s#^ 
 
 ^^^^^^s^^p 
 
^L I E) RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 UN IVLRSITY 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
THE HISTORY OF MARaARET MORTON. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY E, J. FRANCIS AND CO. 
 
 TOOK's COURT AND WINE OFFICE COURT, E.C. 
 
THE HISTORY OF 
 
 MARGARET MORTOK 
 
 A CONTEMPORARY. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES, 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Hontfon : 
 CHAPMAN & HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1878. 
 \^All rights reserved.] 
 
8^^ 
 
 THE 
 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald lived quietly and comfortably 
 
 at Kensington. Her house was one of a row 
 
 that formed Eva Terrace. There was a small 
 
 garden in front and one considerably larger in 
 
 the rear. As Mrs. Archibald rarely went out, 
 
 her two gardens were not only a portion of 
 
 (her home, but during nine months of the 
 
 ..year bounded her encroachments on the outer 
 
 ^world. Both exhibited evidences of woman's 
 
 ^care, taste, and affection. During spring, 
 
 ^summer, and autumn the centre plat in the 
 
 'n front garden Vv^as like a large-sized bouquet, 
 
 ^he flowers of the seasons being transplanted 
 
 ^thither in pots, which as they faded were 
 
 J^moved to give place to blooming successors. 
 
 >In winter the garden was cleared of all the 
 
 i withered mementoes of the past, and healthy 
 
 ck VOL. 1. B 
 
2 EISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 evergreens gave a hale and friendly aspect to 
 the neatly gravelled, well-tended spot. 
 
 So much for the front garden. That in i}aQ 
 rear, covering more sj^ace, afforded oppor- 
 tunity for greater diversity in ornamentation, 
 and consequently more scope for the exercise 
 of horticultural taste. There was a little pond 
 walled in with mimic rocks, that gave shelter 
 to half-a-dozen gold-fish. In the centre of the 
 pond there was fixed a slender tube, on the 
 top of which stood a metal w^ater-lily, painted 
 white, with the edges of the leaves closely 
 perforated. It was very pretty in the sun- 
 shine to see the water, after rising in a slender 
 column, fall back in light spray through the 
 leaves of the lily and beyond into the pond, 
 with the white light-ray broken into all its 
 rainbow hues. At the bottom of tlie garden 
 there was a charming arbour, built of solid 
 wood-work, but ornamented so profusely with 
 cree^Ding plants and a clustering vine as, with 
 the trellised doorway, to assume the appear- 
 ance of a bough -and -shrub-formed sylvan 
 retreat. In one of the sunniest walks there 
 was a small aviary, where canaries and German 
 linnets made themselves happy in their glass 
 house, never thinking of throAving stones at 
 their neighbours. Their nearest neighbours 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 were bees, that in the same sunny locality 
 followed out their mellifluous mission. There 
 were a fernery, an aquarium, a rock-work 
 grotto, and, in short, miniature specimens of 
 all the varieties of ornamentation that a 
 nobleman's '^ grounds " might be expected to 
 exhibit on a large scale. 
 
 The interior of Mrs. Archibald's house 
 accorded with the spirit that presided over 
 the arrangement of her gardens. Every thing- 
 was fresh and new, excepting the china and 
 pictures, some of which were very old. Of 
 the manufactured articles, as of the objects of 
 virttij it may be said everything was too good 
 to be gaudy. Though each individual piece 
 of furniture was substantially good, the whole 
 arrangement wore rather an air of tranquil 
 elegance than of mere material comfort. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald was leading a very quiet life. 
 She was a widow; and her health was not 
 robust. In her husband's time she had travelled, 
 and seen a great deal of the world ; but the 
 circle of her immediate acquaintance was now 
 narrowed to two old and two young friends. 
 The elderly friends were Miss Maunsell and 
 Mr. AYjnum ; the younger, Margaret Morton, 
 Mrs. Archibald's niece, who lived with her, 
 and Richard Archibald, the nephew of her 
 
4 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 deceased husband, who did not live with his 
 •aunt, but who frequented the house constantly. 
 
 Miss Maunsell, the special friend of Mrs. 
 Archibald, was no longer young, which is the 
 condition of many unmarried as well as married 
 ladies ; but Miss Maunsell j^ossessed the advan- 
 tage of not looking old, at least of not looking 
 as old as she was, and enjoyed the still greater 
 privilege of not feeling so. Unbroken health, 
 and an independent though small property, 
 had contributed largely to these favourable 
 results. But Miss Maunsell took some credit 
 -to herself. She had determined not to grow 
 old, and had fought a good fight with Time, 
 and he, like a well-bred old gentleman — being 
 just then in a pleasant mood — had given place 
 to the lady. He did not relinquish the acquaint- 
 ance altogether though, as he called at least 
 once a year, generally in the frosty weather, 
 and left a slight reminder in the form of a 
 rheumatic twinge or neuralgic pang; but the sun 
 that melted the frost on Miss Maunsell's window- 
 pane soon made her forget her uninvited 
 visitor, and in spring-time she laughed as a 
 hearty, staid lady does at an old beau that 
 persists in pressing his attentions. 
 
 As to personal appearance, it was unmis- 
 takably plain that Miss Maunsell had been a 
 
HISTORY OF 31 AEG ABET MORTON, 5 
 
 fine woman, and it was equally evident tliat 
 what was a past tense to everybody else was 
 still an emjDhatic present to herself. If the 
 vertical elevation of her figure was not very 
 great, the lateral extension was very con- 
 siderable. In youth Miss Maunsell was reputed 
 middle-sized; in more advanced life she w^as 
 jDronounced short and decidedly stout. The 
 development that had in appearance curtailed 
 lier figure had also, apparently, shortened her 
 face. But there was a gain in the latter case, 
 as the lady's aquiline nose and strongly-marked 
 features became softened in expression by the 
 fuller fleshy surroundings. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald i^resented a marked contrast 
 to Miss Maunsell. If Time had wrestled with 
 Miss Maunsell, and submitted to a defeat in 
 the contest, he seemed to have wholly for- 
 gotten Mrs. Archibald. One would say he 
 had passed her by unnoticed. And no wonder ; 
 she was so noiseless, so tranquil, so unobtru- 
 sive, that Time, were he the sharpest detective, 
 might be held excused for not having put her 
 under surveillance. A soft repose, an aversion 
 to everything indicative of decay, characterized 
 Mrs. Archibald. Her house and gardens were 
 a reflex of these characteristics. As to per- 
 sonal appearance, she was the fairy queen of 
 
6 HISTOBY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 conservatism. When Mrs. Arcliibald met an 
 old acquaintance, one who had not seen her for 
 many years, one of the first utterances she 
 heard was, ''You look the same as ever; 
 you 're not at all changed." Then Mrs. Archi- 
 bald would smile softly, say her health was not 
 very good, that she looked uj^on herself as an 
 invalid. This was a species of protest, which 
 implied that a large allowance was to be made. 
 And such allowance always was made. If Mrs. 
 Archibald were not in delicate health, it was 
 often said she would look quite as young as 
 her niece. 
 
 jMrs. Archibald was presiding at her whist- 
 table, assisted by her three friends, Miss Maun- 
 sell, Mr. Wynum, of whom we have already 
 made mention, and Mr. Browne, of whom we 
 shall have occasion to speak later. Of these, 
 the two ladies and one of the gentlemen had 
 each a history. They had fought the battle 
 of society, had never been beaten, and had 
 finally retired in close battalion, with their faces 
 towards the advancing: thoudi distant foe. 
 When the tramp of a coming generation was 
 distinctly heard, when golden locks and thick 
 dark curls were seen waving afar, and the 
 flashing light of youthful eyes sparkled in 
 the distance, the veterans retired into a dis- 
 
HISTORY OF MAE G ABET MO ETON. 7 
 
 trict of their own, where age was not 
 acknowledged, and where youth was not re- 
 cognized. There they enjoyed a kind of 
 Elysian twilight, beneath whose softening 
 influences they looked to each other very like 
 what they had been twenty-five years before. 
 The bloom on Mrs. Archibald's cheek was as 
 delicate as, perhaps a little more delicate than, 
 in past times, and if more permanent in cha- 
 racter was not less lovely in tint. Her hair, 
 thick and brown, would no doubt have appeared 
 charming braided round her head, or done up 
 in bows ; but Mrs. Archibald, being an invalid, 
 wore caps. They were pretty French caps, 
 composed of the lightest lace and of tlie most 
 delicate and natural-looking flowers ; and these 
 caps, according to the dictum of the highest 
 millinery authorities, wonderfully rejuvenated 
 the wearer. 
 
 Miss Maunsell's hair was quite as thick and 
 to the full as brown as Mrs. Archibald's, but 
 it was the subject of rumours which implied 
 that it had become the property of the owner 
 by purchase, not by natural growth. For the 
 origin of these suspicions, so alarming to her 
 friends — for they never reached her own cars — 
 Miss Maunsell might be herself held account- 
 able. Being a Avoman of quick impulses, her 
 
fi EISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON, 
 
 movements were often abrupt, and on such 
 occasions it had been oft-times remarked that 
 the entire mass of her hair seemed to shift its 
 position without any corresponding move- 
 ment being observable in her face, so that 
 after one of these hasty outbursts of feeling 
 the parting in the hair was no longer in the 
 line of direction of the nose. Miss Maunsell's 
 fo.rgetfulness of the conditions on which she 
 held her hair was very painful to certain ladies 
 of her acquaintance, who, however tranquil and 
 self-possessed tlieir movements might be, found 
 themselves implicated in the general susp)icions 
 originating in their friend's indiscretion. 
 
 Miss Maunsell did not, like Mrs. Archibald, 
 wear pretty French caps, where puffs of airy 
 white lace peered out from amid knots of 
 pretty ribbon, or from behind a graceful 
 flowery spray. On the contrary, she wore a 
 mysterious black covering on her head, which 
 might be called either a net or a caj), and 
 which fitted closely round her face, having on 
 the front a border of white lace interlooped 
 with broad ribbon, and standing boldly up 
 like a line of fortified hills behind which lies a 
 waste and barren land. This style of head- 
 gear was not inappropriately Avorn by a lady 
 who never turned her back on foe or friend. 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 9 
 
 Though Miss Maunsell's hair was more than 
 suspected of not being indigenous to the soil 
 which it covered, there could be no doubt about 
 her teeth. These were few, ill-coloured, and 
 scattered, but still sufficiently numerous to 
 prevent the falling in of the cheeks and lips. 
 The very defects of these teeth proved their 
 genuineness, of which their owner was some- 
 what proud, as she often alluded, albeit des- 
 pairingly, to her teeth, but never, under any 
 circumstances, to her hair. Of her hands 
 Miss Maunsell was decidedly vain. Though 
 large, they were well formed, white, and soft, 
 with tapered fingers and almond-shaped nails, 
 and though unmistakably lady-like, were at 
 the same time expressive of strength both 
 physical and mental. 
 
 When Mrs. Archibald, Miss Maunsell, and 
 Mr. Wynum resolved to retire from society, 
 they exercised a wise discretion, and gave 
 unquestionable proof of their knowledge cf 
 human nature. ., 
 
 Those who in their circle have been idols or 
 oracles, because of their personal or mental 
 gifts, must be endowed with extraordinary 
 tact if they know how to withdraw from the 
 shrine or abdicate the tripod before they are 
 roughly disestablished. Time is merciless, and 
 
10 HISTORY OF 31ARGARET MORTON, 
 
 not only steals the bloom from beauty, but the 
 prestige from talent. Society is insatiable, 
 ever and ever demanding something new. 
 Youth is rude, and manhood is clamorous, and 
 the idols before whom our fathers worshijDped, 
 and the oracles to which they reverently 
 listened, we pass unheeded by. Mrs. Archi- 
 bald, Miss Maunsell, and Mr. Wynum had too 
 much tact to wait to be de])osed ; they 
 abdicated, each making some accidental cir- 
 cumstance causal to the laying down of power. 
 Mrs. Archibald had lost money, Mr. Wynum 
 had lost his wife, and Miss Maunsell had lost 
 all hope of changing her name. The two 
 former had the advantae:e of beino- able to 
 avow their motives ; Miss Maunsell Avas obliged 
 to suppress hers. Not that she was without an 
 ostensible reason, far from it. She said slie 
 could not leave that ^' dear creature '' — meaning 
 Mrs. Archibald — ^^to sit for ever alone." 
 
 These three personages were fortunate in 
 having a social history to which tlieir friends 
 as Y/ell as themselves could refer. As to Mr. 
 Browne, being short of stature, plain of 
 feature, and, withal, blunt of speech, it was not 
 possible he could ever have contended in the 
 social arena for the brilliant, airy nothings 
 with which the victors there are crowned. 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 11 
 
 Anatomically speaking, Mr. Browne, of course, 
 had a heart, as, theologically speaking, it was 
 never denied he had a soul ; but these terms, 
 '^ heart " and '^ soul," are used in another than 
 a physiological or ecclesiastical sense by the 
 refined lexicographers of a super-polished society, 
 and imply something more ethereal — something, 
 as it were, more diaphanous — than the bodily 
 organ that helps to regulate the circulation of 
 the blood, and something more sensuous than 
 the eternal spirit that will one day be made 
 answerable for the deeds done in the flesh. 
 Considered under this aspect, Mr. Browne had 
 often been pronounced to have no soul, no 
 heart, and those — -ladies, it need not be said — 
 who uttered the judgment did so feigning to 
 envy the heartless and soulless creature who 
 by the deficiencies of his nature escaped the 
 delicate sorrows to which they and those of 
 their class were doomed. Had Mr. Browne 
 chosen to sacrifice at the altar of Hymen he 
 might have eluded the doubtful praise that 
 refused to number him in the category of the 
 super-refined. Even with his own sex the not 
 handsome Mr. Browne scarcely fared better than 
 Avitli the other. He had been the college com- 
 panion of both Mr. Archibald and Mr. AVynum. 
 By these gentlemen he Avas regarded as an 
 
12 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON, 
 
 excellent, plain-natured fellow, an aj^preciator 
 of their excellences, not a participator in the 
 lofty qualities of intellect that distinguished 
 them. There were, however, occasions on 
 which Mr. Browne's services were found very 
 useful. His sagacity and knowledge of busi- 
 ness had more than once helped Mr. Archibald 
 through pecuniary complications in whicli that 
 gentleman had become involved, owing to the 
 recklessness of a younger brother, and but for 
 his wise prevision Mrs. Archibald's income in 
 her widowhood would have been much less 
 than it really was. In short, Mr. Browne was 
 a common-place person, extremely useful where 
 matter-of-fact services were needed, and 
 esteemed by his more gifted friends just as an 
 upright man, useful but not brilliant, deserves 
 to be. 
 
 When Mrs. Archibald, after her husband's 
 death, said she would pass the remainder of 
 her life at Kensington, her friend Miss Maun- 
 sell took lodgings in the neighbourhood ; and 
 when Mr. Wynum, who had been a University 
 chum of Mr. Archibald's, and who had known 
 Miss Maunsell longer than any gentleman 
 could in politeness say he knew a lady, came 
 to pay a passing visit to liis old acquaintances, 
 he liked the locality where they were staying 
 
HISTORY OF MAUGABET .MOBTON. IS 
 
 SO well that, considering the social attractions 
 offered, he thought he could not do better 
 than take up his abode there until his agent 
 should summon him to the north, where Mr. 
 Wynum intimated his monetary affairs would 
 soon require his presence. 
 
 Miss Maunsell was living at No. 52, St. 
 John's Terrace, Kensington. Mrs. Archibald, 
 when Mr. Wynum spoke of wishing to become 
 her neighbour, remarked that Mrs. Green had 
 a suite of rooms disengaged, which she 
 thought he would like. Miss Maunsell thought 
 so too, and 2)raised ^'poor Green," her land- 
 lady, to tliat degree that Mr. Wynum said 
 Miss Maunsell's living in the house was the 
 highest recommendation the lady could possess. 
 Accordingly the gentleman called at 52, saw 
 the disengaged rooms, acceded to the terms 
 asked, and, finally, promised to take possession 
 within three days. It was then, at the last 
 moment, or rather after the last moment, for 
 the bargain had been ratified, that Miss Maun- 
 sell was seized with a moral tremor, and, in 
 great perturbation of spirit, consulted Mrs. 
 Archibald as to what she thought the world 
 would say when it became known that Mr. 
 Wynum had taken up his abode in the house 
 where she resided. Mrs. Archibald accredited 
 
14 EISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 the world with much common sense when she 
 asserted decidedly that it would be silent on 
 the subject. The doubts and objections after- 
 wards raised Mrs. Archibald satisfied, and suc- 
 ceeded in completely allaying her friend's 
 maiden fears. Mr. Wynum took possession of 
 the drawing-rooms at No. 52, Miss Maunsell 
 occupying the rooms generally known as ^' the 
 j)arlours," but which Mrs. Green called the 
 *^ first floor." 
 
mSTORY OF MAR G ABET MORTON. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 It was no wonder that Mrs. Archibald and 
 Miss Maunsell were pleased when Mr. Wynum 
 took up his abode in their vicinity. They 
 had known him in the most brilliant period 
 of their womanhood, when all three were 
 members of a wide social circle, within whose 
 circmxiference wit and beauty and learning 
 were appreciated, and received their fullest 
 meed of admiration. Within that circle Mr. 
 Wynum possessed great influence, owing more 
 to his jjersonal qualities than to the largeness 
 of his fortune. He was a man from whom 
 great things were expected, one who was 
 believed capable of achieving success in any 
 career he might choose to enter. He had 
 taken honours at the University, but liad not 
 become a member of any profession. People 
 said Parliament was the sphere at which his 
 ambition aimed. Had it been, he might 
 easily have entered the British Senate ; for in 
 
16 HISTOBT OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 those days boroughs were in the gift of peers, 
 and Mr. Wynum was intimately acquainted 
 with the Duke of Wellenough, who had the 
 power of nomination to several boroughs. 
 But Mr. Wynum was not so minded. Not 
 that he Avas an idle man, for no day passed of 
 which Mr. Wynum did not devote some hours 
 to reading. He kept himself cm courant of 
 the best literature of the day, and on his 
 library table some of his college books were 
 generally to be seen lying. The ^ Novum 
 Organum,' the great ^ Analogy,' and Locke's 
 most celebrated essay, were alwa3^s within his 
 reacli. Mr. Wynum was gifted with a very 
 tenacious memory, and what he had once 
 thoroughly learned seemed to be for ever 
 lithographed on his brain. This accuracy of 
 memory, combined with delicate literary taste, 
 formed one source of his influence over the 
 minds of those who had traversed the same 
 educational curriculum as himself. Men 
 trained in obedience to certain laws of 
 tliought, whose necks have been early bent to 
 the yoke of the grc^at old master-minds, yield 
 a loving homage to the luminaries whose light 
 has travelled through a long term of centuries 
 to illuminate the cottage of their hearts. 
 These names are always to them Avords of 
 
HISTORY OF 3IABGARET MORTON. 17 
 
 talismanic j)Owerj at whose utterances their 
 souls spring forward in prompt obedience. 
 And this is chiefly true of minds that have 
 accepted the teachings of the ancient classic 
 schools, and worshipped there, undoubtingly, 
 unquestioningly, never thinking of instituting 
 a comparison between their oracles and these 
 of modern times. Such men are votaries, 
 who, having lighted their lamps at the sun, 
 never turn to inquire if any of the stars could 
 kindle as divine a ray. 
 
 Other men there are who, having listened to 
 the teachings of the ancients and been jDcne- 
 trated with their wisdom, have learned to 
 believe after such a fashion that they have 
 looked around near to themselves and have 
 found that the stream of mind, once set 
 flowing, has never ceased to run, and even at 
 their feet and all about them they have found 
 thought, in a different form certainly to that 
 which they had first worshipped, and of other 
 hues — gems of a smaller number of facets, 
 but still essentially the same as those whose 
 brightness had adorned the temple in which 
 they first learned to worship. The discoverers 
 of this modern thought are struck by the 
 diff'erences it presents to the ancient, but they 
 do not always observe the points of agreement. 
 VOL. I. C 
 
18 BISTOTiY OF MAJRGABET MOBTON. 
 
 Did tliey examine carefully they would recog- 
 nize the great principle of unity that lies at 
 the bottom of all created things, but in their 
 haste they denounce the past and exalt the 
 present, which is but a continuation of the 
 past. 
 
 Of these two classes of scholars, the latter — 
 those who exalt the present above the past — 
 are in reality the pioneers of progress, but 
 they are often hasty in coming to conclusions. 
 The great tide of thouglit, whose source is 
 coeval with the creation of mind, has often 
 taken a subterranean course ; Arethusian-like, 
 it has sometimes sunk beneath the sands of 
 time, but lias not ceased to flow, and when, 
 after long travel, it has reap23eared at the 
 surface, it has not been immediately recog- 
 nized, because the soil of late formations 
 through which it has been filtered has 
 imparted certain qualities that at first exa- 
 mination make the discoverers think they have 
 found an entirely new spring. 
 
 Mr. Wynum was an exalter of the modern 
 school of thought and knowledge, and a 
 decrier of the ancient. The process by which 
 he arrived at this mental condition was some- 
 what curious. When Mr. Wynum left the 
 University he resolved to travel, a determina- 
 
HISTORY OF MAUGABET MOItTON. 19 
 
 tion that became a scholar Avho had money at 
 command. He longed to gaze on the sites of 
 ancient Roman power, but he did not set out 
 on his travels until he had sufficiently mastered 
 French and Italian to be independent of the 
 services of a courier. In his tour he did not 
 content himself with merely staring at the 
 stereotyped sights. As a matter of course he 
 ascended Vesuvius and descended into Pomj)eii, 
 and in a scholarly spirit he endeavoured to 
 trace the sites of ancient cities as his memory 
 recalled the records of remote historic periods. 
 Mr. Wynum did not travel over the Continent 
 on foot, knapsack on back ; on the contrary, 
 he availed himself of every mode of convey- 
 ance tliat the civilization of the times afforded. 
 He travelled in a comfortable carriage — there 
 were no railways in those days — and stopped 
 at the best hotels. He did not write sketches 
 for periodicals, but he kept a diary for his own 
 satisfaction. Possibly Mr. Wynum did not 
 possess the "knack" of writing, which comes 
 of practice, certain it is he did not seek to 
 become a "contributor" or an "own corres- 
 pondent." When he walked his carriage was 
 witliin sight, and when he stopped at an hotel 
 he was treated as a " milord." 
 
 If Mr. Wynum did not study the peasantry 
 
23 EISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 of France and Italy in detail, travelling from 
 village to village with sketch-book and crayon 
 in hand, he studied both nations en gros, as 
 represented in their literature. He quickly 
 became familiarized with the standard writers 
 of both countries. He could fully appreciate 
 a French comedy mise en scene, and in Italian 
 he learned to understand, without the medium 
 of mental translation, the burning thoughts 
 and terse expressions of the author of the 
 Divina Commedia. This rajud acquisition of 
 knowledge had a perverse effect on Mr. 
 W3-num's judgment. He thought that if 
 modern languages could be acquired so easily 
 it was a great waste of time to spend years in 
 the study of ancient tongues, which, after all, 
 could never serve as vehicles of comnmnication 
 with his fellow-men. In reasoning thus, Mr. 
 Wynum overlooked the fact that all this early 
 studv was culture bestowed on the mental soil, 
 which sped the rapid fructification of the later- 
 sown seeds. He began to believe that had 
 modern languages taken the place given to the 
 ancient, in his educational curriculum, he 
 w^ould, long years before, have reached as high 
 a point on the hill of knowledge as he had 
 actually attained. From being a malcontent 
 he soon became a rebel. Within his circle 
 
HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MORTON. 'Jl 
 
 Mr. Wynuni'S opinions had great weight. 
 Still, it was somewhat paradoxical to hear a 
 man decry the study of ancient languages and 
 depreciate the University system, the whole 
 force of whose denunciations rested on his 
 re23ute for a jDrofound knowledge of the one 
 and long obedience to the other, and whose 
 most powerful weapons of attack were the 
 classic elegance and lucidity of his expressions. 
 The abuse of Latin and Greek and of Univer- 
 sity education in general by a man who has 
 taken honours at Oxford or Cambridge is 
 always well received by the masses. In a 
 countr}^ like England, where there is a class 
 education so expensive as to be beyond the 
 reach of the million, it is very gratifying to 
 the excluded majority to see a man step forth 
 from amongst the intellectual aristocracy, and 
 speak with scorn of the jDrivileges he has him- 
 self enjoyed, whilst, at the same time, the 
 strongest proof of the reality of these j)rivileges 
 is the force with which he is able to decry 
 them. He is for the moment a Mirabeau, not, 
 indeed, rejected by his peers, but willingly 
 throwing himself into the arms of a party 
 who admire him for the possession of those 
 very gifts which he and they affect to despise. 
 Mr. Wynum's disparagement of the ancient 
 
22 BISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 classics and of English University training- 
 became stronger as lie advanced in life, but in 
 order to comprehend ftilly all the circumstances 
 that contributed to this result it will be 
 necessary to know something of Mr. Wynum's 
 family affairs and connexions. 
 
 Charles Wynum was the second son of a 
 wealthy mill-owner in the north of England. 
 The father at his death left to each of his 
 three sons a share in the factory. The eldest 
 son was thoroughly imbued with a commercial 
 spirit ; and, either through love of unshackled 
 rule, or through a belief that his brother's lite- 
 rary tastes would render him unfit for business, 
 he offered to purchase Charles's share in the 
 factory. The terms proposed being very liberal 
 the offer was accepted. Charles Wynum, after 
 making the "grand tour," as a journey through 
 France and Italy was called in those clays, 
 generally paid an annual visit to the Continent. 
 When in London, he had lodgings in Pall Mall 
 or Jermyn Street ; he frequented good society, 
 and was member of more than one West End 
 club. He had never held an appointment of 
 any kind. The labours of Parliamentary life, 
 he said, were too toilsome for him ; but the 
 truth was Charles Wynum knew that he could 
 never succeed as an orator, and therefore 
 
EISTOBY OF MARGARET MORTON. 23 
 
 shunned a position where he would remain 
 undistinguished ; a non-success or a neutral 
 victory would be fatal to the reputation he 
 had achieved. Charles Wynum's society was 
 courted by single men who gave dinner and 
 supper parties, for a more entertaining com- 
 panion could nowhere be found. Mistresses of 
 laro^e mansions, who durino; '^ the season" held 
 large assemblies, never forgot to invite Charles 
 Wynum. He was as valuable an addition to 
 the ball-room as to the dinner-table. He was 
 a graceful dancer, and knew how to distribute 
 his attentions without showing too marked a 
 preference for any lady. He had a cultivated 
 voice, and could sing a good second's. He had 
 studied music, but had the good taste never to 
 touch any instrument before a large company, 
 or, indeed, anywhere but in his own apart- 
 ments, when he had a few friends to dinner or 
 supper, and on such occasions Charles Wynum 
 was, by universal consent, acknowledged to be 
 a graceful and well-bred host. 
 
 To enter what is called '^ good society " had 
 been the ambition of Charles Wynum's youth. 
 In a country like England, where education is 
 still expensive, and where fifty years ago it 
 was still more so, and where to graduate in a 
 University is a mark of caste, it was no wonder 
 
24 BISTOBY OF MABGARET MORTON. 
 
 that Charles Wynum believed he had put his 
 foot on the first round of the ladder he wished 
 to climb when he entered Oxford. But his 
 ambition was not the offspring of apish snob- 
 ism ; it had its source in a natural refinement 
 that made him shrink from everything vulgar. 
 It was undeniable that he loved and tried to 
 acquire knowledge for its own sake ; but, 
 whilst doing so, he was fully aware he was 
 treading a pathway that would lead to the 
 upper circles he so desired to visit. It might 
 be said he was a blind worshipper of rank ; but 
 high rank was, in his mind, inseparably united 
 with refined manners and delicate feeling. 
 Though Charles Wynum felt almost ashamed 
 of being the son of a manufacturer, he had, 
 notwithstanding, enough of the trade-mark on 
 his intellect to appreciate fully the importance 
 of money. He j)artly won, partly bought, his 
 way upwards on the social pyramid, whose 
 apex is so very narrow ; and, though he never 
 touched that glittering point, he fixed his place 
 in a select circle, at no great distance beyond 
 which lay the very highest. 
 
 At thirty years of age Charles Wynum was 
 in the full enjoyment of the honours of the 
 career into which his ambition had led him. 
 During the succeeding ten years his popu- 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAEET MORTON. 25 
 
 laritj seemed to increase, and at forty he was 
 more sought after than ever. If he did not 
 still dance with as much vivacity as had 
 marked his movements twenty years pre- 
 viously, his performance was more graceful, 
 and, as he had not become stout, his tall figure 
 and distingue bearing rendered him still in the 
 ball-room a rival regarded as dangerous by 
 much younger men. 
 
 Mr. Wynum was beginning to be looked 
 upon as a man too fond of the selfish comforts 
 of bachelor life to think of sacrificing at 
 Hymen's altar. A candid friend took an oppor- 
 tunity of telling him how he was estimated on. 
 this point by certain ladies. Mr. Wynum 
 laughed, and said a man cannot walk out into 
 the highways, nor even into a drawing-room, and 
 ask any passing pedestrian or chance dancer to 
 be his wife. He may expose himself to the 
 mortification of a refusal, or, worse, to the 
 disaster of an acceptance. 
 
 Though Mr. Wynum laughed as he made 
 these remarks, he felt annoyed. After the 
 departiu-e of his too candid friend Mr. Wynum 
 addressed himself to his mirror. The reflection 
 he beheld there was satisfactory. The broad 
 forehead was white and unwrinkled, and, if 
 the figure was more developed than in former 
 
26 EISTOBY OF MABGAEET MORTON. 
 
 years, there was not the slightest approach to 
 corpulency. Still, the remarks retailed by his 
 visitor had created a feeling of discomfort 
 that he could not shake off. It was not that 
 Mr. Wynum was desirous of marrying, but it 
 jarred upon his feelings to find he was begin- 
 ning to be looked upon as an old man. 
 
 There are men who live to please, and who 
 are pleased only inasmuch as they please. 
 Such people shrink sensitively from the impu- 
 tation of okl age. This is especially the case 
 with 2^e5^^*^<^i^s whose social success is due as 
 much to external qualifications as to intellectual 
 gifts. Such was Charles Wynum's position. 
 In early manhood, on his first entrance into 
 society, his tall, slight figure and regular 
 features, combined with his reputed wealth and 
 academic success, had won him admiration; 
 and, ten years later, his greater self-possession, 
 his increased command over the knowledge he 
 possessed, his more delicate tact in putting it 
 forth, in short, all those acquired charms of 
 manner that are really based upon a knowledge 
 of the human heart, conjoined with the jDower 
 of playing on that many-stringed instrument, 
 had made for Mr. Wynum a circle of admirers 
 to whom his dictum was law. 
 
 The insinuation of old age thrown out 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 27 
 
 against Mr. Wynum had an especial flavour of 
 bitterness for him. He was very proud of his 
 social success, but he was now brought to the 
 sudden conviction that such a growth scarcely 
 reaches maturity when it commences to decay. 
 It was unpleasant to feel that the tide of time 
 w^hich had so long carried him forward was 
 begiiniing to ebb, and would eventually leave 
 him — he did not wish to picture where. 
 
 Mr. Wynum was in this frame of mind 
 when he received an invitation from a friend, 
 asking him to spend a month in Scotland, 
 where he had hired a shooting-box for the 
 season. The invitation was accepted, and at 
 the expiration of the month, the box being 
 given up, the friends tliouglit of running over 
 to Paris ; but Mr. Compton, a gentleman 
 whose acquaintance they had made on the 
 moors, asked them to pause in their southward 
 journey and spend a few days at his house in 
 Yorkshire. 
 
 The whole transaction was of the simplest, 
 and yet each step became a link in a circular 
 chain that hasped and padlocked Charles 
 Wynum's fate. The preliminaries were 
 trifling, but the result was astounding. Had 
 Mr. Wynum refused the invitation to Scot- 
 land, as he was at first tempted to, he would 
 
28 HISTORY OF MAJIGAUET MOETOK 
 
 not have made the acquaintance of Mr. Comp- 
 ton, would not have visited at his house, nor 
 met his daughter Minnie. 
 
 Within six months of Miss Compton's first 
 acquaintance with Mr. Wynum she became 
 his wife. The wedding took ]A'dce in York- 
 shire, where the name of AVynum was well 
 known. Amongst the wedding guests were 
 Mr. Wynum, the eldest brother of the bride- 
 groom, and his wife, who entertained a great 
 admiration, and almost affection, for her 
 brother-in-law. She had always expected tliat 
 Charles would marry at the "least a duke's 
 daughter ; but when he married the daughter 
 of a country s^entleman she was far better 
 pleased than she would have been had her 
 expectations been fulfilled. It would not be 
 so very pleasant to see the wife of her hus- 
 band's younger brother take precedence of the 
 elder brother's wife. So far Charles Wynum 
 in his marriage satisfied his own family. As 
 in those days jDeople were egotistical enough 
 to believe that all who knew them took an 
 interest in their jDroceedings, wedding-cards 
 quickly informed Mr. Charles AVynum's nume- 
 rous acquaintance of the step he had taken. 
 Great Avas the surpiise and boundless the curi- 
 osity excited. The latter sentiment, which 
 
HISTOBY OF 3IABGARET MOBTON. 29 
 
 had birth m June, was not gratified, until the 
 following November, when Mr. and Mrs. 
 Charles Wynum, having returned from a tour 
 on the Continent, and a visit to their friends 
 in the north, appeared in London. Every- 
 body was disappointed on first seeing Mrs. 
 Wynum. It was an involuntary compliment 
 to her husband that his wife was expected to 
 be something extraordinary. Either dazzling 
 beauty or uncountable riches had been set 
 down as the cause of Mr. Charles Wynum's 
 fall into matrimony ; and when it was found 
 that his wife possessed neither all who had 
 previously pronounced upon the question mar- 
 velled exceedingly. Mrs. Charles Wynum 
 was found to be only nice-looking, gentle- 
 tempered, and five-and-twenty. As usual, the 
 men were soon reconciled, and said she was a 
 charming creature, but the women persisted in 
 wondering what Mr. Wynum could have seen 
 in her. 
 
 Fortunately for Minnie Wynum her hus- 
 band had no cause for wonder. The qualities 
 he fancied before marriage he saw in her, he 
 found, when she became his wife, that she 
 really possessed. He was more than satisfied, 
 he was happy, as he told his wife one morning 
 as they sat at breakfast at their lodgings in 
 
?0 HTSTOBY OF MABGABET MORTON. 
 
 Pall Mall. But Mr. Wynum was a man of the 
 world J and knew that in marrying he had fixed 
 his status in society. He knew that hence- 
 forth he could only associate with men whose 
 wives his wife could afford to entertain. He 
 was aware that in thus defining his position he 
 was obliged to descend some few steps of the 
 social ladder, which he had not climbed with- 
 out difficulty. Mr. Wynum had too much 
 self-respect to hesitate ; at the same time he was 
 not without a hope, amounting almost to cer- 
 tainty, that he should obtain a government 
 appointment, that would restore with advan- 
 tage all he was now resigning. He lost no 
 time in setting to work. He was acting under 
 the influence of the strongest stimulus that 
 can move a right-minded man to exertion. He 
 was a husband, and was about to become a 
 father. 
 
 A man who has numbered more than forty 
 years, and who has never asked a favour for 
 himself, feels rather awkward when he under- 
 takes to do so for the first time. With old 
 friends, men well versed in the trade of politics, 
 Mr. Wynum talked the matter over, having 
 once broken the ice of reserve. Pie could not 
 complain of want of good intention on the 
 part of his friends ; the difficulty was in finding 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 31 
 
 a place to suit. The Civil Service, either 
 Home or Indian, was out of the question. The 
 diplomatic service ? Yes, he would take an 
 ambassadorship, he said, laughing, but he was 
 too old to become an attache and commence 
 the drudgery of office. The truth was, Mr. 
 Wynum wished to get in middle age such 
 a post as he might have attained to had 
 he entered the civil or dijDlomatic service 
 twenty-five years before. 
 
 Soliciting favours is unpleasant work for a 
 man who has all his life jealously preserved his 
 independence. Not that Mr. Wynum was 
 subjected to a refusal ; on the contrary, men of 
 high position exerted all their influence on his 
 behalf, but, as he acknowledged, they could 
 not make a place for him, nor could they 
 create a vacancy. And when vacancies did 
 occur, they were such as he could not fill, or 
 else there were candidates for the appointments 
 whose claims could not be overlooked. Before 
 long Mr. Wynum was convinced that it is not 
 easy for a man past forty, who has never held 
 office of any kind, to get an appointment. 
 But he could not tell this to his wife, who, in 
 her loving admiration, would not have been 
 surprised were her husband solicited to 
 accept the post of Prime Minister. Nor could 
 
32 HISTOBY OF 3IABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 he enter into explanations with her father, who 
 could not be made to understand why a man 
 who dined witli dukes and lords could not 
 become a cabinet minister if he chose. 
 
 The session closed, and Mr. Wynum 
 had not found an appointment. So closed 
 many a succeeding session, and yet no 
 ministry had profited by Mr. Wynum' s talents. 
 The tired applicant had grown despondent. 
 His natural sensibility, increased by high 
 mental culture, had been deeply wounded by 
 the failure of his repeated attem]3ts to obtain a 
 place. A coarser-minded man might have 
 still persevered ; a less educated man might 
 have blustered about his proficiency, and the 
 23reference given to blockheads, but not so with 
 Mr. Wynum. His pride was hurt at being 
 obliged to ask ; his self-respect was wounded at 
 being refused. Had Mr. Wynum been a vain 
 instead of a proud man he might have con- 
 soled himself with thinking that the heads of 
 governmental departments refused his services 
 either because they were jealous of his supe- 
 riority or could not appreciate his abilities; 
 but Mr. Wynum was not able to hug himself in 
 such fond self-conceit. On the contrary, he 
 became self-distrustful, and began to doubt his 
 competency. Under the influence of a morbid 
 
EISTOBY OF MARGARET MORTON. 33 
 
 feeling, he flung back upon his University educa- 
 tion the odium of his non-success. He thought, 
 until thought became conviction, that his exten- 
 sive classical and profound mathematical know- 
 ledge had acted as bars to his advancement. 
 Had he limited his intellectual aspirations to 
 understanding the four first rules of arithmetic, 
 and to a slight acquaintance with English 
 grammar, with, perhaps, a smattering of one 
 or two modern languages, he might have made 
 a brilliant figure, as he saw men of that 
 standard of knowledge do, in the political and 
 diplomatic circles. 
 
 The disappointments experienced by Mr. 
 Wynum fell heavily on his wife's heart. She 
 regarded them as so many reproaches to herself. 
 Had Charles not married her, she often thought 
 in her solitary musings, he would not have been 
 obliged to ask favours ; or had he, as he might 
 have done, married the daughter of some man 
 of high position, he miglit then have commanded 
 where he was now obliged to solicit. Though 
 such thoughts frequently passed through Mrs. 
 Wynum 's mind, she forbore to give them 
 utterance. They were accompanied with a 
 painful sense of humiliation that made her 
 shrink from all allusion to such subjects. Had 
 she spoken out, the expression of what she felt 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
.'U HISTOFY OF MABGABET MOBTON, 
 
 roiglit have acted beneficially on lier husband^ 
 by rousing the manliness of liis nature, as she 
 might have inferred from what occurred when 
 he once found lier weeping in secret over her 
 one source of sorrow. When Mr. Wynum 
 learned the cause of his wife's tears, he repu- 
 diated the idea of having made a sacrifice in 
 marrying lier ; on the contrary, he assured 
 her his only regret was that he had not earlier 
 made her acquaintance. 
 
 Mrs. Wynum was satisfied in her husband's 
 affection, and believed him when he said that 
 no social rank, however high, could be prized 
 by him as was her love. But tlien arose another 
 source of anxiety. What about little Charlie, 
 her darling son ? How came it that his father 
 took so little notice of that beautiful boy, that 
 attracted the notice of passing strangers ? 
 This was a torturing enigma for Mrs. Wynum, 
 which she was wholly unable to solve. She 
 did not perceive that her husband, embittered 
 by disappointments, had fallen into a state of 
 chronic discontent, of which the direct objects 
 were the social, diplomatic, and educational 
 systems of England. Having forced himself 
 to believe that study was useless and learning 
 profitless, lie thought he had nothing to do for 
 his child, and therefore did not cherish the 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON, 35 
 
 pride with which, under other circumstances, 
 he might have planned a career for his boy. 
 
 Little Charlie Wynum was nine years of 
 age, and had a very small brother, only seven 
 days old, when his mother died. During the 
 first week that followed this death, little 
 Charlie, when worked upon by the questions 
 and explanations of the servants, sometimes 
 fell into violent bursts of crying, at other 
 times he subsided into silence, under the 
 influence of a mysterious fear, of whose origin 
 he was wholly ignorant. 
 
 When Mr. Wynum became a widower, his 
 position was pitiable. He had lost the only 
 being in the world whose friendship for him 
 had stood the applied tests, and, when she was 
 gone, he was not slow to discover that these 
 tests had been very severe. She had been his 
 comforter more than he had been her support. 
 She had taken more than her share of his 
 troubles : what had he given her in compensa- 
 tion ? With the self -torturing skill in which 
 practice had made him j^erfect, he took pleasure 
 in recalling all his gentle Minnie had been to 
 him. His mother-in-law, who was in the 
 house, and who had loved her daughter 
 sincerely, hid her grief, as women are often 
 obliged to hide their griefs as well as their 
 
'6(3 EISTOBY OF 3IABGARET MORTON. 
 
 wrongs, in kindly sympathy for her son-in-law, 
 whose nerves had sustained so violent a shock. 
 Mrs. Compton, as she had promised her dying 
 daughter, took charge of the baby, and 
 Mr. Wynum, with little Charlie, accepted his 
 eldest brother's invitation to pass a few months 
 at the family house in Yorkshire. Before the 
 visit came to a close, it was agreed that little 
 Charlie should remain with his uncle, who 
 having been many years married, and being 
 still childless, began to look upon his nephew 
 as his Jieir. 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAEET MOETON. 37 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The first of May, 1851, threatened to be an 
 eventful day to Mrs. Grreen, Miss Maunsell's 
 landlady. Mrs. Archibald, with her niece and 
 her two nephews, had accepted an invitation 
 to dine with the first-floor lodger at No. 52, 
 St. John's Terrace. So had Mr. Wynum. 
 Miss Maunsell was delighted at having an oppor- 
 tunity to exercise the virtue of hospitality, 
 especially in favour of her dear friend Mrs. 
 Archibald, who so seldom left her own house. 
 During the last week of April, No. 52 had 
 been turned out of the windows, according to 
 Mrs. Green's account. But this must be re- 
 garded as an exaggerated statement ; for tlie 
 drawing-room floor remained undisturbed, so 
 far as the furniture was concerned, though, as 
 regarded the temper and feelings of the occu- 
 pant of these rooms, there were moments when 
 the turn-out there threatened to be more com- 
 
88 IlISTOBY OF MARGAFiET 3T0RT0N. 
 
 plete than in any of the other parts of the 
 house. The truth must be told. Mr. Wynuni 
 regarded the commotion kept up on the first 
 floor during the last week of April as equiva- 
 lent to a notice to quit, and he would assuredly 
 have obeyed the intimation had Miss Maunsell 
 been in the habit of giving dinner-parties. 
 He told Mrs. Green his life was endangered. 
 During this revolutionary week Mr. Wynum 
 had more than once stumbled over rolls of 
 carpet, incautiously left on tlie landing, and 
 once had well-nigh on the same spot broken 
 his neck over a chair, on wliich were placed a 
 fender and fire-irons. On these occasions Mr. 
 Wynum had expressed his feelings in fervent 
 ejaculations, which, had they taken effect, 
 would have exposed poor Mrs. Green's carjDots 
 and furniture to a fiery ordeal, through which, 
 not being of asbestos, they could scarcely be 
 expected to come unscathed. However, up to 
 the twenty-eighth of April Mr. Wynum had 
 passed through all these trials with no worse 
 result than a few bruises on the lower limbs 
 and a few billowy breaks of temjDer. 
 
 It w^as an unfortunate circumstance for Mrs. 
 Green and her lodgers that the architect who 
 planned No. 52, St. John's Terrace, had con- 
 nected the first and second floors by means of 
 
HISTOBY OF 3TABGARET MORTON. 39 
 
 a veiy crooked staircase. It was also mucli to 
 be regretted that at the bottom of the stair- 
 case, but lying considerably to the left, there 
 was a very dark corner, which constituted a 
 portion of the first-floor landing. It was also 
 unfortunate for the persons who had to bear 
 with the structural disadvantages of No. 52 
 that gas had never been introduced into the 
 house, and that in the absence of the sun they 
 were dependent for sensible light on a candle 
 or lamiD. One of these small artificial lumi- 
 naries, placed on a bracket on the wall, when 
 night came cast a timid ray towards the dark 
 corner and up the crooked staircase. In the 
 normal condition of the household the feeble 
 light of candle or lamp had always been suffi- 
 cient to point out to Mr. Wynum the balus- 
 trade, of which naving taken hold, lie ascended 
 the crooked staircase with confidence. But, in 
 the confusion created in the house by Miss 
 Maunsell's contemplated dinner-party, the ray 
 of the lamp or candle, theretofore sufficient for 
 existing requirements, became not alone in- 
 adequate, but actually tended to mislead. 
 The weak light magnified and deepened the 
 shadow of any article that happened to be for- 
 gotten on the landing, so that Mr. Wynum 
 requently mistook the shadow for the sub- 
 
40 HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 
 
 stance, and, in liis endeavours to avoid what 
 seemed to him the reality, he was brought 
 into violent contact with what he was taking 
 precautions to shun. A week of such warfare 
 was very trying to an elderly gentleman's 
 temper, and equally great were poor Mrs. 
 Green's trials during the same time. The 
 bewildered landlady had exhausted her in- 
 ventive faculties in making excuses to Mr. 
 Wynuni, but to a neighbouring gossip she 
 told the truth without embellishment. Miss 
 Maunsell had so worreted her with cleaning 
 and dusting, and moving furniture in and out, 
 and putting things out of their places that 
 ought to be in their places, that she did not 
 know whether she was standing on her head 
 or her heels, and it was no wonder if she was 
 always forgetting something on the landing. 
 
 However, up to the twenty-eighth of April 
 Mr. Wynum, as we have said, had escaped 
 comparatively unhurt from the dangers through 
 which he had passed. On the morning of that 
 day Mrs. Green had congratulated herself on 
 the prospect of her worry being soon at an 
 end ; and on the same morning Mr. Wynum, 
 in coming downstairs, had observed, standing 
 upright in the dark corner, a tall roll of 
 carpet, at whicli he shook his stick, as it 
 
HISTOBT OF MAEGABET MORTON. 41 
 
 reminded him of the trips into which some of 
 its smaller brethren had betrayed him during 
 the past six days. 
 
 About half-past ten on the night of the 
 twenty- eigh til of April Mr. Wynum returned 
 to his lodgings at No. 52, St. John's Terrace, 
 or, to speak more correctly, Mr. Wynum had 
 at the above-mentioned hour reached the first- 
 floor landing in the house where he lodged. 
 Remembering the view he had obtained in the 
 morning of the enemy in the dark corner, he 
 resolved to keep close to the opposite wall, 
 though by so doing he renounced the support 
 of the baluster, and would be entirely depen- 
 dent on his stick as an auxiliar}^. Mr. 
 Wynum's conduct was dictated by prudence 
 founded on experience, and would have been 
 satisfactory in the results had the perils with 
 which he w^as dealing been fixed quantities ; 
 but, unfortunately for Mr. Wynum, he had to 
 do with shifting sandbanks, and just as he 
 thought he had weathered the dreaded point 
 he tripped. He staggered, and would have 
 fallen, but for the support afforded by his 
 stick. There was a crash, as if of breaking 
 glass, and Mr. Wynum stood in darkness, but 
 not in silence. He gave utterance to his 
 opinion of his own position at tlie moment, 
 
42 HISTORY OF 31 AEG ABET MORTON. 
 
 and of the general management of domestic 
 concerns at No. 52, in tones and terms indica- 
 tive rather of strong feehng than of Christian 
 patience. 
 
 Amidst the crash of glass, the scram.bling, 
 scrajDing, and exclamations involved in and 
 attendant on Mr. Wynum's disaster, Mrs. 
 Green displayed the presence of mind that 
 might be expected from an experienced land- 
 lady of single gentlemen : she remained close 
 in her room. Not so Miss Maunsell. That 
 lady hmTied to the landing, taper in hand, 
 and aggravated her fellow-lodger's annoyance 
 by the effort which a lady's presence imposes 
 on a gentleman of being courteous and calm 
 under all circumstances. Mr. Wynum, by a 
 great effort, tried to make light of the accident ; 
 but when Miss Maunsell, bv the aid of her 
 candle, discovered the ruins that lay about, her 
 exclamations, uttered in a tone of deep alarm, 
 could not fail to suggest to a listener the idea 
 of, at the least, one or two broken limbs. Mrs. 
 Green's fears overcame her caution. She ran 
 ujDstairs, and arrived on the landing in time 
 to find Miss Maunsell, with her hand on Mr. 
 Wynum's shoulder, offering him all the con- 
 solation in her power. 
 
 A man over sixty, tripjDcd by a roll of carpet, 
 
HISTOEY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 48 
 
 cannot recover his footin^^ with the elastic 
 lightness that was his some forty years before. 
 Mr. Wynum felt this. The conviction was 
 mortifying, and all the more so, from being 
 effected under the actual circumstances. Mr. 
 Wynum's hat had fallen off : he was conscious 
 of presentino: a shattered appearance. His 
 pride was hurt. Still, he so far controlled his 
 feelings as to thank Miss Maunsell, sententiously 
 indeed, but in a dignified manner, for her kind 
 attentions, when the sight of Mrs. Green, who 
 arrived at the moment, drove him to despera- 
 tion. He asked in unsophisticated terms what 
 demoniacal intentions she harboured in placing 
 such traps in his way. And Mr. Wynum 
 jDointed to the fragments of the lamp scattered 
 about, brought to that position by some 
 unlucky movement of the excited gentleman's 
 cane. The roll of carpet, that formed a trans- 
 verse line between the wall and the bottom 
 stair, spoke for itself. 
 
 In reply to her gentleman lodger's angry 
 demands, Mrs. Green coidd only say, — ''Dear 
 me, sir ; I 'm sure, I 'm very sorry. It shan't 
 occur again." 
 
