Demos

hed by poisonous breath. At its foot lies the village of Wanley. The opposite side of the hollow is clad with native wood, skirting for more than a mile the bank of a shallow stream, a trib

eries and shaken by the strain of mighty engines. Climb Stanbury Hill at nightfall, and, looking eastward, you behold far off a dusky ruddiness in the sky, like the last of an angry sunset; with a glass you can catch glimpses of little tongues of flame, leaping and quivering on the horizon. That is Belwick. The good abbots, who were wont to come out in the summer time

ove matters by abandoning his prejudices and entering upon commercial speculation, in the end left a widow and two boys with little more to live upon than the income which arose from Mrs. Eldon's settlements. The Manor was shortly after this purchased by a Mr. Mutimer, a Belwick ironmaster; but Mrs. Eldon and her boys still inhabited the house, in consequence of certain events which will shortly be narrated. Wanley would have mourned their departure; they were the aristocracy of the neighbourhood, and to have them ousted by a name which no one knew, a name connected only with blast-furnaces, would have made a distinct fall in the tone of Wanley society. Fortunately no changes

arger way of living than that to which they adapted themselves in the little house on the side of Stanbury Hill, whence they looked over the village street. Mr. Waltham had, in fact, been a junior partner in a Belwick firm, which came to grief. He saved enough out of the wreck to: make a modest competency for his family, and would doubtless in time have retrieved his fortune, but death was beforehand with him. His wife, in the second year of her widowhood, came with her daughter Adela to Wanley; her son Alfred had gone to commercial work in Belwick

pread before her a charming prospect. Opposite was the wooded slope, freshening now with exquisite shades of new-born leafage; looking north, she saw fruit-gardens, making tender harmonies; southwards spread verdure and tillage. Yet something there was which disturbed the otherwise perfect unity of the scene, an unaccustomed trouble to the eye. In the very midst of the vale, perhaps a quarter of a mile to the south of the village, one saw what looked like the beginning of some engineering enterprise-a great throwing-up of earth, and the commencement of a roadway on which m

was musing to herself. 'He has enough without th

es of the village led on to the Manor, and in that direction Mrs. Waltham gazed frequently. The church clock chimed half-past four, and shortly after a rosy-cheeked you

ela at

gone for a walk

face was pretty. 'We wanted her to come for croquet. Yet I was

at the same time

aid of Alfred?' asked

don't

and spoke quickly

ike Mr. Wyvern

but a couple of days, and had this morning

he has!' was t

say he's very learned; but his sermon

ly he pronounces cer

me yet?' was the youn

ing. Isn't it extraordinary?

ows his address, and he c

thway by which she had come, and of

n isn't coming to see you! I'm afraid to meet him. Do let

rl at once ran into the house. Mrs. W

y. 'You know how absurdly shy I am. No, I'll run out into the

hue; an enormous beard, the colour of jet, concealed the linen about his throat, and a veritable mane, dark as night, fell upon his shoulders. His features were not ill-matched with this sable garniture; their expression was a fixed severity; his eye regarded you with stern scrutiny, and passed from the examination to a melancholy refle

s of his dark eyes, and then, whilst still retaining her fingers, looked thoughtfully about the room. It was a pleasant little parlour, with many an evidence of refinement in thos

watch-pocket at her waist, and her fingers exhibited several rings. She bore the reverend gentleman's scrutiny with modest grace, almost as if it flattered her. And indeed there was nothing whatever of i

e had very little to do with the immediate subject of his thought, or, what was much the same thing, that he seldom gave the whole of his attention to the matter outwardly calling for it. He was a man of profound mental absences; he could make replies, even put queries, and all the w

marked presently, 'will not be

deliberation at times led to peculiarities of emphasis in single words. Proba

n will go on with the mini

ou thi

ly,' the lady remarked to herself. 'He's

ixing upon her an absent eye, 'is Mr.

dfrey Eldon, was.' M

one tha

uestioningly

You would do me a great kindness in explaining to me bri

delighted to talk

t Eldon. The elder son, Godfrey, was lost

s a sa

. Eldon engaged in speculations-I believe it was flax-growing. The results, unfortunately, were anything but satisfactory. It was that which led to his son entering business-quite a new thing in their family. Wasn't it very sad? Poor Godfrey a

ly benefit b

all extent. It has for a long time been

the clergyman, still

to be allied to them. And then he was passionately devoted to his daugh

r. Mutimer purchased

nly was a wonderfully kind old-old gentleman; his behaviour to Mrs. Eldon was always the perfection of courtesy. A stranger would find it difficult to understand how she could get on so we

ey,' observed Mr. Wyvern, half to hi

en this and what she had been saying. Then it occurred

irit. Of course such a thing would never have suggested itself to the Eldons. And in fact ve

at brooding, Mr

seen Mrs

s too unwell to

I know she likes to be very quiet. What a strange thing about Mr. Eldon,

ngu

e has never been a shadow of

, I believe?' said t

t least, I-. Is there n

merely shoo

continued, rather disturbed by t

tude

te a youth-only

t entered to ask if she should lay the table for

ea, Mr. Wyvern? we make a meal of it, in the countr

their acquaintance,'

