The Chronicles of Clovis

hough certainly young in fact and appearance, was some four or five years his senior. When he was a schoolboy of sixteen, Molly McQuade had personally conducted him to the Zoo and stood h

oolboy exuberance, tempered by schoolboy shyness, had pitched on those many years ago, confronted Youghal on those

pe of young woman, who came naturally into the classification, "a good sort." She was just sufficiently good-looking, sufficiently reticent about her own illnesses, when she had any, and sufficiently appreciative of her neighbours' gardens, children and hunters to be generally popular. Most men liked her, and the percentage of women

not differ very widely from that formed by her local acquaintances. If her married life were eventually to turn out a failure, at least she looked forward to it with very moderate expectations. Her love affairs she put on a very different footing and apparently they were the all-absorbing element in her life. She possessed the happily constituted temperament which enables a man or woman to be a "pluralist," and to observe the sage precaution of not putting all one's eggs into one basket. Her demands were not ex

hat it only flared into active existence at convenient intervals. In an age when the telephone has undermined almost every fastness of human privacy, and the sanctity of one's seclusion depends often on the ability for tactful falsehood shown by a club pageboy, Youghal was duly appreciative of the circumstance that his lady fair spent a large part of the year pursuing foxes, in lieu of pursuing him. Also the honest

y recounted, a lull in the conversation made itself rather obstinately felt. Molly had already guessed that matters were

affectionate regret; "I always knew you'd get on in the Ho

inancial line before long, I don't see how I'm to stay in Parliament at all. Economy is out of the question. It would open people's eyes,

at's the worst of success, it imposes so many conditions. I rather k

most absorbing study in the world. As a matter of fact, his mind was centred on the image of Elaine de Frey, with her clear untroubled eyes and her Le

something of the sort would have to happen one of these days. When a man goes into politics he can'

uld tell you that I haven't

," said Molly; "and then, now and again, I t

'm trying to break to you the fact that I

t her companion, who still fixed his g

somebody useless, someone without money,"

h ambition had given way to the fancy of the hour; he might be going to sacrifice his Parliamentary

t heaps o

enay had produced the anxiety which underlay her firs

she just a good sort with a sympathetic manner and nice eye

own. Some people would call her beautiful. As a political hostess I

e in love

ith the slight assertive move

and I'm making a name for myself in the House; she'll be able to read all sorts of nice and horrid things about me in the papers at breakfast-time. I can be brilliantly amusing at times, and I understand th

t to marry a rich woman, and if she's nice and will make a good hostess, so much the better for everybody. You'll be happier in your married life than I shall be in mine, when it comes; you'll have other interests to absorb you. I shall just have the garden and dairy and nursery and lending library, as like as two peas to all the gardens

hen Molly spoke again, with the swift nervous tone of a general who is h

ome time, when the House isn't sitting, you must come down by yourself, and do a little hunting with us. Will you? It won't be quite the sam

able unhappiness of a future shared with me, and I may have to content myself with penurious poli

u that you haven't told me who she is, and of me that I haven't asked. And now, like a dear boy, trot away and leave me. I haven't got to say good-bye to you yet, but I'm going to take a quiet farewell of the P

ether. The mist deepened on her lashes as she looked round at the familiar rendezvous where they had so often kept tryst since the day when they had

fleeting fortnight, she raced away to have tea with a world-far