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 Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 University of Illinois Library 
 
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 AUTUMN MAN(EUVEES. 
 
 MRS. M. MOORE. 
 
 IN THEEE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LOXDOX: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY AXD SOX, 
 
 ^Sublisfjcrs in ©rtiinarg to l&cr IHajcstg tfjc ©urrn. 
 
 1885. 
 
 (.432 rights reserved.)
 
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 £s- 
 
 
 «o« 
 
 
 2: 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 -? 
 
 I. 
 
 Old Priends 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 II. 
 
 The Colonel's Views 
 
 22 
 
 ^^ 
 
 III. 
 
 Table Talk 
 
 41 
 
 «sfl 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Glade 
 
 60 
 
 
 V. 
 
 Melody 
 
 73 
 
 
 YI. 
 
 Design or Accident? 
 
 83 
 
 
 YII. 
 
 The Rfial Awkwardness of the 
 
 
 
 Position 
 
 101 
 
 Ll 
 
 YIII. 
 
 " Good Morning" 
 
 116 
 
 3 
 
 IX. 
 
 Conscience 
 
 130 
 
 "^ 
 
 X. 
 
 Developing an Interest in Shells 
 
 158 
 
 §3 
 
 XI. 
 
 Kettles for Two 
 
 175 
 
 I/O 
 
 XII. 
 
 The First Guests at the Glade 
 
 200 
 
 -^ 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Professional Interest 
 
 211 
 
 — V- 
 
 XIY. 
 
 Still that "Drea^i" 
 
 223 
 
 
 XY. 
 
 Science and Art 
 
 232 
 
 ^ 
 
 XYI. 
 
 Delusion 
 
 243 
 
 =32 
 
 XVII. 
 
 The Immaterial 
 
 255 
 
 -2 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 "How have I been misled?"... 
 
 274 
 
 =4
 
 Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 witin funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/autumnmanoeuvres01moor
 
 AUTUMN MAN(EUVMS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OLD FEIENDS. 
 
 Colonel Bathurst was strolling medita- 
 tively in Piccadilly on a Sunday afternoon 
 early in September. He had chosen the 
 sunny side, and was just realizing that it 
 was the conventional period for "nobody" 
 to be in town, and that here he was. 
 This was his fifth day in London, and, with 
 the exception of a few habitues of his club, 
 who always remained rooted to the spot, he 
 had seen no one whom he knew. 
 
 His reflections took a rather melancholy 
 turn, when he remembered there had been 
 
 VOL. I. 1
 
 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 clays when he could have put his hand upon 
 the shoulder of many a good fellow rife with 
 the energy of youth for the pleasures of the 
 day. Yes ; he had it all before him — 
 
 The smiles, the tears of boyhood's years, 
 The friends so linked too;ether." 
 
 He felt 
 
 Like one who treads alone 
 Some banquet-hall deserted ." 
 
 But although tliere was sadness in the re- 
 flection of the " light of other days," it 
 was not of that overpowering nature which 
 could destroy the pleasure of this glorious 
 afternoon. 
 
 Colonel Bathurst was fully aware that he 
 had seen the sun rise on his fortieth birth- 
 day — and on several following days, if that 
 were all. 
 
 " And it isn't every man who can boast 
 of having seen the sun rise, except by 
 accident, at my age," thouglit he. 
 
 While he plumed himself with this idea.
 
 OLD FRIENDS. 8 
 
 his carriage becoming naturally more erect, 
 as it always does with, self-satisfaction, his 
 absent eye alighted on a passing face, and 
 woke in an instant to recognition. 
 
 " O'Buncous ! " 
 
 " Bathurst ! " 
 
 The exclamations were simultaneous. The 
 two men grasped hands, and immediately 
 made a rapid, half-furtive, general survey 
 of each other, and both looked as if neither 
 had noticed the act. Yet Major O'Buncous 
 admitted the indiscretion in his first speech. 
 
 " Faith ! we're both of us older by many 
 years — er — er. You keep your figure, 
 though, I must say ! Well, I'm devilish 
 glad we've met ! Are you booked for any- 
 where to-night ? I won't be put ofi" by 
 anything less than — an assignation. I've 
 nothing of that sort on myself, having — 
 er — only arrived from ]\Ialta the day before 
 yesterday." 
 
 " What ! Why, you don't mean to say 
 you're not married yet ! "
 
 4 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 "By me soul, it's hard to believe ! But 
 Fate is preserving me for something special, 
 I am cocksure, or she wouldn't have led me 
 such a dance among the women only to end 
 in smoke. I beg your pardon, Beilty," he 
 said, breaking off hurriedly, and addressing 
 a young man with whom he had been walk- 
 ing, and who had dropped a step in the 
 rear. " This, Eeilly, is one of me oldest 
 friends, the most highly esteemed man I 
 ever met — perhaps I ever met — a pattern 
 of propriety as a husband, and the father 
 of a numerous family. How are the kids 
 —eh, Bathurst?" 
 
 Doctor Eeilly, a quiet, self-possessed, 
 unimposing young man, came forward and 
 spoke in a delightfully easy manner that 
 transformed him at once into the most 
 agreeable of men. A good-humoured smile 
 was perceptible as he said, with a bow — 
 
 " I am honoured by the introduction to 
 the ninety-ninth ' oldest friend ' of the 
 major."
 
 OLD FRIENDS. O 
 
 "I see that you also must be an oL.l 
 fnend," said the colonel, with an aDswering 
 smile — " shall we say the ninety-eighth ? " 
 
 *'^ By me patron saint, I won t be chaifed 
 before my face ! Is Mrs. Bathurst in town ? 
 Or, how old's the youngest — days or 
 weeks ? You look like a man off duty.'' 
 
 '' I haven't had time to get married," said 
 the colonel, drily. '* I believe Fate is also 
 preserving me for a gracious end. But 
 don't be alarmed, O'Buncous ; our prospects 
 shan't be allowed to clash. Age before 
 honesty, I say." 
 
 " That's a devilish mean way of letting 
 Keilly know your paltry advantage of a few 
 years ! Conscientiously now, Keilly," said 
 the major, making a strenuous effort to 
 reduce the size of an incipient rotundity of 
 figure, ^' regarding us both with an unpre- 
 judiced eye, and as a medical man (he's the 
 most conscientious fellow you ever knew), 
 which would you take for the younger ? " 
 
 "At a casual glance, most certainly your-
 
 6 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 self," said Keilly, with all the gravity of one 
 forming an important decision. 
 
 ''Hi I I told you he was conscientious." 
 
 The colonel acquiesced with mucli 
 sobriety. ''But on closer observation?" he 
 murmured, tentatively. 
 
 " I should decide the other way," said 
 Eeilly, quickly. 
 
 "You have not overrated the amount of 
 conscience possessed by your friend," said 
 the colonel, with a genial laugh. " But, 
 candidly, O'Buncous, you do amaze me. 
 I can't say you look quite as young as you 
 did twelve years ago." 
 
 " Oh, come now, that's stiff ! It can't be 
 more than six — or seven — unless — time, 
 like women, deceives us all. Perhaps 
 you're going by the age of }'our eldest — 
 girl or boy ? " 
 
 " Neither," said the colonel, quietly. 
 
 " Good heavens ! I never heard of such 
 a thing. Perhaps Eeilly, being in the 
 medical profession — " 'pon my soul, Ba-
 
 OLD FRIEXDS. 7 
 
 thurst, I forgot I But I've got you fixed in 
 my mind someliow as enjopng your lovely 
 place in Surrey, surrounded by what the 
 newspaper fellows call ' a numerous pro- 
 geny/ Now, will you dine with me, or 
 shall I dine with you — I leave the matter 
 in your own hands ? — including Eeilly, 
 who's in my charge." 
 
 " It isn't far ofi" the festive hour. Suppose 
 you drop in at my club ; it's near. Doctor 
 Eeilly, setting aside our friend's flippant 
 remark, may I have the pleasure of your 
 company ? " 
 
 These formalities over, they adjourned at 
 once to the Esthetic. 
 
 '* Ah, I see it's the same as ever ! Are 
 you a member of this ? Always on the 
 search for novelty. Strike new ideas by 
 the score, and see 'em blow out like — 
 ha'penny matches, or " 
 
 " Woman's smiles," suggested the colonel, 
 with a melancholy air. 
 
 O'Buncous sighed, and passed his hand
 
 8 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 tenderly over that ever-pre.sent, unlucky 
 protuberance at his waist. 
 
 "Ah well, I still belong to the Wild 
 Goose ; it does well enough for me. A good 
 — substantial — meal " 
 
 "Ah, you won't get that at the ^Esthetic ! " 
 said Bathurst, humorously, cutting short 
 the gusto of his friend's words. " But we'll 
 manage to fill you up, I dare say." 
 
 " I can manage it with an ample quantity 
 of — fluid," said the major, with some serious- 
 ness. 
 
 They had scarcely entered the ^Esthetic 
 before the colonel was greeted by two young 
 men, with whom he was evidently upon the 
 most familiar footing. 
 
 " This is something more than luck, Vin," 
 said he. " Why, I thought you were en 
 route for Madras." 
 
 " No. Orders reversed ; or rather, I 
 should say, impending. I wish they would 
 send us to the Cape." 
 
 " What do you say, Neville ? "
 
 OLD FRIENDS. 9 
 
 " Well, I don't care wliere, since there's 
 no chance of fightino*. I'm for action." 
 
 Vivian Seymour smiled ; liis fair aristo- 
 cratic face was lighted with an expression that 
 gave a full reply to the warmly spoken words 
 of his over- ardent cousin, Neville Hardy. 
 
 " You're not so anxious, Yin ? " said the 
 colonel, smiling. 
 
 " I never was in love with a soldier's life.' 
 
 '' It's the best life in the world, me boy ! " 
 exclaimed the major, warmly. '' There's no 
 man who isn't a soldier that knows the full 
 excitement of life — or love either. Our 
 young friend here has, I see, just the soldiers 
 eye — ^just the enthusiastic restless organ that 
 goes to say, ' Life or death, love or despair, 
 I'm in for it. Devil knows which, but I'd 
 rather stand for the risk than leave it.' " 
 
 " Major O'Buncous was always a born 
 soldier, and he can't comprehend your cold- 
 ness. What are you two young fellows doing 
 with yourselves ? Can you join us at 
 dinner ? "
 
 10 AUTUMN MANCEUVEES. 
 
 Nothing could have suited the young 
 fellows better than this proposal. They 
 liked their uncle, and were glad of the 
 opportunity thus afforded. 
 
 They w^ere a very jovial party. NevDle 
 and Vivian soon began to derive sport from 
 the major. Colonel Bathurst, with what 
 the boys knew was a mere attempt at 
 severity, remanded their levity by an occa- 
 sional frown. 
 
 " Tell us another story, do, major ! '' said 
 Neville, earnestly. " But did you ever see 
 the widow again ? " 
 
 " Never, from that moment ! But, me 
 boy, as the poet says — well, I can't at this 
 moment remember what he says ; but the 
 force of female beauty is so unutterably 
 indescribable that it makes words appear 
 worse than useless ! Description must ever 
 wholly fail to bring home to the mind's eye 
 those countless charms we dwell upon till — 
 till " 
 
 " They fail to charm," interpolated Vivian,
 
 OLD FRIENDS. 11 
 
 quietly, with just the effect of a dash of 
 cold water on the major's fervent heat. He 
 hissed under it like a hot coal. 
 
 " You've none of the natural heat of 
 youth, I perceive," said the major, with a 
 boisterous laugh. 
 
 " I don't think Yin was wrong in assum- 
 ing that charms do fail, O'Buncous," said 
 Colonel Bathurst. '■' You, having quite reco- 
 vered from the effects of no many scores of 
 beauties, must admit they are not eternal." 
 
 ^'By me soul, they are!" in his heat 
 the major very nearly said '"' sowl." '' If I 
 happened to meet one of them now, it 
 would be all the same thino; over ao'ain. 
 Me heart" (here he placed his hand effu- 
 sively upon that part of his waistcoat which 
 he supposed approached nearest that organ) 
 
 — •'* me heart would o-low ao-ain " 
 
 "About two inches hio-her to the rio;ht," 
 interrupted Keilly, ^ith much gravity. 
 " You have erroneous ideas of anatomy." 
 " What the devil odds the exact spot ? '
 
 12 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 said O'Buucous, spreading his white, fat 
 hand, with its valuable and imposing rings 
 that seemed almost too massive to be com- 
 fortable, over the still favourite region of the 
 waistcoat. 
 
 " It makes a difference where a bullet's 
 concerned," said Bathurst, drily. 
 
 " Me heart would insensibly revive under 
 the soft influence " 
 
 "What is left of it ! Tatters and threads, 
 I should say by this time, O'Buncous." 
 
 " Not at all ! Hang it, why, increase of 
 appetite with me grows with what it feeds 
 on ! Eeilly will tell you that if you use a 
 muscle, you develop it ; if you don't, it 
 shrivels." 
 
 "Darwin goes farther than Eeilly," said 
 the colonel, suggestively. 
 
 " Oh, you interrupt the major unmerci- 
 fully," said Vivian, in his slow, calm way, 
 the eflfect of which was to make that gentle- 
 man's eyebrows take an inquiring curve as 
 he turned his full, dark, and rather pro-
 
 OLD FKIENDS. 13 
 
 truding eyes upon this languid bo}' with 
 whom he had no sympathy. "' As a man of 
 great and varied experience/' continued 
 Vivian, seriously, " I was going to ask you 
 how long we might expect the influence of 
 a woman's beauty to last under favourable 
 auspices." 
 
 " Favourable auspices are the worst 
 things that could happen. Tis when we 
 fear — 'tis when we have next to no chance — 
 'tis when we despair, the power is most felt." 
 
 " In plain English, in these afiairs of the 
 heart, fair weather is not fair weather." 
 
 " There's not enough excitement. We — 
 get tired, you know, of all sweets." 
 
 "Talking of sweets, I hope you've 
 managed to fill yourself up. "Won't you try 
 one of our salads ? They're excellent." 
 
 " I never could crunch up raw vegetables ; 
 I should be like the cow, never get them 
 out of my mouth, if I did." 
 
 '^ But these are cooked." 
 
 " Well. I couldn't live on watery greens.
 
 14 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 nor even on. love itself, in any weather. But 
 you can order a steak ; that'll do for me." 
 
 " I thought you were not satisfied," said 
 the colonel ; " but well see what we can do. 
 Now, when I came home from India, a trifle 
 used up from the climate, I suffered from a 
 chronic loss of appetite. I could eat literally 
 nothing but artistic food ; indeed, I had a 
 distaste for everything in life." 
 
 " Ah, heart ! " interpolated O'Buncous, 
 sympathetically. 
 
 " No, liver," replied Bathurst, prosaically. 
 " Eighted itself, however, and found its 
 action with the fresh air of the Surrey hills, 
 l)ut left me still with the taste for delicate 
 dishes. In fact, I had acquired a habit that 
 was difficult to break. When I went down 
 to the old place, meaning to set up my tent 
 there, and so on, I found I must have 
 starved upon the good old English fare, 
 always so plentifully spread before me. I 
 was actually obliged to return to town in 
 order to dine here. However, I made
 
 OLD FKIENDS. 15 
 
 arranofements ^ith a first-class cook, and 
 made fundamental alterations in the domestic 
 arrangements at Netlierby. The boys here 
 will tell you it's quite possible to live there 
 now under any conditions. Perhaps you'd 
 like to try ? Happy thought ! AVhat are 
 you all going to do just now ? what's to be 
 your autumn manoeuvre ? " 
 
 *' Faith! 1 don't know." 
 
 "Nor I." 
 
 " Nor I," echoed Eeilly. 
 
 '' Ha, ha ! a batch of idle bachelors await- 
 ing her Majesty's pleasure," laughed the 
 colonel. 
 
 O'Buncous sighed. "'I haven't the luck 
 of your nephews ; we stand very little 
 chance of foreign service. Honestly, 1 shall 
 be delighted to see that fine old place of 
 yours once more." 
 
 " Yes ; 1 remember you met my sister 
 Clare — that's a memory. Her eldest son 
 this " — touching Vivian affectionately on 
 the shoulder.
 
 16 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 " Indeed, indeed ? " exclaimed O'Buncous, 
 uneasily. " Fine woman ! splendid woman 
 when I met her ! Bless me, her son ! She 
 must have married amazingly young." 
 
 " She must have been four or five and 
 twenty at the time," said the colonel, with 
 some amusement. '^ Well, never mind, 
 you'll come, and — you young fellows, now, 
 couldn't you quite as well await orders there 
 as here ? It's been rather dull at the old 
 place lately. Say you will, and then, per- 
 haps, we shan't have so much difficulty in 
 getting Doctor Reilly here to join us, unless 
 he is booked for a better occupation. 
 Come, now, I must have your decision sharp, 
 boys, or you'll very impolitely keep the 
 doctor waiting with his reply." O 
 
 " Nothing could possibly suit us better," 
 said Vivian. *' I'm safe in answering for 
 Neville. He won t find the weeks dreary 
 now, if he should have to wait through a few 
 of them." 
 
 With a full appreciation of the colonel's 
 
 iwN
 
 OLD FEIENDS. 17 
 
 cordiality, and a little pressure from all sides, 
 Keilly admitted that lie found the idea most 
 gratifying ; and so it was readily settled, 
 that they all should go to Netherby in the 
 course of a few days. 
 
 Strolling away from the club in the cool 
 night air, the major, puffing his cigar with 
 extreme self-complacency, said, " So that's 
 her son ? Doesn't it make you feel some- 
 what behind your time ? or have you given 
 up the prospect for yourself, and going to 
 make that cool young stripling ahead there 
 your heir ? He's like her ; but how im- 
 possible it all seems ! I was very much 
 struck with her, I remember ; didn't like 
 to admit it before her boy, you know." 
 
 '' Xo, no," agreed the colonel. " But I'd 
 quite forgotten that part of the business. 
 But, O'Buncous, it's quite amazing to me, 
 with your very susceptible temperament, 
 that you've not been caught in Hymen's 
 noose before this. You are the very man 
 of all one could swear would have married." 
 
 VOL. 1. 2
 
 18 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 " Married ? Gad ! Fve been as near to it 
 — it's been a close shave with me dozens of 
 times. I don't think I could recollect now 
 or disassociate but a few cases " 
 
 " Well, O'Buncous, one will do," inter- 
 rupted his friend. 
 
 "Well, in one instance that strikes me, 
 the lady, a widow, was really one of the 
 most marvellous creatures you ever saw — 
 a perfect paragon of wit and beauty ; in 
 short, you know a man's opinion of the 
 woman at whose feet he may be said to 
 be prostra.te. Well, the matter was all ar- 
 ranged ; but she, having scruples about 
 offending some members of her family, de- 
 termioed on a quiet wedding — in fact, on 
 a sly one. Not being overburdened witli 
 means at the time — candidly, as you may 
 know, I never have been — I thought of 
 doing the thing from prudential motives, 
 and, having agreed upon the church where 
 the ceremony should be performed, took a 
 room at an hotel in the neighbourhood^ and
 
 OLD FEIEXDS. 19 
 
 quietly awaited the event. As luck would 
 have it, that hotel stood in not less than 
 three parishes, and the beastly annoyance 
 was that I'd told her that I had a special 
 licence. Now, who was to expect a hitch 
 of this kind ? Of course, it came out at 
 the very worst moment, and the humbugging 
 thing couldn't be settled. The widow was 
 — perhaps you will think justly — enraged ; 
 but she needn't have given me such a taste 
 of her temper beforehand, especially in the 
 presence of witnesses." Here the major 
 paused, and waved his hand as if dismiss- 
 ing the whole unpleasant coil of cu'cum- 
 stances. "But there, Bathurst, it was all 
 compensated for when I saw her ten years 
 afterwards. 1 vtever was more delighted." 
 
 '' Exactly. In spite of time and space the 
 ilame burst forth with the same purity " 
 
 " No. By George ! I was delighted at 
 my providential escaj)e. Bathurst, she was 
 withered ! " he went on, solemnly. " I felt 
 that if she had belons^ed to me I should
 
 20 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 have abandoned her at any risk, though 
 she was a woman of some fortune. But you 
 know that sort of thing had no attraction 
 for me, or I might have sacrificed myself 
 over and over again for the sake of filthy 
 lucre. Why, when I was in Malta the cele- 
 brated Countess Zephyr tried all her arts 
 to catch me ; and though she was really, as 
 you know, a celebrity on account of her 
 beauty, she didn't, somehow, suit my fancy. 
 In plain truth, I like to — lead the way with 
 a woman ; I don't like to receive the smallest 
 advance on her part ; it destroys all the 
 refreshing modesty that is so essential in a 
 woman." 
 
 " Vivian has been edified by your last 
 remarks. I can see by the expression upon 
 his cynical mouth that he is amused." 
 
 Major O'Buncous turned sharply round, 
 and faced the two young men who had 
 BtroUed after them. 
 
 " He's welcome to my experience, and it 
 luis been a wide one. It's astonishing the
 
 OLD FRIENDS. 21 
 
 mistakes young men make ! — bound to make ; 
 because, you see, of course, experience is 
 a thinor that must be bouo-lit." 
 
 " I was under the impression," said Neville, 
 who was quite ready to banter with the 
 major — " I was under the impression that 
 these affairs of the heart were so much a 
 matter of nature that our first efforts in that 
 direction were generally the only genuine 
 ones that mankind ever experience." 
 
 " The most erroneous belief that was ever 
 generally accepted. Xever believe it, me 
 boy ; you'll improve in it as you go on, till 
 you are a master of the art of love and of 
 the hearts of women." 
 
 '*Now you are modestly showing up your 
 own perfection, major," said Bathurst, drily. 
 " You want us to know the state of consum- 
 mate excellence you have yourself reached."
 
 22 AUTUMN MANGEUVRES. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE colonel's VIEWS. 
 
 Late one evening: of that week, Colonel 
 Batliurst and his four guests arrived at 
 Netherby, so it was not until after breakfast 
 on the following day that they found them- 
 selves admiring the beautiful gardens and 
 surrounding park-like grounds that made 
 the special attraction of the place. 
 
 " I am always more at home Jiere than I 
 am at home/' said Vivian, smiling. 
 
 " And I always feel the place more home- 
 like when you are here," said his uncle, 
 heartily. " And, Yin, remember the Glade 
 is yours now ; so when you want it I can 
 only say that ' possession can be had ' at any 
 moment. "
 
 THE COLOXEUS VIEWS. 23 
 
 '' Thank you, uncle," said the young man, 
 gravely ; *' but in all probability many years 
 must elapse before I take up my residence 
 there." 
 
 " Perhaps you'll disdain it when the time 
 comes." 
 
 " I shall have to acc[uire a strange taste. 
 Who are the new tenants ? " 
 
 " I don't know much about them. Sin- 
 gular people rather, I believe ; but that won't 
 affect me. I had a fence put up some time 
 ago, where the grounds adjoin, when I first 
 thought of letting the place. It's altogether 
 too pretty to be uninhabited." 
 
 " I was in hope of agTeeable neighbours." 
 
 " Then your hope is frustrated. My 
 steward managed the affair. He tells me it 
 is a kind of nunnery for ancient maids who 
 despise the world." 
 
 ''' Nuns ! " exclaimed O'Buncous, coming 
 up ; '' d'ye keep 'em about the premises, as 
 you do other novelties ? I'll be candid with 
 you, Bathurst ; I'm a sworn friend to nuns
 
 24 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 — always relieve them of their vows if the 
 matter is left to me."— Turning to Neville 
 at his side, and being sure of an interested 
 listener, he went on, " Do you know, I once 
 had the supreme pleasure of rescuing the 
 loveliest young female — probably in the 
 world, certainly in Europe." 
 
 *'Now, really," said Vivian, in his soft, 
 languid tone, "you're not going to tell us that 
 the lady in this case failed to reward you ? " 
 
 But the major was too obtuse to catch 
 the delicacy of the satire. " I don't 
 suppose I should have failed," he said, 
 with ostentatious modesty, "if the lady 
 had not been preoccupied. She had a 
 lover, and — by Jove, the nearest squeak I 
 ever had in my life — he, taking me for a 
 rival, and I taking him for a pursuer, we 
 engaged before there was time to explain 
 the mistake. Fortunately she had courage 
 to interfere before I killed the mau.'^ 
 
 " As you were, of course, bound to do," 
 interpolated Vivian, coolly.
 
 THE COLONEL'S VIEWS. 25 
 
 " Nothing stands in my way when my 
 blood's up ; I should undoubtedly have 
 killed him. But instead, I had the inex- 
 pressible pleasure of seeing her wrapped in 
 his arms under my very eyes." 
 
 "Pleasure ? Why, I thought you were in 
 love with her ? " murmured Neville, in some 
 disappointment at the end of the tragedy. 
 
 Vivian and the colonel had moved away 
 in advance. 
 
 " Do you know, uncle, I think that rather 
 a strong dose if the major would be apt to 
 nauseate." 
 
 " Tush ! Youth is always intolerant of 
 bombast. Now, the major's not a bad 
 fellow — and I've many associations to prove 
 that — but he is rather too pretentious, ex- 
 tremely good-natured, though, and capital 
 fun for those who can see it, because he never 
 cuts up rough, and doesn't mean one-half, 
 one-twentieth part of what he says." 
 
 " It isn't true, then, that he ever was irre- 
 sistible, as he seems to think ? "
 
 26 AUTUMN MAK(EUVRES. 
 
 The colonel laughed quite enjoy ably. 
 " He ? I don't believe there ever has been 
 a real event of that kind in his lifetime. In 
 the days when we were thrown together, I 
 know that women mostly laughed at him. 
 Do you know, Vin, it's rather a curious 
 thing that some people always do manage to 
 make a theme out of the — deficiencies of 
 their lives." 
 
 " If that be the case," said Vivian, with a 
 significant glance at his uncle, "you have 
 not been deficient in experiences he boasts 
 of ; for I never heard you, nor others, men- 
 tion one." 
 
 " Don't be impertinent, young man," said 
 tbe colonel, good-humouredly. 
 
 "Yes, but, uncle," Vivian continued, 
 hesitatingly, "has there — ever been — a 
 lady " 
 
 " My dear boy, how vague you are. I 
 should think that at the present moment 
 there may be a few — millions scattered 
 about the world."
 
 THE COLONEL'S VIEWS. 27 
 
 " Xo ; but you couldn't misunderstand. 
 Now, my people all say you'll many," con- 
 tinued Vivian, ^Yitll that cool, emphatic air 
 which says significantly, " but / don't." 
 
 " Ah, indeed ? That's very likely ; most 
 people do marry, you see." 
 
 " I suppose they're in the right, as they 
 are in the majority," said Vivian, sugges- 
 tively. 
 
 " They have perhaps as much right to be 
 in the wrong," was the curt reply. 
 
 '"' Well, according to some views, the 
 minority is generally right. If you regard 
 it in one light, the highest class of mind 
 must always be in the minority, though of 
 course it doesn't always follow that the 
 minority should always be composed of the 
 highest class of minds." 
 
 " I am inclined to think that in the ques- 
 tions which afifect the highest subjects the 
 opinion of the minority usually is to be pre- 
 ferred. You see, the commonplace, conven- 
 tional mode of viewins^ social matters is
 
 28 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 produced entirely from mere habit and 
 observation of that which is common, and 
 therefore palpable. But to the least original 
 mind there are always grave doubts as to 
 the propriety of these manners and customs." 
 " Yes," interrupted Vivian ; " and out of 
 the many who do so doubt, I verily believe 
 you are the only man I have ever known 
 who ventures to act not strictly in accord- 
 ance with accepted conventionalities. I 
 don't suppose, now, you have any idea of 
 the full amount of gossip among the ladies, 
 and chaff among the men, that took place 
 after you had made your stand — an original 
 one, it must be granted — against men- 
 servants. Yet, now the wonder is over, and 
 every one can see how well your system 
 acts, you would be astonished to hear how 
 many have expressed a thorough conviction 
 that it was undoubtedly more pleasant and 
 more consistent with the demands of society 
 to be waited upon by a neat, smart hand- 
 maiden in one's house than to have a burly
 
 THE COLONEL'S VIEWS. 29 
 
 anomaly in the shape of a man at the back 
 of one's chair, and half a dozen of the same 
 nonentities ranged about the room, more 
 for the sake of displaying their awkwardly 
 stuffed proportions than for any other reason- 
 able purpose." 
 
 " You see, Yin, there were times in which 
 a ponderous butler might have been a neces- 
 sity ; but now our dishes are not so pon- 
 derous as the man himself. Rely upon it, 
 the time will come when he will be a relic 
 of the past." 
 
 " AYhat a thorough reformer you are ! " 
 
 *' I hope I am. It would be a long time 
 before we arrive at that state of perfection 
 where there is nothing to reform." 
 
 They strolled on, chatting, Yivian making 
 an occasional remark as to the increasing 
 beauty of the grounds. 
 
 " You must have, I think, a passion for 
 trees. I notice you retain even their last 
 bare limbs." 
 
 " Yes, and clothe them with ivy. I think
 
 30 AUTUMN MAXCEUVRES. 
 
 I have the kind of tenderness for them one 
 has for human things. That old fellow, now, 
 will look splendid when his new^ clothing has 
 quite enveloped his naked form. There's 
 something so full of meaning, to mj mind, 
 in a tree. Of whatever kind it may be, an 
 association is sure to arise. Could any one 
 help, for instance, comparing the exquisite 
 gracefulness, the delicate fibre, the tender 
 movement of that silver birch, with a slender 
 modest girl who scarcely knows anything of 
 her own beauty, but wdio stands quite dis- 
 tinct from other forms in the fairy grace 
 that belongs to her ? Look round you, Yin, 
 and tell me if every tree is not a type of 
 humanity. There you stand, young and 
 bold, scarcely spreading any distance yet, 
 but giving noble promise. Not that I 
 suppose I shall live to see that beech 
 in its prime, but I have time to see you 
 there." 
 
 *' Neville thinks that a man's youth must 
 be his prime. He can't understand that a
 
 THE COLONEL'S VIEWS. 31 
 
 man never can reacli the appreciation of 
 things in his first youth. Why, I — even I 
 — am old enough to know what progress in 
 that particular means." 
 
 " And, Vin, there are crude ideas to be 
 extinguished at all periods of life. Now, do 
 turn and look at O'Buncous laying down the 
 law, impetuously one moment, whispering 
 confidentially the next, then slapping his 
 leg and exploding with a genuine roar of 
 laughter, and all about nothing, one may 
 venture to swear. I've known that man 
 more than twenty years, and I don't believe 
 he's altered, mentally, since he was fourteen 
 There was a time I hung on every word he 
 uttered, believing, with a boy's ingenuous 
 mind, in all his exaggerated bounce. He 
 was always the hero of his own stories, I 
 remember, and I thought them all so good. 
 He's really a curious specimen of his race — 
 no depth of character, no depth of feeling, 
 and possesses still so many attributes of the 
 boy. And this I imagine to be the cause
 
 32 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 of his aversion to orrowiDor ac^e. Reirard 
 them still, Yin. One would think the major 
 was laying the scheme for at least a gun- 
 powder plot. Observe the emphatic action, 
 the earnest persuasion, the laughing devil in 
 his bold black eyes. Yet he is more a child 
 than any one I know." 
 
 ***** 
 
 " So you really are game for a spree ? " 
 
 " AYell," hesitatingly, " yes — unless it's 
 played off on my uncle." 
 
 " What ! white feather ? " 
 
 Neville laughed. *' No ; but he's too good 
 a fellow to play pranks upon — at least, as far 
 as I'm concerned. It's different on your part, 
 major." 
 
 *' It's nothing to do with him, but he 
 mustn't know of it. He never would take 
 a practical joke. Do you know anything 
 about the j^lace they call the Nunnery ? " 
 
 '' Have you a fancy to storm the citadel ? 
 There's a high wall about the grounds that 
 defies inquisition. Only by rowing in a
 
 THE COLONEL'S VIEWS. 33 
 
 certain curve of the river can you get a 
 glimpse of them." 
 
 " 1 couldn't live so near and have my 
 curiosity baffled, and it's been raised already. 
 Just tell me, now, what do you know ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't know how I've heard it, 
 but I've been told the house was taken about 
 a year ago by ladies who wanted complete 
 seclusion from the world." 
 
 " A year ago ? Then all the village must 
 know more than we do ! " 
 
 Neville laughed at the excited exclama- 
 tion. *' They're welcome to the knowledge. 
 What are we to do with these ladies ? " 
 
 '' One would like to look at them. The 
 very fact of their seclusion has something 
 stimulating in it. I've lost no time. I took 
 the opportunity of pumpiDg one of the 
 gardeners just now, aod from what I can 
 hear there's quite a romance concerning the 
 place. They are all ladies, with the excep- 
 tion of one old fellow, who does the garden- 
 ing. And though the information from this 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 34 AUTUMN MAN(EUVEj:S. 
 
 quarter hasn't been much, it's quite sufficient 
 to prove to me that an adventure would be 
 just the thing to bring about the most de- 
 hghtful acquaintance in the world." 
 
 " Of course, they're lovely women," said 
 Neville, slyly. 
 
 " Of course they are," said the major, 
 with solemn warmth, " or / should not be so 
 interested. Is your cool card of a cousin, 
 now, the man for the enterprise ? " 
 
 Neville shook his head. " Not he. But 
 he's game, you know. What is it you in- 
 tend doing ? " 
 
 '* Well, let's determine to make a bold 
 venture — invent some scheme that shall land 
 us at their door, and find out the whole 
 secret before any one's aware what we're up 
 to. Why, I'm told they even go to church 
 in Derby veils, and that a visitor never 
 enters the doors." 
 
