ahead!
"
"
Bay
Regent
's
caught
him
!
"
"
Violet
's
winning
,
Violet
's
winning
!
"
"
The
King
's
neck
by
neck
!
"
"
The
King
's
beating
!
"
"
The
Guards
will
get
it
.
"
"
The
Guards
'
crack
has
it
!
"
"
Not
yet
,
not
yet
!
"
"
Violet
will
thrash
him
at
the
jump
!
"
"
Now
for
it
!
"
"
The
Guards
,
the
Guards
,
the
Guards
!
"
"
Scarlet
will
win
!
"
"
The
King
has
the
finish
!
"
"
No
,
no
,
no
,
No
!
"
Sent
along
at
a
pace
that
Epsom
flat
never
eclipsed
,
sweeping
by
the
Grand
Stand
like
the
flash
of
electric
flame
,
they
ran
side
to
side
one
moment
more
,
their
foam
flung
on
each
other
's
withers
,
their
breath
hot
in
each
other
's
nostrils
,
while
the
dark
earth
flew
beneath
their
stride
.
The
blackthorn
was
in
front
behind
five
bars
of
solid
oak
,
the
water
yawning
on
its
farther
side
,
black
and
deep
,
and
fenced
,
twelve
feet
wide
if
it
were
an
inch
,
with
the
same
thorn
wall
beyond
it
;
a
leap
no
horse
should
have
been
given
,
no
Steward
should
have
set
.
Cecil
pressed
his
knees
closer
and
closer
,
and
worked
the
gallant
hero
for
the
test
;
the
surging
roar
of
the
throng
,
though
so
close
,
was
dull
on
his
ear
;
he
heard
nothing
,
knew
nothing
,
saw
nothing
but
that
lean
chesnut
head
beside
him
,
the
dull
thud
on
the
turf
of
the
flying
gallop
,
and
the
black
wall
that
reared
in
his
face
.
Forest
King
had
done
so
much
,
could
he
have
stay
and
strength
for
this
?
Cecil
's
hands
clenched
unconsciously
on
the
bridle
,
and
his
face
was
very
pale
—
pale
with
excitation
—
as
his
foot
where
the
stirrup
was
broken
crushed
closer
and
harder
against
the
grey
's
flank
.
"
Oh
,
my
darling
,
my
beauty
—
now
!
"
One
touch
of
the
spur
—
the
first
—
and
Forest
King
rose
at
the
leap
,
all
the
life
and
power
there
were
in
him
gathered
for
one
superhuman
and
crowning
effort
;
a
flash
of
time
,
not
half
a
second
in
duration
,
and
he
was
lifted
in
the
air
higher
,
and
higher
,
and
higher
in
the
cold
,
fresh
,
wild
winter
wind
;
stakes
and
rails
and
thorn
and
water
lay
beneath
him
black
and
gaunt
and
shapeless
,
yawning
like
a
grave
;
one
bound
,
even
in
mid-air
,
one
last
convulsive
impulse
of
the
gathered
limbs
,
and
Forest
King
was
over
!
And
as
he
galloped
up
the
straight
run-in
he
was
alone
.
Bay
Regent
had
refused
the
leap
.
As
the
grey
swept
to
the
Judge
's
chair
,
the
air
was
rent
with
deafening
cheers
that
seemed
to
reel
like
drunken
shouts
from
the
multitude
.
"
The
Guards
win
,
the
Guards
win
;
"
—
and
when
his
rider
pulled
up
at
the
distance
with
the
full
sun
shining
on
the
scarlet
and
white
,
with
the
gold
glisten
of
the
embroidered
"
Coeur
Vaillant
Se
Fait
Royaume
,
"
Forest
King
stood
in
all
his
glory
,
winner
of
the
Soldiers
'
Blue
Riband
,
by
a
feat
without
its
parallel
in
all
the
annals
of
the
Gold
Vase
.
But
as
the
crowd
surged
about
him
,
and
the
mad
cheering
crowned
his
victory
,
and
the
Household
in
the
splendour
of
their
triumph
and
the
fulness
of
their
gratitude
rushed
from
the
drags
and
the
stands
to
cluster
to
his
saddle
,
Bertie
looked
as
serenely
and
listlessly
nonchalant
as
of
old
,
while
he
nodded
to
the
Seraph
with
a
gentle
smile
.
"
Rather
a
close
finish
,
eh
?
Have
you
any
Moselle
Cup
going
there
?
I
'm
a
little
thirsty
.
"
Outsiders
would
much
sooner
have
thought
him
defeated
than
triumphant
;
no
one
,
who
had
not
known
him
,
could
possibly
have
imagined
that
he
had
been
successful
;
an
ordinary
spectator
would
have
concluded
that
,
judging
by
the
resigned
weariness
of
his
features
,
he
had
won
the
race
greatly
against
his
own
will
to
his
now
infinite
ennui
.
No
one
could
have
dreamt
that
he
was
thinking
in
his
heart
of
hearts
how
passionately
he
loved
the
gallant
beast
that
had
been
victor
with
him
,
and
that
,
if
he
had
followed
out
the
momentary
impulse
in
him
,
he
could
have
put
his
arms
round
the
noble
bowed
neck
and
kissed
the
horse
like
a
woman
!
The
Moselle
Cup
was
brought
to
refresh
the
tired
champion
,
and
before
he
drank
it
Bertie
glanced
at
a
certain
place
in
the
Grand
Stand
and
bent
his
head
as
the
cup
touched
his
lips
:
it
was
a
dedication
of
his
victory
to
his
Queen
of
Beauty
.
Then
he
threw
himself
lightly
out
of
saddle
,
and
,
as
Forest
King
was
led
away
for
the
after
ceremony
of
bottling
,
rubbing
,
and
clothing
,
his
rider
,
regardless
of
the
roar
and
hubbub
of
the
course
,
and
of
the
tumultuous
cheers
that
welcomed
both
him
and
his
horse
from
the
men
who
pressed
round
him
,
into
whose
pockets
he
had
put
thousands
on
thousands
,
and
whose
ringing
hurrahs
greeted
the
"
Guards
'
crack
,
"
passed
straight
up
towards
Jimmy
Delmar
and
held
out
his
hand
.
"
You
gave
me
a
close
thing
,
Major
Delmar
.
The
Vase
is
as
much
yours
as
mine
;
if
your
chesnut
had
been
as
good
a
water
jumper
as
he
is
a
fencer
we
should
have
been
neck
to
neck
at
the
finish
.
"
The
browned
Indian-sunned
face
of
the
Lancer
broke
up
into
a
cordial
smile
,
and
he
shook
the
hand
held
out
to
him
warmly
;
defeat
and
disappointment
had
cut
him
to
the
core
,
for
Jimmy
was
the
first
riding
man
of
the
Light
Cavalry
,
but
he
would
not
have
been
the
frank
campaigner
that
he
was
if
he
had
not
responded
to
the
graceful
and
generous
overture
of
his
rival
and
conqueror
.
"
Oh
!
I
can
take
a
beating
,
"
he
said
,
good
humouredly
;
"
at
any
rate
,
I
am
beat
by
the
Guards
,
and
it
is
very
little
humiliation
to
lose
against
such
riding
as
yours
and
such
a
magnificent
brute
as
your
King
.
I
congratulate
you
most
heartily
,
most
sincerely
.
"
And
he
meant
it
,
too
.
Jimmy
never
canted
,
nor
did
he
ever
throw
the
blame
,
with
paltry
savage
vindictiveness
,
on
the
horse
he
had
ridden
.
Some
men
there
are
—
their
name
is
legion
—
who
never
allow
that
it
is
their
fault
when
they
are
"
nowhere
;
"
—
oh
no
!
it
is
the
"
cursed
screw
"
always
,
according
to
them
.
But
a
very
good
rider
will
not
tell
you
that
.
Cecil
,
while
he
talked
,
was
glancing
up
at
the
Grand
Stand
,
and
when
the
others
dispersed
to
look
over
the
horses
,
and
he
had
put
himself
out
of
his
shell
into
his
sealskin
in
the
dressing-shed
,
he
went
up
thither
without
a
moment
's
loss
of
time
.
