atthe
wholesale
ruin
that
they
wrought
,
while
the
sentimentalists
babbled
in
"
Social
Science
"
of
"
pearls
lost
"
and
"
innocence
betrayed
.
"
"
A
girl
that
used
to
eat
tripe
and
red
herring
in
a
six-pair
back
,
and
dance
for
a
shilling
a
night
in
gauze
,
coming
it
so
grand
that
she
'll
only
eat
asparagus
in
March
,
and
drink
the
best
Brands
with
her
truffles
!
Why
,
she
ai
n't
worth
sixpence
thrown
away
on
her
,
unless
it
's
worth
while
to
hear
how
hard
she
can
swear
at
you
!
"
averred
Rake
,
in
his
eloquence
;
and
he
was
undoubtedly
right
for
that
matter
,
but
then
—
the
Zu-Zu
was
the
rage
,
and
if
ever
she
should
be
sold
up
,
great
ladies
would
crowd
to
her
sale
,
as
they
have
done
ere
now
to
that
of
celebrities
of
her
sisterhood
,
and
buy
with
eager
curiosity
,
at
high
prices
,
her
most
trumpery
pots
of
pomatum
,
her
most
flimsy
gewgaws
of
marqueterie
!
Rake
had
seen
a
good
deal
of
men
and
manners
,
and
,
in
his
own
opinion
at
least
,
was
"
up
to
every
dodge
on
the
cross
"
that
this
iniquitous
world
could
unfold
.
A
bright
,
lithe
,
animated
,
vigorous
,
yellow-haired
,
and
sturdy
fellow
,
seemingly
with
a
dash
of
the
Celt
in
him
that
made
him
vivacious
and
peppery
,
Mr.
Rake
polished
his
wits
quite
as
much
as
he
polished
the
tops
,
and
considered
himself
a
philosopher
.
Of
whose
son
he
was
he
had
not
the
remotest
idea
;
his
earliest
recollections
were
of
the
tender
mercies
of
the
workhouse
;
but
even
that
chill
foster-mother
,
the
parish
,
had
not
damped
the
liveliness
of
his
temper
or
the
independence
of
his
opinions
,
and
as
soon
as
he
was
fifteen
,
Rake
had
run
away
and
joined
a
circus
,
distinguishing
himself
there
by
his
genius
for
standing
on
his
head
,
and
tying
his
limbs
into
a
porter
's
knot
.
From
the
circus
he
migrated
successively
into
the
shape
of
a
comic
singer
,
a
tapster
,
a
navvy
,
a
bill-sticker
,
a
guacho
in
Mexico
(
working
his
passage
out
)
,
a
fireman
in
New
York
,
a
ventriloquist
in
Maryland
,
a
vaquero
in
Spanish
California
,
a
lemonade-seller
in
San
Francisco
,
a
revolutionist
in
the
Argentine
(
without
the
most
distant
idea
what
he
fought
for
)
,
a
boatman
on
the
Bay
of
Mapiri
,
a
blacksmith
in
Santarem
,
a
trapper
in
the
Wilderness
,
and
finally
,
working
his
passage
home
again
,
took
the
Queen
's
shilling
in
Dublin
,
and
was
drafted
into
a
light
cavalry
regiment
.
With
the
—
th
he
served
half
a
dozen
years
in
India
,
a
rough-rider
,
a
splendid
fellow
in
a
charge
or
a
pursuit
,
with
an
astonishing
power
over
horses
,
and
the
clearest
backhanded
sweep
of
a
sabre
that
ever
cut
down
a
knot
of
natives
;
but
—
insubordinate
.
Do
his
duty
whenever
fighting
was
in
question
,
he
did
most
zealously
,
but
to
kick
over
the
traces
at
other
times
was
a
temptation
that
at
last
became
too
strong
for
that
lawless
lover
of
liberty
.
From
the
moment
that
he
joined
the
regiment
,
a
certain
Corporal
Warne
and
he
had
conceived
an
antipathy
to
one
another
,
which
Rake
had
to
control
as
he
might
,
and
which
the
Corporal
was
not
above
indulging
in
every
petty
piece
of
tyranny
that
his
rank
allowed
him
to
exercise
.
On
active
service
Rake
was
,
by
instinct
,
too
good
a
soldier
not
to
manage
to
keep
the
curb
on
himself
tolerably
well
,
though
he
was
always
regarded
in
his
troop
rather
as
a
hound
that
will
"
riot
"
is
regarded
in
the
pack
;
but
when
the
—
th
came
back
to
Brighton
and
to
barracks
,
the
evil
spirit
of
rebellion
began
to
get
a
little
hotter
in
him
under
the
Corporal
's
"
Idées
Napoliennes
"
of
justifiable
persecution
.
Warne
indisputably
provoked
his
man
in
a
cold
,
iron
,
strictly
lawful
sort
of
manner
,
moreover
,
all
the
more
irritating
to
a
temper
like
Rake
's
.
"
Hanged
if
I
care
how
the
officers
come
it
over
me
;
they
're
gentlemen
,
and
it
do
n't
try
a
fellow
,
"
would
Rake
say
in
confidential
moments
over
purl
and
a
penn'orth
of
bird's-eye
,
his
experience
in
the
Argentine
Republic
having
left
him
with
strongly
aristocratic
prejudices
;
"
but
when
it
comes
to
a
duffer
like
that
,
that
knows
no
better
than
me
,
what
ai
n't
a
bit
better
than
me
,
and
what
is
as
clumsy
a
duffer
about
a
horse
's
plates
as
ever
I
knew
,
and
would
a'most
let
a
young
'
un
buck
him
out
of
his
saddle
,
why
then
I
do
cut
up
rough
,
I
ai
n't
denying
it
,
and
I
do
n't
see
what
there
is
in
his
Stripes
to
give
him
such
a
license
to
be
aggravating
.
"
With
which
Rake
would
blow
the
froth
off
his
pewter
with
a
puff
of
concentrated
wrath
,
and
an
oath
against
his
non-commissioned
officers
that
might
have
let
some
light
in
upon
the
advocates
for
"
promotion
from
the
ranks
"
had
they
been
there
to
take
the
lesson
.
At
last
,
in
the
leisure
of
Brighton
,
the
storm
broke
.
Rake
had
a
Scotch
hound
that
was
the
pride
of
his
life
,
his
beer-money
often
going
instead
to
buy
dainties
for
the
dog
,
who
became
one
of
the
channels
through
which
Warne
could
annoy
and
thwart
him
.
The
dog
did
no
harm
,
being
a
fine
,
well-bred
deerhound
;
but
it
pleased
the
Corporal
to
consider
that
it
did
,
simply
because
it
belonged
to
Rake
,
whose
popularity
in
the
corps
,
owing
to
his
good
nature
,
his
good
spirits
,
and
his
innumerable
tales
of
American
experiences
and
amorous
adventures
,
increased
the
jealous
dislike
which
his
knack
with
an
unbroken
colt
and
his
abundant
stable
science
had
first
raised
in
his
superior
.
One
day
in
the
chargers
'
stables
the
hound
ran
out
of
a
loose
box
with
a
rush
to
get
at
Rake
,
and
upset
a
pailful
of
warm
mash
.
The
Corporal
,
who
was
standing
by
in
harness
,
hit
him
over
the
head
with
a
heavy
whip
he
had
in
his
hand
;
infuriated
by
the
pain
,
the
dog
flew
at
him
,
tearing
his
overalls
with
a
fierce
crunch
of
his
teeth
.
"
Take
the
brute
off
,
and
string
him
up
with
a
halter
;
I
've
put
up
with
him
too
long
!
"
cried
Warne
to
a
couple
of
privates
working
near
in
their
stable
dress
.
Before
the
words
were
out
of
his
mouth
,
Rake
threw
himself
on
him
with
a
bound
like
lightning
,
and
wrenching
the
whip
out
of
his
hand
,
struck
him
a
slashing
,
stinging
blow
across
the
face
.
"
Hang
my
hound
,
you
cur
!
If
you
touch
a
hair
of
him
I
'll
double-thong
you
within
an
inch
of
your
life
!