 " They're not beauties, major, depend on 
 it. They are a community of pig-faced 
 ladies. Who ever heard of a woman de- 
 signedly veiling her beauty ? "
 
 THE COLONEL'S VIEWS. 35 
 
 " Except as a stratagem ! " exclaimed the 
 major, excitedly. "Women are the very 
 deuce for intrigue. You'll see now, foi my 
 first impressions of a case are never wrong. 
 You abide by my instructions — pump every- 
 body you come across — and meanwhile Til 
 perfect the scheme. What say you to 
 breaking your leg outside the gate ? Assist- 
 ance becomes a matter of Christian charity." 
 
 " It's stale — been done no end of times 
 on the stage." 
 
 "But they wouldn't know that," sug- 
 gested the major. 
 
 " Couldn't we think of somethino: more 
 original ? And besides, who's to break 
 his leg ? " 
 
 "Well, I should propose you," said the 
 major, reflectively ; "I think you'd act the 
 part best." 
 
 " I should propose Reilly. He must have 
 seen so much of that kind of thing that he'd 
 know exactly how to put it on." 
 
 " Too many scruples ; too old, me boy.
 
 36 AUTIBIN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 Bless you, Eeilly's years older that I — in the 
 spirit. Why, I'd do it myself, if I wasn't 
 quite so heavy ; I'd do it now for two straws, 
 though the risk's far greater in my case." 
 
 " Why, you don't seriously mean " 
 
 " Certainly not to do the thing in reality," 
 laughed the major. '' Some slight injury 
 must be inflicted beforehand. But what 
 should a soldier care about that ? One isn't 
 allowed to speak to these girls of Bathurst's, 
 is one ? By St. Patrick, how pretty they 
 are — those I've seen ! How many of 'em 
 has he got ? " 
 
 " You can't easily count," said Neville, 
 "because, you see, they all wear uniform." 
 
 " Do they wait at dinner ? Dash it ! I 
 shall be afraid to ask for bread. Do they 
 draw the corks ? T shall make a devil of a 
 mess of it, I know I shall ! " 
 
 " It's quite a novel style, more like tlie 
 diner a la russe as far as the table is laid. 
 Everything is pretty, you know— flowers^ 
 and all that ; and you never know where
 
 THE COLOXEL-S VIEWS. 37 
 
 your plate comes from. The girls used all 
 to dress in black and white last time I was 
 here ; they looked like a flock of magpies, 
 only a great deal nicer." 
 
 " But there's no speaking ? " 
 
 •'Except on business. My uncle's 
 deucedly particular. By-the-by, I may as 
 well give you a hint, major — do be careful 
 with your stories ; at least, you know, until 
 the dessert comes on." 
 
 The major's face was a study. 
 
 " I shall make a mess of it," he said, so 
 seriously that he nearly upset Neville's 
 gravity. " I say, give me a hint in time,' 
 if you find me going the pace. Talk, you 
 know, is like, you know, like — like — well, I 
 don't quite know what ; but something you 
 can't control." 
 
 " There are a good many things of that 
 sort, major, though you can't quite find a 
 simile." 
 
 " Are there no men in the house, then ? " 
 
 " None. The gardeners live at the lodge,
 
 38 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 and tlae housekeeper, who manages every- 
 tiling, and is, I am given to understand, a 
 remarkably clever woman, has never once 
 found the assistance of a man necessary." 
 
 " I should like to see her ! " exclaimed the 
 major, with emphasis. 
 
 " You'd better ask my uncle to introduce 
 you." 
 
 " Ah, he's a sly dog I But I'll find him 
 out ; I'll be even with him. What is she 
 like, now ? " • 
 
 " Well, she's quite sixty." 
 
 O'Buncous put up his hands in horror. 
 '' I'll hear no more," he exclaimed ; " my 
 friend must be a fool." And at this point 
 they broke off. 
 
 Later in the day Neville 'made discoveries 
 that tended to raise his expectations, and 
 excite him on the major's scheme. He 
 gathered that the Glade was inhabited by 
 several ladies, two old servants, and a de- 
 crepit gardener, so taciturn that scarcely a 
 word could be extracted from him, and who
 
 THE COLONEL'S VIEWS. 39 
 
 rarely came into the village. This news 
 Neville communicated to the major. 
 
 " But 'tis the maids," he exclaimed ; 
 "they wouldn't hold their tongues for the 
 devil himself." 
 
 '' They are elderly women, and they are 
 evidently chosen for the especial purpose of 
 holding their tongues." 
 
 "It's the most amazing thing I ever 
 heard of in my life ! Fancy being able to 
 live in a place like this for twelve months 
 without being found out ! How about the 
 parson ? Bathurst's is intimate with him, of 
 course. By-the-bye, does he go to church ? " 
 
 " Who — my uncle ? Sometimes. But I 
 think it's merely to show up, because the 
 vicar's a muff, and he'll last here till the end 
 of time." 
 
 "We'll go to church to-morrow, Hardy. 
 They will be there ! " 
 
 "Yes; but I'm told they sit somewhere up 
 by the organ loft, where it's so dark you 
 can't see anything."
 
 40 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 "That organ loft will see -me^ anyhow." 
 
 " Major, be careful ! My uncle is strict 
 to the last degree. He has views " 
 
 " So have I — h'm — broad ones. What 
 are his ? 
 
 " Not exactly what is called ' broad ; ' I 
 should say ' wide.' " 
 
 "I'll be shot if I can see the differ- 
 ence ! " exclaimed O'Buncous, as they parted 
 to dress for dinner.
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TABLE TALK. 
 
 CoLOXEL BathuPvSt's clining-room was quite 
 unlike an ordinary English dining-room ; 
 it gave the impression of cheerful, spacious 
 airiness which is seldom to be found. It 
 was besides light in its adornments, and, 
 with the gTaceful display of flowers, it 
 appeared far more like a drawing-room 
 when the men entered, and the maids stood 
 decorously around, dressed in delightfully 
 refreshing cool colours that gratified the 
 eye, as Vivian had truly said, far more 
 than scarlet and calves. 
 
 The major felt bashful ; he trod as if on 
 air, and nearly stumbled in his efibrts to 
 appear so light. He hoped fervently he
 
 42 AUTUMN MANGEUVRES. 
 
 would be well supplied with the substance 
 necessary, that he might not have to address 
 either of those dainty damsels who were now 
 flitting about so noiselessly and with such 
 delicate expedition. As if by magic, he 
 found himself supplied by quick slim hands 
 that never seemed to be in the way one 
 moment. He really had the audacity to 
 look straight at his attendant at last, but 
 her eyes were not directed towards him, 
 and she seemed not to be aware of his notice. 
 
 He fell into no difficulties, however, for 
 the talk was well sustained, and his un- 
 usual quietness passed without comment. 
 Once, indeed, he trod on dangerous ground ; 
 for while Eeilly was explaining some occur- 
 rence at their late station, Malta, the major 
 broke out suddenly with — 
 
 " Ah, that was when I cut him out with 
 the charming countess ! The most comical 
 
 affair you ever heard " 
 
 Here he was interrupted by a significant 
 cough from Neville, who sat opposite ; after
 
 TABLE TALK. 43 
 
 which he quite subsided, and made no more 
 than a feeble response occasionally. But 
 he was himself once more directly the 
 door closed upon the bevy of nymphs that 
 had discomposed him. 
 
 " What the devil do you mean, Bathurst, 
 by putting a man in such an awkward 
 position ? IVe been in purgatory for the 
 last half-hour." 
 
 •'^I'm appropriately sorry, major; but 
 we'll get on better to-morrow. You shall 
 order your dinner for yourself. Mrs. Grove 
 can send you whatever you want." 
 
 " Hang it ! I don't mean the dinner. I've 
 never been placed so before. At a dinner, 
 you know, with, no ladies, a man feels free, 
 and I don't mind admitting that I should 
 have got on first rate if I'd been able to 
 talk to them. Don't you ever speak to 
 them yourself ? AMiat's their names ? and 
 what do you dress 'em all alike for ? But, 
 by the Lord, Bathurst, you show your taste ; 
 they're fine figures, the whole lot of 'em."
 
 44 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 The young men were laughing outright ; 
 the colonel supjDressed a smile. 
 
 '' I never saw my friend O'Buncous 
 abashed before," said Eeilly. 
 
 " Why couldn't you have imagined there 
 were ladies present, and regulated your 
 talk accordingly ? " asked Neville. 
 
 " No," retorted the major, stoutly ; "of 
 course I couldn't. When there are ladies 
 present, I always talk to them. I never 
 waste my words on a man. Look here, 
 Bathurst, get a few ladies to dinner with 
 us for the future, just to put me at my 
 ease. Ask Mrs. Whatever -you -call-her to 
 take the head of the table, and have a few 
 of the girls in, or I shall take my meals in 
 my own room." 
 
 Here again they laughed. 
 
 *' Uncle, are there any ladies in your 
 neighbourhood just now ? " 
 
 " Lady Crump and her companion. I 
 don't suppose you would care for them. 
 Mrs. Darlino:ton and her dau^'hter are at
 
 TABLE TALK. 45 
 
 Spa. I really think the vicar's wife is the 
 only available lady just at present." 
 
 ''You haven't any acquaintance with 
 those at the Glade, then ? " said Neville, 
 experimentally. 
 
 " Xo. I should imagine they are people 
 of a diflferent sphere. Of course, I merely 
 judge from their eccentric seclusion. Lady 
 Crump, whose curiosity was aroused, couldn't 
 gain admittance." 
 
 " Has nobody seen them ? " asked Vivian. 
 
 '' I supj)ose somebody has." The colonel 
 smiled as though he saw a joke. '' I'm 
 afraid you won't any of you gratify your 
 curiosity. If I had a wife or sister here 
 now, I would put her on her mettle, and 
 we would soon find out what stuif they're 
 made of." 
 
 " Hasn't your factotum, Mrs. AVhat's- 
 her-name, told you anything in detail, as 
 women do ? " asked O'Buncous. 
 
 '' I don't gossip with Mrs. Grove about 
 ray neighbours ; but I'll tell you what I'll
 
 46 AUTUMN MAJICEUVRES. 
 
 do, I'll give you a chance of questioning 
 the old lady yourself, as she's the only 
 female society I can offer you. She's 
 generally in the conservatory getting the 
 flowers when I go round in the morning." 
 
 '* Is she a dragon ? " 
 
 " I don't find her so myself. She's a 
 capital manager." 
 
 " Well, I'll make the attempt, for I shall 
 get nothing out of you, I see. You were 
 always a singular man. What's your real 
 hobby now? You always had one, I re- 
 member." 
 
 " The acknowledgment of woman as a 
 rational creature," replied Bathurst, humor- 
 ously. 
 
 " But aren't you satisfied with her as 
 she is ? I don't see what you want of her 
 ' rational.' " 
 
 Reilly laughed. "You are of the old 
 school, major; the colonel is evidently 
 of the newest. Are you for wholesale 
 reform ? " he asked of the host.
 
 TABLE TALK. 47 
 
 "My uncle goes to a greater length 
 than any man I ever knew/' struck in 
 Neville. 
 
 *'Let your uncle answer for himself, 
 young man," was the smiling reply. " Well, 
 Doctor Reilly, I think I go as far on the 
 question as any man, ancient or modern. 
 I've no doubt the principle we are acting 
 upon is altogether an unfair one. Do you 
 go with me ? " 
 
 " So far, most certainly. But," he went 
 on hesitatingly, "to tell you the truth, I 
 think that woman herself needs reform in 
 many ways before we can eifect any sort of 
 alteration in the principles that now affect 
 our action." 
 
 Vivian Seymour opened his calm blue 
 eyes with a sudden vivid interest. " There 
 I am with you," he said, in his slow, 
 even tones. His voice, though not often 
 heard, was always listened to when it was 
 heard. There was a peculiar gentleness 
 in both voice and speaker, mixed with a
 
 48 AUTIBIN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 strange effect of power. " I go fully with my 
 uncle up to one clause ; I stop at another. 
 Brain should always govern force ; and if we 
 want to give women power, we must 1)egin 
 by making them fit to wdeld it." 
 
 " But my argument is, not that they 
 should be all fit for the government I would 
 accord them, but that they are, as they stand, 
 at least as well fitted to form an opinion 
 as so many of the opposite sex who already 
 hold the right." 
 
 " Here," said Vivian — " here I always see 
 the fact that the men have already received 
 the gift of ruling, and we do not see the 
 incompatibility quite so clearly. It is one 
 thing to take a step, and another to retrieve 
 one. It is not because I see woman beneath 
 what she should be that I think her in- 
 capable of being what she pleases." 
 
 " Bravo, Vin ! " murmured the colonel. 
 
 Vivian held up his hand deprecatingly. 
 " But she is not that yet. She will have 
 to reform — in the first place, in her dress
 
 TABLE TALK. 49 
 
 — before she can prove herself a rational 
 creature." 
 
 Reilly warmly acquiesced. '' That is an 
 essential particular you have noted ; and 
 it's uncommonly shrewd for a man of 
 your years. Now, I have necessarily been 
 bound to know where the abominable 
 ever-arising question of fashion injures the 
 health and distorts the beauty of a woman. 
 I am far from being uncharitable to the sex, 
 and I do not attribute their slavish con- 
 formity to fashion so much to vanity as 
 I do to feminine modesty that abhors to be 
 conspicuous." 
 
 "Oh, dash it!" exploded the major, 
 almost angrily, " you're all wrong there ! 
 "Women dress to be looked at ; they don't 
 do it for the sake of modesty. I never 
 heard such an idea ! Reilly, you've never 
 talked like this to me J' 
 
 " He thought you wouldn't understand 
 him, major," cut in Neville. 
 
 " I made a deduction upon certain grounds, 
 VOL. r. 4
 
 50 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 and fancied you did not hold woman quite 
 at my estimation ; so I held my peace," 
 said Keilly, plausibly. 
 
 '* Never let it be said, for my gallantry's 
 sake, that T have ever thrown a stone at 
 the roughest of the softer sex. As Bathurst 
 says, woman is the — the active principle 
 of life." 
 
 "Excuse me," interrupted the colonel. 
 
 " And excuse me,'' laughed Eeilly. " She 
 is the mainspring of life, think what we 
 will." 
 
 " She is the poetry of life," said Vivian, 
 dulcetly. 
 
 '' She's the prime motive of life," said 
 Neville, sturdily. 
 
 " Do you mean primary?" asked his uncle. 
 
 Neville coloured. " I can't start off my 
 opinions as you and Vin do, but I've got 
 my ideas all the same." 
 
 " But, you know," expostulated the major, 
 " we must, after all, regard the woman as 
 an inferior animal."
 
 TABLE TALK. 51 
 
 " Do you mean as an animal pure and 
 simple?" asked Eeilly, jocosely. "Is it a 
 matter of physical strength alone to which 
 you allude ? We can prove over and over 
 again the sound courage, endurance, and 
 perception of woman when she is, as is 
 rarely the case, brought to the test of those 
 dangers with which man is familiar." 
 
 " Think back," said Bathurst, with a 
 genial smile ; '*' think on what brave and 
 noble women have done, in acts alone where 
 they may bear comparison with men. Do 
 vou remember those ladies who broucrht 
 home the ship the other day, who had 
 worked days and nights with an energy and 
 perseverance that would have done credit 
 to any man, while the Lascars lay helpless 
 from fear, and only one sailor was left to 
 guide them through their way ? Bring them 
 to the fore, I say. There will be a little 
 difficulty before they find their proper level ; 
 and then woman will take her stand, be 
 estimated at her real value, and be what 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNJVERSfTY OF ILLINOI.c
 
 52 AUTUMN MAKCEUVEES. 
 
 she was intended to be, and what she is 
 happily enough sometimes — man's ordained 
 helpmate and equal ; neither his toy nor his 
 victim." 
 
 " You seem to have given a fair amount 
 of consideration to the fair sex," remarked 
 the doctor. 
 
 " We all do in our various ways," said 
 Vivian, suggestively. 
 
 " Certainly, the proper study of mankind 
 is — woman," said O'Buncous, with much 
 gravity. " And what Shakespeare says 
 can't be wrong." 
 
 ''But Shakespeare never said that, major," 
 said Neville ; " nor any other man, that I'm 
 aware." 
 
 " We can't expect to know every quota- 
 tion that ever was made," said the major, 
 hastily. "If it wasn't Shakespeare, it must 
 have been Moore. At any rate, I had a 
 friend w^ho was very proud of the quota- 
 tion." 
 
 Vivian and Keilly exchanged glances.
 
 TABLE TALK. 53 
 
 " The major recognizes only Moore and 
 Shakespeare," remarked Reilly ; " but Moore 
 generally comes first." 
 
 " Why, there never was finer poetry 
 written," cried O'Buncous, enthusiastically. 
 " Look at the depth of it, and the — the 
 exquisite language — such as any one can 
 understand. That's the sort of thing you 
 don't get every day ; that's the sort of thing 
 none of your modern poets can write." 
 
 " I'm really afraid your favourite would 
 not even be accounted a poet had he lived 
 in these unenlightened, modern days," said 
 Vivian, quietly. 
 
 " Of course he wouldn't," echoed the 
 major, warmly. " In these days people 
 want to be considered so devilish clever that 
 they'U only pretend to understand what 
 other people can't." 
 
 Again Vivian and Eeilly exchanged 
 glances. 
 
 o 
 
 " Ancient or modern ? " asked Vivian, 
 sententiously.
 
 54 AUTUMN MANCEUYPvES. 
 
 " Both." 
 
 " I am an admirer of the i^hilosophic 
 school," replied the colonel. "I see nothing 
 to admire in your mere musical writers. I 
 want something besides music in my poetry. 
 It is one of my fancies to judge men 
 according to their tastes in matters of art. 
 Come now, Doctor Keilly, give me a parallel 
 between Shelley and Byron. I can apply 
 my test admirably, being quite in the dark 
 as to your tastes." 
 
 O'Buncous helped himself to another 
 glass ; he was clearly cut out of this dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 " I can't draw any sort of parallel," said 
 Keilly, with a smile, "except that both 
 understood the musical magic of words. 
 However, I won't sneak out of the test ; 
 I'll tell you honestly, so far as a mere 
 ordinary reader may be worth hearing, that 
 I l)elieve Shelley, in spite of his high repu- 
 tation, to be a much-overrated man, and 
 1 believe Byron to be, perhaps, the most
 
 TABLE TALK. 55 
 
 generally misunderstood poet who has ever 
 existed." 
 
 " It always takes a keen critic to estimate 
 satire correctly/' said Vivian, slowly. 
 
 " Doctor Eeilly, I don't understand you," 
 exclaimed Neville. " Surely there's no 
 obscurity in Byron ? I don't profess for one 
 minute to read what Vivian can, but I 
 flatter myself that I understand Byron ; 
 and, what's more, I enjoy his poetry more 
 than any other, though I've got a sort of 
 impression that it's wrong to say so." 
 
 "That's just the position," said Eeilly, 
 with a smile. 
 
 " I have formed my estimate, doctor, and 
 I'm very much obliged to you," said the 
 colonel. " My nephew here is just beginning 
 to use his brains. I used to tell him, Ion or 
 before he would believe me, that he would 
 learn to appreciate and criticise very dif- 
 ferently when he arrived within the first 
 boundaries of manhood." 
 
 '' Ah, that was when I had read the
 
 56 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 ' Vision of Judgment ' seriously, and thought 
 it profane. You agree, then, with my 
 uncle, that we must pass through phases 
 of thought ? " 
 
 " Certainly, if we can think at all. I 
 believe, in a great measure, our tendencies 
 are shown very easily ; so far as that, in 
 some cases, they foreshadow from childhood 
 the ultimate man. But we cannot arrive at 
 rational conclusions at a bound ; we must 
 come through certain conditions of thought 
 before we can reach others." 
 
 " Then the notion that thinking 
 
 ' Is but an idle waste of thought, 
 For naught is everything, and everything is naught,' 
 
 is nonsense ? " 
 
 " No. For a man may arrive at nothing 
 by various roads." 
 
 " There, too, was a man who, with all Jiis 
 gifts, was, as Colonel Bathurst expresses it, 
 deficient in the real weight of thouglit that 
 goes to make poetry of the highest kind."
 
 TABLE TALK. 57 
 
 O'Buncous was getting quite impatient. 
 His face was many degrees more vivid than 
 it was when he commenced the repast. 
 
 "Bathurst, you're driving me into bad 
 habits. A man must do something, you 
 know ; if he can't talk, he must drink. 
 It's all very well for Reilly, as a medical 
 man, but '' 
 
 Here the young men laughed. 
 
 "O'Buncous," exclaimed the colonel, 
 gravely, " I'm afraid your only books were 
 women's looks and " 
 
 '* Spare the rest of the quotation," en- 
 treated Vivian. 
 
 " How tender you are upon anything that 
 impugns the honour of the gentler sex ! " 
 said Reilly, smiling. 
 
 " You know the end ? " said Vivian. 
 
 " Ah, and I know it too ! " said the 
 major. " If he'd been worth calling a poet 
 who said it " 
 
 '•' It was no less than your own particular 
 star, Tom Moore," said Reilly, suavely.
 
 58 AUTUMN MANCEUYKES. 
 
 O'Buncous reflected. " Fve got a deuced 
 l)ad memory," he said, " though, as I've 
 remarked before, a man can't expect to know 
 everything that was ever written. A word 
 of advice to you young men. Give me a 
 man of the world, against a bookworm any 
 day. Your bookworm only gets at the 
 husk of things, and misses the kernel. 
 You've been talking a deuce of a lot about 
 thinking ; and what the deuce is the good 
 of it, I should like to know ? It don't 
 lead to anything. Why, one fine action 
 is worth a thousand thoughts. Bless you ! 
 I've had 'em myself in my time, and I 
 know all about it. When my glorious 
 countryman Wellington won the battle of 
 Waterloo — and I hope that's worth talking 
 about, as an historical event — why — why, 
 it was all action. Why, it's actually called 
 ' an action.' " 
 
 When the major arrived at this brilliant 
 climax, he paused, quite overcome by his 
 own convictions.
 
 TABLE TALK. 59 
 
 '•' The end of all thought should be 
 action," said Vivian, in his distinct mellow 
 tones. 
 
 " And why not the l3eginning, I want to 
 know ? " was the audacious retort, of which 
 inconsistency O'Buncous, to do him justice, 
 was not sensible.
 
 60 AUTUMN MANCEUYRES. 
 
 CHAPTEK lY. 
 
 THE GLADE. 
 
 Oak Glade, on this delicious September 
 morning:, was looking- as beautiful as the 
 Garden of Eden might have looked in the 
 days of Eve. It was the most charming 
 combination of fine old trees, well-kept 
 lawns, and as lavish a display of common 
 garden flowers as might anywhere be found 
 in England. 
 
 A girl, '' gowned in pure white," sat under 
 the shadow of an oak, sketching. Her long 
 fair hair, all unloosed, veiled her figure and 
 half hid the classical lines of her pure pale 
 face. A pair of very serious grey eyes were 
 raised frequently from her work to her 
 model — a handsome woman who was strolling
 
 THE GLADE. 61 
 
 with gracefully bent head while she studied 
 the pages of the book she held, earnestly 
 absorbed. 
 
 Upon a rustic seat sat a lady of middle 
 age, knitting. She was, still beautiful, still 
 graceful in spite of time, although the lines 
 of care and sorrow were so indelibly written 
 on her thoughtful face. At her feet, 
 stretched in idle abandonment on the grass, 
 lay an exquisitely beautiful girl. She was 
 quite young — not a child, yet with some- 
 thing of the attributes of childhood lingering 
 in her womanhood. 
 
 " I don't feel as though I should ever 
 care to leave this lovely spot," said the elder 
 lady. " I have felt at home ever since we 
 came here. Ah, Kate, young people are 
 apt to think every change delightful. Tell 
 me, child, what can be happier, more peace- 
 ful than our lives here in this secluded 
 haven ? I had no hope when we left Derby- 
 shire of finding any place that could seem 
 like home. Why, it is scarcely twelve
 
 62 AUTUMN MANGEUVRES. 
 
 months since we made tHat change, and I 
 was in hope we might remain content for 
 many years to come." 
 
 "Yes, mamma. But 'contentment' is a 
 very unsatisfactory word. I cannot say I 
 am not content ; but indeed I feel some- 
 times, in my very impatience of restriction, 
 as if I would rather be free, even at the risk 
 of finding discontent." 
 
 " My dear," said the mother, with a sigh, 
 " can t you believe in my w^ord ? Have I 
 not told you of the hollowness of life, except 
 for duty's sake — and is not our duty clear ? " 
 
 " But it would be interesting, if not 
 pleasant, to find out the vacuum for one's 
 self," said Kate, a trifle impetuously. 
 
 " You will not feel so after a little while," 
 said her mother, soothingly. "Look at 
 Adelaide — her occupations, her interests, are 
 now so complete that she never experiences 
 the least weariness. And it is the same witli 
 Mary — her studies absorb her whole time ; 
 and any one may see that they are perfectly
 
 THE GLADE. 63 
 
 happy. No, my dear, what you want is to 
 attach yourself strongly to some object of 
 interest, out of which a powerful motive will 
 soon arise, and satisfy every demand of 
 your mind." 
 
 " I wish there was some other study than 
 those I know of," said Kate, reflectively. '•' I 
 don't care for shells — much ; although I did 
 think if we got somewhere do\\T3 amono- 
 them, you know, by the sea, I might acquire 
 a taste. You said that Adelaide didn't care 
 for cooking when she began, and now with 
 all her reading and experience it has become 
 quite a science." 
 
 "That is what I say," said her mother 
 eagerly. '' A mere dip into a subject will 
 not convince you whether you like it or not. 
 It is necessary to acquire some knowledge 
 before you feel a vivid interest." 
 
 " Well, that's what I was thinking about 
 the shells " 
 
 "All seaside towns are crowded at this 
 time of the year."
 
 64 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 " But the j)eople wouldn't eat us. Surely 
 \ve need not associate with them because we 
 must see them. How I wish we were more 
 like other girls ! " 
 
 Again Mrs. Elmore sighed ; and, as she 
 lifted her eyes to her daughter's face, there 
 were tears to be seen there. 
 
 " Oh, mamma darling ! I quite forgot — I 
 know you can't bear us to say anything like 
 that ! and I know how good and kind you 
 are — how you give every thought for our 
 comfort." 
 
 The beautiful girl kissed her mother 
 warmly, and nestled her hand in hers as she 
 went on tenderly, " But I don't mean to be 
 .ungrateful when I say that I don't think it's 
 wise to talk about it, but we do all feel as 
 though we would rather be like other people, 
 and not live all our days under a ban. You 
 wish it yourself, don't you, mamma ? " 
 
 "God knows I do, Katie ! But in obey- 
 ing my conscience I do what is best for 
 you, my girls. It is true you will have to
 
 THE GLADE. 65 
 
 miss some of the more exciting pleasures of 
 life, but, on the other hand, you will enjoy 
 an almost absolute immunity from the 
 trials tliat beset all people who live in the 
 world." 
 
 "It is true we mio-ht almost as well — 
 be — be — " '^ mummies ' she was o'oino; to 
 say, but checked herself in time, and sub- 
 stituted " out of it." 
 
 '•' Give up all thoughts of Brighton. I 
 don't know much about the coast there, 
 but I do not think it is rich in shells. 
 And, darling, since this neighbourhood is 
 so very retired, and I can trust your 
 discretion so thorouo-hlv, vou shall have 
 the pony you were so anxious al)Out a 
 little while since. Now, no thanks," said 
 the mother,- a tender delio'ht steahno- over 
 her face the while. "You are of a different 
 temperament from your sisters — so like me 
 when I was a girl — that I think you want 
 more active, more energetic occupation than 
 you can have within these walls." 
 
 VOL. I. 5
 
 66 AUTUMN MANGEUVRES. 
 
 "They are high walls,"- sighed Kate. 
 ''We can never even see any one pass." 
 
 " Now, really, dear ! there cannot bo any 
 advantage in seeing a few commonplace 
 people stalk by one's house, mostly ill- 
 dressed too, you will admit." 
 
 "Yes ; but then there is something amus- 
 ing even in that." 
 
 '• It seems a pity to ridicule people for 
 their want of knowledge or taste," said Mrs. 
 Elmore, gently. 
 
 " Will yoLi think me very foolish, mamma, 
 if I admit tliat I have sometimes thought I 
 should like, just for once, to be dressed like 
 that fashionable lady we saw at the station 
 when we arrived here ? " 
 
 " Surely you don't thiuk she looked either 
 graceful or sensible, that you should wish 
 to emulate her ? " 
 
 "No, no," laughed Kate, gleefully. "It 
 was only that I should like to see how I 
 should look. We dress like nuns, but then 
 — of course, we are nuns."
 
 THE GLADE. 67 
 
 ^' No, my child. You have taken no 
 such senseless view of life. You are se- 
 cluded from necessity's sake, and not from 
 choice." 
 
 '' Well— well, its all the same." 
 Again the light faded out of the mother's 
 face, as the half-impatient words escaped 
 the girl's lips. She regarded the fair form, 
 and exquisite absent face with a sadness 
 that had plainly much of pain. And yet 
 most mothers would have looked at such 
 a girl with joy and pride ; for Kate Avas, 
 accordiug to the most rigid laws of beauty, 
 a really magnificent specimen of woman- 
 hood. A curved supple figure of medium 
 lieight. a head of pure classical lines, poised 
 with a dainty pride upon a throat and 
 shoulders that were really alone charm 
 'enough for any one woman to possess. 
 And then a creamy skin, and such tints 
 of colour, rather bright than soft, that 
 from their contrast form a delicious whole. 
 Dark brown skin carried off the pure
 
 68 AUTUMlSr MANfEUVRES. 
 
 heaven of her forehead in a sweep there 
 is no describing, and eyes like the colour 
 of the blue in the sky, on a dark night 
 when the stars are out. What the mother's 
 thoughts were as she gazed upon this 
 enchanting creature it would be strange to 
 tell ; but when she spoke again her voice 
 was low and tremulous. 
 
 '' Fm not sure, Kate, that you would take 
 to the shells. I really think your forte 
 is music, and it is a never- failing source 
 of delight. I have noticed that you are 
 
 always happy when you're sioging " 
 
 Here she was interrupted by the lightest 
 and most musical of laughs. 
 
 " Or miserable, mamma. I always fall 
 into the spirit ,of the song, whatever it be. 
 And songs, I think, are mostly sad. Yes ; 
 but you are right ; I do enjoy my music, 
 although even there is still a want — an 
 end, or aim in my life, if you like. You 
 see, Adelaide has her hope for the future ; 
 she is training herself for work in which
 
 THE GLADE. 69 
 
 she surely has the strongest interest. Mary, 
 again, pursuing subjects one may almost call 
 scientific, finds satisfaction enouo-h in her 
 pursuits and occupation also. 'Tis I alone 
 who am so unstable.'"' 
 
 "Wait a little; your choice will come. 
 It was only last week the vicar congratu- 
 lated me upon the beauty of your voice, 
 and mentioned the o-reat advantao^e he felt 
 you to be to the church music. Of course, 
 publicity is denied to any of you, although 
 in Adelaide's peculiar instance, and con- 
 siderino- the class in which she would work, 
 she might really at her age be already in 
 the field of her labour.'"' 
 
 Here the mother's eyes fixed themselves 
 upon the tall, slowly-moving figure, with 
 head inclined (wev the book. 
 
 '' But she is really far too handsome — 
 yet 
 
 "Is it really rare, then, for a woman to 
 be so handsome as Adelaide ? " asked Kate. 
 
 Tlie mother paused, then went on rapidly,
 
 70 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 " There can be no Larm in my telling you 
 that you are all exceptionally beautiful, and 
 in this consists my greatest difficulty. Dear 
 me, child, there arc families of girls by the 
 hundred in which no one need have such 
 apprehensions as those I have for you. It 
 is their fate to pass unnoticed, and only by 
 the merest accident — from long association, 
 or the like — would they ever marry. They 
 might fairly run the gauntlet of the society 
 in which they move ; go to places of amuse- 
 ment and run no possible risk. But with 
 you, things are altogether different. I could 
 not take you anywhere, and expect you to 
 be overlooked ! I am not afraid of arous- 
 ing your vanity ; I only want to arouse 
 you to a sense of danger in the gift that 
 can only prove a disadvantage to you." 
 
 " Well, I will never long to know more of 
 the world you so dread for us. You shall 
 not derive any fresh trouble from me." 
 
 At this moment the girl sitting under the 
 tree rose and approached them.
 
 THE GLADE. 71 
 
 " Is it a portrait, mamma ? " slie said, 
 smilingly. 
 
 "The very pose of the head — the very 
 attitude!" exclaimed Kate. ''Mary, you 
 have the whole talent of the family ! " 
 
 '•' I couldn't manage the chin/' replied the 
 other, with some dissatisfaction, '•' otherwise 
 it would be good, I think. You see, the 
 slightest deviation from truth, there, mars 
 the whole harmony of line. This is majestic, 
 but it wants — oh, it wants a certain atom 
 of tenderness that Adelaide has so strano^elv 
 mixed up with her strength. It must be in 
 the chin." 
 
 " I should say sweetness of character 
 would be found more in the curves of the 
 lips," suggested the mother. 
 
 "Or in the tip of the nose," laughingly 
 added Kate. 
 
 But the demure ]Mary answered only by 
 covering the obnoxious chin with one of 
 her dainty fingers. 
 
