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 By the Author of ' The Initials,' and ' At Odds.' 
 
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 BY 
 
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 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 YOL. I. 
 
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 EICHAr.D BENTLEY, NEW BrRLINOTON STREET. 
 
 1867.
 
 823 
 V- 1 
 
 TO 
 
 ALFEED TENNYSON, 
 ms little Storn 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, 
 
 jy MEMOEY 
 
 OF MAXY HAPPY HOUES 
 
 PASSED IN HIS COMPANY 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 #
 
 CONTENTS TO YOI. I. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 INTEODirCTION .... . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DUMBLETON AND THE CLERGY . . .22 
 
 CHAPTEE IIL 
 A ladies' committee . . . .11 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 GOSSIP . . . . . .58 
 
 CHAPTEE y. 
 
 DUMBLETON MAIh'OK HOUSE . . .76 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 LADY TENETIA YEHNET AT HOME . . 93 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 "COULEUE DE ROSE " . . . . IIG 
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 A CONYEBSATION AT THE MA:n:OII HOUSE . 134
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PROSERPINE IRON WORKS . . • 155 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " LE MARIAGE A LA MODE " . . . 177 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE . . . . 200 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT . . . . 218 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MRS. BOWTEE DAT7KINS » . . . 239 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 " THE LITTLE RIFT WITHIN THE LTJTE" . 257 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 '' LOYE ME, LOYE MY DOG " . . . 276
 
 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Let the strict tale of graver mortals be 
 A long, exact, and serious comedy ; 
 In every scene some moral let it teach, 
 And if it can, at once, both please and preach, 
 Let mine an innocent, gay farce appear." 
 
 Pope. 
 
 I WAS born in the parish of Dumbleton, and 
 there I have hved ever since, and I don't 
 suppose that anybody knows the historj^ of 
 the place and that of its inhabitants, better 
 than I do. 
 
 VOL. I. 1
 
 2 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 For three or four generations past, the 
 Lamberts have been the leading solicitors of 
 Dumbleton, and have managed the affairs of 
 almost everybody who has affairs worth ma- 
 naging ; and without wishing to boast, I 
 believe I may truly say that the Lamberts 
 have gained the confidence, respect, and 
 esteem of all classes. 
 
 Tom, my eldest brother, is now the re- 
 presentative of the reigning house of Lam- 
 bert — my second brother having taken to 
 another line of business, as I shall have the 
 honour of explaining to you presently — so 
 Tom and I live together in the old house 
 adjoining his office ; and a very pleasant, 
 comfortable old house it is too, in its own 
 stiff, old-fashioned way. 
 
 It is not like one qf these new villas they 
 run up now-a-days, with walls an inch thick 
 and all over stucco, which turns brown, and
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 peels off, within a twelvemonth. I am 
 thankful to say our house is of good, sub- 
 stantial, solid, red brick, with real stone 
 copings, and a handsome stone porch over 
 the front door, with a flight of steps leading* 
 up to it, and a paved walk below that, with 
 elaborately worked iron-gates at the end of 
 it ; and on each side of this walk, and all 
 up the steps, we place, in summer, great 
 pots of scarlet geraniums and blue agapan- 
 thus, which gives the place, to my mind, a 
 very bright and cheerful appearance. But, 
 of course, that is quite a matter of taste. 
 
 Inside the house we have a spacious front 
 hall paved in squares of black and white 
 marble just like a chess-board on a large 
 scale, and into this hall open our principal 
 dwelling rooms — the drawing-room, dining- 
 room, Tom's study, and a little room, which, 
 in our primitive manner, we call " the front 
 
 1 —2
 
 4 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 parlour." In this parlour window, which is 
 built out in a bow, I have my sofa, and there 
 I spend most of my time, reading and knit- 
 ting and looking out of the window alter- 
 nately. Ever since I first met with the acci- 
 dent that made me a cripple for life, I have 
 been in the habit of sitting or lying in this 
 bow-window, and watching the people go 
 by- 
 
 " As up and down the people go " — 
 
 up the hill to the Common and down the 
 
 hill to the town. I often think my window 
 
 must be rather like the glass of the Lady 
 
 ofShalott— 
 
 " And moving through a mirror clear 
 That hangs before her all the year, 
 Shadows of the world appear- 
 There she sees the highway dear 
 
 "Winding down to Camelot. 
 There the river eddy whirls, 
 And the red cloaks of market girls 
 
 Pass onwards from Shalott."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 There's pretty sure to be always somebody 
 passing, and it is very seldom that anybody 
 goes by, without looking up to give me a 
 nod and a smile, for our Dumbleton people 
 * are good, kind-hearted creatures, and they all 
 know ''little Miss Patty" will be on the 
 look out for them. 
 
 The station has been built of late years, 
 just between our house and the town, so 
 that about nine or ten o'clock of a morning, 
 1 see plenty of company, for all our gentle- 
 men from the Common will be just bustling 
 off to catch the first express to London ; 
 and then again I always like to be in my 
 place between five and six in the afternoon, 
 to see them come leisurely back. I can 
 frequently tell how things are going on in 
 the City, by the faces I see coming from 
 the train ; but if anything very wonderful 
 should have occurred I generally have the
 
 6 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 first intelligence of it, for some kind friend 
 or another is sure to look in and tell me the 
 news, or leave an evening paper at the gate 
 for me. So, as I said before, I don't suppose 
 there is any body who can tell you more 
 about Dumbleton and the Dumbletonians 
 than I can. 
 
 We sick people who have nothing better to 
 do than to sit still and look on at life, as if 
 we were in our own private box at the 
 theatre, and all the rest of the world were 
 merely actors and actresses, acting a series 
 of plays for our amusement, contrive to see 
 a good many little things that the players 
 themselves are too busy to notice much. I 
 have been watching the Dumbleton stage 
 very attentively through my opera glasses 
 for many years past, and I have seen a good 
 many plays acted there in my time, sometimes 
 pantomimes, sometimes comedies, often tra-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 gedies and even melodramas. When I was a 
 very little cliiid,my nurse let me fall out of lier 
 arms, over our wide, old-fashioned stair-case 
 into the hall below. They thought at first 
 I was killed, but I had only injured my 
 spine ; so that I did not die, but lived to be 
 a poor, little, sickly, deformed object ; a lame, 
 hunchbacked, little woman, but a very cheer- 
 ful, happy, little woman for all that — and 
 now this is all I am going to tell you 
 about myself. I don't mean to be the 
 heroine of my own story. No ! no ! 1 
 must find you somebody young and pretty 
 for that, or you won't think it worth reading, 
 I know verv well. 
 
 But I must just say a few words about 
 my two brothers. Tom is the dearest, 
 kindest, and most benevolent old bachelor 
 that ever lived upon this earth. I hardly 
 know how it was that he never married — I
 
 8 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 sometimes fancy it was a good deal on my 
 account — Tom did not like me to be turned 
 adrift in the world, to take care of myself ; 
 and though, to my certain knowledge, there 
 were plenty of ladies in Dumbleton who 
 would have snapped at the chance of marry- 
 ing him, I don't much think Tom ever 
 gave them the option. If he ever fell in 
 love with any of them, he never told me 
 anything about it and a more aiSectionate 
 and devoted brother than Tom has been to 
 me, ever since my accident, it is impossible 
 to imagine. 
 
 My second brother, James, is quite a 
 different kind of man — not but what James 
 is always most kind and attentive to me — 
 but James's first object in life, from the 
 time he was quite a lad, has been money 
 making. With this object in view he de- 
 chned to enter his father's office, saying he
 
 INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 was fitted for something better than to plod 
 on, all his hfe, in an attorney's office in a 
 small country town. James was determined 
 to make a name for himself in the world, and 
 a fortune too. 
 
 After some delay and much discussion, 
 James ended by going off to Austraha as soon 
 as he was one-and-twenty, with an enterprising 
 Scotchman of the name of Hope, who held 
 large contracts under government at Sydney, 
 and who wanted just such a sharp, pushing 
 young man as my brother James, for his 
 assistant. 
 
 Mr. Hope made a very good thing of his 
 government contracts ; and, after a time, he 
 raised James to the rank of junior partner 
 in the business. We now hoped that my 
 brother would have come home. My father 
 was getting to be an old man, and longed to 
 see his youngest son once more. But
 
 10 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 James was too much engaged in his favourite 
 pursuit, to consider his father's wishes, and 
 the poor old man died, without ever bidding 
 him farewell. There was another reason, 
 why I was anxious that James should return 
 to England. When he left Dumbleton he 
 was engaged to my particular friend and 
 constant companion, Margaret Beaumont; 
 and one of James's ostensible reasons for 
 wishing to make money was, that he might 
 be able to fulfil this engagement and marry 
 Margaret. But year after year went by and 
 James wrote but seldom, and then his letters 
 were cold and unsatisfactory. 
 
 In the eagerness of his race for wealth, 
 James had apparently forgotten the prize 
 which he had once held out to himself as 
 the reward of his labour. 
 
 After a time, Mr. Hope died, leaving a 
 young widow and a little girl to the care of
 
 INTRODTJCTION. 11 
 
 his partner. James was so scrupulous in. 
 attending to his friend's last bequest, that 
 at the end of another year, he had married 
 Mrs. Hope, and adopted her child as his 
 own. 
 
 When James had been away about ten or 
 twelve years, he really did come home, 
 having gained a very considerable fortune 
 by his marriage, as well as by his business. 
 He did not give up his usual occupation, 
 however, but became a very busy and in- 
 fluential man in the city — passing his time 
 in investing his own and his stepdaughter's 
 money to the best advantage, and earning a 
 good income by being a director of numerous 
 large and thriving companies, who gladly 
 paid him for the use of his name, and for the 
 benefit of his advice and experience in the 
 management of their affairs. 
 
 At the death of old Mr. Pybus, my brother
 
 12 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 was chosen as chairman of the " Proserpine 
 Iron Company " in Dumbleton, and then 
 James took np his residence on the Common, 
 and built for himself a very handsome and 
 luxurious abode, which he called Contango 
 Abbey. Contango Abbey was a Gothic 
 structure, " replete," as the house agents say, 
 " with every comfort and convenience requi- 
 site for a nobleman's family." It was situ- 
 ated on the highest and best part of the 
 Common, and commanded an extensive view 
 of the surrounding country, which was inter- 
 sected by a river and a couple of railroads 
 in almost parallel lines, and was bounded on 
 the horizon by a dense haze of fog and smoke, 
 which presented to the unsophisticated mind 
 of a stranger a very inadequate idea of the 
 glories of the distant metropolis. 
 
 I am not one of those people who hold 
 with the old Scotch proverb, that " Blude is
 
 INTEODUCTION. 13 
 
 thicker tlian water," and I never feel bound 
 to consider a person the height of perfection, 
 just because they happen to be in some de- 
 gree related to myself. On the contrary, I 
 prefer, as a general rule, the friends of my 
 own choice, to the relations who have been in 
 a measure forced upon me by circumstances. 
 Therefore, I never pretended to be excessively 
 attached to my brother James, though, hav- 
 ing been a successful man, and a wealthy 
 man, he was much looked up to and respected 
 by all who knew him. 
 
 For, as we have all found, ever since King 
 David's time, " so long as thou doest good 
 unto thyself, men will speak well of thee ;" 
 and James cei'tainly did such very substan- 
 tial " good unto himself," that I can answer 
 for it that there was not a single creature 
 in all Dumbleton who could find a word to 
 say against him ; and so James " counted
 
 14 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 himself a happy man," though I cannot say 
 I ever envied him myself. 
 
 James's wife was a fine-looking woman — 
 tall, stout, fair, and certainly handsome in 
 the Elizabethan style (or perhaps I should 
 rather say in the st^de of Queen Elizabeth, 
 to whose portraits my sister-in-law bore a 
 striking resemblance). I often thought the 
 likeness was more than skin deep, for Eliza 
 was every whit as vain, as selfish, as jealous, 
 and as capricious, as our glorious old Queen 
 Bess herself of blessed memory. 
 
 When first she came to England, Eliza 
 took the line of professing immense affection 
 for James and his family, and was always 
 trying to prove to us how deeply my brother 
 was devoted to her, and to her child. She 
 evidently had intended us to follow suit, 
 and to fall down before her, and worship her 
 as the presiding Deity of the whole family.
 
 TNTEODTJCTION. 15 
 
 But somehow, or another (I hardly know 
 why it was), I never took to Eliza as per- 
 haps I ought to have done. 
 
 She would try to patronise me, and I am 
 not fond of being patronised, and so I re- 
 belled, and EHza did not like that, and 
 altogether we did not quite what is called 
 '' hit it off," together. I remember so well 
 our first meeting — Tom and T had gone 
 down to the front door of the Red Holm to 
 welcome my brother and his family to 
 Dumbleton. 
 
 James seemed delighted to see us again, 
 and introduced his wife to me as my " new 
 sister EUza." 
 
 She held out her hand to me in a conde- 
 scending manner as we entered our little 
 drawing-room, saying — " Ah ! you will, I 
 trust, find it a great comfort, Miss Lambert, 
 to have a sister to look after you, and take 
 
 \
 
 16 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 care of you. I have often heard my dear 
 husband speak of you. He prepared me 
 for your appearance. James is always so 
 thoughtful for me. Yours is a sad affliction, 
 no doubt ; but we shall endeavour to do all 
 in our power to make you comfortable, and 
 I hope when we are settled, you will come 
 and visit us whenever you please. I know 
 James wishes it, and I shall be glad to do 
 everything in my power for my husband's 
 family. It will give me sincere pleasure, 
 Martha, to be of use to you, I can assure you." 
 I thanked her — rather coldly, I fear — for 
 I had been accustomed to take care of myself 
 for so many years, that I did not like to be 
 treated as utterly helpless ; and I had already 
 so many kind friends in Dumbleton, that I 
 did not think my sister-in-law's patronage 
 of any very great importance to my future 
 happiness.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 " I never had an aunt before/' said little 
 Sydney, coming up and giving me a gentle 
 kiss. " Will you be my Aunt Patty, as 
 Papa said you would ?'* 
 
 I embraced the dear child warmly, and 
 promised to be to her the most tender and 
 dutiful of aunts. 
 
 James looked pleased, and patted Sydney's 
 head affectionately. 
 
 " Is it not dehghtful to see how fond he 
 is of my child ?" observed Eliza, in a stage 
 aside to Tom. " But your brother is a dear, 
 kind man — a more attentive husband never 
 lived ; and you know this is not my first ex- 
 perience of married life," she added in an af- 
 fected voice. " But you all receive me so 
 kindly — I declare I feel quite overcome. I 
 am so afraid dear James has prepared you for 
 something very superior. I know James's 
 kind partiahty to me, and I am sadl}^ afraid 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 18 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 that, where I and my little daughter are 
 concerned, your brother is not quite to be 
 trusted. I warned him not to say too much 
 about me. I hope, you naughty man, that 
 you have not been disobeying my orders ;" 
 and Eliza put on an air of pretty playfulness, 
 and patted James's arm, and looked up in 
 his face with what she evidently thought an 
 irresistibly charming manner. 
 
 But my brother, instead of responding to 
 this little demonstration of conjugal affection, 
 looked bored, I thought, and even, perhaps, 
 a little ashamed, and turned the conversation 
 rather abruptly, by asking if it were not 
 dinner time ; and remarking, that as he was 
 very hungry after his journey, he thought 
 Eliza might as well take off her bonnet and 
 wash her hands at once. I, taking the hint, 
 ushered my sister-in-law to her room, and 
 cut short her protestations and a^^ologies
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 rather sooner than she quite liked, I suspect ; 
 but Eliza and I have never been very cordial 
 from that moment. 
 
 Her little daughter, Sydney, however, 
 was one of the prettiest and most engaging 
 children I ever beheld. She was about 
 twelve years old, when first she came to 
 England, and she soon became as great a 
 favourite of Tom's and mine as she already 
 was of her step-father's. 
 
 There was no resisting little Sydney's- 
 mnning, childish ways. I fear we all joined 
 in petting and indulging her in the most 
 shameful manner, but she was so simple and 
 innocent, and so lo\dng and warm-hearted, 
 that we quite doted upon her. 
 
 If she had been a niece of our own, I am 
 sure Tom and I could not have loved her 
 better; and Sydney was never more happy 
 than when she came to spend the day at the 
 
 2—2
 
 20 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Bed Holm with " Uncle Tom" and " Aunt 
 Patty." 
 
 As she grew to years of discretion, Sydney 
 improved in beauty, and at eighteen, she 
 was everything that the heroine of a novel 
 ought to be. She had a tall, but slight and 
 graceful figure ; a dazzling complexion ; 
 eyes of " heavenly blue ;" and the correct 
 profusion of silken hair, " mingled with 
 threads of gold;" which, as you are well 
 aware, are all essential qualifications of a 
 really well-appointed heroine of modem 
 times. 
 
 Besides all this, Sydney had a pleasant, 
 hearty manner, and was simple and un- 
 affected, indeed, still almost child-like in her 
 way of talking. I am afraid I must add 
 that she was terribly impulsive, and that 
 bhe generally said whatever came first into 
 her mind, without stopping to calculate the
 
 INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 probable consequence of her words ; and this 
 habit not unfrequently led her into trouble, 
 as will herein-after appear. Sydney, more- 
 over, was not only a beauty, but an heiress, 
 for her father had left a considerable for- 
 tune, of which she was to take possession 
 either when she came of age, or on her 
 marriage. Her mother's jointure was also 
 to revert to Sydney at her death, and my 
 brother James having no family of his own, 
 was not unlikely to leave his step-daughter 
 the bulk of his own property. I really 
 don't know, therefore, that I should be able 
 to find in all Dumbleton a more suitable 
 heroine for my little story, than my niece 
 (as I always call her,) Sydney Hope.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 DXJMBLETON AND THE CLERGY. 
 
 " ' Describe the borough ;' though our idle tribe 
 May love description, can we so describe, 
 That you shall fairly streets and buildings trace, 
 And all that gives distinction to a place ? 
 This cannot be ; yet, moved by your request 
 A part I paint — let fancy form the rest ; 
 Cities and towns, the various haunts of men 
 Eequire the pencil, they defy the pen." 
 
 Ceabbe. 
 
 But having now given you an outline of 
 our family history, I must teU you some- 
 thing about Dumbleton. 
 
 Dumbleton is a good-sized town, and
 
 DTJMBLETON AND TKtl CLERGY. 'Z'6 
 
 there are some things in it, that would be 
 well worthy of your attention, the first 
 time you pass that way. The Town-hall, 
 for instance, and the Market-house beneath 
 it ; the new drinking fountain ; the old 
 Parish Church, and the pretty new Church 
 on the Common. 
 
 Our Common is famous for its fine, healthy 
 situation, and is surrounded by beautiful 
 villas, which are inhabited, for the most 
 part, by very wealthy gentlemen, who, like 
 my brother James, have business in the 
 City. 
 
 But I am forgetting that by far the best 
 account of Dumbleton is to be met with in 
 Bidgood's "Guide to Dumbleton and its 
 Vicinity." Bidgood is our principal book- 
 seller, and is quite a man of literary preten- 
 sion, from having compiled this little 
 book, which has been pronounced by the
 
 24 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 '' Bumhleton Mercury'^ to be "one of the 
 most useful and compendious publications of 
 the day." 
 
 I see, on referring to Bidgood's Guide, 
 that he begins by saying : — 
 
 " The ancient borough town of Dumbleton 
 is situated on the river Dumble, from which 
 it derives its name. It stands in a pic- 
 turesque and salubrious part of the country, 
 has a population of 10,000 inhabitants; is 
 represented in Parliament by one member ; 
 boasts a weekly market and an annual fair, 
 and is justly celebrated for its fine scenery, 
 fine air, fine women, and fine ales." 
 
 Bidgood also remarks that " Dumbleton 
 offers many advantages as a place of resi- 
 dence to those persons whose occupation 
 compels them to remain for the greater part 
 of the year in the neighbourhood of London, 
 the great E line affording great facility
 
 DUMBLETON AND THE CLEHGY. 25 
 
 for hourly communication with every part 
 of the metropolis." Of course there is no 
 denying all this. Nothing can be more 
 true ; but as Bidgood's style of writing 
 appears to me to be a little stilted, I will 
 quote no more from his work. 
 
 We have two excellent hotels in Dumble- 
 ton. The " Peacock," down in the Market- 
 place, and the " Alexandi'a," on the Common. 
 If you were to ask my advice, I should say 
 decidedly go to the " Peacock ;" but I may 
 be prejudiced in favour of good Mrs. Phill- 
 potts, whom I have known all my life ; for 
 the " Alexandra" only belongs to a Joint 
 Stock Company (Kmited) of doubtful sol- 
 vency, in which I am unable to take any 
 interest whatever. But to return to the 
 subject of Dumbleton — I ought not to omit 
 some mention of our churches, and of our 
 clergymen, who are of the utmost impor-
 
 26 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 tance in our consideration — indeed we ladies 
 think and talk of little else than the respec- 
 tive merits of our three churches and our 
 four clergymen. 
 
 To begin with the old parish church, 
 which is large, dark, ugly, and inconvenient. 
 It was built in the reign of Edward VI., 
 partially destroyed by fire during the Com- 
 monwealth, and rebuilt in the time of Queen 
 Anne ; {vide " Bidgood's Gruide to Dumble- 
 ton"). It stands in the very centre of the 
 town, where it is so blocked in by modern 
 streets and houses, that it is scarcely visible, 
 till you find yourself actually in the church- 
 yard, which is a kind of public thoroughfare 
 from one end of the town to the other. 
 
 St. Anne's is a hideous structure outside, 
 consisting of a short, dumpy, grey tower, 
 (part of the original edifice) joined on to a 
 huge, red-brick body. The interior, however,
 
 DUMBLETON AND THE CLERGY. 27 
 
 is thoroughly comfortable and homely; every 
 family of any consideration in the parish 
 may be accommodated with an excellent, 
 roomy, square pew, full of snug corners, 
 well-stuffed cushions, and provided with 
 thick curtains of crimson baize, which can 
 be drawn all round to keep off the draughts 
 of cold air, or the prying eyes of the congre- 
 gation. 
 
 The living of Dumbleton being in the 
 gift of the Earl of Cleveden, he naturally pre- 
 sented it to his second son, Berresford Broke. 
 
 Our young vicar is a popular man for 
 several reasons — the first of which is, per- 
 haps, that we consider him to be " every 
 inch a gentleman." Mr. Broke is always 
 liberal, just, straightforward, and honourable 
 in his dealings with his parishioners ; his 
 sermons are plain, and very much to the 
 point, and though I have no doubt we have
 
 28 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 heard the same thing very often before, still 
 we always fancy we hear something worth 
 listening to, when the Vicar is in the pulpit. 
 
 In old Dr. Westcott's time, the church 
 was never so full as it is now ; and though 
 he was a very pious old gentleman, and we 
 all considered him as infallible as the Pope 
 of Eome himself, still I should not say he 
 was so popular a man altogether as our 
 present Vicar — the Honourable and Reve- 
 rend Berresford Broke. 
 
 Mrs. Broke was a Miss Marsham, the 
 third daughter of Greneral and Lady Emily 
 Marsham (quite fashionable people in Lon- 
 don) ; and though I believe they did not 
 consider it a very good match for their 
 daughter, they gave their consent with a 
 tolerably good grace, as Lord Cleveden has 
 better livings than Dumbleton at his dis- 
 posal, and his elder son, Lord Templecombe,
 
 DUMBLETON AND THE CLERGY. 29 
 
 was not at that time married. Mrs. Berres- 
 ford Broke, when first she came to Dumble- 
 ton, was young, pretty, and good-natured ; 
 and as she dressed well, and gave herself no 
 airs whatever, she soon became very popular 
 among the Dumbleton ladies. 
 
 The Brokes are generally supposed to be in a 
 state of painful indigence, and compared with 
 some of our rich City men on the Common, 
 no doubt their income may appear a small 
 one. Still, I can never help thinking that 
 Lady Emily Marsham exaggerates matters 
 a little, when she talks about her poor child 
 being " an actual pauper," or a " perfect 
 beggar." For after all, there is no such 
 very great harm in being a jDauper in a 
 pretty little Parsonage house, with a nice 
 garden, a basket pony carriage, three maids, 
 and an odd man. Neither is it any terrible 
 hardship to be a beggar, when the alms
 
 30 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 consist of game of all kinds, fruit, hot-house 
 flowers, and other luxuries of the same 
 description. It is fortunate that the Brokes 
 seem to take a delight in being petted and 
 patronised by their rich neighbours, for I 
 am sure their parishioners take an equal 
 pleasure in ministering to their comfort. 
 If the Brokes are asked to dinner, it is quite 
 a matter of course, that a carriage shall be 
 sent to fetch them and take them home 
 again; and should Mrs. Broke express a desire 
 to go to town, half a dozen ladies — my 
 sister-in-law at their head — will think it 
 quite an honour to offer their services, and to 
 set her down at the Greneral's door in Gros- 
 venor Square, and call for her again in the 
 course of a few hours. So that, in fact, we 
 feel no very serious apprehensions about the 
 state of our Vicar's finances ; and it is always 
 pleasant to feel that any little attention we
 
 DUMBLETON A.ND THE CLERGY. 31 
 
 can show Mr. Broke, or Ms wife, is sure to 
 be gratefully received. To tell you the 
 honest truth, I believe we consider the obli- 
 gation to be all on our side. 
 
 Eliza, in particular, is never so happy as 
 when she is able to do some little service for 
 her dear Mrs. Berresford Broke. My sister- 
 in-law loves to patronise, and of course to be 
 able to patronise a lady of much higher rank 
 than her own, adds immensely to the plea- 
 sure of the thing, 
 
 Mr. Broke keeps a curate — a young man 
 fresh from College — who assists him at the 
 parish church, and a very excellent young 
 man, I am sure, Mr. Hatfield is. A fine, 
 strong, active, hearty young man, who can 
 do a hard day's work in the parish, and enjoy 
 a game of cricket on the Common in the 
 evening, as much as any school-boy in the 
 place. It is a real pleasure to me to watch
 
 32 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Mr. Hatfield go by, whistling to himself, and 
 followed by a bevy of his favourite scholars, 
 who all seem to look upon him more as a 
 friend and a playfellow of their own stand- 
 ing, than as a reverend gentleman of some 
 authority in the parish ; and I don't disKke 
 his sermons a bit the more on that account. 
 The beautiful Httle church of S. Monica, 
 on the Common, was built by old Mrs. 
 Honour Yerney, of the Manor House, who 
 also endowed it and presented it to the son 
 of an old friend of the Verney family. Mr. 
 Wilfred Auriol is a young man of very 
 decidedly High Church tendencies, and in- 
 tones the service ; has a small procession of 
 little boys in surplices, and habitually uses 
 " Hymns, ancient and modern," which is by 
 some of our Dumbleton people, looked upon 
 as one of the seven deadly sins, though I 
 never can quite understand why.
 
 DTJMBLETON AND THE CLERGY. 33 
 
 Nevertheless, S. Monica's is very well 
 attended. Many of tlie townspeople go np 
 to the new church of a Sunday evening, 
 particularly those young persons who happen 
 to be "keeping company.'' They say it is for 
 the sake of the singing, but my own belief is, 
 that it is not so much the singing, as the plea- 
 sure of the walk home in the dark afterwards, 
 that drags them all the way up that hill. 
 
 For my part I have nothing to say against 
 Mr. Auriol, who is, I have every reason to 
 believe, a very well-meaning, conscientious 
 person ; he certainly " does not spare him- 
 self, for he has " matins and vespers" every 
 day of his life, and it quite grieves me to 
 see him look so pale and thin, poor fellow. 
 
 He coughs too, sadly at times, though he 
 does wear a beard (to protect his throat and 
 chest, as I understand), which is, of course, 
 not what we have been accustomed to, from 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 34 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Dr. Westcott. Still, if poor Mr. Auriol 
 derives any benefit from the warmth, of his 
 beard, it is not for us to object to it, in any 
 wa}^ although I would gladly have knitted 
 him any number of comforters if he had 
 preferred them. 
 
 Mr. Auriol resides in a little villa, near 
 his church, with his mother and sister, and 
 a very peevish, fractious old lady is old Mrs. 
 Auriol. She suffers much from rheumatism, 
 and is apt to grow particularly snappish 
 whenever a rheumatic attack is impending. 
 I think she must be rather trying to live 
 with, but Wilfred, who loves to make a 
 martyr of himself, and no doubt, looks upon 
 his mother's temper as a cross, bears her 
 petty tyrannies most patiently, I must con- 
 fess. As for Agnes Auriol, his sister, she is 
 next door to an angel, and is one of my 
 particular favourites.
 
 DTJMBLETON AND THE CLERGY. 35 
 
 She is a really good, sensible, praiseworthy 
 girl, and, though she never misses one of her 
 brother's little daily services, she works 
 hard in the parish besides, and is as good as 
 another curate to Mr. Broke. I always do 
 think (though, of course, it is no business of 
 mine,) what a charming wife Agnes would 
 make for Mr. Hatfield, and I have every 
 reason to suspect that Mr. Hatfield perfectly 
 agrees with me. 
 
 The third church is quite at the further 
 end of the town, down by the river side. 
 
 It was got up chiefly out of opposition to 
 S. Monica's; but, as money sufficient to build 
 a real church could not be raised, an iron 
 church was bought, all in little bits, like a 
 child's toy, and then put together, and stuck 
 up upon a waste piece of ground among all 
 the wharves and factories, where, I dare say, 
 it does a vast deal of good. 
 
 3-2
 
 36 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Bartliolomew's, as it is called, is not an 
 ornamental erection certainly, but it is a 
 light, cheerful, roomy place enough inside, 
 with comfortable cane chairs placed on a bit 
 of bright-green drugget at the upper end of 
 the building, like a sort of reserved seats for 
 the richer members of the congregation, 
 single ladies, tradespeople, and so forth, who 
 cannot aflPord a whole pew at the parish 
 church, but still like to have a sitting of 
 their own at Bartholomew's ; and there are 
 plenty of neat, painted, deal benches, with 
 some cocoa-nut matting foot-paths between 
 them, for the second class worshippers, which 
 strikes me as a remarkably convenient and 
 economical arrangement, and something 
 quite out of the common way ; only it makes 
 the chapel look a little like a concert-room, 
 I hear ; but I never go to Bai-tholomew's 
 myself, as I am used to my own parish
 
 DUMBLETON AND THE CLERGY. 37 
 
 churcli, and never stay away from it, if I can 
 help it. 
 