"
And
assuredly
he
would
have
kept
his
word
had
he
not
been
made
a
prisoner
,
and
marched
off
to
the
guard-room
.
Rake
learnt
the
stern
necessity
of
the
law
,
which
,
for
the
sake
of
morale
,
must
make
the
soldiers
,
whose
blood
is
wanted
to
be
like
fire
on
the
field
,
patient
,
pulseless
,
and
enduring
of
every
provocation
,
cruelty
,
and
insolence
in
the
camp
and
the
barrack
,
as
though
they
were
statues
of
stones
,
—
a
needful
law
,
a
wise
law
,
an
indispensable
law
,
doubtless
,
but
a
very
hard
law
to
be
obeyed
by
a
man
full
of
life
and
all
life
's
passions
.
At
the
court-martial
on
his
mutinous
conduct
which
followed
,
many
witnesses
brought
evidence
,
on
being
pressed
,
to
the
unpopularity
of
Warne
in
the
regiment
,
and
to
his
harshness
and
his
tyranny
to
Rake
.
Many
men
spoke
out
what
had
been
chained
down
in
their
thoughts
for
years
;
and
,
in
consideration
of
the
provocation
received
,
the
prisoner
,
who
was
much
liked
by
the
officers
,
was
condemned
to
six
months
'
imprisonment
for
his
insubordination
and
blow
to
his
noncommissioned
officer
,
without
being
tied
up
to
the
triangles
.
At
the
court-martial
,
Cecil
,
who
chanced
to
be
in
Brighton
after
Goodwood
,
was
present
one
day
with
some
other
Guardsmen
,
and
the
look
of
Rake
,
with
his
cheerfulness
under
difficulties
,
his
love
for
the
hound
,
and
his
bright
,
sunburnt
,
shrewd
,
humorous
countenance
,
took
his
fancy
.
"
Beauty
"
was
the
essence
of
good
nature
.
Indolent
himself
,
he
hated
to
see
anything
or
anybody
worried
;
lazy
,
gentle
,
wayward
,
and
spoilt
by
his
own
world
,
he
was
still
never
so
selfish
and
philosophic
as
he
pretended
,
but
what
he
would
do
a
kindness
if
one
came
in
his
way
;
it
is
not
a
very
great
virtue
,
perhaps
,
but
it
is
a
rare
one
.
"
Poor
devil
!
struck
the
other
because
he
would
n't
have
his
dog
hanged
.
Well
,
on
my
word
I
should
have
done
the
same
in
his
place
,
if
I
could
have
got
up
the
pace
for
so
much
exertion
,
"
murmured
Cecil
to
his
cheroot
,
careless
of
the
demoralising
tendency
of
his
remarks
for
the
Army
in
general
.
Had
it
occurred
in
the
Guards
,
and
he
had
"
sat
"
on
the
case
,
Rake
would
have
had
one
very
lenient
judge
.
As
it
was
,
Bertie
actually
went
the
lengths
of
thinking
seriously
about
the
matter
;
he
liked
Rake
's
devotion
to
his
dumb
friend
,
and
he
heard
of
his
intense
popularity
in
his
troop
;
he
wished
to
save
,
if
he
could
,
so
fine
a
fellow
from
the
risks
of
his
turbulent
passion
,
and
from
the
stern
fetters
of
a
trying
discipline
;
hence
,
when
Rake
found
himself
condemned
to
his
cell
,
he
had
a
message
sent
him
by
Bertie
's
groom
that
when
his
term
of
punishment
should
be
over
Mr.
Cecil
would
buy
his
discharge
from
the
Service
and
engage
him
as
extra
body-servant
,
having
had
a
good
account
of
his
capabilities
:
he
had
taken
the
hound
to
his
own
kennels
.
Now
the
fellow
had
been
thoroughly
devil-me-care
throughout
the
whole
course
of
the
proceedings
,
had
heard
his
sentence
with
sublime
impudence
,
and
had
chaffed
his
sentinels
with
an
utterly
reckless
nonchalance
;
but
somehow
or
other
,
when
that
message
reached
him
,
a
vivid
sense
that
he
was
a
condemned
and
disgraced
man
suddenly
flooded
in
on
him
;
a
passionate
gratitude
seized
him
to
the
young
aristocrat
who
had
thought
of
him
in
his
destitution
and
condemnation
,
who
had
even
thought
of
his
dog
;
and
Rake
,
the
philosophic
and
the
undauntable
,
could
have
found
it
in
his
heart
to
kneel
down
in
the
dust
and
kiss
the
stirrup-leather
when
he
held
it
for
his
new
master
,
so
strong
was
the
loyalty
he
bore
from
that
moment
to
Bertie
.
Martinets
were
scandalised
at
a
Life-Guardsman
taking
as
his
private
valet
a
man
who
had
been
guilty
of
such
conduct
in
the
Light
Cavalry
;
but
Cecil
never
troubled
his
head
about
what
people
said
;
and
so
invaluable
did
Rake
speedily
become
to
him
,
that
he
had
kept
him
about
his
person
wherever
he
went
from
then
until
now
,
two
years
after
.
Rake
loved
his
master
with
a
fidelity
very
rare
in
these
days
;
he
loved
his
horses
,
his
dogs
,
everything
that
was
his
,
down
to
his
very
rifle
and
boots
,
slaved
for
him
cheerfully
,
and
was
as
proud
of
the
deer
he
stalked
,
of
the
brace
he
bagged
,
of
his
innings
when
the
Household
played
the
Zingari
,
or
his
victory
when
his
yacht
won
the
Cherbourg
Cup
,
as
though
those
successes
had
been
Rake
's
own
.
"
My
dear
Seraph
,
"
said
Cecil
himself
once
on
this
point
to
the
Marquis
,
"
if
you
want
generosity
,
fidelity
,
and
all
the
rest
of
the
cardinal
what-d'ye-call-ems
—
sins
,
ai
n't
it
?
—
go
to
a
noble-hearted
Scamp
;
he
'
ll
stick
to
you
till
he
kills
himself
.
If
you
want
to
be
cheated
,
get
a
Respectable
Immaculate
;
he
'
ll
swindle
you
piously
,
and
decamp
with
your
Doncaster
Vase
.
"
And
Rake
,
who
assuredly
had
been
an
out-and-out
scamp
,
made
good
Bertie
's
creed
;
he
"
stuck
to
him
"
devoutly
,
and
no
terrier
was
ever
more
alive
to
an
otter
than
he
was
to
the
Guardsman
's
interests
.
It
was
that
very
vigilance
which
made
him
,
as
he
rode
back
from
the
Zu-Zu
's
in
the
twilight
,
notice
what
would
have
escaped
any
save
one
who
had
been
practised
as
a
trapper
in
the
red
Canadian
woods
,
namely
,
the
head
of
a
man
almost
hidden
among
the
heavy
though
leafless
brushwood
and
the
yellow
gorse
of
a
spinney
which
lay
on
his
left
in
Royallieu
Park
.
Rake
's
eyes
were
telescopic
and
microscopic
;
moreover
,
they
had
been
trained
to
know
such
little
signs
as
a
marsh
from
a
hen
harrier
in
full
flight
,
by
the
length
of
wing
and
tail
,
and
a
widgeon
or
a
coot
from
a
mallard
or
a
teal
,
by
the
depth
each
swam
out
of
the
water
.
Grey
and
foggy
as
it
was
,
and
high
as
was
the
gorse
,
Rake
recognised
his
born-foe
,
Willon
.
"
What
's
he
up
to
there
?
"
thought
Rake
,
surveying
the
place
,
which
was
wild
,
solitary
,
and
an
unlikely
place
enough
for
a
head
groom
to
be
found
in
.
"
If
he
ai
n't
a
rascal
,
I
never
see
one
;
it
's
my
belief
he
cheats
the
stable
thick
and
thin
,
and
gets
on
Mr.
Cecil
's
mounts
to
a
good
tune
—
ay
,
and
would
nobble
'
em
as
soon
as
not
,
if
it
just
suited
his
book
;
that
blessed
King
hates
the
man
:
how
he
lashes
his
heels
at
him
!