Easter holiday. Belwick is so short a distance away, and

s a

ne-and-

age as m

u have

in Germany. I have just been

g after his father's death, and I was only too glad to accept the opening. I believe he is a clever boy; only such a dreadful Radical.' She laughed, with a deprecatory motion of the hands. 'P

ham, the air,' murm

to indicate an intelligence, bright, indeed, but of the less refined order. His head was held stiffly, and his whole bearing betrayed a desire to make the most of his defective stature. His shake of the hand was an abrupt downward jerk, like a pull at a bell-rope. In the

hand for a few moments and looked him in the eyes. Alfred turned his head aside un

with crossed legs, 'Eldon has turned up at last. He passed us in a

. Waltham. 'He was comi

ur-wheeler. Adela says he looked ill, thou

he is right. He mu

ead than her brother; she was slim and graceful. The air had made her face bloom, and the smile which was added as she drew near to the vicar enhanced the charm of a countenance at all times charming. She was not less than ladylike in self-possession, but Mr. Wyvern's towering sableness clearly awed

y, 'Confound the parson's impudence!' Mrs. Waltham, on the other

e said, glancing at Adela.

tly stated that I did not even see him, and should not have know

he girl said naturally.

e scene in which she moved. A gentle English girl, this dainty home, set in so fair and peaceful a corner of the world, was just the abode one would have chosen for her. Her beauty seemed a part of the burgeonin

the original structure remained on the dish. Alfred, keenly observant of what was going on, pursed his lips from time to time and looked at his mother with exaggerated gravity, leading her eyes to the vanishing cake. Even Adela could not but remark the reverend gentleman's abnormal appetite, but she steadily discouraged her

re Alfred threw himself into a chair, thru

mptoms of disorder! Why, I should be prostrate for a week

oved his mother, though herself laughin

ind himself of actualities,' rejoined the youth. 'But wh

Mrs. Waltham, mildly censuring her s

a, who was standing at the window

man in parsonical live

d freshness in the atmosphere, he walked for half-an-hour smoking a pipe

as just come in

you,' was the reply. 'Heaven d

k a match and lit a lamp, disclosing a nest of wonderful purity and neatness. On the tabl

you want to paint, why don't you paint in earnest? Really, Adela,

forget it

d-thirty, you propose still to be

t,' said the girl quietly. 'We

if only you'd read sensible

outh sank into his favourite attitude-leg

d presently, 'that fell

t; she looked up with a sha

t fe

, you

king her fingers and pressing them against her throat. 'W

on't like the

s "the individ

s a

means,' replied Adela, after think

's a fellow who raises a great edifi

ldon is a gentleman. What

Who doesn't call himself so nowadays! A man's a man, I take it, and what need is there to lengthen the na

ok; in turning over

, for some reason, you are deter

were applying for a place in his stable. Whenever I want an example of a contemptible aristocrat, there's Eldon r

you do. There is nothing whateve

ebeian, a man he despises, and li

e kind. Since his brother's death he has had a

f money, of course. Our aristocrats begin to see that they can't get on without money nowadays; they can't live on family records, and they find that people won't toady to them in the old way just on account of their name. Why, it began with Eldon's father-didn't he put his pride in his pocket, and try to make cash by speculation? Now I can respect him: he at all events faced the facts of the case honestly. The despicable thing in this Hubert Eldon is that, having got money once more, and in the dirtiest way, he puts on the top-sawyer just as if there was n

f verisimilitude in the picture drawn by her Radical-minded brother could not escape

ole story in quite another way. You begin by a harsh and worldly judgment, and it leads you to misreprese

laughed

Women won't admit such things; th

nd a sham? Will that, too, be

ucated, they will take the world as it

to have been left

atter was a lady whose position much resembled Mrs. Waltham's: she inhabited a small house in the village street, and spent mo

Waltham, whose lap she kept touching as she spoke with excited fluenc

had been in Mr. Mutimer's confidence. Mrs. Waltham

she aske

s! An unthought-of possibility!' She went on crescendo

sed from the tips of her fingers into

he whispered, incapable

h dancing eyes. 'Search has been going on since the day of the death: not a corner that hasn't been rummaged, not a drawer that hasn't been turn

r lady w

rom Mr. Yottle, saying he wanted to make change-probably to execute a new will altoge

d to make

too, I can tell you the reason. Mr. Mutimer was anything but pleased with young Eldon. That young man,

ainly

hat Hubert Eldon is not regarded affectionately by a good many people. My dear, he has been out of England for more than a month, living-oh, such extravagance! And the moral question, too? You know-those women! Someone, they say, of

property

n? It will be impossible for us to live here if they come and settle at the Manor. The neig

is vision of barbaric onset affected little in

upon than many we could instance. Probably he will tak

the pleasure it would ordinarily have given her to b

Who has s

assed him on the ro

f? I'm afraid some people will be anything but grieved. We must confess that Hubert has not been exactly popular; and I rather wonder at it; I'm sure he might have been if he had liked. Just a little too-too

ng leaned forward ye

u don't mind a question? There wasn

tever!' Mrs. Waltham

ed deeply. 'How relieve

ver,' the othe

d to breathe a word of those shocking

. Mewling was ju