The Black Robe

at the house door. The servants appeared to reco

its kind - respect for Lord Loring, unobtrusively accompanied by respect

tes, come into the library. Some time since," he resumed, when the door was closed, "I think I mentioned that my friends had

r Benwell. "Has your lor

d that it is my duty to extend, to the best of my ability, the civilizing influences of Art. My only hesitation in the matter arose from a dread of some

"In such a city as this, you could hardly open your g

ing card at the offices of the librarians in Bond Street and Regent Street, will receive a free ticket of admission; the number of tickets, it

library, as your lordship

d Lord Loring. "Do look in at the gallery once or twice in th

tly conscious of a hope that he might, at the eleventh hour, be invited to join Romayne at the dinner-table. Lord Loring only looked at the

n which Father Benwell's interests were directly involved. The letter was from Romayne

delusion of the voice.' The nearer the hour of your dinner approaches, the more k

ese lines. "This sort of caprice might be excusable in a woman," he thought. "A man ought re

g's indignation prophetically present in his mind. There was, however, no help

appeared. The visitor was no less a person than Romayne h

showed him

pulse brings me here to disown it. I can only explain my strange conduct by asking you to help me at the outset. Will you carry your memory back to the day of the medical consultation on my case? I want you to corr

ht, Romayn

attributable to nervous derangement, and to be curable by purely medical means. I speak

replied, "and the substance of his prescripti

e differed with the first, as absolutely as one man can differ with another. The third medical authority, your friend the surgeon, took a middle course, and brought the c

of describing the conclusion of the medical proceedings. Th

u at the time, the second physician appeared to me to be the only one of the three authorities who

hat I shall not

ry, you may he

over the mind. He was quite willing to admit that the state of your nervous system migh

is friend, "to feel that I never shall forgive myself - acciden

eally heard the voice on the scene of the duel. The influence acts physically, of course, by means of certain nerves. But it is essentially a moral influence; and its powe

ne inquired, "do you remember his answer? 'The mischief which m

g interest in your life, or the working of some complete change in your habits of thought - or perhaps some influence ex

s eyes s

tly trifling circumstances as the tone of some other person's voice or the influence of some other person's look.' That plain expression of his opinion only occurred to my memory after I had written my foolish letter of excuse. I spare you the course of oth

her husband, she would have understood him at once

rtured me - and Mr. Penrose, I grieve to say, saw what I suffered. You and I attributed the remission to the change of scene. I now believe we were both wrong. Where was the change? In seeing you and Lady Loring, I saw the two oldest friends I have. In visiting your gallery, I only revived the familiar associations of hundre

the clock on the mantel-piece. Th

court?" he

iss Eyr

n open by a servant. Stell