hlJciJkHlJGfi'] 
 
 AND f\N
 
 I B RAFLY 
 OF THL 
 UNIVER^SITY 
 Of ILLINOIS 
 
 SZ3 
 HZAt 
 
 V.I
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/luciahughanother01need
 
 LUCIA, HUGH. AND ANOTHER
 
 " No more be grieved at that which thou hast done : 
 Roses have thorns and silver fountains mud ; 
 Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun, 
 And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. 
 All men make faults, and even I in this 
 Authorising thy trespass with compare, 
 Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss, 
 Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are." 
 
 —Shakespeare : Sonnets.
 
 LU0L4, HUGH, AND ANOTHER 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 MES J. H. XEEDELL 
 
 AUTHOR OF ' JL-LIAN KARSLAKE'S SECRET ' 
 
 IX THREE VOLUMES 
 VOL. I. 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AXD SOXS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
 MDCCCLXXXIV
 
 ?^3 
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 
 
 jPHAPTER I. 
 
 CoJiE and look at this scene. 
 
 An old-fashioned Endish warden, rising back- 
 'b wards in triple terraces from the house stand- 
 ^ing in its midst. 
 
 Q The upper terrace is planted with a thick 
 ^ hedge of rhododendron — deep planted in con- 
 S genial soil, and showing almost every tint of 
 ^ colour, from ashen grey to burning red. The 
 
 ^turf is as green, close -cut, and bloomless as 
 
 J^ modern exigence can demand ; and the wide 
 
 C surface into which it extends is judiciously 
 
 5 studded with groups of forest-trees, overhangiDg 
 
 ^ VOL. I. A
 
 2 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 rustic seats and benches, some of which are 
 comfortably padded and cushioned. 
 
 The effect is not marred by flower-beds, geo- 
 metric or otherwise ; the flowers, chiefly of an 
 old-fashioned sort, are relegated to the distant 
 borders lying beyond the broad gravel walks 
 and grassy alleys, of which pleasant glimpses 
 can be seen ; and further ofi" still is a dense 
 plantation of pine and fir, where the squirrel, 
 unmolested through the long summer day, 
 bounds noiseless from tree to tree, and the coo 
 of the wood-pigeon is seldom silent. 
 
 The house itself is a substantial brick struc- 
 ture, glowing in the strong light with the deep 
 russet tints which tell of honest manufacture 
 in the beginning, and a century of sun-baked 
 seasons since. It is surrounded on three sides 
 by a heavily timbered verandah, giving a plea- 
 sant impression of coolness and shade, and 
 round each pillar of this some fragrant flower- 
 ing plant climbs to the very roof. 
 
 There is the pale deep-bosomed Devoniensis 
 shedding its sweet breath on the still air, and
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 3 
 
 having for neighbour on either side the narrow 
 tapering leaves and starry blossoms of the com- 
 mon jasmine, and the vivid petals of the blood- 
 red passion-flower. All the fourth side of the 
 house, which is occupied by the domestic offices, 
 is covered from base to roof by the lustrous 
 aromatic twigs of an ancient myrtle -tree, so 
 thick and close as not to reveal the under 
 surface at any point ; but the time for its deli- 
 cious blossoming is not yet. 
 
 Now look beyond the enclosure of the ivy- 
 grown walls, down full two hundred feet of 
 precipitous descent, and in the near distance 
 lies one of the loveliest bays of sea-girt England, 
 sapphire blue at this hour under the meridian 
 rays of the sun. 
 
 A little fishing-boat, with tan-coloured sails, 
 is becalmed in the middle of the foreground, 
 and is reflected without slur or quiver in the 
 water below. The tops of the broken line of 
 clifis which embrace the bay are ablaze in 
 the unmitigated glow ; if your sight be keen 
 enough, you may count every crack and fissure,
 
 4 LUCIA, HCJGH, AND ANOTHEE. 
 
 each tuft of parched herbage or bush of golden 
 broom, which diversifies their surface. 
 
 A deep silence broods over all ; not a leaf 
 stirs nor a bird twitters. Perhaps, as evening 
 comes on, the piercing sweetness of a blackbird's 
 whistle may be heard in the plantations behind, 
 or even now a skylark might rise and soar, 
 sprinkling the blue air with drops of melody; 
 but the full charm is over for another year. 
 
 The garden is occupied by only one human 
 figure. 
 
 A girl is sitting under the shade of a spread- 
 ing lime-tree — undaunted by the bees who are 
 rifling its honeyed sweetness — in such a position 
 that she faces the sea-view, and she is gazing 
 before her with a steadfastness of vision which 
 may mean either absorbed attention in the pros- 
 pect or intense mental preoccupation. 
 
 She wears a thick white morning-gown, with 
 a muslin frill round throat and wrists, and a 
 broad crimson sash defining the supple waist. 
 Her abundant hair, of that shade of ruddy 
 brown flecked with gold which Titian has re-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. O 
 
 produced on so many of his canvases, and whicli 
 modern coquetry has tried in vain to simulate, 
 is parted back from a low broad brow, displaying 
 the well-formed head and shell-like ears. Her 
 eyes are of that warm chestnut brown which 
 harmonises with the colour of her hair and 
 the purity of her skin, and are very beautiful 
 both in shape and expression. In repose, or 
 when half closed, they are long and tender ; but 
 should she be moved by any sudden emotion 
 of anger or surprise, they assume the well- 
 opened roundness and intensity of gaze common 
 to the innocence and directness of childhood. 
 
 There is nothing more mechanical than to 
 tabulate the features of a lovely face, especially 
 when its charm lies less in perfection of line and 
 curve than in the revelation of the mind within. 
 In Lucia Prescott's face there was a look of such 
 bright intellio^ence, such winninor candour and 
 ardent tenderness, that it was difficult to meet 
 it without a quickening of goodwill and an 
 instinctive wish that she might be happy. 
 
 Perfect health lent its matchless colouring to
 
 6 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 cheek and lip ; and the short rounded chin, 
 which is at this moment pillowed in her rosy 
 palm, is full of girlish piquancy and grace. 
 
 She is watching intently the approach of a 
 figure, which her keen sight can detect just 
 rising into view above the brow of the hilly 
 plains which sweep downwards towards the 
 sea, and which is lessening the distance be- 
 tween them as swiftly as the practised limbs 
 of a young English athlete can do. There is 
 a motion in his gait which, apart from the un- 
 dress uniform he wears and the cap in his hand, 
 suggests the quarter-deck ; and he is, in fact, as 
 good a type of a young sailor as the imperial 
 navy can produce. His fair skin, bronzed by 
 exposure to wind and tropical sun, and crisp 
 curling hair, are the ideal adjuncts of his pro- 
 fession; but in the well-cut and resolute fea- 
 tures, and the firm poise of the head upon the 
 shoulders, there is an individuality which dis- 
 tinguishes Hugh Marriott from the crowd. 
 
 The one predominant object which he has in 
 view at this moment is to find himself side by
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 7 
 
 side with the girl who is awaiting his coming, 
 and in a few moments longer this is accom- 
 plished. She has kept her seat and passive 
 attitude till he is close at hand, though her 
 cheek flushes and breath quickens and even a 
 sudden moisture dims her eyes. Then she rises 
 and goes forward to open the heavy garden 
 gates, and stands just within the ivy-grown 
 issue, making a charming picture. She does 
 not advance another step to meet him, — rather, 
 as he comes nearer, she withdraws -within the 
 leafy shelter of the place ; but every radiant 
 feature and expressive motion is instinct with 
 the idea of welcome, and as soon as the full 
 privacy of the tree-shaded lawn is reached, she 
 suffers him to take her in his arms and kiss her 
 over and over again with honest rapture. 
 
 " Lucia, my love — my darling ! " 
 
 " Hugh, dear Hugh, I am happier than words 
 can express ! " 
 
 But there was little need of verbal expression 
 on either side while hands, and eyes, and lips 
 could translate into so much finer a lano-uaofe
 
 8 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 the pure passion of their souls ; and it was a 
 fit scene and season in which to taste that 
 sweet half-delirious bliss which, like the ac- 
 cepted joy of children, looks neither before 
 nor after, and is worth tasting at almost any 
 cost. 
 
 As they sat, hand clasped in hand, after the 
 first excitement of reunion was over, watching, 
 with half - unconscious exhaustion, the lovely 
 panorama of land and sea stretching before 
 them, no subtle prevision of the future marred 
 their happiness. They loved each other with 
 the ardour of vigorous youth scarcely touched 
 by anxiety, and they were together after sepa- 
 ration : if they looked beyond the fruition of 
 the moment, it was to imagine that sweet union 
 strengthened by closer ties, and unbroken ex- 
 cept by the inevitable hand of death. 
 
 After a while they were able to arouse them- 
 selves from the first narrow exclusiveness of 
 love, and talk of other things. 
 
 The ship on which Hugh Marriott was first 
 lieutenant had gone down off the coast of Cape
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 9 
 
 Town, under circumstances too frequently re- 
 peated in recent years ; and tlie details of the 
 catastrophe were scarcely less chivalrous than 
 those which later stirred the heart of England 
 in connection with the ill-fated Victory. 
 
 In this case, however, the captain and himself 
 had escaped with their lives, and an official in- 
 vestigation had been deemed necessary. It was 
 from giving evidence before the Board that 
 Marriott had just returned : he had telegraphed 
 to his friends the satisfactory issue of the in- 
 quiry, and had followed the news in person as 
 soon as possible. 
 
 Lucia was now eagerly questioning him on 
 the point. 
 
 "The dear old man !" she was saying; "it 
 - was hard to be put on his trial, if only a nom- 
 inal one, when he deserved a civic wreath. Did 
 he show no temper, Hugh ? " 
 
 " In great crises, Lucia, I suppose the best 
 that is in us comes out. Xo man can rap out a 
 more startling oath than Captain Frobisher, if 
 he stumbles over an ill-placed cable or detects
 
 10 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 the smallest breach in discipline ; but he has 
 carried himself throughout this business like a 
 gentleman and a hero. We have come through 
 with flying colours ; he is vindicated at all 
 points, and gets the full measure of praise 
 and recognition he deserves. Better late than 
 never ! " 
 
 " And you '? " she asked. 
 
 " Oh, I !" he answered lightly. ''I only obeyed 
 orders like the rest. "When I think about it 
 now in cold blood, I see the reality of English 
 pluck and courage — the deliberate valour, Lucia, 
 steady as the swing of a pendulum, not like 
 the Frenchmen's fevered rush at the guns. The 
 shock," he went on, '^ was awfully sudden, and 
 the confusion and terror overwhelming, till his 
 voice brought back coolness and discipline ; then 
 orders given and obeyed with the precision of a 
 quarter-deck drill — boats carefully lowered and 
 filled till every living soul had left the deck 
 except himself and me, and him no entreaties 
 would induce to abandon the ship, then settling 
 down perceptibly." He stopped, and she re-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 11 
 
 peatecl, as she leant her head upon his shoulder, 
 and looked into his face with suffused eyes — 
 
 " And you ? Was it not just as hard for 
 you and just as brave of you ? " 
 
 " It was a simple point of discipline : my 
 place was at my captain's side ; and if it had 
 been otherwise, could I have left the old man to 
 die alone '? We stood hand in hand on the poop, 
 with such thoughts in our hearts as may well 
 brace us for the lives that have been spared. 
 But there was one sharp moment, Lucia. He 
 had tried his best before to induce me to leave 
 him, but finding I was as determined as him- 
 self, had ceased. Presently, after a silence, he 
 said, ' I thought there was a sweetheart, Mar- 
 riott ? she will curse my name ; for her sake, 
 take a second thought.' 
 
 "And I took it," Hugh added, eagerly, "and 
 decided that I would rather never meet her 
 sweet lips or eyes again, than do so at the 
 cost of my honour. I was right 1 " 
 
 " Ah yes, you were right," she answered, 
 " and I am proud of my lover." Then she drew
 
 12 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 a deep breath and added, " But I am half afraid 
 to be quite sure of myself. I should have found 
 it hard to forgive Captain Frobisher if your life 
 had paid the forfeit of his blunder. As it is, it 
 is deliciously sweet to find those words appro- 
 priate which I have loved ever since I was 
 a child. I say for myself — 
 
 " ' I could not love you, dear, so much 
 Loved you not honour more.' 
 
 How I shall glory in all the fine things I 
 shall read about you in the newspapers to- 
 morrow ! " 
 
 He laughed, and passed his hand caressingly 
 over her mass of splendid hair ; and she, look- 
 ing up into his face with a long tender gaze of 
 satisfied delight, murmured — 
 
 •' Your looks match your actions — you are 
 handsomer than ever I " 
 
 " Ah, I see," he said, with an odd change of 
 feeling, " your love rests on two stays — my 
 good looks and my credit. Do you think that 
 foundation deep enough ? " 
 
 " A beautiful mind in a beautiful body," she
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 13 
 
 answered promptly. " What better security 
 would you have ? " 
 
 " Ay," he answered ; ''' but suppose circum- 
 stance belied truth and me, and at the same 
 time malignant smallpox, caught in some pes- 
 tilential hole, made havoc of the face you are 
 pleased to fancy — what then ? " 
 
 " You would be the first to release me from 
 my promise, and I, be quite sure, Hugh, would 
 force its fulfilment upon you. I love you for 
 all time, dear, with all my heart and strength, 
 and could scarcely love you better under stress 
 of misfortune or undeserved disgrace. Believe 
 that I am equal to any test but the one which 
 can never be applied — your own unworthi- 
 ness." 
 
 She looked at him with such sweet tender- 
 ness of regard that it provoked a feeling of 
 deeper reverence than he often felt for the girl 
 he had known from a child ; he raised her hand 
 to his lips and kissed it. She blushed with 
 pleasure, then, conscious of an almost painful 
 overstrain of feeling, said lightly —
 
 14 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 *' I am forgetting my promise to my sister. 
 She begged me to bring you into the house as 
 soon as our first meeting was over. She said 
 she should be dying to hear all the news. 
 Shall we go in and see herl"
 
 15 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 " Are you perfectly disengaged, Mrs Prescott '? " 
 The lady addressed started uneasily, though 
 the speaker was her husband. He had opened 
 the door of the pretty morning-room in which 
 she was sitting, so quietly that she had not 
 heard his approach ; and a visit from him at 
 this early hour of the day, or indeed at any 
 hour of the day as specially meant for herself, 
 was an unusual occurrence. 
 
 Besides, there was an inflection in the tone 
 of his voice that conveyed to her sensitive 
 feeling something disagreeable and aggressive. 
 '' Of course I am disengaged, George, if you 
 have anything to say to me," she answered, 
 nervously rising from her chair and pushing 
 another in his direction, as if in token of wel-
 
 16' LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 come reception. " I — I hope there is nothing 
 the matter." 
 
 '' The matter ! " 
 
 Mr Prescott's pale keen face took a paler 
 shade ; an expression almost of repugnaoce 
 replaced the habitual sneer it wore in his in- 
 tercourse with his wife. 
 
 " I often wish," he resumed, '' that your 
 expressions were a little less proverbial ; you 
 scarcely talk like a woman who has been an 
 instructor of youth, even in the limited capacity 
 of a nursery-governess. What do you mean 
 when you ask me if anything is ' the matter ' ? " 
 
 "I mean, has anything happened to upset 
 you — in the way of business that is, or — in any 
 other way ? " 
 
 The words were weak and provocative enough 
 to a temper on edge with worry and irritation ; 
 and the obvious timidity of the speaker, who 
 scarcely dared to let her frightened eyes rest on 
 the face she was yet so anxious to read, in- 
 creased his impatience almost to frenzy. 
 
 He stifled an oath between his clenched teeth.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 17 
 
 *' It would be encouraging to bring one's 
 troubles to a nervous fool like yourself, sup- 
 posing there were something wrong. But you 
 are Lucia's mother, and I find it necessary to 
 talk to you about her. When did you hear 
 •from her last ? " 
 
 " I have not heard since she wrote to tell me 
 of her safe arrival at her sister's. She was ex- 
 pecting Lieutenant Marriott, and would very 
 likely wait till she had seen him before writing 
 again. Have you read the papers this morning? 
 both he and Captain Frobisher are most honour- 
 ably acquitted." 
 
 She presented every word she spoke with an 
 air of deprecation, and felt relieved that her 
 reply was listened to, without sneer or outburst. 
 
 Mr Prescott was revolving two alternatives 
 in his mind ; he had a point to gain, and hesi- 
 tated between despotism and constitutional 
 authority. 
 
 " I have read the papers," he said quietly, 
 " and no daughter of mine shall marry a man 
 who has placed himself in an equivocal position. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 18 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 I have decided to break off that engagement ; 
 it never had my approval, as you know : it was 
 your doing, and therefore a mistake." 
 
 He got up and began to walk the room, kick- 
 ing the dainty furniture to right and left, so as 
 to clear a path for himself, and furtively glanc- 
 ing at his wife. 
 
 She looked up with more boldness than he 
 had expected. 
 
 " I do not think an engagement like theirs 
 can be broken off ; it has gone too far. They 
 are very much in love with each other — Lucia 
 would break her heart." 
 
 "Do not you remember that we were once 
 very much in love with one another, and what 
 is the residuum now ? It^ays in the long-run 
 to start with a little cool dislike or reasonable 
 indifference. It does not suit my plans that 
 Lucia should marry a beggarly lieutenant ; and 
 — I am used to carry out my plans." 
 
 He stopped walking the floor, and stood 
 before the cKair where she sat. 
 
 " One word — will you help me ? "
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 19 
 
 There was a concentration of purpose in his 
 pale face and glittering eyes, as well as a re- 
 serve of anger and insult, which produced its 
 effect ; for this woman feared her husband more 
 than any other power, human or divine. 
 
 " You will not ask me, George, to do what is 
 wrong ? " she said feebly. 
 
 *' No ; I am going to ask you to fulfil a wife's 
 duty : there is ' something the matter,' as you 
 phrase it, and only one way of deliverance, and 
 for once you can be useful to me. Do you like 
 the life you lead ? I mean," he added, as he 
 saw her perplexity, "you have grown accus- 
 tomed to ease and luxury, and have adapted 
 yourself to it as readily " (he could not forego a 
 sneer) *' as if it had l^een your birthright. You 
 have brought your girls up in purple and fine 
 linen, and used them to fare sumptuously every 
 day. Happily we have settled one of them 
 fairly well, and her husband can scarcely turn 
 round upon her under any family casualty ; but 
 Lucia is still on our hands. It would scarcely 
 suit that young lady to return on her mother's
 
 20 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 lines, and teacli brats in a nursery for a living — 
 yet such a necessity might arise." 
 
 " I don't think it could. Lieutenant Marriott 
 loves Lucia for her own sake — it would make 
 no difference to him." 
 
 He controlled himself with a powerful effort. 
 
 " And is Lucia the only anxiety you have ? 
 We have lived together for over twenty years, 
 and it is to be supposed you know something of 
 my character and work. I have not fought my 
 way to the front for nothing, but at the cost of 
 hard thinking and striving. How did we begin 
 life, and what is our status now? My name 
 to-day is a power in the city — a guarantee 
 equal to floating half-a-dozen bubble companies 
 — but to-morrow the tide might turn. Perhaps 
 I have made a false step, and ventured too 
 much in the desire to secure more — a larger 
 fortune for our handsome girl ! Enough ; I 
 want help, and must have it." 
 
 " A false step ! " she repeated, as he paused 
 a moment ; " that does not mean more than 
 an error of judgment your sagacity will soon
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 21 
 
 retrieve. So long as it is not a question of 
 
 honour ■" she stopped, uncertain how to go 
 
 on under the cynical gaze that met her hesi- 
 tating attempts at self-expression. 
 
 *' So long as it is not a question of honour 
 we will pauperise ourselves willingly, and will, 
 moreover, give our daughter to a pauper ? 
 Pardon me, we will do nothing of the kind ; 
 nor should I find any compensation in your 
 inane moralities. We will retrieve our posi- 
 tion — that is certain ; but it will be by selling 
 our daughter. I am pledged to barter Lucia in 
 exchange for an accommodation without which 
 absolute ruin — possible shame — would overtake 
 us." 
 
 Mrs Prescott sat silent. If she had dared, 
 she would have repeated the words " possible 
 shame," and pressed some inquiries home to 
 him. As it was, she received the announce- 
 ment with a sinking heart, and evident change 
 of colour. 
 
 " Do you know the name of the firm with 
 whom we bank in the city ? "
 
 22 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " You can scarcely surprise me ! It is one 
 that ranks something lower than the Roths- 
 childs of finance — Vivyan, Deane, & Vivyan — 
 but a great name notwithstanding, and one that 
 will answer my purpose to the full. If I go on 
 to tell you that, under severe pressure, I have 
 put both my credit and honour in their power, 
 what will you say '? Surely that you wall help 
 me if you can ? " . 
 
 '* Yes, I would say that ; ' if we can ' in- 
 cludes a great deal." 
 
 " In this case it includes very little. Mr 
 Deane, senior, is willing to meet all my de- 
 mands on condition that I give our daughter 
 Lucia to his son and heir." 
 
 " To Everard Deane ! " 
 
 "Is it possible that you are shamming ? 
 Why do you repeat the man's name as if you 
 knew him, almost in the same breath as you 
 declare you never heard it ? " 
 
 " I have heard a great deal about Everard 
 Deane, though I did not know who your
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 23 
 
 bankers were. You must have heard about 
 him too." She looked distressed. 
 
 ''It would be strange if what I may have 
 heard, or you either, would make any difference 
 in my intentions," he said, harshly. "Things 
 so stand with me that, were he the world, flesh, 
 and devil incarnate, he should have Lucia for 
 wife, since that is the price of my deliverance." 
 
 " But Lucia will refuse to consent." 
 
 " It is part of the duty that I require from 
 you to overcome Lucia's possible reluctance. 
 I shall have certain irresistible arguments to 
 apply, but they must be backed by her mother. 
 Do you understand ? or shall I be reduced to 
 threaten ? " 
 
 He sat down, and drew a chair close to her 
 own. 
 
 " Shall I recall to you the painful periods of 
 seclusion you were obliged to observe after the 
 birth of each of your children '? We have both 
 intimate friends acquainted with the circum- 
 stance ; and I have some who have heard me 
 deplore that your recovery has not been so
 
 24 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 perfect as I could wish. It is of course pos- 
 sible I may have mistaken the excess of mental 
 weakness for lunacy ; but, by God ! if you 
 thwart me in this thing — that is, if you don't 
 coerce your daughter by any means that may 
 be in your power — you will bring my doubts 
 to a conclusion. I think I need not make my 
 meaning clearer." 
 
 For a moment a powerful sentiment of utter- 
 most scorn gave her courage to look him de- 
 fiantly in the face, but she had been the timid 
 slave of his stronger will from the hour when 
 she had yielded her own to his brief passion, 
 and as her eyes encountered the cruelty and 
 resolution of his, her mind fell back again into 
 the collapse of submission. 
 
 "That is right/' he said, answering her un- 
 spoken words, " I assure you resistance would 
 not pay on your part or Lucia's ; she shall be 
 Mrs Everard Deane before six months are over ! 
 I would give her a jparure of diamonds to mend 
 her broken heart, only it will be unnecessary. 
 I am told there are diamonds in the Deane
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 25 
 
 coffers fit for a queen's ransom or despair. 
 For the rest, there will be a good many details 
 to arrange, and that without loss of time, but 
 the next thing to be done is to get the girl 
 home. You will not make any mistake ; to- 
 day is Tuesday, she must be home at latest 
 by Thursday. One word more : has Lucia heard 
 any gossip about Deane ? " 
 
 "I do not know ; I have never heard her 
 mention him." 
 
 '' Ah ! you are inclined to be sulky, but I will 
 condone temper on the ground of obedience ; 
 only you will take care she hears nothing to 
 his discredit so far as you are concerned." 
 
 He took out his watch and looked at it. 
 
 "It is 4.30. You will have plenty of time 
 to write by to-day's post. I have an engage- 
 ment, or I would look over your letter when 
 written ; as it is, I trust you." 
 
 And he went out of the room, shutting the 
 door softly after him.
 
 26 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 When the ricli banker, Marcus Deane, had 
 married late in life the Lady Elizabeth Gre villa, 
 who had herself passed her first youth, it was 
 confidently asserted that she had been proof 
 against his. solicitations until he had shown her 
 a certain casket of diamonds of which very 
 peculiar circumstances had made his grand- 
 father the possessor. These jewels had come 
 to the old man, who had been the founder of 
 the family, as an equivalent for large pecuni- 
 ary advances he had made in early life to a 
 certain Hungarian Jew, who had succeeded in 
 winning both his sympathy and his confidence. 
 Long years after, when the circumstance had 
 faded from his memory, and his head was white 
 with age, he had received this costly bequest.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AST) AXOTHER. 27 
 
 duly authenticated, as the outcome of the stran- 
 ger's gratitude. 
 
 " I owe you," he wrote, " the prosperity of a 
 life in which I have proved everything false but 
 your friendship and my own sense of it. You 
 wrong no one by accepting these jewels, which 
 are absolutely worth less than what you gave 
 me. They belonged to a faithless wife who has 
 gone to her account before me, and I have no 
 child." 
 
 The diamonds were beautiful enouorh to ex- 
 cuse any woman for coveting their possessiou, 
 and if they served to turn the scale in the 
 banker's favour, he had no reason to reo-ret 
 their adequacy. 
 
 Lady Elizabeth made him an excellent wife, 
 but their married life was none the less a dis- 
 appointment. It was a matter of deep regret 
 to her that she was the mother of only one 
 child, and that a son, so that she left no daugh- 
 ter behind her to inherit the family treasure. 
 It would be hard to endow a son's wife with 
 so priceless a gift.
 
 28 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 But alas ! even that alternative proved to be 
 doubtful ; the chances being that her son would 
 never live to take unto himself a wife. The 
 blessing of sound health and full development, 
 which seem for the most part to be granted to 
 every peasant's or pauper's teeming offspring, 
 was denied to this solitary inheritor of birth 
 and fortune. 
 
 Her ambition had been to have a son who 
 would fitly represent the accumulated advan- 
 tages of his inheritance ; and nature presented 
 her with a feeble infant, whose life was with 
 difficulty sustained by skilled ministry and in- 
 cessant vigilance, and whose organic weakness 
 made the preservation of it a questionable 
 good. 
 
 For the first six years of Everard Deane's 
 painful existence scarcely a hope was enter- 
 tained by his physicians that he would reach, 
 not maturity, but boyhood even ; and he never 
 would have done so had he not had at com- 
 mand all the resources of medical science, 
 backed by the most assiduous devotion.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 29 
 
 But this care touched only his bodily needs : 
 moral training he had none ; unlimited indul- 
 gence was the law of his nursery. The notion 
 of discipline was absurd in relation to a child 
 whose days were already numbered ; there was 
 no motive to educate him for the battle of 
 life, when in all likelihood he would never be 
 called to engage in it. 
 
 Nurses and tutors — for the boy would have 
 tutors — soon learnt their lessons ; he was the 
 supreme consideration in the household, to 
 which every other interest, pleasure, or duty 
 must yield. He was to know no coercion, even 
 the mildest ; his will was never to be disputed 
 or crossed. 
 
 When he was in his fourteenth year his 
 mother died ; up to that time he had spent the 
 greater part of his life on a reclining board, 
 but his sufferings had been softened by constant 
 journeyings to home and Continental baths, 
 and by daily carriage exercise under conditions 
 of luxurious palliation. The apartments of the 
 invalid boy were so sumptuously and fantas-
 
 30 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 tically furnished as to be more like the realisa- 
 tion of an Arabian night's tale than the living 
 rooms of an English merchant's son ; but in 
 his behalf — to relieve the cruel hardness of his 
 lot — no outlay was too costly and eccentric. 
 He was taught from his cradle that he was a 
 victim ; " the pity of it " was a sentiment he 
 drank in with his foster-mother's milk. If 
 family love or care, if money, art, or nature 
 herself could offer him a brief satisfaction, one 
 of the ends had been attained for which each 
 and all existed. 
 
 And in spite of all this the boy did not 
 grow up a monster of selfishness. If he came 
 into the world with a feeble body, the inevita- 
 ble balance was redressed by an acute mind, 
 an imagination of fire, and a sweetness of dis- 
 position which refused to assimilate the poison 
 of his inordinate indulgence. 
 
 We have said he would have tutors, though 
 no outside pressure to learn was put upon him. 
 His passion for books saved him from excessive 
 lamentation over the deprivations of his lot.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. ol 
 
 Nailed to his couch, by which sat a succession 
 of more or less competent teachers, he could 
 still learn, and he seemed to learn by intuition. 
 His aptitude for languages was rather an in- 
 stinct than a faculty — he divined his author as 
 much as translated him. He did not aim at 
 profound scholarship, nor was it -part of his 
 tutors business to insist upon it. All he 
 asked for was to be helped to such a know- 
 ledge of Latin or Greek, French or GermaD, 
 as should give him the key to the literature of 
 each, and he was content. His literary tastes 
 were omnivorous, and indulged without super- 
 vision or restraint. Smollett and Shakespeare, 
 Fielding and Milton — the latter in his prose 
 works as well as his poetry ; and the prototypes 
 of these, so far as they have such in foreign 
 tongues, were accepted with the same zeal and 
 thoroughness, until fictiod and poetry palled on 
 the overfed fancy, and he turned with a sud- 
 denly diverted interest to philosophy and politics. 
 As little heed on this point as on others was 
 taken; he imbibed atheism and radicalism
 
 32 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 without any knowledge that the world had 
 such hard names for his crude notions, and was 
 confirmed in them by the man who was at 
 that time his tutor, and who had been accepted 
 on the grounds of the brilliant capacity and 
 gracious manners which were acceptable to his 
 pupil, without much investigation into his 
 moral fitness. 
 
 Everard Deane lived to disprove the ominous 
 prognostications of his birth. Singularly enough, 
 his health seemed to strengthen from the time 
 of the mother's death who would most have 
 rejoiced in its amendment. He was never likely 
 entirely to outgrow his constitutional infirmities, 
 but he was able to leave his couch and walk 
 without support, the spinal weakness resolving 
 itself into a slight stoop and a tendency for the 
 head to sink between the shoulders ; and even 
 these peculiarities becdme less marked as years 
 passed on and greater vigour was developed. 
 
 At eighteen he went to Oxford, his beloved 
 but unprincipled tutor following him chiefly 
 in the capacity of companion and nurse. It
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 33 
 
 was afterwards said by Deane's friends and 
 apologists that it was the example and teaching 
 of this man that had such a fatal influence over 
 his pupil. Be that as it may, the young man, 
 suddenly emancipated from the restraints of 
 home and the thraldom of sickness, with a creed 
 of the most absolute epicurism, acknowledging 
 no moral or religious obligations, and with un- 
 limited resources at command, ran a quite excep- 
 tional career of personal indulgence and excess. 
 The honours almost within his reach he made 
 no effort to secure ; he was sick of study and of 
 books now that reviving health and confirmed 
 manhood were prompt to suggest another field 
 of passionate gratification. His natural fastidi- 
 ousness, and a constitutional sweetness of dis- 
 position which made it painful to him to hurt 
 the feelings of another, prevented him from 
 outraging propriety to such a point as to incur 
 public disgrace or dismissal ; and it is very 
 probable that only his closest intimates were 
 aware of the licence he had allowed himself. 
 After he had kept two or three terms at 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 34 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Oxford, his morbid restlessness suggested an- 
 other change, and he proposed to his father he 
 should travel. There was no objection made to 
 the arrangement. Marcus Deane, who had a 
 considerable knowledge of his son's then mode 
 of life, hoped that it might break the links of 
 vicious habit ; but such an end was effectually 
 frustrated by the circumstance that his tutor 
 was still his travelling companion. Five years 
 Everard Deane remained abroad, during which 
 time he exhausted in a measure all the capitals 
 of Europe. 
 
