 
 EUinor or me to marry people we did not 
 like," continued Dora, a little serious this 
 time. "At all events, it is too soon for me 
 to think of settling down into a humdrum 
 married woman. Since I was a child I had 
 a horror of married women, with their dreary 
 faces and haggard looks, so dreadfully care- 
 worn and subdued ! — especially poor married
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARPISON TOWN. 137 
 
 -women, who seem to have their wits set 
 astray trying to make one shilling go as far 
 as two. I often used to say to myself, when 
 I was ever so young, ' Catch me making a 
 fool of myself and marrying a poor man, and 
 looking like an animal caught in a trap all my 
 life after.' " 
 
 '' A very elegant simile^ I must say, and an 
 extremely refined way of thinking altogether 
 for a young lady,'' said Captain Bouverie, 
 who was getting irritable at last. '' It shows 
 how ill you have been brought up when such 
 sentiments, and such a mode of expressing 
 those sentiments, ever were permitted to enter 
 your mind. Who, pray, taught you to think 
 80 charmingly and with such originality?" 
 
 *' No one in the world. The ideas just 
 came into my own head. Everyone used to 
 try to make me think marriage a delightfully 
 happy state for a woman — though rather a 
 dull sort of business for a man ; but I could 
 not quite consider that the state was so 
 charming from my observation of married
 
 138 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 women, with their pale, anxious faces, and 
 their dozens of teasing children sent off as 
 much as possible out of the way with their 
 ill-tempered nurses, and no more amusement 
 or lightheartedness for the poor, moping, 
 dowdy wives and mothers. In fact, you 
 know what a hopeless, sad-looking woman 
 even dear mamma was. I remember, when 
 I was a little creature, scarcely able tg speak 
 plain, I used to wonder at the heavy sighs 
 she gave when I was sitting on her lap !'' 
 
 Ellinor would have been glad to induce her 
 sister to cease such talking, as her uneasiness 
 was increasing each moment lest her father 
 should quite lose his temper. 
 
 " I am sorry, Dora, you allow your tongue 
 such liberties,^' said Captain Bouverie, grow- 
 ing terribly dignified. " Such a way of 
 thinking and speaking is highly improper for 
 a young woman, who should understand bet- 
 ter what the destiny of her sex is. Has it 
 never been impressed upon you that the 
 dearest wish of a good woman's heart is to go
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 139 
 
 quietly through life, fulfilling in humility and 
 meekness her duty as a wife and mother?" 
 
 " I never could receive the impression, papa. 
 I wonder very much what that poor woman 
 thought whose husband was turned out of 
 Mr. Mervyn's gatehouse the other day, be 
 cause his family was getting too large.'' 
 
 "What has that to do with the present 
 question?'' 
 
 " Thus much — that children do not seem, 
 after all, such a desirable acquisition. There 
 are too many of them in the world, in my 
 opinion." 
 
 '* More pretty ideas ! They do your mother 
 infinite credit, Dora." 
 
 " Don't blame poor, dear, quiet mamma for 
 any strange ideas that I possess ; they are all 
 my own, concocted in my own wicked brain, 
 papa," said Dora. " If it depended on my 
 mother, I should have no thoughts at all 
 about anything but saving halfpence and 
 pence. But here we are at the GeneraPs. 
 Already I feel growing quite nervous. Ellinor,
 
 140 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 you know my superstition about Friday. 
 Shall we find this an unlucky party to-night? 
 Already my heart begins to beat with hope 
 and fear." 
 
 Very lightly the young girl spoke those 
 random words, which were yet not without 
 their significance. 
 
 The father and daughters were now within 
 a few paces of Sir Ealph Barnard's residence, 
 the windows of which were lit up brilliantly. 
 Captain Bouverie sighed as he looked 
 up at the large house, whose appear- 
 ance told of wealth and comfort reigning 
 within. The General was not a much older 
 man than he was, yet their position was very 
 different. Pausing before he rang the hall- 
 door bell, the father said, after some hesita- 
 tion and in a low tone, to his elder 
 daughter — 
 
 " Ellinor, if Clarke is here to-night, be 
 civil to him — be very civil to him. I have a 
 particular reason for wishing this; and tell 
 Dora not to dare to offend him in any way.''
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 141 
 
 " Yes, papa," replied Ellin or, slowly, and 
 as she spoke a strange sinking at the heart 
 made her feel almost faint — she scarcely knew 
 why; perhaps because her father's voice was 
 trembling. 
 
 The door-bell rang, and the summons was 
 answered quickly by a servant, who admitted 
 our trio into a hall brightly lit up.
 
 142 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 CHAPTER Vm, 
 
 THE PARTY. 
 
 A BRILLIANT room, and a goodly company 
 therein assembled, with wax lights, and soft 
 couches, and expensive ornaments strewed 
 about, and a hum of subdued conversation 
 striking on the ear — a hum that seemed to 
 cease for a minute or two as the Bouveries 
 entered, and Sir Balph Barnard, with his 
 daughter, went forward to greet them. 
 
 Everyone looked at the young ladies who 
 hadj ust made their appearance — some to admire
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 143 
 
 some to criticise, some to gratify curiosity, but 
 none to deny to their own hearts that they 
 were pretty. Flushed and smiling, with the 
 most guileless expression in the world, Dora 
 Bouverie looked the picture of innocence, 
 with her beautiful little golden head and 
 girlish figure so slight and graceful. Paler, 
 and with darker hair and eyes, her sister was 
 pronounced by most fastidious critics, who 
 had an eye to mind as well as to outward 
 form, to be the more attractive of the two — 
 intellectual looking as well as pretty. 
 
 Few people of any rank, high or low, 
 would fail to pronounce Dora Bouverie a 
 pretty girl, with her bright colouring of hair 
 and complexion; yet there were many, es- 
 pecially among the inferior classes, who would 
 have passed Miss Bouverie by without look- 
 ing twice at her, though her features were 
 more perfect than her sister's, her eyes more 
 expressive ; but you required to see the sisters 
 more than once to decide in favour of the 
 elder one's beauty. Dora was a bright pic-
 
 144 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 ture, that struck you instantlj; Ellinor bore 
 more careful scrutiny, and the variableness of 
 her expression prevented even an intimate 
 acquaintance becoming tired of it. 
 
 Sir Ealph Barnard was a fine-looking man 
 of about fifty-five, with a soldierly bearing, 
 but not handsome face ; a clever man, who 
 sent jocose and successful letters to the Horse 
 Guards, when other men would have written 
 forma] ones and failed to get what they de- 
 manded; a man of uncertain temper, prone 
 to explode at times into terrific passions — a 
 sort of human Vesuvius, with periodical fits 
 of ill-humour, very fiery and dreadful ; yet in 
 general of agreeable deportment and pleasant 
 manners, especially when entertaining com- 
 pany ; very terrible on inspection days, how- 
 ever, riding round the ranks and thundering 
 at any unwary young officer found wanting 
 in military skill or promptness, or ignorant of 
 the names of the soldiers in his troop or com- 
 pany. He gave a cordial welcome to Captain 
 Bouverie and his daughters, as did likewise
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 145 
 
 Miss Barnard ; and while Dora Bouverie was 
 answering these greetings she glanced round 
 the room with a soft, sleepy look, apparently 
 signifying nothing, but in reality meaning a 
 a good deal, discovering very quickly who 
 the people were that formed the company. 
 There was Lord Halesby, very stout, and 
 short, and good-humoured looking, talking 
 to Mrs. Carpendale — the wife of Captain 
 Carpendale — who held a staff appointment 
 at Norham — a lady who sang and danced, 
 and rode on horseback so charmingly, 
 that the kind gossips of the neighbourhood 
 hoped to discover in time that she had been 
 an opera singer, or an opera dancer, or a 
 member of an equestrian troupe. She spoke 
 French, Italian, and German; had travelled 
 everywhere, and had the effect of being a 
 beauty without the reality. Her large dark 
 eyes fastened themselves on the face of any 
 one she spoke to with such fixedness that 
 they seemed to bewilder and fascinate in a 
 hawk-like manner. Her husband was hand- 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 some and elegant, spoke little, and seemed to 
 take the world very easily, declaring Norham 
 to be a charming place, the people delightful, 
 &c., &c. The Misses Skinner, to whom he 
 was now talking, or rather listening, for they 
 had all the talk to themselvCv^t, were sharp- 
 eyed young women, very clumsy in their 
 betrayal of the envy and jealousy they felt 
 towards all other young women in their own 
 class of life who happened to reside in the 
 vicinity of Norham. Why neither of them 
 had been married, since it seemed their chief 
 aim to attain the dignity of matro nhood since 
 they first " came out," was rather surprising, 
 for they were not half as plain as several 
 young women who had "gone off'' in good 
 time ; and they entertained a profound res- 
 pect both for men in general and for matri- 
 mony; they were, likewise, most industrious, 
 the neatest and swiftest needlewomen, the 
 most expert house wifes, the cleverest managers 
 not only of their own affairs, but of those of 
 everybody else who would permit them to
 
 SOCIETY IN A OiRRISON TOWN. 147 
 
 assist them. Although now coasiderably 
 past thirty, thej had once been in their teens, 
 and therefore their present advanced age had 
 not, it is to be supposed, anything to do with 
 their failure in the matrimonial line. They 
 were still rather pretty, but uncommonly 
 sharp-looking. Perhaps it was owing to the 
 elevated standard they had raised in their 
 own minds, by which to measure the nobility 
 and excellence of the male nature, that they 
 were sometimes, indeed very often, disposed 
 to regard individual men with an eye of 
 severe criticism, and to despise them. Perhaps 
 they had looked too high, and refused offers 
 that seemed to them ineligible. Certain it 
 is that with every wish to be settled, with 
 profound contempt for the single state, with 
 a considerable share of good looks, and an 
 immense stock of that sort of cleverness 
 generally supposed to be attractive to men — 
 cleverness in housekeeping, and understand- 
 ing all the details of cookery and domestic 
 management — the Miss Skinners were not 
 
 H 2
 
 148 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN, 
 
 raarried ; while ugly girls, stupid girls, por- 
 tionless girls, girls who knew nothing of 
 housekeeping or little of needlework, went 
 off, as the phrase goes, in a most provoking 
 and incomprehensible manner; and there 
 they were left to haunt ball-rooms and archery 
 fetes, dragging their unfortunate mother about 
 as matron, as if they could not possibly take 
 care of themselves — these clever young 
 women who could buy and sell their poor 
 silly mother, as the saying is, over and over 
 again. 
 
 Of course the Miss Skinners were highly 
 ridiculous, reader — highly reprehensible for 
 trying, at thirty-four and upwards, to get 
 houses and servants of their own, to secure a 
 position of some consequence in the world, to 
 escape from what is so extremely laughable — 
 old maidenhood. Poor women ! they had no 
 money to speak of as it was ; they had a great 
 respect for the ordinances of society ; they be- 
 lieved that women ought not to step out of 
 the sphere of wifehood and motherhood—
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 149 
 
 that it was odious for females to want to work 
 and be independent without male help ; and 
 what could they do but try to get husbands in 
 some way? Nevertheless, with a strange in- 
 consistency, everybody condemned the Miss 
 Skinners ; and their frequent presence at all 
 festive gatherings within fifteen miles of Nor- 
 ham was considered most reprehensible. The 
 very fact of it being generally rumoured 
 abroad that they wished to be "settled'' 
 made people laugh, and the men vowed that 
 they would not be caught by them, which 
 was delightfully amusing, especially as the 
 welfare of the Miss Skinners depended 
 on this pretty contradictory caprice of the 
 men. 
 
 Well, these unsucessful husband-seekers 
 were not rendered any sweeter tempered by 
 their failure in the matrimonial line. They 
 knew very well that people laughed at them 
 and spoke ill of them, and exaggerated their 
 evil deeds. No ill success is so ludicrous as 
 the ill success of the husband-hunter. The
 
 150 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 
 
 "banker who fails, the merchant who comes to 
 niin, the speculator who loses all he possesses, 
 the old officer who can never get promotion, 
 the clergym.an who remains a curate till his 
 head is grey, are never laughed at merely for 
 their want of good fortune; but the young 
 gentlewoman who tries to get a husband to 
 provide for her is a very ridiculous personage 
 — a target for all jests and sneers — when she 
 loses her game, perhaps, because, when she 
 fails in this respect, there is nothing else for 
 her to try her hand at in the way of ad- 
 vancing her prospects in life. Let us laugh 
 and jeer, good friends, and at the same time 
 keep up the old cry about '' woman's mission,'' 
 and " woman's sphere/' and so forth. But 
 to our story. It was really painful to witness 
 the glances the Miss Skinners cast on the Miss 
 Bouveries when those young ladies advanced 
 towards the centre of the room. Dora saw 
 them, and understood them, too, and, I am 
 sorry to say, rather enjoyed them, as, with a 
 sweet smile and approving nod of her innocent
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 151 
 
 little golden head, she gave the amiable, but 
 unfortunate pair a pleasant token of recogni- 
 tion, en passant 
 
 Miss Dora Bouverie knew quite well that 
 her gown — thanks to her sister — fitted her 
 well ; that her hair was dressed most becom- 
 ingly, and that she looked better even than 
 usual, in spite of the wind and weather, so she 
 felt in a very good humour, and quite able to 
 defy the most spiteful glances envy could level 
 at her. 
 
 "How different Miss Dora Bouverie looks 
 sometimes from others," said Miss Skinner, 
 looking as if she had just swallowed a draught 
 of very strong vinegar. " To-night she seems 
 almost plain." 
 
 " Indeed !" said Captain Carpendale, feeling 
 rather perplexed between a desire to speak the 
 truth and preserve his usual conciliatory 
 manners. "Plain? Yes, perhaps so ; even- 
 ing rather trying, though charming for the 
 season. Miss Bouveries in general very 
 handsome."
 
 152 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Not the elder one, I am sure," said Miss 
 Skinner, emphatically; ''nobody calls Miss 
 Bouverie handsome." 
 
 "Ah — indeed? Pretty girl, though. Charm- 
 ing expression — fine eyes." 
 
 " So dreadfully sallow ; she looks really 
 fearful in the day time." 
 
 *' Yes, very pale, certainly, but interesting 
 and graceful-looking." 
 
 Miss Skinner looked now at Ellinor Bouverie 
 with terrible eyes, which really seemed of a 
 green hue. 
 
 Miss Minnie Skinner followed the Miss 
 Bouveries with dark glances also. Could 
 looks have slain them, Ellinor and Dora 
 would have dropped down dead on the 
 spot. 
 
 " Who are they ?" whispered a tall, striking 
 looking young man, who was standing beside 
 the barrackmaster, Mr. Clarke, forming a 
 strong contrast to the latter, who was scarcely 
 of the middle height, of a pale complexion, 
 once fair, but now sallow and faded, with
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 153 
 
 light brown hair, without wave or curl, and 
 rather scanty ; eyes of a light hazel, look- 
 ing, in fact, like yellow, and possessing a 
 strange, uncertain expression that gave one 
 the idea of a squint; a nose somewhat non- 
 descript, but rather large than small; thin 
 lips that often wore a sneer ; a broad, short 
 chin; a figure neither stout nor slight, but 
 muscular; hands large and sinewy. A strong 
 man, you would say— and you would be right 
 — and a man that looked younger than he 
 was. Such, in appearance, was Allan Clarke, 
 the barrackm aster of Norham, who is to play 
 an important part in this story. Of an old 
 family, with good connections, Clarke had 
 started in life with very little money. At an 
 early age he entered the army, remaining in 
 the military profession for a few years till he 
 attained the rank of lieutenant; he then left 
 it, and proceeded to India, where he obtained 
 a civil appointment at Madras. It was 
 generally supposed that he accumulated 
 money while abroad; but, owing to the 
 
 H 5
 
 164 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 
 
 climate, or some other reason best known to 
 himself, Clarke found it expedient to return 
 to Europe when he was little more than five- 
 and-thirty ; and after some time he obtained 
 the appointment of barrackmaster and Ord- 
 nance storekeeper at Norham. His friends 
 wondered he had not yet married ; but India 
 is not a place where our countrymen can pick 
 up wives so easily as in England, unless they 
 are contented to have black ones ; and, as it 
 happened, Mr. Clarke had an eye for a very 
 perfect style of European beauty. The strik- 
 ing looking young man beside him, with his 
 elegant figure, handsome dark-eyed face, and 
 aristocratic air, did not make him look any 
 better than usual, as they stood together 
 at that moment in Sir Kalph Barnard^s 
 room. 
 
 '' Who are they ?" said the handsome young 
 man, in a low tone. 
 
 " Captain Bouverie and his daughters,'' re- 
 plied Clarke. 
 
 " Quartered here?"
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 155 
 
 "Not officially — merely residents in the 
 neighbourhood — townspeople you may say.'' 
 
 '' Very pretty !'' observed the handsome 
 young man, alluding to the young ladies. 
 " Any fortunes ?" 
 
 The barrackmaster shook his head de- 
 cidedly — more decidedly than he would have 
 shaken it yesterday; and a very acute ob- 
 server might have seen a peculiar light spark- 
 ling in his yellow eyes. Was he glad or 
 Sony Captain Bouverie's daughters had no 
 fortunes ? 
 
 " Curious how rarely pretty girls have for- 
 tunes," thought the elegant young man, as 
 his eyes followed the figures of the fair sisters 
 with looks of melting softness that would 
 fiiUy have compensated for the sharp glances 
 of the Miss Skinners, had any compensation 
 been required. 
 
 " Shall I introduce you, Mr. St. George, to 
 one of those young ladies?" asked Miss Bar- 
 nard, coming up to him, leaning on the 
 arm of Mr. Lyon — Lord Halesby's eldest son.
 
 166 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Mr. St. George murmured something about 
 his willingness to be introduced. 
 
 "Which of them?" asked Miss Barnard. 
 
 Happening just then to catch a very sweet, 
 dreamy look from the eyes of Dora Bouverie, 
 as they made a second exploring expedition 
 round the room, the young man said, 
 
 " To the one with the fair hair, if it is all 
 the same, Miss Barnard." 
 
 And it being quite the same to Miss Bar- 
 nard, who was making herself very agreeable 
 to every one, and especially to Mr. Lyon, 
 Mr. St. George was forthwith conveyed over 
 to the spot where the Miss Bouveries had 
 taken up their places, and introduced to the 
 younger one, who did not betray, by slightest 
 word or look, the smallest consciousness of 
 ever having heard or thought of the said Mr. 
 St. George in her life before. 
 
 " And now we are going to have a quad- 
 rille," said Miss Barnard, looking at EUinor, 
 who was speaking a few words to Mr. Lyon 
 — that young man of whom a little bird had
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 157 
 
 told tales to Mrs. Dart, touching the attention 
 he had bestowed at a certain archery ball on 
 the Miss Bouveries ; a gentlemanly, good- 
 looking young man, with a pleasant counten- 
 ance, frank and good tempered looking, and 
 well-bred, being too conscious and assured of 
 his own position to be under the necessity of 
 adopting conceited airs. Ellinor's face grew 
 bright as she spoke to him, and her pale 
 cheeks flushed a little. 
 
 " How is Dawson, and will he come home 
 for Christmas ?'^ he asked. 
 
 " I do not know ; that is, perhaps he may," 
 she replied in some confusion, for the thought 
 of her brother troubled her. " 1 have not 
 heard from him lately." 
 
 " We are going to have some friends down 
 at Halesby, at Christmas, and I hope he will 
 be at Norham, then," he said. 
 
 " He would like it very much, I am sure," 
 said EUinor, and now her colour had subsided, 
 and she was pale again. 
 
 " We are going to have a quadrille," re-
 
 158 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 peated Miss Barnard, " and it is too bad, Miss 
 Bouverie, to ask you to play for us ; but you 
 play so beautifully that you must excuse my 
 doing so. I am a sad bungler at the piano, 
 always going out of time when I attempt 
 dance music." 
 
 " Oh, I shall play with great pleasure,*' 
 said Ellinor, already beginning to unbutton 
 her gloves. 
 
 '' Did you bring any music ?" 
 
 " "No, but it is of no consequence, as I can 
 play without it." 
 
 " Some of Miss Barnard's music would suit 
 you, perhaps,'* said Mr. Lyon ; '' shall I search 
 for some?" and, without heeding Ellinor^s 
 " Pray don't mind," &c., &c., he walked with 
 her to the piano, and was soon busied in try- 
 ing to discover a suitable set of quadrilles, 
 Miss Barnard assisting in the search also, and 
 never losing her agreeability. 
 
 "How good-natured! — Miss Bouverie al- 
 ways is playing for dancing,'' said Miss 
 Skinner, who looked as though again under
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN, 159 
 
 the influence of vinegar, as she addressed a 
 young ensign who was dying to dance with 
 Dora Bouverie, and had consequently fallen 
 to the lowest depths of misery when he beheld 
 her monopolised by the new aide-de-camp; 
 " but it is rather unfair of Miss Barnard to 
 ask her to play so often. I wouldn't stand it; 
 I should think it was impertinent, as if I were 
 only asked to parties on purpose to be of use 
 —I wonder she does not refuse." 
 
 " I don't know, I am sure," said the sulky 
 youth, with eyes wandering towards Dora 
 Bouverie and her partner, who were now stand- 
 ing up and preparing to look for the requisite 
 vts-a-vts, 
 
 " If the Bouveries did not make themselves 
 of use, perhaps, they would not be in so much 
 request," continued Miss Skinner; "there 
 are not many musical people about Nor-< 
 ham." 
 
 " Such pretty girls as they are could not be 
 spared from a party hereabouts," said the 
 
 4«^^
 
 160 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 bungling young Ensign, who was made pay 
 for that observation by the most merciless 
 snaps levelled at him all through the ensuing 
 quadrille.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARKISON TOWN. 161 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BARRACKMASTER. 
 