"
It
was
certainly
possible
that
Willon
might
be
passing
an
idle
hour
in
potting
rabbits
,
or
be
otherwise
innocently
engaged
enough
;
but
the
sight
of
him
there
among
the
gorse
was
a
sight
of
suspicion
to
Rake
.
Instantaneous
thoughts
darted
through
his
mind
of
tethering
his
horse
,
and
making
a
reconnaissance
safely
and
unseen
with
the
science
at
stalking
brute
or
man
that
he
had
learnt
of
his
friends
the
Sioux
.
But
second
thoughts
showed
him
this
was
impossible
.
The
horse
he
was
on
was
a
mere
colt
just
breaking
in
,
who
had
barely
had
so
much
as
a
"
dumb
jockey
"
on
his
back
,
and
stand
for
a
second
the
colt
would
not
.
"
At
any
rate
,
I
'll
unearth
him
,
"
mused
Rake
,
with
his
latent
animosity
to
the
head
groom
,
and
his
vigilant
loyalty
to
Cecil
overruling
any
scruple
as
to
his
right
to
overlook
his
foe
's
movements
;
and
with
a
gallop
that
was
muffled
on
the
heather
'd
turf
he
dashed
straight
at
the
covert
unperceived
till
he
was
within
ten
paces
.
Willon
started
and
looked
up
hastily
;
he
was
talking
to
a
square-built
man
very
quietly
dressed
in
shepherds
'
plaid
,
chiefly
remarkable
by
a
red-hued
beard
and
whiskers
.
The
groom
turned
pale
and
laughed
nervously
as
Rake
pulled
up
with
a
jerk
.
"
You
on
that
young
'
un
again
?
Take
care
you
do
n't
get
bucked
out
o
'
saddle
in
the
shape
of
a
cocked-hat
.
"
"
I
ai
n't
afraid
of
going
to
grass
,
if
you
are
!
"
retorted
Rake
,
scornfully
;
boldness
was
not
his
enemy
's
strong
point
.
"
Who
's
your
pal
,
old
fellow
?
"
"
A
cousin
o
'
mine
,
out
o
'
Yorkshire
,
"
vouchsafed
Mr.
Willon
,
looking
anything
but
easy
,
while
the
cousin
aforesaid
nodded
sulkily
on
the
introduction
.
"
Ah
!
looks
like
a
Yorkshire
tyke
,
"
muttered
Rake
,
with
a
volume
of
meaning
condensed
in
these
innocent
words
.
"
A
nice
dry
,
cheerful
sort
of
place
to
meet
your
cousin
in
,
too
;
uncommon
lively
;
hope
it
'll
raise
his
spirits
to
see
all
his
cousins
a
grinning
there
;
his
spirits
do
n't
seem
much
in
sorts
now
,
"
continued
the
ruthless
inquisitor
,
with
a
glance
at
the
"
keeper
's
tree
"
by
which
they
stood
,
in
the
middle
of
dank
undergrowth
,
whose
branches
were
adorned
with
dead
cats
,
curs
,
owls
,
kestrels
,
stoats
,
weasels
,
and
martens
.
To
what
issue
the
passage
of
arms
might
have
come
it
is
impossible
to
say
,
for
at
that
moment
the
colt
took
matters
into
his
own
hands
,
and
bolted
with
a
rush
,
that
even
Rake
could
not
pull
in
till
he
had
had
a
mile-long
"
pipe
opener
.
"
"
Something
up
there
,
"
thought
that
sagacious
rough-rider
;
"
if
that
red-haired
chap
ai
n't
a
rum
lot
,
I
'll
eat
him
.
I
've
seen
his
face
,
too
,
somewhere
:
where
the
deuce
was
it
?
Cousin
;
yes
,
cousins
in
Queer-street
,
I
dare
say
!
Why
should
he
go
and
meet
his
'
cousin
'
out
in
the
fog
there
,
when
if
you
took
twenty
cousins
home
to
the
servants
'
hall
nobody
'd
ever
say
anything
?
If
that
Willon
ai
n't
as
deep
as
Old
Harry
—
—
"
And
Rake
rode
into
the
stable-yard
,
thoughtful
and
intensely
suspicious
of
the
rendezvous
under
the
keeper
's
tree
in
the
outlying
coverts
.
He
would
have
been
more
so
had
he
guessed
that
Ben
Davis
's
red
beard
and
demure
attire
,
with
other
as
efficient
disguises
,
had
prevented
even
his
own
keen
eyes
from
penetrating
the
identity
of
Willon
's
"
cousin
"
with
the
Welsher
he
had
seen
thrust
off
the
course
the
day
before
by
his
master
.
CHAPTER
VI
.
THE
END
OF
A
RINGING
RUN
.
"
Tally-ho
!
is
the
word
,
clap
spurs
and
let
's
follow
,
The
world
has
no
charm
like
a
rattling
view-halloa
!
"
Is
hardly
to
be
denied
by
anybody
in
this
land
of
fast
bursts
and
gallant
M
.
F
.
H
.
s
,
whether
they
"
ride
to
hunt
,
"
or
"
hunt
to
ride
,
"
in
the
immortal
distinction
of
Assheton
Smith
's
old
whip
:
the
latter
class
,
by-the-by
,
becoming
far
and
away
the
larger
,
in
these
days
of
rattling
gallops
and
desperate
breathers
.
Who
cares
to
patter
after
a
sly
old
dog-fox
,
that
,
fat
and
wary
,
leads
the
pack
a
tedious
interminable
wind
in
and
out
through
gorse
and
spinney
,
bricks
himself
up
in
a
drain
,
and
takes
an
hour
to
be
dug
out
,
dodges
about
till
twilight
,
and
makes
the
hounds
pick
the
scent
slowly
and
wretchedly
,
over
marsh
and
through
water
?
Who
would
not
give
fifty
guineas
a
second
for
the
glorious
thirty
minutes
of
racing
that
shows
steam
and
steel
over
fence
and
fallow
in
a
clipping
rush
without
a
check
from
find
to
finish
?
So
be
it
ever
!
The
riding
that
graces
the
Shires
,
that
makes
Tedworth
and
Pytchley
,
the
Duke
's
,
and
the
Fitzwilliam
's
,
household
words
and
"
names
beloved
,
"
that
fills
Melton
and
Market
Harborough
,
and
makes
the
best
flirts
of
the
ball-room
gallop
fifteen
miles
to
covert
,
careless
of
hail
or
rain
,
mire
or
slush
,
mist
or
cold
,
so
long
as
it
is
a
fine
scenting
wind
,
is
the
same
riding
that
sent
the
Six
Hundred
down
into
the
blaze
of
the
Muscovite
guns
,
that
in
their
fathers
'
days
gave
to
Grant
's
Hussars
their
swoop
,
like
eagles
,
on
to
the
rear-guard
at
Morales
,
and
that
in
the
grand
old
East
and
the
rich
trackless
West
makes
exiled
campaigners
with
high
English
names
seek
and
win
an
aristeia
of
their
own
at
the
head
of
their
wild
Irregular
Horse
,
who
would
charge
hell
itself
at
their
bidding
.
Now
in
all
the
Service
there
was
not
a
man
who
loved
hunting
better
than
Bertie
.
Though
he
was
incorrigibly
lazy
,
and
inconceivably
effeminate
in
every
one
of
his
habits
,
though
he
suggested
a
portable
lounging-chair
as
an
improvement
at
battues
so
that
you
might
shoot
sitting
,
drove
to
every
breakfast
and
garden
party
in
the
season
in
his
brougham
with
the
blinds
down
lest
a
grain
of
dust
should
touch
him
,
thought
a
waltz
too
exhaustive
,
and
a
saunter
down
Pall
Mall
too
tiring
,
and
asked
to
have
the
end
of
a
novel
told
him
in
the
clubs
because
it
was
too
much
trouble
to
read
on
a
warm
day
,
—
though
he
was
more
indolent
than
any
spoiled
Creole
,
"
Beauty
"
never
failed
to
head
the
first
flight
,
and
adored
a
hard
day
cross
country
,
with
an
east
wind
in
his
eyes
,
and
the
sleet
in
his
teeth
.