 Sensuality in its turn palled, and that speed- 
 ily, upon this passionate experimentalist of the 
 resources of life ; and, moreover, his eyes had 
 become open to the worthlessness of the man 
 who would have lured him lower still down the 
 decline of dishonour. He dissolved the con- 
 nection with the sharp indignant pain of one 
 who has been wounded where such wounds 
 are vital and incurable, but with characteristic 
 generosity towards his seducer ; and then he 
 turned himself in another direction.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 35 
 
 He became an enthusiast in music and art, 
 and devoted himself to the study and mastery 
 of his new pursuits witt the same abounding 
 energy of purpose which he had given to his 
 books in boyhood. 
 
 He took up politics with equal ardour ; and 
 it was only the want of physical vigour which 
 prevented him from enrolling himself as a 
 volunteer in the Italian army of independence. 
 As it was, he followed Garibaldi through one 
 of his brief, heroic campaigns, enduring exertion 
 and privation with perfect courage and good- 
 temper. 
 
 There were constantly recurring periods of 
 his life when he suffered agonies of physical 
 pain, and found himself absolutely incapaci- 
 tated for either work or pleasure. His forti- 
 tude and patience under these attacks were 
 admirable, and could not but endear him to 
 those who knew him best. Indeed he was at 
 all times popular in society — his natural cour- 
 tesy and eagerness to relieve material want or 
 pain under all aspects, binding many hearts to
 
 36 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 him in the ties of gratitude, and leading even 
 those who could not but condemn his principles 
 and mode of life to try and find excuses for 
 him. 
 
 At the end of the period mentioned, and at 
 the earnest solicitation of his father, he re- 
 turned home, and made himself known in Lon- 
 don circles. But he found fashionable society- 
 flat, stale, and unprofitable; said his constitu- 
 tional ailments were aggravated by the damp 
 airs of Britain ; and pertinaciously refusing to 
 consider his father's entreaty that he would 
 marry, absented himself again from his native 
 land. 
 
 During the years that followed, his course of 
 life was very imperfectly known, and probably 
 greatly exaggerated. He travelled far and wide 
 in all the continents of the Old World : it was 
 said he had embraced Mohammedanism and 
 established a zenana of his own, in a sort of 
 Aladdin's palace of delights, in some remote 
 Turkish province not specified. But then it 
 was also said that he had turned Jesuit, and
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 37 
 
 worked under the brotherhood for six months, 
 in a lazar-house on the Syrian moiiD tains. It 
 was an admitted fact that he had been Living- 
 stone's companion for a time, during which he 
 had acted as brother or son to the distinguished 
 traveller, nursinor him throuo;h a dano-erous ill- 
 ness, and lending him substantial assistance and 
 supplies from his own abundance. 
 
 How, with the constitution he possessed, and 
 with constant liability to neuralgic attacks of 
 the most severe type, Everard Deane lived 
 such a life of hardship and exposure, broken 
 by periods of Sybaritic indulgence, puzzled 
 all those who cared to consider the subject : 
 he himself said he knew his own require- 
 ments best, and was never better than when 
 rouo^hinpr it. But he had at this time a^ain 
 yielded to his father's exigence, and not only 
 consented to return home, but had promised 
 to try and reconcile himself to civilised life, 
 and even to take into serious consideration 
 the idea that he ought to marry and settle 
 down.
 
 38 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " You are over thirty years of age, Everard, 
 and I am seventy," Mr Deane had said to him, 
 a few days after his establishment in the great 
 paternal mansion in Eaton Square ; "it would 
 be the greatest satisfaction of my life if I could 
 see you the husband of a good woman, or pat 
 the head of a grandchild before I die." 
 
 " But is it certain a good woman would have 
 me for a husband ? " 
 
 The older man hesitated, and his browns con- 
 tracted a little ; for the question presented the 
 horns of a dilemma. 
 
 '' Few of us," he answered sententiously, "are 
 worthy of a good woman's love." 
 
 " But there are degrees of unworthiness ; in- 
 deed, so far as my experience goes, it is not the 
 other sex which has taught me lessons in gener- 
 osity and virtue." 
 
 " Your experience has been unfortunate. 
 And," added Mr Deane, gravely, "I suppose 
 it is understood between us that you have sown 
 your wild oats, and are now prepared to act the 
 part of a sober English gentleman? I am as
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 39 
 
 little disposed as yourself to comproroise any 
 good woman's happiness." 
 
 " But there is another point. Granting I am 
 prepared to fulfil my part of the contract, am I 
 justified in transmitting to another generation 
 such a constitution as mine ? I should hesitate, 
 for mere humanity's sake, to summon any crea- 
 ture into existence to bear what sometimes I am 
 called upon to bear." 
 
 "My dear Everard," and the tall, stalwart 
 father rose hastily, and laid his hand affection- 
 ately on his son's shoulder, " that does not 
 follow ! You failed — forgive me — to inherit my 
 proportions and vigour ; we would hope your 
 children would enjoy a happier immunity." 
 
 " So be it ! I am prepared, then, to enter the 
 lists ; but I am convinced, in spite of my do- 
 cility, that you will find it harder work than 
 you imagine to persuade any woman to marry 
 me." 
 
 A few days after this, and just before Lucia 
 Prescott's visit to her sister, which was to be so 
 arbitrarily interrupted, Everard Deane was at
 
 40 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 the opera, and saw her in an opposite box. 
 She was with a party of friends, and full of 
 gaiety and animation ; he sat and watched her 
 throughout the performance, and at its close 
 made minute inquiries as to who she was. The 
 next day he said to his father — 
 
 ^' Do you happen to have any business rela- 
 tions with a man called George Prescott, and 
 who, I am told, is well known in the city 1 " 
 
 " I believe he banks with us : what then ? " 
 
 '' I happen to have seen his daughter, and 
 should like to be introduced to her. You are 
 bent on my marrying. I am averse to it ; but 
 if I must marry, I should like that girl for my 
 wife." 
 
 Mr Deane stood in perplexed consideration. 
 
 " You should look higher, Everard ; she is 
 not your equal." He observed the cynical look 
 on his son's face, and hastened to add — 
 
 " But I will make inquiries. A predilection 
 on your part is not to be neglected. You 
 know I Avould sacrifice a good deal to see you 
 married."
 
 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A MAN with his life at stake, in the supreme 
 crisis of self-defence, is not likely to be very 
 scrupulous about the means he employs, and 
 there are circumstances in ^Yhich physical exist- 
 ence itself is less precious to its possessor than 
 the preservation of name and position. 
 
 George Prescott was standing on the extreme 
 edge, not only of commercial ruin, but of disgrace. 
 As a stockbroker with a continually increasing 
 reputation for sagacity, acuteness, and profes- 
 sional reserve, he had risen from the grade of 
 substantial comfort to the middle circle of 
 admitted opulence. He was by no means the 
 influential city potentate he had given his wife 
 to understand ; but that is simply to say that, 
 like many other men, his self-estimate and that
 
 42 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 of the outside world did not precisely corre- 
 spond. 
 
 The pace at which he had been steadily rising 
 had become of late years too slow for his am- 
 bition; he desired to take rank amongst the 
 bi-millionaires of his day, and thought he saw 
 the way to do so by embarking largely in a 
 foreign speculation of magnificent potentialities, 
 the absolute security of which he considered 
 certain. In making this estimate he relied upon 
 his own practised faculties of perception and 
 calculation, which had hitherto justified his self- 
 confidence ; but on the present occasion they 
 played him false. Some undetected factor in 
 the account brought confusion on the scheme, 
 and Prescott found himself suddenly involved 
 in liabilities, which he was not only unable 
 to meet, even under the most tremendous sacri- 
 fice, but the repudiation of which, if only whis- 
 pered on 'Change, would be tantamount to his 
 professional downfall. 
 
 He banked with Messrs Yivyan, Deane, & 
 Yivyan, and had at the time considerable sums
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 43 
 
 of money to the credit side of his account, or 
 what had looked so yesterday. To-day, figur- 
 atively, these would be but as a drop in the 
 bucket of his emergency. There was ooly one 
 thing to be done ; he must maintain the belief 
 in his solvency, while looking out for ways and 
 means of re-establishing it ; and for this end he 
 must venture boldly. He decided to meet his 
 most pressing claims by drawing bills on his 
 bankers at dates corresponding with the in- 
 volved emergencies of his situation ; and he did 
 this with the free and disenoraored air of a man 
 who can utilise blank paper to any required 
 extent, either on the grounds of unlimited 
 credit or of an inexhaustible deposit. 
 
 He had not, of course, lost sight of his in- 
 ability to meet his bills at maturity, and he 
 knew equally well that the first one that was 
 repudiated by Messrs Vivyan, Deane, & Viv}^an 
 would be the knell of his financial existence; also, 
 that each draft duly honoured would reduce 
 the anxiety of those who held the rest of his 
 paper and the chances of their negotiating it.
 
 44 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 He had cherished, as men do in this game of 
 life, the hope that some brilliant stroke of for- 
 tune, some successful sleight of hand in the 
 manipulation of shifting markets, might cover 
 his necessities, but he was disappointed. 
 
 He trod so carefully that he did not indeed 
 sink deeper in the mire, but no chance of re- 
 trieval presented itself, and the day and hour 
 came when he knew his credit was exhausted, 
 and he must meet his bankers with a prayer 
 for their indulgence more or less humiliating. 
 
 As a matter of necessity he accepted his po- 
 sition, and took his way at once to Lombard 
 Street. He asked to see the senior partner, Mr 
 Deane, because that gentleman had a wide- 
 spread reputation for liberality and kindness of 
 heart ; and he found himself received with the 
 bland old-fashioned courtesy which never knew 
 any distinction of client. 
 
 Mr Prescott looked pale and agitated. He 
 said he had just received a severe shock : 
 knowing that a certain bill which he had given 
 was within a few days of maturity, and that
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 45 
 
 the drain upon his account had been exception- 
 ally heavy of late, he* had felt it necessary to 
 ascertain precisely how matters stood, and found 
 to his surprise and consternation that they could 
 scarcely be worse. Under these circumstances, 
 and with the explanation and security he was 
 prepared to give, he must appeal to Mr Deane 
 for a temporary accommodation. 
 
 Mr Deane naturally incjuired for what amount 
 the draft had been drawn, and the nature of the 
 security Mr Prescott was prepared to offer. 
 
 The latter named the sum, which was a heavy 
 one, with the coolness of a man accustomed to 
 five figures. 
 
 The banker slowly crossed one leg over the 
 other, and stroked the faultless broadcloth with 
 a meditative air ; then raising his grey over- 
 hanging brows, and looking steadily at his 
 client, said — 
 
 " It strikes me, as a point requiring full ex- 
 planation, that a man of business like yourself 
 should risk such an alternative as this, or be 
 taken unawares as to the state of his credit.
 
 46 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 It is a question not of hundreds but of 
 thousands." 
 
 "You are quite justified, Mr Deane, in what 
 you say and imply," replied Prescott, in a voice 
 of suppressed feeling ; '' and my negligence is 
 almost as incomprehensible to myself as to you. 
 One plea is that the pressure of affairs during 
 the last few months, which has been growing in 
 weight and importance, and the issue of which 
 will almost immediately relieve me from my 
 present new and disagreeable position, has 
 driven this transaction out of my tried memory. 
 
 Another — but I am loath to urge that " he 
 
 hesitated, and then added, with the abruptness 
 of a man forced to speak against the grain — 
 
 " I have been in the habit of giving my wife 
 blank cheques." 
 
 " I am sure," he continued, uncertain of the 
 effect he had produced, for the banker's face was 
 under due control, " you will not expect me to 
 say more on this point. Our eldest daughter 
 has been married lately, and a good match in- 
 volves great expenses ; also it is difficult, in
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 4/ 
 
 these domestic emergencies, to draw the rein 
 which has been accustomed to hang slack. But 
 with this temporary .accommodation I shall be 
 able to provide for the future." 
 
 He was scarcely aware, so little are we accus- 
 tomed to gauge our own manifestations, that 
 every word he spoke increased Mr Deane's dis- 
 trust and dislike. The interview ended in a 
 postponement of the business, ostensibly on the 
 plea of further consideration on one side, and 
 the production of satisfactory security on the 
 other, though Mr Deane had already, in his own 
 mind, closed the negotiation, regarding George 
 Prescott as a man not to be trusted. 
 
 But before the second interview took place, it 
 so happened that Everard Deane had seen the 
 stockbroker's dauo-hter, and notified his admira- 
 tion of her to his father. The result was that 
 Mr Prescott met with a very difi'erent reception 
 from what had been intended — the weighty 
 accommodation asked for was granted, and was 
 followed up by a request that he would call in 
 Eaton Square on the following day on private
 
 48 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 business. In that interview lie learnt, to his 
 eager satisfaction, that the plank of salvation 
 about to be thrown across the gulf of his diffi- 
 culties was to be strengthened by very substan- 
 tial props; Mr Deane making a reserved but 
 clear statement of his son's wish to be intro- 
 duced to Lucia with a view to paying her his 
 addresses, on the distinct understanding that 
 her affections were disengaged, and that she 
 was free to be sought in marriage. 
 
 It might be supposed that Mr Prescott felt 
 himself perplexed on this ground, but it was 
 not so; he lied with invincible courage and 
 frankness, trusting to his own resources to 
 manipulate matters to a satisfactory conclusion, 
 and scarcely conscious of hesitation as to whe- 
 ther the frivolous partiality of a girl for an 
 undesirable lover was to be weighed in the 
 balance against his momentous social interests. 
 
 On the evening of the same day, which was 
 also that which had seen the happy reunion of 
 Hugh Marriott and Lucia, Mr Deane announced 
 the success of his negotiation to his son.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 49 
 
 Dinner had just b^n concluded, and dessert 
 was on the table, but Everard himself had sat, 
 as was very often the case, chiefly as a spectator 
 of the feast, and was now lying back on a couch 
 with a cigar between his lips and a book in his 
 hand. 
 
 " I engaged to marry but not to woo," he 
 answered ; " the preliminaries of the alliance 
 are in your hands. When everything is arranged, 
 it will be soon enough to make the consenting 
 parties known to each other." 
 
 His obvious indiff'erence stimulated Mr Deane's 
 anxiety. The match had been very disagreeable 
 to him ; but if this chance was lost there was 
 small hope of raising another. Better the 
 dauorhter of Georo;e Prescott than no wife at 
 all. 
 
 "Do you seriously suppose," he asked, ''that 
 a handsome girl of twenty will be courted by 
 proxy i 
 
 " It might be dangerous, certainly. At 
 seventy years old you have youth and vigour 
 enough left to throw my inferior advantages 
 
 VOL. L D
 
 50 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 into ridiculous contrast. Think again, sir I I 
 have not the slightest objection to a stepmother, 
 however young or handsome, and the chances 
 would be greatly in your favour if you would 
 accept the idea of a son instead of a grandchild. 
 It is a poor expedient to perpetuate the race 
 through me." 
 
 '^ You insult me, Everard ! " 
 
 '' Not with intention. If I speak bitterly, I 
 speak the truth. I am not sure I have the 
 effrontery to face this blooming girl, innocent 
 as Eve before the tempter, in the character of a 
 suitor. If her heart is free, my chances, you 
 will own, are poor of winning it." 
 
 Mr Deane looked annoyed. It is difficult to 
 make yourself the advocate of expediency with- 
 out compromising your dignity as a moralist. 
 " There are other considerations in a calculating 
 age like ours which turn the matrimonial scale," 
 he said. " A woman is not of necessity to be 
 condemned because she rates at its worth a 
 position such as you would be able to give her. 
 Then you are morbid about your disadvantages :
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 51 
 
 you must know yoik inherit your mother's 
 beauty of feature, and if you have not the 
 inches and i^hysique of a heavy dragoon, you 
 have what oroes farther with women — a 
 
 o 
 
 winning manner and an eloquent tongue. If 
 this young lady cares for no one else — and her 
 father assures me this is the case — I see no 
 reason why you should not win her." 
 
 Everard shook his head. "I will try for 
 your sake ; but the mere fact of my succeeding 
 would lower her in my eyes. Lucia Prescott 
 should mate with a man in his first youth, full 
 of worth and honour. I*can read her pure and 
 ardent soul in her sweet looks."' 
 
 Mr Deane looked at him curiously. 
 
 " And is there some inborn hindrance to 
 your proving yourself a man of worth and 
 honour ? Granting that the past has been un- 
 satisfactory, it is with the present and the future 
 that a wife has to do. Happily, an act of con- 
 fession is not one of the preliminaries of court- 
 ship." 
 
 Everard's reply was by a sudden lighting up 
 
 » ^>-4
 
 52 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 of expression, which conveyed the idea of some 
 strong feeling having been stirred ; but it faded 
 down instantly into languor and pallor, without 
 being put into words. He went back to his 
 book and his sofa, saying tamely — 
 
 '' We won't discuss the ethics of courtship ; 
 just give me my instructions when and where 
 I am to meet Miss Prescott, and I will follow 
 them implicitly."
 
 53 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 Lucia obeyed her mother^ summons at once. 
 Mrs Prescott had told her it was her fathers 
 wish that she should come home, and although 
 the g;irl was not afraid of her father — for he had 
 been uniformly indulgent to her — she knew per- 
 fectly well that any disobedience would be 
 visited on the tender-hearted woman to whom 
 she was both loyally and passionately attached. 
 
 Also, if she left the country her lover would 
 return with her to town ; and the capabilities 
 of garden-parties, concert-rooms, and picture- 
 galleries were scarcely less for perpetual inter- 
 course than the seclusion of Mrs Lorimer's 
 charming home on the sea-beach at Luxton. 
 Captain Frobisher not being yet appointed to 
 another ship, though he had the best hopes of
 
 54 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 being so. Lieutenant Marriott was unattached 
 at present, and had therefore no other business 
 in life but to obey the commands of the gracious 
 girl he adored, under any variation of whim or 
 (Mrcumstance. 
 
 He travelled up with her to town, and would 
 have driven straight w^ith her to her father's 
 house without doubt of welcome, but as they 
 stepped on the platform at Paddington, Mr 
 Prescott himself came forward to meet them. 
 
 It was a conjunction the latter had not 
 anticipated, but he plumed himself on being 
 a diplomatist, and having (as a diplomatist 
 should) his feelings under admirable control. 
 
 " I have positively shaken myself free from 
 business at this hour of the day, Lucia, for 
 the sake of meeting .you ! Glad to see you 
 look so well. The mother has been fretting 
 after you as usual ; we will get home as fast 
 as we can — the carriage is outside." 
 
 " But, papa, you are overlooking Hugh in 
 your satisfaction. Pray shake hands — he will 
 come home and dine with us, of course ? "
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER, 55 
 
 " Hugh ? Lieuten^t Marriott — oh, ten thous- 
 and pardons ! I had not the least idea he had been 
 your travelling companion. But I am afraid I 
 must not endorse your invitation to-day — the 
 poor mother is dreadfully out of sorts, and begged 
 me to bring no one home to her but yourself." 
 
 Lucia looked disappointed, but Mrs Prescott's 
 health was often uncertain, and she had no sus- 
 picion of duplicity. She was equally aware 
 that her father had never approved of the en- 
 gagement he had consented to sanction, and 
 rarely treated her lover with cordiality — 
 cordiality, she allowed, was not a strong point 
 in his character. Civil tolerance was all which 
 she had been able to win for the man of her 
 choice, but of his admitted disappointment; 
 therefore it would be unwise to express on this 
 occasion the regret and vexation she felt : they 
 would meet to-morrow. 
 
 So she turned her bright face and outstretched 
 hand to Marriott, with a glance and a smile that 
 were in themselves a caress — 
 
 " Poor mamma ! you know how dreadfully ner-
 
 56 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 vous she is ; but you will come and see us to- 
 morrow ? Early " — she whispered, as their hands 
 met and lingered with one consent in each 
 other's fervent clasp. 
 
 "The horses won't stand, Lucia; Lieutenant 
 Marriott must excuse us/' and with a cool nod 
 he hurried his daughter away; but as soon as he 
 had placed her in the carriage, he uttered an ex- 
 clamation of annoyance. He had lost the eye- 
 glass he always wore dangling from a narrow 
 string — he might have dropped it on the plat- 
 form — he must go back at once and look for it, 
 for he was not himself without it. He turned 
 so rapidly as to admit of no remark or sugges- 
 tion, and, as he had expected, he found the man 
 he wished to see, still lingering on the platform. 
 Hugh could command a view of the carriage 
 from his point of observation, and he was 
 gazing lover-like towards it. 
 
 He turned instinctively on recognising Mr 
 Prescott. 
 
 " Can I be of use ? is anything forgotten ? " 
 he asked.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 57 
 
 ** No ; I am come back to say a word I had 
 fororotteD. I have a little matter of business 
 I want to discuss with you — where will you 
 meet me to-morrow ? " 
 
 '* Wherever you please to appoint ; at the 
 office or your own house ? " 
 
 "Neither; I wish to be private. AYill you 
 lunch with me at the Langham, say two o'clock, 
 sharp ? " 
 
 "Willingly, except that I have made an 
 appointment with Lucia earlier in the morning." 
 
 " I will explain and put that matter square — 
 she shall excuse you ; you must take out the 
 difference at the other end of the day. By the 
 way, I have forgotten to congratulate you ; but 
 I do heartily. Good-bye for the present — I shall 
 depend on your punctuality." 
 
 When he returned to the carriage he held his 
 eye-glass in his hand. " Strange ! " he said — " it 
 had not been trodden on ; one of the porters had 
 picked it up. Home — straight ! Why, Lucia, 
 you are handsomer than ever ! "
 
 58 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 The lunch at the Langham, which had been 
 a recherche one, was over, and Mr Prescott sat 
 back in his chair leisurely picking his teeth. 
 He knew perfectly that his companion was on 
 the tenter-hooks of expectation and impatience, 
 eager to get away to keep his postponed engage- 
 ment with Lucia. Marriott had tried in vain 
 to draw from his host the object of their meet- 
 ing ; he had blandly but firmly decliued to dis- 
 cuss business till the meal was over, and that he 
 had protracted as long as he decently could. 
 To Hugh, who was no epicure, and never drank 
 wine before dinner, the limits of forbearance had 
 long been past, but he always felt the necessity 
 of restraining himself with Lucia's father. 
 
 He stood chafing at the window, waiting for 
 the other to speak. 
 
 " Will you sit down ? I like to see the man 
 to whom I am talking, especially when the 
 matter is important." 
 
 The tones were acrid and chilling, and ex- 
 acerbated the dislike which the young man 
 secretly entertained for the speaker.
 
 59. 
 
 He flung himself into a cliair opposite. 
 
 Mr Prescott looked at him critically ; from 
 the crown of the well - shaped head, with its 
 crisp clustering curls, to the heels of the boots 
 which, after the little weakness of his profes- 
 sion, were as precise in fit and fashion as those 
 of a lady, — he allowed to himself that, in regard 
 to appearances, there was much that would 
 commend itself to any woman's fancy in Hugh 
 Marriott ; but in reaching such a conclusion 
 he judged him strictly on the same grounds 
 as he would have appraised a horse or a dog, 
 with no more faculty of appreciating the finer 
 indications of his personality than one born 
 blind. 
 
 " I have not been in a hurry to begin, 
 Marriott, because what I have got to say will 
 not be very pleasant hearing. Perhaps I had 
 better not beat about the bush. I have quite 
 made up my mind that your 'intimacy with 
 Miss Prescott must come to an end." 
 
 Hugh turned a little pale and smiled slightly. 
 Mr Prescott considered it an unfavourable sign
 
 60 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 that he did not break out into violent expos- 
 tulation, and went on more trenchantly — 
 
 " Your engagement, if you choose to call it 
 so, has never had my approval — you know that 
 perfectly well. If I have not absolutely for- 
 bidden it, it was simply because I have always 
 spoilt Lucia, and was willing to let her have 
 her own way for a while. I have now good 
 reasons for changing my course of action." 
 
 " Reasons connected with any fresh disquali- 
 fications on my part ? " 
 
 "No ; the disqualifications are rather on my 
 own, — I cannot afford the luxury of giving my 
 daughter to unsupported merit. I am a much 
 poorer man than I thought myself, and it would 
 not be right to suffer her to indulge her fancy 
 for one of her Majesty's lieutenants, whose pay 
 is his fortune. Now" — extending his hand 
 deprecatingly — " spare me your protestations 
 and appeals ! I know that neither you nor 
 Lucia will endure the cruelty of a forced separ- 
 ation, — that no father has a right to dispose 
 of his daughter's hand except as her heart die-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 61 
 
 tates, — that love takes the sticg out of poverty, 
 not to say beggary, — and that the imperative 
 requirements of life — or what become such to 
 a girl brought up like Lucia — have nothing 
 whatever to do with happiness. Have I an- 
 ticipated you 1 " 
 
 " On one point, assuredly — that after consent 
 once given, neither Lucia nor myself will agree 
 to a separation." 
 
 He spoke in the low tone of resolute self- 
 restraint, but there was the light almost of 
 hatred burning in the eyes fixed upon the cold 
 sneering face before him. 
 
 Mr Prescott in his turn felt his own animos- 
 ity quickening. He had of course expected 
 opposition, but that it would take the form of 
 froth and fury ; this quiet determination looked 
 troublesome. 
 
 "And what action will your pertinacity 
 take ? I am at least master in my own house, 
 and I forbid you to enter it. I equally forbid 
 your ^Titing to my daughter. I conclude you 
 will defy my authority, but in that case the
 
 62 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 
 
 women of my house shall suffer if they give 
 you any encouragement. I am a man of my 
 word." 
 
 Marriott pushed back his chair and rose up ; 
 he was white and trembling with indignant 
 fury, and yet felt impotent to oppose success- 
 fully the selfish, cold - blooded determination 
 of the speaker, — as impotent as it often fares 
 in this world for courage to feel before cowar- 
 dice, and white-souled virtue before brutal force. 
 Besides, there was the stringent necessity of 
 commanding himself in such a way as to give 
 Mr Prescott no justifiable plea against him. 
 
 He devoured his wrath and disdain, and 
 asked, in the same measured tones as before — 
 
 " Does Lucia know of this ? " 
 
 " Not a word. I have paid you the compli- 
 ment, which I hope will not prove an idle 
 one, of laying the situation before you and 
 appealing to your honour. It may, on reflec- 
 tion, appear to you that it will be as well to 
 submit quietly : you have your career before 
 you, and your fortune to make. You will go
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 63 
 
 out again with better chances in a finer ship. 
 The Admiralty just now are in the mood to 
 think nothing too good for you or Captain 
 Frobisher. When you come home there will 
 be other women as handsome and as kind as 
 Lucia, and you will have a better income to 
 meet parental demands. I assure you we never 
 marry our first loves, or, if we do, we live to 
 repent it." 
 
 *' If," said Marriott, with sudden eagerness, 
 and passing by as beneath his notice the paltry 
 provocations of his speech, " my chances were 
 even now better than your calculations ; I mean 
 if I had a chance of getting a ship of my own 
 — the thing is not impossible — in that case 
 your objections to me would be less ? you 
 would withdraw your opposition ? " 
 
 " My objections would certainly be less by 
 just so many paltry hundreds a-year as the rise 
 in the service would give you, and inasmuch 
 as Captain Marriott would sound better than 
 Lieutenant ; but, to be quite frank, if you were 
 to be orazetted Admiral of the Channel fleet
 
 64 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 to-morrow, my opposition would be the same. 
 Understand, I am not influenced by any per 
 sonal dislike or superficial sentiment which 
 might be overcome or reasoned on one side, 
 but by an unforeseen combination of circum- 
 stances, which leaves me without the option 
 of a choice." 
 
 "At least I demand a full explanation of 
 what these circumstances are." 
 
 *' I am not sure whether it will be wise to 
 give it. Lucia is under age, and cannot marry 
 without my authority. I have good reasons 
 for forbidding her to marry you. Take my 
 advice, and let the matter end where it is. 
 It will be better all round." 
 
 Marriott took up his hat to go. His face 
 was stern and set, and his blue eyes sparkled 
 with repressed passion. 
 
 " Yes," he said, " let the matter end here 
 so far as discussion between us two goes. But 
 as a point of honour, I give you to understand 
 that I shall maintain my rights over Lucia till 
 she bids m.e withdraw them. I deny your
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 65 
 
 power, under any circumstances, to take back 
 a consent once given." 
 
 He had turned towards tlie door, but Mr 
 Prescott, by a prompt movement, intercepted 
 him. 
 
 " Wait a moment ! You mean me to under- 
 stand that you will work on Lucia's childish 
 fondness for you to incite her to contumacy and 
 rebellion? By God, if you have a spark of 
 manly instinct in you, you will think twice 
 before you expose her to the consequences ! I 
 will make her life too bitter for her to bear ! " 
 
 "Do it 1" cried the young man savagely, 
 scarcely able to resist seizing Prescott by the 
 collar, and hurling him from the place where he 
 stood, — " do it ! you would only drive her into 
 my arms." 
 
 " Not so," replied the other in a low tone, 
 and with a watchful glance ; " she would hesi- 
 tate before she left her mother alone to bear the 
 brunt of my disappointment." 
 
 Hugh turned away from him with a shudder 
 of disgust. The brutality of the man stripped 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 QQ LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 him of means of defence. He moved towards 
 the table, and sitting down, leaned his head 
 between his hands, asking himself desperately 
 what course was open to him to follow. 
 
 Prescott surveyed him with perfect com- 
 posure ; he had no adequate notion of the pain 
 he was inflicting. Nature had denied him the 
 faculty of gauging any emotions outside the 
 pale of his own experience — and that was a 
 restricted area; but he had fully made up 
 his mind not to have any repetition of the 
 present unpleasantness — this scene must in- 
 clude the full catastrophe. Therefore, per- 
 haps, it would be desirable to be a little more 
 explicit. 
 
 " Come, ■ Marriott," he began, with the air of 
 a man making important concessions, "as it is 
 scarcely likely you and I will meet again on the 
 same terms as before, I am disposed to do what 
 is very much against the grain — trust another 
 man with a damaging secret. I shall be safe, I 
 suppose ? " 
 
 Hugh raised his head, and said coldly —
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 67 
 
 " You must draw your own conclusions on 
 that point. I have no pledges to give." 
 
 Prescott's eye quickened with instinctive 
 aversion ; he changed his mind as to the can- 
 dour of his disclosures. 
 
 " I will not subject your honour to any severe 
 test," he resumed ; " it will be quite enough to 
 say that I unexpectedly find myself in a posi- 
 tion needing substantial pecuniary help, and 
 that such help is oflfered me under conditions 
 which have decided me to the step I have 
 taken to-day." 
 
 Hugh drew a deep breath, his face worked 
 with painful feeling. 
 
 " You mean — you cannot mean " he hesi- 
 tated and stopped short as if expecting the 
 other to come to his assistance, but he had 
 no such intention. 
 
 "Do you wish me to understand," he re- 
 sumed abruptly, " that Lucia's freedom of action 
 is in any way involved in these conditions 1 
 In that case " 
 
 " In that case you will probably do your best
 
 68 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 to upset them/' said Prescott, coolly. "I presume 
 I am to understand that you do not accept your 
 dismissal, and that it is war to the knife be- 
 tween us; only bear in mind the victim will 
 be vicariously represented." He paused, then 
 added, as he watched the changes of his com- 
 panion's face — 
 
 " Do you propose to rush to your love on the 
 instant ? I have taken due precaution against 
 such precipitancy. Lucia left town again with 
 her mother this morning, immediate change of 
 air being ordered for Mrs Prescott. I think 
 nothing more remains to be said." 
 
 '' You refuse to give me any further infor- 
 mation '? " 
 
 "I do ; and it would be quite superfluous, 
 seeing you are so confident of circumventing 
 me. I will leave you master of the situation. 
 Good morning."
 