 " I '11 take very good care it shan't," said 
 Mr. Wynum, as he endeavoured to recover 
 his hat by the aid of his cane ; for, being 
 
U HISTOEY OF MAHGABET MORTON. 
 
 tall and not very supj^le, he was afraid to 
 stoop. 
 
 Miss Maunsell, whose presence had been for 
 a few moments overlooked, interposed. She 
 took Mr. Wynum's hat from the hands of Mrs. 
 Green, jDresented it to the owner, and said, — 
 
 '' My dear sir, I 'm so distressed at what has 
 occurred ! This dear creature '' — pointing to 
 Mrs. Green — ^Hias nothing to do with it, and 
 is not at all to blame. 'Twas all my fault. 
 'Twas I that had the carpet moved to that 
 side and left there. Pray forgive her, and 
 blame me.'' 
 
 It would seem that the effort made by Mr. 
 Wynum, in compliment to a lady's presence, 
 to repress the external manifestation of his- 
 annoyance had acted favourably on his inward 
 feelings. His irritation was rapidly subsiding. 
 Miss Maunsell was not slow to perceive the 
 proofs of her moral influence, and when she 
 again addressed Mr. Wynum, exculpating Mrs. 
 Green and criminating herself, there was a 
 twinkle in her eye, and a humorous smile- 
 playing about her lip, that seemed to nullify 
 her request to be blamed. Miss Maunsell 
 repeated, — 
 
 ^' Pray forgive poor Green, and blame me."" 
 
 Mr. Wynum could not resist. 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 45 
 
 ^' Blame you, Miss Maunsell ? Impossible! 
 Who could do that ? " 
 
 Mr. Wynum was standing perfectly upright, 
 hat in hand, his temper, as well as his figure, 
 apparently in perfect equilibrium. 
 
 '^ Now, my dear sir," said Miss Maunsell, 
 motioning with her hand towards the open 
 door of her sitting-room, '' you will do me the 
 favour to step in. You can't refuse." 
 
 ^MVho could refuse Miss Maunsell?" said 
 Mr. Wynum, bowing low, and preparing to 
 follow the lady. 
 
 Miss Maunsell was endowed with a large 
 fund of good-heartedness. She was filled with 
 the spirit of hospitality, and, were she mistress 
 of ten thousand a year, w^ould have bestowed 
 her gifts liberally, though, possibly, in many 
 instances capriciously, on her poorer fellow-crea- 
 tures. Having invited Mr. Wynum to seat himself 
 in an arm-chair. Miss Maunsell took possession 
 of another. She apologized for the absence of 
 fire ; but the morning had promised so fairly, 
 that Mrs. Green had pronounced a fire unneces- 
 sary. Mr. Wynum agreed with Mrs. Green, 
 though he still indulged in a fire himself. 
 
 ^' But, Miss Maimsell," said the gentleman, 
 *' this little accident has occurred opportunely. 
 J ought to have called on you, considering that 
 
4:G HISTORY OF MARGARET 3I0RT0N. 
 
 we have not seen you for nearly a week at 
 Eva Terrace. I certainly have not omitted to 
 inquire after your health both of Mrs. Archi- 
 bald and Mrs. Green.-' 
 
 '' Thank youj my dear sir; I've heard all 
 that. You 're very kind. Now, let me recom- 
 mend you something hot." 
 
 Mrs. Green having just brought in boiling 
 water and other necessary adjuncts, Miss Maun- 
 sell proceeded to mix a glass of something hot 
 for her guest. 
 
 '^You drink sugar, of course? Our family 
 physician always recommended my dear 
 mother to take something hot at night. It 
 induces sleep ; and that 's so important." 
 
 ^' Miss Maunsell, you take nothing yourself." 
 
 '' Pardon me, I do " ; and the lady exhibited 
 a proof of the fact. 
 
 Miss Maunsell was so kindly in her hos23itality 
 that Mr. Wynum forgot his collision with the 
 roll of carpet, and Miss Maunsell, in an exuber- 
 ance of feeling, confessed that her absence 
 from Mrs. Archibald's card-table during the 
 previous five days was attributable to the 
 preparations for the coming dinner. 
 
 ^* That dear creature," she said, alluding to 
 Mrs. Archibald, ^' so seldom goes anywhere 
 that one would like to make her comfortable 
 
HISTOET OF MABGABET MOBTON. 47 
 
 when she does spend a day out of her own 
 house. Poor dear, she has had much trouble." 
 
 '' I wasn't aware of it/' said Mr. Wynum, 
 rather abstractedly. 
 
 ^' My dear sir, only think of losing her 
 husband, and such a husband ! — an elegant and 
 accomplished man that adored her. The 
 wonder is how she survived her troubles.'' 
 
 ^^ People do survive such things,'' said Mr. 
 Wynum, thoughtfully. '^ It is well she has no 
 children." 
 
 ^' Never had; but do you think it well ? A 
 child would be such a comfort." 
 
 ^^Oli! she has her niece, who is quite as 
 good as a daughter to her," said Mr. Wynum, 
 rising and taking his place on the hearth, with 
 his back to the grate, though there happened 
 to be no fire there at the moment. 
 
 The turn the conversation had taken was 
 not pleasant to Mr. Wynum. He disliked 
 allusions to the past. 
 
 ^^ Miss Maunsell," he said, quickly, ''I must 
 apologize. Carried away by your conversation, 
 I forgot the hour. I 've kept you up far beyond 
 your usual time." 
 
 " Not at all, Mr. Wynum, not at all. Well, 
 as you persist in going, good night ! " 
 
4S HISTOBY OF 3IARGARET MOBTON, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 It was the second week of May. The great 
 Exhibition had been opened, Miss Maunsell's 
 dinner to her friends had come off, and Henry 
 Morton, Mrs. Archibald's nephew, had left for 
 Paris. 
 
 The excitement of the previous week had 
 fatigued or, rather, worried Mrs. Archibald. 
 She disliked any breach in her customary 
 routine, and was glad to take her place again 
 at the whist-table, with her nephew, Richard 
 Archibald, as partner, and Miss Maunsell and 
 Mr. Wynum as opponents. 
 
 ^^I expected Mr. Browne," said Mrs. Archi- 
 bald; ^'he called in the afternoon, and promised 
 to come this evening for a rubber." 
 
 '^ He has friends — country cousins, I believe 
 — staying with him ; come up to see the Exhi- 
 bition ? " said Miss Maunsell. 
 
 '^ Yes; but they are engaged somewhere else 
 to-night." 
 
HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 49 
 
 A ring was heard at the garden gate. Miss 
 Maunsell, upon whom the duties of dealer had 
 fallen, continued to mix the cards slowly, until 
 the servant announced — ^^ Mr. Browne." The 
 customary greetings and inquiries having been 
 made, Richard Archibald, who had risen 
 on Mr. Browne's entrance, said, motioning to 
 the seat he had vacated, — 
 
 ^' Mr. Browne, I was only your locum tenens.'' 
 
 '^ By no means. Play your rubber out : 1 11 
 €ut in afterwards." 
 
 '^ We haven't commenced," said Richard ; 
 ^^ we 've been waiting for you." 
 
 So Mr. Browne seated himself at the card- 
 table, and Richard Archibald returned to his 
 place beside his cousin, Margaret Morton. 
 
 Was she his cousin ? No. But the world 
 spoke of these two young people as cousins; 
 their relatives, too, talked of them as such, and 
 altogether it woidd seem as though, if they did 
 not, they ought to stand in that relation to 
 each other. A great many who talked of 
 them as cousins believed they would one day 
 be something nearer to one another. The way 
 in which this generally accredited cousinship 
 came into existence was this : Margaret Mor- 
 ton was daughter to Mrs. Archibald's brother, 
 and Richard Archibald was nephew to her 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
i>0 EISTOBY OF MARGABET MOBTON, 
 
 husband. As each of these young people 
 called Mrs. Archibald aunt, it was no great 
 wonder that, being thrown very much together 
 from childhood, they should call each other 
 cousin. It was a convenient family arrange- 
 ment, and smoothed over many little diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 When Richard Archibald returned to his 
 seat beside Margaret Morton he said, — 
 
 ^^ So 3^ou had a letter from Henry this morn- 
 ing ; what does he say ? " 
 
 '^ The letter was to aunt. He is obliged to 
 remain in Paris for at least a month longer. 
 On his return he '11 tell us everything. I do 
 wish he 'd come back. 'T was provoking he 
 should leave almost as soon as he arrived." 
 
 '' Oh, business must be thought of before 
 anything else I — but women never understand 
 that." 
 
 ^^ What a pleasure it was for me to see my 
 brother ! Thougli I knew I had an elder 
 brother I never seemed to realize his existence 
 until he clasped me in his arms. Henry is 
 very handsome." 
 
 '"' Do you think him at all like you ? " 
 
 '* Not at all," said Margaret, laughing: ^' he 's 
 ver}' fair ; I 'm dark." 
 
 "Not verv," said her cousin. 
 
HJSTOUY OF MABGARET 3I0RT0N, 51 
 
 '^ How good Henry is ! How very generous! 
 One of the first things he said to me was that, 
 though poor pajDa had not been able to give 
 me any money, he would give me a large sum 
 when the estate is bought." 
 
 '' Oh, don't talk of money, Margaret. 
 Women don't want money. I mean a young 
 girl who has brothers and cousins that know 
 how to make money will be sure to have a 
 splendid position." 
 
 Eichard Archibald Avas confused as he 
 finished the sentence; he felt he was treading 
 on forbidden ground. His cousin blushed. 
 
 ^^ I only meant to say how generous Henry 
 is," she observed; and then quickly going on, 
 •'he brought me so many messages from my 
 poor old ayah. You know papa left her a 
 pension." 
 
 ^' Would you like to return to India?" said 
 Richard. 
 
 '' Oh, I 've no wish on the subject. I 've no 
 recollection of the place. I was only four 
 when I was sent to England. I feel quite 
 English." 
 
 " So you ought to. You were born here." 
 
 ^'Very true. I sometimes forget that: I 
 think of myself as Indian." 
 
 *'Well, in one sense, both the Archibalds 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 ILLINOIS LIBRARY 
 
52 EISTOBY OF MABGAEET 3I0RT0N. 
 
 and Mortons are Indian, though English born, 
 but our strength comes from the East, or, 
 rather, lies there, for 'tis there our money was 
 made.'' 
 
 ^^ I thought," said Margaret, laughing, *^ our 
 real strength la}'' in our Anglo-Saxon brain, 
 that makes us dominate wherever we set our 
 foot." 
 
 ^^ Quite right," said Richard, smiling; '^I 
 forgot my favourite theory at the moment. 
 I 'm glad you remembered it." 
 
 ' ' But what shall we say of Ned ? His 
 mother was not P]nglish born." 
 
 ^' Her parents were English. 'Tis the same 
 thing." 
 
 ''How odd," said Margaret, "that I should 
 have a brother eighteen years old that I have 
 never seen ! Poor papa had a great deal of 
 trouble. First dear mamma died ; then Ned's 
 mamma died. I was ver}^ sorry for her, 
 thoucrh I had never seen her. I shouldn't 
 have minded having a step-mother, if she 
 made papa happy. I think it would be very 
 unjust." 
 
 " Quite right. Besides, aunt has always 
 been a mother to you." 
 
 "Yes," said Margaret, softly and slowly, as 
 if weighing the correctness of the assertion; 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 53 
 
 then, returning to her first train of thought, 
 added, — 
 
 ^^Poor papa got into dreadful difficulties, 
 didn't he?" 
 
 ^^ Not so bad as my father, though both had 
 enough. But Henry and I will set everything 
 right yet." 
 
 Margaret went on, still thinking of her 
 brother, — '^ What a pity papa couldn't get the 
 money that's laid by for the estate. Henry 
 told aunt he would willingly have given up his 
 right. Henry is very generous, but he could 
 do nothing ; the trustees held the money." 
 
 '^ They only did their duty. The law with 
 regard to trust-money is very stringent. The 
 trustees had not the power to turn a penny 
 from the prescribed use. They could not 
 apply the money to any purpose but that for 
 which it was left by the testator. That 's tlie 
 law of the case, and all the better for Henry. 
 He '11 have the estate ; so will his heirs. The 
 firm in India will clear itself ultimately, and 
 so will mine ; I mean my share in my firm. 
 When I become the head of the house of 
 Ware, AVarren and Co. I '11 show them the 
 advantage of having a lawyer in the firm." 
 
 '^You never allow us to forget you're a 
 lawyer," said Margaret. 
 
54: HISTORY OF .MARGARET MORTON, 
 
 ^' Of course not, and I intend to make yon 
 one, too." 
 
 Margaret gave a little laugh, and at the 
 same time blushed. 
 
 " I shall pass the long vacation here, I 've 
 arranged it with aunt. She doesn't intend to 
 go to the seaside this autumn, so I shall stay 
 quietly here in Kensington. You shall read a 
 regular course of law studies with me." 
 
 ^'I shall be very glad," said Margaret, 
 colouring deeply. 
 
 Richard smiled, and a peculiar look lighted 
 his eyes for a moment. But it was a transient 
 emotion. He returned to the subject of con- 
 versation. 
 
 '^ 'Twill be necessary that you should read. 
 I shall Avant you to write a good deal for me, 
 either to elaborate my notes or fill in my 
 sketches. You couldn't do it unless you under- 
 stood technical terms. I intend to write a 
 series of articles in one of the law magazines, 
 wliich I shall afterwards publish in a separate 
 volume." 
 
 ^' I think," said Margaret, ^^ I understand all 
 the ordinary Latin law phrases." 
 
 '^ You do perfectly well. Your Latin was 
 very useful to you in copying those papers 
 which you did for me in the winter. I'm glad 
 
HISTORY OF MARGAEET MORTON. 55 
 
 now the editor didn't take 'em. I '11 recast 
 'em. They '11 make a capital book." 
 
 ''' I wish I knew Latin better," said Margaret, 
 timidly. '' I should like to know everything 
 thoroughly that I know at all." 
 
 '^ Oh, you know enough for my purpose as 
 it is. But I must go, Margaret, 'tis ten." 
 
 Having made his adieus, the gentleman left. 
 
 Eichard Archibald's character was, to a great 
 extent, revealed in the phrase, ''You know 
 enough for my purpose." Though only eiglit- 
 and-twenty years of age, he viewed the uni- 
 verse solely in reference to himself. Every 
 individual with whom he had relations he 
 regarded only in as far as he, she, or it could 
 be made conducive to his service. This con- 
 centrated selfishness was not the result of deep- 
 laid purpose, it was the natural growth of 
 unconsciously acquired mental habits. He had 
 been early tauglit that he would have to fight 
 his way through the world, and he believed he 
 was able to do so single-handed. With deep 
 bitterness of feeling against his opponents, and 
 boundless confidence in himself, had Richard 
 Archibald commenced his preparations for the 
 great social and commercial battle which ho 
 was resolved to fight. 
 
 Richard Archibald had not much money at 
 
56 HISTORY OF MAEGABET MORTON. 
 
 his command, but he had excellent prospects. 
 By the will of his late uncle he was heir to a 
 thousand a year, and in right of his father he 
 inherited a junior partnership in an eminent 
 Calcutta house. It was Eichard Archibald's 
 peculiar fortune to have good jDrospects, but 
 very small actual possessions. The thousand 
 a year to which he was heir was enjoyed by 
 his aunt, and would not become his till after 
 her death ; the profits of the partnership in 
 the Calcutta house were mortgaged to the firm 
 for the liquidation of debts contracted by his 
 father. 
 
 Eichard Archibald was satisfied with his 
 prospects ; the very difficulties that la}^ in his 
 way became gradually, one would almost say, 
 agreeable to him, on account of the heighten- 
 ing effect which, in his resolute self-confidence, 
 he felt they must exercise on his ultimate 
 triumph. 
 
EISTOBY OF MABGARET MORTON. 57 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The genius that presided over the spring of 
 1851, when commerce, in the name of the arts, 
 useful and idealistic, was drawing to a point 
 the threads of sympathy that unify the human 
 family, did not forget Mr. Wynum. He whose 
 domestic relations had been so rudely rent 
 long before was awakened with a sudden plea- 
 surable throb to the sense of being a father. 
 One morning in June Mr. Wynum found on 
 his breakfast-table a letter addressed in the 
 handwriting of his son. Mr. Wynum seldom 
 received letters, but when such an event did 
 occur he made a great fuss. He liked to appear 
 as though important affairs waited his decision. 
 Mr. Wynum was always very dignified with 
 his landlady, and when that joersonage on the 
 morning in question had knocked at his door, 
 and received permission to enter, bearing a 
 tray on which were sundry hot preparations 
 for breakfast, Mr. Wynum interposed his hand 
 
58 HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 as a barricade to her further advance. Mrs. 
 Green paused, without speaking; and Mr. 
 Wynum, who still held an unopened letter 
 in his hand, attentively perusing the super- 
 scription through his binocular eye-glass, said 
 politely, — 
 
 ^^ Mrs. Green, pray give me a few minutes. 
 I shall look at my letters before breakfast." 
 
 Though Mr. Wynum expected nothing in 
 his letter more extraordinary than the quarterly 
 cheque that he was in tlie habit of receiving 
 from his brother, and though he dignified his 
 single epistle with a grammatical plural, he 
 really meant nothing beyond the innocent self- 
 indulgence of a make-believe importance. So 
 Mr. Wynum wi^Dcd each glass of his binocular, 
 looked attentively at the seal of his letter, and 
 after a few moments' consideration rang the 
 bell. Mrs. Green again appeared with her 
 tray, and everything having been properly 
 placed, and Mr. Wynum having adjusted his 
 newspaper on his riglit hand, and his letter 
 on his left, commenced to breakfast. Mr. 
 Wynum, like the clique to which he belonged, 
 disliked thinking of the past or the future ; he 
 lived in the present, and, like a constitutional 
 Englisliman, as he was, every morning devoutly 
 read the Times. There were no penny papers 
 
EISTOUY OF MARGARET MORTON. 59 
 
 in those days, and had there been, assuredly 
 Mr. Wynum, who regarded himself as a literary 
 aristocrat, and who was quite as exclusive as 
 though he were a hereditary legislator, would 
 not have deigned to patronize such cheap 
 knowledge. 
 
 Having breakfasted, which operation was 
 jDcrformed in easy stages, affording intervals 
 for the perusal of the newspaper, Mr. Wynum 
 took his place in an easy-chair, drew from the 
 pocket of his dressing-gown a cigar-case, and 
 picked therefrom a cigar, which he deliberately 
 lighted, and then humoured with a few puffs, 
 turning it occasionally in his mouth, until he 
 brought it to the state he desired. Mr. Wynum 
 then leaned back in his chair, and, by means of 
 long in- and exhalations, began to despatch, 
 ceiling-ward, slender spiral colunnis of smoke. 
 The cigar being now in a state of steady igni- 
 tion, and the smoker's feelings being soothed 
 by nicotine influences, he quietly opened his 
 letter and commenced to read. It was from 
 his son, who said: — 
 
 ^^ My dear Father, — I sliall be in London 
 in a few days. I do not intend to return here. 
 I hope you will not be angry ; pray do not. 
 There is no quarrel between uncle and me — 
 
60 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 none at all. At first we sparred a little when 
 I told liim I knew I was not fit for trade. And 
 I know I am not. You were not fit for trade^ 
 father. Uncle is, but then he is the only one 
 of the family that is. Uncle William was not. 
 He Avas like you. Uncle Tom was a little 
 angry, but he soon gave in. He has been very 
 kind — bought me a commission in a regiment 
 that is going to India. I shall soon be in the 
 Company's service. I shall have good pay^ 
 and see the world. Dear father, pray do not 
 be angry. I assure you I am not fit for trade. 
 I shall be in town this week, and will explain 
 everything. 
 
 ^^ Your dutiful Son, 
 
 ^' Charles Wynum. 
 '' Uncle sends the enclosed cheque." 
 
 To a commercial-minded father this note 
 would have given a shock. It would have 
 brought to his mind the conviction that his son, 
 by breaking with his uncle, had virtually flung 
 away a rich inheritance, and renounced a social 
 position in which ease and influence were 
 secured to the possessor. But Mr. Wynum, 
 not being a commercial-minded man, was very 
 differently affected. 
 
 Having read his son's note to the end, Mr. 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MORTON. (U 
 
 Wynum leaned ba(;k in his clialr. In this 
 attitude he fixed his eyes on the cornice imme- 
 diately above the mantel-j)iece, and the smoke 
 of his cigar followed in the same direction. 
 During a five minutes' meditation, Mr. Wynum 
 seemed to pass in mental review a long series 
 of events ; he finally laid aside his cigar. He 
 put it down methodically on the little tray or 
 tidy which his careful landlady had provided, 
 and rose from his chair. He stood upright 
 and folded his arms, and so standing Mr. 
 Wynum looked a good inch and a half taller 
 than his wont. The mental influences that 
 seemingly added to the gentleman's height 
 detracted as suddenly at the least fifteen years 
 from his apparent age. His forehead brightened 
 and became whiter and smoother, irradiated 
 by the emotions that swept wave-like across it. 
 His eyes lighted up with a steady ray, and 
 cast forward a long perspective glance that 
 read a career for his son, such as he, in the 
 days of his young ambition, might have 
 pictured for himself. It was a proud and 
 happy moment for Mr. Wynum — a moment that 
 announced a triumph over fortune, a victory 
 over fate. There was a tumultuous revulsion 
 of feeling within his bosom. Charlie, whom 
 he had so long thought of only as the Iicir of 
 
62 HISTORY OF MARGAUET MORTON, 
 
 his uncle, . bad proved himself the son of his 
 father. Charlie, whom he was accustomed to 
 think of with a kind of stagnant placidity as 
 a wealthy, dull manufacturer, had stepped 
 forth as a gallant seeker of military fame. 
 Instead of sighing over his son's misadventure 
 in displeasing the wealthy uncle that had 
 adopted him, Mr. Wynum experienced a feeling 
 of triumph in thinking that his son's conduct 
 would prove to his brother that there are, even 
 in members of the same family, essential differ- 
 ences whicli no training can obliterate, nor any 
 combination of circumstances entirely smother. 
 
 On the evening of the day that Mr. Wynum 
 received his son's note he announced to his 
 fair friends at Eva Terrace, and to Mr. Browne, 
 the arrival that he expected. 
 
 ^' Coming to see the Exhibition?" said Miss 
 Maun sell. 
 
 ^^As an exhibitor, no doubt?" said Mrs. 
 Archibald. ^' Your brother is a great manufac- 
 turer." 
 
 ^^No," said Mr. Wynum, gravely; '^ mj son 
 has renounced trade, — in fact, he was never 
 actually engaged in it. He has entered the 
 army." 
 
 ^' Indeed," said Mrs. Arcliibald. '^ I was not 
 aware he was studying for the army." 
 
HJSTOBY OF 3IAEGARET MOUTON. 63 
 
 '' You never told us," said Miss Maunsell, 
 more bluntly. 
 
 '^ No," replied Mr. Wynum, with a slight 
 laugh. ^^ 1 didn't know it myself. I never 
 heard anything of it until to-day, when he 
 wrote to say his commission was purchased." 
 
 '^ Strange," observed Mr. Archibald, ^Hhat 
 you were not consulted." 
 
 This view of the matter had not occurred to 
 Mr. Wynum. He had not been for many 
 years called on to defray any of the expenses 
 connected with his son's support or education, 
 and he felt he had delegated his parental 
 authority to others. Having surrendered Charlie 
 when nine years old to his uncle's absolute 
 guidance, and consented to his being brought 
 up to trade, which he had himself renounced, 
 it was not likely Mr. Wynum Avould now 
 resume his authority in order to find fault with 
 a proceeding on his son's part which, in his 
 heart, he did not disapprove. 
 
64 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Whatever difficulties may have stood in the 
 way of Charlie Wynum's initiation into mili- 
 tary life, they were all fairly overcome, and 
 he was a cornet in Her Majesty's service. 
 Within ten days of the receipt of the note 
 annomicing Charlie Wynum's entrance on a 
 military career he one afternoon drove up to 
 his father's door in a cab, dressed in full regi- 
 mentals, over which he wore a militar}^ cloak. 
 With what pride did his father receive him ; 
 how cordially did he shake his hand ! He 
 nearly lapsed into continental customs, so 
 strongly did he feel inclined to kiss his son on 
 both sides of the face. 
 
 To Mr. Wynum, whose hopes and ambition 
 had long been buried, and a heavy gravestone 
 laid thereon, it was like a resurrection of his 
 own youth to see his son, in the pride of man- 
 hood, standing before him. And that son was 
 not a vulgar trader ; he was member of an 
 
HISTOEY OF MARGAJIET MORTON. 65 
 
 honourable profession. Mr. Wynum looked 
 with fond admiration on the military uniform, 
 though, whatever light Cornet Wynum borrowed 
 from his professional attire, it would be unjust 
 not to admit that he reflected thereon quite as 
 much as he received. 
 
 When father and son were seated, the former 
 rang the bell, and Mrs. Green, who had put on 
 her best cap and a clean apron, appeared. 
 
 ^' Mrs. Green, you can get some lunch for 
 Cornet Wynum." 
 
 '^ Certainly, sir." 
 
 '' Oh, father, 'tis not long since I break- 
 fasted. I '11 just smoke a cigar with you." 
 
 ^^ I dine at six, Charlie, and Mrs. Green will 
 have something nice for us." 
 
 '' Certainly, sir," put in the landlady. 
 
 '' I ordered dinner for two at the hotel," said 
 the cornet; ^'you'll dine with me to-day, 
 father ? We '11 not trouble Mrs. Green." 
 
 The landlady protested it would be no 
 trouble, and, being requested to bring some 
 bitter ale, retired curtseying. Then father and 
 son lighted their cigars, and, seated one on 
 either side of the fire-place, whiffed away for a 
 few minutes. 
 
 ^^ Well, Charlie, my boy," said Mr. Wynum, 
 ^^you look well in your regimentals. You 
 
 VOL. I. r 
 
66 HISTOBY OF MABGAEET MOBTON. 
 
 took me by surj)rise : I got no hint of the 
 thmg." 
 
 ^^ Well, father," said Charlie, apologetically, 
 ^^you see I was never sure of passing. I 
 didn't get much education when I was young " 
 — he spoke in a low tone — ^^ and it was when I 
 was trying to make up for that I took uj) the 
 idea of going into the army. I knew my father 
 was a scholar," he added, gaily, ^^and I wished 
 to become like him." 
 
 Mr. Wynum winced a little. His conscience 
 reproached him. 
 
 " How did you manage, Charlie ? Did your 
 uncle know you were studying for the army ? " 
 
 '^ No. At first, I didn't think of the army: 
 I only wished to imj^rove my education. I took 
 lessons in the evening from a private tutor. 
 Uncle knew it, and said I couldn't spend my 
 time better. Uncle always allowed me plenty 
 of money : no stint of that. 'Twas the tutor 
 put the idea of the army into my head. He 
 used to cram fellows for the examinations. He 
 said he could do the same for me. That 
 was the way it began. My French was of 
 great use. 'Twas a good thing for me I was 
 brought up in France. I can speak and write 
 French as well as English. Poor mamma ! " 
 He paused. 
 
HISTORY OF MAEGABET MORTON. G7 
 
 '' Go on, Charlie," said his father. 
 
 '^ Poor mamma always told me I ought to 
 try and become a scholar like papa. Poor 
 mamma I I remember all she used to say to me 
 about it." 
 
 ^' What used she to say about it, Charlie ? " 
 
 " She said over and over again I ought to 
 study hard, but that I must never trouble you 
 nor tell you anything that would annoy you." 
 Mr. Wynum sighed. " I remember every- 
 thing as if it happened yesterday." 
 
 " So do I," said his father. '' Charlie, I 
 like to hear you talk of your mother." 
 
 And Charlie went on talking. His narrative 
 showed how his mother had trained him from 
 boyhood to look up to and admire his fatlier, 
 and how she loved and worshipped him herself. 
 Mr. Wynum listened with a sense of volup- 
 tuous self-torture to his son's recital. He 
 gloated over the profound tenderness, the 
 fulness of love, that could make a woman 
 utterly oblivious of self ; he felt a painful 
 delight in contemplating the deep affection of 
 the wife that could triumph over the strength 
 of maternal instinct. And then came a feeling 
 of something like pride in reflecting that all this 
 self-annihilation was an offering made to him. 
 It was the suttee of the English wife — a pro- 
 
CS HISTORY OF MARGARET 3I0RT0N. 
 
 tracted, voluntary martyrdom, contrasted with 
 which, the quickly accomplished cremation of 
 the Hindoo widow was but a momentary 
 pain. Mr. Wynum continued to inflict on him- 
 self an egotistical torture as he deliberately 
 2)assed in review the life of the being whose 
 existence had been so completely absorbed in 
 his ; it was a pleasure that could only be 
 experienced by a man of refined intellect, keen 
 sensibility, and ingrained selfishness. 
 
 Cornet Wynum ordered a cab, that he and 
 his father might drive to Piccadilly, and Mr. 
 Wynum sent a polite note of excuse to Mrs. 
 Archibald, explaining why he should not be 
 able to attend her whist-table that evening, 
 and asking permission to present his son at her 
 house on the following day. Having dis- 
 patched this note by Mrs. Green's little niece, 
 who acted as general servant in the house, Mr. 
 Wynum prepared to descend the staircase, 
 observing- to his son that the cab would arrive 
 in a minute or two. Miss Maunsell's door 
 happened to be slightly ajar, Mr. Wynum 
 paused and knocked, and tlie lady appeared in 
 23erson. The gentleman apologized, and lioped 
 Miss Maunsell had not been disturbed by any 
 unwonted noise above her head that morning. 
 
 '' Dear me, sir, not at all." 
 
EISTOBY OF MABGARET MOBTON. 6& 
 
 ^^ Because," added Mr. Wynum, ^' I have 
 had a military visitor this afternoon." 
 
 ^^ My dear sir," said Miss Maunsell, smiHng- 
 a most cordial smile, whilst her face glowed 
 with jDleasure, ^' I Ve heard of your happiness. 
 But won't you walk in? — bless me, I quite 
 forgot ; won't you walk in ? " 
 
 Miss Maunsell drew back, making a move- 
 ment of invitation with her hand. Mr. 
 AYynum smiled acquiescence, then turning, 
 looked up the flight of stairs he had descended, 
 called out, ^^ Charlie," and not receiving an 
 immediate reply, added gaily, '' Cornet, 
 Captain, General, you're waited for." A 
 ringing laugh replied to this invocation ; a 
 quick step was heard on the stairs, and Cornet 
 Wynum reached the landing, his military 
 cloak on his arm, his left hand supporting his 
 sword, to prevent it striking the stairs, and his 
 cap in his right hand. He looked a maiden's 
 vision of a youthful Mars. Miss Maunsell 
 thought so too, as she caught her first view of 
 Cornet Wynum's tall and slender figure, of his 
 full blue eyes, bright with health and generous 
 feeling, and the good-tem2)ered smib tliat 
 played round his well-cut mouth, which his 
 delicate moustache was not yet able to hide. 
 
 Cornet Wynum paused a moment on the 
 
70 EISTORY OF MAHGABET MOBTON. 
 
 landing. His father leckoned him within the 
 door, and requested permission to introduce 
 his son to the lady in whose presence he stood. 
 Miss Maunsell made as deep a curtsey as her 
 height, width, and rlieumatic knee-joints per- 
 mitted. Though old enough to be Cornet 
 Wynum's grandmother, she did not shake 
 hands with him, the fact of her maiden con- 
 dition being always .present to Miss Maunsell's 
 mind, and the sight of the young cornet 
 carried her instantly back half a century in 
 her existence. Ever mindful of the duties of 
 hospitality, the lady rang the bell, and Mrs. 
 Green appeared wdth a salver, wine, and 
 biscuits. The gentlemen excused themselves — 
 they had had some bitter ale ; but Miss Maun- 
 sell would not be refused. It was a point of 
 honour that the first time Cornet Wynum 
 entered her apartments he should take a glass 
 of wine. With old-fashioned cordiality, Miss 
 Maunsell poured out the wine herself, and 
 handed a glass to each gentleman, remarking 
 that, though Mr. Wynum was her fellow- 
 lodger, she believed that was only the second 
 or third time he had entered her rooms. Then 
 came the old explanation from the gentleman 
 that, having the honour of meeting his fair 
 neighbour so frequently at the house of Mrs. 
 
EISTOBY OF MARGABET MORTON. 71 
 
 Archibald, to whom they were both bound by 
 a common friendship, he hoped more formal 
 visits would be dispensed with. The mention 
 of Mrs. Archibald's name brouglit Miss Maun- 
 sell to remark how glad her friend would be to 
 see Cornet Wynum. With such remarks and 
 some general observations from the lady on 
 the climate of India, the courage of soldiers, 
 and the ferocity of tigers, more than half an 
 hour glided away. Mrs. Green's small female 
 relative had announced the arrival of the cab 
 some twenty minutes before, but the petty 
 intruder had been warned away by a wave of 
 Miss Maunsell's hand. That good lady's wine 
 was as good and as real as herself — none of the 
 modern free-trade doctored stuff, — and the 
 glasses were of a capacity that allowed you to 
 take something like a mouthful, on which to 
 pronounce an opinion, and a second to test the 
 correctness of the first, and a third to corrobo- 
 rate your assertion, leaving still a remainder 
 for silent enjoyment. 
 
 Mr. Wynum had taken a second glass of 
 wine, his hostess had done the like, and the 
 cornet had handed the biscuits round a second 
 time, when at length these hospitalities and 
 festivities came to a close. Mr. Wynum 
 remembered the cab had been waiting a long 
 
72 mSTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 time, and that he, with his son, were to call on 
 a friend at the United Service Club ; he also 
 recollected that dinner was ordered at the 
 Bath Hotel for five o'clock. His memory 
 suddenly invaded by such a host of facts, Mr. 
 Wynum rose. Miss Maunsell shook hands 
 with him, and, thawed by the genial influences 
 that had prevailed during the visit, she con- 
 ferred the like honour on Cornet Wynum, who 
 went off delighted with Miss Maunsell, his 
 father, himself, and the world in general. 
 
 He was only twenty years of age and a 
 one-month-old cornet. 
 
EISTOBT OF MABGARET MOBTON. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Whilst Cornet Wynum and his father were 
 spending a quiet evening over their cigars and 
 wine at the Bath Hotel, and wliilst Mr. Archi- 
 bald and his friend Mr. Morton were employed 
 in a similar way at another hotel, Miss 
 Maunsell was descanting loudly on the attrac- 
 tions of the young officer whose acquaintance 
 she had that mornino^ made. The euloo^-ium 
 was pronounced at Mrs. Archibald's whist- 
 table, round which sat, beside the hostess, 
 Miss Maunsell, Miss Morton, and Mr. Browne. 
 In the absence of her brother and cousin, 
 Margaret had taken a hand at whist. 
 
 ^^ He 's such a handsome young man," so 
 went on the eulogy ; "six feet high at least — 
 quite as tall as his father, and so slender, you'd 
 think you could snap his waist in two. I 'm 
 sure he can't be very strong, though lie looks 
 the picture of health — blooming cheeks and 
 deep-blue eyes." 
 
 " Then he 's like his mother," observed Mrs. 
 Archibald. 
 
74 HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 ^^Xot a bit: the image of his father — a 
 beautiful young man." 
 
 " Kis mother was handsome," said Mrs. 
 Archibald, softly, as she shuffled the cards. 
 
 ''Did 3^ou think so, dear? I must say I 
 never did. The wonder was," added the fair 
 speaker, ^ casting down her large, deep-set eyes, 
 and dropping the lids until they nearly touched 
 her cheeks, ^' the wonder was what could have 
 induced him to marry her — a man that might 
 hav^e commanded any woman." 
 
 " That's saying a great deal," observed Mr. 
 Browme. 
 
 It was saying a great deal, and Mr. Browne 
 at the moment suspected that the '' any woman " 
 meant a positive individual. 
 
 " I cannot understand," said Margaret, as 
 she sorted her cards, ' ' how a man could be in 
 a j^osition to command any woman." 
 
 Margaret Morton was viewing the subject 
 logically and disjDassionately ; Miss Maunsell 
 thought slie spoke ironically, and coloured 
 violently, as she replied, — 
 
 '' You don't understand, — it 's not necessary 
 you should " ; and then softened down with, 
 ^^ Little girls need not know of such things; 
 their time will come." 
 
 Miss Maunsell was fond of treating Margaret 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 75 
 
 as a child. Mrs. Archibald, who thoroughly 
 understood her friend's peculiarities, said, with 
 a softly roguish smile, — / 
 
 •' Now, Ellen, did you not refuse him your- 
 self ? '"' 
 
 ^' Never, dear, never," said Miss Maunsell, 
 smiling brightly, and quite flattered by the 
 susjDicion ; '^it was women much superior to 
 me he could liave commanded." 
 
 Mr. Browne caught up the word. 
 
 ''Miss Maunsell, I would not hear your enemy 
 say so. Women superior to you ! w^here were 
 — where are such to be found ? " 
 
 " Oh, sir, you're too good ! — you flatter." 
 
 And Miss Maunsell again dropped her eyes, 
 as she always did when she Avished to be im- 
 pressive. 
 
 "Margaret," said her aunt, ''you lead. 
 You're eldest hand." 
 
 " Bless me, I haven't sorted my cards," ex- 
 claimed Miss Maunsell ; and snatching them up, 
 she proceeded to her task. Having classified 
 her cards, she inquired Avhat were trumps, and 
 being informed, groaned. 
 
 " A bad omen," said Mr. Browne. 
 
 "A ruse, perhaps," said Mrs. Arcliibald. 
 
 "I hope so," said Margaret, who was Miss 
 Maunsell's partner. 
 
76 EISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 ^' No, indeed, dear," responded the suspected 
 person, casting across the table a beaming 
 glance from lier large blue eyes. Miss Maun- 
 selPs anger was only a passing flash ; besides 
 she was now flattered into superlatively good 
 humour. 
 
 As these amiable kill-times played long 
 whist, one rubber, especially in the summer 
 months, often filled up their evening. At ten 
 o'clock Mrs. Green called to conduct Miss 
 Maunsell home. Mr. Browne would willingly 
 have escorted the lady, but she, in the lofty 
 purity of her maiden meditations, would 
 accept no other attendant than a female ser- 
 vant. Mr. Wynum, though living in the same 
 house as Miss Maunsell, always gave the lady 
 half an hour's precedence in returning home of 
 an evening. Mrs. Archibald once remarked to 
 her friend Ellen that she might very well walk 
 home with Mr. Wynum, considering that they 
 lived under the same roof. 
 
 '^ Never, dear, never. What would the Avorld 
 say?" 
 
 Mrs. Archibald did not know, but she had a 
 strong suspicion that tlie world would say — 
 nothing. 
 
 On returning from the Bath Hotel, Mr. 
 Wynum found on his mantel-piece a neatly- 
 
HISTORY OF MAHGABET MOBTON. 77 
 
 written note. It was from Mrs. Archibald, 
 congratulating liim on the arrival of his son, 
 and inviting both to a friendly, unceremonious 
 dinner on the following day. 
 
 The invitation was accepted in the same 
 spirit in which it was given. Cornet Wynum 
 made so favourable an impression on Mrs. 
 Archibald, that at parting his hostess invited 
 him to visit her house on the same terms as his 
 father did; that is to say, whenever he pleased. 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Ox the day that Mr. Morton returned from the 
 Continent, CHfton, his aunt's faithful maid, also 
 arrived at Eva Terrace. Clifton brought with 
 her a little niece who was also her god- 
 daughter, and whom she wished to train as a 
 good servant. Mrs. Archibald advised that 
 the child should be sent to a day-school in 
 the neighbourhood, and said she could live at 
 Eva Terrace, where she w^ould be under her 
 aunt's care. Clifton was grateful ] but this 
 was only one amongst many benefits she had 
 received from her mistress. Mrs. Archibald 
 was really attached to Clifton. Services, that 
 had extended over more than a quarter of a 
 century, had rendered Clifton indispensable to 
 her mistress. It was with the consciousness of 
 making a great sacrifice that Mrs. Archibald 
 had consented to the four weeks' absence 
 requested by Clifton. It was now a pleasure 
 to the old friends that frequented Eva Terrace 
 
HISTOBY OF MAEGABET MOBTON. 79 
 
 to see Clifton again moving about the house. 
 Her staid, orderly appearance inspired a feeling 
 of security; one could not help thinking 
 everything Avas sure to be right under Clifton's 
 superintendence. It was refreshing to see her 
 of a morning in her neat print gown, turned 
 back at the top of the corsage, displaying the 
 regularly folded white neckerchief beneath. 
 And at whatever period of the day you might 
 chance to meet Clifton, you always saw lier in 
 a respectable cap, bordered with good washing 
 lace, and placed quite on her head. Clifton 
 abhorred the flimsy finery of modern London 
 servants, who give some shillings for an oblong 
 scrap of unwashable material covered with 
 blowsy ribbon or tawdy flowers, which fine 
 composition is worn till it becomes grimy, 
 when it is flung into the dust-bin and replaced 
 by another equally unserviceable, to be worn 
 first in unbecoming flauntiness and afterwards 
 in disreputable dirt. 
 
 Clifton, on her return to Eva Terrace, soon 
 began to find fault with changes that had taken 
 place there during her absence. Amongst these 
 were Cornet Wynum's morning calls. Clifton 
 ventured on a few hints to her mistress ; but 
 though she a2:)proached the subject with great 
 delicacy, she was instantly checked by Mrs. 
 
W HISTOET OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 Archibald, who never allowed a servant to 
 assume the character of adviser. But though she 
 cut short Clifton's observations, she neverthe- 
 less j)rofited by the hints conveyed, and on 
 the following morning, about half-jDast eleven, 
 descended to the library. She found there her 
 niece, nephew, and Cornet Wynum. The 
 latter had now an opportunity of presenting to 
 the lady of the house, in person, the bouquet 
 which had lain for the previous half-hour on 
 the table. Mrs. Archibald saw at a glance how 
 the case stood. Cornet Wynum admired Miss 
 Morton, and her brother regarded his attentions 
 with a friendly feeling. Mrs. Archibald GX])e- 
 rienced a feeling akin to alarm. Had Henry 
 and Richard quarrelled ? was her first mental 
 inquiry. She v/as perplexed, ' but the real 
 position might have been easily explained. 
 Henry Morton, though he scarcely acknow- 
 ledged it to himself, was annoyed with Richard 
 Archibald, on the score of many small offences, 
 which taken altogether made up an aggregate 
 of considerable magnitude. It was under the 
 influence of this irritation that Henry Morton 
 began to question the wisdom, and indeed the 
 respectability, of the tacit understanding that 
 existed between his aunt and Richard Archi- 
 bald, by which the latter was regarded as the 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. SI 
 
 destined husband of Margaret. And it was 
 this same undefined sense of irritation that 
 gave a strong zest to the pleasure he experienced 
 in witnessing the young cornet's admiration 
 for his sister. If the truth must be told, Henry- 
 Morton was glad to see the ground being cut 
 from under Richard Archibald. 
 
 Cornet Wynum had taken his departure, 
 taking with him Mrs. Archibald's compliments 
 to his father, and her expressed hope of seeing 
 both father and son the same evening. After 
 lunch, Henry Morton was asked by his aunt, if 
 he could afford her half an hour's chat. He 
 was quite at her service, and, presenting his 
 arm, he conducted her to the drawing-room. 
 
 Having taken her customary comfortable 
 place on the sofa, and beckoned her nephew 
 to draw his chair beside her, Mrs. Archibald 
 began, — 
 
 '' My dear Harry, you know how averse I 
 am to talking of business, how unequal I am 
 to any great exertion. My dear Harry," with 
 a wave of the hand, '^ pray allow me to go on. 
 I have made up my mind to speak to you. 
 Need I remind you that you are the eldest son 
 of my only brother, whom, until I became a 
 wife, I loved more than any human being 
 after I lost my father and mother ? Need I 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
82 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 remind you that Richard Archibald is the 
 nephew of my husband^ for whom my love 
 exceeded all I had borne to parents and 
 brother? Now, Harry, Richard and you ought 
 to be equally dear to me. If you are not, if I 
 sometimes feel a preference for the son of my 
 brother, jDcrhaps I reproach myself. I would 
 wish to regard you both in exactly the same 
 light. Now, Harry, what is the cause of this 
 dissatisfaction with Richard which you so 
 plainly showed to-day, and what does this 
 praising of Cornet Wynum mean ? " 
 
 Henry Morton was taken quite aback by his 
 aunt's address; for address it was, and delivered 
 in slow and measured terms. He did not 
 speak for a few minutes, but he then looked 
 frankly up. ^^ Aunt, as you have sj^oken, I'll 
 tell you what it is. I am dissatisfied with 
 Dick. He takes too much on him, — and then 
 the way he treats Margaret ! " 
 
 ^^ What do you mean, Harry ? " 
 
 '^Surely, aunt, you see yourself; he treats 
 her as if he had a right to command her, as if 
 she were intended for him, as if she were 
 brought up to be his wife. Margaret is a girl 
 that need not be cut out for any one. There 
 are hundreds of men that would be proud to 
 marry her. Besides, aunt, though she has no 
 
HISTOnr OF MA UG ABET MOB'LON. 83 
 
 fortune from lier father, I intend to give her 
 one." 
 
 ^^ You 're very generous, Harry," said his 
 aunt, in a faint voice. 
 
 ^^•No, aunt, excuse me. 'Tis not generosity ; 
 'tis justice. Why should I take everything ? 
 When the Indian business is cleared, and 
 begins to pay, and Avhen the estate is pur- 
 chased, I shall be a rich man, and able to give 
 my sister a handsome dowry. She 's not 
 obliged to marry Richard Archibald. She can 
 make her own choice. I 'm sure, aunt, much 
 as you love your nephews, you think as much 
 of your niece." 
 
 '' I think, Harry, I have proved that." 
 
 '' My dear aunt, nobody knows it better 
 than I ; nobody feels it more than Margaret." 
 
 ^^I really think your uncle was fonder of 
 Margaret than of Eichard. But, Harry, have 
 you been talking of these matters to Mar- 
 garet ? " 
 
 '^ Certainly not, aunt." 
 
 ^^'Twould pain me deeply if you did. But 
 now, Harry, answer me frankly. Has there 
 been a quarrel between you and Richard ? " 
 
 '' No, aunt ; none at all." 
 
 '^ Then why the temper you showed this 
 morning ? " 
 
S4 HISTORY OF MABGABET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 ^' Did I show temper? 'Twould be no 
 wonder if I did. Dick assumes great authority. 
 He 's so self-conceited. He thinks nobody 
 knows anything but himself. He 's always 
 boasting of his knowledge of the law, as if 
 eating a dozen dinners were a great feat. He 
 tries to put every one down ; but he shan't put 
 me down. If it goes to education, I got as 
 much as he. Besides, aunt, you know all the 
 mischief done to our family was done by Dick's 
 father." 
 
 '' But Dick couldn't help that." 
 
 ^'Xo; bat it ought to make him modest. 
 What a great deal of money my father lost ! 
 What a oTcat deal uncle lost ! I think it hurried 
 them both out of the world." 
 
 ''Oh, Harry, Harry I Pray don't refer to the 
 past. 'Tis more than I can bear." 
 
 '' My dear aunt, I beg your pardon ; but 'tis 
 all Dick's fault." 
 
 ' He stopped short, and looked at his aunt. 
 She was leaning back on the sofa, with her 
 hand across her eyes. Henry Morton Avas 
 grieved. He took his aunt's disengaged hand, 
 and pressed it between both his. 
 
 ''My dear aunt, I beg your pardon ; I beg 
 your pardon. I 've been talking like a foolish 
 school-boy. I'm quite ashamed of myself. 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MORTON. 85 
 
 Pray forgive me." And he drew his aunt's 
 hand from before her eyes. 
 
 ^^My dear Harry, I'm not angry nor 
 annoyed. I was only thinking how very like 
 your father you are — so impulsive, so warm- 
 hearted." 
 
 And Mrs. Archibald smiled affectionately on 
 her nephew. 
 
 Henry Morton stood up, took a turn twice 
 across the room, and returned to his seat. 
 
 "Ton my word, aunt, I think I'm very 
 silly. I hope you won't take notice of any- 
 thing I 've said." 
 
 " All you have said, Harry, is not silly. It 
 has set me thinking, and now we '11 talk 
 seriously. What did you mean this morning 
 by praising Cornet Wynum, and disparaging 
 Richard, and seeming to couple both their 
 names with Margaret's ? " 
 
 " Well, I meant nothing particular ; but " — 
 after a pause — '^ by Jove, 'tis diverting to see 
 how much in love with Margaret that young 
 Wynum is." 
 
 "Harry, Harry! surely you do not wish to 
 make your sister an object of ridicule." 
 
 ' ' Certainly not, aunt ; but I do like to see 
 young Wynum in love with Meg. 'Tis the 
 first time she ever got any real admiration, I 
 
86 HISTORY OF MARGAEET MORTON. 
 
 think. Dick Arcliibald pays her no attention, 
 except to order her to work for him." 
 
 The last phrase was spoken with warmth. 
 Henry Morton was again working himself into 
 anger against his cousin. 
 
 ^' Henry," said Mrs. Archibald, gravely, 
 ^^ your words imply a reproach to me. Had I 
 thought there was the slightest probability of 
 Cornet Wynum's falling in love, as you call it, 
 with j\Iargaret, I would never have invited 
 him to my house." 
 
 '^ But, aunt, what could the young fellow 
 do ? Of course he fell in love. If Meg went 
 more into society you 'd see hundreds of 
 young fellows falling in lovc^ with her." 
 
 ^^ I should be very sorry to see my niece a 
 target for staring vulgarity." 
 
 Mrs. jirchibald was now annoyed ; but^ 
 quickly recovering herself, she sat more 
 upright on her couch and looked straight at 
 her nephew. 
 
 '^ Harry, have you any objection to look- 
 ing forward to the possibility of Margaret 
 oecoming one day Eichard's wife ? " 
 
 '' No, aunt, I have not ; but I don't like the 
 idea of Meg being offered to him." 
 
 '^ Oh, Harry, for shame ! No woman of our 
 family has ever been offered to any man." 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAUET MORTON. 87 
 
 ^' Of course not, aunt, of course not ; but 
 Dick acts as if he were sure of my sister." 
 
 ^' Harry, you force me to speak more plainly 
 than I had intended to. When your dear 
 nncle and I took charge of liichard and 
 Margaret, we treated them, as far as an u.ncle 
 and aunt could do, like our own children. 
 We gave them like training, as far as was 
 compatible with the difference between boy 
 and girl, and, if we formed the wish, or looked 
 forward to the possibility, of seeing them at 
 some future time more to each other than 
 cousins, it was entirely with a view to their 
 happiness. We endeavoured to do our duty to 
 both." 
 