The
only
trouble
was
to
make
him
get
up
in
time
for
it
.
"
Mr.
Cecil
,
sir
,
if
you
please
,
the
drag
will
be
round
in
ten
minutes
,
"
said
Rake
,
with
a
dash
of
desperation
for
the
seventh
time
into
his
chamber
,
one
fine
scenting
morning
.
"
I
do
n't
please
,
"
answered
Cecil
,
sleepily
,
finishing
his
cup
of
coffee
,
and
reading
a
novel
of
La
Demirep
's
.
"
The
other
gentlemen
are
all
down
,
sir
,
and
you
will
be
too
late
.
"
"
Not
a
bit
.
They
must
wait
for
me
,
"
yawned
Bertie
.
Crash
came
the
Seraph
's
thunder
on
the
panels
of
the
door
,
and
a
strong
volume
of
Turkish
through
the
keyhole
:
"
Beauty
,
Beauty
,
are
you
dead
?
"
"
Now
,
what
an
inconsequent
question
!
"
expostulated
Cecil
,
with
appealing
rebuke
.
"
If
a
fellow
were
dead
,
how
the
devil
could
he
say
he
was
?
Do
be
logical
,
Seraph
.
"
"
Get
up
!
"
cried
the
Seraph
with
a
deafening
rataplan
,
and
a
final
dash
of
his
colossal
stature
into
the
chamber
.
"
We
've
all
done
breakfast
;
the
traps
are
coming
round
;
you
'll
be
an
hour
behind
time
at
the
meet
.
"
Bertie
lifted
his
eyes
with
plaintive
resignation
from
the
Demirep
's
yellow-papered
romance
.
"
I
'm
really
in
an
interesting
chapter
:
Aglae
has
just
had
a
marquis
kill
his
son
,
and
two
brothers
kill
each
other
in
the
Bois
,
about
her
,
and
is
on
the
point
of
discovering
a
man
she
's
in
love
with
to
be
her
own
grandfather
;
the
complication
is
absolutely
thrilling
,
"
murmured
Beauty
,
whom
nothing
could
ever
"
thrill
,
"
not
even
plunging
down
the
Matterhorn
,
losing
"
long
odds
in
thou
"
'
over
the
Oaks
,
or
being
sunned
in
the
eyes
of
the
fairest
women
of
Europe
.
The
Seraph
laughed
,
and
tossed
the
volume
straight
to
the
other
end
of
the
chamber
.
"
Confound
you
,
Beauty
,
get
up
!
"
"
Never
swear
,
Seraph
,
not
ever
so
mildly
,
"
yawned
Cecil
;
"
it
's
gone
out
,
you
know
;
only
the
cads
and
the
clergy
can
damn
one
now-a-days
;
it
's
such
bad
style
to
be
so
impulsive
.
Look
!
you
have
broken
the
back
of
my
Demirep
!
"
"
You
deserve
to
break
the
King
's
back
over
the
first
cropper
,
"
laughed
the
Seraph
.
"
Do
get
up
!
"
"
Bother
!
"
sighed
the
victim
,
raising
himself
with
reluctance
,
while
the
Seraph
disappeared
in
a
cloud
of
turkish
.
Neither
Bertie
's
indolence
nor
his
insouciance
were
assumed
;
utter
carelessness
was
his
nature
,
utter
impassability
was
his
habit
,
and
he
was
truly
for
the
moment
loth
to
leave
his
bed
,
his
coffee
,
and
his
novel
;
he
must
have
his
leg
over
the
saddle
,
and
feel
the
strain
on
his
arms
of
that
"
pulling
"
pace
with
which
the
King
always
went
when
once
he
settled
into
his
stride
,
before
he
would
really
think
about
winning
.
The
hunting
breakfasts
of
our
forefathers
and
of
our
present
squires
found
no
favour
with
Bertie
;
a
slice
of
game
and
a
glass
of
curacoa
were
all
he
kept
the
drag
waiting
to
swallow
,
and
the
four
bays
going
at
a
pelting
pace
,
he
and
the
rest
of
the
Household
who
were
gathered
at
Royallieu
were
by
good
luck
in
time
for
the
throw-off
of
the
Quorn
,
where
the
hero
of
the
Blue
Riband
was
dancing
impatiently
under
Willon
's
hand
,
scenting
the
fresh
,
keen
,
sunny
air
,
and
knowing
as
well
what
all
those
bits
of
scarlet
straying
in
through
field
and
lane
,
gate
and
gap
,
meant
,
as
well
as
though
the
merry
notes
of
the
master
's
horn
were
winding
over
the
gorse
.
The
meet
was
brilliant
and
very
large
;
showing
such
a
gathering
as
only
the
Melton
country
can
;
and
foremost
among
the
crowd
of
carriages
,
hacks
,
and
hunters
,
were
the
beautiful
roan
mare
Vivandière
of
the
Lady
Guenevere
,
mounted
by
that
exquisite
Peeress
in
her
violet
habit
,
and
her
tiny
velvet
hat
;
and
the
pony
equipage
of
the
Zu-Zu
,
all
glittering
with
azure
and
silver
,
leopard
rugs
,
and
snowy
reins
:
the
breadth
of
half
an
acre
of
grassland
was
between
them
,
but
the
groups
of
men
about
them
were
tolerably
equal
for
number
and
for
rank
.
"
Take
Zu-Zu
off
my
hands
for
this
morning
,
Seraph
,
there
's
a
good
fellow
,
"
murmured
Cecil
,
as
he
swung
himself
into
saddle
.
The
Seraph
gave
a
leonine
growl
,
sighed
,
and
acquiesced
.
He
detested
women
in
the
hunting-field
,
but
that
sweetest
tempered
giant
of
the
Brigades
never
refused
anything
to
anybody
—
much
less
to
"
Beauty
.
"
To
an
uninitiated
mind
it
would
have
seemed
marvellous
and
beautiful
in
its
combination
of
simplicity
and
intricacy
,
to
have
noted
the
delicate
tactics
with
which
Bertie
conducted
himself
between
his
two
claimants
;
—
bending
to
his
Countess
with
a
reverent
devotion
that
assuaged
whatever
of
incensed
perception
of
her
unacknowledged
rival
might
be
silently
lurking
in
her
proud
heart
;
wheeling
up
to
the
pony-trap
under
cover
of
speaking
to
the
men
from
Egerton
Lodge
,
and
restoring
the
Zu-Zu
from
sulkiness
,
by
a
propitiatory
offer
of
a
little
gold
sherry-flask
,
studded
with
turquoises
,
just
ordered
for
her
from
Regent-street
,
which
,
however
,
she
ungraciously
contemned
,
because
she
thought
it
had
only
cost
twenty
guineas
;
anchoring
the
victimised
Seraph
beside
her
by
an
adroit
"
Ah
!
by
the
way
,
Rock
,
give
Zu-Zu
one
of
your
rose-scented
papelitos
;
she
's
been
wild
to
smoke
them
;
"
and
leaving
the
Zu-Zu
content
at
securing
a
future
Duke
,
was
free
to
canter
back
and
flirt
on
the
off-side
of
Vivandière
,
till
the
"
signal
,
"
the
"
cast
,
"
made
with
consummate
craft
,
the
waving
of
the
white
sterns
among
the
brushwood
,
the
tightening
of
girths
,
the
throwing
away
of
cigars
,
the
challenge
,
the
whimper
,
and
the
"
stole
away
!
"
sent
the
field
headlong
down
the
course
after
as
fine
a
long-legged
greyhound
fox
as
ever
carried
a
brush
.
Away
he
went
in
a
rattling
spin
,
breaking
straight
at
once
for
the
open
,
the
hounds
on
the
scent
like
mad
:
with
a
tally-ho
that
thundered
through
the
cloudless
,
crisp
,
cold
,
glittering
noon
,
the
field
dashed
off
pell-mell
,
the
violet
habit
of
her
ladyship
,
and
the
azure
skirts
of
the
Zu-Zu
foremost
of
all
in
the
rush
through
the
spinneys
;
while
Cecil
on
the
King
,
and
the
Seraph
on
a
magnificent
white
weight-carrier
,
as
thorough-bred
and
colossal
as
himself
,
led
the
way
with
them
.