 69 
 
 CHAPTER Yl. 
 
 Geoege Prescott was not so bad as lie painted 
 himself. He had been at his wits' end for 
 money, and when that crisis is reached, the 
 records of human frailty show that few possi- 
 bilities of crime go beyond it. 
 
 He was fully resolved that Lucia should 
 marry Everard Deane, and probably he would 
 have been equally so had he shared his vriie's 
 opinion of the man's unworthiness. But in 
 fact he did not share it ; and again, had he 
 done so, he might have been partially excused 
 on the plea that he had quite another estimate 
 of the value of moral excellence, and of the 
 concomitants of conjugal felicity. In giving 
 his daughter to the wealthiest man in their 
 society, and one of whose marital indulgence he
 
 70 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 felt pretty sure, he enjoyed the full sanction of 
 the faculty which stood to him in the stead of 
 conscience. As for the preliminary pinch of 
 separation from her lover, she would get over 
 that as a child cries itself to sleep and wakes 
 consoled. The brutal threat he had launched 
 towards his wife, and those he had made use of 
 to Marriott, he had no intention of putting into 
 serious execution, unless his necessity should 
 become desperate ; but he relied upon them as 
 salutary aids to his purpose. 
 
 His statement that Lucia had left town with 
 her mother was a pure fabrication, invented on 
 the spur of the moment to baffle Marriott's pos- 
 sible design ; and he cleared the ground still 
 further on his return home, by telling her that 
 he had met Marriott accidentally, and that he 
 had given him a message to herself — namely, 
 that he was summoned by telegraph to Ports- 
 mouth to meet Captain Frobisher on profes- 
 sional business, and would write to her instantly 
 on arrival. 
 
 " He would have stopped to write now, and
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 71 
 
 lost his train, but I overruled him. You can 
 wait till to-morrow ? " 
 
 " I can wait, certainly, but I am dreadfully 
 disappointed." 
 
 He smiled sympathetically, and produced 
 from his pocket some stall-tickets for a popular 
 theatre, where places were at a premium, and 
 asked her if she would go. 
 
 " I knew how you would take Marriott's de- 
 falcation to heart, and bought these as a salve 
 to the wound. I will take you myself, though 
 I shall fall asleep to a dead certainty. I never 
 could sit out a play of Shakespeare's ! " 
 
 They went, and he fulfilled his prophecy to 
 the letter, but not before he had had the satis- 
 faction of introducing her to Everard Deane, 
 who occupied the chair next her own, and of 
 perceiving how easily he succeeded in making 
 himself agreeable. 
 
 It had all been a concerted scheme, of which 
 Lucia, of course, knew nothing; neither, as it 
 happened, had she heard any of the stories 
 about Deane to which her mother had referred.
 
 72 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Her mind was a blank page in his regard, 
 waiting its first impression. 
 
 And that impression was strongly in his 
 favour. Sitting at ease, whatever personal de- 
 fects of figure and proportion existed were not 
 obvious ; while the delicate beauty of a face, 
 prompt to convey the finest shades and changes 
 of thought and feeling, with a singular vividness 
 of expression, charmed and interested her. 
 
 Still more, she had heard no man talk as he 
 did. Between the acts he discussed with her 
 not only the performance but the play, bringing 
 to bear upon it what seemed to her a marvellous 
 erudition as well as a most winning personal 
 faculty. 
 
 As he opened before her quickening intelli- 
 gence the complex and suggestive speculations 
 of modern thinkers, qualifying and expatiating 
 as he went, the feeling produced in her mind 
 was that she had been hitherto as a child grop- 
 ing in the dark. The new ideas which fell from 
 his lips in such easy but perfect phrases, acted 
 like a spark firing a secret train of perception,
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 73 
 
 and showing the existence of faculties dormant 
 until now. 
 
 His manners pleased her also : there was 
 something diflferent from the men with whom 
 she was acquainted in the very way he folded 
 and arranged her cloak about her — a mixed 
 suggestion of tenderness, deference, and admira- 
 tion, which was the most subtle of flattery. 
 
 As they stood together for a few moments, 
 waiting for the carriage, Lucia said, with the 
 prompt frankness which was one of her greatest 
 charms — 
 
 " I wish you would come and see mamma 
 sometimes. I shall think over what you have 
 been telling me to-day, and a thousand ques- 
 tions will come into my mind that no one will 
 be able to answer like yourself. I don't know 
 whether I am obliged to you, but you have 
 taught me what a very ignorant girl I am.'' 
 
 "An ignorance," he answered, "for which I, 
 or any other man like me, would barter all our 
 knowledge. But it is the very proof of the 
 fineness of your intelligence that you are so
 
 74 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 quick to perceive that ignoran'ce. It takes a 
 clear vision to gauge the heights and depths 
 which baffle us." 
 
 "I am glad," she answered brightly, ''that 
 you did not tell me I was not ignorant. I 
 should have ^ad no more faith in you if you 
 had!" 
 
 Everard Deane walked home that night in a 
 mood of personal derision. Was he, fire-proof 
 as he considered himself against the heat of any 
 new passion, already stirred and touched by 
 this crude, handsome girl 1 Her careless words 
 — "I should have had no more faith in you if 
 you had," moved the finer instincts of his being. 
 They implied not only the possibility of exciting 
 trust, but that a bias in that direction already 
 existed. Was the idea to be entertained that 
 he might make himself acceptable to such a 
 woman as Lucia, in spite of personal shortcom- 
 ings and a past on which but the one judg- 
 ment of condemnation could be pronounced? 
 
 But of that past it was evident she knew 
 nothing — his very name had been unknown to
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 75 
 
 her; and, as his father had reminded him, it 
 was with the present and the future a wife had 
 to do. She was offered to him on both sides, 
 but that would count for nothing unless she 
 approached him of her own accord. 
 
 Now that he had seen her, the idea seemed 
 less incredible than when speculating before- 
 hand on his chances ; and the contemplation of 
 it moved him in much the same way as the 
 prelude to some exquisite melody stirred his 
 senses. 
 
 He called upon her the next day, and hap- 
 pened not only to find her at home, but sitting 
 in her mother's favourite morning-room with the 
 "book of the play" in her hand, from which 
 she confessed she had been reading aloud. 
 
 It was a very charming room, with furniture 
 and draperies in pale green artistically manipu- 
 lated and adapted, though the day of advanced 
 eestheticism was not yet. The walls were well 
 covered with pretty water-colour pictures, and 
 brackets laden with still costlier china ; but we 
 are bound to admit that some portion of their
 
 76 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 surfaces were exposed to view. The balcony- 
 was full of sweet-scented flowers and magni- 
 ficent hardy ferns brought from Luxton, and 
 on the cultivation of which Lucia prided her- 
 self. Beyond the wide open windows stretched 
 the glades and slopes of Eichmond Park. 
 
 Mrs Prescott received her unwelcome visitor 
 with even more of painful nervousness than 
 usually marked her intercourse with strangers ; 
 and her daughter, who watched her afiection- 
 ately, regretted that she should do so little 
 justice to herself, as well as that she should 
 show such an absence of cordiality to the 
 stranger about whom she had talked to her 
 so eagerly the night before. 
 
 She herself did not fail in friendliness. Her 
 mind was still runniug in the same channel 
 into which it had been directed by the play ; 
 and moreover, there was an unusual cast of 
 pensiveness in her humour, owing to the fact 
 that she had received no letter from Hugh 
 Marriott, and was at a painful loss to under- 
 stand the cause.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 77 
 
 "Do you know," she said to Everard after 
 the first greetings were over, " I was trying to 
 give mamma some idea of the way in which 
 the famous soliloquy was spoken last night ! 
 It was very presumptuous ; only I am rather 
 a good mimic, and my memory is good — I 
 meaD, my reading had not much to do with 
 what you would call intellectual perception." 
 
 " May I judge '? " he asked. 
 
 Lucia hesitated. She knew she was an ex- 
 cellent mimic, and believed she had reproduced 
 the admired actor's manner and tones very 
 creditably ; also, she was delightfully free from 
 self-consciousness." 
 
 " If you promise to criticise and correct, I 
 will try. My mother was telling me how dif- 
 ferently Macready — was it Macready, mamma 1 
 — spoke it." 
 
 She took up the book and read through the 
 passage : "A matter of memory and mimicry 
 with which intellectual perception had nothing 
 to do?" thouo^ht her listener; — how ignorant 
 the girl was of her own latent capacity ! He
 
 78 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 sat watching her at first, and admiring the 
 bloom and freshness of her beauty ; but pres- 
 ently he dropped his eyes, the better to con- 
 centrate his attention on the inflections of her 
 voice. 
 
 As she ceased, the expression of his eyes as 
 they met hers answered the question of her 
 success. She blushed with pleasure. 
 
 " But you have often read ' Hamlet ' before 1 " 
 he inquired. 
 
 " I have read it, of course, but not often. I 
 have not been in the way of people who read 
 or think much, I am sorry to say; and what 
 you said to me last night was quite a new 
 revelation. I wish I had some of the books 
 you mentioned, and understood German well 
 enough to read what Gothe has written of 
 Shakespeare ! How many languages do you 
 speak, Mr Deane ? I hear you have been a 
 great traveller." 
 
 " I cannot even speak my own properly," he 
 said carelessly, anxious to divert her attention 
 from anything touching on his personal history,
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 79 
 
 and then he turned to Mrs Prescott, and tried 
 to draw her into the conversation. He talked 
 to her about the stage as she knew it in her 
 girlhood, and of the stars of that period, await- 
 ing her timid replies with that air of unaffected 
 interest which is the final touch of social court- 
 esy. He succeeded in eliciting both her intelli- 
 gence and her confidence, till she found herself 
 talking and listening with a zeal and pleasure 
 altoorether strano-e to her. It led to a volume 
 of Shakespeare being fetched in order to decide 
 some controverted point, and in his reading 
 aloud, first one passage and then another at the 
 entreaty of the two simple women, who were 
 almost equally fascinated by their companion. 
 
 He read admirably, but without any touch 
 of stage declamation : he read like a critic 
 and a poet, the acute brain keeping the fervid 
 imagination in check ; also like a fine musician, 
 which he was, touching the stops of the great 
 dramatist's organ with faultless precision and 
 delicacy. 
 
 Before he took his departure it was tacitly
 
 80 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 understood that he would call again as his in- 
 clination led him ; and he had even obtained a 
 half-promise from Mrs Prescott that she would 
 allow him to introduce her and Lucia to a cer- 
 tain drawing-room recital of chamber-music, to 
 which he had the entree, and respecting which 
 he had excited their interest. 
 
 A silence fell between mother and child as 
 the door closed upon him. Mrs Prescott was 
 taking herself severely to task for the pleasure 
 she had enjoyed in the society of the man of 
 whom she had heard so much evil, and was 
 also speculating on the strange anomalies of 
 human character. She felt like a traitor to 
 virtue to have been won to complacency by 
 outside pleasantness ; but then, alas ! fidelity 
 to virtue would be disobedience and treachery 
 towards her husband. 
 
 She glanced uneasily toward Lucia : to this 
 hour her mind was not made up as to the part 
 she would play in disposing of her daughter's 
 future. The girl was leaning back in her chair 
 with an air of unusual languor ; her hands loosely
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 81 
 
 folded in her lap, and her eyes gazing out of 
 the window, with the vague introspective ex- 
 pression that shows the mind is far away from 
 the visible scene. A slight smile touched the 
 rosy lips. 
 
 " Mother," she said presently, " surely we have 
 led a very narrow life and get very little enjoy- 
 ment out of things 1 I mean, we have gone like 
 other people to places of amusement — theatres, 
 concerts, picture-galleries, — only we have not 
 understood what we went to see." 
 
 " I think we have understood as well as the 
 other people." 
 
 " Yes ; that is the next step in my conclu- 
 sions — they have all been as ignorant and 
 narrow as ourselves. Is a banker so very much 
 higher in the social scale than we are ? or what 
 advantages of education and culture has this 
 Mr Deane enjoyed beyond the men we have 
 been accustomed to see ? He seems to know 
 about everything, and to look upon doing so as 
 a matter of course." 
 
 "Mr Deane's father is a very great banker, 
 
 VOL. L F
 
 82 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 and he himself has spent more than half his life 
 abroad. He has been a great traveller," said 
 Mrs Prescott, uneasily. 
 
 Lucia was silent a few minutes, then she 
 said — 
 
 " I have an idea I am a great deal more 
 stupid and yet a great deal cleverer than I 
 supposed." 
 
 " I always thought you clever, dear," said the 
 mother; "but you mean that Mr Deane has 
 been paying you compliments." 
 
 Lucia smiled a little compassionately at the 
 want of perception betrayed. 
 
 "He has not paid me one, mother dear: 
 on the contrary, it is he who has brought me 
 to the knowledge of my ignorance. But I can 
 improve ! " 
 
 " To please Mr Deane ! " 
 
 Her words seemed prompted by some power 
 outside . herself, so contrary were they to the 
 task imposed upon her. And then she added — 
 
 " But you need not trouble about that, Lucia; 
 Hugh thinks you perfect."
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 83 
 
 The name dissipated the girl's unusual mood 
 of speculation ; a soft blush came into her 
 cheeks, and a sudden mist gathered into her 
 eyes. 
 
 *' Dear Hugh ! " she whispered. " But why 
 has he not written, mamma ? It is the first 
 heart-ache he has given me ! " 
 
 Mrs Prescott felt as if this was the prelim- 
 inary prick of the sword that was to pierce her 
 own soul also. 
 
 "I know nothing," she replied, nervously; 
 " ask your father, Lucia." 
 
 Lucia stood thinking a few minutes, and then 
 said suddenly — 
 
 " May I have the carriage, mamma ; and 
 would you mind driving into the city to- 
 day 1 We might catch papa at the oJQfice, and 
 I would ask him to tell me over again what 
 Hugh's message was. H I had the address, 
 I would write to him, of course. I would 
 write him twenty letters to none to ease my 
 anxiety, for I could never feel a doubt of 
 Hugh."
 
 84 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " I don't think that would do, dear. Your 
 father never likes to be disturbed in business 
 hours, and it is very uncertain that we should 
 find him at all. You must wait till he comes 
 home."
 
 85 
 
 CHAPTEE YIL 
 
 Lucia consented to wait ; her anxiety was not 
 very extreme. A man engaged in pressing 
 business might miss one day's post simply from 
 want of time to write — to-morrow would bring 
 full satisfaction. 
 
 She had never looked brighter or more win- 
 ninor than when she came into the drawinpr- 
 room that evening, and went up at once to 
 accost her father, wbo was standino: on the 
 hearth-rug, with his back to the chill decorated 
 grate, impatiently waiting for the dinner-bell to 
 ring. Mr Prescott appraised his daughter more 
 highly than ever since such a seal had been set 
 on her charms as the approval of so difficult a 
 connoisseur in female beauty as Everard Deane. 
 He was in high good-humour also at the appar-
 
 86 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 ent smoothness with which his schemes were 
 running. He had had occasion to see his 
 bankers again that morning ; and although his 
 business had been of a nature to strain their 
 indulgence, Mr Deane had not only met his 
 requirements, but had asked if he thougTit Mrs 
 Prescott and her daughter would accept with 
 him an invitation to dine in Eaton Square. 
 
 "Well, Lucia," he said, drawing her to his 
 side and kissing her, " what is it to-day ? I 
 see you are brimful of some important matter, 
 and I am in the mood for granting requests. 
 ^Has the pocket-money run short '? Mamma is 
 a bit of a screw, eh ? " 
 
 Lucia shook her head. 
 
 " "Wrong both ways ! J' I don't know what it 
 is to be short of money — that experience is re- 
 served for the future"— with a smile. ''And 
 mamma is always too good to me. I am anxious 
 about Hugh ; I have had no letter to-day. Please 
 tell me over again the message he gave you for 
 me, and be quite sure you report it right." 
 
 Mr Prescott's sunny humour darkened ; he
 
 87 
 
 walked to the window to hide his irritation : he 
 had positively forgotten (what no diplomatist 
 should) the story he had invented. 
 
 " Ton my soul, Lucia, you provoke me ! I 
 don't think it is a nice thino^ for oirls to make 
 such a parade of their fondness as you do for 
 this young man. I tell you now, as I have told 
 you over and over before, he is not worth it ; 
 you will have to think twice about this same 
 business." 
 
 "Think twice!" she repeated gravely. "I 
 have already thought a great deal more about it 
 than that, and no amount of thinking will make 
 any difference. I have long made up my mind 
 that to be loved by Hugh Marriott is an honour 
 any girl might be proud of, and that no fortune 
 which I may bring him will make the balance 
 even. Please don t say a word against him. I 
 cannot bear it." 
 
 He turned round and looked at her. There 
 was a quiet resolution, a certain sweet dignity 
 in her words and manner which struck him as 
 something new, and as revealing a stronger
 
 88 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 capacity for resistance than he had calculated 
 upon. He must be on his guard ; Everard 
 Deane would not accept a reluctant bride. 
 
 " Well/' he said, " to humour a spoilt child 
 and a silly woman Til hold my tongue, at least 
 for the present ; but the time will come, Lucia, 
 when it will be my duty as a father to speak 
 out. You won't be the first woman deceived 
 by the appearance of goodness. I can give you 
 no explanation of Lieutenant Marriott's silence. 
 I told you what he told me." 
 
 Lucia's lip had curved ; involuntarily she had 
 drawn up her supple figure with a defiant 
 gesture. 
 
 ''Even you," she answered in a low tone, 
 " must not speak like that. I will not hear 
 a doubt of his goodness — it is too absurd ! 
 You told me he was summoned to Portsmouth 
 to meet Captain Frobisher, and that he would 
 write and give me particulars. He has not 
 written. Did he say anything else ? Had he 
 no idea why he was wanted ? " 
 
 ''There is no use at all, Lucia, in cross-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 89 
 
 questioning me in this way. I told you what 
 passed to the best of my recollection at the 
 time, and have nothing to add. The young 
 man looked to me flushed and excited, and was 
 not so coherent as might have been desired. 
 Had it been any other than your Prince Para- 
 gon," he added with a sneer, " I should have 
 said he had been drinking, or was in trouble. 
 But no doubt the explanation will be satisfac- 
 tory — when it comes ! " 
 
 " I do not doubt it," said Lucia steadily, but 
 with a o^low of subdued indio-nation in her face. 
 " Perhaps a letter would reach him addressed to 
 Captain Frobisher's care ? " 
 
 " Most likely ; if you knew where to address 
 it." 
 
 "I do know; I remember Hugh mentioned 
 the name of the hotel where he stayed on one 
 occasion when he was writing to him at Ports- 
 mouth. I have a good memor}'," she added 
 with her gracious smile, which grew brighter as 
 she remembered she had made the same observa- 
 tion before that day.
 
 90 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Mr Prescott would have been disposed to 
 curse tlie excellence of her faculty had he not 
 considered that as neither Frobisher nor Mar- 
 riott was at Portsmouth, the letter might be 
 safely permitted to be written. 
 
 '' Write by all means, Lucia, if your pride 
 has nothing to say against it." At this moment 
 the dinner-bell rang, and he drew her arm 
 within his to lead her to the dining-room with 
 an affectionate ceremoniousness which surprised 
 her as unusual. On the way he whispered as if 
 struck by a sudden idea — 
 
 " By the by, I don't suppose it is very likely 
 you will see much of Mr Everard Deane ; but if 
 you should, be careful on one point — don't men- 
 tion Hugh Marriott's name to him on any 
 account." 
 
 " And why '? " asked Lucia almost imperi- 
 ously. 
 
 '' Oh, why ! you have forbidden me to ex- 
 plain. I have good reasons. All men don't 
 share your views of your sweetheart."
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 91 
 
 For almost the first time in her life an ele- 
 ment of unhappiness was introduced into Lucia's 
 experience. The days passed and she did not 
 hear from her lover, not even in reply to the 
 frank ardent letter she had addressed to him at 
 Portsmouth. In the course of a week or so, 
 the same letter came back to her through the 
 dead-letter office, with the official announcement 
 on its cover. Surprise and anxiety rather than 
 distrust were the feelings excited in her mind ; 
 she took the returned letter to her mother, 
 secure of her fellow-feeling in the matter. 
 
 " He must have returned to town and missed 
 it," she said. " I shall write to him at once to 
 the old address. There is some strange mis- 
 take. Mother, what would you advise me 
 to do ? " 
 
 " Hardly to go on writing, dear, when he does 
 not answer your letters," said Mrs Prescott, in 
 a low voice, and with an inward appeal to 
 heaven to shed a ray of light upon her crooked 
 path. 
 
 Lucia turned away ; she had great forbear-
 
 92 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 ance for her mother's weakness ; but this almost 
 exceeded her patience. 
 
 " Why do you answer like that ? " she asked, 
 in tones which vibrated with passionate feeling. 
 "If all the world condemned Hugh, and cir- 
 cumstances looked worse against him than they 
 do, I should go on trusting him all the same. 
 I am not sure if he told me with his own lips 
 that he was false to me that I should believe 
 him ; but he never will ! — he never will ! " 
 
 " No, dear, he never will. If it will comfort 
 you, I will say I believe in him too." 
 
 " Comfort me I " repeated Lucia; " I want no 
 comfort! There is some mistake, some incon- 
 ceivable carelessness somewhere, but do not 
 think I am anxious or afraid. I am going to 
 write to him 1 " 
 
 And when she had poured out her sweet eager 
 soul over three or four tiny sheets of grey-tinted 
 paper, she took the letter to her mother. 
 
 " It shall not go into the post-bag," she said. 
 " You are going out, and will post it for me. 
 He — he will get it the sooner. I shall stay at
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 93 
 
 home to-day." She turned and almost ran out 
 of the room. 
 
 Mrs Prescott had taken the letter passively ; 
 her daughter had not noticed how very pale 
 she had become, nor the abortive effort she had 
 made as if to decline receiving it. On finding 
 herself alone, she sank on her knees by the 
 couch, and buried her face in her hands. She 
 was a woman of fervid but narrow piety, and 
 her instinct now was to invoke God's aid in her 
 emergency, though with a miserable secret con- 
 sciousness that her decision was already a fore- 
 gone conclusion, and that while she prayed for 
 light upon her path, she had deliberately tamed 
 her back upon it and chosen to walk in darkness. 
 She did not dare, sick at heart as she was, to 
 stay at home and forego the drive, which had 
 become a hateful deception ; she even carried 
 poor Lucia's letter obviously in her hand lest 
 the girl should be watching her from her win- 
 dow. 
 
 It was a day of delicious weather; the tem- 
 perature had been cooled by recent showers,
 
 94 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 and some of the moisture still hung on the 
 freshened leaves and sparkled on each blade 
 of grass. The light summer storm-clouds were 
 beino^ driven towards the horizon, and were 
 banking themselves in such varied and fan- 
 tastic masses as to make of the sky-picture a 
 study as lovely and full of interest as the land- 
 scape below. The river at full tide was brim- 
 ming almost on a level with its verdant banks ; 
 all the complex stir and life of the great 
 suburb were around her, and the laughter of 
 happy children in the park thrilled to her 
 responsive heart, and made its ache the keener. 
 As she slipped the letter into her pocket, she 
 could almost have wrung her hands and cried 
 aloud in her misery. 
 
 She crept very quietly up -stairs on her 
 return, for she dreaded meeting her daughter 
 and being questioned by her. The spoken lie 
 which must then have been uttered seemed 
 almost worse than the tacit betrayal of her 
 confidence. "When they met, however, Lucia, 
 to her infinite relief, asked her no direct ques-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 95 
 
 tion ; she had not a momentary misgiving 
 of her messeno^er. As her mother entered the 
 drawinof -room, dressed for dinner, she Tvent 
 up to her and kissed her. 
 
 "Thank you, darling," she said tenderly; 
 "it will be all right now." 
 
 She longed to hear her assurance confirmed, 
 but Mrs Prescott was mute and still, and Lucia 
 thought she was sufi'erino; rather more than 
 usual. She sighed lightly, and sat down on 
 a cushion at her feet. 
 
 "Poor mamma," she said, stroking the pale 
 hand she had taken; "you ought not to have 
 gone out either. But I am glad I stayed at 
 home — Mr Deane has been here." 
 
 " Mr Deane — Mr Everard Deane, you mean." 
 
 " I mean Everard Deane certainly, seeing we 
 know no other. But we are to know .the other. 
 He brought you an invitation to dinner ; he 
 said he was so afraid that you might decline, 
 that he came to try and make you promise to 
 accept." 
 
 Mrs Prescott made no answer at first, then
 
 96 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 fearing her silence might excite Lucia's sus- 
 picion, said hurriedly — 
 
 " I do not wish to go at all ; I should be 
 quite out of my element. Still, if your father 
 wishes it, 1 suppose that won't make any dif- 
 ference.'' 
 
 "But you like Everard Deane, you know, 
 mamma dear; he was so kind to me to- 
 day." 
 
 She sighed again, then dashed away with 
 angry impatience the tears that suddenly brim- 
 med her eyes. 
 
 " I think he saw I was — not in trouble — I 
 won't say that, — but not in my usual good 
 spirits, and somehow his talk seemed to fall in 
 precisely with my humour. To-day he made 
 me talk to him, and I found myself telling him 
 about my childhood and school days and sister 
 Helen, as if I had known him all my life. It 
 did me a great deal of good. I did not think 
 at the time how confidential I had become to 
 one who was almost a stranger — only he does 
 not seem like that."
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 97 
 
 " Anything more, dear ? Did he exhibit any 
 new accomplishment 1 " 
 
 "Now, I protest, the little mother is grow- 
 ing sarcastic," laughed Lucia — '' and I am half 
 vexed to be obliged to own that he did. As he 
 was going away, I saw he glanced at the piece 
 of music that was open on the piano. It was 
 that valse of Chopin's, No. 34, which, practise 
 as I will, I can never play to my mind. I said 
 so to him, and he asked me if he should give 
 me a lesson ; so I sat down and played it over 
 as he bade me, and he corrected and explained 
 in such a way as I had never been taught be- 
 fore. But I am quite sure that his object was 
 simply to divert my mind. He would not 
 touch the piano himself, he said he was out of 
 practice ; when I urged him, he promised he 
 would play to me in his own house if we would 
 come, but I believe he did not wish to dis- 
 courage me." 
 
 Here Mr Prescott came in, and Lucia re- 
 lapsed into silence. She had given the card of 
 invitation to her mother, signifying to her that 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 98 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 she did not wish to discuss the matter with 
 her father, and, on plea of headache, retired 
 early to her room. 
 
 No misgiving or doubt of her lover, she had 
 said ; but that was the dauntless public confes- 
 sion of her faith : as she flung herself face 
 downwards on her bed, the reluctant tears 
 which, forced themselves from her eyes were 
 like the first tremulous doubts which shake the 
 strongholds of belief. 
 
 It was so hard to understand ! 
 
 Meanwhile Mrs Prescott had drawn the letter 
 she still carried from her pocket, and placed it 
 trembling on the table before her husband. 
 
 " I have done this," she said, '' and shall 
 never be able to hold up my head before Lucia 
 again. At least you will not read it 1 " 
 
 '^ Not I ! " he answered with a short laugh. 
 ^' I could not trust my temper to read the jargon 
 of a love-sick girl ; but the fiercer the fever 
 burns, so much nearer are we to the turning- 
 point. How did you manage this *? '' 
 
 " Do not ask me I you have the letter. I
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 99 
 
 have obeyed you, but I cannot go into particu- 
 lars — they are too shameful ! " 
 
 *' As you please, I only care for results, you 
 can arrange the process as you choose. T^Tien 
 matters are going Tvell it is not hard to be for- 
 bearing^, AVe stav in town till after the dinner- 
 party in Eaton Square, and then I shall take 
 you and Lucia down into the country some- 
 where. T think we will run across to Jersey."
 
 100 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 * 
 
 Never since Lady Elizabeth Deane's death had 
 there been such extensive preparations for an 
 entertainment as now at the great house in 
 Eaton Square. The invitation to the Prescotts 
 had been to dinner, but as soon as they had 
 agreed to accept it, Everard had given Lucia to 
 understand that second thoughts had been taken 
 on the matter, and the evening was to conclude 
 with a dance. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances, such an ar- 
 rangement would have been delightful to Lucia, 
 who was as passionately fond of dancing as 
 youth and health, joined to a fine rhythmical 
 instinct, could make her ; but, as it was, she 
 was translating her Hamlet into her own narrow 
 but sharp experience, and was discovering she
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 101 
 
 " had lost all her mirth and foregone all custom 
 of exercises." ^ 
 
 Day succeeded day, and brought her no news 
 of Hugh Marriott, till the bewildered suspense 
 was becoming almost intolerable. She said to her- 
 self she should never have spirit enough to endure 
 this grand entertainment at the banker's house, 
 unless she heard from her lover. And then the 
 thought had occurred to her to ask Mr Deane 
 what he knew about him, and convey to him, 
 somehow or other, the knowledge of her present 
 distress and anxiety. She knew that she had 
 no friend on this point in her own household — 
 her dear mother not daring to oppose her father's 
 wishes. And Everard Deane's kindness to her 
 had been so special and encouraging. The one 
 drawback to this scheme was, that she did not 
 dare to disobey the orders she had received from 
 her father. And again, as time brought her no 
 consolation, her heart sank too low for such bold 
 enterprise. As for refusing to keep her engage- 
 ment on plea^of personal anxiety and low spirits, 
 she knew perfectly well that such reluctance
 
 102 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 would be angrily overruled by her father, who 
 was in the habit of asserting his authority in a 
 way that admitted of no dispute. 
 
 His interest in the approaching entertainment 
 seemed curiously alive. He would constantly 
 bring home news of the progress of the prepara- 
 tions in Eaton Square ; how a large tent had 
 been run out from the house as a temporary 
 ball-room, and the stone portico lengthened in 
 the same fashion, so as to form a larger space 
 for flowers. He would dilate on the waggon- 
 loads of exotic plants which had been brought 
 from the home conservatories in Hertfordshire, 
 and how a certain well-known florist had received 
 orders for a thousand pots of roses in bloom. 
 He seemed to know precisely how many ser- 
 vants made up the Deane establishment, and 
 what salary the banker gave his French chef; 
 and he related it all with a spirit and a zest 
 that perplexed and irritated Lucia. 
 
 What did it matter to her ? What did any- 
 thing matter to her while her love was under 
 a cloud '?
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 103 
 
 Once again she had written to Hugh Marriott, 
 without reproach or indignation, simply asking 
 him to come and see her if possible, or other- 
 wise to write and explain what she still believed 
 was capable of full explanation. 
 
 " I am not anxious/' she wrote, *' except to 
 know that you are safe and well, and the one 
 result of your silence is to show me that I love 
 you better than I thought. Some girls, under 
 my circumstances, might say better than you 
 love me, but I know differently. I am as 
 sure of your love now, Hugh, as when we were 
 telling the old story to each other twelve hours 
 out of the twenty-four at happy Luxton/' 
 
 To this letter there was again no reply, 
 simply because her mother had withdrawn it 
 from the letter -bag on learning from Lucia 
 that it was placed there. And after that she 
 wrote no more for a time, for ^h Prescott 
 undertook to call at Lieutenant Marriott's lodg- 
 inors in Bruton Street, and brouo-ht home the 
 information that he had left town two or three 
 weeks ago and had not returned, nor had he
 
 104 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 given his landlady any instructions about his 
 letters. 
 
 It was the day before the Eaton Square fete^ 
 and Mr Prescott's sense of his own skill as a 
 diplomatist was immeasurably increased. 
 
 Why, he had almost already effected the 
 separation between the lovers, and without 
 having breathed to his daughter a hint of his 
 secret purpose ! Also, in his opinion, she was 
 unconsciously inclining in the way she should 
 go, and no woman could continue to condone 
 such neglect as she was enduring. 
 