 Hovering here and there through the room, 
 now and then speaking to Sir Ralph Barnard, 
 now and then exchanging words confidentially 
 with Captain Bouverie, and very often say- 
 ing nothing to anyone, Allan Clarke, the 
 barrackmaster, could scarcely be said to de- 
 rive a great amount of pleasure from his 
 presence at that party. Often, very often, 
 his eyes were fixed upon the golden-haired
 
 162 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 girl dancing with Mr. St. George — a girl who^ 
 in point of years^ might have been his daugh- 
 ter, and yet whose youthful beauty seemed to 
 possess a strong fascination for him. Fair 
 and smiling, with no shadow of any deep 
 care on her lightly pencilled brow, Dora 
 Bouverie had, indeed, cast a powerful spell 
 over that man who had lived so long in the 
 world without being scathed by a passionate 
 love .before. Passing fancies he might have 
 had in the old days long ago, when he was a 
 subaltern in his regiment, but nothing like 
 this infatuation, that had come in the days of 
 his sober manhood. No one could be better 
 aware of the folly of encouraging it than he 
 was himself. He, a man already of middle 
 age, with the best part of his life vanished in 
 the past, to think of gaining the love of a girl 
 of less than half his years! It was very 
 absurd, whispered common sense ; it was a 
 thing often tried and sometimes successful, 
 whispered hope; and hope was listened to 
 eagerly — her voice was murmuring sweet
 
 SOCIETY IN A OiEEISON TOWN. 163 
 
 words to his troubled soul, even as he stood 
 silently watching the object of his thoughts. 
 
 Meanwhile the young lady who had thus 
 disturbed the peace of this man was absorbed 
 in 'conversation with Mr. St. George, who 
 •well knew how to look unutterable things, 
 even if he said nothing very remarkable. A 
 fine pair of eyes and expressive features can 
 save a man a world of troubles as regards 
 making himself agreeable. The smile of a 
 well-cut lip is worth dozens of fine speeches ; 
 the glance of a dark eye often more effective 
 than any words could be. Kot that the lately 
 arrived aide-de-camp was a simpleton who 
 had no ideas, or a difficulty of clothing them 
 in language. On the contrary, he was very 
 clever, and what he did say was just as much 
 as he chose to say, and no more and no less. 
 A hero he was, too, with deeds of war to 
 heighten his attractions. Had he not fought 
 like a lion in the Crimean campaign, and 
 had he not sent home beautifully-exe- 
 cuted drawings of Crimean scenes to
 
 164 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 his friends in England, who forthwith 
 dispatched them to the Illustrated London 
 News 9 Yes, Mr. Eodney St. George, of the 
 — Light Infantry, was a very intellectual, 
 accomplished young officer, as well as a brave 
 soldier and a handsome man, and therefore 
 likely to prove very attractive to the ladies of 
 Norham. Men (except such as were jealous 
 of him) liked the aide-de-camp also, and the 
 more junior officers of his own regiment were 
 enthusiastic in their admiration of him ; but 
 he was now thrown among strangers, and had 
 to make his way to popularity in a new 
 sphere. A quiet, rather indolent-looking 
 young man, of three-and-twenty — looking, 
 perhaps, a little older, with nothing of brav- 
 ado about him — one who seemed, just now, 
 much better suited to the drawing-room than 
 the battle-field, and who might be looked upon 
 by envious civilians as a fop and a fool because 
 he was dressed so well, and wore such ex- 
 quisite boots; but we know, reader, that 
 officers of slovenly habits do not make the
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN, 165 
 
 bravest soldiers, and that a man may be a 
 dandy and a warrior too. Likewise we know 
 that clever men and women can be handsome 
 and well-born, and that a man has no need 
 to be devoid of brains because his nose is 
 well-shaped, and his hands are very white, or 
 because he comes of an old and aristocratic 
 family. The accident of birth cannot affect 
 the intellect any more than sex can. 
 
 Dora Bouverie had already turned the head 
 of more than one young officer in her Majesty's 
 service, and it was only natural to expect 
 that another would fall an easy prey; but 
 she soon discovered that the new aide-de-camp 
 was unlike the generaHty of those youthful 
 heroes who were in the habit of fluttering 
 round her, and of walking continually on the 
 road between Evergreen and Norham for the 
 purpose of catching a glimpse of her house, 
 if not of herself. Mr. St. George was very 
 cool, very self-possessed, and did not seem as 
 if he could be conquered very easily. Dora's 
 own sense and shrewdness told her that she
 
 I6S SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 could not hope to catch her intended victim 
 very quickly, and then the game became ex- 
 citing. It was very hard for Mr. Clarke to 
 watch the quiet flirtation going on between 
 these two young people, who seemed so well 
 suited to each other in years and appearance. 
 
 " A very charmiug girl, St. George," whis- 
 pered Sir Ralph Barnard, as his aide-de-camp 
 passed him on his way for an ice for Dora ; 
 '' but not sixpence, I believe — miud, not six- 
 pence — so don't go too far/' 
 
 The joung man smiled, raised his eye- 
 brows slightly, with a look of understanding 
 that seemed to say, " Not the slightest 
 ground for alarm, I assure you," and passed 
 on. 
 
 Captain Bouverie watched both his daugh- 
 ters that evening more narrowly than he had 
 ever done before, and he observed that the 
 eyes of the barrackmaster were often fixed 
 upon the younger one. Fathers can be just 
 as acute in detecting admirers of their daugh- 
 ters as mothers are, when they choose to take
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN, 167 
 
 atoj trouble about the matter; and, therefore, 
 it happened that the excellent Captain made 
 the discovery that Mr. Clarke was struck by 
 the attractions of his younger girl; simul- 
 taneously with which discovery came a frown 
 of displeasure at the assiduous attention paid 
 to her by the General's new aide-de-camp — a 
 man who could not have much money, let 
 him be of ever such good birth. Having a 
 peer for a grandfather is of little avail towards 
 the maintenance of a wife or paying off debts. 
 Nobody knew better than Captain Bouverie 
 how useless grand connexions were, so that it 
 did not gratify him in the least to see the very 
 elegant Mr. St. George devoting himself so 
 much to Dora. In fact a cloud was gathering 
 on his brow more darkly each moment, and 
 he knew no peace till the General himself led 
 hh aide-de-camp away to dance with some- 
 body else* 
 
 Now was the time for Allan Clarke to hover 
 near the golden-haired beauty, and venture to 
 ask her to be his partner for the next waltz,
 
 168 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 though he had scarcely danced the whole 
 night. 
 
 " I was just thinking, Mr. Clarke, that you 
 should begin to think of marrying some one," 
 said the provoking Dora, as the barrack- 
 master accosted her ; " and as your welfare 
 has my best wishes, I recommend you to 
 choose one of the Miss Skinners, who are so 
 clever and sweet-looking." 
 
 "Thanks, Miss Bouverie ; but I do not 
 think my choice will rest in that quarter." 
 
 " I suppose you have made up your mind 
 never to mary at all." And then, with a 
 little sigh and a glance across the room to 
 ascertain where her late partner was gone to, 
 the. young lady got up to dance with the 
 barrack-master, whom she did what she could 
 to torment by looking at him with the softest 
 glance, and saying everything that was teas- 
 ing. No sportsman was ever more remorse- 
 less than an unscrupulous coquette. Perhaps 
 neither sportsmen nor coquettes understand 
 the depth of pain they inflict; but they both
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 169 
 
 feel a particular charm in the pursuits they 
 follow. 
 
 Dora Bouverie knew quite well that Mr. 
 Clarke admired her ; mayhap she knew he 
 loved her, and she rejoiced in the knowledge. 
 There is scarcely a creature more wicked and 
 merciless on the face of the earth than an 
 unreflecting, vain young girl, whose aim is to 
 win hearts and break them, and who is not 
 troubled with any great susceptibility of 
 tender feeling herself. Dora had never been 
 even slightly in love ; she laughed at men 
 and their pretty speeches and their flattery ; 
 and it amused her to watch the evident 
 despondency of sundry admirers when orders 
 came for certain regiments, or detachments, 
 at Norham to proceed elsewhere. A great 
 deal of this wicked amusement had to be en- 
 joyed in secret; for the elder Miss Bouverie 
 did not approve of unscrupulous coquetry, 
 which, in fact, she considered unprincipled; 
 and, therefore, her younger sister carried on 
 her schemes for the most part privately. She 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 fcOClETY IN A GAEBISON TOWN. 
 
 might tell Ellinor of her lovers; but she did 
 not always tell how she pretended to like 
 them in return, and encouraged them to their 
 destruction. With Mr. Clarke, Dora could 
 not attempt to go so far in her flirtations as 
 with some younger and less acute men. She 
 was afraid to encourage him very much, for 
 there was something in his manner that 
 almost frightened her — something that warned 
 her he would not be trifled with. When he 
 looked into her face with his peculiar eyes, 
 she felt as if he were reading her thoughts; 
 and the impression his glances left upon her 
 mind were not pleasant. When she wished 
 to talk to him in her light provoking way, 
 she always took care to avoid looking straight 
 at him. Once or twice in the course of this 
 night, however, she had been unfortunate 
 enough to encounter more than one earnest 
 gaze from his eyes, which made her entertain 
 curious ideas not particularly flattering to the 
 barrack-master. 
 
 '' He looks like a person who could com-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 171 
 
 mit some great crime/' she thought, during 
 one of the pauses in the waltz, when thej 
 stopped dancing to gain breath. " I should 
 just imagine a criminal having his type of 
 face." 
 
 An uncharitable thought for a charming 
 girl of eighteen to entertain of the man who 
 regarded her as perfect in face and form. 
 Whether the barrack- master had ever yet 
 been guilty of any deed of particular enor- 
 mity could not be known at present; but 
 certain it is that the time did come when he 
 was to commit one of the gravest sins of 
 humanity — a dark crime, of which he pro- 
 bably did not dream that night in the gay 
 ball-room of Sir Ealph Barnard, with its 
 brilliant lights and well-dressed company. 
 Yet who knows ? Do not people often dream 
 dark and sinful dreams in the brightest scenes 
 of gaiety, when the eye sees pleasant things 
 and the ear drinks in sweet music ? 
 
 Ellinor Bouverie could not be asked always 
 to play for dancing, and she had her bright 
 
 I 2
 
 172 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 gleams of mental sunshine that evening. During 
 two or three dances Gerard Lyon had been her 
 partner, and as she had been acquainted with 
 him since his boyhood, which, after all, was 
 not so very long ago, she enjoyed his com- 
 pany greatly. For the past year or two this 
 young man had been much abroad, and it was 
 only of late he had returned to the neigh- 
 bourhood of Norham. Lord Halesby was 
 distantly related to Mrs. Bouverie, and she 
 and her family were, of course, always in- 
 vited to Halesby Park whenever any festive 
 gatherings took place there. Dawson 
 Bouverie, in particular, used to be a good 
 deal at Halesby during vacations, and he and 
 young Lyon were often together boating or 
 shooting before the former entered the army. 
 Had Mrs. Bouverie been at all proud of the 
 Halesby connection, in all likelihood her 
 husband would have prevented her or her 
 daughters ever accepting the Viscount's 
 invitations to his house ; but it so happened 
 that she rather disliked going to the Park, or-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 173 
 
 letting the girls go ttere, as it took more 
 money to buy dresses suitable for the different 
 occasions, or to give to the numerous servants 
 on the day of departure, than she considered 
 compensated for by the honour of passing a 
 week under his lordship's roof ; and for this 
 reason Captain Bouverie always said it was 
 proper to visit Halesby whenever they were 
 asked there. In general, be was prone to 
 dislike his wife's connexions and to laugh at 
 them, but these were only such connexions as 
 she held in esteem herself. Never was there 
 a less ostentatious woman than Mrs. 
 Bouverie. She did not care in the least for 
 vanity or display, and she possessed the 
 inestimable quality of not being a match- 
 making mother, which ought to redeem her 
 from many faults in the eyes of those good 
 people who so strongly condemn manoeuvring 
 mammas. So far, neither father nor mother 
 had ever troubled their heads about husbands 
 for Ellinor or Dora Bouverie. Perhaps Mrs. 
 Bouverie thought that women were happier
 
 174 SOCIE'lY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Single than married; perhaps she was too 
 indolent to fret herself on the subject -^ 
 perhaps she was too unreflecting to consider 
 that unless her daughters married men who 
 could support them in the future, they would 
 run the risk of having no provision what- 
 ever. After all, perhaps, the match-making 
 papas and mammas of the world are not 
 always the most selfish or reprehensible of 
 mortals. 
 
 Poor old Mrs. Skinner, in her shabby black 
 satin gown and old-fashioned cap, with its 
 sallow white flowers, looked anxiously at 
 every one who spoke or danced with her 
 daughters, hoping to discovera future husband 
 for one or other of them. Weary and jaded 
 she felt, sitting up far into the night hardly 
 talking to anyone, and trying to keep her 
 eyes open by spasmodic eff'orts. "Was it any 
 wonder she dreaded all the young women 
 that stood in the way of those daughters for 
 whose sake she bore so much — had borne so 
 much for more than fifteen long years?
 
 SOCIEIY IN A OAREISON TOWN. 175 
 
 Would slie never have rest till her daughters 
 subsided into wives of ineligible men, or 
 became poverty-stricken old maids, living in 
 poky old lodgings over a draper's shop — 
 mayhap, in some obscure street of Norham ? 
 Alas ! poor woman, perhaps not ; and yet there 
 was no being in all the land who would have 
 laughed more scoffingly at the thoughts of 
 young ladies going to parties without matrons 
 or chaperons, or of their being emancipated 
 from all the paltry, unmeaning bondage that 
 inflicts such torments on themselves and 
 everyone connected with them, as this miser- 
 able elderly lady, with her rheumatic twinges, 
 and her tendency to fall asleep when 
 chaperoning the Misses Skinner. She was 
 pretty wide awake about the time that Mr. 
 Lyon began to pay attention to Ellinor 
 Bouverie, and her thoughts became of the 
 bitterest description. How was it that those 
 Bouverie girls always contrived to monopolise 
 the best matches in the room ? Where was 
 their superiority to other young women?
 
 176 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 The younger one was a desperate, shocking 
 flirt, and allured men round her in a shame- 
 ful manner. But what did the elder one do? 
 Nothing, but sit quiet and speak little, and 
 look as absent as she could. One thing was 
 certain: the Miss Bouveries were becoming a 
 nuisance, and must be put down. More 
 women than the Skinners began that night to 
 think the same. Hunting for husbands, 
 which means hunting for bread and meat and 
 a home, and comforts to keep body and 
 soul together, is often a desperate sort of 
 game ; and when a couple of girls appear 
 on the scene of strife, gaining all sorts of 
 advantages, but showing no disposition to re- 
 tire on their laurels with any particular prize^ 
 the matter must be looked to. If the Bou- 
 veries would be satisfied and marry, and quit 
 the field, people would not think it so hard ; 
 but there they stayed on, " out*' for two or 
 three years, beguiling and bewildering eligi- 
 ble men, and taking them away from prudent 
 women who would have married them if they
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 177 
 
 fcould. Such conduct could not be allowed 
 to continue. The Miss Bouveries must be put 
 down. 
 
 As soon as he could escape from the lady to 
 whom Sir Ealph Barnard had introduced 
 him, Mr. St. George was once more at the 
 side of Dora, who welcomed him back with a 
 smile of real pleasure, his temporary absence, 
 having rendered him more precious than be- 
 fore, and they were again together for the rest 
 of the evening. Mr. Clarke now transferred 
 his attentions to Ellinor, who, remembering 
 her father's injunctions, treated him with 
 much civility. She did not know that he 
 cared particularly for either herself or her 
 sister, but she thought it was likely he had 
 obliged her father in some way which should 
 impose gratitude on her and Dora. Miss 
 Bouverie did not think Mr. Clarke a prepos- 
 sessing person. Without going so far as her 
 sister, who was prone to entertain exaggerated 
 aversions to people without reason, she could 
 not repress a feeling of dislike to the barrack- 
 
 I 2
 
 178 SOCIEIY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 master— one of those unaccountable dislikes 
 whicli the most sensible people will some- 
 times feel towards certain of their fellow 
 beings. 
 
 '' Yet how can I tell what his character 
 may be ?" she thought, trying to reason with 
 herself. " Do we not know that the human 
 face is not always a correct index to the 
 mind ? Have not the marks of smallpox, or, 
 perhaps, a scar on the forehead, power to 
 alter the expression of the human countenance, 
 changing it from a frank and open look to 
 one quite the reverse ? The shape of an eye- 
 lid, the curl of a lip, may have a great deal 
 to do with a sinister cast of face, and the 
 character nothing." 
 
 And so Ellinor endeavoured to scold her* 
 self for thinking hardly of Mr. Clarke as he 
 talked to htr at the close of that party. She 
 did not know that some ladies had that even- 
 ing decided to put her and her sister " down ;'' 
 but she felt a good deal dejected when she 
 and Dora went to put on their hats and cloaks^
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 179 
 
 previous to returning home. Dora, on the 
 contrary, was radiant with good- humour and 
 happiness. 
 
 " Mr. St. George is a very charming per- 
 son," she said to her sister. " I think I never 
 saw any one so handsome. Did you?" 
 
 " Yes, I think I did ; but he is certainly 
 very good-looking and gentlemanly." 
 
 " He seems so unlike other people. I am 
 so glad he has come to Norham !" 
 
 " Don't fall in love with him, however," said 
 EUinor. 
 
 " Oh ! of course not. You know it is very 
 hard to win my hard heart; but even sup- 
 pose I did fall in love with Mr. St. George, 
 what harm would it be?" 
 
 " None at all, provided the attachment 
 were mutual," said Ellinor, smiling ; " but it 
 might be rather unfortunate for the love to be 
 all on one side." 
 
 " Do not fear about that, Ellinor, I shall 
 never make a fool of myself,'' said Dora, con- 
 fidently.
 
 180 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 And now, being equipped for walking 
 homewards, the young ladies found that they 
 were to have more than the escort of their 
 father. Mr. St. George and Mr. Clarke were 
 in the hall, talking to Captain Bouverie. 
 
 " The night is so charming. Miss Bou- 
 verie, it is quite delightful to think of walk- 
 ing,'' said the aide-de-camp, in a low voice, to 
 Dora. 
 
 " We have no carriage, and we always walk 
 when the weather is fine," replied the young 
 lady, promptly. 
 
 " 1 suppose I may be permitted to accom- 
 pany you this time.'' 
 
 " Oh ! yes, if you like to come," said Dora, 
 frankly. Neither she nor Mr. St. George ob- 
 serving that Captain Bouverie looked rather 
 cross, and, the matter being settled thus 
 quickly, the aide-de-camp prepared to accom- 
 pany the Bouverie party in their homeward 
 walk, attaching himself at once to Dora. 
 Thereupon Mr. Clarke was obliged to fall 
 back with Ellin or and her father, who were
 
 SOCIETY 15 A GARRISON TOWN. 181 
 
 in the rear of the two others ; but he did not 
 disturb Miss Bouverie's meditations by much 
 conversation, as he was occupied chiefly in 
 thinking of the pair on before him, who were 
 almost as distinctly visible as if it were noon- 
 day, so brightly shone the moon. 
 
 " How fine the water looks to-night !" said 
 Dora, stopping, as the party reached the 
 bridge that spanned the river. '^ I like to see 
 it rushing along so tumultuously." 
 
 " Yery fine," acquiesced her companion, and 
 they lingered to admire the moonbeams play- 
 ing on the foaming waters. The rest of the 
 party stopped too, and all looked at the 
 river, as with a hoarse roar it tumbled on its 
 way. 
 
 "What a dreadful death drowning must 
 be !" said Dora, turning with a shiver from 
 her contemplation of the turbulent water; 
 " of all deaths I should imagine it to be the 
 most horrible.^' 
 
 "People who have been restored to con- 
 sciousness after suffering all the peril of death
 
 182- SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 by drowning have declared that it was 
 rather a pleasant sensation," replied Mr. St. 
 George. 
 
 " At all events, pleasant or unpleasant, the 
 process does not last very long," said Mr. 
 Clarke, as he leaned over the bridge. 
 
 "If one could choose his own death, I 
 should prefer being shot to being drowned,' 
 resumed the aide-de-camp, as his thoughts 
 went back to many a scene of deadly strife he 
 had witnessed ; ''in fact, I should prefer it to 
 any kind of death.'' 
 
 " A fitting speech for a soldier," said Dora, 
 smiling ; " you must have had experience of 
 plenty of such deaths for your friends, if not 
 for yourself, in the Crimea." 
 
 " I liave seen men lying dead after a battle, 
 looking quite as if living, struck down in- 
 stantaneously without a struggle; I think 
 their deaths were painless.'' 
 
 " But the aim must be directed to some 
 very vital spot to produce sudden death," said 
 Dora,
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 183 
 
 '' Wounds in the brain or heart cause in- 
 stantaneous death," replied Mr. St. George. 
 
 "But there is something frightful in the 
 idea of sudden death ; one would almost 
 prefer the warning of pain to being cut off 
 without a moment's preparation," said Dora. 
 
 " It makes very little difference how we 
 make our exit from this life,'' said the 
 barrack-master, who was now standing beside 
 Dora. " The struggle is soon over, and there 
 is the end of it." 
 
 " Only as far as this world is concerned," 
 said Ellinor, gravely. " Time may end, but 
 eternity begins," and then there was a 
 pause. 
 
 " So people die instantly, when wounded 
 in the heart?" said Dora, as she and Mr. St, 
 George were walking on again together. 
 
 " Yes, when wounded by a gunshot or 
 bayonet; but sometimes people linger on 
 pretty long when suffering from wounds in 
 the heart caused by other means scarcely less 
 deadly."
 
 184 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Dora turned quickly round, and looked at 
 her companion as lie finished speaking. 
 
 Something in his tone made her understand 
 very quickly what he meant. She blushed in 
 the moonlight as he returned her look with 
 one that seemed to her very expressive, and 
 she said no more for a long time. The party 
 went on again, leaving the river to roar and 
 foam under the starlit sky, and all seemed 
 rather disposed to thoughtfulness. Perhaps 
 in after days more than one member of that 
 company passing over the bridge, at that mid- 
 night hour, recalled distinctly the conversa- 
 tion which has just been narrated. 
 
 They all went on to Evergreen, and both 
 Mr. Clarke and Mr. St. George took leave of 
 the Bouveries at the gate of the villa. Per- 
 haps the aide-de-camp did not think the resi- 
 dence of the Bouveries a very imposing 
 mansion ; but he was not such a snob as to 
 judge of people by their wealth or the grandeur 
 of their belongings. Did he not know that 
 the younger members of great and lofty
 
 SOCIETT IN A GARPISON TOWN. 185 
 
 houses had often to live in very humble 
 dwellings? The head of a family may be a 
 grand personage *, but his brothers and sisters, 
 his younger children, nephews and cousins, 
 all with the same blood running in their veins 
 as himself, are very different people. His 
 own father, for instance, the Honourable and 
 Eeverend Charles St. George, Eector of 
 Gartoquil, in the county of Donegal, had 
 not a much better house than many a squireen 
 in the neighbourhood; whereas his uncle, 
 Lord Killeevan, dwelt in a princely mansion, 
 and ruled over acres innumerable ; yet the 
 rector never thought he was inferior to his 
 brother, who only happened to have had the 
 luck to come into the world a year or two in 
 advance of himself, and thereby gained the 
 advantage of the heirship. The viscount 
 and the rector were on the best of terms, and 
 no uncle was ever more proud of a nephew 
 than was Lord Killeevan of his handsome, 
 gallant young relative, Eodney St. George^
 
 186 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 who was now acting as aide-de-camp to 
 General Barnard, at Norham. 
 