 " Isn't that proof enough ? " she asked
 
 72 AUTUMN MANCEUVllES. 
 
 " Dear, you shall tiy my portrait," said 
 Kate, with glee. " You would not then be 
 troubled with the confusing mixture of 
 strength and sweetness. It would be literally 
 all honey ! " Still the demure sister did not 
 smile. " Or, why not paint yourself ? — ex- 
 cept that one knows it is ridiculous to paint 
 the lily. But, nonsense apart, you would 
 have the most patient sitter in the world in 
 yourself. Keep down your long fair hair, 
 and arrange it in a sweep to your taste ; be 
 robed — or rather half-unrobed — in the white 
 you are so fond of wearing, and sit opposite 
 to a pier-glass, to whicli you can occasionally 
 turn those angelic orbs while you work. 
 Upon my word, you'd anywhere pass for 
 a saint." 
 
 " Which you certainly would not, my 
 dear," laughed Mrs. Elmore. 
 
 " No ; I fear my tendencies are decidedly 
 earthy. Now, come, mamma, let us send 
 off to inquire about that pony, for I shall 
 l)e in destitution if he's sold."
 
 ( ^3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 MELODY. 
 
 Major O'Buxcous rather surprised the 
 men at breakfast the followino; mornino', bv 
 announcing his intention of o;oino; to church. 
 
 '' I don't want any of the rest of you ; but, 
 whatever may be your games for the day, 
 don't count on me." 
 
 '■' The major has some manoeuvre in hand 
 in which he does not wish us to be par- 
 takers." 
 
 " Oh, you're all as welcome as the flowers 
 in May ! " replied the major, jauntily. '' I 
 will admit that I have a special motive, 
 and, in admitting so much, my friend Eeilly 
 here will have his joke. However, I don't 
 mind owning to my youthful propensities ;
 
 74 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 SO, gcutlcmen, }'ou will imderstaud it is 
 the flutter of the feminine petticoat that 
 beguiles me." 
 
 " But you don't know ji woman here," 
 said the colonel, puzzled. 
 
 " Exactly," replied the major, raising his 
 black, arched eyebrows, and showing his 
 black eyes to their widest limits. " Pre- 
 cisely ; but I intend to know one — or 
 perhaps a few — before long." 
 
 A sense daAvned upon the colonel's mind. 
 " Is it the recluses of the Glade ? " he in- 
 quired, dubiously. 
 
 ^'The very mark!" 
 
 <' I — I — pray you be careful, for they are 
 really ladies, I believe." 
 
 '' By my honour," cried O'Buncous, start- 
 ing to his feet in pretended anger, " do you 
 think I don't know how to treat a lady 
 when I see one '? Look to your own man- 
 ners before you correct mine, Batlmrst. I'll 
 be on o'ood terms with the wdiole crew of 
 them — that is, if they are worth while."
 
 MELODY. 15 
 
 This parenthesis of reservatiun was well 
 "worth while" from its very tone. "1*11 
 know all their pretty little manoeuvres, or 
 my name's not O'Buncoiis." 
 
 So the discussion ended without more 
 ado, and they all went to church. Colonel 
 Bathurst's square pew was well filled. This 
 was cpiite a matter of excitement to the 
 general congregation. Perhaps the more 
 so because the major's bold eyes eagerly 
 scanned every woman within view. But no 
 answering beauty met his eye : and, more 
 disappointing still, no lady whose envious 
 veil precluded a view of her fairness. Eeilly 
 exchanged a sarcastic half-araused smile 
 with the colonel, as they noted these search- 
 ing looks, to which O'Buncous was totally 
 indifferent. The service proceeded. In a 
 few moments the first Psalm was com- 
 menced, and Yi^dan Seymour was conscious 
 of a positive thrill of excitement, as a clear, 
 full, magnificent voice, as sweet and fresh 
 as the SOD": of a lark in the mornino; sun-
 
 76 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 shine, burst upon liLs car. He was intensely 
 susceptible to the charm of music, and 
 as these glorious tones rolled and echoed 
 through the old church, he felt himself com- 
 pletely absorl)ed by them. The voices of 
 the choir, the congregation, and the sweet 
 singing of the children sounded only like 
 an accompaniment, so clearly distinct were 
 those full, grand notes. 
 
 He looked earnestly in the direction 
 whence that voice apj)eared to proceed, but 
 could only dimly perceive a few dark figures 
 amid the shadow of the organ loft. It was 
 impossible to imagine this woman, w^hoso- 
 ever she might be, was a jxxid performer ; 
 the matter of expense entirely precluded the 
 idea. And the possessor of that voice must 
 be young — that Avas certain ; she must have 
 had good training too — that was equally 
 certain ; and how was she to obtain that as 
 a resident of this place ? He looked round 
 at his companions, but none of these seemed 
 to give any sign of being beset by the same
 
 MELODY. 77 
 
 infliiC'Dce. He, however, was absorbed bj 
 it, and was curiously surprised at the reac- 
 tion which set in when the vicar's dry 
 crackling words reminded him that the 
 sermon had commenced. 
 
 Bathurst, whose nature was cordial to a 
 fault, inclining always to the gentler tactics 
 that are almost womanish in their care for 
 the feelings of others, delayed leaving the 
 church until he knew he should be just in 
 time to have a word with the reverend and 
 well-meaning Dormer in the porch. So, 
 while lingering in the peaceful scene, Vivian 
 used his eyes quite as earnestly as did the 
 major. The latter, to the satisfaction of his 
 curiosity, was at length rewarded by seeing 
 three ladies descending the rude flight of 
 stairs on the right. Three ? there were four, 
 but one might be a woman of fifty years of 
 age, or more, with a sad yet resigned ex- 
 pression upon a face that was still strikingly 
 handsome, although almost purposely un- 
 adorned by the plain black bonnet surround-
 
 78 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 ino' it. An attractino' fio'ure in itself, and 
 quite warranted to strike an eye like the 
 major's ; but these forms following were 
 certainly more youthful, although their steps 
 were so sedate, and almost solemnly con- 
 strained. And their gauze veils, albeit they 
 floated in such ravishing folds, were never- 
 theless quite effective in hiding even the 
 sparkle of an eye. The major's blood ran 
 cold as the thought occurred to him that 
 these doubtless lovely young creatures might 
 really be, as had been proposed, nuns in 
 absolute fact. 
 
 The vicar had exchanged his few words 
 with the colonel, and then turned and 
 greeted the first of the four young ladies 
 then crossing the porch. Vivian stood close 
 to them as they waited their turn to pass 
 out, and he had the satisfaction of hearing a 
 few conventional words spoken by unques- 
 tionably the singer during the service. 
 Although the tones wxre very low, they 
 had the peculiar faculty of reaching, and
 
 MELODY. 79 
 
 sinking, as it were, throiigk one's very 
 beino-. Vivian felt the cliarni in all its 
 oppressiveness ; lie wondered at the sensa- 
 tion, and yet enjoyed it. Would she speak 
 aofain ? " It was indeed a lovelv morninor I " 
 But who could give such melody to that 
 common phrase as she could ? But there 
 was no other word ; there was just a 1jend 
 of a very graceful figure, and the dark 
 dresses had all disappeared. 
 
 Colonel Bathurst's voice seemed to wake 
 his nephew from a delicious dream, while 
 the majors hilarity sounded like an incon- 
 oTuous discord. " Those were the ladies 
 from the Glade, Vin ; you see what chance 
 O'Buncous lias of making himself familiar in 
 that quarter.'' 
 
 " What a superb voice ! " answered Vivian, 
 absently ; " yet it did not appear to strike 
 you." 
 
 '' I am accustomed to it — that is, I know 
 it belongs to one of those ladies, and that it 
 is quite a treat to hear her sing. I did not
 
 80 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 tell you purposely ; I wanted you to bo 
 impressed, as I know you can be, by the 
 power of music." 
 
 " The human voice is the most marvellous 
 instrument for producing effects upon the 
 human soul ! There is nothing like sound 
 for reaching into one's very being. With 
 you perhaps it is not so : with some the eye 
 does more work, and the beauty of form or 
 colour has a far greater attraction. Indeed, 
 I think there are various means of reaching 
 the heights of man's nature." 
 
 "Yet I have heard men, sensible men 
 too, say that we are safer with no love for 
 beauty than too much," said Bathurst, re- 
 flectively. 
 
 " Any gift surely may be a misfortune 
 badly used. What powder, do you think, 
 masters you most ? " 
 
 "Mind. I should not be tempted by 
 either eye or ear." 
 
 " Still you seem to seek and surround 
 yourself with beauty; carry your love for
 
 MP]LODY. 81 
 
 it to a greater extent than any one I ever 
 knew, even to the choice of servants." 
 
 '' That is a justifiable gratification ; they 
 should be but as pictures, flowers, and adorn- 
 ments. One likes to have one's books well 
 bound — at least some few people as well as 
 Mr. Kuskin ; I myself do. Yes," he added, 
 meditatively, "you are to understand, Vin, 
 that your eccentric uncle is only to be over- 
 come by the absolute power of mind." 
 
 " Then you have never seen either of those 
 ladies ? " 
 
 ''The remark is irrelevant, Yin; still I 
 will confess that I have not. My agent 
 conducted the business by letter, and I 
 remember insisting strongly on certain 
 arrangements beino^ made which I considered 
 necessary, knowing there were ladies only 
 in the case. You know what those fellows 
 are ! They can swallow anything themselves, 
 but they detest any one else getting an ad- 
 vantage ; and women, you know, are not so 
 well able to fight for their rights just yet." 
 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 " They never will be able to fight." 
 " Perhaps not ; it won't be necessary 
 when the morale of society is so far improved 
 that justice is conceded to all, and brute 
 force is dead."
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 DESIGN OR ACCIDENT ? 
 
 Mrs. Elmore sat in her own especial place 
 in the cbawingf-room window when Kate 
 came in from her first ride, with her hair 
 much dishevelled, her cheeks bright, her 
 eyes sparkling, the dark cloth habit showing 
 her supple figure to advantage, and all the 
 soft folds, pulled up on one side, making 
 as charming a picture as one would wish to 
 dwell upon. But the mother's contempla- 
 tion of all this was checked, as usual, by 
 some gloomy thought, and the loving face; 
 saddened, while the smile ended with a sigh. 
 " \Ye have been in trouble, mamma. But 
 I didn't faint ; that's the last absurdity I
 
 84 AUTUMN MANCEUVKES. 
 
 should resort to. We only got entangled in 
 the underwood ; my veil was twisted round 
 a holly branch, and his tail was entangled 
 in a furze-bush. There we both were fixed. 
 How any one would have laughed to see 
 us ! It's only that I'm out of practice. I 
 shouldn't come to such confusion ao-ain. 
 
 o 
 
 I left the shreds of my veil in the tree, for 
 the simple reason that it was impossible to 
 do anything else, and I would willingly have 
 left the tail of Ajax in the furze-bush, but 
 he objected " 
 
 " Kate, Kate I " 
 
 " Well, it was irrational of him, but it 
 was no use arguing. I fortunately had a pen- 
 knife ; and fortunately, too, he was patient, 
 and w^hen I found I couldn't cut away the 
 tuft of hair, then I cut the branch. So he 
 has brought back part of the furze with 
 him, with some disapprobation. His beauty 
 is not irretrievably injured " 
 
 "I shudder to think of what mio^ht have 
 
 o 
 
 happened."
 
 DESIGN OR ACCIDEXT ? 85 
 
 " Are you thinking of my beauty, dear ? 
 Pray, what is the use of it ? " 
 
 "Kemember, Kate, you must not twist 
 your habit quite so tightly round you." 
 
 "What can it matter what we do, mamma? 
 Nobody will ever see us. And what, in- 
 deed, is the use of being healthy, wealthy, 
 and wise, if we cannot set an example to 
 the age, and shed a lustre on the future ? " 
 
 ''Kate, you are talking utter non- 
 sense." 
 
 " So I am, you dear, serious old mother. 
 But I often consider what a loss we are to 
 the world. We strive to be perfect in phy- 
 sique, in manners, in temper, in mind, all 
 for our own selfish purposes, and nobody 
 else a bit the better for it all." 
 
 Then the girl suddenly paused, the light 
 of her e}'es softening into a mist as she read 
 the expression in her mother's face. 
 
 " I won't talk nonsense if you look like 
 that," she said, kneeling down, and clasping 
 her firm hands, bearing traces of the recent
 
 86 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 conflict, over the mother's knees. ^' I won't ! 
 and so good as you always are to me. Don't 
 you think the contretemi^s was lucky ? You 
 need have no fear for us now ; we are both 
 so well-behaved." 
 
 Mrs. Elmore put her hand on her daughter's 
 head, and smoothed back those rebellious 
 locks that declined to be fettered. 
 
 " If you are satisfied, dear, that is all — 
 all I want." 
 
 The pathos, the full meaning of these im- 
 pressive words, sank into the girl's heart 
 and saddened her. She put her mother's 
 hand to her lips. 
 
 " Somebody does care, after all, for how 
 we look, and what we say," she whispered. 
 Another pause. "But this is worse than 
 talking nonsense," she cried, springing up 
 and putting her mother's hand upon her arm. 
 Come — come and see his tail. He is now 
 being cleaned. I wonder if Tom can see 
 well enough to manage the furze ? " 
 
 They walked down the garden together
 
 DESIGN OK ACCIDENT? 87 
 
 towards the greenhouse, where a small stable 
 had been erected. 
 
 '' So you're quite satisfied with him, my 
 love?" 
 
 " Oh, I shall adore him, mamma ! " 
 
 " And you think he shows no inclination 
 to kick ? " 
 
 " I believe his temper is as angelic as 
 your own, so you need have no fear for Ajax 
 or me. I don't know how many times I 
 shall have to thank you for acceding to the 
 request of your most troublesome daughter. 
 I am the most troublesome dauo^hter, am 
 I not ? " But the mother only smiled, and 
 the girl ran on. " You can imagine how de- 
 lightfully refreshed I am after my first gallop. 
 And you must own that I was getting quite 
 pale and weak for want of exercise." 
 
 Here she met her mother's eye, and 
 laughed at the absurdity of her own words. 
 Her laugh was mingled with a curious, 
 crushing sound, as of dried leaves or the 
 cracklino- of broken bouahs.
 
 88 AUTUMN MANCEUVHES. 
 
 Both ladies started. 
 
 *' What is it ? " was their mutual exclama- 
 tion. 
 
 The sound proceeded but from a short 
 distance. There was a mass of shrubbery 
 extending at some distance from the high 
 wall of the garden. Mrs. Elmore walked 
 quickly in the direction of the sound, saying, 
 " Some strange dog has got in and lost his 
 way, I suppose." 
 
 But Kate's blithe footstep and eager 
 hands were quicker to the discovery. It 
 was she who, pushing aside the rhododen- 
 drons, was the first to gaze upon the prostrate 
 form of Vivian Seymour. His fall had been 
 but slightly broken, for here, close under the 
 wall, there was but thin imderwood, and 
 this had given rise to the crisp crushing 
 sound that had been heard. 
 
 He was quite still. His eyes were closed, 
 but there was no sign of injury, no sign of 
 pain, no sound. Could he be killed ? The 
 girl's startled eyes rested with wonder on
 
 DESIGN OR ACCIDENT? 89 
 
 his beautiful fair face. She, who read all 
 her poems in nature, read a fresh page as 
 she looked there. She made no exclamation, 
 she gazed. 
 
 " Good heavens ! " cried Mrs. Elmore, 
 shrinking at the first glance. *' Eun, Kate, 
 
 fetch Go away, child ! I hope he isn't 
 
 killed. Dear me ! how could it have 
 happened ? He's not — go away, Kate, do ! 
 — he's not a tramp ; he's a gentleman. But 
 
 how could ? Dear me, Kate, how 
 
 strano'e vou look ; are vou too friofhtened to 
 move ? I don't think there's anything really 
 serious, but we must have assistance." 
 
 Mrs. Elmore was quite collected, but her 
 voice was hurried and anxious. Kate stood 
 still, with that fixed, strange look, not quite 
 of fear, upon her face, as though she never 
 heard her mother's words. At this instant 
 there was a loud peal at the garden bell — 
 another — and still Kate did not seem to 
 hear. Mrs. Elmore, unwilling to leave the 
 spot, fell on her knees beside the prostrate
 
 90 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 man, and touched his hand with the uncon- 
 scious desire to do something. She spoke 
 rapidly all the time. 
 
 *' Some one has witnessed the accident, 
 and is evidently anxious for admission. Do 
 go, my darling, before they arrive ! " 
 
 They had arrived ; and a singular i3ro- 
 cession they formed, as each followed the 
 other swiftly round the curved path that led 
 to the outer wall. No one observed them 
 but the old man who had unfastened the 
 ponderous door, or gate, of the Glade 
 grounds. Waiving questions, they had 
 passed by. Had there been a perspicacious 
 observer he would have seen strange expres- 
 sions upon these three flices. Dr. Eeilly, who 
 strode first, with an air of determination 
 and displeasure, had an undoubted look of 
 anxiety in his somewhat stern, thoughtful 
 face. The rotund major followed, with 
 something of the expectant tiptoe move- 
 ment, and a sparkling anticipation of some- 
 thing good in his eye, and not a trace of
 
 DESIGN OK ACCIDEXT? 91 
 
 anxiety. On Neville, who lagged far behind, 
 there was a kind of sheepishness, which, in 
 a man of his order, was, to say the least, 
 unusual. 
 
 But Mrs. Elmore read no such signs as 
 these ; she turned her head to welcome the 
 new-comers. 
 
 " I fear, gentlemen, you will require help," 
 she exclaimed. " Let one of you go in- 
 stantly for a doctor." 
 
 But Reilly was on his knees beside her 
 before her words were ended. " I am a 
 doctor, madam," he replied quietly, while 
 the exjDression of displeasure and anxiety 
 deepened. '' I regret you should have been 
 subjected to this alarm the accident has, I 
 fear — I must investigate. Madam, would 
 you kindly order some water to be sent 
 from your house ? " 
 
 *' Brandy," suggested the major, in a deep 
 voice. Upon which Eeilly turned upon 
 him an inscrutable glance. 
 
 JVIrs. Elmore rose hastily, and turned to
 
 92 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 look for Kate ; but she in the confusion of 
 the moment had disappeared ; so Mrs. 
 Elmore herself hurried away on the errand. 
 
 ''How devilish well the voun2[ dosr does 
 it I " whispered the major, admiringly. 
 " Reilly, did you see that lovely creature 
 stealing away just as we came up ? Ravish- 
 ing, upon me " 
 
 '' He's hurt," said Reilly, gruffly. " Can't 
 you see this is no shamming ? " 
 
 "Why didn't he jump it?" 
 
 " Didn't you hear the branch break ? 
 He fell." 
 
 The major looked mystified. This was 
 " a spree " — or what should have been " a 
 spree," he thought. AVhat was it likely to 
 turn into now ? A tragedy, perhaps ; and 
 he had been the chief instigator. 
 
 " The head must have come into contact 
 with something," murmured the doctor, 
 better disposing his patient. 
 
 " By the Lord, I think they're both acting ! 
 Eeilly's playing his part as well as the 
 other."
 
 DESIGN OR ACCIDENT? 93 
 
 With a laudable desire not to be behind, 
 O'Buncous turned to Neville, who stood 
 abstractedly silent, " Don't look so helplessly 
 frightened, man ! Did you never see a 
 comrade shot before your eyes in the field, I 
 wonder ? No ; you're a raw recruit yet. 
 Bestir yourself ; go and assist the lady ! " 
 But producing no efiect upon Neville, he 
 stepped up to him, and with his hand to his 
 mouth whispered the words, " Hang it, you 
 look like a fool ! You ouo^ht to be hanoinor 
 over his body ; you ought to let them see 
 how you are affected.'* 
 
 " Anybody but a fool could see how I am 
 affected," exclaimed Neville, unpolitely. 
 
 "Oh, thanks," said the doctor, as an 
 elderly woman ran hastily up with the water. 
 
 Mrs. Elmore was looking somewhat per- 
 plexed as she stood hesitating on the steps 
 of the drawing-room window, and looked 
 out over the lawn. 
 
 " What ought I to do ? I am next to 
 certain that he cannot be removed. One
 
 94 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 cannot bear the thouo-ht — the mere thoucrjit 
 of being heartless or unchristian-like. Yet 
 such men, and young men too, it is most 
 distressing ! Where is Kate, I wonder ? 
 Fortunately the other girls are out of the 
 way. I had better give them the morning- 
 room ; that can best be spared." 
 
 Then, having made her decision, she 
 turned resolutely and walked across the 
 ofarden. Gracious she was, as a woman of 
 her kind should always be, when even she 
 determines to do a thing unpleasing to her- 
 self, and graciously she spoke. It was hardly 
 like conferring a favour ; it was more like 
 receiving an obligation when she said to 
 Doctor Eeilly — 
 
 " Had you not better remove him to the 
 house ? Pray use my home as your own. 
 Do not hesitate to ask for anything you 
 require. I myself will prepare with my own 
 hands what may be necessary. Do you 
 think your friend is seriously injured ? I 
 can form no judgment."
 
 DESIGX OR iCCIDEXT? 95 
 
 "Nor I, madam," said Reilly, ^-ith pro- 
 nounced courtesy. '' I shall avail myself of 
 your great kindness of necessity, though I 
 deeply regret the cause, and the incon- 
 venience to yourself." 
 
 " How ^Yell the be2ro:ar does it," thought 
 the major. 
 
 " I'm afraid I must leave him now," said 
 Reilly, as if to himself. ''We dare not 
 convey him, but by proper means. Have 
 you such a thing as — well, perhaps I had 
 better go and see for myself" 
 
 '' I think I know," said Mrs. Elmore, 
 hurriedly. " Come with me to the green- 
 house." 
 
 She had grasped his meaning instantly, 
 and he followed her. 
 
 The whole affair had only been the work 
 of a few minutes, and yet the delay to Mrs. 
 Elmore's mind was irritating. 
 
 " The shelves are not fixtures ; they can 
 be easily removed. How dreadful to lose 
 time like this ! "
 
 96 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 " We have not lost a second yet," was the 
 quick reply. " These will do admirably ; " 
 and he swiftly began to remove the flower- 
 pots to effect a rapid clearance, while she 
 as rapidly assisted. " Oh, pray don't you 
 touch anything ! Why couldn't one of those 
 men have had the sense to follow me ? ' " 
 
 *' I'm not afraid of soiling my hands," 
 said she, working as rapidly as he did. " Our 
 old gardener will be no use ; he would be 
 dazed at anything but his own work." 
 
 " I saw him — utterly incapable. Would 
 you mind sending one of those fellows here 
 at once ? " 
 
 She turned on the instant, and one of 
 " those fellows " was to be seen making his 
 way towards them. It was Neville. 
 
 O'Buncous becoming curious, and think- 
 ing the matter now ripe for success, directed 
 his steps towards the house, and, strange 
 contingency, here was the wounded man 
 left alone. 
 
 And now from those thick rhododendrons
 
 DESIGN OR ACCIDENT? 97 
 
 came forth quietly, Kate, with pale face and 
 awed eyes. They rested on nothing but 
 that prostrate form, which she approached 
 timidly, as if fascinated by it. Half un- 
 consciously she drew from her pocket a 
 little silver vinaigrette, and, kneehng by his 
 side, held the strong aromatic essence to his 
 nostrils. 
 
 It was strange to her that after a gasp, a 
 momentary shivering of the frame, the eyes 
 should unclose and rest full upon her. It 
 was a singular meeting those j^airs of eyes 
 had then. Hers still dilated, calmly fixed 
 on his ; his, clouded, dazed, gazed upon hei', 
 seeing those eyes only, as if in a halo of mist. 
 
 The seconds they looked thus seemed a 
 space of time a thousand times repeated. 
 
 They lived hours in those seconds. 
 
 Then in a sweet low voice, that seemed to 
 come from a miraculous distance, came the 
 words, " Are you in pain ? Shall I lift your 
 head ? Oh, he cannot speak ! Help, some 
 one ! '' And Kate's clear rich voice rang 
 
 VOL. 1. 7
 
 98 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 out to be heard by every one within house 
 or grounds. 
 
 This was a sight, indeed, to meet . a 
 mothers eye, as Mrs. Elmore advanced, 
 followed by O'Buncous and Keilly, carrying 
 two heavy planks, over which the former 
 was expending much useless exertion. This 
 was part of the joke he had not bargained 
 for ; he really wondered at Eeilly. 
 
 " Haven't we carried this a little too far ? " 
 he puffed out in an undertone, from the 
 other end of his dusty burden. 
 
 "We are not half there," replied Reilly, 
 angrily. 
 
 " I mean the joke," said O'Buncous, with 
 emphatic impatience. 
 
 Mrs. Elmore appeared unnecessarily 
 startled at the proximity of her beautiful 
 daughter to this equally beautiful stranger. 
 
 ''Kate," she whispered impressively. 
 " Go ! go away and hide yourself" 
 
 But Kate's perception of her mother's 
 anxiety was lost in her own excitement.
 
 DESIGN OR ACCIDENT? 99 
 
 "He is alive/' she said, in a low clear 
 voice ; '' he has moved." 
 
 " That is well/' said the doctor ; and then 
 he sigrnalled to Mrs. Elmore to remove Kate. 
 
 o 
 
 The mother took the girl by the arm 
 and led her away. "I am not wanted 
 now/' she said. 
 
 Still Kate would have lingered. "It 
 seems inhuman. Some help may be wanted 
 that a woman well could give/' she 
 whispered. 
 
 " My dear, we are quite helpless here. 
 Come in. You are so unused to — to acci- 
 dent. You forget you are but a girl." 
 
 " If I had been alone here, I should never 
 have left him, nor remembered my girlhood 
 any more than his manhood. Mamma, 
 how dreadful to think that even now he 
 may die ! " 
 
 She shuddered as she half whispered the 
 words, and her lips paled. A strangelv 
 abrupt thought came into her mind. If 
 those eyes should never unclose, and she
 
 100 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 had intercepted their last look on earth, 
 she realized that in the one long gaze her 
 soul had learnt a new feeling, her heart had 
 expanded to a quickened sympathy with 
 humanity. In those calm eyes she recog- 
 nized a power that had almost magnetized 
 her, so complete was the absorbing demand 
 to read her own. Her own ? How was he 
 impressed by those eyes of hers to which 
 she had never given a moment's considera- 
 tion in her life ? 
 
 " Kate, it always is a shock to the inex- 
 perienced to witness death, or even danger. 
 You are overstrung ; " and the mother noted 
 with pain the lovely features so unnaturally 
 lit by her emotion. 
 
 But the girl did not hear ; she slid her 
 arm from her mother's, and went into the 
 house before her.
 
 ( 101 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE REAL AWKWARDNESS OF THE POSITION. 
 
 While this scene was being enacted, Colonel 
 Bathurst was strollino^ about his orardens in 
 his own quiet way, for to him real luxury 
 was to be found in the contemplation of 
 beauty. 
 
 When O'Buncous came in sight, Bathurst 
 observed a strangeness in his friend's aspect, 
 even as he approached, a sort of deferential 
 air that sat oddly upon him. He walked 
 on hurriedly, and spoke hurriedly and half 
 dubiously. 
 
 "I've come — that is, I've been sent — 
 h'm " 
 
 " You appear to have been sent against 
 your mil," said Bathurst, jestingly.
 
 102 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 "I've a deuced unpleasant thing to tell 
 you ! 
 
 Then the colonel faced him. "You'd 
 better out with it," he said. 
 
 " That precious cool young nephew of 
 yours is in a scrape." 
 
 "Vin?" 
 
 " Yes, he. Reilly sent me off to explain ; 
 but I'll be hanged if I can." 
 
 " Do be serious, O'Buncous ! " 
 
 " I can't ! I don't know whether I am 
 serious or not." 
 
 This Hibernianism had the effect of irri- 
 tating Bathurst's serenity. 
 
 " Confound it ! he serious to oblige me. 
 AVhat's wrong ? " 
 
 " Well, he's just gone over a wall ten feet 
 high, and come a cropper in the Glade 
 gardens." 
 
 " Hurt ? " demanded the colonel, im- 
 peratively. 
 
 " Damned if I know ! " answered O'Bun- 
 cous, helplessly.
 
 REAL AWKWAPvDXESS OF THE POSITION. 103 
 
 Bathurst settled his square shoulders, and 
 fixed an impressive gaze upon his old friend. 
 " For God's sake, be plain ! What has 
 happened to the boy ? " 
 
 Then the major grew warm. " I tell you 
 I don't know ! " he exclaimed. '' I half 
 suspect they're playing the fool with me, 
 after all. A lark's a lark ; but when you 
 come to play a practical joke upon a man — 
 it isn't easy to explain it to another man, 
 that's all." 
 
 *' Oh ! isn't it ? " observed the colonel, 
 a little viciously. Then there was silence 
 for a few seconds. " Perhaps you'll con- 
 descend to tell me where the boy is. I will 
 soon discover the rest for myself." 
 
 " Didn't I tell you he was over the garden 
 .wall ? " yelled the major, exasperated. " But 
 whether he is hurt or not, I won't under- 
 take to say. Reilly's as bad as the rest." 
 
 "Really you don't seem to be much 
 better, O'Buncous. You must be playing 
 a practical joke on me."
 
 104 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 " Me ? Bless me soul ! L am the victim. 
 Tiook here, Bathurst, boys will be boys. 
 You can't be hard on 'em. We've been 
 young ourselves not so long ago. The 
 secret is, they wanted to look at the girls — 
 heard their voices in the garden — tempta- 
 tion too strong, et cetera. Told them plainly 
 I couldn't climb a tree " 
 
 " But boys will be boys — you proposed 
 it ? Yes. Vin isn't the man to diso-race 
 himself in a common escapade. " 
 
 " Dash it ! it's only natural." 
 
 " Natural ! if a man could never see a 
 woman but by climbing a tree. Confounded 
 nonsense ! Now, then, is it a trick ? and 
 are you all in it ? " 
 
 " Just what I can't tell you 1 " cried the 
 major, excitedly. " It was a joke up to 
 the time we were outside — but I'm damned 
 if I know if it was a joke inside — for I and 
 Eeilly carried him in on a stretcher to the 
 house. And this I will say, the thing was 
 precious well done — if it wasn't real. Any-
 
 EEAL AWKWAEDXESS OF THE POSITION. 105 
 
 how, the game has been worth the candle, 
 for of all the lovely, ravishing young 
 beings " 
 
 Here O'Buncous became aware that the 
 colonel had resolutely buttoned his coat, 
 and was striding away in the distance. 
 
 Then the major looked around with a 
 thoroughly crestfallen air. 
 
 "But it will never do to be out of the 
 hunt," he thought, following Bathurst at a 
 discreet distance. " By Heaven ! she was a 
 beauty. Perhaps the loveliest creature I 
 have ever seen.'^ 
 
 But he was too ill at ease to enjoy even 
 this delicious reflection, for a mortifying idea 
 possessed him that he had been duped, and 
 that all the party would now be aware of it. 
 
 Bathurst lost no time, and, with that 
 perfect self-possession which was natural 
 to him, found his introduction to Mrs. 
 Elmore most easy. The fact really being 
 that his earnest anxiety was so plainly 
 apparent that she would have been less than
 
 106 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 woman who could have met him with an 
 unsympathetic spirit. She led him to the 
 room at once. 
 
 " Well, Reillj ? " he said, hastily, and then 
 paused ; for he could see things were wrong. 
 
 "There is harm," said Reilly, gravely. 
 ''Principal difficulty in the ankle. No real 
 danger. Clear your mind of that." 
 
 Mrs. Elmore left the room. 
 
 " O'Buncous has been confusinof me with a 
 cock-and-bull story of what I can now see 
 he was afraid to tell." 
 
 " The most annoying thing in the whole 
 affair is that I cannot have him moved. 
 I haven't yet been able to decide what injury 
 is done," said the doctor. 
 
 " That's awkward, as you say. How 
 quietly he lies ! Reilly, are you sure he is 
 right ? " 
 
 " I'll take care of that," was the reply, 
 given very earnestly. " Trust me." 
 
 " And you will stay with him ? " 
 
 " I should not think of leaving."
 
 REAL AWKWARDNESS OF THE POSITION. 107 
 
 Very few words between those men were 
 sufficient. 
 
 " I shall take the opportunity of making 
 things a little clear to Mrs. Elmore," said 
 Bathurst, after awhile ; and he opened the 
 door. 
 
 At the same moment Mrs. Elmore came 
 out of the drawing-room, and crossed the 
 hall to meet him. Critical as he was with 
 regard to women, at the first glance her soft 
 retiring air, yet perfectly composed address, 
 had charmed him. Her beauty, too, being 
 of an unexceptional kind, might have pre- 
 possessed him, who can say ? As it was, 
 the unmistakable good breeding, manifested 
 by the tones of her voice, impressed him 
 more pleasantly even than her beauty. 
 
 "It is to me a source of regret that our 
 introduction should be of this kind. We 
 ought to have met before," he said. 
 
 " Perhaps. But allow me to take the op- 
 portunity of thanking you for the great con- 
 sideration you have shown me in every way."
 
 108 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 Now he knew that she was here alluding 
 to the many arrangements he had made for 
 her comfort, and also that he liad respected 
 her desire for seclusion. She led the way 
 to the room she had just left, and he followed 
 her. There a tall statuesque girl stood 
 confronting him, evidently preparing to take 
 her departure. She bowed without looking 
 at him, and passed on. 
 
 '* Stay, Adelaide ! This is Colonel Ba- 
 thurst. You need not go away." — Then she 
 turned to him, and added, " My eldest 
 daughter." 
 
 With another grave bow the young lady 
 returned to her seat. 
 
 " And now it is my turn to make a pretty 
 speech to you, Mrs. Elmore ; but indeed, I 
 hardly know how to thank you for your 
 kindness." 
 
 " Common humanity," she added, smiling. 
 "What I really want to say is, that the 
 only return I can make will be to do all in 
 my power to assist you in this difficulty.
 
 KEAL AWKWARDNESS OF THE POSITIOX. 109 
 
 I have already told your friend, the doctor, 
 that my house and servants are at his com- 
 mand, and if I may be allowed to add 
 myself, I shall be better pleased." 
 