 The Eev. Nicholas Kibble oflSiciates at the 
 Iron Church. He upholds the extreme 
 evangelical views, and is much looked up to 
 by a certain set in Dumbleton, who accuse 
 Mr. Auriol of " popish practices," and who 
 give out that the Yicar does not " preach 
 the Gospel," and has "dangerous tenden- 
 cies." What they consist of, I am sure I 
 can't imagine, for a more harmless, good- 
 natured young man than Mr. Broke never 
 existed. 
 
 But Mr. Kibble finds " an extensive 
 sphere open to him," as he calls it, at that 
 end of the town, and I am sure there is 
 plenty of good to be done in Dumbleton by 
 persons of all ways of thinking. Mr. Kibble 
 is not a talented man by any means ; indeed 
 as he often says of himself, he " possesses
 
 38 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 more grace than gifts." But though he 
 never had the advantages of a university 
 education, he got ordained somehow, and he 
 certainly fell upon his feet when he came to 
 Dumbleton, at the request of Mrs. Pybus of 
 Proserpine Hall, and was eventually married 
 to her niece. Miss Parkins was a daughter 
 of the rich tobacconist on the Common, who 
 gave her a fortune of fifty thousand pounds, 
 and who, as long as he lived, took great 
 pleasure in placing many little comforts and 
 luxuries at the disposal of the ever increasing 
 demands of the young Kibble family. 
 
 But while I am on the subject of the 
 clergy I must not forget to mention Mrs, 
 Pybus, of Proserpine Hall ; the rich widow 
 of the late Zachery Pybus, formerly 
 Chairman of the Board of Directors of the 
 Proserpine Iron Company. Mrs. Pybus 
 is the most important person in the parish
 
 DUMBLETON AND THE CLERGY. 39 
 
 (at all events, in lier own estimation). 
 She was the prime instigator of the Iron 
 Church movement, and is still the strenuous 
 supporter of Mr. Kibble and evangelical prin- 
 ciples in Dumbleton. 
 
 Mrs. Pybus is, by mutual consent, con- 
 sidered as the great authority at all our 
 ladies' committees and charitable institu- 
 tions, and we all look up to her opinion 
 with considerable respect, and even awe. 
 
 She takes likewise a very lively interest 
 in the temperance society ; and I remember 
 being present at a meeting on that subject 
 which she once convened at Proserpine Hall, 
 and to which she summoned all the ladies 
 of Dumbleton, "for the purpose of taking 
 into consideration the necessity of an enquiry 
 into the amount of spirituous liquors con- 
 sumed by the washerwomen of Dumbleton, 
 and to propose that a ladies' committee
 
 40 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 should at once be formed for the suppres- 
 sion of this alarming and increasing form of 
 vice." 
 
 So ran the circular (lithographed from 
 Mrs. Pybus's own autograph letter) which 
 was sent round to us all on this momentous 
 
 occasion.
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 A ladies' committee. 
 
 " Whoever keeps an open ear, 
 For tattlers, will be sure to hear 
 The trumpet of contention ; 
 Aspersion is the babbler's trade;, 
 To listen, is to lend him aid, 
 And rush into dissention." 
 
 COWPEB. 
 
 As no better opportunity of finding all the 
 principal ladies of Dumbleton assembled to- 
 gether in solemn conclave, is likely to present 
 itself, I will take the liberty of acting as your 
 " special correspondent" on the occasion, and
 
 42 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 will give you a report of the meeting from 
 an " eye witness." At tlie head of the 
 large, mahogany dining-table — which was 
 covered by a handsome, red cloth, bound 
 with black velvet — sat Mrs. Pybus herself; 
 she having, as a matter of course, taken the 
 chair. Before her were placed a large blot- 
 ting book, and a massive silver inkstand. 
 
 Supporting her, on either side, were her 
 faithful allies and habitual secretaries, the 
 Misses Woljff. 
 
 Sapientia Wolff, the elder sister, had at 
 one period of her life visited some relatives 
 in New York, and had come back thoroughly 
 imbued with grand and stirring notions 
 about the " Eights of Women," the " Em- 
 ployment of Females," and " Sanitary Ee- 
 form." Miss S. Wolff was also an authoress, 
 and was constantly engaged in preparing 
 papers for scientific journals on one, or other
 
 A LADIES COMMITTEE. 43 
 
 of her favourite subjects. Slie was moreover 
 by no means averse to reading one of her 
 little '' Papers" aloud (if very much pressed 
 to do so,) and it was very confidently re- 
 ported among her particular friends, that 
 should Sapientia be required upon an emer- 
 gency to address an overflowing assembly of 
 ladies and gentlemen at a public meeting, 
 or, say even a " social science congress," that 
 that lady would find herself at no loss 
 whatever, but would acquit herself with 
 remarkable ease and fluency. 
 
 Miss Amelia Wolff was by no means so 
 clever as her elder sister. She was a young 
 person of florid complexion and enthusiastic 
 temperament, but of a more modest and re- 
 tiring disposition than Sapientia. 
 
 Ameha was blessed with great talent for 
 collecting subscriptions — not that she was 
 by any means avaricious, or parsimonious-—
 
 44 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 quite tlie contrary ; but it was a genuine 
 gratification to her to ottain money on any 
 pretence whatever, no matter how trivial the 
 sum so gained, or how uninteresting the 
 object for which it was destined. Nothing 
 in this way came amiss to Amelia Wolff, 
 whether it was a penny collection, as a testi- 
 monial from his parishioners to a departing 
 curate, or a five guinea subscription among 
 the ladies of Dumbleton for a wedding pre- 
 sent to some member of the Eoyal Family -, 
 it was all one to Amelia, as long as she 
 was employed in raising funds on some pre- 
 text or another. If she could find no excuse 
 for asking for actual money, Amelia solaced 
 herself by canvassing for votes for some 
 destitute orphan, or idiot, or incurable 
 patient ; and by taking a list of subscribers to 
 these charities, and going regularly through 
 them alphabetically, with a touching appeal
 
 A ladies' committee. 45 
 
 for a few penny stamps, or some worn-out 
 clothing, if no votes were forthcoming, she 
 managed to fill up most of her time in a 
 manner highly satisfactory to herself. 
 
 Amelia naturally met with many rebuffs, 
 but these she bore with heroism worthy of a 
 better cause, and she was occasionally re- 
 warded by a short note from some lady or 
 gentleman of philanthropic disposition, who 
 desired to make further enquiries into the 
 merits of some particular case, and a short 
 correspondence had in some instances ensued 
 which had, for the time being, set Amelia 
 upon a perfect pinnacle of self-glorification. 
 
 The rest of the company consisted of Mrs. 
 Berresford Broke, who never shone much on 
 these occasions, or took any ver^^ active part 
 in the discussion of such subjects. There 
 was also Mrs. Duckett, the brewer's wife, 
 whose husband happened that year to
 
 46 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 be Mayor of Dumbleton ; and there was 
 Margaret Beaumont. Mrs. Auriol never 
 entered Mrs. Pybus's house, though she 
 allowed her daughter to be present ; but 
 Mrs. Kibble was there, of course, and in the 
 background sat Mrs. Eoberts and Miss Wy- 
 burd, two elderly ladies of quiet and retired 
 habits, who seldom entered into society ex- 
 cept for charitable purposes. 
 
 Mrs. White, the doctor's wife, who thought 
 it went against her husband's interests to 
 refuse Mrs. Pybus's invitation, my sister-in- 
 law, Sydney Hope, and myself, made up the 
 
 party. 
 
 " We are now assembled, ladies," began 
 Mrs. Pybus in her fine sonorous voice, ''' to 
 discuss a matter which seems to me to be 
 not unworthy of your most serious consider- 
 ation.'* 
 
 Here Mrs. Pybus paused, and consulted
 
 A ladies' committee. 47 
 
 through her gold eye-glasses a list of 
 those washerwomen who were under sus- 
 picion. 
 
 " I beheve, ladies/' she continued, " that 
 when you hear of the fearful proportion of 
 victims who have succumbed to this terrible 
 vice, your hearts will thrill with horror and 
 disgust, and that you will be unable to rest 
 till you have devised some scheme for putting 
 a stop to this degrading and lamentable state 
 of things. Ladies," added Mrs. Pybus in 
 her most impressive manner, " I have to 
 lay before you the awful fact, that out of 
 the one hundred and sixty women who find 
 employment in washing linen in this parish, 
 no less a proportion (on the average) than 
 seventy-five, are known to be addicted to 
 habits of intemperance 1" 
 
 " Hear ! Hear !" exclaimed Miss Wohf, 
 looking round triumphantly, as if Mrs. Py-
 
 48 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 bus had just imparted to the company some 
 extremely delightful intelligence. 
 
 " Well ! I am sure it's all very shocking 
 indeed/' said old Mrs. Duckett, who as 
 Mayoress of Dumbleton was entitled to speak 
 first ; " but do you know, my dear Mrs. 
 Pybus, I don't believe the poor things can 
 get through their work without a little 
 something just to keep up their strength." 
 
 " I know," said Mrs. James Lambert, 
 " that if I don't have my glass of port wine 
 regularly at eleven o'clock, I am ready to 
 drop before luncheon time. I tell James I 
 can't do without it, and he always gets me 
 the very best old port that is to be had in 
 London." 
 
 " The doctor tells me," said Mrs. White, 
 nervously, " that he considers half a pint of 
 good porter would do the poor women more 
 good than the bad gin they generally drink."
 
 A ladies' committee. 49 
 
 " Yes, indeed, and I have no doubt he is 
 quite right," resumed Mrs. Duckett; "nice 
 wholesome, unadulterated stout, such as we 
 make, can hurt nobody ; and Duckett, I am 
 sure, would let them have it at a most 
 reasonable price." 
 
 " Ah !" answered Eliza, " I never can touch 
 malt Hquor of any kind. I consider porter 
 heavy, bilious kind of stuff — only fit for 
 nav\des, or bargemen. I am sure, Mrs. 
 White, Dr. White will tell you that good, 
 old, port wine is the only thing that suits 
 my constitution." 
 
 " But you must bear in mind that these 
 poor washerwomen we are talking of, cannot 
 very well afibrd good, old, port wine," said 
 Margaret Beaumont, giving a comical glance 
 at me in my dark corner. 
 
 "Ladies, we are wandering from the 
 point in question completely," said Mrs. 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Pybus, with some asperity. " May I trouble 
 you to listen to a report which. Miss Wolff 
 has kindly drawn up at my request. Miss 
 Wolff, will you have the goodness to begin ?" 
 
 " I don't believe she knows anything about 
 the matter, and I daresay there's not one 
 word of truth in it all, from beginning to 
 end," whispered Sydney Hope to her friend 
 Mrs. Broke, who laughed and nodded ac- 
 quiescence very readily. 
 
 " May I request silence for 2, few moments, 
 young ladies ?" said our chairwoman sternly. 
 " I will not detain you long.^' 
 
 " Pray proceed. Miss Wolff; I am sure 
 you will not be again interrupted." 
 
 Miss Wolff, nothing loath, instantly sprang 
 to her feet, and began a lengthy and abstruse 
 paper on the evils of drunkenness, and the 
 advantages of total abstinence, more espe- 
 cially as regards the female sex, concluding
 
 A LADIES COMMITTEE. 51 
 
 with a reference to the habits of washer- 
 woraen in general, and Dumbleton washer- 
 women in particular. It was, I have no 
 doubt, a very able production, as Mrs, Pybus 
 seemed to think so ; but I fear Miss Wolff's 
 audience did not for the most part appreciate 
 the discourse as they should have done, for 
 they yawned, and looked more bored than 
 was at all proper under the circumstances. 
 
 " You hear, ladies, Miss Wolff's ideas on 
 this all important subject," said Mrs. Pybus, 
 when the report was at length concluded ; 
 " and now pray tell us what do you propose 
 that we should do in such an emergency ?" 
 
 " I should be rather inclined to advise the 
 poor women to undertake no more work 
 than they feel quite equal to, without re- 
 sorting to the support of stimulants," said 
 Mrs. Berresford Broke, feeling it incumbent 
 on her, as the Vicar's wife, to give an opinion 
 
 4—2 
 
 Ss>TVonamo>s
 
 02 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 of some sort, but not having any very lucid 
 ideas on the matter in question. 
 
 " And if they do feel themselves obliged 
 to take something, I should really advise 
 them to try our j^orter," added Mrs. Duckett.^ 
 "Duckett could let them have it in very 
 small casks from the brewery, you know ; and 
 then there would be no occasion for them to 
 be always running to the public-houses. I'll 
 talk to him about it as soon as I go home." 
 
 " I think that would be a very kind thing 
 to do," observed Miss Beaumont. " I hope 
 Mr. Duckett will consent." A chorus of 
 applause ensued. 
 
 " But as I have just mentioned to you," 
 interposed Miss Wolff, tapping the table 
 with her roll of MS. in a manner expressive 
 of some irritation, " I consider the use of 
 any stimulant most injurious to the female 
 constitution."
 
 A LADIES COMMITTEE. 53 
 
 " Or the male constitution either, I take 
 it, from what the Doctor tells me," said Mrs. 
 White, seizing the advantage of a pause ; 
 "if not taken — that is, of course, in due 
 moderation." 
 
 " We are not, I think, speaking of men, 
 but of washerwomen," retorted Miss Wolff, 
 angrily. '' I was observing, when Mrs. White 
 interrupted me, that the habitual use of 
 intoxicating liquors ultimately destroys the 
 female constitution. I believe," she added 
 with some show of sarcasm, " that even Mrs. 
 White ^vill allow that washerwomen are 
 usually females.'' 
 
 "Yet T can assure you, ma'am — although 
 perhaps you will hardly believe me — that in 
 India our clothes were invariably washed by 
 men," said Mrs. Roberts, who was the widow 
 of an Indian civilian, and had resided much 
 in that country.
 
 54 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " We are now, I imagine, in Dumbleton," 
 answered the aggravated Sapientia ; " and 
 here, I suppose, our clothes are washed by 
 females." 
 
 " But their husbands very often turn the 
 mangles though, Miss Wolff," said Mrs. 
 Duckett, with a little touch of malice. " I 
 was only passing Mrs. Fletcher's door yes- 
 terday morning, and I saw Joe turning the 
 mangle with my own eyes, and very hot and 
 thirsty he looked, poor fellow, I must con- 
 fess." 
 
 " Dear ladies," cried our chairwoman, com- 
 ing to the rescue of her ally ; " are we met 
 here this day, for the purpose of discouraging 
 intemperance,- or of advocating it ? for really 
 the arguments made use of by some of you, 
 would incline a stranger to believe that we 
 were taking the latter course.'* 
 
 " Why, I am sure I don't mean to say it
 
 A LAPIES* COMMITTEE. 55 
 
 is right for a man to drink more tlian is good 
 for him, or a woman either, for the matter 
 of that," said good, old, blundering Mrs. 
 Duckett, not the least disturbed by Mrs. Py- 
 bus*s ironical remarks. " I merely thought 
 poor Joe Fletcher looked hot and red in the 
 face, and he complained of feeling so dry, 
 that if I had happened to have my purse in 
 my pocket, I dare say I should have given 
 him the price of a pot of beer." 
 
 " And because your friend happens to be 
 
 * a drunken brute of a man," said Miss Wolff 
 
 indignantly, "is that any reason why the 
 
 whole female population of Dumbleton should 
 
 be encouraged in the same odious vice ?" 
 
 " But Joe Fletcher is not a drunken 
 brute," persisted the obtuse old lady ; " he 
 has worked in our garden for years, you 
 know, and we consider him a particularly 
 steady, civil-spoken man ; and his wife, who
 
 56 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 always washes for us, is a good, sober woman. 
 I never heard of her being tipsy in my life 
 
 — never." 
 
 These remarks were treated with all the 
 contempt they deserved, and Miss Wolff 
 rose to propose a resolution, which was se- 
 conded by Mrs. Kibble, to the effect that 
 a committee should be formed for the pur- 
 pose of enquiring into the subject more 
 minutely, and that a report should be laid 
 before the meeting on that day fort- 
 night. 
 
 Meanwhile, Miss Wolff undertook, at Mrs. 
 Babble's request, to prepare a Kttle tract, or 
 pamphlet, upon the ill effects produced on 
 the female constitution by the unguarded 
 use of spirituous liquors ; and it was deter- 
 mined that if this pamphlet should meet 
 the approbation of the committee, that several 
 hundred copies should be immediately struck
 
 A ladies' committee. 57 
 
 off for general distribution in the parish of 
 Dumbleton. 
 
 After this, the meeting was virtually ad- 
 journed.
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 GOSSIP. 
 
 " Talk without truth is like the hollow brass ; 
 talk without love is like the tinkling cymbal; and 
 where it does tinkle, it jingles ; and where it 
 does not jingle, it jars." — Mrs. Jameson's Commoit 
 Place Book. 
 
 I SAY virtually, because no sooner liad Mrs. 
 Pybus vacated the " chair," and Miss Wolff 
 put away her papers in a very business-like 
 looking, black leather bag, than the rest of the 
 ladies, feeling themselves at liberty to con- 
 verse as discursively as they pleased, without 
 any danger of being called to order, began
 
 GOSSIP. 59 
 
 to -chatter away, like a set of jackdaws on an 
 old cliurch. steeple. 
 
 " Well ! thank goodness ! all this nonsense 
 is over for to-day," exclaimed Sydney 
 in a low voice to Mrs. Broke, almost before 
 the last awful echoes of Mrs. Py bus's power- 
 ful tones had died away ; " and now let us 
 talk about something else ! I don't care a 
 straw whether the washerwomen drink gin, 
 or porter, but Selina, dear, have you been to 
 call on Lady Venetia Verney yet ? of course 
 you knew her before ; you have lived so 
 much in London, that you know everybody ; 
 but at all events, as the Yicar's wife, you 
 would be sure to call at the Manor House. 
 Do tell me all about them. There are two 
 ladies, are there not ? Has Lady Venetia a 
 daughter ?" 
 
 " Ah ! dear Mrs. Broke !" added Eliza, 
 " do tell us all about them ; you are sure to
 
 60 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 know what is tlie right thing to be done. 
 I wish to show Lady Yenetia every attention, 
 but I have hved so Kttle in England, that I 
 don't know whether I ought to call first. 
 Is there not some rule about the lady of 
 highest rank making the first advances? 
 and yet, how is her Ladyship to know ' who 
 is who ' in Dumbleton ? We have not all 
 got our histories written down in little red 
 books that you can buy for half-a-crown, hke 
 the nobility, you know ; have we ? or else, I 
 have no doubt, Lady Yenetia would be 
 pleased to see me. Sir Eobert being the 
 Colonial Secretary, we might be able to give 
 him much useful information, and we should 
 be most happy to make acquaintance with 
 the Yerneys, I am sure.'' 
 
 " But if the young lady is not her daughter, 
 who is she then ? and who is the gentleman 
 who is not Sir Eobert ? Is he engaged to
 
 GOSSIP. 61 
 
 tlie young lady ? He is always walking in 
 the garden with Lady Yenetia — which I 
 should not allow if I were the young lady 
 — that is, I mean, if he were engaged to 
 me^' said Sydney, with a little toss of her 
 head, that reminded me of her mother. 
 
 " Ah ! do tell us all about them, Mrs. 
 Broke," asked Miss Wj^burd. " Mrs. Eoberts 
 and myself go nowhere and see no one, of 
 course ; and we must depend upon you for 
 all our information." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, we saw the carriage pass 
 our house," added Mrs. Eoberts, " but we 
 know nothing whatever abx)ut the Verneys, 
 and a little information is always agreeable." 
 
 " Mr. White was sent for last nio^ht to 
 attend one of the housemaids at the Manor," 
 remarked Mrs. "White ; " but he saw none of 
 the family, except the footman, who opened 
 the door, and the housekeeper, who took 
 him upstairs.''
 
 62 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " I should really be glad to know," said 
 Mrs. Pybus, " wliat Lady Yenetia Verney 
 is to us, that we should make this to-do 
 about her. Why should we excite ourselves 
 about the affairs of a Lady Venetia Verney ? 
 Eeflect for one moment, ladies, and just ask 
 yourselves the question — Why ?" 
 
 " Well ! to be sure ! we all know very 
 well that Lady Venetia Verney is a great 
 lady in London," said good Mrs. Duckett^ 
 "and gives parties, and is put in all the 
 papers, almost every time she goes out, and 
 we are not, you know, Mrs. Pybus ; and so 
 we naturally feel a little curiosity to hear 
 what great ladies are like, when they are at 
 home — not that I should think, for a mo- 
 ment, of taking the liberty to call on her 
 Ladyship ; but if anybody else does call, I 
 don't deny that I shall enjoy hearing all 
 about it. Just how her Ladyship looked,
 
 GOSSIP. 63 
 
 vou know, and what she wore, and what she 
 said, and how many servants she keeps, and 
 all the rest of it. I really can't tell you why, 
 Mrs. Pybus, but you see, it makes a pleasant 
 little change for us all at Dumbleton, to have 
 some fresh faces in the place. We know 
 all about each other by this time, don't we ? 
 and we know nothing about Lady Venetia 
 Vemey, except just what they put in the 
 papers, and which I dare say is not half of 
 it true. So Mrs. Broke, my dear, if you 
 should chance to see her Ladyship, which I 
 dare say you will, being in the same class of 
 society (which I don't pretend to be myself), 
 do look round, will you ? and take pity upon 
 a poor, silly, curious, old woman, and tell 
 me all you can ; for I don't suppose I shall 
 ever go to the Manor myself." 
 
 "And pray, Mrs. Duckett, why should 
 you not call at the Manor yourself and
 
 64 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 satisfy your own curiosity, if you feel any 
 desire to do so ?" demanded Mrs. Pybus, 
 scornfully. " For my part I cannot under- 
 stand what you find to be curious about. 
 Who is my Lady Venetia Yerney, I should 
 like to know, that she should give herself 
 these airs and graces ? Let me tell my Lady 
 Venetia Yerney that I think no more of her 
 than I do of any Mrs. Brown, or Mrs. Smith 
 in the place. If her Ladyship must needs 
 come to Dumbleton, she must make up her 
 mind to be treated like any other person 
 who chooses to take up her residence on the 
 Common. No fine London ladies here, if 
 you please, Mrs. Duckett. I warn you, at 
 once, that I intend to ignore all class distinc- 
 tions here. Tf my Lady Yenetia cannot put 
 up with our homely, old-fashioned ways, let 
 her keep herself to herself, and be as exclusive 
 and ridiculous as ladies in her rank of life
 
 GOSSIP. 65 
 
 invariably are ; so far as I liave had any 
 experience of them." Having delivered 
 herself of this sweeping condemnation, Mrs. 
 Pybus snorted violently several times, like 
 a restive horse, and after looking round for 
 approbation, finally fixed her eye in a 
 threatenin 2: manner onMrs.Berresford Broke, 
 to whom she harboured a secret dislike, and 
 at whom, indeed, much of her speech was 
 levelled. 
 
 " I remember writing a note to Lady 
 Yenetia Yerney some years ago," observed 
 Miss Amelia Wolfi", after an awkward silence, 
 which nobody else had the courage to break ; 
 " I asked for her vote on behalf of that poor 
 idiot child of Widow Hall's ; but she fa- 
 voured me with no reply whatever, and the 
 child soon after died, so that I was never 
 able to get it into the asylum after all. I 
 shall certainly venture to remind her Lady- 
 
 VOL. I. 5
 
 66 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 ship of the case, as she may think it only 
 risrht, under the circumstances, to send a 
 trifle to old Widow Hall, to console her for 
 her sad bereavement." 
 
 " Well ! now, I must say, I do think the 
 greatest blessing that ever happened to 
 Martha Hall, was the death of that poor 
 afflicted child," said Mrs. Duckett. " She 
 has been much better off, ever since she lost 
 it, you know, Miss Amelia, and she can go 
 out to work now, which she never could do 
 as long as it was alive." 
 
 " Ah ! Mrs. Duckett, but you quite seem 
 to ignore the fact, that if I had only been 
 fortunate enough to get it into the asylum, 
 the child might have been taught some 
 trade, and have lived to prove a source of 
 great gain to the poor woman ; and what is 
 more, I shall take care to let Lady Venetia 
 know, that such is my unbiassed opinion."
 
 GOSSIP. 67 
 
 " Mr. Kibble will no doubt represent the 
 case strongly to Lady Yenetia/' added Mrs. 
 Eabble. " I believe Mr. Kibble intends to 
 call very shortly at the Manor, and try to 
 interest her Ladyship in onr poor district. 
 Widow Hall, you are aware, belongs to 
 us. 
 
 " For my part," said Miss Sapientia Wolff 
 in a would-be careless tone, " I shall hope 
 to obtain an interview with Sir Eobert before 
 long. I mean to forward to him a copy of 
 my pamphlet on the Marriage and Divorce 
 Act ; and if Sir Eobert will grant me a pri- 
 vate interview, I shall have no hesitation in 
 calling his attention very seriously to the 
 disgraceful injustice to which married women 
 are at present subjected — they are, in fact, 
 NON-EXISTENT ! ! and I shall impress this 
 very strongly on Sir Eobert's mind. I have 
 some idea of calling my paper ' The Non- 
 
 5—2
 
 C8 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Existence of Married Women/ I suppose 
 few ladies have gone more tliorougUy into 
 the subject than I have ; and if Sir Eobert 
 is inclined to take the matter up warmly, I 
 believe he would find my services of no 
 small value to him, in preparing a Bill 
 to bring before Parliament next session. 
 I expect to get many hundred signatures 
 to a petition which I propose to place 
 in Sir Eobeii's hands for presentation next 
 year." 
 
 " Well ! It's very kind of you, Miss Wolff, 
 to take so much trouble, I'm sure," said Mrs. 
 Duckett ; " for you don't seem very Hkely to 
 be married yourself now, and even if you do, 
 I hope and trust you don't mean to go and 
 get divorced again directly ; but as for not 
 existing, I beg your pardon there. I can 
 assure you, my dear Miss Wolff, I find that 
 I manage to make out a very comfortable
 
 GOSSIP. 69 
 
 existence, tliougli I am a married woman. 
 Poor dear Duckett would soon find out the 
 difference if I ceased to exist, I fancy. 
 Indeed, I believe he'd consider it about the 
 worst misfortune that ever happened to him 
 in the whole course of his Hfe. Duckett 
 considers my existence every bit as impor- 
 tant as his own, and that's the honest truth, 
 I'll answer for it." 
 
 " I must candidly own I agree entirely 
 with Mrs. Duckett, Miss Wolff," said Eliza. 
 " I, you know, have had some Httle expe- 
 rience in these matters ; and I really cannot 
 complain that I have ever found the slight- 
 est difficulty in preserving the right of 
 existence. I have always met with the ut- 
 most respect and consideration, both from 
 my late husband, poor Mr. Hope, and also 
 from my present husband, Mr. James Lam- 
 bert ; and my sister-in-law, Martha Lambert,
 
 70 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 will bear witness, tliat I invariably mention 
 James Lambert as the best and kindest of 
 men, both before his face and behind his 
 back ; don't I, Martha ? and indeed, if I did 
 not, I should be a base, ungrateful wretch, 
 for James's attentions to me are really quite 
 affecting ; are they not, Martha ?" Here 
 Eliza dropped a tear on her new lilac bonnet 
 ribbons as an incontrovertible testimony to 
 James's merits as a husband. 
 
 Miss Wolif looked a little disconcerted at 
 this repulse. " You misunderstand me com- 
 pletely, my dear madam," she said ; "I 
 intended no allusion to Mr. James Lambert. 
 I have no doubt whatever that Mr. James 
 Lambert is a most worthy, kind-hearted, 
 excellent man, and I dare say, he does his 
 duty in every capacity to the best of his 
 abilities. I was not referring either to Mr. 
 Lambert, or to Mr. Duckett. I was merely
 
 GOSSIP. 71 
 
 stating a fact, whicli appears to me to be 
 quite unanswerable, namely, that in tbe eye 
 of the law, every married woman is ' non- 
 existent.' Now this is a most serious con- 
 sideration, ladies, as you will all own, I am 
 sure, when once jou see it in its proper 
 light. In a free country like England, such a 
 state of things as this, should not be allowed 
 to continue for another hour. I consider it 
 a disgrace to the age in which we live, that 
 it should have continued for so long already; 
 but I am determined to do all that lies in 
 my power, to put an end to this crying evil ; 
 and circulars stating my views and inten- 
 tions will shortly be sent to all the principal 
 ladies of Grreat Britain, inviting their cordial 
 co-operation in this great work. I hope to 
 secure many names in Dumbleton to begin 
 with — and Lady Yenetia Yerney's at their 
 head."
 
 72 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " I hope, Miss VYolif, you don't mean to 
 ask me to sign your petition/' said Mrs. 
 Broke, looking alarmed ; " because I am 
 almost sure Berresford would not like it ' 
 and I never sign papers, or anything of that 
 sort, without asking Berresford about it 
 first ; and I really don't see so very much 
 use, after all, in a married woman having 
 any existence. One's husband is always so 
 sure to manage everything for one, whether 
 one exists or not, so it don't much signify." 
 
 " Mr. Kibble is quite an advocate for the 
 equahty of the sexes, I know," said Mrs. 
 Kibble, who always made a point of opposing 
 Mrs. Broke upon every possible occasion. 
 " Mr. Kibble. would have no objection what- 
 ever to my signing any number of j)etitions. 
 In fact, he has so much to do in his 
 district, and in preparing his sermons, that 
 I never trouble him by asking him any
 
 GOSSIP. 73 
 
 such needless, or trivial questions. Mr. 
 Kibble never interferes with my arrange- 
 ments in any way, and I never dream of 
 consulting him about our little household 
 regulations." 
 
 " Dear me ! don't you indeed ?" inquired 
 Mrs. Broke anxiously. "Why I never so 
 much as order dinner without asking Ber- 
 resford first, what he would like to have ; 
 and as for the bills, I don't even know what 
 two and two make, so Berresford always 
 does the weekly accounts for me. I tried it 
 one week, but made such a shocking failure 
 of it, that Berresford has taken them in 
 hand ever since. And then the servants, 
 you know — I never could scold the servants 
 myself. They would burst out laughing in 
 my face, I feel convinced, if I attempted it. 
 Berresford undertakes all that sort of thing. 
 I could not get on at all without him.'*
 
 74 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " Indeed ! so I liave heard," replied Mrs. 
 Kibble with some contemjDt. " I could 
 hardly believe it possible, I own, but as you 
 assert it yourself, Mrs. Broke, we are com- 
 pelled to take it for granted that such is 
 the case." 
 