 ^' I hope yon spent a pleasant evening, 
 girls,'' said Captain Bouverie, who drew a 
 long breath as he entered his own hall-door. 
 
 " Oh ! delightful, papa," replied Dora, 
 ardently ; " is he not most charming ?" 
 
 "Who?' 
 
 '' Mr. St. George, of course." 
 
 *^ A conceited, empty-headed young fellow, 
 child, not to be trusted once he is out of 
 sight," was the father's disheartening speech^ 
 " A practised flirt, ready to say the same 
 thing to every young woman he meets." 
 
 *' That is your man's undervaluing opinion 
 of him, papa,'' said Dora ; " but not a true 
 one, I am sure." 
 
 " Believe me, my dear, I know these sort 
 of young coxcombs better than you do; you 
 cannot put faith in a word they say." 
 
 " They care as little for breaking hearts, I 
 suppose, as some young ladies do," said
 
 SOCIETY IN A QARKISON TOWN. 187 
 
 Eiruior, looking over at her sister with a 
 smile. 
 
 '^ Ah ! I do not mind what you both say — 
 I know my hero is matchless." 
 
 And so, determined to khink the best of her 
 new acquaintance, Dora ran to her room to 
 ponder over all he had said, and all he had 
 looked in the course of that memorable night — 
 memorable, because the young girl never after- 
 wards forgot it. The heart, hitherto invulner- 
 able, had just received the first wound thatever 
 grazed it — a wound scarcely deep enough as 
 yet to be felt, but existing, nevertheless; 
 more pleasant than painful so far. But how 
 about the future? 
 
 While Ellinor was employed in getting 
 some wine and water for her father, who 
 seemed exhausted and low-spirited, Dora was 
 standing at her bedroom window, still in her 
 evening dress, buried in unwonted thought; 
 happy and hopeful enough, yet a little sub- 
 dued also ; not in her usual high spirits, and 
 rather more excited than upon ordinary occa-
 
 188 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 sions after a party. Had she any presenti- 
 ment that a crisis in her own fate was ap- 
 proaching? A calm night it was. Wonder- 
 ful for the season ; with the soft moonlight 
 streaming on outward things — shining on the 
 evergreens in front of the villa, and on the 
 silent highway beyond the gate. Everything 
 silent but the rush and swell of the river, 
 ever flowing onwards with its hollow roar. 
 
 '' I wonder if superstitious people would 
 think there was anything unlucky in this 
 party having taken place on a Friday," 
 thought Dora, as she still stood looking out; 
 " my own idea is, that T should rather make 
 the acquaintance of a person I cared much 
 about on any other day ; however, I suppose 
 it is all nonsense.'' 
 
 And so she stayed on, dreaming dreams 
 till her sister came to warn her of the late- 
 ness of the hour, and the necessity of retiring 
 immediately to rest. That memorable Friday, 
 the 4th of December, had already ended; 
 the midnight hour was long past. Whether
 
 SOCIETY IN A GABRISON TOWi\. 189 
 
 the sisters slept happily through the first 
 hours of the next morning is not so certain 
 as that their father rested not at all, never 
 closing his eyes even to try to slumber, as 
 hour after hour of darkness passed, leaving 
 him still wakeful, with a heavy weight of 
 care pressing on his mind — not the less heavy, 
 perhaps, that he had a shadowy idea of how 
 far he had brought it on himself, by his own 
 folly and shortsightedness, not to use harsher 
 terms.
 
 190 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A LONELY TRAVELLER. 
 
 *'When will the next train for Norham 
 start?'' asked a young woman with a dark, 
 handsome face, and a rather unsettled ex- 
 pression of eye, as she entered the railway 
 station at Lidcombe, on the line from London 
 to Norham. She wore shabby black garments 
 that might once have been respectable, but 
 they were now dusty and travel-stained, and 
 a good deal worn. Her features were very 
 perfect, but the expression of the countenance
 
 SOCIETY IN A OUBRISON TOWN. 191 
 
 was not agreeable, the lips being compressed, 
 and the forehead marked by a strong line that 
 told either of some mental or bodily pain, and 
 gave a stern cast to the face. 
 
 '' The next train to Norham will start in an 
 hour and three-quarters,'' said the railway 
 official whom the young woman had addressed, 
 as he glanced at the clock of the little country 
 station, and saw where the hour and minute 
 hands were pointing. 
 
 "An hour and three-quarters," repeated 
 the woman with a sigh, seating herself on a 
 bench in the third-class waiting-room. She 
 was very weary and faint^ but not hungry, 
 though she had eaten nothing but a biscuit 
 all the day, and it was now far advanced in 
 the afternoon. A raw day it was, with sleet 
 sometimes dropping from the grey sky, and 
 twirling round and round in the air before 
 finally settling on the ground — a day when 
 the feet and hands are chill, and never grow 
 warm, even by sharp walking, but become
 
 192 gOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN, 
 
 almost numb when you sit still — a dreary- 
 day to be tired and footsore, with a very 
 scanty supply of money, and no hope except 
 what may be derived from the thought of 
 revenge. 
 
 " A cold day," said the railway porter, who 
 was now at liberty to talk and whistle, as no 
 train was expected near Lidcombe for a con- 
 siderable length of time. 
 
 " Yes, very cold," answered the young 
 woman, in a hoarse voice — such a voice as 
 one gets when he or she has passed long 
 hours without refreshment, and has a throat 
 parched with the fever of some great mental 
 excitement. 
 
 " Are you going to Norham ?" inquired the 
 porter, as he stood contemplating a hamper 
 and two brown paper parcels which stood 
 waiting for some train in a corner. It was a 
 very small station, and the so-called parcel- 
 office was merely a little enclosure off the 
 third-class waiting-room, incapable of hold-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 193 
 
 ing anything but the desk of the official who 
 made the entries of parcels arriving and 
 departing. 
 
 " Yes/' said the young woman. 
 
 " Is your luggage up yet ?" 
 
 " All I require I have with me," and the 
 speaker tried to clear her husky throat. 
 
 The porter glanced at the small bundle in 
 her hand, and then whistled drearily, saun- 
 tering to and fro, with his hands in his 
 pockets. There was no hope of any plea- 
 sant chat with the reserved young woman 
 with the wild black eyes, and therefore, as 
 she would not contribute in any way to his 
 enjoyment, the porter began to regard her 
 with that undervaluing opinion which men 
 generally entertain for women, when they 
 are not likely to add to their gratifi- 
 cation or amusement. Every man, let him be 
 ever so ignorant, is aware of how little 
 account a woman is, in general, socially 
 considered — so dependent, so helpless; not 
 because of her own natural weakness — for 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194: SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 men do not, as a general principle, go 
 through the world fighting their way by 
 dint of bodily strength any more than 
 women do — but because of those laws and 
 customs which bind her hands^ and keep 
 her in a state of slavery which debases her. 
 Does not the meanest man, with the m,ost 
 scanty supply of ideas, untaught and un- 
 lettered, just a shade removed in intellect from 
 the beasts that perish, comprehend that the 
 woman, be she high or low, who has no 
 father or husband to support her, stands but 
 a poor chance of having any very comfortable 
 provision. And this much every woman ujiay 
 know, that in a world where honour is given 
 chiefly to success, and social influence, and 
 wealth, there is but little real respec t felt for 
 the sex which is in general so poor, and so 
 obscure, and so unable to rise up, by self help, 
 from original poverty to a better position. 
 People boast of the freedom of England— its 
 glorious laws, the liberty of British subjects — 
 the lowest of whom may rise by industry and
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 195 
 
 talent to any social height ; but this liberty 
 only extends to one sex. It is my own 
 opinion that women stand still pretty much 
 where they stood before Magna Charta was 
 ever dreamed of, and that their privileges 
 were not much fewer in the feudal times of 
 the Conqueror than they are in the reign of 
 her Majesty Queen Victoria. Your Reform 
 Bills, &c., may be all of great consequence to 
 Englishmen, but what are they to English- 
 women? Very little, good reader. The 
 laws concerning the women of England are, 
 for the most part, older than general civilisa- 
 tion, and the customs touching them which 
 held good in barbarous ages continue in force 
 still. The impression that the young woman 
 at Lidcombe railway station made on the 
 porter in his leisure moments was not 
 favourable; so he snuffed, and whistled, and 
 continued sauntering about, pretending not 
 to be thinking on any account of her, now 
 and then touching up the one hamper and the 
 two brown paper parcels with his foot, by 
 
 K 2
 
 196 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 way of pastime. At length the girl spoke 
 again : 
 
 " What is the fare from this to Norham ?" 
 she asked, after counting the contents of her 
 purse. 
 
 " Three shillings in the third class,'* re- 
 plied the porter, without looking at her. 
 
 " T cannot afford that much,'* thought the 
 young woman ; " I have only five-and-six- 
 pence altogether.'* 
 
 What was to be done ? Could she possibly 
 walk any farther, she who had already tra- 
 velled so many miles on foot ? Yes, strength 
 might be left her still to save a few pence. 
 Money is hard to earn, and a penny saved is 
 a penny gained — a lesson that many a woman 
 is obliged to learn, even when not as forlorn 
 as the stranger at Lidcombe station. 
 
 " What is the name of the next station to 
 Norham?" she inquired. 
 
 " The next station is Halesby, nine miles 
 from Norham,'* said the porter. 
 
 "And the fare to that?"
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 197 
 
 " Two-and-twopence. You are a stranger 
 to the line, I suppose ?'' 
 
 '' I never was on it before." 
 
 " You have friends at Norham, it's 
 likely?" 
 
 ''Not many," said the woman, evasively, 
 and again she relapsed into silence. 
 
 The shadow of the coming winter evening 
 was already beginning to fall. Who can tell 
 how dreary the world at that hour seemed to 
 the traveller waiting in that small country 
 station? Perhaps, however, no time or 
 season would have made much difference as 
 far as she was concerned. All the warmth 
 and brightness of summer could not have 
 given her more ease of mind than she pos- 
 sessed on that chilly winter afternoon. 
 
 " Money would benefit me," she thought. 
 " How much I could hope to do if by any 
 means I was able to get what T require !'' 
 
 The future presented a dark picture to this 
 woman's mental vision. The years of her 
 life scarcely as yet numbered eighteen,
 
 198 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOW». 
 
 though she looked older, and already she felt 
 as if there were little left to live for. What 
 was bringing her to the neighbourhood of 
 Nor ham, in that bleak December weather, so 
 poor, so unprotected, apparently so uncared 
 for. She did not look like a servant, either 
 in or out of place ; she had not the aspect of 
 a person who had ever been accustomed to 
 hard work ; her hands were small and white, 
 her complexion pale and delicate. In spite 
 of her shabby clothes, she looked as though 
 she belonged to a respectable class of life — 
 her figure being slight, and even graceful ; 
 her head small, and beautifully moulded. 
 When her eye lost its unsettled, anxious ex- 
 pression, her face seemed very lovely ; but 
 it was only at rare intervals that this hap- 
 pened. 
 
 Is there anything much more dreary than 
 sitting in a railway station waiting for a train 
 on a raw winter day, with nothing to look at 
 but time-tables posted on the walls, or a few 
 advertisements of cheap coats and waistcoats?
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 199 
 
 How the minutes appear to lag at such times, 
 each one seeming as long as two under other 
 circumstances. It was growing very dark 
 when the train from London came puffing up 
 at last to Lidcombe, and then our solitary 
 traveller got her ticket for Halesby, and took 
 her place in a third-class carriage, feeling 
 relieved to get away from the inquisitive rail- 
 way porter, and the chilly, third-class waiting 
 room. 
 
 "Do you object to smoking, miss?" asked 
 a soldier, who happened to be in the carriage 
 which the young woman had got into. 
 
 " No," she answered, with more politeness 
 than truth ; and then the air around became 
 quickly tainted with the odour of tobacco 
 smoke. 
 
 " Going down to Norham ?" was the 
 next inquiry of her military fellow- passenger. 
 
 *' Yes, but I stop at Halesby first," answered 
 the young woman, who was afraid not to 
 answer civilly, lest her companion might be 
 disagreeable.
 
 200 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " A wonderful large garrison is Norham," 
 continued the soldier, still puffing away at his 
 pipe. 
 
 " Are there a great many soldiers and officers 
 there ?^^ 
 
 *'No end of them — horse and foot.'^ 
 
 The young woman felt a little posed. 
 
 " Do they generally remain long at Nor- 
 ham?" 
 
 " The different regiments ? Oh ! yes, 
 sometimes very long, but not as a general 
 rule." 
 
 " Are there many inhabitants at Nor- 
 ham?^^ 
 
 "Well, it's a pretty considerable-sized 
 town, but the military add greatly to the 
 population." 
 
 " Suppose this journey of mine is all a 
 wildgoose chase !" thought the young woman 
 leaning against the hard side of the carriage. 
 "But even if it is, what does it signify? 
 May I not as well be in one place as another ? 
 The world is all alike to me now."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 201 
 
 She did not feel disposed to talk any more, 
 and the journey was soon over. It was past 
 four when the train reached Halesby^ — a 
 town of considerable dimensions, neatly kept 
 and prettily situated, though this was not very 
 apparent in the dusky light of the winter 
 evening. 
 
 When our traveller got out of the train here 
 she saw that the lamps were already lit, and 
 preparations being made for the coming night ; 
 yet still she would not rest at Halesby, she 
 must try and get on to Norham late as it was. 
 Two hours of swift walking would bring her 
 over the eight or nine miles before seven 
 o'clock. With something of recklessness in her 
 disregard of fatigue and want of refreshment, 
 she never paused to take any food, or even a 
 drink of water, but, having asked the way to 
 Norham, set out at once on foot for that town. 
 The person who told her the direction said the 
 road was nearly straight on, without turning 
 for the whole way. She would easily get to 
 Norham before seven o'clock — ah ! very easily 
 
 K 5
 
 202 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 if she had strength for the undertaking, but 
 she had not. For nearly two miles she 
 walked along the straight road as directed, 
 and then her strength began to give way. 
 The moon had commenced to shine before the 
 daylight quite departed, so that the evening 
 was not dark. 
 
 The traveller could [see that she was pass- 
 ing over a road flanked on either side by high 
 walls, beyond which stately trees, grand even 
 in their bare leaflessness, ^reared their heads, 
 and she knew that she was in the vicinity of 
 a gentleman's country seat. 
 
 " No haven of rest for me I'' she thought 
 sadly, as weakness of body overcame the 
 courage despair had given her for a time. " If 
 there was a poorer dwelling near I might stop 
 and beg for something." 
 
 A few steps more and she came to a grand 
 old gateway, grey and massive in its adorn- 
 ments, with much overhanging ivy, and a 
 picturesque gate lodge of antique design 
 standing beside it. One of the small side
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 203 
 
 gates was open, and she went through it, feel- 
 ing faint and giddy. 
 
 The door of the gate lodge was closed, but 
 she knocked with her hand against it. No 
 answer. Again she knocked — this time more 
 loudly than before, but with the same result. 
 Then she ventured to turn the door latch 
 cautiously, hoping if any one were inside to 
 attract notice ; but though the door opened to 
 adlnit a view of the interior the girl heard no 
 sound that denoted habitation. She saw a 
 neatly furnished room, containing old- 
 fashioned mahogany tables, chairs and a sofa. 
 A bright fire was burning in the grate, cast- 
 ing light upon surrounding objects, and 
 diffusing d, pleasant warmth through the 
 atmosphere. After a momentary pause the 
 traveller knocked loudly on the window bench 
 with a large key which stood there, and this 
 summons was at length answered by a woman 
 dressed in the usual costume of peasant 
 matrons, who came from an inner room bear- 
 ing a candle in her hand. She started at the
 
 204 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 sight of the young woman standing within 
 the house. 
 
 "Was the door open?" she asked in a 
 Scotch accent, with a good deal of asperity, as 
 she fixed a pair of twinkling black eyes on the 
 stranger's face. 
 
 " No, I opened it," said the girl faintly. 
 
 "You opened it, finding it shut?" returned 
 the woman, still keeping her eyes fastened on 
 the traveller's countenance, evidently with 
 the design of confounding her by such 
 piercing scrutiny. " You turned the door- 
 latch and walked in ?" 
 
 " I knocked several times and got no 
 answer," replied the poor girl, whose courage 
 was growing less and less every moment. 
 
 "You knocked? Ahem; and then turned 
 the door-latch and entered the house?" said 
 the woman, looking round the apartment with 
 a wondering air — perhaps to let the stranger 
 see that she was making a survey of the 
 articles it contained — several books and nick- 
 nacks being laid out on the tables, any of
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 205 
 
 which might easily be abstracted by a thief. 
 And yet the young woman in her shabby 
 black cothes did not in the least look like a 
 burglar ; her face was almost deathlike in its 
 paleness, and her eyes had lost during the last 
 two hours nearly all their brilliancy and wild- 
 n ess 
 
 "What brought you here at this hour? 
 What do you want ?" asked the mistress of the 
 quaint little lodge, still gazing hardly at the 
 trembling creature before her. 
 
 " I am very ill. 1 have walked a long way, 
 and I am not able to go a step farther," was 
 the traveller's reply, as she leaned against the 
 window-b^^nch. 
 
 " But you can't expect to stay here," said 
 the woman, growing rather more energetic. 
 " His lordship allows no people — no strollers 
 — to come about the place. He would be very 
 angry, in fact, if he thought we should encour- 
 age such persons." 
 
 " Some water, at least, for pity's sake," 
 urged the girl in desperation.
 
 206 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWl^. 
 
 *' i may let you have a glass of water, of 
 course/' said tlie woman, raising her eyebrows, 
 and looking as if even that condescension 
 would be rather trying to her ; " but I must 
 impress upon you the necessity of quitting the 
 house immedi£ttely. Your way of coming into 
 it was not exactly such as to make people think 
 well of you." 
 
 Is it not well that those persons who ard 
 exposed continually to insults and slights, and 
 rude speeches, lose at length their sensibility 
 and grow callous? One of the first great 
 miseries of being poor and unfortunate is the 
 disrespect with which the world in general 
 treats the poverty-stricken who are obliged to 
 ask for aid or relief. 
 
 '' If you could let me re^t here for half an 
 hour, I should feel so thankful," murmured 
 the young woman as she took the water given 
 to her. 
 
 " Half an hour ! And where, pray, would 
 you go to then ?'* demanded the woman 
 sharply. " At the end of the half hour you
 
 SOCIETr IN A GARRISON TOWN. 207 
 
 would just be as little able to go on yoiii* 
 journey as you are this minute. You had 
 better go back at once to Halesby, if you have 
 come from there, and try to get a lodging, 
 for I daresay many people would object 
 taking you in if you delay till it is much 
 later/' 
 
 " I never could walk back as far as Hales- 
 
 " Then, goodness me ! what can I do for 
 you ? My husband is only his lordship's 
 under-gardener, and I take care of this gate 
 lodge. We have no power to harbour strangers 
 in this way ; in fact, we should get turned oflP, 
 no doubt, if we did it. So you see there is 
 nothing for you to do but get up and go away, 
 if you please." 
 
 " God forgive you," said the girl, as her 
 eyes flashed for a moment very brightly ; 
 ''you are a cruel woman, and yet I daresay 
 you consider yourself a Christian !" 
 
 '' Oh, if it comes to abuse and threats I am 
 in a pretty way !" said the gatekeeper, getting
 
 208 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 extremely indignant. " Tf my husband was 
 here I should appeal to him to see that you 
 left the house ; but as it is'' — and an expres- 
 sive glance of her black eyes cast round the 
 apartment was intended to convey a sense of 
 her utter inability to help herself in this 
 terrible emergency. 
 
 " I shall go without being turned out by 
 any force," said the stranger, gasping a little 
 for breath, as she went slowly towards the 
 door. 
 
 The woman of the lodge watched her as she 
 did so, and perhaps a faint spark of remorseful 
 feeling was kindled in her breast as she saw 
 how feebly the girl walked. She was hesitat- 
 ing how she should proceed — whether to call 
 the stranger back, and let her rest, or allow 
 her to set forth on her way, weak and weary 
 as she was — when the matter was partly deci- 
 ded by the broken-down traveller falling 
 heavily against the half-closed door, in a faint- 
 ing state.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 209 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 IN THE GATE-LODGE. 
 
 What was to be done now ? Mrs. M' Stare, 
 the gatekeeper, felt extremely puzzled to know 
 how to proceed ; but it was necessary to exert 
 herself quickly, and endeavour to convey the 
 poor stranger to the sofa and try to revive 
 her. 
 
 " If she should die here," she said to her- 
 self, " it will bring Andy and me into a pretty 
 hobble."
 
 210 SOCIETT IN A OARRISON TOWN. 
 
 So she did everything in her power to pre- 
 vent such a catastrophe. 
 
 The worn-out traveller remained a long 
 time unconscious. Mrs. M' Stare was almost 
 at her wits' end with consternation before she 
 could succeed in restoring the young woman's 
 senses. As soon as she observed any sign of 
 recovery she determined to run for help to 
 the great house of her master, and seek the 
 assistance of some of the servants there. 
 
 " It may be all a bit of cunning, of course," 
 she said to herself, as she cast a glance at 
 the still figure of the girl on the sofa ; " but, 
 even so, I'll guard against any tricks by 
 locking the door when I leave the lodge. 
 Goodness gracious me, what trouble people 
 get into all of a sudden ! Here was I getting 
 ready Andy's supper, never dreaming of 
 strollers or robbers, or people fainting, when 
 I'm upset and put about this way in the 
 twinkling of an eye !" 
 
