arenot
very
new-fashioned
;
but
we
will
go
together
and
see
them
to-morrow
,
and
I
dare
say
I
shall
soon
be
able
to
make
them
comme
il
faut
.
”
CHAPTER
XLVIII
This
considerable
rise
in
the
life
of
Endymion
,
after
the
first
excitement
occasioned
by
its
announcement
to
him
had
somewhat
subsided
,
was
not
contemplated
by
him
with
unmixed
feelings
of
satisfaction
.
It
seemed
to
terminate
many
relations
of
life
,
the
value
of
which
he
had
always
appreciated
,
but
which
now
,
with
their
impending
conclusion
,
he
felt
,
and
felt
keenly
,
had
absolutely
contributed
to
his
happiness
.
There
was
no
great
pang
in
quitting
his
fellow-clerks
,
except
Trenchard
,
whom
he
greatly
esteemed
.
But
poor
little
Warwick
Street
had
been
to
him
a
real
home
,
if
unvarying
kindness
,
and
sedulous
attention
,
and
the
affection
of
the
eyes
and
heart
,
as
well
as
of
the
mouth
,
can
make
a
hearth
.
He
hoped
he
might
preserve
the
friendship
of
Waldershare
,
which
their
joint
intimacy
with
the
prince
would
favour
;
but
still
he
could
hardly
flatter
himself
that
the
delightful
familiarity
of
their
past
lives
could
subsist
.
Endymion
sighed
,
and
then
he
sighed
again
.
He
felt
sad
.
Because
he
was
leaving
the
humble
harbour
of
refuge
,
the
entrance
to
which
,
even
in
the
darkest
hour
of
his
fallen
fortunes
,
was
thought
somewhat
of
an
indignity
,
and
was
about
to
assume
a
position
which
would
not
have
altogether
misbecome
the
earliest
expectations
of
his
life
?
That
seems
unreasonable
;
but
mankind
,
fortunately
,
are
not
always
governed
by
reason
,
but
by
sentiment
,
and
often
by
very
tender
sentiment
.
When
Endymion
,
sitting
in
his
little
room
,
analysed
his
feelings
,
he
came
to
the
conclusion
that
his
sadness
was
occasioned
by
his
having
to
part
from
Imogene
.
It
often
requires
an
event
in
life
,
and
an
unexpected
one
,
to
make
us
clearly
aware
of
the
existence
of
feelings
which
have
long
influenced
us
.
Never
having
been
in
a
position
in
which
the
possibility
of
uniting
his
fate
to
another
could
cross
his
mind
for
a
moment
,
he
had
been
content
with
the
good
fortune
which
permitted
a
large
portion
of
his
life
to
be
passed
in
the
society
of
a
woman
who
,
unconsciously
both
to
him
and
to
herself
,
had
fascinated
him
.
The
graceful
child
who
,
four
or
five
years
ago
,
had
first
lit
him
to
his
garret
,
without
losing
any
of
her
rare
and
simple
ingenuousness
,
had
developed
into
a
beautiful
and
accomplished
woman
.
There
was
a
strong
resemblance
between
Imogene
and
her
sister
,
but
Imogene
was
a
brunette
.
Her
countenance
indicated
far
more
intellect
and
character
than
that
of
Sylvia
.
Her
brow
was
delicately
pencilled
and
finely
arched
,
and
her
large
dark
eyes
gleamed
with
a
softness
and
sweetness
of
expression
,
which
were
irresistibly
attractive
,
and
seemed
to
indicate
sympathy
with
everything
that
was
good
and
beautiful
.
Her
features
were
not
so
regular
as
her
sister’s
;
but
when
she
smiled
,
her
face
was
captivating
.
Endymion
had
often
listened
,
half
with
fondness
and
half
with
scepticism
,
to
Waldershare
dilating
,
according
to
his
wont
,
on
the
high
character
and
qualities
of
Imogene
,
whom
he
persisted
in
believing
he
was
preparing
for
a
great
career
.
“
How
it
will
come
about
I
cannot
say
,
”
he
would
remark
;
“
but
it
will
come
.
If
my
legitimate
sovereign
were
on
the
throne
,
and
I
in
the
possession
of
my
estates
,
which
were
graciously
presented
by
the
usurper
to
the
sausage-makers
,
or
some
other
choice
middle-class
corporation
,
I
would
marry
her
myself
.
But
that
is
impossible
.
That
would
only
be
asking
her
to
share
my
ruin
.
I
want
her
to
live
in
palaces
,
and
perhaps
,
in
my
decline
of
life
,
make
me
her
librarian
,
like
Casanova
.
I
should
be
content
to
dine
in
her
hall
every
day
beneath
the
salt
,
and
see
her
enter
with
her
state
,
amid
the
flourish
of
trumpets
.
”
And
now
,
strange
to
say
,
Endymion
was
speculating
on
the
fate
of
Imogene
,
and
,
as
he
thought
,
in
a
more
practical
spirit
.
Six
hundred
a
year
,
he
thought
,
was
not
a
very
large
income
;
but
it
was
an
income
,
and
one
which
a
year
ago
he
never
contemplated
possessing
until
getting
grey
in
the
public
service
.
Why
not
realise
perfect
happiness
at
once
?
He
could
conceive
no
bliss
greater
than
living
with
Imogene
in
one
of
those
little
villas
,
even
if
semi-detached
,
which
now
are
numbered
by
tens
of
thousands
,
and
which
were
then
beginning
to
shoot
out
their
suburban
antennae
in
every
direction
of
our
huge
metropolis
.
He
saw
her
in
his
mind’s
eye
in
a
garden
of
perpetual
sunshine
,
breathing
of
mignonette
and
bright
with
roses
,
and
waiting
for
him
as
he
came
down
from
town
and
his
daily
labours
,
in
the
cheap
and
convenient
omnibus
.
What
a
delightful
companion
to
welcome
him
!
How
much
to
tell
her
,
and
how
much
to
listen
to
!
And
then
their
evenings
with
a
delicious
book
or
some
delightful
music
!
What
holidays
,
too
,
of
romantic
adventure
!
The
vine-clad
Rhine
,
perhaps
Switzerland
;
at
any
rate
,
the
quaint
old
cities
of
Flanders
,
and
the
winding
valley
of
the
Meuse
.
They
could
live
extremely
well
on
six
hundred
a
year
,
yes
,
with
all
the
real
refinements
of
existence
.
And
all
their
genuine
happiness
was
to
be
sacrificed
for
utterly
fantastic
and
imaginary
gratifications
,
which
,
if
analysed
,
would
be
found
only
to
be
efforts
to
amuse
and
astonish
others
.
It
did
not
yet
occur
to
Endymion
that
his
garden
could
not
always
be
sunshiny
;
that
cares
crop
up
in
villas
,
even
semi-detached
,
as
well
as
joys
;
that
he
would
have
children
,
and
perhaps
too
many
;
that
they
would
be
sick
,
and
that
doctors’
bills
would
soon
put
a
stop
to
romantic
excursions
;
that
his
wife
would
become
exhausted
with
nursing
and
clothing
and
teaching
them
;
that
she
herself
would
become
an
invalid
,
and
moped
to
death
;
that
his
resources
would
every
day
bear
a
less
proportion
to
his
expenditure
;
and
that
wanting
money
,
he
would
return
too
often
from
town
a
harassed
husband
to
a
jaded
wife
!
Mr.
Rodney
and
Sylvia
were
at
Conington
on
a
visit
to
Lord
Beaumaris
,
hunting
.
It
was
astonishing
how
Sylvia
had
ridden
to
the
hounds
,
mounted
on
the
choicest
steeds
,
and
in
a
scarlet
habit
which
had
been
presented
to
her
by
Mr.
Vigo
.
She
had
created
quite
an
enthusiasm
in
the
field
,
and
Lord
Beaumaris
was
proud
of
his
guests
.