 " Oh ! there's no doubt about the matter, 
 I can assure you, Mrs. Kibble ; and you are 
 quite at liberty to repeat it on my authority 
 as often as you Hke. I am the most help- 
 less, indolent creature in the world, I should 
 think ; but Berresford fortunately does not 
 seem to mind much about that, and he 
 rather enjoys keeping up all his bachelor 
 habits. Now do you know he won't even 
 trust me to make the tea ! Berresford can't 
 touch his tea if I make it, he says, so he 
 always does it himself now ; and you know 
 it saves such an amount of trouble. It's 
 the greatest comfort in the world when one's
 
 GOSSIP. 75 
 
 husband thinks he has a talent for house- 
 keeping ; but with our small income, we 
 should be ruined in a week if I attempted 
 it, I am sure.*'
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 DUMBLETON MANOR HOUSE. 
 
 " In various talk th' instructive hours they pass, 
 Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last, 
 One speaks the glory of the British Queen ; 
 And one describes a charming Indian screen, 
 A third interprets motions, looks and sighs, 
 At every word, a reputation dies." 
 
 Pope. 
 
 " Oh ! You dear, little, idle, naughty thing !'* 
 exclaimed Eliza tenderly. " Are you not 
 ashamed of yourself to talk in that shocking 
 way? and set us all such a bad example. 
 Come, let me take you home to luncheon
 
 DTJMBLETON MANOR HOUSE. 77 
 
 directly. It's getting quite late. My car- 
 riage has been waiting this half-hour.'* 
 
 " Thanks, dear Mrs. Lambert, you are so 
 kind to me always. I don't know what I 
 should do without you ; but Berresford will 
 be expecting me home, and we are to go and 
 call at the Manor House this afternoon." 
 
 " Oh ! but we will stop at the Vicarage 
 and leave word that you are with me, and 
 Mr. Broke can come and fetch you on his 
 way to the Manor. He must pass our gate, 
 or perhaps he will come up to luncheon with 
 us now." 
 
 " Well, we'll go and ask him then. You 
 will be sure to have all sorts of delicious 
 things for luncheon ; and I dare say, we have 
 only got some cold beef at home. It's 
 Monday, you know, and we always have 
 cold beef on Mondays. It does Berresford 
 so much good to be fed up. He requires a
 
 78 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 good deal of nourishment, poor fellow ! and 
 you see on our income, we can't afford 
 anytliing but the plainest possible fare, so 
 I shall run in, if you will let me, and tell 
 Berresford you insist on his coming back to 
 luncheon with you directly ; and then the 
 maids can eat up all the cold beef for their 
 supper ; and that will be such a blessing for 
 us, won't it ?" 
 
 As in duty bound, we all laughed heartily 
 at this artless sally on the part of our Vicar's 
 wife, with the exception* of Mrs. Pybus, who 
 never laughed; Mrs. Kibble, who regarded 
 such frivolity " more in sorrow than in 
 anger," and Miss Sapientia Wolff, who was 
 too much occupied in making a rough draught 
 of her proposed circular to listen to what we 
 were talking about. 
 
 " Good-bye, then," said Mrs. Broke ; " I 
 hope, Miss Patty, I am not depriving you
 
 DTJMBLETON MANOK HOUSE. 79 
 
 of your place in dear, kind Mrs. Lambert's 
 carriage." 
 
 " Oh ! dear, no !" answered Eliza quickly. 
 " Martha has her own conveyance ; her 
 donkey-chaise is at the door, I have no 
 doubt." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, my patient old Jenny must 
 have been waiting for me this long time," 
 said I. 
 
 " Ah ! What a nice, darling old thing 
 your Jenny is ! I always admire her so," 
 said Mrs. Broke. " She is so handsome and 
 sleek, and your little chair looks so smooth 
 and comfortable. My basket is terribly 
 rough, do you know. I have a great mind 
 to ask 3^ou to lend me your dear old Jenny 
 some day, when you are not thinking of 
 going out yourself. I am sure your donkey 
 chair must have some peculiar kind of 
 springs to make it look so easy and com-
 
 80 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 fortable. Now confess, has it not ? I shall 
 never rest till I have found out the secret ; 
 and then I shall ask Mr. Thomas Lambert 
 if he can't exchange my basket for a chair 
 just like yours — only then I don't know 
 what poor Berresford would do. He might 
 walk beside me though, could not he ? and I 
 could drive Eomeo myself. Charming !" 
 
 I felt quite flattered and gratified at this 
 admiration of my little donkey-chair, and 
 promised to send Jenny to the Vicarage the 
 very next day for approval. 
 
 " Grood day, Mrs. Pybus ! a delightful 
 meeting, I am sure. It has all gone off 
 beautifully. I shall tell Berresford all about 
 it, you may depend upon it. I think he will 
 approve highly of Mrs. Duckett's suggestion 
 of letting the poor things have some nice 
 little pretty casks of porter of their own. I 
 hope, Mrs. Duckett, / am to be allowed a
 
 DUMBLETON MANOR HOUSE. 81 
 
 little cask too ; I should so like it. Do tell 
 good Mr. Dackett I am dying for a tiny cask 
 — all for my own private use." 
 
 " I am sure, my dear, you shall have one 
 directly if you like it," said Mrs. Duckett, 
 looking delighted. " I shall tell Duckett 
 to send one round at once. He will be quite 
 pleased to do so. Til answer for him." 
 
 "Well, Miss Wolff," continued Mrs. 
 Broke, " I shall not forget to mention to 
 Berresford what you say, about signing a 
 paper to petition Parliament for an exis- 
 tence, but I am afraid he won't let me 
 have anything to do with it. I am, indeed ! 
 so I can hold out no hopes whatever of my 
 name. Men are such shocking tyrants — 
 are they not, Mrs. Lambert? You and I 
 know all about it, don't we ? We are not 
 like that comfortable, independent Miss 
 Wolff, who can go about where she likes, 
 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 and do just as slie pleases from morning to 
 night. No ! we poor married women cannot 
 answer for ourselves in any way — can we ? 
 It's such a dreadful bore ! I declare I quite 
 envy Miss Wolff at times. I shall tell Ber- 
 resford I want to be just like Miss Wolfi', 
 and have an existence of my own. By-the- 
 bye, Miss Auriol, Berresford gave me strict 
 orders to ask you and Mr. Auriol to come 
 and drink tea at the Vicarage this evening. 
 He wants to talk over something, or other 
 with your brother and Mr. Hatfield, and he 
 desired me to say that he considers you 
 quite as one of the curates, so you are to be 
 sure and come too. I wish we could afford 
 to give dinners. It would be so nice ; but 
 as we can't, vou must be contented with a 
 cup of tea and some brown bread and butter 
 — that's all we have to offer you. I am so 
 sorry — and now I must go ; I am keeping
 
 DUMBLETON MANOR HOUSE. 83 
 
 poor Mrs. Lambert waiting all this time. 
 Too bad of me, is not it ?" And Mrs. Broke 
 tripped out of the room, followed by quite a 
 little cborus of applause. 
 
 " What a delightful person is Mrs. Broke," 
 observed Mrs. White. " As the Doctor 
 always says, it does one good to see her." 
 
 " She has a good heart," said Margaret 
 Beaumont. "It is impossible not to like 
 her." 
 
 " Oh ! quite ! She is so thoroughly kind 
 and amiable," added Agnes Auriol. 
 
 " Yes ! I am sure it's quite a pleasure to 
 do anything for dear Mrs. Broke. So affa- 
 ble ! and such pretty manners ! not a bit of 
 pride about her !" remarked Mrs. Duckett. 
 " There's nothing I would not do, either for 
 her or the Vicar." 
 
 " I quite agree with you, Mrs. Duckett," 
 said I. " She is welcome to my donkey- 
 
 6—2
 
 84 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 chair any day, I am sure, poor thing ! I 
 dare say her little carriage shakes her to 
 pieces." 
 
 " She is, indeed, a sweet creature — I quite 
 love her," continued Mrs. Eoberts. 
 
 " I esteem it a privilege to have the plea- 
 sure of her acquaintance,'* said Miss Wyburd. 
 " It does one good — as Mrs. White and our 
 excellent doctor justly observe — to know so 
 charming a couple as our Vicar and his 
 amiable lady." 
 
 " Poor little fool ! She will awaken one 
 of these days from her delusion, and see her 
 ' Berresford,' as she calls him, in his true 
 light," muttered Miss Wolff grimly. 
 
 " They are .children of the earth — earthy," 
 said Mrs. Pybus, with a gesture of disgust ; 
 '' mere dust ! worms ! ! poor sinful worms ! ! ! 
 nothing more. Ah ! how little we know 
 ourselves."
 
 DUMBLETON MANOR HOTJSE. 85 
 
 " A light, frivolous, thoughtless young 
 person," pronounced Mrs. Kibble. " Sad to 
 see one in her responsible position, so utterly 
 without ballast. Poor thing !" 
 
 With these sentiments the assembly broke 
 up, and we dispersed to our respective homes, 
 greatly edified by the whole proceeding. 
 But I am forgetting that all this time you 
 are left in total ignorance as to the history 
 of these Verneys, whose arrival in Dumble- 
 ton caused so great an excitement in our 
 little community. 
 
 Sir Eobert Ycrney, Bart., K.C.B., who 
 has done us the honour of representing our 
 interests in Parliament for many a long year, 
 is Lord of the Manor of Dumbleton. The 
 Common, in point of fact, belongs to him, 
 and the old Manor House on the Common 
 was formerly the residence of the Verney 
 family. It was, for many years, inhabited
 
 86 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 by a very old lady, an aunt of Sir Eobeii's ; 
 the same Mrs. Honour Yerney, wlio had 
 built and endowed S. Monica's Church, 
 and who was a great benefactor to the parish 
 in various ways. Old Mrs. Honour Verney 
 died about a year before the epoch, at which 
 my story commences, at the advanced age 
 of ninety-two; and now, that the Manor 
 House was once more at Sir Eobert's dis- 
 posal, it was rumoured that he intended to 
 use it, as a villa residence during the ensu- 
 ing summer months. 
 
 This was grand news for Dumbleton, for 
 Sir Robert was one of the most active and 
 influential members of Her Majesty's gov- 
 ernment ; and we justly felt very proud of 
 our member. But to say nothing of his 
 being a distinguished public man, one of Sir 
 Eobert's greatest merits in our eyes, was 
 that of being the husband of the lovely and
 
 DUMBLETON MANOR HOUSE. 87 
 
 accomplished Lady Yenetia Yerney, whose 
 wit and beauty was so often the theme of 
 admiration in the " Morning Post," " Court 
 Journal," and other leading chronicles of 
 the fashionable world. We had all read 
 with deep interest, elaborate accounts of 
 Lady Yenetia's balls and assemblies ; and 
 had followed her movements with consider- 
 able pride and satisfaction as being the wife 
 of our member. We really felt almost as 
 if Lady Yenetia represented the ladies of 
 Dumbleton in the highest circles of London 
 society ; and we took quite a personal plea- 
 sure in her appearance at Court, her splendid 
 diamonds, her rare old lace, her rich trains 
 of velours epingU, or moire antique^ reflected 
 honour and credit on ourselves in a second- 
 hand sort of manner ; even though we had 
 not the advantage of her Ladyship's ac- 
 quaintance. But now, to think that this
 
 88 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 very identical Lady Yenetia was actually 
 coming to reside on Dumbleton Common, 
 where we might see her any day of the 
 week ! or at all events, on one day of the 
 week, (at church on Sundays.) She might, 
 or she might not, patronize the Dumbleton 
 tradespeople ; and of course it was not to be 
 expected that she should visit all the Com- 
 mon families, or even invite them to her 
 celebrated " political reunions," of which we 
 had heard so much. Still, it would be an un- 
 deniable advantage to have the great people 
 from London constantly driving through 
 Dumbleton, or passing to and fro, on the 
 railroad. To travel up to town in the same 
 compartment with a cabinet minister, or 
 even an under-secretary of state, would be 
 sufficient in itself to cover any individual 
 Dumbletonian with glory. 
 
 It is not therefore to be wondered at, that
 
 DUMBLETON MANOH HOUSE. 89 
 
 we ladies of Dumbleton, found the discus- 
 sion of the affairs of the Verney family, a 
 far more interesting and engrossing topic of 
 conversation than the sobriety of our 
 washerwomen was likely to prove ; and we 
 all looked forward with considerable satis- 
 faction to the ensuing summer, as a season 
 of gaiety and diversion, the like of which 
 had seldom fallen to our lot, in all our ex- 
 perience of Dumbleton life. 
 
 The Manor House was now a constant 
 object of interest to us all. It was an 
 ancient mansion, built in the time of the 
 Tudors, gable-ended and picturesque ; and 
 was approached by a fine old avenue of Hme 
 trees. Few of us had ever been inside the 
 lodge gates of the Manor House, as old Mrs. 
 Honour saw no company, and, except Dr. 
 Westcott, Mr. White (our worthy doctor), 
 and her own domestics, I fancy Mrs. Honour
 
 90 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 seldom admitted any body to her sacred pre- 
 sence. Now, however, the favorite walk 
 with all our ladies, was the Manor House ; 
 and grand reports were brought to me of 
 the improvements that were making there ; 
 the furniture, which was handsome, though 
 old-fashioned, was sent up to town to be 
 cleaned and renovated ; and a few additions 
 in the same roccoco style, came down from 
 Wardour Street to fill up all deficiencies. 
 The garden was put in complete order, and 
 was made brilliant with ribbon borders, and 
 flower beds, filled with many thousand pots 
 of geraniums, calceolarias, and lobelias, from 
 the Dumbleton Nursery Grardens. 
 
 The china closets were ransacked, and the 
 fine old specimens of blue delf, and oriental 
 china, were disposed to the best advantage 
 in marqueterie cabinets, or placed on carved 
 ebony brackets on the walls.
 
 DUMBLETON MANOR HOUSE. 91 
 
 Lady Yenetia, we heard, was encliaiited 
 wdth her villa, and was determined to leave 
 London for Dumbleton, as early as possible 
 in the summer. She awaited the necessary 
 preparations with the utmost impatience, (so 
 we were informed,) and eagerly were the 
 proceedings watched which should hasten 
 the advent of residents of such undoubted 
 distinction. 
 
 It so happened, that the Manor House 
 was next door to Contango Abbey; the 
 lodge gates actually touched, and the gardens 
 and meadow lands ran side by side, down a 
 sloping bank, both houses overlooked the 
 same landscape, with the river, the railroads, 
 and the identical London smoke in the dis- 
 tance. 
 
 Eliza and Sydney, therefore, took especial 
 interest in the arrival of their next door 
 neighbours ; and it was with great pleasure
 
 92 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 that they announced to me, that they had 
 ascertained that the preparations were at 
 length completed. The carpets were down, 
 and the curtains were up, the holland covers 
 were off, and the chintz covers were on, the 
 carpenters and painters were out, and the 
 glass, and linen, and plate, were in, and the 
 Manor House was in readiness for its noble 
 occupants. Lastly, one fine Saturday after- 
 noon in May, a haroache was observed to 
 turn into the lime avenue, containing two 
 ladies and two gentlemen, who were pro- 
 nounced, most unquestionably, to be the 
 future inhabitants of the Dumbleton Manor 
 House.
 
 CHAPTEE VL 
 
 LADY VENETIA VERNEY AT HOME. 
 
 " She has beauty, but still you must keep your heart 
 cool ; 
 She has wit, but you must not be caught so. 
 Thus Eeason advises, — but Reason's a fool, 
 And 'tis not the first time I have thought so." 
 
 MOOEE. 
 
 In the course of the next fortnight we had 
 most of us left our cards at the Manor 
 House, and, what was still more extraordi- 
 nary, Lady Yenetia had returned them. We 
 had not seen her, of course, but she evidently
 
 94 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 meant to be very popular in Dumbleton; 
 and, announcing that she intended to be " at 
 home " every Saturday afternoon, she sent 
 invitations to all the families with any 
 pretensions to gentility in the neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 This, of course, was quite an unexpected 
 pleasure for Dumbleton. We had hoped 
 for nothing half so pleasant; and we all 
 admired and praised the charming Lady 
 Venetia more than we had done before. In 
 truth, she certainly was a beautiful woman 
 — very tall, and stately-looking ; her figure 
 almost majestic, her head was small, well- 
 formed, and gracefully placed upon her 
 shoulders. But Lady Venetia could not 
 move without grace ; had she been a poor 
 woman she might have made her fortune as 
 an artist's model. Her colouring, too, was 
 good ; her eyes were of a peculiarly dark
 
 LADY YENETIA VERNEY AT HOME. 95 
 
 blue — almost violet-coloured, and under the 
 shade of the long, dark lashes they often 
 looked quite black ; her eyebrows were also 
 dark and slightly arched, while her hair was 
 of the richest brown — not pale golden Hke 
 my pretty Sydney's, but — 
 
 " In gloss and hue tlie chestnut, where the shell 
 Divides threefold, to show the fruit within." 
 
 Then, too, her hand and arm were perfect 
 — so round, so w^ell-shaped, so white ; and 
 her foot — of which we occasionally had a 
 gUmpse as her Ladyship got out of her 
 carriage — was quite a sight to be seen. 
 Altogether, there was something about 
 our new neighbours quite unhke anything 
 which we had ever known before in Dum- 
 bleton. 
 
 There certainly was never any one more 
 fitted for popularity than Lady Yenetia
 
 96 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Yemey. It was not only that she was 
 handsome : she was more than handsome — 
 she was perfectly enchanting. 
 
 " With an air and a grace, 
 And a shape and a face," 
 She charmed like beauty's goddess." 
 
 In fact, Lady Yenetia possessed a singular 
 fascination of manner, which made her quite 
 irresistible when she chose to exert her 
 powers of attraction. Somehow, or other, the 
 moment she addressed you, you felt that you 
 were her slave for the time being, and it 
 was apparently her object to enslave the 
 whole population of Dumbleton, for she 
 spared no pains to render herself agreeable 
 to us. 
 
 I don't often ask Tom questions about 
 his clients, but I could not help expressing 
 one day, my wonder that it should be worth 
 her Ladyship's while to show us so much
 
 LADY VENETIA VERNEY AT HOME. 97 
 
 civility. Tom made a little grimace, and 
 observed that a dissolution was expected at 
 the end of the session, and there were 
 rumours that Lord Cleveden intended his 
 eldest son. Lord Templecombe, to stand for 
 Dumbleton in opposition to Sir Eobert, and 
 he supposed that might account for some 
 of Lady Venetia's kind attentions ; and 
 though Tom, for his own part, believed Sir 
 Eobert was safe enough, still no harm could 
 be done, by his living for a time in Dumble- 
 ton, and letting Lady Venetia leave cards 
 and give parties. However, Tom advised 
 me not to quote him, but to let our good 
 neighbours take it for granted that Lady 
 Veaetia found them the most delightful and 
 agreeable society in the world. 
 
 Lady Venetia had sent me a message by 
 Tom, to say that she must insist on my 
 coming to her garden parties, and, as she 
 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 98 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 heard I was a great invalid, she desired I 
 would drive on to the lawn in my donkey- 
 chair, and so see my friends without the 
 trouble of walking about, or trusting to the 
 chance of finding a vacant seat. This was 
 really very kind and thoughtful; and, 
 indeed, I could not otherwise have had the 
 courage to show myself at the Manor 
 House. So on the first Saturday of Lady 
 Venetia's receptions, I drove Jenny in at a 
 side entrance, with Tom walking by my 
 side, and took up a position under a fine old 
 cedar tree, where I could see all that went 
 on quite at my ease. 
 
 Nothing could exceed Lady Venetia's 
 kindness. She came up to me several times 
 to ask if I had all I wanted, and seemed so 
 pleased to see me that I felt quite in a 
 flutter of pride and gratification, till I dis- 
 covered 'that her Ladyship was equally
 
 LADY YENETIA VERNEY AT HOME. 99 
 
 pleased to see every body else. As she 
 stood near me for some little time, I was 
 quite amused with watching her, and hear- 
 ing how clever she was in saying precisely 
 the right thing to everybody who came in. 
 
 To our Vicar and his wife she was 
 especially cordial. 
 
 " Ah ! my dear Mrs. Broke, here you 
 are !" she began, as soon as they entered. 
 *' Only think how provoking it was that I 
 should have been out when you were so 
 good as to call here. How do you do, Mr. 
 Broke ? I have not seen you for years ; and 
 pray tell me all about dear Lady Cleveden. 
 1 hope she is pretty well, but I know she is 
 always rather an invalid. And your father 
 — is he in great force ? Do you know my 
 cousin, Spencer Hamilton ? I am sure you 
 must have been at Eton together — or was it 
 your elder brother? Spencer, you know 
 
 7—2
 
 100 DUMBLETOIJ COMMON. 
 
 Mr. Berresford Broke, don't you? Sir 
 Ilobert has not come down from town yet ; 
 you must forgive him for not having re- 
 turned your kind visit sooner ; but poor 
 creature ! he is so shockingly busy, he never 
 has a moment to himself, and I would not 
 go through the foolish ceremony of leaving 
 his card at your door." 
 
 " Mrs. Broke, 1 saw your sisters dancing 
 away at A. House the other night — they 
 looked very well and happy. I hoped Lady 
 Emily would have brought them here to- 
 day, but perhaps some other time we shall 
 be more fortunate ; and now, do tell me 
 who everybody is. Who, for instance, is 
 this important-looking man coming in now 
 with a wife and daughter ? I declare the 
 girl is pretty — ain't she ? quite pretty, if 
 she were better dressed. Ought I to know 
 them r*'
 
 LADY VENETIA VERNE Y AT HOME. 101 
 
 " That is Mr. James Lambert, of Contango 
 Abbey," replied Mr. Broke, not seeing that 
 I was witbin bearing. " He is one of our 
 great men, brotber to tbe lawyer, and bis 
 wife came from Australia ; sbe was a widow 
 when be married ber, and tbe girl belongs 
 to ber. Miss Hope is an beiress as well as 
 a beauty ; sbe will bave an immense fortune 
 some day, I fancy, and sbe is really a very 
 nice little tbing. Sbe is a great friend of 
 my wife's, I believe." 
 
 " Ob ! Sydney's a darling. Lady Venetia ; 
 sbe really is," added Mrs. Broke. " I quite 
 dote on Sydney Hope. Sbe is not a bit 
 like ber motber, wbo is, I must own, vulgar, 
 tbougb a very goodnatured kind of woman 
 — but bere tbey come." 
 
 " How do you do, Mrs. Lambert ?" began 
 Lady Venetia, as if sbe bad known Eliza all 
 ber life. " So glad to see you. I believe we
 
 102 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 are next door neighbours, are we not ? That's 
 charming ! It is so pleasant to have good 
 neighbours. Mr. Lambert, I am so sorry Sir 
 Eobert is not here yet. He has been detained 
 rather late at his ojfice, I suppose. Let me 
 introduce you to his private secretary, Mr. 
 Hamilton, who is trying to fill his place 
 to-day. And this is your daughter. Miss 
 Hope? I must call my niece, she will 
 like so much to know her. Spencer, just 
 find Nora, will you ? Oh ! here she is. 
 Nora, this is our neighbour. Miss Hope ; 
 she will be able to show you all the lions of 
 Dumbleton. Miss Hope, you must let Sir 
 Eobert's niece, Miss Yerney, ride with you 
 sometimes. — I know you ride, fi^r I have 
 seen you go by on such a pretty horse. 
 Nora delights in riding, but her uncle so 
 seldom has an hour to spare for her, and I 
 can't bear her to ride alone. Now, Nora,
 
 LADY VENETIA YEKNEY AT HOME. 103 
 
 settle a day to join Miss Hope in a long 
 excursion ; you must ' explore the country/ 
 like Mrs. Elton in ' Emma/ you know. It 
 will be quite charming for you to have a 
 companion." 
 
 Miss Verney did not look so sure of this 
 fact, but she assented with a tolerably good 
 grace ; and, as it was impossible to be cold, 
 or stiff, with my sunny, light-hearted Syd- 
 ney, I was glad to see the two girls chatting 
 away in a friendly manner for the next 
 quarter of an hour. Miss Honour Yerney 
 was certainly handsome, but she looked 
 bored and unhappy I thought; she was 
 dressed in deep mournings and seldom raised 
 her eyes from the ground. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton was a singularly good- 
 looking young man, and evidently did his 
 best to further Lady Venetia's endeavours 
 to make the party go off well. He flitted
 
 104 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 from one group to the other, and always 
 seemed to have something pleasant to say 
 to every body. His great, dark eyes were 
 really magnificent, and though a thick 
 black beard concealed the lower part of his 
 face, his teeth were wonderfully white and 
 even, and he seemed, so far as I could judge, 
 to have a very frank, good-natured smile. 
 He quite won my heart by admiring my 
 poor old Jenny, and stroking her fine, long 
 ears. He even took a beautiful rose out of 
 his button-hole and gave it to her to eat ; I 
 could not help saying that I grudged Jenny 
 the " Grloire de Dijon," and hinted that 
 it would have been better bestowed on 
 Jenny's mistress ; upon which Mr. Hamilton 
 laughed good-humouredly and went directly 
 to fetch me another from a tree that was 
 growing up the house. I felt quite 
 honoured, not being much accustomed to
 
 LADY YENETIA VERNET AT HOME. 105 
 
 les jpetits soins from sucli fine gentle- 
 men. 
 
 " Well, I'm sure," I thonglit, " if I want 
 a hero for my story, liere is one all ready 
 made to my hand. If I were a young lady 
 I should certainly fall in love with Mr. 
 Hamilton on the spot." 
 
 I was quite delighted to see him go up 
 and talk to Sydney, and I wondered how 
 Miss Yerney could look so downcast and 
 sad, w^hen such a pleasant-looking gentle- 
 man was evidently trying to make himself 
 agreeable to her. 
 
 "Mr. Mrs. and Miss Auriol," announced 
 the excessively gentlemanlike groom of the 
 chambers ; who, among our young mer- 
 chants and stockbrokers, really looked quite 
 like a duke in disguise, 
 
 "Ah ! Mrs. Auriol, you have found your 
 way here, after all — I am so glad," said Lady
 
 106 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Venetia, hastening to meet the infirm old 
 lady, who hobbled towards her with the aid 
 of her son's arm and a strong crutch stick ; 
 " and how have you been lately ?" 
 
 "Very indifierent indeed, I am sorry to 
 say — very indifTerent. IVe made an efibrt 
 to come out to-day, but I doubt if I sha'n't 
 suffer for it to-morrow," replied Mrs. Auriol, 
 who was apt to be desponding about her 
 health. 
 
 " Oh no ! I hope you won't do any thing 
 of the kind," said Lady Venetia. " You 
 must go and sit in the drawing-room, if 
 you find it the least damp, or chilly, in 
 the garden. I know Sir Eobert will 
 be so pleased to see you when he comes 
 in. 
 
 " Ah ! my poor, dear, late husband was 
 Sir Eobert's tutor, you know ; Dr. Auriol 
 was always so fond of Sir Eobert, and
 
 LADY YENETIA VERNEY AT HOME. 107 
 
 indeed, all the Yerney family have invariably 
 been our very good friends. 
 
 " We have sustained a very sad loss in 
 that saint upon earth, Mrs. Honour ; but she 
 presented my boy with the beautiful church 
 she built here, on the Common. I am sure 
 your Ladyship will feel great interest in S. 
 Monica's." ' 
 
 " I shall, indeed," said Lady Yenetia, " we 
 certainly intend to go there to-morrow ; and 
 now, mind, Mr. Auriol, you let us know if 
 you have any pet old men, or women, in want of 
 flannel, or soup, or coals, or anything of that 
 sort ; don't scruple to send them to us. And 
 as for Nora, she will only be too delighted 
 to teach your school-children, or go and read 
 to your sick people. It is quite in her line. 
 She is a name-sake of your old friend Mrs. 
 Honour ; so I am sure, Miss Auriol, you will 
 like to make acquaintance with her."
 
 108 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " Nora, my dear, here is Mrs. Auriol, who 
 was such a friend of your great aunt's, you 
 know. I must leave her in your charge for 
 a Httle while ; do see that she finds an arm- 
 chair somewhere, and has some tea, will 
 you ?" and with a graceful little bow. Lady 
 Venetia made her escape, and went off to 
 greet Mrs. Pybus, who, to my surprise, came 
 sailing in, looking a little ashamed of herself 
 for being at a party at all, but evidently 
 trying to carry it off with a high hand. 
 
 " So amiable of you to come and see me, 
 Mrs. Pybus," began Lady Venetia, with 
 more than her usual empressement. " It is so 
 pleasant to find oneself treated in this 
 neighbourly fashion. What a charming 
 place Dumbleton is ! such air ! such a view ! 
 I tell Sir Eobert he will never be able to 
 drag me away to Midsummer Yerney this 
 autumn."
 
 LADY VENETIA VERNEY AT HOME. 109 
 
 " Indeed !" said Mrs. Pybus, rather stiffly. 
 " Yes ! Dumbleton is in some respects, a 
 highly favoured spot.'' 
 
 " And I am sure you are quite the Lady 
 Bountiful of the parish, Mrs. Pybus. Mr. 
 Broke, no doubt, considers you as his 
 right hand. They are such nice people, the 
 Brokes." 
 
 " The Vicar is, I believe, a very worthy 
 man," said Mrs. Pybus ; " but I cannot say 
 he comes up to my idea of what a Christian 
 minister ought to be — not by any means. 
 The gospel, I regret to say, is seldom 
 preached in Dumbleton Parish Church. I 
 am aware I am speaking strongly," she 
 added, as Lady Yenetia started quite invo- 
 luntarily at this awful announcement ; " but 
 it is the truth, and when your Ladyship 
 knows me better, you will perceive that I 
 am one of those persons who make a point 
 
 «
 
 110 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 of always speaking the trutli, upon all oc- 
 casions." 
 
 " The truth, but not always, perhaps, the 
 whole truth, dear Mrs. Pybus," suggested 
 Lady Yenetia, in a deprecating manner. 
 
 "I beg your Ladyship's pardon; the truth, 
 the whole truth, and nothing but the 
 truth," persisted Mrs. Pybus, emphati- 
 cally. " I trust your Ladyship has not 
 already decided upon taking a pew at the 
 old church. There is a sweet young friend 
 of mine, the Eev. Nicholas Kibble, who 
 preaches the word with great power and 
 eloquence at a humble, little chapel in the 
 town. He has been greatly blessed in his 
 ministry, and has snatched many brands from 
 the burning. I should be happy to secure 
 your Ladyship seats at Bartholomew's, if you 
 like to take advantage of this opportunity of 
 hearing the truth preached in all integrity."
 