 The woman looked iilto the inner room^ 
 where an infant lay asleep in a little cot^ ahd
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 211 
 
 then locked the door of the apartment; after 
 which she spoke a few words to the young 
 woman, who was now conscious, but too weak 
 to be able to stir from her reclining position, 
 intimating that she was going out for a few 
 minutes, and would return with a little wine, 
 as, of course, she had none in the gate-lodge. 
 The girl murmured a word or two of thanks, 
 and then closed her eyes, as if she wished to 
 sleep; but a weight, as of iron, seemed to 
 press upon her whole frame, and she could 
 scarcely lift head or arm. A mighty power 
 had prostrated all her strength, as if some 
 giant hand had been laid upon her. Thoughts 
 of death came before her mind, and she felt 
 persuaded that her last hour could not be far 
 distant; yet this persuasion did not terrify 
 her ; she was too weak even to entertain great 
 fear upon any subject. One requires a cer- 
 tain degree of bodily strength to be enabled 
 to suffer deeply either mentally or physically. 
 Perhaps the idea of death had rather a sooth- 
 ing effect upon her. Should she pass away
 
 212 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 into rest everlasting, would it not be well? 
 Rest was what she longed for — rest would be 
 Heaven in itself. No more fatigue of body 
 or soul — worldly strife and despair over for 
 ever ! But was such rest for her? Had she 
 earned any claim to the peace that passeth 
 understanding? Not tliose who merely cry 
 " Lord ! Lord !" at the last suprenxe hour can 
 gain admittance within the narrow gate that 
 leads to eternal rest. Floating tln-ough her 
 weary brain came many thoughts, but none 
 sufficiently forcible to plunge her into any 
 great depth of fear or to raise her up to any 
 exalted pitch of hope. More than half life- 
 less as she was, her feelings and thoughts 
 were all vague and dreamy. Whatever she 
 had done amiss in her short life, she had no 
 power to repent of evil deeds at that time, 
 even if such repentance could be of avail, 
 should the Angel of Death come to call her 
 forth that night; but, in mercy, this poor 
 wanderer was spared so hasty a summons. 
 Already tender hands were bringing relief to
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 213 
 
 her. Be she what she might, a kiud heart 
 had determined that she should not have to 
 face the bitter winter bla>t any more that 
 night; but how or where she spent the long 
 hours of that night she did not ku(jw herself. 
 Often scarcely conscious though not asleep, 
 and occasionally buried in a slumber of strange 
 stillness, she was only able to take note of 
 anything round her at rare intervals. That 
 she had been moved from her place on the 
 sofa of the gate- lodge she was partly aware, 
 as also that the light of a candle seemed 
 always burning whenever she opened her 
 eyes, and that some one sat watching beside 
 her through many hours that seemed as long 
 as whole days and nights. What length of 
 time she really lay there, prostrated and only 
 semi-conscious, she could never distinctly 
 recall ; but when the first weary night was 
 over, there came days and nights of even 
 deeper stupor and helplessness to succeed it. 
 
 The snow was thick upon the ground when 
 the first gleam of consciousness dawned upon
 
 214: SOCIETY IN A HARRISON TOWN. 
 
 the girFs brain— when she was able to col- 
 lect her senses and utter speech — 
 
 " Where am I ?" she asked of an old woman 
 sitting beside her, in the grey light of a 
 winter evening. 
 
 " In the gate-lodge still/* was the reply. 
 
 " Where I came to beg for rest and a drink 
 of water/' 
 
 " Well, I suppose so." 
 
 " And who does it belong to ?'' 
 
 "To Andrew M'Stare and his wife." 
 
 " And you are not the woman who wished 
 to turn me out that evening ?" 
 
 " No, 1 never wished the like," said the old 
 dame ; " and I don't believe anyone else did 
 either.'' 
 
 " Oh, yes, somebody did . How long ago 
 is it since I came ?" 
 
 " Well, it's nigh a week and more." 
 
 " And I have beeu lying here all that 
 time?" 
 
 '' Yes, very ill and helpless ; and not in 
 your right senses."
 
 SOCIETY IN A QAI^RISON TOWN. ?15 
 
 "Have I raved or talked wildly during 
 that time ?" 
 
 "Well, perhaps you may have; I didn^t 
 think particular about what you said/' 
 
 " Was anyone else watching me beside 
 you?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; Mrs. M' Stare did the duty some- 
 times/' 
 
 " Is Mrs. M' Stare the owner of this 
 house ?' 
 
 "Yes, the gate-keeper ; though, for the 
 matter of that, she ain't the owner any more 
 than myself. She only gets the house be- 
 cause she minds the gate." 
 
 "But she is the mistress of it for all 
 that." 
 
 " Oh, to be sure she is ; and she likes it to 
 be known, too." 
 
 The old dame evidently rather disliked 
 Mrs. M' Stare, as she envied her the possession 
 of the quaint little gate-lodge. 
 
 " I think I am well enough to leave the 
 house now," said the young woman, after
 
 216 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 some minutes of silence, during which she 
 was thinking. 
 
 " That isn't likely. At all events, I don't 
 believe you'll be let go away yet." 
 
 " Is Mrs. M' Stare, then, so kind as to wish 
 me to be a burthen on her any longer ?" 
 
 " God help you, child ! it ain't Mrs. 
 M' Stare that cares a straw when or where 
 you go. She isn't of that sort. If it de- 
 pended on her you might be dead and buried 
 now." 
 
 " And, who am I to thank for being here ?" 
 
 " People that paid handsome for it, good 
 girl ; though wby they shouldn't pay for it, 
 when they have got such oceans of money, I 
 can't tell ; only others as rich don't do the 
 same. Anyway, Mrs. M' Stare has made well 
 by it, and she isn't in any hurry to turn you 
 out ; it's profitable to her, though she has to 
 sleep up at the great house and let you keep 
 this room. Don't you know there are 
 people that will do anything for money ? 
 They'll turn their house upside down, and
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 217 
 
 put themselves to any trouble to gain a shil- 
 ling, though thej wouldn^t move an eye in 
 their head, maybe, for love or charity. They 
 would scarce give you a civil word without 
 reward; but they would torture themselves for 
 a five-shilling piece/* 
 
 " But who would care to pay Mrs. M* Stare 
 for letting me stay here ?" 
 
 " The people who are so rich that they don't 
 care how they spend their money/* 
 
 '' The owner of this large demesne, T sup- 
 pose?*' 
 
 " Yes, the very same ; but he wouldn't do 
 it only for somebody else." 
 
 The invalid was too weak to ask any more 
 questions of this grumbling old woman, who 
 appeared to think that nobody was to be 
 thanked for anything, and she relapsed into 
 silence and partial stupor again. Poor old 
 woman sitting beside her, with horny, 
 wrinkled hands, and stiff grizzled hair, and 
 ill-clad figure, how could she feel otherwise 
 than bitterly on that winter day ? 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 SOCIETY IN A alRillSON TOWN, 
 
 " The workhouse, after all, would be bettef 
 than this," she thought, as she crouched down 
 on her low seat beside the bed, and leaned 
 her head on her hands. " Ay, far better, as 
 it is ; and yet I thought to live out my life 
 without ever going to the union. God be 
 praised ! it's a very dark world for the poor ; 
 but the next, maybe, will be even worse for 
 the rich !" 
 
 Then she began to think of the stranger 
 lying so ill before her — who was she? 
 Where did she come from ? 
 
 " She's very young, and she's very hand- 
 some, and she's like a lady ; and, of course, 
 there's something wrong, or she wouldn't be 
 here all desolate and forlorn. To my mind 
 she might as well be let die as not ; for there 
 isn't much good in a woman's life, even at the 
 best of times; and when it's the worst of 
 times, God help her — that's all !" 
 
 And then the old woman begun to think 
 she would have a look at the small bundle 
 lying on the table near the bed ; and while
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 219 
 
 the invalid lay half-slumbering and uncon- 
 scious, she softly arose, and cautiously ex- 
 amined the contents of the parcel, first dis- 
 covering a handkerchief of fine texture, 
 which excited her curiosity. 
 
 " A good cambric handkerchief, too," 
 thought the old woman, judging of it by 
 touch, rather than by sight, for had she not 
 often washed such handkerchiefs for the 
 wealthy in the course of her life ? " And 
 there's a little box, maybe with money in it ; 
 people have such odd purses now-a-days," 
 she added, as her eye was caught by a small 
 morocco case, which she laid hold of with 
 trembling, awkward hands, fumbling many 
 minutes at it before she touched by accident 
 the little spring by which it opened and 
 closed. No money, however, greeted her 
 vision from the interior of the case. A por- 
 trait was what she saw dimly through the 
 mist over her aged eyes. 
 
 '' A picture of somebody," she muttered, 
 trying to pick it out of the case that she 
 
 L 2
 
 220 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 might hold it near to the light. " The like- 
 ness of a young gentleman, I think. It don't 
 belong to herself, I suppose, for there's real 
 gold round it. Has she run away from some- 
 where with these things ? She might have 
 been a lady's maid. They're often like ladies 
 themselves, and she could have taken things 
 from her mistress. That's a valuable article, 
 Fm sure. I'd know the shine of the gold 
 around it; it ain't brass anyway." 
 
 No, it was not brass certainly. The 
 miniature was very handsome, and the face 
 portrayed quite worthy of it, as far as beauty 
 of feature went. It represented the half- 
 length figure of a young man, dressed in 
 modern fashion. A "real gentleman" he 
 seemed, to use the expression of the old 
 woman, who was carefully surveying the 
 effects of the desolate stranger. Nothing else 
 of value was in the poor bundle— no money, 
 no trinkets. A little packet of letters was 
 there, but the old woman did not care for 
 them. She could scarcely read writing, and
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 221 
 
 she felt no curiosity to peep into those epistles 
 which had once been so precious to the 
 owner ; perhaps some of them were precious 
 still. 
 
 " Maybe there's more things in her 
 pockets," thought the inquisitive dame, as she 
 tied up the bundle once again, and left it on 
 the table near the lattice window. " 111 have 
 a look at them ;" and so she had. 
 
 Taking down the shabby black gown 
 which had been taken off the stranger on the 
 first evening of her arrival, she put her hand 
 in its pocket, a ad discovered a purse, contain- 
 ing one or two shillings and some pence. In 
 this purse was carefully folded up a scrap of 
 paper, which the woman thought at first 
 might be a five-pound note ; and her heart 
 beat as she opened it — not because she had 
 any fixed idea of taking the money, but fi-om 
 that strange feeling of excitement that the 
 mere touch and look of money gives to most 
 people in greater or less degree. A rich 
 man's eyes will sparkle at the thoughts of
 
 222 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 
 
 millions — a less rich man at the mention of 
 thousands — and so on. The aged and 
 withered creature, who did not possess a 
 stilling in the whole world that day, trem- 
 bled as she opened out the bit of paper that 
 might have represented untold wealth to her 
 — so much wealth as, in all possibility, she had 
 never been mistress of in her life. But the 
 scrap of paper, though folded with much 
 care, was not a five-pound note; it was 
 merely a jagged piece of a letter, and these 
 words were written on it in a lady's hand- 
 writing — 
 
 " If you come to Norham in December, as 
 we hope you will, I should like you to stay 
 as long as possible." 
 
 And the rest was too much torn to be in- 
 telligible. 
 
 Ah ! when the person who wrote those few 
 lines laid down the pen that traced them, and 
 sealed the letter that contained them, she did 
 not know what they would yet bring forth to
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 223 
 
 her of shame and grief and despair ! Written 
 as the J were, in the fulness of an affectionate 
 heart, she dreamed not of the dark future that 
 was coming to her all through them. You 
 will pity her, reader, when you know more 
 about the matter, as you will bye-and-bye, if 
 you have patience to read further ; for already 
 she is not a stranger to you. 
 
 The old woman folded up the scrap of 
 paper again, without reading it ; and sighed 
 as she put it back in the purse, from which 
 she took the shillings and pence, and held 
 them longingly in her hand — longingly as 
 any one, perhaps, might have done who had 
 scarcely enough of money in her possession to 
 purchase an ounce of tea or a loaf of bread. 
 Should she take one solitary shilling — one 
 solitary penny ? The shilling would surely 
 be missed -there were but two; but the 
 pence were numerous enough. That old — 
 old woman, grim and gray, ragged and 
 poverty stricken, looked long and earnestly 
 at the money. It was a painful picture.
 
 224 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Ah ! God help her !— I'll not take one/ 
 she said, with another deep sigh, as the 
 struggle between wrong and right was over 
 in her mind. " God help her and me. It's 
 seldom I ever stole money, though I may have 
 taken a bit to eat now and again, when I felt 
 starving. No ! I won't take a copper, even 
 to buy a cup of tea/' 
 
 The purse — with its shillings and its pence, 
 and its scrap of paper which was to work so 
 much ill to one innocent person — was replaced 
 in the stranger's pocket ; and in the swiftly- 
 coming darkness of night the aged watcher 
 took up her place once more beside the bed of 
 the poor wanderer.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 225 
 
 CHAPTEB XII. 
 
 LUCY BARE AND CORPORAL HAMMERSLY. 
 
 In the dusk of the evening a trim little 
 maiden, with a basket on her arm, went forth 
 from Abraham Barr's house, taking her way 
 in the direction of Evergreen Villa. 
 
 " Don't be long, now, Lucy,'' said Mrs. 
 Barr, looking out of the door after her. 
 " Don't be a minute longer than you need. 
 I'm often uneasy at the way you stay when 
 you go out at this hour, and I'm sure Miss 
 Bouverie won't delay you." 
 
 L 5
 
 226 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Though it's dark, mother, it isn't late," 
 replied Lucy, eagerly. " There's no fear of 
 anything at this hour." 
 
 " Don't be a minute longer than you need," 
 repeated the mother, and with a gentle little 
 sigh the girl said, "No mother," in a low 
 voice, and went her way. 
 
 About the same hour of that same evening 
 Corporal Hammersly, of her Majesty's 17th 
 Lancers, happened to emerge from the great 
 gate of the Cavalry Barracks at Norham, and 
 to w^alk also in the direction of Evergreen, 
 where, overtaking Miss Lucy Barr on the 
 said road, he bade her good evening, and 
 slackened his pace to walk beside her. 
 
 "Good evening," said Lucy, timidly, as 
 she moved her basket from one arm to the 
 other ; and then there was a pause before she 
 resumed — " My mother said I was not to stay 
 out long, and I should like to hurry to Ever- 
 green." 
 
 " You stay a great deal at home, I think?" 
 said the corporal.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 227 
 
 " I am at needlework all day nearly, and 
 then I have only time to go out in the even- 
 ing/' she replied. 
 
 " A hard life enough," thought the young 
 soldier. 
 
 "And I'm afraid," continued the girl, 
 blushing, though the change of colour was 
 not visible in the dusky light, " that mother 
 would not like me to talk to anyone on the 
 way when I am out." 
 
 " You mean that she would object to your 
 talking to me ?" 
 
 '^ Not only to you, but to anyone who was 
 not speaking on business," said Lucy, trying 
 to be as polite as was possible under the cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 '^ I know it does not appear as if I was fit 
 to keep company with such as you. Miss 
 Barr," said Hammersly, in a sorrowful tone; 
 '' but it is not altogether my own fault that I 
 am not in a more respectable class of life. If 
 I ran away and enlisted because I was miser- 
 able at home, it w^s not because I was idle,
 
 228 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 or a scapegrace who would not try to get on 
 in the world some other way. My family were 
 always respectable, and, only my father lost 
 his money through misfortunes, I would not 
 have been driven to seek my fortune as a mere 
 soldier." 
 
 " Then you ran away from home T said 
 Lucy, hoping to discover that her companion 
 was somebody of consequence in disguise. 
 His voice was certainly unlike the voices of 
 other men in his rank ; his air was like that 
 of a gentleman — and was he not the hand- 
 somest of human beings ? Poor Lucy thought 
 he was ; and, indeed, you could scarcely have 
 seen a better- looking youth in any class of 
 life. 
 
 " Yes ; I ran away from home, and it was 
 the best thiug I could have done. Had I 
 stayed there I should have been tempted to 
 do what I might have been sorry for all my 
 life." 
 
 '' And your mother and father — what did 
 they think of your running away?"
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 22^ 
 
 " They never knew it ; they died years ago, 
 and my sister and I were left to the charity of 
 the worst of beings." 
 
 '' Who was he ?" 
 
 " My uncle, James Hammersly, a brother 
 of my father, who lent him money that he 
 never paid back, and then promised my father, 
 when he was dying, to take care of his chil- 
 dren." 
 
 '' And he treated you badly ?*' 
 
 "Do not speak of him," said the young 
 man, grasping his cane tightly ; " do not 
 speak of him. I could not dare to tell what 
 I endured under his roof." 
 
 " And is your sister living with him 
 now ?'' 
 
 " No ; my sister was obliged to go and earn 
 her bread before I ran away to enlist. She 
 went to London about two years ago, and I 
 soon afterwards left my uncle's house, and 
 was glad to become what I am — a trooper in 
 the 17th Lancers.'' 
 
 ''And if you had stayed on with your
 
 230 SOCIETY IN A QARFISON TOWN. 
 
 uncle, what would you have become ?'* asked 
 Lucy. 
 
 " A wretched farm hack— a ploughman — 
 perhaps a common labourer in the fields. 
 All the education my parents strove to give 
 me was thrown away as long as I lived with 
 my uncle at the Priory Farm." 
 
 " But are you better off now than you were 
 then ?" asked Lucy, in a hesitating tone. 
 
 " Of course I am. I am no longer a slave, 
 working without reward and treated as a 
 menial. As long as I do my duty as a sol- 
 dier no one can interfere with me, and the 
 work is not hard." 
 
 " But there's the fighting and the battle- 
 fields,'* said Lucy, after a pause ; " and 
 some people don't think it is right to kill 
 people." 
 
 Corporal Hammersly smiled. 
 
 "Men must fight for their Queen and 
 country, and die for them if need be. It is 
 only the Quakers who object to soldiers fight- 
 mg.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 231 
 
 " My motlier objects to it/' said Lucy, 
 quickly. " She is nearly a Quaker in that." 
 
 " Then she makes a mistake, Miss Barr. 
 And if the Eussians were over here invading 
 us, or any other enemy, she would be very 
 glad, no doubt, to have the garrison at Nor- 
 ham to protect her." 
 
 " Perhaps she might," said Lucy, who pro- 
 bably thought that she, at all events, should 
 not object to such protection; " but she does 
 not like the army, at all events, now." 
 
 " When there is no danger of an enemy 
 coming,'' added Hammersly, good hum- 
 ouredly. 
 
 " And are you never sorry for enlisting ?" 
 asked Miss Barr. 
 
 '* Very seldom, if ever," replied the youth, 
 after a few minutes of reflection. '' Since I 
 came to Norham, in particular, I am glad I 
 entered the army/* 
 
 Again the young girl wasted a beautiful 
 blush on the dusky evening, as she ob- 
 served,
 
 232 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 "Well, 1 don't think Norhain is a very 
 nice place ; but I suppose I am tired of it." 
 
 " It is not altogether the place itself," said 
 Hammersly, ''but the people — that is, one 
 person." 
 
 Lucy walked on pretty quickly, and 
 changed her basket from one arm to the 
 other, by which movement it came back to 
 the arm on which it hung when she first left 
 her father's door that evening. 
 
 '' Whereabouts is your uncle's farm?' she 
 asked, after being silent for some time. 
 
 " In Shropshire, It is a very large farm, 
 and unless my uncle has a son, I must in- 
 herit the property, for it is entailed, and 
 cannot be sold, or given away to a stranger." 
 
 " Is it ?" asked Lucy, who did not under- 
 stand much what " entailed" meant, but sup- 
 posed it was something likely to be of use to 
 Hammersly after his uncle's death. 
 
 '* And your uncle has no son ?" 
 
 " No ; he never married, and it is not 
 likely that he will, as he is past sixty now."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAKKISON TOWN. 233^ 
 
 Lucy thought it was not at all likely. Had 
 she lived longer in the world she might 
 not have been quite so sure on that point. 
 
 "And if it happened that you got the 
 place, I suppose you would leave the army,'* 
 she said. 
 
 " Yes, if I could purchase my discharge. 
 So if you would allow me to speak a few 
 words to your father or mother, I — " 
 
 " Oh, never ! never l"* replied the girl, em- 
 phatically. '' It would be of no use in the 
 world. I tell you mother dislikes the army, 
 and I know she would tell me not to speak 
 to anyone in it, if she knew that I did so." 
 
 " Then she does not suspect anything at 
 present ?" 
 
 " I have not told her that you ever spoke 
 to me," returned Lucy, a little proudly ; " but 
 I begin to think of giving up an acquaint- 
 ance that she would not approve of. In fact, 
 I must do it, for she would think me the most 
 artful and unkind daughter in the world if I 
 did not."
 
 234 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Of course, if you wisli to give me up, it 
 is not for me to object," said the corporal, in 
 a rather offended tone. " I should, indeed, 
 be sorry to force you to do anything against 
 your will/' 
 
 " You could not expect me to disregard my 
 father's and mother's wishes ?" returned the 
 girl. 
 
 "In such a matter as this some people 
 would think they had no right to interfere," 
 said Hammersly, who in his heart thought by 
 no means the less of Lucy for the words she 
 uttered, though they cast him down. 
 
 '^ That would not be my way," she returned ; 
 '* I could not be happy if I thought my father 
 or mother were vexed with me ; and, let it 
 cost me what it may, I must not do anything 
 to displease them.*' 
 
 Hammersly drew a long breath, and there 
 was a short time of silence. 
 
 *' Tell me about your sister," said Lucy, 
 speaking again first. " Ls she handsome?" 
 
 " Yes, very."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 235 
 
 " Like you ?*' and then the girl blushed at 
 her inadvertent question, which was uttered 
 naively. 
 
 '' People say we are like, but she is far 
 better-looking than I am. She is a great 
 beauty." 
 
 What young girl evers hears of '' a great 
 beauty " without being interested and filled 
 with curiosity? 
 
 "Is she tall?" 
 
 " Yes, too tall, perhaps," said the corporal, 
 who stood six feet three in his military boots, 
 as he glanced at the little figure beside him. 
 
 " And graceful, with beautiful features ?" 
 
 " Yes, so people say." 
 
 " What colour are her eyes and hair?" 
 
 " Dark like my own, I believe." 
 
 "I should like to see her," said Lucy, 
 already falling into admiration of Ham- 
 mersly^s sister. " I suppose she is the only 
 relation you have to care for you ?'' 
 