 " I suppose," he said to her gravely, as she 
 bade him good-night, " I am not even now at 
 liberty to speak to you of Hugh Marriott ? You 
 have not yet had time enough to open your 
 eyes to his unworthiness. I should like to 
 repeat to you what I have heard on undoubted 
 authority, but you would insult me by telling 
 me you did not believe it." 
 
 " I quite understand," she replied sadly, 
 " that you would believe anything that was 
 told you to Hugh's discredit ; but if the girl he
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 105 
 
 loves were to believe it, she would deserve to 
 
 be deceived. I am quite sure it will all come 
 
 right. I am not unhappy about it, only puzzled, 
 
 and very anxious lest anything should have 
 
 a. 
 happened." 
 
 And in her gallant endeavour to maintain her 
 faith, she checked all expressions of weariness 
 and reluctance for the next day's festivity. 
 Her father had insisted upon ordering for her 
 from Paris a dress of special cost and elegance, 
 alleging as his motive that he was anxious she 
 should be able to run the gauntlet of any pos- 
 sible criticism. He was perfectly satisfied with 
 his daughter's appearance when she came in to 
 show herself for his inspection on the comple- 
 tion of her toilet ; and if he detected a slight 
 languor in her movements and a touch of gravity 
 in her sweet face alien to her usual vivacity, 
 he could not but own these gave an additional 
 charm. 
 
 At the same hour Mr Deane and his son were 
 making a final inspection of the rooms in com- 
 pany ; and as the requirements of the former
 
 106 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 were calculated on a scale restricted by no con- 
 siderations of expense, and fairly enlarged by 
 natural good taste and extensive social culture, 
 lie pronounced himself tolerably satisfied. Ever- 
 ard, however, surveyed the scene with an air 
 of obvious discontent. 
 
 " It represents so much outlay of superfluous 
 cash ; but the whole arrangements are motive- 
 less and commonplace," he said. 
 
 "That means, that what would be good 
 enough for the cream of London society falls 
 below the deserts of the stockbroker's daughter. 
 The goddess is above the shrine. Ton my soul, 
 Everard, I believe you are seriously smitten at 
 last, and you know quite well you have my full 
 consent in the matter." 
 
 " I was smitten, as you please to call it," said 
 his son coolly, " from the first moment I saw 
 Lucia. She is singularly handsome. I have 
 seen handsomer women, but no other with the 
 same winning aspect of perfect candour and 
 transparent integrity. It is the honest look in 
 her eyes, and not their form and colour, that
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 107 
 
 moves me, — not the music of her voice, but its 
 inflection, which tells you this girl has a heart to 
 feel. But you are a little premature in your satis- 
 faction — it is nine chances to one that she will 
 put her hand in mine when I ask her to do so." 
 
 " Which you will do to-night ? " 
 
 ''Oh no; I should lose everything by such 
 precipitancy. I am a phlegmatic lover, and can 
 bide my time." 
 
 Mr Deane smiled and glanced at him ; there 
 was a scintillation in his eyes and a slight con- 
 traction of the lines of brow and lip which indi- 
 cated some disturbance of feeling either physical 
 or mental. 
 
 " You are all right to-night, Everard — able 
 to play your part of host without effort ! This 
 is a housewarming in honour of your home- 
 coming, you understand ? " 
 
 "I never felt better, dad," said the young man, 
 returning the anxious survey with a swift glance 
 so aglow with grateful acknowledgment, that a 
 sudden moisture dimmed the eyes of the other. 
 
 "And you will understand, too, that I build
 
 108 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 my happiness on your pledge not to forsake that 
 home again during my short span of life 1 Had 
 I known you better, my boy, I should have tried 
 hard to get you back locg before this : other 
 men love their sons from habit and duty — I you 
 as a matter of choice and necessity. May it be 
 the same with the girl you desire ! " 
 
 " Amen ! but you cover me with shame. 
 Still, if Lucia will be my wife, I will redeem the 
 past, if such redemption be possible, and wash 
 my hands henceforth in innocency. Nay," he 
 added, in a lower tone, " it shall not depend on 
 the chances of my success — the very knowledge 
 of her shall purge my life ! " 
 
 Mr Prescott was quite right in the frequent 
 assurances he had given his wife and daughter 
 that they had never assisted before at so magnifi- 
 cent a reunion as that at the great banker's house 
 in Eaton Square, or been under the same roof with 
 so many distinguished people. To these simple 
 women, who had led hitherto a somewhat re- 
 stricted life, the elaborate magnificence around
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 109 
 
 them, the lavish exhibition of all that could 
 delight the senses, seemed suggestive of dream- 
 land and unreality. 
 
 The dinner was limited to a small party of 
 friends, and Lucia could not but observe, with 
 considerable surprise, that she and her parents 
 were treated with marked respect by their 
 hosts, and received a good deal of observation 
 from their guests. 
 
 Everard Deane took her in to dinner, and she 
 scarcely appreciated at first the distinction this 
 conveyed. 
 
 " It was like your kindness to take pity upon 
 me," she said, " for I was feeling a little over- 
 awed. I am not at all accustomed to hear 
 names, which I have only read in the news- 
 papers or the ' Peerage,' tossed familiarly across a 
 room. I am thankful you are only ' Mr Deane. ' " 
 
 " With all my heart, if my being the humblest 
 of commoners pleases you ; but I have the dis- 
 tinction of being my father's son, and it is 
 strictly etiquette to pay the greatest attention 
 to the greatest stranger, and you know this
 
 110 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AN-QTHER. 
 
 is the first time you have crossed our thresh- 
 old." 
 
 She smiled, humour and sweetness touching 
 lips and eyes. 
 
 " You assume too much on my ignorance, 
 Mr Deane ; at least I know better than to 
 accept your new code of etiquette ; but I 
 would rather owe your selection to your good 
 heart than your good manners. But though 
 I am a guest, may I ask why you eat so 
 little ? " 
 
 " Because I am a miserable dyspeptic, and to 
 me there is poison in almost every dish. But 
 what is your excuse for fasting ? Mine is valid 
 enough." 
 
 " I am so interested in looking about me, and 
 trying to discover what makes the difference 
 between this splendid scene and the other 
 dinner-tables I have been accustomed to see. 
 I think, too, I have been trying to listen to 
 my neighbours, which shows conclusively what 
 an underbred novice I am. And then I am a 
 little distrustful, in another way from yours.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. Ill 
 
 of stranore disliGS. Assist me to choose rioht 
 and I will eat." 
 
 Her simplicity was so absolute that for a 
 moment he doubted if any girl could be so 
 unsuspicious as she seemed ; but to meet her 
 candid eyes was to believe in her sincerity. 
 Involuntarily he sighed ; a touch of self-con- 
 sciousness would have been a more hopeful 
 sign. 
 
 The dinner was a protracted one, and before 
 it was over the excitement of novelty had faded, 
 and Lucia had grown taciturn. Everard's quick 
 eye perceived that the depression of spirits he 
 had noticed when thev last met was not onlv 
 still weighing down her sweet natural vivacity, 
 but was more confirmed. Also, was she not a 
 shade paler — with a deepened and lovelier aspect 
 of brow and lip ? 
 
 He was half startled to find with what acute 
 anxiety he asked the question. His present 
 duty, however, was to entertain his guest, and 
 he had not much difficulty in winning her 
 sympathetic attention ; for he had the gift of
 
 112 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEH. 
 
 drawing his listener's mind into rapport with 
 his own, and, in spite of her secret trouble, 
 Lucia kept a wide open portal to the entrance 
 of new ideas. 
 
 " I hope you will enjoy the dance," he said, 
 after a break had again occurred in their dis- 
 course. " I have specially commended you to 
 the care of one of the best friends I have — the 
 lady to whom I ventured to introduce you 
 before dinner. Lady Portisham knows every 
 one, and will be able to help your mother in 
 the duties of chaperon. I shall get into the 
 ball-room as soon as possible. Alas ! the ladies 
 are rising." 
 
 Lucia had felt a little afraid of the brilliant- 
 looking woman to whom Everard had presented 
 her, and whose cordiality struck her as a little 
 forced. Lady Portisham was strikingly hand- 
 some, and appeared to the young girl to be 
 dressed with almost regal splendour; also, she 
 was much struck by the witty familiarity of her 
 speech during the few minutes she had stood 
 chatting to her host, and by the graceful
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 113 
 
 courtesy of his light replies. If the one 
 seemed to transgress her unsophisticated no- 
 tions of good -breeding, the other satisfied it 
 to the finest point. She watched and listened 
 to him with a sort of careful admiration. On 
 the ladies' return to the drawing-room, Lady 
 Portisham took possession of Lucia, with more 
 kindness than she had seemed disposed to mani- 
 fest before dinner. 
 
 "You have been put under my wing, my 
 dear," she said, nodding her head brightly, 
 " and I am going to justify my friend Ever- 
 ard's confidence. You shall enjoy yourself 
 to-night I " 
 
 " Thank you, but I am anxious about poor 
 mamma. She is an invalid, and does not often 
 go out, and now she is suffering from a dread- 
 ful headache, and would like to go home. 
 What ought we to do 1 I do not want to 
 make a fuss." 
 
 Lady Portisham thought rather an undue 
 advantage was being taken of her good-nature, 
 and was inclined to think the pale nervous 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 lady, to whom Lucia led her at request, an 
 unmitigated bore. Where did the girl herself 
 get her beauty and quiet bearing 1 
 
 However, she was really kind-hearted, and, 
 after some discussion, Mrs Prescott was con- 
 ducted by her to a quiet little dressing-room, 
 out of sound of the band and other distrac- 
 tions, where it was hoped she might recover 
 sufficiently to come into the ball-room later 
 in the evening. 
 
 " I shall soon come back and look after 
 you, darling," said Lucia, as she stooped and 
 kissed her before following Lady Portisham 
 down-stairs. 
 
 When they entered the ball-room dancing 
 had already commenced, and it was full of 
 delicious music, waving tissues and floating 
 forms. Lucia stood and looked before her 
 with a grave wistful glance. It was all very 
 pretty, a sort of climax to the splendour and 
 beauty which had already deeply impressed 
 her. 
 
 The long walls of the temporary chamber,
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 115 
 
 exquisitely draped in white and gold, were 
 divided at intervals by panels of glass set in 
 frames of flowers ; it was closed by a vista 
 of tropical foliage and deep-dyed blossoming 
 plants, which seemed to extend further than 
 her eye could reach ; fountains threw up their 
 perfumed jets at judicious intervals, and marble 
 statues gleamed from points of vantage. The 
 odorous air was softly flooded by the light dear 
 to women, and was palpitating with the strains 
 of Strauss and Chopin. To stand, observe, and 
 listen, was enough for Lucia at first, but she 
 was not lono[ allowed to indulo-e her humour. 
 Lady Portisham was soon besieged for intro- 
 ductions, and Lucia was led away to take her 
 place in the charmed circle — with whom she 
 scarcely knew or cared, so long as he kept even 
 step and time ; for the fascination of the motion 
 and the music was strong upon her. She was 
 intensely susceptible to sensuous impressions, 
 and she had never danced before under such 
 enchanting conditions — they touched her sensi- 
 bilities to almost painful acuteness, and quick-
 
 116 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEK. 
 
 ened her latent sadness into a passion of 
 yearning and regret. 
 
 Hugh ! How for the moment she had for- 
 gotten him, and had dared to have been enjoy- 
 ing herself as though she had a right to be 
 happy ! Ah, if indeed it could have been his 
 arm about her waist and his dear voice in her 
 ear, such a scene as this would have come near 
 to heaven upon earth I As it was, it suddenly 
 palled upon her as purposeless and pleasureless, 
 and she was amazed at her own brief insensibil- 
 ity. She felt sick and faint. 
 
 " Stop ! " she said faintly—*' I am tired." 
 
 Her partner looked at her anxiously, seeing 
 how pale she had become. 
 
 "I am very sorry — it was so delightful. I 
 forgot you might overtax yourself. There is 
 Lady Portisham, let me take you back to her — 
 only promise me another dance I " 
 
 " I shall not dance any more to-night," said 
 Lncia, with a conclusive gravity. She was 
 anxious to sit down and escape all solicitation ; 
 as she came nearer she saw that Lady Portisham
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 117 
 
 was talking eagerly to Everard Deane, but she 
 broke off at once on perceiving her, and made 
 room for her on the same couch. 
 
 " Not going to dance any more ! " she ex- 
 claimed ; " have you so soon learnt the secret 
 of power — withdrawing the light of your coun- 
 tenance at the height of your popularity 1 But 
 if you are determined, I will give up my seat to 
 Mr Deane, and go and do my duty elsewhere." 
 
 Everard took the vacated seat, but one glance 
 at Lucia's face showed him her mood was too 
 subdued and thoughtful to make any form of 
 conventional talk acceptable. Of what was her 
 mind so full 1 Was it memory, or hope, or 
 desire, that lent such perilous sweetness to the 
 raised eyes and slightly drooping lips '? 
 
 " That is a lovely valse,'' she said presently, 
 breaking the silence gently with her low musi- 
 cal accents, " but it makes one sad — I hardly 
 know why." 
 
 "Because it suororests a rounded measure of 
 joy which we know life is impotent to fill.'' 
 
 She turned her eyes fully upon him, and he
 
 118 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 saw they were wet with tears. Had he been a 
 younger man, less disciplined in self-restraint, 
 he must have given some sign of the feeling ex- 
 cited ; as it was, he said quietly — 
 
 " My father has been making great alterations 
 in his greenhouses lately. I know you are in- 
 terested in ferns. If you really will not dance 
 any more, may I show them to you ? " 
 
 " But you, do you never dance *? " 
 
 " Never ! It is one of the many good things 
 nature denied me from my birth, — I don't mean 
 that as a complaint, only as a statement of 
 fact. This way ! I will lift this curtain, and 
 we shall be free of the ball-room at once." 
 
 They stepped out into the hall of the- house, 
 which was substantially furnished with every 
 possible suggestion for ease and comfort, and 
 where a cheerful fire, blazing up the wide 
 chimney, gave the final touch of social enjoy- 
 ment to the scene. A couch placed close to 
 the genial warmth seemed to invite a pause. 
 
 " Will you sit down a few minutes before 
 we go farther?" asked Everard. "The atmo-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 119 
 
 sphere here is refreshing after the crowded shed 
 we have left, and the air is so chilly to-night 
 that a fire is welcome. It is welcome to me 
 all the year round." 
 
 He pushed the little sofa to a more tempting 
 angle, placed her in the cosiest corner, and 
 brought a cushion for her feet. Then he 
 directed her to draw her cloak closer about 
 her shoulders, as the change of temperature 
 was great ; but all this was done less with 
 the artificial courtesy of a gentleman on social 
 duty than with the solicitude of a friend of 
 long standing. 
 
 In Lucia's frame of feeling, this tender and 
 graciorfs assiduity almost upset her equanimity. 
 She had not the slightest perception of the 
 attitude of Deane's mind towards her ; she 
 looked upon him as so far removed from her 
 in age, position, and intellect, that she accepted 
 his kindness as a free gift from a superior to 
 an inferior, from a master to a pupil. With 
 a thoroughly imperfect knowledge of him, she 
 had conceived the notion that he was a man
 
 120 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 of quite exceptional merit and benevolence — his 
 goodness to her being conclusive as to the fact. 
 Again the idea occurred to her of pouring out 
 her complaint into his sympathetic ear and claim- 
 ing his assistance. She could never solve the 
 distracting intricacies of her present position 
 without outside help, and to whom better 
 could she apply 1 True, her father's command 
 lay like a nightmare on her sensitive con- 
 science ; but then that had been given in 
 perfect misconception of Hugh's true character, 
 and, under any circumstances, Everard Deane 
 would never betray her. Eager, yet still full 
 of maidenly reluctance and reserve, she glanced 
 towards him as he leaned over the fire, and 
 marked, for the first time, the frail and slightly 
 misshapen figure, and the suggestion of debility 
 and sufiering it undoubtedly conveyed. 
 
 At the same moment he looked up and met 
 her eyes. Their expression was at once so 
 intense and so pathetic as to produce almost 
 the efiect of a shock. A woman that looked 
 like that had stepped beyond the charmed circle
 
 121 
 
 of irresponsible girlhood ; was he, after all, too 
 late '? Had the clear pool of her passions been 
 stirred, and another stepped in before him 1 
 
 " Are you wishing to tell me,"' he said a little 
 uneasily, "that you are so comfortable where 
 you are that you don't care to look at the 
 ferns, and are kindly afraid of hurting my 
 feelings ? " 
 
 If indeed it were anything else she was about 
 to say — any revelation of the thing he dreaded 
 to hear, strange as it would be for her to choose 
 him for her confidant, he did not want to hear 
 it ; and Lucia, keenly alive to mental impres- 
 sions, perceived the want of sympathy between 
 them, and shrank back chilled into herself. 
 
 " I was not going to say that,"' she answered 
 simply; '' but if you don't mind I would rather 
 not go to the conservatory. I ought to have 
 looked after mamma before this, and must go 
 to her at once. She will think I have forgotten 
 her." 
 
 She rose and looked about her ; the geog- 
 raphy of the house puzzled her.
 
 122 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " She had a bad headache/' she explained, 
 " and Lady Portisham was kind enough to take 
 her into a quiet little room to lie down and rest, 
 but I scarcely know where to find it. The cur- 
 tains and the furniture were red, and there was 
 a lamp hanging from the ceiling by a chain." 
 
 *' I will take you," he said, smiling at her 
 exactness ; " but pray put the hood of your 
 cloak over your head — the passages will strike 
 cold." 
 
 She obeyed ; some acknowledgment of his 
 forethought had sprung to her lips, but she 
 checked it, feeling conscious of being less at 
 ease with him than usual. Presently he re- 
 marked, as they walked on together through 
 the intervening rooms and passages — 
 
 " I ought to apologise for my officiousness. 
 Miss Prescott ; but my excuse is that I have 
 been so deplorable an invalid the chief part of 
 my life, that I am apt to believe the rest of 
 the world stands in need of the same safe- 
 guards as myself. This is the room : I will 
 stand outside while you go in, and if Mrs
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 123 
 
 Prescott should prefer to go home, I will get 
 your carriage brought round at once." 
 
 No one could have judged from his manner 
 that he was suffering an acute disappointment 
 at the frustration of the evening's pleasure he 
 had anticipated. 
 
 Mrs Prescott did prefer to go home, only she 
 was afraid of incurring her husband's displeas- 
 ure, and of abridging Lucia's enjoyment. 
 
 " Mr Prescott is playing cards and will not 
 miss you," said Everard ; " and I will take care 
 to explain the matter to him myself. You need 
 feel no anxiety." 
 
 He took them back into the hall until their 
 carriage was ready, when he himself put them 
 solicitously into it, renewiug his assurances to 
 Mrs Prescott that he would have no difficulty 
 in justifying her early departure to her husband, 
 and making remedial suggestions for her head- 
 ache. 
 
 " God forgive me," said the poor lady, sink- 
 ing back into her favourite corner, " but I can- 
 not help liking him ! "
 
 124 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Lucia looked at her in astonisliment, then 
 said with a smile — 
 
 '' It seems to me it would be more reasonable 
 to ask God to forgive you if you did not like 
 him ; but sometimes I do not understand you, 
 mamma."
 
 125 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A MONTH had passed since Mr Preseott's inter- 
 view witli Hugh Marriott, and during that time 
 the young man's mood and plans had under- 
 gone as many variations as the earth's revolu- 
 tion on her axis. 
 
 The uppermost feeling at first had been a 
 passionate resistance to an arbitrary and cruel 
 exercise of authority, which resistance was justi- 
 fied, not only by love and instinct, but also by 
 reason and duty. No law, human or divine, 
 could be quoted in defence of such conduct as 
 Mr Prescott's. 
 
 Lucia and Hugh had known each other 
 from childhood ; there was no specific date 
 to their love, for the time seemed never to 
 have existed when they did not love each
 
 126 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 other. Their intimacy had always received 
 the hearty encouragement of their friends ; and 
 their engagement had been sanctioned without 
 hint of objection, except from Lucia's father, 
 and he had consented to waive it at her inter- 
 cession. And now, when the life-happiness of 
 each depended on the other — when young affec- 
 tion had ripened into tenderness and devotion, 
 and the prospect of marriage had taken definite 
 form in their minds, and had been brought 
 down out of the golden orient of hope into 
 the blessed region of certainty and detail — was 
 it likely he should drop his prize at the word 
 of command ? He almost laughed aloud at the 
 absurdity of the idea. 
 
 But after he had thus satisfactorily proved to 
 his own mind its unreason and injustice, the 
 point of difficulty still remained — what was the 
 best thing to do next ? 
 
 He believed what Mr Prescott had told 
 bim, that he had despatched his wife and 
 daughter into the country, because such a 
 step seemed a likely one to be taken under
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 127 
 
 the circumtances. But where in the length and 
 breadth of Enorland was he to look for them ? 
 
 The stockbroker's villa at Richmond was a 
 charming property undoubtedly, but he held 
 no other. There was no family mansion in 
 the provinces to fall back upon as a certain 
 retreat; and moreover, Hugh knew from ex- 
 perience that Mrs Prescott was in the habit 
 of dividing her favours with baffling impar- 
 tiality amongst the diflferent sea-coast resorts ; 
 what means had he of knowing whether Scar- 
 borough, Hastings, or Brighton had been se- 
 lected on this occasion ? But Lucia would 
 write, and he would at once open his mind 
 to her. It was his first duty to justify his 
 own fidelity, and to save her from all needless 
 pangs of doubt and anxiety. His letters would, 
 as a matter of course, be forwarded ; and in 
 these blessed days of two hours' delivery, it 
 would surely be impossible for them to be 
 intercepted. 
 
 He had not lost sight of the father s brutal 
 threats, but he found a difficulty in believing it
 
 128 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 possible for him to put tliem into practice, and 
 at least he inclined to think they touched a 
 point a little further removed from the present. 
 Under any circumstance he and Lucia must 
 meet and face this trouble together. 
 
 But in drawing these conclusions, Hugh 
 Marriott was naturally unable to take into full 
 account the excellent forethought and method 
 of Mr Prescott's household arrangements. It 
 happened that the charge of the letter-box was 
 placed by him in the hands of the butler of the 
 establishment (a man who had been long in his 
 service), and that under very stringent regula- 
 tions. It was one of the rules of the house 
 that all letters addressed to any member of his 
 family, should be first brought to himself when- 
 ever he happened to be in it, in order to be 
 subjected to a certain amount of examination 
 before passing them on for distribution. This 
 habit had arisen in the first place innocently 
 enough, from fear of any blunder or oversight 
 in his own business correspondence, a good deal 
 of which it suited his purpose to have addressed
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 129 
 
 to his private residence ; but he had maintained 
 it as his daughters grew out of childhood, 
 partly from distrust of his wife's discretion, and 
 partly from the constitutional bias of his mind 
 towards the exercise of petty authority. 
 
 On the evening of the day on which Prescott 
 had dismissed Marriott, when the man entered 
 his room as usual with a batch of letters, re- 
 ceived by the last delivery, his master made a 
 sign to him to remain. 
 
 " You are acquainted with Lieutenant Mar- 
 riott's handwriting, I think ? " 
 
 He spoke in that freezing tone of measureless 
 distance which distinguishes the manner of men, 
 other than gentlemen, in their intercourse with 
 their inferiors. 
 
 Willis, who knew all about Lucia's relations 
 with the young sailor from the time when she 
 was six years old, grinned significantly as he 
 answered in the affirmative. 
 
 " For the future any letter in his hand is to 
 be taken into my study, not delivered to Miss 
 Prescott as before ; or, since the ladies some- 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 130 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 times go in there during my absence, it might 
 be as well for you to keep it in your own pos- 
 session till you have the opportunity of deliver- 
 ing it to me. You understand '? " 
 
 He glanced furtively at him as he spoke, and 
 detected an expression of reluctance, held in 
 check by self-interest and the force of habit. 
 
 " You have been a long time in my service, 
 Willis," he added, with affected spontaneity, 
 "and have consequently known my daughter 
 almost from a child. As a proof of my good 
 opinion, I will mention, in confidence, that she 
 has sufficient grounds for breaking off her en- 
 gagement with Lieutenant Marriott, and desires 
 to close the correspondence." 
 
 The man withdrew, but with a preternatu- 
 rally perplexed expression of countenance, which 
 cost his master some anxiety. 
 
 That anxiety, however, was relieved a day 
 or two afterwards, by receiving from his hands 
 Hugh's intercepted letter of statement and ap- 
 peal. Mr Prescott read it through, and even 
 pondered over it as he read. There was a force
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 131 
 
 in the younor man's reasonino- — an unhaltinor 
 faith in the faith of Lucia — a tender eloquence 
 of reminder and anticipation — that he rejoiced 
 to think would fail to meet the eyes and warm 
 the heart for which they were intended. He 
 felt no more compunction in crushing this boy 
 and girl love than in putting his foot on some 
 bright-hued insect that might cross his path. 
 
 Such adolescent softness was never meant for 
 the wear and tear of maturity, — or when by 
 chance it reached fruition, the result was dis- 
 appointment and disgust. 
 
 '' Lucia is not the oirl to mil at Malta or 
 Gibraltar, or at any other fusty station of our 
 sea-girt empire ! I will give her to one who 
 can afford to keep her at home, and throw into 
 her lap all the treasures women value most. In 
 years to come she will thank me for saving her 
 from her first love." 
 
 On getting no answer to his letter, Hugh 
 ventured to call at Richmond, and inquire after 
 the ladies of the house ; but it was Willis who 
 admitted him, and he had been duly instructed
 
 132 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 as to the part he was to play in view of this in- 
 cident arising. He told him they had left town 
 a few days before ; and when further pressed 
 for their address, said they were gone to the 
 English lakes, and were travelling about ; then, 
 appearing to recollect himself, added that his 
 master directed his letters to the post - office, 
 Kendal. 
 
 All this was profoundly unsatisfactory, and 
 Hugh felt baffled and distressed. Surely Lucia 
 would find some way of communicating with 
 him 1 But time passed, and he received no 
 letter. He would have haunted her house, but 
 he believed her not to be there, — and even to a 
 lover (at least if he be of the present century) 
 the empty shrine is rather inadequate consola- 
 tion. This condition of uncertainty, joined with 
 a sense of injurious wrong, began to tell upon 
 him : he lost, at the same time, his appetite 
 and his temper, and under such conditions was 
 conscious of the first stirrings of jealousy and 
 doubt. 
 
 That Lucia must have the physical power to
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 133 
 
 write was an undeniable fact ; slie was not of 
 that pliant nature which accepts a tyrannical 
 and shameful command with absolute obedience 
 — not a girl to give up the man she loved and 
 to whom she was solemnly pledged, because her 
 father had changed his mind. Was it possible 
 that she had been silenced by any calumnies 
 against him ? Or could she by any force of 
 circumstance be a consenting party to the mer- 
 cenary bargain to which Mr Prescott had alluded'? 
 The idea stung him almost to madness — Lucia 
 the willing equivalent of some infamous com- 
 mercial treaty ! 
 
 He remembered no longer her sweet kisses 
 and honest assurances of affection, almost as 
 ardent and spontaneous as his own, but certain 
 lamentations over his niggardly pay and the 
 hardships and disappointments it entailed. 
 He chose to forget that such regrets always 
 hinged on her father's objection to their union, 
 and on the chances of compulsory absence, but 
 chewed these recollections now in the cud of his 
 bitter fancy as morsels of self-sufficing torment.
 
 134 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Another wide field for gratuitous misery was 
 in speculation upon the name, position, and 
 character of the man whom he supposed was 
 intended by Mr Prescott to supplant him ; he 
 exhausted ingenuity in vague and unsatis- 
 factory guess-work on this point, trying not 
 only to recall to his mind every man of 
 whom he had heard Lucia or her father 
 speak, but even throwing himself designedly 
 into contact with mutual friends, and trying 
 to elicit any information that might bear upon 
 the subject. 
 
 Again came the inevitable reaction ; the re- 
 turn of faith and remorse of love. How was 
 he wronging the purest, sweetest heart that 
 ever beat in a maiden's bosom, and doing equal 
 injustice to his own power of maintaining 
 fidelity and patience under trial ! It was hard 
 to explain why Lucia was silent to his repeated 
 appeals — for he had written again and again 
 after his first letter — but it was also hard to 
 gauge the efiect of her father's unmanly tyranny. 
 He would renew his hope, which, when lost.
 
 LUCIA, HVGH, AND ANOTHER. 135 
 
 made life intolerable, and ^^ait holding judg- 
 ment in suspense a little longer. They could 
 not stay out of town for ever, and no diflS.- 
 culty should prevent his seeing Lucia so soon 
 as he knew where to find her. 
 
 In this state of tension he had strolled list- 
 lessly into his club one sultry afternoon with 
 some hope of meeting Captain Frobisher, and 
 hearing how his interests were prospering at 
 the Admiralty ; his own were closely bound with 
 them also, but that seemed a matter of very 
 secondary importance. 
 
 Captain Frobisher was not there, and he was 
 on the point of going out again when a man of 
 his acquaintance came up with a society paper 
 in his hands. 
 
 " My dear fellow, your name had just left my 
 tongue. Speak of the angels ! &c. Have you 
 seen to-day*s ' Universe ' ? Here is a paragraph 
 about some people I fancy you know ; at least 
 so I read the riddle. Will you have it ? " 
 
 He turned the sheets with the dexterity of 
 an expert, cleared his voice, and read aloud —
 
 136 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " A marriage is said to be arranged between 
 a young lady of great worth and beauty, little 
 known as yet in the fashionable world, and a 
 gentleman indirectly connected with Lombard 
 Street, whose reputation for what used to 
 be called ' gallantry ' by the old novelists, ex- 
 tends over more continents than one. It seems 
 a case of the balance of equivalents : innocence 
 bartering itself for a mixed experience of life on 
 the strength of a maidenly calculation of the 
 chances of mending a rake's virtue, under the 
 irresistible inducement of a colossal fortune." 
 
 Marriott turned white even to the lips ; a 
 frenzy of repudiation made him scarcely mas- 
 ter of himself. He crushed the paper in his 
 hand almost without being conscious that he 
 held it. 
 
 ''/ know ! God forbid that I should, or it 
 would go ill with the scoundrels who defamed 
 any woman of my acquaintance in this fashion ! 
 Lombard Street and men of universal gallantry 
 are not much in my line. It is a disgrace to 
 a club of gentlemen to admit such rot !"
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 137 
 
 " Granted ! To write, print, or peruse is 
 equally objectionable. "We all protest and con- 
 demn, but without shortening the demand for 
 copy. Anyhow I am under a mistake" — he 
 spoke with an exasperating twinkle in his eye. 
 " I fancied I had heard you mention the lady's 
 name, or, say, I have heard yours in connection 
 with hers." 
 
 *' Take care, Grattan ! I am not in the humour 
 to be insulted." 
 
 "So I see, if any one entertained such a 
 notion. But since you repudiate the intimacy, 
 you needn't mind glancing over this — you 
 understand, my curiosity is at work and my 
 discernment at stake. I thought I had put 
 two and two together with the most praise- 
 worthy acuteness ! " 
 
 Marriott loathed the speaker and the subject, 
 but he had no wish to make a fool of himself ; 
 besides, he was inwardly keeping down a 
 mighty misgiving by dint of obstinate and 
 mechanical incredulity. 
 
 Grattan repossessed himself of the paper.
 
 138 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 smoothing solicitously the crumpled leaves ; 
 then he found with prompt facilit}^ a large- 
 typed paragraph describing, in approximate 
 periphrasis, the ball in Eaton Square, and indi- 
 cated it to his companion. 
 
 Here the allusion to Lucia Prescott was of 
 obvious significance, but Marriott rejected it 
 with decision. 
 