 ^^ Oh, aunt ! there could be no better mother 
 than you have been to Margaret, but — " 
 
 '' IStay, Harry. In looking forward to 
 this possible union between Richard and 
 Margaret it was always with the under- 
 standing that Margaret should be free to 
 accept or reject her cousin. She was not to 
 be controlled in her choice." 
 
 ''' Of course not, aunt." 
 
 ^'But, on the other hand, neither was Richard 
 to be bound in any way. He too was to have 
 a liberty of choice." 
 
 '^ I wish he 'd choose somebody else." 
 
88 EISTOEY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 ^^Now, Harry, don't be impetuous. Do 
 you think Richard an unsuitable husband for 
 Margaret ? " 
 
 No answer. Mrs. Archibald went on. 
 
 '' Do you not think that two 23ersons educated 
 in the same principles, trained in the same 
 way from childhood, would be likely to make 
 each other happy in married life ? Do you 
 not think there is a better chance of happiness 
 in such a marriage than can be expected from 
 one of these hap-hazard matches founded on a 
 ball-room acquaintance ? I confess I 've always 
 looked with a certain amount of favour on the 
 Continental system, where parents select the 
 future son- or daughter-in-law. Parents under- 
 stand the disposition of their children better 
 than they do themselves, and know better 
 w^hat would make them happy in their future 
 homes. Your uncle and I — I speak to you 
 in the strictest confidence, Harry — looked 
 forward with pleasure to the prospect of a 
 marriage between Richard and Margaret. We 
 believed it would be for their liappiness ; we 
 knew it would be for their benefit. Richard, 
 you know, is his uncle's heir, and Margaret 
 has no money." 
 
 ''Aunt," said Henry Morton, very gravely,, 
 and looking steadfastly in Mrs. Archibald's 
 
HISTOEY OF MARGARET MORTON, 89 
 
 face, ^Miave you disclosed yoiu^ views on this 
 subject to Richard ? " 
 
 During the previous twenty years so strong 
 a flush had not visited Mrs. Archibald's face 
 as now" dyed it from brow to chin. She did 
 not immediately reply to her nephew. She 
 wished to recover her self-possession com- 
 pletely before she spoke. 
 
 ^' Harry, as Margaret's brother, I recognize 
 your right to ask the question ; but it seems 
 like wishing to deprive me of the position 
 which I have always held with regard to 
 Margaret — that of a mother." 
 
 '^Oh, my dear aunt! how could you think 
 so ? " 
 
 ^' Harry, 'tis quite plain. Your rights over 
 Margaret are stronger than mine. You 're 
 her natural protector ; I 'm only an adoptive 
 mother." 
 
 ^' My dear aunt, you wrong me. Xo such 
 thoughts crossed my mind. When I asked if 
 you had spoken to Eichard as you have to me, 
 it was merely from a desire to know how 
 things stood." 
 
 '' You 're right, Harry, quite riglit. I have 
 spoken to Richard; and, giving you this conh- 
 dence, I must give you another, which may 
 look like a breach of trust, but which I confide 
 
90 HISTORY OF MABGARET 3I0RT0N. 
 
 to your honour. Eichard loves Margaret, and 
 looks forward to making her his wife, as the 
 reward of his hard studies and all the struggles 
 he has before him." 
 
 Henry Morton was silenced but not satisfied. 
 
 '' Don't you think, aunt, he has a very 
 curious way of showing his love ? '' 
 
 ' ' Harry, I must now speak to you about 
 "what, as a young man, you possibly don't 
 understand. I 've brought up Margaret as the 
 women of our family have always been l)rought 
 up. I have reared her in that purity of modest 
 reserve wliich is only another name for inno- 
 cence. Harry, I 'm sure you wouldn't like to 
 see your sister walking about with a young 
 man, even though he might be called her 
 cousin. You wouldn't wish to see her rendered 
 conspicuous by being made the object of his 
 attentions in public; above all, you wouldn't 
 like to see her sunk to the degradation of 
 being engaged in what 's called a flirtation, 
 but which in my opinion deserves a much 
 stronger name." 
 
 " Aunt, you horrify me. I 'd rather see my 
 sister dead." 
 
 '^ Well, Harry, to preserve Margaret in the 
 full dignity of Avoman's unsullied purity, I 
 extracted a promise from Richard that he 
 
HISTORY OF MAEGABET MORTON. 91 
 
 would never by look or word endeavour to 
 awaken in Margaret's mind an idea of love. 
 When he should be in a position to marry he 
 could come to me : now he can go to you and 
 formally ask Margaret's hand, she being free to 
 accept or refuse as she pleases. So now, Harry, 
 you see that whilst you thought I was consider- 
 ing only Eichard's interests or likings, I have 
 been in reality guarding Margaret's." 
 
 '' My dear aunt, you have been indeed a 
 mother to her. How can we ever repay you ? " 
 
 ''I hope, Harry, 3^ou feel satisfied." 
 
 ^'More than satisfied, aunt. I'm quite 
 hai^py." 
 
 ^' Harry, a word about Cornet Wynum. 
 What would you imply by talking of his admira- 
 tion for Margaret ? " 
 
 ^^ Really, aunt, I don't know. A young fellow 
 always admires a handsome girl when he sees 
 her. 'Tis quite natural. I do it myself. I 've 
 admired hundreds of girls, but never thought 
 of marrying any of 'em." 
 
 '' You give a nice account of yourself, Harry," 
 said his aunt, laughing. 
 
 " Well, aunt, 'tis the same with all young 
 men. Girls like it. They don't expect any- 
 thing serious." 
 
 ^' That 's precisely one of the customs of our 
 
02 HISTORY OF MABGARET MORTON. 
 
 modern English society wliicli I detest, and 
 which I think has tended to lessen the respect 
 for women in this comitiy. Harry, would you 
 like to see your sister conduct herself as those 
 girls did whom 3^ou say you admired ? " 
 
 ''I should be very, very sorry to see Meg 
 go on in that way, aunt.'' 
 
 ^^Very well, Harry. But we must be just 
 to others as well as to ourselves. Would it be 
 just on your part to look approvingly on Cornet 
 Wynum's admiration of your sister ? " 
 
 ^^ But he can't help it. You know, aunt, I 
 told you I 've admired hundreds of girls." 
 
 "" But you also told me they were not like 
 Margaret. Now, H^irry, let me speak to 
 you from the eminence of my experience. 
 The man who seriously cultivates admiration 
 for a girl such as Margaret, or for such 
 a woman as I think she will become, does 
 not easily forget her. Therefore I think it 
 would be unjust in you or me to encourage 
 Cornet Wynum's admiration for Margaret. 
 However, as far as it has gone yet, it is too 
 superficial to demand serious notice. Besides, 
 Cornet Wynum leaves England within a month. 
 As far as Margaret is concerned it is only one 
 of those little social conquests to which every 
 Avoman is entitled." 
 
niSTOBY OF MAnGAJlET MORTON. 93 
 
 ^^ Just so, aunt, just so. That 's what I felt, 
 but I didn't know how to exjDress it." 
 
 '^Hany, be so good as to hand me that 
 geranium." And Mrs. Archibald leaned back 
 languidly. 
 
 Harry lifted the pot, and, having placed it on a 
 small table near his aunt, strolled to the window. 
 
 ^^ A carriage has stopped at the door, I think," 
 said Mrs. Archibald. 
 
 Her nephew went into the back drawing- 
 room whicli looked upon the road, made his 
 observation and said, — 
 
 ^^ Yes, there 's a brougham at the door." 
 
 Clifton presented lierself a minute after with 
 the intelligence that the brougham was come. 
 
 '^What brougham, Clifton?" asked her 
 mistress. 
 
 ^^ The brougham Miss Margaret ordered, 
 ma'am. She thought a drive in the Park Avould 
 do you good this sunny day." 
 
 ^' I think so too, Clifton. Fetch my shawl 
 and bonnet, and ask Miss Margaret to get 
 ready whilst the brougham goes round for Miss 
 Maunsell. You see, Harry" — turning to her 
 nephew — ^^ Margaret is quite a daughter to me." 
 
 The brougham soon returned, bringing Miss 
 Maunsell. Mr. Morton lianded in his aunt and 
 sister, and took his departure for the city. 
 
94 HISTORY OF MABGAllET MORTON, 
 
 Mrs. Archibald^ on whom Clifton's remarks 
 of the morning had not been lost, had formed 
 a plan of action which she was only waiting- 
 an opportunity to carry into effect. As her 
 brougham drove towards the Serpentine, Miss 
 Maunsell saluted two ladies who were walking 
 slowlv on the sward. After a few minutes Mrs. 
 Archibald said, — 
 
 '^ That was Madame Charleroi you saluted, 
 Ellen. She 's very prepossessing, and dresses 
 with great taste.'' 
 
 '^ She wouldn't be a Frenchwoman if she did 
 not." 
 
 " Yvlio was that young lady Avith Madame 
 Charleroi ? She has no daughter, I believe." 
 
 " No. That 's Miss West ; a very nice girl. 
 Her father is a very agreeable man. I some- 
 times meet him when I make a morning call at 
 Madame Charleroi' s." 
 
 ''My dear Ellen," said her friend, "what 
 you said the other day made a great impression 
 on my mind. I recognized your good sense 
 and good feeling." 
 
 " My dear creature," exclaimed Miss Maunsell, 
 " my good sense? Where can that come from ? " 
 
 "Your good feeling is known to all your 
 friends, Ellen, and to me in particular. Of 
 your good sense I 've had many proofs. You 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON, 95 
 
 have often said my stay-at-home habits make 
 me seem unneighbourly. You 're quite right. 
 But worse, I feel I 've been unjust both to you 
 and to Margaret." 
 
 '^ My dear creature, you make me feel quita 
 guilty." 
 
 '' I intend to repair my past errors. Return- 
 ing, we shall call on Miss Keel, and you shall 
 then hear my proposition." 
 
 The ladies on their homeward drive called 
 on Miss Keel. Mrs. Archibald, in the sweetest 
 tones, asked as a favour that Miss Keel, instead 
 of talking French at her own house of a morn- 
 ing with Monsieur Claude, would introduce 
 that gentleman at Eva Terrace, where her 
 nephew and Cornet Wynum, who both spoke 
 French well, would be glad to make his 
 acquaintance. ^' And, Ellen," went on the 
 sj^eaker, '4f you would promise to come I 
 think I would make an effort and rise early 
 to furbish up my French." 
 
 ^' I 'm delighted, dear, to hear you say so. 
 I 'm really delighted." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald and her party took leave of 
 Miss Keel, leaving that simple-minded creature 
 much pleased in the belief that her j)raises of 
 Monsieur Claude had worked favourably, and 
 that Mrs. Archibald was about to lay aside the 
 
96 HISTORY OF MABGARET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 pride and exclusiveness whicli Miss Keel knew 
 by experience were amongst her strongest 
 characteristics. Miss Maunsell congratulated 
 herself in the conviction that she had at 
 length won ^^that dear creature" from the 
 solitude and loneliness to which she had so 
 long consigned herself. Margaret Morton was 
 neither surprised nor deceived. She only 
 wondered that her aunt could take so nmch 
 trouble for an object which did not seem to her 
 worth the pains. 
 
 There was a very merry meeting the follow- 
 ing morning at Eva Terrace. Miss Maunsell 
 bustled into the library a little after ten 
 o'clock; Miss Keel and Monsieur Claude next 
 put in an appearance, and soon after Mrs. 
 Archibald presented herself. Great was 
 Cornet Wynum's surprise when, some minutes 
 before eleven o'clock, he was shown into the 
 assembly, and equally great would have been 
 Henry Morton's astonishment at the siglit of 
 so many visitors at such an hour had not his 
 sister previously told him what had passed at 
 Miss Keel's on the previous day. 
 
 ^' It strikes me," said Henry Morton, after 
 hearing what his sister had to say, ^^ that aunt 
 is afraid of Richard. I hope you're not, 
 Meg." 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET 3I0RT0N. 97 
 
 ^^ I 'm not afraid of any one. I 've nothing 
 to be afraid about." 
 
 ^^ I wish I were out of this mess, Meg. I 'm 
 confoundedly annoyed." 
 
 ^^ What mess?" 
 
 ^^ I m condemned to idleness, and all through 
 Dick's fault. We owe him nothing, Meg. 
 He is as bad to us as his father was." 
 
 Margaret made no observation, and her 
 brother, feeling his temper rising, walked into 
 the garden and began to smoke. He had not 
 been long occupied in this healthful exercise 
 when the members of the seance began to 
 arrive, but Mr. Morton continued his prome- 
 nade, occasionally stepping into the library to 
 salute a new-comer, or to ask one of the 
 gentlemen to join him in a cigar. It was 
 only after repeated invitations Cornet Wynum 
 accepted the invitation. He was glad to venti- 
 late his astonishment and confusion in the 
 open air, and he was especially glad to walk 
 with Miss Morton's brother. 
 
 Meanwhile the members of the seance went 
 on speaking French, largely interspersed with 
 English, and laughing at their own mistakes, 
 till Monsieur Claude offered to read aloud ; 
 then the ladies took up their knitting and 
 needlework and became very quiet, and 
 
 A^OL. T. u 
 
98 mSTOBY OF MAEGAEET IdOETON. 
 
 expressed many thanks when, at a quarter to 
 twelve, the reader said he must retire, having 
 an ajDpointment with his father at the Exhi- 
 bition. Miss Keel soon after left, because her 
 mother dined early ; Cornet Wynum, who 
 carried within him a secret sense of guiltiness, 
 as if conscious of being the cause of all this 
 domestic confusion, remembered, at an un- 
 usually early hour, that his father would be 
 exj)ecting him, and Henry Morton remembered 
 he owed a visit to Mr. Wynum. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald told Miss Maunsell, who 
 remained to lunch, that she was greatly pleased 
 with the morning's proceedings. And so she 
 was. She believed things were now in a train 
 that would quietly and securely accomplish the 
 end she had in view. And such would 
 probably have been the result, were it not that 
 
 counter-mine, of whose existence Mrs. Archi- 
 Dald had no suspicion, suddenly exploded and 
 created much confusion. 
 
 To explain how this occurred it will be 
 necessary to enter into some details respecting 
 a personage who has been hitherto mentioned 
 only incidentally in this narrative. 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 99 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The genius that presides over ^^ chance" must 
 have specially afFectioned Mrs. Green, for 
 nothing occurred in that lady's neighbourhood 
 worthy her notice — and to her philosophic 
 mind few things were so trifling as to be un- 
 deserving attention — which was not by favour 
 of the deity Chance brought within the range 
 of her observation. Indeed, the power called 
 Chance might, viewing her relations with Mrs. 
 Green, be supposed to have contracted a 
 matrimonial alliance, and changed her name 
 to Certainty ; for certain it was that Mrs. 
 Green knew — not the mere gossip of the loca- 
 lity, not the uncertified on dits that might 
 satisfy a special correspondent, printed one 
 day, and contradicted the next — but the exact 
 facts as they occurred under the roofs, and 
 even in the j^rivate chambers, of large portions 
 of the population of St. Mary Abbott's, Ken- 
 sington. It spoke volumes for the modesty of 
 
1(30 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 Mrs. Green that she did not arrogate to her- 
 self any personal credit for the vast amount of 
 general information she possessed, and of 
 which she was able to keep up a constant and 
 accurate supply. On the contrary, so far from 
 pluming, she always seemed inclined to depre- 
 ciate, herself, making it appear as though she 
 were merely an instrument — a kind of tele- 
 graphic wire — used by some higher intelli- 
 gence for the transmission of information. 
 This intelligence Mrs. Green designated 
 Chance, and it would require no great effort 
 of imagination to believe that the power thus 
 named must have taken permanent lodgings in 
 the locality where she was kept so busy. '' I 
 learned it by chance," sucli was the modest 
 form which Mrs. Green flung like a veil over 
 her many discoveries, and which concealed 
 from the eyes of superficial observers the 
 quick perception, close attention, and untiring 
 activity which she was constantly bringing to 
 bear upon the external world. 
 
 And Mrs. Green was no niggard of the 
 information of which she became mistress. 
 No society for the diffusion of knowledge, 
 useful or otherwise, could be more zealous for 
 the dissemination of its tenets than was Mrs. 
 Green for the transfusion of intelligence on tlie 
 
mSTOBY OF ISIABGABET MORTON. 101 
 
 topics brought within her special sphere. As 
 those who have partaken of puddings are alone 
 in a position to speak authoritatively of their 
 excellence, so it was only those who by long 
 experience had tested the correctness of Mrs. 
 Green's general information that could do 
 justice to the fulness and accuracy of the 
 same. But Mrs. Green, humble and unobtru- 
 sive in discharging the duties of the important 
 agency entrusted to her by her great patron, 
 had nevertheless acquired amongst all who had 
 the happiness of her acquaintance a reputation 
 wliich many higher placed in society might 
 have envied. ''I had it from Mrs. Green" 
 was a reply capable of silencing the doubts 
 and satisfying the understanding of the most 
 sceptical lodging-house keeper, cook, or house- 
 maid in Kensington when intelligence of an 
 unwonted and extraordinary character was 
 offered to the hearer. 
 
 Amongst the favoured recipients of tlie early 
 and general intelligence possessed and propa- 
 gated by Mrs. Green Miss Maunsell held the 
 highest place. It was a strong evidence of 
 Mrs. Green's sense of duty that her mistress 
 was thus distinguished. At the same time 
 justice to Miss Maunsell demands the admis- 
 sion that the attention with which she al ^vays 
 
102 EISTOBY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 
 
 received Mrs. Green's communications, and the 
 good service she did in propagating the same, 
 earned the preference thus bestowed. 
 
 It happened that Mrs. Green, as she one 
 morning '' by chance " passed along Eva 
 Terrace, saw Cornet W}aimn enter Mrs. 
 Archibald's house. As it was not then quite 
 eleven o'clock, she could not help noting the 
 circumstance, and was forcibly reminded of 
 the fact when, about one o'clock, the military 
 gentleman arrived at his father's lodgings. 
 Mrs. Green was well accustomed to putting 
 two and two together, and thought that as 
 Cornet Wynum called every day at her house 
 about one o'clock, he might possibly call every 
 day at Mrs. Archibald's about eleven. She 
 accordingly resolved to turn her observations 
 in that direction. 
 
 Much as Mrs. Green might be indebted to 
 chance for the initiative in the greatest disco- 
 veries connected with her name, and though 
 she might in her modesty give that fitful deity 
 credit for the entire residts, we should be 
 doing the accurate-minded woman an injustice 
 did we not here record that she never left 
 matters to the final decision of chance which 
 any exertions of hers could transfer to the 
 domain of certainty. And, Mrs. Green having 
 
HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON, 103 
 
 in this truly scientific spirit made a sufficient 
 number of observations to convince herself 
 that Cornet Wynum's morning visits to Eva 
 Terrace were the results of law, not the off- 
 spring of accident, she pronounced the matter 
 worthy of further inquiry. 
 
 It was half-past seven o'clock and a fine 
 evening, in the end of July. Clifton, her 
 household duties over, was seated in her room 
 at needlework, and opposite sat Mary, the 
 housemaid, engaged in the same way. Clif- 
 ton's sitting-room at Eva Terrace was the front 
 basement, from which she and her coadjutor, 
 Mary, were able to make a tolerably constant 
 and tolerably correct reconnaissance of the 
 passers-by. As the basement story at Eva 
 Terrace was not quite subterranean, as the 
 window was more than half-way raised above 
 the level of the front garden, tlie dwellers 
 within were not only favourably posited for 
 seeing what passed without, but escaped the 
 earthy odour which generally pervades such 
 apartments. 
 
 On the July evening to which we have 
 referred, and whilst Clifton and Mary were 
 plying their needles as we have stated, the 
 area bell rang. Mary, without leaving her 
 seat, stretched her neck in the direction of tlie 
 
lOi HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 window, and having recovered her position 
 said, looking at Clifton, '' Mrs. Green." 
 
 '' Oh, let her in." 
 
 Mary hurried to undo the gate, and in less 
 than aminnte Mrs. Green entered Clifton's room. 
 
 ^' Oh, Mrs. Green, what a pleasure ! Mary, 
 set a chair. Mrs. Green, sit down, pray ! I 'm 
 delighted to see you, and all the more 'tis sa 
 long since I had that pleasure." 
 
 " 'Tis not want of good-will, Mrs. Clifton^ 
 that prevented me calling, but I 'm so worked ; 
 I 've so much to do that at times I don't know 
 whether 'tis day or night. But how long 'tis 
 since you gave me a look in ! " 
 
 ^^ Mrs. Green, you 're a householder ; you're 
 3^our own mistress and free to go where you 
 please. I 'm only my lady's maid, you know." 
 
 ^^Ah, a householder, indeed! That's a 
 sorrowful state for a poor widow to be in. 
 Rent and rates and taxes hanging over 
 her head every day in the year. 'T would 
 give one pair of feet enough and 
 more than enough to do to answer tax- 
 gatherers' knocks. And as for house-boots, if 
 the government had any feeling, which of 
 course they haven't, 'twould be only justice to 
 give poor women like me discount off our rates- 
 to pay for house-boots that are worn off our 
 
HISTORY OF MATtGABET MOBTON. 105 
 
 feet, running for ever and ever to open doors 
 for their tax-collectors." 
 
 '' Come now, Mrs. Green," said Clifton, who, 
 like all ladies' maids, identified herself with the 
 aristocracy, ^^ taxes, you know, must be paid, 
 or how could the country be kept up? And 
 indeed you look w^ell under your burdens." 
 
 ^' Oh, Mrs. Clifton! I don't know how I look, 
 but surely 'tis a pleasure to see you looking so 
 beautiful." 
 
 To this flattery Clifton made no other reply 
 than a grave shake of the head. If Clifton 
 did not look beautiful, she looked very resjDect- 
 able in her sober brown dress, her spotless 
 white habit-shirt, and neat linen collar. To 
 comj)lete the homely portrait, Clifton was- 
 engaged in the housewifely, old-fashioned 
 occupation of mending stockings. 
 
 ^' And you call yourself my lady's maid," 
 went on Mrs. Green. ^' 'Tis more like a 
 mother you've been to this family, bringing 
 up Mrs. Archibald's nephews and niece for lier." 
 
 ^^ Well, Mrs. Green, I hopel 've done my duty." 
 
 ^^ And a great deal more, Mrs. Clifton. 
 That 's what I always say when people 
 remark to me how comfortable you 're here. 
 ' She deserves it,' I say, ' and more.' " 
 
 ^^ Well, I'm sure 'tis very good of you tO' 
 
106 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 speak that way. I wish Mary was come down, 
 and we 'd have a bit of supper. She '11 spoil 
 that child. They all spoil her." 
 
 ^^ Mrs. Clifton," said her visitor, insinu- 
 atingly, '^ suppose Mary had her supper above 
 with Dumpling " — this a pet name for Clifton's 
 niece — ^^ and waits till the child 's quite asleep. 
 'Tisn't often you and I meet, and we may have 
 a word to say to one another that we don't 
 care young girls to hear. And you w^on't be 
 offended, dear, I know you won't, for bringing 
 a drop of something cordial with me. Miss 
 Maunsell is a dear good soul, and often says to 
 me, ^ Green,' she says, ' we re not growing 
 younger, and we want a little drop of some- 
 thing hot from time to time.' She 's a good 
 creature, though she has her little ways, and I 
 must say she often fills my little bottle." 
 
 Here Mrs. Green drew from her pocket a 
 small flask, and Clifton, acting on the sugges- 
 tion of her visitor, cut some bread and cheese, 
 which she put on a plate, and proceeded to 
 Dumpling's room, furnishing herself on the 
 way with a glass of beer. Having arranged 
 that Mary should remain with Dumpling she 
 returned to her sitting-room, and, in addition 
 to the supper already laid out, placed on the 
 table some cold fowl and tongue, fully resolved 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAUET MOUTON. 107 
 
 to maintain the honour of the house. Hot 
 water and sugar being forthcoming, Mrs. 
 Green mixed two tumblers, with the flavour 
 of which, after some tests, being satisfied, she 
 requested a confirmation of her opinion from 
 Clifton. This was quickly done, and, prelimi- 
 naries being arranged, the actual work of 
 supper began. A suspension of oral exchange 
 of thought followed, but was not of long 
 duration. Some of the meats having gone in 
 the designed direction, and some of the hot 
 drink having followed in the same line, Mrs. 
 Green broke silence : — 
 
 "■ 'Twas by chance, dear, for you know I 
 seldom go outside my own door, but, as I was 
 saying, by chance, I jDut on my bonnet the 
 other morning and went down to Mrs. Jenkins 
 to inquire after some j)ieces as was forgot at 
 the mangle. What with one thing and another, 
 and my hand always in my pocket, I can't 
 have a great stock of table linen, and my 
 people are so particular, nothing is ever clean 
 enough for 'em. And Mr. Wynum now has 
 young men so often to lunch, and when bitter 
 beer's spilt on the cloth, you can't put it on 
 again, so I 've washing and mangling from 
 week's end to week's end." 
 
 ^ ' But of course they take it into consideration ? " 
 
108 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON, 
 
 ^' Well, I must say Cornet Wynum does 
 behave handsome for any trouble he gives, 
 and, indeed, the other gentlemen are gentle- 
 men ; not but what, if they never put a half- 
 crown into my hand, I 'd be glad to see the 
 young cornet so attentive to his poor old father, 
 every morning punctual to come to see him 
 and take him out." 
 
 '^ He calls very attentive at other places too," 
 said Clifton; ^' where I, for one, can tell him 
 he 's not wished for. You '11 say I 'm an old 
 fool to be taking things to heart, but I can't 
 help it. I 've been a-managing this family for 
 over five-and-tvf enty years, and natural I 'd 
 like to see them I brought up go together to 
 the end. I know I speak out of my turn, but 
 I can't help it." 
 
 ^''Tis quite natural, dear; but you're not 
 taking anything. I am afraid 'tis not to your 
 liking." 
 
 '' 'Tis beautiful, dear, 'tis beautiful. I ain't 
 accustomed to take anything hot of an evening, 
 — nothino; but mv o^lass of beer." 
 
 " Well, now, I can't do without something 
 hot, and I 'd take it every evening, if I could 
 afford it ; but I can't. Miss Maunsell 's very 
 kind to me. She 's a good soul, she is, though 
 she has her little crotchety ways. But who 's 
 
lilSTOFiY OF 3TAPiGARET MORTON. 109 
 
 ^vithout a fault? you say. As we grow old we 
 want sometliing to keeiD us up ; but you 're 
 young, Mrs. Clifton." 
 
 ^' No, Mrs. Green, no ; I ain't young. Five- 
 and-twenty years' service, — aye, and more, — 
 ages a woman." 
 
 '' Thirty years is a long time." 
 
 ^' 'Tis a long time. And for twenty years 
 of that time I Ve managed this house and 
 every one in it, and I can tell you, Mrs. Green, 
 I '11 manage it still. I know I speak out of 
 my turn, but I '11 not have interlopers here." 
 
 ^' And very right too. That 's what I said to 
 Mrs. Jenkins. ^ Mrs. Jenkins,' says I, ^ nothink 
 is done in that liouse without Mrs. Clifton 
 being at the head and tail of it.'" 
 
 '' There 's things done here, Mrs. Green, that 
 don't please me ; but 'twasn't always so. When 
 Mr. Archibald was alive 'twas Clifton here, and 
 Clifton there, and nothing was done without 
 Clifton ; but I see a change, — I do. I know I 
 speak out of my turn, but, Mrs. Green, I '11 tell 
 you the whole truth — not a drop more for me; 
 well, it must be very little. Oh, that's too 
 much. But as I was saying, when I come back 
 from my sister's wedding, and brought little 
 Dumpling with me — bless her dear little heart ! 
 — and when I see the goings on in this house, 
 
110 HISTORY OF MABGARET MORTON. 
 
 where everything was so quiet and respectable 
 for many a day and many a year, I thought it 
 become me to speak ; and according when I 
 was doing my lady's toilet in the morning, 
 and putting on her rou — doing everything for 
 her, says I, ' I know, ma'am,' says I, ^ that I 
 speak out of my turn' — for, Mrs. Green, it can't 
 be said of me that I ain't respectful to my 
 employers, and to all as what 's placed above 
 me — and so I says, ^ Ma'am,' says I, ' I know 
 I speak out of my turn, but,' says I, ' I always 
 thought Miss Margaret was intended for Master 
 Eichard.' Oh, Mrs. Green, I was caught up 
 as quick as if I was a-going to set the house 
 afire. I see the change at once ; but I '11 not 
 be put down, Mrs. Green. 'T wasn't so in 
 master's time, and it shan't be so now. I 
 know I speak out of my turn, but what I say 
 I '11 stand by." 
 
 Clifton was now heated, and forgot her 
 habitual prudence. Mrs. Green looked steadily 
 at her for a few seconds, then shook her head 
 with a compassionate air. 
 
 '' 'Tis a bad return, Mrs. Clifton, for your 
 long services. We may as well finish this ; 'tisn't 
 worth while taking a little drop home. But, 
 Mrs. Clifton, we mustn't mind getting a bad 
 return, and we 're not dead yet." 
 
mSTOBY OF MAJIGAIIET MOBTON, 111 
 
 '' Oil, tliem 's dead that thought a great deal 
 of Clifton. 'Twas always, ' Clifton,' ' Clifton,' 
 with poor Mr. Archibald. ' Clifton,' he used 
 to say, ' you '11 do this for a surprise for your 
 mistress,' and I'd do it. Another time 'twas, 
 ' Clifton, I 've got a cold ; you must try to get 
 me out of it, without telling your mistress.' 
 Poor dear gentleman, if he 'd took Clifton's 
 advice, he 'd 'ave got out of his last cold, and 
 been alive to-day. He wasn't the man to 
 'ave red-coats and Frenchmen in his house. A 
 real English gentleman ; I '11 say that for 'im. 
 I don't like foreigners, Mrs. Green, I never 
 did ; and as for red-coats, I can't abide 'em. 
 When I was a 3^oung girl, I 'd run miles if I 
 see one a-coming down the street." 
 
 ^^ Ah, Mrs. Clifton, that's not the way with 
 young girls nowadays. 'Tis them as runs 
 after the red-coats, more than the red-coats 
 after them." 
 
 '^ Well, Mrs. Green, so much the worse; 
 'twas never my way." 
 
 ^' Why, bless my heart, Mrs. Clifton, here's 
 half-past ten, and your company above not 
 stirring, and I out of my house." 
 
 "You may as well stop for Miss Maunsell 
 now." 
 
 "I'd rather not. Since the young gentle- 
 
112 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON, 
 
 men came she don't want me, and precious 
 glad I 'm of it. Mr. Morton and Mr. Archibald 
 brings her home ever}- night, though why she 
 shouldn't come with Mr. Wynum goes beyond 
 me." 
 
 '^ Oh, my dear," said Clifton, drawing her- 
 self up with an air of stately propriety, ^^ young 
 ladies can't be too particular." 
 
 This sally of Clifton's caused much mirth to 
 herself and friend. 
 
 ^^ Well, 'twas the oddest thing in life," says 
 Mrs. Green — ^' but you'll say odd things are 
 always coming across us — but 'twas the oddest 
 thing, I coming past this door one morning 
 last week, and by chance who should I see 
 but Cornet Wynum going in, and it not eleven 
 o'clock. ^ An early visit,' says I, ^ for a gentle- 
 man to a lady ' ; and by chance, the same day, 
 I opened the door to him myself, for my little 
 Frances was upstairs, and 'twas one o'clock. 
 ^ A pretty long visit,' says I, to myself, ^ this 
 young gentleman's made, and I wonder who 
 'tis for, for I know Mrs. Archibald 's not out of 
 her room at eleven o'clock, nor at twelve o'clock 
 neither.' But you say there 's nothing in it, 
 Mrs. Clifton." 
 
 ^'There's nothing in it, Mrs. Green; and 
 what 's more, there shan't be anything in it. 
 
EISTOBY OF MARGAEET MORTON. 118 
 
 I know as what was my master's wishes, and 
 I '11 carry 'em out." 
 
 ^^ Oh/ Mrs. Clifton! if you say it 'twill be 
 •done." 
 
 ^' Be you sure of that. I know I speak out 
 of my turn ; but I '11 do my master's wishes to 
 the last." 
 
 '^ Bless me, if 'tisn't just eleven. I'm 
 safe to meet my young lady and your young 
 gentleman on the road. Good night, dear, 
 good night. You '11 come to see me soon. 
 Won't Mary say I 'm a gossip ? " 
 
 It is highly probable that Mary had already 
 said so several times ; and as she now entered 
 Clifton's sitting-room, with a pale ^^-awning 
 face, it might be concluded that the visitor of 
 the evening had afforded her no special grati- 
 fication. 
 
 ^^ The bell 's rung, Mary, and I 'm going up," 
 said Clifton. '' I '11 bring Miss Maunsell to the 
 dressing-room. I shan't come down imme- 
 diately. You open the door." 
 
 Having given her instructions, Clifton went 
 upstairs, and having conducted Miss Maunsell 
 to and from the dressing-room, returned thither 
 to make arrangements for her mistress's night 
 toilette. The visitors had departed, and 
 Mrs. Archibald entered her dressing-room. As 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 EISTOBY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 Clifton, from prudential motives, was unusually 
 silent that niglit, her services were soon com- 
 pleted ; so having seen her mistress to bed, and 
 having ascertained that all who were to pass 
 the night at Eva Terrace were safe under the 
 roof, Clifton fastened the house-door, examined 
 all the bolts and bars of the basement story, 
 and finally retired to her own sleeping-apart- 
 ment. 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAUET NOTiTOS. llu 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 On the following morning, and whilst Clifton 
 was occupied in her ordinary domestic duties, 
 she could not banish from her mind recollec- 
 tions of the previous evening. And these 
 recollections were not of an agreeable cha- 
 racter. Clifton was in the rare position of an 
 unprejudiced mind sitting in judgment on 
 itself; and Clifton, in her unbiassed rectitude, 
 pronounced herself guilty. She pronounced 
 herself guilty of great indiscretion in having 
 talked so freely of her mistress's affairs, an 
 indiscretion for which she could only account 
 by thinking slie must have been bewitched ; 
 and having arrived at that conclusion, she 
 went on in a plaintive monologue to liken 
 herself to a squeezed lemon from which all 
 that could be extracted luid been drawn ; she 
 further compared herself lu a piece of thread 
 twisted round the finger of Mrs. Green, and 
 knotted and unknotted according to the fancy 
 
116 EISTOBY OF 3TABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 of that lady, and then flung aside when no 
 longer wanted. Clifton solemnly j)ronounced 
 herself guilty of folly in having submitted so 
 easily to be pumped by that ^'serpentine" 
 Mrs. Green ; but whilst thus condenming 
 herself, she felt no resentment, or ver}- little, 
 against the person who had thus squeezed, 
 twisted, knotted, and pumped her; on the 
 contrary, the sentiments she entertained for 
 Mrs. Green were those of profound respect, 
 touched with a slight admixture of fear. She 
 recognized the ability of her late visitor, and 
 acknowledged that the rejDutation she enjoyed 
 was well earned. 
 
 After an early dinner, Clifton gave Mary 
 permission to spend the afternoon in the Park, 
 where Dumpling would be amused with the 
 sight of the carriages and finely- dressed folks. 
 This movement having been effected, and 
 Clifton, seeing in perspective a couple of 
 leisure hours before her, sat down to pursue 
 the train of thought which her avocations of 
 the morning had partially interrupted. Though 
 she had felt humbled and annoyed upon a 
 revision of what had passed between her and 
 Mrs. Green, she was not afraid to return to 
 the subject, wisely considering that in close 
 reflexion on our defeats we often And the 
 
HISTORY OF 3IARGAUET 310TIT0N. ]17 
 
 elements of future success. Whilst Clifton 
 mourned over the fact of having been entrapped 
 into admissions that discredited her prudence, 
 she acknowledged she had indirectly acquired 
 information that might help to the accomplish- 
 ment of a project near to her heart. Having 
 revolved all the conditions of tlie case in her 
 mind, she resolved on the next step she should 
 take, and rejoiced that the contemplated next 
 step would bring her face to face, not with 
 the ^'serpentine" Mrs. Green, but with the 
 rational-minded Mr. Richard Archibald. 
 
 About half-past seven in the evening, Clifton 
 took up her post at the front basement- window. 
 She was neatly and respectably dressed, as was 
 her custom ; but it must be added that her atten- 
 tion was not as steadily fixed as usual on theiDiece 
 of needle-work in her hand. The toils of the 
 day were over, the morning visitors had come 
 and gone ; Mrs. Archibald and her niece had 
 taken a drive in the Park, had returned and 
 dined ; the customary evening visitors had 
 arrived, with one exception, and this excep- 
 tion was tlie cause of Clifton's impatient 
 watching. It was a quarter past eight. 
 
 "• He '11 be here soon, if he 's to come at all," 
 said Clifton ;, ^' and I must say 'tis a bad \)Vd\\ 
 to leave the field free to others.*' 
 
118 HISTOEY OF MABGAUET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 Clifton put her work aside, left the room, 
 and went round through the passage that led 
 to the area. She had scarcely time to get 
 outside, when she heard on the pavement above 
 a quick, determined step, which she instantly 
 recognized. Clifton ran up the area stejDS, and 
 confronted Mr. Archibald before he had time 
 to ring. 
 
 ^^ Good evening, Clifton; good evening." 
 
 " Good evening, Mr. Eichard. You 're rather 
 late." 
 
 ^^ Oh, time enough, Clifton; time enough." 
 
 ^^Yes, sir; always welcome, whatever the 
 hour is." 
 
 Whilst this little dialogue was going on, 
 Clifton fumbled at the lock of the gate, which 
 she at length opened slowly. 
 
 '^ Good evening, sir," said Clifton, in answer 
 to the gentleman's salutation. ^' I suppose, 
 Master Richard, you wouldn't come down the 
 area steps to see how we are ? " 
 
 '^ Indeed I will, Clifton, with all my heart; 
 though I remember the time when you'd have 
 boxed my ears if I ran down the area steps." 
 
 And so saying, Richard Archibald ran lightly 
 down, and Clifton followed. 
 
 ^MYell, Clifton, you're very comfortable 
 here," said Mr. Archibald, when seated in the 
 
EISTOBY OF MABGAUET MOBTON. 119 
 
 housekeeper's room. '^ But eveiytliing is 
 comfortable where you are. Why, CKftoii, 
 you 're a mother to us alL" 
 
 ^'Them's the very words your dear uncle 
 often said, and that 's what I 'd wish to be to 
 you all. But I Ve got no wish to be a 
 mother to strangers, and to them as what 's 
 nothing to the family I 've served since I was 
 fifteen." 
 
 '' Quite right, Clifton, quite right. But 'tis 
 a long time since you and I had a chat 
 together. How are you getting on ? " 
 
 '^ Oh, Master Richard, everything's well 
 and comfortable with me, though I can't help 
 fretting sometimes." 
 
 '' Fretting ! you don't fret, Clifton ?" 
 
 ^^ Indeed I do, Master Richard. I know T 
 speak out of my turn ; but I do fret." 
 
 ^^ Impossible, Clifton. Why, you look 
 younger and handsomer than you did twenty 
 years ago, when you often boxed my ears for 
 running down the area steps." 
 
 '' Well, Master Richard, you do make one 
 laugh, to be sure. I know I speak out of my 
 turn ; but I do fret, and 'tisn't for myself, but 
 them as, I may say, I brought up for one 
 another ; and now to see strangers pick 'em off, 
 it 's what I don't hold with. I know I speak 
 
120 HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON, 
 
 out of my turn ; but I neyer thought I 'd live to 
 see it." 
 
 ^^ Well, Clifton, I suppose 3^0 ur sister pleased 
 herself; and if she's hapj^y, that's everything." 
 
 ^' Oh, Master Eichard, 'tisn't of my sister 
 I 'm thinking ; 'tis of others, that maybe aren't 
 of my own blood. I know I speak out of my 
 turn, Master Eichard ; but if you don't see it, 
 more 's the pity." 
 
 ^^ I don't see anything, Clifton: but you'll 
 tell me all about it some other time. I must 
 run upstairs now; 'tis late." 
 
 ''Well, Master Eichard, if you don't see, I 
 s'pose 'tis all right. I know I speak out of my 
 turn; but your dear uncle often said to me, 
 ' Clifton,' he used to say, ' I 'm bringing up 
 them children for one another.' I know I 
 speak out of my turn, Master Eichard, but 'tis 
 for your sake I speak." 
 
 ''How so, Clifton? What children do you 
 mean ? " 
 
 " Well, Master Eichard, what children could 
 I mean but you and Miss Margaret ? I know I 
 speak out of my turn, but I can't help it." 
 
 " Make your mind easy, Clifton," and 
 Eichard laughed outright. ^' I 'm not married ; 
 and though your sister married without your 
 consent, I'll not do so ; I'll consult you first 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 121 
 
 Good night, Clifton." And Mr. Archibald 
 rose from his chair. 
 
 ^^ Master Richard, Master Ricliard, I wish I 
 could open your eyes. I know I speak out of 
 my turn. You're not going to be married; I 
 know that. You can't marry just yet. But I 
 don't want you to lose her as was brought up 
 for you. I don't want to see Miss Margaret 
 carried off by another." 
 
 ^^ Clifton," Mr. Archibald spoke gravely, 
 ^^ there's no occasion to mention Miss Mar- 
 garet's name. Nobody can carry her off." 
 
 ^^Not them as comes every morning talking 
 French here, and him as was intended for her 
 far oif and taking no notice ? I know I speak 
 out of my turn, Master Richard; but many and 
 many 's the time your dear uncle sj^oke to me 
 about it, and I think I was a faithful servant 
 to him." 
 
 '^ You were, Clifton. But tell me what you 
 mean, and don't mind speaking out of your 
 turn." 
 
 ^^ Oh, Master Richard, you're very good, 
 I 'm sure. I know I speak out of my turn, 
 but I never liked red-coats, more specially 
 when they comes talking French, and when 
 Miss Margaret, that was never brought up to 
 it, takes such notice. I never heard such a 
 
122 HISTOBY OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 thing in the house in your uncle's time; and no 
 good will come of it. I know I speak out of 
 mv turn, Master Ricliard, but I can't help it, 
 and no notice took of what I say now." 
 
 ^'Now, Clifton, you're mistaken. The 
 family know you're a friend, and 'tis as a 
 friend we all look on you. Just tell me quicldy 
 what you mean, and what you think." 
 
 ^^ That's just what I want to. Master 
 Eichard. I know I speak out of my turn : and 
 as to mentioning Miss Margaret's name, I'm 
 not the person to do it; but when them as 
 knows the gossip of the neighbourhood men- 
 tions it, 'tis time some one as takes an interest 
 in the family should know it. I know I speak 
 out of my turn, Master Richard, but 'tis the 
 truth." 
 
 ^^ What can gossips have to say about Miss 
 Margaret?" 
 
 '' Well, sir, about her and Cornet Wynum. 
 I know I speak out — " 
 
 '^ For Heaven's sake, Clifton," interrupted 
 Mr. Archibald, angrily, '^ do tell me what you 
 mean, without this infernal nonsense." 
 
 Clifton affected to be startled by Mr. Archi- 
 bald's burst of temper, but she was secretly 
 pleased, knowing that his deep-seated egotism 
 prevented his seeing, even where his interests 
 
HISTORY OF MABGARET MORTON. 123 
 
 were concerned, what was patent to surround- 
 ing eyes. Clifton then, and speaking as little 
 as possible out of her turn, related her observa- 
 tions and conjectures ; and as Eichard Archi- 
 bald listened, the blood boiled in his veins. 
 The prize, of Avhich he felt so secure as that he 
 hardly deemed it a prize, was being wrested 
 from his grasp, and that, too, under circum- 
 stances that added odium to the loss. Not 
 onlv was Mara^aret Morton beina: wooed and 
 won by another, but the story of that other's 
 conquest and of his own defeat was being 
 made the subject of vidgar gossip. And 
 how had Henry Morton behaved ? It was 
 plain he connived at what was going on. It 
 was even doubtful whether his aunt was not 
 in the league formed against him. At that 
 moment the whole world seemed arrayed 
 against him. All his passions were roused. 
 His self-love and his jDride were wounded to 
 the quick. Were not his prudence and the all- 
 provident forecast on which he prided himself 
 set at nought ? And by whom ? By an almost 
 beardless boy. A red-coat, with blue eyes 
 and fair hair, had done it. And was Margaret 
 Morton to be caught by such glitter ? Richard 
 Archibald laughed, as he mentally answered 
 the mental inquiry. But this Avas only another 
 
124 HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MORTON. 
 
 way of saying that the woman who had been 
 so long acquainted with liim could neyer stoop 
 to admire a young cornet, however red his 
 coat or blue his eyes. 
 
 Mr. Archibald had frequently turned red 
 and pale before Clifton came to tlie end of her 
 story. He questioned her minutely as to 
 facts, and cross-examined her with lawyer-like 
 closeness about collateral circumstances, until 
 tlie whole affair stood clearly out before his 
 eyes. 
 
 All having been said that could throw 
 further light on the case in question, there was 
 a pause. Richard Archibald looked straight 
 before him, without noting Clifton, who sat at 
 the other side of the table. It was plain that 
 angry thoughts were revolving in his mind. 
 His face sometimes fluslied, and sometimes the 
 colour subsided to return again with a sudden 
 rush to cheek and brow. At last he rose 
 hastily from his chair. 
 
 'vl'll go this moment to my aunt, and have 
 an explanation." 
 
 ''Master Richard, Master Richard, you'll 
 do nothing of tlic kind "; and she stejiped 
 between liim and the door. 
 
 " Clifton, let me pass. No one shall oppose 
 me in my uncle's house — in my own house." 
 
HISTORY OF MABGARET MORTON. 12r> 
 
 ^^ No, Master Richard ; no, dear, no one 
 shall oppose you. 'Tis your own house, but 
 not yet, Master Richard." 
 
 Clifton spoke in a subdued voice. Her face 
 was white. She was terrified, as a woman 
 may be who rouses the strong passions of a 
 man. 
 
 ^'You're not hasty, Master Richard; 'twas 
 never your way, like Master Henry. Besides, 
 Master Richard, you 'd ruin me. Your aunt 
 would be so angry. You know her proud 
 ways. I know I sjDcak out of my turn, but 'tis 
 for your good." 
 
 Clifton's appeal had more effect than she 
 suspected. Richard Archibald knew his aunt's 
 ^^ proud ways." And then he piqued himself 
 on his self-command. He made a sudden 
 effort to put his vaunted philosojjhy into prac- 
 tice. He tried to smile, but his lips quivered ; 
 they were wliite, as was his whole face. He 
 reseated himself. 
 
 '^ Well, Clifton," he began, ^^you said some- 
 thing about m}^ aunt's being angry with you. 
 Does she approve what 's going on in the 
 house ?" 
 
 ''Oh, no, Master Richard, I'm sure she 
 don't, though she took me up very short when 
 I spoke to her. I know I speak out of my 
 
120 HISTORY OF 3TARGABET MORTON. 
 
 turn, but that 's lier way. You know she 's 
 l^roud. I know I speak out of my turn ; but 
 this I '11 say, she don't like the goings on in 
 this house. But what can she do ? Maybe 
 she don't think it worth while to speak. 
 Cornet Wynum will be soon going to India, 
 everybody says." 
 
 '' Confound everybody ! What has any- 
 body to do with my affairs y" 
 
 ^^ Very true. Master Eichard ; but the mis- 
 chief might be done before he goes." 
 
 ^^ Confound him ! I '11 speak to my aunt 
 this A^ery night," cried Mr. Archibald, looking 
 furious. 
 
 ^'No, Mr. Eichard, 3^ou '11 not," said Clifton, 
 decisively. '^ You 'd frighten your aunt, and 
 expose yourself before all them above stairs ; 
 and you'd ruin me. I know I speak out of 
 my turn, but 'tis for your good." 
 
 Here Clifton applied the corner of her apron 
 to her eye, and began to cry. 
 
 Eichard Archibald remained silent. Clif- 
 ton's allusion to exposure had weight. He 
 knew that ^^ scenes" are always attended with 
 ridicule, and furnish not alone food for gossip, 
 but for laughter. Mr. Archibald was bred a 
 gentleman, and shrank from having his name, 
 and still more the name of any woman of his 
 
HISTORY OF MAUGABET MORTON. 127 
 
 family, mixed with vulgar tittle-tattle. He 
 took out his purse. 
 
 '^ Clifton, have you mentioned to any one 
 what you've now said to me ?" 
 
 ^' Not to living mortal, Master Eichard." 
 
 '^ Don't speak to any one about these affairs * 
 not even to my aunt. No one that serves me 
 shall lose by it," and Mr. Archibald tried to 
 put some gold pieces into Clifton's hand. 
 
 ^' No, Master Richard. For close on thirty 
 years I 've served your aunt faithfully, and I 
 served your uncle up to his death. 'Tis my 
 duty makes me speak. I know I sj)eak out of 
 my turn ; but I know what your uncle always 
 wished." 
 
 Richard Archibald, after a few minutes' 
 reflection, felt ashamed and subdued. 
 
 " Clifton," he said, ^^ tell me what I had 
 best do." 
 
 ^^ Well, Master Richard, if you '11 take my 
 advice ; I know I speak out of my turn, but 
 here 's my advice. Go away to-night, without 
 going upstairs ; go out by the area, if you 
 don't mind ; and come here early to-morrow 
 morning, and speak to your aunt. She '11 make 
 everything right with you ; I know she will. 
 I know I speak out of my turn. Master 
 Richard, but 'tis for your good." 
 
128 HISTOBY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 
 
 ^^ But, should I come here at eleven, aunt 
 won't expect me, and won't be up." 
 
 ^^ Write a line to-night, Master Richard, and 
 put it in the post as you go home." 
 
 ^^ A good idea, Clifton. Can you give me 
 ink and pa^Der ? " 
 
 ^^ Certainly, Master Richard." 
 
 The important line having been written, 
 directed, and stamped, Richard Archibald bade 
 Clifton good night, and, under her guidance, 
 made his exit by the area gate, and that not a 
 minute too soon, as Clifton soliloquized, the 
 hour being then more than lialf-past ten. 
 
HISTORY OF MAEGARET MORTOX. 129 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 At about half past eleven on the mornings 
 following his exit through the area gate, 
 Richard Archibald made his appearance at 
 Eva Terrace. Clifton received aud conducted 
 him to the drawing-room, where he waited his 
 aunt's appearance. 
 
