Marcella

the capable, serious man of thirty, with a considerable experience of the world behind him, was perfectly conscious that there were many difficulties in his path. He could not induce his gra

ves there had always been a fine tradition of mutual trust; and Lord Maxwell

At the same time it said much for the history of those long years during which the old man and his heir had been left to console each other for the terrible bereavements which had thrown them together, that Aldous Raeburn never for an instant feared the

me he entered the large ope

in?" he asked of

brary. He has been

ywhere. The colour of the whole was dim and rich; antiquity, refinement reigned, together with an exquisite quiet and order. No one was to be seen, and not a voice was to be heard; but there was no impression of solitude. These warm, darkly-glowing rooms seemed to be waiting for the return of guests just gone out of them; not one of them but had an air of cheerful company. For once, as he walk

," said Lord Maxwell, turning sharply round at the s

was sitting by a huge fire, an "Edinburgh Review" open on his knee. Lamp and fire-light showed a finely-carried head, with a high wave of sn

as he came up to the fire. "Rickman kept me on the farm, too, a good wh

carry on beyond January. Half their men are becoming unmanageable, and S--'s bill, to which they are committed, will certainly dish them. Parliament will meet in January, and he thinks an amendment to the Address will finish it. All this confidential, of course; but he saw no harm in letting me know. So now, my boy, you will have your work cut out for you this winter! Two or three evenings a week-you'll not get off wi

humorous eye. Aldous was standing absently be

e pie. You and I between us will be able to pull through two or three of the things we care about in the next House, with ordinary luck. It is my firm belief that the next

had been appealing to the man of maturity standing on the threshold of a possibly consi

have come home with something in my mind very different from politics-and you must give me time to change the focus. I di

cried Lor

ck him that it was after all absurd that he should be conf

etreat. Lord Maxwell sprang u

love, sir! O

ave no idea. But I can conceive no greater happiness than to win her. And as I want you, grandfather, to do something for her and for me, it seemed to m

ressed his arm

me on tenterhooks like this

ated possibilities flashed

with a certain

Boyce's daughter. I saw

falling back a step or two, and staring at hi

t fellow's hi

a help. Of course, I see that you and the neighbourhood mean to cut him,-and-f

he room, hands pressed behind him, head bent. "Good he

Aldous. "Where have you been

ellor village. She goes about a

not propos

es it would have been presumption so far. She h

ed Lord Maxwell, and could not for the life of hi

s. "You have not seen her, g

emotion that filled him. Of course, Aldous had been entrapped; th

rd Maxwell hardly listened. At last he threw h

e thought of marrying my heir to that

Lord Maxwell looked at his wat

ore dinner. Sit down, and

*

g hour. It was for the most part a monologue on the part of the grandfather, broken by occasional words from his companion; and for some time Marcella Boyce herself-the woman whom Aldous desired to marry-was hardly mentioned in it. Oppressed and tormented by a surprise w

or deterioration through him. Marriage with the fit woman meant for a Raeburn the preservation of a pure blood, of a dignified and honourable family habit, and moreover the securing to his children such an atmosphere of self-respect within, and of consideration from without, as he had himself grown up in. And a woman could not be fit, in this sense, who came either of an insignificant stock, untrained to large uses and opportunities, or of a stock which

rd Boyce would be a cross and burden to a Raeburn son-in-law. But then! After all! Love for once made philosophy easy-made class tradition sit ligh

id, and his father afterwards maintained him with as generous a hand as the estate could possibly bear, often in the teeth of the grudging resentment of Robert his firstborn. Richard showed signs of making a rapid success, at any rate on the political platform. He spoke with facility, and grappled with the drudgery of committees during his first two years at West

rs came back covered with distinction, and were much fêted through the London season. Old Mr. Boyce came up from Mellor to see Dick's success for himself

moment when he was most at ease with the world, and the world was giving him every opportunity. She was very young, as unspoilt as the daffodils of her Somersetshire valleys, and her character-a character of much complexity and sto

kind; and, finally, a swindle more energetic and less skilful than the rest, which bomb-like went to pieces in the face of the public, filling the air with noise, lamentations, and unsavoury odours. Nor was this all. A man has many warnings of ruin, and when things were going badly in the stock market, Richard Boyce, who on his return from the East had been elected by acclamation a member of several fashionable clubs, t

on't stop me-don't speak to me!' And he lashed his horse up-as white as a sheet-fat, fresh-coloured man that he was in general-and was off. I never saw him again till after his death. First came the trial, and Dick Boyce got three months' imprisonment, on a minor count, while several others of the precious lot he was mixed up with came in for penal servitude. There was some technical flaw in the evidence with regard to him, and the clever lawyers