 '* Simply," he said curtly, " the lady you 
 suppose is out of town.'' 
 
 '' Is she ? you don't read your * Morning 
 Post" — at least her name, with that of her 
 father and mother, is given in the list of 
 guests." 
 
 Hugh smiled a ghastly smile ; it was his 
 alternative to an oath or an outrage, and it 
 was not his nature to turn his back on any foe. 
 
 " I still think you have been misled ; such 
 mistakes are not uncommon, I believe. Excuse 
 me, I see a man I want to speak to." 
 
 He raised his hand with the quarter-deck 
 salute, turned on his heel, and hurried out of 
 sight.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 139 
 
 Grattan looked after him witli a lialf-kindly 
 smile. 
 
 "Poor fellow, he is badly hit! As if Lis 
 epaulets could stand against Deane's bullion ! " 
 
 As Marriott made his headlong way down 
 the steps of the building, he ran full tilt against 
 a man who was coming up, and stopped to 
 apologise. 
 
 " Is it you, Marriott ? Where have you been 
 in hiding 1 Have not seen you for an age. 
 Anything wrong? Pardon me, I don't mean 
 to be intrusive." 
 
 Hugh looked up, and in spite of his mental 
 vertigo, recognised the speaker as a man who 
 had the reputation of knowing town well. A 
 sudden idea presented itself as a possible relief 
 to his anxiety. 
 
 He steadied voice and expression — 
 
 " Have you five minutes at command, Tem- 
 plar ; and can we talk without being over- 
 heard ? No, I won't go up-stairs again ; if you 
 have no objection, I would rather walk." 
 
 '* So be it ; I have no object but to kill the
 
 140 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 time till dinner. These long summer days in 
 the thick of the season are interminable, if 
 one chances to be at a loose end. Can I be 
 of use ? " 
 
 "Yes. You know what a land-lubber I am; 
 I want a little society coaching. Do you happen 
 to know a man called Everard Deane 1 " 
 
 "Son of the great Lombard Street banker? 
 Yes." 
 
 " Describe him to me." 
 
 "In two words — a dyspeptic voluptuary." 
 
 Marriott unconsciously gripped his friend's 
 arm. 
 
 " Is that what the world says of him, or what 
 you know him to be ? Speak to the point, for 
 God's sake ! " 
 
 " Fm afraid I've spoken too much to the 
 point already. I had no notion you were so 
 much in earnest. I must qualify — he is the 
 kindest-hearted fellow alive." 
 
 " That is always the salve for a damaged 
 reputation ; is he a man from whom an honest 
 girl ought to shrink 1 "
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 141 
 
 Templar looked at him curiously : the clue to 
 the young man's agitation was very easy to 
 find. 
 
 " If I were to be quite honest, as honest as 
 you are, Marriott, I should say that though I 
 hcive good grounds for believing that Everard 
 Deane has lived as fast a life as any man about 
 town or out of it, if I had a sister and he 
 wanted to marry her, I should give her to 
 him to-morrow." 
 
 '' I cannot understand you ! '' 
 
 " No % Well so much to the credit of your 
 simplicity. You see he has sown his wild oats 
 with a reckless waste of surface and of sub- 
 stance that scarcely leaves anything untried or 
 untasted. He has exhausted pleasure or choice, 
 whichever way you take it, and means to try 
 virtue and domestic life. His father wants him 
 to raise an heir to the firm, and he has con- 
 sented to do his duty. I have no doubt he will 
 fulfil the old proverb, and make one of the best 
 of husbands." 
 
 Hugh commanded himself to ask in a tone
 
 142 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 which he flattered himself was natural and 
 unconcerned, whether any woman's name had 
 been mentioned in this connection '? 
 
 Frank Templar had been at the great ball in 
 Eaton Square, and heard all the gossip of the 
 hour. He considered Lucia's fate a foregone 
 conclusion, and a not unenviable one, so far as 
 the world goes ; but he knew what the pale set 
 face of the handsome young sailor at his side 
 meant, and he had more sympathy for his state 
 of mind than many who thought they knew 
 him best would have given him credit for." 
 
 " Yes, a dozen at least/' he answered lightly. 
 '^ Every woman to whom Deane speaks thinks 
 he is her special adorer — it is a way he has. 
 Though, heaven knows, he must have had ex- 
 perience enough to the contrary, — he treats them 
 all as if they were divinities. But for my own 
 part, I doubt still if he will put his neck into 
 the noose." 
 
 Marriott's lip quivered with passionate in- 
 dignation, but he had not learnt all yet it be- 
 hoved him to know.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEK. 143 
 
 '*' Are his looks," he asked curtly, " as much 
 iu his favour as his morals and his person ? " 
 
 " Well, there you have me ! He is not an 
 Apollo like you and me, Marriott, but he has 
 a little way of his own, and indeed a beauty of 
 his own, which certainly fascinate the fair sex. 
 And for that matter — for even the devil should 
 have his due — it is not women alone he pleases, 
 — he is a favourite with all the men who know 
 him. I have a special weakness for Everard 
 Deane myself." 
 
 ''Then we will not discuss him any more. 
 Shall we turn back again ? I am taking you 
 out of your way : my time is of no conse- 
 quence." 
 
 They turned back and walked in silence for 
 a few moments. Templar casting covert looks 
 from time to time at his companion. There 
 was somethino; in Huo-h's look and manner 
 which recalled an incident in his own youth, 
 and touched a chord that had not vibrated for 
 many a long year — which, indeed, he had be- 
 lieved to have been snapped.
 
 144 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " Look here, Marriott," he said, with a hesi- 
 tation most unusual to him, *' if you would trust 
 me a little further, perhaps I could give you 
 some help. It may be that Deane is flirting 
 with some girl that you are sweet on — in that 
 case, I think I could tell you a winning card to 
 play." 
 
 Hugh made an emphatic gesture, which meant 
 a sweeping rejection of all plans for diplomatic 
 action. 
 
 " As you please, of course. But the matter 
 can't have gone very far as yet. Go to Deane 
 and tell him how the case stands between you 
 and her — however that may be — and make an 
 appeal to his honour. You would not go in 
 vain." 
 
 '^ Good heavens ! what do you take me for ? 
 I should consider any girl not worth the saving 
 who could be cajoled by such a man as you 
 describe. If he can win her, he is welcome to 
 her I" 
 
 "All right, old fellow — men view these 
 things differently. Time was when I would
 
 LCCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 145 
 
 have sacrificed not only my life but my pride 
 to get the woman I wanted, but you are made 
 of sterner stuff. For my part I have always 
 gone in for happiness versus dignity. We will 
 part here, then." 
 
 He nodded dismissal to poor Hugh, who 
 would fain have detained him and twisted the 
 talk in hope of fresh disclosures, and disap- 
 peared within the walls of his club. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 146 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 A FEW days after the ball in Eaton Square, Mr 
 Prescott came to the conclusion that his plans 
 were ripe for disclosure to his daughter. 
 
 He knew that there was an engagement with 
 Everard Deane to Kew Gardens for that after- 
 noon, between her and her mother, and he 
 thought it expedient that the purpose to which 
 all this busy and frequent intercourse was tend- 
 ing, should be left no longer in obscurity. 
 
 It was satisfactory to him to observe how 
 much obvious liking towards Deane there was on 
 Lucia's part, though it puzzled him to under- 
 stand how any girl could miss the meaning 
 of the attentions she received from him. He 
 would still have let matters run a little longer 
 in their natural course, if he had not been
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 147 
 
 afraid that Deane might at any time make 
 some sort of avowal, and that Lucia would 
 receive it with a frank explanation of her 
 enoraorement to Lieutenant Marriott. This must 
 be prevented, even at the cost of a painful 
 scene. 
 
 "Tell Lucia I want to speak to her this 
 morning before I go to town," he said to his 
 wife, '^ and let her wait for me in your room. 
 Also, do not go away, — I wish you to be 
 present." 
 
 He looked at her sharply, observing she had 
 turned pale and trembled. 
 
 " You will not play the fool 1 " he demanded 
 harshly. 
 
 " I hope," she answered, " I shall not have 
 need to play any part at all ; it will now rest 
 between you and Lucia." 
 
 She made haste to escape from him under 
 pretext of giving his message to Lucia, and 
 then went back to the appointed room and sat 
 in nervous distress until she joined her. 
 
 The girl looked out of spirits, and her face
 
 148 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 had lost much of its brilliant colouring and 
 radiant expression. 
 
 " What does papa want, I wonder ? " she 
 asked, but did not seem to expect an answer 
 from her mother ; and then she walked to- 
 wards the window and stood looking listlessly 
 across the park till her father entered the 
 room. 
 
 " So I you are going out again with Mr 
 Deane this afternoon, Lucia," be began jocu- 
 larly. " Don't you think it is about time for a 
 father, deeply anxious about his girl's happiness, 
 to ask him or her what is the meaning of all 
 this ? " 
 
 Lucia turned very pale ; it seemed to her for 
 a few moments that her heart ceased to beat, 
 but she did not lose her self-possession. 
 
 *' The meaning is very simple," she said. " Mr 
 Deane is an idle, good-natured, eccentric man, 
 and it suits him sometimes to spend a few hours 
 with mother and me, because he knows we both 
 take great pleasure in his society. To-day I am 
 going to Kew to have a lesson in floriculture
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 1-49 
 
 — he is always teaching me something or 
 other." 
 
 " And how lono^ is he o:oino; to undertake 
 your education ? When he is tired of this his 
 latest eccentricity, will you be content to be 
 dropped into neglect again '? " 
 
 '' I do not think he will wish to behave like 
 that. I ho^DC we shall always be friends." 
 
 '* You like him then, Lucia, as a friend 1 " 
 
 '' I like him more than any man I have ever 
 known," she answered calmly — '' except one." 
 
 "That is well, Lucia." And Mr Prescott 
 came up to her side and laid his hand on her 
 shoulder. " That other is unworthy, and Mr 
 Deane likes you better than any woman he has 
 ever known, and wants to have you for his wife. 
 Like a man of honour, he has spoken to your 
 natural guardians first, and we have given our 
 consent." 
 
 The girl uttered a low cry, and put her 
 hands before her eyes. The reaction of feeling 
 — the quick sense that chicanery and collusion 
 had been employed against her — almost over-
 
 150 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 whelmed her. She felt like some trapped crea- 
 ture which hesitates from instinct to struggle, 
 lest it should make its position worse. 
 
 Presently she lifted up her beautiful, honest 
 eyes, and looked tenderly at her mother. 
 
 "Mamma, at least, did not know of Mr 
 Deane's wishes and your plans. She would not 
 have deceived me ! " 
 
 There was a ring of pain in her voice that 
 deepened to anguish as she met the piteous, 
 beseeching glance with which Mrs Prescott was 
 regarding her ; then Lucia dropped her eyes 
 like one ashamed, and the colour rushed into 
 her face. 
 
 " Poor mother," she said softly — *' she was 
 afraid ! " 
 
 " Yes," returned her father, seizing the slight 
 advantage of a difficult moment, "you are right — 
 she was afraid to refuse to help me in a time of 
 bitter need, and you must be afraid too. You 
 little know, child, when all looks smooth outside, 
 what tortures of anxiety and risk gnaw at the 
 heart of a man in such a position as mine. While
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 151 
 
 you have been fooling and enjoying yourself, I 
 have been on the brink of ruin. I have been 
 barely saved by the timely help of Everard 
 Deane's father, and in recognition of his good- 
 ness I have promised " — he hesitated, and looked 
 for guidance of his way into the pale intent 
 face of his daughter — '* that my girl shall, if 
 possible, pay her father's debt." 
 
 '' But it is not possible. You know I am not 
 free — you went beyond your rights." 
 
 The words were spoken in a low tone, but 
 with an air of quiet decision that strained Pres- 
 cott's forbearance to the extreme. And yet he 
 felt he must be patient and persuade. 
 
 " I deny that you are not free," was his 
 answer ; " whatever tie may have existed be- 
 tween you and Lieutenant Marriott, he himself 
 has broken. What has become of him ? Why 
 has he not written since you last saw him ? 
 Was any girl before so basely treated ? One, 
 too, who has not even the pride of her sex, 
 but has condoned offences that have never been 
 acknowledged, and written beoorinor- letters to 
 
 ^
 
 152 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 the lover who has cast her off without attempt 
 at explanation ! Lucia, my darling, you will 
 not sacrifice the happiness of your own life 
 and the credit of mine by persisting in your 
 infatuation ? " 
 
 " I will persist," she answered, " in my faith 
 in Hugh in spite of all the appearances against 
 him ; but it is not infatuation, and I will not 
 believe that any sacrifice can be required — at 
 least none could be worse than the sacrifice of 
 truth and honour on all sides." 
 
 " You try me more than I can bear," returned 
 her father with ill-subdued violence ; " truth and 
 honour are already violated I What matters 
 it what a girl like you believes or disbelieves ? 
 I tell you as a stubborn fact, my honour is in 
 Everard Deane's hands to make or to mar." 
 
 *' Then I am quite sure," she said warmly, 
 '' that it is in very safe keeping. To suppose 
 that Mr Deane would make his business transac- 
 tions dependent on the inclination of a girl like 
 me, is to suppose that he has not the instincts 
 of a gentleman. No," she added with a flash of
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 15 3 
 
 indignation, "you can no more persuade me 
 that be could be so base, than that Hugh has 
 forgotten me ! " 
 
 Prescott turned on his heel with a cynical 
 smile on his lips and began to walk the floor. 
 He knew that Lucia was right in both conclu- 
 sions, and he was afraid of driving her to ex- 
 tremity. Perhaps enough had been done for 
 the present ; the thin end of the wedge had 
 been introduced, and with far less protest 
 and resistance than he had expected. He did 
 not understand that Lucia's comparative com- 
 posure arose from the ardent trustfulness and 
 hopefulness of her nature. She believed in her 
 lover, and she equally believed in the fairness 
 and goodwill of Everard Deane — here was her 
 security against any romantic necessity for self- 
 sacrifice. 
 
 " I do not believe," she added, after an eager 
 pause, " that Mr Deane has any serious wish to 
 make me his wife ; he has shown me no such 
 feeling, and he must know that I am quite un- 
 equal to such a position."
 
 154 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Then she suddenly approached her father, and 
 put her hand entreatingly upon his arm. 
 
 " Only bring me face to face with Hugh, and 
 all will be well. Could you not call once more 
 in Bruton Street '? This suspense is breaking 
 my heart ! You would not urge me — would 
 you — if you believed in him ?" 
 
 He turned round and met the soft beseeching 
 look, and to his shame he stooped and kissed 
 her, saying with affected earnestness — 
 
 '' For your sake I will call once more to make 
 assurance more assured, on condition that if I 
 prove your confidence mistaken, you will con- 
 sent to discuss the question of duty and sacri- 
 fice in another spirit. Meantime, remember you 
 meet Mr Deane to-day as usual, and try and 
 read better the signs of the time." 
 
 " If I meet Mr Deane to-day," said Lucia 
 firmly, though she was very pale, '^ I must tell 
 him about Hugh." 
 
 Once more Mr Prescott controlled a paroxysm 
 of fury. 
 
 " I desire that you will not do that to-day —
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 155 
 
 after to-day you shall use your own discretion, 
 but I reserve to myself the right of talking over 
 this subject again after I have renewed my 
 inquiries about Marriott." 
 
 He kissed her and went out. 
 
 When he was gone, Lucia turned and looked 
 earnestly at her mother. 
 
 *' Please tell me how much you knew ! Has — 
 has Mr Deane ever said a word to you about me ? 
 Have you been taught not to believe in Huo-h \ '' 
 
 She came towards her, and knelt down before 
 her, resting her arms in her lap, and fixing her eyes 
 on her face. Mrs Prescott was greatly troubled. 
 
 '•' My dear, you must not press me so hard, 
 for I am bound to obey your father ; but — 
 Mr Deane has never expressed any wishes to 
 me, and I do believe in Hugh Marriott. For all 
 that, I cannot help you.'' 
 
 " I want no help/' said the girl, sadly. '' I 
 shall have strength and patience enough to wait 
 till time makes things clear. As for Mr Deane 
 — I quite understand the matter. His father 
 wishes him to marry, and he has perhaps
 
 156 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 thought of me as one it might be possible for 
 him to like if he were to try. But he will not try ; 
 every one says he is not disposed to marry." 
 
 " But, Lucia, how can you reconcile this 
 with what your father has just now told you, 
 and me a long time ago '? Mr Deane admires 
 you very much, and there has been a kind of 
 bargain between them on your account. You 
 must take these things into consideration." 
 
 Lucia's face kindled. '' Mother dear, that is 
 not true. I do not want to hurt your feelings, 
 or to speak disrespectfully of papa — but he is 
 ambitious for me, and has always wanted me to 
 marry a rich man. Mr Deane has made no 
 such bargain. I am as sure of it as I am of 
 Hugh's fidelity. I only wish I might tell him 
 all the truth to-day." 
 
 *^ But you will not, dear ; you will remember 
 your father's commands ? " 
 
 " I will remember them this once," said Lucia, 
 rising; '*but it is the last time that we shall 
 meet without a full explanation, and I shall feel 
 guilty and condemned in his sight to-day."
 
 157 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 EvERARD Deaxe had been engaged in building 
 during the last few weeks as pretty and un- 
 substantial an air-castle as if he had been a boy 
 or a poet. The frank graciousness with which 
 Lucia Prescott had met his advances had en- 
 couraged him to believe it might be possible for 
 him to win her innocent love, and the idea 
 had warmed his whole being and purged as it 
 warmed. If it were realised, the woman did 
 not exist who should be so happy as he would 
 make Lucia ; he would devote his life to the 
 enlargement and blessedness of hers. 
 
 Certain purposes and plans of doing good 
 which had gilded his boyish dreams, when 
 dreams alone were possible, and had since been 
 trampled under foot in the fierce and passionate
 
 158 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 conflicts of his manhood, roused and quickened 
 with a sudden capacity of resuscitation. Her 
 purity would elicit and maintain a devotion all 
 the deeper from his hectic experience of the 
 frivolous and sordid of her sex, and the conse- 
 cration of his life to the complex and delicate 
 requirements of hers, should be so complete at 
 all points as to leave her no loophole for dis- 
 appointment or desire. 
 
 Another side-light of the picture which he 
 liked to dwell on, was the satisfaction his father 
 would derive from such a happy marriage ; and 
 here he allowed his imagination to rest on details 
 at once so homely and so idyllic, as to make 
 the dreamer's cheek flush and pulses throb. 
 How the bright and candid nature of Lucia 
 would meet and respond to the kindred quali- 
 ties in the fine old man ! And how, in his 
 turn, he would delight in her sweet lovable- 
 ness, and pour out the stored afi'ectionateness 
 of his heart upon the possible children, who 
 would look up to him with eyes as honest 
 and beautiful as her own !
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 159 
 
 Everard had never thought her more engag- 
 ing than during the time he was acting as guide 
 and teacher amongst the conservatories and hot- 
 houses of Kew — some exotic growths having led 
 him to speak (which was a thing he rarely did) 
 of his own African experiences. Mrs Prescott 
 had met with a friend with whom she pre- 
 ferred to sit and converse on one of the well- 
 shaded benches — her deeper motive being a 
 cowardly but natural desire to separate herself 
 as much as possible from the progress of affairs 
 between Mr Deane and her daughter. 
 
 " Kemember ! " she had said to her in a low 
 tone of anxious impressiveness, as the two were 
 leaving her to pursue their investigations by 
 themselves, and Lucia's face had burned with 
 a painful feeling of degradation. But it had 
 not been possible for her long to resist the 
 enjoyment of the scene under the influence of 
 delightful weather, and a companionship that 
 always seemed to fill her mind to the exclusion 
 of personal feeling. The momentary unpleas- 
 antness was forgotten, as well as the deeper
 
 160 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 anxieties which lay behind it ; or rather the 
 vigour of her hope and trust in the future 
 made the present easy to bear with patience. 
 Besides, it must be remembered that she had 
 perfect confidence in her own view of the 
 merely friendly relations between herself and 
 Deane. 
 
 Her delight in flowers amounted to a pure 
 rapture, so genuine and intense as to give her 
 a new charm in Everard's eyes ; then there was 
 much to him of attractive grace in her innocent 
 admiration of the lovely women and lovelier 
 toilets which fixed her attention. But still 
 more penetrating was the irresistible flattery 
 of her absorbed attention, as she followed the 
 story he told her of a perilous adventure in 
 his life. He had no motive of self-glorification 
 in it, though it bore witness to his resource, 
 endurance, and pluck. It had been first re- 
 called to his mind by the strange and magni- 
 ficent vegetation which surrounded them, and 
 her eager interest in a passing allusion which 
 he had made. But as he observed the impres-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 161 
 
 sion he produced, and met the intent gaze of 
 the beautiful brown eyes which seemed almost 
 to anticipate the words he was speaking, he 
 was fully aware of two facts — that he loved 
 Lucia Prescott better even than he had sup- 
 posed, and that he felt a stronger hope of 
 winning her. 
 
 They were seated in a remote part of the 
 garden where few people passed, under the 
 spreading fans of a gigantic chestnut-tree. The 
 fierce heat of the day had grown less, for the 
 sun, which had been blazing in a cloudless sky 
 of intense azure, was already declining towards 
 the west and gathering its evening pomp in 
 glorious level streams of colour. Everard's 
 story was done ; but Lucia, whose interest had 
 been strongly stirred, was asking questions 
 with an animation almost amountino^ to eaorer- 
 ness, to which he replied with calculated re- 
 serve, in order to protract the pleasure of 
 watchinor the chano;es of her sweet, animated 
 face. 
 
 It was at this precise moment^ when any 
 VOL. I. L
 
 162 
 
 observer might have been justified in suppos- 
 ing their relations to have been of the closest 
 possible kind, that their privacy was suddenly 
 interrupted by a gentleman who, advancing 
 from behind, crossed deliberately in front of 
 the bench where they sat. 
 
 As he passed, Everard instinctively paused 
 and raised his eyes, to meet in those of the 
 stranger an expression of the most unmitigated 
 rage and contempt. Every feature in the pale 
 handsome face was working with passion which 
 could scarcely be said to be controlled, and as he 
 came near Lucia, who was leaning back in the 
 elbowed corner of the bench, he stooped over 
 her and whispered, with concentrated bitterness, 
 some short word or phrase in her ear which 
 Everard could not catch. 
 
 Lucia winced under it as if she had received 
 a blow, and uttered a low ejaculation of sup- 
 pressed pain. For a moment Everard lost his 
 presence of mind : he started up with an oath 
 on his lips, and a quick impulse to pursue the 
 unmanly aggressor, but Lucia caught his arm.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 163 
 
 " Stop ! " she implored faintly, and after a 
 glance at lier face, lie sat down again, putting 
 personal feeling on one side for the present. 
 His own face had grown white, and the lines 
 hardened round the lips, as the conviction was 
 borne in upon his mind that here, in this swift 
 mystery, lay the ruin of his hopes. As he sat 
 for a few moments silent by her side, he looked 
 keenly after the retreating figure so as to im- 
 press Hugh Marriott's personality upon his 
 memory, and then making the effort which 
 seemed imperatively demanded, said c[uietly — 
 
 " Don't think it necessary to explain. Just 
 rest a few minutes, and then we will find Mrs 
 Prescott/' 
 
 But Lucia was cut to the core of her loyal 
 and affectionate nature ; grief, anger, and shame 
 seemed to tear down all power of self-control : 
 after the cruel suspense — the painful patience 
 of her fidelity — was such a meeting as this the 
 reward ? 
 
 She buried her face in her hands and sobbed 
 aloud.
 
 164 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 To see any creature suffer was hard to Everard 
 Deane, and had never failed to move him to 
 some effort towards relief; but to see a woman 
 weep, and weep as a consequence of brutal out- 
 rage unavenged, shook him to the depths of his 
 frail and fiery being. 
 
 Moreover he loved this woman. 
 
 During the short interval which he thought 
 it judicious to allow to the first indulgence of 
 her pain, he was conscious that throughout his 
 eager life no stronger passion had been excited 
 than the love that he felt for her and the hate 
 he bore to the fair-haired, blue-eyed young sailor 
 who had just crossed their path. 
 
 He took a few turns on the greensward, 
 partly to relieve her of his observation, partly 
 to control what he felt was fast becoming un- 
 controllable in his own feelings ; then, when he 
 could trust himself, he went back to her. 
 
 Lucia had dried her tears, and now looked 
 up at him with an anxious piteous expression. 
 
 " I do not want to go back to mamma for a few 
 minutes — I — I want to make you understand."
 
 LrCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 165 
 
 " Yes," he said kindly, for he would not check 
 her; "it is very good of you to be thinking 
 about me." 
 
 Lucia met the careful sweetness of his glance, 
 and her lips quivered again a little. 
 
 /' T do not know what you must think of 
 me,'' she faltered, in accents so broken he had 
 to bend nearer her to catch them, " but please 
 suspend your judgment a little till I have ex- 
 plained. I should like to keep your good 
 opinion ! Also " — and this was lower still — 
 *'do not condemn him till you know all." 
 
 Everard's look darkened — it was hard to 
 listen to this tender extenuation ; also, he could 
 not but perceive that he had been shamefully 
 deceived, and would have to pay a heavier 
 penalty for the deception than he could well 
 estimate in his present confusion of mind ; 
 but in spite of this indignant consciousness, he 
 had sufi&cient calmness left to discern that it 
 was quite possible the girl herself had been no 
 party to the fraud. In that case what was left 
 for him to do was — to console her.
 
 16G LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " I think I understand pretty well," he 
 answered ; "at least quite enough to release 
 you from the necessity of explaining matters 
 to-day. I can even understand that a sudden 
 paroxysm of rage and jealousy may change a 
 man's nature for the moment ; but we will leaye 
 that too for another time. Come, there must be 
 no more tears ! I know a little fernery near here 
 with a fountain in it — shall we try and find it ? 
 You might then be able to bathe your eyes be- 
 fore we return to your mother, and the cold 
 water would help to bring back the colour to 
 your cheeks." He smiled as he spoke, and 
 offered his hand to raise her from her seat ; he 
 had not meant to carry the courtesy further, 
 for the contact was almost more than he could 
 bear without self- betrayal ; but seeing that 
 she still trembled with agitation, he accepted 
 his necessity, and, drawing her arm through 
 his, led her carefully to the place he had 
 mentioned. 
 
 It was a small house, full for the most part of 
 hardy ferns, and a tiny fountain in the midst
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 167 
 
 dashed its spray to the roof, and fell besprink- 
 ling the vivid green of the foliage. There Avere 
 no seats and no other visitors. 
 
 Everard looked round till he found a large 
 empty pot, which, inverted, made an excellent 
 seat, over which he spread his handkerchief be- 
 fore he would allow her to sit down. Then he 
 dipped up some of the water from the basin 
 in a flower-saucer, which he washed carefully 
 before presenting it for use, and held it while 
 Lucia steeped in it the flimsy cambric, already 
 saturated wdth her tears, and pressed it against 
 her aching eyes and forehead. 
 
 There was nothing embarrassing in the way 
 in which these little oflices were rendered ; he 
 knew perfectly well that the girl's mental bal- 
 ance was in such delicate equipoise, that the 
 slightest suggestion of any personal feeling on 
 his part would have overthrown it, and he 
 allowed nothing to appear but the simplest 
 kindliness. 
 
 She looked up at last with a steady smile, 
 and said —
 
 168 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " As long as I live, Mr Deane, I shall remem- 
 ber your goodness to me to-day." 
 
 " Well," he answered, " it will be a great 
 satisfaction if you think I have established a 
 lifelong claim on your remembrance ; but it 
 is very handsome payment for poor services. 
 Do you feel well enough to walk now ? I do 
 not wish to hurry you, but it is getting late, 
 and your mother will be uneasy." 
 
 He saw she hesitated, and added quickly — 
 
 "As we go, you can tell me, if you please, if 
 I can be of any use to you in — this trouble of 
 yours." 
 
 She got up and moved along by his side with 
 downcast eyes and burning cheeks for some 
 few minutes in silence, then said with a quick, 
 deprecating glance — 
 
 " And you guess nothing ? " 
 
 " I do not choose to guess. I simply ask if 
 it is in my power to help you." 
 
 " I think you can," she said timidly ; " I 
 only wish I had dared to ask your help before. 
 But I am quite bewildered by what has just
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 169 
 
 happened. There is some cruel wrong and de- 
 ception somewhere, and I cannot make things 
 clear to my mind. Only yesterday — an hour 
 ago — I would have pledged my life on his trust 
 in me. I have been sorely tried as well as he, 
 but I never doubted him. How could he speak 
 to me like that ? " 
 
 "I do not know," said Everard, " what 
 offence he considered you had committed ; but 
 you will easily forgive him ! A woman's faculty 
 of condonation is generally in proportion to the 
 outrage she has received." 
 
 He met her distressed glance, and blamed 
 himself for having so far indulged the bitterness 
 of his feelings. He dropped his cynical tone, 
 and hastened to make amends. 
 
 " There is another view," he said. " Othello 
 dealt very hard measure to the immaculate lady 
 he married, and — we forgive him." 
 
 Lucia smiled. '•' Thanks ; those are the most 
 comforting words you could have spoken. Our 
 forgiveness is measured by the measure of our 
 love ; and in that case — it is certain — I shall
 
 170 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 forgive Hugh. Then there is another excuse : 
 men are not patient like women, and he must 
 have sufifered deeply to have so far forgotten 
 himself." 
 
 Everard bit his lip in silence ; he saw her 
 softened glance and returning colour, and heard 
 the passionate sigh that escaped her parted lips. 
 To walk coldly beside her, without demonstra- 
 tion of either love or hate, taxed his self-control 
 almost too far. He strained his keen vision in 
 all directions in hopes of discovering Mrs Pres- 
 cott, so as to be able to escape from his ordeal, 
 but she was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 Lucia, occupied with her own engrossing 
 interests, went on — 
 
 " I want advice and help sadly. May I trust 
 you, Mr Deane ? " 
 
 " I do not know," he answered. " Men trust 
 me for the most part ; I am not sure a woman 
 would be well advised to do so." 
 
 " I will risk it," she said, with her radiant 
 smile. " Hugh has been led to believe that I 
 have been false to him, instead of which I have
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 171 
 
 been fond and true throughout, under the same 
 difficulties which have proved too much for him. 
 And yet not quite the same. Had I seen him 
 in just such circumstances as he saw me, don't 
 you think — you who know the world so much 
 better than I do — there would have been room 
 for some displeasure and doubt ? " 
 
 " Possibly. Let us say he is quite justified ; 
 and go on to the practical part of the matter." 
 
 " If I write/' she continued eagerly, " he is 
 angry, and will not read my letter. I cannot 
 go to him myself — it would not be thought 
 proper, though, God knows, there would be no 
 harm in it ! Oh, Mr Deane, you do not know 
 how we have loved and believed in each other 
 until now ; — are cruel lies and a false impression 
 to avail to part us in the end ? My father — I 
 dare not open that subject with you. I am ready 
 to sink with shame ; but — but " 
 
 She could not go on. 
 
 " But you are resolved to win back your lover ! 
 I see ; you are a solitary maiden, set in the midst 
 of enemies to your peace, and castiug about for
 
 172 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 succour. You look upon me as the innocent 
 cause of your present distress, and think you 
 have a claim on my services — at least I will 
 place them, almost without reserve, at your dis- 
 posal. Tell me a little more about the matter ; 
 — not to-day, you have already sufifered too 
 much, but some other time — and, I repeat, I 
 will help you if I can." 
 
 Tears of passionate gratitude filled the tender 
 eyes she lifted to his face. 
 
