Fenton's Quest

jambe's tiger stories by heart, and had convicted him of glaring discrepancies in his description of the havoc he and his brother officers had made among the big game. Windus Carr was a conceite

ng with Gilbert and Marian, or to idle away the sunny hours on the lawn listening to the talk of the two others, and dropping in a wor

ghtness and gaiety than was wont to distinguish the Lidford House entertainments. After this there was more boating-long afternoons spent on the winding river, with occasional landings upon picturesque little islands or wooded banks, where there were the wild-flowers Marian Nowell loved and unde

at rare intervals, and in which he exercised a potent fascination over his companions. He had beguiled the little party at the cottage into complete forgetfulness of the hour by his unwonted eloquence upon subjects of a deeper, higher kind than it was his habit to speak about; and then at the last moment, when the clock on the mantelpiece had struck twelve, he had s

secured a latch-key during his last visit to Lidford House, and could let himself in q

anished all in a moment, and gave place to a moody

high spirits are not always a sign of inward cont

N

u sure

a little knocked up

nd wished each other good-night; but early next morning a brief note wa

on on my part, and offer my warmest expressions of gratitude to Captain Sedgewick and Miss Nowell for their goodness to me? Pray apologise for me also to Mr. and Mrs. Lister for my inability to make my adi

rs,-JOHN

een men who were on terms of such perfect confidence as obtained with these two. Gilbert Fenton was no

condition," he thought; "or perhaps that woman-tha

happiness. The serene heaven of his tranquil life was clouded a little by this strange conduct

with her in some way, I daresay, and poor Jack does not care to arouse my virtuous indignation. That comes of taking a high moral

arture. Marian said very little upon the subject. There seemed nothing extraordinary to

confidential clerk-an old man who had been with his father for many years, and who knew every intricacy of the business-wrote him a very long letter, dwelling upon the evil f

he determined upon going back to London by the earliest fast train next morning. It was cutting short his holiday only by a few days. He had mea

ings that had seemed trite and dreary to him since the days of his boyhood,-would have a new significance and beauty for him when he and Marian kept the sacred festival together. And then how quickly would begin the new year, the year whose spring-tide would see them man and wife! Perhaps there is no period of this mortal life so truly happy as that in which all our thoughts

e firms with which the supposed dealings had taken place, that he was able to arrive at this conclusion. Having at last made himself master of the real state of things, as far as it was in any way possible to do so at that distance from the scene of action, Gilbert saw that there was only one line of conduct open to him as a man of business. That was to go at once to Melbourne, investigate his cousin's transactions on the spot, and take the management of the colonial house into his own hands. To do this would be a sore trial to him, for it would involve the postponement of his marriage. He could scarcely hope to do

ving an energetic nature, and a strong faith in man's

ssity of this voyage. He told her frankly all that had happened, that their fortune was at stake, and that it was his bounden duty to take this step, hard as it might seem to him. He could not leave Eng

re the vessel he was to go in left Liverpool. The Listers were very much surprised and shocked when he told them what he was going to do;

tain, who heartily approved of the course he was ta

less for the delay. I have such perfect confidence in you, Gilbert, you see; and it is such a happiness to me to know that my darling's future is in the hands of a man I can so thoroughly trust. Were you reduced to absolute poverty, with t

hamed to tell you how bitterly I feel this parting, and what a desperat

s very pale, and her eyes had a dull, heavy look. The bad news in G

with her cold hand clasped in his own, "how ill you are looking!

you should have this bad for

r. The losses are not more than I can stand. All tha

h her eyes fixed upon the ground, and her hand

exclaimed. "You are all the world to me

ough it was the last which those two were to spend together until Gilbert Fenton's return. It was a hopelessly wet day, with a perpetual drizzling rain and a leaden-gray sky; weather which seemed to harmon

his leisure in slumber upon such a day as this. He sat down in his own particular easy-chair, dozing behi

d returned to the drawing-room, and Captain Sedgewick had refreshed his intellectual powers with copious draught

ver showed you her mother's jewel

ev

e worth claiming. But I doubt if that will ever happen now that so many years have gone by, and there has been no endeavour to trace her. Run and fetch the case, Mari

some curious old rings, of no great value; a seal-ring with a crest cut on a bloodstone-a crest of that common kind of device which does not imply noble or ancient lineage on the part of the bearer thereof; a necklace and earrings

elor, gentleman, and Lucy Geoffry, spinster, at St. Pancras Church, London. The most interesting contents of the

sacred a character; "but they tell very little. I fancy that Miss Geoffry was a governess in some family in London-the envelopes are missing, you see, so there is no evidence as to where she was living, except that it was in London-and that sh

ion to his reading the letters. She was quite silent, loo

ding your father's let

hink you will find th

in everything t

ry page. The lovers had met for the first time at the house of some Mr. Crosby, in whose family Miss Geoffry seemed to be living; and there were clandestine meetings spoken of in the Regent's Park, for which reason Gilbert supposed Mr. Cro

xchange this degrading slavery for liberty and happiness with me, and would be content to leave

t last rather reluctantly; but it did come, and was repeated, and urged in a very pressing manner;

uded to his father, it was with anger and contempt, and in a manner that implied some q

w hours to spend with Marian. The day was dull and cold, but there was no rain; and they walked together in the garden, where

that brooded over him, shutting out the future. That airy castle of his-the villa on the banks of the Thames-seemed to have faded and vanished altogether. He could not look beyond the Australian journey to the happy time of his return. The hazards of time and distance bewildered

which I think I ought to sa

that, my

n a constant reproach to me. Gilbert, it would be better if we were both free; better if you could leave England without an

ria

I am only anxious for your happiness. I am not steady enough, or fixed enoug

one anything to f

no,

se things to me? Do you

eart if I were to reca

utinising eyes; "but if you do not love me, if you cannot love me-and God knows how happy I have been in th

I will try to love you as you deserve to be loved. It was only a fancy of mine that it would be better for you to be free

f-childish look that went to his heart-and he clasped her to his breast, believing t

your love," he said. "Nothing can pa