When
Endymion
parted
with
his
sister
at
the
Albany
,
where
they
had
been
examining
his
rooms
,
he
had
repaired
to
Warwick
Street
,
with
some
expectation
that
the
Rodneys
would
have
returned
from
Conington
,
and
he
intended
to
break
to
his
host
the
impending
change
in
his
life
.
The
Rodneys
,
however
,
had
not
arrived
,
and
so
he
ascended
to
his
room
,
where
he
had
been
employed
in
arranging
his
books
and
papers
,
and
indulging
in
the
reverie
which
we
have
indicated
.
When
he
came
downstairs
,
wishing
to
inquire
about
the
probable
arrival
of
his
landlord
,
Endymion
knocked
at
the
door
of
the
parlour
where
they
used
to
assemble
,
and
on
entering
,
found
Imogene
writing
.
“
How
do
you
do
,
Mr.
Ferrars
?
”
she
said
,
rising
.
“
I
am
writing
to
Sylvia
.
They
are
not
returning
as
soon
as
they
intended
,
and
I
am
to
go
down
to
Conington
by
an
early
train
to-morrow
.
”
“
I
want
to
see
Mr.
Rodney
,
”
said
Endymion
moodily
.
“
Can
I
write
anything
to
him
,
or
tell
him
anything
?
”
said
Imogene
.
“
No
,
”
continued
Endymion
in
a
melancholy
tone
.
“
I
can
tell
you
what
I
wanted
to
say
.
But
you
must
be
occupied
now
,
going
away
,
and
unexpectedly
,
to-morrow
.
It
seems
to
me
that
every
one
is
going
away
.
”
“
Well
,
we
have
lost
the
prince
,
certainly
,
”
said
Imogene
,
“
and
I
doubt
whether
his
rooms
will
be
ever
let
again
.
”
“
Indeed
!
”
said
Endymion
.
“
Well
,
I
only
know
what
Mr.
Waldershare
tells
me
.
He
says
that
Mr.
Rodney
and
Mr.
Vigo
have
made
a
great
speculation
,
and
gained
a
great
deal
of
money
;
but
Mr.
Rodney
never
speaks
to
me
of
such
matters
,
nor
indeed
does
Sylvia
.
I
am
myself
very
sorry
that
the
prince
has
gone
,
for
he
interested
me
much
.
”
“
Well
,
I
should
think
Mr.
Rodney
would
not
be
very
sorry
to
get
rid
of
me
then
,
”
said
Endymion
.
“
O
Mr.
Ferrars
!
why
should
you
say
or
think
such
things
!
I
am
sure
that
my
brother
and
sister
,
and
indeed
every
one
in
this
house
,
always
consider
your
comfort
and
welfare
before
any
other
object
.
”
“
Yes
,
”
said
Endymion
,
“
you
have
all
been
most
kind
to
me
,
and
that
makes
me
more
wretched
at
the
prospect
of
leaving
you
.
”
“
But
there
is
no
prospect
of
that
?
”
“
A
certainty
,
Imogene
;
there
is
going
to
be
a
change
in
my
life
,
”
and
then
he
told
her
all
.
“
Well
,
”
said
Imogene
,
“
it
would
be
selfish
not
to
be
happy
at
what
I
hear
;
but
though
I
hope
I
am
happy
,
I
need
not
be
joyful
.
I
never
used
to
be
nervous
,
but
I
am
afraid
I
am
getting
so
.
All
these
great
changes
rather
shake
me
.
This
adventure
of
the
prince
—
as
Mr.
Waldershare
says
,
it
is
history
.
Then
Miss
Myra’s
great
marriage
,
and
your
promotion
—
although
they
are
exactly
what
we
used
to
dream
about
,
and
wished
a
fairy
would
accomplish
,
and
somehow
felt
that
,
somehow
or
other
,
they
must
happen
—
yet
now
they
have
occurred
,
one
is
almost
as
astounded
as
delighted
.
We
certainly
have
been
very
happy
in
Warwick
Street
,
at
least
I
have
been
,
all
living
as
it
were
together
.
But
where
shall
we
be
this
time
next
year
?
All
scattered
,
and
perhaps
not
even
the
Rodneys
under
this
roof
.
I
know
not
how
it
is
,
but
I
dread
leaving
the
roof
where
one
has
been
happy
.
”
“
Oh
!
you
know
you
must
leave
it
one
day
or
other
,
Imogene
.
You
are
sure
to
marry
;
that
you
cannot
avoid
.
”
“
Well
,
I
am
not
by
any
means
sure
about
that
,
”
said
Imogene
.
“
Mr.
Waldershare
,
in
educating
me
,
as
he
says
,
as
a
princess
,
has
made
me
really
neither
fish
,
flesh
,
nor
fowl
,
nor
even
that
coarser
but
popular
delicacy
never
forgotten
.
I
could
not
unite
my
life
with
a
being
who
was
not
refined
in
mind
and
in
manners
,
and
the
men
of
my
class
in
life
,
who
are
the
only
ones
after
all
who
might
care
to
marry
me
,
shock
my
taste
,
I
am
ashamed
to
say
so
.
I
am
not
sure
it
is
not
wicked
to
think
it
even
;
but
so
it
is
.
”
“
Why
do
you
not
marry
Waldershare
?
”
said
Endymion
.
“
That
would
be
madness
!
I
do
not
know
any
alliance
that
could
prove
more
unfortunate
.
Mr.
Waldershare
must
never
marry
.
All
people
of
imagination
,
they
say
,
are
difficult
to
live
with
;
but
a
person
who
consists
solely
of
imagination
,
like
Mr.
Waldershare
,
who
has
indeed
no
other
attribute
—
before
a
year
was
past
,
married
,
he
would
fly
to
the
desert
or
to
La
Trappe
,
commit
terrible
scandals
from
mere
weariness
of
feeling
,
write
pasquinades
against
the
wife
of
his
bosom
,
and
hold
us
both
up
to
the
fierce
laughter
of
the
world
.
No
,
no
;
he
is
the
best
,
the
dearest
,
and
the
most
romantic
of
friends
;
tender
as
a
father
,
and
sometimes
as
wise
,
for
genius
can
be
everything
.
He
is
going
to
rise
early
to-morrow
,
which
he
particularly
dislikes
,
because
he
will
not
let
me
go
to
the
station
alone
;
though
I
tell
him
,
as
I
often
tell
him
,
those
are
the
becoming
manners
of
my
class
.
”
“
But
you
might
meet
a
person
of
the
refinement
you
require
,
”
said
Endymion
,
“
with
a
moderate
and
yet
a
sufficient
income
,
who
would
not
be
unworthy
of
you
.
”
“
I
doubt
it
,
”
said
Imogene
.
“
But
,
do
not
doubt
it
,
dear
Imogene
,
”
said
Endymion
,
advancing
;
“
such
charms
as
yours
,
both
of
body
and
of
mind
,
such
a
companion
in
life
,
so
refined
,
so
accomplished
,
and
yet
endowed
with
such
clear
sense
,
and
such
a
sweet
disposition
—
believe
me
”
—
—
But
at
this
moment
a
splendid
equipage
drove
up
to
the
door
,
with
powdered
footmen
and
long
canes
behind
,
and
then
a
terrible
rap
,
like
the
tattoo
of
a
field-marshal
.
“
Good
gracious
!
what
is
all
this
?
”
exclaimed
Imogene
.
“
It
is
my
sister
,
”
said
Endymion
,
blushing
;
“
it
is
Lady
Roehampton
.
”
“
I
must
go
to
her
myself
,
”
said
Imogene
;
“
I
cannot
have
the
servant
attend
upon
your
sister
.
”
Endymion
remained
silent
and
confused
.
Imogene
was
some
little
time
at
the
carriage-door
,
for
Lady
Roehampton
had
inquiries
to
make
after
Sylvia
and
other
courteous
things
to
say
,
and
then
Imogene
returned
,
and
said
to
Endymion
,
“
Lady
Roehampton
wishes
you
to
go
with
her
directly
on
some
particular
business
.