 " The only one, indeed ; yet we have not 
 seen each other for more than two years. I
 
 236 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 have been out of England till quite lately 
 since I enlisted, and Eachel has left the place 
 she went first to in London from the Priory.'* 
 
 *' But you write often to each other, of 
 course." 
 
 " Well, no ; I am not very expert at letters, 
 and my sister seems growing tired of writing 
 to me, though, 'till about a year ago, she 
 wrote pretty often. When people separate 
 like us, it is hard to meet again. Miss Barr ; 
 but I must go and search for Eachel sometime 
 when I get a month's furlough. She looks 
 down on me now, I am afraid, for she was 
 better educated than I was, and able to take 
 a situation as governesss ; as though our uncle 
 treated her harshly enough, he educated her 
 that she might go and earn her bread away 
 from him, while he wanted to make a farm 
 servant of me." 
 
 "Cruel man!'' said Lucy. ''But your 
 sister would not forget or look down on you, 
 I am sure." 
 
 " I don't know ; she used to be very affec-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 237 
 
 tionate even after I enlisted, but not latterly. 
 People grow grand after a time, as they pros- 
 per. They say, you know, that hearts are 
 hardened by riches and prosperity.'* 
 
 ^' But is your sister so well off?'* 
 
 " She may be. Governesses are often well 
 paid, and Rachel was very clever ; she could 
 paint and draw, and teach music and lan- 
 guages.'* 
 
 " I should be sorry to think that she had 
 so little heart as to give up her only brother, 
 if she had all the wealth in the world!" said 
 Lucy, ardently. " Depend upon it you are 
 mistaken about her." 
 
 " I must go and find her out,*' said Ham- 
 mersly, who felt proud of mentioning this 
 wonderful sister. " And perhaps. Miss Barr, 
 the time may come when you and she — *' 
 
 " Oh 1 here we are at Evergreen !'* inter- 
 rupted Lucy, as if the sight of the villa gate 
 was enough to put an end to all conversation, 
 and her heart fluttered as she laid her hand 
 on the staple. "Good-bye, good-night.
 
 238 SOCllfiTY IN A GAEEISON TOWN. 
 
 Goodness gracious ! if iliss Bouverie is look- 
 ing out !" 
 
 " She will only see the stars," said the 
 corporal, coolly, but he walked away, to a 
 little distance*
 
 SOCIETY IN A OARRI80N TOWN. !?39 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LETTER FROM RODNEY ST. GEORGE, ESQ., TO 
 THE HON. MRS. ST. GEORGE, GARTOQUIL, 
 COUNTY OF DONEGAL, IRELAND. 
 
 "My DEAR Mother — 
 
 " As you seem to be anxious to hear 
 what I think of Norham, I must give you 
 some account of this wonderful old military 
 station and its vicinity beyond what you can 
 see in the Topographical Dictionary ; though 
 indeed with one exception, which I shall
 
 240 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 meDtion presently, there is nothing very re- 
 markable in or about it. Everyone, I suppose, 
 is aware that there is an ancient castle here, 
 with a flag flying from its tall tower, and a 
 handsome bridge thrown over the waters of 
 the Eiver Din well, which washes one wall of 
 the barracks, without regard to the health of 
 the troops therein located. So far I do not 
 know very much of the society of the neigh- 
 bourhood, but I understand there is not much 
 of it. I have also learned that there is good 
 fishing and shooting to be found, and capital 
 hunting. The General is very kind, and 
 determined evidently to take good care of me, 
 as no doubt you recommended me to his pa- 
 ternal guardianship. Miss Barnard is, like most 
 young ladies, agreeable to you when present, 
 and forgetting no doubt all about your exist- 
 ence when out of sight. The civil population 
 of the locale consists, among the gentry, chiefly 
 of elderly squires, who talk of turnips and 
 drainage ; and young ones, who find no interest 
 in anything but horses and horse-racing. The
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 241 
 
 ladies of the vicinity are very few in number. 
 But now I approacli what to me is the chief 
 wonder of the place, of which 1 said I should 
 soon speak. Few as are the members of the 
 fair sex at Norham, it yet contains the pret- 
 tiest girl I ever saw. Do not be alarmed, 
 however, though she should be ever so ineli- 
 gible a match for a poor man like myself. She 
 is the prettiest girl, and, to judge from the 
 expression of her face, perhaps the most ami- 
 able I ever saw ; but for all that I am in no 
 danger whatever. Sir Ralph is determined to 
 save me at all hazards, and he endeavours to 
 impress upon my mind the fact that Miss 
 Dora Bouverie will not have a dowry of six- 
 pence, every time he sees me in her company. 
 I expect to hear some time that he has written 
 to you on the subject to interpose your in- 
 fluence for my welfare. In any case, it is by 
 no means certain that, if my views were ever 
 so serious, the young lady would consider me 
 worthy 'of a thought. Eeport says she has 
 suitors by the dozen, and both she and her 
 
 VOL. I, M
 
 2i2 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN* 
 
 sister may have a chance at any time of going 
 off in the matrimonial line most advanta- 
 geously ; for which reason le pkre Bouverie is 
 a sort of dragon, watching his daughters, and 
 casting direful looks at poor mortals of my 
 stamp. He is of a good old family, but rather 
 out at elbows, I believe, and not very pleasant 
 in the domestic circle. Want of money 
 certainly does not conduce much to cheerful- 
 ness of temper. I hope Captain Bouverie 
 does not render his pretty daughters very un- 
 happy by his ill-humou r . I kno w he can cast 
 glances sufficiently terrible to strike dismay 
 into the stoutest heart . It is well to think 
 that, even if I choose to flirt with Miss Dora 
 Bouverie for a little bit of amusing pastime, I 
 shall not run the risk of being asked my in- 
 tentions before I know what I am about; and 
 my conscience need not smite me either, as 
 the fair enchantress seems anything but a 
 simple damsel, ready to believe all the non- 
 sense a man may talk to her. After all, these 
 Bouveries do not seem bad sort of people —
 
 SOCIETr IN A GARRISON TOWN. 243 
 
 always excepting the fierce looks of the 
 Captain, when I am paying devoted attention 
 to the charming Dora ; but they never enter- 
 tain, and it is only at the houses of others you 
 can hope to meet them. Perhaps this is no 
 loss, as far as I am concerned, as in all pro- 
 bability le phre would exclude me from ad- 
 mittance to his parties, if he gave any. There 
 is a mother, too, I understand, who is rarely 
 visible, and a son in some regiment, some- 
 where. These make up all the family, includ- 
 ing the two daughters before mentioned. You 
 see I am turning quite a gossip, learning all 
 about the affairs of my neighbours. The fact 
 is, a man must become a little of a gossip when 
 he is boxed up in a place like this, unless he 
 takes to hard reading, which was never my 
 forte ; and so I am obliged to succumb to cir- 
 cumstances, and prove myself as degenerate 
 as my fellow-mortals with shallow brains. 
 But these Bouveries are not commonplace 
 people. If you saw the girls you would really 
 
 M 2
 
 244 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 say they were worth thinking about — not like 
 the generality of country-town young ladies, 
 giggling and pert, with no air or manners. 
 Everyone here agrees they are perfectly well 
 bred and very handsome. On the whole, I 
 think I shall make myself pretty comfortable 
 at Norham. It does not seem nearly so dull 
 a quarter as I had expected. By-the-bye, 
 Miss Dora Bouverie is extremely like that 
 picture of Carlo Dolce's in the library at 
 Killevan — her hair just that bright color, and 
 her features even prettier. 
 
 " I enclose a sketch of the old castle which 
 I took yesterday, while standing on the ram- 
 parts. It will give you some idea of it. I 
 forgot to say I have become acquainted with 
 Lord Halesby, and his son, young Lyon, and 
 they have asked me down to Halesby some 
 time soon. Lady Halesby rarely goes out, I 
 believe, and is devoting herself altogether 
 to works of charity down in her own 
 dominions. My letter has run on to a
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 245 
 
 # 
 
 great length, so I must say good-bye for the 
 present. 
 
 " Tour affectionate Son, 
 
 " RoDNEir St. George. 
 
 "P.S. — The Bouveries are related to the 
 Halesbys." 
 
 When Mrs. St- George received her son's 
 letter, so far from not being alarmed at any- 
 thing it contained, she was very uneasy 
 indeed ; and visions of possible disaster flitted 
 before her mind's eye with distressing clear- 
 ness. Since her beloved Rodney grew up to 
 manhood, had it not been the dearest hope of 
 her heart that he should marry a well-dowered 
 young woman, whose money would supply 
 the only want he possessed ? High birth and 
 beauty would, of course, be nice acquisitions 
 for the lady to have, besides the large fortune, 
 but they were not indispensable. Like a great 
 many women of long pedigrees and short 
 purses, Mrs. St. George knew well how to 
 appreciate wealth, acquired no matter how^
 
 246 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 SO that the way were honest. She had no 
 contempt for the thousands of the merchant 
 who had risen from small beginnings to the 
 possession of untold sums. Who are they 
 that so often prop up the falling houses of 
 worn-out nobility and long-descended aristo- 
 crats, but the clever, clear-brained millionaires 
 whose wealth has been won by industry and 
 hard work ? Yes, Mrs. St. George always 
 hoped her son would be wise enough to 
 marry a woman with such a fortune as would 
 place him in an influential position, and 
 enable him to settle down in ease and comfort 
 when he should retire from the army. There 
 were many heiresses in the middle ranks of 
 life who would be glad to barter money for 
 an aristocratic connection. Eodney was too 
 handsome to fail in winning almost any woman 
 for his bride ; so thought the mother. But 
 she was a prudent woman, and instead of 
 writing an excited letter back to her son, filled 
 with advice and warnings, and slights directed 
 against Miss Dora Bouverie's name, she sent
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWX. 247 
 
 Eodnej a very pleasant epistle, expressing 
 pleasure that lie liked Norham, and hoping 
 that he would continue to like it. 
 
 " I think you are quite right not to think 
 of marrying without money on either your 
 own side or the lady's, but I shall leave the 
 matter to yourself ; everyone is the best judge 
 of his or her own affairs," wrote Mrs. St. 
 George. '' And if you think you could not be 
 comfortable on a small income, it would be 
 silly to risk your happiness by an imprudent 
 match. It has always been my wish that you 
 should follow your own inclinations in any 
 important step of your life, as I feel assured 
 your own good sense will always direct you to 
 do what is right." 
 
 ^' Thanks, my mother,'^ said Rodney St. 
 George to himself, when he read that portion 
 of the letter ; " and I hope I may always merit 
 your good opinion. In the present instance, 
 as regards Miss Dora Bouverie, your mind 
 may rest at ease. There is no danger to 
 apprehend in that quarter. '^ And so, perhaps,
 
 246 SOCIETY IN A GAERISON TOWN. 
 
 t 
 
 SO that the way were honest. She had no 
 contempt for the thousands of the merchant 
 "who had risen from small beginnings to the 
 possession of untold sums. Who are they 
 that so often prop up the falling houses of 
 worn-out nobility and long-descended aristo- 
 crats, but the clever, clear-brained millionaires 
 •whose wealth has been won by industry and 
 hard work ? Yes, Mrs. St. George always 
 hoped her son would be wise enough to 
 marry a woman with such a fortune as would 
 place him in an influential position, and 
 enable him to settle down in ease and comfort 
 when he should retire from the army. There 
 were many heiresses in the middle ranks of 
 life who would be glad to barter money for 
 an aristocratic connection. Eodney was too 
 handsome to fail in winning almost any woman 
 for his bride ; so thought the mother. But 
 she was a prudent woman, and instead of 
 writing an excited letter back to her son, filled 
 with advice and warnings, and slights directed 
 against Miss Dora Bouverie's name, she sent
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 247 
 
 Eodnej a very pleasant epistle, expressing 
 pleasure that he liked Norham, and hoping 
 that he would continue to like it. 
 
 " I think you are quite right not to think 
 of marrying without money on either your 
 own side or the lady^s, but I shall leave the 
 matter to yourself *, everyone is the best judge 
 of his or her own affairs," wrote Mrs. St. 
 George. '' And if you think you could not be 
 comfortable on a small income, it would be 
 silly to risk your happiness by an imprudent 
 match. It has always been my wish that yoa 
 should follow your own iaclinations in any 
 important step of your life, as I feel assured 
 your own good sense will always direct you to 
 do what is right." 
 
 *' Thanks, my mother," said Rodney St. 
 George to himself, when he read that portion 
 of the letter ; " and I hope 1 may always merit 
 your good opinion. In the present instance, 
 as regards Miss Dora Bouverie, your mind 
 may rest at ease. There is no danger to 
 apprehend in that quarter." And so, perhaps,
 
 250 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Being what is termed the housekeeper of 
 her father^s establishment, it was Miss 
 Bouverie's part to order home meat from the 
 butcher's for the daily consumption of the 
 said establishment, and to sit at table and 
 hear the said meat abused by her father 
 whenever he happened to be in ill-humour, 
 which, on the average, was on about ^ve days 
 in each week ; and to see his eyes glaring at 
 her as he rapped an obnoxious joint with the 
 carving knife, and declared it unfit for human 
 food. Ellin or, at first, used to tremble at 
 these hours of dinner, but gradually she had 
 become resigned to listen with patience to 
 every unjust and severe remark levelled at 
 her, and to consider such treatment as part of 
 the daily routine of her existence. These 
 daily trials may be regarded as petty, and^ 
 perhaps, amusing by some who read of 
 them ; but they, neverthless, had the effect of 
 robbing Ellinor Bouverie of the blooming 
 colour of youth long before she had reached 
 the age of twenty, and of sobering down many
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 251 
 
 iof the buoyant feelings that ought to belong 
 to the young. 
 
 It so happened that she was at the present 
 juncture going on a purveying excursion to 
 Noriiam with her sister — ^not a very romantic 
 pursuit, perhaps, for a refined-looking and 
 very pretty young lady; but pretty young 
 ladies who have cross papas, with small in- 
 comes, and extravagant brothers who take 
 away all the papa's spare cash, cannot afford 
 to be very squeamish, and unfortunately 
 woman^s work is not always of the most deli- 
 cate ethereal description. It may be objec- 
 tionable for a lady to witness the amputation 
 of a human leg or arm or the dissection of a 
 human body, but she can learn to look calmly 
 on when a butcher is ruthlessly chopping 
 limb from limb, and head from carcase, of a 
 sheep or ox ; and she can acutely bargain 
 about the difference between a halfpenny — 
 perhaps a farthing — more or less, per pound 
 of the slaughtered animal before her. Ay, 
 reader, she can haggle with the slaughterer in
 
 252 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 his greasy apron, in his greasy stall, with that 
 heavy odour peculiar to shambles pervading 
 the atmosphere round and about her ; yet, in- 
 stead of sneering at her or declaring her to be 
 disgusting and " strong-minded," there are 
 honest men with a prejudice in favour of 
 everything they are accustomed to, who would 
 rather prize such a young woman for her use- 
 fulness and womanly knowledge of raw joints 
 to be cooked at large kitchen fires. They 
 would never say her occupation was unrefined. 
 Oh, no ! quite the contrary 
 
 But we are forgetting Mr. St. George, who 
 now said, 
 
 "Going for a walk, I suppose?" and re- 
 ceived Dora's low- spoken reply, 
 
 " Yes ;" while she gave her sister's arm a 
 slight pressure as a telegraphic signal that she 
 was by no means to admit that they were 
 going to Norham to buy a leg of mutton. 
 
 " Charming day. So warm and pleasant — 
 cold I mean," said Mr. St. George, who soon 
 rallied and became more coherent as he
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARPISON TOWN. 253 
 
 turned and sauntered beside the young ladies 
 as they proceeded on their way. He had 
 met them at a few evening parties since the 
 first time they became acquainted at Sir 
 Ealph Barnard's house, and this was not the 
 first time they had encountered each other 
 while out walking. 
 
 Dora being on the outer side of the path- 
 way, he, of course, joined her; besides he 
 knew her better than her sister* It had not 
 yet come to pass that he was permitted within 
 the walls of Evergreen Villa, and it did not 
 seem very likely that he ever should, for 
 which reason he had begun to have a very 
 great respect for the Bouverie mansion; in 
 fact, to look upon it as a sort of charmed 
 spot. 
 
 Dora felt very happy all the way to Nor- 
 ham, and when the party reached the town, 
 she skilfully steered the way in a direction 
 very different fi'om that of the meat market, 
 leading Ellinor along without compunction, as 
 regarded the morrow's dinner.
 
 254 SOCIETY IN A aARRISON TOWN. 
 
 As they all three proceeded, under Dora's 
 guidance, towards a road that led from the 
 town into the country, Mr. St George began 
 gradually to recover his usual coolness, and 
 to talk collectedly, bending forward occasion- 
 ally to give a look of unutterable things into 
 Dora's beautiful face. To-day she seemed 
 more lovely than usual, with just a little 
 shadow of pensiveness over her countenance 
 that was very charming, Earely had any 
 such shadow before passed over the young 
 girFs face. The darker gloom of ill-humour 
 may have often clouded her brow for a few 
 minutes at a time, but no shadow like the 
 present, when the expression was calm and 
 very sweet, though subdued. 
 
 Walking along the quiet road that led 
 gradually into wilder tracts, till the pathway 
 became almost lost in a trackless stretch of 
 heathy moorland, our trio did not remember 
 that the winter afternoons grew quickly dark, 
 and that it was already nearly four o'clock. 
 
 " What a wild spot this seems to be,"
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 255 
 
 said Mr. St. George, as the light of the winter 
 day faded suddenly, and some heavy drops of 
 sleet fell, while a moaning wind burst over the 
 dark moor on which the party was walking. 
 
 " It is raining," said Ellinor, with a vivid 
 recollection of Dora and herself having on 
 their best hats and feathers, and consequently 
 in dismay. '' It is raining, and there is no 
 shelter near." 
 
 " Yes, there is a little cottage somewhere 
 near this, I am sure,'' said Doia; " I remem- 
 ber seeing it long ago, and I know it must be 
 in this direction." 
 
 Mr. St. George, in his capacity of protector 
 and champion of his fair companions (and 
 perhaps also with an eye to the well-being of 
 a very new hat), looked anxiously around, but 
 could not perceive any sign of human habita- 
 tion. 
 
 " Come this way," persisted Dora, walking 
 very fast ; " the cottage must be somewhere 
 very near," and so, hurrying on, the party 
 went further on the moor, plunging into
 
 256 SOCIETY IX A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 thickets of furze, and pelted with rain and 
 sleet, now falling thickly. 
 
 Dora would not give up the idea of the 
 cottage, and led her followers on at a rapid 
 pace, while the wind came sweeping by in 
 frequent gusts with solemn wail, very dismal 
 to hear. EUinor felt quite unhappy as she 
 thought of her hat, boots, and the likelihood 
 of having no dinner provided for the follow- 
 ing day ; while, at length, graver fears per- 
 plexed her; for she considered it probable 
 that the evening would close in, and night 
 find them wandering on the moor, drenched. 
 
 " What will papa think ?" was her chief 
 thought ; and then she called to Dora to re- 
 turn for the fifth time. Having at length tired 
 herself thoroughly, and hurt her ankle into the 
 bargain, Dora, quite fatigued and out of 
 breath, submitted to her sister's better judg- 
 ment, and consented to give up the search for 
 the visionary cottage. 
 
 " We must try and get on fast," said EUinor ; 
 " it will soon be quite dark."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 257 
 
 " Oh, I cannot walk any faster,'' declared, 
 Dora, who really was exhausted. 
 
 And then, after some little hesitation, Mr. 
 St. George offered her his arm, as some slight 
 assistance. Taking his arm i» a walk across a 
 moor, in a snow-storm, seemed to Dora quite 
 a different matter from taking it in a prom- 
 enade through a ballroom, and she was just a 
 little shy of accepting the proffered support, 
 though she did not decline it. 
 
 Dreary as the walk was, as regarded wind 
 and snow, 1 do not know, after all, if any of 
 the party, except poor Ellinor, were particu- 
 larly wretched. A young man of three-and- 
 twenty, by no means averse to the society of 
 ladies, was not likely to fret much about the 
 inconvenience of getting wet through, as he 
 went along with one of the prettiest girls he 
 had ever admired, leaning on his arm, and as 
 each gust of wind blew against them fiercely, 
 clinging to it with a very perceptible pres- 
 sure. 
 
 All Ellinor's anxiety was to get home, and
 
 258 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 she could think of nothing but her father* s 
 anticipated surprise and anger; but Dora 
 nearly forgot the weather and the darkness. 
 The storm might howl, the sleet might pelt, 
 the ground might become like a morass, and 
 her ankle might throb and burn, but there was 
 a something through it all that buoyed her up 
 and made her feel as if this was the pleasantest 
 walk she had ever taken in her whole life. 
 Fifty balls, on fifty different nights, could not 
 have produced such an effect as that one 
 winter walk in the drenching rain, with a black 
 sky overhead, and scarcely a gleam of light 
 anywhere but in her own heart. There could 
 be no formality here — no stereotyped phrases. 
 It was the young man's duty to cheer his 
 companions and make light of the disastrous 
 change of weather, and for some time he talked 
 pleasantly, falling only now and then into fits 
 of musing, which were rather soothing than 
 the reverse. 
 
 " This unhappy contretemps has been all my 
 fault," said Dora.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 259 
 
 " Your fault, Miss Bouverie ?" 
 
 " Yes ; it was I who chose to come in this 
 direction, and then I was obstinate in not 
 turning back when my sister wished it." 
 
 '* And yet, after all, I, at least, should con- 
 sider it by no means an unpleasant walk if I 
 did not fear that you have suffered seriously." 
 
 '' But you must be quite wet," said Dora, 
 with real interest. " How provoking ! I 
 must blame myself heartily for such a sad re- 
 sult of my stupid pioneering." 
 
 " Not sad to me, except on your account,'* 
 said the aide-de-camp in a low tone, and then 
 there were more little speeches whenever the 
 storm abated in its violence, all of which 
 seemed very significant to Dora, to whom 
 they were addressed, for Ellinor kept hurry- 
 ing on always in advance, as if a moment 
 gained or lost would materially alter the aspect 
 of affairs at home, or make any difference in 
 her father's temper. 
 
 After some time longer of floundering 
 about, and missing their way in the ever in-
 
 260 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 creasing darkness, our trio at length reached 
 the suburbs of the town, and from thence 
 proceeded to* Evergreen. 
 