 '^I have always observed, Mrs. Elmore, 
 that women seldom do things by halves. 
 When they are gracious, they will make a 
 man ashamed of his paltry condescensions 
 in the magnificence of their own. " 
 
 Mrs. Elmore smiled half sadly. " That is 
 a very gallant speech," she said. ''I am not 
 sure, however, but that it is true." 
 
 "It is true, according to my vision," he 
 replied, unaffectedly. 
 
 Then they reverted to the accident, and 
 ^Irs. Elmore explained that certain arrange- 
 ments could be made by which the doctor 
 would be enabled to stay with his patient. 
 
 ''It is a most unwarrantable trespass. I 
 don't know that I shall ever get over it," 
 said the colonel. '* However, I am aware 
 when an exception is made in my favour, 
 and know how to value it."
 
 110 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 " I must not allow you to forget that you 
 have made exceptions in mine." 
 
 " You are unfair to yourself, madam," he 
 said, with grave politeness. " The balance 
 is so unequal." 
 
 " My mother is always unfair to herself," 
 said Adelaide, her face animated into full 
 beauty, as she lost the consciousness of re- 
 serve. " She did all she could, and will do 
 all she can, whether you are Colonel Bathurst 
 or not." 
 
 "That is something like advocacy," he 
 answered, thinking what a lovely woman 
 she was, and how totally unlike her mother, 
 and feeling interested, in spite of himself, 
 into curiosity. 
 
 " So, then, it is settled that you take that 
 part of the house to yourself The two 
 adjacent rooms will be so convenient." 
 
 " Well, then, I accept, and make no at- 
 tempt to thank you now. But by allowing 
 Doctor Reilly to take the law into his own 
 hands "
 
 KEAL AWKWARDNESS OF THE POSITION. Ill 
 
 "Doctor — Reilly ? " she asked, in a strange, 
 surprised tone." 
 
 "Dr. Eeilly, who is now in attendance." 
 " I found something strangely familiar in 
 his face, and now the name is familiar too. 
 And yet — the association has been long- 
 passed. It cannot be he " 
 
 " Let me bring Reilly here ? " 
 Bathurst arose. 
 
 " No. Let me send him here," said Ade- 
 laide, rising. " I will remain with his 
 patient." 
 
 " By no means," exclaimed Mrs. Elmore, 
 quickly. 
 
 " Pardon, mother, it is my place. I 
 ought to be there ; " and she went out 
 quickly. 
 
 Then Mrs. Elmore sat down again, looking 
 pale and absent. She sighed, and remained 
 silent until Reilly entered. The colonel, 
 still more interested, thought she was con- 
 jecturing on the resemblance she had dis- 
 covered.
 
 112 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 She turned with a start, and seemed to 
 suddenly awake from a dream when she 
 looked at the two men before her. 
 
 "Excuse me," she said, with a visible 
 effort, "was your father — you are young — 
 was your father in the army ? " 
 
 " Yes ; he was in the army until two 
 years ago." 
 
 "And a doctor?" 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 " Arthur Kestrel Reilly ? " 
 
 "The same." 
 
 Again her eyes went into the distance, and 
 remained ; and how sadly pathetic the beau- 
 tiful, care-worn face looked. Both men 
 observed her sympathetically. 
 
 There were tears in her eyes now as she 
 turned and extended her hand, while she 
 said, " Then you are the son of one of my 
 husband's truest friends, one whom I shall 
 never forget, and one to whom 1 owe 
 much." 
 
 Reilly pressed her hand cordially. " I
 
 EEAL AWKWAEDXESS OF THE POSITIOX. 113 
 
 am glad that is so ; you will have full con- 
 fidence in me now." 
 
 " You had that when I first looked at 
 you/' she said, simply. '•' You will under- 
 stand perfectly that it will be my plecMure 
 to do everything that is necessary for your 
 comfort. You will, T am siu^e, excuse me 
 now. Old recollections have crowded upon 
 me, so that I am hardly myself" With 
 eyes still shining and a slight inclination 
 of the head, she went out. 
 
 '•' Fortunate, as the case stands," was 
 Reillv's laconic remark. 
 
 '' I T\'ill take care to have everything — 
 everything I can think of — sent to you. 
 Save her as much trouble as possible," said 
 the colonel, warmly. 
 
 " In that case don't send ' everything.' 
 I will make known my requirements. The 
 real awkwardness of the position consists in 
 the fact that, for some reason, these ladies 
 desire strict seclusion." 
 
 " We will see that their seclusion shall be 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 114 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 as strictly kept by ourselves;" said Bathurst, 
 loftily. '' Why, there is O'Buncous wander- 
 ing about outside. He must be warned off. 
 I'm afraid he lacks the delicacy to meet tlie 
 family upon the terms for which we are 
 prepared. Ill give him a strong hint at 
 once." At this point the doctor shrugged 
 his shoulders. " Let me sec, you want the 
 large portmanteau sent round. You will 
 see me again to-day. Good-bye." Then 
 Bathurst hastily went out. 
 
 The major's spirits were considerably 
 depressed, that was very evident, and for 
 this small mercy his old friend Was grateful. 
 
 " I will keep up the severity, however, 
 to keep him out of mischief," he thought. 
 
 The old gardener was cutting a hedge ; 
 as they passed, O'Buncous put a coin into 
 his hand. " Leave the gate unfastened 
 to-morrow," he said, as he passed on. 
 
 But the colonel's ears had caught part 
 of the sentence. 
 
 " Keep the gate closed," he said, in a
 
 KEAL AWKAVAPtDNESS OF THE POSITION. 115 
 
 voice so full of stern command that the old 
 man stopped his work, and looked np in 
 awe, and touched his cap obediently. 
 
 "Well, you might have spoken first. 
 I've wasted sixpence."
 
 116 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GOOD MOKNING." 
 
 '^ You were right, Adelaide, in going to see 
 Mr. Seymour yesterday. I had forgotten 
 for the moment that it was an excellent 
 opportunity for you to become somewhat 
 acquainted with the outside world, since 
 it is settled you should meet it." 
 
 The sentence ended with a weary sigh, 
 as though the speaker were grieved it should 
 be so. 
 
 " I shall not expect my work outside to 
 be with such pleasant people as Doctor 
 Reilly and that beautiful boy. How very 
 odd you should have known his father ! 
 "Who was he, mamma ? "
 
 "GOOD MORNING." 117 
 
 '■' I think, perhaps, I ought to tell you, 
 Adelaide, that he was, besides being one 
 of your father's dearest friends — that he 
 was with him entirely during his illness in 
 India. Your father retained the memory 
 of that friendship to the last." 
 
 "Yes," said Adelaide, in a low subdued 
 yoice. Then she saw the fio'ure of Bathurst 
 walking towards the house. ]\Irs. Elmore 
 had giyen him a key of that dreadful 
 monastic gate which shut the Glade from 
 the world. Adelaide hastened to change 
 the topic. " See, there is the colonel. 
 You wanted to speak to him about those 
 grapes and things he showered on us." 
 
 "My dear, I haye shunned the world so 
 long that I almost shrink from meeting 
 any one now. You raust ; therefore I will 
 leaye that to you." 
 
 " I am resolyed to let no difficulties stand 
 in my way. Fortunately I haye been able 
 to discoyer that I suffer no embarrassment 
 in the presence of strangers." And Adelaide
 
 118 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 sat down and commenced to arrange her 
 work methodically. 
 
 Mrs. Elmore's eyes dwelt long and ad- 
 miringly on the gracefully Ijent head, the 
 noble l)row, the pale clear complexion of 
 this dignified woman, who seemed still only 
 a girl to her. 
 
 Not once for the next hour did a thought 
 of Colonel Bathurst strike the girl's mind ; 
 she Avorked steadily on in silence, for she 
 was alone. Then, hearing a footstep, she 
 rose quickly, and hastened out to intercept 
 him on his dejDarture. 
 
 He was going very slowly, almost un- 
 willingly, and glancing around expectantly. 
 "Ah, good morning! So glad to see some one. 
 How strong a thing habit is ! I can't feel I 
 have a right to come in without a welcome." 
 
 " Would it really ease your mind to say 
 ' i^ood morniniij ' before vou o-o to Mr. 
 Seymour ? " she asked, smiling. " 1 will 
 cause mamma to appear for a few seconds, 
 if you desire it."
 
 "GOOD MORNING." 119 
 
 " By no means ! I refuse to encroach 
 upon her generosity in any way. I onlv 
 meant some one." 
 
 *' Since any one will do, and she is so 
 retiring, I will try and remember that you 
 want some one to bow to in future." 
 
 And then he bowed with the utmost 
 gravity ; she was equally grave. 
 
 " I know that Doctor Reilly is satisfied. 
 He was very anxious in the night, but now 
 he says that he is almost certain the injury- 
 is local. Colonel Bathurst, it is very extra- 
 ordinary — no one has spoken of it yet, as 
 far as I know — but, how did the accident 
 occur { 
 
 He hesitated. " It may seem very 
 extraordinary to you, but, in my anxiety 
 for the boy, it has never once occurred to 
 me to inquire into the matter." 
 
 " Exactly. You were fully occupied 
 yesterday in seeing that the doctor had 
 aU he required." 
 
 '' I actually forgot my dinner," he said.
 
 120 AUTUMN MANGEUVEES. 
 
 '' My guests politely waited until they were 
 tired." 
 
 " I have not much sympathy for them. 
 If anything could be less consequence than 
 another, it would be going without one's 
 dinner," she said, carelessly. " But I am 
 forgetting my message. My mother wished 
 me to tell you to send your delicacies a 
 little less lavishly, unless your patient's 
 capacity for such things should be of an 
 extent not shown at present." 
 
 " I will be careful," he said, discreetly. 
 
 '' And Doctor Reilly said he must not 
 have so many flowers in his room. You 
 know, I go there when I like ; that is my 
 privilege. I had to give a heap of them 
 to my sister this morning. She was in 
 raptures with them." 
 
 "Nothing better could be desired. No- 
 body goes into raptures over them in my 
 conservatories." 
 
 " She positively dotes on beautiful things ; 
 and our flowers, although we have plenty, 
 are only of the commonest kinds."
 
 "GOOD MOEXIXG." 121 
 
 " So do I," said Bathurst, with some 
 enthusiasm. ''I love beauty absolutely. 
 And, here iu this place, I enjoy it perhaps 
 more than elsewhere ; for from my boy- 
 hood I remember these trees. The shape 
 of that gnarled trunk is as familiar to my 
 eye as my mother's face. The Glade was 
 always lovely." 
 
 " It is the loveliest place I have ever 
 seen," she answered. •'' I don't mean to 
 qualify that opinion, mind, but at present 
 I have really seen very little." 
 
 They had strolled on very slowly while 
 they talked, and were now standing under 
 the shade of the magnificent oaks that 
 formed the great attraction of the Glade. 
 And surely, the attraction was great, with 
 this rich autumn sunlio-ht fallino^ on those 
 noble trees, and o-limmerins: throuo-h their 
 russet leaves on to the fresh green turf 
 below, the slope winding here and there 
 through Cjuite natural inequalities of ground, 
 finding a gradual descent to where could
 
 122 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 just be seen a silver glittering streak, showing 
 the winding curve of the river. 
 
 " When the Pierpoints lived here, my 
 eyes w^ere never gladdened as they are now. 
 But the place was unoccupied for years." 
 
 " You are, then, fond of trees ? '' said 
 Adelaide. 
 
 "My mother chose this place, knowing- 
 nothing of it, entirely from this oak, which 
 stood in the foreground of the drawing 
 which w^as sent to her. There is so much 
 latent beauty in a tree — so much hidden 
 meaning." 
 
 Mrs. Elmore happened to glance from 
 a window, and saw that they were talking 
 earnestly. Her face grew very sad as she 
 gazed, and her lips trembled ; but she 
 turned away, and set the rebellious lips in 
 a very firm line. Still those ominous 
 thoughts clung to her, and they were not 
 to be disposed of, though she had turned 
 her eyes away. Her heart remained with 
 that well-beloved child, w^ho for the first
 
 "GOOD MORNING." 123 
 
 time in her life, tliougii thirty years of it 
 had passed by, was thrown into a position 
 of intimacy with a man. 
 
 And indeed, Adelaide seemed most familiar 
 with the position. She might all her life 
 have been accustomed to walk and talk 
 with men, considering the ease with which 
 she did both. Certainly she felt singularly 
 at home with the colonel. 
 
 " Do you contemplate making medicine 
 your study ? " he asked, tentatively. '' I 
 am judging from your observation before 
 you saw my nephew." 
 
 " No, no/' she answered, with a smile ; 
 "I do not aim so high. I have for many 
 years hoped to make my life useful, and at 
 last my mother has given her permission 
 to my taking up some work that may be of 
 benefit to others. So next month I am 
 going north, to take a district among the 
 poor." 
 
 " Have you any positive ideas ? " 
 
 " Very positive," she answered, with that
 
 124 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 cliarmino; lialf-smile that had no tinae of 
 satire in it. " But — about what ? " 
 
 " The duties you undertake. I am rather 
 vague " 
 
 " So am I — very. I am going to a clergy- 
 man, whom mamma once knew. His wife 
 will instruct me at the commencement. 
 After that I must find my own way." 
 
 ''Do I understand that you have lived 
 in strict seclusion until now ? " 
 
 " We have lived in the strictest seclusion 
 since my father's death, and that was fifteen 
 years ago. And then even I was a mere 
 child." After a slight pause she went on 
 with alacrity, " So I may indeed say I have 
 the world before me — quite untried." 
 
 " It is a very serious responsibilitiy," he 
 said, gravely. 
 
 " I don't intend to take the whole of the 
 planet on my shoulders just at once. I 
 shall find my way carefully about it at first. 
 We can't expect to run before we can 
 walk."
 
 "GOOD MORXIXG." 125 
 
 " Does Mrs. Elmore really approve ? or, 
 excuse me, does she give way under 
 pressure 1 " 
 
 He looked steadily at the girl, \Yhose face 
 changed suddenly at his words. 
 
 *' A question so difficult to answer truth- 
 fully that I would pass it, if you please." 
 
 "Forgive me, but you have given the 
 answer." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " That is a cjuestion difficult to answer. 
 Still it is clear to me that she does dis- 
 approve ; but, that her love being stronger 
 than yours, she, after some struggle for 
 what she believes to be best, gives way to 
 you. 
 
 The colour rushed into her face, and made 
 her lovelier than ever. 
 
 " She cannot love me more," she com- 
 menced, with angry enthusiasm; and then 
 she stopped suddenly, and all the energy 
 and light went straight out of her face. 
 ''I do not know," she said, thouojhtfullv.
 
 126 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 " Pcrliaps you arc right. I am very ignorant 
 of some things." 
 
 He was thinking how wonderfully ex- 
 pressive her face was, when the faintest 
 rustle of a dress drew his attention to 
 another girl, fairer, if possible, than this ; for 
 Kate's glowing beauty was of that order 
 which extinguished for a moment the more 
 perfect lines of her sister. Kate was 
 harmony incarnate. So Bathurst thought 
 while her sweet voice thrilled him, even by 
 the utterance of a few commonplace words, 
 so musical was their tone. 
 
 " Mamma wants you, Adelaide. She said 
 you must have forgotten all about the jam." 
 
 '' And so I had. This is my sister Kate, 
 Colonel Bathurst. You'll find in her one who 
 thoroughly sympathizes with your intense 
 ideas on beauty. Don't detain Colonel 
 Bathurst, Kate. Good morning ! " 
 
 Again that dio-nified bow, and she was 
 
 gone. 
 
 '' And is your sister, then, as devoted to
 
 "GOOD MOPtXIXG." 127 
 
 jam as you are to beauty ? " lie asked, play- 
 fully. 
 
 "Oh no ! She makes it principally for 
 me. Indeed, I am quite in despair when I 
 think of her leaving us. She does make 
 such delicious things." 
 
 "Do you, then, adore delicacies as you 
 do beauty ? I have found a kindred spirit." 
 
 He felt on totally different terms with 
 this careless, bright young creature ; besides, 
 her very youth gave him a freedom. He 
 felt he was not quite his own master with 
 her statuesque sister. 
 
 Kate laughed, not loudly, yet the laugh 
 was clear and far-reaching. He recognized 
 in it those particular notes Vivian had 
 admired in church. 
 
 " Not quite as much. I do love flowers 
 better than jam. And what exquisite things 
 those were you sent this morning ! I don't 
 know the names of half of them. Now, 
 Mary did ; she's so clever, you know." 
 
 " Is that another sister ? "
 
 128 AUTUMN MANCEUYPtES. 
 
 " Ob, I forgot ; you don't know lier. 
 Nobody knows us, and we know nobody." 
 
 " Tbere you bave tlic advantage of me — I 
 don't know 'nobody,'" said Batburst, witb 
 mock gravity. 
 
 Aofain tbat delicious lauo'b. Mrs. Elmore 
 beard it tbis time, and went to tbe window. 
 
 " T ougbt not to bave sent Kate. You, 
 Mary, bave a tbousand times more discre- 
 tion. Go and bring ber in." 
 
 Witbout a word, Mary, in ber wbite morn- 
 ing gown, and ber fair long bair plaited in 
 a tbick mass, sbowing its wbole lengtb, 
 walked witb mecbanical coolness into tbe 
 garden, and recognizing tbe colonel by tbe 
 merest bend of ber bead, witbout once 
 raising ber eyelids, bade ber sister remember 
 tbat she must not detain Colonel Batburst, 
 and tbat ber laugbter migbt disturb tbe 
 invalid. 
 
 "You baven't tbe least idea bow my 
 nepbcw dotes on sweet sounds. It would 
 do bim good to bear tbe faintest ecbo of 
 your sister s voice."
 
 "GOOD MOKNING." 129 
 
 '' Not when he is asleep," said Mary, 
 briefly. And then she put her hand upon 
 her sister's arm, and, after the shortest 
 adieux, Bathurst had the pleasure of watch- 
 ing their graceful forms disappear. 
 
 Now, Keilly, from his commanding posi- 
 tion in a room with three windows at 
 different angles, had seen all this, and smiled 
 as he remembered the colonel's grandly 
 uttered words as to keeping up the ladies' 
 "strict seclusion." 
 
 VOL. 1.
 
 130 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONSCIENCE. 
 
 Mrs. Elmore and lier three daughters had 
 been all in all to each other for many years. 
 They were sufficiently intelligent to be able 
 to endure their retirement, and find all their 
 resources within themselves. To be com- 
 paratively happy is much in this world, and 
 this lesson their mother had constantly im- 
 pressed upon her girls, knowing well that 
 to the majority of women such lives would 
 have been insufferably dull, while to others 
 Avhose training had taught them to believe 
 that society was the be all and end all of 
 existence, such lives would have been simply 
 impossible. 
 
 But she deserved her success, imperfect
 
 CONSCIENCE. 131 
 
 thougrli it was, for she had dedicated her 
 whole life and thought to her children, and 
 they never guessed how much they owed 
 her. One result had, however, been achieved, 
 and it was that her daughters loved her de- 
 votedly, and ^"ied with each other in show- 
 ing the tenderness of their solicitude for one 
 who, through all her trouble, had considered 
 them above all things. 
 
 It was a cruel fate that crossed Mrs. 
 Elmore's path at this time. She had 
 struggled against nature for the right ; 
 always, as she contended to herself, verily 
 aorainst nature, but for the rio-ht. 
 
 And now an incident, strange as it was 
 unexpected, had upset every plan, and had 
 thrown her daughters into the very danger 
 she had avoided. It occurred to her. in 
 the depths of her anxiety, to request the 
 girls to keep entirely to their own rooms, 
 and not to walk in the garden ; but this 
 seemed an overstrained measure, one that 
 might even be apt to provoke rebellion in
 
 132 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 the spirit if not in the letter. Again, did 
 not each one know the path that was marked 
 out for her in this world ? Did not each 
 one know what was to be avoided ? And 
 again, were not these men gentlemen ? She 
 had nothino' to fear from them. And what 
 conld be more unlikely than that these pure, 
 delicately reared girls, spotless as they were, 
 should be attracted by the first man, how- 
 over suitable he might be, who approached 
 them ? 
 
 For Adelaide, she could have no fear. 
 She had l)cen compelled to admit of her 
 daughter's capacity to go out in the world 
 alone. Would it not, then, be the height of 
 inconsistency to assume that she ought not 
 to speak to a man who had shown so much 
 consideration, and who was, as she repeated 
 to herself, undoubtedly so thoroughly a 
 o-entleman as Colonel Bathurst ? 
 
 While these reflections passed through her 
 mind, she observed Colonel Bathurst speaking 
 to Kate on the lawn. Of course she was
 
 COXSCIEXCE. 133 
 
 but a child to him, and the mother saw that 
 he reo-arded her in that ho'ht. Whenever 
 they met they had merry little battles of 
 words, and Kate was always free and un- 
 affected before him. Still, perhaps her very 
 anxiety made this loving woman suspicious, 
 for of late she had noticed that Kate occa- 
 sionally fell into fits of a1)str action, and she 
 knew enough of human nature to be sure 
 that this meant some sort of change, if not 
 mischief. 
 
 "Doctor Eeilly's compliments, ma'am; 
 and could he speak with you ? " 
 
 " Ask him whether he will come here to 
 me, or whether I shall go to ^h. Seymour's 
 room." 
 
 Only one week had elapsed, and although 
 the distance had been uniformly kept to the 
 letter of the law, yet, when any of these 
 people did meet, they were most friendly. 
 They could not help being so, for they were 
 eminently suited to each other, and they all 
 recognized this.
 
 134 AUTUMN MANCEUVrvES. 
 
 "Doctor Rcilly will come' to you if you 
 jire alone.'' 
 
 And in another minute the young man 
 came in. He closed the door, and she in- 
 dicated a seat in the bay window, in which 
 she was sitting. His step was brisk and 
 decided, like all his movements, and his 
 eyes were keen to match. The rest of his 
 features were, however, rather of the solid, 
 thoughtful type. 
 
 " So like his father," she thought. '' Cer- 
 tainly a man to trust in any degree." 
 
 The keen, grey eyes softened considerably 
 as they gazed upon her. 
 
 " You are not looking quite so well — a 
 little harassed, I should say. I am sure, 
 Mrs. Elmore, you are not well." 
 
 " You did not come to say that," she 
 answered, with a smile that chased the care 
 from her face ; " and — true to your jDrofes- 
 sion, I perceive. Allow me to say that you 
 look paler than you did a week ago." 
 
 Then he smiled.
 
 CONSCIENCE. 135 
 
 " Yes ; I'm not used to confinement. But 
 your rooms are delightfully aiiy, and light, 
 and healthful.'' 
 
 "Yes. I have given some thought to 
 such things for the children's sake. Won't 
 you be seated ? " 
 
 " I first want to ask you if you have any 
 objection to have the door open when yom^ 
 daughter is singing ? I find my patient, 
 who is passionately fond of music, is soothed 
 and delighted when he hears her. If by 
 such means we could lessen the distance 
 between them, would you object ? " 
 
 " Most certainly not. I will tell Kate. 
 She will be going to practise in a few 
 minutes. She is bidding Colonel Bathurst 
 good-bye now." 
 
 Then Eeilly went out quickly — he did 
 everything with the same decision — and 
 opened the door of Vivian's room. Then 
 he returned to her, and presently the strains 
 of Kate's grand voice were heard singing 
 one of Storace's most pathetic ballads.
 
 136 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 They could almost hour the -words from 
 where they sat. 
 
 *' AVhat a magnificent voice she has ! It 
 would make her fortune in the world." 
 
 " I believe that," said Mrs. Elmore, 
 quietly. " But a fortune would be no use 
 to Kate." 
 
 " I don't know that a fortune is the most 
 desirable thing in the world," said he, follow- 
 ing her tone. "Yet it appears somewhat 
 a pity so great a gift as that should be 
 wasted." 
 
 " I think so too," she said, calmly. 
 
 Then they both paused to listen to "Down 
 by the Eiver," the impassioned music, the 
 pathetic words melting together, thrillingly 
 united by the girl's fresh, clear voice. 
 
 " When chill blows the wind, and tempests are 
 beating, 
 I'll count all the clouds as I mark them retreating ; 
 For true lovers' joys, well-a-day ! are as fleeting." 
 
 By the time the refrain was ended, Mrs. 
 Elmore's eyes were full of tears. She shook
 
 CONSCIENCE. 137 
 
 them away a little angrily. " You are 
 right ; I am out of sorts to-day. That song 
 always affects me ; it is association." 
 
 " I'm not surprised that any one should be 
 affected by that sympathetic voice. I am, 
 althouo'h I do not know the words. Your 
 daughter's trainino; has been '"' 
 
 " More of nature than art. I have taught 
 her all I knew, and she has gone far beyond 
 me. I knew that I was giving her a 
 pleasure of a lasting order. More than that 
 — a joy ; so I spared no pains." 
 
 ''AVill you think me unjustifiably im- 
 pertinent if I ask you one question ? " said 
 Eeilly, knowing he was taking a risk, and 
 prepared for it. 
 
 He need not have been afraid ; she was 
 only too glad to accept help from such a 
 man as he, and she felt weak and desponding. 
 
 " You are mystified about us, that is the 
 truth. Doctor Eeilly, and I do not wonder 
 that you should be. However, some things 
 are, as you know, very hard to talk about.
 
 138 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 I ueecl not, therefore, enter into painful 
 details, although I still have the most 
 earnest desire to inform you that there is 
 urgent and overpowering reason why my 
 daughters should not marry. I am, perhaps, 
 one of the most unhappy women on the face 
 of God's earth, because my cross is so hard 
 to bear. In some things I am blest. In my 
 daughters I have every reliance, every satis- 
 faction. I am speaking to you quite without 
 reserve. Their hearts are as good as their 
 minds are rational ; therefore I have been 
 able to deal with them as I have dealt. But, 
 unfortunately, they are beautiful. You know 
 that," she added, apologetically. " If it had 
 not been for that, I could have acted so 
 differently ! I could have travelled with 
 them, given them varied interests. But can 
 I do anything but seclude such girls as 
 these ? " 
 
 She looked so painfully earnest as she 
 uttered these words that Keilly hesitated. 
 It was unlike him.
 
 CONSCIENCE. 139 
 
 "All!" she said, "even your decisioii 
 folters, I can see." 
 
 "No, Mrs. Elmore. I am thinking how 
 I can express myself to you. I have thought 
 over the matter many times since it has been 
 my privilege to l)e in this house. I have 
 much to say." 
 
 " Say what you like," she said. " I have 
 heard no man's voice in any matter that 
 concerns me, and I should be gratified to 
 know what you really think. You cannot 
 offend me, for I know you will speak 
 according to your conscience ; and I know 
 that I can trust you." 
 
 "Then," said he, "I will begin hy 
 assuming that your decision is one that 
 admits of no dispute." 
 
 "' There can be no doubt of that," she said, 
 emphatically. 
 
 "Then we will start there. You admit 
 that your daughters are beautiful. They 
 are eminently attractive. You have made 
 them so. From your high moral standpoint
 
 140 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 you have drawn tliem up, so to speak, by 
 your side. You have spared no study, no 
 thought for their welfare. I need not tell 
 you that I have observed the beauty and 
 the freedom of their movements, tlie splendid 
 developments of physical strength and 
 physical grace." 
 
 " Ah ! yes, you have observed," she said, 
 warming to the subject. " I have succeeded 
 in making them healthy and strong. This 
 I. value more than beauty." 
 
 "There are two views in which we can 
 regard this matter. I will show you. First, 
 — forgive the abrupt question — have you 
 been wise in doiDo; this ? " 
 
 "Wise?" 
 
 " There is not a doubt in your mind. 
 Now, I have one in mine. It is a view we 
 should not omit to take. You know some- 
 thing of physiology, and if I make no 
 mistake you know something of psychology 
 too. Now, when you produce a creature as 
 near perfection as it can be, the natural
 
 CONSCIENCE. 141 
 
 demands upon that creature ^yill equal tlie 
 standard of its perfections. If your girls 
 were destined to lead the lives of women, all 
 this would he well — nothing could be better. 
 But if they had grown up sickly, puny, 
 half-formed specimens of humanity — Mrs. 
 Elmore, of course, you do know how 
 materially the health goes to produce and 
 retain beauty." 
 
 She nodded assent. 
 
 *' If, as I say, they had not been so 
 admirably reared, your position would be 
 much easier ; and so would theirs." 
 
 " I hope I do not understand you. It is 
 cruel." 
 
 " But it is, unfortunately, true. Their in- 
 stinct, heart, and brains will demand more 
 than you can possibly give them ; therefore 
 I think they will be the greater sufferers on 
 account of their perfections." 
 
 *' Your meaning is quite clear to me ; but 
 I am ready to admit that such an argument 
 never once occurred to me. Still there is
 
 142 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 another side even to your vie\Y. I hope — 
 I believe that their minds are capable of 
 dealing witli the difficulty philosophically, 
 which could not be if they had had no 
 training. '^ 
 
 " Then why do you hold it necessary to 
 withhold them entirely from society ? " 
 
 " Because, doctor, I know the strength of 
 human passion ! I know that temptations 
 would assail them, and I would save them 
 pain. As it is, they have resources within 
 themselves that many women of the world 
 have not. And we must remember that 
 many thousands of women, from force of 
 circumstances alone, or fate — call it what 
 you will — are destined to lives of unhappi- 
 ness, disappointment, and regret." 
 
 "Exactly. But these women have had 
 their chances in life. They have not de- 
 liberately chosen their misfortunes ; they 
 may be often aware their own mistakes have 
 been the cause. But there has not been 
 absolute denial of all natural feeling, and the
 
 CONSCIENCE. 143 
 
 candle is burnt out, the force spent. You 
 cannot lis^ht it ao-ain ; it is crone ! The lio-ht, 
 the heat, the strange overwhelming mystery 
 of life is before all your girls, and they ma}- 
 not turn a page to unriddle it. I pity them, 
 Mrs. Elmore, much more in their beautiful 
 energy and health than I should if they 
 were half-bred, ill-constructed beings, who 
 have positively no rights to marry at all." 
 
 " You regard the matter in a j)^^i'ely 
 physical sense, and I have overlooked that 
 in the moral. According to my conscience 
 I have done well ; but it does not follow 
 that I have been right. Plainly, what do 
 you think I ought to have done ? " 
 
 "Wrong can never be right under any 
 circumstances. It is like making a wonder- 
 fully balanced machine with infinite care, 
 and then trying to reverse the whole 
 action of it — sending round the wheel the 
 opposite way. Like ? Why, the simile is 
 profane. It is taking one of God's finest, 
 most delicate, most sensitive organizations.
 
 144 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 and forcing all the finer germs of being into 
 slow annihilation/' 
 
 Mrs. Elmore's face was full of pain as she 
 listened to those words. They went home 
 to her keenly, for she had had her day, and 
 it had heen fine — ay, glorious — up to its 
 meridian, when the clouds had gathered 
 thick and fast around her. 
 
 "I cannot help being honest. There is 
 no help if one does not speak one's mind," 
 he said softly, seeing her shudder at his 
 strong words. 
 
 *' And yet my girls liave not been un- 
 happy," she said, thoughtfully. 
 
 " Their time has not come. It would 
 come if you kept them locked in an en- 
 chanted castle, for they are human. Do you 
 conceive it to be possible that by reason of 
 some undue trial and a naturally exalted 
 mind, you have arrived at an exaggerated 
 idea of right ? " 
 
 At this question, delicately as it was put, 
 Mrs. Elmore exhibited great uneasiness.
 
 CONSCIENCE. 145 
 
 "There can be no doubt of that. As I 
 have told you, the subject is extremely dis- 
 tressing, and nothing could possibly alter 
 my opinion. Therefore will you please take 
 it for granted that conscientiously my 
 daughters are as fully convinced of the abso- 
 lute reason for their misfortune as I myself" 
 
 He saw now that she meant to keep the 
 secret. He inclined his head as accepting 
 this decision, and went on — 
 
 " Well, then, since they so well understand 
 their position, and are so well prepared to 
 meet it, since they are intellectually and 
 morally superior to ordinary young women, 
 why deny them the natural desire for 
 society ? You dread pain. I would say, 
 with minds so trained, your girls will have 
 happier lives by realizing a passion and 
 overcoming it, than by bearing within them 
 a never-satisfying infinite want." 
 
 This suggestion, strangely enough, did not 
 appear to distress her. 
 
 *' And with their training do you think 
 
 VOL. r. 10
 
 146 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 tliey might resist the temptation ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " Ask me if you think a bird can clip his 
 own wings ? 
 
 * Who stems a stream with sand 
 And fetters flame with flaxen band, 
 Has yet a harder task to prove — 
 By firm resolve to conquer love,' 
 
 or nature, it's the same thing." 
 
 Then there was silence. In a moment it 
 was broken most musically by Kate's voice 
 trillinsf a cadence as she came across the 
 hall. Mrs. Elmore composed her counte- 
 nance ; Reilly leant back in his chair. 
 
 " Why, what a dreadful pair of old gossips 
 you are ! " 
 
 "Kate!'' 
 
 " But you are. I forget — perhaps you 
 haven't been talking. I always do, you see, 
 and I suppose it's only natural to judge 
 from one's own experiences." 
 
 " It's a good starting-point," said Reilly, 
 gravely.
 
 CONSCIENCE. 147 
 
 *' Yes, if one can go on with one's expe- 
 riences ; but I can't. Well, good-bye ! I'm 
 going for a scamper on Ajax. I'm dying for 
 action." 
 
 There was a vein of tenderness through 
 the wild girlish words, and she hovered 
 about her mother as she spoke. Then she 
 put her hand upon JVIrs. Elmore's shoulder, 
 and stooping over caressingly kissed her 
 cheek. 
 