”
CHAPTER
XLIX
Endymion
liked
his
new
official
life
very
much
.
Whitehall
was
a
great
improvement
on
Somerset
House
,
and
he
had
sufficient
experience
of
the
civil
service
to
duly
appreciate
the
advantage
of
being
permanently
quartered
in
one
of
the
chief
departments
of
the
state
,
instead
of
obscurely
labouring
in
a
subordinate
office
,
with
a
limited
future
,
and
detached
from
all
the
keenly
interesting
details
of
public
life
.
But
it
was
not
this
permanent
and
substantial
advantage
which
occasioned
him
such
lively
and
such
novel
pleasure
,
as
the
fact
of
his
being
a
private
secretary
,
and
a
private
secretary
to
a
cabinet
minister
.
The
relations
between
a
minister
and
his
secretary
are
,
or
at
least
should
be
,
among
the
finest
that
can
subsist
between
two
individuals
.
Except
the
married
state
,
there
is
none
in
which
so
great
a
degree
of
confidence
is
involved
,
in
which
more
forbearance
ought
to
be
exercised
,
or
more
sympathy
ought
to
exist
.
There
is
usually
in
the
relation
an
identity
of
interest
,
and
that
of
the
highest
kind
;
and
the
perpetual
difficulties
,
the
alternations
of
triumph
and
defeat
,
develop
devotion
.
A
youthful
secretary
will
naturally
feel
some
degree
of
enthusiasm
for
his
chief
,
and
a
wise
minister
will
never
stint
his
regard
for
one
in
whose
intelligence
and
honour
he
finds
he
can
place
confidence
.
There
never
was
a
happier
prospect
of
these
relations
being
established
on
the
most
satisfactory
basis
than
in
the
instance
of
Endymion
and
his
new
master
.
Mr.
Sidney
Wilton
was
a
man
of
noble
disposition
,
fine
manners
,
considerable
culture
,
and
was
generally
gracious
.
But
he
was
disposed
to
be
more
than
gracious
to
Endymion
,
and
when
he
found
that
our
young
friend
had
a
capacity
for
work
—
that
his
perception
was
quick
and
clear
—
that
he
wrote
with
facility
—
never
made
difficulties
—
was
calm
,
sedulous
,
and
patient
,
the
interest
which
Mr.
Wilton
took
in
him
as
the
son
of
William
Ferrars
,
and
,
we
must
add
,
as
the
brother
of
Lady
Roehampton
,
became
absorbed
in
the
personal
regard
which
the
minister
soon
entertained
for
his
secretary
.
Mr.
Wilton
found
a
pleasure
in
forming
the
mind
of
Endymion
to
the
consideration
and
comprehension
of
public
affairs
;
he
spoke
to
him
both
of
men
and
things
without
reserve
;
revealed
to
him
the
characters
of
leading
personages
on
both
sides
,
illustrated
their
antecedents
,
and
threw
light
upon
their
future
;
taught
him
the
real
condition
of
parties
in
parliament
,
rarely
to
be
found
in
newspapers
;
and
finally
,
when
he
was
sufficiently
initiated
,
obtained
for
his
secretary
a
key
for
his
cabinet
boxes
,
which
left
little
of
the
business
of
government
unknown
to
Endymion
.
Such
great
confidence
,
and
that
exhibited
by
one
who
possessed
so
many
winning
qualities
,
excited
in
the
breast
of
Endymion
the
most
lively
feelings
of
gratitude
and
respect
.
He
tried
to
prove
them
by
the
vigilant
and
unwearying
labour
with
which
he
served
his
master
,
and
he
served
him
every
day
more
effectually
,
because
every
day
he
became
more
intimate
with
the
mind
and
method
of
Mr.
Wilton
.
Every
one
to
a
certain
degree
is
a
mannerist
;
every
one
has
his
ways
;
and
a
secretary
will
be
assisted
in
the
transaction
of
business
if
a
vigilant
observation
has
made
him
acquainted
with
the
idiosyncrasy
of
his
chief
.
The
regulations
of
the
office
which
authorise
a
clerk
,
appointed
to
a
private
secretaryship
,
to
deviate
from
the
routine
duties
of
the
department
,
and
devote
his
time
entirely
to
the
special
requirements
of
his
master
,
of
course
much
assisted
Endymion
,
and
proved
also
a
pleasant
relief
,
for
he
had
had
enough
at
Somerset
House
of
copying
documents
and
drawing
up
formal
reports
.
But
it
was
not
only
at
Whitehall
that
he
saw
Mr.
Wilton
,
and
experienced
his
kindness
.
Endymion
was
a
frequent
guest
under
Mr.
Wilton’s
roof
,
and
Mr.
Wilton’s
establishment
was
one
of
the
most
distinguished
in
London
.
They
met
also
much
in
the
evenings
,
and
always
at
Lady
Roehampton’s
,
where
Mr.
Wilton
was
never
absent
.
Whenever
and
wherever
they
met
,
even
if
they
had
been
working
together
the
whole
morning
,
Mr.
Wilton
always
greeted
Endymion
with
the
utmost
consideration
—
because
he
knew
such
a
recognition
would
raise
Endymion
in
the
eyes
of
the
social
herd
,
who
always
observe
little
things
,
and
generally
form
from
them
their
opinions
of
great
affairs
.
CHAPTER
L
Mr.
Wilton
was
at
Charing
Cross
,
on
his
way
to
his
office
,
when
a
lady
saluted
him
from
her
carriage
,
which
then
drew
up
to
the
pavement
and
stopped
.
“
We
have
just
arrived
,
”
said
Lady
Montfort
,
“
and
I
want
you
to
give
me
a
little
dinner
to-day
.
My
lord
is
going
to
dine
with
an
Old
Bailey
lawyer
,
who
amuses
him
,
and
I
do
not
like
to
be
left
,
the
first
day
,
on
the
pave
.
”
“
I
can
give
you
a
rather
large
dinner
,
if
you
care
to
come
,
”
said
Mr.
Wilton
,
“
but
I
fear
you
will
not
like
it
.
I
have
got
some
House
of
Commons
men
dining
with
me
to-day
,
and
one
or
two
of
the
other
House
to
meet
them
.
My
sister
Georgina
has
very
good-naturedly
promised
to
come
,
with
her
husband
,
and
I
have
just
written
a
note
to
the
Duchess
Dowager
of
Keswick
,
who
often
helps
me
—
but
I
fear
this
sort
of
thing
would
hardly
suit
you
.
”
“
On
the
contrary
,
I
think
it
will
be
very
amusing
.
Only
do
not
put
me
between
two
of
your
colleagues
.
Anybody
amuses
me
for
once
.
A
new
acquaintance
is
like
a
new
book
.
I
prefer
it
,
even
if
bad
,
to
a
classic
.
”
The
dinner
party
to-day
at
Mr.
Wilton’s
was
miscellaneous
,
and
not
heterogeneous
enough
to
produce
constraint
,
only
to
produce
a
little
excitement
—
some
commoners
high
in
office
,
and
the
Treasury
whip
,
several
manufacturers
who
stood
together
in
the
room
,
and
some
metropolitan
members
.
Georgina’s
husband
,
who
was
a
lord-in-waiting
,
and
a
great
swell
,
in
a
green
riband
,
moved
about
with
adroit
condescension
,
and
was
bewitchingly
affable
.
The
manufacturing
members
whispered
to
each
other
that
it
was
a
wise
thing
to
bring
the
two
Houses
together
,
but
when
Her
Grace
the
Duchess
Dowager
of
Keswick
was
announced
,
they
exchanged
glances
of
astounded
satisfaction
,
and
felt
that
the
government
,
which
had
been
thought
to
be
in
a
somewhat
rickety
condition
,
would
certainly
stand
.
Berengaria
came
a
little
late
,
not
very
.
She
thought
it
had
been
earlier
,
but
it
was
not
.