The
scent
was
hot
as
death
in
the
spinneys
,
and
the
pack
raced
till
nothing
but
a
good
one
could
live
with
them
;
few
but
good
ones
,
however
,
were
to
be
found
with
the
Quorn
,
and
the
field
held
together
superbly
over
the
first
fence
,
and
on
across
the
grassland
,
the
game
old
fox
giving
no
sign
of
going
to
covert
,
but
running
straight
as
a
crow
flies
,
while
the
pace
grew
terrific
.
"
Beats
cock-fighting
!
"
cried
the
Zu-Zu
,
while
her
blue
skirts
fluttered
in
the
wind
,
as
she
lifted
Cecil
's
brown
mare
,
very
cleverly
,
over
a
bilberry
hedge
,
and
set
her
little
white
teeth
with
a
will
on
the
Seraph
's
otto-of-rose
cigarette
.
Lady
Guenevere
heard
the
words
as
Vivandière
rose
in
the
air
with
the
light
bound
of
a
roe
,
and
a
slight
superb
dash
of
scorn
came
into
her
haughty
eyes
for
the
moment
;
she
never
seemed
to
know
that
"
that
person
"
in
the
azure
habit
even
existed
,
but
the
contempt
awoke
in
her
,
and
shone
in
her
glance
,
while
she
rode
on
as
that
fair
leader
of
the
Belvoir
and
Pytchley
alone
could
ride
over
the
fallows
.
The
steam
was
on
at
full
pressure
,
the
hounds
held
close
to
his
brush
,
heads
up
,
sterns
down
,
running
still
straight
as
an
arrow
over
the
open
,
past
coppice
and
covert
,
through
gorse
and
spinney
,
without
a
sign
of
the
fox
making
for
shelter
.
Fence
,
and
double
,
hedge
and
brook
,
soon
scattered
the
field
;
straying
off
far
and
wide
,
and
coming
to
grief
with
lots
of
"
downers
,
"
it
grew
select
,
and
few
but
the
crack
men
could
keep
the
hounds
in
view
.
"
Catch
'
em
who
can
,
"
was
the
one
mot
d'ordre
,
for
they
were
literally
racing
,
the
line-hunters
never
losing
the
scent
a
second
,
as
the
fox
,
taking
to
dodging
,
made
all
the
trouble
he
could
for
them
through
the
rides
of
the
woods
.
Their
working
was
magnificent
,
and
,
heading
him
,
they
ran
him
round
and
round
in
a
ring
,
viewed
him
for
a
second
,
and
drove
him
out
of
covert
once
more
into
the
pastures
,
while
they
laid
on
at
a
hotter
scent
and
flew
after
him
like
staghounds
.
Only
half
a
dozen
were
up
with
them
now
;
the
pace
was
tremendous
,
though
all
over
grass
;
here
a
flight
of
posts
and
rails
tried
the
muscle
of
the
boldest
;
there
a
bullfinch
yawned
behind
the
blackthorn
;
here
a
big
fence
towered
;
there
a
brook
rushed
angrily
among
its
rushes
;
while
the
keen
,
easterly
wind
blew
over
the
meadows
,
and
the
pack
streamed
along
like
the
white
trail
of
a
plume
.
Cecil
"
showed
the
way
"
with
the
self-same
stride
and
the
self-same
fencing
as
had
won
him
the
Vase
.
Lady
Guenevere
and
the
Seraph
were
running
almost
even
with
him
;
three
of
the
Household
farther
down
;
the
Zu-Zu
and
some
Melton
men
two
meadows
off
;
the
rest
of
the
field
,
nowhere
.
Fifty-two
minutes
had
gone
by
in
that
splendid
running
,
without
a
single
check
,
while
the
fox
raced
as
gamely
and
as
fast
as
at
the
find
;
the
speed
was
like
lightning
past
the
brown
woods
,
the
dark-green
pine
plantations
,
the
hedges
,
bright
with
scarlet
berries
;
through
the
green
low-lying
grasslands
,
and
the
winding
drives
of
coverts
,
and
the
boles
of
ash-hued
beech
trunks
,
whose
roots
the
violets
were
just
purpling
with
their
blossom
;
while
far
away
stretched
the
blue
haze
of
the
distance
,
and
above-head
a
flight
of
rooks
cawed
merrily
in
the
bright
air
,
soon
left
far
off
as
the
pack
swept
onward
in
the
most
brilliant
thing
of
the
hunting
year
.
"
Water
!
take
care
!
"
cried
Cecil
,
with
a
warning
wave
of
his
hand
as
the
hounds
with
a
splash
like
a
torrent
dashed
up
to
their
necks
in
a
broad
brawling
brook
that
Reynard
had
swam
in
first-rate
style
,
and
struggled
as
best
they
could
after
him
.
It
was
an
awkward
bit
,
with
bad
taking-off
and
a
villanous
mud-bank
for
landing
;
and
the
water
,
thickened
and
swollen
with
recent
rains
,
had
made
all
the
land
that
sloped
to
it
miry
and
soft
as
sponge
.
It
was
the
risk
of
life
and
limb
to
try
it
;
but
all
who
still
viewed
the
hounds
catching
Bertie
's
shout
of
warning
worked
their
horses
up
for
it
,
and
charged
towards
it
as
hotly
as
troops
charge
a
square
.
Forest
King
was
over
like
a
bird
;
the
winner
of
the
Grand
Military
was
not
to
be
daunted
by
all
the
puny
streams
of
the
Shires
;
the
artistic
riding
of
the
Countess
landed
Vivandière
,
with
a
beautiful
clear
spring
,
after
him
by
a
couple
of
lengths
:
the
Seraph
's
handsome
white
hunter
,
brought
up
at
a
headlong
gallop
with
characteristic
careless
dash
and
fine
science
mingled
,
cleared
it
;
but
,
falling
with
a
mighty
crash
,
gave
him
a
purler
on
the
opposite
side
,
and
was
within
an
ace
of
striking
him
dead
with
his
hoof
in
frantic
struggles
to
recover
.
The
Seraph
,
however
,
was
on
his
legs
with
a
rapidity
marvellous
in
a
six-foot-three
son
of
Anak
,
picked
up
the
horse
,
threw
himself
into
saddle
,
and
dashed
off
again
quick
as
lightning
,
with
his
scarlet
stained
all
over
,
and
his
long
fair
moustaches
floating
in
the
wind
.
The
Zu-Zu
turned
Mother
of
Pearl
back
with
a
fiery
French
oath
;
she
hated
to
be
"
cut
down
,
"
but
she
liked
still
less
to
risk
her
neck
;
and
two
of
the
Household
were
already
treated
to
"
crackers
"
that
disabled
them
for
the
day
,
while
one
Melton
man
was
pitched
head-foremost
into
the
brook
,
and
another
was
sitting
dolorously
on
the
bank
with
his
horse
's
head
in
his
lap
,
and
the
poor
brute
's
spine
broken
.
There
were
only
three
of
the
first
riders
in
England
now
alone
with
the
hounds
,
who
,
with
a
cold
scent
as
the
fox
led
them
through
the
angular
corner
of
a
thick
pheasant
covert
,
stuck
like
wax
to
the
line
,
and
working
him
out
,
viewed
him
once
more
,
for
one
wild
,
breathless
,
tantalising
second
,
and
,
on
a
scent
breast-high
,
raced
him
with
the
rush
of
an
express
through
the
straggling
street
of
a
little
hamlet
,
and
got
him
out
again
on
the
level
pastures
and
across
a
fine
line
of
hunting
country
,
with
the
leafless
woods
and
the
low
gates
of
a
park
far
away
to
their
westward
.
"
A
guinea
to
a
shilling
that
we
kill
him
!