 " There, dear, run away." 
 
 " Have I committed a solecism, mamma ? 
 I do hope it wasn't wrong to kiss you. If 
 it was, Doctor Eeilly, you must excuse it, 
 because I know no better." 
 
 She made him just the least inclination at 
 parting, and went to put on her habit. 
 
 *' She is like a child," said her mother, 
 gravely. 
 
 " In some ways, yes. I think you would 
 find her quite as much advanced as even 
 your eldest daughter in others." 
 
 " Oh ! you are mistaken. Adelaide is a
 
 148 AUTUMN MANOSUVRES. 
 
 totally different character ; she is discretion 
 itself, her feelings are under thorough con- 
 trol. Kate will, I fear, never be like that." 
 
 " Then you will not send her out into a 
 strange country without guidance, as you 
 do the admirable woman I have had the 
 pleasure of seeing much during my stay 
 here." 
 
 "You are cruel ! Cannot you guess how 
 I have tried to prevent that ? " He rose, 
 took her hand, and held it. With deep 
 compassion he said, " I feel too strongly, 
 sympathize too deeply with your sorrow, to 
 be anything but faithful to the trust you 
 have reposed in me. I believe I have some 
 truth on my side. And may I be allowed 
 to say one thing upon which I have no 
 doubt ? — for your daughter who is about to 
 leave you it is impossible to give too much 
 liberty. You understand this ? " 
 
 " I think you will see that I have done 
 that. I have gone so far as to put her in 
 the way of yourself and Colonel Bathursr."
 
 COXSCIEXCE. 149 
 
 After this serious discussion Mrs. Elmore's 
 perplexities increased. She began to doubt 
 her own wisdom, for it was undeniably true, 
 as Eeilly had said, that the time should 
 come when these girls would iosist, as Ade- 
 laide had already, on taking some line for 
 themselves. 
 
 " Oh that they had been boys," she 
 thought, in the bitterness of her spirit ; and 
 even as she half uttered the words, she 
 recognized that if they had been boys her 
 conscience, however strong, could only have 
 helped to influence them ; she never could 
 have prevented them from any step save by 
 persuasion. 
 
 After all she decided to take the fairest 
 view of things, and for the next few weeks 
 allow her daughters the freedom Eeilly 
 deemed expedient. Under her very eye, 
 their every footstep watched, with men such 
 as these who were bound in honour to 
 protect her, could there ever be a safer 
 opportunity ?
 
 150 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 Perhaps it was because he had nothing 
 else to do ; but for whatever reason, it cer- 
 tainly happened that Reilly's mind dwelt 
 continually on the curious circumstance that 
 had been brought before him. He asked 
 Bathurst one morning whether he had formed 
 any idea about the strangeness of the whole 
 proceeding as they knew it, and the colonel 
 merely shrugged his shoulders and gave a 
 very emphatic denial. 
 
 " You are the man, Reilly, to have an 
 idea," he said. 
 
 "No, you are the man full of ideas. I 
 have many a conversation with your nephew 
 now, and he is always quoting you. You 
 know your notions are sometimes received 
 as queer ? " 
 
 "I do — by men who can t comprehend me." 
 
 " And you know that I do. Well, you 
 give me credit for thinking things out, but 
 here there is a dead block. I can get at 
 nothing. I only surmise." 
 
 " Yes ? " inquired Bathurst, expectantly.
 
 CONSCIENCE. 151 
 
 " Monomania/' was the laconic reply. 
 
 "The devil! The very last thing that 
 would have occurred to me." 
 
 •' I should naturally take such things into 
 consideration," said Reilly, modestly. 
 
 " Oh, it's a fact ! " exclaimed Bathurst. 
 " You've got it, Eeilly ! It accounts for 
 ever3rthing. Now, I don't mind telling you 
 that I get more interested in this household 
 day by day, and I really think that from a 
 humanitarian point of view we had better 
 take the thing up." 
 
 " There you go ahead of me,'' said Eeilly, 
 quietly. 
 
 " Why, don't you see ? cure the mother — 
 surely you don't think it's a case of mono- 
 mania all round — and earn the everlastinof 
 gratitude of three as beautiful and irresis- 
 tibly charming women as ever existed ! " 
 
 " You're as warm as O'Buncous." 
 
 " Warmer. O'Buncous only talks heat — 
 I feel it. Without levity, I think I have a 
 duty here."
 
 152 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 " If yoa tliink you have a duty, colonel, 
 a wall forty feet high won't stop your gallop." 
 " Hush ! who is that singing ? " 
 It was not a woman's voice ; it was a 
 rather husky undecided baritone, lifting 
 itself up with great expression in the 
 " Minstrel Boy "— 
 
 " In the ranks of death you'll foind him." 
 " It must be O'Buncous. ' In the ranks 
 of death,' indeed — running after a petticoat. 
 AVhat do you think Kate called him yester- 
 day ? She was talking to me alone, you 
 know, and she said ' that comical old man.' " 
 "Just like her," laughed Eeilly. ''She 
 fools him to the top of his bent." 
 "And snubs him unmercifully." 
 " He must be well used to that." 
 " Well, Eeilly, are you going in for it ? " 
 " I haven't thought it out yet." 
 " But if you are not for me, you will not 
 be against me ? " 
 
 The answer was a penetrating, halt-amused 
 glance.
 
 CONSCIENCE. 153 
 
 " I see you suspect me," said Bathurst, 
 " so I may as well admit without circum- 
 locution that I mean to see the end of the 
 mystery — of course, for the good of the com- 
 munity. You can keep Vivian in the dark, 
 and also keep him on his back." 
 
 " Here you touch me on a point of honour. 
 My professional reputation is concerned. As 
 soon as Seymour can move, he must be 
 moved. But I know what you mean ; we'll 
 hang about as long as we can for the ' good 
 of the community.' Seriously, I am des- 
 perately sorry for Mrs. Elmore ; she is in 
 such downright earnest, is such a thorough 
 lady, and is so perfectly clear and rational 
 in every thing else, that it really becomes a 
 doubly interesting matter to me, knowing 
 her indirectly as I do." 
 
 '' Then why should you hesitate ? " 
 
 " One never knows the results," said Eeilly, 
 impressively. 
 
 A slight sound from an electric bell. 
 
 *' That's Seymour ; I'm o£"
 
 154 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 "So am I," said Bathurst. He saw a 
 certain grey dress upon the lawn. 
 
 The rooms communicated ; a few steps 
 took Reilly to Vivian s side. For once, the 
 now pale, delicately handsome face was filled 
 with an expression of vexation. 
 
 *' Can't you manage to stop that infernal 
 row ? O'Buncous is making himself such a 
 fool. It really reflects upon us to permit it. 
 Hark at him now ! Listen to his emphasis." 
 
 The deepest disgust was expressed by 
 words, but the expression of his face showed 
 more. 
 
 O'Buncous was deep in " Green grow the 
 
 Rushes 0!" 
 
 " Ye're naught but senseless asses ! 
 The wisest man the world e'er saw, 
 He dearly lo'ed the lasses ! " 
 
 " Poor old fellow ! he can't sing," said 
 Reilly, soothingly, and repressing a smile. 
 ''But the sentiment's good enough; no one 
 can deny that." 
 
 " Confound the sentiment ! It's the lady
 
 CONSCIENCE. 155 
 
 Fm thinking of. It must be agony to 
 Kate." 
 
 Reilly opened his eyes. " Fm inclined to 
 differ ; I have heard her laughing much. 
 Whether at him, or with him, who can say?" 
 
 "It is most irritating to me" said the 
 young man, composing his features and 
 closing his eyes. 
 
 " Never mind, my dear boy. Your regard 
 for the comfort of these ladies, who have 
 been so good to you, does you honour. But 
 I can tell you that Miss Kate Elmore is 
 not the girl to put up with more than she 
 chooses of the society of any man, and 
 I know a great deal more of her than 
 you do." 
 
 " Do you ? I doubt that," said Vivian, 
 languidly. 
 
 He had lain there for hours, and had 
 fed his romantic fancy with some of the 
 most passionate visions youth ever dreamt. 
 From the first moment his imagination had 
 been powerfully excited by this brilliant,
 
 156 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 fascinating beauty, upon whom his eyes had 
 rested but once. But for his ears — they had 
 drank in every sound, for he was impressed 
 by music more deeply than by the whole 
 influence of the senses. 
 
 Reilly was a discerning man. " 1 admit 
 that I know more of Miss Elmore, whose 
 intimacy I have fortunately been able to 
 cultivate, than of Miss Kate. Although you 
 are quite right — people may know each other 
 by intuition sometimes, but that is rare. 
 I am going to wheel your sofa to the win- 
 dow to-day ; you'll find it a delightful 
 change." 
 
 " What a good fellow you are, Reilly ! 
 As for me, I am an impatient monster." 
 
 ''If it pleases you to think so," was the 
 polite reply. ''It is often expedient to 
 humour a patient." 
 
 Then he carefully drew the huge old- 
 fashioned sofa to the window, and arranged 
 Vivian in a half-sitting posture, so that 
 he could see part of the garden and those
 
 CONSCIENCE. 157 
 
 admirable trees that were the glory of the 
 Glade. 
 
 '' How delicious the air is ! " 
 
 "Yes. There's nothing like being de- 
 prived of a thing to appreciate it thoroughly. 
 Now, there's another lesson for you to mark, 
 learn, and inwardly digest, while I go and 
 stretch my legs. Here's the bell. Now, 
 mind, if you're cold have the w^indow shut. 
 But I think the rug will protect you, and 
 there's no draught." 
 
 '* Don't hurry back ; I shall be all right."
 
 158 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DEVELOPING AN INTEREST IN SHELLS. 
 
 " When Beauty bright 
 My heart's chain wove." 
 
 Perfecting a scheme of his own, Reilly 
 went straight to the drawing-room, and, 
 with an excuse readily invented, disposed 
 of O'Buncous. Then he turned to Kate. 
 
 " You do not find him tiresome, I hope ? 
 Seymour has suffered much from his musical 
 eccentricities, and he seems to think that 
 you must necessarily suffer more." 
 
 She lauffhed. Of all the deliorhtful sounds 
 that ever issued from human lips, this laugh 
 of hers was one of the sweetest. Reilly, 
 whose senses were not so acutely sensitive
 
 DEVELOPIXG AX INTEREST IX SHELLS. 159 
 
 to the " concord of sweet sounds," yet 
 acknowledged the charm. 
 
 ''He has enjoyed himself," she said. 
 ** And don't you derive pleasure from see- 
 ing another thoroughly happy ? I do. I 
 think I could endure anything if I were 
 quite sure somebody else liked it." 
 
 " Miss Kate, your philosophy is admirable, 
 and, allow me to add, most original. Now 
 this chance remark of yours makes my task 
 easy. Ha^dng sacrificed half an hour of 
 your time in charity on the major, perhaps 
 you will be willing to make somebody else 
 happy." 
 
 She looked full at him most unsuspectingly, 
 and gave a little nod. 
 
 " Put on your garden hat, and stroll 
 round by Mr. Seymour's window. He has 
 been very low to-day, and I am sure that a 
 few minutes of your bright presence would 
 be more good than all the medicine in a 
 chemist's shop." 
 
 A startled, strange look came into her
 
 160 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 face, and she lifted her great innocent blue 
 eyes that looked so dreamy, so solemn, 
 when they were not laughing. 
 
 The slight compression of Reilly's lips 
 told a tale that she could not read. 
 
 Kate made no answer. 
 
 " You do not mind ? " he asked, gently. 
 " He would be so glad of an opportunity to 
 thank you for the pleasure you have, perhaps 
 unwittingly, afforded him." 
 
 Her perfect freedom with himself and 
 Bathurst, to say nothing of the childish 
 play to which she condescended with O'Bun- 
 cous, was before his mind. To what, then, 
 could he attribute this shrinking from the 
 interview ? 
 
 "No, I can't do that," she repliod, 
 quickly. 
 
 Reilly accepted the denial with a grave 
 bow. 
 
 " I will go if you wish it," she said, a 
 little breathlessly, and so seriously that he 
 could scarcely help betraying some surprise.
 
 DEYELOPING AN INTEKEST IN SHELLS. 161 
 
 However, she was quite beyond noticing 
 that. She went out without a glance at 
 him ; the merry lips composed into a serene 
 gravity, that made them sweeter than ever. 
 
 " She's the sort of girl to turn any man's 
 head, especially one of the temperament of 
 Bathurst, or his nephew." 
 
 He watched her, and from where he stood 
 saw that she played unconsciously, perhaps 
 nervously, with the hat she picked up from 
 the great oak table in the hall. 
 
 " I wonder what will come of it all ? " he 
 thought. " There's that fair saint-like girl, 
 who dresses always in w^hite, has been sitting 
 out there in the shade sketching for the last 
 hour. I wonder if she's dumb ? I shouldn't 
 be surprised at anything." 
 
 Kate was conscious of making an effort ; 
 too conscious to find the sensation agreeable. 
 Still her instinct taught her, and her train- 
 ing had helped to teach her, to fight out 
 mere sensations ; so she drew up her head, 
 and walked bravely on. 
 
 VOL. I. 11
 
 162 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 What was it she was called upon to do ? 
 A mere trifle, surely. Then her vivid 
 imagination conjured up the expression of 
 those languid eyes showing their pain — and 
 something beyond pain — when she thought 
 that he was dying. And although never 
 since had she assumed the faintest interest 
 in him, never once had she uttered his name, 
 her ears had been miraculously quick to 
 catch the least reference to him. And had 
 she not sung to him, knowing that she sung 
 to him alone, though he was not present ? 
 
 Could it be that she had walked so fast ? 
 Why should she be quite out of breath 
 when she came within view of that window ? 
 She was fully conscious of a cowardly wish 
 to turn and run away, and gave her foot a 
 little impatient stamp as she recognized it. 
 
 Well, there was no one there. She 
 could pass by and escape. Tremulously and 
 very slowly she did pass by, and, glancing 
 once in the direction of Seymour's window, 
 discovered that he was there, and that his
 
 DEVELOPING AN INTEEEST IN SHELLS. 163 
 
 eyes were closed, as the head rested back on 
 i:hat very crimson cushion she herself had 
 knitted. 
 
 Her light step did not disturb him. She 
 paused. How very pale he was ! She knew 
 that he had suffered a great deal, and had 
 borne his pain heroically. Then she forgot 
 herself entirely, and went close to the 
 window, putting one hand upon the sill, and 
 spoke with all the beautiful impulsiveness 
 of her nature. 
 
 " I am very glad you are so much better," 
 she said, softly. 
 
 Then Vivian opened his eyes. For the 
 moment his courage forsook him ; the colour 
 rushed into his face. 
 
 '' You are very good," he stammered. 
 
 And then both were silent. 
 
 Kate relapsed at once into that oppressive 
 nervousness that was so new to her. 
 
 " Did I disturb you ? " she asked, shyly. 
 
 He had gained a little time. 
 
 " Oh no, Miss Elmore. But the air has
 
 164 AUTUMN MANa:UVEES. 
 
 acted like a strong stimulant upon me. I 
 recognized your voice, and thought I was 
 dreaming. I adore your voice." 
 
 " I am very glad," she said, simply. 
 
 Her eyelids drooped all this time. Perhaps 
 he was pleased that they should. He was 
 recalling the face upon which he had gazed 
 but for a moment, that had haunted his 
 sleeping and waking dreams. He wanted 
 to make every line, every curve, every tint 
 his own ; to be as familiar with the face as 
 he was with the voice. It seemed as though 
 he had already reached his desire, so com- 
 pletely did the actual harmonize with the 
 ideal. 
 
 "Now, Eeilly," thought he, "would 
 explain this keen perfection of memory to 
 something in the retina." 
 
 Kate's hand lingered among the jessamine. 
 ' ' There is some in bloom here, but you can- 
 not see it." 
 
 She picked a branch and gave it to him. 
 It was quite a natural, careless act on her
 
 DEVELOPING AN INTEREST IN SHELLS. 165 
 
 part ; anything was easier to her than to 
 stand still and be silent. 
 
 Vivian, on the other hand, was too 
 contented for speech. He even took the 
 flower in silence, and played with it half 
 lovingly. 
 
 " It is a delicious odour ; it reminds one of 
 spring flowers. How flowers thrive here ! " 
 
 Kate paused after this speech, which she 
 was painfully aware was quite unlike her- 
 self. She could not account in the least 
 for this palpitating reserve which was half 
 delightful, half irritating. She looked up 
 and met his eyes for just one moment ; that 
 was as much as she could bear. Then she 
 made another hurried, commonplace remark 
 for mere relief from the silence. How 
 composed and satisfied he was, and how 
 hot and trembling she was becoming ! 
 
 " Do you like Adelaide ? '^ 
 
 He must answer this. 
 
 " It would not be polite to say ' I don't, 
 but really the word is too insignificant. I
 
 166 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 admire your sister, and I have a very great 
 respect for her. I hope I shall be able one 
 day to show her how I appreciate her kind- 
 ness. It is a great boon to a man deprived 
 of society even to see a lady, if he be not 
 
 * Blind to the sunshine of a woman's smile, 
 Deaf to the music of a woman's voice.' 
 
 I have always felt that a lady's mere 
 presence is of inestimable value to those 
 who are really ill and suffering. We have 
 proved it among our soldiers, you know." 
 
 " Adelaide thinks she might be of some 
 use in nursing, if she should fail in what 
 she has undertaken." 
 
 " I have not heard what that is." 
 
 " Principally cooking. The art has been 
 much neglected in this country, according 
 to the best authorities. She has some hope 
 of founding a school." 
 
 " What drudgery for a woman like that ! " 
 exclaimed Vivian. 
 
 " She would not like to hear you say so."
 
 DEVELOPING AX INTEREST IN SHELLS. 167 
 
 "Then she shall not." 
 
 " One must have some aim in one's life. 
 By mere accident she hit upon the study 
 that pleased her. She first commenced for 
 change of occupation. I haven't found my 
 interest yet." 
 
 He looked at her in surprise. " Has not 
 music been your absorbing study ? I am 
 sure it has been a pleasure." 
 
 " I do not deny my interest in music, 
 but it is not absorbing." 
 
 " I think it is almost too much to expect 
 an absorbing interest. That can only 
 arrive." 
 
 " That's what mamma says. She knows 
 we shall all find satisfaction in time. I've 
 been trying to get up an interest in shells, 
 but they are so difficult to get." 
 
 "Yes. I don't know any place about 
 here," he said, vaguely. 
 
 Then Kate laughed. Her eyes brimmed 
 over as she read his discomfiture. 
 
 "Oh no!" she said. "But I've been
 
 168 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 exceptionally lucky ; IVe three oyster shells 
 already, and Major O'Buncous has promised 
 me a mussel shell. He says he'll steal some 
 for me, or beg contributions. What a funny 
 old fellow he is ! One can't help being non- 
 sensical with him." 
 
 " It is difficult," said Vivian, going into 
 raptures over the mobile countenance that 
 gained so much in its varied expressions. 
 " ril contribute at once," he went on, gaily. 
 " Here is a specimen in some pocket," he 
 said, as he commenced to search. " I found 
 it among some things I had brought back 
 from my last foreign service. You shall 
 give it a name ; I can't." 
 
 And then he gave her a tiny shell. Their 
 hands touched, and, slight as the touch was, 
 it thrilled each one with singular force. It 
 frightened her, and sent her eyelids down, 
 and composed the lines of that sensitive 
 mouth. Vivian, not desiring to analyze, 
 simply enjoyed ; but he did not want to 
 close his eyes now.
 
 DEVELOPIXG AX INTEREST IX SHELLS. 169 
 
 " m go and find out the name," she 
 said, shutting up the gift in her soft palm. 
 
 " No, no ! don't go " " For all the 
 
 shells in creation," he ^Y0uld have added, 
 but feared. 
 
 He looked quite as anxious as his words 
 appeared to be. 
 
 " I will come back, AVould you really 
 not rather be alone ? " 
 
 " I hate to be alone," he said, vigorously. 
 Then she sped aw^ay like a lapwing over the 
 grass, and Reilly suddenly appeared. 
 
 " You should not give your secret thoughts 
 to the world, my young friend," said he, 
 sauntering up. " You have only to summon 
 me — touch the bell, or rub the lamp, and 
 here I am. Why, you're looking ten days 
 better. Still, I think you have had enough 
 of it ; the sun's going down." 
 
 But Vivian knew that his sun was rising. 
 
 "Not yet," said he, hesitating. "Miss 
 Elmore is coming back." 
 
 " Ah, then I'll go away. I'm half afraid
 
 170 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 of that girl ; there's something magical about 
 the way she uses her eyes." 
 
 '' Uses her eyes ! " 
 
 Reilly marked the tone of displeasure. 
 
 " Don't take exception to a genuine 
 remark. There's no implication on the 
 young lady ; she does not know it." 
 
 She came up. " The name is Elerichus 
 iiifAdula. I think I've got it." 
 
 '' And what is this 4t ' ? " asked Reilly, 
 intercepting her. 
 
 " What lamentable ignorance for a scien- 
 tific man ! " she exclaimed, with an affec- 
 tation of contempt that would have been 
 superb in high comedy. She was quite at 
 ease, now Reilly was present. 
 
 " I deplore my ignorance," said he. 
 '^ Will you give me twenty answers — yes or 
 no only — and let me guess ? " 
 
 " Don't," said Vivian, emphatically. "He'll 
 find out to a certainty ; he does it by a 
 system. He can discover anything." 
 
 " I defy him ! " She met his eyes merrily,
 
 DEVELOPING AX INTEREST IN SHELLS. 171 
 
 and, holdinor out the little hand clenched, 
 made a picture that would gladden any 
 man's heart. " Go on," she said. 
 
 " Inanimate ? " he asked. 
 
 " Must I be quite accurate ? " 
 
 " Quite." 
 
 " Then I will take counsel." 
 
 She leant upon the window-sill, and in a 
 playful whisper asked how she could explain 
 that it had not been always so. 
 
 " But the shell never lived," said Vivian, 
 laughing. " There's no chance of the fish 
 being alive now." 
 
 " But surely if it were aHve we should 
 calculate the shell as part of it ? Don't they 
 grow together ? " 
 
 Vivian looked slightly puzzled. 
 
 " But anyhow, it's all dead now," he said. 
 
 " Yes," she answered, turning to Eeilly. 
 
 " Two heads are better than one," he said. 
 " Mineral kingdom ? " 
 
 " No," answered Kate, quickly. 
 
 But she found it necessary again to appeal
 
 172 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 to Vivian in an undertone. ''I suppose 
 that's right ? But what is a shell com- 
 posed of?" 
 
 "I don't know at all/' he replied, so 
 gravely that Eeilly interposed. 
 
 '* There will be no chance for me if you 
 go on like this," he said. " Vegetable ? " 
 
 *' You're sure it's not formed by encrusta- 
 tions of seaweed ? " she asked, laughing, 
 while Seymour leaned out to listen to her. 
 
 " I'm not sure. But I think it must 
 become animal when it's part of a living 
 thing," he answered. 
 
 " And when the living thing deserts it, it 
 returns to its normal condition. I couldn't 
 conscientiously say it was an animal. He's 
 sure to ask me that next." 
 
 " Miss Kate, you must be lamentably 
 ignorant," commenced Keilly. 
 
 " But then, I'm not a scientific man ! 
 But I do wish to be accurate, and Mr. 
 Seymour is of no use whatever. He knows 
 less than I do."
 
 DEVELOPIXG AX INTEREST IN SHELLS. 173 
 
 " Then why appeal to him ? " asked 
 Reilly, with some show of reason. 
 
 "Because it's so natural to appeal to 
 somebody for help — whether you get it or 
 not, it's a comfort." 
 
 Reilly caught Vivian's eye, and both men 
 laughed spontaneously. 
 
 " Oh, I forget, you are men ; you never 
 know such weakness." 
 
 The sound of their laughter attracted Mrs. 
 Elmore to the spot. She had just gone out 
 in search of Kate. 
 
 '^ Do come here, mamma," the girl cried, 
 as she approached; "you'll be delighted. I 
 am developing such an interest in shells." 
 
 Then she stopped suddenly, caught 
 Reilly's eye, and put her hand over her eyes 
 as though in shame. She was so full of 
 unconscious beautiful action that it was 
 grateful to the sense merely to watch her. 
 
 Mrs. Elmore's countenance was expressive 
 of mild surprise. 
 
 " The cat is out of the bag," said Eeilly, 
 gravely. " She has betrayed herself."
 
 174 AUTUMN MANCKUVRES. 
 
 " How puzzled you look, mamma ! We 
 were playing a game, and the doctor is a 
 necromancer." 
 
 " Ah, you will never be able to keep a 
 secret," said he. " My divination has gone 
 as far as that." 
 
 " I hope she will never have one to keep," 
 said Mrs. Elmore. 
 
 And there was more- meaning in the quiet 
 words than these young people knew.
 
 ( 1T5 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO, 
 
 " The fact is, Bathurst, you're always there. 
 What do you find to say to the old lady, eh? 
 I prefer the young ones." 
 
 " Ah, you are perfectly safe, you see," 
 said Bathurst, sententiously. 
 
 But O'Buncous was beyond the keen edge 
 of satire. 
 
 "" You Ve got some game on ; you always 
 were a sly dog. It's your quiet pigs, you 
 know, that run away with your loud ones' 
 meat." 
 
 " No wonder they make a row, then ! " 
 
 " It's what I call a devilish lucky event 
 — barring your nephew ; for it's brought
 
 176 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 me into contact with, perhaps, the only 
 woman who has ever reached my heart of 
 hearts." 
 
 " And how many do you imagine you 
 have the originality to possess ? " 
 
 " You don't understand metaphor ; your 
 soul isn't poetic. They're splendid women, 
 all of them ! Either taken separately would 
 be enough to settle any man's hash. I dare 
 say a good many might vacillate between 
 them, but I go straight to the mark. By- 
 the-bye, which of 'em do you prefer ? " 
 
 " Awkward thing if we should prefer the 
 same woman," said Bathurst. 
 
 *' Oh, you needn't make a joke of it ! I'm 
 serious." 
 
 O'Buncous brought his eyebrows together 
 in a frown to prove it. 
 
 " So am I." 
 
 Bathurst looked quite as serious. 
 
 " But we have given up duelling," he 
 said. 
 
 " Well, let's trust we shan't clash ; for,
 
 iNETTLES FOR TWO. 177 
 
 though all's fair in love and war, I shouldn't 
 exactly like to cross your designs." 
 
 '' Enough of nonsense ! These ladies 
 are, as we well know, placed in a very 
 exceptional position. As I am situated, 
 with regard to them peculiarly, it behoves 
 me to give you a serious hint in the 
 matter. They have been very good to Yin, 
 and exceedingly polite to us all. It be- 
 comes my especial duty to spare them any 
 annoyance." 
 
 " As much mine as yours, Bathurst," ex- 
 claimed the major, hotly ; " for I never, as 
 the poet says, ' laid my hand upon a woman, 
 save in kindness,' except once. I do re- 
 member once. She was a laundress ; and I 
 had stood a good deal, as it concerned 
 buttons and splits ; but when it came to 
 finding myself without a change of linen, 
 and she pressing for her bill — hang it ! I 
 might have had a drop too much, but I 
 shoved her out of my room — clean out, 
 1 did, by George ! " 
 
 VOL. I. 12
 
 178 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 O'Bimoous told of the incident with great 
 earnestness. 
 
 " You ought to have been ashamed of 
 yourself," said Bathurst, laughing. 
 
 " So ought she. But I never heard of 
 her again, nor of my linen." 
 
 ''Come, it's too late to regret that, 
 especially considering the condition it was 
 in." 
 
 " Oh, it was used up, I admit. But to 
 return, my mind is dwelling upon an affair 
 of the heart. I'll keep my secret, since you 
 intend to keep yours. I must sound Reilly. 
 I shouldn't wonder if he had one too." 
 
 " Well, as long as you keep it all to 
 yourself and Reilly, no harm can be 
 done. As you say, a man can't help his 
 feelings." 
 
 Notwithstanding this conversation, Ba- 
 thurst felt uneasy that afternoon when he 
 saw O'Buncous offer Kate his arm, to take 
 her for a walk by the river. 
 
 " But he never can be fool enough I He
 
 ^'ETTLES FOR T^O. 179 
 
 was always an exaggerated talker, saving 
 more in a minute than he would swear to in 
 a month." 
 
 But the uneasiness faded as he saw Ade- 
 laide apj)roach. 
 
 " Good morningr " she said. '' You'll be 
 delighted to find great improvement in Mr. 
 Seymour to-day. Dr. Reilly proposes that 
 he should be wheeled • out in a large arm- 
 chair ; it's so easy here, the house being 
 nearly level with the garden. We think he 
 would enjoy the change of scene as much as 
 the air." 
 
 She spoke to him with great ease and 
 perfect familiarity. They had not met be- 
 fore that day, so he took her hand. 
 
 " Pray, how am I to address you ? " he 
 asked, retaining it ; "as nurse, as doctor, 
 or what ? " 
 
 "As cook, if you please," she said lightly, 
 dropping the smallest curtsy ; just an 
 attempt at one, for the sake of regaining 
 her hand without aw'kwardness.
 
 180 AUTUMN MANa:UVRES. 
 
 He was a man of experience, and saw 
 through the action and the motive. 
 
 *' But surely you don't cook wholly and 
 entirely ? " 
 
 " No ; but all delicacies I do. Chemistry 
 of food and scientific cooking are my serious 
 studies. The preparation of little nutritious 
 dishes is a recreation to me. I must make 
 experiments." 
 
 "It is a matter in which I have always 
 taken great interest — a very strong interest. 
 At one time the condition of my own health 
 demanded it ; but being a man, I have, 
 unhappily, been at the mercy of any one in 
 that respect. I never should have regained 
 my health if I had not been fortunate 
 enough to hit upon my present house- 
 keeper." 
 
 " Since we are only straying, pray let us 
 follow Kate. I saw her going down the path 
 in the most dignified manner with Major 
 O'Buncous. I think they were aping the old 
 style of courtly manners. He appeared to be
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 181 
 
 showing her some steps in dancing. Yes, 
 as you say," she continued, returning to the 
 interesting theme, " men are, it is under- 
 stood, unable to comprehend the simplest 
 matter that often appertains to their own 
 comfort. It is an inconsistency that I have 
 been as yet unable to fathom." 
 
 " The fact is, it takes a man of genius to 
 be a cook, though any man, it seems to me, 
 might be able to cook a meal." 
 
 " It is comprehensible that we should not 
 wish to waste our men of genius in that 
 way ; they are not so common. Still, men 
 have more weight in the world than women, 
 and, while they have it, it seems a pity we 
 should not have a Soyer now and then. It 
 would do inestimable good. You see, 
 ' ladies ' won't take the thing up, and poor 
 women can't afford to ; they can only do 
 the best for themselves. It is among these 
 I should wish to work. The thing most to 
 be regretted at present is, that the poorer 
 people spend money on that which is of no
 
 182 AUTUMN MAXCEUVKES. 
 
 use. I feel convinced that many women who 
 have to feed a family upon small means 
 would be glad to learn how to produce a 
 dish that would form a good and really 
 palatable meal for a few pence." 
 
 " This is the utilitarian view. I have 
 never considered it in that light/' he said. 
 
 "No. Yet it seems perfectly easy to pre- 
 pare a dish both good and delicious where 
 one can choose one's ingredients from all 
 the produce of the earth, irrespective of 
 expense." 
 
 *' Certainly ; but it isn't often done." 
 
 " I have often thought," said Adelaide, 
 reflectively, while she scanned the path close 
 by the water, where she expected to find 
 Kate — "I have often thought that, with 
 such a world as I read of, there is some- 
 thing inexpressively painful in knowing 
 that where thousands have only to consider 
 how they can augment their luxury, and 
 consequent waste, millions, even though 
 they should be thrifty, can only obtain
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 183 
 
 coarse and insufficient nourishment. In 
 case of sickness, they must be wholly unable 
 to obtain bare necessities. Knowledge 
 would be an improvement," she added, 
 thoughtfully. "Knowledge Avould make 
 the smallest pittance go farther." 
 
 " Ah, Miss Elmore, you have thought of 
 other thino^s besides cookino\ It has some- 
 times occurred to me, when dining ^ith 
 men who simply strive to outvie each other 
 in the expenses of their entertainments, that 
 the money might be more appropriately 
 spent, and the stomachs of the guests be 
 spared a deal of unnecessary trouble. I hope 
 you don't think me a mere gourmet.'' 
 
 She looked at him reproachfully. 
 
 "You cannot think so." 
 
 " But would you say so ? " 
 
 " 1 think I should like to say anything I 
 thought true, when occasion demanded it, 
 although I'm anything but sure I have the 
 courage. There is Kate, frog-hunting." 
 
 " If O'Buncous stoops like that, he'll be in
 
 184 AUTUMN MAXCEUYRES. 
 
 head first in a minute. Give me an idea of 
 some of these dishes ? " 
 
 " It appears we waste so much of our 
 meat by the process of baking or roasting, 
 and very few understand how to stew a 
 small quantity of coarse meat or fish, with 
 common vegetables or pulse. We have had 
 many such dishes from my experiments, and 
 have found them unexpectedly good. It is 
 amazing the errors one might make at first, 
 for theory always seems to be at fault when 
 we come to practice. I suppose that a very 
 trifling error might spoil the broth. Did 
 you ever taste anything less ' common and 
 unclean ' than the choicest part of a 
 pheasant ? " 
 
 She smiled as she put the question ; so 
 did he. 
 
 " You forget that I am a soldier. I was 
 thinking just now, knowing what a grand 
 point it is to feed one's men well, whether it 
 would be practicable to organize a stafi" of 
 female cooks who would know how to pick
 
 XETTLES FOR TWO. 185 
 
 up what was at hand and make the best of 
 it. A man can't fight on an empty stomach. 
 By Jove ! there goes O'Buncous." 
 