The
duchess
dowager
opened
her
eyes
with
wonderment
when
she
beheld
Lady
Montfort
,
but
the
company
in
general
were
not
in
the
least
aware
of
the
vast
social
event
that
was
occurring
.
They
were
gratified
in
seeing
another
fine
lady
,
but
did
not
,
of
course
,
rank
her
with
a
duchess
.
The
dinner
went
off
better
than
Mr.
Wilton
could
have
hoped
,
as
it
was
impossible
to
place
a
stranger
by
Lady
Montfort
.
He
sate
in
the
middle
of
his
table
with
the
duchess
dowager
on
his
right
hand
,
and
Berengaria
,
who
was
taken
out
by
the
green
riband
,
on
the
other
.
As
he
knew
the
green
riband
would
be
soon
exhausted
,
he
devoted
himself
to
Lady
Montfort
,
and
left
the
duchess
to
her
own
resources
,
which
were
considerable
,
and
she
was
soon
laying
down
her
opinions
on
men
and
things
to
her
other
neighbours
with
much
effect
.
The
manufacturers
talked
shop
to
each
other
in
whispers
,
that
is
to
say
,
mixed
House
of
Commons
tattle
about
bills
and
committees
with
news
from
Manchester
and
Liverpool
,
and
the
West
Riding
.
The
metropolitan
members
,
then
a
more
cosmopolitan
body
and
highly
miscellaneous
in
their
character
and
pursuits
,
were
louder
,
and
perhaps
more
easy
,
even
ventured
to
talk
across
the
table
when
near
its
end
,
and
enticed
the
peers
into
discussions
on
foreign
politics
.
Mr.
Sidney
Wilton
having
been
delightful
,
thought
it
necessary
to
observe
that
he
feared
Lady
Montfort
had
been
bored
.
“
I
have
been
,
and
am
,
extremely
amused
,
”
she
replied
;
“
and
now
tell
me
,
who
is
that
young
man
at
the
very
end
of
the
table
?
”
“
That
is
my
private
secretary
,
Mr.
Ferrars
.
”
“
Ferrars
!
”
“
A
brother
of
Lady
Roehampton
.
”
“
Present
him
to
me
after
dinner
.
”
Endymion
knew
Lady
Montfort
by
sight
,
though
she
did
not
know
him
.
He
had
seen
her
more
than
once
at
the
receptions
of
Mrs.
Neuchatel
,
where
,
as
indeed
in
every
place
,
she
was
the
cynosure
.
He
was
much
astonished
at
meeting
her
at
this
party
to-day
,
—
almost
as
surprised
as
the
duchess
dowager
,
for
Endymion
,
who
was
of
an
observant
nature
,
was
beginning
to
comprehend
society
and
all
its
numerous
elements
,
and
schools
,
and
shades
,
and
classes
.
When
they
entered
the
saloon
,
Mr.
Wilton
led
Endymion
up
to
Lady
Montfort
at
once
,
and
she
immediately
inquired
after
his
sister
.
“
Do
you
think
,
”
she
said
,
“
Lady
Roehampton
would
see
me
to-morrow
if
I
called
on
her
?
”
“
If
I
were
Lady
Roehampton
,
I
would
,
”
said
Endymion
.
Lady
Montfort
looked
at
him
with
a
glance
of
curious
scrutiny
;
not
smiling
,
and
yet
not
displeased
.
“
I
will
write
her
a
little
note
in
the
morning
,
”
said
Lady
Montfort
thoughtfully
.
“
One
may
leave
cards
for
ever
.
Mr.
Wilton
tells
me
you
are
quite
his
right
hand
.
”
“
Mr.
Wilton
is
too
kind
to
me
,
”
said
Endymion
.
“
One
could
not
be
excused
for
not
doing
one’s
best
for
such
a
master
.
”
“
You
like
people
to
be
kind
to
you
?
”
said
Lady
Montfort
.
“
Well
,
I
have
not
met
with
so
much
kindness
in
this
world
as
to
become
insensible
to
it
.
”
“
You
are
too
young
to
be
melancholy
,
”
said
Lady
Montfort
;
“
are
you
older
than
Lady
Roehampton
?
”
“
We
are
twins
.
”
“
Twins
!
and
wonderfully
like
too
!
Is
it
not
thought
so
?
”
“
I
have
sometimes
heard
it
mentioned
.
”
“
Oh
,
it
is
striking
!
”
said
Lady
Montfort
,
and
she
motioned
to
him
to
sit
down
by
her
;
and
then
she
began
to
talk
politics
,
and
asked
him
what
the
members
thought
at
dinner
of
the
prospects
of
the
government
,
and
what
he
had
heard
of
the
malcontent
movement
that
they
said
was
in
petto
.
Endymion
replied
that
Mr.
Sharpset
,
the
Secretary
of
the
Treasury
,
did
not
think
much
of
it
.
“
Well
,
I
wish
I
did
not
,
”
said
Lady
Montfort
.
“
However
,
I
will
soon
find
out
something
about
it
.
I
have
only
just
come
to
town
;
but
I
intend
to
open
my
house
,
immediately
.
Now
I
must
go
.
What
are
you
going
to
do
with
yourself
to-morrow
?
I
wish
you
would
come
and
dine
with
Lord
Montfort
.
It
will
be
quite
without
form
,
a
few
agreeable
and
amusing
people
;
Lord
Montfort
must
be
amused
.
It
seems
a
reasonable
fancy
,
but
very
difficult
to
realise
;
and
now
you
shall
ask
for
my
carriage
,
and
to-morrow
I
hope
to
be
able
to
tell
Lady
Roehampton
what
very
great
pleasure
I
have
had
in
making
the
acquaintance
of
her
brother
.
”
CHAPTER
LI
The
morning
after
,
Endymion
was
emerging
from
the
court-yard
of
the
Albany
,
in
order
to
call
on
Mr.
Rodney
,
who
,
as
he
learnt
from
a
casual
remark
in
a
letter
from
Waldershare
,
would
be
in
town
.
The
ladies
were
left
behind
for
the
last
week
of
hunting
,
but
business
called
Mr.
Rodney
home
.
Waldershare
wrote
to
Endymion
in
the
highest
spirits
,
and
more
than
once
declared
that
he
was
the
happiest
of
men
.
Just
as
Endymion
had
entered
Piccadilly
,
he
was
stopped
by
a
once
familiar
face
;
it
was
St.
Barbe
,
who
accosted
him
with
great
warmth
,
and
as
usual
began
to
talk
about
himself
.
“
You
are
surprised
to
see
me
,
”
he
said
.
“
It
is
two
years
since
we
met
.
Well
,
I
have
done
wonders
;
carried
all
before
me
.
By
Jove
,
sir
,
I
can
walk
into
a
minister’s
private
room
with
as
much
ease
as
I
were
entering
the
old
den
.
The
ambassadors
are
hand
and
glove
with
me
.
There
are
very
few
things
I
do
not
know
.
I
have
made
the
fortune
of
the
‘Chuck-Farthing
,
’
trebled
its
circulation
,
and
invented
a
new
style
,
which
has
put
me
at
the
head
of
all
‘our
own
correspondents.’
I
wish
you
were
at
Paris
;
I
would
give
you
a
dinner
at
the
Rocher
,
which
would
make
up
for
all
our
dinners
at
that
ferocious
ruffian
,
Joe’s
.
I
gave
a
dinner
the
other
day
to
forty
of
them
,
all
‘our
own
correspondents
,
’
or
such
like
.
Do
you
know
,
my
dear
fellow
,
when
I
looked
round
the
room
,
there
was
not
a
man
who
had
not
done
his
best
to
crush
me
;
running
down
my
works
or
not
noticing
them
,
or
continually
dilating
on
Gushy
as
if
the
English
public
would
never
read
anything
else
.
Now
,
that
was
Christian-like
of
me
,
was
not
it
?
