Our Friend the Charlatan

way to a hotel, looked about him with lively interest, and persuaded himself that the main streets had a brisk progressive air; he imagined Liberalism in many faces, and noted cheerfully the p

wherewith Dyce had no concern. Thus informed, he ordered his luncheon, and requested that a fly might be ready at three o'clock to convey him to Rivenoak. When that hour arrived, he had studied the local directory, carefully looked over the to

tly to wooded slopes, on the other opened a prospect over a breezy common, yellow with gorse. At the village named Shawe, the river was crossed by a fine old bridge, which harmonised well with grey cottages and an ancient low-towered church; but the charm of all this had been lamentably injured by

th himself, Dyce passed through a bare, lofty hall, then through a long library, and was ushered into a room so largely constructed of glass, and containing so much verdure, that at first glance it seemed to be a conservatory. It was, however, a drawing-room, converted to this purpose after having served, during the late Baronet's lifetime, for such masculine delights as billiards and smoking. Here, as soon as his vision focussed itself, Dyce became aware of three ladies and a gentleman, seated amid a little bower of plants and shrubs. The hostess was easily distinguished. In a very high-backed chair, made rather throne-like by the embroidery and gilding upon it, sat a meagre lady clad in black silk, with a silvery grey shawl about her shoulders, and an other of the same kind across her knees. She

s for what seemed to him a minute or two of most uncomfortable time. Then, with the faintest of welcoming smiles, Lady Ogram-who

you, Mr. Lashmar

e had somehow been admitted to the presence of a sovereign, and that any initiative on his o

morning?" pursued his hostes

mornin

lady sitting near her rig

oring is mostly humbug, and if women were attended by women there'd be a good deal less

he bent her head smiling, he rose and bowed. The lady whom their hostess had addressed-she was middle-aged, very com

t whatever of Miss Bri

her, seeming not to h

thought a good deal more about this kind of thing t

id so with an air of extreme interest, as though profoundly gratified by the meeting. Seldom breaking silence himself, he lent the

d?" asked Lady Ogram, who again h

as I didn't

in new places, I always walk. Miss Bride and I are going to Wales this summer, and we shall walk a great deal. Do you know Brecknock? Few people do, but th

swer, and Dyce, who was beginning to comman

hawe. It's a pretty village-or rather, it was,

The gleam of her eyes intensified; deeper wrinkles carved themselves on her forehead, and

a half-laughing note of peculiar harshness

fixed on Lady Ogram's, powerless to stir or to avert his

"I should have kept the thought to myself. But I'm afr

of the village," said

. I spoke only of the pict

have to earn their living? Is that your way of looking at things? Woul

said such a thing, it's more than likely I should have replied with your view of the matter. You must remember that this district is quite str

ce Bride, who had looked very grave indeed, allowed her features to relax; Mrs. Gallan

lanced at he

know my 'excellent

ty; the families that remained were being demoralised by poverty; they wouldn't take the work that offered in the fields, and preferred to scrape up a living in the streets of Hollingford, if they didn't try their hand at a little burglary and so on. Lady Ogram saw what was going on, and thought it over, and hit upon the ide

antry, as though he heard all this for the

his frankest air. "I hope I may be allowed to

like," said Lady Ogram, with a grin.

looked i

d, when Lady Ogram pai

him what I think abou

to hear that," said Dyce, whos

ge life?-in face of the fact that English agriculture seems to be doomed. At Shawe, as Lady Ogram thinks, and we all do, a step has been taken in the right direction. Lots of the young people who are now working here in wholesome surroundings would by this time have been lo