 "Oh dear!" cried Adehaide ; ''what a 
 mess he will be in. That's the muddiest part 
 of the bank !" 
 
 Bathurst thought of the " linen," which 
 was unexceptionable. They hurried to the 
 spot. O'Buncous had scrambled out by the 
 time they reached him ; and Kate's look 
 of subdued merriment amused Bathurst. 
 
 " You're not hurt ? " he asked. 
 
 "A mere slip," O'Buncous answered. 
 *' This lady has been taking me outside my 
 depth." He shook his legs, however, un- 
 comfortably. 
 
 *' It is unlike vour o-allantrv to throw the 
 blame on a kdy." 
 
 " But it was all my fault," interrupted 
 Kate. " I was looking for water insects for 
 Mary." 
 
 "And now," said Eeilly, who at that 
 moment came up, " I will help you to
 
 186 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 deliver them ; " and very unceremoniously 
 Kate and he walked away together. 
 
 O'Buncous, having shaken away a little 
 more water, found himself signally deserted. 
 
 " Yes ; but cooked nettles really are 
 edible," Adelaide was saying. " We have 
 some to-day. Could you be persuaded to 
 taste them ? " 
 
 " I shall need no persuasion," replied 
 Bathurst, blandly. 
 
 "I should think not; they'll come quite 
 natural to him ! " exclaimed O'Buncous, 
 boisterously. 
 
 When he did see a joke he made the most 
 of it, especially when it was his own." 
 
 "O'Buncous," said Bathurst, coolly, "there 
 is no immediate necessity to inform Miss 
 Elmore of that which you have discovered 
 only on the strength of a long acquaintance. 
 Do not pay her the ill compliment of 
 imagining she will fail to ' write me down 
 an ass.' " 
 
 Adelaide smiled approvingly. " Very
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 187 
 
 neatly retorted, and I hope the nettles will 
 suit you." 
 
 '' Come, now, that is almost as bad, Miss 
 Elmore. I shall be afraid to admit that I 
 do like them, if " 
 
 *'No, no. Let us hope a man will have 
 the courage to be sincere, however stupid he 
 may be. We don't expect a w^oman to have 
 courage, but we can't allow^ a man to be 
 W'ithout it." 
 
 '' Then I promise you the utmost sincerity 
 in future. AVill you take my word ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; if you w^ill accept mine on 
 the same conditions. But it's to be only 
 when we are called upon, remember." 
 
 " Exactly ; that's understood. I wonder 
 how it will sound ? " 
 
 "Are you so unaccustomed to hear truth?" 
 
 " I think we all must be. If we were not 
 habitually bound to use language to disguise 
 our thoughts, it would be a very trouble- 
 some, not to say a very quarrelsome, time 
 of it."
 
 1(S8 AUTUMN MANCEUYRES. 
 
 " No doubt, especially if one's circle of 
 acquaintance were a large one." 
 
 " No ; plain speaking can only be resorted 
 to between those who are very dear to each 
 other — don't look at me with sucli wonder- 
 ment ! I was goinnr to add —or between 
 whom there is the strongest interest to 
 understand one another." 
 
 " I am afraid we don't come within the 
 limits. Truth must be abandoned between 
 us — we shall never have a chance of 
 proving our talents for quarrelling." 
 
 "You have passed your word, Miss 
 Elmore ; don't draw back ! The prospect of 
 a quarrel is so exhilarating that I carit 
 abandon it." 
 
 Again she smiled. "If you are as vigorous 
 in anger as you are now, I am afraid I 
 should run away." 
 
 " I could soon overtake you. Now, 
 seriously. Miss Elmore, it is not all people 
 from whom one could ask such a question ; 
 but for reasons I can fully justify — strong
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 189 
 
 and sufficient reasons — I am going to make 
 the first demand on the ground of our com- 
 pact at once. Tell me, without reserve, 
 what you think of me ? " 
 
 Xow, he expected a playful retort, but, 
 to his surprise, xldelaide's face fell into that 
 solemn calm that made her look like — what 
 he had thought her at first — a beautiful 
 statue. They had been walking very slowly, 
 but now they stood still. Her eyes went 
 into the distance behind him as she an- 
 swered — 
 
 " Honestly, then, I think you are a very 
 good man, although you are somewhat mis- 
 led. That is the first proposition. I don't 
 assume that I am right ; I only think so." 
 
 To say that Bathurst received this intima- 
 tion in a spirit of indifierence would be 
 untrue. All possibility of jest was denied, 
 and he was more interested than he himself 
 knew. 
 
 At this inopportune moment O'Buncous 
 thrust his portly person upon them, little
 
 190 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 caring what interruption he might prove. 
 He gave a signifieant look at Bathurst. 
 
 " If you don't find another donkey in 
 the way " 
 
 " You had better take yourself away, and 
 get yourself dried." 
 
 *' I must leave the menagerie at present 
 to take care of itself," observed Adelaide. 
 And then she bade the colonel good 
 morning, bowed coldly to O'Buncous, and 
 went away. 
 
 " I hope I haven't spoilt sport ? " O'Bun- 
 cous continued, seeing a somewhat blank 
 look settle upon his friend's face. 
 
 "Oh, humbug ! As I said before, these 
 ladies require delicate handling ; they don't 
 understand your boisterous jokes." 
 
 " Oh, damn it ! Come, now, I never 
 expected to be told I didn't understand 
 women, at my time of — with my experience. 
 They all like to be made much of; they all 
 go in for being admired. The only thing 
 is, they've got a different way of doing it.
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 191 
 
 Bless your soul ! [ know 'em — know all 
 their ways. YouVe had very little to do 
 with females, Bathurst." 
 
 The major's tone was so earnestly em- 
 phatic at this point, that even against his 
 will Bathurst felt some amusement. He 
 laughed. " You really do take a liberty 
 upon our old acquaintance." 
 
 "Ah, that's right! Richard's himself 
 again. I say," said O'Buncous, in a con- 
 fidential whisper, " I went and looked over 
 that one that paints this morning, and you 
 should have seen how she stared at me. 
 By the Lord ! there's something wrong with 
 her." 
 
 " By the Lord ! there's something: wrons: 
 with you, O'Buncous." 
 
 " You're getting confoundedly irritable. 
 Why shouldiit the girl have anything wrong 
 with her ? I shouldn't wonder if it was the 
 other one, now." 
 
 In a cooler moment Bathurst would have 
 accepted the vague remark with a smile.
 
 192 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 As it was, lie was aware that lie did feel 
 irritated, and he could not quite account for 
 the unusual sensation. 
 
 '^ Be sensible, O'Buncous, and go home 
 and get dry," said he, striding away. 
 
 It was a charming Arcadian scene which 
 met his eye as he came up the wooded slope 
 and reached the lawn. There, under the 
 shadow of his mother's favourite tree, with 
 a sunset such as, in spite of all detraction, 
 is still to be found in England by those who 
 have eyes, a sunset that for delicacy and 
 variety of tint would have satisfied Turner 
 himself, with this gorgeous background as a 
 setting, was a group as lovely as the sunset 
 itself. 
 
 '' Beauty certainly does augment beauty," 
 he thought. " I know how fine that boy's 
 profile is, but it comes out fresher and 
 stronirer in these surroundino-s. I flatter 
 myself I could distinguish beauty among 
 the depths of ugliness, but I will not say 
 the delicacy of that girl's form could not
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 193 
 
 be ruined by grotesque exaggeration of what 
 is called fashion, or that those bright tints 
 of hair and complexion could not be lost 
 in the squalor of poverty. Ah, this world ! 
 And alas for those who would improve 
 it I " 
 
 " What do you think of him now ? " 
 asked Eeilly, in the cheerful tone that indi- 
 cates complete satisfaction. 
 
 " I want him on his legs," was the reply. 
 
 " I don't," was Eeilly 's laconic answer. 
 
 Bathurst looked up. Their eyes met, and 
 there was a meaning to be read by each. 
 Bathurst was puzzled about Reilly; but 
 Reilly was not puzzled about Bathurst. 
 
 " As sure as I'm living," thought the 
 lolonel, '' that fellow's in love with Ade- 
 saide." 
 
 *'He's about — nearly as far gone as to 
 think of nothing else," thought Eeilly ; and 
 then he turned his eyes to where Ba- 
 thurst had joined Vivian and Kate. "And 
 that young fellow is in a worse case still, 
 
 VOL. I. 13
 
 194 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 because the youthful fire has not been taken 
 out of him." 
 
 " Oh ! there goes poor Major O'Buncous, 
 damp and disappointed," said Kate. She 
 came over to Reilly with her playful grace, 
 saying, " Colonel Bathurst t^lls us he has 
 been invited to dinner. I don't believe it. 
 But still, if my sister has such a right, I 
 shan't be backward in exercising mine ; 
 therefore. Doctor Eeilly, will you ol)lige me ? 
 Is that what they say in invitations ? " 
 
 " May I request the jjleasure," prompted 
 Reilly. 
 
 " Oh ! request the pleasure, then, of your 
 society at dinner ? " 
 
 " That's asking me to take you in. No. 
 * Your company at dinner/ And then you 
 delicately veil the meaning." 
 
 "And do you require the meaning to be 
 delicately veiled when you are requested as 
 a pleasure ? " 
 
 " You are too subtle for me," he said, 
 gravely.
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 195 
 
 She sliook lier head very seriously, and 
 raised her eyes to his. The denial was 
 absolute. 
 
 '' You can't well veil the meaning of 
 those orbs," he said. '' You are more clever 
 at half-meanings than I am." 
 
 " Is it because whole meanino-s are too 
 big for me ? What's the answer ? " 
 
 " Doctor Eeilly will have much pleasure 
 in accepting Miss Kate Elmore's inaccurate 
 invitation, if she will first obtain her mother's 
 permission." 
 
 Her rippling laugh rang out in the still 
 soft air. 
 
 " Oh ! you will never make me believe 
 such a reply as that is conventional. I 
 decline such an inaccurate answer. Do say 
 you will come ; you know it would really 
 be great fun, because we never have any- 
 body but Aunt Flora, and she comes once 
 in a century." 
 
 " You must be very intimate with her," 
 said Reilly, briefly.
 
 196 AUTUMN MAKa:UYKES. 
 
 " I will never ask you to dinner again, 
 Doctor Reilly. You are not sufficiently 
 grateful ; you are evidently not aware of 
 the condescension on my part." 
 
 " Don't be bashful, Reilly," struck in 
 Bathurst, who had heard what was oroino^ 
 on ; " there wdll be nettles for two. Miss 
 Kate will do without her share." 
 
 " Indeed, you are not restricted to nettles," 
 said Kate. " Adelaide does treat us to the 
 strangest dishes, but she alw^ays takes care 
 to have a reserve in case of failure. You 
 will be sure to have enough to eat." 
 
 " Then I wdll support you, colonel ; the 
 last clause decides it. — Now, Seymour, I'm 
 going to wheel you in." 
 
 Bathurst had been watching his nephew's 
 face with pleasure, noting the natural hue 
 of returning health, and he had observed 
 how those fine blue eyes his mother was so 
 proud of follow^ed this girl's every move- 
 ment. Certainly there w\as no wonder at 
 that, for he w\as a beauty-lover, as his uncle
 
 NETTLES FOK TWO. 197 
 
 well knew, and the equal of either of these 
 pfiiis was uot often met. The distinctive 
 simplicity of their dress, too, made their 
 easy movements and perfect forms the more 
 conspicuous. 
 
 "Then I shan't see you again. Miss 
 Kate ? " 
 
 Vivian lingered over that last word ; it 
 was the first time he had used it. 
 
 " I hope so, Fm sure, if Doctor Keilly 
 allows you out again. AVe have a garden 
 party every day now." 
 
 There was no covert meanino* in the 
 
 o 
 
 remark. Vivian put out his hand, and 
 Eeilly watched her with some interest. 
 She advanced slowly, and he noticed that 
 her eyelids fell. Her voice was so low that 
 he could not hear the words she uttered ; 
 and Vivian did not speak, but he never 
 took his eyes from her face. 
 
 *' Now this is progressing beyond my 
 ken," thought Keilly. He did not fail to 
 read the sio-n and token of these small
 
 198 AUTUMN MAKCEUVRES. 
 
 actions. ''It is bj the straw we find the 
 current," he murmured. 
 
 In another half-hour Bathurst and Reilly 
 walked into the drawincr-room to^^ether. 
 Mrs. Elmore received them with her usual 
 quiet grace. 
 
 " She would do that if she were vexed 
 beyond measure," thought Eeilly. 
 
 " Adelaide tells me you have really pro- 
 mised to dine with us. I am sorry to 
 hear Major O'Buncous met with an acci- 
 dent, or, being your guest, 1 should certainly 
 have invited him. But he is gone." 
 
 " Do not mention that ; he and I can 
 dispense with formalities, being such very 
 'old friends.' He will take care of himself, 
 I know." 
 
 " I have been on the point of asking you 
 to join us several times, Doctor Reilly. I 
 thought the change might be agreeable. 
 But I — you know my reasons — am deterred 
 from natural action, and now this wild girl 
 of mine has taken the matter out of my
 
 NETTLES FOR TWO. 199 
 
 hands. How should you proceed to put the 
 curb on that child ? " 
 
 " I shouldn't trj to do it," said Keilly, 
 quietly. 
 
 x4.nd after that they went to dinner.
 
 200 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 CHAPTER XTI. 
 
 THE FIRST GUESTS AT THE GLADE. 
 
 The lights were set up, although the windows 
 still remained open, and the soft tints of the 
 evening sky were still visible. The three 
 girls were already in the room when the 
 colonel entered, with Mrs. Elmore on his 
 arm. 
 
 " It is very unorthodox all this," thought 
 Reilly, as he strayed in after them, and 
 found, on taking the seat allotted to him, 
 that he was seated next to the very girl he 
 wanted to observe — she who was so remark- 
 ably quiet and calm and distant ; who wore 
 her long fair hair in a thick plait, ending 
 in a tuft like Ary Scheffer's '' Marguerite ; " 
 who wore white still, although she had
 
 THE FIRST GUESTS AT THE GLADE. 201 
 
 changed her dress. It was that creamy tint 
 that accords so well with a fair, clear com- 
 plexion. 
 
 Was she self-involved ? or was she merely 
 nervously timid before strangers ? Eeilly 
 knew that a difference of temperament only 
 would account for singular mental develop- 
 ment under such training as she had had, 
 and he was deeply interested in the matter 
 upon purely scientific grounds. She did not 
 appear to lack ease ; for the firm, well-made 
 hand so near him moved with no hurried, 
 uneven action. The face was slightly, ever 
 so slightly, averted. Altogether she im- 
 pressed him with the idea that she wished 
 to remain silent. 
 
 A general conversation, naturally common- 
 place at first, soon became Cjuite sparkling. 
 Still Eeilly's companion was silent, appa- 
 rently absent. One glance at that brow and 
 chin should be sufficient to inform him that 
 there was no lack of intellect in this strange 
 girl ; still her behaviour was peculiar.
 
 202 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 He ventured on a remark very quietly ; 
 he almost feared to startle her. " I do not 
 see you in the garden often, except in the 
 early morning." 
 
 *' I do not go there noiv,'' she said, in a 
 voice that was soft and deep and perfectly 
 unconstrained. 
 
 " Why not now ? " he asked, gently. 
 
 It was impossible to speak to this girl as 
 one would to Kate, who now sat opposite 
 liim, her little proud head poised so grace- 
 fully, the rich brown hair coiled around it so 
 carelessly with ringlets that would get loose 
 and stray about on the white skin in quite a 
 distracting manner. Her face was all aglow 
 now. How intensely living she was ! and 
 this mi\ was an animated icicle. 
 
 '' And why not now ? " he repeated. *' I 
 hope we don't drive you away *? " 
 
 " You do," she said quietly, with perfect 
 composure ; and she did not turn her eyes 
 towards him. 
 
 " 1 shall ask you to taste this wine, colonel,"
 
 THE FIRST GUESTS AT THE GLADE. 203 
 
 said Mrs. Elmore, " because I am sure you 
 will appreciate it. We women cannot, jou 
 know." 
 
 " And when I tell you," interpolated Kate, 
 '* that I found mamma all over cobwebs 
 foraging out this very bottle for you, you 
 will appreciate it still more highly." 
 
 " You are always right, Miss Kate. It is 
 superfluous for any one to make a remark 
 when you are present." 
 
 It made the mother's heart ache to see 
 how joyfully her child accepted this light 
 talk, the sparkle of conversation to which 
 she was unaccustomed ; the light of conge- 
 nial society suited her so well. She recog- 
 nized with pain how eminently fit these 
 children of hers were to take their place in 
 the world from which she withheld them, 
 and Reilly s words, which had weio-ht with 
 her, were remembered now. She glanced in 
 his direction and noted at the moment how 
 those deep, keen eyes of his were taking 
 especial observation of Mary.
 
 204 AUTUMX MAXCEUVRES. 
 
 " All I " tliouirlit she, with a siofh which 
 was not all of coutent, " she is safe." 
 
 " I deeply regret that it should be so," 
 Eeilly said, in a well-simulated tone of 
 pained reserve. 
 
 This shot told. There was a minute's 
 pause, and Mary spoke again. " Perhaps I 
 ought not to have said that ; it was certainly 
 impolite. I am sorry I said it to you, because 
 you are not to blame, and you have had all 
 the trouble." 
 
 He was getting at something now. " I 
 am not sure that any one has been to blame. 
 Both Colonel Bathurst and his nephew would, 
 I am sure, bitterly regret being the cause of 
 any inconvenience to either of your family." 
 
 " You will not tell them what 1 said." 
 
 They were low, decisive words, not used 
 as a request, but simply asserted. 
 
 After this move he extracted only mono- 
 syllables. In his heart he was pitying her. 
 " A fine woman — in all probability of equally 
 grand potentialities — completely lost." She,
 
 THE FIRST GUESTS AT THE GLADE. 20-5 
 
 he knew, avouIcI never desire to break away 
 for herself a mono- strano-ers, as Adelaide 
 would do : nor would she ever run counter 
 to the charge set over her, and turn rebellious 
 at a moment and repent the next, as Kate 
 might do. She was a fixed star ; Kate was 
 a comet. 
 
 It was splendid wine ; but Bathurst refused 
 to drink it unless the ladies would condescend 
 to join him. Kate protested that she would 
 drink as much as he liked. " Sometimes we 
 don't see wine in this house for weeks, and 
 when I am cpiite flat " 
 
 ''Oh, oh! I refuse to listen," exclaimed 
 Reilly. "You cannot pervert human nature 
 to such an extent." 
 
 "He knows — he knows," said Bathurst, 
 conclusively. 
 
 " The next time 1 am flat you shall call 
 the doctor, mamma, to witness an unique cui-e 
 of coma. I hope you'll administer ycpiem," 
 she said, holding up her glass, and letting 
 her dazzling eyes rest upon him.
 
 206 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 " Ah, my lady ! " thought ho, " you are 
 meek as a mouse when you are with some 
 one I know." 
 
 It was true. Her natural buoyancy sank 
 to zero when she was with Vivian, but 
 she regained her impertinence magically 
 Avhen a third person came upon the scene. 
 
 The young doctor was a close observer. 
 Finding Mary resolutely still, he let her 
 alone. But after the little party broke up, 
 he managed to secure Mrs. Elmore in a 
 quiet corner, when they had gone into the 
 drawing-room and the rest were occupied. 
 
 ''Excuse me," he said, "but is your 
 second daughter reserved and self-involved 
 among her own family ? " The question was 
 carelessly asked, just as one might speak of 
 any casual subject. 
 
 She started, and gave a rapid searching 
 e^lance at his face to see if the words were 
 careless. "Ye — es. That is — from contrast. 
 Adelaide is extremely energetic ; Kate most 
 vivacious ; " Mary is — ," she halted, and
 
 THE FIRST GUESTS AT THE GLADE. 207 
 
 then went on hurriedly — " I'm sure it is the 
 contrast ! What have you observed in her ? " 
 
 " What I have said," was the quiet reply. 
 " I did not wish to alarm you." 
 
 '' I know that," she said ; " but everything 
 alarms me." 
 
 '*Do you ever find her absent or pre- 
 occupied ? " he asked, beginning to feel 
 stronody interested from these evident sions 
 of discomfiture, and hoping he had found 
 a clue. 
 
 " Yes, yes," she answered in a low, agitated 
 voice. "That is easily accounted for — she 
 is very studious, she is naturally wrapt in 
 something which is to her of an absorbing- 
 interest. I've had little or no trouble in 
 finding occupation for her." 
 
 Here the poor lady looked at Eeilly, so 
 impatient for a reply, that he almost suc- 
 cumbed. He saved himself, however, and 
 said, "H'm," gravely, while he contem- 
 plated the pattern of the carpet with some 
 concern.
 
 208 AUTUMN MANCEUVHES. 
 
 " Doctor Eeilly, you agitate me painfully ! 
 Speak out. Come into the verandah with 
 me ; it is not cold." 
 
 " These evenings are damp, Mrs. Elmore. 
 You must not venture now." 
 
 It was cruel work ; he acknowledged 
 that ; but was he not justified ? What was 
 wrong here he must unearth. Perhaps by 
 working in the dark he might more readily 
 make the discovery than by waiting for 
 the light. 
 
 The lady looked disappointed — he re- 
 pented. Still he had not wilfully misled 
 her. Was he not working in the dark ? 
 
 " Forgive me," he said, " if I have aroused 
 any — if I have disquieted you. But I really 
 have nothing to speak out — yet — " he added, 
 hesitating. 
 
 He looked at Mary as he spoke ; he had a 
 full view of her back hair, the head being 
 bent over the book she held. She was 
 totally unlike any woman he had ever seen, 
 and had no doubt from that very cause 
 attracted his strong interest.
 
 THE FIRST GUESTS AT THE GLADE. 209 
 
 "A very well grown girl," he observed, 
 reflectively. 
 
 "Yes," sighed the mother. "She has 
 never had a day's illness in her life." 
 
 "That is more to your credit than hers," 
 he said, smiling. " I think you said she 
 was studious ? What does she study ? " 
 
 " Really I — you confuse me — for I have, 
 Heaven knows, the strongest desire to answer 
 you truthfully. Mary has such a pile of 
 books into which none but herself ever looks 
 that I can scarcely reply to your question. 
 I know she has taken the oddest interest in 
 insects and such things. Indeed, she will 
 keep them sometimes, and touch them, and 
 speak to them in quite an unnatural way — 
 almost as though they had reason. Kate 
 declares they understand her ; but she never 
 seems to care what is said " 
 
 Here the speaker broke off abruptly, but 
 the doctor maintained his attitude of an 
 attentive listener. 
 
 " I have never had any trouble with her, 
 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 210 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 she has always been simply perfect — more 
 self-controlled, more serenely collected than 
 any one I have ever seen. I never saw Mary 
 really excited. I admit that I do not 
 understand her temperament." 
 
 " That is not always easy, even under the 
 closest relations." 
 
 " Now, Kate is so different " 
 
 "Nothing could make her unnatural," 
 interpolated Keilly, emphatically. 
 
 And just as he had quietly resolved on 
 another attempt to engage Mary in conver- 
 sation, he saw her take the first opportunity 
 of quitting the room.
 
 ( 211 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PROFESSIONAL INTEREST. 
 
 Reilly threw open the window and inhaled 
 a lonoj drauo^ht of fresh, sweet air. 
 
 '' How exquisite is the odour of jessa- 
 mine ! " he said. " According to my notions, 
 now, this would be ' a spot to live and 
 die in.' " 
 
 " Give me a lift over there, that's a good 
 fellow ; I'm just as fond of the air and 
 scenery as you are I " 
 
 " I dare say, my dear boy ! It's sur- 
 prising how affectionate we can be when we 
 want anything. How poor are they that 
 have not patience ! Cultivate the habit of 
 mind ; patience is most useful in adversity." 
 
 " Oh, come, I didn't bargain for a sermon."
 
 212 AUTUMN MAKCEUYRES. 
 
 " Be civil, please ! Let a man pursue his 
 natural inclinations." 
 
 " Certainly. But if one man, why not 
 another ? " 
 
 " Ah, there you open out a line of argu- 
 ment that moral philosophy has " 
 
 " You shan't do it, Keilly ! My faculties 
 are not equal to physiological discussions 
 this morning. T won't be betrayed. I want 
 light and air." 
 
 " Sweetness and light ! Yes. ' Light and 
 leading.' * Light and Love.' How fasci- 
 nating alliterations are ! Oh, you shall not 
 have your intellect strained this morning ; 
 I'll send round O'Buncous to cheer you 
 up." 
 
 " Well, if you want to set up inflamma- 
 tion in the joint you're so particular about, 
 }'ou will succeed. But you're not such a 
 l)rute. By-the-bye, why is that old ass 
 allowed to come here ? " 
 
 " Well, you see he would be so much 
 alone at Netherby. Mrs. Elmore knows he
 
 PROFESSIOXAL IXTEREST. 213 
 
 is Bathurst's guest, and lias tact enough to 
 take that into account." 
 
 '^ Well, am I ever oroino- to that window 
 — that is the question ? " 
 
 '' I know it is ! It is my place to know 
 every foible of my patient. You are very 
 fortunate in ha^dngr a man of o'enerous and 
 sympathetic mind to look after you ! " 
 
 " Oh yes, of course. I say, Eeilly, 
 shouldn't you like to know something more 
 about these ladies, eh ? Don't you often 
 wonder at their strange ways ? — and what 
 they think about us ? " 
 
 Reilly nodded significantly. 
 
 " My uncle seems to have made himself 
 very intimate. But then his eentle manli- 
 ness must be very attractive to women- - 
 don't you think so ? I've often wondered 
 why he has not been seized by some strong- 
 minded member of the fair sex." 
 
 " Then he would revolt ! Violence would 
 never win him. When a woman marries a 
 man, you may be sure the man is a fool."
 
 214 AUTUMN MANCEUVKES. 
 
 " You ought to write a book of aphorisms. 
 I don't believe a man ever was married 
 against his inclination." 
 
 " My dear fellow, the thing's as common 
 as bread and butter. Thousands of men 
 are not only married, but kept in a state of 
 servitude ever after. Many quite enjoy it. 
 It's anything but the worst state of life, 
 especially for a man without much force of 
 character. When a woman, you know, as- 
 sumes the — ahem! — the masculine garments, 
 she usually has the right to wear them." 
 
 "But it seems to go against natural 
 laws." 
 
 '' Natural laws are, perhaps, not so well 
 known on some points as others. 'Tis more 
 poetic when the oak supports the ivy, but 
 you know the ivy will support a ruin some- 
 times. Now I'm going for my constitu- 
 tional." And the doctor wheeled the couch 
 close to the window and arranged his patient's 
 wrap with quite womanly tenderness. 
 
 " Thanks ; what a real good fellow you
 
 PEOFESSIOXAL INTEREST. 215 
 
 are ! But no practical joking, now — you 
 were not going to send tlie major ? " 
 
 Reilly laughed aloud. " I had clean for- 
 gotten him ! Well, I don't understand such 
 a strong animus '" 
 
 " I know he's a harmless old idiot " 
 
 '' And that he has the most awkward 
 knack of getting in the way of any man in 
 Enorland. Good mornino^." 
 
 The doctor, walking rapidly, had scarcely 
 started ere he met O'Buncous. 
 
 " Hi ! stop a minute ! " he exclaimed. '' Are 
 you galloping for a wager ? " 
 
 This encounter, Reilly felt, was well de- 
 served. He knew it was hopeless to evade 
 the major, but it would be very easy to walk 
 him out of breath. 
 
 " Well, how are you getting on, eh ? I 
 wish I was in your place. You don't know 
 how to take advantage of your oppor- 
 tunities." 
 
 " I don't know what you would do ; I do 
 as I like."
 
 216 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 Then Eeillj's thoughts wandered. He 
 managed to enjoy the beauty of the morn- 
 ing, and console himself with his own 
 thoughts, although now and then there was, 
 of course, bound to be an interruption, as, 
 for instance, when his companion insisted on 
 an opinion. It was true that any reply 
 would usually satisfy him ; still it was pos- 
 sible occasionally to make a mistake. 
 
 " It's singular, very, that it should have 
 been in this neighbourhood, where, as a mere 
 boy, I met my first love, Eeilly. I don't 
 know whether I ever divulged the circum- 
 stance — some things are almost too sacred to 
 bear the light of day. Well, we met, and 
 loved at sight — two young romantic souls. 
 It reminds me of Don Juan and Haidee, now 
 I come to think of it. But her mother! 
 Great heaven ! to think such a sweet creature 
 should be bound by the relationship." 
 
 " Oh ! we must all have a mother," expos- 
 tulated Reilly. " And remember, there can 
 only be one."
 
 PROFESSIONAL INTEREST. 217 
 
 " Don't jest ! my memory is too keen to 
 bear it. I used to watch her window night 
 after night. I was as hoarse as a raven 
 throno^h it. She — sweet ans^el ! — used to 
 peep through the blinds at me in the morn- 
 ing like a bird from its nest. ^Ye carried 
 on the courting from the window ; that hag 
 of a mother locked her up, bless you ! " 
 
 ''There she was wise," muttered Eeilly. 
 
 "" What did you say ? Yes. Indeed it 
 was a poem. We commenced throwing notes 
 at each other directly we woke, and when 
 either of us missed, the old woman picked 
 them up and burnt them. Language cannot 
 describe my hatred to that woman — although 
 she was a female. It almost became a 
 matter of siege in the end, for we were all 
 starving. ' If you can only hold out for 
 another day,' wrote my high-spirited seraph, 
 'mother will have to go out for food.' I'd 
 the making of a hero in me in those days, 
 and bore up well. But I was young and — 
 well, as far as that goes, hunger would tell
 
 218 AUTUMN MANCEUVKES. 
 
 upon me now. I remember the cheese a 
 countryman passing in his cart sold me. I 
 hardly think I have digested it to this day." 
 
 "Then you never will, O'Buncous," said 
 Keilly, solemnly. 
 
 " When at last the old woman came out 
 she had my charmer with her, and there, 
 before her — in the coarsest possible way — 
 she asked me my intentions." 
 
 " I told her my position plainly — I had 
 nothing ! But I had every reason to expect 
 an increase. I'll tell you what I had done, 
 I had ventured my all in the Associated 
 British Johanisberg Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. Ah ! that was a great thing, a tre- 
 mendous undertaking 1 The object was to 
 supply the public with that princely beverage 
 at a lower price than even Gladstone's claret. 
 But it didn't do. Good lord ! if it had, I 
 should have been a Croesus." 
 
 Here O'Buncous lost himself in the haze 
 of past recollections of blighted hopes, and 
 Eeilly appreciated the silence.
 
 PROFESSIOXAL INTEREST. 219 
 
 Too soon, however, O'Buncous broke out 
 with another erotic revelation. When there 
 was a pause in the monologue, Eeilly in- 
 terpolated a s>Tiipathetie " Ah ! " 
 
 He had walked so far for duty's sake, and 
 now, for duty's sake, it was time to return to 
 his patient. And if — of course the "if" was 
 very doubtful — if he should see a fold of that 
 white dress in any remote part of the garden, 
 it would be comparatively easy to address 
 the wearer now they had once or twice 
 exchanged words. Certainly he had only 
 received monosyllabic replies, given with 
 abrupt brevity. But this harshness was 
 surely all false. Her gentle movements, her 
 fair, beautiful face, gave quite the lie to 
 harshness of any kind. Unbidden, the 
 shadow of this singular young creature had 
 arisen and followed his footsteps; and the 
 cause being so palpable for this interest in a 
 mere stranger, that there was no occasion to 
 account for it. 
 
 When they came in sight of that prison-
 
 220 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 like gate his heart bounded — so strong is 
 professional interest sometimes. He would 
 have to dispose of O'Buncous, who was 
 saying— 
 
 "Would you believe it, now, that riding 
 five years afterwards down that very lane, 
 I met her accidentally — greeting her, of 
 course, as a gentleman would a lady he had 
 once known — -with no allusion to the past 
 either by word or action. She wouldn't 
 speak to me ! After such passages as those 
 I have related, she treated me as a stranger." 
 
 O'Buncous shrugged his shoulders and 
 extended his hands in hopeless recognition 
 of the enigma. 
 
 " I think you ought to be congratulated," 
 observed Keilly, absently, having no recol- 
 lection of the '' passages " alluded to. 
 
 " Yes. No doubt it was a fortunate 
 escape. She was not my social equal ; her 
 ancestry was most remote." 
 
 " The remoter the better," said Reilly, 
 didactically.
 
 PROFESSIONAL INTEREST. 221 
 
 " Ha, ha ! I don't see that. Hers was so 
 remote that you couldn't see it at all ! " 
 
 " That's what I should call obscure. Good- 
 bye, major. Tell Bathurst the chicken broth 
 was delicious. His cook couldn't equal it." 
 
 And the next moment he was inside the 
 Glade gate, and the major without, looking 
 blank and dismal 
 
 " Precious airs that fellow gives himself,'' 
 he muttered. "I wonder if any of them 
 remember that it was my design that 
 brought about this pleasant intimacy ? I'm 
 not allowed any freedom, except when 
 Bathurst chooses to take me in. It's all 
 very fine to say that Seymour is all their 
 business. They always find something else 
 to do when I am there to see." 
 
 Eeilly had entirely forgotten him in the 
 search for a glimpse of a dress he would 
 know by the mere flash across his vision. 
 
 " And could any other pair of shoulders," 
 he asked himself, " carry a twisted wrap so 
 becomingly ? It is a pity that so fine a
 
 222 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 girl should be nurtured and trained into 
 eccentricity — a thousand pities that she 
 should be doomed to an unnatural life of 
 strange restriction."
 