God
,
sir
,
if
they
only
had
but
one
neck
,
and
I
had
been
the
Emperor
Nero
—
but
,
I
will
not
dwell
on
it
;
I
hate
them
.
However
,
it
suits
me
to
take
the
other
line
at
present
.
I
am
all
for
fraternity
and
that
sort
of
thing
,
and
give
them
dinners
.
There
is
a
reason
why
,
but
there
is
no
time
to
talk
about
that
now
.
I
shall
want
their
sweet
voices
—
the
hounds
!
But
,
my
dear
fellow
,
I
am
truly
glad
to
see
you
.
Do
you
know
,
I
always
liked
you
;
and
how
come
you
to
be
in
this
quarter
this
fine
morning
?
”
“
I
live
in
the
Albany
,
”
said
Endymion
.
“
You
live
in
the
Albany
!
”
repeated
St.
Barbe
,
with
an
amazed
and
perturbed
expression
.
“
I
knew
I
could
not
be
a
knight
of
the
garter
,
or
a
member
of
White’s
—
the
only
two
things
an
Englishman
cannot
command
;
but
I
did
think
I
might
some
day
live
in
the
Albany
.
It
was
my
dream
.
And
you
live
there
!
Gracious
!
what
an
unfortunate
fellow
I
am
!
I
do
not
see
how
you
can
live
in
the
Albany
with
your
salary
;
I
suppose
they
have
raised
you
.
”
“
I
have
left
Somerset
House
,
”
said
Endymion
,
“
and
am
now
at
the
Board
of
Trade
,
and
am
private
secretary
to
Mr.
Sidney
Wilton
.
”
“
Oh
!
”
said
St.
Barbe
;
“
then
we
have
friends
at
court
.
You
may
do
something
for
me
,
if
I
only
knew
what
I
wanted
.
They
have
no
decorations
here
.
Curse
this
aristocratic
country
,
they
want
all
the
honours
to
themselves
.
I
should
like
to
be
in
the
Board
of
Trade
,
and
would
make
some
sacrifice
for
it
.
The
proprietors
of
the
‘Chuck-Farthing’
pay
well
;
they
pay
like
gentlemen
;
though
,
why
I
say
so
I
do
not
exactly
know
,
for
no
gentleman
ever
paid
me
anything
.
But
,
if
I
could
be
Secretary
of
the
Board
of
Trade
,
or
get
1500
pounds
a
year
secure
,
I
would
take
it
;
and
I
dare
say
I
could
get
employed
on
some
treaties
,
as
I
speak
French
,
and
then
I
might
get
knighted
.
”
“
Well
,
I
think
you
are
very
well
off
,
”
said
Endymion
;
“
carrying
,
as
you
say
,
everything
before
you
.
What
more
can
you
want
?
”
“
I
hate
the
craft
,
”
said
St.
Barbe
,
with
an
expression
of
genuine
detestation
;
“
I
should
like
to
show
them
all
up
before
I
died
.
I
suppose
it
was
your
sister
marrying
a
lord
that
got
you
on
in
this
way
.
I
could
have
married
a
countess
myself
,
but
then
,
to
be
sure
,
she
was
only
a
Polish
one
,
and
hard
up
.
I
never
had
a
sister
;
I
never
had
any
luck
in
life
at
all
.
I
wish
I
had
been
a
woman
.
Women
are
the
only
people
who
get
on
.
A
man
works
all
his
life
,
and
thinks
he
has
done
a
wonderful
thing
if
,
with
one
leg
in
the
grave
and
no
hair
on
his
head
,
he
manages
to
get
a
coronet
;
and
a
woman
dances
at
a
ball
with
some
young
fellow
or
other
,
or
sits
next
to
some
old
fellow
at
dinner
and
pretends
she
thinks
him
charming
,
and
he
makes
her
a
peeress
on
the
spot
.
Oh
!
it
is
a
disgusting
world
;
it
must
end
in
revolution
.
Now
you
tell
your
master
,
Mr.
Sidney
Wilton
,
that
if
he
wants
to
strengthen
the
institutions
of
this
country
,
the
government
should
establish
an
order
of
merit
,
and
the
press
ought
to
be
represented
in
it
.
I
do
not
speak
only
for
myself
;
I
speak
for
my
brethren
.
Yes
,
sir
,
I
am
not
ashamed
of
my
order
.
”
And
so
they
bade
each
other
farewell
.
“
Unchanged
,
”
thought
Endymion
,
as
he
crossed
Piccadilly
;
“
the
vainest
,
the
most
envious
,
and
the
most
amusing
of
men
!
I
wonder
what
he
will
do
in
life
.
”
Mr.
Rodney
was
at
home
,
had
just
finished
his
breakfast
,
read
his
newspaper
,
and
was
about
to
“
go
into
the
City
.
”
His
costume
was
perfect
.
Mr.
Rodney’s
hat
seemed
always
a
new
one
.
Endymion
was
a
little
embarrassed
by
this
interview
,
for
he
had
naturally
a
kind
heart
,
and
being
young
,
it
was
still
soft
.
The
Rodneys
had
been
truly
good
to
him
,
and
he
was
attached
to
them
.
Imogene
had
prepared
Mr.
Rodney
for
the
change
in
Endymion’s
life
,
and
Endymion
himself
had
every
reason
to
believe
that
in
a
worldly
point
of
view
the
matter
was
entirely
insignificant
to
his
old
landlord
.
Still
his
visit
this
morning
ratified
a
permanent
separation
from
those
with
whom
he
had
lived
for
a
long
time
,
and
under
circumstances
of
sympathy
and
family
connection
which
were
touching
.
He
retained
Mr.
Rodney’s
hand
for
a
moment
as
he
expressed
,
and
almost
in
faltering
tones
,
his
sorrow
at
their
separation
and
his
hope
that
their
friendly
connection
might
be
always
cherished
.
“
That
feeling
is
reciprocal
,
”
said
Mr.
Rodney
.
“
If
only
because
you
were
the
son
of
my
revered
and
right
honourable
friend
,
you
would
always
be
esteemed
here
.
But
you
are
esteemed
,
or
,
I
may
say
beloved
,
for
your
own
sake
.
We
shall
be
proud
to
be
considered
with
kindness
by
you
,
and
I
echo
your
wish
that
,
though
no
longer
living
under
the
same
roof
,
we
may
yet
,
and
even
often
,
meet
.
But
do
not
say
another
word
about
the
inconvenience
you
are
occasioning
us
.
The
truth
is
,
that
although
wherever
we
went
the
son
of
my
revered
and
right
honourable
friend
would
have
always
commanded
hospitality
from
us
,
there
are
many
changes
about
to
take
place
in
our
family
which
have
made
us
for
some
time
contemplate
leaving
Warwick
Street
.
Affairs
,
especially
of
late
,
have
gone
pretty
well
with
me
in
the
world
,
—
at
least
not
badly
;
I
have
had
friends
,
and
I
hope
have
proved
not
undeserving
of
them
.
I
wish
Sylvia
,
too
,
to
live
in
an
airier
situation
,
near
the
park
,
so
that
she
may
ride
every
morning
.
Besides
,
I
have
a
piece
of
news
to
communicate
to
you
,
which
would
materially
affect
our
arrangements
.
We
are
going
to
lose
Imogene
.
”
“
Ah
!
she
is
going
to
be
married
,
”
said
Endymion
,
blushing
.
“
She
is
going
to
be
married
,
”
said
Mr.
Rodney
gravely
.
“
To
Mr.
Waldershare
?
”
said
Endymion
.
“
He
almost
said
as
much
to
me
in
a
letter
this
morning
.
But
I
always
thought
so
.
”
“
No
;
not
to
Mr.
Waldershare
,
”
said
Mr.
Rodney
.
“
Who
is
the
happy
man
then
?
”
said
Endymion
,
agitated
.
“
I
truly
call
him
so
;
for
I
think
myself
that
Imogene
is
perfection
.
