Fenton's Quest

his sister's house. He had devoted himself very resolutely to business during the interval that had gone by since his last visit to that quiet country house; but the time had

house, that branch which was under the charge of a cousin of Gilbert's, about whos

ore the bills drawn upon them came due, involving his cousin in considerable losses. Gilbert was rich enough to stand these losses, however; and he reconci

still upon him when he went down to Lidford; but he reli

nocent trustfulness in his superior judgment, a childlike submission to his will which Marian displayed upon all occasions, were alike flattering and delightful. Nor did she ever appear to grow tired of that talk of their future which was so pleasant to her lover. The

plicate her good graces; but he was pleased that his only sister should show herself gracious and affectionate to the girl he loved so fondly. During this second visit of h

ours in the endeavour to fill a creditable game-bag. There is not very much to tell of the hours which those two spent together so happily. It was an innocent, frivolous, useless employment of time, and left little trace behind it, except in the heart of one of those two. Gilbert wonder

nd-by, when my little wife and I are settled down together for the rest of our days. Let me be her lover while I may. Can I ever be less than her lover, I wonder? Will marriage, or custom, or the assurance that we belong to each

and a speedy realization of that Utopian home which they were to inhabit together. The knowledge of her uncle's delight in this engagement of hers might have reconciled her to it, even if she had not loved Gilbert Fenton. And

sion to the superior instinct of his betrothed, which harmonised so well with Mrs. Lister's ideas of wisdom and propriety. There was the house to be secured, too, so that he might have a fitting home to which to take his darling when th

uty of house-hunting. She looked forward to this visit with quite a childlike pleasure. Her life at Lidford had been completely happy; but i

ford, sometimes alone, more often with the Captain, who was a very fair pedestrian, in spite of having had a bullet or two through his legs in the days gone by. When the weather was

eir route, as he always did on these occasions, and under his guidance they followed the river-bank for some distance, and then turned aside into a wood in which Gilbert Fenton had never been before. He said so, with an expression of surpri

xclaimed the Captain; "then you hav

David Forster's place?" asked Gilber

Rivercombe, and had half forgotten Mr. Saltram's talk of coming

rtraits, painted in the days when the Forsters were better off and of more importance in the county than they are now. And there are a few oth

far fro

he park to the Lidford road, so the gate is always open. We can't waste our walk, and I know Sir

is Sir David Forster, and he talked of being down here at this time: I forgot all about

Marian; "that Mr. Saltram of whom you think so much. I cannot tell you how anxious I

kind of ugliness-a face that Velasquez would have loved to paint, I think. It is a rugged, strongly-marked countenance with a villanously dark

. Saltram is hardly the most a

except on rare occasions, when he chooses to give full swing to his powers; he does not lay himself out for social successes; but he is a man who seems to know more of every subject than the men about him. I doubt if he will ever succeed at the Bar. He

er a dissipated, dangerous k

e very few men whom John Saltram cannot drink under the table, and rise with a steady brain himself when the wassail is ended; yet I believe, in a general way, few men drink less than he does. At cards he is equally strong; a past-master in all games of skill; and the play is apt to be rather high at one or two of the cl

r you, Gilbert," exclaimed Marian, horr

here are a few chosen spirits with whom he consorts at su

hom he passionately loved, was killed by a fall from her horse a few months after the birth of her first child. The child died too, and the double loss ruined Sir David. He used to spend the greater part of his life at Heatherly,

been a good deal neglected of late years, and the brushwood and brambles grew thick under the noble old trees. The timber had not yet suffered by its owner's improvidence. The end of all things must have

the picturesque. Whatever charm of form it may have possessed in the past had been ruthlessly extirpated by the modernisation of the windows, which were now all of one size and form-a long gaunt range of unsheltered casements staring blankly out upon the spectator. There were no flower-beds, no terraced walks, or graceful flights of steps before the house; only a bare grassp

e tall elms overhead. An elderly female appeared in answer to this summons, and opened the gate in a slow mechanical way, without the faintes

gliness. I daresay the owners of them find a dismal kind of satisfaction in considering the depressing influence their dreary piles of bri

they found a sleepy-looking man-servant, who informed Captain Sedgewick that Sir David was at Heatherly, but that he was out shooting

n asked about

ved at Heatherly on Tuesd

em. The inspection occupied a little more than an hour, and they were ready to take their departure, when the sound of

September day. One of these two was Sir David Forster, a big man, with a light-brown beard and a florid complexion. The other was John Saltram, who sat in a lounging attitude on one of th

ton had described his friend; yet she felt that this stranger lounging in the window was John Saltram, and no other. He rose, and set down his gun very quietly, and stood by the window waiting while Captain Sedge

em to show Gilbert and Miss Nowell some pictures in the billiard-room and in h

s collection, John Saltram acting as cicerone to Marian. He was curious to discover what this girl was like, whether she had in

in the face; a higher, more penetrating loveliness than mere perfection of feature; a kind of beauty that would have been at once the delight and desperation of a painter-so f

possessed that charming childlike capacity for receiving information from a superior mind, and that perfect and rapid power of appreciating a clever man's conversation, which are apt to seem so delightful to the sterner sex when exhibited by a pretty woman. At first she had been just a little shy and constrained in her talk with John Saltram. Her lover's account of this man had not inspired her with any exalted opinion of his ch

of our lives, and it would be a hard thing, for one of us at least, if our friendship should ever be lessened. You shall find me discretion itself by-and-by, and you shall s

en thinking that this friendship was a perilous one for Gilbert, and that it would b

to diminish Gilbert's regard for you, Mr. Salt

illimitable, depend upon it. But now I have s

her head, l

tram," she said. "I am utterly inexperienced in the worl

years, I know, b

well as in knowledge of the world. You could neve

nk. It has not been disturbed by all the narrow petty

f the former, who must thus lose an evening with Marian, but who was ashamed to reveal his hopeless condition by a persistent refusal. Captai

the Captain's modest domain. The conversation was general throughout the way back; and they all found plenty to talk about, as they loitered slowly on among the waving shadows of the trees flickeri

John?"

and I can only congratulate you upon your choice. Miss Nowell's

ink she lov

y, Gil, that is not a question upon w

receiving the assurance of that fact. And yo

manner possible. She seems to con

Jack, I feel as if I could never be sufficiently grateful

. And now, good-bye. It's getting unconscionably late, and I shall scarcely get back in time to change my clothes for dinner. We spend all our evenings

t as alike unsuited to his tastes and capacity; Mr. Windus Carr, a prosperous West-end solicitor, who had inherited a first-rate practice from his father, and who devoted his talents to the enjoyment of life, leaving his clients to the ca