He
knew
them
all
;
those
dainty
beauties
with
their
delicate
cheeks
just
brightened
by
the
western
winterly
wind
,
and
their
rich
furs
and
laces
glowing
among
the
colours
of
their
respective
heroes
;
he
was
the
pet
of
them
all
;
"
Beauty
"
had
the
suffrages
of
the
sex
without
exception
;
he
was
received
with
bright
smiles
and
graceful
congratulations
,
even
from
those
who
had
espoused
Eyre
Montacute
's
cause
,
and
still
fluttered
their
losing
azure
,
though
the
poor
hunter
lay
dead
,
with
his
back
broken
,
and
a
pistolball
mercifully
sent
through
his
brains
—
the
martyr
to
a
man
's
hot
haste
,
as
the
dumb
things
have
ever
been
since
creation
began
.
Cecil
passed
them
as
rapidly
as
he
could
for
one
so
well
received
by
them
,
and
made
his
way
to
the
centre
of
the
Stand
,
to
the
same
spot
at
which
he
had
glanced
when
he
had
drunk
the
Moselle
.
A
lady
turned
to
him
;
she
looked
like
a
rose
camellia
in
her
floating
scarlet
and
white
,
just
toned
down
and
made
perfect
by
a
shower
of
Spanish
lace
;
a
beautiful
brunette
,
dashing
yet
delicate
,
a
little
fast
yet
intensely
thorough-bred
,
a
coquette
who
would
smoke
a
cigarette
,
yet
a
peeress
who
would
never
lose
her
dignity
.
"
Au
coeur
vaillant
rien
d'impossible
!
"
she
said
,
with
an
envoi
of
her
lorgnon
,
and
a
smile
that
should
have
intoxicated
him
—
a
smile
that
might
have
rewarded
a
Richepanse
for
a
Hohenlinden
.
"
Superbly
ridden
!
I
absolutely
trembled
for
you
as
you
lifted
the
King
to
that
last
leap
.
It
was
terrible
!
"
It
was
terrible
;
and
a
woman
,
to
say
nothing
of
a
woman
who
was
in
love
with
him
,
might
well
have
felt
a
heart-sick
fear
at
sight
of
that
yawning
water
and
those
towering
walls
of
blackthorn
,
where
one
touch
of
the
hoofs
on
the
topmost
bough
,
one
spring
too
short
of
the
gathered
limbs
,
must
have
been
death
to
both
horse
and
rider
.
But
as
she
said
it
,
she
was
smiling
,
radiant
,
full
of
easy
calm
and
racing
interest
,
as
became
her
ladyship
,
who
had
had
"
bets
at
even
"
before
now
on
Goodwood
,
and
could
lead
the
first
flight
over
the
Belvoir
and
the
Quorn
countries
.
It
was
possible
that
her
ladyship
was
too
thoroughbred
not
to
see
a
man
killed
over
the
oak-rails
without
deviating
into
unseemly
emotion
,
or
being
capable
of
such
bad
style
as
to
be
agitated
.
Bertie
,
however
,
in
answer
,
threw
the
tenderest
eloquence
into
his
eyes
;
very
learned
in
such
eloquence
.
"
If
I
could
not
have
been
victorious
while
you
looked
on
,
I
would
at
least
not
have
lived
to
meet
you
here
!
"
She
laughed
a
little
,
so
did
he
;
they
were
used
to
exchange
these
passages
in
an
admirably
artistic
masquerade
,
but
it
was
always
a
little
droll
to
each
of
them
to
see
the
other
wear
the
domino
of
sentiment
,
and
neither
had
much
credence
in
the
other
.
"
What
a
preux
chevalier
!
"
cried
his
Queen
of
Beauty
.
"
You
would
have
died
in
a
ditch
out
of
homage
to
me
.
Who
shall
say
that
chivalry
is
past
?
Tell
me
,
Bertie
,
is
it
so
very
delightful
that
desperate
effort
to
break
your
neck
?
It
looks
pleasant
,
to
judge
by
its
effects
.
It
is
the
only
thing
in
the
world
that
amuses
you
!
"
"
Well
—
there
is
a
great
deal
to
be
said
for
it
,
"
replied
Cecil
,
musingly
.
"
You
see
,
until
one
has
broken
one
's
neck
,
the
excitement
of
the
thing
is
n't
totally
worn
out
;
ca
n't
be
,
naturally
,
because
the
—
what-do-you-call-it
?
—
consummation
is
n't
attained
till
then
.
The
worst
of
it
is
,
it
's
getting
common-place
,
getting
vulgar
,
such
a
number
break
their
necks
,
doing
Alps
and
that
sort
of
thing
,
that
we
shall
have
nothing
at
all
left
to
ourselves
soon
.
"
"
Not
even
the
monopoly
of
sporting
suicide
!
Very
hard
,
"
said
her
ladyship
,
with
the
lowest
,
most
languid
laugh
in
the
world
,
very
like
"
Beauty
's
"
own
,
save
that
it
had
a
considerable
inflection
of
studied
affectation
,
of
which
he
,
however
much
of
a
dandy
he
was
,
was
wholly
guiltless
.
"
Well
!
you
won
magnificently
;
that
little
black
man
,
who
is
he
?
—
Lancers
,
somebody
said
—
ran
you
so
fearfully
close
.
I
really
thought
at
one
time
that
the
Guards
had
lost
.
"
"
Do
you
suppose
that
a
man
happy
enough
to
wear
Lady
Guenevere
's
colours
could
lose
?
An
embroidered
scarf
given
by
such
hands
has
been
a
gage
of
victory
ever
since
the
days
of
tournaments
!
"
murmured
Cecil
with
the
softest
tenderness
,
but
just
enough
laziness
in
the
tone
and
laughter
in
the
eye
to
make
it
highly
doubtful
whether
he
was
not
laughing
both
at
her
and
at
himself
,
and
was
not
wondering
why
the
deuce
a
fellow
had
to
talk
such
nonsense
.
Yet
she
was
Lady
Guenevere
,
with
whom
he
had
been
in
love
ever
since
they
had
stayed
together
at
Belvoir
for
the
Croxton
Park
week
last
autumn
;
and
who
was
beautiful
enough
to
make
their
"
friendship
"
as
enchanting
as
a
page
out
of
the
"
Decamerone
.
"
And
while
he
bent
over
her
,
flirting
in
the
fashion
that
made
him
the
darling
of
the
drawing-rooms
,
and
looking
down
into
her
superb
Velasquez
eyes
,
he
did
not
know
,
and
,
if
he
had
known
,
would
have
been
careless
of
it
,
that
afar
off
,
white
with
rage
,
and
with
his
gaze
straining
on
to
the
course
through
his
race-glass
,
Ben
Davis
,
"
the
Welsher
,
"
who
had
watched
the
finish
—
watched
the
"
Guards
'
crack
"
landed
at
the
distance
—
muttered
,
with
a
mastiff
's
savage
growl
:
"
He
wins
,
does
he
?
Curse
him
!
The
d
—
d
swell
—
he
sha
n't
win
long
.
"
CHAPTER
IV
.
LOVE
A
LA
MODE
.
Life
was
very
pleasant
at
Royallieu
.
It
lay
in
the
Melton
country
,
and
was
almost
equally
well
placed
for
Pytchley
,
Quorn
,
and-Belvoir
,
besides
possessing
its
own
small
but
very
perfect
pack
of
"
little
ladies
,
"
or
the
"
demoiselles
,
"
as
they
were
severally
nicknamed
;
the
game
was
closely
preserved
,
pheasants
were
fed
on
Indian
corn
till
they
were
the
finest
birds
in
the
country
,
and
in
the
little
winding
paths
of
the
elder
and
bilberry
coverts
thirty
first-rate
shots
,
with
two
loading-men
to
each
,
could
find
flock
and
feather
to
amuse
them
till
dinner
,
with
rocketers
and
warm
corners
enough
to
content
the
most
insatiate
of
knickerbockered
gunners
.