"
cried
the
flute-voice
of
her
brilliant
ladyship
,
as
she
ran
a
moment
side
by
side
with
Forest
King
,
and
flashed
her
rich
eyes
on
his
rider
;
she
had
scorned
the
Zu-Zu
,
but
on
occasion
she
would
use
betting
slang
and
racing
slang
with
the
daintiest
grace
in
the
world
herself
without
their
polluting
her
lips
.
As
though
the
old
fox
heard
the
wager
,
he
swept
in
a
bend
round
towards
the
woods
on
the
right
,
making
with
all
the
craft
and
the
speed
there
were
in
him
for
the
deep
shelter
of
the
boxwood
and
laurel
.
"
After
him
,
my
beauties
,
my
beauties
—
if
he
run
there
he
'll
go
to
ground
and
save
his
brush
!
"
thundered
the
Seraph
,
as
though
he
were
hunting
his
own
hounds
at
Lyonnesse
,
who
knew
every
tone
of
his
rich
clarion
notes
as
well
as
they
knew
every
wind
of
his
horn
.
But
the
young
ones
of
the
pack
saw
Reynard
's
move
and
his
meaning
as
quickly
as
he
did
;
having
run
fast
before
,
they
flew
now
:
the
pace
was
terrific
.
Two
fences
were
crossed
as
though
they
were
paper
;
the
meadows
raced
with
lightning
speed
,
a
ha-ha
leaped
,
a
gate
cleared
with
a
crashing
jump
,
and
in
all
the
furious
excitement
of
"
view
"
they
tore
down
the
mile-long
length
of
an
avenue
,
dashed
into
a
flower-garden
,
and
smashing
through
a
gay
trellis-work
of
scarlet
creeper
,
plunged
into
the
home-paddock
and
killed
with
as
loud
a
shout
ringing
over
the
country
in
the
bright
sunny
day
as
ever
was
echoed
by
the
ringing
cheers
of
the
Shire
;
Cecil
,
the
Seraph
,
and
her
victorious
ladyship
alone
coming
in
for
the
glories
of
"
finish
.
"
"
Never
had
a
faster
seventy
minutes
up-wind
,
"
said
Lady
Guenevere
,
looking
at
the
tiny
jewelled
watch
,
the
size
of
a
sixpence
,
that
was
set
in
the
handle
of
her
whip
,
as
the
brush
,
with
all
the
compliments
customary
,
was
handed
to
her
.
She
had
won
twenty
before
.
The
park
,
so
unceremoniously
entered
,
belonged
to
a
baronet
who
,
though
he
hunted
little
himself
,
honoured
the
sport
and
scorned
a
vulpecide
;
he
came
out
naturally
and
begged
them
to
lunch
.
Lady
Guenevere
refused
to
dismount
,
but
consented
to
take
a
biscuit
and
a
little
Lafitte
,
while
clarets
,
liqueurs
,
and
ales
,
with
anything
they
wanted
to
eat
,
were
brought
to
her
companions
.
The
stragglers
strayed
in
;
the
M
.
F
.
H
.
came
up
just
too
late
;
the
men
getting
down
gathered
about
the
Countess
or
lounged
on
the
grey
stone
steps
of
the
Elizabethan
house
.
The
sun
shone
brightly
on
the
oriel
casements
,
the
antique
gables
,
the
twisted
chimneys
,
all
covered
with
crimson
parasites
and
trailing
ivy
;
the
horses
,
the
scarlet
,
the
pack
in
the
paddock
adjacent
,
the
shrubberies
of
laurel
and
auraucaria
,
the
sun-tinted
terraces
,
made
a
bright
and
picturesque
grouping
.
Bertie
,
with
his
hand
on
Vivandière
's
pommel
,
after
taking
a
deep
draught
of
sparkling
Rhenish
,
looked
on
at
it
all
with
a
pleasant
sigh
of
amusement
.
"
By
Jove
!
"
he
murmured
softly
,
with
a
contented
smile
about
his
lips
;
"
that
was
a
ringing
run
!
"
At
that
very
moment
,
as
the
words
were
spoken
,
a
groom
approached
him
hastily
;
his
young
brother
,
whom
he
had
scarcely
seen
since
the
find
,
had
been
thrown
and
taken
home
on
a
hurdle
;
the
injuries
,
were
rumoured
to
be
serious
.
Bertie
's
smile
faded
;
he
looked
very
grave
:
world-spoiled
as
he
was
,
reckless
in
everything
,
and
egotist
though
he
had
long
been
by
profession
,
he
loved
the
lad
.
When
he
entered
the
darkened
room
,
with
its
faint
chloroform
odour
,
the
boy
lay
like
one
dead
,
his
bright
hair
scattered
on
the
pillow
,
his
chest
bare
,
and
his
right
arm
broken
and
splintered
.
The
death-like
coma
was
but
the
result
of
the
chloroform
;
but
Cecil
never
stayed
to
ask
or
remember
that
,
he
was
by
the
couch
in
a
single
stride
,
and
dropped
down
by
it
,
his
head
bent
on
his
arms
.
"
It
is
my
fault
.
I
should
have
looked
to
him
.
"
The
words
were
very
low
;
he
hated
that
any
should
see
he
could
still
be
such
a
fool
as
to
feel
.
A
minute
,
and
he
conquered
himself
;
he
rose
,
and
with
his
hand
on
the
boy
's
fair
tumbled
curls
,
turned
calmly
to
the
medical
men
who
,
attached
to
the
household
,
had
been
on
the
spot
at
once
.
"
What
is
the
matter
?
"
"
Fractured
arm
,
contusion
,
nothing
serious
,
nothing
at
all
,
at
his
age
,
"
replied
the
surgeon
;
"
when
he
wakes
out
of
the
lethargy
he
will
tell
you
so
himself
,
Mr.
Cecil
.
"
"
You
are
certain
?
"
—
do
what
he
would
his
voice
shook
a
little
;
his
hand
had
not
shaken
,
two
days
before
,
when
nothing
less
than
ruin
or
ransom
had
hung
on
his
losing
or
winning
the
race
.
"
Perfectly
certain
,
"
answered
the
surgeon
,
cheerfully
.
"
He
is
not
over
strong
,
to
be
sure
,
but
the
contusions
are
slight
;
he
will
be
out
of
that
bed
in
a
fortnight
.
"
"
How
did
he
fall
?
"
But
while
they
told
him
he
scarcely
heard
;
he
was
looking
at
the
handsome
Antinous-like
form
of
the
lad
stretched
helpless
and
stricken
before
him
;
and
he
was
remembering
the
death-bed
of
their
mother
,
when
the
only
voice
he
had
ever
reverenced
had
whispered
,
as
she
pointed
to
the
little
child
of
three
summers
:
"
When
you
are
a
man
,
take
care
of
him
,
Bertie
.
"
How
had
he
fulfilled
the
injunction
?
Into
how
much
brilliantly-tinted
evil
had
he
not
led
him
—
by
example
at
least
?
The
surgeon
touched
his
arm
apologetically
,
after
a
lengthened
silence
:
"
Your
brother
will
be
best
unexcited
when
he
comes
to
himself
,
sir
;
look
—
his
eyes
are
unclosing
now
.
Could
you
do
me
the
favour
to
go
to
his
Lordship
?
His
grief
made
him
perfectly
wild
—
so
dangerous
to
his
life
at
his
age
.
We
could
only
persuade
him
to
retire
,
a
few
minutes
ago
,
on
the
plea
of
Mr.
Berkeley
's
safety
.
If
you
could
see
him
—
—
"
Cecil
went
,
mechanically
almost
,
and
with
a
grave
,
weary
depression
on
him
;
he
was
so
unaccustomed
to
think
at
all
,
so
utterly
unaccustomed
to
think
painfully
,
that
he
scarcely
knew
what
ailed
him
.
Had
he
had
his
old
tact
about
him
,
he
would
have
known
how
worse
than
useless
it
would
be
for
him
to
seek
his
father
in
such
a
moment
.
Lord
Royallieu
was
lying
back
exhausted
as
Cecil
opened
the
door
of
his
private
apartments
,
heavily
darkened
and
heavily
perfumed
;
at
the
turn
of
the
lock
he
started
up
eagerly
.
"
What
news
of
him
?