 LADY VENETIA YERNEY AT HOME. Ill 
 
 " Thank you so much, Mrs. Pybus, you 
 are very kind," answered Lady Yenetia in 
 some perplexity, for Mrs. Pybus was rather 
 a puzzle to her. " But to tell you the 
 truth. Sir Eobert does not like me to take 
 the horses out on Sundays, and I am not 
 much of a walker. No, I beheve we have 
 decided to go to that picturesque little 
 church on the Common, close by. Sir 
 Eobert's aunt built it, you know, and Mr. 
 Auriol is the son of Sir Eobert's old tutor. 
 Dr. Auriol, of Brazenose ; Mrs. Auriol was 
 also an old friend of the Yerney family, and 
 I am sure Sir Eobert will wish to go to their 
 church ; thanks, very many." 
 
 " Umph !" ejaculated Mrs. Pybus, indig- 
 nantly. " I regret that I can't advise any 
 body to go to Mr. Auriol's church. I dis- 
 approve highly of his Jesuitical and 
 Popish practices. But I grieve for the poor,
 
 112 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 misguided, young man. I consider him in 
 a very precarious condition. He may go 
 any day." 
 
 " Dear me, how sad ! poor Mr. Auriol 1 
 Is he really so ill as that ? I observed he 
 looked a little delicate, but surely he cannot 
 be in a dying state." 
 
 " I did not refer to Mr. Auriol's health, 
 Lady Venetia," said Mrs. Pybus, with 
 solemnity. " I spoke rather of his spiritual 
 condition. He is going to Eome as fast as 
 he can; I consider him halfway there already. 
 Unless I am very much mistaken, I shall 
 see Mr. Auriol at Eome, before many more 
 years are over his head." 
 
 " Well, he could not go to a better jDlace 
 for the winter," observed Mr. Hamilton, who 
 had sauntered up to his cousin in time to 
 hear the last sentence of Mrs. Pybus 's 
 speech. " Always lots of English there. I
 
 LADY VENETIA VERNEY AT HOME. 113 
 
 don't say it*s a wholesome place in the 
 summer, but for the winter months, it is 
 really a capital place to go to. If Mr. 
 Auriol would like letters to any of the 
 artists at Eome, I shall be happy to furnish 
 him with any number. Does he start 
 soon ?" 
 
 " Sir !" snorted Mrs. Pybus, drawing her- 
 self up to her full height, which was very 
 little short of six feet. " You misunder- 
 stand my meaning completely. I had a 
 more serious matter in view than the mere 
 frivolous society of Italian artists. At some 
 future time, when your Ladyship is alone, 
 you may be inclined to pursue this subject 
 further. At present, I perceive you are too 
 much engaged mth company to give me 
 your full attention;" and Mrs. Pybus passed 
 on with a dignified air, in search of more 
 congenial companions. 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 114 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 The misguided young divine, meanwliile, 
 utterly unconscious of these animadversions, 
 spent his time in lingering near my niece 
 Sydney, who had long been the secret object 
 of his affections ; though at the same tjme 
 poor Mr. Auriol was unwilling to commit 
 himself by openly expressing his admira- 
 tion. 
 
 So, he — 
 
 " Unable to conceal liis pain, 
 Gazed on the fair, 
 Who caused his care, 
 
 And sighed and looked, sighed and looked, 
 Sighed and looked, and sighed again." 
 
 He would not venture to address Sydney, 
 lest he should be guilty of yielding to a sore 
 temptation, or, may be, for fear she should not 
 receive his advances kindly, or, perhaps, from 
 a mixture of the two motives. At the same 
 time, Mr. Auriol had not the courage to go
 
 LADY VENETIA YERNEY AT HOME. 115 
 
 far out of sight of my pretty niece, so he 
 stood leaning against a tree, behind her, 
 in an attitude of the deepest despondency, 
 tearing his beard frantically, whenever she 
 spoke to any one else ; and glowering in a 
 most forbidding manner at every other 
 gentleman who approached her, especially 
 at Mr. Spencer Hamilton ; who, however, 
 far from being alarmed by these threatening 
 looks, came up to the Curate with the 
 utmost politeness, and told him how glad 
 he was to hear he intended to visit Eome ; 
 hoped he would take care to visit the studios 
 there, and offered him an unlimited number 
 of letters of introduction. 
 
 8—2
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 COULEUR DE ROSE. 
 
 " Suspicion entering with a serpent's faDg ; 
 
 Poisons the healthy mind. A jaundiced eye 
 
 Henceforth will look upon each trifling act 
 
 And turn it into evil." 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 " What an awful woman that is, Venetia !" 
 said Mr. Hamilton, with a shudder. " She 
 is a perfect Gorgon — Medusa herself, I 
 should not wonder. What could make you 
 ask her to come here ?" 
 
 '' Hush ! Spencer. Don't you know her ?
 
 COULEUE- DE ROSE. 117 
 
 She is not ]\Iedusa, but Proserpine. Some- 
 bodj told me she was the most influential 
 person in all Dumbleton, and ruled the 
 whole parish. Her husband, the late la- 
 mented Pluto — or Pjbus — or whatever she 
 called him, was the head of the great Iron 
 Works here, and she inherits half the shares 
 (I have very little doubt), of the whole 
 company. I know Sir Eobert is most 
 anxious to concihate Her Majesty of the 
 Infernal Regions, so pray be careful and 
 don't outrage her best feelings. You and 
 Nora will certainly have to go and be con- 
 verted by her pet preacher. As for me, I 
 shall escape under stress of delicate health. 
 Here is Mr. Broke, let us make him tell us 
 all about it. Mr. Broke, I must get you to 
 explain to Mr. Hamilton how very impor- 
 tant it is to win the affections of Mrs. Pybus. 
 You know we are bent on being greatly
 
 118 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 beloved in Dumbleton. Sir Eobert has 
 taken a fidget about his next election. They 
 say your brother, Lord Templecombe, means 
 to oppose him, and, of course, we must do 
 our little best to counteract his advances. 
 Now, do be generous and tell me who I 
 ought to make up to, of all these people. 
 The Lamberts, of course, are our own 
 private property; there is no doubt about 
 them—" 
 
 " I really don't think, Lady Venetia, you 
 need be much alarmed about Tempy. I 
 believe my father wishes him to get into 
 Parliament, but Tempy has no ' call,' as Mrs. 
 Pybus would say, for that sort of thing. 
 He is much too idle and too fond of his 
 own comforts to exert himself much in the 
 matter; and I don't believe poor Tempy 
 would have a chance, against you, Lady 
 Venetia, "added Mr. Broke, with a polite bow.
 
 COULEUR DE EOSE. 119 
 
 " You are very kind, Mr. Broke, to say 
 SO; but I don't trust you on this point — 
 you may have some sinister design in 
 putting me off my guard ; I shall not relax 
 my efforts to be popular, I assure you, in 
 spite of all your pretty speeches." 
 
 " But you may take my word for it. Lady 
 Venetia, that you are throwing away your 
 ammunition upon our excellent friend, Mrs. 
 Pybus ; she is not worth the powder and 
 shot — depend upon it. She is a trouble- 
 some woman, fond of meddhng and inter- 
 fering in parish matters — a regular ' mai- 
 tresse femme! But she has little or no 
 influence at the Proserpine Works, if that 
 is your object. No ! The man for you is 
 my friend, John Beaumont — Beaumont is a 
 capital fellow ! He is the managing director 
 at the Iron Works, and the men there, all 
 worship him. I consider Beaumont quite
 
 120 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 tlie ruling power of Dumbleton. He is my 
 cliurcliwarden, and a more hard-headed, 
 sensible man, I never wish to deal with. 
 Now, I am perfectly disinterested in telling 
 you this, Lady Yenetia, for you know if 
 Tempy has any particular opinions, he is a 
 Conservative, and John Beaumont is a 
 thorough-going Eadical. He might come 
 in for Dumbleton himself if he chose it, 
 but he has no nonsense of that kind about 
 him, and will support Sir Eobert through 
 thick and thin, I'll answer for him. Oh ! 
 Tempy has no chance at all here, and so I 
 shall tell my father." 
 
 " Dear ! dear 1" cried Lady Yenetia, 
 wringing her hands in playful despair. 
 " But why did nobody tell me all this 
 before ? What am I to do ? I don't even 
 know Mr. Beaumont by sight. I dare say 
 we never asked him to come here to-day.
 
 COULEUR DE ROSE. 121 
 
 Shall I call on Mrs. Beaumont and apolo- 
 gise? Is there a Mrs. Beaumont?" 
 
 " Xo ; but there is a Miss Beaumont, his 
 sister, a very good kind of sensible woman. 
 The father owned the original Iron Works 
 here, which have now turned into 'The 
 Proserpine Company,' and the ground they 
 stand on, belongs to John Beaumont still ; 
 he wisely refused to sell it ; he is, also, a 
 large shareholder, and, as I told you before, 
 the managing director. The fact is, James 
 Lambert, the present chairman, was, at one 
 time, to have married Miss Beaumont, but 
 they quarrelled, or he jilted her, I don't 
 quite know which, and he ended by marry- 
 ing this rich Australian widow instead. She 
 is rather vulgar, and a Httle foolish. (She 
 is a great patroness of my wife's, by the way.) 
 But Miss Beaumont is worth a dozen of 
 her, and so thinks James Lambert, I sus-
 
 122 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 pect, now it is too late. Anyhow, he is 
 devoted to young Beaumont and has got 
 him on wonderfully in the world. Beau- 
 mont will be the richest man in Dumbleton 
 one of these days." 
 
 " How interesting ! What a charming, 
 romantic story ! And now, what had I 
 better do, dear Mr. Broke ? Can I ask this 
 all powerful Mr. Beaumont and his sister to 
 dinner ? and will you come and meet them ?" 
 
 " Delighted. I am sure you would like 
 John; he is a very clever, well-informed 
 man, and has made some most curious in- 
 ventions and improvements, which have 
 proved of immense value to the Company. 
 Sir Eobert would find him well worth 
 talking to. You need not ask the sister 
 unless you wish it. Margaret Beaumont is 
 not a woman to be affronted at that kind of . 
 thing."
 
 COULEUE, DE ROSE, 123 
 
 " Thank you so very mucli, Mr. Broke. 
 You have put me upon quite a new tack 
 altogether. My object will now be to gain 
 the heart of Mr. John Beaumont ; I de- 
 clare I feel quite like a second Eurydice 
 already." 
 
 " Don't forget that I am to have the role 
 of Orpheus, then, that's all," said Mr. Ham- 
 ilton, in a low voice, as the Vicar moved 
 away. 
 
 Lady Venetia looked suddenly round, and 
 seeing me within hearing, came up to ask 
 me very kindly if I had all I wanted, and 
 sent Mr. Hamilton to get me a cup of tea ; 
 and then disappeared to another part of the 
 garden. 
 
 I soon began to feel a little weary of 
 watching and listening, and got my brother 
 James to accompany me to the Abbey, Tom 
 and I, having arranged to dine there. Eliza
 
 124 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 and Sydney remained behind to amuse them- 
 selves a little longer. They did not come 
 in till we had nearly finished dinner, for 
 James would not wait for them. 
 
 Sydney looked brilliantly happy, and was 
 quite in an ecstacy of delight with her 
 party. 
 
 "Oh 1 Aunt Patty ! was not it charm- 
 ing ?" she began, as she seated herself 
 between James and myself. "No, thank 
 you, daddy ; I don't want any dinner. It 
 has been too nice ! I never thought any- 
 thing could be so nice ; and only to think it 
 will happen all over again next Saturday, 
 and the Saturday after, and every Saturday 
 for two or three months to come !" 
 
 " Well ! well, child, but that is no reason 
 why you should starve yourself," said 
 Tom. 
 
 " Oh ! I'm much too happy to be hun-
 
 COULEUR DE ROSE. 125 
 
 gry," said Sydney, looking radiant with joy. 
 " Well, Uncle Tom, if I must eat something, 
 I will have some cream cheese, please, and 
 some bread — there that will do. How tire- 
 some dinner is ! I wish people never had 
 dinner except on dull days, when there is 
 nothing else to do." 
 
 " Thank you. Missy," said James, laugh- 
 ing. " I am sorry I can't quite agree with 
 you there. I am ashamed to own I am 
 not at all too happy to eat a very good 
 dinner myself." 
 
 " Well, I must say, I think it has been a 
 very pleasant afternoon," said EKza. " There 
 was not such a mixture of people as I should 
 have expected. LadyVenetia has done it 
 very handsomely. She shows some discri- 
 mination to have managed it so well, for the 
 first time. I was a little surprised not to 
 see those Beaumonts there. They are ge-
 
 126 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 nerally so pushing, and force themselves 
 everywhere. But, of course, they are not 
 of a calibre to be asked to the Manor 
 House." 
 
 "I should have called John Beaumont 
 one of the first men in Dumbleton," said Tom. 
 
 " John Beaumont may be a great man in 
 his own forges andamong his ownblacksmiths 
 andpeople,butIdon't seethat he has a claim to 
 be considered anybody in good society, or his 
 sister either — a little, plain-looking woman, 
 I call her. I see nothing in her : but I am 
 surprised she did not contrive to get herself 
 asked to the Manor House, too." 
 
 When once Eliza got upon the Beaumont 
 subject she was generally rather difficult to 
 manage. She had unfortunately got some 
 inklinsr of James's former attachment to Mar- 
 garet, and my sister-in-law was not of the 
 most generous disposition in the world.
 
 COrrLEUR DE ROSE. 127 
 
 " I have no doubt Margaret could have 
 been asked to this party as easily as the rest 
 of us, if she had tried/' said Tom. " I 
 imagine Lady Yenetia just gave the cards 
 that were left at the door, to her groom of 
 the chambers, and desired him to make out 
 the list of invitations from them. If Mar- 
 garet Beaumont had left cards, she would 
 have been asked too ; but, I believe Lady 
 Venetia means to invite the Beaumonts to 
 dinner. It seems. Sir Eobert is anxious to 
 make John's acquaintance. She spoke to 
 me about it, and asked me for their 
 address." 
 
 " Sir Eobert anxious to make the ac- 
 quaintance of John Beaumont !" repeated 
 Eliza, scornfully. " What on earth could 
 Sir Eobert find in John Beaumont, worth 
 the trouble of seeking ? I never heard such 
 nonsense in my life."
 
 128 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " Let me tell yon, Eliza, that tliere is a 
 great deal in Jolin Beanmont, which might 
 make any man prond to have the honour of 
 his acquaintance," said James, sternly. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I know you think there is no- 
 body to be compared to the Beaumonts — I 
 am quite aware of that. It is no news to 
 me, to hear that you consider Margaret the 
 first of women. I ought to feel very much 
 flattered, I am sure, that you married poor, 
 foolish, ignorant me, when you might have 
 had such a paragon of perfection, as Miss 
 Beaumont, for vour wife," 
 
 "Well, well! Eliza, let us talk about 
 something else," said James, with a sigh. 
 " I know by experience that the Beaumonts 
 never form a very satisfactory subject of con- 
 versation, and it is one which I invariably 
 avoid, when with you, my dear." 
 
 " But one that 3^ou prefer to any other.
 
 COULEUH DE ROSE. 129 
 
 when you are not with me. Eh ! my dear? 
 — Oh yes ! I understand all about it — I am 
 not quite blind, believe me, my love,'* said 
 Eliza, in her most provoking manner. 
 
 " Neither am I blind, Mrs. Lambert," said 
 James, getting up in a fit of exasperation, 
 and hastily disappearing through the open 
 window, followed by Tom. 
 
 " It is the most absurd thing in the world, 
 to me, why you will all make such a fuss 
 about these stupid Beaumonts," said Eliza, 
 when they had gone. 
 
 " I believe you began the subject yourself, 
 EHza," said I coldly. 
 
 " I know James only does it to plague 
 me," she continued, without noticing my 
 remark. " He can't really see anything in 
 Margaret ; but he pretends to admire her on 
 purpose to tease me. It is so fooHsh of 
 him." 
 
 VOL. I. 9
 
 130 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " I remember Margaret a very pretty girl," 
 said I, '' and she is universally admitted to 
 be a very superior woman now — but," I 
 added, rather bitterly I am afraid, for it was 
 a sore subject with me, " I think James 
 gave us a pretty strong proof that he did not 
 see much in Margaret worth caring about* 
 when he left her, to go off to Australia, and 
 married somebody else. If he had really 
 loved Margaret he would either have re- 
 mained in England, or have proved constant 
 to her during his absence." 
 
 " Ah ! I know you have never forgiven 
 my poor husband for preferring me to 3^our 
 favourite Margaret, — now have you? Yet 
 you must own, it has been rather an advan- 
 tage to him in some respects. He has im- 
 proved his position just a very little, I sus- 
 pect. Eh?" 
 
 " Money is not the most important con-
 
 COrrLEUR DE EOSE. 131 
 
 sideration in life, nor position either/' said 
 I, hastily. 
 
 " Don't you think so ? Then, pray what 
 is ?" asked Eliza, sharply. " I don't know, 
 Martha, what you would have, if money and 
 position don't satisfy you." 
 
 I was within an ace of blurting out, that 
 '' Happiness was to my mind a more impor- 
 tant consideration than either," but fortu- 
 nately I had the presence of mind to stop 
 just in time, and turning to Sydney, asked 
 her how she had got on with Miss Yerney. 
 
 " Oh ! she is so nice," said Sydney, pleased 
 to get an opportunity of speaking ; " so very 
 nice — only a little reserved, I think, at first ; 
 but I liked her very much indeed. And is 
 not Lady Yenetia the most dehghtfal person 
 you ever saw in your Hfe, Aunt Patty ? — and 
 then Sir Eobert ! Sir Eobert came in, after 
 you left, and he is the dearest old darlii^g ! — 
 
 19-2
 
 132 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 SO stately and so polite and so dignified, and 
 yet, saying the prettiest things in the world. 
 Oh ! he was quite delightful, too ; and Mr. 
 Hamilton — " Here words sufiiciently strong 
 to express her approbation, seemed to fail 
 Sydney altogether, and she stopped short. 
 
 '' Do you know, Aunt Patty, if all the 
 misfortunes that ever happened to anybody, 
 were to come to me during the rest of my 
 life, I think I should still be a happy woman 
 after passing such a day as this has been, and 
 then, only to think that it may last all the 
 summer, perhaps !" 
 
 " You are ^^oung, Sydney. You don't 
 know what you may have to undergo 
 yet." 
 
 " But if I have only a few more such plea- 
 sant days as this, I shall be quite contented 
 with my lot in life. Aunt Patty. I have been 
 so very, very happy — you don't know — you
 
 COULEUR DE ROSE. 133 
 
 can't understand. Look at that sky — how 
 bright it is ! — all in a glow of crimson light, 
 and it is reflected in the river, and on the tops 
 of the trees, and upon those houses in the dis- 
 tance, — even the smoke is rose-coloured. 
 Now I feel this evening as if the happiness 
 of to-day would throw a reflection over 
 all the rest of my life. I shall see every- 
 thing 671 couleur de rose for the future." 
 
 '' I trust you may, most sincerely, my 
 child — I hope and pray you may," said I ; — 
 but Sydney's raptures frightened me — they 
 were too bright to last.
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 A CONVERSATION AT THE MANOR HOUSE. 
 
 *'"But why do you go ?" said tlie lady, while both sate 
 under the yew — 
 And her eyes were alive in their depth, as the 
 kraken beneath the sea-blue. 
 
 "Because I fear you," he answered, "because you 
 are far too fair. 
 And able to strangle my soul, in a mesh of your 
 gold-coloured, hair." 
 
 Mrs. Baeeett Browning. 
 
 I THINK, I had better record in this place, a 
 conversation which affected in no sHght 
 degree the fate of my heroine. Of course, I
 
 AT THE MANOH HOUSE. 135 
 
 knew nothing about it, till long afterwards, 
 but I have every reason to believe it took 
 place very much as follows. After the party 
 at the Manor House was over and the guests 
 had departed, the Verney family dined, and 
 after dinner. Sir Eobert retired to his library 
 to examine the contents of several impor- 
 tant-looking, red boxes, which had accom- 
 panied him from London — Miss Verney 
 went up to write letters in her own room — 
 Lady Yenetia and Mr. Hamilton were 
 drinking their coffee under the old cedar 
 tree on the lawn, when she observed sud- 
 denly to her cousin, " I really think, Spencer, 
 we have made a very good beginning. 
 We seem to be on the high road to popu- 
 larity, and now, all we have to do, is to keep 
 in it. I don't imagine it will be a very 
 arduous undertaking. These good people 
 of Dumbleton seem to me, to be good-
 
 136 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 naturedand simple-minded to a degree — and 
 even Mr. Broke owns, Lord Templecombe is 
 not likely to prove a very formidable adver- 
 sary. Spencer, I have an idea ! How would it 
 do to get Lord Templecombe here, (I could 
 manage it through my sister) and make him 
 marry Nora ? That girl is quite a gene to 
 me. She watches everything I do, or say, 
 and looks daggers at me if I don't precisely 
 please her. She is quite a skeleton at the 
 feast — I can't tell you how nervous it makes 
 me to feel her eyes always upon me. I 
 would give the world to marry her off, out 
 of the way — but she sj^eaks to nobody, and 
 looks broken-hearted. It is rather too much 
 to expect from me, that I should have all 
 Sir E-obert's nieces, as well as himself, to 
 look after." 
 
 " I don't suppose Templecombe would take 
 to Miss Verney," said Mr. Hamilton
 
 AT THE MANOE HOUSE. 137 
 
 thoughtfully. " She would not suit him, by 
 any means. He is much more likely to 
 marry Die Hartlancl, of the two." 
 
 " But Die would never be such a fool as 
 to marry Templecombe, surely. She has her 
 liberty now, which is all she cares about, and 
 a house in town and a place in the country, 
 and more money than she knows what to 
 do with — Why should Die marry again ?" 
 
 " Why do widows ever marry, if it comes 
 to that, when they have enough to live upon 
 without it ? But they constantly do marry, 
 and so will Die, you'll see, unless that 
 dragon Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins puts her 
 spoke in the wheel — " 
 
 " Horrid, odious woman ! I can't endure 
 her !" exclaimed Lady Venetia. " She is 
 the most illnatured, mischievous creature in 
 London. She hates me." 
 
 " Is it possible ! I would not have believed
 
 138 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 that even Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins could have 
 sunk to such a depth of degradation as 
 that," said Mr. Hamilton, laughing. 
 
 " It's no joke, Spencer. Let me tell you 
 that to be hated by Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins, 
 is enough to ruin any woman's reputation ; 
 you know how she talks." 
 
 " But not of you, Venetia 1" 
 
 " Yes, of me — and of you, and Die re- 
 peats it all directly, as in duty bound — 
 now what do you say ?" 
 
 " Hang, Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins !" said 
 Spencer, still trying to laugh, but looking 
 annoyed in spite of himself. " I wonder 
 you allow your sister to repeat such nonsense 
 to you, Venetia. She ought to kno¥/ better." 
 
 " Spencer, I wish you would many," said 
 Lady Venetia, after a pause. "You have 
 been going about the world long enough. 
 1 wonder you are not tired of it."
 
 AT THE MANOE HOUSE. ]39 
 
 " I am ; very — " replied Spencer ; " but 
 what am I to do ? — I can't live upon air, 
 like a chameleon — unfortunately for me. 
 
 " But you might find a woman with some 
 money. You don't like Die, unfortu- 
 nately ?" 
 
 " Not in that sort of way, I must confess 
 — nor has my good cousin Lady Diana 
 Hartland, any peculiar affection for me — if 
 it comes to that." 
 
 " Well ! it must be owned that you and 
 Die would never get on together — but there 
 are other women in the world — now listen 
 Spencer — a brilliant notion strikes me ! Did 
 you observe that young lady who was here 
 to-day — a Miss Hope. She was talking to 
 Nora for a long time. I think I saw you 
 speaking to her — a pretty, little, fair, inno- 
 cent looking thing, with yellow hair, and 
 blue eyes."
 
 140 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " Oh ! I remember. But I fancied she 
 had been a Miss Lambert. Surely she came 
 in with Tom Lambert's brother — yes, a 
 pretty little girl enough." 
 
 " She is James Lambert's step-daughter," 
 
 said Lady Yenetia. "Somebody told me 
 
 all about her. Stop ! it was that silly Mrs. 
 
 Broke (a Marsham she was, you know, and 
 
 the greatest goose in the world), but it 
 
 seems she has an enthusiasm of the most mis- 
 
 sish nature, for this little Hope girl. Well ! 
 
 Selina Broke tells me, her friend Miss Hope 
 
 is to have an immense fortune, either when 
 
 she marries, or comes of age. Six, or seven 
 
 thousand a year — that sort of thing to begin 
 
 t. 
 with — and the reversion of her mother's 
 
 jointure eventually, and old Lambert the 
 
 stepfather, who dotes on her, is likely to 
 
 leave her as much more, in course of time — 
 
 now there's a chance for you, Spencer ; don't
 
 AT THE MANOR HOUSE. 141 
 
 let her be snapped up by one of these 
 great brewers, or iron masters. You 
 might win her heart in half an hour, if you 
 tried." 
 
 '' Le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle^^^ said 
 Spencer carelessly. 
 
 '' Think," continued Lady Venetia, '' how 
 comfortable you might be, in one of those 
 nice, new houses in South Kensington for 
 instance — with say, ten thousand a-year, 
 and a shooting box in Scotland, and 
 plenty of hunters at Melton, and a good 
 simple child of a wife, who would adore 
 you and admire you from morning to night. 
 Seriously, Spencer, it would be by far the 
 best thing you could do !" 
 
 " Do you really think so, Via ? But this 
 means that you are tired of me, I presume. 
 You wish to get rid of me ?'' said Mr. 
 Hamilton reproachfully.
 
 142 BUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " Get rid of you ? Nonsense ! Why be 
 rid of you because you are married ? Of 
 course, it would make no difference to our 
 seeing you every day, as usual. Why should 
 it ? No ! You must let me find vou a 
 house, and give me carte blanche to furnish 
 and arrange it for you. I mistrust the little 
 Hope's taste in such matters ; and then you 
 will both come to Midsummer Verney in 
 the autumn, just as you always do. You 
 could still be with us, as much as you please, 
 only you would have a pretty little wife to 
 go home to, when you were tired of us, 
 instead of being obliged to sit at your club 
 playing at whist, or talking scandal — that 
 is all. It would be much better for you in 
 every way." 
 
 " Thank you. You are very obliging. 
 Via. And so if I married, you really would 
 have no sort of feeling about it ?" asked 
 
 j
 
 AT THE MANOR HOUSE. 143 
 
 Spencer, in a voice expressive of considerable 
 pique. 
 
 '' Of course not. Why should I ?" she 
 answered, ^vith a light mocking laugh. 
 
 " Because you know very well, Venetia, 
 that I have never cared for any human being 
 but you, ever since I was born, and never 
 shall as long as I live. You can't pretend 
 to be ignorant of that fact ; but you never 
 lose an opportunity of tormenting me, as I 
 know by experience." 
 
 " Now, Spencer, you know I never allow 
 you to talk in that foolish, sentimental way. 
 I dishke it particularly. Do listen to reason. 
 Taking it for granted, that about ten years 
 ago, when we were young and foolish, we 
 fell in love with each other. Pray is that 
 any reason why we should both persist in 
 remaining in single blessedness for the rest 
 of our natural lives ? Tf my revered parents
 
 144 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 had permitted us to many on twopence a 
 year, before we had arrived at years of dis- 
 cretion, as we wished to do, how dreadfully 
 tired of each other we should have been by 
 this time ! You would be now earning an 
 uncommonly meagre, weekly stipend, I dare 
 say, as a billiard marker in the purlieus of 
 St. James's, while I sat at home in our 
 garret in St. Griles's, and tried to eke out a 
 scanty existence by taking in plain needle- 
 work. We should probably have finished 
 by spending our last halfpenny in buying 
 a little charcoal to put an end to our miserable 
 existences — like the people in the 'Streets of 
 London.' Now tell me honestly — don't 
 you think I took the sensible line, when I 
 proved my filial obedience by marrying Sir 
 Eobert Verney, directly papa told me to do 
 so, without making any unnecessary fuss 
 about the matter ?"
 
 AT THE MANOn HOUSE. 145 
 
 " But you must remember that you have 
 no heart whatever, Venetia — you never had. 
 The odd thing is, why I am such a fool as 
 to care about you," said Spencer Hamilton 
 bitterly. 
 
 " Come ! come ! what would you have ? 
 Would you rather I had pined away and 
 died of consumption at the end of six months 
 all for pure love of you ?" 
 
 " There was not much danger of that. 
 You have not got it in you, to care about 
 anybody but yourself. I know that well 
 enough," replied Spencer, still looking 
 gloomy. 
 
 "You are my best and dearest friend. 
 Can't you be content with that ?" 
 
 " I wish I could, Yenetia, with all my 
 heart and soul." 
 
 " But why not ? You are so provoking, 
 Spencer. We might be all so happy and 
 
 VOL. I. 10
 
 146 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 comfortable, if you would only be a little 
 sensible. What is the use of tormenting 
 me and yourself, by constantly harping back 
 to old days, and trying to revive old feelings ? 
 Tliat is selfishness, if you please. What 
 good can it do either of us? You know 
 how kind Sir Eobert is to me, and to you 
 too, for the matter of that. I know you would 
 not wrong him, in the slightest degree, any 
 more than I would myself. I am sure we 
 are both sincerely attached to him, and I 
 don't like you to talk to me in this way. 
 I don't indeed. That is one reason why I 
 should be glad if you were married. When 
 once you had a dear, pretty little wife of 
 your own, you would soon forget me. There 
 would be an end of all this nonsense then." 
 "Never, Via, never — that is quite hope- 
 less. It will be only making one more life 
 miserable. What has this poor girl done
 
 AT THE MA.NOR HOUSE. 147 
 
 to you, that you condemn her also, to fall a 
 victim to your heartlessness ?" 
 
 "Oh ! she would be happy enough, be- 
 lieve me. To do you justice, Spencer, you 
 could not treat her unkindly. You are 
 too tender-hearted and good-tempered for 
 that. She will do very well, depend upon 
 it ; and you will end by falling desperately 
 in love with your own wife, some of these 
 days. I know you better than you know 
 yourself." 
 
 " Via, in all your hfe had you ever one 
 spark of feeling, I wonder? It is hopeless 
 trying to make you understand," cried Spen- 
 cer, starting up angrily. 
 
