Ravenshoe

new where you were, he was in tops and bottoms; before you had thoroughly realized that, he was lear

old vicar, who had been with his mother when she died, and a Protestant nurse, Mrs. Varley. Faithfully had

. Charles had not arrived at the time of life when it was possible for him to quarrel about women; and so he actually had no enemies as yet, but was welcomed by pleasant and kind faces wherever he went. At one time he would be at his father's knee, while the good-natured Densil made him up some fishing tackle; next you would find him in the kennel with t

nd the vicar must not be disturbed. No, the old stone bridge would bring him up; and there he would stay looking at the brown crystal-clear water rushing and seething among the rocks, lying dark under the oak-roots, and flashing merrily over the weir, just above the bridge; till " flick! " a silver bar would shoot quivering into the air, and a salmon would light on the top of the fall, just where the water broke, and would struggle on into the still pool above, or be beate

however many of them there were, every one had a good hearty West-country greeting for him. And, as the crowd increas

ancel, with the light from the old rose window shining on his curly brown hair. The older ones would think of the haughty beautiful lady

otice another boy's absence, and spend sermon-time in wondering whether he is catching crabs among the green and crimson sea-weed on the rocks, or bathing in the still pool under the cliff. A boy had better not go to church at all if he spends his time in thinking about the big trout that lies up in one of the pools of the woodland stream, and whether he will be able to catch a sight of him again by creeping gently through the hazel and ki

ould be more to tell his father and brother than could be conveniently got through at that meal; then th

in running messages for Cuthbert and the chaplain; and once, when kind grandaunt Ascot (she was a Miss Headstall, daughter of Sir Cingle Headstall, and married Lord George Ascot, brother of Lady Alicia, Densil's mother) sent him a pineapple in a box, he took it to the priest and would have had him take it. Mackworth refused it, but looked on him not unkindly for a few minutes, and then turned away with

regular features. His forehead was lofty, although narrow, and flat at the sides; his cheek bones were high, and his nose was aquiline, not ill-formed, though prominent, starting rather suddenly out below his eyes;

r a walk with the steward, and soon returning to the dark old library to his books and Father Mackworth. There they two would sit, like two owls, hour after hour, appearing only at meals, and talking French to one another, noticing Charley but little; who, however, was a

r houses have been to a certain extent influenced by it; and so poor Cuthbert, as we may suppose, was quite like a fish out of water. He detested and despised the men he met there, and they, on their parts, such of them as chose to notice him, thought him a surly young bookworm; and, as for his grandaunt, he hated the very sound of that excellent lady's voice. Her abruptness, her homoeopathic medicin

no patience with you Papists, packing better people than yourselves off somewhere in that free-and-easy way-By-the-bye, how is that father confessor of yours, Markworth, or some such name - mind me, Ravenshoe, that fellow is a rogue, and you being, like all

urse. Curfew, in my opinion, looks by no means badly for the Derby; he is scratche

the eldest: the Protestant one. Perhaps he mayn'

though she, being determined to mortify the flesh with its affections, does not propose seeing you again, but asks for Charley. The candour of tha

aid Mackworth. "If it is possible to judge by her

t of her favourite society of grooms, horse-jockies, blacklegs, dissenting ministers, and suchlike. A month in that house, my dear Charley, will qualify you for a bil

alk like that about your cousin's house. It is a great house for fie

cat, and then continued speaking very de

s she was herself, I can hardly appreciate her conversation always. As for my cousin, I consider him a splendid sample of an hereditary legislator. Charley, dear, you won't go to church on Sunday afternoon at

besides him. Don't you be squeamish, Cuthbert - tho

nd departed, takin

lway as far as Twyford - alighting at which place, he was accosted by a pleasant-looking, fresh-coloured boy,

Eton next half. I've brought you over Tiger, because Punch is lame, and

room holding two ponies - on the prettiest of which Charley soon fo

n the Ravenshoe stables, and Charley was rapidly getting learned in Lord Ascot's racing stud. The river at Henley distracted his attention for a time, as the biggest he had seen, and he asked his cousin, "Did he think the Mississippi was much bigger than that now?" and Lord Welter

object of attraction that afternoon, they had all come in together and were loitering about talking, some not yet dismounted, and some on the steps. Welter was at home at once, and had a word with every one; but Charles was

y Ravenshoe's bo

s,

rds the door; "just tell your father you saw General Mainwaring

war, and of all the deeds of renown that that hand had done, and was raising his eyes to

sted strongly with a pair of delicate thin black eyebrows. His complexion was florid, with scarcely a wrinkle, his features were fine and regular, and a pair of sparkl

say he was, general

Main waring, sto

laughed too, and this made the stranger worse; and then, to crown the joke, the general began to laugh too, though none of them had said a syllable more than w

and being on his way downstairs to his aunt's room, who had just come in, he was stopped on a

did worse. He utterly "dumbfound

's J

ou, sir. His wife Norah n

he hasn't cut your father's thro

s you, what can make you think of such thing

aid the old gentl

. I should discharge any servant of mine who exhibited the slightest symptoms of

the banisters. They were better banisters than those at Ravenshoe, being not so steep, an

ress, that he was not without surprise when a cheery voice said, "Come in," and, entering a handsome room, he found

ct you so soon. Tea will be here directly. You ain't a beauty, my dear, but I think I shall like you. There never was but one really handsome Ravenshoe,

d oak ones, with a rib in the middle. This new

h he averred had bitten him in the leg, and he was now heating the poker, in order, he informed the old lady, to burn the place out, and prevent hydrophobia. Whet

iry, about ten years old, that ever you saw. She fixed her large blue eyes on Charley, and then came up and gave him a kiss, which he

aving caught his grandmother's eye over his teacup, he inked at her, and then held his breath till he was purple, and she begun to wring her hands in despair. All this time he was stimulated by Charles's laughter and Adelaide's crying out, continually, "Oh, isn't he a naughty boy, Lady Ascot? oh, do tell him not to do it." But the crowning performance of this promising young gentleman - the feat which threw everything else into the shade, and which confirmed Charley in his admiration of his profound talents - was this. Just as a

the room, whereupon "Welter explained, and afterwards continued to Charles, with an offhand

me; she'd make nothing of telling him, now. She's in a terrible wax, but she'l

, "I hope Hawtrey will cure y

rs, and looked over Welter's cricket apparatus, fishing tackle, and so on; and t

ked to do so too, being a very tolerable player; only he had promised his old tutor not to play for money till he was eighteen, and so he sat in the corner b

ant subject, too, for he had sat in his corner more than half an hour without changing it, when he

and the grey-headed man who laughed. When they saw him they see

he answered. "I should

d the general: "and so Ji

airs, and wondered why he should take such an interest in him; but he soon fell t

oice - "Who did you mark that las

es, and then blushed at the consci

you, Methusaleh,"

one great source of pride, which no one can ro

e general, "who is that exceedingly pretty

daughter of an old friend who died in poverty. She is a nob

eneral. "(That was rather

r the impression he was going home to Hounslow, and then fired at the watchman who tried to put him right, taking him for a highwayman. The son went to France, and was lost sight of in the revolution; so the girl came in for wh

ion this girl, then; y

d money, which is told in different ways, but which amounts to thi

rles. "If you will excuse m

leaning on his cue. "Can you tell me,"

old gen

ws, playing with General Mainwar

r; "that is Lord Salt