 " You will come and see me to-morrow, at 
 home 1 " she urged in low vibrating tones ; " and 
 when I have told you everything — everything — 
 and proved to you there is only one way of con- 
 vincing Lieutenant Marriott of his mistake, you 
 will not refuse to take that way 1 " 
 
 " I will come to-morrow morning at eleven, 
 and hear all you think proper to tell me ; but 
 the only promise I can give you in advance of 
 my ignorance, is that I will be as true a friend 
 to your real welfare as I can. Thank heaven, 
 I see Mrs Prescott ! " 
 
 She looked at him in hurt surprise, and
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 173 
 
 noticed for the first time — so light is friendship 
 in the scale of love — that he was unusually pale. 
 
 " You are not well — in pain ? " she asked, in 
 a tone of tender compunction. " I have heard 
 how much you have to bear at times; and I 
 have kept you in attendance so long as this — 
 oh, forgive me ! " 
 
 " It is a premonitory twinge of my old enemy, 
 neuralgia ; but I assure you, I have felt nothing 
 till this moment, and you must not believe what 
 you hear. Still it is sharp enough, as you per- 
 ceive, to make a man forget his manners. I 
 will just put you into your carriage, and then 
 get home by hansom as quick as I can." 
 
 " And you will be better by to-morrow ? 
 otherwise I entreat you not to go out — for my 
 sake ! " 
 
 She meant it. He looked searchingly into 
 her face, all aglow with an eager sympathy, 
 hard enough to endure, and decided that she 
 spoke in absolute sincerity. 
 
 " I shall certainly be better by to-morrow. 
 I know precisely how to treat myself You
 
 174 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 may rely upon me without the slightest mis- 
 giving." 
 
 He bowed over the little hand that closed 
 over his in such a friendly clasp, and departed. 
 
 Lucia looked after him till she could see him 
 no more, then, drawing a deep breath, said 
 impulsively — 
 
 " I used to think Hugh Marriott the kindest, 
 gentlest, and most generous of men ; but at least 
 he is not that." 
 
 " Lucia ! " exclaimed her mother, in an un- 
 certain tone, which vacillated between pain and 
 satisfaction, " what do you mean ? " 
 
 At the sound of her voice the girl seemed to 
 arouse herself to a new sensation. She sat up 
 from the lounging attitude she had taken, and 
 looked straight into Mrs Prescott's face. 
 
 " Mother," she said, " I am half afraid I have 
 lost my lover — my dear Hugh. That would be 
 dreadfully hard — almost too hard — to bear ; but 
 there is one thing that would be almost worse — 
 if I had lost my mother as well ! " 
 
 Mrs Prescott's lips trembled.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 175 
 
 " You are cruel, Lucia, to speak to me in 
 this way. I do not understand what you 
 mean." 
 
 " I mean, Hugh has been deceived about me. 
 You must know what my father has done. Why 
 did not you warn me he was workino- ao^ainst 
 our happiness ? Why did you let me go on 
 writing to poor Hugh ? I thought you at 
 least were good and true." 
 
 Mrs Prescott trembled. Were all known, her 
 dauo^hter's ao^ony of shame and indio^nation 
 would destroy her. Lucia must never know 
 the depth of her treachery, or she would hate 
 her. There was no peace for her in confession 
 and pardon — her husband held her conscience 
 in his hands. 
 
 " Lucia," she faltered, " is it right to question 
 me in this tone, or say such things of your 
 father? Whatever he has done, he thought it 
 best for your happiness. 
 
 Lucia looked at her with anger so softened 
 by pity, that it was almost gentleness. 
 
 " But you knew, mother, what was best for
 
 176 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 my happiness, and what we both should suffer 
 if we thought each other unworthy. But never 
 mind, dear, I will forgive you everything ; for 
 it will all come right now. Only you must 
 not fight against me any more."
 
 177 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 " The tables are turned when you get a start of 
 me, Everard ! Your horse at the door at this 
 hour of the morning, even before my cab is 
 come round ! I need not ask if you are going 
 to Richmond — at least you are no laggard in 
 love. ' 
 
 " Your sagacity, dad, is pr^ernatural, though 
 a trifle in fault on this occasion. I am out of 
 gear, and bent on hard riding. Don't look for 
 me at dinner to-day; it is just possible I may 
 call on Miss Prescott before I get back.'' 
 
 "Does all go well in that quarter ? You 
 keep your own counsel, Everard, which is hard- 
 ly fair, when you know how anxious I am about 
 the matter." 
 
 Mr Deane was standing outside his door, in 
 VOL. I. . M
 
 178 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 the pleasant summer morning, watching his son, 
 who, after his manner,, was testing and tighten- 
 ing the girths of his saddle before mounting ; 
 and concluding tliat his employment had pre- 
 vented him from hearing what was said, he re- 
 peated the question, with a little variation of 
 phrase. 
 
 This time Everard looked up. 
 
 " Would it vex you very much if I were to 
 tell you I was cooling in the chase ? " 
 
 An angry colour came into the old man's 
 cheeks. 
 
 " How can you ask ? I should be griev- 
 ously disappointed, when you have given me 
 such good grounds for hope ; and perhaps 
 more disappointed still, because it would 
 
 serve as a fresh proof " He stopped and 
 
 hesitated. 
 
 " Of the chronic unworthiness of your son ? " 
 supplied Everard, with a slight smile. "I as- 
 sure you he did mean well ; but the bias of cir- 
 cumstance is too strong^ for him. I was never 
 meant for matrimony."
 
 LLXIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 179 
 
 " Do you wish me to understand that all is 
 over between you 1 " 
 
 " Not exactly. I shall see Miss Prescott to- 
 day, and reach a positive conclusion. I have 
 not committed myself in any way, and can 
 draw back with honour." 
 
 " Scarcely that ! " returned Mr Deane, bit- 
 terly. " If you have been too cautious to 
 pledge yourself to the young lady, you cannot 
 cancel your pledges to me. Do you hold that 
 the claims of honour are only binding outside 
 the family circle ? " 
 
 Everard looked up quickly, with a flush on 
 his face. '' No one should ask me such a ques- 
 tion but you ; and even you should not stretch 
 your immunity too far. Later on, I may have 
 some explanations to give that will qualify your 
 feelings ; for the present, as neither of us is cool 
 enough for discussion, I will say good morning." 
 
 He mounted his horse laboriously, as he al- 
 ways did, though he would not permit the as- 
 sistance of a groom ; but once in the saddle he 
 was master of it.
 
 180 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 He repeated his salute to his father, and rode 
 off at a leisurely pace, which he continually 
 quickened so soon as he was free of the streets. 
 His secret feeling on this occasion was — how- 
 ever exaggerated it may sound — that he was 
 being whipped with scorpions. 
 
 Every hour that had passed since Lucia 
 had released his hand from her tender clasp, 
 had strengthened his belief in her lover's un- 
 worthiness, and exasperated his hate against 
 him. 
 
 As for his love, he hardly dared to question 
 himself on this point,— the wound was too deep 
 and recent for deliberate handling ; only, he said 
 to himself, that she was the desire, not of his 
 eyes only, but of his soul and conscience, and 
 that his hunger for her could never be appeased, 
 except by the very possession which was denied 
 him. His father's reproaches, not so much in 
 themselves as showing the depth of his disap- 
 pointment, were a very serious addition to his 
 personal trouble ; and as if in mockery of these 
 mental complications, he was enduring the pre-
 
 LCCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 181 
 
 monitory symptoms of one of his frequent attacks 
 of nervous suffering. 
 
 A man predisposed to neuralgia is ill-ad- 
 vised when he plays the lover for hours at 
 a stretch on open-air benches, or continually 
 exchanges the heated temperature of tropical 
 greenhouses for the refreshing atmosphere out- 
 side them. 
 
 As Everard Deane consumed the distance 
 between him and Eichmond, he was conscious 
 of a certain rhythmic response between the 
 sensations of his physical and mental being, 
 which almost made him doubt if he should 
 be equal to the interview before him ; but he 
 possessed in large measure the almost indomit- 
 able endurance, not uncommon in men of his 
 constitutional type, added to the supreme in- 
 ducement of Lucia's expectancy. 
 
 He was glad to find the room empty into 
 which he was shown, — the pretty morning-room 
 where he had seen her first at home, and with 
 which his happiest associations were connected. 
 It gave him the opportunity of recovering the
 
 182 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 forced composure, both of mind and body, 
 which he felt was never more necessary than 
 now. 
 
 But he had not long to wait ; he heard 
 almost immediately the sound of her light 
 rapid footsteps, and then the door opened and 
 admitted her. 
 
 Perhaps it was in the nature of things, but 
 he never thought her so beautiful before. She 
 was dressed in a plain pale pink gown of some 
 soft clinging texture, which fell in straight lines 
 to her feet, and seemed to add to the heio^ht 
 and dignity of her appearance ; and the pallor 
 of her cheeks, and the slio;ht redness of the 
 large lidded^ eyes, served to prove that her face 
 had intrinsic loveliness enough to bear the 
 absence of colour. The involuntary contrac- 
 tion of the fair brows and the droop of the 
 lips, added the potent charm of suffering to 
 beauty. 
 
 He went up to her at once and held out 
 his hand frankly; he had come to play the 
 part of disinterested friend and cool adviser.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 183 
 
 and the sooner he committed himself to it the 
 better. Also it would be better that he should 
 accomplish the task, which his first glance told 
 him would task his courage to the uttermost, 
 with as much despatch as possible. 
 
 '' I am come," he said, '' according to promise, 
 to take your orders this morning. I see you 
 are in trouble. I repeat what I said yesterday — • 
 I will help you if I can ; but I shall be obliged 
 to ask you a few questions, and to say some 
 things which may be painful for you to hear." 
 
 '•' About my father 1 " she asked in a low 
 voice. 
 
 " Incidentally about your father no doubt, 
 but I want, first of all, to be satisfied — forgive 
 me for speaking harshly to the point — about 
 your own truth and honour. AVe have known 
 each other now for nearly three months : have 
 I to believe that you were not made acquainted 
 with the motive which led me to seek an in- 
 troduction to you — namely, that my father was 
 very anxious to find me a wife, and that he 
 had the presumption to think that you might
 
 184 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 have been induced to stand in that relation to 
 me 1 " 
 
 "I did not know — till yesterday," she an- 
 swered, her pale face all aflame with sudden 
 blushes ; " such an idea would never have 
 occurred to me." 
 
 " Naturally ; nor ought it to have occurred 
 to any mind except to be dismissed. But a 
 father's partiality outruns his judgment ; that 
 is the only excuse I can offer for mine having 
 had the folly to suppose that anything short of 
 youth, vigour, and beauty, would have found 
 favour in your eyes." 
 
 " I assure you, Mr Deane," she said, '' that 
 is not all which Hugh has to recommend 
 him." 
 
 '' No," he replied gently, " I am quite sure 
 you endow him with every virtue under heaven ; 
 but I have another question to ask. How did 
 it happen that in all the intimate talk we have 
 had together, you never told me of your en- 
 gagement ? " 
 
 He looked at her searchingly as he spoke ; the
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 18 5 
 
 doubt that possessed him was that she would 
 be unable to clear herself of all complicity in 
 the shameful fraud which had been practised 
 on his father and himself. For although he 
 knew he must fores^o her, he had a strono' 
 desire that she should fulfil the ideal he had 
 formed of her ; it would not have been com- 
 pensation but increase of his loss to find her 
 unworthy. 
 
 " I was forbidden," she answered, meeting his 
 eyes with perfect candour. " There were many 
 occasions when I longed to ask your help and 
 advice, but I dared not disobey my father. 
 But yesterday I had resolved to tell you the 
 verv next time we met." 
 
 " And circumstances have relieved you of the 
 necesssity ? " 
 
 " They have," she said firmly ; '*' but had it 
 been otherwise, I should certainly have told 
 you. Don't you believe me, Mr Deane ? " 
 
 There was a child - like simplicity in her 
 appeal, and a deepening expression in her face. 
 He turned from her and walked to the window.
 
 186 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Lucia followed him. She waited a few moments, 
 as if expecting him to answer her, then said — 
 
 " I shall be doubly miserable if I have lost 
 your good opinion." 
 
 The inflection of her voice, the very poise of 
 her figure, which seemed to take a beseeching 
 attitude towards him, were a desperate appeal 
 to susceptibilities as acute as ever made the 
 bane or blessing of humanity. He wondered if, 
 after all, he should be guilty of some incredible 
 folly — of seizing her in a frantic embrace, or 
 otherwise betraying his passionate love. He 
 was morbidly conscious that his face must be 
 expressing more or less of the conflict of his 
 mind. 
 
 "You have not lost my good opinion," he 
 forced himself to say. " I think I understand 
 that, until yesterday, you did not see any neces- 
 sity for warning me, from the simple reason that 
 you believed I wanted nothing from you but an 
 agreeable society friendship." 
 
 He paused a moment, for he saw that her 
 eyes dropped with some sudden change of feel-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 187 
 
 ing, and that a wave of colour again swept over 
 lier cheek and neck. It would be necessary for 
 him to take another forward step in the way of 
 self-effacement. 
 
 '•'I do not mean," he added hastily, "that 
 you were mistaken. I have no doubt that in 
 course of time, and under the influence of my 
 father s wishes, my feeling for you would have 
 taken a warmer tone ; but as it is — happily for 
 my peacS of mind as for yours — we are friends 
 only." 
 
 Lucia drew a long sigh of infinite relief, and 
 raised her eyes to his face with some return of 
 their usual radiance of expression. 
 
 " Ah," she said, " you do not know how proud 
 I am of your friendship, and at the same time 
 I am so dreadfully afraid of trespassing upon it. 
 I am distressed lest you should think me want- 
 ing in reserve or delicacy. I don't know what 
 I ought to say or to leave unsaid. May I tell 
 you all about Hugh \ — it will make things easier 
 to understand." 
 
 " Pray do, if you think so."
 
 188 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 *' But you will sit down ? I mean, you are 
 not impatient to be gone, nor have any other 
 engagement in view ? I know I am asking a 
 great deal of your patience and kindness ; but I 
 am so situated that I have no other friend to 
 help me, and I am miserable enough to make 
 me selfish/' 
 
 " I will sit down certainly, and my whole 
 morning is at your command. I assure you I 
 have been the confidant of a good many love- 
 tales in my life, which, I suppose, is almost as 
 long again as yours, and have always been 
 credited with a fair amount of sympathy and 
 resource. Between us, Lucia, we will put 
 matters straight." 
 
 Thus encouraged, the girl told her story. 
 There was no want in her nature of sweet 
 womanly bashfulness and the purest strain of 
 delicacy, but she was singularly free, as we have 
 had occasion to say before, from awkward or 
 morbid self-consciousness. She was not in the 
 least ashamed of her love for her gallant young 
 sailor, and she was also profoundly anxious to
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 189 
 
 vindicate his merits to Deane. She told him of 
 their boy and girl attachment, of their courtship 
 and engagement, with a simplicity and sincerity 
 which were infinitely charming — that is, they 
 were infinitely charming as an abstract consid- 
 eration of her merits, though partaking more 
 of a process of slow torture to her listener. Into 
 this artless narrative she had, as a matter of 
 course, woven the incidents of the shipwreck 
 ofi" the Cape of Good Hope, and warmed with 
 tender ardour over her lover's magnanimity. 
 
 "You will own now," she asked, "that Lieu- 
 tenant Marriott has something more than youth 
 and good looks to recommend him ? " 
 
 " My dear Miss Prescott, it is not an uncom- 
 mon thing for an Englishman to do his duty, 
 but I am pre23ared to allow that he did it. But 
 it is not from any sense of duty, I suppose, that 
 he has harassed you by his absence and silence 
 of late ? You have not told me yet what was 
 the original cause of quarrel between you." 
 
 " I cannot explain — we have never quarrelled. 
 We parted last the best of friends, expecting to
 
 190 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 meet again on the morrow. But I believe my 
 father has come between us, and deceived us 
 both. It is dreadful to say this — to you ; but 
 how can I otherwise make you understand and 
 forgive Hugh's conduct 1 I have written to 
 him again and again, and he has not answered ; 
 then, when he saw us together yesterday, he 
 would be induced to think his suspicions con- 
 firmed ; he could not know we were talking of 
 nothing but far-away African adventures." 
 
 She smiled, but very sadly. 
 
 " You do not answer," she continued ; " you 
 think he should have trusted me and come to 
 me, and so do I. But I suppose a man's faith 
 in woman is never so entire as hers in him; and 
 at any rate, the strongest desire I have is to 
 convince him that he has wronged me. If you 
 could only know him as I know him, you would 
 feel as sure as I do that he has been shamefully 
 deceived. Do you think he has written to me, 
 and they have kept back his letters, or that 
 mine could never have reached him ? Would 
 such a thing be possible nowadays ? "
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 191 
 
 " It would be very difficult, but — perhaps, 
 not impossible." 
 
 He added the last ^Yords in compassion to 
 her eager appealing expression ; personally he 
 had no faith in her lover. 
 
 " Suppose," she continued, with the same 
 painful eagerness, '' my father should have 
 told him that what he wished was really going 
 to happen, would not any man be excused for 
 treating me as Hugh treated me yesterday ? 
 Think what your own anger and scorn would 
 have been if the girl you loved had given you 
 up because she was ordered to do so — to marry 
 a richer man ! But it was false ! Never for 
 one moment in all the pleasant hours we have 
 passed together, did I think one thought that 
 was disloyal to him." 
 
 " He will believe you when you tell him this 
 — he could not help believing you." 
 
 '' But how am I to tell him % He is angry 
 with me, and will not give me the chance — do 
 you not understand ? But here it is, Mr Deane, 
 that you can help me ; will you tell him this —
 
 192 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 that you are my friend, and not my lover 1 
 That is the great service I want to ask you to 
 render us ; you can speak to him with a power 
 of conviction he could not resist, and bring him 
 back to me again. Will you go to him, and 
 tell him the truth ? He must believe what you 
 say." 
 
 As he did not reply at once, which she had 
 confidently hoped he w^ould, she went on again, 
 changing a little the form of her representation. 
 
 " I did not know," she said, '' that my request 
 would seem to you presumptuous or unwelcome, 
 for I had such a strong belief in your being will- 
 ing to help me ; but I would risk even your good 
 opinion to comfort Hugh. It hurts me more 
 than I can say that you should think me 
 wanting in delicacy and consideration, but the 
 happiness of my life is at stake ! And yet that 
 is scarcely what I mean — it is his happiness 
 I am thinking of most. If he is allow^ed to 
 believe that I am false to him, he will suffer as I 
 suffer ; and meanwhile one word of disclaimer 
 from your lips would be absolutely convincing."
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 193 
 
 He interrupted her. 
 
 "And if you should lose your lover on these 
 grounds of hasty and ungenerous suspicion, 
 would it be his fault or yours ? " 
 
 " What good is it to ask me that ? " she 
 answered sadly. " I do not care to measure 
 and weiorh blame and wrono; in such a matter 
 as this. Say, he ought to trust me in spite of 
 all he hears and thinks he sees, but that he fails 
 to do this — under strong provocation. All I 
 want is to prove to him he does me injustice — 
 to win him back to the old love and faith. You 
 see I am such a commonplace, unheroic girl, 
 that the knowledge that I do not deserve my 
 misery, won't make it the least bit easier to bear. 
 I don't try to hide from you what I feel for 
 Hugh ; life without him would be like — what 
 shall I say 1 — a fair landscape with the sun 
 withdrawn — life, with all the pleasant warmth 
 and colour gone out of it. Then — oh, I never 
 doubted that you would be willing to help 
 me ! '' 
 
 ''Any letter you think proper to write to 
 VOL. I. N
 
 194 
 
 Lieutenant Marriott I will engage shall reach 
 his hands." 
 
 She shook her head sadly. 
 
 "He would not read it. He would say — 
 ' What excuse can she offer ? ' Whereas — but I 
 will not urge you any more. No doubt I am 
 misled by my own strong feeling — I ought not 
 to have asked you." 
 
 " No/' he answered, with a groan, ^' you ought 
 not." 
 
 But the groan was an inward one, and the 
 words spoken to his own fighting spirit. 
 
 Lucia turned from him as she spoke, with an 
 air of accepted disappointment. 
 
 " I had been going to ask you other favours," 
 she said, " but now I feel a little afraid. Still 
 I must venture. Will you advise me what I 
 should say to my father ? I hardly dare to sug- 
 gest that you should tell him that — that you 
 have no wish to marry me ; but it will be nec- 
 essary for him to understand this, and he will 
 be very angry and bitterly disappointed. Then 
 there is another thing : he has told me that.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER 195 
 
 in some way I do not UDderstancl, lie is heavily 
 indebted to you, so as to be at the mercy of 
 your forbearance. Do I ask too much if I ask 
 you, Mr Deane, to continue to be merciful 1 " 
 
 " The matter does not rest with me. I have 
 conferred no obligation on Mr Prescott, but I 
 am quite sure he is safe in my father's hands. 
 For the rest, I have no difficulty in promising 
 to make him fully understand that I absolute- 
 ly renounce all pretensions to your hand ; and 
 perhaps I may be able to support your lover's 
 suit in such a way that your father will recon- 
 sider his objections." 
 
 Lucia sighed. 
 
 " You will do all this and it will be useless 1 
 Hugh will not come back to me, because he 
 hears you have withdrawn a claim you never 
 cared personally to assert, rather he will despise 
 me the more, thinking that you despise me too. 
 There is but the one way of helping me, other- 
 wise my happiness is lost." 
 
 '' Is it really so ? " he answered. " You are 
 persistent to cruelty, Lucia, though you do
 
 196 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 not know it ; but you shall have your way. I 
 will go to this young man and defend you at 
 all points ; and if I should not send him back 
 to you, blame his stubbornness, not my advo- 
 cacy. But, you turn pale ! do not be afraid — 
 I shall succeed." 
 
 " I am not afraid ; I am only too happy and 
 grateful. How can I thank you enough ! " 
 
 She held out both her hands to him in the 
 fervour of her spirit, and lifted up her lovely 
 face where the lips were smiling and eyes brim- 
 ming with glad tears, in the full confidence of 
 meeting the responsive pleasure in his. 
 
 But there was no such response : the singular 
 sweetness which for the most part softened the 
 expression of his face when it was turned upon 
 her, was wanting on this occasion. His eyes 
 smote hers like flame ; the hands, which scarcely 
 touched and instantly dropped her own, were 
 cold as ice ; his whole manner was alien to all 
 her former experience, and filled her with a 
 vague distress and foreboding. 
 
 She looked at him like a chidden child.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND A>'OTHER. 197 
 
 " AYhat have I done that you are angry with 
 me ? You cire angry ! Do you think it unbe- 
 comino: in me to be so orlad ? " 
 
 Then, as he still stood silent, with his face 
 turned away from her, another thought occurred 
 to her. 
 
 " You are ill ! you were not well when we 
 parted yesterday, and I have not even remem- 
 bered to ask you how you were ! Y^ou have 
 kept your promise to come to me this morn- 
 ins:, when vou ouo-ht not to have crone out, 
 and I " 
 
 Her shame and compunction at her own self- 
 ishness were so acute that she could not go on ; 
 she did not dare to ask for his forgiveness. 
 
 *' What you must think of me ! " she added in 
 a low tone. But he had recovered himself by 
 this time. 
 
 *' Forgive yourself," he said, smiling, "for I 
 forgive you. Trouble and joy are always self- 
 ish ; benevolence wants cool hearts and leisure 
 hands. Besides, Lucia, one of my weaknesses is 
 an invincible objection to be considered ailing;
 
 198 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 you could not hurt my feelings more than by 
 asking me *how I am/ But if you are really 
 concerned about me, I can assure you that I 
 was conscious of no sensation this morning that 
 ought to have kept me at home." 
 
 " All that you are so good as to say in my 
 excuse, Mr Deane, only increases my self- 
 reproach. Neither joy nor sorrow would make 
 you selfish." 
 
 He was silent for a moment, and then he 
 looked towards her with that sudden illumina- 
 tion of spiritual expression to which his face 
 lent itself at times. 
 
 "You encourage me to deserve your sweet 
 opinion. But, come, we are forgetting a matter 
 of importance — where am I to find Lieutenant 
 Marriott ? " 
 
 She moved eagerly towards a writing-table, 
 and wrote the address as she stood, he watching 
 her hand as she formed the letters of the be- 
 loved name, with a pang so sharp that he was 
 half contemptuous of his own sensibility.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 199 
 
 *' You will oro," she said as she ^aye him the 
 paper, " soon ? " 
 
 '• I will go to-morrow." 
 
 He saw the faintest shade of disappointment 
 touch her fair face : such a long summer day 
 still stretched before them ! 
 
 " Trust me," he said gravely ; '*' it is better 
 to wait till to-morrow." 
 
 He held out his hand to her in his usual way 
 when he was about to take leave ; but Lucia, 
 who was at once ardent and demonstrative, did 
 not like to part so formally. 
 
 She clasped the hand he extended in both 
 hers. 
 
 *' I trust you implicitly," she said, '*' and pray 
 God that you may be as happy as you have 
 made me." 
 
 In the years that were to come, this simple 
 benediction, in its ironical fulfilment, came back 
 to the memory of each.
 
 200 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 That love is akin to madness, is an axiom hoary 
 with tlie wisdom of the ages, but seldom has it 
 been realised to a fiercer excess than in the breast 
 of Hugh Marriott. 
 
 As he plunged out of sight amidst the scrubby 
 wastes of the garden outskirts, it is scarcely a 
 figure of speech to say that his brain was on 
 fire. At least so hot did the mental fever burn, 
 that it amounted to temporary delirium. 
 
 He had just seen the girl he adored with the 
 full measure of young love's extravagance — for 
 whose sweet presence he had been pining in 
 sickness of hope deferred through the last three 
 dreary months — fresh and radiant as if no care 
 had touched her, sitting at ease beside another 
 man in the strictest privacy a public resort
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 201 
 
 could offer, and so absorbed in what be was 
 saying to ber, tbat bar eager looks bung upon 
 tbe words as tbey fell from bis lips. 
 
 It ^yas not a case of filial obedience to a 
 sbameful mandate or of mental coercion, but of 
 flagrant personal perjury and disloyalty. He 
 was bimself simply sbelved and bis rival ac- 
 cepted, witb a facility tbat outdid in infamy all 
 former records of female faitblessness. 
 
 Tbe smootb tongue of tbis " dyspeptic volup- 
 tuary " bad triumpbed over tbe long devotion, 
 tbe sustained denials of tbe last ten years of bis 
 life. 
 
 Ten years ! He bad loved ber since bis boy- 
 bood — since tbe sweet spring mornings wben 
 be bad picked, unwearied, tbe buttercups and 
 daisies off tbe remote pastures of Eicbmond 
 Park at ber infant pleasure, or first taugbt ber 
 to trundle a boop round tbe aspbalt patbs of 
 ber fatber's villa. 
 
 And wben tbe sea divided tbem, no sun bad 
 ever risen or set witbout bis first and last 
 tbougbt — bis boyisb prayer and benediction —
 
 202 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 being silently but ardently breathed for the 
 lovely child he had left behind. On his return 
 England seemed scarcely his native land till he 
 trod its ground with her beside him ; and there 
 was no joy in home-coming till their hands or 
 lips had met. What had given him courage to 
 do right in tlie supreme moment of surrender to 
 duty but the divine aspiration of being worthy 
 of Lucia, and justifying her love ? Worthy ! (oh, 
 the pity of it !) worthy of the false and frivolous 
 creature who could throw such a past behind her 
 as a spent perfume, and take as compensation 
 the colossal fortune of a notorious debauchee ; 
 who was able to forget all the music of his 
 honest vows, and lend a fascinated ear to the 
 practised flatteries of a tongue which had de- 
 ceived a score of women before her ! 
 
 He almost gnashed his teeth in the extremity 
 of his indignant rage. 
 
 It was perhaps characteristic of the sex, that 
 his first violent excitement of feeling should be 
 directed against the woman he loved, not against 
 the villain who had supplanted him ; but his
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 203 
 
 turn came in time. And Marriott, as he thought 
 of Everard Deane, and recalled the slightly 
 stooping figure, the indescribable air of refine- 
 ment and weakness which distinguished the 
 man, and the beauty of his face, cursed him 
 with a malignity of which he would have be- 
 lieved himself incapable a few hours before. 
 
 Philosophy, pondering the deep things of the 
 spirit in the serene morning of human thought, 
 has told mankind to learn to know itself; but 
 the race has made small progress in the search, 
 and nine-tenths of it go down into silence with- 
 out having acquired even the rudiments of such 
 knowledge. It is not that there are no depths 
 to sound, for such there are in the poorest and 
 weakest amongst us, but that there is no faculty 
 for plumbing them ; and also, it often happens 
 that circumstances have left in us latent capaci- 
 ties both for good and evil, of the existence of 
 which no suspicion has been aroused. 
 
 Hugh Marriott's life hitherto had been an 
 auspicious one. The only child of an early 
 widowed mother, he had been steeped in tender
 
 204 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 forethought from his cradle ; and when, at her 
 death, this sweet influence failed him, he was 
 taken by the hand by a kindly distant relative, 
 who consulted his boyish tastes, and not only 
 allowed him to follow the profession he had 
 chosen, but smoothed his way and helped his 
 progress over the few inevitable difficulties that 
 arose. True, the boy was grateful and affec- 
 tionate, with a trained desire after goodness, 
 which temptation had never yet put to any 
 severe trial. 
 
 His professional career, with which we have 
 not much to do, was prosperous. He sailed in a 
 good ship under a good captain, who, though 
 he knew it not, loved him for his mother's sake 
 as well as for his own ; and his brightness of 
 spirit and charm of person made him a favourite 
 with officers and men. 
 
 He worked indefatigably, and went beyond 
 the requirements of professional duty; but the 
 spur was the sooner to woo and win the childish 
 maiden who proudly called herself " his little 
 wife " : and at a later period, the very incident
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 205 
 
 which had appeared likely to mar was now 
 helping his credit and advancement. Then the 
 crown of life had been given him ; Lucia Pres- 
 cott loved him, and, although with some reluc- 
 tance, their engagement had been sanctioned by 
 the family. 
 
 But now the cross-currents of life were set- 
 ting in. Greed and injustice threatened to rob 
 him of what he held almost as a birthright, but 
 he had been able to contend against that wrong 
 so long as Lucia's faith and love helped his own 
 in the struggle. We have seen, however, that 
 his trust in her was not sufficiently robust to 
 keep at bay doubt and suspicion ; and there had 
 always been a tendency in his mind to gauge 
 his sentiment for her as somethino^ stronorer and 
 nobler than hers for him. 
 
 Then, too, though he was ignorant of the 
 weakness, he had that instinctive appreciation 
 of his own merits and flawless fidelity which 
 came as the result of the general favour and 
 approval which had been the portion of his 
 life. He thou^fht himself virtuous because he
 
 206 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 had no inclination for the vices in which some 
 men indulged, not pausing to consider that that 
 man alone is strong who can resist the attacks 
 to which the bias of his nature inclines him. 
 
 In the first tumult of his feeling every vestige 
 of generosity and tenderness seemed swept from 
 Marriott's mind ; the possibility of explanation, 
 or excuse, or mistake, never occurred to him, or 
 occurred only to be rejected with derision. 
 
 His goddess was not only fallen from her 
 shrine, but his impulse was to trample upon her; 
 while his feeling towards Deane was of virulent 
 animosity. He did not stop to think that 
 there was a great probability that the man did 
 not know of his own existence, but he hated 
 him as we hate the perpetrator of a deliberate 
 and malignant wrong. 
 
 He passed the rest of the day and the long 
 night that followed in a true inferno — that of 
 racking jealousy and fury — than which there is 
 no deeper in the abyss. When morning came 
 he had not made up his mind to any course of 
 action ; he had half thought of going to Eich-
 
 LrCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 207 
 
 mond, seeking an interview with Lucia, and 
 scathing her with his contempt. But he justly 
 considered the chances of being allowed to 
 see her so much against him, as to make the 
 attempt scarcely worth while. 
 