”
“
Imogene
is
about
to
be
married
to
the
Earl
of
Beaumaris
.
”
CHAPTER
LII
Simon
,
Earl
of
Montfort
,
with
whom
Endymion
was
so
unexpectedly
going
to
dine
,
may
be
said
to
have
been
a
minor
in
his
cradle
.
Under
ordinary
circumstances
,
his
inheritance
would
have
been
one
of
the
most
considerable
in
England
.
His
castle
in
the
north
was
one
of
the
glories
of
the
land
,
and
becomingly
crowned
his
vast
domain
.
Under
the
old
parliamentary
system
,
he
had
the
greatest
number
of
nomination
boroughs
possessed
by
any
Whig
noble
.
The
character
and
conduct
of
an
individual
so
qualified
were
naturally
much
speculated
on
and
finely
scanned
.
Nothing
very
decided
transpired
about
them
in
his
boyhood
,
but
certainly
nothing
adverse
.
He
was
good-looking
and
athletic
,
and
was
said
to
be
generous
and
good-natured
,
and
when
he
went
to
Harrow
,
he
became
popular
.
In
his
eighteenth
year
,
while
he
was
in
correspondence
with
his
guardians
about
going
to
Christ
Church
,
he
suddenly
left
his
country
without
giving
any
one
notice
of
his
intentions
,
and
entered
into
,
and
fulfilled
,
a
vast
scheme
of
adventurous
travel
.
He
visited
countries
then
rarely
reached
,
and
some
of
which
were
almost
unknown
.
His
flag
had
floated
in
the
Indian
Ocean
,
and
he
had
penetrated
the
dazzling
mysteries
of
Brazilian
forests
.
When
he
was
of
age
,
he
returned
,
and
communicated
with
his
guardians
,
as
if
nothing
remarkable
had
happened
in
his
life
.
Lord
Montfort
had
inherited
a
celebrated
stud
,
which
the
family
had
maintained
for
more
than
a
century
,
and
the
sporting
world
remarked
with
satisfaction
that
their
present
representative
appeared
to
take
much
interest
in
it
.
He
had
an
establishment
at
Newmarket
,
and
his
horses
were
entered
for
all
the
great
races
of
the
kingdom
.
He
appeared
also
at
Melton
,
and
conducted
the
campaign
in
a
style
becoming
such
a
hero
.
His
hunters
and
his
cooks
were
both
first-rate
.
Although
he
affected
to
take
little
interest
in
politics
,
the
events
of
the
time
forced
him
to
consider
them
and
to
act
.
Lord
Grey
wanted
to
carry
his
Reform
Bill
,
and
the
sacrifice
of
Lord
Montfort’s
numerous
boroughs
was
a
necessary
ingredient
in
the
spell
.
He
was
appealed
to
as
the
head
of
one
of
the
greatest
Whig
houses
,
and
he
was
offered
a
dukedom
.
He
relinquished
his
boroughs
without
hesitation
,
but
he
preferred
to
remain
with
one
of
the
oldest
earldoms
of
England
for
his
chief
title
.
All
honours
,
however
,
clustered
about
him
,
though
he
never
sought
them
,
and
in
the
same
year
he
tumbled
into
the
Lord
Lieutenancy
of
his
county
,
unexpectedly
vacant
,
and
became
the
youngest
Knight
of
the
Garter
.
Society
was
looking
forward
with
the
keenest
interest
to
the
impending
season
,
when
Lord
Montfort
would
formally
enter
its
spell-bound
ranks
,
and
multiform
were
the
speculations
on
his
destiny
.
He
attended
an
early
levee
,
in
order
that
he
might
be
presented
—
a
needful
ceremony
which
had
not
yet
taken
place
—
and
then
again
quitted
his
country
,
and
for
years
.
He
was
heard
of
in
every
capital
except
his
own
.
Wonderful
exploits
at
St.
Petersburg
,
and
Paris
,
and
Madrid
,
deeds
of
mark
at
Vienna
,
and
eccentric
adventures
at
Rome
;
but
poor
Melton
,
alas
!
expecting
him
to
return
every
season
,
at
last
embalmed
him
,
and
his
cooks
,
and
his
hunters
,
and
his
daring
saddle
,
as
a
tradition
,
—
jealous
a
little
of
Newmarket
,
whither
,
though
absent
,
he
was
frequently
transmitting
foreign
blood
,
and
where
his
horses
still
ran
,
and
were
often
victorious
.
At
last
it
would
appear
that
the
restless
Lord
Montfort
had
found
his
place
,
and
that
place
was
Paris
.
There
he
dwelt
for
years
in
Sybaritic
seclusion
.
He
built
himself
a
palace
,
which
he
called
a
villa
,
and
which
was
the
most
fanciful
of
structures
,
and
full
of
every
beautiful
object
which
rare
taste
and
boundless
wealth
could
procure
,
from
undoubted
Raffaelles
to
jewelled
toys
.
It
was
said
that
Lord
Montfort
saw
no
one
;
he
certainly
did
not
court
or
receive
his
own
countrymen
,
and
this
perhaps
gave
rise
to
,
or
at
least
caused
to
be
exaggerated
,
the
tales
that
were
rife
of
his
profusion
,
and
even
his
profligacy
.
But
it
was
not
true
that
he
was
entirely
isolated
.
He
lived
much
with
the
old
families
of
France
in
their
haughty
faubourg
,
and
was
highly
considered
by
them
.
It
was
truly
a
circle
for
which
he
was
adapted
.
Lord
Montfort
was
the
only
living
Englishman
who
gave
one
an
idea
of
the
nobleman
of
the
eighteenth
century
.
He
was
totally
devoid
of
the
sense
of
responsibility
,
and
he
looked
what
he
resembled
.
His
manner
,
though
simple
and
natural
,
was
finished
and
refined
,
and
,
free
from
forbidding
reserve
,
was
yet
characterised
by
an
air
of
serious
grace
.
With
the
exception
of
the
memorable
year
when
he
sacrificed
his
nomination
boroughs
to
the
cause
for
which
Hampden
died
on
the
field
and
Sidney
on
the
scaffold
—
that
is
to
say
,
the
Whig
government
of
England
—
Lord
Montfort
had
been
absent
for
his
country
for
ten
years
,
and
one
day
,
in
his
statued
garden
at
the
Belvedere
,
he
asked
himself
what
he
had
gained
by
it
.
There
was
no
subject
,
divine
or
human
,
in
which
he
took
the
slightest
interest
.
He
entertained
for
human
nature
generally
,
and
without
any
exception
,
the
most
cynical
appreciation
.
He
had
a
sincere
and
profound
conviction
,
that
no
man
or
woman
ever
acted
except
from
selfish
and
interested
motives
.
Society
was
intolerable
to
him
;
that
of
his
own
sex
and
station
wearisome
beyond
expression
;
their
conversation
consisted
only
of
two
subjects
,
horses
and
women
,
and
he
had
long
exhausted
both
.
As
for
female
society
,
if
they
were
ladies
,
it
was
expected
that
,
in
some
form
or
other
,
he
should
make
love
to
them
,
and
he
had
no
sentiment
.
If
he
took
refuge
in
the
demi-monde
,
he
encountered
vulgarity
,
and
that
,
to
Lord
Montfort
,
was
insufferable
.
He
had
tried
them
in
every
capital
,
and
vulgarity
was
the
badge
of
all
their
tribe
.
He
had
attempted
to
read
;
a
woman
had
told
him
to
read
French
novels
,
but
he
found
them
only
a
clumsy
representation
of
the
life
which
,
for
years
,
he
had
practically
been
leading
.
An
accident
made
him
acquainted
with
Rabelais
and
Montaigne
;
and
he
had
relished
them
,
for
he
had
a
fine
sense
of
humour
.