 ( 223 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 STILL THAT " DREAM." 
 
 VivLiN was beodnning to look forward to 
 those short broken talks through the mndow. 
 Kate would always come and speak to him, 
 when she came out, and, although she might 
 only stay for ^yq minutes, he found enough 
 delight to dwell upon for another day. 
 Sometimes she would return before going in, 
 and there would be another rambling talk. 
 
 This morning he was very fortunate. He 
 met her with an eager smile. 
 
 " I was longing for you to come ! Did 
 you know, I wonder ? No, you could not 
 possibly — never mind." 
 
 After that disjointed speech he paused, 
 with eyes alight on hers.
 
 224 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 Kate silently approached, as it appeared, 
 with a reluctant movement. 
 
 *' Good morning ! " he said, extending his 
 hand ; and because he did so she was com- 
 pelled to come much nearer to the window, 
 and even lean over the sill, that he might 
 touch her hand. 
 
 " Do you think my jailor will let me out 
 to-day ? " 
 
 It was so long before she answered that 
 he thought she did not hear. But he was 
 quite content. 
 
 " Can't you bribe him ? " she asked shyly, 
 not looking up. 
 
 "11 No. You might, now. Would you 
 do as much for me ? " 
 
 " Would I ? " she repeated, absently. 
 
 " Would you ? " he reiterated, in low 
 pleading tones. 
 
 It did not appear at all ridiculous to these 
 two that they were talking so. It was all 
 the same to them what they talked about. 
 The words were half meaningless, or else
 
 STILL THAT " DEEAM/' 225 
 
 charged with more meaning than a tongue 
 could utter. Their eyes exchanged con- 
 fidences better than their lips ; their own 
 beauty appealed to their youthful passionate 
 senses stronger than any language could. 
 
 " Will you sing that song again to-day ? 
 Tm always begging, am I not ? But will 
 you ? 
 
 " Which is it ? you like so many." 
 
 " That's true. I think I always like the 
 last best. But I really mean that song of 
 Storace's ; the refrain is so exquisitely 
 pathetic. Do you feel the pathos of music 
 while you sing, as much as I who listen ? " 
 
 " How can I tell ? But I don't understand 
 any one not feeling the power of music." 
 
 '*Nor I. Yet some people are dead to it. 
 What amazes me is that you should sing as 
 you do, and yet you have not heard — you 
 tell me you have never heard — any great 
 singer." 
 
 " No," she said, simply. " How could 1 ? 
 Haven't I told you that we never go aiiy- 
 
 70L. I. 15
 
 226 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 where ? Sometimes when I am readiiio: 
 descriptions of plays and concerts, I feel as 
 though I would give up all the years of life 
 before me, if I could hear and see some of 
 those things that great artists can do." 
 
 The sympathy in his face was very strong 
 just then, but he did not know what to say. 
 It seemed to him an abominable cruelty that 
 such a girl as this, who was literally all soul, 
 whose voice thrilled with emotion, whose 
 very finger-tips talked when she spoke, 
 should be shut out from the greatest pleasure 
 the artistic temperament can know. 
 
 Tliey were both silent for a little while ; 
 then, with a half-checked sigh, she said — 
 
 " Would you believe — I wonder why it is 
 now — that I invariably feel as though I 
 want to sing to somebody, far somebody ? 
 It is not because I want praise, but I like to 
 give away some of the pleasure I feel." 
 
 " That is wholly and purely natural, I am 
 sure. Does any one else in your family so 
 highly appreciate music ? "
 
 STILL THAT "DREAM." 227 
 
 '' They are all fond of it. But mamma, oh 1 
 she is ecstatic ; I have seen her break down, 
 and sob bitterly, and go away from the 
 room, when I am sinoinor. I never felt 
 quite so bad as that." 
 
 '' I have seen strouo' men affected bv 
 music almost to that extent. You have no 
 idea of the effect of fine orchestral music, 
 leading up to a climax, by the grandest 
 instrument known — the human voice." 
 
 " Tell me what it is like. It seems to me 
 that numbers of people together must in- 
 tensif}' one's emotion. I am certain if I 
 saw many people affected, and I did not 
 know why, I should be touched myself" 
 
 '' I am sure you would. But even amono- 
 the most unsympathetic people that will 
 occur. For instance, you can always raise 
 plenty of enthusiasm in a mob. I don't 
 say it's real. There's a very strange thing 
 about that. It is more difficult to raise 
 the enthusiasm of one person on the wrongs 
 and sufferings of thousands than it is to
 
 228 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 raise the enthusiasm of thousands for one 
 
 man." 
 
 " Isn't that because we can better identify 
 ourselves with the one man's feeling ? " 
 asked Kate, timidly. '' You can't follow the 
 sensations of a multitude." 
 
 " I think you are right ; and that directly 
 we have to deal with multitudes, man loses 
 his individuality ; it is merged in the 
 leader." 
 
 " Then how great a man a leader ought 
 to be ! " 
 
 So interested were they that they had not 
 observed Adelaide and Bathurst strolling up. 
 
 Kate started as her sister touched her. 
 
 " Why, are you settling affairs of State ? " 
 asked Adelaide, laughing. 
 
 " And why not ? " exclaimed Kate gaily, 
 instantly regaining her courage. 
 
 " I'm sure no one can answer that 
 question," said Vivian. 
 
 " Because there is no reason against it ! 
 It is not more remarkable that I should
 
 STILL THAT "DREAM." 229 
 
 have my ambition than you yours, Dell. 
 She is getting up a cookery book, colonel. 
 I got at her diary. This is a specimen — 
 it is headed, ' An Economical Dish ' — Take 
 a spoonful of cayenne pepper, a pint of port, 
 and a handful of nettles " 
 
 " Kate ! " 
 
 " I forget the rest. But the dish turns 
 out to be perfection, as the authoress remarks 
 in a foot-note, where she says, ' It had the 
 most extraordinary effect upon Colonel 
 Bathurst, of the 25th Life Guards.' " 
 
 " There's no such regiment, Miss Kate." 
 
 " Although he highly approved of it " 
 
 *' Kate, your jests are not "within the 
 * limits of becoming mirth.' You had better 
 go in. I hope she doesn't talk such random 
 nonsense to you, Mr. Seymour ? " 
 
 " No, no," said Vivian, quickly. " She 
 talks art and politics to me ; I talk random 
 nonsense to her." 
 
 "I cannot stay to hear this! I'll say 
 good morning to you all."
 
 230 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 And then the two ladies left them. 
 
 '' What a bright spirit that girl has ! " 
 said Bathurst. *' She is all fire — all life. 
 Confound it, here comes O'Buncous ! I'm 
 sure 'tis he. I've scarcely had a word with 
 you this morning — but there, I see how well 
 you're getting on. Good-bye, good-bye." 
 
 He was greatly annoyed at the persistence 
 of O'Buncous, for he felt that he must 
 himself be responsible for his conduct, upon 
 which he himself was beginning to have 
 doubts. He felt instinctively it would 
 destroy all intimacy at one blow, if he 
 ventured on the slightest familiarity with 
 either of these ladies. He hurried to the 
 o^ate before O'Buncous was admitted, and 
 joined him. 
 
 " I'm deucedly sorry to leave you so much 
 to your own resources ; but of course you 
 see that by the laws of kindred and so on 
 I am compelled to show all possible atten- 
 tion to my neph " 
 
 *' Oh, don't, Bathurst I Is it your nephew
 
 STILL THAT " DREAM." 231 
 
 you go promenading about with ? He 
 can't use his legs — I'll warrant he uses his 
 eyes. And I say, old fellow, is it your 
 nephew who teaches you to cook your own 
 goose ? Is it, eh ? " 
 
 " Upon my soul, O'Buncous, you re 
 positively vulgar ! "
 
 232 AUTUMN MANCEUYRES. 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 SCIENCE AND ART. 
 
 Anxious to arrive at some tangible idea 
 concerning this most interesting mother and 
 her still more interesting daughters, Reilly 
 took occasion to meet Mary as often as 
 possible, and, taking advantage of Mrs. 
 Elmore's permission, always supplemented 
 his greeting by a few commonplace remarks. 
 He had, however, met with the most signal 
 disappointment. Notwithstanding his care 
 and tact, she apparently regarded him with 
 suspicion. This phase he at first accepted 
 as timidity, expecting that if he managed 
 to present himself frequently, she would 
 become accustomed to seeing him, and be 
 tempted into a conversation.
 
 SCIENCE AND AET. 233 
 
 Soon, however, he was bound to abandon 
 the notion that timidity had anything to 
 do with her action, for on closer observation 
 he discovered no trace of that girHsh trait. 
 Sometimes her answers were curt to the 
 verge of impoliteness ; occasionally they 
 were confusingly vague, either purely un- 
 meaning, or charged with an equivocal 
 sense which he had certainly found mys- 
 tifying. 
 
 After a dozen meetings or more, he had 
 not gained one stejD ; her remarkable taci- 
 turnity and the distant iciness of her manner 
 still repelled the smallest advance. 
 
 This morning he went out to meet her, 
 more earnest than ever in his interest, but 
 feelino^ a stranQ;e rashness born of his dis- 
 appointment. 
 
 He did not saunter to the spot whither 
 the undulating lines of the soft cloth cbess 
 attracted him. Neither pausing to make 
 their meeting accidental, nor to prepare 
 an attack, the doctor walked on with sharp
 
 234 AUTUMN MANGEUVRES. 
 
 decisive steps, hot with, of course, pro- 
 fessional fire. 
 
 " Good morning." 
 
 Now, what was she doing ? Reading, or 
 drawing ? The head was bent over the 
 folio she held, and there was no response. 
 
 Eeilly stood before her with extended 
 hand, looking like a gentleman, and a fine 
 man too, his usually grave face lighted by 
 that pleasant smile which made him almost 
 if not quite handsome, and made his keen 
 eyes more tender and less searching. 
 
 Mary looked up ; the head was raised 
 far enough now, too far to please him, and 
 there was no answering smile, not the 
 feeblest attempt at one. She did condescend 
 to put out her hand. He' had never 
 touched it before. It was cold and rigid, 
 as her beautiful fair face. He was prepared 
 to commence the conversation and to keep 
 it up. What chance, indeed, had he if he 
 did not ? 
 
 "What glorious weather it is still ! I've
 
 SCIENCE AXD AET. 235 
 
 been taking my four-mile constitutional, 
 but I'm not in the least surprised that you 
 ladies should prefer these delightful grounds. 
 You can get a good half-mile by the river 
 path, can't you ? " 
 
 He did pause, and because he paused 
 there was a slight response, although he 
 really could not decide whether it was a 
 negative or an affirmative. 
 
 " The slopes are so effective here, and 
 the oaks so very fine. Would you mind 
 my looking at your sketch ? " 
 
 Again he paused for a reply. She, too, 
 paused. She did not look at him ; she was 
 apparently pre-occupied. 
 
 Eeilly came a step nearer, and repeated 
 the C[uestion, and there was just a tender 
 shade of appeal in his voice. 
 
 " There can be no possible pleasure in 
 examining the work of a mere amateur," 
 she said, with cold constraint. 
 
 " The mere amateur, my dear Miss 
 Elmore, hasn't, as a rule, the vaguest idea as
 
 236 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 to his talent ; therefore please don't attempt 
 to judge what efifect your work might have 
 on me." 
 
 '' Are you, then, a competent critic ? " 
 
 The words were as distant as one might 
 address to a person about to be engaged in 
 one's service. 
 
 Keilly eagerly disclaimed. " I have very 
 little knowledge of art," he said. 
 
 " Then it is utterly useless my showing 
 you the sketch," she answered, with firm 
 decision. 
 
 This was a dash of very cold water, but 
 the doctor threw it off. 
 
 " If I were the best art-critic in England, 
 I would not dare to criticise your picture," 
 he said, warmly. " I did not imply that by 
 Kseeing it I could by any means benefit you ; 
 I selfishly sought my own pleasure, and I 
 am rightly rewarded." 
 
 Then there was silence. 
 
 ''Are you sure you sought your own 
 pleasure ? " she asked slowly, giving a glance
 
 SCIE2sCE AXD AET. 237 
 
 from under the half-closed eyelids. She 
 could easily do it, the head was held so hish. 
 
 Eeillj felt that he was getting on. He 
 evaded the direct question by another. 
 
 " Do you think people are ^Tong in seek- 
 ing their own pleasure, Miss Elmore ? " 
 
 Mary raised her calm, inscrutable eyes 
 full upon his. They seemed to magnetize 
 him in a moment. He recognized the power 
 and understood it. He could have looked 
 at her for an hour in that way. 
 
 " I don't know that people are ' wrong ' in 
 anything," she said, mechanically. 
 
 *' Perhaps you do not ' know ' ; but I said 
 ' do you think ? ' " 
 
 A long pause, during which her eyes 
 travelled far away from him. 
 
 "I do not tliia]: about what I do not 
 know" she answered deliberately at last. 
 
 "Then — I am much interested — excuse me 
 if I ask if you have anything to tliinh about." 
 
 '' No. My mind is a sort of playgi'ound 
 for thouofht."
 
 238 AUTUMN MANCEUVKES. 
 
 " Very good. Then here we have a basis 
 on which to start. You must believe you 
 know something." 
 
 A faint well-suppressed smile, that broke 
 like a gleam of sunshine from a cloud, trans- 
 formed her fair statuesque features into warm 
 life. But before he could say it was there, 
 it was gone. 
 
 " I hnoio that you are taking much 
 unnecessary trouble over me," she said, 
 innocently. 
 
 " Why ' unnecessary ' ? " 
 
 " Is not all unavailing effort ' unneces- 
 sary ' ? I am acting on the defensive." 
 
 " Why should you ? I am not a foe." 
 
 "You are not a friend." 
 
 *' I am, indeed." 
 
 " That is nonsense. You cannot care for 
 me in such a way. But, be your intents 
 wicked or charitable, it would be the same 
 to me." 
 
 " You would still act on the defensive ? 
 That is a piece of wisdom gained only after
 
 SCIENCE AXD ART. 239 
 
 years of knowledge of a bitter and incom- 
 prehensible world. You must know some- 
 thing more than the certainty of my failure. 
 I shall get at it presently." 
 
 " You will not. I could mislead you into 
 any belief," she said, rather wearily. " Such, 
 however, is not my intention ; it is too much 
 trouble. I came out to read. Perhaps you 
 will allow me to say good morning." 
 
 Reilly moved aside and raised his hat 
 without a word. With a slight bow she 
 passed on. Then, suddenly turning back, she 
 said — 
 
 '• I hope I have not been unkind — I 
 am only sincere. I did not wish to offend 
 you ; but, you see, I am accustomed to be 
 alone." 
 
 " Alone with a book is not alone. I must 
 disagree with you on that word. It is rarelv 
 I prefer any society to my books ; but we 
 can't learn all we ^\'ant from them. May I 
 ask, before I say 'good morning,' what is 
 your favourite study ? "
 
 240 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 A curious lialf-amuscd look flitted across 
 her face, and she looked at him in that still, 
 strange way. 
 
 " Let me see — my favourite study cer- 
 tainly is mythology. I find it embraces so 
 many subjects and colours such a vast area 
 of human thought, that it is almost as 
 illimitable as space itself." 
 
 The inscrutable expression deepened in 
 those pure grey eyes ; it was half earnest, 
 half reflective, vaguely full of meaning. 
 
 Before Eeilly recovered from the effect of 
 that full gaze, she was gone. 
 
 " She's a deucedly unnatural young 
 woman ! But, whatever that girl may be, 
 she is not a fool." 
 
 He walked back dreamily to Sejmiour's 
 room, feeling to some extent self-satisfied. 
 He was aware that he had succeeded, and 
 the knowledge was pleasant. But it had 
 been very hard work. 
 
 " When he came into Vivian's room, and 
 noticed the dreamy happy eyes that met his.
 
 SCIENCE AND ART. 211 
 
 he felt strangely envious all at once, and at 
 war with himself. " I have not his bewitch- 
 ment," he thought, looking at the beauty of 
 Vivian's clear-cut face, as it rested on Kate's 
 crimson cushion. 
 
 They were both very silent this morning, 
 these two men, and for some time not a word 
 was exchanged. At last Eeilly broke out, as 
 if he had just awakened from a dream. 
 
 " I suppose you are anxiously looking out 
 for your order of release ? " 
 
 Vivian started also — from his dream. 
 " Eelease ! Ah — yes ; you mean my re- 
 moval. Don't you give mecred it, now, for 
 great self-denial in not asking for it ? " 
 
 " Maybe for more than you deserve. 
 However, I'll admit your patience, under 
 constraint, to be — ahnormalJ' 
 
 " Psha ! How keen you are ! It's an 
 implied compliment to you, if I haven't been 
 bored nearly to death." 
 
 "There's more truth in that than he 
 knows of," thought Eeilly. 
 
 VOL. I. 16
 
 242 AUTUMN MANffiUVRES. 
 
 Vivian relapsed ioto his reverie again. 
 
 " Don't hurry," he said, presently. " I 
 could stay here for ever." 
 
 And, singularly enough, Reilly did not ask 
 why.
 
 ( 243 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 DELUSION. 
 
 A GENTLE tap at the door. Vivian looked 
 surprised ; the doctor did not. Although it 
 was so early, he knew that it was Mrs. 
 Elmore, and not the elderly stern-faced 
 Hannah who attended upon them. 
 
 After she had spoken a few words to the 
 invalid, she turned to Reilly, and said — 
 " May I trespass on your time ? " 
 
 It was a halting question, put with such 
 beseeching eyes. 
 
 " I am at your service," he answered, 
 reading her anxiety at a glance. 
 
 " Then come," she said, quickly leading 
 the way to her room ; "we shall not be 
 interrupted here. I have been longing for
 
 244 AUTUMN MANG]UVRES. 
 
 the time to pass, that I might be able to get 
 some conversation with you. Tell me at 
 once, without fear or reservation, ivhat are 
 your doubts about Mary ? " 
 
 The doctor felt a thrill of satisfaction. 
 Now he was sure he had the clue. 
 
 " Give me an opportunity of studying 
 your daughter, and, my dear madam, I tell 
 you positively that I will give you an 
 opinion; but I cannot now." 
 
 " How can I give opportunity ? She 
 avoids every one." 
 
 " For this, however, we cannot blame her ; 
 she has taken her lessons to heart. I shall 
 only alarm her by putting myself in her way. 
 Urge her quietly to be more natural ; we 
 are not vampires. Tell her you deem it 
 necessary she should know me, at least. 
 You have already made an exception in my 
 favour. You have said, you know, that you 
 can trust me." 
 
 He watched her carefully while she strove 
 to command her distress.
 
 DELUSION. 245 
 
 " And so I do," she said, in a low, uneven 
 voice. " 111 bring her here presently, and 
 do you join us. I will prepare the way." 
 
 Eeilly did not speak, but he pressed her 
 hand in answer. When he went back to his 
 room, he was looking so grave that Vivian 
 noticed it, although he did not speak. 
 
 Bathurst almost immediately w^ent out, 
 and Reilly heard him talking to Adelaide 
 in the hall. 
 
 " Now I've paved the way for a pleasant 
 hour aU round. I shaU decoy Kate to the 
 window, whither she longs to come, but 
 would not venture without my intercession ; 
 and then I " 
 
 " Reilly, have you ever been in love ? " 
 
 Seymour's mellifluous voice was even 
 softer than usual. The question was put in 
 a careless, languid way, as though it were 
 the commonest thing in the world to ask. 
 
 " This is a ruse," thought Reilly ; and he 
 said cheerily, " Scores of times, my dear 
 boy ; scores of times."
 
 246 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 " That's a bit of O'Buncous. I am tired 
 of him. I am serious." 
 
 " In that case, you are treading on for- 
 bidden ground." 
 
 " Then we won't be personal Tell me 
 what you think about love. In all our 
 talks we never happened to strike that 
 subject." 
 
 '' All sentimental rubbish, in short. People 
 like to be deluded, and love is an utter 
 delusion. It's an outlet for the enthusiasm 
 of youth. Not a few people are idiots 
 enouffh to believe that there's what thev call 
 a fate in it. They will actually press the 
 stars of heaven into their service to prove 
 it. There is no limit to the credulity of 
 man, and love is one of the favourite 
 methods of extending it." 
 
 '^ My dear doctor, you are not deceiving 
 me?" 
 
 " My dear fellow, it is evident I can't," was 
 the laughing retort. 
 
 '' When one has talked with a man on so
 
 DELUSION. 247 
 
 many subjects, one can make good guess 
 at the view he is likely to take of another." 
 
 " I agree with you. Then why refer to 
 me, if you already know my opinion ? '' 
 
 " I want you to ratify my belief, and I 
 want detail." 
 
 "Then, on impersonal ground, I will tell 
 you that, to those spirits who are equal to 
 the passion in its fullest sense, it forms the 
 strongest power under heaven. I was not 
 quite wrong in what I said just now, how- 
 ever. To many, love means only that which 
 I then described. It was not invention, it 
 was not cynicism, but simple fact. A man 
 told me the other day, and seriously too, that 
 he was going down to Somerset to choose a 
 wife. He asked my advice on the subject. 
 Now, was it any use my telling such a man 
 to leave marriage alone ? He could not 
 have understood me. You cannot imagine 
 a man doing that in cold blood ? " 
 
 Vivian smiled a distinct denial. 
 
 '*Nor I. But he was one of your
 
 248 AUTUMN MAKCEUYRES. 
 
 commonplace, self-satisfied men, who had 
 neither imagination nor sympathy. To him 
 it was quite a matter of business, and he 
 didn't want to make a mistake." 
 
 '' What did you tell him ? " 
 
 *' I said, * If you must marry by accident, 
 make it as much like design as possible. 
 Don't choose a woman for her hair, or her 
 money, or the shape of her nose. But see, 
 if you can, that she has a good temper ; and 
 ^f you must judge by a feature, let it be the 
 mouth ; let that be as near perfection as 
 possible, and you 11 be right.'" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Next time I saw him he was married, 
 and he was disappointed. She was obstinate 
 and hard ; he had no means of affecting her." 
 ' You didn't go upon my advice,' I said. 
 ' There were only five women in the whole 
 place with pretty mouths. I proposed to 
 the whole five, and not one would look at 
 me.'" 
 
 Vivian laughed.
 
 DELUSION. 249 
 
 " My advice was conscientious ; you have 
 the proof, too, that it was good. These 
 women were all too clever, and had too 
 much heart to accept the creature. Psha ! 
 men love their wives to distraction, but can 
 marry the week after they die." 
 
 "You cant make yourself a cynic." 
 
 "And I have no desire. A cynic is an 
 imwholesome creature, and I am for health 
 and nature. No, I was not cynical. What 
 I have been trying to show you in a clumsy 
 way, I could have expressed in a moment 
 by a certain French maxim I have just 
 thought of, ' II n'y a C|ue d'une sorte 
 d' amour, mais il y en a mille differentes 
 copies.' I believe that O'Buncous truly 
 thinks that he is an adept in the art of love, 
 and that we are nowhere." 
 
 " I can understand a man being in love, 
 but I can't understand his talking about 
 it." 
 
 " Nor I," said Reilly, reflectively, " except 
 in the abstract."
 
 250 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 The young man cast a penetrating glance 
 at the shrewd doctor ; he appeared buried 
 in thought. 
 
 " You never knew a case of love at first 
 sight, I suppose ? " asked Vivian, laughingly. 
 '' Can't say I think a sensible man is likely 
 to believe in it at all." 
 
 When he had finished speaking, he began 
 to shake up the cushions, and was almost 
 preoccupied by the mere effort to make him- 
 self comfortable. Keilly waited until he 
 was settled. His expression was impene- 
 trably professional as he answered. 
 
 "Yes, oh yes! many times. Given a 
 certain temperament, one expects it. Besides, 
 I have a peculiar faculty for believing 
 what many rational people profess to 
 disbelieve." 
 
 " I don't believe you. You talk to 
 interest me." 
 
 "You are efiviucj me more credit than I 
 deserve. I am stating a fact. I don't 
 allow myself even to disbelieve a thing until
 
 DELUSION. 251 
 
 I know something about it. The majority 
 of rational people don't do that. Now, you 
 have evidently been under the impression 
 that love at first sight is an absurdity, and 
 are now beonnninsr to doubt the solemn con- 
 viction." 
 
 This was sailing too near the wind for 
 Vivian's tranquillity. He laughed again, a 
 little uneasily. 
 
 " Are you going to say you believe in 
 witchcraft — you, the most rational of 
 common-sense men ? " 
 
 ''I believe in a witchcraft that causes 
 more mischief than any old woman and a 
 bundle of bitter herbs ever did — I believe 
 in the witchcraft of a beautiful woman's 
 eyes." 
 
 He would have added '' voice," but feared 
 to excite suspicions. 
 
 " If such thing can possibly happen," said 
 Vivian, argumentatively, " and we will start 
 on the hypothesis that it does, there must 
 be some occult sympathies, some deeper
 
 252 AUTUMN MAXCEUVRES. 
 
 forces in our nature, that we ourselves can 
 analyze, much less control." 
 
 " And who doubts that there arc ? " said 
 Keilly, slowly. 
 
 " You have studied all these things, you 
 see ; but to me they are new." 
 
 Yivian coloured, paused, and then went 
 on rapidly, " What I mean to say is — but 
 language runs away with one " 
 
 " Very seldom with you," said Keilly, 
 politely. 
 
 " I meant to exonerate myself by saying 
 that I had held an opinion, almost as a point 
 of honour, that no man, unless willingly, 
 need ever get beyond self-control, and I did 
 not wish to subjugate my belief in the 
 power of will to your theory of blind 
 tendencies." 
 
 " Man is a complex animal ; man's mind 
 is a still more complex thing. You speak 
 of blind tendencies ; it is those the will has 
 to control Moral or physical tendencies I 
 cannot destroy, but I may avert them, and
 
 DELUSION. 253 
 
 by degrees weaken them. For example, 
 a man of ardent imagination and, at the 
 same time, of indomitable will, may love 
 to a degree that the poets themselves might 
 find beyond them to describe. I shan't 
 attempt it. But this very man, knowino- 
 he would injure the woman he loved, would 
 suffer any calamity rather than succumb to 
 his passion. Or, putting it another way, 
 finding her dishonoured, would not hesitate a 
 second to sacrifice the lower passion to the 
 higher — mind, I do not say the weaker to 
 the stronger." 
 
 '' But you have taken a very hioh 
 standard for your example." 
 
 " I will take another," said Reilly, 
 warmly. "Take a young fellow like 
 yourself " 
 
 " No, no. Young fellows like myself 
 are such fools that even you couldn't manage 
 the contrast. Reilly, what a real good 
 fellow you are to keep me awake as 
 you do."
 
 254 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 ''Now you can go to sleep if you like. 
 I've got an appointment in the drawing- 
 room." 
 
 " Now/' thought Keilly, " he'll chew the 
 bitter cud of disappointment until he finds 
 the maid at his window."
 
 ( 255 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 THE IMMATERIAL. 
 
 It was a keen scientific interest that this 
 sagacious young doctor took in a peculiar 
 specimen of womankind. He felt sure the 
 idea he had conceived, that Mrs. Elmore 
 was suffering from monomania, was a correct 
 one, and he was far from being hopeless, 
 although he certainly was not sanguine on 
 the case. 
 
 " I am sure I am justified," he said to 
 himself — " sure. The mother herself will 
 thank me if I can bring things right. A 
 stress of trial, a heavy trouble, may serve 
 to depress an emotional mind almost to 
 madness. There's no harm, any way, or my 
 conscience would kick."
 
 256 AUTUMN MANa:UVRES. 
 
 He had, too, come, too, a very sound con- 
 clusion with regard to Vivian, and it had its 
 weight ; for, though the majority of people 
 aflfect to treat " a young man's fancy " very 
 lightly, Reilly was not the man to treat any 
 excited condition of the human machinery 
 lightly. He knew too much about it. 
 When he entered the room, Mrs. Elmore 
 treated his coming quite as an ordinary thing. 
 He could detect the anxiety in her pathetic 
 eyes, and he could observe the nervousness 
 betrayed by the slight movements of the 
 hands. 
 
 There were no such observations to be 
 made on the daughter ; her liands were 
 perfectly steady, and her voice too, as, with 
 a mere inclination of the head, she recog- 
 nized his presence, and said — 
 
 *'Now, mamma, I think I will go." 
 
 " No, my dear ; by no means. Doctor 
 Reilly has no private communication to 
 make. I feel quite at home with him, you 
 know. I don't care for you to run away."
 
 THE IMMATERIAL. 257 
 
 So Mary again took up her netting. It 
 was of strong twine, made with a large 
 mesh, and was evidently for some orardenino- 
 purpose. She did not look up, nor speak ; 
 but she was clearly prepared to stay. 
 
 He conversed casually with Mrs. Elmore 
 while he watched her. " A very steady 
 baud ! a very fine hand ! strong, too, or I'm 
 much mistaken/' 
 
 She was quite pale this morning, and her 
 slight figure was still enveloped in the plain 
 white gown she usually wore. Failing the 
 matchless charms of Kate, the dignity and 
 style of Adelaide, she possessed an attractive 
 grace of her own. 
 
 "You will, of course, experience a loss," 
 said Eeilly, sympathetically. They were 
 talking of Adelaide. " But you need have 
 no anxiety. She will not fail in whatever 
 sphere she is thrown. It is few women of 
 her ao'e in whom one could have such con- 
 
 CD 
 
 fidence." 
 
 " I am so glad you appreciate her. It 
 
 VOL. I. 17
 
 258 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 makes me feel ttiat I have not been wrong 
 in giving my consent. It is pleasant to 
 have an opinion one can thoroughly trust 
 at the back of one's own. I think I will 
 go and say a few words to Mr. Seymour. 
 Indeed, I almost regret that he is going so 
 soon. He has been so patient, and has been 
 so considerate of every one, that it would be 
 unnatural not to be interested in him." 
 
 '' Indeed it would," said Reilly, warmly. 
 
 " I shall soon return. Pray don't move, 
 Mary; I want Doctor Reilly to have an 
 opportunity of knowing you." 
 
 " People can't know each other by a few 
 opportunities of talking," said he, with a 
 smile. 
 
 Then Mary looked up. Those dreamy 
 azure grey eyes were somewhat different in 
 expression in this bright morning light. 
 How different from Kate ! There was no 
 dancing light in these eyes, none of the 
 occasional warm glow of Adelaide's tranquil 
 orbs. There was a steady calm gaze that
 
 THE IMMATEEIAL. 259 
 
 greatly puzzled the beholder. This girl was 
 not so silent from fear of speaking, or from 
 want of matter. 
 
 " That's curious fancy work for a lady." 
 
 She said, " Yes ; probably.'' 
 
 "That is almost saying you don't know. 
 Yet you agreed with me." 
 
 '' I am aware that I have contradicted my- 
 self in that brief reply. It only shows how 
 careful we should be in a matter of speech." 
 
 " Would you have us limited to the ' yea, 
 yea, and nay, nay ' ? " Do you think that 
 ' more than that cometh of evil ' ? " 
 
 She regarded him steadily ; but a quick, 
 clear lightning flash struck from those calm 
 eyes really startled him. It was only 
 momentary, but it told him there was some- 
 thing volcanic behind the calm. 
 
 " Although mamma has given you the 
 right to catechize me, I don't feel called 
 upon to answer you on a subject that 
 solely concerns myself." 
 
 " You take me too seriously, ■Miss Mary."
 
 200 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 The cold reply almost took his breath away, 
 but he did not let her see that. " I besf 
 your pardon. Of course, I have no right to 
 demand a reply to anything I may say.'' 
 
 He spoke with scrupulous politeness, and 
 then, leaning back in his chair, let his eyes 
 wander among the pretty garden scenery, 
 quietly ignoring her. This answered. 
 
 " I did not think you intended to offend," 
 she said ; " and I really do not know why I 
 should care not to offend you." 
 
 '' You seem to be suspicious of me," he 
 said, warmly. 
 
 " I am fully aware you have some — shall 
 I say — design concerning me. Not wish- 
 ing to impress you with my superhuman 
 sagacity, I may as well say that any one, 
 with the commonest perception, might see 
 the undercurrent. 
 
 Then she dropped the lids over her per- 
 plexing eyes, and went on swiftly with the 
 netting. 
 
 She ivas an interesting study. He felt
 
 THE IMMATEETAL. 261 
 
 that he could have watched the rapid 
 evolutions of those fair firm hands for 
 hours. 
 
 '* What a woman is lost here ! " thouo^ht he. 
 *•' Now, do you expect me to deny that ? " he 
 said, aloud. 
 
 " 1 don't expect anything," she said, 
 briefly. 
 
 " How plainly you made your words say, 
 ' I should not be surprised at anything.' " 
 
 ''You interpreted both letter and spirit 
 correctly. Did I say also that i/ou would 
 not be surprised at anything ? " 
 
 " I did not read so much ; that would 
 have been untrue. I am surprised !" 
 
 And so he was at the turn the conver- 
 sation had taken. He wondered at that 
 moment what those other people were 
 talking about — those two bright creatures 
 whom he could picture underneath the 
 jessamine window, where both were youno- 
 and both were beautiful. 
 
 Was that the flicker of a smile on the
 
 262 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 girl's fair face ? He would wait until she 
 spoke again. 
 
 Yes. They were whispering, those two, 
 and cooing like a couple of young doves, 
 falling in love with each other with all their 
 hearts, according to the most orthodox 
 canons of romance, and all without knowing- 
 it. And then he could picture Adelaide and 
 Bathurst serenely promenading the lawn, un- 
 conscious of overlookers. Of course, they 
 were talking about cooking, or the elevation 
 of the masses, or taxation. " What did it 
 matter ? " thought Eeilly, who could not 
 divest himself of the suspicion that these 
 two were travelling the same road. 
 