The
stud
was
superb
;
the
cook
a
French
artist
of
consummate
genius
,
who
had
a
brougham
to
his
own
use
,
and
wore
diamonds
of
the
first
water
;
on
the
broad
beech-studded
grassy
lands
no
lesser
thing
than
doe
and
deer
ever
swept
through
the
thick
ferns
in
the
sunlight
and
the
shadow
;
a
retinue
of
powdered
servants
filled
the
old
halls
,
and
guests
of
highest
degree
dined
in
its
stately
banqueting-room
,
with
its
scarlet
and
gold
,
its
Vandykes
and
its
Vernets
,
and
yet
—
there
was
terribly
little
money
at
Royallieu
with
it
all
.
Its
present
luxury
was
purchased
at
the
cost
of
the
future
,
and
the
parasite
of
extravagance
was
constantly
sapping
,
unseen
,
the
gallant
old
Norman-planted
oak
of
the
family-tree
.
But
then
who
thought
of
that
?
Nobody
.
It
was
the
way
of
the
House
never
to
take
count
of
the
morrow
.
True
,
any
one
of
them
would
have
died
a
hundred
deaths
rather
than
have
had
one
acre
of
the
beautiful
green
diadem
of
woods
felled
by
the
axe
of
the
timber
contractor
,
or
passed
to
the
hands
of
a
stranger
;
but
no
one
among
them
ever
thought
that
this
was
the
inevitable
end
to
which
they
surely
drifted
with
blind
and
unthinking
improvidence
.
The
old
Viscount
,
haughtiest
of
haughty
nobles
,
would
never
abate
one
jot
of
his
accustomed
magnificence
;
and
his
sons
had
but
imbibed
the
teaching
of
all
that
surrounded
them
;
they
did
but
do
in
manhood
what
they
had
been
unconsciously
moulded
to
do
in
boyhood
,
when
they
were
sent
to
Eton
at
ten
,
with
gold
dressing-boxes
to
grace
their
Dame
's
tables
,
embryo-Dukes
for
their
co-fags
,
and
tastes
that
already
knew
to
a
nicety
the
worth
of
the
champagnes
at
the
Christopher
.
The
old
,
old
story
—
how
it
repeats
itself
!
Boys
grow
up
amidst
profuse
prodigality
,
and
are
launched
into
a
world
where
they
can
no
more
arrest
themselves
,
than
the
feather-weight
can
pull
in
the
lightning-stride
of
the
two-year
old
,
who
defies
all
check
,
and
takes
the
flat
as
he
chooses
.
They
are
brought
up
like
young
Dauphins
and
tossed
into
the
costly
whirl
to
float
as
best
they
can
—
on
nothing
.
Then
,
on
the
lives
and
deaths
that
follow
;
on
the
graves
where
a
dishonoured
alien
lies
forgotten
by
the
dark
Austrian
lake-side
,
or
under
the
monastic
shadow
of
some
crumbling
Spanish
crypt
;
where
a
red
cross
chills
the
lonely
traveller
in
the
virgin
solitudes
of
Amazonian
forest
aisles
,
or
the
wild
scarlet
creepers
of
Australia
trail
over
a
nameless
mound
above
the
trackless
stretch
of
sun-warmed
waters
—
then
at
them
the
world
"
shoots
out
its
lips
with
scorn
.
"
Not
on
them
lies
the
blame
.
A
wintry
,
watery
sun
was
shining
on
the
terraces
as
Lord
Royallieu
paced
up
and
down
the
morning
after
the
Grand
Military
;
his
step
and
limbs
excessively
enfeebled
,
but
the
carriage
of
his
head
and
the
flash
of
his
dark
hawk
's
eyes
as
proud
and
untameable
as
in
his
earliest
years
.
He
never
left
his
own
apartments
;
and
no
one
,
save
his
favourite
"
little
Berke
,
"
ever
went
to
him
without
his
desire
;
he
was
too
sensitive
a
man
to
thrust
his
age
and
ailing
health
in
amongst
the
young
leaders
of
fashion
,
the
wild
men
of
pleasure
,
the
good
wits
and
the
good
shots
of
his
son
's
set
;
he
knew
very
well
that
his
own
day
was
past
,
that
they
would
have
listened
to
him
out
of
the
patience
of
courtesy
,
but
that
they
would
have
wished
him
away
as
"
no
end
of
a
bore
.
"
He
was
too
shrewd
not
to
know
this
;
but
he
was
too
quickly
galled
ever
to
bear
to
have
it
recalled
to
him
.
He
looked
up
suddenly
and
sharply
;
coming
towards
him
he
saw
the
figure
of
the
Guardsman
.
For
"
Beauty
"
the
Viscount
had
no
love
;
indeed
,
well-nigh
a
hatred
,
for
a
reason
never
guessed
by
others
,
and
never
betrayed
by
him
.
Bertie
was
not
like
the
Royallieu
race
;
he
resembled
his
mother
's
family
.
She
,
a
beautiful
and
fragile
creature
whom
her
second
son
had
loved
,
for
the
first
years
of
his
life
,
as
he
would
have
thought
it
now
impossible
that
he
could
love
any
one
,
had
married
the
Viscount
with
no
affection
towards
him
,
while
he
had
adored
her
with
a
fierce
and
jealous
passion
that
her
indifference
only
inflamed
.
Throughout
her
married
life
,
however
,
she
had
striven
to
render
loyalty
and
tenderness
towards
a
lord
into
whose
arms
she
had
been
thrown
,
trembling
and
reluctant
;
of
his
wife
's
fidelity
he
could
not
entertain
a
doubt
,
though
that
he
had
never
won
her
heart
he
could
not
choose
but
know
.
He
knew
more
,
too
;
for
she
had
told
it
him
with
a
noble
candour
before
he
wedded
her
;
knew
that
the
man
she
did
love
was
a
penniless
cousin
,
a
cavalry
officer
,
who
had
made
a
famous
name
among
the
wild
mountain
tribes
of
Northern
India
.
This
cousin
,
Alan
Bertie
—
a
fearless
and
chivalrous
soldier
,
fitter
for
the
days
of
knighthood
than
for
these
—
had
seen
Lady
Royallieu
at
Nice
,
some
three
years
after
her
marriage
;
accident
had
thrown
them
across
each
other
's
path
;
the
old
love
,
stronger
,
perhaps
,
now
than
it
had
ever
been
,
had
made
him
linger
in
her
presence
,
had
made
her
shrink
from
sending
him
to
exile
.
Evil
tongues
at
last
had
united
their
names
together
;
Alan
Bertie
had
left
the
woman
he
idolised
lest
slander
should
touch
her
through
him
,
and
fallen
two
years
later
under
the
dark
dank
forests
on
the
desolate
moorside
of
the
hills
of
Hindostan
,
where
long
before
he
had
rendered
"
Bertie
's
Horse
"
the
most
famous
of
all
the
wild
Irregulars
of
the
East
.
After
her
death
,
Lord
Royallieu
found
Alan
's
miniature
among
her
papers
,
and
recalled
those
winter
months
by
the
Mediterranean
till
he
cherished
,
with
the
fierce
,
eager
,
self-torture
of
a
jealous
nature
,
doubts
and
suspicions
that
,
during
her
life
,
one
glance
from
her
eyes
would
have
disarmed
and
abashed
.
Her
second
and
favourite
child
bore
her
family
name
,
her
late
lover
's
name
;
and
,
in
resembling
her
race
,
resembled
the
dead
soldier
.
Moreover
,
Bertie
had
been
born
in
the
spring
following
that
Nice
winter
,
and
it
sufficed
to
make
the
Viscount
hate
him
with
a
cruel
and
savage
detestation
which
he
strove
indeed
to
temper
,
—
for
he
was
by
nature
a
just
man
,
and
,
in
his
better
moments
,
knew
that
his
doubts
wronged
both
the
living
and
the
dead
,
—
but
which
coloured
,
too
strongly
to
be
dissembled
,
all
his
feelings
and
his
actions
towards
his
son
,
and
might
both
have
soured
and
wounded
any
temperament
less
nonchalantly
gentle
and
supremely
careless
than
Cecil
's
.