"
"
Good
news
,
I
hope
,
"
said
Cecil
,
gently
,
as
he
came
forward
.
"
The
injuries
are
not
grave
,
they
tell
me
.
I
am
so
sorry
that
I
never
watched
his
fencing
,
but
—
—
"
The
old
man
had
not
recognised
him
till
he
heard
his
voice
,
and
he
waved
him
off
with
a
fierce
contemptuous
gesture
;
the
grief
for
his
favourite
's
danger
,
the
wild
terrors
that
his
fears
had
conjured
up
,
his
almost
frantic
agony
at
the
sight
of
the
accident
,
had
lashed
him
into
passion
well-nigh
delirious
.
"
Out
of
my
sight
,
sir
!
"
he
said
,
fiercely
,
his
mellow
tones
quivering
with
rage
.
"
I
wish
to
God
you
had
been
dead
in
a
ditch
before
a
hair
of
my
boy
's
had
been
touched
.
You
live
,
and
he
lies
dying
there
!
"
Cecil
bowed
in
silence
;
the
brutality
of
the
words
wounded
,
but
they
did
not
offend
him
,
for
he
knew
his
father
was
in
that
moment
scarce
better
than
a
maniac
,
and
he
was
touched
with
the
haggard
misery
upon
the
old
Peer
's
face
.
"
Out
of
my
sight
,
sir
!
"
re-echoed
Lord
Royallieu
,
as
he
strode
forward
,
passion
lending
vigour
to
his
emaciated
frame
,
while
the
dignity
of
his
grand
car
riage
blent
with
the
furious
force
of
his
infuriated
blindness
.
"
If
you
had
had
the
heart
of
a
man
you
would
have
saved
such
a
child
as
that
from
his
peril
;
warned
him
,
watched
him
,
succoured
him
at
least
when
he
fell
.
Instead
of
that
,
you
ride
on
and
leave
him
to
die
,
if
death
come
to
him
!
You
are
safe
;
you
are
always
safe
.
You
try
to
kill
yourself
with
every
vice
under
heaven
,
and
only
get
more
strength
,
more
grace
,
more
pleasure
from
it
—
you
are
always
safe
because
I
hate
you
.
Yes
!
I
hate
you
,
sir
!
"
No
words
can
give
the
force
,
the
malignity
,
the
concentrated
meaning
with
which
the
words
were
hurled
out
,
as
the
majestic
form
of
the
old
Lord
towered
in
the
shadow
,
with
his
hands
outstretched
as
if
in
imprecation
.
Cecil
heard
him
in
silence
,
doubting
if
he
could
hear
aright
,
while
the
bitter
phrases
scathed
and
cut
like
scourges
,
but
he
bowed
once
more
with
the
manner
that
was
as
inseparable
from
him
as
his
nature
.
"
Hate
is
so
very
exhausting
;
I
regret
I
give
you
the
trouble
of
it
.
May
I
ask
why
you
favour
me
with
it
?
"
"
You
may
!
"
thundered
his
father
,
while
his
hawk
's
eyes
flashed
their
glittering
fire
.
"
You
are
like
the
man
I
cursed
living
and
curse
dead
.
You
look
at
me
with
Alan
Bertie
's
eyes
,
you
speak
to
me
with
Alan
Bertie
's
voice
;
I
loved
your
mother
,
I
worshipped
her
;
but
—
you
are
his
son
,
not
mine
!
"
The
secret
doubt
,
treasured
so
long
,
was
told
at
last
.
The
blood
flushed
Bertie
's
face
a
deep
and
burning
scarlet
;
he
started
with
an
irrepressible
tremor
,
like
a
man
struck
with
a
shot
;
he
felt
like
one
suddenly
stabbed
in
the
dark
by
a
sure
and
a
cruel
hand
.
The
insult
and
the
amazement
of
the
words
seemed
to
paralyse
him
for
the
moment
,
the
next
he
recovered
himself
,
and
lifted
his
head
with
as
haughty
a
gesture
as
his
father
's
,
his
features
were
perfectly
composed
again
,
and
sterner
than
in
all
his
careless
,
easy
life
they
ever
yet
had
looked
.
"
You
lie
,
and
you
know
that
you
lie
.
My
mother
was
pure
as
the
angels
.
Henceforth
you
can
be
only
to
me
a
slanderer
who
has
dared
to
taint
the
one
name
holy
in
my
sight
.
"
And
without
another
word
he
turned
and
went
out
of
the
chamber
.
Yet
,
as
the
door
closed
,
old
habit
was
so
strong
on
him
,
that
,
even
in
his
hot
and
bitter
pain
,
and
his
bewildered
sense
of
sudden
outrage
,
he
almost
smiled
at
himself
.
"
It
is
a
mania
;
he
does
not
know
what
he
says
,
"
he
thought
.
"
How
could
I
be
so
melodramatic
?
We
were
like
two
men
at
the
Porte
St.
Martin
.
Inflated
language
is
such
a
bad
form
!
"
But
the
cruel
stroke
had
not
struck
the
less
closely
home
,
and
gentle
though
his
nature
was
,
beyond
all
forgiveness
from
him
was
the
dishonour
of
his
mother
's
memory
.
CHAPTER
VII
.
AFTER
A
RICHMOND
DINNER
.
It
was
the
height
of
the
season
,
and
the
duties
of
the
Household
were
proportionately
and
insupportably
heavy
.
The
Brigades
were
fairly
worked
to
death
,
and
the
Indian
service
,
in
the
heat
of
the
Affghan
war
,
was
never
more
onerous
than
the
campaigns
that
claimed
the
Guards
from
Derby
to
Ducal
.
Escorts
to
Levees
,
guards
of
honour
to
Drawing-rooms
,
or
field-days
in
the
Park
and
the
Scrubs
,
were
but
the
least
portion
of
it
.
Far
more
severe
,
and
still
less
to
be
shirked
,
were
the
morning
exercise
in
the
Ride
;
the
daily
parade
in
the
Lady
's
Mile
;
the
reconnaissances
from
club
windows
,
the
videttes
at
Flirtation
Corner
;
the
long
campaigns
at
mess-breakfasts
,
with
the
study
of
dice
and
baccarat
tactics
,
and
the
fortifications
of
Strasburg
pâté
against
the
invasions
of
Chartreuse
and
Chambertin
;
the
breathless
,
steady
charges
up
Belgravian
staircases
when
a
fashionable
drum
beat
the
rataplan
;
the
skirmishes
with
sharpshooters
of
the
bright-armed
Irregular
Lances
;
the
foraging-duty
when
fair
commanders
wanted
ices
or
strawberries
at
garden
parties
;
the
ball-practice
at
Hornsey
Handicaps
;
the
terrible
risk
of
crossing
into
the
enemy
's
lines
,
and
being
made
to
surrender
as
prisoners
of
war
at
the
jails
of
St.
George
's
,
or
of
St.
Paul
's
Knightsbridge
;
the
constant
inspections
of
the
Flying
Battalions
of
the
Ballet
,
and
the
pickets
afterwards
in
the
Wood
of
St.
John
;
the
anxieties
of
the
Club
commissariats
,
and
the
close
vigilance
over
the
mess
wines
;
the
fatigue
duty
of
ball-rooms
,
and
the
continual
unharnessing
consequent
on
the
clause
in
the
Regulations
never
to
wear
the
same
gloves
twice
;
all
these
,
without
counting
the
close
battles
of
the
Corner
and
the
unremitting
requirements
of
the
Turf
,
worked
the
First
Life
and
the
rest
of
the
Brigades
,
Horse
and
Foot
,
so
hard
and
incessantly
,
that
some
almost
thought
of
changing
into
the
dreary
depôt
of
St.
Stephen
's
;
and
one
mutinous
Coldstreamer
was
even
rash
enough
and
false
enough
to
his
colours
to
meditate
deserting
to
the
enemy
's
camp
,
and
giving
himself
up
at
St.
George
's
—
"
because
a
fellow
once
hanged
is
let
alone
,
you
know
!
"
The
Household
were
very
hard
pressed
through
the
season
—
a
crowded
and
brilliant
one
;
and
Cecil
was
in
request
most
of
all
.