 It was evident Mary did not intend to 
 speak. How in the world would a girl like 
 this make love ? Would a nervous tremor 
 ever pass through her frame and make those 
 beautiful fingers quiver ? 
 
 " Do you find netting as interesting as 
 entomology ? " 
 
 *' You are sarcastic. I never think of
 
 THE BDIATERIAL. 263 
 
 my netting from tlie moment I take it up 
 until I put it down. My mind is void." 
 
 " You surprise me more and more," lie 
 answered, gravely. " I should not have 
 thought so." He was sure this time ; the 
 corners of her mouth, betrayed the desire to 
 smile, but she compressed her lips, and 
 denied herself the luxury. '' And I think 
 you are quite right," he went on. " It is 
 not advisable to employ our mental capacity 
 as well as our physical. Some minds, un- 
 fortunately, are not under control as yours 
 is ; they absolutely wander when engaged in 
 mechanical operations." 
 
 She smiled outright. " I really thought 
 you took that literally." 
 
 " Well, you are trying to deceive me," he 
 said. " It is quite fair." 
 
 " Y-es," she said slowly and incisively, 
 ''quite." 
 
 '' I think I shall deny that. It is evident 
 you can be sarcastic. I deny the 'quite.' 
 J am at a disadvantage."
 
 26-4: AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 ''You should train your mind to be 
 occasionally void. One finds the advantage 
 of a rest when one has to concentrate one's 
 jDOwers." 
 
 '' A mind may as well be void as dream- 
 ing idle dreams for half one's time ; that is 
 the common phrase of being." 
 
 " No ; nothingness is complete in itself. 
 There is only one other condition of mind 
 that can be said to be complete." 
 
 " Yes ? " 
 
 " Of course, you don't know. The per- 
 fection of bliss," she added, gravely. 
 
 "Ah, but that doesn't last, you see ; and 
 nothing may. We are sure, at any rate, of 
 two perfect attitudes of mind. You know 
 it has been said that every man who thinks 
 is wicked." 
 
 " That is true only as a matter of senti- 
 ment." 
 
 " Yet man can only reach truth but by 
 tliought, and the man who thinks must 
 necessarily think wrongly sometimes."
 
 THE IMMATERIAL. 265 
 
 " The man who does not think cannot 
 be universally right, therefore whatever he 
 may accept must be at least as wicked. 
 I confess I don't understand how the mere 
 act of thinking can be wicked." 
 
 "Not the act of thinking as I take it, 
 but the condition of possible thought." 
 
 " That is entering upon another question. 
 What we have to deal with is the absolute 
 assertion. Every wicked man who thinks 
 will not reach high, pure, or good thought. 
 Every good man who thinks will reach 
 much that is good, if he should fail some- 
 times. I deny your maxim." 
 
 " It isn't mine. I should have thoudit 
 that philosophy would have been a more 
 congenial study than entomology to you." 
 
 " You can study no science without 
 studying philosophy also ; they are indis- 
 solubly united." 
 
 " Another advantage you score above me." 
 
 " That is by your own allowing. You 
 Know more than I do. Besides, sometimes
 
 266 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 people play badly. You should not let me 
 see your hand/' 
 
 '* Sometimes people don't know what 
 game they are playing." 
 
 *' That must be very awkward," she said, 
 softly. 
 
 '' I suppose you would not play ? " 
 
 " Oh no ! " 
 
 " Not in pursuit of truth ? " 
 
 ''No. I should take up a side and 
 discover all that I could against myself. 
 I must assume that I am somewhere.'' 
 
 " I must admit that I am nowhere." 
 
 " I've given you every opportunity." 
 
 ''You have been very good, if you have 
 spoken only for my satisfaction." 
 
 *' That never once occurred to me. I 
 resolved to be honest, for mamma's sake ; 
 for my own part, I should have chosen 
 to mislead you unmercifully. It is a piece 
 of impertinence for a man to sit down and 
 coolly take one to pieces as he would a 
 clock, and put the pieces together to suit
 
 THE IMMATERIAL. 267 
 
 himself. No. I tell you candidly, I could 
 easily have impressed you with the idea 
 that I Avas an imbecile." 
 
 " You could not," said he, shaking his 
 head slowly ; *' not with your brows, your 
 eyes, your hands." 
 
 " I had forgotten you are a doctor. What 
 are you going to tell my mother ? " 
 
 " Eeally," expostulated Reilly, " really — " 
 
 " I ask too much." 
 
 He hesitated. It was indubitably clear 
 that Mary was not afflicted as the mother 
 was. But how had she manaored to CDo^ender 
 the same belief in such a mind as this ? 
 Perhaps she had not. Perhaps the girl 
 knew exactly as much as he did about her 
 mother's condition. She was quite capable 
 of disguising her knowledge. Again, why 
 should she inform him of a fact that she no 
 doubt would wish to be a secret ? Why 
 should he not tell her of his suspicion ? 
 He did not see how he could lose anything 
 by it. He would gain if she would work
 
 268 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 hand in hand. It was the expression that 
 occurred to him, and he could but admit 
 tliat the sensation would be a very pleasing 
 one. Such a hand as that could not be 
 picked up every day. 
 
 Not yet. He would wait. He did not 
 like to run the risk of a mistake. 
 
 " Well," said she, rising, " I'm going 
 now. I should like to have known some- 
 thing about the game. But, although I 
 never played before, I found it more amusing 
 than nothingness." 
 
 " I'm not quite sure that you believe in 
 nothingness," said he, also rising. 
 
 " You know how to evade the principal 
 point, and how to keep your secret. That's 
 on your side. I'm not going to take all 
 the honours." 
 
 " If you are going, ' nothingness ' will be 
 left to me." 
 
 " Oh, you can fill it up with something. 
 Nature abhors a vacuum." 
 
 *' That's saying you are unnatural."
 
 THE IMMATERIAL. 269 
 
 " No ; it is saying that you think I believe 
 in nothingness. Perhaps you think that I 
 am an ao-nostic." 
 
 o 
 
 " And suppose I do ? " 
 "Well, then," she said, "you wrong me ; 
 for ao-nostics assert too much." 
 
 o 
 
 " ' Assert too much ! ' " he exclaimed. 
 " Why, they deny everything." 
 
 " They assert that they can deal with 
 the material, and not ^viih the immaterial. 
 They assert that they are formed of matter, 
 though they deny themselves any knowledge 
 of the consciousness through which they 
 arrive at the conclusion." 
 
 " I don't think you want anybody to 
 assert or deny for you." 
 
 " Certainly not. Each individual best 
 knows what he can reach." 
 
 " Do you, then, reach the unknowable ? " 
 
 " Any man who acknowledges himself 
 does reach the unknowable ; for through 
 bis own consciousness, his own mental con- 
 dition alone, can he know anything ?
 
 270 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 There is not a material object we can reach, 
 but through the medium of the immaterial. 
 I should be more inclined to assert that we 
 can only know the unknowable." 
 
 Mrs. Elmore entered the room just as her 
 daughter uttered these words, and they sank 
 into her heart. She paled suddenly, and, 
 to Reilly's eye, looked unutterably troubled 
 as she approached them. 
 
 "I hope you have not missed me," she 
 said, in a rapid nervous way. 
 
 " What has happened, mamma ? You 
 look as if something had taken your breath 
 away." 
 
 The mother's eyes went up appealingly to 
 Reilly. How plainly they uttered the ques- 
 tion she would fain have asked — " What has 
 happened ? " 
 
 " I am afraid I am an unconscionable 
 visitor," said he. " I can only thank Miss 
 Mary for giving me so much of her time. 
 I trust we shall extend our acquaintance on 
 a future occasion."
 
 THE IMMATERIAL. 271 
 
 Mary stood with her head half averted, 
 but he knew there was a side-glance at him- 
 self all the time. She was quite still, and 
 the net hung over her arm, and the soft 
 woollen dress took such picturesque folds 
 that, once more, he found himself lost in 
 admiration of her superb simplicity. AVhat 
 other woman had he seen beside that vivid 
 picture of Marguerite wear such beautiful 
 hair in this fashion ? 
 
 Mrs. Elmore was too excited to detain 
 him ; so he went. 
 
 Then Mary turned to her mother, an un- 
 told pathos coming suddenly into those 
 strange eyes of hers, making them look 
 quite misty, and, taking her hand tenderly, 
 said — 
 
 "What is the difliculty, dear? I know 
 you have always told Adelaide your inmost 
 thoughts ; now she is going, I shall want to 
 be in your confidence." 
 
 "You always have been in my confidence.'' 
 
 " Until now," whispered Mary, softly.
 
 272 AUTUMN MAN(EUVRES. 
 
 "Nonsense, my dear. Is there anything 
 unreasonable in my wishing a man, whom I 
 esteem so much, to know you as he does the 
 rest of the family ? He naturally thought 
 that you were peculiarly reserved." 
 
 Mary laughed. 
 
 " Now, what may this mean ? " 
 
 '' He will think me peculiar, if not re- 
 served," said Mary. 
 
 " Don't jest about it, Mary. I want you 
 to be serious ; and you usually are so. 
 What possesses you ? " 
 
 "The glamour of society, I suppose," she 
 answered, still lightly. " Mother dear, don't 
 concern yourself about me. Fortunately, I 
 have never yet given you any anxiety ; and 
 I declare you have no cause for it now." 
 
 "My dear girl, you mistake me, I think. 
 Doctor Reilly is so far advanced in his 
 profession, and has studied so deeply, 
 that I naturally desired to have so good 
 an opinion as to the course I had been 
 pursuing with you. He would be much
 
 THE IMMATERIAL. 273 
 
 interested in your natural history, and all 
 that " 
 
 "He luas highly interested in my natural 
 history. Oh, mamma ! " and Mary put her 
 hand up in expostulation, and fled from the 
 room very much after the manner of Kate, 
 with the net dragging after her. 
 
 "Now," thought Mrs. Elmore, "when 
 people act quite unlike themselves, what can 
 we suggest?'' She was puzzled and con- 
 fused ; but after all, she was more than half 
 convinced that Reilly's unexplained fear had 
 been entirely groundless. 
 
 VOL. I. 18
 
 274 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 '^ HOW HAVE I BEEN MISLED ? " 
 
 At the same moment that Keilly strayed 
 into the drawing-room, where Mrs. Elmore 
 and Mary were sitting, Bathurst succeeded 
 in intercepting Adelaide before she started 
 for her morning walk. 
 
 " Yes, I've quite finished cooking," she 
 said, " for the present. I am going to 
 take my usual walk. In answer to your 
 other question, you may certainly come if 
 you like — except that you can't ; for Doctor 
 Reilly wants a little liberty." 
 
 " I've just left Vivian most comfortably 
 settled with a book, or rather Reilly has. 
 He's his patient, you know. I dare not 
 interfere."
 
 *'HOW HATE I BEEX MISLED?" 275 
 
 And they walked on. 
 
 "No one can accuse you of not taking 
 sufficient interest in your nephew, Colonel 
 Bathurst ; and indeed, it is not sur- 
 prising, for he has so many points of 
 interest about him. His beauty is not 
 the least to me, for I consider him per- 
 fectly beautiful." 
 
 Bathurst smiled at the warm expression. 
 "He's a darling fellow. I am much 
 attached to him. Some, however, find a 
 cross-grain, a vein of cynicism, in his cha- 
 racter ; but I don't. It appears that those 
 who are fond of him are very warm in 
 their admiration." 
 
 "That I can quite understand. I can 
 find no hardness in the character ; it is a 
 very fascinating one to me." 
 
 " I am not so fortunate as Vin. . The 
 opinion you gave of me the other day does 
 not read as well as this." 
 
 She smiled. " You surely don't think you 
 are worthy of so much admiration ? "
 
 276 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 "No; it's past my time," lie said, enjoy- 
 ing this nonsense as much as any boy ; for 
 he had discovered that when this sedate 
 young woman stooped to repartee, his spirits 
 rose insensibly, until he literally did feel 
 young again ; no pretence of it, but all the 
 buoyancy, all the elation, that goes with 
 youth. 
 
 " Oh, that you don't mean ! Do you 
 believe in the theory that as we are losers 
 of one point of attraction, we are, perhaps 
 unconsciously, gainers of another ? " she 
 inquired, playfully. 
 
 " That would make us all more irresis- 
 tible as we get older. We should have the 
 remnants of past graces and those additional 
 ones you speak of." 
 
 " But those later advantages have not 
 anything like the same amount of power. 
 These arrive from our own efforts to im- 
 prove. But the bewitching grace of nature, 
 which has been taught nothing, has a fasci- 
 nation no art can reach."
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEN MISLED?" 277 
 
 " Yet it is said that a cultivated woman 
 will do more damage than a simple maiden, 
 however lovely she may be," observed 
 Bathurst. 
 
 "It is utter nonsense for me to venture 
 to contradict that, although I still believe 
 that if the young beauty had the same 
 amount of natural intelligence your culti- 
 vated dame might possess, your hero — of 
 course there is a hero to your tale — would 
 be in a perilous position." 
 
 "Upon my word, I believe you are 
 right ! For from those who have been 
 trained in the school of self-control we 
 rarely ever have spontaneous action, and 
 that of all charms is, perhaps, the most 
 overwhelming. That is the case where 
 you seem to see through the heart itself." 
 
 " How fond you are of truth ! You 
 always seem to be searching for some 
 underlying meaning that can give you a 
 proof you have something true." 
 
 " That is so. You have got one part of
 
 278 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 my character, it seems. How about my 
 being misled ? " 
 
 Again sbe smiled. How perfectly easy, 
 how remarkably at home, she felt with this 
 man, whom she had known but a few 
 weeks ! It crossed her mind now, as they 
 talked, the time sped too rapidly, if happily, 
 while she was with him. Her face was 
 averted, and he did not notice the blush 
 her thought called up. 
 
 " It will be soon over," she thought, with 
 a sigh. 
 
 " How about my being misled ? " he 
 repeated. 
 
 " Have you had that on your mind ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 *' I was puzzled to know to what you 
 referred." 
 
 " In the pursuit of truth, then, you have 
 not discovered ? " 
 
 " I have thought of many things." 
 
 " Will you tell me what they are ? " 
 
 " I had an idea you might disapprove of
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEN MISLED?" 279 
 
 my having taken up the cause of women — • 
 or of my peculiar ideas about property — ■ 
 or that you might think it inconsistent in 
 a man holding certain opinions to keep my 
 household." 
 
 " Well, you have the satisfaction of know- 
 ing that you are not far wrong. It is a 
 pleasure to find one's self able to discover 
 meanings of things for ourselves." 
 
 " But you surely don't mean that I am 
 misled in everything ? " 
 
 " Am I upon oath ? " 
 
 " Certainly. We will never break through 
 that contract." 
 
 " Even if I tell you you are misled in 
 everything ? " 
 
 *' I have the strongest faith in your judg- 
 ment — and also in my own." 
 
 *' That is well put ! I'll tell you what 
 I've heard. First, then, you are one of 
 the most eccentric men of the age, on some 
 points ; you hold very singular social views. 
 For instance, we will take women. Do you
 
 280 AUTUMN MANCEUVEES. 
 
 uot hold that they should have equal privi- 
 leges with men ; that they should never be 
 compelled to do any work of a more arduous 
 nature than taking care of a house ; that 
 you would have them always beautifully 
 dressed ? By the way, that's what Kuskin 
 says." 
 
 "That may be, but I am prepared to 
 swear that it is also what I say — beautifully 
 and consistently dressed. Go on." 
 
 "And that they might be statesmen if 
 they had the power ; and that they should 
 liave every right equal with men. Well 
 stop there." 
 
 " H'm ! That's Reilly's information." 
 
 " But you should hear what Major 
 O'Buncous says of you," she said, laughing. 
 
 " That's one of the unrecognized pleasures 
 of friendship." 
 
 " How long have you known him ? He 
 doesn't know you in the least." 
 
 " He never would. He doesn't know 
 himself."
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEN MISLED?" 281 
 
 " Few men ever do." 
 
 " But we need not be quite in ignorance. 
 But how have I been misled ? " 
 
 *' You will have it ! Your first aim, your 
 strongest desire, is to aid the progress of 
 women in every way. You hold, I think 
 rightly, that in our time, with a large pre- 
 ponderance of women, we ought not to em- 
 ploy men in our households. You are 
 certainly right in holding that laborious 
 employment of women should not be 
 allowed. The generosity of all this cannot 
 be denied. How do you proceed ? Every 
 man who has an opinion has a right — as I 
 take it, a moral ris^ht — to act to the best of 
 his endeavour in defence of that opinion. 
 You dismiss male -servants, and you surround 
 yourself with a number of very beautiful 
 young women. " 
 
 Here the colonel turned and looked at her. 
 Adelaide was not looking at him. Her eyes 
 were in the distance, pursuing the thread of 
 her arofument.
 
 282 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 " And why very beautiful young wo- 
 men ? Do you think by these means," 
 she went on, ''you are benefiting the 
 sex?" 
 
 "I'm giving extra employment." 
 
 " But suppose you had filled your house 
 with women to whom nature had denied the 
 gifts of form and face ; if you had chosen 
 consistently those with personal defects, to 
 whom it is never easy to obtain employment; 
 — would you not have been acting a more 
 charitable part "? " 
 
 " I should," said Bathurst, stoutly. " But 
 with my — my propensities, I couldn't have 
 stood it." 
 
 " Propensities ? " 
 
 "Yes; it's as bad as that. Understand 
 me, your argument is perfect. So is mine. 
 Recollect, we have no right to have these 
 unhappily ill-developed creatures about us. 
 I prove what things ought to be by what 
 I choose." 
 
 " Then you do choose them ? Major
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEX MISLED?" 283 
 
 O'Buncous said you did. He said you had 
 hundreds from London when you wanted 
 one." 
 
 " O'Buncous talks the — supremest non- 
 sense," said Bathurst, hotly. " I make no 
 personal choice whatever. Mrs. Groye 
 understands a well-grown, healthy young 
 woman. It's true, I mention my aversions. 
 A sc[uinting woman acts upon my nerves." 
 * Adelaide lauo^hed outrio^ht. '' You take 
 it too much to heart. I did not believe 
 the major. Don't you see, colonel, that 
 these young women would get on cjuite as 
 well without you ? The aid of nature is 
 more than yours. They would be chosen 
 anywhere, at any time. They all marry 
 very quickly, I am told, because, of course, 
 they are always sought. Now, I conceive 
 that they derive no advantages from your 
 system." 
 
 '' But I do," laughed Bathurst, following 
 her light mood. 
 
 " Xo; that would be saying that your own
 
 284 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 selfishness j)revents you from aiding those 
 women who more require aid, and who, in a 
 sense, most deserve it." 
 
 " Miss Elmore, I shall reform the ranks ; 
 every recruit shall be proved undesirable to 
 everybody else before I accept her. What 
 do you say to that ? " 
 
 " I say that we are mixing sense and non- 
 sense in a very unusual way." 
 
 " I find it very interesting. You have 
 only begun my list of mistakes." 
 
 " I have ended. If you are going to 
 institute radical changes because I hint at 
 an inconsistency, I shall hesitate to find 
 fault." 
 
 "Seriously, I have often thought the 
 world gives too little attention to those who 
 really want help." 
 
 '' I am going into my sphere of action 
 next week," 
 
 "So soon?" 
 
 " It has been arranged for some time 
 that I should go, but my mother delayed ;
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEN MISLED?" 285 
 
 now, however, she has written to her friend, 
 who will be reaclj to receive me next week." 
 " And Vivian is to be brouo'ht home 
 to-morrow. Neville has gone ; Reillj will 
 leave soon. I shall be desolate." 
 " You will have Major O'Buncous." 
 " Talk of— here he is ! " 
 " Don't you neglect him a little ? " 
 " Perhaps. It will be over soon." 
 Adelaide noticed the despondency of his 
 tone. 
 
 " It does not do to be low-spirited when 
 one undertakes reform," she remarked coura- 
 geously, conscious of a sympathetic depres- 
 sion. '' Suppose you stay and dine with us 
 to-day ? It would be a farewell dinner, 
 only — I have no novelty to offer you — only 
 a plain and, I must in my capacity add, 
 inexpensive repast." 
 
 " What, talkincr about eatino^ ao-ain ? " ex- 
 claimed O'Buncous, coming up buoyantly. 
 " You two ought to be able to live on the 
 thougfhts of food."
 
 286 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 Batliurst glanced at Adelaide, and both 
 laughed. 
 
 " I should have thought you had ex- 
 hausted the subject." 
 
 " You can exhaust the supply, O'Buncous ; 
 but you cannot obliterate memory, nor de- 
 stroy anticipation." 
 
 "The subject is an extensive one," said 
 Adelaide, with some formality. 
 
 " Now, are you teaching him the art of 
 roasting apples? The first woman begar 
 by teaching a man to steal 'em. There art 
 some things besides cooking." And then he 
 looked from one to the other, his great, 
 round black eyes rolling too boldly over the 
 lady to suit Bathurst's taste. Then, seeing 
 she was not regarding him, he winked at the 
 colonel. ''There's more things in cooking 
 than you can understand. There's reason 
 in a roasted Qgg, I've heard — haven't you, 
 Bathurst, eh ? " 
 
 " I wish reason could as easily be found 
 elsewhere," said Bathurst, a little viciously.
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEX mSLED ? " 287 
 
 *'Ah! I see the divinest creature in 
 Christendom. You will excuse me, I'm 
 sure." 
 
 " Excuse him ! " 
 
 ** Nobody could possibly be angry with 
 Major O'Buncous. He seems to consider the 
 world was made for him. He is as thought- 
 less and light-hearted as a child." 
 
 " I have been in despair," O'Buncous said 
 to Kate, in a whisper ; "I thought I should 
 have to go away without a word with 
 you." 
 
 "You would have recovered." 
 
 " Are you going down the river now ? " 
 
 "I'm going to be out, perhaps, ten 
 minutes." 
 
 "IsthataU?" 
 
 She shook her head in an abstracted man- 
 ner. Now O'Buncous began to notice that 
 she was preoccupied. 
 
 " Now's mv time," thouoht he. "Youno; 
 girls are always shy. She's beginning to be 
 afraid of me."
 
 288 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 Kate was almost oblivious of his presence. 
 Her love-dream haclnot come into waking 
 yet ; it was still a dream for which she was 
 irresponsible. With that fair aristocratic 
 face before her, and those impressive blue 
 eyes, the sound of the tenderest voice echo- 
 ing and re-echoing through her brain, she 
 was scarcely conscious of the present. 
 
 He walked slowly beside her, putting on 
 a sentimental air, and struggling to keep his 
 waist under firm control. 
 
 *' How many thousands of times, in the 
 course of your monotonous life, must you 
 have longed for a congenial spirit ? " 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 Emboldened, he went on. ''I have felt 
 
 so myself ; I can sympathize with you. I 
 
 have gone on for years thirsting for a spirit 
 
 that would mix with mine. As the poet 
 
 says — 
 
 ' Two souls with but a single thought, 
 Two hearts that beat as one.' " 
 
 He gave the quotation forcibly.
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEN MISLED?" 289 
 
 Kate was roused for the moment. " I 
 wonder what he is meandering about ? " she 
 thought, catching the hist words. '* I'll try 
 to be civil to him, poor old fellow ! Nobody 
 seems to pay any regard to him — I'm sure 
 you are right, major," she said aloud, at a 
 risk. 
 
 " I know I am," said he, emboldened. " I 
 have sought her in all climes — from pole to 
 pole." 
 
 " What a pity ! " sighed Kate, under the 
 impression that he had lost some one. 
 
 " I've sought her," continued he, hotly 
 pursuing what he thought a poetical figure 
 — " I've sought her in a crowded ball-room, 
 and even in railway carriages." 
 
 " Ah ! " said she, " how tired you must 
 be!" 
 
 " Heavenly creature ! " he exclaimed, " I 
 can read your sympathy in those very words. 
 Tired ! why I should have given it all up, 
 but that something within " — here he ex- 
 tended his hand over his heart and looked 
 
 VOL. I. 19
 
 290 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 volumes — "something tvithin told me I 
 should -find her." 
 
 Kate sank down upon a rustic seat, and 
 curled herself in the corner, letting her 
 eyes wander on the waving leaves beyond. 
 The influence was soothing. 
 
 " How pleasant it would be just now to 
 be alone ! " she thought. 
 
 Poor girl ! she recognized the distraction 
 of her own mind, and did not know the 
 cause ; but she was too kind-hearted to show 
 a lack of sym23athy. 
 
 " I am listening," she said. 
 
 " Oh, what an adorable thing is a w^oman 
 when she loves ! " he exploded. '^ She is a 
 thousand million times more attractive then. 
 There is a softness about her that enhances 
 every charm then. Love, Kate, is the — th e " — 
 he was hesitating to see how she took the 
 application of Christian name, and for an apt 
 quotation. 
 
 In her abstraction she had not noticed the 
 omission of the title.
 
 "HOW HAYE I BEEN MISLED?" 291 
 
 " Oh, love makes all things equal ! " he 
 
 cried, with a burst of enthusiasm, happily 
 
 remembering a line from an old burlesque. 
 
 * Kings will forget their state at Love's dictation, 
 Cabman their rank, and railway guards their station. 
 Love makes all equal ; scorns of rank the rules, 
 Makes kings and beggars equal ' " 
 
 "What ! why, what are you talking about ? " 
 said Kate, in amazement, waking up to the 
 fact that he had lost sight of the lady alto- 
 gether now, and had launched into the 
 abstract. 
 
 " Divine creature ! I am trying to give 
 you an idea of what love is." 
 
 " It must be very bad indeed," said she, 
 relapsing — drifting back into her thought, 
 or rather into the pictures in her mind, 
 dreamily wondering how a man could talk 
 such nonsense. 
 
 " I implore you to listen. You are cold, 
 and Love cannot endure ice. Heavens ! what 
 it is to be without experience ! You can 
 endure to see me in this state, and not pity 
 me."
 
 292 AUTUMN MANCEUYRES. 
 
 " I do pity you," slie said, with some 
 emphasis. " But I should have thought, at 
 your time of life, that it — it," she went on 
 vaguely, "would not have been so severe/' 
 
 **' There ! " exclaimed O'Buncous, striking 
 an attitude — " there is the greatest delusion 
 of the age ! A man like Bathurst, now, 
 doesn't understand life. With all his ideas 
 of reform, he hasn't reformed that error. 
 Though Fve been all my life trying to hit 
 the mark, thinking eternally I've got her 
 at last, I have found her, he protests he has 
 never seen the women he would have 
 married." 
 
 " Perhaps he knows what he is looking- 
 for," said she, with an air of apology. 
 
 Neither heard footsteps on the soft turf, 
 so Eeilly, who was attracted by the major's 
 spasmodic ejaculations, leant his back against 
 the trunk of the great oak, under wliose 
 shade they were sitting, and ignominiously 
 listened. 
 
 " I know what he is looking for," cried
 
 "HOW HAYE I BEEN MISLED?" 293 
 
 O'Buncous, archly. " Sweet innocent — fur 
 no sucking dove was ever more so — I know." 
 
 " Then why clon't you tell him, Major 
 O'Buncous ? It would be but kind." 
 
 " Was ever such marvellous innocence 
 heard of ? " he exclaimed. '' Dear creature ! 
 let me be your mentor ; let me be the first 
 to initiate you into the mystery of love." 
 
 " Major O'Buncous, I really would rather 
 not hear any more about it. I cannot con- 
 ceive why you should be annoyed ^^ith 
 Colonel Bathurst because his ideas do not 
 correspond with yours." 
 
 She attempted to rise, feeling somewhat 
 confused by his increasing warmth of speech 
 and his plethoric warmth of countenance. 
 
 " Nay, nay ! " he cried, feeling sure there 
 was strong tragedy in this romantic negative, 
 and seizing her hand while, with an effort 
 that seemed to invite apoplexy, he sank on 
 his knees before her. " You will not leave 
 me thus. You have heard my feelings for 
 you — I've expressed them as best I could.
 
 294 AUTUMN MANOEUVRES. 
 
 though only the heart knows its own — its 
 own weakness. Be mine, clear maid ! " 
 
 *' Let me go instantly ! You must be out 
 of your mind ! Here have I been listening 
 to your incoherence, thinking that you were 
 regretting the loss of some one who had once 
 been dear to you. In the name of everything 
 that is reasonable, do not suppose that I 
 knew what you meant ! " 
 
 O'Buncous stood aghast while she uttered 
 these words in an angry, contemptuous 
 tone. 
 
 " I will not betray you, for the sake of 
 the gentleman with whom you are staying, 
 but take care never to address me again, 
 except in common civility." 
 
 Then, with the air of a queen, and a bright 
 angry flush in her face, she walked resolutely 
 away. 
 
 O'Buncous did not follow her; he sat 
 himself down on the seat, and drew a 
 long-drawn breath. 
 
 " And I thought she was leading up tome
 
 "HOW HATE I BEEN MISLED?" 295 
 
 all the time. What coquettes women are ! 
 And, let's see, this makes the hundred and 
 fifty-seventh attack I've made on the female 
 heart in vain ! Man may conquer with a 
 sword ; but where is he against a woman's 
 tongue ? " 
 
 And Keilly silently endorsed the senti- 
 ment. 
 
 It was a malicious feeling to possess a man 
 of Reilly's type, but the thing must be 
 admitted of him. He actually waited and 
 waylaid O'Buncous, eyeing him critically as 
 he did so. 
 
 " Something has happened to you, major, 
 or I am mistaken. You are out of tone, it 
 seems." 
 
 *' Out of tone ? " repeated O'Buncous, con- 
 temptuously. " How lightly you doctors 
 treat things ! By all that's holy, I'm at my 
 worst extremity. Never in all the course of 
 my life have I suffered as I am suffering 
 now." 
 
 Keilly shook his head. ''You ai^ ex-
 
 296 AUTUMN MANCEUVKES. 
 
 aggerating your case, I'm afraid. Not 
 uncommon in patients of a certain tem- 
 perament." 
 
 '' I'm speaking of the spiritual part of 
 me ! " exclaimed O'Buncous, warmly. " Your 
 heart and soul are buried in your profession, 
 and, as I have often told you, you've not 
 the sensation of a sponge. You're a 
 machine." 
 
 " Thank you, O'Buncous ; thank you ! 
 Now, what of the spiritual complaint you were 
 about to make ? I had a case not lonor aoro 
 quite similar. The man wore himself to 
 a shadow, because he discovered at fifty 
 years of age that he ought to have been a 
 Jew, whereas all his life he had been a 
 Roman Catholic." 
 
 "Well, couldn't he change and get it 
 over ? 
 
 " No. His conscience refused to be 
 quieted, inasmuch as he felt the weight of 
 fifty years of rank heresy too much to atone 
 for. He quietly shuffled off his mortal coil,
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEX MISLED?" 297 
 
 resolving, as he told me id confidence, to do 
 better with the next chance he had." 
 
 " Then didn't he put an end to himself? " 
 O'Buncous was uncertain. 
 
 " I'm afraid I can scarcely answer that 
 question," said Reilly, gravely. '' There are 
 so many people, you know, who dispute the 
 possibility of an end — if you are alluding to 
 a spiritual end." 
 
 " Your conversation's loose. Well, I don't 
 understand a man's committing suicide on a 
 matter of opinion." 
 
 " What ! not if it's his own ? " 
 
 " Certainly not. Well, anyhow, Fm very 
 well content with my religion. There's 
 something to hold on to in the Romish 
 Church. It doesn't give you room to doubt 
 — the law's straight, and there's no dispute 
 about it. If you slide off, you're sure to 
 find the way back. Xow, a man might 
 commit suicide on a love-affair ; because, 
 you know, there is no royal road to a lady's 
 favour — and women are such coquettes."
 
 298 AUTUMN MANCEUVRES. 
 
 '' You haven't been proposing to any one, 
 I hope ? " 
 
 " By Jupiter ! I am consumed " 
 
 " Well, you could aflford the loss. AVait 
 till you are half through, and you'll be 
 a slim youth again. Unrequited love is 
 better thau Allen's Anti-Fat as a flesh 
 consumer." 
 
 O'Buncous coloured, as his mind's eye 
 descried several empty bottles of the 
 same. 
 
 "Major," said Eeilly, solemnly, "you 
 would have a better chance with a lady if 
 you were half your present size." 
 
 " Great Heaven ! Eeilly, women don't 
 choose by size — though in my youth my 
 figure was much admired. But experience 
 tells me that women marry sowl.'' 
 
 "Ah! that is a satisfactory conclusion, 
 and it leaves a wide probability to you. So 
 you have been proposing ? " 
 
 " Haven't I been doing it all my life ? " 
 interpolated O'Buncous.
 
 "HOW HAVE I BEEN MISLED?" 299 
 
 " I've only to do with one case," said 
 Reilly, tersely. 
 
 "'Case ' again ; you ought to be put in one 
 yourself. Yes ; the little hussey led me on 
 with her wheedling ways and — and on the 
 hint I spake — " Here he hesitated. 
 
 It had taken him a long course of training 
 to break him of that word. " Spake," he 
 repeated. '' Hang it all, Reilly ! Shake- 
 speare must have been an Irishman ! That's 
 a proof of it, you know, or else it's bad 
 grammar." 
 
 Reilly controlled his risible muscles. 
 " All I have to say is, whether you ' spake ' 
 or not, don't do it again, unless you wish 
 to annoy Bathurst." 
 
 " Bathurst ! Is he spoony in the same 
 quarter? Well, anyhow, I've had the first 
 shy, and, size out of the question, he looks 
 as old as me any day." 
 
 EXD OF VOL. I. 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED. 
 
 LONDON AND BECCLES. G.,C.&'Co.