As
it
was
,
Cecil
was
sometimes
surprised
at
his
father
's
dislike
to
him
;
but
never
thought
much
about
it
,
and
attributed
it
,
when
he
did
think
of
it
,
to
the
caprices
of
a
tyrannous
old
man
.
To
be
envious
of
the
favour
shown
to
his
boyish
brother
could
never
for
a
moment
have
come
into
his
imagination
.
Lady
Royallieu
,
with
her
last
words
,
had
left
the
little
fellow
,
a
child
of
three
years
old
,
to
the
affection
and
the
care
of
Bertie
—
himself
then
a
boy
of
twelve
or
fourteen
—
and
little
as
he
thought
of
such
things
now
,
the
trust
of
his
dying
mother
had
never
been
wholly
forgotten
.
A
heavy
gloom
came
now
over
the
Viscount
's
still
handsome
saturnine
aquiline
face
as
his
second
son
approached
up
the
terrace
;
Bertie
was
too
like
the
cavalry
soldier
whose
form
he
had
last
seen
standing
against
the
rose
light
of
a
Mediterranean
sunset
.
The
soldier
had
been
dead
eight-and-twenty
years
;
but
the
jealous
hate
was
not
dead
yet
.
Cecil
took
off
his
hunting-cap
with
a
certain
courtesy
that
sat
very
well
on
his
habitual
languid
nonchalance
;
he
never
called
his
father
anything
but
"
Royal
;
"
rarely
saw
,
still
less
rarely
consulted
him
,
and
cared
not
a
straw
for
his
censure
or
opinion
,
but
he
was
too
thorough-bred
by
nature
to
be
able
to
follow
the
under-bred
indecorum
of
the
day
which
makes
disrespect
to
old
age
the
fashion
.
"
You
sent
for
me
?
"
he
asked
,
taking
the
cigarette
out
of
his
mouth
.
"
No
,
sir
,
"
answered
the
old
Lord
,
curtly
,
"
I
sent
for
your
brother
.
The
fools
ca
n't
take
even
a
message
right
now
,
it
seems
.
"
"
Should
n't
have
named
us
so
near
alike
;
it
's
often
a
bore
!
"
"
I
did
n't
name
you
,
sir
,
your
mother
named
you
,
"
answered
his
father
,
sharply
;
the
subject
irritated
him
.
"
It
's
of
no
consequence
which
!
"
murmured
Cecil
,
with
an
expostulatory
wave
of
his
cigar
.
"
We
're
not
even
asked
whether
we
like
to
come
into
the
world
;
we
ca
n't
expect
to
be
asked
what
we
like
to
be
called
in
it
.
Good
day
to
you
,
sir
.
"
He
turned
to
move
away
to
the
house
;
but
his
father
stopped
him
;
he
knew
that
he
had
been
discourteous
,
a
far
worse
crime
in
Lord
Royallieu
's
eyes
than
to
be
heartless
.
"
So
you
won
the
Vase
yesterday
?
"
he
asked
,
pausing
in
his
walk
with
his
back
bowed
,
but
his
stern
,
silver-haired
head
erect
.
"
I
did
n't
;
—
the
King
did
.
"
"
That
's
absurd
,
sir
,
"
said
the
Viscount
,
in
his
resonant
and
yet
melodious
voice
.
"
The
finest
horse
in
the
world
may
have
his
back
broke
by
bad
riding
,
and
a
screw
has
won
before
now
when
it
's
been
finely
handled
.
The
finish
was
tight
,
was
n't
it
?
"
"
Well
—
rather
.
I
have
ridden
closer
spins
,
though
.
The
fallows
were
light
.
"
Lord
Royallieu
smiled
grimly
.
"
I
know
what
the
Shire
'
plough
'
is
like
,
"
he
said
,
with
a
flash
of
his
falcon
eyes
over
the
landscape
,
where
,
in
the
days
of
his
youth
,
he
had
led
the
first
flight
so
often
,
George
Rex
,
and
Waterford
,
and
the
Berkeleys
,
and
the
rest
following
the
rally
of
his
hunting-horn
.
"
You
won
much
in
bets
?
"
"
Very
fair
.
Thanks
.
"
"
And
wo
n't
be
a
shilling
richer
for
it
this
day
next
week
!
"
retorted
the
Viscount
,
with
a
rasping
,
grating
irony
;
he
could
not
help
darting
savage
thrusts
at
this
man
who
looked
at
him
with
eyes
so
cruelly
like
Alan
Bertie
's
.
"
You
play
5
l
.
points
,
and
lay
500
l
.
on
the
odd
trick
,
I
've
heard
,
at
your
whist
in
the
Clubs
—
pretty
prices
for
a
younger
son
!
"
"
Never
bet
on
the
odd
trick
;
spoils
the
game
;
makes
you
sacrifice
play
to
the
trick
.
We
always
bet
on
the
game
,
"
said
Cecil
,
with
gentle
weariness
;
the
sweetness
of
his
temper
was
proof
against
his
father
's
attacks
upon
his
patience
.
"
No
matter
what
you
bet
,
sir
;
you
live
as
if
you
were
a
Rothschild
while
you
are
a
beggar
!
"
"
Wish
I
were
a
beggar
:
fellows
always
have
no
end
in
stock
,
they
say
;
and
your
tailor
ca
n't
worry
you
very
much
when
all
you
have
to
think
about
is
an
artistic
arrangement
of
tatters
!
"
murmured
Bertie
,
whose
impenetrable
serenity
was
never
to
be
ruffled
by
his
father
's
bitterness
.
"
You
will
soon
have
your
wish
,
then
,
"
retorted
the
Viscount
,
with
the
unprovoked
and
reasonless
passion
which
he
vented
on
every
one
,
but
on
none
so
much
as
the
son
he
hated
.
"
You
are
on
a
royal
road
to
it
.
I
live
out
of
the
world
,
but
I
hear
from
it
,
sir
.
I
hear
that
there
is
not
a
man
in
the
Guards
—
not
even
Lord
Rockingham
—
who
lives
at
the
rate
of
imprudence
you
do
;
that
there
is
not
a
man
who
drives
such
costly
horses
,
keeps
such
costly
mistresses
,
games
to
such
desperation
,
fools
gold
away
with
such
idiocy
as
you
do
.
You
conduct
yourself
as
if
you
were
a
millionaire
,
sir
,
and
what
are
you
?
A
pauper
on
my
bounty
,
and
on
your
brother
Montagu
's
after
me
—
a
pauper
with
a
tinsel
fashion
,
a
gilded
beggary
,
a
Queen
's
commission
to
cover
a
sold-out
poverty
,
a
dandy
's
reputation
to
stave
off
a
defaulter
's
future
!
A
pauper
,
sir
—
and
a
Guardsman
!
"
The
coarse
and
cruel
irony
flashed
out
with
wicked
scorching
malignity
,
lashing
and
upbraiding
the
man
who
was
the
victim
of
his
own
unwisdom
and
extravagance
.
A
slight
tinge
of
colour
came
on
his
son
's
face
as
he
heard
;
but
he
gave
no
sign
that
he
was
moved
,
no
sign
of
impatience
or
anger
.
He
lifted
his
cap
again
,
not
in
irony
,
but
with
a
grave
respect
in
his
action
that
was
totally
contrary
to
his
whole
temperament
.
"
This
sort
of
talk
is
very
exhausting
,
very
bad
style
,
"
he
said
,
with
his
accustomed
gentle
murmur
.
"
I
will
bid
you
good
morning
,
my
Lord
.
"
And
he
went
without
another
word
.
Crossing
the
length
of
the
old-fashioned
Elizabethan
terrace
,
little
Berk
passed
him
;
he
motioned
the
lad
towards
the
Viscount
.
"
Royal
wants
to
see
you
,
young
one
.