 A night's reflection had not been wasted on 
 Richard Archibald. For the first time in his 
 life he had felt the sharp pang of jealousy 
 enter his heart, and the wound, instead of 
 exhausting, had roused the torpid organ into 
 vigorous action. Under the influence of this 
 new sentiment, he saw Margaret Morton in a 
 light in which she had never before aj)peared 
 to him. 
 
 A man born heir to noble estates, into 
 possession of which he came in cliildhood, 
 enjoys the wide prospect spread before him 
 from infancy upwards with a tranquil, un- 
 appreciating dignity wliicli seems incapable of 
 being ruffled ; but let his title be disputed, let 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
130 HISTOBl OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 the rights of his ancestors be called in question, 
 and what a change takes place in his feelings ! 
 Every blade of grass on his estates, e very- 
 stone, down to the smallest pebble, acquires 
 immediately an immense value in his eyes, 
 and awakens within him a feeling of affection 
 that at one time the whole property could not 
 have excited. 
 
 So with Richard Archibald, as he considered 
 the excellences of Margaret Morton after his 
 conversation with Clifton. Her personal 
 appearance — and she was decidedly handsome 
 — was her least attraction. Had he ever met 
 a woman possessed of intellect so high and so 
 cultivated ? Had he ever met a girl trained 
 in such lady-like sentiments ? And then he 
 thought of his aunt, and he recalled how she 
 had been the great ornament of his uncle's 
 social life as she had been the comfort of his 
 domestic existence, and he felt that a wife 
 trained by her could be no other than a 
 treasure. And he moreover recognized the 
 fact that Margaret was superior to her aunt in 
 intellectual strength and capacity, as well as in 
 mental culture. He knew^ his uncle had 
 laboured to make Margaret what she was, and 
 chiefly in the design of rearing a wife suitable 
 to him. 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 131 
 
 In thus contemplating the high qualities of 
 Margaret Morton. Richard Archibald offered a 
 palatable pabulum to his own self-love. He 
 saw his uncle felt that a woman of a lower 
 standard of worth or talent than Miss Morton 
 would not be a meet partner for him. And 
 even in the assumed consanguinity between 
 ]iira and Margaret he found delectation for his 
 'vanity : it was only within the circle of his 
 own family that a wife worthy of him could 
 be discovered. 
 
 Before morning came, Eichard Archibald 
 had arranged everything in his own mind. 
 The sensations he experienced were new, and 
 to a mind endowed with great self-confidence, 
 and consequently always sufficiently calm to 
 note its own emotions, to a certain extent 
 sensational life is pleasurable. Richard Archi- 
 bald felt this, and smiled as he pooh-poohed 
 Cornet Wynum. A boy ! a mere brat ! to 
 stand in his pathway. But there were others 
 to consider. Margaret was not to be annoyed, 
 to be molested, in fact sullied, by the admira- 
 tion of another. The woman destined to be 
 Richard Archibald's wife should never accept 
 a meaner homage than his, or indeed any 
 homage but his. 
 
 Whilst this train of thought predominated, 
 
132 HISTORY OF MABGARET MOJITON. 
 
 Richard Archibald exulted in a joyous disdain 
 of his supposed rival. Eival ! the idea was 
 preposterous : it could exist only in the brain 
 of Cornet Wynum. In these self-assuring- 
 sentiments Mr. Archibald had breakfasted and 
 taken a cab; but long before he reached Eva 
 Terrace his thoughts had undergone a revolu- 
 tion. It all at once occurred to him that, in 
 addition to young Wynum, he had others to 
 contend with. And first in the antagonistic 
 list stood Henry Morton. A thousand little 
 circumstances, unnoted at the time of their 
 occurrence, now recurred to his memory, 
 stamped with a significance that gave them 
 gravity. Viewed by the light now cast upon 
 them, these events became evidences of what 
 Eichard Archibald was pleased to consider a 
 wide-spread and strong conspiracy against his 
 interests. How did he know to what extent 
 his aunt was implicated ? How did he know 
 that she too was not dazzled by a red coat and 
 bright brown hair ? Who could say that she, 
 under the influence of a woman's vanity, was 
 not ready to sacrifice her niece? — for sacrifice it 
 would be to marry Margaret Morton to that 
 fair-haired boy. 
 
 As Mr. Archibald journeyed along in his 
 cab, he drew up several imaginary indictments 
 
BISTOUY OF MARGABET MORTON, 133 
 
 against his aunt and Henry Morton, swore to 
 them, took a brief in the case, and was 
 resolved to defend his client's interests unto 
 the death. And when in his aunt's drawing- 
 room, waiting for her appearance, his vehemence 
 seemed rather to increase than subside. As 
 his anger against his imaginary foes became 
 hotter, so in the same ratio rose his estimate of 
 Margaret Morton. She, the companion of his 
 childhood, she, chosen and trained and 
 fashioned by his uncle to be his wife, was she 
 now to be snatched from his grasp, and both 
 be made unhappy for life ? And Richard 
 Archibald laughed bitterly as he thought he 
 discovered the true reason why his aunt had 
 laid down as the rule of his conduct that no 
 breath or murmur of anything like love should 
 pass his lips in his intercourse with his cousin. 
 '^Yes," said he, striding angrily through the 
 room, "'^ my aunt compelled me to a silent 
 worship, and left Margaret free. She encouraged 
 me, she tauglit me to love the girl that I 
 knew was brought up to be my wife; but she 
 kept all thought of me out of Margaret's mind. 
 Aunt has spoken to me with horror, as a 
 sacrilegious profanation, of the looks of impas- 
 sioned admiration with whicli men gaze on 
 women they are about to marry ; but her niece's 
 
134 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 virgin face and lieart were not to be sullied by 
 such. And now I remember to have seen 
 young beardless, from some distant corner of 
 the room, follov/ Margaret with eyes of adora- 
 tion. By Heavens ! I Vc been fooled. I H^e lost 
 the only woman that could make me happy, and 
 Margaret is sacrificed. What could she care 
 for a brainless brat like that ? Only he 's the 
 first to s2oeak : he 's allowed to do what was 
 forbidden me. Margaret will find her mistake 
 when she 's the wife of a creature she despises, 
 but 'twill be too late ; I shall liave lost her." 
 
 The door opened, and Mrs. Archibald entered. 
 
 *' My dear Eichard, what is the matter? I 
 thought you were engaged in a warm discussion 
 with some one. My dear boy, how hot and 
 excited you look ! What is the matter ? " 
 
 ^'A great deal, aunt; a great deal's the 
 matter." 
 
 ^^ Can I be of any use, Richard ? You know 
 all my resources are at ^^our command." 
 
 '' Oh, aunt, this is not a case where money 
 can avail." 
 
 ^^ Richard," said Mrs. Archibald, seating her- 
 self on a couch, and trembling with emotion, 
 "• loray tell me what 's the matter. No disgrace, 
 I hope ? " 
 
 '' Oh, aunt, none, none — no disgrace, cer- 
 
HISTORY OF MAEGAUET MORTON. 1:^5 
 
 tainly ; but as bad as can bo without disgrace. 
 I '11 tell you everything." 
 
 And Richard Archibald proceeded to recount 
 to his aunt his fears, his suspicions, his jealousy, 
 and his indignation. He did not conceal — he 
 was too excited to conceal anything — that he 
 suspected herself and Henry Morton of being 
 leagued against him. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald listened tranquilly to all her 
 nephew had to say. Her first fears as to family 
 disgrace being removed, she experienced a 
 certain amount of satisfaction in finding 
 Richard's jealousy awaked about Margaret. 
 As a woman she had been for some time almost 
 annoyed at the indifi'erence manifested by her 
 nephew towards her niece, and now, believing 
 his jealousy had germinated spontaneously in 
 his own heart, she was much pleased. Greatly 
 as she disliked excitement, she could not 
 conceal from herself that this interview 
 removed some misgivings which had of late 
 crept into her mind. She had begun to think 
 that, whilst she was sedulously guarding 
 Margaret's affections until Eichard should be 
 in a position to marry, she might be doing her 
 a wrong, as the blindness of Richard to what 
 w^as going on about him proved a total indifi"er- 
 ence to his cousin. Henry Morton's remarks 
 
IS'i HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 on a former occasion had of late frequently 
 recurred to her mind, and she had often thought 
 there was some truth in them. But Richard's 
 tale now put things in a different light. Still, 
 though Mrs. Archibald drew this drop of con- 
 solation from her nephew's excited and impas- 
 sioned narrative of his outraged feelings, she 
 was too prudent to say so. She first reassured 
 him as to her own sentiments, and pointed out 
 that, with her for an auxiliary, he had not 
 much to fear. There certainly were things, 
 within the limits she had already prescribed, 
 which he might do, and which she left entirely 
 to the dictates of his own sentiments. As to 
 Henry Morton's feelings about the affair, that 
 was a question which they nmst settle between 
 themselves as gentlemen and as members of 
 one family. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald's long experience in the 
 usages of society, combined with her natural 
 tranquillity of temperament, gave her great 
 advantages in a conversation such as that 
 which had just passed between her nephew 
 and herself. At the conclusion she felt she had 
 profited by it. Firstly, she had gathered the 
 assurance of Richard's love for Margaret ; and 
 secondly, she had found an opportunity of 
 directing his conduct towards his cousins — 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 137 
 
 brother and sister — without seeming to inter- 
 fere. All this was satisfactory to Mrs. Archi- 
 bald : but she was not alone too prudent to 
 allow her satisfaction to appear ; she was also 
 too prudent to allow Richard Archibald to 
 descend to the library until Cornet Wynum 
 had left. 
 
 '^ 'Tis half -past one," said Mr. Archibald. 
 ^' The lunch-bell rang half an hour since. We 
 had better go down." 
 
 ''Hallo, old fellow!" cried out Henry 
 Morton, as Mr. Archibald entered the room. 
 "I did not know you were in the 
 house." 
 
 •'I had some business with aunt, and called 
 on her early." 
 
 During lunch, Richard Archibald, who ate 
 nothing, talked a good deal, and that too about 
 commercial business. He was unusually com- 
 municative. 
 
 " I think, Harry," he said, after having 
 spoken for some time, " on the whole, you will 
 find things in better train than they were two 
 months ago. Aunt, I make no apology for 
 talking business before you : I think it right 
 you and Margaret should know how our affairs 
 are getting on ; and, I know, on this point 
 Harry thinks as I do." 
 
138 niSTORY OF MAEGAJRET MORTON. 
 
 ^' Certainly. I know aunt can give excellent 
 advice ; and as for Meg, I think she 'd be an 
 excellent man of business if she were not a 
 woman of talent." And Henry Morton's face 
 assumed so comical a look that his aunt and 
 sister burst into a laugh. Richard Archibald 
 laughed too, though he spoke with modest 
 gravity as he said, — 
 
 " Well, Harry, there are few men who have 
 so much reason to be proud of the women of 
 their family as we." 
 
 ^^ Quite right, my boy, quite right. We 're 
 proud of the women of our family, and I hope 
 they 're proud of us." 
 
 '' I assure you we are," said Margaret. 
 
 ^^ I can say the same for my jDart," said Mrs. 
 Archibald. 
 
 Richard Archibald was studying to please, 
 and the unwonted suavity of his manner was 
 exerting a wonderfully animating influence on 
 the home circle. Mrs. Archibald was espe- 
 cially pleased, and for many reasons. Her 
 nephew was putting her advice into operation, 
 and in what she thought a masterly manner. 
 She entertained great admiration for her 
 nephew Richard, and she now contemplated 
 with pride his self-conmiand and mobility of 
 manner — qualities which her husband had 
 
UISTOllY OF MARGARET MORTON. 13<> 
 
 always said would tend to make him an emi- 
 nent pleader. 
 
 ^^ Aunt," went on Eichard, '^you know 
 Harry was wishing to get some of the money 
 that 's being put by for the estate. He wanted 
 to put it into the business. The trustees would 
 not consent; and we've been puzzled, because 
 we must get capital to go into trade. We 
 couldn't get money on the possible estate, as, 
 after all, it may be Harry's son that would 
 come into possession." Henry Morton laughed. 
 ^^ That's the way, you know, Harry, the 
 capitalists put it, when they wanted to ask 
 enormous per-centage for an advance. The 
 trustees couldn't j^i'event Harry from raising 
 money on his claims, and, it can't be denied, 
 they afforded facilities, by showing papers and 
 all that ; but upon consideration, and after 
 talking the matter over with some law}'er 
 friends, I felt the sacrifice would be great, and 
 I have hit upon a more economical plan. So, 
 on the whole, 'twill be better for Harry he 
 didn't succeed in raising the money. These 
 capitalists look for enormous per-centage." 
 
 '^ 'Pon my word, Dick, you're a first-rate 
 fellow," said Henry. " I thought you had 
 been asleep these last three months." 
 
 '' My dear fellow, I don't sleep much. And 
 
140 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 now I must take a little constitutional exercise. 
 Will you walk across the Gardens with me to 
 Hyde Park Corner ? We can take a cab there 
 for the City. I 've made an appointment for 
 both. I want you to have some talk with a 
 fellow that has been recommended to me about 
 this new loan. Aunt, you'll excuse us. Harry 
 and I will dine at my chambers, and we '11 
 join you here in tlie evening." 
 
 The effort Richard Archibald had made to 
 control his feelings and flatter his relatives 
 brought its own reward. He had worked 
 himself into a most amiable humour, which 
 made him appear as though he had no other 
 object in life than to serve and please his 
 friends. In this charming mood he took leave 
 of his aunt and Margaret Morton. 
 
 The two young men walked at a brisk pace 
 towards the Gardens. They were crossing 
 Church Street when Mr. Morton called out, — 
 
 ^' There's Wynum, with his father. Let's 
 hasten, and we '11 catch 'em up." 
 
 "No," said Mr. Archibald, fiercely. " Con- 
 found the fellow! I detest him." 
 
 Seizing his cousin's arm, he turned him 
 abruptly down Church Street, his own face 
 dark with anger. Without speaking he strode 
 rapidly on, till he reached High Street. Mr. 
 
BISTOJIY OF MARGABET MOUTON. 141 
 
 Morton was so astonished by this sudden 
 change of manner in his cousin that, without 
 asking a question, he allowed himself to be 
 hurried along, and finally jout into a cab at 
 the entrance to Palace Gardens. The cab was 
 rattling' alonof towards Knisrhtsbridore before 
 Mr. Morton spoke. He then burst into a laugh. 
 ''In the name of Heaven, Dick, what's the 
 matter, and where are you going ? " 
 
 '' I '11 tell you when we get to my chambers." 
 
 This was all the conversation that took j)lace 
 until the cab reached the Temple, where Mr. 
 Archibald had a very handsomely furnished set 
 of chambers. Having entered the sitting-room, 
 and thrown himself on a couch, Mr. Morton 
 looked inquisitively at his cousin, — 
 
 ''Well, Dick, well?" 
 
 But Dick made no reply. With his hat 
 drawn over his eyes, he strode hastily, and 
 with flushed face, up and down the room. At 
 length he stopped suddenly before his cousin : 
 
 '' Look, Harry, I 've borne a great deal from 
 that puppy, Wynum ; but confound me " — he 
 used a stronger term, wdiich we will not record 
 — '' if I put up with it any longer ! " 
 
 ''What has he done?" said Harry, upon 
 whom light began to dawn. 
 
 "Done! Why, Harry, you cannot be so 
 
142 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 blind as not to see what he has done, and is 
 doing, or trying to do." 
 
 '^ I haven't seen him do anything, or try to 
 do anything, unbecoming a gentleman." 
 
 ^^No, Harry, you've seen nothing. You 
 haven't seen his attentions to Margaret ; you 
 don't know that he makes her visits every 
 morning of hours long, brings her flowers, and 
 talks—" 
 
 '^ Stop, Dick; this won't do. My sister's 
 name is not to be bandied about in this way 
 by any man, no matter whether her aunt 
 allows him to call her cousin or not. I 'm my 
 sister's natural guardian, and, by Heavens ! 
 I 'm capable of taking her this very day out of 
 aunt's house, rather than allow her name to be 
 traded in." 
 
 *' Traded in ! What do you mean ? " 
 ^' I mean, if you have a quarrel with Wynum, 
 or wish to pick one with him, do it upon your 
 own grounds, but don't bring my sister's name 
 into it. And now, Mr. Archibald, let me tell 
 you, if my aunt prefers the interests of her 
 husband's nephew to those of her own nephew 
 and niece, I must step in to protect my sister." 
 ''Mr. Morton, you entirely misunderstand 
 me. I respect your sister as much as you 
 do." 
 
BISTOUY OF 31 AUG ABET MORTON. 143 
 
 ^' Then don't mention her name. That's 
 the way to show your respect." 
 
 Both gentlemen were standing. Mr. Archi- 
 bald sat down at a table in the middle of the 
 room. He took off his hat, which he had not 
 removed since entering the apartment. His 
 face was of a yellowish white, and contorted 
 with passion. He rested his folded arms on 
 the table, leaned forward, and forced a smile. 
 He tried to appear calm, but his lips were 
 white, and there was something of a galvanic 
 effect in the effort by which he strained his 
 features to composure. He looked at his cousin. 
 
 ^'I see how it is, Mr. Morton. So far from 
 aunt preferring the interests of her husband's 
 nephew to those of her own niece, she has 
 undermined my interests, she has betrayed my 
 feelings." 
 
 ^' Take care, sir, how you mention Mrs. 
 Archibald's name. She 's my aunt, not yours." 
 
 '^ Oh, she has proved that. But I '11 appeal 
 to Margaret herself. She 's not my cousin ; but 
 she 's more to me than a thousand cousins, 
 more than ten thousand sisters. Oh, Harry ! 
 Harry ! you 're only her brother ; you can't 
 understand my feeUngs. My dear, dear 
 Margaret!" 
 
 Overcome by the violence of his emotion.^, 
 
lil HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 Mr. Archibald hid his face in his hands and 
 sobbed. Mr. Morton was confounded. He 
 had never before seen his cousin so excited ; he 
 had not believed it possible that he could feel 
 and, above all, show so much emotion. Of a 
 lighter and more impressionable nature, Henry 
 3Iorton felt tempted to embrace his cousin and 
 try to soothe him, but his pride as a man forbade 
 the concession. Truly he was touched, almost 
 startled, by this exhibition of feeling on the 
 part of Eichard Archibald. He scarcely knew 
 what to do. In his indecision he made a few 
 turns through the room. Nature triumphed. 
 He stopped short and laid his hand on his 
 cousin's shoulder. 
 
 ''Dick, don't give way so! What's the 
 matter? I'm afraid I've been too hasty. 
 We 've both been too hasty." 
 
 Mr. Archibald lifted his head. His face was 
 still very pale, but he had partly regained his 
 habitual composure. Putting out his hand, 
 which his cousin clasped, — 
 
 '' Harry, without meaning to disparage you, 
 I must say you don't understand my feelings." 
 
 ''About what?" 
 
 " About Margaret." 
 
 " About my sister ? " 
 
 " Look, Harry, Margaret is more to me than 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 145 
 
 a sister. When she was a little girl, she called 
 me brother ; now that she is a woman, what is 
 she to me really ? You know, Harry, my uncle 
 taught her, and trained her as no other woman 
 has ever been taught and trained, and why ? 
 That she should be my wife." 
 
 '' Your uncle had no authority to do so. He 
 had no right to make a present of my sister to 
 any man." 
 
 '^ Harry, he judged as a father for us both; 
 and he gave all the advantage to Margaret, so 
 did aunt." 
 
 ^' I don't understand you." 
 
 ^^ If Margaret was trained for me, remember 
 I was trained for her ; but with this difference, — 
 I w^as made to feel from the time I emerged from 
 boyhood that Margaret was to be my wife — 
 that is, if I deserved her : I was taught to look 
 on her as the great prize of my life. My 
 affections became fixed on her ; my hopes, my 
 ambition, were centred in her : but her affec- 
 tions were allowed to rove free ; she was placed 
 on a shrine in a temple* into which I was never 
 allowed to enter. I was taught to look on her 
 as the crown of my life, and she was taught to 
 call me cousin. Oh ! oh ! " — and he laughed 
 bitterly — ' ' cousin, indeed ! A pretty recom- 
 pense for my blighted life ! " 
 
 VOL. I. - L 
 
146 HISTORY OF M AEG ABET 3I0ET0N. 
 
 Kichard Archibald was again worked up to 
 fury by the j^icture he had drawn of his own 
 wrongs. Coming close to Henry Morton, he 
 grasped his arm and looked narrowly into his 
 face. 
 
 ^' Tell me, Harry, do you call that justice ? 
 Speak out, man" — for Henry Morton looked 
 rather scared — ^^ speak out, man; is that 
 justice ? " 
 
 Mr. Morton freed himself from his cousin's 
 grasp, and tried to re2)ly with an air of indif- 
 ference, — 
 
 ^^ I really think my sister ought to be 
 allowed to speak for herself." 
 
 ^' I say so, too. But is this making a choice — 
 putting a red -coated whelp in her way, and — '' 
 
 ''Stop, stop, Dick: you mustn't couple my 
 sister's name with that of any man. I 'm her 
 guardian, and I 'm ready to defend her." Mr. 
 Morton's face was very red and angry-looking. 
 ^' Wynum is a nice fellow, and a friend of 
 mine." 
 
 ''Oh! all right, Harry. I had my suspicions 
 all along." Mr. Archibald turned away with a 
 slight sneer. Mr. Morton observed, coldly, — 
 
 " When a gentleman has suspicions, he 
 doesn't entertain them all along; he asks an 
 explanation." 
 
HISTORY OF MAUGAEET MOBTON. 147 
 
 ^' I think I know liow to conduct myself as 
 a gentleman." 
 
 '^ I haven't said anything to the contrary." 
 
 ^^ You 're taking up AVynum's quarrel." 
 
 '' Against whom ? " 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 '^ You said you had susj)icions all along: I 
 ask, against whom ? " 
 
 ' ^ Against aunt and you." 
 
 '^ Indeed! May I ask of what nature were 
 your suspicions ? " 
 
 ^^I thought you were going to throw me 
 over, and encourage Wynum." 
 
 " As I said before, I think my sister ought 
 to be allow^ed to judge for herself." 
 
 ^^ I think so too ; but is she ? Harry, I don't 
 say I 'm worthy of her ; but lay aside your 
 prejudices, and tell me could a girl like 
 Margaret ever be happy with a boy like 
 Wynum ? Could she look up to such a man ? 
 I 've been wronged, I 've been cruelly treated, 
 my feelings have been trampled underfoot; but 
 now I ask you for Margaret's sake, for your 
 sister's sake, to reflect. Horribly as I have 
 been outraged, I protest to Heaven, I feel 
 more on Margaret's account than on my own. 
 I feel at the prospect I see before her of sorrow 
 and misery. Will it not be terrible enough 
 
148 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 for me to lose her, but I must have the 
 additional anguish of knowing she 's wretched ? 
 Oh, Margaret ! Margaret ! " 
 
 He covered his face with his hands, leaned 
 his head on the table, and his whole frame 
 shook with the violence of his emotions. 
 
 This second exhibition of weakness on the 
 part of the reputedly strong-minded Richard 
 Archibald quite overpowered his impression- 
 able cousin. Henry Morton jumped up, and 
 laying hold of Mr. Archibald's hands^ removed 
 them from before his face. 
 
 ^' My dear Dick, I beg your pardon, — I do 
 indeed. I had no idea you cared so much for 
 Margaret. I didn't think you could care so 
 much for any one." 
 
 Henry Morton held his cousin's hands in one 
 of his, and his disengaged arm lay affectionately 
 across his shoulders. Richard Archibald looked 
 up, his face strongly marked by traces of the 
 agitation he had experienced. 
 
 ^' Harry," he said, ^'you don't understand 
 me; nobody does but Margaret. She could 
 understand me. You didn't know — you sa}^ you 
 didn't know — how much I cared for her. By 
 Heavens, Plarry ! " — and he sprang to his feet 
 — '' the volcanic fires pent up within the bosom 
 of the earth, on the eve of their fiercest out- 
 
HISTORY OF M AEG ABET MORTON. 110 
 
 break, are cold compared to what I feel for 
 Margaret. Oh, Harr}^, I say again a brother 
 can't understand my feelings. When I look at 
 Margaret and know there's nobody like her, 
 when I remember I 've been brought up to love 
 her, to worship her — oh, Harry, I Ve been 
 basely used." 
 
 ^^ My dear Dick, not by me, and certainly 
 not by aunt. And that reminds me, by Jove, 
 we 've both acted badly towards aunt. You said 
 you had suspicions of her ; and I said I 'd take 
 Meg out of her house. That was confoundedly 
 ungrateful. Slie 's been a good aunt to us, and a 
 real mother to Maro:aret. I '11 tell her what I 've 
 said; 'tis the only compensation I can make her." 
 
 ^^ Better not. She 'd only laugh at you." 
 
 '^ Even so, 'twould relieve my mind to tell 
 her. Dick, I 'd like a glass of sherry, and, I 
 think, so w^ould you. You look pale." 
 
 ^^ There's sherry in that chiffonnier. I'll 
 take brandy-and- water. I 've had a terrible 
 night and morning." 
 
 Each partook of the refreshment he chose. 
 
 ^^Now, Harry," said his cousin, "'tis five 
 o'clock. I. shall order dinner for half -past six. 
 That will give you time to run into the City to 
 see Waite and Taite. I made an appointment 
 with the fellows for you and me to meet that 
 
150 HISTORY OF MABGABET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 fellow Grimey at three o'clock ; but the time 's 
 past. We can't do it to-day. I've something 
 here that will occupy me till you return." 
 
 '' All right, old fellow ; I 'm olf." 
 
 Harry Morton put out his hand. His cousin 
 pressed it affectionately. 
 
 Left alone, Eichard Archibald pulled off his 
 coat and boots, and flung himself on a couch. 
 A man of strong passions, and trained to self- 
 control, the outburst of the morning had shaken 
 him terribly. His had been a militant existence 
 from childhood upwards. The forces arrayed 
 against him were society in general ; the forces 
 at his command were the powers and faculties 
 of his own mind. He knew — had always 
 known — he must fight hand to hand to attain 
 the objects of his ambition ; and he knew that 
 to conquer he must always have his own forces 
 in readiness. Richard Archibald was accus- 
 tomed to self-examination. With him it was a 
 philosophic habit for which he had to thank 
 his deceased uncle. He found it beneficial, as 
 the general of an army finds it useful to review 
 his troojos. Eichard Archibald knew, in a 
 worldly sense, the imj)ortance of keeping cool ; 
 he piqued himself on his self-command, and 
 was proud of the reputation it had acquired 
 him amongst his seniors. He was a man of 
 
inSTORY OF MAHGABET 3WBT0N. 151 
 
 strong intellect and stern will, who not unfre- 
 quently, in his self-communings, rejoiced he 
 had no feeling, and sneered at his impulsive 
 neighbours, who fling aside to-day what they 
 gloated oyer yesterday. But then Richard 
 Archibald said he put principle in the place of 
 feeling, and that it was so best. And so it 
 would be were it not that all his principles 
 radiated from one point, and returned to the 
 same — self. 
 
 Now, stretched on his couch, Mr. Archibald 
 was astonished as he reflected on the violence 
 of passion that had shaken him so often 
 during the past twenty hours, and which had 
 left him unfit for business or study. Then, 
 too, he tliought of Margaret Morton. He 
 thought of her as his own pre-elected wife, and 
 his blood again boiled furiously, until the 
 veins swelled in his forehead, as he considered 
 the presumption of the man who could dare 
 step within the sacred circle of his rights. 
 Richard Archibald had long been accustomed 
 to compass his ends after his own fashion, and, 
 having laid down his plans, to carry them out 
 coolly and persistently. He was not an imj)ul- 
 sive man ; he pre-considered and then acted on 
 a forecast plan. And now in attempting to 
 project a scheme of action he saw he would 
 
152 HISTORY OF MABGABET MORTON. 
 
 have to contend with his aunt and Henry 
 Morton. It was true they were his auxiliaries, 
 but auxiHaries that would act after their own 
 fashion, irresjDcctive of his wishes. They 
 acted as a defence to Margaret Morton in a 
 way that precluded the possibility of his being 
 able to make her a party in his favour. He 
 saw he would not alone have to fight his enemy, 
 but also to cajole his auxiliaries and flatter the 
 garrison that he hoped to make surrender. An 
 hour's meditation brought Richard Archibald 
 to this view of the case. 
 
 ^^B}^ Jove," he said, '^I've always had to 
 fight single-handed, and must do so now. But 
 Meg is worth fighting for. Confound that 
 whelp ! " 
 
 It was nearly seven o'clock when Henry 
 Morton returned to the Temple. Eichard 
 Archibald was quite himself, and brisk under 
 the influence of j^rofuse ablutions and a fresh 
 toilette. Henry Morton was glad of his 
 cousin's changed manner. It was quite a relief. 
 He felt, though he would not care to acknow- 
 ledge, the strong mental organization of 
 Richard, and would rather not witness another 
 ebullition of passion on his part. The dinner 
 was excellent, and received ample justice from 
 the two gentlemen, on whose appetite the 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 153 
 
 excitement of the morning had not, apparently, 
 acted injuriously. When the dinner meats had 
 given place to cigars and wine, Henry Morton 
 gave an account of his city mission. He had 
 seen Mr. Grimey, and had made an ajopoint- 
 ment for the following afternoon. Then 
 Richard Archibald laid before his cousin the 
 plan he had laid for raising money without 
 interfering with the estate fund. As to the 
 mode of applying the money, he would defer to 
 Mr. Morton, wdiose practical knowledge of 
 commercial matters rendered him the proper 
 judge in the case. All this was said in a most 
 amiable tone, and Henry Morton, whilst he 
 admired his cousin's sagacity, admitted men- 
 tally that when he chose no man could be more 
 agreeable than Richard Archibald. 
 
 It was eight o'clock. The commercial con- 
 fidences between the cousins had come to a 
 close ; a cab was called, which carried off the 
 gentlemen towards Kensington. During a 
 silent ride, each reflected on the occurrences of 
 the morning, and each felt more deeply than 
 before that, though the views of both with 
 regard to Margaret Morton may tend to the 
 same end, the line of conduct to be pursued by 
 each should be very different. Mr. Morton's 
 plan was very simple. He resolved to tell his 
 
154: HISTORY OF MAHGAIIET MORTON. 
 
 aunt everything. Mr. Arcliibald determined 
 to bend all concerned in the affair to his own 
 will. 
 
 The arrival of the gentlemen at Eva Terrace 
 was unusually late. The explanation offered was 
 the mystifying one of business — an excuse which 
 ladies are supposed never to understand, but 
 with which they are always expected to be 
 satisfied. The new arrivals were in the 
 highest good humour. Eichard Archibald 
 delighted his aunt. He was studiously polite 
 to the comj)any in general ; perhaps a shade 
 too ceremoniously so. With Miss Morton his 
 manner was different: it was that of a man 
 who, whilst he asserts a claim, pleads for its 
 recognition. He knew how to engross her 
 attention, and show the rest of the company 
 he had a right to do so. 
 
 ^'Here, Margaret," he said, at leave-taking, 
 "is some of your work in another form"; and 
 he drew from his pocket a bundle of proofs. 
 " I haven't corrected 'em : you '11 do it better. 
 The style is yours." 
 
 Margaret blushed deeply. The press was 
 the goal of her ambition, and to be made an 
 associate in literary work was gliding ber 
 gently towards the groove in which she would 
 wish her future career to run. She held the 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MORTON. 155 
 
 proofs in lier hand with a look of conscious 
 pleasure. 
 
 ^^ You '11 be able to read 'em to-morrow 
 morning, I hope. You can return 'em to me 
 in the evening. Printers are alwa3'S in a 
 hurry." 
 
15G HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald's drawing-room, once so tran- 
 quil in its evening routine of whist and quiet 
 talk, was now transformed into an arena where 
 strong passions and bitter and offended feelings 
 were doing battle, sometimes in general action, 
 sometimes in light skirmishes, and at other 
 times in single combats of desperate animosity. 
 Strangely enough, the most terrible en- 
 counters took place, not between the gentle- 
 men whose interests were supposed to be 
 directly at stake, but between their friends 
 and partisans ; for before the expiration of a 
 week, dating from the morning when Mr. 
 Archibald made his early unexpected call at 
 Eva Terrace, the habitual frequenters of Mrs. 
 Archibald's house w^ere divided during the first 
 two days into two parties, which eventually 
 sj)lit into divers strong factions, whose animus 
 Avas great in pro^Dortion to tlicir numerical 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MORTON. ir>7 
 
 smallness. But these fractional portions were 
 ready to re-form in their original integrity 
 upon certain great occasions, when it w^as snp- 
 joosed a general principle was imperilled. The 
 leaders, or rather heroes, of the contest were 
 Mr. Archibald and Cornet Wynum ; and the 
 prize for which they quietly contended was 
 Miss Morton's favour. The competition was, 
 however, carried on so secretly that only the 
 initiated could perceive its play. As long as 
 Cornet Wynum enjoyed the supreme bliss 
 derivable from his protracted morning visits at 
 Eva Terrace, he w^as satisfied to see Mr. 
 Archibald assert his cousinly privileges during^ 
 the evening, though these were so slightly 
 profited by, that, wdiilstthe senior party enjoyed 
 their whist, Cornet Wynum sat in conversation 
 with Miss Morton and her brother, the trio 
 sometimes converted into a quartette by the 
 presence of Mr. Archibald; but still she was 
 alw^ays there. And wdien Mrs. Archibald's 
 apprehensive prudence induced her to increase 
 the number of her habitual evening visitors, in 
 the hope of diluting the draught she was 
 obliged to swallow, very little difference was 
 made in the position of Cornet Wynum. He 
 talked with Miss Keel and Monsieur Claude, 
 and, using them as a combining medium, con- 
 
168 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 trivecl to amalgamate his group with Miss 
 Morton's. This required only the exercise of 
 a little quiet gentlemanly tact, and Cornet 
 Wynum, though young, was no fool; and 
 Mr. Morton unobtrusively assisted his little 
 manoeuyres, partly because he liked the young 
 cornet, and partly because he took pleasure in 
 exhibiting to his aunt Richard Archibald's 
 utter indifference to her niece. Even when 
 Mrs. Archibald's fears first induced her to take 
 action, the worst consequence thereof, as far 
 as regarded Cornet Wynum, was that he was 
 elevated to the onerous honour of sitting beside 
 the lady of the house during the evening ; but 
 then he had the satisfaction of seeing that no 
 enemy occupied the post from which he had 
 been cunningly withdrawn. 
 
 So far the position of Cornet Wynum was 
 not much discomfited ; but when Mr. Archi- 
 bald's suspicions and passions were roused, 
 affairs began to look very dark for the poor 
 cornet. Mr. Archibald did not treat him as a 
 rival ; he was more blandly polite, but less 
 familiar than before ; and he made him feel 
 that Miss Morton's intellectual caste placed her 
 so vastly above him that it was useless to strain 
 his eyes staring upwards in that direction. 
 
 This sinking by Mr. Archibald of Cornet 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MORTON. 159 
 
 Wynum was effected very skilfully, the Ayily 
 operator actually contriving to enlist the 
 victim's father against him, Mr. Wynum being 
 all the while unconscious of the cat's-paw 
 position into which he was lured. Mr. Archi- 
 bald did it in this way. He would request 
 Mr. Wynum's opinion on some point of dis- 
 cussion that had arisen between him and Miss 
 Morton in reference to the manuscript. Mr. 
 AYvnum would listen to all the arguments, 
 2yro and con, which Mr. Archibald stated with 
 his habitual lucidity, putting Miss Morton's 
 views in the most favourable light. Mr. 
 Wynum, like certain great critics, often sum- 
 marily dismissed the arguments brought before 
 his notice, and treated the auditory to his own 
 views on the question, politely appealing, from 
 time to time, to the persons most interested, 
 especially to Miss Morton, whom Mr. Archi- 
 bald always kept in the foreground. 
 
 On two occasions during this first week of 
 hostilities. Monsieur Charleroi was present, and 
 was sucked into the eddy of the discussion ; 
 his son, too, was brought witJiin the influence 
 of the vortex by the skill of Mr. Archibald, 
 who frequently made Latin quotations cipropos 
 of some point just mooted, and asked Monsieur 
 Claude for a translation, Vvducli was prom2)tly 
 
160 HISTORY OF MAUGAUET MOBTON. 
 
 given in English or in French. Sometimes 
 these Latin quotations were submitted to Miss 
 Morton, who, thanks to her uncle's training, 
 possessed great facility in translation. All 
 this was effected witli the greatest simplicity 
 and apparent absence of design by Mr. Archi- 
 bald, who seemingly only sought to correct or 
 strengthen his own opinion, whilst in reality 
 he showed all gentlemen present, as well as 
 Cornet Wynum, that he, and only he, was the 
 equal of Miss Morton. He secured a double 
 advantage by this move, because he not only 
 intimidated any who might be likely to become 
 his rivals, but he raised himself in the opinion 
 of those present who cared to estimate a man 
 by his intellectual gifts. 
 
 Miss Maunsell was not of the number; 
 Cornet Wynum was. Miss Maunsell thought 
 the learned tone of the conversation maintained 
 by Mr. Archibald's group quite an offence to 
 the rest of the company, especially when a 
 young lady was made to figure therein ; whilst 
 Cornet Wynum, on the other hand, saw in 
 imagination Miss Morton rising to the very 
 zenith of intellectual greatness, and felt him- 
 self descending rapidly to the nadir of nothing- 
 ness. 
 
 There were two people made uncomfortable 
 
IlISTOUY OF MAMGABET MORTON, Gl 
 
 by Mr. Archibakrs new line of policy. 
 Madame Cliarleroi, who on two evenings of 
 that week was at Eva TerracCj could not help 
 thinking that English young ladies were 
 allowed extraordinary licence in society, and, 
 though she was much pleased at the prominent 
 part lier husband and son took, she still felt 
 that the inevitable tendency of such conversa- 
 tions was to exclusiveness. So Madame 
 Charleroi dropped out of a circle in which 
 she could not shine, and drew nearer to Miss 
 Maunsell. Mrs. Archibald did all she could to 
 entertain both ladies, but they plainly felt they 
 were placed in a second-rate position ; and 
 Henry Morton, who did not care for extempore 
 essays on abstract subjects, lounged about the 
 room, sometimes staring at the prints on the 
 tablf^, sometimes staring at his own image in 
 the glass, and sometimes trying to do the 
 agreeable for his aunt and her group. As for 
 Cornet Wynum, he took np a joosition Avhich, 
 in a strategic point of view, was excellent ; it 
 was one from which, without being observed, 
 he became aware of what was going on in the 
 enemy's camp, and, so posted, he fed his eyes 
 and ears at the cost of his heart. 
 
 So vigilant was Mr. Archibald, and so plainly 
 did he let every one know his wishes, and so 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
162 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 cleverly did he make every one bend to his 
 will, that within ten days after he had first 
 taken action Cornet Wynum made no more 
 morning calls at Eva Terrace. He contented 
 himself with leaving a bouquet every morning 
 for Mrs. Archibald. How he longed to leave 
 one for Miss Morton ! but as he had never done 
 so, thinking the omission a clever stroke of 
 policy, he dared not begin then. Everything 
 went smoothly in the evening at Eva Terrace. 
 Mr. Wynum was delighted with the literary, 
 not to say bookish, tone the conversation had 
 lately taken. Miss Morton and Mr. Archibald 
 rose greatly in his estimation, as was natural, 
 considering they gave him an opportunity of 
 descanting on subjects in which he was well 
 made up. 
 
 It was noon. Cornet Wynum was sitting 
 with his father ; each had lighted a cigar, and 
 was apparently enjoying the flavour of the 
 weed. Whilst engaged in the grave duty of 
 smoking, the gentlemen did not suspend con- 
 versation. Mr. Wynum had referred to some- 
 thing said on the j^i'evious evening at Eva 
 Terrace, and, passing from one point to 
 another, had finished by giving utterance to 
 his admiration for Miss Morton, for the mode 
 in which she had been educated and the 
 
mSTOTiY OF MABGABET 3I0BT0N. 168 
 
 extent of her general reading. His son 
 listened in silence. 
 
 ^^ She is a highly educated girl," said Mr. 
 "Wynum, slowly whiffing his cigar, '' some 
 persons " — he spoke in a dreamy, speculative 
 tone — ^^ might be apt to call her attainments 
 masculine ; but she is in appearance and 
 manner perfectly feminine. Don't you think 
 so,. Charlie ? " 
 
 " Yes, father." 
 
 ^'Ah, you don't care about intellectual 
 women. So much the better, perhaps. I 
 always did. When I was a young man — but 
 older than you are, Charlie — I cultivated the 
 acquaintance of intellectual women. Little 
 Mrs. Stanhope, what a fascinating creature 
 she was ! Her natural talent was extraordi- 
 nary, and she had read a great deal. Her mind 
 was not trained like Miss Morton's, but she had 
 greater knowledge of the world, and was more 
 accustomed to society ; and then her wit and 
 vivacity — she was a wonderful little creature." 
 
 " Was she very handsome ? " 
 
 ^^Not at all handsome. Very small, but a 
 pretty little figure and intelligent dark eyes. 
 She ivas a clever little creature. But what 
 silly things these clever women do I She 
 married a half -caste Indian." 
 
1G4: IIISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 ^^ Why did she do that?" 
 
 '^ We-el-1-1-1. He was very rich, and she 
 had no money. Ha, ha, ha ! Poor Stanhope ! 
 She treated him like a dog,^ — at least like a 
 servant, ha, ha, ha ! He generally sat on the 
 box of the carriage Avith the coachman. Ha, 
 ha, ha ! Poor Stfinhope ! He was very j)roud 
 of his wife. I often think, too, of old Mrs. 
 Stubman. She was a woman of ])owerful 
 intellect and well read, too well read, indeed, 
 in the philosophy of the French school. She 
 was decidedly a woman of masculine under- 
 standing. I generally visited her of a morning. 
 She was an early riser and a great politician. 
 Her son was a distinguished jDreacher. 'Tis 
 pleasant, Charlie, to look back on old times." 
 
 Charlie groaned. ^^ Oh, father, you were 
 very talented and very well educated. Of 
 course, clever women liked you." 
 
 ^^ Charlie, 'tis well to give you advice on 
 those points. A man should always cultivate 
 the acquaintance of well-bred women. The 
 higher you can go the better. And by height 
 I refer more to the qualities of the individual 
 woman than to her social grade. A man's 
 moral tone is determined by that of his female 
 acquaintance, and ultimately his social position 
 is fixed by it ; so is that of Iiis children." 
 
HISTOEY OF MARGARET MORTON, IG'i 
 
 ^^ I shall never have children." 
 
 ^' Pooh, pooli ! You '11 marry, my dear boy, 
 and have children. I shall be very glad to see 
 you married, Charlie. A man is more respect- 
 able by being married." 
 
 '' I shall never marry." 
 
 ^^Pooh, pooh! Your time will come, my 
 dear boy, 3^our time will come. Every man's 
 time comes.'' 
 
 '- He may not be able to profit by it." 
 
 ^' If he have his eyes open he can. In the 
 management of these matters, Charlie, as in 
 most other things, there is a certain science, 
 resulting perhaps from knowledge of the world, 
 arising perchance from natural clearness of 
 perception, or perchance from a combination 
 of both. There was Major Smallpace, a very 
 nice fellow. He was for years attached to a 
 lady, visited her constantly, paid her every 
 attention, and never had the courage to ask 
 her to marry, though all the time she was only 
 waiting to be asked." 
 
 ^' But he couldn't be sure of that. He might 
 have been refused." 
 
 '' My dear boy, a man must be very dull 
 that doesn't see his way in such cases. I 
 believe that in matrimonial speculations steadi 
 ness of purpose does a great deal. There 's 
 
16G HISTOnr OF MAltGABET MOBTON. 
 
 my charming friend, Princess Vermicelli. I 
 knew her in her youth, just before she married. 
 She was then — let me see — well, I shall say 
 eig'ht-and-twenty. She was a beautiful woman, 
 ever queen of the ball-room. I danced Avith 
 her every night during her last unmarried 
 season. She was in no hurry to marry. She 
 Avas ambitious ; she was determined to have 
 rank. She had plenty of money ; not a colossal 
 fortune, but sufficient to make a handsome 
 turn-out. Slie didn't succeed in England, so 
 whilst her beauty was still in fidl bloom she 
 tried the Continent. At one of the German 
 watering-places she met Prince Vermicelli, and 
 spite of the efforts of his family, spite of the 
 most powerful opposition on their part, she 
 married him. I 've always thought, myself, she 
 was mainlv indebted to Mrs. Pairo's <j^ood 
 manao'cment for the match." 
 
 '^ Who was Mrs. Paae ? " 
 
 'SSlie Avas the wife of an Indian officer. 
 Her health Avas too delicate to allow her to 
 accompany her husband on foreign serAace ; 
 and as the alloAA^'ance he Avas able to make her 
 was small, she eked it out by acting as 
 chaperon to Miss Dobbwell before she became 
 Princess Vermicelli." 
 
 '^ What kind of man Avas the Prince?" 
 
IIISTOBY OF MABGAimT MOPiTON. 1G7 
 
 ^*A nice little fellow — a very nice little 
 fellow, some four or five years younger than 
 his Avife. I frequently met him at the German 
 Spas. We played rouge et noir at the same 
 table at Baden-Baden. The Prince always 
 staked gold." 
 
 There was a lone: silence, durinsr which 
 father and son worked their cigars so effec- 
 tually that each became partially invisible to 
 the other. Mr. Wynum Avas evidently indulg- 
 ing in the dreamy reminiscences that he loved. 
 His son's reflections seemed to be of a more 
 profound and not so pleasing character. 
 
 ^^ Charlie," said Mr. Wynum, taking his 
 cigar from his lips, and leisurely knocking into 
 the tidy the long tip of whitish ash, the fruit 
 of his ardent smoking, ^' Charlie, as I have 
 already said, always cultivate the society of 
 well-bred women. 'Tis they who give a man 
 a stamp in society." 
 
 ^^Yes, father." 
 
 The cornet had withdrawn his cigar from 
 his lips, had sliaken the ash into the tidy, and 
 then thoughtfully laid his cigar in the little 
 tray. 
 
 ''Father," he said, ''if you admired all 
 these ladies so much, how did you like to see 
 them married to other men ?" 
 
IGS HISTOriY OF MATiGABET MORTON. 
 
 '^ My dear boy, 'twas nothing to me. I'd 
 much rather see 'em married to other men 
 than to myself"; and Mr. Wynum smiled. 
 ^^Biit seriously, my dear Charlie, a man learns 
 to associate with the most attractive w^omen 
 Tvithout tliinking of marriage. ^Tis one of the 
 most useful lessons that an early introduction 
 into society gives. Beautiful women receive 
 admiration as a right. 'Tis a tax they levy, 
 and w^iich is cheerfully paid. It takes nothing 
 off our income : that 's a tax for which we 
 receive full value." 
 
 ^^But when a beautiful woman you have 
 admired marries, you feel you 're cut out." 
 
 ^'Nothing of the kind. A beautiful woman 
 don't always marry the most attractive man in 
 her circle. She '11 marry whoever she can get, 
 if she hasn't money." 
 
 '' That 's horrible." 
 
 ^'Not at all. I don't mean to say that a 
 w^oman sacrifices her feelings, or compromises 
 her principles, by so doing. When a beautiful 
 woman who wislies to marry reckons up lier 
 acquaintance, and finds that the most attrac- 
 tive men amongst 'em are non-marriers, the 
 others — the marrying men — assume a certain 
 monetary value in her e3^es, and she directs 
 her attention towards 'em. She chooses one. 
 
IIlSTOnY OF MARGARET MORTON, :G9 
 
 or she's chosen by him, and they make a 
 match." 
 
 ^^ But a man cannot alwa37s choose." 
 
 '^No, nor a woman either. I speak of 
 women who see their way, or who are under 
 the strict guidance of parents that see their 
 way. Women are sometimes very badl}^ 
 treated by men, who tamper with their affec- 
 tions, hold 'em on for years, and suddenly marry 
 another. Such a rascal deserves to be shot. 
 I 'd think nothing of putting a bullet through 
 such a fellow." 
 
 ^^He'd deserve it." 
 
 ^^ That he would. I had a crack of a pistol 
 once at a rascal that insulted a friend of your 
 mother's. I nearlv winor-ed the fellow." 
 
 ^^ Duelling is out of fashion." 
 
 ** Yes, and pity 'tis. Men were more civil 
 and more careful in their behaviour when 'twas 
 in fashion." 
 
 Here Mr. Wynum resumed his cigar. After 
 some long and tranquillizing whiffs, he said, 
 sj^eaking slowly and rather dreamil}", — 
 
 ^' Ah, Charlie, I could tell you much that 
 would help you in going through life." 
 
 ^'I know that, father." 
 
 ^^ Nothing like experience, my dear boy; 
 but 'tis like a legacy that comes too late to be 
 
170 HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MORTON. 
 
 used; only with this difference — we can 
 bequeath the legacy to our children, we can't 
 transfuse the experience." 
 
 Another pause of about five minutes, during 
 which the elderly gentleman puffed his cigar 
 languidly, and the young one sat with his 
 elbow resting on the table, his head leaning on 
 his hand, and his eyes fixed on the carpet, as 
 if he w^ere counting the number of threads in 
 the Brussels octagon at which he stared. 
 
 ^^ Father," said the young man, without 
 lifting his eyes, '' do you think Miss Morton 
 will marry her cousin ? " 
 
 '^ Perhaps, yes ; perhaps, no. I Ve remarked 
 that generally these long engagements come to 
 nothing.'' 
 
 ^' Are they engaged?" said the cornet, with 
 a quickness that gave the question the character 
 of an exclamation. 
 
 ^'No., Mrs. Archibald knows the Avorld too 
 well, and is too prudent, to engage her niece 
 where there 's no immediate prospect of marriage. 
 And I must do Mrs. Archibald the justice to 
 say she has brought up her niece in feminine 
 delicacy and purity of mind not common at 
 the present day." 
 
 ^^ But Miss Morton will be married to Mr. 
 Archibald?" 
 
EISTOUY OF 3IAIIGABET JSIOBTON, 171 
 
 ^^'Tis hard to say. There's no engage- 
 ment. There 's a kind of family compact, 
 implied, not ratified. I don't think much of 
 such family compacts : they fetter the opinion 
 of the circle in which the young people movOy 
 but they lay no obligation on the person most 
 concerned. I 've never seen any good come 
 of 'em. 3Ir. Archibald is free; Miss Morton 
 is free. The outside public think they 're 
 engaged. They may never be married." 
 
 *^If I thought that," said the cornet, in a 
 tone of determination and with an energy of 
 manner that made his father look up witli a 
 wide-awake expression quite unusual with him. 
 
