What Will He Do With It, Book 2.

ll-and St

ng be tween woodwork and ceiling. The ceiling itself was relieved by long pendants without any apparent meaning, and by the crest of the Darrells,-a heron, wreathed round with the family motto, "Ardua petit Ardea." It was a dining-room, as was shown by the character of the furniture. But there was no attempt on the part of the present owner, and there had clearly been none on the part of his predecessor, to suit the furniture to the room. The furniture, indeed, was of the heavy, graceless taste of George the First,-cumbrous chairs in walnut-tree, with a worm-eaten mosaic of the heron on their homely backs, and a faded blue worsted on their seats; a marvellously ugly sideboard to match, and on it a couple of black shagreen cases, the lids of which were flung open, and discovered the pistol-shaped handles of silver k

ure, that Lionel, on turning quickly, might have mistaken him for a portrait brought into bold relief from its frame by a sudden fall of light. We hear it, indeed, familiarly said that such a one is like an old picture. Never could it be more appositely said than of the f

, "for taking me at my word, and answering me thus in person." He paused a moment, surveying L

That hand did not return the pressure. It lay an instant in Lionel's wa

come from

staying some days in that neighbourhood. I came on this morning: I

nance was, on the whole, propitious; but he merely inclined his head with a kind of lofty indifference, then,

el, "do not change you

hours are the same to me; and it were strange if a host could be deranged by consideration to his guest,-on the f

like to loo

way

disposed in rambling old-fashioned parterres. At one angle, a quaint and dilapidated sun-dial; at the other, a long bowling-alley, terminated by one of those summer-houses which the Dutch taste, following the Revolution of 1688, brought into fashion. Mr. Darrell passed down thi

ipes. That age soon passed, unsuited to English energies, which are not to be united with Holland phlegm! But the view from the window-look

blue and so large and so limpid, woods and cur

d Lionel. "It would come into a pi

who is

mine. Surely, sir, you have hea

d down days for the recluse, and be forgets that celeb

itur d

rgunt inter

Horace speaks elsewhere of the Julian star, he compares it to a moon-'inter ignes minor

nd without continuing the allusion to celebrities; "the most charming of all poets to a man of

ld have found it difficult to explain why. But whosoever at that moment could have seen Guy Darrell's musing countenance, or whosoever, a few minutes before, could have heard the very sound of his voice, sweetly, clearly full; each slow enunciation unaffectedly, mellowly distinct,-making musical the homeliest; roughest word, would have understood and shared the interest which Lionel could not explain. There are living human faces, whi

vidently made friends with them, and they rested their white breasts close on the margin, seeking to claim his notice with a low hissi

ion. Affection is the offspring of utility. I am useful to them: they love me." He rose,

n in for some. I w

"Rival!-usefu

erly).-"Or t

out waiting for permission, ran indoors to f

tless!" said Darrell, murmuringly to

t of him from her covert far away, came in light bounds to his side, and was pushing her delicate nostril into his

know you ha

companion be sides the swans and the doe. Dick Fairthorn is a year or two younger than myself, the son of my father's bailiff. He was the cleverest boy at his grammar-school. Unluckily he took to the flute, and unfitted himself for the present century. He condescends,

ow Mr. Haughton to his room." Darrell inclined his head-I use that phrase, for

sir? shall I put out your things to dress?" Dress! Then for the first time the boy remembered that he had brought with him no evening dress,-nay, evening dress, properly so called, he possessed not at all in any corner of the world. It had never yet entered into his modes of existence. Call to mind when you were a boy of seventeen, "betwixt two ages hovering like a star," and imagine Lionel's sensations. He felt h

covering his presence of mind; "I

once white. Alas! they had not since then passed to the care of the laundress. Other shoes,-double-soled for walking. There was no help for it but to appear at dinner, attired as he had been before, in his light ped

d fit levi

orrigere e

who retains in seclusion the habits customary in the world. At the first glance Lionel thought he saw a slight cloud of displeasure on his host's brow. He went up to Mr. Darrell ingen

Lionel. "But-but I have

might have th

lt her, indeed, sir; I h

ld be careful not to let himself down below the standard of his own rank. If a king could bear to hear that he was

ned his remarks carelessly towards the weather. "It will be fair to-morrow: there is no mist on the hill yonder. Since you have a paint

Lionel, looking down, "that

suppose the place

not repeat the offence. I have not the 'ceremonial' nec

or, opening, showed a shambling awkward figure, with loose black knee-breeches and buckled shoes. The figure made a strange sidelong bow; and hurrying in a lateral cou

mutter from behind the curtain. Darrell walked to the place, and whispered a few words, returned to the hearth, rang the bell. "Another letter for the post, Mills: M

Lionel, whom his cousin's conciliatory w

you like reading, if you

n time to read them, and that wou

s, one finds one has made little progr

h my own master, reading hard in the forenoon, it is true, for many hours at a stretch, and yet again for a few hours at evening, but rambling also through the

refer an active lif

yes

the decorous Mr. Mills,