"
The
boy
nodded
and
went
onward
;
and
as
Bertie
turned
to
enter
the
low
door
that
led
out
to
the
stables
he
saw
his
father
meet
the
lad
—
meet
him
with
a
smile
that
changed
the
whole
character
of
his
face
,
and
pleasant
kindly
words
of
affectionate
welcome
,
drawing
his
arm
about
Berkeley
's
shoulder
,
and
looking
with
pride
upon
his
bright
and
gracious
youth
.
More
than
an
old
man
's
preference
would
be
thus
won
by
the
young
one
;
a
considerable
portion
of
their
mother
's
fortune
,
so
left
that
it
could
not
be
dissipated
,
yet
could
be
willed
to
which
son
the
Viscount
chose
,
would
go
to
his
brother
by
this
passionate
partiality
;
but
there
was
not
a
tinge
of
jealousy
in
Cecil
;
whatever
else
his
faults
he
had
no
mean
ones
,
and
the
boy
was
dear
to
him
,
by
a
quite
unconscious
yet
unvarying
obedience
to
his
dead
mother
's
wish
.
"
Royal
hates
me
as
game
birds
hate
a
red
dog
.
Why
the
deuce
,
I
wonder
?
"
he
thought
,
with
a
certain
slight
touch
of
pain
despite
his
idle
philosophies
and
devil-may-care
indifference
.
"
Well
—
I
am
good
for
nothing
,
I
suppose
.
Certainly
I
am
not
good
for
much
,
unless
it
's
riding
and
making
love
.
"
With
which
summary
of
his
merits
,
"
Beauty
,
"
who
felt
himself
to
be
a
master
in
those
two
arts
,
but
thought
himself
a
bad
fellow
out
of
them
,
sauntered
away
to
join
the
Seraph
and
the
rest
of
his
guests
.
His
father
's
words
pursuing
him
a
little
despite
his
carelessness
,
for
they
had
borne
an
unwelcome
measure
of
truth
.
"
Royal
can
hit
hard
,
"
his
thoughts
continued
.
"
A
pauper
and
a
Guardsman
!
By
Jove
!
it
's
true
enough
;
but
he
made
me
so
.
They
brought
me
up
as
if
I
had
a
million
coming
to
me
,
and
turned
me
out
among
the
cracks
to
take
my
running
with
the
best
of
them
;
—
and
they
give
me
just
about
what
pays
my
groom
's
book
!
Then
they
wonder
that
a
fellow
goes
to
the
Jews
.
Where
the
deuce
else
can
he
go
?
"
And
Bertie
,
whom
his
gains
the
day
before
had
not
much
benefited
,
since
his
play-debts
,
his
young
brother
's
needs
,
and
the
Zu-Zu
's
insatiate
little
hands
were
all
stretched
ready
to
devour
them
without
leaving
a
sovereign
for
more
serious
liabilities
,
went
,
for
it
was
quite
early
morning
,
to
act
the
M
.
F
.
H
.
in
his
father
's
stead
,
at
the
meet
on
the
great
lawns
before
the
house
,
for
the
Royallieu
"
lady-pack
"
were
very
famous
in
the
Shires
,
and
hunted
over
the
same
country
alternate
days
with
the
Quorn
.
They
moved
off
ere
long
to
draw
the
Holt
Wood
,
in
as
open
a
morning
,
and
as
strong
a
scenting
wind
,
as
ever
favoured
Melton
Pink
.
A
whimper
and
"
gone
away
!
"
soon
echoed
from
Beeby-side
,
and
the
pack
,
not
letting
the
fox
hang
a
second
,
dashed
after
him
,
making
straight
for
Scraptoft
.
One
of
the
fastest
things
up
wind
that
hounds
ever
ran
took
them
straight
through
the
Spinnies
,
past
Hamilton
Farm
,
away
beyond
Burkby
village
,
and
down
into
the
valley
of
the
Wreake
without
a
check
,
where
he
broke
away
,
was
headed
,
tried
earths
,
and
was
pulled
down
scarce
forty
minutes
from
the
find
.
The
pack
then
drew
Hungerton
foxholes
blank
,
drew
Carver
's
spinnies
without
a
whimper
;
and
lastly
,
drawing
the
old
familiar
Billesden
Coplow
,
had
a
short
quick
burst
with
a
brace
of
cubs
,
and
returning
,
settled
themselves
to
a
fine
dog
fox
that
was
raced
an
hour
and
half
,
hunted
slowly
for
fifty
minutes
,
raced
again
another
hour
and
quarter
,
sending
all
the
field
to
their
"
second
horses
;
"
and
,
after
a
clipping
chase
through
the
cream
of
the
grass
country
,
nearly
saved
his
brush
in
the
twilight
when
scent
was
lost
in
a
rushing
hailstorm
,
but
had
the
"
little
ladies
"
laid
on
again
like
wildfire
,
and
was
killed
with
the
"
who-whoop
!
"
ringing
far
and
away
over
Glenn
Gorse
,
after
a
glorious
run
—
thirty
miles
in
and
out
—
with
pace
that
tried
the
best
of
them
.
A
better
day
's
sport
even
the
Quorn
had
never
had
in
all
its
brilliant
annals
,
and
faster
things
the
Melton
men
themselves
had
never
wanted
:
both
those
who
love
the
"
quickest
thing
you
ever
knew
;
thirty
minutes
without
a
check
;
such
a
pace
!
"
and
care
little
whether
the
finale
be
"
killed
"
or
"
broke
away
,
"
and
those
of
older
fashion
,
who
prefer
"
long
day
,
you
know
,
steady
as
old
time
,
the
beauties
stuck
like
wax
through
fourteen
parishes
as
I
live
;
six
hours
if
it
were
a
minute
;
horses
dead
beat
;
positively
walked
,
you
know
,
no
end
of
a
day
!
"
but
must
have
the
fatal
"
who-whoop
"
as
conclusion
—
both
of
these
,
the
"
new
style
and
the
old
,
"
could
not
but
be
content
with
the
doings
of
the
Demoiselles
from
start
to
finish
.
Was
it
likely
that
Bertie
remembered
the
caustic
lash
of
his
father
's
ironies
while
he
was
lifting
Mother
of
Pearl
over
the
posts
and
rails
,
and
sweeping
on
,
with
the
halloo
ringing
down
the
wintry
wind
as
the
grasslands
flew
beneath
him
?
Was
it
likely
that
he
recollected
the
difficulties
that
hung
above
him
while
he
was
dashing
down
the
Gorse
happy
as
a
king
,
with
the
wild
hail
driving
in
his
face
,
and
a
break
of
stormy
sunshine
just
welcoming
the
gallant
few
who
were
landed
at
the
death
as
twilight
fell
?
Was
it
likely
that
he
could
unlearn
all
the
lessons
of
his
life
,
and
realise
in
how
near
a
neighbourhood
he
stood
to
ruin
,
when
he
was
drinking
Regency
sherry
out
of
his
gold
flask
as
he
crossed
the
saddle
of
his
second
horse
,
or
,
smoking
,
rode
slowly
homeward
,
chatting
with
the
Seraph
through
the
leafless
muddy
lanes
in
the
gloaming
.
Scarcely
;
—
it
is
very
easy
to
remember
our
difficulties
when
we
are
eating
and
drinking
them
,
so
to
speak
,
in
bad
soups
and
worse
wines
in
continental
impecuniosity
,
sleeping
on
them
as
rough
Australian
shake-downs
,
or
wearing
them
perpetually
in
Californian
rags
and
tatters
,
it
were
impossible
very
well
to
escape
from
them
then
;
but
it
is
very
hard
to
remember
them
when
every
touch
and
shape
of
life
is
pleasant
to
us
—
when
everything
about
us
is
symbolical
and
redolent
of
wealth
and
ease
—
when
the
art
of
enjoyment
is
the
only
one
we
are
called
on
to
study
,
and
the
science
of
pleasure
all
we
are
asked
to
explore
.
It
is
well-nigh
impossible
to
believe
yourself
a
beggar
while
you
never
want
sovereigns
for
whist
;
and
it
would
be
beyond
the
powers
of
human
nature
to
conceive
your
ruin
irrevocable
,
while
you
still
eat
turbot
and
terrapin
with
a
powdered
giant
behind
your
chair
daily
.