 '' Well, Cliarlie, what tlicn ? " 
 
 Charlie looked a little cowed, but tlie next 
 moment he stood up and, advancing to the fire- 
 place, faced his father. 
 
 ^^ Well, father, I'll tell you what it is; I 
 don't like to be snubbed." 
 
 ^^ Wlio snubs you ? " 
 
 ^^ Archibald." 
 
 ^^ Archibald? I thought you and he Avere 
 excellent friends." 
 
 ^^ So we were, until about a fortnight ago, 
 when he and Morton changed." 
 
 '' Tell me all about it." 
 
 And Mr. Wynum put down his cigar, and 
 
172 EISTOBY OF :\IARGABET MORTOX. 
 
 listened with great attention whilst his son 
 spoke. 
 
 ^^ Well, father, ever since I came to know 
 Mrs. Archibald, I 've left a bouquet for her 
 every morning." Here the inexperienced cornet 
 blushed ^^like any rose." 
 
 '^ Quite right, my boy, quite right. Go on," 
 said his father. 
 
 ^^ When I called with the bouquet, I was 
 shown into tlie library, where Miss Morton and 
 her brother always are of a morning. In the 
 hot weather we went into the garden. I read 
 to Miss Morton in the arbour, generally French. 
 She did some needlework or drawing. I 
 stayed there until I came on to you, and Mrs. 
 Archibald was always glad to see me in the 
 evening. All was right till about a fortnight 
 ago, and since then Archibald snubs me. I 
 cant stand it. Pie 's always at Mrs. Archibald's 
 now of a morning, and Mrs. Archibald herself, 
 that used n't to get up till eleven, is now up with 
 the sun and down in the library at ten. 
 Morton, too, is turned against me. In the 
 beginning — that is, before the last fortnight — ■ 
 he stood a friend, and often gave Archibald a 
 cut- for my sake, but now he 's dead against me. 
 Every one in the house is against me. Even 
 Clifton, the servant, gives me a look like 
 
HISTOBY OF MAViGAliET MOI?TOX. 173 
 
 thunder when I call now. I '11 never put my 
 foot there again : I can't stand it ! " 
 
 Mr. Wvnum rose rather hastily from his 
 chair, laid his cigar on the mantel-shelf, and 
 stej^ping up to his son, put both liis hands on 
 the cornet's shoulders, looked straight in his 
 face, shook him gently, and burst into a laugh. 
 There was in that laiii^h, and still more in the 
 light that beamed in ^Ir. Wynum's e^^es, an 
 approach to humour tliat his son had never 
 before seen him exhibit. 
 
 '^ My dear Charlie,'^ and he looked full in 
 the young man's face and gave him another 
 friendly shake, — ^'instead of being angry, you 
 ought to feel flattered by the thunder-storm 
 you have raised." 
 
 ^^ I 'm not flattered, father. I 'm — '' 
 
 The young man stopped short. He had been 
 brought up by his mother with so exalted a 
 notion of his father's superiority, that he looked 
 uj)on himself as a mere nothing before him. 
 His father's laugh cut him to the quick : he 
 thought it one of derision. He was profoundly 
 pained, and regretted having opened his mind 
 as freely as he had done. But his father 
 laughed again, and the son, who had been 
 trained in feelings of more than filial reverence, 
 felt now something like pleasure in being able, 
 
171 mSTOBY OF MABGAFiET MOBTON. 
 
 even at so great cost, to afford his father a 
 hearty laugh. 
 
 ^' Ah, father, you laugh at me." 
 
 ^^ Yes, Charlie. I laugh at you because you 
 don't know the world ; because vou don't know 
 your own value. Why, Charlie, my lad, you 
 can beat Arcliibald to tatters." 
 
 Charlie looked up, and the colour rushed to 
 his face. 
 
 ''I don't think so, father." 
 
 '^ Trust me, my boy. I know the world. 
 I 've given many a man advice in such matters. 
 'Twould be strange if I couldn't advise my 
 own son. But you've some complaint against 
 Archibald and Morton. Have they behaved in 
 an ungentlemanly manner ? " 
 
 ^' Oh, no, no." 
 
 ^'If they have 3^ou know my opinion on 
 such matters, Charlie. You know what you, 
 as a soldier and a gentleman, ought to do." 
 
 ^' Oh I there 's nothing of the kind. I wish 
 there were. On the contrary, Arcliibald is 
 killingly civil ; but he makes me feel so little." 
 
 '' I don't see tliat." 
 
 ^^Ah! father, but I feel it. He has taken 
 up this new dodge of talking to you about 
 systems of 23hilosophy, and tlie university 
 curriculum and international law, and other 
 
BISTOBY OF MABGAllET MOHTON. 175 
 
 infernal things. And then you both appeal 
 to Miss Morton, and the conversation is between 
 the three of you. Morton 's thrown out, but 
 he don't care. I don't think Mrs. Archibald 
 would like it ; only she 's all for Archibald 
 now." 
 
 '' By Jove, Charlie, you don't imt us in a 
 very nice light. 'Twould seem by 3^our 
 account that w^e haven't behaved very civilly 
 to the rest of the company." 
 
 The cornet laughed. 
 
 ^' I didn't mean that, father. 'Tis all against 
 me. Archibald shows Miss Morton what a 
 poor fellow I am — so uneducated : he makes 
 her despise me." 
 
 ^- By no means, my boy. You 're quite 
 mistaken. No one could despise you. I know 
 the world. I know men, and I know women ; 
 and I 'm proud of you, Charlie, and I can read 
 what women think. You 'd beat Archibald 
 and Morton hollow, my boy, any day. You 're 
 a much finer fellow than either of 'em. I 
 repeat, Charlie, I 'm proud of you, and you 
 know I 'm not easily pleased. I am proud of 
 you, Charlie." 
 
 ''Oh, father, father, how happy mother 
 would be to hear you say sol" 
 
 And the son's eyes were filled with tears, 
 
17G HISTOIIY OF MAPiGABET MOIITON. 
 
 and tlie colour on his cheeks was dappled, 
 because of his emotion. 
 
 Poor Charlie had his mother's heart. 
 
 Mr. Wynum's eyes, too, were full of tears. 
 He was pleased to see in others, and to feel 
 himself, a graceful emotion. He nov/ resmned 
 his seat, took up his cigar, shook off the ashes, 
 and, by the action of his breath, humoured 
 into a kindly ray the half-extinguished spark. 
 Having performed each of these actions deli- 
 berately and with thouglitful jDrecision, he 
 proceeded to enjoy the fruits of his labour in 
 inhaling the nicotine breath of the pleasant 
 weed ; and whilst so employed his glance was 
 steadily directed forward and downward, as 
 though the geometrical figure traced on the 
 carpet at his son's feet presented a problem he 
 was trying to solve. At length, as if fully 
 satisfied with the result of his meditation, he 
 lifted his head, took the cigar from his lips, 
 and said to his son, — 
 
 ^' Charlie, sit down ; draw your chair near, 
 and let us talk this matter quietly over." 
 
 Cornet Wynum drew his chair nearer to his 
 father, frankly answered all the questions put 
 to him, and listened attentively to the opinions 
 and counsels tendered. 
 
 A satisfactory arrangement having been 
 
HISTOBY OF 3IAEGAEET MORTON. 177 
 
 come to on every debated point, the father 
 and son went forth to take their daily pro- 
 menade. On the evening of that day Mr. 
 Wynuni appeared at Eva Terrace unaccom- 
 panied by his son. He was bearer to Mrs. 
 Archibald of an apology from Cornet Wynmn, 
 who was unable to pay his respects in person. 
 The time for the embarkation of his regiment 
 was drawing near, and his military duties 
 would now take up his entire attention. His 
 stay in London had been prolonged beyond 
 the customary limits by the indulgence of his 
 colonel, who was an old friend of his father's. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald expressed her j^olite regret 
 at Cornet Wynum's absence on that evening, 
 and still more at the prospect of losing his 
 society altogether ; but whilst Mrs. Archibald 
 uttered these conventional regrets, her heart 
 expanded with a sense of relief. The efforts 
 she was making would soon cease, and she 
 would be allowed to relapse into her customar}^ 
 calm. 
 
 Miss MaunselPs sympathy was immediately 
 excited, and found vent in a profusion of 
 words and sighs. How would Mr. Wynum 
 ever accustom himself to the loss of that 
 Splendid creature, that noble young man, his 
 child, that he had not seen for years, and now 
 
 VOL. 1. N 
 
ITS HISTOBY OF 3IARGABET MORTON. 
 
 saw only to be dragged from liim, banished 
 into a savage country, to be torn in pieces 
 by tigers, or stung to death by cobras, or 
 trampled under foot by elephants, or, at best, 
 to die, lonely and deserted, in a bungalow, 
 2)arched with fever, or else to be shot on the 
 battle-field, and afterwards devoured by the 
 birds of the air or thrown into the Ganges ? 
 
 And Miss Maunsell went on putting into 
 every possible form the dangers to which the 
 young soldier was about to be exposed, and to 
 one or other of which he must inevitably suc- 
 cumb. Miss Maunsell would admit no alterna- 
 tive. And she was able to heighten the 
 dismalness of the darkly-shaded panorama by 
 illustrations drawn from the actual experiences 
 and fate of many of her Indian friends. It 
 was a fearful picture of Indian life, or rather of 
 death in India; for, according to Miss Maun- 
 sell' s relation, life was so short in these regions 
 as scarcely to deserve being taken into account. 
 To adopt the pathetic lady's theory in faith, 
 one should believe that tigers were posted 
 night and day at the entrance of every thicket 
 and at every turn in every road ; tliat a com- 
 pany of cobras was perpetually standing erect 
 around every courtyard and every garden, 
 ready to dart their envenomed stings into the 
 
EISTOEY OF MAJlGATtET MOllTON. 179 
 
 unwary European's face; that an army of 
 elephants, with wily sagacity, was drawn up 
 in the background, with trunks uplifted to fell 
 him to the earth, where they could afterw^ards 
 trample him to death at their leisure, the sky 
 meanwhile darkened with birds of prey that 
 smelled from afar the carrion that was 
 to be. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald listened nervously to Miss 
 Maunsell's long tirade, which she dared not 
 interrupt, but the course of which she would 
 fain have altered. As to Mr. Wynum, he 
 exhibited much courage in combating the 
 gloomy auguries of the lady-speaker. He 
 believed tigers to afford the best sport in the 
 world to hunters. Englishmen were fond of 
 the field ; but what was fox-hunting compared 
 to tiger-hunting ? As to elephants, mounted 
 on one a man felt an emperor, and might 
 trample on cobras and defy fever. 
 
 ^'Then, Miss Maunsell," he went on to say, 
 '^ let us look at the bright side of the medal. 
 A man goes to India a cornet, and returns a 
 colonel or major-general." 
 
 "Yes, sir, with a congested liver and a 
 jaundiced face." 
 
 " Miss Maunsell," said Henry Morton, 
 coming forward, "I hope you don't allude to 
 
180 HISTOBY OF MAEGARET MORTON, 
 
 me. I 've returned from India, and I hope 
 my complexion will still pass muster." 
 
 There was a general laugh, for Mr. Morton's 
 complexion was delicately fair. 
 
 The evening passed away pleasantly. Mrs. 
 Archibald, relieved from the strain of severe 
 duty, experienced a reaction, and lay languidly 
 back on her couch, taking only occasional part 
 in the conversation. This kind of tranquillity 
 was to her enjoyment. Richard Archibald 
 w^as happy, declaiming to a group composed of 
 Miss Morton, Miss Keel, and Monsieur Claude, 
 the latter being the only member of his family 
 present that evening. All who received a 
 general invitation to Eva Terrace were free to 
 come when they pleased of an evening. Mrs. 
 Archibald held a perpetual ''at home," for 
 which no special invitations were issued. 
 Hitherto, dating from the commencement of 
 her widowhood, Mrs. Archibald's circle had 
 been limited to the immediate members of her 
 own family and her three old friends ; lately, 
 when she found herself in a little social diffi- 
 culty, she had attempted to assimilate a 
 foreign element with her home circle. But 
 the attempt was not a success. Madame Char- 
 Icroi did not feel at her ease, going to the 
 house of a lady who never accepted a return. 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGAItET MOBTON. 181 
 
 Tt was true Mrs. Archibald pleaded the excuse 
 of delicate health ; but Madame Charleroi was 
 not strong, and thought she had as much claim 
 to indulgence as anybody. And overlying all 
 these feelings was an uneasy consciousness, or, 
 at least, a disquieting suspicion, that Mrs. 
 Archibald regarded herself as superior to the 
 trader's wife. Not by word, or tone, or look 
 had Mrs. Archibald given justifiable grounds 
 for such suspicion ; but it existed in Madame 
 Charleroi's mind, not as an individual thought, 
 but as an unpleasant accessory that infused, if 
 not direct discomfort, at least a disposition to 
 that state. Madame Charleroi was always 
 received by Mrs. Archibald with a certain 
 amount of kindness — an implied thanks for 
 visiting a valetudinarian. Miss Maunsell dwelt 
 largely, when in private with Madame Char- 
 leroi, on the immense benefit her acquaintance 
 conferred on ^'that dear creature" by revivmg 
 her taste for society, and Miss Maunsell hoped 
 much from what had already been done. Tlie 
 French lady listened to all this with the best 
 possible grace, but an indefinable feminine 
 instinct made her feel she was being made to 
 serve a purpose by Mrs. Archibald. Under 
 these impressions Madame Charleroi soon re- 
 ^ricted her acquaintance at Eva Terrace to a 
 
182 HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 strict exchange of morning visits, but she was 
 well pleased that her son should go there on 
 the familiar terms the lady of the house had 
 laid down. The tone of the society was excel- 
 lent, and Mrs. Archibald's nephews were re- 
 spectable acquaintances for Monsieur Claude. 
 
 On the evening that Mr. Wynum apologized 
 to Mrs. Archibald for the absence of his son, 
 the time passed, as we have said, quietly and 
 agreeably, according to the tastes of the 
 assembled personages. About ten o'clock Mr. 
 Wynum rose to leave. He paused for a 
 moment before Mrs. Archibald. 
 
 '^I am going to ask your indulgence," he 
 said, ^' and that of Miss Maunsell, for what, 
 I 'm afraid, you will call an act of selfishness 
 on my part." 
 
 '^ Impossible, my dear sir, impossible. You 
 couldn't be selfish." 
 
 ^^ Miss Maunsell, I fear I'm about to forfeit 
 your good opinion on that point." Mr. Wynum 
 spoke with a graceful smile, and, turning to 
 Mrs. Archibald, continued. ^' I 've engaged 
 your two nephews and Monsieur Claude to 
 dine with me next Thursday at Eichmond. 
 My son and a couple of his military friends 
 will be with us. I 'm anxious to enjoy as 
 much of his company as I can before he goes." 
 
HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 1S3 
 
 '^ No wonder, my dear sir," broke in Miss 
 Maunsell — ^^' that beautiful young man, that 
 jou may never see again." 
 
 ^' Oh, Miss Maunsell," said Margaret Morton, 
 who formed one of a standing grouj) round the 
 speakers, ^ ^you're one of Job's comforters." 
 
 '^ A very impertinent remark," retorted Miss 
 Maunsell, her face furiously red, and her large 
 eyes flashing anger. ^'I believe I have 
 feeling ; there are some people who have 
 none." 
 
 '' I didn't mean — " said Margaret. 
 
 Mr. Wynum, contradicting the habits of his 
 life, interrupted a lady ; indeed, he seemed to 
 overlook Miss Morton altogether, whilst with 
 his blandest smile he bowed to Miss Maunsell, 
 saying,— 
 
 ^^ Nobody who has the pleasure of knowing 
 Miss Maunsell can doubt her possessing most 
 kindly and generous feeling." 
 
 ^^ You 're very good, sir ; very good." And, 
 so saying. Miss Maunsell cast down her eyes — 
 her strongest expression of indignant feeling — 
 and what with the deep-set orbs, so closely 
 veiled, and the aquiline nose, and the flushed 
 face, she looked like the bust of a Roman 
 matron cut in red sandstone. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald, without taking any notice of 
 
1S4: BISTOBY OF MAPxGABET MO ETON. 
 
 the quarrel, looked up at Mr. Wynum as if 
 awakening from a short meditation. 
 
 ^'May we expect the pleasure of seeing 
 Cornet Wynum to-morrow evening ? " 
 
 ^^ I fear not. Some of his brother-officers 
 have just returned to town, men whose leave 
 of absence is nearly expired. 'Tis well they 
 should know something of each other before 
 starting on a long voyage." 
 
 ^^I almost dread," said Mrs. Archibald, with 
 a look of mock sentimentality, '^ to ask the 
 next question. May we exj^ect to see Mr. 
 Wynum here to-morrow evening ? " 
 
 ^^ I believe not. I've promised to dine with 
 my son and some of his military friends." 
 
 ^^ Ellen," said Mrs. Archibald, turning to 
 Miss Maunsell, '^pray sit down. I beg you all 
 to sit down." 
 
 The company obeyed, and their looks showed 
 a return of cheerfulness. 
 
 ^^ And now, Mr. Wynum," resumed the lady 
 of the house, ^^ I 've to thank you for the kind 
 manner in which you have prepared us all for 
 the shock of not seeing you for the next two- 
 days." 
 
 Mr. Wynum bowed low, with his hand on 
 his heart. The rest of the company looked 
 delighted. Henry Morton, obedient to a signal 
 
EISTOBY OF MARGARET MORTON. 185 
 
 from his aunt, had touched the bell, and given 
 some directions to the servant. Clifton ap- 
 peared with a tray, decanter, and glasses. 
 
 ^' Really," said the lady of the house, '^ I 
 feel to want a glass of wine" — this with a 
 sweet smile — '' Henry, Eichard, pray do the 
 honours." 
 
 The young men did their aunt's bidding, 
 and high good humour soon prevailed. It was a 
 quarter past eleven when a second attempt was 
 made at breaking up. Miss Maunsell, haying 
 been assisted to put on her shawl by Miss 
 Morton, for which service the young lady 
 received a friendly " Thank you, dear," took 
 her departure with Monsieur Claude and Miss 
 Keel. Mr. Archibald and Mr. Morton insisted 
 on accompanying Mr. Wynum to his lodgings. 
 
 Whilst making the customary detour^ on the 
 way to St. John's Terrace, Mr. Archibald said, 
 
 ''' What a fiery temper old Maunsell is ! And 
 how rude she was to Margaret ! " 
 
 ^^ Ye-es," said Mr. Wynum, in a mild drawl, 
 and as if trying to recall the circumstance, 
 '' she is rather inflammable, but a good- 
 natured woman. Poor old Maunsell ! " 
 
 ^^I've often heard her very rude to Mar- 
 garet," continued Mr. Archibald. '^I'm sure 
 she dislikes her." 
 
18G HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 " No, no," said Mr. Wyniim ; "■ 'tis her way. 
 Miss Morton knows very well how to deal with 
 her." 
 
 ''Still, I've often heard her very rude to 
 my cousin ; and, should it occur again in my 
 presence, I '11 give my opinion. What do you 
 think, Harry ? " 
 
 '' AVell, Dick, you see Miss Maun sell is an 
 old friend of aunt's ; she 's been faithful to her 
 in her troubles. 'T wouldn't do to say any- 
 thing sharp to her. She looks upon Margaret 
 still as a child, and lectures her. Meg and I 
 don't mind her." 
 
 '' She's never rude to you, Archibald," said 
 Mr. Wynum. '' Morton takes the right view. 
 Miss Maunsell is not only an old woman, but 
 an old maid. I 've remarked through life that 
 such women live in an atmosphere of delusions, 
 one of which is that they never recognize the 
 advance into womanhood of girls they saw 
 children a few years before, whilst, on the 
 contrary, they have an acute perception of the 
 growing manhood of the rising generation, and 
 are quite willing to put themselves on a par 
 with young men of five-and-twenty. I 've no 
 doubt Miss Maunsell would receive the 
 addresses of either of you with a favourable 
 ^ar." 
 
HISTOET OF 31 AEG ABET MOBTON. 187 
 
 ^' She shan't be troubled with mine," said 
 Mr. Archibald, in a dry and rather angry tone. 
 
 '^ As I'm disengaged," said Mr. Morton, 
 laughing, '' I can take time to consider." 
 
 ^^ That 's wisely said, Morton. You 're both 
 young enough to wait." 
 
 And Mr. W3'num laughed. So did Mr. 
 Morton, but not so did Mr. Archibald. He 
 was evidently angry with Miss Maunsell. 
 
 The three gentlemen separated at St. John's 
 Terrace with a renewed reminder and fresh 
 promises regarding the appointed meeting on 
 Thursday. 
 
1S8 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Ten days had passed and Cornet Wynum had 
 not presented himself at Eva Terrace. The 
 customary bouquet was now left every morning- 
 for Mrs. Archibald and Miss Maunsell by a 
 servant. Cornet Wynum no longer called 
 with filial punctuality on his father in the 
 early afternoon; the father went to his son's 
 hotel, and appeared no more of an evening at 
 Mrs. Archibald's. That lady's evening assem- 
 blies might be said to be under martial law; 
 the call to arms echoed in the ears of all that 
 affectionate circle, and indeed Cornet Wynum 
 was regarded by Miss Maunsell as having been 
 repeatedly shot dead. 
 
 Mr. Wynum's Richmond party had gone off 
 delightfully. Henry Morton, who felt as if a 
 yoke had been removed from his neck, had 
 taken the same company the following week to 
 the same Star and Garter, where they were 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAllET MORTON. 189 
 
 afectionately received and nobly entertained 
 by — the waiters, to whom Mr. Morton in the 
 evening presented his grateful acknowledg- 
 ments under the guise of a certain number of 
 gold pieces. Richard Archibald, relieved from 
 the labours of watchful rivalry, began to feel a 
 return of his ancient stolid peace. He would 
 have done as Henry Morton did, and taken the 
 gentlemen on an excursion ; but it occurred to 
 him that, in the face of late events, it became 
 him to honour the ladies, and hinted to his aunt 
 his wish to make up a rural party that should 
 include herself, Margaret, and Miss Maunsell. 
 Mrs. Archibald protested against the design as 
 far as she was concerned, assuring her nephew 
 she was wholly unequal to such an exertion. 
 She, however, much approved of his inviting 
 the gentlemen of the circle, for she secretly 
 dreaded that Mr. Wynum might take oiFence; 
 but Mr. Archibald, contradicted in his own 
 proposition 5 said he would take time to reflect 
 on the other. 
 
 Ten days had passed tranquilly. Mrs. Archi- 
 bald had gradually relapsed into the languid 
 repose to which she was ji, constitutionally 
 addicted, and the love of which habit had 
 strengthened. She did not regret the absence 
 of Mr. Wynum and his son from her evening 
 
190 HISTOBT OF MABGABET MOBTON, 
 
 assemblies, nor was she sorry that, during the 
 latter j^art of the week, her nephews, too, had 
 remained away. She had been subjected to a 
 great strain for some time past, and longed for 
 quiet. The absence of her nephews was the 
 more bearable as Mrs. Archibald knew it was 
 occasioned by application to their mercantile 
 affairs, into which Henry Morton told her that 
 with the aid of ^'old Grant," they had been 
 able to throw the spirit that money alone can 
 give. 
 
 A fortnight of this dull quiet had elapsed, 
 but Margaret Morton, though quiet— she was 
 always quiet — was by no means dulL Eichard 
 Archibald had altered his mind with regard to 
 the book he had intended to publish, and instead 
 of combining his essays in a single volume 
 had commenced to publish them separately in 
 a magazine, with the editor of Avhich he had 
 lately made acquaintance. This change in her 
 cousin's intentions furnished Margaret Morton 
 with that kind of work and excitement which 
 were most congenial to her tastes and tempe- 
 rament. In now again going carefully through 
 the manuscript, she often expanded the 
 thoughts, and still more frequently condensed 
 the expressions. It was a labour of love ; not 
 of love towards the author of the essay, but 
 
HISTOMY OF MAnGABET MOBTON. 191 
 
 of worshipful love towards her great idol, the 
 Press, of which she was a secret but most 
 sincere adorer. Margaret Morton did not 
 laboar at her cousin's essays with more earnest- 
 ness than she would have bestowed on the 
 manuscript of any other person for whom she 
 might have undertaken the like service, but it 
 would be wrong to say she did not feel an 
 especial thrill of joy and pride in the praise 
 Richard Archibald now freely bestowed on her 
 performance. 
 
 There were many causes combined to make 
 Miss Morton's gratification in her cousin'tj 
 commendations very profound. In the first 
 place, Richard's talents had always been held 
 in high esteem by her uncle, whose opinion 
 had the force of law on Margaret's mind. Mr. 
 Archibald had always predicted that Richard 
 would achieve distinction, because that, in 
 addition to great talent, he possessed energy 
 and perseverance, which would in the first 
 instance carry him on to high mental culture, 
 and in the next place would enable him to 
 make the most of his acquirements. This was 
 equivalent to saying Richard Archibald would 
 not hide his light under a bushel ; and so far 
 his uncle was right, for not only would the 
 nephew not willingly hide his light, but he 
 
192 HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON, 
 
 would do all in his power to place it in the 
 highest candlestick manufactured in his time, 
 and would afterwards endeavour to place the 
 candlestick in the most eminent position to 
 which by train or tramway he could transjDort 
 it. Mrs. Archibald had naturally adopted her 
 husband's opinions with regard to Eichard ; 
 and since his death, since she had felt the 
 oppressive unprotectedness of widowhood, she 
 had learned to look upon the activity and 
 manly courage of her nephew with a kind of 
 reverential admiration. So far Margaret 
 Morton had been trained to regard Richard 
 Archibald as one highly endowed ; and now 
 that she saw Mr. Wynum, who was of the 
 same mental type as her uncle, treat Richard 
 on a footing of equality in the high-toned 
 discussions that had lately formed their 
 evening entertainments, it was no wonder that 
 her previous opinions concerning him were 
 confirmed. Neither can it be denied that the 
 high estimate formed of Richard by such com- 
 petent judges nourished in Margaret's mind no 
 mean sense of her own capabilities. She was 
 of the same school as Richard. She had been 
 trained by her nncle for a longer period than 
 he, and she possessed, as she was well aware, 
 an extensive knowledge of subjects of which 
 
EISTOBY OF 3IABGABET MOBTON. 193 
 
 he only knew enough to enable him to pass the 
 stereotyped college exammation. Still Richard's 
 praise was dear to Margaret, and all the more 
 because she saw he was proud of her, and 
 recognized in hers a mind akin to his own. 
 
 And so the fortnight, which was one of pro- 
 found quiet to Mrs. Archibald, was a time o£ 
 intense, unobtrusive activity to her niece. She 
 no longer had chatty mornings with her 
 brother, for Henry Morton now, immediately 
 after his nine o'clock breakfast, strolled into 
 the garden, smoked a cigar, and then went off 
 to the City. He seldom returned to Eva 
 Terrace before ten at night, because he and 
 * Richard dined — businessly, as Harry expressed 
 it — ^^ with old Grant and folks of that class." 
 Cornet Wynum no longer made morning calls, 
 but, even if he had, his readings and conversa- 
 tion and gentle admiration would not have 
 afforded Miss Morton the powerful mental 
 stimulant she was imbibing from other sources. 
 
 A superficial observer, if put in possession 
 of the bare facts of the case, might have pro- 
 nounced Margaret Morton wholly occupied 
 with thoughts of Richard Archibald, but the 
 judgment would have been erroneous. Richard 
 Archibald at the moment supj)lied the material 
 from which the force was eliminated that 
 
 VOL. I. o 
 
194 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 roused Margaret Morton's mind to action, but 
 he was no more the agent of that action than 
 the coal-waggon which brings fuel to the rail- 
 way engine could be correctly described as the 
 power that propels the locomotive. The truth 
 was, Margaret Morton was ambitious, l}ut her 
 ambition was of a pure and lofty character. 
 She had not been brought up to look on 
 marriage as the grand pursuit of a woman's 
 life ; and though Eichard Archibald occupied a 
 large space in her mind, he w^as secondary — 
 and at a great distance too — to the ideal after 
 which she longed in secret. It would be untrue 
 to say she did not set a high value on his praise : 
 she thought more of his praise than of that of 
 any other person in the world. She valued his 
 esteem, because she knew it could not be lightly 
 won, and because she knew it could only be 
 secured by such qualities and acquirements as 
 she had been taught to value. And if Richard 
 Archibald held a secondary place in Margaret 
 Morton's thoughts, he was second to no person; 
 he was second only to her ambition, which was 
 the same as his, ambition of literary distinction ; 
 for Richard Archibald was prouder of his 
 articles in. the Lunar Gazette than he ever 
 would be of the reputation of millionaire 
 which he was determined to attain. And of 
 
IIISTOBT OF MARGABET MOHTON. 105 
 
 Richard Archibald it must be said he had no 
 idea of making literature a trade or mode of 
 living". He intended the offspring of his pen 
 should be regarded as the highest product of 
 his intellect, and should prove that his com- 
 mercial and professional success was not the 
 result of accident, but the indigenous growth 
 of the soil from whence they sprung. 
 
 And so Margaret Morton's ideal was, in reality, 
 the same as Richard Archibald's. Both had 
 been brought up under the same training by 
 their uncle ; both had been taught by him to 
 appreciate authors, and to regard a good and 
 well-written book, not alone with solemn, 
 reverent, and warm admiration, but as one of 
 the greatest of liuman achievements. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe correct^ 
 the points of resemblance and difference 
 between Margaret Morton and Richard Archi- 
 bald. The similarity discernible was the result 
 of a common training, — the differences arose 
 partly from natural diversity of character, and 
 partly from the circumstances under which 
 their characters had been develoj^ed. Richard 
 Archibald began the battle of life early, and 
 with an asperity of feeling that made him 
 both defiant and self-reliant; but as lie had 
 never really wanted the means to supply the 
 
19G HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 comforts he had been brought up in, he was 
 iinacqiiaintecl with the worst aspect of life's con- 
 flict — jDOveiiy. Havino; been always able to fall 
 back on monetary resources sufficient for his 
 personal wants and indulgences, he had never 
 known the humiliation of asking in vain. But 
 instead of recoo;nizino: the advantag^es he had 
 been able to command, he arrogated to himself 
 a large credit for the success with which he 
 had made his way. Self-reliance had gradually 
 grown into self-sufficiency, until he finally 
 believed he had a right to command every- 
 thing within his reach that he deemed useful 
 for the furtherance of his plans. Even more, 
 the belief seemed to have taken root in 
 his mind that all things within his circle 
 must eventually, by some secret law, fall 
 into the exact positions best calculated to exalt 
 him and enhance the brilliancy of his success. 
 
 Margaret Morton's relations with the ex- 
 ternal world were utterly different from those 
 of her cousin. She knew nothing of the rough 
 realities of life, and her knowledge of society 
 was included absolutely within the narrow 
 circle of her aunt's acquaintance. Under her 
 uncle's teaching she had early learned to form 
 a vast idea of the capabilities of the human 
 mind, or, in other words, she had learned to 
 
mSTOEY OF MARGABET 3I0RT0N. 197 
 
 form expanded views of the worlds of science 
 and literature; and this knowledge had 
 enlarged her ambition to know, and at the 
 «ame time gave birth to that happy discontent 
 which is in itself a powerful incentive to 
 study. Margaret Morton never thought her 
 education was finished — she never believed it 
 could be as long as she retained the faculty of 
 adding to her knowledge; so though Miss 
 Morton had received what might be called a 
 masculine education, she was really more 
 simple and less tinctured with self-conceit 
 than the lyj^ical young lady who at a "finish- 
 ing school" learns the names of all the 
 ologies. 
 
 One of the advantages or peculiarities of 
 Margaret Morton's training by her uncle was a 
 great respect for the male sex — a sentiment 
 sm^e to occupy a large space in the cultivated 
 female mind. The more solid knowledge £*' 
 woman acquires the more she becomes con 
 vinced that man was made to be master of 
 the creation, and that his superior physical 
 strength will always retain for him that 
 mastery even in the world of mind, because 
 physical strength is needed to exercise effect- 
 ually in external life the intellectual force 
 accumulated in the solitude of study. A good 
 
198 mSTOBY OF MAMGABET MOBTON. 
 
 man sometimes shrinks from doin<2: business- 
 with a woman, because, recognizing the natural 
 claims of the weaker vessel, he fears he might 
 be induced to make concessions contrary to his 
 commercial interests. A bad man when he 
 employs a woman's talents makes in tlie first 
 instance a hard bargain, giving her smaller 
 proportionate remuneration than he would be 
 obliged to give one of his own sex, and event- 
 ually defrauds her, if he can do so, with impu- 
 nity. These are disadvantages to which a 
 woman who faces the world single-handed must 
 always be subjected. A woman working under 
 the segis of a husband or brother's shelter is 
 differently placed ; but the whole case is then 
 reversed. The woman becomes secondary as 
 far as life's external warfare is concerned^ 
 though she may be primary considered with 
 regard to the labour actually performed. 
 
 And there is a truth which Margaret Morton 
 at that time had not mastered, that the varied 
 knowledge of life unavoidably acquired by 
 men enables them to deal with one another in 
 ordinary mercantile transactions with a free- 
 dom that can never be established between a 
 man of gentlemanly feeling and a woman of 
 educated sentiments. But there was still 
 another truth of which Margaret Morton was 
 
BISTOItY OF 3IAEGABET MOBTON, 199 
 
 ignorant, and which is a fundamental principle 
 of the great social contract — that the relations 
 fixed by nature between man and woman will 
 make man always regard woman as woman, 
 and will oblige woman always to look up to 
 man as man. 
 
200 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 In virtue of the science she possessed and of 
 the hopes she entertained, and sjDite of the 
 truths whose knowledge had not yet pene- 
 trated her intellect, Margaret Morton was very 
 hajDpy during the fortnight that afforded her 
 aunt such profound repose. Independent of 
 the pleasure resulting from intellectual acti- 
 vity, she had the additional satisfaction of 
 knowing that her iDrother and cousin were 
 doing profitable business in the City. 
 
 All was tranquil at Eva Terrace. Whist 
 was suspended. Mrs. Archibald spent the 
 evening reclining, with half-closed eyes, on 
 her couch. Miss Maun sell, who, as she said, 
 could never sit with her hands before her, 
 brought every evening an immense ball of 
 Berlin wool — a forty-eight pounder in size — 
 which she was engaged in manufacturing, by 
 the agency of two long knitting-pins, into 
 
HISTORY OF MABGARET MORTOX. 201 
 
 what had begun to assume the appearance of a 
 gentleman's comforter. 
 
 That huge Berlin ball had constituted Miss 
 Maunsell's stock in the knitting trade for 
 several years, and was likely to do so for 
 several years longer, because that the com- 
 forter never reached a termination, and that 
 for pretty much the same reason that the web 
 of the Ithacian queen was never completed. 
 AVhen Miss Maunsell came within a short 
 distance of what might be supposed to be the 
 end of her labours, she drew out her pins, and, 
 laying hold of the thread, pulled until every 
 stitch became undone, when she compla- 
 cently reset the fabric, and proceeded to knit 
 the stitches off from pin to pin with an 
 assiduity that to any one not acquainted with 
 the fate of the preceding semi-demi comforters 
 would give a notion of eager haste for comple- 
 tion on the part of the knitter. Miss Maun- 
 sell's comforter, like many apparent com- 
 forters, was destined never to afford consola- 
 tion to any one. 
 
 Whilst Mrs. Archibald reposed languidly on 
 her couch, and Miss Maunsell knitted or undid 
 her comforter. Miss Morton chatted at the 
 opposite end of the room with Miss Keel and 
 Monsieur Claude. Sometimes Miss Keel did 
 
202 IlISTOEY OF MAEGABET 3I0RT0N, 
 
 not come, and Miss Morton and Monsieur 
 Claude passed the evening very pleasantly 
 tof^ether. Miss Morton found much satisfac- 
 tion in the society of the young Frenchman, 
 whose collegiate education had been most 
 methodically carried out, and who had always 
 been subjected to healthy home influences, 
 moral, religious, and literary. His parents — 
 his mother esj)ecially — were well versed in the 
 classical literature of their language, and these 
 works formed a favourite subject of conversa- 
 tion in Monsieur Claude's home. His own 
 speciality was natural philosophy. He had 
 lent Miss Morton several French works on that 
 Avide subject, and was surprised to find that, 
 though the young lady did not speak French 
 fluently, she was able not only to master the 
 ideas of the French philosophers, as she did 
 those of the French poets, but to appreciate 
 the most delicate niceties of expression. This 
 was a natural residt of the mode in which 
 Miss Morton had acquired a knowledge of the 
 French language — critical analysis and close 
 translation. 
 
 There were many j)oints of resemblance 
 between Miss Morton and Monsieur Claude, 
 Both knew more of books than of society, and 
 both judged their fellow-men by a ver}^ high 
 
mSTOEY OF 3IABGABET MOBTOX. 203 
 
 standard, Avliicii their actual experience of life 
 had not yet caused them to loAver. It may be 
 supposed that the evenings passed pleasantly 
 for these two young people. 
 
 The long lull at Eva Terrace v/as followed 
 by great commotion , and that of an agreeable 
 character. It began in this way. One after- 
 noon Mrs. Green aj^peared before Miss Maun- 
 sell, presented Mr. Wynum's compliments, and 
 a message to the effect that, if Miss Maunsell 
 were quite at leisure, he would be glad of a 
 few minutes' conversation. An answer in the 
 affirmative, and Mr. Wynum was soon heard 
 descending the stairs, and was quickly ushered 
 into Miss MaunselPs sitting-room. 
 
 '^ Good morning. Miss Maunsell." 
 
 ^^ Good morning, Mr. Wynum." 
 
 '^ I must apologize for intruding so early on 
 a lady, but I 've really come on a little matter 
 of business." 
 
 ^' My dear sir, jDray don't apologize. I only 
 regret that 'tis business, not inclination, that 
 procures me this pleasure." 
 
 ^^ Miss Maunsell, you make me feel I 'm a 
 bungler." 
 
 ^^ Pray don't say so. Take a seat, and we 
 shall talk this business quietly over ; but first 
 let me ask how is Cornet Wynum ? " 
 
204: HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 '' Thank you, Miss Maunsell, lie's perfectly- 
 well and in high spirits." 
 
 ^' Good gracious ! " and Miss Maunsell lifted 
 her hands and eyes towards the ceiling. ^^ In 
 high spirits ! And going to leave his country 
 and his father ! youth, youth ! " 
 
 ^^ Miss Maunsell, let us take a more cheering 
 view. Young men must fight for their country. 
 Where would be the safety for us at home 
 if these young fellows didn't fight for us 
 abroad ? " 
 
 ^' But, my dear sir, just think of all these 
 beautiful young men going out to be 
 shot." 
 
 ^^ No, Miss Maunsell, they don't go out to 
 be shot; they go out to shoot other people." 
 
 ^' Oh, dreadful, dreadful! Somebody is sure 
 to be shot ; and then if they 're not shot they 
 die of yellow fever. My dear uncle's brother- 
 in-law died of yellow fever in Jamaica, and 
 left a widow and six children." 
 
 ''Jamaica, Miss Maunsell" — Mr. Wynum 
 spoke doubtingly and even apologetically, — "is, 
 I believe, in the West Indies, and my son is 
 going to the East Indies." . 
 
 "That's no matter, my dear sir; not the 
 slightest matter. 'Tis all the same." 
 
 " Well, Miss Maunsell, my son can't leave a 
 
EISTOBY OF 31ABGABET MORTON, 205 
 
 widow and six children, at least for some 
 time." 
 
 ' ' Oh, Avhat courage men have, and yourself 
 among-st 'em, my dear sir, to talk so of losing 
 your dear son." 
 
 '' But, Miss Maunsell, I don't expect to lose 
 him. I expect to see him come back colonel 
 of a regiment." 
 
 '^ Oh, my dear sir, I envy you 3'our great 
 spirits. I wisli I could see things as you do. 
 I 'm sure I sincerely hope you may live to see 
 your dear son again ; but this I know, yellow 
 fever is a frightful sickness, and black fever is 
 still worse." 
 
 ^^Well, well, Miss Maunsell, we must re- 
 member all who go to India don't die of fever. 
 Mrs. Archibald's nephews have returned." 
 
 '^ Very true, my dear sir; but both their 
 fathers died there." 
 
 This was unanswerable, and Miss Maunsell's 
 Job-comforter position seemed for the moment 
 impregnable. Mr. Wynum turned to another 
 subject. 
 
 '^Miss Maunsell, I cannot forget I've come 
 to prefer a request, — in fact, to ask of you a 
 very great favour." 
 
 '^ My dear sir, can I have the happi- 
 ness ? " 
 
206 mSTOBY OF MABGARET 3I0RT0N. 
 
 " Tlie happiness, Miss Maiinsellj will be 
 mine, and none but you can confer it." 
 
 '^ My dear sir I what do you mean ? " 
 
 '' Miss Maunsell, I purpose to invite a few 
 friends to dinner previous to my son's leaving 
 for India. I 'm come this morning to ask the 
 favour of your company on the occasion." 
 
 ^' You 're very good, Mr. Wynum, very 
 good. I shall be most happy." And Miss 
 Maunsell cast down her large blue eyes, and 
 discreetly covered them with their large 
 lids. 
 
 ''But I've come, Miss Maunsell, to ask 
 more than ^^our presence as a guest. I Ve 
 come to ask you to preside as mistress of the 
 banquet." 
 
 '' Really, sir," — and the lady looked straight 
 at her visitor, — '' I don't understand." 
 
 As Miss Maunsell spoke the colour fluttered 
 on her cheek, and, contrary to her wont when 
 at all excited, she became pale. 
 
 '' Miss Maunsell " — and Mr. Wynum spoke 
 gravely — ^' I 've come to ask 3^ou to do me the 
 honour of taking the head of the dinner-table, 
 and doing the honours of the evening towards 
 my guests." 
 
 Miss Maunsell cast down her eyes. Old hopes 
 long buried in her heart had sprung suddenly 
 
EJSTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 207 
 
 back into life, and hovered with suspended 
 breath, awaiting Mr. Wyniim's reply. That 
 2:)ronounced, they sunk quietly back, and were 
 again earthed over. 
 
 Miss Maunsell having graciously accepted 
 the honour offered by Mr. W3aium, some 
 further conversation followed as to the best 
 arrangements to be made, Mr. Wynum con- 
 stantly protesting he had no opinion on the 
 subject, because that, having so long suspended 
 the exercise of hospitable functions, he had 
 forgotten the duties of a host, and must be 
 entirely dependent on Miss MaunselPs good 
 sense and taste. It would be tedious to tell 
 how often during these flattering speeches 
 Miss Maunsell smiled and curtsied, and cast 
 down her eyes, and lifted them, and protested 
 Mr. Wynum was too flattering, but that he 
 might reckon on every exertion in her 
 power. 
 
 Mr. Wynum made his adieus and took his 
 departure, having first drunk a coujdIc of 
 glasses of Miss MaunselFs excellent wine. Left 
 alone, that good lady, seated in her easy-chair, 
 spent some time in reflecting on the responsi- 
 bilities she had undertaken, and how she could, 
 with the greatest credit to herself and the 
 largest amount of satisfaction to every other 
 
208 HIS TOBY OF MARGAEET MORTON. 
 
 person concerned, discharge the duties of the 
 new position she had consented to iilL A few 
 reminiscent sighs were heaved as the memory 
 of departed hopes and recent expectations rose 
 before her mind ; but, banishing the intruding 
 shadows, Miss Maunsell applied herself to the 
 steady consideration of the business in hand. 
 With regard to the intrusive memories, one 
 word must be said. Mr. Wynum was not 
 individually the cause of these recurring 
 shadows, which were only the debris of a 
 fabric destroyed by fate and originally reared 
 by fancy. The large bearded portion of the 
 human family, that had collectively helped to 
 raise those airy hopes, was accountable for the 
 demolition of the edifice. 
 
 In thinking over the coming entertainment, 
 Miss Maunsell was thrown into a pleasurable 
 flutter. She was to be, though temporarily, 
 the joint authority at a well-served dinner- 
 table, surrounded with select guests. It was a 
 position Miss Maunsell knew she would grace, 
 and pity it was she did not hold such perma- 
 nently, with a worthy joint proprietor; then 
 would her really large sympathies have found 
 a genial arena for their exercise, and the little 
 peculiarities of character that provoked a smile 
 never have been evoked. 
 
HIST OB Y OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 209 
 
 But come what may, Miss Mamisell was to 
 be for one day at least the distributor of 
 pleasure, the dispenser of joy. She summoned 
 Mrs. Green and informed her of what was 
 about to occur. Mrs. Green was amazed. 
 That judicious lady remembered how her 
 house had been upset for Miss Maunsell's 
 dinner-party on the 1st of May, and the 
 present announcement sounded like the knell 
 of her peace. But she made no remark, well 
 aware that remonstrance or observation would 
 not improve matters. So, whilst apparently 
 listening to the details of Miss Maunsell's pro- 
 posed arrangements, Mrs. Green was secretly 
 comforting herself with the remembrance of 
 the vast remains of Miss Maunsell's entertain- 
 ment, which had not only provided for the 
 wants of the landlady and her immediate 
 family during the greater j)art of a fortnight, 
 but had enabled her to make some handsome 
 presents to her friends. Mr. Wynum would 
 no doubt be equally liberal in providing for 
 his guests, and perforce Mrs. Green would 
 benefit proportionately. A few hazarded 
 remarks in the direction of the viands elicited 
 the astounding intelligence that Mr. Wynum 
 intended to order dinner from a celebrated 
 restaurant, whose servants would bring soup, 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
210 HISTOBY OF MARGAEET MOTtTON, 
 
 fish, meats of all kindsj confectionery and 
 dessert, and attend table. Nothing was to be 
 prepared in the house. Mrs. Green's heart 
 died within her. Would these attendants 
 carry off the remains of the feast ? She dared 
 not venture the inquiry, but uncertainty on 
 that point disturbed her soul. However, she 
 was obliged to give attention to Miss MaunselFs 
 announced intentions with regard to her part 
 in the coming festivities, and these intentions 
 were, in Mrs. Grreen's estimation, prodigious. 
 
 Having listened to all her lady-lodger had 
 to say, Mrs. Green retired, and with her she 
 carried food for thought. She thought of the 
 coming dinner, but she did not think of it as 
 a mere outspread of luxurious eatables and 
 drinkabks ; she thought of it as the result of 
 some great moral truth of which she was igno- 
 rant. It is not to be supposed that a woman 
 of Mrs. Green's inquiring mind could be happy 
 in a state of conscious ignorance. Her under- 
 standing was too large to be satisfied with 
 a view of the mere suj)erficies of an}^ subject, 
 her intelligence was too keen not to seek 
 instinctively to penetrate the surface, and dis- 
 cover, if possible, the sjDrings of action. It 
 may not be too much to say that Mrs. Green 
 was a philosopher, and, this being conceded, it 
 
mSTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 211 
 
 must be added that the leading maxim of Mrs. 
 Green's philosophy was to keep her own 
 interests always in view. If she ever infringed 
 this fundamental law of her conduct, it was 
 only when a too-arclent search for knowledge 
 hurried her along in over-eager haste. But 
 now, happily, her interest and her desire for 
 information pointed in the same direction. 
 Mrs. Green could not believe that Mr. Wynum, 
 who had lived so long and so quietly in her 
 house, would commence to make parties at 
 Eichmond and give dinners at home because 
 his son was going to India, More natural, 
 thought Mrs. Green, that he and his son should 
 dine together every day and enjoy as much as 
 they could of each other's society. And then 
 to engage one of the grandest confectioners in 
 London to get up the dinner at her house ! 
 There must be something in it. Was Cornet 
 Wynum going to be married ? Had Miss 
 Morton really a great fortune after all ? 
 Fortune or no fortune, married or not married, 
 there was something going on of which she 
 was ignorant, and which it hurt her conscience 
 not to know. Mrs. Green fell into a long 
 train, of reflection, and finally resolved io pump 
 Clifton. 
 
 It might be supposed that to pum[) Clifton, 
 
212 EISTOEY OF MARGAEET MOBTON, 
 
 after the terrible commotion that had resulted 
 from the previous great hydraulic operation, 
 would be no easy task; but one of the not 
 least remarkable traits in Mrs. Green's character 
 was the power she j)ossessed of soothing, or 
 rather lulling, comjDletely to rest the mind she 
 had jDreviously worked up into irritation. And 
 the opiate treatment was so skilfully applied 
 that the irritant effects of the previous appli- 
 cation were totally forgotten. 
 
 After the grand conference between Mrs, 
 Green and Clifton, the latter, humbled by fresh 
 convictions of the superior talents of her 
 serpentine neighbour, shunned her society, and 
 though in Mrs. Green's frequent calls at Eva 
 Terrace — for Miss Maunsell would not always 
 dispense with her attendance — she was some- 
 times, unavoidably, brought into contact with 
 her, Clifton did all she could to make these 
 interviews of the shortest. Such also seemed 
 to be the policy of Mrs. Green, who, as closely 
 as she could, timed her official call at Eva 
 Terrace to the moment when Miss Maunsell 
 was ready to leave. Instead of going down 
 to the housekeeper's room, she stood in the 
 hall, after being admitted by Mary, and if 
 Clifton chanced to appear, a friendly salute 
 satiBfied their mutual feelings. Some weeks 
 
HISTORY OF MABGATIET MOBTON. 213 
 
 had passed, and Mrs. Green's manner was so 
 quietly self-possessed, so unobtrusive, so unin- 
 quisitive — she was, in short, so taciturn — that 
 Clifton's jealous anger gradually softened 
 clown, her distrust of her serpentine neigh- 
 hour became less rampant, until she finally 
 forgot that any cause of anger had ever arisen 
 between them, and her deference for Mrs. 
 Green's local knowledge and general ability 
 was ao;ain in the ascendant. 
 
 Chfton having fallen back into that mental 
 condition in which she ordinarily succumbed 
 to her serpentine neighbour's influences, Mrs. 
 Green paid her an evening visit, and was 
 received with the respect which her acknow- 
 ledged talents always secured in the circles 
 wdiere she was known. Whilst the two ladies 
 in the basement were improving their minds, 
 giving and receiving knowledge, we shall 
 look above and see what was passing in the 
 dr a wing-ro o m . 
 
 Miss Maunsell was sitting with Mrs. Archi- 
 bald and her niece. The three were in high 
 spirits, and laughing, not unfrequently, at Miss 
 Maimsell's account of the transpositions already 
 effected in the furniture of the first floor at 
 St. John's Terrace, and of the precautions 
 taken by Mrs. Green that nothing should 
 
214 HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 be left in Mr. Wynum's way on his return 
 home. 
 
 ^^Eeally, Ellen," said Mrs. Archibald, 
 ^^ matters begin to look serious in your house. 
 When a gentleman asks a lady to take the 
 head of his table, one may suppose he has 
 serious intentions." 
 
