Checkmate

lliard-room, "you like pictures. There is one here, banished to the housekeeper's room, that they say is a

d like extremely,"

of the housekeeper's room,

uavering voice of the

great Civil War, looked forth from his deep dingy frame full upon them, stern and melancholy; the misty beams touching the softer lights of his long hair and the gleam of his armour so happily, that the f

on, almost a cry, "Good heaven! what a noble work! I had no idea there could be such a thing in existen

ou'd have fancied from her face, the entrance of a ghost. There was a tremble in the voice with which she cried, "Lord! what's th

ing and intense. When he saw her he recoiled, as a man might who had all but trod up

it for a moment, and it faded from his features-saw it, and the darkened countenance of the old housekeeper, with a momentary shock. He glanced from one to the other quickly, with a loo

inating upon the strange looks he had just seen exchanged. "M

er heart, and drew back to a sofa and sat down, muttering, "My God, lighten our d

You really ought not to leave it here, and in this state." He walked over and raised the lower end of the frame gently from the wall. "Yes, just as you said, it wants to be backed. That portrait wo

rtha's well-will you excuse me for a moment?" And he was at the houseke

for sitting, but I could not help;

hat's the matter

Sir. I'm all over on a

o see it in that state, and anywhere but in the most conspicuous and honourable place. If I owned that picture, I should never be tired showing it. I should have it where everyone who came into my ho

but I find my old friend Martha feels

ongcluse, approaching with solicitude. "Ca

g hard again at Mr. Longcluse, who now seemed perfectly at his ease, and showed in his countenance nothing but the co

of wine might do her go

ord, a' mercy on us! I take them drops, hartshorn and valerian, on a little water

better," s

said, with a sigh. She had taken

id. "You must get all right, Martha. It pains me to see you ill. You're a very old friend, r

ed attendant, he and Longcluse proceeded to the billiard-room, where, having got the lamps lighted, they began to enjo

ooked awfully ill," sai

" said Mr. Longcluse. "I thought we had stumbled on a mad woma

really think she's a healthy old woma

too sudden

t, for I knocked f

t she was out of her mind, and that she was going to stick me with a

is explanation of what he had seen in Longcluse's countenance-a picture presented

furnished. In his first glass there was a great deal of brandy, and very little water indeed; and his sec

and at last he said, "I wonder what the art of getting on in the world

strangle serpents; blind, they pull down palaces; old as Dandolo, they burn fleets and capture cities. It is only when they have taken to bragging that the lues Napoleonica has set in. Now I have been, in a sense, a successful man-I am worth some money. If I were the sort of man I describe, I should be worth, if I cared for it

ck," said Arden; "so for my part I may as well drift, with as little trou

to long for a prize quite distinct and infinitely more precious; so that he finds, at last, that he never can be happy for an hour without it, and yet, for all his longing and his pains, sees it is unattainable as that star." (He poin

hed, as he lighted

lover constitute a worship that first flatters and then wins them. Remember this, a woman finds it very hard to give up a worshipper, except for another. Now why should you despair? You are a gentleman, you are a clever fello

tell you all; but some

ot mind my telling you, as yo

forget so many things about English manners and ways of thinking-

ours, be among your acquaintance? You must make it a rule to drop all objectionable persons, and know none but good people. Of course, when you are strong enough it doesn't so much matter, provided you keep them at arm's

hints that strike you," sai

th women," said Arden. "By Jove!" he added, glancing at his wat