Up
in
his
garret
a
poor
wretch
knows
very
well
what
he
is
,
and
realises
in
stern
fact
the
extremities
of
the
last
sou
,
the
last
shirt
,
and
the
last
hope
;
but
in
these
devil-may-care
pleasures
—
in
this
pleasant
,
reckless
,
velvet-soft
rush
down-hill
—
in
this
club-palace
,
with
every
luxury
that
the
heart
of
man
can
devise
and
desire
,
yours
to
command
at
your
will
—
it
is
hard
work
,
then
,
to
grasp
the
truth
that
the
crossing-sweeper
yonder
,
in
the
dust
of
Pall
Mall
,
is
really
not
more
utterly
in
the
toils
of
poverty
than
you
are
!
"
Beauty
"
was
never
,
in
the
whole
course
of
his
days
,
virtually
or
physically
,
or
even
metaphorically
,
reminded
that
he
was
not
a
millionaire
;
much
less
still
was
he
ever
reminded
so
painfully
.
Life
petted
him
,
pampered
him
,
caressed
him
,
gifted
him
,
though
of
half
his
gifts
he
never
made
use
;
lodged
him
like
a
prince
,
dined
him
like
a
king
,
and
never
recalled
to
him
by
a
single
privation
or
a
single
sensation
that
he
was
not
as
rich
a
man
as
his
brother-in-arms
,
the
Seraph
,
future
Duke
of
Lyonnesse
.
How
could
he
then
bring
himself
to
understand
,
as
nothing
less
than
truth
,
the
grim
and
cruel
insult
his
father
had
flung
at
him
in
that
brutally
bitter
phrase
—
"
A
Pauper
and
a
Guardsman
"
?
If
he
had
ever
been
near
a
comprehension
of
it
,
which
he
never
was
,
he
must
have
ceased
to
realise
it
when
—
pressed
to
dine
with
Lord
Guenevere
,
near
whose
house
the
last
fox
had
been
killed
,
while
grooms
dashed
over
to
Royallieu
for
their
changes
of
clothes
—
he
caught
a
glimpse
,
as
they
passed
through
the
hall
,
of
the
ladies
taking
their
pre-prandial
cups
of
tea
in
the
library
,
an
enchanting
group
of
lace
and
silks
,
of
delicate
hue
and
scented
hair
,
of
blonde
cheeks
and
brunette
tresses
,
of
dark
velvets
and
gossamer
tissue
;
and
when
he
had
changed
the
scarlet
for
dinner-dress
,
went
down
amongst
them
to
be
the
darling
of
that
charmed
circle
,
to
be
smiled
on
and
coquetted
with
by
those
soft
,
languid
aristocrats
,
to
be
challenged
by
the
lustrous
eyes
of
his
châtelaine
,
and
to
be
spoiled
as
women
will
spoil
the
privileged
pet
of
their
drawing-rooms
whom
they
have
made
"
free
of
the
guild
,
"
and
endowed
with
a
flirting
commission
,
and
acquitted
of
anything
"
serious
.
"
He
was
the
recognised
darling
,
and
permitted
property
,
of
the
young
married
beauties
;
the
unwedded
knew
he
was
hopeless
for
them
,
and
tacitly
left
him
to
the
more
attractive
conquerors
;
who
hardly
prized
the
Seraph
so
much
as
they
did
Bertie
,
to
sit
in
their
barouches
and
opera
boxes
,
ride
and
drive
and
yacht
with
them
,
conduct
a
Boccaccio
intrigue
through
the
height
of
the
season
,
and
make
them
really
believe
themselves
actually
in
love
while
they
were
at
the
Moors
or
down
the
Nile
,
and
would
have
given
their
diamonds
to
get
a
new
distraction
.
Lady
Guenevere
was
the
last
of
these
,
his
titled
and
wedded
captors
;
and
perhaps
the
most
resistless
of
all
of
them
.
Neither
of
them
believed
very
much
in
their
attachment
,
but
both
of
them
wore
the
masquerade
dress
to
perfection
.
He
had
fallen
in
love
with
her
as
much
as
he
ever
fell
in
love
,
which
was
just
sufficient
to
amuse
him
,
and
never
enough
to
disturb
him
.
He
let
himself
be
fascinated
,
not
exerting
himself
either
to
resist
or
to
advance
the
affair
,
till
he
was
,
perhaps
,
a
little
more
entangled
with
her
than
it
was
according
to
his
canons
expedient
to
be
;
and
they
had
the
most
enchanting
—
friendship
.
Nobody
was
ever
so
indiscreet
as
to
call
it
anything
else
;
and
my
Lord
was
too
deeply
absorbed
in
the
Alderney
beauties
that
stood
knee-deep
in
the
yellow
straw
of
his
farm-yard
,
and
the
triumphant
conquests
that
he
gained
over
his
brother
Peers
'
Short-horns
and
Suffolks
,
to
trouble
his
head
about
Cecil
's
attendance
on
his
beautiful
Countess
.
They
corresponded
in
Spanish
;
they
had
a
thousand
charming
cyphers
;
they
made
the
columns
of
the
Times
and
the
Post
play
the
unconscious
rôle
of
medium
to
appointments
;
they
eclipsed
all
the
pages
of
Calderon
's
or
Congreve
's
comedies
in
the
ingenuities
with
which
they
met
,
wrote
,
got
invitations
together
to
the
same
country-houses
,
and
arranged
signals
for
mute
communication
:
but
there
was
not
the
slightest
occasion
for
it
all
.
It
passed
the
time
,
however
,
and
went
far
to
persuade
them
that
they
really
were
in
love
,
and
had
a
mountain
of
difficulties
and
dangers
to
contend
with
;
it
added
the
"
spice
to
the
sauce
,
"
and
gave
them
the
"
relish
of
being
forbidden
.
"
Besides
,
an
open
scandal
would
have
been
very
shocking
to
her
brilliant
ladyship
,
and
there
was
nothing
on
earth
,
perhaps
,
of
which
he
would
have
had
a
more
lively
dread
than
a
"
scene
;
"
his
present
"
friendship
,
"
however
,
was
delightful
,
and
presented
no
such
dangers
,
while
his
fair
"
friend
"
was
one
of
the
greatest
beauties
and
the
greatest
coquettes
of
her
time
.
Her
smile
was
honour
;
her
fan
was
a
sceptre
;
her
face
was
perfect
;
and
her
heart
never
troubled
herself
or
her
lovers
:
if
she
had
a
fault
,
she
was
a
trifle
exacting
,
but
that
was
not
to
be
wondered
at
in
one
so
omnipotent
,
and
her
chains
,
after
all
,
were
made
of
roses
.
As
she
sat
in
the
deep
ruddy
glow
of
the
library
fire
,
with
the
light
flickering
on
her
white
brow
and
her
violet
velvets
;
as
she
floated
to
the
head
of
her
table
,
with
opals
shining
amongst
her
priceless
point
laces
,
and
some
tropical
flower
with
leaves
of
glistening
gold
crowning
her
bronze
hair
;
as
she
glided
down
in
a
waltz
along
the
polished
floor
,
or
bent
her
proud
head
over
écarté
in
a
musing
grace
that
made
her
opponent
utterly
forget
to
mark
the
king
or
even
play
his
cards
at
all
;
as
she
talked
in
the
low
music
of
her
voice
of
European
imbrogli
,
and
consols
and
coupons
,
for
she
was
a
politician
and
a
speculator
;
when
she
lapsed
into
a
beautifully-tinted
study
of
la
femme
incomprise
,
when
time
and
scene
suited
,
when
the
stars
were
very
clear
above
the
terraces
without
,
and
the
conservatory
very
solitary
,
and
a
touch
of
Musset
or
Owen
Meredith
chimed
in
well
with
the
light
and
shade
of
the
oleanders
and
the
brown
lustre
of
her
own
eloquent
glance
;
—
in
all
these
various
moments
how
superb
she
was
!