 " Have patience for one moment, Spencer. 
 I am not unfeehng — I am not heartless — 
 neither am I totally devoid of principle. I 
 have still some regard left for what is right, 
 in spite of you, I could almost say. Whether 
 
 10-^2
 
 148 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 I did right, or wrong, in marrying Sir Robert, 
 in the first instance, is another question. 
 It is no matter about that, now. What is 
 done, can't be undone ; but since 1 have 
 married him, I am determined to do my 
 duty to him, and to be true to him in 
 thought, word, and deed. I want to be 
 thoroughly open, honest, and loyal. Spencer, 
 don't try to make me as false and treacherous 
 as these women say I am. You know, (no- 
 body better,) how much harm it does me to 
 have you always here. Your manner to me 
 is not what it should be. You know what 
 the world is, and how ready people are to 
 take advantage of every careless word, or 
 look. It is hard upon me, Spencer. I don't 
 want to appeal to Sir Eobert ; but it must 
 end in that, if you are so cruel and thought- 
 less. If you had ever really cared for me, 
 you would have some regard for my good
 
 AT THE MANOR HOUSE. 149 
 
 name. You surely would not do your ut- 
 most to ruin my reputation, as you are 
 doing now. I have tried so hard to be 
 good, and to do what is right, and to make 
 everybody happy. Why will you not leave 
 me in peace ?" said Lady Yenetia, bursting 
 into tears. 
 
 " Oh, Via ! my darling ! what can I do ? I 
 will leave England to-morrow if it will make 
 you happier. I will go out as consul to some 
 island in the antipodes, if you wish it. 
 You know you have only to say one word, 
 and I will instantly obey you, as I always 
 have done, all my life. Shall I start 
 this evening?" 
 
 " No ! Spencer, don't go away ; I don't 
 want to lose you. Stay in England, and 
 let us be happy and comfortable together. 
 If you go, there will be a dozen stories made 
 up on the spot ; but if you will only marry
 
 150 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 and settle down quietly here, all gossip will 
 be knocked on the head at once, and we 
 shall be as good friends as ever, shall we 
 not ?" 
 
 " Well ! have it your own way, Venetia, 
 as usual," replied Spencer, after a moment's 
 silence. " 111 even marry this unfortunate 
 gir], to please you. What's her name? 
 Poor thing ! I am sorry for her 1 If any 
 harm comes of it, may she forgive you, 
 for the sin will be on your head, not 
 mine." 
 
 " I am not afraid for her, Spencer. She 
 will be a very happy woman — I know she 
 will. And now, neither Die, nor Mrs. Bowyer 
 Dawkins can say a word more about us. 
 You'll see, Spencer, how soon you'll begin 
 to like her when once she is your wife ; and 
 now let us go in ; I dare say Nora is sitting 
 in judgment upon us in the drawing-room
 
 AT THE MANOR HOUSE. 151 
 
 all this time. She is so thoroughly cen- 
 sorious, and she dislikes you, and distrusts 
 me — I see it in her eye. Now I shall be- 
 gin to feel comfortable and at ease again. 
 Thank you, Spencer. You will never re- 
 pent it." 
 
 "It is to be hoped not," answered her 
 cousin gloomily. " But I am afraid I shall 
 only repent it once, and that will be for ever." 
 
 Poor Lady Venetia ! She was not quite 
 so heartless as she appeared to be : but she 
 was a woman of the world, and women who 
 live in the world have to leave their hearts 
 behind them, sometimes. She had, at her 
 father's request, thrown over the man she 
 loved because he was poor, and married a 
 man she did not love, because he was rich ; 
 and, as she said of herself, she had struggled 
 hard to be true and faithful to her 
 husband, even in thought; and Sir Eobert
 
 152 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 was so kind, so indulgent, and so confid- 
 ing, that she would not wilfully have de- 
 ceived him for the universe. But things 
 had gone against her, poor lady. Her 
 cousin was so desperately in love with her, 
 and was so impetuous, and reckless ; and she 
 had tried in vain to teach him to think 
 of her merely as a sister ; and then Sir 
 Robert was fond of him, and had made him 
 his private secretary ; so that Spencer Ham- 
 ilton was constantly in the house, and Sir 
 Robert was so much at his office ; and when 
 he was not at his office, he was always busy. 
 He left her to do just what she liked, from 
 morning to night, and never asked any ques- 
 tions ; and so by insensible degrees, Spencer's 
 manner had grown a little warmer than was 
 absolutely necessary in addressing a married 
 cousin, till, at last. Lady Venetia felt it was 
 time to draw up sharply with a strong and
 
 AT THE MANOR HOTJSE. 153 
 
 decided hand. Perhaps she would not have 
 .found this out for herself, or at least, not 
 have seen it so plainly, had it not been for 
 the arrival of a young girl, an orphan niece of 
 Sir Eobert's. to whom he was sole guardian, 
 and who had no other home to go to but 
 his house. Honour Yerney had spent most 
 of her life in the country, and her habits 
 and ideas were as far removed from Lady 
 Yenetia's, as light is from darkness. 
 
 A look of grave surprise, not unmingled 
 if* with indignation, from the quiet, demure 
 Nora, first opened Lady Yenetia's eyes to 
 the possibility that she was going too far, 
 and this opinion was confirmed by a few 
 inuendos from that ill-natured and mischiev- 
 ous woman, Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins, who, 
 having no character of her own to lose, 
 made very light work of despatching the 
 characters of other people.
 
 154 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Yenetia really believed that slie was con- 
 sulting Spencer's interests, as well as her 
 own, in persuading him to marry Sydney 
 Hope, the heiress of Dumbleton; and she 
 felt no doubts, or misgivings, on Sydney's 
 account. She honestly thought it was im- 
 possible for the girl to meet with a destiny 
 more propitious than to be the wife of the 
 handsome and agreeable Spencer Hamilton.
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 THE PROSERPINE IRON WORKS. 
 
 " I know not if I know what true love is, 
 But if I know, then, if I love not him, 
 Methinks there is none other I can love," 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 Having been thus admitted behind the 
 scenes, you will not be so much surprised 
 as we Dumbleton people were (who had not 
 that advantage), when, about a month after 
 the Yemeys' arrival at the Manor House, 
 we heard rumours that Mr. Spencer HamU-
 
 156 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 ton had proposed to Sydney Hope. There 
 had been three other Saturday parties since 
 the first one, which I described to you ; and 
 the James Lamberts had been asked to 
 dinner, to meet the Brokes and the Beau- 
 monts, much to Ehza's vexation, as it after- 
 wards appeared. I had not gone to any 
 of these gaieties, and had heard of them only 
 at second hand. Sydney was never tired 
 of talking about the beauty and grace of Lady 
 Venetia, and the very great kindness shown 
 her by Sir Robert. She was also eloquent on 
 the subject of Miss Nora Yerney, with whom 
 she appeared to be very intimate. 
 
 Of Mr. Hamilton, I heard less than of 
 any other member of the family, but when 
 she did mention him, it was with down- 
 cast eyes and crimson cheeks that spoke 
 volumes. 
 
 Still, I must confess, it was quite a sur-
 
 THE PEOSEllPINE IRON WOEKS. 157 
 
 prise to me, when James came in, one even- 
 ing, to announce to Tom and myself, that 
 Mr. Hamilton had actually wi'itten to ask 
 his consent to marry his step-daughter, and 
 had made very handsome offers, as far as the 
 settlement of her fortune was concerned ; 
 he certainly did not seem to be actuated by 
 mercenary views. 
 
 Sydney, he found, had made up her own 
 mind upon the subject most completely, and 
 he saw no reason for opposing the marriage. 
 Mr. Hamilton was very highly connected, 
 and James knew nothin^: aj^^ainst his cha- 
 racter. His want of fortune was a matter 
 of no importance, Sydney would have 
 enough for them both, and as she was evi- 
 dently bent upon it, James had given his 
 consent very cordially. 
 
 The next morning, Eliza came to talk it 
 over, and she too was pleased, upon the
 
 158 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 whole. She would have preferred a man of 
 rank, she owned ; and as there was a chance 
 of Lord Templecombe coming to Dumble- 
 ton, she thought Sydney might have waited 
 a few months, before finally making up her 
 mind. But, as Sydney refused to listen to 
 reason, and was quite wild to marry Mr. 
 Hamilton, that could not be helped ! " After 
 all, what was the use of having money, if one 
 could not please one's self," argued Eliza, who 
 had certainly acted up to her views in this 
 respect ; and she added, that Mr. Hamilton 
 was most distinguished looking, and quite 
 a man of fashion. It was not often, in 
 Dumbleton, that a young man like Mr. 
 Hamilton was to be met with ; and as James 
 positively refused to goto London for the sea- 
 son, Eliza owned, it was perhaps only natural 
 that Sydney should have taken a fancy to 
 the first real gentleman who happened to
 
 THE PROSERPINE IRON WORKS. 159 
 
 cross lier path. Lady Venetia would intro- 
 duce her cousin's wife into the very highest 
 circles, Eliza felt sure ; and with her beauty 
 and fortune, she had no fear, but that Sydney 
 would make her own way in the world 
 and be a fashionable London lady very 
 speedily. 
 
 As this was apparently the height of 
 EHza's ambition for her daughter, we were 
 able to congratulate her upon Sydney's pro- 
 spects with a good grace; and James's lament, 
 that John Beaumont had not been the man 
 to marry his step-daughter, met with no 
 sympathy whatever. As for Sydney her- 
 self, when she came to be caressed, and 
 admired, and wished joy, no words can de- 
 scribe her state of brilliant happiness. 
 
 " Spencer was so good ! and so clever ! ! 
 and so agreeable ! and so vastly superior 
 to every other human being who ever lived,"
 
 '160 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 that nothing we could say in his favour, 
 was half enough to satisfy Sydney's require- 
 ments. 
 
 " But, Uncle Tom, did you ever meet with 
 such a man before ?" she enquired very con- 
 fidently. "Now, Aunt Patty, you must 
 own, that you never ^2i^ anybody who is to 
 be compared with Spencer, for one single 
 moment ? Is not he just like a prince in a 
 fairy tale ; and am I not the most fortunate 
 woman that ever w^as born ? What have I 
 done to deserve such intense happiness ? 
 What can he see in me, I wonder, that he 
 should come here and choose me for his 
 wife, when he might have married any body 
 in the world ? I feel so unworthy of 
 him. Aunt Patty, I don't know how I shall 
 ever be able to repay Spencer for all his 
 goodness to me. Oh ! if he should ever 
 find he has made a mistake ! or change his
 
 THE PROSERPINE IRON WORKS. 161 
 
 mind 1 or grow tired of me ! what would 
 become of me then ? I believe it would kill 
 me at once. I am sure, I could not bear 
 to live for four- and- twenty hours, if Spencer 
 grew cold to me, or even looked bored with 
 me, as husbands sometimes are, with their 
 mves. It would be so very, very ter- 
 rible." 
 
 I tried to remonstrate a little with Sydney 
 on this point, and assured her that she had 
 better be prepared for an occasional change 
 in Mr. Hamilton's humour. I hinted that 
 the best of men will sometimes speak 
 sharply, or look irritated by some trifling 
 occurrence. I reminded her that even Tom, 
 usually the best tempered of his sex, had 
 been known to be a Httle sulky at times — 
 before dinner, for instance ; but I might as 
 well have talked to the winds. Sydney was 
 fixed in her determination to die of a broken 
 
 VOL. I. 11
 
 162 DUMBLETON C0MM0:N'. 
 
 heart tlie moment she detected the slightest 
 alteration in Spencer's manner, and nothing 
 I could adduce, served in any degree to shake 
 this resolution. 
 
 Soon after this auspicious marriage had 
 been arranged, Sir Eobert Verney one day 
 expressed a desire to go over the Proserpine 
 Iron Works, of which my brother was, as I 
 have said, chairman of the board of direc- 
 tors. 
 
 James therefore determined in this capa- 
 city to show Lady Venetia and her friends 
 some civility, by giving her a grand col- 
 lation in the large reading-room, or lecture 
 hall, which had been built for the use of the 
 workmen employed in the establishment; and 
 several of the leading directors and share- 
 holders of the company, with their families, 
 were also invited to join the party. 
 
 I agreed to come to this luncheon among
 
 THE PROSEKPINE IHON WORKS. 163 
 
 the rest, though of course, it was out of the 
 question for me to hobble about the im- 
 mense workshops and foundries, with the 
 rest of the visitors ; but I had the pleasure 
 of seeing them all arrive and set off in pro- 
 cession on their tour of inspection, and I 
 heard so many particulars of their progress 
 afterwards, that I knew what happened, 
 almost as well as if I had been there, 
 myself. 
 
 James led the way, with Lady Venetia on 
 his arm. She was evidently equipped with 
 a view to conquest, in a grey silk gown, 
 looped up over a red satin petticoat, short 
 enough to show off to the best advantage 
 her dainty Httle feet and ankles, which were 
 clad for the occasion, in the smartest and 
 highest-heeled Balmoral boots that had ever 
 appeared in Dumbleton ; a rough white pea- 
 jacket with immense buttons all over it, and 
 
 11—.^
 
 164 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 a very coquettish little hat, completed her 
 attire ; and as she entered the dark cavern- 
 ous-looking foundry, bowing and smiling 
 right and left, to the half-clad, grimy-looking 
 workmen, I could not help laughing, as I re- 
 membered her Ladyship's intention to appear 
 in the character of Eurydice — for though the 
 goddess was probably not dressed in precisely 
 the same costume, the contrast, I thought, 
 between herself and the Cyclops could not 
 have been more marked than that of Lady 
 Venetia Yerney to our honest Dumble- 
 ton workmen. 
 
 Sir Robert followed with his niece and 
 John Beaumont, who, as manager of the 
 works, was more capable of doing the 
 honours of them than James was. Eliza 
 declined going. It was not a sight much 
 in her line, and she found more agreeable 
 employment in superintending the arrange-
 
 THE PROSERPINE IRON WORKS. 165 
 
 ment of tlie luncheon wliicli was to 
 ensue. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, of course, offered his arm 
 to Sydney, who, however, was too much 
 engrossed with her companion to take any 
 very lively interest in watching the transfor- 
 mation of hars of pig iron, into the most de- 
 licate and intricate machinery. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Broke, besides several of the 
 directors, with Mrs. Pybus and Margaret 
 Beaumont, accompanied the party. Mrs. 
 Pybus, I heard afterwards, passed most of 
 her time in disseminating teetotal and other 
 tracts among the men, and also in inveighing 
 loudlv ao^ainst the evils of drunkenness and 
 the errors of the church of Eome, between 
 which two subjects, there appeared to exist 
 some confusion in her own mind. To her 
 'eagerness to gain converts, however, Mrs. 
 Pybus fell a victim — for lingering behind
 
 16G DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 the rest of lier party, the unfortunate lady 
 nearly stej)ped into a stream of molten iron, 
 that was meandering pleasantly through the 
 foundry, on its way from one of the furnaces; 
 and if some of her audience had not somewhat 
 roughly seized Mrs. Pybus by the arm, and 
 dragged her back just in time, the conse- 
 quences would probably have been serious. 
 Her eloquence was so much checked by this 
 incident, that her voice was scarcely heard 
 again during the whole day. 
 
 The rest of the party proceeded in safety 
 through their peregrinations — though nei- 
 ther Lady Venetia nor Sydney saw much to 
 admire, in the cataracts of red-hot metal 
 as they poured from the furnaces into the 
 vessels and moulds placed for their reception. 
 They soon came out, escorted by Mr. Hamil- 
 ton, and professed to be in a state of en- • 
 thu.siastic delight with the beautiful pictu-
 
 THE PROSEEPINE IRON WOEKS. 167 
 
 resc^ue lights and shadows, and then they 
 all three sat down by the river-side, to cool 
 themselves, rest, and eat ices till Sir 
 Eobert and the other visitors made their 
 appearance. 
 
 Sydney seemed to be quite a favorite of 
 Lady Venetians ah-eady, and though natu- 
 rally, under the circumstances, she felt a 
 little shy and subdued, I thought her blushes 
 and demure looks most becoming to her. 
 
 As I sat watching them from the window 
 I was rather provoked to see that Lady 
 Yenetia took up the whole of Mr. Hamil- 
 ton's attentions. — Indeed he almost turned 
 his back to Sydney, as he conversed in an 
 animated and eager manner with his cousin ; 
 but my little step-niece looked perfectly 
 happy and contented. 
 
 To be near Spencer was quite enough for 
 her. To hear him talk, was all she cared
 
 168 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 for — no matter whom lie talked to, or what 
 he talked about ; it was Spencer's voice that 
 sounded in her ears, and Spencer was her 
 own private property, and she could talk to 
 him as much as she liked, in future years ; 
 and so Sydney indulged in a delicious day- 
 dream of happiness and watched the great 
 river flowing at her feet, while she sat beside 
 Spencer, and idly listened to his conversa- 
 tion with Lady Venetia. She felt too happy 
 and too dreamy to wish to talk herself, and 
 besides, she did not always know exactly 
 what to say. Lady Venetia had so many 
 friends and relations to talk to Spen- 
 cer about. Sydney would know them all 
 too, one of these days ; but just yet, she 
 did not care much for them, somehow, or 
 other. And then, as she used to tell me, 
 Spencer liked to talk over politics with Lady 
 Venetia, and what on earth could she say
 
 THE PEOSEllPINE IRON WORKS. 169 
 
 about politics. She had not a notion what 
 the precise difference was, between Liberals 
 and Conservatives ; and as for Eadicals, she 
 could not make them out at all, only she 
 thought they were generally rather danger- 
 ous people who wanted to make a revolution, 
 or something of that sort. But whenever 
 she tried to talk politics to Spencer, he only 
 laughed at her and called her " a little fool," 
 so she thought she had better leave all that 
 to Lady Yenetia for the present. There 
 would be time enough for her to find out all 
 about it by-and-bye, when she was older 
 and wiser, and not quite too delightfully 
 happy, to think about such things. At 
 present, she could think of nothing but 
 Spencer. Meantime, it seemed that Sir 
 Eobert and Miss Yerney had not been con- 
 tented with a hasty survey of the whole 
 scene, but had entered roinutely into every
 
 170 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 detail of the process, and Miss Verney had 
 been especially delighted with the great 
 steam shears, which snipped off thick bars 
 of iron as easily as 1 could cut up a strip of 
 paper with my scissors ; and also, with the 
 steam drill which bored smooth, round 
 holes in a lump of metal, in the lightest and 
 most graceful manner imaginable, without 
 appearing to give itself the slightest trouble 
 about the matter. 
 
 As soon as the whole party was collected 
 together, we went to luncheon ; and a very 
 sumptuous entertainment James had pro- 
 vided for us, I must confess. Turtle soup, 
 cold chickens, fruit, ice, and champagne, how- 
 ever, quickly disappeared before the united 
 forces of about five-and-twenty hungry indi- 
 viduals, for several of our Dumbleton worthies 
 joined us at luncheon, who had not under- 
 gone the fatigue of seeing the works. Lady
 
 THE PROSEKPINE IRON WORKS. 171 
 
 Venetia made herself more cliarming than 
 ever, and even surpassed herself in the art 
 of saying pretty things, in the prettiest 
 manner in the world. James seemed to be 
 quite a vanquished man, and I do not think 
 Eliza entirely approved of my brother's un- 
 concealed admiration for the irresistible Lady 
 Venetia. I was rather surprised to find 
 however, that in spite of her Ladyship's 
 openly avowed determination, to win the 
 heart of John Beaumont, that her fascina- 
 tions seemed to be entirely thrown away 
 upon that insensible and stony-hearted 
 young man. John had never been addicted 
 to the frailty of flirtation, and though, (as 
 Dumbleton young men go) Mr. Beaumont 
 was what might be called quite a " parti," 
 he had never hitherto, given any lady reason 
 to suppose for a moment, that he saw in her 
 anything to admire. John was always kind
 
 172 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 and good-natured to everybody, but if it 
 became a question of shewing some attention 
 to my pretty niece, Sydney Hope, or to 
 myself, I verily believe John Beaumont 
 would have chosen me of the two. He 
 would have argued that Sydney was young 
 and active, and could take care of herself, 
 while I was weak and lame and helpless ; 
 he would therefore have offered his arm to 
 me, without the slightest hesitation, leaving 
 the little heiress to her fate. I am not 
 saying that John Beaumont was right in thus 
 stopping to argue the point, instead of in- 
 voluntarily yielding the homage due from 
 all young men of his age, to youth and 
 beauty ; but it serves as an illustration to his 
 character, and it was one reason why I was 
 a little astonished to observe, that though 
 he appeared to be quite invulnerable to the 
 darts that were launched at him from Lady
 
 THE PROSEKPINE lEON WOEKS. 173 
 
 Venetia's beautiful eyes, yet Mr. Beaumont 
 did not seem averse to a lengthened conver- 
 sation with the lady on his other side. Miss 
 Honour Yemey . It is true, I believe, that he 
 was merely explaining to her the process of 
 hardening steel, but the topic seemed to be 
 one of absorbing interest to both parties 
 concerned ; and at last, with a little shrug of 
 contempt. Lady Yenetia gave John up as 
 an hopeless case, and devoted herself en- 
 tirely to my brother, who seemed better 
 able to appreciate her very numerous attrac- 
 tions. 
 
 " I really must say," observed Eliza after- 
 wards, '' that I wonder what her Ladyship 
 sees in James, that she should try to make 
 him admire her of all people. I consider 
 that when once a woman is married, she 
 had better make up her mind to be con- 
 tented with her own husband, and not
 
 174 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 interfere with other women's husbands. 
 Having been twice married, I think I ought 
 to know something about the matter, and I 
 must do poor Mr. Hope the justice to saj, 
 that whatever his faults might have been, 
 he never thought of such a thing as flirting 
 with married women, or, indeed, with any 
 women whatever." 
 
 " He had not much oj^port unity, poor 
 fellow 1" said James, laughing. " He saw 
 nobody but the wives of convicts and bush- 
 rangers, who were none of them particularly 
 engaging, T imagine. I will do you the 
 justice to say, Eliza, that you are, at all 
 events, more agreeable than either the one 
 or the other." 
 
 " By which I presume, you mean to imply, 
 that I am less agreeable than Lady Yenetia 
 Verney," cried Eliza, indignantly. 
 
 " I was only referring to the comparative
 
 THE PROSERPINE IRON WORKS. 175 
 
 degree of poor Hope's temptations/' replied 
 James, " He never saw Lady Venetia, I 
 believe." 
 
 '' And you have, eh ? Oh ! yes. I 
 understand it all perfectly, Mr, Lambei*t, I 
 beg you won't take the trouble to enter into 
 any explanations, they are quite unnecessary, 
 I assure you." 
 
 " I am glad you think so," answered 
 James, " for I am afraid I have none to offer 
 you. I cannot oblige you by denying that I 
 think Lady Venetia Vemey a singularly 
 beautiful and agreeable woman, and T am 
 quite aware that nothing less than such an ad- 
 mission is likely to satisfy you. I might even, 
 with perfect truth, go so far as to assert that 
 Lady Venetia is the most beautiful and the 
 most agreeable woman I ever met with ; 
 moreover as we are likely shortly to be con- 
 nected with the Verney family, I give you
 
 •176 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 fair notice, Mrs. Lambert, tliat I intend to 
 remain on friendly and intimate terms with 
 both Sir Eobert and his wife ; and I must beg, 
 that you will not make both yourself and me 
 ridiculous by getting up a fit of jealousy, in 
 consequence of this most natural resolution 
 on my part." 
 
 Eliza having nothing further to say, 
 retired to her room in floods of tears, while 
 James threw himself back in his arm-chair 
 and sighed heavily.
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 LE MARIAGE A LA MODE. 
 
 " The bride comes forth ! her tears no more are 
 falling, 
 To leave the chamber of her infant years ; 
 Kind voices from a distant home are calling ; 
 She comes like day-spring — she hath done with 
 tears ; 
 Now must her dark eye shine on other flowers, 
 Her soft smile gladden other hearts than ours !" 
 
 Mes. Hemans. 
 
 As tlie time fixed for Sydney's marriage 
 drew near, Eliza forgot to cherish her 
 feelings of jealousy for Lady Venetia Ver- 
 VOL. I. 12
 
 178 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 ney. The trousseau took up all lier 
 thoughts and attention, and Lady Yenetia's 
 advice and assistance was too valuable to be 
 easily dispensed with. Sydney, at Mr. 
 Hamilton's suggestion, insisted upon asking 
 his cousin's opinion on every j^oint and de- 
 tail connected with her wedding parapher- 
 nalia, and no item was too minute to be 
 submitted to her Ladyship's superior judg- 
 ment. James, who had an excellent heart, 
 found it better, on second thoughts, to 
 avoid the company of the lady whose 
 charms Eliza had objected to ; not, I am 
 convinced, that he felt the slightest danger 
 on his own account, but he honestly desired 
 to avoid giving his jealous wife any cause for 
 alarm or uneasiness. 
 
 Mrs. Berresford Broke was, of course, in 
 a state of intense delight at the course 
 affairs had taken, and occupied herself inces-
 
 LE MARIAGE A LA MODE. 179 
 
 santly about Sydney's new gowns and 
 bonnets. Latterly, indeed, she seemed 
 almost to have taken up her abode at Con- 
 tango Abbey, and I believed she managed 
 to make a very good thing of it, for both 
 Eliza and Sydney, in the fulness of their 
 hearts, pressed upon her acceptance a vast 
 number of pretty things which came down 
 from London on approbation, and were 
 pronounced by Selina to be quite too 
 lovely to be restored to their lawful 
 owners. 
 
 The Vicar's wife never pretended to be 
 much devoted to parochial matters, and as 
 she made rather a failure of it, when she did 
 undertake any work of that kind, her 
 personal superintendence was not very ne- 
 cessary to the general welfare of Dum- 
 bleton. 
 
 Margaret Beaumont and Miss Auriol 
 
 12-^2
 
 180 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 were, moreover, not only willing and ready, 
 but perfectly competent, to take Mrs. 
 Broke's work off her hands, and she was 
 very properly grateful to them, for so doing. 
 
 Since Miss Verney came to the Manor 
 House, she had also offered her services to 
 the Brokes, and Selina gladly took the op- 
 portunity of obliging Nora, by resigning to 
 her care her district visiting, and her class 
 in the Sunday school. 
 
 Nora, who, having lived chiefly in a 
 country village, had been accustomed to that 
 kind of thing, was really glad of the occu- 
 pation. She felt sometimes as if she were 
 only in her aunt's w^ay, at the Manor House ; 
 nobody seemed to want her there, so she 
 soon began to spend much of her time 
 elsewhere. Lady Venetia made no objection 
 to this plan, so long as Nora w^as not 
 alone ; but she insisted on her finding a
 
 LE MARIAGE A LA MODE. 181 
 
 companion in these long rambles. Luctily 
 Margaret Beaumont was always ready to 
 accompany her, and it was seldom that a 
 day passed, without my seeing Nora enter 
 the gates of the Wilderness, which stood 
 just opposite to my windows. 
 
 Margaret took a great fancy to Miss Yer- 
 ney ; she was so sorry for her, she said. 
 Nora had, it appeared, for some years past, 
 been the devoted nurse and constant com- 
 panion of an invalid father. Having taken 
 upon herself the entire charge of his affairs, 
 she was older and more thoughtful than a girl 
 of two and twenty generally is ; and as Mr. 
 Yerney made his daughter read aloud to 
 him, not only the daily papers, but all the 
 best written and most approved publications 
 that appeared. Honour Yerney was oetter 
 informed than most women are, not only 
 upon the current topics of the day, but upon
 
 182 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 many other subjects, whicli do not usually 
 come within the limits of even a modern 
 young lady's education. 
 
 AYhen, upon the death of her father, Miss 
 Verney was taken by Sir Eobert (her only 
 other near relative), to his own home, she 
 found the society of Lady Venetia and her 
 friends, most uncongenial to her own feel- 
 ings ; nor was the grave and quiet girl in 
 any way formed to be an agreeable com- 
 panion to her frivolous and worldly-minded 
 aunt. It was, therefore, a relief to both 
 parties when Nora found for herself a real 
 friend in Margaret Beaumont, and employ- 
 ment for her leisure hours, in visiting the 
 poor of Dumbleton. I not unfrequently 
 had the pleasure of a visit from the amiable 
 young lady, and it was quite an enjoyment 
 to me to talk to her, and to hear of all her 
 little interests and pursuits. I found to my
 
 LE MABIAGE A LA MODE. 183 
 
 surprise that Miss Yerney did not seem to 
 be much pleased with the notion of Syd- 
 ney's marriage. She appeared to like 
 Sydney very much, and was evidently un- 
 willing to say anything that could by any 
 possibility make the least mischief in the 
 matter, but she was by no means enthu- 
 siastic in her praise of Mr. Hamilton, and 
 invariably ended the conversation by say- 
 
 "Well, I hope it will end happily," or, 
 " I trust most sincerely that dear Sydney 
 will be a happy woman." 
 
 It did not seem to me that Sydney ever 
 saw much of Mr. Hamilton alone. If they 
 rode. Miss Verney, or Sir Eobert were 
 generally of the party ; at the Manor House 
 Lady Venetia was always in the room, and 
 Spencer did not, as far as I could trace, often 
 go to Contango Abbey. He was dread-
 
 184 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 fully busy, Sydney told me, and had to be a 
 good deal in London, and, as he was to have 
 a holiday for a fortnight, or three weeks, 
 after the wedding, he wished to make him- 
 self of as much use to Sir Eobert as possible 
 in the interim. Sydney appeared to be 
 perfectly contented with the share she had 
 of his society, and therefore it was no 
 business of mine to interfere ; but it struck 
 me as a Httle hard on the young couple 
 never to get a quiet walk together, or to 
 have a comfortable conversation, tete-a-tete. 
 
 It was arranged that the honeymoon 
 should be spent at Midsummer Verney ; and 
 directly after the wedding, James proposed 
 to take Eliza for a tour on the continent, for 
 the winter months, she having never yet had 
 an opportunity of seeing the glories of Paris, 
 or the antiquities of Rome ; and as it would 
 be more convenient to Mr. Hamilton to re-
 
 LE MAEIAGE A LA MODE. 185 
 
 main near Sir Eobert, Contango Abbey was 
 placed at the disposal of the newly-married 
 pair for the next six months at least, during 
 which time, they would be at leisure to en- 
 gage and furnish a house of their own in 
 London. Though Mr. Hamilton could well 
 have afforded to give up his secretary's 
 appointment on his marriage to our Dum- 
 bleton heiress, he at once repudiated any 
 such suggestion ; he hated an idle hfe, he 
 said, and it would make him miserable to 
 have nothing to do. He had got into Sir 
 Bobert's ways now, and a new secretary 
 might be a trouble and annoyance to that 
 gentleman ; he, therefore, greatly preferred 
 to keep his post, and this resolution on his 
 part was much approved of by Sir Eobert 
 and by both my brothers, who thought it a 
 very sensible and laudable determination on 
 the part of the young man.
 