 Then he sat down after an impatient break- 
 fast and wrote to her. He had a fair power 
 of expressing himself, and his passion was at 
 full tide ; the result was a page or two of such 
 stinging and relentless castigation as no true- 
 hearted man should inflict even on the weakest 
 woman who has betrayed him. 
 
 In the afternoon he went to his club, for no 
 purpose of distraction, but with a craving desire 
 to pick up any gossip that might be afloat con- 
 cerning either the man or the woman he felt he 
 almost equally hated ; but society seemed quite 
 oblivious of its recent scandal. 
 
 He met Grattan, but he had not a piquant 
 Avord to utter ; not a rumour to report nor an 
 anecdote to relate. He talked of nothing but 
 the weather, which happened to be oppressive, 
 and of the extortion of his unpaid tailor's bills.
 
 208 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Marriott, not mucli practised in social self-re- 
 straint, could scarcely bring himself to be 
 civil. 
 
 He went out again into the open air, and 
 drifting aimlessly, found himself, after some 
 time, in the neighbourhood of Eaton Square. 
 Then a new idea suddenly occurred to him. 
 
 He would find out Everard Deane and deliver 
 his soul. The days of duelling were over, or 
 he would at once have seized upon this resource 
 for his injury ; days which, whatever may be 
 said against them, had at least the advantage 
 of making it possible to enter a protest, not to 
 be mistaken or overlooked, against an insuffer- 
 able wrong, and of keeping brutal manners in 
 check. 
 
 Marriott never stopped to consider what 
 course he should adopt when standing face to 
 face with his enemy ; rather strength would be 
 given him in that hour to discharge his right- 
 eous vengeance, and reduce him to shame and 
 humiliation. If more than this were possible — 
 if any form of chastisement or means of reprisal
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 209 
 
 presented themselves — he could trust himself 
 to make the best of such opportunity. 
 
 On reaching the house and inquiring for ]\Ir 
 Deane, the porter left him in the hall while he 
 went to ascertain if the banker would receive 
 him, Marriott ha vino; announced himself as a 
 stranger. Before the man returned, he remem- 
 bered he had asked for the father instead of the 
 son, and in his impatience followed in the direc- 
 tion in which the servant had gone, with the 
 idea of repairing his mistake. 
 
 The great house seemed strangely silent, not 
 a sound or a footstep reaching his ear ; and he 
 was in a frame of mind to observe, with almost 
 savage bitterness, that the indications of wealth 
 and luxury on all sides exceeded anything with 
 which he had been hitherto acquainted. To the 
 simple manly tastes of the young sailor, the 
 deep piled carpets, and windows made dim with 
 heavy velvet draperies, were out of j^lace in the 
 passages and landings of a dwelling - house ; 
 while the glimpses he caught through the half- 
 open doors moved him to a sort of ascetic scorn. 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 210 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 He knew there were no women in the family, 
 therefore all the elaborate inducements to indo- 
 lence and self-indulgence — the cabinets filled 
 with bronzes and china, the perpetual white 
 gleam of sculpture, the prodigal abundance of 
 exotic flowers and plants — seemed to him proofs 
 of weakness and effeminacy. The whole house 
 was faint with perfume, and darkened from the 
 sultry afternoon glare like the boudoir of a 
 fashionable lady. He was just about to return 
 to the hall, not having succeeded in tracing 
 the direction in which the servant was gone, 
 when he came unexpectedly upon him in an 
 ante -room to a larger apartment, engaged in 
 an under-toned altercation with another man^ 
 whose foreign appearance, and a certain air 
 of superiority, made Marriott doubt if he were 
 also one of the servants of the household. He 
 was apparently about forty years of age, with a 
 complexion and physiognomy which suggested 
 Creole birth, and a . singularly animated and 
 agreeable expression. Hugh, apologising for 
 intruding so far into the interior, explained his
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 211 
 
 mistake, and that it was Mr Everard Deane 
 he wished to see, implying that his business 
 was so urgent, that if that gentleman w^ere at 
 home he would not be denied. 
 
 The Creole slightly raised bis shoulders. 
 
 " But the gentleman must be denied to-day," 
 he answered ; " Mr Deane is ill and can see no 
 one." 
 
 This assertion seemed to Marriott an impu- 
 dent lie, reasoning from what he had seen 
 the day before, but it w^as absolutely true. 
 Everard was lying prostrate on his couch — a 
 true Ixion's w^heel — motionless and silent, w^ith 
 clenched hands and shut teeth, enduring such 
 extremity of physical torture as might have 
 satisfied the rancour of the most cruel enmity. 
 As it w^as, Marriott regarded the denial with 
 contempt, as part of the routine of an idle man's 
 system of escaping unwelcome interruption; and 
 perceiving that the servant's eye, while speak- 
 ing, had instinctively turned to the door of the 
 other apartment, he rightly judged that it was 
 the one occupied by Everard, and advanced
 
 212 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 quickly towards it with the idea of forcing an 
 entrance. 
 
 " My business cannot wait," he said ; *' if 
 your master is within I must see him." 
 
 But rapid and unexpected as his action was, 
 the other was not taken unawares ; he inter- 
 rupted it by a sudden flank movement of almost 
 panther - like dexterity, and placed his back 
 against the door. 
 
 " For God's sake, stop ! " he said, in an eager 
 whisper, his dark face growing paler ; "it will 
 be almost murder if he hears our voices ! You 
 do not wish to drive a sick man mad ? " 
 
 Marriott's face expressed a sort of contemp- 
 tuous loathing. From what unfailing Nemesis 
 could this exhausted libertine be suffering? 
 This was the thought that occurred to him, 
 exasperated into madness almost by the re- 
 collection that it was none the less to him to 
 whom Lucia had delivered her sweetness and 
 her purity. He turned away from the door. 
 It was a privacy which even his enmity did not 
 care to penetrate.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 213 
 
 " If I positively cannot see your master, you 
 must at least take him a message and bring me 
 an answer before I leave the house." 
 
 " Not I ! " returned the Creole, doggedly. 
 " I dare not go in without leave, and I would 
 not if I dared ; '' but at the same moment he 
 started ^"iolently, for he heard his name called 
 from within the apartment. 
 
 " What I feared has happened," he said ; ''he 
 has overheard us. I must go iu, but — you will 
 not attempt to follow ? " 
 
 " No ; but I wait here for your return." 
 
 As the door opened to admit the attendant, 
 Marriott's position gave him a momentary 
 glimpse of the room ; but although it was not 
 yet six o'clock on a sultry August afternoon, all 
 the lights were so effectually darkened, he could 
 distingruish nothinor. The door was closed ao-ain 
 immediately. 
 
 " Tell Lieutenant Marriott I have already 
 written to him, and dismiss him at once. Is 
 this your care-taking, Pietro 1 " 
 
 The man's mobile face worked with excited
 
 214 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 feeling, made up of sympathy and compunc- 
 tion. He crept towards the sofa from which 
 the voice proceeded. 
 
 " I may come back ? " he asked in a whisper. 
 
 "On no account. Go and deliver the mes- 
 sage, and keep a stricter guard for the 
 future." 
 
 He obeyed instantly ; and as the door again 
 closed noiselessly behind him, an involuntary 
 groan broke from Everard, the nervous excite- 
 ment of the interruption having intensified his 
 torment to the point of compelling some vent 
 for agony. 
 
 '* Good God ! " he muttered, scarcely knowing 
 what form his protest took till the words struck 
 his edir; and then he added, with a sudden 
 betrayal of secret bitterness, " Good God ! ay, 
 to believe in such, I would bear this and more ! " 
 
 The Creole gave his master's message to 
 Marriott with an air of sullen hostility. He 
 received it in silence, and at once withdrew. 
 As he passed out he glanced back towards the 
 man with an impulse of curiosity, and saw that
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 215 
 
 he had placed himself on a mat before the door 
 which divided him from his master, in an atti- 
 tude no European could or would have assumed, 
 and with his ear bent to catch the sounds 
 within — if any such should reach him.
 
 216 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 On reaching his lodgings in Bruton Street, Hugh 
 found Deane's note awaiting him. It was a 
 brief but courteous announcement that he pro- 
 posed to call upon him at such an hour on the 
 following morning, and hoped, as his business 
 was urgent, that he should be fortunate enough 
 to find him at home. 
 
 Marriott threw the paper from him as if it 
 had been a scorpion and had stung him ; the 
 proposal seemed to him a piece of matchless 
 effrontery. 
 
 What object could Deane have in view ? It 
 was not credible that he had any intention of 
 offering excuse or reparation for the wrong 
 inflicted, or of bringing some message from 
 Lucia.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, A^'D AXOTHER. 217 
 
 Lucia I God, that tlie hour should ever 
 have come to associate her name with such 
 as Everard Deane's, and provoke in his own 
 breast no emotion but indignant scorn ! Had 
 he not seen it, no evidence would have sufficed 
 to convince him of her treachery. And then, 
 with all the perverse luxury of self-torment, he 
 let his head fall on his arms wearily crossed 
 on the table, and reproduced once more before 
 his mental sight the scene he had witnessed in 
 Kew Gardens. 
 
 The deliberate seclusion of the spot — the 
 slanting evening light falling upon that lovely 
 upturned face, with its tender eyes, and parted 
 lips, and ineffable air of charmed attention. Of 
 the man beside her he had little more than a 
 general impression that in face, figure, and pos- 
 ture, he looked the subtle and alluring seducer 
 which he was. 
 
 Still, he would see him if he came. At least 
 it would give him the opportunity of self- 
 expression — of telling the man to his face what 
 he was, and declaring his own absolute repu-
 
 218 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 diation of the girl who had offered a new proof 
 of the possibilities of feminine worthlessness ; 
 in short, of renouncing charity, faith, and love 
 in the future. 
 
 Then he would bid an eternal farewell to 
 England, and cut all ties that held him to the 
 past. There was a new expedition being fitted 
 out for the Arctic Sea, and on the point of 
 departure ; he would offer himself as a volun- 
 teer for this service and was sure of acceptance. 
 And the issue of it, so far as he was concerned, 
 would be a matter of the most complete in- 
 difference. 
 
 What had life to offer him ? 
 
 He passed another sleepless night, and got 
 up in a condition of such bodily weariness and 
 nervous irritation as boded ill for his self- 
 command in the coming interview. 
 
 He was unused to suffering, either mental or 
 physical, and the experience had for him all 
 the bitterness of a new and intolerable sen- 
 sation. 
 
 For all this, Hugh Marriott never perhaps
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 219 
 
 looked to better advantage than when, a few 
 hours later, he rose stiffly from his seat and 
 stood np to acknowledge the entrance of Ever- 
 ard Deane. The fine proportions of his supple 
 but vigorous figure, the admirable poise of the 
 head and throat upon the broad shoulders, and 
 the fair bronzed beauty of the face, to which 
 trouble and the effort at self-command lent 
 unusual dignity, were characteristics detected 
 by his" visitor at the first glance, and appraised 
 by him even beyond their value. 
 
 The young man, with a view to maintain 
 his attitude of insolent defiance, remained 
 standing, and abstained from invitiug Deane 
 to be seated. He had been tormenting himself 
 all the mornino^ with the fear that the latter 
 would not be able to keep his appointment, 
 and that he had done so renewed in his mind 
 the suspicion that the indisposition of yester- 
 day was but a ruse. 
 
 " I did not expect you," he said brusquely, 
 running his eye in obvious and disdainful 
 scrutiny over the face and figure before him.
 
 220 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " Are. you able to be well or ill at discretion — 
 that is, are you better this morning ? " 
 
 Everard looked at him with a curious smile. 
 
 " I am quite well this morning ; the neuralgic 
 attacks from which I suffer often leave me as 
 suddenly as they come. Also, I always keep 
 an enoraorement. I will add, Lieutenant Mar- 
 riott, that it will be as well for you to drop 
 your tone of hostility. I wish you to under- 
 stand that I come to you not in the character 
 of a rival, but as a friend." 
 
 The blood rushed into Hugh's face, and a 
 smile of bitter sarcasm touched his lips. 
 
 " I perceive," said Everard, still keeping his 
 searching eye upon the youDg man's face, " that 
 you think I was ill advised to make use of a 
 word that seems to you simply ridiculous as 
 applied to myself. Be quite sure that I am 
 prepared to take your advantages and my de- 
 ficiencies even at your own valuation. I agree 
 with you that, personally, I could never be a 
 very formidable antagonist. But fate has re- 
 dressed the balance by investing me with
 
 LUCIA, HUOH, AXD AXOTHER. 221 
 
 certain extraneous compensations which count 
 for something in an age of calculation." 
 
 '•'For so much," retorted the other, "that 
 granting I was the conceited ass you imply, 
 I should still be forced to admit that in any 
 competition between us I should be simply 
 nowhere." 
 
 " In the matter that brings me here to-day 
 there is no question of competition. I am 
 come to state a matter of fact, and to correct 
 a mistake into which you have fallen — quite 
 naturally, perhaps. You think I am engaged 
 to marry Miss Prescott, and that she has 
 ruthlessly thrown you over out of considera- 
 tion of my position as my father's son. It 
 is not true." 
 
 " What ! " cried Marriott, turning pale with 
 excess of suppressed indignation; "you give the 
 lie to a fact that has been public gossip for 
 weeks, and which my own senses have con- 
 firmed ! Do you take me for a fool \ " 
 
 " ^Ye are all fools," returned Everard, coolly, 
 " when our passions come into play. I was
 
 222 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 prepared to find my point-blank assertion would 
 stagger you a little. Mind, I do not say a 
 marriage between Mr Prescott's daughter and 
 myself has not been talked about — by out- 
 siders. But I require you to believe me when 
 I assert that she personally has been kept 
 in ignorance of her father's wishes, and has 
 never looked upon me in any other light 
 than as a casual acquaintance, more or less 
 acceptable.'' 
 
 " It was certainly rather more than less," 
 said Hugh, with a sneer, " according to my own 
 observation. I cannot understand the object 
 you have in view by this contradiction of 
 facts admitted on all sides, and which, I 
 assure you, I shall have pride and courage 
 enough to accept. Have you any statement 
 to make on your own account ? " 
 
 " Yes ; that a pretty extensive knowledge of 
 the world and of poor human nature under 
 extreme provocation, helps me to bear your 
 boyish insolence wdth patience. My personal 
 statement in regard to Lucia Prescott is this —
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 223 
 
 that what she thinks necessary for her happi- 
 ness I am pledged to help her to obtain. It is 
 this pledge to a girl who stands very high in 
 my esteem which brings me to see you this 
 morning. Shall we sit down ? " 
 
 " That is as you please : I prefer to stand." 
 
 " In that case I mast follow my host's ex- 
 ample, which will tend to shorten a disagreeable 
 interview. I have not much more to say, 
 Lieutenant Marriott," continued Everard, with 
 gathering wrath in his pale face. " I am sent 
 to you by one of the sweetest and noblest 
 of women with assurances of innocent passion, 
 and tears of iU-deserved anofuish at an estrans^e- 
 ment she cannot understand; but it must be 
 left for you to decide in what spirit you receive 
 them." 
 
 He turned aside a little to conceal the indio;- 
 nation which he felt was growing too hot, but 
 he had already stirred the better part of Hugh's 
 nature. 
 
 *' If I could but believe you !" he said. " Can 
 you explain why she has not written to me ?
 
 224 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 why I have received no sign from her since the 
 day we returned together from Luxton ? To my 
 mind your statements sound like insult and 
 mockery ; it is hard to reconcile her conduct 
 with any pretence of love." 
 
 Everard was silent. So far as the speaker 
 was concerned he had not a touch of sympathy; 
 the very expression which he had just employed 
 grated on his ears as he recalled the tender 
 ardour of Lucia ; but he had pledged himself 
 to her to succeed, and in order to do this he 
 must command himself to explain, and even to 
 expostulate, in defiance of the passionate revolt 
 of personal feeling and the weariness of bodily 
 prostration. 
 
 " I should ill deserve to be the ambassador of 
 so fair a lady,'' he said quietly, " if I failed to 
 make the position quite clear to you. You say 
 you have never received any letters from her 
 since such a time ; she makes the same complaint 
 of you, therefore on this score your wrongs are 
 equal. Only there is a difference — she believes 
 confidently in your being able to explain the
 
 99: 
 
 neglect, while you condemn her at once and 
 unheard." 
 
 Hugh smiled bitterly. " The difference lies 
 in quite another direction ! During the three 
 months which have passed since we met last, 
 I have lived only on hope and remembrance ; 
 until yesterday, have scarcely passed an hour 
 without anxious thought for her. She on her 
 
 part " he hesitated and turned away his head: 
 
 *' have I not heard and known of your constant 
 association ? Did I not see you together 1" 
 
 His voice fell and his face flushed. 
 
 *' Pray put on one side so trivial an incident 
 as that you saw me taking charge of Miss Pres- 
 cott for a few minutes in the absence of her 
 mother, and doing my poor best to amuse her ! 
 Is a lively girl's interest in an old traveller's 
 story to outweigh the courageous fidelity with 
 which she has maintained your rights against 
 her father, and, in default of other friends, sent 
 me to tell you that — that — I am a poor expon- 
 ent of her meaning ! — let us say that she thinks 
 life not worth having without you 1 " 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 226 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " Is it SO *? " said Hugh, moved in spite of 
 himself; " it is hard to believe I " 
 
 " That she should hold such an opinion ? " 
 returned Everard ; " there I agree with you. 
 No man yet was worthy of a true woman's devo- 
 tion, but do your best to justify hers. You will 
 go to her, of course — to-day — at once ?" 
 
 " Wait a moment ! You have asserted but 
 proved nothing so far, and I am still at a loss 
 to understand the motive of your interference. 
 I hesitate, not because I do not love her, God 
 knows, nor that I value my life in comparison 
 with my belief in her — if only I could get it 
 back ! But I have not got it yet !" 
 
 He threw himself impatiently into a chair as 
 he spoke, and covered his face with his hands, 
 moved partly by the instinct to hide the work- 
 ings of his mind from a keen observer, and 
 partly the better to concentrate his thoughts on 
 the difficulties of the situation. His rapture 
 of relief was largely qualified by the apparent 
 inconsistencies of events and the suspicion that 
 Everard had some ulterior motive in view, also
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 227 
 
 by a sense of shame at his own passionate rash- 
 ness, and at the expression he had given to it in 
 the first heat of his indignation. 
 
 " May I ask you some plain questions ? " he 
 said, looking up at length. " If you are really 
 Lucia's friend, and honestly anxious to bring us 
 together again, you need not mind trying to 
 satisfy me on some points difficult to under- 
 stand." 
 
 Everard sat down with a gesture of assent ; 
 but Hugh had not proceeded far in pouring out 
 one eager inquiry after another, broken with 
 references to this point and that, before he 
 perceived that both he himself, and probably 
 Lucia, were in complete ignorance of many cir- 
 cumstances to which Marriott referred. After 
 listening in silence for some time, he said — 
 
 *' I have every reason to believe that Miss 
 Prescott knows nothing of her father's inter- 
 view with you, and he must have exceeded 
 his rights in making the statements you re- 
 peat. The facts are simply these : My father 
 is anxious I should marry, and I had consented
 
 228 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 to an introduction to Miss Prescott with this 
 end in view, though, personally, I prefer a single 
 life. So far it has gone no farther than a pleas- 
 ant friendship on either side ; but had it been 
 otherwise, Hugh Marriott, it is quite as well 
 that you should understand that I was told 
 the young lady was disengaged both in heart 
 and hand, and that I never knew of your ex- 
 istence till you crossed our path at Kew." 
 
 Hugh sat for a few moments stricken with 
 compunction. 
 
 " Then what must you have thought of me 
 to-day 1 " he ejaculated. 
 
 " That is a matter of no consequence. I see 
 plainly that you have been very grossly de- 
 ceived by Mr Prescott. Neither his wife nor 
 daughter has left town since I made their 
 acquaintance ; and the latter has received no 
 letters from you, though she has written several. 
 If facts like these do not carry you to her feet 
 at once, you are — even less worthy of her than 
 I supposed." 
 
 He looked at the young man with a smile
 
 HJCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 229 
 
 SO doubtful in its expression as to bring the 
 sensitive colour into his face. 
 
 " You think ill of me 'i " he questioned ; " and 
 indeed I have behaved to you like a graceless 
 hound." 
 
 " I need not think specially ill of you because 
 I doubt your desert of Lucia Prescott's love. 
 But if you should leave her to-day with one 
 single movement of her sweet mind misunder- 
 stood or inadequately met by yours — if you 
 should cause her one pang of disappointment, 
 or alloy your reunion with reproaches and sus- 
 picions, you shall find you have one to reckon 
 with who has made the accomplishment of this 
 girl's happiness the object of an idle life, and 
 who does not intend to have his purpose 
 frustrated." 
 
 An angry rejoinder sprang to Marriott's lips ; 
 but there was something in the look and manner 
 of the speaker which held it in check. As he 
 encountered the fire in Deane's eyes, habitually 
 soft and languid, and marked the fine lines of 
 the pale but admirable features, he silently
 
 230 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 corrected his first estimate of the other's insig- 
 nificance as a rival. A face like that, which 
 could gather into it such sudden force of 
 expression, was one which would cause any 
 woman's glance to liuger upon it; and in the 
 inflections of his voice, now that personal feel- 
 ing animated its usual quiet cadences, there 
 was a subtle fascination. 
 
 After all he held a doubt of Lucia. Could 
 she have failed to discover the charm in this 
 man which was reported to be omnipotent with 
 the sex, and to which even he himself was not 
 insensible ? 
 
 While he hesitated Everard spoke again. 
 
 " I was too warm, Lieutenant Marriott, as I 
 am apt to be when I see a woman unhappy. 
 I will try and believe my anxiety is superfluous, 
 and I beg to apologise. When you see Miss 
 Prescott, tell her I give you both free permis- 
 sion to claim my services at any point where 
 you think they might be useful." 
 
 Hugh's response was not so fluent as might 
 have been expected if Everard Deane had looked
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEK. 231 
 
 for gratitude. But he did not, nor did he hold 
 himself entitled to it, seeing that not one effort 
 made in behalf of Lucia's lover had its origin 
 in any feeling of goodwill towards the man 
 himself. " For her sake — for her sweet sake 
 alone," he said to himself as he went down- 
 stairs, having closed his interview with Hugh 
 by a cool " Good morning," and without appear- 
 ing to notice the hand half reluctantly extended 
 in farewell.
 
 232 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Two days after this interview Everard Deane 
 was considerably surprised when Pietro came 
 into his private room to announce that Lieu- 
 tenant Marriott had called, and pressed to see 
 him. 
 
 " And what did you tell him ? " 
 
 " That you were on the point of going out." 
 
 Everard smiled. " I will see him ; and no 
 eavesdropping, recollect ! That is the unpar- 
 donable sin even in so faithful a follower as you. 
 Why do you dislike this young man 'i " 
 
 " I do not dislike, I hate him." 
 
 " So ! you give yourself a deal of unnecessary 
 trouble. A week ago I did not know the man 
 existed — he has done me no wrong." 
 
 Pietro's eyes fell below the steady look he
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 233 
 
 encountered, and he hastened to banish from 
 his face the suggestion of dissent which it 
 expressed. 
 
 " I will admit the gentleman at once," he 
 replied, meekly, " and try and remember that 
 he is your friend." 
 
 Everard Deane was a man with whom the 
 sentiment of hospitality was of almost oriental 
 strength. He received Marriott with a cordial 
 graciousness which the young sailor had no 
 means of knowing would have been almost 
 equally extended to his worst enemy had he 
 come under his roof, and which certainly served 
 to quicken Hugh's sense of compunction as he 
 recalled his own reception. 
 
 "I see you are in trouble," Deane said, after 
 the first greeting was over, " and I am glad to 
 find you take me at my word, and bring your 
 trouble to me." 
 
 " My trouble is on Lucia's account. AVe have 
 met and parted, and all is right between us, 
 but in so doing we have disobeyed the positive 
 commands of her father, and he is mad with
 
 234 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 rage and disappointment. I fear that he treats 
 her with great severity." 
 
 Everard's face whitened beneath its habitual 
 pallor. 
 
 " You fear ? — and you have left her to suffer ! 
 But explain ; in what way can a father nowa- 
 days have it in his power to maltreat his daugh- 
 ter? Yet stop! I want no answer ; in a hundred 
 ways he could make that tender soul shrink 
 and tremble ! " 
 
 He broke off to gain composure, for he felt he 
 was betraying too much, and every nerve in his 
 body seemed to thrill in response to this mon- 
 strous demand on his sympathy. 
 
 Hugh glanced at him with his former suspi- 
 cion renewed, but he went on notwithstanding. 
 
 " Any expression of my feelings," he said, 
 wdth some dignity, " seems superfluous, and 
 beside the matter in question. Simply, I was 
 coerced to leave her, and could only have added 
 to her distress by resistance. But she has the 
 idea that you have some power over Mr Pres- 
 cott which might be used to overcome the
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 235 
 
 violence of liis opposition. He swears not only 
 that she shall never be my wife, but that you 
 shall fulfil your promise of marrying her. In 
 this extremity she has sent me to you." 
 
 " For what purpose ? Why don't you run 
 aw^ay with her, and marry her to-morrow 1 " 
 
 " She is under age," answered Hugh, stifily, 
 and with raised colour, for he felt the abrupt 
 proposal to jar upon his sense of propriety; 
 " and besides, nothing would induce Lucia to 
 leave her mother to bear the brunt of her hus- 
 band's brutal exasperation alone." 
 
 " Good God ! " exclaimed Everard, getting up 
 and pacing the room — " do such men live ? " 
 
 Then, after a pause, " Does she tell her 
 father that she holds to her enojaorement with 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes, with a gentle determination which fills 
 me with admiration and gratitude" — (''and 
 shame ! " muttered the other below his breath) — 
 *' but I cannot bring her to the point of resisting 
 the authority against which she protests." 
 
 Everard looked at him steadily. "Does she
 
 236 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 support with equal loyalty my assertion, that I 
 have never made love to her ? " 
 
 " She does ; but Mr Prescott treats it with 
 derision. He is bent on forcing a marriage 
 between you. There is neither decency nor 
 reserve in his behaviour. He bluntly owns that 
 he has tampered with our correspondence, and 
 that he considers any means available which 
 may help to bring about our separation. Worse 
 than this — but I betray too much " 
 
 He hesitated. 
 
 " Tell me nothing she would not wish me to 
 know; otherwise, your disclosures are as safe as 
 if made at the confessional. Perhaps all that 
 you need say now is, in what precise way she 
 thinks I may be useful." 
 
 Marriott coloured and fidgeted under Deane's 
 eager observation. 
 
 " There w^as too much painful excitement at 
 our last meeting for Lucia to be able to express 
 her wishes clearly ; but I believe I know what 
 they are. Her father is under heavy obligation 
 to you — his commercial credit lying at your
 
 287 
 
 mercy. If you were to put uj)on him a due 
 amount of pressure, lie must yield olaedience to 
 any course of conduct you choose to dictate. 
 She thinks you will see him and force him to 
 do this." 
 
 Everard was silent. 
 
 " The scheme does not commend itself to 
 your mind, Mr Deane ? " asked Hugh, in a 
 tone of repressed irritation ; " in other words, 
 it comes to this — we ask you to give us some- 
 thing more definite than empty assurances of 
 goodwill." 
 
 "The scheme certainly does not commend 
 itself to my mind. In the first place, I have no 
 such authority as you suppose. Mr Prescott 
 may or may not be under obligations to the firm 
 of which my father is the head, but of business 
 matters I know nothing, and have no power of 
 interference. And supposing the case stood as 
 you put it, I should hesitate a long time before 
 I threatened a defenceless man into doing what 
 I wanted." 
 
 Hugh's face burned with annoyance.
 
 238 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " I accept the reproach of having a less deli- 
 cate sense of honour than yourself. I don't 
 possess the privilege of much personal acquaint- 
 ance with you, Mr Deane; but I cannot help 
 saying, the world at large has a good deal to 
 answer for in doing such scant justice to the 
 refinement of your principles. To my coarser 
 mind any means seem justifiable which would 
 reduce a bad man's power of making misery. 
 But your consideration for Mr Prescott's feel- 
 ings, of course, closes the matter.'' 
 
 " I think," said Everard, quietly, " it will be 
 well to close it. You are not the best advocate 
 of your own interests. I repeat, that I am not 
 disposed to bully Lucia's father into submission, 
 but that does not mean I will not do my best 
 to influence him." 
 
 He stopped and reflected a moment, then 
 added — 
 
 "I am sorry the world gives me a bad char- 
 acter, but you may do well in going through it 
 to remember the charitable proverb, that ' even 
 the devil is not so black as he is painted ; ' and
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 239 
 
 at least of one thing I am certain, that as a 
 man so much better in every sense than myself, 
 Lieutenant Marriott could never be guilty of 
 the cruelty of disparaging me in the eyes of any 
 one whose good opinion I value. I will speak 
 more plainly. I have a very strong desire that 
 Lucia Prescott should continue to think well of 
 me ; that man must be bad indeed who would 
 not make an effort to justify a good woman's 
 estimate." 
 
 Marriott's eyes dropped. He found it impos- 
 sible to meet the direct gaze of the other. 
 
 "I see ! " said Everard ; " I speak too late — 
 you have already done so ! " 
 
 He got up and went to the window. Under 
 ordinary circumstances it would have seemed 
 incredible to him that any man of character 
 could have been guilty of the meanness of 
 which he suspected Marriott, but it went be- 
 yond sufferance or excuse in one under such 
 heavy obligations to his generosity. 
 
 But there was the restraining consideration 
 that the offender was under his own roof. He
 
 240 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 consumed his wrath and disdain in silence, and 
 turned again to his companion. 
 
 "Am I to understand that you were com- 
 missioned by Miss Prescott to ask me to visit 
 her?" 
 
 Marriott's morality did not admit of lying 
 under any pressure of expediency ; but the 
 question tested his veracity. If there was one 
 thing more than another that he dreaded, it 
 was that Lucia and Everard should come into 
 frequent intercourse. A dull fire of suspicion 
 and jealousy still lay smouldering in his breast. 
 
 " Any visit of yours to Lucia, Mr Deane, 
 would be misunderstood by her father, and 
 turned by him into a fresh weapon against her, 
 besides confirming the public gossip, which is so 
 disagreeable to all of us. Give me leave to tell 
 her that you promise to do all in your power 
 with Mr Prescott on our behalf, though I doubt 
 altogether the success of any efibrt short of that 
 I ofi'ended you by pointing out." 
 
 " You will understand that you have not yet 
 answered my question."
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 241 
 
 Thus pressed, Hugh took refuge in prevari- 
 cation. 
 
 "Lucia did express a casual wish to see 
 you, but relinquished it at once on my show- 
 ing her its inexpediency, as I have tried to 
 show you." 
 
 "Poor girl, she must be sorely bestead amongst 
 you ! But I tell you openly, Lieutenant Mar- 
 riott, that I shall entirely disregard your objec- 
 tions on this point. My object, as I have ex- 
 plained to you before, is not your happiness and 
 peace of mind, but Lucia's. The one may come 
 by way of the other, but I must renew mv cer- 
 tainty that such is the case before I take any 
 further steps to secure it. There is not a shred 
 of obligation binding me to consult your per- 
 sonal interests." 
 
 "That means," said Hugh rising, and pale 
 with excitement, " that you throw off the mask 
 and declare yourself my rival ! It is what I 
 have suspected all along, and I was justified in 
 my suspicion. Good God, what a deep game 
 you play ! " 
 
 VOL. L Q
 
 242 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Everard quietly laid his hand upon a bell 
 that stood on the table between them, and which 
 was so disguised by elaborate design and work- 
 manship, that the other had not recognised it 
 for what it was. Instinctively the young man 
 followed the movement of his fingers, and such 
 was his mood of morbid perception, that he was 
 quick to observe the singular beauty of the 
 hand and wrist brought into prominence by the 
 action, and to be aware that it caused an addi- 
 tional throb of jealous aversion. 
 