And
if
in
truth
her
bosom
only
fell
with
the
falling
of
Shares
and
rose
with
the
rising
of
Bonds
,
if
her
soft
shadows
were
only
taken
up
like
the
purple
tinting
under
her
lashes
to
embellish
her
beauty
;
if
in
her
heart
of
hearts
she
thought
Musset
a
fool
,
and
wondered
why
Lucille
was
not
written
in
prose
,
in
her
soul
far
preferring
Le
Follet
;
why
—
it
did
not
matter
,
that
I
can
see
;
all
great
ladies
gamble
in
stock
now-a-days
under
the
rose
;
and
women
are
for
the
most
part
as
cold
,
clear
,
hard
,
and
practical
as
their
adorers
believe
them
the
contrary
;
and
a
femme
incomprise
is
so
charming
when
she
avows
herself
comprehended
by
you
,
that
you
would
never
risk
spoiling
the
confidence
by
hinting
a
doubt
of
its
truth
.
If
she
and
Bertie
only
played
at
love
,
if
neither
believed
much
in
the
other
,
if
each
trifled
with
a
pretty
gossamer
soufflet
of
passion
much
as
they
trifled
with
their
soufflets
at
dinner
,
if
both
tried
it
to
trifle
away
ennui
much
as
they
tried
staking
a
Friedrich
d'Or
at
Baden
,
this
light
,
surface
,
fashionable
,
philosophic
form
of
a
passion
they
both
laughed
at
in
its
hot
and
serious
follies
,
suited
them
admirably
.
Had
it
ever
mingled
a
grain
of
bitterness
in
her
ladyship
's
Souchong
before
dinner
,
or
given
an
aroma
of
bitterness
to
her
lover
's
Naples
punch
in
the
smoking-room
,
it
would
have
been
out
of
all
keeping
with
themselves
and
their
world
.
Nothing
on
earth
is
so
pleasant
as
being
a
little
in
love
;
nothing
on
earth
so
destructive
as
being
too
much
so
;
and
as
Cecil
,
in
the
idle
enjoyment
of
the
former
gentle
luxury
,
flirted
with
his
liege
lady
that
night
,
lying
back
in
the
softest
of
lounging-chairs
,
with
his
dark
dreamy
handsome
eyes
looking
all
the
eloquence
in
the
world
,
and
his
head
drooped
till
his
moustaches
were
almost
touching
her
laces
,
his
Queen
of
Beauty
listened
with
charmed
interest
,
and
to
judge
by
his
attitude
he
might
have
been
praying
after
the
poet
—
"
How
is
it
under
our
control
To
love
or
not
to
love
?
"
In
real
truth
he
was
gently
murmuring
,
"
Such
a
pity
that
you
missed
to-day
!
Hounds
found
directly
;
three
of
the
fastest
things
I
ever
knew
,
one
after
another
;
you
should
have
seen
the
'
little
ladies
'
head
him
just
above
the
Gorse
!
Three
hares
crossed
us
and
a
fresh
fox
;
some
of
the
pack
broke
away
after
the
new
scent
,
but
old
Bluebell
,
your
pet
,
held
on
like
death
,
and
most
of
them
kept
after
her
—
you
had
your
doubts
about
Silver
Trumpet
's
shoulders
;
they
're
not
the
thing
,
perhaps
,
but
she
ran
beautifully
all
day
,
and
did
n't
show
a
symptom
of
rioting
.
"
Cecil
could
,
when
needed
,
do
the
Musset
and
Meredith
style
of
thing
to
perfection
,
but
on
the
whole
he
preferred
love
à
la
mode
;
it
is
so
much
easier
and
less
exhausting
to
tell
your
mistress
of
a
ringing
run
,
or
a
close
finish
,
than
to
turn
perpetual
periods
on
the
lustre
of
her
eyes
,
and
the
eternity
of
your
devotion
.
Nor
did
it
at
all
interfere
with
the
sincerity
of
his
worship
,
that
the
Zu-Zu
was
at
the
prettiest
little
box
in
the
world
,
in
the
neighbourhood
of
Market
Harborough
,
which
he
had
taken
for
her
,
and
had
been
at
the
meet
that
day
in
her
little
toy
trap
(
with
its
pair
of
snowy
ponies
and
its
bright
blue
liveries
,
that
drove
so
desperately
through
his
finances
)
,
and
had
ridden
his
hunter
Maraschino
with
immense
dash
and
spirit
for
a
young
lady
,
who
had
never
done
anything
but
pirouette
till
the
last
six
months
,
and
a
total
and
headlong
disregard
of
"
purlers
,
"
very
reckless
in
a
white-skinned
bright-eyed
illiterate
avaricious
little
beauty
,
whose
face
was
her
fortune
,
and
who
most
assuredly
would
have
been
adored
no
single
moment
longer
had
she
scarred
her
fair
tinted
cheek
with
the
blackthorn
,
or
started
as
a
heroine
with
a
broken
nose
like
Fielding
's
cherished
Amelia
.
The
Zu-Zu
might
rage
,
might
sulk
,
might
pout
,
might
even
swear
all
sorts
of
naughty
Mabille
oaths
,
most
villanously
pronounced
,
at
the
ascendancy
of
her
haughty
unapproachable
patrician
rival
;
she
did
do
all
these
things
;
but
Bertie
would
not
have
been
the
consummate
tactician
,
the
perfect
flirt
,
the
skilled
and
steeled
campaigner
in
the
boudoirs
that
he
was
,
if
he
had
not
been
equal
to
the
delicate
task
of
managing
both
the
Peeress
and
the
Ballet-dancer
with
inimitable
ability
,
even
when
they
placed
him
in
the
seemingly
difficult
dilemma
of
meeting
them
both
with
twenty
yards
between
them
on
the
neutral
ground
of
the
gathering
to
see
the
Pytchley
or
the
Tailby
throw
off
—
a
task
he
had
achieved
with
victorious
brilliance
more
than
once
already
this
season
.
"
You
drive
a
team
,
Beauty
—
never
drive
a
team
,
"
the
Seraph
had
said
on
occasion
over
a
confidential
"
sherry-peg
"
in
the
mornings
,
meaning
by
the
metaphor
of
a
team
,
Lady
Guenevere
,
the
Zu-Zu
,
and
various
other
contemporaries
in
Bertie
's
affections
.
"
Nothing
on
earth
so
dangerous
:
your
leader
will
bolt
,
or
your
off-wheeler
will
turn
sulky
,
or
your
young
one
will
passage
and
make
the
very
deuce
of
a
row
;
they
'll
never
go
quiet
till
the
end
,
however
clever
your
hand
is
on
the
ribbons
.
Now
,
I
'll
drive
six-in-hand
as
soon
as
any
man
,
—
drove
a
ten-hander
last
year
in
the
Bois
,
—
when
the
team
comes
out
of
the
stables
;
but
I
'm
hanged
if
I
'd
risk
my
neck
with
managing
even
a
pair
of
women
.
Have
one
clean
out
of
the
shafts
before
you
trot
out
another
!
"
To
which
salutary
advice
Cecil
only
gave
a
laugh
,
going
on
his
own
ways
with
the
"
team
"
as
before
,
to
the
despair
of
his
fidus
Achates
;
the
Seraph
,
being
a
quarry
so
incessantly
pursued
by
dowager-beaters
,
chaperone-keepers
,
and
the
whole
hunt
of
the
Matrimonial
Pack
,
with
those
clever
hounds
Belle
and
Fashion
ever
leading
in
full
cry
after
him
,
that
he
dreaded
the
sight
of
a
ball-room
meet
;
and
,
shunning
the
rich
preserves
of
the
Salons
,
ran
to
earth
persistently
in
the
shady
woods
of
St.
John
's
,
and
got
—
at
some
little
cost
and
some
risk
of
trapping
,
it
is
true
,
but
still
efficiently
—
preserved
from
all
other
hunters
or
poachers
by
the
lawless
Robin
Hoods
aux
yeux
noirs
of
those
welcome
and
familiar
coverts
.
CHAPTER
V.
UNDER
THE
KEEPER
'S
TREE
.
"
You
're
a
lad
o
'
wax
,
my
beauty
!
"
cried
Mr.