 186 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 As for Sydney, slie agreed to every thing 
 that was proposed to her by Mr. Hamilton, 
 and proved the most accommodating and 
 submissive of brides. She did not care 
 where she hved, or what Spencer did, so 
 long as she was to be with him ; every 
 place would be to her a heaven upon earth 
 if Spencer were but in it ; that was the 
 only opinion that could be extracted from 
 Sydney on the subject. 
 
 At length the important hour arrived when 
 we all found ourselves assembled in the 
 old parish church to see our pretty Sydney 
 united to what old novels call, " the man of 
 her heart." As all weddings are very 
 much alike, I need not particularly describe 
 this one. 
 
 The day was fine, though a smart shower 
 fell, just as the bridal cavalcade entered 
 the church^^ard, which quickly dispersed
 
 LE MAETAGE A LA MODE. 187 
 
 the assembled crowd of curious specta- 
 tors. 
 
 Mr. Auriol went away from Dumbleton 
 on urgent private affairs, the day before the 
 wedding ; but Mr. Broke, assisted by Mr. 
 Hatfield, read the service in his usual im- 
 pressive manner. The bride was enveloped 
 in the finest Brussels lace, and, so far as we 
 could see, looked exceedingly pretty and 
 very happy. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton looked pale and agitated. 
 Sir Eobert was as dignified as ever — perhaps, 
 even a little more so, and his salute to the 
 bride, aftgr the ceremony, could not have 
 been more courteously performed by Sir 
 Charles Grrandison himself, in jjToprid persona. 
 Eliza was in a motherly flutter and twitter of 
 excitement, and was, as every body allowed, 
 splendidly dressed for the occasion. Lady 
 Venetia looked more lovely than I had ever
 
 188 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 yet seen her. She liad a sweet, soft, yet 
 rather sad expression on her face, and her 
 colour was quite brilliant, at times, though 
 it varied continually, and sometimes forsook 
 her altogether. It gave me a higher 
 opinion of her Ladyship's heart than I had 
 ever had before. 
 
 " After all," I said to Tom, " these fine 
 ladies and gentlemen are not quite so insen- 
 sible and thoughtless as they appear to be 
 at first sight. I shall Hke both Lady Ve- 
 netia and Mr. Hamilton the better for this 
 little exhibition of feeling — which I am 
 ashamed to own was more thaii I should 
 have expected from them." 
 
 Miss Verney, who was amongst the group 
 of bridesmaids, also looked more pensive 
 and grave than usual, and I fancied watched 
 her aunt anxiously, though furtively, 
 throughout the whole ceremony. Indeed,
 
 LE MARIAGE A LA MODE. 189 
 
 the bride seemed to be to ber quite a 
 secondary consideratian, compared to Lady 
 Venetia, wbicb I own, puzzled me not a 
 little, as I was well aware that Nora was 
 not particularly attached to her uncle's wife. 
 When the wedding was over, we all ad- 
 journed to Contango Abbey, where a mag- 
 nificent breakfast was prepared. Speeches 
 were, by general consent, tabooed, and the 
 eating and drinking proceeded merrily, even 
 after the bride had retired to chans^e her 
 dress for the journey to Midsummer Yerney. 
 There was a great bustle and confusion as 
 they went away, and I, being rather a poor 
 creature in a crowd, retired to a sofa in a 
 corner behind the drawing-room door, so as 
 to be out of the crush. There was a great 
 deal of hand-shaking and embracing going 
 on, and my warm-hearted little niece came to 
 look for me, saying : —
 
 190 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " Good-bye, Aunt Patty ; I must not go 
 without giving you another kiss. I shall 
 write to you before long, and tell you how 
 happy I am ! Don't you think, now, I am 
 the luckiest creature that ever was born? 
 Is not Spencer a darling ? Oh, if you only 
 knew how good and dear he is, you would 
 indeed think your little Sydney was a fortu- 
 nate woman ! But he is looking for me. 
 The carriage is waiting — I must go !" and 
 with a hasty kiss she ran off to join her 
 husband, who was saying a few last words 
 to his cousin. He started as Sydney came 
 up, and looked confused and absent, as if 
 he scarcely understood what was going on ; 
 then suddenly recollecting himself, he 
 looked at his watch, and exclaimed that they 
 should be late for the train, and must set off 
 at once. 
 
 Sir Eobert gave his arm to the bride, and
 
 LE MAKIAGE A LA MODE. 191 
 
 the rest all followed them to the hall door, 
 so that nohody was left in the drawing-room, 
 but myself. 
 
 Presently something occurred that sur- 
 prised me very much. Lady Yenetia came 
 back alone, looking very strangely. Her 
 face was of a death-Kke pallor, and her fea- 
 tures seemed almost distorted, with the 
 efforts she made to appear calm and com- 
 posed. Not seeing me, in my hiding-place 
 behind the door, her Ladyship seemed to 
 fancy she was alone in the room, and for one 
 moment gave way to a groan which was 
 evidently only forced from her by intense 
 pain, or anguish of mind. She pressed her 
 hand to her side, and seizing a bottle of eau 
 de Cologne, which was on the table, poured 
 it over her hands and her handkerchief, with 
 which she also bathed her temples and lips. 
 Then going to the open window, she stood
 
 192 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 leaning out, with her back to me ; but I 
 could see that she gasped for breath and 
 was trembling from head to foot. In spite 
 of my own helplessness, I should have offered 
 to assist Lady Yenetia had I not guessed 
 intuitively that she would prefer to remain 
 unnoticed, and in a few minutes the tide of 
 company returned to the room, all laughing 
 and talking merrily. 
 
 " Where is Lady Venetia ?" inquired Sir 
 Eobert. " Oh ! Yenetia, I am going to take 
 a walk with young Beaumont. He has pro- 
 mised to show me a very curious piece of 
 machiner}^, which was not in w^orking 
 order the other day, when we went over 
 the foundry.. Will you come with 
 us?" 
 
 " No thank you ! I am a little tired. I 
 shall go and rest till dinner-time." 
 
 " You look pale, Aunt Yia," said Nora
 
 LE MAEIAGE A LA MODE. 193 
 
 Vemey, anxiously. " I hope you do not 
 
 feel ill ?" 
 
 And, when Lady Venetia turned round, 
 I saw that she did indeed look perfectly 
 ghastly. 
 
 " 111 ? nonsense ! Nora. I am never ill. 
 What should make me feel ill?" replied 
 Lady Venetia, sharply. " These green cur- 
 tains make us all look like ghosts. Go and 
 take a walk with your uncle, and I shall 
 sit and read in the garden, till you come 
 back." 
 
 " Would not you like me to stay with 
 you ?" persisted Nora, still looking uneasy. 
 
 " No ! upon no account — I would much 
 rather be alone, I assure you. Make haste ! 
 you are keeping your uncle waiting, and 
 Mr. Beaumont too. I hope you will have a 
 pleasant expedition." And with a gesture 
 of ill-concealed impatience, Lady Venetia 
 
 VOL. I. 13
 
 194 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 waved Nora away from her, and attempted 
 to make her escape through the crowd to- 
 wards the front door : but this was no easy 
 task. The ladies of Dumbleton were all 
 anxious to seize this favorable opportunity 
 of a little quiet conversation with the great 
 lady. 
 
 " This has been a most interesting day, 
 your Ladj^ship," said good Mrs. Duckett. "I 
 am sure you must have been highly gratified 
 indeed, at this pleasing union, between your 
 noble relative and the very charming young 
 lady whom he has chosen for his bride. May 
 they be happy ! It is a great pleasure to me 
 to see members of the aristocracy forming 
 alliances with those in our own rank of life, 
 as I may say ; and as Mr. Duckett remarked, 
 it does Mr. Spencer Hamilton honour. I 
 am sure he will make an excellent husband : 
 6uch a fine-looking young man ! and so
 
 LE MARIAGE A LA MODE. 195 
 
 pleasant and affable in his manners. Does 
 not your Ladyship consider him a truly 
 amiable person?" 
 
 "Oh! yes, certainly. Thank you, Mrs. 
 Duckett — thank you very much. You are 
 very kind. Would you allow me to pass?" 
 answered Lady Venetia, looking perfectly 
 desperate as she saw Mrs. Pybus making 
 towards her, accompanied by her friends the 
 Misses Wolff. 
 
 " How do you, Lady Venetia Yerney ?" 
 cried j\Irs. Pybus, holding out her large 
 strong hand, and seizing her prey, like one 
 of those great sea monsters we read of, in the 
 '' Travailleurs de la Mer," who suck in their 
 victims before they know where they are. 
 '' I am glad to have the op23ortunity of pre- 
 senting to you my particular friends, the 
 Misses Wolff : Miss Sapientia Wolff, Miss 
 Amelia Wolff, Lady Yenetia Yerney. This 
 
 13—2
 
 196 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 is one of those occasions when we are all 
 brought together in an agreeable and sociable 
 manner, as it were. My friends have for 
 some time desired to obtain the favour of a 
 little uninterrupted conversation with your 
 Ladyship, if quite convenient to you." 
 
 " I regret that we have never had the 
 good fortune to find your Ladyship at home, 
 and disengaged," said Miss Wolff, "though 
 we have called frequently at the Manor 
 House. If you would kindly name a day, 
 I would take care to keep the appointment 
 punctually." 
 
 " I fear, 1 shall be leaving Dumbleton im- 
 mediately," said the persecuted LadyVe- 
 netia, sinking into a chair, and looking the 
 picture of resignation. " It is very unfortu- 
 nate we should have missed each other so 
 often." 
 
 " Perhaps, as you are at leisure, now.
 
 LE MARIAGE A LA MODE. 197 
 
 your Ladyship would permit me to explain 
 my motives in calling on you. I am anxious 
 to obtain your Ladyship's signature to a 
 petition which I am getting up. If I might 
 place your Ladyship's name at the head of 
 the list of Dumbleton ladies, it would give 
 me great satisfaction, I can assure you." 
 
 " Oh ! pray put down my name, if you 
 like it," said Lady Yenetia, not understand- 
 ing the least what it was all about. " I 
 shall be most happy to be of use to any 
 Dumbleton charity. Would five pounds be 
 sufficient for my subscription, or shall I say 
 ten ?" 
 
 " Subscription ! — five pounds !" echoed 
 the astonished Miss Wohf. " Your Ladyship 
 mistakes the nature of the case entirely. 
 If you would use your influence with Sir 
 Robert, and endeavour to persuade him to 
 lay my petition before the House, and to
 
 198 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 bring in a Bill for the improvement of tlie 
 laws of marriage and divorce, I should be 
 truly grateful. But money, my Lady, is not 
 my object." 
 
 "At the same time," said Miss Amelia, start- 
 ing forward, " if your Ladyship has five, or 
 ten pounds to bestow in charity, may I call 
 your attention to a little project I am think- 
 ing of setting on foot in this parish." Lady 
 Yenetia bowed. " I am very desirous, my 
 Lady, of obtaining, second-hand, a few Bath 
 chairs for the benefit of afflicted, aged Chris- 
 tians of either sex, who have, by the myste- 
 rious dispensations of Providence, been de- 
 prived of the use of their limbs. They 
 might thus be enabled to enjoy the salu- 
 brious air of our lovely Common, without 
 fatigue, and even occasionally visit their 
 friends, or attend a place of worship on the 
 Sabbath day. None but recognized, pro-
 
 LE MARIAGE A LA MODE. 199 
 
 fessed Christians would of course be allowed 
 to make use of the privilege." 
 
 " I shall be very glad, Miss Wolff. The 
 air of the Common is, I think, delightfully 
 refreshing. I quite dote upon it. Pray let 
 me send you ten pounds, to purchase a Bath 
 chair at once. I will certainly speak to Sir 
 Eobert, Miss Wolff," added Lady Venetia, 
 turning to Sapientia, " about the Marriage 
 Bill, but I really cannot answer for his 
 views on that subject. Good morning — I 
 am afraid I must tear myself away from this 
 charming little party — I have letters to 
 answer." And taking advantage of a slight 
 pause in the conversation. Lady Venetia at 
 length contrived to effect her exit from the 
 house.
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 
 
 " Thus by degrees, thy cause superior grew 
 And the great end appeared at last in view, 
 We heard the people in thy hopes rejoice ; 
 We saw the senate bending to thy voice, 
 The friends of freedom hail'd th' approaching reign 
 Of laws, for which their fathers bled in vain." 
 
 Akenside. 
 
 After tlie excitement of Sydney's wedding 
 was over, Dumbleton gradually settled down 
 to its accustomed, peaceful state of calm 
 repose; and, indeed, was even less lively 
 than usual — for half the houses on the 
 Common were empty. My brother and
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. ' 201 
 
 Eliza bad gone off to Italy for the winter, 
 and Tom accompanied them as far as Paris. 
 We had the gratification of reading among 
 the "Fashionable departures" — "Lady Vene- 
 tia Yemey, for Adelaide Crescent, Brighton," 
 while Sir Eobert remained in London till the 
 end of the Parliamentary Session, when he 
 promised to join her there. 
 
 The Vicar and Mrs. Broke, went to spend 
 their hoHday at Cleveden Court, at the other 
 side of the county, and very much delighted 
 Selina seemed to get away from Dumbleton. 
 She was, as we were all aware, in a most 
 interesting state of health, and required 
 change of air, and many little comforts which 
 were not to be obtained on her small income 
 at home. We all greatly rejoiced, therefore, 
 on her account, that she had been invited to 
 Lord Cleveden's for a whole month. 
 
 It was now August, when most of our
 
 202 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Dumbleton people made it a rule to betake 
 themselves to the sea-side. Tlie Auriols 
 had had their holiday early, and Mr. Hat- 
 field could not take his, till the Yicar re- 
 turned. Mrs. Kibble was, as usual, pre- 
 vented from leaving home, by one of those 
 annual accessions to the Kibble family, which 
 generally interfered materially with their 
 plans for the autumn. Margaret Beaumont 
 would not go away, because her brother was 
 particularly busy and could not comfortably 
 leave his work; but John contrived to 
 disappear nearly every Saturday afternoon, 
 only returning the following Monday morn- 
 ing ; and Margaret, if questioned on the 
 subject, was apt to look mysterious and to 
 give very vague replies ; but she once let 
 out to me, in an unwary moment, that he 
 had been to Brighton, and that he had seen 
 Lady Venetia there, and thought her looking
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 203 
 
 very ill — quite altered in appearance — T was 
 discreet too — so I said nothing, but like the 
 famous parrot in the story, " I thought the 
 more." 
 
 I rather enjoyed this little time of quiet, 
 and I found myself quite a person of im- 
 portance among the few of my neighbours 
 who were left behind. 
 
 Old Mrs. Duckett often came to sit with 
 me for an hour, and was invariably pleasant 
 and good-humoured. 
 
 Mrs. Auriol also, was most attentive, but 
 she was always so perverse and hard to 
 please, that I cannot say I derived much 
 gratification from her visits. 
 
 Mrs. Auriol was a good deal put out, that 
 the Brokes had chosen this month, of all 
 others, for their hoHday. August was not a 
 pleasant month at Dumbleton, in her opinion, 
 and she would greatly have preferred being
 
 204 DUMBLETOy COMMON. 
 
 away at that time herself. It was entirely 
 Wilfred's own fault. He would persist in 
 taking his holiday earlier than usual this 
 year ; he said, it was more convenient to the 
 Vicar, but she knew very well how it was. 
 Wilfred never told her anything, but she knew 
 that he wantedtoget away from this wedding, 
 as well as he did, though he did not choose to 
 confide in her. " It's all very well, my dear 
 Miss Lambert," said the old lady, " for a 
 single woman like you, but nobody knows 
 what a mother has to go through. One 
 begins to feel anxiety about one's children 
 the moment they are born, and one never 
 has a bit of peace with them, till they are 
 all dead — or till one is dead oneself — one or 
 the other. Now Wilfred may say what he 
 likes, about thinking clergymen ought not to 
 marry (what does he say to his own father 
 marrying I should Hke to know), and he
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 205 
 
 may talk about his crosses and his self- 
 denials to all eternity, but it's my belief, tliat 
 if Sydney Hope had spoken three kind words 
 to him, he would have gone down on his 
 bended knees and asked her to marry him 
 there and then. But, he never went the 
 right way to work. Young women expect 
 to have some little pleasing attentions shown 
 them, and not be stared at and frowned at, 
 with never a civil word spoken to them ; and 
 so Wilfred might have guessed, if he had 
 not been the most absent, thoughtless 
 creature that ever existed. As for Agnes, 
 Mrs. Auriol had no patience with her ! She 
 made herself a perfect slave to the poor 
 people ; and was never at home for a mo- 
 ment. If that was what she called doing 
 her dut}^, Mrs. Auriol supposed she must be 
 satisfied, but she certainly thought she had 
 as much right to Agnes 's company as old
 
 206 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Mrs. Browne, or old Mrs. Green ; and then 
 Mr. Hatfield was in disgrace for coming so 
 often to tea. It was all very well for Wil- 
 fred to ask his friends in for once and away, 
 but really Mr. Hatfield had no bounds to 
 his assurance, and came in two, or three times 
 a week on the most trifling pretences. Mrs. 
 Auriol had Jiinted as plainly as she could 
 that she did not like it, but nobody ever 
 cared what she thought ; and she might as 
 well be a barber's block at once, for any 
 attention that was paid to her opinion. 
 
 I did my best to pacify the peevish old 
 lady ; but there are some people in the world 
 to whom grumbling is at the same time a 
 business and a pleasure. If Mrs. Auriol had 
 been forbidden to complain, her life would 
 no longer have been worth having ; and I 
 consoled myself with the hoj)e that having 
 relieved her mind so thoroughly to me, she
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 207 
 
 would have the less to sa}^, that was dis- 
 agreeable to her son and daughter, when 
 they came home from their hard day's work 
 in the parish. 
 
 So things went on, in a quiet, humdrum 
 way till we were all gratified by the intelli- 
 gence that Parliament had been dissolved, 
 and that there was to be a general election 
 in the course of the autumn. 
 
 This was fine news for Dumbleton ; and 
 much pleasure and excitement, and no little 
 gain to the town, were expected from the 
 prospect of a contested election. 
 
 Sir Bobert had stood for the Borough 
 unopposed, for so many years, that scarcely 
 even " the oldest inhabitant" could recollect 
 the time when there had last been a contest, 
 and though we, none of us, wished Lord Tem- 
 plecombe success for a moment, yet still, few 
 of us regretted to hear that he intended to
 
 208 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 come forward as a candidate for the honour of 
 representing us in Parliament. Even though 
 we certainly meant to decline his proffered 
 services, it was, at the same time, pleasant to 
 find ourselves in such request ; and so we 
 smartened up our shops and cleaned the 
 Town Hall inside and out (not before it was 
 wanted), and bought new bonnets, and laid 
 in extra stores of tea and sugar, and took 
 every precaution to be in readiness for the 
 coming struggle. The gentlemen of the 
 Borough formed themselves into committees, 
 and canvassing soon began in good earnest. 
 Public-houses were engaged on either side, 
 and colours were chosen. Blue had ever been 
 the badge of Sir Eobert Verney, and pink 
 was now to betoken an interest in Lord 
 Templecombe. 
 
 The local papers were filled with squibs 
 and lampoons of the most cutting descrip-
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 209 
 
 tions, and parties were said to run liigli. 
 Before many days had elapsed, every dead 
 wall and old paling in the neighbourhood, 
 was placarded with the addresses of the 
 rival candidates. 
 
 That of Sir Eobert, reminded his old and 
 well-tried supporters of his faithful services 
 to the Borough of Dumbleton, for well nigh 
 a quarter of a century ; and he assured them 
 that he had done nothing to forfeit that 
 confidence which they had for so many 
 years reposed in him. 
 
 Lord Templecombe, on the other hand, 
 entreated the indulgence of the free and 
 independent voters of Dumbleton towards 
 one, who, it was true, had been hitherto a 
 stranger to them. 
 
 His Lordship proceeded to say, that, 
 whilst opposed to change for the sake of 
 change, he was desirous of removing any 
 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 210 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 abuses, that miglit from time to time have 
 crept into our institutions, and that he de- 
 sired to see practised such a proper and rigid 
 economy of the public expenditure, as should 
 be consistent with the safety and honour of 
 the country ; and should the electors of Dum- 
 bleton do him the distinguished honour of 
 choosing him as their representative. Lord 
 Templecombe pledged himself to use every 
 exertion to prove that their confidence had 
 not been misplaced. 
 
 Lists of registered voters were exposed 
 to the public gaze, on the church doors and 
 other conspicuous localities. And Mr. 
 Cutbill, a solicitor of a very inferior calibre 
 to Tom, was engaged as agent to Lord 
 Templecombe ; in addition to an unknown 
 and suspicious looking gentleman from 
 London. 
 
 Sir Eobert and Lady Yenetia returned
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 211 
 
 at once to tlie Manor House, and the Hamil- 
 tons arrived at Contanc^o Abbey, at least ten 
 days sooner than we bad expected tbem. 
 Tom hurried back from Paris, to look after 
 Sir Eobert's interests ; and the Brokes came 
 home to the Vicarage, accompanied by the 
 Conserv^ative candidate. Not that his Lord- 
 ship took up his abode with his brother, 
 the Vicar ; for, as Mrs. Broke very justly re- 
 marked, with their income, it was totally 
 impossible to entertain visitors in the house ; 
 but they ordered the best rooms at the Pea- 
 cock, to be placed at his Lordship's disposal ; 
 and desired worthy Mrs. Phillpotts to supply 
 him with the best of everything, (at his 
 own expense of course.) 
 
 Lord Templecombe occasionally dined at 
 the Vicarage, to meet all the magnates of 
 the land, always taking care, however, to 
 send in a haunch of venison, or a couple of 
 
 14—2
 
 212 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 brace of grouse, tlie clay before, together 
 with a few dozen bottles of wine ; so that 
 our dearly cherished Brokes were never put 
 to any great expense in entertaining their 
 noble relative. Indeed, tve should have 
 taken care of that ; and all the spare game, 
 fruit, and poultry in Dumbleton, found its 
 way into the Vicarage larder that autumn ; 
 it was so hard upon poor, dear Mrs. 
 Broke, to have to give dinners for the 
 benefit of Lord Templecombe, as we unani- 
 mously observed, whenever the subject was 
 mooted. Lord Templecombe was an exceed- 
 ingly goodnatured young man, so much so, 
 that his brother, the Vicar, in his pleasant 
 way, often said, that " Tempy would wil- 
 lingly take off his skin and give it to you, 
 if you only asked him for it." The brothers 
 were excellent friends, and though Mr. 
 Broke never neglected his parish duties
 
 THE LIBERAL C2VTJSE. 213 
 
 (making a practice of spending his morn- 
 ings in the town, and generally devoting 
 one evening in the week to the preparation 
 of a sermon for the ensuing Sunday), 
 still, in the afternoon, the Vicar could 
 easily find time to enjoy a drive on the box 
 of his brother's drag, which, with its four 
 attendant horses, was comfortably ensconced 
 in the spacious stables of the Peacock. The 
 Peacock having formerly been a great post- 
 ing house, was famous for its excellent 
 stabling, and this consideration probably 
 inchned Lord Templecombe to make it his 
 head quarters, instead of going to the 
 more fashionable Alexandra. 
 
 The Alexandra, however, was not entirely 
 neglected, for a handsome suite of apart- 
 ments were taken at that hotel for Lady 
 Yenetia Verney's widowed sister, the Lady 
 Diana Hartland; who, shortlv afterwards
 
 214 BTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 came down to Dumbleton, accompanied by 
 lier particular friend and invariable com- 
 panion Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins. Lady Diana 
 was not so generally admired as Lady 
 Yenetia ; but she was very handsome in a 
 dark, gipsy kind of picturesque way. She 
 had a very fine figure, rode beautifully, and 
 drove a mail phaeton, drawn by a pair of all 
 but unmanageable horses. Lady Die had, 
 like her sister, married to please her father 
 rather than herself; but in some respects 
 she had been more fortunate than Lady 
 Venetia. In the first place, she had had 
 no previous attachment to overcome, and in 
 the second, old Mr. Hartland had been 
 obliging enough to die at the expiration 
 of two years, leaving his widow, not only 
 her liberty, but a very considerable property 
 in addition. 
 
 Diana Hartland was also happy in the
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 215 
 
 possession of a faithful dog, an attaclied 
 friend, and a constant lover. 
 
 The dog was a supernaturally hideous 
 monster, yclept a turn spit, with an inter- 
 minable body, no particular legs, and a 
 large head. His joints appeared to have 
 been all dislocated early in life, so that 
 poor " Mr. Quilp " presented a lamentable 
 appearance, and gave one quite the idea of 
 the crippled and deformed dwarf, which his 
 name suggested. Lady Diana, nevertheless, 
 doted upon this ungainly creature, and I 
 must o^Ti that Quilp returned her affection 
 with all the powers of dog devotion of 
 which his large heart was capable. 
 
 Lady Diana's friend was a certain Mrs. 
 Bowyer Dawkins, a distant relative (some said 
 a natural daughter) of the late Mr. Hart- 
 land. This lady had been for many years 
 separated from her husband, who had declined
 
 216 BTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 to divorce lier, for two reasons ; one was, 
 that he objected to the publicity of such a 
 step ; and the other w^as, that he did not 
 care enough about his wife to allow her the 
 gratification of marrying his rival. So 
 Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins took up her abode 
 with the wealthy young wadow, and amused 
 herseK by taking away the character of 
 every woman, who happened to be unfortu- 
 nate enough to fall under the ban of her 
 displeasure. She did it in a light, careless, 
 easy manner, it is true ; but she did it none 
 the less effectually for that. Mrs. Dawkins, 
 was in short, a gossiping, ill-natured wo- 
 man, who 
 
 " Laughed at the reputations she had torn, 
 And held them dangling at arm's length in scorn." 
 
 Lady Diana's lover was no other than 
 Lord Templecombe, who had paid her the 
 most marked attentions ever since old Mr.
 
 THE LIBERAL CAUSE. 217 
 
 Hartland died, and, indeed, for some months 
 before that happy event occurred. Whether 
 Lady Die ever intended to put the infatuated 
 young man out of his misery, remained, at 
 the period of her first arrival in Dumbleton, 
 extremely problematical. Indeed, as it was 
 greatly to the interest of Mrs. Bowyer 
 Dawkins, to prevent her friend from marry- 
 ing again, the chances were very much 
 against poor Lord Templecombe.
 
 CHAPTEE XIL 
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 
 
 " For riorio was not meant by nature, 
 A silly or a worthless creature, 
 He had a heart disposed to feel, 
 Had life and spirit, taste and zeal ; 
 Was handsome, generous ; but by fate 
 Predestined to a large estate !" 
 
 Mes. Hannah More. 
 
 Meanwhile, the canvassing for botli candi- 
 dates proceeded briskly. 
 
 John Beaumont filled with universal 
 satisfaction, the office of chairman to Sir 
 Eobert's committee, while Mrs. Kibble's
 
 A BLOATED AHISTOCRAT. 219 
 
 brother, Mr, Parkins the wealthy tobacco- 
 nist, who resided at High Elms on the 
 Common, consented to act in that capacity 
 for Lord Templecombe. His Lordship 
 happened to be one of Mr. Parkins's best 
 customers ; indeed, all Mr. Parkins's best 
 customers were members of the aristocracy ; 
 and he thought it his duty to support them 
 in return, whenever he could get the oppor- 
 tunity. Now Sir Eobert did not smoke, 
 and Mr. Parkins had not always entirely 
 approved of that statesman's political views. 
 On one occasion. Sir Eobert had voted for a 
 measure which tended to lower the duty on 
 tobacco, and had thereby done Mr. Parkins 
 a serious injury. It so happened at the 
 time that Parkins had by him a large 
 quantity of tobacco, upon which he conse- 
 quently lost a considerable sum. 
 
 Mrs. Pvbus, Mr. Parkins's aunt, and Mrs.
 
 220 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Kibble, bis sister, did not bowever quite like 
 tbe step be bad taken, in tbns acting as 
 cbairman of Lord Templecombe's committee. 
 Tbese ladies objected so strongly to tbe 
 doctrines promulgated by tbe Vicar, and also 
 to tbe frivolous conduct of bis wife, tbat 
 tbey could not conscientiously say, tbey 
 wisbed to see a brotber of Mr. Broke's 
 become member for Dumbleton, and tbey felt 
 it tbeir painful duty to remonstrate very 
 earnestly witb Mr. Parkins on tbe subject. 
 
 But Mr. Parkins would not listen to 
 reason. He bad been asked to be cbairman 
 of bis Lordsbip's committee, and cbairman 
 of bis Lordsbip's committee, Mr. Parkins 
 meant to be, even if be were condemned to 
 eternal punisbment by all bis female rela- 
 tives in consequence of sucb a step. Tbings 
 went, indeed, very nearly to tbis lengtb, 
 wben, after a very severe rebuke from Mr.
 
 A BLOATED AKISTOCHAT. 221 
 
 Kibble bimself, Mr. Parkins turned upon 
 his brother-in-law, as even a worm will 
 occasionally turn, and called that holy man 
 a humbug ; and not only a humbug, but a 
 humbug with a very wicked epithet attached 
 to it, which conveys the idea of everlasting 
 perdition in one syllable, and comes under 
 the head of strong language. After this 
 terrible scene, it was of course not meet that 
 Mr. Parkins should continue to sit under Mr. 
 Kibble in the reserved seats at the Iron 
 Church, and the Parkinses henceforward 
 attended divine service at S. Monica's, 
 where they sat humbly among their own 
 maids and gardeners, and gave largely to 
 the offertory afterwards. The ladies of the 
 Parkins family highly approved of this step. 
 The bonnets at S. Monica's were most un- 
 doubtedly more fashionable than those at Bar- 
 tholomew's, and the music and chanting there
 
 222 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 were more lively than the hymns sung at 
 the latter place of worship. Then too, 
 Sophia Parkins, a young lady with very 
 decided opinions of her own, thought Mr. 
 Auriol an interesting, young man, and very 
 delicate and refined looking — so much so, 
 that she contrived to make acquaintance 
 with his sister, and to establish visiting 
 relations with the Auriol famil}^ Mrs. 
 Parkins also appreciated the orthodox 
 religious opinions, which her husband had 
 suddenly espoused, and she loudly pro- 
 claimed in all companies, her new, high 
 church principles. She thought them so 
 ladylike and so superior in every way to 
 Mr. Kibble's low church doctrines, which 
 were she said, " loio in every sense of the 
 word," and as it was generally supposed that 
 Conservative views and Eitualistic views 
 always went together in Dumbleton, Mrs.
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 223 
 
 Parkins encouraged her husband in 
 staunchly upholding the Church and 
 State. 
 
