The Black Patch

; but oh!"--with an ecstatic e

marry the

man and I ask for nothing better. But the ge

e been more successfu

unfriendly! I did

it, Dinah. I give all sympathy and all good wishes to your

ll! Jerry would make

rally are--when b

o up-to-date in your

I live in a dull country gard

dear. At least Vi

ded Beatrice, blushing redder than the flowe

hasn't sufficie

have, being a

never imagine anything. They fi

unworthy pun

you, save a friend, else I shall be horribly jealous. As to Vivian, he would murder his future bro

the marriage service to the

ow how to answer your sharp speeches,

plain. Jerry doesn't

short-sighted. I am plain, with a pug nose, drab hair, freckles, and teeny-we

jewel," remarked Beatrice dryly, "else he

eyelids at the garden. This was necessary, for the July sunshine blazed down on a mass of colour such as is rarely seen in sober-hued England. The garden might have been that of Eden, as delineated by Martin or Doré, from the tropic

the tail of a locomotive. To be plain, seven railway carriages, with their wheels removed, did duty for dwellings, and very odd they looke

flowers in profusion: tall and gaudy hollyhocks, vividly scarlet geraniums, lilies of holy whiteness, and thousands--as it truly seemed--of many-hued poppies. The wide beds, whence these blossoms sprang, stretched back to a girdle of lofty trees, and were aglow with the brilliant flowers of the nasturtium. The trees which shut in this sylvan paradise from the crooked lane rose from a tangled jungle of coarse grasses, nettles, darnels, and oozy weedy plants, whose succu

who made his income by usury. It seemed odd, and was odd, that a money-lender should not only dwell in, but carry on his peculiarly urban profession in, so rural a locality as the Weald of Sussex. Nevertheless, Alpenny did as large a business as though he had occupied some grimy office in the heart of London. Indeed, he really made more money, as the very seclusion of the place attracted many needy people who wished to borrow money secretly. As the local railway

did Durban, the sole servant and factotum of the settlement, as it might truly be called. Alpenny himself might have passed for the wicked magician who held the aforesaid princess spell-bound in his enchanted domain. But as the Fairy Prince always discovers Beauty, however closely confined, so had Beatrice Hedge been discovered by Vivian Paslow. He was a poor country gentleman who dwelt in a

rry will be horribly poor. Vivian has no money and I have less. Mr. Snow the v

inced and coloured

essive pantomime--"I'm glad Jerry and I won't have to depend upon her for food. Whenever the poor famished darl

on, caused by the

ur and Jerry came in. He looked at me like that, and I looked at him in this way, and afterwards----" Here Dinah, who was at the silly boring stage of love, told t

nah?" asked Beatrice, who had listene

ane, minding the horses. You see he will make me blush with his looks and smiles and hand-squeezings,

r to tell me. Tha

ry and I were going for a ride this morning, just to see if we entire

tradicted Beatr

, though he did insist on my coming here with him, and rode in the middle, so as to part Jerry and me. So poor, dear, darling Jerry is holding the horses in the lane, while Vivian is doing busi

Beatrice. "Do you know what kind of busin

ine Grange with a ghost, and Vivian has good looks even if I haven't, in spite of Jerry's nonsense; but there isn't a sixpence between us. How Mrs. Lilly manages to feed us, I really don't know, unl

?" remarked Beatrice, when she coul

u say? I expect he is, although he never tells me his business. So different to Jerry, who lets me know every time he has a rise in his salary on t

ould have liked to question Dinah still further, but thinking she would get little information from so lovelorn a damsel, it occurred to her that Jerry Snow should be brought on the scene. Then the lovers could chatter nonsense, and Beatrice could think her own thoughts, which were greatly concerned with Mr. Alpenny's client. The

ing and crossing over; "he can hold

shook the dust from her shabby riding-habi

egro, for while listening to his young mistress he smiled expansively, and displayed a set of very strong white teeth. Nor was he young, for his hair was touched at the temples with grey, and his body was stout with that stoutness which comes late in life from a good digestion and an easy conscience. He aped youth, however, for he carried himself very erect, and walked--as he now did to the gate--in an alert and spring

amber. For the rest he allowed her considerable freedom, and she could indulge in any fancy so long as the fancy was cheap. But she was forbidden to set foot in Mammon's shrine, and whether the priest was without, or within, the door was kept locked. It was locked now, and Vivian Paslow was closeted with the usurer, d

w, walking swiftly across the grass, apparently as frantic for Dinah as Dinah

ing his Dulcinea with two ardent eyes, t

ed like the petal of a flower"--to mercifully quote Tennyson--suited him very well in looks. And then love made both of them look quite interesting, although not even the all-transforming passion could render them anything but homely. Beside the engaged damsel, Beatrice, tall, slender, dark-locked and dark-eyed, looked like a godd

tulate you, Mr. S

ad stung her; "you ought to be ashamed of yourself, Bea

ice spoke with some bitterness, as Jerry's mother had always been unkind to the lonel

u mean, Miss Hedge," he said regretfully, "but don't worry. Ca

ering with alarm, "wha

with a solemn warning--"I don't think I'd call at the Vicarage f

object?" asked Bea

tter!" almost shout

admiring glance at her

s. Snow wants you to

nairess would look at the likes of me!"

chance!" cried Dinah jealously; "you could ma

u have, Jerry dear!" she mimicked, whereat th

e here, girls bot

an a pal since yesterday,"

ther is pleased and would marry us himse

Jerry?" demanded Di

to the occasion, and taking her i

"We'll be cut off with a shilling by mother; but we shall marry all the same

s Paslow tartly, "I p

ry, "I do that!" and was about to repeat hi

nd was followed by a bent, dried-up ape of a man who was purple with fury. The contrast between the money-lender and his client was most marked. Alpenny was the missing link itself, and V

ddenly sank his voice to a hurried whisper. "Me

bbling up, to interrupt this leave-

, as startled by Paslow's request as she was by the scene, remained where she was, and her stepfather chased his three visito

rvice," said he, "but

evy blackmail.

ich reduced Alpenny to a stuttering, incoh

You want your prop

"If I lose my property, I lose it," said he sternly; "but the oth

ed. "My life, yo

leaded Beatrice, ap

"Remember the Black Patch," said he in a clear, loud voice. The effect was instantaneous. Alpenny,

ed at the shaking, pale-faced miser, who was casting terrified looks over his shoulder, and then went out of the gate. Alpenny sto

e was sufficiently near to notice his abje