nly set. Aldous gazed at him in silence. It was

and child?" he

o leave him, for his behaviour towards her had been particularly odious,-and they were afraid, too, I think, that he might come to worse grief yet and make her life unbearable. But she wouldn't. And she would have no sympathy and no talk. I never saw her after the first year of their marriage, when she was a most radiant and beautiful creature. But, by all accounts of her behaviour at the time, she must be a remarkable woman. One of her family told me that

made a

about her?" he sa

he said, looking down under his spectacles at his grandson

y, the hound!" cried the old man, suddenly, "we could not even get him to come and see his father when he was dying. John had lost his memory mostly-had forgotten, anyway, to be angry-and just craved for Dick, for the only creature he had ever loved. With great difficulty I traced the man, an

the library again, by way of wo

or a considerable time, and nothing else seemed to have any power to touch-or, at any rate, to hold-Lord

me. And to-morrow you must let me tell you something about her. After all, she has done none of these things. But I ought not to ke

ll turned

the matter with yo

here-I am a

laid an affectionate and rather sh

o any quarrel between us! Are you a youth, or am I a three-tailed bashaw? As to money, you know, I care nothing. But it

nly, let me say it again-don't for one moment take it for granted that she

e pleasure of rememberi

ew his hand and sho

ss she were either foolish or totally unexperie

t twe

en, bending over the fire, shrug

with me, Aldous. Why, I don't kno

red on both sides. A

seen. I should think she was very clever in some ways-and very unformed-childish almost-in others. The Hardens say she has done everything she could-of course it is

robably to be one of the lights of a Tory Cabinet

tting her to canvas. So, she is beautiful and she is clever-and good, my boy? If

reply once or tw

e loved and respected"-he said at last with some formality-

that his grandfather's mood had grown gentler-hi

only one thing clear, grandfather, and that is, that, if

commanding eyes under their fine brows absorbing, as it were, ex

carry it off lightly. "You could, if you would, without committing yourself to any personal contact with

's expressi

us! I never wrote anything with

le would do it. A man in Richard Boyce's position will n

grandfather, interrupting him, "t

to ask Miss Boyce here unl

en to see her? And you want me to say a word to other pe

ly," sai

l meditated

to bed!" (Clarke was his lordship's medical attend

shall not have

inguish a lamp stan

grandfather

dou

es

ndfather standing erect before the fire, and was startle

g, my boy; I don't want any more agitation. I have spoken strongly; it was hardly possible but that on such a matter I should feel strongly. But don't go away m

hand he held, walked quickly to

*

reaked with white mists in the ground hollows and overarched by a wide sky holding a haloed moon, lay spread before the windows. On a clear night Aldous felt himself stifled by blinds and curtains, and would often sit late, reading and writing, with a lamp so screened that it threw light upon his book or paper, wh

e lay the recent numbers of various economic journals, English and foreign. Between the windows stood a small philosophical bookcase, the volumes of it full of small reference slips, and marked from end to end; and on the other side of the room was a revolving book-table crowded with miscellaneous volumes of poets, critics, and novelists-mainly, however, with the first two. Aldous Raeburn read few novels, and those with a ce

buried all of them in the silence of an unbroken reserve. She had died in childbirth when he was nine; her baby had died with her, and her husband, Lord Maxwell's only son and surviving child, fell a victim tw

of these events, which had aged his grandfather, and made him too early realise himself as standing alone in the gap of loss, the only hope left to affection and to ambition. This premature development, amid the most melancholy surroundings, of the sense of personal importance-not in any egotistical sense, but as a sheer matter of fact-had robbed a ne

seemed to put sleep far off. On the table before him stood a photograph of Hallin, besides a miniature of his mother as a girl. He had drawn the miniature close

the pretty girl in a difficult position whom one would watch with curiosity and some pity. To-night his lett

t the Annunziata? Among them, among the beautiful tall women of them, there are, I am sure, noble, freely-poised, suggestive heads like hers-hair, black wavy hair, folded like hers in large simple lines, and faces with the same long, subtle curves. It is a face of the Renaissance, extraordinarily beautiful, as it seems to me, in colour and expression; imperfect in line, as the beauty which marks the

ew Arnold, Ruskin, Carlyle. She takes everything dramatically, imaginatively, goes straight from it to life, and back again. Among the young people with whom she made acquaintance while she was boarding in London and working at South Kensington, there seem to have been two brothers, both artists, and both Socialists; ardent young fellows, giving all their spare time to go

ou, so you will believe me when I say that all is uncertain, that I know nothing, and, though I hope everything, may j

dour of the autumn moon. Marcella moved across the whiteness of the grass; her voice was st

his letter, read it, tore it across,

fellow, even to you," he said to