 " Why," he added recklessly, " if you meant 
 to supplant me, was all this elaboration of 
 treachery necessary ? " 
 
 Everard pressed the bell, and the piercing, 
 sonorous note sounded clear through chambers 
 and passages. Almost without a pause of 
 intermission the door opened and the Creole 
 entered. As he advanced into the room he 
 met his master's stern look of inquiry, and the 
 blood rushed to his face. 
 
 Excited as Hugh Marriott was, he could not 
 help watching the scene with nervous interest,
 
 LUCIA, HCGH, AXD AXOTHER. 243 
 
 and he saw the expression of submissive depre- 
 cation which succeeded to the man's evident 
 confusion. 
 
 " I rang, Pietro," said Deane, in the quiet tones 
 peculiar to him, '*' to ask you to show Lieutenant 
 Marriott out ; but on second thoughts, I will 
 perform that service myself." 
 
 He dismissed the servant with a careless ores- 
 ture, then rising, crossed the room and opened 
 the door for Hugh's departure. 
 
 " It will not be necessary," he said, bowing 
 ceremoniously to his guest, " for us to meet 
 again. You and I part, Lieutenant Marriott^ if 
 not as rivals, at least — not as friends."
 
 244 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 It was well perhaps for Hugh Marriott's inter- 
 ests that the cruel and unmanly letter he had 
 indited in his first passion to Lucia never 
 reached her hands. The same system of with- 
 holding her letters was still in force, and the 
 one in question was duly delivered to her father 
 instead of to herself. 
 
 It had a misleading ejffect upon Mr Prescott's 
 actions. Naturally supposing that the man 
 who abused in so reckless a manner the girl he 
 supposed had jilted him, would be under no 
 inducement to seek her presence, and ignorant 
 of the counter-influences at work, he took no 
 precautions to restrain Lucia's freedom. Also, 
 his confidential servant happened to be ofi" duty 
 on the day when Hugh Marriott presented him-
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 245 
 
 self at the house, and the result was that he 
 was ushered by the neat parlour-maid without 
 hesitation into her young mistress's immediate 
 presence ; and then the alchemy of love worked, 
 and did all the rest. 
 
 The moment Lucia's rapturous glance en- 
 countered the yearning deprecation expressed 
 in Hugh's beautiful blue eyes, doubt was solved 
 and explanation needless. She flew into his 
 embrace by instinct ; and murmured protests, 
 tears, and kisses, made a tempered ecstasy of 
 the next hour or two. To her eager, hopeful 
 temper, all difficulties were to be overcome now 
 that their mutual faith was re-established. 
 
 Hugh had felt a slight surprise that Lucia 
 met his explanations and confessions with such 
 tender forbearance, not perceiving at first that 
 she had never received the shameful letter which 
 he justly felt to be the head and front of his 
 ofience. When this point became clear to him, 
 it gave, of necessity, fresh confirmation to the 
 theory that their correspondence had been 
 intercepted, and also relieved his mind of a
 
 246 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 heavy load. As he looked at the lovely girl 
 by his side, full of ardent affection ateness 
 and loyal fidelity, he felt not only that there 
 were some passages in his letter which he 
 could never forgive himself for writing, but 
 which she might also have found impossible 
 to forgive. 
 
 For once Mr Prescott's tactics had stood Mar- 
 riott in good stead. During the interview, a 
 good deal had naturally been said about Everard 
 Deane; and though Lucia's statements corre- 
 sponded in every particular with his, her lover 
 was irritated to the point of torment by her ex- 
 pressions of admiration, gratitude, and good- 
 will. He was one of those men who consider 
 any perception of merit in another man on the 
 part of the woman they love, a disloyalty to 
 themselves. Still, he succeeded in keeping 
 his annoyance within decent bounds, which, 
 however, did not prevent him from making 
 some attempt to enlighten Lucia on the mis- 
 taken idea she had received of Everard's 
 claims to consideration. He left her at last
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 247 
 
 with the promise of coming again on the fol- 
 lowing day. 
 
 But before the morrow came poor Lucia had 
 a heavy penalty to pay for the happiness she 
 had dared to enjoy. Mr Prescott, whose brutal 
 excesses it is not necessary to dwell upon in 
 detail, was frantic with rage and discomfiture 
 when he understood what had happened. 
 
 If anything more had been wanting to drive 
 him to extremity it was supplied by his daugh- 
 ter's sustained declaration that Mr Everard 
 Deane had no T\-i3h to marry her, and had never 
 entertained such a wish. He scarcely knew 
 aorainst whom his wrath burned hottest until 
 Marriott's own appearance upon the scene 
 decided this point, when it broke out, to the 
 disgust or consternation of all who witnessed 
 his intemperate violence. He fell back upon 
 his old threat of punishing his wife and 
 daughter until they yielded obedience to his 
 wishes, and defied Lucia to entertain the mon- 
 strous assumption that the great banker's son 
 had not courted her as his wife. The sweet
 
 248 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 patience and simple dignity of the girl under 
 these provocations were such as would have en- 
 deared her still more passionately to her lover, 
 had not the feeling been qualified by perceiving 
 that, although her dependence on his love and 
 her own firmness was great, it was greater still 
 in Everard Deane's power of assistance. The 
 one thing that held Mr Prescott's rage of dis- 
 appointment a little within the bounds of reason, 
 was his daughter's willingness to grant an inter- 
 view to Deane, even under the condition of her 
 father's presence. 
 
 " But I beg of you," she had said privately 
 to Hugh, "so to arrange that I may be able to 
 speak to him alone first." 
 
 This idea he had strongly disapproved, and 
 expressed his disapproval ; but he certainly drew 
 rather upon his wishes than upon facts when 
 he stated that she had relinquished it. It had 
 been the day following these incidents that 
 Marriott had called in Eaton Square, and 
 Lucia, knowing that such had been his inten- 
 tion, looked anxiously daily for the appearance
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 249 
 
 of her friend, and was profoundly disappointed 
 that he did not come. 
 
 Everard Deane, on his part, deliberately ab- 
 stained from seeing her again until some more 
 definite conclusion had been reached in the 
 state of her afi'airs, and this could scarcely be 
 accomplished until he had come to an under- 
 standing with her father. He thought it un- 
 desirable to seek George Prescott himself, as 
 his doing so would be an obvious loss of ad- 
 vantage ; and he had fully expected the stock- 
 broker w^ould have been easrer to brinof his 
 grievance under his notice, and was in his turn 
 disappointed and ill at ease that he had not 
 done so. 
 
 His solicitude for Lucia's happiness was un- 
 shaken even by the strong under-current of 
 passionate yearning and regret. 
 
 In this state of mind he felt a certain satis- 
 faction, when a few days afterwards his father, 
 on his return from the city, said — 
 
 '* Can you persuade yourself to dine w4th me to- 
 night, Everard, and spend the evening at home ?
 
 250 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 George Prescott has been with me to-day, and 
 we must talk this matter over together." 
 
 "My dear dad, the most pressing engage- 
 ment in the world should yield to any wish 
 of yours." 
 
 " Then you have some such engagement 1 " 
 asked the banker, irritably. 
 
 The relations between father and son had be- 
 come somewhat strained of late, since the former 
 had received the idea that Everard was intend- 
 ing to repudiate the marriage which he had 
 himself so much at heart. Also, he had seen 
 very little of Everard during the last ten days, 
 as his son was deeply anxious to avoid discus- 
 sion of the subject till a decision had been 
 reached ; besides which motive, he had been 
 suffering more or less during the same period 
 from persistent attacks of his malady ; and 
 whenever this was the case, he was in the 
 habit of disguising the truth from his father, 
 out of consideration for his distressed sympathy, 
 by giving orders to Pietro to say he was out, 
 and would not be at home till late.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHEE. 251 
 
 Many a night when Everard was lying in his 
 darkened chamber, locked against intrusion, 
 and enduring his torment in speechless patience, 
 the old man had sat up in his lonely dining- 
 room far into the small hours, sadly wonder- 
 in or when the son he loved with a concen- 
 
 o 
 
 trated affection would have sown his wild 
 oats and would settle down into a steady 
 member of society, and he himself be relieved 
 from the load of care and disappointment he 
 had so Ions* carried. 
 
 It was the remembrance of such recent hours 
 that g^ave the unusual touch of acrimonv to his 
 tone. 
 
 Everard glanced towards him with a momen- 
 tary sense of surprise. 
 
 " I have no ens^ao^ement at all ; I meant if I 
 had such, I would forego it." 
 
 '^ And you have not already dined off mutton- 
 broth or rice-pudding ? " 
 
 " On the contrary, I had the menu brought 
 to me this morning, and reserved my appetite. 
 I have eaten nothing since breakfast, and you
 
 252 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 will find, consequently, that ' my strength is as 
 the strength of ten.' " 
 
 There was a fascination in Everard's smile 
 and caressing manner, which, whoever might 
 resist, were irresistible to the fond old man who 
 was watching him with so much inward and 
 unspoken anxiety. 
 
 " So far well," he answered ; " and for the 
 rest, we will leave business till we have dined." 
 
 And then he hurried back into the dining- 
 room to consult with his butler ^as to what 
 choice vintage should be specially selected from 
 his cellars, to please the difficult and fastidious 
 palate of his son, who of all his guests was 
 the one he secretly most delighted to honour. 
 And the son on his part not only ate and 
 drank to please him, which in itself was no 
 slight sacrifice, but exerted himself to while 
 away, by varied and vivid talk, the tedious 
 period which the elaborate formality of the 
 dinner exacted. 
 
 As soon as it was over, wine and dessert 
 were placed on a small table near the open
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, A>'D AXOTHEE. 253 
 
 window, for the heat was oppressive — and the 
 servants left the room. 
 
 This was the hour the banker enjoyed when- 
 ever Everard sat opposite to him. Ensconced 
 in his favourite chair, with his long limbs 
 stretched at ease, he poured out slowly a glass 
 of Burgundy, to which age and judicious care- 
 taking had given an almost priceless value, 
 and looked across at his companion, with his 
 hand in the act of raising it to his lips. 
 
 '"' Here's to the health of the most charming 
 girl we know, and to yours too, Everard, as 
 bound up in hers. Will you pledge me 1 " 
 
 *' Not quite on those terms, or I should be 
 misleading you. Will you tell me, in as few 
 words as possible, what George Prescott wanted 
 with you to-day 1 I should have thought his 
 business would have been with me." 
 
 Mr Deane put down his glass untasted. 
 
 " A very few words will suffice. He told me 
 it was reported that you wished to draw back 
 from your engagement to Miss Prescott, to 
 which you were committed from the first mo-
 
 254 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHEE. 
 
 ment of introduction. He asked if I knew 
 anything of your change of mind, and what 
 course, under the circumstances, I should advise 
 him to adopt — professing his willingness to 
 abide by my judgment in consideration of ob- 
 ligations received — supposing the libel to be 
 true." 
 
 " He was very submissive, then ? I mean, 
 he did not hint at reprisals, or threaten in 
 any way ? " 
 
 " He did not, simply because I told him the 
 report was a lie, and no man who bore my 
 name broke his word," answered Mr Deane, in 
 hard and aggressive tones. 
 
 " Did he say nothing of his daughter's state 
 of feeling ? " 
 
 '^ Nothing it would be worth while to repeat; 
 he gave me to understand your addresses were 
 acceptable to her." 
 
 " Liar and cheat I " said Everard ; and then, 
 in a few succinct words, he explained how 
 matters really stood — how Mr Prescott had 
 concealed the fact of Lucia's attachment to
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 255 
 
 Lieutenant Marriott, and in what way he had 
 himself accidentally arrived at the discovery. 
 
 His father interrupted him angrily — 
 
 *' Am I to be induced to believe that the girl 
 was no party to the fraud ? Where is your 
 common-sense, Everard ? It is incredible the 
 man could have ventured on such a scheme had 
 he not depended upon her to abet him. Rely 
 upon it, she was ready enough to throw over 
 the old lover for such chances as you offered 
 her ! " 
 
 " It is a sufficient answer to that view of the 
 case," said Everard, quietly, '' that she refuses to 
 throw over the old lover now." 
 
 " I cannot understand ! Has she then been 
 amusing herself all this time in accepting your 
 attentions, with the ultimate view of throwing 
 over in the end one of the best matches in 
 town?" 
 
 " My dear father, I am constrained to confess 
 that the attentions I have offered her did not 
 necessarily force upon her mind the idea that 
 I was a suitor for her hand. I was desperately
 
 256 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 afraid of scaring my bird before I had tamed 
 it, and the consequence was that she scarcely 
 looked upon me in any other light than as a 
 tolerable companion for the fulfilment of certain 
 social duties, whose age and appearance put all 
 nonsense of that kind out of the question. All 
 the time she has been fretting her innocent 
 heart for her absent and silent lover — absent 
 and silent through the shameless trickery of 
 her father. You may take back your old belief 
 in Lucia's goodness : a sweeter, more loyal 
 creature never trod the earth." 
 
 Mr Deane looked at him sharply. 
 
 " But you," he said, "you loved her, or I am 
 very much mistaken ; and, please God, you 
 shall have her yet ! This impecunious sailor, 
 disallowed by the father, has no better claim 
 than yourself, to whom the most solemn pledges 
 have been given. We have the means of co- 
 ercion in our own hands." 
 
 '' Over whom ? George Prescott is ready 
 enough to fulfil his lying compact, and needs 
 no coercion ; and over the strength of an ardent
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 257 
 
 girl's first love we have no power at all, and if 
 we had we would not use it." 
 
 " Then your conclusion is, tamely to give her 
 up and pocket the outrage and affront ? " 
 
 " One can scarcely be said to give up a thing 
 of which one had never even a momentary 
 possession," answered JEverard, with a somewhat 
 dreary smile ; and then, meeting the full mean- 
 ing of his father's anxious scrutiny, he added — 
 
 " Had circumstances favoured me, I believe I 
 could have become very fond of Lucia Prescott ; 
 but at my time of life we do not rush into love. 
 I assure you, my first tender whisper has yet 
 to be spoken, and I find myself able to discuss 
 her marriage with another man with perfect 
 coolness and disinterestedness." 
 
 Mr Deane shook his head sadly. 
 
 " Then my disappointment is a great deal 
 deeper than yours ! I cannot say how I regret 
 this lost chance — at least she was a woman you 
 were content to marry. Had things turned out 
 as I hoped, I should have felt certain of keeping 
 you by my side for the short space of life left 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 258 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 me; also — shall I say it, Everard ? — of seeing 
 you conform to those bounds of regular do- 
 mestic observance to which you still seem to 
 find it impossible to submit." 
 
 Everard looked up quickly. '' Pray," he said 
 with emotion, " do not harass yourself with the 
 fear of my leaving Engjand again for any 
 length of time. Beyond a very short and occa- 
 sional holiday, I am quite content to promise 
 to stay at home so long as you continue to wish 
 it. That you should be good enough to wish 
 it so earnestly, fills me with shame and self- 
 reproach for past neglect. As for the rest, I 
 am not quite sure I understand what you 
 mean." 
 
 '' Simply, my dear Everard, ask yourself how 
 many nights last week saw you in bed at three 
 o'clock in the morning ? You will perhaps 
 answer that houses where people entertain are 
 kept open even beyond that time, but then I 
 know you detest both dinners and dances. I 
 allow for club-house and opera ; and indeed it 
 has always been a satisfaction to me that you
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, A^'D ANOTHER. 259 
 
 should be able to find so unfailino^ a resource in 
 the latter — but neither is to be found open at 
 that hour. I am driven to conclude that you 
 must supplement such justifiable indulgences by 
 others that would scarcely come under the same 
 category. I am no puritan, as you know, but 
 I had hoped such pleasures would have palled 
 before now." 
 
 "My dear father," began Everard, warmly, — 
 and then he stopped on the threshold of his 
 exculpation, withheld by the feeling that he 
 could scarcely wring the old man's heart by 
 referring to his own sufferings, and thus proving 
 the injustice of the accusation. ''My dear 
 father," he repeated, with greater gentleness, 
 " your anxieties on this score are groundless, 
 but I pledge myself you shall not have occa- 
 sion to complain of my late hours again." 
 
 He would have added something more with a 
 view to his self- vindication, but at that moment 
 there was a knock at the door, and a servant 
 entered with a telegram. 
 
 The telegram was for Everard, and was to the
 
 260 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 effect that Lady Portisham had met with a 
 severe carriage accident, which threatened to 
 prove fatal, and urgently desired to see him. 
 
 "In case of her death," he said, handing it to 
 his father, and more moved by the communi- 
 cation than he cared to show, " I shall lose one 
 of my best friends, who always did me the 
 inestimable kindness of thinking better of me 
 than I deserved." 
 
 *'You will go to-night 1 " 
 
 "I will go as soon as Pietro can push a 
 change of linen into a portmanteau. I shall 
 catch the night-mail, and be in Edinburgh by 
 eight o'clock in the morning."
 
 261 
 
 CHAPTER XYIL 
 
 Lady Portisham was dying. No T^roman loved 
 life better, or was more reluctant to bid it fare- 
 well. She was forty years old, but was con- 
 scious of unexhausted capacities for giving and 
 receiving pleasure. She was still handsome, 
 ardent, and insatiable of enjoyment. 
 
 Twenty-four hours before, she had stepped 
 into her carriage radiant with health and anima- 
 tion, with a hundred delightful schemes for the 
 morrow and its followers, to be brought back a 
 crushed and miserable wretch, the beat of whose 
 pulse was reduced to an awful problem of so 
 many hours, more or less. 
 
 She was a widow without children, and almost 
 without kith or kin ; but she was beloved by 
 her servants, and by the faithful woman who
 
 262 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 had been companion and friend during the last 
 twelve years of her life. 
 
 After all had been done for her which surgical 
 skill could suggest, but which was almost in- 
 effectual for the relief of her sufferings, which 
 she endured with prodigious fortitude, she said 
 to her immediate medical attendant with a 
 smile — 
 
 "You must keep me alive for twenty-four 
 hours, at worst. My affairs are not in order. 
 I have not only my soul to shrive, but my 
 lawyer to see." 
 
 " I will not leave the house," was the answer. 
 " Is anything in my power ? " 
 
 " Telegraph to Everard Deane. He is one of 
 my oldest friends, and the creature I love next 
 best to myself; and remember I will not die till 
 I have seen him 1 " 
 
 She calculated accurately the hours that must 
 elapse before the possibility of arrival, and then 
 commanded herself to wait with patience. 
 
 In the meantime she sent for her lawyer, and 
 gave him instructions to draw out a will, in
 
 LUGIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 263 
 
 which the bulk of her fortune was bequeathed 
 to Everard, leaving a blank for the name of the 
 inheritor until her condition should have ren- 
 dered the ratification of the deed imperative, her 
 motive being that she anticipated some opposi- 
 tion on the part of her legatee. Through the 
 hours of the long night she lay speechless, with 
 doctor and skilled nurse in attendance, and her 
 faithful friend sitting close by the bedside but 
 with the dropped curtain between them. 
 
 From time to time the latter looked at her 
 watch and announced the hour. What thoughts 
 passed through the dying woman's mind in that 
 awful quietude, so soon to merge in the still 
 more awful quiet of the grave ? Did she re- 
 member that throughout her prosperous and joy- 
 ous life she had taken all her good things as an 
 inalienable birthright, and employed them solely 
 as tools and channels of personal enjoyment *? 
 She had never felt any hunger of the soul 
 after God, nor scarcely a momentary yearning 
 towards the bleak heights of moral aspiration 
 and endeavour.
 
 264 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 She had been charitable, and even generous, 
 to the poor and friendless ; but her charity had 
 never cost her a personal sacrifice, and her 
 generosity was compatible with a boundless 
 self-indulgence. Self had been the centre of 
 her system, but she had never yet realised that 
 she was selfish — did she realise it now '? 
 
 Presently she broke the silence. " Draw back 
 the curtains ; the dawn breaks. Let me have 
 the window open. Send for some fresh roses, 
 Alice, and put everything out of sight that 
 could offend a fastidious eye. Everard will 
 soon be here." 
 
 She was obeyed implicitly. And then, with 
 help from doctor and nurse, she was raised into 
 a reclining posture on her pillows, a stimu- 
 lant administered, and she renewed her patient 
 watch. 
 
 It was half-past eight o'clock when the man 
 whom she thus awaited arrived. She heard 
 the sound of his carriage-wheels, and turned her 
 eyes on the doctor, who was still standing by her 
 bedside with his hand on her fluctuating pulse.
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD AXOTHER. 265 
 
 "Go to him yourself, and prepare liim for 
 the shock — there is no time to lose ; " and 
 then she added to her friend, in a voice that 
 grew perceptibly weaker, as her eyes followed 
 the doctor out of the room, " when he comes, 
 leave us alone : he within call, all of you, but 
 not within hearing." 
 
 A few moments later Everard Deane was 
 kneeling by her bedside, and had pressed his 
 lips on the pale hand she feebly extended. 
 
 Lady Portisham looked at him eagerly, and 
 smiled faintly. 
 
 " You are deeply shocked and very sorry for 
 me, Everard 1 " she said. " I imagine you are 
 the one human being who may be able to 
 understand what I suffer. You will not have 
 forgotten that I once saw you in one of your 
 paroxysms of torment, and the remembrance 
 of it has braced my nerves under this terrible 
 experience ; but — I see — I am cruel — forgive 
 
 me, dear ." Her voice dropped. 
 
 Everard's pale face worked with emotion. 
 The rack could scarcely have had a sharper
 
 266 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 agony for him than the sight of excruciating 
 pain which he was powerless to relieve, endured 
 by a woman with heroic fortitude, and that 
 woman bound to him by a lifetime's friendship. 
 
 " I cannot speak of what I feel and you 
 suffer," he answered ; " with you one of the 
 lights of my life will go out. Can I in any 
 way serve you ? You have sent for me for 
 some definite purpose 1 " 
 
 " Yes," she said, gazing at him with what he 
 felt to be a heartrending intensity. " I have 
 sent for you to bid you good-bye, as friends 
 must do who are obliged to part, and — to 
 make you a wedding - present in advance of 
 the event. You must not refuse it ! " 
 
 He looked up quickly. It is superfluous 
 to have reserves with the dying; and all the 
 subdued and scarcely acknowledged anguish 
 of his soul was expressed in the face he lifted 
 towards her. 
 
 "Do not," he urged, "let us speak of my 
 aflfairs, only — I shall never marry ! " 
 
 A spasm contracted the brow of the dying
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AXD ANOTHER. 26 7 
 
 woman and passed convulsively through her 
 crushed frame. Everard hesitated a moment 
 whether he should call assistance, but she made 
 a pathetic gesture of restraint. He rose quietly 
 and rendered her what help he could — raising 
 the drooping head upon his breast, and wiping 
 the dews of agony and dissolution from her 
 forehead, with a skilled tenderness which owed 
 as much to experience as to friendship. He 
 was going to replace her on her pillows, in 
 order to reach a cordial close at hand, when 
 she checked him. 
 
 " Do not move. I am a little easier so, 
 and I must make haste to tell you what I 
 want. I have made you my heir : I have no 
 near relations. And — I have loved you, Ever- 
 ard ! You must humour a dying woman, and 
 make no puerile objections — promise me this ! " 
 
 He was inexpressibly touched and distressed ; 
 but the proposal seemed one impossible to 
 accept. He was hesitating in what words 
 sufficiently gentle he could convey his refusal, 
 when she spoke again —
 
 268 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 " You will never marry, you said ? God 
 forgive me ; but I could go down to my grave 
 better content if I knew that you spoke 
 the truth ! You will never marry — Lucia 
 Prescott ! " 
 
 He made another attempt to divert her mind 
 from himself, but it only served to irritate her 
 dangerously. 
 
 " Do not thwart me ! I have no time for 
 contention. Tell me what you mean, when 
 yon say that you will never marry — Lucia '? " 
 
 " I mean she is heart and soul in love else- 
 where, and was engaged before ever I had 
 made her acquaintance ; therefore, dear Lady 
 Portisham, destroy your will. It is not yet 
 too late. You see I want no wedding-gifts." 
 
 She made no answer. He was not quite sure 
 she had followed what he said until he per- 
 ceived that tears, which pain had not sufficed 
 to force from her eyes, were slowly gathering 
 ■under the closed lids and trickling down her 
 cheeks. 
 
 '' Oh," she said at length, in a voice of pain-
 
 LCrCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHEE. 269 
 
 ful concentration, " fate is cruel ! A heavenly 
 dream seems to mock me. Did you under- 
 stand what I said just now, or was it too 
 ridiculous? Fool as I am — just ten years 
 older than yourself — I have loved you, I re- 
 peat. Not as a friend, Everard, but as a wife 
 might love ; nay, more — more — as a woman 
 who knew herself misprized and contemned. 
 You shudder ! I am thankful I cannot see 
 your face." 
 
 He placed her with careful gentleness on her 
 pillows, and came back to his former position 
 at her bedside, so as to be in the full focus of 
 her failing vision. 
 
 " Live now ! " he said with gleaming eyes, 
 and voice that vibrated with emotion, " and I 
 will love you a hundredfold better than you 
 have loved me ! " 
 
 He lifted up her hand again as he spoke, and 
 kissed it in a sort of strained exaltation of feel- 
 ing. She lay gazing at him in silent hope- 
 lessness. 
 
 "Too late! too late! I think, perhaps, I
 
 270 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 might have consoled you, but that thought is 
 born only of such an hour as this. Strong 
 and well — in my old riotous health and spirits 
 — you would not have spoken so. It comes 
 of your knight-errantry, Everard ; you would 
 not let a dying woman go down shamed to 
 her grave ! " 
 
 She was silent for a few moments, almost as 
 if she had lapsed into unconsciousness, then 
 opening her eyes, and looking at him with a 
 sort of remorseful tenderness, added — 
 
 " Kiss me once, before my lips grow cold 
 enough to revolt yours." 
 
 He bent over her and kissed her once and 
 again with grave deliberate tenderness ; but she 
 was right — the impulse of magnanimous self- 
 sacrifice was subsiding. 
 
 Had she lived he was capable of making the 
 surrender of his life to her love, but he would 
 soon have discovered that love comes not even 
 at the call of magnanimity. 
 
 After a pause she said — 
 
 " You shall leave me now for a little time
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND AXOTHER. 2Vl 
 
 while I see my doctor and my lawyer. I wish 
 you had been a poor man that I could have 
 enriched you ; as it is, I shall at least render 
 you independent of a father's authority and 
 caprices. I say to myself, ' My money will serve 
 to keep my memory green in his recollection ; 
 I shall weave myself into the texture of his 
 everyday life. At times he must pause and 
 think, " I owe this and that to her — poor soul, 
 she loved me ! '" " 
 
 " I quite understand," he answered gently, 
 " and I am profoundly grateful, but it must not 
 be. I implore you to listen patiently a mo- 
 ment, for my sake, who will suffer such bitter 
 pain and self-reproach if I am the cause of 
 hurting you in any way at this time. For me 
 to accept your fortune would be nothing less 
 than infamy. I am too rich as it is, and should 
 dread to increase the responsibilities of a posi- 
 tion which even now I fulfil very badly. My 
 dear, the world would execrate me for my 
 cupidity, and very justly : you would weight 
 me wdth a load heavier than I could bear.
 
 272 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 Give it to those who have claims upoD you — 
 there must be such." 
 
 " There are none," she cried with distressing 
 eagerness, "or I should not have overlooked 
 them! You know better than I my sister's 
 sad story. Everard, you are cruel ! I wish the 
 world to know I have loved you ! " 
 
 " And the world would deride your love and 
 lay it to my charge, as one other offence against 
 me. We do not offer oar dead hearts for dis- 
 section, Claudia I Let me help you to decide 
 what is best to be done. Do you know of no 
 struggling lives you can brighten '? No charity, 
 deep and broad enough for you to rejoice to 
 help it forward?" 
 
 He leaned over her, speaking low and rapidly, 
 and agonised by the consciousness that her mind 
 at this supreme crisis should be disturbed and 
 irritated by anxieties of which he was the cause. 
 
 But even the awful shadow of death works 
 no magic change in human character. Lady 
 Portisham dying, was still impatient of oppo- 
 sition, and resolute in working out her own
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, A^-D ANOTHER. 273 
 
 will, which now took the passionate determi- 
 nation of showino^ the man she had so lonor 
 silently worshipped, some public proof of her 
 regard. 
 
 ''You are hastening my end, Everard," she 
 whispered, but with eyes aflame with excite- 
 ment, '' and robbing me of the chance to find 
 a few minutes before I die to set my soul in 
 order. Do not speak another word — I am 
 resolved ! If you refuse to help me, and to 
 send me my lawyer, who is waiting down-stairs, 
 at least have enough mercy upon me to let 
 others do what you refuse. Will you ring that 
 bell?" 
 
 He hesitated, oppressed by a conflict of feel- 
 ing which filled heart and brain with a sense 
 almost of stupefaction. It is hard to resolve a 
 problem in casuistry with the sands of a human 
 life running out rapidly under the eyes. Then 
 a sudden thought, coming as if from without, 
 penetrated his mind, and was accepted after 
 a moment's pause of instinctive revolt. 
 
 "You are resolved? "he asked in the same 
 VOL. I. s
 
 274 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 low but incisive accents as before, and taking 
 again in his the pallid hand which lay motion- 
 less on the coverlet ; " then I must yield. You 
 leave me your fortune because you love me, 
 Claudia "? In that case you will suffer me to do 
 with it what pleases me best. Well, I accept 
 it on these terms ; here on the spot and instant 
 as a gift, without the legal formalities, for which 
 we have no time, and which count for nothing 
 between friends like us. And having accepted 
 it — do you follow my meaning 1 — I give it 
 back to you again that you may dispose of 
 what was mine according to my wish and 
 direction.'' 
 
 He spoke with metallic distinctness, she fol- 
 lowing each word with strained effort and eyes 
 fastened on his pale, set face. As he paused 
 she gasped for breath. 
 
 '' What would you do '? " she succeeded in 
 saying. " You shall have your way." 
 
 '^ I would have you, in laying down your 
 life, bring joy and gladness into other lives, 
 and give a better man than I the chance of
 
 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 2 75 
 
 making a sweet woman happy. I desire you 
 to make Lieutenant Marriott, late of H.M.S 
 Alcidon, your heir, in recognition of his gallant 
 behaviour in the performance of his duty off 
 the Cape of Good Hope on the 17th of last 
 December. Shall I send for your lawyer ? " 
 
 '•' You wish it," she asked faintly — " with all 
 your heart ? I think I understand. It is a 
 piece of knight-errantry again ! " 
 
 '' Yes," he said with a quiet smile, "it is a 
 piece of knight-errantry ; but if you would have 
 me love you even better than I do, and adore 
 your memory for sweet submission to what 
 seems to you my unreason, help me to do it ! " 
 
 "' It shall l>e done," she answered ; '* but lose 
 no time about it. You will stay and help me, 
 and witness the deed ? '^ 
 
 " I will stay that I may be at hand to answer 
 any questions or give any information your man 
 of business may require, but my name must not 
 appear in the transaction." 
 
 She looked at him for a few moments with an 
 undefinable expression ; then, as the sound of
 
 276 LUCIA, HUGH, AND ANOTHER. 
 
 approaching footsteps reached her ears, said in 
 a low, hurried, shame-stricken voice — 
 
 " God forgive me, Everard, and you, too, if 
 you can ! but I shall die better content that it 
 is not your vocation to make that sweet woman 
 happy!" 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SOXS. 
 
 p-