Bertie
,
somehow
or
other
,
was
the
fashion
—
marvellous
and
indefinable
word
,
that
gives
a
more
powerful
crown
than
thrones
,
blood
,
beauty
,
or
intellect
can
ever
bestow
.
And
no
list
was
"
the
thing
"
without
his
name
,
no
reception
,
no
garden
party
,
no
opera-box
,
or
private
concert
,
or
rose-shadowed
boudoir
,
fashionably
affiché
without
being
visited
by
him
.
How
he
,
in
especial
,
had
got
his
reputation
it
would
have
been
hard
to
say
,
unless
it
were
that
he
dressed
a
shade
more
perfectly
than
any
one
,
and
with
such
inimitable
carelessness
in
the
perfection
,
too
,
and
had
an
almost
unattainable
matchlessness
in
the
sang
froid
of
his
soft
languid
insolence
,
and
incredible
though
ever
gentle
effrontery
.
However
gained
,
he
had
it
:
and
his
beautiful
hack
Sahara
,
his
mail-phaeton
with
two
blood
greys
dancing
in
impatience
over
the
stones
,
or
his
little
dark-green
brougham
for
night-work
,
were
,
one
or
another
of
them
,
always
seen
from
two
in
the
day
till
four
or
five
in
the
dawn
about
the
Park
or
the
town
.
And
yet
this
season
,
while
he
made
a
prima
donna
by
a
bravissima
,
introduced
a
new
tie
by
an
evening
's
wear
,
gave
a
cook
the
cordon
with
his
praise
,
and
rendered
a
fresh-invented
liqueur
the
rage
by
his
recommendation
,
Bertie
knew
very
well
that
he
was
ruined
.
The
breach
between
his
father
and
himself
was
irrevocable
.
He
had
left
Royallieu
as
soon
as
his
guests
had
quitted
it
,
and
young
Berkeley
was
out
of
all
danger
.
He
had
long
known
he
could
look
for
no
help
from
the
old
Lord
,
or
from
his
elder
brother
,
the
heir
;
and
now
every
chance
of
it
was
hopelessly
closed
;
nothing
but
the
whim
or
the
will
of
those
who
held
his
floating
paper
,
and
the
tradesmen
who
had
his
name
on
their
books
at
compound
interest
of
the
heaviest
,
stood
between
him
and
the
fatal
hour
when
he
must
"
send
in
his
papers
to
sell
"
and
be
"
nowhere
"
in
the
great
race
of
life
.
He
knew
that
a
season
,
a
month
,
a
day
,
might
be
the
only
respite
left
him
,
the
only
pause
for
him
betwixt
his
glittering
luxurious
world
and
the
fiat
of
outlawry
and
exile
.
He
knew
that
the
Jews
might
be
down
on
him
any
night
that
he
sat
at
the
Guards
'
mess
,
flirted
with
foreign
Princesses
,
or
laughed
at
the
gossamer
gossip
of
the
town
over
iced
drinks
in
the
clubs
.
His
liabilities
were
tremendous
,
his
resources
totally
exhausted
;
but
such
was
the
latent
recklessness
of
the
careless
Royallieu
blood
,
and
such
the
languid
devil-may-care
of
his
training
and
his
temper
,
that
the
knowledge
scarcely
ever
seriously
disturbed
his
enjoyment
of
the
moment
.
Somehow
,
he
never
realised
it
.
If
any
weatherwise
had
told
the
Lisbon
people
of
the
coming
of
the
great
earthquake
,
do
you
think
they
could
have
brought
themselves
to
realise
that
midnight
darkness
,
that
yawning
desolation
which
were
nigh
,
while
the
sun
was
still
so
bright
and
the
sea
so
tranquil
,
and
the
bloom
so
sweet
on
purple
pomegranate
and
amber
grape
,
and
the
scarlet
of
odorous
flowers
,
and
the
blush
of
a
girl
's
kiss-warmed
cheek
?
A
sentimental
metaphor
with
which
to
compare
the
difficulties
of
a
dandy
of
the
Household
,
because
his
"
stiff
"
was
floating
about
in
too
many
directions
at
too
many
high
figures
,
and
he
had
hardly
enough
till
next
pay-day
came
round
to
purchase
the
bouquets
he
sent
,
and
meet
the
club-fees
that
were
due
!
But
,
after
all
,
may
it
not
well
be
doubted
if
a
sharp
shock
and
a
second
's
blindness
,
and
a
sudden
sweep
down
under
the
walls
of
the
Cathedral
or
the
waters
of
the
Tagus
,
were
not
,
on
the
whole
,
a
quicker
and
pleasanter
mode
of
extinction
than
that
social
earthquake
—
"
gone
to
the
bad
with
a
crash
?
"
And
the
Lisbonites
did
not
more
disbelieve
in
,
and
dream
less
of
their
coming
ruin
,
than
Cecil
did
his
,
while
he
was
doing
the
season
,
with
engagements
enough
in
a
night
to
spread
over
a
month
,
the
best
horses
in
the
town
,
a
dozen
rose-notes
sent
to
his
clubs
or
his
lodgings
in
a
day
,
and
the
newest
thing
in
soups
,
colts
,
beauties
,
neckties
,
perfumes
,
tobaccos
,
or
square
dances
,
waiting
his
dictum
to
become
the
fashion
.
"
How
you
do
go
on
with
those
women
,
Beauty
,
"
growled
the
Seraph
,
one
day
after
a
morning
of
fearful
hard
work
consequent
on
having
played
the
Foot
Guards
at
Lord
's
,
and
,
in
an
unwary
moment
,
having
allowed
himself
to
be
decoyed
afterwards
to
a
private
concert
,
and
very
nearly
proposed
to
in
consequence
,
during
a
Symphony
in
A
;
an
impending
terror
from
which
he
could
hardly
restore
himself
by
puffing
turkish
like
a
steam-engine
,
to
assure
himself
of
his
jeopardised
safety
.
"
You
're
horribly
imprudent
!
"
"
Not
a
bit
of
it
,
"
rejoined
Beauty
,
serenely
.
"
That
is
the
superior
wisdom
and
beautiful
simplicity
of
making
love
to
your
neighbour
's
wife
;
—
she
ca
n't
marry
you
!
"
"
But
she
may
get
you
into
the
D.C.
,
"
mused
the
Seraph
,
who
had
gloomy
personal
recollection
of
having
been
twice
through
that
phase
of
law
and
life
,
and
of
having
been
enormously
mulcted
in
damages
because
he
was
a
Duke
in
futuro
,
and
because
,
as
he
piteously
observed
on
the
occasion
,
"
You
could
n't
make
that
fellow
Cresswell
see
that
it
was
they
ran
away
with
me
each
time
!
"
"
Oh
!
everybody
goes
through
the
D.C.
somehow
or
other
,
"
answered
Cecil
,
with
philosophy
.
"
It
's
like
the
Church
,
the
Commons
,
and
the
Gallows
,
you
know
—
one
of
the
popular
Institutions
.
"
"
And
it
's
the
only
Law
Court
where
the
robber
cuts
a
better
figure
than
the
robbed
,
"
laughed
the
Seraph
,
consoling
himself
that
he
had
escaped
the
future
chance
of
showing
in
the
latter
class
of
marital
defrauded
,
by
shying
that
proposal
during
the
Symphony
in
A
,
on
which
his
thoughts
ran
as
the
thoughts
of
one
who
has
just
escaped
from
an
Alpine
crevasse
run
on
the
past
abyss
in
which
he
has
been
so
nearly
lost
for
ever
.
"
I
say
,
Beauty
,
were
you
ever
near
doing
anything
serious
—
asking
anybody
to
marry
you
,
eh
?
I
suppose
you
have
been
—
they
do
make
such
awful
hard
running
on
one
!
"
and
the
poor
hunted
Seraph
stretched
his
magnificent
limbs
with
the
sigh
of
a
martyred
innocent
.
"
I
was
once
—
only
once
!
"
"
Ah
,
by
Jove
!
and
what
saved
you
?
"
The
Seraph
lifted
himself
a