 '^ Nonsense, dear. How can you go on so ? 
 'Tis merely as a friend I 'm asked to preside. 
 So many ladies bein^ invited, a lady ought to 
 preside." 
 
 ^^Of course. But I do think many ladies 
 would bo misled by such an invitation. It 
 reflects great credit on your discernment, 
 Ellen, that you immediately understood his 
 meaning." 
 
 ^^I should be a great muff, dear, if I mis- 
 understood him." 
 
 ^^ Jests apart, Ellen, you have undertaken 
 some trouble, seeing all the preparations that 
 must be accomplished within four days. 
 However, don't forget, everything in this 
 house is at your service. Clifton, too, can go 
 over and help Mrs. Grreen." 
 
 ^^ Oh, thank you — thank you, dear! We 
 shall certainly want many things, and Clifton's 
 help will be invaluable. But here comes 
 Monsieur Claude." 
 
IIISTOET OF 3IARGARET MOBTON. 215 
 
 The new arrival informed the ladies, upon 
 being questioned, that his mother and family 
 had received invitations to dine with Mr. 
 Wynum on the following Thursday. Monsieur 
 Claude agreed with Miss Maunsell in believing 
 it would be a brilliant affair, and from his own 
 experience spoke warmly of the manner in 
 which Mr. Wynum and son discharged the 
 duties of hosts. The subject of the dinner 
 being exhausted, as far as anticipation went, 
 Mrs. Archibald leaned back on her couch, Miss 
 Maunsell resumed the undoing of her com- 
 forter, and Monsieur Claude, who possessed 
 considerable knowledge of music and sang 
 well, took from his pocket the copy of a 
 French song of which he had spoken to^ Miss 
 Morton, and, imder the shelter of this harmo- 
 nious piece of paper, both withdrew to the 
 compartment of the drawing-room, at the off- 
 side of the folding-doors, where the piano 
 stood. Tliere Monsieur Claude tried his song 
 in a low tone, and Miss Morton, wdio had no 
 singing voice, listened and approved. The 
 subject of the song having been thoroughly 
 talked over, one of the never-ending literary 
 discussions was taken up, and treated so dis- 
 cursively, that many wanderings were made 
 into other matters. On the whole. Miss 
 
2ir, HISTORY OF MARGABET 3rORTON. 
 
 Morton and Monsieur Claude found when ten 
 o'clock arrived that they had passed a very 
 jDleasant evening. 
 
 Miss Maunsell was by this time equipped 
 for her departure, and left, accompanied by 
 Monsieur Claude and attended by Mrs. Green. 
 
EISTORY OF MABGARET MORTON, 217 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The tide of our narrative here takes a refluent 
 course, and, instead of flowing freely onwards 
 from 10 P.M., turns backwards, and compels 
 us to note down what occurred in Mrs. 
 Archibald's basement story from 7 p.m. to the 
 moment when Mrs. Green re-assumed her 
 bonnet and shawd for the purpose of walking 
 behind Miss Maunsell and Monsieur Claude as 
 they wended their way towards St. John's 
 Terrace. 
 
 Whilst Mrs. Archibald was half slumbering 
 on her couch, Miss Maunsell undoing her com- 
 forter, and Monsieur Claude murmuring his 
 French song, Mrs. Green was actively apply- 
 ing the puDij)ing process to her friend Clifton. 
 The latter had easily succumbed to the wily 
 manoeuvres of the serpentine Green, and, whilst 
 continually protesting that she knew she spoke 
 out of her turn, gave her neighbour all th 
 
218 EISTOEY OF 3IARGABET MOBTON. 
 
 information she sought; whilst Mrs. Green, 
 attributing" to chance all she knew of other 
 people's affairs, astounded Clifton hj the intel- 
 ligence of the contemplated dinner. 
 
 ^^ Of course I don't know anything," said 
 Clifton, '^ and I know I speak out of my turn ; 
 but this I '11 say, this house isn't like what it 
 was when Mr. Archibald was alive. I know 
 I speak out of my turn, but them two young 
 gentlemen — to be sure, they was only lads 
 then — I could speak to 'em and direct 'em, 
 and they 'd do my bidding ; but now if I say 
 a word Mr. Eichard flies up. One don't 
 know what to make of 'im. I know I speak 
 out of my turn ; but still, for all, he might 
 listen to an old friend, though I am a servant. 
 His dear uncle would listen to me. I know I 
 speak out of my turn, but this house is 
 changed." 
 
 ^^Well but, Mrs. Clifton, I'll answer for it 
 Mr. Ricliard knows you're a friend. But 
 maybe 'tisn't what you said as made him fire 
 up, but what he knew before. Let me fill 
 your glass. You may be sure that wine 's 
 good : Miss Maunsell gave it me this morn- 
 ing. She 's a good creature, though sometimes 
 hasty. ^ Green,' says she, ^you'll have a 
 great deal of work turning out these rooms 
 
HISrOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 219 
 
 and moving all this furniture ; here *s a 
 bottle of good old sherry. Take a couple of 
 glasses at your dinner, 'twill do you good.' 
 But, as I was saying, maybe 'twas what he 
 knew already about Cornet Wynum that 
 angered him." 
 
 The serpentine Mrs. Green divined that if 
 Eichard Archibald fired up, it must have been 
 in reference to Cornet Wynum. She wished 
 to be certain whether she had laid the train 
 that fired him. 
 
 ^^ Well, I don't know," said Clifton, ^^ whether 
 he knew anything, or whether he noticed any- 
 thing ; but I know he fired up when I pointed 
 out what I noticed myself, and what others 
 told me. I know I speak out of my turn, but 
 that's the truth." 
 
 ^^And you knew nothing of the dinner, 
 dear, till I told you?" 
 
 '' Not a word, Mrs. Green, not a w^ord. I 'm 
 not told much in this house now." 
 
 ^^Well, Mrs. Clifton, I think you ought to 
 be law here." 
 
 '^I law, Mrs. Green? Very kind of you to 
 say so. There are them now as thinks other- 
 wise. I know I Sjoeak out of my turn, but I 
 never hear a word of news only when a friend 
 drops in ; and I 'm sure I can say you 're the 
 
220 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 only friend that crosses this threshold from 
 year's end to year's end. Not a drop more, 
 dear ; I so seldom take anything. Well, I 
 don't mind half a glass. See, now, if you 
 didn't fill it a'most to the brim." 
 
 ^^ 'Twas by chance," resumed Mrs. Green, 
 ^^that I first heard of the dinner. I was 
 coming ujDstairs, and to be sure I was sur- 
 prised that Mr. Wynum should be ipaying 
 Miss Maunsell a visit, seeing he joasses her 
 door morning and night, day after day, and 
 never knocks, except when his son first came 
 back. And certain it is, and I '11 always say 
 so, whatever Mr. Wynum's faults may be, 
 he's a jDerfect gentleman. And surely I tuas 
 surprised when he told me to take his com- 
 pliments to Miss Maunsell, and ask if he might 
 call on her. So, as I was saying, I was 
 coming upstairs, and I knelt to fix the mat 
 and settle the carpet on the last step. You 
 know 'tis very hard to keep the mat straight 
 when a gentleman goes up and down leaning 
 so heavy on his stick, and Mr. Wynum do fire 
 up so when he tliinks he 's near being tripped. 
 So when I was a-fixing the mat, and the door 
 being open by chance, I heard what was 
 said. You know I couldn't help it, Mrs. 
 Clifton'^" 
 
HISTORY OF MARGAEET MORTON. 221 
 
 Clifton shook lier liead, and frowned an im- 
 23erative negative. 
 
 ^^ So that was how I heard the first of the 
 dinner. And then the bell was rung, and I 
 brought wine, and I heard talk of such doings. 
 ' Well,' thinks I to myself, ' this is goings on. 
 More like a wedding than a parting, I think.' 
 But maybe there 's a wedding at the bottom 
 of it. Would your 3^oung lady, dear, have any 
 notion of the Cornet after all ?" 
 
 ^'No more than you have, Mrs. Green. No 
 one knows more about Miss Morton than my- 
 self. She 's as proud as her aunt, and as close- 
 minded; but I know she '11 be her cousin's wife 
 or nobody's. I know," went on Clifton, for Mrs. 
 Green's serpentine potations had excited her, 
 ^' I know I sjDeak out of my turn. I think as 
 much of Miss Margaret as I do of her brother 
 and Master Richard ; but the money is with 
 the gentlemen, and she must marry her cousin." 
 
 '^ Well, now, dear ; and that 's the case ?" 
 
 •^'Tis, Mrs. Green. She must marry her 
 cousin. I love her the same as the rest. She 's 
 proud — they 're all proud — I like 'em the better 
 for it, — but I say she must marry her cousin. 
 'Twas settled long ago between her uncle and 
 aunt. I know I speak out of my turn, but 
 what I says is the truth." 
 
222 mSTOBY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 ^' If you say it, Mrs. Clifton, that's enough; 
 you must know all about this family by this 
 time. And you think there is nothing in this 
 dinner ? " 
 
 ^^I don't say that, Mrs. Green. There's 
 something in it, but what it is I can't say, and 
 for that reason I can't tell." 
 
 ^^ No, certainly, dear. Bless me ! there 's 
 the bell to say my lady 's ready. Well, good 
 night, dear. Give Dumpling a kiss for me. 
 I 'm sorry I didn't see her." 
 
 ^^ You must come earlier next time." 
 
 '^Oh, thank you, Mrs. Clifton, thank you. 
 Good night." 
 
 Mrs. Green took her place in the rear of 
 Miss Maunsell, feeling that she had not added 
 to her previous stock of positive knowledge, 
 though she had heard sufficient to confirm 
 some suspicions that existed in her mind. 
 
 Poor Clifton woke next morning to face the 
 self-confusion of knowing that she had again 
 on the past evening committed herself, and to 
 feel, what she had so often felt before, that she 
 was no match for the serjDentine Mrs. Green, 
 and to rej)eat the vow, so often made and as 
 often broken, that she would ^^shun that 
 woman's company." 
 
HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 223 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 It would be doing Miss Maunsell injustice not 
 to record that, entering fully into the spirit 
 of the honorary dignity to which Mr. Wynum 
 had advanced her as mistress of the coming 
 banquet, she had initiated some important 
 changes in the character and furniture of her 
 apartments. In the first place, she had thrown 
 open the folding- doors that separated her sit- 
 ting from her sleejDing room, intending to 
 enlarge the space wherein she was to exercise 
 the hospitalities of the eventful evening. 
 Having removed these barriers. Miss Maunsell 
 next proceeded to order the removal of every- 
 thing tha.t could leave a trace or generate a 
 suspicion that the room had ever served other 
 than drawing-room purposes. In carrying out 
 these changes. Miss Maunsell had submitted to 
 some personal inconveniences, amongst which 
 may be reckoned the removal of her bed, and 
 the sleeping apparatus connected therewith, to a 
 
2-24: HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 room at the top of tlie house where she kept 
 her boxes and other luggage. 
 
 During three days had Miss Maunsell toiled 
 on the first floor transposing and beautifying ; 
 and on the three nights of these three days had 
 she crept as softly and lightly as any lady o£ 
 her tonnage could be expected to up the stairs 
 that led to the chamber, erst her lumber-room, 
 for the nonce her sleeping-apartment. 
 
 During these three days Mr. Wynum's con- 
 duct was noteworthy. He affected not to see, 
 though he was cautious to avoid, small articles 
 forgotten on the stairs. He seemed not to 
 perceive the general transfiguration of the 
 house as manifested in many changes in his 
 own sitting-room, and as exhibited through the 
 almost constantly open doors of Miss Maun sell's 
 apartments. That lady's absence from Mrs. 
 Archibald's card-table on Tuesday and Wed- 
 nesday evenings he noticed with a careless — 
 '' Our friend Miss Maunsell has not honoured 
 us this evening " ; but during these three 
 days Mr. Wynum was studiously observant to 
 inquire every morning of Mrs. Green after Miss 
 Maunsell's health, and send his compliments to 
 his fellow-lodger. And on each of these even- 
 ings Mr. Wynum repeated the inquiries and 
 messaofcs of the mornino^ as he stood on the 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 225 
 
 mat inside the house-door, and he made his 
 inquiries in a tone sufficiently audible to reach 
 the ears of the lady who was their subject, and 
 whom the gentleman shrewdly suspected was 
 within ear-sliot. 
 
 But three days did not afford sufficient time 
 for the completion of the many radical changes 
 designed by Miss Maunsell, and in the carry- 
 ing out of which frequent experimental 
 alterations were made in the details. Some- 
 times pictures were shifted from wall to wall, 
 until they were finally so posited as, in Miss 
 Maunsell's opinion, to be seen to the best 
 advantage ; chairs changed places and went 
 back again, lounges chasse-croised with what- 
 nots, and easy-chairs, standing upright at one 
 end of the room, found themselves, at the ex- 
 piration of an hour, landed at the ojDposite 
 extremity of the apartment. In short, the 
 furniture seemed to be performing a country 
 dance of complicated figure, where some of the 
 performers acted independently. On Wednes- 
 day evening, however, the chairs and tables, 
 the candelabra and what-nots, the easy-chairs 
 and cctuseuses, were permanently jDlaced, and 
 looked as much at their ease as thou^^h thev 
 had never known any other resting-place. 
 Miss Maunsell was pleased with her work ; and 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
•J26 HISTORY OF M AEG ABET MOBTON. 
 
 as she stood in the framework of the folding- 
 doors — the hattants were removed — her face 
 beamed with satisfaction. The curtains fell in 
 graceful folds, the footstools were adjusted to 
 the angle where they would afford most ease 
 to a lady's feet : everything seemed to be in 
 the best position that the circumstances of the 
 case permitted. 
 
 ^^ All the rough work is done, Green," said 
 Miss Maunsell. '^ I think the rooms look very 
 well." 
 
 '^ They look lovely, ma'am"; and no wonder, 
 with all the trouble you 've took and all the 
 taste you 've showed." 
 
 '•' There was a time, Green, when my taste 
 was thought much of and consulted ; but, dear 
 me, time flies. Well, Green, we 've worked 
 hard, and I haven't seen Mrs. Archibald to-day." 
 
 '^ 'Tisn't often you stay away from her, 
 ma'am." 
 
 ^' No, indeed. For the last eight years I 
 don't think there have been eight days in 
 w^hich we haven't met. Now, Green, the rough 
 work is done : we '11 bring down the orna- 
 ments to-morrow morning, and finish every- 
 thing off early, so as to have a long day before 
 us. You get the supper-tra}^, as I dined early. 
 You get your own supper, too ; and as soon as 
 
HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MORTON. 227 
 
 Mr. AYynum is in, you go to bed. We must be 
 up early, — very early, Green ; tliere is a great 
 deal yet to be done." 
 
 Green knew there was a great deal to be 
 done ; and of the conteroplated works, first in 
 importance at that moment, in her estimation, 
 ranked supper, which Green took care should 
 be nice and hot and palatable; and of which 
 Miss Maunsell took care that Green should 
 largely partake. Whilst enjoying the comfort- 
 able supper, washed down with a good ^^ stiff 
 glass of something hot," Green ruminated on 
 the significance of what was going on in her 
 house. 
 
 '' There 's something in it," said Green, '' that 
 I can't see through, and that Mrs. Clifton can't 
 see through. I wish Thursday was come and 
 over ; that 's my wish about it." 
 
 Clifton, too, wished that Thursday were 
 come and over ; for she knew she should have 
 to pass the greater part of that day in the 
 society of her serpentine neighbour, and the 
 sense of her recent humiliations had not yet 
 passed away. Miss Maunsell wished Thursday 
 were come because of the dignity and jDleasures 
 she hoped to enjoy; and Cornet Wynum wished 
 Thursday were come because he should again 
 see Miss Morton. 
 
228 HISTOBY OF MAEGABET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 In no way excited by Mrs. Green's perplexities, 
 wholly uninfluenced by Clifton's conscience- 
 stricken self-humiliation, utterly indifferent 
 to Miss MaunselPs fluttering expectations and 
 Cornet Wynum's fond anxieties — for to these 
 personages it seemed as though Thursday 
 would never come, to solve their doubts or 
 satisfy their longings — the sun pursued his 
 wonted methodical course. Indeed, so far 
 from hastening to usher in the desired day, he 
 seemed inclined to retard its appearance, and 
 rose some minutes later each morning, which 
 to the expectants of that much-desired Thurs- 
 day looked like premeditated cruelty. The 
 great solar body, being an aristocrat of the first 
 magnitude, exposed himself in unscientific 
 minds to the suspicion of despising the festi- 
 vities of poor terrestrials, and of wishing to 
 show his importance by coming late to their 
 banquetings. Such would be a jDretty fair 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 229 
 
 verbal interpretation of the thoughts of Clifton 
 and Mrs. Green, who, not having accurate 
 notions of Sol's apparent movements, accre- 
 dited him with a punctuality in rising which 
 he does not merit. But, without attempting 
 to unravel details of which they understood 
 nothing, both ladies contented themselves with 
 confiding to each other when they met that 
 they really thought the sun would never have 
 risen that morning. 
 
 It might be thought that Miss Maunsell, too, 
 liad doubts as to the honour of the sun in 
 keeping an implied engagement, and suspected 
 that he meant to play a naughty hide-and-seek 
 trick on three female creatures that expectingly 
 believed in him. Miss Maunsell assured her 
 friend, Mrs. Archibald, on Thursday evening, 
 that she had not ^'closed an eye" from the 
 previous midnight. 
 
 Mr. Wynum entertained no detracting doubts 
 about the sun's rising on that especial morning. 
 His scientific knowledge would have defended 
 him against such disturbing fancies. He could 
 experience no surprise at finding that the sun 
 had not left his pleasant elastic water-bed at ^ve 
 o'clock or even at six on a London morning at 
 the beginning of October ; and as to absenting 
 himself for a day from taking a look at his 
 
230 BISTORT OF MARGABET 3I0RT0N, 
 
 terrestrial domains, Mr. Wynum would have 
 laugliingly pooh-poohed the idea, and observed 
 that Phoebus, after his experience with Phaeton, 
 was not likely to give the reins out of his own: 
 hands. 
 
 But however obviously tranquil Mr. Wynum 
 might have felt with regard to the sun's appear^ 
 ance on the day in question, he could have no 
 doubt about the hour at which Miss Maunsell 
 and his landlady rose. It was strange, and by 
 a cross-examining counsel might have been 
 noted down as an important fact, contradictory 
 of assertions concerning night-long unclosed 
 eyes, that about seven o'clock on the morning 
 of Thursday, 16th October, 1851, both Miss 
 Maunsell and Mrs. Green started from their 
 beds believing the morning light to be noon- 
 tide blaze. Mrs. Green, having hastily donned 
 a few indispensable garments, hurried to Miss 
 Maunsell's door with the information tliat the 
 sun had risen. The lady-lodger was aware of 
 the fact, and her toilette not being a whit 
 more advanced than Mrs. Green's, she recom- 
 mended the latter to return to her sleeping- 
 room, clothe herself more comfortably, and 
 then come back, when they should commence 
 their joint operations. Green obeyed, and 
 having " tidied up " the room in which Miss 
 
BISTORT OF MARGARET MORTON. 231 
 
 Maunsell had slept, both descended to the first 
 floor, carrying with them some small articles of 
 virticj meant to adorn the lower apartments, 
 and which during the recent changes had been 
 removed upstairs, so as to be beyond the reach 
 of accident. Having translated the first load 
 of ornaments to the assigned jDlaces, the bearers 
 returned for a fresh supply, Mrs. Green carry- 
 ing a small table, which was pronounced to 
 be superfluous on the first floor. In these 
 staircase journeyings made by Mrs. Green, 
 either alone or accompanied by Miss Maunsell, 
 the latter manifested great anxiety lest Mr. 
 Wynum's slumbers should be disturbed. To 
 avert such a disaster, Miss Maunsell did not 
 cease exhorting Mrs. Green to tread lightly, 
 which the poor woman declared she was doing 
 to the best of her ability. But the lady-lodger, 
 who did not reflect that her own specific gravity 
 was double that of her landlady's, was by no 
 means so successful in making her footfalls 
 near to noiseless. They were just sufficiently 
 loud to give a hearer the notion of stealthiness ; 
 and this, combined with whispered admonitions 
 and half-murmured exclamations, was highly 
 suggestive of the presence of thieves in the 
 house. Such was the effect produced on Mr. 
 Wynum, who, being nowise desirous of 
 
232 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 receiving early calls from the reputed father 
 of Phaeton, slept with his windows completely 
 darkened. Disturbed, but not thoroughly 
 awakened, by the stealthy movements on the 
 staircase, his first thought was of self-defence 
 — not a very pleasant one to an elderly gentle- 
 man ; but at the very moment this idea flashed 
 through his mind, a crash on the staircase and 
 a loud ejaculation from Mrs. Green explained 
 tlie source of the disturbance. Exasperated 
 all the more because of a feeling very like fear 
 which the thought of robbers had called into 
 liis mind, Mr. Wynum sprang from his bed, 
 and suddenly opening his door, thrust out his 
 head, calling aloud, — 
 
 ^^ What devil's tattoo is this you 're making ?" 
 ^'Good gracious!" shrieked Miss Maunsell, 
 who was standing on the landing immediately 
 outside the opened door. 
 
 ^' What devil's tattoo — ?" repeated the 
 gentleman. He would have finished the com- 
 menced inquiry, and in the same strain and 
 tone, but that his eyes falling on the figure 
 just before him, he seemed suddenly to lose 
 the power of articulation. Miss Maunsell, 
 startled into one vehement ejaculation, had 
 subsided into a staring silence, in which she 
 remained with her eyes fixed on the nightcap- 
 
HISTORY OF MAEGARET MORTON. 238 
 
 crowned head obtruded through the doorway. 
 The head regarded her with equal fixity of 
 gaze. Each seemed to act on the other with 
 a Medusa-like power. If Mr. Wynum was 
 disfigured by the presence of a nightcap, Miss 
 Maunsell was unrecognizably transformed by 
 the absence of her wig and the extraordinary 
 shortness of her garments, which combined 
 circumstances detracted at least two inches 
 from her apparent height. Mr. Wynum had, 
 at first, no suspicion that the grotesque figure 
 that riveted his gaze and paralyzed his articu- 
 lation was his accomplished fellow-lodger, his 
 charming wdiist-table companion, and the 
 elected mistress of his coming banquet. But 
 as he stared, at first stupidly, and gradually 
 consciously, he recognized the truth, and felt 
 he was in the living presence of Miss Maunsell. 
 When Mr. Wynum became thoroughly con- 
 scious of this fact, and his brain had recovered 
 its activity, he pulled back his head from 
 within its jammed framework without utter- 
 ing a word. The scene did not occupy two 
 minutes in action, but it made a profound im- 
 pression on the lady and gentleman performers 
 therein. 
 
 '^ How extraordinary he looked in his night- 
 cap ! " observed Miss Maunsell, when in her own 
 
234: niSTOBY OF MABGABWF MORTON. 
 
 room. ^'And liow old he looks without his 
 teeth!" 
 
 ^'Well, he do look rather queer, certain, 
 ma'am," replied the landlady. 
 
 ^^ Oh, but Green, you're accustomed to see 
 him, and don't mind it." 
 
 '' I beg your pardon, ma'am," said Green, 
 bridling up. ^' I never seen 'im that way 
 before." 
 
 '^ Well, Green, it ought to be a lesson to us." 
 
 '' So I think, too, ma'am," said Green, drily. 
 
 ^^ I suppose I look a fright myself ? — indeed, 
 I 'm sure I do." 
 
 ^^ Oh, not at all, ma'am. Besides," added 
 the serpentine landlady, Avho had read Mr. 
 Wynum's looks very accurately, ^^ I 'm sure he 
 didn't know you." 
 
 ^'Do you think so. Green ? Well, so much 
 the better. But, good gracious ! wdiat a differ- 
 ence dress makes ! " 
 
 So, too, thought Mr. Wynum, as he returned 
 to communicate the first-fruits of his late ex- 
 perience to his jDillow, for it was to that article 
 apparently he addressed the following observa- 
 tions : — 
 
 *^When a woman has passed the age for 
 associating with the Graces, she ought to be 
 very assiduous in her devotions to Juno." 
 
niSTOBY OF MABGARET MORTON, 285 
 
 Acting on Green's suggestionj Miss Maunsell 
 for tlie moment postponed the intention of 
 adorning the first floor, and sat down to an 
 early breakfast. Mr. Wynum's bell rang in 
 due time, and Mrs. Green attended the sum- 
 mons with fearless alacrity. She was too good 
 a judge of character to apprehend any allusion 
 to the discomfitures of the morning. And Mrs. 
 Green was in the right. With more than 
 ordinary suavity, Mr. Wynum asked for break- 
 fast ; and whilst Mrs. Green was arranging the 
 table he announced his intention of retiring 
 immediately after the meal to his bed-room, as 
 he liad letters to write, and wished to be quite 
 undisturbed. Mrs. Green curtsied submission 
 with as much gravity as though she did not 
 understand that the gentleman's real motives 
 for retiring from public view were to give her 
 and Miss Maunsell an opportunity of making 
 jDreparations for the dinner which was to come 
 ofi" at six o'clock. He further informed his 
 landlady that he should go out about two, as 
 he had business in the City, and wished to call 
 on Cornet Wynum. 
 
 ^' But, Mrs. Green," he added, in his softest 
 manner, ^' you needn't be flurried in the least. 
 Gunter's men will bring everything and arrange 
 everything." 
 
236 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON, 
 
 '^ Yes, sir; thank you, sir," said Mrs. Green, 
 with a curtsey, and left the room. 
 
 '^ Well, good gracious ! " said that worthy 
 woman, as she slowly descended the stairs, 
 stroking her clean white apron, though its 
 smooth surface presented no wrinkle, ^^ if man- 
 kind 's not the depth of craft and cunning." 
 Mrs. Green used the noun of multitude in the 
 singular, and a^Dplied it strictly to the masculine 
 portion of the human family. ^ ^ ' Don't be 
 flurried in the least, Mrs. Green.' Of course 
 not, sir. There 's nothing to be flurried about. 
 Only fourteen or fifteen people to dinner, and 
 a crowd of men and servants in the kitchen, 
 and the house turned upside down, and all to 
 put straight again when the flurry 's over ; and 
 he a-sitting in his bed-room, pretending to be 
 a- writing letters ; that 's that he shouldn't see 
 the work going on. But the worst of it all 
 is, I don't know what 'tis all about. Well, 
 that's more than could be said of anything 
 that ever took place in my house before. But 
 'tisn't finished yet. 'Twill go hard if I don't 
 make something out. 'T would be unnatural 
 if I didn't. And Mrs. Clifton will be here this 
 afternoon ! Oh, yes, indeed ! Will she speak 
 out of her turn, I wonder ? Well, well ! what 
 fools women are, and the old fools worst of 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 237 
 
 any. There 's poor Miss Maunsell, up since 
 dayliglit, and working her poor old joints, 
 running up and down stairs without a stitch of 
 the wig on her poor head, but all wrapped up 
 in flannels. AVell, I think Mr. Wynum did get 
 a fright he won't forget for some time," — here 
 Mrs. Green laughed! — ^^and all the while I 
 don't know what 'tis about, nor what I '11 gain 
 by it ; but I '11 try to make something of it." 
 
 Mrs. Green, thus soliloquizing, had slowly 
 descended the stairs, and reached the landing. 
 ^^Why, good gracious. Green ! " said Miss 
 Maunsell, whose door stood open, ^' what are you 
 about ? Here you 've been talking on the 
 stairs for a quarter of an hour. I thought Mr. 
 Wynum was speaking to you. I was afraid to 
 come out." 
 
 Miss Maunsell had on the previous evening 
 remarked, and truly, that the rough work was 
 over in her apartments. The same might be 
 said of Mr. Wynum's portion of the house. The 
 damask curtains of his sitting-room had, like 
 Miss MaunselFs, been taken down, well shaken 
 and brushed, and afterwards restored to their 
 original position, where, associated with fresh 
 white muslin ones, they made a very respect- 
 able appearance. The carpets had been sub- 
 mitted to a chemical process, by which the 
 
238 HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MORTON. 
 
 flowers had been revived as though the feet of 
 Spring had tripped over the surface and called 
 ■up the white daisies from a lower depth than 
 the green worsted soil on which they were 
 embroidered. 
 
 So far all was satisfactory. In the upper 
 part of the house the only important move that 
 remained to be made was to lay the dinner- 
 table. Miss Maunsell, on her own responsi- 
 bility — for Mr. Wynum would not be consulted, 
 he left everything to her — had borrowed plate, 
 glass, and china from Mrs. Archibald. 
 
 About eleven o'clock on Thursday morning 
 Clifton arrived, walking beside a cart in which 
 were three hampers, containing what Miss 
 Maunsell wished from Eva Terrace. There 
 was another point on which the lady-president 
 had her own way. Mr. Wynum wished the 
 dinner to be served a la Russe; Miss Maunsell 
 would not hear of it. It was a cold, uncom- 
 fortable, ceremonious style, by which the 
 mistress of the house was snuffed out, and 
 Miss Maunsell laughed at the idea of being 
 ^^ snuffed out " ; but she was of the old school, 
 and, though she did not like to say so, she was 
 a good carver, and liked to exercise her talents 
 in that line. She was fond of seeing: a 2:ood 
 dinner served up comfortable and smoking, as 
 
HISTORY OF 31ARGARET MORTON. 239 
 
 lier clear mother always had it. Then the 
 master and mistress of a house looked like a 
 master and mistress, and did the honours of 
 their table, and saw after the comfort of their 
 guests. 
 
 . The arguments were so powerful, and the 
 lady was so eloquent, that the point was con- 
 ceded. Besides, Mr. Wynum, too, was a good 
 carver, and no ways loth to undertake func- 
 tions he could well discharge, his preference of 
 the a la Russe to the homely style arising 
 solely from the belief that the former was the 
 more fashionable. Mr. Wynum yielded with 
 good grace to the persuasion of the mistress- 
 elect, w^ho did not forget to honey over her 
 arguments with finely insinuated compliments 
 to his talents as master of a dinner-table — talents 
 which Miss Maunsell shuddered to think would 
 be ignominiously buried under the foreign 
 dinner system. 
 
 The porters liad scarcely landed the hamj)ers 
 containing Mrs. Archibald's contributions, when 
 fresh messengers arrived, bringing cases filled 
 with the finest flowers that the best-supplied 
 florist could afford. These were sent by 
 Cornet Wynum, who, with Miss Maunsell's 
 approval, had undertaken to supervise the 
 floral department. There was a charming 
 
240 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 bouquet for Miss Maunsell, accompanied by a 
 still more charming note, containing, amongst 
 other sentiments, many thanks for the pains 
 and taste she was lavishing to make others 
 happy. '-' That delightful young man," Miss 
 Maunsell assured Mrs. Green, '' reminded her 
 of his father." 
 
 Whilst vases of china and of glass were 
 being filled with flowers and distributed to the 
 best advantage on tables, mantel-pieces, and 
 brackets in the drawing-room, on the first floor, 
 and on the staircase, Mr. Wynum contrived to 
 leave the house unobserved. The first evi- 
 dence manifested of his absence was the dis- 
 covery of the house-door being ajar. He had 
 feared to call attention by slamming it to. 
 
 '' Oh, the dear gentle creature ! " cried out 
 Miss Maunsell ; ^^ he wouldn't disturb us. Just 
 think of that. Well, Green, it must be said 
 he 's a perfect gentleman." 
 
 '' He is, indeed, ma'am," said Green, as she 
 left the room, carrying a large bouquet in- 
 tended for the dinner-table. When Green 
 reached the drawing-room, she deposited the 
 bouquet on a plate, seated herself on a chair 
 close at hand, crossed her arms on her waist, 
 allowed her head to sink on her breast, and 
 seemed suddenly j)lunged in profound medi- 
 
HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 241 
 
 tation. After a few minutes slie lifted her 
 face, and, aj^parently addressing an epergne 
 that stood in the centre of the table, broke out 
 with, ^^ Oh, the de23ths of mankind ! the depths 
 of mankind ! " Mrs. Green still used the word 
 according to her own definition. '' He slips out 
 as light as a mouse. His son could hardly do 
 it. And why ? For fear of coming on the 
 poor women that are slaving and working and 
 toiling for his company. He slips out ! Him 
 that knows how to let himself be heard every 
 day in the week. Well, well, I say there 's no 
 coming up to the depths of mankind. An' he 
 wouldn't shut the door behind him for fear 
 we 'd hear him or see him. And that poor, 
 simple woman below says 'tis because he 's a 
 perfect gentleman ; I say 'tis because he 's a 
 perfect rogue, like the rest of 'em. And he '11 
 come in presently, bowing and smiling, and 
 saying how beautiful Gunter's men did their 
 work, an' not one of 'em has put a foot in this 
 house to-day, nor won't, of course, till five 
 o'clock, I suppose. Well, well, a woman's 
 work 's never done ; and what thanks do we 
 get ? An' that poor woman ])elow stairs ! 
 What is she working for ? Does she think 
 he '11 marr}' her ? He 'd outwit her and twenty 
 more besides, old as he is ; and I don't say he 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
2^2 BISTOBY OF MARGABET MOBTON. 
 
 won't do it, too. Oh, the depths of inanldnd is 
 great ! But I must say 'twas clever to slip out 
 that way; an' I could a'most take m}" Bible 
 oath I was never three minutes off them stairs 
 to-day. But this I will sa}', 'tiuas clever." 
 
 And Mrs. Green's face brightened as she 
 admiringly meditated on the operations of a 
 spirit '^serpentine" as her own. 
 
 Gunter's men arrived about half-past four, 
 and even Mrs. Green, who in her best dress 
 and most hypercritical mood watched their 
 proceedings, was forced to own that their 
 skill and celerity exceeded anything she had 
 expected. She communicated her opinions on 
 the subject to Mrs. Clifton, who readily en- 
 dorsed her hostess's remarks. 
 
 At a few minutes past five a cab drove up 
 to Mrs. Green's, and out stepped Mr. Wynum 
 and son. The young officer wore a military 
 cloak over his full-dress regimentals. Mr. 
 Wynum led the wa}^ to his bed-room, from 
 which both gentlemen soon emerged, intending 
 to descend to the first floor. On their way 
 they stepped in to inspect the dinner-table and 
 the general arrangements made for the recep- 
 tion of the guests. Mr. Wynum having ascer- 
 tained from Mrs. Green that Miss Maunsell 
 was ready to receive, instructed the landlady 
 
HIST OB Y OF MAUGAUET MORTON. 24:3 
 
 to go before and formally announce liini and 
 his son. 
 
 This was done, and Miss Maunsell rose from 
 an easy-chair, blaiT,d, radiant, and dignified, to 
 receive the gentlemen. What a contrast did 
 Mr. Wynum and Miss Mamisell now present to 
 the two individuals who, in the early morning, 
 had Avonderingly stared at each other ! Mr. 
 Wynum observed witli satisfaction that the 
 lady-president had paid her devotions to Juno, 
 and his eye rested with j^leasure on the flowing 
 dress of flowered silk, which added as much to 
 the apparent height of the wearer as her scant 
 costume of the morning had detracted there- 
 from. Her hair was now arranged in gentle 
 waves, approaching to festoons, on either side 
 of her high forehead ; a border of white lace, 
 tastefully interspersed with loops of j^ink gauze 
 ribbon, overtopped the hair, and on one side 
 rested a beautiful blusli rose. The old fond 
 delusion of a black back to the head-dress was 
 still persistently maintained, in the kindly in- 
 tention of persuading the general public that 
 the blackness represented hair. On either side 
 of this cap or head-dress flowed long pendants 
 of pink gauze ribbon, corresponding with that 
 which adorned the top. Miss Maunsell's full face 
 and short but fleshy throat did not require — ■ 
 
1>44 IlISTOnr OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 indeed, would not admit — tlie t^^ing of strings 
 beneath her cliin ; so with these bright pennants 
 flying, and her constitutionally good colour 
 heightened by the excitement of the moment, 
 and what with the lace and jewellery judi- 
 ciously brought to aid, Mr. Wynum felt per- 
 fectly conscience-free as he complimented the 
 lady on her appearance. 
 
 " The wonders dress can do for the finest- 
 looking man I " This axiom took an ejacula- 
 tory form in Miss Maunsell's mind, as she 
 beheld Mr. Wynum fresh from his toilette, his 
 beard combed down and his hair — sparse cer- 
 tainly on the crown of his head — judiciously 
 arranged. 
 
 " Miss Maunsell," said the elder gentleman, 
 bowing low as he touched the lady's hand, 
 ^' allow me to congratulate you on the triumph 
 your taste has achieved here to-day. The 
 house is transformed, absolutely transformed. 
 It is odoriferous as a flower-arbour, and the 
 dinner-table is perfection." 
 
 '^ My dear sir, you 're really too good ; you 
 praise my poor endeavours too highly. As for 
 the flowers, your amiable son sent so abundant 
 a supply, that we had an emharras de richesse; 
 and as to these men that have come about the 
 dinner, poor Green is delighted with 'em." 
 
HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 245 
 
 '^ Still, Miss Maunsell, all would have been 
 useless but for the presiding genius of your 
 taste." 
 
 '' My dear sir, I 'm amply recompensed for 
 anything I 'ye done." 
 
 Then Mr. AYynum again complimented Miss 
 Maunsell on her good looks, and took the 
 liberty, as an old friend, to say that the ele- 
 gance of her toilette was a further proof of her 
 excellent taste. Miss Maunsell responded to 
 these compliments in a strain that made Mr. 
 Wynum feel that the time bestowed tliat day 
 on his own toilette had not been misspent. 
 
 Whilst this elderly lady and gentleman were 
 complimenting each other on their respective 
 good looks, which was equivalent to saying 
 how wonderfully art can repair, or at least help, 
 to hide the devastations made by time, neither 
 thought of uttering a word in commendation 
 of the general appearance of Cornet Wynum, 
 who stood by, gaziug with looks of aifec^tion 
 and admiration on his father, and quite ready 
 to embrace Miss Maunsell in acknowledgment 
 of the cordiality with which slie complimented 
 him. 
 
 Now the guests began to ajDpear. The first 
 arrivals were Captain Wilmot and Cornets 
 Rogers and Staunton, all in full regimentals. 
 
246 EISTOBY OF MABGAItET MORTOK 
 
 The three military strangers were presented to 
 the lady of the house, who had scarcely time 
 to exchange a few words with each, when a 
 brougham drove up and landed Mrs. Archibald, 
 Miss Morton, her brother, and Mr. Archibald. 
 Close on the wheels of this vehicle came 
 another, from which Monsieur Charleroi handed 
 his wife, who, taking her husband's arm, and 
 followed by her son, ascended the steps lead- 
 ing to the house. Mrs. Archibald, with her 
 niece and nephews, was still in the passage. 
 Mrs. Archibald, perceiving Madame Charleroi, 
 advanced, shook hands, and stood back to give 
 her precedence, which the French lady by a 
 retreating movement declined. A few seconds 
 of polite hesitation and amiable refusals, ex- 
 pressed in gracious dumb-show, followed, when 
 Mrs. Archibald, bowing graciously, said, — 
 
 '^ Madame Charleroi, you don't wish to enter 
 first. Will you allow me Monsieur Charleroi's 
 escort, whilst you accept my nephew's ? " 
 
 The exchange was instantly effected, Mrs. 
 Archibald taking the arm of Monsieur Char- 
 leroi, and Richard Archibald presenting his to 
 Madame. By this arrangement, ]\Iiss Morton 
 fell naturally to the lot of Monsieur Claude. 
 In this order the party moved towards the 
 drawing-room, Mr. Morton bringing up the 
 
mSTOBY OF MARGARET MORTON. 247 
 
 rear. A ^'highly respectable young man," re- 
 commended as such by Mrs. Green, and who, 
 in a black coat, white waistcoat, and well-oiled 
 hair, had, during this polite contention, stood 
 by as apparently indifferent to what was going 
 on as though he were a wooden statue, now 
 started forward and announced the names of 
 the ladies and gentlemen as they entered the 
 drawing-room. 
 
 The last-mentioned arrivals had only made 
 their respects to the mistress of the house for 
 the time being, when the highly respectable 
 young man made his appearance, and announced 
 that dinner was served. Mr. Wynum then re- 
 quested Captain Wilmot to conduct Miss Maun- 
 sell to the dining-room, and ojffered his own 
 services to Mrs. Archibald, whilst Cornet 
 Wynum performed the like duty towards 
 Madame Charleroi. Mr. Archibald took charge 
 of Miss Morton, and the disengaged gentlemen 
 followed as they might. 
 
 One word of laudation as to the quality and 
 cooking of the dinner would imply a possibility 
 of error on the part of Gunter, which would 
 be an olience against that great gastronomic 
 authority ; one whisper of admiration as to the 
 mode in which the dinner went off would be 
 to hint a doubt of Miss Maunsell's prandium 
 
24S BISTOBY OF M AUG ABET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 presidential excellences. To sum up the gas- 
 tronomic and social excellence of the dinner- 
 party, it is sufficient to say that Gunter catered 
 and Miss Maunsell presided. 
 
 When the gentlemen joined the ladies in the 
 drawing-room, which they were not slow to do, 
 the hostess's pleasing cares for the entertainment 
 of her guests received a new impulse. Coffee 
 having been served -whilst tables were set, the 
 piano was opened, and tlie spirit of conversa- 
 tion became more animated. 
 
 When we remember that there were four 
 gentlemen in full-dress regimentals in the 
 room, wlio seemed to vie with each other and 
 with all the civilians present in doing service 
 to Miss Maunsell, it would be difficult to over- 
 estimate the high-toned state of felicity at 
 which she arrived. Yet there were moments 
 when she felt a regret that her duties as mistress 
 of the house sometimes obliged her to forego a 
 delightful tcte-d'tete, or break a scarcely formed 
 circle w^here humour and flattery constituted 
 the cementing links. 
 
 Miss Keel, who had not been able to come to 
 dinner by reason of her mother's illness, was 
 now seated at the piano, and executing a 7no7^- 
 ceau of one of the great classical masters ; and 
 her rendering of the composition was so truth- 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGARET MOBTON. 249 
 
 ful, that Mr. AVynum forgot his duty to Mrs. 
 Archibald, whose partner he was at the whist- 
 table. He revoked repeatedly, took up tricks 
 that did not belong to him, and finally, as if 
 borne away by the music, rose from his chair, 
 and, with the cards still in his hand, wandered 
 towards the piano, and, at a short distance 
 behind the performer, stood, sympathizing with 
 poetic ardour in the lofty ideas of the great 
 Beethoven, and appreciating with scientific 
 knowledge every individual note. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald had smilingly followed Mr. 
 Wynum with her eyes. 
 
 '^ How intensely he loves music," she said to 
 Madame Charleroi. 
 
 ^* I don't wonder," was the reply ; ^' it carries 
 me away too." 
 
 ^^ Oh ! you're musical, then?" 
 
 '' I studied music at school, and have been 
 accustomed to hear excellent artists." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald just then cauglit the eye of 
 her nephew, and motioned him towards her. 
 
 ^' Richard, we 're disabled; Mr. Wynum has 
 been winged away by the music, and our game 
 is suspended." 
 
 ^' Well, music won't wing me away," said 
 the gentleman, taking his seat ; '^ I '11 stand to 
 my post." 
 
250 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 The whist proceeded. Tlie rubber was con- 
 cluded about the same time that Miss Keel 
 ceased to i^lay. The musical performance was 
 not only a23plauded, but Miss Keel enjoyed the 
 satisfaction, so dear to an artist, of knowing 
 that her talent was appreciated. And not alone 
 by Mr. Wynum. Captain Wilmot pronounced 
 such judicious praise as made Miss Keel con- 
 clude that he, too, was a musician. He pleaded 
 guilty to knowing something of singing, and 
 asked if she remembered the accompaniment 
 of ' Adelaide.' She remembered, and imme- 
 diately played the symphony. Then Captain 
 Wilmot sang that wonderful song, and sang it 
 well. Mr. Wynum, who, until then, was not 
 aware of his guest's musical talents, was in 
 raptures. 
 
 " But, Wynum," said the captain, ^^ sings 
 very well." 
 
 "• Does he ? " asked his father. 
 
 ^^ To be sure he does. We have been prac- 
 tising duets, glees, and quartets, with the help 
 of Rogers and Staunton." 
 
 "Then," said Miss Keel, "we're rich in 
 musical talent." 
 
 "You've made us feel that," said the 
 captain. 
 
 Miss Keel bowed. 
 
HISTOnY OF 3IARGARET MORTON. 251 
 
 ^*But, Cornet Wynum, you '11 sing some- 
 thing ? " she said. 
 
 The cornet blushed, and declared he could 
 not venture in the presence of such excellent 
 judges. 
 
 ^' Which is equivalent to saying," observed 
 his friend the captain, '' that I 'm no judge, for 
 you never hesitate to sing with me." 
 
 This remark raised a laugh. The cornet, 
 who had taken the precaution to send on some 
 volumes of music belonging to his friend and 
 himself, now turned over the leaves of a duet 
 they were accustomed to sing together. How 
 Mr. Wvnum's nerves thrilled with the strong 
 and new sensation of parental pride as he 
 heard his son's young, clear, and w^ell- 
 niodulated voice take part in the melody, and 
 as he marked the beaming look with which he 
 caught his father's glance. 
 
 "My dear boy, my dear Charlie, you've 
 sung it admirably ; you Ve a first-rate voice," 
 cried Mr. Wynum, catching his son's hand in a 
 burst of delight when the song was concluded. 
 Poor Charlie blushed, and was as deeply 
 touched as though Miss Morton herself had 
 applauded his performance. Miss Keel invited 
 Monsieur Claude to sing, and, rising from the 
 music-stool, observed he did not need her 
 
252 HISTOBY OF MABGABET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 assistance. That was quite true. Monsieur 
 Claude sang a French ballad, accorajDanying" 
 himself on the piano. Turning over some 
 music, he paused at a duet in which his mother 
 was fond of taking part. Madame Charleroi. 
 accepting the invitation of Mr. Wynum, was 
 led to the piano, and joined her son in tlie 
 duet, he playing the accompaniment. It was 
 interesting to hear the mother and son sing in 
 their native tongue. It was next found that 
 Monsieur Cliarleroi, too, could vocalize, and 
 finally it was discovered that nearly every one 
 present was musical, so the whole liouse 
 resolved itself into a musical committee, and 
 universal harmony prevailed. 
 
 But as all the performers did not sing to- 
 gether, nor all touch the piano at the same 
 moment, small groups were formed, resolved 
 and re-combined, where old acquaintances 
 were revived and new ones made. Mrs. Archi- 
 bald had a long chat with Cornet Wynum, in 
 which she regretted the sad prospect of ]iis 
 going away so soon, but she hoped to have the 
 pleasure of seeing him as frequently as pos- 
 sible before his departure. The young officer 
 made suitable replies, and Mrs. Archibald, 
 who understood the science of society so well, 
 soon formed around her a group to which slie 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTOX. 253 
 
 gave the tone, and wliere each was made to feel 
 pleased with himself and his neighbour. Miss 
 Maunsell was at the same time tete-d-tete with 
 Captain Wilmot, wdio was pouring into her 
 sympathizing ear an account of his eight-year- 
 old daughter. 
 
 It was not often Captain Wilmot spoke of his 
 family affairs to strangers, but now, on the eve 
 of leaving for India, old memories and present 
 affections came welling up in his heart, and 
 Miss Maunsell' s sympathetic nature, joined to 
 what she did not suspect, her matronly years, 
 beguiled him into an utterance of his hopes and 
 fears. He spoke of his motherless little 
 Fanny, and, softening more and more as he 
 went on, asked permission to bring her to visit 
 Miss Maunsell. The request was quickly 
 granted, and all the pleasure such a visit would 
 afford w^as dilated on. 
 
 These arrangements were scarcely made 
 when Captain Wilmot was summoned to the 
 piano by Cornet Rogers, the entire male 
 strength of the company being called to join 
 in " God save the Queen," the accompaniment 
 being played by Mr. Wynum. This was a 
 ruse of the accompanist's, wdio would have 
 thought himself defrauded did he not take 
 some part in the musical proceedings of the 
 
254 HISTORY OF MARGAEET MORTON. 
 
 evening. About midnight supper was an- 
 nounced, and the company sat down to that 
 meal livelier and fresher than they had to 
 dinner. Songs and speeches carried the 
 hilarity of the evening to its highest pitch. 
 Mr. Wynum, expatiating in polislied phrase 
 on the accomplishments and virtues of the 
 amiable hostess, proposed her health. Miss 
 Maunsell requested Mr. Archibald to reply on 
 her behalf. This selection was an evidence of 
 the lady's tact, for Mr. Archibald, not being a 
 singer, had not had during the evening an 
 opportunity of signalizing himself. Oratory 
 was his forte, and he now replied to the toast, 
 much to the satisfaction of the lady who had 
 nominated him her representative, as well as 
 to the satisfaction of the comj)any in general 
 and to his own in particular. Mr. Wynum 
 took the cue from Miss Maunsell, and brought 
 Mr. Archibald again and again on his legs, b}' 
 proposing toasts touching subjects within the 
 young lawyer's special province. Every orator 
 had made his speech, and everybody that 
 could sing had sung, and, after a 23rolonged 
 sitting at the supper-table, the company 
 returned to the drawing-room, and the National 
 Anthem was again intoned, and Mr. Wynum 
 again played the accompaniment. Finally, the 
 
JIISTOBY OF MARGARET 3I0RT0N. 
 
 party broke up, and the guests went their way, 
 pleased with their host and with themselves. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald was very much pleased — so 
 much pleased, that she forgot to be fatigued. 
 She told Miss Maunsell at parting that the 
 reunion of that evening had brought back in 
 all their freshness the feelings of the olden 
 times. How delighted Miss Maunsell was that 
 her friend was so pleased. But then every- 
 body was pleased. Even the cynical Richard 
 Archibald was pleased, and that, not alone 
 because of his successful oratorical display, 
 but because he had asserted, in the eyes of all 
 j^resent, his right to engross the society of Miss 
 Morton ; and this he had done in a refined and 
 gentlemanly manner, without exposing the 
 young lady to remark, at the same time that 
 he made his position be recognized by those 
 whom it concerned, and whom he had 
 especially in view. 
 