Gallantry. "True philanthr

Dyce. "Lady Ogram deser

d better. Don't be angry with me, Lady Ogram; you know I profit by your example in saying just wha

s. "How you harp on that i

n a mill in the country than go to swell the population of slums; I grant you that. But how much better still for them to work in private houses, following their natural callin

rating voice, "how would a servant

which would be the model of its kind for all England. Every female child in Shawe would have had a prospect before her

ved her hand

conservative-reform women. Someho

a little pique, though her face was pleasant as ever. "

til failure of breath made her gasp and wriggle in her chair, an alarming spectacle. To divert attention, Constance began talking about the mill, describing the good

e. Anything which serves to impress ordinary minds with a sense of social equilibrium to give them an object lesson in the substitution of leadership for anarchy-must be of immense value. Here was a community falling into wreck, cut loose from the orderly system of things, old duties and obligations forgotten, only hungry rights insisted upon. It was a picture in little of the multitude given over to itself. Into the midst of this chaos, Lady Ogram brings a directing mind, a beneficent spirit of initiative, and the means, the power, of re-establishing order

murmured Mr. Gall

ith much amiability, "but I really can't see why this lesson could

ey go off to the great towns, where there are factories and public-houses, work-rooms and shops. To establish here the training institution you speak of would have done many sorts of good, but not, I think, that particular good, of supreme importance, which results from Lady Ogram's activity. In the rustics' eyes, it would be merely a new device for filling up the ranks of cooks and housemaids, to the sole advantage of an upper class. Of course that view is altogether wrong, but it would be held. The pap

ndeed!" fell fro

h a good-natured laugh. "I'm not sure that I couldn't debate the point s

, had gazed unwaveringly at the young man throughout his speeches. A grim smile crept over her visage;

Hollingford to-n

Lady O

eleven, go over the mill, and then lunch

you, ve

shmar your Report. He mi

e hostess did not seek to detain them; she stood up, wit

nd to the lady. "There's something in it, but you mustn't wo

bit!" exclaimed Mr

ith the result that she had to sink back into her chair, waving an im

with a thin pamphlet in her hand, which, after taking leave

Report," said Dyc

bent forward and her eyes closed; but for the position of her hands, each grasping an arm of the chair, one would have imagined that she had fallen asleep. Dyce glanced at Constanc

n a voice which had become less

twenty, L

ather is a

r of Alverholme, i

s, concerning his family and his educ

hing of Rivenoak? If so, Mis

e," replied t

h us to-morrow. Be at the

and Dyce took it respectfully.

g room. "The books were mostly collected by Sir Spencer Ogram, father of the late baronet; he

g in a dry, uninterested voice, she, too, seeming to have her thoughts elsewhere. They we

e, "except the view from the top of the house. But

ce showed to more advantage here than on her recent visit to Alverholme; she was more naturally self-possessed, and seemed a freer, happier person. The house garb, though decorous rather than ornamental, became her better than her w

nfinitely varied verdure. Constance, still in an absent tone, pointed out the features of the landscape, naming villages, hills, and great es

, "for your carefully written letter. But

stance with a humorous twi

But, after all,

discretion on strange ground. By the b

at you said about it was, on the whole, t

ake in the facts of the case very quickly. Bu

Of cour

e, we must unders

im with a look of

all me by that name? It sounds childi

I call you?

usual form

m in certain views which I hold and am trying to get accepted by people of influence. It happened that this affair of the mill gave me a good illustration of the theory I generally have to put i

ning on a parapet

nitence, for in truth she seemed quietly amused. "All I meant was that you

y that," remarked Dyce, cool

t so grossly?" asked Constance

please observe that I did not grossly contradict you. I said that you seemed to me to have another thought in your mind

e right

does to a man. What is called chivalry is simply disguised contempt. If a man bows and honeys to a woman, he does so because he thinks she has such a poor understanding that this

look of more se

said, with a frank air, "you

urally ambitious, but my ambition has never made me unprincipled. I aim at distinction, because I believe that nature has put it within my reach. I don't regard myself as an average man, because I can't; it would be practis

ance

. Lashmar. But why do you hon

a rare thing between man and woman. I want you as a supporter of my views, an

e they,

t or not, I don't know. Why shouldn't I be the man Lady Ogr

ed at a far point

hing," she said, meditatively. "More

s seem to yo

the plan of the gardens and the park. Perhaps you would lik

therto shown. Dyce did not care to linger in the grounds. He strolled awhile about the village, glancing over the pamphlet with its report of last year's bus