 Having had the pleasure of entertaining 
 Lord Templecombe at luncheon, Mrs. Par- 
 kins pronounced that the interests of the 
 Borough could not possibly be placed in 
 better hands than those of his Lordship. 
 
 He had called little Arthur a fine fellow, 
 and had promised to take him for a drive on 
 his drag, and he had kissed little Eose and 
 told her she was a great darling, and had 
 given her a gold trinket off his own watch- 
 chain, a little harlequin with joints that 
 moved, and the dear child had been quite 
 dehghted. Altogether Mrs. Parkins felt 
 bound to admit that she never met with a 
 more sensible and discriminating young 
 man, or one who was likely to reflect greater 
 credit on the electors of Dumbleton if he
 
 224 DUMlBLETON COMMON. 
 
 should happen to prove the successful can- 
 didate. 
 
 In fact, the greater number of the ladies 
 of Dumbleton were secretly anxious that 
 Lord Templecombe should be their repre- 
 sentative. Lady Venetia was undoubtedly 
 very handsome and very charming, but Sir 
 Eobert was reckoned "high" if not haughty, 
 in his manner, and after all, he was neither 
 young, nor good-looking. His private secre- 
 tary too, who had certainly possessed both 
 these desirable qualifications in a very strik- 
 ing degree, was now married, and had con- 
 sequently fallen twenty per cent, in the 
 market, and was decidedly below par. So 
 fluctuating were the favours of the female 
 population of Dumbleton. 
 
 It was all very well for Mr. Parkins and 
 his friends to boast of their candidate. I 
 have not the slightest doubt that they
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 225 
 
 exerted themselves strenuously, on Lord 
 Templecombe's behalf. But my brother Tom 
 and John Beaumont always declared from 
 the first, that the Conservatives had no 
 chance at all, in Dumbleton. The fact was, 
 that by far the larger portion of the inhabi- 
 tants of the Borough depended more, or less, 
 for a livelihood, upon the works of the Pro- 
 serpine Iron and Steel Company. Many 
 hundred men were employed at these works, 
 and they were, most of them, in receipt of very 
 high wages, and as after the manner of their 
 order, they lived well, dressed well, and 
 spent their money freely at the Dumbleton 
 shops, it was a matter of no small importance 
 to the petty tradesmen of the Borough to please 
 their customers in every way that lay in their 
 power, even to the choice of their member. 
 
 If John Beaumont could have been per- 
 suaded to offer liimself as a candidate for 
 
 VOL. I. 15
 
 226 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Dumbleton, he would have been returned 
 almost unanimously ; but John preferred to 
 devote himself to his business, and to leave 
 the affairs of the nation in more experienced 
 hands than his own. 
 
 Though no doubt, a few quarrels were 
 likely to ensue in Dumbleton upon a con- 
 tested election, these were chiefly confined 
 to the higher classes of the inhabitants ; 
 while among the artisans and mechanics 
 there seemed likely to be no rioting, very 
 little bribery, and not more idleness and 
 drunkenness, than are absolutely necessary 
 under the circumstances. 
 
 The Proserpine men were all keen politi- 
 cians, and were eager for a Liberal member 
 — not so much with any hope of gaining a 
 few pounds thereby, as from a really earnest 
 desire to see Liberal principles upheld in 
 the country, and to secure a vote for the
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 227 
 
 new Eeform Bill, whicli was not unlikely to 
 be brought forward during the next Par- 
 liamentary Session. 
 
 Some of these men were upon Sir Eobert's 
 committee, and were indefatigable in their 
 endeavours to secure the return of their 
 favourite candidate. 
 
 One man, of the name of Redfern, par- 
 ticularly distinguished himself in gaining 
 votes for the Liberal party; and I was a 
 little amused one afternoon, on calling at the 
 Manor House, to hear Lord Templecombe's 
 account of an unsuccessful effort he had 
 made to canvass this honest and straight- 
 forward fellow. 
 
 Lady Venetia was sitting on the lawn 
 with her sister, and John Beaumont was 
 also there, waiting to speak to Sir Eobert, 
 who had gone out riding with his niece, 
 when his Lordship was announced. 
 
 15—2
 
 228 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " I tell joa what it is, Beaumont," said 
 he, after a little conversation, " I believe I 
 shall never make much hand of my canvass, 
 inof. I am tired to death of the whole 
 thing, and I have a great mind to write to 
 my father and tell him that I had better give 
 it up at once/' 
 
 " Indeed, I think you had,'' said Lady 
 Yenetia. " Why don't you ? Everybody 
 agrees that you have not the sHghtest chance 
 of success." 
 
 " It's all your fault, Beaumont," pro- 
 ceeded Lord Templecombe. " Those rascally 
 workmen of yours are all dead against me. 
 I declare, I don't know what I've done to 
 the fellows, that they should hate me so. I 
 am the most good-natured man alive. Ask 
 Berresford if I am not ? And yet these imps 
 of yours tell me to my face, that I am an 
 oppressor, and a tyrant, and that I grind
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 229 
 
 the faces of the poor. Now can you imagine 
 anything more unjust ? I am the last man 
 in the world likely to grind the faces of the 
 poor. I should never take so much trouble. 
 I am sure, I like nothing better than to see 
 everybody comfortable and happy. If I had 
 my will, I would put all their children into 
 Orphan Asylums, or Idiot Asylums, on the 
 spot — whichever they liked best ; and as for 
 their aged mothers, they should have an 
 almshouse apiece to-morrow, if I had it to 
 give them. It's not my fault if the men 
 choose to drink themselves to death, and 
 then go into the union — though, as for that^ 
 they are welcome to live upon chicken and 
 champagne, every day in the week, when 
 they get there, so far as I am concerned. 
 And now they tell me that I wish to deprive 
 them of their rights, and that I trample upon 
 their privileges. Now this is too absurd
 
 230 DDMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 you know. I trample upon tliem ! Why I 
 never, to my knowledge, trampled upon so 
 much as a worm — indeed, after some lines I 
 once learnt at school about a crunched beetle 
 feeling as much pain as a man, (or even more, 
 I think they said, than a man of moderate 
 height,) I have been so particularly careful 
 where I tread ; and if I ever do happen to 
 meet a black beetle walking about, I always 
 go a mile out of my way, to avoid stepping 
 on him, poor devil ! So you know it really 
 is rather hard to accuse me, of all people, 
 of blood-thirsty cruelty. Even you. Lady 
 Diana, don't believe me guilty of anything 
 of that sort — do you ?" 
 
 " Oh 1 do go on, please. Lord Temple- 
 combe ; you are too ridiculous ! Now tell 
 us what you said to these poor, dear, delight- 
 ful working men ! How I admire working 
 men ! They do seem to be so very original," 
 said Lady Diana.
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 231 
 
 " I hope they did not think Sir Eobert 
 trampled upon them too," added Lady Ve- 
 netia. 
 
 " Law, bless you, no ! Sir Eobert was 
 everything that was excellent and praise- 
 worthy, and Sir Eobert was to give them 
 the franchise, and everything else, they 
 wanted. There was nobody to be compared 
 to Sir Eobert, except Beaumont. I am not 
 sure if Beaumont did not come before Sir 
 Eobert, There was one fellow I went to 
 (a great card among them) . What did they 
 call him ? Grreenleaf, I think it was. Do 
 you know a fellow of the name of Grreenleaf, 
 Beaumont? He lives in a Httle kind of 
 villa place, outside the town — a well-to-do 
 sort of man, I should say. He has got a 
 vote." 
 
 " I dare say you mean Eedfern, my Lord. 
 He is one of my foremen, and has saved
 
 232 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 money and built himself a pretty cottage 
 out beyond the Iron Church." 
 
 " That's the man. WeU ! this Greenleaf, 
 or Eedleaf, or whatever you call him, pitched 
 into me right and left. I went down to ask 
 for his vote, and there was your friend in a 
 most charming kind of little boudoir, beauti- 
 fully furnished, with lots of books, and pic- 
 tures, and china vases, and all that sort of 
 thing, about the room. I affronted the 
 fellow frightfully, by telling him he had got 
 a delightful villa. It only wanted one addi- 
 tion, as far as I could see, to make it the 
 most complete thing of the kind in England, 
 and that was a billiard-room. * Get a billiard- 
 room built, and a good table, and a gas 
 lamp overhead,' I said to him, ' and I don't 
 wish for a snugger little box than you'll 
 make of it. And, mind you, Grreenleaf,' I said, 
 * get it done well, when you are about it, and
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 233 
 
 send tlie bill in to me, d'ye hear ? Don't 
 stick at expense/ I said, ' let's do the thing 
 handsomely.' You should have seen the 
 man's face of horror and righteous indigna- 
 tion. You must confess, Beaumont, that 
 vour friend Greenleafs 
 
 " ' Manners have not that repose 
 "Which stamps the caste of Yere de Vere.' 
 
 Otherwise, I have no doubt whatever that 
 he is an excellent man." 
 
 " Bat did you get his vote ?" asked Lady 
 Venetia anxiously. 
 
 " Gret his vote ! No, nothing of the sort ! 
 The man as good as told me he'd see me 
 hanged first. No, the fellow abused me 
 roundly for three quarters of an hour, by his 
 own, very slow, old-fashioned clock, and 
 talked about the rights and wrongs of the 
 working classes, till I scarcely knew at last
 
 234 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 whether I stood on my head, or my heels. 
 He referred me to some very curious and 
 novel institutions, as a proof that the work- 
 ing men knew how to govern the country 
 better than I did. One, I think, was called 
 the ' Amalgamated Unities,' and the other 
 the 'Amicable Stores/ Fortunately I dis- 
 covered that the ' Amicable Stores,' was 
 merely a grocer's shop, so I went there and 
 laid in stores of tea and sugar — enough to 
 last my mother's housekeeper for the next 
 six months. Such a package as arrived for 
 me at the ' Peacock !' I did not know what 
 on earth to do with it, and it made my room 
 smell just like an ' Amicable Store' too, so at 
 last I gave the 'Boots' half-a-crown to carry 
 it away on a truck to my sister-in-law, and 
 I believe Selina is quite delighted with 
 it, and so you see, as it happened, that 
 all did very well ; but what the ' Amalga-
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 235 
 
 mated Unities' are, is more than I have been 
 able to make out." 
 
 " Can I explain it to you, my Lord ?" 
 said John Beaumont, laughing. " I suspect 
 you have got rather into a confusion between 
 the two. ' The Amalgamated, Proserpine, 
 Provident Association' is only a kind of 
 benefit club for the sick workmen employed 
 at our works ; and the 'Proserpine, Amicable, 
 Unity, Co-operative Society' is, as your Lord- 
 ship observed, simply a grocer's shop be- 
 longing to a kind of little joint stock com- 
 pany among our men." 
 
 " Dear ! how nice !" exclaimed Lady 
 Venetia. " Might not I have a share and 
 get some stores too ? I should hke it so 
 much. How much does a share cost?" 
 
 " Only a pound," replied John Beau- 
 mont; "but I think you had better de- 
 fer your speculations till after the election
 
 236 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 is over, or you will be accused of bribery, 
 perhaps." 
 
 " Well ! then I suppose I must wait ; but 
 after that, I am determined to belong to tbe 
 * Proserpine Amicable, etc., etc' Die, won't 
 you take some shares, dear ?" 
 
 " If you are intending to take shares with 
 smj view of its being a charitable thing to 
 do," said John, " I would advise you to give 
 up the plan at once. The ' Proserpine Co- 
 operative Store' is a very thriving concern, 
 and they won't thank you for your patron- 
 age." 
 
 " Oh ! but dear Mr. Beaumont, I don't 
 want to patronise them. I only want to 
 belong to it, just for the pleasure of the 
 thing," said Lady Venetia. " I will give 
 you five pounds some day, and you must 
 get me five shares, and pray see that I get 
 all my dividends properly."
 
 A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT. 237 
 
 " Yes 1 and you'll have to take a lot of 
 odd-looking tin things — a sort of false money, 
 to show how much you have bought, you 
 know," said Lord Templecombe. " I had 
 my pocket full of them, and what to do with 
 them I had not a notion, so at last I gave 
 them to some small boys in the street, and 
 told them to make what they could of them, 
 and they laughed in my face." 
 
 " Your friend Eedfern is to speak, I be- 
 lieve, at the great meeting at the Town 
 Hall," said John Beaumont. 
 
 " Dear creature ! then I shall see him," 
 said Lady Yenetia. " Sir E-obert says, we 
 may all go. He has invited some of the 
 ladies of Dumbleton to go into a gallery, 
 and we are to have reserved seats, and I am 
 dying to see the man who refused a billiard- 
 room, and who sticks to Sir Eobert in spite 
 of you, Lord Templecombe. It's quite
 
 238 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 touching of him, and I am sure we never 
 can make enough of him." 
 
 " He won't give you the opportunity, I 
 am afraid, Lady Venetia," said John. 
 " George is not a man who likes being made 
 much of."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MRS. BOWYER DAWKINS. 
 
 " G-ive me th' avowed, the erect, the manly foe, 
 Bold I can meet — perhaps may turn his blow ; 
 But of all plagues, good Heaven, thy wrath can send, 
 Save, save, oh ! save me from the candid friend !" 
 
 Me. Canning. 
 
 Soon after I heard of Sydney's return to 
 tlie Abbey, I went up one morning to see 
 her. She was alone, and appeared deHghted 
 to welcome me, and insisted on my sending 
 Jenny away, and remaining with her for 
 the rest of the day.
 
 240 DUMBLETOy COMMON. 
 
 Spencer was gone to town, she said, and 
 would not be at home till dinner time, and 
 she should be really glad of my company. 
 Sydney looked, I thought, prettier than ever, 
 but she was altered both in look and manner, 
 and at first I felt a little disappointed in 
 her. However, she declared that she was very 
 happy, and that she loved Spencer ten thou- 
 sand times better than ever. Nothing could 
 be so good and kind as he was, and she was 
 very, very sorry to leave Midsummer Yerney 
 so soon. It was a beautiful place, and she 
 had walked and ridden all over the country 
 mth Spencer, and it had been quite delight- 
 ful. Now, Spencer had a good deal to do 
 for Sir Eobert, and was not able to be much 
 with her. I still thought her manner a 
 little more stijff and reserved than it used to 
 be, but she soon became engrossed in hear- 
 ing of all that had happened in Dumbleton
 
 MRS. BOWYER DAWKINS. 241 
 
 during her absence ; and after she had read 
 me the last letters from James and Eliza, 
 she presently grew quite cheerful and natural 
 again. While we were chatting merrily 
 over the events of the day, or at least the 
 events of the Dumbleton day, the door bell 
 rang violently. 
 
 " I dare say it is only Selina Broke," said 
 Sydney. " Don't run away, dear Aunt Patty. 
 You will like to see Selina." 
 
 But to my alarm, the door was thrown 
 open, and " Lady Diana Hartland and Mrs. 
 Bowyer Dawkins" were announced in a pom- 
 pous tone by Sydney's new butler. Before 
 we had time to consider the matter, in came 
 the two ladies, and I was completely caught. 
 I had not courage to get up and walk out of 
 the room while they were there, so I hid 
 myself behind a screen, and made a signal 
 to Sydney not to betray me. Lady Diana 
 
 VOL. I. 16
 
 242 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 was decidedly handsome, but as dark and 
 swarthy as a gipsy, with large, bright, black 
 eyes, and hair of that beautiful raven hue 
 which makes blue and purple shadows. 
 '' Well, Mrs. Spencer Hamilton," she began, 
 " I have come to call upon you, you see ! 1 
 told Spencer I should come. I am his 
 cousin, you know ; and he and I, have always 
 been on excellent terms. This is my friend 
 Augusta Dawkins. She is also, a very old 
 acquaintance of Spencer's. It seems so odd 
 to think of Spencer having a wife — does it 
 not, Augusta ?" 
 
 " He is the last man I should have sus- 
 pected of marrying in this sudden way ; but 
 I dare say it will all do very well," said 
 Mrs. Dawkins. 
 
 '' And so this is your house, is it ?" asked 
 
 Lady Diana. 
 
 " It is my stepfather's house," said Sydney.
 
 MRS. BOWYER DAWKINS. 243 
 
 '' He has gone abroad, and has lent it to us 
 for the winter. It is so convenient for 
 Spencer to be near Sir Eobert." 
 
 " Oh ! very, I dare say," said Mrs. Daw- 
 kins, in a harsh, disagreeable voice. (She 
 was a woman of nearly fifty, and without 
 the slightest pretensions to good looks). " I 
 have no doubt Spencer's duties will always 
 require him to live near Sir Eobert Verney ; 
 and when you go to town, what shall you 
 do then?" said Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins, in 
 such an impertinent way, that I longed to 
 shake her. 
 
 " I really have not thought about that 
 yet," replied Sydney quietly. "We have 
 only just returned from Midsummer Verney, 
 and have not at all settled our plans for the 
 future." 
 
 " Ah ! I have no doubt you will take a 
 house in the neighbourhood of Belgrave 
 
 16-2
 
 244 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Square. 1 tliink SjDencer will find he has to be 
 near Sir Eobert again," said Mrs. Dawkins. 
 
 " Having always lived in the house with 
 Sir Eobert hitherto, you know," added Lady 
 Diana, '' of course it would be most incon- 
 venient to be far away, would it not ? And 
 so you see a. great deal of Venetia, I sup- 
 pose, don't you ?" 
 
 *' I generally see Lady Venetia every day," 
 said Sydney looking embarrassed. " Pray, 
 Lady Diana, are your rooms comfortable at 
 the Alexandra ?" 
 
 " Are we comfortable, Augusta ? I really 
 never know ; I don't think, somehow, I am 
 a comfortable kind of person. As long as 
 Mr. Quilp is contented, I am ; and I should 
 say, he rather enjoyed being here. He likes 
 running about on the Common. I left him 
 in the carriage, for I did not know whether 
 you might have any cats in the house, and
 
 MRS. BOWYER DAWKINS. 245 
 
 Quilp hates cats. Yes ! I suppose we rather 
 like being here, upon the whole — don't we, 
 Augusta ?" 
 
 " Mr. Quilp confided to me this morning 
 that he thought the bones at the ' Alexandra ' 
 were decidedly small, and apt to be very 
 bare," answered Mrs. Dawkins gravely. 
 " But I should say we do very well here. 
 The cookery is not first rate, of course." 
 
 " Ah ! by-the-bye ! that puts . me in 
 mind," said Lady Diana, " that we are all 
 coming to dine with you to-morrow — arn't 
 we ?" 
 
 " Indeed !" said Sydney, looking surprised. 
 " I am very glad to hear it ; but I did not 
 know it before." 
 
 " Oh ! We met Spencer this morning, and 
 settled it with him. It's all right, you'll 
 find." 
 
 '' I think he had settled it with Lady
 
 246 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Venetia before we saw him," said Mrs. 
 Dawkins. "He had been to the Manor 
 House, it seems, and finding Sir Eobert was 
 to dine in town to-morrow, he asked Via to 
 meet us here. You have no objection, I 
 trust, Mrs. Hamilton ?'' 
 
 " Oh ! dear, no ! only I wish 1 mean 
 
 I suppose Spencer will tell me all about 
 it, when he comes home 1 fear " 
 
 " You wish ! you mean ! you suppose ! 
 you fear ! Does that mean that you fear it 
 will be a horrid bore having us, my dear 
 Mrs. Hamilton?'* persisted Mrs. Dawkins, 
 " and that you wish us to stay away ?" 
 
 " Here comes Via," exclaimed Lady Diana, 
 as that lady suddenly made her appearance 
 at the window. 
 
 " Ah ! Die, you here ! Well, my dear little 
 Sydney, how are you this morning ? I bring 
 you a message from Spencer. He called on
 
 MRS. EOWrER DAWKINS. 247 
 
 me on his way to the station, and we have 
 been thinking what a good thing it would 
 be, to ask Lord Templecombe to dinner. 
 Sir Eobert does not like to have him at the 
 Manor just now, but Spencer could ask him 
 here. We can't help fancying that he could 
 easily be persuaded to retire altogether ; so 
 Spencer is to get him to come and meet that 
 Mr. Beaumont, our ch?irman, and then 
 we must have Mr. Broke, and another 
 man or two, and we will all come and do 
 the honours for you, so you will have no 
 trouble about the matter/* 
 
 " Thank you, I don't mind the trouble at 
 all,'' said Sydney, hesitating ; " but I think 
 Spencer will arrange it all better than I 
 shall. I expect him home early this 
 evening." 
 
 " Arrange it, my dear child ! but I tell 
 3^ou it is arranged already. Spencer wrote
 
 248 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 to Lord Templecombe from our house, and 
 told him to send his answer straight to me. 
 Here it is ! He is delighted, you see. Die 
 and Augusta, you will both come, of course ; 
 and you must write a note, dear Sydney, to 
 Mr. Broke at once. Don't ask his wife. 
 She is such a silly little woman. She bores 
 me to death." 
 
 " Oh ! no, pray don't let us have any more 
 women," added Lady Diana ; " there are too 
 many of us already ; and Mrs. Broke was a 
 Marsham, was not she? so she must be a 
 fool, poor thing !" 
 
 ''Selina Broke is a very old friend of 
 mine," observed Sydney. '' I don't think 
 her particularly silly." 
 
 " Don't you, indeed ! I am not surprised 
 at that!" said Mrs. Dawkins sarcastically, 
 with a glance of amusement at Lady Diana. 
 " I suppose nobody ever does think their par-
 
 MRS. BOinTER DAWKINS. 249 
 
 ticular friend ' particularly silly.' But you 
 need not ask her to come to-morrow, need 
 you ? You will have other opportunities of 
 doing the civil thing to her, I dare say." 
 
 " We must have a man, or two, though," 
 said Lady Yenetia ; " that is inevitable. 
 Who is there ? Mr. Beaumont will come, 
 of course ; I shall see him, I dare say, in the 
 course of the day, and I will tell him not to 
 fail us ; and who else is there ? Nobody but 
 the curates, I suspect, that one can ask to 
 dinner." 
 
 " Oh ! defend us from the curates," ejacu- 
 lated Lady Diana. " I can't talk to a curate 
 — they are always so dull and slow." 
 
 ' ' I am afraid we must have one of them to 
 make up an even number," said Lady Venetia. 
 "But you need not speak to him. Die, if 
 you don't like it. Nora can take charge of 
 him. She rather likes that sort of thing.
 
 250 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 I suppose Mr. Anriol, the Higli Churcliinan, 
 is the best of the set. At all events, he is a 
 gentleman, and we feel bound to be civil to 
 him, because our old Aunt Honoria built 
 his church for him, you know. Well I then 
 that is all settled, and you will write these 
 notes directly, childy," she added, turning 
 to Sydney, " for there is no time to be lost. 
 Now don't look so puzzled, my dear ; you 
 will never do for an under-secretary's wife, if 
 you don't learn to get up these sort of little 
 dinners at a moment's warning ; and you 
 know we have all made up our minds to see 
 Spencer an under-secretary one of these days. 
 Just get the notes ready then, pet, will you, 
 and my man shall call for them, as he goes 
 into Dumbleton, and wait for the answers. 
 You are sure you quite understand now. 
 You are to ask Mr. Broke (not Mrs. Broke), 
 and Mr. Auriol. If either of these should
 
 MES. BOWYER DAWKINS. 251 
 
 refuse, we must fall back upon tlie atiiletic 
 man, who is always playing at cricket on 
 the Common. I forget his name ; and by- 
 the-bye, it might be as well for you to write 
 one line to Mr. Beaumont, in case I should 
 miss him. He is a most important ingre- 
 dient to our party." 
 
 " But ," began Sydney, hesitating — 
 
 " But what, my dear child ? I assure you 
 there is not the slightest difficulty about the 
 matter. If your cook can't manage a dinner 
 for ten people, you had better send her away 
 at once, I should say. I can send in my 
 man, if you have any misgivings about her 
 powers of cooking, and he will soon put 
 her a little in the way of things." 
 
 " If Mrs. Spencer Hamilton were the least 
 aware, for how many years you have been in 
 the habit of managing Spencer's affairs," 
 said Mrs. Dawkins, " I am sure she would
 
 252 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 feel quite comfortable. These two ladies, 
 my dear Mrs. Hamilton, began to take the 
 entire charge of their cousin, long before you 
 were born, or even thought of, I dare say ; 
 so you need feel no uneasiness on his account. 
 Whatever Lady Venetia vouchsafes to order, 
 cannot fail to meet with your husband's most 
 entire approbation.'* 
 
 " Die," said Lady Venetia, looking an- 
 noyed, " you will come and see me, won't 
 you ? We can go in through the garden. 
 We have had a little gate made in the 
 paling, so that we can run in and out of 
 each other's houses whenever we like. It 
 is so pleasant, is it not, darling? Now 
 I shall send Charles in for the notes in about 
 ten minutes. You will have them ready 
 for him, my child." 
 
 " Then goodbye, little one," said Lady 
 Diana; " I shall see you again to-morrow,"
 
 MRS. BOWYER DAWKINS. 253 
 
 " Goodbye, Mrs. Spencer Hamilton," 
 eclioed Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins. " I am en- 
 chanted to have made your acquaintance. 
 Tell Spencer I think you quite charming. 
 I should like to keep you under a glass 
 shade upon my chimney-piece. Nobody 
 would ever believe you were not a real, old 
 Dresden shepherdess, I am convinced." 
 
 No sooner had the ladies left the room, 
 than poor Sydney fairly burst into tears. 
 
 " Oh ! Aunt Patty," she said ; " you see 
 how it is ! They pretend to think me a mere 
 silly child — a perfect baby, in hopes of mak- 
 ing Spencer despise me. That is just what 
 Lady Venetia always does. It is wicked of 
 them. She may not mean to be cruel, but 
 she must know what harm it does me in 
 Spencer's eyes to be treated as if I were an 
 idiot, without a single idea in my head. 
 Why do they do it ? I thought Lady Venetia
 
 254 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 wished liim to marry me. She never could 
 make enough of me, before it was all settled ; 
 and even up to the day of our wedding, she 
 seemed so kind and friendly ; but she does 
 not like me now. I see it plainly — and her 
 letters were so odd — always wiiting to him 
 — never to me — and telHng him to ' be 
 very good to me, for I was a great pet of 
 hers.' As if he had married me for that 
 reason !" 
 
 " But he is good to you, Sydney ?" I 
 asked, a little anxiously. " You have found 
 him all you could wish — have you not ?" 
 
 " Oh ! yes — he is very, very kind to me, 
 Aunt Patty. There never was a more 
 amiable, dear, good darling than Spencer is, 
 if they would only let him alone — he made 
 me so happy at Midsummer Verney. We 
 rode together, and he taught me to drive, 
 and he read to me sometimes, and indeed I
 
 MRS, BOWYER DAWKINS. 255 
 
 think in time, I could understand him well 
 enough to be of great use to him. He let 
 me copy some letters for him one day. It 
 was so interesting to me, though I had not 
 a notion what they were about ; but I liked so 
 much to be of use to Spencer, you know ; 
 and he was quite pleased with the way I 
 did them, and told me I was as good as a 
 clerk to him/' 
 
 " Well ! you see, Sydney, your husband 
 does not think you an idiot by any means ; 
 that is very clear." 
 
 " Oh ! but, Aunt Patty, you don't quite 
 understand it all yet. You see Spencer 
 likes me — I do believe he does — in a sort of 
 way ; but he still thinks there is no woman 
 on earth to be compared to Lady Venetia. 
 He thinks more of her than he does of any- 
 body else in the world. He asks her opinion 
 about everything, and takes it too, always.
 
 256 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Sometimes I could not help saying I did 
 not agree with her, just to see if Spencer 
 would give in to me, even in a very small 
 point ; but he never would. He only 
 laughed at first, and asked me what I knew 
 about the matter, and if I persisted, or argued 
 about it, he seemed a little annoyed, and 
 told me not to talk nonsense. He can't 
 bear me even to wear anything, or to say 
 anything that Lady Venetia would not quite 
 like ; and now. Aunt Patty, I ask you is 
 that pleasant for a wife ?"
 
 CHAPTEE XIV; 
 
 "the little rift within the lute." 
 
 " In Love, if Love be Love ; if Love be ours, 
 Paith and unfaith can ne'er be equal powers ; 
 Unfaitb in aught is want of faith in all. 
 
 " It is the little rift within the lute, 
 That by and by will make the music mute, 
 And ever widening slowly silence all." 
 
 Teknyson. 
 
 I wished to be very cautious in my answer 
 to this question, for I knew, by experience, 
 what misery both to herself and to my 
 brother, Ehza's jealous temper had often 
 caused, and I could not help hoping that 
 vol. 1. 17
 
 258 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Sydney might liave exaggerated the ex- 
 tent of Lady Venetians influence over Mr. 
 Hamilton. 
 
 So I began gently. 
 
 " But, my dear Sydney, are you quite sure 
 that you don't fancy a great deal of all this ? 
 I remember your mother was quite put 
 out at one time, because she thought James 
 admired Lady Yenetia. But you know it 
 was all nonsense, and it was really a pity 
 she said anything about it, before us all. 
 It made me feel quite awkward and uncom- 
 fortable, I can assure you, and I felt for my 
 brother, who had not a thought of anything, 
 beyond just liking to talk to a very hand- 
 some, agreeable, clever woman. Men do like 
 to talk to pretty women, my love, all the 
 w^orld over, and if their wives are always to 
 take it amiss, why it will be sure to bring a 
 good deal of uncomfortable feeling to all
 
 "THE LITTLE RIFT." 259 
 
 parties. I can't help thinking, Sydney, my 
 dear, that the less you let Mr. Hamil- 
 ton see your foolish, little, jealous fancies the 
 better." 
 
 " Oh ! Aunt Patty, do you really think 
 they are only foolish, jealous fancies ? I hope 
 they are ! How happy I should be, if I 
 could be sure you were right. I don't believe 
 there would exist a happier creature than I 
 should be, if I only felt perfectly certain 
 that Spencer really does love me best. 
 