He
might
have
pursued
these
studies
,
and
perhaps
have
found
in
them
a
slight
and
occasional
distraction
,
but
a
clever
man
he
met
at
a
guingette
at
Passy
,
whither
he
had
gone
to
try
to
dissipate
his
weariness
in
disguise
,
had
convinced
him
,
that
if
there
were
a
worthy
human
pursuit
,
an
assumption
which
was
doubtful
,
it
was
that
of
science
,
as
it
impressed
upon
man
his
utter
insignificance
.
No
one
could
say
Lord
Montfort
was
a
bad-hearted
man
,
for
he
had
no
heart
.
He
was
good-natured
,
provided
it
brought
him
no
inconvenience
;
and
as
for
temper
,
his
was
never
disturbed
,
but
this
not
from
sweetness
of
disposition
,
rather
from
a
contemptuous
fine
taste
,
which
assured
him
,
that
a
gentleman
should
never
be
deprived
of
tranquillity
in
a
world
where
nothing
was
of
the
slightest
consequence
.
The
result
of
these
reflections
was
,
that
he
was
utterly
wearied
with
Belvedere
and
Paris
,
and
as
his
mind
was
now
rather
upon
science
,
he
fancied
he
should
like
to
return
to
a
country
where
it
flourished
,
and
where
he
indulged
in
plans
of
erecting
colossal
telescopes
,
and
of
promoting
inquiry
into
the
origin
of
things
.
He
thought
that
with
science
and
with
fishing
,
the
only
sport
to
which
he
still
really
clung
,
for
he
liked
the
lulling
influence
of
running
streams
,
and
a
pastime
he
could
pursue
in
loneliness
,
existence
might
perhaps
be
endured
.
Society
was
really
surprised
when
they
heard
of
the
return
of
Lord
Montfort
to
England
.
He
came
back
in
the
autumn
,
so
that
there
should
be
no
season
to
encounter
,
and
his
flag
was
soon
flying
at
his
castle
.
There
had
been
continuous
attacks
for
years
on
the
government
for
having
made
an
absentee
lord
lieutenant
of
his
country
,
and
conferring
the
high
distinction
of
the
garter
on
so
profligate
a
character
.
All
this
made
his
return
more
interesting
and
exciting
.
A
worthy
nobleman
of
high
rank
and
of
the
same
county
,
who
for
the
last
five
years
everybody
,
shaking
everybody’s
head
,
had
been
saying
ought
to
have
been
lord
lieutenant
,
had
a
great
county
function
in
his
immediate
neighbourhood
in
the
late
autumn
,
and
had
invited
a
large
party
to
assist
him
in
its
celebration
.
It
seemed
right
also
to
invite
the
lord
lieutenant
,
but
no
one
expected
that
he
would
make
his
appearance
.
On
the
contrary
,
the
invitation
was
accepted
,
and
the
sensation
was
great
.
What
would
he
be
like
,
and
what
would
he
do
,
and
was
he
so
very
wicked
as
the
county
newspaper
said
?
He
came
,
this
wicked
man
,
with
his
graceful
presence
and
his
diamond
star
,
and
everybody’s
heart
palpitated
with
a
due
mixture
of
terror
and
admiration
.
The
only
exception
to
these
feelings
was
the
daughter
of
the
house
,
the
Lady
Berengaria
.
She
was
then
in
her
second
season
,
but
still
unparagoned
,
for
she
was
a
fastidious
,
not
to
say
disdainful
lady
.
The
highest
had
been
at
her
feet
,
and
sued
in
vain
.
She
was
a
stirring
spirit
,
with
great
ambition
and
a
daring
will
;
never
content
except
in
society
,
and
influencing
it
—
for
which
she
was
qualified
by
her
grace
and
lively
fancy
,
her
ready
though
capricious
sympathy
,
and
her
passion
for
admiration
.
The
function
was
successful
,
and
the
county
full
of
enthusiasm
for
their
lord
lieutenant
,
whose
manner
quite
cleared
his
character
.
The
party
did
not
break
up
,
in
fact
the
function
was
only
an
excuse
for
the
party
.
There
was
sport
of
all
kinds
,
and
in
the
evenings
a
carnival
—
for
Lady
Berengaria
required
everybody
about
her
to
be
gay
and
diverting
—
games
and
dances
,
and
infinite
frolic
.
Lord
Montfort
,
who
,
to
the
surprise
of
every
one
,
did
not
depart
,
spoke
to
her
a
little
,
and
perhaps
would
not
have
spoken
at
all
,
had
they
not
met
in
the
hunting-field
.
Lady
Berengaria
was
a
first-rate
horsewoman
,
and
really
in
the
saddle
looked
irresistible
.
The
night
before
the
party
,
which
had
lasted
a
week
,
broke
up
,
Lord
Montfort
came
and
sat
by
Lady
Berengaria
.
He
spoke
about
the
run
of
the
morning
,
and
she
replied
in
the
same
vein
.
“
I
have
got
a
horse
,
Lady
Berengaria
,
which
I
should
like
you
to
ride
.
Would
you
do
so
?
”
“
Certainly
,
and
what
sort
of
horse
is
it
?
”
“
You
shall
see
to-morrow
.
It
is
not
far
off
.
I
like
to
have
some
horses
always
near
,
”
and
then
he
walked
away
.
It
was
a
dark
chestnut
of
matchless
beauty
.
Lady
Berengaria
,
who
was
of
an
emphatic
nature
,
was
loud
in
her
admiration
of
its
beauty
and
its
hunting
qualities
.
“
I
agree
with
you
,
”
said
Lord
Montfort
,
“
that
it
will
spoil
you
for
any
other
horse
,
and
therefore
I
shall
ask
permission
to
leave
it
here
for
your
use
.
”
The
party
broke
up
,
but
,
strange
to
say
,
Lord
Montfort
did
not
depart
.
It
was
a
large
family
.
Lady
Berengaria
had
several
sisters
;
her
eldest
brother
was
master
of
the
hounds
,
and
her
younger
brothers
were
asserting
their
rights
as
cadets
,
and
killing
their
father’s
pheasants
.
There
was
also
a
number
of
cousins
,
who
were
about
the
same
age
,
and
were
always
laughing
,
though
it
was
never
quite
clear
what
it
was
about
.
An
affectation
of
gaiety
may
be
sometimes
detected
in
youth
.
As
Lord
Montfort
always
had
the
duty
of
ushering
the
lady
of
the
house
to
dinner
,
he
never
had
the
opportunity
of
conversing
with
Lady
Berengaria
,
even
had
he
wished
it
;
but
it
was
not
all
clear
that
he
did
wish
it
,
and
it
seemed
that
he
talked
as
much
to
her
sisters
and
the
laughing
cousins
as
to
herself
,
but
still
he
did
not
go
away
,
which
was
most
strange
,
and
commenced
to
be
embarrassing
.
At
last
one
evening
,
both
her
parents
slumbering
,
one
over
the
newspaper
and
the
other
over
her
work
,
and
the
rest
of
the
party
in
a
distant
room
playing
at
some
new
game
amid
occasional
peals
of
laughter
,
Lord
Montfort
,
who
had
been
sitting
for
some
time
by
Lady
Berengaria’s
side
,
and
only
asking
now
and
then
a
question
,
though
often
a
searching
one
,
in
order
to
secure
her
talking
to
him
,
rather
abruptly
said
,
“
I
wonder
if
anything
would
ever
induce
you
to
marry
me
?
”
This
was
the
most
startling
social
event
of
the
generation
.
Society
immediately
set
a-wondering
how
it
would
turn
out
,
and
proved
very
clearly
that
it
must
turn
out
badly
.
Men
who
knew
Montfort
well
at
Paris
looked
knowing
,
and
said
they
would
give
it
six
months
.
But
the
lady
was
as
remarkable
a
woman
as
the
bridegroom
was
in
his
sex
.
Lady
Berengaria
was
determined
to
be
the
Queen
of
Society
,
and
had
confidence
in
her
unlimited
influence
over
man
.