 Ellinor was eager in her remonstrances 
 with Mr. St. George against his accompany- 
 ing her and her sister as far as their own 
 house, declaring that they could very well 
 find their way alone, and could not think of 
 giving him so much trouble; but when he 
 turned to Dora and said, 
 
 " Your sister will decide between us,'* and 
 received permission to continue his escort, 
 poor Ellinor was defeated. Dora had never 
 thought, perhaps, of how her father should 
 receive herself and her sister after being out 
 so late, long past the usual dinner hour, nor 
 of the unpleasant questions and explanations 
 that would ensue when they reached ho ne. 
 
 " I shall be quite anxious. Miss Bouverie, 
 to hear how you and your sister are after this 
 excursion ; I hope I may be permitted to call 
 and inquire how you are," said Mr, St. George, 
 as they reached Evergreen.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 261 
 
 " Thanks ; we shall be very happy if you 
 do," replied Dora, and it was fortunate for her 
 sister that she did not hear those words, for 
 EUinor was now rapping tremulously at the 
 hall door. Her imagination had not in the 
 least exaggerated her father's displeasure at 
 the absence of her and Dora at such an hour, 
 upon such an evening. The dinner had been 
 late and not well cooked, and with every 
 splash of rain and sleet that dashed against 
 the windows, the Captain's anger increased, 
 as he vainly listened for sounds of his daugh- 
 ters' approach. Had Mrs. Bouverie been 
 capable of suffering acutely about anything 
 she would have undergone a supreme martyr- 
 dom during the hours the girls were away ; 
 but her husband's temper had nearly 
 paralysed her power of feeling long ago, and 
 she sat listening in a stony sort of numbness 
 to his outbursts of vexation. 
 
 It was a remarkable fact that Captain 
 Bouverie understood so little of his wife's 
 disposition up to the present time that he
 
 262 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 always seemed to be struck with astonish- 
 ment at her calmness and indifference to his 
 violent outbursts of anger. Nothing at times 
 could be more irritating to him than to watch 
 her countenance, looking as placid and un- 
 moved when he was endeavouring to say 
 everything that was disagreeable, and likely 
 to exasperate her, as if he were in the best of 
 tempers. No doubt he felt his own inferior- 
 ity, when he found he could not overturn her 
 equanimity, and this was galling to his over- 
 bearing spirit. In many ways Captain 
 Bouverie was sorely tried of late, and he 
 made his home miserable both to himself 
 and his family by his frequent fits of ill- 
 humour. 
 
 " I am surprised, very much surprised, at 
 this strange behaviour," he exclaimed, as his 
 daughters appeared all wet and dripping be- 
 fore him. " You, in particular, Ellinor, are 
 to blame as being older than your sister; 
 and if you have no regard for your own cha- 
 racter, I beg you will have some for mine.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 263 
 
 I consider it highly derogatory to the dignity 
 of an officer and a gentleman that my daugh- 
 ters should be seen running about in such 
 weather, at all hours ; and should such con- 
 duct be repeated, I shall be under the neces- 
 sity of taking some decided steps to preserve 
 my own respectability and authority/' 
 
 " Your hat and cloak are destroyed," said 
 Mrs. Bouverie, looking at her daughter's 
 battered costume. " Your gown will never 
 be fit to be worn again." 
 
 " Yes ; that is the way my money goes ; no 
 regard for the clothes that I must pay for. 
 Of course it is I who will go to jail when the 
 money runs short ; so tatter out your ex- 
 pensive clothes, and never think of the loss/* 
 said Captain Bouverie, who was growing sar- 
 castic. 
 
 Ellinor endeavoured to explain the state of 
 the case in a somewhat breathless manner, 
 when Dora, coming into the room, interrupted 
 her by declaring in a few words that it was
 
 264 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 through her means altogether the misadven- 
 ture bad occurred. 
 
 " And so, for the purpose of walking out 
 with a scapegrace young man, who is pro- 
 bably making fools of you both, and laugh- 
 ing at you for his amusement, you set your 
 father at defiance, and remain out beyond the 
 dinner hour," said the father bitterly. 
 
 "You had better go up stairs, and try 
 what you can do about your hats," observed 
 Mrs. Bouverie, who was possibly growing 
 tired at length of so much ado about nothing; 
 " and take off your boots for fear of catching 
 cold." 
 
 " Yes, you had better try to keep from ill- 
 ness, for I assure you I have no money to fee 
 doctors," added the father. " If any one 
 gets sick in this house they may go to the 
 hospital.'' 
 
 And with this soothing speech ringing in 
 their ears the girls went away at length to 
 change their wet garments in a cold bed-
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 265 
 
 room upstairs, where no such luxury as a fire 
 ever burned in the rusty grate, even when 
 snow lay thickly on the ground, and icicles 
 gathered on the inside of the window panes. 
 
 It was all very comfortless and dispiriting, 
 and Ellinor felt very unhappy. Dora was 
 excited and full of perplexity. 
 
 " What is to be done now?'^ she thought, 
 as she flung herself on a chair in the cheer- 
 less room. " If Mr, St. George comes to- 
 morrow, as he says he will, papa will be 
 enraged." 
 
 She did not like to confide her uneasiness 
 to her sister, for with all her giddy selfishness 
 at times she was not altogether devoid of 
 feeling. She knew Ellinor had suffered much 
 that evening on her account, and she would 
 not add to her anxiety by telling her that she 
 had given Mr. St. George permission to call 
 at Evergreen next day. 
 
 " He must not come," she said to herself, 
 " and he must not be offended. I know what 
 I shall do." 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN* 
 
 The sisters had very few secrets as yet from 
 each other. Indeed, it may be said they had 
 none. The time had still to come when they 
 should be unable to fathom each other's 
 thoughts, and perhaps that moment, when 
 Dora said to herself ' I know what I shall do,* 
 while Ellinor stood close beside her, helping 
 to brush the raindrops from her dress, was 
 the beginning of a wretched period of doubt 
 and estrangement that was to separate the 
 two sisters more effectually than any distance 
 of space could have done — the beginning of a 
 very dark time for both.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARKISON TOWN. 267 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 DOKA iJOUVERlE GK)iiS OUT BY HERSELF. 
 
 It was not surprising that Ellinor should have 
 caught cold hy her excursion on the moor; 
 and though she could not venture to stay in 
 her bed next morning, lest such a course 
 should call down further angry reproofs from 
 her father, she thought it would be imprudent 
 to go out next day, and was therefore puzzled 
 to know how the dinner should be provided 
 for, when, to her surprise, Dora, who appeared 
 quite well, though paler than usual, with no 
 
 N 2
 
 268 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 apparent suffering from the hurt she had given 
 her ankle the previous evening, expressed her 
 intention of going out, adding that if there 
 were anything to be doneatNorham she would 
 execute the commission. 
 
 " But, then, you do not like marketing,*' 
 said Ellinor. 
 
 "No, indeed, I hate it; but I shall order 
 anything you may want very badly,'' replied 
 Dora, who evidently thought it was quite the 
 right and proper duty of her elder sister to do 
 what was disagreeable as regarded providing 
 for the wants of the household, and that she 
 should consider Ellinor under an obligation to 
 her if she condescended to assist her. 
 
 " Thanks. I wish you would, for I am 
 really afraid to go out, I have such a severe 
 headache.'' 
 
 " I am sure I wonder I have not a headache 
 too," said Dora, looking at herself in the glass. 
 *' Papa made such a dreadful piece of work 
 last night when we came home that it was 
 enough to make anyone ill."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 269 
 
 '*Poor papa has a great deal to try him, 
 Dora," said Ellinor, sadly. " I am afraid 
 there is something preying on his mind that 
 we know nothing about." 
 
 Dora was silent as she went to search 
 through her wardrobe for a becoming gown, 
 not with her usual air of thoughtless gaiety, 
 but with a sombre shadow upon her face — 
 something anxious in the expression of her 
 deep blue eyes, that told of a mind not alto- 
 gether at ease. 
 
 She took a long while to dress, and it was 
 nearly three o^clock before she left the house. 
 
 '' He would not think of calling here before 
 three," she said to herself, as she lingered 
 over her toilette ; '' he will probably be out 
 about the hour we met him yesterday.'* 
 
 And then, with a dreamy recollection of 
 having to order some tea, sugar, and meat at 
 Norham, she sallied forth, feeling rather ner- 
 vous and uneasy. 
 
 Although rather late in the afternoon, she 
 did not hurry her pace ; in fact, she rather
 
 270 SOCIETY IN A GAERISON TOWN. 
 
 loitered on the way, wondering, as she went 
 along, whether all homes were as unhappy as 
 hers was ; and if many young women of nine- 
 teen, with as fair a share of beauty as she 
 possessed, often felt as weary and miserable 
 as she did then. 
 
 All the time she was walking onwards she 
 was expecting to meet Mr. St. George, com- 
 ing to pay his promised visit of inquiry at 
 Evergreen, and she determined to prevent his 
 going on all the way ; yet she only felt more 
 and more nervous when she really did per- 
 ceive his figure on the long flat road. 
 
 " What shall I say to him?" she thought, 
 catching her breath in little gasps, and begin- 
 ning to tremble painfully. " What can I say 
 to him?" 
 
 After all, the meeting was not so dreadful. 
 
 Mr. St. George experienced great pleasure at 
 
 seeing her able to walk, and looking so well 
 
 — though, indeed, except for the transient 
 
 blush that lighted up her face when he spoke to 
 
 her, there was very little colour in her cheeks.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 271 
 
 ** Yes, I am very well/' she replied, in a 
 very hurried, confused way ; " but my sister 
 has caught cold, and is in her room to-day, 
 and papa '' 
 
 What could she say about her father? 
 Nothing ; so she had to flounder, and get out 
 of the mention of his name as she best might. 
 What she chiefly wanted to do was to keep 
 the aide-de-camp, at all hazards, from ven- 
 turing into the lion's den. 
 
 " I am going to Norham," she said, in 
 desperation ; " and if you have nothing 
 better to do, you might — that is, if you are 
 not walking in any particular direction '* 
 
 Mr. St. George looked a little surprised, as 
 she stopped here without finishing her sen- 
 tence. 
 
 " I was only going to inquire for you and 
 your sister," he said, at length ; " but having 
 met you, I intend to return to Norham." 
 
 And again he gave a glance of surprise at 
 the face of his companion, which was chang- 
 ing colour perceptibly.
 
 272 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN» 
 
 *' Thanks," she murmured, feeling still 
 miserably confused. '' You are very kind/' 
 And then they both went on together ; he be- 
 ginning to wonder, perhaps, if he had already 
 made such an impression on her as to set her 
 wits astray. The vanity of woman is only to 
 be equalled by the vanity of man. Each of 
 these young people, without doubt, imagined 
 that the other was deeply smitten, by his or 
 her charms. Well, perhaps, they were not 
 very far wrong, though neither had, as yet, 
 acknowledged to his or her own heart how 
 far the supposed penchant of the other was 
 returned. 
 
 Meeting Lucy Barr, when they were near 
 the town, Dora thought of asking her to 
 execute the commissions relative to the grocer 
 and butcher which had been confided to her- 
 self by Ellinor, and drawing out her pocket- 
 book, she hastily wrote a few memoranda on 
 a detached leaf, which she gave to Lucy, thus 
 avoiding the necessity of going to the 
 objectionable shops herself.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 273 
 
 '' Did you see that pretty face ?'' she said, 
 when T.ucy had gone on her way. 
 
 " Well, I did not remark anything parti- 
 cular," replied Mr. St. George. " I am afraid 
 I can only entertain one idea at a time, and 
 having at present one style of beauty vividly 
 impressed on my mind it banishes thoughts of 
 all others/' 
 
 Again a fleeting colour of brightest pink 
 passed over Dora's face, and a thrill of 
 pleasure shot through her heart. Not that 
 she was unaccustomed to flattering speeches. 
 Ever since she grew up she knew what it was 
 to hear her beauty praised, but never before 
 had she listened with so much delight to any 
 words as to these. Whether thoughts of the 
 possible peerage which might yet fall to the 
 lot of her companion had anything to do with 
 this delight it is difficult to determine. We 
 all know that a small hand encased in an 
 exquisitely fitting glove, a tiny foot peeping 
 from under a silk flounce, have been known 
 to create ardent love. Why, then, should it 
 
 N 5
 
 274 SOCIETY IN A GAEEISON TOWN. 
 
 be thought strange if rank and wealth should 
 touch the heart and set it beating? 
 
 Women in particular, owing to the circum- 
 stances in which they are placed, are apt to 
 associate some advantage of position with the 
 tenderest feelings of their souls; and so, if 
 General Barnard's aide-de-camp derived im- 
 portance in Dora's estimation from his relation- 
 ship to Lord Killeevan, there is nothing in it 
 to astonish anybody. 
 
 As she went along by his side she found 
 herself wondering how many cousins might 
 stand between him and the title. The old 
 Peerage at home could not tell that. How 
 could any one know how many deaths had 
 occurred in the St. George family during the 
 last sixteen years. It was too bad to be so 
 poor that a new Peerage could not be procured 
 to enlighten her with respect to the present 
 generation of titled individuals and their re- 
 latives. 
 
 Upon getting near the town Dora said she 
 was going to visit a poor person to whom her
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN. 275 
 
 sister was often kind. It is needless, perhaps, 
 to say that the idea of going to see this indi- 
 vidual only strnck her when she was consider- 
 ing what on earth she would say to Mr. St. 
 George was the object of her solitary walk that 
 afternoon. 
 
 "I do not like going through the busy part 
 of the town," she said, leading the way to a 
 quiet back street ; " there are always so many 
 idle people lounging about the frequented 
 thoroughfares.'' 
 
 There were not many persons as yet at 
 Norham who knew the appearance of Mr. St. 
 George in plain clothes, and Dora hoped that 
 he might not attract much notice. She was 
 not like some young ladies whose number of 
 beaux are limited, and who are proud to parade 
 any stray few that fall to their lot, wherever 
 they may be best seen ; and, therefore, she 
 took her companion through the most deserted 
 portions of the quaint old town, where the 
 streets were narrow and tortuous, and the in- 
 habitants of the poorest classes.
 
 276 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 " Do you often go out upon these missions 
 of charity, Miss Bouverie ?'^ asked the aide-de- 
 camp, 
 
 " Oh, no — that is, sometimes ; but I am not 
 nearly so good as my sister ; she goes out a 
 great deal among the poor. I am afraid you 
 find this sort of thing rather uninteresting, but 
 I shall not keep you long." 
 
 " Believe me when I say that I could not 
 consider any pursuit uninteresting in such 
 company.'' 
 
 " You flatter too much ; but I am afraid 
 you think you could not say less." 
 
 Dora now found herself rather puzzled to 
 discover the abode of the old woman to whom 
 Ellinor no w and then brought little charitable 
 gifts, but who was seldom much in her sister's 
 thoughts when she accompanied her in her 
 visits. 
 
 '' I am really so stupid," she said, feeling 
 very awkward. " Surely the house is some- 
 where in this street. Dobbs is the woman's 
 name — yes, Janet Dobbs, an old woman with
 
 gOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 277 
 
 a blind eye. There now, you are smiling. 
 You must think this is so ridiculous !'' 
 
 The thoughts of the old woman with the 
 blind eye did make Mr. St. George inclined 
 to laugh, but he assured liis companion that 
 he was quite serious, and full of anxiety to 
 discover the residence of Mrs. Janet Dobbs. 
 
 '' 1 shall go over to that shop next the corn 
 stores, and ask where the old creature lives," 
 declared Dora, crossing the narrow street, to 
 make inquiries on tlie opposite side. 
 
 She had scarcely done so, when two men 
 emerged from the comyard by which she and 
 Mr. St. George were passing, and, to her in- 
 finite dismay, one of them proved to be Mr. 
 Clarke, the barrackmaster. 
 
 Without being able exactly to define the 
 feeling, or account for its existence, Dora felt 
 that she would rather have met anyone — ex- 
 cept, perhaps, her father — than Mr. Clarke at 
 that moment. 
 
 A deep colour flushed up over her whole 
 face as he stopped to speak to her, and fixed
 
 278 SOCIETY IN A GAKklSON TOWN. 
 
 his eyes of uncertain expression on her 
 countenance — those eyes which so seldom met 
 the gaze of other eyes, but which were at 
 liberty to scan Miss Dora Bouverie's face just 
 now in peace, as she did not dare to meet his 
 earnest and inquiring look. 
 
 "How very intimate she must be already 
 with this young man,*' he thought, " to walk 
 along with him in such a part of the town.'* 
 And the thought made him grow pale. 
 
 Mr. St. George had walked on a little in 
 advance, to permit Miss Bouverie to talk to 
 this other acquaintance, and now stood aloof 
 tracing imaginary figures with his walking- 
 stick on the ground. Very elegant he looked, 
 and in all her confusion Dora thought so, 
 contrasting his figure with that of the 
 barrack-master, to the infinite disadvantage of 
 the latter. 
 
 Young girls very often take very unreason- 
 able antipathies, and it is scarcely too much 
 to say that Dora Bouverie felt, just now, as if 
 she abhorred Mr. Clarke.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 279 
 
 " The last place I could have hoped to 
 meet you, Miss Bouverie," he said, smiling 
 curiously. 
 
 " Indeed ! Why ? My sister is often here 
 visiting poor people, and why should not I?'^ 
 
 " Oh ! on a mission of mercy, and initiating 
 Sir Ealph Barnard's aide-de-camp into the 
 mysteries of district visiting, and the conver- 
 sion of the heathen of the slums by the aid of 
 soup and coals.'' 
 
 "I met Mr. St. George on the way, and he 
 was kind enough to accompany me thus far/' 
 said Dora, coldly. 
 
 '* Well, I should say the kindness was all 
 on your side in permitting him to have the 
 pleasure of your company. A man who is 
 idle all day may well find even a home mis- 
 sion delightful in such society. Not afraid of 
 small-pox or typhus, I suppose? I believe 
 there are a few cases about here at present." 
 
 '* Sorry to hear it, Mr. Clarke ; good morn- 
 ing,'' said Dora, taking no pains to conceal
 
 280 SOGTETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 her opinion of the unhappy barrack- master, 
 even to the verge of rudeness. 
 
 He touched his hat, smiled, showed his 
 white teeth, which aggravated Dora so much 
 that she only gave him the least little nod in 
 the world, and turned off to pursue her search 
 for Mrs. Dobbs' house, which seemed likely 
 to prove as unsuccessful as the search of the 
 previous day for the imaginary cottage on the 
 moor. After some further explorations, Dora 
 thought she would give it up and go home. 
 She was very tired and in bad spirits. All 
 at once an indescribable gloom seemed to 
 steal over her heart. 
 
 " You are fatigued, I fear," said Mr. St. 
 George, looking with real concern at her pale 
 face. 
 
 " Only a very little," she replied, in a de- 
 jected tone; adding, after a few minutes' 
 pause, " Do you believe in presentiments, Mr. 
 St. George?' 
 
 He smiled, and shook his head.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 281 
 
 " I cannot speak from experience, never 
 having had any presentiments of good or evil 
 that I remember. Whatever has happened 
 to me of weal or woe was generally most un- 
 expected. Indeed, I should say, whenever I 
 have felt particularly low-spirited, something 
 nearly always turned up rather pleasant, 
 which would lead me to conclude that dark 
 presentiments were either not to be trusted, 
 or regarded in a contrary light. Has an 
 unpleasant presentiment crept over you 
 now r 
 
 " Now and then I feel so strangely when I 
 see or speak to certain people, that I can 
 hardly help fancying there may be something 
 like a presentiment in it." 
 
 " And having just seen and spoken to that 
 fascinating Mr. Clarke, T presume he is con- 
 nected with a presentiment in the present 
 instance," observed the aide-de-camp, lightly. 
 
 " I don't like him," said Dora, frankly ; 
 " but perhaps he does not strike other people 
 as being so disagreeable as he does me."
 
 282 SOCIETY IN A GARKISON TOWK. 
 
 " "Which is rather ungrateful, for he is 
 evidently an admirer/' 
 
 " Oh ! that is the reason I dislike him so," 
 exclaimed Dora, naively. " I hate people 
 that admire me when I cannot return the 
 compliment/' And then she coloured a little 
 at her own earnestness; for Mr. St. George 
 had given her what seemed a searching look 
 from the depths of his dark eyes. 
 
 " And now you are not to come any farther 
 with me," she said, as they reached the con- 
 fines of the town. " I have tired you enough, 
 and I will go home alone." 
 
 He remonstrated, but she was very firm, 
 and he saw that she was in earnest. However, 
 he did not feel offended. Perhaps a suspicion 
 of the truth dawned upon his mind, as he 
 observed how eagerly she wished to prevent 
 his escorting her to Evergreen. They parted 
 very amicably, and both went on their own 
 way. He to his quarters to while away some 
 hours before it should be time to dress for 
 dinner at the General's; she to a home she
 
 SOCIETY IN A aARRISON TOWN. 283 
 
 felt to be a dreary one, though she was not 
 without afifection for her parents and her 
 Bister. 
 
 Dora was still thinking, in spite of herself, 
 of Mr. Clarke, and her dislike of him, when 
 she reached the gate of Evergreen, and even 
 while she walked slowly up the avenue to the 
 house. The hall-door was open, and as she 
 entered the hall she heard her father speaking, 
 and these words fell upon her ear, 
 
 " So Miss Dora has not come back yet, and 
 Clarke has just told me that he met her and St. 
 George, walking together in Slippery Court. 
 Very nice, after what I said last night !" 
 
 Having overheard these terrible words, 
 Dora Bouverie's first impulse was to rush into 
 the dining-room, where she knew her father 
 was, and denounce Mr. Clarke as a spy of 
 the meanest, most abhorrent description ; but 
 second thoughts prompted her to take what 
 was, no doubt, a more prudent course, and 
 she went quietly upstairs, still feeling very 
 much enraged against the unfortunate bar-
 
 284 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 rack-master for having told her father any- 
 thing at all of her movements that afternoon. 
 
 " He knew papa would disapprove of my 
 being with Mr. St. George,*' she thought, 
 "and he told him just to make mischief, the 
 mean, meddling, mean-spirited, detestable 
 man !" 
 