 Cornet Wynum was pleased with the even- 
 ing's proceedings, for he was a refined and 
 timid lover, to whom the presence of the 
 beloved was a joy that diffused itself far 
 around, — that impregnated the atmosphere with 
 the soft luxurious sense that reigns on a warm 
 summer day in a richly-stocked garden, when 
 a soft west wind breathes over the flowers, 
 
256 BISTOBY OF MAUGABET MOBTON. 
 
 and carries off and sheds their odours around, 
 without making a leaf to tremble. Cornet 
 W5mum was happy with a sense of happiness 
 like that which arises from the calm enjoy- 
 ment of the loveliest prospect, under the most 
 genial climatic influences ; a sense of happi- 
 ness made complete by myriad accessories, 
 from the softly-clouded solar luminary down 
 to the little gnat that gives expression to the 
 joy of living in a small drowsy hum. And 
 as this sensuous happiness, though compounded 
 of manifold combinations, might be described 
 in a few short words — ^Hhe sunshine of a 
 warm summer day," — though many closely 
 written pages could not contain an analysis of 
 the component parts, so with Cornet Wynum's 
 felicity, it might be summed up in the words, 
 ^^The presence of the Beloved"; and yet did 
 the young cornet possess the gift of poesy, 
 which fortunately for himself he did not, he 
 might have defaced some quires of paper in 
 attempting to describe all he felt. At the 
 same time, we are not doing justice to the 
 felicity ex^Derienced by the young soldier in 
 seeing Miss Morton, his father's guest, to liken 
 his feelings to any arising from mere sensuous 
 and external agencies. There was all that and 
 something more. There was a sense of happi- 
 
EISTOBY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 257 
 
 ness that penetrated deep into his being, that 
 permeated his existence, that sj)iritualized his 
 life, and became thereby more spiritual itself. 
 In short, it was a happiness known only to 
 lovers who love like Cornet Wynum. 
 
 Mr. Wynnm was pleased with the evening's 
 proceedings, because he had had an oppor- 
 tunity of asserting and maintaining his old 
 character of an accomplished host. He had 
 besides experienced a sentiment, strange 
 coming so late in life — that of parental pride. 
 He was glad to see his son exhibit, in addition 
 to his personal attractions, those accomjDlish- 
 ments which so charmingly embellish drawing- 
 room, aye, and fireside life. 
 
 Madame Charleroi was pleased because her 
 son and her husband — we are sorry to be 
 obliged to put the husband last in the category 
 — were pleased. She was pleased to see them 
 treated as their personal merits deserved, and 
 she was proud of the admiration their talents 
 elicited. 
 
 Captain Wilmot was pleased with the new 
 acquaintances he had made that evening. 
 These were Mrs. Archibald, Miss Maunsell, 
 and Miss Morton. The gentlemen he had all 
 known before. 
 
 With Miss Morton Captain Wilmot was 
 VOL. I. s 
 
258 mSTOBY OF MAE G ABET MOBTON. 
 
 especially pleased, and had contrived to have 
 a great deal of conversation with her. Miss 
 Morton was j)leased to meet a gentleman who, 
 though wearing a red coat, was a man of cul- 
 tivated literary taste and extensive reading. 
 This estimate did not imply a comparison with 
 Cornet Wynum detracting in any way from 
 the latter ; but Miss Morton, endowed with a 
 strong and early-matured intellect, found her- 
 self on a mental equality with those much her 
 elders. India was a grand theme of common 
 interest between her and Captain Wilmot. 
 She was born there ; he had lived there. He 
 knew much more of the literature than either 
 her cousin or brother, and spoke Hindustanee 
 fluently. Whilst Captain Wilmot entertained 
 Miss Morton with accounts of Indian life, 
 Monsieur Claude and Cornet Wynum listened 
 and sometimes questioned, and Eichard Archi- 
 bald occasionally joined in, at times suggesting, 
 at times furnishing a telling anecdote. Richard 
 Archibald was on duty, and felt he ought to be 
 on his guard against such a rival as Captain 
 Wilmot might be. Consequently, he hung 
 about his cousin, and continually offered her 
 that kind of attention and homage that gratify 
 tlie feelings of a proud and sensitive woman. 
 Henry Morton was pleased because he pleased 
 
BISTOBT OF 3IABGARET MOBTON. 259 
 
 everybody and did not wish to be displeased 
 with any one. 
 
 Cornets Rogers and Staunton were pleased. 
 They said so in a confidential communication 
 made to each other on their way home. Rogers 
 finished his panegyric of the evening's entertain- 
 ment by telling Staunton he had had no idea 
 that Wynum's connexions were such devihsh 
 nice people; and Staunton confessed that up to 
 that evening he, too, had been equally ignorant 
 of the fact. 
 
 All we have named were pleased on the 
 evening specified, but the entire sum of all 
 these feelings of pleasure, contrasted with Miss 
 Maunsell's, would be as a unit to milJions — as 
 a grain of sand to the Himalaya range. She 
 had been the medium through which many 
 had been made hapj)y, and the reflex action of 
 the happiness thus conferred had enlarged Miss 
 Maunsell's capabilities of enjoyments, until she 
 seemed to re-absorb all she bestowed, without 
 at all diminishing what she gave. Who could 
 wonder at Miss Maunsell feeling happy ? She 
 sat as mistress at an elegant banquet, and 
 received then and during the evening the 
 attentions due to her position. Was she not 
 the object of the graceful homage of Mr. 
 Wynum ? Was she not the recipient of the 
 
2G0 HISTORY OF 3TARGARET MORTON. 
 
 tender communications of Captain Wilmot in a 
 confidential tete-d-tete f Was she not the evoker 
 of the lively compliments and quick apprecia- 
 tion of the three young militaires when they 
 formed the segment of a circle of which she was 
 the centre ? To attempt an estimate of Miss 
 Maunsell's feelings would be to essay the im- 
 possible, and would entail deserved failure. 
 We can only bow in reverence before what we 
 believe but cannot define. 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 261 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 After a few hours' rest, Mrs. Green rose on 
 tlie morning succeeding Mr. Wynum's dinner- 
 party. She wished, as she told her niece, to 
 make everything tidy, which was quite true, 
 but which was only in part the motive of her 
 early rising. Mrs. Grreen wished, if the truth 
 must be told, to make an accurate survey of 
 the remains of the preceding day's feasting, 
 and she desired to estimate what portion of 
 the fragments she might reasonably expect as 
 her share. Mrs. Green had not the slightest 
 intention of unlawfully appropriating anything ; 
 but just as heirs-at-law take pleasure in know- 
 ing the exact value of the property which must 
 one day be theirs, and how far legacies are 
 likely to detract therefrom, so Mr. Wynum's 
 landlady took a natural interest in ascertaining 
 what amount of spoils remained, as her share 
 would be in proportion to the general mass. 
 Whilst engaged in this very rational and 
 
262 HISTORY OF 3IARGAEET MORTON, 
 
 higlily meritorious exercise, Mrs. Green was 
 not a little surprised to hear a step on the stairs, 
 and the next moment Miss Maunsell entered 
 the room, where her landlady was inspecting 
 the supper-table of the previous night. Mrs. 
 Green stared with a look of guilty alarm. 
 
 ^^ Lord-a-mercy, ma'am ! you up, and it only 
 seven o'clock ? '' 
 
 Miss Maunsell made a signal for silence, and 
 pointed in the direction of Mr. Wynum's sleep- 
 ing-room, as she said in a whisper, — 
 
 '' Green, I 'm come to help you to clear 
 away. We must make everything straight 
 before breakfast." 
 
 Accordingly, the glass, china, and plate were 
 removed noiselessly, and quickly carried down- 
 stairs ; so were the remains of the supper ; and 
 Miss Maunsell, immediately setting about wash- 
 ing up the china and glass, desired Green to 
 go up with her niece and put Mr. Wynum's 
 sitting-room in readiness. Mrs. Green's old 
 perplexities thronged back on her. After all, 
 was there something impending that she had 
 not divined ? Could it be — but that was im- 
 possible — but could it be that Mr. Wynum was 
 about to efface Miss Maunsell's name from the 
 maiden list where it had so long stood ? Was 
 Miss Morton going to marry the young Cornet 
 
HISTORY OF 2IARGAEET 3I0RT0N. 2G3 
 
 after all ? But no, a thousand times no. Clif- 
 ton had declared such an event impossible. 
 But something was stirring, and what could 
 that something be ? 
 
 The philosophic-minded Mrs. Green resolved 
 to wait and watch. 
 
 Meanwhile, Miss Maunsell made herself so 
 actively busy in the kitchen, — she was a good 
 housekeeper, and pity it was she had not a 
 good house to keep, — that by nine o'clock all 
 the glass and china as well as the plate were 
 in perfect trim and ready to be packed ; so that 
 when Grreen announced that breakfast was 
 ready. Miss Maunsell was quite jDrepared to 
 enjoy the meal, having, as she observed, earned 
 it. Before leaving the kitchen, she recom- 
 mended Green to sit down to breakfast at once, 
 the good-natured lady having taken care that 
 when bacon and eggs were being cooked for her 
 repast her landlady should make a like provision 
 for herself and niece. Mrs. Green, with many 
 thanks and much obsequiousness, received 
 these marks of her good-natured lodger's 
 favour. Not that the sagacious mistress of 
 No. 52, St. John's Terrace, would have neg- 
 lected a salutary care of her own health and of 
 attention to her personal comforts ; but she was 
 pleased and soothed by Miss Mamisell's good- 
 
264 HISTOBT OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 natured cares, and gratified, too, by her 
 presents. So, though Miss MaimselPs appear- 
 ance in the kitchen was inopportune, it being a 
 principle in Mrs. Green's rule of life that a lady- 
 ought never to enter a kitchen, still she com- 
 forted herself in the thought that, on the whole, 
 she had rather gained than lost, the lady's 
 attention having been exclusively concentrated 
 on the glass and china to the total exclusion of 
 the eatables. 
 
 Miss Maunsell invariably secured the affec- 
 tion of her dejDendents by her considerate 
 kindness and generosity. Poor Miss Maun- 
 sell ! — she so sceptical, so thwarting, so sneer- 
 ing, so discomforting when in a secondary 
 position, was generous, considerate, gentle, 
 and bland when put at the head of affairs. 
 Would that we were all in our j)roper places ! 
 Amongst Miss Maunsell's many natural gifts 
 was a good constitution, on which she set great 
 value. And she was blessed in being able to 
 command the efficient assistance of a powerful 
 auxiliary in the sustentation of her much-valued 
 constitution, this auxiliary being a good appe- 
 tite. Miss Maunsell never hurried her meals, 
 she understood the laws of gastronomy too 
 well for that ; and she now enjoyed breakfast 
 under the combined influences of a good appe- 
 
EISTOBY OF MARGABET MOBTON. 265 
 
 tite and the consciousness of having done a 
 good morning's work. 
 
 Mr. "Wynnm rose later than usual by an 
 hour. ISTot that Mr. Wynum had overslept 
 himself, — on the contrary, he woke earlier than 
 customary, and would have been glad of his 
 breakfast ; but the old campaigner knew that 
 in a small establishment the morrow of a feast 
 brings much work for the female hands of the 
 household. And it was part of his policy to 
 ignore such labour. The unwonted movement 
 about the house, the re-arrangement of the fur- 
 niture in his sitting-room, cautiously as it was 
 done — and in this Mrs. Green was assisted by 
 the highly respectable young man — the whis- 
 pering voices suppressed to a murmur, and 
 which Mr. Wynum likened to a swarm of bees, 
 ascending and descending the stairs, all these 
 sounds were to him so many signs that what he 
 hoped and expected was being done. At 
 length, all these sounds were hushed, and the 
 stillness that supervenes on completed work 
 prevailed at No. 52, St. John's Terrace. 
 
 Feeling assured that order was permanently 
 established amongst the disturbed chairs and 
 tables of the previous day, Mr. Wynum rang 
 his bell, and Mrs. Green set the customary can 
 of hot water on the mat outside his door. In 
 
2G6 mSTOBY OF MABGARET MOBTON. 
 
 less than an hour the gentleman entered his 
 sitting-room, and breakfast was served. There 
 was hot curried chicken, there was cold fowl, 
 and two or three kinds of cold meat. Mr. 
 Wynum loved luxurious living, and he loved 
 the pomp and appareil attendant thereon as 
 much as he loved the thing itself. 
 
 Mr. Wynum read, or seemed to read, his 
 newspaper that morning with great attention. 
 Cornet Wynum arrived about half-j^ast two, as 
 had been agreed on, and at three father and 
 son descended to the first-floor drawing-room to 
 pay their visite de digestion. Miss Maunsell sat 
 in state, and looked as though her acquaintance 
 with the things of this world had commenced 
 twenty-five years later than the baptismal 
 register indicated. 
 
 Miss Maunsell rose to receive her visitors. 
 To the inquiries of the elder gentleman, who 
 acted as spokesman, she replied that she felt 
 remarkably well. Then there was some talk 
 about the preceding day's doings. Mr. Wynum 
 was lavish in his encomiums on the general 
 arrangements, and the manner in which the 
 thing w^ent off, the entire merit of which was 
 due to the lady who presided. This was too 
 much for Miss MaunselPs nerves or conscience, 
 or both ; but Mr. Wynum persisted in saying 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 267 
 
 what he had ah^eady so often said, that but for 
 her the spirit of the feast would have evaporated, 
 and so the lady was obliged to bear as she 
 may this weight of compliment. 
 
 All these higli-ilown words having been pro- 
 nounced, something was said about more 
 material interests. Mr. Wynum requested Miss 
 Maun sell to direct Green as to the disposal of 
 the remains of the feast, and further begged, 
 if she had no special objection, that the piano 
 might be allowed to remain in her room to the 
 end of the month, ^'as," said Mr. Wynum, ^^I 
 think it probable we shall have visitors daily 
 nearly up to that time." 
 
 The association implied by the ^^ we" was 
 very pleasing to Miss MaunselFs ears. All 
 Mr. Wynum requested, she promised. These 
 friendly confidences were still going on, when 
 the highly respectable young man, who was still 
 on duty, announced Miss Keel and Monsieur 
 Claude, and with them entered, unannounced, 
 Miss Morton. This last arrival was a delight- 
 ful surprise, especially to two of the company. 
 Margaret laughingly explained how she had 
 been walking half the length of the street some- 
 what in the rear of Miss Keel and her escort, 
 and just reached the door, which she found 
 open, as they were being announced. Miss 
 
268 HISTOBY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON, 
 
 Morton was the bearer of a message from her 
 aunt, to the effect that she hoped Miss Maun- 
 sell was well. Mrs. Archibaldj though she had 
 enjoyed herself very much the day before, felt 
 a little fatigued, but would be able to pay a 
 visit the following afternoon. She further 
 hoped to see Miss Maunsell that evening at 
 Eva Terrace. Monsieur Claude brought polite 
 inquiries from his mother. She, too, still felt, 
 though slightly, very slightly, the effects of 
 the last night's dissipation. 
 
 Whilst these messages were being delivered, 
 and tlie jDroper conventional sympathy ex- 
 pressed, the highly res^DCctable young man 
 appeared bearing a tray laden with fruits 
 and confectionery. The "" highly respectable " 
 poured out some glasses of sherry, and Cornet 
 Wynum came to his assistance whilst he un- 
 corked a couple of bottles of champagne. These 
 refreshments being handed round, the conver- 
 sation became more lively. Captain Wilmot 
 and Monsieur Charleroi arrived. These made 
 a pleasant addition to the company, and their 
 arrival was turned to profit by Mr. Wynum. 
 Disengaging himself from attendance on Miss 
 Maunsell, he gave up his place to Captain 
 Wilmot, and, after a few dexterous manoeuvres, 
 contrived to lead Miss Morton to a seat at the 
 
EISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 269 
 
 other end of the room, whilst Cornet Wynum 
 busied himself in making Monsieur Charleroi 
 comfortable. Before long Miss Maunsell drew 
 the French gentleman within her own orbit, 
 and the cornet joined his father and Miss 
 Morton. Monsieur Claude, from where he was 
 sitting beside Miss Keel, observed and under- 
 stood the movement. It would be difficult to 
 say how the young Frenchman felt. It would 
 be too much to say he felt jealous : he sighed 
 and felt sad. 
 
 Captain Wilmot did not forget to find his 
 way to where Miss Keel was sitting. The songs 
 and music of the past evening were talked of, 
 and Monsieur Claude opened the piano. The 
 sound of music once awakened, the groups 
 were soon broken up and reconstructed ; Miss 
 Keel again enjoyed the pleasure of being appre- 
 ciated by such accurate judges as Mr. Wynum 
 and Captain Wilmot. 
 
 There was much singing and much conver- 
 sation ; so much of both, that when Captain 
 Wilmot, fixing his eyes on the pe^idule, said he 
 must leave, everybody was surprised to dis- 
 cover it was half-past fire. All prepared to 
 depart. 
 
 ^^ Stay a moment, dear," said Miss Maunsell 
 to Margaret Morton ; '^ I Ve a word to say to 
 
270 HISTOJ?Y OF MAEGAEET 3I0ET0N. 
 
 you." The others having retired, she added, 
 '^ You dine with me, dear." 
 
 ^^ I would with pleasure, Miss Maunsell, but 
 — aunt — " 
 
 ^^I've arranged all that, dear. I sent a 
 message by Clifton, who was here a while ago, 
 to say you 'd dine with me, and I 'd take you 
 home afterwards." 
 
 That affair was quietly settled. Mr. Wynum 
 and his son also dined with Miss Maunsell. 
 All this was the result of private arrangements 
 between Miss Maunsell and Mr. Wynum ; but 
 so man}^ private arrangements had lately been 
 and were still being made between that lady 
 and gentleman, that even the serpentine Green 
 found her sagacity at fault. ^' What could it 
 mean ? What did it mean ? " 
 
 Cornet Wynum asked neither himself nor 
 any one else what anything meant. His hajDjDi- 
 ness was complete — too full for doubt, too 
 exquisite for examination. Miss Morton was 
 sitting opposite him at dinner, and all was so 
 home-like. If into a heart so full as the young 
 cornet's a wish could glide, it would be that he 
 might remain for ever as he was. And his 
 father was so charming, so delightful ! — he 
 made Miss Morton so much at home ! 
 
 And Margaret was gay; gay with the 
 
EISTOBY OF MAHGABET 3I0BT0N. 271 
 
 vivacity of youth and the frankness of a noble 
 nature ; gay, too, with the generosity of a 
 good heart, that responds promptly to kind- 
 ness. She saw those around wishing to make 
 her happy, and the bare exhibition of such a 
 feeling achieved the contemplated end. Mr. 
 Wynum possessed in perfection the art of 
 drawing people out, and Miss Morton, so 
 sedate at her aunt's reunions, grave sometimes 
 even to taciturnity, was now bright in repartee, 
 as Mr. Wynum with skilful hand elicited the 
 latent spark from a well-charged mind. 
 
 And was Miss Maunsell overlooked all this 
 time ? By no means. Mr. Wynum, whilst 
 working Miss Morton's mind into the highest 
 state of intellectual enjoyment, that of recipro- 
 cating thought, managed so that Miss Maunsell 
 had, or believed she had, a large share in what 
 was going forward. Many a well-baited trap 
 was laid to catch the kind old lady's stereo- 
 typed French and Italian quotations, and 
 many a well-turned compliment did the nmsty 
 sentence elicit. And then Miss Maunsell, at 
 the head of affairs, was so different to the 
 saDie lady in a subordinate position ! 
 
 The only one who contributed nothing to 
 the hilarity of the meeting was Cornet Wynum. 
 Like all young persons j)rofoundly in love, and 
 
272 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 for the first time, he was meditative, or rather 
 silent, without meditating or even thinking. 
 His mind was too full for active tliought, 
 though crowded with the loftiest,, sweetest, 
 and most entrancing ideas. 
 
 Miss Maunsell declared more than once that 
 Cornet Wynum was making no dinner ; and 
 then the gentleman, thus brought into notice, 
 declared he had made a prolonged lunch — one 
 that had lasted to dinner-time. 
 
 Dinner came to an end, and dessert was put 
 on the table. Mrs. Green relieved her mind 
 by telling her highly respectable masculine 
 acquaintance, who was then drinking tea in the 
 kitchen, that for her part she had believed the 
 company would have sat till midnight. How- 
 ever, Mrs. Green was disappointed, and so was 
 Cornet Wynum. Four hours and a half before 
 midnight the seance came to an end. Miss 
 Maunsell remarking she feared Mrs. Archibald 
 would be expecting them. The ladies retired 
 to put on their bonnets, and Cornet Wynum, 
 taking hold of his father's hands, said, — 
 
 '^ Oh, father, you know how to make every 
 one happy." 
 
 '' My dear boy," said the father, shaking his 
 hands cordially. 
 
 The father and son had a short conversation. 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 273 
 
 It was close on eight o'clock when these four 
 persons left St. John's Terrace. Mr. Wynum 
 gave his arm to Miss Maunsell ; Cornet Wynum 
 did the same by Miss Morton. Who can tell 
 what the young soldier felt when, for the first 
 time, the hand of his first love sought support 
 on his arm ? You can tell it, sir, and so, 
 no doubt, can the gentleman that stands 
 smiling beside you ; so mayhap can we ; but 
 Cornet Wynum, at the moment to which we 
 allude, might have conscientiously declared 
 that all the paper ever manufactured, whether 
 of rags, straw, or other refuse, would not have 
 sufficed to hold, nor all the pens ever made, 
 whether of goose-quill or steel, sufficed to 
 record the millionth ^Dart of the sensations 
 which just then tingled through his frame from 
 brain to toe. 
 
 The little party had reached Eva Terrace, 
 passed through the front garden, ascended the 
 flight of steps, and waited till the door was 
 opened ; then Cornet Wynum commenced to 
 wish the ladies e^ood-nio^ht. 
 
 ''What!" said Miss Morton, ''aren't you 
 coming in ? " 
 
 " Good gracious ! " exclaimed Miss Maunsell, 
 " I never doubted of your coming in with 
 us." 
 
 VOL. 1. T 
 
274 HISTOBY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 
 
 '' Pray excuse me/' said the young man, in 
 a hesitating tone. 
 
 '^Professional duties, Miss Maunsell," inter- 
 posed his father, '' obhge the cornet to leave us 
 for the present. Good-night, Charlie. Take 
 a cab. You '11 he late." 
 
 Charlie said '^Good-night" to all, repassed 
 the gate, and tm^ned his steps towards Picca- 
 dilly. He did not take a cab ; walking suited 
 his mood better. Having reached his hotel, he 
 went direct to his sitting-room, and then threw 
 himself at full length on a sofa. One hour 
 after midnight tolled before he retired to his 
 bed-room. 
 
EISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 21 ry 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The dinner-party presided over by Miss Maun- 
 sell on behalf of Mr. Wynum ^\^as to that lady 
 a feast with an octave. Every day during the 
 succeeding week were visitors in her drawing- 
 room from three to nearly six o'clock. The 
 visitors were few, but constant. They did not 
 come and go ; they came and stayed. TJieir 
 stay was princij^ally owing to the attractions 
 offered, and to Miss Maunsell's friendly recom- 
 mendation that during the few remaining days 
 allotted to them in this world — this cheering 
 remark was addressed to the military gentle- 
 men — they would be as much as possible with 
 their friends. Cornets Rogers and Staunton 
 frankly accepted the invitation, and with light- 
 hearted laughter said they intended to be as 
 merry as possible before being shot. 
 
 On the morrow of the dinner Cornets Rogers 
 and Staunton did not visit Miss Maunsell ; })ro- 
 
27G EISTOEY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 fessional duties kept them away. On tlie 
 succeeding day tliey aj)peared, but Captain 
 Wilmot and Cornet Wynum did not. Their 
 military friends knew nothing about them, and 
 seemed in nowise to regret their absence. It 
 was on this day Mrs. Archibald, Madame and 
 Monsieur Charleroi, made their visit. Mr. 
 Wynum, as a matter of course, was present, 
 and made himself, as Miss Maunsell said, ^^in- 
 finitely agreeable." 
 
 ^^ Is he not always so?" said Mrs. Archi- 
 bald, to whom the remark was made. 
 
 ^'Yes, dear, certainly; but I think more so 
 now than ever." 
 
 ^^ An excess for which you may thank your- 
 self, Ellen." 
 
 '' Now, dear, how can you talk such non- 
 sense ? " 
 
 ^' I 've doubts as to its being nonsense." 
 '^ How can you, dear ; how can you ? " 
 As Mrs. Archibald and Madame Charleroi 
 were preparing to leave. Miss Morton came 
 forward to join her aunt. 
 
 ^'Well, dear," said Miss Maunsell, laying 
 her hand affectionately on Margaret's shoulder, 
 ^' I ho^DC you've had a hearty laugh this 
 afternoon." And her glance took in the two 
 officers. 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 277 
 
 ^' I certainly have/' said Margaret, her eyes 
 bright with the spirit of fun. 
 
 ^^ Rogers and I," said Cornet Staunton, 
 ^^have been communicating to Miss Morton 
 the particulars of our last wills and testaments, 
 and the legacies we intend to leave our friends ; 
 and she has thought proper to make these 
 solemn documents a subject of laughter." 
 
 ^^ Oh, harebrains, harebrains I " said Miss 
 Maunsell, laughing too, and shaking her finger 
 in mimic threat at the speaker. 
 
 The military gentlemen made their adieus. 
 Miss Maunsell turned to Miss Morton. 
 
 ^^Now, Margaret dear, you. '11 dine with 
 me to-day, and I '11 take you home in the 
 evening." 
 
 '^ My dear Miss Maunsell, I dined with you 
 yesterday." 
 
 '' No reason, dear, why you shouldn't dine 
 with me to-day." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald looked very much pleased. 
 Miss Maunsell was not always so demonstrative 
 in her kindness to her niece. 
 
 '' Really, Ellen, you seem inclined to run 
 away with Margaret altogether." 
 
 ^^ No danger, dear, that any one will ever 
 desert you for me. Besides, your nephews arc 
 with you." 
 
278 HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON, 
 
 Miss Morton read consent in her aunt's 
 eyes. 
 
 ^' Well, Miss Maunsell, I shall be very much 
 pleased indeed. I shall just accompany a^mt 
 home, and return." 
 
 ^^ May I have the honour of accompanying 
 the ladies, and re-conducting Miss Morton ? " 
 asked Mr. Wynum. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald bowed assent, and, having 
 said farewell, the visitors left, Madame Char- 
 h roi leaning on her husband, and Mrs. Archi- 
 bald on Mr. Wynum. Miss Morton walked 
 beside her aunt. 
 
 A suspicion, near akin to a wish, floated 
 through Miss Morton's mind as she returned 
 with Mr. Wynum to St. John's Terrace. To 
 whichever class the thought belonged, it was 
 realized. Cornet Wynum had arrived. Dinner 
 was served, as on the previous day, in Miss 
 Maunsell's sitting-room, and the four that sat 
 down to table were as happy in each 
 other's society as they had been twenty-four 
 hours previously. Miss Maunsell rose to retire 
 after dessert. Mr. Wynum entreated. Miss 
 Maunsell pleaded the rights of cigars. 
 
 ^^Ah, Miss Maunsell," said Mr. Wynum, in 
 a tone of sadness, '^ this is a sentence of 
 banishment. 'Tis we gentlemen who ought 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGATtET MOBTON. 279 
 
 to retire. We couldn't think of smoking in 
 a lady's drawing-room." 
 
 '^ My dear sir," said the lady, with a drollish 
 twinkle in her eyes, ^' this end is the dining- 
 room, the other the drawing-room." 
 
 ^^ Even so," Mr. Wynum spoke very gravely, 
 ^^ the odour of a cigar would be an offence." 
 
 '^ On the contrary, I like it. I quite enjoy 
 the odour of a cigar." 
 
 ^' That, Miss Maunsell, alters the case"; and 
 Mr. Wyhum resumed his seat. 
 
 It is not within the capacity of our poor 
 goose-quill to describe how the thing occurred, 
 but six minutes after the discussion just 
 described Miss Maunsell and Mr. Wynum were 
 seated at the table, on which the dessert still 
 stood ; a plate with fruit was before the lady, 
 and beside the plate a glass of excellent port. 
 The gentleman was gently whiffing his cigar, 
 and at intervals sipping his wine. In the 
 other section of the apartment Miss Morton was 
 seated on a couch, and Cornet Wynum on a 
 chair close beside her. 
 
 It was half-past eight when a party of four 
 reached Eva Terrace that evening. Three 
 entered ; the fourth, a gentleman wearing a 
 military cloak, retired. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald had. on the occasion of the 
 
280 HIS TOBY OF MABGABET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 dinner-jDarty, exj^ressed to Cornet Wynum a 
 hope that she should see him more frequently 
 before his departure for India than she had 
 lately done. The young soldier had made a 
 suitable reply ; but up to the point at which 
 our history has now arrived Cornet Wynum 
 had not resumed his visits at Eva Terrace. 
 Mrs. Archibald now made inquiries of his 
 father, and was informed that professional 
 duties so engrossed his son's time that none 
 remained for visiting, but that the coming 
 wxek would give him more leisure. 
 
 Two days had elapsed since Thursday — the 
 Thursday — and on each of these days Miss 
 Morton had dined with Miss Maunsell. So had 
 Mr. Wynum and his son. Sunday arrived, 
 and Miss Morton, returning from church, felt 
 it would be only polite to call on her aunt's 
 old friend. It would seem as though she was 
 expected, for before Mrs. Green or her niece 
 could reach the house-door, it was opened to 
 Miss Morton by Cornet Wynum. The inter- 
 course of the last few da3^s had given a tone of 
 intimacy to the acquaintance of these two 
 young peoj)le that it had never before attained, 
 not even when Cornet Wynum made unques- 
 tioned his daily morning calls at Eva Terrace. 
 There was a frank and honest familiarity in 
 
EISTOEY OF MABGAEET MORTON. 281 
 
 Miss Morton's greeting to the young cornet 
 that put him quite at his ease, whilst it infused 
 into his heart a sense of 23rofoun(i happiness. 
 
 ^'' Good morning, Margaret, my dear," said 
 Miss Maun sell, rising from the sofa where she 
 and Mr. Wynum were seated. Miss Maunsell 
 kissed her young friend : she was become very 
 demonstrative in her affection for this young 
 friend. She asked after Miss Keel : Margaret 
 had seen her at church. 
 
 '^ I think she '11 call here on her return," 
 said Miss Maunsell; '^and possibly Monsieur 
 Claude too." 
 
 '' Miss Maunsell," said Mr. Wynum, bowing 
 gracefully to that lady, ^^ is the centre of 
 universal attraction." 
 
 Miss Maunsell bowed in return, and declared 
 the compliment was more than she deserved. 
 ^^But," she added, '^ I thought whilst the piano 
 remained here these young people might like 
 a little music. They can sing their hymns 
 to-day." 
 
 '^Miss Maunsell," said her flatterer, ''is 
 always so considerate." 
 
 '' Well, really Ave oughtn't to live for our- 
 selves alone," was the quiet reply. 
 
 Miss Maunsell really believed that the idea 
 of engaging Miss Keel and Monsieur Claude 
 
282 HISTORY OF MARGAIiET MORTON. 
 
 to call at St. John's Terrace originated with 
 lierself. Poor Miss Maunsell ! She was the 
 unconscious cat's-paw of an intellect much 
 liigher than her own. The very terms she 
 used were the unreflecting repetition of words 
 adroitly insinuated into her ear by the diplo- 
 matic Mr. Wynum. 
 
 The servant announced Miss Keel, Madame 
 and Monsieur Charleroi, and Monsieur Claude. 
 
 Miss Keel would have been earlier, but, 
 having made an appointment with Monsieur 
 Claude, had waited his coming. ^ ' The services 
 in his church were longer than in hers," she 
 remarked. 
 
 Madame Charleroi, having learned that Miss 
 Maunsell was having a concert of sacred music, 
 had ventured to intrude and bring her husband. 
 
 Miss Maunsell was much pleased to find she 
 had brought the sensitive French lady to terms 
 of such easy familiarity. 
 
 Miss Keel took her place at the piano ; the 
 sacred music commenced. Miss Keel's voice 
 was of small compass, but so excellent a 
 musician knew how to make the most of her 
 vocal capabilities. She sang an English hymn 
 very charmingly. Monsieur Claude was invited 
 to try something. He took from the music- 
 waggon a volume of liis which had remained 
 
HISTORY OF 3IARGARET MORTON. 2S3 
 
 there since the evening of the great dinner, 
 and, turning over the leaves, paused at ^' Dies 
 Irse," and asked Miss Keel to play the accom- 
 paniment. 
 
 ^^You know this?" said Monsieur Claude, 
 looking at Mr. Wynum. 
 
 '^ Oh, yes. Try the first verse, and I '11 
 join in." 
 
 Monsieur Claude, trained from childhood to 
 the singing of church music, sang the first 
 verse of the hymn ; then, turning towards the 
 other endi of the room, beckoned his father, 
 who immediately came forward. So did 
 Cornet Wynum. The accompaniment was 
 again played. Each gentleman tried in a pre- 
 liminary way the part he was to take. Mr. 
 Wynum, when on the Continent, drawn by his 
 profound appreciation of the spirit of religious 
 music, was in the habit of attending the 
 Catholic services. So was his son. The 
 French gentlemen were to the manner born. 
 Monsieur Claude again sang, — 
 
 " Dies irae, dies ilia 
 Solvet seculum in favilla 
 Teste David, cum Sybilla." 
 
 Then the others, joining in chorus, repeated 
 the lines, after which all went through in parts 
 that wonderful word-picture of tlie final judg- 
 
284: HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 ment of mankind ; the terror excited by the 
 
 arrival of the Judge, — 
 
 " Quantus tremor est futurus, 
 Quando Judex est venturus, 
 Cuncta stricte discussurus ! " 
 
 The mighty trumpet sends its summons 
 through the kingdom of the grave, calling all 
 into the judicial presence : — 
 
 " Tuba mirum spargens sonum 
 Per sepulchra regionum 
 Coget omnes ante thronum." 
 
 Death and Nature are both astounded, seeing 
 creatures that had surrendered to their grasp 
 rise in answer to the judicial summons : — 
 
 " Mors stupebit et natura 
 Cum resurget creatura 
 Judicanti responsura." 
 
 Then the written book is opened which con- 
 tains the matter on which the world is to be 
 
 judged : — 
 
 " Liber scriptus proferetur, 
 In quo totum continetur, 
 Unde mundus judicetur." 
 
 The Judge takes His seat : all that was 
 hidden is brought to view, nothing remains 
 concealed : — 
 
 " Judex ergo, cum sedebit, 
 Quinquid latet apparebit, 
 Nil inultum remanebit." 
 
EISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 285 
 
 This graphic description of the ^^last day," 
 which owes so much of its power to the terse 
 joersjDicacity of the Latin tongue, was well ren- 
 dered by the four trained male voices that 
 undertook the execution on that occasion. 
 Miss Keel warmly complimented Monsieur 
 Claude on his performance, and almost re- 
 proached him for not having allowed her to 
 hear that great poem before. He smiled, and 
 said his mother could take part in the '^ Stabat 
 Mater." The mention of this hymn, so much 
 more generally known, because of Rossini's 
 music, than is the ^^Dies Irse," was received 
 with delight. Mr. Wynum offered his arm to 
 Madame Charleroi, and conducted her to the 
 piano. Miss Keel took her place at the instru- 
 ment, the parts were arranged, and after a few 
 essays, stops, and recommencements, a final 
 beginning was made, and all went smoothly 
 on. What a painfully truthful portrait does 
 the writer make of the most sorrowful mother 
 that ever lived whilst enduring that terrible 
 agony ! The grief-laden mother stands weep- 
 ing beside the cross on which her Son is hang- 
 ing ! What a picture of grief and woman's 
 courage, a mother standing beside the gibbet 
 on which is fastened her dying Son! If 
 maternal love is the strongest and most dis- 
 
2SG HISTORY OF 3IAEGABET MOBTON. 
 
 interested of human affections, its counterpoise 
 can only be found in a mother's grief. If the 
 worst son never so far loses a hold, on his 
 mother's affections as that she can remain 
 insensible whilst seeing him suffer either 
 physically or mentally, what must have been 
 the grief of her who adored her Son as her 
 Creator, whilst she loved Him as her child ? 
 
 If Madame Charleroi, her husband and son, 
 did not give the ^^Stabat Mater" with all the 
 ornamental flourishes in which professional 
 singers delight, they rendered it with the 
 tender pathos of hearts that sympathized with 
 the subject. They were in spirit present at 
 the Great Execution, and mourned with the 
 sword-pierced heart of the woful mother. 
 
 Mr. Wynum was quite carried away by the 
 sentiments as well as by the singing of the 
 piece. He forgot for the time the self- 
 appointed role he had been playing for the 
 past week. He forgot even Miss Maunsell, 
 and, when the singing ceased, he raised 
 Madame Charleroi's hand to his lips. Mr. 
 Wynum would not have given an English- 
 woman such a salute, but it was a Continental 
 courtesy, and was well received by the French 
 lady. 
 
 The visitors were leaving. 
 
HISTORY OF MABGARET MORTON. 287 
 
 ^^ 'Tis i3ainful to part so soon," said Mr. 
 Wynum, with the ease and gallantry of a well- 
 bred elderly gentleman. 
 
 ^^Tf I may venture to give an impromj)tu 
 invitation/' said Madame Charleroi, ^'I would 
 ask you to do me the favour of coming to my 
 house this evening. We could continue our 
 sacred music without breaking your English 
 Sabbath," she added, with a smile. 
 
 The invitation was instantly accepted by 
 all, excepting Miss Morton. 
 
 ^^ I should be most happy, Madame Charle- 
 roi, to accept your invitation, but aunt would 
 be quite alone, and she is not very well." 
 
 '^I saw your brother pass within the last 
 ten minutes," said Cornet Wynum, quickly. 
 ^^ He was going towards Eva Terrace." 
 
 ^^Oh! then my cousin will not dine with 
 us, so aunt would be nearly quite alone." 
 
 ^^I regret," said Madame Charleroi, some- 
 what stifHy, ^'tliat I cannot reckon on the 
 pleasure of Miss Morton's company. I also 
 regret to hear that Mrs. Archibald is not well." 
 
 '^ No," said Margaret, who understood 
 Madam e's feelings, '^ aunt is never very strong, 
 but she is at present unusually languid. But 
 for that, madame, you would have had a visit 
 from her within the hist few days." 
 
288 HISTOBY OF 3IARGABET MORTON. 
 
 Madame Charleroi made a French curtsey, 
 and took leave, with ^^ Aio revoir'' to those she 
 expected to see in the evening. 
 
 '^ Eeally, Margaret, my dear," said Miss 
 Mamisell, ^^ I think you might have accepted 
 Madame Charleroi's invitation.'^ 
 
 " Oh, Miss Maunsell, how could I leave aunt 
 alone ? And I have not dined at home for the 
 last three days." 
 
 ^^Well, at all events, dear, you'll dine with 
 me to-day. Miss Keel has promised, and we '11 
 see you home in the evening." 
 
 ^^ Dear Miss Maunsell, excuse me. I mustn't. 
 Aunt would be alone." 
 
 ^^ I saw your brother going up," said Cornet 
 "Wynum, repeating the information he had 
 already given. 
 
 '' That proves my cousin won't be there, so 
 I shall be doubly needed — at least, so I flatter 
 myself." 
 
 Cornet Wynum experienced a certain satis- 
 faction in hearing Miss Morton speak so coolly 
 of her cousin; but Miss Maunsell, who could 
 ill bear contradication on any subject, was 
 beginning to show on her face a change of 
 temper of which Mr. Wynum took instant 
 note. 
 
 '^ Much as Miss Maunsell," he said, bowing 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGARET MOUTON, 289 
 
 courteously to that lady, ^'will regret your 
 absence, Miss Morton, nobody can better 
 apjDreciate the motives of your refusal." 
 
 These words gave Margaret confidence. A 
 moment before she had feared Miss MaunselPs 
 displeasure. 
 
 ^^Dear Miss Maunsell," she said, gaily, 
 ^' only think. Poor aunt shan't see you this 
 evening, nor Mr. Wynum, nor Cornet 
 Wynum," and she laughed. ^' But I must 
 really go now." 
 
 " Allow me to have the honour of conduct- 
 ing you home. Miss Morton," said Mr. Wynum. 
 
 The cornet ran upstairs to fetch his father's 
 hat. Miss Maunsell, smiling roguishly, shook 
 her finger at Margaret, and said, — 
 
 ^^ Naughty girl, naughty girl ! " 
 
 ^^ Dear Miss Maunsell, think of poor aunt. 
 She really is not well." 
 
 ^'My dear, your aunt is as well as she has 
 been for the last twelve years." 
 
 Miss Maunsell would not allow any one to 
 sympathize with Mrs. Archibald's delicate health, 
 or make any assertion on the subject, except 
 where she took the lead herself. 
 
 '' Though Miss Morton is obliged to return 
 to her aunt to-day," said Mr. Wynum, ^^and 
 neither you nor I, Miss Maunsell, can wonder 
 
 VOL. I. u 
 
290 HISTOEY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 at her anxiety, still, as you suggested. Miss 
 Morton may give you the pleasure of her com- 
 pany at dinner to-morrow, and we can all, in 
 the evening, pay our respects to Mrs. 
 Archibald." 
 
 Miss Maunsell had made no such suggestion, 
 nor had the idea occurred to her; but Mr. 
 Wynum's fluent flattery stole softly, like a 
 pleasing truth, into her mind, allayed the 
 accelerated circulation of her blood, and stilled 
 the too hasty beats of her heart. 
 
 ^^Tlien you will dine with me to-morrow, 
 dear?" 
 
 "• AVith 2^1easure, Miss Maunsell, provided 
 aunt is better." 
 
 ^^ Oh, naughty ! naughty ! " 
 
 Cornet Wynum had been standing nearly two 
 minutes within the doorway, his father's hat 
 in hand. He was quite at a loss to understand 
 under what possible condition of things Miss 
 Morton could be apostrophized as naughty. 
 
 Miss Morton left, escorted by Mr. Wynum. 
 Miss Maunsell, Miss Keel, and Cornet Wynum 
 stood at the window as they passed. Miss 
 Maunsell shook her finger in playful threaten- 
 ing at Margaret, who smiled and nodded in 
 return. Mr. Wynum raised his hat. 
 
 ^^I'm almost sorry, Margaret," said Mrs. 
 
HISTORY OF ITARGAUET MORTON. 291 
 
 Archibald, as she sat at dinner with her niece 
 and nephew, "• you didn't accept Ellen's invi- 
 tation." 
 
 ^^ Dear aunt, I couldn't leave you alone." 
 ^' Am I nobody ? " asked her brother. 
 Mrs. Archibald smiled at her nephew's 
 waggery ; so did his sister. 
 
 ^^ You're very good, Margaret," said her 
 aunt; ^^but Ellen is so easily offended." 
 
 '' This is a new fit," said Mr. Morton. '' A 
 shrewd, commercial man like me suspects 
 something at the bottom of so many invitations 
 to dinner." 
 
 ^^ But poor Ellen is not commercial, and I 'm 
 glad to see her show so much affection for 
 Margaret." 
 
 '^ My dear aunt, that's the suspicious part. 
 Your friend Ellen is not usually so fond of 
 Margaret. If 'twere Dick or I she invited, I 
 could understand it. These elderly unmarried 
 ladies are generally very indulgent to young 
 men." 
 
 *^ Oh, Harry! Harry!" interrupted his 
 aunt ; ^^ I 'm ashamed of you." 
 
 '' Well, aunt, there 's something in the wind ; 
 of that I 'm sure. Do you think a match is 
 likely to come off between Ellen and Mr. 
 Wynum ? " 
 
292 HISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 ^'1 really cannot say" ; and Mrs. Arcliibald 
 looked grave. 
 
 ^' Possible, aunt, not probable ; else wby 
 should she introduce rival ladies ? Meg or 
 Miss Keel might carry off the old gentleman." 
 
 Meg laughed heartily. 
 
 ^^ Really, Harry, this is too bad; I must 
 silence you." Still Mrs. Archibald was smiling. 
 
 ^^But aunt, I was only talking of possibi- 
 lities. I may be mistaken." 
 
 " Indeed, I think you are, Harry." 
 
 ^^ Perhaps, instead of looking on Meg and 
 Miss Keel as rivals, Miss Maunsell invites 'em 
 to matronize her courtship or innocent flirta- 
 tion, as the case may be." 
 
 ^' Oh ! " said Mrs. Archibald, gently, lifting 
 her hands and eyes. '^ If Ellen heard this, 
 what would become of us ? " 
 
 '^ But where \s Richard ? " asked Margaret. 
 
 ^' He dines to-day with old Grant." 
 
 ^^ And why not you ? " 
 
 ^'I'm not wanted. I'm glad to be out of 
 it. I leave all the law part of the business to 
 Dick. He arranges the securities and all that 
 sort of thing. I look after the commercial 
 part, making the investments, and so forth." 
 
 '^ Does Mr. Grant do business on Sunday?" 
 
 ^^ No : that is — not exactly. He talks 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 293 
 
 matters over. The fact is. Grant is one of 
 those men that never eat a regular dinner, ex- 
 cept on Sunday. During the week he takes a 
 hasty meal — a chop, or something of that kind 
 — in some eating-house in the City. He 
 remains at home all day Sunday, and perhaps 
 sees some special friend that has a large trans- 
 action on hand." 
 
 " What a strange life ! " observed Mrs. Archi- 
 bald. 
 
 ^^ Does Mr. Grant sell anything?" asked 
 Margaret. 
 
 '' Yes : he sells money." 
 
 *^ At how much a pound ? " 
 
 ^^ At a hundred shillings, or a hundred 
 pounds, whichever he can get." 
 
294: ELSTOEY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 On tlie following morning a note was presented 
 to Mrs. Archibald. It was from Miss Maunsell, 
 and contained many tender inquiries about her 
 " dear friend's health." It also contained an 
 invitation to dinner for Miss Morton, ^^ the 
 dear child," as Miss Maunsell was pleased to 
 call her, having refused to stay on the previous 
 day, because of her anxiety about her aunt. 
 The note went on further to say that, as the 
 piano was destined to remain some few days 
 longer, she should like to hear an occasional 
 tune, and poor dear Miss Keel had promised 
 to dine with her again that day. All would 
 present themselves before Mrs. Archibald in 
 the evening. 
 
 ''Well, Margaret, poor dear Ellen is constant 
 in her affections. You re invited to dine with 
 her again to-day. You go at four." 
 
 '' I 'm much flattered. But isn't four early?" 
 ' ■ Perhaps the Charlerois will be there as 
 
EI STORY OF MABGARET MORTON. 295 
 
 well as Miss Keel. I don't mean to dinner, 
 but to visit the piano." 
 
 '' It may be, aunt. Madame Cliaiieroi sings 
 charmingly." 
 
 ^^IVe heard her. She sings very prettily 
 indeed." 
 
 ^^You heard her sing French ballads; but 
 you should hear her in the Latin hymns, as 
 she sang 'em yesterday." 
 
 ^^ She 's certainly a lady-like woman of nice 
 accomplishments ; and that reminds me, Mar- 
 garet, of our arrangement to visit her to-day." 
 
 ^^ I shall be glad, aunt. She's a little 
 jealous, I think." 
 
 '^ Possibly. It requires some tact to manage 
 one's acquaintance." 
 
 Having uttered which sentiment, Mrs. Archi- 
 bald lay back in her easy-chair and took up 
 the Morning Post. Though living so retired, 
 she still took a languid interest in fashionable 
 news. 
 
 '^ Aunt," said Margaret, laying down a maga- 
 zine she had been reading, ^^I propose that 
 immediately after lunch we take a drive. The 
 day is fine, and you haven't been out for a 
 week. On our return we can call on Madame 
 Charleroi ; afterwards I can go on to Miss 
 Maunsell's." 
 
296 HISTORY OF MAEGABET MORTON. 
 
 ^^Veiy well, my dear. The arrangement 
 is excellent." 
 
 The visit to the French lady was duly paid, 
 and a few minutes before four Mrs. Archibald's 
 carriage drew up before Miss Maunsell's abode. 
 The warm-hearted lady ran to the door, opened 
 it, descended the steps, and was standing 
 beside the vehicle by the time Mrs. Green had 
 ascended from the basement apartments, and 
 was about to officiate as janitor. 
 
 ^' Won't you come in, dear, for a moment?" 
 
 '^ No, thank you. I'm already fatigued." 
 
 ^^ Well, I shan't press you. This naughty 
 
 girl and I will see you again early in the 
 
 evening. She woiddn't stay with me vester- 
 
 day." 
 
 '' Dear Miss Maunsell — " began Margaret. 
 ^^ I know, dear, I know. I forgive you." 
 And having returned Mrs. Archibald's nods 
 and smiles. Miss Maunsell and her guest retired 
 into the house. 
 
 All was silence there. Miss Morton had 
 taken off her bonnet, and was sitting on a 
 couch beside Miss Maunsell, when footsteps 
 were heard on the stairs ;, they drew nearer, a 
 knock at the door, and Mr. Wynum entered 
 immediately, followed by his son. Each of 
 the little party was haj)py to see the other, and 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAEET MOBTON. 297 
 
 all were liapj)y together. In the midst of 
 these greetings. Miss Maimsell began to express 
 her astonishment at the non-arrival of Miss 
 Keel. It was scarcely the right thing : she had 
 made an apjDointment for four o'clock, and it 
 was now nearly half -past. It was all very well 
 for Mr. Wynmn to say perhaps she was delayed 
 by business, but her classes were finished 
 before four, and of counse they couldn't delay 
 her. As to her mother's being ill, it wasn't 
 likely she 'd fall ill all of a sudden, — she was 
 always ailing ; and then Mrs. Keel had a 
 servant, the faithful Martha, that was more 
 like a daughter than a servant ; and Miss 
 Maunsell finished by declaring she could not 
 understand it. • 
 
 The ofFuscation of Miss Maunsell's under- 
 standing was suddenly dispelled by a knock at 
 the street door, which knock was the fore- 
 runner of Miss Keel's appearance before the 
 expecting dinner-party. Before the new arrival 
 had time to salute the lady of the house, she 
 was informed by that very energetic person- 
 age she had not known what to think, she had 
 just begun to susjoect something terrible had 
 happened ; Miss Keel might have sent down to 
 say she was delayed, and not thrown them all 
 into that terrible state of anxiety. 
 
298 HISTORY OF MABGAEET MORTON. 
 
 Miss Keel meekly explained. Her watch 
 was twenty minutes slow ; she was not aware 
 of it; and at four o'clock began to make pre- 
 jDarations for leaving her mother for the 
 evening. 
 
 ^^ Ah, you poor dear creature/' cried out 
 Miss Maunsell, as she flung her arms round 
 Miss Keel's neck and kissed her; ^Hhat's so 
 like you. Twenty minutes slow. Like mis- 
 tress, like watch." 
 