 " But, Aunt Patty, you heard how they 
 all ordered me about, and told me to write 
 notes to this person and that person, and 
 took it for granted, they were going to dine 
 here, without asking me — I don't like that — 
 I can not help thinking that Spencer might 
 prevent their doing so, if he knew how much 
 I dislike it. If Spencer had only said to me 
 - — ' Sydney, I should like to ask Lady 
 
 17—2
 
 260 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Venetia, and Lady Diana, and Mrs. Daw- 
 kins to dinner ; who can we have to meet 
 them?' I should have been too delighted to 
 have pleased him by agreeing at once, most 
 cordially, and trying to arrange the whole 
 thing as well as possible ; but you must own, 
 Aunt Patty, it was rather cool of them to 
 come in, in that sort of way, as if the house 
 was their own, and I was merely their house- 
 keeper." 
 
 " I must confess, I do think, Sydney, you 
 ought to be the mistress of your own house," 
 I replied, " and I beheve you might easily 
 shew Lady Yenetia and her sister, very 
 quietly, but firmly, that you think you are 
 the first person to be consulted on these 
 occasions, for the future." 
 
 " But if Spencer should be angry. Aunt 
 Patty ? Ah ! you don't know half how 
 much he thinks of Lady Venetia. He says,
 
 "THE LITTLE RIFT." 261 
 
 nobody understands him so well as slie does, 
 and that nobody has such good sense, or 
 such good taste, or so much tact as she has. 
 He quotes her opinion upon all occasions. 
 If I were to offend her, Aunt Patty, I could 
 not answer for the consequences. Spencer 
 would be so terribly vexed. I know he 
 would." 
 
 "Her Ladyship's groom has called for 
 some notes, ma'am," said the new butler, 
 entering the room at this moment ; " he is 
 going into Dumbleton, and will leave the 
 answers here, as he comes back." 
 
 Mr. Fullinger had been brought up under 
 the auspices of the ducal groom of the 
 chambers at the Manor House, and had 
 imbibed much of that functionary's stateli- 
 ness of manner. He had been Lady Yenetia's 
 own footman, and was highly recommended 
 by her to the young couple on their first
 
 262 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 attempt at housekeeping, as a singularly 
 excellent and trustworthy head servant. I 
 own to having a great respect, not unmingled 
 with awe, for Mr. Fullinger ; but I plucked 
 up courage to say, in a voice, which I fear 
 trembled perceptibly, — 
 
 " Your notes are not ready, my dear. I 
 think you had better let me send them down 
 by my boy — he has nothing to do, and then 
 you need not detain Lady Venetia's servant." 
 
 " It was her Ladyship's order, ma'am, 
 that Charles should call for the notes, and 
 wait for the answers," said Mr. Fullinger, 
 not deigning to treat my humble suggestion 
 as worthy of notice. 
 
 " Tell Charles not to wait, then," said 
 Sydney decidedly. " Surely one of our own 
 men can take the notes into Dumbleton." 
 
 " You desired John to exercise your horse. 
 Ma'am, I believe, and I sent Thomas to the
 
 "THE LITTLE RIFT." 263 
 
 tailor's with a message from Mr. Hamilton, 
 and the gardeners are gone to their dinner," 
 answered Mr. Fullinger, with an air of 
 supreme contempt. 
 
 "Why can't the coachman take one of 
 the horses and go with the notes to Dumble- 
 ton?" 
 
 " If the coachman goes out now, he won't 
 be back in time to drive you this afternoon, 
 ma'am. You ordered the carriage at three 
 o'clock." 
 
 " Well ! never mind, I won't have the 
 carriage then. Tell the coachman at once 
 that he is to go with my notes. I will ring 
 when they are ready." 
 
 " Very well, Ma'am ; but Charles is in no 
 particular hurry. He could wait half-an- 
 hour if you desired it." 
 
 " I do not desire it, at all. I would rather 
 send my own messenger, thank you. Send
 
 264 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 Charles off at once. We are detaining him 
 too long already." 
 
 Mr. Fullinger looked a little astonished, 
 and a good deal hurt, at this arrangement, 
 but left the room with all the dignity he 
 could command, on the spur of the moment, 
 and we soon afterwards were made aware by 
 the clatter of hoofs in the stable-yard, that 
 Charles had been despatched about his 
 business. 
 
 " And now, I suppose I really must write 
 to Mr. Broke," said Sydney, with a sigh so 
 deep, that it almost amounted to a groan. 
 " But how odd Sehna will think it. I am 
 sure she will be quite annoyed about it 1 I 
 wonder what I had better say. I must 
 explain that we have, quite unexpectedly, a 
 large party of ladies coming to dinner, and 
 I hope he will take pity upon us, as we are 
 at a loss for some gentlemen to meet them.
 
 *-THE LITTLE HIFT.'' 265 
 
 I know wliat Selina will say, so well ; and 
 then Lord Templecombe is coming too, and 
 Selina likes so much to meet him ; and she 
 will be left all alone, poor dear. Oh ! how 
 I wish T might go and dine with Sehna, and 
 leave all these fine ladies to entertain each 
 other. How much happier I should be — 
 should I not. Aunt Patty?" 
 
 " But that would never do, dear. Could 
 you not write to Selina, and explain it to her, 
 and ask her to lend you Mr. Broke for one 
 evening, as a particular favour. I think she 
 would not mind so much, if you put it in 
 that way. Call it an electioneering dinner, 
 if you like." 
 
 " But Sehna thinks herself a great hand 
 at electioneering — and then the dinner is to be 
 for Lord Templecombe, and Spencer's interest 
 is all on the other side, or ought to be. 
 Oh dear ! Oh dear ! I think I'll write the
 
 266 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 otlier notes first. There ! one line will do 
 for John Beaumont, and another for Mr. 
 Auriol; and now luncheon is ready. I'll 
 tell you what, Aunt Patty, I will not ask 
 Mr. Broke at all, but get Spencer to do it 
 when he comes home — as if from himself, 
 you know ; and then, if Selina says anything 
 to me, I can tell her I really had nothing at 
 all to do with it. That would be true, 
 would not it ? And Aunt Patty, you must 
 stay and dine here, and keep me in coun- 
 tenance, and mind you back me up, you 
 know, and explain to Spencer that it is not 
 the custom to ask husbands without their 
 wives in Dumbleton, and that it would give 
 great offence. . It is all very well in London, 
 but it would never do here — and with Selina, 
 too 1" 
 
 Not sorry to have an opportunity of 
 judging for myself, how matters really were
 
 " THE LITTLE RIET." 267 
 
 between Sydney and her husband, I readily 
 consented, and proposed that my little boy 
 should take her notes, as well as one to Tom 
 from me, explaining my unusual absence 
 from home. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton did not return till late, and 
 dinner was announced, before he made his 
 appearance in the drawing-room. As soon 
 as he entered, Sydney said in a rather nervous 
 voice — '' I have persuaded Aunt Patty to 
 stay and dine here, Spencer. She has been 
 kind enough to spend the day with me." 
 
 A slight frown, contracted Spencer's fine 
 broad forehead as she spoke ; but he received 
 me with decent civility, and offered me his 
 arm at once. The conversation during 
 dinner was confined to general topics. Syd- 
 ney discoursed fluently of the beauties of 
 Midsummer Yerney, and the charms of the 
 country. I eagerly listened, and asked
 
 268 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 questions, in order to keejD up the ball of 
 conversation. We spun out to its finest ex- 
 tent, any topic tliat was likely to preclude the 
 discussion of the much-dreaded dinner party. 
 Mr. Hamilton spoke little, and appeared to 
 be in a state of complete abstraction. It was 
 not till the dessert was placed upon the table, 
 and FuUinger and his attendant satellites 
 had retired, that Sj^encer suddenly looked 
 up, and enquired if Sydney had seen Lady 
 Venetia that morning. 
 
 " Yes," Sydney replied, " she came here, 
 and so did Lady Diana Hartland and Mrs. 
 Bowyer Dawkins." 
 
 " Did they give you my message ?" asked 
 Spencer. " It seems likely that Temple- 
 combe may easily be persuaded to retire 
 from the contest. He is so in love with 
 Die, that it goes against the grain with him 
 to oppose her brother-in-law, I suspect ; and,
 
 " THE LITTLE EIFT." 269 
 
 besides, lie has not the shadow of a chance 
 of success. So Via suggested getting him 
 and his brother to dine here, and Beaumont 
 and I can talk him over very soon." 
 
 " She did tell me, Spencer, and I wrote to 
 Mr. Beaumont and Mr. Auriol — they both 
 accept." 
 
 *' And Broke ? Is he . coming ? I find 
 Templecombe comes, so I suppose his brother 
 will do the same." 
 
 " Well ! to tell you the truth, Spencer," 
 said Sydney timidly, " I have not asked Mr. 
 Broke yet. I don't think he would come 
 without his wife ; and you know it will 
 make so many ladies if we ask Selina, unless 
 we have Mr. Hatfield too.'* 
 
 " But that will make such a large 
 party, and I think it would bore Via 
 rather, to have all the curates in the parish. 
 Why can't you ask Broke alone ? He
 
 270 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 is not obliged to come, any the more for tliat, 
 after all." 
 
 " You see, Spencer, it is rather difficult 
 for me to ask Mr. Broke without Selina. 
 She has always been my great friend here, 
 and it would seem so odd of me not to ask 
 her ; and, besides, I know he makes it a 
 rule never to dine out without her." 
 
 "He is not much loss," said Spencer, 
 with some contempt; "he is a horrid little 
 prig, and she is the greatest fool I ever came 
 across. Still, Templecombe would like to 
 have them asked, I suppose. You had 
 better send a note off at once and ask them 
 both then ; and I suppose we must have 
 that other fellow, ' the athlete,' as Yia calls 
 him, to make the number even. It will be 
 a heavy party, but it can't be helped. If I 
 had only known, I could have asked a man 
 or two, to come down from London, but it
 
 "THE LITTLE RIFT. 271 
 
 is too late for that now, I fancied Via 
 would have settled it all with you this 
 morning, or I should have called in again 
 on my way to the station and told you 
 about it." 
 
 " Oh ! I wish you had, Spencer ! I do so 
 wish you had," cried Sydney, " It would 
 have been so much better," 
 
 "I really don't see- why it would have 
 been better than Via coming herself," said 
 Spencer, looking surprised. " She knows a 
 great deal more about getting up a pleasant 
 little dinner than we do — either of us — and 
 it seems to me, we have made rather a mess 
 of it now. She won't care to come here 
 again, I am afraid ; but I hope that if ever 
 she does, she will ask all her people herself, 
 and get a more promising set together. 
 There ! There ! child, don't begin to cry 
 about it. She is so good-natured, she won't
 
 272 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 mind being bored for once, I dare say. You 
 can't be expected to be a second Lady 
 Yenetia Yerney, you know ; and I am not 
 angry with you, you little goose ! Come, 
 write to your Brokes, and don't look so 
 woe-begone, pray. It will do better than 
 we expect, perhaps. Yia and Die can make 
 anything go off well." 
 
 " Lady Diana is a very old friend of yours, 
 is she not, Mr. Hamilton ?" said I, as Sydney 
 retired into a corner to wipe her eyes and 
 write her note, after we had returned to the 
 drawing-room. 
 
 " Die Hartland ! Oh ! yes, of course 
 Die is the same as a sister to me, every bit. 
 There's no difference. I have lived with 
 the Osterleys ever since I can recollect 
 almost. I was left an orphan when I was 
 a small boy — not old enough to go to school 
 — and my uncle, old Lord Osterley, took
 
 "THE LITTLE EIFT." 273 
 
 me into his house, and always treated me like 
 a child of his own — till — till — I should say 
 — till I grew up," continued Mr. Hamilton, 
 becoming a little confused. " He was an 
 ill-tempered old fellow — an implacable kind 
 of dog — and was never known to forgive 
 anyone who once offended him. Well, I 
 did once offend him, and he turned me adrift 
 directly, and never spoke to me afterwards." 
 
 " Oh !" cried Sydney, " how dreadful. 
 Did you do something so very bad ?" 
 
 " Bad ? — no, it was nothing wrong, but 
 only something foolish — never mind what 
 it was, now. It's all over and past; but 
 old Osterle}^ has been the ruin of me — body 
 and soul. I might have been an ambitious 
 man, and a hard-working man, and an honest 
 man, and a rising man at this moment, if 
 he would have let me. As it is, I am 
 nothing — and care for notliing." 
 
 VOL. I. 18
 
 274 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 " Oh ! Spencer ! I am sure you are hard- 
 working, and honest now/' said Sydney in- 
 dignantly. " I don't know about ambitious, 
 but I am sure you are a rising man — every- 
 body says so." 
 
 " Do they ?" said S]3encer with a scornful 
 laugh ; " then that's all they know about the 
 matter. I know better — to my cost. What 
 was I saying ? Oh ! that Via and Die were 
 the only sisters I ever had — and whatever 
 their father may have done, they never for- 
 sook me — they have been, and always will 
 be, my best friends. If you wish to know 
 how to please me, Sydney, you will always 
 consult Yia and Die. They understand me 
 thoroughly, and, to my mind, are different 
 from all other women. There's no one to 
 be compared with them. Don't look so 
 injured, Syd. You are a good child enough, 
 but you never can be such a woman as
 
 " THE LITTLE RIET. 275 
 
 Venetia is. It's not likely, and of course I 
 don't expect it of you. So don't fret about 
 that. Now I shall go and smoke a cigar 
 in the garden." 
 
 Poor Sydney was, I saw, much hurt at 
 this selfish, egotistical speech ; but not 
 knowing what to say, I ended by saying 
 nothing at all, and soon after took my leave. 
 
 18—2
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG. 
 
 *' For my part, I do wish thou wert a dog, 
 That I might love thee something." 
 
 Shakespeaee. 
 
 I COULD not help feeling very anxious about 
 my poor Sydney and her party, and I beheve 
 I enquired into the matter so thoroughly, 
 that I can tell you all about it, almost as 
 well as if I had been there myself. 
 
 Lady Venetia and Miss Yerney were the 
 first arrivals.
 
 LOVE ME, LOYE MY DOG. 277 
 
 Her Ladyship was attired with the most 
 exquisite simphcity in white muslin, over 
 blue satin, and covered with lace, that must 
 have cost a fabulous sum of money ; 
 she also wore a very becoming little cap, 
 or head-dress, of old point. " Well !" she 
 exclaimed as she came in ; " here we are, 
 you see ! I came early to protect this poor 
 darling from Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins. She 
 is a formidable creature to encounter alone, 
 is she not, Childy ? But why have you 
 made yourself so fine, with your silks, and 
 your satins, and your flowers, and your 
 trinkets ? See ! I have only just put on a 
 plain, white muslin-gown. Shall I remind 
 you that beauty is ' when unadorned, adorned 
 the most.' Spencer, why do you let the 
 dear child dress herself such a figure ? I 
 thought you would have known better, at all 
 events. She is not going to a Lord Mayor's
 
 278 DTJMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 feast, remember, but only receiving two, or 
 three, of your relations at home. Now do 
 run upstairs and take off that dreadful 
 wreath, won't you? — -just to oblige me! — 
 there's a good little thing ! — and put on a 
 nice, clean, white gown — I know you have 
 plenty — just like mine. Spencer, don't you 
 agree with me ? Exert your influence, and 
 persuade this pretty, little wife of yours to 
 study the art of simplicity. It's quite one 
 of the fine arts. Why you are not angry, 
 you foolish pet ? You must not mind my 
 giving you a little good advice, you know. 
 I mean to take such pride in your first ap- 
 pearance in London, and I really must insist 
 on your letting me take the entire charge of 
 your dress. I am reckoned rather an adept 
 in that accompHshment, am I not, Spen- 
 cer?" 
 
 " Lady Venetia Verney is well known to
 
 LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG. 279 
 
 be invariably the best dressed woman in 
 London. No one has such good taste. I 
 am sure it will be too kind of her, if she will 
 give you a little advice now and then, 
 Sydney, for I really cannot undertake to 
 superintend my wife's wardrobe. And you 
 are shockingly over-dressed to-night — that 
 is evident to the meanest capacity. Eun 
 up and put on something less vulgar-look- 
 ing if you can. There's plenty of time if 
 you make haste." 
 
 More to gain an excuse to hide her tears 
 of mortification, than for any other reasons, 
 Sydney turned hastily away, and went to 
 change her toilette, but while lighting a 
 candle, she could not help overhearing Lady 
 Venetia say, in a low voice — " Poor child ! 
 now she will hate me for ever ! — but for 
 your sake, Spencer, I must take some pains 
 to make her look a Httle Hke a lady. With
 
 280 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 the awful example of her mother before us, 
 we must insist on her learning not to look 
 hke the city dames of Dumbleton/' 
 
 " You know, Yia, how intensely obliged 
 to you I shall always be, for any kindness 
 that you can show to my poor, little, igno- 
 rant, unsophisticated wife. Make her as 
 like yourself as you possibly can. That is 
 all I ask." 
 
 When Sydney returned, dressed in regu- 
 lation simplicity (and looking, I have no 
 doubt, all the prettier for the bright flush 
 which haste and anger combined, had called 
 to her cheeks), she found that the Brokes 
 and Mr. Auriol had arrived. Selina was 
 arrayed in glorious attire, and was in one of 
 her most gushing moods. 
 
 " Late ! Late ! so late !" she cried, holding 
 up her finger reproachfully at Sydney, as she 
 re-entered the room. "And so you have
 
 LOYE ME, LOVE MY DOG. 281 
 
 grown too fine a lady to be ready to receive 
 your guests. Pie — fie, Mrs. Hamilton, this 
 will never do." 
 
 " I have been down before, Selina," replied 
 Sydney. " I only went up to fetch some- 
 thing. I am so glad you were able to come 
 on so short a notice.'* 
 
 " Ah ! we must excuse that sort of thing 
 at first stai4^ing, and such old friends as you 
 and I are, need stand on no ceremony with 
 each other. I am only too pleased to be of 
 any use to you by coming in at a moment's 
 warning, to assist you in entertaining Tem- 
 plecombe's friends. I don't suppose entre 
 nous''' she added in a low voice, " that Lady 
 Die will ever marry him, and of course it is 
 very much to our interest that he should 
 continue to devote himself to her, instead 
 of marrpng anybody else ; so I am quite 
 thankful to encourage his very foolish pen-
 
 % 
 
 282 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 c/ia?tt in that direction. Is she not an odd 
 creature ! but I don't dislike her myself — 
 on the contrary, I am very grateful to her 
 for taking up all Tempey's attention. And 
 I am very civil to her." 
 
 As she spoke, Lady Diana and Mrs. Daw- 
 kins entered the room. 
 
 " And so you are here before us, Via," 
 said Lady Die. " I was afraid we should 
 be late. I did not know what to do 
 with Mr. Quilp — the waiters, stupid 
 creatures ! are all afraid of him, and I was 
 in despair, for he howled and scratched so 
 frightfully at m}^ door, when I tried to shut 
 him uj) there, that the landlad}^ thought fit 
 to remonstrate about her paint, and the gen- 
 tleman below, sent up word he would not stay 
 another hour in the hotel if that dog were 
 not sent to the stables. Such a piece of 
 work — and nothing would satisfy poor Quilp
 
 LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG. 283 
 
 at last, but coming with me in the fly. I 
 have left him in the hall outside, lying on 
 my opera cloak." 
 
 " Oh, nonsense ! bring him in, poor fel- 
 low," cried Spencer ; " hell do no harm here. 
 I'll call him in, shall I ?" 
 
 " Oh, I don't think it will be of any use 
 if you call him, Spencer. Mr. Quilp obeys 
 no one but me. I'll fetch him myself. 
 Now is not he the greatest darling you ever 
 met with?" she added, as she came in with the 
 misshapen monster in her arms. " Did you 
 ever see such a beauty ? I'll let you nurse 
 him a little, Sydney, if you hke. There, 
 my pet, go and make friends with your new 
 cousin. Yes, he takes to you ; he actually 
 likes you, Sydney. Spencer, Mr. Quilp 
 
 approves of your wife, so I have no doubt 
 whatever, that she will suit us all admhably. 
 I always take Quilp's opinion before any-
 
 284 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 body's ; lie is such a wonderful judge of 
 character. Quilp never made a mistake in 
 his life/' 
 
 " I am delighted to hear that Sydney 
 meets with the approbation of so important 
 
 a personage," said Spencer, gravely. 
 
 " Oh, do let me look at him," cried Selina 
 Broke, coming forward ; "I wonder if he 
 will like me too ? Here, Quilp ! Quilp ! 
 Quilp ! pretty ittle doggie, zen ! does it 
 know who it likes and who it hates, zen ? 
 Was it a very sensible old fellow ?" 
 
 Mr. Quilp, at this invocation, set up a 
 most unmistakable growl, and proceeded to 
 snarl and snap at Selina's pretty lingers 
 with great zest and good will. 
 
 " No, no, you see, he does not like you at 
 all," pronounced Lady Diana, decidedly 
 "he can't bear you. How lucky you are 
 not hurt. He bites rather sharply ; I
 
 LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG. 285 
 
 would advise you not to toucli him again. 
 Quilp lias evidently taken a dislike to you." 
 
 " I thouglit we settled not to have that 
 tiresome little woman," added Lady Diana, 
 as Sehna retired in great discomfiture to 
 the other side of the room, and took refuge 
 with her husband, Sydney, and Mr. Auriol. 
 
 '' So we did," said Lady Venetia. " How 
 is it, Spencer ? — we mentioned particularly 
 that Mrs. Broke bored us to death, and we 
 did not want her to come at all." 
 
 " Well, Sydney seemed to fancy Mrs. 
 Broke would take offence if she were not 
 asked, and she persuaded me to let her send 
 her friend an invitation ; but I was not 
 aware, Yia, that you had said, you did not 
 wish her to come. Sydney ought to have 
 mentioned that to me." 
 
 " Sydney knew better than to quote Via's 
 opinion to you, evidently," said Mrs. Daw-
 
 286 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 kins. " For my part, I think she is quite 
 right to stick to her old friends, and to have 
 her own way about asking them to dinner 
 whenever she Kkes." 
 
 " I think Mrs. Broke a very silly woman/' 
 said Lady Venetia ; " and if I were you, 
 Spencer, I would not encourage Sydney in 
 being so intimate with her. She is very 
 second-rate, and gives herself the most 
 ridiculous airs I ever saw. If you don't 
 want to see Sydney turn into a second 
 Selina Broke, put an end to their very 
 silly, Httle, school-girlish friendship at 
 once." 
 
 " I can't bear Selina Broke, and she hates 
 me," added Lady Diana. 
 
 "And no wonder," said Mrs. Dawkins, 
 " w^hen she lives in constant dread of your 
 marrying her husband's elder brother. She 
 will hate you still more, whenever you do
 
 LOYE ME, LOVE MY DOG. 287 
 
 marry Teniplecombe, if that is any consola- 
 tion to you/' 
 
 " It is almost a reason for doing it. But 
 hush ! here he is !" said Lady Diana, with 
 a scarcely perceptible change of colour, as 
 Lord Templecombe was announced, followed 
 by Mr. Beaumont and Mr. Hatfield.,' 
 
 In the confusion that ensued upon these 
 fresh arrivals, Spencer took an opportunity 
 of taking Sydney to task for not having 
 mentioned to him that Lady Yenetia had 
 particularly specified that Mrs. Broke was 
 not to be of the party. 
 
 " I can't think how you can have neg- 
 lected to tell me this, Sydney, when you 
 knew how anxious I was to make the even- 
 ing agreable to Via. It is a most unac- 
 countable piece of carelessness ; I can- 
 not believe that it could have been other- 
 wise than carelessness. It is quite impos-
 
 288 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 sible that you would purposely and deli- 
 berately have invited a person to meet my 
 cousin, who you were aware was disagree- 
 able to her." 
 
 Sydney, repressing her ever ready tears 
 with some difficulty, for she knew they 
 would only make matters worse, protested 
 that she thought it right to ask her old 
 friend to dinner, and that she did not see 
 what harm Selina could possibly do to Lady 
 Yenetia. Lady Yenetia was not obliged to 
 speak to her, unless she liked it. 
 
 Spencer looked as he felt, extremely angry, 
 and there is no saying what little scene 
 might not have ensued, had not Lady Ye- 
 netia with her usual ready tact come to the 
 rescue. 
 
 " Ah ! now Spencer, I know you are 
 scolding this poor child about that tiresome 
 Mrs. Broke. I won't have you say another
 
 LOVE ME, LOVE MY LOG. 289 
 
 word about the matter — either now, or at 
 any future time. Eemember, I have forbid- 
 den the subject to be ever alluded to again, 
 in any way. Do you hear ? It was quite a 
 mistake, darling, was it not ? and the din- 
 ner will go off beautifully in spite of every- 
 thing, you'll see, Spencer. Trust to me for 
 that;" and Sydney soon found herself fol- 
 lowing her guests into the dining-room, on 
 Lord Templecombe's arm. 
 
 She was in a most uncomfortable and 
 rather inexplicable state of mind. There 
 Avas nothing in the world so terrible to her 
 as to see Spencer angry, and with her ; and 
 yet, di'eadful as that was to bear, she con- 
 sidered it infinitely preferable to being 
 forgiven, through the intercession of Lady 
 Venetia Verney. 
 
 That lady kept her word about uiaking 
 the dinner go off w^ll. She had never been 
 
 VOL. 1. 19
 
 290 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 more brilliant and enclianting ; and Spencer 
 catching a little of her spirit, also exerted 
 himself to talk well and agreeably to all his 
 guests. Mrs. Broke 's little inanities were 
 received as if they Avere the most witty and 
 original remarks ever hazarded at a dinner- 
 table. Mrs. Bowyer Dawkins, in her nsual 
 bitter, sarcastic manner, made mince-meat 
 of all her most intimate friends in no time, 
 though it might have been said of her, as of 
 Mrs. Clackitt :— 
 
 " She generally designs well, has a free 
 tongue, and a bold invention ; but her 
 colouring is too dark, and her outlines often 
 extravagant. She wants that delicacy of 
 tint and mellowness of sneer, which distin- 
 guish your Ladyship's scandal." 
 
 Lady Diana talked about her dogs and 
 her horses, and Lord Templecombe listened 
 with the most enrapt attention to every
 
 LOVE ME, LOVE MY LOG. 291 
 
 particular concerning those precious quadru- 
 peds. 
 
 John Beaumont and Honour Verney sat 
 next to each other, and appeared to find no 
 lack of interesting topics — though they did 
 not enter much into general conversation. 
 But Xora, who was devoted to her uncle, 
 was reallv interested in the election business, 
 and John had not the slightest desire to 
 speak to any other individual in the com- 
 pany. He despised fine ladies, and thought 
 Lady Yenetia tiresome, false, and afiected, 
 as he constantly assured me ; and as for 
 Lady Diana, he found her perfectly odious. 
 The sisters were not, in John's opinion, 
 worthy even to be compared to Miss Yerney, 
 or, as he expressed it, '' ought never to be 
 named in the same da}^" with that superior 
 young woman. 
 
 For my own part, I always thought Nora 
 
 19—2
 
 292 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 excellent, though a little dull, but I dare say 
 she found John a j)leasanter, and more con- 
 genial companion than she did me ; at all 
 events, he was the only person except her 
 uncle, with whom she ever seemed to get on, 
 very comfortably. She appeared shy and ill at 
 ease with all other, gentlemen, and even 
 with most of us ladies, though Margaret 
 and Agnes Auriol alwa3^s assured me that 
 Miss Yerney had a great deal in her, and 
 was a fine sterling character. 
 
 As for poor Wilfred Auriol, he looked, I 
 understand, more like a martyr at the stake 
 than a young man at a dinner party. He 
 ate little and said less, but sighed heavily 
 at intervals, throughout the painful cere- 
 mony, and turned up his eyes in devout 
 horror, at the vast amount of nonsense that 
 was talked by the majority of the company. 
 I dare say, poor fellow ! it would have been
 
 LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG. 293 
 
 a great relief to Mm if he liad dared to cross 
 himself occasionally ; but he happened to be 
 sitting opposite to Lord Templecombe and 
 Mrs. Dawkins, and did not venture to run 
 the risk of attracting their attention by so 
 unusual a gesture. 
 
 As for my poor dear Sydney — as she after- 
 wards told me — she hardly knew what she 
 did ; she felt so miserable at having made 
 Spencer angry, and at seeing him talk so 
 happily and gaily to Lady Yenetia, while 
 he looked so coldly, and spoke so carelessly 
 to her. His merry laugh at every little 
 lively remark of Lady Yenetia's seemed, my 
 poor child told me, to cut her to the heart ; 
 and it would have been the greatest relief to 
 her, if she had dared to give one good shriek 
 of misery before the long, noisy dinner was 
 at an end. But Sydney said she believed 
 she contrived to keep her countenance tole-
 
 294 DUMBLETON COMMON. 
 
 rably well, and Lord Templecombe and Mr. 
 Broke both talked so fast and so loud, 
 that she hoped her silence was not much 
 observed. 
 
 END or VOL. 1. 
 
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 latter li:ilt' of the eighteentli century. The whole is rendered piquant with anec- 
 dotes, boHf mots, and personal portraits of the leading characters iutiie political and 
 fashionable worlds." — Da.ili/ 2^'ews. 
 
 THE HEAVENS : an illustrated Handbook of Astro- 
 
 jioniy. By M. A:\iedee Guillemix. Edited by J. Nokma.N' 
 L0CKYEK,*Esq., F.R.A.S. Royal Svo. 225 Illustrations, 21s. 
 
 THE CURIOSITIES of CLOCKS and WATCHES 
 
 from th3 Earliest Time. By Edwaed J. Wood, Esq. Crown 
 Svo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " The curiosities of the subject are infinite; and Mr. "Wood delights in collectinff 
 old legends, quaint stories, waifs and strays from tlie stage, sweet songs of jtoets, 
 .•md moral sayings of the wise, so that, in fact, we turn from page to page with nn- 
 ft 'gging interest, and can hardly shut the book until we have reached the end." — 
 Guardian. 
 
 LETTERS from HELL. By a Danish Pastor. 
 
 2 Vols., post Svo. 21s. 
 
 "The author's conception of hell includes a very strong resemblancfl to our own 
 ■uorld. This is, in fact, the main principle of the book ; and the ghastly mimicry of 
 human occupations and passions is described with some literary t'»vce." —Satu7-da>/ 
 
 SITANA; a Mountain Campaign on the Borders of 
 
 Afghanistan in 18G3. By Colonel <TouN Adxe, C.B., Royal Artil- 
 lery. Demy Svo. 
 
 RICHARD BE^^TLEY, NEW BURLIISTITOX STREET, W. 
 
 rUBLTSllER IX OEDIXAr.r TO llEIt MAJESTY.