 Filled with the bitterest feelings of anger, 
 the young lady went into her own room, 
 which was fortunately unoccupied, as Ellinor 
 had been obliged to go down and see about 
 dinner, in spite of a most torturing headache, 
 her father being too much of an epicure, and 
 too long accustomed to the luxuries of a 
 mess-table, to be expected to submit patiently 
 to such cookery as Patty, the servant, could 
 provide for him. People must pay good 
 wages if they want to have good cooks, and 
 as Captain Bouverie disliked paying anything 
 he could help, his wife thought it prudent to 
 get as cheap a handmaid for her manage as 
 possible— one whose ignorance might keep 
 her humble, and who was contented to do
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 285 
 
 everything about the household in a sort of 
 make-believe fashion, because she was able 
 to do nothing right. Ellinor, with her 
 grievous headache, that made the sight of the 
 contents of the larder, and the heat of the 
 kitchen fire quite unbearable, had to stay and 
 watch Patty getting ready delicate little fancy 
 dishes, suitable for a fastidious palate, and the 
 womanly work was not so very easy after all 
 — not half as easy as a good deal of manly 
 work, which is much more profitable to the 
 worker. 
 
 Thus her sister being down-stairs super- 
 intending the quantity of pepper and salt to 
 be put into this gravy or that soup (Patty 
 never could be made to comprehend the nice 
 distinction between too much and too little of 
 such seasoning), Dora Bouverie found herself 
 alone in her chamber, and, shutting the door 
 firmly, and perhaps not very gently, she 
 began to walk up and down through it with- 
 out pausing even to look at herself in the 
 glass, wliich was contrary to her usual custom
 
 2^^ SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 on entering her room after being out. Perhaps 
 she was not very far wrong in supposing that 
 Mr. Clarke had informed her father of his 
 having met her with Mr. St. George that day 
 for the purpose of exciting the anger of Cap- 
 tain Bouverie. The barrack-master was quite 
 capable of such littleness, and he was particu- 
 larly anxious to stop any flirtation that might 
 be carried on between the handsome aide-de- 
 camp and Miss Dora Bouverie. Within the last 
 week or two he had begun to entertain hopes 
 connected with that young lady, which were 
 very much strengthened by her father's 
 manner to him of late; but, apart from this 
 interest in her, Mr. Clarke was capable of 
 doing and saying many things out of spite, 
 and for the sole purpose of making mischief. 
 Dora's antipathy to the barrack- master in- 
 creased tenfold the more she thought of th^ 
 trouble and perplexity his officious gossiping 
 might cause her ; but she determined to brave 
 the matter out, and go down to dinner as 
 usual, and meet her father at once.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 287 
 
 As soon as she made her appearance in the 
 dining-room, Captain Bouverie demanded an 
 explanation of her conduct that day. 
 
 " My friend Clarke very kindly informed 
 me of seeing you, and that — that person 
 whom I particularly forbade you to be on 
 terms of intimacy with, walking in a most 
 disreputable part of the town this afternoon. 
 What can excuse such disobedience and dis- 
 respect to me T 
 
 " I did not mean to be disrespectful, papa. 
 When I met Mr. St. George I was obliged to 
 speak to him, and when he walked with me 
 I could not help it,'' said Dora, trying to 
 speak as calmly as she could. 
 
 " Yes, you could have helped it ; you could 
 have made some excuse for getting rid of 
 him; young ladies know how to make up such 
 excuses very easily. God knows you are all 
 full of duplicity enough for anything ! But, 
 if you have any regard for your own 
 respectability, you will give up walking 
 about with scamps, who may be the means of
 
 288 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 preventing your becoming settled in life. I 
 can assure you, Dora, such behaviour as yours 
 to-day has very nearly done you an irrepar- 
 able injury in the eyes of a most worthy per- 
 son/^ 
 
 " Whose eyes?*' asked Dora, with a curl of 
 her lip that she could not control. 
 
 '' Those of my good friend, Clarke — a man 
 for whom I have the greatest respect — a maa 
 who has stood my friend when I might have 
 looked in vain for help from any one else ; 
 one of the most disinterested and generous of 
 human beings !" 
 
 " I wish I could believe he was such a per- 
 son, papa,'* said Dora, "but I cannot. He 
 seems to me the most detestable of mor- 
 tals !" 
 
 Captain Bouverie stared at his daughter as 
 she made this astounding speech, but though 
 he tried to look her fixedly in the face, 
 he felt a very unpleasant sinking at his 
 heart. 
 
 " Perhaps when you know what I owe —
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 289 
 
 ^hat we all owe to that man, you will learn 
 to regard him with greater deference, Dora/' 
 he said, significantly. 
 
 " I do not believe that he could do any 
 person a kindness without some hidden mo- 
 tive of selfishness," returned Dora, posi- 
 tively. 
 
 " And if your opinion is correct, so much 
 the worse for us,'' said the father, bitterly ; " a 
 man who acts with a semblance of kindness, 
 through selfishness, will naturally be quick 
 to resent any contempt or ingratitude to- 
 wards him. Have a care, Dora, how you 
 offend Mr. Clarke; I warn you of that. You 
 know, I presume, that this house is mine, the 
 food you eat is mine, the clothes on your 
 back are paid for by my money. Without 
 me what would you all be ? At my death 
 the greater part of the income that supports 
 my family will die with me. God knows 
 what may be left for you to subsist on then ; 
 so you had better begin to think of your posi- 
 tion with proper humility." 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 290 SOCIETY XN A GARRISON TOWJS^ 
 
 During this aflfectionate speech of her 
 father, Dora's couatenance changed to a still 
 paler hue than before, and her blue eyes 
 seemed to deepen in colour almost to black, 
 so darkly did they shine out from her white 
 face. Her pride was touched by her father's 
 words, and she grasped the back of the 
 chair by which she was standing with a con- 
 vulsive tightening of her small hands, as she 
 said — 
 
 '' 1 know, papa, I am dependent 5 that I 
 have not a farthing in the world to call my 
 own ; that my position is very little, if at all, 
 better than that of Patty, the servant in the 
 kitchen; but, for all that, I will never cringe 
 to anybody, nor will I pretend to believe 
 that a man is good if I think him bad, be- 
 cause I am under an obligation to him. 
 Nothing in the world will ever make me re- 
 gard Mr. Clarke as an agreeable or a kind 
 individual/' 
 
 How much Ellinor would have given to 
 be able to induce Dora to cease uttering any
 
 SOCIETY IN A OAERISON TOWN. 291 
 
 more imprudent remarks ! Bat nothing could 
 stop her sister from sajing whatever came 
 uppermost to her mind, when she was roused 
 in temper. 
 
 Whatever people may have written or 
 thought respecting the natural dependence of 
 the female nature, it is a fact that women are 
 just as little disposed to relish dependence as 
 men are ; and, though obliged so often to 
 submit to the most galling slavery, it does 
 not follow that they like it, or that they do 
 not feel their shackled position very bitterly. 
 The very fashion that men adopt to win 
 women's favour during the days of courtship 
 proves that they cannot really believe women 
 like to hold an inferior position. Why is it 
 that a man will cringe and flatter, and put 
 himself, as it were, under the feet of the 
 woman he loves, before marriage, if he thinks 
 that it is her nature to like to be in servitude 
 or subjection? Is she won by being informed 
 of the humble state she will in future be re- 
 
 2
 
 292 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 duced to as his wife ? Does the ardent lover 
 ever try to recommend his suit to his sweet- 
 heart by such speeches as the following : — 
 " Dearest Jane, — You will have everything 
 your sweet, womanly, trusting nature could 
 wish for — perfect helplessness and depend- 
 ence on me. You will have no money of 
 your own. I shall rule the household, and 
 pay the tradesmen's bills, and frown over 
 milliners' accounts. Do not fear that you 
 will be permitted any freedom of will ; your 
 sweet, feminine love of submission will be 
 amply gratified by my manly determination 
 to carry out the full authority which the law, 
 with such consideration for us both, allows 
 to a husband. Henceforth you will be a 
 most charming nullity, and on an equality 
 with lunatics, as far as the management of 
 money matters in law are concerned." Ah ! 
 no, reader ; the unmarried woman hears 
 very different words from her suitors ; she is 
 to be the arbitress of her lover's fate — queen
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 29S 
 
 of his soul, star of his existence, everything 
 high, and mighty, and great in power ; 
 anything but the poor drudge she so often 
 becomes afterwards. Half the women who 
 marry, know no more of the laws of their 
 country respecting the estate of matrimony 
 than they know about the inhabitants of the 
 moon. They are brought up in ignorance of 
 what so materially concerns them, and married 
 in ignorance of what is to be their future 
 position. Were they better informed upon 
 these points, perhaps very few of the wise 
 among them would like to enter the bonds of 
 matrimony. The bitter knowledge comes 
 often too late, when the victim is in chains 
 of iron, and then God help her ! It would 
 require a man to be of the most generous 
 disposition not to become spoiled by the 
 power given him by the law as a husband ; 
 while, on the other hand, in the preposterous 
 roundabout manner of settling money on a 
 wife, now supposed proper, it might be
 
 294 SOCIETY IN A GAREISGN TOWN. 
 
 imagined that the lawyers considered a hus- 
 band was necessarily his wife's natural enemy 
 — so contradictory are the present laws on the 
 subject of man and wife.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON tOWN. 295' 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A DOMESTIC SCENE. 
 
 It may be imagined that the dinner that even- 
 ing at Evergreen was a most disagreeable 
 ordeal for Ellinor and her mother. Dora was 
 Still too much under the influence of excited 
 feelings to suffer as much uneasiness and 
 anxiety as they did ; but Ellinor had to endure 
 a perfect martyrdom as she sat at the table, 
 sipping water from the glass beside her, and 
 trying to make a feint of eating. I am sure, 
 without exaggeration, that she would have
 
 296 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 preferred any amount of hard work to that 
 misery of sitting opposite to her father, watch- 
 ing his countenance, as he scanned the dishes 
 on the table, and expecting an explosion of 
 temper every instant. Well might she sip 
 water, and try to cool her fevered throat! 
 The hand that raised the glass to her lips was 
 hot and trembling, and her heart palpitated 
 with a sensation nearly akin to pain. This 
 was the sort of wretchedness that was 
 gradually undermining her health, and rob- 
 bing her cheeks of the bloom of youth, and 
 her spirits of their natural elasticity. What 
 Mrs. Bouverie's feelings were. Heaven alone 
 could tell. It was to save her from trouble 
 and care that EUinor undertook to do the 
 duties of the housekeeping ; but the occasional 
 sighs she uttered, half stifled though they were, 
 plainly told that her mind was very far from 
 being at ease. 
 
 " I suppose, EUinor, you think, now that 
 my circumstances are getting low, that I 
 should submit to any kind of food," said
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 297 
 
 Captain Bouverle, as lie held the carving 
 knife suspended over a large piece of meat 
 at the head of the table. " From the look of 
 this dish I know it is unfit for a gentleman's 
 table. In future, may I beg that we have no 
 more of such disgusting joints?" 
 
 " I daresay it is not so bad, if you would 
 only try some of it/' Mrs. Bouverie ventured 
 to say very meekly. 
 
 "Ami to be permitted to use my own 
 judgment in the consideration of any matter?" 
 demanded her husband, with an air of much 
 dignity, and as if he were in the habit of being 
 extremely ill-used. His wife's mild defence 
 of the objectionable roti had sealed its fate. 
 Sinking back in his chair, like one over- 
 whelmed with the miseries of his life. Captain 
 Bouverie motioned to Patty (who usually 
 made her appearance in the dining-room, after 
 a hurried and violent ablution of hands and 
 face, for the purpose of attending table), to 
 remove the head dish. 
 
 " Let us never again see that piece of m eat, '^ 
 
 o 5
 
 298 SOCIETY IN A GAEEISON TOWN. 
 
 he said, with eyes flashing in the direction of 
 Ellinor, who experienced a cold shiver as the 
 words fell on her ears. " Let it never come 
 to the table again in any form," 
 
 Patty was obliged to obey, and bore away 
 the obnoxious dish, pitying the three ladies 
 who were sitting at the table, and thinking 
 very severe things of the master — and, indeed, 
 if the truth must be told, of men in general; 
 for poor ignorant Patty was not at all more 
 reasonable than those gentlemen who imagine 
 when one woman of their acquaintance acts 
 a disagreeable or ridiculous part, that she is a 
 type of her sex. In the present instance 
 Captain Bouverie was Polly's representative 
 man ; and, as she bore away the heavy dish 
 with stout arms down the kitchen stairs, 
 fervent was the mental vow made in the 
 depths of her heart that she would see " all 
 the men in the world at Jericho before she 
 would marry one of them !" 
 
 Well, she was not any more one-sided in 
 her views than the fiery poet who sits down —
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 299 
 
 when jilted by some girl of seventeen, who 
 prefers a richer, and, mayhap, more prosy in- 
 dividual than himself, for her husband — and 
 pours forth a desperate tirade in verse against 
 the whole female sex, beginning with 
 "Woman, who can trust thee?'' or some 
 profound question, never intended to receive 
 an answer. 
 
 And so, in this free country of England, 
 three grown-up women sat, scarcely daring 
 to breathe — much less speak or eat — in the 
 presence of the personage on whom they were 
 dependent for everything they possessed in 
 the world — women who were in the full pos- 
 session of their intellect and senses, but who 
 were yet obliged, through custom and preju- 
 dice, not to use harsher terms, to drag out a 
 wretched existence, without the means of 
 bettering their condition. Of course, they 
 might descend from their social rank, and 
 become milliners and schoolmistresses; but, 
 in spite of what well-meaning people have 
 said respecting the fitness of such employ-
 
 300 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 menls for educated women as those of hospital 
 nurses, printers, telegraph clerks, wood en- 
 gravers, &c., I do not consider that a lady 
 of talent, who wished to earn a livelihood, 
 would derive much distinction or profit from 
 engaging in any of those very respectable 
 callings, appropriate as they may be for cer- 
 tain classes of a lower degree. An educated 
 woman, brought up in the rank of a gentle- 
 woman, might naturally wish for some em- 
 ployment that would keep her in her own 
 position, and not grant her merely a resource 
 and a refuge from the workhouse. Has any- 
 body ever thought of what rank a trained 
 hospital nurse would hold in society, and what 
 would be the order of precedence granted to 
 the distinguished body of trained nurses who 
 are to come forth from the homes of British 
 gentlefolk ? Of all the nice little unpretend- 
 ing occupations supposed to be suitable for 
 the women of England, I am afraid none are 
 very likely to meet with the approbation of 
 such gentlewomen as have any respect for
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARUISON TOWN. 301 
 
 social position. The lower and middle ranks 
 of women have already some occupation be- 
 fitting their different stations in life, and why 
 not the women of the upper class ? 
 
 When the head dish was conveyed from 
 the table, containing about fourteen pounds 
 of meat, which was ordered never to appear 
 again in sight of Captain Bouverie, who, at 
 the same time, owed a very large bill to the 
 butcher who provided the said meat, there 
 was a dead silence round the board for several 
 minutes, during which Ellinor was thinking 
 in dismay of the loss it would be to let so 
 large a joint go to waste, and of what could 
 be possibly be done with it to prevent such a 
 catastrophe, without disobeying her father's 
 commands. At length the head of the house 
 requested to be brought some bread and 
 cheese, and having got it, commenced to eat 
 with great pretence of frugality for a few 
 minutes, when, seeing that nobody was in- 
 clined to make any remark upon his beha- 
 viour, he got irritated, and declaring he would
 
 302 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWNv 
 
 not submit to be starved!, rang the bell 
 violently for Patty, who was forthwith 
 despatched for another supply of meat to 
 Norham, it being now about seven o'clock 
 p.m. None of the little fancy dishes pre- 
 pared by Ellinor with such pains, were of any 
 avail in softening her father's wrath. He 
 was labouring under that state of mind known 
 in Ireland as "contrariness," and nothing 
 could please him. Ellinor had often before 
 endured nearly as much unhappiness on 
 similar occasions, but she had the additional 
 uneasiness that evening of observing that her 
 sister scarcely seemed like her usual self. 
 Although in general addicted to a careless^ 
 light way of talking that might seem to be- 
 speak a shallow understanding, Dora Bou- 
 verie was in reality by no means devoid of 
 brains. Ellinor knew that her sister could 
 be very determined when she chose, and she 
 felt anxious lest she might be induced to do 
 something rash and imprudent if particularly 
 hurt by any severity of her father.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 303 
 
 '' Do you think, Ellinor, this state of misery 
 will last for ever?'' asked Dora, seriously, as 
 they were alone in their room. " I am gett- 
 ing very tired of our life here. Sometimes I 
 really believe T should be glad to exchange 
 my position with that of the most humble 
 person who is earning a livelihood in peace 
 and independence." 
 
 " All people have their trials,'* returned 
 Ellinor, after a pause, " Perhaps in any 
 position we should have to experience care 
 and anxiety. When I feel perturbed and full 
 of trouble, I only think the more of that in- 
 describable peace that passes human under- 
 standing, which we read of as the reward of 
 the just in another world." 
 
 " But it is a dreary idea, at eighteen or 
 twenty, to think of how many long years one 
 may have to live in this world without, per- 
 haps, being any better off than we are now. 
 Papa seems to think if he were taken from 
 us we should be nearly reduced to beggary, 
 and that is not a very pleasant prospect.
 
 304 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 How I wish I could earn my bread without 
 falling from my position as a gentlewoman I 
 But I suppose I must make up my mind to 
 marry somebody — that is all. You may be 
 sure, Ellinor, if I am obliged to marry merely 
 for a provision, and a refuge from starvation, 
 I shall make the best bargain I can. As to 
 my becoming a very affectionate wife, I fear 
 that will not be possible under the circum- 
 stances. People cannot be remarkably lov- 
 ing when they are obliged to think chiefly of 
 their own welfare, and of escape from domes- 
 tic wretchedness at home, as a reason for 
 marrying." 
 
 "But it would be very shortsighted to 
 rush into matrimony for any such reasons/' 
 said Ellinor, gravely. " A husband may 
 sometimes be less kind than even a harsh 
 father.'' 
 
 " Oh ! but you mind a father's unkindness 
 more than you would a husband's. You 
 cannot help caring what your father thinks, 
 and feeling affection for him ; but I think it
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 305 
 
 would not be the same with a husband. You 
 need not love him at all.'' 
 
 " And what sort of life could any woman 
 expect to lead with such a husband as 
 that?" 
 
 " A wretched one, of course ; but she would 
 be provided for, and in no danger of starva- 
 tion." 
 
 Ellinor shook her head. 
 
 " I am sure you are only jesting, Dora ; 
 yet it is a serious subject enough," she said. 
 
 " I am not jesting, I assure you — quite the 
 contrary. I am thinking of what a miserable 
 thing it is to be obliged to marry merely for 
 a support and some advancement in the 
 world, and of bow a woman could revenge 
 herself on some unfortunate man for the sins 
 of his sex. Do you not think it possible for 
 a wife to torment her husband instead of per- 
 mitting him to torment her ?" 
 
 " How can you think of such unpleasant 
 things ?" asked Ellinor, looking at Dora's 
 flushed face in some anxiety.
 
 306 SOCIETY IN A aARRISON TOWN. 
 
 In tTxxtk^ Dora was wot jesting, as she 
 spoke so bitterly. Some dread of what was- 
 coming in tlbe future may harve been over 
 her — some suspicion of a dark fate haunting 
 her mind. Her father's words, his looks, 
 joined to various surmises of her own, filled 
 her with a shadowy, bat still horrible fear. 
 
 " I do think this life is a mere probation, 
 a rugged path to another happier state,'' said 
 Ellinor, earnestly, as she clasped her slight 
 hands together, interlacing her fingers in a 
 way peculiar to her when suffering nerv- 
 ously. '' I know our position m not a happy 
 one; but do we not hear of misery every- 
 where — among the rich and poor, among 
 men and women. There is no real happiness^ 
 except for the Christian.'' 
 
 Dora looked for a minute or two at her 
 sister's face without speaking, and then, as 
 she laid her hand softly on her shoulder, she 
 said — 
 
 " Ellinor, God has given: you much grace ; 
 you are far better than most people. If ever
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. ^'7 
 
 I were tempted to do auytliiDg very bad, I 
 tluDk the thought of you would keep me 
 from it.*' 
 
 And then she pressed her lips to her sister's 
 pale forehead with fervent affection. 
 
 At that moment the door opened, and 
 Patty, just come from Norham with a fresh 
 relay of meat for her master's dinner, hurried 
 in breathlessly to give Miss Bouverie a note 
 that had arrived from Lady Halesby, con- 
 taining these words : — 
 
 "My Dear Ellinoe, 
 
 ''• I should be very glad if you 
 could come down to us for a little time next 
 week, as I think you would be able to assist 
 me about some matters relating to my poor 
 jpToteges, A very melancholy case of a young 
 woman who was obh'ged to remain at one of 
 the gate lodges for some days through some 
 extreme illness brought on by destitution, 
 has interested me greatly of late^ She is a 
 stranger,, and of very respectable appear-
 
 308 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 ance ; but I fear her story is a sad one. I 
 should like you to see her, and advise me 
 what to do about her. My own health is 
 much as usual ; indeed, you know it is never 
 very strong; but I hope by and bye you 
 will all come down to Halesby, when Daw- 
 son is with you, and we shall have some 
 little gaiety to enliven this lonely place. 
 " Trusting I may see you soon, 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 " Margaret Halesby. 
 " Halesby Park, Thursday." 
 
 Dora, who was watching her sister's face 
 as she read that note, observed the colour 
 faintly rising to Ellin or's pale cheek as she 
 came to the end of it, and handed it to her 
 without making any remark. 
 
 It was very late in the evening and quite 
 dark, and the note was read by the light of a 
 small wax taper, which seemed to cast a 
 weird, sepulchral light over the little chamber.
 
 SOCIETY IN A GABRI80N TOWN. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 woman's hemisphere, 
 
 Lucy Barr found it the most difficult matter 
 in the world to give up her lover, and the 
 next most difficult matter to inform her 
 mother of his existence. Every day she made 
 a determination to see Hammersly no more, 
 and every day she broke it. Indeed, unless 
 fihe made up her mind to remain altogether 
 within doors, she could scarcely help meet- 
 ing him somewhere, as he seemed to find out 
 by intuition wherever she might direct her
 
 310 SOOIETY IN A a4RSI90N TOWN. 
 
 steps to ; and then it was the old story over 
 again — walking together, talking over vari- 
 ous plans, and love making on the part of 
 the young soldier. Lucy often wondered 
 when she thought of how much happier than 
 now she was in the days before Hammersly 
 came to Norham; how unruffled her mind 
 used to be then, with nothing more serious 
 to annoy her than an extra supply of needle- 
 work, or her mother's objection to her trying 
 her hand at cabinet-making. 
 