 And Miss Maunsell laughed with a keen 
 appreciation of Miss Keel's peculiarities. But 
 Margaret Morton, who loved Miss Keel, to 
 wdiom she felt she was indebted for much that 
 she knew, and to whom she might have been 
 indebted for much more, had she been endowed 
 with great musical capabilities, kissed Miss 
 Keel with a graceful softness, the offspring of 
 fond compassion, and offered to accompany her 
 whilst she took off her bonnet. The operation 
 was quickly performed. On their way back 
 the two ladies saw Miss Maunsell ascending by 
 the flight of stairs that led from the culinary 
 dejDartment. Affecting not to perceive her, 
 Margaret pressed Miss Keel's hand, and hurried 
 her to the sitting-room, which, with the fold- 
 ing-doors flung open, was made to serve the 
 combined purposes of dining and drawing room. 
 
HISTOEY OF MAUGARET 2I0BT0N. 299 
 
 Miss Maunsell followed in less than a minute, 
 lier colour sliglitly heightened, and her face 
 irradiated by a triumphant smile. 
 
 '^ I Ve taken the liberty," she said, '^ of 
 altering the dinner hour, without consulting 
 my guests. I thought that by dining at five, 
 or a little before, we should have more time 
 for our musical exercises before going to Eva 
 Terrace." 
 
 ^' Miss MaunselFs arrangements," said Mr. 
 Wynum, '^ are, as ever, excellent." 
 
 '^ Oh, sir ! " returned the lady, dropping her 
 large eyes and capacious eyelids, '^ you 're too 
 flattering." Miss Maunsell firmly believed she 
 exercised her faculty of free will in changing 
 the dinner hour. 
 
 Had an Asmodeus given a client of his '' a 
 bird's-eye view" of Miss MaunselPs dining-room 
 at half-past six on that evening, the person so 
 favoured would have beheld a very pleasant 
 grouping of the occupants of the apartment. 
 At one end were Miss Maunsell and Mr. 
 Wynum, one seated on either side of the table, 
 on which large remains of an abundant dessert 
 still stood. Miss Maunsell was slowly detach- 
 ing grapes from a bunch that lay on her plate, 
 and, at intervals, after two or three of the 
 vinous globules had found their way beyond 
 
300 HISTORY OF M AUG ABET MOBTON. 
 
 lier lijDs, she sipped daintily, and, with the air 
 of a connoisseur, a little of the prime old port 
 whose ruby beads hung temptingly on the sides 
 of her wine-glass. Oj^posite sat Mr. Wynum, 
 whiffing slowly a very delicate cigar, and 
 emptying ever and anon a glass of the good 
 23ort that his fair vis-d-vis favoured in her 
 way. 
 
 ^^Miss Maunsell, I'm afraid you don't like 
 this wine ! " 
 
 ^^ On the contrary, I find it excellent." 
 
 '^ You don't drink it." 
 
 ^^ Excuse me ; I'm doing it justice." And 
 Miss Maunsell raised her glass so as to bring it 
 in a line between Mr. Wynum's eye and hers. 
 
 '^ I know you re a judge of wine, Miss 
 Maunsell." 
 
 ^^ Unfortunately, I am. My dear father and 
 uncle kept a well-stocked cellar of the best 
 wines. I always hesitate to take a glass of 
 wine in a house where I 'm not sure the master 
 knows what good wine is. And so few persons 
 do really understand good wine ! " 
 
 ^^ Come, Miss Maunsell, you needn't be afraid 
 of this port. There 's no acidity here. It has 
 body, but 'tis old, — older than you. Miss Maun- 
 sell. This wine is at the least fifty years old." 
 
 ^^ I ve no doubt, sir ; no doubt." 
 
HISTORY OF MABGAIIET 3I0RT0N. 301 
 
 '^ Then, Miss Maunsell, allow me to fill your 
 glass." 
 
 ^^ Really, sir." And a white hand was spread 
 like an segis over the glass. 
 
 ^* Miss Maunsell, a baby may drink half a 
 bottle of this ; 'tis mild as milk. No, no, 
 you must finish your glass before I fill it." 
 
 The lady allowed herself to be persuaded. 
 
 ^^I am afraid. Miss Maunsell, 'tis my cigar 
 jDrevents you enjoying your dessert. I '11 throw 
 it away." 
 
 ^^ I beg you'll not. I like the odour of a 
 cigar, — I do, indeed ; and you must remember 
 I requested you to smoke." 
 
 '^ Miss Maunsell, I feel as though I were 
 taking advantage of your kindness. 'Tis really 
 too bad." And Mr. Wynum, as if by a heroic 
 effort, flung away what remained of his cigar, 
 and which measured, perhaps, the eighth of an 
 inch. He then filled his glass, and j^ulled his 
 chair a little with one hand, as if to say, ^^Come, 
 let us be quite at home " ; and he looked straight 
 at his opposite neighbour. 
 
 ^^ Well, this is really pleasant. So comfort- 
 able ; so like home. These jpetits diners make 
 one feel quite a different being. And all the 
 result of your good management and kindness, 
 Miss Maunsell." 
 
302 HISTORY OF 3IARGARET MORTON. 
 
 '^ Really, sir, really, you give me too much 
 praise." And the full blue eyes were lowered 
 beneath the large but scantily-fringed lids, the 
 head was gently bent forward, with a slight, 
 deprecatory shake, and Miss Maunsell looked 
 the impersonation of self-accusing modesty. 
 
 Here were two peojole conjointly happy, and 
 from different causes. Mr. Wynum was happy 
 because he was carrying his point, microscopic 
 though it was, and the prospect of his final 
 triumph afforded a gentle, and, for him, suffi- 
 ciently stimulating, exercise of the social talents, 
 on whose possession he prided himself. 
 
 Miss Maunsell was happy by reason of emo- 
 tions, sensations, and hopes, a record of which 
 would cover more paper than our stationer is in 
 a position to supply us with. 
 
 At the other end of the apartment, that is at 
 the opposite side of the folding-doors, there 
 were three happy peojole. Two were seated on 
 a couch, one at the piano. Of the two sitting 
 on a couch, one was a young man in regi- 
 mentals. He was hajopy with an old-fashioned 
 happiness, dating from the time when Adam 
 first saw Eve in paradise. Cornet Wynum — 
 he was the young man — could not tell why he 
 was hajDpy, but he was under a general impres- 
 sion that Miss Morton's conversation embodied 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 803 
 
 wisdom and wit, compared with which tlie 
 chats and discussions of King Solomon and tlie 
 Queen of Sheba were full of dull platitudes. 
 
 Miss Keel was happy at the piano, giving 
 utterance to the thoughts of others, and some- 
 times to her own, and, obedient to acoustic 
 laws, making the air harmonious with sweet 
 sounds. 
 
 Miss Morton discovered it was nisrh to eio^ht 
 o'clock. It is much to snatch one hour and 
 half of unalloyed ha23piness in this world of 
 contradictions, and yet Cornet Wynum was 
 almost angry when Miss Morton went to inform 
 Miss Maunsell of the hour. That good lady 
 expressed an astonishment which j)roved how 
 agreeably time must have passed for her. She 
 immediately rose from her seat, and, having 
 spoken a few words of explanation to Mr. 
 Wynum, filled his glass, locked the decanters 
 into the chiffonier, rang the bell, and, on Mrs. 
 Green's appearance, told her to remove tlie 
 dessert. She then hurried away to put on her 
 bonnet and shawl. 
 
 Meanwhile, Miss Keel had taken no heed of 
 the commotion passing around her. Becharmed 
 by the sounds she had herself awakened, she 
 sat still discoursing music, still drawing poetry 
 from the ivory keys, until Margaret Morton^ 
 
304 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON, 
 
 putting her arm round her neck, said softly, 
 u ^y^ ?j.g going," and placed her bonnet on her 
 head, and unfolded her shawl. 
 
 ^^ I couldn't find your gloves," said Margaret. 
 
 ^^ Dear me — dear me ! weren't they with my 
 bonnet and shawl ? " 
 
 '^ No, I looked everywhere about." 
 
 ^^ Dear me, I thought I left 'em with my 
 bonnet. I had better go and look myself." 
 
 ^' Try 3^our pocket first." 
 
 Miss Keel tried her pocket, and pulled out 
 the gloves. She looked at Margaret as she did 
 so with a pleading self-condemnatory smile, 
 that seemed to say, ^' You see what a simple- 
 ton I am." Margaret laughed, arranged Miss 
 Keel's shawl, pinned it, picked up her hand- 
 kerchief, which, unawares, she had pulled out 
 of her pocket with the gloves, and then look- 
 ing round to see her friend had not forgotten 
 anything else, said, ^' Now we 're ready." 
 
 Miss Maunsell discovered they were rather 
 late, and hastened towards the house door. 
 Mr. Wynum followed, leading Miss Keel by 
 the hand. Plaving joined Miss Maunsell, he 
 offered an arm to each lady, and proceeded 
 through the little garden into the high road. 
 Cornet Wynum following with Miss Morton. 
 
 AVhen the little j^arty reached Eva Terrace, 
 
HISTOBY OF MAPoGABET MOBTON. 305 
 
 four entered, and found Mrs. Archibald alone. 
 Her nephews, whom she expected to dinner, 
 had sent an apology. They were detained in 
 the City. Margaret Morton felt an acute self- 
 reproach. She regretted having dined with 
 Miss Maunsell, and she told herself in thought 
 that, whilst her vanity had been enjoying a 
 triumph, her aunt had been sitting alone. 
 Meanwhile, Mrs. Archibald talked with her 
 guests. She asked after Cornet Wynum, and 
 learned from his father that arrangements con- 
 nected with his approaching departure en- 
 grossed much of his time, but that during the 
 few days immediately preceding the embarka- 
 tion of the regiment he would be free, and 
 would then pay his respects in person to his 
 friends. Mr. Wynum seemed anxious to get 
 rid of the subject. 
 
 ^' And this reminds me," he said, '^I've 
 learned from my son that Miss Maunsell is 
 threatened with a military invasion to-morrow." 
 
 '^ Dear me, sir ! " exclaimed the lady alluded 
 to, putting on a, look of playful surprise, 
 '^ what does that mean ?" 
 
 •^ Nothing less. Miss Maunsell, and I ought 
 j)erhaps to say nothing more, than that certain 
 military gentlemen intend to pay you a morn- 
 ing visit." 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
306 BISTOJIY OF MABGABET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 ^'Really, Ellen," said Mrs. Archibald, 
 ^'you're becoming quite dissi^^ated. I must 
 begin to look after you." 
 
 ^^ I wish you would, dear ; do come in 
 to-morrow afternoon." 
 
 '^ My presence may not be welcome to your 
 visitors." 
 
 '^ Now, dear, how can you ! how can you ! " 
 
 '^ Miss Maunsell's matinees musicales have 
 begun to be talked of," observed Mr. Wynum. 
 
 '^ In that case," said Miss Maunsell, with a 
 23iquant smile, '' Miss Keel must be the attrac- 
 tion." 
 
 '^ Oh dear no ! " said Miss Keel, simply, ^' I 
 never was an attraction to any one." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald smiled. 
 
 ^^ You poor, dear creature," said Miss Maun- 
 sell ; why do you always undervalue yourself ? " 
 
 '^ I speak the truth indeed. Miss Maunsell." 
 
 ^' We should hear Captain Wilmot's opinion 
 on that point," observed Mr. Wynum. 
 
 ^' On my music, perhaps," said the simple- 
 minded artist ; '' but 'tis Margaret he admires" 
 — and she looked with a fond smile at her 
 former pupil ; ^Mie told me so himself." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald looked grave for a second. 
 Miss Morton seemed to take no heed of what 
 was said, for at the moment she stooped to pick 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 307 
 
 up a card that had fallen from the pack she 
 held in her hand. Miss Maunsell coloured 
 yiolently. 
 
 '' My dear," she said, turning sharply to 
 Miss Keel, '^ I wonder you haven't more sense 
 than to speak so before any grown girl, par- 
 ticularly a pupil of your own ! 
 
 '^ I don't see any harm in it," said Miss 
 Keel, in her customary quiet tone; ^* 'tis the 
 truth." 
 
 '' Ellen," interposed Mrs. Archibald, '' we 
 seem to have forgotten our rubber. Margaret 
 will throw for partners." 
 
 Margaret did so. The two black knaves fell 
 to Mrs. Archibald and Mr. Wynum ; conse- 
 quently Miss Keel and Miss Maunsell were 
 doomed to be partners. In the face of Miss 
 Maunsell' s remark about growing girls, Mr. 
 Wynum did not dare offer his place to Mar- 
 garet. 
 
 '^I'm such a bad j)layer," said Miss Keel 
 quietly ; ^^ Margaret plays much better than I." 
 
 ^^Oh, Miss Keel!" said Mrs. Archibald, 
 ^' you play very nicely." 
 
 '^ Miss Maunsell," said Miss Keel, with a look 
 of antedated penitence for the faults she was 
 about to commit, ^^will have a very bad 
 partner." 
 
808 HISTORY OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 *'I don't mind that," said the partner, who 
 had not yet forgotten Miss KeeFs tripping ; 
 '^ I'm accustomed to bad partners." 
 
 '^I plead guilty to the charge," put in Mr. 
 Wynum, with an insinuating smile and a 
 graceful bow. '^ I know I often try your 
 patience. Miss Maunsell." 
 
 ^^ Quite the contrary, sir," — this with digni- 
 fied gravity ; ^' 't wasn't to you I alluded." 
 
 "• To me, perhaps, Ellen," said Mrs. Arclii- 
 bald, with a look of affected humility. 
 
 ^^ Well now, dear, you do put one in such a 
 position." 
 
 All laughed, none more heartily than Miss 
 Maunsell. 
 
 '^ May I make a proposition ? " asked Mrs. 
 Archibald. 
 
 There was a general bow of assent. 
 
 '' I propose we change partners. I resign 
 Mr. Wynum, and Miss Keel won't, I hope, 
 object to me." 
 
 "■ Certainly not," said Miss Keel, rising with 
 alacrity, '' and I know Miss Maunsell has a pre- 
 ference for Mr. Wynum." 
 
 There was a roar of laughter. Mr. Wynum 
 tried to restrain himself within the limits of a 
 smile ; but as for Margaret Morton, she laughed 
 as though she should never cease. As the 
 
BISTORT OF MAUGARET MORTON. 300 
 
 cliange of partners was being effected, Miss 
 Keel passed near Miss Maunsell. The latter 
 caught her hand, and pressed it as she said, 
 ^^Yoii dear, simjDle-hearted creature." Then, 
 looking at Mr. Wynum, she shook her head 
 gently and elevated her eyes and hands, as 
 though she would say, ^^ We must have 
 patience with her." 
 
 ^^ A late visitor," observed Miss Maunsell, as, 
 before the first game of the rubber was finished, 
 a ring was heard at the house-door. 
 
 "^ Richard or Harry, I sujDpose," said Mrs. 
 Archibald, ^^ or both." 
 
 It was Harrv Morton. Haraitr saluted the 
 company, he explained to his aunt why he 
 was so late. ^^I shouldn't have come at all, 
 but that Dick insisted. As he hasn't seen you 
 and Meg for two days, he sent me to hope 
 you 're all well. I 'm sure I hope you are." 
 
 He leaned back in his chair. 
 
 ^' I am tired," he went on; ^^ we've had a 
 hard day's work in the City, and now Dick is 
 gone into his chambers to write. By-the-bye, 
 that reminds me, Meg, I 've something for 
 you." He put his hand in the back pocket of 
 his coat: '^'tis a magazine, in which you will 
 find an article of Dick's. I don't know whetlier 
 he or you wrote most of it." 
 
310 HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 
 
 ^^Oli!" exclaimed Miss Maunsell, "what 
 would be thought in French or Italian society 
 of a young girl of whom such things were 
 said ! '' 
 
 " Oh ! we 're in England, Miss Maunsell, and 
 'tis a credit to a girl like my sister to be able 
 to read and write." 
 
 " I hope, sir," retorted Miss Maunsell, firing 
 up, " that reading and writing are not rare 
 accomplishments amongst your lady acquaint- 
 ances." 
 
 " By no means, Miss Maunsell. I venture 
 to say most of my lady acquaintances know 
 how to read and write." 
 
 -'' Henry," said his aunt, " would you pull 
 the bell ? You look fatigued. You had better 
 have a glass of wine." 
 
 "Well, aunt, I am fatigued; I'm regularly 
 done up; I've walked, or rather run, twenty 
 miles to-day." 
 
 The wine was now on the table. Henry 
 Morton filled the ladies' glasses, and pushed the 
 decanter towards Mr. Wynum. 
 
 " Ladies," he said, after having filled his own 
 glass, "I drink to your good health, and to 
 yours, Mr. Wynum. I congratulate you all 
 on not being doomed to City work." 
 
 "You look very pale indeed, Harry," said 
 
HISTOBT OF 3IABGARET MORTON. 311 
 
 liis aunt ; ^' but did you come on foot from the 
 Temple here ? I didn't notice the sound of a 
 cab when you arrived." 
 
 ^^I walked part of the way. In fact, I'd 
 have been here three-quarters of an hour 
 sooner, but that I met Cornet Wynum near 
 Hyde Park. I saw him strolling slowly along, 
 wrapped in his military cloak. I jumped out, 
 and as he offered to walk back with me, I dis- 
 missed the cab." 
 
 ^ ^ Then Cornet Wynum came back with you ? " 
 
 ^' Yes, aunt. I pressed him to come in, but 
 he couldn't. He had some military business to 
 see after." 
 
 ^^ It must be a stolen march he 's trying to 
 accomplish," said Miss Maunsell, with great 
 animation, and looking slyly at Mr. Wynum ; 
 but the arrow did not reach the target. Mr. 
 Wynum's face was turned away. He was 
 engaged in discussing a musical question with 
 Miss Keel. 
 
 ^^ After all," said Miss Maunsell, '' 'tis rather 
 strange that Cornet Wynum should have only 
 reached Hyde Park at nine o'clock. 'Twas 
 scarcely eight when he parted from us at this 
 door." 
 
 ^^ Did Cornet Wynum accompany you to this 
 door ? " asked Mrs. Archibald. 
 
312 HISTORY OF MAUGABET MORTON. 
 
 '^ Yes, clear, as usual." 
 
 ^^ Cornet Wynum," said Mrs. Archibald, ^^las 
 been twice this evening at my door, and has 
 not done me the honour to come in." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald cast a keen glance across the 
 table at Mr. Wynum, but that gentleman was 
 absorbed in listening to Miss Keel's reasons for 
 preferring Beethoven to Mozart. 
 
 ''Well, dear, you know Cornet Wynum is 
 just preparing to leave England for ever " — 
 Miss Maunsell always tried to make the case as 
 dolorous as jDossible — ''he must have a great 
 deal to think of; he must be often in low spirits 
 when he thinks of — " 
 
 The speaker gave her head a shake that was 
 meant to imply all sorts of calamities and 
 sorrows, and glanced at the same time towards 
 Mr. Wynum. 
 
 " Besides, dear," she went on, " Cornet 
 Wynum may not think it quite the thing to 
 make a call so late, when your nejDhews are 
 not at home." 
 
 " You re an excellent advocate, Ellen ; pray 
 don't say I 'm jealous of you, though I almost 
 feel as if I were." 
 
 " I have to thank Miss Maunsell for her 
 eloquent defence of my son," said Mr. Wynum 
 " she fully appreciates his feelings." 
 
EISTOBY 01^- MARGATtET MORTON. 313 
 
 " 'Tis a pleasure to err," said Henry Morton, 
 '' in the ho|)e of being defended or forgiven by 
 Miss Maunsell. I hope she forgives me." 
 
 '^ Oh, naughty, naughty ! I must wait till 
 you offend." 
 
 '^ Miss Maunsell, allow me to fill your glass." 
 
 Mr. Morton did so, and then filled his own. 
 
 '^ Let us drink," he said, ^' to the oblivion 
 of past disagreeables, and to the ignoring of 
 those of the future." 
 
 '^ An excellent sentiment," said Mr. Wynum, 
 ^^ in which I think all ought to join." 
 
 All did join ; after which, Miss Maunsell dis- 
 covered it was nearly eleven o'clock, and that 
 poor Green would be waiting. Clifton fetched 
 the bonnets and shawls of the two ladies. 
 Margaret Morton, who, since receiving her 
 cousin's message, had been sitting at the other 
 end of the room, reading the magazine sent 
 her, now came forward to say good-night to 
 the departing guests. 
 
 '' Well, Margaret dear," said Miss Maunsell, 
 ^' I shall expect you to-morrow afternoon ; 'twill 
 be nearly the last day of the piano, and you, 
 too, dear" — addressing Miss Keel, ^^ of course 
 you'll come. And indeed, dear," turning to 
 Mrs. Archibald, '' I think you might call in." 
 
 '' Ellen," said the lady of the house, rising 
 
314 HIST0B7 OF 3IABGABET MOBTON, 
 
 from her couch, and making a courtesy, '^ I 
 shall not fail to attend your military review," 
 an observation which excited much merriment. 
 
 When Mr. Morton returned to Eva Terrace, 
 after having escorted Miss Maunsell home, he 
 found his aunt waiting for him in the drawing- 
 room. 
 
 ^^ Henry," said the lady, ^^ can you delay 
 your visit to the City to-morrow till eleven 
 o'clock?" 
 
 ^^ Certainly, aunt, or till twelve. I shall be 
 glad to rest after to-day's work. To-morrow 
 there's only the ordinary office work. The 
 clerks can get on very well till I go down." 
 
 '' My reason for asking is, that I wish to 
 speak with you before you go into the City. 
 You 're fatigued to-night, so I shan't delay you." 
 
 ^^ Oh, aunt, don't mind that." 
 
 '' Yes, my dear, I do mind it." And, so 
 saying, Mrs. Archibald kissed her nephew's 
 cheek and wished him good-night. 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET 3rOBTON. 315 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 It was close on ten o'clock next morning when 
 Henry Morton came clown to breakfast. He 
 found his sister reading in the library. 
 
 ^' Meg, I 'm sorry for having kept you wait- 
 ing. Why did you wait for me ? " 
 
 '^ There was no hurry, Harry. I 've been 
 engaged." 
 
 Mr. Morton threw himself into an easy-chair. 
 
 ^' By Jove ! I was deucedly tired yesterday ; 
 I 'm tired still." 
 
 " You could have had your breakfast in bed." 
 
 ^^ Pooh ! pooh ! Meg. That wouldn't do for 
 commercial men. I shall be all right when I 
 eat a good breakfast." 
 
 That was probably Clifton's idea, too; for 
 she laid a good, hot, substantial breakfast on 
 the table. Mr. Morton was either too fatigued 
 or too preoccupied to talk much. His sister, 
 though most attentive to supply his wants, 
 profited by her brother's silence, and occa- 
 sionally read portions of the magazine with 
 
316 BISTOnY OF MARGARET MORTON, 
 
 which she was engaged when he entered the 
 room. Having eaten a hot mutton-chop, and 
 afterwards helped himself to some spiced beef, 
 and drunk a cup of hot, strong tea, the gentle- 
 man seemed more lively. His sister was re- 
 filling his cup, — 
 
 ^' Meg, you 're always alone here in the 
 mornings ? " 
 
 '^ Always, since uncle's death, till you came.'* 
 
 ^^ You must be lonely." 
 
 ^' No. I 've a great deal to do in the morn- 
 ings. I 'm always very busy ; every moment 
 employed, till aunt comes to lunch." 
 
 '' I suppose, Meg," said her brother, as he 
 looked languidly round at the cases that lined 
 the room, ^^ ^^ou Ve read all these books ?" 
 
 ^^No, indeed ! I Ve read only a few, and I 
 wish I knew them well." 
 
 '^ Do you know, Meg, I 'm rather afraid of a 
 woman that reads big books. I sincerely hope 
 you '11 not come to a bad end." 
 
 '^ I sincerely hope so, too," said his sister^ 
 laughing. 
 
 '^I'm quite serious," said the brother. 
 
 ^^ So am I," said the sister, and both laughed 
 heartily. 
 
 '' You 're very merry here," said Mrs. Archi- 
 bald, who had opened the door unnoticed. Her 
 
HISTOEY OF MARGABET MOBTON. 317 
 
 niece and nephew rose to wish her goocl-morn- 
 ing. Her nephew set a chair. 
 
 ^^Why, aimt, it wants twenty minutes to 
 eleven. I ho]De you haven't had bad dreams." 
 
 ^^ Not at all, Harry. I Ve had pleasant 
 dreams, and find 'em realized here. Margaret, 
 I '11 take half a cup of tea. Anything new in 
 the Times this morning, Harry?" 
 
 ^' I Ve only read the City article. You don't 
 care for that, aunt." 
 
 ^^Not much. Commerce is not my forte. 
 This is Eichard's article, I suppose," and Mrs. 
 Archibald looked at the open page. ^' What is 
 it like?" 
 
 ^^ 'Tis excellent. It reads very well. You'll 
 be delighted with it." 
 
 Mr. Morton laughed, and told his aunt how 
 he had been expressing a pious hope his sister 
 would not come to a bad end, because of her 
 fondness for dry reading. Mrs. Archibald 
 said he was very silly, and deserved a scolding, 
 and, saying so, she smiled. 
 
 ^^You met Cornet Wynum yesterday even- 
 ing, Harry, on the way here ? " 
 
 " Yes, aunt, I met him near Hyde Park. 
 I was rather surprised when JMiss Maunsell 
 mentioned his having been here before that 
 How was it, Meg ? " 
 
318 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 '^ Miss Keel and I dined with Miss Mannsell ; 
 so did Mr. Wynnm and Cornet Wynum. We 
 all came back to this door together, but Cornet 
 Wynum couldn't come in. He had some busi- 
 ness at his hotel." 
 
 *^Has Cornet Wynum dined every day this 
 week with Ellen?" 
 
 ^* Every day I was there." 
 
 ^^ You didn't mention that." 
 
 ^'You didn't ask me anything about the 
 dinners, aunt." 
 
 ^^ Very true. Still I 'm surprised you didn't 
 mention Cornet Wynum's being there." 
 
 ^^ I didn't think of doing so, aunt. Wouldn't 
 it seem to be attaching too much importance 
 to the circumstance if I did?" 
 
 Mrs. Archibald looked at her niece. On 
 that maiden brow truth, honour, and self- 
 re s|)ect were plainly stamped. 
 
 '' You were perfectly right, my dear, -per- 
 fectly right." 
 
 Margaret, knowing her aunt and brother 
 met by appointment, left the room. 
 
 ^'Margaret is a first-class girl, aunt," said 
 Harry, and a flush of fraternal pride irradiated 
 his face. 
 
 '^ She certainly is not a commonplace young 
 lady; but, Harry, as I think I've before 
 
HISTORY OF MATtGABET MOBTO^\ 319 
 
 remarked, the women of our family have never 
 been wanting in self-respect." 
 
 ^^ Very true, aunt. I believe the women of 
 our family are much superior to the men." 
 
 ^^I shan't contradict you," and Mrs. Archi- 
 bald smiled affectionately on her nephew. 
 '^Come over, Harry, and sit beside me." 
 
 He did so. His aunt pushed back the hair 
 from his forehead, and looked with a mournful 
 steadiness into his bright blue eyes. 
 
 ^•My dear Harry, you're so like your poor 
 father, so fitful, so impulsive, so ready to 
 acknowledge your faults, and so ready to — " 
 
 '^ Commit the same again," interrupted the 
 young man, laughing. His aunt smiled. 
 
 ^^I assure you, Harry, thinking of the past 
 makes me very sad." 
 
 " Then, aunt, don't think of it." 
 
 '' I avoid it. You know I shrink from 
 everything disagreeable. 'Tis my tempera- 
 ment, as Mr. Wynum would say." 
 
 ^^ By-the-bye, aunt, talking of theWynums, 
 what did young Wynum mean by coming to 
 this door twice yesterday evening, and not 
 coming in?" 
 
 ^"Tis strange, and Mr. Wynum's affecting 
 such oblivious disregard when the matter was 
 talked of. I looked across at him, but 
 
320 HISTORY OF MABGARET MORTON. 
 
 couldn't catch his eye. He pretended to be 
 wholly engrossed with Miss Keel." 
 
 ^^I noticed all that. I was very much 
 amused." 
 
 ^^But, Harry, it may cease to be amusing 
 if Richard should think fit to take notice of 
 it." 
 
 ^^ Oh, he '11 not. Besides, young Wynum is 
 going away; perhaps, next Aveek. You re- 
 member, aunt, I said on Sunday I suspected 
 Miss Maunsell. Now I '11 tell you what I do 
 think. I think your friend Ellen is a cat's- 
 paw of old Wynum's. She don't like Mar- 
 garet. She never did like her. She couldn't 
 like any young girl when there 's a gentleman 
 in question, ' my dear sir.' " 
 
 And Harry Morton lowered his eyes, pursed 
 up his mouth, drew in his head, and, half 
 rising, made a semi-courtesy, presenting alto- 
 srether so comical a caricature of Miss Maunsell 
 that his aunt laughed spite of herself. 
 
 ^^Now, Harry, pray don't be ridiculous. I 
 want your advice in this little matter ; I w^ant 
 your assistance." 
 
 ^^Dear aunt, need I say ^Command me'? 
 You see I 'm shrewd. I saw through the little 
 game last night as well as you." 
 
 ^^ Yes. But I 'm not equal to playing little 
 
HISTORY OF MABGABET 2I0BT0X. 32! 
 
 games now. What can Mr. Wynum's object 
 be ? Not to many his son to Margaret. She 
 would be the impediment there. She don't 
 want to marry his son, nor to marry any one 
 else." 
 
 ^^I know that, aunt. But," Mr. Morton 
 added, after a pause, ^^I don't see why Mar- 
 garet shouldn't take her tribute of admiration 
 as w^ell as other girls. There 's Captain Wil- 
 mot, a most respectable man ; he evidently 
 admired Margaret very much." 
 
 ^^ Another annoyance in that quarter. Miss 
 Keel, poor simpleton, mentioned last evening 
 something Captain Wilmot had said in praise 
 of Margaret, and Ellen blazed up. It required 
 a great deal of tact, I assure you, to cool her 
 down." 
 
 '^ Bravo! bravo!" cried out Mr. Morton, 
 throwing himself back on the couch. '^ So old 
 Ellen is in love with the young captain! I 
 didn't mind Mr. Wynum, but this is too good." 
 
 '' Oh, Harry, pray be steadier. Ellen is not 
 in love : 'tis only her manner." 
 
 ^'And a very nice, lively manner, too. I 
 only hope she '11 not fall in love w^ith me, or 
 with Dick. By Jove ! that would be fun. I 'd 
 like to sec how Dick woulct>get out of that." 
 
 ^^ Ah, Harry, do be quiet. I kept you from 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
322 HISTOEY OF MAHGABET MOBTON. 
 
 tlie City this morning to get your advice, and 
 you turn everything into ridicule." 
 
 '^ Dear aunt, excuse me. I shall now look 
 at this business like a shrewd commercial 
 man. Let 's see. You 're afraid of a row 
 with Dick. Perhaps you're right. I don't 
 say anything to that. I sometimes like a row. 
 You believe poor dear Ellen to be a cat's-paw ; 
 so do I. I took it for granted she was Mr. 
 Wynum's cat's-paw ; so did you. Now a 
 thought arises, may she not be Captain Wil- 
 mot's cat's-paw too ? She may. But against 
 that supposition stands the fact that the cap- 
 tain was not at any of the dinners to which 
 Margaret was invited — at least, as far as we 
 know ; and, in addition, comes the question, 
 could Captain Wilmot make Mr. Wynum and 
 his son his tools ? I say no. Now, aunt, that 's 
 my way of dealing with business. I consider 
 the probabilities and the possibilities, and then 
 I come to a conclusion according to the best of 
 my judgment." 
 
 '^ Harry, I admire your shrewdness. 'Tis 
 greater than I gave you credit for." 
 
 ^^I'm sure of that, aunt. Still, with all my 
 shrewdness and all 3^our tact, we have only 
 arrived at the knowledge of a few 23atent facts. 
 We know nothing of the motives." 
 
HISTOBY OF MAR G ABET 3T0BT0N. 3 
 
 9?. 
 
 ^' 'Tis exceedingly perplexing," said Mrs. 
 Archibald, in a tone of languid vexation. 
 
 '^ Think no more about it, aunt. Don't 
 annoy yourself. The affair will arrange itself." 
 '^I'm by no means sure of that. Mr. 
 Wynum is a skilful man of the world. If he 
 has an object in view he knows how to accom- 
 plish it. I really dread a scene with Richard, 
 if he should work himself into a passion." 
 
 ''My dear aunt, there's no danger. Dick 
 can never hear of it. Wynum and Wilmot 
 leave for India next week, so there 's an end of 
 the matter. Besides, there 's nothing to hear 
 of. If Meg had a liking for the cornet, or for 
 the captain, the case would be different. You 
 and I should then act differently. Meg doesn't 
 care for either of 'em, so there 's nothing in 
 the affair." 
 
 ''You know, Harry, I'm acting exclusively 
 in Margaret's interests." 
 
 " I know that, aunt ; and so am I, of course. 
 Now^ don't worry yourself. Ten days will 
 finish it. The military heroes will then be 
 doubling the Cape. But 'tis twelve; I must 
 be off. Dick and I will be here to dinner." 
 
 After lunch, Mrs. Archibald and her niece 
 took a drive. Miss Morton wished to make 
 some purchases, and the coachman was ordered 
 
324 HISTOBY OF MABGARET MOBTON. 
 
 to turn his horses' heads towards Bond Street. 
 The shopping business having- been accom- 
 plished, the ladies drove for about an hour and 
 a half in the Park. 
 
 '' I shall now leave you at home, Margaret," 
 said her aunt. '^ I 've promised to call on 
 Ellen. You've been so often to visit her of 
 late that you 'd scarcely care to come to-day." 
 
 "• No, aunt. I don't care to call there to- 
 day." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald landed her niece safely afc 
 Eva Terrace. Then, in pursuance of a line of 
 policy she had resolved to carry out, she called 
 on Madame Charier oi, who fortunately was at 
 home. So was Monsieur Claude. The latter 
 had an appointment with Miss Keel, and soon 
 after Mrs. Archibald's arrival left, carrying in 
 his hand a roll of music. The try sting-place 
 was Miss Maunsell's drawing-room. 
 
 '^ Our friend is holding high state just now," 
 said Mrs. Archibald. '^ I, who seldom j)ay 
 visits — I really am not strong enough to bear 
 the fatigue — have received an imj^erative sum- 
 mons to attend her drawing-room. May I ask 
 if you intend to honour the meeting, madame?" 
 
 '' One can hardly be invited to pay a visit, 
 but I have received a verbal intimation that 
 Miss Maunsell would be glad to see me." 
 
histohy of btabgaeet mobton. 325 
 
 ^^ I don't wonder that Madame Charleroi's 
 presence should be coveted in a musical 
 assembly." 
 
 ^^ You re very good. I haven't had much 
 practice in singing of late years ; besides I 'm 
 not strong, and am quickly fatigued." 
 
 ^^At my age, madame, one may be per- 
 mitted to complain of fatigue, but not at yours." 
 
 ^' The mother of a twenty-years old son may 
 be allowed to plead age." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald smiled, and said age should 
 be reckoned by looks, not by years. His 
 mother's allusion to Monsieur Claude gave 
 Mrs. Archibald an opportunity of introducing 
 his name. How amiable, how well educated 
 he was ; how much Mr. Wynum and her 
 nephews admired him, and how pleased she 
 was to have made his acquaintance ! All this 
 was said in the most delicate manner, and 
 rather insinuated than openly expressed. Mrs: 
 Archibald made herself most agreeable, so 
 much so that the French lady's distrustf id stiff- 
 ness thawed down ; she felt the truth so gently 
 hinted by her visitor — the difference in their 
 age — and believed that at intervals, as on that 
 day, Mrs. Archibald was glad to be able to call 
 on her friends, and when she now invited 
 Madame Charleroi to take a seat in her carriage, 
 
326 EISTOBY OF MARGABET MORTON. 
 
 the invitation was immediately accepted, and 
 the two ladies were ushered together into ]\Iiss 
 Maunsell's presence. 
 
 The delight expressed by that good lady 
 was great. It was with a feeling allied to 
 pride she received Mrs. Archibald. Her 
 coming was an evidence of friendship which 
 could only be evoked in favour of Miss Maun- 
 sell, and then, calling on Madame Charleroi 
 and bringing her to the meeting were acts 
 regarded as fruits of successful negotiations 
 formerly carried on by Miss Maunsell. 
 
 When Mrs. Archibald's party arrived, Miss 
 Keel was seated at the piano. On her right 
 hand stood Monsieur Claude ; on her left, 
 Captain Wilmot and Cornet Wynum; behind 
 her chair was Mr. Wynum. Here was an array 
 of male attendants sufficient to flatter the 
 vanity or provoke the envy of any woman ; but 
 Miss Keel was never either flattered or envied. 
 
 When the members composing the group 
 that surrounded the piano had concluded the 
 operatic piece on which they were engaged, 
 they paid their respects to the new arrivals, 
 after which Captain Wilmot and Lieutenant 
 Rogers seated themselves, one on each side of 
 Miss Maunsell, who occupied the centre of a 
 commodious couch. Mr. Wynum and his son 
 
EISTOBY OF MABGARET 3I0RT0N. 327 
 
 looked that everybody was made comfortable, 
 and everybody being supposed to be in that 
 condition, Mr. Wynmn, seated beside Mrs. 
 Archibald, expressed his regret at the absence 
 of Miss Morton. 
 
 ^^We had calculated," he said, ^^on seeing 
 and hearing Miss Morton. Miss Keel, I be- 
 lieve, had expected to play a duet with her 
 young friend. It has been a disappointment 
 to us all." 
 
 '^ I regret my niece was not able to come. 
 She was busy with some of her cousin's manu- 
 scripts." 
 
 '^ Happy the gentleman," said Mr. Wynum, 
 ^^ who has a cousin able and willing to render 
 the assistance Miss Morton does to Mi\ Archi- 
 bald." 
 
 ^^ I wasn't aware," said Captain Wilmot, 
 '^ that Mr. Archibald wrote for the press." 
 
 ^^Yes," said Mr. Wynum, ^'Mr. Archibald 
 writes learned articles, in which the assistance 
 given by his fair cousin is so great that, as Mr. 
 Archibald modestly says, it would be difficult 
 to say whether he or she has the larger share 
 in them." 
 
 ^^ An acknowledgment," said Captain Wilmot, 
 ^^ equally honourable to the lady and the gentle- 
 
 man," 
 
328 HISTOEY OF 31 AEG ABET MOBTON. 
 
 ^^No doubt. That 's why I quote the saying.'' 
 Mrs. Arcliibald thought she had made a 
 clever point in showing how allied in tastes 
 were her nej)hew and niece, but the point was 
 turned against her. She began to feel uncom- 
 fortable. An incipient suspicion that Mr. 
 Wynum was about to take up arms stole across 
 her mind. She knew the battle — should a 
 battle occur — would be between him and her ; 
 and she shrank, not in cowardice, but in weari- 
 ness, from the conflict. Mr. Wynum's assiduous 
 attentions and watchful politeness were sources 
 of discomfort to Mrs. Archibald. She remem- 
 bered the days of old, when he, the male idol 
 of his circle, allowed no one to eclipse him. 
 She remembered how well he knew how to 
 suppress, and, if necessary, extinguish, a rival, 
 by an apparently accidental display of crush- 
 ing forces. Though ap]3rehensive, she felt she 
 was eqnal to any emergency that might arise. 
 She saw the folly of allowing things to drift 
 on under Miss Maunsell's direction or apparent 
 direction. Like a prudent diplomatist, Mrs. 
 Archibald resolved not to be the first to break 
 the peace, and, after all, as she wisely thought, 
 it may be only an affair of outposts, and never 
 come to a pitched battle. Under the influence 
 of these impressions, Mrs. Archibald responded 
 
HISTORY OF MAJtGAUET MOBTON. 329 
 
 to Mr. Wyn urn's attentions, and showed herself 
 very willing to keep him and his son within 
 her circle. The young man was charmed. He 
 took everything in good faith, and was happy 
 in witnessing the reciprocal good feeling exhi- 
 bited by Mrs. Archibald and his father. 
 
 ^^Mr. Wynum," said Mrs. Archibald, ^'in- 
 stead of again reproaching 3^our son, I shall 
 make a complaint to his father. Why has 
 Cornet Wynum renounced my acquaintance ? " 
 
 '' Is not Mrs. Archibald too severe in making 
 that appear a crime which is really my son's 
 misfortune ? His professional duties have been 
 multitudinous of late. He has only been able 
 to snatch a few hours in the day to pass with 
 me, but he is now becoming less busy." 
 
 '^ Then I may, perhaps, reckon on seeing 
 Cornet Wynum this evening ? " 
 
 ^^Unfortunately, no. My son and I dine 
 with Captain Wilmot this evening." 
 
 '^ To-morrow evening, then ? " 
 
 '^ To-morrow Captain Wilmot dines with us, 
 but if Mrs. Archibald will allow us to pay our 
 respects late in the evening we shall be happy 
 to do so." 
 
 ^'You will be very welcome at any hour, 
 and I hope I may reckon on seeing Captain 
 Wilmot too." 
 
330 HISTORY OF MABGABET MOBTON. 
 
 The gentleman to whom the last words were 
 addressed made the proper acknowledgment, 
 and promised to accompany his friends to Eva 
 Terrace. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald, in initiating her proposed 
 line of policy, found complications immediately 
 arise. She had not the remotest intention of 
 inviting Captain "Wilmot to her house five 
 minutes before she gave the invitation, but she 
 had unexpectedly found herself in a position 
 where she could not avoid doing what she had 
 done. However, she knew it was better to 
 keep the reins in her own hands than allow 
 Miss Maunsell to drive she knew not whither. 
 
 Miss Keel had played accompaniments and 
 also grands morceaux. She had sung ; so had 
 Monsieur Claude, and so had Madame Char- 
 leroi. The four military gentlemen had taken 
 parts in vocal performances, and Mr. Wynum 
 had joined in. Mrs. Archibald, at length find- 
 ing it was six o'clock, rose, and, pressing Miss 
 MaunselFs hand, thanked her for a delightful 
 afternoon. Mrs. Archibald requested to be 
 allowed to reconduct Madame Charleroi and 
 Miss Keel to their homes. There was much 
 bowing and smiling and waving of hats ex- 
 changed between the party in the carriage and 
 the group that stood on Miss Maunsell's steps. 
 
HISTOBY OF MABGABET 3I0BT0N, 331 
 
 Mrs. Green, looking up from tlie basement 
 story, wondered what it really meant. She 
 had already arrived at the conclusion that it 
 was a case deserving investigation, and as the 
 pursuit of truth was the grand object of Mrs. 
 Oreen's life, she resolved to attempt the un- 
 ravelling of the mystery that lay beneath a 
 week of dinners, matinees musicedes, and even- 
 ing entertainments, to say nothing of polished 
 speeches, waving hats, and carriage-drives. 
 
 Mrs. Archibald's playful vivacity as she 
 journeyed homewards was in no wise less than 
 it had been during the previous three hours. 
 
 ^^ I 'm afraid, Madame Charleroi, you '11 pro- 
 nounce me dissipated. I really think I 'm be- 
 coming so. I 've asked I know not how many 
 young militaires to my quiet home for to- 
 morrow evening. Pray don't say I 'm becom- 
 ing volatile." 
 
 '^ Let us rather hope you 're becoming 
 stronger and more equal to the effort of enter- 
 taining strangers." 
 
 '' You 're very good, but my powers of enter- 
 taining are so limited. May I hope, ladies " — 
 including both in a glance — '' you will favour 
 me with your presence to-morrow evening ? " 
 
 ]\Iadame Charleroi would be happy, so would 
 Miss Keel. 
 
332 HISTORY OF MABGAEET 3I0BT0N. 
 
 ^'I feel very much," said Mrs. Archibald, 
 gravely, ^' for poor Mr. Wynum. He is about to 
 lose his son, after having just found him. Miss 
 Maunsell has been studying their domestic 
 happiness during the past week. I should not 
 like to seem unmindfid of my duty towards 
 my old friend Mr. Wynum." 
 
 This was throwing a soft and pleasant light 
 on matters which, the more Mrs. Archibald ex- 
 amined, the less she was able to comprehend. 
 She had been desirous of knowing the truth, 
 that is, of discovering the motives of Mr. 
 Wynum's late proceedings, but the knowledge 
 she had acquired by actual observation was 
 23erplexing, not satisfying. It was plain Mr. 
 Wynum had some object in view, it was equally 
 j^lain that somebody in her household was the 
 target at which his arrows were directed, but 
 whether the end contemplated was a mere 
 social triumph, or a conquest of a more per- 
 manent character, she could not divine. Mrs. 
 Archibald understood Mr. Wynum's character 
 thoroughly. She knew that within his arena 
 of action his skill was perfect ; and she knew 
 he was capable of bringing all the forces at his 
 command into play, to wipe away a slight or 
 exterminate a rival. But Mr. Wynum could 
 now know no rivalry : and as to a slight, there 
 
HISTOBY OF MARGABET MORTON. 333 
 
 was no one in his present dwindled circle 
 capable in any sense of wounding his feelings 
 or depreciating his excellence. Was he then 
 fighting a battle for his son ? If so, on what 
 account ? He could not think of marrying his 
 son to her niece. The monetary jorospects of 
 the two young people rendered such a scheme 
 absurd. Mr. Wynum knew what these pro- 
 spects were, and he, in whose mind money 
 was an all-important consideration, could not 
 entertain such a notion. But some little plot 
 was being hatched, some little conspiracy was 
 being concocted, but whether for a trivial or an 
 important end Mrs. Archibald could not say. 
 She had a great horror of another scene with 
 either of her nephews, especially with Richard, 
 and therefore thought it wiser to draw the 
 electric fluid from the gathering cloud by a 
 little apparatus of her own contrivance than 
 allow it to accumulate till, meeting one differ- 
 ently charged, a thunder-storm should ensue. 
 To avert the threatened danger it was neces- 
 sary to get correct information. As far as she 
 had yet gone in the search she had learned little. 
 She now resolved to try Miss Maunsell, and 
 this was a process on which Mrs. Archibald 
 did not much like to enter. However, she 
 hoped that, comparing what she had seen with 
 
334 HIST on Y OF MAE G ABET MOBTON. 
 
 what she might elicit from her friend, she 
 woukl be able to form an approximately correct 
 opinion. The same evening Mrs. Archibald 
 began her quest after truth. ^^ Really, Ellen, 
 this is alarming intelligence. You'll shortly 
 want my maternal presence to keep you in 
 countenance." 
 
 ^'Nonsense, dear! How you do talk!" 
 And Miss Maunsell pursed up her mouth in a 
 pouting smile that betrayed a flattered vanity. 
 
 ^' But let us just consider. A week of 
 assiduous visits, and to-morrow a visit with his 
 daughter, and afterwards a drive in the Park. 
 If Captain Wilmot means nothing by this, I 
 can only say I shall be much surprised." 
 
 ^^ My dear, there 's notliing in it. He knows 
 I 'm fond of children, ^ purty ' creatures ! and he 
 takes a pride in his little daughter, and quite 
 natural. She 's a dear little creature, I 'm sure." 
 
 ^'The parting must be very bitter under 
 such circumstances." 
 
 ^^ Bitter! I should think so ! The poor 
 man feels he will never see his child again. 
 If he shouldn't be drowned going over, he 's sure 
 to perish by fever." 
 
 '' Let us hope not." 
 
 ^^ Oh, my dear, 'tis very well to hope ; but 
 where we know the truth, we can't hope." 
 
EISTOBY OF MABGABET MOBTOX. 335 
 
 There was no rejAj to this. After a short 
 pause Mrs. Archibald remarked, — 
 
 ^' Captain Wihiiot is a very young man to 
 be a widower with a dauo^hter eio^ht vears 
 old!" 
 
 '^ Well, that 's a matter of opinion. I don't 
 call a man of fifty very young." 
 
 ^' Fifty ! I shouldn't say more than thirty- 
 six or thirty-eight." 
 
 ^^ What a mistake, dear! Fifty, if he's a 
 day! I should even say a few years more." 
 
 ^^ You really surprise me ! " said Mrs. Archi- 
 bald, quietly. 
 
 ^^My dear, if we had the means of ascer- 
 taining, you 'd find I 'm correct. Captain Wil- 
 mot is a very well-looking man, upwards of 
 fifty." 
 
 Miss Maunsell flattered herself she looked 
 .^j^bout fifty, and to that numerical elevation she 
 raised every disengaged gentleman that came 
 within her circle. 
 
 ^^We can't have our rubber this evening," 
 said Mrs. Archibald; ''our gentlemen have 
 deserted us." 
 
 " Well, dear, we '11 make u]3 for it to-morrow 
 evening." 
 
 "Yes; we shall have a crowd. You have 
 been doing hospitality, Ellen, to such an extent 
 
336 HISTORY OF MABGAUET MORTON. 
 
 during the past week, I tlioiight I ought to 
 imitate you, — feebly, indeed, but still a little." 
 
 ^^My dear, I couldn't avoid it. Poor Mr. 
 Wynum came down to me of a morning de- 
 claring he was inundated with presents of fowls 
 and fruits and Strasbourg pies, and I know not 
 what all. He protested he didn't know what 
 to do, and begged me to take tlie management 
 of the housekeeping. And then we had ham- 
 pers of the best wines of every kind." 
 
 ^^ These presents came very opportunely. 
 Who sent 'em ? " 
 
 '^ I don't know. But, to tell you the truth, 
 I suspect they came from the North. You 
 know his brother is very rich." 
 
 ^^ Did you see the hampers unpacked ? " 
 
 ^'No, dear, certainly not. The things were 
 all sent down to my room. They were un- 
 packed by Mr. Wynum and the cornet. I 
 must say there 's plenty of money flying about. 
 Where it comes from I don't know ; but you 
 remember we've often remarked Mr. AVynum 
 has been living very economically for years — 
 saving money, I suppose." 
 
 ^' For what purpose ? " 
 
 ^' For his son, dear, of course." 
 
 ^^ I don't think that probable." 
 
 Mrs. Archibald did not feel much wiser after 
 
HISTORY OF MARGARET MORTON. 337 
 
 her attempts to extract information from Miss 
 Maunsell. It was pretty plain that her revered 
 friend was a tool in the hands of the skilful 
 Mr. Wynum. All things considered, Mrs. 
 Archibald believed her wisest course would be 
 to allow events to develope themselves after 
 their own fashion. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 VOL. r. 
 
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