Rake
,
enthusiastically
,
surveying
the
hero
of
the
Grand
Military
with
adoring
eyes
as
that
celebrity
,
without
a
hair
turned
or
a
muscle
swollen
from
his
exploit
,
was
having
a
dressing-down
after
a
gentle
exercise
.
"
You
've
pulled
it
off
,
have
n't
you
?
You
've
cut
the
work
out
for
'
em
!
You
've
shown
'
em
what
a
lustre
is
!
Strike
me
a
loser
,
but
what
a
deal
there
is
in
blood
.
The
littlest
pippin
that
ever
threw
a
leg
across
the
pigskin
knows
that
in
the
stables
;
then
why
the
dickens
do
the
world
run
against
such
a
plain
fact
out
of
it
?
"
And
Rake
gazed
with
worship
at
the
symmetrical
limbs
of
the
champion
of
the
"
First
Life
,
"
and
plunged
into
speculation
on
the
democratic
tendencies
of
the
age
as
clearly
contradicted
by
all
the
evidences
of
the
flat
and
furrow
,
while
Forest
King
drank
a
dozen
go-downs
of
water
,
and
was
rewarded
for
the
patience
with
which
he
had
subdued
his
inclination
to
kick
,
fret
,
spring
,
and
break
away
throughout
the
dressing
by
a
full
feed
thrown
into
his
crib
,
which
Rake
watched
him
with
adoring
gaze
eat
to
the
very
last
grain
.
"
You
precious
one
!
"
soliloquised
that
philosopher
,
who
loved
the
horse
with
a
sort
of
passion
since
his
victory
over
the
Shires
.
"
What
a
lot
o
'
enemies
you
've
been
and
gone
and
made
!
—
that
's
where
it
is
,
my
boy
;
nobody
ca
n't
never
forgive
Success
.
All
them
fielders
have
lost
such
a
sight
of
money
by
you
;
them
book-makers
have
had
such
a
lot
of
pots
upset
by
you
;
bless
you
!
if
you
were
on
the
flat
you
'd
be
doctored
or
roped
in
no
time
.
You
've
won
for
the
gentlemen
,
my
lovely
—
for
your
own
cracks
,
my
boy
—
and
that
's
just
what
they
'll
never
pardon
you
.
"
And
Rake
,
rendered
almost
melancholy
by
his
thoughts
(
he
liked
the
"
gentlemen
"
himself
)
,
went
out
of
the
box
to
get
into
saddle
and
ride
off
on
an
errand
of
his
master
's
to
the
Zu-Zu
at
her
tiny
hunting-lodge
,
where
the
snow-white
ponies
made
her
stud
,
and
where
she
gave
enchanting
little
hunting-dinners
,
at
which
she
sang
equally
enchanting
little
hunting-songs
,
and
arrayed
herself
in
the
Fontainebleau
hunting-costume
,
gold-hilted
knife
and
all
,
and
spent
Cecil
's
winnings
for
him
with
a
rapidity
that
threatened
to
leave
very
few
of
them
for
the
London
season
.
She
was
very
pretty
;
sweetly
pretty
;
with
fair
hair
that
wanted
no
gold
powder
,
the
clearest
,
sauciest
eyes
,
and
the
handsomest
mouth
in
the
world
;
but
of
grammar
she
had
not
a
notion
,
of
her
aspirates
she
had
never
a
recollection
,
of
conversation
she
had
not
an
idea
,
of
slang
she
had
,
to
be
sure
,
a
répertoire
,
but
to
this
was
her
command
of
language
limited
.
She
dressed
perfectly
,
but
she
was
a
vulgar
little
soul
;
drank
everything
,
from
Bass
's
ale
to
rum-punch
,
and
from
cherry-brandy
to
absinthe
;
thought
it
the
height
of
wit
to
stifle
you
with
cayenne
slid
into
your
vanille
ice
,
and
the
climax
of
repartee
to
cram
your
hat
full
of
peach-stones
and
lobster-shells
;
was
thoroughly
avaricious
,
thoroughly
insatiate
,
thoroughly
heartless
,
pillaged
with
both
hands
and
then
never
had
enough
;
had
a
coarse
good
nature
when
it
cost
her
nothing
,
and
was
"
as
jolly
as
a
grig
,
"
according
to
her
phraseology
,
so
long
as
she
could
stew
her
pigeons
in
champagne
,
drink
wines
and
liqueurs
that
were
beyond
price
,
take
the
most
dashing
trap
in
the
Park
up
to
Flirtation
Corner
,
and
laugh
and
sing
and
eat
Richmond
dinners
,
and
show
herself
at
the
Opera
with
Bertie
or
some
other
"
swell
"
attached
to
her
,
in
the
very
box
next
to
a
Duchess
.
The
Zu-Zu
was
perfectly
happy
;
and
as
for
the
pathetic
pictures
that
novelists
and
moralists
draw
,
of
vice
sighing
amidst
turtle
and
truffles
for
childish
innocence
in
the
cottage
at
home
where
honeysuckles
blossomed
and
brown
brooks
made
melody
,
and
passionately
grieving
on
the
purple
cushions
of
a
barouche
for
the
time
of
straw
pallets
and
untroubled
sleep
,
why
,
—
the
Zu-Zu
would
have
vaulted
herself
on
the
box-seat
of
a
drag
,
and
told
you
to
"
stow
all
that
trash
;
"
her
childish
recollections
were
of
a
stifling
lean-to
with
the
odour
of
pigsty
and
straw-yard
,
pork
for
a
feast
once
a
week
,
starvation
all
the
other
six
days
,
kicks
,
slaps
,
wrangling
,
and
a
general
atmosphere
of
beer
and
wash-tubs
:
she
hated
her
past
,
and
loved
her
cigar
on
the
drag
.
The
Zu-Zu
is
fact
;
the
moralists
'
pictures
are
moonshine
.
The
Zu-Zu
is
an
openly
acknowledged
fact
,
moreover
,
daily
becoming
more
prominent
in
the
world
,
more
brilliant
,
more
frankly
recognised
,
and
more
omnipotent
.
Whether
this
will
ultimately
prove
for
the
better
or
the
worse
,
it
would
be
a
bold
man
who
should
dare
say
;
there
is
at
least
one
thing
left
to
desire
in
it
—
i.e.
that
the
synonyme
of
"
Aspasia
,
"
which
serves
so
often
to
designate
in
journalistic
literature
these
Free
Lances
of
life
,
were
more
suitable
in
artistic
and
intellectual
similarity
,
and
that
when
the
Zu-Zu
and
her
co-brigands
plunge
their
white
arms
elbow-deep
into
so
many
fortunes
,
and
rule
the
world
right
and
left
as
they
do
,
they
could
also
sound
their
H
's
properly
,
and
know
a
little
orthography
,
if
they
could
not
be
changed
into
such
queens
of
grace
,
of
intellect
,
of
sovereign
mind
and
splendid
wit
as
were
their
prototypes
when
she
whose
name
they
debase
held
her
rule
in
the
City
of
the
Violet
Crown
,
and
gathered
about
her
Phidias
the
divine
,
haughty
and
eloquent
Antipho
,
the
gay
Crates
,
the
subtle
Protagorus
,
Cratinus
so
acrid
and
yet
so
jovial
,
Damon
of
the
silver
lyre
,
and
the
great
who
are
poets
for
all
time
.
Author
and
artist
,
noble
and
soldier
,
court
the
Zu-Zu
order
now
as
the
Athenians
courted
their
brilliant
έταιραι
;
but
it
must
be
confessed
that
the
Hellenic
idols
were
of
a
more
exalted
type
than
are
the
Hyde
Park
goddesses
!
However
,
the
Zu-Zu
was
the
rage
,
and
spent
Bertie
's
money
when
he
got
any
just
as
her
wilful
sovereignty
fancied
,
and
Rake
rode
on
now
with
his
master
's
note
,
bearing
no
very
good
will
to
her
;
for
Rake
had
very
strong
prejudices
,
and
none
stronger
than
against
these
pillagers
who
went
about
seeking
whom
they
should
devour
,
and
laughing