 " Home doesn't seem the same as it was 
 long ago," she thought, with a sigh; and she 
 looked sorrowfully at her little sister Linny, 
 who seemed so joyous and free of care, as 
 her memory went back to days when she her- 
 self was a little creature as merry and light- 
 hearted. " People ought to be good to chil- 
 dren, especially to little girls, for it isn't long 
 that they can expect to be very happy," she 
 thought, sadly. 
 
 If Hammersly would agree to give her up, 
 and she could dismiss him for ever, all
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 311 
 
 might be well; but then came the unpleasant 
 idea that her lover might possibly forget her, 
 and transfer his affections to somebody else, 
 which would be very hard for her to bear. 
 Lucy thought she could suffer anything but 
 that terrible contingency. It was altogether 
 a most perplexing piece of business, and per- 
 haps the thoughts of the farm down in Shrop- 
 shire, and the position which the corporal 
 would one day hold in the world as owner 
 of several acres and a respectable hoir.estead, 
 may possibly have had a little weight in 
 making it so difficult to give him up, but it 
 was not an overpowering weight. She really 
 liked Hammersly well enough to sacrifice a 
 great deal for him, and to endure poverty 
 and hardship if needful for his sake, and to 
 induce her to make up her mind to become 
 his wife even in his present position of cor- 
 poral of lancers, which is saying a good deal 
 for her unselfisih affection, considering that 
 she was a girl of sound common sense, and 
 by no means rash or silly, or ignorant of the
 
 312 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 disagreeable consequences of being reduced 
 to living on small means. At bome sbe bad 
 always been very comfortable, and her 
 father's position as a thriving tradesman was 
 very respectable. Lucy knew quite well 
 how many advantages she possessed, and 
 how much she should lose by marrying a 
 man of Hammersly's present standing ; yet if 
 her parents would permit her she would 
 abandon all the comforts of home, and unite 
 her fate with that of her lover — prepared to 
 work hard and rough through the world if 
 necessary as his wife, though she did not like 
 hard work, or any work, more than most 
 people, and she had her pride of rank and 
 position like the generality of mortals, civi- 
 lised and uncivilised, of every degree. There- 
 fore, we must be satisfied that she felt as 
 much affection for her lover as most young 
 women feel under similar circumstances, and 
 if her father and mother would only consider 
 Hammersly as worthy as she did, all would 
 be ^well ; but that was a very important
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 313 
 
 *' if," and not at all likely to be satisfactorily 
 got rid of. 
 
 In the meantime, while Lucy was thus 
 suffering such uneasiness of mind that she 
 was beginning to grow quite thin and pale, 
 Mrs. Barr had her anxieties also. Her elder 
 son, Eichard, still expressed a desire to enter 
 the army when of the requisite height for 
 peace regulations, and declined applying 
 himself to the upholstering business in a 
 very aggravating manner ; while the frequent 
 mistakes Lucy made in her work, such as 
 putting rings on the bottom, instead of the 
 top, of curtains, and sewing the trimmings 
 on the wrong side, were very harassing. Also, 
 Mr. TrydelFs conduct caused her dissatisfac- 
 tion. Let her provide the most dainty din- 
 ners in the world for him, they were still 
 unavailing towards inducing him to consume 
 a satisfactory amount of food, and she felt 
 aggrieved that her efforts to please him 
 seemed gradually losing their power. She 
 had even tried the effect of two or three 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 314 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 differently coloured arm-chairs and a bright 
 hued carpet without much success ; and then 
 she thought of raising his spirits by a little 
 conversation, and information respecting her 
 own peculiar perplexities, as well as some 
 cheerful gossip about the doings in the neigh- 
 bourhood. After tea, while removing the 
 tea things, and polishing the table, was the 
 period generally chosen by Mrs. Barr for 
 talking to her pastor and lodger, who pro- 
 bably would rather have been left to his own 
 meditations in peace and loneliness ; but the 
 good woman considered that as a hostess she 
 had a duty to perform, and that as Mr. Try- 
 dell had no wife (a circumstance which she 
 looked upon as extremely pitiable), it was 
 only right that she should endeavour to make 
 him happy, and prevent his falling into that 
 dreadful lowness of spirits which might end 
 no one knew how. 
 
 " Everyone have their troubles, Mr Try dell," 
 she said, thinking, no doubt, like most com- 
 forters, that it is a cheering thing to tell
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 315 
 
 afflicted people how much misery there is in 
 the world, and what a number of creatures 
 are suffering infinitely greater agonies of 
 mind and body than those experienced by the 
 individuals about to be consoled. " Every- 
 one have their troubles ; and though I may 
 consider myself as one of the most fortunate 
 of women, having a good husband, though 
 he may be fond of amusement, and neglecting 
 his work at times, and quarrelsome now and 
 again with customers, and having good 
 children, though not altogether perfection in 
 the way of fighting with one another, and 
 not doing as they are bade; yet still I have 
 my troubles like others, for there's trouble in 
 doing your duty by your family, when you 
 have one, and in getting up every morning to 
 do the same things over and over again, and 
 seeing no end to it, even when things go 
 smooth, which they don't always. I don't 
 pretend to praise myself, sir, yet I do believe 
 I've striven to do my duty to the best of my 
 humble ability."
 
 316 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 "I believe so too, Mrs. Barr/' said the 
 chaplain, with sincerity. 
 
 "Yes, sir; and T feel much obliged to you 
 for thinking so," continued Mrs. Bair, pluck- 
 ing up renewed courage. " If you only knew, 
 sir, how difficult the bringing up of a family 
 is, on, not to say, large means — and I hope 
 you may soon know it, for it^s to be hoped 
 you don't intend always to live in this lonely 
 ^ay — you wouldn't wonder that I often felt 
 weary and downhearted." 
 
 '' But you seem to have very good children, 
 Mrs. Barr," said Mr. Trydell. 
 
 " They are as good as I could make them, 
 sir, and I strove to make them good. As for 
 the boys, I didn't take such pains with them 
 as with Lucy, for it's my opinion that nature 
 does a great deal for boys, as this world goes, 
 and you may let them follow nature mostly, 
 except as regards telling lies, and not learn- 
 ing their tasks at school. But, properly 
 speaking, female nature has to be made by 
 mothers; and girls must be taught how to be
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 317 
 
 womanly and natural, or thej would not be 
 womanly at all ; so, of course, mothers have 
 a hard task of it, trying to break down what 
 is naturally unnatural in their daughters, if 
 you can understand me, sir." 
 
 Mr. Try dell did not quite understand, but 
 it was not of much consequence, perhaps. 
 
 " It is in the nature of girls, sir, to be born 
 with a spirit which does not answer as regards 
 their future destiny, and the great point in 
 rearing them is to crush that spirit, and break 
 it entirely. When a boy has a spirit it is all 
 very well, and you like to see it, provided he 
 does not make too much noise, and you 
 haven't got rheumatism in the head; but it 
 is awful to see the spirit of a girl, and the 
 courageous look of her eyes, and the fun and 
 merriment that will be in her, before she's 
 properly tamed. There is Lucy, she was 
 just such a little piece of drollery as Linny 
 is now, at her age, and you see how subdued 
 and quiet she is now. Oh ! I had great work 
 crushing her spirit, and bringing her up to be 
 
 p 3
 
 318 SOCIETY IN A GARKISON TOWN. 
 
 the nice, meek girl she is now. I must begin 
 at once to take Linny in hand, and knock the 
 spirit out of her." 
 
 *' Oh ! Mrs. Barr, do not be hard upon poor 
 little Linny,'' said Mr. Trydell, who had a 
 vivid recollection of the rosy cheeks, laughing 
 eyes, and inexhaustible spirits of his land- 
 lady's youngest child, who was often wont to 
 come rapping with her fat hands at his door 
 to gain admittance, and have a chat with him 
 in her broken accents. " I do not think it is 
 necessary to subdue the spirits of children." 
 
 " Not of boys, sir — not of boys; but girls 
 can't be took in hand too early, otherwise 
 how could they be made fit for their mission 
 and their destiny ? If a girl has much of a 
 spirit after ten or eleven years of age, I 
 wouldn't answer for the sort of young woman 
 she might turn out ; and it isn't all at once 
 you can subdue them, Mr. Trydell. You 
 must be on the watch constant — to frown, 
 and scold, and find fault every five minutes, 
 and make them think they never do anything
 
 SOCIETY IN A aA.RKISON TOWN. 319 
 
 right, and to let them feel ashamed of them- 
 selves. There's nothing like making them 
 shy and modest, by the dint of shaking your 
 head and frowning, supposing even it isn't 
 for anything in particular. Haven't you ever 
 noticed the little girls at the parochial 
 school ? How nicely trained they are — so 
 humble and timorous. Why, I've seen their 
 little hands all of a tremble when they're 
 sewing, with people looking on, and not dar- 
 ing to turn an eye in their head ; whereas 
 the boys, in the other department, are as bold 
 as anything — full of the spirit that's becom- 
 ing in them, and that ought to be kept up 
 rather than put down," 
 
 " I should be sorry to think the poor 
 little girls were made unhappy," said Mr, 
 Trydell. 
 
 " Unhappy, sir ! Why, if it is for our 
 good to be made unhappy, isn't it whole- 
 some? Don't you, as a minister of the church, 
 and as a sensible gentleman, consider that 
 women should be subdued, and meek, and
 
 320 SOCIETY IN A GAREISON TOWN, 
 
 lowly ? and there's no way to make them bo 
 but by crushing out the spirit they're bom 
 in, like sin. Every man naturally likes to 
 have his own way ; and how could he get it 
 if women set up to have wills too?" 
 
 " Mrs. Barr, I'm afraid you think us a 
 very selfish, cruel set of beings," said the 
 chaplain. 
 
 " Of course, you're selfish, Sir — it's ordained 
 you should be so, and you have a right to it; 
 and I hope you will be it. Several ladies have 
 written beautiful books about the behaviour of 
 women; and I have noticed that they are 
 nearly all more strict on them than gentle- 
 men are in their books. Some of the advice 
 to women is really lovely, and likely to 
 bring up — or perhaps I ought to say to bring 
 down — girls so nicely ! — comparing wives to 
 servants, husbands to masters, and such like 
 sentiments. It's curious, too, that I think 
 it's often ladies that haven't got any husbands 
 of their own that know the duties of wives 
 best."
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 321 
 
 " But, Mrs. Barr, you are really quite mis- 
 taken, I assure you !** remonstrated the chap- 
 lain. " It is not intended or expected that 
 women should be in the humble position you 
 imagine — quite a mistake ; and you need not 
 consider it at all necessary to break poor little 
 Linny's spirit.'' 
 
 Mrs. Barr shook her head grimly. 
 
 " Excuse me, sir ; but in this matter I am 
 afraid I am right. I brought down Lucy to 
 what she is now, and I must bring down 
 Linny, or I couldn't answer for the conse- 
 quences. You don't know what a child that 
 is ; she's afraid of nothing — not even of the 
 bogie that used to keep her quiet before she 
 found out he wasn't anything but a name, 
 and never came down the chimney ; and if 
 she went on that way, and grew up so fear- 
 less, she wouldn't be womanly at all — she'd 
 be too full of her fun and happiness. There's 
 nothing so beautiful as to see females going 
 through life in a dejected, subdued sort of 
 way — with an ashamed look in their coun-
 
 322 SOCIETY IN A aARRISQN TOWN. 
 
 tenances as if they had done wrong, but of 
 course hadn't. Keeping them at home greatly, 
 and never letting them go to places of amuse- 
 ment, is a fine crusher, as you may call it ; 
 and if they can be made delicate it adds to 
 their subjection." 
 
 " Mrs. Barr, you really are labouring 
 under very wrong ideas respecting woman's 
 position," declared Mr. Trydell. '' We men 
 are not the wretches you imagine. It is the 
 duty and the aim of every Christian man to 
 place woman in her true position, and on a 
 perfect equality with man — of course in differ- 
 ent spheres." 
 
 " Yes, different spheres, of course, sir," ad- 
 mitted Mrs. Barr. "But the difference of 
 the spheres is very great, and the difference 
 of the money that's gathered in the spheres 
 is very great. With respect to that matter, 
 wouldn't it be better to call the position of 
 woman her hemisphere, and not a whole 
 sphere. It might sound more humble and 
 less upsetting — not so offensive to those gen-
 
 SOCIETY IN A aARRTSON TOWN. 323 
 
 tlemen and ladies that hate pretensions in 
 
 women." 
 
 " Mrs. Barr, really—" 
 
 " Ah ! I know you feel ashamed, Mr. Try- 
 dell, and 1 don't blame you ; but, whatever 
 Christian men may think to their own disad- 
 vantage, there's too many of the other sort 
 ever to agree to altering the old state of 
 things. In other countries abroad the women 
 are kept stricter than here, I believe, sir ; at 
 least. Sergeant Tomkins, of the Thirty-third, 
 says that in Turkey the females have their 
 faces covered up, which I think is going too 
 far — quite too far. I should never wish to 
 see Lucy going about with a pocket handker- 
 chief tied over her mouth and nose ; and Tm 
 glad we live in a country, Mr. Try dell, where 
 the customs respecting the management of 
 girls are exactly what they ought to be, and 
 not at all laughable, like as in Turkey" — and 
 Mrs. Barr laughed heartily at Turkey. 
 
 Mr. Trydell made no reply ; he was think- 
 ing, perhaps, whether the customs of his
 
 324 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 country were all really so devoid of drollery 
 as his hostess considered them to be. 
 
 "But, to go back to Linny, Mr. Trydell," 
 continued Mrs. Barr, who had done laughing 
 at Turkey. " I hope you will assist me in 
 bringing her up — I mean down — and making 
 her feminine, and a good girl, and not en- 
 courage her to have a spirit.'* 
 
 " I am afraid I cannot promise, Mrs. Barr ; 
 I shall, in fact, regret very much to see my 
 poor little friend downcast or subdued." 
 
 "Well, sir, T didn't expect such a remark 
 from you ; indeed I didn't." 
 
 " Had you such an opinion of me as to 
 suppose I should approve of harshness in the 
 bringing of children ?" 
 
 " It can't be called harshness, sir; it's only 
 making children natural." 
 
 Mr. Trydell smiled, and yet he was think- 
 ing gravely too, wondering if the owner of a 
 certain sad, sweet face, very lovely in its 
 subdued pensiveness of expression, which was 
 continually haunting his fancj, had been
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 325 
 
 "brought down'' in Mrs. Barr's fashion and 
 deprived of spirit by any particular training 
 and discipline tending to make her womanly. 
 
 "Don't you think, Mrs. Barr," he said, 
 after a pause, " that boys and girls soon grow 
 subdued enough without any help from their 
 elders, as they pass through life and become 
 men and women, meeting with disappoint' 
 ments and cares all the way ?" 
 
 "Well, with great respect, I do not," an- 
 swered Mrs. Barr, promptly. " I don't think 
 there's anything equal to bringing female 
 children well down from early youth. There's 
 Lucy 5 I brought her down with great trou- 
 ble, and though she's giddy at times, and 
 stays out of an evening longer than she need, 
 and seems what you call wool-gathering very 
 often, especially of late, yet I'm bound to say 
 she's an excellent girl, and it's my firm con- 
 viction that she hasn't a thought in her heart 
 that I don't know, or that she would hide 
 -from me." 
 
 Oh ! poor mistaken mother ! 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 326 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 Not finding that [all this conversation had 
 the desired effect of brightening up Mr. Try- 
 delFs spirits, Mrs. Barr began to polish the 
 table briskly and thoughtfully, wondering 
 what other means she could try to make him 
 cheerful. Gossip might answer now, perhaps. 
 So she began, after a lengthened pause, to 
 speak again. 
 
 " Tm told, sir, though maybe I shouldn't 
 mention it, that it's likely one of the Miss 
 Bouveries will soon be married.'' 
 
 The chaplain winced visibly, and did not 
 cheer up in the least. 
 
 " It isn't settled which of them yet, I 
 believe — that is, the people of Norham 
 haven't settled it — but I suppose the lady 
 herself knows which it is," continued Mrs. 
 Barr. 
 
 Mr. Trydell made no remark in words. 
 
 "Very likely it may be both the Miss 
 Bouveries, for there were two gentlemen 
 named as going to marry one of them, and it 
 stands to reason neither of them could have
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 327 
 
 two husbands. There's Mr. Clarke, and that 
 handsome young oflScer that came lately to be 
 edge-a-cong, and they are both considered to 
 be likely to marry one of the young ladies ; 
 and I only wish I knew which. There's a 
 report, too, that the Hon. Mr. Lyon is very 
 much taken with Miss Ellinor ; but I con- 
 sider that only nonsense ; for, though she is 
 of as high blood as himself, I don't think it 
 likely he'd marry a commoner, let her be ever 
 so nice, and no fortune either." 
 
 Mrs. Barr watched her lodger's face to try 
 the effect of this intelligence, and observed 
 the shadow deepening over it as she went 
 on. 
 
 ''When I was out this afternoon, a little 
 way out of town on business (I never go out, 
 Mr. Trydell, for anything else, for I consider 
 that a married woman with the care of a 
 family has no right to walk out for mere 
 health or pleasure), I saw Lord Halesby's 
 carriage stopping at Evergreen gate ; it 
 seldom goes up to the house, it's so hard to
 
 328 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 turn the horses in the lawn without going 
 over the flower plots, and I knew the livery 
 at once, though I didn't speak to the coach- 
 man, as I never liked him since one day we 
 had only raspberry vinegar when he called 
 for a little table his lordship bad bought ; and, 
 being disappointed, I suppose, that it wasn't 
 brandy — for we generally give the Halesby 
 servants the best cognac — he said that Lady 
 Halesby always sent any furniture bought 
 from Barr up to the inferior bedrooms, which 
 I knew very well was sheer spite, and I made 
 answer that I didn't care where her ladyship 
 put it, so as the things were paid for, though 
 it wasn't altogether the truth at the samo 
 time, for I felt very much hurt at such a 
 slight being put on Barr's work, though a 
 falsehood I'm sure. So ever since that I don't 
 pretend to see the carriage when it's passing; 
 but to-day I couldn't help looking at it stop- 
 ping at Evergreen, on account of what was said 
 about young Mr. Lyon taking a fancy to Miss 
 EUinor, and so I wondered very much who
 
 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 329 
 
 was in it, or who was out of it, and I would 
 have given a good deal to know/' 
 
 " And you did not know, Mrs. Barr ?" asked 
 Mr. Trydell, absently. 
 
 " No, sir. There was nobody but the 
 coachman I speak of and one footman ; and, 
 as I couldn't speak to the footman without 
 pretending to see the coachman, I just passed 
 by as if I saw nothing at all, and the carriage 
 was gone when I returned back.'' 
 
 Thus ended the gossip about the carriage 
 at Evergreen gate, and seeing Mr. Trydell 
 look still as dejected as if somebody had been 
 bringing him down instead of 'trying to cheer 
 him up, Mrs. Barr sighed, and poked the fire 
 vigorously, evidently considering her lodger's 
 case was almost a hopeless one. Perhaps she 
 had made a mistake in alluding to Mr. Lyon's 
 admiration of Miss Bouverie, she thought. It 
 might be that he would prefer nobody admir- 
 ing her but himself. Therefore she spoke 
 again. 
 
 " After all, sir, I think it's not likely that 
 Mr. Lyon could ever have an idea of either of
 
 330 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 the Miss Bouveries ; it's some great lord's 
 daughter he will take up with ; and I often 
 think what a nice wife Miss Ellinor would be 
 for a gentleman, not to say rich, and living in 
 a quiet way, respectable, but not over-dashing, 
 and with a great deal of learning, for I hear 
 she's very fond of reading herself — though, 
 for that matter, people don't always make a 
 choice of people like themselves ; but I think 
 she'd be a great help to any gentleman that 
 had much to do and that was very religious, 
 for she talks beautiful sometimes to Linny 
 about the catechism when she comes in about 
 work for Lucy ; and, in fact, sir, I think she 
 would make the best clergyman's wife I ever 
 saw." 
 
 This startling piece of information had 
 scarcely any visible effect on the chaplain. 
 He kept looking at the fire with the same 
 thoughtful, half-melancholy look as before, 
 and Mrs. Barr again felt defeated. She would 
 try nothing further as a restorative of cheer- 
 fulness that evening unless it might be that 
 she would bring dp a very " tasty " picture
 
 SOCIETY IN A GAERISON TOWN. 331 
 
 of a wild huntsman which was lying " idle *' 
 below stairs, and hang it over the mantelpiece 
 of the lodger's sitting-room, as something more 
 interesting to look at than the burning coals 
 in the grate. Going down, therefore, to the 
 lower regions of the house, bearing the tea- 
 tray, she thought she would make Lucy clean 
 up the picture a little and brighten the frame 
 before having it taken up to enliven Mr. 
 Trydell's apartment, but to her surprise Lucy 
 was not in the kitchen, where she expected to 
 find her, nor yet in the parlour, nor out in 
 the workshop, nor anywhere in the house. 
 Where could she have been ? 
 
 " It is very odd of Lucy to disappear in 
 this way," thought the mother, when she had 
 made a search all through the lower part of 
 the house, "and such a severe night too. 
 Very odd, indeed, and I that have just been 
 praising her for being dutiM. I'm afraid I 
 haven't been strict enough — haven't kept her 
 down enough. Mr. Try dell, with all his 
 learning and his sermons, doesn't understand
 
 332 SOCIETY IN A GARRISON TOWN. 
 
 much about the way to bring up girls. I 
 shall have to make a difference with Linny — 
 that's one thing, and I must begin at once 
 too. There^s Barr out, and the boys too, 
 spending money every night at those shows, 
 I shouldn't be surprised if Lucy had gone too ; 
 and, if so, I shall not let her out for a month, 
 except to church on Sundays. Good gracious ! 
 to think of her daring to go to a horrible 
 place like a show ! Sinful and disreputable 
 enough even for men and boys, but beyond 
 everything wicked for females. Places of 
 amusement of every kind are destruction for 
 females — downright destruction !" And then , 
 going to the hall-door Mrs. Barr found it 
 slightly ajar, which confounded her still more. 
 Should she close it and lock it, and so terrify 
 the delinquent, when she should come back 
 for admittance ? 
 
 END OF VOL. 1, 
 T. C. Newby, 30, Welbeck Street, Cavendiah Square, London,
 
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