It
is
,
however
,
rather
difficult
to
work
on
the
feelings
of
a
man
who
has
no
heart
.
This
she
soon
found
out
,
and
to
her
dismay
,
but
she
kept
it
a
profound
secret
.
By
endless
ingenuity
on
her
part
,
affairs
went
on
very
well
much
longer
than
the
world
expected
,
and
long
enough
to
fulfil
the
object
of
Lady
Berengaria’s
life
.
Lord
Montfort
launched
his
wife
well
,
and
seemed
even
content
to
be
occasionally
her
companion
until
she
had
mounted
the
social
throne
.
He
was
proud
of
her
as
he
would
be
of
one
of
his
beautiful
horses
;
but
when
all
the
world
had
acknowledged
the
influence
of
Berengaria
,
he
fell
into
one
of
his
old
moods
,
and
broke
to
her
that
he
could
bear
it
no
longer
,
and
that
he
must
retire
from
society
.
Lady
Montfort
looked
distressed
,
but
,
resolved
under
no
circumstances
to
be
separated
from
her
husband
,
whom
she
greatly
admired
,
and
to
whom
,
had
he
wished
it
,
she
could
have
become
even
passionately
attached
,
signified
her
readiness
to
share
his
solitude
.
But
she
then
found
out
that
this
was
not
what
he
wanted
.
It
was
not
only
retirement
from
society
,
but
retirement
from
Lady
Montfort
,
that
was
indispensable
.
In
short
,
at
no
time
of
his
perverse
career
had
Lord
Montfort
been
more
wilful
.
During
the
last
years
of
his
residence
in
Paris
,
when
he
was
shut
up
in
his
delicious
Belvedere
,
he
had
complained
much
of
the
state
of
his
health
,
and
one
of
his
principal
pursuits
was
consulting
the
faculty
on
this
interesting
subject
.
The
faculty
were
unanimous
in
their
opinion
that
the
disorder
from
which
their
patient
was
suffering
was
Ennui
.
This
persistent
opinion
irritated
him
,
and
was
one
of
the
elements
of
his
decision
to
leave
the
country
.
The
unexpected
distraction
that
followed
his
return
to
his
native
land
had
made
him
neglect
or
forget
his
sad
indisposition
,
but
it
appears
that
it
had
now
returned
,
and
in
an
aggravated
form
.
Unhappily
the
English
physicians
took
much
the
same
view
of
the
case
as
their
French
brethren
.
They
could
find
nothing
organically
wrong
in
the
constitution
or
condition
of
Lord
Montfort
,
and
recommended
occupation
and
society
.
At
present
he
shrank
with
some
disgust
at
the
prospect
of
returning
to
France
,
and
he
had
taken
it
into
his
head
that
the
climate
of
Montfort
did
not
agree
with
him
.
He
was
convinced
that
he
must
live
in
the
south
of
England
.
One
of
the
most
beautiful
and
considerable
estates
in
that
favoured
part
of
our
country
was
virtually
in
the
market
,
and
Lord
Montfort
,
at
the
cost
of
half
a
million
,
became
the
proprietor
of
Princedown
.
And
here
he
announced
that
he
should
dwell
and
die
.
This
state
of
affairs
was
a
bitter
trial
to
the
proudest
woman
in
England
,
but
Lady
Montfort
was
also
one
of
the
most
able
.
She
resisted
nothing
,
sympathised
with
all
his
projects
,
and
watched
her
opportunity
when
she
could
extract
from
his
unconscious
good-nature
some
reasonable
modification
of
them
.
And
she
ultimately
succeeded
in
establishing
a
modus
vivendi
.
He
was
to
live
and
die
at
Princedown
;
that
was
settled
;
but
if
he
ever
came
to
town
,
to
consult
his
physicians
,
for
example
,
he
was
always
to
inhabit
Montfort
House
,
and
if
she
occasionally
required
a
whiff
of
southern
air
,
she
was
to
have
her
rooms
always
ready
for
her
at
Princedown
.
She
would
not
interfere
with
him
in
the
least
;
he
need
not
even
see
her
,
if
he
were
too
unwell
.
Then
as
to
the
general
principle
of
his
life
,
it
was
quite
clear
that
he
was
not
interested
in
anything
,
and
never
would
be
interested
in
anything
;
but
there
was
no
reason
that
he
should
not
be
amused
.
This
distinction
between
interest
and
amusement
rather
pleased
,
and
seemed
to
satisfy
Lord
Montfort
—
but
then
it
was
difficult
to
amuse
him
.
The
only
thing
that
ever
amused
him
,
he
said
,
were
his
wife’s
letters
,
and
as
he
was
the
most
selfish
as
well
as
the
most
polite
of
men
,
he
requested
her
to
write
to
him
every
day
.
Great
personages
,
who
are
selfish
and
whimsical
,
are
generally
surrounded
by
parasites
and
buffoons
,
but
this
would
not
suit
Lord
Montfort
;
he
sincerely
detested
flattery
,
and
he
wearied
in
eight-and-forty
hours
of
the
most
successful
mountebank
in
society
.
What
he
seemed
inclined
to
was
the
society
of
men
of
science
,
of
travellers
in
rare
parts
,
and
of
clever
artists
;
in
short
,
of
all
persons
who
had
what
he
called
“
idiosyncrasy
.
”
Civil
engineering
was
then
beginning
to
attract
general
attention
,
and
Lord
Montfort
liked
the
society
of
civil
engineers
;
but
what
he
liked
most
were
self-formed
men
,
and
to
learn
the
secret
of
their
success
,
and
how
they
made
their
fortune
.
After
the
first
fit
of
Princedown
was
over
,
Lord
Montfort
found
that
it
was
impossible
,
even
with
all
its
fascination
,
to
secure
a
constant
,
or
sufficient
,
presence
of
civil
engineers
in
such
distant
parts
,
and
so
he
got
into
the
habit
of
coming
up
to
Montfort
House
,
that
he
might
find
companions
and
be
amused
.
Lady
Montfort
took
great
pains
that
he
should
not
be
disappointed
,
and
catered
for
him
with
all
the
skill
of
an
accomplished
chef
.
Then
,
when
the
occasion
served
,
she
went
down
to
Princedown
herself
with
welcome
guests
—
and
so
it
turned
out
,
that
circumstances
,
which
treated
by
an
ordinary
mind
must
have
led
to
a
social
scandal
,
were
so
adroitly
manipulated
,
that
the
world
little
apprehended
the
real
and
somewhat
mortifying
state
of
affairs
.
With
the
utmost
license
of
ill-nature
,
they
could
not
suppose
that
Lord
and
Lady
Montfort
,
living
under
the
same
roof
,
might
scarcely
see
each
other
for
weeks
,
and
that
his
communications
with
her
,
and
indeed
generally
,
were
always
made
in
writing
.
Lady
Monfort
never
could
agree
with
her
husband
in
the
cardinal
assumption
of
his
philosophy
.
One
of
his
reasons
for
never
doing
anything
was
,
that
there
was
nothing
for
him
to
attain
.
He
had
got
everything
.
Here
they
at
once
separated
in
their
conclusions
.
Lady
Montfort
maintained
they
had
got
nothing
.
“
What
,
”
she
would
say
,
“
are
rank
and
wealth
to
us
?
We
were
born
to
them
.
We
want
something
that
we
were
not
born
to
.
You
reason
like
a
parvenu
.
Of
course
,
if
you
had
created
your
rank
and
your
riches
,
you
might
rest
on
your
oars
,
and
find
excitement
in
the
recollection
of
what
you
had
achieved
.
A
man
of
your
position
ought
to
govern
the
country
,
and
it
always
was
so
in
the
old
days
.
Your
family
were
prime
ministers
;
why
not
you
,
with
as
much
talent
,
and
much
more
knowledge
?
”
“
You
would
make
a
very
good
prime
minister
,
Berengaria
.
”
“
Ah
!
you
always
jest
,
I
am
serious
.
”
“
